213 



DiSSOSTKIKA L()N<;il'KNNIS 'rilOlll. 



The perman(!iit l)rec(liiig-gr()Uii(ls of this si)ccies are in the Rocky 

 Mountains, from Montana to Now Mexico, and from these it is known 

 to migrate in large innnbers into the states l)oi'(lering the monntains on 

 the east. It has never entered Illinois. 



It has occurred in great numloers early in the season in grain and 

 corn fields, hut does little damage, feeding principally on the grama- 

 grasses and buffalo-grass, and later, to some extent, on corn. Alfalfa 

 and potatoes are also eaten. The species is closely related to our 

 connnon black-winged Carolina grasshopj)er, Ijut differs from it in that 

 the wing-covers are ])ale, with num(!rous brown blotches, and the dark 

 area of the hind wings is bluisli and does not cover so much of the wing. 



Campyl.\("axtiia olivacea Scudd. 



This sh(jrt-winged green grasshopper, with rounded thorax, has not 

 lutlierto been reported east of the region extending from Nebraska to 

 Texas, in which it is often common. It is nevertheless not infrequent 

 in Illinois, ])ut has probably been overlooked })ecause of its close resem- 

 blance to the nymplud foi'tns of the common species. It has been taken 

 at Havana, Jvlgewood, and Ashley, in west-central, southeastern, and 

 southwestern Illinois respectively, in sandy grass-land and on wheat 

 and corn in August and September. In the West it feeds on simfiower 

 and lamb's-fpiartors and is suspected of injuring beets. 



THE CRICKET FAMILY. 



Gryllidce. 



This family includes the connnon black an<l l)rown house- and field- 

 crickets (Gryllus and NemoJnus), and the whitish and greenish white 

 climbing crickets of the genera (/acanthus and Xahra. Numerous as these 

 insects often are, they are of but little importance to the corn farmer. 

 Some trifling injury now and then to the leaves of corn, and the occa- 

 sional eating of a few kernels at the tip of an ear, usually when the stalk 

 has fallen to the ground, are practically all the damage to corn which 

 can be laid to their account. 



The family is readily distuiguished from other principal members 

 of its order \)y the fact that the wing-covers are flat above and bent 

 downwards at the sides; that the antenna) are long, slender, and many- 

 jointed; that the foot is three-jointed and has no pads between the 

 claws; that the ears are not in the abdomen, as in the grasshoppers, 

 but in the tibia of the fore-leg; and that the body ends with a pair of 

 slender-jointed ai)pendages, the cerci, while the ovipositor of the female, 

 when present, is a long spear-shaped structure, consisting of four pieces 



