288 



ptilota: imago — external anatomy. 



ly important in performing the economy of the insect cannot 

 be doubted ; they are also often of a very different form in 

 the individuals of different sexes of the same species. They 

 are often formed for seizing the prey of the insect, and are 

 then called raptorial {pedes raptorii), the thigh being thick- 

 ened and spined, and the tibia closing upon it. The hind 

 legs are also often peculiarly organized, as in the bees, vt^here 

 they are pollinigerous (pedes polliniferi), or in the grasshop- 

 pers, &c., where the femora are greatly thickened, and used 

 in leaping [pedes saltatorii, fig. 137).* Occasionally the 

 hind legs are greatly enlarged, but the insect is not saltato- 

 rial, as in the Chrysina chrysochlora [Melolontha chrysochlo- 



ra, Latreille). In some other insects they are terminated by 

 a broad, flattened, and strong cihated tarsus, admirably form- 

 ed for swimming, as in the water-beetles {pedes natatorii, fig. 

 138). The tibia in the anterior legs are often dilated and 

 notched on the outer edge, as in the mole cricket. These 

 legs thus become proper for burrowing {pedes fossorii). In 



* I may refer to the article Cercopid^, in the British Cyclopaedia, 

 where I have entered into various details relative to this subject. 



