626 THE WHITE ANT. 



leaf-like, and the limbs are furnished with wide flattened appendages, 

 in order to carry out the leafy aspect. Only the females possess the 

 wide, veined wing-covers, those of the male being comparatively short. 

 The wings, however, are entirely absent in the female, while in the 

 opposite sex they are very wide and reach to the extremity of the 

 body. 



THYSANOPTERA. 



The next order, according to Mr. Westwood's arrangement, is that 

 called the Thysanoptera, or Fringe-winged Insects, on account of the 

 manner in which the wings are edged with long and delicate cilia. 

 They are all little insects, seldom exceeding the tenth or twelfth of an 

 inch in length, but, although small, are capable of doing considerable 

 damage. They are mostly to be found on plants and flowers, especially 

 those blossoms where the petals are wide and deep and afford a good 

 shelter. The convolvulus is always a great favorite with them. 

 Greenhouses are sadly liable to their inroads, and, owing to their 

 numbers, they are very injurious to melons, cucumbers, and similar 

 plants, covering their leaves with a profusion of decayed patches that 

 look as if some powerful acid had been sprinkled over them. Only 

 one family of these insects is acknowledged by entomologists. 



NEUROPTERA. 



We now come to an order of insects containing some of the most 

 beautiful, and a few of the most interesting, members of the class. 

 They are known by the possession of four equal-sized membranous 

 wings divided into a great number of little cells technically called 

 areolets. The mouth is furnished with transversely movable jaws, and 

 the females do not possess a sting or valved ovipositor. In this order 

 are comprised the ant-lions, the dragon-flies, the termites, the lace-wings, 

 and the May-flies. 



The first family in Mr. Westwood's arrangement is that of the Ter- 

 mites, popularly known by the name of White Ants, because they 

 live in vast colonies, and in many of their habits display a resemblance 

 to the insect from which they take their name. All the Termites are 

 miners, and many of them erect edifices of vast dimensions when com- 

 pared with the size of their architect. For example, the buildings 

 erected by the Common White Ant {Termes bellicosus) will often reach 

 the astonishing height of sixteen or seventeen feet, which, in proportion 

 to the size of the insect, would be equivalent to an edifice a mile in 

 height if built by man. The dwellings are made of clay, worked in 

 some marvellous manner by the jaws of the insect-architects, and are 

 of such astonishing hardness that, although hollow and pierced by 



