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V-
GENEKAi. Zoology
(J/
SirSTEMATIC ^kTl^BAL HlSTOItl ^
li'oiu tlie lii'st Autliorities uiid luost select specimeus
M^ HEATH S.' M^/ GRIFFITH.
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LdiuIoh. Printed for (T.Ive:ailev,Pleet Stieet.
GENERAL ZOOLOGY.
VOLUME VI. PART I.
INSECTS.
LONDON.
PRINTED FOR GEORGE KEARSLEY, FLEET-STE EET3
BY THOMAS DAVISON, WHlTE-FRlARS.
I8O6.
CONTENTS
OF
.VOL. VI.— PART I*
A
PHIS GENUS
- salicis .
— miUefolii
— rosse
- tiliae
Attelabus genus
coryli
— betulae
.. apiarius
Beetle^ Hercules
Goliah
CockchafFer
' variegated
— — — golden
Blatta genus
— — — gigantea
. orientalis
Americana
■ ■ heteroclita
Pagje
168
1/0
170
171
171
68
68
68
68
19
21
26
26
26
113
114
116
116
117
Page
Butterfly, Priamus . 207
Antenor . 208
Hector . , 208
Sarpedon . 208
Menelaus . 208
Machaon . 209
Apollo , . 210
Picra . . 210
cratsegi . .211
ricini . .211
brassicae . 211
rhamni . . 211
Hyale . .211
Midamus . 212
Sophorce , 213
lo . . .212
Jurtina . . 213
Atalanta . 213
Paphia . . 213
malvae . .214
betulae . .214
Marsyas . . 214
VI
CONTENTS.
Bug, common
• lineated .
■ thick-horned
— — corticated
•■ spiny
■ berry
■ larvated ,
' henbane
— ' — poplar
broad-footed
BUPRESTIS GENUS
gigantea
■ stern icornis
Chrj-'sis
vittata
rustiea
' salicis
Byerhus genus
scfophulariae
Museorum
Bruchus genus
granarius
■■ seminarius
Bactris .
Cantharis genus
— scarlet
bipustulata
— • flisca .
— — livida .
Cerambyx genus .
longimanus
•' damicornis
160
164
165
165
165
165
166
166
167
167
88
88
89
89
89
90
90
48
48
49
61
61
6]
61
81
81
81
82
S2
71
71
72
Cerambyx, Gigas .
cinnamomeus
— moschatus
— coriarius
— aedilis
Cassida genus
■ — viridis
— marginata
— lateralis .
— grossa
72
73
73
74
74
53
53
54
54
54
Chrysomela genus 57
populi . 5 J
— asparagi 58
■ graminis 58
— — • betulse . 58
— merdigera 58
boleti . 5g
— Indica . 5Q
Surinamensis
59
Gigas . 59
gibbosa 59
■ gigantea 59
Coccinella genus . 55
septempunctata
5Q
octodecim-punc-
tata . . , . 55
Cicada genus .
plebeja
hsematodes
■ viridis
•— epumaria .
149
1)9
152
152
153
Cicada sangiiinolenta
■ rliombea
Chermes genus
' ■ alni
pyri
buxi
Cockroach, great .
oriental
— — American
heteroclite
Coccus GENUS t
— — — Adonidum
Hesperidum
• Cacti
ilicis .
— Polonicus
• cataphractus
~ cqnchiformis
Carabus genus .
— • hortensis
Tiolaceus
— cupreus
— crepitans
Cicindela genus
campestris
sylvatica
CURCULIO GENUS
palmarum
nucum
~ grananus
— frumentarius
regalia
argentatus
CONTENT*.
154 Curculio imperialis
154
186
186
187
188
114
116
116
117
189
18.(>
190
191
193
194
194
99
100
100
100
100
86
86
86
62
62
63
64
65
Dermestes genus
lardarius
■ Pellio
Dytiscus genus
— — marginalis
cinereus
Ear-wig, common
I Elater genus .
flabellicornis
oculatus ,
noctilucus
■ — ferrngineus
— sanguinus
- tesselatus
Forficula genus
auricularia
Fulgora genus
lanternaria .
candelaria
• diadema
GliromerchafFer
Glow-worm, common .
Italian
Gyrinus genus
natator ,
Vll
63
66
67
31
31
32
91
.92
110
81
81
84
84
85
85
85
no
110
144
114
147
147
38
77
79
38
38
Till
CONTENTS.
Gryllus genus
. migratorius
— — — cristatus
. Dux
• viridissimus
■ ■ verrucivorus
Gryllotalpa
■ monstrosus
HiSTER GENUS .
— unlcolor .
'■■ 4-maculatus
12b
129
138
139
140
140
1-40
143
38
38
33
HyDROPHILUS GENUS 05
picens „ g5
caraboides Q8
Hydrophil ... 95
His PA GENUS , . .60
acculeata < . 60
LAMPYRIS GENUS . 77
noctiluca . 77
■ Italica . 77
Lantern-Fly, Peruvian . 144
Chinese . 14/
— diadem . 147
LEPTURA GENUS . 74
arcuta . . 7^
arietis . . 74
■ aquatica . 74
' meridiana . 75
Locust, migratory . 129
Locust, crested ' ', . 138
great red-winged 139
green , . .140
verrucivorous . 140
mole-cricket . 140
monstrous . .143
LuCANUS GENUS . 27
— Cervus . 27
' — inermis" . 2g
Australasiae . 30
Mantis GENUS . .118
— oratoria . . 118
precaria . .120
gongyloides . 120
MORDELLA GENUS . 107
' — aculeata . 107
Moth, Atlas . . . 223
Luna . , . 224
Junonia . . 225
— — peacock . . 225
Great Tiger . . 226
Puss . , . 22&
brown-tail , , 228
mulberry , . 230
nupta . , . 236
elder . . . 237
— — — currant . . .23/
prasinana . . 237
farinalis . . 237
padella . . . 23»
vestianella , .238
five-plumed , 239
— — twenty-plumed . 239
CONTENTS.
>Ieloe genus .
• Proscarabaeus
scabrosus .
vesicatorius
Nepa genus
— — — grandis
■ cinerea .
— linearis
Notonecta genus
• ' " glauca
■ ■ striata
104
104
105
106
157
157
157
159
155
155
155
— minutissima 156
Papilio genus'
— Priamus
— ~ An tenor
•— Hector
— Sarpedon
' Menelaus
~— ~ Machaon
Apollo
• Piera
Crataegi
- ricini
rhamui
" — brassicae
■ Hyale
• — Midamus
— sophorae
I . .
Jurtina
■ Atalanta
Paphia
malvae
— betulae
202
207
208
208
208
208
209
210
211
211
211
211
211
211
212
212
212
213
214
214
214
211
Papilio, Marsyas .
Pausus genus .
niicrocephalus
sphaeroceros
Phasma genus .
■~ — Gigas
dilatatum
siccifolium
PHALiENA genus
• — Atlas .
— Luna .
Junonia
— ■ pavonia
vinula
— fuscicauda
mori
— nupta ,
— sambucaria
— grossulariata
— pra'sinana .
— farinalis
— padella
— vestianella .
hexadactyla
— pentadactyla
Ptinus genus
fatidicus
tesselatus
■ Fur .
pectinicornis
SCARAB.IIUS genus
■ Hercules
IX
214
42
43
44
122
123
124
127
222
224
224
225
225
226
223
230
236
236
237
237
237
238
238
239
239
31
32
35
36
37
17
17
CONTENTS.
Scarabaeus, Goliathus
Melolontha
—. FuUo .
— — — - auratus
SlLPHA GENUS
Vespillo
— — — Germanica
' thoracica
— — — atrata
Sphinx genus
— — — ligustri
ocellata
— — — Atropos
- - fillipendulse
• apiformis .
—— — crabroniformis
21
21
26
26
50
50
51
52
52
215
215
2l6
217
221
222
222
Staphylinus genus 108
• major . 108
• erythropterus
. . . . . . 109
Staphylinus, murinus . 1 09
Stag-Beetle, common . 2/
— > unarmed . 29
Australasian 30
Si!k-Worra . . . 230
Tenebrio genus . 101
mortisagus 101
■ globosus . 102
molitor . 103
Trips genus . . 198
physapus . .199
Weevil, palm ... 62
nut . . . 63
grain ... 64
corn ... 65
imperial . . 65
— — royal . , . GS
—. silvery . . 67
Directions for placing the Plates in ml. VI. parti.
The Vignette represents a highly singiilar and beautiful insect
Ciilled Scarabivi/s Macrupus or Kangaroo Beetle. Its colour
on the upper surface is a rich varnishy grass-green, and the
under surface of a brilliant copper-coloiu:. This singular
Beetle was received from Potosi, and is preserved in the
elegant collection of Mr. Francillon of Norfolk-street. The
specimen is believed to be unique.
Plate 1 to face page 19
2 20
3 21
4 24
5 26
6 27
7 31
8 33
9 36
10 38
11 ZiJ
12 42
13 48
14 50
15 . 53
16 55
17 57
18 59
19 61
20 62
21 63
22 m
Plate 23 to face page 68
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
•iQ
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
71
73
74
76
77
81
83
SQ
88
91
95
99
101
104
107
108
liO
113
118
120
121
Xll
plate 45 to face page 124
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
125
127
129
138
140
143
144
149
155
157
159
101
168
186
190
191
193
Plate 63 to face page 198
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
202
207
208
210
211
212
213
214
216
217
217
218
225
230
236
237
ADVERTISEMENT.
The present volume is intended as an Illu-
stration of the Linnaean genera of Insects,
with the history of the principal species.
*^* The seventh and succeeding Volumes of this
Work will proceed with all reasonable expedition.
V.I. p. T.
ERRATA— VOL. VI. PART L
P. 153, line 2, dele the.
P. 165, line 16, for acantbark read acantburus.
ERRATA— VOL. VI. PART II.
P. 378, line 9, according to more or less, read according to the mere or less
P. 379, line 13, for in this division, read in tbisjirst di-uision.
P. 146, line 9, for affirm, read affirms.
INSECTS.
X HE class of beings distinguished by the title of
Insects, though far inferior in point of magni-
tude, must be confessed to surpass in variety of
structure and singularity of appearance all the
larger branches of the animal world. Their ex-
traordinary shapes, the surprising beauty and di-
versity of their colours, and above all, the astonish-
ing alteration of form which the generality of
them undergo, conspire to constitute one of the
most curious speculations which the science of
natural history can exhibit, and may be said to
realize all the fancied transformations recorded in
the fictions of poetical romance.
The general characters by which Insects are
distinguished from other animals are these. First,
they are furnished with several feet : secondly, the
muscles are affixed to the internal surface of the
skin, which is of a substance more or less strong,
and sometimes very hard and horny : thirdly, they
breathe not in the usual manner of the generality
of larger animals, by lungs or gills, situated in the
upper part of the body, but by a sort of spiracle*
V. VI. p. I. 1
2 INSECTS.
or breathing-holes, distributed in a series or row
on each side the whole length of the abdomen;
and these spiracles or breathing-holes are supposed
to communicate with a continued chain, as it were,
of lungs, or at least of parts analogous to them,
distributed throughout the whole length of the
body. The head is furnished with a pair of what
are termed Antennce or horns, which are extremely
various in the different tribes, and which, by their
differences of structure form a leading character in
the institution of the Genera or small assortments
into which Insects are distributed.
Among the older writers on Natural History,
and even among some of the more modern, several
animals are called by the name of Insects, which,
in reality belong to a very different tribe of beings,
as Snails, several kinds of Worms, and the smaller
animals in general. What are termed Animal-
cules in modern Natural History are also fre-
quently confounded with insects, though in reality
belonging to the very different tribe of Vermes or
Worm-Like Animals.
It is not intended at present to enter, with any
degree of minuteness, upon the anatomical de-
scription and philosophic history of Insects; since
this has long ago been elucidated in almost all its
branches by the labours of Swammerdam, Reau-
mur, Roesel, and many other authors : to relate
therefore what has been so often described may be
thought in a great degree unnecessary: yet, on
the other hand, it may with equal propriety be
observed, that few who have not been particularly
INSECTS. 3
conversant in this part of Natural History can be
supposed to have studied these authors; and to
such it should seem highly necessary to give at
least some abridged description of the particulars
most worthy of attention which have been dis-
covered by those who have written professedly on
the subject.
It must be absolutely unnecessary in the present
enlightened days of science to say any thing rela-
tive to the ancient idea of what was termed the
equivocal production of Insects, and their sup-
posed or pretended origin from putrefaction. One
single experiment of Redi, a celebrated physi-;
cian and philosophic observer in the seventeenth
century, must be fully sufficient to prove the ab-
surdity of the doctrine entertained by the ancients.
Let some animal flesh, for instance, be placed in
an open vessel, and exposed to the air for some
days; and let another vessel with the same kind
of flesh in it be also placed with it, but instead of
being exposed to the air, let it be covered with a
piece of silk or fine gauze, tied over it. The con-
sequence will be, that the flesh in the open vessel
will in a short time abound with the larvie or
maggots of flies, which have deposited their eggs
on the meat; but, on opening the covered vessel,
not the least appearance of such beings will be
found, though the flesh be in the same state of
putrefaction with the other. I know not that the
truth of this experiment has ever been called in
question; but if it has, it must have been owing
to the experiment not having been properly con-
4 INSECTS'.
ducted; for, supposing the flesh not to be abso-
lutely fresh or recent when first put into the vessel,
it is by no means improbable that some animal's
eggs might have been deposited upon it before the
experiment was made; in which case they would
undoubtedly hatch in the vessel, and thus lead to
a fallacy. Tiie flesh therefore must be perfectly
fresh and well examined before it be put into the
vessel. Still however an objection might be made
on account of the legions of microscopic animal-
cules which would probably appear, if the fluid
parts of the flesh, even in the closed vessel, were
accurately surveyed*.
The ancients, exclusive of the former erroneous
notion, entertained an idea that Insects were desti-
tute of blood ; for which reason they called them
animalia exsanguia or bloodless animals ; but
this idea arose merely from their not having paid
that minute attention to the study of Nature which
distinguished the philosophers of the last and pre-
sent century; and particularly to their not having
had the advantage of the microscope. Insects are
now well known to be so far from bloodless ani-
mals that in many of them the circulation itself of
the blood is most clearly and distinctly perceived.
The blood of insects differs from that of the larger
animals chiefly in colour, since in most insects it
wants redness, being generally of a clear or watery
* "We must also admit that some kinds of the cellular or
hydatid taeniae might have taken up tlieir abode in the flesh, and
these, to a person inconversant in Natural History, might appear
an argument in favour of equivocal generation.
INSECTS. 5
aspect, and sometimes green. The circulation of
the blood is particularly conspicuous in Spiders,
and in some species of Cimex or Bug, in which
the vibrations and contractions of the arteries
may also be distinctly observed*.
The first state in which Insects appear is that
of an ovum or egg. This relates to the generality
of Insects ; for there are some few examples of vi-
viparous Insects, as in the genus Aphis, Musca,&c.
From the egg is hatched the insect in its second
or caterpillar state, (though the term Caterpillar
relates more particularly to the insects of one
peculiar tribe.) This second state has been gene-
rally known by the name of Eruca, but Linnaeus
has changed it to that of Lan'Uy considering it as
a sort of masked form or disguise of the Insect in
its complete state. The Larvae or Caterpillars of
insects differ very much from each other, accord-
ing to the different tribes to which they belong.
Those of the Butterfly and Moth tribe are gene-
rally and emphatically known by the name of
Caterpillars, and are universally known. Those
of the Beetle tribe, except such as inhabit the
waters, are of a thick, clumsy form, and the abdo-
men is commonly of a heavy or bulging appear-
ance. The Larvae of the Locust or Grasshopper
tribe, and of some others of the same order, do
not differ much in appearance from the complete
Insect, except in being destitute of wings. The
Larvae of Flies, Bees, and many others, are gene-
* Especially in the Cimex lectularius or common bug.
6 INSECTS.
rally known by the name of maggots, and are of a
thick and short form. Those of Dragon-Flies,
Dytisci or Water-Beetles, and many other Insects,
are of highly singular forms, and differ perhaps
more from that of the complete insect than any
others except those of the Butterfly tribe.
Some Insects undergo no change of shape, but
are hatched from the egg complete in all their
parts, and undergo no farther alteration than that
of casting their skin from time to time, "^ill at
length they acquire the complete resemblance of
the parent animal.
It is in the Larva or caterpillar state that most
insects are peculiarly voracious, as in many of the
common caterpillars of Moths and Butterflies. In
their complete state some insects, as Butterflies
for instance, are satisfied with the lightest and
most delicate nutriment, while others, as several
Beetles, Dragon-Flies, &c. &c. devour animal and
vegetable substances with a considerable degree
of avidity.
When the time arrives in which the Larva or
caterpillar is to change into the next state, viz.
that of Chrysalis or Pupa, it ceases to feed, and
having placed itself in some quiet situation for the
purpose, lies still for several hours, and then by
a kind of laborious effort, frequently repeated,
divests itself of its external skin, or larva coat, and
immediately appears in the very different form of
a chrysalis or pupa.
The Pupa, or Chrysalis, differs in the different
tribes of Insects almost as much as the Larva. lu
INSECTS. 7
most of the Beetle tribe it is furnished with short
legs, capable of some degree of motion, though
very rarely exerted. In the Butterfly tribe it is
perfectly destitute of all appearance of legs, and
has no other motion than a mere lateral bending
or writhing when touched. In the LOcust tribe it
differs but very little from the perfect Insect, ex-
cept in not having the wings complete. In most
of the Fly tribe it is perfectly oval, without any
apparent motion, or distinction of parts. The
Pupte of the Bee tribe, and other Insects of a
similar cast are less shapeless than those of Flies,
exhibiting the faint or imperfect appearance of
the limbs. Those of the Libellulae or Dragon-
Flies are locomotive, as in the Locust tribe, but
differ most widely from the appearance of the
complete Insect, and may be numbered among
the most singular in the whole class of Insects.
I should here observe that the Linnaean term
Pupay which most modern entomologists substi-
tute for that of Chrysalis, was given from the
indistinct resemblance which many insects bear
in this state to a doll^ or a child when swathed up
according to the old fashion.
From the Pupa or Chrysalis emerges at length
the Insect in its complete or ultimate form, from
which it can never change, nor can it receive any
further increase of growth. This last or perfect
state of an Insect is, in the Linnaean language,
termed Imago.
This surprizing alteration of shape during the
different periods of an Insect's life, is to be con-
INSECTS.
sidered as an evolution or successive display of
parts before concealed. Thus Swammerdam de-
clares that he could demonstrate • all the parts of
the future Butterfly even in the body of the cater-
pillar itself. The truth of this experiment of
Swammerdam has been sometimes vehemently
■doubted, and even denied by some; especially as
it is difficult, at first, to discover these parts even
in the chrysalis or pupa, v^^hich is a step nearer to
the complete Insect. But in reality, there seems
to be but small reason for questioning the truth
of Swammerdam's observation ; and it may be
readily conceived that, by a very accurate and-
delicate investigation, the rudiments of the future
fly may be distinguished in the Caterpillar, if
observed a few hours before its transformation
into a chrysalis.
Insects possess some particular parts which are
not to be found in any of the larger animals.
Among these are the Antennce before mentioned,
which are generally termed the horns. They are
those processes or jointed bodies situated on each
side the head. The use of these parts is not
entirely understood*. It has by some been ima-
gined that they are the instruments of hearing.
They difler Extremely in the different tribes of
Insects, and are found to constitute one of the
most convenient parts to fix upon in the distribu-
tion of Insects into genera and species. It is
* See a highly learned and ingenious dissertation entitled,
" De Semibus externis Animaliu7n Exangiiiu7)t," by Mr. M. C.
Gottlieb Lehman, published at Gottingen in the year 1798.
INSECTS. ^
therefore necessary slightly to enumerate their
differences.
ylntemia setacea, or setaceous Antenna, means
one which is shaped like a bristle, or which grows
extremely fine and sharp at its termination.
Antenna Jiliformis, or thread-shaped, differs from
the former in being of equal diameter through-
out, or not visibly smaller at the tip than in other
parts.
Antenna moniliformis, or moniliform, is that in
which the joints are shaped like the beads of a
necklace, each joint being globular or nearly so.
Antenna cla'vata, clavated or club-shaped, is one
which thickens at the tip into a knob or small
club, as in the major part of Butterflies.
Anteiina Jissiiis, or fissile, is one which is split
or divided at the tip into several lamellae or flat
separations, as in the Beetles strictly so called,
or Scarabaei.
Antenna pecfinata, or pectinated, means one
which is divided along each side into numerous
processes in such a manner as to resemble the
teeth of a comb, as may be observed in many of
the Moth tribe.
Antetma harbata, or bearded, is one which is
slightly feathered, either on one or both sides,
with fine lateral fibres or hairs.
Antenna perfoUata, or perfoliate, is one in which
the joints are of a flattened and circular shape,
with the stem or body of the antenna passing
through them, as in the leaves of some plants,
which are called perfoliate from a similar circum~
10 INSECTS.
Stance, viz. the stem seeming to pass through the
leaves. This kind of Antenna is exemplified in
some of the shell-winged or Beetle tribe.
Another part peculiar to Insects consists in a
pair or two of short, jointed processes proceeding
from the mouth : they are termed Palpi or Feelers,
and are very conspicuous in some insects, and
much less so in others.
The Mouth in insects is generally situated at
the lower part of the front, and varies much in
structure in the different orders. In the Beetle
tribe it is furnished with very strong jaws, often
notched or serrated on the inner side into the ap-
pearance of teeth: this is also the case in Locusts
and many other insects. In some the mouth
consists of a tube or instrument for suction, either
simple, or variously sheathed and guarded by dif-
ferent kinds of appendages. In such insects as have
jaws, it is observable that they do not meet per-
pendicularly, as in quadrupeds and birds, but
horizontally.
So great is the variety in the structure of the
mouth in the different tribes of Insects, that a
celebrated Entomologist (Fabricius,) has formed
his System from this part in preference to any
other. It must be observed however, that this
mode of arranging insects is attended with much
difficulty, and seems far inferior to the obvious
and easy characters which distinguish the Linnaean
distribution.
The Eyes in Insects are commonly situated on
each side the head, and are two in number j but
INSECTS. 11
in some insects, as in Spiders, they are six
or eight in number. In the major part of
the Insect tribe the eyes may be considered as
compounds at least with respect to the exterior
coat or cornea, which, when viewed with a mi-
croscope, presents the appearance of an infinite
number of separate convexities, which are of a
shape exactly hexagonal, and a})pear to be so
many real convex lenses or glasses; but the exact
manner in which vision is performed in Insects is
perhaps not yet ascertained. Some have supposed
each of the hexagonal lenses to act as a real and
separate eye, and that the optic nerves are ex-
panded in separate branches at the bottom of
each as a retina; or that one universal retina is
expanded under all, which probably, is the real
structure. Yet it still remains difficult to account
for this prodigious multitude of eyes on the head
of one single animal. The head of the common
Libellula or Dragon-Fly is perhaps furnished with
not less than twenty-five thousand of these little
lenses. Whatever be their use, this particular
structure cannot be contemplated without the
highest admiration, and constitutes one of the
most curious particulars in the comparative ana-
tomy of Insects. That they are real convex lenses
seems demonstrated by their exhibiting every
phenomenon of such; inverting any object viewed
through them when magnified, as the flame of a
candle, the chimney of a house, or any other
object towards which they are directed; and that
they are double-convex lenses has been generally
22 INSECTS.
concluded Irom the appearance of a lateral section
of the cornea, in which the convexities of the
sides of each lens have appeared similar*. The
celebrated Swammerdam is of opinion that vision
is not performed by each lens as a separate eye,
as in quadrupeds, &c. but that it is excited, as he
expresses himself, by the mere appulseof the rays
of light on the lenses, which thus convey the idea
of the object. He also observes, that under every
lens is a hexagonal cone of fibres, the base of the
cone corresponding to the size of each lens. Dr.
Hook maintains that each lens is convex on the
external, and concave on the internal side.
Besides the eyes just described, there are on
the heads of many Insects three small, smooth,
lucid globules resembling so many separate eyes,
placed on the top of the head, between or above
the lateral ones. These parts Linnasus distin-
guishes by the title of Stemmata. Their real na-
ture is not yet very clearly understood.
The existence of the Brain in insects is denied
by Linnaeus, but by this he can only be supposed
to mean that it does not bear much resemblance
to that of the larger animals.
* Some insist that they are so many magnifying Menisci of
unequal spheres, the exterior or convex part of each being a
portion of a smaller sphere than the concave or interior part. The
accurate Roesel represents the supposed convexity of both sides,
but candidly confesses that he cannot absolutely determine the
point. The late eminent optician Mr. Benjamin Martin, in an
ingenious treatise on the nature of vision in Insects, insists
on their being double convex lenses, and has represented th*
proportional convexity in the eye of the Dragon- Fly.
INSECTS. 13^
The Body in the major part of Insects is divid-
ed into the thorax or upper part, and the abdo-
men or lower part. In many of the Beetle tribe
the back of the thorax is distinguished by a small
triangular piece or division, situated at its lower
part, between the juncture of the wing-sheaths : this
triangular part is termed Scutellum or escutcheon.
The under part of the thorax is Called the breast,
or Pectus, and in this the sternum is frequently
distinguishable. The abdomen is marked into
transverse sections, and the last joint terminates
in the tail, or pointed extremity. The wing-
sheaths or shelly coverings, in the Beetle tribe
and some others, are termed Elytra or Coleoptra.
The Limbs, in the major part of Insects, consist
of three principal divisions; viz. the upper joint.
Femur or thigh, the second joint. Tibia or leg, and
the third. Tarsus or foot, which commonly consists
of several small articulations, and is terminated
by a dilated tip, with two liooked claws.
In many Insects there are two small parts re-
sembling minute bladders, fixed on a slender,
short stem, and situated one under each wins:;
these parts are called Ilalteres, balancers, or
poisers, and are only to be found in the two-
winged insects : their supposed use is to keep the
Insect steady during its flight, since if one of
them be cut off, the animal flies with an unsteady
motion.
The majority of Insects are observed to be an-
nual; finishing the whole term of their lives in
the space of a year or less ; and many da pot live
14 INSECIS.
half that timej nay there are some which do not
survive many hours; but this latter period is to
be understood only of the animals when in their
complete or ultimate form, for the larvae of such
as are of this short duration have in reality lived
a very long time under water, of which they are
natives 3 and it is observed that water-insects in
general are of longer duration than land-insects.
Some few insects however in their complete state
are supposed to live a considerable time, as Bees
for instance; and it is well known that some of
the Butterfly tribe, though the major. part perish
before Avinter, will yet survive that season in a
state of torpidity, and again appear and fly
abroad in the suceeding spring. Spiders are also
said to live a considerable time, and some species
of the genus Cancer are said to live several years,
especially the common Lobster, &c. It should
be observed however that these animals, in the
opinion of some modern naturalists, constitute a
different tribe of beings from Insects properly so
called.
I must not dismiss this slight introduction to
the survey of Insects without observing that this
branch of Natural History has above all others
been subject to the ridicule which has so fre-
quently been bestowed on the investigation of
that science in general. Even those who from
their superior genius and talents might have been
supposed to have held every branch of science
in its proper degree of estimation, have occasion-
INSECTS. ] 5
ally given way to a temporary sally of contempt
at the historians of the minuter productions of
Nature. Thus the celebrated Count de Buffon,
happening not to have had any particular ad-
diction to the study of Insects, has not scrupled
to hint in strong and striking terms his opinion
of its inferiority compared with the study of the
greater and more conspicuous parts of the creation.
" Who," says this celebrated writer, " gives us
the grandest and most magnificent ideas of the
Creator of the Universe ? he who represents him,
in the plenitude of his power, directing the
formation of suns and of planets, and guiding the
revolutions of worlds, or he who discovers him
busied in regulating the oeconomy of an hive of
bees, or deeply engaged in folding the wings of a
beetle ?'»
Other philosophers however, of the most exalted
character, have expressed a widely different opi-
nion. The great Boyle declares that for his own
part his wonder was more excited by the con-
templation of a mite than by that of an elephant ;
and adds, in a phrase somewhat singular, that his
admiration dwelt not so much on the clocks as on
the watches of Nature; and the opinion of Plin}^
which Linnaeus takes for the motto of his volume
on Insects is evident from his own words. In his
tarn parvis tamqiic fere niillis quce ratio ! quanta
.ms ! quam inextricabilis perfectio !
l6 INSECTS.
Insects are divided by Linnaeus into seven
orders or distributions. The first order is entitled
Coleoptera, and contains all those insects whose
wings are guarded by a pair of strong, horny,
exterior cases or coverings, under which the
wings are folded up when at rest. These insects,
in common language, are called Beetles, though
in reality that term, as we shall soon fmd, is to
be restricted in science to one particular genus.
The wing-sheaths or horny coverings are some-
times called coleoptra, but more generally elytra.
The Coleopterous Insects form a very large or.
extensive order.
The second division of Insects is termed Hemip-
tera or half-winged. That is, the upper part of
the wing-sheaths in this tribe is of a tough or
leathery texture, and the lower part membranace-
ous. Sometimes almost the whole wing-cover is
leathery, but of a softer texture than in the
Coleoptera. The insects contained in this divi-
sion are very various j all the Locusts or Grass-
hoppers, the Cicadas, and a great many others.
It is to be observed that the wing-covers in this
order cross each other when closed, instead of
meeting in a direct line.
The third order is termed Lepidoptera or scaly-
winged. It consists of the insects commonly
termed Butterflies and Moths. The powder on
the wings of these insects has been generally de-
scribed by microscopical writers as consisting of
small feathers; but in reality it consists rather of
INSECTS. 17
minute scales, of various shapes and sizes on the
different species, and even on the different parts
of the same animal. Tlieir general appearance
is more or less fan-shaped, and they are disposed
in the manner of tiles on a roof, lapping over each
other.
The fourth order is called Neuroptera, or nerve-
winged. The insects of this order are remarkable
for the reticulated appearance of the wings, the
fibres running into ramifications and decussations
over the whole surface. Thi-s order is exemplified
in the Libellulae or Dragon-Flies, &c. in which
this character is remarkably conspicuous: the
wings are always four in number.
The fifth order is called Hymenoptera, and con-
sists of insects furnished with four membranaceous
wings, and also with a sting, or a process resem-
bling one. It is exemplified in the well-known in-
sects of the Bee and Wasp tribe and many others.
The sixth o-rder is entitled Diptera, and contains
such insects as are furnished with two wings only.
In this order rank Flies, strictly so called, as well
as Gnats, and a great variety of other insects.
The seventh and last order is termed Aptera,
and consists of such insects as are totally destitute
of wings, as Spiders, Centipedes or Scolopendrae,
Fleas, and many others. To this order also belong
the numerous species of the Crab and Lobster
tribe, which by some naturalists are excluded from
the class of Insects. It may be here observed, in
order to prevent mistakes, that some of the Cole-
opterous Insects are destitute of wings, having
V. VI. p. I. 2
as INSECTS.
only the upper sheaths or elytra ^ yet by no means
belong to the present order of Aptera. In some
few species of Insects it will also be found that
one sex is winged, while the other is apterous, as
in some of the Moth tribe. The Aphides also,
in the order Hemiptera, are known to have some
individuals of the same species winged, and others
wingless. These instances may sometimes mislead
a beginning entomologist; but he will very soon
learn to distinguish the real tribe to which the
insect belongs, and will not hastily refer it to the
Aptera.
1
INSECTS.
ORDER
COLOPTERx\.
S CAR AB.EUS. BEETLE.
Generic Character.
Antenna clavatoe, capitulo
fissili.
Tibice saepius dentatse.
Corpus crassum, compact-
um.
Antenna or horns clavate,
with a fissile tip.
Legs generally toothed.
Body thick and compact.
X HIS genus is extremely extensive. Among
the most remarkable species is the Scarabceus
Hercules or Hercules Beetle, which sometimes
measures not Less than five, or even six inches in
length: the wing-shells are of a smooth surface,
of a blueish or brownish grey colour, sometimes
20 BEETLE.
nearly black, and commonly marked with several
small, round deep-black spots, of different sizes:
the head and limbs are coal-black: from the upper
part of the breast or thorax proceeds a horn or
process of enormous length in proportion to the
body: it is sharp at the tip, where it curves
slightly downwards, and is marked beneath by two
or three denticulations, and furnished throughout
its whole length with a fine, short, velvet-like pile,
of a brownish orange-colour : from the front of the
head proceeds also a strong horn, about two thirds
the length of the former, toothed on its upper sur-
face but not furnished with any of the velvet-like
pile which appears on the former. This species
is a native of several parts of South America,
where great numbers are said to be sometimes
seen on the tree called the Mammaea*, rasp-
ing off the rind of the slender branches by work-
ing nimbly round them with the horns, till they
cause the juice to flow, which they drink to
intoxication, and thus fall senseless from the tree.
This however, as the learned Fabricius has well
observed, seems not very probable; since the
thoracic horn, being bearded on its lower surface,
would undoubtedly be made bare by this opera-
tion. This species, from the large size of all its
parts, affords an admirable example of the cha-
racters of the genus. It varies much in size, and
it may even be doubted whether some of the
smaller specimens have not been occasionally re-
* Mammaea Americana. Lin, Mamraee Tree. Brown Jam.
HCAM^BJ^V^o
fT^
JL:a^ j-cu^.
lSo fif, Ccif.i L£>nilorL,Tui*lus'Ji£^ h\ &^€'at\ri£y^lcecStre^.
BEETLE. 2 1
garded by authors as distinct species. The female
is destitute both of the frontal and thoracic horn,
but in other points resembles tiie male.
The Goliah Beetle, IScarabieus GoUathus, is
highly remarkable both in point of size and
colour: it is larger in body than the preceding,
and has a rose-coloured thorax, marked with lon-
gitudinal black stripes or variegations, and purple-
brown wing-sheaths: the head is divided in front
into two forked processes: the limbs are black,
and very strong. It is a native of some parts of
Africa. A supposed variety sometimes occurs, in
which both the thorax and wing-sheaths are of a
pale yellowish brown instead of rose-colour, and
are marked with Ijlack variegations.
One of the most common European Beetles is
the Cockchaffer, or Scarahceus Melolontha. This
insect is extremely familiar in our own island,
the larva or caterpillar inhabiting ploughed lands,
and feeding on the roots of corn, &c. and the
complete insect making its appearance during the
middle and the decline of summer. The Cockchaffer
sometimes appears in such prodigious quantities
as almost to strip the trees of their foliage, and to
produce mischiefs nearly approaching to those of
the Locust tribe. It appears from a paper by a
Mr. Molineux, printed in the Philosophical Trans-
actions for the year 1697, that some particular
districts in Ireland were overrun by this insect in
a wonderful manner. The account runs as follows.
" These insects were first noticed in this kingdom
in 1688. They appeared on the South-west coast
22 BEETLE.
of Galway, brought thither by a south-west wind,
one of the most common, I might almost say
trade-winds, of this country. From hence they
penetrated into the inland parts towards Hedd-
ford, about twelve miles north of the town of
Gal way: here and there in the adjacent country
multitudes of them appeared among the trees and
hedges in the day-time, hanging by the boughs
in clusters, like bees when they swarm. In this
posture they continued, with little or no motion,
during the heat of the sun; but towards evening
or sunset they would all disperse and fly about
with a strange humming noise like the beating of
distant drums, and in such vast numbers that they
darkened the air for the space of two or three
miles square. Persons travelling on the roads, or
abroad in the fields, found it very uneasy to make
their way through them, they would so beat and
knock themselves against their faces in their flight,
and with such a force as to make the place smart,
and leave a slight mark behind them. In a short
time after their coming, they had so entirely eat
up and destro3^ed all the leaves of the trees for
some miles round, that the whole country, though
in the middle of summer, was left as bare as in
the depth of winter ; and the noise they made in
snawino: the leaves made a sound much resem-
bling the sawing of timber. They also came into
the gardens and destroyed the buds, blossoms,
and leaves of all the fruit-trees, so that they were
left perfectly naked; nay many that were more
delicate than the rest, lost their sap as well i^
BEETLE. 23
leaves, and quite withered away, so that they
never recovered again. Their multitudes spread
so exceedingly that they infested houses, and be-
came extremely offensive and troublesome. Their
numerous young, hatched from the eggs which
they had lodged under ground, near the surface
of the earth, did still more harm in that close re-
tirement than ail the flying swarms of their
parents had done abroad; for this destructive
brood, lying under ground, eat up the roots of
corn and grass, and thus consumed the support
both of man and beast. This plague was happily
checked several ways. High winds and wet
misling weather destroyed many millions of them
in a day; and when this constitution of thaair pre-
vailed, they were so enfeebled that they would let
go their hold, and drop to the ground from the
branches, and so little a fall as this was sufficient
quite to disable, and sometimes perfectly kill them.
