JUNE. 179 



They deposit 20,000 young in the space of a few days; 

 the young grubs increase in weight two hundred times in 

 twenty-four hours, in consequence of their great voracity, 

 so that they must assist wonderfully in clearing the earth of 

 putrid substances ; in five days they acquire their full size, 

 and about the same time is spent in the pupa state, so that 

 in a fortnight there are descendants of the first brood in 

 existence. The larvae of the Muscldm are thick, fleshy, 

 cylindrical, smaller towards the head and truncated at the 

 other extremity ; they are destitute of legs, moving by means 

 of the hooks of the mouth. 



DiPTERA. TlPULID^. 



CHIEONOMUS. 



Generic Distinctions. — Antenna beautifully feathered in the 

 male; body slender and elongated; wings white, with three 

 obscure points, from which arise pale transverse bands. 



Chironomus plumosus, the Midge, is much smaller 

 than the Gnat, which it so greatly resembles ; they are often 

 confounded together, but the former wants the long pro- 

 boscis of the latter insect, and is perfectly harmless. The 

 English name is equally applied to several genera, and in- 



