ORTIIOPTERA. 135 



one wing-cover against the other; but they generally raise 

 their wing-covers much higher than other crickets do while 

 they are playing. These wing-covers, in the males, are also 

 very large, and as long as the wings; they are exceedingly 

 thin, and perfectly transparent, and have the horizontal portion 

 divided into four unequal parts by three oblique raised lines, 

 two of which are parallel and form an angle with the anterior 

 line. The antennae and legs are both very long and slender, 

 the hinder thighs being much smaller in proportion than those 

 of other crickets, and the hindmost feet have four instead of 

 three joints. The two bristle-formed appendages at the end 

 of the body are as long as the piercer, and the latter is only 

 about half the length of the body, while, in the ground-crickets, 

 the piercer is usually as long as the body or longer. These 

 insects have, therefore, been separated from the other crickets 

 under the generical name of (Ecanthtis, a word which means 

 inhabiting flowers. They may be called climbing crickets, 

 from their habit of mounting upon plants and dwelling among 

 the leaves and flowers. According to M. Salvi* the female 

 makes several perforations in the tender stems of plants, and 

 in each perforation thrusts two eggs quite to the pith. The 

 eggs are hatched about midsummer, and the young immedi- 

 ately issue from their nests and conceal themselves among the 

 thickest foliage of the plant. When arrived at maturity the 

 males begin their nocturnal serenade at the approach of twilight, 

 and continue it, with little or no intermission till the dawn of 

 day. Should one of these little musicians get admission to the 

 chamber, his incessant and loud shrilling will effectually banish 

 sleep. Of three species which inhabit the United States, one 

 only is found in Massachusetts. It is the (Ecanthus niveus, or 

 white climbing cricket. The male is ivory-white, with the upper 

 side of the first joint of the antennae, and the head between 

 the eyes, of an ochre-yellow color; there is a minute black dot 

 on the under sides of the first and second joints of the antennas ; 

 and, in some individuals, the extremities of the feet, and the 

 under sides of the hindmost thighs, are ochre-yellow. The 



* Memorie intorno le Locuste grillajole. 8vo; Verona: 1750. 



