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of species, the presence of wings. Both old and young are voracious eaters, having 

 the mouth parts highly developed, the mandibles being fitted for both cutting and 

 grinding. 



From the beginning of summer until late in the fall our gardens and pastures swarm 

 with crickets and locusts, and the amount of grass, leaves, flowers, etc., eaten by these 

 ever hungry little creatures must be very considerable, and is especially noticeable during 

 dry and hot seasons. The Orthoptera have long been celebrated for the musical powers 

 with which many species are endowed. The poets have sung to the " love songs of the 

 grasshoppers," but in reality these merry little fellows are instrumentalists, not vocalists, 

 as they, like all other insects, breathe through spiracles and are of course voiceless. So 

 far as I am aware the musical power is confined to the crickets, grasshoppers and locusts, 

 the remaining families being silent. 



In reality the song of an orthopterous insect is a sexual call and is almost entirely 

 confined to the males — entirely so in the crickets, some species of which go through quite 

 an elaborate performance, as may be easily seen by watching the common striped cricket 

 (Nemobius vittatus). 



When a male of this species wishes to attract the notice of the female, he advances 

 towards her, and, raising the wings and wing-covers, rasps them together, thereby pro- 

 ducing a shrill, creaking sound, now and again jerking himself forward with a convulsive 

 movement, touching the female with his antenna?, at times dancing around in a frantic 

 manner. Should the female be pleased with his attentions, she turns around and, seizing 

 him, draws him beneath her, when copulation takes place. Should his serenade prove 

 unsuccessful, the little minstrel either stops shrilling or turns his attention to another 

 female. I have not observed the courtship of our other species, but it is probably much 

 the same in all. 



Mr. W. H. Harrington, speaking of (Ecanihus niveus, says : " An interesting feature 

 of its concerts is one of which I have not been able to find any mention in books 

 accessible. "While the male is energetically shuffling together his wings, raised almost 

 vertically, the female may be seen standing just behind him, and with her head applied 

 to the base of the wings, evidently eager to get the full benefit of every note produced." 



The courtship of Ectobia Germanica is very similar to that of Nemobius, but is 

 unaccompanied by any sound, nor are the wings shuffled together. The male follows the 

 female until her attention is attracted, when, turning around and raising the wings until 

 they form a right angle with the body, he backs up to and is seized by the female. I have 

 only seen actual copulation take place in Nemobius, but have little doubt that in both 

 Blattidse and Gryllidre the male never takes possession of the female by force. 



Another remarkable feature of the Orthoptera is the facility with which they elude ob- 

 servation. This is largely owing to the similarity of their colours to the surroundings 

 amidst which they live, and probably serves as a means of defence against their enemies. 

 No doubt many observers have noticed that it is easy to see a grasshopper or locust when 

 it is jumping or flying, but it is just the reverse when the creature remains quiet. A 

 familiar example is the large rattling locust, whose gaily coloured under-wings make it so 

 conspicuous an object when hovering in the air, but which becomes almost invisible when 

 resting with closed wings on the bare dry gravel or dusty roadside ; and equally 

 difficult to detect are those green species that live in damp meadows, or on shrubs and 

 trees, their colour just matching the grass and leaves amongst which their lives are spent. 



Six families of Orthoptera are represented in Canada, viz. : Gryllidse, Crickets ; 

 Locustida\ Grasshoppers ; Acridida?, Locusts ; Phasmidee, Spectres or Walking Sticks ; 

 Blattida 1 , Cockroaches ; and Forhculidse, Earwigs. 



Dr. Harris, in his well-known work on Injurious Insects, says : " Cockroaches are 

 general feeders, and nothing ccmes amiss to them, whether of vegetable or animal nature, 

 but by far the greater part of the Orthopterous insects subsist on vegetable food, grass, 

 flowers, fruits, the leaves and even the bark of trees ; whence it follows, in connection 

 with their considerable size, their great voracity, and the immense troops or swarms in 

 which they too often apiear, that they ate capable of doing great injury to vegetation." 



