ORTHOPTEKA. 



183 



Fia. 258. — Orocharis saliator; a, female; 6, male. 



branches of the American elm, the eggs being thrust in singly or in small batches, 

 either longitudinally with or slightly obliquely from the axis of the trunk or branch. 

 The female is very intent in the act, working her abdomen deliberately from side to 

 side during the perforation. The ovipositor is held more obliquely in this genus than 

 in CEcanthus. 



The stridulation of this cricket is a rather soft and musical piping of not quite half 

 a second's duration, with from four to six trills, but so rapid that they are lost in the 

 distance. The key is very high, 'but varies 

 in different individuals and according to 

 moisture and temperature. It most re- 

 sembles the vibrating touch of the finger 

 on the rim of an ordinary tumbler when 

 three-fourths filled with water, repeated at 

 intervals of from two to four per second, and 

 may be very well likened to the piping of a 

 young chick and of some tree frogs. As 

 the species is very common in the South- 

 west, its chirp is everywhere heard, and is 

 so distinctive that when once studied it is 

 never lost amid the louder racket of the katy- 

 dids and other night choristers. It is also 



frequently heard during the daytime when the weather is damp and cloudy. Sapithus 

 agitator is a more robust and darker brown species than the preceding, and approaches 

 more closely the ground-dwelling species in form and general appearance than do any 

 of the other true tree-inhabiting crickets of this country. It is very active at night, 

 when it can be seen running and jumping about on the trunks of various trees in the 

 bark of which the female lays her eggs. During the daytime these crickets hide 

 among the dense foliage of vines or the rank vegetation on the ground at the base of 

 the trees. Another very interesting genus of Gryllidse is that known as Phylloscirtus, 

 all the members of which are small and delicate and brightly colored. Phylloscirtus 

 pulchellus is common about Washington and southward, and is found most frequently 

 in low, wet woods. It also deposits its eggs in the bark of various trees. 



The LocusTiD^ is a very extensive family, and contains a few of the most interest- 

 ing species of saltatorial Orthoptera. The family includes those species usually found 

 on the grass, bushes, and trees, and which have very long thread-like antennse, generally 

 longer than the body of the insect ; the tarsi or feet are as a rule four-jointed ; the 

 female is furnished with an exserted ovipositor which is usually more or less curved 

 and sword-shaped ; and the elytra of the male have at their base a development and 

 arrangement of the veins wherewith stridulation is effected. To this family belong 

 the true grasshoppers, the katydids, and similar insects. 



There are two types of Locustidte, viz., those which possess wings and those in 

 which these appendages are wanting. In the winged foi-ms the head is perpendicular, 

 large, with the vertex more or less produced into a cone-like projection which in a few 

 of the genera is very long and gives to their members a striking appearance. The 

 eyes are globular and prominent ; the antennse, which are situated as in the preceding 

 family are very long and thread-like — in some instances measuring fully twice the 

 length of the insect. The elytra are long and slender, much veined, and in the male 

 are pi-ovided with a transparent drum-like apparatus which is used in the production 



