Notes on the types of Gnathoclita vorax (Stoll) (Tettigoniidae, Pteropphyllinae)

A remark of one of my colleagues that the ♀ of Gnathoclita vorax (Stoll) is still unknown, urged me to find out whether this was true, as I remembered to have seen both ♂ and ♀ specimens in the collections of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden, and of the Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna. Furthermore, Beier ( 1960: 240) remarked recently of G. vorax that the type is lost ('Typus verschollen"). Fortunately I can state now that the male type of Stoll's Gryllus Acheta vorax is still present, though slightly damaged. In the Leiden collection there are, apart from this type, more specimens of the species, one ♂ and one ♀; both bear a label in the handwriting of W. de Haan, who from 1822 to 1846 was curator of the invertebrate collections of the museum. De Haan was the first to give a description of the female of G. vorax; unfortunately, however, this description is only partially valid as De Haan's specimen appears to have been repaired to give it a better appearance. This often was done in the old cabinets of natural curiosities like those which formed the beginning of the Leiden Museum. Although we cannot get any certainty on this point, I presume that the reparation was done before De Haan studied the specimens. In 1861, de Saussure (1861: 129) already noted something wrong with De Haan's diagnosis. Later authors either copied the old data or described fresh specimens. These last-mentioned descriptions differ from De Haan's data. I had the opportunity to study some recently caught specimens, as well as modern literature, and from these sources I will try to elucidate De Haan's diagnosis. I want to express my thanks to Dr. D. C. Geijskes, Leiden, and to the