In Britain we are now exempt from the ravages of locusts, though swarms are said to have visited England in 1693 and 1748. Individuals of the migratory species are, however, still occasionally met with in England and the south of Scotland. _P. cinerascens_ has been recorded from Kerry in Ireland, but erroneously, the Insect found being _Mecostethus grossus_ (Fig. 173). According to Miss Ormerod,[233] large locusts are imported to this country in fodder in considerable numbers, but are usually dead; living individuals are, however, sometimes found among the others. In 1869 living specimens of _Schistocerca peregrina_ were found in various parts of the country, having, in all probability, arrived here by crossing the German Ocean. _Pachytylus cinerascens_ has also, it is believed, occurred here, the specimens that have been recorded at different times under the name of _P. migratorius_ being more probably the former species. Although the majority of the very large number of species included in Acridiidae are recognised with ease from their family likeness as belonging to the group, yet there are others that present an unusual aspect. This is specially the case with the members of the small tribes Tettigides, Proscopides, and Pneumorides, and with some of the apterous forms of the Oedipodides. The tribe Proscopides (Fig. 178, _Cephalocoema lineata_, female) includes some of the most curious of the Acridiidae. Breitenbach gives[234] a brief account of the habits of certain species which he met with near Porto Alegre in South America. On a stony hill there was some grass which, by several months' exposure to the sun's rays, had {300}become withered and brown. Apparently no live thing was to seen on this hillock except the ubiquitous ants, but after a while he noticed some "lightning-like" movements, which he found were due to specimens of Proscopia. The Insects exactly resemble the withered vegetation amongst which they sit, and when alarmed seek safety with a lengthy and most rapid leap. When attention was thus directed to them he found the Insects were really abundant, and was often able to secure fifty specimens on a single afternoon. These Insects bear a great general resemblance to the Phasmides, but there is no evidence at present to show that the two kinds of Insects live in company, as is the case with so many of the Insects that resemble one another in appearance. Although the linear form and the elongation of the body are common to the stick-Insects and the Proscopides, yet this structure is due to the growth of different parts in the two families. In the Phasmidae the prothorax is small, the mesothorax elongate, while in the Proscopides the reverse is the case. The elongation of the head is very curious in these Insects; the mouth is not thus brought any nearer to the front, but is placed on the under side of the head, quite close to the thorax. The tribe Tryxalides contains Insects (Fig. 165) that approach the