224 



LOCUSTS, HOPPEKS, SURFACE BEETLES, ETC. 



time the crops are sown, together with those in neighbouring strips o 

 grass. If nothing else can be done for the weevils, they should be 



FIG. 266. 

 The Big Cricket. 



provided with food, even if it be only heaps of green fodder laid about the 

 fields ; large numbers can be captured in this manner, and the ingenuity 

 of the ryot is quite equal to finding out the most satisfactory substance 

 for this purpose. 



Crickets and Root Insects. 



Many insects live in the ground forming burrows which ramify 

 below the surface and open at one or more points. These are principally 

 crickets, insects which are closely allied to the grasshoppers but live 

 below ground* 



Many species occur in India whose distribution is not yet accurately 



ascertained. Only the larger 

 burrowing species are known to 

 be injurious, possibly because 

 the harm done by the smaller 

 species is not attributed to the 

 right cause. These insects make 

 burrows which descend to some 

 distance into the soil, always with 

 openings at the surface; the 

 nature of the soil, and the height 

 of the sub-soil water exercise an 

 influence on the depth of the 

 burrow ; the distribution of 

 the various species appears to 

 be limited by the occurrence 

 They descend deeper into the soil 



FIG. 267. 



The Digger Wasp that preys upon the Big 

 Cricket. 



of the particular soils they need. 



