248 INSECTS AT HOME. 



always been a favourite of mine, partly on account of its 

 beauty, partly on account of its habits, and partly on account 

 of its size, which renders it an admirable object for the 

 entomologist who is studying that most absorbing branch 

 of science, the comparative anatomy of insects. JNIoreover. 

 the structure of the infernal organism is so clearly marked, 

 that its dissection is qiute an easy task, compared with that of 

 many insects. A figure of the Great Green Grasshopper is 

 given in the frontispiece, a female insect being shown in the 

 act of depositing her eggs. 



When living, this insect is of the most beautiful leaf-green, 

 but, unfortunately, this colour is very evanescent, and no sooner 

 is the grasshopper dead than the colour begins to fade. Indeed, 

 the hue of a living and dead specimen is as different as that of 

 a living and dead leaf, the one being light-green and the other 

 yellowish-brown, even becoming black in some places. I do not 

 know any mode of preserving for any length of time the soft 

 green hue of this beautiful insect, and regret this the more, 

 because the creatures, which would form such beautiful objects 

 in a cabinet, actually become unsightly, and can only be valued 

 for scientific purposes. 



This is a tree-loving insect, and is seldom found in the grass. 

 When I was engaged in studying the internal structure of in- 

 sects, I procured my specimens of the Great Green Grasshopper 

 from a hazel hedge in a garden just on the outskirts of Oxford, 

 the insects having for some reason or other taken an extra- 

 ordinary fancy to this hedge. The young entomologist must, 

 however, bear in mind that for the Great Green Grasshopper 

 to be in a particular tree is one thing, and that to find it is 

 another ; for its colour harmonises so exactly with that of the 

 leaves that no small practice is required before it can be 

 detected. The cry of tliis insect is a loud one, and when 

 it produces the shrilling sound, it clings tightly with its 

 feet to the object on which it is standing, presses its body 

 slightly downwards, and seems to shudder as long as the sound 

 .lasts. 



.The ovipositor of the female insect is very long and sword- 

 shaped, and, on being closely examined, is found to consist of 

 several blades, which fit against each other when the instru- 

 . mejit . is , aot in use, and can be separated to allow the egg to 



