43 



NOTES ON THE LOCUSTID^. 



BY WM. T. DAVIS, STATEN ISLAND, N. Y. 



Whether they fill the listener with a train of happy thoughts, as Gilbert White says> 

 or whether they produce a sadness because the days of summer are nearly gone, as Dr- 

 Harris asserts, the songs of crickets and other Orthoptera have, nevertheless, the merit of 

 always being interesting. An insect that can sing — that has something to say — even 

 though it be the same, night after night, enjoys a sort of individuality, and this long 

 discussion of the Katydids and the quiet murmur of the tree « crickets, constitute one of 

 the chief charms of our summer evenings. But they do not always sing or stridulate 

 quite alike, and sometimes, too, their shrilling apparatus is slightly deformed or injured, 

 producing some curious sounds when in use. 



I once heard a Katydid whose singing apparatus was out of order, and the sounds 

 given forth contrasted strangely with those of a rival male in an adjoining tree. Ambly- 

 coryplia retinervis produces two somewhat different songs, or perhaps more correctly, varies 

 the same song in time or extent of utterance, so that unless the same individual is listened 

 to for some time, the notes might be attributed to different species. This insect often 

 lays its eggs on the honeysuckle, and I once observed a female on the 16th of Sept., ovi- 

 positing on a low tree by the roadside, gradually biting the bark into a ridge, along 

 which the eggs were laid, tile fashion. 



On Staten Island, the first Conocephalus that is heard in the garden is ensiger, and 

 with ik-ik-ik, as if sharpening a saw, enlivens low bushes and particularly the corn patch. 

 This insect seems to especially delight in perching near the top of a corn-stalk and there 

 giving forth its rather impulsive song. I have often watched one crawl, with many a 

 spiral turn, up the stem, fiddling all the while. My notes on its first heard stridulation 

 show considerable uniformity, and the average date may be taken as July 15th. 



Conocephalus dissimilis is more of a loV grass and weed loving insect than C. ensiger, 

 and also comes later in the season. I have found this insect stridulating when its head 

 was gone, picked off perhaps by some vagrant chick. The brown coloured specimens are 

 much more common in this species than in ensiger. 



Conocephalus robustus resides for the most part mid the grass on sandy ground near 

 the sea shore, though an occasional individual finds its way inland. Along the sea beach 

 they stridulate in early afternoon, especially if slightly cloudy, and when approached they 

 have a curious fashion of dropping to the ground. I have often found them, on such 

 occasions, actually standing on their heads in the soft sand, leaning against the grass 

 stems which grow so close together, without in any way holding on to them. Whether 

 this position is intentional or not, I cannot say, but certain it is that when looked for 

 from above they offer the smallest extent of their bodies to view and may thus escape 

 many enemies. 



I have found another Conocephalus on Staten Island, mid the cat-tails that grow on 

 the salt meadows, and a specimen sent to Mr. Samuel H. Scudder was considered by that 

 gentleman to be an undescribed species. This insect keeps very close to the ground, 

 hiding well in the vegetation, and is not easily discovered. The sound produced when 

 stridulating is very faint, not louder than that made by Gryllus abbrinatus, and I was 

 much surprised to hear such a faint song come from so large an insect. I have, in conse- 

 quence of this faint song, named it the " slightly musical" Conocephalus, C. exiliscanorus. 



HINTS ON COLLECTING HYMENOPTERA. 



BY W. HAGUE HARRINGTON, OTTAWA. 



To have the specimens in a collection look well, and at the same time be in a condi- 

 tion such as to render their examination as easy as possible, it is necessary that they 

 should be properly collected. The ordinary cyanide bottles prepared either with plaster 

 -of Paris, or sawdust which are used for Lepidoptera and Coleoptera, do not furnish good 



