116 INSECTS. 



(a species to be freely found in the New Forest), is a 

 slender dark insect, with beautifully veined, nearly 

 transparent, pale-brown wing-cases. These are much 

 wider, especially a little below the shoulders, and longer 

 than the body, and give the little creature a very delicate 

 appearance. With the wings closed it is about half an 

 inch in length, but considerably shorter if measured 

 from head to tail with the wings expanded. 



The second group of Orthoptera is divided into 

 three families, distinguished by the shape and position 

 of the wing-cases, which either lie flat and horizon- 

 tally on the back, or shelve downwards, roof-like, at 

 the sides ; and by the form and proportion of the 

 antennae. 



A f i ( Crickets . . . wing-cases flat. 



Grasshoppers 



Ant. short Locusts 



wing cases shelv- 

 ing. 



The most remarkable peculiarity in the wing-cases of 

 this group has been already described (pp. 44, 45) 

 namely, the musical instrument by which the chirping 

 of these little creatures is produced. The drum-like 

 membrane, or sounding-board of the wing-cases, is how- 

 ever found only in the two first families Crickets and 

 Grasshoppers; the Locusts, wanting these, produce 

 sound by the friction of theit file-like legs against the 

 edge of the wing-cases. 



The Crickets form two genera Acluta and Gryllo- 

 talpa. To Acheta belongs the common House Cricket, (PI. 

 IV., fig. 3), A. domestica; the larger black Field Cricket, 

 A. campestris; and a small species, A. sylvestris, which 

 is distinguished by the smallness of its wing-cases and 

 the apterous state of the female. In the other genus, 



