24 OUR INSECT FRIENDS AND FOES 



wonderfully mobile and sensitive antennae, and 

 a pair of bright simple eyes. The two most 

 striking and interesting features of the internal 

 anatomy are the presence of organs of respira- 

 tion in the form of tracheae with external 

 openings or spiracles, anatomical structures 

 which at once point to Peripatus and the true 

 Insects having sprung from a common ancestry ; 

 and a series of excretory tubes or nephridia 

 similar to those of the annelids or worms, 

 organs which, considered with the predominating 

 vermiform shape of most insects in their larval 

 state, seem to point to the common worm-like 

 ancestor. The Peripatus is nocturnal in its 

 habits, living in moist places under bark and 

 stones, preying upon small insects which it 

 captures by means of a natural slimy secretion. 

 Species of Peripatus are found in South Africa, 

 South America, the West Indies, New Zealand, 

 and Australia. 



As I have already stated, first-hand, careful, 

 personal observation in the field is of far greater 

 interest and value than the mere filling of 

 cabinets with dead specimens, for the sake of 

 forming a collection. At the same time it is, 

 for most of us at any rate, very difficult, if not 

 altogether impossible, to devote sufficient time 

 to watch the whole of the various stages of 

 insect metamorphosis take place in the open 

 country, and therefore it becomes essential to 

 provide suitable receptacles at home, which shall, 

 as closely as artificial conditions will admit, re- 

 semble the natural conditions of the insect which 

 we wish to keep under constant observation. 



