MOTIONS OF INSECTS. 307 



related to these — I mean the louse of the bat {Nijcteribia 

 Vesperfilionis), is still more remarkable for its swiftness. 

 Its legs, as appears from the observations of Colonel 

 Montague, are fixed in an unusual position on the upper 

 side of the trunk. " It transports itself," to use the 

 words of the gentleman just mentioned, " with such cele- 

 rity, from one part of the animal it inhabits to the oppo- 

 site and most distant, although obstructed by the ex- 

 treme thickness of the fur, that it is not readily taken." 



" When two or three were put into a small phial, 



their agility appeared inconceivably great ; for, as their 

 feet are incapable of fixing upon so smooth a body, 

 their whole exertion was employed in laying hold of 

 each other ; and in this most curious struggle they ap- 

 peared actually flying in circles : and when the bottle 

 was reclined, they would frequently pass from one end 

 to the other with astonishing velocity, accompanied by 

 the same gyrations : if by accident they escaped each 

 other, they very soon became motionless: and as quickly 

 were the whole put in motion again by the least touch 

 of the bottle, or the movement of an individual ^.—In- 

 credibly great also is the rapidity with which a little 

 reddish mite, with two black dots on the anterior part 

 of its back (Gamasus Baccarum), common upon straw- 

 berries, moves along. Such is the velocity with which 

 it runs, that it appears rather to glide or fly than to use 

 its legs. 



When insects walk or run, their legs are not the only 



members that are put in motion. They will not, or 



rather cannot, stir a step till their antenna? are removed 



from their station of repose and set in action. When 



" Linn. Trans, xi. 13. 



X 2 



