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MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY.
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Accession No. /7^ T
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oratopy without the permission of the Trustees.
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THE LIFE ^/^^z'
OF
V
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
By B. JAEGEE,
LATE PEOFESSOll OF ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY IN THE COLLEGE OF NEW JEHSET.
ASSISTED BY H. C. PRESTON, M.D. "
toitt) i^umerous Illustrations,
FKOM SPECiaiENS IN THE CABINET OF THE AUTHOR.
NEW Y O K K :
n A K P E R & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
1864.
a.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand
eight hundred and fifty-nine, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District
of New York.
/a 7
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Preface ■. 11
Classification of Insects — 15
Order I.— BEETLES {COLEOPTERA).
Eeraarks on Beetles, 18. — Carnivorous Beetles, 19. — The Northern
Lady-Bird, 20.— Its Use, 21.— Tiger Beetles, 22.— Green Cater-
pillar-Hunter, 24. — Red-Spotted Caterpillar-Hunter, 24. — Recol-
lections of the Crimea, 24, — Mr. Ditson's Circassia, 27. — Professor
Pallas and the Empress Catharine II., 28. — Scavenger Beetles, 31.
— Grubs eaten by the Ancients, 33. — Enthusiasm for the Study of
Insects, 33. — The Bronze Dung Beetle, 34. — Use of it, 35. — Catch-
ing and preserving Beetles, 36. — The Tumble-Bug, or Pellet Bee-
tle, 37. — The Egyptian Pellet Beetle, 37. — Wooden Fences injuri-
ous to Rural Economy, 38. — The Horned Passalus, 39. — The Stag
♦ Beetle, 40.— The Indian Cetonia, 41. — The Fox-like Cetonia, 42.
—The Horned Fungus Eater, 43.— The Cabinet Beetle, 44.— The
Carrion Beetles, 45. — The Crusader Carrion Beetle, 46. — The Big
Grave-Digger, 46. — Herbivorous Beetles, or Plant Eaters, 47. —
The Entomologist, 48. — Maxims and Cunning of Peter the Great,
Emperor of Russia, 49. — Spring Beetles, 49. — The Velvet-Spotted
Spring Beetle, 50. — The Lightning Spring Beetle, 51. — Human
Life saved by it, 52. — Nature of their Light, 53. — Capi'icorn Bee-
tles, 54. — The Painted Capricorn, 55. — Legislative Protection of
Birds, 56. — The Cloak-Bearing Capricorn, 56. — Snout Beetles,
57.— The Palm-Weevil, 58.— The Wheat- Weevil, 59.— The Rice
Weevil, 59.— The Pea-Weevil, 60.— The Leaf Eaters, 61.— The
Gilded Dandy, 61.
Order IL— BUGS {HEMIPTERA).
The Red-Eyed Cicada, 64. — Its frequent Appearance, 65. — Letter
of Dr. T. W. Harris, G6. — Incorrectness of its Name, " Seventeen-
Years' Locust," 67. — The Locust mentioned in the Scriptures, 68.
— The Lyerman, 70. — Metamorphosis of Cicadas, 71. — Use of
them, 72. — Their different Species, 73. — Impositions in Natural
History, 74. — The Lantern-Fly of Madame Merian, 73. — The
Louse, 77. — Leuwenhoeck's Observations, 78. — Phthiriasis, 78.
—The Bed-Bug, 79.— The Persian Bug, 80.— The Banian Hos-
pital at Surat, 80. — The Squash-Bug, 81. — Its Injuries, and how
to prevent them, 81.— The Wheel-Bug, 82.— Tree-Hoppers, 82.—
Plant-Lice, 83. — Shield-Lice, 84. — How to prevent their Injuries,
85. — The Cochineal, 87. — Commerce with it, 88. — The Shellac
IV CONTENTS.
Shield-Louse, 89. — Use made of it, 89. — The Manna Shield-Louse,
90. — Remedies against the Ravages of Shield-Lice, 90. — Murder
and Liberty, 91. — General Deficiency in the Knowledge of Nat-
ural Ilistorv, 9L — Cabinets of Natural Historv in our Colle2;es, 92.
— How a Cabinet of Natural History can be established, 93.
Order III.— STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS {ORTHOP-
TERA).
Natural History of Grasshoppers, 9G. — Injuries inflicted by them,
9G. — Remedy against Warts, 96. — The Carolina Grasshopper, 97.
— Usefulness of Reptiles with respect to the Destruction of Grass-
hoppers, 98. — Devastations caused by them in tlie Old Country,
99. — The Migratory Grasshopper in the South of Russia, 102. —
The Katydid and other kindred Species, 105, — Marvelous Stories,
109.— Crickets, 111.— The Tree-Cricket, 112.— The Field-Cricket,
113.— The House-Cricket, 115.— The Mole-Cricket, 117.— Cock-
roaches, 117. — Ear-Wigs, 118. — Soothsayers, 118. — Popular Su-
perstitions Avith regard to them, 119. — Use made of them in China,
121.— The Walking-stick, 122.
Order IV.— MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES {LEPIDOP-
TERA).
The Nobility of Insects, 125.— The Caterpillars, 126.— Their Meta-
morphosis, 126. — Use of them, 127. — Raising of Caterpillars, 128.
— Their immense Multiplication, 128. — Destruction of them by
Birds and other Insects, 129. — Single Parts of Caterpillars, 133.
— Single Parts of Moths and Butterflies, 135. — Nocturnal and Di-
urnal Lepidoptera, 138. — Nocturnal Lepidoptera, 139. — The Sa-
turnia lo, 140.— The Silk-Worm Moth, 141.— The raising of it a
Source of National Wealth, 141. — Silk manufactured in Ancient
Times, 141. — Castellas' gigantic Silk-Establishment in Tiflis (Rus*
sian Transcaucasia), 142. — Rapp's Economy, near Pittsburgh, 143.
— Silk from North American Moths, 144. — India Silk from other
Moths, 144. — Eggs and Caterpillars of the common Silk-Worm
Moth, 145. — Treatment of them, 146. — The Cocoons, 146. — Ad-
vantai^es of raising Silk-Worms, 147. — How many Caterpillars
are produced by one Ounce of Eggs, and how much Floss-Silk is
obtained from them, 148. — How many Mulberry-Trees are neces-
sary to feed forty thousand Caterpillars, 148. — Importation of raw
and manufactured Silk, 148. — Silk jiroduced in Italy, 148. — Silk-
Culture of the Crimea, 148. — A Silk-Establishment near Theo-
dosia, 149. — England's Policy with regard to the Tariff" on Silk,
150. — Silk production of the United States in 1840 and 1850, 152.
— The Cecropia Moth, its Caterpillar and Cocoon, 153. — Pro])osed
Use of its Silk, 158. — The Polyj)heme, Luna, and Promethea
Moth, 159.— Food of these Caterpillars, 164. — The beautiful De-
"iope'ia, 164. — Its Cater[)illar feeds on Forget-me-not, 165. — Its
usual Death compared with that of some Sovereigns, 166. — Of
the Woollv Bears, why so called, 167. — Of the Virgin Tiger
Moth, 167^— Of the Argo Tiger Moth, 168.— Of the Virginia Er-
mine Moth, 168.— Of the Tussock Moth, 168.— Of the Tent-Cat-
CONTENTS. V
erpillars, the purest Socialists, 170. — Of the American Tent-Cater-
jjiliar, 171. — Their Injuries, 172. — How to Destroy them, 172.—
Of the Wood-Tent Caterpillar, 173. — Their Webs for economical
purposes, 173. — Of the Span-Worms, 173. — Singularity of their
Legs, 17-to -Of the Canker-Worm, 174. — Its Ravages, 175. — Its
Metamorphosis, 175. — Of the Lime-Tree Span-Worm, 175. — Doc-
tor Harris's Remedies against the Injuries of these Insects, 176. —
Remedy of the "Manchester Guardian," 178. — Of the Apple-
Worm, 179. — Astonishing Phenomenon, 180. — Of the Bee-Moth,
181. — Po\\er of its Caterpillar, 181. — Operation of these Insects
in a Bee-Hive, 182. — Experiments on them, 182. — Means to De-
stroy them, 183. — Of the White Corn- Worm, or Grain-Moth, 184.
— Its Transactions, 184. — Abundance of them in Carolina, 185. —
Their Depredations, 185. — Means of destroying them, 185. — Of
the Carpet-Moth, 186. — Remedies against their Injuries, 186. —
Of Hawk-Moths or Sphinxes, 187. — Explanation of this Name,
187. — Of the Potato-Worm, 189. — Its frequent Destruction by
Ichneumon-Flies, 190. — How the Humming of Hawk-Moths is
produced, 190. — Terror produced in Europe by the Death's-Head
Hawk-]\Ioth, 191.— Of the Four-Horned Sphinx, 192.— Of the
Humming-Bird Sphinx, 193.— Of the Satellitia, 193.— Of Butter-
flies (Diurnal Lepidoptera), 194. — Works on Lepido])terous In-
sects, 195. — Injury and Use of them, 196. — Names of Butterflies,
197. — Countess Ragowska teaching her Children Geography, His-
tory, and Botany by means of an Entomological Cabinet, 197. —
Classification of Lepidoptera by Linnieus, 199. — Character of the
Genus Colias, 199.— Colias Philodice, 199.— Colias Edusa, 200.—
Colias Chrysotheme, 200. — Character of the Genus INIelitJsa, 200.
— Melitaea' Phaeton, 200. — Melitrea Tharos, 200. — Character of
the Genus Vanessa, 201. — Vanessa Antiope, or Mourning-Cloak,
201. — Its Injury, 201. — How the Tailors in France were converted,
202. — Vanessa Atalanta, or Admiral, or Mars, 202. — Vanessa
Cardui, or Thistle Butterfly, 204. — Vanessa C aureum, 205. —
Vanessa Progne, 205. — Vanessa J. album, 205. — Vanessa Mil-
berti, 205. — Vanessa Ccenia, 205. — Vanessa Huntera, 205. —
Character of the Genus Papilio, 206. — Trojan and Greek Knights,
206. — The Royal Highness and the German Peasant in New York,
206. — Destiny of old Buttei-flies, 206. — Use of the Aerial Knights,
206.— Their Tentacula, 207.— The Asterias Butterfly, 207.— Its
Cateri)illars called Parsley Worms, 208.— The Troilus, 208.— The
Philenor, 209.— The Ajax, 209.— The Calchas, 210.— The Poly-
damas, 210. — Generic Character of the Danaus, 211. — Danaus
Berenice, 211. — The Argynnis Idalia, 212. — The Argynnis Diana ;
Cvbele; Columbina; Myrina; Ossianus ; Polaris; Chariclea;
Bellona, 213.
Order V.— NET- WINGED INSECTS {NEUROPTERA).
Definition of them, 214. — Letter of Dr. Harris respecting their Clas-
sification, 214.— The Dragon-Fly, 217.— Description of it, 217. —
Its Utility, 218. — Heroism of a young Student, 219. — Note re-
ceived from a Lady, 220. — Division of Dragon-Flies into three
Genera, 221.— The' Genus Libellula, 222.— The Genus iEshna,
VI CONTENTS.
222.— The Genus Agrion, 222.— Their Eggs and Grubs, 222.—
How their Metamorphosis can be observed, 222. — The Water-
Moths, 223.— Description of them, 223.— Their Larvte, 223.—
Fabrication of their Swimming-Cases, 224. — The Horned Cory-
dalis, 22r).— The Day-Fly, 22G.— Its Larva, 227.— Wonderful ra-
pidity of Transformation, 227. — Enormous Number of Day-Flies,
228. — Their Usefulness, 228. — Splendid Amusement with them
by Candle-Light, 228. — Curious Phenomena with regard to their
Metamorphosis, 228. — Death of a Day-Fly and a Morning-Glorv,
229.
Order VI.— VEIN-WINGED INSECTS {HYMENOPTERA).
Character of this Order, 231. — Larvte and their Metamorphosis, 232.
— Their Power of fertilizing Plants, 233. — Lady Lihatchef's
Green-House, 233. — The Gall- Wasps, 234. — Excrescences on
Plants caused by them, 235. — Of Oak-Balls and other Galls, 235.
— Cvnips Oneratus, 236. — Cynips Seminator, 237. — Usefulness of
Gall-Wasps, 237.— The Ichneumon-Wasps, 237.— Their Useful-
ness, 237. — Pimpla Lunator, 238. — Ichneumon Asterise, 238. — Its
Sagacity, 240 —The Gold-AVasp, 240.— The Caterpillar-Killer, 240.
—The Mud-Wasp, 241.— The Hornet, 242.— Its ingeniouslv-built
Nest, 242.— The Pseudo-Caterpillars, 243.— The Elm-Tree" Saw-
Wasp, 244.— The Pigeon Tremex, 244.— The Ants, 246.— De-
scription of them, 246. —Males, Females, and Workers, 246.-—
Ingenious Activity of the Workers, 247. — Their intimate Friend-
ship with Plant-Lice, 247. — Ants are Omnivorous, 247. — Their
Larva, 247.— What Use is made of, 248.— The Formic Acid, 248.
— Flying Columns of Ants, 249. — Their Intelligence, mutual At-
tachment, and Language, 250. — War between two different Spe-
cies, 253. — Benefits and Injuries derived from Ants, 254. — Ter-
rible Ravages occasioned by Ants in Africa, 255. — The Visiting
Ants of America, 255. — Ant-Eaters and Armadillos in South
America and Scaly Lizards in Asia feeding on Ants, 256. — The
Honey-Bee, 256. — Swammerdam and Eeaumure the first Classic
Authors on Bees, 257. — Why Bees are the most precious Insects,
258. — Different Individuals of Bees in a Hive : viz.. Queen, Drones,
and Working Bees, 260. — Comparison of a Bee-Hive with a Mon-
archy, 260. — Occupations of the Queen Bee, 260. — Her Immacu-
late Conception, 261. — How the Eggs are fecundated, 261. —
Different Kinds of Bee-Hives, 265. — Bees in hollow Trees, 265. —
Hives of Straw, 265.— Bee-Boxes, 265.— Huber's Bee-Hive, 266.
— Patent Hives of North America, 266. — Sylvester Davis's Plat-
form Bee-Hive, 266. — How the Operations of Bees can be ob-
served, 267. — The laying of Eggs, 268. — Development of the Egg,
268. — Swarms or new Colonies of Bees, 269. — How to Hive a
Swarm, 269. — The Sting, its Venom and Remedies against, 271.
— Murderous Battles of the Bees, called tlie Massacre of the
Drones, 273. — Fatal Injuries done by Bees, 274. — How Wax and
Honey are collected, 274. — Instruments of Bees for performing
their Operations, 274. — Their horny Jaws, Proboscis, fore and
hind Legs, Fossa, 274. — Are Bees blind? 275. — Propolis and its
Use, 275. — The Pollen of Flowers is the real Food or Bee-Bread,
N
CONTENTS. Vll
but contains no Wax, 276, — The Pollen is manufactured into Wax
in their Stomachs, 276. — Honey is collected by them from the
Kectarium of Flowers, 277. — Which Plants are the best Pasture
for Bees? 277. — How they build their Combs, 278. — Wax and
Honev Harvest, 278. — How Honev and Wax are taken from the
Hive, 278. — Arguments for the ISutiocation of the Bees, 279. —
Arguments against the Suifocation, 281. — Methods to drive the
Bees from one Hive into the other, 282. — Hydropathic Remedy to
unite two hostile Parties, 283. — Large Profits obtained by Api-
culture, 284. — The Island of Corsica produced annually 400,000
Pounds of Wax and about eight millions of Honey, 284. — The
Kingdom of Hanover produces annually 300,000 Pounds of Wax
aiid over four million Pounds of Honey, 284. — Wax an important
Article of Commerce in Russia, 285. — Apiculture neglected in
England an 1 France, 285. — Produce of Wax and Honey in the
United States of North America, 285. — Apiculture a part of Edu-
cation in Germany, 285. — Apiculture theoretically and practically
taught in Germany, 285. — The patriotic Apiarian Society in Ba-
varia, 286. — Use of Wax and Honey, 287. — Honey a considerable
Article of Commerce, 287. — Honey used as Medicine, 287. — The
celebrated Honey -Cakes and Gingerbread of Nuremberg and
Pressburg, 288. — The Honey- Wine of Hungary, Austria, Poland,
and Russia, 288. — How Mead is prepared, 288. — How compound
Mead is prepared, 289. — Mr. Huish's Preparation of Mead, 290.
— How to imitate the Wines of Malaga and Muscat, and some
other Sweet Wines, by means of Mead, 292. — Method to prepare
very good Vinegar from Honey, 292.
Order VII.— TWO- WING ED INSECTS (DIPTERA).
Character of this Order, 294. — Injuries done by Flies, 295. — The
Horse Gad-FIy, or large Bot-Fly, 295. — How she deposes her Eggs
vxpon the Horse, 295. — How the Maggots are transjiorted to the
Stomach, 296. — Symptoms of their ])resence in a Horse, 296. —
Remedies against,'296. — The small red-tailed Bot-Fly, 29(5. — The
Ox Bot-Fly, 297. — Description of it, 297. — Deposition of the Eggs
of this Fly, and their Development, 297. — The Sheep Bot-Fly,
297. — Its Description, 297. — The Female deposits her Eggs on the
Nostrils, 297. — The Maggots creeping into the Frontal Cavity,
297. — Homeopathic cure of Epilei)sy in Ancient Times, 298. —
Homeopathic cure of other Diseases in Ancient Times, 298. — The
Horse-Flies, 299.— Description of their Sting, 299.— The Black
IIorse-Flv, 300.— The Belted Horse-Flv, 300.— The Lined Horse-
Fly, 300.— The House-Fly, 300.— Descrii)tion of it, 300.— How
they annoy rich and poor Peojile, 301. — Dejiosition of their Eggs,
30L— Their Metamorphosis, 301.— Their Diseases, 301.— Experi-
ment for observing their Development, 302. — Use of their fore
Feet, 302. — An innof-ent Remedy for killino: them, 302. — The
Meat-Fly, 302.— Descrii)tion of it, 302.— Their Maggots, 303.—
How quick they Grow, 303. — Remarks with regard to Corpses,
303. — The Hessian-Fly, 304. — Was it brought to this Country
from Germany? 304. — Arguments for and against, 304. — Descrip-
tion of this Insect, and its Development, 305. — Its Injuries, 305. —
Vlll CONTENTS.
Means of destroying it, 306. — The Cheese-Maggots, 306. — Eaten
by some Peoj)le as a Delicacy, 306. — Description of them, 307. —
The Flea, 308- — Argument that the Flea is a Dipterous Insect.
308. — Its Abode, and how to get clear of it, 308. — How F^leas orig-
inate, 308. — Process of their Develoi)mcnt, 309. — Descrijjtion of
the F'lea, 309. — Its astonishing muscular Power, 310. — Its native
Country, 310 — Dissatisfaction of a Prussian Emigrant, 310. — Of
the ISand-Flea, 311. — Description of it, 311. — Size of the Female,
312. — Her Injuries, 312. — A Capuchin Monk's unfortunate Ex-
periment, 313. — Of Mosquitoes, 313. — Sufferings from ^Mosquitoes
on the Bank of the Kuban, 314. — The Czernomorzi, or Cossacks
of the Black Sea, 314. — Telegraphs on the Frontier of Circassia,
315. — Hospitality of Cajitain Wasil Iwanovich, 316. — Mosquitoes
killing Horses, Oxen, Sheeji, and Hogs, 317. — Mosquitoes of the
Tropics of America, 317. — The Mosquito of North America, 318.
— Their Venom, and Remedies against it, 318. — Development of
their Eggs, 318.— Their Metamorjjhosis, 319.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
DRAWN FROM SPECIMENS IN THE CABINET OF THE
AUTHOR.
PAGE
1. Cicindela Repanda. — Repandous Tiger Beetle 18
2. Cicindela Sexguttata. — Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle 18
3. Coccinella Borealis. — Northern Lady-Bird 21
4. Cahsoma Scrutator. — Green Caterpillar-Hunter 24
5. Calosoma Calidum. — Red-Spotted Caterpillar-Hunter 2-4
6. Copris Coimifex. — Bronze Dung Beetle 35
7. Passalus Cornutiis. — Horned Passalus 39
8. Cetonia Inda. — Indian Cetonia 41
9. Amphicoma Vulphia. — Fox-like Cetonia 42
10. Silpha Americana. — Crusader Camon Beetle 46
11. Elater Occulatus. — Velvet-Spotted Spring Beetle 50
'12. Elater Noctilucus. — Lightning Spring Beetle 51
13. Clytus Pictus. — Painted Capricorn Beetle 55
14. Desmocerus Palliatus. — Cloak-Bearing Capricorn Beetle 57
15. Calandra Pahn^um. — Palm-Weevil 58
16. Eumolpus Auratus. — Gilded Dandy 61
17. Cicada Septemdecim. — Red-Eyed Cicada 65
18. Cicada Tibicen. — Lyerman 70
19. Cicada (Larva). — Grub of Cicada 71
20. Coreus Tristis. — Squash-Bug 81
21. Mevibracis. — Tree-Hopper 82
22. Gryllus Carolina. — Carolina Grasshopper 97
23. Platyphyllum Concavum. — l\Iale Katydid 106
24. Platyphyllum Concavum. — Female Katydid 107
25. Acheta Nivea. — Tree-Cricket 113
26. Saturnia lo {Larva). — Caterpillar of the Satnrnia lo 124
27. Safu7-nia lo. — Male Saturnia 135
28. Saturnia lo. — Female Saturnia 136
29. Papilio Astcrias {Larva). — Caterjiilhir of the Asterias 138
30. Papilio Asterias. — Asterias Butterfly 139
A2
X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
31. Attacus Cecropia. — Cecropia Moth 154
32. Attacus Cecropia (Larva). — Caterpillar of the Cecropia Moth 156
33. Attacus Cecropia (Pupa). — Cocoon of the Cecropia Moth.... 157
34. Attacus Cecropia {Silk). — Silk of the Cecropia Moth 158
35. Attacus Polyphemus. — Polypheme Moth 160
36. Attacus Luna. — Luna Moth 161
37. Attacus Promethea. — Promethea Moth, Male 162
38. Attacus Promethea. — Promethea Moth, Female 163
39. De'iope'ia Bella. — Beautiful Deiopeia 1 65
40. Arctia Virgo. — Virgin Tiger Moth 167
41. Arctia Virginica. — White Miller 168
42. Orgyia Leucostigma. — Rusty Vapor Moth 169
43. Orgyia L^eucostigma (Larva). — Caterpillar of Kusty Vapor
Moth 169
44. Sphinx Quinquemaculata. — Five-Spotted Hawk-Moth 188
45. Ceratomia Quadricomis. — Four-IIorned Sphinx 192
46. Sesia Pelasgus. — Humming-Bird Sphinx 193
47. Colias Phi Iodine. — Philodice .* 199
48. Melitcea Phaeton. — Phaeton 200
49. Vanessa Antiope. — Mourning-Cloak 201
50. Vanessa Atalanta. — Admiral 203
51. Vanessa Carc^zu.— Thistle Butterfly 204
52. Vanessa C aureum. — Golden C Butterfly 205
53. Papilio Troilus. —Troilus 208
54. Papilio Philenor. — Philenor 209
55. Danaus Berenice. — Berenice 211
56. Argynnis Idalia. — Idalia «, 212
57. Libellula. — Dragon-Fly 217
58. yEshna.—T)YQ.gou-¥\j 221
59. Agrion. — Dragon-Fly 222
60. Pupa Libellulce. — Grub of a Dragon-Fly 223
6 1 . Pupa I^hryganece. — Grub of a AVater-Moth 224
62. Corydalis Cornutus. — Horned Corydalis, Male 225
63. Corydalis Cornutus. — Horned Corydalis, Female 226
64. Cynips Oneratus. — Onerate Gall-Wasp 234
65. Cyn'ips Seminator. — Sower Gall-Wasp 236
66. Pimpla Lunator. — Long-Tailed Ichneumon-Fly 237
67. Ichneumon Asterif^. — Asterias Ichneumon-Fly 240
68. Sphex Pennsylvanica. — Mud-Wasp 241
69. Tremex Columba. — Pigeon Tremex 245
PRE FACTE,
Philosophy has invested even the commonest ob-
jects of Nature with charms unknown to the unedu-
cated. The conditions of our being are such, that we
are tied bj destiny to every object ; and the more in-
timate and appreciable the connection, the more inter-
esting and important to us becomes a full understand-
ing of our mutual relations and dependencies in the
vast arena of Life. ISTo part of Natural Science, there-
fore, can be considered unimportant or devoid of inter-
est. Still there are differences in our appreciation of
its individual parts, as there are differences in our tastes
and mental capacities. If we are accustomed, like the
sportive birds in their splendid plumage and graceful
motions, to look down upon the mammalia as the real
laboring class in the dominion of the Animal King-
dom ; if we despise the Reptiles on account of their
ugliness and the deadly venom which they contain,
still we may approach with pleasure the class of Fish-
es, the greatest part of which are excellent food, a
valuable article of commerce, and a great source of
wealth to many nations.
No branch of Natural History deserves a more care-
ful and thorough study than the class of Insects, be-
cause none is more abounding in use or injury to man.
Xll PREFACE.
The study and knowledge of the companions that
swarm around us on every tree and flower, in the air
about us, and on the earth beneath us, must be hn-
portant and interesting to every one, of whatever men-
tal capacity or taste. And it has been very generally
so considered, for the rich and poor, lettered and un-
lettered, the statesman and philosopher, manufacturer
and merchant, husbandman and horticulturist, clergy-
man and phj'sician, have often made this study the
principal occupation of their leisure hours.
There is no class of animals with which so many
persons have been occupied, and on which so many
valuable and splendid works have been published, as
on Insects, particularly Beetles and Butterflies. None
of Earth's creatures have attracted more universal ad-
miration than these. Many to whom the Book of Na-
ture is a sealed book have been enticed, by the splen-
dor of their color and their fairy -like motions, to hunt
for them in meadows, fields, and woods, to place them
as ornaments in rich frame-work upon the walls of
their parlors, or to nourish and raise them with the
greatest care in their rooms, that they may not lose a
single hair of their magnificent, variegated dress.
No class of animals presents so great diversity of
occupation and so many grades of society as the In-
sects. Here we see the industrious laborer busy at
his work, there the lazy lounging beggar ; here upon
the leafy boughs, or before the gates of their subter-
ranean abodes, myriads of musicians are playing their
fiddles, and there the skillful artist is building his won-
derful dwelling ; while above in the blue sky flutters
a high nobility, clad in gold, silver, purple, and silk,
fed on the nectar of flowers ; and on the earth below
PREFACE. Xlll
are lurking troublesome drones and disgusting para-
sites.
Now, although we have a great number of learned
men in our country who have distinguished them-
selves in the different branches of Natural History,
still few works have been published on the subject.
Much credit is due to Professor Godman for his excel-
lent work on American Mammalia, which has been
augmented by the late publications of Audubon ; also
to Wilson, Lucien Bonaparte, and Audubon, who, in
their splendid works, have minutely described the
North American Birds ; as well as to Professor Hol-
brook for his work on North American Eeptiles.
Still, in spite of all this, we have no general work on
North American Insects, except a few numbers of
the American Entomology, bj^ Thomas Say; Major
Leconte's Iconography of some genera of Butterflies ;
and Dr. Harris's elaborate report on the injurious In-
sects of Massachusetts.
It is time that our people in general, and particu-
larly our youth, should be made acquainted with a
class of animals which every where surround us, day
and night, and which furnish us amusement, food, col-
oring substances, and medicines, in order that they
m^y be able to distinguish the useful from the injuri-
ous ones, the harmless from the noxious, and to dis-
cover those which may furnish new articles for man-
ufactures, commerce, and domestic industry.
For these reasons I have yielded to the solicitations
of numerous friends, and am about to lay before the
North American public the fruits of my Entomolog-
ical investigations, pursued for many years during my
extensive travels in Europe, Asia, and on this Conti-
XIV PREFACE.
nent, and accompanied bj a tliorongli examination of
all the works published on this subject in the various
European languages.
To accomplish this, I am aware, will be attended
with no little difficulty ; for, as in the Mammalia and
Birds, so also among Insects, we have diurnal and noc-
turnal ones. Thus the Diamond Beetle shows its gold,
ruby, emerald, and hyacinth colors in the clear and
bright sunlight, and the same is the case with many
Butterflies, who are on that account called diurnal;
while the Hawk Moths, with a suspicious modesty, is-
sue from their dwellings, adorned with bridal dresses,
only at twilight ; and only toward midnight are seen
the gigantic Cecropia, and many others, in their vari-
egated cloaks, or the unicolored, unpretending Luna ;
and these Insects are hence called nocturnal. In or-
der to perfect the task, I have rambled many sunny
days and many tropical nights, guided by the dim and
twinkling lamps of heaven, through open fields, dark
woods, and damp meadows, stimulated by the satisfac-
tory assurance that these labors can not fail of being
useful to all students of Nature, and encouraged by
the hope that thus a way may be opened to a more
general knowledge of Natural History, and a deeper
admiration of the ten thousand sublime and beautiful
creatures that, in one common song of praise, pour out
their gratitude and proclaim their dependence upon
one common Father.
50RTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS.
The science which treats of Insects is called Entomology.
It shows us the division of Insects into different Orders,
Families, Genera, and Species. It makes us acquainted
with their external characteristics and their nature, their
injuries and their uses.
The name Insect is given to those small animals which
are invertebrated, that is, whose bodies are not supported by
a bony frame, but are composed of many rings or intersec-
tions jointed together. Hence the name Insect. Each of
these has at least six legs, when in a perfect condition.
Although Insects differ from the vertebrate animals, viz.,
from Beasts, Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes, which are provided
with a bony frame and red blood, still they are entirely
analogous to them in regard to many of their physical func-
tions, in nervous Sensation and Perception, in regard to Hes-
piration, which is effected by respiratory organs, or air-holes
placed on the hind-body, and in regard to Nutrition, which
is effected through a stomach and intestines.
Insects are found in the air, as, for instance, Butterflies ;
or in the water, as the whirling Water-beetle; or in the
ground, as the Sand-flea ; or on plants, as the Caterpillars ;
or upon the body of animals, as Ticks and other Spongers.
There is scarcely a plant or an animal which is not the
dwelling of some Insect. Hence the number of Insects
must be immense, and without exaggeration it may be said
that there are in existence more than a hundred thousand
16 . NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
different species. If we adopt the general rule, that on an
average tliree species of -Insects dwell on each species of
plants (and on some plants we find three or four times as
many), we can easily see that such an enormous number
can not prove too small an estimate, when we consider that
there are now known between forty and fifty thousand spe-
cies of plants.
The nourishment of Insects is as varied and different as
that of larger animals. A great number of them are car-
nivorous, and prey upon other insects ; or they feed on dirt,
dead bodies, or decayed wood, as the dung-beetles, flies, ants,
and the larvae of the stag-beetle ; or they feed on plants, as
the May-beetle, plant-lice, etc.
' In regard to the venom of Insects, we find a number of
them provided with organs for biting or stinging, which oc-
casion inflammatory tumors and poisoned wounds, which
are ofttimes dangerous, and sometimes fatal to man, as, for
instance, the sting of bees, wasps, and mosquitoes.
The faculty called Instinct, which belongs to all animals,
and by which, from an internal impulse, and without in-
struction, they perform certain actions tending to their own
support or that of their offspring, is also found in Insects,
as well as some faculties of the mind which would astonish
an observer. Thus, when the Tumble-beetle in vain tries
to roll its little ball up a hill, it runs for assistance, and
brings back with it two or three other ones who roll up the
ball in concert with it, but as soon as they have succeeded,
the assistants fly away, and the first one continues his work
alone. Bees, Wasps, and Ants defend themselves with great
courage, and woe to him who attacks a wasp's nest ! Some
flower-beetles, like opossums, pretend to be dead when you
catch them, or at your approach conceal themselves beliind
a leaf, or fall to the ground as if dead. Some have even
memory, and know perfectly well the one who takes care
of them, as, for instance, the Bees. The nests and dwell-
CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 17
ings of many Insects often surpass those of birds in the skill
displayed in their construction, etc., as the vespiaries, or
artificial dwellings of Wasps, or the tents of the Tent-cater-
pillar, or the variously constructed cocoons of Butterflies.
But we can not enlarge more upon these qualities, as they
will be mentioned in the descriptions of the different Insects.
According to the improved, ingenious arrangement of
Linna3us, Insects are divided into the following seven or-
ders, viz. :
I. Coleoptera. Beetles or Chafers. — All Insects widi homy
bodies, six legs, and four wings, of which the up-
per ones are horny, and the lower ones parch-
ment-like, as the Stag-beetle, May-beetle, etc.
II. Hemijitera. Bugs. — All Insects with four p.archment-like
wings, six legs, and who obtain their nourislimenc
by sucking with a movable proboscis, as the Ci-
cadas, Plant-lice, Bed-bugs, etc.
III. Orihopiera. Straight- winged Insects. — Insects with four
parchment-like wings, of which the upper ones
overlap on the back, and the two under ones are
thin and folded together like a fan. They differ
from those of the preceding order in that they
have strong jaws instead of a movable proboscis,
as, e. g., the Grasshopper, Cricket, and many
others.
IV. Lepidoptera. Butterflies, Hawk-moths, and jMoths. — In-
sects with four expanded wings, covered with col-
oi*ed farinaceous scales.
V. Neuroptera. Net-winged Insects. — Those which have four
transparent, net-woven, or lattice-like wings, as
the Dragon-fly, etc.
VI. Ilymenoptera. Vein-avinged Insects. — "With four transparent,
veined wings, and generally provided with a ven-
omous sting, as Bees, "Wasps, etc.
VII. Diptera. Two-winged Insects. — As Flics and Mosqui-
toes.
ORDER I.
BEETLES— ( COLEOPTERA).
Figure 1. Figure 2.
Repandous Tiger Beetle. Six-spotted Tiger Beetle.
Of the class of Insects the Beetles {Coleoptera) occupy,
without doubt, the highest rank, as far as regards their ex-
ternal construction. Their whole body is covered with a
horny skin, and divided into a head, chest {thorax), and
hind-body {abdomen). Their organs of mastication are two
nippers or jaws, with an upper and an under lip. The
" feelers" {antennae) are probably the organs of hearing.
The under wings, which are like parchment, are so com-
pletely covered by two horny upper wings that they seem
to form one solid mass with the body, which is not the case
with any other order of Insects. In other animals of this
class the wings from their position, form, and substance,
are so different from their bodies, that they seem more like
accidental appendages.
Beetles are all oviparous, and undergo a perfect trans-
formation, or metamorphosis. From the egg proceeds a
soft-bodied grub or maggot ; for instance, the larva of the
May-beetle, provided with six legs, and the larvae of the
ORDER I. BEETLES. 19
Weevils, having no legs, but all with a horny head and
jaws. These larv^ in a shorter or longer time change into
cocoons (pupce) covered with a thin, transparent skin, out
of which emerges the perfect Beetle.
Larvee are like infant children, whose only occupation
consists in eating, that they may grow and fulfill their des-
tiny ; but as they approach the time when they must appear
in society as perfect creatures, they transform themselves
into a cocoon (pupa), and sleep until Nature has clad them
w^ith a new and splendid dress, and furnished them with
glistening wdngs to appear as respectable objects in the
fashionable world of Insects.
In the nourishment of Beetles something; more than the
mere preservation of the individual seems to have been de-
signed, and in many instances it would appear as if some
were created for the express purpose of consuming un-
healthy organized matter. Thus we find also the carnivo-
rous Beetles beneficial to man by devouring other noxious
insects, and even carrion — thus destroying decayed animal
substances which would otherwise prove a fertile source of
unhealthy exhalations. Beetles which feed on leaves, wood,
fruits, and grain, are herbivorous, and are generally noxious
to man. But even here we find Nature's great doctrine of
compensation fully carried out. If we find many genera
of insects (which is the case principally among the noxious
Butterflies) so prolific that, if allowed to increase, they
would devour all the vegetables on earth, and thus destroy
all living beings by famine, we at the same time see how
the Great Ruler of Nature has prevented their increase by
making them the proper food of others.
The number of insects which feed on others is immense.
But, in spite of the numberless enemies of their own class,
they have still others. There are a countless host of in-
sects tliat often destroy the trees, bushes, and vegetables of
our gardens, fields, and forests, by catin"; their leaves, and
20 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
such arc very generally despised on that account, much as
we may admire their beautiful colors and motions. If we
were able, wc would destroy them all at once. But we
forget that our trees, with all their beautiful foliage, are not
more pleasing to us than the feathered warblers that build
their nests on the branches, and gladden us with their happy
sono-s. We should take from our aji'oves and forests half
their charm if we were to expel our Robins, Thrushes,
Mocking-birds, Jays, Orioles, Tanagres, Finches, Black-
birds, Cedar-birds, and many hundred others. And yet,
were we to annihilate Caterpillars, our gardens, woods, and
fields would soon be abandoned by the whole feathered tribe
who feed on them, and melancholy sadness shroud the abodes
of man. Ardently, then, would we long for the return of
the noxious Caterpillars, and with them the joyous song-
sters of the forest. In like manner, we ignorantly despise,
and contrive means to destroy many birds who devour our
vegetables, without considering that they rid us of a much
greater evil in destroying millions of mice and noxious in-
sects — so beautifully is the doctrine of compensation illus-
trated througrhout the Animal Kinofdom, as well as in all
the objects of Nature.
Now among the Beetles of prey, which feed on other liv-
ing insects, I mention first the handsome Lady-bird {Coc-
cinella), which is quite small, of a discoid form, and for the
most part yellow or red, with or without spots ; but some
species are black. They look like colored turtles, and are
known to every child. But few persons know that these
little creatures are of great service in the economy of Na-
ture. They are found upon all those trees and shrubs
which are infested with the plant-lice {Aphis) which are so
injurious to peach, pear, apple, and plum trees, and others,
as well as rose-bushes and other shrubs, and they make
their principal food of these disgusting and destructive
creatures.
ORDER I. BEETLES. 21
The grubs {larvce) of the Lady-birds are much the most
voracious, and on that account are armed with two very
powerful jaws. They creep along on the leaves and
branches of plants until they find plant-lice, among which
they then ravage like wolves in a sheep-fold. When full
grown, their body is generally half an inch long, of an ob-
long form and bluish colo?, with four or six yellow spots,
which generally become black spots upon the red wing-
covers of the perfect insect. They remain in the condition
of larvae about two weeks, when they fasten themselves upon
a leaf, cast their skin, and metamorphose themselves into a
variegated or ash-colored short cocoon, from which the per-
fect Lady-bird issues in about a fortnight.
A great variety of these insects are found throughout the
whole world, but the largest species we
have in North America is the Northern
Lady-bird {Coccinella borealis, Fig. 3),
which is principally found upon the leaves
of the Pumpkin vine, and several other
species of gourd (Cucwbifacea'). Here
they feed in company with their grubs,
, ^1 , o p ,, 1 ^ Xortliern Lady-bird.
not on the leaves oi any oi these plants,
as many believe, but on the plant-lice and the larvce of the
Squash-bug which abounds on those vines.
Many other species of this genus, which are found in this
country, are named according to the number and form of
the spots on their wing-covers. Thus we have
Coccinella bi-punctata,
.. . ,- and many others.
" immaciilata, (
ursina.
s
" novem-punctata,
These Beetles were, several years ago, recommended as a
superior remedy for tooth-ache, which was said to be im-
mediately cured by putting one or two mashed Lady-birds
into the hollow tooth. I tried this application in two in-
22 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Stances, and the tooth-ache was immediately relieved ; but
whether the remedy, or the faith of the patient, acted ther-
apeutically, or the tooth ceased aching of itself, I confess
I do not pretend to know. Thousands of these insects may
be gathered in summer with the greatest ease, and may be
kept for many years in a bottle of alcohol, and if any one
wishes to test the therapeutic value of the Coccinella he can
try it.
Popular superstitions are sometimes beneficial in their
results, and this has often been the case with the animals
of which we speak. Thus the ancient Egyptians regarded
as sacred a certain Dung Beetle {Scarabceus Sacer), because
by feeding on putrid substances, and consuming them, it
purified the air, and thus proved beneficial to man. For the
same reason the Turkey-buzzard, on account of its destroy-
ing carrion, and the Ibis, on account of its devouring snakes,
were considered as protected by the Gods. The Lady-birds
have likewise been held in high estimation from the remot-
est ages. In Germany they have been called Frauen, or
Marien-Kafer (Lady Beetles of the Virgin Mary) ; and in
France Vaches de Dieu, or Betes de la Vierge (Cows of the
Lord, or Animals of the Virgin).
Persons who have plants in their conservatories infested
with plant-lice will easily get rid of them, and preserve
their plants, by putting a number of Lady-birds, or their
grubs, upon the plants. A very simple and a sure remedy
for a very troublesome evil.
The Tiger Beetle, another Beetle of prey, is so called
on account of its variegated color and its rapacious propen-
sity to devour every insect that comes in its way. It acts
like the tiger among Mammalia, the hawk among Birds,
the crocodile among Reptiles, or the shark among Fishes.
They are ravenous wolves among insects, feeding on cater-
pillars, flies, other species of beetles and rain-worms, and
will even devour one another when shut up together, which,
ORDER I.— BEETLES. 23
however, is done by all the insects, probably enraged at the
idea of being made prisoners.
These Beetles have a cylindrical neck, an oval and flat
abdomen, their wing-covers flat, their head thick, with large
round eyes, long denticulated jaws, thread-like feelers, and
their whole body is ornamented with the most splendid col-
ors. They may be seen running upon dry, sandy ground,
particularly at noon on sunny, warm days, but when one
approaches them they fly away so quickly that it is quite
diflicult to catch them ; they, however, soon alight again.
When taken between the fingers, they discharge from their
mouth a brown, fetid liquid, which has the odor of rancid
grease. Their strong, pointed, and crossing jaws enable
them to kill other insects with ease.
Their grubs are soft and white, but are provided with
powerful jaws, and have the same rapacious nature as their
parents. They dig perpendicular holes in the ground, and
when driven by hunger come up just so as to have their
round heads cover the entrance of their retreat, and here
they wait until some insect passes over the hole, when they
seize him in a moment and drasr him into their cavern.
The Tiger Beetles, of which there exists many species in
the United States varying in color and size, destroy a great
multitude of noxious insects, and hence deserve to be re-
spected and protected.
The two species of Tiger Beetles represented in Figs. 1
and 2 {Cicindela repanda, and C. sexguttata) were found
near Cranston, Rhode Island, upon the sandy plains in the
vicinity of the Stonington Railroad, but they are also found
in all the Middle, Southern, and Western States of the
Union, and with them many other kindred species.
