144 ORDER ORTHOPTEKA. 



Gryllidae. 



This family (the Grasshoppers) is characterized by the possession of four jointed tarsi, long 

 setaceous antennae, a large vertical head and convex forehead, vertical prominent eyes, a 

 thorax flat above, and its sides suddenly dellexed and rounded behind : body more or less 

 compressed ; the breast furnished with two oval foliated plates ; elytra coriaceous, de- 

 scending the sides j abdomen compressed slightly, and furnished in the male with two 

 processes, and in the female with an ovipositor. The legs are long behind, with thickened 

 thighs and spines. 



Platyphyllum coNCAvuM ( Harris). Katydid. ( Plate ix, fig. 1.) 



Color of the body pale brown ; elytra and wings, grass-green. Antennae long, setaceous, 

 yellowish, dilated at the base ; eyes prominent, hemispherical ; head greenish, 

 brownish on the top, front ridged, terminating between the antennae in a triangular 

 apex : thorax greenish, rough, its integument saddle-shaped. In males the musical 

 apparatus occupies a triangular space, covered with a dense parchment-like membrane. 

 Elytra narrowed before, dilated behind and laterally widest near the extremity of the 

 - abdomen, and longer than the wings : nervures consist of one principal trunk, sending 

 off numerous branches below at right angles to it. Wings narrower and shorter than 

 the wing-covers ; branches of the nervures two. Legs green : tibiae quadrate ; each 

 corner serrate or short spinous. Body of the male over one inch long. The female is 

 furnished with a curved ovipositor (see the figure) about one fourth of an inch long, 

 and both sexes with two projections between the forelegs. The wing-covers, in their 

 natural position, form a convex covering extending in the female far enough to cover 

 the ovipositor. 

 The katydid is in its state of perfection in September : the female, about this time, 

 deposits her eggs in a row upon the twigs of the tree she inhabits. Dr. Harris describes 

 the musical instrument as consisting of a pair of taborets : they are formed of the mem- 

 brane already spoken of, which is situated at the base of the wing-covers. This parchment- 

 like membrane is stretched upon a strong, half oval frame, fitted into the space at the base 

 of the thorax. Their notes are eD4tted during the evening and night, and sometimes in 

 dark lowering weather in the afterpart of the day. It is not common, neither is it easy to 

 discover the retreats of this singular insect : the color of their wing-covers favors their 

 concealment among the foliage of the trees. 



The katydid feeds upon leaves ; but it would not comport with the truth, to charge it 

 with doing much damage to the fanner. 



