147 



THE SMALLER MEADOW GRASSHOPPERS. 



Xiphidium strictum Scudd. 



A', hrevipenne Scudd. 



A', nemorale Scudd. 



A^. fasciatum DeG. 



The small, slender grasshoppers of this genus are often seen in fall 

 in corn fields, where they feed freely on the leaves and husks and even 

 gnaw the grains at the tip of the ear; but because of their small size 

 and relative infrequency their injuries to corn are probably of very 

 little consequence. The four species above mentioned have been found 

 by us injuring corn in this way. 



Forty specimens of this genus were dissected at my office for a study 

 of their food, all the above species being represented in this collection. 

 Vegetable food was 

 in excess of that 

 derived from in- 

 sects in every 

 species. Of the 

 fifteen specimens 

 of fasciatum-, three 

 had eaten only 

 insects, and in 



seven these made the greater part of the food. In six instances vege- 

 tation predominated, and in one of these it was wholly of fungus 

 origin. Pollen was found in the food of five specimens in amounts vary- 

 ing from a mere trace to almost fifty per cent. Fragments of grass 

 blades and the anthers of grasses made the greater part of the food in 

 one case, and in two others considerable amounts of dead vegetable 

 tissues had been eaten. A single specimen of A", hrevipenne had taken 

 both insect and vegetable food, but less of the former than of the latter, 

 which was all derived from grasses or grasslike plants. Six examples 

 of X. nemorale had taken vegetable food, chiefly of a miscellaneous char- 

 acter, and so far as recognizable all derived from graminaceous plants. 

 Two of this species had eaten more insects than vegetation, and a third 

 almost as much. Pollen and fungi were found in six specimens out of 

 twenty. X. strictum had fed mainly on insects, and, as usual, these were 

 chiefly plant-lice, with fragments of a few larger insects. In six, pollen 

 composed a minor part of the food, but predominated in three 

 more, two of which were caught on flowers. Fungi in considerable 

 variety and varying quantity occurred in the food of seven. By 

 far the largest element of the food of these twenty specimens consisted 

 of vegetable tissues, comparatively little of which had been derived 



Fig. 135. Xiphidium strictum. Twice natural .size. 