Nay it was observable that, even when they were
most vigorous, a slight blow would for some time
stun them, if not deprive them of life. During
these unfavourable seasons of the weather, the
swine and poultry of the country would watch
under the trees for their falling, and feed and
fatten upon them; and even the poorer sort of
the country people, the country then labouring
under a scarcity of provision, had a way of dressing
them, and lived upon them as food. In a little
time it was found that smoke was another thing
very offensive to them, and by burning heath,
fern, &c. tlie gardens were secured, or if the
24 BEETLE.
insects had already entered, they were thus driven
out again. Towards the latter end of summer
they returned of themselves, and so totally disap-
peared, that in a few days you could not see one
left. A year or two ago, all along the South
West Coast of the county of Galway, for some
miles together, there were found dead on the shore
such infinite multitudes of them, and in such vast
heaps, that, by a moderate estimate, it was com-
puted there could not be less than forty or fifty
horse-loads in all; which was a new colony, or a
supernumerary swarm from the same place whence
the first stock came, in 1688, driven by the wind
from their native land, which I conclude to be
Normaqdy or Britany in France, it being a
country much infested with this insect, and from
whence England heretofore has been pestered in
a similar manner with swarms of this vermin;
but these, meeting with a contrary wind, before
they could land, were stopped, and, tired with the
voyage, were all driven into the sea, which, by
the motion of its waves and tides, cast their float-
ing bodies in heaps on the shore. It is observed
that they seldom keep above a year together in a
place, and their usual stages or marches are com-
puted to be about six miles in a year. Hitherto
their progress has been westerly, following the
course of that wind which blows most commonly
in this country."
It is recorded by Moufiet, in his History of
Insects, that in the year 1574, in the month of
February, so great a quantity of these insects
S VA.'RAIE.^T^B
. WV/ZW/z^/.^VcV 7V//.V
i* ^
5^^ ^
Xarvii
Tupa
itcx CttriLcnJcn.riil-li^^'d l-v &.Starshv J^lttr Slr^ft .
BEETLE. 25
were driven into the river Severn, that they totally
prevented the mills from working, and were with
difficulty extirpated by the united efforts of the
people, and the various kinds of hawks, ducks, and
other birds, which preyed upon them with avidity.
In Normandy, according to the same author, they
generally make their appearance every third year.
In our own i.sland the county of Norfolk seems
occasionally to have suffered most from the ra-
vages of the Cockchaffer. In the year 1751 in
particular many crops are said to have been de-
stroyed by it.
The larva or caterpillar of this insect is said to
be two, and sometimes three years, in passing
from its first form into that of the perfect insect.
The eggs are laid in small detached heaps beneath
the surface of some clod, and the young, when
first hatched, are scarcely more than the eighth of
an inch in length, gradually advancing in their
growth, and occasionally shifting their skins, till
they arrive at the length of near two inches. At
this period they begin to prepare for their change
into a chrysalis or pupa, selecting for the purpose
some small clod of earth, in which they form an
oval cavity, and, after a certain space, divest
themselves of their last skin, and immediately ap-
pear in the chrysalis form, in which they con-
tinue till the succeeding summer, when the Beetle
emerges from its retirement, and commits its de-
predations on the leaves of trees, &c. breeds,
and deposits its eggs in a flivourable situation,
after which its life is of very short duration.
26
BEETLE.
A much more elegant insect of this kind is the
Scarabceus Fullo or Variegated Beetle. It is
nearly twice the size of the Cockchafler, and of
an elegant chesniit-colour, with the wing-sheaths
beautifully marbled with white variegations. It is
common in many parts of Europe, but extremely
rare in England.
A species of peculiar beauty is the Golden
Beetle, Scarabceus auratus ; it is about the size of
the common or black garden beetle, but of a
somewhat flatter shape; and of the most brilliant,
varnished golden-green colour, with the wing-
shells varied towards the lower part by a few
slight, transverse, white streaks. This beautiful
species is not uncommon during the hottest part
of summer, frequenting various plants and flowers;
its larva or caterpillar is commonly found in the
hollows of old trees, or among the loose dry soil at
their roots, and sometimes in the earth of ant-hills.
It remains about three years before it changes to a
pupa or chrysalis, out of which the insect emerges
in a short times afterward.
This may be sufficient for a general idea of the
Linnaean genus Scarabceus. It may be added that
the species are extremely numerous, and that so
great is the singularity of appearance in many
kinds, that even the most romantic imagination
can hardly conceive a structure of horn or process
wliich is not exemplified in some of the tribe.
SCABAB/EF5.
Srar./'if^/o.
Jf,(?fryTtt^_^. •*\xJf/.
iSc^.Cct^i LcfuiviL fui'iirh*fii l* Ij. /rtcw.fl^t ITt^r^ i'^-e^.t:
XiTTAisnrs,
Luranns Icrviu'i.
7Sr.%.0itVi r.fn<)^r, /-uth-.fhfd iy C.Kfarslty.Flffr ftreet
LUCANUS. STAG-CHAFFER.
Generic Character,
AntenntB clavatae : clava
conipressa latere hitiore
pectinato-iissili.
Maxilla porrecta, exsertae,
deutataj.
Antenna clavated, Avith
compressed tip, divided
into lamellae on the inner
side.
/d!W5 stretched forwards, ex-
serted, and tootlied.
X HIS genus, as the reader will perceive by at-
tend iiig to the generic character, differs chiefly
from the preceding in having the jaws consider-
ably elongated, so as to give the appearance of a
pair of denticulated horns ; while the antennae
terminate in a laterally-flattened tip, divided on
the interior side into several lamellae.
The principal species is the Lucanus Cei^vus,
commonly known by the name of the Stag-Beetle,
or Stagchafter. It is the largest of all the Euro-
pean coleopterous insects, sometimes measuring
near two inches and a half in length, from the tips
of the jaws to the end of the body. Its general
colour is a deep chesnut, with the thorax and
head, which is of a squarish form, of a blacker
cast: and the jaws are often of a brighter or red-
der chesnut-colour than the wing-shells: the legs
28 STAG-CHAFFER.
and under-parts are coal-black, and the wings,
which, except during flight, are concealed under
the shells, are large, and of a fine pale yellowish-
brown. This remarkable insect is chiefly found
in the neighbourhood of oak trees, delighting in
the sweet exsudatiou or honey-dew so frequently
observed on the leaves. Its larva, which perfectly
resembles that of the genuine Beetles, is also
found in the hollows of oak trees; residing in the
fine vegetable mould usually seen in such cavities,,
and feeding on the softer parts of the decayed
wood. It is of very considerable size, of a pale
yellowish or whitish brown colour, and when
stretched out at full length, measures nearly four
inches*. Its general posture however is the curved
one exhibited in the annexed plate. When arriv-
ed at its full size, which, according to some, is
hardly sooner than the fifth or sixth year, it forms,
by frequently turning itself, and moistening it with
its glutinous saliva, a smooth oval hollow in the
earth in which it lies, and afterwards remaining per-
fectly still for the space of near a month, divests itself
of its skin, and commences pupa or chrysalis. It
is now of a shorter form than before, of a rather
* It has been supposed by Roesel, and not without a consider-
able degree of probability, that these Larvae were tlie Cossi of
the ancient Romans, whichj according to Pliny, were in high
esteem as an article of luxury. What renders this supposition
the more probable is that the larvae of a species of Cerambyx, as
well as of a Curculio, are well known to be greatly admired by
the inhabitants of the West Indian islands, and are frequently
collected at a great expence, as a highly delicate dish, being
broiled or fried for that purpose.
STAG-CHAFFER. 2^
deeper colour, and exliibits in a striking manner
tlie rudiments of the large extended jaws and
broad head so conspicuous in the perfect insect:
the legs are also proportionally larger and longer
than in the larva state. The l)all of earth in which
this chrysalis is contained is considerably larger
tlian a hen's eggy and of a rough exterior surface,
but perfectly smooth and polished within. The
chrysalis lies about three months before it gives
birth to the complete insect, which usually
emerges in the months of July and August, The
time however of this insect's growth and appear-
ance in all its states varies much, according to the
difference of seasons. It is not very uncommon
in many parts of England.
The commonly supposed female differs so much
in appearance from the male, that it has by some
authors been considered as a distinct species. It
is not only smaller than the former, but totally
destitute of the long and large ramified jaws, in-
stead of which it has a pair of very short curved
ones, slightly denticulated on their inner side:
the head is also of considerably smaller diameter
than the thorax. In point of colour it resembles
the former. Among those who consider it as a
distinct species may be numbered the ingenious
Mr, Marsham, F. L, S. who, in his Entomologia
Britannica, assures us that the real female insect
extremely resembles the male, but is smaller, and
wants the larger denticulation on the inner side
of each horn. The generally supposed female he
distinguishes by the title of Lucanus inennls, L.
30 STAG-CHAFFER.
convexiis brunneus^ maiilUs brevibus : dente lateralt
elevato.
Tlie exotic species of this genus are mostly na-
tives of America, and one in particular, frequently
found in Virginia, is so nearly allied to the English
Stag-Beetle as hardly to ditfer, except in having
fewer denticulations or divisions on the jaws.
A highly elegant species has lately been dis-
covered in New Holland. This differs from the
rest in being entirely of a beautiful golden green
colour, with short, sharp-pointed, denticulated
jaws of a brilliant copper-colour. The whole
length of the Insect is rather more than an inch.
7-
BERMESTER
jAaTdarius
JD. Jfurinus
I
-D. TTndatus
If Fellio
D.rcllio
J). Muri/uis
Antenna,
j/fo,^ OctuZoiuii>n.rub(i/))f(i fy' e.A'caislc\- fleet Stmct.
DERMESTES. LEATHER-CHAFFER.
Genetic Character.
Antenrue clavatae, capitulo
perfoliato: articulistribus
crassioribus.
Thorax convexus, vix mar-
ginatus.
Caput sub thorace inflexum
condens.
Antennae clavated, with per-
foliate tip, the three last
joints being larger than
the rest.
Thorax convex, scarce or
very slightly margined.
Head withdrawn at pleasure
beneath the thorax.
JL HIS genus consists chiefly of small insects.
Their larvae are found among skins, furs, and vari-
ous animal substances, of a dry kind, which they
gradually injure, and are numbered among the
most destructive insects in Museums, devouring
specimens of birds, quadrupeds, collections of
dried plants, &c.: they are of a lengthened oval
shape, and more or less hairy, especially towards
the end of the body, where, in some, the hairs
form a kind of spreading tuft, which the animal
raises on being suddenly disturbed. The complete
insects are mostly of a lengthened oval shape,
and have a habit of withdrawing the head be-
neath the thorax when handled. One of the most
familiar species is the Dermestes lardariusy which
is about a third of an inch in length, and of a
32 LEATHER-CHAFFER.
dusky brown colour, with the upper half of the
wing-shells whitish or ash-coloured, marked with
black specks. The larva is often found about
dried or salted meat, lard, &c. &c.
Another species, seen in almost every house
during the early part of the spring and summer,
is the Dermestes PeUio. It is smaller than the
preceding, measuring scarcely a quarter of an
inch in length, and is of a very dark brown or
blackish colour, with a white speck on the middle
of each wing-shell.
8
J'T-i:s'rs.
J^ Ta/ziy/r/i.y ma/jmn^d
*
I^tiriJis Taddiciis
iSp^.Oa^:iLrn.^in.ruA/MAe,/f•_y h. Eear-.-Zn. rfe^fFSrrf^/^.
PTINUS. PTINUS.
Generic Character.
Antennte filiformes ; articu-
lis ultimis majoribus.
Thorax subrotundus, im-
marginatus, caput exci-
piens.
Antennee filiform, with the
three last joints largest.
Thorax roundish, without
distinct margin, receiving
occasionally the head.
A HE genus Ptiniis, like that of Dermestes, con-
sists of small insects which, in general, have simi-
lar habits, living both in their larva and complete
state among dry animal substances, and some
species in dry wood, committing great havock
among the older articles of furniture, which they
pierce with innumerable holes, thus causing their
gradual destruction.
To this genus belongs the celebrated Insect
distinguished by the title of the Death- Watch, or
PtinusfaticUcus. Among the popular superstitions
which the almost general illumination of modern
times has not been able to obliterate, the dread of
the Death- Watch may well be considered as one
of the most predominant, and still continues to
disturb the habitations of rural tranquillity with
groundless fears and absurd apprehensions. It is
not indeed to be imagined that they who are en-
V. VI. r. I. 3
34 PTINUS.
gaged in the more important cares of providing
the immediate necessaries of life should have
either leisure or inclination to investigate with
philosophic exactness the causes of a particular
sound: yet it must be allowed to be a very sin-
gular circamstance that an animal so common
should not be more universally known, and the
peculiar noi^e which it occasionally makes be
more universally understood. It is chiefly in
the advanced state of spring that this alarming
little animal com.mences its sound, which is no
other than the call or signal by which the male
and female are led to each other, and which may
be considered as analogous to the call of birds j
though not owing to the voice of the insect, but to
its beating on any hard substance with the shield
or fore-part of its head. The prevailing number of
distinct strokes which it beats is from seven to
nine or eleven ; which \ ery circumstance may
perhaps still add in some degree to the ominous
character which it bears among the vulgar. These
sounds or beats are given in pretty quick suc-
cession, and are repeated at uncertain intervals ;
and in old houses where the insects are numerous,
may be heard at almost every hour of the day ;
especially if the weather be warm. The sound
exactly resembles that which may be made by
beating moderately hard with the nail on a table.
The insect is of a colour so nearly resembling that
of decayed wood, viz. an obscure greyish brown,
that it may for a considerable time elude the
search of the enquirer. It is about a quarter of
PTINUS. 35
ail inch in length, and is moderately thick in pro-
portion, and the wing-shells are marked with
numerous irregular variegations of a ligliter or
greyer cast than the ground-colour. In the
twentieth and twenty-second volume of the Philo-
sophical Transactions may he found a description
of this species hy the celebrated Derham, with
some very just observations relative to its habits
and general appearance ; and it seems singular
that so remarkable an insect should have almost
escaped the notice of more modern entomologists.
In the twelfth edition of the Systema Nuiarae of
Linnaeus it does not appear ; but is probably the
Dennestes tesselatus of Fabricius, in which case he
seems to have placed it in a wrong genus. Ridi-
culous, and even incredible as it may appear, it is
an animal that may in some measure be tamed:
at least it may be so far familiarized as to be
made to beat occasionally, by taking it out of its
confinement, and beating on a table or board,
when it will readily answer the noise, and will
continue to beat as often as required.
We must be careful not to confound this ani-
mal, which is the real Death- Watch of the vulgar,
emphatically so called, with a much smaller insect
of a very different genus, which makes a sound
like the ticking of a watch, and continues it for a
long time without intermission. It belongs to a
tbtall}^ different order, and is the Termes pulsa-
torium of Linnaeus.
I cannot conclude this slight account of the
Death-Watch without quoting a sentence from
36 PTINUS.
that celebrated work the Pseudodoxia Epidemica
of the learned Sir Thomas Brown, who on this
subject expresses himself in words like these.
" He that could eradicate this error from the
minds of the people would save from many a cold
sweat the meticulous heads of nurses and grand-
mothers*." )
A very destructive little species of Ptinus is
often seen in collections of dried plants, &c. &c.
reniarkablp for the ravages it commits both in its
larva and perfect state. The larva resembles that
of a beetle in miniature, being about the eighth
of an inch long, and of a thickish form, lying with
the body bent, and is of a white colour. The
perfect insect i? very small, measuring only about
the tenth of an inch, and is slender, of a pale
yellowish chesnut colour, appearing, when magni-
fied, beset with small short hairs, with the wing-
covers finely striped by rows of small impressed
points or dots. The ravages of the larva are most
remarkable during the summer.
The Ptinus Fur of Linnaeus is another very de-
structive species. Its length is somewhat more
than the tenth of an inch, and its colour pale
chesnut-brown, sometimes marked on the wing-
covers by a pair of greyish bands: the antennae
are rather long and slender^ the body remarkably
convex, and the thorax, when magnified, appears
* The reader will perceive that I have repeated the history
of the Death-Watch from the description which I long ago
published in the Naturalist's Miscellany.
iPTiINl'5
/erruoineus
jfftU2if . l££/. tfin^ Six. of 2'. pecti/mv/n/s /mitmiAed .
tSo3 Oct"^ 1 l'iU>lishfii bv tr.Kearslev, flret Street /.i^ndorv.
ffeaih.. j'c%tlfj.
PTINUS. 37
to have a projecting point on each side. Its iarva
resembles that of the preceding species, and is
found in similar situations,
Ptinus pectinicornis is readily distinguished by
the remarkable appearance of the antenna?, the
longer joints of which are so deeply pectinated as
to have the aspect of feathered antennas. It is
one of the smaller species, meiisuring in length
about the eighth of an inch, and is of a slender
habit, with a subcylindric body. It is often found
in old wood, and among papers, books, &c. which
it perforates and destroys.
HISTER. HISTER.
Generic Character.
Antennae capitatae capitulo
solidiusculo ; infimo arti-
culo cornpresso, decur-
vato.
Caput intra corpus retrac-
tile. Os forcipatum.
Elytra corpore breviora.
Tibue anticsB dentatae.
Antennte headed by a some-
what solid tip; lowest
joint compressed and de-
curved.
Head retractile. Mouth for-
cipated.
Wifig-sheaths shorter than
the body.
Fore-legs toothed.
X HE most common European species of this
genus is the Hister unicolor of Linnasus. It is
entirely of a glossy coal-black coloui', and of a
slightly flattened shape; varying considerably in
size, but usually measuring about the third of an
inch in length, and is often seen in gardens, sandy
fields, &c. Its larva seems to be unknown.
Hister quadrimaciilatus. Lin. has much the ap-
pearance of a small beetle; its shape is strongly
convex, and its colour black, with two dull-red
bars on each wing-shell; viz. one at the base, and
the other, smaller, at the tip. It is found about
dunghills, &c.
lil.STEK.
10
*
NiA-f/T iwin>/or
H. U. m/i^ru/Ud
^,
l/ZJ/f/T A'l/h
iSos. Onr, London. /'„^/,.,h„1 hv o K^mwf^r. /■/,,( .trrM
21
Gvrinu.s- ita
^ f
#
tatcr. not. -Size.
ruitator
jn/j^ni/ied.
Jlc4Uh. •Y3«^.
lof'
lit iruvqni
tna^gi
i/f/'d
i8c,T.CcT^iZcnden.Pubh.,-}ud hi G Ktoj-shy.FUtr ./»v<-/
GYRINUS. GLIMMERCHAFFER.
Generic Character.
Aiitenna clavatce, rigidct",
capite breviores.
Oculi quatuor; duobus su-
pra, duobus infra.
Antemite clavated, stiff,
shorter than tlie liead.
Eyes (apparently) four ; two
above, and two below.
JL HE genus Gyriiius is furnished with extremely
short, stiff antennas, appearing to consist of an
undivided piece or joints but, if accurately in-
spected by means of a magnifier, they will be
found to be composed of very numerous close-set
joints: the eyes are so placed as to appear double
on each side the head; viz. one above and the
other below the base of the antenna.
The most remarkable European species is the
Gyrinus natator, a small Insect, about a quarter
of an inch in length, of an oval shape, w ith some-
what sharpened extremities, and of a black or
grey-black colour, with so lucid a surface as to
shine like a piece of looking-glass in the full sun-
"shine. It is an inhabitant of the waters, and is
chiefly found in rivulets, being generally seen in
great multitudes, and in very brisk motion. It is
difficult to catch, diving with astonishing celerity
when disturbed j the hinder legs being very broad.
40 GLIMMERCHAFFER.
finely webbed with minute hairs, and most curi-
ously formed for exercising the office of fms or
oars. The larva is of a higlily singular aspect,
having a very lengthened body, furnished, exclu-
sive of six legs on the fore-parts, with a great
many lateral appendages or processes down the
body ; those towards the extremity considerably
exceeding the rest. In its motions it is extremely
agile, swimming in a kind of serpentine manner,
and preying on the smaller and weaker water-
insects, minute worms, &c. the head is armed with
a pair of forceps, pierced on each side the tip with
a small foramen, through which it sucks the juices
of the animals on which it preys: the colour of this
larva is a very pale or whitish brown, with a high
degree of transparency, which renders it a highly
curious object for the microscope : its length,
when full-grown, is about three quarters of an
inch. When the time of its changes arrives, it
forms for itself a small oval cell or case on a leaf
of sedge or other convenient water-plant, and after
casting its skin, becomes a chrysalis: this change
usually takes place in the month of August, and
the complete insect emerges in that of September.
When these animals are congregated together
in great multitudes on the surface of the water,
which frequently happens in hot weather, they
have been observed to diffuse a strono- or disaoj'ree-
able smell to a considerable distance. Like other
water-beetles, they fly only by night. They de-
posit their eggs, which are very small, white, and
of a somewhat cylindric form, on the stems of
GLIMMERCHAFFER.
41
water-plants: they hatch in the space of about
eight days, and immediately begin to swim about
with much briskness in quest of prey.
Most of the exotic Gyrini have a strong general
resemblance to this s])ecies, but differ in size and
colour, thougli none hitherto discovered can be
considered as large insects.
PAUSUS. PAUSUS.
Generic Character
Jlnienn^ biarticulata^, clava
maxima, imcinata, pedi-
cellata, mobili.
Caput porrectum.
Elytra flexilia, deflexa,
truncata.
Anttmiie of two joints, the
upper very large, inflated,
moveable, and hooked.
Head stretched forwards.
Wing-sheaths flexile, de-
flected, truncated.
X HIS genus does not exist in the twelfth edition
of the Systema Naturae, but made its first ap-
pearance ir. a dissertation published at Upsai by
Linnteus, ir, the year 1775. At that period only
one species was known. In the year 1796, Dr.
Adam Afze ius, then residing at the British settle-
ment at Sierra Leona, discovered a second, and
has described both with elaborate exactness in a
paper on ths genus published in the fourth volume
of the Traisactions of the Linnaean Society of
London. To this paper nothing can be objected
but its extreme prolixity. I shall therefore take
the liberty of here reducing it within reasonable
compass. The etymology of the name Dr. Afze-
lius imagires to be from the Greek itautrig^ signify-
ing a paus, cessation, or rest; for Linnseus, now
old and infirm, and sinking under the weight of
rAUSlTb'
IQ
J'. ,sp/i(rrrreros
-^
F. nurfyurphn/n.
h/'orf mngni/ifd
?i^/7/'/ mm/f?///^r/
T. . r. magni/ied
T*. m. 7naqni/if//
i/ff'^.^clSi Z rn/^frn ./"iiA/iJ-Aed hi- C.Kearj'leii.FUet Street
PAUSUS. 43
age and labour, saw no probability of continuing
any longer his career of glory. He might there-
fore be supposed to say " h'lc rncta lahorinn," as it
in reality proved, at least with regard to Insects;
Pausus being the last he ever described.
He named the Insect Pausus microceplialus . The
head is unconmionly small ; the thorax l)roader
than the head, and very uneven, the two parts
being entirel}^ separated by a transverse furrow ;
the foremost division is elevated into a sharp ridge
resembling a collar, and the hindmost is depressed
or cut out in the middle into a cavity, which is
obtuse behind, dilated and deepened before, and
encompassed on the sides with diverging and out-
wardly declining lobes, being rounded at the top,
and provided with shining hairs of a fulvous colour
and bent inwards: the elytra are without dots,
and rather longer than the abdomen: the under
or real wings are sooty, and without the least
glossiness: the abdomen has the terminal segment
very retuse, and the margin of the next before it
is visibly raised, the pivots of the antennie are
black, very bright, and at first sight might be
easily taken for eyes; the under joint is furnished
with a wart on the inner margin of the top, covered
with papillary or cartilaginous hairs: the upper
joint or clava is dotted, much larger than the head,
and of the shape of an oblong spheroid, being
rounded in front and compressed, with the carina
raised into a sharp edge, provided on the vertex
with four tubercles set in a row and tipped with
hairs, and elongated behind into an obtuse tube,
44 PAUSUS.
laterally compressed, above depressed and under-
neath having a knob, which, in moving, touches the
bundle of hairs on the top of the under joint: the
pedicle is long and crooked, its upper part being
broader, compressed, and keeled in front : the in-
terior palpi are of a lanceolate-oblong shape, and
furnished with very minute hinges: the mandibles
have small hinges, and the inferior sheath is much
larger than the superior: the hind-legs are a little
shorter than the others: the joints of the tarsi are
diflicultly distinguished. This rare insect is a native
of Banana island, and Sierra Leona in Africa. Its
colour is a blackish brown. It is represented on
the annexed plate both in its natural size, and
considerably magnified.
The second species, or Paiisus sphceroceruSj is
thus described by Dr. Afzelius.
" I had been in Africa almost three years before
I happened to meet with this remarkable little
insect; and then it was quite accidentally. There
was a house building for the Governor, on an
eminence called Thornton Hill at the South end
of Free-Town in Sierra Leona; and in the begin-
ning of the year 1795, several apartments having
been got ready, so as to be habitable, one of them
was allotted to me, and I removed into it in the
end of the month of January. I had not resided
there many days, when one evening, having just
lighted my candle and begun to write, I observed
something dropping down from the ceiling before
me upon the table; which, from its singular ap-
pearance, attracted my particular attention. It
PAUSUS. 45
remained for a little while quite immoveable, ns if
stunned or frightened, but began soon to crawl
very slowly and steadily. I then caught it, and,
from the remembrance I had of the Linntean
species, I directly took it for a non-descript of this
genus. Some few days after, coming into my
room from supper, with a light in my hand, and
having })ut it upon the table, there instantly fell
another down from the ceiling. The third I was
favoured with by the then Governor, Mr. Dawes,
who informed me that it had dropped down before
him on the table, just when he had entered his
room, and was going to write. The other three,
which I afterwards collected, were also got upon
similar occasions, and from thence I thought I had
some reason to conclude that it is a nocturnal
animal, that it becomes benumbed by candle-
light, that it lives in wood, and prefers new-built
houses, &c. After the end of February I never
saw any more. The last which I caught I put
into a box, and left confined there for a day or
two. One evening, going to look at it, and
happening to stand between the light and the
box, so that my shadow fell upon the insect, I
observed to my great astonishment, the globes of
the antennas, like two lanthorns, spreading a dim
phosphoric light. This singular phenomenon
raised my curiosity, and, after having examined it
several times that night, I resolved to repeat my
researches the following day. But the animal,
being exhausted, died before the morning, and
the light disappeared. And afterwards, not being
46 I'AUSUS.
able to find any more specimens, I was prevented
from ascertaining the fact by reiterated experi-
ments at diffei-ent times; which I therefore must
recommend to other naturalists who may have an
opportunity of visiting Sierra Leona, requesting
that they would particularly inquire into this
curious circumstance. I shall now only add some
few remarks, shewing in what manner this new
species differs from the old one. Not being quite
so broad, it looks as if it were longer, and more
cylindrical : it is also of a lighter or chesnut colour,
and all over very glossy. The head is larger, but
its annular l>ase part smaller, and contracted: it
is furnished with a little horn in the middle, be-
tween the eyes, which is strait, conic, and tipped
with a tuft of cartilaginous hairs: the clypeus is
only depressed, and the jugular t.iangle wader:
the eyes are large, and very evident, those of the
male black, though in a certain light appearing
greenish; but those of the female are like pearls,
or as if they were covered w ith a crystalline mem-
brane: the angles of the brim of the socket are
small and rounded at the top, and the hinder one
lower than the eye. Tlie pivots of the antennas
are not so discernible as in the former species,
being like the surrounding parts in colour: the
under joint is without any hairy papilla or wart:
the upper joint or clava is of the size of the head,
quite globular, and resembles an inflated bladder,
being almost pellucid, and of a light flesh-colour:
the keel is nothing more than a raised line, finish-
ing on the vertex in only one chesnut-brown
PAUSUS. 47
tubercle covered with cartilaginous hairs: behind
there is a little conical shining hook, of the same
colour and with the same sort of hairs bending
outwardly, being of equal length with the horn on
the head, but narrower : the pedicle is short, strait,
and cylindrical. The interior palpi, furnished
with very visible hinges, are a little thicker to-
wards the top, but look in some directions as if
they were filiform : the mandibles have large
hinges, and the superior sheath almost as long as
the inferior one, and nearly cylindrical. The
thorax is of the same breadth with the head, and
not very uneven, the two parts being separated by
a furrow only on the sides and underneath, the
foremost above and on the sides resembling an
annular segment, and the hinder one impressed
in the middle with a mark somewhat like two
small diverging wings of a blackish silvery colour.
The elytra are shorter than the abdomen, and
minutely punctated: the under wings are of a
shining and changeable violaceous colour, and not
very dark: the abdomen has the terminal segment
a little convex, and in the female more so than in
the male: underneath, the third and last segments
are darker than the others, the legs are all of equal
length ; the tarsi longer than those of the Pausus
microccphalus, and have both the joints and the
claws much more distinct."
BYRRMUS. BYRRHUS.
Generic Character.
Antenna clavatse, subsolidae,
Antenna clavated, subsolid.
subcompressa?. \ subcornpressed.
J. HE Insects belonging to this genus have an
ovate body, convex or subglobular in some species,
with the wing-shells covered by a short pile, and
the head is retracted under the thorax.
The Byrrhics Scrophularicc is a small insect, of
the size of one of the smallest kind of CoccinellaB
or Lady-Birds ; its colour is a dark brown, clouded
with broken or irregular white bands, and the
edges constituting the line of division between the
wing-sheaths is red. This little insect is observed
to be more frequently found on the plant called
Scrophularia aquatica than elsewhere.
Byrj^hus P'llula is a larger species, equalling, or
rather exceeding the size of the common Lady-
Bird or Coccinella septem-punctata. Its colour is
a dull brown, with a few obscure blackish lines
down the wing-shells : it is of an extremely convex
shape, and, when disturbed, contracts its limbs,
and lies in an inert state, resembling the appear-
ance of a seed or pill. It is found on various
plants, and about garden-ground, &c. the antennas
3?Y]R.:S-'H1''S
m
^iluUv
J[/j4S6Coru/ny
Scropfudiuia
S3
-ido-i,Octiz.Zoruii?ii.J'iJjU/hc<i At ti^.Sl->u\rlc^- , Fic/^ Street
BYRRHUS. 49
in this species are longer than in others, and
rather perfoliated than merely knobbed.
Byrrluis JMmeorum resembles Byrrhus Scro-
phularias, but wants the red suture of the wing-
shells: it is often seen in houses, and commits
depredations in animal and vegetable collections,
in the same manner as the insects of the genus
Ptinus and Dermestes.
V. VI. P, I.
SILPHA. SILPHA.
Generic Character.
Antennte extrorsum crassi-
ores.
Elytra marginata.
Caput prominens.
Thorax planiusculus, mar-
ginatus.
Antemi/e thickening towards
the tip.
Wing-sheaths margined.
Head prominent.
Thorax flattish, margined.
X HE insects of the genus Silpha are generally
found among decaying animal or vegetable sub-
stances, frequenting dung-hills, carrion, &c. and
deposit their eggs chiefly in the latter. The
Larvae are of a lengthened shape, and of an un-
pleasant appearance, being generally roughened
with minute spines and protuberances. The most
remarkable of the European species, and which
is by no means uncommon in our own country, is
the Silpha Vespillo, distinguished by having the
wing-sheaths considerably shorter than the abdo-
men, or as if cut off at the tips : they are also each
marked by two waved, orange-coloured, trans-
verse bars, the rest of the insect being black :
the general length of the animal is about three
quarters of an inch. This insect seeks out some
decaying animal substance in which it may deposit
H
S'lLHHA.
«
ruooo'ti
c7ermaiuca
i
thoractav
X ^^ V
J^ ^^
Ohry.s-offitda ..
VcspUlo
i
atrata^
4 fTwrii/atw
iSc^.Ocf.i f.cruicn./'ut'lui-/uJhv 4^.K€ar.i-if,F/<'et.Citx„r.
SILPHA. Si
its eggs, and in order to their greater security,
contrives to bury it under ground. Three or four
insects, working in concert, have been known to
drag under the surface the body of so large an
animal as a Mole in the space of an hour, so that
no trace of it has appeared above ground. The
eggs deposited by the parent insects are white,
and of an oval or rather subcylindric shape: from
these are hatched the Larvae, which, when full-
grown, are more than an inch in length, and of
a yellowish-white colour, with a scaly orange-
coloured shield or bar across the middle of each
division of the body. Each of these larvae forms
for itself an oval cell in the ground, in which it
changes to a yellowish chrysalis, resembling that
of a beetle; out of which, in the space of about
eighteen days, proceeds the perfect insect. This
species possesses a considerable degree of ele-
gance, but generally diffuses a very strong and
unpleasant smell : it flies with considerable
strength and rapidity, and is generally seen on
the wing during the hottest part of the day. In
many parts of North America is found a variety,
differing merely in size, being far larger than the
European kind, and measuring an inch and half
in length.
The Silpha Gcr?nanica of Linnaeus so much re-
sembles the S. Vespillo that it seems scarcely to
differ except in colour, being entirely coal-black.
It is found in similar situations with the preceding-
species.
Several of the Silphae are of an entirely oval
52 SILPHA.
outline : of this kind is the aS*. thoracica, which is
easily distinguishable by its red thorax, every
other part of the animal being coal-black j it is
about half an inch in length.
Silpha atrata is of similar size, but totally black,
and has the wing-sheaths marked by three rising
lines: its larva, which may be found in gardens,
is of a lengthened shape and of a black colour.
The genus Silpha may be considered as a numer-
ous one, but few of the species are of any great
beauty, and many are of very small size.
CAS SIB A:
^^*£c
nehrdo^a
Lzt^raiis
jjuirof/iahv
arossa
jSo^.OccTj.Lt^niicruPuh/i.s-AfJ bi' G-Jua/vlfv-FlaffSt/viC
CASSIDA. CASSIDA.
Generic Character.
Antennae moniliform, thick-
ening tOAvards the tip.
JT^flt/ concealed beneath the
shield of the thorax.
Thorax and Wing-Sheaths
dilated and margined.
Body oval, convex, flat
beneath.
Antennae moniliformes, ex-
trorsum crassiores.
Caput sub thoracis clypeo
piano reconditum.
Thorax et Elytra dilatato-
marginata.
Corpus ovale, convexum,
subtus planum.
JL HIS genus is readily distinguished by the
singular manner in which the thorax and wing-
sheaths cover the head and body, which, when
the insect is laid on its back, appears somewhat
like a tortoise in miniature. The genus is numer-
ous, and among the exotic species are several of
great beauty. Some of the European species are
also of an elegant aspect, as the common green
Cassida, or Cassida viridis of Linnaeus, which is
often seen during the summer months in gardens,
&c. especially on mint and other verticillate plants.
Its length is nearly a quarter of an inch ; its shape
oval, and its colour bright green above, the body
or under part being coal-black. The larva, which
is of a highly singular appearance, is oval, of a
yellowish brown colour, and has the body edged
54 CASSIDA.
with a row or fringe of projecting fibres, the two
terminal ones being much longer than the rest,
and generally carried in an upright position while
the animal is in motion. When ready for its
change, it fastens itself to a leaf, and casting its
skin, commences chrysalis, which is also of a very
unusual shape, and is remarkable for the breadth
or dilatation of the fore-part. From the chrysalis,
in the space of three weeks, proceeds the insect in
its complete state.
Cassida marginata is more than double the size
of the preceding, and is of a yellowish brown
colour, with blue-green thorax. It is a native of
India.
Cassida lateralis is still larger, and brown with
a brassy or metallic lustre, and has a large oval
yellow spot on the middle of each wing-shell. It
is a native of South- America.
Cassida grossa is of a still superior size, being,
perhaps, the largest of the genus, and is of a bright
red colour, with the wing-shells thickly marked
by small black spots on the middle part, and by
strong, ramified, transverse black streaks on each
side. It is a native of South- America.
lO
rocri^-^F.iLLA.
head &c.?nacfnaLed
^ —
J/? piuirtala
n^jri/ia
pun cLzAs^cirtui
hifunctata
i6 punctata vioffnuied
1 -'f*]%*\
u punctatii
1 r
iinctata
.V A-Mi/u s--ulf
j.So^.Ocdj.ZoiiJvn.J'uMWiri/ f>f OJlears/eiJ'/fet Sf/Tt-r.
COCCINELLA. COCCINELLA.
Generic Character.
