128 INSECTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



sound to such a degree, that it may be heard, in the stillness of 

 the night, at the distance of a quarter of a mile. At the approach 

 of twilight the katy-did mounts to the upper branches of the tree 

 in which he lives, and, as soon as the shades of evening prevail, 

 begins his noisy babble, while rival notes issue from the neigh- 

 bouring trees, and the groves resound with the call of " katy-did, 

 she-did," the live-long night. Of this insect I have met with no 

 scientific description except my own, which was published in 

 1831 in the eighth volume of the " Encyclopaedia Americana," 

 page 42. It is the Platyphyllum* concavumf, and measures, 

 from the head to the end of the wing-covers, rather more than 

 one inch and a half, the body alone being one inch in length. 

 The piercer is broad, laterally compressed, and curved like a 

 cimeter ; and there are, in both sexes, two little thorn-like pro- 

 jections from the middle of the breast between the fore-legs. It 

 is found in the perfect state during the months of September and 

 October. 



We have another broad-winged green grasshopper, differing 

 from the katy-did, in having the wing-covers narrower, flat 

 and not concave, and shorter than the wings, the thorax 

 smooth, flat above, and abruptly bent downwards at a right angle 

 on each side, and the breast without any projecting spines in the 

 middle. The piercer has the same form as that of the katy-did. . 

 The musical organ of the left wing-cover, which is the uppermost, 

 is not transparent, but is green and opake, and is traversed by a 

 strong curved vein ; that of the right wing-cover is semi-transparent 

 in the middle. This insect is the Pkylloptera oblongifolia^ or 

 oblong leaf-winged grasshopper. Its body measures about an 

 inch in length, and from the head to the tips of the wings, from 

 an inch and three quarters to three inches. It is found in its per- 

 fect state, during the months of September and October, upon 

 trees, and, when it flies, makes a whizzing noise somewhat like 

 that of a weaver's shuttle. The notes of the male, though grat- 

 ing, are comparatively feeble. 



* Platijplnjllum means broad-wing. 

 t Can this be the Locusta pcrspiciUata of Fabricius ? 



X Locusta oblongifolia of De Geer, a different species from the laurifolia of 

 Linnaeus, with which it has been confounded by many naturalists. 



