204 
Dr. Kidd on the 
structure and habits, and is in some parts of the world so 
formidable to the agriculturist, as to render its history pecu- 
liarly interesting. 
It is described under various names ; as the earth-crab, 
from its general appearance ; vermis cucurbitarius, from the 
mischief it does to cucumber-beds. By the French naturalists 
it is called courtiliere. 
The best account of the mole-cricket with which I have 
met is in a well known etymological work by Rosel, pub- 
lished at Nuremberg in 1749. This account is accompanied 
by the best engravings also of the external characters of the 
animal in its different states : and the value of these engra- 
vings is greatly enhanced by the accuracy with which they 
are coloured. 
Rosel says that about the month of June or July, rarely 
later, the gravid female gryllotalpa excavates a cavity, from 
4 to 5 inches beneath the surface of the earth, in which she 
deposits her eggs in one heap, to the number of three hundred 
or more ; and dies within a few weeks afterwards. At the 
end of about a month the young mole-crickets are produced ; 
and appear, on a hasty survey, to bear a general resemblance 
to the ant. Between the time of their birth and the com- 
mencement of winter, the young animals cast their skin three 
times ; they lie dormant during the winter, deeper in the 
earth in proportion to the inclemency of the season ; and 
during this period cast their skin for the fourth time. About 
May they leave their winter quarters, and at this time are 
furnished with the rudiments of their future wings, four in 
number ; which differ remarkably in size and form and po- 
sition from those of the perfect insect ; in which the inferior 
