OCR Text |
Show 12 INSECTA. veral of them are nocturnal. Their crop frequently forms a lateral pouch. Theil· pylorus has but two thick creca. Their biliary vessels are inserted into the intestine by a common trunk. They form four subgenera. GRYLLo-TALPA, Lat. Where the tibire and tarsi of the two anterior legs are wide, fiat and dentated, resembling hands or are adapted for digging. The other tarsi are of the ordinary form, and terminated by two hooks; the antennre are more slender at the end, elongated and multiarticulated. G. vulgaris; Gryllus gryllo-talpa, L.; Rres., Insect., II, Gr!ll., xiv, xv. Length one inch and a half; brown above, reddishyellow beneath; anterior tibire with four teeth; wings double the length of the elytra. This species is but too well known by the mischief it effects in gardens and cultivated grounds. It lives in the earth, where its hvo anterior legs, which act like a saw and shovel, or like those of a Mole, open a passage for it. It cuts and separates the roots of plants, but not so much for the purpose of eating them as to clear its road, for it feeds, as it appears, on Worms and Insects. The cry of the male, which is only heard at night, is soft and agreeable. In June and July, the female digs a rounded, smooth, subterranean cavity, about six inches in depth, in which she deposits from two to four hundred eggs; this nest, with the gallery that leads to it, resembles a bottle with a curved neck. The young remain together for some time. For other details, see the observations of M. Le Feburier, Nouv. Cours d'Agriculture(l). TRIDAOTYLus, Oliv.-Xya, Illig. These Insects also excavate the earth, but with the anterior legs only; in lieu of posterior tarsi, they are furnished with movable, narrow, hooked appendages, resembling fingers. 'fhe antennre are of equal thickness, very short, and consist of ten rounded joints. T. variegatua; Xya variegata, Illig.; Charpent., Hor. Entom., II, p. 84, f. 2, 5. Very small; black, with numerous spots or dots of a yellowish-white; a great jumper. South of France, on the shores of rivers(2). (1) Lat., Gener. Crust. et Insect., lli, p. 95. (2) Lat., lb., p. 96, T. paradoxus, Coqueb., 111ust. Icon. Insect., III, xxi,3. ORTIIOPTERA. 13 Gn YLLUS proper, Where none of the legs are adapted for digging,· and where the posterior extremity of the female abdomen is provided with a salient ovipositot·. • Their antennre are always elongated, smallet' near the extremity and terminate in a point. The simple eyes are less distinct than in the Tridactyli and Gryllo-talpre. G. campestris, L.; Rres., Insect., II, Gryll., xiii. Black; base of the elytra yellowish; head large; posterior thighs red beneath. It excavates deep holes by the roadside, in dry soils, and in situations exposed to the sun, where it remains in ambush, watching for the Insects on which it preys. There also the female lays het· eggs, which ·amount to three hundred. This species hunts the following one. G. domesticus, L.; Rres., Insect., II, Gryll., xii. Pale-yellowish mixed with brown. It frequents those parts of houses in which fires are generally kept, and which furnish it with both shelter and food, as behind chimneys, ovens, &c. Such are also its breeding places. The male produces a shrill and disagreeable noise. Spain and Barbary produce a very singular Gryllus, the G. umbraculatu8, L. The forehead of the maJe is ful'nished with a membranous prolongation, which falls like a veil. Messrs. Lefevre and Bibron have brought from Sicily a new and large species, described by the former under the name of megacephalua; its stridulous noise is prolonged for half a minute and may be heard at the distance of a mile. The wings of the G. monstrosus form several spiral convolutions at the extremity(!). MYRMEOOPHILA.-Splt$rium, Charp. ' The Myrmecophilre have uo wings; and the body is oval. vVith respect to their antennre and the absence of simple eyes, they resemble the true Grylli. The posterior thighs are ext~emely large. (1) Add Gryllua pellucens, Panz., Faun. Insect. Germ., XXII, 17, male of the .IJ..cheta italica, Fa.b. It lives on flowcrs;-Ac!leta sylvestri3, Fab.; Coqucb., Illust. Icon., I, i, 2;-A. umbraculata, 'Fab.; Coqueb., Jb., Ill, xxi, 2, and other species figured by De Geer, Drury, Herbst., &c. See Fabricius. |