Читать книгу Directions for Collecting and Preserving Insects - Charles V. Riley - Страница 9

Fig. 28.—A Locust (Acridium americanum).

Fig. 29.—A Tree-cricket (Orocharis saltator).

a, female; b, male.

Fig. 30.—The Croton Bug or German Cockroach

(Phyllodromia germanica). a, first stage; b, second stage; c, third stage; d, fourth stage; e, adult; f, adult female with egg-case; g, egg-case—enlarged; h, adult with wings spread—all natural size except g.

“The insects of this order have a lengthened body and very robust jaws, with a correspondingly large head. The legs are strong, and fashioned either for grasping, running, climbing, jumping, or burrowing. As in the other orders, where the transformations are incomplete, the young differ little from the parent, except in the want of wings; and in many instances even this difference does not exist, as there are numerous species which never acquire wings. There are no aquatic Orthoptera. Some are omnivorous, others carnivorous, but most of them herbivorous. They form four distinct sections: 1st, Cursoria, Cockroaches; 2d, Raptatoria, Mantes; 3d, Ambulatoria, Walking-sticks; 4th, Saltatoria, Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Locusts.

Fig. 31.—Hind wing of Earwig.

(From Comstock.)

Fig. 32.—An Earwig.

(From Packard.)

“Suborder Dermaptera[2] (δερμα, skin; πτερον, wing), or Earwigs, consisting of the single family Forficulidæ, which may be placed with the Orthoptera. They are rare insects with us, but very common in Europe, where there prevails a superstition that they get into the ear and cause all sorts of trouble. The front wings are small and leathery; the hind ones have the form of a quadrant, and look like a fan when opened; and the characteristic feature is a pair of forceps-like appendages at the end of the body, best developed in the males. They are nocturnal in habit, hiding during the day in any available recess. The female lays her eggs in the ground, and singularly enough, broods over them and over her young, the latter crowding under her like chicks under a hen.”

Fig. 33.—A Dragon-fly (Libellula trimaculata). (From Packard.)

“Order NEUROPTERA (νευρον, nerve; πτερον, wing), or Nerve-winged insects. Characterized by having the wings reticulate with numerous veins so as to look like net-work. The order forms two natural divisions, the first including all those which undergo a complete, and the second, called Pseudo-neuroptera (Dictyotoptera, Burmeister), those which undergo an incomplete metamorphosis. * * * The insects of this order are, as a whole, more lowly organized, and more generally aquatic, than either of the others. A natural arrangement of them is difficult on account of their degradational character. They present forms which are synthetic and closely approach the other orders, and the evolutionist naturally looks upon them as furnishing an idea of what the archetypal forms of our present insects may have been. They are, as a rule, large and sluggish, with the body parts soft and little specialized, and the muscles weak. Their remains are found in the Devonian and Carboniferous deposits.

“They are mostly carnivorous, and with the exception of the White-ants and certain Book-lice they none of them affect man injuriously, while some are quite beneficial.”

The first division of this order, or the Neuroptera proper, characterized by having incomplete metamorphoses, may be considered under the three following suborders:

Fig. 34.—Caddis-fly, larva and its case.

(From Packard.)

“Suborder Trichoptera (θριξ, hair; πτερον, wing), or Caddis-flies, containing the single family Phryganeidæ, and placed with the Neuroptera, though bearing great affinities with the Lepidoptera. Every good disciple of Walton and lover of the “gentle art” knows the value of the Caddis-fly, or Water-moth, as bait. These flies very much resemble certain small moths, the scales on the wings of the latter being replaced in the former with simple hairs. The larvæ live in the water and inhabit silken cases, which are usually cylindrical and covered with various substances, according to the species, or the material most conveniently obtained by the individual.”

Fig. 35.—Panorpa or Scorpion-fly.

(From Packard.)

Suborder Mecoptera (μηκος, length; πτερον, wing). This suborder includes a peculiar group of insects, the most striking characteristics of which are the mouth-parts, which are prolonged into a rostrum or beak. The wings are long and narrow, and of nearly equal size. The abdomen of the male is constricted near its posterior end and terminates in long clasping organs from which these insects obtain the common name of Scorpion-flies.

The larvæ of one genus (Panorpa) are remarkable for their great resemblance to the larvæ of Lepidoptera. They have, however, eight pairs of abdominal legs. The habits of these insects are not well known, but they are supposed to be generally.

Fig. 36.—Lace-wing fly. a, eggs, b, larva, c, cocoons, d, fly with left wings removed.

Fig. 37.—An Ant-lion (Myrmeleon). (From Packard.)

Fig. 38.—Myrmeleon

larva.

Fig. 39.—Mantispa with side view beneath. (From Packard.)

