BOOK VI.

ARTICULATED ANIMALS.

§ I. _Annelida, or Ringed Animals._

THESE creatures constitute a class by themselves, under the name of _Annelida_, in the works of modern naturalists. They are distinguished from the caterpillar and maggot, by undergoing no change, and crawling by means of the annular structure of their bodies.

The _Earth Worm_ has neither bones, eyes, or ears; it has a round, annulated body, with generally an elevated fleshy belt near the head. Though considered a great nuisance by gardeners, Earth Worms perforate, and loosen the soil, and render it pervious to rains and the fibres of plants, by drawing into it straws and the stalks of leaves: and chiefly by throwing infinite numbers of lumps called worm-casts, which form a fine manure for grass and corn. They are, however, very injurious to plants in pots.

IS about three inches in length, and in its exterior form somewhat resembles the worm, when extended, but often contracts itself greatly in length, at the same time expanding in thickness. It has a small head, a black skin, with six yellow lines above, and spotted with yellow below. The mouth of the Leech is of curious construction; it has three jaws, each of which is armed with two ranges of very fine teeth, with which it pierces the skin; and then draws up, as through a siphon, the blood, upon which it feeds. The progressive movement of the Leech is effected by sticking, by suction, its mouth to a certain spot, then bringing its tail, which also has the property of sticking, in the same manner as the head, and then advancing its head further on, quickly followed by the tail, and so on. The common Leech is very often met with in brooks and rivulets. Its uses in medicine are well known, as by its means the blood can be extracted from diseased parts, to which the lancet cannot be applied.

The blood which the Leech sucks out of the wound it makes supplies it with nutriment for so great a period of time, that a Leech, after having been satisfied with blood, has been known to live three years withoutany food. It is usual, however, to make them disgorge the greater part of the blood they have swallowed by sprinkling them with salt; as otherwise they would not bite again till the blood they had taken was fully digested.

Leeches lay eggs, which are covered with a kind of membrane, which serves to protect them when they are deposited in the clay and holes in the sides of ponds. They appear to live on the eggs of fish or frogs, but eagerly attach themselves to the legs of human beings, horses, or cows, whenever they have an opportunity. As there is a prejudice among the country people that Leeches never breed well till they have tasted blood, it is said that they drive their horses and cows into the water inhabited by the Leeches, and consequently that the Leech districts are remarkable for their wretched-looking horses and cattle. Leeches must be five years old before they are fit for medical purposes; and they are caught in shallow water in spring by people going in with naked feet and ankles, to which the Leeches adhere, when they are picked off and put in baskets provided for the purpose. In summer a raft is made of twigs, and the waters being disturbed with a stick, the Leeches rise to the surface, and get entangled in the raft. When caught, they are washed in water with a very little salt in it, and packed in wet linen cloths, which are put into a barrel with a canvas cover, and sent away for sale. London used to be chiefly supplied from the fenny districts of Lincolnshire, but the consumption of these useful worms has been so great that most of our Leeches are now imported through Hambro’ from the east of Europe. Some years since Dr. Pereira stated that the number of Leeches imported by the four principal dealers in London amounted to 7,200,000 annually. They are also, when kept in a glass bottle with water, a good barometer, as they always come up to the neck of the bottle when rainy weather is approaching, remain at the bottom in dry weather, and move anxiously up and down when the weather is stormy. Horse-Leeches are larger than the common species, more voracious, and narrower at each extremity.

§ II. _Crustacea._

HAS a cylindrical body, long antennæ, and a broad tail. Its large claws enable it to seize on its prey, to fix itself on the small prominences of rocks in the sea, to resist the motion of the waves, and to defend itself against its enemies. When the Lobster wants to spring off the rocks, it makes a fulcrum of its tail, which has the action of a powerful spring. Its gait is awkward, as in all the crustacea. Besides its claws, it has four small legs on each side, to assist it in its movements. Under the tail the hen Lobster preserves her eggs till they are hatched. They are extremely prolific. Dr. Baxter says he counted twelve thousand four hundred and forty-four eggs under the tail of a female Lobster, besides those that remained in the body undeveloped. Like the rest of their tribe, they cast their shells annually, previous to which they appear languid and restless: they acquire an entirely new covering in a few days.

MAY be called the lobster of fresh water, and its presence is generally esteemed an evidence of the goodness of the water. Crayfish are considered a very strengthening food. They are caught in shallow brooks, hid under large stones, out of which they crawl backwards to seek for their prey, which consists of small insects; the hooks employed to catch them are baited with liver or flesh, which they nibble most greedily.

CRABS are of various sizes, some weighing several pounds, and others only a few grains, all of different species. They do not move forward, but sideways. They have a small tail closed on the body; which forms a considerable and essential difference between them and the lobsters, prawns, shrimps, and crayfish.

The most remarkable circumstance in the history of these animals is the changing of their shells and the renewal of their broken claws. The former, as it is stated, take place once a year, and usually between Christmas and Easter. During the operation they retire among the cavities of rocks, and under great stones. Crabs are naturally quarrelsome amongst themselves, and frequently have serious contests, by means of those formidable weapons, their great claws. With these they lay hold of their adversary’s legs; and wherever they seize, it is not easy to make them forego their hold. The animal seized has, therefore, no other alternative but to leave part of the leg behind in token of victory.

An experiment was tried to prove the extremely tenacious disposition of the Crab. By irritating it, a fisherman made a Crab seize one of its own small claws with a large one. The animal did not distinguish that it was itself the aggressor, but exerted its strength, and soon cracked the shell of the small claw. Feeling itself wounded, it cast off the piece in the usual place, but continued to hold it with the great claw for a long time afterwards.

The _Violet Land-Crabs_ of the Caribbee Islands are most singular in their habits; they descend in annual and regular caravans from the mountains, their natural abode, to the sea-shores, in order to deposit their spawn, after which they again return to the mountains. These Crabs form, in their procession, a body of fifty paces broad, and three miles in length. This battalion moves slowly, but with regularity and uniformity, either when they descend or ascend the hills. They abound in Jamaica, where they are accounted a great delicacy by the natives, and are common in the adjacent islands.

IS a curious animal, and ought to be noticed here for its singular habits. It is somewhat like a lobster divested of its shell; it is about four inches in length, and has no shell on the hinder part, but is covered down to the tail with a rough skin; it is also armed with strong hard nippers. This Crab has not been provided by nature with a shell, and is obliged to seek for one which has been deserted by its legitimate tenant; but as this covering cannot grow of course proportionally with him, he is forced out of it by his increasing size, and finds himself under the necessity of looking out for a new one: it is curious to see him when in want of a new house, crawling from one empty shell to another, examining and trying his new habitation. Sometimes, when two competitors happen to eye the same premises, a great contest arises, and of course the strongest gets the manor.

THE SHRIMP is a well-known small crustaceous animal, nearly allied to the lobster, which it resembles in shape. Its length is rather more than two inches; in colour it is greenish-grey, dotted with brown. It has long slender feelers, between which are two projecting laminæ; ten feet and five fins, but no claws. This animal breeds on all the sandy shores of Great Britain: it is frequently found in harbours, and even in the ditches and ponds of salt marshes; it is also very common on the French coast. During life the body is semi-transparent, and so much resembles sea-water that the animal is distinguished with difficulty. Its ordinary motion consists of leaps. Its flavour is very delicate.

2. THE PRAWN. (_Palæmon serratus._)

THE PRAWN is not unlike the shrimp, but exceeds it considerably in size, its length being between three and four inches. It has a projecting ridge down the back, furnished with sharp teeth. Its natural colour is greyish, with small red and brown spots, but when boiled it assumes a most beautiful pink tint. The flesh is very delicate, although perhaps inferior in flavour to that of the shrimp.

Prawns are very common on the coasts of France and England; they are chiefly found among sea-weed, and in the vicinity of rocks, at a little distance from the shore. They seldom enter the mouths of rivers. They feed on all the smaller kinds of marine animals, which they seize and devour with great voracity. In their turn, they are the prey of numerous species of fish, although the sharp and serrated horn in front of their head constitutes a powerful weapon of defence against the attacks of all the smaller kinds. At the side of the head there is frequently to be observed a large and apparently unnatural lump. This, if examined, will be found to contain, under the thoracic plate, a species of parasitic animal, which occupies the whole cavity, and there feeds and perfects its growth. The same tumour or lump may also be observed on the shrimp.

