34 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



Its song is one of the most familiar midsummer sounds. It 

 may be expressed thus: tsip-tsip-tsip-ze-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e, tsip- 

 tsip-tsip-ze-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e. The staccato lisps may vary con- 

 siderably in number and precede each time the long, lisping 

 monotone z-e-e-e-e, which is of several seconds duration. A 

 singer which I observed in August, 1909, delivered 33-34 

 phrases per minute, each phrase including the preceding stac- 

 cato lisps. O. vulgare is possibly the most common species 

 at Thompson's Mills, and may be heard throughout the sum- 

 mer in small communities amidst the weeds and asters. 



In attempting to capture the Orchelimums, it is amusing to 

 observe their attempts to hide by moving around the stalk of 

 grass they are resting on. As the hand moves toward the 

 stalk to grasp one, the wary creature always moves to the op- 

 posite side so as to keep the stalk directly between it and the 

 observer, just as a gray squirrel moves around a tree trunk to 

 escape the hunter. In this protective moment it hugs the grass 

 stem as close as possible, stretching out its long, slender hind 

 legs behind it ( until they are parallel with and almost flat 

 against the grass stem. 



O. vulgare is the first species to appear at the above locality. 

 The first singer is heard about the first of August, and in a 

 short time they are heard nearly everywhere. 



Orchelimum glaberrimum Burmeister occurs in the Thomp- 

 son's Mills region, though not especially common. Judging 

 from the relative numbers of individuals heard and captured, 

 this Orckelimum appears less common than Orchclimnm vitl- 

 gare, which it closely resembles. It has been considered only 

 a larger form of Orchelimum vulgare. I have found Orcheli- 

 mum glaberrimum in all upland situations where vulgare 

 would also most likely occur in tall grass, cowpea fields, and 

 on cotton plants. Its notes do not differ essentially from those 

 of vulgare, except possibly in being less sharp and penetrat- 

 ing. In a number of instances I have recognized and cap- 

 tured glaberrimum by its softer, more tremulous, humming 

 monotone z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z. This difference in sound qual- 

 ity may depend largely upon the length of wing, since it seems 

 more characteristic of the longer winged forms. At Thomp- 

 son's Mills my first records of glaberrimum. are considerably 

 later in the season than the earliest appearance of vulgare. 



Orchelimum longipenne Scudder also prefers weeds .and 

 grass thickets of the fields and roadsides. Its song habits are 

 so like those of O. vulgare that a description of the notes would 

 appear almost like a repetition. It seems to appear somewhat 



