SPECIES INJURIOUS TO WALL PAPER, BOOKS, ETC. 



83 



favorable situations, in very considerable numbers. Especially are 

 they apt to occur where there are window plants or in small conserva- 

 tories, but are not confined to these situations. Very little is known of 

 their food habits, but they are supposed to subsist on refuse or chiefly 

 decaying vegetable matter. 



The striking peculiarities of these insects are ill the remarkable 

 ventral tube and the strong saltatorial appendage of the extremity 

 of the body. The 

 first arises from 

 the forward body 

 segment, and 

 seems to act in 

 this species as a 

 sort of a retainer 

 for the leaping 

 organ, or spring- 

 proper, as shown 

 in tig. 36. It is 

 said to secrete a 

 viscid fluid, which 



Fig. 37. — Sprinz-tail (Lepidocyrtug atnerieanus) . a, lateral view of fe- 

 male; b. foot of same; c. tip of spring- tail ; '/. body scale: e, upper lip 

 or labium ; /. mandible or jaws ; </, lower jaws and lower lip or maxillse 

 and labium — (original). 



enables the insect 

 to better adhere 

 to smooth vertical 



surfaces. The so-called ••catch." or retainer proper, is shown in a small 

 projection between the hind pair of legs and the spring (fig. 37). and 

 grasps the latter near the middle. The springing organ is two-jointed, 

 the last joint being bifurcate, and its terminals inclosing the ventral 

 tube. It is shown in normal position in tig. 36, and as it appears when 

 leaping in fig. 37, a. 



These insects can not survive diwness. and. while they will not often 

 occur in sufficient numbers to be particularly objectionable, the removal 

 of the moist objects or surfaces on which they congregate and the 

 maintenance of dry conditions will cause them to soon disappear. 



