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The Solar System © 2016, 2013, 2011 Cengage Learning
Ninth Edition
WCN: 02-200-203
Michael A. Seeds and Dana E. Backman
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Printer Number: 01 Print Year: 2014
Dedication
In memory of Edward & Antonette Backman and Emery & Helen Seeds
Brief Contents
Part 1: Exploring the Sky
CHAPTER 1 HERE AND NOW 1
CHAPTER 2 A USER’S GUIDE TO THE SKY 11
CHAPTER 3 MOON PHASES AND ECLIPSES 33
CHAPTER 4 ORIGINS OF MODERN ASTRONOMY 52
CHAPTER 5 GRAVITY 79
CHAPTER 6 LIGHT AND TELESCOPES 103
Part 2: The Stars

CHAPTER 7 ATOMS AND SPECTRA 130
CHAPTER 8 THE SUN 147
CHAPTER 9 PERSPECTIVE: ORIGINS 175
Part 3: The Solar System

CHAPTER 10 ORIGIN OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND EXTRASOLAR PLANETS 195
CHAPTER 11 EARTH: THE ACTIVE PLANET 224
CHAPTER 12 THE MOON AND MERCURY: COMPARING AIRLESS WORLDS 243
CHAPTER 13 VENUS AND MARS 266
CHAPTER 14 JUPITER AND SATURN 296
CHAPTER 15 URANUS, NEPTUNE, AND THE KUIPER BELT 328
CHAPTER 16 METEORITES, ASTEROIDS, AND COMETS 353
Part 4: Life
CHAPTER 17 ASTROBIOLOGY: LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS 383
iv
Contents
Part 1: Exploring the Sky
How Do We Know?
Chapter 1 | Here and Now 1
1-1 WHERE ARE YOU? 2 1-1 The Scientific Method 8
1-2 WHEN IS NOW? 6 2-1 Scientific Models 20
1-3 WHY STUDY ASTRONOMY? 7
2-2 Pseudoscience 26
2-3 Evidence as the Foundation of Science 28
Chapter 2 | A User’s Guide to the Sky 11
2-1 STARS AND CONSTELLATIONS 12 2-4 Scientific Arguments 29
2-2 THE SKY AND CELESTIAL MOTIONS 17 3-1 Scientific Imagination 40
2-3 SUN AND PLANETS 21 4-1 Scientific Revolutions 64
2-4 ASTRONOMICAL INFLUENCES ON
EARTH’S CLIMATE 26 4-2 Hypotheses, Theories, and Laws 69
5-1 Cause and Effect 85
Chapter 3 | Moon Phases and Eclipses 33 5-2 Testing a Hypothesis by Prediction 94
3-1 THE CHANGEABLE MOON 34 6-1 Resolution and Precision 112
3-2 LUNAR ECLIPSES 34
3-3 SOLAR ECLIPSES 39
3-4 PREDICTING ECLIPSES 45
Chapter 4 | Origins of Modern Astronomy 52 Concept Art Portfolios

4-1 ROOTS OF ASTRONOMY 53
4-2 THE COPERNICAN REVOLUTION 59 The Sky Around You 18–19
4-3 TYCHO, KEPLER, AND PLANETARY MOTION 65 The Cycle of the Seasons 24–25
4-4 GALILEO FINDS CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE 71
4-5 NINETY-NINE YEARS THAT REVOLUTIONIZED The Phases of the Moon 36–37
ASTRONOMY 75
An Ancient Model of the Universe 60–61
Chapter 5 | Gravity 79 Orbits 88–89

5-1 GALILEO’S AND NEWTON’S TWO NEW Modern Optical Telescopes 114–115
SCIENCES 80
5-2 ORBITAL MOTION AND TIDES 86
5-3 EINSTEIN AND RELATIVITY 95
Focus on Fundamentals 1 | Mass 84
Chapter 6 | Light and Telescopes 103 Focus on Fundamentals 2 | Energy 91
6-1 RADIATION: INFORMATION FROM SPACE 104
6-2 TELESCOPES 107
6-3 OBSERVATORIES ON EARTH: OPTICAL
AND RADIO 112
6-4 AIRBORNE AND SPACE OBSERVATORIES 119
6-5 ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS
AND TECHNIQUES 121
6-6 NON-ELECTROMAGNETIC ASTRONOMY 126
Part 2: The Stars
How Do We Know?
Chapter 7 | Atoms and Spectra 130
7-1 ATOMS 131 7-1 Quantum Mechanics 133
7-2 INTERACTIONS OF LIGHT AND MATTER 134 8-1 Confirmation and Consolidation 161
7-3 UNDERSTANDING SPECTRA 138 8-2 Scientific Confidence 170
9-1 Mathematical Models 180
Chapter 8 | The Sun 147
9-2 Science: A System of Knowledge 190
8-1 THE SOLAR PHOTOSPHERE AND ATMOSPHERE 148
8-2 SOLAR ACTIVITY 156 9-3 Theories and Proof 191
8-3 NUCLEAR FUSION IN THE SUN 166
Chapter 9 | Perspective: Origins 175

9-1 THE BIRTH OF STARS 176
9-2 THE DEATHS OF STARS 177
9-3 OUR HOME GALAXY 184
Concept Art Portfolios
9-4 THE UNIVERSE OF GALAXIES 185
Atomic Spectra 140–141
9-5 THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE 188
9-6 THE STORY OF MATTER 190 Sunspots and the Solar Magnetic Cycle 158–159
Solar Activity and the Sun–Earth Connection 162–163
Star Formation in the Orion Nebula 178–179
Formation of Planetary Nebulae and White Dwarfs 182–183
Galaxy Classification 186–187
Celestial Profile 1 | The Sun 148
Focus on Fundamentals 3 | Temperature, Heat, and Thermal

Energy 136
vi CONTENTS
Part 3: The Solar System
How Do We Know?
Chapter 10 | Origin of the Solar System and Extrasolar
Planets 195 10-1 Two Kinds of Hypotheses: Catastrophic and
Evolutionary 205
10-1 A SURVEY OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM 196
10-2 THE GREAT CHAIN OF ORIGINS 203 10-2 Scientists: Courteous Skeptics 217
10-3 BUILDING PLANETS 206 11-1 Understanding Planets: Follow the Energy 227
10-4 PLANETS ORBITING OTHER STARS 213 11-2 Studying an Unseen World 230
12-1 How Hypotheses and Theories Unify the Details 248
Chapter 11 | Earth: The Active Planet 224
13-1 Data Manipulation 270
11-1 A TRAVEL GUIDE TO THE TERRESTRIAL
PLANETS 225 14-1 Who Pays for Science? 323
11-2 EARTH AS A PLANET 226
15-1 Scientific Discoveries 330
11-3 THE SOLID EARTH 229
11-4 EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE 233 16-1 Selection Effects 356
Chapter 12 | The Moon and Mercury: Comparing

Airless Worlds 243
12-1 THE MOON 244 Concept Art Portfolios
12-2 MERCURY 257
Terrestrial and Jovian Planets 198–199
Chapter 13 | Venus and Mars 266
The Active Earth 234–235
13-1 VENUS 267
13-2 MARS 278 Impact Cratering 246–247
13-3 MARS’S MOONS 289
Volcanoes 272–273
Chapter 14 | Jupiter and Saturn 296 When Good Planets Go Bad 290–291
14-1 A TRAVEL GUIDE TO THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM 297 Jupiter’s Atmosphere 302–303
14-2 JUPITER 298
14-3 JUPITER’S MOONS AND RINGS 304 The Ice Rings of Saturn 320–321
14-4 SATURN 312
Uranus’s and Neptune’s Rings 338–339
14-5 SATURN’S MOONS AND RINGS 315
Observations of Asteroids 362–363
Chapter 15 | Uranus, Neptune, and the Kuiper Belt 328 Observations of Comets 368–369
15-1 URANUS 329
15-2 NEPTUNE 342
15-3 PLUTO AND THE KUIPER BELT 346
Chapter 16 | Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets 353 Celestial Profile 2 | Earth 228
16-1 METEORITES, METEORS, AND METEOROIDS 354 Celestial Profile 3 | The Moon 256
16-2 ASTEROIDS 360 Celestial Profile 4 | Mercury 256
16-3 COMETS 367 Celestial Profile 5 | Venus 277
16-4 ASTEROID AND COMET IMPACTS 374 Celestial Profile 6 | Mars 277
Celestial Profile 7 | Jupiter 313
Celestial Profile 8 | Saturn 313
Celestial Profile 9 | Uranus 341
Celestial Profile 10 | Neptune 341
CONTENTS vii
Part 4: Life
How Do We Know?
Chapter 17 | Astrobiology: Life on Other Worlds 383
17-1 THE NATURE OF LIFE 384 17-1 The Nature of Scientific Explanation 385
17-2 LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE 388 17-2 UFOs and Space Aliens 397
17-3 INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE 396 17-3 The Copernican Principle 400
Concept Art Portfolios

