9 2 



FIELD ZOOLOGY. 



Another case of protective coloring is found among the 

 tree crickets, delicate, pale-green, shadowy insects to be 

 found in among the foliage of vines, shrubs, or trees. The 

 male tree cricket has a way of closing his wings flat on 

 his back, so that they extend out some distance from the 

 side of his body and make him look larger than he really 

 is ; while the female folds her wings downward around the 

 body. Both are leaf eaters, and if they were more 

 abundant or had fewer enemies, they would be quite 

 injurious to vegetation. A tree or a shrub denuded of its 

 leaves is unable to ripen its fruit for any given season, or 

 to make its buds for the next season. 



Scudder mentions finding grayish katydids in mount- 

 ainous regions, and says that their quiet colors were 

 quite as effective against the granite rocks as is the green 

 of our katydids among growing vegetation. 



The three families of Orthoptera that do not sing 

 nor walk, and run instead of leaping are the cockroaches, 

 the praying mantids, and the walking sticks. The 

 cockroaches are among our oldest insects. More than 

 two hundred different kinds have been found preserved 

 in the carboniferous rocks of North America and Europe. 

 They could hardly have been scavengers in those days, 

 as there were no kitchens nor restaurants for them to 

 ransack then. They were probably plant-eaters, as our 

 native roaches are to-day; or they may have been preda- 

 tory creatures; roaches indoors nowadays will often 

 devour bedbugs. 



Many of the roaches at present found in the United 

 States were imported from Europe, brought over in the 

 holds of ships, and, coming ashore with baggage or with 

 the luggage of immigrants, are given access to many 

 buildings, warehouses, and homes where a comfortable 



