640 FAMILY VIII. GRYLLIDJE. THE CRICKETS. 



up the greater part of that ceaseless thrill which, iu the northern 

 states, fills the air, usually at night, from mid-July until after 

 frost. These sounds are made only by the males, and are not 

 vocal, as most persons suppose; but are produced by the tympan- 

 um, the insect rubbing the veins in the middle of one wing cover 

 over those of the other. It is often difficult to locate one of these 

 chirpers b} T its song- The distance and even the direction arc 

 usually most deceiving; the crickets being exceedingly shy, much 

 more so than katydids and grasshoppers. Those which live in the 



ground generally chirp near the entrance to 

 their burrows, and retreat thereto at every ap- 

 proaching footstej). Those which live upon 

 trees or shrubs resemble closely the hues of 

 bark or foliage, and are therefore difficult to 

 find even when close at hand ; while the ma- 

 jority, dwelling as they do, among grasses and 

 j t beneath logs and chips, find also a safe protec- 

 tion in their color, which is usually closely like 

 ridges ^\ that of the objects beneath which they rest 



fi, while sounding their cymbals. 

 st "Aft a er n Land e oi h s :) The inner wings of the crickets are, for the 



most part, short, weak, and comparatively use- 

 less as flying organs, though sometimes they are nearly twice as 

 long as the outer pair. Like their nearest relatives, the grass- 

 hoppers and katydids, these insects, therefore, travel mostly by 

 leaps and, in the course of time, their hind femora have thus be- 

 come greatly enlarged. 



The ovipositor of the females of most Gryllidte, when exposed, 

 is usually a long, cylindrical spear-shaped organ, consisting ap- 

 parently of two pieces. Each of these halves, however, when 

 closely examined, is seen to be made up of two pieces so united 

 as to form a groove on the inner side, so that when the two 

 halves are fitted together, a tube is produced, down which the 

 eggs pass to the repository in the earth or twig, fitted to receive 

 them. 



The eggs of most crickets are laid singly in the ground. A few 

 of the burrowing species deposit them in irregular masses in un- 

 derground cavities. Some tree crickets place them uniformly in 

 a single row in the pith of twigs. In Indiana and other northern 

 states most species are represented in winter by the eggs alone. 

 A few, however, pass the cold season as nymphs, or as adults. The 

 mole crickets are said to live for several vears. 



