THE MOLE CRICKET. 



97 



the Croaker, or Churr-worm, on account of the pecuHar 

 sound which it produces. It is a truly wonderful insect, one 

 of those beings, which for the sake of force, we may perhaps 

 call the anomalies of nature, though, in fact, nature is perfecdy 

 harmonious, and can have no real anomalies. A cursory 

 glance at the insect will at once point out its habits, for the 

 general shape, as well as the strange development of the fore- 

 limbs, and the peculiar formation of the first pair of feet, are so 

 similar to the corresponding members of the mole that the 

 identity of their pursuits is at once evident. 



Like the mole, the insect passes nearly the whole of its Hfe 

 miderground, digging out long passages by means of its spade- 

 like limbs, and traversing them with some swiftness. Like the 

 mole, it is fierce and quarrelsome, is even ready to fight with its 

 kind, and if victorious, always tears to pieces its vanquished 

 opponent. Like the mole, it is exceedingly voracious, and re- 

 quires so much food, that if several of them be confined in the 

 same cage and kept only for a short time without food, the 

 strongest will fall upon the weakest, kill and devour them. 



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

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

 labourer with a spade would find much difficulty in disinterring 

 it. The recognised method of procuring these insects is, to 

 mark their holes by day and to visit them at dusk, just when 

 the insects, 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 inhabi- 

 tant, and both grass-blade and Mole Cricket are drawn out 

 together. 



Just as the mole constructs a habitation distinct from its 

 ordinary galleries, so does this insect form a chamber for 

 domestic purposes apart from the tunnels which ramify in so 

 many directions. Near the surface of the ground a really large 

 chamber is constructed, measuring about three inches in dia« 

 meter, and nearly one inch in height. It is made very neatly, 

 and the walls are carefully smoothed. Within this chamber the 



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