NO. l6.] ORTHOPTERA OF CONNECTICUT. Ill 



appears is quite short ; the Massachusetts specimens were taken 

 between July ioth and August 30th. It occurs on thin gravelly 

 soil sparsely covered with bunch-grass and running blackberry 

 vines. 



Melanoplus Stal. 



Body moderately stout, usually feebly compressed. Head 

 not prominent. Face nearly vertical. Vertex between the eyes 

 but little wider than the frontal costa, sloping downward in 

 front, more or less sulcate, especially in the male. Frontal costa 

 moderately prominent, usually sulcate below. Antennae slender, 

 less than twice the length of the pronotum. Pronotum with the 

 disk generally about one and one-half times as long as broad, 

 the front margin truncate and the posterior obtuse. The pro- 

 zona slightly convex, the edges parallel, longer than the meta- 

 zona, which is flat and more or less widened posteriorly. Lateral 

 lobes nearly vertical, the upper half with a more or less distinct 

 transverse dark band. Tegmina always present, in some species 

 but little longer than the pronotum, oval or lanceolate, in others, 

 reaching nearly to or surpassing the tips of the hind femora. 

 Wings consisting of mere scales, or well developed, transparent, 

 colorless. Hind femora moderately long and slender, reaching to 

 the end of the obdomen in the female, surpassing it in the male. 

 Cerci and furcula of male of variable form, furnishing characters 

 much used in the identification of the species. The members of 

 this genus cause much injury to agricultural crops. Fall plow- 

 ing will destroy many of the egg-masses, one of which is shown 

 in Fig. 36. 



FlG. 36. Egg-mass of Melanoplus sp. 



