The larvæ when first hatched are white, and are said to be three years in arriving at a state of maturity. The mole cricket is found chiefly in the south of England.
Fig. 72.—Œcanthus Pellucens.
Family 5, Gryllidæ.—The most conspicuous insect belonging to this family in Britain is known as the great Green Grasshopper (Phasgonura viridissima), which measures nearly four inches in expanse of the wing, and is therefore nearly as large as the migratory locust which sometimes visits us.
The great green grasshopper is not, however, a very common insect in this country, being principally confined to the south of the island.
Another European and British species, Decticus verrucivorus, is of about the same length. It receives its name from the custom prevailing among the Swedish peasants of making it bite their warts. This insect, in common with many others of the same family, when at all roughly handled, emits from the mouth a brownish fluid, which is said to possess acrid qualities, and the introduction of this into the warts is supposed to cause their disappearance.
Fig. 73.—Truxalis Nasuta.
Family 6, Locustidæ.—This family, which includes the grasshoppers and true locusts, is easily distinguished from both the preceding families by the character of the antennæ, which are comparatively short.