NOTES ON FOOD 



HABITS OF ORTMOPTERA. 



The list of vegetable and animal substances injured by Orthoptera, as 

 given below, comprises a very small number of the most important, as ii 

 would take up too much space in a merely preliminary sketch to enumerate 

 them all. 



Should, however, the text relating to the insects figured be published, 

 it is designed to give a full list of all the substances injured, as well as all 

 the insects injuring them, as mentioned by the various authors who have 

 written on the subject. 



Before commencing the list it may, however, be advisable to mention 

 some of the principal families, in relation to their food, in general terms. 

 The Gryllina (Ceuthophilus, PI. Ill, Fig. 5; CEcanthus, PL IV, Figs. 1, 2,) 

 are mostly vegetable feeders, whilst Anabrus simplex (PI. IX, Fig. 1,) varies 

 its diet, according to the Bev. Cyrus Thomas, by devouring the Cicada, or 

 harvest-flies, whenever it can capture them. 



The true crickets (Gryllus or Acheta, PI. X, Fig. 8,) live under stones, 

 &c, ami, although vegetable feeders, living on roots and herbage, yet, ii. 

 many instances, they injure animal substances, such as cloth, leather, &c, 

 when it is in the neighborhood of their haunts. The Mole crickets (Gryl- 

 Lotalpa, PI. VII, Fig. 13,) burrow under the earth like moles, and usuallyfeed 

 on roots and herbage, and in Europe do considerable injury. The Locustariae 

 (Phaneroptera, PL VII, Figs. 2, 3; Cyrtophyllus, PL IV, Fig. 15, katydids,) 

 inhabit shrubs and trees, feeding principally on their foliage, whilst the 

 slender meadow grasshopper, Orchelimum (PL IV, 78,) feeds mostly on gra 

 and herbage. The wingless Locustariae (Stenopelmatus, PL XIII, Fig. 7,) 

 live on the ground and are said to feed on vegetable substanc :. 



The Acrydii, or true grasshoppers and locusts, (Caloptenus, PL VII, 

 Acridium, PL I, Fig. 15; CEdipoda, PL V, Fig. 3 ; and Locusta, PI. IX, 

 Fig. 9,) live principally amongst the grass and low herl 'age, and devour all 

 kinds of vegetable substances. Some species assemble in great nun 

 when migrating, like the locust of scripture, and are extremely injurious I i 

 almost all kinds of vegetation. The Mantides (Mantis Carolina, PL II.) are 

 altogether predaceous. They kill and devour all other -insects they can over- 



