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- Culex larva showing details of external structure
The larvæ are elongate, with the head and thorax sharply distinct. The larval antennæ are prominent, consisting of a single cylindrical and sometimes curved segment. The outer third is often narrower and bears at its base a fan-shaped tuft of hairs, the arrangement and abundance of which is of systematic importance. About the mouth are the so-called rotary mouth brushes, dense masses of long hairs borne by the labrum and having the function of sweeping food into the mouth. The form and arrangement of thoracic, abdominal, and anal tufts of hair vary in different species and present characteristics of value. On either side of the eighth abdominal segment is a patch of scales varying greatly in arrangement and number and of much value in separating species. Respiration is by means of tracheæ which open at the apex of the so-called anal siphon, when it is present. In addition, there are also one or two pairs of tracheal gills which vary much in appearance in different species. On the ventral side of the anal siphon is a double row of flattened, toothed spines whose number and shape are likewise of some value in separating species. They constitute the comb or pecten. - Pharyngeal syringe or salivary pump of Fulgora maculata
Accessory to the salivary apparatus there is on the ventral side of the head, underneath the pharynx, a peculiar organ which the Germans have called the "Wanzenspritze," or syringe. The accompanying figure of the structure in Fulgora maculata shows its relation to the ducts of the salivary glands and to the beak. It is made up of a dilatation forming the body of the pump, in which there is a chitinous piston. Attached to the piston is a strong retractor muscle. The function of the salivary pump is to suck up the saliva from the salivary ducts and to force it out through the beak. - Pulex irritans, female
- Pediculus vestimenti 2
- Pediculus vestimenti
- Cimex lectularius
- Larva of Pulex irritans
- Newly hatched young of Cimex lectularius
- Pupa of flea
- Freshly hatched larva of Julus multistriatus
Freshly hatched larva of Julus multistriatus? 3 mm. long: a, 5 pairs of rudimentary legs, one pair to a segment. - Newborn Cicada
Although Cicadas abound most upon the oaks, yet there seem to be no trees or shrubs that are exempt from their attacks, unless it be the various species of pines and firs. The punctured limbs languish and die soon after the eggs are laid, and as often happens are broken off by the winds; but when this is the case the eggs never hatch, for the moisture of the living branch seems necessary for their proper development. The eggs are one-twelfth of an inch in length, and one-sixteenth of an inch through the middle, but taper to an obtuse point at each end. They are of a pearl-white color. The shell is so thin and delicate that the form of the inclosed insect can be seen before the egg is hatched. One writer claims that fifty-two days, and others that fourteen days, constitute the period required for the hatching of the egg. When it bursts the shell the young insect is one-sixteenth of an inch long, and is of a yellowish-white color, excepting the eyes and the claws of the fore-legs, which are reddish. It is clothed with small hairs. In form it is grub-like, larger proportionally than the parent, and provided with six legs, the first pair being very large, shaped like lobster-claws, and armed beneath with strong spines. Little prominences take the place of wings, and under the breast is a long beak for suction. Its movements, after leaving the egg, are very lively, and nearly as quick as some of the ants. - Agalena and Her Funnel-Web
Agalenidæ, as our funnel-web weavers are called, are long-legged, brown spiders, in which the head part of the cephalo-thorax is higher than the thoracic part, and distinctly separated from it by grooves or marks at the sides. The eyes are usually in two rows, but in Agalena the middle eyes of both rows are much higher than the others. The feet have three claws, and the posterior pairs of spinnerets are two-jointed and usually longer than the others. Agalena nævia, the technical name of our Common Grass Spider, abounds in all parts of the United States, but its very commonness is the principal reason why it is so little known except by the trained naturalist, its very familiarity leading the average man and woman to look upon it with contempt. - Lepismas at Work
Living in chinks and crannies of ranges in our homes, and occasionally in bookcases and closets where glutinous and sugary matters abound, but which has probably not been met with elsewhere, is a strange but beautiful little creature which, as far as can be determined, goes through the brief round of its existence without a name to distinguish it from its fellows. Few entomologists have given any special attention to its family relationships. The possession of certain bristle-like appendages which terminate the abdomen, and which are no doubt comparable with the abdominal legs of the Myriopods, or Thousand Legs, classes it with the Bristle-tails, or Lepismas. In general form, a likeness to the larva of Perla, a net-veined neuropterous insect, is manifest, or to the narrow-bodied species of Blattariæ, or Cockroaches, when divested of wings. - Seventeen-year Cicada
