682 



THE HARVEST-BUG. 



FEMALE SCORPION AND FAMILY. 



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 claw 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 num- 

 ber 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 Scorpi- 

 on is carnivorous, and feeds upon various 

 living creatures, such as insects and the 

 smaller 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, etc. 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 minute- 

 ness. "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 provisions 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. 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 propa- 

 gate the infection if they are removed 

 from the patient and transferred 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 HARVEST-BUG. 



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



I 



RHINOCEROS-TICK. HIPPOPOTAMUS-TICK. 



Ixodes Rhiaocerlnus. Ixodes Hlppopotameasls. 



HARVEST-BUG. Leptus mutumnalls. 



Ixodes veaustus. 