AntentKe subclavatse, trun-
catae.
Palpi clava semicordata.
Corpus hemisphsericum, ab-
domine subtus piano.
Antennce subclavated and
truncated.
Feelers with semi-cordated
tip.
Body hemispheric, with the
abdomen flat beneath.
JL HE beautiful genus Coccinella Succeeds to that
of Cassida, and is easily distinguished by its hemi-
spheric form, having the upper parts convex, and
the lower flat. The insects of this genus are
known by the popular name of Lady-Birds, and
one species in particular is endeared to every one's
recollection by irresistibly recalling the ideas of
the playful amusements of infancy: this is the
common or seven-spotted Lady-Bird, Coccinella
septempunctata of Linnteus, which, in the advanced
state of spring, and the middle of summer, makes
its appearance in every field and garden. It pro-
ceeds from a larva of a rather disagreeable appear-
ance, of a lengthened oval shape, with a sharpened
tail, of a black colour, varied with red and white
specks, and of a rough surface: it resides on vari-
ous plants, and changes to a short, blackish, oval
chrysalis spotted with red, and which gives birth
56 COCCINELLA.
to its beautiful inmate in the months of May and
June.
The Coccinellae are \ery numerous, and some
kinds are known to intermix occasionally; thus
causing a considerable difficulty in determining
the real distinction of the species. They are gene-
rally divided according to the ground-colour of
the wing-sheaths, which are either red with black,
yellow with black, black with red, or yellow with
white spots. One of the most beautiful of the
English species is the Coccinella octodecim-punctata
of Linnceus, or the eighteen-spotted Lady-Bird,
which is little more than half the size of the com-
mon red kind, and is of a bright yellow colour,
with numerous black specks, generally eighteen in
number.
The Coccinellas, both in their larva and com-
plete state, feed chiefly on the small insects called
Aphides.
7
CMJ-iYSOyiKLA
C. Topuli
m.
Small British/
Chrysomelcxi
Sffia// /j/'i/ish
Cliri'sojfij;l£t
^rMiiinis
2Se>$,Cc«{il,cruicn/,l'uilts/iail>S &.Ke€0\fiev,Flcet. Sovrt.
CHRYSOMELA. CHRYSOMELA.
Generic Charade?^
Antenna moniliformes ex-
trorsum crassiores.
Thorax marginatus.
Corpus ovatum vel ob-
longum, convexum.
Antennte moniliform, thick-
ening towards the tip.
Thorax margined.
Body ovate or oblong,
convex.
A HE genus Chrysomela is extremely extensive,
and some modern entomologists have subdivided it
into several others.
Many of the Chrysomelae are very nearly allied
in point of habit or general appearance to the
CoccinellaB, and have accordingly by difterent
authors been arranged in either genus. Of this
kind is the beautiful insect called Chrysomela
Populi or the Poplar Chrysomela: it is about twice
the size of the common or seven-spotted Coccinella,
and is of a bright red colour, with the tips of the
M'ing-shells black, and the thorax of a greenish or
blueish black. It is found on the black and white
poplars, willows, &c. and proceeds from a larva of
nearly similar appearance to those of the genus
Coccinella : it is of a pale yellowish green colour
speckled with black, and edged with rows of small
tubercles, those on the sides projecting in such a
manner as to represent so many conical papillae.
58 CHRYSOMELA,
Linnasus observes that this larva diffuses, on hand-
ling, a highly fetid, and even insupportable smell.
In gener?', on touching the larva, a small drop of
white fluid instantly appears from a pore on the
tip of each of the lateral tubercles, and after
some time, again disappears. It is this white fluid
which diffuses the odour above-mentioned, and
which is of so penetrating a nature, that on hand-
ling the animal, the smell will often remain on the
fingers throughout the whole day. Even when
recently hatched these larvas possess the power of
discharging the fetid fluid. In the month of June
the larva changes to a short brown chrysalis, so
fastened as to hang by its extremity from the foot-
stalk of a leaf or twig; and from this, in the
space of a fortnight or less proceeds the complete
Chrysomela.
Chrijsomela Asparagi is an insect of peculiar
beauty: it is often seen feeding on the Asparagus,
and is of an oblong or subcylindric shape, with
red thorax, and yellow wing-shells marked by
blackish-blue bands,
Chrysomela Graminis is a common, but highly
elegant insect, measuring about the fifth of an
inch in length, and being of a most vivid but deep
golden-green colour : the male, which is some-
what smaller, is often tinged with copper-colour :
this species is of an extremely convex shape.
Chrysomela Betulce is one of the richest of the
genus, being entirely of the most brilliant and
beautiful grass-green: it is found on Birch-trees.
Chrysomela merdigera is of an oblong form, and
jS
Cl-IRirS OMBXi^'^l
Boleti
Gig as Tn^iijiLT
marffiMata/
m^rdiMe/ra/
SvirinarnM^n^riif
(fi^antew
Indi/xi
r/i7^/>n.ca
iSfi^, OctfiiZondtyn.Tuilijhed by &.Kcarj'Uv,FUe^ Str&ec.
CHRYSOMELA, 5g
of a red colour, with a somewhat cyhndric thorax.
It is a native of our own Island, and measures
about a third of an inch in length.
Chrysomda Boleti is a middle-sized species of a
black colour, with three waved yellow bands across
the wing-sheaths. It is an English insect, and is
chiefly found on Boleti and other Fungi,
Chrysomela Indica greatly resembles the former,
but is of larger size, and is brown with two waved
yellow bands across the wing-sheaths. It is found
in India.
Chrysomela Sur'marnensis is one of the larger
insects of the genus, is of a deep blue colour, and
of a smooth surface, with the antennae and feet
brown. It is found in Surinam, and sometimes
varies into copper-colour.
Chrysomela Gigas (Fuessli Arch.) is a large
species entirely of a fine blue colour. It is said to
be a native of Surinam, and in point of habit or
general appearance makes a near approach to a
species of Tenel^rio not uncommon in our own
Island.
Chrysomela gibbosa is a large species, of a pale
orange-colour with numerous, small black spots,
and a transverse band across the middle and tips
of the wing-sheaths, which rise up into an almost
conical convexity in the middle: the thorax is
black. It is a native of South- America.
Chrysomela gigantea, the largest of the genus, is
black, with the wing-shells marked by very nu-
merous orange-coloured spots, and is a native of
India.
HISPA. HISPA.
Generic Character.
Antenna fasiformes, basi
approximatse, inter ocu-
los sitae.
Thorax elytraque saepius
aculeata.
Antenna spindle - shaped,
approximated at the base,
situated between the eyes.
Thorax and wing-shells ge-
nerally aculeated.
A HE principal British species of this genus is
a rather small insect, sometimes found near the
roots of grasses: it is totally black; and has the
wing-shells beset with six rows of spines, and the
thorax with a iew distant ones. It is considered as
a rare insect, and its larva is unknown.
w
HlSF^
S. atra nat. size
WBJjVlA'Vf>
JS. P/Si <V" .(//,7h//%' mt7i7/»/7<^tf
B. f>ip//r7rt^t//s
7
^
S. Bfir/ns
iS.'.'iO.-fJ-f'I.ouJ.'ii fuhlixlifj In h.K:ir.ehvJ-'/ff/Str<-<-t.
BRUCHUS. BRUCHUS.
Generic Character.
AjUenna filiformes, sensim
crassiores.
Caput rctracto-inflexum.
Thorax autice attenuatus.
Elytra truncata, abdomine
breviora.
Antennae filiform, gradually
thickening.
Head retracted and inflected.
Thorax attenuated in front.
Wing-Shells truncated,
shorter than the abdomen.
JL HE genus Bruchiis consists, in general, of small
insects. The Bruchus granarius is found among
beans, vetches, and other seeds, the lobes of which
it devours. It is scarcely two lines in length, and
is black, with the wing-shells freckled by white
specks: the two fore-legs are reddish, and the an-
tennae of similar colour at the base: the thighs of
the hind-legs are armed w'\t\\ a tooth or process.
The Bruchus seminarius is a rather smaller than
the preceding species, which it considerably re-
sembles, but has tlie hinder thighs plain, or with-
out the denticle. The larvae of these species seem
to have been not yet observed.
The exotic species are chiefly natives of Ame-
rica. Among these the Bruchus Bactt^is is one
of the most remarkable, and is found in the nuts of
the Palm of that name : it is of a grey colour, with
the thighs of the hind-legs ovate.
CURCULIO. WEEVIL.
Generic Character.
Antennee subclavatge, rostro
insidentes.
Rostrum corneum, promi-
nens.
Antennae subclavated, situ-
ated on the snout.
Snout horny, prominent.
X HIS genus is extremely extensive. Among
the largest of the exotic species may be numbered
the Curculio Palmariim or Palm Weevil, which is
entirely of a black colour, and measures more than
two inches in length from the tip of the snout to
the end of the body. Its larva, which is very large,
white, and of an oval shape, resides in the tender-
est part of the smaller palm-trees, and is con-
sidered, when properly fried or broiled, as one of
the greatest dainties in the West Indies. " The
tree," says Madam Merian, " grows to the height
of a man, and is cut off where it begins to be
tender, is cooked like cauliflower, and tastes better
than an artichoke. In the middle of these trees
live innumerable quantities of worms, which, at
first, are as small as a maggot in a nut, but after-
wards grow to a very large size, and feed on the
marrow of the tree. These worms are laid on the
coals to roast, and are considered as a highly
agreeable food,"
?o
Criinr^Hi.
(Wnlniarum
1/irva
. ,.(\,':, /..u.h^n. fWi.^M h' '•' ^'•'"^*'' ^''" •'■"■'•"
Ct-r CI^IiIO
27
C. ?iTirum
iSofi-Oct^i LcnJ,',, .PuhUfhe.i hv (T.ErursUyFUet So-tiL.
WEEVIL. 63
Tlie Ciirculio nucum or Nut Weevil is well de-
serving of attention, and is the insect produced
by the magjtrot residing in the hazel nut. Though
every one is well acquainted with the maggot in
the nut, yet the various changes through which it
passes, the mode of its introduction into the nut,
and its appearance in its complete or perfect state
are what iiiw that are not conversant in the history
of insects have the least knowledge of. Tiie in-
sect makes its appearance early in the month of
August, and may then be found creeping about
hazel trees. The female insect, when ready to
deposit her eggs, singles out a nut, which she
pierces with her proboscis, and then, turning
round, deposits an eg§ in the cavity. She then
passes on, and singles out another nut, which she
pierces in the same manner, placing an egg in it,
and thus proceeds till she has deposited in different
nuts her w^hole stock. The nut, not apparently
injured by this slight perforation, continues to
grow^, and gradually ripens its kernel. When the
iigg is hatched, the young larva or maggot, find-
ing its food ready prepared, begins to feast on the
kernel. By the^me that it has arrived at its full
growth, and has nearly consumed the whole of the
kernel, the natural foil of the nut takes place: the
inclosed larva, not in the least injured by the fall,
continues in the nut some time longer, and then
creeps out at the hole in the side, which it has
previously made, by gnawing in a circular direc-
tion, and immediately begins to burrow or creep
under the surface of the ground, till, having at-
(J4 WEEVIL.
tained the depth sufficient for its convenient re-
sidence during the long period of its winter con-
cealment, it lies dormant for eight months, and
then, casting its skin, commences a chrysalis, of
the same general shape and appearance with the
rest of the beetle tribe; and it is not till the be-
ginning of xAiUgust that it arrives at its complete
or ultimate form, at which period it casts off the
skin of the chrysalis, creeps to the surface, and
commences an inhabitant of the upper world.
During this state it breeds, and, like the major
part of the insect race, enjoys, for a short time,
the pleasures of a more enlarged existence. As a
species it is distinguished by its brown colour,
and the great length and slenderness of its curved
snout: it measures nearly half an inch in length
from the tip of the snout to that of the body.
Dr. Darwin, in his elegant poem The Botanic
Garden, thus beautifully expresses the egress of
this insect from the cavity of the nut.
" So sleeps in silence the Curculio, shut
In the dark chambers of the cavern'd nut.
Erodes with ivory beak the vaulted shell
And quits on filmy wings it narrow cell."
To this genus belongs the destructive insect
peculiarly called the Weevil, which is the Cinxulio
granarius of Linnaeus: its colour is an uniform
dull chesnut or reddish brown, and its length
scarcely two lines : the female insect perforates a
grain of wheat, and in it deposits an e^g, or two
at most, (a grain of wheat being incapable of
WEEVIL. 65
nourishing more than two of the young brood
when hutched,) and this she does to five or six
grains every day, for several days together: these
eggs, not above the size of a grain of sand, nn
about seven days, produce a small white maggot
or larva, which devours the substance of the grain
in which it is lodged, and then changes into a
chrysalis, from which, in about fourteen days,
proceeds the complete insect. This is, perhaps,
the insect mentioned by Virgil, among the animals
injurious to corn.
" populatque ingcatem funis acervwn
Cwrculio"
Another species, which also makes its unwelcome
appearance among corn, is the Curcidio Jrumen-
tar'ms. Its size is that of the grattarius or IFeevily
and its colour a bright red : it is an insect of great
beauty, and is frequently seen during the autumnal
season creeping about sunny walls, &c.
Many of the exotic species are of very con-
siderable size and possessed of great beauty of
colour; but of all the insects of the genus Curculio,
and even (in the opinion of some entomologists), of
all known insects, the most brilliant and beautiful
is the Curculio imperialis or Imperial Curculio,
commonly known by the name of the Diamond
Beetle. It is a native of Brasil, and usually mea-
sures about an inch in length: the ground-colour
of the wing-sheaths is coal-black, but along each
are distributed numerous parallel rows of sparkling
concavities, of a round shape, and of a gold-green
V. VI. p. I. 5
66
WEEVIL.
colour; but which, when properly magnified, ex-
hibit the varying lustre of the most brilliant gems :
this appearance is owing to innumerable minute
scales, analogous to those on the wings of butterflies,
and which, by their polished surface and different
juxtaposition, produce the admired effect just men-
tioned: they are of an oblong-oval shape, alike at
both ends, and not dilated and notched at the tips
as in the butterfly tribe. Every other part of the
insect is also decorated with similar scales, but not
in the form of spots ; and along the thorax they
are disposed into parallel, broad, longitudinal
bands. This species has been faithfully figured
in the works of Drury, Olivier, &c. but it is
utterly impossible for any figure of the natural
size to convey any idea of more than the general
appearance of the animal. The engraving annexed
to the present description exhibits a magnified
view of the insect, accompanied by one of the
natural size, as well as by several of the shining
scales, very highly magnified, in order to shew
their particular shape.
Another species, not greatly inferior in beauty
to the former, is the CiircuUo r^egalis, a native of
New Holland, and which in its general shape and
ground-colour, bears a near resemblance to the
preceding, but is decorated with large, brilliant,
gold-coloured patches, dispersed over the wing-
shells, and which also owe their brilliancy to in-
numerable golden scales, as in the C. imperialis.
Nor is our own country destitute of a species of
almost equal elegance, though far inferior in size;
Ci^KrxTLiOc
ii'<? ^,0 cl"" I Ze >uL;n , l'uJ)fi.i-/u'J b) fi ITejin'-Zry . Fleet Sfi-ej-f.
MfHx/h'dur .P,--ufyi.
WEEVIL. 67
since the CurcuUo argentatus, a small insect of
about a quarter of an inch in length, and of the
most beautiful gold or silver-green colour, ex-
hibits, when viewed with a microscope, a splendor
of a similar nature, and produced by a covering of
similar scales, shining with a metallic lustre. It is
frequently seen during the summer months in fields
and gardens.
So very extensive is the genus Curculio, that
!Mr. Marsham, in his Entomologia Britannica, enu-
merates no fewer than 234 British species.
ATTELABUS. ATTELABUS.
Generic Character.
Caput postice attenuatum.
Antennts apicem versus
ci-assiores.
Head attenuated behind.
Antenna thickening to-
wards the tip.
o
F the genus Attelabus one of the principal
species is the Attelabus Coryli of Linnaeus, which
is a smallish insect, found chiefly on hazel trees,
and is black, with red wing-sheaths; and a variety
sometimes occurs in which the thorax is red also:
it usually measures about a quarter of an inch in
length.
A much smaller species is the Attelabus Betulcey
which is found on the Birch: it is entirely of a
black colour, and is remarkable for gnawing the
leaves of that tree, during the early part of spring,
in such a manner that they appear notched on the
edges. The thighs of the hind-legs in this insect
are of a remarkably thickened form. The larvae
of the Attelabi do not seem to have been distinctly
described, but they probably bear a resemblance
to those of the genus Curculio. Linnaeus refers
to the genus Attelabus some insects which by
later entomologists have been otherwise arranged:
among these is the elegant species called Attelabus
apiarius, so named from the mischief which its
z:^
J.\TTmjAliT^.
*
"•irms;"-
./// //'/■('//' A'- //'.' inaif/ii/'ird
j^'
^^^
.III
tl/>l/l/lt/S
h-f,',ii.-r, "Ln,j,.„ /■„/,/, ,/,^,/ /„ /:/,).,„.,,/^, J/
ATTELABUS. 6g
larva occasionally commits among bee-hives, de-
stroying the young of those insects. It is about
three quarters of an inch in length, and of a beauti-
ful violet-black, with red wing-shells, marked by
three black transverse bands. Tlie whole insect is
also covered with fine short black hair. It is com-
mon in some parts of France, Germany, &c. Its
larva above-mentioned is of a bright red colour.
CERAMBYX. CERAMBYX.
Generic Character,
Antennts attenuatae.
Thorax spinosus aut gibbus.
Elytra sublinearia.
Corpus oblongum.
Antennce slender and gra-
dually attenuated. •
Thorax either spiny or
bulging.
Wing-Sheaths sublinear.
Body oblong.
X HE genus Cerambyxis of vast extent, compre-
hending many insects of the most extraordinary-
appearance, and. of a size superior to any in the
order Coleoptera except those of the genus Scara-
baeus. Their larvae are chiefly found in decayed
trees, and resemble those of the Beetle, but are of
a more lengthened form.
Among the most singular species may be num-
bered the Ceramhyx longimanus or long-limbed
Cerambyx, measuring about three inches in length
from head to tail ; the wing-sheaths are beset with
a very fine down, and are most elegantly varied
with red, black, and yellow, in the form of stripes,
disposed in various directions: the fore-legs are
of excessive length, very strong, and of a black
colour, with broad red bars: the antennse are long
and black. This species is elegantly figured by
V
C]EB,jO>I]BTX.
C. damuojmis.
jSc.^.^rfi LcruicjiJ'uhli^htJlhy G KearjUv.Fhtt Strut
CERAMBYX. 7 1
Madam Merian ili her celebrated work on the
Insects of Surinam.
The Cerambifx G'lgas is a species which seems
to have been first described in tiie work of Mr.
Drury on exotic insects: it is, perhaps, the most
gigantic of the whole genus, measuring between
six and seven inches in length: the wing-shells
are of a dark brown colour, and eyery other part
of the insect black.
The Ceramhyx damkornis is one of the larger
species, though very considerably inferior to the
two preceding : it is of a dark chesnut-colour,
with very long, curved jaws, spined or serrated
on the inner side, as in those of the Stag-Beetle
or Lucanus Cervus, to which this insect bears a
considerable general resemblance. It is a native
of many parts of America and the West-Indian
islands, where its larva, like that of the Palm Cur-
culio, is in great request as an article of food,
being considered by the transatlantic epicures as
one of the greatest delicacies in the Western
World. We are informed by authors of the high-
est respectability, that some people of fortune in
the West-Indies keep Negroes for the sole pur-
pose of going into the woods in quest of these
admired larvae, and scooping them out of the trees
in which they reside. Their general length is
about three inches and a half, and their thickness
that of the little finger. Dr. Browne, in his
History of Jamaica, informs us that they ar$
chiefly found in the Plumb and Silk-Cotton-Trees.
They are commonly called by the name of Ma-
72 CERAMBYX.
caccos, or Macokkos. The mode of dressing them
is first to open and wash them, and then carefully
broil them over a charcoal fire.
Ceramhyx cinnamomeus is a somewhat smaller
species, and is entirely of a pale ferruginous
brown colour: the thorax is marked on each side
by two spines, and the wing-shells are each tipped
by a very small projecting point. It is a native
of South-America.
Among the European species of this very ex-
tensive genus none are more remarkable than the
Ceramhyx moschatus, commonly called the musk
goatchaffer, so named from its powerful scent,
which however is far more agreeable than that
of the substance from which it takes its name,
resembling rather the combined scent of roses,
musk, and ambergris. So diffusive is this agree-
able odour, that, whenever the insect makes its
appearance, which is commonly in the hottest part
of July, it may be smelt to a considerable di-
stance, and if taken and rolled up for some minutes
in a handkerchief, will perfume it for the whole
day. This insect, which is not very uncommon in
many parts of our own country, measures about an
inch and quarter in length, from the head to the
end of the body: its colour is a fine dark green,
with a slight gilded tinge on the upper parts,
and sometimes it varies in having a strong cast
of blue or purple: the antenna are rather
shorter than the body. It is chiefly found on
willows and poplars, in the decayed wood of
which its larva resides. It has been found that the
2K
r>;i^.,\:>'i:i3TX,
hirva
pupa
f .cc/'iaruuf
iSc ^.Cet^L Lcndi-n .PublLflu^i by C-./ie,irsU-y.Fle<-t Street.
CERAMBYX. 73
Cerambyx moschatus, when dried and reduced to
powder, and made use of as a vesicatory, in the
manner of the officinal Cantharides, produces a
similar effect, and in as short a space of time *.
Cerambyx coriarius of Linnaeus is also one of
the larger European species, measuring near an
inch and half in length, and is of a broadish shape,
with thick, serrated antennae of moderate length:
the thorax is armed on each side with three sharp
spines or denticulations, and the whole insect is of
a deep brown colour. It proceeds from a large
yellowish Miiite larva, with a chesnut-coloured
head, which resides in the hollows of decayed
trees, and changes into a chrysalis of similar
colour.
Cerambyx cedilis is one of the smaller or middle-
sized species. It is a native of many parts of
Europe, and is found in our own country, though
not a very common insect. It is of a grey colour,
with two or three obscure transverse brown bands,
and the thorax is marked by four yellow spots : it
is remarkable for the excessive length of its an-
tennae, which, in the male especially, are five or
six times that of the body. It is found in old de-
cayed timber, and in the trunks of trees.
* Drur. ins. 1. pref. p. ix.
LEPTURA. LEPTURA.
Generic Character
Antenna setaceous.
Elytra apicem versus at-
tenuata.
Thorax teretiusculus.
Antenna; setaceous.
Wing-Sheaths attenuated
towards the tip.
Thorax subcylindric.
JL HE genus Leptura, greatly allied to that of
Cerambyx, contains several species of considerable
beauty, among which may be reckoned the Lep-
tura arcuata, of a black colour, with the wing-
sheaths marked by transverse, yellow, lunated
bands pointing backwards: it is found in woods
during the summer months, and generally mea-
sures about three quarters of an inch in length.
Leptura arietis is of nearly similar appearance,
but the second band of the wing-sheaths is di-
rected forwards: both the above insects are by
some referred to the genus Cerambyx.
Leptura aquatica is so named from its being
particularly found in the neighbourhood of waters,
frequenting the plants which grow near the water's
edge. It is about half an inch in length, and of a
golden green colour, sometimes varying into cop-
per-colour, purple, or blue, and is distinguished
by having a tooth or process on the thighs of the
hind-legs.
Xeptura.
:v;
eufuadca
mcnJianay
eloitotitd
tiui'doZa
armuia^
anetis
^
liasULta,
rcrbao'Ch
.U.Oril'Atli^ »-<t.<!>.
iSoj Occ^if LcridcnJ'uilurhal by O. Ee^irolev fUe/ Strau ■
LEPTURA. 75
Leptura meridiana is one of the larger European
species, often measuring an inch in length, and is
a very common insect during the decline of sum-
mer in fields and woods, generally appearing in
the hottest part of the day. It is of a dull brown
colour above, sometimes j^ellowish-chesnut, and
beneath is of a brilliant taAvny yellow, shining
with the lustre of satin. It has very much the
general appearance of a Cerambyx, and might
perhaps with equal propriet};' be referred to either
genus. The larvae of the Lepturae in general are
probably allied to those of the Cerambyces, but
they are at present very little known.
NECYDALIS. NECYDALIS.
Generic Character.
Antenna setaceae.
Elytra alls minora, breviora,
seu angustiora.
Cauda simplex.
Antenna setaceous.
Wing - Sheaths smaller,
shorter, or narrower than
the wings.
Tail simple.
JLN this genus the thorax is narrow and rounded,
the body of a lengthened shape, and the wing-
shells generally smaller than the wings. One of
the most common species is the Necydalis minora
an insect seen in fields and about hedges in the
summer months, and which has somewhat of the
habit of a small Cerambyx, but the wing-sheaths
are but half the length of the body, and are grey-
brown, each marked at the tip with a linear white
spot, the rest of the insect being black. Its length
is rather more than a quarter of an inch.
Necydalis ccerulea is a beautiful species. It is
about half an inch in length, and entirely of a
bright blue colour, sometimes greenish blue: the
wing-shells are of the length of the body, but
narrow, so as not to cover the sides of the wings j
and the hind-thighs are very thick. It is found in
woods during the summer months.
* /
^r.CYlJ>At,l^
miihi/l^ii'H'iiiii
rccridea
(i/<iitir'^'iVi/>>'
mdur
iS.,;X'.-triZcjul<rn.rutk.-kcJ Iv ayii^o-/r.v/7^rf ->>v.^-
^S
pup/x
u/?'va ;
/em^
fern
^7iLl>eUicoTis
"A.
^^•jjjtii
i
/
plunwo-a
^Iauritanic<i tti.S.- /\
M. (^-niiuAjr ^«^
iSoj.CctVt Lo nzfc-Ti.Fitirilf/ied fi\ (iluittv^v.fft-ftStref^.
LAMPYRIS. GLOW-WORM.
Generic Character.
Antenrue filiformes.
Elytra flexilia.
Thorax planus, semiorbi-
cularis, caput subtus oc-
cultans cingensque.
Abdominis latera plicato-
papillosa.
Femina aptera plerisque.
Antenna filiform,
Wing-Sheaths flexile.
Thorax flat, semiorbicular,
concealing and surround-
ing the head.
Abdomen with the sides
pleated into papillae.
Female (in most species)
wingless.
X HE body in this genus is oblong, with the sides
formed into a kind of soft papillee lapping over
each other.
The Lampyris mctiliica or common Glow-Worm
is a highly curious and interesting animal. It is
seen during the summer months, as late as the
close of August, if the season be mild, on dry
banks, about woods, pastures, and Iiedgeways, ex-
hibiting, as soon as the dusk of the evening com-
mences, the most vivid and beautiful phosphoric
splendor, in form of a round spot of considerable
size. The animal itself, which is the female insect,
measures about three quarters of an inch in length,
and is of a dull earthy brown colour on the upper
parts, and beneath more or less tinged with rose-
78 GLOW-WORM.
colour, with the two or three last joints of the
body of a pale or whitish sulphur-colour. It is
from these parts that the phosphoric light above-
mentioned proceeds, which is of a yellow colour,
with a very slight cast of green: the body, ex-
clusive of the thorax, consists of ten joints or di-
visions. The larva, pupa, and complete female
insect scarcely differ perceptibly frorti each other
in general appearance, but the phosphoric light
is strongest in the complete animal. The Glow-
Worm is a slow-moving insect, and in its manner
of walking frequently seems to drag itself on by
starts or slight efforts as it were. The male is
smaller than the female, and is provided both with
wings and wing-sheaths: it is but rarely seen,
and it seems, even at present, not very clearly
determined whether it be luminous or not. The
general idea among naturalists has been that it is
not, and that the splendor exhibited by the female
in this species is ordained for the purpose of at-
tracting the male. This circumstance is elegantly
expressed in some beautiful lines of Mr. Gilbert
White, in his History of Selburne.
*' The chilling night-dews fallj away, retire j
For see, the glow-worm lights her am'rous fire!
Thus, ere night's veil had half obscur'd the sky,
Th' impatient damsel hung her lamp on high:
True to the signal, by love's meteor led,
Leander hasten'd to his Hero's bed."
Dr. Darwin also, in his admired poem the Botanic
Garden, commemorates the splendor of the Glow-
Worm among other phenomena supposed to be
GLOW-WORM. 79
produced under the superintendance of the Nymphs
of Fire,
" You with light gas the lamps nocturnal feed
That dance and glimmer o'er the marshy mead^
Shine round Calendula at twilight hours.
And tip with silver all her saffron flowers;
Warm on her mossy couch the radiant worm.
Guard from cold dews her love-illumin"d form.
From leaf to leaf conduct the virgin light.
Star of the earth, and diamond of the night !''
It is certain that in some species of this genus
the male as well as the female is luminous, as in
the Lampyris Italica, which seems to be a native
of our own island also, though less common here
than in the warmer parts of Europe. Aldrovandus
describes the Avinged Glow- Worm as having its
wiiig-shells of a dusky colour, and at the end of
the body two brilliant fiery spots like the flame of
' sulphur.
In the Philosophical Transactions for the year
l684 we find a paper by a Mr. Waller, describing
the English flying glow-worm as of a dark colour,
with the tail part very luminous: he maintains
that both male and female of this species are
winged, and that the female is larger than the
male: the light of this insect was very vivid, so as
to be plainly perceived even when a candle was
in the room. Mr. Waller observed this species at
Northaw in Hertfordshire. From the figure given
by this writer it appears to be about half an inch
in length, which is much smaller than the common
female glow-worm.
60 GLOW-WORM.
In Italy this flying glow-worm is extremely
plentiful, and we are informed by Dr. Smith, and
other travellers, that is a very common practice
for the ladies to stick them by way of ornament
in different parts of their head-dress during the
evening hours.
The common or wingless Glow-Worm may be
very successfully kept, if properly supplied with
moist turf, grass, moss, &c. for a considerable
length of time, and, as soon as the evening com-
mences, will regularly exhibit its beautiful effulg-
ence, illuminating every object within a small
space around it, and sometimes the light is so
vivid as to be perceived through the box in which
it is kept. This insect deposits its eggs, which
are small and yellowish, on the leaves of grass, he.
CA:XTJIAIiIS.
Py^
^^mmmmm
C. Tiufca/C' lari • . Sc
pup.
Clhrdinab^ or scarf ^t Ginthuns.
ffatuh jaUf
C bipustulatw. tvitf-vone^ or the trip/e vesic/e,y jiJiiqnined/ .
loc.f, Ocf/.i Lorijden. Fvi-lii-fifd h v ihSear.rffi, Flur Strf^c.
CANTHARIS. CANTHAUIS.
Generic Character.
Antennae setaccje.
7Viorax marginatus, capite
brevior.
Elytra flexilia.
Abdominis latera plicato-
papiliosa.
Antennce setaceous.
Thorax margined, shorter
than the head.
Wing-Sheaths flexile.
Abdomen pleated into pa-
pillae on the sides.
O:
'NE of the most elegant insects of this genus
is the Scarlet Cantharis, (doubtful whether a
Linncean species). It is entirely of a vivid red,
except the body, legs, and antennae, which are
coal-black. Its length is something more than
half an inch.
Cantharis bipustulata is a beautiful insect, con-
siderably smaller than the preceding, and of a
more slender or cylindric shape: its colour is a
very dark but elegant gilded green, with the tips
of the wing-shells red, and on each side the thorax,
a little below the setting on of the wing-shells, is a
triple vesicle, of a bright red colour, extensile or
retractile at the pleasure of the insect, and which,
if accurately observed by the microscope, will
generally be found to exhibit an alternate infla-
tion and contraction, resembling that of the lungs
in the larger animals. This species is found dur-
V. VI. p. I.
62 CANTHARIS.
ing the middle of summer on various plants, and
particularly on nettles.
CantMris fusca is of the same size with the
scarlet species first described, and is of a dull
brown or blackish cast, with the thorax red,
having a black central spot. Another species is
of exactly similar appearance in every thing but
colour, being of a yellowish brown both on the
thorax and wingshells: it seems to be the Can-
tharis limda of Linnaeus : both these insects are of
a very voracious nature, and are often observed
to prey even on their own species.
E L AT E K
/111 belli re mi J'
tei'rumiuu^f
rmloiWc^p hakes
i^'/tLitJ/o'
iSoj, Oct:'i lenJi. n J'uliu-hed ^t {h /5^<wr.-/f c.^V^rt-.Jftvf A
ELATER. ELATER.
Generic Character.
Antefina setaceae.
Corpus elongutum, dorso
impositum exiliens mu-
crone pectoris e foramine
abdominis resiliente.
Antennae setaceous.
Bodij oblong, when placed
on the back, springing
up, by means of the pec-*
toral spine starting from
the abdominal foramen.
X HE leading character in this genus is a strong
spine situated beneath the thorax, and so consti-
tuted by Nature as to fit at pleasure, into a small
cavity on the upper part of the abdomen; thus
enabling the insect, when laid on its back, to
spring up with great force, in order to regain its
proper position*
This genus is pretty extensive, but few of th6
European species are comparable in point of size
to those which are natives of the tropical regions.
Among the most remarkable of these may be
numbered the Elater JiabeUicorniSi an insect mea-
suring not less than two inches and a half in
length, and which differs from the rest in liaving
Very strongly pectinated antennas, the divisions
of which, forming a kind of fan on the upper part
of each, are nearly a quarter of an inch long: the
84 ELATER.
colour of this animal is an uniform brown, and it
is a native of many parts of India and Africa.
The Elater ocidatus is also a large species,
though not equal to the preceding: it is a native
of many parts both of North and South-America,
and is of a dark brown or blackish colour, with
the thorax marked on each side by a very large,
oval, velvet-black spot, surrounded by a white
margin.
A still more remarkable insect is the Elater
noctilucus, called in South-America, where it is
not uncommon, by the title of Cocujas. It is
about an inch and half long, and of a brown
colour, with the thorax marked on each side by a
smooth, yellow, semitransparent spot : these spots,
like those on the abdomen of the Glow- Worm, are
highly luminous, diffusing, during the night, so
brilliant a phosphoric splendor, that a person may
with great ease read the smallest print by the insect's
light, if held between the fingers and moved alongthe
lines : but if eight or ten be put into a clear phial,
they will afford a light equal to that of a common
candle. It is said that the inhabitants of His-
paniola, &c. before the first arrival of the Spaniards,
made use of no other light than these insects; and
we are informed by Mouffet, that when Sir Thomas
Cavendish and Sir Robert Dudley, son to the Earl
of Leicester, first landed in the West-Indies, and
saw, the same evening, an infinite number of
-moving lights in the woods, they supposed that
the Spaniards were advanced upon them unawares,
and immediately betook themselves to their ships.
ELATER. 85
Many species of Elater are natives of our own
country; but they are rarely distinguished by any
brilliancy of colour, and are far inferior in size to
an^'^of the exotic ones above-mentioned. One of the
largest is the Elater ferrngineus, measuring about
three quarters of an inch, and as its name imports,
of a ferruginous or reddish-brown colour; but the
hind part of the thorax is bordered with black: it
is found in fields, among grass, in the month of
June,
The Elater sanguineus is considerably smaller,
and is distinguished by its bright-red wing-sheaths,
the body and thorax being black: it is found in
similar situations with the preceding.
Elater tessclatus is of the size of ferrugineus,
and is brown, with a slight coppery tinge, and
scattered over with fine ash-coloured pile, in such
a manner as to appear tesselated or marked into
minute squarish divisions: it is not uncommon in
fields during the middle of summer. The larvae
of these insects are of a slender form, and devour
the roots of the grasses, &c. That destructive in-
sect known by the name of the wire-worm is said
to be the larva of the Elater obscurus.
CICINDELA. CICINDELA.
Geneiic Character.
Antenna setaceae.
Maxilla prominentes, den-
ticulatee.
Oculi prominuli.
Thorax rotundato-margi-
'Antenna setaceous.
Jaws prominent, denticu-
lated.
Eyes protuberant.
Thorax roundish and mar-
gined.
X HE insects of the genus Cicindela, (a name
by the ancient writers applied to the Glow- Worm)
are rather small than l^rge, and are remarkable
for the celerity and vigour of their flight: they
are generally seen on the wing in the hottest part
of the day, chiefly frequenting dry meadows, sandy
banks, &c,
The Cicindela campestris, one of the most com-
mon European species, is a highly beautiful in-
sect, being of a bright grass-green, with the wing-
shells each marked by five small, round, w^hite
spots: the head, thorax, and limbs are of a rich
gilded cast, and the eyes black and prominent,
the legs are long and slender: it is common in
fields: its general length is about six lines.
