TUE ORASSllOPPEli 13 



feelers, or antennce, and air-tubes, or trachece, by means of 

 which they breathe or respire. 



The grasshopper and its alhes belong to a subdivision of the 

 Hexapoda — the " order " Orthop'tera} Tn the memlaers of 

 this order the fore and hind wings are unequal, the jaws are 

 used for biting, and the young, when they hatch out of the egg, 

 look like their parents, excepting that they have n(j wings. 

 While there is, then, during development something of a change 

 in form, it is not a thoroughgoing or complete one. Insects 

 which undergo only an incomi^lete change of form as they 

 grow older arc said to have an " incomplete metamorphosis." 



The name " grasshopper " is applied to two " families " of 

 Orthoptera, one of which has short horns or antennie ; the 

 other, long horns. Both of these families have long hind legs 

 used in jumping, and an elongated body flattened from side to 

 side. This shape enables them to move in between closely 

 packed blades of grass. The head is wedge-shaped and directed 

 downwards. 



Ecology. — The short-horned grasshoppers, which are the 

 most destructive, live in all parts of the world, usually in rather 

 dry situations, such as sandy slopes and uplands (Fig. 9), arid 

 deserts, and rocky mountain sides. They all eat plants or 

 herbs (hence are called herbivorous), and many species go in 

 flocks or swarms. Such species are said to be social or grega- 

 rious, while kinds that live alone are called solitary. 



Economics. — Grasshoppers are destructive to agriculture. 

 In ordinary seasons the loss is relatively not great, but almost 

 every autumn rt^ports of great dc^struction caused by them 

 come from different parts of the world. In our country great 

 injury was formerly done by the Rocky Mountain locust. At 



' Meaning " straight wings, " i.e. lying straight out along the axis of the body. 



