ORTHOPTERA OF INDIANA. 141 



larval and pupal stages. The young of all stages are called 

 "nymphs;" they continue active and feed from the time of hatching 

 until they reach the final moult and emerge therefrom mature or in 

 the imago stage. 



It is to this latter group, whose memhers undergo an incomplete 

 metamorphosis, that the Orthoptera, the order of whicli this paper 

 treats, belong. From other orders of the group, they may be known 

 by their biting mouth parts and by the fact that the wings, when 

 present, are four in number, the first pair being thick, leathery or 

 parchment like, and usually overlapping when at rest. They form 

 protective covers for the second pair, which are thinner, more deli- 

 cate, and folded in plaits like a fan. The na.me Orthoptera, is de- 

 rived from two Greek words, orilios, straight, and pteron, a wing; and 

 refers to the longitudinal folding of the hind wings. The fore wings, 

 or tegmina, are not used in flight, the hind pair alone being used for 

 that purpose. The wings of some species of Orthoptera are wholly 

 wanting, while a few others have only the front pair present. 



About 900 species of Orthoptera are known from the United 

 States. Of these 148 have been taken in Indiana; specimens of all 

 but two being in the writer's collection. Of one of these, a large 

 field cricket, GryUus firmvs Scudder, a single female from Franklin 

 County served as one of the types and is now in the collection of 

 Mr. Scudder at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Of the other, an earwig, 

 Forficula auricuJaria L., four specimens taken at Lafayette are in 

 the U. S. National Museum. 



ENEMIES OF ORTHOPTERA. 



• •♦With the exception of the Mantids, all our Orthoptera are inju- 

 rious, most of them being vegetable feeders. Were it not for the 

 many natural enemies which prey upon them, they would abound 

 each season in such vast numbers as to prove a veritable scourge. 

 These enemies are many of them parasites which live only upon 

 Orthopterous forms, and when the latter are abundant the parasites 

 also increase in number, and soon devastate the hordes of insects. 

 Besides these parasites, many predaceous or beneficial insects feed 

 upon locusts and crickets; and birds, both wild and domesticated, are 

 exceedingly fond of them. These parasites, predaceous insects and 

 birds are, therefore, of great benefit to the farmer, and he should do 

 all in his power to ine'rease their number, in order to keep within 

 bounds the different species of Orthoptera. 



