562 ORTHOPTERA. 



feed greedily upon young and old. Ichneumon parasites prey 

 upon them, and also the lower worms, such as Filaria, Grega- 

 rina and Gordius, and the red mites attack them. Mud wasps 

 provision their nests with the young. 



Orthoptera can be easily preserved in strong alcohol, and 

 may afterwards be taken out and pinned and set at leisure. 

 They can be killed with cyanide of potassium, or ether, with- 

 out losing their colors, as they would do after remaining long 

 in alcohol. They should be pinned through a little triangu- 

 lar spot between the bases of the elytra, or fore wings, when 

 the wings can be spread to advantage. They are also often 

 pinned through the prothorax, or through the right elytron, as 

 in Coleoptera. In pinning these insects for transportation care 

 should be taken to put in additional pins crossing each other 

 on each side of the abdomen, and in like manner to steady the 

 hind legs, which are very apt to fall off if too much jarred. 



GRYLLID^E Latreille. The Crickets have a somewhat cylin- 

 drical body, a large vertical head, with elliptical eyes ; the 

 ocelli are often wanting, and the long filiform antennae arise 

 from in front of and between the eyes. The wings are of mod- 

 erate size, net-veined, lying flat on the back ; the fore pair are 

 ovate, the costal edge of the fore wings being bent abruptly 

 down on the sides of the body, while the hinder pair arc trian- 

 gular. They, like the succeeding families, leap actively, the 

 hind femora being enlarged. The genital armature is largely 

 developed, forming long and slender stylets, often nearly as 

 long as the body. "The subgenital plate is formed by the 

 seventh sternite. The eighth abdominal segment is rudimen- 

 tary and concealed beneath the seventh segment. The ninth 

 segment, situated beyond the outlet of the ovipositor is incom- 

 plete. Its elements, appearing to be four in number, are devel- 

 oped into a large solid borer. The ninth sternite is bifid, its 

 episternite not being developed." (L. Duthiers.) A second 

 type is observed in Gryllotalpa, where the subgenital plate is 

 formed by the eighth sternite, instead of the seventh, and the 

 incomplete sternite and tergite of the ninth segment are pres- 

 ent, much like those of the other abdominal rings. The oviposi- 

 tor is very short, while the hairy stylets arise from the eleventh 



