LOCUST, OR GRYLLUS MIGRATORIUS. 145 
are hatched by the influence of the sun, 
ivhile the mother posts herself at the en- 
trance, to defend them from their greatest 
enemy, the black beetle. 
The young crickets do much damage 
to kitchen gardens, destroying whole beds 
of cabbages and other vegetables. 
Lucy, Does this species fly, like the 
other crickets : 
Mother, Yes, in the evening they 
sometimes take long flights ; but in the 
day time they are sluggish, and seem un- 
willing to use their wings. 
Do you remember to have heard of 
locusts ? 
Lucy, Oh yes, several times. In the 
Bible you know it is said, that John the 
Baptist eat locusts and wild honey. 
Mother, The locust is a large species 
of gryllus, which, happily for us, is not a 
native of England. It is called the gryl- 
lus migratorius; because it migrates or 
removes from country to country in vast 
bodies. They fly with the wind, and in 
such multitudes as to obscure the rays of 
the sun ; and when they alight, the 
