“They hunt for worms and all kinds of insects for food. In their subterranean operations both cut with their fore feet the roots that obstruct their progress, but the mole, exclusively carnivorous, does not eat them, whereas the mole-cricket, living on both animal and vegetable matter, nibbles them at its pleasure. Nor does it disdain a tender lettuce leaf when at night it comes up above ground to get a little air and cultivate the acquaintance of its neighbors. Hence the mole-cricket does a great deal of damage in gardens by laying bare the roots of young plants when it is boring its tunnels, or by severing these roots with the saw-like edges of its feet, or by nibbling them when hungry. “Not far beneath the surface of the ground the female makes her nest, which is in the form of a hollow ball of earth about as large as your fist. In this cavity, after it has been carefully smoothed and prepared, she lays her eggs, to the number of three or four hundred, after which she remains in the neighborhood as if to watch over them. When first hatched the young ones are white all over and look like big ants. When the ground is spaded these nests should always be destroyed. “The mole-cricket’s domain is composed of passages running down to a greater or less distance, with hunting galleries just under the surface. To dislodge the insect from its retreat a little oil is poured into the hole where it is thought to have taken refuge, and then plenty of water from the watering-pot, until all the passages are inundated. Threatened with suffocation by the oil, which interferes with its breathing, the mole-cricket soon comes to the surface. One can also use the trap that I have found serviceable. A wide and deep vessel is set into the ground, level with the surface, and half filled with water. Attracted by the coolness, the mole-crickets fall in and drown in the course of their nocturnal promenades. Sometimes, again, at the approach of cold weather holes are dug here and there and filled with horse manure. The warmth of the manure is agreeable to the mole-crickets, and they come and hide in it for the winter. When cold weather begins, these lurking-places are searched and the foolish occupants destroyed.