'2-24 GLEANINGS FROM NATURE. 



r-'winu- beneath the soil in search of such food as tin- 

 tender roots of plants, earth-worms and the larvae of 

 various insects, the anterior tibiae of these crickets 

 have, in the course of ages, become so modified in 

 structure as to closely resemble the front feet of the 

 common mole, whence the generic name, Gryllotalpa, 

 from "gryllus," a cricket, and "talpa," a mole. More- 

 over, the compound eyes have become very much 

 aborted, being not more than one-eighth the size of 

 those of the common field cricket, Gryllus abbreviates 

 Serv. ; and, as the insect crawls rather than leaps, the 

 hind femora are but little enlarged. 



The mole crickets are found in all parts of Indiana, 

 though nowhere in great abundance. Their eggs are 

 laid in under-ground chambers in masses of from forty 

 to sixty, and the young are about three years in reach- 

 ing maturity. On this account, where they exist in 

 numbers, they are very destructive, feeding, as they 

 do during that time, mainly upon the tender roots of 

 various plants. It is therefore fortunate that with us 

 these crickets are not more common than they are. 

 In the moist mud and sand along the margins of the 

 smaller streams and ponds their runs or burrows, 

 exactly like those of a mole, though much smaller, can 

 in late summer and early autumn be seen by those 

 interested enough to search for them. These runs 

 usually end beneath a stone or small stick, but the 

 insects are very seldom seen, as they are nocturnal, 

 forming their burrows by night, and scarcely ever 

 emerging from beneath the ground. 



The note of the male is a sharp di-syllabic chirp, 

 continuously repeated and loud enough to be heard 



