156 
ORTHOPTERA. 
(Fig. T3,) the spotted wingless cricket. Its body is of a pale 
yellowish-brown color, darker on the back, which is covered 
with little light-colored 
o 
spots, and the outside of 
the hindmost thighs is 
marked with numerous 
short oblique lines, dis¬ 
posed in parallel rows, 
like those on the thighs of 
Acheta vittata. It varies in length from one half to more than 
three quarters of an inch, exclusive of the piercer and legs. 
The body is smooth and shining, and the back is arched. 
Most grasshoppers are of a green color, and are furnished 
with wings and wing-covers, the latter frequently resembling 
the leaves of trees and shrubs, upon which, indeed, many of 
these insects pass the greater part of their lives. Their leaf¬ 
like form and green color evidently seem to have been de¬ 
signed for their better concealment. They are nocturnal 
insects, or at least more active by night than by day. When 
taken between the fingers, they emit from their mouths a 
considerable quantity of dark-colored fluid, as do also the 
locusts or diurnal grasshoppers. They devour the leaves of 
plants, and lead a solitary life, or at least do not associate 
and migrate from place to place in great swarms, like some 
of the crickets and the locusts. There is a remarkable differ¬ 
ence in their habits, which does not appear to have been 
described hitherto. Some of these grasshoppers live upon 
grass and other herbaceous or low plants in fields and mead¬ 
ows. The piercer of the females is often sti’aight, or only 
slightly curved. They commit their eggs to the earth, thrust¬ 
ing them into holes made therein with the piercer. They lay 
a large number of eggs at a time, and cover them with a kind 
of varnish, which, when dry, forms a thin film that com¬ 
pletely encloses them. These eggs are elongated, and nearly 
of an ellipsoidal form. Other green G-rylli live upon trees 
and shrubs. Their wing-covers and wings are broader, and 
