84 
ORTHOPTERA. 
pleasant odour. The habit is a very striking one and is apt to disconcert 
the unwary person who does not expect it. The warning coloura¬ 
tion of this insect is very striking and this emission of evil smelling froth 
is probably a good protection. A chirping sound is produced in this 
species by a method unusual in the family; at the base of each tegmen 
and distinct from it is a small chitinous plate, the convex curved 
edge of which meets the concave curved edge of the median 
chitinous plate at the base of the tegmina (the Scutellum) ; the former 
moves in an arc so that the curved edge which is striated , rubs 
against the striate fixed edge of the Scutellum, producing a vibration 
which is probably intensified by the tegmina. The sound is distinct but 
not loud and is probably protective as it is produced by the female. 
This is the so-called 4 4 Coffee Locust ’ ’ since it occurs plentifully 
on coffee estates but it is practically harmless. It is recorded as 
destructive to coffee in Ceylon and E. E. Green has published a circular 
on it (Circ. Eoy. Bot. Garden, Ceylon, 111, 18). There is, in Ceylon, 
one brood yearly, eggs being laid in October-November and hatching 
in March, the nymphs being full grown by September. Several species 
have been made of the varieties of this species. 
Poecilocera picta, Fabr. is the conspicuous Painted Grasshopper so 
common on the ak plant (Calotropis spp.). It is brightly coloured in 
blue and yellow, living openly on its food plants and evidently protected 
by its bad taste from birds. There are at least two broods a year, the 
last (in November) laying eggs that pass through the winter. The nymph 
is coloured in yellow with black stipples and red spots, this colouring 
gradually giving place to that of the adult in the last two instars before 
the final moult. The distribution of this species is peculiar and follows 
that of its food plant which thrives in the drier portions of India from 
the north of the Punjab to the Southern extremity of Madras. Atracto- 
morpha crenulata , Fabr. (fig. 25) is extremely common throughout the 
plains, and is a serious pest to young plants. The males are smaller than 
the females and often brown, while the female is commonly green. 
Tobacco is a favourite food plant of the insect in all stages and the 
round holes eaten in the leaves of this plant are frequently the work 
of this species. It is reported as injurious to cane in Java. 
