OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



16T 



THE BROAD-WINGED l^KTYDlTf—Plaiyphylhim coneavum Harr. 



lFig-.5-M 



This is our next most common species, 

 and the true Katydid from which the 

 popular name is derived. It is the only 

 one of the four species, here treated of, in 

 which the wing-covers are longer than the 

 wings, and it is at once distinguished fromi 

 all the others by the greater breadth and 

 convexity of these wing-covers, which 

 entirely enclose the abdomen, and, with 

 their strong mid-rib, look exceedingly like 

 a leaf. The species is, withal, so familiar 

 to most persons, and has been so well 

 described by Harris, that I shall touch 

 only on its more striking characters, or 

 on such traits as are not generally known. 

 The ovipositor of the female (Fig. 53, a,, 

 h) is almost as long as the abdomen, 

 cimeter-shaped, sharp-pointed, and with 

 but slight serrations on the lower edge 

 toward the tip. Both sexes have two 

 thorn-like projections on the breast, be- 

 tween the front legs, and the membrana- 

 ceous spots on the dilated base of the 

 Harris. 'front tibiae are convex rather than con- 



cave, and look like little pockets, from above. 



The eggs are thrust, by means of the sharp ovipositor, into cre- 

 vices and soft substances, and probably, in a state of nature, into the 

 crevices of loose bark or into the soft stems of woody 

 plants. In the breeding cage I have had pieces of cork 

 filled with them, and they have often been crowded be- 

 tween the crevices and sutures of my cages, especially 

 where the cap rests on the cage proper. These eggs are 

 0.25-0.30 inch long, very flat, over thrice as long as wide, 

 pointed at each end, with the o.dges beveled off or emar- 

 ginate (Fig. 54, a side view, h front view, enlarged, c, d 

 natural size). They are of a dark slate color, and the 

 lower or first inserted end is protected by a dark, adhe- 

 ^'con™um':^«, sive substance, which hardens and sometimes extends 

 "mir"?S" the whole length of one of the borders. Several eggs are 

 eiia?ged! ''''"''' usually pressed close to each other. 



rLATYrinLLiM CONCAYUJI :— Male, alter. 



[Fig. 53.] 



