16 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. 



country. The larva is maggot-like, and lives between the rings 

 of the back of the wasp ; the pnpa resembles that of some 

 flies, and is cased in the dried skin of the larva. The females 

 never acquire wings, and never leave the bodies of the bees or 

 wasps into which they penetrate while young. The males, in 

 the adult state, have a pair of short, narrow, and twisted mem- 

 bers, instead of fore-wings, and two very large hind-wings, 

 folded lengthwise like a fan. The mouth is provided with a 

 pair of slender, sharp-pointed jaws, better adapted for piercing 

 than for biting. It is very difficult to determine the proper 

 place of these insects in a natural arrangement. Latreille put 

 them betw^een the Lepidoptera and Diptera, but thinks them 

 most nearly allied to some of the Hymenoptera. 



The flea tribe [Pulicidfc) was placed among the bugs, or 

 Hemiptera, by Fabricius. It constitutes the order Aptera of 

 Leach, Siphonaptera of Latreille, and Aphaniptera of Kirby. 

 Fleas are destitute of wings, in the place whereof there are 

 four little scales, pressed closely to the sides of their bodies ; 

 their mouth is fitted for suction, and provided with several 

 lancet-like pieces for making punctures ; they undergo a com- 

 plete transformation ; their larvae are worm-like and without 

 feet; and their pupae have the legs free. These insects, of 

 which there are many different kinds, are intermediate in their 

 characteristics between the Hemiptera and the Diptera, and 

 seem to connect more closely these two orders together. 



The ear-wigs (Forficnlada), of which also there are many 

 kinds, were placed by Linnaeus in the order Coleoptera, but 

 most naturalists now include them among the Orthoptera ; 

 indeed, they seem to be related to both orders, but most closely 

 to the Orthoptera, with which they agree in their partial trans- 

 formations, and active pupae. They form the little order Der- 

 maptera of Leach, or Euplexoptera of Westwood. 



The spider-flies, bu-d-flies, sheep-tick, &c. (Hippoboscadce), 

 which, with Latreille and others, I have retained among the 

 Diptera, form the order Homaloptera of Leach, and the 

 English entomologists. 



The May-flies, or case-flics [Phry^aneadce), have been sepa- 

 rated from the Neuroptera ; and constitute the order Tricho- 



