INTRODUCTORY. 



One August evening in 1901 I was seated in the lobby of the St. 

 George Hotel, at Evansville, Indiana, when a large "lubberly locust" 

 — Melanoplus dijferentialis Thos. — attracted by the light, flew into the 

 room. Several of the guests, men of intelligence, saw me pick it up, 

 and immediately surrounded me and asked me what it was. I told 

 them that it was a locust or grasshopper, and that fifty or more species 

 of the same family of insects occur in Indiana. All seemed much 

 surprised and a number of them made the statement that they 

 thought there was but one kind of grasshopper in the State. Such is 

 the opinion of most persons who pay little or no attention to the 

 forms of animal and plant life which surround them. Verily, the 

 most common things about us are those of which we know the least. 



For eighteen years I have been more, or less interested in that group 

 of insects known as the Orthopiera. During that time I have collected 

 them in the different parts of the State which I have visited and have 

 made many notes upon their habits and their distribution. This in- 

 formation 1 have concluded to bring together into a form suitable for 

 the use of the student in the public schools of the State, or for the 

 boys and girls on the farms, who daily come in contact with some of 

 these interesting insects. While the information which they will 

 gain from the study of such a group may not be of great monetary 

 value, i. e., may not add many "almighty dollars" to the future wealth 

 of the student, it will add to his powers of observation, upon which 

 much of his future knowledge will depend. It may serve to bring him 

 in closer contact with nature, and teach him something of the mutual 

 relationships existing between all of her objects, himself included. 



The first thing which any one asks concerning a bird, an insect 

 or a stone, is "What is it ?" It must have a name— a handle — to hold 

 it by, while we talk of its habits, the benefits or injuries which it does, 

 the means for its protection or extermination. Each of the insects 

 treated in this paper has a double Latin name by which it is or may be 

 known to students of tlie Orthoptera in all parts of the world. In 

 order that the student may determine this name for himself, "keys" 

 or "tables of determination" have been inserted, which, if carefully 

 followed and compared with the different characters of the insect in 

 hand, will lead up to its scientific name. The common name by which 

 it is generally known is also added, but the common name varies 

 greatly in different localities. 



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