294 



THE INSECT WORLD. 



saying, '■^ plus sot qiiim grilloii " (a greater fool than a cricket). It is 

 very susceptible of cold, and always makes the opening of its hole 

 towards the south. It lives on herbs, perhaps also on insects. 



The House Cricket is about half an inch long, of an ashy colour, 

 and is to be met with principally in bakers' shops and country 

 kitchens, where it hides itself during the day in the crevices of the 

 walls or at the back of the fireplaces. It eats flour, and also, perhaps, 

 the little insects which live in flour. 



If crickets are put into a box together, they devour each other. 



Fig. 304.— Field Cricket {Gryihts cufiipatris). 



This does not prove conclusively that they are carnivorous, for there 

 are many species, eating nothing but vegetables, w^hich would destroy 

 each other in a similar case. Some authors say that these insects 

 are always thirsty, for they are often to be found drowned in the 

 vessels containing any kind of liquid. Everything damp is to their 

 taste. It is for this reason that they sometimes make holes in wet 

 clothes, which are hung up before the fire to dry. They inhabit, by 

 preference, houses newly built; for the mortar, being still damp, 

 allows them to hollow out their dwelling-places with greater ease. 



The habits of the House Cricket {Gryllus doinesticus) are noc- 

 turnal, like those of its congener of the fields. It is only at night 

 that it leaves its retreat to seek its food. When it is exposed against 

 Its will to the light of day, it appears to be in a state of torpor. 

 This insect reminds one of the owl, among birds, not only from its 

 habit of avoiding the light, but also from its monotonous song, which 

 the vulgar consider, one does not know why, a foreboding of ill-luck 



