218 GLEANINGS FROM NATURE. 



Instead of biting they seem to wrench or tear away 

 pieces from the stems or leaves." 



The females of the cone-heads deposit their eggs 

 between the stems and root leaves of coarse grasses 

 and sedges. The young are hatched in May and 

 reach maturity about the 5th of August. The notes 

 of the male vary much according to species, that of 

 the more common "sword-bearer," Conocephaltis en- 

 siger Harris, being similar to the syllables " ik-ik-ik" 

 as if sharpening a saw, this sound enlivening low 



Fig. 50 Sword-bearer. 

 (Female. After Lugger.) 



bushes, and particularly the corn patch, as it seems 

 to especially delight in perching near the top of a 

 cornstalk and there giving forth, its rather impulsive 

 song. 



The other members of the green-grasshopper group, 

 17 in number known to occur in the State, seldom 

 exceed three-fourths of an inch in length. The color 

 of their bodies corresponds closely to that of the 

 stems and leaves of the sedges and grasses among 

 which they dwell, and so protects them from the sight 



