,56 Handbook of Nature-Study 



The pair of double spines at the end of the tibia, just back of the foot, are 

 pressed against the ground Hke a spiked heel, and the whole attitude of 

 the insectis tense. Then, like a steel spring, the long legs straighten and 

 the insect is propelled high into the air and far away. This is a remark- 

 able example of insect dynamics ; and since so many species of birds feed 

 upon the grasshopper, its leaping power is much needed to escape them. 

 However, when the grasshopper makes a journey it uses its wings. 



As we watch a grasshopper crawling up the side of a vial or tumbler we 

 can examine its feet with a lens. Between and in front of the claws is 

 an oval pad which clings to the glass, not by air pressure as was once sup- 

 posed, but by means of microscopic hairs, called tenent hairs, which secrete 

 a sticky fluid. Each foot consists of three segments and a claw; w^hen 

 the insect is quiet, the entire foot rests upon the ground ; but when 

 climbing on glass, the toe pads are used. 



The grasshopper's face has a droll expression; would that some carica- 

 turist could analyze it! It is a long face, and the compound eyes placed 

 high upon it, give a look of solemnity. The simple eyes can be made out 

 with a lens. There is one just in front of each big eye, and another, like 

 the naughty little girl's curl, is "right in the middle of the forehead." 

 The antennae are short but alert. The two pairs of palpi connected with 

 the mouth-parts are easily seen, likewise the two pairs of jaws, the notched 

 mandibles looking like a pair of nippers. We can see these jaws much 



Adult of red-legged 

 The nymph of the red-legged grasshopper 



grasshopper, enlarged. Comstock's Manual. 



better when the insect is eating, which act is done methodically. First, it 

 begins at one edge of a leaf, which it seizes between the front feet so as to 

 hold it firm; it eats by reaching up and cutting downwards, making an 

 even-edged, long hole on the leaf margin; the hole is made deeper by 

 repeating the process. It sometimes makes a hole in the middle of a leaf 

 and bites in any direction, but it prefers to move the jaws downward. 

 While it is feeding, its palpi tap the leaf continually and its whole atti- 

 tude is one of deep satisfaction. There is an uproUed expression to the 

 compound eyes which reminds us of the way a child looks over the upper 

 edge of its cup while drinking milk. The grasshopper has a preference 

 for tender herbage, but in time of drouth will eat almost any living plant. 

 Back of the head is a sun-bonnet-shaped piece, bent down at the sides, 

 forming a cover for the thorax. The grasshopper has excellent wings, as 

 efficient as its legs; the upper pair are merely strong, thick, membranous 

 covers, bending down at the sides so as to protect the under wings; these 

 wing-covers are not meant for flying and are held stiff and straight up in 

 the air, during flight. The true wings, when the grasshopper is at rest, are 

 folded lengthwise like a fan beneath the wing-covers; they are strongly 

 veined and circular in shape, giving much surface for beating the air. 

 The grasshoppers' flight is usually swift and short ; but in years of famine 