The Tiger Beetles, or Cicindela^, belong to a large family
called "Carabi," wliich Dr. Bonelly (Mem. de Turin, 1809)
has divided into many genera, and after him Professor
Latreillo (in Cuvier's Regne Animal) into many more ; and
24 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Count Dejean has written many volumes describing only
their different forms.
Figure 4. Figure 5.
Green Caterpilhir-liuiite:-. Red-spotted Caterpillar-liuntcr.
The handsome Caterpillar-hunters {Calosoma scruta-
tor, Fig. 4, and C. calidum, Fig. 5) belong to the same
family. I have given them this name because they may
be seen every morning and evening upon the branches of
trees, looking out for caterpillars and devouring them.
The real Carabi, which these animals resemble, are also
distinguished by the same carnivorous habits, by their mag-
nificent colors, and by generally being found under stones,
or running swiftly over the sandy soil, on which latter ac-
count the Germans called them Sandlaufer (Sand-runners).
The countries of Europe produce a greater variety of these
animals, principally in the Alps and all other mountainous
regions; and the splendid, blue-colored, large Carabus {Pro-
crustes violaceus) still brings to my mind the most pleasing
recollections of the disinterested hospitality and affectionate
kindness of the Tartars who dwell in the lovely Peninsula
of the Crimea. It was in the month of June, 1825, that I
visited that delightful country. The romantic valley of
Baidar, covered with luxuriant and variegated flowers, and
ORDER I. BEETLES. 25
a great variety of the most beautiful insects, offered me an
immense field for collecting plants and insects, a catalogue
of which I published in St. Petersburg in 1827. On the
first excursion I made in that country, I was followed at
a distance by a dozen mysterious-looking young Tartars,
who, as soon as they perceived me picking up those violet-
colored carabs from under the stones, and putting them
into a vial, suddenly all disappeared. But judge of my as-
tonishment, on my return in the evening, in finding a crowd
of Tartars in front of my house. Had I been less ac-
quainted with the kind feeling of those people, and par-
ticularly their hospitality toward strangers, I should cer-
tainly have witnessed that crowd with some alarm. But
as I approached the house, a number of them walked sol-
emnly toward me, the right hand on the breast, as a sign
of salutation, and with the left presented me jars filled
with these splendid carabs, as a token of their affection for
me.
JSTor was this all ; for two days after, when I left Baidar
for Theodosia, and when almost ten miles distant from the
former place, I heard behind me the swift trotting of horse-
men, and, turning round, met one of those friendly Tartars
of Baidar, who had followed me for the purpose of present-
ing me another jar full of those carabs. No persuasion
could induce any one of these Mohammedans to accept the
least recompense for any service or for my board ; and in
all their villages and towns I was exceedingly annoyed by
the inhabitants, for every one offered his house as my resi-
dence, from the tolerant Mullah, or Mohammedan priest,
to the unsophisticated country peasant of Jenicale and
Kertsch — the industrious manufacturers in the cities of
Baktschiserai or Achmetschet, as well as the opulent mer-
chant of Kosloff, All vied with each other in showing
hospitality and munificence to the stranger. Would that
stranger could repay them !
B
26 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
It may seem a long digression, but the lovely insects of
that place, as they appear in my cabinet, or are pictured
forth on canvas for the inspection of my readers, excite in
me a thousand grateful emotions, that " come crowding
thickly up for utterance." It is worth a visit to the Pen-
insula of the Crimea to behold these beautiful insects; it
ten times repays one to make the acquaintance of its lovely
inhabitants. The climate there is an eternal spring. The
undulating soil .is rich in all kinds of delicious fruits and
vegetables — the scenery highly romantic, consisting of an-
cient castles in ruins, at the foot of which are seen domestic
camels, and on the open fields before them herds of four-
horned sheep. Here is
" The land of the cedar and vine,
"Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine ;
Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit,
And the voice of the nightingale never is mute ;
Where the tints of the earth and the hues of the sky.
In color though varied, in beauty may vie,
And the purple of ocean is deepest in dye ;
Where the virgins arc soft as the roses they twine,
And the spirit of man is all but divine !"
Although this terrestrial paradise now belongs to Russia,
and its inhabitants have lost their national independence,
still they have preserved their genuine Caucasian beauty ;
and while gazing with admiration upon them, it has often
occuiTcd to me that the Apollo of Belvedere, the Venus de
Medicis, and the Madonna of Raphael must have been ac-
curate copies of the men and women of the Crimea.
Their morals are not less to be admired than their beau-
ty. Drunkenness, quarreling, riots, and murders are en-
tirely unknown there. You may travel unarmed and laden
with riches, from one end of the country to the other, with-
out being molested ; such a thing as a thief is never heard
of there ; and every where, in the cottage and in the palace,
ORDER I. BEETLES. 27
you will be hospitably received and entertained as an old
friend. If the rest of the world were more like the poor
people of the Crimea, " 'twould be something." That coun-
try was conquered at the end of the last century by the fa-
mous Potemkin, the favorite of Catharine II., and its sov-
ereign, the Khan, sent a prisoner to St. Petersburg, where
he died.
In this connection, and at the risk of still further digress-
ing from the subject-matter of this work, I feel it a duty in-
cumbent upon me not to let this opportunity pass without
doing an act of simple justice to the memory and the char-
acter of one of the most distinguished Naturalists of his
time, Pallas, long a resident of the Crimea.
Only a short time since, the Hon. Samuel Arnold, Lieu-
tenant-governor of Rhode Island, handed me Mr. Ditson's
Avritten work, entitled " Circassia, or a Tour to the Cau-
casus," in which I was surprised to find some statements
which I knew to be erroneous, and which I can only ac-
count for from the superficial and one-sided view of thing's
a traveler is liable to take who rapidly passes through a
country and receives his impressions from only partial
sources. But the erroneous impressions which Mr. Ditson
conveys with regard to the world-renowned Naturalist,
Pallas, particularly demand correction from me, because,
during my residence in St. Petersburg, I was acquainted
with his most intimate friends, and familiarly knew his
whole life and character. Besides, afterward, at Simpher-
opol, in the Crimea, in 1825, I was hospitably received and
entertained by Madame Caroline Ivanowna Pallas, the wid-
ow of that distinguished Philosopher, and from her own lips,
of course, acquired the most accurate and reliable informa-
tion with regard to herself and her husband.
Speaking of Baktschiserai, the former residence of the
Khans of the Crimea, Mr. Ditson says: " In this vicinity
lived Pallas, who came here and wrote his famous book of
28 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
travels, and so pleased the Empress Catharine by the glow-
ing description he gave of the country, that she thought she
could not reward him better than by giving him a portion
of it, with an income of two thousand rubles. Pallas con-
sidered it but as a species of exile, and was overwhelmed.
He saw that he was the dupe of a simple desire to make the
newly-acquired territory grateful to his sovereign, and he
sat himself down, 'without the power or courage to com-
plain, suffering in body and mind till the shades of an un-
endino; nicfht vailed him from the world."
Now the facts are these : Professor Pallas, Member of
the Imperial Academy of Science at St. Petersburg, Coun-
cilor of State, and Knight of several Orders, was born in
1741, at Berlin, where he acquired a distinguished reputa-
tion by his researches and writings on Natural History.
When the Empress Catharine II. of Russia learned the
fame of this great man, and his eminence in his department
of science, she invited him to her court, and then proposed
to him, as a Naturalist, to survey Siberia, the Crimea, and
the Cis and Trans-Caucasian provinces. He accepted her
proposition, and spent several years in traveling through
the countries, all the while being recompensed in a prince-
ly mannei" by the Empress, and journeying in the greatest
style and expense. His many classical and valuable works
with regard to the Zoology and Botany of those provinces,
published in French, German, and the Russian languages,
were the result of his extensive labors, and to this day at-
test his eminent ability in the department of Natural His-
tory.
On his return to St. Petersburg he offered to sell his
large collection of natural productions for the sum of fif-
teen thousand rubles ; but when the Empress heard of it
she wrote him, telling him that he knew very well how to
write a learned work, but that he did not know how to
make a calculation, for his cabinet was worth twenty thou-
ORDER I. BEETLES. 29
sand rubles, and that she would be purchaser of it at that
price under one condition, viz., that the cabinet should re-
main in his house for his use as long as he lived. Accord-
ingly, she accompanied her letter to Pallas with the twenty
thousand rubles.
This delicate and munificent present of the Empress was
followed by her settling upon him large estates in the
Crimea, where he preferred to reside ; but a great portion
of these estates he sold, after the death of the Empress, to
the famous Armenian, Natarra, who owned the large crown-
diamond of Shack Nadir of Persia, which was purchased by
Catharine, and is still now seen in the Hermitage among
the other crown-jewels.
In view of all these facts, we can not imderstand how
Pallas became a dupe of the Russian Government, or could
consider himself as exiled to the Crimea, a's Mr. Ditson says.
It Yv'as not so, as he resided there only when he preferred
it ; and after the death of the Empress, when he was over
sixty years old, he became anxious to see his fatherland
once more. Accordingly, he settled on his wife, who pre-
ferred to remain there, a very fine estate near Simpheropol,
and he went to Berlin, his native place, where he died at
the age of seventy years.
Pallas was twice married. He had by his first wife only
one daughter, who was married to Count Wimpfen, a Gen-
eral in the Russian army, who was killed, in 1805, on the
battle-field of Austerlitz. His second wife was still alive,
and resident in the Crimea, in 1825, when I was there.
Although over sixty years of age, she was the life of soci-
ety, a lady of great intellectual attainment, and an accom-
plished scholar. She spoke fluently the Russian, French,
Italian, German, and Tartar languages.
We have already remarked, in the lives of the Insects
under consideration, that they afford a constant evidence
of the working of Nature's great law of antagonization —
30 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
the one undoing what the other docs; the injuries which
one species would inflict upon man are checked by other
species, which prevent their superabundance, and keep an
even balance in the scale of being.
Hence this law of antagonization is, in its effects, the"
law of Compensation. Thus we see Tiger Beetles, Carabi,
Lady-birds, and many other Coleoptera, destined to benefit
mankind by devouring other insects which are noxious. Of
these we have already spoken. But a mere negative use-
fulness is not the only one belonging to this order. There
are also many other Beetles which render us the greatest
service by devouring putrid substances, carrion, decomposed
fermenting plants, mushrooms, dung, and decayed wood, as,
for instance, the Dung Beetles, Carrion Beetles, and many
others.
Now the food cf Beetles in general has suggested to us
the idea of dividing them into three Natural Families, ac-
cording to the nourishment which they subsist upon, and
this division seems to us the simplest, most uniform, and
the most rational, as well as the only really natural divi-
sion. Accordingly, I classify all the Coleoptera under one
of the three folio win o; families :
1. Carnivorous Beetles, which, like Lions and Tigers among Beasts,
prey upon living Insects ; as presented in Figure 3.
2. Scavenger Beetles, which live on putrid matter, carrion, decayed
wood, and plants ; as those represented in Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, and
10.
3. Ilerhivorous Beetles, which feed on Plants and Fruits, as Snout
Beetles, or ^Yeevils, Capricorn Beetles, etc.
The first two families are useful to man, and deserve our
protection ; but the last are noxious, and should be de-
stroyed wherever encountered.
The distinguished French Entomologist, Latreille, divided
Beetles into five tribes, according to the number of joints
found on their feet. Thus he called those tliat have five
ORDER I. BEETLES. 31
joints, Pentamera ; those with four on the hind feet and five
on the fore feet, Heteromera; those with four, Tetramera;
with three, Trimera ; and those with two joints, Dimera.
This division, although as convenient as the artificial
classification of Plants by Linnseus, according to the num-
ber of stamens, is still subject to the same incongruities.
Both in the system of Latreille and in that of Lianseus, we
find aiTanged in one and the same class individuals which
do not and can not coincide with each other, neither in
their external form nor in their nature. Thus, in the Lin-
ncean system, the Crocus and Wheat occur in the same
class, Triandria, simply because each of these plants has
three stamens ; but what an immense difference is there be-
tween them in their properties, and even in their external
forms! Many others occur in the same class which are
equally incongruous. So also in the artificial system of
Latreille. The Tiger Beetles and the May Beetles belong to
one and the same family, which he calls Pentamera, because
both have five joints on their feet ; but they are very unlike
each other in their forms and in their natural disposition ;
the one is carnivorous, the other herbivorous; the one is
useful, the other injurious to vegetation. For these reasons
we prefer our natural classification according to their food,
and hence according to their natural disposition. Of the
first family, the Carnivorous Beetles, we have already spok-
en, and we proceed to the second family.
Scavenger Beetles.
The body of most all of the Scavenger Beetles is very
hard, and their feet very strong, adapted for digging. They
deposit their eggs in manure, or rotten wood, or carrion, or
in the ground, and in some instances the grubs ilarva^)
proceeding from these eggs live several years in these sub-
stances before they are metamorphosed into perfect beetles,
as in the case with the Stag l>eetlc.
32 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
In this family we find the largest Beetles, as, for instance,
the Hercules of South America, which is five inches long.
Many of them, also, are remarkable for their veiy singular
forms. Upon their thorax or head we generally notice sev-
eral horns, which are used to facilitate the process of dig-
ging, and the antennas in many of them terminate in a
knob, which consists of from three to seven leafy pieces
(lameUce), which they fold or unfold at pleasure, like a fan.
These last are on this account called LamellicorJics.
Notwithstanding some of these insects dwell in the most
disgusting and filthy abodes, from which also they lake
their nourishment, they are still very clean in their appear-
ance, and generally very bright in their color. Their olfac-
tory organs are very powerful and of great extent, for
scarcely a horse or cow drops its dung in a pasture but we
see them flying to it from all directions, digging themselves
into it, working it up, and making holes under it in the
ground, into which they deposit their eggs, or making balls
of it like the Tumble-bug.
The larva3 of these insects live under ground, and feed
on the parts of their dwellings, viz., on manure, decayed
wood or carrion, or roots. They are of a cylindrical form,
somewhat thicker behind, and round, and consist of twelve
generally pale yellow-colored ringlets : their head is horny ;
they have two strong jaws and six legs. On each side
of the body are the breathing organs, consisting of nine
holes, the same as in caterpillars. Their back is generally
curved, and hence they can not stretch themselves out or
walk upon level ground. Many of them live in this seem-
ingly pitiful condition for several years before they change
into a cocoon (jnipa) ; then, with the material of their
dwellings, which they anoint with a gelatinous substance
coming from their bodies, they form an oblong cocoon, into
which they gather themselves, and remain safe from all ex-
ternal influences, until after a longer or shorter time their
ORDER I. BEETLES. 33
metamorphosis is complete, and they emerge as perfect
Beetles.
A number of such larvas were considered by the ancient
Romans as a wholesome and delicious article of food, and
even fried and eaten by them, in the same manner as the
inhabitants of the West India Islands now do with the
Palm-worm, which is a disgusting-looking, fat larva, from
three to five inches long. This larva lives in the stem of
the Palm-tree, usually in the Cabbage Palm {Ai-eca olera-
ced), and afterward changes into a black weevil two inches
long {Calandra palmarwn), which, however, belongs to the
herbivorous Beetles, of which we shall speak hereafter.
The gigantic beetles of this family, some of which are
from three to five inches long, are found in the tropics of
America, Asia, and Africa, and, from their size and mag-
nificent colors, as well as from the oddity of their appear-
ance in contrast with those of other climes, form great or-
naments in an Entomological cabinet. Tliey are as rare in
the insect world as are the Elephants, Khinoceroses, and
River Horses among beasts ; and enthusiastic entomolo-
gists have often paid very considerable sums of money for
them.
It is not wonderful, then, that these beautiful ornaments
of Creation have so excited the admiration of scientific men
as to lead to a complete mania for collecting and preserv-
ing them — as actually to make the observation of Insects,
and the^study of their nature and use, the ruling passion of
their lives. The immortal Reaumurc established on his es-
tate houses, or rather nurseries, for insects, and paid serv-
ants for attending to tliem, he himself watching them night
and day, in order to become perfectly acquainted with their
manner of living. Plis " Memoires des Inscctes," publish-
ed in Paris, 1734, abound with the most curious and inter-
esting observations.
General Count Dejeau, Aid-de-camp to Napoleon Bona-
B 2
34 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
parte, was so anxious to increase the number of specimens
in his entomological cabinet, that he even availed himself
of his militarj campaigns for this purpose, and was con-
tinually occupied in collecting insects and fastening them
with pins on the outside of his hat, which was always cov-
ered with them. The Emperor, as well as the whole army,
were accustomed to see General Dejeau's head thus singu-
larly ornamented even when in battle. But the departed
spirits of those murdered insects once had their revenge on
him ; for, in the battle of Wagram, in 1809, and while he
was at the side of Napoleon, a shot from the enemy struck
Dejeau's head, and precipitated him senseless from his
horse. Soon, however, recovering from the shock, and be-
ing asked by the Emperor if he was still alive, he answer-
ed, " I am not dead ; but, alas ! my insects are all gone !"
for his hat was literally torn to pieces. Six years after
this, in 1815, I met Count Dejeau as an exile at Fiume,
on the Adriatic, and made several entomological excursions
with him.
The celebrated Prince Paul of "Wiirtemberg, another pas-
sionate Naturalist, whom I met in 1829 at Port-au-Prince,
being one day at my house, shed tears of envy when I show-
ed him the gigantic beetle ActceoUj which, only a short time
before, had been presented to me by the Haytien Admiral
Banajotti, he having found it at the foot of a Cocoa-nut
Palm-tree on his plantation.
The Bronze Dung Beetle {Cojiris carnifex). — This is
one of the most splendid Scavenger Beetles of North Amer-
ica, and is found in horse and cow dung on our roads, and
in our meadows and pastures. It is about three-quarters
of an inch long, and has a short, vaulted body without
a scutel, that is, without that little triangular horny plate
between the upper parts of the two wing-covers, which we
find in so many others; for instance, in the Cctonia (Figs.
8 and 9). Its antenna3 are short, and terminate in a knob
ORDER I. BEETLES. 35
composed of leaf-like pieces, -which can be folded or unfold-
ed, like a fan, at the pleasure of the ani-
' ' ^ Figure 6.
mal. The thorax and head are external-
ly chased, and of an antique bronze color.
The head is semicircular, with a purple
border on the margin, and in the male
with a short perpendicular horn. The
wing-covers are striated, and of a change-
able green color. The feet black, hairy, The Bronze Dung
and strong, calculated for digging holes. ^*^' '^'
This Beetle, like all others of this family, contributes
much toward purifying the air, by feeding on putrid, un-
wholesome substances. It acts in the same manner, and
produces the same effect, as those larvae of insects which
live in the water and purify it. The experiment of Lin-
nseus is perhaps familiar to all. He filled two vessels with
fetid, putrid water, and into one he put the larvae of Gnats,
Dragon-flies, and Ephemeras, and left the other standing.
In a short time the water in the first vessel, which was full
of larvae, was found pure, and entirely devoid of smell, while
the other continued as fetid and as putrid as before. This
experiment can be repeated to the satisfaction of every one
who chooses to make it.
The Bronze Dung Beetle is found in great numbers dur-
ing the latter part of summer and in the autumn, more in
the Southern and Western States than in the North and
East, and for the very obvitDus reason that its presence is
more wanted in the warmer climates, where the air is more
apt to become infected by decayed and putrid matter.
Another use may be made of this insect, and one which
I may mention particularly for the young ladies and gentle-
men who may read these pages. By taking off its hand-
some wing-covers, thorax, and head, and gluing them close
to each other on the outside of a fancy box, you will have
a beautifully variegated surface, glistening with green and
36 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
red, which will shine brilliantly when varnished, and will
excite the curiosity of every one. If you can not find
wins-covers enough of this insect, take those also of Ti-
ger Beetles, Lady-bugs, Carabi, Cetonias, and a hundred
others with bright colors, and you will have a variety of
colors such as Nature only can paint, and such as can not
fail to captivate the eye of every observer, or to reward you
for your trouble. Such occupation would form a delight-
ful amusement for the long winter evenings ; and while
storms and snows are raging without, what more genial
employment than to be admiring the creatures of a sunny
clime and studying the character and uses of these spangled
ornaments of Nature's tropical dress !
Now, in order to accomplish this, you must amuse your-
selves during the summer by catching Beetles and preserv-
ino; them. You will find hundreds of them runnino; in the
roads, or concealed under stones, or sitting on the leaves of
plants, or flying in the air. If you keep your windows open
during the warm nights also, those insects which are active
only at night will fly into the room toward the light, and
may thus be taken by the hand, for none of the Beetles are
venomous. But in order to preserve them and make them
die as quick as possible, you must be provided with a wide-
mouthed bottle (a horse-radish vial answers this purpose
very well), containing a small quantity of whisky or dilute
alcohol, and put them into it as soon as caught. When
they are dead take them out, and stick a long pin or needle
through the right wing and body, so far that their legs can
not touch the bottom, and then place them in a box the
bottom of which is lined with beeswax or cork. In order
to prevent the entrance of destructive living insects, it is
also necessary to stick a pin in each corner of the box, with
a piece of sponge on it, which you must from time to time
saturate with spirits of camphor. Beetles may be also kept
in a vial of whisky or alcohol, and thus be preserved for
ORDER I. BEETLES. 37
many years, and transported thousands of miles without in-
jury. I have been thus particular in these details because
I am often asked how to catch and preserve these insects.
Another species of Dung Beetle, very beneficial in the
same way, and well known to every child, is the funny
Tumble-bug, or Pellet Beetle (Ateuchus volve?is), which is
found in all the States of the Union, and in fact similar
ones are found in all parts of the world. Pliny, speaking
of that species which is found in Italy, says : '^Aliucl scara-
hcEorwn genus, qui e Jimo mge7ites jnlos aversis 2Jedihus vohitant,
parvosqiie in iis contra rigorem hiemis vermiculos foetus sui ni-
dulantury
The Pellet Beetle of North America is half an inch long,
of a black, and some of them of a changeable green or pur-
ple color, exhaling a fetid odor, slightly resembling that of
musk. These Beetles are complete models of industry and
parental care, for they are continually occupied in making
small balls of fresh manure, about the size of a common
marble, which they mix with earth, and into which they
deposit an egg. As soon as the ball is dry they roll it and
roll it, until they find a convenient place for making a hole
two or three feet deep, into which they roll it, and then
bury np their offspring, the precious object of so much
care.
The ancient Egyptians were so convinced of the benefit
derived from these insects, that they considered Pellet Bee-
tles as sacred, and usually represented them in their tem-
ples, obelisks, and statues. They are also found even in
their mummeries. The Ateuchus sacer of the Egyptians,
however, although of the same character and habits as our
Pellet Beetle, is twice as large, and is also black. It is
found not only in Egypt ; I saw it also in France, Italy,
the Crimea, and along the Caucasus.
We come now to a species of insects which are in rather
bad repute among farmers, because they feed on decayed
38 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
wood, and because some of them deposit their eggs in the
crevices of the bark of many trees. I do not here speak
of the destructive Wood-borers or Weevils, but only of those
insects which feed on decayed or rotten wood ; and if our
farmers call these creatures wood-destroyers, I think the
beetles may with more propriety apply the epithet to the
farmers themselves, who really destroy an immense amount
of timber unnecessarily, and even hire men to help them do
so. I allude to the common practice of inclosing our lands
with expensive wood fences, which, indeed, may be neces-
sary in a newly-settled country like the Far West, but
which are not at all necessary in our old, well-cultivated
States.
I am aware that this subject has been somewhat agitated
of late among agriculturists, and I trust these remarks may
reach the ears of some who will be convinced, with me,
that the practice of laying out whole farms with these ex-
pensive in closures is a wasteful, extravagant throwing away
of wood. I believe it to be a fact that, if our country had
not been wonderfully favored with inexhaustible coal-mines,
our woodlands would long ago have been deprived of their
trees, and fuel would have to be sold by the pound. Now
our farmers not only incur the expense of timber and man-
ual labor in building these wooden fences, but they must
be at the additional expense of repairing them every year ;
and if all this were entirely avoided they would actually
realize more benefit from their estates. It is true that if
there are no fences in the country the cattle must stay at
home, lest they injure the fields and meadows, and that ev-
ery farmer on this continent would be obliged to resort to
stall-feeding, and keep his cows, oxen, hogs, etc., in the
barn-yards. But by doing so he will be the gainer, for he
will save, first, his timber ; second, the wages for making
his fences ; third, his cows, by being kept at home, will
produce more milk, butter, and cheese ; fourth, he will save
ORDER I.
-BEETLES.
39
a large amount of manure, which he loses if his cattle are
allowed to ramble in the woods and pastures ; and, lastly,
by having no inclosures, except around his garden and or-
chards (and hedges are even here far better than fences), he
will beautify his whole estate and country by depriving it
of that confined and prison-like appearance which wood
fences and stone walls necessarily give it.
It is a very difficult matter to eradicate inveterate super-
stitions, and it is equally hard to break up old habits.
Notwithstanding the plow has been used from time almost
immemorial, the inhabitants of St. Domingo have not yet
adopted it, but still prefer the hoe and spade, and to hoe
and plant an acre of Indian corn is there the work of four
weeks for one man. But " a word to the wise should be
sufficient."
With regard to wood-destroying insects in general, it
ftiust be remarked that they are of the greatest importance
in the tropics, as well as in those uninhabited countries
where many hundred miles are often covered with impene-
trable forests, where hurricanes, tempests, and earthquakes
break down gigantic trees, which, if left alone, would not
decay for years, but which are reduced to dust in a short
time by wood-eating insects, and a new and vigorous vege-
tation springs up from the soil made
fertile by that dust. This phenomenon
may be observ^ed to a certain extent
even in our own woods.
One of these Beetles, which, in com-
pany with its offspring, feeds on rotten
wood, is
The Horned Passalus (Passed us
cornutus). — This Beetle is about 1:^
inches long. It is black, and has a
slender body. Its antennce are rather
more denticulated than those of the Homed Passaius.
Ficrure 7.
40 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Laraellicorii. Its head is very short, but provided with a
curved horn two lines in length. It has two very short,
pincher-like jaws, a bright, vaulted thorax, with an inter-
mediate line, wing-covers striated and very bright, and six
short legs, covered with brown hair. It lives in the trunks
of decayed trees, and is found in all parts of our country,
from New England to Mexico and the West India Islands.
Nearly allied to this insect, and very much resembling it
in many respects, is
The Stag Beetle (Luccmus dama). — This is an insect
known to almost every body. It is an inch and a half
long, of a chestnut color, with prominent pincher-like jaws,
which, however, in the female, are very short, and not larger
than those of the Horned Passalus. Its legs are quite long,
and terminate in two sharp claws.
They are called Stag Beetles on account of their pronged
jaws, similar to the horns of stags. They live principally
upon oak trees, and lick the dew from the trees, as well as
the sweet brown juice which oozes out from the stem of oak
trees, and if you put honey on the point of a knife they will
follow after it, as a dog will follow a piece of meat. They
may be seen flying around these trees toward night in the
months of July and August.
These Beetles are well known to our j'-outh, and attract
their attention by their singular form, but particularly by
their prominent jaws, with which they pinch very hard.
Wood-cutters often bring them home as playthings for their
children, for which present, however, the little fellows some-
times have to pay with their tears. In some countries the
boys make tiny wagons, which they load with cherries or
raspberries, and to which, for their amusement, they har-
ness these Beetles, making them as beasts of draught.
In the month of June or July, according to the temper-
ature of the country, tlic Stag Beetle deposits in decayed
oak wood her eggs, which are oval and yellow, the larvce
ORDER I. BEETLES. 41
proceeding from which live from four to six years before
they become perfect. When full grown, they are three
inches long, thick, of a straw color, with a yellow head,
brown jaws, and nine air-holes on each side of the body.
Two years ago I removed the post of my garden gate,
which was of oak and had become decayed, and found
around it, below the surface of the ground, more than
thirty of these grubs, which I put in a vessel with the same
decayed wood, but they died during the winter.
The Stag Beetle of Europe is of the same form and color,
but more than as large again, and is therefore the largest
Beetle of Europe.
The Cossiis (grubs), which the ancient Romans considered
so great a delicacy, were taken by them from oak-trees, and
were probably the same species. Pliny says, " Praegrandes
roborum delicatiores sunt in cibo : Cossos vocant."
The larva of the Stag Beetle, when full grown, prepares
from the earth its cocoon, which is of an oval form, and in
which it remaii!(S about four weeks, after which time it
emeiges as a perfect insect. These Beetles are found in all
the States of the Union.
The Indian Cetonha (Cetonia Inch). — One of the ear-
liest Beetles which the wandering natural- Ficure s
ist meets on his exploring expeditions is the
pretty Indian Cetonia. These little creat-
ures, clad in a modest copper-brown dress,
and covered with short hairs, are seen, in
the months of April and May, flying like
bumble-bees for short distances only and
then alighting in the sand. Their beauty ^"^^^"" ^'^'"^^•
and their early appearance very generally awaken the
pleasant anticipations of a tropical temperature.
Several years ago I made an excursion on the first day
of May with a young gentleman from Germany, an enthu-
-siastic amateur in Entomology and Natural History gener-
42 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
ally, like most of the students of the Old Country. All at
once he stopped, bent down to the ground and picked up
one of these little Cetonias, and, holding it up in his hand,
he exclaimed in ecstasy, as if addressing the dearest object
of his heart :
"Der erste Tag im Monat May
1st mir der gliicklichste von alien,
Dich sail ich, und gestand dh* frei
Am ersten Tag im Monat May,
Dass dh' mein Herz gewogen sei.
Hat mein Gestandniss dir gefallen,
So ist der ers-te Tag im Monat May,
Fiir micli der gliicklichste von alien."
Which, translated, reads: "The first day of the month of
May is the happiest day of all to me. 'Twas on that day
I first beheld thee and my heart confessed me thine. If my
confession pleases thee, then ever will the first day of the
month of May be the happiest of all the days to me."
This little insect is about half an inch long, and feeds
upon the pollen of the stamens of flowers — it sucks also
the sap of trees, principally that of willows, and deposits its
eggs at the side of roads, or in places where garden weeds
are heaped up, and in decayed wood. Its larv^ feed on
different kinds of roots. Reasoning from analogy with the
nature of other species of Cetonia, I should conclude that
the larva3 of this Beetle continue in that condition upward
of three years before they become perfect
Figure 9. Beetles.
The Fox-like Cetonia {AmpMcoma vul-
2nna), Fig. 9, is also a native of North
America. It is of about the same size as
the Indian Cetonia, but more slender, and
covered all over with long reddish hair, re-
sembling a fox.
Fox-like Cetonia. Another insect belonging to the family
ORDER I. BEETLES. 43
of Scavenger Beetles is the horned Fungus Eater {Boleto-
phagus coiviutus), which feeds not only on decayed fungus
and mushrooms, but also on decayed wood. The male
and female species of this insect I have lately received
from my esteemed friend, David Smith, M.D., of Provi-
dence, from whose entomological researches I have ob-
tained many interesting facts, and to whose kindness I am
indebted for the free use of his valuable library.
This insect is represented by the late Thomas Say, in
his American Entomology, Plate 51, without, however,
making any mention of its habits, use, or injury.
The Fungus Eater is about half an inch long, and is re-
markable for its singular form. Its head has two little
horns upon its margin, which are curved backward and in-
ward, resembling that of a Babyroussa. Its thorax has two
larger horns, which are curved and directed forward, look-
ing like a bull's head, and its wing-covers are surmounted
by so many tubercles that their whole appearance is like
that of a Turkish country metschet or mosque, covered
with a number of small minarets or spires.
The body of this animal is of a dark ash-color and hairy,
and it lives principally in fungi and in decayed wood.
Another, and a very important class of insects, belong-
ing to this family, are the Carrion Beetles, which feed
on dead or dried animal bodies, of the higher as well as the
lower classes. They eat the flesh, fat, skin, and intestines
of dead beasts, birds, fishes, and the internal parts of pre-
served insects. Hence we see very few of them, for they
bore into those bodies and conceal themselves in them, de-
vouring their decayed parts, and depositing their eggs in
them. Those who will dare encounter fetid exhalations
and will take the trouble to examine the putrid cadavers
of horses or cows, or any other dead animal that is left ex-
posed to the air, will find a very large company of Carrion
Beetles, of diflxjrent genera and species, in a variety of
44 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
difibrent uniforms; some looking like martial officers, or-
namented with one or two golden epaulets ; others, like
chamberlains of a despotic sovereign, ornamented with a
golden royal chamber-key on their side ; others in ordinary
working dress, and altogether quite respectable and corpu-
lent in their appearance, because they, like the persons
they so much resemble, live also on the fat of their fellow-
creatures. •
Now the greatest part of these Beetles, as I have already
mentioned, are very beneficial to man, by consuming car-
rion and all decomposing substances. But there is onfe
particular genus of them against which the naturalist al-
ways makes war, notwithstanding it is not larger than two-
thirds of a line. This small insect is called the Cabinet Bee-
tle {Anthrenus musceorum), and is of a dark-brown color, cov-
ered with gray scales forming three stripes across the wing-
covers. If these scales are wiped oif the insect appears
black, and loses its specific character.
In spite of its diminutive size this insect is a great plague
to all cabinets of Natural History, and if they are not well
protected against it, they will all be destroyed by it in a
short time; for its larvce are able to make holes through the
hardest boards, and will make their way unperceived into
any case whatever. They eat the skins of stuffi^d animals,
and particularly the internal parts of insects, of which they
leave nothing but the wings. Thus the most precious and
costly collections will be entirely destroyed by it, if the ne-
cessary precautions are not taken to prevent it.
The late General Andrew Jackson, President of the
United States, presented me in 1834 with two large boxes
of splendid South American Beetles and Butterflies, but,
much to my regret, on opening them I found the largest
and handsomest specimens destroyed by this little enemy
of naturalists. I succeeded, however, in saving a large
number of them from entire destruction by putting them
ORDER I. BEETLES. 45
into alcohol, and by making artificial heads and bodies out
of cork, and then painting them and fastening the wings to
theia with gum-arabic.
In order, therefore, to prevent your cases of insects from
being destroyed by this Cabinet Beetle, it is necessary to
have the lining of the boxes, whether it be of cork or wax,
well impregnated with spirits of turpentine, and, besides
this, it will be well to fasten in each corner of the box a
pin with a small piece of sponge attached to it, which may
be saturated from time to time with the same fluid, or with
spirits of camphor. The latter, however, can not be used
in cases which contain butterflies, as the evaporation of
camphor will make their colors fade. The cases them-
selves, as a matter of course, should be made as tight as
possible, in order to prevent the entrance of any living in-
sect.
The larva of the Cabinet Beetle is two lines in length,
and has on each side of the body little bundles of reddish-
brown hairs, which, when disturbed, it erects in the same
manner as the Porcupine does its quills. These larvas are
sometimes seen upon our walls looking out for dead insects.
The Carrion Beetles {Silpha') have a broad body, with
a shield-like thorax, upon which is a declining head with
strong jaws, and with antennae terminating in a knob. A
great number of species are found every where in North
America, among which are, for instance, the
Silpha marginalis,
" inaBqualis,
" Surinamensis,
" Americana, etc. ;
but as the habits and character of one species are identical
with all the others, the representation and description of
one will serve for all the rest.
The Crusader Carrion Beetle {Silpha Americana) is
more than half an inch long, has a black head, yellow tho-
46 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
rax, with a large black spot resembling a cross in the mid-
Figure 10. die, somewhat like that on the coat of the
ancient Crusaders, on which account I give
it this name. It has dark-brown chased
wing-covers and black legs. These insects
live together in flocks of immense numbers
in the body of some carrion, where they
Crusader Carrion ^^^^ togcthcr in the greatest Imrmony ; and
Beetle. ^^iq^ ^^^y. ^\^yr^^y^ ]^Q obtained with case,
provided one will put up with the fetid exhalations which
surround them.
Another insect belonging to this family of Scavenger Bee-
tles, and one Avhich has a similar appetite for decayed ani-
mal substance, is
The Big Grave-digger (N'ecrojyhorus grandis), of which
there ai-e also several species. This Beetle has a large
black head, with antennas terminating in an orange-col-
ored knob, a round black thorax, and orange-colored trun-
cated wing-covers, with an modulating black band crossing
the middle of both wings. The habits of this animal are
very curious and astonishing.
The dead body of a frog, mouse, bird, mole, snake, or
toad, lying in a garden, field, or meadoAV, is immediately
scented by these Grave-diggers, who run to it in great num-
bers in order to conceal it in the ground. First they run
around it, and examine it from all sides, as if they wished
to measure its size ; then they proceed to examine the
ground to see if there are any stones in it which would
prevent them from digging. Finally, after having selected
a place well adapted for their purpose, they by their com-
bined efforts move the carrion there, placing themselves
under it, and by lifting it up with their head and thorax
they at the same time dig the earth away with their fore-
feet, so that the carrion gradually sinks into the ground.
From time to time one or the other of the Beetles come out
ORDER I. BEETLES. 47
from beneath, as if to examine the position and progress of
the dead body ; then, creeping under it again, the work re-
commences in concert. After about three hours of hard
labor, the body — for instance, that of a frog — is so far bur-
ied that it can not be seen from the surface of the ground.
Tliey then continue their labors in this manner for several
days, until the carrion is sunk about a foot in the ground,
and this they do probably in order to prevent the Meat-fly
from depositing her eggs upon it.
The female Grave-digger deposits in the carrion about
thirty eggs, which are white, cylindrical, and have a short
filament at each extremity. These are hatched in about
two weeks, and the larvae proceeding from them attain their
full growth after four weeks more. At this period they
quit the dead body, go deeper into the ground, and form
their cocoons, from which, after about four weeks, they is-
sue as perfect Beetles.
The immortal Rosel, in his '•'• Insecten Belustigung'^
(Amusements with Insects), 1748-1761, has made some
very interesting and profound observations with regard to
this insect, which all would be pleased to hear, but which
our limits forbid us to relate.
We proceed, then, to the third natural family of the
Coleoptera.
Herbivorous Beetles, or Plant Eaters.
The Herbivorous Beetles are all provided with a horny
skin and very hard wing-covers. Both as grubs and as
perfect Beetles they feed on vegetable substances. Some
on green wood, as the Spring and Capricorn Beetles ; some
on fruit and seeds, as the different kind's of Weevils or
Snout Beetles ; and others on leaves, as the Cucumber
Beetle.
As these insects infringe the privileged prerogatives of
man, who, like every kingly despot, imagines that every
48 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
living being in liis dominion was created only for bis sake
— as tbey destroy tbe wood destined for our fences, fuel,
and furniture — as tbey devour our cberries, pears, apples,
plums, cbestnuts, peas, rice, and wbeat, and all our fruit —
as they eat up tbe leaves of our garden, orcbard, and fruit
trees, they are, and always have been, considered as tbe en-
emies of mankind. A universal war is carried on against
them, and agricultural and horticultural journals are filled
with recipes of different preparations, and directions for
their destruction, like our newspapers with panaceas for
consumption, rheumatism, and all other " ills which flesh is
heir to."
But, after all, it has been the entomologist who, by his
indefatigable researches and observations, has discovered
their real benefit or injury, that has protected man against
them, and them against man ; it was he who looked for
their abodes, learned their habits, character, mode of prop-
agation, and duration of life ; it was he who discovered
their use or their injury, and taught mankind the use which
can be made of the beneficial ones, and the only sure means
of preventing the baleful ravages of the noxious ones. It
is for this purpose that the naturalist collects them, even
the smallest insects that live, preserves them in his cabinet,
watches them with unwearied care and perseverance, and
acquaints his fellow-men Avith the results of his laborious
researches.
Such a philosopher was in ancient times, and, I am sorry
to add, is even now in modern times, too apt to be consid-
ered by the ignorant and money-loving, money-making mass
of the people as a trifling enthusiast, too lazy to work for
his bread ; and should he sacrifice his time and his pecun-
iary means in these benevolent and truly philanthropic la-
bors, he is without gratitude, or even sympathy, from those
he most benefits, living only on the hope and the conscious-
ness that future generations will reward the ingratitude of
ORDER I. BEETLES, 49
the present, instead of being, as be deserves, bonored for bis
self-denying devotion, loved as a friend, and recompensed
as a benefactor. Such things may be excused in the igno-
rant ; but why is it that in our so-called Halls of Learning
so little attention is paid to the study of the objects of Na-'
ture, to their remarkable properties, and their wonderful or-
ganization, to the faculties which distinguish them from all
others, to their reciprocal affinities and harmonies, and to
the sfreat chain which unites them all ?
The fact that the study of Nature tends directly to the
civilization of a nation was well understood, more than a
century and a half ago, by that ingenious, self-made man,
Peter the Great, of Eussia. He conceived the idea that a
love for this department of science would contribute much
toward the civilization and refinement of his barbarian sub-
jects, and accordingly he established, at an enormous ex-
pense, a large museum of Natural History at St, Peters-
burg ; and in order to induce his whisky-loving subjects to
go there, he ordered a glass of brandy to be presented to
every visitor.
That Muscovite barbarian certainly exhibited more com-
mon sense than the Congressman, in our modern time, to
whom Wilson showed his work on American Ornithology,
and who replied, " We do not at all want such books, for
any one can see birds every day in our woods and orchards,
without paying one penny for it."
But to return to the Herbivorous Beetles. The first of
which we shall speak are the Spring Beetles {Elater),
which are also called Skippers, or Snapping-bugs. They
are distinguished from all otliers by having an organ by
means of which they are enabled, when laid on their backs,
to spring up into the air and recover their standing posture,
which they could not otherwise effect, as their legs are very
short. This organ is on the under side of the thorax, be-
tween the fore-legs, directed toward the extremity of the
C
50
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
hind body, and ending in a point which is inclosed in a
sheath while the animal is erect. When, therefore, this
insect is laid upon its back, it bends its thorax and head,
and, at the other extremity, its hind body backward toward
the surface upon which it is laid, which motion causes its
spring to fly out of its sheath, like the spring of a watch,
and throws the Beetle perpendicularly up in the air a dis-
tance of several inches. If they do not succeed the first
time in recovering their standing posture, they repeat the
operation perseveringly until they do, oftentimes to the
great amusement of the children, who catch them and lay
them on their backs in their hands.
These insects generally deposit their eggs in the crevices
of the bark of decaying trees, where their larvas live several
years before they become perfect Beetles. A few of the
smaller species, whose larvae live in the ground and feed on
roots, may become somewhat injurious to vegetation.
There are many species of Spring Beetles on this conti-
nent, which may be distinguished by their size, color, and
antennas. The largest and hand-
somest in the United States is
The Velvet-spotted Spring
Beetle {Elatcr occulatus). — This
insect is about one and a half
inches long, and slender: some
species are longer, and others
shorter than this. Its head, like
that of all its kindred species, is
very small, and looks as if it were
sunken in the thorax, which is
large, and composes about one-
third of its whole body. It is of
a light brownish color, sprinkled
here and there with white spots.
