140 



CLASS IN SEC TA. 



ORDER -HEM IPT ERA. HALF-WINGED. 



elongate point or style ; legs moderate, posterior pair slender in the females, 

 in the males with their tibiae and tarsi much dilated. 



The insects of this genus are of large size ; nearly twenty species have 

 been discovered, of which at least six inhabit England. 



Type of the genus, and 



Illustration : Urocerus (or Sirex) gigas. 



POMPILUS. Antennae inserted near the hinder suture of the clypeus ; 

 generally convolated at the apex in the females ; subsetaceous, not broken ; 

 maxillary palpi longest, pendulous, the third joint stoutest, obconic or ovate, 

 the three terminal ones of nearly equal length, and almost equal with the 

 labial; labrum inserted beneath the clypeus, most frequently notched; 

 wings four, anterior with two submarginal areolets. 



A very numerous genus, of which about twenty-five are found in England, 

 chiefly in sandy situations. 



Type of the genus, and 



Illustration : Pampttus viaticus. 



ORDER V. LEPIDOPTERA. SOFT OR FEATHER-WINGED. 



THE lepidopterous insects are thus characterised : Wings four, membrana- 

 ceous, covered with a farinaceous powder, formed of scales; the mouth 

 famished with a spiral trunk, formed of the lengthened jaws. This part 

 has usually been called the tongue, but Savigny, in his excellent work on 

 the examination of the mouth of insects, has fully established the fact that 

 it contains all the organs found in the mouths of those insects which gnaw 

 their food. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 

 PLATE 2. 



LYC/ENA. Antennae clavate, the capitulum arcuate, ovate-conic ; anterior 

 legs not abbreviated ; claws distinct and simple ; pupa smooth, braced, and 

 folliculated ; egg elongate conic ; caterpillar fleshy, having a furcate, 

 retractile organ in the neck ; chrysalis angulated, with two processes before, 

 fastened by a transverse thread. 



Illustration : Lyccena dispar (in various stages). 



HESPERIA. Antennae ending in a club or button, hooked at the tip ; 

 the lower palpi short, large, and covered with spines. Their bodies are 

 generally short, thick ; their heads broad, and the antennas far apart at their 

 insertion. These insects are commonly found in grassy places, especially in 

 damp shady places. A few found in Europe ; numerous in America. 



The type is the Papffio alccea, Esper, the H. mdvcE of Fabricius. 



Illustration : Hesperia comma. 



NOCTUA. Antennae setaceous, gradually attenuated from the base to the 

 apex ; wings, during repose, mostly deflexed ; last joint of the palpi very 

 short and covered with scales ; flight nocturnal. 



Illustration : Noctua delphinvla. 



BOMBYX. Lamarck includes in this genus the Phalcenidce having bipec- 

 tinated antenna?, two short palpi, a very short tongue (in some species 

 being scarcely perceptible); a thick body, closely covered with hair or 

 wool, and wings either horizontal or deflected. The larvae have sixteen feet, 

 and the pupa is enclosed within a cocoon. Some of the Bombyces are 

 amongst the largest of the Lepidoptera. B. Atlas, for instance (belonging 

 to the Linnaean division Attaci), measures from tip to tip of the wings 

 upwards of eight inches. This magnificent moth is a native of Asia ; the 

 larva feeds on the orange ; the pupa is enclosed in a large strong cocoon. 

 The wings are yellowish and clouded, and there is a large transparent 

 silvery spot on each. Of the European Bombyces, the most beautiful is 

 the Phalcena Jwionia of Shaw, separated by him from the B. pavonia, of 

 which it is probably only a large variety. But the species to which the 

 greatest interest attaches is B. Mori, the silk-worm moth, from which the 

 whole of the European silk, and the greater part of that of China, is pro- 

 duced. 



Illustrations: Bambyx dispar ; B.fureida. 



ORDER VI. HEMIPTERA. HALF-WINGED. 



