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AGRICULTURAL ZOOLOGY.

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2016

https://archive.org/details/b28122562

AGRICULTUEAL ZOOLOGY

BY

DR. J. RITZEMA BOS,

LECTURES IN THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, WAGENINGEN, HOLLAND.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
ELEANOR A. ORMEROD, F.R.Met.S., F.R.M.S., etc.,

FORMERLY HON. CONSULTING ENTOMOLOGIST TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL

SOCIETY OF ENGLAND.

TRANSLATED BY

J. R. AINSWORTH DAYIS, B.A. (Trin. Coll.Camb.), F.C.P.,

PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF WALES, AND
PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY AND GEOLOGY IN THE SCIENTIFIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENTS

OF THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES.

WITH 149 ILLUSTRATIONS.

LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, ld.

1894

/

AUTHOR’S PREFACE.

r

»Of

The present volume of the Thaer Library was under-
taken with the intention of providing agricultural
colleges with a condensed review of the entire
animal kingdom, but treating in greater detail the
animals harmful or helpful to agriculture. I have,
however, omitted all reference to the domesticated
farm animals, as in all such institutions these are
treated of, not by the zoologist, but by the lecturer on
stock-breeding. Although the book is not allowed to
exceed a certain size, I have taken great pains to
make it intelligible, and venture to hope that it may
be found suitable for the 'private use of the practical
farmer . To the farmer who wishes more exhaustive
information, and desires a reference-book on the animal
foes of agriculture, stock-breeding, horticulture, fruit-
tree culture, and forestry, I venture to point out my

h

VI

author’s preface.

larger work, Animal Foes and Friends * brought out
last year by the publisher of this book.

It is hoped that the present volume may be found
serviceable, both in the teaching of agricultural insti-
tutions, and to the practical farmer.

Wageningen,

February , 1892.

DR. J. RITZEMA BOS.

* Tierisclie Schadlinge und Ntitzlinge fiir Ackerbau, Viehzucht,
Walcl- und Gartenbau. Lebensformen, Yorkommen, Einfluss und die
MasBregeln zu Yertilgung und Sckutz. Praktisclies Handbuck v. I)r.
J. Ritzema Bos , Docent an der landwirtschaftL Lehranstalt in
Wageningen. Mit 477 eingedruckten Abbildungen. Preis 18 m.,
geb. 20 ra. Yerlag von Paul Parey, 10 Hedemannstrasse, Berlin, S.W.

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.

»o»

Agricultural education is making such rapid strides
in this country, that no apology is needed for
translating a hook which appears to fill a gap,
especially as it is written by a well-known authority.
Dr. Ritzema Bos has kindly allowed certain small
alterations to be made which adapt the work to the
requirements of British agriculture. Additions are
indicated by square brackets, and small print employed
in the case of some non-British animals. A few
forms have been omitted for similar reasons. Constant
reference has been made to the published works of
Miss E. A. Ormerod, who has added to my obligation
by writing an Introduction, and I also wish to acknow-
ledge my indebtedness to Mr. J. H. Salter, B.Sc., and
Mr. J. Dawson Roberts, M.R.C.V.S., for kind help
given by them.

Aberystwyth,

May, 1S94

J. R. AINSWORTH DAVIS.

INTRODUCTION.

By request of Professor Ainsworth Davis, the skilled
translator of this “ handy -book ” on “ Agricultural
Zoology,” I add some words of introduction ; and I
have especial pleasure in so doing : not that any
observations of mine can add value to the work of the
well-known author, but because, having myself had
the advantage for many years of colleagueship, and
important help in my own work from the assistance
of Dr. Ritzema Bos, I am well acquainted both with
his extensive knowledge and also his scrupulous care
in observation, and I believe that this abstract of his
larger work, now given in a form in which it is avail-
able for general use, will meet a great need.

We have long wanted a book, plain in wording, and
of moderate size, dealing with the wild animals or
animal infestations generally which occur in connection
with farm life — a manual, in fact, which, whilst suit-
able for the use of agricultural students and teachers,
should at the same time not be too technically

X

INTRODUCTION.

scientific to be intelligible to practical farmers or to
general readers.

In the pages of the present volume a very service-
able amount of information will be found to be
embodied. So far as can be arranged in the limited
space the chief characteristics of the main divisions of
the animal kingdom are given, from the Vertebrata
— including descriptions of some of our most notable
forms of what may be popularly described as beasts,
birds, and reptiles, — to the Arthropoda, including in-
formation on a most serviceable amount of insect
infestation ; also regarding Mites, Ticks, etc. These
are followed by the Vermes , including, among other
families of the Nema^oda, the eelworms which cause
so much injury to crop growth ; and these are followed
by the intestinal tape-worms and the duke.

The fourth sub-kingdom, that of Mollusca, includes,
besides snails and slugs, various kinds of shell-fish ; and
the lower sub-kingdoms — including Echinodermata,
which may be typified by star-fishes and sea urchins,
the Coelenterata, or Zoophytes, and the Protozoa — will
be found to be just entered on sufficiently to show
their place in the scale.

The clear descriptions, made still more instructive by
the numerous and good figures, will speak for them-
selves to all readers ; but I should like to add a few
lines to point out the serviceableness of a handbook in
which the reader may turn at pleasure to the history
of any common farm animal — as a weasel or a vole, a

INTRODUCTION.

XI

wood-pigeon or a pheasant, a blind-worm or a com-
mon frog. And, in regard to the insect infestations, to
which it will be seen more than a hundred pages of
the book are devoted, I can bear witness to the great
amount of valuable information which I constantly
derive myself from the study of the writings of Dr.
Ritzema Bos on this subject ; and I trust this little
manual of “ Agricultural Zoology” may take the place
in our farm and school libraries which I believe it to
be excellently fitted to fill.

ELEANOR A. ORMEROD,

Late Consulting Entomologist of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England.

Torrington House, St. Alban’s,

May 24, 1894.

.

■

.

• •

CONTENTS.

- ■♦O*

PAGE

Introduction —

I. Subdivision of the Animal Kingdom ... ... 1

II. Review of the Structure and Vital Phenomena of

Animals ... ... ... ... ... 3-16

First Sub-Kingdom : VERTEBRATA (Backboned Animals) 16-82

CLASS I: Mammalia (Sucklers) ... ... ... 21-48

Order: Carnivora (Beasts of Prey) ... ... 24-30

Family: Felidse (Cat Family) ... ... ... 24-25

Family: Canidae (Dog Family) ... ... ... 25-26

(Wolf, p. 25 ; Fox, p. 26.)

Family: Mustelidse (Weasel Family) ... ... 26-30

(Martens and Polecat, p. 26 ; Ferret, p. 27 ; Stoat and
Weasel, p. 28 ; Mink, Otter, and Badger, p. 29.)

Order: Insectivora (Insect-eating Mammals) ... 30-33

(Shrews, pp. 30, 31 ; Mole, pp. 31-33 ; Hedgehog, p. 33.)

Order : Cheiroptera (Bats) ... ... ... ... 33-35

Order: Rodentia (Gnawing Mammals) ... ... 35-43

Family: Leporidse (Hares and Rabbits) ... ... 36-38

(Hare and Rabbit, p. 37.)

Family : Muridse (Mouse Family) ... ... 38-41

(Hamster, Black Rat, and Brown Rat, p. 39 ; Common
Mouse, Long-tailed Field Mouse, and Harvest
Mouse, p. 40 ; Corn Mouse, p. 41.)

Family : Arvicolidse (Vole Family) ... ... ... 41-43

(Bank Vole and Water Vole, p. 42 ; Field Vole, pp.

42, 43 ; Southern Field Vole, p. 43.)

Order : Ruminantia (Cud-chewing Mammals) . . . 44-47

Family: Cervidse (Deer Family) ... ... ... 45-47

(Red Deer, p. 46 ; Roebuck and Fallow Deer, p. 47.)

Order : Multungula or Pachydermata (Many-hoofed or

Thick-skinned Mammals) ... ... ... 48

(Wild Boar, p. 48.)

Order: Solidungula (Single-hoofed Mammals) ... 48

CLASS II: Aves (Birds) ... ... ... ... 49-74

Order : Raptores (Birds of Prey) ... ... ... 53-55

Order : Scansores (Climbing Birds) ... ... ... 55-56

(Cuckoo, pp. 55, 56.)

Order: Passeres (Perching Birds) ... ... 57-65

XIV

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Group: Hirundinidse (Swallows) ... ... ... 57-58

(Swallows and Martins, p. 57 ; Swift and Goatsucker,
p. 58.)

Group: Magnirostres (Large-beaked Perchers) ... 58-61

(Jackdaw, Crows, Book, and Baven, pp. 59-61 ; Mag-
pie and Jay, p. 61.)

Group : Conirostres (Conical-beaked Perchers) ... 61-01

(Titmice, Larks, and Buntings, pp. 61, 62 ; Finches,
p. 62 ; Sparrows, pp. 62, 63 ; Linnet, p. 63 ; Chaffinch,
pp. 63, 64.)

Group : Subulirostres (Awl -beaked Perchers) ... 64-65

(Wagtails, Pipits, and Hedge “ Sparrow,” p. 64 ; War-
blers, pp. 64, 65 ; Thrush-like birds, p. 65.)

Order: Gyrantes (Doves) ... ... ... ... 65-67

(Wood Pigeon, pp. 66, 67; Turtle Dove and Eock
Pigeon, p. 67.)

Order : Easores (Poultry) ... ... ... 67-68

(Pheasant, p. 68.)

Order: Grallatores (Wading Birds) ... ... ... 68-70

Order: Natatores (Swimming Birds) ... ... 70-74

Family : Lamellirostra (Ducks) ... ... ... 71-73

Family : Longipennes (Gulls) ... ... ... 73-74

CLASS III. : Eeptilia (Eeptiles) ... ... ... 74-79

CLASS IV. : Amphibia (Amphibians) ... ... 79-81

CLASS Y. : Pisces (Fishes) 81-82

Second Sub-Kingdom : ARTHROPOD A ( Joint ed-limbed Animals) 82-206

CLASS I. : Insecta (Insects) ... ... ... 85-194

Order I. : Coleoptera (Beetles)

Family : Carabidse (Ground Beetles)

(Corn Ground Beetle, pp. 95, 96.)

Family: Staphylinidse (Eove Beetles)

Family : Silphidse (Burying Beetles)

(Black Burying Beetle, and Beet Carrion Beetle, p. 97.)
Family: Nitidulidse (Shine Beetles) ...

(Turnip-flower Beetle, pp. 97, 98.)

Family: Cryptophagidse (Secret-eating Beetles) ...

(Beet Beetle, pp. 98, 99.)

Family : Lamellicornia (Chafers)

(Cockchafer, pp. 100, 101 ; Buckwheat Beetle, p. 101 ;

Eye and Garden Chafers, p. 102.)

Family: Elateridse (Click Beetles)

(“ Wire worms,” pp. 103-105.)

Family: Curculionidse (Weevils)

(Seed Beetles, pp. 106, 107; Pea'Weavil, pp. 107, 108;
Mouse-tooth Weevils, p. 108 ; Gall Weevils, pp.
108-110.)

Family: Chrysomelidse (Leaf Beetles)

(Colorado Beetle, pp. 111-113; Tortoise Beetles, pp.

113, 114; Flea Beetles, 114-117.)

94-118

94-96

96- 97
97

97- 98

98- 99
. 99-102

102-105

105-110

110-117

CONTEXTS.

XV

Family: Coccinellidae (Lady Birds)

Order II. : Orthoptera (Straiglit-winged Insects) ...

(Migratory Grasshopper, pp. 119, 120; Mole Cricket,

pp. 120, 121.)

Order III. : Neuroptera (Net-winged Insects)

(Dragon Flies, p. 122; Lace Flies, pp. 122, 123;
Scorpion Flies, p. 123.)

Order IV. : Hymenoptera (Membranous-winged Insects)
Family: Apidao (Bees)

Family : Vespidae (Wasps)

Family: Fossores (Digging Wasps)

Family: Formicidae (Ants)

Family: Ichneumonidae (Ichneumon Flies)

Family: Tentliredinidae (Saw-flies)

(Turnip Saw-fly, pp. 131-136.)

Order V. : Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

Family: Diurna (Butterflies)

(Whites, pp. 138-142.)

Family : Noctuidae (Owlet Moths) ...

(Surface Caterpillars, p. 143 ; Dart or Turnip Moth,
pp. 143-145; Cabbage Moth, pp. 145-147; Lettuce
and Pea Moths, p. 147; Grass-root Moth, p. 148;
Couch-grass Moth, pp. 148, 149 ; Wheat-haulm
Moth, p. 149; Grass Moth, pp. 149, 150; Darnel
Moth, p. 150; Silver Y Moth, pp. 151, 152.)

Family : Pyralidse (Snout Moths)

Family: Tortricidae (Leaf-rollers) ...

(Fawn-coloured Pea Moth, p. 1 56 ; Crescent Pea Moth,
pp. 156, 157.)

Family: Tineidae (Leaf-miners)

(Carrot Moth, pp. 157, 158 ; Diamond-back Moth,
pp. 158, 159.)

Order VI. : Hemiptera (Half-winged Insects)

Family: Aphidae (Plant Lice)

Order VII. : Physopoda (Bladder-footed Insects)

(Thrips, pp. 163, 164.)

Order VIII. : Diptera (Flies) ...

Family: Culicinae (Gnats)

Family: Gallicolae (Gall Gnats)

(Hessian Fly, pp. 166-168; Scarlet Wheat Midge,
pp. 168, 169 ; Wheat Midge, 169, 170.)

Family : Rostratae (Crane Flies) ...

Family : Muscaeformes (Gnat Flies)

(Sand Flies, pp. 173,174.)

Family : Tabanidae (Gad Flies)

Family : Muscidae (True Flies)

(Caterpillar and Flesh Flies, p. 175; Common Flies,
p. 175 ; Flower Flies, pp. 176, 177 ; Cheese-fly,
p. 178; Bibbon-footed Corn Fly, pp. 178-182;
Frit Fly, pp. 182-184.)

PAGE

117- 118

118- 121

121-123

123-136

125- 126

126- 128

128- 129

129- 132
132-134
134-136

136- 159

137- 142

142-152

152-155

155-157

157-159

159-163

159-163

163- 164

164- 193

164- 165

165- 170

170-172

173-174

174

175-184

XVI

CONTENTS.

1 AGB

Family : Syrphidse (Hover Flies) ... ... ... 185

Family: Stomoxydoe (Stable Flies) ... ... 185-186

Family: (Estridse (Bot Flies) ... ... ... 186-192

(Ox Warble-fly, pp. 186-188; Sheep Bot Fly, pp.

188-190; Horse Bot, etc., pp. 190-192.)

Family : Pupipara (Louse Flies) ... ... 192-193

Order IX. : Aphaniptera (Fleas) ... ... 193

Order X. : Parasita (Lice) ... ... ... 193-194

CLASS II. : Myriopoda (Centipedes and Millipedes) ... 195

CLASS III. : Arachnoidea (Scorpions, Spiders, Mites) 195-205
Order: Acaridea (Mites) ... ... ... 196-202

Family : Acaridse (True Mites) ... ... ... 196-202

(Itch or Mange Mites, pp. 196-202.)

Family: Ixodidse (Ticks) ... ... ... 202-204

Family: Gamasidm (Beetle Mites) ... ... 204

(Fowl Mite, p. 204.)

Family: Trombidiidse ... ... ... 205

(Plant Mite or “ Bed Spider,” p. 205.)

CLASS IV.: Crustacea (Crustaceans) ... ... 206

Third Sab-Kingdom : VERMES (Worms) 206-245

CLASS: Annelida (Segmented Worms) ... ... 207-209

(Earthworms, pp. 207-209.)

CLASS : Nematelminthes (Round Worms) ... ... 209-231

Order: Nematoda (Thread Worms) ... ... 210-231

Family: Strongylidse (Palisade Worms) ... ... 212-215

Family : Trichotrachelidm (Whip Worms) ... 215-218

(Trichina, pp. 216-218.)

Family : Filarkke (Slender Thread Worms) ... 218

Family : Ascaridse (Round Worms) ... ... 218-219

Family : Anguillulidse (Eelworms) ... ... 219-231

(Stem Eel worm, pp. 220-224 ; Wheat Eelworin, pp.

224-227 ; Beet Eelworm, pp. 227-230 ; Root-
knot Eel worm, p. 231.)

CLASS : Platyhelmia (Flat Worms) ... ... ... 231-245

Order : Cestoda (Tapeworms) ... ... ... 231-240

Order : Trematoda (Flukes) ... ... ... 240-245

Fourth Sub-Kingdom : MOLLUSCA (Mollusca) 245-251

CLASS: Cephalopoda (Cuttle-fishes) ... ... 247

CLASS: Gastropoda (Snails and Slugs) ... ... 247-251

(Grey Field Slug, pp. 249-251.)

CLASS): Lamellibranciiiata (Bivalve Molluscs) ... 251

Fifth Sub-Kingdom : ECHINODERMATA

(Hedgehog-skinned Animals) 252-253

Sixth Sub-Kingdom : C(ELENTERATA (Zoophytes) 253-255

Seventh Sub-Kingdom : PROTOZOA

(One-celled Animals) 255-256

ILLUSTRATIONS.

-*o

fig.

PAGE

1. Schematic Longitudinal Section of the Human Body

2. Human Skeleton ...

3. Skeleton of an Ox

4. Bending of the Arm by Contraction of the Biceps Muscle

5. Diagram to explain the Action of the Motor and Sensory

Nerves ... ... ... ... ...

6. Diagram of the Course of the Circulation

7. Life History of the Small-winged Gall-fly ( Andricus ter-

minalis )

8. Diagram of a Fish’s Heart ...

9. Diagram of a Mammal’s Heart ...

10. Diagram of a Keptile’s Heart

11. Diagram of a Frog’s Heart

12. Vertical Section of a Human Grinding Tooth

13. Crown of an Ox’s Grinder

14. Skull of Domestic Cat

15. Pine Marten (Mustela martes)

16. Skull of Mole

17. Common Shrew (Sorex vulgaris)

18. Skeleton of Bat

19. Skull of Squirrel

20. Abnormal Tooth in Hare

21. Hamster (Cricetus frumentarius)

22. Long-tailed Field Mouse (Mus sylvaticus)

23. Upper Back Teeth of Brown Rat

24. Upper Back Teeth of Water Vole

25. Southern Field Vole (Arvicola arvcilis)

26. Skull of Sheep

27. Development of Roebuck Antlers

28. Wing of Buzzard ...

29. Section through Bird’s Egg

30. Eagle Owl (Otus maximus) ...

31. Head and Foot of Falcon

32. Golden Eagle ( Aquila chrysaetus )

33. Barn Owl (Strix Jiammea)

34. Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) ...

35. Goatsucker (Caprimulgm euro'pxus)

36. Head of Rook (Corvus frugilegus)

37. Head of Bullfinch (Pyrrliula vulgaris)

4

7

9

10

11

13

15

18

20

20

21

22

22

25

27

30

31

34

35

37

38

40

41
41

43

44

45

50

51

52

53

54

55

56
58
60
62

xvm

ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIG. PAGE

38. Nightingale (Daulias luscinid) ... ... ... 65

39. Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) ... ... ... 66

40. Capercailzie (Tetrao urogallus) ... ... ... 68

41. Pheasant (Pliasianus colchicus) ... ... ... ... 69

42. Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) ... ... ... 70

43. Crested and Little Grebes (Poclicep>s cristatus and minor) ... 71

44. Grey Goose (Anser cinereus) ... ... ... 72

45. Herring Gull (Larus argeniatus) ... ... ... 74

46. Common Lizard (Lacerta agilis) ... ... ... 75

47. Adder (Pelias berus) ... ... ... ... ... 76

48. Grass Snake (Tropidonotus natrix) ... ... ... 77

49. Blindworm (Anguis fragilis) ... ... ... ... 78

50. Great Crested Newt {Triton cristcitus) ... ... 79

51. Common Frog (Rana temporaria) ... ... ... 80

52. Natterjack (Bufo calamita) ... ... ... 81

53. The Perch (Perea fluviatilis) ... ... ... ... 82

54. W ood-horer ( Sirex ) ... ... ... ... 83

55. Centipede ( Scolopendra morsitans ) ... ... ... 84

56. Ground Beetle, showing Nervous System ... ... 84

57. Disarticulated Grasshopper ... ... ... ... 85

58. Head and Mouth-parts of a Ground Beetle ... ... 87

59. Leg of Ground Beetle ... ... ... ... 88

60. Stages of Silkworm Moth (Bombyx mori) ... ... 88

61. Stages of Hornet {Vespa crabro) ... ... ... 89

62. Migratory Grasshopper (Acrydium migratorium) ... 90

63. Looper Caterpillar ... ... ... ... ... 90

64. False Caterpillar ... ... ... ... ... 90

65. Stages of Cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris) ... ... 91

66. Larva of a Weevil ... ... ... ... 92

67. Stages of Aphis-eating Fly (Syrph us ]iyrasti) ... ... 92

68. A Ground Beetle (Carabus ciuronitens) ... ... 95

69. Corn Ground Beetle (Zabrus gibbus) and larva ... ... 95

70. A Rove Beetle (Stapliylinus erytliropterus) ... ... 96

71. Black Burying Beetle (Silplia atrata) and larva ... ... 96

72. Antennae of Cockchafer ... ... ... ... 99

73. Abdomens of Common and Horse-chestnut Cockchafers ... 100

74. Skipjack (Agriotes lineatus ) ... ... ... 102

75. Skipjack about to spring ... ... ... ... 103

76. Grain-plants sown deep and shallow, to show Wireworm

attack ... ... ... ... ... 104

77. Bean Beetle (Bruchus rufimanus) ... ... ... 106

78. Pea Weevil (Sitones lineatus) ... ... ... 107

79. Mouse-tooth Weevil (Baridius clitoris) and larva ... ... 108

80. Turnip Gall Weevil (Ceutorhynchus sulcicollis) ... 109

81. Colorado Beetle (Chrysomelci decemlineata) ... ... Ill

32. Stages of Colorado Beetle ... ... ... ... 112

83. Cloudy Tortoise Beetle (Cassida nebulosa) ... ... 113

84. Rape Flea Beetle (Fsylliodes chrysocephalus) ... 114

85. Stages ~ '

tcit a)

118

ILLUSTRATIONS.

XIX

FIG. PAGE

S6. Stages of Common Lace Fly (Chrysopci vulgaris) ... 122

87. Head of Honey Bee (Apis mellifica) ... ... ... 124

88. Common Wasp (Vespa vulgaris) and nest ... ... 127

89. Common Sand Wasp (Ammophila sabulosa) ... ... 129

90. Stages of Yellow-legged Ichneumon Fly ( Microgcister glome-

i* atus) ... ... ... ... ... 133

91. Turnip Saw-fly (Athalia spinarum) and caterpillars ... 135

92. Head of Butterfly ... ... ... ... 136

93. Scales from Butterfly’s Wing ... ... ... ... 136

94. Stages of Peacock Butterfly (Vanessa id) ... ... 138

95. Stages of Cabbage White (Pieris brassicse) ... ... 139

96. Garden White {Pieris rapse), male ... ... ... 141

97. Garden White, female and caterpillar ... ... ... 141

98. Green-veined White (Pieris napi) ... ... ... 142

99. Dart or Turnip Moth (Agrotis segetum) and caterpillar ... 143

100. Stages of Cabbage Moth (Mamestra brassicse) ... 146

101. Grass Moth (Charseas Graminis) and caterpillar ... 150

102. Stages of Silver Y Moth (Plusia gamma) ... ... 151

103. Hop Snout Moth (Uypena rostratis) ... ... ... 153

104. Mother-of-Pearl Moth ( Botys margaritalis ) and larva 155

105. Fawn-coloured Pea Moth (Grapliolitha nebritana) ... 156

106. Larch Moth (Coleophora laricella) ... ... ... 157

107. Wings of a Bug ... ... ... ... ... 159

108. Bean Aphis (Aphis papaveris) ... ... ... 160

109. Corn Thrips (Thrips cerealium) ... ... ... 163

110. Wheat Midge (Cecidomyia tritici) ... ... ... 165

111. Barley attacked by Hessian Fly ... ... ... 167

112. Larvae of Wheat Midge (Cecidomyia tritici) ... 169

113. Stages of Daddy Longlegs (Tipula oleracea) ... ... 171

114 Rain Breeze Fly (Hasmatopota pluvicilis) ... ... 174

115. Caterpillar Fly (Tachina /era) ... ... ... 175

116. Turnip infested by Cabbage Fly ( Anthomyia brassicse) 177

117. Ribbon-footed Corn Fly ( Chlorous tseniojms) ... 179

118. Stages of ditto ... ... ... ... ... 181

119. Wheat Plant distorted by winter generation of ditto ... 181

120. Stages, etc., of Frit Fly (Oscinisfrit) ... ... ... 183

121. Stages of Horse Bot Fly ( Gastrus equi) ... ... 190

122. Horse Louse (Hcematopinus macrocephalus) ... ... 194

123. Common Snake Millipede (Julus terrestris) ... ... 195

124. A Spider (Salticus scenicus) ... ... ... ... 196

125. Mange Mite of the Pig {Sarcoptes scabiei, var. suis) ... 197

126. Ditto ... ... ... ... ... ... 198

127. The Dog Tick (Ixodes ricinus) ... ... ... 203

128. Diagrammatic transverse section through a Thread Worm 210

129. Tail of male Strongylus armatus ... ... ... 213

130. Encapsuled Muscle Trichinae in flesh ... ... ... 217 A

131. Male Intestinal Trichina .. . ... ... ... 217^

132. Rye Plant in the later stage of the Eelworm Disease ... 222

133. Ear Cockles of Wheat ... ... ... ... 225

134. Stages of Beet Eelworm (Heterodera Schaclitii) ... ... 226

XX

ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIG.

135. Taenia saginata ...

136. Common Tapeworm ( Taenia officinalis) ...

137. Tapeworm Larva ( Taenia solium) ...

138. Types of Bladder- worm

139. Measle of Taenia solium ...

140. Measles in Pork

141. Liver Fluke (Distoma hepaticum) ...

142. Life History of Liver Fluke ...

143. Diagrams of Molluscs

144. Grey Field Slug ( Limax acjrestis)

145. Common Starfish ( [Asterias rubens) ...

146. Fresh-water Polype (Hydra) ...

147. A Jellyfish (Pelagia noctiluca)

148. A Sea Anemone ( Sagartia nivea)

149. Proteus Animalcule ( Amoeba )

PAGE

232
... 234

234

... ... 235

235

. .. ... 236

241

... ... 242

246
... 249

252

. . . ... 254

254

. . . ... 254

255

ZOOLOGY.

o

INTRODUCTION.

I. Subdivision of the Animal Kingdom.

There are animals so like one another that they are
given the same name. Such animals are ranked in
the same species. Animals which differ so much that
they have to be referred to different species, but which
notwithstanding agree in the majority of their cha-
racters, especially the most important ones, are placed
in the same genus. Hare and rabbit, or horse and
donkey, are reckoned as different species of the same
o;enus. Genera resembling one another are united
into a family; thus, the pine marten and the beech
or stone marten both belong to the Marten genus
(Martes), while the weasel and stoat are different
species of the Weasel genus (Mustela) ; but these two
genera are so similar that they are both placed in
the same family, i.e. the Weasel family (Mustelidm).
Nearly related families together build up an order.
Thus, the Weasel family, Dog family, Cat family, etc.,
collectively constitute the order of Carnivora , cha-
racterized, speaking generally, by the same kind of
teeth, claws, habits, and food. Several related orders
are united into a class. Thus, for example, carnivorous
animals (Carnivora), ruminating animals (Ruminantia),

2

ZOOLOGY.

gnawing animals (Rodentia), etc., constitute different
orders of the class of Bucklers (Mammalia) ; while birds
of prey (Raptores), pigeons (Gyrantes), and poultry
(Rasores), are included in a second class, that of Birds
(Aves). But both Birds and Mammals have a skeleton,
of which the chief support is the backbone ; on this
account they are placed in a larger subdivision, the
sub-kingdom of Backboned animals (Yertebrata) ;
while snails are grouped under the sub-kingdom of
Molluscs , millipedes and centipedes under that of
Jointed-limbed animals (Arthropods).

In this way the animal kingdom is divided into
sub-kingdoms, the sub-kingdoms into classes, the
classes into orders, the orders into families, the families
into genera, and the genera into species. Animals of
the same species which differ from one another in
more or less constant characters, belong to different
races (domestic or geographical races).

There are many species of animals the external
features of which are well known to ordinary folk,
and which therefore possess a definite English name,
but a much larger number, of the smaller forms
especially, have no English name. It is, therefore,
necessary to devise new names for these species. The
English names, however, are liable to cause great
confusion, since in different districts the same name
is often applied to widely different animals. Besides
this, distinct names have usually been given to suc-
cessive stages in the life-history of the same form :
“ wireworms,” for example, are the young state of the
“ click-beetle.”

By using the scientific method of naming invented
by Linnaeus, confusion is made impossible. The Latin
names of this naturalist have the great advantage that
they not only give a perfectly distinct name to any
particular species, but also at the same time show the
genus to which it belongs. Each kind of animal
possesses, in fact, two names; just in the same way as.

INTRODUCTION.

3

every person possesses at least two names, a Christian
name and a surname. The generic name comes first,
and is, of course, common to all animals of the same
genus. The second name is the specific one, and
belongs exclusively to animals of the same species.
The hare and rabbit, for example, are both included in
the genus Lepus. The Latin name of the first is Lepns
timidus ; that of the second, Lepus cuniculus. Horse
= Equus caballus ; ass — Equus asinus.

II. Review of the Structure and Vital Phenomena of

Animals.

I select as a point of departure the human body,
and the bodies of domestic animals, because my readers
are best acquainted with these.

The limbs consist, beginning on the outside, of skin,
flesh, and bone. The same parts can also be distin-
guished in the head, neck, and trunk ; but in these
divisions of the body they enclose a cavity, the
body -cavity, which, again, contains various parts
(“ organs ”), which are not everywhere attached to the
body- wall. Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal section
through the body. The skin is represented by a line,
flesh and internal lining are shaded, while the bones
are black. These parts form together the body-wall.
In front the body-wall encloses a cavity, the body-
cavity ( Kh .), which in Mammals is divided into two
sections (thoracic cavity, Bz.h , and abdominal cavity,
B.h.) by the midriff (diaphragm). In the thoracic
cavity are found the lungs and heart (H), also most
of the gullet or upper part of the gut ; the abdominal
cavity contains the remainder of the often much-coiled
gut, which in one place widens into the stomach (ill),
also the kidneys, spleen, and parts connected with the
gut ( e.g . the liver). The cavities are bounded behind
by the backbone (vertebral column), which is made up
of many flattened vertebrae. The uppermost vertebra

4

ZOOLOGY.

supports the skull, which encloses a cranial cavity
(. Sch.h .) continuous with a vertebral canal bounded by
the vertebrae. Cranial cavity and vertebral canal
form together a second body-space, in which are con-
tained the brain and spinal cord.

We will now consider the individual parts of the
body, beginning with the skeleton. The axis of the

skeleton is formed by
the vertebral column
(spine), which is com-
posed of flat bones,
the vertebrae. A ver-
tebra usually consists
of (1) the body, which
occupies the front ; (2)
the arch, which pos-
sesses several projec-
tions or processes
(neural spine, trans-
verse processes, ar-
ticular processes) and
encloses the vertebral
canal (W.h.). All
mammals have seven
neck or cervical ver-
tebrae (Fig. 2, 1) ;

while the number of
the remaining verte-
brae varies according
to the species. The cer-
vical vertebrae, which
support the head, are
followed by the dorsal
or thoracic vertebrae
(12 in man, Fig. 2, 2),
and these by the
strong loin or lumbar vertebrae (5 in man, Fig. 2, 3).
Cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebrae are movable,

Fig. 1. — Schematic Longitudinal Section of
the Human Body.

INTRODUCTION.

5

but, in man, the last-named are followed by five
vertebrae immovably united together to make up the
sacrum, and these again by tail- or caudal vertebrce.
Man has four such vertebrae, all poorly developed, and
fused with one another (Fig. 2, 5) ; but in many
animals there are a large number, movably united
to make up a tail.

The ribs, which in mammals bound the chest, are
jointed to the thoracic vertebrae. Man has 12
pairs of ribs ; each rib consists of a bony part behind
and a gristly (cartilaginous) part in front. The so-
called true ribs (Fig. 2, 14) [the upper pairs] are
movably united with the breast-bone, but this is not
the case with the false ribs (Fig. 2, 15).

In the head we distinguish the brain-case or
cranium, and the skeleton of the face. The first
contains the cranial cavity in which the brain is
enclosed. We distinguish — 2 frontal bones (fused to-
gether in man, Fig. 2, 6) ; 2 parietal bones (7) ; 2
temporal bones (8) ; an occipital bone (9) composed
of several pieces fused together, perforated by the
foramen magnum [where brain and spinal cord unite],
and bearing two elevations or condyles [for effecting
union with the backbone] ; and the sphenoid and
ethmoid bones which make up the base of the cranium.
The facial skeleton consists of the framework of the
jaws and palate, and, together with some of the
cranial bones, bounds the cavities in which the eyes
are contained (orbits), and the nasal cavities. It
consists of the maxillary bones (Fig. 2, 12), the pre-
maxillary bones (Fig. 3, 7, — in man these 4 bones are
fused together into one piece), the nasal bones, the
lachrymal bones, the ploughshare bone (vomer), the
turbinated bones, the cheek-bones (or malars. Fig.
2, 11), the palate-bones, and the lower jaw (Fig. 2, 13).
(The last originally consists of two symmetrical halves.)

The upper and lower limbs are built on the same
type, and therefore consist of corresponding parts

6

ZOOLOGY.

(cp. Fig. 2). The more similar the functions of the
two pairs, the closer their resemblance. In the ox
they are much more alike than in man ; in the bird,
on the contrary, the similarity is much less. A dis-
tinction can be drawn in both limbs between the
bony girdles (shoulder-girdle and hip-girdle), which
serve for union with the trunk-skeleton, and the
different subdivisions of the limbs themselves. I place
side by side the parts of the arm and leg of man.

Arm.

I. Shoulder - girdle, consisting
of :

Shoulder - blade (Scapula)
(Fig. 2, 17).

Collar-bone (Clavicle).

Coracoid process (of Sca-
pula).

II. Upper arm :

Upper arm-bone (Humerus)
(18).

III. Fore-arm :

Radius (19).

Ulna (20).

IV. Hand:

Two rows of wrist-bones
(Carpal bones) (21).

Metacarpal bones (22).

Finger - bones (Phalanges)
(23).

Leg.

I. Hip-girdle, consisting of:
Hip-bone (Ilium) (21).
Pubis.

Rump-bone (Ischium).

II. Thigh:

Thigh-bone (Femur) (25).

III. Leg:

Shin-bone (Tibia) (26).
Clasp-bone (Fibula) (27).

IV. Foot :

Two rows of anlde-bone3
(Tarsal bones) (28).
Metatarsal bones (29).
Toe-bones (Phalanges) (30).

The differences between arm and leg are explained
by their different uses. The bones of the leg, used
to support the human body, are firmer and thicker,
but less movable than those of the arm, which is
employed in grasping. Consequently the union
between the hip-girdle and the trunk-skeleton is
firmer than that of the shoulder-girdle. The radius
can rotate upon the ulna, so as to completely turn
the hand over ; a similar twisting of the foot would
not be of use, and cannot be effected. The leg has
a knee-pan (patella) (Fig. 31), with which there is
no bone in the arm to correspond. In the foot the

INTRODUCTION

7

Fig. 2. — The Human Skeleton

8

ZOOLOGY.

toes are short, and the remaining parts long; for
instance, one of the tarsal bones, the calcaneum
(heel-bone), is strongly developed and projects behind
(28 *). In the hand, the digits are relatively long,
and since the tip of the thumb can be made to touch
the tips of all the lingers, are admirably adapted for
grasping.

The number of fingers or toes is at most five, but
may be less. The horse has a single digit to each
limb ; the ox, two well developed and two remaining
as rudiments ; the pig, two large and two small ; while
the dog has four toes in the hind foot, five in the fore
foot.

Man walks on the sole of the foot. Some other
animals (dog, cat) on the toes ; others again (horse,
ox, pig), on the tips of the toes. In the last case
there is not simply a horny structure (nail or claw)
on the upper side of the toe, but a hoof sheathing the
whole of its tip. In many animals the thigh and
upper arm are drawn close up to the body, so that
the limbs appear quite different from those of man.
(Compare Fig. 2 with Fig. 3.)

The bones are usually surrounded by flesh. This
consists of a number of different pieces united together
by a delicate, elastic, fibrous mass (connective tissue).
The different pieces are termed muscles , each of which
is again made up of a large number of muscle-fibres,
all taking a longitudinal direction. Each fibre can
contract, and a muscle becomes shorter and thicker
by simultaneous contraction of all its fibres. The
contraction and subsequent relaxation of muscles
move other parts. There are some muscles, the
hollow muscles , which surround a cavity, and by their
contraction propel the liquid or solid substances found
in their cavity. The heart, for example, is a large
muscle of this sort, serving to propel the blood, while
the hollow muscular coat of the gut moves on the con-
tained food. Other muscles are fixed by their ends

INTRODUCTION,

9

to other parts of the body, which they move by their
contraction. We distinguish between dermal muscles

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and skeletal muscles, attached respectively to the skin

10

ZOOLOGY.

or by one end to an integumentary structure (hair,
feather, scale), and to parts of the skeleton. The
animals which are devoid of any internal skeleton,
the invertebrates (i.e. all animals except vertebrates),
naturally possess no skeletal muscles. Examples of
dermal muscles are those by means of which a bird
erects its feathers (tail-coverts of peacock !), and
those which enable a hedgehog to roll itself into a
ball and stick out its spines. Each end of a skeletal
muscle is connected with a bone. If such a muscle
contracts the more easily movable bone is drawn
towards the less easily movable one (Fig. 4). In
order that the bones may be movable upon one
another they are united together by joints.

According as muscular movements are, or are not,
under the influence of the will, they are distinguished
as voluntary and involuntary. To the latter kind
belong the movement of the heart, and the movements
of the muscles in the wall of the gut by which the
food is made -to progress.

To destroy the contractile power of a muscle it is

not necessary to injure
the muscle itself. Every
muscle is related to a
nerve, which sends its
fine branches to the
fibres making up the
muscle. If we cut the
nerve, the correspond-
ing muscle loses its
power of contraction.
But the nerve arises
from the central nervous
system , which in ver-
tebrates principally con-
sists of the brain and
spinal cord. The
muscle will therefore
lose its contractile power if the connection with

Fig. 4. — Bending of the Arm by Contraction
of the Biceps Muscle, a, humerus ; b, ulna ;
c, elbow-joint ; d, biceps muscle ; e, origin ;
/', insertion of the same. In the right-hand
figure of the muscle d is contracted ; in the
left-hand figure it is slackened.

INTRODUCTION.

11

these central parts is broken. The true cause of
movement resides in these parts. A sort of change,
the essential nature of which is unknown to us, takes
place in them, and is propagated along the nerve to
the muscle, causing it to contract. The central ner-
vous system is, therefore, the origin, the centre from
which the order to contract proceeds ; hence its name.
The nerves which run from these central parts to the
muscles are known as the nerves of movement (motor
nerves).

There is still, however, a second group of nerves,
the nerves of sensation (sensory nerves), which arise
in the sense-organs (skin, mucous membrane of tongue,
nose, ear, eye), and convey to the central nervous
system the impressions they receive from the outer
world by the aid of these sense-organs. In the ap-
pended diagram (Fig. 5), C represents the central

Fig. 5.— Diagram to explain the Action of the Motor and Sensory Nerves.

nervous system ; B.N., a motor nerve, branching in the
muscle M ; G. N., a sensory nerve, which runs from the
blood-bathed inner skin or dermis (L.h), underlying
the outer skm or epidermis ( O.h ), to the central
system. (The arrows indicate the direction in which
impulses are conveyed along the corresponding nerve

12

ZOOLOGY.

Men or animals lose in weight if they take no food.
The reason for this is that certain substances leave
the body either as gases (through the lungs), or as
liquids (by the kidneys and sweat-glands), without
a corresponding compensation. An animal or human
being could not live without taking in fresh sub-
stances, which, according as they are solid or liquid,
are known as food or drink. The different kinds of
food and drink, which, with few exceptions (salts,
water), are taken from the animal and plant king-
doms, cannot, however, as such, replace the gradually
diminishing body-substance, for, to begin with, they
contain useless matters, which pass out of the body in
the fceces (dung). And even the nutritious parts of
the animal and vegetable substances taken into the
stomach, are not always in a form in which they can
be used at once. Digestion, which in all the higher
animals takes place in a food-tube (gut), serves to
reduce them to a suitable condition, at the same time
separating the useless matters. The action of several
fluids (saliva, gastric juice, bile, etc.) secreted by
glands, extracts the useful (nutritious) substances from
the food and drink, converting them also into a
suitable form. The smaller the pieces into which the
food is separated, the better can this purpose be
effected. In mammals the teeth serve to break down
the food ; in birds and many Invertebrates the same
part is played by special secretions of the stomach or
intestine provided with hard ridges.

So long as the nutritious food-stuffs remain in the
food-canal, even though in a completely suitable form,
they cannot nourish the body. And since waste of
the substance of the body everywhere takes place, it
is absolutely necessary that the food-stuffs should
pass after digestion into a system of organs going to
all parts of the body. This system is the circulatory ,
or vascular system. Food-stuffs enter it from the gut
directly or indirectly, reaching it in the latter case
through the lymphatic (lacteal) system.

INTRODUCTION.

13

The blood is the fluid into which the food-stuffs are
taken up. It consists of an almost colourless liquid,
together with an innumerable number of exceedingly
minute blood-corpuscles.

The blood flows through the body in a system of
tubes, or blood-vessels, which branch repeatedly, and
at last become merged in the microscopic capillary
blood-vessels. These capillaries are present in nearly
all parts of the body except the epidermis and epi-
dermal structures (hairs, feathers, scales, etc.). They
have exceedingly thin walls, which present no re-
sistance to the passage of the nutritious substances
contained in the blood, so that these can be absorbed
by those parts of the
body which lie between
the individual capillary
vessels. The central
organ of the circulation
is the heart, an enlarged
part of the vascular
system, possessing thick
muscular walls. By con-
traction of these, the
blood is driven out of
the heart (Fig. 6, H) ;
and its exit is possible
on one side only (a), as
at the other side (b)
there is a valve, which
closes when the heart
contracts. The vessel
into which the blood
leaving the heart enters is termed an artery (S.A.)
It divides into several branches, also known as
arteries, and the smallest arteries pass into capillaries,
which again are connected with veins, which join
larger and larger veins, until finally one or a few
open into the heart (J.).

Fig. 6. — Diagram of the Course of
the Circulation.

14

ZOOLOGY.

Since the blood in the course of its circulation gives
up some of its nutriment to the various parts of the
body, it would in the end become useless for the pur-
poses of nutrition if it did not receive a fresh supply
of food-stuffs from the gut, either directly or indirectly
(through the lacteal system). But apart from this,
the blood would ultimately become useless, and that
very quickly, if it did not traverse the lungs, kidneys,
and sweat-glands. It is well known to every one that
a man or animal cannot live without air, or at any
rate without a certain gas, oxygen , that is contained
in air. This oxygen must be able to penetrate into
the minutest particles of the body, and the blood, in
the corpuscles of which it is contained, carries it
everywhere. In the smallest particles (molecules) of
the body an oxidation (combustion) of body-substance
takes place, which not only causes an evolution of
heat, but also renders the body capable of doing work.
But if now the blood passes from the capillaries into
the veins, it contains too little oxygen. And besides,
it has taken up from the molecules of the body several
substances, developed in those molecules, which would
be fatal to the animal if they were not removed from
the body. Now, when the blood streams through the
lungs, it gets rid of the poisonous gaseous matter, and
when it traverses the kidneys and sweat-glands it
parts with the injurious liquid and solid substances.
But in the lungs the blood takes up at the same time
fresh oxygen ; and since in this way the air in the
lungs becomes poor in oxygen, the movements of
breathing (respiration) provide for the passage of a
fresh supply of oxygen into the lungs. Only the
higher Vertebrates breathe by means of lungs ; fishes
and numerous aquatic Invertebrates breathe by gills,
and insects by air-tubes (tracheae).

While Nutrition is the life-process which shields
the individual from death, Reproduction serves to
maintain the species. It is familiarly known that

INTRODUCTION.

15

the offspring generally resemble their parents. But
it is also a fact recognized by the stock-breeder, that
a particular animal will not only transmit several of
its own characteristics to its offspring, but perhaps
also various characteristics of the grandparents or of
animals belonging to still more remote generations,
although these characteristics are not visible in the

Fig. 7. The Small-winged Gall-fly, d ( Andricus terminalis), lays its eggs separately
in the rootlets of oak. Root-galls (a) result from this, and inside of each of them a
larva develops which, after a metamorphosis, becomes a relatively large, wingless
gall-fly (c) known as Biorhiza aptevci. I his pierces the oak-buds in early spring
and lays a large number of eggs in them ; from part of the bud is formed a large
juicy gall (b), containing several larva?, from which the small-winged gall-flies (d)
develop. The species here represented exist, therefore, in two forms, e and d
(Heterogeny). ’

animal which is actually breeding (. Reversion ,
Atavism). Among insects and the lower animals
there are species which, as adult animals, appear not
in one form, but two or several. In this case, as a
regular thing, the offspring does not resemble the
parents, but the grandparents, great-grandparents, or

16

ZOOLOGY.

a still earlier generation. The older observers have
placed the offspring and the parents, and sometimes
the grandparents too, of the same animal species in
different species, or even genera or families, until
newer researches on the reproduction and development
of these animals have proved them to belong to one
and the same species (see Fig. 7 and explanation).
The method of reproduction by which a species appears
in two or several forms is distinguished as heterogeny
and metagenesis, or alternation of generations. In
the first (Fig. 7) sexually reproducing animals alternate
with other sexual animals. It may be that these are
of separate sexes, or else they may possess both male
and female organs (hermaphrodite). In metagenesis
a sexual generation regularly alternates with one or
several generations reproducing asexually.

The animal kingdom falls (cf. p. 2) into sub-
kingdoms or main divisions. Seven of these are
commonly distinguished : I. Backboned animals ; II.
Jointed-limbed animals ; III. Worms ; IY. Molluscs ; V.
Echinoderms; VI. Coelenterates ; VII. Protozoa.

First Sub-Kingdom : VERTEBRATA (Backboned

Animals).