DNA: The Code of Life 386–387
AFTERWORD A-1
APPENDIX A UNITS AND ASTRONOMICAL DATA A-3
APPENDIX B OBSERVING THE SKY A-11
GLOSSARY G-1
ANSWERS TO EVEN-NUMBERED PROBLEMS AN-1
INDEX I-1
viii CONTENTS
A Note to Students
From Dana and Mike
We are excited that you are taking an is the evidence, and how do we use it? memorize. Rather, this book is organized
astronomy course and using our book. For instance, how can anyone know there to show you how scientists use evidence
You are going to see and learn about was a big bang? In today’s world, you and theory to create logical arguments
some amazing things, from the icy rings need to think carefully about the things that explain how nature works. Look at
of Saturn to monster black holes. We are so-called experts say. You should demand the list of special features that follows
proud to be your guides as you explore. evidence, not just explanations. Scientists this note. Those features were carefully
We have developed this book to have a special way of knowing based on designed to help you understand astron-
help you expand your knowledge of evidence that makes scientific knowledge omy as evidence and theory. Once you
astronomy, from recognizing the moon much more powerful than just opinion, see science as logical arguments, you hold
and a few stars in the evening sky, to a policy, marketing, or public relations. It the key to the universe.
deeper understanding of the extent, is the human race’s best understanding of
power, and diversity of the universe. You nature. To comprehend the world around Don’t Be Humble
will meet worlds where it rains methane, you, you need to understand how science As teachers, our quest is simple. We
stars so dense their atoms are crushed, works. Throughout this book, you will want you to understand your place in
colliding galaxies that are ripping each find boxes called How Do We Know? They the universe—your location not just in
other apart, and a universe that is will help you understand how scientists space but in the unfolding history of the
expanding faster and faster. use the methods of science to know what physical universe. We want you not only
the universe is like. to know where you are and what you are
Two Goals in the universe but also to understand
This book is designed to help you answer Expect to Be Astonished how scientists know. By the end of this
two important questions: One reason astronomy is exciting is that book, we want you to know that the
astronomers discover new things every universe is very big but that it is de-
• What are we? day. Astronomers expect to be aston- scribed and governed by a small set of
• How do we know? ished. You can share in the excitement rules and that we humans have found a
By the question “What are we?” we because we have worked hard to include way to figure out the rules—a method
mean: How do we fit into the universe new images, new discoveries, and new called science.
and its history? The atoms you are made insights that will take you, in an intro- To appreciate your role in this
of had their first birthday in the big ductory course, to the frontier of human beautiful universe, you need to learn
bang when the universe began, but those knowledge. Huge telescopes on remote more than just the facts of astronomy.
atoms were cooked and remade inside mountaintops and in space provide a You have to understand what we are and
stars, and now they are inside you. daily dose of excitement that goes far how we know. Every page of this book
Where will they be in a billion years? beyond entertainment. These new dis- reflects that ideal.
Astronomy is the only course on campus coveries in astronomy are exciting
that can tell you that story, and it is a because they are about us. They tell us Dana Backman
story that everyone should know. more and more about what we are. dbackman@sofia.usra.edu
By the question “How do we know?” As you read this book, notice that it Mike Seeds
we mean: How does science work? What is not organized as lists of facts for you to mseeds@fandm.edu
A NOTE TO STUDENTS ix
Key Content and Pedagogical Changes • Doing Science boxes at the end of most chapter sections
begin with questions designed to put students into the role
for the Ninth Edition of scientists considering how best to proceed as they
investigate the cosmos. These questions serve a second
• Every chapter has been revised and updated with new text purpose as a further review of how we know what we know.
and images regarding observatories, the heliopause, star- Many of the Doing Science boxes end with a second
forming regions, supernova remnants, extrasolar planets, question that points the student-as-scientist in a direction
exploration of the surfaces of Mercury and Mars, large for investigation.
meteor impacts, asteroids and dwarf planets, comet nuclei, • Celestial Profiles of objects in our solar system directly
and extremophile habitats. compare and contrast planets with each other. This is the
• Some chapters have been reorganized and rewritten to better way planetary scientists understand the planets, not as
present their topics, especially Chapter 10 (“Origin of the isolated, unrelated bodies but as siblings with noticeable
Solar System and Extrasolar Planets”) and Chapter 13 differences but many characteristics and a family history in
(“Venus and Mars”). common.
• Other chapters and sections with less substantial but still • End-of-chapter Review Questions are designed to help
significant revisions are Chapter 7 (“Atoms and Spectra”) students review and test their understanding of the
and Chapter 15, Section 1 (“Uranus”). material.
• The End-of-Chapter Review Questions, Discussion • End-of-chapter Discussion Questions go beyond the text and
Questions, quantitative Problems, and Learning-to-Look invite students to think critically and creatively about
questions have been substantially expanded, rewritten, and scientific questions.
revised. • End-of-chapter Problems promote quantitative understanding
• All numerical values in the text and tables were checked of the text contents.
and in some cases updated, figure credits were thoroughly
checked and in many cases revised, and the style for figure
wavelength labels was made uniform.
• The features known as Scientific Arguments in earlier Course Solutions That Fit Your
editions were rewritten and renamed Doing Science. Teaching Goals and Your Students’
Learning Needs
Special Features
MindTap Astronomy for Seeds/Backman, Foundations of
Astronomy, can easily be adapted for use with Seeds/Backman,
• What Are We? items are short summaries at the end of Stars and Galaxies. MindTap Astronomy is well beyond an
each chapter to help students see how they fit into the
eBook, a homework solution or digital supplement, a resource
cosmos.
center website, a course delivery platform or a Learning
• How Do We Know? items are short boxes that help students
Management System.
understand how science works. For example, the How Do
More than 70% of students surveyed said it was unlike any-
We Know? boxes discuss the difference between a hypothesis
thing they have seen before. MindTap is a new personal learning
and a theory, the use of statistical evidence, the construc-
experience that combines all your digital assets—readings, mul-
tion of scientific models, and so on.
timedia, activities, and assessments—into a singular learning
• Concept Art Portfolios cover topics that are strongly graphic
path to improve student outcomes.
and provide an opportunity for students to create their own
MindTap Astronomy also features:
understanding and share in the satisfaction that scientists
feel as they uncover the secrets of nature. Color and • CengageNOWTM is an integrated, online
numerical keys in the introduction to the portfolios guide learning system that gives students 24/7 access to Study
you to the main concepts. Tools and assignments. Working at their own pace, or
• Guideposts on the opening page of each chapter help within a schedule set up by their instructor, students can
students see the organization of the book. The Guidepost now do homework, read textbooks, take quizzes and
connects the chapter with the preceding and following exams, and track their grades in an easy-to-use, personal-
chapters and provides a short list of important questions as ized online environment that they manage to best suit
guides to the objectives of the chapter. their needs.
x A NOTE TO STUDENTS
Cognero Instructor Companion Site
Cengage Learning Testing Powered by Cognero is a flexible, Everything you need for your course in one place! This collection
online system that allows you to: of book-specific lecture and class tools is available online via
• author, edit, and manage test bank content from multiple www.cengage.com/login. Access and download PowerPoint pre-
Cengage Learning solutions sentations, images, instructor’s manual, videos, and more.
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you want
Acknowledgments
Over the years, we have had the guidance of a great many people project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
who care about astronomy and teaching. We would like to thank The SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France,
all of the students and teachers who have contributed to this was also used in preparation of this text.
book. They helped shape the book through their comments and It has been a great pleasure to work with our Cengage
suggestions. production team, Margaret Pinette, Victor Luu, Cate Barr,
Many observatories, research institutes, laboratories, and Alison Eigel Zade, and Aileen Berg, plus Michelle Dellinger of
individual astronomers have supplied figures and diagrams for Integra and Sofia Priya Dharshini of PreMediaGlobal. Special
this edition. They are listed on the credits page, and we would thanks for help with this edition go to Professor Michele
like to thank them specifically for their generosity. Montgomery of the University of Central Florida, who did a
We are happy to acknowledge the use of images and data large fraction of the work needed to overhaul completely the
from a number of important programs. In preparing materials end-of-chapter review questions and quantitative problems, and
for this book we used NASA’s Sky View facility located at NASA to Professor Gene Byrd of the University of Alabama, who
Goddard Space Flight Center. We have used atlas images and worked effectively to review the book’s page proofs.
mosaics obtained as part of the Two Micron All Sky Survey Most of all, we would like to thank our families for putting
(2MASS), a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and up with “the books.” They know all too well that textbooks are
the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/California Institute made of time.
of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Dana Backman
Administration and the National Science Foundation. A number Mike Seeds
of solar images are used courtesy of the SOHO consortium, a
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
About the Authors
Dana Backman taught in the physics and astronomy department at Franklin
and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from 1991 until 2003.
He invented and taught a course titled “Life in the Universe” in F&M’s
interdisciplinary Foundations program. Dana now teaches introductory solar
system astronomy at Santa Clara University and introductory astronomy,
astrobiology, and cosmology courses in Stanford University’s Continuing
Studies Program. His research interests focus on infrared observations of
planet formation, models of debris disks around nearby stars, and evolution
of the solar system’s Kuiper belt. Dana is employed by the SETI Institute in
Courtesy of March Dubroff
Mountain View, California, as director of education and public outreach for

