SUBFAMILY II. OEDIPODIN.10. 243 



Subfamily II. OEDIPODIN^:. 

 THE BAND-WINGED LOCUSTS. 



This subfamily includes those genera of locusts having the 

 prosternuui unarmed with tubercle or spine; face nearly vertical 

 instead of oblique, head rounded at point of union with vertex 

 and face; fastigium or front of vertex sloping sharply downward; 

 foveola? present but usually small and shallow; antenna? filiform 

 or sublinear and usually inserted above the middle of eyes, some- 

 times almost above the eyes themselves; eyes shorter than in the 

 Tryxalinre, being rarely longer than that portion of the cheeks 

 below their orbits; dorsal field of pronotum with hind margin 

 much wider than front one, its surface generally wrinkled or cov- 

 ered with small tubercles; lateral carina? faint, often wanting; 

 median carina (except in Arphia) cut by one or two sulci, often 

 raised in a sharp ridge or crest; tegmina and wings always fully 

 developed, the latter, in most species, brightly colored. All of our 

 genera belong to the division Oedipodini 40 of Saussure, in which 

 the ocelli are placed near the eyes and in which the outer margin 

 of hind tibia? lacks an apical spine next the spurs. 



The members of this subfamily are, when at rest with the teg- 

 mina closed, usually dull brown or grayish in color, and they 

 dwell, for the most part, on bare clayey or rocky slopes, stretches 

 of sand, along roadsides and railways, or in closely cropped mea- 

 dows. There the hues of the tegmina usually harmonize in a mar- 

 velous manner with the background of the environment. Earth 

 tints, rock and sand textures, the infinitely varied browns, greens 

 and grays of living and dead vegetation, are often represented in 

 spots and streaks on the tegmina of the locust, the effect being 

 to merge the insect so intimately with its background that as long 

 as motionless it is effectively hidden from the observation of its 

 foes. 



The great majority of our species of Oedipodinre have the inner 

 wings in part black, the greater portion being yellow or red. 

 When in flight they are therefore very conspicuous objects, being 

 often mistaken for butterflies by persons who have given little 

 attention to nature. The purpose of this bright coloration has 

 been discussed by many naturalists and several theories have been 

 set forth, explaining why it is of advantage to the locusts. Morse 

 (1897, 7) claims that the bright colors of the wings are "in no 

 sense protective and bear no relation to the environment of the 

 insect, but are probably of value in the mating of the sexes." 



40 Based upon the old world Oedipoda Serville (1831, 287) meaning "swollen" + "foot." 



