The romance of insect life

“The natural system”—A middle course—Neuropterous insects—White 13 ants and their ways—Kings and queens—A royal diet—Secondary majesties—Soldiers and workers—Ant invaders—Method...

Ant language—Stridulatory organs—How white ants 20 communicate—Conversation through convulsions—Nests in tubes—Detection of a “crepitus”—Mutual recognition—Cannibalistic propens...

The burden of the locusts—Classical nonsense—Address to 65 Mahomet—Locusts in Europe—Succumb to the English climate—Described by Darwin—Locusts in Africa—The wingless host do gr...

The sense of direction—How locusts look flying—Follow no 75 leader—Unanimity of movement—Flight by moonlight—Roosting at night—Extirpated in Cyprus—The “Chinese Wall” system—Not...

A Greek mistake—Nature vindicated—Cicadas provided for—A difficult 98 feat—Perseverance rewarded—Cicadas in story—Dear to Apollo—Men before the Muses—Plato and Socrates—Athenian...

Ants and their honey-cows—A mutual benefit—Unity of motive—The end 129 and the means—Two ways of getting honey—Insect cattle—Wasps as cow-milkers—A cow-keeping bee—Ant cow-sheds...

Cow caterpillars—The adventures of Theophrastus—Cave-born 144 Ariels—Led to the sky—A strange attraction—Ant slaves and slave-holders—Slave-making raids—Feeble masters—An ant my...

Ant partnerships—How some ants feed—Persuasive methods—An 159 _imperium in imperio_—Amusement by instinct—Begging the question—Nest within nest—Ant errors _v._ human perfection—...

Ant wonders—Leaves cut for mushroom growing—How ants plant 172 mushrooms—A nest in a mushroom-bed—“Psychic plasticity”—Two opinions—Ant stupidity—Unfair comparisons—The ant and...

From wood to ambrosia—Wood-boring beetles—Rival claimants—Stag and 188 other beetles—Metempsychosis—Flies with horns—Comical combatants—Female encouragement—The sacred Scarabæus...

Do ants sow and reap?—Rival observers—The Texan _v._ Macaulay’s 200 schoolboy—More evidence wanted—How ants cross rivers—Tubular bridges—Ant armies—A world in flight—Living nest...

Bees and wasps—A bee’s masonry—What happens to caterpillars—Living 218 food—Variations in instinct—A wasp’s implement—Unreal distinctions—A cautious observer—Bees that make tunn...

Natural selection—Protective resemblances—A locust’s 238 stratagem—Mock leaf-cutting ants—Flowery dissemblers—A Malay explanation—Snake-suggesting caterpillars—A prudent lizard—...

Butterfly resemblances—A living leaf—How spiders trap 255 butterflies—Butterfly doubles—Suggested explanation—More evidence wanted—Warning coloration—A theory on trust—A straigh...

Sights of the forest—A butterfly bridge—Bird-winged 272 butterflies—“What’s in a name?”—Scientific sensibility—Resemblance _v._ mimicry—A convenient wrong word—Beauty in nature—...

Web-making spiders—Dangerous wooings—An unkind 307 lady-love—Lizard-eating spiders—Enlightened curiosity—Rival entomologists—Instinct of resignation—A worm-eating spider—Alterna...

Aquatic insects—Lyonnet’s water-beetle—A floating cradle—Larva and 320 pupa—An ingenious contrivance—Nothing useless—The imaginary philosopher—How the cradle is made—The mysteri...

One remark—Phosphorescent insects—Glow-worms and fire-flies—Fiery 329 courtship—A beetle with three lamps—Travelling by beetle-light—The great lantern-fly controversy—Is it lumi...

IF there is any plan in this little book it will, no doubt, appear in time to its readers, but I myself am only quite clear as to this, that, not being of a scientific nature, i...

Ant language—Stridulatory organs—How white ants communicate—Conversation through convulsions—Nests in tubes—Detection of a “crepitus”—Mutual recognition—Cannibalistic propensiti...

FROM what has been said about the Termites in the last chapter, it is clear that they very much resemble ants in their habits, so that it is no wonder that they have long passed...