SOFIA (the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) at NASA’s
Ames Research Center. Dana is coauthor with Mike Seeds of Horizons:
Exploring the Universe, 12th edition (2012); Universe: Solar Systems, Stars,
and Galaxies, 7th edition (2012); Stars and Galaxies, 8th edition (2013);
The Solar System, 8th edition (2013); and ASTRO, 2nd edition (2013), all
published by Cengage.
Mike Seeds has been a professor of physics and astronomy at Franklin

and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from 1970 until his
retirement in 2001. In 1989 he received F&M College’s Lindback Award for
Distinguished Teaching. Mike’s love for the history of astronomy led him to
create upper-level courses on archaeoastronomy and on the Copernican
Revolution (“Changing Concepts of the Universe”). His research interests
focus on variable stars and automation of astronomical telescopes. Mike
is coauthor with Dana Backman of Horizons: Exploring the Universe,
12th edition (2012); Universe: Solar Systems, Stars, and Galaxies,
7th edition (2012); Stars and Galaxies, 8th edition (2013); The Solar
System, 8th edition (2013); and ASTRO, 2nd edition (2013), all published
by Cengage. He was senior consultant for creation of the 20-episode
telecourse accompanying his book Horizons: Exploring the Universe.
Courtesy of Kris Koenig
xii ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Here and Now
1
Guidepost As you study astronomy, you will learn about This chapter is a jumping-off point for your exploration of
yourself. You are a planet-walker, and this chapter will give deep space and deep time. The next chapter continues your
you a preview of what that means. The planet you live on journey by looking at the night sky as seen from Earth. As
whirls around a star that moves through a Universe filled with you study astronomy, you will see how science gives you a
other stars and galaxies which are all results of billions of way to know how nature works. Later chapters will provide
years of history and evolution. You owe it to yourself to know more specific insights into how scientists study and under-
where you are in the Universe, and when you are in its stand nature.
history, because those are important steps toward knowing
what you are.
In this chapter, you will consider three important questions
about astronomy:
▶ Where is Earth in the Universe?
▶ How does human history fit into the history of the The longest journey begins with a single step.
Universe? —L AOZ I
▶ Why study astronomy?
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/GOES
Visual
Visual-wavelength image {AA} of Earth from the GOES (Geostationary

Operational Environment Satellite) East weather satellite stationed over
the central Atlantic Ocean. This image, which was made during the
month of January, shows a coating of snow over Canada and the
northern part of the United States, as well as lush vegetation in the
Amazon Basin of South America.
1-1 Where Are You?
To find your place among the stars, you can take a cosmic
zoom—a ride out through the Universe to preview the kinds of
objects you are about to study.
Begin with something familiar. Figure 1-1 shows an area about
50 feet across on a college campus including a person, a sidewalk,
and a few trees, which are all objects with sizes you can understand.
Each successive picture in this “zoom” will show you a region of the
Universe that is 100 times wider than the preceding picture. That
is, each step will widen your field of view, which is the region you
can see in the image, by a factor of 100.
Widening your field of view by a factor of 100 allows you
to see an area 1 mile in diameter in the next image (Figure 1-2).
People, trees, and sidewalks have become too small to discern,
but now you can view an entire college campus plus surround-
ing streets and houses. The dimensions of houses and streets are
familiar; this is still the world you know.
USGS
Before leaving this familiar territory, you need to change the
units you use to measure sizes. All scientists, including astronomers,
use the metric system of units because it is well understood world-
▲ Figure 1-2 This box ■ represents the relative size of the previous figure.
wide and, more important, because it simplifies calculations. If you
are not already familiar with the metric system, or if you need a at the lower right. At this scale, you can see some of the natural
review, study Appendix A (pages A-3–A-10) before reading on. features of Earth’s surface. The Allegheny Mountains of south-
In metric units, the image in Figure 1-1 is about 16 meters ern Pennsylvania cross the image at the upper left, and the
across, and the 1-mile diameter of Figure 1-2 equals about Susquehanna River flows southeast into Chesapeake Bay. What
1.6 kilometers. You can see that a kilometer (abbreviated km) is look like white bumps are a few puffs of cloud.
a bit less than two-thirds of a mile—a short walk across a neigh- Figure 1-3 is an infrared photograph in which healthy green
borhood. When you expand your field of view by another factor leaves and crops are shown as red. Human eyes are sensitive to
of 100, the neighborhood you saw in Figure 1-2 vanishes. Now only a narrow range of colors. As you explore the Universe, you
your field of view is 160 km wide, and you see cities and towns will learn to use a wide range of other “colors,” from X-rays to
as patches of gray (Figure 1-3). Wilmington, Delaware, is visible radio waves, to reveal sights invisible to unaided human eyes.
NASA/Landsat
Michael A. Seeds
Infrared
▲ Figure 1-3 This box ■ represents the relative size of the

▲ Figure 1-1 previous figure.
2 PART 1 EXPLORING THE SKY
Earth Moon
© 2016 Cengage Learning ®; images: NASA

Enlarged to show
relative sizes
Visual
NASA
Earth Moon
▲ Figure 1-4 This box ■ represents the relative size of the ▲ Figure 1-5 This box ■ represents the relative size of the
previous figure. previous figure.
You will learn much more about infrared, X-ray, and radio When you once again enlarge your field of view by a factor
energy in later chapters. of 100 (Figure 1-6), Earth, the Moon, and the Moon’s orbit that
At the next step in your journey, you can see your entire filled the previous figure all lie in the small red box at lower left
planet, which is nearly 13,000 km in diameter (Figure 1-4). At of the new figure. Now you can see the Sun and two other plan-
any particular moment, half of Earth’s surface is exposed to ets that are part of our Solar System. Our Solar System consists
sunlight, and the other half is in darkness. As Earth rotates on of the Sun, its family of planets, and some smaller bodies such
its axis, it carries you through sunlight and then through dark- as moons, asteroids, and comets.
ness, producing the cycle of day and night. The blurriness at the Earth, Venus, and Mercury are planets, which are spheri-
right edge of the Earth image is the boundary between day and cal, nonluminous bodies that orbit a star and shine by reflected
night—the sunset line. This is a good example of how a photo light. Venus is about the size of Earth, and Mercury has slightly
can give you visual clues to understanding a concept. Special
questions called “Learning to Look” at the end of each chapter
give you a chance to use your own imagination to connect
images with explanations about astronomical objects.
Enlarge your field of view by another factor of 100, and you Sun
Venus
see a region 1,600,000 km wide (Figure 1-5). Earth is the small
blue dot in the center, and the Moon, the diameter of which is
only one-fourth of Earth’s, is an even smaller dot along its orbit
380,000 km away. (The relative sizes of Earth and Moon are
© 2016 Cengage Learning ®; image: NOAO/AURA/NSF
shown in the inset at the bottom right of Figure 1-5.) AU

1
The numbers in the preceding paragraph are so large that it
Mercury
is inconvenient to write them out. Soon you will be using num-
bers even larger than these to describe the Universe; rather than
Enlarged to show
writing such astronomical numbers as they are in the previous relative sizes
paragraph, it is more convenient to write them in scientific
notation. This is nothing more than a simple way to write very Earth
big or very small numbers without using lots of zeros. For exam- Earth
ple, in scientific notation 380,000 becomes 3.8 3 105. If you are Sun
not familiar with scientific notation, read the section on “Powers
of 10 Notation” in Appendix A (pages A-4–A-5). The Universe ▲ Figure 1-6 The small red box around Earth at lower left
is too big to describe without using scientific notation. contains the entire field of view of Figure 1-5.
Chapter 1 HERE AND NOW 3
more than one-third of Earth’s diameter. On this diagram, they
are both too small to be portrayed as anything but tiny dots.
The Sun is a star, a self-luminous ball of hot gas. Even though
the Sun is about 100 times larger in diameter than Earth (inset
at bottom right of Figure 1-6), it, too, is no more than a dot in
this diagram. Figure 1-6 represents an area with a diameter of
1.6 3 108 km.
Sun and planets
Another way astronomers simplify descriptions and calcula-
tions that require large numbers is to define larger units of
© 2016 Cengage Learning ®

measurement. For example, the average distance from Earth to
the Sun is a unit of distance called the astronomical unit (AU);
an AU is equal to 1.5 3 108 km. Using that term, you can express
the average distance from Mercury to the Sun as about 0.39 AU
and the average distance from Venus to the Sun as about 0.72 AU.
These distances are averages because the orbits of the plan-
ets are not perfect circles. This is especially apparent in the case ▲ Figure 1-8 The small red box at the center contains
of Mercury. Its orbit carries it as close to the Sun as 0.31 AU and the entire field of view of Figure 1-7.
as far away as 0.47 AU. You can see the variation in the distance
from Mercury to the Sun in Figure 1-6. Earth’s orbit is more warmth. Light from the Sun reaches Earth in only 8 minutes,
circular than Mercury’s; its distance from the Sun varies by only but it takes more than 4 hours to reach Neptune.
a few percent. You can remember the order of the planets from the Sun
Enlarge your field of view again by a factor of 100, and you outward by remembering a simple sentence such as: My Very
can see the entire planetary region of our Solar System (Figure 1-7). Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles (perhaps you can come
The Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Earth lie so closely together that up with a better one). The first letter of each word is the same as
you cannot see them separately at this scale, and they are lost in the first letter of a planet’s name: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,
the red square at the center of this diagram that shows the size of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The list of planets once
the previous figure. You can see only the brighter, more widely included Pluto, but in 2006, astronomers attending an interna-
separated objects such as Mars, the next planet outward. Mars is tional scientific congress made the decision that Pluto should be
only 1.5 AU from the Sun, but Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and redefined as a dwarf planet. Although Pluto meets some of the
Neptune are farther from the Sun, and so they are easier to locate criteria to be considered a planet, it is small and not alone in its
in this diagram. They are cold worlds that are far from the Sun’s orbit; Pluto is one of a group of small objects that have been
discovered circling the Sun beyond Neptune.
When you again enlarge your field of view by a factor of
100, the Solar System vanishes (Figure 1-8). The Sun is only a
point of light, and all the planets and their orbits are now
crowded into the small red square at the center. The planets are
too small and too faint to be visible so near the brilliance of
the Sun.
Notice that no stars are visible in Figure 1-8 except for the
Sun Sun. The Sun is a fairly typical star, and it seems to be located
Mars
in a fairly average neighborhood in the Universe. Although there
Jupiter
are many billions of stars like the Sun, none is close enough to
Saturn
be visible in this diagram, which shows a region only 11,000 AU
in diameter. Stars in the Sun’s neighborhood are typically sepa-
Uranus
rated by distances about 30 times larger than that.

