. Natural history. For the use of schools and families. Zoology. 232 NATURAL HISTOET. made up of long and delicate tubes. As lightness is a great object in the structure of the Insect, the digestive apparatus is made of as little bulk as possible. 397. The feet of Insects are in conformity with their modes of life. Some have claws or hooks; some have a kind of suction cushion by which they can adhere to surfaces; some have fringed feet to enable them to swim; and some have their fore feet shaped for digging, like the Mole's. y 398. The wings are generally made very much like those of the Bat,
. Natural history. For the use of schools and families. Zoology. 232 NATURAL HISTOET. made up of long and delicate tubes. As lightness is a great object in the structure of the Insect, the digestive apparatus is made of as little bulk as possible. 397. The feet of Insects are in conformity with their modes of life. Some have claws or hooks; some have a kind of suction cushion by which they can adhere to surfaces; some have fringed feet to enable them to swim; and some have their fore feet shaped for digging, like the Mole's. y 398. The wings are generally made very much like those of the Bat, § 58. They consist of a double mem- brane over an extended slender frame-work. There are generally two pairs, but sometimes only one, as in the case of the common Fly. Often the first pair of wings are mere coverings for the other wings, and have no act- ive agency in flight. In this case they are made thick and firm, and are called the ely^a (singular elytrum). In Fig. 183 you see the elytra at a. When the Insect is at rest, the elytra are brought together over the back, the true wings being folded, some times very curiously, under them. The true wings are light and thin, and they are transparent, except Avhen they are covered with what ap- pears to the naked eye as a kind of colored dust, as is the case with the Moths and Butterflies. This dust, examined with the microscope, is found to be made up of little regularly-formed scales, often beautifully marked with lines. When they are rubbed off, their fastenings look, under the microscope, like the nail-heads on a roof when old shingles have been torn off". In some of the Butterflies the scales are ar- ranged Uke shingles on a roof, and with their various colors present a very beautiful Fig. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original w
Size: 1475px × 1694px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1883
