Part 24

My Old Man of the Meadow had then this splendid dress-coat under his sober overcoat! Seated at rest, he looked plain and quiet,--a creature of the earth. Lifted into the air, he was nearly as fine as a butterfly.

Do you not wish to know something more of this Old Man of the Meadow, the grasshopper? The name of this insect at once tells you something about him. He lives much in the grass, and his chief motion is in hops, or long jumps. He has another name, “the murmurer.” This is given because of the noise or song he makes. He sings to Mrs. Grasshopper. His song is loud and shrill. It is made by rubbing his wings one upon the other.

He has a little piece of skin like a tight drum-head set in each wing. As he moves his wings, this tiny drum vibrates, or trembles, and makes the shrill sound.

Mrs. Grasshopper does not have this drum in her wings. She has, however, at the end of her body, a nice little sword. The French call her “the jumper with the sword.” Is her sword to fight with? No. This little sword opens into several blades. She uses it to place her eggs snugly in the ground. The sword blades open, and the eggs slide safely down between them, into the little earth-bed. There they lie until the young grasshoppers hatch out.

You will find as we study about grasshoppers, that they do not all live in the grass. Some spend most of their time in trees.

Let us take a closer look at the grasshopper. As he is an insect, he should have a body made in rings, in three parts, with four wings and six legs set on the second, or chest part.

Just here let us say, that if you will look closely you will see that the head of an insect is made of four rings, and its chest is made of three rings. They are rings grown wider than the rest.

Our Old Man of the Meadow does not lack any of the parts which a proper insect should have.

The order which he belongs to is called the straight-wings, because the insects belonging to it do not fold their wings crosswise.

The grasshopper family is called the family of “the murmurers,” from their music.

There are six families of the straight-wings. In this book we shall study a little about three of them,--the grasshoppers, the crickets, and the locusts. If you wish, also, to learn about their cousin, the cockroach, suppose you, who live in city houses, go down to the kitchen, and catch him about the water pipes, and study him for yourselves!

The order of straight-wings is often divided in this way: The runners,--as the cockroach; the snatchers, a kind which have their fore-feet something like hands, to snatch with; the walkers, who seldom fly or jump; and the jumpers. The grasshopper is one of the jumpers.

If you look well at the grasshopper, you will see that his front pair of legs is shorter than the others. This hinders him in walking over a level surface. But it helps him in walking up a tree, or small plant, or a wall.

See the hind legs! They are more than twice as long as the others. The thigh, or upper part, is very long and strong. By means of these big legs, the grasshopper is a famous jumper.

Now, if you have a grasshopper to look at, you will see that the feet have four parts. The part of the leg between the foot and the thigh has sharp points like the teeth of a comb.

The hind part of the body is long and slender, and, being made of rings, can bend easily. In the great, green grasshopper all the body is of a fine green tint.

Let us look at the wings. The upper pair, or wing-covers, are large and long. Notice two things about the wings; they lap at the tips, and are high in the middle. When they are shut, they have a shape like a slanting roof. The upper ones are longer than the lower ones.

These wing-cases have large veins. Lift up a wing-case and pull out a lower wing. It is folded very closely, in lengthwise plaits. Where these wings join Mr. Grasshopper’s body, you will find his drum-plate for making music. One kind of grasshopper has very short wing-covers. In that kind, both Mr. and Mrs. Grasshopper make music. There is also one grasshopper, a little, green fellow, that has no drum; he is silent.

The upper side of the grasshopper’s chest is shaped like a large, horny collar. The head is large, and has two big, glossy eyes. There is, also, a knob on the forehead. Between the eyes, are set the feelers. They are very long; even longer than all the body.

The mouth of the grasshopper is wide, and it has strong jaws. But they are not so strong as those of his cousin, the cricket.

Grasshoppers prefer vegetable food. They will sometimes eat animal food. When shut up in a box, they will fight, and the one which gets killed will be eaten by the victor.

A grasshopper which lost its leg while being put into a box, ate its leg. Like the other winged creatures, grasshoppers lose their legs easily, and do not seem to mind it.

If you could look inside the grasshopper’s body, you would see that he has a gizzard, much like that of a chicken. It is made of little bands set with fine teeth. These teeth chew up into a pulp the leaves which the grasshopper has eaten.

FOOTNOTES:

See Nature Reader, No. 2, Lessons 1-4.

LESSON XVII.

THE LIFE OF THE OLD MAN OF THE MEADOW.

Many years ago, a great poet wrote a song to the grasshopper. The poet said the grasshopper was the happiest of living things. It did nothing but dance and sing. It ate fresh leaves, and drank cool dew. When the glad summer of its life was done, it died. It did not live to be sick, or hungry, or cold.