256 HANDBOOK OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY. 



like those of the male, but the small cerci (d) do not hide 

 any portion of the eleventh tergum (11), and more of the 

 surface of the podical plate (b) is visible than in the male. 

 The large genital chamber between the podical plates above 

 and the sub-genital plates below is entirely occupied by the 

 ovipositor (#, h, i). 



d. The ovipositor : this consists of six movable pieces, 

 three on each side of the median line. These three por- 

 tions are a large superior or dorsal piece (Figs. 136 and 

 137, g). Fig. 139, op 1 ) ; an equally large inferior or ven- 

 tral piece (Figs. 136 and 137, h; Fig. 139, op 3 ); and 

 a short internal portion (Figs. 136 and 137. i\ Fig. 

 139, op 2 ) between the bases of the superior and inferior 

 pieces. 



(i.) In a surface view, the internal pieces are hidden by 

 the two superior and the two inferior pieces, which are so 

 arranged as to form a long sheath around the internal por- 

 tions which form the true ovipositor. Each of the four 

 pieces of the sheath is pointed posteriorly, and when the 

 pieces are folded together the four tips are in contact. 

 Running forward from the tip of each is a flattened, 

 slightly concave surface, which in the superior pieces 

 faces backward and upward, and in the inferior pieces 

 backward and downward. 



During oviposition the four pieces are brought together, 

 and their tips forced into the ground. They are then sep- 

 arated, and their flattened surfaces force the earth away 

 on all sides, thus making a pit, into which the internal 

 pieces then guide the egg. 



11. The metamorphosis of the abdomen. 



Collect a number of very small, newly-hatched grass- 

 hoppers, to study the changes of the abdomen. The young, 

 at the time they leave the egg, are essentially like the 



