June, 'OQJ ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 275 



Finding that it was impossible to give close attention to 

 both pairs at the same time, I confined my observations 

 mainly to the pair of true nigricornis. The reason for select- 

 ing this pair was that the female was seen to have what ap- 

 peared as a tiny ball or sac, considerably smaller than the 

 head of an ordinary pin, attached by means of a slender pe- 

 duncle at a point near the base of the ovipositor. None was 

 observed on the other female at this time. 



While the female nigricornis kept working- away at the 

 thoracic depression of the male, the latter remained quiet, i. e. 

 did not trill ; but if she started to leave he would trill, where- 

 upon she would generally return to her work. If she moved 

 entirely off his back he would trill and back towards her. It 

 was quite evident that he enjoyed her presence there and evi- 

 denced the fact by switching his antennae and rolling his 

 head; the wings were also kept moving slightly in and out. 

 Finally the female left the male, and, retiring to a point a 

 short distance away, elevated her body, at the same time curv- 

 ing forward the end of her adbomen, then reaching forward 

 between her legs she seized the sac that still remained at- 

 tached near the base of the ovipositor and detached it. She 

 then settled down upon the leaf and proceeded to manipulate 

 it with her mouth parts for a time, after which she chewed it 

 up and swallowed it. Following this she rested quietly on a 

 leaf for some time, as did also the male in another part of 

 the cage. 



Random observations upon the other pair of crickets 

 showed that they went through practically the same maneu- 

 vers. 



At about 11.15 A. M. the male nigricornis again began to 

 move about somewhat, and at 11.17 reached the leaf upon 

 which the female rested. He immediately began to trill and 

 back up towards her, but she kept moving away. This maneu- 

 vering continued until 11.38, when she again mounted his 

 back and received another sperm sac from him. In doing this 

 she lowered her body and curved the end of her abdomen 

 downward somewhat, while he raised his body and backed up. 



