ou know what it means.

It comes from two Greek words _orthos_, meaning straight, and _pteron_,
meaning a wing.

Straight-wing.

And do you know, it does not mean that the _upper_ wings are straight,
but that the under wings are folded down in long straight lines.

Now let us see if we can tell in what ways all of our Orthoptera are
alike.

They all have--?

"Four wings"--that is right, little Nell.

What, John? the walking sticks have no wings?

[Illustration]

Not our walking sticks, but yet they belong to a winged family. You
remember the tropical walking sticks that have queer leaf-like wings, do
you not?

Are the four wings alike?

No, John says, the upper ones are narrow and stiff and serve as wing
covers.

The inner ones are broader and more delicate. They fold up when not in
use and are used to fly with.

Very good indeed, John. Now I will tell you something. The Orthoptera
all have mouth parts made to bite with. They do not bite anything but
what they eat, however. They are quite harmless so far as we are
concerned.

The young Orthoptera look like the old ones, only they have no wings.
They hatch out of the egg with a head, a six-legged thorax, and an
abdomen.

Now, come, let us look at all of our orthopterous friends again,
cockroaches first.

[Illustration]

How do they get about, John?

Yes, indeed, they run, the rascals. They run fast too. They are flat and
their six legs are very much alike. They are well built for running and
hiding in cracks.

Suppose we call them the _Running Orthoptera_.

Now, look at our mantis.

He does not run very much. How is he different from the others?

Ah, yes, he has big front legs, and little Nell says he grabs things
with them.

[Illustration]

So he does. Now, what shall we call these grabbers?

The Grabbing Orthoptera, Ned says.

Suppose we say instead the _Grasping Orthoptera_, because grasping
sounds a little better than grabbing. Do you not think so?

[Illustration]

Now for Mr. Walking Stick.

We cannot very well call him a member of the Running Orthoptera, can we?

Ah, Mollie has it. We must call his kind the _Walking Orthoptera_.

His six legs are all long and slender, and he moves them slowly.

[Illustration]

Now for those fellows with the long hind legs, the locusts and katydids
and crickets. Yes, all of you are ready to name them.

We call them--what?

May says, the Hopping Orthoptera.

John thinks Jumping Ort