The Vertebrate body possesses a bilateral or two-
sided symmetry ; i.e. it can be separated into two
exactly corresponding halves, by a plane of division.
The bilateral symmetry is strictly carried out as
regards the external parts of the body, a single
exception to this being flat-fish (plaice, flounder, etc.) ;
but, on the other hand, it is more or less obliterated
in the arrangement of the internal organs. In the
Vertebrate body we find, as an axis, a vertebral column
(backbone) made up of vertebrae, and traversed by
the vertebral canal. As soon as this canal widens out

VERTEBRATA.

17

in the skull to the cranial cavity, the spinal cord,
which it contains, merges into the brain. In addition
to the cavity containing the central nervous system,
and placed on the upper side ( = dorsal side) of the
animal, a cavity, the body-cavity , is found in the
under side (= ventral side). It contains for the most
part the organs of respiration, circulation, digestion,
and excretion (Fig. 1), and in Mammals is divided by
the diaphragm into thoracic and abdominal cavities.
In all the other subdivisions of the animal kingdom
the central nervous system is situated in the lame
cavity as the above-mentioned organs.

\ arious bones are connected with the vertebral
column, and they serve for the attachment of muscles.
The bones collectively constitute the skeleton, which
is one of the most distinctive features of a Vertebrate.

The animals ol this sub-kingdom never have more
than lour limbs, and their blood is red, while that of
most other animal groups is colourless.

The structure of the heart in the various Verte-
brates must also .be noticed. In no Vertebrate is this
organ so simple in structure as in the scheme given
in Fig. 6; such an arrangement, moreover, would
involve great difficulties. One great difficulty would
be that while the blood was leaving the heart at a
(Fig. 6), no fresh blood could enter, so that the blood
m the veins would stand still. Even in the lowest
Vertebrates (the Fishes) this difficulty is obviated, for
where the main vein (or veins) opens into the heart
an enlargement of this vein is found, where the blood
can collect as long as the heart continues to contract.
This expansion is also reckoned as part of the heart,
and named the auricle (Fig. 8, V.K. ), while the heart
proper is termed the ventricle (K.). It is also easy
to see that there must be a tolerably wide opening-
between the two chambers, so that as soon as the
ventricle becomes flaccid the auricle can force blood
into it. But there being such a wide aperture

18

ZOOLOGY.

between auricle and ventricle, one valve is not enough
• • •
to make it impossible for the blood to pass back into

the auricle during the contraction of the ventricular

Avails. There are two or three
valves there (Fig. 8, Kl. ), fixed
by fibres to the Avail of the
ventricle. In order that the
blood Avhich is forced into the
artery ($.A.) may not pass into
the ventricle during its relaxa-
tion, there is another valve (not
indicated in Fig. 8), at the base
of the artery.

An arrangement like that so
far described is found in fishes.
The heart consists in them of
an auricle, into Avhich is returned
the blood that has traversed the
body, and of a ventricle which
moves it on again. But the
blood that has traversed the
body is on that account poor in
oxygen, and consequently unfit
to be circulated again when it is
returned to the heart. It is-
necessary for it to take up fresh
oxygen before being circulated again. In fishes this
difficulty is met by the blood, poor in oxygen, Avhich
fioAVS out of the ventricle, first going to the gills and
streaming through them. The gills consist of a very
large number of small, thin-walled outgrowths arranged
in regular rows on the firm gill-arches. The blood,
poor in oxygen, passing out of the ventricle and
through various arterial branches to the gill-filaments,
takes up fresh oxygen as it streams through these
from the oxygen dissolved in the Avater Avhich con-
stantly surrounds them. For this purpose a stream
of pure Avater is regularly taken in by the mouth and

Fig. 8. — Diagram of the Heart
in a Fish.

VERTEBRATA.

19

expelled again, right and left, through the gill-slits.
Ihe blood, having become rich in oxygen in the gills
is now once more fit for circulation through the body’
and therefore flows out of the gill-capillaries into
laigei vessels, which finally unite into a single large

nlrtfnf'th Cahm,eS * V® P?rified blood to tlje various
paits of the body. In the arrangement of the heart

that dthTned ithere f, the disadvantageous condition
that the blood is obliged to traverse two sets of

eaiv maTt (g f “I, b0dy- capillaries)- This is not an
between th w°r J iher1 *? a great deal of fiction

between the blood and the walls of the capillaries

tiZ of\Koh?drafil6 t0 itS Progress- ^circula-
tion of the blood in fishes is consequently very slow

and since the blood contains the oxygen which Ts

used by the various parts of the body oxidation lei

2ounS fhf f a bence the small

iZZ alelJ deV(?1?ped there' Since Ashes almost

^mediately give oft to their surroundings the small
amount of heat which they develop, they have no
constant body-temperature, varying in this respect

11 le emperature of the surrounding water Such
animals are termed cold-blooded.

In all other Vertebrates a more rapid movement of

sellind0 heart Tdred-PTib-6 by the “^rtion of a
nd heait, quite similar in every respect to flip

other heart, in the course of the bloocl between the

respiiatory organs and the body. The first heart

Irives the blood through the lung capillaries and

.efoid heart1' '“‘I'i'” *° the *n™u o£ ll»

3 t0it!le va''iwls parts of the b°dy- When tttL
i i -A-khough these two structures work in

dependency, tbey die close together and make Z

ndividual Wta, bul o( „

20

ZOOLOGY.

The first half, which receives the blood, poor in
oxygen, that is returned from the body, and sends it
on to the lungs, lies on the right, and is termed the

right half. The second half,
which receives the richly
oxygenated blood from the
lungs, and pumps it to the
various parts of the body, is
termed the left half (Fig. 9
and explanation).

In the arrangement just
described, which is found in
Mammals and Birds, the
blood returning from the
lungs is propelled with new
force through the body, and
therefore circulates very
quickly, so that the various
parts receive a relatively
large amount of oxygen in
a short time. It is therefore intelligible that Birds
and Mammals develop more warmth than Fish.

They possess a special,
constant body tempera-
r. ,, ^ ture, somewhat different

‘ ’ / in different species, but

usually lying between
98° and 104° Fhr., and
they are called warm-
blooded animals.

In Reptiles (snakes,
lizards, etc.), the two
halves of the heart are
not entirely distinct,
since there is an opening
in the partition - wall
between the two ven-
tricles. As a consequence of this, the poorly oxygenated

Fig. 9. — Diagram of the Mammalian
Heart. 1, right, 2, left ventricle ;
3, right, 4, left auricle ; 5, su-
perior, 6, inferior vena cava ; 7,
pulmonary artery forking into
branches for right and left lungs ;
8, the four pulmonary veins ; 9,
the great body-artery (aorta) ; the
arrows indicate the direction of
the blood stream.

Ao .!

X. art.

r.V.K.

jr.K-jL- IA--J —IK.

Fig. 10. — Diagram of the Heart of a Reptile.
Between the right ( r.K .) and left (l. K.)
ventricles is a perforated partition, r. V.K.,
right auricle; I.V.K., left auricle; II.v.,
vena cava, carrying back the blood which
has traversed the body into the right
auricle; L.art., pulmonary artery; L.v.,
pulmonary vein ; Ao., aorta.

MAMMALS.

21

blood of the right half of the heart mixes with the
richly oxygenated blood of the left half, the extent
to which this mixing takes place being proportional
to the size of the
aperture. In Reptiles,
therefore, the blood
supplied to the lungs
is not so poor in
oxygen as it might be,
nor, on the other hand,
is the blood supplied
to the other parts of

the body completely Flo> J] —.Diagram of a Frog’s Heart. (The

oxygenated. As con- ventricle#, is quite undivided: compare Figs.

J c ! • /n v 9 and 10.) Other letters as in Fig. 10.

sequences ot this : (1)

respiration is feebler, and (2) the development of heat
less than in Mammals and Birds (i.e. reptiles are
cold-blooded), and (3) the chemical changes taking
place in the body (the metabolism) go on more
slowly than in warm-blooded animals, and we can
understand why reptiles execute fewer movements in
a given space of time.

In Amphibians (e.g. frog) the two ventricles are
similarly connected, but the opening is still larger
than in Reptiles, and the partition- wall may even be
altogether absent. It follows, therefore, that the
mixing of the two kinds of blood is still more com-
plete, and that Amphibians, too, are cold-blooded.

The vertebrate sub-kingdom embraces the classes of
I. Mammals ; II. Birds ; III. Reptiles ; IV. Amphibians ;
V. Fishes.

CLASS I. : MAMMALIA (SUCKLERS).

Warm-blooded Vertebrates (p. 16), usually covered
with hair, and bringing forth living young, that suck
for some time after birth. The female is provided

22

ZOOLOGY.

with milk-glands on the thorax or abdomen, or both
those regions.

Speaking quite broadly, the skeleton is like that of
man, described on pp. 4-8. There are, however, great
differences in detail. The cranium is relatively much
smaller, and the bones of the face (especially of the
jaw^s) are usually much larger than in the human skull.
The number of the cervical vertebrae is seven in all
Mammals, as in man ; but the other kinds of vertebrae
vary in number in the different species. The number
of caudal vertebrae, for example, is very variable. As
most Mammals go on all fours, their fore and hind
limbs are much more similar than is the case in man.
In many the thigh and upper-arm bones are drawn
closely up to the body (horse, ox, pig). Mammals
never have more than five fingers or toes, but may
have fewer. The thumb or great toe is the first to
disappear (hind foot of dog, fore and hind foot of
pig). There may be only three (rhinoceros), two (ox,

p...

....s

.-d

Fig. 12. — Vertical Section of
a Human Grinding Tooth.

a.

Fig. 13. — Crown of a Grinder of the Ox. a,
cement; b, enamel; c, dentine ; d, enamel;
e, cement.

sheep), or one (horse) digit developed. In addition to
fully developed digits, there are in many Mammals
very small stunted ones (“ dew-claws” of the stag).

There are also great differences in the way of
resting the feet on the ground. Man and bear tread
on the soles of the feet (plantigrade) ; dog and cat
walk on the under side of the toes (digitigrade), not
on the other parts of the feet. Ox, pig, horse, etc.,

MAMMALS.

23

rest while walking only on the tips of the toes, which
are sheathed in hoofs (unguligrade).

The teeth of mammals are wedged into special
sockets in the jaw-bones. The structure of a mam-
malian tooth is made clear by Fig. 12. We first
distinguish a pulp-cavity (p), which in the living
animal is filled with a substance supplied by a blood-
vessel and nerve. This cavity is surrounded by the
dentine ( d ), a hard substance which makes up the
greater part of the tooth. Hard enamel (s) covers
the whole of the crown in man and many animals,
while in certain other forms it is found only on part
of the crown. The root of the tooth is covered with
cement (z), a bone-like substance.

All teeth in which the entire surface of the crown is
covered by enamel only are known as simple teeth,
while those into which the enamel only penetrates in
more or less deep folds, leaving the rest of the crown
uncovered, are known as compound teeth (Fig. 13).
The structure of the teeth is related to the nature of
the food. We distinguish three kinds of teeth in the
same animal, which, however, are not all present in
every species ; these are the incisors, canines, and
grinders . The first two kinds are changed ; but only
the anterior grinders, known as the premolars, are
changed, while the hinder ones, the true molars, do
not first appear as “ milk ” teeth, but rather later on
with the other “ permanent ” teeth.

The following orders of Mammals are distinguished :
I. Bimana (Man), II. Quadrumana (Apes), III. Car-
nivora (Beasts of prey), IV. Insectivora (Insect-
eaters), Y. Cheiroptera (Bats), VI. Rodentia (Gnawers),
VII. Ruminantia, VIII. Solidungula, IX. Pachyder-
mata, X. Cetacea, XI. Edentata, XII. Marsupialia
(Pouched animals), XIII. Monotremata.

I shall deal here only with those orders which are of
agricultural importance.

24

ZOOLOGY.

Order : Carnivora (Beasts of Prey).

In each jaw there are six relatively small incisor
teeth ; and, on each side of these, a large projecting
canine, by which the flesh is torn from the body of the
prey (Fig. 14). The premolars and the first of the
true molars (the carnassials *) are strongly compressed,
and have a cutting crown; their outer surface is
completely covered with hard enamel. As the lower
jaw is smaller than the upper jaw, and is only able to
move up and down, not from side to side, the sharp
crowns of the premolars, and especially those of the
large carnassials, cut along one another, and divide
anything coming between them as if with shears.
The small molars which are usually found behind the
carnassials have broad tuberculated crowns. The
temporal (i.e. chewing) muscles are strongly developed,
the general result of which is that the head is broad.

O

The claws are very sharp in some of the families.
The Carnivora are powerful animals, move very
quickly, and are endowed with keen smell and sight.

The wild Carnivora living in Britain belong to the
families of cats, dogs, and weasels.

Family: Felidae (Cat Family).

Typical Carnivora with very large canines and
carnassials, two premolars in each half of each jaw,
one of the upper molars, but none of the lower ones,
small and tuberculated. Tongue rough. Fore and
hind feet five-toed. When not in use, the claws are
drawn back (retracted). The Felida3 are digitigrade.
Backbone very flexible, and with free power of move-
ment. The Felida? are bloodthirsty, nocturnal animals,
many of which climb well, and spring upon their prey.

The group is specially exemplified by the Domestic

1 The upper carnassials = last premolars.

The lower „ = first molars. — Tr.

MAMMALS.

25

Cat, the parent stock of which is the Nubian cat
(Felis maniculata ), a native of Nubia and the Soudan.
The Wild Cat ( Felis catus ) is larger than the common

Fig. 14. — Skull of Domestic Cat.

kind, and has a thicker tail. Formerly it was
tolerably common in Britain, but now only occurs in
a few thinly populated districts.

The Lynx (Felis Lynx ), found at one time in Germany, still lives
in the Carpathians, and in Switzerland, but occurs more commonly in
Scandinavia, Denmark, and Russia.

Family : Canidse ( Bog Family).

Head longer than in cats ; canines and carnassials
relatively less developed. Two tuberculated molars
on each side of each jaw. Claws not so sharp as
those of cats, and cannot be drawn back (i.e. are non-

retractile). F ore-foot five, hind-foot four toes. Tongue
smooth.

The various races of the Domestic Dog belong here.

The wolf ( Cams lupus ) is no longer an inhabitant of Britain or
Germany, but sometimes crosses the German frontier from Russia
Ga icia, Hungary, the Alps, and the Ardennes, especially in winter
and preys upon the larger domestic animals.

The remaining example is —

26

ZOOLOGY.

The Fox (Canis wipes).

This animal lives in an underground dwelling,
which is either dug out by itself or else is a deserted
badger-burrow. It kills roes, fawns, hares, and
game-birds ; in farms it preys on poultiy and eggs.
It never commits depredations in the neighbourhood
of its burrow, for fear of betraying its hiding-place.
Valuable services, however, must be balanced against
the damage mentioned above, for it catches many
rabbits, and also an enormous number of field-
voles in the years when these become a pest. It
also often eats insects (e.g. cockchafers), worms, and
snails. In fact, the fox is perhaps generally of more
use than otherwise to the farmer and forester.

Family : Mustelidae ( Weasel Family).

Elongated, slender ; legs short ; head small and flat ;
cranium elongated ; tongue smooth. Five toes on
each foot, with small, sharp claws. A tuberculated
molar on each side in the upper and lower jaws. The
weasels give out an offensive odour from stink-glands
situated near the anus.

There belong to this family —

1. The Pine Marten ( Mustela martes). Body up to
twenty inches, tail up to ten inches long ; fur brown,
with yellowish wool-hairs; a yellowpatch on the throat.
Is found in thick woods, where it destroys small birds
and squirrels ; it also kills much poultry and game.

2. The Beech, or Stone Marten (Mustelafoina). About
as large as the preceding species ; greyish-brown fur,
with whitish wool-hairs ; a white patch in the throat ;
chiefly occurs in the immediate neighbourhood of
human dwellings, in barns, wood-stacks, etc. ; kills a
great deal of poultry, sometimes also wild birds, mice,
and game.

3. The Polecat (Putorius fcetidus) . Shining brownish-
black, with yellow wool-hairs ; somewhat smaller than

MAMMALS.

27

the stone marten ; in particular, the tail is shorter
and its hair is not so long as in the two preceding
species. In the summer it lives in the open country,
in hollow trees, or in the burrows of foxes and rabbits ;
in winter it settles down near human dwellings, where
it lives in wood and under heaps of brushwood, hay-
lofts, etc. In summer it may do more good by
destroying numerous field-voles, water-rats, etc., than

Fig. 15. — The Tine Marten {31 us tela martes).

harm by devouring those singing birds which are
favourable to agriculture ; but in winter its undesir-
able visits to the fowl-house and dove-cot effect much
injury. It kills the birds and devours the eggs, suck-
ing without smashing them. In winter, too, it is very
harmful to beehives, being fond of honey.

The Ferret (Putorius fur o) is undoubtedly a short-
legged variety of the common polecat, usually white
in colour, and, when that is the case, red-eyed.

28

ZOOLOGY.

4. The Stoat, or Ermine ( Putorius ermineci). Body
twelve inches, tail about three and a half inches long;
slender ; the body is scarcely broader than the head ;
tail longer than in the next species; summer fur,
cinnamon brown above, white below; tail, cinnamon
brown with black tip ; winter fur quite white, but
the end of the tail remains black. Mostly in fields,
in the neighbourhood of plantations or woods ; always
abundant among sandhills/ owing to the rabbits living
there. The stoat usually follows its prey at night,
stealing upon mice, rats, rabbits, hares, and song-birds ;
it is also sometimes very destructive in dove-cots
and hen-houses. It must, however, be stated that the
stoat is on the whole more useful than harmful.

5. The Weasel (. Putorius vulgaris). Smaller than
the stoat ; head larger and thicker than the extremely
slender, almost snake-like, trunk; legs short. The
weasel is a very sharp little animal, and can easily
pass along mouse-holes. Summer and winter coats
alike — back brown, belly white. Its food chiefly
consists of field-voles, also of rats and water-rats,
young hares and rabbits, birds building near the
ground, and also their eggs, which the weasel, by
holding under its chin, manages to carry to its home
occasionally also lizards, blindworms, snakes, and
frogs. The weasel does some damage in fowl-houses-
and dove-cots, and is also destructive to game.
This, however, does not outweigh its very great use,
since it is above all an untiring vole-catcher. When
in any region the field- voles have multiplied exces-
sively, an immigration of weasels takes place from
surrounding parts. In years when there is a plague
of voles the usual breeding time in spring is followed
by another later on. A very large number of weasels-
may be found in a vole-infected district, and they
thin out the mischievous rodents in a surprising
manner. Nor are the weasels less useful in summer
than in winter. They even follow under the snow

MAMMALS.

29

the voles which winter in the country, and the
slaughter effected at this period must exert a great
influence on the following season, when these animals
recommence their injurious work, and a pair of them
that have survived the winter may perhaps produce
two hundred others before the end of the summer.

6. The Mink ( Putorius lutreola ) is as large as a polecat, and may be
regarded as a sort of link between it and the others. Leg and ears
short ; skin smooth-haired, brown both on the back and the belly ; chin,
lips, and a small patch on the neck, white ; tail about one-third the
length of the body. In well-watered regions on the banks of rivers,
lakes, and ponds. Eats water-rats, water-birds, frogs, salamanders,
fish, crayfish, water-insects, water-snails, and aquatic bivalves.
Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pomerania, Brandenburg, Silesia.

7. The Otter ( Lutra vulgaris). Body flattened ;
legs short, with webbed toes ; snout rounded ; ears
short, and can be closed by a fold of skin ; tail flat,
and pointed at its tip. Length of the body, twenty-
eight to thirty-two inches; of the tail, fourteen to
sixteen inches. Skin smooth-haired, shining dark
brown above and below. Found on the banks of
lakes, pools, ponds, rivers, brooks, etc., where fish is
plentiful. It catches water-rats, ducks and geese, as
well as their young, wild water-birds, frogs, fish, cray-
fish, water-insects. Especially destructive to fish.

8. The Badger ( Metes taxus ). Body heavy; legs
short, plantigrade ; toes with strong digging claws ;
snout pointed ; canines not very large ; both they and
the carnassials much worn in old animals. Tuber-
culated molars well developed. The dentition and
whole structure of the body show that the badger is
not exclusively a flesh-eater. Length of body, three
feet; weight, 22 to 33 lbs. Fur tolerably long-haired,
yellowish whitey grey, mixed with black. Head
with longitudinal stripes of black and white ; tail
short, yellowish grey.

The burrow is very large ; several passages, the
openings of which may be ninety-seven feet apart, lead

30

ZOOLOGY.

to the exterior. The badger only leaves its dwelling
in the evening. It eats mice, birds which nest on
the ground, especially their eggs and young, snakes,
frogs, cockchafer grubs, earthworms, insects ; also
turnips, carrots, acorns, and sweet fruits. Although
it is both harmful and useful, the latter is more
generally the case. Its digging habits, however, are
sometimes destructive, since it throws up young trees
and other plants by the roots. The badger often
sleeps several days in succession during the winter,
although it does not hibernate. Its fat is used up
during the winter.

Order : Insectivora (Insect-eating Mammals).

Since the Insectivora feed upon very small animals
(insects, worms, snails), they cannot themselves be
large. Only those species (hedgehog) which feed on
small mammals and birds or upon vegetable matter,
in addition to insects, are of medium size. The native
species all live on or in the ground. The snout is
extremely slender, and does duty as an organ of touch.
The eyes are usually very badly developed. Incisors
sharp ; and the back teeth, which are completely coated

with enamel, are remark-
able for their pointed
crowns. When the mouth
is closed the upper teeth tit
into the spaces between the
lower teeth, and vice versa.
Consequently the shutting
of the mouth forces the points of all the back teeth
into any insect which happens to be between the
jaws. The Insectivora are plantigrade (p. 22). Here
belong the following forms : the Shrews ( Sorex ), the
Mole ( Talpa europcea) and the Hedgehog ( Erinaceus
europceus).

The Shrews (Sorex) are small animals with a

Fig. 16.— Skull of the Mole.

MAMMALS.

31

superficial resemblance to mice, with slender soft-
haired bodies, small eyes, and tolerably long, thickly
haired tails. Shrews are extremely voracious, eating
daily more than their own weight of food, and
destroying an enormous quantity of subterranean
vermin. They live in underground passages, not
usually made by themselves, but dug out by field-
voles. They smell strongly of musk, secreted by two
glands in the hinder part of the body.

The blackisli-brown Shrew-mouse, or Common Shrew
(Sorex vulgaris), and the Lesser Shrew ( Sorex pyg-
mceus), only about two inches long, kill, in the corn-
fields, gardens, or woodland, an enormous quantity of
noxious insects found in the earth, together with

their larvse; also snails and worms, and sometimes
field-voles, and are in the highest degree serviceable.
But the larger (up to 3J- inches long), black Water
Shrew (Sorex f adieus), although serviceable on land
in the same way as the other kinds, is very injurious
to fishing and fish-breeding, since it devours the small
fish and kills the larger ones, eating out their eyes
and brains.

The Mole (Talpa europcea). Body thick, cylindrical.
Legs short, fore legs broad and spade-like, with
broad digging claws. Eyes small, scarcely visible
among the fur. No external ears; the auditory
opening can be completely closed by a fold of skin.
Shining black fur. The mole is found in every soil

ZOOLOGY.

^9

f J

inhabited by insects and earthworms, provided it is
not too stiff, but yet sufficiently coherent to dig
passages in, which will not at once collapse. Its
presence is known by the heaps which it throws up.
The nest, however, is always found under a larger
heap, frequently hidden under tree roots, walls, etc.,
though sometimes in the open field. It consists in
the first place of a nearly round dwelling-chamber,
softly upholstered with vegetable substances ; this is
surrounded by a labyrinth of passages. From the
nest a passage runs to the mole’s hunting-ground.
The walls of this passage of the labyrinth, and of the
nest, are hard. The wider and subterranean channels,
which the mole digs out when it is simply catching
insects in the soil, easily fall in again, and the animal
takes no pains to compact their walls. The highway
to the hunting-ground, in which the animal can
progress very rapidly, can be at once detected, not
like the ordinary passages by a small chain of mole-
hills composed of the thrown-up earth, but by a
depression, since in its preparation the earth is late-
rally compressed and not thrown out. This tube is
shorter or longer according as the hunting-ground
is in the immediate neighbourhood or further off*;
it may be 100 or 160 feet long. The mole sleeps in
the nest during the time not employed in seeking
for food, and goes three times a day on the hunt for
insects (early morning, midday, and before sunset
in the evening). Having reached the subterranean
hunting-ground, it tracks to some distance the insect
larvae, and worms found in the soil, being aided in
this by its long snout. It daily devours more than
its own weight. During summer the mole digs its
passages near the surface, since larvae and worms are
then found in the uppermost layer of earth. In winter,
when these withdraw into the depths of the soil, it
digs much deeper channels. It does not fall into a
winter-sleep. The young (three to seven) are born in

MAMMALS.

33

May, June, or July. Tne mole never gnaws plants. It
does service, sometimes very great, by eating many
wireworms, grubs, snail embryos, earth caterpillars,
mole-crickets, and other earth-inhabiting insects, as
well as their larvrn. It also willingly eats earthworms,
but whether this does good is not definitely known.
But under certain conditions it may also do harm,
rooting up plants as it makes its heaps. Grass and
grain suffer little, if at all, by this ; other plants more ;
while young flax-plants perish if their roots are
loosened. Mole-hills in hayfields and cornfields are a
nuisance at harvest time. Moles are not to be endured
in the neighbourhood of dams, since their borings may
become the immediate cause of flooding. Trapping
may usefully be resorted to in cases where moles are
harmful.

The Hedgehog, or Hedgepig ( Erinaceus europceus).
When danger threatens it rolls itself into a ball
covered all over with prickles, and is in this way
secured from the attacks of most enemies. The hedge-
hog goes on the hunt in the evening ; while during the
day it sleeps in its hiding-place, situated in such
places as the side of a ditch, hedges, or under heaps
of brushwood. It preys more particularly on field-
voles, sometimes also on eggs and small birds (chickens
occasionally), lizards, grass-snakes, adders (by the
bites of which it is unaffected), frogs, cockchafers and
their larvae, field-snails, earthworms, and similar small
deer; now and then on fallen fruit and juicy plant-
roots.

Order : Cheiroptera (Bats).

All Bats, except a few tropical genera, feed on
insects, and possess teeth like those of the preceding
order of Mammals (p. 30). The leading feature is the
characteristic modification of the fore limbs into a
flying apparatus. The bones of the forearm (Fig. 18,

D

34

ZOOLOGY.

u} r), the metacarpels (me), and the phalanges (except
in the case of the thumb, which possesses a sharp claw
(p)) are of great length ; and between the long fingers,
between the fore and hind limbs, and, last of all,

a

CfH

0

O

<D

O

m

1

00

c

between the two hind limbs there is an elastic mem-
brane, serving both for flight and touch. Sight ill
developed, since the bat is a nocturnal animal; a

MAMMALS.

35

delicate sense of touch has its seat not only in the
flying-membrane, but also in the skin of the ears,
which are often very large, and in the membranous
flaps which, in a few genera (the “ leaf-nosed ” bats),
occur on the nose and lips. As is well known, bats
sleep in the day ; and they also hibernate in chimneys,
hollow trees, ruins, and other similar places of conceal-
ment.

They principally devour night-flying moths, and
spiders ; and, since they use a great quantity of
nourishment, are of great service, since the cater-
pillars of many of the species they destroy are very
injurious to agriculture or forestry. About nine
species live in Britain, but there is no use in enume-
rating them here.

Order : Rodentia (Gnawing Mammals).

Two long incisors (Fig. 19), the crowns of which
are continually being worn down, while a correspond-
ing growth takes place at the root-end. These incisors
are used for gnawing, in which process the lower jaw

Fig. 19. — Skull of Squirrel.

is rapidly moved backwards and forwards. Gnawing
wears down these teeth less in front than behind,
owing to the presence of a thick layer of enamel in
the former position. Their crowns, therefore, maintain
a chisel-edge. That the incisors never stop growing

36

ZOOLOGY.

is clearly seen when the usual wearing down does
not take place, as, e.g., when the lower jaw is placed
obliquely under the upper jaw, or when a tooth is
absent in one jaw, under which circumstances the
corresponding incisor in the other jaw is not worn
down. In such a case the incisors continue to grow,
ultimately curving upwards or downwards, and be-
coming tusk-like structures (Fig. 20). The Rodents
have no canines. In those Rodents which feed both
on animal and vegetable food (the “ Omnivora,” e.g.
squirrel, common mouse, brown rat, etc.), the crowns
of the back teeth are completely covered with enamel ;
in the purely vegetable feeders (“ Herbivora,” e.g.
hare, rabbit), they are compound teeth (p. 22). In
most Rodents the hind feet are longer than the fore,
giving a springing gait. Eyes large. Many forms
have “ cheek-pouches,” in which the food they obtain
can be stored up for some time. When the pouches
are full, a muscle contracts by which their ends are
drawn backwards; they are emptied by the animal
pressing them with its fore feet. The majority of
Rodents are small, they are at most of medium size
(hare). The majority of the species have great powers
of reproduction, by which the injurious kinds are
sometimes rendered a very great pest. The British
forms injurious to agriculture principally belong to
the families of hares, mice, and voles. The squirrel
(Sciurus vulgaris), and the dormice (especially
Myoxus avellanarius) are solely of importance in
forestry.

Family : Leporidse {Hares and Babbits).

Skull somewhat long. Two small incisors behind
the two large upper ones. Ears long and spoon-
shaped. Upper lip cleft. Back teeth with enamel
folds. Here belong the hare ( Lepus timidus) and
rabbit {Lepus cuniculus).

MAMMALS.

37

Hare ( Lepus timidus). Ears longer than the head.
Eyes yellowish brown. Fur rusty yellow to grey on
the %upper side, white on the under side. The doe
litters in an open “ form ; ” the young are born

Fig. 20. — Abnormal Tooth in Hare.

covered with hair and with open eyes. Mature
animals breed four or even five times a }mar, pro-
ducing two to four leverets each time. The hare is
injurious to agriculture, eating cabbages, rape, turnips,
clover, vetches, young corn-plants, carrots, and grass.
It also eats many weeds. It is, however, less injurious
than the rabbit, for it does not burrow. The damage
done by the hare is also less evident, since this restless,
fastidious animal seldom feeds continuously in the
same spot.

Rabbit ( Lepus cuniculus). Ears shorter than the
head. Eyes dark-brown. Fur yellowish brown to
greyish yellow on the upper side, redder in front.
Under fur bluish grey. Shape more compressed.
The rabbit breeds more rapidly than the hare. Five
to six times yearly the doe brings forth four to eight
young, which, after six months, can again reproduce.
Dwelling subterranean. Young, blind and hairless
at birth. As the rabbit burrows, it is limited to certain
districts, for the soil must not be too stiff' and firm,

38

ZOOLOGY.

nor, on the other hand, too light and incoherent. The
rabbit is injurious in the same way as the hare, but
the damage is more obvious (see above) ; and as a
result of its burrowing habits it does infinitely more
damage. Both in sand-hills and in alluvial sandy
soil rabbit-burrows lead to the blowing away of
material only held together by sand-plants. Kept
down by shooting, netting, and ferreting (p. 27).

Family : Muridse ( Mouse Family).

The mouse-like animals (the larger species of the
family are called “ rats ”) closely resemble the repre-
sentatives of the following family, but are distin-
guished from these (the “ voles ”) by their slender
body, longer legs, a more pointed head with longer

Fig. 21. — The Hamster ( Cricetus frum entarius).

always clearly visible ears, and usually, with the
exception of the hamster, by a tail equal in length to
the body. The hind legs are longer than the fore
legs, hence the hopping mode of progression. Three
back teeth on each side of each jaw, possessing a
tuberculated crown completely covered with enamel.

MAMMALS.

39

The Hamster ( Cricetus frumentcirius). — The Hamster has cheek-
pouches, and a very short, thick, but short-haired tail. It attains the
size of the brown rat. Bright yellowish brown ; belly and legs black.
The hamster is found almost exclusively on fertile soil devoted to
cultivation. It appears locally, and then for several years in great
abundance, so that it is often caught in tens or even hundreds of
thousands. Favourite food : wheat, field-beans, and peas, then rye
and similar grain ; and, last, roots, turnips, young corn-plants. Some-
times, too, the hamster eats animal food — worms, insects, lizards, small
birds, eggs, and mice. As a winter store it usually only accumulates
grain, beans, and peas in its hiding-place, often to the amount of more
than five gallons. A little heap of thrown-out soil marks on the sur-
face the position of its nest. The entry to this runs vertically down
into the soil. Six to twelve young, twice a year. The dwellings of the
hamster, which are situated in stubble-fields, can easily be found ; and
by digging them up, particularly in spring and late summer, when
there are young ones, the number of these destructive Rodents can be
greatly reduced. May be caught in traps.

Genus Mus (Mice and Rats) includes Rodents with-
out cheek-pouches, and with long, scaly, ringed tails.
Two large species (“ rats ”) belong here, namely —

The common Black Rat (. M . rattus), indigenous to
Europe since pre-historic times, and the stronger,
somewhat larger —

Brown Rat ( M . decumanus ), with greyish white
belly (while the first-named species is black on the
upper and only slightly brighter on the under side).
The brown rat migrated during the first half of the
eighteenth century from Asia into Russia, and about
the same time from Further India to England by
means of ships. Since then it has spread all over
Europe and other parts of the world, and in many
regions has quite driven out the black rat. Both
kinds of rat eat almost everything, and are a pest in
housekeeping, as well as in agriculture. They feed
on insects, mice, eggs, and chickens, will even bite
pieces from the living bodies of grown poultry and
fattening swine, and also devour young geese and
ducks. They eat grain, peas, beans, potatoes, carrots,
turnips ; bread, cheese, and similar provisions. Multiply
very rapidly. Can be driven away by clacking-mills,
and to a great extent by noise. Caught in traps.

40

ZOOLOGY.

Besides these, four mice belong here : —

The Common Mouse ( Mus musculus). Back yellowish
grey-black, gradually shading into a somewhat lighter
tint on the under side.

The Wood Mouse, or Long-tailed Field Mouse (if.

sylvaticus ). Back a brown shade of yellowish grey ;
belly white, sharply marked off; relatively very long
hind legs, hence a hopping gait. The long-tailed

Fig. 22. — The Long-tailed Field Mouse (J/ws sylvaticus').

field mouse penetrates tolerably far into woods, but is
also found in plantations and gardens, sometimes also
in quite treeless regions. On arable land it may
adopt the habits of the field vole (p. 42), but as it
does not multiply so rapidly is not nearly so injurious.
It may also live either for a short time or per-
manently in houses, adopting the same habits as the
common mouse.

The Harvest Mouse (ill. minutus). Small, pretty;
back yellowish brown red, belly of a sharply marked-
off white. Lives in cornfields during the summer ; in
harvest time by the field-paths; during winter in
barns and haystacks, but also in outdoor nests in the
fields. Climbs among the grass and corn-haulms, and
the small stems and branches of other plants, including
shrubs, holding fast, not only by the feet, but also by
the tail. Builds a beautiful spherical nest with a

MAMMALS.

•41

side entrance out of the haulms and leaves of grass
and corn, or out of other leaves. Devours seeds, espe-
cially grain, oats being the favourite.

The Corn Mouse ( M . agrarius). Back brownish red
with longitudinal black stripes. In plains east of the
Rhine. Usually local, but then very abundant.

Fig. 23. — Upper Back Teeth of Brown Fig. 2-1. — Upper Back Teeth of Water
Rat, seen from grinding surface. Vole, seen from grinding surface.

Chiefly in cornfields and fruitfields ; digs holes in the
soil. In autumn it often occurs in the field in large
colonies. Food: grain, beans, peas, potatoes, turnips,
carrots. In winter in the barns and dwelling-houses
of farmers.

Regardingthe means of destroying those mice which
are sometimes damaging to agriculture (M. sylvaticus
and M. minutus), see methods mentioned under “Field-
vole ” (p. 43).

Family: Arvicolidse ( Vole Family).

The large voles are also popularly called “rats,” the
smaller ones “ mice.” They closely resemble the true
mice and rats (p. 38), but are distinguished from
them by their plumper, more compressed body ; a
a thicker head with blunt snout, and ears quite hidden
in the fur ; and a short, tolerably hairy tail, on which
no rings of scales can be distinguished. There are on
each side of each jaw three back teeth, of which each
appears to consist of two rows of three-sided prisms,

42

ZOOLOGY.

fused together along the middle dine (cp. Figs. 24
and 23). The native species all belong to the genus
Arvicola ; the Bank Vole (Arvicola glareolus ), the
Water Rat, or Water Yole (A. amphibius), and the
Short-tailed Field Mouse, or Field Vole (A. agrestis).

The brownish-red Bank Vole (A. glareolus ) occurs
in forests.

The Water Rat, or Water Vole (. A . amphibius).
Body six inches long, tail half the length of the body.
Fur of one colour, brighter on the under side, varying
from brownish grey to brownish black on the back,
and from whitish to greyish black on the belly. On
the banks of rivers, brooks, ditches, canals, etc. ; also
on damp low-lying meadows and fields. Digs much-
branched passages in the soil ; this often takes place
in embankments to such an extent that it finally leads
to their complete destruction. The vole also does
damage in grass-fields and cornfields in the same way
as the mole (p. 33). In its case, however, there is
no compensating service. It certainly eats insects and
worms, but its chief food is of vegetable nature ; grain,
potatoes, turnips, and carrots are devoured by it in
large quantity, and in particular stored up in its
hiding-place. It also destroys the roots of grass and
corn, and eagerly devours chickens and the eggs of
ducks and geese. A variety {A. amphibius, var.
terrestris ) occurs in dry soils, and is distinguished by
its smaller size, lighter colour, and shorter tail. Its
habits are the same as those of the ordinary form,
but it is more given to attacking trees.

Traps, shooting, poisoning with celery stumps
hollowed out and filled with phosphorus, or else with
phosphorus paste.

The Field Vole, or Short-tailed Field Mouse ( A . agres-
tis). A small animal, with dark brownish grey back
and greyish white belly. [Lives in pastures, especially
those which are low-lying and damp. Large numbers
are found together, and they make deep burrows in

MAMMALS.

43

the soil, each pair having a special nest to themselves.
Three, four, or even more litters per year ; four to ten
young in each litter. Its favourite food consists ol
roots, young shoots of grass, etc., and the tender bark
of shrubs, but nothing of vegetable nature comes
amiss. Specially destructive in permanent pasture.]

Remedies, (a) Preventive measures. Protection
of its natural enemies (weasel, stoat, polecat, fox,
hedgehog, owls, buzzards, kestrels, the smaller sea-
gulls). Catching in traps, etc., in the spring, when the
voles are only present in small numbers.

(6) Destructive measures , which should be as gene-
rally used as possible in infested districts. If a field
has been completely devastated, or the crop is over :
(1) Working the soil with a spiked roller; (2) Partial
inundation of the lower-lying fields. If it is desired
to kill the voles and spare the crop as well, the fol-
lowing means may be recommended : (1) The digging
of cylindrical holes six inches across and two feet
deep, especially at the margins of the fields and in the
furrows, as well as — at harvest time — on any foot-
paths that may be found. The voles fall into these
holes, cannot get out again, and are starved. (2) The
employment of poisons. (Care must be taken that
no children or domestic animals are poisoned.) Phos-
phorus paste is best.

Fig. 25. — 1 he Southern Field Vole ( Arvicola arvalis).

The Southern Field Vole (A. arvalis ) plays the same destructive part
on the Continent that the preceding form does here (Fig. 25). Remedies
— see above.

u

ZOOLOGY.

Order : Ruminantia (Cud-chewing Mammals).

The feet end in two hoof-covered toes, besides which
two “after toes” are present. The upper incisors are
absent, with few exceptions, but many deer have
canines in the upper jaw. The back teeth of Rumi-
nants are compound teeth. The lower jaw is smaller
than the upper, and during chewing undergoes lateral
movements, so that the plants taken in as food are
ground up, as it were, into small pieces, between the
projecting enamel ridges of the upper and lower back
teeth. The stomach consists of four subdivisions ;
these are (1) the rumen, or paunch, where the greater

Fig. 26. — Skull of a Sheep.

part of the food and water taken collects; (2) the
reticulum, or honey-comb stomach ; (3) the psalterium,
or manyplies; (4) the abomasum, reed, or rennet
stomach. The last is the second largest part, and in
it the same chemical changes take place as in the
simple stomach of a non-ruminant. After the food
has remained for some time in the paunch it passes
up again through the gullet, and [as the “ cud ”] under-
goes a second chewing. The soft mass resulting is
once more swallowed, and passes into the psalterium
and abomasum.

Not only the families of Tylopoda (Camels, Llamas),

MAMMALS.

45

and Camelopardalidce (Giraffes), but also the large
family of Cavicornia, to which, amongst others, the
ox, sheep, and goat belong, will be passed over in this
book. I need only mention the —

Family : Cervidse (Deer Family).

Deer have branched horns, known as antlers. With
the solitary exception of the reindeer, they are only
found in the males. They are bony structures
borne upon projecting knobs (horn cores) of the

Fig. 27.— Development of Roebuck Antlers.

frontal lines. After each rutting-season the antlers
are cast, new ones, clothed at first with a soft skin
[the “ velvet ”], are developed. Before the next
rutting-season the dermal part of the skin unites
firmly with the underlying antler, and becomes
itself ossified, while the epidermis shrivels up, partly
peels off* in bits, and is partly rubbed off by the
animal against tree trunks. If the conditions of life
(food, weather) are favourable, the animal acquires a
new side branch to each antler every year, at any
rate, so long as he continues to get bigger and stronger.
The one-year-old male (“ brocket ”) has therefore a
simple unbranched antler, the two-year-old (“spayad ”)

46

ZOOLOGY.

one side branch as well, the three-year-old (“ sorel ”)
three points in all; the four-year-old (“staggard ”)
has four points; the five-year-old (“stag”) five, and so
on.

In Britain two indigenous deer are found — the Bed
Deer ( Gervus elaphus) and the Roebuck ( C . capreolus ) ;
a third species, the Fallow Deer ( C . damct), lives in
South Europe and Asia Minor [and the exact date of
its introduction into Britain is not known].

The Red Beer(Cervus elaphus). Six to seven feet long,
and four feet high. Antlers rough and cylindrical for
their entire length ; each in its normal condition has
two front branches [“ brow ” and “ bez-tyne ”], a middle
branch [“ tres ”], and a “ crown.” Tail small. Body
of a brownish colour, becoming red in summer. A
light yellowish brown spot on the tail. Male larger
than the female, with long dark hairs on the neck
during the breeding-season (autumn). The young
(“ calves ”) are spotted with white till their first
change of coat in October. The hind brings forth
one or rarely two calves in May or the beginning of
June. The stag sheds his antlers at the end of Feb-
ruary; the new ones are already full grown in July.
So long as they are growing the stag keeps to the low
woods, and first seeks the high-lying forests when they
are completed. He only leaves the forest for any
length of time during the breeding-season, but, where-
ever possible, comes to the field for a short time every
evening to feed on cabbages, peas, beans, young corn,
clover, lupines, grass, etc. Turnips, carrots, and
potatoes, dug out of the ground by the fore legs, are
also devoured. In this way red deer do a great deal
of damage, not only directly in feeding, but also, to a
larger extent, by trampling down the crops. In
autumn and winter they chiefly feed on acorns, beech-
nuts, buds and young shoots of various trees. They
also peel the bark from young trees, and often cause
damage while rubbing the remains of the velvet from

MAMMALS.

47

their antlers. Red deer are injurious to agriculture
and forestry. Suitable fencing of fields, gardens, etc.,
to be protected.

The Roebuck ( Cervus capreolus) measures up to three
and a half feet long, and about two feet high. Antlers
(Fig. 27) only slightly branched, and rough all over ;
beams and branches cylindrical. No brow-tynes, and
usually only three branches. Tail extremely small and
inconspicuous. Legs long and slender. Summer coat
greyish brown, passing over to a reddish tint ; the
longer winter coat brownish grey. A whitish patch
on the rump. The young (“ fawns ”) have at first
white spots on a brownish ground.

Breeding season in August. The female (“ doe ”)
brings forth her two fawns in May or June. The
roebuck keeps principally to the lower and middle
forests, especially in places where glades, rich in grass
and herbage, and cornfields or meadows alternate
with woodland. In the evening it comes out of the
cover to eat in the fields and meadows ; towards
morning it withdraws again. The roebuck devours
both young corn and corn in the ear ; also ears of
millet, beans, peas, clover, and lupines. It does not
appear to touch potatoes and turnips. The bucks in
particular do much mischief by trampling about in
cornfields.

The Fallow Deer ( Cervus dama) is about four feet
long and three feet high ; antlers rough and cylindrical
only towards the root, with tolerably smooth, flat,
shovel-like ends. Old individuals are pale brown, the
summer coat is reddish and brightly spotted; belly
whitish ; a white patch on the tail. The young have
sharply marked bright spots. In its habits this non-
indigenous species agrees in many respects with the
red deer, but changes its abode less. Towards evening
it eagerly leaves the forest in order to seek its food
in the cornfields. As the fallow deer lives in large
herds its trampling does much damage.

48

ZOOLOGY.

Order : Mult lingula or Pachydermata (Many-hoofed
or Thick-skinned Mammals).

Non-ruminating hoofed animals with thick, often
callous, naked, or scantily haired, frequently bristly
skin and with three to five toes, which, though they
are not all developed to the same extent, are yet never
rudimentary. The various species are very unlike one
another as to food and dentition. Here belong do-

O

mesticated swine, and a single species — formerly occur-
ring wild in Britain —

The Wild Boar ( Sus scrofci). On each foot four toes, of which
the two hinder are small and do not usually touch the ground.
The wild boar agrees in the general conformation of its body
with the common domesticated swine. Six incisors in upper and
lower jaw ; the lower ones forwardly directed. The canines, which
are more developed in boars than sows, curve outwards and upwards
in both jaws as “tusks.” On each side of each jaw seven tuber-
culated back teeth completely covered with enamel. Length of
the body 5 feet 10 inches; length of tail 1 foot 8 inches. Colour:
black and rusty brown. The young ones are white, spotted and
striped with darx brown. The wild boar likes damp, swampy,
but at the same time thickly overgrown districts, where it remains
hidden in the day, only seeking the fields and meadows when it has
become dark and quite still. It then chiefly feeds on turnips, carrots,
and potatoes, rooting them out of the ground ; it also devours legu-
minous crops and grain, but treads down far more of these plants than
it eats. Besides this, it also feeds on acorns, beech-nuts, hazel-nuts,
and truffles. The wild boar does some service by devouring snails,
worms, insect larvae living in the soil, and also the pupae of destructive
species of caterpillars, which occur in the same situation ; also voles.
Thick hedges, in order to protect the corn from injury.

