370 



ORDERS OF PTILOTA. 



being either entirely wanting or minute and membranous, 

 as are also the under jaws and lip ; the palpi are, however, 

 present, which of coiu'se proves the presence of the organs 

 of which they are appendages ; the posterior wings are 

 generally larger than the superior, and folded longitudinally 

 wdien at rest, at which time the organs of flight are laterally 

 deflexed, the anterior pair being more or less pilose, and the 

 nervures are for the most part longitudinal, and branching 

 with very few transverse connecting nerves : the eyes are 

 prominent and globular ; the ocelli two in number ; the 

 abdomen soft, and not furnished with terminal setae ; and 

 the legs are long and slender, the coxae elongate, and the 

 tibiae generally furnished with one or more pair of spurs ; 

 the tarsi are five-jointed. These insects are found in the 

 neighbourhood of water, and are called caddice-flies or 

 water-moths, and their larvae caddice-worms, in which latter 



state they reside in 

 the water in cases 

 of sand, shells, &c. 

 (fig. a). Both in 

 their larva and per- 

 fect state they are 

 excellent baits for 

 fishing. The pupa 

 is inclosed within 

 the case formed by 

 the larva; it is of 

 that species termed 

 incomplete, having 

 all the limbs distinct, but folded upon the breast, the head 

 being, moreover, furnished with a pair of curved mandibles, 

 which appear to be applied to no other use than that of 

 making a passage through an open-work grating of silk 

 (fig. b), which the larva had formed at the opening of its 



