DIFFICULTIES IN ARRANGEMENT. 19 



country. The larva is maggot-like, and lives between the 

 rings of the back of the wasp ; the pupa resembles that of 

 some flies, and is cased in the dried skin of the larva. The 

 females never acquire wings, and never leave the bodies of 

 the bees or wasps into which they penetrate while young. 

 The males, in the adult state, have a pair of short, narrow, 

 and twisted members, instead of fore- wings, and two very 

 large hind-wings, folded lengthwise like a fan. The mouth 

 is provided with a pair of slender, sharp-pointed jaws, better 

 adapted for piercing than for biting. It is very difficult to 

 determine the proper place of these insects in a natural ar- 

 rangement. Latreille puts them between the Lepidoptera and 

 Diptera, but thinks them most nearly allied to some of the 

 Hymen op tera. 1 



The flea tribe (Pulicidce) was placed among the bugs, or 

 Hemiptera, by Fabricius. It constitutes the order AFTER A 

 of Leach, SIPHONAPTERA of Latreille, and APHANIPTERA of 

 Kirby. Fleas are destitute of wings, in the place whereof 

 there are four little scales, pressed closely to the sides of 

 their bodies ; their mouth is fitted for suction, and provided 

 with several lancet-like pieces for making punctures ; they 

 undergo a complete transformation ; their larvas are worm- 

 like and without feet ; and their pupas have the legs free. 

 These insects, of which there are many different kinds, are 

 intermediate in their characteristics between the Hemiptera 

 and the Diptera, and seem to connect more closely these 

 two orders. 



The earwigs (Forficuladci), of which also there are many 

 kinds, were placed by Linnaeus in the order Coleoptera, but 

 most naturalists now include them among the Orthoptera ; 

 indeed, they seem to be related to both orders, but most 



[ l Systematic authors now consider the order of Strepsiptern as simply a fam- 

 ily, though a very aberrant one, of Coleoptera. It is placed after the Rhipipho- 

 ridae, under the name Stylopidte, from its principal genus, Stylops, which is par- 

 asitic in certain genera of bees; a species of this genus has been discovered in 

 Nova Scotia, and will probably be found hereafter in New England. LEC.] 



