43 



In Florence Gryllus campestris is sold on Ascension Day in little 

 wicker cages for the sake of the song. This is very loud and shrill, 

 but though it may possibly be agreeable to some ears, usually racks 

 through and through the head, and gets on the nerves. 



The Gryllodea are a difficult group to classify. The chief cha- 

 racters are the number and arrangement of the spines on the legs, 

 the comparative length of the ovipositor, and especially the venation 

 of the elytra of the male. 



The necessary restrictions of time and space, which I feel that I 

 have already abused, prevent me from referring to more than a small 

 fraction of the peculiar forms of Orthoptera that are known from 

 various parts of the world, to the strange cases of adaptation to 

 surroundings, to one or two cases of mimicry, to the internal anatomy, 

 embryonic, and post-embryonic development, to the reproduction of 

 lost parts, to parthenogenesis, gynandromorphism, hypertely, and 

 innumerable other interesting facts and phenomena, for the study of 

 which Orthoptera afford more material, perhaps, than any other order 

 of insects. I feel perfectly certain that if any of our coleopterists, 

 rhynchotists, and other collectors, especially those who make use of 

 the sweeping net, would only turn their attention to this neglected 

 group, they would soon be absorbed with interest, possibly to the 

 detriment of their original favourites, and almost certainly a little 

 trouble and study would be rewarded with original discoveries far 

 quicker than in more popular orders, which is possibly a satisfactory 

 state of things, as it is obviously unfair that our knowledge of one 

 order should greatly exceed that of another. It would be better if 

 our knowledge of all the orders kept level, when " neglected orders " 

 would cease to be a standing reproach to entomologists. 



