390 THE MIGRATORY LOCUST. 



Like those of the mole, the fore-limbs of the Mole Cricket are of enormous comparative 

 size, and turned outwards at just the same angle from the body. All the legs are strong, but 

 the middle and hinder pair appear quite weak and insignificant when compared with the 

 gigantic developments of the front pair. This insect is rather local, but is found in many 

 parts of Europe, where it is known by sundry popular titles, Croaker being the name most 

 in vogue. 



The wings of the Mole Cricket are large and handsome ; and when folded, their hardened 

 outer edges project along the back like two curved spines. Some persons have thought that 

 this insect is the cause of the well-known phenomenon called the Will of the Wisp, or Jack 

 o' Lantern, because in a locality where one of these deceptive lights was fluttering after its 

 uncertain wont, a Mole Cricket was captured on the wing. 



The food of the Mole Cricket is chiefly of a vegetable nature ; but the insect will eat 

 animal food when offered, having been known to feed upon raw beef with great zest. Like 

 the field cricket, it is very combative, and when it has vanquished its foe is sure to eat him. 

 As may be imagined from the tasks which it performs in driving burrows through the earth, 

 the muscular strength of the Mole Cricket is exceedingly great ; and when the insect is 

 held in the hand, its struggles for escape are apt to inflict rather sharp scratches on the skin 

 of the captor. 



The color of the Mole Cricket is brown of different tints, darker upon the thorax than on 

 the wing-covers, both of which organs are covered with a very fine and short down. 



As might be surmised from the extraordinary muscular power of the fore-legs, the Mole 

 Cricket can burrow with great rapidity. The excavation is of a rather complicated form, con- 

 sisting of a moderately large chamber with neatly smoothed walls, and many winding passages 

 communicating with this central apartment. In the chamber are placed from one to four 

 hundred eggs of a dusky yellow color ; and the roof of the apartment is so near the surface 

 of the ground that the warmth of the sunbeams penetrates through the shallow layer of earth, 

 and causes the eggs to be hatched. 



The Mole Cricket (Oryllotalpa) is very common, and destructive to vegetation in the 

 warmer portions of the United States. Its ravages on the sugar-cane is of a serious nature. 

 The G. borealis is found in New England, in moist earth near ponds. 



There is a singular species, called Schizoddctylus monstrosus, now common in the insect 

 cases sent from India, which is notable for the manner in which the enormously long wings 

 and their covers are rolled at their tips into spiral coils. This belongs to the same family 

 as the mole cricket, and, like that insect, is a burrower, making holes nearly a yard 

 in depth. 







THE MIGRATORY LOCUST, represented in the accompanying colored illustration, is a well- 

 known instance of a very large family of insects represented in our own land by many 

 examples. All the Locusts and Grasshoppers are vegetable feeders ; and in many cases their 

 voracity is so insatiable, their jaws so powerful, and their numbers so countless, that they 

 destroy every vestige of vegetation wherever they may pass, and devastate the country as if a 

 fire had swept over it. 



Such is the case with the Migratory Locust, so called from its habit of congregating 

 in vast armies, which fly like winged clouds over the earth, and, wherever they alight, strip 

 every living plant of its verdure. So assiduously do they ply their busy jaws, that the 

 peculiar sound produced by the champing of the leaves, twigs, and grass blades can be heard 

 at a considerable distance. When they take to flight, the rushing of their wings is like the 

 roaring of the sea ; and as their armies pass through the air, the sky is darkened as if by 

 black thunder-clouds. 



The family GicadaricE includes an interesting group of insects, called in New England, 

 incorrectly, locusts. Cicada is the generic name of the common "locust." Another species, 

 called seventeen-year locusts, is notable for the great length of time the grubs live. During 

 seventeen years the grubs live under ground, feeding on the roots of trees. The oak-tree is a 

 favorite. At the termination of the period the grubs ^ave attained their adult condition, when 



