T E R T E R 
TENEBRIO. A genus of the coleoptera or- 
der of infefts, including thirty-three fpecies; and 
comnnonly known in this country by the name of 
the ftinking beetle. The legs and thighs are 
(lender; the feelers are pretty long, and compofed 
of oblong joints, except the lafb, which is round; 
and the breaft is marked with fmall fpecks, and 
adorned with a rim. It has a flow motion; lives 
in the deep cavities of dunghills during the day, 
and comes abroad only in the night-time. 
The fmell of this infeft is extremely oftenfive; 
from which circum.ftance it obtains it's EnG;lirn 
name. 
TENTHREDO. A fly of the flinging kind, 
of the fhape and fize of the bee, and colour of the 
v/afp, which annoys kitchens and larders. It is 
extremely gregarious; but though fwarms affo- 
ciate together, they produce no honey. 
In the LinncEan fyftem, the Tenthredo is a ge- 
nus of the hymenoptera order of infefts. It's 
characters are thefe: the mouth is furnifhed with 
maxilljs, but has no probofcis; the wings are plane 
and tumid; the fting confifts of two lamina, fer- 
rated, and fomewhat prominent; and the fcutel- 
lum is formed of two grain-like bodies feparate 
from each otlier. 
LinnfEus enumerates fifty-five fpecies, diftin- 
guiilicd from each other by the fliape of their an- 
tennre. 
TEPETOTOTL. A Brazilian bird of the 
gallinaceous kind, more ufually denominated Mi~ 
tuporanga. 
TER'EBELLA. In the IJnn^an fyftem, a 
genus of the moUufca order of worms. It's di- 
ftinguifhing charafteriRics are : the body is fili- 
form; from the mouth ifilies a tubulofe gland; 
and the furrounding tentacula are numerous and 
capillary. 
A fingie fpecies is found in the cliffs which line 
the fliores of the Mediterranean fea. 
TEREBRATULA. An appellation whereby 
Gualtieri and others exprefs a fpecies of the 
fmooth conchas anomiae, which have a fmall hole 
near the head of the fhell, appearing as if bored 
by art. 
TEREDO. A fpecies of fea-worm, which 
cats it's way into the bottoms of fliips, lining it's 
cell with a kind of fhelly matter. 
In the Linnsean fyftem, the Teredo is a genus of 
die teftacea order of worms, the animial of v/hich 
is a terebella; the two maxiilfe are calcareous, he- 
mifpherical, amputated before, and angulated be- 
low; and the fnell is round, bending, and capable 
of penetrating Vv'ood. To one fpecies Linnasus 
gives the appellation of Calamitas Navium. 
The head of the Teredo is excellently adapted 
by nature for the toiifome offices it is deftined to 
perform; being coated with a ftrong armour, and 
furnifhed with a mouth like that of the leech, by 
which it pierces wood as that animal does the flcin. 
A little above this there are tv/o horns, which look 
like a continuation of the fhell. The neck is 
equally well fitted to the fervice of the creature 
as the head, being furnifhed with feveral ftrong 
mufcles. The reft of the body is only covered 
with a very thin and tranfparent fldn, through 
•which the motion of the inteftines may be plainly 
perceived by the naked eye; and, by the affiftance 
of the microfcope, feveral other curious particu- 
lars become vifible. 
This worm, when newly excluded from the 
egg, is wonderfully minute; though, when in it's 
Vol. II. 
utinoft perfeAion, it is fometimes one foot in 
length. However, three or four inches are it's 
common fize. 
The bottom of a veffel, or any other piece of 
wood conftantly under water, inhabited and in- 
jured by a number of thefe v/orms, exhibits no 
external appearance of their depredations; nor are 
the creatures vifible till the outer part of the v/ood. 
is removed, when their ihelly habitations appear: 
thefe, however, lie fo near the furface, as to have 
an eafy communication with the water; and there 
are a multitude of little perforations in the very 
furface, through which the animals protrude the 
extremities of their little fnelly horns, which are 
of a reddifh colour, and may be diftinguiflied by 
an accurate obferver like fo many red prominent 
points; thefe are all retrafted on the Icaft touch, 
and remain concealed till the danger is paft. Fronri 
thefe points, or the fmall apertures vv'hich admit 
them, are the cells of thefe creatures to be traced: 
they are com.pofed of a perlaceous or ilielly mat- 
ter, forming a long tube, vvith various turnings 
and v/indings, which marks the abode of the crea- 
ture; but which ufually neither adheres to it's 
body, nor to the wood, being aHvays more or lefs 
loofe in the wood; and within them there is always 
a large fpace for the body of the creature to be every 
where furrounded with water. They are very ■ 
fmootli internally; externally, alitde rough; and, 
when ferving for the habitations of old animals, 
are much firmer than thofe of the young ones. 
Thefe fnelly tubes are compofed of Several an- 
nulations, differing greatly in length from each 
other; and there is an evident care in thefe infecls 
that their habitations fiiould not be fo placed as to 
incommode their neighbours. 
The vaft increafe of the Teredines, and their 
fhelly tubuli, naturally lead to an inveftigatiou 
of the manner of their generation ; and, when we 
confider that each of thefe creatures is, from the 
time that it is produced from the egg, imme- 
diately lodged in a cell, in which it lives Vv'ithout 
the leaft pofiibility of reaching another animal of 
the fame kind, it is not eafy to account for the 
propagation of the fpecies in the common wav. 
This difficulty, however, is folved by an accurate 
anatomical obfervation of the infedts themfelves; 
fince, in every individual, the genitals of both 
fexes, the femen and ovula, are equally diftinfl: 
each individual therefore ferves by itfelf for the 
propagation of the fpecies ; and the poffibiiity of 
this is evidently proved from the analogy of other 
hermaphrodite animals more expofed to obferva- 
tion. 
Eggs are found in great pfenty in the bodies 
of thefe animals about the mionrh of June; and 
are difcharged with the water into the fea, v/here 
the far greater part of them are infallibly deftroyed 
by other fmall marine infefts; and the few that 
can affix themfelves to any piece of v/ood v/hich 
they may happen to touch, hatch, and pene- 
trate it's fubftance, after the manner of their pa- 
rents. 
To deftroy thefe animals, at once fo detrimental 
and dangerous, various arts have been tried ; and 
perhaps fome prefcriptions may have afilfted to re- 
tard their progrcfs; but an univerfal and infallible 
prefervative againft their depredations is ftlU 
among the defiderata of utility. 
It is fuppofed that the Teredo was firft imported 
from the Indies. 
TERMES. A genus of the aptera order of 
4 O infefls. 