Being in great request for the table, both shrimps and Prawns are eagerly sought for by fishermen, who catch them either in osier baskets, similar to those employed in catching lobsters, or in a kind of net called a _Putting-net_. These, which are well known to all frequenters of the sea-coast, are five or six feet in width, and flat at the bottom; and are pushed along in the shallow water, upon the sandy shores, by a man who walks behind. There is a great number of other species belonging to the same family as the shrimp and prawn, but they are for the most part inhabitants of foreign seas, and what other British species exist are rare in comparison to the two we have described.

Fossil crustaceans, which are apparently members of the same family, have also been found in France and Germany.

§ III. _Arachnida._

THIS ORDER, according to Lamarck, and other modern zoologists, contains the Spiders, Scorpions, and Mites, which do not undergo any metamorphoses. These creatures differ from the true insects in the number of their feet, which are generally eight, while those of the true insects never exceed six.

ALL the Spiders are distinguished by having no antennæ, eight legs, and generally eight eyes; mandibles terminated by a movable claw, which sometimes emits poison; and an abdomen without rings, furnished at its point with four or six spinnerets, from which the Spider emits the threads used in spinning its web. This web is wonderful in its formation. It consists of a number of stout threads radiating from the centre to various objects in the neighbourhood, and crossed by a great quantity of finer threads arranged in a close spiral, so as to produce the impression of a number of concentric circles. These fine threads are braided and glutinous, so that any unfortunate fly that comes in contact with them adheres readily:

“The Spider’s touch, how exquisitely fine! Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.” POPE.

The Spider sits in the middle, and at the least motion caused by a fly or other insect pressing against it, rushes on his prey, and sucks its juices; if, however, it should appear at all formidable, the Spider carefully encloses it in a shroud of web, which, of course, quite disables it; and then feasts on it at his convenience. The most difficult part of the business is to eject the remains, which is often attended with great detriment to the net. The female generally lays from nine hundred to a thousand eggs, which are contained in a kind of bag, and thus an immense number of Spiders are hatched every year, which would soon become troublesome from their numbers, if they were not kept in check by the numerous birds which prey upon them. The silk which the Spider produces is not strong enough to be employed for any useful purposes, though, out of curiosity, gloves and stockings have been woven out of it. A great difficulty, however, arises in the pugnacious habits of Spiders, as, when a number of them are kept together, they fight so dreadfully, that in a short time only a very few are left alive; and a great number would be required, as twelve Spiders do not produce so much silk as a single silkworm. Spiders resemble the crustacea in having the power of reproducing the legs which they lose.

THE HOUSE SPIDER, (_Tegenaria domestica_,)

IS a very different species from the Garden Spider. It dwells in the dark corners of houses and outbuildings, forming a dingy web of irregular threads, all of which communicate with a concealed chamber or den in which the Spider lurks.

THE DIVING SPIDER, (_Argyroneta aquatica_,)

IS another kind, which forms a sort of tent by stretching its threads between the stems of aquatic plants far below the surface. In this den it dwells, and here it devours the prey which it captures during its excursions; and in order to provide a stock of air for its respiration, it carries down successive small portions entangled amongst the hairs of its abdomen. This process is exactly similar to that by which diving-bells used to be supplied with air, and indeed the dome-like habitation of this Spider is constructed precisely on the same principle as the diving-bell.

There are also several kinds of _Water Mites_, the most abundant of which is of a rich red colour, and grows to nearly the bulk of a pea. It may commonly be seen swimming among the plants in pools and ditches.

THIS Spider is a native of the South of Europe. It lives in fields, and its dwelling is about four inches deep in the ground, half an inch wide, and closed at the mouth with a net. They lay about seven hundred and thirty eggs, which are hatched in the spring. These Spiders do not live quite a year; the parents never survive the winter.

Inflammation, difficulty of breathing, and sickness, are said to be the inevitable consequences of the bite of this animal. Dr. Mead, and other medical men, have countenanced the popular story of these effects being counteracted by the power of music. It is, however, now well known, that this singular mode of cure was nothing more than a trick frequently practised on credulous travellers, who were desirous of witnessing it. Mr. Swinburne, when he was in Italy, minutely investigated every particular relative to the Tarantula. The season was not far enough advanced, and it was pretended that no persons had as yet been bitten that year: he, however, prevailed upon a woman, who had formerly been bitten, to dance the part before him. Several musicians were summoned, and she performed the dance, as everyone present assured him, to perfection. At first she lolled stupidly on a chair, while the instruments played a dull strain. They touched at length the chord supposed to vibrate to her heart; and up she sprung with a hideous yell, staggered about the room like a drunken person, holding a handkerchief in both hands, raising them alternately, and moving in very true time. As the music grew brisker, her motions quickened, and she skipped about with great vigour, and in a variety of steps, every now and then shrieking very loud. The scene was unpleasant, and, at his request, an end was put to it before the woman was tired.

He informs us, that, whenever they are to dance, a place is prepared for them, hung round with bunches of grapes and ribbons. The patients are dressed in white, with red, green, or yellow ribbons; on their shoulders they have a white scarf; they let their hair fall loose about their ears, and throw the head quite back. He says that they are exact copies of the ancient priestesses of Bacchus. The introduction of Christianity abolished all public exhibitions of heathenish rites; but the women, unwilling to give up their darling amusement, in performing the frantic character of Bacchantes, devised other pretences; and he supposes that accident led them to the discovery of the Tarantula, of which they took advantage for that purpose.

THE CHEESE MITE. (_Acarus siro._)

THESE destructive little creatures differ from spiders in having the thorax and abdomen united and covered with the same skin, though it is contracted in one part. They have also, when young, only six legs, though the two others appear afterwards; and their feet are armed with strong hooks, which enable them to retain hold of the cheese or other food, in which they take up their abode. Their bodies are covered with hair, and their mouths are furnished with strong mandibles, with which they soon hew down huge rocks and mountains of cheese. The eggs of these Mites are so small, that it has been computed that a pigeon’s egg would contain thirty millions of them. It must be observed that this Mite is only found in dry cheese, in which it looks like reddish dust. The cheese-hopper, found in moist rotten cheese, is the maggot of a kind of fly. (_Piophila Casei._)

§ IV. _Insects._

INSECTS have all six legs and two antennæ or feelers; and though the transformations they undergo differ slightly in the different kinds, the following is the order in which they occur:--The perfect insect lays eggs, which when hatched produce larvæ; and which are called grubs when they belong to beetles, maggots to flies, and caterpillars to butterflies and moths. These larvæ eat voraciously; and as they rapidly increase in size, they generally moult, that is, change their skins, two or three times. When the larvæ are full grown, they go into the pupa state, in which they remain torpid and without food for a considerable length of time, sometimes first spinning a loose covering for the pupa called a cocoon. The pupa is generally called a chrysalis; but it is also sometimes called a nymph, and sometimes an aurelia. The last transformation is when the insect breaks from its covering in a perfect form, when it is called the imago. There are, however, some insects which are active throughout their lives, and in these the larvæ and pupæ are very similar to the perfect insect. The perfect insect is divided into three segments, or parts, called the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.

ORDER I. _Coleoptera, or Beetles._

THE larva of the beetle is a grub, which often continues in that state three or four years, eating voraciously during the whole period. When full grown it in most cases either descends into the ground, where it undergoes its transformations, first into a nymph, or pupa, and then into a beetle; or it makes itself a rough cocoon of bits of stick and dead leaves, in which it changes into a pupa, and afterwards into a beetle. The wood-eating beetles undergo their transformations in the tree on which they feed. The pupa of the beetle is termed incomplete, because all the parts of the insect are visible in it, instead of being enclosed in one thick covering, as in the moths and butterflies. The head of the beetle is furnished with two compound eyes; two antennæ (differing in shape in the various species, but having usually eleven joints); and a mouth, consisting of a labrum, or upper lip, a labium, or under lip, two mandibles, or upper jaws, and two maxillæ, or under jaws. There is also the mentum, or chin, and a part called the clypeus, to which the upper lip is attached.