Order : Solidungula (Single-hoofed Mammals),

to which the horse and the ass belong, need not
be dealt with here ; still less the other orders enume-
rated on p. 23.

BIRDS.

49

CLASS II: AVES (BIRDS).

Warm-blooded Vertebrates, which breathe by lungs,
are covered with feathers, have no teeth but a horny
beak, and lay hard -shelled eggs, which are hatched
by the warmth of their body. They are adapted for
movement in the air, though not all to the same
degree. The fore limbs are modified into wings, in
which, however, the parts found in Mammals can be
recognized. We distinguish in the first place a small
thumb, and then in most cases a two-jointed fore-
finger and a small second finger. Secondary quills
(Fig. 28, BB) are attached to the idna, and primary
quills (A, 1 — 10) to the two metacarpals and the
finger joints, while the thumb bears the bastard wing
(C). The tail feathers, or rectrices, are attached to the
last joint of fire tail. The body is clothed with stiff,
tolerably long contour feathers, which conceal the soft
short dozen from view. The bones are hollow and
filled with air. Their cavities are connected with
air-sacs, which are found in all parts of the body, and
fill themselves with air from the lungs when the bird
begins to fly. In this way its specific gravity is
reduced. The body firm, especially the hinder part
of it, which is almost immovable ; the neck, which may
consist of many vertebrae (even as many as twenty-two),
can, on the contrary, be turned in many directions.
Birds walk entirely on their toes ; the metatarsals are
fused with one of the rows of tarsals into a “tarsus ”
bone. Tarsus and toes are covered with horny scales.

A bird’s egg (Fig. 29) consists of a germinal disc
( li ) from which the young bird develops, and which
rests on the yolk, made up of substances serving for
the nutriment of the developing bird : the yellow (a)
and the white ( b ) yolk, as well as the albumen (c, c1,
“ white of egg”) in which lie two twisted cords

E

50

ZOOLOGY,

Fig. 28. — Wing of the Buzzard

BIRDS.

51

(chalazce), — finally of protective structures : the shell-
membrane (e) and the calcareous shell (/) ; g is the
air-chamber.

When the young escape from the egg, they are
either able to at once look after themselves more or
less, at least to look for their food, — in which case
they can see and are clothed with feathers at hatch-
ing ( precocious young; e.g. fowls, ducks, gulls, and
pewits), — or the young remain some time in the nest,
as they are, to begin with, both blind and naked, and in
this case they are fed for some time by the parents
{nestlings ; e.g. birds of prey, sparrows, nightingales,

h

Fig. 29. — A Bird’s Egg.

pigeons). In the frigid and temperate zones most
species of birds do not remain in their native country
after the breeding season ; those which go south in
the autumn are termed migrants ; while birds which
do not migrate, but remain in the district where they
have bred, are known as residents (sparrow, jay,
magpie). Gipsy migrants execute more or less ex-
tensive wanderings, influenced by want of food or
other causes (woodpecker, titmouse, golden-crested
wren, tree-creeper). The travels of such birds are
not, like those of migrants, undertaken at a definite

52

ZOOLOGY

time of year, or in definite directions (N., S.), but
many of their species collect together in large flocks
for the purpose of wandering, like migrants.

The following orders are usually distinguished :

Fig. 30. — The Eagle Owl (Otus maximus ).

I. Raptores (Birds of Prey), II. Scansores (Climbers),
III. Passeres (Singing Birds), TV. Gyrantes (Doves),
Y. Rasores (Scratchers), VI. Grallatores (Waders),
VII. Natcitores (Swimmers), VIII. Cursores (Running
Birds).

The Order Cursores includes the ostrich-like birds,
and will not here receive further notice.

BIRDS.

53

Order: Eaptores (Birds of Prey).

Upper beak hooked, covered with a skin (cere) at
its base ; four toes possessing strong claws, and pro-
vided with pads in their under side (Fig. 31) ; wings
powerful. Birds of prey live in pairs, and breed once
a year in nests composed of pieces of wood and
branches. The young are nestlings (p. 51). Sight
keen. These birds
feed almost exclu-
sively on vertebrates,
principally mammals
and birds. An idea
of their food can be
gained by examina-
tion of their “ pel-
lets”— roundish balls
composed of the in-
digestible parts of
their food, and dis-
gorged from twelve
to twenty hours after
feeding. Two groups
are distinguished —
diurnal and nocturnal birds of prey. The first
(Figs. 31, 32) have a laterally flattened head, eyes
directed laterally, and tolerably stiff feathers. The
nocturnal forms (“ owls,” Figs. 30, 33) have a large
head, flattened in front, with large eyes facing to the
front, soft plumage, and hair-like feathers on the toes,
of which two are directed forwards, one backwards,
and one outwards. The radiating feathers round the
eye constitute a “ veil.”

Predominatingly harmful (from killing domestic
mammals) are the following species occurring in
Britain : the Sea Eagle ( Haliaetus albicilla ), the
Golden Eagle ( Aquila chrysaetus), the Peregrine Falcon

(Falco pereyrinus ), the Merlin ( F . cesalon), the Hobby

54-

zoology

( F ’ subbnteo), the Sparrow Hawk ( Accipiter nisus),
the Kite ( Milvus regalis), the Goshawk (. Astur palvnn-
barius), the Harriers (Circus cyaneus and C. cine -

Fig. 32. — The Golden Eagle ( Aquila chrysaetus).

rarius), and the Honey Buzzard (. Pernis apivorus).
The last effects damage by catching honey-bees.

Useful in the main, being destroyers of field- voles,
are the following : the Kestrel (. Falco tinnunculus ),
the Buzzard (. Buteo vulgaris ), the Barn Owl ( Stria
jlammea , Fig. 33), the Brown Owl (S. aluco), the little
Owl (. Athene noctua ), a casual, the Short-eared or Wood-
cock Owl ( Otus brachyotus), the Long-eared Owl (0.

BIIIDS

»✓

DO

vulgaris), and the Eagle Owl ( Otus maximus, Fig. 30),
a rare visitor.

A bird of prey cannot
simply be classed as harmful
or useful ; a species mainly
injurious may sometimes
destroy a field-vole or a de-
structive bird, while a use-
ful species may sometimes
attack domestic poultry.

Game-preserving is destruc-
tive of almost all the in-
digenous diurnal birds of
prey, and of the owls to a
less extent.

Order : Scansores
(Climbers).

Birds with two toes
directed forwards and two
backwards. The young are
nestlings. Here belong
toucans, parrots, cuckoos, and woodpeckers. The first
two groups are limited to the tropics; woodpeckers
are only of importance in the culture of fruit-trees
and in forestry. I describe briefly —

The Cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus, Fig. 3d). Fourteen
inches long, tail eight inches. The yellowish beak
is slightly curved ; feet yellow. Back blue-grey in
old birds, brownish in young ones. Belly white
with dark transverse lines. Ten tail quills, flecked
with white. Shy; flies like a bird of prey. The
female lays her eggs at intervals of about fourteen
days, and cannot therefore hatch them out herself.
She lays the egg on the ground, and then takes
it in her bill to the nest of a small bird which
feed its young with insects (wagtail, grasshopper
warbler, nightingale, robin, lesser white-throat, wren,

Fig. 33. — The Barn Owl ( Strix
flammed).

56

ZOOLOGY.

lark). The cuckoo s egg is generally hatched by the
foster parent, and the true young often do not come
out from the egg, owing to lack of warmth ; or, if
hatched, they are thrown out later on by the much

Fig. 34. — The Cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus ).

larger, rapidly developing young cuckoo. Every
cuckoo, therefore, is so far harmful that it costs the
lives of several insect-eating birds. But it far more
than compensates for this by destroying insects.
It is especially beneficial to fruit-tree culture and
forestry, since it eats an enormous number of cater-
pillars ; but in late summer it comes frequently from
the woodland into the fields, and then eats the cater-
pillars of the cabbage white, cabbage moth, and
silver Y moth, surface caterpillars, and the larvae of
the turnip saw-fly. It also devours mole-crickets
and (naturally in the spring) cockchafers.

BIRDS.

57

Order: Passeres (Perching Birds).

This order is essentially constituted by all those
birds with helpless young (p. 51), which do not belong
to the two preceding orders or the one next following.
Beak without a cere. Three toes forwardly, one
backwardly directed.

Group : Hirundinidae (Swallows).

With short flat beak, broad at the base, with gape
extending far back, and triangular as seen from above.
In flight the beak is opened as widely as possible,
serving for catching insects. Wings long and pointed.
Feet short and weak, entirely unsuited or only poorly
adapted for walking ; their chief use is to enable the
swallow to hold fast to different objects. Swallows
fly quickly and catch insects while on the wing. The
insects on which they prey are generally unimportant
to agriculture and forestry ; but they may also do good
by catching crane flies (Tipula), and ribbon-footed
corn flies ( Ghlorops ), which often fly about our fields
in enormous swarms in order to lay their eggs. All
swallows are migratory birds. There belong here —

1. True Swallows ( Hirunclo ), with forked tails ;
three toes directed to the front, one to the back.
Here may be reckoned — Swallow (H. rustica), always
broods in sheltered spots, e.g. inside a stable, summer-
house, or verandah ; House Martin (. H . urbica), nests
against buildings, under the eaves for example ; the
Sand Martin (. H . riparia ), breeds in the neighbourhood
of streams, especially in vertical banks of loamy or
coherent sandy soil, where it makes its nest at the
end of a passage a yard long. The House Martin is
shining black on the back, white on the entire under
surface and rump. The Bank Martin is brownish
grey on the back, white on the under side, with
brownish -grey bands on the breast.

58

ZOOLOGY.

2. Swifts ( Cypselus ), with forked tails and four
strong, curved, forwardly directed claws. Only one
British species belongs here — the Swift ( Cypselus
apus ), ten inches long, brownish black except for
white throat, and with very long curved wings.

3. Night-j ars ( Gaprimulgus), with tail not forked,
soft plumage, large head and eyes ; fly at night. One
species belongs here — the Goatsucker ( Caprimulgus
europceus, Fig. 35), twelve inches long, grey on the
upper side, spotted with blackish brown and rusty

Fig. 35.— TJae Goatsucker ( Caprimulgus europceus).

yellow, yellowish whitey-grey with dark wavy lines
on the under side. In the day it flies awkwardly
and heavily, and usually keeps under cover ; by night
it flies rapidly and boldly, especially in bare spots in
woods, or in gardens and on fields. It haunts
especially the neighbourhood of sheepfolds and cattle
in the meadows, since it always finds flies and gnats
there. It also catches cockchafers and various moths.

Group: Magnirostres ( Large-beaked Perching Birds).

Beak strong, thick, often incurved near its apex.
These birds eat almost all kinds of food, both animal

BIRDS.

59

and vegetable. Here belong Starlings and Raven-like
Birds (crows, magpies, jays).

The Starling (Sturnus vulgaris).

Plumage black, with a violet sheen. The tips of
the contour feathers, however, are white or bright
yellowish. These white patches become so well
marked after the autumn moult, that they almost
completely cover the shining metallic black of the
feathers. They gradually become smaller ; in the
next spring they are almost or entirely lost. Very
serviceable. Devours, especially in autumn, many
field snails, also cockchafer grubs, wire-worms, grass
caterpillars, grasshoppers, leaf-lice ; also many insects
destructive to fruit trees and forest trees. The
starling, however, is able to do considerable damage
to garden fruit trees, since it eats cherries, currants,
and sometimes even pears. Starlings often settle on
the backs of sheep and cows in order to pick off the
vermin.

Genus : Corvus ( Crow-like Birds).

Here belong — 1. The Jackdaw (C. monedula), with
relatively short beak and long tarsi. Black ; side of
the head and neck ashen grey. Breeds in holes in
trees, chimneys, ruins, and towers. 2. The Hooded
Crow ( C . cornix) ; bright grey, except the head, throat,
wings, and tail, which are black. Breeds in all parts
of Europe east of the Elbe ; occurs in Western Europe
as a gipsy migrant in winter. 3. Carrion Crow (C.
corone) ; black, beak stout and strongly bent at its
end. Breeds in trees, but never (like the Rook) in
large numbers together. 4. Rook (C. frugilegus) ;
black, beak rather long ; in adult specimens the head
feathers are quite worn away at the base of the beak.
5. Raven (C. corax) ; much larger than the other
species ; black, beak very strong, strongly curved

ZOOLOGY.

60

along its entire upper side. Nowhere in large
numbers.

Food, Benefit conferred, and Damage done. Ravens,
and sometimes even rooks, attack lambs and sick
sheep, also ducks, geese, fowls, and pigeons. Carrion
crows and hooded crows rarely attack our domestic
animals. All crows, however, steal the eggs of our
poultry. They also injure sport, since they kill hares
and rabbits, young fawns, quails, pheasants, etc.
They do a little good, however, by devouring field-
voles, but, as a rule, only catch the sick ones which
are not able to move quickly. They do harm by

Fig. 36.— Head of Rook (Corvus frugilegus).

destroying useful insect-eating birds, also eating their
eggs and young. But as insect-eaters, they are
extremely useful ; they devour cockchafers, wire-
worms, butterflies, surface caterpillars, crane flies and
their larvrn, and field snails ; also many earthworms.
As to the vegetable part of their food, they devour,
in the first place, germinating seeds ; grain, peas,
beans. They also pick grain from the ear, both when
ripe and, to a larger extent, when still soft ; and in
doing this pull down the ear so as to crack the stalk,
thus causing more damage than by the mere eating.
They also plunder the ripening peas, and feast upon

BIRDS.

61

cherries, plums, apricots, and other juicy fruits ; even
potatoes and turnips. All crow-like birds do some
harm and some good, only the raven (which eats
scarcely any insects) is to be always reckoned as an
enemy.

The Magpie {Pica caudata) and Jay {Garrnlus
glandarius) are resident birds closely related to the
crows. The first affects open tracts of land (fields,
meadows, gardens) in the neighbourhood of large
trees ; the latter is a woodland bird. Both birds eat
almost everything : grain, acorns, beech-nuts, cherries,
berries ; cockchafers, wire worms, and similar insects ;
the eggs and young of useful insect-eating song-birds
(such as titmice), also these little birds themselves,
ducklings and chickens, young partridges, quails,
pheasants, now and then field-voles. More harmful
than useful.

Group : Conirostres {Conical-beaked Perching Birds).

Beak conical, thicker and shorter than in the species
of the following group. They devour insects and
seeds, a few species seeds exclusively. Here belong
first the Titmice {Pams), gipsy migrants which are
extremely serviceable both in fruit-tree culture and
forestry. Then the Larks (especially the Skylark,
Alauda arvensis, a resident), which nest on the
ground, eating insects, seeds, and in winter even
leaves ; they feed their young, however, with insects.
They do both good and harm, but the former mostly
preponderates. In late summer and autumn, skylarks
collect in flocks, and wander here and there for a
long time : before this, they travel south ; at this time
many are caught and eaten. The male skylark sings
beautifully, rising meanwhile high in the air. The
Buntings ( Emberiza ) have a characteristic compressed
and pointed beak ; they seek their food on the ground
in fields and meadows, and on roads. The food con-
sists of grain and insects ; but since these birds never

02

ZOOLOGY.

take grains from the ear, they only do damage by
picking them up at seed-time. They feed their
young with insects. The damage is usually very
inconsiderable, but, on the other hand, the benefit con-
ferred is slight. (Yellow Hammer, E. citrinella, a
yellow-coloured resident. The Common Bunting, E.
miliaria, a grey-coloured migrant, etc.) In the
family of Finches a number of species are included

gurinus chloris). A few species, however, must be dealt
with more fully, and, first, —

i.e. the House Sparrow ( Passer domestica ) and the Tree
Sparrow (P. montana).

House Sparrow : ear region bright grey. A rust-
coloured or yellowish streak behind the eye. The
whole throat black in the male. Wings with a
yellowish-white transverse band. Tree Sparrow :
ear region black. A black streak behind the eye,
a white band round the neck, and a black patch
on the throat. Wings with two white transverse
bands. The two sparrows are very much alike in
their habits, but the house sparrow frequents more
the neighbourhood of human dwellings, even in large
towns. Both sparrows are mainly harmful; where
seeds (especially those containing starch, e.g. corn)
are available, they prefer this kind of food to any
other ; and, besides this, they chiefly bring up their
young on soft unripe grain. Sparrows devour the
germinating corn after seed-time, and also pick the

Fig. 37. — Head of Bullfinch.

which are of small agricultural
importance : e.g. the Bullfinch
(. Pyrrhula vulgaris), specially
attacks fruit-tree buds in March ;
the Goldfinch ( Carduelis elegans );
the Siskin {Ghrysomitr is spinus ) ;
the Lesser Redpoll (. Linota
linaria) ; the Greenfinch (Li-

The two Sparrows,

BIRDS.

63

grain from the ear, in which process they at the same
time do damage by breaking down the haulms so
that the grain falls out. They pick the young peas
from their pods ; devour, too, several juicy tree fruits,
e.g. cherries and grapes ; and destroy young garden
seedlings, e.g. lettuce, spinach, garden flowers. The
house sparrow eats more insects than the tree sparrow
(among them— geometer caterpillars, injurious roller
caterpillars), but leaves the most noxious kinds un-
touched. Both sparrows are residents, but in autumn
and winter often collect together in large flocks.

The linnet (. Linota cannabina ),

with grey-brown darkly spotted back. Belly whitish,
tail black with broad white margins. During’ summer
the top of the head and the breast of the ^rnale are
of a beautiful red. They are often found together in
flocks during September. In spring and summer they
chiefly live on oil-containing seeds, and may even do
some good by eating the seeds ol charlock ; usually,
however, doing much more harm by devouring the
seed of rape, flax, linseed, and hemp.

The Chaffinch (. Fringilla coelebs).

A white patch on the two outermost tail feathers and
the ones next them. Wings with one white and one
yellowish transverse band. Male : upper side of head
and neck bluish grey, back brown, breast reddish brown.
r emale : back grey-brown, belly whitish, breast ash-
grey. -The chaffinch inhabits forests, both those of
oidinary foliage trees and those consisting of conifers •
it also nests in gardens and plantations. At the
beginning of September the males separate from the
females, and both sexes collect in large flocks which
aunt gardens, avenues, and bushes. In mild winters
they remain resident, but travel away if the cold is
greater. The chaffinch devours oil-containing seeds
by preference, but also eats starchy ones, and seeks its

64

ZOOLOGY.

food on the ground. It does a great deal of damage
in cornfields by picking the seeds out of the soil after
they have been sown ; but does not take the grain
from the ear. It also eats young seedlings. But
valuable services more than counterbalance the harm
done. When the chaffinches in autumn fly about in
large flocks in the fields, they eat an enormous
number of weed seeds. The young are chiefly fed
with insects, especially with caterpillars. In the
spring, when the seeds have germinated and the
young corn is not yet ripe, the chaffinch feeds itself
also on insects.

Group : Subulirostres (. Awl-beaked Perching Birds).

Beak slender, awl-shaped, round in transverse sec-
tion. A fully developed organ of voice. Feed almost
exclusively on insects ; there are only a few species
which occasionally eat seeds. A few of them, however,
sometimes devour juicy fruits (cherries, bird-cherries,
elder-berries, juniper-berries, grapes). The birds be-
longing to this group, without exception, feed their
young on insects. They are of service ; even those
species which occasionally do damage are useful on
the whole.

There belong to the Subulirostres —

The Wagtails ( Motacilla ), e.g. the White Wagtail
(If. alba), usually living in the neighbourhood of
water, and seeking its insect food in the fields (often
behind the plough), and in pastures and gardens.

The lark-coloured Pipits (Anthus),

The Hedge Accentor, or “Sparrow” ( Accentor no-
dularis),— in garden hedges, and woods, feeding
sometimes on seeds.

The following “ warblers : ” Nightingale ( Baulias
luscinia), Robin ( Erithacus rubecula ), Redstart (. Ruti -
cilia phcenicurus), the Lesser Whitethroat ( Sylvia
curruca), Garden Warbler (S. hortensis), Willow Wren
(S. trochilus), Chiffchaff (S. rufa), Reed Warblers

BIRDS.

65

(. Acrocephalus streperus and A. arundinacea), etc.
The last-named live among reeds and rushes on the
hanks of fresh waters, and eat insects which do not
affect agriculture and forestry ; all the other warblers
are useful.

Other examples of the Subulirostres are the Golden-
crested Wren ( Regulus cristatus), and the Common
Wren (Troglodytes pctrvulus), which are of service to
forestry and fruit-tree culture, but not to agriculture.

Most of the native thrush-like birds (Turdus),
e.g. the Blackbird (T. merula), the Missel Thrush (T.

Fig. 38. — The Nightingale ( Uaulias luscinia).

viscivorus ), the Fieldfare (T. pilaris), the Redwing
(T. iliacus), and the Song Thrush (T. musicus), assist
the farmer by devouring noxious insects and snails ;
but several of them occasionally do damage by poach-
ing on cherries, grapes, currants, etc. Some of them
(e.g. the Song Thrush and Blackbird) breed in almost
all parts of Britain, others come here only in autumn
or winter.

Order: Gyrantes (Doves).

Body strongly built, somewhat thick-set. Wings
long and pointed. Beak weak, with a cere1? at its

F

66

ZOOLOGY.

base ; nostrils covered by gristly scales. Toes : three
forwardly and one backwardly directed, free, i.e. with-
out a web (as in poultry). The young are at first
blind and naked. They are at first fed with a cheesy
secretion of the glands of the crop ; later, with grain
softened in the crop. Doves always live in pairs.
Nests careless, flat, of loosely arranged twigs ; situated
on tree-branches, rocks, and large buildings. Doves
breed twice or thrice a year, laying two longish,
shining white eggs.

Native British forms : —

1. Wood Pigeon ( Golumba jpalumbus , Fig. 39), from
April to September scattered about in the woods, but
after the breeding season wander about in flocks, and

Fig. 39. — The Wood Pigeon (Columbcc palumbus),

in winter travel further south, although many re-
main. It nests on horizontal branches, and feeds on
seeds of fir and pine, acorns, beechnuts, also grain,

BIRDS.

67

peas, vetches, rape-seecl, — but seeds of many weeds
as well (e.g. those of charlock, vetchling, spurry,
cleavers). When the earth is covered with snow it
often eats cabbage and the leaves of winter rape, but
is also of some service.

2. The Turtle Dove ( C . tnrtnr) occurs on the edges
of woods, especially those consisting of coniferous
trees. Nests in the trees. For food, use, and harm,
cp. the preceding species. Steals buckwheat grains
from the fields.

3. The Rock Pigeon ( C '. livid) is the original stock
of our races of domestic pigeons. It nests, as a resi-
dent, in the Mediterranean countries ; as a migrant, on
the rocky parts of the coasts of Great Britain and the
Orkneys, Shetlands, and Faroe Islands.

Order: Rasores (Poultry).

Body strong, thick-set. Head small, often with
naked, brightly coloured patches, with fleshy combs
or with a crest of feathers. Tip of the upper beak
bends over that of the lower one. No cere (cp.
Doves). Wings short, rounded ; flight heavy. Feet
strong. Hinder toe small and usually attached to
the tarsus higher up than the front toes. Claws
blunt. A small web at the bases of the toes. The
male of several species bears a spur on the tarsus.
Birds of this order usually keep on the ground,
scraping it in search of their food, which consists of
seeds, berries, the green parts of plants, insects, worms,
and snails. Young precocious (p. 51). Several domestic
birds belong to the Rasores : pheasants, the various
races of fowls, pea-fowls, guinea-fowls, turkeys.

The species living wild in Britain are game-birds.
They are — the Capercailzie ( Tetrao urogallus, Fig.
40), Black Game ( T . tetrix), Partridge ( Perdix cinerea),
Quail (P. coturnix) ; none of them are particularly
harmful or useful to agriculture.

68

ZOOLOGY,

The Pheasant ( Phasianus colchicus, Fig. 41) was
originally a native of the Caucasus, and shores of the

Caspian Sea and
Sea of Aral; it
occurs wild in
Central Europe.

Pheasants are
troublesome to
the farmer, both
by devouring the

newly sown seed FlG* 40-~ ^Iale and Female Capercailzie (Tetraourogallus).

and by scratching up the fields.

Order: Grallatores (Wading-Birds).

The species here included differ very much among
themselves ; but all seek their food, which is almost
exclusively of animal nature, at the water-edge (rivers,

BIRDS.

09

brooks, lakes, ditches, canals, seashore) or in clamp
places (damp meadows and ploughed fields, moors.

Fig. 41.— The Pheasant ( Pliasianus colchicus ).

swamps). They are, therefore, adapted to wading,
and for this purpose have a long featherless tarsus,
while the lower half of the long shank is quite bare
and covered with horny scales. In flight the wacling-
birds do not draw their legs up to their body, as is
the case with the birds already spoken of, but stretch
them out behind to their full length. Monogamous.
Young precocious (p. 51), except in storks and herons
when they are nestlings. The shore-dwellers eat fish,
bivalve molluscs, etc. ; only those species living on
damp meadows and fields are of use to agriculturists,
by devouring insects, snails, and worms. These are
indicated by the letter u in the following list of the
commonest native kinds : —

Coot ( Fulica citra) ; Water Hen ( Gallinula chlo-
ropus) ; Corn Crake ( Grex pratensis, u) ; Plovers

70

ZOOLOGY.

( Chctradrius , u) ; Pewit or Lapwing (V anellus cristatus,
u) ; the Snipes ( Scolopax ) ; the Curlews (Numenius, u) ;
the Stints ( Tringa ); the Godwit ( Limosa cegocephala,

Fig. 42. — The Woodcock ( Scolopax rusticola).

u) ; the Sandpipers ( Totanus , u) ; the Heron (Ardea
cinerea).

Order: Natatores (Swimming-Birds).

These birds are distinguished by their swimming
powers and corresponding organization. Legs usually
set on far back, shorter than the body. The feet in
particular are adapted for swimming. In some swim-
ming-birds each of the forwardly directed toes has a
webbed margin (“ split swimming feet,” Fig. 43) ; in
others, the three front toes are all united by a web
(Fig. 44), while the hind toe is either small or wanting
(“ swimming feet ”) ; lastly, there are some in which
all the toes are forwardly directed and united by a
common web (“ oar-feet ”). The plumage of swimming-
birds is compact, and always kept greasy by the

BIRDS.

71

secretion of the oil-gland. I shall speak of two
families only.

Family : Lamellirostra (Ducks).

The inner
thrown into

margin of the beak is covered by skin,
transverse ridges or tooth-like projec-

mmm

0 mmft&M

G-;:\ .7.;' \

.

' A

mm* mw£

*'y:r

1 '.'N, •

I -f>A0, '

Fig. 43. — Crested and Little Grebes ( Podiceps cristatus and minor').

tions. Swimming feet (Fig. 44). Tolerably long-

wings; remarkable powers of flight. Feathers soft.
These birds mostly affect shallow fresh water, in

72

ZOOLOGY.

which they get their food by grubbing in the mud,
the soft skin of the beak serving as an organ of touch.
Polygamous. Young precocious (p. 51).

Here belong — the long-necked Swans ( Cygnus )
and the thick short-necked Geese (Anser), in which
the beak is higher than broad at its base ; the
Swimming Ducks (Anas) with broader beaks, the
Diving Ducks ( Fuligula ), and Goosanders (. Mergus )
with a broad hanging web to the hind toe. None
of these birds are useful, while wild geese and ducks
are harmful.

Three species of wild Geese (Grey Goose = Anser

Fig. 44. — Goose {Anser cinereus ).

cinereus , Bean Goose = A. segetum, White-fronted Goose

= A. albifrons) chiefly breed in Eastern or Northern
Europe, and only come to Britain in autumn or
winter, flying about in flocks. They eat the grass
in low-lying meadows, and even pull it up by the
roots ; in the cultivated fields they devour winter
corn and winter rape, and tread down more with their
clumsy feet than they eat. They are also harmful to

BIKDS.

73

vegetable growth, owing to the very caustic nature of
their dung, which is often deposited in large quantities
in one place. In regions where they breed they also
devour both ripe and unripe grain. Where they only
occur in autumn, they scrape potatoes, turnips, and
carrots out of the ground in order to eat them. Flocks
of geese fly in a slanting line or in the form of a
ploughshare.

Among Swimming Ducks damage is only done by
the Wild Duck ( Anas boschas). It breeds wherever
there are fresh waters. Nests amongst grasses or
swamp-plants, or in a tree. The wild ducks remain
the whole winter as long as the waters are not frozen,
otherwise they go off for a short time to the south.
Food : the tops of stems, buds, leaves of various water-
plants, also barley, oats, and other grain; water-
insects, fish, and fish-spawn. These ducks also do
damage in cornfields by treading down and cracking
the plants.

Family : Longipennes (Gulls).

Usually swimming feet. Legs tolerably long, adapted
for wading (Fig. 45). Wings long, pointed. Beak
laterally compressed. Young nestlings (p. 51). Breed
in larger or smaller flocks, usually on the coast, occa-
sionally on the margin of fresh waters. They chiefly
feed on fish, worms, molluscs, and Crustacea ; some-
times, in the case of a few species, on young birds and
eggs, as well as mice and other small mammals. Gulls
are usually of no importance in agriculture ; but the
Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus), which breeds
on the banks of lakes and rivers, devours many cock-
chafers and other noxious insects. The Herring Gull
(Fig. 45), Kittiwake (Larus argentatus and L. tridac-
tylus), and a few other species, which breed on the
coast, sometimes show themselves inland, especially
in stormy weather ; they then pursue field-voles, and
catch many injurious insects.

74

ZOOLOGY.

Besides the true Gulls (Lams), I will only mention
the Sea Swallows (Sterna), with forked tails.

Fig. 45. — Herring Gull ( Larus argentatus ).

CLASS III. : REPTILIA (REPTILES).

Cold-blooded Vertebrates (p. 19). The heart has
the same structure as in Mammals and Birds, but the
left and right ventricles are usually only incompletely
divided from one another (p. 20). The body is invested
with horny scales or with bony plates covered by a
horny layer. Reptiles are very unlike Birds in appear-
ance, but present many essential points of resemblance
to them in their skeleton ; indeed, during earlier geo-
logical times, there were transitional forms between
the two classes. The structure of the reptile egg, too,
is very similar to that of the bird’s egg ; but the first
has no lime-salts deposited in its shell. The egg is
not hatched out by the animal itself, but exposed to

REPTILES

75

the heat of the sun or to the warmth developed by
decaying vegetable matter. Several reptiles (adder,
for example) keep their eggs in their bodies till the
young escape. Reptiles have either no limbs (snakes,

Fig. 46. — Common Lizard (Lacerta agilis ) ; 2, head of the same from below ; 3, tongue.

a few lizards), or, at any rate, the limbs are not well
developed, and are so placed that the body does not
rest upon them, but is slung between them.

The Reptilia are divided into the Orders of Crocodilia
(Crocodiles), Chelonia (Turtles and Tortoises), Lacer-
tilia (Lizards), Ophidia (Snakes).

Our native reptiles have no agricultural import-
ance. I will, however, briefly mention the Adder

76

ZOOLOGY.

( Pelias berus, Fig. 47), as it is dangerous to man.
Head broad ; tail much smaller than the hinder end

of the body. Colour greenish grey or brownish. A
black zigzag band runs along the dorsal side of the
body. Length about twenty inches. The two hook-
shaped poison-fangs are found in the front of the
upper jaw; opening the mouth widely causes them
to be erected. They are traversed by poison-canals
through which the poison flows immediately into the

REPTILES.

77

two bloodless wounds. The adder lives in woods and
on mountain slopes, where it devours mice. The
poison has a decomposing action on the blood ; it
causes fever, and swelling of the part bitten, as well

as sometimes of the neighbouring parts. The bite
may be fatal. Alcohol is spoken of very highly as a
remedy.

The native Ringed Snake ( Tropidonotws natrix , Fig.

78

ZOOLOGY.

48), three feet long, is bluish with belly flecked with
black and white ; a yellow and a black band on the
neck. It is fond of going into the water, and eats frogs,

newts, and insects. The Smooth Snake ( Coronella
Icevis), two feet long, is brown, with black patches on

AMPHIBIANS.

79

the back, which, however, do not form a continuous
band. Head dark velvety black. Devours lizards
and blind worms. The Blindworm ( Angnis fragilis)
is indeed snake-like, or rather worm-like (Fig. 49),
but nevertheless belongs to the lizards, with which its
internal structure agrees.

CLASS IV. : AMPHIBIA (AMPHIBIANS).

Cold-blooded Vertebrates (p. 19). The heart has
only one ventricle and two auricles (cp. p. 21). The skin
is naked, damp, usually slippery and smooth ; it helps
in respiration. Although several Amphibians resemble
various Eeptiles in outward appearance (Newt and

Fig. 50. Great Crested Newt ( Triton cristatus ) ; male above, female below.

Lizard, Figs. 50 and 46), the structure of the skeleton
is quite different. Upon the whole, Amphibians
resemble fishes more closely, and they breathe by
gills when they are young, which strengthens the
agreement. They undergo a metamorphosis. The
just, hatched young at first hold fast by suction to
the jelly of the spawn; they have external gills. They

80

ZOOLOGY.

quickly develop a membranous margin to the body,
especially round the tail, which consequently forms a
sort of oar. Meanwhile internal gills develop, and
the external ones disappear. The larvse are now fish-
like (“ tadpoles ”). The limbs quickly grow out, the
lungs develop, the tail shrivels up, and the animal
leaves the water. Even the adult, however, lives
among damp surroundings. In the adult state the
Amphibians feed on insects, worms, and snails ; many
species are exceedingly useful owing to this.

Amphibians are divided into two orders, the U rodela
(Newts, etc.) and the Anura (Frogs and Toads). To
the first belong the Great Crested Newt ( Triton cris-
tatus) and the Common Newt ( Lissotriton tceniatus).

Fig. 51. — Common Frog (liana temporaria).

Examples of the Anura are the Edible Frog ( Rana
esculenta ), the brownish Common Frog (B. temporaria,
Fig. 51), the Common Toad ( Bufo vulgaris ), and the
Natterjack ( B . calamita , Fig. 52).

Both frogs and toads do good by devouring many
noxious insects, and also, in particular, snails. Toads
are often kept in greenhouses for this purpose; and

FISHES.

81

in the research garden attached to the Rouen ento-
mological laboratory the snails were entirely exter-
minated in 1891, as a result of introducing a hundred
toads and ninety frogs.

Fig. 52. — Natterjack ( Bufo calamita ).

CLASS V. : PISCES (FISHES).

Cold-blooded Vertebrates (p. 19), which breathe
by gills during their whole life. The heart consists
only of a single ventricle and a single auricle (p. 18).
The head passes immediately into the body without
any intervening neck. Fishes move chiefly by means
of the tail, at the end of which there is a tail-fin.
This and the dorsal and anal fins lie in the median
plane of the fish, while the pectoral fins, which are
attached to the skull in bony fishes, and also the
ventral fins, are paired structures more or less com-
parable to the fore and hind limbs of higher verte-
brates. The skeleton of most fishes (pike, perch, carp,
eel, plaice) is bony ; but in a few subdivisions of fishes

G

82

ZOOLOGY.

(sharks, skates, sturgeons, lampreys) it is cartilaginous.
The skin is usually covered with thin translucent
scales ; but there are fishes with a smooth skin
(lampreys), with prickle-like dermal ossifications

Fig. 53. — The Perch (Perea fluviatilis)

(sharks), and with rhomboidal bony plates (sturgeons).
As Fishes are without exception aquatic, there is no
need for me to treat more specially of them here.

Second Sub-Kingdom : ARTHROPODA

(JOINTED-LIMBED ANIMALS).

The body of an Arthropod is bilaterally sym-
metrical (cp. p. 16), and consists of a number of
joints (Fig. 55), not equally numerous in all members
of the sub-kingdom. These joints or segments lie one
behind the other, and are at first alike ; but as
in the course of further development they become
adapted to various functions, the difference between
them becomes greater. Compare the Wood-borer
represented in Fig. 54, 2, with the young form of the

ARTHROPODA.

83

same animal (Fig. 54, 1). The segments often fuse
together, which brings about the formation of a
smaller number of subdivisions to the body ; or even
all the segments may become united (mites). In the
last case the Arthropod characters are only to be seen
in the jointing of the limbs. Segmented animals
(( e.g . the common earthworm) are also found among the
worms (Sub-kingdom III. of the Animal Kingdom) ;

Fig. 54. — Wood-borer ( Sirex ); 1, larva; 2, adult insect.

but these worms have either no limbs, or only small
unjointed foot-stumps, never jointed limbs as in the
Arthropods. These last are limbless or with unjointed
foot-stumps only when young; when adult they
always have jointed limbs. The head of Arthropods
bears several successive pairs of jaws, which move to
and fro from one side towards the other. The cover-
ing of the body consists of hard protective pieces ; it is
only in the young condition that the skin of several
species is soft. Arthropods have no internal skeleton ;
the muscles are attached to the skin. The central
part of the nervous system (p. 10), which consists in

84

ZOOLOGY.

Vertebrates of brain and spinal cord, lies in Arthropods
almost entirely on the ventral side. In the head is
situated the cerebral ganglion, a large nervous mass
resting on the gullet, and giving off nerves to the eyes
and feelers. Besides this, there is a ventral nerve-

Fig. 55. — The Large Centipede ( Scolopendra morsitans ).

?*>&

cord on the ventral side of the animal, running below
the gut, and made up of several pairs of ganglia,
united with one another by means of nerve-fibres.
The ganglia of the ventral cord send their nerves to
the jaws, limbs, muscles, viscera, etc. The cerebral
ganglion is connected with the first ventral ganglion
by means of a cord on each side of the gullet (Fig. 56),

so that a ring-like structure is
formed. The breathing organs
are gills in some Arthropods
(the Crustacea, e.g. crayfish,
crabs) ; insects and centipedes
breathe by air-tubes or tracheae,
while the respiratory organs of
spider-like animals, when these
do not breathe entirely by
means of the skin, are more or
less strongly modified tracheae.
The structure of the tracheal
system is generally as follows :
on each side of the body there
is a row of breathing-holes, or
stigmata, through which the air can enter the tracheae ;
these are very much branched, so that they finally
become very fine tubes investing the various organs,

Fig. 56. — Ground Beetle, with
nervous system drawn in white.

INSECTS.

85

which in this way obtain the requisite amount of
oxygen. The stigmata on one side of a caterpillar are
clearly shown in Fig. 60, and those of a hornet larva
in Fig. 61.

Four classes belong to this sub-kingdom: Insecta
(Insects), Myriapoda (centipedes, etc.), Arachnoidea
(spiders, scorpions, etc.), Crustacea (crayfish, crabs,
lobsters, etc.).

CLASS I. : INSECTA (INSECTS).

Breathe by tracheae (cp. p. 84). The segments
fuse into three body regions (Fig. 57). These are —

a

b

A

III.

II.

>B

C

Fig. 57. — A Grasshopper, with the different regions of the body separated from
one another. A, head; B, thorax: /..prothorax; II., meso thorax ; III., meta-
thorax ; C, abdomen ; a, antennae ; b, eyes ; c, d, e, legs ; f, g, wings ; p, shank ;
q, foot.

86

ZOOLOGY.

(1) the Head, bearing the eyes, feelers (antennae), and
jaws ; (2) the Thorax, composed of three fused seg-
ments, of which the first (prothorax) bears a pair of
legs, while the second (mesothorax) and third (meta-
thorax) not only bear a pair of legs each, but also
sometimes a pair of wings in addition; (3) the
Abdomen, which possesses no limbs, and of which
the number of segments is not always the same.
These three regions of the body perform different
functions ; the head is concerned with sensation and
the taking up of food, the thorax with movement,
while the abdomen contains the organs of digestion
and reproduction. I will now deal somewhat more
fully with the different body-regions of an insect.

Head. — Almost all insects have in the adult state
a compound eye, i.e. an eye made up of a large number
(up to ten thousand) of smaller eyes. In many insects
one finds in addition to this a few simple eyes on the
top of the head. The feelers are very unlike in
different insects ; they serve as organs of touch, and
perhaps also help some other sense. The mouth-parts
consist of three pairs of jaws, of which the first (the
mandibles) and the second pair (maxillae) are freely
movable from side to side, while the third consists of
two jaws immovably fused together (lower lip, or
labium). A downward projection of the skin of the
head (the upper lip, or labrum) overhangs the three
pairs of jaws (Fig. 58). In insects which feed on
solid matters, tearing or chewing them, the jaws are
short and sharp-edged (biting mouth-parts) ; in those
which take up fluid food (blood, the juices of plants,
etc.) they are elongated, and adapted for licking,
sucking, or piercing.

Thorax. — The names of the parts of the legs are
for the most part those used in the case of mammalian
limbs ; though the similarity between the limbs of
Mammals and Insects is quite superficial. The follow-
ing parts are distinguished in the leg of* an insect :

INSECTS.

87

f .r

Fig. 58.— Head and Mouth-parts of a Ground Beetle, enlarged four times. A, from
above; B, from below, a, labrum; b, mandible; /, maxilla with palpi(tf);
c, labium with palp (e).

(1) the generally spherical hip (coxa) (Fig. 59, a) ;

(2) the very short trochanter (b) ; (3) the elongated
thigh (femur) (c) ; (4) the shank (tibia) provided with
movable spines at its tip (d) ; (5) the three- to five-
jointed foot (tarsus) (e), whose last joint ends in claws,
and often also in flap-like outgrowths. The Wings are
expansions of the skin, which consist of two layers.
There are tracheae between the upper and lower
lamellae. At first (in the pupa) the wings are folded

88

ZOOLOGY.

up ; but the forcing of air into the tracheae quickly
causes them to unfold. A firm substance is now

deposited in the larger tracheae, which are thus con-
verted into veins or ribs giving support to the wings.
In beetles the fore wings are quite hard and horny,
and serve for protecting the delicate hind-wings and
soft back rather than for flight; they are therefore
named “ wing-covers ” (elytra). In many insects the
fore wings (wasps) or the hind wings (beetles, grass-
hoppers) are folded when at rest.

The abdomen only bears organs of movement in
caterpillars (Fig. 60) and a few other insects in the

Fig. 60. — Silkworm Motli (Bomlnjx vnori). Female moth, caterpillar, pupa and cocoon.

young condition, and in these cases they are not
jointed like the true legs or “ thoracic feet,’’ but un-
jointed pro-legs or “ abdominal feet.” In the adult

INSECTS.

89

insect the abdomen may have thread-like (mole-
cricket) or pincer-like (earwig) appendages ; or
appendages used in egg-laying (ovipositors, e.g.
Locust).

Most insects have great powers of reproduction. A
few bring forth living young, but most insects lay
eggs. It is only in a few (e.g. lice) that animals
exactly like their parents are hatched from the eggs ;
the large majority of insects pass through a change, or
m etamorphosis.

A distinction is drawn between complete and in-
complete metamorphosis. It is said to be complete
when the insect passes through a stage in which it
takes up no food, and, as a rule, moves but little. In
this condition of almost complete rest the insect is
called a “pupa” (Figs. 60, 61, 65). The metamor-

phosis is called incomplete when the insect does not
pass through a pupa stage, and therefore feeds and
moves during all the periods of its development,
merely altering its form somewhat during its various
moults (Fig. 62).

The word “ moult ” must here be explained. The
covering of the skin of Arthropods consists of hard

90

ZOOLOGY

parts incapable of being stretched. At the end of a
definite period of time this firm covering is stripped
off and replaced by a new investment, soft at first,

Fig. 62. — The Migratory Grasshopper ( Acrydium migratorium). Larva and adult female.

but afterwards becoming hard. In this way growth
can be effected in spite of the hard integument.
Everyone must have noticed at some time or other
the moulting of caterpillars.

Fig. 63. — Looper Caterpillar.

Fig. 64. — False Caterpillar.

In insects with incomplete metamorphosis the form
of the animal alters a little at every moult, becoming
more and more like that of the adult insect. In the
last moult but one small imperfect wings appear

INSECTS.

91

(Fig. 62, left), and fully developed wings are only
present after the last moult. The ovipositors of
female insects, in those cases where the metamorphosis
is incomplete, first appear as fully developed organs
in the perfect condition of the animal, but begin to
develop in the preceding stage. In cases of this kind
of metamorphosis the young insect (“larva”) closely
resembles the adult in form even in the first stage
of development. In insects undergoing complete
metamorphosis the difference between larva and adult
insect (imago) is much greater (Figs. 60, 61, 65).

Fkj. 65.— The Common Cockchafer ( Melolontha vulgaris).
Larva, pupa, female flying, and male creeping out of the earth.

The time passed in the pupa state by insects with
complete metamorphosis is by no means always of
the same length. For example, there are two genera-
tions annually of the cabbage white butterfly ; one
lives through the winter in the pupa state, the pupae
of the other are found in summer. So that while an
insect of the winter generation lives about half a year
in the pupa state, this condition lasts only about a
month in the summer generation. A higher tempera-
ture hastens the development.

Although the insect in the pupa state takes no

92

ZOOLOGY.

Fig. 66. —
Larva of a
Weevil.

food, it nevertheless breathes, and therefore con-
tinually uses up body substance. This using up only
takes place to a small extent however,
since the animal moves but little. From
whence, then, does the pupa get the material
to cover the loss of body substance ? In the
larval condition the insect takes far more
food than it requires for the development
of its body, and from this excess it builds
up reserve stuffs, which are deposited in the
so-called “ fat-bodies ” of the larva. These reserve
materials are re-absorbed during the pupa state, and
serve to maintain the breathing. Consequently a

pupa that has just
been formed moves
more than another one
just about to become
a butterfly.

The larvae and pupae
of the different kinds
of insects which under-
go a complete meta-
morphosis have not the

Pig. 67. — A Hover Fly shape of body.

( Syrphus pyrastiy. Fly, Among the larvae may
maggot, and pupa case. distinguished cater-
pillars, grubs, and
maggots. The caterpillars (Fig. (>0) have a clearly
marked head with hard covering, three pairs of jointed
thoracic legs, and a varying number of unjointed pro-
legs. They are usually variegated or green in colour, and '
are divided into true caterpillars and false caterpillars
(Figs. 60, 63, and 64). The first, after the resting
pupa stage, become butterflies or moths ; the latte i
sawfiies. The true caterpillars have two to five pairs
of pro-legs, the false caterpillars six to eight pairs.
Reckoning in the thoracic legs, therefore, the true
caterpillars have altogether five to eight, the false

INSECTS.