A species of similar size, and not much inferior
elegance is the Cicindela sylvatkay of a dark or
rn-iNDy.i.A,
.?/
Iff^d i/un/ni/iefl
hvbjida
cajnp/'.ftrhf
.ivlvatirn
m/'moj-nli. s"
]fi,\^. 0,-ri/.rn^,nJ->,/'/,shf^/ hr G Ariinlfv. FUfi Sn-fft
CICINDELA. 87
blackish purple colour, with the wing-sheaths each
marked by an undulated whitish band and three
white spots: it frequents woods and is far less
common than the former.
The larvae of the Cicindelse are of a lengthened
shape, somewhat like those of the smaller Ceram-
byces, and are furnished with strong, curved jaws :
they inhabit tubular hollows, which they form near
the surface of the ground, and prey on the smaller
insects.
BUPRESTIS. BUPRESTIS.
Generic Character.
Antenna setacese, longi-
tudine thoracis.
Caput dimidium intra tlio-
raceni retractum.
Antenna setaceous, of the
length of the thorax.
Head half withdrawn be--
neath the thorax.
JL HE splendid genus Buprestis stands conspi-
cuous among the coleopterous insects, on account
of the superior brilliancy of its colours, which, in
many of the larger exotic species in particular,
shine with a metallic lustre. It is a very numer-
ous genus, but by far the major part of the species
are exotic. Among these the Buprestis gigaittea
is the largest hitherto discovered, measuring two
inches and a half in length: the thorax is smooth,
resembling the colour of polished bell-metal, and
the wing-sheaths are of a gilded copper-colour,
with a cast of blue- green, and are wrinkled in a
longitudinal direction with slight, prominent ra-
mifications. It is a native of India, China, and
many other parts of Asia, and is also found in
South-America. Tlie large size, metallic colours,
and wrinkled surface of the wing-shells in this
insect, have induced the Chinese to attempt imi^
tations of it in bronze, in which they succeed
o -mara/nfa
tfnebrionis
gi^fontgiL
3'^
fi/r7no7Tho idal/.s'
7cl/T(l
i^c^.CexCiZcndort.2'u/?lt^-htd bv CEeaj'.i-lfv .FljueStre^c
BUPRESTIS. 89
SO well that the copy may be sometimes mistaken
for the reality. This fine insect proceeds from a
large white larva, much resembling that of the
Lucanus Cervus or Great Stag-Chaffer, and which
feeds, according to Madam Merian, who has
figured it in her celebrated work on the Insects of
Surinam, on the roots of plants of the Convolvulus
tribe.
The Buprestls sternicornis is considerably smaller
than the former species, and of a thicker shape:
it is of the most brilliant golden-green colour,
marked with numerous impressed points, which
are sometimes whitish: the thorax is still brighter,
marked above by numerous impressed points, and
stretched out beneath into a conical process. It is
a native of India.
The Buprestis Chrysis of Fabricius is so much
allied to the sternicornis in shape and size, that it
has by some been considered rather as a variety
than truly distinct: it differs however materially
in the colour of the wing-sheaths, which are of the
richest reddish chesnut-brown, while the thorax,
as in the former, is of a brilliant gold-colour, with
a cast of green. It is a native of India.
Bupjxstis vittata of Fabricius is a species of a
more slender shape than the two immediately pre^
ceding, and is of a bright gold-green colour, with
a broad band of the most brilliant reddish gold'
colour running down each of the wing-sheaths:
this also is a native of India.
The European insects of this genus fall far
short of the Indian and American species both in
QO BUPRESTIS.
point of size and splendor, though among them
may be numbered several elegant insects.
One of the largest is the Buprestis rusticay mea-
suring about half an inch or rather more, and of a
coppery colour, with several longitudinal furrows
along the wing-shells, the thorax being of a deep
blue-green, with numerous impressed points : it is
found in woods.
Buprestis salicis of Fabricius is much smaller,
but of brighter colours; the wing-sheaths being of
a reddish gold-colour, inclining to green towards
the sutures, and the thorax bright green, with two
impressed blue spots: it is sometimes found on
willows.
K^J
,fem/s/7-m/7/s
I/zrv D .fe7??7Strir7/j
P?/p D /^/7/V7//?////j"
iS,>3 On ■:, Lcw1o}i l':ihhsli.-d h CK-arj'lc I- l-'lfrtStriY/
DYTISCUS. DYTISCUS.
Generic Character.
jintenn<e setaccae.
Pedes postici villosi, nata-
torii, submutici.
Antenna setaceous.
Hind-Legs villose, formed
for swimming, and ter-
minated by scarcely visi-
ble claws.
A HIS, like the Gyrinus, is an aquatic genus,
and is rarely seen in flight, except during the
evening. It is distinguished by having setaceous
antennae of the length of the thorax, an oval body,
pointed behind, a bifid sternum, and the hind-legs
formed entirely for swimming, being tapered to-
wards the point, and beset on each side with fine,
strong, close-set hairs, enabling them to perform
the office of oars.
One of the largest European species is the Dy-
tiscus marginalisy which usually measures some-
what more than an inch in length, and is of a
blackish olive-colour, with the thorax and wing-
sheaths bordered with yellow or ochre-colour: the
whole insect is of a polished surface on the upper
part, and the wing-shells are each marked by two
rows of scarcely perceptible impressed points : the
under parts are ochre-coloured. This insect is
not uncommon in stagnant waters, where its larva
92 DYTISCUS.
also resides, which is of a very extraordinary shape,
and is so utterly unlike the animal into which it is
at length transformed, that no one inconversant
in the history of insects would suppose it to have
the most distant relationship to it ; since it much
more resembles the insects of the shrimp tribe,
and by the older writers, as Mouffet, Aldrovandus,
&c. has actually been referred to that tribe of ani-
mals, under the title of Squilla aquatica. It mea-
sures, when full-grown, about two inches and a
half in length, and is of a pale yellowish brown
colour, with a high degree of transparency: the
head is very large, somewhat flattened, and fuvr-
nished in front with a pair of very strong, curved
forceps, which, when magnified, appear to be
perforated at the tips by an oblong hole or slit,
through which the animal sucks the juices of its
prey: the legs are slender, of moderate length,
and placed on each side the thorax, the abdomen
being lengthened out to a very considerable ex-
tent, and finely fringed or ciliated on each side
the tail, which terminates in a most elegantly di-
vided fin or process. This larva is of a bold and
ferocious disposition, committing great ravages,
not only among the weaker kind of water-insects,
as well as water-newts, tadpoles, &c. but eveil
among fishes, of which it frequently destroys
great numbers in a season, and is therefore justly
considered as one of the most mischievous ani-
mals that can infest a fish-pond. A larva of this
kind has been known to seize on a young Tench
of three inches in length, and to kill it in the
DYTISCUS. Q3
Space of about a minute ; and even the Banstickle
itself, which is so great a destroyer of the small
fry of fishes, and so well armed for defence, is not-
withstanding a prey to this devouring insect, which
seizes it with violence, and very quickly destroys
it. When arrived at its full growth, the larva
betakes itself to the banks of the water it inhabits,
and forming itself an oval hollow in the soft earth
or clay, in a few days changes into a chrysalis
much resembling that of the genus Scarabaeus,
and of a whitish colour. From this, in the space
of about three weeks, proceeds the complete in-
sect. The male, which has been described above,
is distinguishable not only by the smoothness of
the wing-sheaths, but by the far superior breadth of
the fore-feet, which are expanded near the tips into
a broad oval dilatation, concave on the lower sur-
face : the female, instead of being smooth, has the
winfir-shells marked from about tlie middle to the
tips with numerous deeply-impressed longitudinal
furrows.
Dytiscus c'mereus is a much smaller species,
and of a broader shape in proportion : the male is
of a blackish olive-colour, with an ochre-coloured
band across the thorax, which, as well as the
smooth wing-shells, is edged with ochre-colour,
while the female has those parts of a dull ash-
colour, strongly marked by several longitudinal
furrows. The larva of this species is of the same
general form with that of the preceding, but pro-
portionally smaller, and with a longer neck. It
is not uncommon in stagnant waters.
94 DYTISCUS.
Many otlier much smaller species of this genus,
may be found in ponds and slow-running waters.
Mr. Marsham, in his Entomologia Britannica,
enumerates not less than forty-nine British Dy-
tisci; so rapid has been the increase of entomolo-
gical discovery within these few years past !
34^
piraui-
HYBK OPHJIjT^S
p?/'eii.^
pup
i8c^CetrAlijid(;n.Tuilij-futd by &.Xearj^Uf Fleer StrfeC.
HYDROPHILUS. HYDROPHIL.
Generic Character.
^titenmeclavato-iperfolisitse.
Pedes postici villosi, nata-
torii.
Antenna clavate-perfoliate.
Hind-Legs villose, formed
for swimming.
A HIS genus differs from that of Dytiscus only
in the structure of the antennas, which, instead of
being setaceous, are short, and furnished with a
clavated and perfoliated tip or knob.
The principal European species, which is not
an uncommon insect in our own country, is the
Hydrophilus piceus, perhaps the largest of the
British Coleoptera, if we except the Lucanus
Cervus; measuring nearly an inch and half iii
length. It is entirely black, and of a smooth sur-
face, and is particularly distinguished by the form
of its thorax, which is proauced beneath into ^
very long and sharp-pointed spine, stretching to
a considerable distance down the abdomen: the
hind-legs are furnished on each side with strong,
but very fine hairs, as in the Dytisci, which the
animal resembles in its manners. It is a native
of stagnant waters, where* its larva is principally
g6 HYDROPHIL.
observed to prey on the smaller kind of water-
snails, and is distinguished by a particularity in
the highest degree remarkable: this consists ia
the apparently anomalous situation of the legs,
which seem, unless very accurately considered, to
be placed, not beneath the thorax, as in other
insects, but on the upper part, and from thence to
be deflected towards the sides. This uncommon
appearance however is not owing to a real dorsal
insertion of the legs, but principally to the peculiar
shape and position of the head ; and the deception
is so much heightened by the inverted posture in
which the insect generally swims and rests, that it
is by no means easy, even for the most scientific
observer, to divest himself of the erroneous idea
before-mentioned. Frisch, in his History of In-
sects, appears to have been completely convinced
of the reality of the dorsal insertion of the legs;
and the celebrated Reaumur, having discovered
something similar in another aquatic insect, wsls
so struck with the unusual appearance, that he
has commemorated it as a circumstance unparal-
leled in the animal world. The author of the
fourth volume of Seba's Thesaurus w^as of the
same opinion, and expressly warns his readers that
his engraver, thinking to rectify what he supposed
an erroneous drawing, has represented the legs in
this larva as situated beneath the thorax and not
on the upper part. The sagacious Lyonet, in his
observations on Lesser's "Theologie des Insectes,^*
Seems to have been the first who detected the
HYDROPHIL. 07
rommon error, and ascertained the real structure
of the animal, which he has clearly and satis-
factoril}^ explained.
The larvas of the Hydrophils are supposed to
remain about two years before they change into
pupae or chrysalides. When the larva is arrived
at its full growth, it secretes itself in the bank of
the water it inhabits, and having formed a con-
venient cavity or cell, lies dormant for some time,
after which it divests itself of its skin, and appears
in the form of a chrysalis, in which state having
continued for some time longer, it again deHvers
itself from its exuviae, and appears in its complete
or beetle form. When first disengaged from the
skin of the chrysalis, it is of a pale colour, and
very tender ; but in the space of a few hours the
elytra or wing-cases acquire a degree of strength
and colour, which gradually grows more and more
intense, till the animal, finding itself sufficiently
strong, comes forth from its retreat, and commits
itself in its new form to the waters.
The male is distinguished from the female by
the structure of the fore-legs, which, as in the genus
Dytiscus, are furnished, near the setting on of the
feet, with a sort of horny, concave flap or shield ;
the legs of the females being destitute of this part.
The structure of the hind-legs is finely calculated
for the animal's aquatic mode of life, being fur-
nished on the inside with a series of close-set
filaments, so as to give a sort of finny appearance
to the legs, and to enable the animal to swim with
the greatest ease and celerity. It may be added^
V. VI, p, I. 7
gS HYDROPHIL.
that the female of the Hydrophikis piceus affords
an example of a faculty which seems to be exer-
cised by no other coleopterous insect j viz. that
of spinning a kind of web or flattish circular case
of silk, which it leaves floating on the water, and
in which it deposits its eggs. This case is ter-
minated on its upper surface by a lengthened
conical process resembling a horn, of a brown
colour, and of a much stronger or denser nature
than the case itself, which is white. The young
Jarvas, as soon as hatched, make their escape from
the envelopement of the case, and commit them-
selves to the water. This curious particular . in
the history of the Hydrophilus piceus was first
discovered by Lyonett.
The Hydrophilus caraboides is a species measur-
ing about three quarters of an inch in length, and
is of a polished black colour, and of an oval shape.
Like the former, it inhabits stagnant waters, where
its highly curious larva, admirably figured in the
works of Roesel, may not unfrequently be found :
it is fringed along the sides with numbers of sepa-
rate plumes or feather-formed branchiae.
The genus Hydrophilus, like that of Dytiscus,
has been greatly increased by the persevering re-
searches of modern entomologists. Mr. Marsham
enumerates twenty-eight British species.
It may be added that the Hydrophili, like the
Dytisci, sometimes emerge from the waters, and
fly about the fields, and thus migrate occasionally
from water to water ; but as this happens chiefly
by nightj it is not generally observed.
oo
Vay.ay^v^.
thvrac'icus
Sj'cep/uuTtw
2^(3 j,Cc*f: i.Zc-)iden.Pu6lLf hid hy C^ Ejuu:tlci'Fleet.ftre4:C.
CARABUS. CARABUS.
Generic Character
Antenna setaceae.
Thorax obcordatus, apice
truncatus, marginatus.
Abdomen ovatum.
Elytra inarginata.
Antennce setaceous.
Thorax somewhat heart-
shaped, truncated in
front, margined.
Abdomen ovate.
Wing-sheaths margined.
HE insects belonging to this genus are very
Jiumerous, and many species are found in our owil
country. Among these one of the largest is the
Carabus hortensis, so named from its being fre-
quently seen in gardens and pathways. It is
about an inch in lengtji, and of a dark brassy-
green colour, with the wing-shells obscurely
marked by three longitudinal rows of impressed
points, while the edges are often of a shining
purple or violet-colour.
Carabus violaceus is extremely like the preced-
ing, but is a size larger, of a black colour, and
wants the three impressed lines on the wing-
sheaths: the sides of the thorax and wing-sheaths
are frequently tinged with a shining purple or
-violet-colour as in the former. It is found in
woods and damp places,
loo CARABUS.
Among the smaller species tlie Carabus cufj^eus
is a very frequent insect, being seen almost every
where during the summer months in gardens, dry
pathways, &c. generally running, like the rest of
this genus, with a very brisk motion: its ^sual
length is about half an inch, and its colour cop-
pery-olive, varying in different specimens into
gold-green, brassy, purple, &c. &c.
The British species of Carabus, according to
Mr. Marsham, amount to no less than a hundred
and nine, and in this as well as in most other
genera, we may well suppose that many are yet
undescribed.
In many parts of Europe, as in Germany,
France, &c. is found a species of middling size,
and which is known among entomologists by the
title of Carabus crepitans : it is thus named from
the extraordinary faculty Avhich it possesses of
discharging from behind, on being pursued or
irritated, a blueish, fetid, and penetrating vapour,
accompanied by a very smart explosion: this
operation it has the power of repeating ten,
twelve, or even twenty times in succession, with
equal violence, thus frequently escaping by terri-
fying its pursuers. This insect is said to be
often pursued, and sometimes preyed upon by a
larger species of Carabus, against the attacks of
which the peculiar faculty above-described is sin-
gularly successful. From some late observations
it appears that some exotic species of this genus
have a similar power in a still higher degree, be-
ing of a much greater size than the European
insect;
36
alobosu^f
(/a^eo-.
) \
JCtrrtyriefir mcu^.
teJ7toratus.
i6o^^,C cf'.'i Lojiiii'n, FuibjJud hy (^.KearS'/^r.Flf^t Saaet.
TENEBRIO. TENEBRIO.
Generic Character.
jintenriie moniliformes, ar-
ticulo ultimo subrotundo.
Thorax piano- convexus,
maro-inatus.
Caput exsertum. Elytra
rigidiuscula.
Antenna moniliform, with
the last joint rounded.
Thorax plano-convex, mar-
gined.
Head exserted. Wing^
sheaths stiffish.
I
N this genus the body is oblong-oval, and in
most species somewhat pointed at the extremity:
it may be observed also that several species are
destitute of wings. Among the European Tene-
briones one of the most remarkable is the Tenehrio
mortisagus, a coal-black insect measuring about
an inch in length, of rather slow motion, and dis-
tinguished by the remarkably pointed appearance
of the wing-sheaths, which at their extremities
project a little beyond the abdomen: they are
also perfectly connate or undivided, forming a
complete covering to the body, and being carried
over the sides to some distance beneath, and the
insect is totally destitute of real or under wings.
It is usually found in dark neglected places,
beneath boards, in cellars, &c. and if handled, and
102 TENEBRIO.
especially if crushed, diffuses a highly unpleasant
smell.
Tenehrio glohosus is perhaps not a Linnaean spe-
cies, unless it be the T. gibbosus of that author.
It is seen during the hottest part of the summer
about walls and pathways, and is distinguished
by the remarkably globular appearance of the
body: it is totally black, the under parts having
sometimes a slight violaceous cast, and the joints
of the feet, which are remarkably broad, are of a
dull brown : the whole insect is of a very smooth,
but not polished surface, and usually measures
about three quarters of an inch in length: in this
however it varies considerably, some specimens,
probably the males, being considerably smaller:
the antennae in this insect are beautifully monili-
form, all the joints being globular.
Tenebrio molitor is an insect often seen in houses :
it is one of the smaller kinds, and is coal-black, of
a lengthened shape, with longitudinally striated
wing-shells, and proceeds from a larva commonly
known by the name of the Meal-Worm, from its
being so frequently found in flour, &c. it is of
a yellowish white colour, about an inch long,
slender-bodied, and of a highly polished surface,
and is considered as the favorite food of the
Nightingale when kept in a state of captivity : it
is said to remain two years before it changes into
a chrysalis.
The genus Tenebrio is numerous, and some of
the exotic species much resemble the general ap-
TENEBRIO. 103
pearance of the first described kind, but are much
larger: many others are small insects, and the
genus has received such ample accessions from
the discoveries of later entomologists, that it is by
Fabricius and others divided into several distinct
genera, under the titles of Pimelia, Blaps, Alurnus,
&c.
MELOE. MELOE.
Generic Character.
Antennae moniliformes, ar-
ticulo ultimo ovato.
Thorax subrotun I \s.
Elytra moilia, flexilia.
Caput inflexum.
Antenna moniliform, with
the last joint ovate.
Thorax roundish.
Wing-Sheaths soft, flexile.
Head inflected.
A]
.MONG the principal species of Meloe may
be numbered the Meloe Proscarabceus, commonly
called the Oil-Beetle. It is of considerable size,
often measuring near an inch and half in length:
its colour is violet-black, especially on the antennae
and limbs: the wing-sheaths are very short, in the
female insect especially, scarcely covering more
than a third of the body, and are of an oval shape:
this species is frequent in the advanced state of
spring in fields and pastures, creeping slowly, the
body appearing so swoln or distended with eggs
as to cause the insect to move with difficulty. On
being handled it suddenly exsudes from the joints
of its legs, as well as from some parts of the body,
several small drops of a clear, deep-yellow oil or
fluid, of a very peculiar and penetrating smell.
This oil or fluid has been highly celebrated for its
supposed efficacy in rheumatic pains, &c. when
Meloe .
ctvhorei^
vdifcatv/'iuj'
I^oscarahixus i'env.
J'rc^CLXuraljce/u.S' mcu9.
^-.
ycwn^ hhrya/ma^nttUd/
L8ci.Cc4^:iLcthdow. ri>i>li,tha/' h- C..E£ar^k\:FUiffStra<^.
MELOE. 105
used as an embrocation on the parts affected : for
this purpose also the oil expressed from the whole
insect has been used with equal success. The
female of this species deposits her eggs, which are
very small, and of an orange colour, in a large
heap or mass beneath the surface of the ground :
each eggf when viewed by the microscope, ap-
pears of a cylindric shape, with rounded ends:
from these are hatched the Larvae, which, at their
first appearance, scarcely measure a line in length,
and are of an ochre-yellow, with black eyes : they
are furnished with short antennae, six legs of mo-
derate length, and a long, jointed, tapering body,
terminated by two forking filaments or processes.
These larvae are found to live by attaching
themselves to other insects and absorbing their
juices. They are sometimes seen strongly fasten-
ed to common flies, &c. a practice so extraordinary
as to have caused considerable doubt whether they
could possibly have been the real larvae of the
Meloe Proscarabaeus. The accurate observations
of Degeer however have completely proved that
they immediately fasten themselves to any insect,
whether living or dead, that is placed near them.
It is therefore probable that in their natural sub-
terraneous state they attach themselves in a si-
milar manner to the larvae of the larger beetles,
worms, &c. &c.
The Meloe scabrosus* extremely resembles the
preceding, and is found in similar situations, but
* Marsham Entom. Britann.
io6
MELOE.
differs in being of a reddish purple colour, with a
cast of deep gilded green.
Meloe vesicatorius, Blister-FIy, or Spanish-FJy,
is an insect of great beauty, being entirely of the
richest gilded grass-green, with black antennag.
Its shape is lengthened, and the abdomen, which
is pointed, extends somewhat beyond the wing-
sheaths: its usual length is about an inch. This
celebrated insect, the Cantharis of the Materia
Medica, forms, as is well known, the safest and
most efficacious epispastic or blister-plaister, rais-
ing, after the space of a few hours, the cuticle, and
causing a plentiful serous discharge from the skin.
It is supposed however that the Cantharis of Dios-
corides, or that used by the ancients for the same
purpose, was a different species, viz. the Meloe
Cichorei* of Linnseus, an insect nearly equal in.
size to the M. Proscarabneus, and of a black
colour, with three transverse yellow bands on the
wing-shells. The Meloe vesicatorius is principally
found in the warmer parts of Europe, as Spain,
the South of France, &c. It is also observed,
though far less plentifully, in some parts of our
own country.
* See a dissertation on this subject in the sixth volume of the
Amoenitates Academicae. The Chinese still use it instead of our
Cantharides.
38
MoKDEXjILA
M. artilf>at(i . nith antenna 6c Ipqs tiiacfiiined
peTJata/ bicclor.
1^ ^
i(>i\t,Ccl^ I Leaden. PiUilishfAl if C.Jle<u-^kj\FUetStrf^f<
MORDELLA. MORDELLA.
Gejieric Character.
Antemite filiformes serratac.
Caput deflexum in territo.
Palpi compresso - clavati,
oblique truncati.
Elytra deorsum curva api-
cem versus.
Lamina lata ante femora ad
basin abdominis.
Antemiee filiform, serrated.
Head bent down, when dis-
turbed.
Feelers comprcssed-clavate,
obliquely truncated.
Wing - Sheaths cur vi n g
downwards towards the
tip.
Lamina broad, before the
thighs, at the base of the
abdomen.
X H E present genus consists of but few species,
and those of small size. The most common
of the British species is the ]\Iordella aculeata,
measuring two or three lines in length: it is en-
tirely black, and of a smooth surface; the abdo-
men is compressed, and terminates in a spine or
sharp process extending beyond the wing-sheaths;
the legs are rather long, and the insect, when
disturbed, has the power of leaping or springing
to a small distance. It is usually found on plants,
in gardens, &c. It is observed to vary occasion-
ally in colour, having the wing-sheaths sometimes
marked by two transverse, cinereous, villose bars.
This supposed variety is by some considered, and
perhaps justly, as a distinct species.
STAPHYLINUS. STAPHYLINUS
Generic Character.
AntenrltE moniliformes.
Elytra dimidiata. ALe
tectse.
Cauda simplex, exserens
duas vesiculas oblongas.
Antenna moniliform.
Wing-Sheaths halved.
Wings covered.
Tail simple, protruding oc-
casionally two oblong
vesicles.
I
N the genus Staphylinus, whicli is pretty numer-
ous, the wings, which are rather large, are curi-
ously pleated or convoluted beneath the short,
abruptly terminated wing-sheaths. The larger
species are of an unpleasing appearance, and
generally run with considerable swiftness. One
of the most remarkable, as well as the largest of
the British species, is the Staphylinus major of
Degeer, which is more than an inch long, entirely
of a deep black colour, and when disturbed, sets
up the hinder part of its body^ as if in a posture of
defence: it is very frequently seen, during the
autumnal season, about sunny pathways, fields,
and gardens, and is furnished with a large head,
and very strong, forcipated jaws. This species has
often been quoted as the Staphylinus maxillosus
of Linnaeus, but it appears from late observations
to be a larger, and totally distinct species from
that insect.
STAPHYTLliiirS-
7ie<7(i ma^nined
30
murifius
maoxllosus
i7uppr
ma.f07'
idcj. ^ci: I Ac/i^tn. ruf-L.JuJ M- cX^jn-Zei-J'/urS/ra-r-
STAPIIYLINUS. 109
Staphylinus erythropterus is smaller than the
preceding, and is readily distinguished by the
colour of its wing-sheaths, which are of a dull
brick-red : it is found about dunghills and in
damp places.
StaphyUnus miirimis is rather smaller than the
erythropterus, and is of a dull blackish colour,
clouded with obscure, ash-coloured, villose bands
and spots.
The Staphylini are of a predacious nature, living
on the smaller insects, worms, &c. Their larvce
are subterraneous, and bear a considerable re-
semblance to the complete animals. The British
species, according to Mr. Marsham's Entomologia
Britannica, amount to no fewer ths^n eighty-seven.
EORFICULA. EARWIG.
Generic Character.
^ntennre setaceae.
Elytra dimidiata. Ala
tectae.
Cauda forcipata.
Antemire setaceous.
Wing - Sheaths hal ved .
Wings coyered.
Tail forcipated.
JL HIS is not a numerous genus. The Forjicida
atiricularia or common Earwig is an insect so
familiarly known that a formal description might
seem unnecessary: its structure however is highly
curious, and its natural history well worthy of
particular observation: the wings of this insect
are remarkably elegant, and are convoluted
beneath their small sheaths in so curious a man-
ner that they cannot be viewed without admira-
tion: they are very large in proportion to the
animal, transparent, and slightly iridescent. The
earwig flies only by night, and it is not without
great difficulty that it can be made 'to expand its
wings by day: it is even probable that they would
receive injury by any long exposure to the diurnal
air; the animal therefore keeps them completely
covered; and indeed so unusual a circumstance is
it to see them expanded, that Sir Thomas Brown,
in his Pseudodoxia Epidemica, has thought it neces-
TORFIVl^'LA
F. uiificula/ia miujnOied .
epoo' <"(• //>' II •/; ■-/laic/tc'tl^ i ■cu/ia
./O
M'Ot-uHiJu.- ^rctjf^.
2^<?,^ rc^iLc7uicn FuM ^^t/ d%- O.^ear.^f^,- F/et^t Jt?^^t^
EARWIG. Ill
sary to confute the commonly received opinion
that the Earwig is an " impennous insect."
The female Earwig deposits lier eggs, which
are rather large for the size of the animal, of a
white colour, and of an oval shape, under stones
or in any damp situation, where they may be
secure from too much heat or drought. From
these eggs are hatched the young larvae, which
are at first very small, but have very much the
general aspect of the parent animal, except that
they are of a M^hite or whitish colour, and that
the limbs of the forceps at the tip of the abdomen
are not yet curved inwards. The parent insect,
according to the observations of Degeer, guards,
and broods over her young nearly in the same
manner as a hen does over her chickens; and
they generally remain close to the sides, or under
the abdomen of the parent for several hours in
the day. They change their skin at certain inter^
vals during the earlier stages of their growth; and
after each change acquire a darker colour and a
greater degree of resemblance to the full-grown
insect; till at length the wing-sheaths and wings
are formed, and the animals may be considered as
perfect.
The u'sual food of the earwig consists of decayed
fruit, and other vegetable substances, and it does
not seem to be naturally carnivorous, though, if
kept without proper nourishment, it will, like
many other animals, occasionally attack and de-
vour even its own species.
112 EARWIG.
The popular dread in which this insect is held,
on a supposition of its sometimes entering the
cavity of the ear, and piercing the tympanum, is
now generally considered as an ancient and vulgar
error.
a^.
BliA'TTA,
imenc/7jM
.Imen.cana
A.- 1" J^f/Ir.f^^l' *7«^)
INS E C TS.
ORDER
HEMIPTERA.
BLATTA. COCKROACH.
Generic Character.
Caput inflexum.
Antenrife setaceae.
Alte planse, subcoriaceae.
Thorax planiusculus, orbi-
culatus, marginatus.
Pedes cursorii.
Comicula duo supra cau-
dam.
Head inflected.
Antenna setaceous.
JVings flat, subcoriaceous.
Thorax flattish, orbicular^
margined.
Feet formed for running.
Hamlets two over the tail.
JL HIS is a genus containing many very destruc-
tive and disagreeable insects, and which form one
of the principal inconveniences of the hotter
climates. They devour various animal and vege-
table substances, and some species are of a highly
unpleasant smell, which is apt to remain on such
V. VI. p. I. 8
114 COCKROACH.
articles as they have passed over. The largest of
the genus is the Blatta gigantea of Linnagus,
which is a. native of many of the warmer parts
of Asia, Africa, and South- America. It is this
species in particular which seems to be intended
in the following description of the ravages of this
genus by an excellent observer who had contem-
plated the animals in their native climes.
" The Cockroaches* are a race of pestiferous
beings, equally noisome and mischievous to na-
tives or strangers, but particularly to collectors.
These nasty and voracious insects fly out in the
evenings and commit monstrous depredations:
they plunder and erode all kinds of victuals, drest
and undrest, and damage all sorts of cloathing,
especially those which are touched Math powder,
pomatum, and similar substances ; every thing
made of leather, books, paper, and various other
articles, which if they do not destroy, at least
they soil, as they frequently deposit a drop of
their excrement where they settle, and some way
or other by that means damage what they cannot
devour. They fly into the flame of candles, and
sometimes into the dishes ^ are very fond of ink
and of oil, into which they are apt to fall and
perish. In this case they soon turn most offen-
sively putrid, so that a man might as well sit over
the cadaverous body of a large animal as write
with the ink in which they have died. They often
fly into persons' faces or bosoms, and their legs
* See the preface to the third volume of Drury's Exotic
Insects.
COCKROACH. 113l
being armed with sharp spines, the pricking ex-
cites a sudden horror not easily described. In
old houses they swarm by myriads, making every
part filthy beyond description wherever they har-
bour, which in the day-time is in dark corners,
behind all sorts of cloaths, in trunks, boxes, and
in short every place where they can lie concealed:
In old timber and deal houses, when the family
is retired at night to sleep, this insect, among
other disagreeable properties, has the power of
making a noise which very much resembles a,
pretty smart knocking with the knuckle upon the
wainscotting. The Blatta gigantea of Linnasus
in the West Indies is therefore frequently known
by the name of the Drummer. Three or four of
these noisy creatures will sometimes be impelled
to answer one another, and cause such a drum-
ming noise that none but those who are very good
sleepers can rest for them. What is most dis-
agreeable, those who have not gauze curtains are
sometimes attacked by them in their sleep: the
sick and dying have their extremities attacked,
and the ends of the toes and fingers of the dead
are frequently stripped both of tlie skin and
flesh." .
This horrible insect seems to be at present
unknown in the European world, though other
species have been introduced by ships from the
warmer regions, and are become nuisances in our
habitations and warehouses: yet, from an observa-
lion recorded by Moulfet it should seem that a
specimen of the Blatta gigantea had by some
ri6 COCKROACH.
means foiind its way long ago into our country,
since it is hardly possible to apply the description
to any other known kind*. " A viris fide dignis
accepi Blattam mollem vulgari sextuplo majorem
in summo templo Petropoli nostras captam fuisse,
quae morsu non cutem tantum earn venantium
vulnerabat, sed et sanguinem altius copiosiusque
eliciebat; erat digiti majoris magnitudine longi-
tudineque, atque loco muris septo inclusa, evasit
tamen post triduum; sed qua ratione aut via nemo
perspexit."
The Blatta oiientalis or common black Cock-
roach, which is frequently called in our metropolis
and elsewhere by the erroneous name of the black
beetle, is supposed to have been first imported
from the Eastern parts of the world, and seems to
have made great progress of late years in extend-
ing itself throughout the kingdom.
The Blatta Americana or American Cockroach,
which has long ago been elegantly figured by
Madam Merian in her work on the insects of
Surinam, is of a light chesnut-colour, and is ex-
tremely common in the warmer parts of America
and the West-Indian islands: it is somewhat larger
than the black or eastern Cockroach.
* " I have heard from persons of good credit that one of these
Blattae was found and taken in the top of the roof of the church
at Peterborough, which was six times larger than the common
Blatta, and which not only pierced the skin of those who en-
deavoiu-ed to seize it, but bit so deep as to draw blood in great
Quantity J it was a thumb's length and breadth in size, and being
confined in a cavity of the wall, after two or three days made its
escape, no one knew how."
COCKROACH. 117
The Blatta heteroclita is an insect which is of a
shorter and rounder shape than the rest of the
genus: it is of a black colour, with white spots,
and is distinguished by the remarkable circum-
stance of having three spots on one wing-sheath,
and four on the other: it is a native of India.
The eggs in the genus Blatta are deposited in
a kind of connate groupe, appearing at first view
like a large single ovum.
MANTIS. MANTIS.
Geneiic Character.
Cdput nutans, maxillosum,
palpis instructum.
Antenna setacese.
Thorax linearis.
Mce quatuor, membran-
acese, convolutaej inferi-
ores plicataj.
Pedes antici compressi,
subtus serrato-denticu-
lati, armati nngue soli-
tario et digito setaceo
laterali articulate; postici
quatuor Iseves, gressorii.
Head unstead}'^, armed with
jaws, and furnished with
palpi or feelers.
Antenjia setaceous.
Thorax linear.
Wings four, membranace-
ous, convoluted ; the
lower pair pleated.
Fore-legs J in most species,
compressed, serrated be-
neath, and armed Avith a
single claw and a setace-
ous, lateral, jointed foot.
Hind-legs smooth , formed
for walking.
X HIS is one of the most singular genera in the
whole class of Insects, and imagination itself can
hardly conceive shapes more strange than those
exhibited by some particular species.
The chief European kind is the Mantis oratoria
of Linnaeus, or Camel-Cricket, as it is often called.
This insect, which is a stranger to the British
isles, is found in most of the warmer parts of
■1^'
M^\"NTI3
' .7/; rr/7/rrto .r p\is. /ar\: l''r.
MANTIS. lig
Europe and is entirely of a beautiful green colour.
It is nearly three inches in length, of a slender
shape, and in its general sitting posture is observed
to hold up the two fore-legs, slightly bent, as if in
an attitude of prayer : for this reason the supersti-
tion of the vulgar has conferred upon it the repu-
tation of a sacred animal, and a popular notion
has often prevailed, that a child or traveller having
lost his Avay, would be safely directed by observ-
ing the quarter to which the animal pointed when
taken into the hand. In its real disposition it is
very far from sanctity; preying with great ra-
pacity on any of the smaller insects which fall in
its way, and for which it lies in wait with anxious
assiduity in the posture at first mentioned, seizing
them with a sudden spring when within its reach,
and devouring them. It is also of a very pugnaci-
ous nature, and when kept with others of its own
species in a state of captivity, will attack its neigh-
bour with the utmost violence, till one or the other
is destroyed in the contest. Roesel, who kept
some of these insects, observes that in their mutual
conflicts their manoeuvres very much resemble
those of Huzzars fighting with sabres; and some-
times one cleaves the other through at a single
stroke, or severs the head from its body. During
these engagements the wings are generally ex-
panded, and when the battle is over the conqueror
devours his antagonist.
Among the Chinese this quarrelsome property
in the genus Mantis is turned into a similar enter-
120 MANTIS.
tainment with that afforded by fighting cocks and
quails : (for it is to this insect or one closely allied
to it that I imagine the following passage in Mr.
Barrow's account of China to allude.) " They
have even extended their enquiries after fighting
animals into the insect tribe, and have discovered
a species of Gryllus or Locust that will attack
each other with such ferocity as seldom to quit
their hold without bringing away at the same
time a limb of their antagonist. These little crea-
tures are fed and kept apart in bamboo cages,
and the custom of making them devour each other
is so common that, during the summer months,
scarcely a boy is to be seen without his cage of
Grasshoppers." Barrow^s Travels in China, p. 159.
