SUBFAMILY OEDIPODINAE 
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for a time until the insect, tiring, drops again to the earth. From a 
distance this performance resembles the hovering of the “Mourning 
Cloak” butterfly, Euvanessa antiopa, more than the actions of a grass- 
hopper. This habit is occasionally seen in a few other related insects, 
such as some of the Arphias, Camnula pellucida, and Circotettix ver- 
ruculatus. It has been thought by some to be in some way attractive 
to the opposite sex, but as Hancock has noted, we often find this dem- 
onstration occurring when only males are near, and on the whole it ap- 
pears more likely a form of play, possibly akin to the jumping contests 
of small boys. The insect is very social in its habits and individuals 
meeting will sometimes pause and wave the antennae with every ap- 
pearance of an informal conversation. The males are very ardent in 
their courtship and on one occasion we found four unsuccessful males 
clinging to a mating pair so closely as to form a compact mass of lo- 
custs, not even releasing this hold when we rolled them gently down 
an incline. In Minnesota the species matures early in June and may be 
found until severe frosts in the fall. We have found the immature 
forms along the roadsides of Redwood County early in May, squat- 
ting among low and sparse vegetation, apparently enjoying the warmth 
of the sun. 
Like many others of our locusts this species is very subject to the 
attack of a fungous disease, Empusa grylli, and late in summer the dead 
and partly bleached bodies may be seen attached to the tops of weeds. 
This locust is one of those which are of economic importance within 
our area, since it often does considerable damage to growing crops. 
This damage is usually confined to the edges of fields along roadsides, 
although in fields of corn, potatoes, and of certain other cultivated 
crops which present dusty surfaces, the insect may be found far out in 
the fields. The females begin to oviposit early in August or even late 
in July, and may often be noted drilling into soil so firmly packed as 
to appear hopeless. We have seen them drilling in the hard-packed 
roadbed of a well-traveled clay road and on one occasion at Crookston 
we watched one drilling in a hard cinder path in a park. A small boy 
who accompanied us sagely remarked that he guessed they “might 
even try a cement walk.” We have seen this species at nearly every 
point visited within the State, although in the extreme north it is rela- 
tively scarce, its place being taken by Circotettix verruculatus, an insect 
of very similar general appearance and habits. 
SPHARAGEMON Scudd. 
The body of Spharagemon is rather slender and somewhat 
compressed, with the head more or less swollen; vertex rather broadly 
