INSECTS 



Between the bases of the antennae on the forehead there 

 is a small conical projection, a physical character which 

 separates the true katydid from the round-headed katy- 

 dids and assigns him to the subfamily called the Pseudo- 

 phyllinae, which includes, besides our species, many others 

 that live mostly in the tropics. The rear margins of the 

 wings are evenly rounded and their sides strongly bulged 

 outward as if to cover a very plump body, but the space 

 between them is mostly empty and probably forms a 

 resonance chamber to give tone and volume to the sound 

 produced by the stridulating parts. What might be the 

 katydid's waistcoat, the part of the body exposed beneath 

 the wings, has a row of prominent buttonlike swellings 

 along the middle which rhythmically heave and sink with 

 each respiratory movement. All the katydids are deep 

 abdominal breathers. 



The color of the katydid is plain green, with a conspicu- 

 ous dark-brown triangle on the back covering the stridulat- 

 ing area of the wings. The tips of the mouth parts are 

 yellowish. The eyes are of a pale transparent green, but 

 each has a dark center which, like the pupil in a painting, is 

 always fixed upon you from whatever angle you retreat. 



The movements of the captive individual are slow, 

 though in the open he can run rather rapidly, and when he 

 is in a hurry he often takes the rather absurd attitude 

 shown at B of Figure 25, with the head down and the 

 wings and body elevated. He never flies, and was never 

 seen to spread his wings, but when making short leaps the 

 wings are slightly fluttered. In preparing for a leap, if 

 only one of a few inches or a foot, he makes very careful 

 preparations, scrutinizing the proposed landing place long 

 and closely, though perhaps he sees better in the dark and 

 acts then with more agility. If the leap is to be made 

 from a horizontal surface, he slowly crouches with the legs 

 drawn together, assuming an attitude more familiar in a 

 cat; but, if the jump is to be from a vertical support, he 

 raises himself on his long front legs as at C of Figure 25, 



[46 J 



