Читать книгу A Text-book of Entomology онлайн

145 страница из 232


Fig. 128.—The walk of an orthopterous insect: series to be followed from right to left.—After Marey.


Fig. 129.—Beetle walking: series to be followed from left to right.—After Marey.


Fig. 130.—A, end of an adhesive hair of a weevil (Eupolus): i′, canal: i‴, its external opening at the end of the hair. B, end of a similar hair of Telephorus with drops of the secretion.—After Dewitz.

In the spherical last tarsal joint of Orthoptera (Fig. 109), which is without these tenent hairs, nearly all the cells of the hypodermis are converted into unicellular glands, each of which sends out a long, fine, chitinous tubule, which is connected with its fellows by very fine hairs and is continuous with the chitinous coat of the foot and opens through it. The sole of the foot is elastic and adapts itself to minute inequalities of surfaces, while the anterior of each tarsal joint is almost entirely occupied by an enlargement of the trachea, which acts on the elastic sole like an air chamber, rendering it tense and at the same time pliant. Dewitz adds that the apparatus situated on the front legs of the male of Stenobothrus sibiricus (Fig. 131) must have the function of causing the legs to adhere closely to the female by the excretion of an adhesive material. The hairs of the anterior tarsi of male Carabi also appear to possess the power of adhesion. In the house-fly the empodia seem to be only called into action when the insect has to walk on vertical smooth surfaces, as at other times they hang loosely down.


Правообладателям