Mole-Crickets. 



217 



bushels from his fields ; and the loeal authorities, sympathizing with him in his 

 losses, made him a grant of twenty-five pounds from the poor-rate. 



As is the ease with the stag-beetle and some other species, the pu))a->kin is 

 thrown off months before the perfect beetle makes its public appearance. Some time 

 during the autumn the perfect cockchafer emerges from the clirysalis-skin, but 

 remains in its cell to allow^ its new integuments to harden and become serviceable. 

 Then at its leisure it gradually burrows upwards until near the surface, where it will 

 be able to form some idea of the weather conditions above-ground. Some time in 

 ]May the rising of the temperature of the soil around it denotes sunshine abo\-e, and 

 with a conmion impulse thousands of chafers emerge and try their powers of flight. 



A very similar, but much smaller 

 chafer is very common in some places, 

 and is known as the summer-chafer, or 

 small-chafer.^ Its grub is also similar 

 to that of the cockchafer, and its habits 

 are the same in both stages. 



Mole-Crickets. 



Though most }3ersons who dwell in 

 houses have at some time or other made 

 the acquaintance of the house-cricket, 

 and a few have seen the field-cricket 

 piping at even in his doorway, the number 

 of those who can boast a knowledge of 

 the mole-cricket except from books is 

 verv small. In the first place, it is not 

 a common Insect except in a few fa\'()ured 

 localities in our land, but if it were much 

 commoner than it is, it would ]x- little 

 known on account of its retiring under- 

 ground habits. For the mole-crickets, 

 almost alone among their near relations, 

 have the burrowing habit. The iield- 

 cricket lives in burrows, but it is not 

 certain that it c^xcavates them. We are 



Photo hv' 



A Mkxuax Chafer. 



[//. Bast in. 



This chafer is closely related to the mottled-chafer shown on page 



215, but its brown wing-covers arc streaked with white instead of 



being mottled. Moreover, the antenna; of the male, as shown, reach 



. 1-11 • 1 j_ ^" extraordinary develooment. The photograph is nearly twice 



ratrier inclined to tlnnk that it adapts the natural size of the insect. 



and improves burrows already in existence, and which have served the turn of some 

 other creature, such as a mining bee or an earthworm. Such an excavation can be 

 enlarged or modified by the field-cricket's jaws. lUit the mole-cricket- has been 

 dedicated bv nature to this class of work, and provided with the outfit of tools proper 

 to it. It has long been remarked that though the two animals are so different in 

 their class and organization, both the mole and the mole-cricket have been built 

 on the same lines and set to the same kind of work. 



The most conspicuous part of the body at first sight is an exi)ansi(»n ot the 

 front part of the middle-body into an oval hood, which is open in front and allows 



1 Kliizotrogus solstilialis. - C.ryllolalpa vulgaris 



