CLASS I. INSECTA: ORDER 10. RHYNCIIOTA. 593 



of a hostile army is less dreaded in the countries subject to these visitations, than the appear- 

 ance of the hosts of the locusts, which were regarded by the ancients, both Jews and Pagans, 

 and still are by the Arabs, as the avenging armies of the Deity. The modern Arabs, in fact, 

 declare that the locust bears a statement to this effect, in good Arabic, in the markino-s on its 

 wings. The best known species is the Locusta mujratoria, which has occasionally found its way 

 into Central Europe ; but in the south of Europe this insect is a formidable enemy to agriculture, 

 and a considerable amount is there annually paid in rewards for its destruction. 



The inhabitants botb of Asia and Africa, where locusts particularly abound, use these animals 

 as a common article of food. They generally pull off the legs and wings, and fry the bodies in oil 

 or butter, and a dish of locusts well prepared is said to be regarded as somewhat of a delicacy in 

 those countries. The locusts are also occasionally dried, pounded, and used as flour ; even cattle 

 and horses are fed on them where they are abundant. The migratory locust measures about 

 two inches and a half in length, and some other exotic species are much larger ; the Locunia 

 cristata, a very beautiful species, common in the Levant, being four inches long, and between 

 seven and eight in expanse of wings. The common European species are generally of compara- 

 tively small size. Nearly all of them produce a loud chirping noise, by rubbing the inside of 

 the thigh against the elevated nervures of the wing-covers; but beyond this they possess no spe- 

 cial apparatus for the production of sound. 



Among the American locusts are the Carolina Locust, L. Carolina., one inch and a half 

 long; the L, corallina, L. sulphiirca, and L. nebulosa. 



ORDER 9. PHYSOPODA. 



These insects, which derive their name from the Greek phusa,^ a bladder, and pous, a foot, are 

 found upon most plants, generally in the flowers, wdiich they appear to visit in search of the 

 sweet fluid to be found in such situations. They run quickly, and often perform considerable 

 leaps by the assistance of the abdomen. Many of them, not content with such light nourish- 

 ment as the nectar of flowers, inhabit the foliage and stems of plants, to which they often do a 

 great deal of mischief. One species, the Thrips cerealium, has frequently done considerable 

 damage to the Avheat crops in Europe, and a similar species has been frequently mischievous in 

 this country. It sometimes attacks the grain in the ear, often gnawing the tender stems. 

 Others are found upon and under the bark of trees. 



ORDER 10. RHYNCHOTA. 



The order Rhynchoiu^ corresponding with the Hemiptera of Latreille, is distinguished from 

 the other insects with an imperfect metamorphosis by the possession of a suctorial mouth. This 

 consists of a more or less flexible jointed rostrum, composed of the labial palpi, which forms a 

 sheath within which four bristles, the analogues of the mandibles and maxilhe, are contained and 

 protected from injury. By means of these bristles the insect wounds the plants or animals upon 

 the juices of which it feeds, and the fluid nutriment is then sucked up by the action of an 

 inflated appendage of the oesophagus. The head always bears a pair of compound eyes, and 

 usually either two or three ocelli. Most of the species possess four wings, which vary consider- 

 ably in their structure. The order may be divided into two sub-orders, the Hctcroptcra and the 

 Homoptera. 



THE IIETEROPTEEA. 



This term is from the Greek heteros, dissimilar, siT\(\. ptera, wings, and includes two principal groups, 

 the IIydrocores, Water-Bur/s, and the Geocores, Land-Bugs. The former are at once recog- 

 nizable by the small size of their antenna?, which are composed of three or four short joints, and 

 concealed beneath the eyes. Of these, the Notonectida arc distinguished by their broad, rounded 

 head, which occupies the whole width of the front of the body. They swim rapidly about in the 

 water, with their bellies directed upward, rowing themselves along by means of their flattened 



Vol. IL— 75 



