Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 27 



ORDER ORTHOPTERA 



GRASSHOPPERS, CRICKETS, KATYDIDS, ETC. 



Even if they had nothing to do with the lake and its life, a dis- 

 cussion of the insects of the region, or, indeed, of the insects of 

 any region, without mention of the Orthoptera would be, to use 

 a singularly unhappy but hackneyed simile, like the play of Ham- 

 let with Hamlet left out; for there is no other group of insects 

 more prominent, perhaps one could even say so prominent, in the 

 consciousness of men. What the gaudy butterflies are to the eye, 

 the Orthoptera are to the ear. Indeed, grouping the various in- 

 sects according to the sensations caused by the most familiar mem- 

 bers we might say that we know the Hemiptera by the sense of 

 smell,* the Diptera by the sense of touch, the Lepidoptera by the 

 sense of sight, the Hymenoptera through their works and indirectly 

 by the sense of taste, and the Orthoptera by the sense of hearing. 



This group it is that adds to the thought of insect life nearly 

 all of its lyrical element ; and it is probably on account of this that 

 the one notable exception is popularly known as the "locust", just 

 as country boys think of the chimney swift as a "swallow" because 

 of its general similarity in habits. As will be seen later, how- 

 ever, one group of these insects is of peculiar interest and bears a 

 special relation to the life of the lake. 



Not all the Orthoptera are choral. There are the cockroaches, 

 which are, very fortunately, scarce or absent in the houses about 

 the lake. A wild, or native species was, however, abundant and 

 nearly ate the bindings off of some books kept in the tent, and the 

 lank, silent walking-sticks, Diapheromera femorata, were not rare 

 in woodlands. Of greatest economic importance were the grass- 

 hoppers. 



This group of insects is important because certain species enter 

 so largely into the food supply of many species of fishes. By all 

 odds the most popular as well as the most killing bait used by the 

 anglers who frequent the lake is the grasshopper. It is a choice 

 bait and always attractive, not only to both species of black bass, 

 but also to the rock-bass, bluegill and yellow perch, and not wholly 

 rejected by the warmouth, crappie, calico bass, wall-eyed pike, 

 pumpkinseed and other sunfishes. 



It has been shown elsewhere in this report that the small boys 

 who sell grasshoppers to the anglers at this lake derive therefrom 

 an annual income of at least $200. 



*We feel mosquitoes, smell bugs, taste honey (and if reports of lumber camps are to be believed, gome of 

 the men eat the large black ants for their acid taste and intoxicating effects), see butterflies, and h ear 

 crickets, grasshoppers and katydids. 



