204 NATURE SKETCHES L\ TEMPERATE AMERICA 



The eggs are slender and beautiful flesh-colored objects 

 when freshly laid; they are nearly straight, about six mm. 

 long and seven-tenths mm. in width. The anterior pole is 

 very slightly tapered, with a bluntly rounded apex; the posterior 

 pole is more distinctly reduced and the apex narrowly rounded. 

 Usually the eggs are skilfully guided to their destined places 

 within the pith, but that they sometimes meet with accidents 

 I can attest from observation. Occasionally, through defective 

 working of the mechanism, I have noted temporary arrest 

 of oviposition, due to the egg sticking between the blades. 

 When this happens the ovipositor is withdrawn, and turning 

 up the tip underneath the body in a forward direction, the 

 female deliberately spreads the blades apart with her mouth 

 and seizing the offending egg she immediately devours it. 

 An egg which I took away from the female just as she was 

 going through this performance was compressed transversely 

 and somewhat distorted. This seemed to show that the exces- 

 sive lateral pressure brought to bear by the blades had caused 

 the failure of the egg to be deposited.' 



It may be of interest to note that Riley" mentions that this 

 species oviposits in the .stems of various pithy plants, and 

 especially in the tassel stem of Indian corn. In the photographic 

 plate is shown a j)air of the closely allied species, the common 

 green meadow grasshopper, Orchelimum vulgare. The habits 

 of these insects are similar to those I have described in my 

 sketch. 



* The above article, by the author, appearctl in Psyche, August, 1904. 

 » Standard Natural History, Vol. II, p. 187. 



