126 ORTHOPTERA. 



spurs are large, enabling the insect to get a firm foot- 

 hold, preparatory to leaping. 



GRYLLID^. {Crickets). 



Saltatorial Orthoptera with long, slender antennre ; 

 wings horizontal, with the outer portion of the ante- 

 rior pair bent abruptly downwards ; tarsi three jointed 

 (except in CEcanthus, which has the hind tarsi four- 

 jointed) ; ovipositor, usually long, spear-shaped. 



Crickets are chiefly solitary, nocturnal insects. 

 They usually feed upon plants, but are sometimes 

 predacious. Most of the common species lay their 

 eggs in the ground ; the Tree crickets oviposit in 

 twigs, vines, etc. The eggs are laid in the autumn 

 and hatched in the following summer. The greater 

 part of the old crickets die on the approach of winter ; 

 a few hibernate. (2, 1 50). 



Note form of the musical apparatus of the males. 



The black cricket, which is so common in Ithaca, is 

 Gryllus abbrcviatus Serv. Another species found here 

 is Gryllus luctuosus Serv. This species is easily rec- 

 ognized by its long wings, which are much longer 

 than the wing-covers, and project beyond the extrem- 

 ity of the abdomen. 



The Mole-crickets, Gryllotalpa, are so named on ac- 

 count of their large, fossorial fore feet, and burrowing 

 habits. They live in moist places, excavating exten- 

 sive burrows in search of their food. They feed upon 

 the roots of plants and upon insects. " Their eggs, 

 from 300 to 400 in number, are laid in the spring in 

 tough sacks, in galleries, and the young do not come 

 to maturity till the third year." (i, 563 ; 2, 149). 

 7 J f The Snowy Tree-cricket, CEcanthus niveus Serv. — 



