ORTHOPTERA. 1(J9 



The head in this order, with but a single exception, is perpendicular ; it is quite 

 large and full between and above the eyes, and is generally partly sunken into the 

 prothorax. The antennaj are generally quite long and thread-like, and are composed 

 of an indefinite number of joints. There are, however, some exceptions to this rule. 

 The legs are well developed in all, and by their form the order has been separated into 

 five sections ; viz. : Ambulatoria or walkers, Cursoria or runners, Raptatoria or 

 gi'aspers, Saltatoria or jumpers, and Fossoria or burrowers. In each of these sections 

 the legs are modified to the uses indicated by the names, and furnish a character by 

 which any individual can be assigned to its proper place at a glance. The legs also 

 vary very much in their compai-ative length and robustness, and thereby greatly aid 

 in the definition of the smaller divisions. The species of Orthoptera are spread over 

 the entire surface of the earth, but are most numerous in the countries lying within 

 and adjoining the tropics. Here the herbivorous species are found during both day 

 and night amongst the trees and other vegetation ; while the carnivorous species find 

 abundant lurking-places in which they await the coining of their prey. The Orthop- 

 tera comprise some of the largest of the class of insects, and in the tropics assume 

 remarkable forms. The Saltatorial Orthoptera are among insects what the Passeres 

 are among birds. They are the chief insect choristers, and during late summer and 

 autumn cause wood and meadow to ring with their merry and chirping stridulations. 



The Orthoptera are among the first forms of insect life that appeared upon our 

 globe. In upper Devonian times a few low and synthetic forms lived amid the vegeta- 

 tion characteristic of that period. In the carboniferous era, when large tracts upon 

 the earth's surface were clothed with dense jungles of tropical vegetation, the repre- 

 sentatives of this order became common. In the tertiary period when insect life had 

 become exceedingly abundant, the remains of Orthoptera are found in the greatest 

 numbers. In Europe, where considerable attention has been paid to the study of fossil 

 insects, the number of Orthoptera found is comparatively large. In this country, 

 however, where beds of fossil insects are equally common, comparatively few species 

 have yet been described. The fossil insects found in the tertiary beds of the Rocky 

 Mountain region indicate a tropical relationship to a remarkable degree ; and there can 

 be little doubt that the faunal elements of tropical America of to-day entered into the 

 insect life of the central United States in tertiary times. Of these ancient Orthoptera 

 various species of cockroaches and earwigs figure most conspicuously, and represent by 

 far the greatest number of species. Mr. S. H. Scudder, to whom we are indebted for 

 his studies of fossil insects in North America, desciibes a cricket very similar to our 

 common striped field cricket (Nemobius vittatus) under the name Nemobius terti- 

 arius, from the Green River shales. He also refers to several species belonging to 

 the Locustidte that were taken from the tertiary shale at different localities in the 

 Rocky Mountain region. Some of the leading localities for fossil insects in this 

 country are as follows : Morris, III. ; the coal measures of New Brunswick and Nova 

 Scotia ; Florisant and White River in Colorado ; Green River in Wyoming ; Hodge's 

 Pass and Bear Lake in Idaho, and the Tertiary beds of the Nicola and Similkameen 

 rivers in British Columbia. Those of Europe are distributed pretty evenly over the 

 continent, though the most perfect remains have thus far been found in Prussia. 



Some of the species comprised in the family of the Cockroaches (Blattid^) are 

 among the commonest and at the same time the most disgusting of the insect tribe. 

 They are unpleasant to look upon, and offensive to our sense of smell on account of 

 their fetid odor, while they excite our antipathy because of the waste and destruction 



