Half hours with insects . 154 HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [Packard. No Myriopods are aquatic, but a number of mites andallied forms live in water and extract the air mechanicallymixed with the water, without having to rise to the have two spiracles and air tubes, but how they extractthe air in the water is not known. Such are the Hydrachnaand Atax, which live in their early stages as parasites be-tween the gills of fresh water clams, while some speciesattach themselves to water insects. Of the various modes of swimming among insects, the Fig. 121. Fig. ^schna. Maciomia transver
Half hours with insects . 154 HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [Packard. No Myriopods are aquatic, but a number of mites andallied forms live in water and extract the air mechanicallymixed with the water, without having to rise to the have two spiracles and air tubes, but how they extractthe air in the water is not known. Such are the Hydrachnaand Atax, which live in their early stages as parasites be-tween the gills of fresh water clams, while some speciesattach themselves to water insects. Of the various modes of swimming among insects, the Fig. 121. Fig. ^schna. Maciomia transversa. simplest, though not the most graceful, is wriggling. By aseries of contortions of the body the young Chironomusmoves about without much apparent purpose. The twist-ings and turnings of the larval mosquito are anticipations innature of the most laborious and complicated feats in gym-nastics of the circus clown. The latter realizes the amountof muscular exertion and nervous strain expended in a two-minutes circumtorsion of the ring. The young mosquito,through its life of such violent undulations, knows no study, through the transparent skin, of the arrangement 26 Packard] INSECTS OF THE POND AND STREAM. 155 Fig. 123. of the muscles of the body shows their wonderful adapta-bility for the production of these complicated movements. Many aquatic insects are either side wheelers or pro-pellers. The larval Ephemera, aided by the beautiful pad-dle-like tracheal gillsalong the sides of thebody, moves throughthe water b} a seriesof exceedingly grace-ful un
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1881
