64 Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol. IV, 



female in copulation. Packard mentioned that in the two fami- 

 lies of Gryllidae and Locustidae this was true and that especi- 

 ally Gryllus had been noticed to have this habit. Gillette in 

 1904 gave an excellent illustrated account of the structure and 

 transfer of the spermatophores of the Western Cricket, Anabrus 

 simplex, family Locustidae, and the most complete was found 

 to be an account by Lespes in 1855, who not only noticed care- 

 fully the complete process of copulation but by dissection he 

 determined how the spermatophores were developed and to 

 some extent the function of the parts of the spermatophore. 



After relaxing some of my specimens of Gryllus, I dissected 

 out the spermatophores in several males to gain a good knowl- 

 edge of their structure. The spermatophore proper (Fig. 2, A) 

 is attached to a handle-shaped part (Fig. 2, B) possessing five 

 lateral hooks, three in front and two behind. The function of 

 these hooks was not understood at the time but will appear 

 later. A long whip-like part (Fig. 2, C) is attached to the dorsal 

 side of the handle. Many males were examined and a sperma- 

 tophore was almost always found present. This is in accordance 

 with Lespes' observations, who found that a new spermato- 

 phore was completely formed in about one hour and that each 

 female copulated several times during the egg-laying season. 



To determine the function of the parts, the female that had 

 this organ still attached was after relaxation carefully dissected. 

 The function of the hooks on the handle was readily found to be 

 for attachment. The anterior part of the handle was found to 

 be inside of the vaginal opening and the three anterior hooks 

 held it firmly in place. The two at the posterior end also curve 

 up and serve to hold it firmly in place by clasping to some extent 

 the basal part of the ovipositor. After removing the bulb of 

 the spermatophore, I attempted to remove the handle, but the 

 anterior hooks held too firmly, part of it broke off but the whip- 

 like structure remained attached and when pulled out, showed 

 that it had extended a considerable distance up the passage 

 and as will soon be shown this would indicate that the sperma- 

 theca is quite far removed from the external opening. By 

 mounting in glycerine and using high power the true relation of 

 the whip-like part to the handle was made out, and also the 

 nature and function of the former structure. It is attached 

 somewhat nearer the spermatophore body than the middle of 



