Page:Insects - Their Ways and Means of Living.djvu/63

tsikk-sound just mentioned. Such notes contain little music to us, but Scudder says he has seen three males singing to one female at the same time. This female, however,

Fig. 16. A grasshopper, Mecostethus gracilis, that makes a sound by scraping sharp ridges on the inner surfaces of its hind thighs over toothed veins of the wings
A, the male grasshopper. B, left front wing; the rasping vein is the one marked I. C, a part of the rasping vein and its branches more enlarged, showing rows of teeth

was busy laying her eggs in a near-by stump, and there is no evidence given to show that even she appreciated the efforts of her serenaders.

Several other little grasshoppers fiddle after the manner of Chloealtis; but another, Mecostethus gracilis by name (Fig. 16), instead of having the rasping points on the legs, has on each fore wing one vein (B, I) and its branches provided with many small teeth, shown enlarged at C, upon which it scrapes a sharp ridge situated on the inner surface of the hind thigh.

In another group of grasshoppers there are certain species that make a noise as they fly, a crackling sound