570 Insects. 



THE CEICKET. (Acheta domesticata.) 



THE domestic Crickets generally inhabit houses, select- 

 ing for their place of retirement the chimneys or backs of 

 ovens ; and feeding upon anything that comes in their 

 way, flour, bread, meat, and especially sugar, of which 

 they seem to be particularly fond. The chirping noise, 

 which they make nearly without intermission, proceeds 

 only from the males, who produce it by rubbing the 

 bases of their wing-cases one over the other. 



Crickets are generally of a brown rusty colour, and the 

 organ of vision appears in them to be very weak and im- 

 perfect, as they find their way much better in the dark 

 than when dazzled by the sudden light of a candle. The 

 Field Cricket (A. campestris) has the same form, but is of 

 a different species to the House Cricket, and is black, 

 with a fine gloss. Us noise is heard at a great distance, 

 and is so similar to that of the grasshopper, that it is 

 difficult to distinguish one from the other. 



ORDER III. Hemiptem. 



THESE insects have neither mandibles nor maxillae, but 

 in lieu of them they have a tubular articulated rostrum, 

 adapted for suction. Insects thus formed are called 

 haustellated. The four wings are all membranous, but 

 the outer ones are leathery at the base. Some of the 

 species are without wings. The antennae are often 

 small, and sometimes scarcely perceptible. The meta- 

 morphoses of these insects are incomplete. 



