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FAMILY VII.—GRYLLID^E.

These fossorial crickets, like the members of the following genus, burrow in the ground, but especially the formerare preeminetly burrowers. Like the true mole they arewell equipped for such a life. Unity of habits will producesimilar modifications in the organs specially needed, and thefront tibiae of the mole-crickets are very similar to thebroadened hand-shaped front feet of the mole, or of thepocket-gopher, because they are used for the same purpose.Mole-crickets live in rather damp places, near lakes, pondsor rivers, where they form long channels with raised ridges,which resemble a miniature mole-hill. Some of their bur-rows are from six to eight inches below the surface, and inmaking them the roots of plants above are greatly injured.Mole-crickets, though they feed upon tender roots of plants,are by no means strictly vegetarians, but devour greedilyany insect they are able to catch. In fact most of themembers of Crickets and Long-horned Grasshopers arecannibals whenever an opportunity should offer, and someeat more animal than vegetable matter. In Europe themole-cricket becomes sometimes a very serious pest, especiallyamong young plants of trees in forest nurseries. In theWest Indies, and in Java , other species are very destructiveto the sugar-cane.

Mole-crickets, like true moles, are by no means sociabeings, and except at the love season only oneadult insect is found in each burrow. The mother deposits from 200 to 300 eggs in a round cavity deeper inthe ground. Wherever mole-crickets occur they are notvery difficult to capture, as they can be located in theirburrows by their songs. Captive specimens, if placed onthe ground, will at once begin to dig; if put on a piece ofpaper, or on a handkerchief, they invariably go through allthe motions of digging. Both species of mole-crickets aresometimes attracted by lights.