THE GRASSHOPPER'S COUSINS 



says the notes "are sharp, snapping crepitations and sound 

 like the slow snapping of the teeth of a stiff comb as some 

 object is slowly drawn across it." He represents them 

 thus: tek-ek-ek-ek-ek-ek-ek-ek-ek-ek-ek-tzip. But, however 

 the song of Microcentrum is to be translated into English, 

 it contains no suggestion of the notes of his famous cousin, 

 the true katydid. Yet most people confuse the two species, 

 or rather, hearing the one and seeing the other, they draw 

 the obvious but erroneous conclusion that the one seen 

 makes the sounds that are heard. 



The smaller angular-winged katydid, Microcentrum reti- 

 nerve, is not so frequently seen as the other, but it has simi- 

 lar habits, and may be heard in the vines or shrubbery 

 about the house at night. Its song is a sharp zeet, zeet, zeet, 

 the three syllables spaced as in ka-ty-did, and it is probable 

 that many people mistake these notes tor those of the true 

 katydid. 



The angular-winged katydids are very gentle and un- 

 suspicious creatures, allowing themselves to be picked up 

 without any attempt at escaping. But they are good 

 flyers, and when launched into the air sail about like minia- 

 ture airplanes, with their large wings spread out straight 

 on each side. When at rest they have a comical habit of 

 leaning over sidewise as if their flat forms were top-heavy. 



THE TRUE KATYDID 



We now come to that artist who bears by right the name 

 of "katydid," the insect (Fig. 24) known to science as 

 Pterophylla camellifolia and to the American public as the 

 greatest of insect singers. Whether the katydid is really a 

 musician or not, of course, depends upon the critic, but of 

 his fame there can be no question, tor his name is a house- 

 hold term as familiar as that of any of our own great 

 artists, notwithstanding that there is no phonographic 

 record of his music. To be sure, the cicada has more of a 

 world-wide reputation than the katydid, for he has repre- 

 sentatives in many lands, but he has not put his song into 



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