It is called in Latin occulatus, or
Figure 11.
Velvet-spotted Spriug Beetle.
Figure 12.
ORDER I. BEETLES. 51
eyed, because eacli side of its thorax is ornamented A^dth a
large circular black spot, which looks like an eye. But as
its eyes are in its head, like all the others, I have thought
best to give it a more correct English name, and accord-
ingly, from the resemblance of its spots to velvet, I call it
the Velvet-spotted Spring Beetle.
This Beetle is seen in all" the States of the Union, but
more in the South than at the North. It is found mostly
in the trunks of trees, where its larva3 also reside. The
larvae have flat bodies, of an orange color, and they live
several years in this condition before they become perfect
Beetles.
The LiGUTNiNG Spring Beetle {Elater nociilucus) is an-
other species of the same genus,
and has a far more appropriate
Latin name, noctilucus, or night-
illuminating, but its common
name in English is the Cucujo.
This insect is nearly an inch and
a half long, and half an inch wide.
It has two yellow, elevated, corn-
like spots upon each side of the
thorax, which are the principal
organs for emitting light, and
which ap[tear, when alive, like
two shining emeralds. But besides these spots, it also
emits light from every segment of the under side of its
hind body. This light the animal can produce at pleas-
ure, and when there are eight or ten of them in one glass,
it is strong enough to enable a person to read by it.
Some months since a lady presented me two of these liv-
ing Lightning Beetles, which she had received from Cuba.
I kept them in a glass, and exhibited them in a dark room
to several of my friends, who were much astonished and
delighted at being able to sec to read by the light issuing
Lightning Spring Beetle.
52 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
from them. I nourished them with great care, feeding
them Avith sugar, their favorite food, but they died in about
ten days, and with their life disappeared also their light.
I feel peculiarly grateful to these little insects, because
during my excursions in St. Domingo they were frequently
the means of saving my life. Often has dark night sur-
rounded me in the midst of a desert forest, or on the mount-
ains, when these little animals were my only guide, and by
their welcome light I have discovered a path for my horse
which has led me safely on my journey. Often have I felt
grateful to a wise Providence for the creation of these lit-
tle night-illuminators, when all the lamps of heaven were
shrouded with impenetrable darkness, and when, but for
their light-giving presence, I should have wandered for
hours in a dreary forest, or been precipitated from a mount-
ain ridge down a fathomless abyss. Thrice often have I
been convinced that no object of Nature was created with-
out being designed for some important use, and many, many
times, in my wanderings, have I exclaimed with Southey,
"Son'owing we beheld
The night come on : but soon did night display
More wonders than it vail'd : innumerous tribes
From the wood-cover swarmed, and darkness made
Their beauties visible ; a while they streamed
A bright blue radiance upon flowers that closed
Their gorgeous colors from the eye of day;
Then, motionless and dark, eluded search,
Self-shrouded; and anon, starring the sky,
Rose like a shower of fire."
These Lijihtningi; Beetles are found in all the West India
Islands, in Mexico, and Texas, and how far north they are
seen I can not exactly ascertain, but several species of
them, possessing the same luminous qualities, are found in
the tropics of America.
Their light is emitted from a phosphorescent substance,
ORDER I BEETLES. 53
which forms one of the constituent ingredients of their bod-
ies, and which they can exhibit or not, at pleasure. "With
this substance this species of Beetle act very much in the
same manner as the Chameleon and other lizards do with
the fluids of their body, by means of which they change
their color as often and as rapidly as they wish. That this
phosphorescent substance is an ingredient of their bodies
may be determined by mashing them, even after death,
when it will be found that the same light is emitted as
during life, and if rubbed against any rough surface a
streak of light will be produced resembling that of burning
phosphorus.
AVhether this light is given to this animal for the pur-
pose of pointing out its way in the dark, or for enabling it
to find its companions in the night, or perhaps, by inspir-
ing fear, to serve as a defensive weapon against its noctur-
nal enemies, can not be exactly determined. It is certain,
however, that this light has often frightened ignorant peo-
ple, who were wholly unacquainted with the objects of Na-
ture, and who have actually taken these insects for ghostly
spectres or the spirits of their departed friends. How many
like absurdities would be banished from the common mind
were the study of Natural History more popular and more
universally pursued ! Why will the young of this genera-
tion be content to look at Nature " as through a glass dark-
ly," when properly directed study might remove the scales
from their eyes, and enable them to see the light radiating
from a thousand points hitherto enshrouded with the mists
and shadows of ignorance and superstition !
The grubs of the Lightning Spring Beetle, like most of
this family, are injurious to vegetation, living in sugar-cane
and trees, and converting them into saw-dust. But not less
destructive are the innumerous tribe of
54 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Caiwicorn Beetles, or Long-horned Beetles (Cerambicinoe).
These Beetles are so called on account of their long feel-
ers (antennre), which resemble those of a mountain goat, and
which, in some species, arc longer than their body. They
may also be recognized by their hard, horny skin, and by
the four joints on each foot.
Their body is cylindrical ; their head short, broad, and
bent downward, provided with strong jaws, as also with
long, bristle-shaped antennce ; their thorax is generally cyl-
indrical, but, in some species, flat, and armed with thorns
on both sides ; it emits a sound which is effected by friction,
that is, by moving it continually up and down, like a per-
son rockins; in a rockinof-chair. On this account the Ger-
mans call them "fiddlers."
These Beetles, particularly those of the Southern States
and of the tropics, are very handsome, and usually attract
a good deal of attention by their elegant forms and fine
colors. But their grubs are ugly, and none of them of a
handsome color. They live always under the bark, or in
the interior of the trunks of trees, wdiere they dig serpentine
passages, converting the wood into a mealy dust with which
they stop up the entrance to their abode. Here they live,
feeding continually on the green wood, for two or three
years, until they are ready to metamorphose themselves into
cocoons, from which they afterward issue as perfect Beetles.
The numerous species of Capricorn Beetles differ from
one another in color, in the length of their antennas, and
also in respect to their size. The Clytus pictus, for instance
(Fig. 13), is a North American species, and is only a few
lines long, while the Prioniis Hayesii, a Capricorn Beetle of
Western Africa, is nearly five inches long and one inch
broad. Its antennae measure seven inches, and its legs are
four inches long. Tliis gigantic insect is of a dark brown
color, and has many thorns upon the thorax.
ORDER I. BEETLES. 55
The Painted Capricorn {Clytus pictus). — This beautiful
insect is one of our autumnal visitors,
and one of the countless host of evi-
dences that the rolling year is full, only
as every season brings its own peculiar
charms. Spring is the time of youth,
of buds, and of flowers; autumn the
harvest of maturity, of blossoms, and
of fruit. If the merry month of May
adorns our woods and meadows with
their youthful vegetation, their chirping
birds and delicate flowers, so is the beginninsf of autumn
none the less lavish in its golden harvest of grain, its melo-
dious songsters, and its crown of brilliant flowers. There,
from the red-leaved bushes, the tall Rudbeckia peeps out
its golden head ; here, the blue Vernonias and Liatris min-
gle with the yellow Helianthus and Coreopsis, forming showy
figures upon the green velvet carpet of the field ; while the
purple and white Eupatoriums, blending with the rosy Spi-
reas and crimson Cardinal flowers, and all bordered by the
variegated Asters and perfumed Golden-rod, form one magic
sheet of kaleidoscopic images !
It is upon the slender Golden-rod, feasting upon the pol-
len of its flowers and upon its aromatic leaves, that we see
the handsome little Painted Capricorn Beetle. This insect
is little more than half an inch long, and of a cylindrical
form. Its whole body is black, and looks like velvet. Its
head and thorax are crossed with yellow lines, and its wing-
covers are marked with lines, triangles, and spots of the
same color. Its antennae arc half as long as its body, and
its legs of a reddish brown color.
Although this Beetle is seen in the month of September
feeding upon the flower-dust of the Golden-rod, its children
have a diflerent taste. Hence the female deposits her eggs
in the crevices of the bark of locust-trees, and the grubs
56 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
issuing from them immediately bore holes into the trunks
of these trees, making winding passages through them, and
feeding exclusively on the wood and pith. These insects
continue in the condition of grubs only about a year, they
being metamorphosed into perfect Beetles in the following
September ; but while in this transition state they are veiy
active, and the destruction of locust-trees by them is very
considerable.
Dr. Harris, of Cambridge, in his Eeport on the Injurious
Insects of Massachusetts, speaks of this Beetle particularly ;
and the late Thomas Say, in his American Entomology,
Table 53, represents four new species, which he calls Clytus
sjyeciosus, C. hamatus, C. wndulatus, and C. caprea.
AVe have now comparatively little to fear from the rav-
ages of noxious insects, since our prudent Legislatures have
enacted laws for the protection of birds, the great destroy-
ers of insects, and it is probably on this account alone that
many species of insects injurious io vegetation have almost
entirely disappeared. In my travels through several States
I have not, for the last two years, met with any of the Rose
Bugs {Macrodactylus mibspinosus), so destructive to every
flower, nor with any of the Spotted Rutela (Buiela punctata),
so injurious to the grape-vine. Even the May Beetles
{Meloloutha quercicula) are not seen in such abundance as in
previous years, and, should the laws for the protection of
birds be much more strenuous, I fear our poor entomologists
will be entirely thrown out of employment. It is a matter
of congratulation, however, that our favorite birds are so
well protected by the laws of some of our States, and by
the general consent of the people. 'They arc more to be
admired, even for their beauty, than most of our noxious
insects, and certainly reward us by saving our trees and
shrubs, and by furnishing us a wholesome and palatable
article of food.
The Cloak-bearing Capricorn (Desmocerus palliaius)
ORDER I. BEETLES.
57
Figure 14.
Cloak-bearing Capricorn.
is another Beetle of the same family. It is about one inch
long, and of a changeable blue color,
except the upper part of the wing-
covers, which is of a pale orange
color, and gives the animal the ap-
pearance of one carrying a cloak
across his shoulders. Hence its
name. Its antennae are a little lon-
ger than half the length of its body.
This insect may be found upon the
common elder, and its grubs in the
stems of the same shrub.
The largest Capricorn of the
southern parts of North America is the Stag Beetle Capri-
corn {Prionus cervicornis)^ which is three inches and a half
long, of a brown color, and has jaws like a Stag Beetle, one
inch long.
But the handsomest of all is the Long-armed Capricorn
{Lamia longimana) of South America. It measures tAvo and
a half inches in length, and one inch in breadth. Its fore«-
legs are five inches long. Its head, thorax, and wing-covers
are dark olive-green, striped with red, yellow, and white in
a very singular manner, and resembling hieroglyphics.
Snout Beetles (Curculiones).
The Snout Beetles occupy the lowest rank among Cole-
opterous Insects, partly on account of their head, wliieh is
prolongated into a bill-like pointed snout, with a very small
mouth at the end, and two triangular antennae, and partly
on account of their larvae, which are maggots, like those
of flies, having no legs. The female of these insects bores
holes with her pointed mouth in the vegetable body in
which she deposits her eggs, and the maggots issuing from
them enter the stems of annual and perennial plants, de-
vouring all their internal substance, and destroying whole
C2
58
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
plantations and forests. The ravages occasioned by these
maggots are seen on our fruit trees, apples, pears, plums,
chestnuts, hazel-nuts, and in the rice, peas, wheat, and
other grains.
The Palm-weevil {Calandra j^ci^marum) is one of the
Figure 15. largest Snout Beetles of North
America, but it is found mostly
in the tropics. I found it in St.
Domingo, and have given an illus-
tration, or rather representation,
of it in this vv^ork, because it gives
an excellent idea of the form and
Jf ^-v^^^^^^^^^^^^'i^ "^ appearance of all the other genera
17 £.. iliik ^ and species of Curculiones. This
Beetle is about an inch long, and
is black ; it has large eyes, tri-
angular antenna3 terminating in
a knob, and a long snout, upon
which is a hairy crest like the
mane of a horse; its wing-covers
are striated. Its larvae are known
in the tropics of America under the name of Palm-worms,
and they live in large numbers in the trunks of several
Palm-trees, but principally in the Cabbage-palm {A7'eca
oleracea), which grows in abundance in the mountainous
parts of St. Domingo. When fully grown, they are about
three inches long and one inch in circumference, of a dirty
yellow color, with a black head, looking like a piece of fat
enveloped in a transparent skin. These disgusting-looking
animals are roasted upon a wooden spit, or broiled, and
eaten with dried and pulverized bread, seasoned with salt
and pepper, and considered by many epicures as the 7ie plus
ultra of delicacies.
It is a pity that the people of St. Domingo have not
adopted the polite custom of the Austrians, who never sit
Palm-weevil.
ORDER I.— BEETLES. 59
down to a meal without bowing profoundly to each other,
and saying, " I wish you a good appetite!" This friendly
and polite salutation would be peculiarly apropos before so
delicate a dish.
The Cabbage Palm-tree has the same general appearance
as the Cocoa-palm, but its fruits are not larger than peas.
The inhabitants frequently cut down these trees, for the
purpose of getting from its top the unexpanded terminal
leaf-bud, which weighs many pounds, and is of a cylindric-
al form. This is called the Palm-cabbage, and is eaten in
soups, or is boiled and prepared with vinegar and oil as a
salad, and has really a delightful taste. Then they make
incisions in the trunk, in order to entice the Snout Beetle
there by the evaporation of the sap, and to have her depos-
it her eggs in it, that they may afterward obtain a large
crop of maggots.
Another species of Snout Beetle is the Wheat-weevil
{Calandra granaria\ which is not larger than a flea, oblong,
and chestnut-colored. These insects do immense injuries
in granaries by boring a hole with their snout into the
grains of wheat, or barley, or rye, and depositing therein
an egg, from which proceeds a white maggot, which de-
vours all the farinaceous substance, so that nothing remains
but the hull. These maggots live in this condition about
thirty days, when they metamorphose into white cocoons,
from which, after about ten days, the perfect Insects pro-
ceed, the females of which immediately deposit their eggs,
each laying about one hundred and fifty.
This Wheat-weevil is originally a native of Europe, and
seems to have been accidentally imported here with grain.
The EicE- WEEVIL {Calandra Oryzoi) belongs to the same
genus, and is found, as its name indicates, in rice, where it
may be seen every day. It is of about the same size as the
preceding, but differs from it by having two spots on each
wing-cover.
60 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
In almost all the different seeds we find very small mag-
gots, which are afterward metamorphosed into Coleopterous
Insects, and are on that account called vSeed Beetles. These
animals, like the ones we have just described, have a pro-
longed snout, but comparatively much shorter, and a very
short body.
The most destructive among them is the Pea-weevil
{BrucJms Pisi), famous in Europe, but much more common
in America, the larvse of which live in peas. The Beetle
itself is about the size of a bed-bug ; round, flat on the up-
per surface, of a dark -brown color, with white spots upon
the thorax and wing-covers.
When the peas are in blossom and begin to have pods,
the females deposit their eggs upon them, and we find,
therefore, a very small maggot in almost every green pea,
the existence of which can only be perceived by a slnall
black dot upon it. In almost every seed-pea, also, we find
a perfect Beetle, or at least an aperture from which it has
already crawled out.
Now as this is a fact of the truth of which every one
can convince himself, it is safe to assert that in eating
green peas we at the same time eat almost the same num-
ber of maggots. If, therefore, we are disposed to be dis-
gusted with the Palm-worm eaters, we would do well to
remember that we practice the same thing in the case of the
Pea-weevil.
In some parts of Europe they put their seed-peas into
hot water before planting, for the purpose of killing these
Beetles ; and several of our scientific American Horticultur-
ists, according to Dr. Harris, advise to keep seed-peas in air-
tight vessels over one year before planting them, or at least
not to plant them before the end of May.
The cultivation of peas is an extensive branch of agri-
culture in the Old Countiy, because dry peas, well pre-
pared, are the usual favorite dish of the farming and oper-
ORDER I. BEETLES. 61
ative classes throughout the year. Hence in France, Ger-
many, Moravia, and Hungary they sow peas in gardens,
and cultivate them in extensive fields.
Leaf Eaters (Chrysomelinae).
The Leaf Eaters are another species of noxious Bee-
tles, who feed mostly on leaves or flowers. They are quite
small, from three to five lines long ; their antenna are fili-
form and granulated, and their legs generally short. Their
mouth does not terminate in a snout, like those we have
before described ; but it succeeds in destroying leaves and
flowers in great numbers. Their body is oval, and beauti-
fully colored, either crimson or blue, golden-green, azure-
blue, or variegated. Their larvje, or grubs, have six legs,
and live mostly upon leaves, until they change into perfect
Beetles.
This family contains a large number of genera, of which
one of the handsomest is
The Gilded Dandy {Eumolpus auratiis), which is found
throughout the United States upon the Dogs-
bane {Apocynum androsamifolium), the leaves
of which are covered with them in July and
August. This Beetle is so brilliant that it is
impossible to represent its splendid metallic
colors in painting, changing as they do from
Gilded Dandy.
green to a golden yellow, and from purple to
crimson. Its wing-covers would form a beautiful orna-
ment for those fancy -boxes I have before described, as its
colors are pre-eminently brilliant and showy.
ORDER 11.
BUGS— (HE JIIP TEE A).
As no human eye can ever penetrate the spangled heav-
ens that roll over us, covered with ruby and sapphire, and
the thousand changing tints that dye the firmament — as no
created being can ever bring into his scope of vision that
illimitable space, where the glittering stars unceasingly
twinkle and glow, and where, o'erarching all, the Milky
"Way presents the blended light of billions of shining worlds
— so no human mind can ever attain perfection in the
knowledge of those countless animated beings which sur-
round man in the vast green temple of Nature. The ut-
most expansion of the human intellect can comprehend only
a small part of the wondrous nature, life, and character of
the animated masses around him. The most gifted genius
and the highest cultivation, combined with the longest ex-
perience, can only bring man to a knowledge of his igno-
rance and incompetence, and the burning thirst for more
knowledge will only be satiated in adoring what it can not
comprehend. True, " immortal longings are within us," but
mortal limits surround us on every side, and he who has
approached even these the nearest will be abashed at the
immensity still before him, and can only bow in humility
before the great Creating Soul of the Universe, the all-wise,
all-mighty, and all-loving Father — the same incomprehensi-
ble Being who has animated the mountainous bony frame of
the Elephant, and built with wondrous skill and nicety the
delicate structures of those little living, moving atoms we
call Bugs ! and not only has breathed into them the breath
of life, but, more wonderful still, has provided them with
ORDER II. BUGS. 63
senses, with internal and external faculties, and constituted
them equally essential parts in the vast economy of Nature.
Bugs are easily distinguished from other insects by hav-
ing, instead of a mouth, a prolongated horny proboscis, or
snout, in which are two pairs of bristles which they insert
into the animal or vegetable body, from which they derive
their nourishment by pumping out its juices. This pro-
boscis is articulated to the head, and when in operation has
a perpendicular, but when not in use, a horizontal position,
being attached to the under part of the breast. Their head
is usually small, and has two short feelers {anteimce) ; their
breast larger than the head, and the hind body is short and
wide. All the insects of this Order, the Bed-bugs and fe-
male Plant-lice excepted, have four wings, which are erect-
ed, as in the Cicada, known under the name of Locust, or
folded up, as in the Squash-bug {Coreus tristis).
Bugs do not metamorphose themselves into Caterpillars,
like Butterflies ; or into grubs, like the May Beetles ; or
into maggots, like Bees and Flies. They make no cocoons
or chrysalis, but they burst from their eggs in an almost
perfect condition — that is to say, with six legs and a pro-
boscis, but without wings. The Cicadas form the only ex-
ception to this natural rule, and probably live in a larva
state more than two years in the ground.
These insects feed mostly on the juices of plants; but
some of them pump out the circulating fluid of insects, and
even the blood of warm-blooded animals, on account of
which they become very annoying and troublesome to man.
Some of this order also give out a peculiarly unpleasant
odor when mashed, an odor that is often perceived in the
mouth when eating raspberries, blackberries, or any other
berries, and which is occasioned by masticating with the
fruit the eggs which these insects have deposited upon it,
and which are not easily detected by the sight. I once
heard a country woman consoling her little boy, who com-
64 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
plained that the blackberries he was eating tasted so much
like Bed-bugs, by telling him, "Never mind, sonny, keep on
eating them — our doctor, the blacksmith, says they arc good
for fever."
Considered as a whole, the insects of this order are not
as injurious as are Caterpillars and many grubs, but some
of them are quite destructive, as, for instance, the Plant-
lice, which absorb so much of the juices of vegetables as to
cause their decay. The Cochineal is the only insect of
this Order from which we derive great benefit, and that is
of vast importance as a coloring substance. I say the only
one — I ought, perhaps, to include the much-despised Bed-
bug, for Avhich I always had a great aversion until I acci-
dentally learned its utility. Some few years ago I fell in
with an industrious mechanic, who had a wife and four
half-grown children, living in Avenue B, New York — all
healthy, industrious, and in thriving circumstances. He
told me that they all worked every day from three o'clock
in the morning until eleven o'clock at night ; and when I
expressed my astonishment at their being able to work so
hard with only four hours' sleep at night, he answered that
they could not do otherwise, for they could not go to bed
until from the want of sleep they were sufficiently benumb-
ed to be insensible to the stings of the Bed-bugs, who after
about four hours would overcome their insensibility and
oblige them to leave their beds. Here behold the utility
of Bed-bugs! they make industrious and wealthy. Per-
haps the consumption of the midnight oil and the early ris-
ing of college students may also, in some measure, be attrib-
uted to the friendly hints of these interesting insects.
Cicada.
The Cicada^ improperly called Locust, contains a number
of species. The Red-eyed Cicada {Cicada septemdecim),
which in all entomological works, particularly in the Unit-
ORDER II. BUGS. 65
Fisrure 17.
Red-eyed Cicada.
ed States, is called the " Seventeen-years' Locust," makes
its appearance every year, according to my observations
when abroad ; and during my twenty-seven years' residence
in this country I have seen some of them every year, but
myriads in 1829, 1834, 1843, and afterward.
Linnseus gave the specific name " iSep^emc?ec/m" to the
Red-eyed American Cicada, because with the specimens of
this insect sent him from America he was told that it ap-
peared only evciy seventeen years — an opinion that still
now extensively prevails throughout our country. But rea-
soning from analogy alone controverts this opinion ; for if
we consider that all other species of Cicadas, either of the
same size, or larger, or smaller, subject to the same meta-
morphosis and manner of living, spend only two years in
attaining their perfect condition, why should the Red-eyed
Cicada alone form an exception to this natural law of their
species ?
But facts speak in an unanswerable tone in this matter.
According to Dr. Hildreth's account of the Cicada sejHem-
deci??i, or Seventeen-years' Locust, in Professor Silliman's
Journal, No. xviii., July, 1830, this insect appeared in 1829
in immense numbers in the States of Mississippi, Missouri,
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. But
the same quantity were observed five years after, in 1834,
in the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mary-
66 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
land, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, etc. This insect also appeared
again nine years after (1843), in innumerable swarms, in the
Middle, Southern, and Western States ; and at every appear-
ance the newspapers say, " This is the year of the resurrec-
tion of the Seventeen-years' Locust, it being now seventeen
years since it was last observed." The editors of the New
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Alexandria newspapers
must, therefore, be very incorrect chronologists^ or the years
in those cities are much shorter than elsewhere.
Now it is a fact that during my twenty-seven years'
residence in this country not a single summer has passed
without my seeing some of these Ked-eyed Cicadas in one
or other of the States, and hence I must maintain that the
name Seventeen-years' Locust is incorrect.*
* As our distinguished entomologist, Dr. Harris, disagi*ees with me
with regard to the duration of hfe of the Eed-eyed Cicada, I can not
omit to quote his opinions on this subject, which he communicated to
me in the subsequent letter :
" CAiiBEiDGE, MAB8ACIIU6ETTS, January 10, 1S55.
*^ Professor B. Jaeger:
" Dear Sir, — On the evening of the 2d instant Professor Agassiz
put into my hands, as coming from you, a copy of your work on
North American Insects. I have carefully read it with much inter-
est, and am particularly pleased with the anecdotes respecting the
celebrated persons whom you have known. In your account of the
Cicada septemdechn you maintain, contrary to the current belief in
this country, that the tcnn of life of this insect is not extended to
seventeen years, but is limited to only about two years ; stating that
in the course of twenty-two years' residence in this country not a
single summer has passed without your seeing some of them in one
or other of the States. You are not singular in your opinion, such
having been often expressed bygentlemen from Europe who have
visited this country — as was the case, I believe, with Professor Agas-
siz, and certainly with some of the scientific gentlemen who accom-
panied him, but who have subsequently arrived at entirely different
conclusions, and now acknowledge that the popular belief seems to
be well founded. I beg you to understand that it is not now, and
probably never has been maintained, that the Seventeen-years' Cicada
appears at one and the same time, or in the same year, in all parts
ORDER 11.^— BUGS. 67
That there is a great difference in their numbers in dif-
ferent years is very true, and the same thing obtains with
regard to other insects ; some years we are overloaded Avith
them, and again in others there are scarcely any. This is
particularly the case with the Rose-bug. The same thing
also happens in the vegetable world — one year we are fa-
vored with an immense number of apples, peaches, grapes,
etc., and the next year we see only a few of them. A su-
perabundant number of other insects which feed upon the
Cicada, changes of temperature, and unfavorable weather,
are probably the causes of increase and decrease in different
years. And in spite of so many opponents, who believe
that the Red-eyed Cicada appears only every seventeen
years, I, according to my own experience, am obliged to
say, " For all this, it appears every year ;" as Galileo, when
he was compelled to undergo the sentence of public recan-
tation for having taught the revolution of the earth, rose
of the country. On the contrary, it is well known that though * lo-
cust year,' as it is improperly called, comes only once in seventeen
years in the same place, it may occur in other places during various
other years ; so that it may well happen for a diligent traveler and
observer in various parts of the country, during a succession of years,
to meet with the same insects repeatedly in different years in differ-
ent places. In the last edition of my Treatise on Insects injurious
to Vegetation, I have given an enlarged list of the years find places
in which this Cicada has been recorded to have ap])eared. From
this you will find that its appearance at intervals of seventeen years
in the same place has been repeatedly observed. Some of the most
interesting facts in regard to this insect were communicated to me by
the late Rev, E. S. Goodwin, recording their appearance in Sandwich,
Massachusetts. The summer of 1855 is the time for their regular
return at Sandwich, where they have not been seen for some sixteen
years past, or since the year 183S, if I am rightly informed.
" Thanking you again most heartily for your kindness,
" I remain, my dear Sir,
" Very respectfully, your humble servant,
"TiiADDEUs William Harris."
68 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
from liis knees in saying ^^E gira nemend" — Notwithstand-
ing this, it revolves !
Another very general and very popular notion with re-
gard to the Cicada is, that it is the same species, or at least
the same genus, with that noxious insect mentioned in the
Scriptures as one of the plagues of Egypt. This also is en-
tirely incorrect.
Eleven different names of injurious insects occur in the
Old Testament, called in the Hebrew Arbe, Gob, Gohai,
Gazam, Shagah, Chanamel, Chasil, Chargol, Jelek, Solam,
and PselatsaL
Now in our English Bibles we find these words almost
universally translated Locust, notwithstanding we have
good reason to believe that almost all these insects men-
tioned are, according to their external and internal con-
struction, very far from being of the same nature with our
Cicada, but rather belong to the Grasshoppers {Sauterelle,
Ileupferd). In the book of Deuteronomy, 28th chapter, 38th
verse, we read, *' Thou shalt carry much seed out into the
fields, and shalt gather but little in, for the Locust shall
consume it;" and in verse 42d, "All thy trees and the
fruit of thy land shall the Locust consume." Now we can
not understand how it is possible that the Cicada, which
with its proboscis sucks only the dew of leaves as its nour-
ishment, and has no mouth with which it can masticate any
thing, could occasion such immense ravages. But if we
translate the Hebrew text, as Martin Luther did, with
^^ Jleujiferd'' or ^'- IleuschrecW in German, and with ^^ Sau-
terelle'^ in French, which is " Grasshopper" in English, des-
ignating a very voracious insect, provided with two power-
ful jaws, and an animal very common in Africa, Asia, and
the East of Europe, as well as in some of our Western
States and Territories, we readily perceive how it is possi-
ble for such a creature to occasion famine and pestilence.
This error in the translation, originating from ignorance
ORDER II. BUGS. 69
of entomology, has often caused intense anxiety and alarm
among the people of different parts of this country at the
appearance of an innumerable swarm of Cicadas. They
have actually imagined themselves afflicted with the Plague
of Egypt, and apprehended famine and pestilence. To avoid
this mistake, let us change the word " Locust," wherever
it occurs in the Bible, into the word " Grasshopper" — an
insect of which we shall presently speak at length, and in
whose natural history will be found many additional rea-
sons why it must be the insect designated in Scripture, and
no other.
Our Cicada, commonly called Locust, is a harmless, love-
ly creature, and has been celebrated for its song from the
most ancient times. " To the ancient Greeks no sound
was more agreeable than the chirping of Cicadas, not only
because it seemed to give life to the solitude of the shady
grove and academic walks, but because it always conveyed
to their minds the idea of a perfectly happy being." So
delighted were they with its song that they kept it in cages
and called it "the Nightingale of the Nymphs" — "the
Sweet Prophet of the Summer" — " the Love of the Muses,"
etc. Indeed it was regarded by all as the happiest as well
as the most innocent of animals. By both Greeks and Ro-
mans it was also considered as an excellent article of food,
particularly the female before she had deposited her eggs ;
and Aristotle says of it, " Quo tempore gustu suavissiince sunt'*
— At which time they taste very sweet.
The genus Cicada is found in all the temperate climates
and warm countries of the globe. In the south and east of
Europe they are continually singing, and continually an ob-
ject of admiration. They dwell upon the olive and other
trees, but principally upon the ash, from the bark of which,
when pierced by their stings, there exudes a liquid sub-
stance, which becoming dry is known under the name of
"manna," and which some have supposed to be identical
70 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
with that manna of which the Israelites did eat in the wil-
derness. Tliis supposition, however, is probably incorrect,
because the substance of which we speak is very cathartic,
and is used as such even at the present day. But Ehren-
berg discovered another species on Mount Sinai, produced
upon the Tamarisk-tree by the stings of a Plant-louse (Coc-
cus manniparus)^ which tastes like honey, and which may
possibly be identical with that mentioned in the Bible.
The Red-eyed Cicada {Cicada Septemclecim, Fig. 17), with
Figure 18,
The Lyeruian.
red-bordered wings, and the Lyerman {Cicada tibicen, Fig.
18), with green-bordered wings, are the most conspicuous
species of North America. But the natural history of all
the different species is the same. All have an inflected
snout, very short setaceous antennai, four membranaceous
wings, and six feet. The females have a long, horny ovi-
positor, and only the males possess the singing organ, which
is an extended movable membrane on the under side of
the abdomen, by the rapid vibration of which they produce
their peculiarly loud and shrill sound. The females are all
dumb. Virgil says :
" — raucis
Sole sub ardenti resonant arbusta Cicadis."
Or, in English rhyme :
"While the scorching sun beats down upon the plain,
The bushes echo with the hoarse Cicada's strain."
ORDER II. BUGS.
71
But Anacreon praises them, and in one of his odes com-
pares them with the gods. William Spence, in his " Intro-
duction to Entomology," thus translates the satirical words
of the ancient Greek philosopher, Anaxagoras ;
" Happy the Cicadas' lives,
Since they all have voiceless wives."
But a German writer, who was probably an old bachelor,
in order to show that females of the human species are per-
haps too much favored with regard to the organ of speech,
says, in a very sarcastic manner :
" Quando conveniunt Mariella, Sybilla, Camilla,
Sermonem faciuut et ab hoc, et ab liac, et ab ilia."
According to the observations of several species of Ci-
cadas made by Pontedera, Aldrovand, Keaumure, and many
others, the females deposit many hundred eggs in the ten-
der branches of trees, by slitting the bark with their horny,
sharp-pointed ovipositor. Their eggs are white, flat, oval,
and about the sixteenth of an inch in length. If the
weather is favorable to them, the eggs are hatched in about
six weeks, when the young ones leave the tree in the con-
dition of larvoe, each one being pro-
vided with a mouth and six strong
feet, resembling the flea. They then
retreat into the ground, where they
feed on roots, according to the obser-
vations of Pontedera, for two yeai-s,
after which time they come out of the /f
ground, climb upon a fence or the trunk
of a tree, burst their transparent shell
(Fig. 19), and assume their perfect
form as four-winged insects. They
now mount in the air, and enjoy their
short life, flying from branch to brancli and from tree to
Figure 19.
Grub of Cicada.
72 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
tree, making music as they go, and in the brief term of
four or five weeks fulfill their last destiny, viz., to propagate
their species.
" Once a worm, a thing that crept
On the bare earth, then wrought a tomb and slept.
And such is man — soon from his cell of clay
To burst a seraph in the blaze of day."
The Cicadas can not be classed among the injurious in-
sects, for they can not devour our vegetables and fruits like
other insects, because they have no mouth ; and, as has been
said before, they suck with their snouts only the dew of
leaves for their nourishment, during the two short months
of their existence in their perfect form. Even in their sub-
teiTanean abode, during the condition of larva?, although
feeding upon the roots of several plants, their injury to veg-
etation is very trifling, and scarcely enough to indicate that
the little creature dwells in the ground.
On the other hand, its utility is unquestioned — thousands
of the feathered tribe find in them a delicious food ; and Dr.
Hildreth, of Marietta, Ohio, says, in his work already men-
tioned, that when the Cicadas first leave the earth they
are plump and full of oily juices, so much so that they
have been used in the manufacture of soap ! ! ! It has also
been reported that the Indians boil them and consider them
a very palatable dish, "i)^ giistihus non est dis^utandum^^
— Every one to his own taste.
The Cicada is one of the largest insects in this order,
some of the exotic species measuring between six and seven
inches in the expanse of their wings. Their legs, as has
been seen, are most adapted for leaping, and their princi-
pal characteristic consists in the structure of that peculiar
double apparatus, by which the males are enabled to exe-
cute their music. The peculiar construction of this appa-
ratus has been carefully investigated by Reaumur, and made
known in his " Memoirs.'*
ORDER II. BUGS. 73
Mr. Westwood, in his " Introduction to the Modern
Classification of Insects," says, that of one hundred and
fifty species of Cicada contained in the Royal Museum at
Berlin, seventy are from America, fifty from Africa, twen-
ty-five from Asia, including Java, ten from the south of
Europe, and six or eight from New Holland ; showing that
it is chiefly in the tropical parts of the world that the larg-
est and greatest number of species are found.
The Indians of South America say and believe that the
Lyerman (^Cicada tihicen) is changed into the Lantern-fly
{Fidgora laternaria), whose cap, in the night, emits a light
similar to that of a lantern.
I have several times spoken of the impostures to which
those are subjected who are ignorant of Natural History.
There have been people who considered themselves well
educated, that have actually believed and circulated such
absurd fables as, e. g., that there are whole races of men
with tails like those of the monkey tribe, of Hottentot
women with natural aprons, of American Indians without
a beard, and of Sirens, Mermaids, and the like. In the
Natural History of Insects, too, marvelous stories are in-
troduced by travelers in foreign countries, who have im-
plicitly relied upon the reports of the ignorant natives, and
whose stories, however absurd, have gained credence. This
is the case with regard to the Lantern-fly, which is a native
of South America, but 'which from its bodily construction
belongs to the order we are now describing. This insect
is provided with a comparatively large bladder, which is
placed before its head, and from which, it is said, comes a
strong light, as bright as that of a candle. This lightning
story originated more than a century and a half ago, from
the work of the celebrated Madame Merian, who lived sev-
eral years in Surinam, and who says that one day the In-
dians brought her a large number of living Lantern-flies,
which she put into a box, but they made so much noise
D
74 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
during the night that she rose from her bed and opened
the box, which however she immediately dropped on the
ground, so frightened was she at the multitude of fiery-
flames issuing from it.
Now modern naturalists, such as Prince Max of Neu-
wied. Prince Paul of Wiirtemberg, Count Hoffmansegg,
Mr. Lacordaire, and several others who have traveled in
those countries, and have collected a number of them alive,
state that none of the specimens they have ever seen alive
exhibited the least appearance or trace of luminosity. And
indeed of what use could such a lantern be, placed directly
before the eyes of the insect? If we were obliged to carry
a torch-light upon our foreheads directly in front of our
eyes, we should be so dazzled that we could see nothing.
This insect is three inches long, its head being of itself only
a few lines in length, but, with the lantern, as long as its
abdomen. It still retains its name of Lantern-fly, but its
supposed light has long since been considered by naturalists
as an ignorant superstition, or, at best, as a fact unsubstan-
tiated by any of the species existing at the present day.
With regard to the marvelous interpolations in Natural
Science, I can not forbear quoting from the work of the
late Thomas Say the following examples : " We are told
that there was a time when a piece of wood was transform-
ed into a serpent ; and even in the present age of knowl-
edge, a hair fallen from the mane or tail of a horse into a
stream of water is believed by many to become animated
into a distinct being; dead leaves shed by the parent tree
are said to change gradually into animals of singular shape,
and to have changed their place of abode under the eye of
the historian who related the wonderful tale; dead sticks
were also said to sprout legs, to move from place to place,
and perform all the functions of a living body. These, and
a thousand other equally ridiculous stories, were, at one pe-
riod or another, more or less generally admitted as indis-
ORDER II. BUGS. 75
putable truths, and to contradict them would only be to ex-
pose one's self to the imputation of ignorance or criminal
faithlessness. And although at present the possibility of
making a living serpent out of wood, and the story of ani-
mated leaves and sticks would be despised as absurd, yet
many are to be found, both in Europe and America, who
firmly believe in the animation of a horse-hair. But the
most obvious errors have often a shadow of truth whereon
to rest, or palliate, if not excuse them by the plea of igno-
rance or mistake. The historian of the walking-leaf may
have been deceived by the Mantis siccifolium of Linnaeus
(the Soothsayer), the wings of which bear some resem-
blance to a leaf. The Gordius (a worm) resembles a horse-
hair, and no doubt gave rise to the story of the metamor-
phosis above mentioned ; and the account of the walking-
sticks may have very honestly originated from the singular
appearance and form of the insect which bears this name."
I have above mentioned the name of Madame Merian as
originally circulating the story of the Lantern-fly, and as
her name is somewhat celebrated in the annals of Natural
Plistory, a more extended mention may not be unacceptable
to my readers.
Madame Maria Sibilla Merian was the daughter of
Mathew Merian, a distinguished French artist. She was
born in 1G47, at Frankfort-on-the-Main, and early in life
devoted herself to drawing and painting, particularly plants
and insects. At the age of eighteen she was married to a
painter of Nuremberg, named John Andrew Graf This
marriage did not prove a fortunate one ; and a few years
after it took place Grafs affairs became so much involved,
and his conduct in other respects so censurable, that he was
obliged for a time to leave the country. In consequence
of this separation, Madame Merian never assumed her hus-
band's name in any of her publications, but became known
to the public by her maiden appellation.
76 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
After her separation from her husband she for a long
time abandoned all kinds of company, and devoted herself
exclusively to the painting of insects, in order to be able to
represent them with sufficient accuracy for the purposes of
Natural History. The result of her labors in this depart-
ment appeared in 1679, in three volumes, published at Nu-
remberg, the plates being engraved by herself.
The difficulty of preserving Caterpillars and other larvae
is sufficient to account for the small number to be found in
cabinets, even at the present day ; and the most obvious
and satisfactory method of making up this deficiency is by
colored drawings taken from living specimens. The desire
of supplying this important desideratum, in regard to some
of the more remarkable insects of America, as well as of
determining the nature of their metamorphosis and kind of
food, had more influence in leading Madame Merian to visit
this country than her wish to delineate the perfect insects,
many of which were already known in Europe from the
preserved specimens.
She accordingly set sail for America in the year 1G99,
accompanied by one of her daughters. The place of her
destination was Dutch Guiana, often called Surinam, from
a river of that name, on which the capital, Paramaribo, is
situated, and lying between the fourth and sixth degrees of
north latitude. In this fruitful region her ardent curiosity
found ample means of gratification, and she remained near-
ly two years diligently employed in collecting and painting
insects. She returned to Europe, and gave those splendid
paintings to the public in 1705, in a work entitled ^'■Meta-
morphosis Insectorum Surinamenisum^ etc., the text drawn up
by Gaspar Commelin, from the manuscripts of the author."
This heroic and industrious female naturalist, who has
contributed so much to the improvement and embellishment
of the Natural History of Insects, died in the year 1717, at
the advanced age of seventy years.
ORDER II.-— BUGS. 77
The Louse (Pediculus).
Among the Hemipterous Insects, which are distinguished
from the other orders by their suctorial organs, as well as
by the fact that they do not undergo a perfect metamor-
phosis, the Bugs, properly so called, form a very consider-
able number of different species, some of which, particular-
ly those of the tropics, are ornamented with the most beau-
tiful colors. They live upon animated beings, both on land
and in the water ; also in forests, gardens, and meadows ;
and are, according to their food, either carnivorous or herb-
ivorous.
I trust I shall be pardoned for introducing to the notice
of my readers a very disgusting Insect, which seems to
have been created for the purpose of punishing inattention
to personal cleanliness.
Certain parasites whose destiny it is to dwell upon the
human body, and which we call lice, have been placed by
Linnaeus and his followers among the wingless {apterous)
insects ; but if we consider that they, like the Hemipterous
Insects, are provided with a suctorial organ, also with air-
holes for breathing, and do not undergo a perfect metamor-
phosis, we are forced to place them, like the wingless bed-
bugs, in this order. The other parasites, which live upon
beasts, birds, fishes, and insects, and which are also called
by the people lice, belong to different other orders.
Many years ago, when people paid very little attention
to personal cleanliness, it was generally believed to be a
sign of good health to be infected with lice, by whom it
was thought the impure juices of the body were extracted.
Parents were, on that account, glad to see the heads of their
children covered with sores, which were thickly populated
with this vermin. But when they became better instruct-
ed, and began to keep their children clean, these insects
ceased to be fashionable. For this purpose it is probable
78 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
that hair-powder, pomatum, and hair-oil were chiefly in-
vented, and generally used, because every kind of grease
destroys these insects, by stopping up their air-holes or
breathing organs, and they immediately fall into convul-
sions and die — an experiment that may be repeated at
pleasure on caterpillars.
These disgusting creatures make their abode principally
upon the heads of human beings, as may be seen, for in-
stance, in the haunts of the filthy poor every where, or the
poor, oppressed Jews and peasants of Poland, or the down-
trodden and degraded countrymen of Italy, and the innu-
merable host of beggars with which all her churches
swarm.
