1678 Insects. 



obtained ten from the people who are constantly employed on the denes. — George 

 Fitt, Jun. 



Occurrence of the Locust in Devonshire. — Mrs. Griffiths has in her possession a 

 fine specimen of Gryllus migratorius, which was captured at Exmouth the latter end 

 of September, by her grandson, when his schoolfellow succeeded in taking four or five 

 of the same species. — Torquay, Nov. 9th, 1846. 



Capture of the Locust near Manchester. — If you have had no communication on 

 the subject from the neighbourhood of Manchester, perhaps you would like to know 

 that one specimen at least of Gryllus migratorius has been found here ; I obtained 

 it alive on the 4th of September from some boys who had just knocked it down in a 

 small drying-ground in Coupland-street, Green Keys. — John S. Ashworth ; Hyde, 

 near Manchester, Oct. 3rd, 1846. 



Occurrence of the Locust near Hull. — Having had an opportunity of noticing a few 

 facts with regard to the migration of the Gryllus migratorius in this part of tbe coun- 

 try, I thought that yon might like to know them, and have therefore taken the liberty 

 of addressing this letter to you, which I beg you will make what use of you choose. 

 September seems to be a favourite month for the visit of locusts to the British Isles, 

 as the following extracts from some of the newspapers which have fallen under my 

 observation will prove. Last year the ' Hull Packet ' of September 11th contains this 

 paragraph : " Locusts. — A very good specimen of tbe Locusta migratoria is in the 

 possession of a gentleman at Sigglesthorne, where it was taken on Wednesday, in a 

 field of Mr. Richardson's, and several others have been caught in that neighbourhood 

 within the past week." The 'Mark Lane Express' of September 14th : " The 

 Egyptian Locust. — A male specimen of this remarkable insect, Acrydium migratorium, 

 was last week deposited in the Museum of the Philosophical Society at Leicester : in 

 circumference it measured 2^ inches, and from the tip of one wing to the other, when 

 expanded, 3| inches." The ' Hull Packet ' again, of September 25th ■ " Locusts. — 

 We recently noticed the capture, at Sigglesthorne, of a solitary insect of this tribe ; sub- 

 sequently the whole coast between the Humber and the Tweed has been more or less 

 subject to inroads by myriads of locusts, apparently bending a course towards the south. 

 A few days ago a cloud of the creatures settled temporarily near Spurn Point, and 

 about the same time several stragglers were taken alive at Cleethorpes, (a sea-bathing 

 place, at the entrance of the Humber, and nearly opposite to Spurn Point), where 

 bottled locusts are now exhibited, feeding upon herbage, for the gratification of the 

 visitors." The ' Mark Lane Express ' a second time, even as late as the 12th of Oc- 

 tober, mentions these insects. The ' Stirling Observer ' shows " that there have been 

 flights of Egyptian locusts in different parts of Scotland ; one of these locusts has 

 been preserved alive in the Edinburgh Zoological Gardens." The earliest appearance 

 of this destructive creature of which I have seen notice taken occurs in tbe ' Hull 

 Packet ' of August 2 1st, extracted from the ' Newcastle Journal,' also in the last year. 

 " Unwelcome Strangers. — A large flight of locusts passed over the town of Sunderland 

 on Monday evening last. They hovered over the neighbourhood of Hendon, and 

 numbers alighted on the hedges there, till on a crowd beginning to collect, they took 

 flight towards the south. They appeared to conduct their migration in close company. 

 Several of them were caught." On the 8th of last September a labouring man 

 brought me a fine specimen of this insect, which he had caught in one of our own 

 fields ; I immediately destroyed it, and have it now in my possession in beautiful pre- 

 servation ; and on the 10th of the same month a lady brought me three of them alive 



