ORTHOPTERA OF INDIANA. 245 



covered, the abdomen was inserted nearly one-half an inch in the 

 pine board, and the upper edge of the opening about the sides of the 

 abdomen was covered with small pieces of wood, just as the dust 

 or borings will accumulate about the edge of a hole which a carpen- 

 ter is boring, 



I stood by and watched her work for ten or more minutes, when 

 she suddenly stopped, withdrew her ovipositor and hopped away. 

 Along the fence, within a distance of 30 feet, I found 15 other holes, 

 11 of which were fresh, while the others had evidently been bored 

 the previous year. Most of these holes were on the upper edge of 

 the top board, which was in all cases of pine and perfectly sound. 

 None of the holes contained eggs, most of them being less than half 

 an inch in depth. 



On July 21st, and September 21st, I have found them with the 

 abdomen inserted full length in stumps or logs, and when removed, 

 eggs were found in the lower horizontal portion of each cavity. On 

 the former date the female was ovipositing after dark in an oak 

 log which served as part of a bridge across a stream. Smith has sug- 

 gested that the reason for so few holes being finished is, that the 

 wood proves too hard, and the insect tries for a softer place, or, many 

 of them may be disturbed during the process of oviposition. Scud- 

 der says that "the wood must be firm enough to retain the eggs well 

 in place, and soft enough to absorb much moisture in the spring. 

 Upright pieces of timber are never chosen, but rather short sticks 

 of decaying, charred or pithy wood, which can not easily be broken 

 or blown against the rocks. Holes are frequently made three-quar- 

 ters of an inch deep, and abandoned because the spot proves unsuit- 

 able. In a stick about a foot and a half long, and two or three inches 

 wide, I counted 75 borings, only three or four of which had been 

 used as nests. The number of imperfect to perfect holes must be as 

 25 to one. When a good piece of wood is discovered, the nests are 

 crowded thickly together; and a stick less than two inches in diam- 

 eter and five inches in length contained 13 completed nests. The 

 holes are pierced at a slight angle to the perpendicular, away from 

 the insect; they are straight for about a quarter of an inch, then turn 

 abruptly and run horizontally along the grain for about an inch. 

 The eggs (from 10 to 14 in number) are almost always laid in the hor- 

 izontal portion of the nest; they are cylindrical, tapering toward the 

 ends, but not at all pointed, and measure from five to five and a half 

 millimeters in length, by one and one-eighth in breadth; the ends 

 are equally and regularly rounded. They vary in tint, some being 

 almost colorless, and others of a faint yellow. After the eggs have 

 been carefully packed away in the sawdust made by the abrasion of 



