FAMILY VI.— LOCUSTID^. 231 



and sandy places. The eggs are deposited between the stem 

 and root-leaves of this grass. Other eggs, probably of this 

 insect, are not infrequently found below the scale-like leaves 

 of a common cone-gall on our obtuse-leaved willow. In this 

 case the peculiar shape of the long ovipositor is of great use. 

 Prof. Scudder, who has set the note of the male to music, 

 says of the song: "This insect has but a single song and 

 stridulates onW by night, or during cloudy weather. It be- 

 gins its song as soon as the sky is obscured or the sun is 

 near the horizon. It commences with a note like h r w, 



Fig. 154. — Conocephalns tnsiger,fema.\e. Natural size. Original. 



then pauses an instant and immediately emits a rapid suc- 

 cession of sounds like c h iv / at the rate of about five per 

 second, and continues them for an unlimited time. Another 

 writer likens its note to the syllable "ik-ik-if as if sharpen- 

 ing a saw, enlivening low bushes and particularly the corn 

 patch, as it seems to especially delight in perching near the 

 top of a corn-stalk and there giving forth its rather impul- 

 sive song." 



The illustrations (Figs. 153 and 154) show both sexes 

 of this peculiar insect. 



Conocephalus nebrascencis Bruner. 



A shorter winged but heavier bodied insect than ensiger. 

 The cone of the vertex projects more strongly upwards, 

 with the apical half more tapering; basal tooth quite prom- 

 inent. Anal cerci of male stout, with strong internal hooks. 



