75 



Xiphidmmfasciatum Serv. The note of this species resembles that of an Orchelimum, 

 but is very faint. McNeill says of it : " Its song is a faint echo of that of Orchelimum 

 vulgare with the zip-zip omitted. . . . Its faint little quaver is the first note of the 

 great chorus that sounds in all the meadows from the first of August until the first of 

 October or until cold weather." 



Xiphidium nemorole Scudd. " The song," says McNeill, " is louder than that of 

 fasciatum ; it consists of two parts, the first a short abrupt note which is very well repre- 

 sented by the syllable zip, the second is the familiar ze-e-e which lasts about half a second 

 and is made from one to five times ; the zip is not repeated." 



ACRIDIDAE. 



Dictyophorus reticulatus. Many years ago I received a couple of females of this 

 bulky species alive from the south and kept one of them for some time. In the sunshine 

 she stridulated by raising her tegmina directly upward against the half opened wings, 

 making a rough scratching sound which was repeated rather rapidly, but variably, from 

 two to ten times. 



Subsequently Dr. Shufeldt figured this insect in Science (vol. 2) and gave an inter- 

 esting account of it from observations in southern Louisiana. He says : " The only sound 

 that I ever heard this grasshopper give vent to is now indulged in by the male. It con- 

 sists simply of a series of pecular hisses (this word expresses it better than anything else) 

 and is only heard when we seize and handle one of them, or during their mating. The 

 sound seems to be produced largely by the [fore] wings ; for these members are elevated 

 at this time, as I have shown them in my plate, where the male exhibits his beautiful 

 hind-wings, — a relief to his otherwise sombre tints that is only to be experienced on such 

 occasions." And later : " Whatever part of the entertainment these sable gentlemen [the 

 males] entered into, they constantly kept up a very audible buzzing racket with their [fore] 

 wings, which they elevated and lowered at few seconds' intervals, showing the inferior 

 carmine pair each time they did so, with telling effect." 



Melanophts femur-rubrun. At Andover, Mass., I once observed on Oct. 5 a pair of 

 this species, male and female, near together alternately answering each other with a slight 

 quick movement of the hind legs on the tegmina as if in stridulation. I made no note of 

 whether any sound was actually produced and do not now recall any. 



Chloealtis conspersa Harr. The song of this insect is of varied rapidity, according to 

 the amount of sunshine ; in the sun this insect makes from nine to twelve notes, at the 

 rate of fifty-three in fifteen seconds ; the usual number of notes is ten. In the shade the 



Fig. 50. — Note of Chloealtis conspersa in the sun. 



rate falls to forty-three in fifteen seconds, the number of notes remaining the same. 

 The femur is evidently scraped gently upon the tegmina to produce the sound, for 

 frequently, at the beginning, two or three noiseless movements are made, the leg failing 



Fig. 51. — Note of Chloealtis conspersa in the shade. 



to touch the tegmina. I once found three males singing to a single female, who was 

 busily engaged laying eggs in a stick of wood, her abdomen plunged into a hole she had 

 bored to the depth of half an inch ; two of the males were near enough each other to 

 cross antennae. 



