CRICKETS AND EARWIGS 157 



not project from the head. No ocelli, or simple eyes, 

 are present. 



Behind the head is the thin, flattish, shield-like cover 

 of the first segment of the thorax, which projects at the 

 sides as a kind of flap, and behind laps over the front 

 of the wing-covers. It is dark brownish-black in the 

 centre, with pale yellowish borders. Behind this is a 

 pair of pale yellowish- brown wing-covers, or elytra, 

 which are thin and flexible, and lie flat on the back, 

 but bend down at the sides like those of the house- 

 cricket; when closed they exactly meet, with a straight 

 junction along the middle line. Their hinder edge in 

 reality forms almost a straight line across the body, 

 but at first sight this does not seem to be the case; 

 they appear to have two projecting pieces in the middle 

 of this edge, which remind one of the shape of the two 

 halves of the cloven hoof of a cow, save that they are 

 almost flat. These, however, are not part of the wing- 

 covers at all, as may easily be proved by raising the 

 latter with the point of a needle, when these projections 

 are seen to be in no way attached to them ; they belong 

 in fact to the wings, which, except for this part, are 

 entirely concealed under the covers. The wings and 

 their covers when closed, as one usually sees them, are 

 so short that they conceal little more than the hinder 

 part of the thorax, and thus leave almost the whole 

 of the abdomen exposed. 



The abdomen is by far the largest part of the insect, 

 being the longest, the widest, and the deepest, so that 

 when the earwig walks, the fore part of the body is 

 elevated a little on the legs, while the abdomen almost 

 trails along upon the ground (Fig. 49). Nine distinct 

 segments can be seen above in the abdomen of the male, 

 but only seven in the female. They are of a mahogany- 