The Mantis precar^ia is a native of many parts
of Africa, and is the supposed idol of the Hotten-
tots, which those superstitious people are reported
to hold in the highest veneration, the person on
whom the adored insect happens to light being
considered as favoured by the distinction of a
celestial visitant, and regarded ever after in the
light of a saint. This species is of the same gene-
ral size and shape with the M. oratoria, and is of
a beautiful green colour, with the thorax ciliated
or spined on each side, and the upper wings each
marked in the middle by a semitransparent spot.
Of all the Mantes perhaps the most singular
in its appearance is the Mantis gongylodes of
Linnteus, which, from its thin limbs, and the gro-
tesque form of its body, especially in its dried
Mantxs.
43
M.^on£n'loide^f
JCtirimtJi^. <F<.'4iJp.
ifc,^ (^ct'ifJ.cndcn At/'Hj-Aet/ b\ Ct./{riir.i-le\- JHettStrefC .
44
I4a:!s'tis.
34. strum ana r larva
jPc-y.Cci'-il.rndi'n.l'uhli.'ehed ?i' r- He,u:rlfi'.F/fft Sowt
MANTIS. 121
State, seems to resemble the conjunction of several
fragments of withered stalks, &c. This also is the
case with the larvae of many of the genus, before
the wings are formed.
PHASMA. PHASMA.
Generic Character,
Caput grande. Antenna
filiformes. Oculi parvi,
rotundati.
Stemmata tria inter oculos.
Alte quatuor, membrana-
ceee ; superiores abbre-
viate, inferiores plicatse.
Pedes ambulatorii.
Head large. Antennte fili-
form. ^j/e5 small, round-
ed.
Stemmata three, between
the eyes.
Wings four, membranace-
ous ; the upper pair abbre-
viated ; the lower pleated.
Feet formed for walking.
A HIS, which is not, strictly speaking, a Linnaean
genus, being formed from some of the Linnaean
Mantes, differs from the genus Mantis in having
all the legs equally formed for walking, or without
the falciform joint which distinguishes the fore-legs
in the genus Mantis. The antennae are setaceous,
and the head large and broad : to these characters
may be added the shortness of the upper wings or
hemelytra, which scarcely cover more than about
a third part of the body, w hile the lower wings are
often very large and long. In their mode of life
the Phasmata differ from the Mantes ; feeding
entirely on vegetable food. In the extraordinary
PHASMA. 123
appearance of many of its species this genus is at
least equal to the preceding.
The most remarkable is the Phasma Gigas or
Giant Pliasma. (Mantis Gigas. Lin.) This in-
sect measures six or eight inches in length, and is
of a \ery lengthened shape both in thorax and
abdomen, which are of a subcylindric form, the
thorax being roughened on the edges and upper
surface by numerous small spines or tubercles : the
upper wings are small, green, and veined like the
leaves of a plant, while the lower are very ample,
reaching half the length of the body or farther, of
a very pale transparent brown, elegantly varied
and tesselated by darker spots and patches: the
legs are of moderate length, with the Joints
roughened by spines. The larva and pupa of this
species bear a more singular appearance than
even the complete insect, greatly resembling, on
a general view, a piece of dry stick with several
small broken twigs adhering to it: for this reason
it has been generally known in collections by the
name of the Walking Stick, and under this title is
figured in Edwards's Gleanings of Natural His-
tory, and many other publications. It is however
probable that though of a pale brown in its dry
state, it is in reality green when living; the natural
colour fading after death, as in many others of
this tribe. It is a native of the island of Amboina.
It may be added, that this insect either runs into
several varieties as to size and some other parti-
culars, or that there exist in reality many distinct
species, which have been confounded under one
124 PHASMA.
common name. The ingenious Mr. Donovan, in
his elegant publication entitled " An Epitome of
the Insects of China,'* mentions a specimen nearly
thirteen inches in length. In the Leverian Mu-
seum exists a very capital specimen, which has
been figured in the Naturalist's Miscellanys but
the most exquisite representation yet given is in
the incomparable work of Stoll.
The Phasma dilatatiim is another extraordinary
species, and seems to have been first described
in the fourth volume of the Transactions of the
Linnaean Society by Mr. John Parkinson. It is
preserved in the Leverian Museum. The descrip-
tion given in the Linnaean Transactions runs as
follows.
" This singular animal, which appears to be a
species hitherto undescribed, is at present in the
Leverian Museum. It is supposed to be a native
of Asia, and belongs to that tribe of insects which
Stoll has called Spectres, and which constitute a
distinct genus from that of Mantis. The present
species measures six inches and a quarter from
the upper part or top of the head to the extremity
of the abdomen. The whole animal is of a flattened
form, more especially on the abdomen, which mea-
sures about an inch and half across in its broadest
part: the thorax is of an obtusely rhomboidal
form, the sides sloping each way from the flattish
upper part. The whole thorax is not only edged
with spines, but has also several very sharp ones
distantly scattered over its surface. The head
rises up backwards into an obtusely conic shape.
Jl A.SA'l A
Jf. £rf/3£eAtf ,faUfi
FBASMA.
40
ma^TiirUcL
ThdUatcUum
jSoj Octf-x'^LcndpruTublished: bv C.AdMvlejJ'UetStre^t:
PHASMA. 123
and has several very strong and large spines or
processes. The abdomen is edged, almost through-
out its whole length, with a continued series of
small spines, to the number of five on the side of
each individual segment: the extreme segments
are without spines. The thighs or first joints of
the lower pair of legs are in this insect remark-
ably strong, of a somewhat triangular shape, and
beset with some strong spines; but the tibiae or
second joints are armed with far larger and
stronger ones. The upper and middle pair of
legs are of a nearly similar structure in propor-
tion, but much less strongly spined. The colour
of all the legs is green, tinged with brown; the
spines blackish: the general colour of the thorax,
abdomen, and head is now brown, but might
probably have been green in the living animal.
The wings are scarcely larger than the elytra or
wing-sheaths, and seem originally to have been
reddish, a tinge of that colour still pervading
some parts of the wings: the tips are green: these
wings are very strongly veined with brown fibres :
the wing-cases are of a strong opake green, and
were doubtless more vivid in the living insect:
they have a great resemblance to a pair of leaves.
The mouth has four palpi, which are rather long,
and under the mouth are situated two leaf-shaped
organs, perhaps belonging to the action of that
part. The antennre are x^anting, the first joints
alone remaining. The abdomen is terminated by
a kind of boat-shaped organ, the keel of which
possesses a considerable space beneath the abdo-
126 PHASMA.
men, so that fewer segments appear on that part
than above. The concavity of this organ is covered
by a terminal scale and bifid process, constituting
the tip of the abdomen on the upper part. On
raising this valve, an ovum, nearly of the size of
a pea, but of a more lengthened form, was dis-
covered lying in the cavity beneath; and on in-
specting farther into the cavity of the abdomen, a
great many more ova, exactly similar, were found,
to the number of five or six-and-twenty, some still
remaining in the upper part : these eggs are of a
slightly oblong shape, but flattened at one end:
they are of a brown colour, and marked all over
with numerous impressed points; and have on
one side a mark or double waved line, so disposed
as to represent a kind of cross, as if carved on the
surface: the flattened end is surrounded by a small
rim or ledge, and seems to be the part which opens
at the exclusion of the larva, since it readily sepa-
rates from the rest. On immersing some of these
ova in warm water, and opening them, the in-
cluded yolk, of a deep yellow colour, and of the
appearance of a transparent gum, was discovered;
and this, when burned, afforded the usual smell of
animal substances, but in some it was accompanied
by a slight degree of fragrance. It is perhaps
needless to observe that these mature ova clearly
prove the insect to be in its complete or ultimate
state, and not in that of a larva."
Some insects of this genus, like the preceding,
are remarkable for the extreme, and even decep-
tive resemblance which their upper wings bear to
47
jPHASJIA,
JPh. siccifohiun .
jfi/<'^,Priri Lrn/ir?i .Puhli.thfd hy C:Xfnrs7fy.Flfft Strffl
^ PHASMA. 127
the leaves of trees. This is evidently a provision of
Nature for the security of the animal against the
attacks of birds, &c. as well as for the more ready
attainment of its preyj since when sitting among
the branches of trees, &c. it eludes the notice both
of the former and the latter. Of this kind is the
Phnsma sicc'ifolium, (Mantis siccifolia. Lin.) the
wings of which, when closed, so strongly resemble
the appearance of a leaf, that the insect is fre-
quently known in cabinets under the name of the
walking leaf, as the larva of the Phasma Gigas
is by that of the walking stick. The female of
this species has no under wings.
GRYLLUS. LOCUST.
Generic Character.
Caput inflexum, maxillo-
sum, palpis instructum.
AntenrKe plerisque setaceae
seu filiformes.
Ala quatuor, deflexae, con-
volutae ; inferiores pli-
catge.
Pedes postici saltatorii :
ungues ubique bini.
Head inflected, armed with
jaws, and furnished with
feelers.
Antenna^ in most species,
either fihform or setace-
ous.
Wings four, deflex, con-
voluted : lower wings
pleated.
Hind-Legs formed for leap-
ing: claws double on all
the feet.
JLN the genus Gryllus the antennae are in most
species setaceous, in others filiform, and in some
flat and lanceolate : the head is large, bent down-
wards, and furnished with strong jaws : the wings
are four in number; the upper or exterior ones
deflected, and longitudinally extended; and the
lower or under ones pleated: the hind legs are
formed for leaping, greatly exceed the rest in
length, and are furnished with very strong, broad
thighs.
The major part at least, if not all of this genus
feed entirely on vegetables, and from their num-
'/8
ClilXJLUS o
ific^.OctC2ZcnU()i.FuJ^i]j-/n:d bv G.Keaiv/ev. Fleet So-eef.
LOCUST. 129
bers and voracity constitute one of the severest
pests of the hotter regions of the globe,, occasion-
ally committing the most dreadful ravages, and
converting the most fertile provinces into the ap-
pearance of barren deserts.
Among the most noxious species is the Gryllus
77iigratoriiis of Linnieus, or common migratory
locust, which of all the insects capable of injuring
mankind seems to possess the most dreadful powers
of destruction. Legions of these animals are from
time to time observed in various parts of the world,
where the havoc they commit is almost incredible :
whole provinces are in a manner desolated by
them in the space of a few days, and the air is
darkened by their numbers: nay even when dead
they are still terrible; since the putrefaction aris-
ing from their inconceivable number is such that
it has been regarded as one of the probable causes
of pestilence in the Eastern regions. This formid-
able Locust is generally of a brownish colour,
varied with pale red or flesh-colour, and the legs
are frequently blueish. In the year 1748 it ap-
peared in irregular flights in several parts of Eu-
rope, as in Germany, France, and England; and
in this capital itself and its neighbourhood great
numbers were seen: they perished however in a
short time, and were happily not productive of
any material mischief, having be^n probably
driven by some irregular wind out of their in-
tended course, and weakened by the coolness of
the climate.
From a paper published in the 18th volume of
V. VI. p. I, 9
1 30 locusr.
the Pliilosophical Transactions we find that in the
year 1693 some swarms of this species of Locust
settled in some parts of Wales. Two vast flights
were observed in the air not far from the town of
Dol-galken in Merionethshire: the others fell in
Pembrokeshire. From a letter published in the
38th volume of the same work it appears that some
parts of Germany, particularly in the March of
Brandenburgh, &c. suffered considerable injury
from the depredations of these animals. They
made their appearance in the spring of the year
1732, from flights which had deposited their eggs
in the ground the preceding year. They attacked
and devoured the young spike of the wheat, &c. and
this chiefly by night, and thus laid waste many
ucres at a time beyond all hope of recovery. In
the 46th volume of the same Transactions we find
a description of the ravages of these animals in
Walachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, Hungary, and
Poland in the years 1747 and 1748.
" The first swarms entered into Transylvania
in August 1747: these were succeeded by others,
which were so surprisingly numerous, that when
they reached the Red Toxver, they were full four
hours in their passage over that place; and they
flew so close that they made a sort of noise in the
air by the beating of their wings against one an-
other. The width of the swarm was some hundreds
of fathoms, and its height or density may be easily
imagined to be more considerable, inasmucn as
they hid the sun, and darkened the sky, even to
-that degree, when they flew low, that people could
iiOCUST. 1 3 1
not know one another at the distance of twenty
paces: but, whereas they were to fly over a river
that runs in the valUes of tlie Red Tower, and could
find neither resting-place nor food; being at length
tired with their flight, one part of them lighted on
the unripe corn on this side of the Red Tower, such
as millet, Turkish wheat, &c.; another pitched on
a low wood, where, having miserably wasted the
produce of the land, they continued their journey,
as if a signal had actually been given for a marchi
The guards of the Red Tower attempted to stop
their irruption into Transylvania by firing at
them*; and, indeed, where the balls and shot
swept through the swarm, they gave way and di-
vided; but, having filled up tlieir ranks in a mo-
ment, they proceeded on tlieir journey. In the
month of September some troops of them were
thrown to the ground by great rains and other
inclemency of the weather, and thoroughly soaked
with wet, they crept along in quest of holes in the
earth, dung, and straw; where, being sheltered
from the rains, they laid a vast number of eggs,
vvhich stuck together by a viscid juice, and were
longer and smaller than what is commonly called
an ant's eggf, very like grains of oats. The
females, having laid their eggs, die, like the Silk-
* In the Eastern parts of the world it is often found necessary
for the Governors of particular provinces to command a certain
number of the military to take the field against armies of Locusts
with a train of artillery.
f Which is not the real egg, but the chrysalis of the ant, en-
veloped in its oval silken case.
IS'l LOCUST.
worm; and we Transylvanians found by experi-
ence that the swarm which entered our fields by
the Red Towers did not seem to intend remaining
there, but were thrown to the ground by the force
of the wind, and there laid their eggs; a vast
number of which being turned up and crushed by
the plough in the beginning of the ensuing spring,
yielded a yellowish juice. In the spring of 1748
certain little blackish worms were seen lying in
the fields and among the bushes, sticking together,
and collected in clusters, not unlike the hillocks
of moles or ants. As nobody knew what they
were, so there was little or no notice taken of
them, and in May they were covered by the shoot-
ing of the corn sown in winter; but the sub-
sequent June discovered what those worms were;
for then, as the corn sown in spring was pretty
high, these creatures began to spread over the
fields, and become destructive to the vegetables
by their numbers. Then at length the country
people, who had slighted the warning given them,
began to repent of their negligence; for as these
insects were now dispersed all over the fields, they
could not be extirpated without injuring the corn.
At that time they differed little or nothing from
our common Grasshoppers, having their head, sides,
and back of a dark colour, with a yellow belly,
and the rest of a reddish hue. About the middle
of June, according as they were hatched sooner
or later, they were generally a tinger's length, or
somewhat longer, but their shape and colour still
continued. , Towards the end of June the}'^ cast
off their outward covering, and then it plainly ap-
LOCUST. 133
peared that they had wings, very like the wings of
bees, but as yet unripe and unexpanded; and then
their body was very tender, and of a yellowish
green: then, in order to render themselves fit for
flying, they gradually unfolded their wings with
their hinder feet, as flies do, and as soon as any of
them found themselves able to use their wings,
they soared up, and by flying round the others,
enticed them to join them; and thus, their num-
bers encreasing daily, they took circular flights
of twenty or thirty yards square, until they were
joined by the rest; and after miserably laying
waste their native fields, they proceeded elsewhere
in large troops. Wheresoever those troops hap-
pened to pitch, they spared no sort of vegetable:
they eat up the young corn, and the very grassy
but nothing was more dismal than to behold the
lands in which they were hatched; for they so
greedily devoured every green thing thereon, be-
fore they could fly, that they left the ground quite
bare."
" There is nothing to be feared in those places
to which this plague did not reach before the au-
tumn; for the Locusts have not strength to fly to
any considerable distance but in the months of
July, August, and the begining of September j
and even then, in changing their places of resid-
ence, they seem to tend to warmer climates."
" Different methods are to be employed, ac-
cording to the age and state of these insects; for
some will be effectual as soon as they are hatched;
others when they begin to crawly and others in
f34 LOCUST.
fine when they begin to fly; and experience has
taught us here in Transylvania, that it would liave
been of great service to have diligently sought
out the places where the females lodged; for no-
thing was more easy than carefully to visit those
places in March and April, and to destroy their
eggs or little worms with sticks or briars; or if
they were not to be beat out of the bushes, dung-
hills, or heaps of straw, to set fire to them; and
this method vrould have been very easy, conveni-
ent, and successful, as it has been in other places;
but in the summer, when they have marched out
of their spring-quarters, and have invaded the corn-
fields, &c. it is almost impossible to extirpate them
without thoroughly threshing the whole piece of
land that harbours them with sticks or flails; and
thus crushing the locust with the produce of the
land. Finally, when the corn is ripe or nearly so,
we have found, to our great loss, that there is no
other method of getting rid of them, or even of
diminishing their numbers, but to surround the
piece of ground with a multitude of people, who
might fright them away with bells, brass vessels,
and all other sorts of noise. But even this method
will not succeed till the sun is pretty high, so as
to dry the corn from the dew; for otherwise they
will either stick to the stalks, or lie hid under the
grass; 4)ut when they happen to be driven to a
waste piece of ground, they are to be beat with
sticks or briars; and if they gather together in
heaps, straw or litter may be thrown over them
'and set on fire. Now this method seems rather
LOCUST. 133
to lessen their numbers than totally destroy them ;
for many of them lurk under the grass or thick
corn, and in the fissures of the ground from the
sun's heat: wherefore it is requisite to repeat this
operation several times, in order to diminish their
numbers, and consequently the damage done by
them. It will likewise be of use, where a large
troop of them has pitched, to dig a long trench, of
an ell width and depth, and place several persons
along its edges, provided with brooms and such-
like things, while another numerous set of people
form a semicircle that takes in both ends of the
trench, and encompasses the locusts, and, by mak-
ing the noise above-mentioned, dri\e them into
the trench, out of which if they attempt to escape,
those on the edges are to sweep them back, and
then crush them with their brooms and stakes,
and bury them by throwing in the earth again.
But when they have begun to fly, there should be
horsemen upon the watch in the fields, who, upon
any appearance of the swarm taking wing, should
immediately alarm the neighbourhood by a certain
signal, that they might come and fright them from
their lands by all sorts of noise; and if tired with
flying, they happen to pitch on a waste piece of
land, it will be very easy to kill them with sticks
and brooms in the evening or early in the morn-
ing, wliile they are w^et with the dew; or anytime
of the day in rainy weather, for then thej- are not
able to fly. I have already taken notice that, if
the weather be cold or wet in autumn, they gene-
rally hide themselves in secret places, where they
I:3t5 LOCUST.
lay their eggs, and then die : therefore great care
should be taken at this time, when the ground is
freed of its crop, to' destroy them before they lay
their eggs. In this month of September, 1748, we
received certain intelligence that several swarms
of Locusts came out of Walachia into Transylvania
through the usual inlets, and took possession of a
tract of land in the neighbourhood of Clausherry^
near three miles in length, where it was not possi-
ble to save the millet and Turkish wheat from these
devourers. I am of opinion that no instance of
this kind will occur in our history, exc6pt what
some old men remember, and what we have ex-:
periencedj at least there is no account that any
Locusts came hither which did not die before they
laid their eggs : however this is a known fact ; that
about forty years ago, some swarms came hither
out of Walachia, and did vast damage wherever
they settled, but either left this country before the
end of summer, ©r died by the inclemency of the
weather."
As an appendix to the foregoing account it is
added by a correspondent from Vienna, that " a
considerable number of locusts had also come
within twenty leagues of that city, and that one
column of them had been seen there, which was
about half an hour's journey in breadth; but of
such a length that, after three hours, though they
seemed to fly fast, one could not see the end of the
column."
We have before observed, that the Locusts
which fell in several parts of England, and in par-,
ticular in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, in
LOCUST. 137
the year 1748, were evidently some straggling
fletatchnients from the vast flights which in that
year visited many of the inland parts of the Eu-r
ropean Continent.
The ravages of Locusts in various parts of the
world, at different periods, are recorded by numer-
ous authors, and a summary account of their prin^
pipal devastations may be found in the works of
Aldrovandus. Of these a few shall be selected as
examples. Thus, in the year 593 of the Christian
era, after a great drought, these animals appear-
ed in such vast legions as to cause a famine in
many countries. In 677 Syria and Mesopotamia
were overrun by them. In 852 immense swarms
took their flight from the Eastern regions into the
West, fl3'ing with such a sound that they might
have been mistaken for birds: they destroyed all
vegetables, not sparing even the bark of trees and
the thatch of houses; and devouring the corn so
rapidly as to destroy, on computation, an hundred
and forty acres in a day: their daily marches or
distances of flight were computed at twenty miles;
and these were regulated by leaders or kings, who
flew first, and settled on the spot which was to be
visited at the same hour the next day by the whole
legion: these marches were alvvays undertaken, at
sunrise. These Locusts wefe at length driven by
the force of winds into the Belgic ocean, and being
thrown back by the tide and left on the shores,
caused a dreadful pestilence by their smell. In
1271 all the corn-fields of Milan were destroy-
ed; and in the year 1339 ^^^ those of Lombardy.
138 LOCUST.
Ill 1541 incredible hosts afflicted Poland, Wa-
lachia, and all the adjoining territories, darkening
the sun with their numbers and ravaging all the
fruits of the earth.
One of the largest species of Locust yet known
is the Gryllus cristatiis of Linnasus, which is five
or six times the size of the Gryllus migratorius,
and, together with some others of the larger kind,
is made use of in some parts of the world as
an article of food: they are eaten both fresh and
salted, in which last state they are publickly sold
in the markets of some parts of tlie Levant. The
quantity of edible substance which they afford is
but small, especially in the male insects; but the
females, on account of the ovaries, afford a more
nutritious sustenance. It is well known that dif-
ferent interpretations have been sometimes given
of the passage in the sacred writings in which John
the Baptist is said to have fed on Locusts and wild
honey; and the word aKpiSxs has been supposed
to mean the young shoots of vegetables rather
than Locusts; but, since the fact is established,
that these insects are still eaten by the inhabitants
of the East, there seems not the least reason for ad-
mitting any other interpretation than the usually
received one. Why should we wonder that the
abstemious prophet, during his state of solitary
seclusion from the commerce of the world, should
support himself by a repast which is to be num-
bered, not among the luxuries of life, but merely
regarded as a substitute for food of a more agree-
able nature? We may also adduce in support of
I^irYLTil^^
^SJ
%
^
^
^
^
. LOCUST. 13^
this idea, the testimony of Hasselquist, who thus
expresses himself on this very subject. " Tiiey
who deny insects to have been the food of this
holy man, urge, that this insect is an unaccustom-
ary and unnatural food; but they would soon be
convinced of the contrary, if they would travel
hither, to Egypt, Arabia, or Syria, and take a
meal with the Arabs. Roasted locusts are at this
time eaten by the Arabs, at the proper season,
when they can procure them ; so that in all pro-
bability this dish has been used in the time
of St. John. Ancient customs are not here
subject to many changes, and the victuals of St.
John are not believed unnatural here; and I was
assured by a judicious Greek priest, that their
Church had never taken the word in any other
sense; and he even laughed at the idea of its
being a bird or a plant."
Hasselquisfs Travels, Engl Transl. p. A\Q.
The Gryllus cristatus above-mentioned is a
highly beautiful animal; being of a bright red,
with the body annulated with black; and the legs
varied with yellow: the upper wings tesselated
with alternate variegations of dark and pale green;
the lower with transverse, undulated streaks: the
length of the animal from head to tail is about
four inches, and the expanse of wings from tip to
tip, when fully extended, hardly less than seven
inches and a half. It is exquisitely figured in the
works of Roesel.
Greatly allied to the preceding is the Gryllus
Pux, figured in the elegant w^ork of Mr. Drury.
!40 LOCUST.
It is of the same size and general appearance,
but has the body green; the upper wings brown,
with the front-edge green ; and the lower wings
red, with numerous black spots disposed in such
a manner as to form transverse streaks. It is a
native of South-America and the West-Indian
islands.
The Gryllus viridisshnus of Linnaeus is one of
the largest European species, and is often seen
during the decline of summer in our own country.
It is wholly of a pale grass-green, with a slight
blueish cast on the head and under part of the
thorax, which is marked above by a longitudinal
reddish-brown line: the length of the insect, from
the mouth to the tips of the wings is about two
inches and a half: the female is distinguished by
a long sword-shaped process at the end of the body,
being the instrument with which she pierces the
ground in order to deposit her eggs: it consists
of a pair of valves, through the whole length of
which the eggs are protruded: they are of an
oblong form, and of a pale brown colour.
The Grj/Hus verrucivorus is also found in some
parts of England, and is of an equal size with the
viridissimus, but of a reddish-brown colour, with
darker variegations : this animal, according to
Linnaeus, is frequently applied by the people in
Sweden to warts on the hands, which it is suffered
to bite off, and is said thus to prevent their return.
But of all the British insects of this genus the
GrylUis Gryllotalpa or Mole-Cricket is by far the
most curious i and in its colour and manners dif^
.l^f
GK-YLLI'S
^. GryUotalpa .
iSc^.CctVtl ,-ndin Tul-fi.>hfJ l;\- frJif-tr.,lf\- Fleet Stii'it.
LOCUST. 14 i
fers greatly from the rest. It is of an uncouth,
and even formidable aspect, measuring more
than two inches in length j and is of a broad and
slightly flattened shape, of a dusky brown colour,
with a ferruginous cast on the under parts, and is
readily distinguished by the extraordinary struc-
ture of its fore-legs, which are excessively strong,
and furnished with very broad feet djvided into
several sharp, claw-shaped segments, with which it
is enabled to burrow under ground in the manner
of a Mole: the lower wings, which, when ex-
panded, are very large, are, in their usual state,
so complicated under the very short and small
upper-wings or sheaths, that their ends alone ap-
pear, reaching, in a sharpened form, along the
middle of tlie back; the abdomen is terminated
by a pair of sharp-pointed, lengthened, hairy pro-
cesses, nearly equalling the length of the antennae
in front, and contributing to give this animal an
appearance in some degree similar to that of a
Blatta.
The Mole-Cricket emerges from its subterrane-
ous retreats only by night, when it creeps about
the surface, and occasionally employs its wings in
flight. It prepares for its eggs an oval nest, mea-
suring about two inches in its longest diameter:
this nest is situated a hand's breadth below the
surface of the ground: it is accurately smoothed
within, and is furnished with an obliquely curved
passage leading to the surface. The eggs are
about two hundred and fifty or three hundred in
number, nearly round, of a deep brownish yellow
142 LOCUST*
colour, and of the size of common shot: on the''
approach of winter, or any great change of
weather, these insects are said to remove the
nest, by sinking it deeper *, so as to secure it
from the power of frost, and when the spring
commences, again raising it in proportion to the
warmth of the season, till at length it is brought
so near the surface as to receive the full influence
of the air and sunshine: but should unfavourable
weather again take place, they again sink the
precious deposit, and thus preserve it from danger.
Tlie eggs are usually deposited in the month of
June or July, and the young are hatched in Au-
gust. At their first exclusion they are about the
size of ants, for which, on a cursory view, they
might be mistaken; but on a close inspection are
easily known by their broad feet, &c. In about
the space of a month they are grown to the length
of more than a quarter of an inch; in two months
upwards of three quarters; and in three moijths to
the length of more than an inch. Of this length
they are usually seen during the close of autumn,
after which they retire deep beneath the surface;
not appearing again till the ensuing spring. Dur-
ing their growth they cast their skin three or four
times.
The Mole-Cricket lives entirely on vegetables.
* This is affirmed by Goedart, but is disbelieved by Reaumur
and Roesel ; and it appears from experiment that tlie nest always
requires to be kept in a moist situation; the eggs, if exposed to a
dry air, being entirely shrivelled and destroyed.
O-I^TXiUS ,
61
(t. Jlonst/'osus ■
JJtrnjtirh ^\7/^
jet>^. l\-c' / linJi'n.7W//.>/i,€/ /'I /:Aiww/i\ t'la:i ^*'li\a.
LOCUST. 143
devouring the young roots of grasses, corn, and
various esculent plants, and commits great de-
vastation in gardens. It is found in most parts
of Europe, and in the northern parts of Asia and
America.
In South-America is found a species of a still
more uncouth appearance than the Gryllotalpa,
being of a larger size, with the wings running out
into a pair of long, narrow convolutions, reaching
far beyond the bodyj while all the legs are longer
than is usual in this genus, and have the feet fur-
nished on each side with several oval, foliaceous
processes: the whole animal is of a brown colour,
with a large head, and very strong jaws.
It would be unnecessary to add, that the small
insects commonly termed Grasshoppers belong to
this genus.
FULGORA. LANTERN-FLY.
Generic Character,
CapuHroTxte producta,inani.
Antenrus infra oculos, ar-
ticulis duobus ; exteriore
globoso majore.
Rostrum inflexum.
Pedes gressorii.
Head produced into an in-
flated hollow front.
Antenna beneath the eyes,
of two joints, the exterior
larger and globose.
Snout inflected.
Feet formed for walking.
X HIS highly singular genus is distinguished by
having the Antennae formed by two very short
joints, the exterior of which is globular, and tip-
ped by a short hair : they are seated immediately
beneath the eyes : the snout is strait, and inflected
beneath the breast, and the feet are formed for
walking.
The Fulgora Lanternaria or Peruvian Lantern-
Fly is undoubtedly one of the most curious of in-
sects: it is of a very considerable size, measuring
nearly three inches and a half from the tip of the
front to that of the tail, and about five inches and
a half from wing's end to wing's end when ex-
panded: the body is of a lengthened oval shape,
roundish or subcylindric, and divided into several
rings or segments : the head is nearly equal to the
length of the rest of the animal, and is oval, inflated.
J?
i'rj^ooiiA.
2'^. Lnnfrninna
ifioi.Oct^iZrrufcn.rublu'hfd b\ liJicir.iUv.JFJtet Stt-f^r.
LANTERN-FLY. 145
and bent slightly upwards: the ground-colour is
an elegant yellow, with a strong tinge of green in
some parts, and marked with numerous bright
red-brown variegations in the form of stripes and
spots : the wings are very large, of a yellow
colour, most elegantly varied with brown undula-
tions and spots, and the lower pair are decorated
by a very large eye-shaped spot on the middle of
each, the iris or border of the spot being red, and
the centre half red and half semitransparent white:
the head or lantern is pale yellow, with longitudi-
nal red stripes. This beautiful insect is a native
of Surinam and many other parts of South-Ame-
rica, and during the night diffuses so strong a
phosphoric splendor from its head or lantern that
it may be employed for the purpose of a candle or
torch; and it is said that three or four of the in-
sects, tied to the top of a stick, are frequently used
by travellers for that purpose. The celebrated
^ladam Merian, in her work on the Insects of
Surinam, gives a very agreeable account of the
surprize into which she was thrown by the first
view of the flashes of light proceeding from these
Insects. " The Indians once brought me," says
she, " before I knew that they shone by night, a
number of these Lantern-Flies, which I shut up in
a large wooden box. In the night they made
such a noise that I awoke in a fright, and ordered
a light to be brought; not knowing from whence
the noise proceeded. As soon as we found that
it came from the box, w^e opened it; but were still
much more alarmed, and let it fall to the ground
V. VL p. I. 10
146 LANTERN-FLY.
in a fright, at seeing a flame of fire come out of it j
and as many animals as came out, so many flames
of fire appeared. When we foiuid this to be the
case, we recovered from our fright, and again
collected the insects, highly admiring tl;ieir splendid
appearance."
Dr. Darwin,. in a note to some lines relative to
luminous insects, in his beautiful poem the Loves
of the Plants, makes Madam Merian affirm that
she drew and fmished her figure of the insect by
its own light. On examination however, I cannot
find the least authority for this declaration on the
part of Madam Merian, who relates only what is
above stated, with the observation that the light
of one of the insects is sufficient to read a common
news-paper by. It may be proper to add, that this
celebrated lady falls into a mistake in supposing
that a species of Cicada, which she represents on
the same plate with the Lantern-Fly, was its larva;
and that it gradually was transformed into the
Fulgora. This information indeed she merely
gives as the popular report, but at the same time
takes the liberty of representing the insect in its
supposed half-complete state, with the head of the
Fulgora, and the Avings and body of the Cicada.
I cannot conclude the description of this species
without giving due praise to the exquisite repre-
sentation of Roesel, who has engraved it both with
its wings closed and expanded. Degeer observes
that the beautiful colours with which Roesel's
figures are adorned were not perceptible either in
the specimens examined by himself, or in those
LANTERN-FLY. 147
described by Reaumur. In the Leverian Museum
however are a fine pair of these insects, which,
though now somewhat faded, at their first intro-
duction fully justified the colouring of Roesel and
Merian, and left no doubt of the richly variegated
appearance of the animal in its living state.
The Fulgora Candelaria is a much smaller species
than the preceding, and is a native of China. It
measures near two inches in length, and 2 inches
and half in breadth with the wings expanded: the
body is oval, and the head produced into a long
horn-sliaped process: the colours are very elegant ;
the head and horn being of a fine reddish brown
or purple, and covered with numerous white specks
of a mealy appearance : the thorax is of a deep or
orange-yellow, and the body black above, but deep
yellow beneath: the wings are oval; the upper
pair blackish, with very numerous and close-set
green reticulations, dividing the whole surface
into innumerable squares or marks, and are farther
decorated by several yellow bars and spots: the
under wings are orange-coloured, with broad black
tips.
Fulgora Diadema is an Indian species, and is
distinguished by having a long, spiny, or muri-
cated front, with a triple division at the tip: its
colour is brown, with red and yellow variega-
tions: it seems to have been first described and
figured in the work of Seba: in size it is nearly
similar to the preceding species.
In the twelfth edition of the Systema Naturae
the number of species in the genus Fulgora
148 LANTERN-FLY.
amounted only to nine: it has since been increas-
ed to the number of twenty-five. Of these most
are exotic, but two are natives of our own island :
they are very small, and undistinguished by any
shining quality.
33
spmosa
ClCABA..
^^
auritoy
lanata
pleba/j
lar^
i^o<, Oct^iLcTidc/iiAijhKjfiedhv 6:K<!ar.>/f\- . Fleet Strtet.
CICADA. CICADA.
Generic Character
Rostrum inflexum.
Antenna brevissimse, seta-
ceae.
Alte quatuor, membrana-
cese, deflexae.
Pedes plerisque saltatorii.
Snout inflected.
Antenna very short, seta-
ceous.
IVings four, membranace-
ous, deflected.
Feet in most species formed
for leaping.
Oi
'F this genus the most common European
species is the Cicada plebeja of Linnaeus. This is
the insect so often commemorated by the ancient
poets, and so generally confounded by the major
part of translators with the Grasshopper. It is
a native of the warmer parts of Europe, and
particularly of Italy and Greece j appearing in
the hotter months of summer, and continuing its
shrill chirj^iag during the greatest part of the
day; generally sitting among the leaves of trees.
These insects proceed from eggs deposited by the
parent in and about the roots of trees, near the
ground. They hatch into larvae, which, when
grown to their full size, are the Tettigometree of
the ancient writers j and after having continued
150 CICADA.
in this state of larva near two years, cast their
skins, and produce the complete insect.
The ancients differ in their opinions relative to
the Cicadas. Virgil speaks of them as insects of
a disagreeable and stridulous tone*. On the
contrary, Anacreon compliments them on their
musical note, and makes the Cicada a favourite of
Apollo.
" Happy Insect ! blithe and gay.
Seated on the sunny spray.
And drank with dew, the leaves among.
Singing sweet thy chirping song!
All the various season's treasures.
All the products of the plains
Thus lie open to thy pleasures.
Fa v' rite of the rural swains.
On thee the Muses fix their choice.
And Phoebus adds his own.
Who first inspir'd thy lively voice
And tun'd the pleasing tone.
Thy cheerfbl note in wood and vale
Fills every heart with glee;
And summer smiles in double charms
While thus proclaim'd by thee.
Like Gods canst thou the nectar sip,
A lively chirping elf;
From labour free, and free from care,
A little God thyself 1"
There is also a very pleasing and elegant tale f,
* Bucol. 2. &c.
f SseA^itiq: vdrah: narrat: lib. 1. Strab. geogi\ lib, 6.
