72 CLASS V. INSECTS. + . 



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pincers. Of this order are the various'species of Dragon-fly 

 large and well-known insects that frequent lakes and pools ot 

 stagnant water, in which the female deposits her eggs : the 

 Ephemera, insects which pass two or three years in the states 

 of larva and chrysalis, but whose existence as winged and 

 perfect insects is limited to a single day ; and the Ant-lion 

 and the Termites : the former is Celebrated as the destroyer 

 of the common ant, and the latter for the ravages they make, 

 in the state of larva, in some tropical countries. The Neu- 

 roptera do not all pass through a complete metamorphosis, a 

 part of them undergoing only a partial change of form. 



V. The Hymenoptera have* four naked membranaceous 

 wings, but they have not that delicate, netted structure, which 

 belongs to the last order. The bodies of the females are ter- 

 minated by a borer or perforator, or by a sting. These insects 

 all undergo a complete metamorphosis ; but there are, in the 

 domestic economy and mode of propagation of some of the 

 species, circumstances which excite our admiration and as- 

 tonishment. The ant, wasp, and bee, belong to this order. 

 They live in societies, greater or less in extent arid number, 

 and prepare habitations and nourishment for themselves and 

 their offspring, with a forethought and provident care excelled 

 only by those of man himself. In some of the tribes of insects 

 of this kind, there is, beside the males and females, a third 

 sort, called neuters, as among the ants~and bees. Sometimes 

 the neuter, and sometimes the female, is without wings, and 

 sometimes without a sting. A more particular account of 

 these insects will be given hereafter. Besides the above-men- 

 tioned, there is found in this order a variety of singular ani- 

 mals ; and among others, the ichneumon-fly and the saw-fly, 

 which, by means of their instruments for boring, in some con- 

 structed in the form of a saw, insert their eggs in the wood, 

 leaves, and fruit of plants, or in the eggs, larvae, or nymphai 

 of other insects. 



VI. The Diptera have only two wings, but beneath them 

 are the balancers or poisers, which have been already men- 

 tioned. Their mouths are frequently armed with lancets and 

 suckers, by means of which they pierce the skin of animals 

 and feed upon their blood. To this order belong some of the 

 most troublesome and annoying of the whole animal creation, 

 viz. the various species of gnat and gad-fly, the musqueto, the 

 common house-fly, the horse-fly, &c. They attack both men 

 and other animals, and are found in almost every part of the 

 globe. Their larvae are deposited in the skins and intestines 

 of brute animals, sometimes even in those of men, in putrid 



