Insect-Life 



283 



The same impression is conveyed by the study of 

 animal life out of doors. With the exception of 

 birds, insects are the only animals, which in this 

 country force themselves on our attention. In a 

 wood-clearing on a summer's day the swarms of 

 Flies, Gnats and Midges, will not let the most 

 unobservant passer-by forget their presence ; as 



Fig. 156.— Skin-Beetle {Attagcnus piceus, 01.), Europe, a. larva ; b. pupa ; c. 

 beetle ; d. abdominal segments of pupa from above, magnified 7 times ; 

 A .'^ . feelers of male and female, more highly magnified. From Howard, 

 Bull. 4 (n.s.), Div. Ent. U.S. Dept. Agr. 



insects outnumber all other animals, so, both in 

 species and individuals, do Diptera outnumber all 

 other insects. Yet insects of other orders are 

 plentiful enough ; Butterflies flit and Bees hover 

 around the flowers ; Dragon-flies dart across the 

 clearing in pursuit of prey ; Grasshoppers leap 

 among the herbage. Shaking the branch of a 



