10 



BULLETIN 67, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



entirely erroneous, for these tiny insects are quite harmless, and 

 feed on decaying matter. The hind wing of these earwigs is a very 

 peculiar structure, unlike the wings of any other insect. 



(2) The Cursoria includes 

 the family Blattidse or cock- 

 roaches, too familiar to inhab- 

 itants of cities. They have 

 long, threadlike antennae, and 

 slender, spiny legs, and in 

 many the wings are very short 

 or even absent (fig. 11). The 

 eggs are laid in cases, called 

 "ootheca, " which the female 

 carries about for some days. 

 They usually feed on decaying 

 vegetable matter. 



(3) The Raptoria (family 

 Mantidse) and (4) the Am- 

 bulatoria or walking - sticks 

 (family Phasmida?) are both 

 most numerous in tropical 

 countries. To the former be- 

 long the leaf-insects, and to 

 the latter the stick-insects, 

 both striking examples of pro- 

 tective resemblance. The Mantidae (fig. 12) lay their eggs in a large 

 mass attached to a tree or fence. They have the first pair of legs 

 enlarged and spiny, with a short claw near tip. They stand mo- 



Fig. 12.— A Hantid, Yates townsendi. 



Fig. 13.— A grasshopper, Schistocerca Americana. 



tionless for hours with their raptorial front legs extended, a position 

 which has won them the name of praying mantis. Their prayer, 

 however, is for prey. The Phasmida? (fig. 150) are strict vegetarians. 

 (5) The Saltatoria includes the grasshoppers, meadow locusts, and 

 crickets. These forms are very common in our country and are recog- 

 nized by having enlarged hind femora. The grasshoppers (family 



