Jennifer Gammon, age 12, of Frederickton, New Brunswick, Canada, for her question:

In what family are the grasshoppers?

Our planet's green foliage supports about 10,000 grasshopper type creatures. All of these long legged leapers are classified in the insect Order Orthoptera    which includes roaches and other non leapers. Many of the different species have everyday names such as grasshoppers and locusts, crickets and katydids. Scientists have sorted the various grasshopper types into three families, based on such fundamental features as ears, antenna and musical instruments.

Orthoptera means "straight wings" and insects of this order have a front pair of straight stiff wings. When at rest, they lie neatly along the back, covering a pair of.gau2p wings used~far~flying. Some grasshopper relatives, however, have either small, useless wings or none at all. The 20,000 or so species in this insect order include grasshoppers and katydids., crickets and cockroaches, praying mantis_and skinny walkingsticks.

Naturally, the vast Order Orthoptera is subdivided into families  of mare closely ¬related insects. The Family Gryllidae includes almost a thousand species of chirpy crickets. The more than 9,000 grasshoppers are subdivided into two families    the short horns and the long horns. The horns, of course, are antenna, which may be short and rather stubby or skinny and longer than the insect's body.

The short horned grasshoppers belong in the family Locustidae. There are 5,000 species. All have big heads, huge eyes and long, strong back legs for leaping. If a man could jump like a grasshopper, he could progress down the street in 40 foot leaps. The family, as its name suggests, includes the locusts. All male, short horned grasshoppers make music by rubbing the hard veins on the front wings against hard ridges on the back legs. The ladies of the family listen with ears. located on the sides of their abdomens.

The long horned grasshoppers belong in the Family Tettigoniidae. This strange name megns "bitter." It may refer to the fact that when any grasshopper is annoyed, he is likely to spit a gob of bitter tasting, chewed up food. The long horns include the dainty leafy green katydid, the humpy camel cricket and several others commonly called crickets. The males of this family sing by rubbing together rough patches on their front wings. The ladies of the family listen with ears in their knees.

The 1,000 or so true crickets belong in the Family Gryllidae, meaning "the crickets." They are grasshopper types, but they do not restrict their menus to grassy greenery. Crickets often dine on starchy linens and chew holes in books. They have long antennas and the males make music by rubbing their front wings together.

Naturally, each of these 10,000 or so grasshopper types has special features and favors certain regions.

All members of this insect group grow by molting. The females deposit pods of eggs, in the ground or in leafy twigs. The hatchlings are small, wingless copies of their parents. They devour grassy greenery and as they grow, they molt their old skins for bigger ones. The average grasshopper molts six times in six weeks and finally emerges as a winged adult.