358 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxxii. 



brown when first deposited, but soon dry to a grayish color. They 

 arc al)out one-fourth of an inch in length b}^ one-sixteenth wide and 

 are nearlj^ straight. So numerous are the eggs, which are laid loose 

 in the soil, the upper ones sometimes sticking partially above the sur- 

 face, that as many as three thousand have been counted in a square 

 foot of soil. A single female may lay over one hundred eggs, l^ut the 

 egg-laying period probably extends over a considerable period of 

 time, as ova3 of various stages of development are found in the ovaries 

 at one time. The copulation of this insect presents interesting fea- 

 tures. The position of the male in copulation is curled beneath the 

 female or l^'ing on his back l)encath her, being dragged about as she 

 walks. The transference of seminal fluid inclosed in a sac is recorded 

 as follows by Gillette in his article in Entomological News, from which 

 many of the facts here stated were taken: 



While studying the habits of tliis wingless grasshopjier, near Eddy, my attention 

 was attracted by the large white masses of jelly-like material that were attached to 

 the abdomens of the females just beneath the ovipositors. They had also been 

 noticed by the ranchmen, who spoke of them as "white sacs" and "blubber." I 

 concluded the phenomenon must be associated in some way with the process of fer- 

 tilization, and began an investigation. By pinching the abdomens of several females 

 having the white masses attached I found they could be removed without breaking 

 or tearing any organ, and that they were held in place by the vulva, which grasped a 

 small portion or lobe. Several examples of both sexes were then taken at random 

 from the swarm, and their abdomens were opened in search of this bodj', but it was 

 not found. I noticed, however, that the seminiferous tubules of the males were 

 filled with a milky white fluid before copulation, and that after copulation they 

 were empty and yellow in color. A male and female in copula were then separated, 

 just before the close of the process and before the sperm mass had made its api)ear- 

 ance. The male abdomen was then pinched, so as to crowd the contents toward 

 the end, and a sperm mass, exactly like those taken from the females, was obtained. 

 I therefore concluded that during copulation the males fill these sacs with seminal 

 fluid and then transfer them bodily to the females, who seize them by two small 

 lobes. The females carry these conspicuous white ol)jects about for a time, extracting 

 a portion, at least, of their contents for the fertilization of the ova. After two or 

 three hours these masses disappear entirely, but whether the contents are largely 

 taken in by the female or whether she rejects the greater portion after extracting 

 the spermatozoa I did not determine. 



Ca])inet specimens occasionally retain the sacs mentioned in the 

 above extract, such being true of a specimen of the variet}^ eoloradus 

 from Larkspur, Colorado. The angular corners of the subgenital 

 plate seem to aid the subgenital lobes in retaining the sac. I have 

 seen similar sacs attached to the female of Hcudderiafurcata Brunner. 

 Gillette sa3^s that mating was apparentl}^ done mostly in the earh^ 

 morning, as the females carrying seminal sacs were most numerous 

 about 9 or 10 o'clock in the forenoon, scarcely any occurring after 

 midday. The egg-laying period seems to extend through Juh^ and 

 August and well into September, the young hatching as early as 

 March, and are often subjected to severe temperature, which, how- 