93

caterpillars nine to eleven pairs. The head of the
latter is more rounded, while that of the former is
more flattened. The way in which caterpillars walk
depends upon the number of their legs. If this is
fairly large so that most of the segments of the
body are provided with legs, the whole body remains
tolerably extended during progression. But if the
number is small — as in the looper caterpillars, where
there are three pairs of thoracic legs at the anterior
end, and at the posterior end only a terminal pair of
legs (the caudal pro-legs) and another pair in front of
them — the middle legless region is strongly bent
during locomotion (Fig. 63). Hence the name
“ looper.” The loopers often bend their bodies in a
characteristic way. When at rest the hinder part is
coiled up spirally; but as soon as the animals are
alarmed they throw the hinder part of the body
upwards and forwards and even over the head. The
grubs (Figs. 66 and 69, left) have indeed, like the
caterpillars, a clearly visible hard head, but no charac-
teristic abdominal legs, or at most a pair of sucker
feet at the end of the body (wireworms). Thoracic
legs are present in several grubs (cockchafer larvae,
wireworms, leaf-beetles) ; in others (larvae of weevils
and fleas) they are entirely absent. Maggots are those
entirely footless insect-larvae which do not possess a
head clearly marked off' from the rest of the body,
and the head-end of which is only to be recognized
by the presence of the mouth and mouth-parts.
Pupae are enclosed in a case which either only faintly
indicates the outline of the various parts of the adult
insect, or else closely surrounds every part of the
body — wings, legs, antennae, and even the mouth-
parts and eyes. Pupae of the first kind are termed
obtectate (Fig. 60) ; those of the second, free (Figs.
61, 65).

Many pupae are naked, others are surrounded by a
web (cocoon) spun by the larva (Fig. 60). There are

04

ZOOLOGY.

also pupae distinguished by the peculiarity that when
the insect has lived through the maggot-stage it does
not strip off its integument, but turns into a pupa
inside the shrivelled maggot-skin, from which the
perfect insect later on breaks out (Fig. 67).

The class of insects can be divided into eleven
orders: (1) Coleoptera (Beetles); (2) (Grass-

hoppers, Locusts) ; (3) Neuroptera (Dragon-flies) ; (4)
Hymenoptera (Bees, Ants, Saw-flies) ; (5) Lepidoptera
(Butterflies and Moths) ; (6) Hemiptera (Aphides,
Bugs) ; (7) Physopoda (Thrips) ; (8) Diptera (Flies
with two wings) ; (9) Aphccniptera (Fleas) ; (10)
Pediculina (Lice) ; (11) Collembolct (Spring-tails and
Tassel-tails).

Order I. : Coleoptera (Beetles).

Beetles (Fig. 65) are insects with biting mouth-
parts, and strongly developed prothorax united with
the mesothorax so as to permit free movement. The
fore-wings are in the form of hard covers, leaving
exposed only the head, neck-shield (i.e. the dorsal
side of the prothorax), a three-cornered bit of the
mesothorax ( scutellum ), and sometimes the tip of the
abdomen. Flight is effected by the hind wings alone,
which in a state of rest are drawn back under the wing-
covers. The metamorphosis is complete ; the larvae
are legless, or with thoracic legs only, and have a
hard head with biting mouth-parts ; change into free
pupae (p. 93).

Family : Carabidae ( Ground Beetles).

Usually elongated, slender ; with long slender legs,
five-jointed tarsi, eleven-jointed antennae, powerful
jaws (Figs. 68, 69). Run rapidly; usually keep on
the ground ; hide themselves during the day, but are
very active at night ; with very few exceptions feed

INSECTS.

95

entirely on other insects ; when touched squirt an
acrid stinking fluid out of the abdomen. Larvae

O

longish, six-legged, with short antennae and sharp
jaws, with a few exceptions live exclusively on other
insects and lower animals.

Several species are of service, both in the adult and
larval conditions, since they destroy injurious insects,
e.g. surface caterpillars, wireworms, cockchafers,

Fig. 68 — A Ground Beetle Fig. 69. — Corn Ground Beetle

0 Carabus auronitens ). ( Zabrus gibbus) and larva.

grubs, crane-fly larvae. The following do good in
cultivated fields : Golden Ground Beetle ( Carabus

auratus), Garden Ground Beetle ( C . hortensis), Granu-
lated Ground Beetle ((7. granulatus) , Cross-barred Ground
Beetle ( C . cancellatus ), Field Ground Beetle ((7.
nemoralis), Large-headed Ground Beetle ( Cephalotes
vulgaris ), species of Harjpalus , Pterostichus, etc.

The only destructive form is the Corn Ground Beetle
(Zabrus gibbus, Fig. 69) ; short, thick-set ; back
black ; belly, legs, and antennae dark brown. Larva
cylindrical, slightly hairy, brown, with yellowish
white belly ; head broad and flattened, black. The
beetles (June, July) usually remain hidden in the
soil during the day, climbing up the stalks of barley,
wheat, and rye during the evening and in dull
weather, and eating the grain in the ear. The larvae
remain during the day in vertical holes which they
dig out ; but at night and during dull weather they
devour the overground parts of the grain-plants

96

ZOOLOGY.

mentioned above, especially the hearts of young
plants. They are destructive both in autumn and
spring, damaging winter and summer grain. The
larval condition is maintained for three years, the
animal then turning into a pupa during July. Its
ravages are limited to special years. Bemedy :
Sowing oats, peas, or vetches, or planting potatoes in
fields infested by the beetles or their larvae ; collect-
ing the beetles in the evening when they are in the
ears.

Family : Staphylinidae (Rove Beetles).

Usually elongated, small (Fig. 70). The short
truncated wing-covers leave the whole of the abdomen
exposed. The rove beetles resemble the earwigs in
their appearance and in a way they have of fre-

Fig. 70.— Rove Beetle ( Siaphylinus Fig. 71.— The Black Burying Beetle

erythropterus). ( Silpha atrata') and larva.

quently lifting up the hinder end of the body and
turning it forwards. Tarsi five-jointed, jaws strongly
developed. The six-legged larvae resemble those of
the ground beetles, but have a relatively large head.
The beetles live through the winter; the metamor-
phosis takes place in autumn. Live on the ground
under fallen leaves, also under the bark of trees ; in
carcases. Some chiefly eat insects living in the soil
and noxious insects; others, dung and decomposing
matter. (Species of Staphylinus, and of Ocypus , e.g.
0. olens, the Devil’s Coach Horse.) Several are of

INSECTS.

97

service. A few devour the parts of plants. Antho-
bium torquatum is found in large numbers in the
flowers of rape, devouring the petals, stamens, and
pollen.

Family : Silphidae (Burying, or Sexton Beetles).

The antennae either thicken gradually or have only
the end-joints larger ; body flat ; head projecting ;
tarsi five-jointed. The burying beetles and their
larvae feed on dead animals. A few (sp. of Necro-
phorus) bury the whole animal in the earth, and
lay their eggs in it. Failing carrion, some of them
can live on vegetable food ; these sometimes do harm.
Others prefer living insects and snails. They are of
service in the economy of nature by doing away with
stinking bodies. The following are sometimes harm-
ful : Black Burying Beetle (Silpha citrata , Fig. 71), the
larvae of which often do much damage in fields of
beetroot ; Silpha opaca (Beet Carrion Beetle), and
S. reticulata, which, in the adult condition, may do
harm to several kinds of plants. Remedies need not
be considered, as it is only rarely they increase so
largely as to make the supply of carrion insufficient,
and consequently attack plants.

Family : Nitidulidae (Shine Beetles).

Small. Antennae club-shaped, eleven-jointed. Tarsi
five-jointed. A few species live on carrion and on
fungi, others under the bark of trees, a few in flowers.
To these last belongs the Turnip Flower Beetle (Meli-
gethes ceneus) ; somewhat convex, elongated oval ;
shining metallic greenish black, finely dotted. Occurs
in the inflorescences of turnip, rape, and allied species ;
also in the flowers of mustard, charlock, and similar
crucifers, and species of buttercup (Ranunculus). At
the beginning of spring, the turnip-flower beetle bores
into the buds of turnip, rape, etc., and, later on,

H

98

ZOOLOGY.

attacks the flowers. It perforates the petals, devours
the stamens and pollen, and, lastly, the pistil. The
infested flowers wither. Three to four beetles are
often found in a single flower. The female soon
lays her eggs, separately, in the ovary of the flower.
One to two weeks later the larvae may be found in
the flowers, one or more in each. The larvae, one-fiftieth
of an inch long to begin with, are, when ready to
become pupae, about one-fifth of an inch long,
cylindrical, yellowish white with blackish brown
head ; they have three pairs of short thoracic legs, as
well as a pair of caudal pro-legs. Each segment of the
body has two dark blotches on its upper side. On an
average, the larvae reach their full size in four to five
weeks. They are first found at the bottom of the
flower, where they gnaw the stamens and ovary.
They then wander from flower to flower, until ready
to become pupae. If there are no more flowers in the
neighbourhood they attack the developing pods, first
gnaw the green husk, then bore through it and devour
the young seeds. Become pupae in the soil. The
beetle emerges after a fourteen days’ pupa-rest. At
least two, usually three, sometimes four generations.
Remedy : Rooting out charlock and the species of
buttercup. Selection of strongly growing varieties
of turnip, rape, etc., which blossom late (and therefore
soon finish blooming). Drill-culture.

Family : Cryptophagidae {Secret-eating Beetles).

Very minute. Antennae composed of eleven joints,
of which the three last form a club. Legs wide apart ;
tarsi five-jointed. Live in flowers, fungi, dead parts
of plants, under bark, in the earth, in humblebees’ and
ants’ nests, etc. The Beet Beetle ( Atomaria linearis)
is harmful : longish, egg-shaped, strongly convex ;
neck-shield as long as broad. Brownish black or
dark brown. In fields where beet is cultivated

INSECTS.

99

for several years in succession, the beetles often
increase in a prodigious way. They attack the
seedlings, and devour the base of the stalk just
below the surface of the soil, sometimes biting it half
through. The attacked seedlings often die even before
the cotyledons appear above the surface of the soil.
Looking, therefore, in spring at fields infested by the
beet beetle, the seedlings will appear quite normally
developed in some few places, while in some other
places there may be no plants at all : in many spots,
again, small plants will be seen bearing only seed-
leaves, withered and yellow. These cannot be pulled
out of the ground, for they break off at the place
gnawed by the beetle. It is often necessary to give
two or three successive sowings, as the young crop is
attacked again and again. The larva of the beet
beetle is still unknown, though this undoubtedly
develops in the beet-fields. Remedy: Suitable rota-
tion. When the conditions will not permit this, the
seed must be sown thickly, so that as many seed-
lings as possible may remain sound, should the beetles
exert their destructive influence in the spring.

Family : Lamellicornia {Chafers).

Body strong, stout (Fig. 65). The first joints of
the antennae have the usual shape ; the
last, three to seven, are very short, but
broadened out on the inner side into
leaf-like appendages, so that the end
of the antennae is fan-shaped (Fig. 72).

The little leaves are laid together when
at rest, so as to form a club-shaped
thickened end ; in flight, and when the
attention of the beetle is excited, they
are spread out like a fan. Legs strong ;
feet five-jointed. Flight rapid, some-
what awkward. Larvae thick ; body cylindrical, but

Fig. 72. — a, Anten-
nas of male ; b, of
femaleCockchafer.

100

ZOOLOGY.

curved ; head hard, brown ; rest of the body thin-
skinned and yellowish white. The first three segments
of the body bear legs. The curved larvse can move
about in the soil, but not on the surface. The beetles
and larvae devour vegetable substances ; a com-
paratively small number of species feed on dung.

The Common Cockchafer ( Melolontha vulgaris) will
serve as a type of the lamellicorns (Fig. 65). The
last segment of the body forms a gradually tapering
process. The club of the antennae with seven large
leaflets in the male, and six smaller leaflets in the
female (Fig. 72). Head, neck- shield, entire ventral
surface, and legs, black ; although these parts, with the
exception of the head, may be reddish brown. Many
specimens are thickly clothed with numerous white
hairs ; others are almost hairless. The beetles usually
appear during May, but sometimes by mid April, and
sometimes not till the beginning of June. In the
evening they leave the soil and seek the neighbour-
ing trees. They devour the leaves and especially
the buds of oak, horse-chestnut, beech, poplar, willow,
cherry, and other forest and fruit-trees, but spare the
lime and generally the morel cherry. Of coniferous
trees it only devours the needles of larch and the

young shoots of pine. Among
cabbage-like plants it only devours
rape. In “ chafer years ” the cock-
chafer becomes a veritable scourge
to the farmer. For the purpose
of laying her eggs (about forty in
number), the female selects by
preference a fertile soil rich in
humus, but will also put up with
a dry sandy soil. The grubs de-
vour the grass and clover-roots in
meadows, and, in cultivated fields, the roots of grain-
plants, peas, and beans, rape, cabbage, etc., also turnips
and potatoes ; in gardens the roots of many vegetables

Fig. 73.— a, abdomen of
Common ; b, of Horse-
chestnut Cockchafer.

INSECTS.

101

and flowers, and, in particular, the underground parts
of strawberry plants. If, on poor sandy soil, they can
get nothing else, they devour the bark of oak and fir.
Cockchafers take three to four years for their develop-
ment : four in England, North Germany, and Central
Germany ; three in South France, Switzerland, the
Rhine district, and Holland. In regions where the in-
sect is abundant, every third or fourth year is a “ chafer-
year,” when the beetles appear in millions, while
scarcely a cockchafer can be found in the intervening
years. In districts less infested there is not the same
marked distinction. It therefore appears that cock-
chafers and their larvse are to be reckoned as injurious
insects : their occurrence, however, is local. Natural
enemies: moles, shrews, bats, foxes, crow-like birds,
starlings, sparrows, owls, and the large species of
ground-beetle. Winter floods do no harm to the
grubs, which are then deep in the ground, — but this
is not the case with floods occurring in summer, when
they are near the surface eating the roots of the
plants. Remedies: Collecting the grubs turned up
during ploughing. Catching the cockchafers; this
is very expensive, since it has to be done very
energetically if most of them have left the pupa-
stage. A part of the expense may, however, be
recouped by using the cockchafers as manure.

The Horse-chestnut Cockchafer (Melolontha hippo-
castani) has a short slender caudal process, somewhat
broader at the tip (Fig. 73). Its habits are in no way
different from those of the preceding species.

The Buckwheat Beetle (Phyllopertka horticola), one-
third to one-fifth of an inch long, without a caudal
process. Shining blackish green, with yellowish brown
elytra. Dark-coloured specimens are also found. The
beetles appear in June ; in some years they occur, like
cockchafers, in large numbers. Habits of the beetle
and of the small grub not markedly different from those
of the cockchafer.

102

ZOOLOGY.

The Rye Chafer (. Anisoplia fruticola), somewhat
larger than the buckwheat beetle, in other respects
very like it, but with a snout-like projection of the
thickened skin of the head. Dark bronzy green,
whitish on the under side. Wing-covers yellowish
brown. On poor sandy soil, on the flowering ears of
rye. The beetles gnaw the flowers.

[The Garden Chafer {Anisoplia horticola ) is closely
related to the preceding. The grub is very harmful
to pastures.]

<E

Family: Elateridae (Click Beetles) .

The Click Beetles (Fig. 74) are longish, of equal
breadth all along, tolerably blunt at the hind end.
Neck-shield strongly developed. Antennae “ serrated,”

i.e. made up of three-
^ cornered joints.
Feet five -jointed.
Looking at the
under side a spine
may be seen on the
hinder margin of
the pro-thorax (Fig.
75, b), and on the
meso-thorax (c) a
furrow which re-
ceives the spine
when the body is
extended, but the
spine is drawn out
of it if the pro-
thorax and meso-
thorax are lifted up from anything they happen to
rest on (Fig. 75). A skipjack that has fallen upon its
back first draws its antennae and legs close to its body,
and then bends this in such a way that the head and
pro-thorax make an angle with the rest of the thorax

Fig. 74. — The Skipjack (Agriotes lineatus) : 1,
magnified larva, below it the under side of the
tip of the abdomen and the larva, natural size ;
2, the beetle; 3, under side of the head of the
larva, strongly magnified, a, maxilla ; b, lower
lip ; cl, labial palp ; e, k, inner and outer maxil-
lary palps ; /, antennae.

INSECTS.

103

and the abdomen. In this way the junction of the
pro-thorax and meso-thorax is lifted up, and the spine
drawn as far as possible out of the furrow. As soon
as the beetle has taken up this attitude, it can
spring back into its usual position by lifting the two
ends of the body and pressing the spine forcibly back
into the furrow,

round and comes

down again ventral side below. The larvm (“ wire-
worms/' Fig. 74, 1) are like meal-worms, elongated,
always flattened on the ventral side, and sometimes
on the dorsal side as well. The head is dark brown,
the twelve remaining segments of the body yellow to
yellowish brown ; the first three segments of the body
bear three pairs of very small legs ; the last segment
has a pair of caudal pro-legs.

Many species of click beetle are quite harmless,
since they only devour decaying vegetable matter,
either in humus or in the rotting substance of dying
trees. There are also species, however, the larvrn of
which feed on the living roots of plants. The wire-
worms of Lacon murinus , which are tolerably thick
and have a flattened tip to the abdomen, devour the
roots of fruit-trees, rose-bushes, various vegetables
(lettuce, cabbage, onions, turnips) and flowers; they
are principally to be found in garden soils rich in
humus. The relatively small hairless wire worms
which do great damage, especially to grain-plants,
but also to potatoes, carrots, turnips, rape, hops, and
almost all the plants of our arable land, belong to
Agriotes lineatus or A. ob scums ; the larger and
more hairy wireworms destructive in cultivated land

whereby it is jerked
against the ground
with such a shock
that its elasticity
makes it spring into
the air, where it turns

Fig. 75. — A Skipjack lying on its back and
about to spring up. a, head ; b, spine of the
pro-thorax ; c, meso-thorax ; d, meta-thorax ;
e, abdomen.

104

ZOOLOGY.

almost all belong to Athous hcemorrhoidalis or a
related species. The species named above also do

Fig. 76.— Grain-plants sown deep and shallow; a wireworm is devouring the
underground part of the stem of the first.

INSECTS.

105

much damage in meadows and grass land. Those
fields are most infested which bore grass or clover the
preceding year. Wireworms are usually more destruc-
tive in dry soil than in wet. They devour all under-
ground parts, but specially prefer fleshy organs
(potatoes, turnips), as well as the underground stem-
parts of grain-plants, working themselves up from the
soil into the inside of the lower part of the haulm,
where they destroy the plant by gnawing its base.
They also often destroy, in young grain-plants, the
region of the stem which extends from the remains of
the seed to the surface (Fig. 76, left). In both cases
the plant is killed by the wireworms ; the injuring of
the roots is less fatal. It is obvious that in shallow sow-
ing only a small piece of underground stem is exposed
to the attacks of wireworms, in deep sowing a much
larger piece ; besides this, a plant which has been
sown shallow develops earlier a strong mass of roots,
and in its young state can therefore offer a greater
resistance to the destructive influence. Since wire-
worms require four or five years for their development,
the same field is infested by them the whole year.
The greatest damage is done in spring and autumn.
When wireworms have gnawed into the lower part of
the haulm, the lower leaves first turn yellow, and the
death of the whole plant soon follows. Remedies :
Repeated ploughing of fields infested by wireworms,
so that rooks, starlings, wagtails, gulls, etc., can devour
them. Perhaps, too, many larvae are frozen. Sowing
the seed as shallow as possible on infested fields
(Fig. 76). Waste potatoes may be used as a means
of drawing them from the crop.

Family: Curculionidse (Weevils).

Most species are small. Head lengthened into a
proboscis (Fig. 79, 3) ; the jaws are found at the front
end of the proboscis, the eyes at its base. The antennae,

106

ZOOLOGY.

which in most species are bent like a knee, and are
always thickened at the tip, are attached to the front
end, middle, or hinder end of the proboscis. The
wing-covers usually extend to the tip of the abdomen,
and clasp it in several species. Feet four-jointed.
Weevils are mostly sluggish ; many kinds do not fly
at all ; others only during the breeding season. When
disturbed they let themselves fall to the ground as if
dead. Almost without exception the females lay their
eggs within plants, boring a hole by means of their
proboscis, and shoving in the egg. The whitish larvae
(Fig. 66) are more or less curved and limbless, with
hard brownish heads.

The Seed Beetles ( Bruchus ) have a very short snout.
Body short, thick-set, almost four-cornered. The
wing-covers leave the hinder part of the body exposed.
The female lays her eggs in the seeds of leguminous
plants. The larva hollows out one or several, becoming
a pupa in the one last inhabited. Here belong the
Pea Beetle ( B . pisi ), the two Bean Beetles ( B . rufimcinus

Fig. 77.— The Bean Beetle ( Bruchus rnfimanus') and beans gnawed by it.

and B. granarius), of which the last-named also lives
in vetches and chickling peas, and the Lentil Beetle
(. B . lentis). The Pea Beetle (B. pisi) is black, with
brown hairy covering flecked with white. Like all
other species of seed beetle, it becomes a pupa in the
last seed inhabited by the larva, and the pupa changes

INSECTS.

107

into a beetle in autumn. A pea inhabited by such an
insect can be recognized by a black translucent patch,
since the beetle has become a pupa immediately under
the seed-coat. Late the following spring the beetle
crawls out. As the beetles are usually still in the peas
at the time of sowing, the process brings them into
the fields. Later on, when the beetles crawl out, they
lay their eggs in the ovaries of the flowers of the
pea-plants, which have meanwhile developed. The
remedies are, consequently, — late sowing of the peas,
or killing the beetles in them by exposure (for two
minutes) to a temperature of 122° Fahr., or for ten
minutes to sulphur dioxide fumes in a closed space.
The remaining three species of Bruchus have the same
habits as the bean beetle, but the insect often creeps
out much earlier, so that the seeds do not require
treatment.

The Pea Weevil ( Bitones lineatus). Longish, with
grey scales on a black background. Neck- shield

Fig. 78.— Attacks of Pea Weevil : a, b, on pea leaves ; c, on a bean leaflet.

with three longitudinal streaks, wing-covers with
dotted lines. These weevils appear at the first
beginning of spring on peas, field and garden beans,
clovei, and vetches. They gnaw the leaf-margins of

108

ZOOLOGY.

the tender plants, and always in such a way as to
present a toothed appearance (Fig. 78). It often
happens that in a large field one can scarcely find a
pea-leaf with uninjured margin. When the plants
are somewhat grown the damage done by the weevils
is of no further importance ; but if the plants, when
still very young, are prevented from growing rapidly
by reason of rough cold weather or unfavourable con-
ditions of soil, while at the same time the weevils
continue their attacks, the small leaves will be com-
pletely destroyed, and the plants will perish. The
larvae gnaw the roots of the plants infested by the
weevils. Remedy : rational rotation.

The Mouse-tooth Weevils {Baris, or Baridius). Small,
tolerably elongated weevils with fairly long neck-
shield (Fig. 79). Develop in cruciferous plants. The
Rape Mouse-tooth Weevil (B. chloris ). Shining green.
Leaves in spring its hiding-place in the soil ; the
female then lays her eggs in the leaf-axils or stem of
rape or turnip. The larva eats out passages in the
stem and branches ; in July it becomes a pupa in the
inside of the stem ; in late summer the beetle appears,
and quickly creeps into the soil. Remedy: Fulling

in the stems of cauliflower and garden cress.

The Gall Weevils (Ceutorhynchus) are very small

Fig. 79. — Mouse-tooth Weevil
( Baridius chloris'). 1, larva;
drawn on the left, natural size,
— above, the magnified head:
'2, pupa, magnified: 3, beetle;
drawn of the natural size above :
a, eye ; i g, antennary groove
with antenna not drawn back.

drawn on the left, natural size.

up and burning the rape and
turnip stubble, which harbours
the weevil. The Pitchy Mouse-
tooth Weevil (B. picina), one-
sixth of an inch long, shining
black. Similar habits to the
previous species; but lives ex-
clusively in headed cabbage and
cauliflower, never in rape and
turnip. The Cress Mouse-tooth
Weevil (B. lepidii ), black with
blue or greenish-blue back, one-
eightli of an inch long. Lives

INSECTS.

109

beetles with thick-set bodies. In a state of rest the
proboscis is folded back into a ventral furrow, situated
between the fore-hips. They are black, and thickly
covered with grey hairs. Live on cruciferous plants.
The Turnip Gall Weevil ( Ceutorhynchus sulcicollis ),
one-eighth of an inch long, dull black, with many
grey hairs on the ventral side and
few on the dorsal side. The
deeply pitted neck-shield has in
its centre a well-marked longi-
tudinal furrow. Wing - covers
deeply furrowed. The beetle ap-
pears in April, and gnaws the
flowers and shoots, but can
scarcely be considered as harmful.

In late summer or autumn, after
the sprouting of the winter rape,
the female bites into the root
immediately under the surface of
the soil, or into the lower parts
of the stem, so as to form a hole
in which she lays one or two

eggs.

As the larva begins to

develop, the surrounding parts of
the stem or root grow into a gall-
like swelling (Fig. 80). At the
beginning pf spring the developed
larvae creep out, and become pupae
in the soil ; in April the beetle
appears. If the Ceutorhynchus
galls are only present in small
numbers they damage the rape
plants only to a small extent, but
when ten to twelve are found
in one plant the roots grow
crooked, and remain short, and
consequently the growth of the overground parts
is detrimentally affected. Ceutorhynchus galls are

Fig. 80. — Turnip Gall Wee-
vil ( Ceutorhynchus sulci-
collis ).

110

ZOOLOGY.

found, not only on rape, but also on the different kinds
of cabbage, and on turnip plants. In the last case
they often occur in such numbers that the turnips do
not develop at all, and the overground parts also
remain small. There is a similar form ( C . assimilis),
as large as the preceding species, but somewhat slimmer,
and, on account of greater hairiness, greyer. Appears
in spring on flowering rape and several kinds of cabbage,
as well as on similar cruciferous plants. It is harmful
because the beetles gnaw the buds and flowers, and
the larvae feed on the seeds within the pods. The
attacked pods ripen early, and open so that the larvse
fall to the ground, where they become pupae. Usually
only a single larva is found in each pod. The Rape
Gall Weevil ( C '. napi), somewhat larger than the two
preceding species, has a neck-shield which projects
strongly forward like a collar, and is marked by a
median longitudinal furrow. It is covered with
yellowish-grey hairs. At the time when rape blooms
it appears upon the flowers. The female lays her
eggs singly in a hole previously bored in the stalk by
her proboscis ; during spring and early summer the
larva eats out the stem, which turns brown inside,
and becomes diseased or even dies.

Family : Chrysomelidse ( Leaf Beetles).

Small, generally thick-set beetles, arched on the
upper side, with eleven-jointed antennae thickening
somewhat towards their tips, and four-jointed feet.
The first joints of the feet are covered with felt-like
hairs on their under sides (Fig. 81). The larvae have
three pairs of thoracic feet, and, in addition to this,
there are in most species a pair of caudal pro-legs.
Live in the inside parts of plants (stems, leaves), and
are usually elongated and yellowish white; those
which live on the outside of plants are more convex,
shorter, and thicker, more or less hairy, often of a

INSECTS.

Ill

striking* colour, and always with dark spots. The
beetles eat leaves ; the larvae feed upon parts of the
same plants, sometimes living outside upon the leaves,
or it may be excavating channels in the inside of a
leaf or of the stem. Most leaf beetles lay many eggs,
and in many species there are several generations
annually. The plants attacked by them are often
stripped quite bare. Here belongs the blue Alder
Leaf Beetle ( Galeruca alni ), the Poplar Beetles ( Chry -
someli populi and C. tremulce ), the Asparagus Beetles
( Grioceris merdigera and C. duodecimpwnctata), etc.
Of species injurious agriculturally, I will first mention
the Colorado or PotatoBeetle ( Chrysomeladecemlineata ).
This beetle originally lived in the
west of the United States on wild
solanaceous plants; but as soon as
potato culture extended to the west
the beetles also attacked potato plants.

As soon as the insects had spread to
this plant they began to appear in
great numbers owing to their very
great powers of reproduction ; and
they quickly spread from one field to
another, always going further and further east. 1859
was the first year when they became notorious as
pests, and, since they first appeared as such in the
State of Colorado, the insect received the name
“ Colorado Beetle.” In a short time the beetles
spread to the east, especially to places where potato
culture was carried on; in 1865 they crossed the Mis-
sissippi, and in 1870 they were already spread over
the states of Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massa-
chusetts, and New York. They were soon found in all
the eastern states, and European farmers began to be
alarmed. In most of the countries of Europe police
regulations were made for the purpose of preventing
the introduction of the unbidden guests. Colorado
beetles have indeed been brought several times to

Fig. 81. — Potato
Beetle ( Chrysomela
decemlineata ).

112

ZOOLOGY.

Germany on board ship, but in almost all cases the
pests so introduced have been recognized and caught.
Twice during 1877 they were able to increase
(Mulheim, Schildau), and the same thing has hap-
pened once at a more recent date (Torgau) ; but the
vigorous action of the authorities quickly exterminated
the beetles.

Beetle (Fig. 81), half an inch long, dusky yellow,
with five longitudinal black streaks on each wing-
cover, and black markings on the neck-shield. Larva
(Fig. 82), half an inch long, thick, fleshy ; legs short

Fig. 82. — Colorado Beetles : a, eggs ; b , c, d, younger and old er larvie ; e, pupie seen
from tlie ventral side and from the dorsal side.

and weak. Orange-yellow, with shining black head,
and with black spots on the body segments. The
younger larvae are darker, almost blood red. When
the young potato plants come up, the beetles which
have survived the winter creep out of the soil and
devour the margins of the young leaves. The female
lays her yellow eggs (700 to 1200 ?) in heaps on the
leaves (Fig. 82, a). After a week the larvae appear,
and carry on the work of the beetles. They attain
their full development in seventeen to twenty days,
become pupae in the soil, and the beetles of the second
generation make their appearance in the middle of
June. Still a third generation may appear the same

INSECTS.

113

year. Since a considerable time elapses between the
laying of the first and second batches of eggs, one
usually sees eggs, larvae, pupae, and beetles at the
same time. Entire potato fields are eaten bare by
the beetles and their larvae, the formation of the
potatoes being quite prevented. Remedies : Energetic
measures must be taken on the first appearance of the
beetle in any district. Where possible, all the beetles
and larvae must be collected, the plants being dug up
and destroyed with the beetles, pupae, larvae, and eggs
adhering to them. Petroleum must then be poured
over the whole field and set on fire, so as to destroy
any insects which may be hidden in the soil. Spray-
ing the attacked plants with Schweinfurt green.

The Cloudy Tortoise Beetle ( Cassida nebulosa) —
Fig. 83. One-fifth to one-fourth of an inch long ; the
broad neck-shield projects in front over the small head.
The wing-covers, too, are much broader than the body
of the animal ; they are longitudi-
nally ribbed. Dorsal side reddish-
brown, in young individuals greenish ;
always with black spots. Ventral
side black. Larva elongated oval,
yellowish green. Segments of the
body beset with thorn-like struc-
tures bearing lateral branches ; the
last segment possesses a “ tail-fork,”
which the larva usually carries bent
over its back and on which it heaps
up its dung. The beetles which have survived the
winter usually attack in spring only wild goose-foot
and orach plants, on which they lay their eggs in heaps.
The larvae quickly appear, and to begin with chiefly
keep to the under sides of the leaves. They are
sluggish, grow quickly, and devour the leaf substance ;
when fully developed they cement themselves to a leaf
and become pupae. In June the beetles of the second
generation appear, which again lay their eggs on the

I

Fig. 83. — The Cloudy
Tortoise Beetle (C'as-
sida nebulosa).

114

ZOOLOGY.

leaves. In favourable weather there may be even a
third generation. In many it happens that the beetles
of the second generation migrate to beet or mangold
plants, sometimes damaging them to a very great
extent. Remedy : Rooting out species of goose-foot or
orach.

The Earth Fleas, or Flea Beetles, are all small leaf
beetles with the power of springing, and therefore
provided with thick thighs. Here belong : —

The Rape Flea Beetle ( Psylliodes chrysocephalus ) —
Fig. 84. Egg-shaped. Hind feet not inserted at the
ends of the shanks, but higher up. The first joint of

the foot is as long as the others
put together. The rest of the hind
foot is bent in a knee-like way
on the first long joint. Shining
blackish brown or blackish green,
rarely brownish. Larva one-fifth
to one-fourth of an inch, dusky
white ; head, neck-shield, and last
segment of the body blackish
brown. In spring and during the
entire summer the beetles are found
upon the plants of winter rape.
Although they gnaw the leaves and
the immature shoot the damage
caused is small. In late summer
or autumn the female beetles lay
their eggs separately at the bases
of the leaf-stalks of the young
winter rape plants. The larvae which emerge bore
into the leaf-stalk, and eat it completely out during
autumn, winter, and spring, so that the leaf dies.
Since the eggs are laid separately the larvae do
not all develop at the same time in the spring.
In spring many larvae eat their way from the leaf-
stalks into the still very short stem, which con-
sequently ceases to develop. It often happens that

Fig. 84. — The Rape Flea
Beetle (2) with liind-leg
of the same ; larva (1)
and its head.

INSECTS.

115

most, or even all, of the plants in a rape field are
withered ; on poor soil the whole crop must be at
once ploughed up ; but on fertile soil the plants often
develop much better than one would believe. Plants
whose stem has been killed in the winter while still
short may develop a few (3 to 5) branches from buds
situated near its base, but these usually remain small,
and do not yield a large crop. The beetles, appearing
in spring, lay their eggs on the lower leaf-stalks of the
rape, either on the old plants of winter rape or young
plants of summer rape. In the latter case the summer
rape is quite spoilt in the same way as the winter
rape during the previous winter. In the former case
the larvae eat out the lower part of the leaf-stalks,
and make their way into the stem, hollowing it out
at a definite spot in such a way that it is no longer
able to hold itself up, especially when the shoots and
seeds develop. The stems bend and become kneed,
sometimes to such an extent that the rape-field looks
as if persons or cattle had been running about in it in
all directions, and treading everything down. Mean-
while the larvae bore their way out of the stem, and
become pupae in the soil. In late summer the beetles
appear, and once more lay their eggs on the leaf-
stalks of the winter rape. There are, therefore, two
generations annually. Remedies : Never sow summer
rape after winter rape which has been destroyed by
the beetle and ploughed up. Temporary limitation
of rape culture.

The Cabbage Flea Beetle (Haltica oleracea), one-
fifth to one-sixth of an inch long, longish oval, dark
green, metallic sheen. The hind legs do not possess
the peculiar features of the rape flea beetle (p. 114).
Larva one-fifth to one-fourth of an inch long, greyish
black, with bristly hairs, and with two rows of shining
black warts. The beetles attack, in the spring, chiefly
cabbage, rape, radishes, horseradish ; but do not spare
other plants ( e.g . peas and beets) as well. Seedlings

no

ZOOLOGY.

are chiefly attacked, and in all cases only young
plants are devoured. Since both seed-leaves and
terminal buds are eaten, much damage is done, espe-
cially during continuously dry weather. It must
often happen that the beetles wander away, to find
other species of plants for the purpose of egg-laying ;
so that it is exceptional to find the larvae upon species
of cabbage. These larvae are much less injurious than
the beetles, since they usually only prey upon mature
plants. In their youngest condition they are found
in groups, feeding upon the leaves ; this results from
the eggs being laid in little heaps. Later on, they
wander away from one another. In favourable
weather they are fully grown in six weeks, and
several generations may succeed one another in the
same year. Remedies : Destruction of the weeds

which attract the beetles (charlock, shepherd’s purse,
yellow rocket, treacle mustard, etc.) Good prepara-
tion of the soil, suitable manuring and drill culture,
since these bring about a more rapid growth of the
plants. Thick sowing (but not too thick), so that,
even after the destruction of many seedlings, a suf-
ficient number may remain. Moistening the fields by
means of water-carts or sprayers. In garden-beds
twigs are laid down, by which the seeds are protected
against birds and the seedlings against flea beetles.
“ Flea-beetle machines,” consisting of a board smeared
with tar, which is drawn across the field, so that the
frightened beetles spring up, and remain hanging in
the sticky substance. After rain, or when dew is still
clinging to the plants, they should be strewed with
powdered fowls’ dung, pigeons’ dung, or horse dung,
wood-ashes, road-dust, powdered lime, coal-ashes; or
the plan of sprinkling with a decoction of worm-
wood may be adopted.

The Turnip Flea Beetle, or Turnip Fly ( Halticci
nemorum ), one-tenth to one-eighth of an inch long,
egg-shaped, black, with longitudinal streaks of a

INSECTS.

117

sulphur yellow colour on the thickly pitted wing-covers.
Larva one-fifth of an inch long, yellowish white, with
dark brown head, neck-shield, and last body-segment.
The adult beetles have the same habits as in the pre-
ceding species ; they also do damage in the same way,
and attack the same plants, especially in the seedling
condition. The female, however, does not lay her
eggs in heaps, but separately on the leaves, and always
on the under side. The larva bores into the leaf, and
digs a passage, which, like the animal inhabiting it,
is at first small, but gets gradually larger. In fine
weather the larva is fully developed in a week. It
then pierces the skin covering the under side of the
leaf, falls to the ground, and becomes a pupa. Several
generations may appear every year, if the weather is
favourable (dry). This species is quite as harmful
as the preceding, chiefly in the mature condition.
Remedies : Compare the preceding species.

Family : Coccinellidae {Lady -birds).

Hemispherical ; upper side convex ; under side
flattened. Head small, retractile. Antennae, eleven-
jointed, thickened at their tips. Legs short ; feet
apparently three-jointed — in reality four-jointed, the
second joint, however, being very small. Colour,
usually variegated; many species black with red,
or red with black spots. When grasped, they let a
yellowish, unpleasant-smelling fluid escape from the
abdomen. The blunt, four-cornered, usually varie-
gated pupae hang on the leaves. The fully developed
larvae are longer than the beetles. They closely re-
semble those of the leaf beetles, but are not so thick-
set, and their longer legs stick out more laterally.
They are covered with warts and little spines (Fig.
85). The larvae and beetles of most species feed
chiefly on aphides and shield-lice ; they are therefore
of use, and this is especially true of the exceedingly

118

ZOOLOGY.

ravenous larvae. The larvae of the Seven-spotted and
Two-spotted Lady-birds, in particular ( Coccinella

Fig. 85. — The Seven-spotted Lady-bird {Coccinella septempunctata ):
larvae, pupae, beetles ; all natural size.

septemjpunctata and C. bipunctata), are found in large
numbers among aphis colonies. The yellow eggs are
laid in heaps.

Second Order : Orthoptera (Straight- winged

Insects).

Insects with biting mouth parts and incomplete
metamorphosis (p. 89). Four wings, of which the
anterior are usually harder than the posterior; hind
wings membranous, broader than the fore wings, and
folded like a fan. The Orthoptera feed entirely, or
almost so, upon vegetable substances. To this order
belong: — the Earwigs (Forficularice), which feed on
sweet fruits and flowers, and are sometimes very in-
jurious ; the Cockroaches ( Blattarice ), which do much
damage to provisions in kitchens, stores, and on board
ship ; the Grasshoppers {A cry elites), to which, besides
the Migratory Grasshopper ( Acrydium migratorium
(Fig. 62), various species of meadow grasshoppers
belong, which are quite harmless ; the Locusts ( Locus -
tidee ), to which the well-known Green Locust ( Locusta
viridissima ) belongs ; and the Crickets ( Gryllidce ), to
which belong, among others, the House Cricket ( Gryllus
domesticus ), the quite harmless Field Cricket ( Gryllus
campestris), and the Mole Cricket ( GryUotalpa vul-
garis).

INSECTS.

119

The Migratory Grasshopper ( Acrydium migratorium).

If to 2f inches long; spread of the wing, on the
average, 2^ inches. Greenish grey. Under side flesh
colour. Wing covers brownish, darkly flecked.
Colour very variable (Fig. 62). Excessive multiplica-
tion and migrations of this insect often take place in
South Russia and Turkey ; but they may also appear
in Central Europe. In North Germany, for example,
the following years of this century were “ grasshopper
years:” 1803, 1825-27, 1853, 1875-76. In many
cases the appearance of swarms of grasshoppers in
Central Europe is due to migration from Russia and
Hungary ; but it also often happens that the insects
which appear in such large numbers have been bred
in the places where they are found. Since the female
lays, on the average, 150 eggs, excessive increase may
take place in any country to which they are indi-
genous— and therefore in Central Europe. It appears,
however, that a large number of grasshoppers are
usually killed by their natural enemies, such as cold
and damp weather. Excessive increase may, however,
take place in exceptionally favourable years ; and
since the larvae, which are incapable of flight, devour
everything available, the mature insects developed
from them are forced to migrate. Where they descend
they destroy everything they find in the fields.
Remedies : Destruction of the loutish eows, which are

O OO 7

laid in heaps in the earth of fallow ground and
meadows. In all those places where dead insects are
found in Jarge numbers on the ground many eggs will
also be discovered, for the insects keep on laying till
they sink down dead in the place where the last heap
of eggs was deposited. Such places should be dug
or ploughed, and the eggs, which are present in
thousands, either collected or else searched out by
pigs, ducks, geese, and fowls, which have been driven
to the spot. Destruction of the young animals while

120

ZOOLOGY.

still incapable of flight. Working the soil with
harrows, rollers, and cultivators will be effective here.
The adult grasshoppers must for the most part be
destroyed with fire. [Heaps of straw and brushwood
are soaked with paraffin and then set on fire.]

The Mole Cricket ( Gryllotalpa vulgaris).

Body stout and flattened. Antennae, palps, and
tail-filaments very long. Fore legs broad, modified
into true “ digging legs,” superficially resembling the
feet of a mole. Fore wings broad, but short, leathery.
In a state of rest, the hind wings lie on the back,
like a couple of tails. Colour dark brown. Princi-
pally occurs on peaty soils mixed with sand or clay,
also on all soils which have become of firm consistency
by the application of much manure. Their presence
is therefore local. Very early in the year the mole-
cricket leaves its winter hiding-place, and begins to
make its passages near the surface. Where the female
makes her nest the passage turns downward a little.
The nest is 1§ of an inch in diameter, and its walls
are compacted by the pressure of the hard body. The
number of eggs is from 200 to 250 ; they are laid in
lots with a few intermediate spaces. The young
creep out in the spring, and are wingless. To begin
with, they are white, but quickly become brown. The
mother guards her young very carefully. These grow
tolerably fast, and first begin to lead an independent life
after the second moult. In October and N ovember they
undergo a third moult. Then, still in a wingless con-
dition, they hide themselves, and do not moult again
till April or May, when the wing-cases appear ; while
after the fifth moult (May, June) the mole cricket
becomes an adult insect, capable of reproducing. This
insect is found in cornfields, gardens, grassland, and
meadows, also in orchards and woods. It gnaws the
roots of all kinds of plants, and often effects great

INSECTS.

121

damage in this way. The mole-cricket is also
harmful on account of its passages, which are dug
close to the surface. In this way it lifts young plants
out of the soil ; while older plants are killed, both by
its gnawing and by its digging. Such plants can
often be pulled up by grasping the leaves. All the
plants wither in the place where the nest is found.
Dry, cold winters kill almost all the mole-crickets ;
much drought in summer and also continuous wet
are unfavourable to them. Enemies : moles, rooks, etc.,
butcher-birds, starlings, and the larger ground beetles.
Remedies : Destruction of the nests, in June, to begin
with, but also to be continued later. In those parts
of a field where the plants are yellow or withered in a
large circular patch (some 39 inches in diameter) the
nest is felt for with the finger, and carefully lifted up,
so that the eggs do not fall out. Mole-crickets can
also be caught by means of flower-pots. The aper-
tures in the bottoms of these are stopped with corks,
and they are then sunk in the soil with their mouths
on a level with the mole-cricket passages ; they thus
serve as pitfalls, from which the insects cannot escape.
If during winter little heaps of horse-dung are placed
on the ground, the insects creep into them for the
sake of the warmth, and can thus be collected and
killed.

Third Order: Neuroptera (Net-winged Insects).

Insects with biting mouth-parts and four similar
membranous wings, with numerous veins arranged in
a net-like manner. The metamorphosis is either
incomplete (p. 89 : dragon flies, may flies, book lice),
or complete (p. 89 : ant lions, lace flies, snake flies,
scorpion flies, caddis flies). The indigenous forms,
with the single exception of book lice, feed upon
animal food, usually on the juices of other insects.
Several of them are tolerably useful in this way.

122

ZOOLOGY.

The Dragon Flies ( Libellulidoe ) fly about inces-
santly from place to place on bright warm clays, and
catch a large number of insects, especially butterflies
and flies, among which are many that are harmful.
The larvrn live in water, and feed on insects and such
small deer, which, however, are of no importance to
forestry or agriculture. They also devour fish-spawn,
and may therefore be injurious in that way.

The Lace Flies ( Hemerobidce ) when at rest are
covered as with a roof by their fore and hind wings,
which are almost alike, clear as glass, and finely
veined. Head tolerably large, eyes large, abdomen
elongated and slender. The extremely rapacious
larvae (Fig. 86, b) feed on the juices of the bodies of
other insects, which they suck up by means of a

d f b

Fig. 86. — The Common Lace Fly ( Clirysopa vulgaris ) : a, eggs ; b, the larva ;
c, cocoon; d, pupa contained in the same; e, open cocoon ; f, adult insect;
a, c, e, natural size ; d, enlarged and natural size ; b and f enlarged.

pincer-like organ situated on either side of the mouth.
The two pincers are perforated, and the tubes open
on each side into the gullet; the body juices of the
insects attacked thus flow into the gut of the larva.
This is strongly built, and always much thicker and
larger than the adult insect. Metamorphosis com-
plete. Three genera belong to the lace flies : —

1. The delicate greenish, or greenish yellow, ill-
smelling Gold-eyed Lace Flies (Chrysopa), the larvm of
which chiefly feed on plant lice (a few species on
caterpillars, also, and other small insect larva?).

2. The Aphis Lions (Hemerobius : H. hirtus, with

INSECTS.

12:3

hairy veins on the fore wings ; H. dipterus, with hind
wings almost entirely absent), the larvae of which
also feed on aphides, and make a case from their
sucked-out skins.

3. The Ant Lions ( Myrmeleon ), of which the fat,
thickset larvae, which have a large head and strong
grasping pincers, dig out in the sand funnel-shaped
holes, at the bottom of which they hide, lying in wait
for ants and the like, which step on the edge, when
the sand gives way and causes them to fall in. The
species of the first two genera are of service as de-
stroyers of aphides ; the ant lions are of no importance.

The Scorpion Plies ( Panorpatce ) have attached to
the head a kind of proboscis, the upper side of which
is formed by a prolongation of the forehead, and the
under side by the maxillae and lower lip, while the
upper lip and mandibles are hinged on at its tip.
Here belongs the slender-bodied Scorpion Fly ( Pa -
norpa communis), an insect found in May, and again
in July or August, on the leaves of trees and shrubs,
when it is sunny. While the abdomen of the female
ends in an ovipositor, it bends upwards in the male,
and terminates in a pincer-like organ ; hence the name
u scorpion fly.” Wings flecked with brown. Scor-
pion flies catch on the wing a very large number of
butterflies and moths, and are therefore useful to some
extent.

