HABITS OF THE CRICKETS. 151 



by these different insects are produced. In the male cricket 

 these make a part of the wing-covers, the horizontal and over- 

 lapping portion of which, near the thorax, is convex, and 

 marked with large, strong, and irregularly curved veins. 

 When the cricket shrills, (we cannot say sings, for he has 

 no vocal organs,) he raises the wing-covers a little, and 

 shuffles them together lengthwise, so that the projecting 

 veins of one are made to grate against those of the other. 

 The English name cricket, and the French cri-cri, are evi- 

 dently derived from the creaking sounds of these insects. 

 Mr. White of Selborne says that " the shrilling of the field- 

 cricket, though sharp and stridulous, yet marvellously de- 

 lights some hearers, filling their minds with a train of summer 

 ideas of everything that is rural, verdurous, and joyous " ; 

 sentiments in which few persons, if any, in America will 

 participate ; for with us the creaking of crickets does not 

 begin till summer is gone, and the continued and monotonous 

 sounds, which they keep up during the whole night, so 

 lon^ as autumn lasts, are both wearisome and sad. Where 



O 7 



crickets abound, they do great injury to vegetation, eating 

 the most tender parts of plants, and even devouring roots 

 and fruits, whenever they can get them. Melons, squashes, 

 and even potatoes, are often eaten by them, and the quantity 

 of grass that they destroy must be great, from the immense 

 numbers of these insects which are sometimes seen in our 

 meadows and fields. They may be poisoned in the same 

 way as mole-crickets. Crickets are not entirely confined 

 to a vegetable diet ; they devour other insects whenever they 

 can meet with and can overpower them. They deposit their 

 eggs, which are numerous, in the ground, making holes for 

 their reception, with their long, spear-pointed piercers. The 

 eggs are laid in the autumn, and do not appear to be hatched 

 till the ensuing summer. The old insects for the most part, 

 die on the approach of cold weather ; but a few survive the 

 winter, by sheltering themselves under stones, or in holes 

 secure from the access of water. 



