082 



THE HARVEST-BUG. 



the mother until they are about a month old, when they separate, and are able to shift for 



themselves. It will be remembered that the young of several spiders behave in a similar 



manner. 



In all these creatures the tail is composed of the six last joints of the abdomen, and 



the powerful limbs, with the lobster-like claws at the tips, are the modified palpi. The 



eyes of the Scorpions differ in number, some species having twelve, others eight, and 



others only six : these last constitute the 

 genus Scorpio. On the lower surface of 

 the Scorpions are seen two remarkable 

 appendages, called the combs, the number 

 of teeth differing in the various species. 

 In the Rock-scorpion the teeth are thirteen 

 in number, while in the red scorpion there 

 are never less than twenty-eight teeth. A 

 figure of this curious organ may be seen 

 in the illustration on the preceding page. 

 The Rock-scorpion is a large creature, 

 measuring about six inches in length when 

 fully grown. 



like the other Arachnida, the Scorpion is 

 carnivorous, and feeds upon various living 

 creatures, such as insects and the smallei 

 Crustacea. They mostly seize their prey 

 in their claws, and then wound it with 

 the sting, before attempting to eat it. 

 Even the hard-mailed coleoptera, such as 

 the ground beetles, the weevils, &c. fall 



victims to this dread weapon, while the grasshoppers and locusts fall an easy prey before 



so terrible a foe. 



WE will now turn our attention to the 

 little, but annoying, creatures called Mites. 

 None of the Mites attain large dimen- 

 sions, and the greater number of them are 

 almost microscopic in their minuteness. 

 Everywhere the Mites are found, in the 

 earth, in trees, in houses, beneath the water, 

 and parasitic upon animals. They haunt 

 our cellars and swarm upon our pro- 

 visions cheese, ham, bacon, and biscuits 

 are equally covered with these minute 

 but potent destroyers ; and even our flour 

 stores are ravaged by the countless millions 

 of Mites that assail the white treasures. 





FEMALE SCORPION AND FAMILY. 



RHINOCEROS-TICK. HIPPOPOTAMUS-TICK 



Ixddes Rhinocerinus. Ixodes Hippopotamensis 



HARVEST-BUG. Leptus auiwnndlis. Ixddes venustns. 



Whether the cause or the effect of the 

 malady, Mites are found in many forms of 

 disease, both in man and beast, and will 

 certainly propagate the infection if they 

 are removed from the patient and trans- 

 ferred to a healthy person. They are even 

 found deep within the structures of the 

 vital organs, and Mites have been discovered in the very brain and eye of man. 



Without dilating further upon their general habits, I now pass to our illustration of 

 these tiny creatures. 



At the lower left-hand corner of the illustration is shown a figure of a very common 

 and most annoying species, the well-known HAEVEST-BTJG. 



This little pest of our fields and gardens is very small, and of a dull red colour, looking 