The thorax is the part which supports the legs and wings. The legs are divided into five portions, of which the part terminated by the claw is called the tarsus. There are two membranous wings, covered by two hardened wings or wing-cases, called the elytra, which generally open by a straight line down the back; and hence the name of Coleoptera, which signifies wing in a case: the abdomen is simply the body.

The number of beetles is very great, and indeed Mr. Westwood informs us that more than thirty thousand species have been described, of which about three thousand five hundred are natives of Britain.

THE COCKCHAFER is one of the lamellicorn beetles. The female lays her eggs in the ground, and the grubs, when hatched, are soft, thick, and whitish. It is from its white appearance that the grub of the Cockchafer is called _le ver blanc_ by the French. These grubs, sometimes in immense numbers, work between the turf and the soil in the richest meadows, devouring the roots of the grass to such a degree that the turf rises, and will roll up with almost as much ease as if it had been cut with a turfing knife; the soil underneath appearing, for more than an inch in depth, like the bed of a garden. In this the grubs lie, on their backs, in a curved position, the head and tail uppermost, and the rest of the body buried in the mould. It is also said that a whole field of fine flourishing grass has become, in a few weeks, withered, dry, and as brittle as hay, in consequence of these grubs devouring the roots.

In the year 1688 great numbers of Cockchafers appeared on the hedges and trees of the south-west coast of the county of Galway, in clusters of thousands, clinging to each others’ backs, in the manner of bees when they swarm. During the day they continued quiet, but towards sunset the whole were in motion; and the humming noise of their wings sounded like distant drums. Their numbers were so great that, for the space of two or three square miles, they entirely darkened the air. Persons travelling on the roads, or who were abroad in the fields, found it difficult to make their way home, as the insects were continually beating against their faces, and occasioned great pain. In a very short time the leaves of all the trees, for several miles round, were destroyed, leaving the whole country, though it was near midsummer, as naked and desolate as it would have been in the middle of winter. The noise which these enormous swarms made, in seizing and devouring the leaves, was so loud, as to be compared to the distant sawing of timber. Swine and poultry destroyed them in vast numbers; waiting under the trees for the clusters of insects to drop, and then devouring such swarms as to become fat upon them alone. Even the native Irish, from the insects having eaten up the whole produce of the ground, adopted a mode of cooking them, and thus used them as food. Towards the end of the summer they disappeared so suddenly that in a few days there was not one left.

Rooks are very fond of eating these grubs, and often, when they are seen in a newly-sown field, apparently devouring the grain, they are, in fact, rendering the greatest service to the farmer, by destroying his great enemy, the white worm.

THE DOR, OR BLIND BEETLE.

(_Geotrupes stercorarius._)

THIS well-known insect, which is sometimes also called “the shard-borne beetle,” has been often noticed by the poets. Amongst others, Shakespeare makes Macbeth say:

“Ere to black Hecate’s summons The shard-borne beetle, with its drowsy hum, Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done A deed of dreadful note.”

This beetle, which is a British insect, lays its eggs in a mass of cow-dung, which it afterwards buries in the earth. It makes a dull drowsy noise when it flies, and often strikes itself against any person or object it may meet, as though it were blind. It has also the habit of stretching out its limbs and pretending to be dead when caught.

“See the proud giant of the beetle race; What shining arms his polished limbs encase! Like some stern warrior, formidably bright, His steely sides reflect a gleamy light; On his large forehead spreading horns he wears, And high in air the branching antlers bears; O’er many an inch extends his wide domain, And his rich treasury swells with hoarded grain.” BARBAULD.

THIS insect is the largest, and most singular in shape, of any in this country. It is known by two horn-like mandibles, projecting from its head, and resembling those of a stag, with which it is able to pinch very severely. These mandibles are strongly dentated from the root to the point. The wing-cases have neither streaks nor spots. The whole insect is of a deep brown. It is sometimes found in hollow oaks and beeches, near London.

The larvæ, or grubs, lodge under the bark, or in the hollow of old trees; which they bite and reduce to fine powder. The larvæ are supposed to exist three or four years before they form their cocoons. These insects are mostly found in Kent and Sussex. In Germany there is a popular but idle notion, that they sometimes, by means of their jaws, carry burning coals into houses; and that, in consequence of this mischievous propensity, dreadful fires have been occasioned. The Stag Beetle is one of the lamellicorn Coleoptera.

IS found in South America, particularly in Guiana and Surinam, as well as near the river Orinoko. It is one of the largest beetles of its kind; it is black, and the whole body is covered with a very hard shell, quite as thick and as strong as that of a small crab. Its length, from the hinder part to the eyes, is almost four inches; and from the same part to the end of the large horn on the head (from the resemblance of which to the proboscis of an elephant, and its great size, the beetle has obtained its name) four inches and three quarters. The transverse diameter of the body is two inches and a quarter; and the breadth of each case, for the wings, upwards of an inch. The horns are about an inch long, and terminate in points. The head-horn is an inch and a quarter long, and turns upwards, making a crooked line terminating in two horns, each of which is nearly a quarter of an inch long. Above the head is a prominence, or small horn, which, if the rest of the trunk were away, would cause this part to resemble the horn of a rhinoceros. There is, indeed, a beetle named after that animal, whose lower horn resembles this: its scientific name is _Oryctes Rhinoceros_.

THIS is one of the longicorn beetles. It is a very beautiful insect, of a glossy bluish-green colour, with a cast of shining gold; the under part of the body is bluish. It is about an inch and a half in length, and is elongated in form, its breadth being small in proportion to its length; the wings under the case are black; the legs are of the same bluish-green colour, only somewhat paler; and the breast is pointed at each extremity. Between these points are three little tubercles near the wings, and three smaller towards the head. The cases of the wings are oblong, and somewhat in the shape of a lance, with three ribs a little raised, and running lengthwise. The feelers are as long as the body, composed of many joints, which grow smaller near the ends. This Beetle is very common in the south of England, and is chiefly to be found on old pollard willows. It emits a strong and agreeable odour, which is not unlike attar of roses. It certainly has not the slightest resemblance to musk, though those who named it appear to have thought that it had.

THE GROUND BEETLE is not only one of the largest, but the most beautiful and brilliant that this country produces. The head, breast, and wing-cases are of a coppery green; the latter having three longitudinal rows of oblong raised spots. All the under part of the insect is black. Having only very short wings beneath the cases, Nature has providentially supplied it with such legs as enable it to run with amazing swiftness. This insect is frequently found in damp places, under stones and heaps of decayed plants in gardens. There are several species, one of which (_Carabus violaceus_) is of a beautiful purple.

The larvæ live under ground, or in decayed wood, where they remain until metamorphosed to their perfect state, when they proceed to devour the larvæ of other insects, and all weaker animals that they can conquer.

The Ground Beetles are found as early as the beginning of March, in paths and near old walls, where the sun warms the earth with its vivifying beams. Many of the large species have been found between the decayed bark and wood of willow trees.

IT is only the female Glowworm which produces the beautiful light for which the insect is so well known, and she frequently communicates this light to her eggs. She is without wings or wing-cases, and possesses no beauty when seen by daylight. The male has wings, and leathery elytra. The larva is a very ugly and very voracious grub, which feeds greedily on snails and slugs.

THIS creature is called the Death-Watch, from a superstitious notion that, when its beating is heard, it is a sign that some one in the house is going to die. The insect lives in wood, and the noise is produced by its striking its head against whatever is near it. These insects, in the larva state, do a great deal of mischief to old furniture, in which they perforate numerous round holes. To enable them to do this they are furnished with two maxillæ formed like two cutting pincers, with the help of which they bore the holes so neatly that the French call them _vrillettes_, from _vrille_, a gimlet. They also perforate books in the same way, and thus do much damage in old libraries:

“Insatiate brute, whose teeth abuse The sweetest servants of the muse! His roses nipt in every page, My poor Anacreon mourns thy rage; By thee my Ovid wounded lies; By thee my Lesbia’s sparrow dies; Thy rabid teeth have half destroyed The work of love in Biddy Floyd; They rent Belinda’s locks away, And spoiled the Blouzelind of Gay; For all, for every single deed, Relentless justice bids thee bleed. Then fall a victim to the Nine, Myself the priest, my desk the shrine.” PARNELL.

