SUBFAMILY V. GRYLLIXJE. 707 



This form or variant is, according to Scudder, (loc. cit.) the 

 most ooiiiinoii one in Now England. B. & H. (1915c, 302) state 

 that it is "found in the northeastern part of the distribution of 

 (/. (itfs'unUis, ranging southward in the high Appalachians to 

 northern Georgia and is known from the Piedmont plateau only in 

 Pennsylvania." To this form Piers (1918, 34:>) refers the only 

 form of (iri/Uus found in Nova Scotia and says (p. 3.">i>) : 



"In the vicinity of Halifax it is usually found on dry, sloping banks, 

 with scant vegetation and therefore somewhat earthy and having some 

 flattish stones scattered about, on country roadsides, the borders of fields, 

 and similar places. It does not seem to congregate in numbers but is 

 usually met with in pairs, a male and a female, under small stones, and 

 when the stone is lifted it runs rapidly about, this way and that, in a be- 

 wildered manner, looking for a hiding place or its little burrow. Its leap- 

 ing power is plainly not so great as that of Nemobius, and it makes but 

 short jumps, and prefers if possible to find a place of concealment by run- 

 ning away. Its timidity and secretive nature cause it to be seldom seen 

 about Halifax; but its notes draw attention to its hiding-place beneath a 

 stone or piece of rubbish, where it can easily be captured. 



"The eggs are deposited in loose soil in the latter part of the autumn 

 and hatch the following year, possibly early in June or thereabouts. Its 

 notes or shrilling are apparently first heard near Halifax about August 

 2 and are frequently heard during both day and night in suitable places; 

 but by October the number is much lessened in daytime and few or none 

 shrill at night. The note is considerably louder, and is a shorter, slower- 

 timed, and more distinct and noticeable trill than that of Nemobius fascia- 

 tus. It sounds like the trilled syllable plee-e-e. After each such trill it 

 is silent for a moment and then calls again, thus: plee-e-e; plee-e-e; and so 

 on. These notes sound out distinctly louder and more staccato from the 

 omnipresent undertone and lower-toned tremolo resultant from the inter- 

 mingled shrilling of countless numbers of Nemobius on all sides. When 

 both species call more faintly at the beginning of the season, it is much 

 more difficult to differentiate between the two." 



This form occurs at high altitudes and has a more northern 

 range than G. a vernalis- It averages larger in size, has the ovi- 

 positor longer in comparison with the hind femora, the veins of 

 female tegmina less reticulate and matures at a much later date. 

 334. GRYLLUS DOMESTICUS Linnaeus, 1758, 428. House Cricket. 



Size medium; form slender. Pale yellowish-brown or straw color; 

 head with a dark reddish -brown bar on occiput just in front of pronotum; 

 another between the upper portions of eyes; a third between the bases of 

 antennae and a fourth across the labrum, the lower two sometimes united. 

 Pronotum with four or five irregular shaped spots of reddish-brown on 

 dorsal surface, and a narrow bar of the same color each side; its hind mar- 

 gin slightly convex. Tegmina reaching nearly or quite to end of abdomen; 

 sometimes with a reddish-brown spot on basal third. Inner wings either 

 short and covered by, or extending considerably beyond, the tegmina. 

 Hind femora short, rather slender. Ovipositor one-fifth longer than hind 



