158 
0 R T H 0 P T E R A. 
and increase the sound to such a degree, that it may be 
heard in the stillness of the night, at the distance of a quarter 
of a mile. At the approach of twilight the katy-did mounts 
to the upper branches of the tree in which he lives, and, as 
soon as the shades of evening prevail, begins his noisy babble, 
while rival notes issue from the neighboring trees, and the 
groves resound with the call of “katy-did, she-did” the live¬ 
long night. Of this insect I have met with no scientific 
description except my own, which was published in 1831 in 
the eighth volume of the “ Encyclopaedia Americana,” page 
42. It is the PlatypJiyllum* 
concavum^-\ (Fig. 74,) and 
measures, from the head to 
the end of the wing-covers, 
rather more than one inch 
and a half, the body alone 
being one inch in length. 
The piercer is broad, later¬ 
ally compressed, and curved 
like a cimeter; and there 
are, in both sexes, two little 
thorn-like projections from 
the middle of the breast be¬ 
tween the fore legs. The 
katy-did is found in the per¬ 
fect state during the months 
of September and October, at which time the female lays her 
eggs. These are slate-colored, and are rather more than 
* Platyphyllum means broad-wing. 
t Can this be the Locusta perspicillaia of Fabricius?® 
[6 This is Cyrtophyllus perspicillatus, Burm. = Locusta perspicillnta, Fab. Dr. 
Harris’s generic name has priority over that of Burmeister, and hence this insect 
must be called Platyphyllum perspicillatum^ Fab. The insect called katy-did in 
the Southern States is entirely different from this one, although its habit of sitting 
upon the trees and issuing this shrill note has induced some persons to mistake it 
for the true one from New England. The Southern katy-did belongs to the genus 
Phylloptera, and from the ovipositor being shaped somewhat like that of Locusta 
curvicauda, De Geer, Dr. Harris supposed it to be that species. — Uhler.] 
Fig. 74. 
