INSECTS. 505 



wax is another secretion exuding through the skin of the 

 insect, it is found in little pouches in the under-part of 

 the body; but is not collected and brought home ready for 

 use, as has been generally supposed. The waxen walls of 

 the cells are, when completed, strengthened by a varnish, 

 called propolis, collected from, the buds of the poplar and 

 other trees, and besmeared over by the aid of the wonder- 

 ful apparatus represented m the engraving. If a bee is 

 attentively observed as it settles down upon a flower, 

 the activity and promptitude with which it uses the whole 

 apparatus is truly surprising ; it lengthens the tongue, 

 applies it to the bottom of the petals, then shortens it, 

 bending and turning it in all possible directions, for the 

 purpose of exploring the interior, and removing the whole 

 of the pollen. In the words of Brook : 



" The dainty suckle and the fragrant thyme, 

 By chemical reduction they sublime ; 

 Their sweets with bland attempering suction strain, 

 And curious through their neat alembics drain ; 

 Imbib'd recluse, the pure secretions glide, 

 And vital warmth concocts th' ambrosial tide." 



The leading characteristic of the vast order Coleoptera, 

 Beetles, consists in the leathery or horny texture of the 

 anterior wings (elytra)^ which serve as sheaths for the 

 posterior wings in repose, and generally meet in a straight 

 line down the back. 



The common Black-beetle (Blatta orientalis, fig. 260), 

 strictly speaking, is not of the Beetle family, but very 

 nearly allied to the Cricket and Grasshopper genus. All 

 the insects belonging to this class are very destructive, 

 as they continue to eat through all their transformations. 

 The female Black-beetle does not lay her eggs singly, but 

 always sixteen at a time, and these eggs she encloses in a 

 capsule, which resembles a small oblong box (see upper 

 part of cut). The mother carries this capsule about with 

 her, until the sides of it have attained a proper firmness, 

 and the colour changes from white to brown. If this 

 receptacle for the eggs is more closely examined, it will be 

 seen that one of the two longer margins is very finely 

 serrated, being composed of two layers, so constructed that 

 the teeth of one easily fit into the spaces between the 

 teeth of the other. This margin is also so firmly united 



