30 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [Jan., 'il 



it recalls the staccato lisps of Orchelimum vnlgare. The last 

 comparison is more accurate, since the notes of this Cono- 

 cephalns do not impress me as at all rasping. 



A very common katydid at this season is the pretty Ambly- 

 corypha rotundifolia Sctidd. Its notes may be heard at all 

 times during; the day as well as during warm nights. This 

 Amblycorypha occurs everywhere in the grass, weeds and 

 shrubbery of fields and pastures. It was especially abundant 

 among the shrubby pasture growths, consisting mainly of spe- 

 cies of Vaccinium, Gaylussacia, Kalmia angustifolia, and the 

 two species of Spiraea, i. e.. tomentosa and salicifolia. Its 

 notes are soft and lisping and continue indefinitely. They may 

 be expressed thus : Tsip-i-tsip-i-tsip-i-tsip-i-tsip. These stridu- 

 lations recall the dainty lispings of part of the song of Am- 

 blycorypha uhleri. The writer's observations of its stridula- 

 tions are very similar to those of Scudder. 



Scuddcria texensis S. & P. prefers particularly the open grass 

 and clover fields. At Oxford, Mass.. the writer has studied 

 two distinct methods of stridulation produced at will by this 

 Scudderia. The usual note heard from Massachusetts to Geor- 

 gia is a soft sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh occasionally repeated. This note 

 is produced by a rapid shuffling of the wings very briefly. At 

 other times and much more rarely the call consists of a succes- 

 sion of sharp, keen, distinctly rasping notes slowly delivered, 

 zeet-zeet-zeet-zeet. These notes, which are so unlike the usual 

 call, are usually answered at once in a similar manner by an- 

 other individual elsewhere. One is at first tempted to assign 

 them to some other insect. 



By creeping carefully toward a musician, the writer has 

 watched this mode of stridulation close at hand. The tegmina 

 are very slowlv and deliberately opened and rasped upon each 

 other slowly several times. These notes are really more in 

 keeping with the incisive notes of other Scudderia 1 ?. It is evi- 

 dent that these notes are not accidental. They probably convey 

 some definite meaning to other individuals within earshot. 



Scudderia texensis becomes noisy as soon as the afternoon 



