Animal Life of Malaysia (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 Excerpt: ...When it is eating you will see a brown R Fig. 69. Grasshopper M Fig. 70. Head of grasshopper: (A) antenna, or feeler; (D) simple eyes; (E) compound eyes; (M) mouth juice in the mouth. This is of service to the grasshopper in softening its food. The grasshopper is called a straight-winged insect because when the wings are closed they lie straight along the back. The wings grow from the thorax or body. The front wings are narrow and thick and the back wings are thin and fanshaped. When the wings are closed the thick front wings protect the thin back wings. In both kinds of wings there are many veins. The veins act as a framework to make the wings strong. They are also used to carry the colorless blood which nourishes the wings. You also see that two kinds of legs grow from the thorax. Count them. When the grasshopper walks, all of the legs move, but the long legs are used especially to jump with. The long legs are strong and the grasshopper can jump very far. In Spanish this insect is called "saltamontes," which means, "jump a mountain." It is said that if a grasshopper were as large as a twelve-year-old boy, it could jump more than a hundred feet. On the inside of the long legs is a rough surface. If you catch a grasshopper by the back, sometimes you can see what this is used for. But he is a timid little fellow and may not show you at first. If you are patient, though, you may see him rub his long legs against his front wings and you may hear the sharp, shrill noise which this rubbing makes. This is the grasshopper's call, or love note. The back body, or abdomen, is made up of rings or segments and is much longer than the thorax. Is the thorax also segmented? Along the segments are many little holes. These are called breathing spores or ...