LOCUST VS. GRASSHOPPER. 33 



similar insects; it is true there are other species which strongly resemble 

 and are usually called " crickets " that belong to this family. 



Acrididce, includes those species which usually reside on the j]jround, 

 and are distinguished from those of the other families of saltatorial 

 orthoptera bj^ the following characters : 



The antennae are comparatively short, never exceeding the body in 

 length, and in North American species composed of from twelve to 

 twenty-five joints; the tarsi are apparently three-jointed; the females 

 are furnished at the tip of the abdomen with four short corneous pieces, 

 two of which curve upward and two downward ; the male is without 

 the shrilling organ at the base of the wings found in the Locustidce. 



This family contains the true locusts, such as those of oriental coun- 

 tries and the Kocky Mountain locust ; also such so-called grasshoppers 

 as the common red-legged species of the States and those found hop- 

 ping on the ground in open waste fields, along roadsides, &c. There- 

 fore, in speaking hereafter of these species, we shall use the term locust. 

 As the family contains a very large number of species varying consid- 

 erably in form and character, entomologists have endeavored to divide 

 it into sections or subfamilies, by bringing together those minor groups 

 having certain characters in common. The various results of these 

 attempts cannot be introduced here, as this would not only require too 

 much space, but also the introduction of matter of purely scientific in- 

 terest, and of no practical use in this brief review of the classification. 



These subdivisions vary in number according to the characters 

 selected by the different authors, some making as many as eleven sub- 

 families, others only two or three. Yet, as a general rule, the difference 

 is not so much in the grouping as in the value attached to the groups, 

 the subfamilies of one author being considered as subordinate divisions 

 by other authors. 



Without undertaking at this time to decide upon the respective mer- 

 its of these several arrangements, we have selected for present purposes 

 that which makes but three subfamilies, as it appears to be the simplest 

 and most easily understood by general readers. In our descriptions of 

 these subdivisions we shall confine ourselves to those represented in the 

 orthopteral fauna of that portion of North America north of Mexico, and 

 so far as possible select such characters only as are necessary to distin- 

 guish these divisions from each other. The first subfamily, Froscopince^ 

 contains only exotic species, and may therefore be omitted from further 

 consideration. 



The second subfamily, Acridince^ is distinguished by having the pro- 

 notum in the form of a shield, which covers the prothorax and extends 

 backward at farthest only a short distance upon the base of the abdo- 

 men, never reaching more than half way to the tip, and seldom half this 

 distance ; the prosternum or front breast is drawn up, that is, it is not 

 in the same plane as the rest of the sternum or breast; it is spined, 

 3 a 



