HANCOCK 9 



it alights almost invariably on the ground. The young of the 

 larger orthoptera usually alight on grass or stems of plants, 

 dodging behind them for protection. The remarkable color 

 of these Acridians, harmonizing in every instance with the soil, 

 makes it sometimes difficult to locate them. This protective 



Fig. I. Some individual variations in the markings of Tettix ornatus trian- 

 gularis. All found on light loam in an open meadow, within an 

 area of a few yards, at Kenilworth, Illinois, July lo. Adult 

 females enlarged from photograph by the author. 



resemblance is carried out to perfection, the little insects 

 living on the soil scattered with debris faded out by the hot 

 sun, and the lights and shadows, in whatever way they play, are 

 copied exactly. No shade, color, or arrangement of markings 

 seems impossible of simulation, and every individual is a study 

 in color harmony. Other points of the environment, and the 

 habits connected therewith, are noted further on. The insects 

 may be taken by hand or with a net; with the latter they are 

 frequently taken by the method known as "sweeping." 



PROTECTIVE COLORING. 



The innumerable shades of color in the soil are sometimes 

 copied in the young Tettigids most exquisitely. Along the 

 sheltered banks of the Des Plaines River, in Illinois, the author 

 saw hundreds which, on viewing them closely, showed the 

 similarity existing between the colors of the ground and those 

 of the little locusts. As evidence of this several young speci- 

 mens of Ti'ttix, from five to six millimeters in length, were 

 peculiarly marked with frosted white, and these were on 

 ground which was similarly colored from fungi or decayed 

 algae and other microscopic dead vegetable organisms. A 



