THE 



ORTHOPTERA OF :N"EW ENGLAND. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The insects belonging to the order Orthoptera are almost with- 

 out exception injurious to our cultivated crops, our forest and 

 shade trees, or become a nuisance in our houses, and therefore 

 demand the careful attention of the student of agriculture and the 

 practical farmer. 



It has been our aim to present the subject in as simple a manner 

 as possible, and as free from difficult terms as is consistent with 

 scientific accuracy, so that any intelligent farmer may be able to 

 determine any orthopterous insects he may find destroying his crops, 

 and learn what means have been suggested for their destruction or 

 for holding them in check. To give completeness to the work, all 

 the New England species are here described, the greater part of 

 them having already been found witliin the limits of the State of 

 Massachusetts. 



In the preparation of this work I have made free use of the 

 writings of others, especially the works of Stal, Saussure and 

 Scudder. In fact, any work on the North American Orthoptera 

 must be based more or less on the writings of Mr. Scudder, our 

 highest authority on this order, whether recent or fossil, and to 

 this gentleman I am indebted more than I can well express for 

 personal assistance in this work. All errors and erroneous con- 

 clusions must be laid to my charge, and not to any advice from 

 him. I am also under obligations to Profs. A. S. Packard and C. 

 V. Riley for illustrations, as well as to Mrs. Tenney for illustra- 

 tions from Tenney 's Natural History. 



CHARACTERS OF THE ORDER. 



If we omit the Earwigs (Forficulidoi) , as has been urged by Dr. 

 Packard and some others, the Orthoptera form quite a compact 

 and natural order, which may be briefly defined as follows. The 

 fore wings are somewhat thickened (not as much as in the beetles), 

 and are not used in flight, but as wing covers. The hind wings 

 are thin and membranous, and are the true organs of flight. 