CICADA. 151
related by ancient authors, of two rival* musi-
cians alternately playing for a prize; when one
of the candidates was so unfortunate as to break a
string of his lyre; by which accident he would
certainly have failed; when a Cicada, flying near,
happened to settle on his Lyre, and by its own
note supplied the defective string, and thus en-
abled the favoured candidate to overcome his an-
tagonist. So remarkable was the event, that a
statue was erected to perpetuate the memory of
it, in which a man is represented playing on a
lyre, on which sits a Cicada.
Notwithstanding these romantic attestations in
favor of the Cicada, it is certain that modern ears
are offended rather than pleased with its voice,
which is so very strong and stridulous that it
fatigues by its incessant repetition; and a single
Cicada hung up in a cage has been found almost
to drown the voice of a whole company.
It is to be observed that the male Cicada alone
exerts this powerful note; the females being en-
tirely mute: hence the old witticism attributed to
that incorrigible sensualist Xenarchus the Rho-
dian.
" Happy the Cicadas' lives.
Since they all have voiceless wives !"
That a sound so piercing should proceed from so
small a body may well excite our astonishment ;
and the curious apparatus by which it is produced
* Viz. Eunomus of Locris, and Aristo of Rhegium.
152 CICADA.
has justly claimed the attention of the most cele-
brated investigators. Reaumur and Roesel in par-
ticular have endeavoured to ascertain the nature
of the mechanism by which the noise is produced,
and have found that it proceeds from a pair of
concave membranes, seated on each side the first
joints of the abdomen: the large concavities of the
abdomen, immediately under the two broad la-
mellae in the male insect, are also faced by a thin,
pellucid, iridescent membrane, serving to increase
and reverberate the sound, and a strong muscular
apparatus is exerted for the purpose of moving
the necessary organs.
The Cicada plebeja is thus distinguished by
Linnaeus as a species*, viz. Cicada with the tip
of the scutellum bidentated, and the upper wings
marked with four anastomoses and six ferruginous
lines.
In this division of the genus Cicada are several
large and elegant insects, as the Cicada hannatodeSy
distinguished by its body of a polished black
colour, with the divisions of the abdomen marked
by so many scarlet rings or bands, and the Cicada
atrata, which is of a fine black, varied beneath
with yellow streaks in the direction of the abdo-
minal and thoracic divisions: the wings are black
to some distance from the base. In this tribe
also ranks the Cicada viridis, a large species, na-
* It is to be observed however that from a great general
similarity between the Cicadse of this division or tribe, it is diffi-
cult to form specific characters sufficiently distinctive j and it
ipay be doubted whetlier the present be so.
CICADA. 153
tive of New Holland, of a beautiful green colour,
with the transparent wings ornamented by green
veins.
Among the smaller European Cicadie one of the
most remarkable is the Cicada spumuria or Cuc-
kow-spit Cicada, so named from the circumstance
of its larva being constantly found enveloped in a
mass of white froth adhering to the leaves and
stems of vegetables. This froth, which is popu-
larly known by the name of Cuckow-Spittle, is
found during the advanced state of summer, and is
the production of the included larva, which, from
the time of its hatching from the egg deposited by
the parent insect, continues, at intervals, to suck
the juices of the stem on which it resides, and to
discharge them from its vent in the form of very
minute bubbles, and by continuing this operation,
completely covers itself with a large mass of froth;
which is sometimes so overcharged with moisture,
that a drop may be seen hanging from its under
surface. The included larva, or pupa, (for no ma-
terial difference can be observed between these
two states,) when arrived at its full growth, is about
the fifth of an inch in length, of an oval shape,
with broad head and thorax, and slightly point-
ed abdomen: its colour is a beautiful pale green,
and the trunk or sucker with which it extracts the
sap of the plant, may be observed by examining
the under part of the thorax, where it will be seen
pressed down in a strait direction from the head.
When the time arrives in which the animal is to
undergo its change into the complete insect, it
154 CICADA.
ceases to absorb any longer the juices of the plant
and to discharge the protecting froth, which, at
this period, forms a vaulted canopy over the in-
sect, instead of entirely investing it as before : the
skin of the larva is gradually thrown off, and the
animal in its complete form emerges from its con-
cealment. Its size is scarcely superior to that of
the larva, but its colour is brown, with a pair of
broad, irregular, pale or whitish bands across the
upper wings. If disturbed, it nimbly springs to a
great distance, and is commonly known by the
name of the Froghopper, from some fancied resem-
blance to the colour and shape of that animal in
miniature. These insects breed during the month
of September, and towards the beginning of Oc-
tober deposit their eggs, which are not hatched
till the succeeding spring.
Of similar size and shape to the preceding is
the Cicada sangii'molenta, but of a deep black
colour, with two scarlet bands across the wings,
the body being varied with red and black.
Among the most singular Cicadas are those in
which the thorax is raised perpendicularly into a
large and flat leaf-like membrane or process :
these are of exotic extraction, and the most re-
markable is the Cicada rhomhea of Linuteus, which
is a native of Jamaica, and of a brown colour:
the thoracic process is of a rhomboid shape, and
widest at the hind part.
u
~^G'IG~SYA'T.\.
Striata.
Lflauca o lari'a
.ACCri/?!^ sculp
iSo^. Oct"^/ /.ondorv. fu/t/gj-Pia/ i^,' (^Mar^/et: F/txf Street .
NOTONECTA. NOTONECTA.
Generic Character.
Rostrum inflexum.
jdntennce thorace breviores.
Al/e quatuor,cruciato-com-
plicatae.
Pedes posteriores pilosi, na-
tatorii.
Snout inflected.
Antenna shorter than tho-
rax.
Wings coriaceous on the
upper part, and crossed
over each other.
Hind-Feet edged with hairs,
and formed for swimming.
X H E principal species of this genus is the No-
tonecta glauca, a very common aquatic insect, in-
habiting stagnant waters, and generally measur-
ing about three parts of an inch in length. Its
colour is grey-brown, and the upper wings are
marked along the edges by a row of minute black
specks. This insect is usually seen swimming
on its back, in which situation it bears a most
striking resemblance to a boat in miniature, the
hind-legs acting like a pair of oars, and impelling
the animal at intervals through the water. It
preys on the smaller inhabitants of the water, and
flies only by night.
Notonecta striata is much smaller than the pre-
ceding, not measuring more than a quarter of an
inch in length, and is of a yellowish grey colour.
156 NOTONECTA.
with numerous transverse undulated black lines
pi* streaks: it is found in stagnant waters.
Notonecta mmutissima is an extremely small
species, with grey wings, marked by longitudinal
dusky spots: like the two former, it is an inhabit-
ant of stagnant waters, but is far less frequently
observed than the rest, on account of its very
small size.
'iA
^WPA.
^ffrjh
(frnndi^
cuifrcii
NEPA. NEPA.
Generic Character.
Host rum inflexum.
uilip quatuor, cruciato-com-
plicatae, antice coriaceae.
Pedes anteriores cheli-
formes, reliqui quatuor
ambulatorii.
Snout inflected.
Wings four, cross-compli-
cate, coriaceous on the
upper part.
Fore-Feet cheliform, the
rest formed for walk-
ing.
JL HIS genus, like that of Notonecta, is aquatic,
inhabiting stagnant waters, and preying on the
smaller water-insects, &c. The largest species
yet known, and which very far surpasses in size
all the European animals of the genus, is the Nepa
gratidis, which is a native of Surinam and other
parts of South-America, often measuring more
than three inches in lencrth. Its colour is a dull
yellowish brown, with a few darker shades or
variegations: the under wings are of a semitrans-
parent white colour, and the abdomen is termin-
ated by a short tubular process. Madam Merian
represents this species, in her Surinam Insects, as
preying on tadpoles and young frogs.
Nepa cinerea or the Common Water-Scorpion,
158 NEPA.
is a very frequent inhabitant of stagnant waters
in our own country, measuring about an inch in
length, and appearing, when the wings are closed,
entirely of a dull brown colour; but, when the
wings are expanded, the body appears of a bright
red colour above, with a black longitudinal band
down the middle: and the lower wings, which are
of a fine transparent white, are decorated with
red veins: from the tail proceeds a tubular bifid
process or style, nearly of the length of the body,
and which appears single on a general view, the
two valves of which it consists being generally
applied close to each other throughout their whole
length. The animal is of slow motion, and is
often found creeping about the shallow parts of
ponds, &c. In the month of May it deposits its
eggs on the soft surface of the mud at the bottom
of the water : they are of a singular shape, resem-
bling some of the crowned seeds, having an oval
body, and an upper part surrounded by seven
radiating processes or curved spines: the young,
when first hatched, are not more than the eighth
of an inch in length. The Water-Scorpion flies
only by night, when it wanders about the fields
in the neighbourhood of its native waters. The
larvae and pupae differ in appearance from the
complete insect in having only the rudiments of
wings, and being of a paler or yellower colour.
Nepa cimicoides of Linnaeus differs materially
from the preceding species, and has, at first view,
more the aspect of a Notonecta than a Nepa, the
:n'e,pao
S6
dnuceicies
dfmccul^^
iSrj (7<:J^ri£t^>ui-7t fuiH^rAfd hi- /■; A>wj/n:/^y<-^f.>'f'r,-f .
NEPA. 159
liind legs being formed for swimming briskly, and
furnished with an, edging of hairs on the inner
side: it also bears a resemblance to the generality
of the Cimices, in its broadly ovate shape: the
thorax and upper wings are pale brown ; the
lower wings transparent white, and the back,
which appears only when the wings are expanded,
is of a fine blueish black: the sides of the abdo-
men are serrated: the under surface is of a pale
yellowish brown, with blue-green thorax: the fore-
feet or chelae are very short, and the abdomen is
simple, or destitute of any lengthened process.
This insect is less common than the preceding,
but is found in similar situations.
Nepa linearis is an insect of a highly singular
aspect, bearing a distant resemblance to some
of the smaller insects of the genus Mantis and
Phasma. It measures about an inch and half from
the tip of the snout to the beginning of the abdo-
minal style or process, which is itself of equal
length to the former part, and the whole animal is
extremely slender in proportion to its length: the
legs also are long and slender, and the chelae or
fore-legs much longer in proportion than those of
the second species or Nepa cinerea: the colour
of the animal is dull yellowish brown, the back,
when the wings are expanded, appearing of a
brownish red, and the under wings white and
transparent. It inhabits the larger kind of stag-
nant waters, frequenting the shallower parts dur-
ing the middle of the day, when it may be ob-
served to prey on the smaller water insects, &c.
l60 NEPA.
Its motions are singular; often striking out all its
legs in a kind of starting manner at intervals, and
continuing this exercise for a considerable time.
The eggs are smaller than those of the Nepa
cinerea, of an oval shape, and furnished with two
processes or bristles divaricating from the top of
each.
'J>IEX,
o7
IcUipe^f^
flay ice UiS
staanorunv
vaJidiLS
anradatus:
^
cci-tiaitus
iCt^ruTtikr ^'fu/p.
iSo^ Oct''.i'''^LcnAcrv,ruhlieheJ bv G^.Kearj-ley. FU^t Stredl.
CIMEX. BUG.
Generic Character.
nostrum inflexum.
Antennee thorace longiores.
ALe quatuor, cruciato-com-
plicatse, superioribus an-
tice coriaceis.
Dorsum planum, thorace
marginato.
Pedes cursorii.
Snout inflected.
AntenncelongexihdLnthoxdiTi.
Wings four, cross-compli-
cate, the upper pair cori-
aceous on the upper part.
Back flat, %vith tlie thorax
margined.
Feet formed for running.
Oi
F this very numerous genus one species alone
is apterous or destitute of wings; viz. that trouble-
some and otTensive insect the Chnej: lectularius or
common domestic Bug; now so frequent a nui-
sance in the metropolis as well as in most parts of
the country, though in a great degree unknown in
England in the days of our ancestors. It is indeed
affirmed by a writer* who has given a professed
* See " A Treatise of Bugs" by J. Southall. Lond. 1/30. 8vo.
This man, who practised the art of destroying these insects in
houses, affirms with confidence that the application of his liquor,
(the receipt of wliich he obtained from an old Negro in America,)
to the holes or crevices of places containing them, immediately
caused them to come out in great numbers and immediately die.
"On the application, (says he) of this liquor, at all seasons of the
year, they will come out, and immediately die before your face."
V. VI. r. I. U
162 BUG.
treatise on this animal, that it was scarcely known
in England before the year 1670, when it was im-
ported among the timber used in rebuilding the
city of London after the great fire of 1666. That
it was however known much earlier is hardly to
be doubted, though probably far less common
than at present; since Mouffet informs us that
Dr. Penny, one of the early compilers of that
History of Insects, relates his having been sent
for in great haste to Mortlake in Surry to visit
two noble ladies who imagined themselves seized
with the usual symptoms of the plague; but on
Penny's demonstrating to them the true cause of
their complaint, viz, having been bitten by these
insects, and even detecting them in their pre-
sence, the whole affair was turned into a jest.
This was in the year 1583.
To give a particular description of an animal
so Avell known would be superfluous: it may be
sufficient to observe, that it is of an oval shape,
about the sixth of an inch in length, of a very
compressed or flat form, and of a reddish brown
colour. It is easily destroyed by pressure, being,
of a very tender nature, and when bruised diffuses
a highly unpleasant smell. In the beginning of
summer it deposits its eggs, which are very small,
white, and of an oval shape, each standing on a
kind of short pedicle or footstalk, in the cavities
of walls or wood-work, and from these are hatched,
in the course of a few weeks*, the young, which
* Three weeks, according to Southall.
. BUG. 163
differ from the parent insect in no other respect
than size and colour, being at first mucli paler
than when more advanced in their growth; not
arriving at their full size in less than about three
months. They live entirely by suction, employ-
ing for this purpose their sharp and fine trunk or
proboscis, which is carried in a strait direction
beneath the breast. It is probable that this in-
sect, like the Gnat and some others, at first infuses
some quantity of irritating fluid into the wound it
makes, before it sucks the blood of the animal it
attacks, since the swelling which it causes is often
very considerable, and attended with severe itch-
ing. During the winter months these animals
secrete themselves behind walls, wainscotting, or
any neglected places, where they are capable of
supporting the most intense frost without injury,
and on the return of warm weather again emerge
from their concealment. When confined in a box
for any length of time they will often attack and
destroy each other. It is affirmed by Scopoli,
whose observations are, in general, distinguished
by great accuracy, that this insect, in the Dutchy
of Carniola, is, at certain seasons, furnished with
wings, though apterous in other parts of Europe.
Mr. Baker, in his work entitled " The Microscope
made easy" informs us that the Bug is one of the
best subjects for exhibiting a microscopic view of
the circulation of the blood. " In the legs of
small punices or Bugs (says this writer) the cir-
culation is remarkably visible, together with an
extraordinary vibration of the vessels, \vhich I
l64
I5UG.
have never observed in any other creature: in
these too, if clear, as they may sometimes be
found, the wonderful motions of all the internal
parts will afford an agreeable entertainment to
the curious, and may be examined as long and as
often as they please; for I have kept a Bug alive
in a slider between two pieces of isinglass at least
six weeks together, notwithstanding it was con-
fined so close as to be uncapable of stirring; and
although during that time it often seemed dead
and motionless when I placed it before the micro-
scope, a little warmth would set the bowels in
motion, and renew the cvurent of the blood as
briskl}^ as ever."
A variety of this Insect is sometimes seen,
which is generally known by the name of the
American Bug ; it is of a longer shape than the
common species.
So very numerous is the genus Cimex, that it is
found necessary to divide it into several sections,
according to the general shape or habit of the In-
sects. Among those in which the scutellum or
triangular part between the setting on of the
wings is of equal length with the body the
Cimed' lineatus may serve as an example, which is
of a black colour, varied with yellow, having five
yellow lines down the thorax, and three on the
scutellum, and the abdomen yellow with black
spots. It is a native of Barbary and some of the
Southern parts of Europe,
Of those in which the upper wings are of a
much more strong or coriaceous nature than the
BUG.
165
rest, so as to give the insects an appearance some-
what resembling the beetle tribe, we may select,
as an example, the Cime.v davicornis, a smallish
species, of a yellowish grey colour, and of an oval
shape, with strongly veined and reticulated wings,
and clavated antennae. It is found in many parts
of Europe.
Of the flat or membranaceous species the most
remarkable is the Cime.r corticatus of Drury, which
is a native of the Brasils, and measures near an
inch in length: its colour is a pale 3'^ellowish or
reddish brown, and its whole aspect rather re-
sembles a piece of thin vegetable bark, cut or
nicked into the form of an insect.
Of those in which the thorax is sharply spined
on each side, the Cime.v acantharis is one of the
most remarkable: it is of an oblong shape, with
the abdomen as well as the thorax sharply spined
on the edges: its colour is brown and it is a native
of Jamaica.
Of those in which the shoulders project on each
side into the form of an obtuse spine, the common
English species called the Green Cimex, Chjie.r
baccarum of Linnaeus may stand as an example:
this insect, which is of a beautiful green colour,
measures nearly half an inch in length, and when
the wings are expanded the back appears of a
fine blueish black colour. It is observed towards
the end of Summer in fields and gardens, and often
varies in being of a brown rather than a green
colour.
Among those with setaceous antennae is the
i66
BUG.
Cime.v personatus, of a black colour, a lengthened
shape, and an unpleasant aspect: its larva how-
ever is still much more so, appearing generally as
if enveloped in a rough coating of grey dust, or
fragments of down, &c. owing to the natural vis-
cidity of its body and limbs, and its frequenting
neglected- corners of houses among dust, &c. It
is an enemy to the common house-bug, and de-
stroys it wherever it finds it, but, if it were possi-
ble to introduce it in sufficient quantity for this
purpose, the remedy, as Degeer very properly
observes, would be far worse than the complaint;
since it has the same propensity with the common
bug, and is of a much larger size, and of a more
disagreeable aspect. The complete insect flies
only by night, and appears towards the decline of
summer.
Of the oblong-bodied Cimices the Cimex Hy-
oscyami is one of the most remarkable, and is a
beautiful insect: it is not uncommon on the plant
Henbane, and is of a bright red and black colour,
with brown wings.
Among those with setaceous antennas of the
length of the body is the Chnex Populi: its colour
is a clouded variegation of black, brown, and
white: it is found on the Aspen-tree.
Of those with spiny legs, one of the most re-
markable is the Cime.v phyllopus. It is of a blackish
colour, with a pale band across the upper part of
the wings; and the tibias or second joints of the
hind-legs are expanded into a kind of leaf-like ap-
pearance, and marked with white spots: it is a
BUG. 167
native of North-America and the West-Indian
islands.
Lastly, of those which are of an extremely long
or linear form, none are so remarkable as the
Cime.v stagiiorum of Linnaeus, which is often seen
slowly wandering about the surface of stagnant
waters. It measures something more than half
an inch in length, and is entirely of a deep black
colour: it is distinguished by the remarkable cir-
cumstance of a round globule, situated on each
side the middle of the thorax.
Cimex lacustris is also found on the surface of
stagnant waters, but is of a less lengthened form
than the preceding, of a brown colour, and in its
motions is a perfect contrast to the former ;
springing with wonderful velocity, in all direc-
tions, over the waters, and generally assembling
in considerable numbers during the hotter part of
the day. It is described by Mouffet and others
under the title of Tipula, and is supposed to have
t)een the Tipula of the ancients,
APHIS. APHIS.
Generic Character.
Rostrum inflexum.
Antenna thorace longiores.
Alie quatuor erecta", aiit
nullae.
Pedes ambulatorii.
Abdomen postice saepius
bicorne.
Snout inflected.
Antemice longer than thorax.
Wings either four upright,
or none.
Feet formed for walking.
Abdomen generally furnish-
ed with two horns or pro-
cesses.
Jr ROM a great degree of general similarity in
the insects of this genus, their true specific charac-
ters are often very difficultly determinable. They
frequent the leaves, stems, and tender shoots of
plants and trees, and are popularly known by the
name of Plant-Lice. They are observed to be
viviparous in summer, and oviparous in autumn;
but the most wonderful part of their history is
the power of continued impregnation, through a
great many descents, as far as the fifth, eighth,
twelfth, and even, according to some observa-
tions, the twenty-seventh generation. A pregnant
female Aphis, kept by itself, produces perfectly
formed young ones, which, though kept separate,
will, after a certain period, produce others, which
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JdoJ. OctC I Zi>/ut,7n.. /^'M:<-Aju:i M^ 6.A,w/:s-i^: /'Uv^ Si/ ■■■/ .
APHIS. 169
are also themselves impregnated, and thus the
breed may be continued as before mentioned.
This wonderful faculty in the insects of the pre-
sent genus appeared, at its first publication, so
extraordinary as to excite no small degree of
scepticism in the philosophical world. The ob-
servations however of Bonnet, Reaumur, Lyonett,
and others have amply confirmed its truth. Lee-
wenhoek had long before observed that these in-
sects were viviparous. Bonnet, whose observa-
tions were continued with the utmost accuracy,
assures us that the female Aphides continue to
produce their young throughout the whole sum-
mer ; that the males appear only in autumn ; and
that the females are at that period oviparous. The
ova which are thus deposited during the autumn
do not hatch till the succeeding spring. It is
however uncertain whether the same individual
insects which have produced perfect young during
the summer become oviparous during the autumn,
or whether the oviparous autumnal ones ever pro-
duce living young; the preceding observations
relating only to the species at large.
The Aphides in general are very prolific insects.
Reaumur computes that each Aphis may produce
about ninety young, and that, in consequence, in
five generations, the descendants from a single
insect would amount to five thousand nine hundred
and four million, nine hundred thousand.
The Aphides are very prejudicial to many trees
and plants by absorbing the juices of the tender
shoots and leaves, which latter they cause to
1/0 APHIS.
cockle or warp in such a manner as to form one
or mdre large concavities beneath, and in which
the insects generally reside in great multitudes.
In some years they are so numerous as to cause
almost a total failure of hop and potatoe planta-
tions : in other years the pease are equally injured,
while exotics raised in stoves and green-houses
are frequently destroyed by their depredations.
They are also supposed to be the chief, if not the
sole cause of that viscid exsudation or moisture so
often observed on the leaves of various trees, and
popularl}^ known by the title of honey-dew ; which
is said to be nothing more than the excrementiti-
ous substance evacuated by these insects from the
hinder part of the body and from the two tubulaj?
processes at the tip of the abdomen.
Of the British Aphides one of the largest and
most remarkable is the Aphis SaliciSy which is
found on the different kinds of Willows, and is
nearly a quarter of an inch in length, and of a
yellowish grey colour, spotted with black. When
bruised these insects stain the fingers of a red
colour. Towards the end of September, accord-
ing to the observations of Mr. Curtis, multitudes
of the full grown insects of this species, both
winged and others, desert the willows on which
they feed, and ramble over every neighbouring
object in such numbers that we can handle no-
thing in their vicinity without crushing some of
them ; while those in a younger or less advanced
state still remain in large masses upon the trees.
Aphis MillefoUi of Degeer, or the Yarrow Aphis
APHIS. 171
is SO named from its being principally found on
that well-known plant. It is a rather small species,
and is of a green colour, spotted with black: the
males are generally winged, and are smaller and
more slender than the females.
Jlljiis lios(e or Rose Aphis is very frequent dur-
ing the summer months on the young shoots and
buds of roses: its size is nearly similar to that of
the Yarrow Aphis, and its colour a bright green:
the males are furnished with large transparent
winirs,
o
Aphis Tilice or the Limc-Trees Aphis is one of
the most beautiful of the genus. It is of nearly
the same size with the Aphis Rosae, but of a pale
greenish yellow colour, with a row of black, cres-
cent-shaped spots down each side of the abdomen,
and a black stripe on each side the thorax: the
wings are beautifully transparent, with brown
nerves or veins, a black edging down the shoulder-
part, and several dusky patches toward the tips.
In the sixth volume of the Transactions of the
Linnaean Society of London we find an excellent
paper on the subject of these animals by the late
ingenious Mr. Curtis. " The leaves (says he) of
such trees and plants as have a firm texture and
strong fibres, though infested with these insects,
preserve their form; but the more tender foliage
of others, and flowers in general, cannot bear their
punctures without curling up and becoming dis-
torted; in consequence of which they lose their
ieauty entirely and irretrievably. The cultivators
of plants, especially in stoves and greenhouses.
172 APHIS.
cannot be too much on their guard against the
whole tribe of Aphides; for with what pleasure
can a large choice collection be viewed, when
there is scarcely a plant but what exhibits symp-
toms of disease occasioned by vermin?"
" As the species of this genus are very numer-
ous, and afford but few marks of distinction,
Linnaeus has contented himself with giving most
of them trivial names according to the particular
plant on which they are found : a close attention
to them will however disclose more distinctive cha-
racters than naturalists are aware of. Of some of
the circumstances attendant on the propagation of
these minute animals accounts are related, de-
viating so wonderfully from the common course of
Nature, that they could not be credited, were not
the authors of them known to be men of the nicest
and most accurate observation, and of the strictest
veracity. On this part of the subject I have little
to say from my own observation, but as some ac-
count of so extraordinary a part of their history
may be expected in a paper of this sort, I shall
state the facts, simply observing, that neither in
the Aphis Salicis, which at times I have watched
with great attention, nor in any other species of
Aphis, did I ever observe any sexual intercourse
to take place, AVhether this may have arisen from
the extreme infrequency of such a procedure, or
from my not having observed these insects at a
proper time of the year, I know not; but most
undoubtedly such intercourse does not take place
between the different sexes of Aphis as in other
APHIS. 173
insects. Yet Mons'. Bonnet, who may be said to
have ahnost taken up his ahode with these insects,
informs us that he has frequently noticed such
connexion, which lie describes as taking place at
one certain time of the year only; and that from
a female thus impregnated, many successive gene-
rations will be produced without any farther im-
pregnation. He took the Aphides as soon as
brought forth, and kept each individual separate.
The females of such brought forth abundance of
young. He took the young of these, and treated
them precisely in the same manner. The produce
was the same: and thus he proceeded to the ninth
generation with the same success ; and so far from
considering that as the utmost extent of the effect,
he thinks it might be carried on to the thirtieth
generation. In most species of Aphides, both
males and females acquire wings at certain sea-
sons; but in this respect they are subject to great
variation, there being some males and some females
that never have wings; again there are some fe-
males that become winged, while others of the
same species do not. In the quality of the excre-
ment voided by these insects there is something
very extraordinary. Were a person accidentally
to take up a book in which it was gravely asserted
that in some countries there were certain animals
which voided liquid sugar, he would soon lay it
down, regarding it as a fabulous tale, calculated
to impose on the credulity of the ignorant; and
yet such is literally the truth. The superior size
of the Aphis salic'is will enable the most common
3 74 APHIS.
observer to satisfy himself on this head. On look-
ing stedfastly for a few minutes on a groiipe of
these insects while feeding on the bark of the
willow, one perceives a few of them elevate their
bodies, and a transparent substance evidently drop
from them, which is immediately followed by a
similar motion, and discharge like a small shower
from a great number of others. At first I was
not aware that the substance thus dropping from
these animals at such stated intervals was their
excrement, but was convinced of its being so
afterwards; for on a more accurate examination I
found it proceed from the extremity of the abdo-
men, as is usual in other insects. On placing a
piece of writing-paper under a mass of these in-
sects, it soon became thickly spotted : holding it a
longer time, the spots united from the addition of
others, and the whole surface assumed a glossy
appearance. I tasted this substance, and found it
as sweet as sugar. I had the less hesitation in
doing this, having observed that w^asps, ants, flies,
and insects w^ithout number, devoured it as quick-
ly as it was produced; but were it not for these,
it might no doubt be collected in considerable
quantities, and if subjected to the processes used
with other saccharine juices, might be converted
into the choicest sugar or sugar-candy. It is a
fact also which appears worthy of noticing here,
that though wasps are so partial to this food, yet
the bees* appear totally to disregard it."
* Yet Mr. White in his History of Selborne obscures that it
is *' very grateful to bees, who gather it with great assiduity."
APHIS. 175
" In the height of Summer, when the weather
is hot and dry, and Aphides are most abundant,
the foliage of trees and plants, (more especially in
some years than others) is found covered with and
rendered glossy by a sweet clammy substance
known to persons resident in the country by the
name of honey-dexv : they regard it as a sweet sub-
stance falling from the atmosphere, as its name
implies. The sweetness of this excrementitious
substance, the glossy appearance it gave to the
leaves it fell upon, and the swarms of insects this
matter attracted, first led me to imagine that the
honey-dew of plants was no other than this secre-
tion, which farther observation has since fully con-
firmed. Others have considered it £ls an exsuda-
tion from the plant itself. Of the former opinion
we find ^he Rev**. Mr. White, one of the latest
writers on natural history that has noticed this sub-
ject. But that it neither falls from the atmosphere,
nor issues from the plant itself is easily demon-
strated. If it fell from the atmosphere, it would
cover every thing indiscriminately, whereas we
never find it but on certain living plants and trees.
We find it also on plants in stoves and green-
houses covered with glass. If it exsuded from the
plant, it would appear on all the leaves generally
and uniformly ; whereas its appearance is ex-
tremely irregular, not alike on any two leaves of
the same tree or plant, some having none of it,
and others being covered with it but partially.,
But the phaenomena of the honey-dew, with all
their variations, are easily accounted for by con-
175 APHIS.
sidering the Aphides as the authors of it. That
they are capable of producing an appearance ex-
actly similar to that of the honey-dew has already
been shewn. As far as my own observation has
extended, there never exists any honey-dew but
where there are Aphides; such however often pass
unnoticed, being hid on the under-side of the leaf.
Wherever honey-dew is observable about a leaf.
Aphides will be found on the under side of the
leaf or leaves immediately above it, and under no
other circumstances whatever. If by accident any
thing should intervene between the Aphides and
the leaf next between them, there will be no
honey-dew on that leaf. Thus then we flatter
ourselves to have incontrovertibly proved that the
Aphides are the true and only source of the honey-
dew."
" We have found that where the saccharine
- substance has dropped from Aphides for a length
of time, as from the Aphis salicis in particular, it
gives to the surface of the bark, foliage, or what-
ever it has dropped on, that sooty kind of appear-
ance which arises from the explosion of gun-
powder, which greatly disfigures the foliage, &c.
of plants. It looks like and is sometimes mis-
taken for a kind of black mildew. We have some
grounds for believing that a saccharine substance
similar to that of the Aphis drops from the Coccus
also, and is finally converted into the same kind of
powder."
" In most seasons the natural enemies of the
Aphides are sufficient to keep them in check, and
APHIS. 177
to prevent them from doing any essential injury
to plants in the open air. But seasons sometimes
occur, very irregularly indeed, on an average,
perhaps once in four or six years, in which they
are multiplied to such an excess, that the usual
means of diminution fail in preventing them from
doing irreparable injury to certain crops. In.
severe winters we have no doubt that Aphides are
very considerably diminished: in very mild win-
ters we know they are very considerably increas-
ed; for they not only exist during such seasons,
but continue to multiply. Their enemies, on the
contrary, exist, but do not multiply, at least in
the open air, during such periods; and thus the
Aphis gets the start of them, and acquires an
ascendancy, which once acquired is not easily
overcome by artificial means, upon a large scale
at least, in the open air. Vain would be the at-
tempt to clear a hop-garden of these pernicious
vermin, or to rescue any extensive crop from
their baneful effects. Violent rains attended with
lightning have been supposed to be very effectual
in clearing plants of them; but in such case-more
is to be attributed to the plants being refreshed
and made to grow by the rain, of which they stood
in need, than to any destruction of the Aphides
themselves, which, on accurate examination, will
be found to be as plentiful after such rains as they
were before; nor is wet so injurious to these in-
sects as many imagine, as is evident from the
following experiment. On the l2th of May 1799,
I immersed in a glass of wat^r the footstalk of a
V. VI. p. I. 12
178 APHIS.
leaf of considerable length, taken from a stove
plant beset with Aphides of a dark lead-colour,
which were feeding on it in great numbers. On
immersion they did not quit the stalk, but imme-
diately their bodies assumed a kind of luminous
appearance from the minute bubbles of air which
issued from them. They were put under water at
a quarter past six in the evening, and taken out
jat a quarter past ten the next morning, having
continued immersed sixteen hours. On placing
them in the sunshine some of them almost im-
mediately shewed signs of life, and three out of
four at least survived the immersion. One of the
gurvivors, a male, very soon became winged, and
another, a female, was delivered of. a young one.
Many years before this experiment, with a view
to destroy the Aphides, which infested a plant in
my green-house, I immersed one evening the
whole plant, together with the pot in which it
grew, in a tub of water. In the morning I took
out the plant, expecting with certainty to find
every Aphis dead ; but to my great surprize they
soon appeared alive and well: and thus in addi-
tion to the other extraordinary phenomena attend-
ant on these insects, we find that they are capable
of resisting the effects of immersion in water for
a great length. When taken from the plant on
which they feed and kept under water, they do
not survive so long; their struggling in that case
perhaps exhausts them sooner. This part of the
subject might perhaps be pushed much fiirther: it
is sufficient for our purpose to have shewn that
APHIS. 179
wet is not so hurtful to them as is generally ima-
gined."
" Though no mode of destroying Aphides will
perha])s ever be devised on a large scale in the
open air by artificial means, we can accomplish it
most effectually when they infest plants in green-
houses and frames, or in any situation in which
we can envelop them for a certain time in clouds
of smoke. Powders or liquids, however fatal to
Aphides, must ever be ineffectual, from the trouble
and difficulty of applying them so that they shall
come in contact with those insects, situated as
they usually are; but in this respect smoke has
every advantage; it penetrates and pervades their
inmost recesses. The smoke of common veget-
ables, however powerful, is found to be inadequate
to their destruction, and hitherto no other than
that of Tobacco is found to be effectual. That,
judiciously applied, completely answers the pur-
pose, without injuring the plant. It mostly hap-
pens, in well managed houses, that a few plants
only are infested with Aphides; in such a case ,
the smokins: of the whole house is a business of
unnecessary expence and trouble; and we would
recommend it to persons who have large collec-
tions to make use of a box of a commodious form
that shall hold about a dozen plants of various
sizes, to be used as a sort of hospital, in which the
infested plants may be smoaked separately, and
the insects more effectually destroyed, because it
may be rendered more perfectly smoke-tight."
" To prevent the calamities which would in-
fallibly result from the accumulated multiplication
J 80 APHIS.
of the more prolific animals, it has been ordained
by the Author of Nature that such should be di-
minished by serving ,as food for others. On this
principle we find that most animals in this pre-
dicament have one or more natural enemies.
The helpless Aphis, the scourge of the vegetable
kingdom, has to contend with many. The prin-
cipal are the Coccinella, the Ichneumon Aphidum,
and the Musca aphidivora. Such as are un^
acquainted with the history of insects will learri
with surprise that the Coccinella, a common in-
sect, well known even to children by the name of
the Lady-Bird, is one of the greatest destroyers of
the Aphides, which indeed are its only food, its
sole support, as well in its perfect as in its larvst
or grub state. During the severity of winter this
insect secures itself under the bark of trees or
elsewhere. When the warmth of spring has ex-
panded the foliage of plants, the female deposits
its eggs on them in great numbers, from whence
in a short time proceeds the larva, a small grub,
of a dark lead-colour spotted with orange : these
may be observed in the summer season running
pretty briskly over all kinds of plants; and if
narrowly watched, they will be found to devour
the Aphides wherever they find them. The s^e
may be observed of the Lady-Bird in its perfect
state. As these insects in both their states are
very numerous, they contribute powerfully to di-
minish the number of Aphides. Another most
formidable enemy to the Aphis is a very mmute
black and slender Ichneumon fly, which eats its
way out of the Aphis, leaving the dry inflated skin
APHIS. ] 8-1
of the insect adhering to the leaf like a small pearl.
Such may always be found where Aphides are in
plenty. We have observed different species of
Aphides to be infested with different Ichneumons.