Neptune In Figure 1-9, your field of view has expanded again by a
factor of 100 to a diameter of 1.1 million AU. The Sun is at
the center, and at this scale you can see a few of the nearest
stars. These stars are so distant that it is not convenient to give
their distances in AU. To express distances so large, astrono-
▲ Figure 1-7 The small red box around the Sun at center mers defined a new unit of distance, the light-year. One
contains the entire field of view of Figure 1-6. light-year (ly) is the distance that light travels in one year,
Sun
NOAO/AURA/NSF
Visual
▲ Figure 1-9 This box ■ represents the relative size of the ▲ Figure 1-10 This box ■ represents the relative size of the
previous figure. previous figure.
approximately 9.5 3 1012 km or 63,000 AU. It is a Common thousands of light-years from Earth to look back and photograph
Misconception that a light-year is a unit of time, and you can our neighborhood, so this is a representative photograph of the
sometimes hear the term misused in science fiction movies and sky. The Sun is a relatively faint star that would not be easily
TV shows. The next time you hear someone say, “It will take located in a photo at this scale.
me light-years to finish my history paper,” you could tell the If you again expand your field of view by a factor of 100, you
person that a light-year is a distance, not a time (although see our galaxy, with a visible disk of stars about 80,000 ly in
perhaps that comment wouldn’t be appreciated). The diameter diameter (Figure 1-11). A galaxy is a great cloud of stars, gas, and
of your field of view in Figure 1-9 is 17 ly. dust held together by the combined gravity of all of its matter.
Another Common Misconception is that stars look like disks Galaxies range from 1000 ly to more than 300,000 ly in diame-
when seen through a telescope. Although most stars are approxi- ter, and the biggest ones contain more than a trillion (1012) stars.
mately the same size as the Sun, they are so far away that In the night sky, you can see our galaxy as a great, cloudy wheel
astronomers cannot see them as anything but points of light.
Even the closest star to the Sun—Proxima Centauri, which is
only 4.2 ly from Earth—looks like a point of light through the
biggest telescopes on Earth. Figure 1-9 follows the common
astronomical practice of making the sizes of the dots represent
not the sizes of the stars but their brightness. This is how star
images are recorded on photographs. Bright stars make larger
spots on a photograph than faint stars, so the size of a star image
© 2016 Cengage Learning ®; Mark Garlick/space-art.co.uk
in a photo tells you not how big the star is but rather how bright
it is.
You might wonder whether other stars have families of
planets orbiting around them as the Sun does. Such objects,
termed extrasolar planets, are very difficult to see because they
are generally small, faint, and too close to the glare of their
Location of Sun
respective parent stars. Nevertheless, astronomers have used • and planets
indirect methods to find more than a thousand such objects,
although only a handful have been photographed directly.
Artist’s conception
In Figure 1-10, you expand your field of view by another fac-
tor of 100, and the Sun and its neighboring stars vanish into the
background of thousands of other stars. The field of view is now ▲ Figure 1-11 This box ■ represents the relative size of
1700 ly in diameter. Of course, no one has ever journeyed the previous figure.
of stars ringing the sky. This band of stars is known as the Milky
Way, and our home galaxy is called the Milky Way Galaxy.
How does anyone know what the disk of the Milky Way
Galaxy would look like from a vantage point tens of thousands
Based on data from M. Seldner et al. 1977, Astronomical Journal 82, 249.
of light years away? Astronomers use evidence to guide their
explanations as they envision what our galaxy looks like. Artists
can then use those scientific descriptions to create a painting.
Many images in this book are artists’ conceptions of objects and
events that are too big or too dim to see clearly, emit energy your
eyes cannot detect, or happen too slowly or too rapidly for
humans to sense. These images are much better than guesses;
they are scientifically based illustrations guided by the best
information astronomers can gather. As you continue to explore,
notice how astronomers use the methods of science to imagine,
understand, and depict cosmic events.
The artist’s conception of the Milky Way Galaxy repro-
duced in Figure 1-11 shows that our galaxy, like many others,
has graceful spiral arms winding outward through its disk. In ▲ Figure 1-13 This box ■ represents the relative size of
a later chapter, you will learn that the spiral arms are places the previous figure.
where stars are formed from clouds of gas and dust. Our own
Sun was born in one of these spiral arms, and, if you could see
represents a galaxy. Notice that our galaxy is part of a group of a
the Sun in this picture, it would be in the disk of the Galaxy
few dozen galaxies. Galaxies are commonly grouped together in
about two-thirds of the way out from the center, at about the
such clusters. Some galaxies have beautiful spiral patterns like our
location of the marker dot indicated in the figure.
home, the Milky Way Galaxy, some are globes of stars without
Ours is a fairly large galaxy. Only a century ago astrono-
spirals, and some seem strangely distorted. In a later chapter, you
mers thought it was the entire Universe—an island cloud of
will learn what produces these differences among the galaxies.
stars in an otherwise empty vastness. Now they know that the
Now is a chance for you to spot another Common Misconception.
Milky Way Galaxy is not unique; it is only one of many billions
People often say Galaxy when they mean Solar System, and they
of galaxies scattered throughout the Universe.
sometimes confuse both terms with Universe. Your cosmic zoom
You can see a few of these other galaxies when you expand
has shown you the difference. The Solar System is your local
your field of view by another factor of 100 (Figure 1-12). Our gal-
neighborhood, that is, the Sun and its planets, one planetary
axy appears as a tiny luminous speck surrounded by other specks
system. The Milky Way Galaxy contains our Solar System plus
in a region 17 million light-years in diameter. Each speck
billions of other stars and whatever planets orbit around them—
in other words, billions of planetary systems. The Universe
includes everything: all of the galaxies, stars, and planets, includ-
ing the Galaxy and, a very small part of that, our Solar System.
If you expand your field of view one more time, you can see
that clusters of galaxies are connected in a vast network (Figure 1-13).
Clusters are grouped into superclusters—clusters of clusters—and
the superclusters are linked to form long filaments and walls outlin-
ing nearly empty voids. These filaments and walls appear to be the
Milky Way Galaxy
largest structures in the Universe. Were you to expand your field of
view another time, you would probably see a uniform fog of fila-
ments and walls. When you puzzle over the origin of these struc-
tures, you are at the frontier of human knowledge.
1-2 When Is Now?

