on by flying,
leaping, walking; protective coloration and habit of "lying low"; its
behaviour when caught; in what kinds of fields it is most plentiful; in
what kinds of weather it is most active; its position on the grass or
grain when feeding; the nature and extent of the damage done by it.

Use a class period for discussion of the above. Confirm, correct, or
incite to more careful observation.

CLASS-ROOM LESSON

(Studied as a typical insect)

~Observations.~--The three divisions of the body--head, thorax, abdomen;
the segmental division of the two latter parts; the hard, protecting
covering; the movements of the abdomen; the two large compound eyes and
three small eyes; the feelers; the two pairs of mouth feelers; the
cutting mandibles; the three pairs of legs (one pair for leaping) and
two pairs of wings on the thorax; the breathing pores, the ears,
ovipositors of the female.

The young grasshoppers may be found in spring or early summer, and a few
even in late summer, among the grass of old meadows and pastures. They
are easily recognized because of their general resemblance to the adult
and are in the stage of development called the _nymph_ phase. Note the
hairy body and the absence of wings.

_To the teacher._--The moulting of the nymph is a very interesting
process to observe and so is the laying of the eggs by the female in a
burrow that she prepares in the soil. If females secured in July are
kept in a jar having two inches of soil in the bottom, they will lay
their eggs in the soil; the nests and eggs may then be taken up and
examined.

In order that we may not destroy our friends and helpers, it is
expedient to know what creatures help to hold pests in check.

The enemies of grasshoppers are birds and insect parasites. Under the
wings of grasshoppers may frequently be found little red mites; these
kill the grasshoppers to which they are attached. The blister-beetles
lay their eggs in the grasshoppers' nests, and the larvae of the beetles
feed upon and destroy the eggs.

The birds that are especially useful in destroying grasshoppers are the
meadow-lark, crow, bobolink, quail, grasshopper sparrow.

The curious hairlike worms known to the school boys as "hair snakes"
because of the belief that they are parts of horse hairs turned into
snakes, are worms that pass the early part of their life within the
bodies of grasshoppers and, when the insects die, the worms escape and
are washed by rains into