198 EYES OF INSECTS. 



this general character of dull opacity, thus observable in the 

 eyes of Insects,, there are however a few exceptions, though 

 these are none of the most pleasing sort. 



There is the eye (as a larva) of that Bug- destroyer, (albeit a 

 Bug himself,) the Reduvius personatus, with its dark pupil and 

 blood-red iris, illumined with a glare of fierceness. And some- 

 what resembling in colour and expression, is that of the Scorpion 

 from the gaze of which, if of augmented size, we should recoil 

 with horror. The golden eyes of the beautiful lace-winged 

 Fly ; the eyes, painted in stripes, of many of the Gad-Plies ; 

 the flower-like eyes of another Insect, an exotic, are all beau- 

 tiful varieties of the optic organ, though in point of expression 

 they may rank no higher than the less ornamented instruments 

 furnished commonly to the Insect crew. 



Many species of nocturnal Moths sail through the dark 

 ocean of night, carrying lanterns at their prows in the shape 

 of eyes, which, black or brown by day, become glowing sparks 

 in the gloom. These perhaps are the only Insect eyes which 

 may be strictly called luminous ; but those of the fierce Dragon 

 Fly, and of its gentle prey, the white Garden Butterfly, display 

 in day-light a more than ordinary share of crystalline trans- 

 parency. 



Of eyelids, Insects, we believe, are wholly destitute, but they 

 are often amply provided with eye-lashes, or with what stands 

 them in the stead of those protective appendages. Their pur- 

 pose in defending the concave surface of the eye from dust and 



