THE CRICKET. (Acheta domesticata.)
The domestic Crickets generally inhabit houses, selecting for their place of retirement the chimneys or backs of ovens; and feeding upon anything that comes in their way, flour, bread, meat, and especially sugar, of which they seem to be particularly fond. The chirping noise, which they make nearly without intermission, proceeds only from the males, who produce it by rubbing the bases of their wing-cases one over the other.
Crickets are generally of a brown rusty colour, and the organ of vision appears in them to be very weak and imperfect, as they find their way much better in the dark than when dazzled by the sudden light of a candle. The Field Cricket (A. campestris) has the same form, but is of a different species to the House Cricket, and is black, with a fine gloss. Its noise is heard at a great distance, and is so similar to that of the grasshopper, that it is difficult to distinguish one from the other.
Order III. Hemiptera.
These insects have neither mandibles nor maxillæ, but in lieu of them they have a tubular articulated rostrum, adapted for suction. Insects thus formed are called haustellated. The four wings are all membranous, but the outer ones are leathery at the base. Some of the species are without wings. The antennæ are often small, and sometimes scarcely perceptible. The metamorphoses of these insects are incomplete.