42 



Though it was an almost pure stand of slough grass, with this were 

 mixed a few plants of wild rye (Elynius zirginicus submuticus and B. 

 canadensis). These grasses reach a height of aboui four feet. The 

 ground was very hard and dry, and there were large cracks in it. 

 A single collection of animals was made here, No. 179. 



Common Names 



Common Garden Spider 



Ambush Spider 



Differential Grasshopper, adult 



and nymphs 

 Red-legged Grasshopper, adult 



and nymphs 

 Texan Katydid 

 Meadow Grasshopper 



Dorsal-striped Grasshopper 

 Black-horned Meadow Cricket 

 Four-spotted White Cricket 

 Ground-beetle 

 Sciomvzid flv 



Scientific Names 



Argiopc aurantia 

 Misumena alcatoria 



Mclanoplus differentialis 



Mela no pi us femur -rubrum 



Scudderia texensis 



Orchcllmum vulgare, adult, and 



nymphs of vulgare or glaberri- 



inuni. 

 Xiphidium sfrictum 

 CEcantJius nigricornis 

 CEcantluts quadripunctatus 

 Leptotrachelus dorsalis 

 Tetanocera plumosa 



The basic food-supply in such a habitat is of course the grasses, and 

 this fact fully accounts for the presence of large numbers of individ- 

 uals which feed upon grasses, as do the OrtJioptera in general. But 

 the Orthoptera listed are not exclusively vegetable feeders, for Forbes 

 ('05: 147) has shown that Xiphidium strictum feeds mainly upon in- 

 sects, chiefly plant-lice, as well as upon vegetable tissues, including fun- 

 gi and pollen; Orchelimum vulgare (p. 144), largely upon plant-lice 

 and other insects; and CEcantJius quadripunctatus (p. 220), upon plant 

 tissues, pollen, fungi, and plant-lice. These observations were based 

 upon a study of the contents of the digestive tract. The food of the 

 sciomvzid fly is unknown. The garden spider lives exclusively upon ani- 

 mal food; and being abundant, it must exert considerable influence 

 upon other small animals. It not only destroys animals for its food, but 

 manv others are ensnared in its web and thus killed. In one of the 

 webs I found a large differential grasshopper. The rank growth of 

 vegetation furnishes the necessary support for the webs of this spider. 



Some of the insects, as Melanoplus differentialis and M. femur- 

 rubrum, oviposit in the soil, but others — Scudderia texensis, Xiphid- 

 ium strictum, Orchelimum vulgare, and CEcantJius — deposit their 



