Article beginning on page 88.
Psyche 9:88-89, 1900.

Full text (searchable PDF)
Durable link: http://psyche.entclub.org/9/9-088.html

The following unprocessed text is extracted from the PDF file, and is likely to be both incomplete and full of errors. Please consult the PDF file for the complete article.

PSYCHE.
THE MELANOPLI OF KANSAS. - 111.
BY S. J. HUNTER AND W. S. SUTTON, KANSAS UNIVERSITY, LAWRENCE. M. femnr-r~i.b7+~/m DcGeer.-'Klic
specimens taken in Ford county vary
from the description of Scudclcr in hay- ing the general ground color, fuscous,
a noticeable yellowish tinge on the
gcnac; and head rather heavily infus-
cated instead of olivaceo-plunibens as
Scudcler described it, and as the forms
in the eastern part of (.hc Statc show.
Hind femora not olivaceo-testaceous
but rather flavo-testaceous, roseate be- low. Hind tibiae of one specimen
bright red, other slightly tinged with
red. End of abdomen not very strongly
recurved in males. The ccrci difTcr
slightly from Scuckler's figures, being
broader at the base and more tapering
in the basal half. Quite generally dis-
tributed over the State. Notice;ibly
supplanted, however, in Douglas
county within the last ten years by
M'. ath is,
M bi.qinosus Scudder.- Of this we
have but one male from Ford county,
July. It answers Scudaer's description
with the following exceptioiis : Inter-
spaces between mesosternal lobes
hartlly twice as Ionpas Inroad ; Scud-
der says "fully twice as long," pro-
zona not quadrate but slightly elongate, anterior margin hardly truncate," but
broadly and shallowly notched mesially.
In the length of the prozona it tends
towards X termi;tdis, a closely allied
species, but in the characteristics of the male abdominal appendages it agices
perfectly with Scurldcr's description
and figure of M. bis$immts. This is a
species first described by Scudder in
his Revision and reported only from
Texas.
M $acJturdii Sc~idder. - Median
carina sometimes but rarely marked on
l>rozoriii by a fine sharp black line.
Medio-dorsal stripe varies both in inten- sity of color and in breadth ; in color
from. testaceous to dark fuscous, in
bre:idth from one third to one half the
width of the prozona. In the blue-
lczcd variety the st1 ipe is dftrkcr and more clearly defined than in those with
red hind tibiae and shows a stronger
tendency to taper to a point on the
~nelazoriii. Sub-genital plate sub-equal, gcner:illy broader than long, wrcly only as broad as long.
Ford county seven females, Hamilton
county one male, Finney county three
males and one female, Russell county
two females and one male, July. Ten
of ihesc had blue hind tibiae and five
red. They were common in the al-
falfa fields of Ford and Edwards coun-
Pachc 9 088-90 (pre.1903) hfp //psyche aitclub orgBN-OCBS htd