LEAVING the beetles—though as there are probably some thousands that live habitually in ants’ nests, we have said very little about them—we may glance at an extraordinary little...

ALTHOUGH from the way in which the story is told, one might imagine that the fly here was merely enjoying a ride upon beetle-back, yet, from the efforts made by the latter to sh...

The burden of the locusts—Classical nonsense—Address to Mahomet—Locusts in Europe—Succumb to the English climate—Described by Darwin—Locusts in Africa—The wingless host do great...

The sense of direction—How locusts look flying—Follow no leader—Unanimity of movement—Flight by moonlight—Roosting at night—Extirpated in Cyprus—The “Chinese Wall” system—Not ad...

LOCUSTS, as everybody knows, belong to the grasshopper family, but it may surprise some who have read the grumblings of the learned over popular names—white ants, hedge-sparrows...

A Greek mistake—Nature vindicated—Cicadas provided for—A difficult feat—Perseverance rewarded—Cicadas in story—Dear to Apollo—Men before the Muses—Plato and Socrates—Athenian vi...

IT is generally understood that there are no cicadas or tettixes in England, and this—with a reservation in favour of a single species residing in the New Forest—is roundly asse...

WITH prolific powers which have been successful in arousing the interest even of the late Professor Huxley, it is a comfort to think that the numbers of the Aphides are always b...

Ants and their honey-cows—A mutual benefit—Unity of motive—The end and the means—Two ways of getting honey—Insect cattle—Wasps as cow-milkers—A cow-keeping bee—Ant cow-sheds—Aph...

Cow caterpillars—The adventures of Theophrastus—Cave-born Ariels—Led to the sky—A strange attraction—Ant slaves and slave-holders—Slave-making raids—Feeble masters—An ant myster...

Ant partnerships—How some ants feed—Persuasive methods—An _imperium in imperio_—Amusement by instinct—Begging the question—Nest within nest—Ant errors v. human perfection—Distor...

Ant wonders—Leaves cut for mushroom-growing—How ants plant mushrooms—A nest in a mushroom-bed—“Psychic plasticity”—Two opinions—Ant stupidity—Unfair comparisons—The ant and the...

From wood to ambrosia—Wood-boring beetles—Rival claimants—Stag and other beetles—Metempsychosis—Flies with horns—Comical combatants—Female encouragement—The sacred Scarabæus—A b...

Do ants sow and reap?—Rival observers—The Texan _v._ Macaulay’s schoolboy—More evidence wanted—How ants cross rivers—Tubular bridges—Ant armies—A world in flight—Living nests—An...

Bees and wasps—A bee’s masonry—What happens to caterpillars—Living food—Variations in instinct—A wasp’s implement—Unreal distinctions—A cautious observer—Bees that make tunnels—...

Natural selection—Protective resemblances—A locust’s stratagem—Mock leaf-cutting ants—Flowery dissemblers—A Malay explanation—Snake-suggesting caterpillars—A prudent lizard—Inco...

Butterfly resemblances—A living leaf—How spiders trap butterflies—Butterfly doubles—Suggested explanation—More evidence wanted—Warning coloration—A theory on trust—A straightfor...

Sights of the forest—A butterfly bridge—Bird-winged butterflies—“What’s in a name?”—Scientific sensibility—Resemblance _v._ mimicry—A convenient wrong word—Beauty in nature—Nupt...

SPIDERS, as we have seen, may attain beauty by getting more and more like flowers, but beauty is not the attribute with which they are principally connected in our minds. Rather...

Web making spiders—Dangerous wooings—An unkind lady-love—Lizard-eating spiders—Enlightened curiosity—Rival entomologists—Instinct of resignation—A worm-eating spider—Alternative...

Aquatic insects—Lyonnet’s water-beetle—A floating cradle—Larva and pupa—An ingenious contrivance—Nothing useless—The imaginary philosopher—How the cradle is made—The mysterious...

One remark—Phosphorescent insects—Glow-worms and fire-flies—Fiery courtship—A beetle with three lamps—Travelling by beetle-light—The great lantern-fly controversy—Is it luminous...

THE assertion that scorpions are occasionally luminous—if indeed it has ever been seriously made—does not appear to have received confirmation. Of fire, indeed, these creatures...