426 INSECTA. 



The males summon their mates by a stridulous noise, vulgarly 

 termed singing. This is sometimes produced by rapidly rubbing 

 against its antagonist an interior and more membranous portion of 

 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 



Gryllus, Lin. 



This great genus which formerly comprised the various Insects commonly 

 teiTOed here Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katy-dids, Sec, is now^ divided into 

 various genera and subgenera. Among the most noted of these we have 



Grtllo-Taipa, Lat. 



Where the tibiae 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 antenna: are more 

 slender at the end, elongated and multiarticulated. 



G. vulgaris. (The Mole-Cricket). Length one inch and a half; brown 

 above, reddish-yellow beneath; anterior tibije with four teeth; wings double 

 the length of the eyltra. This species is but too well known by the mis- 

 chief 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, open a passage for it. It cuts and separates the roots of plants, 

 but not so much for the purpose of eating them as to clear its road, for it 

 feeds, as it appears, 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, subterranean cavity, 

 about six inches in depth, in which she deposits from two to four hundred 

 eggs; this nest, with the gallery that leads to it, resembles a bottle with a 

 curved neck. The young remain together for some time. 



AcRTDiuM proper. 



They fly by starts, and to a considerable height. The wings are fre- 

 quently very prettily coloured, particularly with red and blue, as observed 

 in several species that inhabit France. The thorax, in some of those tliat 

 are foreign to Europe, frequently exhibits crests and large warts, in a word, 

 a singular variety of forms. 



Certain species, called by travellers Migratory Locusts[l), sometimes 



(1) The pupil must not allow himself to be deceived bynames. This 

 Insect is what we commonly call a Grasshopper. The Locust, so called in 

 this country, is a totally different Insect, and belong to another order. See 

 Hemiptera, genus Cicada or Teitigonia. Am. Ed. 



