LOCUSTS AND GRASSHOPPERS (ACRIDIID^E}. 83 



This family contains the majority of the species, a 

 very large number, varying considerably in form and 

 character ; it is the most numerous in species and 

 individuals of any of the families of Orthoptera. The 

 small grasshoppers which are common in our fields give 

 a very good idea of their general appearance. Active 

 little insects having a body laterally somewhat com- 

 pressed, a large head, conspicuous eyes, the hind legs 

 formed for leaping, the wings in repose deflexed and 

 pressed to the sides, our native grasshoppers, however 

 insignificant and unimportant, represent the family quite 

 as truly as do its many more imposing, remarkable, 

 and interesting species. 



Anatomy. 



In dealing with a family so active as a rale, so famous 

 for the extraordinary movements of some of its members, 

 one turns naturally to investigate their instincts and 

 general intelligence. But it is hard for us to appreciate 

 the intelligence of insects. It depends in them, of 

 course, largely on the development of the organs of 

 special sense ; and the study of sensations, if one of the 

 most fascinating, is at the same time one of the most 

 difficult of the departments of entomology. Recent 

 research has resulted in much definite knowledge of the 

 structure of the sense-organs, but there is a great lack of 



