ORTHOPTERA . 
113 
such that by rubbing the wing-covers together they are made 
to vibrate, and thus produce the sound. Figure 126 repre¬ 
sents a wing-cover of the male of a common meadow grass¬ 
hopper, and Figure 127 that of a female of the same 
species. 
In order to facilitate the study of this family the more 
common representatives can be arranged in four groups : 
The Meadow Grasshoppers, the Katydids, the Cricket-like 
Grasshoppers, and the Shield-backed Grasshoppers. 
I. The Meadow Grasshoppers. 
—Under this head can be classed 
our most common members of 
the family; they abound upon 
grass in meadows and in moist 
places. Figure 128 represents one 
of these insects. 
II. The Katydids .—The chances are that he who lies 
awake of a midsummer night must listen whether he wishes 
to do so or not, to an oft-repeated, rasping song that says, 
“ Katy did, Katy did; she did, she didn't,” over and over 
again. There is no use of wondering what Katy did or 
didn’t do, for no mortal will ever know. If, when the dawn 
comes, the listener has eyes sharp enough to discern one of 
these singers among the leaves of some neighboring tree, 
never a note of explanation will he get. The beautiful, finely- 
veined wings folded close over the body keep the secret hid¬ 
den, and the long antennas, looking like threads of living 
silk, will wave airily above the droll, green eyes as much as to 
say, 41 Wouldn't you like to know?" The katydids live only 
on trees, and sing only during the night. There are several 
species of katydids common in the United States. The 
Western and Southern species, called the Angular-winged 
Katydid, Microcentrum retinervis (Mic-ro-cen'trum ret-i'ner- 
vis) lays its eggs in neat rows upon leaves and branches ; 
the eggs are oval, and each overlaps its neighbor slightly 
Fig. 128. —Xiph id i u tti. 
