ORTHOPTERA 189 



withdrawn into the abdomen, as in the cockroach. The 

 peculiar forceps of earwigs appears to be a singular modifica- 

 tion of the cerci, paired and usually many-jointed appendages 

 of the ninth abdominal segment, which are common in 

 Orthoptera, as in other insects ■ with incomplete transforma- 

 tion. 



Life-History, etc. — The eggs of Orthoptera are laid, one 

 or many together, in capsules, which are usually carried about 

 for some time in the ovipositor of the female, and then 

 deposited in the earth. The young in many cases quickly 

 acquire the habits which they will retain for the rest of their 

 lives, and it is not till the time of sexual maturity (perhaps 

 not even then) that a noteworthy change takes place. Some- 

 times, however, sexual maturity and the acquisition of wings 

 set up migratory and gregarious instincts of a striking kind. 

 Most Orthoptera are vegetable feeders, but some are indis- 

 criminate, and the large tropical family of Mantidae is predatory. 

 Many Orthoptera are remarkable for singularities of form and 

 colour. Sometimes the appearance is simply odd, or at least 

 admits as yet of no adequate explanation, but in other cases 

 the resemblance to sticks, leaves, and even flowers, is very 

 striking, and evidently enables the insect to escape its enemies, 

 or to steal unseen upon its prey. Conspicuous examples of 

 such protective or aggressive resemblance are not found 

 among British Orthoptera, and this renders any detailed 

 account inadmissible here. The British representatives of the 

 order are few. They comprise earwigs, cockroaches (the 

 indigenous species being of small size, and rarely observed), 

 locusts (note that true locusts do not belong to the 

 family Locustidse, but to the Acridiidse), grasshoppers, and 

 crickets. 



The Families of Orthoptera 



A. Cursorial, formed for running only. 



1. Forficulidse (earwigs). Fore wings meeting in a 



straight suture, short, not concealing the abdomen ; 

 hind wings folded fanwise and transversely. The 

 abdomen ends in a forceps. 



2. Blattidse (cockroaches). Body flattened, the three 



pairs of legs similar in form. 