Adult, Chrysalis-Case, Pupa, Entrances to Burrows and Egg-Nests. In the winged state Cicada septendecim is of a black color, with transparent wings and wing-covers, the thick anterior edge and veins of which being orange-red. Near the tips of the latter there is a dusky zig-zag line which resembles in shape the letter W. The eyes, when living, are also red, while the legs are a dull orange, which color is conspicuous along the edges of the rings of the body. The wings expand from two and a half to three and a quarter inches. - Blossom of Cucurbita
Mother-Aphis and Her Army of Children on Tube Whilst engaged some few years ago in the study of the species that affects the blossoms of one of our gourds—the Cucurbita ovifera of botanists—certain phenomena were observed, which promised an easy and speedy solution of the problem. Gathered in compact masses, like companies of soldiery preparing for a foray, hundreds of aphides were seen, busily feeding, all over the flowers. There were old and young, not an indiscriminate mingling of ages and sizes, but an orderly arrangement of families, each family preceded by its own appropriate head. First came the very young of each family, only to be followed by those that were older, leaving the oldest of all to lead up the rear. - Dome-like House of Cicada
Longitudinal Section Showing Pupa in Two Positions. In localities where the soil is low and swampy, a remarkable chamber is built up by the larva, where the pupa may be found awaiting the time of its change to the winged state. These chambers were first noticed by S. S. Rathvon, at Lancaster, Pa., and are from four to six inches above the ground, and have a diameter of one inch and a quarter. When ready to emerge the insect backs down to an opening which is left in the side of the structure on a level with the surface of the ground, issues forth and undergoes its transformation in the usual manner. This peculiar habit of nest-building, which is so unlike what is customary with the Cicadidæ, or with Hemiptera in general, points to a high degree of intelligence among these insects, showing a remarkable ability to adapt themselves to environing circumstances. - Brachinus Pursued by an Enemy
His Curious and Unique Method of Defence. But it is not so much his odd shape as a most extraordinary property he possesses, which is singularly unique in the animal kingdom, that makes him an object of interest and curiosity. Deep down in his most marvellous body a fluid, highly volatile in its nature, is elaborated, which the little creature can retain or expel at his pleasure. It is only, however, when alarmed that he utilizes this fluid in small quantities in defense, but its effect is wonderful, for in coming into contact with the atmosphere it immediately volatilizes and explodes, looking very much like a discharge of powder from a miniature artillery. In consequence of this phenomenon the insect which produces it is popularly called the Bombardier Beetle. - Common Tiger Beetle
Larvæ in Burrows. Two Other Species in Background. They are true children of the earth. The eggs are laid in the earth, and in the earth the grubs are hatched, and in the earth they spend their days, and in the earth they prepare their shrouds, and, wrapped therein, sleep their pupa-sleep through the long, dreary winter, and with the returning warmth of spring crawl out of their earthy chambers to run and sport on earth, seldom using their new-formed wings to fly away from their beloved mother. - Nest of Lasius
Neuters About Their Work. It was on an occasion while exploring a neighboring thicket for the objects of his search, that he discovered, underneath a large flat stone which he had raised, a nest of a small red ant, which he took to be the Lasius flavus of the books. The ground was covered all over with pits, and divers communicating roads, and round about were hundreds of ants, larvæ in various stages of development, pupæ and eggs, and innumerous flocks of a white aphis, all of which were being tenderly cared for by a large army of thoughtful nurses. - American Luna Moth
Larva on Branch Below, and Cocoon on Twig Just Above. No insect affords a better proof of high art in nature, and of the transcendent beauty of the Creator’s thoughts, than the Luna moth, which is as preëminent above her fellows as her namesake, the fair empress of the sky, above the lesser lights that dominate the night. Her elegant robes of green, set off with trimmings of purple, and jewelled with diamonds, added to her queenly grace and personal charms, will always distinguish her from the profanum vulgus of the articulata. - House-builder Moth
Young in House, Winged Male, Young Suspended and Bag-like Female in Longitudinally-Split Cocoon. During the winter the curious weather-beaten bags of these worms may be observed hanging from the tree-branches, apparently without a trace of the odd-looking creatures that hung them there the autumn before. If a number of these bags are gathered and cut open at this time, many of them will be discovered to be empty, but the greater portion will be found partly full of yellow eggs. Those which do not contain eggs are male bags, and the empty chrysalis of the male will be found protruding from the lower extremity. Upon close examination these eggs will be observed to be obovate in form, soft and opaque, about one-twentieth of an inch in length, and surrounded by more or less fawn-colored silky down. If left to themselves, they hatch sometime in May, or early in June. - Neglecta Butterfly
