a small head with large bright eyes, long slender legs, and four large transparent reticulated wings. The rest of its habits resemble that insect whose form it bears, except that, instead of dropping its eggs in the water, it deposits them in sand, where they are soon hatched into that rapacious insect so justly admired for its method of catching its prey.

CHAPTER IV.

Of the Grasshopper, the Locust, the Cicada, the Cricket, and the Mole-Cricket,

BELONGING to the second order of insects, we find a tribe of little animals, which, though differing in size and colour, strongly resemble each other in figure, appetites, nature, and transformation. But though they all appear of one family, yet men have been taught to hold them in different estimation; for while some of this tribe amuse him with their chirpings, and banish solitude from the fields, others come in swarms, eat up every thing that is green, and in a single night convert the most delightful landscape into a dreary waste, However, if these animals be separately considered, the devouring locust is not in the least more mischievous than the musical grasshopper; the only difference is, that one species comes for food in a swarm, the other feeds singly.

That animal which is called the Grasshopper with us, differs greatly from the cicada of antiquity; for as our insect is active enough in hopping through the long grass, from whence it has taken its name, the cicada had not this power, but either walked or flew. The little hissing note also of our grasshopper is very different from the song of the cicada, which was louder and far more musical. The manner in which this note is pro

1.Queen Bee_2. Common Bee_3. Wasp 4.5.6 Locusto 7. Mole Cricket_8 House Cricket – 9.840. Grasshoppers.

duced by the two animals is very different; for the cicada makes it by a kind of buckler, which the male has beneath its belly; the grasshopper by a transparent membrane that covers a hole at the base of its wings. There is still a greater variety in all these with regard to shape and colour. Some are green, some black, some livid, and some variegated; but many of them do not show all their colours till they fly. Some have long legs, some short, some with more joints, others with fewer. Some sing, others are mute; some are innocent, doing no damage to the husbandman, while others do such prodigious mischief, that they are looked upon in some countries as one of the terrible scourges of the incensed Divinity.

Of this variegated tribe, the little grasshopper that breeds in such plenty in every meadow, and that continues its chirping through the summer, is best known to us, and by having its history we shall be possessed of that of all the rest. This animal is of the colour of green leaves, except a line of brown which streaks the back, and two pale lines under the belly and behind the legs. It may be divided into the head, the corslet, and the belly. The head is oblong, regarding the earth, and bearing some resemblance to that of a horse. Its mouth is covered by a kind of round buckler jutting over it, and armed with teeth of a brown colour, hooked at the points. Within the mouth is perceivable a large reddish tongue, and fixed to the lower jaw. The feelers or horns are very long, tapering off to a point; and the eyes are like two black specks, a little prominent. The corslet is elevated, narrow, armed above and below by two serrated spines. The back is armed with a strong buckler, to which the muscles of the legs are firmly bound, and round these muscles are seen the vessels by which the animal breathes, as white as snow. The last pair of legs are much longer and stronger than the first two pair, fortified by thick muscles, and very well formed for leaping. It has four wings; the anterior ones

springing from the second pair of legs, the posterior from the third pair. The hinder wings are much finer and more expansive than the foremost, and are the principal instruments of its flight. The belly is considerably large, composed of eight rings, and terminated by a forky tail, covered with down, like the tail of a rat. When examined internally, besides the gullet, we discover a small stomach; and behind that a very large one, wrinkled and furrowed within-side: lower down there is still a third; so that it is not without reason that all the animals of this order are said to chew the cud, as they so much resemble ruminating animals in their internal conformation.

A short time after the grasshopper assumes its wings, it fills the meadow with its note; which, like that among birds, is a call to courtship. The male only of this tribe is vocal; and upon examining at the base of the wings, there will be found a litle hole in its body, covered with a fine transparent membrane. This is thought, by Linnæus, to be the instrument it employs in singing; but others are of opinion the sound is produced by rubbing its hinder legs against each other: however this be, the note of one male is seldom heard but it is returned by another; and the two little animals, after many mutual insults of this kind, are seen to meet and fight desperately. The female is generally the reward of victory; for, after the combat, the male seizes her with his teeth behind the neck, and thus keeps her for several hours, till the business of fecundation is performed. They are at that time so strongly united, that they can scarcely be separated without tearing asunder. Towards the latter end of autumn the female prepares to deposit her burden, and her body is then seen greatly distended with her eggs, which she carries to the number of a hundred and fifty. In order to make a proper lodgment in the earth for them, nature has furnished her with an instrument at her tail, somewhat resembling a two-edged sword, which she can sheathe and un