Sometimes two of these insects may be heard ticking, answering each other; and sometimes the Death-Watch may be made to tick by tapping with the finger-nail upon a table. These creatures imitate death with great exactness when they are caught, or when they think themselves in danger.

THE SPANISH FLY, OR CANTHARIS.

(_Cantharis vesicatoria._)

THESE insects are found but rarely in this country; they are more common in France, but Spain, Italy, and Russia seem to be their favourite localities. They make their appearance in July, and are generally found upon ash trees, the leaves of which form their food. They are of great commercial importance, for they are found very useful in medicine on account of their remarkable blistering powers. They have a very disagreeable smell, and emit a fluid of so corrosive a nature that many persons have suffered greatly from gathering them; and it is said to be extremely dangerous to sleep under a tree infested by them, as their smell produces a lethargic sleep, which frequently terminates in death. They are generally caught by laying linen cloths under the trees they infest, and beating the boughs; they are then put into hair sieves, and held over vessels of boiling vinegar, till the vapour kills them. After this they are dried in ovens, or on hurdles, exposed to the sun, and then packed up for sale. When dried, fifty of them hardly weigh a drachm, but they do not lose their medicinal properties by age unless allowed to get damp. Though bearing the name Spanish Flies, the greatest quantity is obtained from St. Petersburg, the Russian insects being considered the best.

They are of a highly poisonous nature, and there are many instances, some even recent, of their producing violent hemorrhage and death.

THIS is a little beetle about an eighth of an inch in length, of a reddish-brown colour, with a slender proboscis projecting from the front of the head, at the extremity of which the mouth is situated. As this proboscis is not thicker than a fine needle, our readers may form some notion of the minute size of the jaws with which the mouth is furnished; nevertheless, they are sufficiently powerful to enable the little creature to eat corn and biscuit. In the larva state they are exceedingly destructive to corn in granaries, sometimes abounding to such an extent in a heap of grain as to leave nothing of it but the husks.

There are an immense number of Weevils, all of which have the front of the head elongated into a proboscis or beak. A very common one is the _Nut-Weevil_ (_Balaninus micum_), which has a very long and slender beak; with this the female eats into the soft shells of young nuts, and deposits her eggs in the hole; the grubs devour the kernel of the nut, and leave nothing but dust in the interior of the shell.

THE larva of this well-known and beautiful little beetle is disagreeable and almost disgusting in its appearance; but to compensate for this it is extremely useful in destroying the aphis, or green fly. In the perfect insect the elytra are scarlet, beautifully spotted with black; some species having seven, and others five spots, and one of the most beautiful, eighteen. The head is very small, the antennæ and legs very short, and the body nearly round. This beetle is generally regarded with much favour in almost all countries, and in Catholic times was in a manner dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Hence its name of Lady Bird.

ORDER II. _Orthoptera._

IN this order the elytra, or wing-cases, are much softer and more flexible than in the beetles; they are frequently membranous or webbed, and when closed they do not form a straight line down the back. The mouth is also different; the maxillæ being terminated by a horny, toothed piece called the galea. There is also a kind of tongue, and the metamorphosis is incomplete.

_Unlike_ most other insects, the female Earwig watches over her eggs until they are hatched, and afterwards attends upon her young progeny for some time. At the beginning of the month of June, M. de Geer found, under a stone, a female Earwig, accompanied by many little ones, evidently her young. They continued close to her, and often placed themselves under her body, as chickens do under a hen.

This little animal is very nimble, and perfectly harmless, except to flowers, notwithstanding the fabulous charge which was so long believed against it, of its entering the human ear, and depositing its eggs there, which were said to cause intolerable pain when hatched, and the young began to gnaw the inside of the ear. The Earwig possesses wings, which, when extended, cover nearly the whole insect. The elytra, or wing-cases, are short, and do not extend along the whole body, but only over the breast. The wings are concealed beneath these, and are somewhat of an oval shape. There is great elegance in the manner in which the insect folds its wings beneath its elytra.

THE BLACK BEETLE, OR COCKROACH,

(_Blatta Orientalis_,)

SO common in London kitchens, is nearly allied to the Earwig.

THIS insect is remarkably shaped. The head is joined to the body by a neck, longer than the rest of the body. It has two polished eyes, and two short feelers. This neck consists of the first segment of the waist or thorax. The wing-cases, which cover two-thirds of the body, are veined and reticulated, or netted. The wings are veined and transparent. The hinder legs are very long, the next shorter; and the foremost pair of thighs are terminated with spines: the others have membranous lobes, which serve them as wings in their flight. The top of the head is membranous, shaped like an awl, and divided at its extremity. This animal is one of the innumerable instances which Nature affords of the infinite wisdom of the Creator; for, whenever an animal is found to deviate in shape from the general system, it is still formed to answer the design of its existence. Thus this insect, having such long legs, could never have sustained itself in the air had not Providence bestowed on the legs themselves a species of wings to balance their weight. These are instances with which Nature teems; and which would make the atheist tremble did he but contemplate the admirable design and system with which they are characterised as

“Parts of one stupendous whole; Whose body Nature is, and God the soul.”

These insects are partly of a pale yellowish green, and partly brown; so that they look like dead leaves, whence their English name. They are found in the East Indies and China.

THE ordinary Mantides, or _Praying Insects_, as they are sometimes called, from their apparently devotional attitudes, resemble the species just described in their general structure, but are seldom furnished with so long a neck and so leaf-like a body. They carry the head erect, and the long fore-feet, which shut together like a clasp-knife, are used in catching their prey; it is while thus engaged that their postures have been considered to resemble an attitude of devotion.

HAS a shorter neck than the Mantis, and its fore-legs are not constructed as claspers, but the body is very flat and leaf-like, and the wing-cases are veined so as to look exactly like a leaf; indeed, if seen adhering motionless to the branch of a tree, it would certainly be mistaken for a leaf. They are found in the East Indies. It is curious that while these creatures present such a deceptive resemblance to leaves, there are some near relatives of theirs which are equally similar to sticks and twigs, so that the semblance of a leafy branch might easily be made by fixing the former upon the latter. Some of these _Walking Sticks_ are eight or nine inches in length, and the whole body and legs are of precisely the colour and texture of bark.

IS of a green colour, with the wing-cases brown, and the head somewhat resembling that of a horse; the corselet is armed with a strong buckler. Of its six legs the hinder two are much longer than the others, to assist the insect in leaping. The male makes a chirping noise, which is caused by the thighs being rubbed against the sides of the wing-cases: if handled roughly, the Grasshopper bites very sharply.

Toward the end of autumn the female deposits her eggs in a hole, which she makes in the earth for the purpose. These eggs sometimes amount to a hundred and fifty; they are about the size of caraway-seeds, white, oval, and of a horny substance. The female, having thus performed her duty, soon languishes and dies. In the beginning of May following a small white larva issues out of each egg. The creature passes about twenty days under this humble form; after which, having assumed the pupa shape, while all the rudiments of the future Grasshopper are concealed under a thin outward skin, it retires under a thistle or a thorn-bush, most likely in order to be more secure; and there, after a variety of laborious exertions, writhings, and palpitations, the temporary covering divides, and the insect jumps out of its _exuviæ_.

THE Bible, which was written in a country where the Locust made a distinguished figure among natural productions, has given us several very striking images of these animals’ numbers and rapacity. It compares an army to a swarm of locusts: it describes them as rising out of the earth, where they are produced; as pursuing a settled march to destroy the fruits of the earth; and as the frequent instruments of Divine indignation.

The native countries of the Locust are Central Asia and the North of Africa, but they migrate every year to Europe, where they destroy every green thing they meet with. Other species of Locusts are met with in various parts of the world, which, like the true migratory Locust, pass from place to place in vast flocks, causing immense damage wherever they take up their temporary abode.

