XIX. LOWER FORMS OF INSECTS
In the previous chapter we have by the aid of illustrations glanced at the structure of insects, and noted some of the features which distinguished them from the crabs. Now we may take up some of the more important and interesting groups and observe how Nature has adapted them to their peculiar surroundings, and for the various offices they fill in the world.
Fig. 163.—The Peripatus.
In examining the various families of insects it is interesting to note that many produce certain results or accomplish certain ends in totally different ways. The highly organized spider by drawing silk from the spinning machines at the tip of its abdomen builds a web so strong that it sometimes captures birds. I recently found a living humming bird hard and fast in a web at the corner of my house, and released it just in time to save it from the spider. In the very lowest groups of insects we find the Peripatus (Fig. 163), which spins a weblike structure from glands in its mouth, ejecting the secretion at the insect it wishes to catch. This appears to crystallize in the air and hold the victim despite its struggles. The Peripatus, found in Africa and Central America, resembles a large caterpillar, having a long, soft, cylindrical body with many pairs of feet, sometimes sixty-six; the latter are soft and armed with claws. It is remarkable for the possession of many legs, but is outdone in this respect by the millipeds, as some (Fig. 164) have as many as two hundred. These insects, when placed upon their backs, present an extraordinary appearance, clawing the air; yet they are among the slowest of walkers. They live in the ground, are harmless, feed on vegetable matter, and deposit their eggs in the earth, which hatch out little creatures at first resembling crickets.
Fig. 164.—A milliped.
