32 THE RICE GRASSHOPPER 



In the second series of experiments, four egg-masses, 

 removed from soil in June, 1910, were buried in light soil 

 in four separate tubes (a, h, c, d) at depths of from three and 

 a-half to four inches. On 24tli June, 1910, hoppers had 

 emerged from the mass in tube a and had worked their 

 way to the surface through a tortuous tunnel made along 

 the glass. In tubes h and c, hatching had begun but 

 tunnelling to the surface had not commenced. In tube 

 (1, hatching had not commenced. 



Tubes h and d were now inverted and sunk in sand, 

 while tube c was left erect. The object of the inversion 

 was as follows: — The masses had been placed in their 

 natural position in the tubes so that the head ends of the 

 eggs were directed upward. V>\ inverting the tubes the 

 position of the hatching grasshoppers was reversed. It 

 might then be supposed that the hatching hoppers would 

 in tunnelling take the natural direction, which as the}' 

 were inverted would be downward, not upward. In this 

 way it was thought that the nymphs might continue 

 burrowing downward and so sink themselves deeper into 

 the soil instead of getting nearer the surface. This has a 

 practical bearing for, in the case of ploughing with an 

 improved plough, the soil is inverted and large numbers of 

 the egg-masses thus come to lie with their upper ends 

 dowmward. 



The results, however, did not agree with these theo- 

 retical considerations. It is true that the young nymphs 

 continued burrowing downward in the two inverted tubes 

 until the}' had worked through to the top of the tube. 

 Instead of remaining there, tliey tunnelled back upward 

 and continued burrowing in all directions through 

 the upper closed end of the tube for several days. 

 On the 30th June, or four days after hatching, twelve 

 nymphs were found still alive in the upper closed end of 

 tube d. On the following day, all the hoppers but one 

 in this tube were dead. 



The above experiments indicate two things : — Firstly, 

 that the young hoppers are capable of living a compara- 

 tively long time in the soil after hatching ; and secondly, 

 that, during that time, they are capable of burrowing 

 many inches in all directions. From this it will appear 

 clear that no practical results can be anticipated from 

 burying the egg-masses five or six inches in the soil by means 



