PROTECTIVE RESEMBLANCE, WITH EXAMPLES 103 



six-fifteen o'clock in the evening. This forest-loving insect 

 was a little in advance of the rest of the katydids living in his 

 immediate locality. After he started his notes, in a few seconds 

 another companion responded. Then in a moment he was 

 followed by more of the colony, until within another minute 

 or two the whole woods of several acres in extent was resound- 

 ing in katydid, she did orchestration. 



A cold period, beginning September twenty-third and lasting 

 until the twenty-eighth, silenced these Orthoptera entirely. 

 On the evening of the twenty-eighth, with a temperature of 

 fifty-nine degrees Fahrenheit, the apple tree katydid was heard 

 again, but the sounds were somewhat hesitating and slower 

 than usual. 



Ordinarily, this katydid is first heard when he begins to 

 mature in the last of July or early August. He is then heard 

 above the din of the chorus emanating from the trees, under- 

 brush, and earth. He is a Mozart in the insect world, send- 

 ing out his strain upon the evening air. His stridulation holds 

 a distinct place among the various array of night sounds. 

 AU the time he is singing he remains unobserved among the 

 leaves of the elm, maple, oak, or some fruit tree. His pure 

 green dress aids him in this seclusion. He scarcely ever moves 

 from one place where he establishes himself for the night. In 

 fact, he often lives on one tree throughout his career. His 

 rounded, foUaceous wing-covers give him a robust form- This 

 adds to the resonance of the sounds emitted by the wings of 

 the male. 



When the sound, which lends such enchantment at a dis- 

 tance, is heard at close range it seems curiously rasping. Some 

 of these insects prevented our sleeping in the same room with 

 them, and in the stress of circumstances they were put in a 

 large paper bag and set suflSciently far away to soften the 

 sounds. The next morning they were given the freedom of 

 the room and provided with plenty of fohage and water. 

 They were content to stay on the flowers almost continu- 

 ously, but I rarely saw them feed while on these plants or 

 leaves. The musical sound, which has been the theme of 

 poets, is produced by the friction caused by partially opening 

 and closing the wing-covers, each one of which is furnished at 



