136 BRITISH ORTHOPTERA. 



FEMALE IMAGO.- -By the presence of a straight ovi- 

 positor some 12-14 mm. long, the female may readily 

 be distinguished from the male, which in general 

 appearance it otherwise much resembles. The elytra 

 are one or two mm. less in length than in the male, 

 and less distinctly coloured. 



EGGS.- -Gilbert White describes some taken from 

 the body of a female, as numerous, long and narrow, 

 of a yellow colour, and covered with a very tough 

 skin. 



NYMPH.- -In colour the nymph is shining black 

 with a slight bronzy tint. It is found in the autumn 

 and again in the early spring. It appears to have six 

 or seven ecdyses and is mature during the summer 

 months. 



VARIATION. Very occasionally a form is found with 

 fully developed wings. This has been described by 

 Krauss as var. caudata. It is not recorded for Britain. 

 There is such a specimen in the Hope Collection at 

 Oxford, which Burr, however, thinks may be G. bi- 

 maculcdus De Geer. 



HABITS. --Gilbert White had special opportunities 

 for examining the habits of this cricket, which is now 

 apparently rare with us. His observations he has 

 recorded in Letter xlvi of his c Natural History of 

 Selborne.' I cannot do better than quote the greater 

 part of it : 



" There is a steep abrupt pasture-field interspersed with furze 

 close to the back of this village, well known by the name of the Short 

 Lithe, consisting of a rocky dry soil, and inclining to the afternoon 

 sun. This spot abounds with the Gryllus campesiris, or field-cricket ; 

 which, though frequent in these parts, is by no means a common insect 

 in many other counties. 



" . . . They are so shy and cautious that it is no easy matter to 

 get a sight of them ; for, feeling a person's footsteps as he advances, 

 they stop short in the midst of their song, and retire backward nimbly 

 into their burrows, where they lurk till all suspicion of danger is over. 



" At first we attempted to dig them out with a spade, but without 

 any great success; for either we could not get to the bottom of the 

 hole, which often terminated under a great stone ; or else, in breaking 

 up the ground, we inadvertently squeezed the poor insect to death. 

 Out of one so bruised we took a multitude of eggs, which were long and 



