304 BARON WALCKENAER ON THE 



scriptions of insects in ancient writers ; and finally, that in all 

 the writings of ancient authors which remain to us, the only 

 word which can be considered properly to apply to it is Biurus. 



Latreille has said that the history of the mole-cricket com- 

 mences with Mouffet. This is not correct. It is true that 

 Mouffet was the first who published a good figure of this 

 insect, and the first who gave it the name of mole-cricket, 

 or rather that of Gryllo-talpa.^ He very properly rejects 

 the previously assigned names Spondylus and Buprestis ; and 

 this decidedly shows that the mole-cricket had, before his time, 

 engaged .the attention of naturalists. In fact, Aldrovandus 

 had given a correct description of this insect, though his figure 

 of it is a bad one, but yet easily to be known : he names 

 it Talpa Ferrantis, because it had formerly been called the 

 mole, and figured by Ferrante Imperato — " Neapolitanus, dili- 

 gentissirmts aromatarins in naturali sua historia.'" Thus Mouffet 

 borrowed half the name of this insect from Ferrante. He was 

 acquainted with his work, for he copied his figure of the Taran- 

 tula from it. Ferrante's work was printed in Italian in 1599, 

 after his death, and translated into Latin. The original edition '^ 

 is rare, and was not known, that I am aware of, to any 

 naturalist of later times, from Linnaeus downwards ; at least no 

 one has ever quoted it. Many have thought they have done 

 great things in going back as far as old Aldrovandus : now we 

 have just shown that the history of the mole-cricket begins 

 before him, before Mouffet, and even before Ferrante ; for if 

 our application of the word Biurus be correct, (and we think it 

 will be found so,) we must necessarily refer the first mention 

 of this insect to very ancient times. 



The mole-cricket is supposed to do much injury in Europe, 

 particularly in the southern countries ; it makes subterranean 

 galleries, tears and removes the roots of plants by means of its 

 palmated fore-feet, in order to form a habitation for its young, 

 and also in the pursuit of insects, multitudes of which, especially 

 such as are injurious to agriculturists, it pursues and destroys : 

 it never eats the roots or any other parts of vegetables.'' 



" Mouf. Insect. Theat., c.xxiv. p. 104. 



" Ferranie Imperato, del Historia Naturale, libri 28. Naples, 1599, p. 787. 

 Talpa Insecto. His figure is better than Aldrovand's. 



^ Acheta Grillo-Talpa, Fab., Sysl. Entom,, vol. ii. p. 28, No. 1 ; Walckenaer, 

 Faun., Paris., vol. ii. p. 282. 



