ORTHOPTERA. 



179 



female uses her long ovipositor to lay her eggs at some depth in the ground, though 

 in some species the female is known to deposit her eggs on plants. These grass- 

 hoppers are less herbivorous in their habits than those belonging to the next family ; 

 many of them are, in fact, believed to be more carnivorous than herbivorous in 

 their tastes. The Locustidce are most numerous in species in America and Asia ; 

 there being not many more than two hundred species in Europe, of which about 

 ten are British. In the large green grasshopper (Locusta viridissima), which is 

 nearly an inch and a half long, and is easily distinguished by its size from all the 

 other British species, the male makes a harsh and strident noise, by which atten- 

 tion is attracted, when otherwise, owing to its green colour, it might altogether 

 escape notice. Green is the prevailing tint in very many species of this family. 

 In some species the elytra have the most exquisite resemblance in colour and 

 venation to green leaves; while in others they look more like withered leaves. 

 Nowhere is this style of protective coloration better displayed than in the exotic 

 genera Cycloptera and Pterochroza, one of the species of which is figured in the 



1, female of Hetrodes spinulosus ; 2, male and female of Meconema varium. (All nat. size.) 



coloured Plate. The shape, colour, and venation of the wings are not only exactly 

 like those of leaves, but there may be seen, here and there, little glistening, trans- 

 parent patches of cuticle, which reveal, as it were, the work of an insect grub. 

 In others, fungi seem to grow on the leaves, and leave their mark in the dis- 

 coloured patches which may be seen scattered about. Amongst the species of the 

 family remarkable in other respects we have space to mention only a few. In 

 the genus Hetrodes the adult insects of both sexes are without wings ; the pro- 

 thorax is very large, and is armed above with a number of spines. An idea of the 

 general appearance of the adult insect may be gathered from the figure of Hetrodes 

 spinulosus. This species is found in Arabia and Syria. For the sake of contrast 

 the male and female of a small British grasshopper {Meconema varium) are figured 

 beside it. The latter is winged in both sexes ; it is found in oak trees, and belongs 

 to a subfamily which is peculiar from the fact that the elytra of the male have no 

 stridulating organs. 



The locusts and short-horned grasshoppers (Acridiidm) are dis- 

 tinguished by easily recognised characters from the other two families 

 cf the suborder. The antennae are short, seldom attaining more than half the 