Larva Feeding on Central Florets of Actinomeris, and Guarded by Ants. - Pseudargiolus Butterfly
Larva Feeding on Bud of Black Snakeroot, and Guarded by Ants. But now comes the most remarkable part of the larval history of Pseudargiolus. The whole upper part of the larva is covered with small, glassy, star-shaped processes, scarcely raised above the surrounding surface, from the centre of which spring short, filamentous bodies, bristling with feathery-looking tentacles, which the caterpillar has the power of protruding at will. It throws them out like the tentacles of Papilio or the horns of snails. More singular still is an opening upon the eleventh segment, placed transversely and surrounded by a raised cushion, about which the granulations that cover the body of the caterpillar are particularly dense. From the middle of this opening, which is shaped like a button-hole, issues, at the caterpillar’s will, a sort of transparent, hemispherical vesicle, from which is emitted a good-sized drop of fluid, which the animal is capable of reproducing when absorbed. - Violacea Butterfly
Larva, Protected by Ants, Feeding on Flower-buds of Dogwood. Why this species, and doubtless many others of its family, are thus favored, will soon be apparent. Ants may be seen wherever these larvæ may be found, ever ready to receive the honeyed secretion when it pleases the little creatures to eject it, but all the while exercising the closest vigilance lest some wary ichneumon may come along and deal a thrust of its ovipositor, which means misery and ultimate death to their helpless friends. So intent is the larva, with its head buried in the flower, upon its feeding, and so quietly and stealthily does the ichneumon approach its intended victim, that hardly a single individual would be left to tell the story of its existence were it not for the ants. The larvæ know their protectors, it would seem from their actions, and are able and willing to reward their services. The advantage is mutual, and the association friendly. No compelling by rough means on the one part is noticeable, and no reluctant yielding on the other. All demonstrations made by the ants are of the most gentle character. They caress, entreat, and as they drink in the sweet fluid, lifting their heads to prolong the swallowing, they manifest to the utmost their satisfaction and delight. It is amusing to see them lick away the last trace, caressing the back of the segment with their antennæ as they do so, as though they were coaxing for a little more. - Leaf-Cutter Bee at Work
Two Tunnels Being Filled With Leaf-Cells. You should see the little creature in her never-tiring work of preparing material for her nest. In and out among the roses she goes, examining each leaf with the most critical care, and only desisting from her labor when a suitable one has been chosen. She scans it over and over, and at last from a position on its upper or nether surface proceeds to cut a piece just fitted for her work, which, heavy as it seems, is seized between the legs and jaws and carried on swiftly-agitated wings to her burrow. Ten pieces or more, each differing in shape, are cut and borne away, which the ingenious insect tailor twists and folds, the one within the other, until is formed a funnel-like cone, whose end is narrower than its mouth. So perfectly joined are the parts, that even when dry they have been found to retain their form and integrity. A cake of honey and pollen, for the use of some yet unborn Leaf-cutter, is deposited within, and on this, in due time, is laid a single small egg. Nought now remains but to wall up the cell. A circle of leaf, of the size of the opening, is cut, and this is closely adjusted within the wall of rolled-up leaves. Sometimes as many as four pieces are thus utilized. A second cell, similarly built, is fitted to the first, and this is succeeded by eight or ten others. When all is completed, the eggs being laid and the cells all victualled, the hole of the shaft is closed with the earth that was thrown out, and so carefully, too, that not a trace of her doings remains to tell us the story. - Mourning-Cloak Butterfly
Larva Feeding on Willow Leaf, and Chrysalis Suspended from Twig. - Argynnis Aphrodite
- Antennæ of Goniodes
- Louse of the Cat
- Larva of Forficula
Larva of Forficula - Flea
- Butterfly
Butterfly - House spider
House spider ( Tegenaria domestica ): - a) Male (below, on an enlarged scale, eyes seen from the front). b) Female - Wreathed Weaving Spider
