INSECTS. 



107 



weapons of destruction. In the locust tribes these 

 organs are equally efficient agents in cutting and 

 masticating leaves and vegetable matters adapted to 

 their appetites, while in the wasps and bees they 

 form the instruments with which these insects build 

 their admirable edifices, and, to use the words of a 

 popular author, supply the place of trowels, spades, 

 pickaxes, saws, scissors, and knives, as the necessity 

 of the case may require. Beneath the mandibles is 

 situated another pair of jaws, c, of similar construction, 

 but generally smaller, and less powerful ; these are 

 called the maxillae. The lower lip, or labium, which 

 closes the mouth inferiorly, consists of two distinct 

 portions, usually described as separate organs ; the 

 chin, mentum, that really forms the inferior border of 

 the mouth, and a membranaceous or somewhat 

 fleshy organ, reposing upon the chin internally, and 

 called the tongue (lingua). All these parts enter 

 into the composition of the perfect mouth of an 

 insect, and from the numerous varieties that occur in 

 their shape and proportions, they become important 

 guides to the entomologist in the determination and 

 distribution of species. 



The organs of sense in insects are distinct and well 



FIG. 72. VAKIOU.S AXTENNJI;. 



developed, though we cannot, in all cases, precisely 

 determine the sensations of which they are the 



