14 
INSECTS IN GENERAL. 
The Legs . — Insects have six legs, attached in pairs to the under side 
of each of the three segments of the thorax. The leg consists of four 
principal parts ; the hip (coxa), a short piece by which the leg is at- 
tached to the body ; then an elongated piece called the thigh (femur, 
plural femora ); then another elongated piece called the shank (tibia ) ; 
and lastly the foot (or tarsus), which is composed of a number of smaller 
pieces or joints ; of which five is the largest and most common number. 
The feet of insects terminate, almost invariably, in a pair of sharp 
horny claws (ungues ) ; and between these, at their base, is often one or 
two little pads ( plantula •) by means of which flies and many other in- 
sects adhere to glass, or any other surface which is too smooth and hard 
for the claws to catch upon. The Lepidoptera have but one plantula, 
and the Diptera have two. Besides the parts of the leg here enumera- 
ted, there is a small piece attached to the hind part of the hip, called 
the trochanter. This is usually small and inconspicuous, but in the 
hind legs of the ground-beetles (Carabida) it forms a large egg-shaped 
appendage, which is one of the most characteristic features of this 
family of insects. 
THE ABDOMEN, AND ITS APPENDAGES. 
The abdomen is the hindermost of the three divisions of an insect’s 
body. It is sometimes attached to the thorax by the whole width of its 
base, in which case it is called sessile. But it is often attached by a 
slender petiole or foot-stalk, when it is said to be p etiolated . The abdo- 
men is composed of a number of rings, one behind another, each ring 
usually lapping a little upon the one following it. The normal number 
of rings or segments of the abdomen is considered to be nine, and this 
number is actually present in the Earwig ( Forficula ) and a few other 
insects; but in the great majority of insects, several of the terminal seg- 
ments are abortive, and only from five to seven can usually be counted. 
In the females of many kinds of insects the abdomen terminates in a 
tubular, tail-like process, through which the eggs are conducted to their 
place of deposit, and which is therefore called the ovipositor. In some 
insects the ovipositor is simple, short, straight and still', as in some of 
the Capricorn beetles ; but in others, as the Ichneumon flies, it is long, 
slender and flexible, and composed of three thread-like pieces, which 
when not in use, are separated from each other, giving these insects the 
appearance of being three-tailed. 
Capturing and Preserving Insects. 
Insects which do not readily fly, such as the beetles and the bugs 
proper ( Hemiptera ), can be captured with the lingers, and are easily 
