2ll 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



the head to be partly retracted into it. This hood is smooth and covered with 

 a fine, downy coat of brown, which, of course, suggests further likeness to the velvet 

 coat of the mole. There can be little doubt that this hood is of importance in the 

 work of shaping and consolidating the burrow. Immediately behind this hood, 

 which is all that can be seen of the fore-body from above in the adult Insect, 

 are the wing-covers, which, as usual in the family, are strongly nerved and folded 

 down the side of the body between the second and third pairs of legs. These wing- 

 covers do not cover half the length of the 

 ^ wings, which are longer than the hind-body, 

 and are tightly folded up lengthwise when 

 not in use and extend between the two hairy 

 " tails " at the end of the body, and might 

 be mistaken for an additional pair of these 

 organs. 



The third pair of legs are formed for 

 leaping ; and all the legs, as well as the 

 hind-body, are more or less covered with 

 brown hairs. But the great feature of the 

 mole-cricket is its first pair of legs, and their 

 modification into digging organs. The thigh 

 and shank are flattened from the sides to 

 form a deep and powerful organ, and this is 

 continued in the foot. The broad edge of the 

 shank ends in four hard, finger-like exten- 

 sions. These are the digging implements. 

 The foot also is formed into a couple of hard, 

 y^'"^"^'"'^^^B^B|^^gfck blade-like teeth, which move over the teeth 



^^^^^^f^^^^ A Qf ^Yie shank after the manner of shear-blades. 



If tough roots extend across the course of the 

 projected tunnel these are brought into action 

 and the roots are severed. 



The mole-cricket is not entirely a vege- 

 tarian, probably very slightly. Like the 

 mole, he excavates in order to come upon 

 the Insects and other small animals with 

 which the upper layers of soil teem. When 

 his burrows extend into garden ground 

 where there are seedlings and young plants, 

 his practice of severing roots may cause 

 considerable damage. This is suificient to cause the gardener to put the mole-cricket 

 upon his black list, and even to accuse it of eating his raw potatoes. It is much 

 more probable that the mole-cricket's presence in the potato-bed is due to his having 

 come in search of the wire-worm and other pests that damage the crop. 



The female lays her eggs, to the number of two to four hundred, in a special 

 cell excavated just below the surface, and is said to look after the needs of her brood 



I'hotn by] [H. Bastin. 



The Mole-Cricket. 

 Tlic fore-parts of th(; mole-cricketbear astrikiiignsemblaiice 

 to those of the mole, particularly in the development of tlie 

 first pair of legs to serve as digging organs. The deep belt- 

 like arrangement consists of the strongly veined wing-covers, 

 beneath which the long and expansive wings are folded fan- 

 vvise. protruding at the rear. 



