364 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



After a rest of about twenty minutes to allow full expansion of all its parts 

 and the consolidation of its integuments, the little katydid begins to run around, 

 to take leaps, and to exercise its jaw^s upon the vegetation. It remains in this larval 

 stage for seven or eight weeks, during which time it again casts its skin three times. 

 The third time (fourth including its moult in the process of hatching) is the end 

 of the larval stage : with the assumption of its fifth skin it has become the equivalent 

 of a chrysalis with incipient wings packed up in wraps upon its back. 



At the end of this stage the nymph takes firm hold of a twig with its feet, and rests 

 awhile. It feels that a change is coming, and waits quietly for it. At length the 

 skin splits from the front to the back of the head, and then around the neck or 



division between the head and the 

 trunk. This enables the Insect tc 

 get its newly clad head free from the 

 old helmet, which slides off in front. 

 Then with great care the long, 

 thread-like antennae are jjulled out 

 of their sheaths, the mouth-feelers 

 assisting in the operation by pushing 

 down the old nymph-skin. When 

 these are quite free the Insect 

 indulges in a short rest, as though 

 temporarily exhausted by its exer- 

 tions. It is soon ready, however, to 

 renew its efforts, and does so by 

 a series of jerks and contractions 

 which impel the body forward, 

 whilst the old skin is held in position 

 by the second and third pairs of legs, 

 their claws being fixed in the twig. 

 " The most difficult part of the 

 whole process seems to be the 

 extrication of the front legs. This 

 once accomplished, the katydid has 

 something to grasp with, and ex- 

 periences no further trouble in 

 withdrawing the body and the remaining legs from the old integument, often leaving 

 the latter, as an almost transparent shell, in perfect shape upon the twig. It is not 

 allowed to remain long, however, as an object of curiosit}^ for almost the first efforts 

 of the transformed Insect are directed to the task of eating up this, its outgrown 

 and outworn garment." 



There are other species of grasshoppers that are locally known as katydids 

 in different parts of the United States, but their habits are much the same as those 

 of the common one described. A very beautiful form is one from Florida, known 

 as the laurel-leaf katydid,^ and shown on page 363, whose wing-covers are fashioned 

 and coloured to resemble the leaves among which it lives. 



1 Microcentrum laurifolium. 



Angular-winged Katydid. 



The commonest of the North American species. ] t is coloured a leaf-green, 

 and the wing-covers are veined like leaves. The wings are longer than the 

 wing-covers, and the projecting portions are coloured to agree with the 

 wing-covers. The photograph shows the actual size of the Insect. 



