158 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



In the Southern States the period of development is not so long as 

 in the North, being completed in thirteen instead of seventeen years. 

 In the intermediate States the southern and northern races overlap 

 and their recurrence is more frequent, the two races coinciding only at 

 very long intervals. 



* It is in the order of the Orthoptera, however, that we find the 

 musicians to constitute a full orchestra. Field locusts, popularly known 

 as "grasshoppers," house, meadow and tree crickets, orchelimums and 

 katydids, are but a few of the " stars" of this numerous troupe. The 

 midsummer heats, which somewhat diminish bird music, afford the 

 most favorable temperature for the resonance of insect music. Through- 

 out the Middle States, East and West, the first "rehearsal" is given 

 about the fourth of July, when all the meadows are a-gleam with the 

 mimic lanterns of the fire-fly. The crickets, orchelimums and the more 

 robust and common locusts alone give the matinees. The locusts, 

 climbing aloft on the stems of stout grasses, "fiddle" away by the 

 hour, using the thighs of each hind leg alternately for a bow, and the 

 ridged surface of the upper wings for the violin, and they now and 

 then vary this performance by rattling together the margins of the 

 wings in short flights, producing a cortinal-like sound. Meantime, the 

 soft musical burr of the slender and graceful orchelimums lulls the 

 senses, and the merry chirp of the criket is interjected to mark the 

 time. As twilight deepens and and another instrument is added to the 

 chorus, and where trees are numerous it is often impossible for human 

 beings to carry on conversation at a distance of ten feet. Indeed, last 

 summer I distinctly heard this insect chorus in the night above all the 

 din and roar of an express train on which I was a passenger. With 

 these louder notes sometimes mingles a peculiar, murmurous chirping, 

 heard more frequently from damp, grassy hollows, which may be traced 

 to that rare and curious creature, the mole cricket (Oryllotalpa). 

 This is the largest of the so-called crickets and is fossorial in its habits, 

 spending its days in digging its underground galleries, and at favor- 

 able seasons emerging at night to inhale the dewy air and practice its 

 little tune. 



Conspicuous among the strictly nocturnal choristers are the beau- 

 tiful greeu locustida, known popularly and poetically as "katydids," 

 which are entitled to more than a passing mention. There is quite a 

 family of them, and each species has its characteristic note and style. 

 Their musical instruments, though differing in tone and power, consist 

 in all the species of a pair of tabourets, situated on the back and forin- 



*This portion of the essay is copied from the American Agriculturist, Novem- 

 ber, 1889. 



