The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-04
ABOUT CRICKETS.
rzosE OF THE HEARTH AND OF
THE HEATH.


Among San Francisco's recent visitations
as been one of crickets. They were first
,o.iced in the southern end of town, aud
ince then have generally spread all over
ba city. their cheerful little chirp being
,ow heard from Pacific Heights to the Por-
raro and from East street to Richmond. The
rsriety which has appeared is not the house
ricket. but is that known as the field cricket,
md ia one of quite a numerous family
Known in natural history as the gryllid9.
rhe whole family is characterized" says
John Henley Kingley, "by having some
vbat cylindrical body and large vertical
head with elliptical eyes. The antenna are
,,nr and thread-like, and arise between and
m front of the eyes; the wings,
when present, are of moderate size and net
,eined and lie fat on the back. The legs
are rather short and are often armed with
oug. sharp spines, especially among the
ground, dwelling species"
tits by the friction of the wing-covers
sgainst each other and by the popularity of
t6air structure that the males produce the
stridulous sound which makes these insects
- we'll known The anterior wings only
are ned. the popularity of their structure
baing that they are furnished with heavy
ceins. roughened on their contiguous sur
faces and so arranged as to magnify the
sounds.
The field and house crickets are very closely
allied in their habits and appearance, the
great difference in tue latter particular be-
ing that the house cricket is of a yellowish-
gray color, more or less marked with
brown, and is smaller than the field cricket,
which is black or blacklist. The field cricket.
too. is a louder singer than the domestic
variety.
Both are of an extremely retiring and
peaceful disposition, and are, generally
;peaking, vegetarians. The house cricket
hides itself in holes and cracks in old walls
and chimneys. 1t is sensitive to cold, and
the neighborhood of the fire is very attract
i've to it, particularly in winter, so that its
merry little note has become associated
with ideas of domestic comfort and cheer
funess Without the heat of the fire it
becomes dormant, or nearly so, in winter
II remains quiet during the day, but it is
lively and active at night, issuing forth to
seek its food. Bread crumbs are very ac-
ceptable to it, and for the sake, apparently,
Of both food and warmth it very much
frequents bake houses. Each one digs for
itself hole, aud during the day they often
sit with tDeir heads out of the holes and
merrily chirp their little love songs. but at
the first faint disturbance the songs cease
and the crickets disappear.
The field cricket is also a turnover, and
sometimes a few of them manage to live
through the winter in their little holes They
are her bivorous, and are especially fond
OF congregating under piles of straw and
other decaying vegetation where heat is
generated. They also frequent granaries
and barns, where they find plenty to sts-
tain life and get protection from their dread
enemies, the birds.
The present visitation by no means
amounts to plague, but if the birds do not
clear off the present crop, or if the coming
winter is not severe enough to kill the
larvae, the chances are that next year crick-
cts will be quite plentiful in San Francisco.
Each female lays from 200 to 400 eggs, so
that calculating the present number of
female crickets we have with us at 10, 900
and putting the average of fructifying eggs
at 800, it means the trihing crop of 3,00O,-
900 chirpers. Allowing that one-half of
these are females, and again calculating on
The same average of production, and it
means that the cricket census taken for
1891 will have to reckon up 450, 600, 900
chirpers. The reader who has a taste for
arlthmetical progression may follow up the
ejaculation and see how many years it
weuld be before San Francisco is covered
foot deep by the gryllide.
Besides these two types there are number
OF other crickets which may be mentioned.
The lowest of all is the mole cricket. which
is among the rarities of insect life,
on account of their secluded habits. They
are odd-looking creatures and bear strik-
ing resemblance to the mole, with its greatly
developed front legs for burrowing. They
live under ground and seldom leave
their burrows to come to the surface, and
never until after dark. They are the true
mole of the insect world, and make tortu
GUS galleries, destroying everything that
comes in their way, cutting through roots
and eating the fine underground twigs, as
well as the worms and grubs which they
meet with during their burrowing Some
authors have claimed that these crickets are
truly carnivorous, but this is a mistake.
They do eat such worms and insects as come
In their way, but their nourishment consists
of vegetable food. Their
excavations consist of vegetable
shafts of various depths and of
horizontal galleries which lead from
them into different directions. These are
to be found in the soft moist earth on the
margin OF streams and about ponds, where
they can be readily detected by the small
appraised ridges, just like those made by
the MOLE The males sing during the warm
sui 81 nights of spring and early summer.
ne song Is a low, continued rather pleasant
trlll, quite similar to that of the toad, but
more shrlll. These mole crickets, some of
tthem quite small and others nearly two
inches IN length, are generally distributed
over the animal world, though they become
more numerous toward and within the
tropics, ore species, which is very numer-
Gus IN tine West Indies, doing great in jury
10 thesugar cane.
Ing smallest and most delicate crickets
are very active species which live in the
hesR OF various ants. They are most fire.
quMUly met with in Southern Europe, but
n NY, been met with both in Washington,
y ", and Washington Territory. They are
gIDuIar IN form, Of pale, dingy brown
Vlof' ana have no wings.
II addition to those crickets which dwell
vi OF In the ground, there are many which
ore ar Coreal. They are known as the tree
~ and prevail most in the tropics.
ET4Iougn several occur in Europe and the
! ollted States. The rree-crickets are
ga1tly colored land at first glance resemble
ouai! Iocusts. The snowy tree cricket is of
= ushcate greenish, Semi-transparent white
t esu is injurious to vegetation, especially
, yus vine, raspberry, blackberry, peach and
"ulo". The chirp of this species is inter-
10 t leent resembling shrill "te-reat, te-reat.
" Tt' with pause between each.
~ rue oroad-winged tree cricket is much
t da's Iue former, but larger. 1t is especially
,,eas ectlve to grape vines, which it punct-
W. % 1oT purposes of egg-laying, depositing
r rnenI py the hundreds in the pith of the