THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



207 



thp: tegminal position in gryllus. 



i;V FRANK E. LUTZ, COLD SPRING HARBOUR, LONG ISLAND. N. Y. 



In Chap. X of the Descent of Man, Darwhi says that when the male 

 of Gryllus campestris is chirping, " first one wing is rubbed over tlie 

 other, and then the movement is reversed." I have carefully observed 

 several hundred males of our native Gryllus, and it seems to me that one 

 tegmen ('' wing ") is always upi)ermost. This is, at first sight, a very 

 minor point, but it leads to some rather interesting thoughts. 



Among crickets one tegmen when at rest overlaps the other along the 

 median dorsal line. Among the males, as shown below, it is usually the 

 right tegmen that is placed over the left, while among the females there is 

 a much nearer approach to eciuality of the two conditions. Thus : 



During the season of 1905 I had under observation in the laboratory 

 about 100 each of males and females of our native Gryllus. Of these 

 males, when left to themselves, every one kept for the rest of his life the 

 tegminal position he had when he became mature. The females, how- 

 ever, frequently changed theirs. Thus, to take two successive records, 

 which are typical : 



No. 190. Matured Aug. 7, L; Aug. 19, R ; Aug. 23, L; Sept. 5, 



R ; died Sept. 14, R. 



No. 191. Matured Aug. 5, R; Aug. 19, L; Aug. 23, L; Sept. 5, 



R ; died Sept. 9, R. 



If we take a male after the chitin of the tegmina has hardened, and 



reverse the tegminal position — say, change R to L — he will almost 



immediately show signs of uneasiness, raise his tegmina, and move them 



June, 1906 



