PSYCHE. 



January 1S91.] 



resemblance of its note to that of Oecan- 

 thus nivcus. To my ear the only dis- 

 cernable difference is that of pitch. 

 This song is a simple chirp, very low 

 in pitch for an orthopteron, repeated at 

 intervals of about a second. This spe- 

 cies can be made to eject from their 

 cerci a grayish viscid substance and 

 this substance can be thrown several 

 inches. Of what use this faculty is to 

 the insect I can only conjecture as I 

 have seen the occurrence but twice. 

 That it is protective in character is very 

 probable as the phenomenon has only 

 occurred in my experience when the 

 insect has been very much maltreated. 

 The ejected mass does not have any 

 noticeably bad odor and if it is used to 

 repel the attacks of enemies it is most 

 probably efficient because it entangles 

 the feet and perhaps covers the eyes of 

 the unfriendly insect. 



6. Gryllus litctnosiis Serv. Very 

 rare. I have captured a single specimen 

 at the electric light and on one occasion 

 I allowed a long winged black speci- 

 men which could not be referred to any 

 other species, to escape me in the long 

 grass. I have seen another specimen 

 taken by Mr. C. A. Hart at the electric 

 light in Urbana, June 1 7. All the speci- 

 mens I have seen from Illinois are de- 

 cidedly smaller than specimens from 

 Florida and than those whose dimensions 

 are given by Saussure. 



7. Gryllus pennsylvanicus Burm. 

 Moline, June 3. This species may be, 

 as Mr. Saussure is inclined to believe, a 

 short-winged form of the preceding 

 species. Except for the shortened or 



abortive wings it is scarcely different 

 from G. luctuosus, which is abundant 

 southward and very rare in the northern 

 States and Canada. From Maryland to 

 Massachusetts and Northern Illinois 

 G. pennsylvanicus is common but 

 it is not reported from Canada and 

 is probably not found as far north as 

 Maine. The species of the genus are so 

 extremely variable and consequently so 

 difficult to separate that the whole sub- 

 ject is in much doubt. This confusion 

 has been so great that I am inclined to 

 think that the habits of entirely different 

 species have been confused so as to lead 

 to serious misunderstanding and worse 

 confusion. I advance my opinion on this 

 point however with the greatest hesita- 

 tion and I am free to acknowledge 

 that I do not feel entirely sure in my 

 own mind of my conclusions. 



In speaking of the habits of these 

 Orthoptera a late writer, Mr. Lawrence 

 Brunei", says : "Usually most of our 

 North American Grylli live singly or in 

 pairs in burrows which they dig for 

 themselves. These are used as retreats 

 during the daytime and serve as shelter 

 from ordinary inclemencies of weather. 

 These burrows are generally forsaken 

 about mid-summer 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 by cutting the 

 bands. During late summer and fall 

 the females commence preparations for 



