5G0 



INSECTA 



]]fi7iif'\- s/cri/<il/a [or t1ie AVnlkinc:; Leaf], a species peculiar to the Peclielles Islands, ^Mauritius, &c., of whicli the 

 female has very short antennje, with the wing-covers as long as the abdomen, but destitute of winf^s ; the male 

 is much narrower, with lonf^ liliform antennee ; short wing-covers, and wings as long as the abdomen. 



[Latreille, in tlic Families Nahirclles, Saint Fargeau and Serville, in the Encyclopedie mclhodiqne, the latter in 

 his Hi-sioire iiahirelie des Insectes Orthopicrcs, and Gray in his Si/uopsis of Phasmidce, have con-;tituted a great 

 number of generic groups detached from tliose given above, and which are founded upon the variations 

 in the dexelopcment of tlie wings in the diflerent sexes ; the proportions of the thoracic segments, antenna:-, Sec. 

 ^lessrs. Burmeister and BruUc have considerably reduced tlie number of these groups in their works upon this 

 order.] 



THE SECOND FAMILY OF THE ORTIIOPTERA,— 

 The Saltatoria, — 



lias the two Iiind fcot remarkalile for the size of their tliiglis, and for the very spined tihirc thus formed 

 for h'ajiing. The males call their females by making a eliirping noise, wduch is sometimes prodi.iccd 

 by rubbing an inner pa)t of the wing-covers like a talc-like mirror, against each other \\itli rapidity, 

 ami sometimes by a similar alternate motion of the hind thighs against the wings and wing-covers, 

 tlie thighs acting the part of the bow of a violin. The majority of the females lay their eggs in the 

 ground. 



This family is com[iosed of the genus 



Grvllus, Linn., — 

 "Which we divide as follows : — ■ 



Some have the organ of sound in the males consisting of an inner part of the wing-covers in the 

 shape of a mirror; the ovipositor of the females is very long, exserted, and often sabre-shaped, and the 

 antennae are cither very long and slender at the tips, or of equal thickness throughout, but very short. 

 In some of these, the wings and wing-eovers are horizontal, the wings when folded up in repose 

 forming long filaments, extending beyond the wing-covers, and the tarsi have only three joints, as in 

 the genus 



Gryllus, Geoffroy & Oiiv. {Aclwta, Tabr.), [and AchcikLx: of English autl^ors]. 



They live in btirrows, and ordinarily feed upon insects ; many are nocturnal. They form four subgenera. 



Gr;i!l(jtalp(i, Latr., having the tibia and tarsi of tiie two fore-legs very broad, tlat, and toothed, like hands 

 proper for buiTOwing ; the other tarsi of the ordinary form. 



Gryllotalpa vulijoi'is [the Mole-cricket], is an inch and a half long, and of a brown colour. It is toD well knoun 

 from the injuries it commits in gardens and cul- 

 tivated fields, living in the earth, where its fos- ^ ^"jTX /'^^^ W. _^y 

 ^orial fore-legs, like those of a Mole, enable it to TM^ML^^:^^^^^^^"'''^^^^^^^^^^^^^^'' 

 form a burrow. It cuts or detaches the roots of 

 plants, but less with the intention of feeding upon 

 them as to form a passage, for it feeds, as it would 

 seem, upon other insect.s or worms. The song 

 of the male, hrurd only in the evening or night- 

 is soft, and imt ilisagreeable, [It is tlieuci-, in 

 some parts of j'jiglaiid, riillnl ('hiir-worm.] The 

 female forms, in June and July, at tlie d^ptli of 

 ubiiLit six inches, a subterranean rounded cell, Fi;;. 9i.-Gryiiotnipa vuiijari.s. 

 siiinnth in tin- interior, in which she deposits from 200 to 400 egg? ; the cell with its gallery resembles a bottle 

 with a long bent neck. The young li\'e for smue time in society. See for further details the observations of 

 M, le Feburier in the iVoj/y. Cours d'Aiiri'iillmc. [From more recent observations, it appears certain that the 

 Mole-cricket is obnoxious in gardens, &;c., fn:nn its hei'hivorous habits. One species, G. didactijla, in the West 

 Indies, does great injury to the plantations of young sugar canes. See, also, the work of Kollar on injurious 

 insects, translated by Miss Loudon.] 



Tridarfi/liis, Oliv. {Xi/a, Illig.), are also fossorial in their habits, but only with the anterior tibire ; the posterior 

 tarsi are replaced by narrow, bent, moveable appendages ; the antenme are very short, and 10-jointed. Minute 

 exotic insects. [The genus Ripipteryi\ Newman, is closely allied to this genus.] 



Oiylliis proper [<!ri/lluJi acheia of LinuKUS, Acheta of Knglish authors], have not the feet fitteil for burrowing, 

 and the females have the ovipositor long and exserted ; the antenna; are greatly elongated, pointed at the tip ; the 

 oi;elli are indistinct. The Field-cricket, Gryllus canipestris, Linn., and the common House-cricket, G. domcsiicus, 

 Ijelong to this genus. The first forms deep retreats in dry and hot situations, in wdiich it stations itself to surprise 

 other insects upon whicli it in-cys. The femali^ drixisiis nhout. HOO <:'j;'X'^ ; tlip Hnnse-crirkct inhabits the interior 



]iarts of houses, esjjn i 

 mate produces ahar^li 



dly 



the ni'ighbonrhnn 

 that madi^ by 6', 



•r<^,nr/ 



-lihir 



wliirli it jnakes 

 be heard at the di 



tai 



■ of a I 



:ind breeds 

 de. 



The 