According to the observations made in the year 1687 by
the celebrated Dutch philosopher, Leuwenhoeck, the female
Louse, in the course of six days, lays fifty white eggs, which
are called Nits, and from which, after six days more, pro-
ceed the young ones, which are perfected in eighteen days.
In this manner such a female may have the satisfaction of
being grandmother to a progeny of five thousand individuals
around her in the short space of eight weeks. This species
is called the Head-louse {Pedicidus cajntis).
Another species, also a nuisance to the human family, is
the Body-louse {Pedicidus vestimentorwn\ whose favorite
dwelling is in the folds of the shirt-collar, and which prob-
ably produces that generally incurable disease called phthi-
riasis. It is humbling to human pride and the high con-
ceit of mortal man to think that the poor and the rich, the
ignorant and the wise, princes, kings, and emperors, have
been and are alike subject to this misfortune. Examples
are not wanting : the Dictator Sylla, the two Ilerods of
Judea, the Roman Emperor Maximian, and the mighty
Philip II., King of Spain, and many others, have been car-
ried off by this disgusting, incurable malady, in which the
whole human body becomes covered with sores, and is lit-
ORDER II. BUGS. , 79
erally eaten up alive by these insects. See " Maladies de la
Feau, par Alibert, 180C."
The Bed-dug (Cimex lectularius).
Bed-bugs are, unfortunately, every where well known.
They are found throughout the world, from the seventieth
degree north latitude to the seventieth decree of south lati-
tude, in both hemispheres, and inhabit principally the
houses of populous cities. The walls of hen-houses are
also sometimes entirely covered with them, and, what is
very singular, the fowls themselves are never attacked by
them ; but as they people rapidly in warm fowl-manure, it
is conjectured that they feed on them. Hen-houses near a
dwellinsf-house are on this account dano-erous.
That Bed-bugs suck the blood of man is very well
known, but it is not so certain that blood is their onlv
nourishment. I found them in abundance in the pine
woods of Finland, near Wiborg, in Europe, as well as in
the pine woods of North America, and in newly-construct-
ed frame houses. It is probable, therefore, that they feed
on the sap of pine wooa.
In England it is believed that this vermin is a native of
North America, and was accidentally brought over to Eu-
rope in the pine timber. But this can hardly be the case,
as Aristotle, who lived three hundred years before Christ,
mentions this insect in his ^' Historia Animalium,^'' and so
does Pliny, some centuries later, in his Natural History.
They are undoubtedly natives of a warm country, for they
like a high temperature, and are benumbed in winter, al-
though experiments have been made in which an exposure
to a temperature "of five degrees below of Fahrenheit did
them no harm. Like reptiles, they can also live many
years without food, as the German naturalist Goeze has
proved, who kept them alive six years without any nour-
ishment.
80 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Kotzebuc, then colonel in the general staiF of the Russo-
Caucasian Army in Tiflis, assured me, when I was there
(1825), that he has seen several persons, when traveling in
Persia, victims of the venomous bite of the Persian Bug.
This insect, though it is neither a native of North Amer-
ica, nor does it belong to the Hemipterous Order, is too no-
torious to pass over in silence.
The Persian Bug (Agras Persicus) is similar to a Bed-
bug in color and form, but a little larger, and provided with
jaws. It has long been known as the venomous bug of
Miana in Persia, which city lies south from Tauris. That
same Mr. Kotzebue, the son of the celebrated unfortunate
German poet, August Kotzebue, Eussian Counselor of
State, who was assassinated 1818, in Manheim, by the stu-
dent Sand, went as attache to the Russian Embassv of Gen-
eral YermolofF to Teheran, and published afterward in Ger-
many his " Travels through Persia," in which he says :
" The city of Miana, with the surrounding co*untry, is re-
nowned on account of its venomous bugs. They live in tlie
walls of old buildings, and the older the masonry the more
abundant and venomous they are. Several villages are en-
tirely deserted, because their inhabitants have been driven
out by those venomous bugs."
Those bitten by them become crazy, mad, and die "vvith
terrible convulsions.
With regard to the general protection of animals in some
parts of Hindostan, we find a very curious article in
'•' Forbes's Oriental Memoirs," who says : " The Banian
hospital at Surat is a most remarkable institution. At my
visit the hospital contained horses, mules, oxen, sheep, goats,
monkeys, poultry, pigeons, and a variety of birds. The most
extraordinary ward was that appropriated to rats and mice,
hugs, and other noxious vermin. The overseers of the hos-
pital frequently hire beggars from the streets, for a stipu-
lated sum, to pass a night among the Jleas, lice, and hugs, on
ORDER II. BUGS.
81
the express condition of suffering them to enjoy their feast
witiiout molestation."
O stulta sanctitas, O sancta stultitia !
Figure 20.
The Squash-bug.
The Squash-hug (Coreus tristis).
This insect, wliich conceals itself during the winter in
the crevices of houses, walls, and the bark
of trees, makes its appearance in the open
air as soon as warm weather commences,
and takes up its abode, for the most part,
upon or under the leaves of squashes,
pumpkins, and other plants of the Gourd
tribe. It is also often seen upon the po-
tato vine and other herbaceous plants, and
toward the middle of summer it fastens its
eggs, with a gummy substance, upon the under sides of the
leaves of these plants. These eggs are soon hatched, and
the young, in company with the old ones, proceed to suck
with their reflected snout the sap of those leaves and stems,
often causing the whole vine to wither and perish.
The young ones, which are quite as voracious as their
parents, are furnished with wings in the autumn, and as
soon as the inclemency of the weather and the want of
food obliges them to do so, they fly away to take possession
of their winter-quarters, in the holes of walls, or the crev-
ices of houses and the bark of trees.
These insects emit an odor, when touched or mashed,
very similar to that of the Bed-bug, and the wound they
inflict with their horny snout is fully as inflamed and
painful.
There is no better remedy to prevent the injuries done
by these insects than to examine the squash and pumpkin
vines every day and destroy them ; for, to use the argu-
ment adduced in favor of capital punishment, if they are
D 2
82 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
killed they are forever out of the way. I would suggest
that for boys in the country this would aflford a fit and
amusing occupation when out of school, thereby keeping
themselves and the bugs from doing mischief
This species of bugs, as well as all kindred ones, inflict
often painful wounds, which are sometimes more venomous
than the sting of a scorpion, which is often experienced in
tropical countries, and produce tumors as big as the egg of
a pigeon, for several days. But it is much more singular
that there is found in the West Indies a bug known by the
name of the Wheel-bug {Reduvius serratm)^ which, like the
Electric Eel and the Torpedo, communicates to the person
whose flesh it touches an electric shock, which comes out
from its legs.
Tree-hoppers (Membracis).
The Tree-hoppers are mostly of a green color, and
small size ; they have four wino;s, and a very
Figure 21 ' ^ ° ' ■;
large thorax or chest ; they possess the power of
leaping a distance of five or six feet, which is
about two hundred and fifty times their length.
They generally remain motionless for hours upon
The Tree- the leaf of a bush or tree, imbibincr the sap of
hopper. ' o i.
the plant ; but at the approach of any one they
suddenly leap with great case into the air, at the same time
spreading out their wings, and fly to some other abode.
They feed mostly on the leaves of the oak, the locust,
and several other trees. But their injury is of no great
importance. The principal species of Tree-hoppers are
the
Membracis Ampelopsidis, on the Anipelopsis vine ;
" bimaculata, " locust-tree ;
" univittata, " oak-tree, etc.
ORDER II. BUGS. 83
Plant-lice (Aphis).
Like the preceding insects, the Plant-lice belong to the
order of Bugs which constitute the Hemipterous Insects.
They have small round bodies, of a brown, black, yellow,
or blue color. Some species are provided with wings, some
others have none ; but on the back of all of them may be
seen two honey-tubes, or honey-warts, from which issues a
sweet substance very much liked by the Ants. For this
reason we find even such carnivorous insects as the Ants on
friendly and intimate terms with the Plant-lice. In fact,
they are called the milk-cows of the Ants, because the lat-
ter suck from them the sweet juice of their honey-tubes.
They are as careful of them as we of our cows, protect
them from their enemies, and, in case of danger, even carry
them away in their mouth very carefully to a safe place.
This sweet fluid of the Plant-lice is also often seen upon
the branches of trees or shrubs — a glutinous substance
known by the name of honey-dew, and eagerly sought by
Ants. If, therefore, we see Ants running up and down the
branches of trees and shrubs, we may consider it a certain
indication of the presence of Plant-lice.
There is scarcely a tree, or bush, or herb that grows in
our gardens or fields that is not infested with some species
of Plant-lice ; and in spite of their diminutive size, and
the disgust we naturally have for them, a host of interest-
ing associations are connected with them. Their manner
of living, and of reproduction also, have attracted much
interest. They both deposit their eggs and bring forth
their young alive — a phenomenon which does not take place
in any of the four-winged insects. Their multiplication is
immense, and, considering the size of the animal, really as-
tonishing] for it is a well-known fact that one single Plant-
louse is capable of producing ninety young ones, from which
spring myriads more. From the month of April to No-
84 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
vember nearly twenty generations are born ; and if their
number -were not checked by their numerous enemies, as
well as by wet, damp weather and cold winters, all of our
vegetable productions would not suffice to nourish them.
The principal species of this country, which may be seen
and examined every wdiere, are :
The RosE-LOUSE {Aphis 7-osce'), which is green.
The Pig-nut louse (^Aphis carycc), which is the largest, viz., one
quarter of an inch long, and covered with
a bluish woolly substance.
The Cabbage-louse (Aphis hrassiccn), covered with a white mealy
substance.
The Willow-louse (Aij)his salicis), Avliich is black.
Shield-lice (Coccus).
The Shield-louse, also called Bark-louse, or Scale In-
sect, is found upon the branches and leaves of trees and
bushes, upon which it sits motionless, as if it were glued
on, looking more like a wart than a living creature. This,
however, is the case only with the female, who inserts her
snout into the branch upon which she sits, and remains
there imbibing the sap of the plant. In this condition also
she deposits her eggs, and after having done so she dies
upon the same spot, leaving her dead and dried body a
cover and shelter to her young ones. The males have no
snout, and walk about the branches at their pleasure.
The body of the Shield-louse is oval, and the head, tho-
rax, and abdomen run into one another so imperceptibly,
that the whole appearance of the animal is like that of a
shield or buckler. Hence its name.
I have before remarked, and I may often have occasion
to repeat the remark, that to the lover of Nature nothing,
even the most vile and insignificant object that li^es, is
without some points of interest — each has something curi-
ous in its construction or mode of life, or manner of repro-
ORDER II. BUGS. 85
duction, or in its uses — ay, and more so in the injuries it
is capable of doing ! It sometimes seems as if the meanest
and most trivial of earth's creatures were created for the
express purpose of working out the vastest amount of evil !
as if there was nothing else to distinguish them or make
them deserving of notice! And when Godlike Man, the
highest link in the animal creation, the last step between
the creature and the Creator, when such as he attempts to
procure renown by the vast amount of injury he can inflict ;
when, undistinguished from his fellows save by the halo of
destruction that surrounds him, he mounts the throne of
human glory by " making countless millions mourn" — and
not a few have clothed themselves with such unenviable
immortality! — why should it not be so with the meanest
insects ? Independent of its curious construction, why
should not the subtle manner in which it works a vast
amount of injury prevent even the vile Shield-louse from be-
ing passed by unnoticed among those of its order ? Let the
vain man who would imitate it think of the base level to
which he must stoop, and from this insignificant animal
learn one of the lessons Nature is every where teaching !
Probably hundreds have passed through their orchards,
day after day, without noticing this insect, although myri-
ads have been in sight. Many well-educated farmers have
seen their peach-trees covered with brownish warts, and
have suffered them to wither and die, without dreamins; that
these warts were live animals, sucking the sap, the life-
blood of the tree ; and yet these motionless excrescences
have laid waste whole orchards, have devastated the fairest
of bushes and the most fruitful of trees, and in place of fra-
grance and verdure have left naught but desolation and de-
cay. They are essentially noxious insects, which, if unmo-
lested, multiply immensely, and hence should be carefully
sought upon the branches of our trees, and, as often as they
make their appearance, destroyed at the point of the knife.
86 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Their color very nearly resembles that of the branches upon
which they alight, usually a brown or black, but sometimes
a reddish or violet, and hence they scarcely ever attract at-
tention unless looked for. The branches of peach-trees are
their particular resort, and may often be seen covered with
them, making the branches look rough and knotty, and the
leaves and fruit dirty and black from the rain washing upon
them from the bodies of these filthy Shield-lice.
The Cocldneal (Coccus cacti).
My readers, I presume, will find it an agreeable transi-
tion to pass from an insect whose only distinguishing qual-
ity seems to be its noxiousness, to one justly celebrated for
its utility — to one abounding in interest and curiosity — to
one to which they are indebted for the most beautiful of the
colors which adorn their persons and " beautify the human
form divine."
It is a wonderful thing to look abroad over the face of
Nature, and see how every mineral, vegetable, and animal
production is constituted so as to minister in some way to
the wants of man — to see the vegetable world silently en-
gaged in extracting mineral matters from the soil, and stor-
ing them up for man, and man, impelled by instinct, se-
lecting these as his own proper food — to behold not only
his food and drink flowing constantly to him through the
ever-revolving cycle of three kingdoms, but even his most
valued ornaments presented through the same natural chan-
nel ! It is more than wonderful, it is sublime, to view
atom after atom of the whole creation unceasingly changing
place, that man, the lord of creation, may be abundantly
supplied with all his comforts and his luxuries ; to see the
lilies of the field, and the insects of the earth and air, living
and dying for man, yielding up their lives for man's suste-
nance and adornment. True, " the lilies of the field take
no thought for the morrow," but the unseen finger that
ORDER II. BUGS. 87
opens their petals to the day points them out as the appro-
priate food to some of those animals whose life or death
ministers to man ! The blooming Cactus not only charms
the eye of man, and makes the arid desert blossom as the
rose, but it furnishes food for an insect that lives upon it,
and grows and dies to clothe man with the same resplen-
dent dye.
This insect is the Cochineal, a species of Shield-louse,
also called Scale Insect, of the genus Coccus, and of the
order Hemiptera.
This little insect has a curious history. It was used
for dyeing the most brilliant and beautiful red and purple
colors, and was considered a valuable article of commerce,
from which much money was made, long before it was
known what the substance was composed of.
The French Naturalist, Plumier, in 1692 excited the
ridicule of his nation, and was considered a fool because he
pronounced the Cochineal to be an insect. But in 1714
the French Philosopher, GeoiFroy, proved the opinion of
Plumier to be correct. By moistening these supposed
seeds in vinegar Geoffroy was able to detect the ringlets
of its body as well as its feet, and accordingly pronounced
unhesitatingly the Cochineal to be an insect. Ruusscher,
in Holland, held the same opinion, and was publicly as-
sailed for it. on account of which he caused the Cochineal
cultivators to be summoned before the court of Antiguera,
in the valley of Oaxaca, in Mexico, there to be examined
with regard to the origin and nature of these creatures.
The examination proved Ruusscher's opinion correct, and
the Cochineal henceforth was considered an insect. This
was probably the first instance in which an animal was re-
stored to its natural rights by the decision of a Judicial
Court.*
The Cochineal is a natural production of North and
* See Natiirlyke Historic von dc Cochenille. Amsterdam, 1729.
88 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Central America, and is found principally in Texas, Mexi-
co, and Lower California. It looks like irregular grains,
scarcely as large as a pea, which are convex on one side
and concave on the other, and of a reddish, slatish-white
color. As has been mentioned, it is a species of Shield-
louse, but was always supposed to be a grain growing upon
the plants upon which it is found. It is principally found
upon the Prickly-pear {Cactus cochenilifer) and other species
of Cactus.
There are two sorts of Cochineal which are used in com-
merce; viz., the domestic, which is cultivated upon the
Prickly-pear, planted in large quantities expressly as food
for this insect, and the wild, which is obtained from the
spontaneously-growing Cactus.
Mexico and Central America are the only countries in
which the Cochineal are raised expressly for commerce,
and this principally in the provinces of Tlascala, Oaxaca,
Guatimala, and Honduras, from which places alone, ac-
cording to the account of Humboldt, there are every year
exports of this article amounting to two and a half mill-
ions of dollars. An enormous sum, indeed, to be annually
expended for insect cadavers.
There are, for this branch of industry alone, plantations
containing more than fifty thousand Cactus plants, cultiva-
ted for no other purpose than to serve as food for these val-
uable little insects. The collection and preparation of this
article of commerce most generally falls to the lot of the
Indian woman.
It is a remarkable circumstance that the dried Cochineal
never perishes, and may be kept in store-houses perfectly
preserved for hundreds of years — a fact which clearly in-
dicates the use which Nature intended should be made
of it.
The best treatise on the Cochineal, and one wliicli con-
tains every thing that is known or can be said of it, is that
ORDER II. BUGS. 89
written by Thiery de Menonville : " Traite de la culture
du Nopal, et de I'education de la Cochenille. Paris,
1787 :" to which I refer the reader.
The Cochineal insect is often found in our hot-houses on
the Prickly-pear and other species of Cactus, and it might
easily be raised in many parts of our country for amuse-
ment or experiment ; but, owing to the high price of manual
labor, we could not at present, and probably never, conl-
pete with Mexico in cultivating it as an article of com-
merce.
The Spaniards have imported this insect into Spain, and
the French into Algiers ; but with what success they will
cultivate it is as yet problematical, as the former are not
sufficiently encouraged by their rulers, and the latter prefer
the sight and sound of swords, guns, and bayonets to the
more pleasant and profitable pursuits of Agriculture.
Another species of Shield-louse, although not a native
of North America, deserves a passing notice on account of
its great utility in the production of a most important ma-
terial for manufacture and commerce. This is the Coccrs
Lacca, a native of Hindostan. This Scale Insect is found
upon the branches of Banyan-trees {Ficus religiosd), and sev-
eral other trees and shrubs, where it secretes from its body
a hard, gummy substance, adhering to the branches like a
crust, and well known in commerce by the name of shellac.
This substance is a most invaluable material in the man-
ufacture of varnishes, sealing-wax, beads, arm-bracelets,
necklaces, water-proof hats, etc., and is extensively used in
dyeing. Mixed with very fine sand it forms grindstones,
and added to lamp or ivory black, being first dissolved in
water and a little borax, it composes an ink of a very good
quality, and, when dried, not easily acted upon by dampness
or moisture. Notwithstanding the vast amount of this sub-
stance that is constantly consumed in manufactures of va-
rious kinds tliroughout the world, still this little insect pro-
90 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
duces it SO fast and so abundantly, that, were the consump-
tion of shellac ten times greater than it is, it could readily
be supplied.
There are many other species of Shield-lice found in the
old countries, which have from time immemorial furnished
a substance used for dyeing red, and which are still used
for that purpose. Hence their name among the Greeks
and Romans was " Coccus," by the Arabs called " Kermes,"
and by the Persians " Alkermes."
Professor Ehrenberg, of Berlin, to whom the science is
so much indebted for his laborious microscopic investiga-
tions of the Animalcules, found large Tamarisk- trees (Tam-
arix mannifera, Ehrenb.) upon Mount Sinai, the young
shoots of which were covered with a species of Shield-louse,
which he called Coccus manniferus.
These insects, by puncturing the branches with their pro-
boscis, cause them to discharge a large quantity of gummy
secretion, which very soon hardens and drops from the tree,
when it is easily collected by the natives, who believe it to
be the real manna of the Israelites.
Our cm-rant bushes, young apple, and peach trees, often
suffer from the ravages of different species of bark-lice, and
not mifrequently are destroyed by them. Many small birds
feed principally on these species of Lice, but, in spite of
this, their multiplication is often so great that we must
rely upon other and artificial means to destroy them.
Dr. Harris, of Cambridge, mentioning them in his " Re-
port on the Insects of Massachusetts Injurious to Vegeta-
tion," says: "The best application for the destruction of the
Lice is a wash made of two parts of soft soap and eight of
water, with which is to be mixed lime enough to bring it
to the consistence of thick whitewash. This is to be put
upon the trunks and limbs of the trees with a brush, and
as high as practicable, so as to cover the whole surface,
and fill all the cracks in the bark. The proper time for
ORDER II. BUGS. 91
■washing over the trees is in the early part of June, when
the insects are young and tender."
This may appear to my enthusiastic young friends like
advocating wholesale murder, and they may deem me to
have lost that universal benevolence and love which the
study of Natural History usually inspires, when I recom-
mend the massacre of many millions of little insects, whose
only crime is that they eat the food that Nature has in-
stinctively prescribed for them. It is true, all that is posi-
tively injurious ought not necessarily to be destroyed, still
it is right that of two evils we should choose the least. A
distinguished modern reformer of Germany has recently
published a pamphlet, entitled "Murder and Liberty," in
which he maintains the legality and moral right of assas-
sinating all sovereigns and despots Avherever they are to be
found in the world. He premises his argument upon the
fact that it has been, and is considered legal and right for
all crowned heads to arraign and execute every patriot and
political reformer, whenever and wherever he may be found :
ergo, he argues, the same legality and right belongs to the
patriot and political reformer to kill all crowned and un-
crowned despots, whenever and wherever they may be
caught.
Now, if such a doctrine finds adherents, I am sure I need
not fear to recommend the massacre of all injurious insects,
and upon the same principles of logic ; they kill trees and
shrubs, ergo, we should kill them.
The few insects here mentioned constitute but a small
part of the numerous order Hemiptera, which, together with
the preceding, are generally known under the common name
of Bug, and, like tliose, are usually treated as objects of dis-
gust or of fear. They are real natural bugbears to those
unacquainted with their character or history.
The general deficiency in the knowledge of Natural His-
tory is, however, the greatest bugbear to me, and I can not
92 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
but lament, seeing it in so many otherwise well-educated
men and women, in the editors of some of our distinguished
journals, and in most of the travelers who are constant-
ly publishing accounts of their journeys in foreign lands.
How much more rich, amusing, interesting, and instructive
would these reports be if their writers could adorn their
topographical descriptions and special histories of foreign
lands with information concerning some curious beasts,
birds, reptiles, fish, insects, or plants, which they have ac-
cidentally met in their journeys.
Now the deplorable ignorance that so universally pre-
vails with regard to Natural History arises not from any
deficiency of genius in the American people, but it arises
from the fact that our Schools, Colleges, and so-called
Universities, which are the leaders and guides of general
education, almost entirely neglect this department of Sci-
ence. Hardly any of our Institutions of Learning, except
Cambridge, have regular Professors of this branch, and ex-
cept Princeton, in New Jersey, very few, if any, have Cab-
inets of Natural History, and none "have a sufficient num-
ber of books treating upon this subject to form a library.
I have no intention or disposition to ridicule what is
really a proper object of lamentation ; but to one accus-
tomed to the magnificent and extensive Cabinets of Natural
History, which are always considered an indispensable part
of the Universities of Europe, the Cabinets or Museums of
our Colleges, containing a few pebbles, the skin of a rattle-
snake, the broken shoulder-bone of a mastadon, and such
like articles, can hardly fail of exciting a smile, even though
it be accompanied with a tear of pity.
Some few years ago the President of one of our Western
Colleges showed me their Museum, which contained many
such wonderful articles as I have mentioned, and besides
these precious specimens, a pair of black satin breeches,
suspended by the waist and with the legs extended, like
ORDER II. BUGS. 93
those we see hanging in front of every tailor's shop, and
near by, also suspended on the wall, an old German to-
bacco-pipe made of wood, and having a very long stem.
When I expressed some surprise that such paraphernalia
constituted a part of their College Cabinet, the President
replied, " These breeches are the same identical ones wdiich
General M , to whose widow I introduced you last
evening, wore when he was introduced to the royal family
in London ; and the tobacco-pipe is the one I once used
myself, but which, at the solicitation of my wife, I gave
up forever, although I had previously been an inveterate
smoker. These things exercise a great moral influence over
the students, who can see by the first what a man can be-
come, and by the second what he can do if he only has a
firm resolution."
A very erroneous idea prevails with the managers of our
Colleges in regard to the expense of establishing a Cabinet
of Natural History. A splendid Cabinet may be collected
at very little expense to any institution, if they only have
a competent Professor in this department. Enthusiasm in
any thing, but particularly in matters of Science, is very
contagious, and the students who attend the lectures of a
popular Professor of Natural History will very soon be-
come themselves enthusiasts in this interesting department,
and in all their excursions in vacation, or in the leisure
hours of each day, will constantly be collecting zoological,
botanical, or mineralogical specimens of all kinds, and in
great abundance, for the Cabinet of their Alma Mater.
The very desire to know what each insect, plant, or stone
is, and what its use and scientific name, will prompt them
to collect every thing with which they meet, and bring it
to their Professor. In this manner a great number of
duplicates will be obtained in a very short time, and these
may be sent in exchange for other specimens, by the direct-
ing Professor, to his correspondents of this and of foreign
94 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
countries. If the College be situated near or in a sea-port,
as is the case with the Institutions of New York, Philadel-
phia, Baltimore, Providence, Boston, and many others, a
great supply of the most curious and interesting articles
may be obtained by the sea-captains of such places, who, if
solicited, will always be pleased and proud to collect speci-
mens from all quarters of the world, with which to embel-
lish the College of their native city.
No place in this Union has so great facilities for execu-
ting such a plan as the gigantic city of New York, and I
hope soon to see her Institutions setting an example in this
respect which will be worthy of imitation. The Legislature
of the State of New York, several years ago, expended near-
ly half a million of dollars for the purpose of making its in-
habitants acquainted with the natural productions of the
State. A costly zoological, botanical, and mineralogical
survey was made, and illustrated by the publication of a
precious work containing several volumes, with numerous
expensive engravings, and a Museum of the specimens col-
lected was erected in Albany, for the inspection and instruc-
tion of the people. Each College may accomplish the same,
at vastly less expense, in the manner above described ; and
our horticulture, agriculture, pisciculture, and mining oper-
ations, as well as our extensive commerce at the present
day, demand more attention to this important branch of
science.
ORDER III.
STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS— ( OR THOPTERA).
All insects which have transversely movable jaws, mem-
braneous wings (a few have no wings), six legs, and undergo
no metamorphosis, belong to the Order Orthoptera, which
signifies in English " Straight-winged." Among these are
Grasshoppers, Walking-leaves, Crickets, Cockroaches, Ear-
wigs, Soothsayers, Walking-sticks, etc.
GrassJiojjpers.
Grasshoppers have been divided by Linnseus into two
families ; viz., Grillidce and Locustida.
The Geillid^, or those properly called Grasshoppers,
dwell, as their name indicates, upon the ground, in mead-
ows and fields. They have short thread-like feelers, and
their females are destitute of an ovipositor ; but both sexes,
when flying, produce a stridulating sound by rubbing their
saw-like hind legs upon their parchment-like wings.
The LocuSTiD^ have very long filiform antennje. The
females are provided wiflf a long sword-like ovipositor, and
the males are furnished with a spot resembling an eye of
glass at the base of each wing-cover, which they rub to-
gether, and thus produce their peculiar sound. Their wing-
covers, when at rest, are disposed like a slanting roof.
Their color is generally bright green, which, after death,
soon changes into a dingy yellow, but may be preserved by
taking; out the intestines of the animal and fillins; the ab-
dominal cavity with cotton.
Dr. Harris, in his work on the Injurious Insects of Mas-
sachusetts, and Mr. Westwood, in his " Introduction to the
96 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Modern Classification of Insects," differ from me, and call
the first family Locustidcp, and the second Grillidcc, probably
in order to harmonize with the English translations of the
Bible.
According to my classification, an illustration of the
Grillidaj is seen in the Carolina Grasshopper {Gryllus Car-
olina^ Fig. 22), and of the Locustidse in the Katydid {Pla-
topJiyllum concavum, Harris, Figs. 23 and 24).
The Grasshoppers embrace a numerous variety of differ-
ent genera and species, all of which may be seen in their
perfect condition at the beginning of autumn. At the same
season, also, the females deposit their eggs, from fifty to
one hundred each, some in holes in the ground, others fas-
ten them with a glutinous substance upon different kinds of
leaves. From these eggs proceed, in the following spring,
the young Grasshoppers, which exactly resemble the per-
fect insect, except in being destitute of wings ; and these
are not developed until toward the end of summer, when
they commence their ravages among the various kinds of
grasses and herbs. On account of their injury to vegeta-
tion in many countries, premiums are paid by the public
authorities for their collection and destruction. For in-
stance, in the year 1825 the city of Marseilles, in France,
paid 6200 francs for collecting and destroying these nox-
ious insects. But again, in many countries they form an
article of diet, and the inhabitants of some parts of Asia
and Africa use them as food, cooking them by frying them
in sweet oil, or by drying and then pulverizing them, after
which they are made into bread.
All the Grasshoppers, when taken, try to bite, and in so
doing they discharge a brown juice from their mouth, which
act probably gave rise to the idea that they were ruminant
animals, like our cloven-hoofed beasts, who have more than
one stomach. In some parts of France, Germany, Italy,
and Hungary, these insects are used as a remedy for warts,
ORDER III. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS.
97
and, it is said, successfully, the people applying them to the
parts affected, and allowing them to bite their warts. It
is not improbable that the remedy owes its successful ef-
fect to the causticity of their saliva, which may act like the
lapis infernalis.
Grasshoppers are very often subject to diseases arising
from the presence of intestinal worms, particularly the Hair-
worm (Go7^dius), which not unfrequently causes their death.
In Germany Grasshoppers are called Ileupferde, that is,
" Hay-horses," because they generally feed on grasses, and
their head has something of the form of a horse's head. The
French call them Sauterelles, that is, " Hoppers."
Carolina Grasshopper.
The Carolina GKASsiiorPER {Gi-yllus Carolina, Fig. 22)
is a very common insect of this Order, and is found in great
numbers in the months of August, September, and October
throughout the United States. So numerous arc they, in
fact, that one can not walk across a field or meadow with-
E
98 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
out being annoyed with them, as they unceremoniously fly
in your face, or alight on your arms, shoulders, and head.
This Grasshopper is about one and a half inches long, and
with expanded wings about three inches broad. Its wing-
covers are of a dusky brown color, and its wings black,
with a yellow band on the margin.
But there are also found in the United States a great
number of many other species, which are generally distin-
guished from each other by the color of their wings.
The largest and handsomest species of Grasshoppers are
found in South America, one of which I will incidentally
mention, as it is commonly found in private entomological
collections. This is the Grillus dux, an enormous insect,
its wings, when expanded, measuring a foot, and its wing-
covers beautifully colored red and blue, with black spots.
The wings themselves, when not expanded, are folded to-
gether like a fan, as is the case with all other species.
But all Grasshoppers, whether handsome or not, are to
be considered and classed as noxious insects. They de-
vour every kind of vegetation, and were it not for Nature's
great law of compensation, so admirably carried out in our
own highly-favored country, this land would long since
have been laid waste by the ravages of these rapacious in-
sects. As it is, an abundance of majestic streams, lakes,
and ponds water our country from all sides, and by their
evaporation afford sufficient rain for moistening the ground
and making it fruitful in the production of vegetables for
the support of man, as well as rendering it a fit abode for
numerous reptiles, such as snakes, turtles, lizards, salaman-
ders, frogs, and toads. Now these reptiles all feed more or
less on insects, and in preference on Grasshoppers, of which
they annually destroy an innumerable quantity. Hence
these hideous reptiles are the instruments made use of by a
kind Providence to rid us of a greater evil. AVe can only
form an estimate of the damage that , would be done to
ORDER III. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS. 99
vegetation were it not for these reptiles, by comparing our
country with the immense prairie lands of the East of Eu-
rope, and several parts of Asia and Africa, which are des-
titute of water and trees, and where for hundreds of miles
neither bird nor reptile can live, but where myriads of
Grasshoppers dwell in the height of their glory, and nothing
green is spared their rapacious jaws.
It is a matter of congratulation, therefore, and an evi-
dence of the wisdom of that gracious rule of compensation,
that our gardens, fields, meadows, and woods are peopled
with snakes and other reptiles which feed mostly upon these
destructive insects. When, therefore, we look with terror
on the crawling serpents and the croaking frogs, and are
tempted to wish their number less, it is because in their
hideous forms we lose sight of their benevolent use ; we for-
get the inexorable decree that has fixed the circle of depend-
ence as the order of all created things ; we forget that all
must die that others may live ; we think not of the hosts
of birds, such as Heron, Bittern, etc., who feed mostly upon
reptiles, and thereby render a superabundance of the latter
impossible ; we consider not that these very birds must
yield themselves up as food for man, and last of all, that
man in his turn must die and also be devoured by insects.
And still more we forget, what the open page of Nature
clearly shows us, that the moment wc begin to live we also
begin to die, and that even while we live in all the pride
of health we are the constant, daily food of the most de-
spised insects.
But the Grasshopper, although neither large nor terrific
in its appearance, has a curious and a wonderful history ;
perhaps more so than any other insect. It is the same in-
sect whose mode of life and whose ravages have excited the
curiosity of Naturalists as well as Historians in all ages.
It is armed with two pair of very strong jaws, by which it
can both lacerate and grind its food, and although a single
100 NORTH AMERICAN INSPXTS.
individual can effect but comparatively little injury, yet
when the entire surface of a country is covered with myr-
iads of them, and each one makes bare the spot on which it
stands, the evil produced by them must be as immense as
their numbers. So well do the Arabians know and feel
their power, that one of their Poets represents a Grasshop-
per saying to Mohammed, " We are the army of the great
God ! we have power to consume the whole world and all
that is in it ! "
Many ancient and modern authors have given accounts
of the almost incredible injuries done to the human race by
these creatures ; but no one, I believe, has ever yet related
that it has actually been necessary to send an army of
30,000 soldiers against them in order to prevent their rav-
ages — a fact which happened under my own observation,
and which I shall soon relate.
The earliest records we have concerning the appearance
of Grasshoppers on the earth is found in the Bible, where
they are mentioned as one of the Plagues of Egypt. That
country was then so covered with them that the surface of
the ground could not be seen, and all the trees and herbs
were destroyed by them. We find this account in the Sec-
ond Book of Moses, chapter 10th. "And the Grasshop-
pers went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all
the coasts of Egypt : very grievous were they. . . . For they
covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was
darkened ; and they did eat eveiy herb of the land, and all
the fruit of the trees which the hail had left : and there re-
mained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of
the field, through all the land of Egypt."
It will be noticed that I have substituted the word
"Grasshoppers" for the word "Locusts," as it occurs in
our English version of the Bible ; but I have before shown
that the latter word is incorrect, and that the animal desig-
nated in Scripture was not similar to our locust or cicada,
ORDER III. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS. 101
but was really identical with the Grasshopper of which we
are here speaking.
According to Pliny, the inhabitants of Cirenaica, in Af-
rica, were particularly subject to the ravages of these rapa-
cious insects, and on that account were enjoined by law to
destroy Grasshoppers, in their three ditferent conditions,
three times during the year : first their eggs, wherever they
could be found, then their young, and lastly the perfect in-
sect. Pie states also that a similar law was enacted in
Lemnos, by which every person was compelled to bring a
certain measure of Grasshoppers to the magistrates an-
nually.
*' In the year 591 an infinite army of Grasshoppers of
a size unusually large ravaged Italy, and being at last cast
into the sea, from their stench arose a pestilence which car-
ried off about a million of men and beasts. In the Vene-
tian territory also, in 1478, more than thirty thousand per-
sons are said to have perished in a famine occasioned by
these terrific scourges. In 1650 a cloud of them was seen
to enter Russia in three different places, from whence they
passed over into Poland and Lithuania, and wherever they
moved the air was darkened by their numbers. In some
places they were observed lying dead, heaped one upon an-
other to the depth of four feet ; in others they covered the
surface of the earth like a black cloth, the trees bent from
their weight, and the damage done by them exceeded all
computation. When the weather became hot they took
wing and fell upon the corn, devouring both leaf and ear,
and that with such expedition that in three hours they
would consume the whole field. After having eaten up the
corn, they attacked the vines, the pulse, the willows, and
at last the hemp, notwithstanding its bitterness. In 1748
they were again observed in Europe, in AValUichia, Molda-
via, Transylvania, Hungary, Poland, and Germany, and,
according to the observations made at that time in Vienna,
102 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
the breadth of one of those swarms was forty miles, and
their length so great as to occupy four hours in passing over
the city. So great, also, was the density of this cloud of
Grasshoppers that it totally intercepted the solar light, so
that when they flew low the air was so darkened that one
person could not see another at the distance of twenty
paces."*
The account of a traveler, Mr. Barrow, of their ravages
in the southern parts of Africa in 1797, is still more strik-
ing. He says : " An area of nearly two thousand square
miles might be said to be literally covered by them. When
driven into the sea by a northwest wind, they formed, for
fifty miles upon the shore, a bank three or four feet high,
and when the wind was southeast their stench was so
powerful as to be smelled at the distance of a hundred and
fifty miles."
In 1825 the Russian empire was again alarmed by the
appearance of an innumerable quantity of Grasshoppers,
of which I had the pleasure (if pleasure it may be called)
of being an eye-witness.f
I left the city of Moscow in the beginning of the month
of April, 1825, in order to visit the Crimea, the Caucasus,
and the countries lying between the Black and Caspian
seas. Passing through the well-cultivated States (called
in Russia Governments) of Moscow, Orel, Resan, Char-
kow, Kiew, and Woronesch, the whole population of these
States expressed in a lamentable manner their fear of per-
ishing by famine on account of the enormous quantity of
* See " Introdaction to Entomology, by Kirby and Spence. Lon-
don, 1818."
t See Vei'sucli einer Darstclhmg ties naturlicher Reichthvms, der
Grosse nnd Bevulkerung der Ri/ssisdien Lander j en seits des Caucasus,
von B. Jaeger, MiUjliede mehrer rjelehrten Geselhhaften. Leipzig,
C. H. Hartmann, 1830. — Description of tlie Natnral Riches, Extent,
and Population of the Russian Provinces beyond the Caucasus, by
B. Jaeger, Member of several Learned Societies. Leipzig, 1830.
ORDER III. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS. 103
the then wingless Grasshoppers which inundated the Desert
Prairies between Kiew and Odessa, and between the Don
and the Wolga toward Astrakhan and the Caucasus, and
which in the following months of May and June would
have full-grown wings, and would then fly in endless
swarms toward the north in order to devour the luxuriant
crops of the well-cultivated fields, meadows, and orchards
of those States. I was traveling in great haste, going -about
14 versts, or eight English miles, per hour, night and day
(which was then considered great speed), when I was sud-
denly checked in my speed in the desert prairie lands about
50 miles behind Kiew. Here the ground, as far as the eye
could reach, was covered with wingless Grasshoppers, near-
ly two inches long, and lying piled up one upon another
to the height of two feet. Of course the carriage dragged
heavily, as if drawn through a deep mould, which prevented
the horses from trotting or even walking fast, and the re-
volving wheels were constantly covered from two to three
inches high with mashed Grasshoppers. This state of
things continued through the government of Ekatharinoslaw
and Cherson to the Black Sea, a distance of about 400
miles. The sight of such an immense number of the most
destructive and rapacious insects justly occasioned a mel-
ancholy foreboding of famine and pestilence, in case they
should invade the cultivated and populous countries of Rus-
sia and Poland ; and they certainly would have caused such
a disaster had not active measures been taken to prevent
it. It was in this instance that the Emperor Alexander
sent an army of thirty thousand soldiers to destroy an army
of Grasshoppers. The soldiers forming a line of several
hundred miles, and advancing toward the south, attacked
them not with sword and gun, but with more ancient im-
plements, with shovels. They collected them, as far as pos-
sible, in sacks and burned them. Notwithstanding this, I
found, on my arrival in the Crimea, in the middle of June,
104 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
that numbers had escaped, acquired their wings, and had
ah'cady destroyed a great part of the vegetation.
But the more majestic view of one of their flying swarms
presented itself to me in Asia, in the island of Phanagoria,
after having crossed the Black Sea at Panticapacum, the
modern city of Kertsch, on the Bosporus. This island is
the residence of the Cossacks of the Black Sea, who on that
account arc called in the llussian language TscheimomorsJci,
"Black Sea Islanders." Soon after my arrival in that
country, and while continuing my travels, I saw before me,
at a distance of about five miles, near the city of Tutmara-
kan, several thick and solid columns, arising perpendicu-
larly from the ground, like the smoke of a volcano, which
at the hei«-ht of five hundred feet assumed the form of
heavy, dark clouds, w^hich soon covered the whole sky, en-
tirely intercepting all solar light.
These apparent clouds were nothing but swarms of
Grasshoppers, which in a short time descended to tho
gi'ound with a shrill, whistling noise, covering an immen 3
area of land which a few hours before was clothed with
thick luxuriant grass, and in a few moments after was as
barren as a turnpike.
This species of Grasshopper is over two inches long, and
of a lisfht brown color. On account of its wanderino; life
it was called by Linnaeus the migratory or wandering
Grasshopper {Gryllus migratorius). Tliis is the same insect
as the one mentioned by Matthew in the 3d chapter, 4th
verse, where he speaks of John, saying "his meat was lo-
custs and wild honey," and it is even now a common arti-
cle of food among several Eastern nations, and particularly
among the Arabians.
In the United States we have a large number of different
species of Grasshopper, whose characteristics are very sim-
ilar, and whose ravages w^ould be very extensive, breeding
famine and pestilence, if they were allowed to increase and
ORDER III. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS. 105
multiply as they do in other countries. This, however, as
has been remarked, is impossible as long as we have so
many reptiles and birds to devour them.
The Katydid (Platyphyllum concavum).
The Katydid is one of the most conspicuous Grasshop-
pers of North America. In the cool evenings of autumn
its melancholy song reverberates from every tree in our or-
chards and forests, and its never-ceasing complaint, that
Katy did, has not only suggested a thousand pleasant rec-
ollections, but has often occasioned many curious and poet-
ical conjectures as to its origin and significance. I use the
word significance in its most extended sense, for I know no-
thing in nature that is insignificant. Every voice, every
sound, each warbling note that echoes in the empty air, and
every act of animated nature, has some deep, often myste-
rious meaning. To the thoughtful mind all convey some
important moral lesson, either in the garb and soul of po-
etical association, or by the stronger and more irresistible
force of example. The busy bee, that improves each shin-
ing hour, can not fail of favorably impressing us with the
contentment and the sure success that follows patient and
persevering industry. The slimy and venomous reptiles ex-
cite our disgust and abhorrence, and unconsciously teach us
how to rejrard their grovelino; similitudes. The ever con-
stant and faithful dog that bears us company is ever silent-
ly but surely impressing upon us the great lesson of fidelity.
