48 



THE MUSEUM. 





■.-a>-M 



Lava Formation, on the South Side of the South Cone, Big Buttes, Idaho. 



vaceus) in being clean cut. soiiig 

 straight down at first, atid hHs'ini,' no 

 mound at the opening. In crossing 

 the plains during cold stormy weatlier 

 the heads of these curious animals 

 wqre often seen at the mouths cf their 

 burrows and many were met w.ilking 

 about among the sagebrush. They 

 walk much, with seeming digriiiy and 

 deliberation; and their tracks m.iv be 

 seen in every direction. If tuo arc 

 held together they immediately bite off 

 one another's legs and inflict other se- 

 rious wounds. Thi-y bite a larg.- ^iraw 

 in two at a single nip." 



We also found here, and fmi' d theni 

 in great abundance for 60 miles, 'hi; 

 large black cricket common in this le- 

 gion, Anahrns simplex. This cricket 

 has at times been very instructive in 

 the Great Basin. On the eastern 

 slope of the Rocky Mountains Ana- 

 hrns simplex disappear and Anabrns 

 pnrpnrasccm fouti'!. is The anat- 



omy and haliits of these two species 

 are discussed in full in the Second Re- 

 port of the U. S Entomological Com- 

 mission, to which the reader is refer- 

 red if he desires full information about 

 thee clumsy and interesting insects. 

 They are lars^e, stout, thick-bodied, 

 dark insects, nocturnal in habits, wing- 

 less, hiding under stones, grass, leaves 

 or riaf,'e brush in the dnytime, coming 



out in the evening 



In 1894 there 



weie tens of thousands visible from the 

 wayon in the daytime, and the great 

 ancient bed of Henry Lake was alive 

 with them. Our horses mashed them 

 uiidtr foot, the wagon wheels crushed 

 them. \et the number seemed not to 

 dtcreasc. W'e filled several bo.xes to 

 bring home. The females all along 

 the road were busily engaged thrusting 

 their ovipositors in the hard road, and 

 paid little attention to objects passing 

 by. In 1895, in the same month, Au- 

 gust, not a single cricket was seen 

 along the road. 



