THE MOLE-CRICKET. 179 



Though spread over the face of the earth, and though almost 

 every portion of the globe can boast its Mole-cricket, it is ever a 

 local insect, being very fastidious in its choice of soil, and gener- 

 ally preferring a loose and sandy ground, wherein it can easily 

 burrow. There is a little village near Oxford where the Mole- 

 cricket is frequently found, its favorite residence being a wide 

 piece of waste ground, covered with sand, which in some places 

 is blown into hillocks by the wind, and in another is hollowed 

 into pits by the sand-man's spade. Grass tries to grow at inter- 

 vals, and here and there its spreading roots bind together the 

 loose soil, and it is in this curious locality that the Mole-cricket 

 loves to dwell. 



To procure the insect is no easy matter, for it always burrows 

 to some considerable depth when the soil is so loose, and a la- 

 borer with a spade would find much difficulty in disinterring it. 

 The recognized method of procuring these insects is, to mark 

 their holes by day and to visit them at dusk, just when the in- 

 sects, which, are nocturnal in their habits, are beginning to be 

 lively. A long and pliant grass-blade is then pushed into the 

 hole, the end is grasped in the jaws of the offended inhabitant, 

 and both grass-blade and Mole-cricket are drawn out together. 

 By some persons the Mole-cricket is thought to be a wholly car- 

 nivorous insect, injuring the roots merely by its endeavoring to 

 force a passage through, them, and not by its desire to eat them. 

 This theory was supported by sundry experiments, whereby the 

 Mole-cricket was proved to be able to subsist on several sub- 

 stances, such as meat and insects, specimens having been fed upon 

 ants alone. Dr. Kidcl, however, found that they thrive well upon 

 potato, and the best entomologists have decided that vegetable 

 food is their proper diet, though they are able to eat animal food, 

 and on some occasions seem to prefer it. A very decided proof 

 that the Mole-cricket is, even in its wild state, a carnivorous be- 

 ing, is afforded by the fact that in the stomach have been found 

 the relics of various insects. 



Just as the mole constructs a habitation distinct from its ordi- 

 nary galleries, so does this insect form a chamber for domestic 

 purposes apart from the tunnels which ramify in so many direc- 

 tions. Near the surface of the ground a really large chamber is 

 constructed, measuring about three inches in diameter, and nearly 

 one inch in height. ■ It is made very neatly, and the walls are 

 carefully smoothed. Within this chamber the Mole-cricket de- 



