74 



ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY 



- a 



. a, 



there is no metamorphosis. In some forms there are rudimentary 

 appendages on the underside of the abdomen, which are supposed 

 to be degenerated abdominal legs, though not now capable of being 



used as such. The order is divided 

 into two distinct suborders, sometimes 

 considered separate orders. 



Bristletails (Thysanurd). One of the 

 commonest bristletails is the little shiny 

 fish-moth, which annoys housekeepers 

 by getting into starched clothes, among 

 books, papers, etc. It is about half an 

 inch long, with long antennae and three 

 bristles extending half the length of 

 the body from the tip of the abdomen, 

 and is covered with silvery scales which 

 glisten as it darts around in a book- 

 case or drawer, reminding one of a 

 fish's scales flashing in the sunlight. 

 They are very soft-bodied little insects, 

 more abundant in warm climates, and 

 feed on starchy matter or soft paper. 

 In some species of bristletails the bris- 

 tles have been modified into forcep- 

 like appendages. Most bristletails are 

 much smaller 

 than the fish- 

 moth, and are 

 found beneath 

 stones, logs, and 

 loose bark, and 

 in similar situ- 



FIG. 88. Underside of abdomen 

 of a female Machilis maritima, 

 to show rudimentary limbs (a) 

 of segments 2 to 9 ; c, cerci. 

 (Enlarged) 



(After Oudemans, from Folsom) 



FIG. 89. The pond-sur- 

 face springtail (Smyn- 

 t hunts aquaticus] with 



ations; and one genus (Machilis], tound in spring extended. (Much 

 many parts of the world, has rudimentary enlarged) 



abdominal appendages, as shown in Fig. 88. (After Schott, from Kellogg) 

 Springtails (Collembola). Every boy who has worked in a 

 northern maple-sugar " bush " knows the little snow fleas, large 

 numbers of which jump around on the snow and have a propen- 

 sity for getting into the sap buckets. Other species are found on 



