66 



ANIMAL LIFE IN DESERTS 



identify none of our captures and therefore did not 

 discriminate ; and we generally worked independ- 

 ently, in different parts of the area round Amara. 

 Fig. 28 shows the monthly occurrence and relative 

 frequency of certain famiUes of Orthoptera. It wiU 

 be seen that the Praying Mantis family was repre- 

 sented by most species in April and September; 



ill fV 



VJ VII VIII IX 



XI XII 



Short-horned Grasshoppers. — Crickets. 



Mantis family Long-horned Grasshoppers. 



Fig. 28 — Number of Species of Certain Families of Orthoptera 



PRESENT month BY MONTH IN COLLECTIONS MADE AT AmAJIA, LoWER 



Mesopotamia, by W. E. Evans and the Author. The Months 



ARE SHOWN by RoMAN FiQURES, THE NUMBER, OF SpECIES] OCCUR- 

 RING BY Arabic Figures. 



the Long-horned Grasshopper family in May and 

 October ; and that of the Short-horned Grasshoppers 

 in June and October. The Crickets, which are 

 nocturnal and shelter by day under logs and in 

 holes and cracks in the groimd, do not show this 

 seasonal incidence ; the conditions to which they 

 are exposed are different and they react differently 

 to them. The Hymenoptera (Fig. 29) show similar 



