ROADSIDE LIFE. 



237 



dle-bow. Second, other species rub together the up- 

 per surface of the front edge of the hind wings and 

 the under surface of the fore wings. This is done 

 while the locust is flying, and the result is a crack- 

 ling sound. Third, the males of the different kinds 

 of true grasshoppers, including the katydids, are pro- 

 vided with an elaborate musical apparatus, by means 

 of which they call their mates. This consists of a pe- 

 culiar arrangement of the veins and cells of a portion 

 of each fore wing near its base. This arrangement 

 differs in the different spe- 

 cies, but in each it is such 

 that by rubbing the fore 

 wings together they are 

 made to vibrate, and thus 

 produce the sound. Fig. 

 203 represents a fore wing 

 of the male of a common 

 meadow grasshopper, and 

 Fig. 204 that of a female of 

 the same species. 



Of all the insect musi- 

 cians the crickets are most 

 easily observed ; we will 

 therefore select them for our special study : — 



1. Collect some crickets with fully developed 

 wings and bring them alive to school. 



2. Note that some of the crickets have a long, 

 spear-shaped organ at the hind end of the body : 

 these are the females and this organ is the oviposi- 

 tor. The males differ from the females, not only in 

 lacking the ovipositor, but also in the form of the 

 front wings. 



Fig. 203. — Wing- 

 cover of male 

 meadow ffiass- 

 hopper. 



Fig. 204. — ^Wing- 

 cover of female 

 meadow -grass- 

 hopper. 



