154? INTERNAL ANATOMY OF INSECTS. 



in these cases the eggs are fertilized in their transit 

 through the oviduct by sperm adhering to the folds of 

 the cloacae a : but this opinion seems less analogous to 

 what takes place in other cases, with regard to the due 

 preparation of the eggs for a safe and effectual transit b . 



II. The Oviduct (Oviductus) is the canal, always se- 

 parate from the vagina* which receives the eggs from the 

 ovary, transmitting them, often by a peculiar and com- 

 plex instrument in which it terminates, to their proper 

 station. This canal sometimes opens into the anal pass- 

 age or cloaca, and at others, as in the cabbage-butterfly c , 

 is distinct, and lies between the sexual organ and the 

 anus. In the AracJmida there are two oviducts d . 



III. The Ovaries (Ovaria) in insects are the viscera 

 in which the eggs are generated and grow till they ar- 

 rive at maturity, when they pass through the oviduct, 

 and are extruded or deposited in their appropriate sta- 

 tion. They vary considerably in their structure. In all 

 how r ever, except the lulidtf, in which there is only a 

 single ovary 6 , the oviduct at its upper or inner extremity 

 terminates in two branches, usually further subdivided 

 into a number of smaller conical ones, which several ra- 

 mifications constitute the ovaries, or egg-tubes as they 

 are sometimes called : these tubes generally consist of a 



a De Inscclor. Genital. 17. 



b I allude to those organs above described (p. 132.) for the secre- 

 tion of matter for varnishing the eggs or lubricating the oviduct. It 

 seems most probable, if the fecundation of the eggs takes place gra- 

 dually, that upon their passing into the oviduct, a special reservoir 

 should be appropriated to the reception of the male sperm, adapted to 

 maintaining in due activity the vivifying principle, or aura scminalif. 



c Hcrold Schmctt. t. iv./. 2. m n. - d Trcviran. Arachnid. 36, 

 t. iv./. 32. aa. Marcel de Serres in Mem. du Mits. 1819. 89. 



e Marcel de Serres, Mem. du Mits, 1819. 115. 



