THE 



PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE 

 AND JOURNAL. 



Sl't DECEMBER 1825. 



LXIII. On the Anatomy of the Mole-cricJcct. By J. Kidd, 

 M.D. and F.R.S. Reg. Prof, of Medicine i)i the University 

 of Oxford* . 



nPHE following observations contain the principal points of 

 ■■- a laborious examination of the anatomical structure of the 

 gryllotalpa or mole-cricket ; and if I dare hope that that ex- 

 amination has been conducted with any thing like adequate 

 accuracy, I need not apologize for the length of the details 

 with which the account of it is accompanied, since Cuvier has 

 affirmed of an entire volume written by Lyonnet on the ana- 

 tomy of a single species of caterpillar, that it contains not one 

 word that is useless. 



Natural science indeed has now arrived at that point, in 

 which individual detail is requisite for the acquisition not only 

 of a surer basis of classification of species, but also of more 

 correct principles of general physiology. Independently how- 

 ever of these considerations, the insect which is the subject 

 of the present communication is so singular in its structure 

 and habits, and is in some parts of the world so formidable 

 to the agriculturist, as to render its history peculiarly inter- 

 esting. 



It is described under various names ; as the Earth-crab, from 

 its general appearance; Vermis cucurbitaiins,{rom the mischief 

 it does to cucumber-beds. By the French naturalists it is 

 called Coiirtiliere. 



The best account of the mole-cricket which I have met with 

 is in a well known entomological work by Rosel, published at 

 Nuremberg in 1749. This account is accompanied by the 

 best engravings also of the external characters of the animal 

 in its different states : and the value of these engravings is 

 greatly enhanced by the accuracy with which they are co- 

 loured. 



lliisel says that about the month of June or July, rarely 

 later, the gravid female gryllotalpa excavates a cavity, from 



* From the Philosophical Tninsactions for 1825, part ii. 

 'Vol. GG. No. 332. Dec. 1825. 3 E four 



