366 NATURE SKETCHES IN TEMPERATE AMERICA 



vegetation had narrowed the area down to a few yards of grassy 

 exposure, and only a few locusts still occupied this area. When 

 the locusts were disturbed they flew up in short semicircular 

 flights and returned at once within the limits of this environ- 

 ment and hid in the grass. The behavior of these insects was 

 quite different from their actions in the open fields where there 

 is a wider expanse of ground. 



On another occasion, June '21, 1899, I found this species in 

 a mature state in a flat meadow adjoining the bluff near the 

 lake shore at Kenilworth, Illinois. When flushed from the 

 ground its flight was generally noiseless, but sometimes it 

 started off with a slight, rustling sound, flying straight for a 

 number of yards. When alighting, it secreted itself imme- 

 diately in the grass, where it was afforded perfect protection 

 by reason of its harmonious color markings. 



At Evanston, Illinois, I found it during August in an open 

 environment similar to the one I have above described, and the 

 locust's behavior was the same in every particular as that of 

 the Kenilworth individuals. 



The clear-wing locust's habitat is shown in another chapter 

 in our landscape depicting the areas inhabited by Orthoptera. 

 It established itself here in the short grassy area to the left 

 of the open stretch of foreground. The ground to the left lay 

 nearest to the edge of the bluff of Lake Michigan. The young, 

 or larvae, of the clear-wing locust is shown in the photographic 

 plate on which the robber-fly is also depicted. The dear-wing 

 locust is a species of northern distril)ution, extending entirely 

 over Canada and the United States, from ocean to ocean, and 

 as far south as Indiana, Illinois, New Mexico, and Arizona. 



The Leather-colored Locust 



From the latter part of August until late frosts, the leather- 

 colored locust was quite numerous in the rear of our grounds. 

 It frequented the taller weeds, dewberries, and cultivated 

 blackberry briers, which apj)ear in the middle distance of our 

 landscape view showing the habitat of the Orthoptera. I often 

 found it abundant in pastures and meadows, where it also 

 showed the same tendency to frequent wild rubus briers. At 



