THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



25 



separated from others by having five inner spines above on the hind 

 tibiffi, the third and fourth of which have the greatest interspace 

 between them. 



Life History.— The life history of this species is not well known, 

 as practically its entire existence is spent underground. All stages, 

 from young to adult, appear the same, except in size. They feed upon 

 the roots of plants. 



Distribution. — This species is more particularly confined to the 

 central and southern parts of the State, though they probably also occur 

 in the northern part, especially in the Sacramento Valley. 



Food. — The feeding habits of these peculiar insects are not well 

 known. Some are carnivorous, while others are believed to feed upon 

 decaying vegetable or animal matter. However, we do know that they 

 are often responsible for considerable damage to potatoes before they 

 are dug. The tubers are gnawed so as to be unfit for keeping or selling. 

 Occasionally a large proportion of the crop may thus be injured, but 

 this is more likely to happen only in small places. 



Control. — The most injury is done in fields placed under cultivation 

 for the first time or lands left for some time to sod or pasture. Well 

 cultivated fields seldom if ever suffer from the attacks of this pest. 

 Clean cultivation around the fences so as to break up the breeding 

 places will practically eliminate all possibilities of injury. 



GRYLLID^ (Family). 



CRICKETS. 



The members of this family, like the LocustidcB, have long filiform 

 antennsB, but the tarsi are three-jointed and the ovipositor is spear- 

 shaped. Many of the species are wingless. When the wings are 

 present they are deflexed on the outer edge and fold closely to the sides 

 and back. This is also a musical family. All species are injurious to 

 vegetation. 



The common field crickets are most abundant and familiar. They 

 seldom do enough damage to deserve special treatment here. The tree 

 crickets are almost arboreal in habits and do considerable damage to 

 economic plants by making incisions in the smaller branches and stems 

 into which the eggs are deposited. 



THE SNOWY TREE-CRICKET. 



OEcanthus niveus DeGeer. 

 (Fig. 24.) 



General Appearance. — The adult insects are slightly more than 

 half an inch long and light yellow or greenish in color. The antennge 

 are very long and hair-like. There is one black dot on the face beneath 

 each antenna. The females appear narrow, because the wings are 



