960 



THE NATURE BOOK 



their bodies. It is said that the entrances 

 to these holes are sealed up from within. 

 Quite early in the spring, the actual date 

 depending on the forward or backward 

 character of the season, the young Crickets 

 of the previous year awaken to acti\'ity ; 

 but it is not until they are nearly mature 

 that the sexes can be at all easily distin- 

 guished. Maturity is marked in the male 

 by the appearance of stridulating wing- 

 covers, and in the female by the com- 

 plete development of the ovipositor. In 

 the nvmph stage, and even earlier, both 

 males and females display a golden sheen 

 due to a tine pubescence on the abdomen ; 

 but the mature male is, with the exception 

 of a 3'ellowish band at the base of his wing- 

 covers and a deep-red edging to his hinder 



THE HOUSE CRICKET 

 1. The female. 2. The male. 3 The female 



The female's ovipositor should be noticed, and the difference in the 

 wing-covers of the two sexes, the male's alone being a stridulating 

 organ. The wings project as two thongs some way beyond the 

 wing covers, the other paired projections being the cerci, probably 

 sense-organs, possibly organs of direction. 



thighs, a peculiarly black-looking insect. 

 I am inclined to think that in the case of 

 Crickets, as in the case of Long-horned 

 Grasshoppers, there is a tendency for 

 either male or female to predominate in 

 different broods — it is possible that the 

 broods may be exclusively male or ex- 

 clusively female ; and that the females 

 are less abroad than the males during 

 the daytime. 



In July, 1908, Mr. Latter and I caught 

 nothing but males, taking them at the 

 entrances of their burrows, and at that 

 time Mr. Latter had not yet taken a 

 female. In September, 1908, Mr. Latter 

 took a number of larvae from the same 

 spot by digging, which turned out to be 

 all females. In April, 1909, he took 

 immatures of both male and 

 female in about equal num- 

 bers, the holes then having the 

 appearance of having been for 

 some time open. Both in July, 

 1908, and in April, 1909, an 

 unexpected lodger in the shape 

 of a Carabid Blackbeetle was 

 found not infrequently in the 

 holes, and it was due to the 

 presence of such a beetle that 

 1 was enabled to secure my 

 first record of a Field Cricket. 

 I had been fruitlessly en- 

 deavouring to erect my camera 

 in such quiet fashion as to 

 avoid the contingency of the 

 subject making a prolonged 

 stay in the de})ths of his bur- 

 row, and I was not a little 

 surprised to find that this 

 Cricket, who, like the rest, had 

 \anished at the most inoppor- 

 tune time, reappeared backing 

 at top speed, shot out an inch 

 or so be3'ond the entrance, re- 

 versed, and then stopped dead 

 at a point where he could be 

 photographed. For the moment 

 I took no risks, but as soon 

 as I had secured my picture 

 I commenced to tickle him 

 with a grass stem. Instead of 

 bolting down his hole he kicked 

 like a mule, nor could any 

 further provocation drive him 

 downwards. I thereupon took 

 him up, and a glance within 



