202 



NATURAL HISTORY OF ARTHROPODS. 



FIG. 282. Stenobothrus maculijH-n- 

 nis; a, mature insect; b, pupa; c, 

 larva. 



in that region as white sage (Artemisia). Pezotettix glacialis inhabits the White 

 Mountains of New Hampshire, while Pezotettix dodgei is found in the mountains of 

 Colorado, both species being found above timber line. Dactylotum plctum, which is 

 bluish-green with bright red and yellow markings, is found on the plains sloping 

 eastward from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. This is by 

 far our brightest colored locust. It frequents sandy hillsides where the vegetation is 

 short and somewhat scattered. Dactylotum bicolor, a closely allied species, is found 

 in Mexico and California. 



The genus Stenobothrus is composed of rather small species, and is well represented 



in this country as well as in Europe. In these locusts 

 the head is more or less conical in shape, with the face 

 sloping obliquely backward. Stenobothrus curtipennis, 

 which is very variable in color as well as in size, is con- 

 fined to eastern North America ; while Stenobothrus 

 occipitalis inhabits the Rocky Mountain region. Sten- 

 obothrus maculipennis, which is here figured, is about 

 the average size of the species of this genus. There 

 are twenty-seven species recorded as inhabiting Europe, 

 and about an equal number exist in this country. The 

 genus Gontphocerus differs from Stenobothrus in having 

 the face less oblique and the antenna? slightly nobbed at their tips. Gomphocerus 

 davatus is an eastern species, while G. uterpe is confined to the prairies of the 

 trans-Mississippi. G. shastanus is found in the mountains of the northwestern 

 United States. The males of several species of this genus produce a loud rattling or 

 hissing noise, somewhat resembling the rattle of the large gray rattlesnake, by rubbing 

 the inside of the thighs against the elytra. The members of this and the preceding 

 genus are most frequently met with on almost bare hillsides, where they bask in the warm 

 sunshine in company with the various species of the genus (Edipoda and its numer- 

 ous allies, of which this country contains upward of fifty species. These last named 

 locusts are distinguished from those already noticed by their colored hind-wings, large 

 head, and prominent eyes. The elytra, which are longer than the abdomen, are 

 always more or less spotted and banded with various shades of brown and black, and 

 the posterior femora are also banded and streaked. They hibernate for the most part 

 in the perfect state. (Edipoda (Dissosteria) Carolina, our most widely distributed 

 species, is a large rust-brown insect, with black hind-wings bordered with yellow. It 

 is most frequently seen along dusty streets and roads, where it may be observed 

 balancing itself upon its wings in the air, and at the same time producing a rattling- 

 noise. (Edipoda (Dissosteria) longi- 

 pennis, which is met with on the plains 

 of Colorado and Kansas, differs in hav- 

 ing the elytra pale and covered with 

 numerous brown blotches, and in hav- 

 ing the base of the hind-wing bluish. 

 (Edipoda (Hippiscus} phcenicoptera, 

 the large robust locust of which a figure 

 is here given, has the hind wings red, 

 bordered with black. It, is confined to the eastern half of the continent. (Edipoda 

 (Circotettix) carlingiana and (Edipoda (Circotettix) undulata are species that are 



FIG. 283. (Edipoda phcenicoptera, coral-winged locust. 



