DIFFICULTIES IN ARRANGEMENT. 
19 
country. The larva is maggot-like, and lives between the 
rings of the back of the wasp ; the pupa resembles that of 
some flies, and is cased in the dried skin of the larva. The 
females never acquire wings, and never leave the bodies of 
the bees or wasps into which they penetrate while young. 
The males, in the adult state, have a pair of short, narrow, 
and twisted members, instead of fore-wings, and two very 
large hind-wings, folded lengthwise like a fan. The mouth 
is provided with a pair of slender, sharp-pointed jaws, better 
adapted for piercing than for biting. It is very difficult to 
determine the proper place of these insects in a natural ar- 
rangement. Latreille puts them between the Lepidoptera and 
Diptera, but thinks them most nearly allied to some of the 
Hymenoptera . 1 
The flea tribe ( Pulicidce ) was placed among the bugs, or 
Hemiptera, by Fabricius. It constitutes the order Aptera 
of Leach, Siphonaptera of Latreille, and Aphaniptera of 
Kirby. Fleas are destitute of wings, in the place whereof 
there are four little scales, pressed closely to the sides of 
their bodies ; their mouth is fitted for suction, and provided 
with several lancet-like pieces for making punctures ; they 
undergo a complete transformation ; their larvae are worm- 
like and without feet ; and their pup® have the legs free. 
These insects, of which there are many different kinds, are 
intermediate in their characteristics between the Hemiptera 
and the Diptera, and seem to connect more closely these 
two orders. ' 
The earwigs ( Forficuladce ), of which also there are many 
kinds, were placed by Linnaeus in the order Coleoptera, but 
most naturalists now include them among the Orthoptera ; 
indeed, they seem to be related to both orders, but most 
f 1 Systematic authors now consider the order of Strepsiptora as simply a fam- 
ily, though a very aberrant one, of Coleoptera. It is placed after the Rhipipho- 
ridre, under the name Stylopida?, from its principal genus, Stylops, which is par- 
asitic in certain genera of bees; a species of this genus has been discovered in 
Nova Scotia, and will probably be found hereafter in New England. — Lec.] 
