20 



EXPERIMENTAL LESSONS. 



INSECTS IN WINTER. 



THE YELLOW STRIPED LOCUST. 



BY 



Harry H. Whall. 



To the casual observer there are very few, if any, insects to be 

 found in winter. Yet if one knows where to look, they are sure to 

 find plenty of material upon which to work, such as moths, butter* 

 flies, beetles, bugs, flies and many other insects which hibernate dur- 

 ing the winter. 



Any pleasant day when the sun is shining, take a walk into the 

 fields, and on the sunny side of hills and knolls, if you will turn over 

 the leaves and grass you will find the larva of locusts, and many 

 other insects, also under rocks, stumps, and under bark of trees etc. 



The yellow striped is one of the most common locusts, and here 

 we might mention that, as there is more or less confusion regarding 

 locusts, we will endeavor to rectify an error which is in use constant- 

 ly by many people, that is, the word locust is applied to an insect in a 

 very different order, the cicada, or harvest-fly. Then again the lo- 

 cust is called a grasshopper which is another error. The grasshopper 

 is easily distinguished from the locust by the length of its antennae, 

 which in the true grasshopper are one and a half times, and often 

 twice as long as the body, while the antennae of the locust are about 

 one half the length of the body. 



The larva of the yellow striped locust is all that can be found 

 now, and they are usually discovered on a warm sunny day, and you 

 will find the young locusts quite frisky and hard to catch. The head 

 of the locust is connected to the thorax by a thin skin which is easily 

 broken, even the small blades of grass, if they slip between the armor- 

 like plates, will often cut the tissues and result in the tragic death of 

 the locust. The neck, which conneets the head and thorax, you will 

 notice, is much longer than that of the fly, wasp, ants, etc., and this 

 does not enable the locust to move its head a great deal. You have 

 noticed when you catch a locust that it secretes a dark reddish 

 brown fluid, which is produced by the salivary glands, you will also 

 notice the young locust in winter, even in the warmest days, will not 

 secrete this fluid when captured. 



