14 INSECTS IN GENERAL. 



The Legs. — Insects have six legs, attached in pairs to the under side 

 of each of the three segments of the thorai. The leg consists of four 

 principal parts ; the hip {coxa), a short piece by which the leg is at- 

 tached to the body ; then an elongated piece called the thigh {femur, 

 plural /emora); then another elongated piece called the shank {tibia)', 

 and lastly the foot (or tarsiis), which is composed of a number of smaller 

 pieces or joints ; of which five is the largest and most common number. 



The feet of insects terminate, almost invariably, in a pair of sharp 

 horny claws {ungues) ; and between these, at their base, is often one or 

 two little pads {plantukv) by means of which flies and many other in- 

 sects adhere to glass, or any other surface which is too smooth and hard 

 for the claws to catch upon. The Lepidoptera have but one plantula, 

 and the Diptera have two. Besides the parts of the leg here enumera- 

 ted, there is a small piece attached to the hind part of the hip, called 

 the trochanter. This is usually small and inconspicuous, but in the 

 hind legs of the ground-beetles {Garabidcv) it forms a large egg-shaped 

 appendage, which is one of the most characteristic features of this 

 family of insects. 



THE ABDOMEN, AND ITS APPENDAGES. 



The abdomen is the hindermost of the three divisions of an insect's 

 body. It is sometimes attached to the thorax by the whole width of its 

 base, in which case it is called sessile. But it is often attached by a 

 slender petiole or foot-stalk, when it is said to be petiolated. The abdo- 

 men is composed of a number of rings, one behind another, each ring 

 usually lapping a little upon the one following it. The normal number 

 of rings or segments of the abdomen is considered to be nine, and this 

 number is actually present in the Earwig {Forficida) and a few other 

 insects; but in the great majority of insects, several of the terminal seg- 

 ments are abortive, and only from five to seven can usually be counted. 



In the females of many kinds of insects the abdomen terminates in a 

 tubular, tail-like process, through which the eggs are conducted to their 

 place of deposit, and which is therefore called the ovipositor. In some 

 insects the ovipositor is simple, short, straight and stiff, as in some of 

 the Capricorn beetles; but in others, as the Ichneumon flies, it is long, 

 slender and flexible, and composed of three thread-like i^ieces, which 

 when not in use, are separated from each other, giving these insects the 

 appearance of being three-tailed. 



Capturing and Preserving Insects. 



Insects which do not readily fly, such as the beetles and the bugs 

 proper {Jlemiptera), can be cai)tured with the fingers, and are easily 