The Wreathed Weaving Spider ( Theridium redimitum), which occurs quite commonly, especially in gardens, becomes at most 5 mM. long; this fat little spider inhabits all kinds of low-growing herbs and shrubs; here it spins (fig. 1) a few leaves together by irregularly oriented threads, on which the small animals that make up its food stick to. The mother attaches the spherical, bluish egg sac to a leaf (fig. 2), keeps watch next to it until the young have hatched, and continues to do so for the few days of their cohabitation. These beautiful spiders are very variable in color and drawing. Transparent and almost white in their early youth, spotted black only on the back of the abdomen; towards the end of June, in July and in August, they have taken on a pale yellow color, some plain, others with a stain on the abdomen, which can be pure pinkish red or partially greenish, circular or oval. In addition, the rim and a line across the center of the head-breast, 6 pairs of round dots on the abdomen, the tip of the probes and the shins are black. grab. [As translated from the Dutch by online translator ] - Spiny Spider
In the specimen on the tree trunk, the spider field is seen protruding like a glittering black nodule in the middle of the transversely wrinkled underside of the bright blood-red abdomen, which, in addition to the 2 long, curved thorns at the rear corners, bears 2 pairs of shorter spines, which as the spots on the back are black. The front part of the body is hairy and glossy black. - Sauvage's Mason Spider
Sauvage's Mason Spider ( Cteniza fodiens ) in her home (this is greatly shortened and shown cut lengthways) .— a) Placement of eyes (greatly enlarged) .— b) Cover seen from the inside. -C) Eggs. ). - Tarantula
Tarantula ( Mygale ). - Garden spider
Garden spider ( Epeira diadema ): - 1) Female. 2) Male. 3) Spider pipe. 4) Spinnerets with the vent opening (top) and the “strainer” (bottom). 5) Jaw blades and eyes. 6) Left jaw blade, the ground member of which is cut longitudinally to show the venom gland as a whole. 7) Top of the foot lid. 3–7 strongly enlarged. - Long-armed Tarantel Scorpion
Long-armed Tarantel Scorpion ( Phrynus lunatus ) - a) Front part of the head bust enlarged to show the arrangement of the eyes. - Long-tailed thread scorpion
With the Scorpions ( Thelyphonidae)) the three last abdominal members are narrow and form a short tube, which ends in a long, multifaceted thread with a stink gland. The whip is relatively short and 8-membered. The jaw gauges are thick, stocky and scissor-shaped at the end. The depicted species inhabits Java and Timor and is 32 mm without the tail. - Field Scorpion
Field Scorpion ( Buthus occitanus ): - a) top viw.-b) ventral side of the abdomen prior to: the 1st section - Fight between an Ordinary Roller Spider and a Scorpion
The Roller Spider hides during the day in crevices of the loamy soil, in reed beds or under stones; at night she goes out for robbery and catches Insects. Tests on large specimens have shown that she also attacks large animals. A 52 mm Roller Spider. body length grabbed a 105 mm. long Scorpion at the root of the tail, bit it off and then devoured the whole animal. However, this victory was only due to chance, as it turned out, when a second Scorpio was brought to her and she attacked them from the front; this animal held its enemy with the claws and wounded it with the poison spine, to which it succumbed after a few convulsions. {trasnslated by Google] - Pigeon tick
Pigeon tick ( Argas reflexus ) seen from the back and from the ventral side, enlarged. The top is rusty yellow, the bottom is yellowish-white (as is the edge of the body and legs), unless the food channel is filled with a colored substance. - Beetle louse
1) Beetle louse ( Gamasus coleoptratorum ), greatly enlarged. 2) Beetle lice on the belly of a Scarab; actual size. - Harlequin Spider
Harlequin Spider ( Salticus scenicus ): a) Female, b) Male, both enlarged. c) Female, full size, d) Front part of the head bust, seen from behind to show eye placement (enlarged). - Tarantula Apuliae
Apulian Tarantula ( Tarantula Apuliae ): Male - Wandering Crab Spider
Wandering Crab Spider ( Thomisus viaticus ): in the background a specimen, which ejects a thread and another, which is suspended by the wind while hanging on a thread; in the foreground a male, b a female and c the eye-bearing part of the head-breast seen from behind. - Common Water Spider
The female lays eggs in a bubble, which, covered with a double layer of silk and deformed into a more or less flat bulb, is hung on a water plant or in the diver's bell and carefully monitored. - The common round-web spider, Epeira vulgaris of Hentz (Under Side)
The body is seen to be divided into two parts, connected only by the narrow joint, A, just behind the last pair of legs. The front half of the body, called the thorax, contains the stomach, the central part of the nervous system, and the large muscles which work the legs and jaws. The hinder half, the abdomen, contains the intestine, the breathing-organs, the principal circulating-vessels, the organs of reproduction, and the spinning-organs. Connected with the thorax are six pairs of limbs, four pairs of legs, B B B B, a pair of palpi, C, and a pair of mandibles, D. - Foot of Epeira Vulgaris
The legs are used chiefly for running, jumping, and climbing; but the front pair serve often as feelers, being held up before the body while the spider walks steadily enough on the other six. One or both of the hinder legs are used to guide the thread in spinning; the spider at the same time walking or climbing about with the other six or seven. The legs are seven-jointed; and on the terminal joint are three claws ( A, B, C) and various hair and spines. - Foot of Attus Mystaceus