Fourth Order: Hymenoptera (Membranous-
winged Insects).

. Upper lip and mandibles short ; the latter used for
biting. Maxillse loose-jointed, so that they can be
stretched out considerably; elongated in those which
lick the juices of flowers. In the last-named forms
the larva’s lips are still more elongated, and may
even form a tongue or proboscis-like organ, which
may bear lateral appendages (“ secondary tongues ”).

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ZOOLOGY.

A\ ings, four, all membranous, with relatively few
veins (Figs. 61, 90). Metamorphosis complete; larvae
very various; pupae free (p. 93). The female usually

possesses an ovipositor, the structure
of which varies a great deal, and
which serves in many species, not
only for egg-laying, but also for pro-
tection (digging wasps) ; in others
exclusively for offence or defence
(“ stings” of bees and wasps), while
the same opening serves for the pas-
sage both of eggs and excrement.
The abdominal glands, secreting a
sticky substance by which the eggs
are attached, are modified into poison-
glands in those Hymenoptera which
possess a sting. In those forms
where the ovipositor is not modified
into a sting, it is used for piercing,
biting, or sawing. The Hymenoptera
with saw-like ovipositor first make
an opening in wood or in a leaf by
means of the saw-teeth in its edge,
and then lay an egg in this hole.

Many Hymenoptera (all digging wasps, gold wasps,
ichneumon flies, and gall flies — several true bees
and wasps) live alone, or in pairs. Others form
colonies, in which division of labour is always so far
carried out that there are reproductive individuals
and workers. The former (males and females ; in
colonies of bees — “drones” and “queen”) are only
present in small numbers in any particular colony.
They live merely for the perpetuation of the species.
At most the males seek their own food, while the
females are usually fed by the workers. Workers, on
the other hand, are individuals in which the (female)
reproductive organs remain in a low state of develop-
ment, so that they are sterile. They seek food for the

a.

Fir,. 87.— Head of Honey
Bee. A, compound
eyes ; a, simple eyes ;
Fh, antennae ; Z,
tongue (under lip);
b, labial palps ; Fz,
elongated maxillae ;
the mandibles and
upper lip remain
short.

INSECTS.

125

larvae, and usually for the adult reproductive indi-
viduals as well. They also wage war against strange
intruders.

Family : Apidse (Bees').

The bees, by means of their very much elongated
mouth-parts (maxillae and lower lip or “ tongue ”),
collect honey from many different kinds of flowers.
Body somewhat unwieldy, usually hairy. The fore
wings are not, as in wasps, folded together longi-
tudinally when in a state of rest. Eyes round. The
legless, almost maggot-like larvae are fed with pollen
or with a mixture of pollen and honey.

Most bees are colonial, and in these we find, besides
the reproductive individuals, workers which prepare
the nest. This is for the most part made up of
“ cells/’ in the construction of which the most various
substances are used according to the species, e.g. wax,
sand grains, chewed wood, fragments of leaf. In each
nest there is at the same time only one queen, who
lays her eggs in the cells ; the larvae are therefore
developed in these cells, other cells serve for the
storage of pollen or honey. In the non-colonial bees
there are no workers ; in a few of these species
(parasitic bees, cuckoo bees) the female lays her eggs
in the cells of other species, which, like foster parents,
undertake the care of the strange larvae. These
species are naturally devoid of the apparatus for
securing and carrying pollen. In several bees (honey
bees, humblebees) this end is attained by the much-
broadened shanks and first, very large foot-joints of
the hind legs. Other bees (Megachite) carry pollen
on the under side of the abdomen.

Bees play a very important part in the pollination
(fertilization) of many cultivated plants.

The Honey Bee (Apis mellifica) cannot be spoken
of here ; reference must be made to works on api-
culture.

126

ZOOLOGY.

The Humblebees ( Bombus ) are tolerably large,
stout, thick-set, and hairy. They construct nests
below the surface of the soil (often in peaty places),
made up of oval or irregular waxen cells the size of
a hazel-nut. They fly rapidly, always making a
humming sound. Many species are black, with yellow
and white, or red transverse stripes.

Honey-producing flowers in which the corolla is so
long that even the proboscis of humblebees cannot
reach the honey hidden at the bottom of the flower,
(tobacco, field and garden beans) are gnawed at their
base by the sharp mandibles of the bees, so that a
hole is made in the calyx and corolla through which
the tongue can be put. In this way the ovary is some-
times wounded, and the normal development of the
fruit rendered impossible. Perhaps a certain amount
of damage, always however inconsiderable, may thus
be effected.

Family: Vespidse {Wasjps).

Mouth-parts as in bees. Also with stings. Slender,
and either hairless or only slightly hairy. Eyes
kidney shaped. Fore wings folded together longi-
tudinally when at rest (Figs. 61 and 88).

A distinction is made between solitary and social
wasps ; the latter possess males, females, and workers.
Only the fertilized queens survive the winter. In the
spring each of these begins to construct a nest (Fig.
88). In the wasp’s nest each comb consists only of a
single layer of cells, the openings of which are turned
downwards. In a single nest several of these hori-
zontally placed combs are usually found one over
another, and are connected together by means of
vertical pillars. Some nests are built in hollow trees,
others in holes in the ground ; others hang freely from
trees, in which case they are covered by several
layers of a papery substance. The combs and cells
are also made of paper, to prepare which the insect

INSECTS,

127

gnaws and crushes decaying wood, and especially
bark, with its mandibles, mixing the crushed material
with saliva. In this way a pulp is made which is
used in the construction of the nest, and dries into
a kind of paper. The opening of the nest is in its

under side (Fig. 88).

Fig. 88. — The Common Wasp ( Vespa vulgaris ) and its nest.

During spring and summer the queen, or “wasp-
mother,” lays only eggs from which workers are
hatched, which undertake the work of nest-construc-
tion and care of larvse, so that the queen can devote
herself exclusively to the function of reproduction.
Towards autumn males, and females capable of being
fertilized, are also hatched ; these last afterwards live
over the winter in the fertilized condition.

During summer the larvie are fed by the workers
with finely chewed insects or with honey. They do
not, however, suck the honey from flowers, but steal it

128

ZOOLOGY.

from several species of bee, or else form it in their
stomachs from sugary materials drawn from sweet
fruits.

Wasps are harmful or troublesome in three ways :
(1) by gnawing the bark of trees ; (2) by feeding on
sweet fruits; (3) by the painful stings which they
inflict. These are most dangerous in hot summer
days. If a nest situated in the soil is destroyed
during ploughing the alarmed insects attack both
men and horses, cases being known where their stings
have proved fatal. The pain is chiefly caused by the
poison introduced into the wound. On this account
if the sting remains sticking in the skin it must not
be drawn out simply with the fingers, but carefully,
by means of the nails, lest the poison-bag is pressed
and thus still more poison brought into the wound.
Remedies : Cooling substances, e.g. ground carrots,
apples or pears, cabbage leaves, damp sand. Rubbing
in ammonia. If there is acute inflammation, a com-
press with sugar of lead.

Family : Fossores (. Digging Wasps).

Several species of this group resemble the wasps in
their habits, as well as through their black and
yellow-tinged abdomens; but they are always dis-
tinguished from these by their fore wings, which are
not folded together in a state of rest, and by their
eyes, which are not kidney-shaped. The shanks and
feet possess thorns serviceable for digging. The sting
of the female has no barbs, so that it is not torn off
and left behind in the wound. The digging wasps
are not social. They are lively and active ; in summer
the female often flies busily about near the ground in
order to find a place for bringing up her young. She
digs a hole in the earth in which she lays an egg.
Then she buries an insect to serve as food for the
young when hatched. Lest the insect to be buried

INSECTS.

129

should decompose, while, on the other hand, a living
animal would not allow itself to be buried, the wasp
first brings the insect into a condition in which it
cannot make any voluntary movements. Foi this
purpose most species sting the captured prey severa
times in the body, and thus often injure the ventral
ganglia (p. 84) ; by this treatment the insect is not
killed, but reduced to a condition of apparent death.
Most digging wasps are useful, since they chiefly bury
destructive kinds of insects. The Common Sand Wasp
(. Ammophila sabulosa, Fig. 89), buries caterpillars.

Fig. 89. — The Common Sand Wasp ( Ammophila sabulosa ) ; natural size.

the Path Wasp ( Pompilius viaticus ), spiders; the
Weevil-killing Sand Wasp ( Gerceris arenaria) and the
Fly-killing Sand Wasp ( Mellinus avvensis) respectively
bury weevils and flies.

Family: Formicidse (Ants).

Large strong mandibles adapted for biting ; maxillae
and lower lip not prolonged like a proboscis. Workers
wingless; the males and reproductive females have
weakly veined wings. In correspondence with these
facts, the mesothorax which bears the larger wings
is most strongly developed in the last, but the
prothorax in the workers. Abdomen united with the
thorax by a one- ( Formica ) or two-jointed ( Myrmica )
stalk. All female ants, and naturally workers too,
possess poison-glands, the secretion of which accu-
mulates in a poison-bladder ; but the sting is lacking
in all species of Formica. The stingless ants ( e.g .

130

ZOOLOGY.

%

the Red Wood Ant, F. rufd) inflict a wound with
their strong mandibles, and then, bending the abdomen
forwards under the thorax, squirt the contents of the
poison-bladder into the wound. Ants form colonies,
always of large size, and consisting of reproductive
and sterile individuals. Their food is both of animal
and vegetable nature, but chiefly consists of insects
and similar small animals. They mostly devour
caterpillars, but also dead or wounded beetles ( [e.g .
cockchafers), mammals, birds, and reptiles. As de-
stroyers of caterpillars they are of use, but this is
true more of those living in woods than those which
inhabit fields and meadows. Ants are fond of all
sweet substances ; when they enter houses the sugar
jar is very often the end they have in view. They
are particularly fond of licking up the sweet juice
which aphides excrete from their abdomens. On
plants infested with aphides many ants are found
which greedily sip up all the drops hanging from the
abdomens of the aphides ; they may even promote the
shedding of the juice by stroking the abdomens of the
little animals with their antennae. There are, indeed,
species of ants which carry the aphides to the plant
parts on which they thrive best, and again, when these
are sucked dry, transport them to other uninjured
parts. Sometimes aphides are kept in the overground
or underground nests of the ants. The common
yellow meadow ants shelter aphides in their sub-
terranean nests, where they live on the roots of
grasses and other plants. In order to get, when
necessary, fresh food for these “milch kine,” they
occasionally enlarge the nest, so that new plant roots
are laid bare, and they then carry the aphides to
these.

During the greater part of the year only workers,
larvae, and pupse are found in an ants’ nest, but
reproductive individuals appear in summer, disap-
pearing again before the cold weather comes on. As

INSECTS.

131

soon as there is a sunshiny day they fly out, usually
in large numbers. After pairing, the females let
themselves fall to the ground ; they then either tear
off their own wings or this is done for them by the
workers, which search them out and take them to
the nest, where the laying of eggs quickly begins. The
legless larvae have feebly developed mouth-parts, and
are fed by the workers on food broken down by them.
The pupae vary ; in the sting-bearing ants {My r mica)
they are naked, in the stingless ants {Formica), on the
other hand, they are invested in a cocoon. The latter
kind of pupae, known by the incorrect name of “ ants’
eggs,” are collected and used as food for insect-eating
birds. The nests are made either out of pine-needles
and small branches heaped together (Red Wood Ant =
Formica rufa ), or they eat out passages and cell-like
spaces in sound tree trunks (the larger Wood Ants, e.g.
F. herculeana and F. ligniperda) or in decayed tree
trunks (Small Wood Ant = F. fuliginosa) ; others
(Yellow Wood Ants = F. flava, etc.) make passages
and cavities in the ground, throwing up the earth
into ant-hills. Damage : Several species do harm
by excavating the soil, either in meadows and corn-
fields, by which the plants are killed and harvest-
ing rendered difficult, or under summer-houses and
dwelling-rooms. Others destroy tree stems. They
are indirectly harmful on account of the way in
which they care for aphides, causing these pests to
increase to a greater extent than would otherwise
be the case. Remedies : If ants have got into a
room the nest must be found if possible, and the
insects there destroyed with paraffin or boiling water.
If it proves to be too difficult to find and destroy the
nest, all the openings by which the ants can enter
must be stopped up with lime to which some extract
of colocynth has been added. The nests found in fields
and gardens may sometimes be destroyed by quickly
digging them up, pouring paraffin over them, and

132

ZOOLOGY.

then igniting it. It is also a good plan to frequently
tread or roll down the ant-hills which are thrown up,
as in this way they will be dispersed in the end.
Ants are of service in forestry, but scarcely in
agriculture.

Family : Ichneumonidse (. Ichneumon Flies).

The species of ichneumon flies deviate in many
ways from one another, but they all have similar
habits and play a similar part in nature. They all
have a longer or shorter ovipositor, always surrounded
by two flaps, and serving for laying eggs in other
animals. Those which seek their prey in branches
and leaves generally possess a very short ovipositor
not obvious on cursory examination ; those which lay
their eggs in insects inhabiting crevices, e.g. wood
insects, are often provided with a very long ovipositor.
No colonies and, consequently, no workers.

The female ichneumon fly generally lays her eggs
in the body of an insect larva, on which the ichneumon
larvae developed from these eggs feed, using up the
reserve matter stored up in the fat body (p. 92).
Caterpillars are most infested ; then follow false
caterpillars, and then the larvae of weevils and leaf
beetles. The eggs of a few kinds are laid in pupae,
or even in the eggs of moths and butterflies. They
always select for this purpose those insects which
possess reserve material. The large kinds of ich-
neumon fly lay only a single egg in one host,
especially if the latter is not of large size ; many of
the smaller ichneumons, on the other hand, lay many
eggs (Fig. 90) in one host, even up to a hundred or
more. A caterpillar containing ichneumon eggs does
not at first appear different from other caterpillars,
except that a dark spot or patch usually indicates
where its body was pierced by the ovipositor of the
ichneumon fly. The parasite breathes while in the

INSECTS.

133

host by bringing the tip of its abdomen (where the
main stem of the air-tube system opens) into con-
nection with one of the host’s spiracles. Since the
larva feeds altogether upon perfectly digestible sub-
stances an anus is superfluous and is absent. Many
ichneumon larvae are ready to become pupae when
the host is about to pass into the same condition;
the larva then bores through the skin of the latter,
which quickly dies. Other species do not attack the
organs of the host so soon, but allow it to become a

Fig. 90. — The Yellow-legged Ichneumon Fly (Microgaster glomeratus) of the Cabbage

Caterpillar. Left, the adult insect; right, the larva (both enlarged). In the

middle, Cabbage Caterpillar and a heap of Microgaster pupa;.

pupa in peace, and then themselves become pupae
inside it; later on, one or several ichneumon flies
come out of this pupa instead of a moth or butterfly.
It is obvious that ichneumon flies are very serviceable
by destroying a large number of harmful insects.
They cannot, indeed, prevent the increase of any
particular noxious insect, but, when this takes place,
they themselves increase to a greater extent, and
finally appear in such numbers as to make an end
of the pest.

I shall not enumerate here all the various ichneumon
flies which benefit agriculture, but simply mention
the Small Cabbage Caterpillar Ichneumon Fly ( Micro-
gaster glomeratus ), depicted in Fig. 90, which, like
its host (the large cabbage white), appears in two
generations. The larvae of the ichneumon fly live in
large numbers in the large cabbage caterpillar, and at
their last moult acquire minute teeth, with which
they bite through the skin of their host ; they then

m

ZOOLOGY.

leave it to die, and surround themselves with a
cocoon close to its dead body. There are, besides,
a few small and also some large ichneumon flies
which lay their eggs in the pupae of the cabbage
white, so that, e.g., in winter many of its angular pupae,
occurring on tree-stems and hedges, are found with
many small or several large white ichneumon larvae
within them.

Family : Tenthredinidse (Saiv-flies).

Body thick-set. Abdomen never very long, and
united by a broad base to the thorax (Fig. 91). Saw-
shaped ovipositor (p. 89), drawn in when not in use,
and only protruded during egg-laying. Mandibles
strong, the remaining mouth-parts not so well de-
veloped. The larvae are false caterpillars (p. 92) ;
they can usually be recognized by their characteristic
attitude, for many of them bend the abdomen very
much upwards and forwards, especially when
frightened, and when at rest the hinder part of the
body is spirally coiled (Fig. 91). The fully developed
larva spins a cocoon in which it still remains for a
long time in the larval condition, even during the
whole winter. It becomes a pupa two or three weeks
before the appearance of the perfect insect. There
are many larvae of this kind destructive to woods,
but only a few which interest the farmer. Here is
included —

The Turnip Saw-fly (Athalia spinarum).

Adult : Female one-third of an inch long, stretch
of wing over two-thirds of an inch ; male somewhat
smaller. Bright orange or reddish yellow. Head
black, thorax and legs with black markings. Wings
large. Larva : Length may be rather more than
two-thirds of an inch. The just-hatched larvae are
almost colourless, but the skin quickly becomes bright

INSECTS.

135

green, and after the first moult, dark green to black.
Ventral side slate grey. Head shining black. Twelve
broad body segments, upon which are many wrinkles
of the skin.

The sluggish adult is found, during May or August,
upon kohl rabi and turnips, mustard and charlock,
with its wings folded together. The female, by means
of her ovipositor, saws small holes in the margin or
under side of the leaf, and lays her eggs in these.
The larvae are hatched in from tour to six days, and
they undergo four moults. The presence of the
larvae can be detected by their cast skins, which
remain sticking to the leaves even when the animals

Fig. 91. — The Turnip Saw-fly ( Atlialia spinarum ) :
adult female and two caterpillars.

themselves, which are often found rolled up on the
under sides of the leaves, cannot be seen. The enemy
is also known by its way of feeding, for the larvae
keep on the surfaces of the leaves (upper or under
surface) and eat out longish holes. As soon as these
have reached a certain size, other parts of the leaves
or other leaves are attacked. When the larvae are
numerous the holes continually increase in number
until only the leaf-ribs are left. The mature larvae
creep into the soil to a depth of from two-fifths to
four-fifths of an inch, and spin a small cocoon. The
saw-fly emerges either the same or the following year.
These insects may therefore appear in May or in
August, but in many cases they are seen at only one
of these times, either the summer or autumn turnips
being attacked, as the case may be. Remedies ; Fowls
and ducks willingly eat the larvae, and, provided they

136

ZOOLOGY.

are not able to do any damage, can therefore be
brought into the fields. Strewing with soot has a
good effect. It pays to pick off* the larvae from young
plants.

Order 5 : Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths).

Sucking mouth-parts, forming a “ proboscis ” made
up of the two very long maxillae, spirally rolled up
under the head when not in use (Fig. 92), and adapted
for sucking honey. There are some forms which take
no food in the adult condition, and in which the
proboscis is short ; in a few species of hawk-moths,
this organ is even longer than the body. The larvae
(“ caterpillars ”) have biting mouth-parts. The body

Fig. 92. — Head of a
Butterfly. A, eye;
Fh, antennae ; Z,
proboscis.

Fig. 93. — Scales from a Butterfly’s Wing
(strongly magnified).

of a butterfly or moth is covered with, hair-like
structures developed by the skin ; in the wings these
are broader, have a characteristic appearance (1 ig. 93),
and partially overlap one another. These scales cause
the colours of the wing. They can easily be wiped
off, leaving the corresponding part of the w ing

INSECTS.

137

transparent and clear as glass. In many species (all
hawk-moths, many owlet moths) there is a wing-hook-
let, i.e. the hind wing has a spine or a thick brush
which grasps a band-like area of the fore wing. In this
way the two pairs of wings are held together. The
females of a few species of spinner and looper moths
are wingless, or only possess short flap-like wings
useless for flight. The metamorphosis is complete
(p. 89) ; the larvae are true caterpillars ; the pupae
are obtectate (p. 93). Many caterpillars creep into
the ground to become pupae, and spin no investment
at all (e.g. hawk-moths). Others make a cocoon,
which may consist of threads loosely woven together
or may be of firm texture (Fig. 60). The cocoon
consists chiefly of silk, a substance secreted in a
spinning gland, and exuding to the exterior on the
lower lip ; but minute particles of sand or earth, and
fragments of wood gnawed off by the caterpillar, may
be stuck in the cocoon. The pupae of butterflies are
naked, without cocoon, but are fixed by threads to
leaves, tree stems, walls, hedges, etc. A distinction
is drawn between girdled and suspended pupae ; the
first are fixed by a silk band, which surrounds them,
and the head is directed upwards, while the latter are
suspended by the tip of the abdomen (Fig. 94). The
time required for the development of the perfect
insect from the pupa is not always the same, depend-
ing not only upon the species, but also upon the time
of year. The summer generation of the large white
spends scarcely fourteen days in the pupa stage, the
winter generation eight months.

Family: Diurna ( Butterflies ).

Body relatively weak and thin ; wings very broad,
not very long relatively. No wing-hooklet (see above).
Wings folded together above in a state of rest, so
that their upper sides touch. Antenna thickened in

138

ZOOLOGY.

a club-like way at the tip. The caterpillars possess
five pairs of pro-legs ; they are usually almost devoid
of hair. There are, however, a few (e.g. the cater-
pillar of the peacock butterfly, Fig. 94) which possess
hard, spine-like, much-branched bristles. The naked
pupae are sharp cornered ; some are girdled, others
suspended (p. 137).

Among butterflies with larvae that become suspended
pupae are the Red Admiral ( Vanessa atalanta), the
Peacock ( Vanessa io, Fig. 94), the Fritillaries (Ar-

Fig. 94. — The Peacock Butterfly ( Vanessa io), with pupa, and larva suspended

before passing into the pupa state.

gynnis), the Meadow Browns (Hipparchia) , etc. ; and
among those with girdled pupae the Swallow Tail
(Papitio machccon ), the Whites ( Pievis ), etc.

The Cabbage White, or Large White (Pievis Brassicee).

Butterfly: Length a little over an inch, span of
wing 2J inches. Both fore and hind wings milky
white, the former black at the root, on the front edge,
and the outer angle ; also a black patch on the inner
margin of the fore wing, passing on to the front

INSECTS.

139

margin of the hind wing. The female possesses, in
addition, two round black patches on the middle of
each fore wing. Under side of the fore wings milky
white, yellow at the tip, blackish at the root ; under
side of the hind wings yellow, with black dots.
Caterpillar (Fig. 95) : As much as 1J inch long ;
greenish, or sulphur yellow, with black dots. Head
and dorsal side of last segment of the body grey with
black spots. Young specimens are of a very bright
green with black wartlets closely crowded together.

From the pupae which have lived through the
winter butterflies emerge in May, and lay their golden
yellow eggs in small heaps on the under sides of the

Fig. 95. — The Cabbage White ( Pieris brassicce ) female laying her eggs ;

caterpillar, and pupa.

leaves of rape, mustard, and cress, also on charlock
and such-like cruciferous weeds. The caterpillars of
this first generation are hatched in fourteen days, and
rarely do any harm, since they only appear in small
numbers. They develop rapidly, and during the last
days of June become pupae on the branches and
leaves of the plants they live on ; the butterflies
appear in July. Owing to their rapid development
the caterpillars and pupae of this first generation
are but little exposed to the attacks of enemies

140

ZOOLOGY.

(ichneumons, birds, etc.). Only a few of them die,
therefore, if the weather is favourable. As a result of
this, the J uly butterflies and the eggs laid by them are
relatively numerous, so that the number of caterpillars
appearing in late summer may be very large. These
caterpillars, however, live almost exclusively on the
various kinds of cabbage and kohl rabi, and it is
this second generation which in many years is so
harmful. At the beginning of August the caterpillars
are ready to become pupae, and for this purpose they
seek tree stems, hedges, walls, etc. The pupae now
formed live as such through the winter. During this
period, however, they are exposed to many dangers
(damp, cold, sudden alternation between very low and
very high temperatures ; ichneumons, birds), and
most of them perish, so that only a few butterflies
come out the following spring, and lay but a few
eggs. It is therefore obvious that the first generation
of caterpillars (May, June) is much less numerous
than the second generation occurring from late summer
to autumn. Under exceptionally favourable con-
ditions even a third generation may appear, since
caterpillars of the second generation are able to
become pupae at the beginning of August ; and these
pupae, instead of remaining as such over winter,
become butterflies the same month. These, again,
lay eggs from which the caterpillars of the third
generation are hatched, which, however, are not
always fully developed before the advent of the cold
weather, and in this case perish. It is clear that, in
the case of pupae which develop into butterflies during
August in about fourteen clays, the unfavourable
influences have either no effect (unfavourable weather)
or but little (ichneumons, birds), so that the butterflies
appear in flocks, which wander into other regions,
since they have themselves, when larvae, devoured the
cabbage and turnip plants. In reference to the
damage effected by the caterpillar, it may be observed

INSECTS.

141

that only the chief veins of the leaf are left, and the
margins are not spared. Remedies : Collection of
the little heaps of yellow eggs and the young cater-
pillars, which are blackish and live together in small
companies ; the planting of a few small hemp plants
in the cabbage Helds to be protected, by which the
butterflies will be kept away.

The Garden White, or Small White {Pieris raped).

Butterfly (Figs. 96 and 97) : Length rather less
than an inch, span of wing two inches ; very much
like the cabbage white.

Base and tip of the fore
wing not of such a deep
black colour; the black
patch in the inner margin
of the fore wing is usually

Fig. 96. — The Garden White ( Pieris Fig. 97 # — The Garden White ( Pieris rapes ),

rapes'), male. female, caterpillar.

absent in the female. The male, however, very often
has a black patch in the upper side of the fore wing.
Caterpillar : Just over an inch long. Dull green ; fa
longitudinal yellow line on the back ; also the black
stigmata are connected by a yellow line. Habits as
in the preceding species ; the female, however, lays
her yellow eggs separately, and not in heaps, and the
second generation of caterpillars usually become
pupae somewhat later in the year. Collecting is more

142

ZOOLOGY.

difficult than in the preceding species, since the young
caterpillars live independently, and their colour
makes it difficult to recognize them on the green
cabbage leaves.

The Green-veined White ( Pieris napi).

Butterfly (Fig. 98) : As large or somewhat smaller
than the preceding species. Wings milky white on
their upper side ; fore wings dusted with black on
their front margin, tips, and ends of the ribs. Two

spots on the middle of the fore
wing in the female, one or none
in the male. Under side of
the hind wings yellow; under
side of the veins dusted with
greenish-grey. Caterpillar : A
little over an inch. Dull
bluish - green, with minute
blackish tubercles above, and
whitish ones below. A yellow
longitudinal line on each side
connecting the black spiracles, which are bordered
by reddish yellow. Very like the preceding species
in the larval condition. Habits as in the preceding
species, but this is less common.

Fig. 98. — The Green-veined
White ( Pieris napi ).

Family : Noctuidse ( Owlet Moths).

Night-flying moths, of medium size and dull colour,
with smooth-haired bodies. Antennae long and thin,
thread like, — comb-shaped only in the males of a few
species ; wings powerful, lie in a roof-like way when
at rest ; almost always a wing-hooklet. Caterpillars
usually hairless ; mostly with five pairs of pro-legs, a
few with four or three pairs. The owlets pair at
night; they also fly about during the day, even in
bright sunshine. Flight strong and rapid, but always
in fits and starts. Almost all species lay their eggs

INSECTS.

143

separately, and on herbs, only a few species on trees.
The caterpillars are very much scattered, and the
damage caused by them is never great, except in spots
here and there, — on the contrary, when they increase
to a great extent they spread over a wider area.
Several species are harmful to agriculture.

The Surface Caterpillars (Species of Agrotis)

are stout caterpillars, 11 to 2 inches long, with five
pairs of pro-legs, and shining transparent external
skin. They remain in the ground during the day,
feeding above ground at night, and also in the day-
time when the sky is much overcast. When touched
they bend themselves into the form of a C. There are
in Britain several species of surface caterpillars which
have these habits, but I will only describe here, to
begin with, the commonest kind : —

The Common Dart or Turnip Moth {Agrotis segetum
or A. ciavis). — Moth (Fig. 99) : Length almost 4 of an

inch. Span of wing about 1| inch. Fore wings small,
ash-grey or brownish, with many dark patches and

144

ZOOLOGY.

similar markings. Hind wings in the male, bright
grey to snowy white ; in the female, brownish grey.
Caterpillar (Fig. 99): Up to two inches, earthy grey,
occasionally somewhat greenish. Head and pro-
thorax darker. The time taken by the caterpillars to
complete their development differs according to the
plants attacked, and it is therefore easy to understand
why the moths should be seen flying about from the
first half of May right on into the autumn, without
having recourse to the improbable hypothesis of two
successive generations. The eggs are consequently
laid at very different times, and are always deposited
singly in the soil in the neighbourhood of plant roots,
or else in the low-lying leaves and stems of various
herbs. The caterpillars hatched from these are de-
structive earlier or later, according to the time of egg-
laying. Most specimens are half grown in winter ;
these continue their destructive work the following
spring. In autumn they attack the roots of winter
grain (rye and wheat), rape, and species of cabbage ;
they also bore readily into turnips and potatoes. In
spring, after the winter rest, they continue to attack
the roots of winter grain, winter rape, etc., or fleshy
underground parts (turnips, potatoes) developed in the
interim, or the roots of summer plants (summer grain,
buckwheat, summer rape, vegetables, etc.). On clear
days the caterpillars always remain hidden in the
soil ; and those which have bored into juicy under-
ground parts of plants (turnips, carrots), do not leave
their abode during the day, but the others, both during
the night and on cloudy days, come above ground to
attack the leaves and stems of young plants. In ex-
ceptional cases the caterpillar is mature by the begin-
ning of winter, in which case it hybernates in the
soil as a brown pupa. The moths escaping from such
pupse naturally appear earlier than others. As a rule,
the caterpillars do most damage to the winter crop in
autumn, wandering about a great deal ; in many cases

INSECTS.

145

they gnaw through the main root, thus quickly killing
the plant attacked, from which they proceed to
another. Remedies : When the caterpillars have done
much damage in late summer, it is recommended to
leave the field alone till October, then to plough it
up and sow the winter grain. By putting off the
seed-time in this way, the caterpillars will have lost
their activity when the corn germinates, and the
winter crop will thus escape them. Besides this, the
preceding ploughing will bring many caterpillars to
the surface, where they will become the prey of birds,
or, if not, can be collected. Warm soils, especially
those manured with horse-dung, are most infested by
the caterpillars ; and the use of warm kinds of manure
should, therefore, be avoided in regions which have
much to fear from these insects. Where everything
has been destroyed, a thorough ploughing is desirable.
Swine may also be driven in during autumn, and will
grub up and devour the caterpillars. In this case,
sowing will take place the following spring.

Other Surface Caterpillars, which have pretty much
the same habits as the preceding, are those of the
Heart and Dart Moth ( Agrotis exclamationis) , the
Wheat Moth (A. tritici), and the Thick-bodied Surface
Caterpillar (A. ravida or A. crassa).

The Cabbage Moth ( Mamestra brassicce).

Moth (Fig. 100) ; about of an inch long, span of
wing 1| inch. Fore wings shining brown, with
yellowish and black marbling; each patch having a
dark outline; a yellowish zigzag line on the outer
margin. Hind wings shining yellowish-grey brown.
A strongly developed crest in the middle line of the
thorax. Caterpillar (Fig. 100) : If inches, cylindrical.
Bright or dark green, brownish green, or greenish
brown. On the back a dark longitudinal stripe, divided
into two halves by a narrow white longitudinal line.

L

146

ZOOLOGY.

A whitish line running along each side ; between this
and the dorsal line a dark transverse streak on each
segment. The brown pupa (Fig. 100) remains in the
soil during the winter, and is not invested in a cocoon.
The moth appears in May ; during the day it rests on
windows, in barns, etc. The greenish yellow eggs
are laid separately on the leaves of cabbages (some-
times also on lettuces and turnips). The caterpillars,
which appear in fourteen days, creep about actively
between the leaves. Within a month they are full-

Fig. 100. — The Cabbage Moth ( Mamestra brcissicce ), with caterpillar and pupa.

grown, and become pup?e in the soil. At the end of
July and in August the summer generation of moths
appears. From the eggs laid by these are hatched
a second generation of caterpillars, which are always
much more numerous than those of the first. From
August to October they are found in all kinds of
cabbage, especially compactly headed kinds and cauli-
flower. At first they eat holes in the leaves, leaving,
however, the chief veins and usually the edges. Later
on they eat right on into the heart of the cabbage.
They fill their burrows with excrement, and the

INSECTS.

147

attacked plants begin to rot internally. The full-
grown caterpillars creep out and become pupa in the
soil. Remedy : Collecting the caterpillars while they
are still on the outer leaves.

The Vegetable or Lettuce Moth ( Mamestra oleracea).

Moth: § of an inch long; span of wings about
1?- of an inch. Fore wings dark rusty brown, darker
on the nerves, dusted with white. Hind wings
reddish white. Head and thorax like the fore wings ;
abdomen like the hind wings. Caterpillar : Up to If
inch ; dirty greenish grey, or olive green, irregularly
bestrewn with dirty white dots. The caterpillars feed
on cabbages, lettuce, asparagus, and other vegetables.
Those of the first generation (June and July) hollow
out lettuce stalks before the head begins to be formed ;
those of the second generation (August and Sep-
tember) feed on cabbage or asparagus leaves. The
first generation of moths appear in May, the second
in the first half of August.

The Pea Moth (. Mamestra pisi).

Moth: About § of an inch long; span of wings
about If of an inch. Fore wings bright reddish brown
with biuish-grey markings, and a yellowish longi-
tudinal streak. Hind wings reddish grey. Cater-
pillar : 14 of a inch ; cylindrical ; slender. Back dark
greenish or brown red ; closely and tolerably regularly
veined with dark lines, and with two sulphur yellow
longitudinal streaks on the back and one on each side.
Head, belly, and feet flesh red. If the caterpillar is
touched it moves the front part of its body about here
and there, and then lets itself fall down. The moths
appear in May and June ; the caterpillars are found
from July to September on peas, vetches, beans,
clover, lupins, sorrel, orach, heath, willow, birch, and
yet other plants. Seldom very destructive.

148

ZOOLOGY.

The Grass-root Moth ( Hadena monoglypha, or

II. polyodon).

Moth : About J- of an inch long ; span of wing If
inches. Fore wings longish; yellow brown blended
with dark brown and white ; the tips are coloured
most brightly. Three black rays on the fore wing ;
hind wings brown grey. Caterpillar : About 1 f inches
long, I of an inch broad, with sixteen feet. Grey or
reddish white, more or less shining. Head, pro-
thorax, the last body-segment and warts black. At
the end of July and during August the female lays
her eggs separately on the bases of grass haulms and
leaves. The caterpillars creep out at the end of
August, and, especially after their hybernation (in
April and May), attack meadow grasses, biting through
the leaves and haulms at their bases, immediately
above the surface of the ground, and devouring, as it
were, passages through the grass. The reddish-brown
pupae rest in the soil.

The Couch-grass Moth {Hadena basilinea).

Moth: Nearly f of an inch long; span of wings lg
inches. Head and back rust-coloured or reddish grey,
in the male with a large tuft of hairs. Fore wings
coloured like the back, with two transverse lines in
the middle, and brighter and darker marks as well.
Hind wings bright brown, with a faint golden sheen,
and with a yellowish fringe. Caterpillar: If to If
inches long, with sixteen feet, bluish grey, somewhat
brownish, with dirty white longitudinal lines ; green-
ish belly, and large bright brown head. The moth
lays the eggs in little heaps on the stems and leaves
of grass plants. The damage which the caterpillars
effect among meadow grasses is inconsiderable; but
they sometimes appear in considerable numbers on
grain-plants, and are then very destructive. The

INSECTS.

149

insects are chiefly found on dry high-lying land, which
is consequently most liable to the attacks of their
larvae. After hybernation they feed on grass or the
leaves and stems of young grain-plants, and change in
the soil into stout, smooth, yellowish-brown pupae,
devoid of cocoon. Remedy : In case the caterpillars
have got into the crop, threshing should take place
as soon as possible, or, after hybernating, they will
continue to devour the grain in the barns.

The Wheat-haulm Moth ( Luperina didyma).

Moth : Span of wing 1 J inches. Individual specimens
differ very much from one another : brownish, greyish
yellow to ochre yellow, with various dark and light
markings. Caterpillar : With sixteen legs, and over
an inch long in full-grown specimens (May) ; thin,
spindle-shaped ; stiff ; bright shining green, with two
broad dark red lines on the back. The caterpillars
live in the stalks of wheat-plants, and other gra-
mineous forms, hollowing them out ; they hybernate
when tolerably young. In spring they continue to
hollow out the wheat plants, going from one stalk to
another. The plants attacked quickly have their
leaves turned to a rusty colour, and they sicken or
even die.

The Grass Moth ( Charoeas graminis ).

Moth : Length g of an inch ; span of wings about
1 1 inches. Antennae of the male comb-like. Fore win^s
short, of a brownish-red, olive-brown, or dirty olive-
green ground colour, with three whitish patches, and
darker markings. Hind wings yellowish grey, brighter
at the roots. Caterpillar : With sixteen legs ; I f
inches long ; bronze grey, back more of a bronze brown,
with three narrow bright longitudinal streaks. Head
ochre yellow. The moth lays her some two hundred

150

ZOOLOGY.

eggs during July, in little heaps at the bases of the
grass haulms and leaves. The caterpillars hide
during the day, and feed at night. They are very
injurious even in the autumn, but become insatiable
the following spring, always devouring the lowest
parts of the haulms and leaves, so that the upper

Fig. 101. — The Grass Moth ( Charceas graminis) and its caterpillar.

parts die off. They wander in large companies from
one field to another. In June they become pup?e of a
shining reddish-brown below the surface of the soil or
under sods. Enemies : swine, moles, shrews, rooks,
wagtails, ducks, fowls. Remedy: Driving in swine,
where this is practicable.

The Darnel Moth (Neuronia popularis).

Moth : Length rather less than ^ of an inch ; span
of wings nearly 1-| inches. Much variegated, beauti-
ful. Fore legs reddish-brown, with peach-coloured
glow ; all the nerves and several markings yellowish
white, and dark markings as well. Hind wings
yellowish, and abdomen white. Head and thorax
brown, mixed with yellowish white. Caterpillar: Over
two inches long, and about one-third of an inch thick ;
16 -legged; tapers at both ends. Has an oily lustre.
Dorsal side of a bronze brown, sharply marked off
by a yellowish line from the bright brownish grey
ventral side, and traversed by three longitudinal
bright brown lines, which in young specimens are
almost white. Habits pretty much like those of the
preceding species.

INSECTS.

151

The Silver Y Moth {Plusia gamma).

Moth : About f of an inch long ; span of wings
lg inches. Dark grey, mixed with a reddish tint, and
darkly marbled. About the middle of the fore wing
there is a very obvious gamma (y), or Y-shaped mark.
Hind wings bright brown at the root, darker at the
margins, with a whitish fringe. A crest ol hairs on
the dorsal side of the thorax. Caterpillar : 12-legged.
It bends its body like a looper (Fig. 102). Length
1 to 1| inches. Ground colour green ; but there may
be variations in this from a dirty green to a brownish

Fig. 102.— The Silver Y Moth ( Plusia gamma), with caterpillar and pupa.

colour. Six fine longitudinal lines on the back, and
a yellowish line above the legs. The caterpillar is
almost naked, only possessing a few small, isolated
bristle-like hairs. Habits : At least two generations,
and sometimes as many as five in two years. The
Silver Y Moth generally hybernates as a half-grown
caterpillar, but sometimes also in the pupa, or moth
state. The caterpillars may therefore be met with
the whole year ; but they are usually most abundant
from the end of June to the middle of August, and,
under favourable conditions, may become an agricul-
tural pest. They devour the leaves of almost all wild
and cultivated plants (except grasses, corn, and trees),
and are especially fond of leguminous plants (peas,
vetches, clover), flax, beet, rape, cabbage, and buck-
wheat. The moths mostly appear in May, but also
in July, and later on in the summer, especially on

152

ZOOLOGY.

clear days. The female lays her numerous bright
green eggs, some four hundred in number, separately,
on the leaves of the above-named plants. The cater-
pillars are not always easy to see, owing to their
greenish colour ; under favourable conditions they
may pass through the whole of their development up
to the moth stage in from six to seven weeks. In
some years they appear in such large numbers, that
almost all the cultivated plants found in the fields
of an infested region are utterly spoilt by them,
excepting the corn. Natural enemies : Starlings, all
sharp-beaked singing birds haunting fields ; sparrows ;
ground beetles, rove beetles, and the larvae of these
families ; several ichneumon flies, parasitic fungi.
Bemedies : Driving in poultry, where practicable.
Collecting, e.g. by means of a machine invented by
L. Dehoff, of Gutenberg, near Halle. “ Several troughs
with steep inner walls are fastened together by laths,
at distances equal to those between adjacent furrows,
and besoms are fixed to the laths. These troughs are
drawn along like sledges by a horse walking in the
furrows, and the caterpillars are swept by the besoms
into the troughs, from which they are collected in
sacks at the ends of the furrows. With this cheap
machine about twelve acres per day can be cleared ”
(Taschenberg).

Family : Pyralidse ( Snout Moths).

Small moths with thread-like antennae, comb-like
in the males of a few species, with tolerably large
eyes, and very large labial palps often stretched out
in front like a beak (Fig. 103). Fore wings of an
elongated triangular shape. Wing booklets. Legs
tolerably long. Caterpillars slightly hairy, with four
or five pairs of pro-legs.

The Rye Snout Moth ( Py rails secalis),

Moth : g of an inch long, span of wings 1 J inches.

INSECTS.

153

Wings elongated, whitish grey, with an A-shaped
patch on the fore wings. Caterpillar : Rather more
than | of an inch long ; green, streaked with brown,
16-legged, with a brown head, and tapering at both
ends. Habits: The caterpillar lives during June in
the rye haulms, hollowing them out. As a result of
this, the ears remain hidden between the leaves and
leaf-sheaths, and it often happens that only the tips
of the awns appear externally. No grain is formed ;
the ears first become white and dry, and then fall off.

The Hop Snout Moth (. Hypena rostralis ).

Moth (Fig. 103) : Length rather less than | of an
inch; span of wings 11 inches, or more. Fore wings
usually brownish, somewhat scalloped on the fringed
outer margins ; a zigzag black line near the base ; in
the middle, near the front edge, a
patch bordered with white, and
behind this a dark longitudinal
streak. Hind wings dull grey,
with a silky sheen. Caterpillar :

At most one inch long, 14-legged,

very slender, green, with a dark FlG. los.-The Hop Snout
middle line and two white side Moth {Hypena rostralis).

lines. Very active; wriggles about on the ground
like an eel. Habits : The moth is on the wing at the
beginning of August, the second generation in August ;
the latter hybernates in outhouses, barns, summer-
houses, etc. The eggs are laid on wild and cultivated
hops, also on stinging nettles. The caterpillars are
found on the hop plants, especially in J une ; they
sometimes entirely devour the leaves, with the excep-
tion of the nerves. In July they become pupae, either
between the leaves or on the soil, and are invested
in a grey cocoon. The moths appear at the beginning
of August, and give rise to a second generation of
caterpillars, from which, after the pupa stage, the
moths which live through the winter are developed.

154

ZOOLOGY.

The Cabbage Snout Moth ( Botys forficalis).

Moth ; Length about half an inch. Span of wings
rather over one inch. Fore wings sharply bent in
front before their sharp tips ; rusty yellow, somewhat
darker on the nerves, with rusty brown transverse
streaks from the outermost corners to the middle of
the hinder margin, and with other reddish-brown
markings. Hind wings and body shining straw
yellow. Caterpillar : ^ inch long, 16-legged, tapering
in front and behind. Yellowish green, with indistinct
longitudinal lines and bright brown head. A few
small yellowish-green hairs. Habits : The first gene-
ration appear in small numbers in May. The cater-
pillars hatched out from the eggs of these live (May
and June) on the leaves of cabbages and wild cruci-
ferous plants. They always shelter themselves
between the leaves, and spin a few thin threads across
the entrances to their abodes. The caterpillars burrow
horizontally in the earth, and there become pupae
invested in cocoons. The moths of the second gene-
ration appear in August ; in autumn the caterpillars
hatched from their eggs damage cabbages, sometimes
to a large extent. In October they burrow into the
soil, where they hybernate. 'Remedy ; Deep digging
or ploughing after the crop, by which the larvae
invested in webs are buried deeply, and consequently
for the most part killed.

The Mother-of-pearl Moth {Botys margaritalis = B.

extimalis).

Moth (Fig. 104) : Length nearly § inch ; span of
wing over 1^ inches. Fore wings bright sulphur
yellow, with large rust-coloured patches, and two rusty
yellow transverse lines. Hind wings shining straw
yellow ; all four wings with a mother-of-pearl sheen.
Caterpillar (Fig. 104) : f inch, 16-legged, yellowish,

INSECTS.

155

head and neck-shield black. Body with a broad,
grey, longitudinal streak on each side. Four longi-
tudinal rows of dark brown warts. Habits : The
moth is on the wing in June and July, and lays the
longish ovoid eggs on cruciferous plants (rape, radish,
several wild forms). The caterpillar lives concealed
in a white web, and gnaws holes in the pods, into

Fig. 104. — The Mother-of-pearl Moth (Botys margaritalis),
with larva (1) and injured pods.

which it inserts the forepart of its body for the
purpose of devouring the still green seeds. The
attacked pods, owing to the presence of round holes
in them, look something like flutes or fifes.

The full-grown caterpillars burrow into the soil,
where they hybernate in a delicate web. Remedy :
Compare the preceding species.

Family: Tortricidse {Leaf -rollers).

Small, thickset moths (Fig. 105), with smaller
palps than the snout moths. Fore wings broad at
the root, with straight or somewhat curved outer
margins. Hind wings as broad, or even broader,
than the fore wings. When at rest the fore wings
lie in a roof-like way. They usually possess many
characteristic markings. Hind wings greyish, with-
out markings. Antennae thread-like. Caterpillars

156

ZOOLOGY.

hairless, or only slightly hairy; 16-legged: many
kinds live in leaves, which they roll up ; others in
twigs, buds, and fruits, which they hollow out.

The Fawn-coloured Pea Moth ( Grapholitha nebritana

— G. pisana ).

Moth (Fig. 105) : Length f inch ; span of wings

about § inch. Fore wings fawn-
coloured, with metallic sheen ;
alternating short, white, and
dark lines on the front margin.
Hind wings black, with bronze
sheen and white fringe. Cater-
fig. io5. — The Fawn-coioured pillar : J inch long ; 1 6 -legged ;
?ana)Ioth (-Grapholitha nebri~ pale green, with brown or black

head, neck-shield, and last body
segment. The thoracic legs are black. Dark warts
on each segment. Habits : Compare the succeeding
species.

