138 



BRANCH ARTHROPODA 



in a sweet solution a destructive fungous growth (Fig. 107) . A few members 

 of the swarm are dipped in the solution and turned loose, spreading the 

 disease.! Melan'oplus (ill<ui'lis sometimes docs much harm in New England. 

 Locusts lay their cgg^, numbering from 2.5 to 125, in oval masses, cov- 

 ered with a glutinous substance. The female deposits them (Fig. 108) in 

 the ground or in rotten wood, with hor strong, horny ovipositor, or they 

 may be laid on the surface of the ground among the grass and weeds. The 

 eggs are usimlly laid in the fall and hatch in the spring, there being but the 

 one new brood a year. The young resemble the parents in general, having 

 biting mouth i)arts and long legs. They are paler and wingless. The 

 wings appear as minute scale-like projections and grow larger with each of 

 the five or six molts (Fig. 104) Strangely enough, the himl wings, which 

 are always underneath tlie fore wings in the adult, lie outside during devel- 

 opment. Birds are the best exterminator. The eggs may be jjlowed up 



Fig. 108.— Rocky Mountain locust : a, u, a, Female in different positions, 

 ovipositing; h, egg-pod extracted from ground, with the end broken open; 

 c, a few eggs lying loose on the ground; d, e, show the earth partially removed 

 to illustrate an egg-mass already in place and one being placed; /, shows 

 where such a mass has been covered up. (After Riley.) 



in the fall, or when they hatch in the spring the young could be crushed by 

 heavy rollers or burned by scattering straw over the ground and lighting it.^ 

 Locus'tidae. — This family includes crickets, katy-dids, and long-horned 

 grasshoppers. Unfortunately, the common name of locust is applied only 

 to members of the family of Acrididoe, and to the cicada of the order 

 Hemiptera, hut to none of the LocM.s/w/ce. The long-horned meadow-green 

 grasshopper has the delicate antennae longer than the body, the tarsi 

 four jointed, the ovipositor sword shaped, and the tympanum on the 

 tibia (Fig. 95, p. 123) of the front leg. The males call their mates by 



1 Linville-Kelly, p. 15. 



2 Kellogg, p. 139. 



