144 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



laurifolium Linnaeus soon makes itself at home under such 

 conditions, and continues its unmusical crepitations through- 

 out the entire night in response to its fellows outside. This 

 katydid is much more sedentary in its habits than Microcen- 

 tnim retinerve, which ranges in the crowns of high forest trees, 

 where it cannot be kept under observation. Microcentrum 

 laurifolium Linnaeus may readily be kept in the house for 

 indefinite periods if fresh herbage is supplied it from day to 

 day. 



The katydids of the genus Cyrtophyllus are strictly arboreal 

 in their habits and are rarely observed, although their notes 

 are among the most rasping and persistent of any musical 

 orthopteran. My own observations of these katydids, Cyrto- 

 phyllus perspicillatus Linneeus, have been made entirely in 

 their native habitat among the crowns of forest trees. These 

 katydids, however, could no doubt be confined on large 

 boughs in one's room, so that their notes could more readily 

 be studied. 



The coneheaded grasshoppers of the genus Conocephalus 

 and allied genera are mostly terrestrial in their habits, prefer- 

 ring the abundant herbage of fields and moist meadows. These 

 beautiful insects are also more active at night, when their 

 stridulations are usually heard. These locusts are capable of 

 strong flight and are often so shy that they can be approached 

 only with the greatest care. These insects are best studied in 

 the field, for they are not readily induced to stridulate in close 

 confinement. In the field these insects can readily be ap- 

 proached at night by the strong light of a lantern, by which, 

 like most other nocturnal insects, they seem little disturbed. 



The Xiphidiums and Orchelimums, which dwell under very 

 similar conditions in the field, are readily confined in boxes in 

 which they usually become very noisy. These insects, how- 

 ever, stridulate most readily when they are allowed consider- 

 able freedom and an abundance of their accustomed herbage. 

 Species of both genera stridulate more or less by night, al- 

 though most species are sun-loving insects. Orchelimum 

 minor Davis is strictly arboreal in its habits, dwelling ex- 

 clusively in pines, where it is not readily observed. The 

 green coloration of this interesting little Orchelimum is re- 

 markably similar to that of the pine foliage in which it dwells. 

 In manv instances I have at first been unable to distinguish it 

 when only a few steps away, though the insect was stridu- 

 lating all the while. The Xiphidiums are confined almost 

 entirely to dense grasses and herbage, so that they are not 

 readily detected. The tiny Xiphidium fasciatnm DeGeer is a 