When the Locusts take the field they have a leader at their head, whose flight they observe, and to whose motions they pay a strict attention. They appear at a distance like a black cloud, which, as it approaches, gathers upon the horizon, and almost hides the light of the day. It often happens that the husbandman sees this imminent calamity pass away without doing him any mischief; and the whole swarm proceed onward, to settle upon the labours of some less fortunate country. But wretched is the district upon which they fix; they ravage the meadow and the corn land; strip the trees of their leaves, and the gardens of their beauty; the visitation of a few minutes destroys the expectations of a year; and a famine but too frequently ensues. In their native climates they are not so injurious as in the south of Europe, for in Syria and Palestine, though the plain and the forest be stripped of their verdure, the power of vegetation is so great, that an interval of three or four days repairs the calamity; but our verdure is the produce of a season; and we must wait till the ensuing spring repairs the damage. Besides, in their long flights to this part of the world, the Locusts are famished by the tediousness of their journey, and are therefore more voracious wherever they happen to settle. But it is not by what they devour that they do so much damage as by what they destroy. Their very bite contaminates the plant, and injures its future vegetation. To use the expression of the husbandman, they burn whatever they touch, and leave the marks of their devastation for two or three years ensuing. And if so noxious while living, they are still more so when dead; for wherever they fall they infect the air in such a manner that the smell is insupportable.

In the year 1690 clouds of Locusts were seen to enter Russia in three different places; and thence to spread themselves over Poland and Lithuania in such astonishing multitudes, that the air was darkened, and the earth covered with their numbers. In some places they were seen lying dead, heaped upon each other to the depth of four feet; in others they covered the surface like a black cloth: the trees bent beneath their weight, and the damage which the country sustained exceeded computation. In Barbary their numbers are formidable, and their visits frequent. In the year 1724 Dr. Shaw was a witness of their devastations in that country. Their first appearance was about the latter end of March, when the wind had been southerly for some time. In the beginning of April their numbers were so much increased, that in the heat of the day they formed themselves into large swarms, which appeared like clouds, and darkened the sun. In the middle of May they began to disappear, retiring into the plains to deposit their eggs. In the next month, being June, the young brood began to make their appearance, forming many compact bodies of several hundred yards square; which, marching forward, climbed the trees, walls, and houses, eating everything that was green in their way:

“---- To their general’s voice they soon obeyed Innumerable. As when the potent rod Of Amram’s son, in Egypt’s evil day, Waved round the coast, upcalled a pitchy cloud Of Locusts, warping on the eastern wind, That o’er the plains of impious Pharaoh hung Like night, and darkened all the land of Nile; So numberless were those bad angels seen, Hovering on wings, under the cope of Hell, ’Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires.” MILTON.

THE two fore-feet of this insect, placed very near the head, are short and broad, and, like those of the mole, are contrived to help the insect in burrowing under ground. The Mole Cricket is very destructive in gardens, as it attacks the roots of young plants, and causes them soon to rot and die. The female forms a nest of clammy earth, in which she lays from two to four hundred eggs. The nest is carefully closed up on every side, to secure the brood from the incursions of grubs and other subterraneous depredators. The song of the Mole Cricket is a low, dull, jarring note, which is continued for a long time with great pertinacity.

THE domestic Crickets generally inhabit houses, selecting for their place of retirement the chimneys or backs of ovens; and feeding upon anything that comes in their way, flour, bread, meat, and especially sugar, of which they seem to be particularly fond. The chirping noise, which they make nearly without intermission, proceeds only from the males, who produce it by rubbing the bases of their wing-cases one over the other.

Crickets are generally of a brown rusty colour, and the organ of vision appears in them to be very weak and imperfect, as they find their way much better in the dark than when dazzled by the sudden light of a candle. The Field Cricket (_A. campestris_) has the same form, but is of a different species to the House Cricket, and is black, with a fine gloss. Its noise is heard at a great distance, and is so similar to that of the grasshopper, that it is difficult to distinguish one from the other.

ORDER III. _Hemiptera._

THESE insects have neither mandibles nor maxillæ, but in lieu of them they have a tubular articulated rostrum, adapted for suction. Insects thus formed are called haustellated. The four wings are all membranous, but the outer ones are leathery at the base. Some of the species are without wings. The antennæ are often small, and sometimes scarcely perceptible. The metamorphoses of these insects are incomplete.

THIS Lantern Fly is a nocturnal insect, with a hood or bladder on the head, which is semi-transparent, and very curiously ornamented with red and green stripes. By some writers it has been affirmed that this part of the insect shines brilliantly at night, so that it is even possible to read by it. No modern entomologist has, however, witnessed this phenomenon, and it is generally believed that the supposed luminosity of the Lantern Fly exists only in the stories of the natives of South America. The wings and whole body are elegantly adorned with a mixture of red, green, yellow, and other splendid colours.

THE Cochineal Insect is of the same genus as the scale insect on the vine, which looks like a little bit of wool attached to the branch, but which, when pressed, stains the fingers with a red liquid. The Cochineal Insect in the like manner affixes itself to the leafy stems of the nopal-tree, a kind of opuntia, or prickly-pear, common in Mexico and South America, whence the Cochineal used in Europe is principally imported.

When the Mexicans have gathered the Cochineal Insects, they put them into holes in the ground, where they kill them with boiling water, and afterwards dry them in the sun; or they kill them by putting them into an oven, or laying them upon hot plates. From the various methods of killing them arise the different colours in which they appear when brought to us. While they are living, they seem to be sprinkled over with a white powder, which they lose when the boiling water is poured upon them, but preserve when killed in an oven. Those dried upon hot plates are the best.

The quantity of Cochineal annually exported from Mexico and South America is said to be worth more than five hundred thousand pounds sterling--a vast sum to arise from so minute an insect; and the present annual consumption of Cochineal in England has been estimated at about one hundred and fifty thousand pounds weight. The Mexicans think so highly of their trade in this insect, that the republic has adopted the nopal-tree as part of its arms.

It is for dyeing scarlet that Cochineal is chiefly in demand; but, although a peculiarly brilliant dye is now obtained from it, this substance gave only a dull crimson colour until a chemist of the name of Kuster, who lived at Bow, near London, about the middle of the seventeenth century, discovered the art of preparing it with a solution of tin. Cochineal, if kept in a dry place, may be preserved without injury for a great length of time. An instance has been mentioned of some of this dye, one hundred and thirty years old, having been found to produce the same effect as though it had been perfectly fresh.

THE APHIDES are sometimes viviparous, and at other times oviparous, according to the season of the year. Those of the rose-tree have been particularly noticed, and of ten generations produced in one spring, summer, and autumn, the first nine were viviparous, and the last oviparous. The first nine generations consisted of females only; but in the tenth there were males. In this singular aberration from the common laws of nature this insect is a remarkable anomaly. They multiply at such an extraordinary rate--the whole ten generations within three months--that from a single Aphis ten thousand million millions may be produced in that short period, and it has been calculated that the progeny of a single Aphis during a single summer, supposing its multiplication to be subject to no check, might exceed in weight the entire human population of China.

The moss-rose, the hop, the vine, the apple-tree, the bean, the willow, and privet, are all particularly liable to be infested with this insect; the various species of which take their names according to the plants on which they are usually found. The red tumours, commonly called galls, which are seen on the surfaces of leaves, especially on those of the willow, varying from the size of a ladybird to that of a pigeon’s egg, are produced by Aphides, and contain thousands of small lice. From a pair of small tubes placed near the end of the body of these insects exudes a saccharine fluid, of which ants are very fond; and it is this fluid dropped upon the adjacent leaves, or the extravasated sap flowing from the wounds caused by the punctures of the insects, which is known under the name of honeydew.

After a mild spring, most of the species of Aphis become so numerous as to destroy all the young shoots of the plants on which they are found. No successful mode of destroying them has yet been discovered, but the best remedy against them is to wash the infested shoots with tobacco water or soap lees; and to repeat the operation when any Aphides are seen.

ORDER IV. _Neuroptera._

THESE insects have four transparent wings, strongly and beautifully varied, so as to resemble net-work. The mouth has mandibles and maxillæ. The abdomen of the female has neither ovipositor nor sting.

