Miscell aneous . 
275 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Leaf-winged Locust . By J. J. Qtjelch, B.Sc. 
Of all the many varied and really wonderful contrivances to be met 
with in nature tending towards the protection of various harmless 
creatures which are preyed upon by other forms, perhaps none are 
as wonderful as, certainly none are more remarkable than, the con- 
dition of the anterior pair of wings in certain of the Locustidae, 
such as Pterochroza and other closely allied forms. In many genera 
of the family the front wings are elongated and narrow, like the 
wings of the grasshoppers, and are not only coloured green, like the 
ordinary leaf of a plant, but are furnished with a large subcentral 
vein like the midrib of a leaf, with small veins springing therefrom. 
In Pterochroza and the other special forms referred to, of which a 
few different examples have lately been added to our museum collec- 
tion, the leaf resemblance is carried to a most perfect degree. In 
shape they are ovate, and generally, as in the common elm-leaf, the 
one side is somewhat wider than the other, according to the depth 
of the curve of the central vein, which is thickened like a midrib. 
Erom this side-veins pass off in all directions, branching and reticu- 
lating, exactly as in the case of the leaf of an ordinary dicotyledo- 
nous plant. The colouring of the wings is even more remarkable, 
the tint varying according to the species. In one the shade varies 
from reddish brown or reddish yellow to a dull purple, and closely 
resembles the shades to be found on the young leaves of many of 
the forest-trees, and more especially on the mora {Mora excelsa ). 
In another the tint is of a deep green, which is said to fade away 
gradually on continued exposure to light after the death of the 
insect. In a third it is of a very pale yellowish brown, much like 
the colouring on an old and fading leaf about to fall from the 
plant ; while in a fourth it is a dull dead brown, like that of a sere 
and fallen leaf. 
As though to give a more complete naturalness to the already ' 
seemingly quite natural leaves, variably sized spots of brown or 
yellowish white are sparsely scattered about the surface, just as are 
to be found so commonly upon leaves. 
Observations upon the growth, life-history, and habits of these 
forms are much needed ; but the specimens seem to be extremely 
rare — though it is much more likely that, inhabiting the foliage of 
trees and bushes, they are seldom, and then only accidentally, 
discovered. It is suggestive that the forms in the museum were 
only obtained when they had strayed into houses in or by the forest 
on the Mazaruni Biver. — Journal of the lloyal Agricultural and 
Commercial Society of British Guiana , June 1890, p. 141. 