================================================================================

ties and were observcd ovipositing in
these fields September first.
M. mi~tor Scudder.- Exceptions to
description of SciulJer : - prostern:tl
spine strongly zippressed (Scurldcr says " Morc'or less") iind strongly inclined
cauilad. head not very prominent, meta-
zona very slightly cxpamled if at all;
specimen 11x1 hind tibiae of pale glau-
cons color. Of supra-anal plutc Scudcler says, " trianguliir with ;icuLe-aiignlatc apex, nearly flat, will) narrowly mod-
erately deep tncdian SLI~CLIS between
rather prominent ridgcs which are con-
fluent apically, and ternninate a little 11eliind the middle of the pliite." The
specimen in hzincl would be perluips
letter (lescribeil as spherico-trinngular and slightly deviited in the region of
the median sulcus. In other respects
conforming to the description.
One iiiiile, Ford comity. Novv first
reported from Kansas.
M. dtffeiwdialis Uhler.- Frontal
costa generally equal, but rather fre-
quently, slightly expanded at the oeel-
lus, angle of hind margin of metazona
decidedly more obtuse in the male.
All tlie transverse sulci of the pronotum are deeply marked with fuscous on
lateral lobes especially the middle sul- cus. In the insects of this species in
which tlic ground color is liglit or
" yellowis11 testaceous" there is a
strong tendency to marbling of the
face and pronot~im, with darker tcsia-
ccons which is frequently localized in
three quarters: first, as two diverging
stripes upon the vertex, second as irreg- ular clouds upon the face, thin1 as spots princip;illy on l.lne disk of the prunot~~n~ whose outlines follow bnt (lo not coin-
cide with those of the 1~l;ickish fuscous of the sulci.
1'11is is the most common nntive
species hi Kansas ancl at times occurs
locally in snch numbers as to cause '
considerable damage. rt is quite par-
tial to alfalfa and by reason of this early food pliint it thrives in undue nuivibers in the vicini1.y of such fields. It occurs throughout the State wherever culti-
vated land is to be IOUIICI. In the hi811 plains of western Kansas it may be
found in the vicinity of plowed hmds
or weeds growing- upon the same, but
never appeals to venture far out on the
plains away from tins class of food.
The black variety is not uncommon.
Bruner speaks of this species as inliab- iting low aid moist places. Thongh
locally destruelive in the Arkansas
valley we have observed il as equally
active and numerous upon llic high
plains.
M. blvitaitus Say.- This species
occurs under thc same connditions as
^1. diffCrentialis but not in such
great numbers. It mat~ircs about (he
middle of June in Edwards and Ford
counties nearly two weeks before M.




================================================================================

90 PSYCHE. [~ugust, 1900.
differentialis passes through the last
1noult.
P. nrbrascencis Tlios.- Four speci-
mens from Ford county, two of each
variety (P. 72. ncbrascc7zcis and P. YL. vollicris). Structural characteristics
conform well with the description,
except that in tlirce of å´(.li four cases the fastigium is plainly s~ilcatc. The
other specimen - P. n. nebruscencis
corroborated the description of Scnd-
der. Pri~slend spine not " erect''
THE CLEAR-WINGED SPECIES
but slightly recumbent. Extremity of
male abdomen only feebly clavate.
In the short winged variety P. n.
nebrascencis, the two specimens at
h:md show marked variation in teg-
mina; alike in width, they dii'kr in
length, and in the form of disfal extrr~n- ity. The specimens agree in size,
but tegmina are six and nine mm. in
length respectively. The shorter teg-
miria end more abruptly and the apex
is more acute lhan in. the longer will^'. Two males of each variety from Ford
Co., Jnly.
OF THE OEDIPODINE GENUS
MESTOBREGMA.
BY SAMUEL H. SCUDDER, CAMBRIDGE, JIASS.
Most of the described species of the
genus Mcstobregrna, like the type of the genus, have the wings distinctly crossed mesially by a fuscous band of greater or less width. I11 one species, however, M. kiowa Thoin., the wings are pellucid,
except for the fuscous veins and for the occasional faint clouding of the wings at the normal point for the band, or the
heavier infuscation of the cross-veins in this region.
In the collections brought from the
Pacific coast by Mr. A. P. Morse, arc
three species of the genus with wings
showing at most no greater indication of a cross-band than in the species men-
tioned ; indeed one of them is that spe- cies, which has never before been record- ed from west of Utah. They were found
in successively more southern regions.
The broad-winged form, M. /w7ua, was
obtained only in northern California near Mt. Shasta. The narro\~wwinged species
occurred, one, M. kyalhiuw, in the San
Joachin valley from the latitude oC San
Francisco to that ol Los Angeles, the
other, M. rosaceam., [rom the southern
edge of the San Joachin valley to Yuma,
Arizona.
The species may be separated as å£01
lows :
Table of fh dear-winged species of
Mesfohregma.
01. Median carina of pronotinn nearly
obliterated between the sulci, here no




================================================================================