In general the torpid Aphis submits quietly to
this fatal operation; but we have observed some
of them, especially one that feeds on the S\''camore,
which is ;iiuch more agile than many of this race,
endeavouring to avoid the Ichneumon with great
address. There is perhaps no genus of insects
which in their larva or maggot state feed on such
a variety of food as the Musca or Fly. There is
scarcely a part of Nature, either animate or in-
animate, in which they are not be met with. One
division of them, called by Linnaeus Muscce aphi-
divorce, feeAs, entirely on Aphides. Of the different
.species of aphidivorous flies, which are numerous,
having mostly bodies variegated with transverse
stripes, their females may be seen hovering over
plants infested with Aphides, among which they
deposit their eggs on the surface of the leaf. The
larva or maggot produced from such eggs feeds,
as soon as hatched, on the younger kinds of Aphis,
and as it increases in size, attacks and devours
those which are larger. These larvag are usually
of a pale colour, adhere closely to the leaf, along
which they slowly glide, and are formed very
tapering towards the head. When fully grown
they change to a pupa or chrysalis attached to
the leaf, from whence issues the fly. The larvae
of these flies contribute their full share to diminish
the despoilers of Flora. To these three kinds of
182 APHIS.
insects, which are the chief agents in the hands of
Nature for keeping the Aphides witliin their pro-
per limits, we may add a few others, which act a
subordinate part in this necessary business of de-
struction. The larva of the Hemerohius feeds on
them in the same manner as that of the Musca aphi-
divora, and deposits its eggs also on the leaves of
such plants as are beset with Aphides. The eggs
of this Hemerobius stand on long filaments, which
are attached by a base to the leaf, and have more
the appearance of filaments of flowers with their
antherae than the eggs of an animal. The number
of these insects being comparatively small, they
may be considered rather as the casual invaders
of their existence than the main host of their de-
stroyers. The Earwig, which is itself no con-
temptible enemy to plants, makes some atonement
for its depredations by destroying the Aphides,
especially such as reside in the curled-up leaves
of fruit-trees, and the purses formed by certain
Aphides on the poplars and other trees. Lastly,
we may add as the enemies of these creatures,
some of the smaller soft-billed birds, which gene-
rally feed on insects, and which may be frequently
seen busily employed in picking them from the
plants."
" When plants assume a sickly appearance, or
are disguised by disease, from whatever cause the
disease may arise, they are said to be blighted.
Blights originate from a variety of causes, the
chief of which are unfortunate weather, and in-
sects. Two opinions prevail very generally in
aphis; 183
regard to blights: the one that the insects which
cause them are brought from a distance hy easterly
winds; the other that they attach themselves to
none but plants already sickly. Neither of these
opinions, as far as I have observed, is founded in
fact. I am induced from the numerous observa-
tions I have made on insects for a series of years,
(in pursuing the cultivation of plants) to consider
the Aphis as by fiir the most general cause of the
diseases distinguished by the name of Blights.
Other insects it is true, more especially the larvae
of some of the Lepidoptera, as those of the Pha-
loince tortrices, disfigure and do infinite mischief to
plants by rolling and curling up tlje leaves; but
these for the most part confine themselves to
certain trees and plants. Their ravages are also
of shorter duration, being confined to the growth
of one brood, and they are also less fatal. It
would be no difficult matter for me to fill a volume
with observations to which I have been an eye-
witness of the injuries which plants sustain from
insects; but that would be foreign to my present
purpose, which is to shew that the Aphis is the
grand cause of these diseases, and to place the
modus operandi or manner in which they effect'
this business in its true light."
" We are fully aware that certain gregarious
insects may at particular times rise up in the air,
and if small and light, be impelled by any wind
that may chance to blow at the time; and on this
principle we account for that shower of Aphides
described by Mr. White to have fallen at Selborne."
1S4 APHIS.
But certainly this is not the mode in which those
insects are usually dispersed over a country. The
phaghomenon is too unusual, the distribution
would be too partial ; for the Aphides, while at
their highest point of multiplication, do not swarm
like bees or ants, and fly off in large bodies; but
each male or female Aphis, at such periods as
they arrive at maturity, marches or flies off, with^
out waiting for any other. Yet it may happen,
that from a tree or plant thickly beset with them
numbers may fly off; or emigrate together, being
arrived at maturity at the same moment of time
Detaching itself from the plant, each pursues a
different route, intent on the great business of
multiplying its species; and settles on such plants
in the vicinity as are calculated to afford nourish-
ment to its young. The common green Aphis, which
is so generally destructive, lives during the winter
season on such herbaceous plants as it remained
on during the autumn, either in its egg or perfect
state. If the weather be mild, it multiplies greatly
on such herbage; as the spring advances, in May
the males and females of these insects acquire
wings; and thus the business of increase, hitherto
confined, is widely and rtipidly extended, as the
winged Aphides, by Hop-Planters called the Fly,
may be seen at this period very generally sitting
on plants, and floating in the air in all directions."
Mr. Curtis, in the preceding observations on
the genus Aphis, having mentioned the shower of
Aphides recorded by Mr. White, it cannot but be
agreeable to the reader to be made acquainted
APHIS. 185
with so curious a phenomenon in the words of its
describer.
" As we have remarked above that insects are
often conveyed from one country to another in a
very unaccountable manner, I shall here mention
an emigration of small Aphides, which was ob-
served in the village of Selborne no longer ago
than August the first 1785. At about three o'clock
in the afternoon of that day, which was very hot,
the people of this village were surprised by a
shower of Aphides or smother-flies, which fell in
these parts. Those that were walking in the
streets at that juncture found themselves covered
with these insects, which settled also on the hedges
and gardens, blackening all the vegetables where
they alighted. My annuals were discoloured with
them, and the stalks of a bed of onions were quite
coated over for six days after. These armies were
then no doubt in a state of emigration, and shift-
ing their quarters; and might have come, as far
as we know, from the great hop-plantations of
Kent or Sussex, the wind being all that day in the
easterly quarter. They were observed at the
same time in great clouds about Farnham, and all
along the vale from Farnham to Alton."
CHERMES. CHERMES.
Generic Character.
Rostrum pectorale.
Antenna thorace lonoiores.
Ala quatuor, deflexae.
Thorax gibbus.
Pedes saltatorii.
Snout pectoral.
Antenna longer than thorax.
Wings four, deflex.
Thorax gibbose.
Feet formed for walking.
JL HE insects of the genus Chermes, like those of
the genus Aphis, are found on the leaves, young
shoots, and bark of various vegetables: they are,
in general, of small size, and in their larva state
are of a much more flattened form than when
farther advanced, and exhibit merely the rudi-
ments of the future wings: in this state also many
of them appear coated, especially on the hind part
of the body, with a flocculent or filamentous sub-
stance, of a white colour, and of a clammy or
tenacious nature, which exsudes from the pores of
the animal, and is gradually protruded into the
form above-mentioned.
Chermis Alni is found on the leaves and shoots
of the Alder. Its larva is entirely covered, about
the hinder part, by thickly fasciculated heaps of
viscid down or cotton, which, if purposely rubbed
off, are quickly reproduced by the animal, which
Therm Es,
69
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//IffO.
lauiej' view
\;
Bujci macniJie<i
I0oj, Oeirz. £o!uion,-PiU'iis/ieJ ^' AStirsle\ ,F7iuX Sfr<<^:
CHERMES. 187
secretes the white fibres from large pores placed
in a circle at some distance from the vent. These
larvae are gregarious, often appearing in such
numbers on the shoots of the tree that the whole
shoot a})pears covered with white cotton, which, if
touched by the finger, separates into distinct tufts
from the animals' being suddenly disturbed and
moving in all directions. When this cotton is
brushed off, the larva appears of a pale green
colour, varied with black spots, which on the
upper part of the abdomen are disposed in two
longitudinal rows: the tip of the abdomen is also
black. When arrived at its complete or perfect
state by casting its pupa skin, it is entirely green,
with transparent wings veined with green and
slightly shaded with brown. If disturbed, it leaps
with much agility, frequently flying at the sam&
time.
Chermes Pyri is nearly of similar size with the
former, and is found on the leaves of the common
pear-tree: its colour is a greenish brown, varied
with deeper streaks, and the wings are nearly trans-
parent, spotted with brown: the larva of this species
is of a greenish brown, with darker spots, and
is nearly naked, or destitute of the cottony secre-
tion so remarkable on that of the preceding, but
is beset with short whitish hairs towards the hinder
part of the body.
Chermes Biui is a beautiful little insect, of a
bright grass-green colour, with the wings of a
similar cast. Its larva resides on the young shoots
J 88 CHERMES.
of box, in the early part of spring, and secretes a
considerable quantity of whitish, viscid, and short
filaments from the hind part, but not so as to
envelop the body, which has generally more or
less of a powdery appearance.
coccus, coccus.
Generic Character.
nostrum pectoralc.
Abdomen posticc setosum.
Al/e dua3 erectae masculis.
Feininse apterse.
Snout pectoral.
Abdomen bristled behind.
Wings two upright in the
males. Females wingless.
I
N this remarkable genus the males are much
smaller than the females, and of a widely different
appearance, being furnished with wings, of which
the females are altogether destitute. The Cocci are
found on the leaves and bark of various vegetables:
hence they become injurious to many exotics in
our stoves and green-houses. Of these the Coccus
Adonidiim of Linnaeus is the most common: the
female, which, when nearly full grown, measures
somewhat more than a fifth of an inch in length,
has somewhat the appearance of a small millepede
or Oniscus, being of an oval shape, slightly convex
above, with the body divided into many transverse
segments projecting sharply on the sides, and fur-
nished with small processes or points; which are
longer on the two hindmost divisions of the body
than on the rest, so as to give the appearance of a
bifid tail. The whole insect is of a pale rose-colour,
and appears more or less covered with a fine white-
IQO COCCUS.
meal or powder : the legs are short and six in num-
ber. This insect continues to wander about the
plant it infests, nourishing itself by sucking the
juices. The male is very small, rose-coloured,
somewhat mealy, with semitransparent milk-white
wings, and four long filaments at the tail. When
the female is full-grown, and pregnant with
eggs, she ceases to feed, and remaining fixed to
one spot, envelops herself in a fine white fibrous
cotton-like substance, and lives but a very short
time afterwards. The young, which hatch under
the husk or body of the parent insect, proceeding
from it in great numbers, and dispersing them-
selves in quest of food. This, species is a native of
the warmer parts of Africa and America, from
Avhence it has long since been introduced, among
exotics, into Europe.
Coccus Hesperidum is equally common in green-
houses with the former: the female of this species
is a small, brown, oval insect, about the sixth of
an inch in length, of a slightly convex, smooth
surface, and furnished with six short legs. When
full grown it does not envelop itself in any floccu-
lent matter like the former, but remains firmly
fixed on the bark, under the form of an oval convex
shell or husk, of a polished brown colour. In this
state it dies, giving birth to a numerous race of
young, hatched from the included eggs, as in the
former species. The male is a very small two-
winged fly. This species of Coccus, like the
former, has been introduced into the European
regions from the warmer parts of the globe.
(Torci^s.
60
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renmle
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C-pennarum Sif/twr nat.^n.'i' ?>.■ mac^fwic/
iS,>.yOafiI^cndcn.J'tJ'X^/»-J h<- <7.SW:./f^.>%r^ ■<''yM
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Z-S . femalj.' o/' d/ ".
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J//^iAiA.^ j-cu/f.
iS^^^.P.-ir, /.nn'^yyr, .ri>S/,.>-f»fd by G.Kf»r.i-/,v.FU:*Street:
coccus. igi
But of all the Insects of this genus by far the
most important is the Coccus Cacti or Cochineel
Coccus, so celebrated for the beauty of the colour
which it yields when properly prepared. This
species is a native of South- America, and is pecu-
liarly cultivated in the country of Mexico, where
it feeds on the plants called Cactus cochenillifer,
and Cactus Opuntia. The female or officinal
Cochineel insect, in its full-grown pregnant or
torpid state, swells or grows to such a size, in
proportion to that of its first or creeping state,
that the legs, antennae, and proboscis are so small
with respect to the rest of the animal as hardly to
be discovered except by a good eye, or by the
assistance of a glass; so that on a general view it
bears as great a resemblance to a seed or berry as
to an animal. This was the cause of that diifer-
ence in opinion which long subsisted between seve-
ral authors; some maintaining that Cochineel was
a berry; while others contended that it was an in-
sect. We must also here advert to another error;
viz. that tlie Cochineel was a species of Coccinella
or Lady-Bird. This seems to have taken its rise
from specimens of the Coccinella Cacti of Linnaeus
being sometimes accidentally intermixed with the
Cocliineel in gathering and drying.
When the female Cochineel-Insect is arrived at
its full size, it fixes itself to the surface of the leaf,
and envelops itself in a white cottony matter,
which it is supposed to spin or draw tiirough its
proboscis in a continued double filament, it being
observed that two filaments are frequently seen
192 coccus.
proceeding from the tip of the proboscis in the
full-grown insect.
The Male is a small and rather slender dipterous
fly, about the size of a flea, with jointed antennae
and large white wings in proportion to the body,
which is of a red colour, with two long filaments
proceeding from the tail. It is an active and lively
animal, and is dispersed in small numbers among
the females, in the proportion, according to Mr.
Ellis, in the Philosophical Transactions, of about
one male to a hundred and fifty, or even two
hundred females. When the female insect has
discharged all its eggs, it becomes a mere husk,
and dies; so that great care is taken to kill the
insects before that time, to prevent the young
from escaping, and thus disappointing the pro-
prietor of the beautiful colour. The insects when
picked or brushed off the plants, are said to be
first killed either by the fumes of heated vinegar,
ar by smoke, and then dried, in which state they
are imported into Europe ; and it is said that the
Spanish Government is annually more enriched
by the profit of the Cochineel trade than by the
produce of all its gold-mines.
It may perhaps be almost unnecessary to add,
that, exclusive of the general or large scale in
which Cochineel is used by the dyers, the fine
colour so much esteemed in painting, and known
by the name of Carmine, is no other than a pre-
paration from the same substance, and is un-
questionably the most beautiful of all the pictorial
reds. It is also used, when properly mixed with
(yt
1
" .§:
1
t<
N
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n
|-
C
5>-
iS
coccus. 193
hair-powder, powdered talc, &c. in that innocent
cosmetic, so much used by the Ladies, and popu-
larly known by the French term Rouge.
Coccus Ilicis or Kermes, (the Kermes of the
Materia Medica) is a species adhering, in its ad-
vanced or pregnant state, to the shoots of the
Quercus cocci/ eray (Ilex aculeata cocciglandifera.
C. Bauh. pin.) under the form of smooth reddish-
brown or black-sh powdery grains or balls of the
size of small peas. The tree or shrub grows plen-
tifully in many parts of France, Spain, Greece,
and the islands of the Archipelago. The Cocci
are found adhering in groupes of five, six, or more
together, or pretty near each other. They are
gathered for the purposes of commerce by the
country people.
Before the discovery of America the Coccus
Ilicis or Kermes, as it was then termed, was the
most valuable substance for dying scarlet, and
was collected in great quantity for that purpose.
According to the mildness or severity of the winter
the harvest of the Kermes is said to be more or
less plentiful; and it is no very uncommon thing
to have two harvests in a year. Before dying, the
berries are steeped in vinegar, to prevent the ex-
clusion of the young animals by thus killing the
parents. They are then spread or thrown on linen,
and as long as they continue moist are turned
twice or thrice a day, to prevent their heating, and
are afterwards put up for sale.
Woolen cloth dyed with Kermes was called
V. VI. p. I. 13
J94 coccus.
scarlet in grain; tlie animal having been popularly
considered as a grain: the colour is a durable,
deep red, called ox-blood colour, much inferior to
the brilliancy of Cochineel scarlet, but far more
lasting, and less liable to stain. Mons^ Hellot, in
his Art de tie?2dre, observes that the figured cloths
to be seen in the old tapestries of Brussels and
the other manufactures of Flanders, which have
scarcely lost any thing of their liveliness by stand-
ing for two hundred years, were all dyed with this
ingredient.
Coccus Polqnicus, This may be considered as
the Cochineel of the North ; being found only in
cold climates. It is sometimes collected for the
use of dyers, but is greatly inferior as a colour
to the American Cochineel. It is chiefly found
on the roots of the plant called Scleranthus per-
ennis, and is principally produced in Poland.
Coccus cataphractus. This very singular species
was described several years ago in the fifth volume
of the Naturalist's Miscellany, from a specimen
communicated by the ingenious Mr. Dickson,
Gardener to the British Museum, and well known
for his assiduous researches into that difficult
branch of Botany the class Cryptogamia. Mr.
Dickson, soon after its discovery, requested me to
examine its characters, and endeavour to ascertain
its genus. I accordingly made a microscopic sur-
vey of the animal, and could not but conclude it
to be a species of Coccus.
/;.:The natural size of the insect, (of which the
coccus. 195
female alone appears at present to be known,) is
that of the Coccinella tigrina, or small yellow-
spotted Lad} -Bird, and at first view has an
appearance so little allied to the generality of
the Cocci as to make it doubtiiil whether it
really belongs to that tribe of insects. The whole
animal, (except the eyes, legs, antennae, and ros-
trum,) being coated, in the most curious manner,
in a complete suit of milk-white armour, as if
cased in ivory. The divisions or annuli of the
back are eight in number, of which the three su-
perior ones are each furnished with a small scu-
tellum or appendicular piece, which is wanting in
the others. The sides are surrounded by project-
ing laminae, somewhat in the manner of tortoises
or millepedes: the lower surface is composed of
angular pieces, disposed nearly as in the former
of the above-mentioned animals: the eyes, which
are situated just below or on the under side of
the antennae, are bright, and somewhat elevated,
not unlike those of a lobster: the colour of the
projecting parts, viz. the legs, eyes, antennae, and
rostrum, is a fine bright ferruginous or reddish
brown. On the lower part of the abdomen the
armour, in the figure engraved on the annexed
plate, is represented broken off, displaying the
"wrinkles of the skin, &c. on that part, as well as
the remarkable contraction which takes place in
consequence of the insect's having deposited part
of its ova, many of which I perceived still remain-
ing, on breaking this part of the shield; these eggs
J 9^ coccus.
were small in proportion to the animal, and of a
brown colour. It is from the singular manner
in which this insect is coated that 1 have given it
the title of Coccus cataphractus or mailed Coccus,
It is found among sphagnum and other mosses in
boggy and turfy ground, and is most frequent in
Scotland, Ireland, and the north of England, par-
ticularly in some parts of Cumberland. If it really
belongs to the genus Coccus, it is much to be
wished that by a diligent search the male may at
length be discovered, in order that the history of
so curious an insect may be rendered complete.
I must not omit to add that I suspect this in-
sect to have been slightly described and rudely
figured (apparently from a bad specimen) in the
seventh volume of the works of Degeer, who, like
myself, supposes it to be a species of Coccus. His
specimen seems to have been considerably smaller
than the British ones.
A very small species of this genus is often seen,
in its fixed or torpid state, on the surface of dif-
ferent kinds of Apples, and particularly on the
golden pippin. It is not more than the tenth of
an inch in length, and is of a long oval shape, "
gradually decreasing to a point at one end. It
contains thirty or forty oval white eggs enveloped
in a silky matter. This species seems to be very
nearly allied to one described by the ingenious
Mr. Baker, in his work entitled "^ Employment for
the Microscope^ p. 371. Mr. Baker describes the
twigs of an Ash as thickly covered on one side
. li
coccus. 197
with very numerous small spots of the size of
very small pins heads, and of nearly the same
colour with the bark itself: each when opened
was found to contain thirty or forty eggs. On
placing this twig in the ground, in a favourable
situation, where the sun shone freely on it, after a
certain time prodigious swarms of extremely mi-
nute Cocci proceeded from the eggs contained in
the respective tubercles. They were of a beautiful
scarlet colour, and measured about the hundred
and fourteenth part of an inch in length. Their
general appearance was very much that of an
Oniscus or Millepede, but vvith six legs, two short
bristles at the tail, and antennas of a strong ap-
pearance, resembling a pair of forceps, being each
curved inwards and pointed. If the male of this
animal, which even in its full-grown or fixed
state, is not more than the twentieth of an inch in
length, bears the usual proportional difference of
size to the female with the rest of the genus, it
must surely be one of the most minute of all
winged insects*.
* Coccus conchiformis of Gmelin's Syst. Nat. (Reaumur t.
5. f. 7.) seems to be nearly allied to the former of the above-
described minute species.
THRIPS. THRIPS.
Generic Character.
Rostrum obscurum.
Antennce longitudine tho-
racis.
Corpus lineare. Abdomen
sursum reflexile.
Al<e quatiior, rectse, dorso
" incumbentes, longitudi-
' nales, angustse, subcruci-
atse.
Snout inconspicuous.
Antenna the length of tho-
rax.
Body Unear. Abdomen re-
flexile upwards.
Wings four, strait, long,
narrow, incumbent on the
back, slightly crossed.
A HIS is a genus consisting of very small in-
sects, which are principally found on flowers. The
antennae are submoniliform, and of the length of
the thorax : the snout is obscure or inconspicuous,
short, and placed beneath the neck or head*: the
body of a lengthened or sublinear shape, and the
abdomen is at pleasure bent upwards or back-
wards: the wings are lour in number, long, nar-
row, incumbent, and very slightly, or scarcely
crossed over each other.
The most familiar example of the genus is the
* It seems to have been most accurately described by Gleichen
in his Microscopical Observations,
THKITb'
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THRIPS: 1^
Tlirips physapiis oi Linnaeus, which is a very small,
slender insect, of a black colour, very frequently
seen during the spring and summer on various
flowers, more especially on what are termed the
compound flowers, as Dandelion, &c. It wanders
about the petals of the flower, descending to the
bottom of the florets, occasionally emerging at in-
tervals, and often skipping from place to place, iri
performing which action it is observed suddenly to
turn back its alxiomen, so as nearly to touch th6
thorax with its tip. The wings are of a semi-
transparent white, narrow, and when properly
magnified, are observed to be edged and tipped
with hairs growing gradually longer as they ap-
proach the tips, where they are of considerable
length: the lower wings are rather shorter than
the upper, beneath which they are, in general,
almost concealed : the antennae consist of six
joints, and the feet are tipped with an expansile
and apparently vesicular process, enabling the
little animal to adhere at pleasure with the greater
security to any particular substance. All these
particulars require a microscope for their investi-
gation, the whole insect not exceeding the tenth
of an inch in length. The larva in a great degree
resembles the complete insect, but is destitute of
wings: when very young it is white, and after-
wards of a yellowish or reddish colour, and like
the complete insect, is seen wandering about the
petals of flowers.
The Thrips physapus has been supposed to do
much injury to wheat, rye, &c. by causing the
20O THRIPS..
young flowers to decay; thus preventing the
growth of the embryo grain. This opinion how-
ever has by some been considered as erroneous,
who have contended that the Thrips does not
attach itself to such of the CereaHa as are in a
perfectly heaUhy state, but rather to such as are
diseased by having the germina covered with the
dust of a very minute fungus, often growing on
wheat, &c. and belonging to the genus ^cidium
or Lycoperdon, and which makes its appearance
in the form of a flattish, smooth, irregular exsu-
dation of a yellow colour on various parts of the
plant*. The ingenious Air. Kirby however seems
convinced that the Thrips is in reality an insect
highly injurious to corn, by deriving its nourish-
ment from the embryo grains.
* See much on this subject in the Transactions of the Linnaean
Society, vols. 3, 4, and 5.
INS E C T S.
ORDER
LEPIDOPTERA.
X HIS splendid Order of Insects furnishes the
most conspicuous example of the surprising dif-
ference, in appearance between the larva or first
state of the same animal and its complete or per-
fect state, in which it is capable of breeding.
The Lepidopterous Insects are divided into
three genera, viz. Pap'dio, SphinXj and Phalcenay
or Butterfly, Sphinx, and Moth.
PAPILIO. BUTTERFLY.
Generic Character.
Antcnnce apicein versus
crassiores, saepius clavato-
capitatse.
jlla (sedentis) erectse sur-
sumque conniventes, (vo-
latu diurno.)
Antenna thickening towards
the extremity, commonly
terminating in a knob or
clavated tip.
Wings (when sitting) erect
and meeting upwards :
(flight diurnal.)
X HE prodigious number of species in this genusf
inakes it absolutely necessary to divide the whole
into sections or sets, instituted from the habit or
general appearance, and, in some degree, from tlie
distribution of the colour on the wings. This di-
vision of the genus is conducted by Linnaeus in a
peculiarly elegant and instructive manner, being
an attempt to combine, in some degree, natural
and civil history, by attaching the memory of
some illustrious ancient name to an insect of such
or such a particular cast.
The first Linnaean division consists of the Equi-
tes, distinguished by the shape of their upper
wings, which are longer, if measured from their
hinder angle to their anterior extremity, tham
V.ov . Th .
d.j
BUTTERFLY. 203
from the same point to the base. Some of this
division have fiHform or sharpened antennje*, in
which particular they resemble Moths, but may
generally be very clearly distinguished by their
habit or general shape. The Equites are either
Troes or Trojans, distinguished by having red
or blood-coloured spots or patches on each side
their breasts, or Achivi, Greeks, without red marks
on the breast, of gayer colours in general than
the former, and often having an eye-shaped spot
at the inner corner of the lower wings.
The next division consists of the Heliconii.
These are distinguished by the narrowness of their
wings, which are also, in general, of a more trans-
parent appearance than in the other divisions j
their upper wings are also generally much more
oblong than the lower, which are short in propor-
tion.
The third division consists of the Danai, (from
the sons and daughters of Danaus.) They are
divided into Danai Camlidi, or those in which the
ground-colour of tlie wings is generally white, and
the Danai Fe.stivi, in which the ground-colour is
never white, and in which a greater variety of
colour occurs than in the Candidi. The wings of
the Danai are of a somevvhat rounder shape than
those of the Heliconii, or less stretched out.
The fourth section consists of the Nyinphales,
* Tliis part of the generic character is to be received with,
some limitation, since in the tribe Equites tlie 'antennae are
slender at tlie tip itself, though thickened a little before that part.
204 BUTTERFLY.
and is distinguished by the edges of the wingii
being scolloped or indented : it is subdivided into
the Nymphales gemmati, in which eye-shaped spots
are seen either on all the wings, or on the upper
or lower pair only, and into the Nymphales phale-
rati, in which no ocellated spots are visible on the
wings, but, in general, a great variety of colours.
The fifth section contains the Plebeii. These
are, in general, smaller than the preceding kinds of
Butterflies, and are subdivided into Plebeii urbicolce,
or those in which the wings are marked by semi-
transparent spots, and Plebeii rurales, in which
the spots or patches have no transparency.
The above distribution of the genUs Papilio is
not entirely accurate, and must therefore be re-
ceived with a proper degree of allowance for a
task so seemingly trifling, yet so really difficult.
It has been observed by some critics that the
blood-coloured spots, mentioned by Linnaeus as
characteristic of the Trojans, are not always founds
and that the interior angle of the wings in the
Achivi is not always marked with an eye-shaped
spot : that the surest method therefore is, to con-
sider such of the Equites as are of dark or mourn-
ing colours as belonging to the Troes, and those
of gayer or livelier ones to the Achivi. It is added,
that the under wings in some of the Heliconii are.
slightly indented, and might perhaps as well have
been referred to the Nymphales phalerati ; that the
under Avings of the Danai Jestivi are also often
indented; and lastly, that the family of the Plebeii
is particularly inaccurate, many of those insects.
BUTTERFLY. 205
liaving characters which would more properly
entitle them to a place in some of the other di-
visions.
The larvas of Butterflies are universally and em-
phatically known by the name of Caterpillars,
and are extremely various in their forms and
colours, some being smooth, others beset with
either simple or ramified spines, &c. and some,
especially those belonging to the division Equites,
are observed to protrude from their front, when
disturbed, a pair of short tentacula or feelers, some-
what analogous to those of a snail.
A Caterpillar, when grown to its full size, retires
to some convenient spot, and securing itself pro-
perly by a small quantity of silken iilaments, either
suspends itself by the tail, hanging with its head
downwards, or else in an upright position, with
the body fastened round the middle by a proper
number of filaments. It then casts ofi' the cater-
pillar skin, and commences chrysalis, in which
state it continues till the inclosed Butterfly is
ready for birth, which, liberating itself from the
skin of the chrysalis, remains till its wings, which
are at fust very short, weak, and covered with
moisture, are fully extended: this happens in the
space of about a quarter of an hour, when the ani-
mal suddenly quits the state of inactivity to which
it had been so long confined, and becomes at plea-
sure an inhabitant of air.
. The papilionaceous insects in general, soon
after their enlargement from the chrysalis, and
commonly during their first flight, discharge some
206 BUTTERFLY.
drops of a red-coloured fluid, more or less intense
in different species. This circumstance, exclusive
of its analogy to the same process of Nature in
other animals, is peculiarly worthy of attention
from the explanation which it affords of a pheno-
menon sometimes considered, both in ancient and
modern times, in the light of a prodigy; viz. the
descent of red drops from the air; which has been
called a shower of blood: an event recorded by
several writers, and particularly by Ovid, among
the prodigies which took place after the death of
the G:reat dictator.
O'
" Saepe faces visae mediis ardere sub astris,
Saepe inter nimbos guttae cecidere cruentae."
With threatening signs the lowering skies were fiU'd,
And sanguine drops from murky clouds distili'd.
This highly rational elucidation of a pheno-
menon at first view so inexplicable, seems to have
been first given by the celebrated Peiresc, who
with his own eyes observed the vestiges of an ap--
pearance of this kind in France in the year l608,
and was clearly convinced of its real origin, viz.
the discharge above-mentio»ed from a species of
Butterfly, (perhaps the P. urticas, or P. poly-
chloros,) which happened during that season to
be uncommonly plentiful in the particular district
where the phcenomenon was observed. The same
idea was also entertained by Svvammerdam, though
he does not appear to have verified it from his own
observation.
6:5
BUTTERFLY. 20?
I shall now proceed to give a few examples of
species belonging to each division of the genus
Papilio.
Among the Equites Troes the Papilio Priamus
should take the lead, not only from the correspond-
ing dignity of the name, but from the exquisite
appearance of the animal itself, which Linnaeus
considered as the most beautiful of the whole
papilionaceous tribe. " Papilionum omnium prin-
ceps, longe angustissimus, totus holosericus, ut
dubitem pulchrius quidquam, a Natura in insectis
productum."
This admirable species measures more than six
inches from wings end to wings end: the upper
wings are velvet black, with a broad band of the
most beautiful grass-green and of a satiny lustre
drawn from the shoulder to the tip, and another
on the lower' part of the wing, following the shape
of that part, and of a somewhat undulating appear-
ance as it approaches the tip: the lower wings are
of the same green colour, edged with velvet-black,
and marked by four spots of that colour, while at
the upper part of each, or at the part where the
upper-wings lap over, is a squarish orange-coloured
spot: the thorax is black with sprinklings of lucid
green in the middle, and the abdomen is of ai
bright yellow or gold-colour. On the under side
of the animal the distribution of colours is some-
what different, the green being disposed in central
patches on the upper wings, and the lower being
marked by more numerous black as well as orange
«pots. The red or bloody spots on each side the
208 BUTTERFLY.
thorax are not always to be seen on this the Trojan
Monarch. The Papiho Priamus is a very rare
insect, and is a native of the island of Amboyna.
P. Antetior is a very large species, measuring
six inches and a half in extent of wings : its colour
is black, with numerous cream-coloured spots and
patches, and the under-wings, which are tailed or
furnished with a pair of lengthened processes in
the middle, are edged with a row of red crescent-
shaped spots. It is said to be a native of India.
P. Hector is very happily named, being of a
deep or velvet black colour, with the lower wing.?
marked by numerous blood-red spots: the thorax
is red on each side, and the upper wings have a
pair of obscure, broken, whitish, transverse clouds
or bars. It is a native of the East Indies.
P. Sarpedon is a highly elegant species: the
wings are of a lengthened shape, and the lower
pair are stretched downwards into a pointed pro-
cess: the whole animal is black, with a broad,
interrupted pea-green stripe or band passing
through all the wings: on the lower part is also a
border of crescent-shaped green spots.
Among the Equites Achivi the P. Menelaus
may be considered as one of the most splendidly
beautiful of the Butterfly tribe. Its size is large,
measuring, when expanded, about six inches; and
its colour is the most brilliant silver-blue that ima-
gination can conceive, changing, according to the
variation of the light, into a deeper blue, and in
some hghts to a greenish cast: on the under side
it is entirely brown, with numerous deeper and
r>r^
BUTTERFLY. 20^
lighter undulations, and three large ocellated spots
on each wing. It is a native of South-America,'
and proceeds, according to Madam Merian, who
has figured it in her work on the Surinam Insects,
from a large yellow caterpillar, beset with numer-
ous, upright, sharp, black spines. It changes into
an angular chrysalis, of a brown colour, and di-
stinguished by having the proboscis projecting in
a semicircular manner over the breast: from this
chrysalis, in about fourteen days, proceeds the
complete insect.
The P. Machaon is an insect of great beauty,
and may be considered as the only British species
of Papilio belonging to the tribe of Eqidtes*. It
is commonly known among the English collect-
ors by the title of the Swallow-Tailed Butterfly,
and is of a beautiful yellow, with black spots or
patches along the upper edge of the superior
wings: all the wings are bordered with a deep
edging of black, decorated by a double row of
crescent-shaped spots, of which the upper row is
blue, and the lower yellow: the under wings are
tailed, and are marked at the inner angle or tip
with a round red spot bordered with blue and
black. The caterpillar of this species feeds princi-
pally on fennel and other umbelliferous plants,
and is sometimes found on rue. It is of a green
colour, encircled with numerous black bands
spotted with red, and is furnished on the top of
* Unless we admit the Papilio Podalirius to be a British
species also .
V. VI. p. I. 14
210 BUTTERFLY.
the head with a pair of short tentacula of a red
colour, which it occasionally protrudes from that
part. In the month of July it changes into a
yellowish-grey angular chrysalis, affixed to some
convenient part of the plant, or other neighbour-
ing substance, and from this chrysalis in the month
of August proceeds the complete insect. It some-
times happens that two broods of this butterfly
are produced in the same summer, viz. the first in
May, having lain all winter in the chrysalis state,
and the second in August, from the chrysalides of
July.
Of the division called Heliconii the beautiful
insect the Papilio Apollo is an example. It is a
native of many parts of Europe, but has not yet
been observed in our own country, and is some-
what larger than the common great cabbage-
butterfly; of a white colour, with a slight semi-
transparency towards the tips of the wings, which
are decorated with velvet-black spots, and on each
of the lower wings are two most beautiful ocel-
lated spots consisting of a carmine-coloured circle
with a white centre and black exterior border.
The caterpillar is black, with small red spots, and
a pair of short retractile tentacula in front: it
feeds on Orpine and some other succulent plants,
and changes into a brown chrysalis, covered with
a kind of glaucous or violet-coloured powder.
P. Piera has semitransparent wings, with the
lower pair marked by two ocellated black spots
with a yellow ring and centre. It is a native of
South- America.
PAlPinLUJ.
^7
IlKI.JCOXII
■*0'^\)
PicJ'a
J'oh/lVffUlM
jPAFlJLlO ,
68
T. /.eiti/j'
BUTTERFLY. 211
P. Crat(egi or the Hawthorn Butterfly is nearly
of the size of the common cabbage butterfly,
and is of a white colour, witli black fibres on the
wings, and is seen in the months of June and
July.
Of the longer winged Heliconii the P. Ricini is
a good example: it is black, with two yellowish,
obliquely-transverse bands on the upper wings,
while the lower are deeply bordered with black.
It is a iiative of South- America.
Of the division entitled Danai Candidi the com-
mon large white Butterfly, or P. Brassicce is a
familiar example: this insect is too well known to
require particular description, and it may be only
necessary to remind the reader that it proceeds
from a yellowish caterpillar freckled with blueish
and black spots, and which changes during the
autumn into a yellowish grey chrysalis, aflixed in
a perpendicular direction to some wall, tree, or
other object, some filaments being drawn across
the thorax in order the more conveniently to
secure its position. The fly appears in May and
June, and is seen through all the summer.
The term Candidi in this division, being applied
only in a general sense, it of course contains some
species of a diflerent colour : among these one of
the most elegant is the P. Rhamni or Buckthorn
Butterfly, of a bright sulphur-colour, with sharp-
cornered wings marked by a small orange spot in
the middle of each. It is not uncommon during
spring and autumn.
P. Hyale or the Fern Butterfly is also in this
2!1^ BUTTERFLY.
division, and is a beautiful species with orange-
yellow wings deeply bordered with black.
Of the Danai Festivi the P. Midamiis may
serve as an example; an elegant Asiatic species,
of a black colour, with a varying blue lustre to-
wards the tips of the upper wings, which are mark-
ed by many white spots, while the lower pair are
streaked longitudinally with numerous white lines,
and edged with a row of white specks.
P. Sophorce is also of this tribe: it is of a fine
brown colour, with a bright orange-ferruginous
bar across the upper wings, and a more obscure
one of similar colour round the lower part of the
Tinder wings: it is a native of South- America, and
according to Madam Merian, proceeds from a
large rufous caterpillar marked above by narrow
longitudinal white stripes.
