tc pial 
= 103—. 
fuscous or black stripes extending, one over the top of the head and pro- 
notum and the other two on the lateral lobes of the pronotum and upon 
the sides-of the head. Lafpennis differs in coloration distinctly from the 
two last mentioned species but only slightly from meus. Like the latter 
its general color is ivory white with the elytra perfectly transparent, but 
it is distinct from #zveus and the other two species in having the head and 
the basal half of the antennz suffused with pink or light brown, It also - 
lacks very generally if not always, the fuscous spots which are always 
found upon the lower face of the two basal joints of the antenna. MViveus 
is farther distinguished from all other species by its proportionally longer 
maxillary palpi. This disproportion is most apparent in the ultimate joint 
which is not only relatively but actually longer than the same joint in 
latipennis, a decidedly larger insect. These dimensions are for the two 
species mentioned respectively: fifth joint 1.5 mm. and 1.4 mm; fourth 
joint 1.3 mm. and 1.3 mm.; third joint 1.6 mm. and 1.7 mm. Finally 
in miveus the outer, or fourth, curved oblique nerve at the base of the 
elytra is more angular than in any of the other species and consequently 
the space between the third and fourth nerves, which in the other species 
is about equal in width to the space between the first and second and the 
second and third, is in mzvews much greater. In addition to the distinct- 
ions already mentioned, /ascza/us has longer antennz than the other spe- 
cies have, these organs being more than two and one-half times the length 
of the insect. It is also remarkable for having the longer series of spines 
at the tip of the posterior tibize very large, for this genus, strong and acute. 
The ovipositor of the female is also distinct from the perfectly straight 
ovipositor of mveus in being plainly turned up at the tip. Finally the 
maxillary palpi offer distinct specific characters in the proportionally short 
fourth joint and in the shape of the fifth joint which is subclavate instead 
of fusiform as in the other species. Angustpennis differs from the other 
forms in its smali head and slender pronotum, which in the female, especi- 
ally, is decidedly narrowed anteriorly, instead of being equal in width 
throughout as in the females of mzveus and ¢atipennis. The hind legs are 
also proportionally longer and more slender, and the post tibial apical 
spines are so weak as to be somewhat difficult to distinguish with the 
unaided eye. These species differ from one another in song as markedly 
as in structure. That of mzveus is the well-known “¢rr-ree, irrr-ree, re- 
peated without variation or pause sixty or seventy times in a minute. In 
the vicinity of Davenport this song is heard as early as the twenty-third 
of July and it continues until the persistent little singers are killed by the 
heavy frosts of late Fall.. This song is heard only at night and occasion- 
ally on cloudy days but in the latter case it is only an isolated song and 
never the full chorus of the night-song whose vibrations in exact unison 
produce that ‘‘rhythmic beat” as Burroughs has happily phrased it, 
which is so characteristic. It is the effect of many united songs that has 
led the same author to speak of ‘‘purring crickets.” Thoreau calls it 
the ‘‘slumbrous breathing” and the ‘‘intenser dream” of crickets, but 
Hawthorne has given it a still more spiritual interpretation. He describes 
it as ‘‘audible stillness,” and declares that ‘‘if moonlight could be heard 
it would sound like that.” Prof. C V. Riley says of the song of /a/- 
pennis that it is continuous and recalls the trilling of a high-pitched dog- 
whistle in the distance.” He also says ‘‘The commingled shrill of this 
