INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 



233 



Crickets are cousins to the locusts or grasshoppers. Gen- 

 erally they are black. They resemble locusts somewhat in 

 shape, but their wings are much shorter, the hind pair being 

 often useless. They do not fly much, but depend on jumping 

 and running for escape, and they are very nimble. 



The males do the chirping by rubbing the edge of one front 

 wing over the outer surface of the other. On each outer 

 wing there is a 

 ridge with tooth- 

 like projections. 

 By drawing the 

 other wing over 

 this rough ridge it 

 is made to vibrate, 

 much as we make 

 a sound by draw- 

 ing a card over a 

 comb. This chirping is the love song of the male. Presum- 

 ably there are female ears to hear it. Cricket's ears are not 

 on their heads, but on the first joint of their forelegs above the 

 foot. Here will be seen a little oval pit with a membrane 

 stretched across. The spot is somewhat transparent and is 

 easily found. Catch some crickets and put them in a cage 

 or jar; you will probably hear them chirp, and by approach- 

 ing quietly you may see how they do it. They make good 

 school-room pets. 



The female cricket has a long slender organ at the end of 

 her abdomen which is the ovipositor or egg placer. By 

 means of it she can penetrate the earth and lay her eggs in 

 the soil. 



Another cousin to the locust is named the Green Grass- 



FiG. 78. Male Cricket Below. Female Egg Placer Above. 



