GRASSHOPPERS — GURNEY AND BROOKS 5 



The male genital mass or assemblage, preferably known as the 

 phallic complex, including the aedeagus and its supporting apodemes, 

 as well as the epiphallus — located anterior to the aedeagus (fig. 2,6) — 

 is situated at the end of the abdomen beneath the supra-anal plate 

 and the pallium (membranous covering usually dorsad of the sub- 

 genital plate). Taxonomically, the aedeagus and epiphallus are the 

 most important organs of the phallic complex, and the critical parts 

 of each are illustrated by M. femur-rubrum (fig. l,h,i). 



Methods and Technics 



A brief outline of the technic employed in examining the male 

 phallic complex may be helpful. 



With freshly collected specimens it is a simple matter to slip back 

 the pallium with a dissecting needle, thus exposing the aedeagus. 

 The attaching muscles are easily disrupted sufficiently to permit the 

 phallic complex to be lifted and pulled posteriorly. It is then exposed, 

 attached to the subgenital plate, and is readily visible in the pinned 

 specimen. However, for the most detailed study, removal of the 

 phallic complex and its examination in alcohol are recommended. 

 It may be preserved in a micro-vial, partly filled with glycerine, set at 

 an angle beneath the grasshopper, with the pin passing through the 

 cork of the micro-vial. The dry preparations still attached to 

 specimens are adequate for sorting and for moderately critical study. 

 In the case of dry grasshoppers, sufficient relaxation to permit expo- 

 sure or removal of the phallic complex may be effected either by 

 placing the specimens in a moist relaxing chamber for one or two days, 

 or by dipping the end of the abdomen for a minute or two in water 

 that is coming to a boil. Although very quick, the latter method 

 frequently destroys the natural colors of the hind legs and results in 

 crumpled tegminal apices ; so the relaxing chamber is recommended if 

 the future appearance of specimens is important. 



Because of the difficulty of identifying females to species in some 

 cases, our maps and distribution records, except as noted, are based on 

 males. This practice has eliminated many uncertainties which other- 

 wise would have entered into the distribution plotting for subspecies 

 and for species of similar appearance which occupy the same areas. 

 Lists of localities from which specimens have been examined, or full 

 data on specimens, have been given only where they appear to be of 

 considerable value. Localities are listed roughly in the order that they 

 appear on the map, taken in rows from north to south, beginning in 

 the east. For two or more localities very close together, only one spot 

 is shown on the map. The intensive field work of the junior author in 

 Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta would, for some species, have 

 permitted the inclusion of an almost solid mass of dots on the map, 



