ORTHOPTERA. 



The name of the order is derived from the straight- 

 margined, nearly parallel-sided front wings or elytra. 

 All the Orthoptera have biting mouth-parts, and bite off 

 and chew their food, which is usually living plants, 

 especially green leaves; although there is one family 

 within the order which preys on other insects, and 

 another family prefers dried vegetable or animal refuse. 



The metamorphosis is incomplete, the young, when 

 hatched, resembling the parents except in size and 

 possession of wings. This is the order of the grasshoppers, 

 the katydids, the crickets, the cockroaches, the praying 

 mantids and the walking sticks. In the early days of the 

 spring one may find tiny grasshoppers which have recently 

 hatched out; tiny slow-moving creatures, which do little 

 leaping at this stage of their existence. Among the leap- 

 ing Orthoptera the hind legs are very large and strong, 

 and when the insect is standing still or walking, the knees 

 stand much higher than the back of the insect. (Fig. 35.) 

 During the summer evenings, from twilight until dawn 

 comes over the eastern hills, one may hear the constant 

 hum of insect voices, or rather sounds without voices, 

 for no insect has vocal chords which may be set into 

 vibration by currents of air after the manner of the human 

 voice production. Almost all this music comes from the 

 Orthoptera. Besides the booming of the bumblebee, 

 the buzz of the flies, and the shrilling of the mosquito, 

 there is but one famous singer, and that is the cicada. 



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