The Crescent Pea Moth ( Grapholitha dorsana).

Moth : Somewhat larger than the preceding species.
Fore wings olive brown, with many small short white
lines on the front margin. A yellowish- white crescent
on the middle of the hinder margin. Hind wings
brownish. Caterpillar: Nearly § inch long, 16-
legged, orange yellow, with brown or black head,
neck-shield, last body segment, and thoracic feet.
Covered with brownish-yellow warts. Habits : The
moths fly about in large numbers round the pea
blossoms, always a short time after sunset. The
female lays one, two, or at most three eggs, on a very
young pod, or on an ovary. In fourteen days the
caterpillar is hatched, bores into the pod, and attacks
the peas. The opening made in the margin of the
pod closes up again. The pod generally ripens early.
When it opens, the full-grown caterpillars creep out,

INSECTS.

157

and become pupse in the soil, within a web, where
the pupa lives through the winter. The peas attacked
are always covered, while in the pod, with the coarse-
grained excrement of the caterpillars, and are often
united two or three together by web fibres. Bemedy :
Deep digging of the soil before the winter, or, still
better, deep hoeing as soon as the pea crop is gathered
in. In this way many of the caterpillars or pupae
hidden in the soil will be destroyed.

Family : Tineidse ( Leaf-miners ).

These moths are the smallest of the Lepidoptera.
Like the snout moths, they have strongly developed
labial palps, but are distinguished from them by their
small wings ; the hind wings are especially small,
and have sharp tips. The
extent of the wings is in-
creased by a broad marginal
fringe. When at rest, the
wings slope like a roof, and
the fringe near their tips
is often turned upwards.

Antennae thread-like, toler-
ably long — in the males of
a few species may even be
very long. Caterpillars slightly hairy, with five, or,
rarely, four pairs of pro-legs. To this family belong
the well-known Clothes Moth; the Corn Moth, living-
in stored-up grain ; and also —

Fig. 106. — The Larch Moth
Coleophora laricella).

The Carrot Moth (. Depressctria nervosa = Hcemylis

daucella).

Moth : Length % inch. Span of wings rather over
£ inch. Fore wings reddish-grey brown, blackish on
the nerves, and with scattered whitish markings.
Hind wings more of a grey brown. Thorax and
abdomen very shiny, and somewhat brighter than the

158

ZOOLOGY.

wings. Caterpillar: Nearly § inch long, tolerably
thick, especially in the middle, and variegated. Head,
thorax, and last body segment shining black, the last
two regions with reddish-yellow margin, and the
thorax, in addition to this, divided into right and
left halves by a longitudinal yellow line. The rest
of the body is olive green ; a broad orange-coloured
line divides it into a darker dorsal and a lighter
ventral side. On the back many ill-defined warts of
a shining black colour. Habits : In March and April
many of the carrot moths which have survived the
winter come out of their hiding-places ; they only fly
at night. The eggs are laid separately on umbelli-
ferous weeds, carraway, or carrot plants. The cater-
pillars are first seen when the plants flower; they
live on the flower-stalks, which they bind together
by a few threads, and devour the flowers and young
fruits, sometimes even the flower-stalks. The cater-
pillars are very active, and let themselves down by
a thread when disturbed. Usually they are fully
grown in five weeks, and then bore into the stalks
of the plant, where they become pupae. It is not
known whether there are one or two generations.
The caterpillars are found at very various times, from
May to August.

The Diamond-back Moth ( Plutella crnciferarum

- Tinea xylostella).

Moth : About \ inch long ; span of wings f inch.
Fore wings small, lancet-shaped, with long fringes.
Ground colour yellowish brown, darkly speckled.
Hind wings brownish grey, small, strongly fringed.
When at rest the long fringes form a sharp backward
and upwardly directed comb, while the antennae are
applied together and stretched straight forwards.
Caterpillar : About \ inch long, tapering in front and
behind. A beautiful green, with a black head. Lives
hidden under a very thin web or under a few fibres,

INSECTS.

159

on the lower side of the leaves of cabbage, rape, and
other crucifers. Habits : The pupa lives through the
winter ; the moths emerge in May, and fly about in
the evening. Two generations; the first generation
of caterpillars in the first half of July, the second in
late summer. The second generation is particularly
apt to be destructive to cabbage. Pupae found on
the leaves of the plants attacked, and surrounded by
a thick web.

Sixth Order : Hemiptera (Half-winged Insects).

The mouth parts are modified into a sucking and
piercing beak. Head small. Legs usually slender,
with two- or three-jointed feet. Wings are absent in
several species ( e.g . bed bugs); in one section ( e.g .
fruit bugs) the fore wings are half of
leathery, half of membranous texture
(Fig. 107) ; in others, all four wings
are membranous (winged plant lice),
or the fore wings are somewhat harder

Fig. 107. — Left pair of
wings of a Bug.

than the hind wings (frog-hoppers). Incomplete meta-
morphosis (p. 89). None of agricultural importance
except —

Family: Aphidse (Plant Lice).

Long, five- to seven-jointed antennae. Long thin legs,
no power of springing. Sucking beak long and thin.
In the same species there are both winged and wing-
less aphides, mostly the latter. In autumn, male and
female specimens are found. After pairing, the latter
lay their eggs, which are destined to live through the
winter. The aphides hatched from these the follow-
ing spring are all females, but are distinguished from
those of the previous autumn by producing living
young, which contain at the time of their birth the
germs of a new generation. The number of young-
produced by a single female, and the number of

160

ZOOLOGY.

generations appearing within the year, vary accord-
ing to the species. There are species in which
each female bears from eighty to one hundred young,
and nine to sixteen generations succeed one another
in the year. In autumn males and egg-laying
females once more appear. As a rule the eggs live
through the winter, but the insects themselves may
also do this. I must add that there are constant
differences within the boundaries of the same species
according to the habitat, and especially in the species
which regularly wander, either from one plant to
another, or from the leaves to the roots. But since

the species injurious to agri-
culture do not migrate in this
way, nothing further need be
said on the point. As aphides
suck plant juices during the
whole of their lives, and have
enormous reproductive powers,
they are very destructive. They
suck from stems and leaves the
juices which would otherwise
be used by the plants them-
selves for growth or for the
production of dowers and fruit,
and bear young, which bore
their beaks into the same part
in the immediate neighbour-
hood of their mother, and
quickly begin to multiply in
their turn. In this way, colo-
nies consisting of a hundred
or more individuals are regularly formed (< e.g . on
peas, beans, roses). A plant part attacked in this
way shrivels for want of nourishment, and the
aphides upon it would die if they did not wander
elsewhere. The third generation usually contains,
not only wingless individuals, but also others

I

Fig. 108. — The Bean Aphis (Aphis
papaveris) ; a larva of the same
below.

INSECTS.

161

which, after repeated moults, fly away and start a
new colony in another plant. Since aphides have
many enemies (starlings, sparrows, grasshopper
warblers, etc., lady-birds and their larvae, drone fly
larvae, lace fly larvae), and are often killed in large
numbers by wind and rain, it only occasionally
happens, particularly in dry summers, that they
entirely or largely destroy the plants they infest.
They injure plants, not only by drawing away their
nourishment, but also by the separation of a sugary
sticky fluid from the anus. If the minute drops of
this fluid fall from the upper parts of an infested
plant to the lower (garden and field beans), or from the
leaves of an infested tree to the plants growing at its
foot, or, as sometimes happens, are carried by the
wind to more distant plants, great damage may be
caused. The fluid evaporates and leaves behind a
shining sticky substance, which closes up the stomata
of the leaves, and partially checks exchange of gases
(assimilation and respiration). Particles of dust, sand,
and smoke carried by the wind, and also the cast
skins of the aphides, stick to the surface of the leaves
and render exchange of gases still more difficult. The
leaves develop brown dirty patches, and die off.
Besides this, the spores of disease- producing fungi,
carried by the wind, stick very easily to the places
covered by the sweet fluid, and readily germinate in
it. Aphides may thus be the indirect cause of
several diseases (e.g. smut). These insects are de-
structive, therefore, to other plants than those in-
fested by them. Remedies : Spraying with any one
of the fluids destructive to them — soapy water ; a
decoction of quassia chips ; tobacco water, not too con-
centrated ; Nessler’s fluid (1^ ozs. soft soap, 2 J ozs.
tobacco mixture, 2 ozs. fusel alcohol, half a pint
ordinary alcohol, diluted with rain water up to a
quart: when used, mix with one-fifth the quantity
of rain water) ; Koch’s fluid (2 lbs. soft soap dissolved

M

162

ZOOLOGY.

in half a gallon of hot water ; ^ lb. of quassia chips
extracted for twelve hours in 5 quarts of rain water,
and the fluid thus obtained boiled and filtered. It is
then added to the soap water, and the whole brought up
to 10 gallons by addition of rain water). Spraying
with one of the above-named fluids must be renewed
in a short time, so as to reach all the aphides wher-
ever possible ; if even a few remain untouched, there
will soon be a large number again. A warm evening'
is best for the spraying. Infested plants can also be
strewn with finely powdered substances, or these may
be scattered over them by means of a small bellows.
Since such substances should remain on as long as
possible, they should be used after rain or early in the
morning, when the dew is still on the leaves. Among
powdered matters suitable for the purpose, the follow-
ing may be named : gypsum, lime, tobacco, wood-ash,
insect powder (prepared from the flower-heads of
Persian species of chrysanthemum and from tansy
heads). It must also be pointed out, that these
remedies must be employed as soon as the insects
begin to show themselves in considerable numbers
it is not desirable to delay till the infestation has
made considerable headway, as it is then much more
difficult to get a satisfactory result. In some cases,
it is desirable to cut off and burn or otherwise destroy
much infested parts, or those parts on which the in-
sects first begin to multiply (e.g. early cutting off* of
the tips of the stems in field and garden beans).

The species of aphis which most commonly occur
upon cultivated plants are : — The Bean Aphis (Aphis
papaveris), ^ inch, black ; on the tips of the stems-
of field and marsh beans, also on poppy, turnips,
lettuce, and on several wild composites and umbelli-
fers. The Pea Aphis (Aphis ulmarice), £ to ^ of an
inch long ; green ; July to September on peas, chickling
peas, and several wild leguminous plants ; very de-
structive. The Corn Aphis (Aphis cerealis), r\> inch..

INSECTS.

163

green or reddish brown, also reddish brown with green
abdomen; June to August on rye, barley, oats and
several grasses; sucks the axis of the ears, and the
flower-stalks ; as the (black) eggs remain on the
stubble during the winter, it is advisable to plough
this deeply in immediately after harvest. The Oat
Aphis (Aphis ccvence ), inch, dark green, speckled

with white ; on oats and barley, scarcely ever on the
ears, but on the leaf-sheaths and the upper sides of the
rolled-up leaves. The Hop Aphis ( Aphis humuli), ^
inch, green; on the under side of the hop leaves, and,
when very abundant, on the scales of the fruit. The
Cabbage Aphis (Aphis brass icce), ^ inch, dark green,
speckled with grey; from May to September on all
kinds of cabbage, and also on other crucifers.

Seventh Order: Physopoda (Bladder-footed

Insects).

Very minute insects, possessing a characteristic jaw
apparatus, with which they pierce the outer skin of
leaves or the parts of flowers, and
suck their juices. The four small
wings have long fringes at their
edges; the fore wings are tolerably
hard. The ends of the feet do not
possess claws, but small bladders or
suckers. The metamorphosis is in-
complete. In some years, one or
other of the species may increase to
a very large extent, and these minute
insects then fly about in swarms,
especially on very hot days; and
they also wander about in large
flocks. If they settle on the face or
hands of human beings, they cause a
disagreeable and persistent itching, as they continu-
ally walk about.

The CornThrips (Thrips cerealium), jA inch. Dark

Fig. 109. — Corn Thrips
(Thrips cerealium ).

164

ZOOLOGY.

brown to black. Male wingless. Female with small
wings bending outwards at their tips (Fig. 109) ; tore
wings horny, hind wings membranous. Larva orange
yellow ; head, prothorax, and tip of the abdomen,
black. After the last moult it becomes yellowish
white, and acquires scale-like wings. Hybernates in
the adult condition ; lays its eggs on various grasses,
also on different grain plants. The larvae, and, later
on, the perfect insects are found in large numbers
sucking the ovaries of flowering corn (wheat, rye,
barley) ; as a result of which the ears do not fully
develop, but wither away. Remedy : Deep ploughing
of the stubble,
are destroyed.

The Elder Thrips (Thrifts sambuci) lives in elder,
and sometimes also multiplies in very young field
beans, the leaves of which blacken and shrivel up in
consequence.

The Flax Thrips (Thrifts lini) often injures flax.

Eighth Order : Diptera (Flies).

Mouth parts elongated, adapted for sucking or
piercing. Fore wings developed, rarely absent, blind
wings absent, as such, — altered into club-like bodies
(balancers or halteres) often covered with scales.
Metamorphosis complete. Larvae always legless ; most
have biting mouth parts and no distinct head (maggots) ;
the head-bearing dipterous larvae possess similar mouth
parts. The last become obtectate pupae (p. 93), while
the headless larvae become pupae within the larval skin.

Family: Culicinae (Gnats).

Slenderly built, with long, thin legs. An elongated
piercing proboscis in the female. The male with
feebly developed mouth parts, and feather-like antennae.
Both sexes suck up water and plant juices, and the
female blood as well; hence only the latter bites,
especially at night. They hybernate in the adult

by which the hybernating individuals

INSECTS.

165

condition in cellars, barns, etc. The female lays 250
to 300 eggs on any floating object in stagnant water
(pools, ditches, water-vessels). The larvae (with large
head, well-developed prothorax, and a breathing-tube
on the abdomen) live in water, as do the pupae.
Several generations annually ; especially in damp
summers and districts where the draining of the soil
leaves much to be desired. Although sand-flies
torment our domestic animals more than gnats, yet
these also may be very troublesome to them. They
principally attack the less hairy parts of the body
(inner side of the ears, nose, mouth, corners of the
eye, arms, sexual parts). Remedies : Thorough drain-
ing of the soil. Washing the domestic animals to be
protected with a vinegar extract of walnut leaves ;
rubbing with walnut-leaves. Wherever possible, any
sores should be covered up, as they attract gnats,
sand-flies, and flies ; or the skin near them may be
painted with turpentine or very dilute carbolic acid.
This is the less to be neglected, as several kinds of flies
eagerly lay their eggs in the sores of domestic animals.

Family : Gallicolse ( Gall Gnats).

Small gnats with large broad wings, much narrowed
at the root, rounded
at the tip, and gene-
rally rough with hairs.

Feelers made up of
a large number of
spherical or cylindri-
cal joints, covered
with spreading hairs.

Proboscis short, legs
long. The female has
an ovipositor, with
which she inserts eggs
in any part of a plant.

At this particular spot

Fig. 110. — The Wheat Midge ( Cecidomyia
tritici ), female.

166

ZOOLOGY.

a luxuriant growth of vegetable tissue takes place
later on, of varying extent, and even forming a
regular gall. The species of gall gnat are usually
brightly coloured, often red or yellow ; these colours
are lost, however, in dried specimens. The larvae
are spindle-shaped, yellowish white, yellow, or red ;
they become pupae either in the soil or within the
part of the plant which they inhabit. Several species
are destructive to fruit-tree culture or forestry ; I
mention here only the most destructive kinds which
attack cultivated plants.

The Hessian Fly ( Cecidomyia destructor).

Female about one-eighth of an inch long, male some-
what smaller. The former velvety black, with black
hairs, red belly, and red markings ; wings greyish ;
antennae one-third the length of the body. Male
black, with reddish-yellow hairs, dirty red belly, and
red markings. The name “ Hessian flies ” was given
in North America, during last century, because it was
believed they were introduced from Germany, in 1778,
by Hessian soldiers, in their straw. It is still very
destructive in North America, also in Germany,
Russia, England, and Scotland. Habits : During
April or May, on warm still evenings, the female lays
her eighty or ninety eggs, singly or in pairs, on the
lowest leaves of the still very short haulms of rye,
wheat, and barley. Eight days, on an average, after
this the maggots, which are at first oblong and
spotted with reddish yellow, are hatched, and glide
down into the leaf-sheath, where they begin to suck
the haulm. They gradually alter their shape, be-
coming ovoid, and transparent with the exception
of the iarge yellowish-white, quite opaque fat body.
They soon become pupae (Fig. Ill), which look like
trains of linseed, and are found in summer on the
haulms of the ripe grain. The presence of the
constantly sucking larvae causes great and injurious

INSECTS.

167

distortions of the plant, especially obvious during the
dowering time, and for a short time afterwards.
The haulm withers, and shrivels at the point where
the larvae are present, i.e. above the lowest node, or
the lowest but one.

At the time when the
haulm begins to turn
yellow — that is, when
the grain begins to
ripen, — the larvae be-
comepupae; the haulm
now easily breaks od‘
at the infected spot ;
a strong wind or heavy
rain throws it to the
ground. A badly in-
fested held looks, on
this account, as if a
herd of cattle had got
loose and trodden it
all down, or as if
the grain had been
devastated by hail.

Only a few haulms
bear ears containing
normally developed
grains. The dies
emerge from the pupae
in August and September, after which the females
quickly seek the winter corn, and lay their eggs
singly or in pairs on the leaves of the yet young
plants. The larvae creep between the leaf-sheath and
the still quite undeveloped haulm, and, in the case
of small haulms, a number of larvae may collect
together in the immediate neighbourhood of the
root, causing a spherical swelling. In many cases
the plant dies if its lower parts are inhabited by
many larvae. Before winter, the larvae attain their

Fig. 111. — Plant of Barley, attacked by Hessian
Fly. The pupai at a.

168

ZOOLOGY.

full size, leave the plants, and creep into the soil,
where, in the following spring, they become pupae, from
which flies emerge fourteen days later. There are,
therefore, two generations annually. The spreading
of Hessian flies into regions where they were formerly
unknown may be caused by (a) straw containing the
linseed-like pupae (straw for paper manufacture,
packing, etc.); (6) grain, among which are often
found pupae that have fallen out of the haulms among
the separated grain. Remedies : 1. Sowing the

winter grain as late as possible, so that the females
of the summer generation when they come out of the
pupae will And no winter-grain plants in which to
lay their eggs. 2. Ploughing up the stubble immedi-
ately after harvest, or else burning it, so that the
pupae found above the lower nodes are either deeply
buried or else burnt.

The Scarlet Wheat Midge ( Cecidomyia equestris).

Female about £ inch, male ^ inch ; cherry red,
with yellow hairs; back of the thorax dark brown.
Antennae as long as the body in the male, half as long
in the female. On the wing from May till June ;
lays its eggs on the leaves of grain plants, at the
base of the uppermost leaf by preference. The
blood-red maggots, when they are hatched, let them-
selves slide down, and get between the leaf-sheath
and haulm. Here they work themselves into the
haulm, making a longitudinal groove, the walls of
which swell more or less, and the end of which is indi-
cated by an obvious transverse thickening. The leaf-
sheath hiding the attacked part of the stem is usually
more or less swollen. These gall-like outgrowths
take up a great deal of nutritious matter, not only
from the affected haulm but also from the plant at
large, so that the regions not directly attacked are
retarded in their growth. The larvae are full grown

INSECTS.

169

at harvest time, leave their hiding-places, and let
themselves fall to the ground, where the following
spring they become pupae, from which midges quickly
emerge. Remedy: After a year in which the insect
has caused great damage, the fields must be deeply
ploughed in order to kill the larvae, which would
otherwise live through the winter.

The Wheat Midge ( Cecidomyia tritici),

Male A- inch, female (Fig. 110) inch, and possess-
ing an ovipositor which, when extended, is twice that

Fig. 112.— The Wheat Midge ( Cecidomyia tritici' ): Li larva in tiie contracted,
L11, the same in the extended condition. B, a wheat flower: a x outer, a2 inner glume ,
b, stamens; c, brush-like stigmas ; d, ovary ; l, larval of the wheat midge. Li and
Lit highly, B less highly, magnified.

length. Citron yellow, slightly hairy; antennae
blackish, eyes black, legs dirty yellow. In spring
or early summer, the midges creep out of the soil in
fields where wheat has been planted the previous
year. After pairing, the females wander to fields
where wheat or, more rarely, rye is growing. The

170

ZOOLOGY.

attacks of the midges commence when the ears begin
to emerge from the leaf-sheaths, and are continued
throughout the flowering time of the wheat. At
night the female pierces the glumes with her ovi-
positor, and lays three to ten perfectly transparent
eggs in each flower. Each midge lays eggs in several
flowers, but two or more midges may use the same
dower for this purpose, so that as many as thirty
maggots may be found in one bloom (Fig. 112).
The maggots, which are hatched out in a week, creep
down to the ovary and suck its juices. If many
maggots live in one dower it is sure to die, but if
there are only a few it may produce a grain, though
this may be small. Ears infested by the maggots
develop yellow spots later on ; many ears remain
quite empty, and consequently thin and upright.
Full-grown maggot : -J- inch ; straw yellow to chrome
yellow ; quite transparent when very young. Is
fully developed in three weeks, and then lets itself
fall to the ground (July or August). Becomes a
pupa the following spring; fourteen days later the
midge escapes.

Family : Rostratae ( Crane Flies, Daddy Longlegs).

These very long-legged gnats live on the juices of
plants, and do not sting. The larvae are legless, with-
out a hard well-marked head ; those of most species
live in mouldering plant parts (e.g. rotten wood),
or the decaying manures of our fields and meadows.
A few species, however, are very destructive, since
they injure roots and other parts of cultivated plants.
The adult and larval stages of all the injurious kinds
are not yet distinguished. We know that the larvae
of the yellow and spotted Tipula maculosa are chiefly
destructive in sandy soil ; while more binding clay
soil and rich garden earth are infested by the larvae
of Tipula oleracea (Fig. 113), and damp meadows by

INSECTS.

171

those of Tipula paludosa. The two last-named
species are very much like one another; grey or
greyish brown with bright brown wings, having dark
front margin. Much is still unknown about the
habits of “ crane Hies ” ; my researches relate to the
Yellow-spotted Crane Fly ( Tipula maculosa). The
adults fly about in swarms during summer, usually
from the beginning of June, in the fields where the
larvae lived in spring. They lay their eggs either in
the same fields or (usually) in others, and are blown

Fig. 113.— The Daddy Longlegs, or Common Crane Fly ( Tipula oleracea). Left, the
male and the maggot ; right, the female and the pupa.

about for long distances by the wind. Where the
flies settle they lay each time two or three black
ovoid eggs, bent like a sickle, and repeat this till all
the eggs (200 to 250) are laid. Those fields which
have previously been grass land are the most infested
by the crane flies. The larvae are headless, grey to
lead coloured, with small prickles at the hinder end
of the body, and they first appear, in large numbers,
under the pieces of turf which are left behind in such
fields, and which appear to be the centres from which

172

ZOOLOGY.

the destruction of the standing com begins. The

O o

larvae are hatched out in summer, during the later

7 O

part of which, and during autumn, they devour plant
roots ; after hybernating, they again attack the under-
ground parts of plants the following spring. They
devour most readily the roots of grass and corn, but
also those of clover, rape, and several other plants,
including some found in flower and kitchen gardens.
They are mainly injurious either in autumn or spring,
according to the nature of the plants attacked.
Young grain plants are killed by them, older ones
usually not. On fields where winter corn grows
they therefore do most damage in autumn, while this
is the case in spring on land where summer corn is
cultivated. They are sometimes harmless, since they
can also feed on roots left behind in the ground. The
larva do not limit their ravages to underground
parts ; in the evening, and also in the daytime during
dark damp weather, they devour parts of the first
leaves of very young corn plants, though the damage
thus effected is often inconsiderable. In May the
larva is ready to pass into the pupa stage ; it comes
near the surface and becomes a brown pupa, bearing
small spines on the abdominal rings. After a rest
of fourteen to seventeen days, the pupa works its
way upward till the front part of its body sticks out
of the soil. The fly then escapes. Enemies : Mole,
shrews, wagtails, grasshopper warbler, rook, gulls.
Remedies: When the maggots are very destructive
in gardens they may be collected, preferably in wet
weather, since they then leave the soil during the
day. If they appear to an injurious extent on
summer corn, the fields should be rolled in April
(either with the ordinary or the spiked roller). At
the time (June) when the crane flies swarm about
the fields and meadows in flocks, thousands of
individuals can easily be caught with a net.

INSECTS.

173

Family: Muscaeformes ( Gnat Flies).

Gnats with relatively short legs, and antenna?
which are in any case shorter than the body, and
are usually quite short and cylindrical, possessing,
however, six or more joints, while the antennae of
true Hies usually have only three joints. The gnat
hies form, as it were, the transition between the
slender gnats with their long legs and antennae, and
the more thickset hies, the legs and antennae of
which are short. Here belong the genera of Shade
Gnats (Sciara, e.g. Sciara Thomas , the larvae of which
often wander about in companies, as the so-called
Army Worm), the Sand Flies ( Simulia ), and the Hair
Gnats (Bibio, e.g. the Garden Hair Gnat, Bibio liortu-
lanus, the larva of which gnaws the roots of plants,
especially in humous garden soil).

The Sand Flies, or Mosquitoes {Simulia),

have thick-set bodies, short legs, and short nine or ten-
jointed antennae ; they are from ^ to d of an inch
long, and have a short but sharp proboscis, with which
they suck up the flower juices which constitute their
chief food. But the female also sucks the blood of
human beings and animals, making herself exceed-
ingly annoying in this way. Its larval state is passed
through in stagnant water ; its appearance is there-
fore local, and is especially favoured by damp
summers. The mature sand flies are found from
early spring or through the whole summer ; several
generations succeed one another in the same year.
Sand flies often appear in swarms, containing thousands
of individuals. Since the female eagerly creeps into
the ears, noses, and corners of the eyes in horses and
oxen, she is extremely annoying and even dangerous.
Her bite produces a smarting sensation, and may
cause actual boils to form in the skin. When a lame

O

174

ZOOLOGY.

swarm of sand flies settles on a herd of cattle or on
some horses, these animals become maddened and
furious; they often rush wildly round for so long
that they fall down dead. Simulia reptans is a
common British form. Remedies : Compare what is
said on p. 165, about gnats. Sand flies can usually be
kept from horses’ ears by means of ear-caps.

Family: Tabanidse {Gad Flies).

Large or medium-sized flies with thickset body,
large broad head, flat abdomen, and strong legs. The
proboscis is less developed in the male, which lives
merely on plant juices, than in the blood-sucking
female. The cylindrical whitish larvae live in earth,
and are harmless. But the female insects bite human
beings, and the larger kind attack horses and cattle
in such a manner that blood-drops may be seen on

the ground under the animals
attacked, if these remain for
a time in the same spot.
There belong to this family :
1. The Breeze Flies ( Tabanus ),
large insects up to d inch
long, which are seen flying
about with a buzzing sound
over meadows and flelds in
the sunshine (Ox Fly = T.
bovinus ; Horse Fly = T.
autumncdis). 2. The Lesser Breeze Flies (. Hcematopota ),
smaller and more slender, with grey wings, bite
most before a storm and in hot sultry days. 3. The
Blinding Breeze Flies ( Ghrysops ), as large as the Lesser
Breeze Flies, but broader, with shining golden-green
eyes and wings marked with black. Remedies;
Compare p. 165, and above ; draining the soil, how-
ever, is no good here.

Fig. 114. — The Rain Breeze Fly
Hcematopota pluvial is).

INSECTS.

175

Family : Muscidae ( True Flies).

These are flies with three-jointed antennae, con-
structed on the type seen in the common house fly.
Here are included the Caterpillar Flies ( Tachina ),
the Flesh Flies (Sarcophaga), Common Flies (Musca),
Flower Flies ( Anthomyia ), Green-eyed Flies ( Ghlorops ),
etc.

The Caterpillar Flies (Tachina)

are black, grey, or reddish yellow flies, reminding one
by their appearance of the common
house fly or the blue- bottle. They
play the same part in the economy
of nature as the sand wasps (p. 129),
but always lay their eggs externally
on the skin of the host ; the mag-
gots consequently never prey on
those insect larvae which live in
the tissues of plants or in the soil.

The Flesh Flies (Sarcophaga)

have a longish abdomen, with large bristles on the
hinder margins of the segments. Thorax with three
longitudinal streaks. The flies suck up sweat, but do
not bite. The eggs develop within the abdomen of
the mother ; the flies lay the young larvae in dead flesh ;
also, if not kept clean, in wounds of human beings
and animals, — sometimes, too, in the genital opening of
horses, cattle, and swine, in which case the maggots
live as true parasites in the vagina and uterus,
causing a secretion of mucus, upon which they live.
Two to three generations yearly; fifty to eighty
maggots each time. Remedies : On keeping the flies
from cattle, cf. p. 165; to keep them from meat, fly-
nets, a gauze cover. Blow Fly (S. carnaria), with
black speckled abdomen.

Fig. 115. — Caterpillar
Fly ( Tachina fera).

176

ZOOLOGY.

The Common Flies ( Musca )

are coloured dark or shining green. The headless
white maggots live in dung (House Fly = Musca
domestica), in fresh or decaying meat (Blue-bottle =
M. vomitoria), exceptionally (M. vomitoria) in wounds
that are not kept clean, or in the vagina of several
domestic animals. Remedy : vCompare above (“ Flesh

The Flower Flies {Anthomyia).

These are found on flowers, and resemble many
common flies in appearance and colour. The headless
white maggots live in dung, also in decaying or sound
parts of plants ; a few species may sometimes develop
in the one kind of material, sometimes in the other.
Anthomyia meteovica swarms round the heads of
domestic animals, and may even cause inflammation
of the eyes and ears. The Wheat Bulb Fly (. Anthomyia
coarctata, about a quarter of an inch long, yellowish
grey, with black hairs) lives as a larva during winter
and spring in the hearts of rye and wheat plants,
the leaves of which become yellow in consequence.
During April and the beginning of May the larvge
quit these plants and become pupae in the ground.
The second generation can, in like manner, live in
various kinds of summer grain. The Lupine Fly ( A .
fvinesta) — nearly one-fifth of an inch long, brownish
grey (male) or whitish grey (female), with black legs
— digs, when a larva, tunnels in the roots, stems, and
seed-leaves of young lupine plants, causing the root
and stem to turn black, and the seed-leaves to
wither. Preventive Measure : Early sowing of the
lupines. The Mangold and Beet Fly ( A . betce), a quarter
of an inch long, yellowish grey, lays its eggs, live to
eight in number, in the young leaves of mangold and
beet. The maggots devour the green substance of
the leaf between the two layers of epidermis, so that

INSECTS.

177

the leaves die. In June the maggots creep out of the
leaves, and become pupae in the soil. The flies quickly
escape, and two or three generations follow one
another in the year. As, however, the leaves are
now larger, the later generations only effect a small
amount of damage. Preventive Measure : Close sow-
ing of the turnips, so that even if many are killed
there will still be enough young plants. The Cabbage
Root-eating Fly {A. radicum) and the Radish Fly
(. A . floralis) live as fleshy, wrinkled, dirty white
maggots with black dots, in the underground parts
of turnip, cabbage, horseradish, radishes, etc. They
lead a similar life to the
Cabbage Fly ( A . brassicce ),
the cylindrical, smooth,
yellowish-white maggot of
which lives in the under-
ground parts of cabbage,
turnip, and rape. The roots
attacked swell here and
there (Fig. 116), and later
on decay ; the leaves of
the infested plants first
become of a dull leaden
colour and then wither.

Entire fields of cabbage,
rape, or turnips, are often
destroyed by cabbage fly
maggots. The insect passes
the winter in the pupa
state ; the flies appear early
in the spring, and usually
twice more later on. It is therefore most desirable
to pull up and burn the infested plants as soon as
possible. A proper rotation of crops should also be
practised. [The Onion Fly (A. ceparum) maggot feeds
within the bulbs of stored onions. The male fly is
grey, the female yellow.]

N

Fig. 116. — A turnip infested by the
Cabbage Fly : A, swellings ; G, tunnels.

178

ZOOLOGY.

The Cheese Fly ( Piophila casei),

one-fifth of an inch long, slender, with a metallic
sheen, almost hairless, black, with dirty yellow legs
and wings of glassy clearness. These small flies
abound in front of the windows of places where
cheese is stored ; in summer and autumn the shining
white maggots, which are cylindrical in form with
tapering ends, and one-third of an inch long, live
in large numbers in old cheese, gnawing it through
and through, and making it dirty. Now and then
they spring forwards by bending their bodies into
a circle and suddenly straightening them again.
They become pupae on the walls or in straw, near
the cheeses from which they have crept out.
j Remedies : Keeping the cheeses clean ; mechanical
exclusion (gauze screens outside the windows, en-
closure in chests).

The Green-eyed Flies ( Chlorops )

include a number of small flies, under one-sixth of an
inch long, with spherical head, rounded greenish eyes,
strongly arched thorax, and short egg-shaped abdomen,
pointed in the male and blunt in the female. The
headless larvae live in the haulms of grasses and species
of grain; the life-history of a few forms only is
adequately known. A few are harmful, especially
as there are two or three generations annually.
The late summer generation often appears in large
numbers, indeed in actual swarms. Since no species
lives exclusively on corn, it is impossible to keep
them down for a long period of time. I describe
only two species : —

The Ribbon-footed Corn Fly or Yellow Haulm Fly

{Chlorops tceniopus),

nearly one-sixth of an inch long, shining yellow ; the
antennae are black, and there are three longitudinal

INSECTS.

179

stripes on the dorsal side of the thorax and four trans-
verse bands on the abdomen of the same colour ; the
latter region is scarcely longer than the thorax. The
insect (Fig. 117) is on the wing in corn-fields about
the middle of May. It lays its eggs separately on the
upper leaves of various species of wheat, rye, and
barley, choosing the upper side of the blade, not far
from the sheath. Only those plants are selected for
the purpose in which the ears are still hidden deep
down between the leaf-
sheaths. Wheat plants are
picked out whenever pos-
sible. The maggot when
hatched works its way
between leaf-sheath and
haulm, digging into the
latter. It is yellowish
white, clear and trans-
lucent, and about a quarter of an inch long. While
still young it penetrates the haulm, and then attacks
the developing ear or the upper part of the haulm
which immediately adjoins this, and travels gradu-
ally up to the first node of the haulm or nearly
so, always continuing to slowly suck. Thus a
furrow, from 2^ to 3^ inches long (Fig. 118, C and
D), is formed along the surface of the upper part
of the haulm, and often also along the lower part of
the ear. The part of the haulm attacked swells
transversely, and the part below often remains short,
so that the ear cannot emerge from the leaf-sheath ;
but, in any case, only small worthless grains are
developed. The furrow is always much deeper below
than above, and its margins thicken in consequence
of the swelling of the tissues of the haulm. At the
end of June or in July, the larva becomes a pupa
at the lower end of the furrow. The yellowish-brown
pupa (Fig. 118, B), one-fifth of an inch long, remains
as such in the furrow for three weeks ; the fly

Fig. 117. — The Ribbon-footed Corn
Fly ( Clilorops tceniopus ).

180

ZOOLOGY.

emerges in August. Very considerable damage may
be done by the first generation, of which the habits
have just been described. During 1869 in Silesia,
from two-thirds to five-sixths of the ears in many
fields remained hidden in the leaf-sheaths, and conse-
quently gave no increase. The first generation of the
ribbon-footed corn fly can also develop in the way
described in the haulms of several grasses, e.g. in
species of Poa and Holcus.

The flies, emerging in late summer, lay their eggs,
here, too, separately, on the leaves of grass or corn.
Wherever possible, they seek out for the purpose the
winter wheat plants then present in the fields, but
also content themselves with rye, or even with wild
or meadow grasses ; they have to be satisfied with
grasses if, at the time of egg-laying, the winter corn
is not yet up. The maggot, when hatched, works its
way to the inner side of the leaf-sheath, and thence
to the apex of the still very small haulm ; there it
remains during the winter. The damage becomes
apparent the following spring. The growth in length
of the haulm in question is extremely small, while
growth in thickness increases to an abnormal ex-
tent. Almost all the leaves completely surround
the haulm, which swells to an enormous extent (Fig.
119), together with the enclosing leaf-sheaths, which
are much broader than usual. The unattacked plants
are naturally much larger than the sickly ones, and
deprive these of air and light, so that they die down,
being overshadowed, not only by the sound haulms,
but also by their own secondary shoots. The result-
ing damage may be tolerably great, especially at the
edges of the field. It may happen that both summer
and winter generations of the ribbon-footed corn fly
are harmful in the same district; but it frequently
happens that only one or the other is complained of
in a particular spot. It is only natural that the flies,
which swarm around in May, and again in August,

Fig. 118. — The Ribbon-footed Com
Fly ( Chlorops tceniopus ); larva (A)
and pupa (B) magnified. To the left
a wheat haulm and ear (C) with the
furrow (2) dug out by the larva ; the
pupa (j> ) is seen at the bottom of
the furrow. To the right a wheat
haulm with furrow (D) and the larva
(r) lying in it.

Fig. 119.— A wheat plant distorted by
the winter generation of the Ribbon-
footed Corn Fly.

182

ZOOLOGY.

September, or October, should not always find suitable
corn plants upon which to deposit their eggs. In such
cases grasses are used. Remedies : Sowing the summer
corn as early as possible, that it may be developed to
a stage which is unsuitable for the purpose of egg-
laying, before the flies appear. The winter seed,
however, must be sown as late as possible, so that the
second generation of flies may find no corn plants fit
to lay their eggs upon. Bearded wheat, especially the
strongest varieties, should be sown in preference to
awnless wheat. Careful tillage and suitable manuring,
so that strong plants of rapid growth may be pro-
duced.

The Frit Fly ( Chlorops , or Oscinis frit)

(Fig. 120, C) is about one-tenth of an inch long, shining
black, with a metallic sheen. Legs short, feet yellow.
Maggot (Fig. 120, A) yellowish white, about one-eighth
of an inch long, cylindrical, and tapering in front.
Usually three generations. 1. The maggots of the first
generation are found during May, in the lower part of
the haulm of summer corn (especially oats and barley) ;
the plants attacked either die off entirely, or some
haulms develop further, remaining small, however,
and yielding only a few light grains. The base of
the haulm thickens abnormally, but the growth in
length is always small ; the leaves, too, grow badly,
first becoming yellowish at the tip, and then entirely
yellow or reddish. The symptoms of disease are
exhibited to a less or greater extent, according as
few or many (even up to ten) maggots inhabit the
base of a plant. The shining brown pupae (Fig. 120,
B) are found in the lower part of the haulm, or
between the leaf-sheath and the haulm (Fig. 120, D).
The adult insect is on the wing at the end of May and
in June. The first generation often appear on wild
or meadow grasses, and are chiefly seen on summer
corn when this is sown late or develops slowly.

Fig. 120. — The Frit Fly ( Oscinis frit, L.) : A, larva; B, pupa ; C, fly ; D, a diseased
corn plant, as appearing in spring, — the larvae and pupa; are seen of the natural size
in the lower part of the plant.

184

ZOOLOGY.

2. The maggots of the second generation are found
in average cases during July, on the as }^et scarcely
ripe grains of late summer corn, principally those of
oats and barley, often occurring also in the haulms
of grasses. They keep between the awns, and suck
the juices of the soft developing grains, which are
rendered incapable of growth, and in any case remain
light. The maggots of the second generation develop
more quickly than those of the first or third ; they are
mature in three weeks. The pupa rest is very short,
and the flies appear in August, September, or October.
They lay their eggs on the leaves of winter corn or
winter grasses, and from these eggs are developed
(3) the maggots of the third generation, which are to
be found, during September and October, in the heart
of winter corn and grasses, injuring these plants in
exactly the same way that the maggots of the first
generation injure the summer corn. The insect passes
the winter as a pupa in winter corn plants or grasses.
It is but very rarely that all three generations infest
the corn of any particular region ; as a rule, only the
first, second, or third generations do this, or the first
and third ; in such cases the other generations live on
grasses. Remedies : Extermination of the insect is.
impossible, since it can always go from corn to grass
plants. Oats and barley are almost always attacked
in spring, if in the immediate neighbourhood there is
winter rye inhabited by the maggots, for the flies,
when they emerge the next spring, seek out the
summer corn. This may, however, be made im-
possible, or at least difficult, if a field of peas, clover,
lupines, rape, or some other crop not of gramineous
nature, is interposed between fields of winter corn
and those of oats, barley, or similar late sown crops
of summer corn. Sowing the summer corn (especially
oats and barley) as early as possible.

INSECTS.

185

Family : Syrphidae {Hover or Hawk Flies).

Chiefly includes brightly coloured Hies, marked
with yellow or red and black bands or patches (Fig.
(37), and flying rapidly with a buzzing noise. They
can remain suspended at the same point in the air by
moving their wings up and down with great rapidity.
A few of them resemble the humblebee in their thick
covering of hair ; others, with yellow and black abdo-
men, look like wasps ( Syrphus ). The proboscis is
adapted for sucking, but not for piercing ; these flies
suck their food from flowers. They are fond of hover-
ing in the air in sunny places. The legless larvae vary,
according to species, in their habits, and consequently
in their structure. Some (those of the Drone Flies,
Eristalis) live in stagnant water ; others {e.g. those
of Humerus lunulatus) live in onions, which they
hollow out ; while some, again, develop in rotten
wood, etc. The maggots of the Aphis-eating Flies
(Syrphus), however, feed on insects, chiefly aphides,
which they suck out completely. They are elongated,
tapering in front, thickened behind, move like leeches,
and vary much in colour (green, yellow, brown,
chequered), according to the species. As they grow
quickly, and consequently more than one generation
is found each year, and as they are very voracious,
we must look upon them as powerful allies for the
extermination of aphides.

Family: Stomoxydae ( Stable Flies).

In many points the stable flies resemble ordinary
flies, but their mouths are adapted for piercing. Their
painful bites make them known to every one as
pests to human beings and cattle. Here belongs the
common Stable Fly ( Stomoxys calcitrans), a form often
confounded with the house tiy, but distinguished from
it by a sharp proboscis projecting at right angles,
besides which the abdomen is more of a yellowish

186

ZOOLOGY.

grey. The maggots usually live in dung. Two
generations yearly : the first flies about in March ; the
second, and much more numerous one, in August and
September. Remedies: Cp. p. 165.

Family: (Estridse (Bot Flies).

Medium-sized or large flies (Fig. 121), with thick
hemispherical heads, and mouth-parts not strongly
developed. The antennse can be drawn back into
deep pits. The bot flies make a buzzing sound during
flight. The headless, twelve-ringed maggots live in
the bodies of various mammals. Their skin is provided
with numerous wart-like projections, or circlets of
spines. When very young the maggots are elongated
and cylindrical, and then possess a mouth-hook, which
disappears during the later moults. As soon as the
maggots are fully developed they leave the body of
the animal they inhabit, and let themselves fall to the
ground, where they become pupae within the shrivelled
larval skin.

The following genera are distinguished: Warble
Elies ( Hypoderma ), and Bot Flies ( (Estrus and Gastrus ,
or Gastrophilus). To the first-named genus belongs
the

Ox Warble-fly, or Ox Bot Ely (. Hypoderma bovis ),

two-fifths of an inch long, black. Hair : whitish
yellow on the head ; reddish yellow on the fore part
of the thorax, black on the hinder part ; grey on the
fore part of the abdomen, black in the middle, and
reddish yellow behind. Legs black. Wings brownish,
not quite transparent.

On the wing during summer (June to September).
As soon as the cattle hear the flies buzzing around
(especially on hot days) they become very restless,
run about as if mad, and even plunge down steep
places. Young cattle are selected for egg-laying;

INSECTS.

187

the elongated white eggs are fixed separately to hairs.
The maggot, elongated when first hatched, perforates
the skin, and sets into the subcutaneous connective
tissue, where it does not, as a rule, keep to any one
place, but wanders here and there, sometimes pene-
trating the flesh, or even entering the spinal canal. It
always, however, wanders back again later on into
the subcutaneous connective tissue, where it gives rise,
during the winter or the following spring, to one of
the well-known tumours, or “ warbles.” After fixing
on a definite spot, it moults, becoming broader, and of
a yellowish- white colour. The maggot first causes
an increased flow of blood to the part, and then
inflammation. An excavation filled with matter is
thus developed, and there is gradually formed a con-
nective tissue sac communicating with the exterior
by a minute tube. In spring, or early summer, the
warble, which is visible externally, has reached the
size of a pigeon’s egg ; the maggot meanwhile becomes
first greyish yellow, then brown patches appear, and
lastly it assumes a dark brown colour, is an inch long
or rather more, and somewhat swollen. It is now
ready to pass into the resting stage, crawls out, and
lets itself fall to the ground, where, within the
larval skin, it becomes a black pupa four-fifths of an
inch long, from which, about four weeks later, the fly
creeps out. Damage done : If the warbles occur only
in small numbers on an animal, its health is not much
affected, though this must undoubtedly be the case if
there are many, say fifty, or even up to a hundred, in
the same animal. In such cases the yield of milk will
be considerably diminished. Holes, too, are present
in the skin, which, though they may close again, if the
animal remains alive, always leave a thin place. The
outer surface of meat from animals infested with
warbles is dirty yellow, flaccid, or even soft and jelly-
like (“ licked beef”) ; it must be scraped off. Enemies :
Starlings settle, in spring, on the backs of infested

188

ZOOLOGY.

cattle, and seize the parasites with their beaks. Star-
lings, rooks, and wagtails destroy the maggots ready to
become pupsc, as they lie on the ground. Remedies :
Washing the back, shoulders, and loins with vinegar
extract of walnut leaves during the summer, to keep
away the bot flies. In spring : squeezing out the
maggots from the warbles, having previously opened
them, when necessary, with a penknife. If the warble
is “ ripe,” i.e. if it has opened so far that the black
hinder end of the maggot can be seen, the opening
may be stopped with fat or cart-grease, by which the
larva will be killed where it lies.

The Sheep Bot Fly ( CEsti ms ovis),

two-fifths to three-quarters of an inch long, yellowish
grey, almost hairless ; head large, round, reddish ;
thorax grey, with small black warts ; abdomen
yellowish white ; legs short, bright ; wings of a
glassy clearness. The flies are found (in September)
on the walls of sheep-folds, and in woods near
which sheep graze. On sunny days the female flies
round the sheep, in order to deposit her brood upon
them. The sheep threatened press their nostrils
to the ground, though this is not of much use.
The maggots are hatched while still in the body
of their mother, and are deposited by her on the
margins of the nostrils. These little maggots creep
about on the mucous membrane lining the internal
cavities of the nose, causing intolerable itching. The
sheep try to get rid of the intruders by shaking their
heads and rubbing their noses on the ground. The
maggots, however, creep further into the nasal cavities,
and get into the hollows of the frontal bone and upper
jaw, perhaps even into the horns. In these places
they feed on the fluid which their presence causes
the mucous membrane to give out in large quantities.
The maggots remain as such for nine months, during

INSECTS.

