OKTHOPTERA OF INDIANA. 



213 



glutinous fluid is emitted around them which at length hardens and 

 binds them together, thus forming a hean-shaped mass. The hole 

 above the mass is then closed with dirt intermixed with this fluid 

 which, when it hardens, renders it partially impervious to water. 

 However, if the Avintcr is an open one with many changes of tempera- 

 ture, many of the eggs are apt to be destroyed. By far the larger 

 number of eggs arc deposited in the earth in the manner shown in the 

 accompanying cut. A few species, however, oviposit in rotten or 



Fig. 37. Egg mass of locust, a, from the side, within barrow; b, from l)eneath; 

 c, from above; enlarged. (After Riley.) 



decaying v/ood. About mid-April the eggs begin to hatch and the 

 sprightly little insects, devoid of wings but otherwise like their par- 

 ents, are soon seen on every hand. 



Born with one earthly desire — a voracious appetite — and with one 

 valuable possession — a pair of strong, broad jaws, which move in and 

 out like the blades of a pair of scissors — the little hopper soon begins 

 to use the latter to appease the former, and for twenty-four hours a 

 day and seven days in a week, he gnaws away at the soft, green, succu- 

 lent grass Avhich surrounds him on every side. Such a procedure can 

 have but one result. His body soon becomes too big for its surround- 



Fig. 38. Molting of a locust. «, nymph ready to change: h, the skin split along the back 



and the adult emerging; c, continues the process; d, the adult insect drying out; 



r, perfect adult. (After Riley.) 



