ANIMAL BIOLOGY 



common and widespread pests is the red-legged grasshopper 

 which is closely related to the preceding species. 



Grasshoppers have been held in check by various meth- 

 ods. Plowing the ground destroys large numbers of the 

 eggs as they seldom develop if covered with a few inches 

 of soil. Grasshoppers are sometimes poisoned by bran 

 mixed with Paris green or London purple. A good deal 

 of success in destroying them has 

 been attained by dragging over the 

 ground machines called " hopper- 

 dozers" in which the grasshoppers 

 are collected and killed by kerosene 

 oil. This substance is a deadly 

 poison to grasshoppers and most 

 other insects, a slight contact with 

 it usually proving fatal. 



Closely allied to grasshoppers 

 such as we have described are the 

 so-called long-horned grasshoppers, 

 katydids and their allies, all of 

 which have long, slender antennae. 

 The fore wings in the males are 

 furnished with a peculiar apparatus 

 at the base, by which they can 

 make a noise when the wings are 

 rubbed together. Only the males 

 of the katydids and grasshoppers 

 sing. The females have an ovipositor, frequently very 

 long, by which eggs may be affixed to or inserted into the 

 stems of plants. 



Other relatives of the grasshoppers are the crickets with 

 whose dark and glossy bodies, lively movements and cheer- 

 ful chirping we are all more or less familiar. In these 

 forms also it is the male that makes the song and he does 



FIG. 10. Eggs of the 

 angular-winged katydid 

 attached to twigs. The 

 holes have been made by 

 the egg parasite, Eupelmus 

 mirabilis (Walsh). (After 

 Essig.) 



