98 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



Mole Cricket deposits its eggs, which are generally from two to 

 three hundred in number, and yellowish in colour. As the 

 chamber lies so near the surface of the ground, the genial sun- 

 beams are able to raise the temperature sufficient for the hatch- 

 ing of the eggs, which in due course of time produce the tiny 

 young, little white creatures, very like the parent in shape, 

 except that they have no wings. They do not attain the perfect 

 state until the third year. 



The black-bodied Field Cricket {Acheta campestris) is also 

 one of the burrowing Orthoptera, working tunnels of consider- 

 able depth, and living in them during the day. By night it 

 comes out of its home and sits at the mouth, chirping away for 

 hours together. The banks at the side of a road or lane are 

 favourite resorts of the Field Cricket, and I have noticed the 

 insect peculiarly plentiful in the roads and lanes between Rams- 

 gate and Margate. Like the mole cricket, it is of a very com- 

 bative nature, and may be drawn out of its tunnel by the simple 

 process of pushing a grass-stem down the burrow. It is said 

 that in France it is captured in rather a curious manner, an ant 

 being tied to a thread ^nd dropped into the hole. Being partly 

 carnivorous, the cricket seizes the ant for the purpose of eating 

 it, and is immediately dragged out of its house by the thread. 



Before leaving the earth-burrowers, it is necessary to mention 

 the larva of the common May-fly, or Ephemera. Sometimes 

 this larva hides itself under stones, but it often burrows under 

 the muddy banks, and there constructs a very curious habita- 

 tion. If a portion of the mud be carefully removed, it will 

 be seen to be perforated by a series of holes, a few being 

 nearly circular, but the greater part oval, the long diameter 

 being horizontal, in order to suit the peculiar shape of the 

 inhabitant. 



These are the habitations of the Ephemera grub ; and if the 

 block of mud be laid open, so as to exhibit longitudinal sections 

 of the holes, the spectator will perceive that each hole is double, 

 the two tubes lying parallel to each other, and being in fact 

 only one tube bent upon itself 



