416 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF fJune, 



fasciatus proper in northern North Dakota and Montana, and true 

 fasciatus is to be found as far west as the Yellowstone National Park 

 in Wyoming, to the base of the Rockies in Colorado, and a few 

 specimens have been taken at Spring Lake, Utah. Its southern 

 limits are marked by the fall line in the southeastern United States, 

 and west of the Appalachians it is found as far south as Tennessee, 

 Arkansas, Oklahoma, and, without doubt, the Panhandle of Texas, 

 to Roswell and Albuquerque, N. Mex. South of this as far west as 

 the dry country of Texas, fasciatus is supplanted by the geographic 

 race, fasciatus socius. 



Biological N'otes. — The present species is one of the most abundant 

 of the North American Gryllidse and is often found in great numbers 

 over the greater part of its range. It flourishes not only in grassy 

 uplands, but also in meadows and in the heavy grasses about marshes 

 and swamps. It is also frequent along the borders of woodlands 

 and is to be met with in open forests where the ground is somewhat 

 grassy. It is particularly noticeable in areas of lush grasses about 

 damp places in the northernmost portions of its range, where, as has 

 been found in almost all insect life of the north, as numerous species 

 disappear, those remaining and having a more northerly distribution 

 are found in enormous numbers. The present species does not 

 flourish under arid conditions, but its distribution is often extended 

 into the arid west in many places where river bottoms and other 

 watered spots afford a green vegetation well suited to this insect. 



The majority of specimens seen of fasciatus are brachypterous, al- 

 though at times macropterous individuals appear in countless num- 

 bers, and are then conspicuous, particularly about the lights at night. 

 The writer has seen one flight which occurred in the fall of 1911 at 

 Chestnut Hill, Phila., when, shortly after nightfall, the ground under 

 the arc lights in that portion of Philadelphia swarmed with these 

 crickets, although usually few if any specimens are to be found at 

 that place attracted to light. 



The song of the insect is shrill and has been described as "tiiii- 

 tiiii-tiiii" or " ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti " by Allard, and as "creeeeeee" or 

 " creee-creee-creee-creee " by Rehn and Hebard. Piers states that 

 "the stridulation is produced by lifting the wing covers about forty- 

 five degrees above the abdomen and then shuffling them together, 

 producing a sound resembling the word plee-e-e-e plee-e-e-e plee-e-e-e 

 or cree-e-e-e." 



Morphological Notes. — An interesting variation in size is found in 

 the present species. It appears that the insect decreases in size 



