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NOTES UPON GRYLLUS AND CECANTHUS. 



By Jerojie JNIcNeill, Moline, 111. 



The species o{ Gtyllidce are so variable that it is practically impossible 

 to say at present how many good species there are in the United States 

 or even what constitutes a single good specific character. The result is 

 Jhat a great many more species than exist have been described (Mr. 

 Walker, for example, is credited by Saussure with having added eiglit 

 synonyms to G. assimilis Fabr.,) and the habits of distinct but similar 

 species have been confused. The latter conclusion has been furced upon 

 me after several years observation and I venture to ofifer my solution of 

 the difficulty in this paper, I do not hesitate to say however that I do 

 not feel at all sure of the correctness of my position but if I succeed in 

 calling the attention of other observers to this very interesting group, I 

 shall be well paid for my trouble. 



In speaking of the habits of these Orihopkra, a late writer on the 

 subject, Mr, Lawrence Bruner, says: "Usually most of our North 

 American Grylli live singly or in pairs in burrc^.vs which they dig for 

 themselves. These are used as retreats during the day-time and serve 

 as shelter during the ordinary inclemencies of the weather. These 

 burrows are generally forsaken about midsummer for some sort of above 

 ground shelter. From this time on until Fall they appear to be more 

 social and live in colonies under various sorts of rubbish. Grain-shocks 

 are a favorite haunt for them and since twine has been used for binding, 

 the crickets have been quite troublesome hy cutting the bands, During 

 the late Summer. and Fall the females commence preparations for the 

 continuance of their kind, by thrusting their long slender ovipositors into 

 the loose soil and dropping their eggs. These sometimes hatch the same 

 year but as a rule lie over until the fullowing Spring. The ^oung gen- 

 eralh' live above ground wheie they hide among fallen leaves, grasses 

 and other debris, though sometimes they also creep into chinks and 

 crevices in the earth."' If I am not mistaken the description jiist quoted 

 applies to no single species. The burrow-making species is G. pennsyl- 

 Viviicus Burm., or, if this name is as Saussure believes only a synonym, 

 G. luctuosus Serv. The social crickets are G. ahbreviatus Serv., and 

 neglectus Scud., which is probably a variety of Serville's species. Briefly 

 recounted, \h&Xi[t\\\'iiox\ o'i abbreviahis is as follows ; The eggs hatch 

 in this latitude in July, and the first adults appear as early as the second 

 week in August. During every stage of life they are social, feeding to- 

 gether, seeking shelter in company, and when egg-laying times comes, 

 in October, the females collect by hundreds in some suitable locality, an 

 abandoned or little used roadway suits them well, where they deposit 

 their eggs, each" female laying several hundred, in an irregular mass. 

 After this duty is performed their business on this planet seems to be 

 finished and they succumb to the increasing cold, none surving the 

 Winter. The eggs do not hatch until the following Julv or if in rare 

 cases they do hatch, the larvae probably perish with cold. In Florida 

 Gryllus luctuosus Serv., attains its growth in December. Gryllus penn- 

 sylvanicus, probably the short-winged form o^ luctuosus, is, so far as I 

 know, not found m the Southern States, and in the Middle States it does 

 not have time to complete its metamorphoses in the Fall, and conse- 



