1 62 ELEMENTARY ZOOLOGY 



as roadsides, closely-grazed pastures, etc. The female 

 thrusts her strong ovipositor into the soil, and by opening 

 and shutting it, thus boring, pushes in the abdomen for 

 about two thirds its length. The eggs, about one hun- 

 dred, are then deposited in a capsule or pod. The young 

 locusts hatch in the following spring. When just 

 hatched they resemble the parent locust in general 

 appearance and structure except that they lack wings, 

 and are of course very small. The young locusts are 

 gregarious, congregating in warm and sunny places. 

 They feed on green plants and travel about by walking 

 and hopping. At night they try to find shelter under 

 rubbish in the fields. They feed voraciously and grow 

 rapidly, reaching maturity in about two months. During 

 this post-embryonic development and growth they molt 

 (shed the chitinous exoskeleton) five times. After the 

 first molt indications of the wings appear in the shape of \ 

 small backward and downward prolongations of the pos- 

 terior margins of the dorsum of the mesothorax and 

 metathorax. With each succeeding molt these wing- 

 pads, or developing wings, are larger and more wing-like, 

 until after the last molting they appear fully developed. 

 With each molting, too, there is a marked increase in 

 size of the locust, the average length of the body just 

 before the first moult being 4.3 mm., before the second 

 6.8 mm., before the third 9 mm., before the fourth 14 

 mm., before the fifth 17 mm., and after the fifth (the full- 

 grown stage) about 26 mm. 



The molting is an interesting process, and can be 

 readily observed. The young locust ready for its last 

 molt crawls up some post, weed, grass stalk, or other 

 object, and clutches this object securely with the hind 

 feet. The head is generally downward. The locust 

 remains motionless in this position for several hours, when 

 the skin suddenly splits along the back from the middle 



