ORDER H YMENOPTERA. MEMBRANOUS-WINGED. 



139 



The name Lampyris was given to the insect by the Greeks, from its 

 phosphorescent light. The females, which are apterous, are usually called 

 Glow-worms. The end of the body retains its luminous quality for a con- 

 siderable time after it is cut off from the body of the insect ; and it is said 

 that the luminousness of it appears to depend more on the softness and 

 moist condition of the part than on the life of the animal ; some experi- 

 ments declare that it crepitates when placed in hydrogen gas. 



The type of the genus, which is also our 



Illustration : Lampyris noctiluca, is common in English hedge-rows in 

 the summer evenings. 



CERAMBYX. Antenna? long, setaceous ; inserted into a notch in the 

 eyes ; head bent forwards ; palpi terminated by a thick, obconic, com- 

 pressed articulation. 



Type of the genus, C. Cerdo, Fab. 



C. Moschatus is one of the most elegant of our British insects. It is of 

 a metallic green colour, passing into rose or violet. It has a smell resembling 

 that of the rose. 



Illustration : Ceranibyx. 



ORDER II. ORTHOPTERA. STRAIGHT-WINGED. 

 THESE are distinguished from the former Order by having soft, mem- 

 branous wing-covers much nerved; wings longitudinally folded, whence 

 their peculiar designation, given them by Olivier, opfloe, straight, and wrcpov, 

 a wing. They were included in the Coleoptera, by Geoffroy, but separated 

 from them by De Geer. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



GRYLLOTALPA. Anterior legs very large, and adapted for burrowing ; 

 tarsi of the other legs of the ordinary form. 



The name of Mole-Cricket has been applied to the species of this genus 

 because of the resemblance which their feet have to those of the mole. 



Illustration : Gryllotalpa vulgaris. 



BLATTA. Antenna? setaceous, inserted beneath the eyes ; labium 

 rounded before ; labium bifid ; body oblong, suboval, depressed ; thorax 

 nearly flat, smooth, shield-shaped, marginate, covering the head ; elytra 

 horizontal; abdomen furnished with two short conical appendages; feet 

 formed for running, tarsi with five joints. 



The common Cockroach, B. orientalis, which is the type of this genus, is 

 but too well known in our kitchens. 



Illustration : Blatta lapponica. 



FORFICULA. Tarsi of three joints, wings plaited fan-like, and folded 

 crosswise, so as to be placed under the crustaceous elytra, which are united 

 by a straight suture ; body linear, ending in two hooks ; head exposed ; 

 antennae filiform, formed of twelve or thirteen joints. 



The type is F. auricularia, the common Earwig, known to everybody ; 

 called also as in our 



Illustration: Forficula vulgaris. 



GRYLLUS. Hind legs proper for leaping, wings and elytra horizontal, 

 the wings plaited longitudinally, and each forming in repose a kind of plate 

 prolonged behind the elytra ; tarsi of six joints ; antenna setaceous, con- 

 sisting of very numerous joints inserted between the eyes ; tongue four- 

 lobed, the two middle lobes very small ; lip entire ; the female with a pro- 

 minent ovipositor. 



The bodies of the Crickets are large, and nearly of the same diameter 

 throughout ; their head is large, vertical, and rounded behind. The males 

 are provided with a small tambourine, placed at the inner part of their 

 elytra. They generally live on insects, and are often nocturnal. The most 

 common species in this country is the Gryllus Domesticus of Linnaus. 



Illustration : Qryllus coerulescens. 



MANTIS. Body long, narrow ; head exposed, with the front rounded, 

 not prolonged into a cone ; the antennae of both sexes simple ; the front 

 feet longer than the others ; tarsi all with five joints ; the elytra and wing 

 lying horizontally in repose. 



The type of the genus is M. oratorio, Linnaeus. 



Illustration : Mantis striata. 



ORDER III. NEUROPTERA. LACE-WINGED. 



THE wings of the Order Neuroptera are not covered by elytra, as are 

 those of the Coleoptera ; but they are furnished with a great number of 

 nerves, which give them the appearance of net-work, whence their name, 

 vevpov, a nerve, and irrtpov, a wing. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



MYRMELEON. Antennae shorter than the body, somewhat gradually 

 thickening towards their extremities, arcuated, and furnished at the tips 

 with a distinct little point ; palpi six ; labial longest, somewhat thicker at 

 their extremities ; eyes undivided ; abdomen very long, linear ; trunk short, 

 villose ; tibiae hairy, terminated by two strong spurs ; tarsi five-jointed. 



The insects of this genus feed on other insects in all their states ; they 

 deposit their eggs in sandy places, and the larvae, when hatched, form an 

 ingenious snare for the purpose of capturing their prey. 



Type of the genus, which is also our 



Illustration : Myrmeleon forrdcarium. 



LIBELLULA. Wings extended horizontally in repose ; head nearly 

 globular, with very large contiguous eyes, the lips closing the mouth. 



The type of the genus is L. depressa, Linnaeus. Found common on 

 heath and hedges near water. 



Illustration : Libellula depressa (larvae of). 



NEMOPTERA. Palpi six, short ; antennas setaceous, inserted between the 

 eye ; ocelli wanting ; head vertical ; clypens produced into a rostriform, 

 perpendicular lamina, bearing the trophi ; body elongate, narrow ; thorax 

 composed of two segments, the first very short, the second large ; wings 

 reticulated, extended, anterior ones somewhat ovate, posterior very long and 

 linear ; legs short ; tarsi elongate, composed of five slender, entire joints ; 

 claws elongate and simple. 



Illustration : Nemoptera vulgaris. 



ASCALAPHUS. Characters generally as those of Myrmelion. They are 

 distinguished by their long antennae, which are terminated by a knob ; their 

 abdomen is oval, and oblong; the thorax is nearly the length of the 

 abdomen, and their wings are somewhat shorter than those of the Myr- 

 melion. They are inhabitants of warm countries. 



Illustration : Ascalaphus larbarus. 



ORDER IV. HYMENOPTERA. MEMBRANOUS-WINGED. 

 THESE insects have four veined, naked, and membranaceous wings ; the 

 females are provided with an ovipositor at the extremity of their abdomen, 

 which consists of a sting protected by two elongated processes, one on each 



side. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



SPHEX. Antenna? filiform, slender, approximated at their insertion, 

 often arched or spirally twisted ; upper lip very short ; mandibles either 

 simple or toothed at their inner edge ; four slender palpi ; promuscis more 

 or less long, trifid, flexed either in the middle or towards the tip. 



The animals of this genus are carnivorous in their imperfect state, but 

 subsequently feed only on the juices of flowers. The female digs her nest 

 rather deep in the ground, where she deposits one egg, and puts beside it a 

 caterpillar or a spider, which she has previously killed, to provide nourish- 

 ment for the young animal as soon as hatched, and then carefully covers it 

 over with grains of sand, or even with a little bit of stone. This process is 

 successively performed in the same nest till she has completed her incuba- 

 tion. The type of those species which have the mandibles toothed, is S. 

 Sabulosa, Lin. ; and the type of those in which the mandibles are smooth, 

 is that shown in our 



Illustration : Sphex spirifex. 



UEOCERUS (the SIREX proper of Geoffroy). Antenna; filiform or seta- 

 ceous, as long as the thorax ; palpi unequal, very short ; maxillary ciliated 

 and two or one-jointed ; labial thrice as long and more slender; eyes small ; 

 ocelli three ; thorax rather wider than the head ; wings with two marginal 

 and two submarginal areolets ; abdomen long, cylindric, terminating in an 



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