ORDER H YM E N OPT EROUS INSECTS. 



143 



accuminated at each extremity ; elytra margined, truncate ; scutellum dis- 

 tinct ; legs slender, elongate ; tibia; smooth. 



Type of the genus, also our 



Illustration : Scaphidium quadrimaculatum. 



NECEODES. Antenna; distinctly longer than the head, rather slender, 

 terminating gradually in an elongate, perfoliate club, composed of three 

 joints, the terminal ones obtuse ; head oblong with a distinct neck ; eyes 

 large, prominent ; thorax orbicular, with a narrow border ; elytra obliquely 

 truncate at the apex, tricarinated ; body elongate-oval, scarcely longer than 

 the elytra ; legs elongate ; tibiae channeled, slightly spinous ; posterior 

 femora of the males more or less thickened and clavate, sometimes denti- 

 culated ; anterior tarsi in the males more or less denticulated. 



Two species, found in dead carcases of dogs, &c., chiefly in damp places ; 

 one of them inhabits Britain. 



Type of the genus, which is also our 



Illustration : Necrodes (vel Silpha) littordis. 



NITIDULA. Antennae very short, the basal joint orbicular, dilated, the 

 third longer than the fourth, the apex terminating in a large, abrupt, broad, 

 coarctate, perfoliated, three-jointed club ; palpi nearly equal, short, filiform ; 

 head small, inserted up to the eyes in the thorax, the latter more or less 

 emarginate on its anterior edge, the sides depressed, deeply margined; 

 elytra broad, entire, rarely truncate, subovate, glabrous, deeply margined, 

 and in general connecting the extremity of the abdomen ; body ovate, or 

 elliptic, broad, obtuse, somewhat depressed ; legs short ; tibiae broad, the 

 anterior elongate-triangular ; tarsi pentamerous, with the third joint dilated 

 and bifid, the following minute, indistinct. 



The type of the genus is shown in our 



Illustration : Nitidula grisea. 



ORDER II. ORTHOPTEROUS INSECTS. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



TEIDACTYLUS. Antenna? short, submoniliform, ten-jointed; eyes very 

 distinct ; thorax wider than its length ; anus furnished with four styliform 

 appendages ; anterior two pairs of legs broad, the first pair spiny at the top 

 and grooved to receive the tarsus when folded ; posterior legs having large 

 lengthy thighs, and slender, long shanks, covered externally with little 

 scales, and having, instead of tarsi, little moveable, narrow, hooked plates, 

 resembling fingers, varying from three to five in number ; when the latter, 

 the middle three are the longest. 



This genus very nearly resembles the Mole-crickets, Gryllotalpa, but are 

 distinguished by the form of the antennas and of the legs. They live in 

 the mud on the banks of rivers. Two species are described, both European, 

 of which our 



Illustration : Tridactylus paradoxas is the type. 



TRUXALIS. Antennae short, compressed, sword-shaped, joints indistinct, 

 attached above the line separating the eye ; head pyramidal with two 

 lengthened eyes, and three small smooth ones ; mouth at bottom of the 

 head, lower lip bifid ; body lengthy ; abdomen simple, covered by the 

 wing-cases as with a roof; hind legs much longer than the body, and fit 

 for leaping. 



All the species of this genus (which belongs to the Cricket family) are 

 natives of warm countries. 



Illustration : Truxalis nasuta. 



ACEYDIUM. Same as GRYLLUS, p. 139. 



ORDER III. NEUROPTEROUS INSECTS. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



RAPHIDIA. Antennae inserted between the eyes, remote, as long as the 

 thorax, filiform, consisting of nearly forty very short cylindric articulations, 

 the two basal ones being largest ; head obovate, elongate, attenuated be- 

 hind ; somewhat vertically indexed, abruptly narrowed at the base, which 



resembles a collar; thorax with its anterior segment or prothorax very 

 much elongated, slender, nearly cylindric, being a little narrowed in front ; 

 second segment, or mesothorax, much broader and shorter; wings four, 

 equal, reticulated, deflexed ; abdomen elongate, compressed, soft ; apex 

 produced, in the male into two strong claws, in the female with a linear, 

 straight, compressed, slightly reflexed, acute ovipositor; legs slender; 

 tibiae cylindric, with minute spurs. 



Type of the genus, R. ophiopsis, Linnaeus. Several species ; of which 

 about seven inhabit Britain. 

 Illustration: Rhaphidia notata. 



EPHEMERA. Antenna? very short, ending in a bristle ; upper lip cover- 

 ing the mouth ; mandibles none, or veiy small ; palpi very short, scarcely 

 distinct ; tarsi of five joints. 



The Ephemera are named on account of their exceeding short lives. 

 The perfect insects live only a few hours, for the purpose of perpe- 

 tuating their species, and then die. The larvae are longer lived, and when 

 the insect has gained all its parts, it undergoes another change of skin. 

 The type of the genus is the 

 Illustration : Ephemera vulgata. 



PANORPA. Antenna; setaceous, inserted between the eyes ; ocelli three, 

 disposed in a triangle on the front, the two hinder ones largest ; head ver- 

 tical, produced anteriorly into a perpendicular rostriform plate, receiving 

 the oral organs ; palpi subequal, filiform ; thorax with the anterior segment 

 very short, the second longer ; wings reticulated, equal, horizontal, ovate- 

 elliptic, placed one over the other during repose : body elongate, narrow ; 

 abdomen of the male furnished with a forcipated process ; legs elongate ; 

 tibia? with short spurs : tarsi with two bent claws, toothed within. 

 Type of the genus, and 

 Illustration : Panorpa wlgaris. 



ORDER IV. TRICHOPTEROUS INSECTS. 



THIS order was formed by Kirby and Spence, from the order Neurop- 

 tera ; and so named because, of the hairy covering with which their wings 

 and bodies are beset. They have the appearance of small Phalsenae. 



Antennae inserted between the eyes, long, composed of numerous joints ; 

 head small, transverse, vertical ; ocelli two ; eyes prominent ; mandibles 

 wanting; palpi four, maxillary longest; wings ample, deflexed, pilose, 

 inferior folded ; legs elongate, spinose ; tarsi pentamerous, cylindric. 



Illustration : Limnephilus griseus. 



ORDER V. HYMENOPTEROUS INSECTS. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



BANCHUS, a genus of the family Entomotilles ; the family characteristics 

 of which are : abdomen pedicelled, not concave beneath ; lower lip as long 

 as the jaws ; antennas not bent, of seventeen to twenty joints. This family 

 contains, according to Dumeril, the genera Ichneumon, Fanea, Evania, 

 Ophion, Banchus. It forms part of the family Jchneumonidce. 



The antenna? of the genus Banchus are filiform or setaceous, and the 

 abdomen is gradually narrowed to the tip. 



One common British species is our 



Illustration : Banchus pictus. 



EVANIA. Antenna? filiform, revolute, of twelve or thirteen joints, 

 toothed on the inner side ; maxillary palpi very long, of six unequal joints ; 

 the labial palpi four ; the lower lip with four divisions, the centre one of 

 which is deeply cut, its sheath broad, dilated on the sides ; head rather 

 flattened, narrower than the thorax; eyes oval; thorax broad, convex, 

 nearly cubical ; upper wings with one radial, and mostly two cubital cells, 

 of which the first is nearly square, and receives the recurrent nerve ; the 

 second recurrent nerve deficient ; abdomen very small, triangular, or oval, 

 compressed, joined to the thorax by a long, thin, arched pedicle, inserted 

 on the upper part of the thorax. 



These insects are small, and very remarkable for the shortness of their 



