jpear 



ORTHOPTERA. 



299 



in the month of July and disappear at the beginning of the 

 )ld weather. Towards the end of summer their song is heard in 

 \'s and wheat fields. The females, summoned by the 

 ales, are not long in coupling and laying their eggs^ which do not 

 |,tch until the following spring, in the ground. After four months 

 ie larvse change into pupae, which already show rudimentary wings, 

 ^d which by a fifth month pass into the perfect state. 

 Xhe Great Green Grasshopper {Lociisfa viridissinia) is very com- 



mon in Europe. It remains during the day on trees, and in the 

 ' ening disports itself in the fields. 



The Dectiais vcrr^icivoi'us (Fig. 307) is a shorter and more thick- 

 et species, whose distinctive feature is a very broad head. Its 

 < lour is grey of various shades, and it is to be heard singing during 

 e day in fields of ripe wheat. The name comes from the use 

 Mde of it by the peasants in Sweden and Germany as a cure for 

 \rts. 



" The peasants," says Charles de Geer, " make these locusts bite 

 le warts which they often have on their hands, and the liquid which 

 ' the same time flows from the insect's mouth into the wound causes 



