224 



HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



Very little seems to be known regarding its actual life 

 history, but as all sizes are found in houses it is inferred 

 that the eggs are laid in dwellings and that the whole life 

 history may be passed in the house. In summer, in 

 Europe at least, it is often found out-of-doors about hedges 



and in gardens, but it returns 

 to the houses for warmth in 

 the fall. 



There are certain supersti- 

 tions connected with crickets 

 that cause them to become 

 objects of considerable interest 

 and to be looked upon by 

 some as harbingers of good or 

 evil. To many, their chirping 

 is an omen of good cheer, 

 while in others it induces 

 sadness and melancholy. To 

 many people the out-door 

 crickets, in the autumn, seem 

 to be voicing the dying of the 

 year. There is also a curious 

 superstition that if one kills a 

 cricket, its relatives will hunt out the garments of the 

 enemy and riddle them with holes. 



Only the male crickets are musical, and it is interesting to 

 watch them produce their song. If one of the males of the 

 common field crickets is brought into the house in the fall 

 and placed in a glass jar with a few pieces of bread crumbs 

 for food, it will soon come to feel at home and will sing its 

 song without fear or trepidation. The chirping noise of 

 the cricket is produced by the upper pair of wings that 



Fig. 



66. — The domestic cricket. 

 (X If.) 



