The Insect Folk Part 24

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, c.o.c.kroaches first.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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 Orthoptera would sound better.

And that is what we name them, the _Jumping Orthoptera_.

How many kinds of Jumping Orthoptera are we acquainted with, Ned? Now, think before you speak.

He says we know the shorthorned gra.s.shoppers, or locusts, the longhorned, or meadow, gra.s.shoppers, and the crickets.

Very well done, Ned.

May wants to know what has become of the katydids and the cricket-like gra.s.shoppers--she thinks Ned has left them out.

Ned says they belong to the longhorned gra.s.shoppers.

Now you shall have a list of the Orthoptera that will help you to remember them.

If we can group together things that are like each other, it is easier to remember them.

ORDER ORTHOPTERA.

_Running Orthoptera._ c.o.c.kroaches, Croton Bugs.

_Grasping Orthoptera._ Praying Mantis.

_Walking Orthoptera._ Walking Sticks.

_Jumping Orthoptera._ Shorthorned Gra.s.shoppers, or Locusts.

Longhorned, or Meadow, Gra.s.shoppers.

Crickets.

There are a great many species of Orthoptera in the world, and we have seen but a very few of them.

But I can tell you, we feel a little better acquainted with you orthopterous fellows than we did.

The dragon fly says we have not given him a place.

But, dear dragon fly, you belong to another family. You are not an orthopterous insect.

Your order is called the ODO-NA-TA.

The wings of the Odonata are very different from those of the Orthoptera.

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You remember how they are?

Yes, Ned, they are stiff and covered with a close network of fine veins, and all four of them are alike.

No wing covers, you see.

I do not know why they have the name Odonata.

The young Odonata are not like their parents, excepting that they have a head, a thorax with six legs, and an abdomen. But they certainly do not look like their parents!

No, John, the May flies do not belong to the Odonata. Their wings are quite different.