15 



groove along the middle of the upper side of hind tarsi, with a 

 row of short spines along each side of it. Anal cerci tapering, 

 jointed, nearly as long as the abdomen, and present in both sexes. 

 Ovipositor often longer than the abdomen. 



Wing covers usually well developed, flattened above and strongly 

 bent down at the sides. In the females they are generally reticu- 

 lated in the dorsal field by more or less regular, lozenge-shaped 

 spaces. Wing covers of the males provided with a well-devel- 

 oped stridulating organ, with two to six quite transverse undulated 

 or arched veins. "Mirror" rounded behind, and divided by a 

 broken or arcuate vein. The wings vary much in length, and are 

 sometimes wanting. 



The New England species may be separated as follows : — 



, f Ovipositor as long as the body abbreviatus. 



I Ovipositor as long as the feranr and half the tibia . . luctnosus. 



Gryllus abbueviatus. Serville. 



Black ; elytra f usco-testaceous ; veins testaceous ; wings want- 

 ing ; ovipositor as long as the body. 



(iuvLLUS 1.UCTU0SUS. Servillc. 

 TJie Common Black Cricket. 



Black or brownish ; elytra fusco-testaceous or black ; wings ex- 

 tending to the end of the abdomen, or wanting. Ovipositor a8 

 long as the femur and half of the tibia. 



Saussure considers G. pennsylvanicus^ Burm., a wingless variety 

 of this species; and he also considei's ni^/er, liar., and neglechis^ 

 Scudd , varieties of the same species. 



The species are so variable that it is exceedingly difficult to sep- 

 arate them ; and it is necessary to have a long series for exami- 

 . nation . 



Packard states that crickets lay in the fall three hundred eggs 

 glued together in a common mass. In July the larviB appear, and 

 by the last of August the grass is alive with them. They are 

 quite omnivorous in their habits, feeding on grass, garden vegeta- 

 bles and fruit, to which they do much injury. 



Genus Nemobius. Serville (1839). 



The insects which belong to this genus ai'e rather small, their 

 bodies and legs covered more or less with hairs. Head orbicular, 

 and scarcely wider than the pronotum ; front of head obliquely 

 flattened. Ocelli present, but the one in the middle of the face ia 



