Till: AXIMAL FOOD nV P.ll'^ns. 



48 



into yoLiii^-, wliidi ivseiii])l(' in ;i ^ieiicrul way the adults. 

 These young- 'hoppers feed upon grass, clover, and shnilar 

 l)lants. increasing grathially in size and occasionally shedding 

 their skins. In the course of about two months they acquire 

 wings and become full grown. The Rocky Mountain locusts 

 develop normally on the liigli, dry table-lands of the Rockies 

 and occasionally migrate in vast numbers to the fertile fields 

 of the Mississipi)i Valley. The red-legged locust is the most 

 abundant of the widely dis- 

 tributed species of this family. 

 These insects form a large 

 l)art of the food of nestling 

 birds as well as of the adults. 



The family Locustidce, which 

 includes the long-horned grass- 

 lioppers and katydids, is at 

 once distinguished from the 

 Acridiidce by the very long an- 

 tennae. These insects are also 

 of much less economic impor- 

 tance, but some species occa- 

 sionally become seriously injurious. Tliey are often preyed 

 upon l)y l)irds, botli in tlie egg and mature states, the latter fre- 

 quently being fed to nestlings, and with some si)ecies of birds 

 they form a comparatively important element of food. 



The crickets, belonging to the family Gryllidce, are abundant 

 everywhere in fields and meadows, and probably do (-(^nsider- 

 ably more damage* than iliey are usually accused of. In the 

 Northern States the eominon l)la(k s))ecies usually winteis 

 over in the condition of thi^ egg, although a few manage to 

 come through in a })arlially grown state. Their eggs are 

 deposited in I he ground by means of Hk* long j)ointed ovi- 

 positor of the female. The climbing or ti'ee ci'ickels of th(* 

 genus (Ecanthus are perhaps the most injurious members of 

 the family. They deposit their eggs in the canes of the rasp- 



STAGES OF THE ItoCKY MOCXTAIN l.orfST. 

 {Afler mieij.) 