THIS insect is hatched from an egg laid in soft moving ground, or sand; the larva soon increases in size, and assumes the shape of a small spider--with this difference, that the legs are constructed in such a way that it can only proceed backwards or sideways. The abdomen is very large and fleshy; and the head, which is small, is armed with two long jaws like horns, somewhat resembling those of the stag-beetle. What must create our utmost admiration is, that this insect, which can only move in a retrograde direction, is doomed by nature to feed upon flies and ants, the quickness and agility of which would at all times deprive him of his prey were he not endowed with an uncommon instinct, which prompts him to the following stratagem:--He makes a kind of funnel-shaped hole in the loose earth or sand, and, placing himself at the bottom of it, waits there with the utmost patience, till an incautious ant or giddy fly falls into the deathful pit. Then all his skill is put in requisition; he throws out, by the shaking of his large jaws, a great quantity of sand upon the insect, to prevent its climbing up the steep sides of the hole; and when the prey appears strong and nimble, he gives such a general commotion, that the whole construction crumbles down, and the unfortunate insect, overwhelmed with the ruins, falls into the jaws of the Ant-lion, which open like a pair of forceps. When the Ant-lion has sucked out the blood and inside of his prey, he takes it upon his head, and, by a sudden jerk, throws the carcase to a distance from his abode. When the larva has attained its full size, it spins for itself a cocoon of white shining silk, with an external covering of sand. In about three weeks there bursts from this pupa case a slender-waisted winged insect, which, after fluttering about for a few weeks, and depositing eggs in the sand, resigns its life. The winged insect resembles a beautiful dragon-fly; it has a head of a chestnut colour; the body is of a pearly grey, the legs short, and the wings, which resemble the finest lace, are beautifully marked with dark lines and spots. This fly is often seen fluttering about the sides of roads and dry banks exposed to the east, in the months of June and July; it continues for a little time, and then entirely disappears. The Ant-lion is not found in this country; but in the south of France and Italy there is not a bank on the sides of a public road, or a sandy ridge at the foot of an old wall, which does not harbour a great number of these insects.

THIS genus of insects is well known to every one. The larva lives in the water, and wears a kind of mask, which it moves at will, and which serves to hold its prey while it devours it. The pupa closely resembles the larva in its form, except that at the sides of the body the wings are seen enclosed in thin cases. The period of transformation being come, the pupa goes to the water-side, and fixes on a plant, or sticks fast to a piece of dry wood, in which position it remains for some little time, when the skin of the nymph splitting at the upper part of the thorax, the winged insect issues forth gradually, throws off its slough, expands its wings, flutters, and then flies off with gracefulness and ease. The elegance of its slender shape, the richness of its colours, the delicacy and resplendent texture of its wings, render it a beautiful object. It is in length about four inches.

The female deposits her eggs in the water, from which spring the larvæ, which afterwards undergo the same transformations.

The Day Fly (_Ephemera_), so called on account of the shortness of its life, is a small insect originating from a larva residing in rivers. After remaining several months in the creeping state, a nymph is formed, from which the perfect insect changes, three or four hours after mid-day, into the fly form, and dies soon after. This fly has the singular characteristic of casting off its entire skin very soon after it has attained its perfect state; and the empty coat may often be seen lying about after its occupant has deserted it.

ORDER V. _Hymenoptera._

IN this order the wings are neither so large nor so strongly veined as in the previous one. The mouth is furnished with mandibles, maxillæ, and an upper and lower lip; and the abdomen of the female is terminated either with an ovipositor or a sting. The metamorphosis of these insects is complete.

This order contains the Bees, of which there are hundreds of different species. The most interesting of these is the common Hive Bee, from whose industry we obtain wax, and by whose provident habits we are supplied with honey. The inhabitants of a hive are of three kinds: one Queen, a few hundred drones or males, and several thousand workers. The Queen, or Parent Bee, is the soul of the community; to her all the rest are so attached, that they will follow her wherever she goes. She has the power of quelling any disturbance which may arise among her subjects by making a peculiar humming noise. She is so prolific as to lay fifteen or eighteen thousand eggs, which produce about eight hundred males or drones, four or five Queen Bees, and the rest Working Bees or Neuters. The combs of a hive consist of a number of cells, formed of wax, a substance which is secreted by the Working Bees after gorging themselves with honey. These cells are for the habitation and breeding of the young Bees, and are also used as stores for honey, and bee-bread, or the pollen of flowers. The royal cells, in which are laid the eggs of future Queens, are the largest, and shaped like the cup of an acorn. All the other cells are of a beautiful hexagonal form, and of two kinds, one larger than the other: the larger for the young drones, the smaller forthe workers. In two or three days the eggs are hatched, when the Neuters nurse the young grubs, whom they feed most tenderly with bee-bread and honey. After twenty-one days, the young Bees are able to form cells with such indefatigable activity that they will then do more in one week than during all the rest of the year. No more than one Queen is ever permitted to inhabit a hive. When a young Queen is about to be hatched, the old one leads away a swarm from the old colony to form a new one. If the Queen die or is lost to the hive by accident, and there be no young Queens in the royal cells, the Bees can repair their loss. They choose a grub of the Neuter species, enlarge its cell by adding to it three or four adjacent ones, feed the young grub on royal food, and it is then developed into a Queen. Sometimes there are Bees who, less laborious than the others, support themselves by pillaging the hives of the rest; upon which a battle ensues between the industrious and the despoiling insects. Their foes are the wasp, the hornet, and various kinds of birds.

The Bee collects the honey by means of its proboscis, or trunk, which is a most astonishing piece of mechanism, consisting of more than twenty parts. Entering the hive, the insect disgorges the honey into cells, for winter subsistence; or else presents it to the labouring Bees.

The combs of cells formed by these industrious insects are constructed with an instinctive ingenuity which must always be regarded as one of the most marvellous things in nature. Each comb consists of two sets of hexagonal cells placed back to back, and not only do the insects adopt this form which enables them to construct the greatest number of cells of the requisite size within the smallest possible space, and with the least possible amount of material, but each cell on one side of the comb is placed opposite to the junction of three cells on the opposite side, so that its centre may be deepened without interfering with the latter, the three diamond-shaped pieces forming the bottom of each cell belonging to three distinct cells of the opposite side of the comb. By all these contrivances the Bees manage to get the greatest possible amount of accommodation in the smallest possible space; and it has been found, by mathematical calculation, that if it were desired to construct a series of cavities of a given size within the smallest possible space and with the smallest possible amount of materials, we should have to adopt precisely the same plan, even to the forms of the sides of the cells and the angles at which they are attached to each other, that has been instinctively adopted by the little Bee. At the entrance of every cell the Bee architect places a flange of wax, which fortifies the aperture, and prevents the injuries it might receive from the frequent ingress and egress of the Bees.

Bees produce honey, which they lay up for winter consumption; wax, of which they form their cells; and a substance called bee-bread, which they extract chiefly from the pollen of flowers, and which they use for feeding their young.

Above are given representations of, first, the _Queen Bee_, placed on the left-hand side; second, the _Drone_; and, third, the _Working Bee_.

IS a very fierce, dangerous, and rapacious insect; it is much larger than the bee, and furnished with a powerful sting. The abdomen is striped with yellow and black. All kinds of Wasps make curious nests; some attach them to the beams of a barn or other building, or place them in the hollow of a large tree, but the common Wasp digs a hole in the ground. Wasps do not construct their combs with quite the same care and accuracy as the bee; nevertheless, their nests are often very ingeniously made, and the material employed by most of them is curious, being a sort of paper or card made from fibres of wood masticated between the jaws of the insects. As they do not lay up a store of honey for their support during winter, they mostly die at that season; and the few that live remain in a torpid state till spring. Their sting is very large; and the poisonous liquor of it, when introduced into the human body, excites inflammation and creates very considerable pain.

THE mouth of this insect has jaws, but no sucking tongue. The antennæ contain more than thirty joints; and the abdomen is joined to the body by a slender pedicle. The ovipositor is enclosed in a cylindrical sheath, composed of two valves.

