SUBFAMILY V. GRYLLIN/E. 675 



The short winged form (rittutiis) begins to reach maturity in 

 central Indiana about July 15th. Living specimens have been seen 

 as late as December 1st. Although present in vast numbers, but 

 little is known of its life habits. When disturbed they are very 

 difficult to capture, making enormous leaps with their stout hind 

 legs, no sooner striking the ground than they are up again, even 

 if not pursued, until the} T find a leaf or other shelter beneath which 

 to take refuge. 



The known range of N. fasciatits is a very wide one, extending 

 from Nova Scotia and New England, west to Manitoba, \Yyoming 

 and Utah, and south and southwest to Tennessee, central Georgia, 

 Arkansas and New Mexico. West of Manitoba typical f<iwi<itns 

 is replaced by its northern race a'bortlvns Caudell, and south of 

 North Carolina and central Georgia by the southern race sociux 

 Scudder. It is recorded as common wherever found and in num- 

 ber of individuals is perhaps the most abundant of all our eastern 

 Orthoptera. 



Piers (1918, 331) says it is one of the most numerous species 

 of Orthoptera in Nova Scotia, all the specimens noted, however, 

 being the short-winged form. 



"Around Halifax they begin to reach maturity about July 20, but the 

 males do not commence stridulating till a fortnight later. At first a few 

 are heard and only at night and so very faintly as to be all but inaudible 

 except to a trained ear. In a few days they may be heard in daytime as 

 well as at night and the notes become more noticeable. They are last 

 heard at Halifax about Nov. 10, * * * some of them surviving as 

 many as four ice-forming frosts, frozen ground and even evanescent snow 

 falls. 



"The stridulation or shrilling note of the male is produced by the in- 

 sect lifting the wing-covers about 45 above the body, and then shuffling 

 them very rapidly together so as to vibrate the resonant organ at their 

 base; thus producing a trilling sound or tremolo, of a prolonged character, 

 resembling the syllable ple-e-e-e, ple-e-e-e, ple-e-e-e, repeated at rather short 

 intervals or sometimes continued for several seconds or even much longer. 

 The sound has a peculiar silvery timbre, and when myriads are shrilling 

 all over the fields at night, or on fine days in late autumn, when other 

 sounds are hushed and the air filled with the mystic charm of the hour or 

 season, it produces a peculiarly drowsy, ceaseless tremor, pulsation or 

 'shimmer' of sound which is very familiar and loved by all dwellers in the 

 country. It is, however, ineffably associated with a sad feeling that sum- 

 mer is on the wane or past, for it is our most characteristic autumnal 

 sound in grassy places, and is linked with the sight of golden-rods and 

 purple asters and the odour of falling leaves." 



Scudder (ISOSa) has set the note of the male to scale and says: 

 "The chirping of the striped cricket is very similar to that of the 



