188 EVENINGS AT THE MICEOSCOPE. 



tlie j)lcasure of tlie animal, like a long pocket memo- 

 randum-book of three leaves. 



But tliis structure is seen to still greater advantage 

 in the much laro;er Cockchafer, so abundant in Mav 

 in some seasons. For here the joints' composing the 

 club are much more numerous (seven in the male, six 

 in the female), and thej are proportionally longer 

 and thinner, and therefore more leaf-like. The insect 

 widely expands them, evidently to receive impressions 

 from the atmosphei'e ; when alarmed, they are closed 

 and withdrawn beneath the shield of the head, but on 

 the first essay towards escaj)e, or any kind of forward 

 movement, the leaves are widely opened, and then 

 after an instant's pause to test the perceptions on the 

 sensorium, away it travels. 



In some Beetles each joint of the series has one of 

 its outer angles more developed than the other, and so 

 produced as to make, with the rest of the joints, a saw- 

 like edge : you may see an examjile in this Click-beetle 

 or Skipjack {Elater) ; but many members of the same 

 family show the same structure in a far higher degree, 

 the angle being drawn out in a long slender rod, whicn 

 (with its fellows) imparts to the antenna the appearance 

 of a comb. 



But much more curious and beautiful are the an- 

 tennae of many Moths, wdiich often resemble feathers, 

 particularly in the group Bombr/cina, of which the 

 Silkworm is an example ; and in the male sex, which 

 displays this structure more than the female. But I 

 will show you a native example. 



This is the antenna of a large nnd handsome, and 

 not at all uncommon moth — the Oak Egger {Lasio- 

 canipa qusrcus). It consists of about seventy joints, so 



