CHAPTER FORTY-TWO 



GRASSHOPPERS AND THEIR RELATIVES 



I. THE order Orthoptera (Greek, straight-winged) The 

 derives its name from the straight or nearly straight Orth P tera 

 upper margin of the front wings or tegmina of many 

 locusts and grasshoppers. The Greek word orthos ap- 

 pears also in "orthodox," used to designate straight 

 or strictly correct opinions. The name, as applied to 

 the various insects now classed as Orthoptera, is ill- 

 chosen, since many have rounded wings, while many 

 others lack these organs altogether. We here accept 

 the order as limited by the earlier authors, but it ac- 

 tually contains very diverse elements, and various 

 efforts have been made to subdivide it. In the most 

 modern classification the order is restricted to the 

 locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets, the cockroaches and 

 other groups being removed from it. When we look Ancient 

 for evidence on this point in the rocks, we find that Orth P tera 

 insects of the orthopterous type are extremely ancient, 

 being abundantly represented in the rocks of the 

 Carboniferous age, which are probably not less than 

 15 million years old. At the time when the material 

 which later became anthracite coal was laid down in 

 Pennsylvania and adjacent states, cockroaches were 

 the dominant insects. They were of large size and 

 varied structure, and found food and shelter in the 

 luxuriant forests of primitive vegetation. During the 

 same period there also existed insects, large and small, 

 which are grouped together under the name Protor- 

 thoptera, or beginning Orthoptera. Some of these 

 superficially resembled our modern katydids, and had 

 spots on the wings, as may be seen in the fossils so 

 wonderfully preserved in nodules at Mazon Creek, 



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