JANUARY. 13 



wound and instil a poison ; it is used both as an offensive 

 and defensive weapon. The ovipositor is the instrument 

 which serves to pierce wood or the bodies of animals, in 

 order to deposit eggs. 



The legs in insects are divided into the coxa, or hip, of 

 two joints ; the femur, or thigh ; the tibia, or leg ; and the 

 tarsus, or toe. The number of joints in the tarsus is in 

 some orders constantly five, but in others it varies from 

 one to five, and sometimes the posterior or hinder tarsi 

 have a joint less than the anterior. Upon the differences 

 in these numbers are established the chief divisions in the 

 order Coleoptera. The last joint of the tarsi is almost 

 always terminated by two hooks. 



In the form of the feet and more particularly of the 

 tarsi, there are many varieties, according to the habits of 

 the insects. The anterior pair have sometimes the femur 

 or thigh grooved and armed with dentations, and the tarsi 

 terminated by a strong spine : insects having the anterior 

 feet constructed in this manner, use them for seizing their 

 prey, and are termed Raptorii. Others have the tarsi flat 

 and hairy, this form enabling the insect to employ them as 

 oars, or for swimming ; these are called Natatorii. In the 

 Bee family the legs are formed in such a manner as to 



