THE GRASSHf)l'l'li;R. 



25 



clinging to the bodies of eitlier the young or the old 

 grasshoppers. In the early spring, before grasshop- 

 per eggs are hatched, this mite finds the holes where 

 eggs of grasslioppers have been laid, and eats tlie eggs. 

 Hair "worms are sometimes found in the intestines of 

 grasshoppers, and so, also, are the larvse of some 

 Tachina flies. Such animals as the silky locust mite, 

 hairworm, and Tachina flics, that live up(jn the bodies 

 of other living animals, are called parasites. The 

 weather, no doubt, in some seasons, kills many grass- 

 hoppers, and they are subject, also, to contagious 

 fungous diseases. It usually happens that after a 

 season in which grasshoppers have been very numer- 

 ous, the following season will have v^ery few. 



The eggs of tlie grasshop- 

 ])er are laid in holes in tlie 

 ground. The female grass- 

 liopjier digs with her oviposi- 

 tor a hole the length of the 

 abdomen, and deposits in it 

 a mass of eggs, forty or fifty 

 in a bunch. 



a, grasshoppers ovipositiOK; ft, 

 egg case extracted ; m.esgs; d, egg 

 case in the ground : c, egg case in 

 process of deposition; f, hole in 

 \vliiclt eggs have been laid. 



GRASSHOPPERS LAYING EGGS (AFTER RILKY) 



In general, the grasshopper has a color that renders 

 it inconspicuous in the place where it usually lives. 

 Some grasshoppers, that like to live in the roads, are 

 dust-colored. Others, that are usually found among 

 dried grass, are mottled brown. Because the grass- 

 hopper is generally concealed or rendered inconspic- 

 uous by its color, it is said to be protectively colored. 



Some grasshoppei's live through the winter, but 

 most of them live not moi-e than three months. They 

 die of old a^e before winter comes. 



