152 INSECTA. 
each elytron, which resembles a piece of talc. It is sometimes ex- 
cited by a similar motion of their posterior thighs upon the elytra and 
wings, acting like the bow of a violin. 
The greater number of the females deposit their eggs in the earth. 
This family is composed of the genus 
Grrtuvs, Lin., 
Which we will divide thus : 
In some species where the musical instrument of the males con- 
sists of an interior portion of their elytra, resembling a mirror or head 
of a drum, and where the females frequently have an extremely sa- 
Jient ovipositor, in the form of a stylet or sabre, we find antennz 
either more slender and minute at the extremity, or of equal thick- 
ness throughout. but very short and almost resembling a chaplet. 
The elytra and wings, in those few which have less than four joints 
to all the tarsi, are laid horizontally on the body. The ligula is al- 
ways quadripartite, the two middle divisions being very small. The 
labrum is entire. 
Sometimes the elytra and wings are horizontal; the wings, when 
at rest, form a kind of fillet or thong extended beyond the elytra, 
and the tarsi have but three joints, as in the genus 
Gry.uus, Geof’. Oliv. Acuera, (Grytius acuta, Lin.) Fab. 
They conceal themselves in holes, and usually feed on insects. Se- 
veral of them are nocturnal. Their crop frequently forms a lateral 
pouch. Their pylorus has but two thick ceca. Their biliary ves- 
sels are inserted into the intestine by a common trunk. 
They form four subgenera. 
GryLuo-Taupa, Lat. 
Where the tibize and tarsi of the two anterior legs are wide, flat 
and dentated, resembling hands, or are adapted for digging. The 
other tarsi are of the ordinary form, and terminated by two hooks; 
the antennze are more slender at the end, elongated and multiarticu- 
lated. 
G. vulgaris; Gryllus gryllo-talpa, L.; Reees., Insect., I, 
Gryll., xiv, xv. Length one inch and a half; brown above, red- 
dish-yellow beneath; anterior tibize with four teeth’; wings double 
the length of the elytra. This species is but too well known by 
the mischief it effects in gardens and cultivated grounds. It lives 
in the earth, where its two anterior legs, which act like a saw 
and shovel, or like those of a mole, opena passage for it. It cuts 
and separates the roots of plants, but not so much for the pur- 
pose of eating them as to clear its road, for it feeds, as it ap- 
pears, on Worms and Insects. The cry of the male, which is 
only heard at night, is soft and agreeable. 
In June and July, the female digs a rounded, smooth, subter- 
ranean cavity, about six inches in depth, in which she deposits 
