58 



HANDBOOK OF ANTS, BEES, ETC. 



Their food consists of bread crumbs and scraps of meat and 

 vegetables which have been allowed to accumulate during the 

 daytime The best way, therefore, to get rid of the insects is to 



Fig. 70. Hetrodes Pupa. 



take proper care in clearing away all the refuse after meals, for if 

 this were not there the crickets could not subsist, and would soon 

 quit the house. They are, however, generally objected to only by 



Fig. 71 —Gryllotalpa Vulgaris, 



weak-nerved people, and do very little harm, if any whatever. It 

 is a question whether they are not very useful in acting as 

 scavengers. 



A nearly allied British species is the Field Cricket {Acheia cam- 