Now that you have an idea where you are in space, you might
▲ Figure 1-12 This box ■ represents the relative size of also like to know where you are in time. The stars shone for bil-
the previous figure. lions of years before the first human looked up and wondered
what they were. To get a sense of your place in time, all you need of the Universe. As you will discover in the chapters that follow,
is a long ribbon. only in the last hundred years or so have astronomers begun to
Imagine stretching that ribbon from goal line to goal line understand where we are in space and in time.
down the center of a U.S. football field, a distance of 100 yards
(about 91 meters), as shown on the inside front cover of this book.
Imagine that one end of the ribbon represents today, and the 1-3 Why Study Astronomy?
other end represents the beginning of the Universe—the moment
that astronomers call the big bang. Your ribbon represents 14 bil- Your exploration of the Universe will help you answer two fun-
lion years, the entire history of the Universe. damental questions:
Imagine beginning at the goal line labeled BIG BANG and
What are we?
replaying the entire history of the Universe as you walk along
How do we know?
your ribbon toward the goal line labeled TODAY. Astronomers
have evidence that the big bang initially filled the entire The question “What are we?” is the first organizing theme
Universe with hot, glowing gas, but, as the gas cooled and of this book. Astronomy is important to you because it will tell
dimmed, the Universe went dark. That all happened along the you what you are. Notice that the question is not “Who are we?”
first half-inch of the ribbon. There was no light for the next 400 If you want to know who we are, you may want to talk to a
million years, until gravity was able to pull some of the gas paleontologist, sociologist, theologian, artist, or poet. “What are
together to form the first stars. That seems like a lot of years, but we?” is a fundamentally different question.
if you stick a little flag beside the ribbon to mark the birth of the As you study astronomy, you will learn how you fit into the
first stars, it would be not quite 3 yards from the goal line where history of the Universe. You will learn that the atoms in your
the Universe’s history began. body had their birth in the big bang when the Universe began.
You have to walk only about 4 or 5 yards along the ribbon Those atoms have been cooked and remade inside generations of
before galaxies formed in large numbers. Our home galaxy stars, and now, after more than 10 billion years, they are inside
would be one of those taking shape. By the time you cross the you. Where will they be in another 10 billion years? This is a
50-yard line, the Universe is full of galaxies, but the Sun and story everyone should know, and astronomy is the only course
Earth have not formed yet. You need to walk past the 50-yard on campus that can tell you that story.
line all the way to the other 33-yard line before you can finally Every chapter in this book ends with a short segment titled
stick a flag beside the ribbon to mark the formation of the Sun “What Are We?” This summary shows how the astronomy in
and planets—our Solar System— 4.6 billion years ago and the chapter relates to your part in the story of the Universe.
about 9 billion years after the big bang. The question “How do we know?” is the second organiz-
You can carry your flags a few yards further to about the ing theme of this book. It is a question you should ask your-
25-yard line, 3.4 billion years ago, to mark the earliest firm self whenever you encounter statements made by so-called
evidence for life on Earth—microscopic creatures in the experts in any field. Should you swallow a diet supplement
oceans—and you have to walk all the way to the 3-yard line recommended by a TV star? Should you vote for a candidate
before you can mark the emergence of life on land only 0.4 bil- who warns of a climate crisis? To understand the world
lion (400 million) years ago. Your dinosaur flag goes inside the around you and to make wise decisions for yourself, for your
2-yard line. Dinosaurs go extinct as you pass the one-half-yard family, and for your nation, you need to understand how sci-
line, 65 million years ago. ence works.
What about people? You can put a little flag for the first You can use astronomy as a case study in science. In every
humanlike creatures, 4 million years ago, only about 1 inch chapter of this book, you will find short essays titled “How Do
(2.5 cm) from the goal line labeled TODAY. Civilization, the We Know?” They are designed to help you think not about what
building of cities, began about 10,000 years ago, so you have is known but about how it is known. To do that, these essays will
to try to fit that flag in only 0.0026 inches from the goal line. explain different aspects of scientific thought processes and pro-
That’s less than the thickness of the page you are reading cedures to help you understand how scientists learn about the
right now. Compare the history of human civilization with natural world.
the history of the Universe. Every war you have ever heard of, Over the last four centuries, a way to understand nature has
the life of every person whose name is recorded, and the con- been developed that is called the scientific method (How Do We
struction of every structure ever made from Stonehenge to the Know? 1-1). You will see this process applied over and over as you
building you are in right now fits into that 0.0026 inches of read about exploding stars, colliding galaxies, and alien planets.
the time ribbon. The Universe is very big, but it is described by a small set of
Humanity is very new to the Universe. Our civilization on rules, and we humans have found a way to figure out the rules
Earth has existed for only a flicker of an eyeblink in the history by using a method called science.
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Small Hymenoptera, with few, or even no, nervures in the wings:
the pronotum closely adherent to the mesothorax, and at the
sides reaching backwards to the points of insertion of the wings.
The abdomen is pointed, and the pointed apex is frequently
deflexed; the ovipositor is not coiled, but is retractile, and when
extruded is of tubular form, and apparently a continuation of the
tip of the body. The earlier stages are passed in the bodies, or in
the eggs, of other Arthropods.
Fig. 351.—Helorus anomalipes. Britain.
The Proctotrypidae is one of the most difficult groups of

Hymenoptera to define; some of its members exhibit a great
resemblance to Aculeate Hymenoptera. This is the case with the
Insect we figure (Fig. 351). It, however, is an undoubted Proctotrypid,
but there are other forms that approach very closely in appearance
to the Aculeata, or stinging Hymenoptera; so that until a better
comprehension is reached as to the distinction between a sting and
an ovipositor the separation between Proctotrypidae and Aculeata
must be considered somewhat arbitrary.
There is extreme variety in the family; the wings differ considerably

in shape and neuration; they are not infrequently altogether absent in
one or both sexes. The chief distinction of the family from other
parasitic Hymenoptera is the tubular form of the ovipositor; which
part appears to be a continuation of the tip of the body. This latter is
more definitely acuminate than usual, and has given rise to the term
Oxyura, by which name the Proctotrypidae are distinguished in many
books. From the Chalcididae they are distinguished also by the
angles of the pronotum attaining the tegulae. In this character they
agree with the Cynipidae, but the ovipositor and abdomen are very
different in form in these two groups, and the Proctotrypidae very
frequently have a pigmented spot or stigma on the front wings which
is absent in Cynipidae. As if to add to the difficulties the systematist
meets with in dealing with this family, some of its members have the
trochanters undivided, as in the case of the stinging Hymenoptera.
The larvae of all that are known lead a completely parasitic life in the
bodies or eggs of other Insects or of Spiders. Sometimes half a
dozen specimens may find the means of subsistence during the
whole of their development in a single Insect's egg. Usually
Proctotrypids pupate in the position in which they have fed up,
enclosed each one in a more or less distinct cocoon. In Fig. 352 we
represent a very remarkable case of Proctotrypid pupation; a larva of
some beetle has nourished many specimens of a species of the
genus Proctotrypes, and the pupae thereof project from the body of
the host, a pair of the parasites issuing from each segmental division
in a remarkably symmetrical manner.
Fig. 352.—Pupation of Proctotrypes sp. in body of a beetle larva.
Comparatively little is known as to the habits of the members of this

family, but such information as has been obtained leads to the
conclusion that great variety will be found to exist in this respect. We
have already mentioned that numerous species have been
ascertained to feed inside the eggs of Insects or of Spiders; others
have been reared from larvae or from galls of the minute Dipterous
midges of the family Cecidomyiidae; others have been obtained from
Cynipid galls, a few from ants' nests and from green-fly; some
species are known to attack Coleoptera. The distinguished Irish
entomologist, Haliday, has written an account of the proceedings of a
species of Bethylus,[440] from which it has been supposed that this
Insect carries off living caterpillars, and stores them in a suitable
receptacle as food for its progeny, thus anticipating, as it were, the
habits of the fossorial division of the Aculeata, in which group this
instinct has, as we shall subsequently relate, attained an astonishing
degree of perfection. Haliday's observation was unfortunately
incomplete and has not been subsequently confirmed. The
Bethylides are remarkable for their great approach in structure to the
Aculeates, so much so that entomologists are not agreed as to
whether certain Insects are Proctotrypids or Aculeates. Pristocera,
with a very wide distribution, may be mentioned as illustrative of
these doubtful forms; but other genera of the Bethylides are in many
respects very similar to the Aculeates, and it is not matter for
surprise that Haliday should have considered the Bethylides to be a
tribe of the stinging Hymenoptera. The genus Scleroderma consists
of small Insects much resembling ants, and, as well as some of its
allies, is of great interest from the remarkable phenomena of
polymorphism presented by certain species. The males in this genus
are winged, the females completely apterous; yet at times winged
females are produced—as exceptional individuals in a brood of
wingless specimens—the females in these cases being not only
winged, but possessed of ocelli like the females of other winged
Hymenoptera. Particulars of a case of this kind have been given by
Sir Sidney Saunders,[441] and Ashmead also mentions[442] the
exceptional occurrence of these winged females. Westwood[443] was
of opinion that there are three forms of the female sex. This subject
is of importance in connexion with the production of the various
castes in ants. Although the presence of wings in these Insects is
always accompanied by the existence of ocelli (which, it will be
remembered, are normally absent from the wingless individuals), yet
the converse is not always the case, for a form of the female of
Cephalonomia formiciformis, without any wings, yet having ocelli, as
well as eyes, well developed, is figured by Westwood.[444]
Fig. 353.—Cyclops form of larva of Platygaster sp. (After Ganin.) a,

Mouth; b, antenna; c, claw-limb; d, lower lip (the pointing line is a
little too short); e, doubtful "zapfenförmig" organ; f, wing-like lobe;
g, branch of the tail.
The development of some of the Proctotrypids has been partially

described by Ganin and others, and is of an extraordinary character.
Ganin's observations[445] were most complete in the case of a
species of Platygaster, which he found in the larva of a very minute
Dipteron of the genus Cecidomyia. The Platygaster larva changes its
form very much in the course of its life, resembling at first a minute
Crustacean rather than an Insect-larva; it has a very large rounded
anterior portion, while behind it terminates in two, or more, tail-like
processes. By a very peculiar kind of metamorphosis this Cyclops-
like larva changes into an almost unsegmented, oviform larva,
destitute of appendages; by a second change this creature assumes
a third condition, in which it is similar to the ordinary form of parasitic
Hymenopterous larvae. Sometimes several of the Platygaster larvae
are found in a single host, but only one of them reaches this third
stage. Afterwards the third larval instar passes into the pupal stage,
which lasts five or six days, and then the perfect Insect appears. It is
worthy of remark that the internal organs undergo quite as
remarkable a change as the outer form does. The metamorphoses of
some other Proctotrypidae have been examined by Ganin, and
appear to be of an equally interesting character.[446]
There is reason to suppose that these Platygaster parasites are of

great economic importance as well as of scientific interest, for
Platygaster herrickii is one of the enemies of the larva of the
destructive Hessian fly, Cecidomyia destructor.
The Proctotrypidae are no doubt extremely numerous in species, but

as yet they have been very little studied; a good work on the British
species is much required. A valuable contribution has recently been
made to the study of the family by Ashmead, in the book we have
already referred to. This volume includes much information on the
natural history of these Insects, and the outline figures give some
idea of the great variety of external form.
Fig. 354.—Alaptus excisus, Westwood. Britain. (Probable size about ½
millim.)
Many entomologists include the Mymarides in Proctotrypidae, but

