
THE 
AMERICAN NATURALIST. 

Vor. XXXIX. January, 1905. No. 457. 

THE HABITS OF THE STRIPED MEADOW 
CRICKET (@CANTHUS FASCIATUS FITCH). 
JOSEPH L. HANCOCK. 
In uncultivated wastes the common horse-weed (Leptilon can- 
adense L.) often takes possession of the soil and flourishes most 
luxuriantly. Owing to its rapid growth, it not infrequently 
overshadows the neighboring clover, wormwood, knotweed, 
daisy fleabane, and other forms of plants which may happen 
to live where its society conflicts. There are many interesting 
features in the miniature forests of weeds, not the least of which 
is the insect life they harbor. In the last of August the weed 
first mentioned commonly attains a maximum height in sandy 
soil of from four to six feet, and it is at this period that it seem- 
ingly furnishes an ideal environment for the striped cricket 
(Ecanthus fasciatus Fitch.! 
My experience with this cricket (see Fig. 2), which is here 
related, is principally drawn from observations made at Lakeside, 
Michigan, during the month of August, the last day of Septem- 
ber, and the first two days in October, 1904. Further studies 
1 This cricket is commonly classed among the tree crickets, but it never or 
rarely lives on trees. 
I 



