298 THE INSECT WORLD. 



enough to resist the action of rain. The hatching takes place at the 

 end of a month. 



It is not till the following spring that the larvae pass into the pupa 

 state, and that the organs of flight begin to be marked out. 

 According to M. Feburier, three years are required for the complete 

 development of the mole cricket, which is a fact that indicates 

 remarkable longevity in these insects. All authors agree, moreover, 

 in extolling the solicitude with which the mole cricket takes care of 

 her little ones. She watches over them, and, they say, procures them 

 food. 



The genus Tridactylus, which bears a great analogy to the mole 

 cricket, is the smallest genus of Orthoptera known ; the species are 

 not more than a sixth of an inch in length, and are found in the south 

 of France, on the banks of the Rhone and other rivers, where they 

 disport themselves in sand exposed to the sun. The Tridactyli leap 

 with] remarkable agility, even on the surface of the water, for their 

 legs are provided with flat appendages much resembling battledores. 



The Grasshoppers and Locusts take much longer leaps than the 

 Crickets, owing to the conformation of their hind-legs, and they 

 often make use of their wings also, which are very fully developed. 

 These insects are unable to walk, on account of the disproportion 

 which exists between their different pairs of legs. The female is pro- 

 vided with a curved ovipositor with two valves, which serves for 

 breaking up the ground for the reception of its eggs. The male pro- 

 duces a sharp stridulation or screeching sound, by rubbing the cases 

 of its wings which are furnished with plates which might be compared 

 to cymbals one against another. 



The song of the grasshopper, known by everyone, is a monotonous 

 " zic-zic-zic," which can be heard during the day in grassy places. It is 

 on account of this song that the name of Cigale is sometimes given, 

 though wrongly, to the great green grasshopper. As we have already 

 said in speaking of the Cigale, it is the green grasshopper which La 

 Fontaine had in view in his fable of La Cigale tt la Fourmi, for all 

 the plates which ornament the ancient editions of the fables of this 

 author represent a grasshopper, and not a Cigale. Grasshoppers are 

 spread over the whole surface of the earth, but are to be met with 

 chiefly in South America, which contains nearly three-fourths of the 

 species known. The European species, on the contrary, are few. 



Their habits resemble those of the other herbivorous Orthoptera. 

 They live in meadows, on trees, devouring the leaves and stalks 

 of plants ; but they are never found in such great numbers as to cause 

 damage at all to be compared to that caused by the locust. They 



