ECOLOGY — INTERPRETATION OF ENVIRONMENT 347 



that the CaroHna locust does not change abruptly at the critical 

 period during the last ecdysis or moult, from one color to 

 another, but a change takes place in the adult gradually after 

 the last moult. Whether this is in sympathy with the surround- 

 ings or not is not definitely proven. But the indication is that the 

 hypodermal cells lying in the integument of the newly moulted 

 adult are very sensitive to light and humidity, and are capable, 

 under the effects of these stimuli, of responding by chang- 

 ing color in accordance with that of the habitat. Further 

 experimentation of this kind is under way, in which various 

 conditions are being studied, with a view to finding out, by 

 breeding, more about the evolution and the origin of the color 

 variation in Orthoptera. 



I have frequently found, hanging on the tops of plants, 

 dead specimens of this locust, which had been killed by a fungus 

 disease. The bodies of these insects often present a discolored 

 appearance, and a close examination reveals the fungus, Empusa 

 grilli, issuing from various parts. In the second plate illustra- 

 tion is portrayed one of these insects in a characteristic atti- 

 tude, at the top of a leaf of blue flag. 



The Carolina locust, Dissosteira Carolina, is widely distrib- 

 uted in North America. It ranges throughout all the United 

 States and Canada. 



The Sprinkled Locust 



In the accompanying plate photographic illustration, I 

 have portrayed the short-winged sprinkled locust, which is 

 doubtless familiar to some of our readers. Perhaps it may be 

 recalled as having been seen along fence rows, in dry pastures 

 bordering woods, or in the thickets. Here among the dead 

 browned leaves it occasionally jumps from its resting place, 

 at the sound of one's footsteps. Until the insect moves, how- 

 ever, the attention is not usually called to it, for among the 

 surroundings, I have noted that its colors blend so perfectly 

 with the background that it is seldom seen. 



At four o'clock on the afternoon of August fifteenth, I 

 discovered one of these sprinkled locusts in a curious attitude 

 on the top of an old tree stump. The antennae were extended 

 forward, near together, and her hind legs were rather widely 



