436 KErOHT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



very slightly convex. Tegmina usually a very dark reddish brown of 

 black; sometimes dull yellowisli brown, covering three-fourths or 

 more of abdomen in female and all of abdomen in male. Wings 

 much shorter than tegmina in the common form (abhreviatus) or 

 nearly as long again in the long winged form (lucluosus). Hind 

 femora very stout, black or dark reddish brown, the basal third of 

 the under and inner sides almost always brick red. Ovipositor very 

 long, equaling or exceeding Uie body in length, and nearly or fully 

 half as long again as the hind femora. 



Measurements: Length of body, male, 18-20 mm., female, 18-22 

 mm.; of pronotum, male and female, 4.7.J mm.; of tegmina, male and 

 female, 12 mm.; of hind femora, male, 13 mm., female, 13.5 mm.; of 

 ovipositor, 18-21 mm. Width of tegmina, male and female, 7 mm. 



This is, in late summer and early autimin, the most common field 

 cricket occurring in Indiana. In a former paper I stated that the 

 young lived over winter, but more careful obserA'ation has proven 

 that the young found in winter are those of ameriranus and pennsijJ- 

 vanicus. Professor McNeill, loc. cif., has given an excellent account 

 of the life history of this species as follows: "The eggs of abhrevia- 

 tus hatch in this latitude (nortlicrn Illinois) in July, and the first 

 adults appear as early as the second week in August. During every 

 stage of life they are social, feeding together, seeking shelter in com- 

 pany and when egg laying time comes, in October, the females col- 

 lect by hundreds in some suitable locality, an abandoned or little 

 used roadway suits them well, and each lays several hundred eggs in 

 an irregular mass. After this duty is performed thfir business on 

 this planet seems to be finished and they succumb to the cold, none 

 surviving the winter. The eggs do not hatch until the following 

 July, or if in rare eases they do they probably perish with cold." 



In southern Indiana the eggs hatch in late May or early June and 

 the mature males appear about July 1st, but in the central and north- 

 ern parts of the State the first males appear about a month later. 



Gryllus ahhreviatus is, in habits, nocturnal, omnivorous, and a can- 

 nibal. Avoiding the light of day, it ventures forth, as soon as dark- 

 ness has fallen, in search of food, and all appears to be fish which 

 comes to its net. Of fruit, vegetables, grass and carrion, it seems 

 equally fond and does not hesitate to prey upon a weaker brother 

 when opportunity ofl'ers. I have often surprised them feasting on 

 the bodies of their companions, and of about 10 iin]n-isoned together 

 in a box, at the end of a week but six were living. The heads, wings 

 and legs of their dead companions were all that remained to show 

 that the weaker had succumbed to the stronger — that the fittest, and 



