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Show 54 INSECTA. nish to the art of dyeing. Further resea1·ches on these Insects ~i.ght eventuate in the discovery of others which would prove of stmllar utility. Geoffroy divides the Gallinsecta into two genera, Cltermea and Coccus. Reaumur designates the latter by the name of Progall-Jn. aecte. c. adonidum, L. Body almost rose-coloured and covered with a white farinaceous dust; wings and caudal setce of the tail white· sides of the female furnished with appendages, the two last 0~ which are the longest and form a sort of tail. She envelopes her ova with a white and cottony substanc~ that serves for a nest. Naturalized iu our green-houses where It does much injury. C. cacti, L.; Thier de Menouv., De la Cult. du Nop., et de la Cochen. Female of a deep brown, covered with white dust, flat beneath, convex above and bordered; the annuli are tolerably distinct, but become obliterated at the epoch of production. The male is of a deep red, with white wings. This Insect is cultivated at Mexico, on a species of Opuntia, and is distinguished by the name of Mesteque, fine cochineal, from another very analogous, but smaller and more cottony, or the Sylvestre. It is celebrated for the crimson dye it furnishes, which, by being combined with the solution of tin in nitro-mu· riatic acid, produces a scarlet. It is also from this Insect that we obtain carmine. It is one of the richest productions of Mexico( I). C. polonicus, L.; Breyn., E, iv, c, 1731; Frisch, Insect., II, 5, p. 6. Female, russet-brown, resembling a granule, and attached to the roots of the Scleranthua perennia, and some other plants. Previous to the introduction of cochineal, this Insect constituted an important objf'ct of commerce. The colour it produces is of the same tint, and almost as beautiful as that of the preceding species. It is still employed in Germany and Russia. C. ilicis, L.; Reaum., Insect., IV, v. The female, both in size and shape, like a pea. It is of a dark violet ot• prune-colour, covered with white dust. Found on a species of Oak in Provence, Languedoc, and southern parts of Europe. It is used in dyeing crimson, particularly in the Levant and Barbary. Scarlet was also obtained from it previous to the general introduc- ( 1) See Humboldt's Travels. HEMIPTERA. 55 tion of the cochineal fr·om Mexico. It is still used in medicine( I). A certain species that inhabits the East Indies forms gum lac. Another enters into the composition of a peculiar bougie employed in China(2). A male Coccus from Java, remarkable for its antennce, which are composed of about twenty-two joints, granose, and densely piJose, and that has two tolerably thick and almost coriaceous wings, is the type of the genus MoNOPHLEBA of Leach. ORDER VIII. NEUROPTERA(3). The N europtera are distinguished from · the three preceding orders by their two upper wings, which are membranous, generally naked, diaphanous, and similar to the under ones in texture and properties. They are distinguished from the eleventh and twelfth by the number of these organs, as well as by their mouth, fitted for mastication or furnished with mandibles and true maxillre, or in other words organized as usual, a character which also removes (1) For the other species, see Reaumur, L1nnreus, Geoffroy, De Geer, Latreille and Olivier, Encyc. Method., article Oocltenille. For the c. cacti, see a Literary Gazette printed at Mexico, 5th February 1794·. M. Bory St Vincent-Annal. ~es Sc.' Nat., VIII, lOS-informs us that experiments hacl been made at ~1alaga, m Spam, with a view to introduce the cultivation of this latter species, and that they succeeded. This valuable Insect might be easily and successfully cultivated in our southern states. The climate :md soil are admirably adapted both to the propagation and health of the animal, and that of the plant on which it feeds. .!J.m. Ed. (2) Doctor Virey, Journ. Compl6mcnt. des Sc. Med., X, has published some new observations respecting this production. (3) The Odonata :md most of the Synistata of Fabricius. |