INSECT MUSICIANS SNODGRASS 



433 



the simple type of the female, which is that common to insects in 

 general, as has been shown by Comstock and Needham. The wing 

 of a young male (C) is not so different from that of a young female 

 (A) but that the corresponding veins can be identified, as shown 

 by the lettering. Going next to the wing of the adult male (D) it 

 is an easy matter to determine what the veins are that have been 

 so distorted to produce the stridulating apparatus. As Comstock 

 says (Introduction to Entomology, p. 85) : "It can be easily seen 

 that the file is on that part of Ou 2 that is bent back toward the inner 

 margin of the wing; the tympana are formed between the branches 

 of cubitus (Cit^, Cu 2 ) ; and the scraper (s) is formed at the outer 

 end of the anal area." When the tree crickets sing they elevate the 

 wings above the back like two broad fans (figs. 23, 26) and move them 

 sidewise so that the file of the right rubs over the scraper of the left. 



THE MOLE CRICKETS 



The mole crickets (fig. 20) are solemn crea- 

 tures of the earth. They live like true moles 

 in burrows underground, usually in wet fields 

 or along streams. Their forefeet are broad and 

 turned outward for digging like the front feet 

 of moles. But the mole crickets differ from real 

 moles in having wings, and sometimes they leave 

 their burrows at night and fly about, being oc- 

 casionally attracted to lights. Their front wings 

 are short and lie flat on the back over the 

 base of the abdomen, but the long hind wings 

 are folded lengthwise over the back and project 

 beyond the tip of the body. 



Notwithstanding the gloomy nature of their habitat the male mole 

 crickets sing. Their music, however, is solemn and monotonous, 

 being always a series of loud, deep-toned chirps, like churp, churp, 

 churp, repeated very regularly about a hundred times a minute and 

 continued indefinitely if the singer is not disturbed. Since the notes 

 are most frequently heard coming from a marshy field or from the 

 edge of a stream, they might be supposed to be those of a small 

 frog. It is difficult to capture a mole cricket in the act of singing 

 for he is most likely standing at an opening in his burrow, into 

 which he retreats before he is discovered. 



There are several species of mole crickets in the United States. 

 The European one, Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa, has been introduced at 

 a few places in the East. The common American species is Gryllo- 

 talpa or Neocurtilla hexadactyla (fig. 20). while a larger species, 

 N. major, is known from the Middle West. 



Fig.. 2 . — A mole 

 cricket (Neocurtilla 

 hexadactyla) 



