APIS. INSECTS. 359 



Pliny give seven years as the term, and others extend it to ten. But of five hun- 

 dred bees which Reaumur marked with red varnish in the month of April, not one 

 was found living in November. By a succession of generations, however, hives have 

 been preserved for upwards of twenty- five years. The honey stored up in the hives 

 is for the supply of the animals in winter or unfavourable weather ; and this is more 

 or less exhausted as the winter is mild and open, or the reverse. In severe cold the 

 inhabitants of the hive remain in a state of torpor. 



A. mellifica, Lin. The Honey Bee. Blackish ; abdomen of the 

 same colour, with a transverse grayish band, formed by the down 

 at the base of the third and following segments. Inhabits Eu- 

 rope, &c. Shaw, vi. pi. 98. 



A. Ligustica, Spinol. Nearly similar to the preceding ; the first 

 two segments of the abdomen,, except the posterior margin, and 

 the base of the third, pale reddish. Italy Nouv. Diet. i. 47. 



A. unicolor, Lat. Almost black, shining, the abdomen without spots 

 or coloured bands. Inhabits Isle of France. Nouv. Did. i. 47. 



A. Indica, Fab. Black, with a gray cinereous down, the first two 

 segments of the abdomen and the base of the third reddish brown. 

 Inhabits Bengal, &c Nouv. Diet. i. 47- 



ORDER IX. LEPIDOPTERA, Un.Glossata, Fab. 



Four membranaceous wings covered with a farina composed of 

 small scales, and a trunk rolled up in a spiral form at the mouth. 



The mouth in this order is formed of a conical or subulate labrum, often scarcely 

 perceptible, of two horny, very small, and rudimentary mandibles ; two elongated 

 horny jaws, in the form of tubular filaments, fixed below as far as the origin of the 

 palpi ; with a lip similarly fixed, and uniting by the internal margin to form a 

 trunk (lingua, Fab.) which is rolled up in a spiral form in repose. The interior of 

 this trunk contains three canals. The maxillary palpi, often indistinct, are two in 

 number, one of three joints, inserted near the bend of the jaws ; and two labial ones 

 of three joints, furnished with hairs or scales, forming a kind of sheath for the trunk. 

 The lip is formed of one flat and triangular piece. The four wings are covered 

 with very small scales, easily detached, and resembling a fine powder. At the base 

 cf each of the upper wings is an appendage prolonged backwards, which is termed 

 tegula or pterygoda. The presence of this appendage forms one of the distinctive 

 characters of the order. The wings appear membranaceous and simply veined, when 

 the dust by which they are covered is removed. In many species a portion, more 

 or less large, of the wings is naked and transparent. The scales are fixed by means 

 of a pedicle, with great symmetry, like the tiles of a roof. Their forms are various, 

 very often triangular, with the upper lobe broad and dentated. The colours are equally 

 diversified and often extremely brilliant. The head is furnished, beside the two ordinary 

 eyes, with two ocelli, placed on each side near the internal margin of the others. The 

 thorax is formed of three segments intimately united, the second or mesothorax be- 

 ing the largest. The scutellum is triangular. The antennae are composed o( numerous 

 joints. In those which fly by day, or the diurnce, they are always simple, and thick- 

 est at the extremity ; and in the nocturnal species the antennae are filiform, simple, 

 serrated, or pectinated. All the tarsi have five joints. The metamorphosis in this 

 order is complete. The females deposit their ova, often very numerous, on vegetable 

 substances, upon which, when hatched, the larvae feed. The larvae, generally 

 known by the name of caterpillars, have six scaly or hooked feet, and from four to 

 ten membranous ones. The pupa or chrysalis is in the form of a mummy, or 

 covered with a coriaceous skin, through which the exterior parts of the animal are 

 distinguished. The body of these larvae is in general elongated, almost cylindrical^ 



