62 



HANDBOOK OF ANTS, BEES, ETC. 



They clear off everything from the surface of the ground as 

 completely as if the place had been visited by fire. 



In many eastern countries locusts are relished as articles of 

 food. 



The distinctive character of the insects comprised in this group 

 is found in the structure of the wings. The anterior pair are of 

 a horny or leathery consistence, but always much shorter than the 



Fig. 76. — Caloptenus Italicus. 



abdomen. The hind wings, on the contrary, are of large size, and 

 are composed of a very delicate membrane. There is only one 

 family. 



Tribe III. — Euplexoptera. 



Family 7, ForficnlidcB. — The insects of this family present a great 

 uniformity of structure. They are, for the most part, of nocturnal 

 habits, concealing themselves during the day in crevices under the 

 bark of trees, or in the ground under stones and leaves, etc. 



Their food consists almost exclusively of vegetable substances, 

 and are sometimes very injurious to flowers and fruit. 



It has been said, however, that they also feed largely on plant- 

 lice or aphides, which, if true, give them a very redeeming quality 



The female earwig deposits her eggs under a stone in some 

 cavity in the ground often dug out by her own labour. 



Unlike most other insects, the female does not perish as soon 

 as she has laid her eggs, but lives to behold her offspring, brood- 

 ing over them almost like a hen. But it is distressing to learn 

 that if the mother should die she is immediately devoured by her 

 progeny. 



