nlfo found at the Cape o f Good Hope, which is rather larger and deeper in colour than the Chincie
variety.
When this in fe a is a t reft, tlie wings are folded, and much o f its beauty is concealed: but when thefe
are expanded, its appearance is altogeffier magnificent, f t has nothing o f the fliining and metallic fplen-
donr of the Coleoptertc. for Its colours are traiiflucent. and aflhme their richeft hues when they pafs before
the light. The elytra are purple, variegated with yellow: the wings o f a glowing crimfon, fpotted with
black. The abdomen is furrounded with alternate zones of black and yellow, and the legs are throughout
o f an elegant fcarlet, inferior only in brightnefs to the coral red o f the head and thorax. Upon the
whote, this fpecies is cmbelliflred with fuch a profuf.on of various and beautiful colours, that it may be
confidered as a moft fplendid example o f the Hemipterous order o f infea s. I t is reprefented on the Irh
Chinenfts in a flying polition.
This is not fuppofed to be a numerous fpecies in China ; on the contrary, it is probably uncomnron.
Several others o f the locuft are abundant in th at couutry, aud in feafons flivourable to their increafe, do
incredible m ifch ief^ Both the Gryllns tartaricus, and Gtydlns migratorlus, inhabit Tartaty on the
northern confines o f China, from whence, at certain periods, they defccnd like an impetuous torrent over
the neighbouring countries in queft o f food, ftrip the earth of verdure, and fc.ircely leave the veftige of
vegetation behind them. The Gryllus migratorius, whofe myriads are faid to darken the face of heaven
in their flights, fometimes d ire a their courfe weftward; crofs rivers, fea, and an iramenfe extent of
country, till they reach Europe; and though many are loft in thefe bold migrations, the furvivors are in
fufficient numbers to commit vaft depredations. This fpecies has been known to vifit Eng lan d ', but not
in any abundance. In Little Tartaiy, and the European provinces of T u rk e y : in Italy, and in Germ
a n y , they do great mifchief in thefe migrations. The Gryllus flavicornis and nafutns, are two other
abundant fpecies in China, and no doubt tliere are many other common kinds in that country we are at
prefent unacquainted with. The locuft is only detrimental wiien in immenfe numbers, for in China, as
in other eaftcrn countries, they are confidered as an article of food, and regularly expofed for fale in the
public markets ”.
k “ Famines fometimes happen in this part of the province. In fome feafons inundations, produced by torrents from the
mountains, and as often the depredations o f locufts are caufes of this difafter.” V ,d t Sir J . Staunton, Chap. on Tien-sing.
* The laft appearance of this fpecies in England was in 1748. We have a fpecimen of it from Smyrna, Germany, and
China, and deem it too common and general an inhabitant to merit a figure as a Chinefe infea.
” Roefel fpeaks of this locuft infefting the provinces of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Tranfyivania, in fuch immenfe numbers
in the years 1747, 1748, and l? 4g, that an Imperial and Royal Hungarian edia was iffued, with printed inftruaions for the beft
means o f exterminating them. P'ide Dcr Heufihreaen-und Crillenfammiung, ( ic . d c . Vol. II. page 193.
■ Sir G. Sl.umon likewife fpeaks of “ a large fpecies of Gryllus" that is kept in cages for amufement in China, and was
expofed for fale, with other infeas, in thc thopi o f Hai-ten. Neither the fpeeies of this, or the locnlls noticed in the preceding
chapter, are mentioned.
I I: