210 ORTHOPTERA OF NOVA SCOTIA. PIERS. 



Spiracle. — External orifice of breathing tube (situated on sides of the 



thorax and abdomen of an insect). 

 Sternum. — Under surface of body segment. 

 Stridulate. — To produce a shrill sound, by grating or rasping certain 



organs, as in the Orthoptera which do not produce vocal notes. 

 Subgenital plate. — Ventral portion of last abdominal segment of male, 



consisting of an upturned, spoon-shaped piece. 

 Sulcus (-i, pL). — A hnear groove. 



Supraanal plate. — A triangular plate, the upper portion of the last 

 abdominal segment. 



Suture. — An impressed Une; usually referring to the junction of two 

 plates. 



Tarsus (-i, pL). — The foot, beyond the tibia; it consists of three divisions. 



Tegmen (tegmina, pi.). — Wing-cover or front wing. 



Tergite. — Upper portion of a body segment; tergum. 



Testaceous. — Brick-coloin^ed; dull yellowish brown. 



Thorax. — Middle division of an insect's bod}^ bearing the wings and 

 legs; subdivided into prothorax, mesothorax, and metathorax. 



Tibia (-ae, pi.). — Section of leg between femur and foot or tarsus. 



Tubercle. — Small rounded projection. 



Valves of the ovipositor. — Four horny plates at extremity of female 

 abdomen. 



Veins. — Same as the nerves or. ribs of the wing. 



Ventral. — Pertaining to the under abdominal surface. 



Vertex. — Upper front part of head, between and before the eyes. 



Wing-covers. — Front wings, tegmina, or elji/ra; not used for flight in 

 Orthoptera, but ser^^ng as covers for the more dehcate hind-wings. 



Wing-pads. — Undeveloped wings, as seen on the nymph. From the 

 wings of perfect or adult individuals fimagos) they may be dis- 

 tinguished by being seemingly in an upside-down position and by 

 the rudimentary hind wings being outside the front wings. 



Life history.— GexiQvoWy the eggs of our Orthoptera are 

 deposited late in the summer or early in the autumn. Most 

 species lay them in a puncture in the ground formed by 

 the ovipositor; but sometimes they are placed on the outside 

 of twigs, as in the Phaneropterince, and occasionally in the 

 pith of twigs, as in the Tree Cricket {(Ecanthus). The eggs 

 of most of our species then lie dormant until the next season 

 when the small young insect, called a "nymph", emerges. 

 This hatching, in the case of some species at least, such as 

 Camnula pellucida and Circotettix verruculatus, takes place 

 in western Nova Scotia about the first of. June; but about 

 Halifax it is apparently considerably later, Melanoplus 

 biinttatus there hatching about the latter part of that month. 



