THE MOLE CRICKET 383 



produces, and which cannot be better described 

 than in the words of Gilbert White : — 



" In fine weather about the middle of April, 

 and just at the close of day, they begin to solace 

 themselves with a low, dull, jarring note, continued 

 for a long time without interruption, and not 

 unlike the chattering of the Fern Owl or Goat- 

 sucker, but more inward." 



The sound of many together may be heard 

 from a considerable distance. It is somewhat 

 curious that the late Miss Ormerod in her Manual 

 of Injurious Insects makes no mention of the Mole 

 Cricket, an omission due probably to the fact that 

 she never had an opportunity of personally study- 

 ing it ; otherwise she would certainly have had 

 much to tell concerning it ; for that it is an 

 "injurious insect" there can be no doubt. 



A French naturalist, M. Lefdburier, published 

 a series of observations to show that it is upon 

 subterraneous insects, and not upon plants that 

 the Mole Cricket feeds, and Dr Kidd, who wrote 

 a long essay on the anatomy of this species,^ states 

 that he repeatedly found on dissection the 

 chitinous and indigestible parts of insects within 

 the stomach. Gould, the American entomologist, 

 fed a Mole Cricket for some months on ants. 



Latreille remarked that it cuts or detaches the 

 roots of plants "not so much for the purpose of 

 feeding on them, as in order to force a passage 

 through them, for it feeds apparently on insects 

 or worms." On the other hand, the observations 

 1 Phil. Mag. andjourn., 1825, pp. 401-428, with illustrations. 



