24 THE SKIN OF INSECTS. 



and when the upper lip is wanting, (as it is in some 

 species), the mask performs its office. 



in all insects, two horn-like members project from 

 the forehead very long, with many joints, in butter- 

 flies; very short in the house fly; and prettily feathered 

 in male gnats, and in many male moths. These I 

 shall venture to call ears ( ! ), as it is most probable, 

 though not distinctly proved, that they are the organs 

 of hearing. In front, and at the root of the ears, are 

 two eyes ; but many insects have besides several other 

 eyes on the forehead, as maybe seen in bees, who have 

 three of these frontal eyes. Insects have no organ 

 similar to the nose in other animals, as they breathe 

 entirely by the air-pipes in the sides. The mouth is, 

 for the same reason, not employed either for breathing 

 or for uttering sounds, but simply for feeding. It is 

 very different in form and structure from the mouth 

 of other animals. 



The head is joined to the first ring of the corselet, 

 either by a neck, by a simple membrane, or by means 

 of a socket hollowed into the form of a funnel. 



The natural position of the head is various. In 

 grasshoppers and dragon flies, it is vertical ; in most 

 beetles, it is somewhat slanting, and almost horizontal. 

 It is very moveable in the common fly and the dragon 

 flies, so that it can be turned almost round, as on a 

 pivot. In many other insects it is immoveable, as in 

 the grasshoppers. In others, the head can be folded 

 down, or drawn back, so as to remain concealed, or 

 nearly so. 



THE CORSELET. 



THE middle portion of the body in insects, always 

 obviously distinct from the head before, and from the 



(1) In Latin, these organs are termed Antennae. 



