GRASSHOPPERS. 51 



special structures known as air sacs connected with 

 the tracheae. 



The four short pointed processes forming the 

 ovipositor of the female, though not conspicuous, 

 can be easily observed. 



The noise made by the short-horned grasshop- 

 per is produced by scraping the rough surface of 

 the hind legs along the edge of the front wings. 



As a rule, the colour of the grasshopper harmon- 

 ises so beautifully with its surroundings, that un- 

 less the insect is seen on the wing, it can hardly be 

 noted. 



Life History of the Short-horned Grasshopper. 



The eggs are deposited in the soil a half inch 

 or more below the surface. (Plate 4, Figs. 4 and 5.) 

 From twenty to thirty eggs may be deposited in 

 one batch by one female, and several batches may 

 be laid in one season. The eggs are surrounded in 

 the soil by an exudation forming a frothy case. 

 (Plate 4, Figs. 6 and 7.) In the case of one species 

 a little company of males may surround the female 

 during the egg-laying process. In summer, the eggsi 

 hatch in about a fortnight. The young (Plate 7, 

 Fig. I ) is like the parent but without wings, almost 

 black in colour, not more than one-sixth of an inch 

 in length, and capable of hopping an inch or two 

 Development takes place by a series of moults. 

 The wings begin to appear when the insect, called 

 now a nymph (Plate 7, Fig. 2), is half grown, and 

 then the permanent colour soon shows. The adult 

 stage is reached in six or seven weeks from th(; 



