GRYLLID^E. 249 



It must be admitted, indeed, that a very intimate con- 

 nection exists between them, and it is only by attend- 

 *ng to peculiarities which do not greatly influence the 

 general appearance, that the distinction can be mani 

 Tested. The Gryllidse have very long antennae, always 

 as long as the body, and frequently of much greater 

 length ; setaceous or nearly filiform, and consisting 

 of numerous indistinct joints, often upwards of a 

 hundred. The tarsi are four-jointed, and the females 

 are provided with a very long compressed ovipositor, 

 which projects from the hinder part of the body, and 

 is usually somewhat curved upwards. The resem- 

 blance the shape of this instrument bears to a sabre 

 or cutlass, has led some Continental writers to name 

 these insects Sauterettes a sabre. The head is per- 

 pendicular or slighly incurved, and the tegmina are 

 deflexed, partially embracing the abdomen. 



All these insects are herbivorous, the greater part 

 of them feeding on grass and herbaceous plants, but 

 not a few of them prefer the foliage of trees. They 

 have been observed not to refuse animal food when 

 accidentally placed in their way, but this has happened 

 but rarely, and must be regarded as a violent devia- 

 tion from their natural habits. They frequent mea- 

 dows, pasture lands, and rocky declivities exposed to 

 the sun, intimating their presence by an incessant 

 chirping, and by leaping among the feet of the pas- 

 senger. Very few of them inhabit this country, and 

 such as we possess are, with one exception, of insig- 

 nificant dimensions, contrasted with those of many 

 foreign lands. Many finely coloured species are found 



