THE MOLE CRICKET 379 



far beyond the extremity of the body, and the tips 

 of which when not in use are rolled up in a coil, 

 the basal part being horizontal except at the 

 edges. 



It is of interest to note in the insects belonging 

 to the above-mentioned families the various modi- 

 fications of structure as correlated with habits. 

 Thus, while the wings are large and membranous, 

 strongly reticulated and folded longitudinally while 

 at rest, the legs are long and stout, raptorial in the 

 Mantidcs, cursorial in the cockroaches, ambulatorial 

 in the leaf-insects, saltatorial in the grasshoppers 

 and locusts, and fossorial in the mole crickets. 

 Some, like the cockroaches, are omnivorous ; 

 ■others, like the Mantidcs, carnivorous ; but the 

 majority are herbivorous, and, as the less nutri- 

 tious the food the greater the supply • needed, it 

 follows that some of the species, like the locusts, 

 being gregarious and of large size, are amongst the 

 most voracious and destructive of all insects. 



The Mole Cricket in structure is admirably 

 formed for digging. Of a dark brown colour, 

 which harmonises with the soil and favours con- 

 cealment, the body is almost cylindrical, yet verti- 

 cally compressed ; the forelegs short, but very 

 strong and broad, and, as in the case of the Mole, 

 directed obliquely outward. With the aid of these 

 curiously-shaped fore limbs it burrows like a Mole, 

 as Gilbert White observed, " raising a ridge as it 

 proceeds, but seldom throwing up hillocks," though 

 its muscular strength is so great, that, according to 

 Rosel — incredible as it may appear — it is able to 



