PMETON, the Tropic bird, in natural history, a genus of birds of the order An. sexes. Generic character : bill sharp-edg ed and pointed ; compressed, and slight ly sloping down ; nostrils pervious and oblong ; tour toes all webbed together ; tail wedge-formed, the two middle fea thers extending far beyond others. There are three species : P. wthereus, the com mon tropic bird, is of the size of a wi geon, and the two middle feathers of the tail measure a foot and a half at least. These birds are always found within, or at least very near, the tropies. They fre quently soar to a prodigious height, but generally are near the surface of the wa ter, watching the movements of the flying fish, whose escape from the pursuit of the shark, porpoise, and other enemies be neath, is attended with destruction from the frigate, or man of war bird, the peli can, and tropic bird above. They OCCa• sionally repose upon the backs of the drowsy tortoises, as the latter float upon the water, and in these circumstances are taken with the greatest ease. They build in the woods, and will perch on trees. They shed their long feathers every year, and the natives of the Sandwich islands, where the tropic birds abound, pick them up in great abundance in various parts, and consider them as an elegant material in their curious and elaborate dresses, particularly in their mourning suits. These birds are not admired for food.
PlIALANGIUM, in natural history, a genus of insects of the order Aptera. Mouth with horny mandibles, the second joint with a sharp, moveable, cheliferous tooth ; feelers filiform ; no antenna: ; two eyes on the crown, and two at the sides ; eight legs ; abdomen generally rounded. Of all the insects in this order, few are more repulsive than those of the Phalan glum genus, of which there are about twenty species. Some of them are armed with weapons resembling those of the spider genus, but operating with greater malignity. They differ in size, some be
ing very minute, while others are equal in magnitude to the larger kind of spiders. This genus is divided into two sections. A. Mouth with a conic, tubular sucker. B, Mouth without a sucker. The former is sub-divided into sub-sections, viz. a. Four-feelers, the upper ones chelate. b. Two feelers. In the latter, there are two sub-sections, viz. a. Feelers projecting incurved. b. Feelers thick, spinous, and furnished with a claw at the tip. P. reni forme, feelers serrate ; fore-legs very long and filiform ; thorax kidney.shaped : this is one of the largest of the genus : it is a native of the hotter regions of the globe, being found in Africa and South America. This insect is of a deep chesnut brown colour, with a yellowish cast on the abdo men. All the insects of this genus, in their various stages of transformation, prey on the smaller insects and worms ; the lar va and pupa are active, eight-footed, and resemble the perfect insect. To this genus belong to the well-known insects, called daddy long legs, shepherd or harvest spi ders, which, notwithstanding their com mon name, differ very considerably from spiders properly so named. The most common insect of this kind, in England, is the P. opilio of Linnwus, which, during the autumn, may be observed in gardens, about walls, &c.: it is remarkable for its plump but flattish orbicular body, and its long and slender legs, which are general ly so carried, that the body appears sus pended or elevated to a considerable height above the surface on which the animal rests. P. cancroides : abdomen obovate, depressed, ferruginous chelze, or claws, oblong, hairy. This species dif fers considerably in size. It inhabits Eu rope, and is said to be the little insect which gets into their legs, and under the skin, causing a painful itching.