TttE ORDERS OF INSECTS. 17 



popular name does not seem very appropriate. The eggs are 

 laid in a single mass, being enclosed in a capsule j as is also the 

 case with locusts. 



A less disagreeable insect is frequently associated with the 

 Cockroach in town -houses the Cricket (Acheta Domestica), 

 which enlivens the winter evenings with its cheerful chirp. It is 

 brown, but the Field Cricket (Acheta Campestris) is black. It 

 is found on heaths and commons, though it is not nearly such 

 a common insect as the House Cricket. The Mole Cricket 

 (Gryllotalpa Vulgaris) is a much larger insect, which has the 

 front legs formed nearly like the paws of a mole. It lives in 

 burrows in the earth, and is rarely noticed above ground. 



The Crickets may be distinguished from the Grasshoppers by 

 their long antennae. The Great Green Grasshopper (Acrida 

 Viridissimd), as it is called, is, however, really a cricket, though 

 belonging to a different section to those mentioned in the last 

 paragraph. It is of a bright green, the hind wings paler, and 

 the female has an ovipositor about half as long as her body, 

 which is rather short, although the wings expand about three 

 inches. It is common in meadows, etc., in the south of England. 



The Grasshoppers, which are about an inch long, belong to 

 the same family as the Locusts, which they greatly resemble, 

 except in size. The Migratory Locust (Pachyteles Migratorius} 

 is about three inches long, and the wings expand about four 

 inches. The fore wings are mottled with grey and light brown, 

 and the hind wings are green. Stray specimens are not un- 

 commonly met with in England, but it does not breed in this 

 country. 



The Neuroptera (Nerve-winged, or, more properly speaking, 

 Net-winged Insects) have four wings of similar texture, not 

 linked together by links on the borders. They are mostly 

 carnivorous, and their metamorphosis is complete in some groups 

 and incomplete in others. The principal insects included in 

 this Order are the Dragon Flies, the Lace-winged Flies, the 

 May Flies, and the Caddis Flies. The Dragon Flies are large, 

 voracious insects, which live in the water during their earlier 

 stages, where they undergo an imperfect metamorphosis, the 

 pupa finally creeping out of the water, and giving birth to the 

 perfect insect. The smaller species are generally found in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of water ; but the larger and more 

 active species are often found in woods and on heaths a long way 

 from water. Libdlula Depressa is a common species, measuring 

 about three inches in expanse, and with a short, flat body, bluish 

 in the male and yellow in the female. The giants of the section 



13 



