144 



in the leaves of two sj)e(-ies of grasses of the genus Panicuni, after the 

 manner of [urcata. Pistillata is most conmuMi a])Out the swampy lake- 

 shores. We have taken it near Urbana. 



Texensis and furcata are found fi-oni tlu^ Great Plains to the Atlantic, 

 while jmtilldta seems liniit-cul to tlu; northern huU" of the country. 



TUK lARGb^R MEADOW GRASSHOPPERS. 

 Orchclimum vulgare Harr. (0. agile.) 

 0. glaherrimum Burm. 

 0. silvaticum McNeill. 



The hirgor nu^adow grassh()j)pers are often heard singing in the corn 

 fields, where they are frcHjuently quite abundant, eating the leaves and 

 gnawing the silks and kcnu^ls at the tip of the ear. They also make 

 their presence consijicuous by laying their eggs abundantly in the tassel 

 joint, until it looks as if it had been riddled by a charge of shot. 



Like their relatives, they have long, threadlike antennjB, which 

 extend beyond the wings, often twice the length of the body. In color 

 they are greenish, with a brown stri])e on the thorax. The ovipositor 

 is shaped like the blade of a sickle but varies in curvature. In vulgare 



J''io. 132. Orchelinmm vulgare, icnvAo. Nut- Fic. 133. OrcheKmum vulyare, maXa. Nat- 



ural size. (Lugger.) ural size. (LuKger.) 



(l''ig. 132, 133), which is by far the commonest species, the tips of the 

 hind thighs and of the two pairs of wings are all about in line, while in 

 ijIdlK rrhmim the thighs, the upper wings, and the lower wings form a 

 seri(>s of noticeably increasing length. Silvaticum differs from vulgare 

 in having spities on the lower edge of the hind thighs. 



These grassho])pers are common in meadows and pastures, and their 

 injury to corn is often most marked at the borders of fields adjoining 

 grass lands. 



Ordinary observation of Ww^o insects in the field apparently does 

 not indicate accurately their average food, since dissection exhibits a 

 considerable proportion of insects in it. Fourteen specimens of Orchcl- 

 iiniim vulgare and ahlongijolia, eight of tlu^ first and six of the second, 

 were examined for me by Mr. R. G. Mills in 1903. Four of vulgare 

 had eaten mainly insects, two of them, indeed, nothing else. These 

 were mostly plant-lice. The vegetable constituent of the food of this 



