Abstract
THE theory of the phases of locusts, advanced by B. P. Uvarov in 1921, is now well known to entomologists and has proved a fertile stimulus to further investigation of this important problem. It recognised the existence among these insects of two definite or extreme forms—one gregarious and the other solitary—which are connected by a continuous series of less defined transitional forms. Messrs. B. P. Uvarov and B. N. Zolotarevsky1 have recently discussed certain aspects of the problem, in the light of new observations made by S. A. Predtechensky in Russia, and by the junior author in Madagascar. Although their remarks apply more especially to the well-known species Locusta migratoria, these authors believe that a standard phase nomenclature, applicable to all species, would be both possible and advantageous. According to their interpretation a locust can exist in three unstable biological phases, namely, a solitary one, phasis solitaria: a gregarious one, phasis gregaria, and a transitional phase between these two which they term phasis transiens. These phases differ from each other in morphological and colour characteristics, on one hand, and in biological features (mainly behaviour) on the other. Whether it will prove possible to distinguish such phases solely by the con- venient method of examining their morphological characters, can only be determined by studying the whole series of phases of a given locust in a specific locality.
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References
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"Locusts and Grasshoppers." London, 1928.
Committee of Civil Research. Locust Sub-Committee. First and Second Interim Reports. London. H.M. Stationery Office, 1929. Price 3d. net.
"The Locust Invasion of Palestine during 1928." Bull. Entomological Research, 20, pp. 123–139, Aug. 1929, with 3 text figs. and 3 plates.
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IMMS, A. The Locust Problem. Nature 124, 950–952 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/124950a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/124950a0