332 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 
The Saltatorial Orthoptera. 
The Saltatoria or jumping Orthoptera, hke the Non-Saltatoria, 
comprise three famihes: the true, or long-horned Grasshoppers, 
including also the Katydids and Cave- crickets; the true Crickets, 
including Field-, Tree-, and Mole-crickets; and the Locusts, which 
are, however, more commonly known as "grasshoppers" than 
even the Grasshoppers themselves. The relationship of these 
various groups has received attention elsewhere and need not 
be considered here. They are all characterized by the presence 
of elongate hind legs and stout thighs, a specialization which 
enables them to leap with suddenness and effect, and which is 
undoubtedly of great assistance in eluding their enemies. The 
only exception, and that but partial, is the Mole-cricket, in which 
an even greater specialization of the front legs for burrowing is 
correlated with a reduction in size of the hind legs to such an 
extent as nearly to unfit them for leaping. 
The Saltatorial Orthoptera are, beyond question, the musicians 
of the insect world, a position, it is true, which they share with 
the cicadas, whose music, however, is less pleasing to human 
ears. All three families contain numerous members which make 
stirring appeals to human interest through the ear, the per- 
formances varying widelj^ in method, in form, in timbre, and in 
the circumstances of delivery. Without the efforts of these 
little creatures the summer days and autumn nights would lose 
much of the charm of sound associated even unconsciously with 
those seasons. 
