TYPE SPECIMENS IN THE MACLEAY MUSEUM, UNIVEESITY OF SYDNEY VII. THE HOLOTYPE OF GBYLLUS SPINUL08US JOHANSSON (INSECTA: OETHOPTEEA : TETTIGONIOIDEA) G. P, Whitley* and P. J. STANBURYf (Plates XXII and XXIII) [Accepted for publication 18th June 1975] Synopsis Specimen of an insect, labelled 1756, in The Macleay Museum, Sydney, is identified as the holotj^e of Gryllu^ spinulosus Johansson 1763. Introduction The Macleay Museum at the University of Sydney contains a comprehensive zoological collection including a number of type specimens. Lists of types of insects (Hahn, 1962), fish (Stanbury, 1968), reptHes (Goldman et al., 1969), birds (Stanbmy, 1969a), mammals (Stanbury, 19696) decapod crustaceans (Grilfin and Stanbury, 1970) and moUusca (Ponder and Stanbury, 1972) have been published. This paper describes the oldest dated specimen in the Macleay Museum. Gryllus spinulosus The specimen is a female orthopteran insect 7 • 5 cm long, belonging to the superfamily Tettigonioidea, family Tettigoniidae. It formed part of Alexander Macleay's original collection which he brought to Sydney in 1825. It is pinned to a circular label, dating from the eighteenth century, which reads : " A curious insect from Barbary, the only one known of its kind in England. Geo. Edwards, 1756 ". It has been figured by Anderson (1965) and exhibited by Whitley (1975), but its specific identity has not hitherto been fuUy determined. A figure and description (Anonymous, 1799), apparently of this specimen, were recently noticed in The naturalisfs pocJcet magazine, a rare, anonymous work, in seven volumes, published between 1798 and 1803, without numbers on its pages or plates. Bibliographical particulars of this publication, which also contains early paintings of Australian animals and plants, have been provided by Hindwood (1933, 1968). The anonymous author (who may have been George Shaw of the British Museum) did not give a scientific name to the insect but called it " Whistle Insect " without explanation. The locality was given as Santa Crux in Barbary. George Edwards (1694-1773), mentioned on the Macleay Museum label, was a celebrated ornithologist who illustrated not only birds but also plants, insects and mammals on his published plates (Edwards, 1751, 1758). In Edwards' rare book Gleanings. (Edwards, 17.58, Vol. 2 : 160, PI. 285, figs 3-5) the " Whistle Insect " is figured from three aspects-dorsal, ventral and lateral. Plate XXII shows the 1758 illustration and PI. XXIII the specimen in the Macleay Museum. In both Gleanings and The naturalisfs pocket magazine the * The Australian Museum, Sydney. Deceased, July 1975. t The Macleay Museum, University of Sydney, New South Wales, 2006. Pboceedinos of the Li.vxeax Society of New South Wales, Vol. 100, Part .'{
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