THE ordinal character of the insects composing the Order Hemiptera are 

 Wings two, covered with elytra ; mouth proper for suction, without dis- 

 tinct jaws ; mandibles formed of a tubular, jointed, cylindrical, or conical 

 trunk, curved on the front of the chest, containing three bristles, forming 

 together a needle-like sucker. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



FULGORA. Elytra of the same consistence ; tarsi of three joints ; 

 antemue placed under the eyes, of two or three joints, the last joint largest, 

 nearly globular, ending in a bristle ; beak long, of two or three joints ; 

 head acute ; head prolonged into a variously-formed beak ; ocelli three. 



These insects are remarkable for the beautiful colour of their wings and 

 form. The protuberance of their head gives out an intense phosphorescent 

 light. They are found in warm climates. 



The type is F. Lanternaria, of the East Indies. 



Illustration : Ftdgoria canddlaria. 



NAUCORIS. Antenna? very short, concealed in a cavity beneath the eyes, 

 quadriarticulate, cylindric, with the apex a little gracile; labrum large, 

 exserted, trigonal, flat ; rostrum triarticulate, shorter than the head, the 

 basal joint very short ; body ovate, considerably depressed, above flat, with 

 the lateral margins acute ; head transverse, rounded anteriorly, rather deeply 

 inserted into the thorax, this last transverse, subquadrate, a little narrowed 

 anteriorly, and deeply emarginate ; abdomen large, broad, acute behind ; 

 the lateral margin greatly depressed, somewhat membranaceous ; legs, 

 anterior short, four posterior compressed; femora with a double row of 

 denticulations ; tibia? and tarsi spinulous, and furnished with hairs on the 

 margin for swimming. 



Several species ; two of them natives of England. 



The type of the genus is shown in our 



Illustration : Naucaris cimicoides. 



NOTONECTA. Antenna? very short, concealed beneath the eyes, atte- 

 nuated towards the extremity, four-articulate, the basil joint very minute, 

 round, large, cylindric, third more slender, subcylindric, a little attenuated 

 at the base, fourth half as long, more slender, conic-cylindric ; rostrum as 

 long as the head, conical, depressed, triarticulate ; body cylindric-ovoid ; 

 head vertical; eyes large, ovate; thorax transverse, a little narrowed in 

 front; scutellum distinct, trigonal ; elytra inclined; four anterior legs with 

 two strong claws at the apex; posterior with small claws, formed for 

 seizing ; tarsi all four-jointed. 



The insects of this genus swim well, and upon their backs, whence the 

 name of the genus. 



The type of the genus (Boat Fly) is our 



Illustration : Notonecta glauca. 



Coccus. Antenna? filiform, of ten or eleven articulations in both sexes, 

 shorter than the body ; rostrum pectoral, conspicuous only in the females ; 

 males with two large incumbent wings ; females apterous, subtomentose, 

 fixed and becoming gall-shaped or shield-shaped after impregnation. 



It is with a view to their importance as an article of commerce, arising 

 from their use in the arts, that the insects of this genus are particularly 

 interesting. When it is considered that the most brilliant dyes, and the 

 most beautiful pigments, as well as the basis of the most useful kinds of 

 cement, are their product, it will be acknowledged that to none of the 

 insect tribe, except perhaps to the Bee and the Gall-insect, are we more 

 indebted than to these singular and apparently insignificant little beings. 

 Kermes, the scarlet grain of Poland, cochineal, lac-lake, lac-dye, and all the 

 modifications of gum-lac, are either the perfect insects dried, or the secre- 

 tions which they form. 



Type of the genus, C. Persicce, Fab. 



Illustration: Coccus cacti. 



APHIS. Antenna? setaceous, longer than the thorax, seven jointed ; 

 wings four, pellucid, longer than the body, the upper ones the largest ; 

 both males and females occasionally without wings, particularly the latter. 

 Abdomen furnished near the base with two horns or tubercles. 



