June I, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEW^S. 



515 



Natural Itijstor^* 



THE CRICKET. 

 Crickets, it appears, like beings much higher in the 

 ■scale of creation, have their " aspirations," which 

 they follow up, as far as in them lies, by making them- 

 •selves a formidable nuisance. Such is the present state 

 ■of affairs in the fruitful and prosperous French province 

 of Algeria, which these greedy and multitudinous insects 

 are busily devastating. So wide-spread is the havoc 

 that it is discussed in leading articles by the daily press 

 of Europe. 



As Algeria is from time to time visited by swarms of 

 locusts and of grashoppers, our readers may wish to 

 learn how these pests, so closely allied, are to be dis- 

 tinguished from each other. 



We will, therefore, seek to point out the characteristics 

 of these families, so far as this can be done in non- 

 technical language. 



To this end we must introduce our friends to a very 

 far-descended race — the so-called Orthoptcra, or 

 ■straight-winged insects. These creatures, as far as 

 our present knowledge extends, were the earliest 

 insects to appear on our earth, their remains being 

 at times found in strata of very remote antiquity, 

 long prior to the first occurrence of beetles, bees, or 

 butterflies. Their long pedigree is, for the most part, all that 

 can be advanced in their favour. Many of them are 

 utterly devoid of beauty ; all are very greedy, and they 

 oft-times multiply to such an extent as to become a public 

 calamity, involving famine and sometimes pestilence. 



The diet of orthopterous insects is various, including 

 ■both vegetable and and animal matter. Their intelligence 

 ' is very low, and they have not the power ol acting in 

 concert. Had they the understanding of ants, bees, and 

 wasps, the very lives of man and of domestic animals 

 would often be placed in imminent danger. But as it is, 

 we may go on slaughtering them in detail without the 

 whole swarm falling upon us in revenge. 



A characteristic feature of all orthopterous insects is 

 that they do not, like the higher orders, undergo any 

 transformations, but issue from the egg substantially in 

 the same form which they retain through life, the most 

 important change which they experience being the growth 

 of their wings. 



By this feature especially, they are distinguished from 

 beetles, which issue from the egg as a grub. This dif- 

 ference is the more important as one orthopterous species, 

 the cockroach or kackerlack (Periplaneta Oricntalis), which 

 has unfortunately become naturalised in this country, is 

 called, in the language of the kitchen, " black-beedle." 

 Any one who takes the trouble to compare this pest 

 ■with any beetle, must perceive at once the difterence. 

 We regret that this confusion should prevail, since it 

 leads to the massacre of certain insects which are not 

 merely harmless but useful, and which perish under the 

 mistaken imputation of being cockroaches. This is a 

 mistake parallel to that committed by certain farmers 

 who actually destroyed ladybirds, supposing them to be 

 the dreaded Colorado beetle. 



The crickets belong to an orthopterous group known as 

 Saltatoria, from their leaping powers. On examining a 

 locust or cricket, we see at once that the thighs of the 

 hind legs are exceedingly powerful, and clubbed at the 

 upper extremity — a construction which we meet with in all 

 animals specially formed for leaping, from the flea to the 



tiger. These leaping orthoptera consist of three families- 

 the crickets, the grasshoppers, and the locusts. 



Fig. I.— Mole-Cricket (Gryllotalpa Vulgaris), with 

 ITS Underground Nest. 



At first glance the insects of these three families might 

 seem undistinguishable. 



Fig. 2. — Field-Cricket. 



But in the Aclietidae or crickets, the group which we 

 have more particularly in view, the wings are laid flat 

 over the back ; and at the end of the body, in both sexes, 

 there are two long bristles, in addition to the ovipositor 



