INSECTS. 



Leech. 



Mygale Fod.cM. 





Grasshopper. 



The Acarus Domesticus, or Mite, is a very numerous tribe, and so minute as to be nearly microscopic. 

 They wander under stones, leaves, the bark of trees, or upon articles of food, while others live as parasites 

 upon the skin, or in the flesh of animals, often greatly weakening them by their excessive multiplication. 



The Grasshopper (so named among us) is a small animal, of the color of green leaves, save a brown line 

 streaking the back, and two pale lines under the belly, and behind the legs. It may be divided into head, 

 corselets and belly. The head is oblong, in its vertical direction, and somewhat resembles that of a horse. 

 Its mouth is covered by a sort of round buckler jutting over it, and armed with brown teeth, hooked at 

 the points, and containing a large, reddish tongue affixed to the lower jaw. It has long, tapering horns, 

 and the eyes are like two little, jjroiuinent black specks. The corselet is elevated, narrow, armed above 

 and beneath with two serrated spines. The back is armed with a strong buckler, to which the muscles of 

 the legs are firmly bound, and round these muscles are seen the creature's breathing vessels, snowy-white. 

 The last pair of legs are much longer and more muscular than the first, and admirably fitted for leaping. 

 It has four wings, the hinder being much the larger, and the chief instruments of flight, and a forky, 

 down-covered tail, and three stomachs. It begins to sing soon after getting its wings, the male only 

 having this power, and this song is an invitation to courtship. The female deposites her one hundred and 

 fifty eggs in the ground at the close of autumn, and soon after dies. Neither male or female survives the 

 winter. Their food is vegetable. 



The Leech is an aquatic animal, and lives on blood. Its mouth is located in the middle of the cavity 

 of the anterior sucker, with three little jaws so disposed around it, that the three edges form the radii of a 

 circle. Each of these has, at its edge, two rows of very minute teeth, presenting the appearance of a 

 small semicircular saw. By the action of a muscle at the base, this saw is so worked as to cut into the 

 skin, a sawing movement being given to each piece separately. The lacerated character of the wound, 

 thus occasioned, is very favorable to the flow of blood, which is further promoted by the vacuum created 

 by suction. Most Leeches are inhabitants of fresh water, though some are found only in the seas. The 

 medical uses of this animal are well known. 



The Tarantula is the largest of European Spiders, and a native of Italy. It is three fourth of an inch 

 long, and as thick as one's little finger ; its color is generally an olive-brown, varying to one more dusky ; 

 it has eight legs and eight eyes, and sharp, serrated nippers, between which and the fore-legs are two little 

 feelers, which move briskly on the animal's approaching its prey. Its body is covered with a soft down, 

 and it is oviparous. In summer it bites the mowers and field workers, but in winter lurks in holes and is 

 rarely seen. 



Garden Spider. 



Squilla Mantis. 



Tarantula. 



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