158 



OETHOPTERA. 



and increase the sound to such a degree, that it may be 

 heard in the stillness of the night, at the distance of a quarter 

 of a mile. At the approach of twihght the katy-did mounts 

 to the upper branches of the tree in which he lives, and, as 

 soon as the shades of evening prevail, begins his noisy babble, 

 while rival notes issue from the neighboring trees, and the 

 groves resound with the call of "katy-did, she-did" the live- 

 long night. Of this insect I have met with no scientific 

 description except my own, which was published in 1831 in 

 the eighth volume of the " Encyclopsedia Americana," page 



42. It is the Platyphyllum* 

 concavum,'\ (Fig. 74,) and 

 measures, from the head to 

 the end of the wing-covers, 

 rather more than one inch 

 and a half, the body alone 

 being one inch in length. 

 The piercer is broad, later- 

 ally compressed, and curved 

 like a cimeter ; and there 

 are, in both sexes, two little 

 thorn-like projections from 

 the middle of the breast be- 

 tween the fore legs. The 

 katy-did is found in the per- 

 fect state during the months 

 of September and October, at which time the female lays her 

 eggs. These are slate-colored, and are rather more than 



* Platyphyllum means broad-wing. 



t Can this be the Loeusta perspiciUata of Fabrioius?8 



[6 This is Oyrtophyllus perspidttatus, Bxivm. = Loeusta perspicilhta, Fab. Dr. 

 Harris's generic name has priority over that of Burmeister, and hence this insect 

 must be called Platyphyllum. perspicittaium, Fab. The insect called katy-did in 

 the Southern States is entirely different from this one, although its habit of sitting 

 upon the trees and issuing this shrill note has induced some persons to mistake it 

 for the true one from New England. The Southern katy-did belongs to the genus 

 Phylloptera, and from the ovipositor being shaped somewhat like that of Loeusta 

 cuniicauda, De Geer, Dr. Harris supposed it to be that species. — Uhler.] 



