ONISCUS, 



Genus XI. — Onifcus, 



jL his is a diminutive, but harmlefs tribe of animal? : 

 Thej are diftinguifhed bj having fourteen feet, fetac^ous 

 antennae, and the body of an oblong form. Linnccus has 

 enumerated fifteen fpecies, fome of which are terrellrialy 

 and others aquatic f . 



Onifcus aquaticus. This infe6l is found in wells and 

 Hagnated pooL t. The body is compofed of feven arti- 

 culations, befides the head and tail ; the laft is much 

 larger than any of the reft. The {hape of the animal is 

 Sat and round : From each fide there fpring feven feet, 

 each growing longer as you approach the tail |[. 



The fea onifci are larger than thofe of the fre(h water, 

 having ten inftead of feven fegments. Their motions in 

 the water are rapid; for befides the feet, they are affifted 

 by lateral threads, which pufii them forward like the 

 oars of a boat. Among them, copulation endures for 

 feveral days ; when the male fcizes his female with hi* 

 two fore feet, and drags her along with him wherever he 

 diredts his courfe ; and nothing can induce him to leave 

 his female till this operofe fundion is difcharged. A 

 few days after impregnation, the female difcovers a di- 

 flended belly j on the feventh, the young ifl'ue alive from 



her 



t Syftema Nat. p. 105J. \ Rai Inf. p. 43., 



fl Regne Anunale, p. a5S>j fp. 4. 



