﻿94 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM. 
  

  

  Our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  tlie 
  natural 
  history 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  depends 
  almost 
  

   entirely 
  upon 
  what 
  Bruiier 
  wrote 
  in 
  his 
  first 
  accouut 
  of 
  it 
  in 
  1887, 
  

   before 
  it 
  was 
  named. 
  He 
  found 
  it 
  in 
  destructive 
  numbers 
  in 
  Washing- 
  

   ton 
  County, 
  Texas, 
  feeding 
  upon 
  tlie 
  post 
  oak 
  and 
  " 
  comjiletely 
  defoli- 
  

   ating 
  the 
  trees 
  of 
  the 
  forest 
  even 
  to 
  the 
  very 
  topmost 
  twigs." 
  He 
  gives 
  

   the 
  following 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  history 
  and 
  habits: 
  

  

  The 
  egg 
  pods 
  are 
  deposited 
  in 
  the 
  ground 
  about 
  the 
  bases 
  of 
  trees 
  or 
  indifferently 
  

   scattered 
  abont 
  the 
  surface 
  among 
  the 
  decaying 
  leaves, 
  etc., 
  like 
  those 
  of 
  all 
  other 
  

   ground-laying 
  species. 
  The 
  young 
  commence 
  hatching 
  about 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  March, 
  

   and 
  continue 
  to 
  appear 
  nutil 
  into 
  April. 
  After 
  molting 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  and 
  becoming 
  

   a 
  little 
  hardened 
  they 
  immediately 
  climb 
  np 
  the 
  trunks 
  of 
  the 
  trees 
  and 
  bushes 
  of 
  

   all 
  kinds 
  and 
  commence 
  feeding 
  upon 
  the 
  new 
  and 
  tender 
  foliage. 
  They 
  juolt 
  at 
  

   least 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  times, 
  if 
  we 
  may 
  take 
  the 
  variation 
  in 
  size 
  and 
  difference 
  in 
  tlie 
  

   development 
  of 
  the 
  rudiments 
  of 
  wings 
  as 
  a 
  criterion. 
  The 
  imago 
  or 
  mature 
  stage 
  

   is 
  reached 
  by 
  the 
  last 
  of 
  May 
  or 
  during 
  the 
  first 
  part 
  of 
  June. 
  

  

  The 
  species 
  is 
  very 
  active 
  and 
  shy 
  in 
  all 
  its 
  stages 
  of 
  growth 
  after 
  leaving 
  the 
  egg. 
  

   The 
  larva 
  and 
  pupa 
  run 
  up 
  the 
  trunks 
  and 
  along 
  the 
  limbs 
  of 
  trees 
  with 
  considerable 
  

   speed, 
  and 
  in 
  this 
  respect 
  differ 
  consideral)ly 
  from 
  all 
  other 
  species 
  of 
  locusts 
  with 
  

   which 
  I 
  am 
  acquainted. 
  I 
  am 
  informed 
  that 
  the 
  mature 
  insects 
  are 
  also 
  equally 
  

   wild 
  and 
  fly 
  like 
  birds. 
  They 
  feed 
  both 
  by 
  day 
  and 
  night; 
  and 
  I 
  am 
  told 
  by 
  those 
  

   who 
  have 
  i)assed 
  through 
  the 
  woods 
  after 
  night, 
  when 
  all 
  else 
  was 
  quiet, 
  that 
  the 
  

   noise 
  produced 
  by 
  the 
  grinding 
  of 
  their 
  jaws 
  was 
  not 
  unlike 
  the 
  greedy 
  feeding 
  of 
  

   swine. 
  

  

  The 
  colors 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  in 
  life 
  during 
  the 
  early 
  stages 
  are 
  given 
  in 
  

   the 
  same 
  place 
  by 
  Bruner 
  and 
  copied 
  by 
  Packard. 
  

   Eiley 
  had 
  previously 
  reared 
  the 
  species 
  in 
  Missouri 
  on 
  oaks. 
  

  

  21. 
  PODISMA. 
  

  

  {IloSidiio?, 
  measuring 
  by 
  feet.) 
  

  

  Podisma 
  Latueille, 
  Cuvier, 
  Regne 
  Anim., 
  V 
  (1829), 
  p. 
  188. 
  

   Pezotettix 
  Burmeisteh, 
  Germar, 
  Zeitschr. 
  Ent., 
  II 
  (1840), 
  p. 
  51. 
  

  

  Form 
  of 
  body 
  and 
  of 
  head 
  as 
  in 
  Melanoplus 
  ; 
  antennae 
  as 
  there, 
  but 
  

   rarely 
  (Fodisma 
  variegata, 
  e. 
  g.) 
  they 
  are 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  hind 
  femora. 
  

   Pronotum 
  variable, 
  but 
  always 
  short, 
  sometimes 
  subcylindrical, 
  some- 
  

   times 
  (and 
  especially 
  in 
  tlie 
  female) 
  expanding 
  considerably 
  from 
  in 
  front 
  

   backward, 
  never 
  mesially 
  contracted, 
  generally 
  with 
  very 
  feeble 
  trans- 
  

   verse 
  sulci, 
  the 
  lateral 
  lobes 
  obliquely 
  truncate 
  apically 
  on 
  the 
  anterior 
  

   section; 
  front 
  margin 
  truncate, 
  hind 
  margin 
  usually 
  subtruncate 
  or 
  

   truncate 
  and 
  even 
  eniarginate, 
  but 
  sometimes 
  also 
  very 
  obtusangulate, 
  

   the 
  prozona 
  generally 
  considerably 
  longer 
  than 
  the 
  metazona, 
  sometimes 
  

   twice 
  as 
  long, 
  smooth 
  or 
  very 
  faintly 
  punctate, 
  the 
  metazona 
  generally 
  

   very 
  densely 
  punctate; 
  median 
  carina 
  distinct, 
  but 
  sometimes 
  slight 
  on 
  

   the 
  metazona, 
  generally 
  feeble 
  sometimes 
  obsolete 
  on 
  the 
  prozona; 
  lat- 
  

   eral 
  carinae 
  very 
  variable, 
  the 
  disk 
  sometimes 
  passing 
  quite 
  insensibly 
  

   into 
  the 
  lateral 
  lobes, 
  sometimes 
  so 
  abruptly 
  and 
  angularly 
  as 
  to 
  form 
  

   tolerably 
  distinct 
  lateral 
  carinae. 
  Prosternal 
  spine 
  always 
  prominent, 
  

   generally 
  bluntly 
  conical; 
  meso- 
  and 
  metastethia 
  together, 
  at 
  least 
  in 
  

   the 
  male 
  and 
  nearly 
  always 
  in 
  both 
  sexes, 
  distinctly 
  longer 
  than 
  the 
  

   width 
  of 
  the 
  metastethium, 
  the 
  latter 
  iiariowing 
  posteriorly, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  

  

  