8 TE TTIGID.-E « OF NOR TH AMERICA 



line of demarkation, no doubt, would be found in many instances 

 to insensibly disappear and real species be fewer. As a matter 

 of convenience the line is drawn arbitrarily in dividing species, 

 whereas in nature there is one continuous descent. In a num- 

 ber of instances numerous Tettigids of different species have 

 been kept alive for successive years under observation by the 

 author in vivarium jars, and their habits in nature have also 

 been watched. The hatching and raising of larvze from the 

 eggs to adult life was accomplished under observation, their 

 feeding habits determined and a knowledge of certain phases 

 of their life history was gleaned. Some observations having 

 a special bearing on our subject are given in the form of notes 

 under their proper headings. These researches were made 

 with a view of determining certain questions in biology, which 

 in a few instances are satisfactorily answered. On the other 

 hand, an endless field of inquiry is opened which it is proposed 

 to carry further in the future. 



COLLECTING. 



In the marshy meadows in the latter part of May or the 

 first week in June the attention is attracted to the hordes 

 of locusts, principally the young of the larger Acridiida;, 

 of which the genus Melanoplus predominates.* The sight 

 becomes bewildered on trying to trace the individuals. Per- 

 haps the grass and other vegetation has gained marked head- 

 way by the advancing of the season. In such situations the 

 water of the marsh may have evaporated considerably, giving 

 one an opportunity of walking over ground previously inun- 

 dated. Here, along with the young of the other orthoptera 

 mentioned, but lying close to the ground, are to be found cer- 

 tain members of the Tettigid.ne. The jump of the Tettigid is 

 peculiar in that it is (juick and inconspicuous, and in this that 



* There was a luxuriance of vegetation after recent rains, tlie marshy meadow was fairly 

 glowing in flowers of Phlox, which gave beautiful color to the field. But this was one of an 

 almost bewildering number of species of plants which on every inch of the black loam 

 struggled to outdo its neiyhbors. Just so with the insect life. .As 1 stood in one spot I 

 could enumerate dozens of kinds, some of which had now for the first time emerged upon 

 the scene this season. This was the picture presented to the eye now, where a month pre- 

 vious the shortly cropped marshy land had been the habitat of numerous Tettigid<t^ while 

 now it is next to impossible to find one. Observation made at Chicago, June 26, 1898. 



