422 



EEPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



which it owes its varietal name, are very dim or wholly invisible. 

 The long winged form is always black. 



Measurements: Length of body, male, 10 mm., female, 11 mm.; 

 of pronotum, male and female, 3 mm.; of tegmina, male, 5.5 mm., fe- 

 male, 4 mm.; of wings, long-winged form, 13 mm.; of hind femora, 

 niaU' and female, 7.5 mm.; of ovipositor, 8.5 mm. 



No intermediate short winged forms connecting 

 fascmlus mth vitiatus have been seen by me, nor 

 lia\(' any been recorded to my knowledge. The 

 two arc, iiowevcr, regarded as dimorphic forms of 

 the same species by the leading authorities, Saus- 

 snre and Scudder. 



During hundreds of days spent in field collect- 

 ing not a single specimen of the long wanged form 

 was taken until August 1, 1902, w'hen it was found 

 in numbers on the stems of long grass in a marsh 

 hordering Eound Lake, Whitley County. Many, 

 however, have been taken from the walks' and 

 streets of Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and other 

 cities and towns in the northern part of the State, 

 but none, as yet, in the southern half, not even in 

 Terro Haute, where I resided for seven years. 

 Where the insect breeds, and feeds by day is to 

 me unknown. It appears to reach maturity about 

 July loth and, at times, as in the -first week in 

 August, 1899, swarms composed of myriads have 

 appeared about the lights of some of the cities.- Tlie newspapers the 

 next day had a column or more devoted to the insects but nothing, 

 except wild guesses, as to whence they came. 



The short winged form ri/liihis begins to reach maturity in cen- 

 tral Indiana about July loth. Living specimens have been seen as 

 late as December 1st. Although present in vast numbers, but little 

 is known of its life habits. When disturbed they are very difficult 

 to capture, making enoriiu)Us leaps wifli their stout bind legs, no 

 sooner striking the ground than they are up again, even if not pur- 

 sued, until tlu'V (ind a leaf or other shelter beneath which to lake 

 refuge. 



They appear to be omnivorous, feeding upon carrion, cow dung 

 and grasses with v(\i\;\\ avidity. Though small in size, their enormous 

 nund)ers as well as the fact that they ai'e constant, greedy feeders 

 from the time the eggs hatch in s])ring until laid low by the hoar 

 frost of autumn, renders them pailicnlaj'h' injurious. The aggregate 



Fig. 107. NemobiuKfas- 

 eiatuK (De<T.). Fe- 

 male. Short-winged 

 form. (After Lug- 

 ger.) 



