CHAPTER VIII 



INSECTS 



The Grasshopper 



Suggestions. — Collect grasshoppers, both young and full- 

 grown, and keep alive in broad bottles or tumblers and feed on 

 iresh grass or lettuce. When handling a live grasshopper, never 

 hold it by its legs, as the joints are weak. To keep them for 

 some time and observe their moults, place sod in the bottom of a 

 box and cover the box with mosquito netting or wire gauze. 



What is the general shape of its body? (Fig. 106.) 

 Where is the body thickest ? Is it bilaterally symmetri- 

 cal, that is, are the two sides of the 

 body alike ? Is the skeleton, or hard 

 part of the body, internal or external ? 

 Is the skeleton as stiff and thick 

 as that of a crayfish ? What is the fig. 106.— a grass- 

 length of your specimen ? Its colour } hopper. 



Why does it have this coloration ? In what ways does the 

 grasshopper resemble the crayfish ? Differ from it? 



The Three Regions of the Body. — The body of the grass- 

 hopper is dividedinto three regions — the head, the thorax, 

 and the abdomen. Which of these three divisions has no dis- 

 tinct subdivisions ? The body of the grasshopper, like that of 

 the earthworm, is made of ringlike segments. Are the seg- 

 ments most distinct in the head, the thorax,or the abdomen ? 

 Which region is longest ? Shortest ? Strongest ? Why ? 

 Which region bears the chief sense organs ? The ap- 

 pendages for taking food ? The locomotory appendages ? 

 Which division of the body is most active in breathing ? 



63 



