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h. Prosternal spines very short ; ovipositor slender, 



straight, or very nearly so ; insect small . . . ,VI. Xiimiidium. 

 bb. Prosternal spines long and slender ; ovipositor 



stout, usually upcurved ; insect large . . VII. Okchelimum. 



V. Conocephalus, Thunbergh (1815.) 

 The Cone headed Grasshoppers. 



The members of this genus are readily known by having the vertex 

 prolonged forward and upward into a cone which much exceeds in length 

 the first segment of the antenna*. Face very oblique. Eyes subrotund, 

 rather prominent. Spines of pronotum long and slender. Wing covers 

 long, narrow, rounded at the end, much exceeding the abdomen and 

 slightly exceeding the wings in all our species. The stridulating organ of 

 the male is opaque and of a coarse texture in the left wing cover, but 

 transparent at the center of the right. Hind femora of moderate length, 

 rather slender, the insects often using the wings as locomotors. Ovipos- 

 itor rather narrow, nearly straight, oftentimes of excessive length; the 

 eggs of those species in which the oviposition has been noted, being de- 

 posited between the stem and the root leaves of plants. Anal plates of 

 male not produced; the cerci much swollen, recurved and toothed. 



Although these insects are said to be rather common by those writers 

 who have prepared lists of Orthoptera from other States, yet in Central 

 and Western Indiana they are the least abundant of all the Locustidse, five- 

 years' collecting having yielded less than twenty specimens. In the 

 northern part of the State, however, they appear to be much more com- 

 mon. Of the habits of the species found in Illinois, McNeill has written : 

 "All the species of Conocephalus seem to possess more intelligence than 

 is usual in Orthoptera, and they are about the most difficult of the order 

 to approach. In escaping they usually slip or fall into the grass in- 

 stead of jumping or flying ; but they seem to fully understand that they 

 are very well protected by their color and form. If approached very 

 cautiously they often remain quite still upon the stem of grass upon 

 which you have surprised them with the usually well founded expecta- 

 tion that you will not be able to distinguish them from the green herbage 

 around. If they think it worth while to make some active movement to 

 escape they will frequently slip around on the other side of the stem and 

 walk down the stem to the ground or off upon another plant. Unlike 

 most Orthoptera they do not use their front legs in holding to the mouth 



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