The Insect Folk Part 12

THE SHORTHORNED GRa.s.sHOPPERS

They have no horns, of course, but some have short antennae that stick out like little horns, and those we call shorthorned.

The right name for the shorthorned gra.s.shoppers is locusts.

We call another insect a locust, but the shorthorned gra.s.shoppers are the true locusts.

Some say it was these locusts that John the Baptist ate with his honey in the wilderness.

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A good many people in different parts of the world still eat locusts.

They are said to be good food when roasted, but I would rather eat roasted peanuts.

Come here, little locust, and let us look at you.

Now, stand still, and show us your short "horns."

See its eyes!

Yes, May, they are compound eyes, but I do not know how many facets they have.

What a funny little rabbit face it has.

See it move its little mouth parts.

It bites bits out of the leaves and chews them up very fast.

Has it teeth? May is asking.

Well, yes, but not like our teeth. Sometime you must see the mouth parts of the gra.s.shopper under the microscope. They are very interesting.

Mollie says the locust has a cape on.

John says the cape is the top of its thorax.

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Frank has been counting its legs; he says it has six.

See it walk. It uses all six legs to walk with.

But it does something besides walk with its hind legs.

Yes, it jumps with them. How long and large they are! Now watch it jump.

See! It draws those long hind legs close up to its body, then suddenly straightens them out--and away it goes as though it had been shot from a spring board.

John says its hind legs work just like a spring, and so they do. It can leap several times the length of its body. Amy thinks it should be called a gra.s.s-jumper instead of a gra.s.shopper.

Suppose we all look carefully at the locust's long hind leg, segment by segment.

What, John? You do not know what a segment is?

Well, a segment is the part between two joints. The joints are where the leg bends, you know.

May proposes that we draw a picture of the long hind leg.

It will be fun to try.

There are two tiny segments close to the body.

If you are not careful, you will find only one.

You must look sharp to see both of them.

How well Charlie has drawn his! He has both the little segments.

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The one next the body we will mark I, and we will call it the c.o.xa.

The next little one we will mark II, and that we will call the trochanter.

The long, strong one, III, we will call the femur.

The next one, long and narrow, we will mark IV, and call the tibia.

All the rest of the leg, made of several short segments, we will call the tarsus, and we will mark it V.

Now how are we to remember all those hard names?

Here is a jingle that perhaps will help us:--

_c.o.xa_ first, and then _trochanter_, Number three the _femur_ stands, After this, the long, straight _tibia_, And last of all the _tarsus_ comes.

Now let us see who can learn it first.

Charlie says we are taking a good deal of trouble over the hind legs of a gra.s.shopper.

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Very true, Mr. Philosopher, but let me tell you something.