84 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



XIPHIDION STRIDULATIONS. 

 BY H. A. ALLARD. 



The smallest members of the Locustidae are the xiphidions, 

 strictly terrestial in their habits, and dwelling almost ex- 

 clusively among grasses, reeds, and other tender herbage. 

 They are especially common in the luxuriant meadow growth 

 along the margins of ponds and sluggish streams. Some 

 species, however, prefer the scanty vegetation of highest, 

 driest, upland and mountain situations. Of all the Locustidae 

 the stridulatious of the Xiphidion are the softest and least 

 audible. Their soft, silken lispings are quite devoid of any 

 tone-quality or harmony, as are the notes of all the Locustidse. 

 These insects, like the orchelimums. sing most persistently 

 during the sunny hours of the day. Their notes, however, 

 are too faint to add noticeably to the happy chorus of mid- 

 summer sounds. Patience and a keen ear are essential equip- 

 ments of the student who cares to study the song-habits of 

 these tiny insects. 1 



Xiphidion fasciatum De Geer is one of the most delicate and 

 slender-bodied insects of all the Locustidas. In general ap- 

 pearance and in the character of its song this little Xiphidion 

 resembles a tiny Orchelimum. Its usual habitat is among the 

 weeds and grasses in nearly all upland and lowland situations. 



The stridulations of Xiphidion fasciatum are very faint and 

 lisping. Their delivery, in nearly every respect, is ex- 

 tremely like the usual song of the orchelimums. The song inva- 

 riably begins with a succession of very faint notes, tse-tse-tsc, 

 repeated very slowly and terminating with the phrase tse-c-e- 

 e-e-e-c-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e, which continues from five to twenty 

 seconds. McNeill says of this species: "Its song is a faint echo 

 of that of Orchelimum vulgare, with the zip-zip omitted." I 

 have carefully studied the song habits of this Xiphidion both 

 in the field and by confining it in suitable boxes. In no instance 

 have I ever found wanting the short staccato lisps. So brief 

 and faint are these preceding notes, however, that they may 

 readily be overlooked. A record is here given of one individ- 

 ual and its successive stridulations: 



14 staccato lisps which preceded a monotone of 20 seconds duration. 



K ii a n "10 " " 



g it < I II it - | , | 



Q ii < i r it ii 

 | a it tt it it r a ti 



71 " with no monotone. 



'Mr. A. N. Caudell, of the U. S. National Museum, has kindly iden- 

 tified all the species mentioned in this paper. 



