CHAPTER VIII 



ORTHOPTEEA FOEFICULIDAE, EARWIGS HEMIMEKIDAE 



Order II. — Orthoptera. 



Insects toitli the mouth parts conspicuous, formed for biting, the 

 four fcdpi very distinct, the lower lip longituclincdly divided 

 in the middle. The tegmina, (mesothoracic toings), of parch- 

 ment-like consistence, in repose closed on the hack of the 

 Insect so as to protect it. The metathoracic ivings, of more 

 delicate consistence, amp)le, furnished with radiating or 

 divergent nervures starting from the point of articulatio7i, 

 and with short cross nervules forming a. sort of network; 

 in repose collapsing like a fan, and more or less completely 

 covered hy the tegmina (^except in certcmi Phctsmidae, where, 

 though the wings are ample, the tegmina are minute, so that 

 the tvings are uncovered). In a, few forms (winged Forfi- 

 culidae and some Blcdtidae) the metathoracic ivings are, in 

 addition to the longitudincd folding, contracted by means of 

 one or tioo transverse folds. The mode of groivth of each 

 individucd is a graducd increase of size, without any abrup)t 

 change of form, excepit that the ivings are only f idly developed in 

 the final condition. There is no specicd pupal instar. Species 

 in ivhich the wings are cdjsent or rudimentary are numerous. 



The Orthoptera are Insects of comparatively large size. The 

 Order, indeed, includes the largest of existing Insects, while none 

 are so minute as many of the members of the other Orders are ; 

 three millimetres is the least length known for an Orthopterous 

 Insect, and there are very few so small, though this is ten times 

 the length of the smallest beetle. The Order includes earwigs, 

 cockroaches, soothsayers or ]Draying-insects, stick- and leaf-insects, 

 grasshoppers, locusts, green grasshoppers, and crickets. 



