B\" WHICH THE VINE IS INFESTED. 199" 



Latrellle says that the Mole-cricket was unknown before the time of 

 Mouffet. This is not the case : it is true that Mouffet is the first who pub- 

 lished a good representation of it; — thefirstwho gaveitthename of Mole- 

 cricket, or rather Cricket-mole, Grillo-talpa, a description which applies 

 toitalone*. '■'■Liceat" says he, '■'■hie quceso nobis prcB nominum inopia ono- 

 matopoiein;" and he properly rejects the names of Sphondyle andBupres- 

 tis, which had been given to it ; but this rejection proves that the Mole- 

 cricket had previously attracted and engaged the attention of naturalists. 

 In fact, Aldrovandus had given a good description of this insect before 

 Mouffet, and a representation of it which, though bad, may still be 

 recognised : he named it Talpa Ferrantis, because this insect had been 

 previously named Mole, and Ferrante Imperato had figured it : Neapo- 

 litanus diligentissimus aromatarius in naturali sua historia, book xxviii., 

 says Aldrovandus. Mouffet is therefore indebted to Ferrante for half 

 the name which he gave this insect ; for, that he was acquainted with 

 his work is evident from his having borrowed from it the figure which 

 he published of the Tarantula Spider. Ferrante's work was printed in 

 Italian after his death in 1599, and translated into Latin. The original 

 edition is scarcef , and no naturalist of late times, that I am aware of, 

 even including Linnaeus, was acquainted with it ; at least not one of 

 them has quoted it. They all think that they have done much in 

 ascending to old Aldrovandus ; but we have just shown that the history 

 of the Mole-cricket commences before him and Mouffet, and even be-, 

 fore Ferrante ; for if the application which we have made of the word 

 Biurus be, as it appears, exact, we must refer to ancient times for the 

 first mention of this insect. 



The Mole-cricket causes great devastation, especially in the southern 

 parts of Europe ; it digs holes and constructs subterranean galleries, 

 and cuts and detaches the roots of plants by means of its fore feet, 

 which are shaped like saws ; but this it does solely to provide a habita- 

 tion for its posterity, for it neither eats plants nor their roots, but feeds 

 only upon insects, and destroys a great number of the injurious ones|. 

 The havoc caused by the Mole-cricket ( Courtilliere) has probably been 

 confounded with the devastation committed by the white worm of the 

 Cockchafer, for, according to a recent dictionary of agriculture§, the 

 name of Courterolle has been given to both in several of the cantons of 

 France||. 



* Mouffet, Insect. Theatr., p. 104. chap. 24. 



t Ferrante Imperato, Del Historia Naturale, libri 28, Naples, 1599, p. 787. 

 Talpa insecto. This representation is better than the one given by Aldrovandus. 



X Acheta Grillo-Talpa, Fabr., System. Entom., vol. ii. p. 28. No. 1. Walcke- 

 naer, Faun. Paris., vol. ii. p. 282. 



$ Baron de Morogue, Cours complet d' Agriculture, 1834, 8vo, vol. vii. p. 349, 

 at the word Courtekolle. 



II [An elaborate memoir " On the Anatomy of the Mole-cricket," hy Dr. Kidd, 

 will be found in tiie Philosophical Magazine, 1 st Series, vol. Ixvi. p. 401 . — Edit.] 



P 2 



