OP THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



123 



it acquires wings, the cottony secretion is always copious enough to 

 cover all but the head. 



„,j^ ^j, A sixth kind of puncture is illustrated herewith, (Fig. 56)^ 



and is found in a variety of soft, fibrous plants, such as the more 

 cylindrical parts of Indian corn, the stems of roses, and par- 

 ticularly those of the Raspberry. There are usually ten or 

 twelve rounded punctures, at a distance of from half an inch 

 to an inch, or more, from each other — the fibre of the plant 

 being torn in shreds longitudinally. Upon cutting into these 

 punctures, the wood is found to be discolored and dead, as far 

 as they extend, and in the center of the pith, placed longitudi- 

 nally, is an elongate, dull yellow, opaque, soft, more or less 

 flattened egg, 0.22 inch long, and 0.04 wide, the anterior end 

 tapering to a tolerably fine point, the posterior end more blunt. 

 I have not yet succeeded in Iiatching the insect from these 

 eggs, and it is impossible to say positively to what species they 

 belong. But I strongly incline to believe that they produce 

 our largest mesidow- grasshopper, (OrGhelivmm glabe7n7}iu7n-> 

 Burm.), because I have had just such eggs deposited in cork by 

 the female of this species, kept for that purpose in confine- 

 ment, and have found it quite common where these punctures were 

 abundant. It is a glassy green species, with some brown each side 

 of the thorax, the female having a strong, smooth, cimeter-like ovipo- 

 sitor, and the male a transparent violin at the base of his front wings^ 

 wiiich is principally instrumental in causing that incessant and' con- 

 tinued singing or ringing so characteristic of our autumns. 

 The hard, more or less flattened, slate- 

 colored eggs, deposited in a double row, and 

 overlapping each other as in the accompany- 

 ing figures, repeatedly excite the curiosity of 

 the inquisitive. Harris describes these eggs 

 as belonging to the common Broad-winged 

 Katydid {Platyphyllum \Cyrtopliyllus\ con- 

 cavum Harr). He received them from Miss 

 Morris, and whether it is on her authority or 

 on his own that they have been given such a 

 irentage, is not stated; but certain it is 

 ■hat the statement is a gross error, and has 

 11 misled entomologists generally. Several 

 Mirs ago I hatched the insects from the eggs, 

 illustrated at figure 57, and proved them to 

 belong to the Oblong-winged Katydid(P/i?/7- 

 loptera ohlongifolia, DeGeer). As I found 

 others which were somewhat flatter and broader, (Fig. 58), and as 

 Harris's statement was unqualified, and he moreover expressly states 

 that "in form, size and color, and in their arrangement on the twig," 



[Fig. 57] 



