384 RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



of another French naturalist, Turpin, certainly 

 prove that the Mole Cricket is herbivorous. 

 Dr Kidd found that its digestive organs more 

 closely resemble those of a graminivorous bird 

 than of any other animal, an opinion shared by 

 Professor Owen, and, that of all kinds of vegetable 

 food, it prefers the potato. Gilbert White, too, 

 remarked : " If they take to the kitchen garden, 

 they occasion great damage among the plants and 

 roots by destroying whole beds of cabbages, 

 young legumes, and flowers." Some years ago a 

 Mole Cricket found in South America and the 

 West Indies (Gryllotalpa didactyla) was reported 

 to have committed great ravages upon the young 

 sugar canes, resulting in considerable loss to the 

 planters. 



Dr Ritzema Bos says the Mole Cricket "gnaws 

 the roots of all kinds of plants, and often effects 

 great damage in this way." It is harmful also on 

 account of its passages, which are formed close to 

 the surface. In this way it lifts young plants out 

 of the soil, while older plants are killed both by its 

 gnawing and digging. Such plants can often be 

 pulled up by grasping the leaves, and they will 

 always wither in the place where the nest is 

 found. 



I have quite recently received confirmation of 

 some of these charges from a correspondent, who 

 inquires what is the remedy for these depredations, 

 or how they are to be prevented. I remember to 

 have read many years ago the recipe of a M. Barthe, 

 who recommended that a few drops of salad oil and 



