104 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



nine or ten, and in some cases, instead of being 

 conical, they are globose and somewhat remote from 

 each other, being connected by a slender filament, 

 so that they bear no unapt resemblance to a series 

 of beads rather loosely strung. The ordinary length 

 may be stated to be about half that of the body, but 

 they very often fall short of these dimensions, and 

 in many insects they are not longer than the head. 

 On the other hand, they often equal or surpass the 

 length of the insect, and in the Capricorn-beetles, 

 a tribe distinguished by the length and delicate 

 structure of these members, they are sometimes 

 more than four times as long as the body. Al- 

 though of considerable importance in the systematic 

 arrangement of insects, the development of the an- 

 tennae does not seem subjected to any very general 

 or well-established rules, and is therefore of less 

 value than certain other parts of structure. For 

 example, we frequently find a considerable differ- 

 ence to exist in the form of the antennae among 

 species in other respects intimately allied ; and even 

 between the sexes of the same species a great dis- 

 parity of size and structure is observable. When a 

 difference exists, those of the male are more fully 

 developed than those of the female. 



The antennae are obviously of the first importance 

 in the economy of insects, but their primary use 

 has not been fully ascertained. It seems to be ge- 

 nerally admitted that in many tribes they exercise 