The gentle lamb, that even " licks the hand just raised to
shed its blood," shows us not only »
"BHndness to the future, kindly given,
That each may fill the circle marked by Heaven ;"
but it affords us the most striking example of confiding in-
nocence and spotless purity. The metamorpliosis of the
crawling caterpillar into the beautiful and lively butterfly
has in all ages proved a lesson of comfort and of hone to
E2
106
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Figure 23.
Male Katydid.
man, almost divesting death of its terrors by pointing the
soul to its more glorious garb in that higher and purer
ether into which it introduces him. So each animated
atom of creation bears the stamp of some great moral or
intellectual significance, and appeals ali4^e to the poet's en-
thusiasm, the naturalist's all-absorbing love of nature, the
philosopher's burning desire to penetrate hidden mysteries,
and to man's universal and unborn conviction that naught
was ever made in vain.
Such reflections might be pursued through a thousand
various ramifications, and assuredly prove what the contem-
plation of this little insect could do, if they do not satisfac-
torily acquaint us with what " Katy did." But a facetious
poet has asked this little insect tattler what occasioned its
ORDER III. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS. 107
Figure 24.
Female Katydid.
everlasting song of "Katydid," and pretends to have ob-
tained for an answer certain hints as to sundry interviews
between a certain Miss Katy and her lover. After describ-
ing the happy interview beneath the moon-lit bower of
love, and assuring her that he heard every word, however
soft and low it fell, he says :
"But never fear me, gentle one, nor waste a thought or tear,
Lest I should whisper what I heard in any mortal ear;
I only sport among the boughs, and, like a spirit hid,
I think on what I saw and heard, and laugh out ' Katydid.'
*'I see among the leaves here, when evening zephyrs sigh,
And those that listen to my voice I love to mystify;
I never tell them all I know, although I'm often bid ;
I laugh at curiosity, and chiri-up ' Katydid. ' '*
lOS NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
The Katydid is nearly one and a half inches long, and
its wings when expanded are about three inches wide. Its
wings are of a pale green, and its wing-covers of a dark
green color, which, however, fades away and becomes brown
when the insect is dead and dried. This change of color
may be prevented, as I have before mentioned in regard to
the Gryllus Carolina, by taking out its intestines imme-
diately after death, and filling the abdominal cavity with
cotton, wliich is easily done by making a longitudinal in-
cision through the under part of the hind-body with a sharp
penknife.
The wing-covers are interwoven with veins resembling
those of a leaf, and in the males have a hard, glassy mem-
brane at the base of each, which is shaped somewhat like a
human eye, and which, being rubbed together by the saw-
ing-like motion of their wing-covers, produces the sound
peculiar to this insect. The poor females are destitute of
these musical organs, and are consequently obliged to keep
silence and listen to the music of their lords ; but they are
provided with a formidable-looking sword-like ovipositor at
the extremity of the abdomen, with which they pierce holes
in the ground for the purpose of depositing their eggs.
These eggs are generally laid in the fall, and are hatched
out in the ensuing spring.
A very close and interesting observation of the conduct
of these insects may be made every autumn by putting a
pair of them into a wide glass vessel, having the bottom
covered with turf, which, however, must be sprinkled with
water every day. As soon as the evening begins the female
will commence laying her eggs and depositing them in the
ground, and the male will announce in loud tones that Katy-
did-it. If you preserve these eggs in the turf through the
winter, and open them in the following spring, you will
find the insect in a perfect condition, except being destitute
of wings. It is a very singular fiict, and shows the gener-
ORDER III. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS. 109
al deficiency in entomological knowledge, that, numberless
though they be, still very few persons can say that they
have seen this handsome little insect. It dwells in trees
and shrubs, and usually conceals itself during the day un-
der the leaves. I have no doubt that many, if not all, have
accidentally met with it, but few except those acquainted
with entomology have observed it knowing it to be the fa-
mous Katydid ; and I have often been surprised, when de-
scribing this insect to persons of intelligence who have had
every opportunity of noticing it, to hear them say, " I have
never seen one." Its voice, however, has been heard by all,
and is very generally considered the harbinger of approach-
ing winter.
Fig. 23 represents the male Katydid ; Fig. 24 the female,
with expanded wings.
There are several other species in this country, all of a
more or less green color, and all belonging to the same fam-
ily; as, for instance, the Sword-bearer {Conocephalus en-
siger), with a conical head and a very long ovipositor ; the
Oblong leaf-winged Katydid (Phylloptera oUongifoUa) ; the
Narrow-leaved Katydid {Phaneroptera angustifolia), and sev-
eral others.
But the tropics furnish many other species, which bear a
still more striking resemblance to leaves; and from this
circumstance are accordingly named Laurel-leaf, Lily-leaf,
Myrtle-leaf, etc.
This close resemblance has been the origin of many fab-
ulous accounts and marvelous stories, namely, that some
kinds of leaves are metamorphosed into insects, and living
insects are changed into dead leaves, etc., etc.
A certain traveler, in a work on America published sev-
eral years ago, related the most absurd stories in regard to
these insects. He said that on this continent an animated
insect often changes itself into a lifeless plant by putting its
feet into the ground and allowing them to take root, when
110 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
they actually become the steins of a foliated plant ; that
leaves are sometimes changed into insects with a distinct
head, throat, abdomen, and legs. No one, he says, can doubt
these facts, as there are in Brazil thousands of witnesses who
are ready to prove that they have often observed these phe-
nomena.
Some months ago there appeared an article in several of
our newspapers under the title of " Vegetable Insects," in
which it is stated on good authority that there is found in
Australia a caterpillar which is metamorphosed into a
plant.
On closely examining the phenomena, it is found that
the caterpillars of a certain Hawk-moth in that country
dwell and feed upon the leaves of a certain tree, and that
when descending to the ground for the purpose of construct-
ing their cocoons there actually grows out of the body of
almost every one of them a vegetating plant, after which
the caterpillar becomes dry and hard, and assumes the ap-
pearance of cork. Now I suppose this singular phenom-
enon may be strictly true ; and, in order to its explanation,
it is necessary to know that fungi, mushrooms, and other
vegetable productions of this tribe have extremely fine,
small seeds, which are dispersed in the air by the most sub-
tile zephyrs, and which will germinate on every vegetable
and animal body upon which they may lodge, provided they
find there sufficient .moisture for vegetation. If they fall
upon the body of the caterpillar, as is probably the case,
they will germinate upon it, take root in it, and of course,
in developing, will gradually destroy the vitality of the an-
imal, and leave nothing of it but the dried-up, cork-like
body with its vegetating fungus.
The same phenomenon has been observed in the Silk-
worm, which is very often subject to a disease by which its
body is completely covered with a white eflJervescence. The
real nature of this distemper was for a long time unknown,
ORDER III. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS. Ill
and, in fact, was never ascertained until the year 1835,
when Signor Bassi proved it to be a minute fungus, called
Botrytis bassiana, in a state of vegetation, which had by de-
grees occupied the whole interior of the body, and then
burst through the skin.
The same kind of parasitic growths may occur on the
human body, or on any animal or vegetable body, and it is
probably the ignorance of these facts that has occasioned so
many marvelous and absurd stories by travelers. Simple
matters in science may thus become wonderful bugbears
to the uneducated. I suppose some would hardly believe
that in the tropics a mahogany-tree will gradually change
into a gamboge-tree ; but this is a fact which I have wit-
nessed, and it can be explained very easily. It is really no
more remarkable than our ordinary process of grafting.
The seeds of the Clusia alba et rosea, a species of gamboge-
tree, when fully matured, burst their pods, and, inclosed in
a gummy substance, they drop from the tree, like so many
caterpillars letting themselves down by a fine filament to
the ground. If one of these trees stands near a mahogany-
tree, the seeds are blown by the wind, as they swing in the
air, against the trunk of the latter tree, and, being covered
with the viscid gamboge, they adhere to its bark, take root
in it, and in the course of a few years they change its whole
character. The trunk and branches of the mahogany-tree
gradually decay and drop ofi^, and in .its stead grows the
gamboge-treCj trunk, branches, and all.
Crickets (Acheta).
The Cricket has already been immortalized in the En-
glish poetry of Cowper, and although its race may become
extinct, as lonjj; as the lanpruao-es endure it still must be
familiar to all. Its pleasant song, from June to October,
during the whole season of tropical illusions, has excited
much admiration in the lovers of nature for many ages ;
112 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
and the pleasing reminiscences of love and of home which
its chirping arouses, recently so touchingly portrayed in
that admirable little tale of Charles Dickens, entitled " The
Cricket on the Hearth," has thrown a charm around its
life and history perhaps never before so graphically real-
ized. In fact, Dickens has embodied the superstitious ven-
eration of this little insect, common among the country
people of many nations, when he makes his heroine say,
"It's sure to bring us good fortune, John! It always has
been so. To have a cricket on the hearth is the luckiest
thing in the world." And Cowper did the same, years
before, when he sung :
" Little inmate, full of mirth,
Chirping on my kitchen hearth,
Wheresoe'er be thine abode,
Always harbinger of good,
Pay me for thy warm retreat
With a song more soft and sweet."
There are several species of Crickets, some of which are
found in every part of the world, but all resembling each
other in their distinguishing characteristics. They are of
different sizes and colors, according to their different spe-
cies, but all have parchment-like wing-covers, and produce
the sound peculiar to them by rubbing the sharp margins
of their wing-covers together. Of all insects they are per-
haps the most indefatigable musicians, some of them thus
fiddling with their wings from daybreak until sundown,
and others from evening until the rising of the sun.
There are some Crickets which dwell only upon trees and
bushes, and never come to the ground ; these are, on this
account, called Tree-crickets. Others live only on the
ground, and are known by the name of Field-crickets.
Others still live in the walls of houses, and are called
House-crickets.
The Tree-cricket, also called Cu^ibing-cricket {Ache-
ORDER III. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS.
113
Fiirure 25.
The Tree-cricket.
ia nivea, Fig. 25), is a very delicate insect, of a pale ivory
color, with long antennce, and a short
body, only half an inch in length ; its
wing-covers are thin, transparent, and
ornamented with three obliqne, raised
lines. Like the Katydid, it is often
seen creeping upon the leaves of trees
and shrubs, without being recognized
as the little creature whose loud and
shrill sound is so familiar. Only the
male Cricket produces this sound,
which it does by elevating its sharp
wing-covers very high and rubbing
them together very rapidly. The pro-
cess may be distinctly seen by keep-
ing one under a glass tumbler and watching its movements.
They ai'e, however, quite difficult to catch, as they conceal
themselves behind the leaves during the day and night, and
only occasionally come out of their shady abode.
In the beofinning of autumn the female makes incisions
into the tender branches upon which it dwells, and therein
deposits her eggs. These are not hatched until the com-
mencement of the following summer, when the young ones
come out, and attain their perfect condition about the first
of August, and in southern climates even before that time.
The FiELD-CRiCKETS (Acheta nigra et vittata) are black,
and so well known to every one that a minute description
of them would be superfluous. They live in meadows and
the margins of fields, where the grass is not very high, and
the spot constantly exposed to the sun. They select a
small spot of rising ground for their abodes, which they
make by digging holes into the ground, at first in a horizon-
tal direction, and then perpendicularly downward. Tiicy
always walk into their holes backward, that is to say, with
their hind legs first, and while singing are usually standing
114 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
before the entrance to their abodes, ready to retreat in case
of necessity.
They eat grass, seeds, and fruit, and with great industry
carry their provisions into their holes, that they may con-
sume them at their leisure. They are very fond of drink-
ing, but are extremely delicate about it, and will only
touch the water that adheres to leaves, literally as well as
poetically slaking their thirst with only the dew of leaves
and flowers. In their journeys they are very careful to
avoid water, and if a small stream or puddle happens to be
in their way they carry pebbles into it, or grass or small
pieces of wood, until they fill it up so that they can pass
over it without getting wet ; and this instinct teaches them
to do, because if they should wet their antennae they would
trouble them by sticking together.
Crickets, when young and before they are provided with
wings, live peacefully together under stones, but as they
get their grow^th and wings they become great enemies to
each other. The females bite off the legs of the males,
and the males themselves are continually fighting with each
other. If they meet face to face, they butt one another like
rams ; and if they meet back to back, they kick like horses.
This quarrelsome disposition of Field-crickets may be
made serviceable in getting rid of the Ilouse-crickets, for it
is only necessary to bring a few of the former into the
house, or rooms, which is infested with the latter, and war
will take place in the camp immediately.
The youth of Germany, however, are extremely fond of
them, and there is scarcely a boy who has not several small
boxes made expressly for keeping his Crickets in. They
catch them by thrusting a long flexible stem of grass into
their holes and forcing them out, and so much delighted
are they with their music that they carry their boxes of
Crickets into their bedrooms at night, and are soothed to
sleep with their chirping lullaby.
ORDER III. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS. 115
The House or Domestic Cricket (Acheia domestica) is
smaller than the Field-cricket, being about one inch long,
and of a yellowish color. It dwells in the cracks of walls
and floors, particularly in bake-houses and breweries, and
wherever else they can find bread, and meal, and moistened
grain, for they are always thirsty ; and in houses, if they
can not get a sufficiency of water elsewhere, they attack
wet shoes and clothes. They are provided with wings,
with which they fly from place to place, and from house to
house ; and there have been people superstitious enough to
believe that if a Cricket flies from another house into theirs
and commences its melancholy song, it is a signal of the
death of some member of the family. But such supersti-
tions are not common nowadays ; on the contrary, their
presence is very generally considered an omen of good, and
among country people every where the song of the Cricket
is agreeable and highly prized.
It is a true remark that the deepest emotions are those
most noiseless. When the patriot Lafayette visited this
country many years ago, he was received with distinguished
applause and parade wherever he went ; the citizens of
every city and village through which he passed exerted
themselves to the utmost to do him honor, and the country
resounded with the merry ringing of bells, with the trum-
pet of jubilee, and with the booming cannonade. But the
greatest compliment paid him, and that which aifected his
noble heart most deeply, was in a little country village, in
which there was no band of music, no firino; of cruns, no
soldiery, no parade, but at the entrance of which the in-
habitants met him with uncovered heads and waving hand-
kerchiefs as he passed under the arch they had erected over
the road, and which bore this inscription :
"Come then, Expressive Silence, muse his praise!"
And so it is with the mind of man, generally ; any thing
116 ^ NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
that excites the powerful impression of awe or amazement,
on the yet more touching and inexpressible feelings of the
heart, produces a profound and speechless silence. Lovers
and friends, old men and little children, sit silently together
for hours, looking at each other in rapt admiration, their
souls mingling and blending together, conversing telegraph-
ically with each other in tones that human tongues can not
utter, because only human words can dwell on human lips ;
but the spirit sits above the tongue and has its own pecul-
iar language, which it alone knows how to express. Some-
thing of this effect seems to be produced by the chirping of
the domestic cricket. People whom the world call brain-
less, those who can not claim a spark of romance or poet-
ry, as well as those in whom the intellectual fire burns
brightest, seem very generally to be calmed into silent, pen-
sive, meditative thought by the mere sound of this little
insect rubbing its wings together! What there is in the
sound that is attractive, or why it produces such effect, is
more than any one has tried to fathom ; but the fact is ac-
knowledged by all, and there are few who will not say with
Cow per :
" Though in voice and shape they be
Formed as if akin to thee,
Thou surpassest, happier far,
Happiest Grasshopper that are.
Theirs is but a summer's song,
Thine endures the winter long,
Unimpair'd, and shrill, and clear,
INIelody throughout the year.
Neither night nor dawn of day
Puts a period to thy play ;
Sing then, and extend thy span
Far beyond the date of man.
Wretched man, whose years are spent
In rc]nning discontent,
Lives not, aged though he be,
Half a span comjjared with thee."
ORDEPv III. STRAIGHT- WINGED INSECTS. 117
The Mole-cricket {Acheta gryllotalpa) is larger than
either of the three species, being about two inches long,
and distinguished from the others by having very wide
mole-Hke fore feet, very short wings, and short hind legs.
Its body is of a grayish color, and its feet are brown.
From the peculiar construction of its fore feet it may
readily be inferred that it acts in the same manner under
ground as the mole, and so it does ; it feeds on the roots of
plants, and is sometimes very injurious to our gardens and
meadows. This insect is scarcely ever seen above ground,
but its presence may easily be detected by the withering
blight that marks its subterranean ravages. We frequently
see large spots of grass in our meadows becoming yellow,
and drying up, because its roots are devoured by the Mole-
cricket, which dwells under it. These insects would prove
much more annoying and injurious to us, were they not
constantly being destroyed by moles, lizzards, and snakes.
Cockroaches (Blatta).
The Common Cockroach {Blatta orientalis) has been so
universally known in the Old and the New World for ages,
that it is almost impossible to ascertain whence it first orig-
inated. Suffice it to say that it has a flat body, about an
inch long, of a dirty yellow or black color, and long awl-
shaped antenna?, each of which is composed of eighty joints.
Cockroaches, as is well known, are very voracious, and
devour every thing that comes in their way, and as they
are at the same time very prolific, they should always be
destroyed when encountered. This may be done by pour-
ing boiling water upon them, or suffocating them with sul-
phur smoke. Many houses in St. Petersburg have been so
infested with them that it has actually been necessary to
burn them down in order to get rid of these noxious in-
sects.
118 ^ORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Ear-wigs (Forficula).
The Common Ear-wig {Forficula auricularia) is about one
inch long, and has yellowish legs and a brown body. Its
upper wings are very short, but the under ones are as long
as the whole body, and will expand like those of a butterfly,
making it seem almost impossible that they can be so folded
up as to have room enough under their short wing-covers.
These little animals present one very extraordinary phe-
nomenon among insects ; they are not only oviparous, but
they bring forth their young by incubation ; and during the
month of April the females may always be found under
stones, sitting upon their eggs like a hen. The young are
hatched like chickens, and in the month of June may be
found with their mother, resembling her entirely, with ex-
ception of the wings.
It has long been a prevalent popular superstition that
the Ear-wig creeps through the ear into the brain of sleep-
ing persons, and thus occasions their death. But an in-
stance of the kind has never come to light, and we can eas-
ily believe it impossible, as their jaws and abdominal pinch-
ers are not strong enough to admit of their doing any such
injury. They are, however, justly persecuted and destroy-
ed by gardeners, because they make holes in ripe fruit, as
peaches, apricots, pears, and prunes, and feed on them.
They are also very prone to conceal themselves in pink
flowers and dahlias, when in full bloom, and spoil them.
On this account, gardeners often suspend lobster-shells,
reeds, etc., on these plants, that the Ear-wigs may conceal
themselves in them instead of the flowers.
The SootlisaTjers (ISIantis).
The Soothsayers arc distinguished by an unusually
long, flat hind body, a perpendicularly-erected long neck-
like thorax, short, horizontally-folded, generally green, or
ORDER III. STRAIGHT-^\^NGED INSECTS. 119
grayish brown wings, two very long fore legs, which are
continually stretched out to catch insects, and two short
antennee. They have received the name Mantis from the
Greek word signifying " Soothsayer," on account of their
curious motions, and that of " Camel-crickets" from the
great length of their neck.
They are very seldom found in the Middle or Eastern
States of the Union, but are seen in Maryland and all the
Southern States, and several species are found in the trop-
ics. They dwell upon the leaves of trees and bushes, walk-
ing very slowly upon their four hind legs, or sitting station-
ary for hours, like the chameleon, waiting for their prey.
As soon as they perceive a fly or a caterpillar approaching,
they turn their heads on all sides, watching its movements,
then they creep toward it slowly, like a cat after a mouse,
until, with the rapidity of an arrow, they pounce upon it
and grasp it with their sharp-pointed fore feet. Having
devoured their victims, they resume their former position,
and sit stationary, holding up their fore legs as if in the at-
titude of prayer. Hence the country people of France, as-
suming that it is engaged in prayer, call this insect '■'- Prie
Dieu;'' the Italians, ''■ Prega Dio f the Germans, '■' Gottes-
Anbeterinn f and the Latin names of ^^ Mantis religiosa, pr^-
caria, sancta, suinrstitiosa, oratoiia, mendica, pauperata,^^ etc.,
which have been applied to it, are derived from the same
superstition.
In the life of the celebrated missionary, St. Francis Xa-
vier, we read " that when he saw a Mantis holding up its
arms in deep devotion, he asked the insect to sing the
praises of God, whereupon it chanted a very fine canticle."
Sparmann, a distinguished traveler in Africa, informs us
" that this insect, the Mantis, is worshiped by the Hotten-
tots as a tutelary divinity; and if it happens to alight on
any person, he is at once considered as the peculiar favorite
of Heaven, and is looked up to as a saint."
120 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
In -what a different light does the naturalist look upon
the Mantis ! This cowardly and cruel insect, which is it-
self afraid of a little ant, can only be regarded as in the
attitude of those whom the poet describes as
" Borrowing the livery of Heaven to serve the Devil in,"
if its position may be allowed any practical association at
all. It holds up its anterior tibia3 merely for the purpose
of catching and destroying flies, caterpillars, plant-lice, and
other luckless insects who may come within the reach of its
forcep-like fore feet.
These insects, according to the observation of all natural-
ists, are very warlike, voracious, and, did our limits allow,
we should quote many very interesting accounts of them
from the works of that eminent German entomologist,
Ivoesel. Like Eeaumure, in France, he was occupied the
greatest part of his life in making observations concerning
the life, habits, manners, use, and injury of insects; and
published the result of his labors in four volumes, from
1746 to 1761, under the title Insecten Belustigungen — "En-
tomological Amusements." Koesel was born in Germany
in 1705, was a contemporary of Linmieus, Buffon, Tourne-
fort, and Jussieu. In the early part of his life he practiced
miniature painting in Nuremberg, but afterward devoted
himself entirely to the representation of insects, which he
drew from nature with uncommon accuracy. He then
wrote his valuable and classical work on that branch of
Natural History, and illustrated it with plates. He died
in 1750.
To witness the warlike disposition and cruelty of these
soothsayers, it is only necessary to put several of them in a
box together, when they will immediately commence fight-
ing, furiously striking at each other with their long fore
legs. The males are considerably smaller than the females,
and in these encounters generally fall victims to the vo-
ORDER Iir. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS. 121
racity of their "better halves," who cut off their heads and
then devour their whole body piecemeal.
The Chinese, aware of their cruel and warlike propensi-
ties, keep these insects in bamboo cages, and exhibit them
as prize-iighters, as is done with fighting-cocks. At these
exhibitions, when two Soothsayers are placed face to face,
they become at first still and immovable ; but after they
have gazed fixedly at each other for a while, they raise
their wings, their whole body begins to tremble, they be-
come furious, and pounce one upon the other, giving blows
with their long fore legs, which they use as if they were
swords, and fighting as fiercely as the enraged Hungarian
hussars in the last war with Austria. At last one of them
yields, and the conqueror grasps the vanquished one and
devours him by pieces.
The eggs of the Soothsayers, in the autumn, are deposit-
ed in an oval mass attached to the twigs of some creeping
vines near its base. This mass is inclosed in a silk-like
covering, resembling a seed-pod, which contains from fifty
to one hundred eggs, and which remains in this condition
during the winter, like the cocoons of butterflies and moths.
In the beginning of the following summer the larvas issue
from these eggs, and exactly resemble the perfect insect, ex-
cept in being destitute of wings. If these are kept in a
glass together, they will soon exhibit the warlike disposi-
tion of their parents, and devour one another, unless, they
are abundantly fed with plant-lice, of which they are very
fond. On this account, notwithstanding their fierce and
quan-elsome disposition, they become indisputably useful in
destroying noxious insects.
The life of the Soothsayer continues scarcely two seasons.
It is hatched at the end of spring, becomes perfect in the
course of the summer, and dies generally toward the end of
October.
F
122 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
The Walking-Stick (Spectrum).
The Walking-sticks, as this English name indicates,
are very fantastically formed. They are straight longi-
tudinally, like the stem of a pipe, slender, and some of the
tropical species are more than a foot long. They are the
largest in proportions of the whole class, and, on account of
their length, may be considered the whales among insects.
They somewhat resemble the Soothsayers, but their fore
legs are not sabre-like, nor adapted for catching insects.
They are not carnivorous but herbivorous, and are destitute
of wings ; and although they feed on plants, they are not in-
jurious to vegetation, because they eat principally useless
weeds and the juices which issue from trees. Their an-
tenna3 and legs are very long, and always extended ; and as
their bodies are of a gray or yellowish and brown color, it
is often difficult to discover them, or to distinguish them
from the branch' on which they stand, as the insect is often
motionless, with the legs extended in a straight line resem-
bling the lateral twigs.
In my excursions I have never met the Walking-stick
farther north than Maryland and Virginia, where I have
seen them in great quantities in the month of September,
either standing motionless on the twigs of trees or on the
rails of fences. At my approach they invariably took the
opposite side of the twig or rail, in order to evade observa-
tion. The Hon. Prescott Hall, of New York, however, re-
cently informed me that he has observed them abundantly
at his summer residence in Newport, Khode Island.
The late Thomas Say held the same opinion that I did,
and believed this animal tabe only indigenous in the South-
em States, until he was corrected in this respect by Mr.
Charles Pickering, of Salem, Massachusetts, who informed
him that he had obtained one near that city.
These insects are mostly all exotic, and, according to
ORDER III. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS. 123
Westwood, there are found in the south of Europe three
species ; in South America, twenty species ; in North
America, three species ; in Asia, forty species ; in Austra-
lia, twenty-seven species ; and in Africa, two species.
Mr. Say, in his American Entomology, has given a good
illustration cf the Spectrum femoratum^ in plate 37, and of
the Spectrum vittatum, in plate 38, to which 1 refer the
reader.
It is much to be regretted that death has taken from us
this highly distinguished American naturalist; but his
works are left behind him, and will insure him long re-
membrance among all lovers of Science and Nature. Mr.
Say accompanied Major Long in his exploring expedition
to the Rocky Mountains many years ago, and afterward
traveled with Mr. M'Clure througrh Florida and other coun-
tries. He published his American Entomology in 1824, in
three volumes, with fifty-four very-well executed colored
plates, and is the author of a great number of valuable ar-
ticles contained in the Transactions of several of the learned
societies of the Union. Thomas Say was a member of the
Society of Friends, Curator of the American Philosophical
Society, Professor of Natural History in the University of
Pennsylvania, and of Zoology in the Philadelphia Museum.
ORDER IV.
MOTHS AND BVTTEHFLlES—CLEPinOPTERA).
Figure 2G.
Caterpillar of the Saturnia lo.
We now approach the most beautiful and, to the gener-
ality of people, the most interesting department of Ento-
mology. The splendor and variety of the insects of this
order has never failed to attract attention, and with all lov-
ers of nature nothing more readily or more universally ex-
cites the mingled emotions of pleasure and astonishment
than the careful examination of a rich collection of Moths
and Butterflies. The endless diversification of colors, which
are distributed in different forms upon the bodies and wings
of lepidopterous insects, and even upon the bodies of cater-
pillars, some in lines, others in circles, or eyes, or hiero-
glyphics, or letters, and all in ever-varying shape and hue,
can not fail to excite our admiration, and impress upon us
the conviction that even the most diminutive creations bear
the same stamp of pleasing and infinite variety which per-
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 125
vades the universe. Of all the glittering orbs that roll in
endless space, probably no two are alike in substance or liv-
ing contents. So, of all the myriads of living creatures with
which the earth has swarmed since the animating Spirit first
breathed upon chaos, no two can be said to be precisely
alike ; but, on the contrary, so inevitable is the law of va-
riation with regard to all the operations of nature or art,
that all similarity is rather relative than real. The animal,
the vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms in all their devel-
opments, show the same endless diversification. In the hu-
man family, even, the highest and most perfect of animals,
we see multitudes of different forms and colors, of languages,
and manners and customs. We find an immense variety of
beasts and birds, reptiles, fishes, and insects ; and the same
of plants, trees, and shrubs, as well as of all the mineral
productions. And yet we find all these different varieties
of the three natural kingdoms united under one general law ;
all dependent upon one another, as component parts of one
great universal whole, and we are forced, with the great
philosopher, Humboldt, to exclaim, " Nature is the unity
in variety."
Moths and Butterflies, in comparison with the- other or-
ders of insects, are well entitled to the rank of nobility, for
among them we find no impudent beggars and spongers, as
among the flies ; no parasites, as in some of the wingless in-
sects ; no working class, as among the hymenopterous in-
sects, bees, w^asps, ants, and gall-flics ; no musicians, as
among the families of Crickets, Grasshoppers, Katydids,
and Cicadas; but all of them are aristocratic idlers, who,
clothed with silver, and gold, and purple, and ornamented
with ever-varying splendor, have naught to do but to seek
their own pleasure, and charm away their brief existence
fluttering from bough to bough, and satiating themselves
with the sweet nectar of flowers.
And, indeed, whether we look at them in their infiancy
126 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
as caterpillars, or in the state of chrysalis, or in their per-
fect condition, they are always more beautiful and more in-
teresting: than all other insects, and attract more of our at-
tention ; when in the state of caterpillar, on account of the
injury they do to vegetation, and when in their perfect form,
on account of their splendor and variety.
Moths and Butterflies are distinguished from other in-
sects by having four expanded wdngs, with a few exceptions,
covered with colored scales, and hairy bodies. They are
oviparous animals, and, under the guidance of their instinct,
lay their eggs upon those plants which are best adapted for
sustaining their future progeny. From these eggs proceed
the caterpillars (larvte), many of which are so voracious
that they consume more than twice their own weight in
twenty-four hours. We may congratulate ourselves that
they are so small, and that we and our domestic animals
are more moderate in our appetites ; for if a man weighing
one hundred and fifty pounds consumed every day three hun-
dred pounds of food, or an ox weighing four hundred pounds
devoured daily eight hundred pounds of grass, our terres-
trial globe could not, in its present condition and extent at
least, produce sufl&cient nourishment to sustain us or them.
After it has attained its full growth the caterpillar stops
eating, casts its skin, and becomes a chrysalis or cocoon
(pupa). Some suspend their cocoons from the branch of a
tree, as, for instance, the Asterias; others bury themselves
in the ground, as do all the Ilawk-moths, and in this con-
dition remain throuG;hout the cold winter season. Thus
the chrysalis passes its life in a state of torpor, without eat-
ing or moving, until, after a shorter or longer period, it
bursts its skin, and the perfect butterfly or mptli issues, no
more to injure vegetation, because it has exchanged its
mouth for a spirally rolled tongue, with which it can only
suck the juices of plants and flowers.
In this metamorphosis some very great changes occur in
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 127
the appearance and beauty of the insect, as well as in its
form and structure. Some of the handsomest caterpillars
issue from their cocoons the plainest, even the ugliest look-
ing butterflies, and vice versa. Thus the potato-worm is
remarkable for its beautifully variegated colors, but when
it becomes adult as a hawk-moth it has a uniform dingy
gray color. But the contrary is often the case, and an in-
significant-looking caterpillar is as often metamorphosed
into a very handsome butterfly.
Such changes, however, are not confined to insects, but
are also common throughout the animal kingdom, as v/ell
in the highest as the lowest classes, and would seem to be
something; more than a mere freak of nature.
But the metamorphosis of Butterflies and Moths has al-
ways been a subject of interesting contemplation and of
profound analogical reasoning, and has ever been considered
the true type of man's existence here, and his brighter and
happier life hereafter. In the most ancient times it prob-
ably gave origin and strength to the belief in the transmi-
gration of souls, metempschycosis, as also to a thousand
fabulous stories and fairy tales, in the same manner as the
annual casting of the skin of snakes, by which process that
reptile appears every spring in a new dress of bright and
glittering colors, has given rise, even in the remotest antiq-
uity, to the idea of regeneration and endless' life hereafter.
Caterpillars, notwithstanding their beauty, are very gen-
erally disliked on account of the immense injury they do to
vegetation ; but the prevailing prejudice against them, in
my opinion, arises more from the general ignorance of their
uses, and the benefit they are capable of conferring upon
man, than upon the actual amount of damage done by them.
We will mention some of their uses, and again endeavor to
convince our readers that none of the works of nature are
so insignificant as to be wholly without use in the great
plan of economy.
128 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Caterpillars veiy often inform us as to the properties of
the plants upon which they feed; thus the Potato-worm
(Sphinx Carolina) feeds only upon the different species of the
night-shade tribe (Solanea?) ; for instance, on the egg-plant,
the potato and tomato-vine, etc. ; the Asterias {Papilio as-
terias) lives upon the leaves of the umbrella tribe ( Umhelli-
fera')^ as the parsnep, cicuta, parsley, caraway, anise, cel-
ery, etc. ; and the Danaus (Danaus plexi2jpiis) feeds only
upon the different species of milk-weed.
The excrement of caterpillars furnishes an excellent dye-
stuff, and their bodies the finest of varnish. It is well
known that the body of each caterpillar is provided with a
glutinous substance, by which they are enabled to manu-
facture their cocoons ; and to obtain this they are collected
in many countries in large quantities, and boiled in water
until a greasy liquor is seen floating upon the surface.
This oleaginous substance is skimmed off, and proves a
valuable varnish. It is said that the Japanese use this to
varnish their finest fancy articles,
Raising caterpillars for the purpose of obtaining from
them perfect butterflies or moths is not only an agreeable
and instructive operation for young pupils in their leisure
hours, but it has often been a very lucrative business. In
Altona, in Denmark, I became acquainted with a gentle-
man who raised in his conservatory several species of the
large moths, natives of North America — as the Cecropia,
Luna, Polyphemus, and Promethca — which he sold readily
at two dollars apiece, and of which he raised on an average
a thousand specimens a year.
Caterpillars are of quite an important use to man as the
principal food of birds, and the amount of good they do in
yielding up their lives as nourishment for others would as-
tonish one unaccustomed to reflect upon the subject, and
really goes fiir toward compensating the injury they do to
vegetation. There are at least 1200 species of lepidop-
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 129
terous insects in existence in this country, and as each fe-
male lays on an average 300 eggs, half their number,
viz., 6000 females, will produce 1,800,000 caterpillars; in
the second generation, 180,000,000; and in the third,
27,000,000,000.
If such an immense multiplication of so voracious an
animal were to be continued without any check, man and
beast would soon be destroyed by starvation ; but it is un-
doubtedly one of the designs of Nature that these should
increase immensely for the very purpose of furnishing suffi-
cient nourishment for the birds and other winged animals
which make them their principal food. It is ascertained
that a single robin or woodpecker, and many others of the
warblers, carry every day about fifty grubs or caterpillars
to their nests as food for themselves and their young.
Now if there were only one million of these birds, of
which each one devours 6000 caterpillars during the months
of April, May, June, and July, by no means a large com-
putation, the number of caterpillars and grubs thus de-
stroyed will amount to 6,000,000,000 annually.
Caterpillars are, therefore, of great use to us in furnish-
ing so abundant food and nourishment for the birds, which
enliven and embellish the country with their happy songs
and their beautiful plumage, and which themselves supply
us with a palatable and delicious article of food.
Caterpillars are also destroyed by various kinds of vein-
winged insects, principally by different species of the Ich-
neumon fly, which with her ovipositor thrusts one or sever-
al eggs into the body of the caterpillar, upon the flesh of
which the maggots of these flies subsist, until they come out
as perfect flies, of course destroying the larvae upon which
they feed. We can often see this process carried on upon
the body of a potato-worm, when it is full grown, and just
ready to change into a cocoon. It will be completely cov-
ered with many hundred minute white silk-like bodies, which
F 2
130 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
look like grains of rice, but which are nothing but the co-
coons of small Ichneumon flies, which have been raised in
the body of that caterpillar, and work themselves out of its
skin when ready for their own metamorphosis into a co-
coon. This change takes place very rapidly, and then they
fall to the ground to await their final transformation into
a perfect Ichneumon.
Lastly, catcrpilhirs are not only indirectly useful to man,
but they are directly of the greatest importance to him;
they not only indirectly furnish him with palatable food,
but they directly supply him with his costliest and most
beautiful apparel. What a rebuke for human pride ! The
gaudy and spangled robes that deck earth's greatest po-
tentates are originally woven by the despised worm that
crawls beneath their feet ! What a profound lesson in the
economy of nature, and how striking an illustration of the
dependence of all created things ! An apparently insignifi-
cant caterpillar becomes one of the most important articles
in the manufacture and commerce of the world. An infant
butterfly weaves its own beautiful colors into a texture that
becomes not only the splendid and appropriate ornament
of female beauty, but also the insignia of office, rank, and
power. The academic gown, the priestly vestments, and
the monarch's royal robes were all once inclosed within the
cocoon of a silk-worm.
This caterpillar is the most renowned and the most prof-
itable of all, and is extensively cultivated in France, Italy,
Greece, Turkey, Persia, China, and Transcaucassia,* and
might as well be cultivated in this country, if the importa-
tion of foreign silk and the tariff did not operate against
this branch of industry. We have, however, quite a num-
ber of INIoths, indigenous to this country, the cocoons of
which might also furnish a very valuable, strong, and ex-
* See B. Jaeger's Versiich dner Darstellung des nat'drUcher Reich-
thums der russischen Lander jenseits des Caucasus. Leipzig, 1830.
ORDER IV.— MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 131
cellent silk, and of which extensive use will probably be
made as soon as the young giant of North America arrives
at raaturer age. Of these I shall speak at length in some
of the following pages.
Various kinds of apparatus have been invented for the
purpose of raising caterpillars, and the simplest kind are
boxes, the bottom of which is covered with earth, and the
top with gauze, so as to admit of fresh air at all times. In
some places large cages, like those for birds, are used,
which are also covered with gauze, and in which are placed
the different plants upon which the caterpillars feed. This
is a very convenient contrivance for observing their mode
of living, the casting of their skins, and their metamorph-
oses, as also for obtaining handsome and perfect specimens
for the cabinet. They may be raised, however, in the same
manner as silk-worms are generally raised, and which we
shall presently describe.
As soon as the cold of autumn deprives the trees and
shrubs of their foliage all caterpillars disappear, either
metamorphosing themselves into cocoons, or, if not yet
ready for such a change, concealing themselves under the
ground. In the foUovi^ing spring, as soon as the new leaves
appear on the trees, they come out from their caverns in the
hollow trees or the crevices of the rocks, and with a host of
new ones that issue from the eggs which were deposited in
the previous autumn, they commence their ravages, devour-
ing all the new leaves and shoots within their reach.
After the caterpillars have cast their skin several times
and are full grown, they metamorphose themselves into an
immovable cocoon {chrysalis, aurelia, j5?/pa), which eats no
more, and under the horny skin of which may almost al-
ways be recognized the wings and other members of the
future Butterfly or Moth. Many of these come out after a
few weeks, during the summer, again lay their eggs, from
which proceed other caterpillars, which latter generally
132 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
pass the winter as cocoons, exposed to rain, snow, and the
severest cold without the least injury.
A few Butterflies, however, are not unfrequentlj seen on
warm sunny days in the middle of winter ; as, for instance,
the Thistle Butterfly (Vanessa cardui), or the Mourner's
Mantle (Vanessa Antiope). These individuals came out
from their cocoons late in the fall, and made their winter-
quarters in hollow trees.
As the habits and mode of life of Moths and Butterflies,
and even their forms and organs are quite uniform, while
on the contrary those of their caterpillars are very manifold
and diverse, the careful observation of the latter seems to
offer greater satisfaction to our curiosity, and I deem it im-
portant to speak more at length concerning them.
Caterpillars have two kinds of feet, viz. : three pairs of
horny ones under the neck, and a number of fleshy ones un-
der the remaining parts of their body. The greatest part
of these insects have eight pairs of feet, some genera seven,
others six, and others only five, or even four pairs of feet.
Those that have eight pairs of feet walk very slowly and
uniformly on the ground, but all that have less than that
number walk differently ; they can not progress with their
body extended horizontally, but when creeping forward
form an arch with the middle part of the body, which is
destitute of legs, by approaching their hind feet to those of
the thorax, and then advancing with the forepart of the
body in the same manner as we move the hand when meas-
uring a span with the thumb and forefinger. On this ac-
count these caterpillars have been called by the common peo-
ple tailors, and by others geometrie, or surveyors. Those
caterpillars which have only four pairs of feet are able to
stand erect on their hind feet for hours, forming an acute or
a right angle, and in this motionless position resembling a
little twig of the shrub or tree upon which they are standing.
Caterpillars are generally covered with very handsome
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 133
colors, and even the plainest looking will appear handsome
upon a close examination with a magnifying glass. The
size of their bodies varies very much in proportion to the
size of the perfect insect, and their exterior surface is either
smooth, as that of the Asterias on the parsnep (Fig. 29), or
that of the Danaus on the milk-weed, or it is hairy like that
of the Saturnia (Fig. 20) on Indian corn and other grasses.
The food of caterpillars, with a few exceptions, is taken
from the vegetable kingdom. Some feed exclusively on one
species of plant, as the silk-worm on the white mulberry ;
others on all the species of one genus, as the potato worm
on the tomato, potato, etc. ; others eat any kind of vege-
table, as the woolly-bear {Arctia). The periods of taking
their meals is also different ; some eat only in the morning
and evening ; others during the whole day ; and others only
at night, while they conceal themselves during the day, and
their depredations only are visible. But if by night we ex-
amine our cabbage, cauliflowers, and turnips with a lan-
tern, we shall often find them covered with a host of these
noxious individuals.
Many of the caterpillars live like hermits, a solitary life,
and pay no attention to their brothers and sisters ; while, on
the contrary, many species are real socialists, and build in
common their comfortable silk dwellings, with which, if not
prevented by man, they sometimes cover entire trees. Here
they, live, and feed together at regular hours ; as, for in-
stance, the Tent Caterpillar (Clisiocampo Americana, Har-
ris) on apple, pear, or cherry trees, and by such confrater-
nities the trees of an entire orchard are ruined, unless the
destructive intruders are destroyed in April or the begin-
ning of May.
Single paj^ts of Catcrjnllars.
Head. — The head of a caterpilUir is horny, of a globular
or oblong form : it contains a mouth with an upper and
134 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
under lip, between which are sharp, horny jaws, with which
they cut transversely the leaves, beginning at the margin.
They cut with their jaws as easily and in the same manner
as we do with scissors.
Although we can not distinguish in them any organ of
vision, it is more than probable that they are provided with
eyes; for if we examine them with a magnifying glass we
discover on each side of the head six black spots in a circle,
which seem to answer the organ of sight ; and if wp ap-
proach them in the night with a light, they immef'iately
begin to move, which shows that they must have some
means of being affected by the light. Besides, their mo-
tions in various voluntary directions testify much in favor
of such an opinion, although it is possible that these may
be detected by their exquisite sense of smell.
There is no caterpillar which does not spin a web of
some kind, by issuing a thread from a fleshy point of the
under lip.
