INSECT ORDERS 243 



Order — Plecoptera 



These are the stone flies. There are two pairs of membranous wings 

 and the hind pair are distinctly larger than the front pair. They have 

 incomplete metamorphosis, and the naiads live in swift running streams 

 and furnish an important source of food for brook trout. They are 

 often used as bait for this fish. They have biting mouth parts and two 

 long cerci projecting from the tip of the abdomen. 



Order — Orthoptera 



These insects have two pairs of wings, the front pair being tough and 

 leather-like and acting as wing covers, while the hind pair are mem- 

 branous and are used in flying. The hind pair fold up like a Japanese 

 fan in order to fit under the wing covers. A few are wingless. They 

 have biting mouth parts and gradual metamorphosis. 



1. Short-horned grasshoppers. These are the common grasshoppers 

 or locusts that have antennae shorter than the body. They have power- 

 ful hind legs and prefer to jump rather than to fly. They are widely 

 distributed and do damage of major importance by eating plants. The 

 females deposit the eggs in loose soil in the late summer or early fall ; 

 these hatch in the spring and the young nymphs begin eating on almost 

 any green plant that they can find. They spend most of their time feed- 

 ing while they are nymphs. The great plagues of locusts mentioned in 

 the Bible were, no doubt, the migratory type of grasshoppers. These 

 grasshoppers have moved through the mid-western states, stripping the 

 leaves from every plant in their pathway. 



2. Long-horned grasshoppers. These have antennae that are longer 

 than the body and are held pointing backward so that they arch over the 

 body and extend beyond it. They include the katydids, meadow grass- 

 hoppers, camel crickets, and Mormon crickets. The last two are wing- 

 less forms. The Mormon cricket gets its name from an incident con- 

 nected with the founding of the Mormon colony at Salt Lake City. 

 These crickets were about to destroy the crops upon which these pioneers 

 depended when a great horde of sea gulls flew in from the Pacific coast 

 and devoured them, saving the crops. 



3. Crickets. The field crickets are the ones best known in this group. 

 Their chirping and singing is a very common sound in the late summer 

 months. They feed on both animal and vegetable material. The mole 

 crickets burrow around under the ground and the front legs are very 

 strong and adapted for this purpose. The tree crickets differ consider- 



