g6 AN ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 



and low vegetation, often near marshy or boggy land in sandy 

 districts. The eggs are sometimes laid in the edges of leaves, 

 singly, between the upper and under surfaces, and are so thin 

 that they can be perceived with difficulty only. They swell, 

 however, very considerably before hatching. 



In New Jersey species of this genus sometimes do great injury 

 on cranberry bogs, eating out the seed-capsule of the berries and 

 rejecting the pulp. A single specimen may eat, at one meal, the 

 seed-capsules of five or six berries, and in a week half a peck may 

 be destroyed or rendered unmarketable. 



Turkeys exercise a good effect here also, the insects recog- 

 nizing the presence of an enemy in a very short time and leaving 

 the bogs. A good method of lessening the injury is to burn 

 over the ground around the infested district to destroy the eggs. 

 Nature itself does much to check increase, the number of speci- 

 mens averaging about the same from year to year ; so any in- 

 telligent interference by man must be to his advantage, and a 

 destruction of the dropped leaves, especially of oak, which may 

 contain eggs, will be a gain. 



Next in size and musical ability are the * ' cone-nosed grass- 

 hoppers, ' ' Conocephalus, with very long antennae, very long hind 

 legs, very long and narrow fore-wings, and a pointed, conically- 

 projecting head. In the female the ovipositor is as long as or 

 longer than the rest of the body. These insects may be quite 

 common, yet rarely seen, because of their resemblance to the 

 reeds, grasses, and other vegetation among which they live. 

 They do not become active until late in the afternoon, and may 

 be located by their loud, shrill, long-sustained song. Then, 

 quietly waiting until it is resumed, the male may be seen with 

 wings rapidly vibrating and usually near his mate, for whose 

 benefit all this concert is produced. The eggs are laid in the 

 stalks of the reeds and grasses among which the insects live ; 

 hence late mowing of infested meadows, or burning over, during 

 the winter, swampy or marshy spots in which they breed will 

 keep them in check when they become troublesome. 



Close relatives of the above are the smaller, green meadow 

 grasshoppers, largely members of the genera Orckelimum and 

 Xiphidium, — the former with curved, the latter with a straight 

 ovipositor in the female. These species all prefer moist lands 