189

which time they alter their shape in various ways.
Those just bom are white, one-twenty-fifth of an inch
long, while those which have reached the length of two-
fifths of an inch are yellowish white. Individuals
ready to become pupae are about an inch long, yellowish
brown, with dark transverse lines ; they wander back
to the nasal cavities and thence to the exterior, often
being expelled by sneezing. In the soil they become
pupae, first of a brown, then of a black colour, within
the larval skin ; the flies emerge in six or seven weeks.
Different maggots develop at different rates, accord-
ing to the nature of the cavities into which they
penetrate.

The maggots cause the disease known as “ false
gid,” which appears most obviously from March to
May; at this time the parasites are tolerably well
developed. They irritate the mucous membrane of
the cavities of the head in which they live, causing an
unusually large flow of blood to these parts, as a result
of which the mucus secreted in the nose increases
largely in quantity (sneezing, snuffling), and the brain
begins to work abnormally (uneasy movements of the
head, high lifting of the feet ; in worse cases, rolling
of the eyes, gnashing of the teeth, and foaming at the
mouth). The sheep have also an intolerable itching of
the nose, which they rub in consequence on the ground,
against posts, or their own legs; besides this, there
may be inflammation of the eyelids and increased
secretion of tears. They are also apt to grow very
thin. The disease is more frequent, and the symptoms
severer, in young than in old sheep. False gid may
cause death ; the animal is cured, however, after the
maggots have crept out. Preventive Measures : Keep-
ing the sheep away from the edges of woods, avenues,
etc., where the flies live by preference. When sheep
are killed, the maggots coming from the head should
be collected and destroyed. Smearing the margins of
the nostrils with tar, or rubbing them with walnut

190

ZOOLOGY.

leaves, before the sheep go to pasture in the morning.
For sheep, which in late summer rub their noses up
and down tree-stems, walls, hedges, or their own legs,
substances that cause sneezing may be employed,
e.g. cheap snuff, which is best introduced into the
nose by means of a quill-feather. Later on, when
the maggots have passed from the nasal cavities into
the frontal sinuses, etc., sneezing does no good. Opera-
tions seldom succeed in removing all the maggots.

The Bot Flies ( Gastrus , or Gastrophilus ) live in
various parts of the stomach (in left side of horse’s

Fig. 121.— Horse Bot Fly (Gastrus equi): a, egg on a hair, strongly magnified ; c,
younger (magnified), and b, older larva; d, opened pupa-case ; e, fly.

stomach) and intestine. I give, first of all, a compressed
tabular view of the external characters and mode of
life of the four British species. (See next page.)

Diseases caused by Bot Flies.— The maggots bore
into the walls of the stomach and intestines until they
reach the layer in which the blood-vessels, lacteals,
and lymphatics ramify; they then suck the juices
found in these vessels, and also serous fluids. In
small numbers they are often almost harmless, but
when a great many are present they hinder the secre-
tion of the digestive juices. They may also set up
inflammation of the intestinal coats, or may cause
death by internal bleeding if they perforate the wall
of an artery. In foals they often bore right through
the wall of the intestine, and enter the abdominal
cavity, where they may set up inflammation of the
peritoneum or of the mesentery. There may be as

INSECTS

191

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192

ZOOLOGY.

many as a hundred or two hundred maggots in the
stomach or intestine, and they then cause, at the very
least, digestive disturbances and colic. If the maggots
(6r. nasalis) get into the windpipe (or larynx) they
interfere with the breathing ; if into the gullet, with
swallowing. In either case death may ensue (winter,
early spring). Remedies : Killing the flies as they
lay their eggs. Removing the eggs by brushing,
combing, and washing ; the last is best done with
warm water, to which some caustic potash is added.
Rubbing the lips and nostrils, neck, chest, and fore
legs with walnut leaves, or a decoction of the same.

Family : Pupipara ( Louse Flies).

Body flat and broad; skin leathery and tough.
Fore legs curved, adapted for climbing among the
hairs. Some (e.g. the Forest Fly) have a pair of
wings, others (the Sheep Louse Fly) are wingless.
They bring forth living maggots, each time one only,
which is ready to become a pupa immediately. They
reproduce several times. Here belong : 1. The Forest
Fly, Spider Fly, or Flat Fly ( Hippobosca equina), about
one-third of an inch long, brown, with broad abdomen,
and two broad stumpy wings. Occurs in summer and
early autumn, chiefly on horses, especially near the
anus, on the belly, and on the flanks. It sucks blood,
and irritates by running about on the body. Seldom
flies. 2. The Sheep Louse Fly, wrongly called “ sheep
louse ” and “ sheep tick 55 ( Melophagus ovinus) ; about
one-fifth of an inch long, wingless, rusty yellow, with
brown abdomen, very hairy. Climb slowly about
among the wool of the sheep, and suck blood. Their
excrement may colour the wool green. Lambs espe-
cially are much hindered in their growth by this fly.
The fleece is also damaged, for the itching set up by
the insect forces the animal to rub itself against
things so that the wool gets pulled out. The flies are

INSECTS.

193

chiefly found on meadow sheep ; but relatively few in
winter. The parasites leave the body of their host for
the purpose of reproduction, and lay their maggots,
which at the time of birth are nearly one-sixth of an
inch long, under little bits of earth or heaps of dung.
When sheep are kept in folds no permanent result
can consequently be expected from the use of any
remedy if, at the same time, the fold and all its con-
tents are not kept clean. The walls must be cleansed,
and washed with caustic potash, to which carbolic
acid has been added. Curative Washes : A decoction
of walnut leaves and vinegar. Turpentine, soapsuds,
decoction of tobacco. Washes containing arsenious acid
( e.g . Bigg’s Improved Sheep and Lamb Dipping Com-
position) must be used with caution ; unpalatable sub-
stances may be added, so that the sheep will not lick
them, or else a muzzle may be employed.

Ninth Order: Aphaniptera (Fleas).

Body strongly compressed laterally. Head small.
Mouth-parts adapted for sucking and biting. Legs
long, especially the last pair. They possess the power
of springing. Wingless. Complete metamorphosis.
Larva worm-like, legless, hard-headed. The Dog Flea
(Pulex serraticeps ), which only occasionally passes
on to human beings, lives on dogs and cats. Remedy :
Sprinkling the moistened hair with Persian insect
powder or powdered parsley seed.

Tenth Order : Parasita (Lice).

Body flattened. Legs adapted for climbing among
hairs and feathers, as the last joint of the foot is hook-
shaped, and can be bent back against the preceding
joint ; a hair can thus be held fast between the two
joints. Eyes absent or ill-developed (simple). Wing-
less. The eggs (“nits”) are fastened by the mother
louse to the hairs of the host ; the young lice resemble

o

194?

ZOOLOGY.

the old ones in almost all particulars ; there is no true
metamorphosis. All lice have a kind of proboscis,
which can be protruded and retracted, and upon which
are placed the mouth-parts, which enable it to be used
for sucking or biting. According to the last feature

fig. 122.— Horse Louse nourished. It is obvious that the

in large numbers, may cause an intolerable and in-
jurious itching by their movements here and there.
Preventive Measures: Suitable feeding and treat-
ment. Proper care of the skin. Remedies : Repeated
combing with a comb which has been dipped into
a solution of soda. Rubbing the badly infested
spots with soft soap and soda, washing them out after
twenty-four hours. Among other washes are — 6 parts
soft soap, 1 part benzine, 10 to 15 parts water; or
tobacco water, 1 part of common tobacco in 20 to 25
parts water ; arsenious acid, in various mixtures, e.g. in
Bigg’s Composition (p. 193). Employ the muzzle.

a distinction can be drawn be-
tween true or blood-sucking lice
and biting lice or fur-eaters, which
devour small scales derived from
the skin or else bits of hair and
feathers. Lice multiply very
rapidly on the bodies of human
beings and animals when insuffi-
ciently cleansed, and under these
circumstances more on sick and
ill-nourished individuals than on
those which are healthy and well

cephaius ), magnified ten true, blood-sucking lice usually
time&' injure their host more than the

biting lice, which, however, especially when present

times.

SCORPIONS, SPIDERS, MITES.

195

CLASS II.: MYRIOPODA (CENTIPEDES AND

MILLIPEDES).

Respiration by tracheae, as in insects. The body
consists of a head and a large number of very similar
segments, each of which possesses limbs. One pair of
antennae.

This class is divided into two orders : (1) that of
Centipedes ( Chilopoda ), with mouth-parts adapted for
seizing prey, and one
pair of legs to each
segment; (2) that of
Millipedes ( Ghilog -

natha), adapted for de-
vouring substances re-
sembling humus, also
the parts of plants ;
and tivo pairs of legs
to each segment. Here
belong, above all, the
Snake Millipedes (Julies) or “ False Wireworms”
(Fig. 123), of which several species eat out germi-
nating seeds (peas, beans, mangolds, and beet), and
also attack juicy plant parts (potatoes, turnips,
carrots). Seedlings may be protected by using
potatoes to draw away the millipedes.

Fig. 123. — Common Snake Millipede
(Julus terrestris ), somewhat magnified.

CLASS III.: ARACHN OIDEA (SCORPIONS,
SPIDERS, MITES).

Air-breathing (by ordinary or modified tracheae) ;
the lower forms breathe with the skin. Body at most
consists of two chief regions, since head and thorax
are always fused together, making up a cephalothorax
(Fig. 124); but this may again be united with the
always unsegmented abdomen into a single piece

196

ZOOLOGY.

(Fig. 127). The last is the case with the mites, in
which, therefore, the characters of segmented animals

can only be recognized in the
limbs. In the true spiders (Fig.
124) the body consists of cepha-
lothorax and abdomen. Arachnids
have always four pairs of legs,
which, in the true spiders, are
attached to the cephalothorax, in
the mites to the front part of
the unsegmented body.

The chief Orders belonging
here are : (1) true Spiders (Ara-
neida) ; (2) Scorpions ( Scorpio -
nida) ; (3) Harvestmen ( Opilio -
nida) ; (4) Mites (. Acaridea ). Only the last contains
species of importance agriculturally.

Order : Acaridea (Mites).

Small arachnids, in which the cephalothorax and
abdomen are fused together into one piece (Fig. 127).
The just-hatched young have three pairs of legs, the
adults, of course, four.

Family: Acaridse ( True Mites).

Soft skin. No trachese, no eyes. Legs short, often
with a sucker at the end. Here belong the Cheese
Mite ( Acarus siro), the Meal Mite (: Tyroglyphus farinoe ),
and several other species living in dead organic sub-
stances; also —

The Itch, or Mange Mites.

These live as parasites on or in the epidermis, and
cause the itch or mange (scabies) in man, as well as in
several domestic animals. By means of the structure
and habits three genera are distinguished : —

1. Digging, blood-sucking mange-mites living in
the skin ( Sarcoptes ) ;

Fig. 124. — A Spider
( Salticus scenicus ).

MITES.

197

2. Blood-sucking mange-mites living on the outer
surface ( Dermatocoptes ) ;

3. Mange-mites which merely devour scales of the

epidermis ( Dermatophagus ).

It is obvious that sarcoptic scabies is not so easily
cured in the same host as the dermatocoptic scabies,
since the mites causing the former dig their passages

Fig. 125. — Mange Mite of the Pig (Sarcoptes scabiei, var. sms),
seen from the ventral side.

into the epidermis, while those causing the latter at
least remain on the surface. Dermatophagic scabies
is most easily got rid of, since the mites which
cause it not only remain on the outer surface of the
skin, but also, instead of holding fast, run about here
and there; it is easily understood that this kind of
mange can often be removed by simple brushing.

198

ZOOLOGY

The itch, or mange (scabies), is caused by the irrita-
tion which the mites continually exert on the skin.
The warmer the surroundings of the host, the more
active the mites, and the more painful the skin

\

Fig. 126. — Mange Mite of the Pig ( Sarcoptes scabiei, var. siiis),
seen from the dorsal surface, x 200.

disease. (The scarcoptes mites, e.g ., are most un-
endurable in man when in bed, and scabby sheep are
most tormented when in a warm fold.) The mites

MITES.

199

multiply with such enormous rapidity that it is easy
to understand how a single fertilized female, trans-
ferred to a new host by contact with an affected
animal, is able, in a short time, to make large patches
of the skin mangy. The course of the disease is
generally as follows: — Soon after infection small
swellings appear, which become little bladders of the
size of a pin’s head. These burst, and the affected
parts of the skin are quickly covered with a crust
formed from shrivelled bits of skin and dried-up fluid.
In many places the attacked parts of the skin are
moist, for the host, in consequence of the severe
itching, rubs or knocks itself. In consequence of the
shedding of fluid the hairs stick together, and later on
fall out. The skin thickens, becomes encrusted, and
is thrown into folds, between which there are deep
cracks. Among domesticated animals the sheep is
certainly the one which suffers most from scabies
( Dermatocoptes ), especially as the disease spreads
rapidly in the warm sheltering fleece, which also
makes the removal of the parasites a matter of the
greatest difficulty. The wool gets dry and brittle in
the diseased parts, and its fibres become loose, though
they remain attached for a short time, since their tips
are glued together by the sticky substance which
exudes from the little thickenings in the skin. They
gradually fall out, however, leaving the skin covered
with a thick brownish crust, looking as if it were
soaked with oil. Badly infested sheep get thin and
even die. This, however, is not usually the case, and
the injury consists in the great deterioration of the
wool, both as regards quantity and quality.

The following summarizes the kinds of scabies
affecting man and domestic animals, and indicates
how far one kind of host can affect another : —

Itch of Man ( Sarcoptes ) can be caught by the dog,
but by no other domestic animal.

Scabies of the Horse. — The sarcoptes mange of this

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ZOOLOGY.

animal is contagions for man, and for the ox, but no
other domestic animal. The dermatocoptes mange
(found more particularly on the inner sides of the
legs, and on the genital organs, tail, and mane) does
not spread to man or to other domestic animals. Nor
is this the case with the dermatophagus mange of the
horse (on the fetlocks and adjacent parts of the legs).

Scabies of the Ox. — The dermatocoptes mange of
the ox (chiefly affecting the sides of the neck and
root of the tail) spreads to men and horses, but not to
sheep. The dermatophagus mange (principally on the
root of the tail and near the anus) does not seem to
be transmitted to man, horse, pig, or dog.

Scabies of the Sheep. — The dermatocoptes mange of
sheep is not transmitted as a permanent disease to
man, nor to other domestic animals (with the exception
of the goat). The sarcoptes mange of the sheep
(chiefly on the head) causes the itch in man.

Scabies of the Pig (Sarcoptes) is contagious for the
dog, and causes an eruption in man.

Scabies of the Dog (Sarcoptes) can be caught by
man, pig, and horse.

Scabies of the Cat (Sarcoptes) is contagious for man,
horse, ox, dog, and rabbit.

Scabies of the Rabbit (Sarcoptes) is contagious for
man, but this is not so with the dermatocoptes mange,
which flourishes in the external passage of the ear in
the rabbit.

Scabies of the Fowl (Sarcoptes), which affects the
legs of hens, causing thickening of the skin and
formation of large spongy crusts, may infect horses.
Hen-houses should not be built in stables.

Remedies. — From the foregoing facts relating to
the transmission of scabies from one host to another,
the preventive measures at once follow: A mangy
animal must not be allowed to come into contact
either with another animal of the same kind or with
an animal of any other kind for which the disease in

MITES.

201

question is contagious. If scabies appears in a few
members of a flock or herd, it is absolutely necessary
to separate the healthy animals from the sick ones, —
and it is further necessary to cleanse and disinfect
places where mangy animals have been kept, as well
as implements or machines which they have touched,
before sound animals are brought near such things.
Cleansing of folds, etc., with hot water, followed by
six weeks’ disuse. Cleansing of infected implements
with hot soda and water. The first important thing
to ascertain is whether a sick animal, which has the
external symptoms of scabies, is really affected ; in
order to determine this the mange-mites must be
found. If the mites cannot be found on the suspected
animal, it must be brought into a warm stall and
covered over; especial care must be taken to warm
the places where the skin seems worst attacked ;
warmth makes the mites more active, and induces
them to come to the surface. Sarcoptic mites are
the worst. I will deal but briefly with the treatment
of mangy animals, as it is usually best to obtain the
advice of a veterinary surgeon. External applications
must naturally be employed. It appears from the
investigations of Vogel that corrosive sublimate and
arsenic kill the mange-mites less rapidly and there-
fore less surely than creosote, carbolic acid, benzine,
tar, caustic potash, and tobacco, or even soft soap.
Zurn recommends a thorough smearing of soft soap
on the parts affected. The soap is allowed to remain
for some time, even for a whole day, the infested
spots are then rubbed with hot water, and brushed,
if possible, until the crust on the skin disappears.
Other remedies may now be employed. As such,
Ztirn mentions creosote, diluted with spirit or oil
(1 : 25). Also, among other things, the following
are recommended — benzine shaken up with water
(1 : 5-10), or a solution of 1 part caustic potash in
30 to 40 parts of water. The above and several

202

ZOOLOGY.

other remedies can be used with good results in
combating scabies in most of our domestic animals.
But there is more difficulty with sheep than with
other animals, for the fleece is a hindrance to the
beneficial action of the wash employed. It is not
possible to make the sheep quite healthy so long as
they remain unshorn. Till then, the efforts made
must be directed to preventing the spread of the
mange. This is managed in the following way. The
crust is scraped from the parts attacked, after the
loose wool which covers them has been removed.
The mangy places are then rubbed with a decoction
of tobacco leaves with carbolic acid (1 part carbolic
acid to 15 parts spirit and 60 parts water), or
with some other of the remedies named above. When
the sheep are shorn, first dip them in a solution
(2 parts soda, 1 part lime, and 50 parts water) by
which the crust on the affected places is softened ;
twenty-four hours later dip in a solution which will
kill the mites. A decoction of tobacco (1 part tobacco
to 12 parts water) may be used for this purpose, using
for each sheep about 1| pints of the fluid, to which
has been added drams carbolic acid and 6J drams
alcohol. The first washing must be followed by a
second, for the fluid destroys only the mites and not
their eggs. As the young mites are hatched out in
three to seven days, the dipping must be repeated
seven days afterwards.

Family: Ixodidae (Ticks).

Ticks are generally rather larger than the mites of
the preceding family. The skin is tough as leather.
The front part of the body is covered by a hard shield
above ; the skin of the hinder part, though tough,
is very extensible. The front end bears a sucking
apparatus formed by the pointed jaws, and by its
means the tick pierces the skin of man or animals

MITES.

203

and holds on fast. Ticks are chiefly found in sandy
soil, among bushes and shrubs, or among herbs. As
long as they remain on the ground they are tolerably
small (T]0 inch) and very active. They creep up
haulms and branches, and rest in a suitable spot till a
mammal or bird passes, when they attach themselves
to its hair or feathers by their legs, and bore into its
skin with their sharp mouth parts. Having thus
fixed themselves, they suck the blood
of their temporary host. The walls of
their stomach and intestine are ex-
tremely elastic, so that the tick, which
at first is only about one-tenth of an
inch long and one-sixteenth of an inch fig. 127.— The Dog Tick

, , , ° -1 . (Ixodes ricinus).

broad, becomes as big as a pea, or even
a garden bean. When the tick has sucked itself as full
as possible, it withdraws its mouth parts from the skin
of its host for the time being, and lets itself fall to the
ground, where it lies for many weeks without feeding.
The small and feeble legs of the tick are not able
to move the heavy, blood-filled body, and movements
do not take place for some time, till the greater part
of the imbibed blood has been digested and the tick
has shrunk once more to its normal size. What has
been said about the habits refers only to the female ;
the much smaller male never seems to pierce mammals,
and its food is not known. In pairing, it is found
attached to the under side of the female, remaining
there several days, even when the female is fixed to
the host. Egg-laying does not take place till the
host is quitted. As ticks draw blood from their host
their presence, in spite of the fact that they remain
but a short time, is not a matter of indifference,
especially if large numbers affix themselves to one
animal. Sheep and cattle become thin if daily
attacked in the meadows by many ticks. The
piercing of the skin causes a stinging sensation,
followed later on by itching of the parts to which the

204

ZOOLOGY-

ticks are attached. The ticks which are fixed must
never be seized and pulled out, for the mouth parts
are so deeply imbedded in the skin that it is impos-
sible to remove them by force, and the attempt would
only result in tearing the body from the mouth parts.
A better plan is to put a drop of oil or tobacco-water,
or, still better, benzine, on the tick, when it will
loosen itself. We distinguish between the Dog Tick
(. Ixodes ricinus), the Sheep Tick (I. reduvius), and the
Ox Tick (/. reticulatus) , which, however, are not
found exclusively on the animals after which they
are named. The first, although found most commonly
on the dog, attacks men who force their way through
underwood (hunters), and in the same way fixes on
sheep and oxen. The last two species are chiefly, but
not exclusively, found on sheep and goats.

Family ; Gamasidee (. Beetle Mites).

Beetle mites are temporary parasites on insects,
reptiles, and birds. They have no eyes, but possess
shear-like jaws, and tolerably long hairy legs. The
Beetle Louse ( Gamasus coleoptratorum) lives on dung
beetles, sexton beetles, etc.

The Fowl Mite ( Dermanyssus gallince) is the size of
a sand grain, and blood-red or red- brown in colour.
During the night it is found in large numbers on the
fowls, but during the day hides on the perches, in the
nests, and particularly in the chinks and crannies in
the walls of the poultry-house, also in dung. It draws
much blood from the fowls, and disturbs their sleep
by producing a constant itching, the result being
that they get very thin. Remedy : Whitewash the
fowl-houses twice a year (autumn and spring) with
hot lime to which 5 per cent, of carbolic acid has been
added. The wooden parts should be scalded with
boiling water before whitewashing.

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205

Family : Trombidiidae (Running Mites).

Body four-cornered or longish oval; legs toler-
ably long, hairy; jaws claw or needle-shaped; surface
of the skin velvety ; colour reddish or yellowish.
They run about with great rapidity on the ground,
tree trunks, leaves, etc. Most species feed on the
juices which they suck from insects, or from other
arachnids.

The Plant Mite, or Red “ Spider”

( Tetranychus telarius),

is ovoid, at most one-fiftieth of an inch long ; reddish
(also yellowish or brownish), with a dark spot on
each shoulder. Plant mites are often found in con-
siderable numbers during the summer, especially on
the under sides of the leaves of low-growing plants ;
on garden beans, turnips, and hops ; on several
ornamental plants, grasses, and various weeds ; on
roses, limes, horse-chestnut trees, elms, willows, and
fruit trees. In some exceptionally dry summers the
mite increases to such an extent as to become a great
pest. On the upper sides of the infested leaves
there is to be seen, besides the adult and immature
mites, a whitish, mealy substance, consisting of the
cast skins and whitish eggs. Many of the mites run
about here and there, but most of them remain fixed,
and suck the sap. All are covered by a delicate web,
which is formed by the animal. The attacked leaves
become limp, shrivel up, die, and fall off. In dicoty-
ledonous plants the withering generally commences
in the axils of the veins. The infested plants often
die off gradually, but death may also take place with
great rapidity. Annuals are often killed by the
attacks of the mite. The mites pass the winter in
the ground, under fallen leaves, under the bark of
trees, etc.

206

ZOOLOGY.

CLASS IY. : CRUSTACEA (CRUSTACEANS).

The Crustacea breathe by gills, and are therefore
suited to an aquatic life. A few species, however,
live in damp earth, or in places where the air is
damp (wood lice). Crustacea have two pairs of
antennm, and a large number of appendages arranged
in a characteristic way, but differing very much in
shape in the different groups ; skin usually hard and
thick. Lobsters, crayfish, crabs, wood-lice, and the
small sand-hoppers, water-fleas, etc., belong to the
Crustacea. No Crustacean is harmful agriculturally.

Third Sub-Kingdom : VERMES (Worms).

Worms1 are bilaterally symmetrical animals, in
which the body is enclosed in a “ dermo- muscular
tube.” Under the delicate epidermis there is found
a layer, which does not, as in the higher animals,
consist exclusively of dermis, but is partly composed
of muscle-fibres, which form a distinct coat internally.
Worms are able to move by contracting the various
components of the dermo-muscular tube thus formed.
In some worms limbs assist in the movements, but in
others this is not so ; in any case, however, the limbs
play a relatively subordinate part. These limbs,
which are only present in the bristle-worms, are small,
always unjointed, foot-stumps, which bear bristles.
Leeches and some other worms possess suckers by
which they can attach themselves, and move by
alternately contracting and extending their bodies.

There are segmented and unsegmented worms
(thread-worms, liver-flukes) ; the degree of segmenta-
tion is also very various. In many tapeworms each

1 In ordinary language one understands by “worms” elongated,
cylindrical animals; and several insect-larvae ( e.g . “wireworms,”
p. 103) have the name applied to them. But to zoologists all “ worm-
shaped animals are not worms, nor have all worms an elongated
cylindrical shape (liver-fluke).

WORMS.

207

joint may be regarded as an individual animal. The
joints of other segmented worms (earthworms) do
not become detached, like those of tapeworms, for
the purpose of reproduction. The nervous system is
absent in the lowest worms; in the higher worms
ganglia always constitute its central parts, and in
annelids these are arranged in pairs on the ventral
side of the body, and united by nerve fibres into a
ventral cord, which is connected in front with a
nerve-ring surrounding the gut and thickened above
into cerebral ganglia. In many worms (e.g. tape-
worms and flukes) the nervous system is of much
simpler structure. The sub-kingdom of worms con-
tains a very large number of forms. It is only
necessary to mention here representatives of three
classes : Segmented worms (Annelida), round worms
(. N ematelminthes ), and flat worms (Platyelminthes).

CLASS: ANNELIDA (SEGMENTED WORMS).

Segmented worms with rounded (earthworm) or
flattened (leech) bodies, and possessing both mouth
and anus. They fall into two sub- classes : I. Leeches
( Discophora ), II. Bristle- worms (Chcetopoda). The
first possess suckers as organs assisting locomotion,
the latter foot-stumps, which bear longer or shorter
bristles ; but these foot-stumps may be absent, and
the bundles of bristles are then simply imbedded in
pits. The latter is the case in the only members of
the class which interest us here, i.e. the earthworms.

The Earthworms (Lumbricus).

There are several species in the genus, but all agree
in their habits. The body of the earthworm is slender
and cylindrical, tapering in front and somewhat
flattened behind. On the ventral side of the second
segment is found the opening of the mouth. There

20S

ZOOLOGY.

are no eyes, though these animals are sensitive to
the action of light. The earthworm is herma-
phrodite (p. 16) ; when two individuals pair they
mutually fertilize each other. On a warm summer
evening two adjacent worms creep half out or nearly
out of their burrows, and apply the front parts of
their bodies together, especially a reddish, swollen
part found at about the middle of the anterior half of
the body. In this region the glands in the skin are
very strongly developed, and secrete a substance
which surrounds the eggs as a capsule as they are
being laid. Earthworms are chiefly found in damp
humus, or, at any rate, not in very poor sandy soil
or clay. From time to time they carry their burrows
up to the surface in order to get rid of the undigested
remains (" worm castings ”) of the humus and vege-
table matters which have been taken into the body.
The burrows run down obliquely into the soil, or more
rarely vertically, to the depth of eight feet or more ;
they end in an enlargement, where the worm remains
coiled up during the winter, after having closed the
mouth of the burrow with a plug of leaves, twigs,
paper, straw, etc. Although the earthworm chiefly
subsists on the organic matters found in earth rich in
humus, it also devours the leaves of cabbage, onion,
and other plants, and especially seedlings (particularly
those of beet). It draws these parts of plants about
four-fifths of an inch into its burrow, and moistens
them there with an acid fluid it secretes, and which
acts upon them before they are taken into the body.
Earthworms may effect considerable damage by de-
stroying seedlings, particularly in damp fields, though
this damage is always local. A not inconsiderable
amount of benefit is to be set against this. By means
of the burrows which they dig earthworms cause air
to penetrate into the soil much better than it could
otherwise do, which is known to be of the greatest
importance for plant life. Earthworms are extremely

WORMS.

209

important owing to the large numbers in which they
are present in the soil, and for another reason besides
the one just given. Darwin shows that in many parts
of England a weight of ten tons of earth per acre
passes through the bodies of earthworms, and is
brought to the surface by them, so that in a few
years the entire humus-containing surface layer of
earth has passed through their bodies. They there-
fore prepare the soil in an excellent manner for the
growth of plants, by continually exposing it to the
air. They cause stones to sink in the soil by throwing
out at the top earth which naturally consists only of
particles small enough to pass through their intestines.
They play the part of gardeners by thoroughly
mixing together the particles of soil, and bury under
their castings, in a shorter time than one would
imagine, objects found on the surface of the soil
(bones, oyster-shells, dead animals, leaves). Plant-
food is quickly formed again from these buried
matters. Earthworms, therefore, play a very im-
portant part in the economy of nature ; indeed, many
regions, now occupied by luxuriant pastures or fertile
cornfields, would be a waste, had it not been for
them. Where, however, in damp spots they injure
seedlings, they may be collected, either during the day
after a warm rain, or in the evening, at which times
they lie half out of their burrows. If a decoction of
walnut leaves is poured into these, they will crawl
out. Enemies : Mole, shrews, hedgehog, toads and
frogs, ground beetles, rove beetles, mole crickets, centi-
pedes, etc.

CLASS: NEMATELMINTHES (POUND WORMS).

Body cylindrical, unsegmented; body wall tough,
hooklets or spines may be present on it, but deeply
imbedded bristles are always absent. The gut may

p

210

ZOOLOGY.

be absent (some parasites), but this is exceptional.
There are no special organs for circulation and respira-
tion. Sexes distinct in the large majority. I will
deal with only one of the orders belonging here.

Order : Nematoda (Thread Worms),

Elongated, thread-shaped or spindle-shaped, un-
segmented. A gut, terminating in a ventral anus, is
present. Outer investment of the skin smooth, often
weakly ringed or striated. The muscle layer under-
lying the true skin is interrupted here and there,
where the skin itself stretches further inwards. In
this way are distinguished the lateral lines or fields
(Fig. 128, a), which run right along the sides of the
body, dividing it into a dorsal and a ventral region.
There are often present as well two smaller but similar

Fig. 128. — Diagrammatic transverse section through the body of a Thread Worm,
internal organs being omitted : p, cuticle and skin ; q, muscle layer ; a, lateral
lines ; b, dorsal and ventral lines.

dorscd and ventral lines, respectively situated above
and below (Fig. 128, b). Mouth usually surrounded
by lip-like folds, but more or less distinct jaws may
also be present. The anus either lies at the apex of
the tapering posterior end of the body (trichina), or

WORMS.

211

further forward, on the ventral surface. Among the
Nematodes are included a number of relatively small
species, living free in the earth, and sucking plant-
parts, while other forms fairly closely related live
parasitically in plants, and often cause very serious
plant diseases ( e.g . Beet Eel worm) ; a larger number of
species are parasitic in animals. The free forms and
those parasitic in plants lay relatively few, but very
large, eggs, although, in several species, increase is
furthered by a succession of many generations in the
year. The Nematodes parasitic in animals lay very
numerous eggs, even several millions. Harmful
species are known from the following families :
1. Palisade Worms ( Strongylidce ), 2. Whip Worms
( Trichotrachelidce ), 3. Slender Thread Worms (Fi-
laridoe ), 4. the Round Worms ( Ascciridce ), 5. Eelworms
(A nguillulidce) .

I will successively treat of the harmful forms, but
since many species belonging to different families
infest the digestive organs of the different domesticated
animals, causing similar symptoms of disease which
may be dealt with in much the same way, the
following general sketch is first given : —

Nematodes in the Gut (more in young animals than
old) cause the following symptoms : (1) Appetite

variable. (2) Nutrition in general affected, even if
sufficient food is taken ; constipation or diarrhoea ;
belly much drawn in or else, and usually, swollen
out. The animal itself is thin, and has (except horse)
a tendency to vomit. (3) An itching all over the
body, especially at the nostrils and anus. The
animal rubs and bites the sides of its body. (4)
Tongue covered with a thick, soft, yellowish coating.
A sweet smell from the mouth. (5) The skin is
tense, lacking its usual elasticity. (6) The animal
suffers from spasmodic colic, and (7) disturbances of
the nervous system (whining or crying ; unrestrained
or suppressed fits). Remedies : Horses and cows

212

ZOOLOGY.

infested with thread worms may be given chopped
carrots, beets, and turnips, previously mixed with
sugar or crushed sugarcandy. Roasted oats are also
good. For sheep finely crushed glass, kneaded into
pills with bread, will always suffice. Gritty sand in
the food may also be of use. Pigs should be given
sour milk, acorns, unripe cheese, horseradish. For
dogs, sausages containing garlic, as much flesh food as
possible, strongly salted food, milk boiled with garlic.
In all cases iron may be given. The advice of a
veterinary surgeon should be sought in the matter
of medicines (tansy, male fern root, tartar emetic,
arsenious acid, etc.).

Family : Strongylidse (. Palisade Worms).

Spindle-shaped ; anus on the tip of the hind end of
the body ; in all thread worms the rectum and male
sexual organs open by a common cloacal opening,
which, in the palisade worms, is surrounded by an
umbrella, or cup-shaped apparatus (bursa), kept
expanded by means of muscular ribs (Fig. 129).

Here belong —

The Giant Palisade Worm, or Strongyle, (. Eustron -
gylus gigas). Female from a foot to thirty-nine
inches long, and as much as two-fifths of an inch
thick. Male six to sixteen inches long; reddish.
Lives in the cavity (pelvis) of the kidneys in horses,
oxen, dogs, and man ; causes degeneration of the
kidneys, with blood in the urine, nervous diseases,
and disturbance of the feelings and intelligence.

The Armed Palisade Worm, or Strongyle (, Strongylus
armatus), four-fifths of an inch to two inches long,
one twenty-fifth to one-twelfth of an inch thick ;
reddish brown. Taken into the gut of the horse with
the drinking water as a young, minute worm, it
bores through the walls of this organ into the blood-
vessels branching there. Later on it bores into the
walls of the larger arteries of the hinder part of the

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213

body, especially into those which carry blood to
the wall of the gut (particularly anterior mesenteric
artery). At those parts of the arterial walls where it
collects in large numbers, swellings (aneurisms) are
produced, varying from the size of a pea to that of a
hen’s egg. A constriction is often developed quite
close to this swelling, and a plug of fibrin may also

Fig. 129. — Tail of male Strongylus armatus, strongly magnified.

be formed within the artery, so that the circulation
in the wall of the gut is greatly hindered. As a
result of this the glands and muscles in the wall of
the digestive tube refuse their office, so that regular
digestion and onward movement of the food do not
take place. This leads to colic. As soon as the
strongyloid larvae have become adult, they pass from

214

ZOOLOGY.

the walls of the arteries into their cavities, and are
carried by the blood-stream to the walls of the gut,
which they penetrate in order to reach its cavity,
where (caecum and large intestine) they pair, after
which the female lays eggs, which are carried to the
exterior in the dung. The quickly hatched young
seek water, mud, or damp earth, where they live
until, by some means ( e.g . with the drinking water)
they manage to enter the gut of a horse or (more
often) ass. Preventive Measure: Horses and asses
must not be allowed to drink stagnant water.

The Stomach Palisade Worm, or Strongyle of the Sheep
(Strongylus contortus). Male one-half to two-thirds
of an inch, female three-quarters to four-fifths of an
inch long ; whitish or reddish, somewhat coiled at
both ends. The disease of the stomach, and diarrhoea,
which affect lambs, usually in spring, and result from
the presence of these worms in large numbers in the
true or fourth stomach, lead to emaciation, weakness,
and poverty of blood. Development unknown. Nutri-
tious food will cure lambs which are not very badly
infested, but hastens the death of those which are.

The Lung Worm of Lambs (Strongylus filaria).
Male an inch, female as much as three and a half
inches long, thread-shaped, white or yellowish. It
appears that the young worms are taken into the
stomach of a lamb (or sheep) with the drinking water ;
they are found there in May, June, and July. They
quickly climb back into the throat, from which they
get into the windpipe and its branches. There they
penetrate the mucous membrane, where, until they have
reached the sexual stage, they are found imbedded in
small swellings, which they quit at the end of winter
or the beginning of the next spring, if their host lives
so long. The female bears living young, which as
very minute worms may be met with by the hundred
in the mucous lining the windpipe and its branches.
A direct transference of the parasite from one sheep

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215

to another does not take place, since the young born
in the mucus secreted by the walls of the air-tubes must
first live and grow for some time in water or slime
before they are able to undergo further development
in the body of a sheep or lamb. The fate, however,
of the young worms which pass to the exterior in the
mucus is not yet sufficiently known. Symptoms of
Disease : Running of slime from the nose, difficulty
of breathing, cough, emaciation, poverty of blood.
Death ensues in from two to four months. Recovery
only of very strong individuals infested by com-
paratively few parasites, most of which they cough
out. Preventive Measures: In regions where the
evil is very prevalent the young sheep must not be
allowed to go into the meadows. If it is impossible
to keep them penned in, a little food and water may
be given before sending them to pasture in the
morning. In this way the danger of infection will be
somewhat lessened, since it is then less likely that
the animals will eagerly betake themselves to pools
and ditches in order to quench their thirst. Since
during the months May to July the young worms
(most probably taken in with the water drunk) are
found in the stomach, it is good during this time to
give vermifuges to the lambs and sheep. For
medicines a veterinary surgeon should be consulted.

The Small-tailed Palisade Worm, or Strongyle ( Stron -
gylus micrurus) . Thread-shaped; male one and two-
fifths, female two and two-fifths to two and four-fifths
of an inch long ; lives in oxen (especially calves) in
swellings of the arteries, also in the wind-pipe and its
branches. Severe bronchitis.

Family: Trichotrachelidse [Whip Worms).

Small, slender, elongated worms, with the anus or,
in the male, cloacal aperture at the hinder end of
the body ; the latter, however, is not — as in palisade

216

ZOOLOGY.

worms — surrounded by an umbrella or cup-shaped
expansion. Here belongs :

The Trichina ( Trichina spiralis).

In the sexual condition this lives as a minute worm
(male one-seventeenth, female one-eighth to one-sixth
of an inch long), the so-called “ intestinal trichina,” in
the gut of human beings and carnivorous mammals.
In this situation it brings forth living young (some
fifteen hundred in number), and the multiplication is
enhanced by the fact that of the very numerous
trichinae found in the gut there are, on the average,
about twelve females to every male. The young
trichinae bore into the walls of the gut, and are carried
by the blood-stream into the muscles. At first each
little worm extends itself longitudinally in a muscle
fibre, but, as it gets larger, curves and becomes spirally
twisted, so that the sheath (sarcolemma) of the fibre
is bulged more and more outwards. The growth of
the young trichina is very rapid — an individual only
2 J-q of an inch long before leaving the gut may attain
the length of one twenty-fifth of an inch in fourteen
days. It then grows no more, and the sheath of the
muscle-fibre gradually thickens to form a capsule or
cyst. Later on, in about a year, lime is deposited in
the capsule. The “ muscle trichinae ” retain their
vitality for several years. If now the host of the
muscle trichina is devoured by any other mammal,
the capsule is digested in the stomach of the latter,
and the once more liberated worm becomes a sexually
mature “ intestinal trichina ” in a few days. The pig
is the ordinary host of trichinae, which (without the
intervention of any other host) can be permanently
parasitic in this domestic animal, since pigs often
devour swine’s flesh. They often enough devour even
their own young, and, especially in large slaughter-
houses, swine are often fed with the offal of their

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217

companions. The trichinae also spread through the
body of any living being (men, rats)
which eats trichinous pork. The trichinae
thus introduced cause, in the human
subject, a dangerous or even fatal disease
known as trichinosis. The size of this
book does not permit me to describe the
symptoms of this complaint in man.

Pigs suffer much less from the parasite ;
they may even contain an enormous
number of trichinae in their muscles
without being noticeably ill. Symptoms
of disease, however, often appear more
or less clearly. A short time after
eating the trichinous meat the appe-
tite of the pigs is bad ; they appear

Fig. 130. — Encapsuled Muscle Trichirue in flesh
strongly magnified.

Fig. 131. — Male Intestinal
Trichina, strongly magnified

218

ZOOLOGY.

in bad spirits; the tail straightens out, and they
often remain standing with bent limbs and arched
backs. There may be, in addition, pains in the
abdomen, diarrhoea, and fever. Later on, when
the trichinae have settled down in the muscles, the
pigs suffer from stiffness in the legs and tenderness
in the loins ; they often cry out in pain. After this,
however, health and appetite may return, and they
can be fattened. Trichinous swine therefore appear
quite sound, and are slaughtered in due course. The
trichinae in the pig are found most abundantly in the
diaphragm, the masticatory, eye-, and other muscles
of the head, also in those of the neck, larynx, abdomen,
and loins. The fore part is more infested by trichinae
than the hinder part, but in very bad cases they are
found everywhere, even in the hams. Remedies :
(1) The swine must be prevented, as far as possible,
from taking up trichinae, and therefore must never
be given the offal from other slaughtered swine.
The flesh of trichinous swine should be burnt, and
not buried, lest dogs or other animals should eat it
and spread trichinosis. (2) Care must be taken that
no trichinous pork is eaten by human beings (micro-
scopic examination ; meat inspection). Pork (or
sausages) must never be used raw or half cooked.
Trichinae are killed by a temperature of 140° to 150° F.
The inside of the piece of meat must be exposed to
this temperature.

Family: Filaridae {Slender Thread Worms).

Elongated and thread-shaped. Round mouth. Do
not infest the gut or other cavities, but the tissues of
the body, chiefly connective tissue. None of the
species require notice here.

Family : Ascaridae ( Round Worms).

Relatively shorter than the worms of the preceding
family. Mouth triangular, surrounded by three teat-

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219

shaped lips. In the male the hinder end of the body
is usually bent in a hook-like manner. The anus is
not placed quite at the hind end of the body. All
the species inhabit the alimentary canal (Cf. p. 211).

Horse Worm (Ascaris megalocephala). Male six to
eight, female twelve to seventeen inches long ; some-
times occurs in great balls, causing stoppage.

Round Worm of Cat (Ascaris mystax). Male two to
two and two-fifths, female four and four-fifths to five
and one-fifth inches long; in the intestines of the
cat. Ascaris marginata infests the dog.

Pinworm ( Oxyuris curvula). Male one-fourth to
one-third, female one and four-fifths of an inch long.
In the rectum of the horse, causing persistent itching.

Family: Anguillulidse ( Eelworms ).

Extremely small, thin-skinned; lay only a few
relatively large eggs, which develop veiy quickly.
With few exceptions either earth eelworms (i.e. live
in decomposing organic matter or humus soil) or as
plant parasites leading to characteristic diseases of
wild and cultivated forms. All these parasitic forms
have a “ mouth spine.” This structure, found in the
mouth cavity, is very sharp and pointed in front, and
can be worked forwards and backwards so as to
penetrate the cell walls of plants. A mouth spine is
not only found in the species which infest plant tissues
(several species of Tylcnchus and Aphelenchus, as well
as all the known species of Hcterodera) , but also in
those forms living free in the earth which bore into
the exterior of plant roots (the remaining species of
Tylcnchus and Aphelenchus, Dorylaimus, etc.). In
all cases an eelworm, devoid of a spine, is not a plant
parasite. I will only deal with those parasites by
which well-known destructive diseases of cultivated
plants are caused. These belong to the genera Ty -
lenchus and Heterodera. The first remain eel-shaped

220

ZOOLOGY.

throughout life, but the adult females of the latter
swell out considerably and become lemon- or pear-
shaped.

The Stem Eelworm ( Tylenchus devastatrix ).

Length one-thirtieth to one-fifteenth of an inch long,
usually of intermediate size ; the two sexes of approxi-
mately equal length. Live and reproduce in various
cultivated plants ( e.g ., rye, oats, stored onions,
hyacinths, buckwheat, potatoes, clover, fuller’s teasel)
and wild plants (e.g., Pool annua, Anthoxanthum
odoratum, Dipsacus silvestris, Polygonum persicaria) ,
but not to the same extent in all. It must also be
added that eelworms of which the progenitors have
developed for a considerable number of generations in
the same plant, are not easily transferred to another
kind of plant, or at any rate do not multiply
vigorously there. Eelworms, of which the ancestors
have lived for many years exclusively in rye, or
alternately in rye and buckwheat, do not readily pass
over to seedling onions, and first only reproduce in
them to a small extent. The eelworms live only in
stems, branches, and leaves, never in roots. In the
places where they have penetrated the plant tissues
an abnormal growth in thickness of the parts involved
takes place, while the growth in length is either
much diminished or even entirely stopped. Also the
chlorophyll disappears sooner or later from the
attacked spots, and rapid death generally ensues.
.Since only those parts of an organ which are in-
habited by a large number of eelworms swell much,
it is obvious that cracks are often developed in the
stems and leaves concerned. It is further easily seen
that the species and constitution of the infested plants
will have an important influence on the progress of
the disease caused by the eelworms. But since several
generations of this parasite succeed one another

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221

during the same year, the resulting malformation is
usually very considerable. “ Clover sickness ” is
probably due to this eel worm.

I will treat in somewhat greater detail the Eelworm
Disease of rye, which is largely prevalent in West-
phalia and the Rhine provinces, and had already
made its appearance, in the latter at least, at the
beginning of the century.

The eelworms producing the disease migrate into
the soil on the ripening or death of the grain, and
later on go back to the new young rye plants or to
other plants in which they can live, as the case may
be. It is therefore clear that (1) where this disease
exists the soil is infected for a time, and (2), the
eelworm disease of rye principally appears in regions
where the culture of rye is carried on to excess.
Germination of the seed-corn goes on quite normally
in infected fields, and it is only exceptionally that
anything particular is noticed in the young plants of
winter rye during autumn and winter. The disease
appears at the beginning of spring. Some plants
soon become yellow and die : others appear to grow
very luxuriantly; they possess a beautiful bluish-
green colour and seem very healthy; later on they
develop enormously in breadth, and each separate
plant covers a relatively large area. The base of the
stem swells abnormally, so that the plant looks as if
it bore below an onion projecting above the ground.
This is caused by the lower joints of the haulm
remaining very short and thickening considerably,
causing the leaf-sheaths which surround the base of
the stem to become thicker and broader than usual.
The feeble development of roots is also characteristic.
The leaves generally remain short, but get very thick ;
they often become wavy, and may even appear frilled.
All the leaves, however, are not crumpled in this wa}" ;
a few remain quite normal, while others are small and
grass-like, but thick (Fig. 132). Later on, the tip of

cutna.6 r \

Fig. 132. — Rye plant in the later stage of the Eel%\ orm disease

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223

the haulm and the ear often do not come out of the
leaf- sheaths ; in other plants the ear may appear, but
remains small and deformed as well as the rest of the
haulm, while the grains which develop are small. A
number of shoots, however, may develop normally
and bear fruit. Badly infested plants quickly die,
some at the very beginning of spring, others later.

