228 GLEANINGS FROM NATURE. 



found, perfectly motionless, and immediately above or 

 below one of the thorns or prickles jutting forth from 

 the twigs. The tips of the hind femora were raised 

 so as to project above the body, thus causing them to 

 resemble the thorns ; and the color of the insects, 

 corresponding closely with that of the bark, made 

 them very difficult to discover even when in especial 

 search of them. On every clump of prickly-ash in 

 the woods mentioned a number of specimens were 

 secured but they could be found nowhere else there- 

 abouts. On another occasion they were discovered 

 about the roots of a scarlet oak, Quercus coccinea 

 Wang, which grew on a sandy hillside. Here they 

 were plentiful, and resting motionless in the depres- 

 sions of the bark or beneath the leaves in the cavities 

 formed by the roots of the tree. 



Of all the males taken in both places, over thirty in 

 number, there was not one with perfect wing covers, 

 and, in almost every instance, the wing covers as well 

 as the rudimentary wings were wholly absent ; while 

 every female had both pairs unharmed. I at first 

 ascribed this wing mutilation to the males fighting 

 among themselves, but finally discovered a female in 

 the act of devouring the wings of a male. Whyjthis 

 curious habit on the part of the one sex ? Possibly 

 the females require a wing diet to requite them for 

 their bestowed affections, or, perchance, they are a 

 jealous set, and, having once gained the affections of 

 a male, devour his wing covers to keep him from call- 

 ing other females about him. 



The tree crickets may be known from others of 

 their kin by their slender hind legs, their narrow, 



