250 



OBTHOPTERA. 



Lice (Anoplura). 



The Lice are generally called Pediculiike. These noxious 

 creatures are now considered degenerate Hemiptera. They all 



possess suctorial mouths and 

 are apterous. The Pediculidse 

 are parasitic on human beings 

 and mammals, upon whom 

 they may breed with great 

 rapidity (by parthenogenesis), 

 under favourable circum- 

 stances. The young louse is 

 nearly perfect when first bom 

 — in fact these insects retain 

 more or less their larval form 

 throughout life. The three 

 ■well-known species on human 

 beings are the Head louse 

 (PMhirius capitis), the Clothes 

 Louse (P. vestimenti), and the 

 Body Louse (P. inguinalis). 

 The . species found on our 

 domestic animals all belong 

 to the genus Hwmatopirms. 

 They are never found on the sheep or cat. The mouth is 

 formed into a kind of sucking proboscis, which is plunged into 

 the skin of the host. 



F'^ 



Fig. 127. — Louse of the Os. (Hcrmato- 

 pinus eury.iterniis), ieiaala. (Fleming.) Great- 

 ly enlarged. 



OETHOPTERA. 



The Orthoptera are Earwigs, Cockroaches, Grasshoppers, 

 Crickets, Locusts, Praying Mantis Flies, and Walking-stick 

 Insects. They are characterised by having the anterior wings 

 leathery in texture and much narrower than the posterior ones, 

 which are fan-shaped and large. The mouth of the Orthoptera 



