those of the superior animals, cannot easily his skin, where the larva; feed. Other cu- 
be ascertained. It appears pretty evident, terpillars insinuate themselves into different 
that they possess vision, hearing, smell, and cavities of his body. All the inferior ani- 
touch ; as to the sense of taste we are left mals have their peculiar parasitical insects, 
to conjecture, for we are acquainted with which feed on them during their life. There 
no facts, by which we can prove that in- are some insects which can feed only on 
sects do or do not enjoy the sense of taste, one species. The caterpillars, both of 
The eyes of insects are of two kinds ; moths and butterflies, feed on the leaves of 
the one compound, composed of lenses, some particular vegetable, and, it is said, 
large, and only two in number ; the other would die, could they not obtain this. There 
are small, smooth, and vary in num- are others which can make use of two or 
which form the compound eyes, are very attain full perfection, except when they are 
numerous ; they amount, in some insects, to fed on one particular kind ; for example, 
many hundreds. The far greater number the common silk-worm, which eats readily 
have three, as the scolopendra ; some four, mon lettuce, neither attains so great a size, 
as gyrinus; some six, as scorpions; some nor produces so much silk, as wuen fed on 
eight, as spiders. The eyes of insects are the white mulberry. There are a great 
commonly immoveable ; crabs, however, many which feed indiscriminately on a va- 
have the power of moving their eyes. That riety of vegetables. Almost all herbivo- 
insects are endowed with the sense of hear- rous insects eat a great deal, and very fre- 
ing, can no longer be disputed, since frog- quently ; and most of them perish, if de- 
hoppers, crickets, &c. furnish us with unde- prived of food fob but a short time. Carni- 
niable proofs of the fact. Nature has pro- vorous insects can live a long while without 
vided the males of these insects with the fbod, as the carabus, dytiscus, &c. As 
ment fitted to produce a sound, which is easily in quest of food, to places at a dis- 
heard by the latter. The male and female tance from one another, nature has furnish- 
death-watch give notice of each others’ pre- ed the perfect insects of many species with 
sence, by repeatedly striking with their an instinct, which leads them to deposit 
mandibles against old wood, &c. their fa- their eggs in situations where the larvae, as 
vcurite haunts. Their ears have been dis- soon as hatched, may find that kind of food 
covered to be placed at the root of their which is best adapted to their nature. Most 
antennae, and can be distinctly seen in some of the butterflies, though they flutter about, 
of the larger kinds, as the lobster. That and collect the nectarious juice of a variety 
insects enjoy the faculty of smelling, is very of flowers, as food for themselves, always 
evident ; it is the most perfect of all their deposit their eggs on or near to those ve- 
ceive at a considerable distance the smell ichneumon deposit their eggs on the bodies 
of ordure and dead bodies, and resort in of those insects on which their larva; feed, 
swarms to the situations in which they oc- See Ichneumon. The sirex and sphex are 
cur, either for the purpose of procuring likewise careful to deposit their eggs in si- 
food, or laying their eggs. Insects feed on tuations where their larvae, when hatched, 
a great variety of substances; there are few may find subsistence. The sphex figulus 
things either in the vegetable or animal deposits its eggs on the body of spiders, 
kingdoms which are not consumed by some which it has killed, and encloses it in a cell 
of them. The leaves, flowers, fruit, and composed of clay. Some insects, at dif- 
even the ligneous parts of vegetables afford ferent periods of their existence, make use 
nourishment to a very numerous class ; ani- of aliment of very different properties : the 
mal bodies both dead and alive, even man larva; of some are carnivorous, while the 
himself, is preyed on by.many of them ; se- perfect insect feeds on the nectareous juice 
veral species of the louse, of the acarus, of of flowers : e. g. sirex, ichneumon, &c. The 
the gnat, and the common flea, draw their larvae of most of the lepidopterous insects 
nourishment from the surface of his body ; feed on the leaves and young shoots of ve- 
the pulex ulcerans penetrates the cuticle, getables, while the perfect insects either 
and even enters his flesh. A species of gad- take no food at all, or subsist on the sweet 
fly, oestrus hominis, deposits its eggs under juice which they extract from flowers : in- 
