EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



27 



Above the eyes are the antennae, two long, jointed 

 organs, each composed of many joints, which may be 

 divided into three groups, — those of the base, the stalk, 

 and the club. The two joints composing the base are 

 larger than the others ; the stalk is merely a jointed 

 thread; the club has the joints shorter and broader. In 

 some cases the antenna? are bare, in others they are more 

 or less clothed with scales. The use of these organs is 

 not fully known, but they are supposed by many to be 

 organs of hearing. In the upper part of the club are 

 microscopic pits connecting with nerves, showing that 

 the antenna? are sense-organs ; and it is probable they 

 are not connected with the same sense in all insects. In 

 some beetles, and some grasshoppers, ants, and bees, the 

 sense is without much doubt one of touch ; in some 

 moths it seems to be one of smell. 



On the under side of the head are the mouth parts. 

 These consist first of a three-jointed pair 

 of palpi, which are densely covered with 

 hair-like scales, and which project out- 

 ward and often curve upward more or 

 less closely to the front of the head. Be- 

 tween the palpi, and attached to the head 

 near the base of them, is the proboscis, 

 or tongue (see Fig. 5). This is a long, 

 tapering, horny tube, through which the 

 insect sucks or draws up fluid substances 

 from flowers or other objects. When 

 at rest, the tongue is coiled backward 

 between the palpi like a watch-spring; 

 when uncoiled, it is often as long as the body of the 

 insect. It consists of two lateral halves united down 



Fig. 



Head of E. Tity- 

 rus, showing 

 tongue and one an- 

 tenna. 



