GRASSHOPPERS — GURNET AND BROOKS 23 



suggest that bilituratus bilituratus has definite responses and prefer- 

 ences concerning food plants. In cage studies conducted in eastern 

 Wyoming, Pfadt (1949) found that adults preferred dandelion and 

 wheat to all other plants which he tested, that tansymustard and 

 dandelion gave the most nymphal growth, and that dandelion, wheat, 

 and tansymustard were most favorable to egg production. In 

 Manitoba, Smith, Hanford, and Chefurka (1952) fed certain plants 

 through three successive generations (in cages) and recorded survival, 

 rate of development, and the number of eggs laid. They found that 

 wheat, barley, and dandelion were the most favorable food plants, 

 and that Russian thistle and alfalfa were the least favorable. How- 

 ever, Anderson and Wright (1952) found during Montana field studies 

 that feeding occurred on a wide variety of plants, representing a 

 wider host range than suggested by Pfadt's cage studies. Hebard 

 (1929, p. 391) recorded a pair of Melanoplus (probably bilituratus 

 bilituratus) from Perth, Nev., which were very smaU, with malformed, 

 reduced wings. They occurred in alfalfa and, although normal 

 specimens were abundant, perhaps the pair in question fed entirely 

 or mainly on alfalfa. Scharff (1954) reviewed the effects of food plants 

 and weather. 



Environments occupied by bilituratus bilituratus are extremely 

 variable, Hebard (1925a, p. 112) stating that it (atlanis) "is equally at 

 home in weedy waste land or on the sage-brush plains, its environment 

 having a very decided effect on its general appearance." The general 

 preference for light, sandy soils has been mentioned by Morse (1920). 

 In the grain belt (ShotweU, 1930) it frequents fence row areas and 

 wheat-stubble fields, especially where Russian thistle grows. In 

 southern Michigan, CantraU (1943) concluded that this grasshopper 

 is characteristic of, and prefers, a mixed grass-herbaceous habitat, and 

 that in many other environments where the grasshopper appears it 

 probably is a sporadic member of the fauna, since it wanders a great 

 deal. 



Altitudinally, the range of bilituratus bilituratus captures extends 

 from sea level in many places to the Alpine Zone (see Alexander, 1951, 

 pp. 107-108, for critical comments on occurrence in the Alpine Zone 

 of Colorado, also notes by Gurney, 1953, p. 317). Through the 

 courtesy of Dr. George E. Wallace, Carnegie Museum, we have 

 examined a rather long-winged male of bilituratus bilituratus taken by 

 the late Dr. Walter Sweadner, Aug. 9, 1932, at an altitude of 7,200 

 feet, imbedded in the Sperry Glacier, Glacier National Park, Mont. 

 No further details are available. 



In New England bilituratus bilituratus occurs from the seashore to 

 the summits of the highest mountains (Morse, 1920). Some altitudes 

 on the labels of specimens examined are as follows: Junction of Moose 