Ashmead considers that they should be treated as a separate family.
Alaptus excisus Westw. (Fig. 354) has been frequently said to be the
smallest known Insect, the measurement given for it by
Westwood[447] being a length of ⅙ of a millimetre—about 1⁄150 of
an inch. Mr. Enock has recently examined Westwood's type in the
Museum at Oxford, and from his information we may conclude that
this Insect is probably the same as Alaptus fusculus Hal., and that
the measurement mentioned by Westwood is erroneous, the Insect
being really about half a millimetre long. The Mymarides are,
however, very minute, some of them not exceeding one-third of a
millimetre in length. Whether any of them are smaller than the
beetles of the family Trichopterygidae, some of which are only one-
fourth of a millimetre long, may be doubted.
The Mymarides are recognisable by their very minute size, and by

their peculiar wings. These are slender, destitute of nervures, fringed
with long, delicate hairs, and stalked at the base. Probably
Mymarides may all prove to be dwellers in eggs of other Insects. The
group is remarkable from the fact that it contains some of the very
few Hymenoptera with aquatic habits. Two species were discovered
in their winged condition in the water of a pond near London by Sir
John Lubbock[448]; one of them—Polynema natans Lubbock—
probably, according to Mr. Enock, the same as Caraphractus cinctus
Hal., uses its wings freely for swimming under water, while the other
—Prestwichia aquatica—performs this operation by the aid of its
legs. This latter Insect seems to be very anomalous, and its position
quite doubtful. The embryogeny of Polynema is very peculiar, and
takes place in the egg of a dragon-fly—Calepteryx virgo—under
water. According to Ganin,[449] in the earliest stages the
developments of the embryos of the Calepteryx and of the Polynema
progress simultaneously, but that of the dragon-fly does not proceed
beyond the formation of the ventral plate. The Polynema appears to
leave its own egg at an extremely early stage of the embryonic
development. It would appear, in fact, that there is no definite
distinction between embryonic and larval stages. The information
given by Ganin leads to the conclusion that a complete study of this
remarkable mode of development is necessary before forming any
general ideas as to the nature of Insect embryogeny and
metamorphosis.
Fam. III. Chalcididae.
Pronotum with some freedom of movement, its angles not

extending to the insertion of the front wings. Antennae elbowed,
consisting of from seven to thirteen joints. Wings without a
system of cells; with a single definite nervure proceeding from
the base near the front margin, or costa; afterwards passing to
the costa, and giving off a very short vein more or less thickened
at its termination. The species are, with few exceptions, of
parasitic habits.
Fig. 355.—Eurytoma abrotani, male. Britain. Hyper-parasite through

Microgaster of Liparis dispar, and according to Cameron, parasite
of Rhodites rosae and other gall-flies in Britain, × 10. (After
Ratzeburg.)
The Insects of this family—the Pteromalini of Ratzeburg—are
frequently of brilliant colours and of remarkable form; the species are
very numerous, some 4000 or more having already been described.
Of this number nearly 3000 are European, and as there is good
reason for supposing that Chalcididae are quite as numerous in the
Tropics and in the New World as they are in Europe, the family will
probably prove to be one of the largest in the class. About twenty
sub-families have already been proposed for the classification of the
group; they are based chiefly on the number of joints in the tarsi, and
the details of the antennae and of the ovipositor. This latter exhibits
great variety in external appearance, due chiefly to the modification
in form of the basal, or of the following ventral abdominal plates, one
or more of which may be prolonged and altered in form or direction,
giving rise in this way to considerable diversity in the shape of the
abdomen. Correlative with this is a great variety in the mode of
parasitism of the larva. Many live in galls, feeding on the larvae of
the makers of the galls or on those of the inquilines; others attack
caterpillars, others pupae only; some flourish at the expense of bees
or other Hymenoptera, or of Coccidae and Aphididae, and some
deposit their eggs in the egg-cases of Blattidae. The details of the
life-history are well known in only a few cases.
Fig. 356.—Leucospis gigas, female. Gibraltar.
The career of Leucospis gigas has been investigated by Fabre, and

exhibits a very remarkable form of hypermetamorphosis.[450] This
Insect is of comparatively large size and of vivid colours, wasp-like,
black contrasting with yellow, as in the case of the wasps; and like
these it has the wings folded or doubled. The female bears a long
ovipositor, which by a peculiar modification is packed in a groove on
the back of the Insect. This species lives in Southern Europe at the
expense of Chalicodoma muraria, a mason-bee that forms cells of a
hard cement for its nest, the cells being placed together in masses of
considerable size; each cell contains, or rather should contain, a
larva of the bee, and is closed by masonry, in the construction of
which the bee displays much ability. It is the mission of the
Leucospis to penetrate the masonry by means of its ovipositor, and
to deposit an egg in the cell of the bee. The period chosen for this
predatory attack is the end of July or the beginning of August, at
which time the bee-larva is in the torpid and powerless condition that
precedes its assumption of the pupal state. The Leucospis, walking
about leisurely and circumspectly on the masonry of the nest, tests it
repeatedly by touching with the tips of the antennae, for it is most
important that a proper spot should be selected. The bee's cell is
placed in a mass of solid masonry, a considerable part—but a part
only—of whose area is occupied by the group of cells; every cell is
closed by hard mortar, making an uneven surface, and the face of
the masonry is rendered more even by a layer of hardened clay
outside the rougher material; it is the task of the Leucospis to detect
a suitable spot, in the apparently uniform external covering, and
there to effect the penetration so as to introduce an egg into a cell.
By what sensations the fly may be guided is unknown. After a spot
has been selected and the ovipositor brought into play, the masonry
is ultimately pierced by patient work; sometimes a quarter of an hour
is sufficient for the purpose, but in other cases three hours of
uninterrupted effort are required before the end is attained. Fabre
expended much time in watching this operation, and after the Insect
had completed it, he marked with a pencil the exact spot of the
masonry that was penetrated, and the date on which it was done,
and he states that he afterwards found that without any exception a
proper spot had been selected, and a cell consequently penetrated.
Admirable as the instinct of the parasite appears from this point of
view, it is nevertheless accompanied by a remarkable deficiency in
two other respects. The first is that though the spot selected by the
Leucospis invariably gives entrance to a cell, yet in the majority of
the cases the selected cell is not a suitable one; a large number of
the cells of the Chalicodoma are not occupied by living larvae on the
point of pupation—though in that case only can the egg of the
Leucospis hatch and successfully develop—but by dead and
shrivelled larvae, or by mouldy or dried-up food. And yet, in each
case of penetration, Fabre believes that an egg is deposited, even
though it may be impossible that it can undergo a successful
development. Strange as this may appear, it is nevertheless
rendered less improbable by the second deficiency in the instinct of
the parasite. The Insect has no power of recognising a cell that has
been previously pierced either by itself or by another of its species.
One bee larva can only supply nourishment for a single larva of the
parasite, and yet it is a common occurrence for a cell to be revisited,
pierced again and another egg introduced; indeed Fabre, by means
of the cells he had marked, was able to assure himself that it is no
uncommon thing for this to be done four times; four eggs, in fact, are
sometimes deposited in a cell that cannot by any possibility supply
food for more than one larva. The egg of the Leucospis is a curious
object (Fig. 357, A), very elongate oval, with one end drawn out and
bent so as to form a hook; it is not placed at random in the cell of the
bee, but is suspended on the delicate cocoon with which the
Chalicodoma larva is surrounded at the period of pupation.
Fig. 357.—Leucospis gigas. A, Egg; B, primary, C, secondary larva.

(After Fabre.)
Fabre allowed sufficient time to elapse for the hatching of the larvae
from the eggs, and then opened some cells where Leucospis eggs
had been deposited, in order to obtain the larvae; when doing this he
was surprised that he never found more than one Leucospis larva in
a cell. Even in cells where he had observed more than one act of
oviposition, and which he had marked at the time, only one larva
existed. This induced him to think that it was possible that no egg
was deposited by the Leucospis at the second penetration. He
accordingly examined cells soon after the eggs were laid, and thus
discovered some that contained more than one egg,—indeed in one
cell he observed no less than five eggs suspended from the cocoon
of the Chalicodoma; he was also able to demonstrate that eggs were
actually deposited in some cells that contained no means of support
for the larva. How then could these two facts be reconciled—four or
five eggs deposited in a cell, only one larva present afterwards? It is
of course impossible to observe the operations of a larva shrouded
in the obscurity of a cell formed of masonry, so he transferred some
bee larvae with their destructive companions to glass tubes, in which
he was able to note what took place. He found that the egg
deposited by the Leucospis hatches and produces a very peculiar
larva, having little resemblance to the Leucospis larva that he had
found eating the Chalicodoma larva. The primary larva (Fig. 357, B)
of the Leucospis is an arched worm, moderately deeply segmented,
a millimetre or a little more in length, with a remarkably large and
abruptly-defined head. The body bears erect setae, the most
remarkable of which are a pair on the ventral aspect of each of the
segments, each of these ventral setae being borne on a small
conical prominence. These prominences and setae serve as
ambulatory organs, and are supplemented in their function by a
protuberance at the posterior extremity. The little creature has
considerable powers of locomotion; it moves, after the fashion of
many other larvae, by contracting and arching the body so as to
bring the posterior part nearer to the anterior; then fixing the hinder
part, the anterior is extended and fixed, the posterior being again
brought nearer to the front. The Leucospis larva when hatched does
not at once attack the bee larva which is to be its future food, but
every few hours makes excursions over its surface, and even
explores the walls of the cell; returning, however, always to the
cocoon for repose. The object of these excursions is, Fabre believes,
to ascertain if another Leucospis egg has been laid in the cell, and in
that case to destroy it. For the food, as we have said, being only
enough for one larva, and the mother Leucospis frequently laying
more than one egg in a cell, it is necessary that all the eggs except
one should be destroyed. Fabre did not actually observe the act of
destruction, but he found repeatedly in his glass tubes that the
supernumerary eggs were destroyed, being, in fact, wounded by the
mandibles of the first-hatched larva. After several days of this
wandering life the tiny destroyer undergoes a first moult, changing its
skin and appearing as a very different creature (Fig. 357, C); it is
now completely destitute of any means of locomotion, very deeply
segmented, curved at one extremity, with a very small head, bearing
extremely minute, scarcely perceptible, mandibles. The sole object
of its existence in this state is to extract the contents of the
Chalicodoma larva, and appropriate this material to the purposes of
its own organisation. This it accomplishes not by wounding, tearing,
or destroying the larva, for that apparently would not answer the
purpose; the contents must be conveyed while still in their vital state
to itself; and this it effects by applying its mouth to the extremely
delicate skin of the victim, the contents of whose body then gradually
pass to the destroyer, without any visible destruction of the continuity
of the integument. Thus the Leucospis larva gradually grows, while
the bee larva shrinks and shrivels, without, however, actually
suffering death. The process of emptying the bee larva apparently
does not occupy the Leucospis more than two or three weeks, being
completed by about the middle of the month of August; afterwards
the larva remains in the cell by the side of the shrivelled skin of its
victim for ten or eleven months, at the end of which time it assumes
the pupal condition, and very shortly thereafter appears as a perfect
Insect.
Monodontomerus cupreus is another member of the Chalcididae that

