INSECT VARIETY. 187 



this cricket is thought to be capable of producing- its notes only 

 when the right is below, the exact converse to the rule that holds 

 with the leaf -crickets. The cry, " Ru ! '' or " Rrruu ! '' Yersin says, 

 is feeble, scarcely lasting half or quarter of a second. The wood- 

 cricket, rare in this country, sings in the autumn; but being 

 destitute of the burrowing hand-like fore-tarsi of the mole- 

 crickets, and excavating jaws of other Grt/lU, Nature has des- 

 tined it to a life beneath the fallen leaves of the forest. Colonel 

 Goureau says, " Besides these two species another is found in the 

 province of Gex, the Wood Cricket {Gryllm syf^ves^^rw), which does 

 not appear at the same time as the field-cricket. Its larvae are 

 seen in the spring, and the perfect insect from near the end of 

 Auorust to the beo-iunins: of winter. Some individuals would 

 appear to survive this rigorous season, as they have been found 

 under stones in the!^month of February. I have not observed 

 that it inhabits a burrow; I have always found it under stones, 

 or on grass under trees at the foot of mountains. Placed in a 

 box with a female, the actions of this insect resemble those of 

 the field-cricket. The male approaches the female frequently, 

 extends his legs, places his breast against the ground, and 

 elevates the abdomen. In this position he raises the elytra, and 

 rubs them with rapidity against each other. A feeble mono- 

 tonous noise results, very different from the short, sharp sound 

 produced by the field-cricket on a like occasion." Fischer thus 

 describes its song: — "The male, hid beneath leaves, adjusts 

 itself like others of the genus, with outstretched legs, and for 



many minutes emits a rhythm in this fashion : ^-U- U 



_y _u u--/ This, although the insect is small, is heard at 



a distance of some yards, and that not only in the evening, but 

 also during the afternoon. Some males I had caged in my 

 room were accustomed to retire beneath a dry leaf provided them 

 for the purpose, and there sing. The stridulation is compara- 

 tively more sonorous than that of the leaf-crickets of the 

 genera Becticus and Locusta. Gri/llus melas (Charp.), a black 

 species intermediate in size between the field-cricket and wood- 

 cricket, is exceedingly plentiful in the meadows near Turin. It has 

 the habits of the first, is equally lively, and fond of basking in 

 the light and movement of the sun, and its music, heard during 

 July and August, is a very similar ' Cree-cree.^ '' 



