ORTHOPTERA 133 



The grasshopper (see Fig. 85, p. 113) may be taken as typical of 

 this order. 



The Head. — The mouth parts consist of a lahrum or upper 

 lip, the mandibles, a pair of crushing or biting jaws, followed 

 by a pair of maxillce., or smaller jaws, each of which consists of 

 three parts — ^an outer, jointed maxillary palpus, and a spoon- 

 shaped piece which covers the brown incurved maxilla. Then 

 follows the labium, or lower lip, with its jointed labial palpi. 

 On the head are two compound eyes and three simple eyes, 

 or ocelli, and a pair of antennae or feelers. 



The thorax is divided into three well-marked divisions: 

 First, is the movable, cape-like prothorax, to which is attached 

 the first pair of legs. Second, is the mesothorax, bearing the next 

 pair of legs and the anterior pair of wings, which are straight 

 and rather narrow. Third, is the metathorax, with the large 

 third pair of legs and the posterior wings, which fold up like a 

 fan under the anterior wings when not in use. 



The segmented abdomen follows the_ thorax. Close observa- 

 tion with the magnifying glass will show minute openings on the 

 sides of the segments. These openings are the spiracles or 

 breathing pores. 



" Singing." — This order of insects gives us most of our 

 " singers " and leapers of the insect world, and, strangely enough, 

 the leapers are the singers, and, stranger still, they sing without 

 a voice. Of the six families of Orthoptera, three are composed 

 of these leaping and " singing " insects. The locust or short- 

 horned grasshopper, when at rest, makes a noise by rasping the 

 inner surface of the hind thighs across the thickened and ridged 

 longitudinal vein of the outer surface of the fore wings. In the 

 air, the " clacking " is made by rubbing the upper surface of the 

 anterior margin of the hind wings back and forth past the 

 under surface of the posterior margin of the fore wings. " This 

 can be heard for a distance of several rods."^ 



The male cricket holds his fore wings (Fig. 102) up over his 

 body and rubs together the upper side of their basal region. 

 The male tree crickets, katy-dids, meadow-green grasshoppers 

 with long antennae, also rub together specially modified por- 

 tions of the fore wings. 



1 Kellogg, p. 134. 



