34 HISTORY OF 



yellowish clay colour, sometimes pale, at other 

 seasons of a deeper hue. The wings are of a deep 

 and beautiful yellow, with a broad band of glossy 

 black bordering the extremities. The tarsi of 

 the feet are composed of three articulations, and 

 are of a paler colour than the legs and thighs, 

 which are brown. When the insect is on the 

 wing, the waving of the elytra, (whose thinness 

 renders the spots thereon transparent), assisted 

 by the luminous quality peculiar to the tribe, and 

 the golden yellow of the under wings, bordered 

 with black, occasion the flashes they dart around 

 in the night ; and the phosphorescent light con- 

 tained in the head is sufficient to answer the pur- 

 poses of a candle in a dark room.] 



CHAPTER V. 



OF THE EARWIG, THE FROTH INSECT, AND OTHERS 

 BELONGING TO THE SECOND ORDER OF INSECTS. 



WE should still keep in memory that all insects of 

 the second order, though not produced quite per- 

 fect from the egg, yet want very little of their 

 perfection, and require but a very small change 

 to arrive at that state which fits them for flight 

 and generation. The natural functions in these 

 are never suspended : from the instant they leave 

 the egg, they continue to eat, to move, to leap, 

 and pursue their prey ; a slight change ensues, a 



