Vol. xx vi] 



ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 



The Longevity and Mating Habits of Dichromorpha 



viridis Scud. (Orth.). 

 By PHIL RAU, St. Louis, Missouri. 



During July and August, 1909, I had an opportunity to re- 

 cord the adult longevity and the mating habits of this Orth- 

 opteran species.* 



The adult hoppers, nineteen males and six females, were 

 taken in my garden and confined in lamp-chimney breeders 

 containing growing grass. The table shows that the females 

 lived from 23 to 34 days (with one exception), while the males 

 lived only from one to ten days, most of them living 3 or 4 



TABLE I. 



LENGTH OF LIFE 



NO. OF INDIVIDUALS 



days. How old the insects were when captured is unknown, 

 but since they were all taken within a few days, it is probable 

 that all were of approximately the same age. Thus we see the 

 significant difference in the length of life of the sexes. The 

 short life of the males may be due to the conditions of confine- 

 ment affecting the male and not the female, but it is more likely 

 that the males are naturally short-lived since none were 

 observed to take food ; the females, however, were heavy feed- 

 ers, often eating while in copulation. There was nothing in 



*Mr. A. N. Caudell kindly identified this insect. 



