GRYLLUS. 



even when dead, they are still terrible ; 

 since the putrefaction arising from their 

 inconceivable number is such, that it has 

 been regarded as one of the probable 

 causes of pestilence in the eastern re- 

 gions. This formidable locust is general- 

 ly of a brownish, colour, varied with pale 

 red, or flesh-colour, and the legs are fre- 

 quently bluish. In the year 1748, it ap- 

 peared in irregular flights in several parts 

 of Europe, as in Germany, France, and 

 England ; and in the capital itself, and its 

 neighbourhood, great numbers were 

 seen : they perished, however, in a short 

 time, and were happily not productive of 

 any material mischief, having been proba- 

 bly driven by some irregular wind out of 

 their intended course, and weakened by 

 the coolness of our climate. The ravages 

 of locusts in various parts of the world, 

 at different periods, are recorded by nu- 

 merous authors. In the year 593 of the 

 Christian era, after a great drought, these 

 animals appeared in such vast legions as 

 to cause a famine in many countries. In 

 677, Syria and Mesopotamia were over- 

 run by them. In 852, immense swarms 

 took their flight from the eastern regions 

 into the west, flying with such a sound 

 that they might have been mistaken for 

 birds : they destroyed all vegetables, not 

 sparing even the bark of trees and the 

 thatch of houses; and devoured the corn 

 so rapidly, as to destroy, on computation, 

 a hundred and forty acres in a day : their 

 daily marches, or distances of flight, 

 were computed at twenty miles; and 

 these were regulated by leaders or kings, 

 who flew first, and settled on the spot 

 which was to be visited at the same hour 

 the next day by the whole legion : these 

 marches were always undertaken at sun- 

 rise. The locusts were at length driven, 

 by the force of winds, into the Belgic 

 ocean,,and being thrown'back by the tide 

 and left on the shores, caused a dreadful 

 pestilence by their smell. In 1271, all 

 the corn-fields of Milan were destro y ed ; 

 and in the year 1339, all those of Lom- 

 bardy. In 1541, incredible hosts afflicted 

 Poland, Wallachia, and all the adjoining 

 territories, darkening the sun with their 

 number?, and ravaging all the fruits of 

 the earth. 



2. One of the largest species of locust 

 yet known is the gryllus cristatus of Lin- 

 nseus, which is fire or six times the size 

 of the gryllus migratorius; and, together 

 with some others of the larger kind, is 

 made use of in various parts of the world 

 as an article of food. The gryllus crista- 

 tus is a highly beautiful animal, being of 

 a bright red,- with the body annulated 



with black, and the legs varied with yel- 

 low ; the upper wings tesselated with al- 

 ternate variegations of dark and pale 

 green ; the lower with transverse undu- 

 lated streaks ; the length of the animal 

 from head to tail is about four inches ; and 

 the expanse of wings from tip to tip, 

 when fully extended, hardly less than 

 seven inches and a half. 



3. The gryllus viridissimus of Linnaeus, 

 is one of the largest European species, 

 and is often seen during the decline of 

 summer in England. It is wholly of a 

 pale grass-green, with a slight bluish 

 cast on the head and under part of the 

 thorax, which is marked above by a lon- 

 gitudinal reddish-brown line ; the length 

 of the insect, from the mouth to the tips 

 of the wings, is about two inches and a 

 half: the female is distinguished by a 

 long sword-shaped process at the end of 

 the body, being the instrument with 

 which she pierces the ground in order 

 to deposit her eggs ; it consists of a pair 

 of valves, through the whole length of 

 which the eggs are protruded ; they are 

 of an oblong form, and of a pale brown 

 colour. 



4. The gryllus gryllotalpa, or mole- 

 cricket, is by far the most curious ; and 

 in its colour and manners differ greatly 

 from the rest. It is of an uncouth and 

 even formidable aspect, measuring more 

 than two inches in length, and is of a 

 broad and slightly flattened shape, of a 

 dusky brown colour, with a ferruginous 

 cast on the under parts, and is readily dis- 

 tinguished by the extraordinary structure 

 of its fore-legs, which are excessively 

 strong, and furnished with very broad 

 feet, divided into several sharp claw-shap- 

 ed segments, with which it is enabled to 

 burrow under ground in the manner of a 

 mole ; the lower wings, which when ex- 

 panded are very large, are, in their usual 

 state, so complicated under the very 

 short and small upper wings, or sheaths, 

 that their ends alone appear, reaching, in 

 a sharpened form, along the middle of 

 the back ; the abdomen is terminated by 

 a pair of sharp pointed, lengthened, hairy 

 processes, nearly equalling the length of 

 the antennx in front, and contributing to 

 give this animal an appearance, in some 

 degree, similar to that of a blatta. The 

 mole-cricket emerges from its subter- 

 raneous retreats only by night, when it 

 creeps about the surface, and occasion- 

 ally employs its wings in flight. It pre- 

 pares for its eggs an oval nest, measuring 

 about two inches in its longest diameter; 

 the eggs are about two hundred and fifty 

 or three hundjced in number, nearly 



