408 
ANNUAL REPORT 01' NEW-YORK 
GRAPH. LEAVES. 
pect their note to be produced in the same manner. Wc how¬ 
ever find that in this as in so many other points they are related 
to the crickets. And when we come to examine their wing 
covers, we are able to discover the very curious apparatus by 
which their stridulation is produced; and we find a peculiarity in 
its structure which at once explains why it is that the song of 
this insect consists of a single note always followed by a full 
pause or total cessation of the sound, instead of being continuous 
or nearly so as it is in other crickets. 
In the males the wing covers are flat and placed horizontally 
upon the back, with their outer third turned perpendicularly 
downwards and covering the sides. They are very thin and 
transparent, like clear glass, and may be compared to a window, 
with the veins like the sash dividing them into a number of panes 
or cells of various sizes and shapes. The four largest of these 
cells are placed in the disk or middle part of the wing, and are 
divided from each other by three straight veins, crossing the wing 
obliquely, the two hind ones parallel with each other, the forward 
one meeting these at a right angle and forming with them the 
likeness of a very full-faced letter V impressed transversely. They 
thus resemble stout braces so placed in the wing as to keep the 
ribs and other longitudinal veins pressed asunder, hereby put¬ 
ting on the stretch the delicate membrane which forms the panes 
between the several veins. Thus each of these panes is like the 
head of a little drum or tabor, and when played upon, all vibra¬ 
ting at the same instant produce the one shrill note which this 
insect utters. And to augment the sound still more, it may be 
observed that the membrane forming each one of these panes is 
not a simple smooth surface, but is striated with numerous little 
elevated lines. 
It now remains for us to describe the curiously constructed 
instrument by which all these little tabrets are excited into vibra¬ 
tion. On the inner margin of the wing cover, at the anterior end 
of the V-like mark above described, will be seen a small thickened 
or callous-like spot from the fore part of which four veins extend 
to the base of the wing. The inner or hindmost one of these is 
the most thick and stout, and when particularly inspected it is 
found to be in several respects different from all the rest of the 
