ORTIIOPTEKA. 137 



turity. It belongs to M. Serville's genus PhaJan^opsis^ and I 

 propose to call it Phalangopsis maculata* the spotted wingless 

 cricket. Its body is of a pale yellowish brown color, darker 

 on the back, which is covered with little light colored spots, 

 and the outside of the hindmost thighs is marked with numer- 

 ous short oblique lines, disposed in parallel rows, like those on 

 the thighs of Acheta vUtata. It varies in length from one half 

 to more than three quarters of an inch, exclusive of the piercer 

 and legs. The body is smooth and shining, and the back is 

 arched. 



Most grasshoppers are of a green color, and are furnished 

 with wings and wing-covers, the latter frequently resembling 

 the leaves of trees and shrubs, upon which, indeed, many of 

 these insects pass the greater part of their lives. Their leaf- 

 like form and green color evidently seem to have been designed 

 for their better concealment. They are nocturnal insects, or at 

 least more active by night than by day. When taken between 

 the fingers, they emit from their mouths a considerable quan- 

 tity of dark-colored fluid, as do also the locusts or diurnal 

 grasshoppers. They devour the leaves of plants, and lead a 

 solitary life, or at least do not associate and migrate from 

 place to place in great swarms, like some of the crickets and 

 the locusts. There is a remarkable difference in their habits, 

 which does not appear to have been described hitherto. Some 

 of these grasshoppers live upon grass and other herbaceous or 

 low plants in fields and meadows. The piercer of the females 

 is often straight, or only slightly curved. They commit their 

 eggs to the earth, thrusting them into holes made therein with 

 the piercer. They lay a large number of eggs at a time, and 

 cover them with a kind of varnish, which, when dry, forms a 

 thin film that completely encloses them. These eggs are 

 elongated, and nearly of an elipsoidal form. Other green 

 Grylli live upon trees and shrubs. Their wing-covers and 

 wings are broader, and their piercer is shorter and often more 

 curved than in the foregoing kinds. They do not lay their 

 eggs in the ground, but deposit them upon branches and twigs, 



* Grylhcs macttlattis, Harris. Catalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts. 



18 



