594 Insects. 



ORDER VIII. Suctoria. 



THESE insects are without wings. The mouth is fur- 

 nished with a trunk or beak, formed to wound as well as 

 to suck. 



THE FLEA, (Pulex irritans,') 



Is one of those little creatures with which want of clean- 

 liness in mankind is punished. It is one of the most 

 annoying insects that infest the human race, as, by its 

 leapings, it often escapes being caught. It is oviparous, 

 and the egg, which is hardly discernible with the naked 

 eye, contains at maturity a small white worm, beset with 

 hairs. This worm soon spins for itself a little silk co- 

 coon, from which the perfect insect issues. The Flea is 

 an active, troublesome, blood-thirsty insect ; it has a small 

 head, large eyes, and a roundish, but compressed body, 

 which is covered with a kind of armour resembling the 

 tortoise shell in colour and transparency. The plates of 

 which this skin is composed are also armed with spines 

 or bristles. It has six legs, two of which are much longer 

 than the others, in order to enable the insect to make 

 such wondrous leaps, as to raise the body above two 

 hundred times its diameter. The great strength and 

 agility of the Flea are well known, from the exhibition 

 of the industrious Fleas. 



