300 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



The Kansas or Rocky Mountain grasshopper, MelanopJus spretus 

 (Uhler), belongs to this genus, but does not occur in Indiana. Con- 

 trary to the general belief, it is not a large, robust species, being but 

 about the same size as our red-legged grasshopper, M. femur-rubrum 

 (DeG.), and bearing to the latter a close general resemblance; so 



close, in fact, that only specialists can 

 readily tell them apart. Millions of 

 dollars of damage was done in the 

 Western States by these small in- 

 ¥ig.6i}4. Meianopiuaspretua (Uhler). sccts in the summcrs of 1873 and 

 Male. Natural size. ^g.^ Migrating in vast clouds from 



one part of the country to another they would fall upon a corn- 

 field and convert, in a few hours, the green and promising acres into 

 a desolate stretch of bare, spindling stalks and stubs. In the words 

 of the prophet Joel: "The land was as the garden of Eden before 

 them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing did 

 escape them." 



The following key will aid in the separation of the 17 Indiana 

 species of the genus: 



KEY TO THE INDIANA SPECIES OF MELANOPLUS. 



a. Togmina mucli shorter than the abdomen; often no longer than the 

 pronotum. Fureiila of male almost always feebly dovelopecl. usu- 

 ally no longer than the last dorsal segment to which they are 

 joined. 



6. Cerci of male either e(iual or tapering beyond the middle, no 



broader at apex than at the middle, usually laminate. Teg- 



mina ovate, about the length of the pronotum. 



c. Lateral lobe of pronotum a uniform wood l)rown in the 



n^male; with a faint dusky bar on upper half in male. 



Hind femora of male not barred with blackish. lli.nd 



tibiie red 00 scuddcri, p. oOli 



cc. Lateral lobe of pronotum in l)otli sexes with a broad shin- 

 ing black bar along the upper half; the loAver half yel- 

 lowish Avhite. Hind femora of male with two distinct 



o1»li(iue ))lackish bars. Hind tibijo pale green 



Gl rirklipc.'^, p. 30.") 

 hh. Cerci of male with the apex more or less expanded, broader at 

 obovate or narrowly oblong, or longer than pronotum and 

 lanceolate. 



d. Tegmina shorter than pronotum, and with a wide 

 int«'rval between tlieir inner e<lges. 

 ('. Hind margin of pronotum witliout a trace of 

 median iu)tch. Cerci of male truncate at tip. 



Furcula cylindrical, tapering 



G2 oboratipoinix. p. 3W 