One distinguishing and striking characteristic of all the species of this kind of fly is the almost continual agitation of their antennæ. The name of Ichneumon has been applied to them from the service they do us by destroying caterpillars, plant-lice, and other insects; as the Ichneumon or Mangouste destroys the crocodile in the East. The tip of the abdomen of the females is armed with an ovipositor, visible in some species, though not in others; and this instrument, though so fine, is able to penetrate through mortar and plaster. The female fly uses it to deposit her eggs in the body of other insects when in the egg, caterpillar, or pupa state; so that the young as soon as they are hatched may feed upon the caterpillar, penetrating to its very entrails. These larvæ, however, contrive to suck out the nutritious juices of their prey without attacking its vitals; for the caterpillar continues to live for a long time, so as to afford them food till they have attained their full size. It is not uncommon to see caterpillars fixed upon trees, as if they were sitting upon their eggs; when it is afterwards discovered that the larvæ, which were within their bodies, have spun their threads, with which, as with cords, the caterpillars are fastened down, and so perish miserably.

“A friend of mine,” says Dr. Derham, “put about forty large caterpillars, collected from cabbages, on some bran and a few leaves in a box, and covered it with gauze to prevent their escape. After a few days we saw, from the backs of more than three-fourths of them, about eight or ten little caterpillars of one of the Ichneumon flies come out and spin each a small cocoon of silk; and in a few days the large caterpillars died.”

The Ichneumons performed great service in the years 1731 and 1732, by multiplying in the same proportion as the caterpillars, and their larvæ destroyed more of these destructive creatures than could any efforts of human industry.

They are found of all sizes, suitable to the various insects they are parasitic upon, and in their ceaseless rummaging about in every hole and corner, millions of destructive larvæ are discovered and destroyed by them, which would otherwise have reached maturity, and left a progeny to renew their ravages in the ensuing summer. Even those larvæ which feed in concealment are readily discovered by the Ichneumons destined to live upon them, and the farmer is often made aware of the presence of his enemies by observing the activity of his friends.

THE colour of the Ant is in general a dark red or brown, with a fine gloss on the abdomen. They are like the bees, divided into three kinds--males, females, and neuters. The females and neuters are furnished with stings for their defence; the males are wholly destitute of them. The males and females are in proper season furnished with wings, but the neuters have none, and they are doomed always to labour and drudgery on the hill. This hill is constructed with considerable art and labour; it is composed of leaves, bits of wood, sand, earth, and gum from the trees, which are all united into a mass, perforated with galleries to give access to the numerous cells which it contains. From this hill there are several paths, worn by the constant passing and repassing of these creatures; and it is worthy the admiration of the naturalist to consider how busy the whole legion appears in bringing bits of straw, dead bodies of other insects, or in carrying away their eggs, if any danger threatens their republic. Their sense of smell is very keen, and they discover at a great distance any food they may be in search of.

ORDER VI. _Lepidoptera._ _The Moths and Butterflies._

THE insects included in this order are all remarkable for their beauty. Their wings are membranous and veined, like those of the dragon flies and their allies, but instead of being naked they are covered by close-set scales of the most delicate texture and most brilliant colours. The mouth is furnished with a spiral trunk or tongue, by which nectar is sucked from the flowers; but in other respects it only differs from the mouths of the masticating mandibulated orders in the smallness of its parts. The antennæ vary in the different kinds: but those of all the diurnal lepidoptera, or butterflies, are terminated by a small inflation or knob; while those of the nocturnal species, or moths, taper to a point, and are often feathery, or comb-shaped. The transformations of the species belonging to this order are all complete.

Over the larvæ of this order the ichneumons reign with undisputed sway; attacking all indiscriminately, from the minute insect that forms its labyrinth within the thickness of a leaf, to the giant caterpillar of the hawk moth. The most useful of all, however, the silkworm, appears, at least with us, to be exempted from this scourge. De Geer, out of fifteen larvæ that were mining between the two cuticles of a rose-leaf, found that fourteen were destroyed by one of these insects.

THE larva of all the lepidoptera is a Caterpillar composed of twelve ring-like segments, exclusive of the head, which is harder than the other parts, and always of a deeper colour than the body. Each Caterpillar has nine breathing-holes on each side; and each of the three segments nearest the head is furnished with a pair of short legs, ending in a kind of claw, which are the true legs of the insect. The Caterpillar has, however, eight or ten other legs on the hinder segments of its body. The head has twelve eyes, and two very short conical antennæ; and the mouth is furnished with two strong mandibles, two maxillæ, a labrum, and four palpi.

The habits of Caterpillars differ: some, which are called Geometers, or Loopers, advance by a succession of steps, first extending the body to its full length and adhering by the fore legs, then drawing up the hinder part of the body close to the forepart so as to form a loop, and then again repeating this process; these Caterpillars, when at rest, often adhere by their hinder feet, and extend the body stiffly, like a little dry twig; others, which are furnished with more prolegs, adhere by these to the branch or leaf, and raise the forepart of the body a little, an attitude which induced Linnæus to give the name of _Sphinx_ to the moths in whose Caterpillars this habit prevails; some small species live between the upper and lower surfaces of leaves, in which they excavate mines; others dwell in small cases, which they manufacture of various materials; whilst others, dwelling in large societies, spin for themselves a sort of silken tent, in which they take their repose, and from which they issue daily in search of food in a regularly marshalled procession. Many make themselves cocoons; but others have no other covering in the pupa state than a smooth shining skin, or a dark mummy-like cerement. The chrysalis of a butterfly is generally angular, and that of a moth cylindrical.

THE Caterpillar, which feeds on the nettle, is about an inch in length, covered with bristles, and of a reddish brown colour. After having changed its skin three times when in the shape of a Caterpillar, it crawls up to a branching part of the stalk; and, hanging itself by the hinder part or tail, swells and bursts in such a curious way, that the Caterpillar’s skin drops to the ground, and the chrysalis, or aurelia, remains suspended; till after a fortnight of torpor it bursts its skin again, and escapes into the air, under the beautiful form of a variegated Butterfly. The golden line which shines through the pupa case of this Butterfly is supposed to have suggested the words chrysalis and aurelia, both of which signify golden. The wings of the perfect insect are about two inches in extent, of a deep orange colour above, and their base and hinder margin black, with a series of blue crescents. These Butterflies, which are very common in England, appear in spring, and at the end of June and beginning of September.

WHEN the colewort and cauliflower are nearly mature, the perfect insect of this Caterpillar is found depositing her eggs upon the leaves. The heat of the sun soon vivifies them and brings forth the Caterpillars, which immediately proceed to consume the vegetables on which they received being. They bear the heat of the sun without inconvenience, but cannot endure long rains, and in wet weather they soon disappear. There are several species of this Butterfly, but the common white, with a black spot on each of the under wings, is the earliest seen in our gardens. It lays its eggs in May; and its Caterpillars, which are soon hatched, feed together till the end of June, when they go into the pupa state, from which the perfect Butterfly appears in July. The eggs laid by the second brood of Butterflies produce Caterpillars which feed during the remainder of the summer, and remain in the pupa state all the winter, to be hatched the following spring.

From the astonishing fecundity of these insects, it may be wondered that they do not, in the course of time, completely overspread the face of the earth, and totally consume every green plant. This would certainly be the case if Providence had not provided a check to their progress. One of the kinds of the ichneumon fly deposits her eggs within the caterpillar of this Butterfly, and they are there hatched. In their larva state they continue preying on the vitals of the animal; they then pass to the pupa condition, and eventually emerge as perfect insects. So greatly are we indebted to this apparently contemptible little parasite, for keeping down the increase of an insect which would otherwise become a serious and alarming evil.

THE Caterpillar of this Moth is one of the kind called loopers, and is very destructive. The chrysalis is naked and shining; and its colour is a bright yellow with black bands. The Moth is white, spotted with black, and hence its name of Magpie.

The black and white caterpillar of this Moth is very destructive to currant and gooseberry bushes, and in some seasons particularly so. Mr. Kirby especially cites the devastations at Hull in the spring of 1814. He also confirms Boerhaave’s assertion, that the severity of winter has no effect in destroying the larvæ of those insects, as these abounded even more after a winter when Fahrenheit’s thermometer stood at zero, than after a winter which was remarkably mild.

