2 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. | [Vor. XXXIX. 
of its habits were carried out on numerous live individuals which 
I transported to my home in Chicago. 
I have found this insect living singly, or from one to four 
together, upon the horse-weed, the females predominating during 
August. It is found more often on the main central stem, from 
eighteen inches to two and a half feet from the top, attracted 
there doubtless for the purpose of courtship and oviposition. 
Here it exhibits exquisite protective resemblance. The body of 
the insect is colored pale green, but the legs, antennae, maxillary 
palpi, head, thorax, cerci, ovipositor, the ventral aspect of the 
thorax and abdomen, are very dark, though the color is 5ome- 
what variable. It is a delicate soft bodied insect, with excep- 
tionally long antenne. One of its favorite habits is closely to 
grasp the green main stem of its chosen plant with its body 
resting upside down. When disturbed, its first impulse usually 
is to jump to the ground, where its black legs, blending with 
the background of earth, are invisible, while the top of the body 
being green, now appears from above like a small blade of grass. 
If the insect is again molested while on the ground, it jumps 
quickly here and there in a spasmodic manner, then catching 
hold of some herbage climbs upon it. After waiting sufficiently 
long for danger to pass, the cricket eventually springs from one 
small plant to another until it again finds the main stem of the 
horse-weed. It then climbs up to take a position similar to that 
which it formerly occupied. One may often find it at rest, with 
its legs extended nearly straight out behind the body ; or it may 
appear on the flowers feeding. After a dry spell of weather in 
August, the older weeds, often selected as a residence by the 
crickets, present a series of dead brownish leaves below, that 
extend from the ground a third or more the length of the plants 
upwards. Because of the existence of these dead leaves and 
shadows, the darker parts as well as the light coloring on these 
insects serve as excellent protection. Moreover, as they rest on 
the main stem, among the maze of leaves they enjoy complete 
immunity from their grosser enemies. Later in the season the 
habits undergo some modification incident to the change in the 
vegetation. For instance, on September thirtieth, I visited the 
horse-weed patch which furnished the theme of the above narra- 

