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



Series Sanatoria. 

 Hind legs elongate, 

 formed for leaping ; 1 

 their femora usual- 

 ly thickened. 



6. 



7. 



5. AcridiidcE (locusts) : antenna short, not 

 setaceous, of not more than 20 joints f 

 tarsi three-jointed. 

 Locustidcc (grasshoppers) : antennas long, 

 setaceous, composed of a large number 

 of joints : tarsi four-jointed. 

 Grtjllidoe (cricket) : antennae very long r 

 setaceous ; tarsi two or three-jointed. 



Series Cursoria. 



Hind legs resembling front ones. 



Fam. I. Forficulidse— Earwigs. 



These Insects are distinguished by having a horizontal head and 

 very short wing covers, i.e., upper wings, which do not extend beyond 

 the insertion of the hind legs and repose flat on the back, meeting 

 together in a straight line along the middle. The lower wings are 

 very complexly folded beneath the upper, projecting at the lower end 

 in small slips from beneath them (see Fig. 7) ; when fully open they 

 are seen to be earshaped. This formation of the wings is characteristic 

 of the family when wings are present. The end of the body is 

 furnished with a pair of large callipers. 



This family is not of great economic importance as far as is 

 at present known. Some species may, however, prove of service 

 in preying upon noxious pests. Whilst visiting the sandalwood 

 areas of North Coimbatore in Madras, the writer noticed that a 

 large grey earwig, Forficula sp. 

 (Fig. 7), was almost invariably 

 present in the old galleries of a 

 longicorn beetle, which bores 

 into the stems of saplings and 

 tunnels down their centres. 

 These tunnels were also used 

 as a home by a species 

 of white ant (see Fig. 2ti), 

 which was tunnelling through 

 the wood of still living trees. 

 The earwig was probably pre- 

 dacious upon the ants and their 



larv 



33. 



FiO. 7.— An Earwig. Forficula spv 



(Coimbatore, Madras) 



