138 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ATIGETATION. 



in regular rows. My attention was first directed to the egg» 

 of the tree-grylU by Mr. F. C. Hill, late of Philadelphia. 



Some of these grasshoppers have the front of the head 

 obtuse, and others have it conical, or prolonged to a point be- 

 tween the antennae. Among the former is the insect, which, 

 from its peculiar note, is called the katy-did. Its body is of a 

 pale green color, the wing-covers and wings being somewhat 

 darker. Its thorax is rough lOce shagreen, and has somewhat 

 the form of a saddle, being curved downwards on each side, 

 and rounded and slightly elevated behind, and is marked by 

 two slightly transverse furrows. The wings are rather shorter 

 than the wing-covers, and the latter are very large, oval, and 

 concave, and enclose the body within their concavity, meeting 

 at the edges above and below, somewhat like the two sides or 

 valves of a pea-pod. The veins are large, very distinct, and 

 netted like those of some leaves, and there is one vein of larger 

 size running along the middle of each wing-cover, and simu- 

 lating the midrib of a leaf. The musical organs of the male 

 consist of a pair of taborets. They are formed by a thin and 

 transparent membrane stretched in a strong half-oval frame in 

 the triangular overlapping portion of each wing-cover. During 

 the daytime these insects are silent, and conceal themselves 

 among the leaves of trees ; but at night, they quit their lurking- 

 places, and the joyous males begin the tell-tale call with which 

 they enliven their silent mates. This proceeds from the friction 

 of the taboret frames against each other when the wing-covers 

 are opened and shut, and consists of two or three distinct 

 notes almost exactly resembling articulated sounds, and corres- 

 ponding with the number of times that the wing-covers are 

 opened and shut; and the notes are repeated, at intervals of a 

 few minutes, for hours together. The mechanism of the tabo- 

 rets, and the concavity of the wing-covers, reverberate and 

 increase the sound to such a degree, that it may be heard, in 

 the stillness of the night, at the distance of a quarter of a mile. 

 At the approach of twilight the katy-did mounts to the upper 

 branches of the tree in which he lives, and, as soon as the 

 shades of evening prevail, begins his noisy babble, while rival 

 notes issue from the neighboring trees, and the groves resound 