lives parasitically at the expense of bees of the genus Chalicodoma.
Its habits have been sketched by Fabre,[451] and exhibit
considerable difference from those of Leucospis. It is much less in
size, and can accommodate itself to a greater variety of food; it will,
in fact, eat not only the larva of Chalicodoma, but also that of another
bee, of the genus Stelis, that is frequently found shut up in the cell of
the Chalicodoma, at whose expense the Stelis also lives
parasitically. The Monodontomerus bores a hole through the
masonry of the bee and deposits its eggs in the cell after the fashion
of the Leucospis; one bee larva is, however, sufficient food for
several individuals of the young of this smaller parasite. There is no
hypermetamorphosis, the early larval condition resembling the later.
This Insect attacks not only Chalicodoma and Stelis, as already
mentioned, but also other bees; and a single larva of some of the
larger kinds will afford sufficient food for fifty young of the
Monodontomerus. They feed on the bee larva, as the Leucospis
does, without wounding it. This fly has the power of recognising what
is suitable provender for its young by the use of the antennae, even
when the conditions are so changed that it is clear the sense of sight
has nothing to do with the recognition. Fabre relates that he had
extracted a number of the bee larvae from their cells of masonry, and
that as they were lying on his table enclosed in their cocoons, the
Monodontomerus recognised the latter as containing the desired
provender for its young by examining them with its antennae; after
which, without hesitation, the Monodontomerus pierced the cocoon
with its ovipositor and deposited the eggs in a suitable position. This
observation, together with those made on Leucospis, seem to
indicate that it is neither by sight nor smell that these Insects
discover the desired object, but by some sense we do not
understand, though its seat is clearly in the antennae of the Insect.
Newport discovered a Monodontomerus, which he described as M.

nitidus,[452] in the cells of the bee Anthophora retusa, and
demonstrated that the alimentary canal, as is usual in Petiolate
Hymenoptera, is closed behind until the Insect is about to enter the
pupal state, when it becomes perforated and faecal matters are for
the first time passed from it. "These matters were composed of the
refuse of digestion and of epithelial cells accumulated during the
period of feeding, and retained in the digestive sac until the period of
its perforation. In this way the food and abode of the Insects are
maintained pure and uncontaminated, and the digestive apparatus is
completed, and the refuse of nutrition ejected only when the whole of
the food has been consumed."
In the cells of the same bee Newport discovered another curious

parasitic Chalcid, Anthophorabia retusa.[453] The male has short
wings, and the compound eye is replaced by an ocellus on each side
of the head, the female having fully developed wings and eyes. A
variation may occur in the metamorphosis of this Insect, inasmuch
as when the growth is completed during the month of August, the
Insect changes to a pupa, the imago appears ten or twelve days
thereafter, and the perfect Insect then hibernates for seven or eight
months; but should the completion of growth be deferred till after the
end of August, hibernation takes place in the larval condition. A large
and brilliant Chalcid Eucharis myrmeciae, has been described by
Cameron as preying on the formidable Australian ants of the genus
Myrmecia.
The development of Smicra clavipes has been partially described by

Henneguy.[454] This Insect lives in the interior of the aquatic larva of
Stratiomys strigosa, a Dipterous Insect. As many as fifty eggs of the
parasite are found in one larva, but a large number of embryos die
during development, so that he has never found more than two or
three well-grown larvae in one Stratiomys larva. It has been
ascertained that the eggs of many of these parasitic Insects are
deficient in yolk, and the ovum of Smicra is said to obtain the
nutritive materials necessary for the development of the embryo from
the blood of its host by endosmosis. For a long time after the
assumption of the larval condition, the larva appears to nourish itself
only at the expense of the blood of its host. The segmentation of the
ovum is total, and a single embryonic membrane appears at an early
period, before the formation of the embryo, by a process very
different from that giving origin to the amnion of the majority of
Insects.
A very interesting sketch of the development of Encyrtus fuscicollis

has been given by Bugnion.[455] This small parasite passes its
earlier stages in the interior of the larva of Hyponomeuta cognatella
or other Lepidoptera. The female Encyrtus deposits her eggs in the
interior of a caterpillar, in the form of a series of 50 to 100 or more
eggs enclosed in a sac; the origin of the sac is obscure, but the
embryonic development and the early part of the larval life are
passed in the sac, which contains a supply of nutritive matter. The
larvae of the Encyrtus are at first entirely confined to this sac, but
when they have consumed all the nutritive matter in it, they leave it
and pass the remainder of their larval and pupal existence in the
body-cavity of the caterpillar. They live at first on the lymph (blood) of
the Insect, and apparently do it no harm; nevertheless the strength of
the caterpillar is so much enfeebled that it fails to undergo the
transformation to a pupa; the parasites then devour its interior, and
use the empty skin as a nidus for their own pupation; they form
cocoons which divide the area into compartments. Usually the
individuals disclosed from one Hyponomeuta are all of one sex,
which may be either male or female. Unfortunately the most
interesting points of this development, viz. the history of the common
sac for the larvae, the nature of the eggs, the earlier embryonic
stages, and the nutriment in the sac, are still without elucidation. The
account given by Bugnion raises a great desire for information on
these points.
We have in a previous page described the remarkable mode of

oviposition of Mantis. Captain Xambeu[456] has made a very curious
observation to the effect that a minute Chalcid, Podagrion (Palmon)
pachymerus, shelters itself under the wings of the Mantis so as to be
in a position to oviposit in the eggs of the latter when it shall be
forming its peculiar ootheca.
The genus Isosoma consists of Insects that differ in habits from their
congeners, being phytophagous instead of parasitic. I. tritici and I.
hordei live in the stalks of corn, and in North America, where they
are known to the agriculturist as joint-worms, are frequently very
injurious to crops. They are sometimes obtained in large numbers
without any males appearing, and a wingless as well as a winged
form of the female occurs. Owing to the fact that the allies of these
Insects are parasitic, it has been frequently maintained that this may
also prove to be the case with Isosoma, but the observations of
Riley[457] and others leave no doubt that the Insects of this genus
are really plant-feeders.
Riley has called attention[458] to some facts in connection with I.

tritici and I. grande, that make it clear that these two supposed
species are really alternate generations, and that both generations
are probably in larger part, if not entirely, parthenogenetic. Some
species of the genus Megastigmus are known to be of phytophagous
habits.[459]
Fig. 358.—Blastophaga grossorum. A, Male, × 22; B, female, × 15.

