INSECTS 



sometimes either one or the other is omitted. A very 

 pretty species of the genus is the handsome meadow 

 grasshopper, Orchelimum laticauda (or pulchellum) shown 

 in Figure 30. When at rest, both males and females 

 usually sit close to a stem or leaf with the middle of the 

 body in contact with the support and the long hind legs 

 stretched out behind. Davis says the song ot this species 

 is a zip, zip, zip, z, z, z, qviite distinguishable from that of 

 0. vulgare. 



Still smaller meadow grasshoppers belong to the genus 

 Conocephalus, more commonly called Xiphidium. One of 

 the most abundant species, the slender meadow grass- 

 hopper, C. fasciatus, is shown in Figure 31. It is less than 

 an inch in length, the body green, the back of the thorax 

 dark brown, the wings reddish-brown, and the back of the 

 abdomen marked with a broad brown stripe. Allard says 

 the song of this little meadow grasshopper may be ex- 

 pressed as tip, tip, tip, tseeeeeeeeeeeeee, but that the entire 

 song is so faint as almost to escape the hearing. Piers 

 describes it as ple-e-e-e-e-e, tzit, tzit, tzit, tzit. Like the song 

 of Orchelimum vulgare it apparently may either begin or 

 end with staccato notes. 



THE SHIELD BEARERS 



Another large group of the katydid family is the sub- 

 family Decticinae, mostly cricketlike insects that live on 

 the ground, but which have wings so short (Fig. 32) that 

 they are poor musicians. They are called "shield bearers" 

 because the large back plate of the first body segment is 

 more or less prolonged like a shield over the back. Most of 

 the species live in the western parts of the United States, 

 where the individuals sometimes become so abundant as 

 to form large and very destructive bands. One such 

 species is the Mormon cricket, Anabrus simplex, and an- 

 other is the Coulee cricket, Peranabrus scabricollis (Fig. 32), 

 of the dry central region of the State of Washington. The 

 females of these species are commonly wingless, but the 



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