72 EBE1U1ARTS OUTLINES OF 



CHAPTER VII. 



Injurious Orthoptera. 



Orthoptera ("straight- winged" insects,) include the lo- 

 custs, grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, etc. 



The upper wings are more or less leathery, and protect 

 the lower ones, which are folded fan-like beneath them. 



As in Hemiptera, the larvte differ from the adults only 

 in the absence of wings. 



LOCUSTS. 



{Acrtdida . | 



The abdomen of the female locust is armed with an 

 ovipositor (the organ used in depositing eggs), consisting 

 of four horny valves, two curving upward and two down- 

 war When ready to lay her eggs, she makes a hole in 

 the ground with this ovipositor, in which they are deposited 

 one at a time, placed obliquely and in regular order, so as 

 to form an oval mass. 



Fig. 67. P. femur-rubrum. 



The eggs are covered with a white mucus, which ulti- 

 mately hardens and holds them together. 



The hole above the cluster is then closed, the soil being 

 mixed with this same mucus, which, hardening, prevents 

 the accession of moisture. 



