ECOLOGY — INTERPRETATION OF ENVIRONMENT 399 



The Pasture Locust 



The landscape herewith shown of an open sweep of pasture 

 is notable as being a typical habitat of one of our small incon- 

 spicuous locusts. In the short green grass of the foreground 

 I found the pasture locust, Orphuella speciosa, quite common. 

 In the first few days of August, 1905, these locusts were nearly 

 all mature, but an occasional retarded nymph, or young, like 

 the one I have portrayed in the group illustration, was found 

 accompanying the adults. I found this species quite common 



A view showing the habitat of the •pasture locust, Orphuella 

 spedosa, found among closely cropped grasses. 



in pastures generally, on the superficial loam where grazing 

 cows and horses had kept the grass closely cropped. Its 

 small size and protective coloring make it a very difficult insect 

 to discover, even after one knows its habits. It has two phases 

 of color pattern — green and brown; the green coloring often 

 being confined to the head and dorsal surface of the body and 

 wings. 



When occasion arises, this locust jumps or flies only a few 

 feet. In either case, owing to its protective coloring and 

 transparent wings, it is almost invisible, either in the air, or 

 when it ahghts again in the grass. Here, as in many other 



