156 ORTHOPTERA. 



(Fig. 73,) the spotted wingless cricket. Its' body is of a pale 

 yellowish-brown color, darker on the back, which is covered 

 Fig - a with little light-colored 



spots, and the outside of 

 the hindmost thighs is 



O 



marked with numerous 

 short oblique lines, dis- 

 posed in parallel rows, 

 like those on the thighs of 



O 



Acheta vittata. It varies in length from one half to more than 

 three quarters of an inch, exclusive of the piercer and legs. 

 The body is smooth and shining, and the back is arched. 



Most grasshoppers are of a green color, and are furnished 

 with wings and wing-covers, the latter frequently resembling 

 the leaves of trees and shrubs, upon which, indeed, many of 

 these insects pass the greater part of their lives. Their leaf- 

 like form and green color evidently seem to have been de- 

 signed for their better concealment. They are nocturnal 

 insects, or at least more active by night than by day. When 

 taken between the fingers, they emit from their mouths a 

 considerable quantity of dark-colored fluid, as do also the 

 locusts or diurnal grasshoppers. They devour the leaves of 

 plants, and lead a solitary life, or at least do not associate 

 and migrate from place to place in great swarms, like some 

 of the crickets and the locusts. There is a remarkable differ- 

 ence in their habits, Avhich does not appear to have been 

 described hitherto. Some of these grasshoppers live upon 

 grass and other herbaceous or low plants in fields and mead- 

 ows. The piercer of the females is often straight, or only 

 slightly curved. They commit their eggs to the earth, thrust- 

 ing them into holes made therein with the piercer. They lay 

 a large number of eggs at a time, and cover them with a kind 

 of varnish, which, when dry, forms a thin film that com- 

 pletely encloses them. These eggs are elongated, and nearly 

 of an ellipsoidal form. Other green G-rylli live upon trees 

 and shrubs. Their wing-covers and wings are broader, and 



