WING OF THE EARWIG. 



281 



racter is seen. Needs be that they must be so delicate, for the 

 wings to which they are applied are themselves of almost in- 

 credible delicacy. They are too delicate even to be called gauzy ; 

 and while they have all the lovely prismatic colouring of the 

 soap-bubble, look scarcely less fragile. By far the strongest 

 part of the wing is the principal hinge, as from it diverge all the 

 lesser hinges on which the wings are folded. 



In the illustration this part of the wing may be seen just 

 beyond the ends of the elytra, and when the wings are closed 

 the hinge still projects, and, as has been already stated, is very 



Fig. 140. — Forfieesila Americana. 

 (Dark brown.) 



conspicuous. When examined with a lens, the shape of the 

 principal hinge is seen to bear some resemblance to that of a 

 cocked hat turned upside down, the hollow occupying the centre, 

 and apparently forming a cavity in which the ends of the 

 supplementary hinges can meet. This fine insect belongs to 

 South America, and the specimens in the British Museum were 

 brought from Jamaica. 



In the British Museum there are many unnamed species of 

 foreign Earwigs. One, which comes from Bio de Janeiro, is 

 long, light brown, and slender, with such long legs that it looks 

 very much like a "Daddy-long-legs" without its wings. Another, 

 a small species which was brought from Tejuca, is entirely 

 black, with the exception of a yellow patch in the middle. 

 Another Tejucan Earwig, much larger than the preceding species, 

 is dark chestnut-brown, with the exception of the wing-hinges, 



