i^SYCHE. 



ON THE SPECIES OF NEMOBIUS KNOWN TO OCCUR IN INDIANA. 



BY W. S. BLATCHLEY, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. 



Among the Gryllidae occurring in the 

 Northern-Central States the members of 

 the genus Nemobius rank first in num- 

 ber of individuals. From August fn-st 

 to mid-November they swarm by tliou- 

 sands on every grass plot and piece of 

 waste ground, whether in open sunny 

 fields or the dense shade of the forest. 

 Even the tangled masses of sphagnum 

 mosses and other semi-aquatic growth 

 of fen and marsh furnish shelter and food 

 to certain species which, in the ages of 

 the past, have become adapted to a life 

 of such surroundings. 



But while the individuals are so plen- 

 tiful, their size is so snjall that heretofore 

 they have received but little attention 

 from the average collector. Moreover, 

 so similar in general apjDearancc are 

 they that very close observation by the 

 student is necessary to separate the spe- 

 cies one from another. As a conse- 

 quence but iS have hitherto been de- 

 scribed from the whole of North 

 America, while but three have been ac- 

 credited to the States north of Florida 

 and east of the Rocky Mountains. Mc- 

 Neill* listed but one from Illinois, and 

 I, in a former paper, but three (one of 

 which is but a short winged form) from 



» Psyche, VI, 1891,6, 



Indiana.* Bruner y mentions three, two 

 without names, from Kansas, while 

 Scudder, in the most recent paper on 

 the group I accredits three, viz : A''. 

 yaschidis, ]V. cubeiish and N. caroUnus 

 to the Central and Eastern .States. 



Within the past five }'ears many speci- 

 mens have been collected in ditlerent 

 parts of Indiana. A careful study of 

 these reveals the presence of at least six 

 species and one well marked variety, 

 three of which are herewith described 

 for the first time. There is little doubt 

 but that the right kind of investigation 

 will show the presence of as many or 

 mire in almost any State east of the 

 Rocky Mountains. Those known to 

 occur in Indiana are as follows : 



I. N. fasciatus De Geer. 



This, the long-winged form of our 

 most common species, has been taken 

 by me only in the vicinity of electric 

 liglits. The wings of both sexes extend 

 much beyond the tips of hind femora, 

 those of the 9 reaching to or bejond 

 the tip of ovipositor, while the tegmina 



* " The Gryllidae of Indiana," in Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci-, 

 i89i,pp. 134-136. 

 t Publ. Neb. Acad. Sci., III. 1893,32. 

 + Jouru. N. \'. Ent. Soc, IV, 1S96, pp. 99-107. 



