352 INSECTS. 



action might be compared to that of the Sloths, or Tree 

 Monkeys, with their prehensile limbs and tail. 



The destruction occasioned by the larvae is sometimes 

 very great, though at others the quality of the grass is 

 even improved by the eating away of superabundant 

 roots. About ten or twelve years ago the insect swarmed 

 in and near London; in Kensington Gardens, and 

 other places, large patches of ground were entirely de- 

 nuded. 



The long-nosed brown pupa-case of the Daddy Long- 

 legs may easily be found, empty, and projecting from the 

 turf, looking like a legless, wingless skin of the perfect 

 Ely. 



The head of this insect may be recommended to young 

 microscopists as very easy of preparation ; and, from the 

 beauty of the whorled antennae, the large size of the com- 

 pound eyes, and the easily displayed structure of the 

 mouth, is a very interesting object. 



In the Tipulidee family the larvae are chiefly subter- 

 ranean, feeding on fungi, roots, &c. ; but among them 

 are some which are aquatic in the larva state, and blood- 

 sucking in the perfect. 



10. Khyphidce. There are two species of this family, 

 both common, and though smaller and shorter-bodied 

 in proportion than those of the last family, they resemble 

 them more nearly than the preceding. They are, however, 

 at once distinguished by the absence of the transverse 

 suture down the back. The larvae are dung-eaters. 



Many of the flies in Nemocera, as the Gnats, Crane- 

 flies, &c., fly both by day and night. The Flies of the 

 following division, Brachycera, are all diurnal. 



