2l2 LOCUSTS, HOPPEllS, SURFACE BEETLES, ETC. 



periods or even to the changing colour of the vegetation as the season 

 advances. 



In general the young are coloured green to accord with the green 

 vegetation in which they live, and the adults in greys, browns, and neutral 

 tints which blend with the light and shade o£ the drier grass or vegetation 

 in which they live. In no group of insects is this form of protective 

 colouring so universal or so beautifully shown. Rarely they are strikingly 

 coloured and exhibit ^'warning colouration" in conjunction with unpleas- 

 ant taste. So far as is known grasshoppers are exclusively herbivorous. 

 The period of the life history varies greatly and only a few species have 

 been worked out. Some hibernate as eggs, others as perfect insects, and 

 there may be one, two or several broods in the year. 



The two locusts and the Rice Grasshopper are dealt with separately 

 (pages 214 and 119) ; a separate section is also devoted to the ground 

 grasshoppers which injure crops in a special manner. Few other grass- 

 hoppers are known to be destructive, though a number of species have 

 been sent in as pests or as locusts. 



The Painted Grasshoj)per^ is a large species coloured in blue and 



Fig. 249. 

 The Fainted Grasshopper. 



yellow when full grown, found abundantly on the akh plant {Calotroins 

 spjj.). Its young are coloured yellow with black stipples and red spots, 

 exhibiting warning colouration as do the parents. The Black-spotted 

 Grasshopper^ is a large species coloured in black, brown and white, which 

 lives in the crops and feeds specially upon cotton. The young (fig. 251) 

 are green with a pink strij)e at the posterior edge of the thorax ; this 

 species is found at aU seasons of the year, having no regular broods. 



^Poecilocera picia. F. (Acridiidse.) | ^49. AcricUum aeruginosum. Burm. (Acridiidse.) 



