COLEOPTERA. 151 



the wheat, and sometimes has caused serious damage. 

 The wings of the Thrips are very peculiar ; they are 

 four in number, quite destitute of nerves or folds, but 

 are provided with very long and delicate hairs, which 

 extend all round the wings ; the front pair are rather 

 larger than the hind pair ; but all four are narrow. 

 From the presence of these fringes, the Thripidce have 

 been considered by some entomoh^gists to form a dis- 

 tinct Order, to which the name of Thysanopter^ 

 (Fringe-winged) has been given. The metamorphosis 

 is incomplete, the larva being as active as the imago, to 

 which it bears a close resemblance both in structure 

 and habits ; in colour the larvse are paler than the 

 perfect insects, which are always black. The nature of 

 the metamorphosis would appear to unite the Thripidce 

 with the Orders Orthoptera or Hemiptera ; but the 

 structure of the wings and mouth parts would exclude 

 them from these orders. Perhaps it is better to con- 

 sider these insects, of which the Thripidce is the only 

 family, as forming a separate order, viz., that of the 

 Thtsanoptera. 



Another very curious family of insects, and which is 

 now generally regarded as forming an aberrant order, 

 under the name of Strepsiptera, is one which is parasitic 

 upon bees and wasps. The order consists of a single 

 family, which has received the name of Stylopidice, i.e., 

 "column-eyed," in relation to the pair of prominent eyes. 

 The position of these insects in the system is difficult 

 to determine ; some entomologists have placed them 

 amongst the Hymenoptera, others amongst the Diptera; 

 but nerhaps their proper position is between the 

 CoUoptera and the Hymenoptera. However this may 



