556 



INSECTS AT HOME. 



been practised in tlie anatomy of other orders, the reader will 

 not find much difficulty in mastering the details of a Hetero- 

 pterous insect. The chief point lies in the beak, proboscis, or 

 promuscis, as it is called by some writers. This instrument 

 is either three or four-jointed, the latter being- the case 

 with the insect which is drawn in the illustration. This 



LXIII 



a /? 



1. Scliinis dubins. 2. Hear), front vinw ; a, Centrallobe of face ; b. Crown. 3. Head, 



under side ; a. Rostral channel, with the rostrum or lieak in position. 4. Head, upper side ; 



rt, Ocellus. .5. Mead, profile ; a. Rostrum. (i. Rostrum. 7. Antenna. 8. Leg; 



a, Fulcrum; h. Femur or thigh; c. Tibia; </, Tarsus. 9. Elytra and wing; a, Clavns ; 



b, Corium ; c, Elytron ; d, Membrane ; e, Wing. 



does not, however, constitute the whole of the apparatus, as it 

 is only a sheath for the real piercing instrument, and is, like 

 the mask of the dragon-fly larva, a development of the labium. 

 If this sheath be opened imder a microscope it will be found to 

 contain four delicate sharply-pointed bristles, which, when 

 examined by the aid of the microscope, are seen to be the jaws 

 and maxillae of the insect modified into this singular form. In 



