THE GRASSHOPPER'S COUSINS 



another place farther off. Finally, though, it strikes the 

 ear with such intensity that there can be no mistaking the 

 source of its origin, and, right there in plain sight on a leaf 

 sits a little, delicate, slim-legged, pale-green insect with 

 hazy, transparent sails outspread above its back. But 

 can such an insignificant creature be making such a deafen- 

 ing sound! It has required very cautious tactics to ap- 

 proach thus close without stopping the music, and it needs 

 but a touch on stem or leaf to make it cease. But now 

 those gauzy sails that before were a blurred vignette have 

 acquired a definite outline, and a little more disturbance 

 may cause them to be lowered and spread flat on the 

 creature's back. The music will not begin anew until you 

 have passed a period of silent waiting. Then, suddenly, 

 the lacy films go up, once more their outlines blur, and 

 that intense scream again pierces your ear. In short, you 

 are witnessing a private performance of the broad-winged 

 tree cricket, Oecanthns latipennis. 



But if you pay attention to the notes of other singers, 

 you will observe that there is a variety of airs in the medley 

 going on. Many notes are long trills like the one just 

 identified, lasting indefinitely; but others are softer purr- 

 ing sounds, about two seconds in length, while still others 

 are short beats repeated regularly a hundred or more times 

 every minute. The last are the notes of the snowy tree 

 cricket, Oecanthus niveus, so-called on account of his pale- 

 ness. He is really green in color, but a green of such a 

 very pale shade that he looks almost white in the dark. The 

 male (Fig. 37) is a little longer than half an inch, his wings 

 are wide and flat, overlapping when folded on the back, 

 with the edges turned down against the sides of the body. 

 The female is heavier-bodied than the male, but her wings 

 are narrow, and when folded are furled along the back. 

 She has a long ovipositor for inserting her eggs into the 

 bark of trees. 



The males of the snowy cricket reach maturity and begin 

 to sing about the middle of July. The singer raises his 



[65] 



