190 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XV. 



Fig. 19. 



Schizedavtylus monstrosus. (Bengal.)' 

 h nat. size. 



of damage by cutting off indigo, tobacco, and other crop plants with 

 its enormous shear-like jaws. It is also plentiful in Assam, and I 

 believe I am correct in stating that it is to be found in the Madras Pre- 

 sidency. A pest of this kind 

 can commit an incalculable 

 amount of harm amongst 

 young plants. Fig. 19 shows 

 this insect, half natural size. 

 Remedial measures will be 

 the same as those discussed 

 for the crickets below. 



Fam. VII. Gryllidse— Crickets. 

 The Gryllidse are closely connected with the Locustidse. The antennse 

 are long and slender and setaceous ; hind legs long and used for jumping 



purposes. The upper wings have the 

 outside portion bent vertically down- 

 wards on to the side of the body, whilst 

 the inner portion lies horizontally on 

 the dorsal surface. The tarsi are 

 usually three-jointed. The female has 

 a long exserted ovipositor (see Fig. 20). 

 Wingless forms are numerous. The 

 musical and auditory organs are situat- 

 ed in the same position as in the Locus- 

 tidae. The crickets differ from these 

 latter in having the three-jointed tarsi 

 and in the position of the upperwings 

 in repose. The body is thick and 

 cylindrical, and the eggs are glued together and laid in holes in the 

 ground. Fig. 20 shows a black cricket named Liogryllus bimaculatus 

 which is exceedingly common round Bombay. 



This family contains some injurious pests, of which two more espe- 

 cially harmful will be mentioned. The mole cricket {Gryllotalpa vul- 

 garis) is a large insect, which has the front legs thickened for digging 

 purposes, and has the prothorax enormously enlarged, resembling the 

 carapace of a lobster, and there is no ovipositor present. The forelegs 

 have a very short and thick femur (thigh) and tibia (shank), and the 

 tibia is prolonged into a series of four points and is concave on the 

 outside. The first two joints of the tarsus are prolonged into teeth. The 



Fia. 20.— Black field-cricket of 



Bombay. Liogryllus bimaculatui. 



(Bombay). 



