215 



IJrbana wlujni many stalks had fallen. Whcfovor 



the ear touched the ground, one or more of these 



crickets were; beneath the husks, somejiines at a 



considerabl(! distance from the tip. In such cases 



the substance of the grains had been gnawed away, Ktriped Cricket Nf.mo- 



sometimes d(>ep enough to destroy the germ. This itou/nltrai'si.e"'" 



six'cies was at the same time even more abundant 



in timothy and l)lue-grass fields, in woods, on thistle, iron-weed, and 



other wild plants, and in orcliards, where it is -occasionally slightly 



injurious to Ihe friiii of the pear, ajiple, [)each, and (|uince. 



TREIO-CltlC'KIOTS. 



(Kamih'iniv. 



The white cr-ickets, or tree-cri('ke1,s, or climbing crickets (Fig. 227, 

 228), as they are variously called, ai'e so numerous and vociferous every- 

 where from midsummer onward that their rhythmic shrilling is a constant 

 feature of the summer night's experience. In town 

 and country, all night long, the air rings with the 

 ceaseless beat of their social song, all in a given 

 spot keeping time with each other like trained 

 musicians — an entomological choral union. Consist- 

 ently with their habit of nocturnal song they are 

 attracted to electric lights, and often visit the 

 sugary lures of the night collector of insects. They 

 are little seen by day, although not completely 

 dormant then, and are rarely charged with feeding 

 to any noticeable extent upon the vegetation of the 

 garden or the fai-ju. They are, in fact, in considerable measure insec- 

 tivorous, especially when young. Plant-lice are evidently one of the 

 favorite objects of their food, and other soft-bodied insects are said to 

 be eaten by them. Dissections show 

 that they feed largely on fungi and on 



I'^Ki. 227. A Tree- 

 cricket, OS cant It. an , 

 male. Natural size. 



. 22S. A Tree-cricket, (Ecayilhus, 

 feiDale. Natural wize. 



the pollen, anthers, and pistils of 

 flowers. 



These crickets are rarely connnon 

 enough in corn fields to attract attention except for the row of punctures 

 made in laying their eggs in the slender, naked part of the corn-stalks 

 just below the tassel. 



There are three forms f)f these egg [junctures in the corn-stalks, two 

 of them those of climbing crickets, and the other those of the meadow 

 grasshoppers (Orchelimum) . The eggs of the common white crickets 

 of the fields (Kcanthus nigricornis, for example), are closely placed in 

 somewhat irregular rows running lengthwise of the stalk (Fig. 229), the 