Where the disease is very bad it may easily be
recognized by its characteristic distribution. A
number of bare places are noticed in spring on the
infected fields; round about these places still living
but badly diseased plants may be noticed, and the
symptoms of attack are less obvious the further one
goes from the bald spots.

On the death of the rye-plants the eelworms mostly
travel back to the soil, but sundry eggs and larvae
stop in the dried-up remains. Bye straw may further
infect a diseased field by getting into farmyard
manure and being brought back again with it; for
the eelworms (at any rate as eggs and larvae) are
killed neither by drying nor by the action of dung
and other decaying substances. Strongly infected
spots (bare patches) on an infested field are usually
the places where dung containing diseased rye-straw
has lain for some time. From such centres the
spreading of the eelworms takes place : (1) actively
by the migration of the worms, (2) 'passively by rain,
the feet of labourers, the hoofs of horses, field imple-
ments, etc. ; also (on loose soils) by the wind, which
not only blows about particles of earth, but also the
dried-up larvae which are always found on the surface
of the ground. As the eelworms multiply very
rapidly whenever they are in the plants, and as the
means of distribution are very numerous, the disease
spreads with great rapidity.

Remedies. — Proper rotation; limitation of the culture
of rye, growing in place of it carrots, turnips, or
lupines. Now and then (but not too frequently),

224

ZOOLOGY.

potatoes, buckwheat, clover, and oats may be culti-
vated in the fields affected, at any rate before sowing
rye again. Abundant manuring, especially with
sulphates of potash, ammonia, and iron. Deep culti-
vation of the soil, since the eelworms find no food in
the deeper, damper layers of the soil, nor can they
pass into the dried condition, and so must die.

Oats suffer from eelworms just in the same way
as rye.

Clover Sickness is marked by short stunted shoots,
and whitish rounded buds, often remaining closed ;
also by the whitish colour and abnormal thickening
of the shoots and buds.

Eelworm Disease of Potatoes. — Crumpling and small
growth of the parts above ground. In many cases
there may even be no potatoes at all, or only small
ones, poor in starch, though sometimes they may be
tolerably large. On the surface of the tubers there
are discoloured rotten spots, not penetrating deeply,
and usually (but not always) at the attached end.
These dark patches contain the eelworms.

Eelworm Disease of Buckwheat. — Joints of the stem
for the most part much thickened, but abnormally
short. In many cases a large amount of branching
in the lower part of the stem, usually at a place where
it bears a nodular swelling. Branches generally short.
There may be twists and bends in the stem and
branches. Often, but not always, the formation of
flowers and fruit is stopped. The thickened parts
of the stem are brittle ; they contain the eelworms
in their interior.

The Wheat Eelworm

(Tylenchus scandens = T. tritici).

Length of the male about one-twelfth of an inch, of
the female one-tenth to one-fifth of an inch (according
to the size of the galls in which the eelworms develop).
The wheat eelworm is the cause of “ ear cockles, also

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225

known as “ peppercorns ” and “purples.’’ In several
parts of the ear short thick dark-brown galls (Fig.
133), resembling the seeds of corn-cockle, are found
instead of wheat grains. Inside the thick brown
shell there is a yellowish-white mass, containing
hundreds or even thousands of eelworm larvae (one
thirty-first to one twenty-seventh of an inch long).
These are quite dry and rigid, but gradually revive
on moistening, even if the black galls have remained
twenty years in the dried-
up condition. When the
wheat is ripe the dark-
walled galls are gathered in
with the crop, and in many
cases are sown again with
the sound grains. The
brown shell then decays, and
the eelworm larvae leave the gall, travelling to a
neighbouring wheat seedling, where they live between
leaf sheath and haulm, also penetrating into the
terminal bud. The haulm of a wheat plant infested
by many eelworms remains relatively short, the leaves
are often sharply bent and have wavy margins.
Wheat plants thus infested closely resemble rye
plants diseased in a similar way, but are much less
deformed. This is because the wheat eelworms do
not reproduce till they reach the ear, and there is
consequently only one generation per year, wThile
several generations of eelworms succeed one another
in the same rye plant. The eelworms quickly travel
from all parts of the plants into the ears, and get into
the rudiments of the flowers, causing them to swell
up like bladders, and their walls to become first dark
green, and then dark brown. Sixteen to twenty
eelworms are present in the lowest flowers of the
ear, ten to twelve in those higher up (and therefore
smaller), and four to six in the topmost (smallest)
ones. Soon after entering the flowers the eelworms

Q

Fig. 133. — Ear Cockles of Wheat ; the
third shows the eelworm larvaj on its
cut surface.

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227

become sexually mature, and lay eggs (600 to 1600),
from which are developed the larvae that inhabit later
on the cockle-seed like galls. The disease is known
in England, Germany, France, and Italy, and is
especially harmful in Saxony, where it sometimes
attacks a quarter of the wheat crop. Remedies :
Either there should be no ear-cockles in the seed corn,
or else the eelworms should be destroyed in them. The
infested grain may either be put through a sieve, or else
soaked for twenty-four hours in weak sulphuric acid
(one pint strong acid to thirty-three gallons of water),
when many of the galls float and can be skimmed off,
while the eelworms are killed in those which sink.

The Beet Eelworm (. Heterodera Schachtii ) 1

is the cause of the “ beet sickness ” of the soil. The
course of the disease is as follows. At the end of
July light-coloured patches are found here and there
among the normally developed beet. The leaves are
weak and limp, and the outer ones especially get
yellow, spotted, and die off. Later on the inner
leaves die as well, after which the top of the beet
becomes black and the whole root gradually decays.
In less severe cases the beet may recover towards
autumn and develop new heart leaves, but the roots
remain small and the crop is poor, often being only
one-third of its normal amount. Kuhn has proved
by infection experiments that the sole cause of beet

1 Fig. 134. — The Beet Eelworm (. Heterodera Schachtii ) : 1, A beet root with adult
females attached (natural size); 2, a lateral rootlet of beet which Eelworm larvae (a)
are penetrating (enlarged) ; 3, a lateral rootlet of beet with swelling (a) of the outer
skin caused by the excessive development of larvae which have previously entered it,
and which have now become nearly mature females (enlarged) ; 4, a just-hatched
larva ; 5, a larva which has penetrated a rootand swollen up into a club-shaped form ;
6-8, development of the male; 9, a nearly adult and, 10, an adult female. The
following letters have reference to Figs. 4-10 : d, mouth spine,— b, sucking stomach
(pharynx), — c, d, intestine, — ef, rectum,—/', anus, — g, excretory organ ; li (in Figs.
4-7), rudiments of the sexual organs in the undeveloped larvae; h (in Fig. 8), testis ;
i (in Figs. 7 and 8), copulatory spicules of the male; k (Figs. 9 and 10), ovary;
l (Figs. 9 and lu), female sexual opening; m, nerve ring; w\ (Figs. 6-8), larval
skin ; w2 (Figs. 6-8), new skin which the developing male forms within the larval
skin. Figs. 4 and 5 are magnified more than Figs. 6-10.

228

ZOOLOGY.

sickness is a nematode, of which the life history is
as follows. The female is found fixed to the branches
of the root; it is citron-shaped, about one twenty-
fifth of an inch long (Fig. 134, 1 and 10), and contains
on an average three hundred and fifty eggs. Some
few of these, together with a jelly-like substance
making up an “ egg-sac,” may pass out to the exterior,
but the large majority develop in the body of the
female, which ultimately becomes a mere sac enclosing
the eel-like larva?. The female is killed by the
process. The liberated larva (Fig. 134, 4) seeks out
a root (about one twenty-fifth of inch thick), and
bores into it. Here it lives as a parasite, causing
the disease of the attacked beet plant. The larva
quickly sheds its old skin, assumes a thicker form
(Fig. 134, 5), ceases to move, and gradually causes the
outer skin of the root to bulge out externally (Fig.
134, 3, a). The distinction between the sexes now
rapidly makes its appearance. A thick motionless
larva, destined to become a male, temporarily ceases
to feed, shrinks within its old skin, develops a thin
new one, and ultimately becomes a long eel-like
worm (Fig. 134, 6, 7, 8), which grows into an adult
male (8). In the stage represented in Fig. 134, 8,
the animal still lies under the outer skin of the root,
which never bursts during its development, but the
mature male bores out of its larval skin and out of
the root, passing into the soil, where it finds and
fertilizes the female, which in the meantime has
developed but remains attached to the root. The
female develops in a simpler way, by the gradual
distension and growdh of a larva (not by a process
of re-formation) and gradual development of the
female sexual organs. As the larva passes from the
stage of Fig. 134, 5, into that of Fig. 134, 9, and
later on into the adult condition, 10, the outer skin
of the rootlet is ruptured, and the female comes out
from its tissues, remaining, however, attached to its

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229

outside (Fig. 134, 1). The entire development from
eg f.or to sexual adult takes four or five weeks, and
there may be six or seven successive generations, the
reproduction is consequently very rapid.

It also obviously follows that “ beet sickness ” of
the soil is especially prevalent in fields where there
has been an excessive amount of beet culture. The
disease, however, may suddenly appear in fields which
have been hitherto “ safe ” for beet, and in many such
cases it has been proved to result from manuring with
artificial compost rich in refuse from affected fields.
The disease frequently appears, too, in fields where
beet have never been cultivated, but where cabbage
has been grown for a long time. It has been shown,
especially by Kuhn’s investigations, that the beet
eelworm can live in many plants both cultivated
and wild, e.g. of the former, cabbage, rape, mustard,
garden cress, chickling peas, mangold, oats; of the
latter, charlock, spurrey, couch grass. These researches
are of the greatest importance both for understand-
ing the way in which beet sickness spreads and in
combating it.

Preventive Measures : Manufactured compost must
not be used as a manure on beet-fields. The refuse
from infested beets, if used on other fields, must be
mixed with one-sixth its bulk of quicklime. The
boots of labourers employed in beet-sick fields, the
hoofs of horses working in them, and also the imple-
ments used, must be carefully cleansed lest infected
earth should be carried to other fields. Remedies :
Kuhn has recommended the use of plants which
attract the eelworms (“ lure-plants ”). He sows on
beet-sick land rapidly germinating plants, of kinds
which the worms readily attack, and weeds them out
again when they have become infested by the para-
sites, but before these have had time to mature and
re-enter the soil. The eelworms are thus allured into
the plants grown, and destroyed with them. Such

230

ZOOLOGY.

lure-plants must be sown as thickly as practicable, so
that the soil may be penetrated by as many slender
rootlets as possible. After these plants have been
dug up, a second lot should be grown, since all the
eel worms will not have attacked the first lot ; and it
is even advisable to grow a third batch. Kuhn used
as lure-plants the various kinds of cabbage, also
summer rape ( Brassica rapa ), since this plant has a
great attractive power for the beet eelworms, and can
hold a large number of them in its numerous, much
branched rootlets. I cannot go into all Kuhn’s re-
searches here, and will only mention the following.
In the course of the year 1880 part of a beet-sick
field had three successive crops of lure-plants grown
upon it, each being dug up from thirty to forty days
after sowing. The field was ploughed in autumn,
suitably manured the next spring, and sown with
beet in the middle of April. The other part of the
piece of land was treated in exactly the same way,
except that no lure-plants were grown upon it. A
difference was very soon seen between the two plots,
and there was a very great difference at the time the
crop was ready to be gathered in. The plants on all
parts of the first plot were in a flourishing condition,
but those on the second plot were in many places
either killed outright or else small and misshapen.
The crop succeeding the lure-plants was three times
as great as it had been before, and almost equal to
that of a healthy field. Later on, Kuhn made an
important discovery ; he found that larvm which have
reached the thickened motionless stage, depicted in
Fig. 134, 5, require a considerable amount of food to
keep them alive, and enable them to develop further.
If the plants are disturbed in such a way as to kill
the rootlets containing the larvae in this stage, these
are unable to develop any further. Kuhn caused a
kind of horse machine to be made, adapted for rapidly
destroying the lure-plants in the fields. For further
details, his original memoirs may be consulted.

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231

The Root-knot Eelworm ( Heterodera radicicola).

This second species of the genus Heterodera de-
velops much like the beet eelworm, living like it on
the roots of plants, but more deeply within them, so
that the body of the female (which swells till it
becomes pear- or flask-shaped) does not cause the
outer part of the infested root to project, and does
not reach the exterior. Where the eelworms collect,
galls are formed which decay later on, when the
eel-shaped larvse escape into the soil, very soon, how-
ever, to enter the roots again at their slender tips.
The galls are thickenings in the course of the root,
and are never lateral appendages, like, for instance,
the well-known “ tubercles ” in the roots of legu-
minous plants (e.g. clover, pea). The root eelworm
lives in the roots of more than fifty plant species in
the most various parts of the world, and infests both
weeds and cultivated plants. It is especially damaging
to clover and lucerne, in which not only the galls die,
but also all parts of the root below them. In this
country the roots of cucumber and tomato are some-
times attacked (E. A. Ormerod).

CLASS : PLATYHELMIA (FLAT WORMS).

Flat worms have a flat, generally leaf-like body,
and usually no body-cavity, the space between the
internal organs and the muscular body wall being
filled up with connective tissue.

I will only deal here with the orders of Tapeworms
( Cestoda ) and Flukes ( Trematoda ).

Order: Cestoda (Tapeworms).

The external characters of an ordinary tapeworm
may be gathered from Figs. 135 and 136. A very
small “ head ” continued behind into a small “ neck ”

232

ZOOLOGY.

can be distinguished, and a very large number of

joints, of which the first
are very small and short,
while those which follow
get larger and larger the
further they are from the
head. The tapeworm at
first consists only of a
head which holds on to the
lining of the intestine by
means of suckers or simi-
lar structures. The hinder
part of the head next
elongates to form the so-
called “ neck.” and a
cross- wall is quickly de-
veloped a little way in
front of the hind end of
this neck. By this divi-
sion is formed the first
joint, which, though forth-
with tolerably indepen-
dent, remains attached to
the neck of the tapeworm
head, until a new joint
is separated off from the
hinder part of the neck,
immediately in front of
the first joint. Every
new joint is similarly
formed by the constric-
tion of the hinder part of
the neck. Each joint pos-
sesses a complete set of
hermaphrodite reproduc-
tive organs ; it becomes
sexually mature without

Fig. 135. — Tccnia saginata : head, and a
number of joints, represented natural size.

reference to other joints, breaks off, and creeps about,

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233

even for considerable distances, and finally ruptures,
so that the numerous eggs are liberated. Each joint
may therefore be regarded as an individual, though
the tapeworm, considered as a whole, also possesses
a certain individuality. The tapeworm is a species
of animal which exists in two forms. One of these is
the sexually reproducing joint, which leaves the
original host, and from the eggs of which are de-
veloped larvae, which become, in another host, bladder-
worms , or measles. These develop a head , which is
the asexual second form of the tapeworm. This,
therefore, is a case of metagenesis (p. 16). It appears,
from what has been said, that the head can in no
sense be compared to the head of an ordinary animal ;
it has neither mouth nor jaws, for tapeworms do not
possess a gut. The head and joints take up osmoti-
cally through their walls the nutritive matter found
in the intestine of their host. There are suckers and,
in several species, a circlet of hooks on the head
(Fig. 136, a), by which the animal holds fast to the
intestinal wall. Thousands, or even tens of thousands,
of eggs may be produced by a single joint. The joint
is liberated when the eggs begin to ripen, often before.
In some species several adjacent joints are pinched
off at the same time. The tapeworm joints leave the
intestine of their host either alone or with the dung.
After falling to the ground they creep along like
snails, and attach themselves to various plants. It
is obvious that a tapeworm joint or a number of the
eggs produced by it may easily be taken up by a
grazing animal. The eggs of a particular kind of
tapeworm are only able to develop further if they
reach the intestine of a particular kind of host. It
is undoubtedly true that, as a rule, only a relatively
small number of the eggs produced by a tapeworm
develop further, but the great powers of reproduction
prevent the species from dying out. If, now, either
a joint or the eggs from one are taken into the gut

234

ZOOLOGY.

of a suitable host, the joint and the egg-shells, or the
latter only, as the case may be, are digested in the
stomach or intestine, so that the larvse are set free.
These (Fig. 137) are spherical, glass-like, of micro-
scopic size, as might be expected, and bear three pairs

Fig. 136. — The Common Tapeworm (Tcenia officinalis) : a, head and neck, strongly
magnified ; b, joints, natural size ; c, eggs, strongly magnified.

of hooklets, by means of which they quickly perforate
the wall of the gut, and make a way through the
tissues of the host. They may also be carried further

by the blood-stream. The larva of
a particular species settles down
finally, not only in some particular
kind of host, but also in some clefi-
fig. 137. — Tapeworm nite organ or tissue. It then loses

Larva (of Tania solium), jf-g }100PS and iS rapidly tranS-

formed into a hollow bladder-worm
(measle), which grows till it reaches a definite size,
depending on the species. Meanwhile it gradually
develops one ( Cysticercus ) or several ( Coenurus ) in-

WORMS.

235

growths, or (in Echinococcus , Fig. 138) several new
bladders are developed inside the bladder- worm, and
ingrowths are usually formed within these, similar
to those of the simpler kinds of bladder-worm.
These ingrowths resemble tapeworm heads in all
respects, possessing suckers, and, it may be, a circlet
of hooks, but these are inside, and not outside.

Cyst ,

iccrcus

Echinococcus

Fig. 133. — The three types of Bladder-worm, diagrammatically represented.

Later — either in the animal originally inhabited by
the bladder-worm, or after it has been transferred in
the flesh of this to the gut of some carnivorous

animal — the bladder-worm con-
tracts, so that it can no longer
hold the fluid which is present,
and the ingrowth is turned inside
out, the suckers thus becoming-
external. The tapeworm head is
formed in this way, but the bladder
still remains attached to its hinder
end (f ig. 139). If a host in-
habited by bladder- worms is not
devoured by another animal, the
bladder-worms, after reaching their full size, remain
for a long time in the same stage of development

Fig. 139. — Measle of T. so-
lium, with head thrust out
(X 6).

236

ZOOLOGY.

without being able to develop further. But if the
host is devoured by another animal, the bladder-
worms enter its stomach and intestine, where the
bladder is digested, while the tapeworm head re-
mains uninjured. This thrusts out its suckers and
attaches itself by means of them to the wall of the
intestine, the process of joint-formation already de-
scribed beginning soon afterwards.

The following tapeworms, which are important to
the owner of stock, will be briefly dealt with.

The Common or Armed Tapeworm of Man ( Toenia

solium ).

Six to ten feet long, with seven to eight hundred
joints, and a circlet of hooks (Fig. 136), lives in the
human intestine. Several of its sexually mature
joints are commonly pinched off at a time, and if
these are picked up from a field or dung-heap by a
pig, the contained eggs develop into “ pork measles ”
( Cysticercus , Fig. 140), which are especially abundant in

Fig. 140.— Measles in Pork ; the white spot is the head (natural size).

the connective tissue between the muscles, and make
the meat “ measly.” They may also occur in the con-
nective tissue of other parts (fat, brain, spinal cord).
Young pigs not more than six months old are most
in danger of becoming measly. A tolerably large
number of measles can be borne very well, but it very

WORMS.

237

abundant they cause emaciation, weakness, lameness,
and poverty of blood. The flesh of an animal badly
infested with measles may be pale, watery, or even
greasy, while pork not so much diseased may seem
all right, though it is really unfit for food, since if
eaten in an insufficiently cooked state by human
beings it would produce tapeworms. The measles
are most abundant in the muscles of the breast and
neck, and next to them in those of the hams and
shoulders. From twelve to twenty thousand measles
may be present in a single pig.

The Unarmed Tapeworm of Man (Tcenict saginata)

lives in the intestine of man, and, as a bladder-worm
( Cysticercus ), in the connective tissue of the muscles
of the ox (and especially in the calf). It is from
twelve to twenty feet, with as many as a thousand
joints, but does not possess a circlet of hooks. The
joints generally leave the intestine one by one, and
creep on to grass and herbs, where they burst, so that
the eggs are set free, and therefore get widely dis-
tributed. The ox scarcely ever takes in several joints
of Tcenia saginata , and consequently only a certain
number of eggs. Beef never, therefore, contains so
many measles as pork, and there is not a special
measle disease of oxen. As, however, the eggs of
Tcenia saginata are more widely distributed, calves
and oxen are more frequently infected with bladder-
worms than is the case with swine.

The Ccenurus Tapeworm of the Dog ( Tcenia coenurus)

is the cause of the bladder-worm, producing sheep-gid,
or sturdy ( Coenurus cerebralis). This tapeworm,
which may live in the intestine of other animals
besides the dog, has a circlet of hooks, is from fourteen
to sixteen inches long, and consists of about two
hundred joints. It generally lives in the intestine
of the sheep-dog, in correspondence with which is the

238

ZOOLOGY.

fact that the bladder- worm lives in the brain of young
sheep. If a sheep-dog harbours Tcenia coenurus in
its stomach, a sheep may very easily take up a joint
with grass or heath. The joint is then digested in the
sheep’s intestine, and the larva escapes from the egg.
It bores through the wall of the sheep’s intestine, gets
into the circulation, and is carried by the blood-stream
to various parts of the body ; it can only develop
further, however, in the brain (or spinal cord). After
the minute larvae have reached the cavity of the
cranium they move about on the outer surface of the
brain, and dig out channels there till they find a
suitable place for further growth. The larva now
becomes a bladder-worm, which gradually grows, until
it attains a size varying from that of a nut to that of
a hen’s egg. It develops numerous tapeworm heads,
even from three to four hundred. These become tape-
worms if a sheep is killed by the parasite, and its
head devoured by a dog or fox.

The disease caused by the presence of bladder-worms
in the brain is called “ gid,” or “ sturdy,” also
“ staggers.” Two stages can be distinguished in it.
During the first period the symptoms of disease are
chiefly due to the wounds which the larvae make on
the surface of the brain, and the consequent inflamma-
tion of the investing membranes. Even in this stage
the disease may be fatal, but the symptoms cease as
soon as the larvae cease to move about. The bladder-
worms are only able to do harm by the pressure they
exert, which is small at first, though it gradually
becomes greater. The first stage of gid manifests
itself in late summer, the second in late autumn,
winter, or spring, according to the rate at which the
bladder-worms develop. The symptoms of the first
stage are caused by the increased flow of blood to the
brain and head generally, resulting from the irritation
which the larvae exert. (Head very hot. Eyes blood-
shot. The sheep are sluggish but restless, and carry

WORMS.

239

their heads in a strange way, to one side, bent back,
or turned up. They often run round in a large circle.
There may also be gnashing of the teeth, foaming at
the mouth, squinting, convulsive movements, and loss
of consciousness.) The symptoms of the disease in its
second stage are the result of pressure on the brain
and some of the arteries of the brain and skull. (The
sheep affected separate themselves from the others,
and generally hang their heads. Gaze fixed. Occa-
sional loss of consciousness. Movements strange ; run
or turn round in a circle. The sheep often staggers
and falls to the ground. The bones of the skull
become thinner at the place under which the bladder-
worm is found, sometimes even as thin as paper.)

Remedies : Trepanning, as the bladders lie just
underneath the roof of the skull. Prevention: Re-
ducing the number of sheep-dogs; giving the dogs
medicine to rid them of tapeworms in spring and
summer; administering a specific to the yearling
sheep in July and August, suitable for driving out
any tapeworm larvae which may be present in their
intestines; burning (instead of burying) the heads
of sheep affected with staggers which have died or
been slaughtered. It is but rarely that all the larvae
living on the surface of the brain die between the
first and second stages of the disease. A sheep
affected by gid is therefore almost sure to die, and
should be slaughtered as soon as possible. Compare
“ false gid,” p. 189.

The Minute Tapeworm of the Dog ( Taenia echinococcus)

is at most scarcely one-sixth of an inch long, and
consists of only three or four joints, often lives in
large numbers in the intestine of the dog without
injuring its host, but causes huge cysts (from the size
of a pigeon’s egg to that of a child’s head) in the
liver, lungs, or other organs of man, pig, and
ruminants. These cysts are of the type represented

240

ZOOLOGY.

on the right of Fig. 138. They may prove fatal,
owing to the pressure they exert in the organs con-
taining them and the blood-vessels of the same.

The Expanded Tapeworm (Tcenia expansa)

lives in the intestine of the ox, where it may attain
the length of two feet, while in the intestine of the
lamb it reaches at most the length of about nineteen
inches. It is sometimes present in large numbers in
lambs, causing difficulty of digestion with resulting
emaciation, poverty of blood, and even death. Bladder-
worm still unknown.

Order : Trematoda (Flukes).

Flattened parasitic worms, tongue-shaped or leaf-
shaped, living on or in a host, and provided with one
or two ventral suckers. The intestine forks into two
branches immediately behind the gullet, and these
two divisions in some species ( e.g . the large liver-
fluke) branch again repeatedly in a tree-like fashion.
Anus and blood-vessels absent. Almost all flukes
are hermaphrodite ; they fertilize themselves. All
the forms living within a host (i.e. endoparasitic forms)
lay an immense number of small eggs, from which
larv?e are hatched that become asexually reproducing
animals. These or their progeny produce once more
the sexual form. The development is therefore an
example of metagenesis (p. 16), but there is a change
of host. Only the two liver-flukes need be dealt
with here.

The Large Liver Fluke (. Bistoma hepaticum),

(Fig. 141), is flat, but swollen in the middle, when it
contains a large number of eggs, under which circum-
stances the edges only are flat. The last are of a
dirty brown colour, while the middle of the body is
greyish yellow. There is a triangular projection at
the front end of the body with a sucker at the apex,

WORMS.

241

-b

and another at hinder end of the triangle. . The outer
surface of the body is covered with minute back-
wardly projecting spines, which present no hindrance
to the forward creeping of the body in the bile-ducts,
but make backward creeping or gliding impossible.

Eggs yJ-0- of an inch long, with a red shell possessing
a greenish sheen. They can only develop if they get
into water, and in wet years the
conditions are very favourable on
damp meadows, for under such
conditions the sheep-dung, with
the contained fluke eggs, is liable
to fall into pools of water. But
many of the eggs can develop in
years that are not so wet and on
dryer fields, as they may be
carried into a ditch by rain or on
the feet of the sheep. The larva
hatched from the egg of the liver-
fluke is ~Y2~5 of an inch long, elon-
gated in shape, and swims about
freely in the water by means of a covering of cilia (Fig.
142, a). It soon finds its way into the lung cavity of a
small water snail ( Lymnceus truncations, Fig. 142, i),
loses its covering of cilia, and becomes broader, even
almost spherical. In the free-swimming larva there
are already to be found a collection of germinal cells
in the hinder part of the body ; later on, these cells re-
peatedly divide and form little heaps, which ultimately
become fresh individuals. The larva has, therefore,
passed into a second stage, and this is now known
as a sporocyst (Fig. 142, b, c ). The stage developed
asexually from the heap of germinal cells is dis-
tinguished from the sporocyst by a differently shaped
body and by the possession of a gut (with mouth,
pharynx, and intestine, but no anus), which is absent
in the latter. This stage is termed a " redia ” (Fig-
142, d). From five to eight of them are usually

R

Fig. 141. — The Liver Fluke
(. Distoma hepaticum),
natural size.

d e f

Fig. 142. — Liver Fluke: a, free swimming ciliated larva; b, young
Sporocyst, a few days after migration into the snail ; c, sporocyst,
containing rediae in various stages of development ; d, redia, con-
taining balls of germinal cells ; e, mature redia , containing its brood
of cercariie ; /, mature cercaria ; g, .iust-encysted cercaria ; h, young
fluke, soon after entering sheep ; i, the water snail, Lymnceus trunca-
tulus.

a, b, c, d X 200 ; e X 150 ; / X 300 ; g X 150 ; h X 25 ; i, natural size and X H-

WORMS.

243

developed within one sporocyst. Germinal cells are
also present in the redia, and they develop into little
heaps of cells from which, while the weather is warm,
new rediee are developed, that live in the lung cavity
of the snail, like their parents. When the weather
becomes colder, “ cercarice ” (Fig. 142, f) are developed
from the germinal cells, some fifteen to twenty of
them within a single redia (Fig. 142, e). The cercaria
has a long tail, by means of which it can propel itself
in the water, after leaving the mother redia and the
snail. It possesses two suckers, and a forked intestine
without anus. After the cercarke have moved about
in the water for some time they fix themselves, by
means of their suckers, to various plants growing in
the water. The tail being now superfluous is lost,
the cercaria becomes spherical, and contracts some-
what within an investment which it secretes (Fig.
142, g). When, later on, the pools in which the
cercariae live dry up, the plants which were before
submerged are now on dry land, and may be devoured
by sheep, together with the encysted cercarise found
upon them. The wall of the cyst is dissolved in the
intestine of the sheep, and the contained cercaria
gradually becomes a young liver-fluke, which at first
is oval and very small (Fig. 142, h), while, later on, its
anterior third becomes the triangular projection at
the front end of the adult fluke, and its posterior two-
thirds grow very considerably. Meanwhile the young
liver-fluke has travelled from the intestine of the
sheep into its bile-ducts. It appears that the fluke
is completely grown within a few weeks after its
introduction into the body of the sheep. Infection
almost always takes place in summer or autumn.
The life history of the liver-fluke exemplifies change
of host and metagenesis (p. 16). From the egg of
a sexual worm a free-swimming larva is developed,
which becomes an asexual sporocyst within the snail.
This sporocyst produces asexual redice, and from

244

ZOOLOGY.

these, also asexually, are developed cercarice , which
leave the snail, pass into water, attach themselves to
plants, and reach the intestine of the sheep later on.
The cercarise become dukes by a process of meta-
morphosis, and are to be regarded as duke larvae.

It is easily explained why the “ duke disease,” or
“ liver rot,” caused by the duke should appear much
oftener in some regions than others. Low-lying
pastures which are now and then dooded are best
suited for the development of the disease, since the
duke eggs have a better chance of developing upon
them. This is because at certain times of the year
there are in such spots numerous submerged plants
on which cercarice encyst, and which, later on, when
the pools dry up, are nibbled by sheep. It seems that
the cercarice mostly attach themselves to certain kinds
of plants, hence the local nature of the disease, which
of course also depends on the presence of Lymnceus
truncatulus (Fig. 142, i).

Fluke disease drst makes itself apparent in the
sheep one or two months after infection. If the sheep
does not die the parasites often remain in its liver
till the next spring. The liver of a single sheep may
contain from 200 to 250 individuals. They live in
the various branches of the bile-duct, and the irrita-
tion they set up drst causes an unusual quantity of
blood to dow to the liver. Inflammation and internal
bleeding may result, and gall stones are deposited in
the thickened walls of the biliary passages. The flow
of bile from the liver is made difficult or impossible.
Later on, the parasites draw so much blood from the
liver that this organ is very insufdciently nourished,
so that no more bile is secreted, and the liver substance
shrivels up. In consequence of these changes the
digestion is incomplete, and the whole body of the
sheep is very insufdciently nourished. The diseased
sheep are therefore sluggish and enfeebled ; they eat
little, but drink a great deal, and suffer from poverty

MOLLUSCS.

245

of blood. Their wool gets dry, and does not hold
together, and they become emaciated. Dropsy and
diarrhoea set in, and jaundice often makes its appear-
ance. If a sheep is infested by a tolerably large
number of flukes, death is almost always the final
result.

“ The best preventative is a trustworthy and careful
shepherd,” 1 who will not let the sheep feed in spots
where previous experience shows the disease is
usually contracted during damp summers. Further-
more, sheep badly infested should be slaughtered as
soon as possible, so that the flukes they contain may
not get to the egg-laying stage. Sick sheep should
be fed with nourishing food (various kinds of hay,
oats; with addition of cooking salt), so that young
sheep containing but few flukes may get back their
strength, while this treatment will make the badly
infested sheep die more quickly.

Oxen are also frequently affected by fluke disease
in many regions, other animals to a less extent.

The Small or Lancet-shaped Liver Fluke ( Distoma

lanceolatum)

is about three-eighths of an inch long, one-tenth of
an inch broad, thin, and lancet-shaped. Lives, like the
preceding kind, in the liver of the sheep. Develop-
ment unknown.

Fourth Sub-Kingdom : MOLLTJSCA (Molluscs).

This sub-kingdom, to which oysters, snails, cuttle-
fish, etc., belong, includes unsegmented animals devoid
of internal skeleton, and with bilaterally symmetrical
(p. 16) embryo, while the adult maybe much modified,
especially in snails, which are enclosed in spiral shells,
and also have their bodies partially coiled. The skin
of molluscs possesses a peculiar and characteristic

1 Spinola.

246

ZOOLOGY.

covering. I rom a definite part of the body a larger
or smaller fold of skin (“ mantle ”) grows out, which
encloses a space termed the “ mantle cavity,” and also,
from its function, the “ respiratory cavity.” In most
molluscs this mantle secretes an external or internal
calcareous mass. In this way a “ shell ” is developed
(Fig. 143, A, $), which is usually external. This is
the case, for example, with the edible, or Homan snail,
and the common garden snail. In other cases (cuttle-
fishes), the shell is formed inside the mantle, or it

vi

A B

Fig. 143. — Diagrams to explain the form of the body of a Mollusc. A, a Bivalve
Mollusc; B, a Snail (cross sections). In both; K, body; F, foot; S, shell;
m, mantle ; Jc, k, gills.

may be replaced by a collection of calcareous granules
(various slugs). In most molluscs the chief organ
of locomotion is the so-called “foot” (Fig. 143, F ).
This is a very muscular region of the body, covered
by skin, and serving either for crawling (snails), or
else for digging in the sand, and even springing
(bivalve molluscs). Its structure varies according to
its function. I mention three classes, those of Cepha-
lopoda (Cuttlefishes), Gastropoda (Snails and Slugs),
and Lamellibranchiata (Bivalve Molluscs).

SNAILS AND SLUGS.

247

CLASS : CEPHALOPODA (CUTTLE-FISHES).

The head is sharply marked off* from the rest of
the body, and the mouth is surrounded by a circle
of arms bearing suckers or claw-like hooks. These
arms are supposed to be a modification of part of the
foot, the rest of this organ being constituted by a
hollow, funnel-shaped structure, which places the
mantle-cavity in communication with the exterior.
The water used for respiration is forced suddenly out
from the mantle-cavity, through the funnel, so as to
propel the animal in the opposite direction. A gland,
known as the “ink sac,” secretes a brownish fluid,
which may be pressed out of the sac so as to shield
the animal from attack. All cephalopods are marine,
and, since they are therefore of no agricultural impor-
tance, it is unnecessary to enter into details regarding
their form and structure, and I will only mention the
following : Pearly Nautilus ( Nautilus pompilius), with
external shell and numerous arms; Paper Nautilus
(. Argonauta argo), with a very thin, boat-shaped shell,
and eight arms ; Poulpe (Octopus), without shell, and
with eight arms ; Cuttle-fish (Sepia), and Squid (Loligo),
also without external shell, and possessing ten arms.

CLASS: GASTROPODA (SNAILS AND SLUGS).

Snails and slugs possess a head which bears un-
jointed tentacles, and also eyes, which, in many cases,
are borne on the tips of these. The foot serves for
creeping, and is flattened in a sole-like way on its
under side. The mantle is generally small, and limited
to the dorsal side of the animal. The usually spiral
shell covers therefore only a small part of the body,
but the rest of the body can also be mostly or entirely
drawn back into it. Snails possess jaws, but the

248

ZOOLOGY.

chief organ used in attacking the plant structures is
the swollen tongue, covered by a rasping plate
(radula), on the surface of which regular rows of teeth
are arranged. The rest of the tongue consists of
muscle, and two small cartilages- are also found within
it. The teeth stick up when the tongue is protruded,
and the whole apparatus forms a kind of rasp, by the
backward and forward movements of which the food
is reduced to small fragments. Marine snails breathe
by gills, which are found in the mantle- cavity, while
most of the freshwater and all the land forms
(“ Pulmonata ”) breathe by means of the inner wall of
the mantle-cavity, which thus serves as a lung. Some
members of the group are hermaphrodite, while the
sexes are distinct in others ; the first is the case in all
terrestrial forms. Such snails pair, however, mutually
fertilizing each other. They are not able to fertilize
themselves. It is only among land snails and slugs
that injurious kinds are found. Species of the genus
Helix , e.g. the Edible or Boman Snail (H. pomatia )
and the Field Snail (H. nemoralis ), may do harm in
fruit-culture ; Slugs are very injurious to agriculture
(Limax and Avion) ; in Limax, the respiratory open-
ing is situated behind the middle of the right margin
of the mantle, while the genital opening lies behind
the right feeler ; in Arion, the respiratory opening is
situated on the front edge of the mantle, and the
genital opening immediately in front of it. Any
kind of snail or slug may be harmful, especially if it
attacks young plants. Some kinds, however, live
chiefly in woods, feeding upon toadstools and dung,
perhaps also on bark and weeds (e.g. dandelion). This
is especially true of the larger kinds, but these too, if
they multiply very rapidly, may effect much damage
in gardens and fields. The commonest slugs are —

The Common Black Slug (Avion atev). — About four
inches long, and generally black.

The Grey Eield Slug (Limax agvestis, Fig. 144). —

SNAILS AND SLUGS.

249

Four-fifths of an inch long, small and smooth, with
dark tentacles, grey back, often a reddish sheen, and
bright grey or white under side.

The Large Slug {Limax maximus). — Up to six
inches long, with black flecks on the hump-like mantle,
and black streaks on the rest of the body.

In a large majority of cases where slugs appear to
an injurious extent, the grey field slug is the offender,
and I will therefore deal with it in greater detail.
What is said regarding the small species, however,
may be taken to apply to all the other kinds, should
they become a pest.

The Grey Field Slug {Limax agvestis).

The life of the grey field slug is very dependent on
moisture. During dry weather it rolls itself up and
hides in the ground, under a stone, or in some such

Fig. 144. — The Grey Field Slug ( Limax agvestis).

place, where it is protected as much as possible from
completely drying up. At such times it only comes to
the surface to feed at night, but does so during the day
as well when the weather is wet. The field slug is
very destructive in fields and gardens, but this is only
the case in^ those years the great dampness of which is
specially favourable to its continuance and multiplica-
tion. The glassy eggs are laid in heaps containing
from six to fifteen, in damp concealed spots in the
ground, under moss, grass, etc., during August, Sep-
tember, and even October. A single slug may lay as
many as four hundred. The eggs are able to with-
stand extreme cold and extreme dryness, and moisture
makes them swell out again if they have shrivelled

250

ZOOLOGY.

up. In warm, damp weather the young slugs (which
are one-twelfth of an inch long in the contracted, and
two-fifths of an inch in the extended condition) hatch
out in three or four weeks. Cold weather retards the
development. If the weather is favourable, and suit-
able food is not wanting, they are often almost full-
grown in six weeks’ time. It is clear, from the
foregoing, that in damp years the slugs may appear
in very large numbers, especially in autumn ; but it
may also happen that most of the young slugs hatch
out the following spring, in which case the greatest
amount of damage will be done then. A snail may
live several years, spending the dry days and the
whole of the cold season in the ground or some other
sheltered place. These slugs devour by preference
delicate leaves and stems ; young grain, young clover
plants, leaves of rape, cabbage, turnips, and lettuce
are their favourite food, also fallen fruit, strawber-
ries, cucumbers, and vegetable marrows. Preventive
Measures: Protection of their natural enemies : pigs,
moles, shrews, ducks, fowls, pigeons, rooks, starlings,
toads. Draining the soil, as slugs flourish most where
it is moist. Sowing the winter grain as soon as
possible, as the young plants will then probably have
attained a fair size when the slugs appear in force.
Remedies : Collection. The slugs readily crawl on to
bits of cucumber or turnip which are thrown down,
and can then easily be collected, or killed with quick-
lime. All substances which readily absorb water kill
slugs by taking from them the moisture which is
necessary for their existence. Cooking-salt, unslaked
and slaked lime may be employed for this purpose. It
seems to me most convenient to use freshly slaked
lime, ten to twelve bushels per acre. Since the lime
can only kill the slugs when it comes into contact
with their skins, it must always be strewn on the
land at a time when they are on the crawl, not later
than 8 a.m., and only in dry weather. As soon as the

BIVALVE MOLLUSCS.

251

slugs are touched by the lime they begin to give out
a great deal of slime, and many of them, especially
the younger ones, are killed and become black. Very
many of the older slugs, however, escape death, since
the tenacious slime they give out, when the lime
touches them, forms a continuous coat like a cocoon,
out of which the slug creeps, now much poorer in
water. It is therefore a good plan to strew powdered
lime over a slug-infested field twice in succession,
leaving an interval of some ten or fifteen minutes.
The second strewing brings the lime into contact with
those slugs which have just crawled out of their slimy
investment in a desiccated condition. They are unable
to form a second coating of slime, and if touched for
this second time with even the smallest particles of
lime they at once contract and die. If a double strew-
ing is repeated very early on the following morning,
no slugs will be left alive on the field so treated.

CLASS: L AMELLIBRAN CHIATA (BIVALVE

MOLLUSCS).

Headless. The mantle consists of two flaps, which
secrete two shelly pieces (valves) movably united on
the dorsal side (Fig. 43). The foot is usually wedge-
shaped. Respiration effected by gills placed in the
mantle-cavity, which communicates with the exterior
either by the usual respiratory opening, or by a
breathing-tube (siphon). Most species are marine,
but some live in fresh water. No kind is of agri-
cultural importance. To this class belong the Oyster
( Ostrea edulis), the Sea Mussel ( Mytilus edulis), the
tropical Pearl Mussel ( Meleagrina margaritifera),
the freshwater Swan Mussel (. Anodonta cygnea), the
notorious Ship Worm ( Teredo navalis), etc.

252

ZOOLOGY.

Fifth Sub-Kingdom : ECHINODERMATA (Hedgehog-

Skinned Animals).

The echinoclerms are radially symmetrical, i.e. a
number of similar parts which together make up the
body are arranged around an axis (Fig. 145). These
animals are usually five-rayed. The mouth lies at
lower end of the axis of the body. In some echino-
derms the radial symmetry is indistinct, and at the
same time there is a more or less clear bilateral sym-
metry (p. 16). The dermal skeleton either consists
of numerous microscopic calcareous deposits, or of
firm plates ; the skin often bears spines, hence the

Fig. 145.— The Common Starfish ( Asterias rubens), seen on the right from above,

on the left from below.

name of the group. Echinoderms move by means of
rows of tubular feet, which are connected with a
water-vascular system, and are protruded by means
of small bladders, connected with the same system,
which contract and force water into them. The form
of the body is apple-shaped to spherical (Regular
Sea Urchins), shield- or heart-shaped (Irregular Sea

ZOOPHYTES.

253

Urchins), pentagonal to star-shaped, with arms of
varying length (Starfishes), or cylindrical to vermiform
(Sea Cucumbers). All echinoderms are marine, and
none of them, therefore, are of agricultural import-
ance, though near the coast starfishes are sometimes
used as manure.

Sixth Sub-Kingdom : C(ELENTERATA (Zoophytes).

With a few exceptions the zoophytes are radially
symmetrical (p. 252), and four-, six-, eight-, or many-
rayed. They consist of a body-wall enclosing a
cavity which, in the simplest forms (Fig. 146), is sack-
like, but in several of the higher sub-groups divided
up, and serves, not only for the reception and digestion
of food, but also for the circulation of the digested
food. Many zoophytes develop hard parts in the
walls of their bodies, which remain after their death.
The red coral used for ornamental purposes is of this
nature, and so also are the coral islands which polypes
build up. With the exception of the sponges, which
are usually reckoned as belonging to this sub-kingdom,
these animals possess “ nettling organs ” with which
they kill their prey, and by which they are protected
from attack. They reproduce by eggs, and most of
them by means of budding as well (Fig. 146). In
many species the buds are not detached as in the
Freshwater Polype (Hydra), but remain attached so
that a “ colony ” is formed. There are also free-
swimming coelenterates, known as jellyfishes or
medusae (Fig. 147). Many of these lay eggs which
do not develop into fresh medusae, but into polypes,
which increase by budding to form colonies, on which
medusae are once more developed as buds. There is
thus an alternation of generations (p. 16), in which
the medusae represent the sexual and the polypes the
asexual stage.

254

ZOOLOGY,

Almost all zoophytes live in the sea, but some few
in fresh water ; none are important agriculturally.
The following belong to this sub-kingdom : 1. The
Hydroid Zoophytes ( Hyclrozoa ), including the medusae

Fig. 146. — Fresh-water Polype
( Hydra ), bearing two buds of
different ages. Highly magni-
fied.

Fig. 147. — A Phosphorescent Jelly-fish ( Pelagia
noctiluca ), 1 the natural size.

of the North Sea, many of which are the sexual stage
in the life history of fixed asexual polypes. The
common Freshwater Polypes ( Hydra viridis, fusca,
etc.). 2. The Flower Polypes (. Anthozoa ), to which

ONE-CELLED ANIMALS.

255

belong Red Coral ( Cor allium rubrum), and the reef-
building corals (Astrcea, Mceandrina, etc.). 3. The
Sponges (Poriferci), which are usually considered
coelenterates, though they possess no nettling organs

(Freshwater Sponge = Spongilla, Bath Sponge = Eu-

spongia officinalis).

Seventh Sub-Kingdom : PROTOZOA

(One-celled Animals).

This sub-kingdom includes animals which are mostly
microscopic, or at any rate small, and live in the sea,
fresh water, or damp places. They are unicellular,
and consist of a soft viscous substance (protoplasm

Fig. 149. — Two species of Proteus Animalcule (Amoeba), one with protoplasmic
processes, slender and branched ; the other with short blunt processes. Highly
magnified.

or sarcode) of contractile nature, and therefore capable
of altering its shape. They may or may not be
enclosed by a firm wall. Many secrete siliceous

256

ZOOLOGY.

structures or calcareous shells. They are of no
agricultural importance. Here belong : Infusoria,
common in putrid solutions ; and Rhizopods, such as
Amoeba , the Proteus Animalcule (Fig. 149), so called
because its shape is constantly altering.

THE END.

PRINTED BY WILLIAJ

, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.

OTHER WORKS BY PROF. AINSWORTH DAVIS.

Published by CHAS. GRIFFIN & GO ., Exeter Street, Strand.

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