KATYDIDS AND THEIR KIN. 227 



during the days of early autumn. They are all of 

 small size, being seldom more than half an inch in 

 length. The color is a dark brown, and the bodies 

 and legs are sparsely clothed with brown hairs. 



These crickets are omnivorous, "feeding upon all 

 kinds of decaying animal matter as 

 well as upon living vegetation. 

 When disturbed they are very diffi- 

 cult to capture, making enormous 

 leaps with their stout hind legs, no 

 sooner striking the ground than 

 they are up and away again, even 

 if not pursued, until they find a 

 leaf or other shelter beneath which 

 to take refuge. Six species occur 

 in Indiana and from their enormous 

 numbers, as well as from the fact 

 that they are constant, greedy feed- 

 ers from the time the eggs hatch in 

 the spring until laid low by the Fig ^ Ground Cri Tket. 

 hoar frost of autumn, it follows that Nemobius fasdatu* vit- 



fatus Harris. 



they must be classed among our (Female tvvice natural 

 most injurious Orthoptera, but as 6ize - After Lu gg r -J 

 yet no effective means for their destruction has been 

 discovered. 



Among the crickets occurring in Indiana is a short, 

 thick-bodied brown form, Apithes agitator Uhler. It 

 has been taken in several of the south-western coun- 

 ties, notably in Vigo, where the first ones discovered 

 were on the slender twigs of some prickly-ash shrubs 

 which grew in a damp upland woods. The place was 

 visited a number of times and the crickets were always 



