THE DADDY LONG-LEGS. 607 



H<?l-e it must be mentioned that these wings are moved in a 

 very curious manner. It was formerly thought tliat tliey 

 passed into the cavity of the thorax, and were worked by means 

 of the powerful muscles attached to tlieir bases. Such, how- 

 ever, is not the case. Let any reader take a fly- -one of the 

 many Hoverer flies is perhaps the best — kill it, and press the/ 

 point of a pin liglitly on the middle of the thorax. It will be 

 found that as soon as the point of the pin presses the thorax, 

 down go both the wings, so that in fact the movements of 

 flight are made by the action of the thorax to which the wings 

 are attached, and not by the action of muscles directly con- 

 nected with the wing. In point of fact the wing moves by the 

 rapid contraction and expansion of the mesothorax, such move- 

 ment being caused by the powerful set of muscles within it. 



There is much more to be said about the Gnat, but our 

 rapidly diminishing space warns us to proceed to another 

 tyjjical insect. 



On Woodcut LXX. Fig. 1, is represented one of our finest 

 British examples of the insects called by the popular name of 

 Daddy-long-legs, or Crane-fly. 



The name of this particular species is Tipula longicornis^ 

 the latter name being given to it on account of the great lengtli 

 of its antennae. 



In the family of Tipulidre, to which this insect belongs, the 

 proboscis is very short, with its internal organs very slightly 

 developed. The legs are very long and slender, as is the body, 

 and the alulets are almost wholly wanting. The larvae of some 

 of the Tipulidae live in the water. Those of the genus Chiro- 

 nomus are long, slender, scarlet, and worm-like, and are well- 

 known under the name of Blood-worms. The rain-water butt 

 is a favourite nursery of these insects, and their larvae may often 

 be seen in the ewer, jerking and twisting about like little bits 

 of scarlet thread endowed with life. 



The general colour of the present ?pecies is ochreous-yellow. 

 The thorax is black, with a slight ash en- grey down, and there 

 is a yellow semi-lunar spot before each of the wings. The 

 abdomen has a short slate-coloured streak down each side. It 

 is a tolerably common insect, and can be seen while flying 

 along hedge-rows in the dusk. 



