Page:Jardine Naturalist's library Entomology.djvu/215

Rh project beyond the extremity of the body, producing the appearance of a tail, as may be seen in Gryllus, Gryllotalpa, &c. This order is one of those in which the mouth is said to be perfect—that is, having all the constituent or essential parts that exist in the most typical tribes fully developed. Not only is this the case, but they are likewise of a hard or osseous consistency, apparently fitted for all the functions they perform among the coleoptera, and shewing no tendency to become obsolete, as is the case with those orders at the opposite extremity of the series. The description, therefore, that has been already given of the oral organs of the coleoptera, will serve to convey a general notion of their appearance in this order, and supersede the necessity of adding much to what has been already said. The upper lip, (Plate VI. fig. 2, d, and fig. 3,) in general, is very conspicuous, and, as in all other orders, very variable in its shape. It is somewhat peculiar in orthopterous insects, by being frequently unequal on the surface, occasionally ciliated, or provided with tufts of pretty long hair, and armed with teeth on its anterior edge.

As might have been expected in insects, many of which have long attracted observation by their extensive depredations on vegetable substances, the mandibles are large, powerful, and efficient. They present the ordinary forms, being more or less triangular, arched on the outer side, and armed with teeth on the inner edge. If Marcel de Serres'