10 THE BITING MOUTH. 



their way through wood and other hard substances ; it 

 is with them also that the predaceous insects seize 



2. 



Head and mouth of an Insect (Carabus violaceus). 



1. The head, a «. Antennae. 6 *. Mandibles, c. Maxillae. d(Z. Maxillary palpi. 



e. Labial palpi. 



2. The parts of the mouth dissected, a. Labrum. b b. Blandibles. c c. Max- 



illae, d. Labium. 



and destroy their victims. In the form of these 

 organs^ and of the teeth with which they are armedj 

 we have consequently as distinct an indication of the 

 mode of life of these animals^ as that furnished by the 

 jaws of any quadruped. In the most carnivorous 

 species we find the mandibles pointed and hooked^ 

 and the teeth sharply conical^ reminding one^ to com- 

 pare small things with great,, of the formidable canine 

 teeth of the Lion or Tiger^ which indeed are scarcely 

 so ferocious as these little tyrants; whilst in those 

 which are formed for gnawing hard substances^ the 

 tips of the mandibles are flattened so as to furnish a 

 broad cutting surface^ the teeth of the inner edge are 

 blunt, and the lowest of them, beino: tubercular in 

 their form^ offer no distant resemblance to the molars 

 of quadrupeds. Between these extremes the man- 



