December 2S, 1883.1 



SCIENCE. 



813 



onlj- sound that I have ever heard this grass- 

 hopper give vent to, is now indulged in by the 

 male. It consists simply of a series of pecul- 

 iar hisses (this word expresses it lietter than 

 any tiling else), and is only heard when we 

 seize and handle one of them, or during their 

 mating. The soinid seems to be i)roduced 

 largely by the wings ; for these members are 

 elevated at tliis time, as I have shown them in 

 my plate, where the male exiiibits his beautiful 

 hind-wings, — a relief to his otherwise sombre 

 tints that is onl^- to be experienced ou such 

 occasions. 



I am of the impression that Romalea does 

 not confine itself to any particular diet, but is 

 rather a general feeder, choosing such plants 

 as happen to fall in its way. Some of them, 

 that I kept alive for several days in a large box, 

 fed npiui almost aii}- thing in the shape of vege- 

 table growth that 1 offered them. 



Tills view seems to be sustained by the report 

 of Mr. L. O. Howard, who saw them in August 

 in immense numbers in tlie rice-fields about the 

 city of Savannah ; ' yet they seemed to do little 

 damage to the rice.' ' 



This observer tells us in the same report, 

 that the^' arc known in that locality among the 

 peo[)le as the ' lubber grasshopiK-r,' whereas, 

 throughout this section of the country, they are 

 called by every one the ' devil-horse' Per- 

 haps, if at one of their grand councils they 

 had a ciioice in the matter, it would be hard 

 for them to decide which was the jiretticr name, 

 and no doubt they would vote unanimousi}" to 

 select some otiier one. 



It has never been my fortune to find exam- 

 ples of the black variety of tiie female in south- 

 ern Louisiana, as observed by entomologists 

 elsewhere.'' 



On the 28th of last July, while engaged in 

 looking for a specimen of the jirothonotary war- 

 bler, which I had just brought down with my 

 cane-gun from a magnolia under which I stoofl, 

 my attention was attracted by a large female 

 Romalea, with part of her abdomen buried in 

 tire ground, and evidently in the act of deposit- 

 ing her eggs. A chapter in tiic history of this 

 insect at once flashed across my mind ; and, in 

 my undue eagerness, I removed her at once 

 from the little excavation she was in on the 

 ground ; but the most careful search afterwards 

 was not rewarded by the discovery of a single 

 egg. However, the satisfaction was afforded 

 me, at the subsequent post mortem of the 

 specimen in queslion, of finding her ovaries 

 contaii.ing upwards of fifty briglil-ycilow, spin- 

 dle-sha[)ed eggs, each about a centimetre long. 



■ Rc-port commlss. agric, I83'-82, p. 1S8. • /bid., p. 138. 



Tliis circumstance convinced me that Roma- 

 lea microptera de|)osits its eggs in tiie ground ; 

 and from that time I did not allow an oiipor- 

 tunity to slip iii searching for them. My 

 interest in tliis matter was only incrca.sed by 

 receiving a letter, a few days afterwards, from 

 ^Ir. Howard, in which he informed mc that it 

 was not known wiiere this grasshopper laid its 

 eggs. 1 am sorry to say that 1 have not 

 had the opportunity to examine the reports 

 made by Glover upon this insect, in the re|)ort 

 of the Department of agriculture for 1872, 

 kindly called to my attention by my correspond- 

 ent, nor tiie meulioii made of it in Ashmead's 

 'Orange insects,' also referred to by him.' 



My search was, however, afterward reward- 

 ed ; for on the l.ith of August, while passing 

 through a long, flat meadow a few miles from 

 New Orleans. I came, at one cud of it. to a lit- 

 tle low mound about ten yards in extent, com- 

 posed of a dry black earth, that was cracked 

 and fissured in many directions by a sun that 

 streams ( own here almost as mercilessly as in 

 tlie tropics. Maii>- tall weeds and grasses 

 surrounded this miniature hillock^ and others 

 grew upon it. 



Romalea had made this elevation its head- 

 quarters, and it was at the same time a rendez- 

 vous for many cou[)les who had apparently 

 postponed their honeymoons. The importance 

 of the occasion was evident ; for there was not 

 a male on the ground, to say nothing of the 

 majority who were [icrchcd up in the weeds, 

 but was strutting about in the most business- 

 like manner, or trying to do so ou their perches 

 in the laltcr. Whatever part of the eutertain- 

 meiit these sable gentlemen entered into, they 

 constantly kept up a very audible liuzzing 

 racket with their wings, which they elevated 

 and lowered at few seconds' intervals, show- 

 ing the inferior carmine pair each time they 

 did so, with telling effect. At these times 

 they assume the position in which I have drawn 

 one in the jilate, walking about in a stilted 

 manner, but bearing, withal, a dignified mien, 

 rattling their wings, and paying their court to 

 the quieter and more sedate op|)Osite sex. 



Some of the females kept apart, and bore 

 the appearance of being dejected, tired of the 

 gayetics of the season, and otherwise bored by 

 the proceedings that were going on everywhere 

 about them. It was the sight of these satiated 

 dames that soon brought the thought to my 



' I have Binrc BBCiTlninod Ihnt Mr. Chnrle« K. Dndifo, of llio 

 Aerk'Dllunil dtpannunt <if Wiuhiniftun, Imi' rniai'd the young of 

 Koninirn from itti'K Hint were Iniit hy niucinuns hi- ko|il in 

 conlitnimnl. Ill- iiubllKlii-d hi» ubBirviition- in Ihe Itnnil Cam- 

 huiiiH (.\iiril,lST4. p.36:l. vol. v., no. vil.), Chiirli-Hlon, S.C;. : and 

 (nhwqninlly in Ihu J/'ittU and /ureU (ii. 1877, p. 160), \Va^h. 

 inglon, D.C. 



