mind a deep fenfe of that wifdom, which is manifefted in fuch
various ways through the whole works o f creation.
The delicate tranfparent wings o f many infefts are covered and
protected by elytra, or cafes, which alfo in fome meafure aft as
wings.— Thefe
“— — A two-fold apparatus fhare,
Natives of earth, and habitants o f air;
Like warriors ftride, opprefs’d with finning mail,
But furl’d beneath their filken pennons v e il:
Deceiv’d, our fellow reptile we adfnire,
His bright endorfement, and compaft attire;
When lo ! the latent fprings of motion play,
And riling lids difclofe the rich inlay;
The tiflued wing it’s folded membrane frees,
And with blithe quavers fans the gathering breeze*
The exterior cafes are harder and more opake than the under
ones; they are generally highly polilhed, and often enriched
with various colours, adorned with ornamental {lutings, and
ftudded with brilliants. All thefe' ornaments are united in the
curculio imperialis t (or diamond beetle), one of the moft
refplendent creatures in nature; the head, the wings, the legs,
&c. are curioufly befet with fcales of a moft brilliant view, outvying
the ruby, faphire, and emerald. It is faid, that in the
Brazils, from whence they come, it is almoft iropoflible to look at
them
* Brooke’s Ünivferfal Beauty*
f Fabricius Spec* Inf* 184» 129.— Drury* Inf* 2 l^ab. 33, Fig. 1.
them on a funny, day, when they are flying in little {warms, Co
.great is the glowing glory of their heightened colours.
'
The ftrength and hardnefs o f the elytra are admirably adapted
to the various purpofes o f the infects to which they are appropriated,
and at the fame time that they protect the tender win o-,
they ferve as a fhield to the body; the ribs, and other prominencies,
on many of them, contribute to leffen the friction, and
diminifh the preflure to which they are often expofed.
In moft o f thefe infe£ts the under wing is longer and larger
than the exterior one, fo that it is obliged to be bent and folded
up, in orderto lie under the elytra; for this purpofe they are
furnifhed with ftrong mufcles, and proper articulations, to difplay
-and conceal them at pleafure. Fig. 2, Plate XIV. reprefents the
wing o f the earwig * when unfolded, and of it’s natural fize.
Fig. 1 reprefents it as exhibited by the microfcope. We fhall
defcribe this more particularly hereafter.
We have already treated o f thofe decided differences in the
wings of infefts, which aflift the natural hiftorian in ranging
them into clafles ; fo infinite are the varieties to be obferved in
this curious organ, that only to enumerate them would occupy
many pages; we muft, therefore, content ourfelves with a few
general remarks, leaving it.to fome -future writer to difplay the
wonders that are manifefted in their difpofition, ftrufture, motions,
and ornaments. 'In general, the wings are.-délicate and
yet ftrong, furnifhed with ribs, or nerves, curioufly inofculated
Y.y together,
* Forficula auricularia, Lin. Svft, Nat. vol 1, part 2, 686-1.