Among the Nymphales Gemmati iew can ex-
ceed in elegance the P. lo or Peacock Butter-
fly, a species by no means uncommon in our
own country: the ground-colour of this insect is
orange-brown, with black bars separated by yellow
intermediate spaces on the upper edge of the su-
perior wings, while at the tip of each is a most
beautiful large eye-shaped spot, formed by a com-
bination of black, brown, and blue, with the addi-
tion of whitish specks : on each of the lower wings
is a still larger eye-shaped spot, consisting of a
black central patch, varied with blue, and sur-
rounded by a zone of pale brown, which is itself
deeply bordered with black: all the wings are
scolloped or denticulated. The caterpillar is
PAP31L10 o
^\0
OraXceffv
Danai c'a>ji>idi
2dc>^, Oc-dj jTu^l/lr/ni/ bi t^Kar.,-icr.r/j-e/\fncet .
7^
IP Ar 11 1. 11 o .
lsYlvEPn.\LES PHAJ.EllATI.
Atzdanta'
Taphuv
Juf^tijui'
J{.i}nnaax»- J-Jtiif:.
Nymphat.:es gemmati
iao;,.Oot:iLcrtdc,i fui,li,-lu^ tj- u.&s^rM^r.FUet So-(M>.
BUTTERFLY. 213
black, with numerous white spots, and black
ramified spines: it feeds principally on the Nettle,
changing to chrysalis in July, and the fly appear-
ing in August.
P. Jurtina is a species equally common, though
far less beautiful. It is chiefly observed in mea-
dows, and is of a brown colour, the upper wings
having a much brighter or orange-ferruginous bar
towards the tips, with a small, black, eye-shaped
spot with a white centre : on the opposite or
under side of the insect the same distribution of
colours takes place.
Of the Nymphales Phalerati ievi can surpass the
common English species called P. Atalanta or the
Admirable Butterfly: it is of the most intense
velvet-black colour, with a rich carmine-coloured
bar across the upper wings, which are spotted
towards the tips with white ^ while the lower wings
are black, with a deep border of carmine-colour
marked by a row of small black spots : the under
surface of the wings also presents a most beautiful
mixture of colours: the caterpillar is brown and
spiny, feeds on Nettles, and changes into a chry-
salis in July, the Fly appearing in August.
P. Paphia is a highly elegant insect, of a fine
orange-chesnut colour above, with numerous black
spots and bars: beneath greenish, with narrow
silvery undulations on the lower wings and black
spots on the upper. It proceeds from a yellowish
brown spiny caterpillar, living principally on
nettles. This insect is generally found in the
neighbourhood of woods.
214 BUTTERFLY.
Of the last division, termed Plebeii, may be ad-
duced as an example a small English Butterfly
called P. MalvcBi of a blackish or brown colour,
with numerous whitish and semitransparent spots.
It belongs to the Plebeii Urbicolce.
The P. Betulce is also seen in woods, and is a
small species, of a blackish-brown colour, with a
broad orange bar on the upper wings, the lower
pair being slightly produced into two orange-
coloured tails or processes towards the inner
corner, This species belongs to the Plebeii Ru-
rales. '
To this latter division also belongs a very beauti-
ful exotic species, a native of India, and of a most
exquisite lucid blue colour, edged with black, and
farther ornamented by having each of the lower
wings tipped with two narrow black tail-shaped
processes. It is the P. Marsyas of Linnaeus,
Papuio.
7'
Pl.T.BEU Ri:KAI,JiS.
Mursvus
Jfalrw
Jfcrw /
Jr.Oru9ll/l jrOdip.
PI-I;BEII URBlCOXit
idoJ. OetTifXcndirn.,Tui>tishtd h- It. Kmvinjleer Street.
SPHINX. SPHINX.
Generic Character,
Antenna medio crassiores,
seu utraque cxtremitate
attenuatae, subprisma-
ticae.
Alte deflexce (volatu gravi-
ore vespertine seu matu-
tino.)
Antenna thickest in the
middle, subprismatic, and
attenuated at each ex-
tremity.
JVings deflected. (Flight
strong, and commonly in
the evening or morning.)
Jl HE Insects of this genus are sometimes called
by the title of Hawk-Moths, and have in general
a large thorax and thick body, commonly taper-
ing towards the extremity. The flight of the
larger kinds is chiefly confined to the evening or
early morning hours, few species appearing on
the wing in the middle of the day. The name
Sphinx is applied to the genus on account of the
posture assumed by the larvas of several of the
larger species, which are often seen in an attitude
much resembling that of the Egyptian Sphinx,
viz. with the fore-parts elevated, and the rest of
the body applied flat to the surface.
One of the most elegant insects of this genus is
the Sphinx Ligustri or Privet Hawk-Moth. It is
a large insect, measuring nearly four inches and a
2-10 SPHINX.
half from wings end to wings end: the upper
wnigs are of a brown colour, most elegantly varied
or shaded with deeper and lighter streaks and
patches; the under wings and body are of a fine
rose-colour, barred with transverse black stripes.
The caterpillar, which is very large, is smooth*
and of a fine green, with seven oblique purple
and white stripes along each side: at the extremity
of the body, or top of the last joint, is a horn or
process pointing backwards. This beautiful cater-
pillar IS often found in the months of July and
August feeding on the Privet, the Lilac, the Pop-
lar, and some other trees, and generally changes
to a chrysalis in August or September, retiring
for that purpose to a considerable depth beneath
the surface of the ground, and, after casting its
skm, continuing during the whole winter in a
dormant state, the Sphinx emerging from it in the
succeeding June.
Sphin.v Ocdlata is perhaps still more beautiful:
it is a rather smaller insect than the preceding,
and has the upper wings and body brown, the
former finely clouded with different shades, while
the lower wings are of a bright rose-colour, each
marked with a large ocellated black spot with a
blue interior circle and a black centre. This in-
sect proceeds from a green caterpillar of a rough
or shagreen-like surface, marked on each side by
seven oblique yellowish-white streaks, and fur.
nished, like the preceding, with a horn at the tail.
It is principally found on the Willow; retires
under ground, in order to undergo its change
^ I-* n I ^ A
Sph.oce/lnta.
Af.l/nintk^ ^cuJf*
iSo^.OcCl London .I'uSlur/i^ 6y &^eAju\fUiJ^le^fSrrfec.
Sraij^x,
/ k I
. V. Sr^J^lh, .teu/^ .
S. I'o/iyoli'u/i
iScS. Ou O J'id>ii^-?i£ti <?( ■ ffHtzr^-iei JTeetSovet.
STPjfiiir^j:
S..lfrc'/M\c.
3f&nrifiLS j-cuJp.
>s,.iOrec,r,r».{.„ r„//,>f,^.i/,,. a?i,^,.r/,,J-y,,
SPHINX. ft 17
into the chrysalis state, in the month of August or
September, and in the following June appears the
complete insect.
But the largest and most remarkable, if not the
most beautiful European insect of this genus, is
the Sphhhv Atropos of Linnaeus, which very con-
siderably exceeds in size both the species already
mentioned. The upper wings are of a fine dark
grey colour, with a few slight variegations of dull
orange and white: the under wings are of a bright
orange-colour, maiked by a pair of transverse
black bands: the body is also orange-coloured,
with the sides marked by black bars, while along
the top of the back, from the thorax to the tail,
runs a broad blue-grey stripe: on the top of the
thorax is a very large patch of a most singular
appearance, exactly representing the usual figure
of a skull or death's head, and is of a pale grey,
varied with dull ochre-colour and black. When
in the least disturbed or irritated, this insect emits
a stridulous sound, something like the squeaking
of a bat or mouse, and from this circumstance, as
well as from the mark above-mentioned on the
thorax, is held in much dread by the vulgar in
several parts of Europe, its appearance being re-
garded as a kind of ill omen, or harbinger of ap-
proaching fate. We are informed by the cele-
brated Reaumur that the members of a female
Convent in France were thrown into great con-
sternation at the appearance of one of these in-
sects, w hich happened to fly In during the evening
at one of the windows of the dormitory. The
Sl8 SPHINX.
caterpillar from which this curious Sphinx pro-
ceeds is in the highest degree beautiful, and far
surpasses in size every other European insect of
the kind, measuring sometimes near five inches
in length, and being of a very considerable thick-
ness: its colour is a bright yellow, the sides mark-
ed by a row of seven most elegant broad stripes
or bands, of a mixed violet and sky-blue colour:
the tops of these bands meet on the back in so
many angles, and are varied on that part with
jet-black specks: on the last joint of the body is
a horn or process, not in an erect position, as in
the preceding kinds, but hanging or curving over
the joint in the manner of a tail, having a rough
or rauricated surface and a yellow colour. This
caterpillar is principally found on the potatoe and
the jessamine, those plants being its favorite food.
It usually changes into a chrysalis in the month
of September, retiring for that purpose pretty
deep under the surface of the earth; the complete
insect emerging in the following June or July;
but some individuals are observed to change into
chrysalis in July or August; and these produce
the complete insect in November; so that there
appear to be two broods or annual races. The
Sphinx Atropos is generally considered as a very
rare insect, and as the caterpillar feeds chiefly
by night, concealing itself during the day under
leaves, &c. it is not often detected: yet, from
some singular circumstances favourable to its
breed, there are some seasons in which it is even
plentiful, as in the autumn of the present year
►Spm:^x
S.J'fr/V.
SPHINX. 219
1804, in which the caterpillar was so common in
some counties as to be very prejudicial to the
potatoe-plants, particularly in some parts of Corn-
wall, Surry, &c.
The alteration of form which the whole of the
papilionaceous tribe undergo, and in a particular
manner the changes above-described of the genus
Sphinx, afford a subject of the most pleasing
contemplation to the mind of the naturalist, and
though a deeply philosophical survey demonstrates
that there is no real or absolute change produced
in the identity of the creature itself, or that it is
in reality no other than the gradual and progres-
sive evolution of parts before concealed, and which
Jay masqued under the form of an insect of a
widely different appearance, yet it is justlj'^ viewed
with the highest admiration, and even generally
acknowledged as in the most lively manner typical
of the last eventful change.
If any regard is to be paid to a similarity of
names, it should seem that the ancients were suf-
iiciently struck with the transformations of the
Butterfly, and its revival from a seeming tempo-
rary death, as to have considered it as an emblem
of the soulj the Greek word ^vxyi signifying both
the soul and a butterfly. This is also confirmed
by their allegorical sculptures, in which the butter-
fly occurs as an emblem of immortality.
Modern naturalists, impressed with the same
idea, and laudably solicitous to apply it as an
illustration of the awful mystery revealed in the
sacred writings, have drawn their allusions to it
220 SPHINX.
from the dormant condition of the papilionaceous
insects during tiieir state of chrysaHs, and their
resuscitation from it; but they have, in general,
unfortunately chosen a species the least proper
for the purpose j viz. the Silkworm, an animal
■which neither undergoes its changes under the
surface of the earth, nor, when emerged from its
tomb, is it an insect of any remarkable beauty;
but the larva or caterpillar of the Sphinx, when
satiate of the food allotted to it during that state,
retires to a very considerable depth beneath the
surface of the ground, where it divests itself of all
appearance of its former state, and continues
buried during several months; then rises to the
surface, and bursting from the confinement of its
tomb, commences a being of powers so com-
paratively exalted, and of beauty so superior as
not to be beheld without the highest admiration.
Even the animated illustration taken from the
vegetable w^orld, so justly admired, as best calcu-
lated for general apprehension, must yield in the
force of its similitude to that drawn from the in-
sect's life, since Nature exhibits few phenomena
that can equal so wonderful a transformation.
I must here request the reader's permission to
repeat on this subject some lines long ago intro-
duced into the pages of the Naturalist's Mis-
cellany.
The helpless crawling caterpillar trace
From the first period of his reptile race.
Cloth' d in dishonour, on the leafy spray
Unseen he wears his silent hours away.
SPHINX. 221
Till satiate grown of all that life supplies.
Self-taught the voluntary martyr dies.
Deep under earth his darkling course he bends.
And to the tomb, a willing guest, descends.
There, long secluded in his lonely cell.
Forgets the sun, and bids the world farewel.
O'er tlie wide waste the wintry tempests reign.
And driving snows usurp the frozen plain.
In vain the tempest beats, the whirlwind blows;
No storms can violate his grave's repose.
But when revolving months have won their way.
When smile the woods, and when the zephyrs play.
When laughs tlie vivid world in summer's bloom.
He bursts and flies triumphant from the tomb.
And, while his new-born beauties he displays.
With conscious joy his alter'd form surveys.
Mark, while he moves amid the sunny beam.
O'er his soft wings the vaiying lustre gleam.
Launch'd into air, on purple plumes he soars.
Gay Nature's face witli wanton glance explores;
Proud of his various beauties wings his way.
And spoils the fairest flowers, himself more fair tlxan they!
And deems weak Man the future promise vain.
When worms can die, and glorious rise again? G. S.
I must not conclude the surve}^ of the genus
Sphinx without observing that it contains some
species of a smaller size and of a somewhat differ-
ent habit from the kinds above described. Amonsr
these is the beautiful Sph'uhv FilUpendulx or Drop-
wort Sphinx, common in meadows towards the
decline of summer, and which is distinguished by
having the upper wings of an oblong-oval shape
and of a dark shining green colour, with blood-
red spots, and the lower wings red with a dark
green edging: the caterpillar is of a pale yellow.
2'22 SPHINX.
with rows of squarish black spots, and is often seen
feeding on various meadow plants and grasses: it
does not undergo its change under ground, but
encloses itself in an oval shining yellow web of
silk, attached to the stem of some grass, &c. In
this it changes into a chrysalis, out of which in
about the space of three weeks emerges the com-
plete insect.
Others of the smaller Sphinges are remarkable
for having the wings in a considerable degree
transparent : of this kind is the Sphini' apiformis,
which is of an aspect at first sight more resem-
bling that of a wasp or hornet than of a Sphinx,
the wings being transparent with merely a slight
edging of brown, and the thorax and abdomen
varied with black and yellow. The caterpillar
inhabits the hollows of Poplar, Sallow, Willow,
and Lime trees, feeding on the substance of the
bark; changing to a chrysalis in April, and the
Fly appearing in the month of June.
Sphinx crabroniformis is so much like the former
as scarcely to be distinguished from it, and in-
habits the hollows of the Sallow and other Willows,
feeding on the wood: it changes to a chrysalis in
May, and the Fly appears in July,
PHAI..ENA. MOTH.
Generic Character.
Antejina setaceae, a basi ad
apicem sensim attenuatae.
ylliC (sedentis) ssepius de-
flexffi, (volatu nocturno.)
Antennte setaceous, gradu-
ally lessening from base
to tip.
IVings (when sitting) gene-
rally defiex, (flight noc-
turnal.^
X HIS genus like that of Papilio, containing a
vast number of species, is divided into assort-
ments, according to the different habits of the
animals. These assortments are as follows, viz.
Attaci, or those in which the wings, when at
rest, are spred out horizontally.
Bombyces, in which the wings are incumbent,
and the antennie pectinated.
NoctucCy with incumbent wings and setaceous
antennae.
Gcometroiy with wings horizontally spread out,
nearly as in the Attaci.
TortrlceSy with very obtuse wings, curved on
the exterior margin.
Pyralides, with wings converging into a deltoid
and slightly furcated figure.
224 MOTH.
Tinece, with wings convoluted into a cylinder.
AlucitoSy with wings divided into distinct plumes.
These distributions, like those of the genus Pa-
pilio, are not strictly accurate, and must therefore
be regarded with a proper degree of allowance.
In the first division or Attaci ranks the most
splendid, and largest of all the Phalnsnae yet
known, viz. the Phalcena Atlas, an insect so large
that the extent of its wings measures not less than
eight inches and a half: the ground-colour is a
very fine deep orange-brown, and in the middle
of each wing is a large subtriangular transparent
spot or patch, resembling the appearance of a
piece of Muscovy talc : each of these transparent
parts is succeeded by a black border, and across
all the wings run lighter and darker bars, exhibit-
ing a very fme assortment of varying shades : the
upper wings are slightly curved downwards at
their tips in a falcated manner, and the lower
wings are edged with a border of black spots on
a pale buff-coloured ground : the antennae are
widely pectinated with a quadruple series of fibres,
exhibiting a highly elegant appearance. This in-
sect is a native of both the Indies, and occasion-
ally varies both in size and colours.
Ph. Luna is an American species, of large size,
and extremely beautiful: its colour is a most ele-
gant pea-green, with a small yellovvish eye-shaped
spot with a transparent centre in the middle of
each- wing, and the lower wings are produced at
the bottom into a long and broad tail or con-?
7^
tlL^ai^A-
Th. Jufionia.
iScj.CctTxLendciuT'ublis/udb}' &.^car,\-l0' . Flea Jtrett.
MOTH. 225
tinuation: the ridge of the upper wings is broad
and of a fine purple-brown colour: the head and
thorax yellowish white, and the body milk-wiiile.
Of the European species of this division l)eyond
comparison the finest is the Phalcena Junonia (Pii.
pavonia Lin.) a native of many parts of Germany,
Italy, France, &c. but not yet observed in Eng-
land. It measures about six inches in extent of
wings, and is varied by a most beautiful assort-
ment of the most sober colours, consisting of dif-
ferent shades of deep and light grey, black, brown,
&c. on the middle of each wing is ah eye-shaped
spot, having the disk black, shaded on one side
with blue; surrounded with red-brown, and the
whole included by a circle of black: lastly, all
the wings are bordered by a deep edging of very
pale brown, with a whiter line immediately ad-
joining to the darker part of the wing: the an-
tennae are finely pectinated. The caterpillar,
which feeds on the apple, pear, &c. is hardly less
beautiful 4^han the insect itself: it is of a fine
apple or yellowish-green colour with each seg-
ment of the body ornamented by a row of upright
prominences of a bright-blue colour, with black
radiated edges, and surrounded by long black
filaments, each of which terminates in a clavated
tip. This larva, when ready for its change, en-
velops itself in an oval web with a pointed ex-
tremity, and transforms itself into a large short
chrysalis, out of which afterwards eaiierges the
moth.
The P ha l(57M pavonia minor or smaller Peacock
V. VI. p. I. 15
226 MOTH.
Moth is a native of England, and is commonly
called the Emperor Moth. In every respect ex-
cept size it so greatly resembles the former, that
Linnasus chose to consider it as a permanent
variety only of the same species. The larva and
pupa are also of the same appearance with those
of the preceding, but on a much smaller scale.
The Bombyces constitute a very numerous tribe,
of which the Phalcena Caja or great tiger-moth may
serve as an example. This species is one of the
larger English moths, and is of a fine pale cream
colour, with chocolate-brown bars and spots; the
lower wings red, with black spots; the thorax
chocolate-brown, with a red collar round the neck>
and the bod}'^ red with black bars. The Cater-
pillar is of a deep brown, with white specks; ex-
tremely hairy, and feeds on various plants. It
changes into chrysalis in June, and the Fly ap-
pears in July.
Ph. Vinula is remarkable for elegance of appear-
ance without gaiety of colour, being .^ middle-
sized white moth, variegated with numerous small
black streaks and specks : the thorax and abdomen
are extremely downy, and the body is marked by
transverse black bars. The caterpillar of this moth
is far more- brilliant in its appearance than the
complete animal; it is of considerable size, mea-
suring above two inches in length, and is of a most
beautiful green colour, with the back of a dull
purple, freckled with very numerous deeper streaks
in a longitudinal direction: this purple part of the
back is separated from the green on the sides by
MOTH. 227
a pair of milk-white stripes, which commencing
from the head, run upwards to the top of the back;
that part being elevated considerably above the
rest into a pointed process; and from thence are
continued along the sides to the tail : the face is
flat, and subtriangular, ycUowisli, surrounded first
by a black, and then by a red border; and is dis-
tinguished by two deep-black eyes or spots on
each side the upper part : from the tail, which is
extended into two long, roughened, sharp-pointed,
tubular processes, proceed, on the least irritation,
two long, red, flexible tentacula, the animal seem-
ing to exert them as if for the purpose of terrify-
ing its disturbers; lifting up the fore-part of the
body at the same time, in a menacing attitude,
and presenting a highly grotesque appearance: it
also possesses the power of suddenly ejecting from
its mouth, to a considerable distance, an acri-
monious reddish fluid, which it uses as a farther
defence, and which produces considerable irrita-
tion if it happens to be thrown into the eyes of
the spectator. This caterpillar is principally seen
on Willows and Poplars, and when the time of its
change arrives, descends to the lower part of the
tree, and envelops itself in a glutinous case, pre-
pared by moistening with its saliva the woody
fibres of the tree, and covering itself with them,
attaching the edges very closely to the bark: this
ease, having very much the colour of the bant
itself, is not very conspicuous, so that the in-
sect generally remains secure under jts covering
throughout the whole winter, it being too close to
2'28 MOTH.
be penetrated by the frost, and too strong to be
successfully attacked by birds, &c. it requires even
a very sharp knife, assisted by a strong hand, to
force it open. The chrysalis is thick, short, and
black, and in the month of Alay or June, accord-
ing to the warmth or coolness of the season, gives
birth to the Moth, which, immediately on emerg-
ing from the upper part of the chrysalis, discharges
a quantity of fluid sufficient to soften effectually
the walls of its prison, and effect a ready escape.
This moth, from its unusually downy appearance,
has obtained the popular title of the Puss Moth.
Phalceiia fuscicauda or the Brown-Tail Moth is
remarkable for the ravages which its caterpillar
commits, by destroying the foliage of trees and
hedges, and reducing them to a perfectly bare ap-
pearance. The moth itself is about a third part '
less than that of a Silkworm, and is of a fine satiny
white, except the hinder part of the body, which
is of a deep brown. The caterpillar is brown, with
ferruginous hairs, a row of white spots along each
side, and tvt^o red spots on the lower part of the
back: it is of a gregarious nature, vast numbers
residing together under one common web: they
are hatched early in autumn, from eggs laid by
the parent moths *, and immediately form for
themselves a small web, and begin feeding on the
foliage of the tree or shrub on which they were
placed: they marshal themselves with great regu-
* See Curtis's History of the Brown-Tail Moth. Lond^
1783, 4to.
MOTH. ^29
larity for this purpose in rows, and at first devour
only the upper pellicle and the green parenchyma
of the leaves, and in the evening retire to their
web. In about tliree weeks they cast their skin,
and afterwards proceed to feed as before, enlarg-
ing their web from time to time, and forming it
on all sides as strong and secure as possible. In
this tiiey remain the whole winter in a state of
torpidity, ^till being enlivened by the warmth of
the returning spring, they again issue from their
covering, and being now grown stronger, begin
to devour the whole substance of the leaves, in-
stead of contenting themselves with the upper
part as in their very young state. The destruc-
tion which they sometimes cause to the verdure
of the country may be judged of by their ravages
in the year 1782, when, according to the account
of the ingenious Mr. Curtis, author of the Flora
Londinensis, &c. in many parishes about London
subscriptions were opened and the poor people
employed to cut off and collect the webs at one
shilling per bushel, which were burned, under the
inspection of the church-wardens, overseers, or
beadles of the respective parishes. At the first
onset of this business Mr. Curtis assures us he
was informed that fourscore bushels were collected
in one day in the parish of Clapham alone. When
these caterpillars are arrived at fidl growth, which
is usually about the beginning of June, each
spins itself a separate web, in v.hich it changes to
a dark-brown chrysalis, out of which in the begin-
ning of July proceeds the Moth.
230 MOTH.:
But of all the Moths of the tribe Bombyx the
Phalcena Mori or Silkworm Moth is by far the
most important. This is a whitish Moth, with a
broad pale-brown bar across each of the upper
wings. The caterpillar or larva, emphatically
known by the title of the Silkworm, is, when full
grown, nearly three inches long, and of a yellow-
ish grey colour: on the upper part of the last
joint of the body is a horn-like process, as in
many of the Sphinges. It feeds, as every one knows,
on the leaves of the white Mulberry, in defect of
which may be substituted the black Mulberry,
and even, in some instances, the Lettuce and a
few other plants. The Silkworm remains in its
larva state about six weeks, changing its skin four
times during that period, and, like other cater-
pillars, abstaining from food for some time before
each change. When full grown the animal en-
tirely ceases to feed, and begins to form itself a
loose envelopement of silken fibres in some con-
venient spot which it has chosen for that purpose,
and aftervvards proceeds to enwrap itself in a
much closer covering, forming an oval yellow
silken case or ball about the size of a pigeon's
egg, in which it changes to a chrysalis, and after
lying thus inclosed for the space of about fifteen
days, gives birth to the Moth. This however is
always carefully prevented when the animals are
reared for the purpose of commerce, the Moth
greatly injuring the silk of the ball by discharging
a quantity of coloured fluid before it leaves the
cell: the silk-balls are therefore exposed to such q.
THALANL^'A
77
C4»?
-^»^;
m^^^
Fhalamti J fori or Siiku-orrrv
in us vtjru^us states.
i^c>.>. Cu^iZciidciiJiitluhaitv AKf4iisicy.Fh£t Stivi-t.
MOTH. 13 [
degree of heat as to kill the inclosed chrysalides; a.
few only being saved for the breed of the following
year. The Moth, when hatched, is a very short-
lived animal; breeding soon after its exclusion,
and when the females have laid their eggs, they,
as well as the males, survive but a very short
time.
The length of the silken fibre or thread drawn
by the silkworm in forming his ball, is computed
by Mons\ Ishard, a French author, who wrote on
the subject of the Silkworm in the seventeenth
century, to be six English miles in length. This
computation however appears to be a greatly ex-
aggerated one. The length indeed may be sup-
posed to differ considerably in different silk-balls,
but in general will be found far short Of what is
stated by Isnard. According to Boyle, as quoted
by Derham, a lady, on making the experiment,
found the length of a ball to be considerably
more than three hundred yards, though the weight
was only two grains and a half. The Abbe La
Pluche informs us that of two balls one measured
nine hundred and twenty-four feet, and the other
nine hundred and thirty. It may be proper to
add, that the silk throughout its whole length is
double, or composed of two conjoined or aggluti-
nated fdaments*.
The general history of the manufacture of Silk
* In the Encyclopaedia Britannica we are informed that the
lengtli varies in different coccoons from 200 to 12(X) ells, and
that in general we may calculate the production of a coccoow
from 500 to 600 ells In length.
232 MOTH.
may be found in the Cyclopaedia of Mr. Chambers
and many other siiiiilar publications, and is nearly
as follows.
The art of manufacturing Silk is said to have
been first invented in the island of Cos, by a
woman of the ijame of PamphUis the daughter of
Platis. The discovery was not long unknown to
the Romans, Silk was brought to them from
Serica, where the insect itself was a native; but
so far were they from profiting by the discovery,
that they could not be induced to believe so fine
a thread to be the work of an insect, and formed
many chimerical conjectures of their own on the
subject. Silk was a very scarce article among
them for many ages: it was even sold weight for
weight with gold ; insomuch that Vopiscus in-
forms us that the Emperor Aurelian, who died
A. D. 275, refused the Empress his wife a robe of
silk, which she earnestly solicited, merely on ac-
count of its dearness. Others however, with greater
probability, assert that it was known at Rome so
early as the reign of Tiberius, about A. D. 17,
Galen, who lived about the year of our Lord 173,
speaks of the rarity of Silk, being no where then
but at Rome, and there only among the rich.
Heliogabalus the Emperor, who died A. D. 220,
is said by some to have been the first person that
w^ore a holosericum, i. e. a garment entirely of
silk. The Greeks of the army of Alexander the
Great are said to have been the first who brought
wrought silk from Persia into Greece, about 323
years before Christ; but the manufacture of it was
MOTH. 233
first confined to Berytus and Tyre in Phoenicia,
whence it was dispersed over the West. At length
two monks, coming from the Indies to Constan-
tinople, in 535, under the encouragement of the
Emperor Justinian, brought with them great quan-
tities of Silkworms, with instructions for hatching
the eggs, rearing and feeding the worms, and
drawing, spinning, and working the Silk. Upon
this, manufactures were set up at Athens, Thebes,
and Corinth. The Venetians, soon after this time
commencing a commerce with the Greek Empire,
supplied all the Western parts of Europe with
silks for many centuries; though several kinds of
modern silk manufactures were unknown in those
times, such as Damasks, Velvets, Satins, &c. About
the year 1130, Roger the second. King of Sicily,
established a silk manufacture at Palermo, and
another in Calabria, managed by workmen who
were a part of the plunder brought from Athens,
Corinth, &c. whereof that prince made a conquest
in his expedition to the Holy Land. By degrees,
adds Mezeray, the rest of Italy, as well as Spain,
learned from the Sicilians and Calabrians the ma-
nagement of Silkworms, and the working of Silk;
and at length the French acquired it, b}^ right of
neighbourhood, a little before the reign of Francis
the first, and began to imitate them. Thuanus
indeed, in contradiction to most other writers,
makes the manufacture of Silk to be introduced
into Sicily two hundred years later, by Robert the
Wise, King of Sicily, and Count of Provence.
' It appears by the 33d. of Henry 6th. cap. 5,
'234 . MOTH.
that there was a company of Silk- Women in Eng-
land so early as the year 1455; but these were
probably employed in needle-works of silk and
thread; and we find that various sorts of small
haberdashery of Silk were manufactured here in
1482; but Italy supplied England and all other
parts with the broad manufacture till the year
1489- I^^ Spain indeed the culture and manu-
facture of silk seem to have been introduced at an
early period by the Moors, particularly in Murcia,
Cordova, ;ind Granada. The silk-manufacturers
of this last town were very flourishing when it was
taken by Ferdinand, &c. at the close of the fifteenth
century. In 1521, the French, being supplied
with workmen from Milan, commenced a silk
manufacture; but it was long after this time before
they could obtain raw silk from the v/orms, and
even in the year 1 547 silk was scarce and dear in
France, and King Henry the second is said to
have been the first in that country who wore a
pair of silk knit stockings; though the invention
originally came from Spain, whence silk stockings
were brought over to Henry the eighth, and Ed-
ward the sixth. After the civil wars in France,
the plantation of Mulberry-trees was greatly en-
couraged by King Henry the fourth and his suc-
cessors, and the produce of silk in France is at
this day very considerable. The great advantage
which the new manufacture atTorded, made our
James the first very earnest for its introduction
into England ; and accordingly it was recom-
mended several times from the throne, and in the
MOTH. 135
most earnest terms, particularly in the year i6o8,
to plant mulberry-trees for the propagation of
silkworms, but unhappily without effect; though
from various experiments, recorded in the Pliilo-
sophical Transactions, &c. it appears that the silk-
worm thrives and works as well in England as in
any other part of Europe. It should not here be
omitted that James the first, while King of Scot-
land, is said to have once written to the Earl of
Mar, one of his friends, to borrow a pair of silk
stockings, in order to appear with becoming dig-
nity before the English Ambassador; concluding
his epistle with these words; " for ye would not,
sure, that your King should appear like a scrub
before strangers," This shews the great rarity of
silk articles at that period in Scotland; and we
are told that our own Queen Elizabeth was pre-
sented bv her silk-woman Mrs. MontaG;ue, with
a pair of black silk stockings, with which her
Majesty was so captivated that she resolved in
future to wear no other stockings than silk onies.
Towards the end of James the first's reign, viz.
about 1620, the broad silk-manufacture was intro-
duced into this country, and prosecuted with great
vigour and advantage. In 1629 the silk-manu-
facture was become so considerable in London,
that the silk throwsters of the city and parts ad-
jacent were incorporated, under the names of
Master, Wardens, &c. of the Silk-Throwsters, and
in 1661 this company employed above forty thou-
«:and persons. The revocation of the edict of Nantes,
136 MOTH.
in i685, contributed in a great degree to promote
the silk miinufacture in England, as did also the
invention of the silk throwing machine at Derby
in 1719. So high in reputation was the English
silk-manufacture, that even in Italy, according to
Keysler (trav. vol. 1. p. 28g.) the English silks
bore a higher price than the Italian,
In the next division, or NGUtiixe, stands the beau-
tiful Phalcena Nupta, a moderately large species,
with the upper wings of a fine grey colour, ele-
gantly clouded and varied with shades and lines
of dark brown, &c. and the under wings of a vivid
crimson, with two broad transverse black bars :
the body is grey, but white underneath. The
caterpillar, which is of a pale, flesh-coloured grey,
is distinguished by a dorsal tubercle on the fore
part of the body, and feeds chiefly on the willow :
it changes to a chrysalis in July? and the Moth
appears in August and September, The divi-
sion Noctiicdi like that of Bombyi\ is extremely
numerous.
As an example of the GeometrcB we may adduce
a very elegant moth often seen towards the middle
of summer on the Elder, and called Phalcena sam-
hucaria : it is moderately large, of a pale sulphur-
colour, with angular wings, marked by a narrow
transverse brown line or istreak. It proceeds from
a green caterpillar, which like those of the rest
of this section, walks in a peculiar manner; viz.
by raising up the body at each progressive move-
ment into the form of an arch or loop, the extre-
THALx'^I^.^.
/>.'/v/'ivi^ J<*t^.
iSc^ Oct^iZcndcnTuhS^rk^dhv &JEjf€fr j fey. Fleet ^Ure^.
FHAX.^^IN'A.
79
.sambucaria
verticahs
rasina/ia
To.slralis .''
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MOTH. 237
mitlcs nearly approaching each other. It changes
in May and June into a black chrysalis, out of
which in June or July proceeds the Moth.
To this division also belongs that beautiful in-
sect called the Currant-Bush Motli, or Pliahena
grossulariata, so frequently seen in gardens in tiie
month of Jul\\ It has somewhat the appear-
ance of a butterfly, with rounded white wings,
marked b}"^ numerous black spots; the upper pair
being still farther decorated by a pair of deep yel-
low bands : the body also is of a deep golden yellow
with black spots: the caterpillar is of similar
.colour, and the chrysalis black.
In the division Tort?ices, so named from the
faculty which their caterpillars possess of rolling
or twisting the leaves of the vegetables they in-
habit into a tubular form, stands the elegant
Phalccna pras'inana, an inhabitant of the Oak, and
■ sometimes of the Alder: the upper wings are of a
line green, with two oblique yellow stripes; the
lower wings pale or whitish. The caterpillar is
of a yellowish green, with white specks, and the
end of the body orange* coloured.
In the division Pyrales stands the PhalcKnafari-
nalisy distinguished by the polished surface of its
wings, which have a large glaucous-brown middle
area or patch, while the remainder is marked by
whitish streaks: this insect, when sitting, has an
obtusely triangular outline, and the abdomen is
turned up at the tip.
The division called Tinece comprehends those
moths which are, in general, of a small size, thoug!>
238 MOTH.
often of very elegant colours. Of this tribe is the
PhalcenaPadella: it is of a pearly white colour, with
very numerous black spots: its caterpillar is gre-
garious, appearing in great quantities on various
sorts of fruit-trees during the decline of summer,
and committing great ravages on the leaves : these
caterpillars inhabit a common web, and usually
move in large groupes together: their colour is a
pale greyish yellow, with numerous black spots:
each caterpillar at the time of its change to chry-
salis, envelops itself in a distinct oval web with
pointed extremities, and many of these are sta-
tioned close to each other, hanging, in a per--
pendicular direction from the internal roof of the
general enclosing Aveb: the chrysalis is blackish,
and the moth appears in the month of September.
To this division also belong the Moths em-
phatically so called, or Cloth-Moths. Of these
the principal is the Phalcena vestianellay which, in
its caterpillar state, is very destructive to woollen
cloths, the substance of which it devours, forming
for itself a tubular case w^ith open extremities,
and generally approaching to the colour of the
cloth on which it is nourished. This mischiev-
ous species changes into a chrysalis in April, and
the moth, which is universally known, appears
chiefly in May and June.
In the last division, called Alucitce, is one of the
most elegant of the Insect Tribe, though not dis-
tinguished either by large size or lively colours.
It is a small moth, of a snowy whiteness, and, at
first view, catches the attention of the observer by
MOTH, 239
the very remarkable aspect of its wings, which
are divided into the most beautiful distinct plumes,
two in each upper, and three in each under wing,
and formed on a plan resembling that of the long
wing-feathers of birds, viz. with a strong middle
rib or shaft, and innumerable lateral fibres. This
moth, which is the FhaliKna pentadactyla of Lin-
naeus, appears chiefly in the month of August. Its
caterpillar, which is yellowish-green, speckled with
black, feeding on Nettles, and changing into a
blackish chrysalis enveloped in a white web.
Another very remarkable species of this division
is the Phalcena heTadactyla of Linnaeus ; each
wing consisting of six distinct plumes. The In-
sect is of a pale grey-broWn colour, with several
transverse lines or bars across the feathers, and
exliibiting a yevy curious spectacle in the micro-
scope. It chiefly makes its appearance in the month
of September. This little moth is by the Eng-
lish collectors somewhat improperly called the
twenty-plumed Moth, the plumes being in reality
twenty-four in number.
END OF PART I.
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