ABERRANT ORDERS. 271 



so called, being the longest ; the ligula is sometimes pro- 

 longed between the labial feelers, equalling them in length, 

 at others it does not reach beyond the base of these organs; 

 the labial feelers are short and three -join ted; the maxilla 

 are somewhat triangular, with their lacinia acute : the 

 maxillary feelers are distinct and two- or three-jointed ; 

 the galea is obsolete ; the mandibles are elongate and seti- 

 form, with their base flattened and dilated ; the antenna 

 are somewhat moniliform and usually eight-jointed ; the 

 eyes are lateral and oval ; the ocelli three, and situated in 

 a triangle between the eyes ; the prothorax is large and 

 flat, the meso- and metathorax are so closely soldered to- 

 gether that the division is scarcely to be traced ; the fore 

 and hind wings are alike, long, narrow, delicate, generally 

 nerveless and fringed with long cilia ; the tarsi are two- 

 jointed and without claws. Inhabits flowers, leaves, and 

 the bark of trees. Thrips. 



Bee-parasites or Stylopites. Larva apod, with a corneous 

 head ; inhabits the bodies of wasps and bees in the perfect 

 state, the head of the larva projecting between the abdom- 

 inal segments of the bee. Pupa changes in the same situ- 

 ations. Imago with elongate, linear mandibles, and minute 

 maxillae, but large maxillary feelers ; the antenna have but 

 few joints, and these are of very irregular form : there are 

 two tippet-like appendages very near the head, and two 

 large membranaceous wings, by some supposed to be ana- 

 logous to the wings of Diptera or the fore wings, by others 

 to those of Coleoptera or the hind wings ; the question is 

 one of great interest, and its solution is reserved for more 

 able insect-anatomists than have hitherto dissected this 

 curious creature. The perfect insect flies in the sunshine, 

 occasionally settling on twigs and leaves, on which it runs 

 rapidly, vibrating its tippets and wings ; the tarsi are two- 

 three- or four-jointed. Sty lops, Elenchus, Halictophagus. 



