FAMILY ACHETID.4E. 143 



Achetidae. 



ACHETA ABBREVIATA. 



Color black : elytra turgid, brownish posteriorly ; abdominal appendages elongated and 

 pilose ; posterior tarsi armed with a double row of spines. 



Crickets are nocturnal in their habits, and hence seek their food and their mates in the 

 evening. If numerous, they become injurious in gardens ; feeding upon the different kinds 

 of fruit, melons, tomatoes, potatoes, beets, etc. : when in fields, they eat the tender grass. 

 They are not, however, confined to a vegetable diet, but they kill and devour such insects 

 as they can overpower. The insect lays its eggs in autumn : they hatch in the spring, and 

 the young are three years in coming to maturity* 



To diminish the number of crickets in gardens, arsenic may be resorted to. 



The mole cricket, Grillotalpa brcvipennis, differs from the common cricket in the dilated 

 form of the tibia, the lower side of which is strongly notched to fit them for burrowing. 

 These notches have a distant resemblance to fingers, and they give to the organ the power 

 of a hand. From the construction of the forelegs, then, and the use to which they are 

 applied, the species has received the name of mole cricket. They are fawn-colored, and 

 covered with short velvety down : they reside in soft moist soil, and throw up ridges of 

 loose earth ; they feed upon roots, and, if numerous, might do considerable damage : they 

 are, however, rarely seen, and the effect of their feeding is scarcely perceptible. Length 

 about one-fourth of an inch. 



No one, who takes much notice of the habits of insects, but must have observed the 

 extreme timidity of the cricket. This is especially true of the field crickets : when they 

 issue from their dwellings, it is with extreme caution ; and when the slightest approach 

 of danger is visible, they seek at once their asylum, and do not again appear abroad until 

 all their suspicions are allayed. 



It is well known that the black cricket flies well ; but it has been observed by natura- 

 lists upon whom we may place confidence, that field crickets never use their wings. This 

 I believe is mainly true ; but yet frerpuently when they are pursued, they spread their 

 wings, and make a more extended leap by their use. Their wings are not defective in 

 construction, but seem to be well organized and fitted for flying. The males, it is said, 

 carry on a destructive warfare upon each other during the breeding season. 



In some crickets the wings are undeveloped : some species prefer damp and even wet 

 places ; others, dry and stony. 



Crickets have been destroyed in great numbers by placing in their way vials half-filled 

 with beer, into which they crowd and are drowned. 



