ORTHOPTERA. 397 



an interior and more membranous portion of each elytron which resembles a 

 piece of talc. It is sometimes excited by a similar motion of their posterior 

 thighs upon the elytra and wings, acting like the bow of a violin. 



The greater number of the females deposit their eggs in the earth. 



This family is composed of the genus 



GRYLLUS, Linnceus. 



This great genus, which formerly comprised the various insects commonly 

 termed here Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katy-dids, &c., is now divided into 

 various genera and subgenera. Among the most noted of these we have 



GRYLI.O-TALPA, LatreiEe. 



Where the tibiae and tarsi of the two anterior legs are wide, flat and 

 dentated, resembling hands, or are adapted for digging. The other tarsi are of 

 the ordinary form, and terminated by two hooks; the antennae are more 

 slender at the end, elongated and multiarticulated. 



G. vulgaris. (The Mole-Cricket.) Length one inch and a half; brown 

 above, reddish-yellow beneath; anterior tibise with four teeth; wings double 

 the length of the elytra. This species is but too well known by the mischief it 

 effects in gardens and cultivated grounds. It lives in the earth, where its two 

 anterior legs, which act like a saw and shovel, or like those of a mole, open a 

 passage for it. It cuts and separates the roots of plants, but not so much for 

 the purpose of eating them as to clear its road, for it feeds, as it appears, on 

 worms and insects. The cry of the male, which is only heard at night, is soft 

 and agreeable. 



In June and July, the female digs a rounded, smooth, subterranean cavity, 

 about six inches in depth, in which she deposits from two to four hundred 

 eggs; this nest, with the gallery that leads to it, resembles a bottle with a 

 curved neck. The young remain together for some time. 



ACRYDIUM PROPER. 



They fly by starts, and to a considerable height. The wings are frequently 

 very prettily coloured, particularly with red and blue, as observed in several 

 species that inhabit France. The thorax, in some of those that are foreign to 

 Europe, frequently exhibits crests and large warts, in a word, a singular 

 variety of forms. 



Certain species, called by travellers Migratory Locusts*, sometimes unite in 

 incalculable numbers and emigrate, resembling in their passage through the 



* The pupil must not allow himself to be deceived by names. This insect is what we 

 commonly call a Grasshopper. The Locust, so called in this country, is a totally 

 different insect, and belongs to another order. See Hemiptera, genus Cicada or 

 Tettigonia. Am. Ed. 



