84 



INSECT LIFE. 



of a single pair of wings ; for no fly has more than 

 two wings, and only a few are wingless. 



The common house-fly is the best-known repre- 

 sentative of this or- 

 der. Fig. 77 repre- 

 sents a crane-fly, so 

 called on account of 

 its long legs. In this 

 figure the halteres, 

 which represent the 

 hind wings in this or- 

 der, are well shown. 

 Several families of 

 flies are referred to 

 in the following chap- 



IG. 77.— A crane-fly. ter. 



Order Siphonaptera (Siph-o-nap'te ra). 

 The Fleas. 



The members of this order are practically wingless, 

 the wings being represented only by minute scaly plates. 

 The mouth-parts are formed for sticking. The meta- 

 morphosis is complete. 



The name of the order is 

 from two Greek words : si- 

 phon, a tube, and pteros, 

 wingless. It refers to the 

 form of the mouth and to the 

 wingless condition of the in- 

 sects. Fig. 78 represents the 



n J •. 1 Fig. 78. — The dog-flea and its 



og-flea and its larva. larva. 



