liTHRIPS* . . 447 



Genus XII V.hrips. 



In this race of infedlis the roftrum Is fo obfcure, from its 

 minutenefs, as to be fcarce perceptible : The antennae are 

 filiform and as long as the thorax ; the body is of equal 

 thicknefs through the whole length, and flender ; the 

 four wings are extended along the ba(.-k, narrow in pro- 

 portion to their length, and crofftd at, fome dillance from 

 the bafe ; the abdomen is bent upwards, and the feet 

 commonly have two articulations. Only five fpecies are 

 enumerated under this genus by Ifinnceus *. 



The animals of this family are* fo minute, that they 

 are not objects of difculilon, un'lefs viewed with a mi- 

 crofcope ; to the naked eye they appear rather like atoms 

 than living animals. They j-efide commonly upon 

 flowers, and under the bark of trees, and it is there alfo 

 that their larva8 are fojind, w^'hich only diiFcr from them 

 by their wanting wings and 'dytra. The thrips jurifpe- 

 rlna, is one of the large ft of this diminutive race; the 

 thoyax and abdomen are black, the elytra white. In 

 autumn it is found in nu mbers among flowers, and on 

 the juniper Linnceus^ for a long time, was uncertain how 

 to arrange it, from not di.fcoverlng more than one pair 

 of wings f . M. de Geer firft obfcrved that it had four 

 exceedingly narrow ones, with which it flies but little, 

 |)ut runs quickly J. 



* Syftema Naturs, Ord. II. <?en» 12. 



i Fauna Swec, 4 ^\^^^ ^^ Stockholm, p. 3, 1744, 



