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. Thus some have what is called a sting
in the mouth, which is a kind of compound instrument that combines
in itself the character of a tongue and of lips. In others that have
no such instrument in front there is a part inside the mouth that
answers the same sensory purposes. Immediately after the mouth comes
the intestine, which is never wanting in any insect. This runs in a
straight line and without further complication to the vent;
occasionally, however, it has a spiral coil. There are, moreover, some
insects in which a stomach succeeds to the mouth, and is itself
succeeded by a convoluted intestine, so that the larger and more
voracious insects may be enabled to take in a more abundant supply
of food. More curious than any are the Cicadae. For here the mouth and
the tongue are united so as to form a single part, through which, as
through a root, the insect sucks up the fluids on which it lives.
Insects are always small eaters, not so much because of their
diminutive size as because of their cold temperament. For it is heat
which requires sustenance; just as it is heat which speedily
concocts it. But cold requires no sustenance. In no insects is this so
conspicuous as in these Cicadae. For they find enough to live on in
the moisture which is deposited from the air. So also do the
Ephemera that are found about the Black sea. But while these latter
only live for a single day, the Cicadae subsist on such food for
several days, though still not many
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