In many spiders a brush of hairs takes the place of the middle claw, as in the jumping spiders. Spiders with these brushes on their feet can walk up a steep surface, or under a horizontal one, better than those who have three claws. - Upper Side of Epeira Vulgaris
The head is not separated from the rest of the body, as in insects, but forms, with the thorax, one piece. On the front of the head are eight eyes, Q, which are differently arranged in different spiders. On the abdomen are several pairs of dark smooth spots, which mark the ends of muscles extending downward through the abdomen. The markings of this spider are very complicated. The spot on the middle of the front of the abdomen is a very common one, and, in some spiders, extends the whole length of the body. The waved lines on each side are also common, and, in long-bodied spiders, often form two bright-colored stripes, or rows of spots, running nearly straight the whole length of the abdomen. - Section of Epeira Vulgaris
Section of a spider to show the arrangement of the internal organs: a, b, upper and under lips of the mouth; c, c, the œsophagus; d, f, upper and under muscles of the sucking-stomach; e, stomach; g, g, ligaments attached to diaphragm under the stomach; J, lower nervous ganglion; k, upper ganglion; l, l, nerves to the legs and palpi; m, branches of the stomach; n, poison-gland; o, intestine; p, heart; R, air-sac; S, ovary; t, air-tube; u, spinning-glands. The intestine, o, continues backward through the abdomen to the anus, in the little knob behind the spinnerete. The brown mass which surrounds the intestine, and fills the abdomen above it, is supposed to be a secreting-organ discharging into the intestine at several points. - Mygale Hentzii
MYGALIDÆ This family includes the largest known spiders. The body is usually very hairy and dark-colored. Most species have only four spinnerets; and one pair of these are long, and are turned up behind the abdomen. They have four air-sacs under the front of the abdomen, instead of two, as other spiders. Their mandibles are very large, and work up and down, instead of sidewise. The eyes are collected together on the front of the head. They live only in warm countries. Specimens from South America are exhibited in every natural history museum. The figure represents Mygale Hentzii, a species living in Arizona and Texas. - Dysderidæ
Dysdera Interrita A small family of spiders with only six eyes. They have also four breathing-holes in the front of the abdomen; but one pair leads to branched tubes instead of sacs. They are usually found under stones, with their legs drawn up close to their bodies, but can move very quickly when so inclined. Very few species are known, and none are common, in North America. At bottom of figure are the eyes as seen from in front. - The Locust
Sometimes millions of locusts come upon the wind, and devour every green thing, so that nothing is left for man or beast. - Locust
There has already been talk of the plague of the intestinal worms and their expulsion by Kusso; the higher standing insects occur in the highlands in large quantities only in the warmer season, but are driven back into the lower lying areas by the cold rains. The locusts , Amharic Anbasa, often cause great damage, as in the other Nile countries. - Diagram of a longitudinal section of a mosquito
It is well known that mosquitoes, when they bite, inject into the wound a minute quantity of poison. The effect of this varies according to the species of mosquito and also depends very much on the susceptibility of the individual. Soon after the bite a sensation of itching is noticed and often a wheal, or eminence, is produced on the skin, which may increase to a considerable swelling. The scratching which is induced may cause a secondary infection and thus lead to serious results. Some people seem to acquire an immunity against the poison. The purpose of this irritating fluid may be, as Reaumur suggested, to prevent the coagulation of the blood and thus not only to cause it to flow freely when the insect bites but to prevent its rapid coagulation in the stomach. Obviously, it is not developed as a protective fluid, and its presence subjects the group to the additional handicap of the vengeance of man. As to the origin of the poison, there has been little question, until recent years, that it was a secretion from the salivary glands. Macloskie (1888) showed that each gland is subdivided into three lobes, the middle of which differs from the others in having evenly granulated contents and staining more deeply than the others. - Normal position of the larvæ of Culex and Anopheles in the water
(a) Normal position of the larvæ of Culex and Anopheles in the water. Culex, left; Anopheles, middle; Culex pupa, right hand figure - A solpugid (Eremobates cinerea)
The Solpugida have long borne a bad reputation and, regarding virulence, have been classed with the scorpions. Among the effects of their bites have been described painful swelling, gangrene, loss of speech, cramps, delirium, unconsciousness and even death. Opposed to the numerous loose accounts of poisoning, there are a number of careful records by physicians and zoölogists which indicate clearly that the effects are local and though they may be severe, they show not the slightest symptom of direct poisoning.