48 



CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. 



[Bull. 



ORTHOPTERA. 



The insects in the order Orthoptera with which we are all 

 familiar are the grasshoppers or locusts, katydids, crickets, and 

 cockroaches. The order also contains the walking-sticks, which 

 are rarely seen, and the mantids. two species of which have 

 but recently been introduced into Connecticut. 



The Orthoptera belong to the group of insects having an 

 incomplete metamorphosis and biting mouth-parts. The wings, 

 when present, are four in number. The outer pair, or tegmina, 

 as they are called, are not used for flight, but are thick and 



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Fig. 4. Melanoplus bivittatus. Diagram showing principal parts of a locust. 



leathery in texture and serve as covers for the under wings. 

 When closed, their inner edges usually overlap. The second 

 pair of wings are the ones with which the insects fly, and are 

 thin, delicate, and folded lengthwise like a fan. The name 

 Orthoptera is from the Greek words orthos, straight, and pteron, 

 a wing, referring to the longitudinal straight folds of the hind 

 wings. The wings of some species of Orthoptera are absent 

 while other species have only the tegmina present. 



ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE ORDER. 



The Orthoptera are of great economic importance, as all 

 of them, with the exception of the Mantidoe, are injurious, and 

 nearly all feed upon vegetation. From the earliest Bible times 



