INSECT A. 135 



fleas, which, like the aphidii, live on the sap of leaves. 

 Both males and females have broad-plated wings ; the 

 breast plate is curved, the antennae long, the feet double- 

 jointed. The hind legs, although shorter than the fore, 

 are arranged for leaping, in -which movement the wings 

 assist. They are very lively, and on the least movement 

 of the leaf will hop off. In their characteristic usages 

 they are like other insects, passing the winter in the 

 perfect state, and depositing their eggs in April. Many 

 varieties exist, being found on pear, fig, beech, and ash 

 trees, as well as on the nettle and alder. They are, 

 however, less numerous than the plant louse. 



The Cochineal (coccus cacti) are small insects, not un- 

 like the preceding, about the size of a large pin-head ; 

 the whole body is filled with rose-colored fluid. They 

 are found upon the species of cactus known by the name 

 of the Indian fig. The females envelope their eggs in 

 a kind of cottony secretion, which serves them as a nest. 

 The males are provided with two transparent wings, the 

 females are without. Their true home is in Mexico, 

 where they are tenderly cherished and carefully pro- 

 tected from cold and wet. The celebrated crimson dye 

 produced by them is highly treasured, being one of the 

 chief sources of the riches of Mexico, and is much im- 

 proved in brilliancy by this careful tending of the coccus. 

 This coloring material is Aveil known to every one by the 

 term Carmine. Several crops of these insects are gath- 

 ered from off the plants in a year, and it is astonishing 

 to see how rapidly they increase. The manner of killing 

 the coccus is by the steam of boiling water. It takes 

 seventy thousand of the dried insects to make one pound 

 of cochineal. The attempt has been made to transplant 



