THE GRASSHOPPER 



to be examined easily, at least with a pocket lens, and one that 

 is comparatively simple in structure. For this reason we shall 

 use the grasshopper for our preliminary study. The grass- 

 hopper is one of the largest of our insects as well as one of the 

 simplest in structure. Grasshoppers are abundant during most 

 of the year and are therefore easily obtained for use in a 

 laboratory. 



Grasshoppers or "lo- 

 custs " are common 

 everywhere in the fields 

 and meadows, jumping 

 out of the way of an 

 intruder or sometimes 

 flying up when ap- 

 proached. They may 

 be collected by a quick 

 grasp of the hand or 

 hundreds can be caught 

 in a short time in an 

 insect net. Methods 

 of locomotion can be 

 studied both in the field 

 and in the laboratory, 

 but the structure can 

 only be made out with a quiet, therefore, a dead specimen. 

 Insects can be killed painlessly by means of a cyanide bottle, and 

 preserved in 80 per cent alcohol. Grasshoppers resemble one 

 another in general structure, the different kinds differing only in 

 details, so the following account will apply to almost any of 

 them. 



Locomotion. — Wings. — Insects are the dominant animals at 

 the present time, so far as numbers are concerned — a fact that 

 is due to many causes. One of these causes is their ability to 

 move rapidly from place to place which enables them to find 

 food easily and to escape from their enemies. The locomotor 



Fig. 1. — Carolina locust. (After Lugger.) 