Body. — The body of a caterpillar consists of twelve
ringlets, upon nine of which, on each side of the ventral
portion of the body, is seen an oval spot, surrounded some-
times with a red or yellow ring. These oval spots are the
respiratory organs by which the insect breathes. That
these are the real respiratory organs is proved by putting
oil or any greasy substance over these air-holes, the conse-
quence of which wnll be immediate death by suffocation.
Moreover, if a caterpillar is put under water or alcohol,
air-bubbles will be seen issuins: from innumerable minute
holes in all parts of its body ; and when the skin is taken
off from the insect and held up against the light, the holes
may be distinctly recognized, and the whole skin will ap-
pear as if it were perforated with an immense number of
fine pricks.
Inside of the body, every caterpillar has a stomach, a
heart, an intestine, and two long serpentine organs, which ex-
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 135
tend to the liind part of the body, and thence back to the
neck, where they open at the inferior lip. Those tubes con-
tain the substance which the animal uses in spinning, which
is a yellow or white juice, according to the food it takes,
and upon this also probably depends the fineness of the silk
they make, in the same manner as the quality and color of
butter depends upon the food of the cow.
These tubes joining together and opening at the under
lip, constitute the spinning apparatus of caterpillars, and
may be distinctly seen by opening with great care and cau-
tion the back of the animal. The juice contained in the
tubes is nothing more nor less than a kind of very fine var-
nish, of which the people of some countries make use, but
which no one has yet undertaken to use in this country.
Should this varnish ever come into general use, our most
noxious caterpillars would become beneficial to us.
Figure 2T.
Saturn i a lo. — Male.
The single parts of Moths and Butterflies, although not
quite as varied and complex as those of caterpillars, still
present some points of interest and curiosity, and fi^r excel
them in beauty and splendor.
The four wings of Moths and Butterflies differ from those
of other insects, by being covered with a kind of dust, which
produces the handsome colors, and which, when touched,
sticks to the fingers. Under the microscope, it is seen that
136
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
this dust has regular forms, and consists of horny scales,
fastened in the wings. From this circumstance the order
of entomology comprising Moths and Butterflies is called
Lejyidoptera, which signifies in English " Scale-winged."
The head of these insects is provided with two large glob-
ular eyes, covered with a horny skin, which under the mag-
nifying glass looks like a net-work, consisting of a number
of elevated points or convexities, of which each one may,
perhaps, be considered a single eye. This horny skin is
transparent, and when taken off and looked through, for
instance, at one man, there are presented to us a whole
army of Liliputians. But in spite of this multifarious vi-
sion, the insect probably sees only that object which is in the
direct angle of vision, or which is in a straight line with its
point of sight.
Figure 28.
Satumia To. — Female.
On the upper part of the head, between the eyes, are
seen two thread-like filaments, called "feelers," antennae,
as in the Satumia lo (Figs. 27 and 28), and in the Asterias
(Fig. 30). The use of these organs has not yet been exactly
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 137
ascertained. Some naturalists think that these feelers servo
to protect the eyes, but the more rational opinion prevails
that the antennse, w^ith w^hich all insects are provided, are
probably the organs of hearing. They are hollow, provided
with muscles, and placed on each side of the head, like the
ears of beasts, reptiles, and fishes.
The use of the proboscis is much better known : it is a
spiral tongue, formed to coil up like the spring of a watch,
and it is by means of this organ that the insect is enabled
to pump out the juice of flowers. This spiral tongue, which
answers the purj)ose of a mouth, is placed between the eyes,
and consists of two lateral halves which are closely united,
and which form a hollow tube like the proboscis of an ele-
phant. Its length varies considerably in the different spe-
cies of butterfly. We find the longest ones in the Hawk-
moths ; but a few species have none at all, as the silk- worms,
for many live as perfect insects only a few days, and can
get along without the trouble of procuring food.
I have often amused myself with experiments upon the
Hawk-moths and Butterflies which were hatched in a warm
room as early as the month of March. I have fed them
with sugar, holding the insect in my fingers by the wings,
and have seen them seize the piece of sugar with their fore
feet and, thus holding it, unfold their proboscis, and with its
saliva moistening the sugar, then sucking the juice, which
could easily be perceived ascending the trunk. This is an
experiment which every one can make at pleasure.
From the most ancient times it has been observed that
some lepidoptera make their excursions only during the
night, and conceal themselves during the day ; while others
are seen flying about only in the daytime, and conceal
themselves at night. The former are called Nocturnal
Lepidoptera, as Moths, Millers, Hawk-moths, etc., which
are recognized by their having antennas without a knob at
the end, e. g., the Saturnia lo (Figs. 27 and 28).
138
JfORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
These insects are rarely seen by day, being concealed on
or under fences, or houses, or under the leaves of trees and
bushes, and you have only to strike upon a bush with your
walking-stick, or parasol (for I write also for the young
ladies), wlien a swarm of these insects will sometimes fly
out of it, and be easily caught in a net. As soon, however,
as night sets in, their airy promenades begin, and unless
snapped away by the cruel whip-poor-will, or a voracious
bat, or burned alive by the flame of some candle, they con-
tinue flying about all night.
It is very singular that nocturnal insects, which conceal
themselves from the daylight, are so apt to fly toward a
light in the night. But such is the fact, as almost all can
testify who have seen them flying around a light in a warm
summer evening, when the windows are open, until they
disabled themselves, so that they could not fly. This is an-
other way of catching these insects ; and still another is to
spread a white sheet over the turf of your garden in a warm
summer evening, and set a lantern in the midst of it : nu-
merous swarms of guests of all shapes and colors will im-
mediately appear upon it.
Figure 29,
Caterpillar of the Asterias.
But if we examine these insects, which are so much at-
tracted by the light, we find the greatest part of them
males. Hence the celebrated and ingenious Professor
Oken thinks that the females of the nocturnal lepidoptera
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
139
may, perhaps, be provided by nature with some luminous
spots, visible only to their males, but not to man.
The Diurnal Lepidoptera, called Butterflies, are seen
flying only during the daytime, and are distinguished from
the preceding ones by having a knob at the extremity of
each antenna; as, for example, the Asterias butterfly {Pa-
pilio asterias)^ Fig. 30. Of these we shall speak again.
The Asterias Butterfly.
Of Nocturnal Lepidoptei^a.
The romantic imagination of naturalists has often taken
from ancient mythology the names of gods and goddesses,
or of fabulous heroes and heroines, with which to distin-
guish the most splendid of the lepidopterous insects. Thus
we have among them an Apollo, IMars, Cybele, Iris, Atro-
pos, Ulysses, Ajax, Nestor, etc. This was the case with
the first Nocturnal INIoth of which I sliall speak.
In the months of June and July, if we look on the dog-
140 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
woods, elms, sassafras, or poplars, we find upon their leaves
a number of small pale-green caterpillars, covered with
clusters of light-green short prickles, and having a brown
and white longitudinal stripe on both sides of the lower
ventral part of the body, and extending from the head to
the abdomen. These caterpillars live together very socia-
bly during their infancy, but disperse at mature age, and
travel about through meadows and gardens, where they are
often found upon the leaves of clover, Indian corn, and
other grass-like plants, upon which they feed.
One of these caterpillars is represented in Fig. 26, and
when full grown is more than two inches long. Its fine
colors attract many a young person, who soon finds himself
affected to tears by the sharp pains of its prickles, which
sting like nettles.
It is easy to raise these caterpillars, as their food can so
easily be procured, consisting of elm and poplar leaves, or
any kind of grass. After having cast their skin four times,
and when they are about seven or eight weeks old, each
one looks out for a large leaf on the ground, the margins
of which it fastens together in an irregular form, then lines
the inside with gum, in order to make the cocoon stiff and
impenetrable to the inclemency of the severest weather. In
this condition the chrysalis remains through the whole win-
ter and until the following summer, when they awake by
the spiritual rapping of the warm element, rise from their
graves clad in an orange and purple dress, and ascend to-
ward the sky as perfect moths.
This Nocturnal Lepidoptera received its name after
Juno, the daughter of Saturn, also called Saturnia, and her
priestess, lo.
The Saturnia lo is represented in Figs. 27 and 28, the
male with four, and the female with two globular, black
spots on the wings. The female is the larger, and differs
in color.
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 141
The Silk-worm Moth (Bombyx mori).
Of all the lepidopterous insects this is the most celebra-
ted and the most useful to man, and consequently deserves
as extended a notice as the limits of this work will allow.
It is generally known that most of the caterpillars, at the
period of their metamorphosis, envelop themselves with a
silky web, which forms the inner part of the cocoon. But
it is not, perhaps, so well known how this silk is obtained
from the caterpillar, nor to what extent this most valuable
of all the products of insects could be cultivated in this
country.
It is true that mankind have lived, and could live, with-
out the use of silk, and the same might be said of almost all
our luxuries ; but whoever has witnessed the steady progress
of refinement in manners and customs which has attended
the increase of luxuries in society will be careful how he
speaks against the use of an article which gives employ-
ment to many thousands of people in its first? production,
and furnishes many hundreds of thousands with food and
raiment by its final manufacture, and has already become
one of the most important sources of national wealth. Be-
sides, were it not for the use of silk and its costliness, it is
probable that our woolen, cotton, and linen stuffs would
be much dearer than they are, and much harder for poor
people to obtain. Silk stuffs are, moreover, an appendage
of rank and ofiice, without which insignificant courts, igno-
rant embassadors, and many other brainless people, would
lose their whole splendor and influence.
Silk has always been an expensive article, and has a cu-
rious history. It was once valued a* its weight in gold at
Rome. The extravagant Julius Caesar covered the stage
of the theatre with a silken carpet ; but the Emperor Tibe-
rius prohibited gentlemen from wearing silk dresses, because
he considered it effeminate. The emperors Caligula and
142 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Heliogabalus dressed themselves throughout in silk ; but
Aurelian was so impolite and so penurious that he refused
even his empress a robe of silk on account of its costliness.
Kirby and Spence, in their " Introduction to Entomol-
ogy," mention that "James the First, King of Scotland,
was forced to beg of the Earl of Mar the loan of a pair of
silk stockings to appear in before the English embassador,
, enforcing his request with the cogent appeal, ' For ye would
not, sure, that your king should appear as a scrub before
strangers.' "
Aristotle, in the third century B.C., and Pliny, in the
first century a.d., both speak of the use of silk.
The ancient Greeks and Romans procured their silk from
Persia, in which country silk-worms have been raised from
the remotest antiquity. And when I saw the great num-
ber of wild silk-worms in Cachetia, Imeritia, Mingrelia,
Georgia, Shirvan, and Dagestan (the modern provinces of
ancient Media), as far as to the heights of the Caucasus,
near Tiflis, the idea occurred to me that the fabulous story
of the golden fleece of the Argonauts must have had its or-
io-in or reference to t"hat rich silk country. These beauti-
ful provinces are now in the possession of Russia, and are
called Transcaucasia, and they, with the Crimea, form
the richest and most productive countries of the Russian
empire.
These Elysian fields induced my friend Castellas, of Par-
is, now deceased, to settle in Tiflis, and, encouraged by the
Emperor Nicholas in 1826, to erect large establishments
for the cultivation of silk in Tiflis, Karaback, Shirvan,
Noukha, and Imeritia, of which he showed me the plans
when I was there in 4825. In these vast establishments
he employed twenty-seven thousand hands, including eight
hundred Italian men and women ; and in the first year of
their operation 1,200,000 pounds of fine floss-silk were pro-
duced and sold, which, valued at four dollars per pound,
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 143
amounts to four millions eight hundred thousand dollars.
Mr. Castellas presented me with several bundles of the silk
which he manufactured, and it was pronounced far superior
in quality to the French or Italian silk by every connoisseur
to whom I showed it afterward in my travels through Ger-
many and France.
That enterprising and excellent man died two years after
I left the Crimea, and while I was in St. Domingo, and
my deep grief at his untimely departure and my loss were
only assuaged by the sweet hope of once more meeting him
beyond the grave. He has left this world forever, and his
grand and extensive establishments have probably perished
from neglect ; for a country where 1,200,000 idle soldiers
rule the inhabitants with a rod of iron, and suck their life-
blood, can not well or long succeed in such enterprises.
It seems to me a matter of regret, and a great deficiency
in our views of political economy, that the people of the
United States of America have not been more persevering
and successful in raising their own silk, for the importation
of which they pay so many millions of dollars annually.
It is true that a few individuals here and there are occu-
pied in this lucrative branch of industry ; and I was happy
to be able to purchase some fine silk handkerchiefs at
Rapp's Economy, eighteen miles below Pittsburgh, on the
Ohio, which were manufactured there out of silk of their
own raising. But this is like a drop of water to the vast
ocean, in a country of so immense an area, and of a popula-
tion that will soon reach fifty millions. It is not a vision-
ary project, or a Morus Multicaulis speculation, that I
would encourage ; but if our government would protect this
branch of industry by a suitable tariff, the cultivation of
silk-worms and the manufacture of silk could be made a
profitable business. Families in the Middle States of the
Union might thus employ many old and infirm men and
women, as well as children when not in school ; and in the
144 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Southern States could do the same with negro children^ as
well as with the old men and women who have become in-
capacitated for hard Avork.
To plant a large number of white mulberry-trees, for the
purpose of raising silk-worms, is neither difficult nor expens-
ive, and whoever raises a large quantity of cocoons may be
sure of a ready cash sale of them, and at a great profit.
All the silk and silk-stuffs of commerce originate from
the common silk-worm ; but there exist several other species
of nocturnal lepidoptera in America and in Asia, which
produce silk of a different kind, of which no use, or a very
limited one, is made ; as, for instance, that of the Bomhyx
madrono, mentioned in Humboldt's travels, which is found
in the province of Mechoacau, in Mexico, at the height of
10,500 feet above the level of the sea. Handkerchiefs are
manufactured of this silk by the inhabitants of Oaxaca.
The cocoons of the large North American Moths, Cecro-
pia, Luna, Polyphemus, and Promethea, which I shall il-
lustrate hereafter, contain much silk, a single fibre of which
is at least ten times as thick as one of the common silk-
worm — an experiment I have often made myself. Stuffs
made out of this silk would far exceed the common fabrics
in strength and durability, and could not, probably, be worn
out in many years.
In India silk is also obtained from the cocoons of other
Moths, in relation to which Ivirby and Spence say : " Of
these, the most important species known are the Tusseh and
Arindy Silk-worms. These insects are both natives of
Bengal. The first (Attacus popzYzo, Linn.), feeds upon the
leaves of the jujube-tree, or Byer of the Hindoos, and upon
the Terminalia alata glabra, Roxb., the Asseen of the Hin-
doos, and is found in such abundance as from time imme-
morial to have afforded a constant supply of a very durable,
coarse, dark-colored silk, which is woven into a cloth called
Tusseh-doothies. This fabric is much worn by the Brah-
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 145
mins and other sects, and would be highly useful to the in-
habitants of many parts of America and the south of Eu-
rope, where a light and cooi^ and at the same time a cheap
and durable dress, such as this silk furnishes, is much want-
ed. The durability of this silk is really astonishing, as aft-
er constant use for nine or ten years it does not show the
least appearance of wear or decay. The insects which make
this silk are thought by the natives of so much consequence
that they guard them by day to preserve them from crows
and other birds, and by night from the bats. The second,
the Arindy Silk- worm {PhalcEiia Cynthia^ Drury), feeds sole-
ly on the leaves of the Palma Christi, and produces remark-
ably soft cocoons, the silk of which is so delicate and flossy
that it is impracticable to wind it off, like other silk, from
the cocoons ; it is, therefore, spun like cotton, and the thread
thus manufactured is woven into a coarse kind of white
cloth of a loose texture, but of still more incredible dura-
bility than the other, the lifetime of one person being sel-
dom sufficient to wear out a garment made of it. It is
used not only for clothing, but for packing fine cloths.
Some manufacturers in England to whom the silk was
shown seemed to think that it could there be made into
shawls equal to any received from India.
The silk which is the most extensively manufactured In
China, Japan, France, Italy, and some other countries, is,
as already mentioned, the product of the common silk-worm
moth, which is of medium size, and of a white, yellowish
color. A single female produces from three to five hun-
dred eggs, which are oval, bright yellow, and which may
be preserved in a cool room during a whole winter. In the
month of May their color becomes lighter or paler, and
little white and transparent caterpillars may be seen issu-
ing from them. These little creatures require to be fed im-
mediately with tender leaves of the white mulberry. They
will also eat the leaves of maple, pear, and oak trees, as
G
146 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
well as those of the raspberry and wild rose, though only
for a short time ; but if they eat the leaves of the grape-
vine they will die in convulsions within two days.
These tender caterpillars require to be treated with the
greatest care. They can not be taken up with the fingers
and placed upon the leaves, but must be moved with a fine
paint-brush, or with the soft feather of a partridge or quail.
Fresh and perfectly dry leaves must be given them twice a
day, spread out in a sieve, from which they are to be re-
moved in the same manner — that is, taken up on a feather
every time they are fed. All the excrements and remnants
of old leaves must be removed, and the sieve made thorough-
ly clean, before fresh leaves are placed on it, because any ac-
cumulation of filth will soon cause them to sicken and die.
These little beings, as soon as they issue from the egg,
are able to spin, and may be seen marking their way by a
fine silk thread. In ten or eleven days after birth they cast
their skin, and this operation is again repeated three times,
about as often as every two weeks. When they have cast
their skin the third time they are usually grown to one and
a half inches in length, at which period of their lives they
are subject to diarrhoea and other diseases, caused by damp-
ness, coarse food, cold or bad air. Besides, they have many
enemies from which they are in danger, such as mice, moles,
weasels, lizards, ichneumon, wasps, hornets, dragon-flies,
and even spiders. The apartments where silk-worms are
raised must therefore be airy, but dry and clean, and the
windows protected by gauze to prevent the entrance of nox-
ious insects.
After they have cast their skin the fourth time their col-
or becomes more yellowish, and they will be observed wan-
dering about uneasily, as if seeking some place to alight,
when some brush should be put near them, upon which
they may creep and there spin their cocoons.
These cocoons are of a white or yellow color, and con-
ORDER IV.— MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 147
tain the chrysalis, which, if allowed to remain undisturbed
for two or three weeks, will be metamorphosed into a moth.
But the moth, in escaping from its silky prison, breaks the
threads of silk which encompass it, and of course renders
the cocoon useless to man. Hence, in order to prevent
this, the cocoons must be put into a warm oven, where the
chrysalis will be suffocated, and then the cocoons may be
preserved for any length of time, and their silk reeled off
at pleasure.
So easy and amusing is this process, it is surprising that
young people living in our country villages, especially where
there are white mulberry-trees (and they may be cultivated
in almost any of our States), do not more often engage in
it. Nothing would be easier than to raise silk enough
every year for domestic use, and also enough for sale, from
the proceeds of which each individual might realize a hand-
some salary. But to say nothing of pecuniary advantage,
the ennobling nature of the employment — tracing in the
natural history of these little animals man's own destiny,
and reading so plainly the invariable order of nature which
is the foundation of his hopes for the future — one would
think, ought to be ample compensation for all the care their
culture requires, certainly a sufficient remuneration for so
many otherwise idle or misspent hours. To see the suc-
cessive transformations of these little caterpillars — to watch
their development from the tiny egg to their full growth,
and then, instead of gradually decaying into death and cor-
ruption, as human beings do, to see them in full maturity
climbing off the earth, weaving joyously their silken shroud,
and calmly folding themselves up, not to die, but only to
exchange a crawling body for a winged and ethereal form —
what scene in nature more elevating, more consoling, more
full of promise to man, the most miserable of all animal
creations, and yet the most capable of the highest happiness!
In hopes of encouraging the young to engage in this
148 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
%
lucrative amusement, as well as for the purpose of furnish-
ing accurate data to those who are interested in the history
of the raising of silk-worms for commercial purposes, we
shall enter still more into its details.
An ounce of the eggs of the silk-worm moth contains
about forty thousand caterpillars, which, if all live, will
produce one hundred pounds of floss-silk. This number of
caterpillars will consume about a thousand pounds of leaves,
to furnish which about sixty white mulberry-trees will be
required. If these trees are properly cultiv^ated they should
be planted about six feet apart, and after they are well
grown need very little care.
From these data it may be seen how easy and how profit-
able is this species of husbandry ; and yet so little silk has
hitherto been produced in the United States that we have
imported it from Italy, France, and China. It seems al-
most incredible, but it is nevertheless true, that during the
year 1855 over twenty-five millions of dollars' worth of silk
was imported into this country from the above-named places.
We give the exact figures of the imports, viz. :
Of raw silk 8751,623
Of manufactured silk 24,916,356
Making in all $25,667,979
Italy, scarcely larger than our State of Florida, exports
annually raw silk to the amount of $500,000, and manu-
factured silk to the amount of $13,800,000 ; making in all,
for this one article of commerce, $14,300,000.
Even in the small peninsula of the Crimea, silk-culture
is carried on to a very great extent, and in many places by
the Tartars, Greeks, and Armenians. We recollect making
a July excursion in that romantic country thirty years ago,
and our visit to one of the numerous silk establishments
there is still treasured up among the delightful incidents of
early travels. Before the break of day we left Sudak, on
the shore of the Black Sea, directing our way toward the
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES, 149
city of KafFa, now called Theodosia, a name given to it by
the modern northern Semiramis, Catharine II., in honor of
Julian's profligate empress. As we neared the city, the
high-soaring larks and the melodious nightingales, from
the topmost branches of the trees, were warbling their
morning salutations to the rising sun, Avhose crimson beams
had just begun to gild the neighboring hills with purple
and gold, brightening till their illuminated tops seemed like
golden crowns hovering over the heads of Julian and his
Empress Theodosia. The contrasts of scenery and of char-
acter — Julian, the apostate and enemy of Christianity, and
Theodosia, once a prostitute, now a fanatic and an empress
— were absorbing all our thoughts, when we came upon a
comfortable-looking country residence, on all sides sur-
rounded with white mulberry-trees. Supposing, of course,
that these were cultivated for the purpose of raising silk, we
could not forbear aliofhting from the horse and seekino; the
acquaintance of the proprietor. The estate belonged to an
Armenian gentleman, who very kindly received us, and
showed us his whole plantation. There were about 800
mulberry- trees upon an area of 300 square yards, and the
multitude of silk-worms in their several airy apartments were
just on the point of making their cocoons. The net profit
of this one establishment for the year previous was 1200 ru-
bles, equivalent to $240, and the proprietor informed us
that he had several other similar ones in different places.
All these peaceful establishments in the Crimea — the
home and the happiness of so many families, the support
of thousands of harmless and virtuous men, women, and
children — have been destroyed in the late pestilential war,
and the inhabitants plundered, driven away, or cruelly mur-
dered, and all merely to satisfy the ambition and add to
the glory and power of tyrants. Strange that the tortured
nations of Europe can submit to the oppressive yoke of tyr-
anny which crushes them ! Passing strange that they do
150 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
not see that their standing armies are supported only to
keep them in perpetual slavery, and that in abolishing their
system of hired soldiery they would, at the same time, in-
sure the death of tyrants, and bring the resurrection-day of
the oppressed nations !
Many years ago England adopted a ruinous policy in rais-
ing immoderately high the duties upon imported raw silk,
thinking thus to enforce its domestic production ; but the
stoppage of all the silk manufactories was the only result.
James I. was very solicitous to introduce the breeding of
silk-worms into England, and, in a speech from the throne,
he earnestly recommended his subjects to plant mulberry-
trees for this purpose ; but the project was a total failure.
That country does not seem to be well adapted to this spe-
cies of husbandry, on account of the great prevalence of
blighting east winds during the months of April and May,
when the young worms require a plentiful supply of mul-
berry-leaves. The manufacture of silk goods, however,
made great progress during that king's reign ; and it had
become so considerable in London, that the silk-throwsters
of the city and suburbs formed themselves into a corpora-
tion, and in 1661 they employed forty thousand persons.
The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 by the fa-
natic libertine Louis XIV., who expelled all the Protestants
from France to gain divine absolution for his crimes, con-
tributed in a remarkable manner to the increase of the En-
glish silk trade by the introduction of a large colony of skill-
ful French weavers, who settled in Spitalfields. The great
silk-throwing mill erected at Derby, in 1719, also served to
promote the extension of this branch of manufacture ; for
soon afterward, in the year 1730, the English silk goods
were sold at a higher price in Italy than those made by the
Italians.
But a great revolution was effected in this manufacture
in 1825. Previously to that epoch the legislative enact-
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 151
ments in regard to it were the most contradictory and im-
politic that can well be imagined. The importation of
foreign manufactured silks was prohibited under the sever-
est penalties; but the advantage that this prohibition was
so erroneously believed to confer upon the manufacturer,
would, under any circumstances, have been more than
neutralized by the imposition of oppressive duties on the
raw material. This mistaken policy was productive of
great injury, because, owing to the exorbitant duties on the
raw material, and the want of improvement in the manu-
facture, the price of silks was maintained so high as to re-
strict the demand for them within comparatively narrow
limits. In 1825, however, a more reasonable policy was
adopted, which was soon productive of great change in this
department of business. The duties on the raw material
were greatly lowered, at the same time that foreign silk
goods were allowed as imports on the payment of a duty
of 30 per cent, ad valorem. This new tariff was vehement-
ly opposed at the outset, and it was confidently predicted
that it would occasion the ruin of the manufacture; but
the result has shown the soundness of the principle on
which it was based. The manufacturers were now for the
first time compelled to call in all the resources of science
and ingenuity to their aid, and the result has been that the
manufacture of silks has been improved more during the
last twenty-five years than it had been during the whole
previous century, and that it has continued progressively to
increase. The total quantity of raw silk imported for home
consumption in 1838 was 3,595,816 lbs. The total num-
ber of individuals directly engaged in its manufacture has
been estimated at upward of 207,000, and the value of the
silks annually manufactured may be estimated at from fifty
to sixty million dollars. For full particulars as to the his-
tory and manufacture of silk the reader is referred to Por-
ter's treatise on this subject in Lardner''s Cyclopadia.
152
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
About twenty years ago the business of raising silk-
worms was extensively introduced throughout the United
States, and was entered into with great enthusiasm, but so
foolishly, and with so little knowledge of the subject, that
the Morus Multicaulis speculation proved an entire failure,
and caused almost an abandonment of this branch of indus-
try. The changeable temperature of the Northern, Eastern,
and Middle States renders them naturally less suitable for
the cultivation of the white mulberry, at the time when its
leaves are most needed for the young silk-worms, than the
Southern States, and, besides, manual labor costs more in
the North than in the South, where all the work of a silk
establishment may be performed by superannuated or very
young slaves, no physical strength being necessary for super-
intending the silk-worms or for unwinding their cocoons.
Since the Morus Multicaulis fever died away, however, very
few silk-worms have been raised in this country, as may
be seen from the Statistical View of the United States, by J.
D. B. De Boiv, Superintendent of the United States Censi/^,
Washington, 1854 ; from which I copy the following table :
Silk Cocoon Production of the United States in 181:0 and
1850.
states.
Alabama ,
Arkansas
Columbia, Dist.
Connecticut —
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts.
Michigan
of
1S40.
is5a
Pounds.
Pounds.
1,592
167
98
38
651
17,538
328
1,758
124
6
2,292
813
1,150
47
379
387
246
737
1,281
317
29
211
252
2,299
39
1,741
7
268
108
stater^
Mississippi ,
Missouri ,
New Hampshire . .
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina...,
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina...,
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia ,
Total sum...,
1840.
1850.
Pounds.
Pounds.
91
2
70
186
119
191
1,966
23
1,735
1,744
3,014
229
4,317
1,552
7,262
285
1,013
458
2,080
123
1,217
1,329
28
4,286
268
3,191
317
60,811
10,603
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 153
From this statistical table it will be seen tliat the de-
crease of raised silk-cocoons in this country amounts to
50,208 pounds ; but at the same time we perceive with
pleasure that they were rather increasing in the State of
New York, and still more in Maine, Indiana, and Tennes-
see. In Kentucky, also, according to the last census, 544
pounds of silk-cocoons were produced more than at the date
of the preceding census.
But our limits will not allow us longer to dwell lipon the
history and rearing of the Silk-worm, and we pass to the
consideration of its caterpillars, only referring our readers
for more complete details to the most modern and perhaps
the best work on the subject, viz., that of Count Dandolo,
of Venice : " DelV arte di gover'nare i bachi da setta. Mila-
no, 1819."
The Cecropia, Polypheme, Luna, and PrametJica Moths.
This noble family of large Moths is, perhaps, the hand-
somest of all the nocturnal lepidoptera. They are beauti-
fully covered with soft down, and are ornamented with a
great variety of splendid colors. It seems, at first view,
strange that colors so beautiful should be found on insects
that display themselves only at night ; but it is not, after
all, in dissonance with the poetry of Nature that they should
be seen sporting only in the calm, starry night, on the soft
breezes that are laden with delicious fragrance, when the
fire-flies glisten on the earth like the reflection of twinkling
stars on the bosom of the placid water, and the mysterious
whip-poor-will or the lugubrious owl whistle their melan-
choly music through the sombre forest. Often have we
roamed through Nature's open temple till the blazing sun
had gone to rest ; and, overcome Avith the day's fatigue,
have laid us down amidst the fragrance of wild flowers,
only to dream of things the day could not reveal. Thus
in the depths of slumber have we often laid, and in dreamy
G2
154
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 155
visions seen the graves of the dead all open, and spirits as-
cending in the shape and winged dress of these nocturnal
insects, sporting in the moonlit space, dancing to the never-
ceasing fiddle of the merry cricket, stooping down to the
dewy earth, with bended heads close by our attentive ears,
as if to confess the evil and the misery of a former life, then
joyfully shaking off the mist, and darting upward into the
purer ether.
One of the handsomest of these nocturnal faiiy-like in-
sects is the Cecropia Moth (Attacus cecropia), Fig. 31. It
is found all the way from the Canadas down to the Mexi-
can Gulf, as well as in all the Western States. We have
received specimens from Montreal and from Louisiana, and
some very fine ones from Davenport, in Iowa, sent by our
esteemed entomological correspondent. Professor D. S. Shel-
don, of Iowa College.
This beautiful Moth has very large wings, which, when
expanded, will measure from five to six inches in breadth,
and which are covered with dusky-brown feathered scales,
and adorned with a kidney-shaped red spot and a reddish-
white band, with a black spot resembling an eye upon the
upper or fore wings. It appears in the Southern States as
early as the month of May, but in the Northern not until
June, when the female deposits her white, kidney-shaped
eggs upon the apple, cherry, or wild plum trees, the leaves
of which constitute the food of the caterpillars, which are
hatched out of the eggs by the warmth of the atmosphere.
The Caterpillar, Fig. 32, is almost as beautiful as the
perfect insect. It measures from three to four inches in
length, is of a light-green color, and has coral-red warts,
with short black bristles covering its body. It remains
upon the trees, feeding on its leaves, till August or Sep-
tember, when it descends, and may often be seen creeping
on paths and sidewalks, searching for currant or barberry
bushes, upon which it likes to build its cocoon.
156
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Figure 32,
Any one who meets with these caterpillars in the above-
mentioned months may
have the pleasure of
witnessing their meta-
morphosis into cocoons,
and several months aft-
erward into an elegant
Moth, by taking them
up very carefully upon
leaves and cautiously
carrying them home,
placing them in a spa-
cious box, with a little
moistened earth at the
bottom, and then put-
ting into it some dry
brush-wood, about one
foot high, and covering
the whole with gauze in
order to prevent their
escape. On the first and
second days of their cap-
tivity they will run un-
steadily from one part
of the box to another,
ascending and descend-
ing, examining every
part of it in order to
choose the most conve-
nient spot for spinning
their cocoon, in which
Caterpillar of the Cecropia.
the chrysalis is secured from the inclemency of the damp and
cold weather, and lies safer than an infant in its cradle. In
less than two days they spin, between two twigs of the brush,
a brown, parchment-like cocoon, three inches long and one
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
157
Figure 53.
wide, which is fastened securely to the twigs, and which is
so strong that its outer
coat can not be torn
with the fingers. The
inside of this outer
skin or covering is
thickly lined with soft
but strong brown silk,
which may be woven
and unwound like that
of any Silk-worm, and
suiTounds a black,
shining chrysalis, from
which in due time the
Moth issues.
Fig. 33 represents
the cocoon, and Fig.
34 its silk.
These cocoons re-
main motionless on the
bushes until May or
June, and though oft-
en exposed in the open
air to a temperature as
low as 10° Fahr. they
are perfectly protect-
edv Those which we
Cocoon of the Cecropia.
have raised in the house come out as early as April, be-
cause the warmth of the room develops them sooner. When
ready to emerge from its shell, the Moth throws out a caus-
tic liquid from its mouth, which destroys the fibres of silk
and enables it easily to pierce the upper end of its parch-
ment-like prison, from which it then creeps out with short,
damp antenna3 and wings, which by continual moving be-
come dry and enlarged to their natural size.
158
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Figure 34.
Silk of the Cecropia.
In the " Philosopli-
ical Transactions of
the Koyal Society of
London," for the year
1759, vol. li., p. 54,
it is stated that the
Rev. Sa-muel Pullein
was among the first
to attempt to unwind
the cocoons of the Ce-
cropia jMoth. "Mr.
Pullein ascertained
that twenty threads
of this silk, twisted
together, would sus-
tain nearly one ounce more in weight than the same num-
ber of common silk.
We find also, in the " Transactions of the American Phil-
•osophical Society of Philadelphia," vol. i., p. 294, that Mo-
ses Bartram, of Philadelphia, as early as the year 1767,
raised a number of caterpillars from the eggs of the Cecro-
pia, from which he obtained cocoons.
" About twenty years ago," says the Journal des Dclats,
Paris, Juillet, 1846, "Mons. Audouin received a box of co-
coons of the Cecropia and its kindred moths from New Or-
leans, and he succeeded perfectly in raising them, and after-
ward witnessing their several metamorphoses."
The Polypheme, Luna, and Promethea Moths also pro-
duce large cocoons, and silk of the same quality ; and our
lamented friend. Dr. Thaddeus Harris, of Cambridge, Ma's-
sachusetts, says, in his Treatise on Injurious Insects : " The
following circumstances seem particularly to recommend
these indigenous Silk-worms to the attention of persons in-
terested in the silk culture. Our native trees afford an
abundance of food for the caterpillars; their cocoons are
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 159
much heavier than those of the Silk-worm, and will yield a
greater quantity of silk ; and as the insects remain un-
changed in the chrysalis state fi'om September to June, the
cocoons may be kept for unwinding at any leisure time
during the winter. The Luna, Polypheme, Cecropia, and
Promethea Moths are the only native insects belonging to
the genus AttciQus known to me. Their large cocoons, con-
sisting entirely of silk, the fibres of which far surpass those
of the Silk- worm in strength, might be employed in the
formation of fabrics similar to those manufactured in India
from the cocoons of the Tusseh and Arindi Silk-worms, the
durability of which is such that a garment of Tusseh-silk
is scarcely worn out in the lifetime of one person, but often
descends from mother to daughter ; and even the covers of
palanquins made of it, though exposed to the influence of
the weather, last many years. Experiments have been
made with the silk of the Cecropia, which has been carded
and spun, and woven into stockings that wash like linen."
With all these facts before us. however, the raisino- of
Silk-worms for the production of silk in this country has
never yet been a flourishing branch of industry, nor are we
able to foresee the time when it will become so.
Another large silk-producing Moth is the Polypheme
Moth {Attacus Poli/phemus), Fig. 35. Its name, derived
from one of the giants of mythology, Linnaeus gave to this
Moth probably on account of the large size of its wings,
which, like those of the Cecropia, expand from three to six
inches. They are of an ochre-yellow color, clouded witli
black, and each wing is ornamented with a transparent spot
resembling an eye. The caterpillar of this Moth is found
in July or August, according to the geographical latitude,
on oak, ehn, and lime trees, and is from two to three inches
long, and nearly as thick as a man's thumb. Its body is
pale, bluish green, covered with orange-colored and purple
warts. Its head jmd feet are bluck. AVhon full i^^rown, it
IGO
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
draws together several leaves of the tree with its silken
thread, and, inclosed within them, manufactures an oval
cocoon about two inches long, which is very strong, con-
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
161
tains much silk, and, toward winter, falls to the ground
with the dry leaves. There it remains until the following
July or August, when the perfect moth issues from its
damp prison, having spent the whole of the cold season un-
injured under deep snow or on the moist ground. The
cocoons of this Moth, producing silk of the same quality
and in the same quantity as those of the Cecropia, may be
found, in the spring, under oak, elm, or lime trees.
Th*> Luna Moth {Attacus Luna), Fig. 36, has wings of
i iiimwii
162
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
a beautiful liglit-green color, prolonged behind in the form
of a tail. They also expand from three to five inches.
The caterpillar of this moth, resembling almost exactly
that of the Polypheme in size and color, lives on walnut
and hickory trees, and manufactures its cocoon in the same
manner. At the approach of cold weather these cocoons
also fall to the ground with the leaves of trees, and those
who wish can gather them in the fall or spring. Their
silk, also, is of the same quality as that of the Cecropia
and Polypheme Moths.
The Promethea Moth {Attacus Fromethea), Fig. 37, the
The Promethea Moth— Male.
male, and Fig. 38, the female. As is often the case with
beasts, birds, and other insects, the male of this moth differs
very much from the female in colors. The male insect is
of a dark brown, and the female of a light reddish-brown
color. Both are ornamented with a black spot, somewhat
like an eye in shape, upon the fore wings, and the female
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
163
has, besides, an angular reddish- white spot near the middle
of each of the wings. The wings of both expand from
three to four inches.
The female deposits her eggs, according to the geograph-
^3
o
o
p
o
n
p
ical latitude of the country, in June or July, generally upon
the twigs of sassafras-trees, and in several clusters, which
are hatched in about three weeks. The caterpillar, before
its metamorphosis, measures about two and a half inches.
It is of a bluish-green color, with the exception of the head,
164 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
feet, and tail, which are ycUoAV. Upon its body are often
seen several small wart-like eminences, some of a coral red,
others of a dark blue color.
A larva of this kind, before making its cocoon, glues a
leaf to the twig on which it rests, in order that it may not
fall to the ground in autumn, and in order to use it as a
cover to its cocoon, which is only about one inch long, of
an oval form, and contains good strong silk, though not as
much as the others of this genus of Attaci. These cocoons
may easily be collected every autumn or winter upon the
twigs of the sassafras-tree, when all the leaves have fallen
off except those upon which these insects have fastened.
The above moths are the four species of native insects
from the cocoons of which durable and strong silk stuffs
may be fabricated ; viz. :
The Cecropia, found upon apple, cherry, or plum trees ;
" Polypheme, "■ " oak, elm, or lime trees;
" Luna, " " wahiut or hickory trees ;
" Promethea, " " sassafras-trees.
These nocturnal beauties are probably the most useful of all
of their order to man, and, not being to any extent injurious
to vegetation, their abundance in any country should be con-
sidered as one of the resources of wealth and luxury. But
we pass to others, if not as useful, yet quite as beautiful.*
The Beautiful Deiope'ia (Deiopeia bella).
This little creature, although classed among the noctur-
nal lepidoptera, on account of her bristle-formed antennae, is,
* My friend, INIr. John Akhurst, the distinguished taxidermist of
Brooklyn, raises Avith the greatest facility at his house, from the eggs,
many hundreds of these useful moths, and shows, by doing so, the
practicability of making in this country from our native insects dur-
able silk stuffs, which could form a new and extensive branch of
American industry and commerce. He feeds the caterpillar of Ce-
cropia, Luna, Pohjpheine, and Promethea on the leaves of the sweet
gum-tree {Liquidamhar styracijiun).
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 165
C5
nevertheless, seen flying about from morning until evening
displaying her beauty to delight the eye of man throughout
the day, or floating joyously
with her fellows upon the sa- '^
ble wino; of nioht. Her ele-
gant dress proclaims her one
of Nature's high nobility. It
is not a sixpenny or shilling
calico, the livery of servitude ; „, „ ,. ""' _ .. ..
' J ' The Beautiful Deiopeia.
nor even a French calico, the
dress of the modest middle-class in easy circumstances ; but
she is clothed with the most gorgeous silken apparel, of
which no Miss of our most fashionable boarding-schools,
nor even the most dashing and cunning coquette in Paris,
would be ashamed.
This moth has fore wings of a deep yellow color, spotted
with black ; while its hind wings are scarlet, bordered with
a trimming resembling black lace. The wings expand about
one and a half inches. The body is white and covered with
black dots.
Like all of Nature's beauties, this insect makes its home
among the flowers. Throughout the summer and early
autumn months, along the banks of almost all our inland
streams, where grow the golden lilies and white Solomon's-
seals, the sweet-scented roses and blue lupins, with yellow
wood-sorrels and azure forget-me-not's, this little moth may
generally be seen flying from blossom to blossom, living on
their nectared sweets, and dying only to leave its future
offspring there.
Its caterpillar usually lives upon the plant called in Eu-
rope Forget-me-not {Myosotis arvensis), which grows every
where on the banks of springs and brooks, and, presented to
a young lady in either France or Germany, is considered
" une declaration cV amour ;" but in America this plant is
known by the name of scorpion-grass.
166 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
This little butterfly, some would say, is of no use to man.
Its splendid costume and graceful motions only delight the
eye for a transient moment, and even while we admire there
hovers in the air a rapacious dragon-fly, which pounces
upon its beautiful form and destroys it at once. ">6Vc
transit gloria mundir'' the moralist exclaims — thus vanishes
all of glory in the world ! So passed away the beautiful
Mary, Queen of Scots, the lovely Anne Boleyn, and Marie
Antoinette, Queen of France, falling from the climax of
splendor into a cruel and ignominious death ! So vanishes
all that's beautiful, and of what use is it? The meteor
sparkles and is gone, the flower blooms and fades away, the
lightning's flash illumines heaven for a moment, and then
only leaves "the dark more darkling."
True, but the impress of the beautiful, like that of the
good, is never lost upon the human mind. The most strik-
ing instances of manly courage, of female devotion, of he-
roic fortitude, of intellectual greatness, have been concen-
trated in the work of transient moments, and those moments
have become moments of supernatural power ; like electric
currents, their effects have spread through never-ending
human circles. Mafific words have reverberated through
successive generations, and their eloquence been as deeply
felt ages after their first utterance. The ocean's unfath-
omed depth and the starry heaven's unlimited space have
in every age proclaimed Nature's supremacy over man. A
brute sees nothing of the beautiful, he but feels the control
of a superior speaking through his master's eye ; but man,
whose destiny is immortal, learns, from transient glimpses
of the beautiful in nature, the perfection of taste and feel-
ing to which his spirit must attain as he travels onward
through eternal spheres. Who, then, will despise the wing-
ed beauty that flits before his gaze, or pronounce that use-
less which a Father's hand hath made %
ORDER IV. xMOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
167
The Woolhj Bears (Arctia).
