670 FAMILY VIII. GRYLLIDJE. THE CRICKETS. 



maiued usually motionless when they could easily be made to jump 

 into the beating net, which was held below the spot under investi- 

 gation to catch the bark and any specimens which might fall with 

 il. Without such use of a net the species would prove very difficult 

 to capture. The insect is apparently wholly nocturnal and in- 

 dividuals probably seldom leave the tree trunks. This latter is in- 

 dicated by the peculiar silvery general coloration of the insects, 

 mottled and speckled with dark brown, which blends perfectly 

 with the bark of the trees upon which they are found, but which 

 would cause them to be conspicuous under many other environ- 

 mental conditions." 



Subfamily V. GRYLLlNvE. 

 THE GROUND AND FIELD CRICKETS. 



This subfamily comprises our most numerous and best known 

 crickets. They are of small or medium size, usually robust and 

 stubby in form and have the head large, vertical or nearly so, ver- 

 tex broad, rounded into the face; antennae long, setaceous; ocelli 

 three, usually arranged in a very obtuse triangle; pronotum short, 

 subquadrate, its front and hind margins truncate or nearly so; 

 tegmiua and wings variable in length; stridulating organ of male 

 furnished with a speculum; fore tibia 3 with a tympanum on one 

 or both faces; femora unarmed, hind ones very stout; hind tibia? 

 armed above Avith two rows of spines, without serrations between 

 them, and with six subapical spurs; joints of all the tarsi com- 

 pressed; anal cerci long, tapering, bristly. Ovipositor variable in 

 length, straight, slender, cylindrical, feebly lanceolate at apex. 



About 20 genera of the subfamily are known, six of which are 

 represented in the eastern United States- The principal literature 

 treating of these is as follows: Saussure, 1874, 370, 1877, 226; 

 Elatchley, 1892, 1000, 1003; Scudder, 1896a, 189Gb, 18!)(ic, lOOlb, 

 1902a; Walker, E. M. 1004; Morse, 1005; Lutz. 1008; Hebard, 

 1913, 1013a, 1915, 1915c ; E, & H., 1015c, 1916. 



KEY TO EASTERN GEXEKA OF GRYLLIX.E. 



a. Spines of hind tibiae long, movable, pilose; last joint of maxillary 

 palpi at least twice the length of the one preceding; basal joint of 

 hind tarsi (in our species) unarmed above; smaller, length of body 

 less than 12 mm. 



b. Lower front angle of lateral lobes of pronotum rounded ; tegmina 

 of male with a tympanum; hind tibiae armed above with four 

 spines on each margin and with three subapical spurs on each 

 side. L NEMODIVS, p. 671. 



bb. Lower front angle of lateral lobes rectangular or acute; tegmina 

 of male without a tympanum; hind tibiae armed above with 



