62 LOCUSTS. 



so high, and are made by a white or yellowish ant called 

 vitsikdinbo. If a piece of one of these mounds is broken off, 

 the ants are seen in a state of great excitement, running in 

 and out of the circular galleries which traverse their city in 

 every direction. There are vast numbers in one nest, and 

 they have a queen, who is nearly an inch long, while the 

 workers are about three-eighths of an inch in length. A 

 serpent is said to live in many of these ant-hills. 



Several insects found in the upper plateaux have a marvel- 

 lous resemblance, in their long bodies, legs, and wings, to the 

 green stalks and blades of grass, while others are equally like 

 the dry brown grass of the rainless months. 



There are many species of locust in Madagascar, one kind 

 being a very large brilliantly-coloured insect ; the body is 

 green, yellow, and blue, and the under-wings a bright crimson, 

 making it a very conspicuous object when flying. But it has 

 such an unpleasant odour when handled that the Malagasy 

 have a proverb, " Valalan' amboa : ny tompony aza tsy tia azy," 

 i.e., " The dog-locust : even its owner dislikes it." It may be 

 remarked in passing that the native language is exceedingly 

 rich in proverbs ; and a very interesting paper might be 

 written on those proverbs which refer to animals, as illus- 

 trating not only native habits of thought and observation, but 

 giving also many particulars as to the living creatures in- 

 habiting the country. Some of the smaller species of locust 

 are used for food by the people. Divested of wings and 

 limbs, they are dried, and exposed for sale in great heaps in 

 the markets. They are generally fried in fat, and are not 

 unpleasant in taste ; I must confess, however, to getting this 

 information at secondhand. Although locusts occasionally 

 appear in vast numbers in Madagascar, they do not often cause 

 much destruction to the vegetation. They are sometimes 

 seen filling the air as thick as snowflakes, to which they bear 

 no slight resemblance when the sun catches the glittering 

 surface of the wings. In the year 1869 an immense cloud 

 of these insects passed over the capital, darkening the air, 

 and being an hour or more in their passage above the city. 



Among the Hemipterous insects there is none more con- 

 spicuous by its noise than a species of cicada called jordry. 



