ON CRUSTACEA. 291 



The third sort of land crustaceum of which Rochefort speaks, 

 is that which he designates under the name of piclus, and 

 which appears to be the violet-crab of Labat and other travel- 

 lers. Those animals, intermediate in size between the pre- 

 ceding two, are remarkable for the beauty and agreeable mix- 

 ture of their colours. Some are of a violet, variegated with 

 white ; others of a fine yellow, varied with purple or greenish 

 lines ; others have a tan-coloured ground, striped with red, 

 yellow, and green. 



They gnaw, in open day, under the trees to find their food, 

 and are usually met with in numerous troops in the morning 

 and evening after the rains. The hollow of some rotten tree, 

 the cavities which are under its roots, or the cleft of a rock, 

 usually constitute the asylum where they take refuge, and 

 withdraw themselves from the view of their enemies. Mauge 

 informed M. Latreille that they climb sometimes on trees, to 

 take the young birds in their nests. 



Kochefort states that they repair every year, towards the 

 month of May or June, in the rainy season, to the sea shore 

 to lay their eggs there, and perpetuate their race, travelling 

 from the mountains, in which they make their habitual 

 dwelling, in such numbers that the roads and woods are en- 

 tirely covered by them. They possess the instinct of direct- 

 ing their course towards the parts, which, by their descents 

 or natural declivities, facilitate their journey, and permit their 

 more convenient approach to the sea shore, which constitutes 

 the limit of their migrations. This migration has been assimi- 

 lated to an army marching in order of battle, with unbroken 

 ranks and undeviating line. They scale the houses and rocks, 

 and surmount every obstacle which they may encounter in their 

 path ; the gardens situated on their passage often suffer greatly 

 from their depredations. Sometimes they even penetrate into 

 houses, especially in the night, and disturb the inmates by 

 the noise they make. The males being well fed, and the 



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