412 
TERMES. 
general resemblance to the insects of that genus, 
has by Derham and some other naturalists been 
distinguished by the title of Pedicidus pulsat or ins. 
It is very frequent, during the summer months, in 
houses, particularly where the wainscot is in any 
degree deca^^ed, and is remarkable for causing 
a, long-continued sound, exactly resembling the 
ticking of a watch. It is a very common insect 
in collections of dried plants, &c. which it often 
injures greatly. It is of so tender a frame as to 
be easily destroyed by the slightest pressure, and 
is an animal of very quick motion. When mag- 
nified, the head appears lai’ge; the eyes remark- 
ably conspicuous, of a most beautiful gold-co- 
lour, and divided, like those of most other insects, 
into innumerable hexagonal convexities; the an- 
tennoB long and setaceous; the palpi or feelers 
two in number, of moderate length, and termi- 
nating in a large club-shaped tip; the thorax ra- 
ther narrow, and the abdomen obtusely oval; the 
thighs or first joints of the legs thick, the remain- 
ing ones slender, and the feet furnished with very 
small claws: the whole animal is beset with small, 
scattered hairs. According to the observations of 
the celebrated Derham, this insect, at its first 
hatching from the egg, which is white, oval, and 
extremely small, bears a complete resemblance to 
a common mite, being furnished tvith eight legs, 
and beset with long hairs. After a certain time 
it casts its skin, and appears in the very difierent 
form above-described. Degeer observes that in 
some specimens he has remarked appearances si-^ 
