62 IXDEX TO MISSOURI ENTOMOLOGICAL REPORTS. 



XABEA Walk. First joint of antenna; armed with a stout, blunt tooth in front. Fe- 

 male elytra irregularly reticulated, the oblique longitudinal veins not being conspicuous . 

 male elytra with the rnediastinal vein strongly arcuated ; no humeral angle. Wings 

 twice as long as the elytra. Cerci only halt as long as the abdomen, sinuous. Outer 

 valves of the ovipositor ending in a single outwardly directed tooth which is preceded 

 on the outside by a longitudinal series of three teeth ; the inner valves compressed, 

 ending in three teeth of which the middle one is much the longest. Posterior tibia* 

 with neither spurs nor serrations and having only 4 apical spurs, 2 within and 2 with- 

 out ; the first joint of posterior tarsi unarmed, the tarsi clearly but 3-joiuted, the sec- 

 ond joint short as in the other legs ; tarsal claws with the inner tooth acute. 



OROCHARIS SALTATOK Uhler (Rep. V, p. 119). The eggs figured and described on 

 page 11'* as probably those of this insect are, as above stated, those of (Evrinthits 

 latipennis. I have, however, frequently obtained the eggs of the Orocharis since. In 

 December, 1S77, I watched a female ovipositing in the end of a dead and rather soft 

 twig of the Soft-maple at Kirkwood, Mo. The twig had been pruned and the bark 

 was somewhat gnawed by the cricket and the eggs thrust in irregularly from the end 

 and from the sides. Both wood and pith were crammed with eggs, but all longitudi- 

 nally inserted. The favorite nidus of the species is, however, the soft and somewhat 

 corky, rough bark of the trunk and older branches of the American elm, the eggs 

 being thrust in singly or in small batches, either longitudinally with, or very slightly 

 obliquing from, the axis of trunk or branch. The female is very intent in the act, 

 working her abdomen deliberately from side to side during the perforation. The 

 ovipositor is held more obliquely than in (Ecantlms. 



The egg is amber-colored and very slender and elongate, the tip rather pointed and 

 very faintly opaque with the surface but slightly granulate. It has scarcely any 

 curve and varies from 3.5 mm to 4 mm in length and from 0.4 mm to 0.5 mm in diameter at 

 middle. 



The slridulatiou of this cricket is a rather soft and musical piping of not quite half 

 a second's duration, with from 4 to 6 trills, but so rapid that they are lost in the dis- 

 tance. The key is very high, but varies in different individuals and according to 

 moisture and temperature. It most resembles the vibrating touch of the finger on 

 the rim of an ordinary tumbler when three-fourths filled with water repeated at 

 intervals of from 2 to 4 per second, and it may be very well likened to the piping of a 

 young chick and of soms tree frogs. As the species is very common in the Southwest 

 its chirp is everywhere heard and is so distinctive that when once studied it is never 

 lost amid the louder racket of the katydids and other night choristers. It is fre- 

 quently heard during the day time in cloudy or damp weather, and I have heard it at 

 Saint Louis the first days of November after a slight frost. The elytra in stridulatiug 

 are raised less than in (Ecanthus and are depressed at intervals. 



The courting of the sexes is amusing. They face each other and play with their 

 antenme for the best part of an hour or more than an hour. The female is, other- 

 wise, pretty quiet, but the male continually months the twig or the bark upon which 

 the courting is being done, and plays his palpi at a great rate, very stealthily ap- 

 proaching nearer to his mate meanwhile. At last the autenual fencing ceases and 

 those of the female bend back and then the male approaches until their heads touch. 

 He then deliberately turns round, elevates the elytra and slips his abdomen under 

 the female, who virtually mounts and assists him, his elytra overshadowing her head. 



The eggs of this insect, as als6 those of (Ecanlhits latipennis, are devoured by a para- 

 sitic larva of similar form and size, and which I have not yet reared to the perfect 

 state. 



ORCHELIMU.M GLABERIMUM, Burm. (Rep. V, p. 123) The egg-punctures illustrated 

 at Fig. 56 are, as there correctly supposed, those of this species, as I have since proved 

 by watching the act of oviposition and by rearing from the eggs. The insect is very 

 fond of using the tops of corn-stalks for the same purpose. 



