ACHETID-E. — GUYLLOTALPA. Sf 



exclusively of their robust bodies, their horizontally incumbent elytra, 

 elongate subulate wings, semicylindric thorax — which is destitute of 

 carinae — elongate caudal appendages to the abdomen, &c. manifestly 

 remove them, in addition to their habits. In some instances the 

 females have an exserted ovipositor, and in all cases the elytra differ 

 in the sexes. 



The indigenous species are divisible into the following genera, 

 which may be thus hastily distinguished : — 



Pcr/fs antici dilatati ; thorax owaius : 11. Gryllotalpa. 



simplices, baud dilatati ; 

 TAoraj? transversus; antennce rexnotsi : , . . .12. Acheta. 



elongato-quadratus ; a?itenHce appropinquantes : . 13. jEcanthus. 



Genus XI.— GRYLLOTALPA, Ray. 



Antennw inserted, before the eyes, shorter than the body, setaceous, consisting 

 of upwards of sixty indistinct articulations ; head somewhat conic, nutant ; 

 eyes exserted, small ; ocelli two, minute ; thorax subovate and somewhat 

 cylindric; elytra abbreviated, partially incumbent on each other, with the 

 humeral portion deflexed, veined ; areolets dissimilar in the sexes ; luings 

 ample; abdomen robust, flat below, furnished at its apex, in both sexes, 

 with a setaceous pilose process on each side ; the female without an 

 exserted ovipositor ; legs stout, compressed, anterior formed for digging, 

 their femora beneath v/ith a sharp compressed tooth at the base, and the 

 tibiae palmate, the apex divided vertically into robust teeth ;* the tarsi 

 compressed and trigonate, inserted on the side of the tibia ; intermediate 

 legs moderate ; posterior with rather long and thickened femora, and the 

 four hinder tibios short and armed with spines towards the apex. 



The insects of this singular genus, known by the name of " il/b/e- 

 crickets,'''' may be instantly recognized by their extraordinary 

 palmated anterior legs, which do not unaptly represent the fore-feet 

 of the animal whence their peculiar appellation is derived : they are 

 amongst the largest of the indigenous insects ; they subsist on the 

 roots of plants, and are said to be very destructive in some gardens : 

 the female deposits her eggs in a large oval cell, to the amount of 



* Mr. Curtis says four, but that is a s-pccijic difference, not a generic cha- 

 racter ; inasmuch as Gryll. didactyla (a South American species), which is 

 sometimes improperly placed in English collections, is furnished with two 

 teeth only at the apex of the tibise. 



