COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS BANKS. 



97 



appearance. Some Orthoptera occur on trees; these are frequently 

 attracted to lights. The grouse-locusts (Tettix) are most common 

 on moist, dark soil. The more active specimens resting on the ground 

 may be taken by suddenly placing the net over them. If they 

 do not readily fly up, the net may be 

 pressed on the ground and one can feel 

 the specimen. 



Few, if any, insects reflect the na- 

 ture of their surroundings better than 

 the Orthoptera. One can tell by 

 the specimen whether it was taken on 

 light ot dark soil, in a wet or a dry sit- 

 uation, in the shade or exposed to the 

 sun. 



So responsive are their external tis- 

 sues to their environment that it is 

 among the Orthoptera we find the most 

 remarkable examples of protective re- 

 semblance. They are therefore the 

 most convenient group for ecological 

 studies, and for this purpose a label 

 indicating the nature of the locality 

 should be pinned with each specimen. 



The large, fat-bodied Orthoptera often shrink so much in the cabi- 

 net that many orthopterists slit the base of the venter with a pair of 

 fine scissors, remove the abdominal contents, and stuff with cotton, 

 taking care,. of course, not to distend the body. 



Fig. 151. 



A GRASSHOPPER, PslNIDIA AM- 

 PHICORNTS. 



XEUROPTEROIDS. 



The Odonata, or dragonflies (fig. 9), can usually be found flying 

 over ponds or streams; others will be taken in openings or paths of 



woodlands. Many of 

 them have the habit 

 of returning over and 

 over again to the 

 same stick or twig to 

 rest, so that by wait- 

 ing near by one is apt 

 to get a good chance 

 to capture the insect. 

 For these insects a 

 light net is necessary and a fairly long handle. These insects are 

 expert dodgers, and one must strike quickly, and a stroke from be- 

 hind is fully as apt to take the specimen as one from in front. Some- 

 times in the early morning one can find the nymphs on grasses near 



Fig. 152.— A western cricket, of the family Locustid.e, Stei 



ROXYS TRILINEATA. 