Suborder Neuroptera. This group as restricted by modern authors is a small one, including the largest species, as in the Hellgrammite, the Lace-wing Flies, the Ant-lions, and the Mantispas representing the families, Sialidæ and Hemerobiidæ, with their subfamilies. The first includes the so-called Hellgrammite Fly (Corydalus cornutus), one of our largest and most striking insects, the larvæ of which is known as Dobsons by anglers, and is aquatic and carnivorous in habit. The Hemerobiidæ is a large family, comprising, as a rule, delicate insects with rather ample gauzy wings. The larvæ are predaceous. The common Lace-wing flies are among our most beneficial insects, destroying plant-lice and other soft-bodied species. To the same family belongs the Ant-lion (Myrmeleon), the larvæ of which have the curious habit of constructing a funnel-shaped burrow in the sand, in the bottom of which they conceal themselves and wait for any soft-bodied insects which may fall into the trap. This family also includes the peculiar Mantis-like insects belonging to the genus Mantispa. As in the true Mantis, the prothorax of these insects is greatly elongated and the first pair of legs are fitted for grasping. The larvæ are parasitic in the egg-sacs of certain large spiders (genera Licosa, Dolomedes, etc.), and undergo a remarkable change in form after the first molt. In the first stage the larvæ are very agile, with slender bodies and long legs. After molting the body becomes much swollen and the legs are much shortened, as are also the antennæ, the head becoming small and the general appearance reminding one of the larva of a bee.

The second section of the Neuroptera, characterized by complete metamorphosis, comprises the following suborders:

Suborder Platyptera (πλατυς, flat; πτερον, wing). Under this head are grouped the White-ants (Termitidæ), the Bird-lice (Mallophaga), and the Book-mites (Psocidæ). The suborder receives its name from the fact that in the case of the winged forms the wings, when at rest, are usually laid flat upon the back of the insect. The Mallophaga, or Bird-lice, are degraded wingless insects, and are parasitic chiefly on birds, but also on mammals. In shape of body and character of the mouth-parts they are most nearly allied to the Psocidæ. The latter family includes both winged and wingless forms, the Book-mites belonging to the latter category. The winged forms may be illustrated by the common species, Psocus venosus (see Fig. 40). The legs and antennæ are long and slender and the wings are folded roof-like over the body when the insect is at rest. They feed on lichens and dry vegetation.

Fig. 40.—Psocus venosus. (From Comstock.)

The Termitidæ are represented in this country by the White-ant (Termes flavipes), which is frequently so destructive to woodwork, books, etc. The term White-ant applied to these insects is unfortunate, as in structure they are widely separated from ants and resemble them only in general appearance and also in their social habits. Like the ants they live in colonies and have a number of distinct forms, as winged and wingless, males and females, and workers and soldiers.

Fig. 41.—A Stone-fly (Pteronarcys regalis). (From Comstock.)

Suborder Plecoptera (πλεκτος, plaited; πτερον, wing). Closely allied to the latter suborder is the suborder Plecoptera, which includes the single family Perlidæ or Stone-flies. The larvæ and pupæ of these insects are aquatic, being often found under stones in water, whence the name. The adults are long, flattened insects, with long antennæ. The wings are ample and are somewhat folded or plaited, from which character the suborder takes its name.

Suborder Odonata (οϑους, tooth). This includes the Dragon-flies or Libellulidæ, the most common and the best known of the Neuroptera. The larva and the active pupa or nymph are aquatic and are predaceous, as is also the adult. A common species is represented at see Fig. 33

Fig. 42.—A May-fly

(Potamanthus marginatus).

(From Packard.)

The Suborder Ephemeroptera (εϕημερον, a day-fly; πτερον, wing) comprises the May-flies, or Ephemeridæ (see Fig. 42). These insects are very fragile and are often attracted in enormous numbers to electric lights. They have large front wings, while the hind wings are small, rudimentary, or wanting. They are furnished with two or three very long, jointed, threadlike caudal appendages. The larval and nymphal stages are passed in the water and aquatic vegetation furnishes the food, although some species may be predaceous. The adults have very rudimentary mouths and eat nothing; their term of life is also very limited, not exceeding 2–4 days.

Fig. 43.—(Lepisma 4-seriata). (After Packard.)

Suborder Thysanura θυσανος, tassel; ουρα, tail). This suborder comprises minute, degraded insects commonly known as Spring-tails, Bristle-tails, Fish-moths, Snow-fleas, etc. They occur in damp situations and also infest books, wall-paper, etc., eating the starch paste in the book-bindings, or beneath the wall paper. They comprise very primitive forms and are interesting because they are supposed to represent the original stock from which the higher orders of insects have sprung. They are wingless, usually with simple eyes, and clothed with scales, and undergo no metamorphosis. Some of them, as the Fish-moth (Lepisma sp.), run very rapidly and are furnished at the end of the body with a number of long bristles. In other forms these anal bristles or stylets are united at the base and bent under the body and become a powerful jumping organ, giving them the very appropriate name of Spring-tails.

Footnote:

[2] Euplexoptera of some authors from ευ, well; πλεχω, folded, referring to the folded wings.