ORTnOPTERA. 133 



a little, and shuffles them together lengthwise, so that the pro- 

 jecting veins of one are made to grate against those of the 

 other. The English name cricket, and the French cri-cri, are 

 evidently derived from the creaking sounds of these insects. 

 Mr. White, of Sclborne, says that " the shrilling of the field- 

 cricket, though sharj3 and stridulous, yet marvellously delights 

 some hearers, filling their minds with a train of summer ideas 

 of everything that is rural, verdurous, and joyous" ; sentiments 

 in which few persons, if any, in America will participate ; for 

 with us the crealdng of crickets does not begin till summer is 

 gone, and the continued and monotonous sounds, which they 

 keep up during the whole night, so long as autumn lasts, are 

 both wearisome and sad. Where crickets abound, they do 

 great injiu-y to vegetation, eating the most tender parts of 

 plants, and even devouring roots and fruits, whenever they 

 can get them. Melons, squashes, and even potatoes are often 

 eaten by them, and the quantity of grass that they destroy 

 must be great, from the immense numbers of these insects 

 which are sometimes seen in our meadows and fields. They 

 may be poisoned in the same way as mole-crickets. Crickets 

 are not entirely confined to a vegetable diet ; they devour other 

 insects whenever they can meet with and can overpower them. 

 They deposit their eggs, which are numerous, in the ground, 

 making holes for their reception, with their long, spear-pointed 

 piercers. The eggs are laid in the autumn, and do not appear 

 to be hatched till the ensuing summer. The old insects, for 

 the most part, die on the approach of cold weather; but a few 

 survive the winter, by sheltering themselves under stones, or in 

 holes secure from the access of water. 



The scientific name of the genus that includes the cricket 

 is Acheta, and our common species is the Acheta abbreinata, 

 so named from the shortness of its wings, which do not extend 

 beyond the wing-covers. It is about three quarters of an inch 

 in length, of a black color, with a brownish tinge at the base 

 of the wing-covers, and a pale line on each side above the 

 deflexed border. The pale line is most distinct in the female, 

 and is oftentimes entirely wanting in the male. 