THE Caterpillar delights in newly-opened leaves; it is not so ravenous as many others, making long intervals between its meals, but it seldom quits a leaf until it has entirely consumed it. The colour is very elegant. The upper part of the body is of a fine yellowish green; but it is by no means so beautiful after as before feeding, its skin being so thin as to transmit the hue of whatever food it eats. They are also called looper Caterpillars, because when they crawl they draw their hind and fore feet together, so as to form their bodies into a loop. They go into the pupa state towards the end of June, burying themselves for that purpose in the earth; and in November or December the perfect insect is brought forth.

It is evident that they possess great muscular power, and hence their positions during repose are very striking. Fixing themselves by their hinder feet alone, they extend their bodies in a straight line, holding it in that position for a long time. This, together with their obscure colours, and the warts on their bodies, render it often difficult to distinguish them from the twigs of the trees on which they feed. When alarmed, these Caterpillars have the instinct to drop from the leaves, and suspend themselves by a thread, which enables them to remount when the danger is over.

WITHOUT entering into a very minute description of this Caterpillar, we shall confine ourselves to what we think will be at once more interesting and more useful. As the Silkworm is an insect of universal service, and not of singular beauty, we are induced to prefer giving an account of its utility, rather than any elaborate description of its figure or colour.

This larva feeds on the leaves of the mulberry tree, and when first produced is extremely small, and entirely black. In a few days it appears in a new habit, which is white, tinged with the colour of its food; and before it goes into its chrysalis state it changes its skin several times. When full grown it spins its cone of silk, which is its cocoon, in the same manner as other insects. The Moth possesses no beauty. The Silkworm is a native of China, whence the greater part of our silk is still imported; but the insect was introduced into the south of Europe during the reign of the Emperor Justinian, and is now reared in large quantities both in France and Italy.

The art of manufacturing silk was known to the ancients. We are informed that, in the third century, the wife of the Roman emperor Aurelian entreated him to give her a robe of purple silk, which he refused on account of its enormous price.

It is not certain at what precise period the manufacture of silk was first introduced into England; but in the year 1242, we are told that part of the streets of London were covered or shaded with silk, for the reception of Richard, the brother of Henry III., on his return from the Holy Land. In 1454 the silk manufactures of England are said to have been confined merely to ribbons, laces, and other trifling articles. Queen Elizabeth, in the third year of her reign, was furnished by her silk-woman with a pair of black knit silk stockings, which she is stated to have admired as “marvellous delicate wear;” and after the using of which she no longer had cloth ones as before. James I., whilst king of Scotland, requested of the Earl of Mar the loan of a pair of silk stockings to appear in before the English ambassador, enforcing his request with the cogent appeal, “For ye would not, sure, that your king should appear as a scrub before strangers.”

THE larva of this little Moth is well known from the damage it commits in woollen cloth and furs. These substances constitute the principal support of the Caterpillar, and therefore the parent is, by its natural instinct, directed to deposit its eggs in them. As soon as it quits the egg, the Caterpillar begins to form for itself a nest: for this purpose, after having spun a fine coating of silk immediately around its body, it eats the filaments of the cloth or fur, close to the thread of the cloth, or to the skin. This operation is performed by its jaws, which act in the manner of scissors. The pieces are cut into convenient lengths, and applied, with great dexterity, one by one, to the outside of its case; and to this it fastens them by means of its silk. Its covering being thus formed, the little Caterpillar never quits it but on the most urgent necessity. When it wants to feed, it puts out its head at either end of its case, as best suits its conveniency. When it wishes to change its place, it puts out its head and its six fore legs, by means of which it moves forward, taking care first to fix its hind legs into the inside of the case, so as to drag it along. After having changed within its case into a chrysalis, it issues, in about three weeks, a small, winged, mealy-looking Moth, of silvery drab colour, too well known to almost every mistress of a family. The best mode of destroying this insect, when in the cloth, is to place a saucer of oil of turpentine with the articles affected in a close place, when the vapour raised by the warm air will immediately destroy it. Should the Caterpillar be old and strong, it may be necessary to brush the clothes with a brush, the points of which have been dipped in turpentine. Camphor wrapped up with furs will protect them from the Moth.

ORDER VII. _Diptera, or Flies._

THIS order is characterised by having only two wings, which are transparent, and which have two little movable bodies, called halteres or balancers, placed close behind them. The head is almost covered with a pair of enormous eyes; and the mouth is furnished with a proboscis or sucker. The legs are long in proportion to the body, and are in many species terminated by two or three small cushion-like expansions, which, it is supposed, enable them to walk on glass. Each foot has also two hooks or claws.

THIS insect lays its eggs in sinks, dunghills, or any other place where there is decaying vegetable matter tolerably moist. The larvæ, or maggots, are thick and fleshy, without legs, but having the mouth furnished with hooks, by means of which they drag themselves along when they wish to move. They go into the pupa state without throwing off the skin of the maggot; and when the perfect insect appears, it forces off a kind of cap from one end of the pupa case, in order to make its escape. The _Blue Bottle flies_ (_Musca erythrocephala_ and _Vomitoria_) are only too well known from their habit of depositing their eggs upon our meat in summer. In the _Flesh fly_ (_Musca_ or _Sarcophaga carnaria_) and some allied species, the eggs are hatched within the body of the parent, which thus deposits living larvæ upon the decomposing animal matter that constitutes their food. These flies are so prolific and their larvæ so voracious that Linnæus says the progeny of them would devour a horse as quickly as a lion could do it.

THE GNAT. (_Culex pipiens._)

THIS is an insect which deserves the observation of the naturalist, not only for the very curious conformation of its proboscis (which so quickly and powerfully penetrates into our skin, and through which it sucks our blood into its body), but also for the several metamorphoses it undergoes before it arrives at its winged state. The Gnat deposits its eggs upon the surface of stagnant water, and sets them upright one against another, in the form of a small boat: after floating upon the water for several days, as soon as the time of hatching arrives thelarvæ, which the eggs contain, escape into the water in which they swim about with vigorous jerking movements. They are compelled to visit the surface to take in a supply of air, and for this purpose the tail is furnished with a short tube, surrounded at its extremity with a star of bristles, which, when spread out, prevent the water from flowing into the air tube. The change to the pupa state is a curious one. In this condition the insect exhibits a rather slender body with a bulky anterior extremity, in which the head, wings, and limbs are enclosed; the tail is furnished with a pair of leaves or membranous plates, the matting tube has vanished from this part and in place of it we find two tubes situated on the sides of the thorax: having passed about ten days in this state, its increase being at an end, it keeps longer near the surface, and at last the outer skin bursts, and the winged insect, standing upon the _exuviæ_ it is going to leave behind, smooths its new-born wings, springs into the air, and begins its depredations. The fecundity of the Gnat is so remarkable, that in the course of one summer they might increase to the amazing number of five or six hundred thousands, if Providence had not ordered that they should become the prey of birds, who by this means prevent their multiplying more than they generally do. These insects are very annoying from their blood-sucking propensities; and as the sucker is horny at the tip, it inflicts a severe wound, into which the insect emits a small quantity of poison, which occasions the pain and inflammation always felt from a Gnat bite.

ORDER VIII. _Suctoria._

THESE insects are without wings. The mouth is furnished with a trunk or beak, formed to wound as well as to suck.

IS one of those little creatures with which want of cleanliness in mankind is punished. It is one of the most annoying insects that infest the human race, as, by its leapings, it often escapes being caught. It is oviparous, and the egg, which is hardly discernible with the naked eye, contains at maturity a small white worm, beset with hairs. This worm soon spins for itself a little silk cocoon, from which the perfect insect issues. The Flea is an active, troublesome, blood-thirsty insect; it has a small head, large eyes, and a roundish, but compressed body, which is covered with a kind of armour resembling the tortoise shell in colour and transparency. The plates of which this skin is composed are also armed with spines or bristles. It has six legs, two of which are much longer than the others, in order to enable the insect to make such wondrous leaps, as to raise the body above two hundred times its diameter. The great strength and agility of the Flea are well known, from the exhibition of the industrious Fleas.