Sub-Order III. GIRYLLODEA. 



(Crickets.) 



Four crickets are the sole British representatives 

 of a group of insects which present not a few points 

 of interest. Around one of them indeed- -the house- 

 cricket- -tradition has spread a halo almost of sanctity, 

 though in real life the housewife and the baker do not 

 regard it with the same degree of favour. Romance, 

 however, must be allowed to see with other eyes, when 

 it contemplates the " Cricket on the Hearth," which 

 novelists delight to honour and whose praises poets 

 have so freely sung. The homely song of the cricket 

 may perhaps be pleasant to some, and for a time may 

 be tolerated by all on account of its associations ; but 

 the continuance of its shrill " piping ' may well be 

 understood to become a nuisance very soon. 



' 



We may define the G-RYLLODEA as : Orthoptera with 

 slender, usually long, antennae. Elytra (at rest) with the 

 dorsal part lying flat on the body, and the lateral turned 

 down over the sides. Tarsi usually of three segments ; 

 In'.nd legs suited for leaping. "Ears" situated on the fore 

 tibiae, the "musical ' apparatus being found on the basal 

 part of the elytra of the male. Female with a long exserted 

 ovipositor (except in Gryllotalpids3 and Tridactylidde). 

 Cerci long. Many wingless forms. 



Seven families are usually given as comprising the 

 Gryllodea : 



1. TRIDACTYLIDJE. W. 5. (ECANTHIDJE. 



W.B. 2. GRYLLOTALPID^:. W. 6. TRIGONIDIID^:. 



W. 3. MYRMECOPHILIDJE. 7. ENEOPTERID.E. 



W.B. 4. GRYLLIDJE. 



In Britain we have representatives of two families- 

 only. Three of our four species fall into the typical 

 family Gryllidae- -the remaining one into the Gryllo- 



