OA' THOP TERA. 



115 



IV. The Shield backed Grasshoppers. — These are also 

 wingless, and dull-colored insects, which bear some resem- 

 blance to crickets. They 

 present, however, a 

 queer appearance, due 

 to the pronotum extend- 

 ing backward over the 

 rest of the thorax, like 

 a sun-bonnet worn over FlG - w-*%~** 



the shoulders with the back side forward. This group is repre- 

 sented in the Eastern half of the United States by Thyreo- 

 notus (Thyr-e-o-no'tus) (Fig. 131). In the regions west of the 

 Mississippi River occur the " Western Crickets," belonging 

 to the genus Anabrus (An'a-brus), and on the Pacific coast 



Fig. 132. — Stenopclmatus. 



there are large, clumsy creatures with big heads, that live 

 under stones and in loose soil, and are popularly known as 

 Sand-crickets. These belong to the genus Stenopelmatus 

 (Sten-o-pel-ma'tus) (Fig. 132). 



Family GRYLLID.E (Gryl'li-dae). 



The Crickets. 



The crickets differ from both families of grasshoppers in 

 having the wing-covers flat above and bent sharply down at 

 the edge of the body like a box-cover, instead of meeting in 

 a ridge above the body like a roof. The antennae are long 