The Woolly Bear is the name of the next genus to which
we shall call attention, and of which we shall mention a
few conspicuous species. A great number of caterpillars
which are metamorphosed into moths are thickly covered
Avith hairs, and in some fanciful respects resemble bears.
On this account they have been called Woolly Bears, and
the whole genus is named Arctia, from the Greek word
apicrog, which signifies a bear. Their moths, however, are
known by the name of Tiger Moths as well as Ermine
Moths.
The Virgin Tiger Moth (Arctia virgo), Fig. 40, is one
Figure 40.
Th_' Virgin Tiger Motli.
of the handsomest and largest of this genus, but on account
of its fetid odor it is very disagreeable to handle. Its fore
wings expand more than two inches, and are of a pale flesh-
red color, covered with black stripes and spots, while its
hind wings are vermilion red, with a row of black dots
around them.
Its caterpillar is thickly covered with brown hairs, and
may be seen, in the months of July and August, creeping
upon the paths, and feeding upon all kinds of grass, until
it makes its hairy cocoon in the crevices of some wall or
fence.
168 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
The Argo Tiger Mottt {Arctia Argo) is a little different
from the preceding : it is smaller and not so highly colored.
Its caterpillar is of a very dark-green color, and is seen in
large numbers during the autumn, running on paths and
feeding upon grasses, but principally on the plantain. It
forms a coarse, hairy cocoon, in the same manner as the
former, in crevices.
The White Miller, or Virginia Erjuine Moth {Arctia
Figure 41. Virginico), Fig. 41, is
considered quite a
handsome moth. It
may be seen early in
the summer, flying
short distances in
meadows and gar-
The White Miller. ^^^^ during the day
and in the evenings. It is generally white, though some-
times of a yellowish color, with a black spot near the centre
of the fore wings and two black spots on the hind wings.
The wings expand about one and a half inches. The eggs,
which the female deposits on the leaves of different herba-
ceous plants, are of a golden yellow color, and from them
issue caterpillars, which are thickly covered with hairs more
or less yellow, and which on this account are called Yellow
Bears. They become about two inches long, and feed on
every herb which comes in their way. The leaves of In-
dian corn are their favorite food, but they eat also those of
clover, peas, beans, and cabbages. They are, therefore, in-
jurious to vegetation, and ought to be destroyed whenever
met.
The Rusty Vapor Moth. — This moth, also called Tus-
sock Moth {Orgyia leucostigma), Fig. 42, is neither distin-
guished for its beauty nor its size. Its wings expand only
about an inch, and are of a light-brown color, of very or-
dinary and uninteresting appearance. But its caterpillar
ORDb;R IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
169
The Eusty Vapor Slbth.
Figure 43.
(Fig. 43) is quite handsome, and is seen during the summer,
p. ^^, 2 generally on rose-bushes or on ap-
ple-trees. Its slender bodj, about
one inch long, is covered with long,
fine, yellow hairs, and is ornar
mented at each extremity with
two brush-like, yellowish tufts,
while its head is as red as sealing-
Avax. The motions of these cater-
pillars are very slow, and they eat but very little ; but if
they are numerous on apple-trees, they injure them by spin-
ning their cocoons upon
the leaves, fastening
tlieir eggs upon them,
and so destroying the
vitality of the tree.
Great caution should
be used in handling these
caterpillars, as its hairs
sting like nettles. When
full grown they spin
their tender cocoons
upon a leaf, from Avhich
the perfect moth issues
in less than two weeks.
The female moth, how-
ever, is wingless, and
deposits her eggs upon
her own empty cocoon,
which she then covers
with a white fluid sub-
stance, which, when
dry, becomes scaly and
brittle. Caterpillar of Ruaty Vapor Moth.
H
170 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
The Tent-caterpillars.
It is interesting to notice how various principles and
habits of mankind are illustrated in the different phases of
insect life. So very striking are some of these coincidences
that we can not avoid the inference that the social customs
of society were originally borrowed directly from Nature,
and that there was a time when man and beast alike fol-
lowed only Nature's teaching. The more artificial become
our habits and customs, the farther removed they are from
the purity and simplicity of nature, and the more depend-
ent upon a conceited and hollow-hearted hypocrisy.
Among the insects we have already noticed some of the
monarchs and aristocrats, the tyrants and the brain-feeders.
Now we come to a peaceful working class, bound together
by a community of interest, and all laboring together for
the common good. The Tent-caterpillars are the purest
Socialists in the entomological world, and there is more of
pleasure to be derived from a perusal of their history than
from that of many a country and nation of the old conti-
nent ; because the latter is so filled up with the disgusting
biographies of vile despots, their crimes and wholesale mur-
ders, that the mind revolts from its contemplation. But in
the history of this insect tribe we see something that re-
minds us of our own free country, of the mutual depend-
ence of the States, and of the common interests that makes
us ^'^ E plurihus unum.^'' God grant that motto may ever
float upon her banners and be engraved upon the hearts of
her people ! that as her history has been, so it may ever be,
the purest and the brightest in the Book of Nations, because
the truest to those principles of charity and benevolence
which even dumb nature teaches us are the best calculated
to produce general happiness and prosperity ! that as we
have now witnessed how union and harmony augment even
the smallest things, " Concordia res parvce crescunt,''^ we may
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 171
never experience how soon disunion and discord destroy the
greatest, " Discordia maximcB dilabuntur.''^
The American Tent-caterpillar [Clisiocampa Ameri-
cana) is a small insect that makes its abode principally
upon the apple and wild-cherry tree. As soon as these
trees are clothed with the first tender leaves of spring we
may observe upon some of the twigs, or smaller shoots from
the main trunk, a small angular web, or tent, like a spider's
web, and if this be examined we shall find it containino;
some three or four hundred very small caterpillars. These
feed upon the leaves of the tree, and in proportion as they
grow larger in size their tent increases in circumference.
These caterpillars increase in numbers very fast, and if they
are not destroyed as soon as first discovered they will
quickly cover all the branches, and in fact the whole tree,
with their web-like tents, which will each be filled with
large families, the offspring of one mother. Many thou-
sands of these individuals live upon one tree in social com-
panies, all working together in the manufacture of their wa-
ter-proof habitations, sleeping together at night securely, for
their tents are entirely impervious to any kind of moisture,
and coming out regularly twice a day to take their meals,
unless it rains, which makes a day of fasting for them.
These caterpillars all issue from eggs which are deposit-
ed and glued around the twigs of the tree by their mother
during the preceding summer. The eggs laid by one single
female generally exceed three hundred in number.
The head of this caterpillar is black ; its body is whitish,
lined with black and yellow stripes, and clothed with a few
soft hairs. It attains its growth in about seven weeks, and
then is nearly two inches long. Toward the latter part of
June they make their cocoons in crevices, and about three
weeks afterward are metamorphosed into moths, which are
of a reddish-brown color, having wings which expand one
and a half inches.
172 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
This moth was called by the late Dr. Harris, of Cam-
bridge, Ciisiocamjm Americana^ and belongs strictly to the
nocturnal lepidoptera. It is often seen in large numbers,
during the month of July, entering our rooms in the even-
ing, flying around the light, and often being punished for
its temerity by burning its wings and body. In the same
month its female deposits her eggs upon a tree, gluing them
^^'ith a gummy, water-proof substance around the extremity
of some branch, and leaving them, during the vrhole autumn
and winter, exposed to the inclemency of rain, frost, and
snow, without the slightest injury.
Early in the spring, however, the caterpillars begin to is-
sue, full of life and vitality, and immediately commence
erecting their tents in unison with several families of the
same species, and, if not at once destroyed, very soon sur-
round a whole tree, and for seven or eight weeks devour its
leaves, until all its verdure and fruit is destroyed, and its vi-
tality — at least for the season — ruined. In this way large
orchards of the finest apple-trees fall to decay before the
ravages of this little caterpillar.
In order to avoid this, and get rid of such pernicious in-
sects, we must destroy their eggs and caterpillars. "We must
examine our apple-trees in the month of December, or after
the foliage has fallen to the ground, and crush all the eggs
which we find at the extremities of the branches. "We must
look again in April and May, and destroy their webs as soon
as they are formed, and kill their caterpillars, reaching those
upon the highest branches with a long pole, at the end of
which should be fastened a sponge or rag moistened with
soapsuds or whitewash. If this be turned around and
through the web it will bring it, with the caterpillars, to
the ground, when they can easily be killed.
To be effectual, this operation must be done at seven or
eight o'clock in the morning, or at noon, when all the cat-
erpillars are in their tents ; for they are very regular in
ORDER IV. xMOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 173
their habits, and can easily be found at home, as they all
go out to their meals regularly at nine a.m., then return
toward mid-day, and go out again at three o'clock p.m.,
and return as soon as they have eaten. This destructive
insect is found in all parts of the Union, and people having
gardens or orchards should be careful to prevent its rav-
ages by destroying it in season.
The Wood-tent Caterpillar {Clisiocampa sylvatica) is
another not less noxious insect, gaining its own livelihood
in the same destructive manner upon walnut and oak trees,
although it is not unfrequently found also upon apple and
cherry trees. When full grown, in June, it is about two
inches long. Its head and body are light blue, and its sides
somewhat of a greenish color. It makes its cocoon and
webs in the same manner as the preceding ones, and some-
times destroys whole orchards and large tracts of forests.
The moths are of a dark-brown color, and its wings ex-
pand about one and a half inches.
The webs of these two species of caterpillars are made
of the finest silk, and if properly collected and spun it could
be manufactured into- fine silk stockinns or cloves — a profit-
able amusement for the ladies spending the summer in the
country.
Span-worms.
The Span-worms are little caterpillars, very injurious to
vegetation, but quite harmless to man, although they are
very annoying to all who walk through our orchards or
parks during the month of June, by swinging against the
face as they hang on the silken thread by which they let
themselves down to the ground from the trees. The parks
and promenades of our large cities — New York, Philadel-
phia, Boston, etc. — abound with them, and they really af-
ford a serious inconvenience to promenaders, and not un-
frequently cause considerable fear to the timid upon whom
174 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
they may alight. They particularly infest these places, be-
cause there are so few of the birds there which feed par-
ticularly upon them.
But the ravages of these insects are not confined to our
shade trees, for they feed also upon the leaves of our fruit
trees, as well as of elms, poplar, lime, and other trees.
AVhen fully grown they are forced by nature to go to the
ground, in order there to undergo their metamorphosis into
a cocoon ; and as they are not provided with sixteen feet,
like other caterpillars, they are very poor pedestrians, and
find it much easier to let themselves down to the ground by
means of the silken thread which issues from their mouth
as they need it. They sometimes descend from a height
of more than fifty feet in a few moments, while, if they were
obliged to depend upon their ten, or, at most, twelve legs,
the journey would occupy them several days.
Caterpillars generally have sixteen legs, or feet, placed at
equal distances along the under part of the body ; but these
have only five or six feet at each extremity, and none under
the middle, so that when they walk they stand on the hind
feet, and throw their fore feet and body as far ahead as its
length will allow ; then, standing on their fore feet, they draw
up the hind ones to them, making an arch of the footless
centre of the body. This process, it is evident, must be
slow ; ajid it is probably on account of this singular method
of locomotion, which resembles somewhat that of spanning
or measuring, that they received from Linnaeus the name
Geometrce, and from other authors the names ''Measurers,"
"Span-worms," and "Tailors."
In the United States we find a great variety of these
caterpillars, all of which are in their season metamorphosed
into small moths, the most conspicuous of which is :
Tlie Q\^KE.ii-^YOTCSi{Anisopteryx pometaria). The cater-
pillars of this moth are usually hatched from their eggs in
the spring, and when very young are of a dark-brown color,
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 175
with a yellowish stripe oa both sides ; but when fully grown
they are about one inch 'long, and vary in color, some being
greenish-yellow, and others green, with small black spots
upon the back. They are generally found in the most
abundance upon apple-trees, but also devour the leaves,
buds, and blossoms of plum, cherry, and other fruit trees,
as well as those of many ornamental and shade trees.
The Canker-worm has but ten feet, and, on account of
its difficult locomotion, is not much disposed to promenade,
but, when not occupied at meals, lies stretched out upon a
twig, like an Italian or Mexican enjoying the Dolce far
niente—^^ i\iQ luxury of doing nothing." About the middle
of June, or when four weeks old, they usually descend from
the tree either by slowlv drag;o;iiirr their length alons: down
the trunk, or more commonly by letting themselves down
on their silken cord, like a rope-dancer, and enter the
ground to the depth of several inches, there to metamorph-
ose into cocoons. In the autumn they issue from the co-
coon as perfect moths, the male of which is only provided
with wings, of an ash color, which expand about one and
a quarter inches. The female is wingless, and is obliged
to perform her journey as well as she can on foot to the
nearest tree, not one of her numerous male admirers being:
uble to assist her. But in course of time she reaches the
tree, climbs up its trunk and branches, and there deposits
her eggs in clusters of a hundred or more, which she then
fastens to the branch or twig with a firm covering of water-
proof varnish. There the eggs remain, perfectly protected
from the ciFects of rain and cold, until the ensuing spring,
when the caterpillars are hatched.
The Li^iE-TREE Span-wor:\i {Hihernia tiliaria) is another
kind of caterpillar, abundantly found in the month of June
upon lime, poplar, elm, and apple trees, in almost all our
parks, woods, and gardens. It is a little larger than the
former, being, when full grown, one and a half inches long,
176 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
of a light-yellow color, and having a dark-red head. The
fore wings of the moth expand one. and three quarter inch-
es, and are of a nankeen-jellow color, with very small light-
brown dots upon them, while the hind wings are similar,
but much paler. The female of this moth is about half an
inch long, and, like the other species, has no wings. Their
mariner of living and time of metamorphosis is about the
same with the insect just described, the canker-worm, and
their ravages upon the foliage, buds, and blossoms of lime,
poplar, and elm trees, are equally ruinous and destructive.
Many of these trees, as also some fruit trees, are entirely
stripped of their foliage by them, and ultimately destroyed.
The ravages of these two species of insects are so common,
and annually do so much injury to the farmer, the gardener,
and the horticulturist, that we can not forbear laying before
our readers some of the methods for preventing this evil,
which we think judicious and effectual, and, rather than to
use our own words, we quote from the work of the late Dr.
Harris, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, "On the Insects In-
jurious to Vegetation," Boston, 1852.
He says, page 3G3, " In order to protect our trees from
the ravages of canker-worms, it should be our aim, if pos-
sible, to prevent the wingless females from ascending the
trees to deposit their eggs. This can be done by the ap-
plication of tar around the body of the tree, either directly
on the bark, as has been the most common practice, or,
what is better, over a broad belt of clay mortar, or on strips
of old canvas, or of strong paper from six to twelve inches
wide, fastened around the trunk with strings. The tar
must be applied as early as the first of November, and per-
haps in October, and it should be renewed daily as long as
the insects continue rising ; after which the bands may be
removed, and the tar should be entirely scraped from the
bark. When all tliis has been properly and seasonably done,
it has proved effectual. The time, labor, and expense at-
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 177
tending the use of tar, and the injury it does to the trees,
when allowed to run and remain on the bark, have caused
manj persons to neglect this method, and some to try vari-
ous modifications of* it and other expedients.
" Among the modifications may be mentioned a horizontal
and close-fitting collar of boards, fastened around the trunk,
and smeared beneath with tar; or, four boards nailed togeth-
er like a box, without top or bottom, around the base of the
tree, to receive the tar on the outside. This can be used to
protect a few choice trees in a garden, or around a house,
or a public square, but will be found too expensive to be
applied to any great extent. Collars of tin-plate fastened
around the tree, and sloping downward like an inverted
tunnel, have been proposed, upon the supposition that the
moths would not be able to creep in an inverted position
beneath the smooth and sloping surface. This method wall
also prove too expensive for general adoption, even should
it be found to answer the purpose. A belt of cotton-wool,
which it has been thought would entangle the feet of the
insects, and thus keep them from ascending the trees, has
not proved an effectual bar to them. Little square or cir-
cular troughs of tin, or of lead, filled with cheap fish-oil,
and placed around the trees, three feet or more above the
surface of the ground, with a stuffing of cloth, hay, or sea-
weed between them and the trunk, have long been used by
various persons with good success ; and the only objection
to them is the cost of the troughs, the difficulty of fixing
and keeping them in their places, and the injury suffered by
the trees when the oil is washed or blown out, and falls
upon the bark. Mr. Jonathan Denis, Jun., of Portsmouth,
Rhode Island, has obtained a patent for a circular leaden
troujrh to contain oil, ofFerinjir some advantajres over those
that have heretofore been used, although it does not en-
tirely prevent the escape of the oil, and the nails with
which it is secured are found to be injurious to the trees.
H2
178 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
These trouirlis ou";ht not to be nailed to the trees, but
should be supported by a few wooden wedges driven be-
tween them and the trunks. A stulFing of cotton, cloth, or
tow should never be used ; sea-weed and fine hay, which
will not absorb the oil, are much better. Before the troughs
are fastened and filled, the body of the tree should be well
coated with clay, paint, or whitewash, to absorb the oil
that may fall upon it. Care should be taken to renew the
oil as often as it escapes, or becomes filled with the insects.
These troughs will be found more economical and less trou-
blesome than the application of tar, and may safely be rec-
ommended and employed if proper attention is given to the
precautions above named. Some persons fasten similar
troughs, to contain oil, around the outer sides of an open
box, inclosing the base of the tree, and a projecting ledge is
nailed on the edge of the box to shed the rain : by this con-
trivance all danger of hurting the tree with the. oil is en-
tirely avoided."
In the Manchester Guardian, an English newspaper, of the
4th of November, 1846, is the following article on the use
of melted India rubber to prevent insects from climbing up
the trees : " At the late meeting of the Entomological So-
ciety of London, Mr. J. H. Fennel communicated the fol-
lowing successful mode of preventing insects ascending the
trunks of fruit trees: Let a piece of India rubber be burned
over a gallipot, into which it will gradually drop in the
condition of a viscid juice, which state, it ajDpears, it will
always retain ; for Mr. Fennel has at the present time
some which has been melted for upward of a year, and has
been exposed to all weathers without undergoing the slight-
est change. Having melted the India rubber, let a piece
of cord or worsted be smeared with it, and then tied sev-
eral times around the trunk. This melted substance is so
very sticky that the insects will be prevented, and can be
captured, in their attempts to pass over it. About three
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 179
penny-worth of India rubber is sufficient for the protection
of twenty ordinary-sized fruit trees."
These are about all the directions necessary to give for
preventing the ravages of insects injurious to our trees;
and, if they are carefully and perseveringly followed out,
will be eiFectual in saving many a fine orchard from, desola-
tion and decay. There surely can be no farmer unable to
avail himself of some of the simple contrivances mentioned,
and thus save his capital and his labor.
The Apple- WORM {Carpocapsa pomonella), which is so oft-
en found in apples, pears, plums, and apricots, is a flesh-col-
ored, naked caterpillar, half an inch long when fully grown,
with a black head and sixteen feet. It issues from an egg,
deposited upon the fruit by its mother in the month of June
or «^ly, and as soon as it is hatched works its way through
the skin and lives in the fruit about three weeks ; then it
gnaws its way out, falls to the ground, and, creeping to
some retired place, is there metamorphosed into a thin, silky
cocoouy from which it issues in a few days as a perfect
moth, when it again lays its eggs, from which a second
generation arise to mar and destroy our fall and winter
apples.
The wings of this moth expand only three quarters of an
inch, and are of a light, yellowish-brown color. The fruit
which it infects, or upon which it lays its eggs, usually falls
to the ground before it is fully ripe, and before the cater-
pillar hatched from the eggs is ready for its metamorphosis
into a cocoon. Hence, in order to destroy them, they may
be collected by hanging old clothes about the trees, and the
caterpillars will creep into them for the purpose of making
their cocoons, or the fruit should be gathered as soon as it
falls and boiled up, thus destroying the second generation.
Now this moth, altogether an insignificant-looking afiair,
is not only capable of doing a vast amount of injury, but it
possesses remarkable instinct, or is endowed with wonder-
180 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
ful properties of reason and judgment. TIow many persons
who have found a disgusting Uttle worm in an apple have
ever thought that they never can find but one in each ap-
ple? Yet so it is. How many have ever dreamed that
that worm, if allowed to live, would become a moth, and
reproduce itself over and over again, and yet among the
myriads of such insects there would be deposited but one
eo-f on each fruit ? How do other moths know that there
CO
is an egg already deposited there, or that there is already a
caterpillar within the fruit ? How do they know their eggs
will not fructify upon ground already occupied by another ?
Is it instinct or reason teaches them these things, and marks
their course with so much accuracy?
Again, look at another phenomenon connected with this
wonderful little caterpillar. Cut an apple open thatWton-
tains one of these inhabitants, and you see the whole quan-
tity of its black, granular excrements tied together by silky
filaments, produced by this worm, in order to prevent these
minute grains from rolling about and impeding its motions.
Is not this contrivance, thought, design ? Is it reason or in-
stinct that guides their tiny but wonderful course ? Were
these little bubbles of foam on Life's great ocean wafted to
our barks in vain ? Were these animated atoms sent crawl-
ing on the choicest fruit that we gather with our hands, or
carry to our mouths, to exhibit in their ephemeral existence
only a striking illustration of Nature's nice adaptation of
means to an end?
Or were they created, solitary preachers on each little
globe of fruit, which falls like manna from above, to teach
us some great moral lesson? Come they into our very
faces to remind us how " dearly we pay for the primal
fall?" Do they inhabit the finest specimens of that fruit
by which our first mother was tempted, in order to bid us
taste the viands of Eden, and make us feel that " the trail
of the serpent hangs over them all?"
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 181
Truly a worm may teach us many things ! 'Tis a little
index, but, like the needle to the pole, it points to the hand
Divine !
The Bee-moth (Galleria cereana).
The Bee-moth is another wonderful little insect, capable
of doing much injury, and possessing curious developments
of instinct. It seems scarcely possible that a large army of
bees, defended by deadly stings such as they possess, should
allow a few small soft-bodied and unarmed caterpillars to
enter and destroy their fortified castles. Yet this is the case.
Notwithstanding their weakness, and entire lack of means
to defend themselves, the larvae of the bee-moth will enter
and so corrode the honey-combs as to force the bees to aban-
don their hive.
More than two thousand years ago these moths were
mentioned by Aristotle, who says of them : They fly in the
night toward a light, and are very fond of eating beeswax,
for which purpose they go to the bee-hives and there de-
posit their excrements, out of which proceed little worms.
Colomela also declares them to be the most terrible ene-
mies to bees.
The caterpillar of the bee-moth has sixteen feet. Its
body is yellowish-white, its head brown, and its length,
when fully grown, a little more than an inch. It feeds
upon the beeswax, and their tiny insect stomachs will di-
gest what a learned chemist could not analyze. Their life
is one of continual exposure to the greatest danger, for woe
to the individual that is caught by a bee. They seem to
know, however, that they subsist at the expense of a power-
ful and warlike population who admit no strangers within
their republican domain ; and as their tender, unprotected
skins would be constantly exposed to the fatally-venomous
stings of the enraged bees, Nature has taught them to dig a
mine in the wax, and thus supply themselves with both
182 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS,
clothing for their naked bodies, food for their sustenance,
and a safe dwelling at the same time.
The excavated passage which this caterpillar makes in
the wax is generally as large round as a man's finger, and
often a foot long ; the inside of it is thoroughly tapestried
with a strong, but soft and smooth, white silky substance,
and the outside is covered over with pieces of wax mixed
with excrements, so that nothing is seen of the silken pas-
sasre, and the bees have no idea of its existence. Even if
they had cognizance of it, they would be unable to sting
through such thick walls and penetrate the firm silky lining
of the passage.
In order to learn the habits, and watch closely the opera-
tions of these injurious insects, we may select a hive which
has been abandoned by bees, or where the bees have died
during the winter. By taking out some of these larvce and
putting them upon the comb, we shall see that, after running
about a while, they will begin to dig a new mine, or, if it is
their time, to spin a cocoon one inch long, which they will
immediately surround with dirt and small pieces of wax.
They generally make their cocoons in the beginning of the
month of June, and the moths then issue from them at the
end of the same month.
The male of this moth has gray fore wings, and yellowish-
gray hind wings. He is smaller than the female, whose
wings are darker, particularly the hind ones, and expand
about one and a quarter inches. Unfortunately, both are
seen in abundance early in May, as well as in August, and
hence we may conclude that there are two successive gen-
erations of them in one year. The female deposits her eggs
at that time of night when the bees are at rest, and near
the opening of the hive, or in some adjacent cracks, and as
soon as the diminutive caterpillars are hatched they imme-
diately gnaw a passage under its edges.
There is still another way of observing minutely their
ORDER IV.— MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 183
operations, the result of which is very surprising. Place
some of these caterpillars, or moths, in a large glass vessel
covered with gauze, and provide them with a certain quan-
tity of beeswax as food, and after the wax is consumed
they will eat paper, dried leaves, and even woolen cloth,
but only after they have eaten, digested, and several times
re-eaten their excrements, which after many digestions will
be reduced to a black dust, from which they afterward fab-
ricate tunnels. In this manner they will go through their
various metamorphoses, multiplying for several years in the
glass vessel, without requiring any care or new supply of
food.
These moths are not natives of America, but, like the
bees upon whose products they live, were originally foreign
emigrants from Europe. But as the bees, in spite of their
foreign origin, and the venomous sting they bring with them
to defend themselves against their assailants, have, by their
great practical utility and long residence here, become natu-
ralized citizens, so we may reckon the moths and their
caterpillars as among our own injurious insects, which de-
serve to be destroyed by any means in our power.
In Dr. Thatcher's " Treatise on the Management of
Bees," there are several ways mentioned by which we may
get rid of this pest of the bee-hive. But the most conven-
ient and least troublesome method of preventing the bee-
moth from entering the hive is to place shallow basins, filled
with water mixed with vinegar, and sweetened with honey,
sugar, or molasses, near the entrance to the bee-hive, and
this should be done early in the evening, as soon as the bees
have gone to rest. This, too, is the time when the bee-
moths are flying about seeking a place to deposit their eggs,
and as they are very fond of sweets, a great number of them
will be drowned.
184 NORTH xVMERICAN INSECTS.
The Grain-worm ; or, White Corn-worm (Tinea cerealella).
This is another very injurious insect, also originally an
emio-rant from the Old World.
Grain is devoured, as is well known, by different species
of larvse, some of which are metamorphosed into snout-
beetles, as the Kice-weevil, or Black Corn-worm {Calandra
granaria)', others into flies, as the Hessian-fly {Cecidomyia
destructor), or the wheat-fly {Cecidomyia tritici). These, of
course, can only be mentioned incidentally here, as we are
treating of moths, and must continue the natural history
of the Grain-moth.
The female of this species is very active in the months
of May and June, when she comes out of neglected gran-
aries ; and, flying about with her male attendant at night,
she deposits her eggs upon the grains of wheat, barley, rye,
and oats. From these eggs, in a short time, proceed dimin-
utive, yellowish-white, naked caterpillars, with a brown
head, which immediately commence their devastations
among the grain. With a silky thread they fasten together
several grains, and between them make numerous holes or
passages in which they can securely reside. By so doing
the little animal has built for itself a very comfortable, and
even substantial dwelling ; for if it should roll down the
grain-heap or be tossed about in a cart, its body is still in-
closed in a soft fold of silk, and would not suffer at all.
Here they feed upon the mealy substance of the grain for
about three weeks, when they arrive at maturity, at which
period they are about the fifth part of an inch long. Then,
changing into a chrysalis within the empty grain, they are
soon transformed into small, winged moths of a cinnamon-
brown color. Two successive generations of this insect are
developed every year.
The French naturalist, M. Bosc, who spent several years
in the United States, in 1796 found this moth so abundant
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 185
in Carolina that they would extinguish the Hame of a
candle when he went into a granary with one at night.
And Dr. Harris says; "The grain-moth has spread from
North Carolina and Virginia, where its dep^-cdations Avere
first observed, into Kentucky and the southern parts be-
tween the thirty-sixth and fortieth degrees of north lati-
tude. But these are not the extreme limits of its occasional
depredations, as it has been found even in New England,
where, hoAvever, its propagation seems to have been limited
by the length and severity of the winters."
Some of our distinguished agriculturists have written
very valuable papers upon this destructive insect, to which
those who choose can refer ; e. ^., Edwin Kuffin, Esq., of
Hanover county, Virginia, published in the Fariner''s Regis-
ter, for November, 1833. Mr. Samuel Judah, of Vincennes,
Indiana, in the Indiana Furmer and Gardenei', for October,
1845. Mr. Richard Owen, of New Harmony, Indiana, in
the Cultivator, for July and November, 1846. E. Euffin,
Esq., in the American Agriculturist, for February and March,
1847.
It would be altoofether too tedious to our readers to enter
into the minute and various methods of destroying these in-
sects and preventing their ravages, proposed and practiced
by the above-named gentlemen, and so we only refer to
their papers for the sake of those who are curious on the
subject. AVe can only remark in this place that one process
has proved effectual in destroying the insect without injur-
ing the grain, according to our own personal observations
in those rich grain countries of Hungary, Austrian Gallicia,
Poland, and Russia, from the Neva, down through the
Ukraine as far as the mouth of the Don and Volga, on the
Black and Caspian seas. In every village of those coun-
tries there are large kilns, or ovens, where the grain is put
as soon as it is thrashed out, and during one day or one
night is exposed to a temperature of one liundi'ed and sixty
186 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
degrees Fahrenheit, by which process all caterpillars in or
upon the grain are destroyed, and of course further propa-
gation prevented. Grain brought from the Kussian sea-
ports Odessa or Riga always find a ready market for ex-
portation, on account of their excellent quality and general
* freedom from the ravages of insects. In Germany they
sprinkle the floors of their granaries, and even the grain it-
self, with salt water, and overturn the grain heaps with
shovels as often as possible.
The Carpet-moth (Tinea tapetzella).
This is another very small, but very annoying and trou-
blesome moth. It has dark-brown fore wings, and gray-
ish-brown hind wings. It flies around in the beginning of
summer, depositing its eggs in carpets, the cloth lining of
carriages, and woolen clothes generally. Its eggs are white
and round, and in about three weeks from the time they are
laid very small caterpillars proceed from them, which are
yellowish white, and so transparent that any colored stuff —
for instance, scarlet cloth — eaten by them is distinctly visi-
ble in their bowels. In the cloth lining of carriages we
very often 'find thread-bare places, which are made by these
larvae, who bite off the woolly nap of the cloth, from which
they manufacture a silky cylinder-like cover over their bod-
ies, open at one end, from which they stretch out their
head when eating the hair of the wool. They form their
cocoons in much the same manner as other moths, and in
about two weeks after are again metamorphosed into per-
fect moths. Beating and brushing all woolen cloths liable
to their invasion is generally sufficient to prevent their dep-
redations. A cedar chest is also said to afford entire pro-
tection from them for all clothes kept in it, and the same is
true if woolens be wrapped up with camphor, or sprinkled
with snuff or tobacco when packed away.
But our limits will not allow further notice of these
ORDER IV. .^lOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 187
smaller species, of Avliich there are many more, and we con-
clude, for the present, our history of the nocturnal lepi-
doptera with a brief description of a few of
The Sphinxes, or Hawk-moths.
When the summer sun has sunk below the glowing hills,
and his last radiant beams are fading from the western ho-
rizon ; when the red Tanagers, the Cardinal and Blue Birds,
and the Orioles and Kobins, with all the other gay song-
sters of the day, have retired to their resting-places amidst
the silent groves — then the sleepy Sphinxes awake from
their diurnal slumbers, to play out their brief parts on the
narrow stage of their ephemeral existence. They rise at
twilight, and ramble with the humming sound and the
quick, irregular flight of Humming-birds, flying from flower
to flower, suckino; the sweet nectar of the fragrant nio;ht-
blossoms and pursuing their bridal sports, while the celes-
tial shepherdess, Luna, is watching her silvery lambs through
the blue pastures of heaven.
In ancient times, when Egyptian, Greek, and Roman
priests, in concert with despotic rulers, gained their wealth
and treasures by frightening the common people with sto-
ries of gods and goddesses, of demi-gods and heroes, of Olym-
pus and Tartarus, and by means of a mythological religion,
full of mystic symbols and incantations, stupefied the cred-
ulous populace, and rendered them subservient to their will,
we find, among others, the mythological tale of a monster
called the Sphinx, who is represented with the body of a
lion and the head and shoulders of a woman, sitting upon
the hind feet like a dojz;.
A fanciful resemblance to this monster was seen by the
fertile imagination of Linnaeus in the caterpillar of the in-
sects we are about to describe, inasmuch as it has a soft,
effeminate-looking body, and when not eating assumes a
somewhat similar sitting posture, and hence he called it a
188
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Spbinx. After its last transformation into a winged insect
it becomes a Ilawk-moth, so called because while suckins:
the nectar from the cups of flowers it is hovering in the air
like a hawk. It is also called by some the Humming-bird
Hawk-moth, from the humming sound which it produces
with its wings, and by rubbing its horny proboscis upon the
small glassy membrane beneath it.
Sb
'A
o
a
I
Ph
Ti
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PC4
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 189
Most of the hawk-moths are seen only during some hours
after sunset, but some smaller genera are also seen flying
about during the day. Notwithstanding this, Linna3U3 calls
them all evening butterflies.
The Potato -WORM Hawk -moth, or Five -spotted
Sphinx {Sphinx, qidnque-maculatus), Fig. 44, is a large green
caterpillar, with oblique white stripes on each side ; when
full grown, it is more than three inches long. It is found
not only on the potato-vine, but also on the tomato and
egg plants ; and it also feeds upon the leaves of every spe-
cies of the solanum, or night-shade tribe. Here it is found
from July to September, when it digs its winter retreat
several inches below the surface of the ground, and there
metamorphoses itself into a brown chrysalis, upon which
may be distinctly seen the long case of its proboscis, resem-
bling somewhat the handle of a pitcher.
The Five-spotted Hawk-moth issues from this chrysalis
in May or June. It is of a grayish color, and its body is
ornamented with five orange-colored spots on each side.
Its wings expand nearly five inches. Its head is provided
with two cylindrical antennce, and a proboscis or tongue,
which is almost entirely concealed when not in use, but
which can be unrolled, like the spring of a watch, to the
length of five or six inches. This proboscis consists of two
parts, which can easily be separated, but which, when united
together as usual, forms a hollow tube, through which the
animal is enabled to suck the nectar of flowers, and with
which it also produces a humming sound by rubbing it
upon the diminutive glassy membrane at its base.
There is no insect that possesses a voice ; and when we
hear sounds produced by insects, we may know that they
originate from friction of some external parts of the body,
as is the case, for instance, with some of the Capricorn
beetles, who rub the joints of the head against the thorax;
or with grasshoppers, who produce a sound by bringing
190 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
their spiny legs in contact with their wings ; or with
crickets, by rubbing their wings together; and with flies
and the different species of bees, who make a noise by the
rapid motion of their wings.
Among many others we have every year attempted to
raise a number of these handsome caterj)ilhirs, but have
often been unsuccessful in bringing them to their final
metamorphosis, because, as soon as they were full grown,
they ceased to take food, became sick, and died. In such
cases we have noticed the surface of their bodies com-
pletely covered with small, shining, white silky-looking
grains, resembling minute seeds, and if one fell off its place
was immediately supplied by another. These white speckr
were the silky cocoons of diminutive ichneumon-flies,
whose mother. had stung the poor caterpillar when very
young, and deposited many hundreds of eggs in as many
hundred wounds. The larvae proceeding from these eggs
dwell between the skin and the fat of the caterpillar, on
which they feed, being very careful not to attack any vital
part of the body. Thus the unfortunate caterpillar is for
several weeks being slowly devoured, while it continues to
eat and to grow for the benefit of its tormentors, until all
its fat is consumed by these parasites, when, having no
strength or vitality left with which to accomplish its meta-
morphosis, it lingers along a few days, shrinks to the fourth
part of its former size, and finally dies in agony. Then
the small cocoons of the ichneumon-flies fall to the ground,
and a few days after assume their perfect form, and fly
about, after the example of their mothers, to seek new
victims.
"While on the subject of Hawk-moths, we can not omit a
brief incidental notice of one species, which is a native of
the southern parts of Europe, because even now it spreads
a general terror among the ignorant and superstitious.
And we do this the more willingly, because many Ameri-
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 191
can travelers are constantly visiting the transatlantic coun-
tries, and may meet with this beautiful but much maligned
insect.
It is a large Hawk-moth, with yellow wings variegated
with black, and on the thorax it bears a mark which some-
what resembles a human skull — on which account it is
called the Death's-head Hawk-moth. It first attracted
attention during the prevalence of a severe and fatal epi-
demic, and of course nothing more was necessary than its
appearance at such a time to induce an ignorant people to
believe it the veritable prophet and forerunner of death.
A curate in Bretagne, France, made a most horrible and
fear-exciting description of this animal, describing the very
loud and dreadful sound which it emitted as a sort of lam-
entation for the awful calamity which was coming on the
earth.
This is but another proof that, were the great mass of the
people better educated in Entomologj^, they would escape
much imposition, and avoid much imaginary suffering, and
much real but unnecessary fear of the harmless creatures
around them. This moth has no mouth to bite with, and
is no more injurious to vegetation than the others of its
species. The sound it produces is very much like that
made by mice, but has a more pitiful tone, and is much
louder, if you put it in a box or hold it between your fin-
gers. Any one may determine the origin of the sound,
however, by uncoiling its proboscis and stretching it out
with a pin, when all sound ceases at once ; but let the ani-
mal coil up its proboscis again, and it immediately com-
mences rubbing it against the glassy membrane beneath it,
and the sound begins again.
The caterpillar of this moth, when full grown, is about
four inches long, of a yellowish color with black spots, and
oblique green stripes upon each side, and is found princi-
pally, in the month of July, in England on the jasmine ; in
192
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Germany on the potato-vine; and in France, Egypt, and
Asia, on the thorn-apple {Datura stramonium).
There are several species of hawk-moth caterpillars found
upon our garden and forest trees, on grape-vines and other
shrubs, which are quite injurious to vegetation, but which
can be easily seen on account of their large size, and de-
stroyed without much trouble, or they may be secured in
boxes for the purpose of raising their beautiful moths. One
of these injurious insects is the caterpillar of
The Four-horned Sphinx ( Ceratomia qiiadricornis)^ Fig.
45, which is generally
found, in the month of
July, upon our lime,
poplar, and especially
elm-trees, which are
frequently stripped en-
tirely of their foliage
by its ravages. The
beauty of this caterpil-
lar universally attracts
«■ attention, its body be-
•5 inji; of a li^ijht-srreen
1 color, with oblique
I white lines upon each
I
I side, and ornamented
with four notched,
short horns on the
shoulders. "When full
grown it is about three
inches long. It soon
enters the ground,
changes into a chrys-
alis, and makes its ap-
pearance as a perfect
hawk-moth durina: the
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
193
following summer, having remained in the ground during
the whole winter antl spring. The moth, however, is not
as handsome as its caterpillar, having wings of a light-
brown color, variegated with white and dark brown, and
expanding from four to five inches.
The HuM^iTNG-BiRD, or Teanspaeent-winged Sphinx
Fisrure 4G.
Humming-bird Sphinx.
(Sesia Pelasgus), Fig. 46, also belongs to the large family
of Sphinxes, but is distinguished by its transparent wings,
fan-shaped tail, and by its appearance during the day, hov-
ering over flowers like a humming-bird. It is very hand-
some, and is frequently seen, in our flower-gardens, during
the months of July and August. Its metamorphoses and
habits of life are much the same as those of others of the
same genus.
The Satellitia {ridlampelas satelUiia) is another very
handsome Sphinx, the moth having wings of a light olive
color, which expand from four to five inches.
It is called Philampelus (Lover of the Vine), because its
caterpillar feeds principally on the grape-vine, where it is
found devouring the leaves, during the months of July and
Au<2;ust. This larva is more than three inches Ion a; when
at maturity, of a pale-green color, and ornamented with six
creaigi-colored spots on each of its sides. Like all the
others, it descends into the ground, transforms itself into a
cocoon, which lies dormant during the winter, and from
194 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
which proceeds the perfect hawk-moth in the following
summer.
These arc some of the beauties as well as the monsters
of the night. Now let us see whether the day will reveal
any thing more perfect or more beautiful.
Butterjlies (Lepidoptera diurna).
These beautiful, light-winged fairies possess one great ad-
vantage over the moths ; viz. : they are born to flourish in
the light, to adorn the brightest day, and to grow only
more resplendent in the dazzling beams of the noonday sun.
Of all the rich and sparkling colors that shine in Flora's
variegated summer dress, there are none more brilliant,
none that attract the eye so like flashes of unearthly light,
as those with which Nature has adorned these flitting life-
beams of the day. It has passed into a moral axiom that
those human characters which can bear the most opeis
scrutiny are the truest and the purest, while it is only the
evil who shun the light ; and so, in our ordinary apprecic%
tion of the beautiful, that which will bear the strongest
light without exhibiting imperfection is considered the most
perfect.
Besides, the diurnal butterflies are surrounded with scenes
and circumstances calculated to make them more attractive
than any others. They are not only more seen and noticed
in the day, but they appear at a season and time when the
summer's warmth and genial breath expands all hearts,
and draws out even the sick from their close and gloomy
chambers to admire the beauties of earth and air, and to
partake of the vivifying and gladdening influences which
Nature sheds around. Then they come, like winged mes-
sengers from the spheres of love and beauty, flitting from
flower to flower, basking in the sunshine, joyously provid-
ing for their future offspring ; and then not lingering along
to die in the winter of a desolate life, but, amidst all the
ORDER IV.— -MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 195
illusions of youth and happiness, being actually "rocked to
sleep in a cradle of flowers."
For these reasons the butterflies have always been ad-
mired more than any other insect, and have attracted uni-
versal attention from every people, and in every clime where
they have been found. Especially are they the favorites
of the youth ; so much so, that in some countries — as, for
instance, Germany and France — almost every town has its
youthful amateurs who collect and exhibit them in glass
cases. In China and the Indies these collections form a
part of their exports, which generally meet witli a ready sale.
The pencil and the brush of many a distinguished artist has
been occupied with tliem ; and there are now in existence
a greater number of splendid works, descriptive and illus-
trative of them, than any other class of animals can boast.
For the sake of our readers who desire to investigate
these works, we refer to a few of the best, which are beau-
tifully illustrated with well-colored and generally accurate
engravings.
Roesel's Insecteii Belusi'ujung (Amusements with the Insects).
Merian, In sect a Surinamensia.
Drukt's Exotic Insects.
Esper's Europaische Schvietterlinge (European Butterflies).
Esper's Ausldndische Schinetterlinge (Exotic Butterflies),
Ernst et Engramelle, Papillions d'Europe.