(After Mayer, Mitt. Stat. Neapel, iii. 1882.)
The most interesting of all the forms of Chalcididae are perhaps

those called fig-Insects. A considerable number of species are now
known, and amongst them we meet with the unusual phenomenon of
species with wingless males, the females possessing the organs of
flight normally developed. The wingless males exhibit the strangest
forms, and bear no resemblance whatever to their more legitimately
formed partners (Fig. 358, A, B). Many of the fig-Insects belong to a
special group called Agaonides. Others belong to the group
Torymides, which contains likewise many Chalcididae of an ordinary
kind; possibly some of these may be parasitic on the Agaonides.
Some of these Torymid fig-Insects have winged males, as is normal
in the family, but in other cases winged and wingless forms of the
male of one species may be present.
The most notorious of these fig-Insects is the one known as

Blastophaga grossorum (Fig. 358), this being the chief agent in the
custom known as caprification of the cultivated fig-tree. This process
has been practised from time immemorial, and is at the present day
still carried on in Italy and the Grecian archipelago. The Greek
writers who describe it say that the wild fig-tree, though it does not
ripen its own fruit, is absolutely essential for the perfection of the fruit
of the cultivated fig. In accordance with this view, branches from the
wild fig are still gathered at certain seasons and suspended amongst
the branches of the cultivated fig-trees. The young fig is a very
remarkable vegetable production, consisting of a hollow, fleshy
receptacle, in which are placed the extremely numerous and minute
flowers, the only admission to which is by a small orifice at the blunt
end of the young fig; this orifice is lined with projecting scales, that
more or less completely fill it up or close it; nevertheless inside this
fruit the Blastophaga grossorum develops in large numbers. The
males are, as we have seen, wingless creatures, and do not leave
the fruit in which they were bred, but the females make their way out
of the wild fig, and some of them, it is believed, enter the young fruit
of the cultivated trees and lay their eggs, or attempt to do so, therein;
and it has been supposed by various writers that these proceedings
are essential to the satisfactory development of the edible fruit. It is a
curious fact that the Blastophaga develops very freely in the wild fig
—so much so, indeed, as to be a means of preventing it from coming
to maturity; but yet the Insect cannot complete its development in the
cultivated fruit. This is due to the fact that the fly must lay its egg in a
particular part of the fig-ovule, so that when the egg hatches the
larva may have a proper supply of food. In the cultivated fig the
structure of the flower differs somewhat from that of the caprificus,
as the wild fig is called, and so the egg, if deposited at all, does not
reach a proper nidus for its development. Hence the Blastophaga
can never live exclusively on the cultivated fig, and if it be really
necessary for the development of the latter, must be brought thereto
by means of the caprifig. Whether the Blastophaga be really of use,
as has been for so long supposed, is, however, a matter for doubt.
The reasons for this are (1) that those who think caprification
beneficial do not agree as to the mode in which they suppose it to be
so; (2) that there is but little reason for believing that when
introduced amongst the cultivated figs the Blastophaga occupies
itself to any great extent therewith; and (3) that in some parts of the
world caprification is not performed, but the cultivated fig
nevertheless ripens its fruit there. Hence many writers on the subject
—Solms-Laubach,[460] Mayer,[461] and Saunders[462]—entertain
considerable doubt as to whether caprification is at present anything
more than an old custom destitute of practical utility. On the other
hand, Riley states[463] "that the perfect Smyrna fig, the most
esteemed of the edible species, can be produced only by the
intervention of the Blastophaga psenes [grossorum]."
Although the questions connected with the effect the Blastophaga is

supposed to produce on the fruit are of a botanical rather than a
entomological nature, we may briefly say that two views have been
held: (1) that, as in the fruit of the cultivated fig, only female flowers
are produced, the Blastophaga is necessary for their fertilisation and
the subsequent development of the fruit; (2) that the Insects
stimulate the fig by biting parts thereof or by burrowing in it, and so
give rise to the processes that have as their result the edible fruit.
There seems to be little doubt that the Insect agency is necessary to
the fertilisation of some species of figs. Cunningham, who has
recently carried out an elaborate investigation as to the fertilisation of
Ficus roxburghii,[464] concludes that in this fig, and probably also in
other kinds, the perfect development is dependent on the access of
the fig-Insects to the interior of the receptacular cavity. Should
access fail to occur, both male and female flowers abort, without the
formation of pollen grains by the former or seeds by the latter. The
access of the Blastophaga is thus as necessary for the perfect
evolution of the normal male and female flowers as it is for that of the
modified ♀ or gall-flowers, with their contained ova and Insect-
embryos. Whether the successful fertilisation of the flowers is really
essential to the production of the edible fig is not a question for our
discussion.
Fig-Insects are apparently more numerous in South America than

they are in any other part of the world; and Fritz-Müller has
discovered[465] a number of species there of a very extraordinary
character, several of them possessing two forms of the male, one
winged like the female, the other wingless and so different in
character that they were considered to belong to a different genus.
The wingless male of a species found in Madagascar, Kradibia
cowani, has the peculiarity of possessing only four legs, the middle
pair being represented merely by minute two-jointed rudiments.
Some of these Insects live in galls on the figs. The fig-Insects were
formerly considered to belong to the Proctotrypidae or to the
Cynipidae (gall-makers), but there can be no doubt, notwithstanding
they differ so much in their habits from the parasitic Chalcididae, that
they probably belong to the same family. If treated as different from
Chalcididae, they should be separated as a distinct family rather
than united with the Cynipidae.[466]
It is impossible for us to do more than allude to the extraordinary

shapes exhibited by some Chalcididae. The genus Thoracantha is
specially remarkable in this respect. T. latreillei is said to resemble a
beetle of the family Mordellidae, and has the wings concealed by
false wing-cases—really projections from the thorax—so that from
above the Insect bears no resemblance to the other Insects of the
Order it really belongs to.
Fig. 359.—Thoracantha latreillei. Bahia. A, Upper, B, lateral aspect.

(After Waterhouse.)
Howard has called attention to some peculiarities in the pupation of

Chalcididae.[467] Like the Cynipidae, they do not make a silken
cocoon, but some of them that change to pupae inside the victims on
which they were nourished have the power of forming oval cells in
which to undergo their transformation, and they thus cause a
peculiar inflation of the skin of their deceased victim, which after
death still continues to serve as a protection to the destroyers. The
statement made by Haliday, and repeated subsequently in various
works, to the effect that Coryna spins a cocoon under the Aphis in
which it has lived, is an error, the cocoon being really formed by
Praon, a Braconid that is a parasite of the Aphis, and on which the
Chalcid Pachycrepis (Coryna) lives as a hyperparasite. The pupae of
some species differ from those of other Hymenoptera, in that the
integument is hard, and the limbs are soldered to the body as in
Lepidoptera. These forms pupate external to the victim.
Fritz Müller has recorded that the pupa of an unnamed species of

Chalcid that attacks a Brazilian ant (Azteca instabilis Forel) is
suspended on the wall of the cell the ant lives in by its posterior
extremity, just like the chrysalis of a butterfly.
Notwithstanding the small size of Chalcididae, their remains have

been detected in the tertiary strata of both Europe and North
America.
Fam. IV. Ichneumonidae (Ichneumon-flies).
Wings with a well-developed series of nervures and cells; the

space on the front wing separating the second posterior cell from
the cubital cells is divided into two cells by a transverse veinlet.
The abdomen is attached to the lower or posterior part of the
median segment. Larvae parasitic in habits.
Fig. 360.—Lissonota setosa, ♀. Britain. Parasite of the goat-moth, etc.

(After Ratzeburg.)
The Ichneumonidae form a family of enormous extent, containing

nearly 6000 described species. The study of the family is but little
advanced, owing to their parasitic habits and to this bewildering
multiplicity in their specific forms. Most of the species, in the larval
state, live inside the larvae of Lepidoptera, and they thus keep the
myriads of caterpillars within bounds, the number of these destroyed
by Ichneumons being prodigious. Some of the family are, however,
external parasites, and some are known to attack Spiders and
Insects of other Orders than Lepidoptera. Their antennae are not
elbowed and are many-jointed, the joints being closely compacted,
especially towards the extremity. This character readily distinguishes
Ichneumonidae from the families we have previously considered.
The ocelli are well developed even in the apterous forms, and are
placed in a triangular position on the vertex. The pronotum is small in
front; and extends backwards at the sides to the points of insertion of
the front wings; it is fixed to the mesonotum. The wings (Fig. 367, A)
have a more complex neuration than those of most of the other
parasitic Hymenoptera, but are occasionally absent in one or both
sexes of a species. The metathorax is very small, and the middle
and hind legs are placed close together. The propodeum is very
large, and is frequently covered with a highly-developed sculpture.
Fig. 361.—Anomalon circumflexum, larval development. (After

Ratzeburg.) A, First instar; B, second instar; C, the larva in the
third or encysted stage extracted from its cyst; D, the mature
larva; E, pupa.
The hind body springs from the lower part of the propodeum; it is
usually of slender form, and its segmentation is very conspicuous.
The females bear an ovipositor, which differs greatly in length
according to the species, and is known in the case of one species to
attain a length six times that of the whole of the rest of the body.[468]
The egg is deposited by some species on the skin, by others within

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Fig. 351.—Helorus anomalipes. Britain.

The Proctotrypidae is one of the most difficult groups of

There is extreme variety in the family; the wings differ considerably

Fig. 352.—Pupation of Proctotrypes sp. in body of a beetle larva.

Comparatively little is known as to the habits of the members of this

Fig. 353.—Cyclops form of larva of Platygaster sp. (After Ganin.) a,

The development of some of the Proctotrypids has been partially

There is reason to suppose that these Platygaster parasites are of

The Proctotrypidae are no doubt extremely numerous in species, but

Many entomologists include the Mymarides in Proctotrypidae, but

The Mymarides are recognisable by their very minute size, and by

Fam. III. Chalcididae.

Pronotum with some freedom of movement, its angles not

Fig. 355.—Eurytoma abrotani, male. Britain. Hyper-parasite through

Fig. 356.—Leucospis gigas, female. Gibraltar.

The career of Leucospis gigas has been investigated by Fabre, and

Fig. 357.—Leucospis gigas. A, Egg; B, primary, C, secondary larva.

Monodontomerus cupreus is another member of the Chalcididae that

Newport discovered a Monodontomerus, which he described as M.

In the cells of the same bee Newport discovered another curious

The development of Smicra clavipes has been partially described by

A very interesting sketch of the development of Encyrtus fuscicollis

We have in a previous page described the remarkable mode of