Herbst's Schinetterlinge (Butterflies).
IIubner's Schnetterlinge (Butterflies).
Donxovan's Insects of Cliina, India, and New Holland.
Abbot's Natural History of the Insects of Georgia.
BoiSDTTVAL et Lecoxte, Lepidopth'es de rAmerique ScjAentrionah.
TuoMAS Say's American Entomology.
Notwithstanding the beauty of the buttcrfies, and their
apparently happy life, they arc extremely selfish in their
habits, and on this account their faculties seem very limit-
ed in comparison with other insects. We never find them
united in democratic republics, like the ants; or in a consti-
196 NORTU AMERICAN INSECTS.
tutional monarchy, like the bees ; nor in a socialistic mon-
ster phalanstery, like the paper-manufacturing wasps; but
they are real anarchists, the subject of no superior officer,
and of no kind of government. Every one takes care of
himself; and in this fact, perhaps, lies the great secret of
their happiness ; for, although they are deprived of all social
comforts, still no one can find fault with another where all
mind their own business, and are mutually independent.
This social condition would never answer for mankind, be-
cause from our nature Ave are mutually dependent upon one
another, and ever must be so ; but it does very well for the
short-lived butterflies, who require but little food and have
no trouble to procure it. Independently they ramble about
while the sun shines, and during the night they sleep upon
the trunk or branches of a tree, or on the under side of a
leaf, of wliich they take fast hold with their feet.
Butterflies, like moths, are not directly injurious to vege-
tation, because they have no mouths with which to eat, but
only a proboscis through which they suck the sweet juices
of flowers. Their caterpillars, however, are equally rapa-
cious, and would destroy all our vegetables, as well as trees,
if their number was not constantly diminished by birds,
beetles, wasps, lizzards, frogs, toads, and other animals that
feed upon them.
Neither butterflies nor their caterpillars have ever been
used as articles of food by man, although the ancient Roman
epicures considered the flesh of some grubs — for instance,
those of the Stag-beetle — as a very fine relish, and among
the inhabitants of the tropics in America the palm-worm
is very commonly eaten. Drury, an English entomolo-
gist, recommends all persons who are cast by shipwreck on
desolate islands, and can not find any thing else to eat, to
seek for those grubs which feed on wood and are found in
the trunks of trees, and says they can comfortably subsist
on them, at least for a short time.
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 197
Butterflies originate from eggs, in the same manner as
moths, and like them go through the metamorphosis, first
into caterpillars, then into cocoons, and lastly into the per-
fect butterfly. They are, however, distinguished from the
moths by their short and knobbed antenna3, very short and
imperfect fore feet, and by their flying about only in the
daytime. They have four wings, ornamented with the same
never-ending variety of colors as their nocturnal relations,
while gold and silver, with azure and purple velvet, is
lavished upon them with profusion. The illustrious Lin-
nnsus, who wafe a scholar of very extensive and varied at-
tainments, was almost a worshiper of these beautiful in-
sects, and bestowed upon them the names of gods and god-
desses, of heroes and kings, and many very romantic names
borrowed from ancient history and mythology. So we find
among the butterflies a Priamus, Hector, Ulysses, Ajax, Apol-
lo, Iris, lo, Protesilaus, Achilles, Nestor, Menelaus, Paris, An-
chyses, Pohjdamas, Helena, Remus, yEncas, Danaus, Heliconia,
Atalanta, Argus, etc.
These names were all civen for some fancied resem-
blance in look or character, and although at first sight they
may appear irrelevant and pedantic, yet they have done
much to enrich entomology as a science, by ingrafting
upon it, through the power of association, so much other
and interestinof knowledo;e. We will relate one anecdote
in illustration of the manner in which this fanciful and
oftentimes inappropriate technology has really enriched the
science, and added to its general usefulness as a study.
While traveling in llussian Poland thirty-six years ago,
we visited the highly-accomplished Countess Ragowska, at
her country residence, when she exhibited her fine, scientific-
allv-arrano;ed collection of butterflies and other insects, and
told us that she had personally instructed her children in
botany, history, and geography by means of her entomolog-
ical cabinet. To convince us of the truth of her assertion.
198 ^ORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
she sent for her little daughter, and requested me to ques-
tion her on the subject, at the same time bidding the child
to tell us what she knew about the insects in the cabinet.
That little child, only eleven years old, very modestly ad-
dressed us in French, saying, " You see, Sir, many butter-
flies and moths in this cabinet, of which shall I tell you
what I know about them f We asked her what she knew
about a certain magnificent butterfly, which glistened in
one of the boxes like polished silver, covered with the most
beautiful ultramarine color. She replied : " That handsome
insect is called 3Ienelaus, and it is a native of South Amer-
ica: its caterpillar lives on the sapodilla - tree {Achras
sajiota) — a branch of which we have in our Herbarium,
but the fruit of which is unknown to me. Oh will you not
bring or send me some when you go to America'?" And
so that interesting child went on, and related to us the his-
tory of Menelaus, and the Trojan war, and told us too the
history, geography, and natural productions of the country
of which the insect was a native ; and all this knowledo;c
she had gained, under the guidance of her mother, through
that entomolOjzical cabinet. When she had finished, her
mother said : " Now, Sir, do you not think that even a
small cabinet of Natural History furnishes a great amount
of knowledge, and for both old and young provides abund-
ant material for entertaining and instructive conversation?
As for me," she continued, " I consider this noble science
as the philosopher's Sjnritus familiaris, who snatches the
false face from the sophist and the atheist, and makes him
believe in, kneel down, and adore the omnipotence of the
Almighty."
Our own opinions on this subject have been too often
expressed to need repetition here, and we will only add
that this accomplished lady is not the only one who has
practically proved the value of even the technology of this
science, and the great power of association in fixing facts in
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
199
the minds of all, both young and old. For this reason, if
for no other, would we acknowledge our indebtedness to the
great Linnceus, and endeavor, as far as possible, to preserve
his scholarly fancies.
According to his arrangement the butterflies are divided
into five different families, which contain :
1. Knights, widi prolonged liiud wings, resembling the tail of
swallows.
2. HELicoxiAifS, with narrow, oblong fore wings, and short hind
wings.
3. Daxaid^, with round wings. »
4. NYMPHALiDiE, with denticulated wings.
5. Plebeians, comprising all other small butterflies.
The system of Linnaeus, however, has undergone so
many changes by different entomologists in France, Ger-
many, and England, that it would be only fatiguing to enu-
merate and explain ail these divisions, even if our limits
would allow it. We must, therefore, for the present, rest
satisfied with a brief notice of a few of the most conspicuous
species of butterflies that abound in North America, par-
ticularly those common in the United States.
One of these is the Piiilodice {Colias 2)hilodice), Fig. 47.
It is found abundantly during the whole summer, sucking
the juices of flowers,
Fif^nrc 47.
particularly the thistles,
or sittinsf on the surface
of mud-puddles, and in
every part of the Un-
ion, Mexico, and the An-
tilles. Its caterpillar is
green, and is principal-
ly found on clover.
The whole genus Co-
lias is easily distinguished, being always of a more or less
bright-yellow color, with spots, on a black border on the
The Philoilice.
200
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
wings, and reddish antennx. Their caterpillars are gen-
erally green and smooth, and are found on the leuves of
different species of the pea-tribe {leguminosce).
The CoLiAS Edusa, of a yellow color, more or less mixed
with green, is less common than the preceding species, but
is found in some of the Middle States during spring and fall,
and is identical with the Colias imjrmidone of Europe. Its
caterpillar is dark green, with a white line upon each side,
and it lives upon clover.
Colias Ciirysotheme of New York, and Colias Cceso-
NiA of the Southern States, ^re veiy little different from the
former species.
The genus Melitcva is distinguished from the preceding
by their wings being spotted -with red and black colors, so
distributed as to make them look like a chess-board. Their
caterpillars are covered with short, velvet-like hair.
The Melit^ea Phaeton (Fig. 48) is quite a handsome
butterfly, but is un-
fortunately veiy rare.
During many excur-
sions in Rhode Island
and New York, we
have been able to find
only a few of this spe-
cies.
The MELmEA TiiA-
Ros, of the Middle, and Melit^a Ismeria, of the Southern
States, are also not very common.
The caterpillars of both genera, Colias and Ilelitcva, are
both comparatively harmless, and we can not complain of
much injury to vegetation being done by them.
The genus Vanessa is much more common, and its larvas
much more numerous and rapacious. Its butterflies are
distinguished by their velvet-like, denticulated wings, orna-
mented with bri";ht colors, and their lono; antennae. All
Figure 48.
The Phaeton.
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
201
tbeir caterpillars are covered with tender bristles, and some
species live in large numbers together, as, for instance, those
of
The Mourning -CLOAK (Vanessa antiope), Fig. 49. The
Figure 40.
The Mourn in 2:-d oak
wings of this butterfly are a sort of pnrplish-black color,
doited with blue spots, and surrounded with a nankeen-col-
ored border. Its (!aterpillars are also black and thorny,
and arc frequently seen in large numbers, during the months
of May and June, on our birch, poplar, elm, and several^
other trees, the foliage of which they entirely destroy, strip-
ping off their leaves until they look like mat-weed. The
thorny-looking hairs ■with which their bodies are covered
are not at all venomous, as many have supposed, and they
may be handled with impunity; although they are so inju-
rious to our ornamental trees, it is advisable always to kill
them, which may easily be done by sprinkling the tree and
branches with dilute soap-suds, by means of a hand-engine
or otherwise.
As this butterfly produces two broods during one sum-
mer, the caterpillars will have to be destroyed twice in a
season. When these creatures arc fully grown, and nearly
T 2
202 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
two inches long, they metamorphose into a cocoon, which
they suspend on fences or walls. Fortunately a great num-
ber of these become the prey of spiders and ichneumon
wasps, and for this reason four or five summers will not
unfrequently pass by without our seeing many of these in-
sects.
This butterfly is also an inhabitant of Europe and Asia.
We have seen plenty of them in Italy, France, Germany,
and Russia, as far north as St. Petersburg, as well as in
Transcaucasia ; but whether the American species are de-
scendants of these, or vice versa, or whether Nature origin-
ally cx'cated one pair in the Eastern Continent and another
pair, at the same time, in the Western, we are obliged to
confess we do not know. The solution of this important
question, therefore, we must leave to the Historical Socie-
ties of the present day, who are probably analogically op-
posed to the opinion of that distinguished philosopher,
Humboldt, who says that the origin of the human race
from one or several pair can not be found out a posteriori,
and hence all investiGjation as to the cradle of the human
genus is mythological.*
Thus unforeseen events, which startle most when most
^inexpected, and which often tell upon the faith or the
destiny of people and nations, may sometimes occur, as was
the case in France some years ago, when, fifteen years after
the death of St. Simon the communist, his pupils and fol-
lowers paid his tailor's bill, " all tailors in France," says
Heine, " began to believe."
The AD:\nRAL {Vanessa Atalanta), Fig. 50, is another
beautiful insect of this genus. It has black, velvet-like
* In respect to this question, see the most elaborate philosophical
work of modern times : " Die Aer/yptische, mid die Zoroastriche Glau-
benshhre ah die aeltesten Qvellen unserer speculativen Ideen, von Dr.
Edcaed Roetii, ausserordentlichen J^rofessor der PhilocopMe an der
Unirersitcit zu TIeidelberrj. Manheim, 184G."
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
203
Figure 50.
Tiie AtlmiraL
fore wings, ornamented with scarlet-colored cross-lines and
white spots, and black hind wings, with a scarlet border
around them. On the under side of the fore wings some
singular marks are seen, which resemble the figures 98 or
86, and which have given rise to many superstitious ideas
among the ignorant. The female deposits about two hun-
dred eggs, green and oval, upon the leaves or stems of net-
tles. In about a week these become little caterpillars,
which are thorny and black, with bright yellow stripes
around the body, and which, when fully grown, are about
one and a half inches long. They walk very slowly, but
eat much and grow very fast. As soon as they are devel-
oped from the egg they begin to spin some of the leaves of
the nettle together, and thus build for themselves a com-
fortable dwcllins:, which at the same time furnishes them
with food. After consuming their abode they roll up an-
other in the same way, and thus are actively engaged dur-
ing the two short weeks of their existence — for this is all
the time allotted them — until, at its expiration, they are
fully grown, when they form their cocoons and suspend
them from some of the branches. As these caterpillars live
mostly u[)on nettles and other useless weeds, they are not
considered as injurious to vegetation. They usually appear
204
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
in the month of July, during which they pass through at
least three transformations — from the egg to the caterpil-
lar, and then to the pupa, which is brownish gray, with
some golden spots. This butterfly is frequently found in
Europe, where it is also a native ; but there it is called
Mars, because some have discovered marks upon the wings
which are thought to possess some similarity to certain in-
struments of war.
The Thistle Hutterfly (Vanessa cardui), Fig. 51, some-
Fignre 51.
1:;
The Thistle Butterfly.
times appears in such large numbers that their larvoe devour
not only the leaves, but also the blossoms of the thistle and
burdock. As soon as one of these caterpillars issues from
the egg it draws the points of two leaves together, fastens
them with a silky thread, conceals itself therein, and eats
the substance of it, until it attains its growth, which is one
and a half inches long, when it is ready to metamorphose
into a cocoon, from which the perfect insect proceeds in
about two weeks. The whole process of its three trans-
formations occupies only four weeks — as it remains an egg
one week, a caterpillar another week, and a cocoon two
weeks. Thus three or four generations may appear in one
summer. The cocoon is generally of a goldon-yellow color,
ORDER. IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
205
while the perfect butterfly is adorned with yellowish, red,
brown, and black colors, with white spots upon its wings.
This Vanessa is very common in the United States, and it
is also found in large numbers in Asia, Africa, and Europe,
where it is commonly called the " Painted Lady."
The Golden C Butterfly {Vajiessa C aiireim), Fig. 52.
Figure 52.
The Golden C Euttei-ny.
This butterfly derives its name from the golden mark be-
neath the hind wings similar in form to that of the letter
C. It has tawny, orange-colored wings, with brown and
black spots-, and is seen in almost all of the States of the
Union from May until September. " Its caterpillar is thoi'nv,
of a blackish color, and lives upon lime and elm trees, and
upon the hop-vine ; and to these is often very injurious.
There are a number of other species of the genus Vanessa
found in this country, but they are described and illustrated
in Major Leconte's and Boisduval's work " On the Lepidop-
tera of North America," and therefore we need only refer
to their names in this connection. They are : Vanessa
Progne, of the Northern and Middle States ; Vanessa J. al-
bum and Vanessa Milherti, of Philadelphia ; Vanessa Cania
and Vanessct Iliintera, of the Southern States.
206 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
The Genus Papilio.
This genus, called by Linnceus Knights or Chevaliers, com-
prises mostly large butterflies with broad wings, and gener-
ally with* a long swallow-like tail at the extremity of the
hind wings. Some of these butterflies have red spots, like
stars, on the breast, similar to the decorations of sovereigns
and princes, as well as of the policemen of New York, one
of whom, on account of the star on his blue uniforai coat,
was once mistaken for hi& Koyal Highness the Elector of
Hesse Cassel by a newly-arrived Hessian emigrant, who at
once began to revenge himself for past oppressions by at-
tacking the policeman like Don Quixote, the barber, -with
Mambrino's helmet. Linnaeus designated these butterflies
by the name of Trojan Knights, and those without the red
spot he called Greek Knights.
Notwithstanding their usual large size and elegant dress
they are often seen looking very shabbily ; for their colors
soon fade, and their wings get torn by their flying through
thorny bushes when chased by birds, when they look very
much like an old bachelor fop who has dissipated his prop-
erty, and appears with threadbare clothes — a laughing-
stock to all the young girls.
These aerial knights, some would doubtless say, are of no
use to man ; but the adnrirer of Nature, as we have before
said, never thinks any of her works useless. He can al-
ways see in them something that is attractive — nay, that is
positively useful — either in the moral lesson they teach or
in the practical benefits derived from them, directly or in-
directly. Thus these butterflies, although they do not di-
rectly minister to the animal wants of man, yet have always
so beautified the country with their splendid colors and
ethereal forms that any person of soul or sense would find
something wanting to complete the beauty of Nature's sum-
mer face, did he not see them sporting in our gardens, and
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 207
meadows, and forests. He might be even so stupid as not
to know what was wanting, and yet he would feel the loss
of something to make up its perfection. Besides, these in-
sects are directly useful, or sliould be made so, as we have
before shown, by being one of the best channels through
which to imprint upon the minds of. the young an indelible
impression of many of the most important facts in history,
as well as to impart a thorough knowledge of geography,
botany, drawing, and painting.
But aside from their moral or intellectual use, the butter-
flies of this genus, in their caterpillars, furnish an abundant
supply of good food for the birds, and the excrements of
their caterpillars, Avhen dried and dissolved in water, make
a most excellent dye-stuff, like those of the large hawk-
moths.
The caterpillars of all the Knights, when touched, thrust
forth from their nedvs a pair of soft, orange-colored horns
{tentacula), which emit a fetid smell, and are probably de-
'feigned as a means of defense against the attacks of other
animals. These caterpillars are either smooth or furnished
with fleshy warts, and they live on several different species
of plants. Their metamorphosis into cocoons is accom-
plished in the same manner as that of the preceding genera.
One of the most common of these Knights is
The AsTEEiAS {Papilio Asterias), represented in Fig. 30,
with its caterpillar (Fig. 29), is quite large and handsome,
and is frequently seen in all parts of the Union during the
whole summer. It has black fore wings, bordered with a
double row of yellow dots ; its hind wings are also black,
and have a double row of yellow dots, between Avhich are
seven blue spots ; and at their lower extremity is '^. swallow-
tail. The Asterias always deposits her eggs upon some of
the umbelliferous plants, on those whose flower-stalks issue
from one common centre, such as carrots, parsnep, celery,
coriander, cicuta, anise, fennel, parsley, etc. Hence the cat-
208
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
crpillars proceeding from these eggs are very injurious to
vegetation ; and it is not uncommon to see more than twen-
ty of them on a single stem of carrot or celery. These lar-
vae are generally known under the name of Parsley w^orms,
and may easily be destroyed. They are smooth-bodied, and
of a bright-green color. These caterpillars may also be col-
lected and raised without trouble, except that many of them
are stung by ichneumon wasps, which deposit in each an
egg, the maggot of which feeds on the flesh of the caterpil-
lar without touching any vital part or preventing its trans-
formation into a cocoon. After this metamorphosis the
maggot consumes all that remains of the embryo butterfly,
then goes through its own transformation, and, instead of
the butterfly, comes out a perfect ichneumon wasp (Fig.
G7).
The Troilus [Papilio Troilus), Fig. 53, is another of
these celebrated knights, named by Linnaeus after King
The Troilu.^.
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
.209
Priam's son, Troilus, who was killed by Anchyses during
the Trojan war. This butterfly has black, denticulated
wings, spotted with yellow dots, and terminated by a swal-
low-tail. Its caterpillar is green, with a yellow stripe on
each side, and a row of blue dots ; while the under side of
its body and its feet are of a reddish color. It lives upon
the sassafras and spice-wood trees (Lauriis sassafras and Lau^
rus benzoin), and upon several other species of the cinnamon
tribe, and is more frequently seen in the Southern than the
Northern States, but is very abundant in the Antilles.
The PniLEXOR (Pajnlio Philenor), Fig. 54, is much small-
Figure 54. ■
The rhilcnor.
er than the former, but like it has black, swallow-tail
wings, the black, however, shading into brown and green.
Its caterpillar is brown, with two lateral rows of small,
reddish protuberances with bristles. It lives on the birth-
wort {Aristolodna serpentaria), and is usually fouiid in the
Southern States.
The Ajax {Papilio AJax) was so named by Linmens,
after one of the bravest of the Greek chieftains in tlie Tro-
210 ^NORTII AMERICAN INSECTS.
jan war. This butterfly is about the same size as the pre-
ceding one, and has wings of a brownish-black color, with
several white and yellowish stripes, and on the hind wings
are yellowish and blue spots. Its body is nearly black,
with two white lateral stripes upon it. Its caterpillar is of
a pale-green color, embellished with various-colored lines
and spots. It is found only in the Southern States, and,
with its caterpillar, lives upon the Porcelia 2')'igjncea, a kind
of custard-apple bush, which is by some incorrectly called
papaw.
The Calchas {Papilio Calchas) was so called by the cel-
ebrated Danish entomologist Fab,ricius, after Calchas, the
soothsayer and high-priest of the Greek army in the Trojan
war. This butterfly is frequently found in the Southern
States, from Virginia to Louisiana. It has dark, olive-
green wings, crossed in the middle by a yellowish band.
Its body is dark, with a longitudinal yellow line on each
side, and the whole insect is about the size of the Asterias.
The caterpillar is green, has red feet, and a yellow hood
over its head, and lives on several species of the cinnamon
tribe (laurinece).
The PoLYDAMAS {Pcqnlio Pohjdamas) was so named by
Linnagus, after the Trojan prince Polydamas, son-in-law of
the king Priam, and on account of the red spots was class-
ed among the "Trojan knights." It has wings of a dark
green or bronze color, on the upper side, crossed in the
middle by a yellow stripe, while the under side of the hind
wings is of a dark-brown color, with red dots on the mar-
gin. The body is black, and has two reddish spots on the
neck, which are its insignia of knighthood. Its caterpillar
has a light-brown body, with red lines and yellow spots,
and lives principally on birth-wort {AristolocMa serpenta-
rid). It is found in the South, from Georgia down to South
America.
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.
211
The Genus Danaiis.
This is another genus of the Lepidoptera diurna, and a
large and numerous family of beautiful butterflies. Our
limits will not allow us more than to give their general
characteristics, and to describe one species, which is very
common in this country as elsewhere, and which may be
considered a type of the whole. The butterflies of this ge-
nus are distinguished from all others by their large, round
wings, of a dark-red color, veined with black, and their long,
knobbed antennce. Their caterpillars are smooth, of a cy-
lindrical form, as also is their chrysalis, which is green, or-
namented with several golden spots. These insects feed
principally upon the poisonous leaves of the different spe-
cies of milk-weed {asclepias), and are found in all countries
where these plants grow, which is the case in Nqj'th and
South America, Africa, China, Hindostan, and Australia.
One of the handsomest and most common of this genus is
The Berenice (Dcmaus Berenice), Fig. 55. 'On account
Figure 55.
The Berenice.
of its beauty, this butterfly was named Berenice, after the
wife of Antiochus, King of Syria, universally considered the
loveliest woman of her age. It has dark-red wings, with
212
NORTPI AMERICAN INSECTS.
black veins, and a black border with two rows of white
dots. The body of its caterpillar is of a light violet color,
with brown, red, and yellow lines. The chrysalis is round,
green, and embellished with golden dots.
The Argynnis is another genus of beautiful butterflies
belonging to the diurnal lepidoptera, which we can not
omit, although we can give it only a brief notice. A num-
ber of its species are natives of North America, and some
are common in all parts of the United States. They are
all of a yellowish-red color, with black spots on the upper
side of their wings, and silvery spots on the under sides.
These last so much resemble the mother-of-pearl in their
glistening color, that the Germans call the insects Mother-
of-Pearl Butterflies. The distribution and forms of these
colors, as well as the size of the individuals, constitute the
different species. Their caterpillars are cylindrical and
thorny, and their chrysalis of an angular form, and orna-
mented with golden or silvery sj)ots.
One of the most common species of this genus is the
Idalia {Argynnis Idalia), Fig. 5G. Its fore wings are red
The Idalia.
ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 213
with black marks, and the hind wings bluish-black on the
upper side, while the under sides of all four wings are cov-
ered with silver spots. Its caterpillar has a dark-brown
body with several yellow lateral lines, and is found in all
the States of the Union, sometimes on nettles, raspberries,
and willows, but principally on violets.
Boisduval and Major Leconte, in their work, ^'- Histoire
Naturelle des Lejjidoptcres de VAmerique Septentrionale^'' enu-
merate, beside the one here described, the following native
species, viz. :
Argynnis Dianciy of Virginia and Carolina ; Argynnis
Cyhele, of the Eastern and Middle States ; Argynnis Co-
lumhina, of the Southern States and Mexico ; Argynnis
Myrina, of the Northern and Southern States ; Argynnis
Ossianus, of Labrador; Argynnis Polaris and Chariclea, of
Labrador and Cape Nord ; and Argynnis Bellona, of the
Northern and Southern States.
ORDER V.
NET-WINGED INSECTS— iNEUEOPTERA).
The insects of this order are distinguished principally
by their delicate wings, which resemble the finest net-
work, and on this account they are called by the Germans
Florjliegen (" Gauze flies"). Their bodies are long, thin,
and soft; their wings, also, are long, narrow, and almost
transparent. They seem to be in continual motion like
swallows, and, catching their prey with their feet while fly-
ing, they devour it in the air. They generally deposit their
eggs in ponds, in which the larvas or grubs issuing from
them live one or two years, partly on water plants, and
partly on other aquatic insects, until they metamorphose
into a perfect winged insect, when they change their watery
element for a more ethereal one.
All the insects of this order are not only innoxious, but
are decidedly beneficial to man, and as such deserve our
care and cultivation.
The different genera belonging to this order are quite
numerous ; and as some of the modern German and French
entomologists proposed to unite several of them with the
order of Orthoptera, or Straight-winged Insects, our much-
lamented friend. Dr. Harris of Cambridge, violently opposed
such an innovation, and gave us his reasons for his opposi-
tion in the following letter, which, as it so well represents
the characteristics of the order we are describincr, we shall
give nearly entire :
" Cambridge, Mass., February 22, 1855.
" Professor Jaegar :
"Dear Sir, — Your letter of the 13th January has re-
ORDER V. JNET-WINGED INSECTS. 215
mained unanswered longer than it should have been, and I
now improve a leisure hour to fulfill this duty.
"Just now, at Professor Agassiz's request, I have been
revising the Neuroptera, and have become much interested
therein. Some of the German naturalists (Erichson, etc.,
etc.) have undertaken to break up this order, leaving there-
in only those genera which undergo a complete transforma-
tion, and have inactive pupas, such as Semhlis, Corydalis,
Chaiclisdes, liaphidia, Mantispa, Ilemerohius, Myrmeleon, As-
calaphus, Bitfacus, Fanorpa, and Phryganea ; and they trans-
fer Psocus, Termes, Ephemera, Libellida, Perla, etc., to Or-
thoptera, or put them among the Blatta, Mantes, Spectra,
and Grylli !
" Linnaeus evidently regarded Libellula as the type of his
order Neuroptera, and this genus seems to have nothing in
common with the Orthoptera save a remote resemblance in
the structure of the labium and labial palpi, and the im-
perfect transformation. This transformation, also, is not
analogous to that of Orthoptera, excepting only in the fact
that the pupa? are active and take food ; in other respects
they are entirely unlike the perfect insects, whereas the
pupae of the Orthoptera closely resemble the perfect insect,
with the exception only of wanting fully-developed wings.
Hence I maintain that the Libellulada3 can not with any
propriety be put among Orthopterous insects.
" Libellula is closely connected in organization and hab-
its with other Neuroptera, and hence, if it be retained in
this latter order. Ephemera, Perla, Termes, etc., must remain
also. My knowledge of these insects, in their various states,
is probably equal to that of the Berlin entomologists, and
therefore I feel authorized to put my own judgment and ex-
perience on the subject against theirs. Without going very
deeply into particulars, allow me to contrast the characters
of Orthoptera and Neuroptera, thus :
" Orthoptera. — None of them aquatic. All of them
active, taking food and growing in the pupa state, which
resembles the winged or adult state, except in wanting full}'-
grown wings. The parts of the mouth well developed ; the
labial palpi never wanting ; the head more or less immersed
at the base in the pro-thorax, and possessing only a limited
power of motion ; antenni^ always much longer than the
head, often very long, mostly setaceous or filiform, very
216 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
rarely pectinated or knobbed ; fore wings mostly parch-
ment-like in texture, and wholly unfitted and unused for
flight, generally much smaller than the hind wings, and
sometimes reduced to very narrow lamince or entirely want-
ing (Phasmida^) ; hind wings ample, folded longitudinally in
many plaits like a fan ; pro-thorax, the largest segment of
the trunk, often of preposterous size {Blatta, GrijUotalpa,
Mantis, Tetrix) ; abdomen generally provided with articu-
lated sette, or filiform appendages, and in many with a
prominent ovipositor.
*' Neukoptera. — Many of them aquatic in the larva and
pupa states ; transformation various, the pupae of some be-
ing quiescent, and in all bearing very little resemblance to
the perfect insects ; parts of the mouth, in many adult or
winged species, rudimentary, soft, and apparently unfitted for
taking food ; in others they vary in structure, but are often
less complete even than those of the larva3 ; labial palpi ob-
solete in some ; head generally free, often versatile, and rare-
ly immersed above in the pro-thorax ; antennae sometimes
very short {Ephemerce, Lihelluladcc), moniliform, filiform, se-
taceous, pectinated or knobbed at end ; fore wings usually
as large as or larger than the hind wings, alike to them in
texture, and equally fitted and used for flight ; hind wings
often smaller than the fore wings, sometimes entirely want-
ing, never folded in numerous plaits when at rest; pro-
thorax (except in Corydalis, Raplddia, and Mantispa) the
smallest section of the trunk, oftentimes reduced to a mere
ring ; • meso-thorax the largest segment ; abdomen some-
times with setaceous appendages.
" The highly reticulated wings of the Libellula^, Myrmc-
lcontida3, and some of the Perlada3, which may be regarded
as typical genera, together with the varied and mixed na-
ture of the transformations, have always justly been regard-
ed by the most distinguished French and English entomol-
ogists as forming the most peculiar characteristics of this
order. In the higher instincts and varied economy of many
of the Neuroptera we shall find another ground for distin-
guishing them from the Orthoptera. I need only allude to
the labors of the Termites, the artistical skill of the Phry-
ganeadoe in the construction of their habitations, and the
faculties and habits of the IMyrmelcontida? and Ilcmero-
biadae, with all the various stratagems employed by the
ORDER V. NET-WINGED INSECTS.
217
other predaceous tribes of this order, to remind one how-
far these insects excel the Orthoptera in the number and
variety of their instincts." ....
" Respectfully yours,
"TiiADDEUs William Harris."
The Dragon-fly (Libellula).
This is, perhaps, the most conspicuous genus of the order
Figure ." 4.
The Libellula.
Neuroptera, and, as has been seen by the above letter of Dr.
Harris, is regarded as the typical genus of the order. On
account of the long and slender body, peculiar to the insects
of this genus, they have sometimes been called Devil's
darning-needles, but more commonly Dragon-flies. The
French call them Demoiselles^ and the Germans Wasser- ,
jimgfern (" Virgins of the Water")- Their hind body is
long, slender, and composed of ten rings. They have four
transparent, membranaceous wings, which, although not so
handsomely colored as those of butterflies, still are decided-
ly pretty, many of them glistening like gold, and all resem-
bling richly-embroidered gauze. Some species have brill-
K
218 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
iantlj colored rings and spots upon their bodies, and a
variety of colors and shades of blue, green, yellow, and
brown upon their heads and necks, which would justly raise
them to the rank of Nature's beauties. During the preva-
lence of some fashions, their slender form would be con-
sidered one of the elements of their beauty ; but in this
swelling age, and among the expansive circles which are
now deemed the most ornamental array of Nature's loveliest
and most perfect beings, we presume the porcupine, with
erected bristles, would be generally esteemed the more beau-
tiful animal.
The dragon-flies are hardly ever seen at rest, but are in
continual motion, flying past us almost as quick as light-
ning, and winging their way through the air over gardens,
meadows, rivulets, and ponds. The water is their birth-
place ; but when they assume the perfect-winged form they
seem to sport with unbounded joy in the airy element, as if.
they had reached a more elevated and more joyous sphere,
and they only approach the water again, flying over its sur-
face, for the purpose of confiding to its placid and nurturing
bosom the cell-germs of their future offspring.
Notwithstanding the very flattering titles with which the
French and Germans have honored them — on account of
their cleanliness, their delicate form, and the beauty which
they attributed to their colors and motions — we can hardly
look upon them as deserving such names, when we consider
their rapacious character and cruel dispositions. Instead
of being mild and gentle, like the butterflies or other winged
inhabitants of the air who draw their nourishment from the
fruits and flowers, these insects are savage beasts of prey,
merciless assassins, who plow the airy waves for no other
purpose than, falcon-like, to catch with their claws all
kinds of winged insects that they meet, and devour them
with their powerful jaws. Nor are they at all dainty in
the choice of their food ; for the fat, blue meat-fly, as well as
ORDER V. NET-WINGED INSECTS. 219
all kinds of butterflies, mosquitoes, and caterpillars, are
delicious morsels for them.
It is, however, in this their murderous character and
rapacious habits that their chief use to man consists ; for,
being themselves directly incapable of injuring him, they
rid him of insects that are directly capable of annoying him
by biting and stinging. Thus, if a few dragon-flies be shut
up in a house for only a short time, they will effectually
purify it of all flies, mosquitoes, or other troublesome blood-
suckers, in the same manner as toads, so much despised and
trod upon, will destroy whole armies of disgusting cock-
roaches, and several species of running beetles {Carahi) will
destroy bed-bugs if shut up in the places which thes^ inju-
rious insects infest.
Here, again, we see the practical utility of the study of
Natural History in all its details. How many take measures
to drive out of their gardens the harmless toad, ignorantly
bringing upon themselves much greater mischief by the ac-
cumulation of noxious insects which the toads are destined
to destroy, and would destroy, if allowed to carry out the
benevolent designs of Nature that placed them there. So,
also, would many be horrified to find beetles such as Harpa-
lus calliginosus, Agonoderus pallipes, etc., in their rooms, or
beds, even if the latter were infested with that worst of all
household pests the bed-bug, and yet the former are harm-
less, can not bite or sting, and would surely and effectually
destroy the latter.
So, too, the dragon-fly, which may be handled by man
with perfect impunity — for it can not bite, or sting, or poison
him — is often a source of terror in a house or garden, where
it might be extremely useful in destroying mosquitoes if al-
lowed to remain. Only a short time ago, while on a visit
to a friend in the country, we were much amused to see
one of the young graduates of one of our universities terri-
bly frightened at a large dragon-fly which had entered the
220 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
open window, and was flying swiftly around the room in
search of mosquitoes and other insects. The ladies scream-
ed with terror in order to make themselves conspicuous, and
the valiant young gentleman, proving himself not only a
son of Minerva, but also of Mars, covered his head, and,
arming himself with a cane, after some considerable effort
succeeded in slaying this monstrum liorrendum. He took it
up in a paper, and, like Hercules with the lion's skin, car-
ried it to his mother as the trophy of his valor and courage.
His mamma, of course, with a smile of satisfaction, admired
the manly courage of her beloved boy, but at the same time
advised him never again to expose his valuable life without
the direst necessity.
How much of useless fear a little knowledge of Natural
Plistory would have saved in this case, and how much posi-
tive good might be secured to every individual did he but
understand the nature and uses of even the insects around
him! In what a different light this same insect appears to
one acquainted with its natural history and poetic associa-
tions, may be seen from the following extract from a note
received from a lady of this country, justly celebrated for
her scholastic and dramatic accomplishments, the note be-
ing accompanied with a well-preserved and beautiful speci-
men of Libellula : " Perhaps he will be nothing new to add
to the doctor's collection ; but I had such fine success in
putting him into an eternal slumber, by the use of chloro-
form, without injury to any of his bodily members, or touch-
ing with spoil his delicate implements of locomotion, that I
consider him worthy to be handed over as a candidate for
immortality by being placed among other monstrosities of
the doctor's study. Though called 'ye Devil's darning-
needle,' I don't really think the devil ever mended with
him, for he died a Catholic, as you may perceive if you ex-
amine closely. He wears the sign of the cross, enameled
in Nature's own handiwork, on his back, just between the
ORDER
-NET-WINGED INSECTS.
221
wings. I do not know whether he be of celestial origin,
but opine it will not be well to 'wake' him, according to
the religious custom of mourning the dead, or glorifying
their manes, so immemorially adopted by that strange and
ancient people who cling with sucJi reverence, in life or
death, to the symbol of their faith — the Cross."
Dragon-flies may be divided into three different genera,
VIZ.
222
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
The Agrion.
1. Libellula, with a flat, short body (Fig. 57).
2. jEshna, with a round, cyhndrical body (Fig. 58).
3. Agrion, with a small body, short, broad head, in which the eyes
are placed at a distance from each other (Fig. 59).
The wings of the first two genera are always horizontally
* expanded ; but the wings of the last genus, when at rest,
„„ are directed backward,
\ igure 53. '
touching each other. They
have four jaws, which are
covered with a helmet-like
membrane, giving them an
ugly, ferocious appearance,
but which is really nothing
more than the under-lip,
with which they are ena-
bled to seize their prey.
The larvae, or grubs of
the dragon-fly, live in the water. Those of the genus Li-
bellula are short and thick ; those of yEshna are longer ; -
and those of Agrion are very slender, and the smallest of
all. Their color is generally brownish green ; their head,
thorax, and hind body distinctly separated, and the latter
composed of ten ringlets. They swim quite well. Tlieir
breathing is effected by the hind extremity of the body,
as any one may observe who will take them out of the
water and leave them so about a quarter of an hour, and
then put them into a flat vessel scarcely covered with
water.
After spending ten or twelve months under the water,
these larvae transform themselves into the perfect-winged
insect, and henceforth live in the air. Their metamorpho-
sis may be almost daily observed from the month of April
until October, but occurs principally in the months of May
and June. But this transformation does not take place in
the water, but out of it; and, when ready for their meta-
ORDER V. NET-WINGED INSECTS. 223
morpbosis, the larvjB climb up the stem of some water-
plant, and in about two hours after are capable of raising
themselves up by their wings and flying away in the air.
This whole operation may be witnessed by putting the
grubs into a pail of water, and placing in it some sticks or
branches upon which they may creep up and prepare them-
selves for their aerial journeys. Fig. 60 represents one of
these grubs, a larva of the -^shna grandis.
■ As soon as their wings are
dry they fly away with the
same rapidity and with the
same design as birds of prey,
making hundreds of evolu-
tions, up and down, upon the
banks of rivers, ponds, and
brooks, or sailing over gar-
dens and meadows, and along
the fences and shrubs, seek-
,1 • , , Grub of the Draeon-fly.
ing somethino; to eat. * ^
The manner of their copulation is also very curious. The
toale fastens the extremity of the hind body, which some-
what resembles a pair of pinchers, to the neck of the fe-
male, and thus united together, one behind the other, they
fly about for hours. The female afterward deposits her
eggs, which are very small and white, upon the surface of
the water, where they sink to the bottom, and in course of
time are hatched by the caloric of the atmosphere.
The "WATER-5jpTH {Phrijganeo) is another very interest-
ing genus of this order, which also has its birth-place in the
water, but which is not so rapacious and cannibal-like in
its habits. Its larvae are very numerous, look like cater-
pillars, and live in the water, breathing by means of gills.
They metamorphose into moth-like insects, having pendant
wings, very small and transparent.
As these larvae are not able to swim, during their abode
224 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
in the water they manufacture a covering around their thin
bodies, composed of straw, grass, or pieces of wood, or small
woody stems. With these they form a case, '*open at both
ends, in which they are enabled to sail about as if in a row-
boat. For this reason, probably, the Romans called this
insect Ligniperda, and the Greeks named it Xylojihoros
(wood-destroyer), but improperly, because they use only old
and decayed wood for their purposes.
These larvce, with their transportable cases, are found
at the bottom of all those slowly-running brooks, ditches,
swamps, and ponds in which aquatic plants grow abund-
antly, for they are herbivorous and live principally upon
the water - crawfoot {Ranunculus aqiiatilis). The internal
part of their case resembles a hollow tube, with two open-
ings, one for the hind body and the other for the head, which
is always protruding from it. They creep on the bottoms
of rivers, ponds, etc., by means of their six feet near the
neck, which are also kept out of the case, and by which they
also drag their case along with them wherever they go.
Our highly-esteemed friend, Samuel W. Seton, Esq., one
of the Superintendents of the Public Schools in the city of
New York, and a great amateur and promoter of the study
of natural history, presented us with several zoological spec-
imens, sent to him from Baraka, on the Gaboon River, in
Africa. Among these we found some portable cases of
water-moths, which were of much larger size than our in-
digenous species ; but as they will convey a very good idea
of the latter, and are themselves somewhat remarkable, we
give a representation of one in Fig. Gl.
Fit^ire CI.
Grub of the Water-moth.
ORDER V. NET-WINGED INSECTS.
225
The Horned Cortdalis {Conjdalis cornutus), so named
by Latreille, is a genuine American net-winged insect, the
male of which is provided with two strong pinchers. Its
Horned Corydalis — JIale.
habits and characteristics are so much like the other neu-
roptera already described, that we shall simply give a repre-
sentation of them. Fig. 62 represents the male, and Fig-
63 the female Corydalis cornutus.
K2
226
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
The Day-fly {Ephemera vulgatd) is another interesting
genus of this order, and perhaps the most wonderful of all
in its brief history and sudden transformations. It is an
inhabitant of Europe as well as of America, and may often
be seen in great numbers emerging from the surface of our
rivers, lakes, and ponds. In their perfect or winged state
they live only a short time, as their name implies, many of
ORDER V. NET-WINGED INSECTS. 227
them dying on the same day in which they were born.
The name of Day-flies was given them many years ago by
Aristotle and Pliny {Ephemerius Diaria), and the same char-
acteristics that made them an object of curiosity then at-
tach to them now. They are quite handsome little creat-
ures, carrying their citron-colored wings perpendicularly to
their backs, like butterflies, among whom they might be
placed were not their birth-place and their metamorphoses
so different. Besides, in their winged form they live only
long enough to deposit their eggs, and then die.
For the short duration of their ethereal life, however,
they are sufficiently indemnified by their long existence as
larva and pupa, those conditions continuing from two to
three years, during which time they dwell under the water
on the muddy ground, which is their food. The larvse pro-
ceed from a ball, or cluster of numerous eggs, which have
been deposited in the water by the female fly. They are
of a brown color, composed of fourteen joints, and have two
black eyes, two antennae, short fore feet directed outward,
like those of a mole, for the purpose of digging, and their
whole body is only about an inch long.
After they have attained their full size, generally in the
months of June or July, they swim to the surface of the
water, where they cast their skin and fly off into the air at
the same moment, so that it seems as if they really flew out
of the water as perfect insects, without undergoing any
transformation. Every where the eyes are turned thou-
sands upon thousands of them are seen arising from the
surface of the water, like a series of rockets. In the same
moment that the pupa are seen swimming on the water,
they are also seen flying up into the air in their perfect con-
dition. If one is in a boat, and stretches out his hand to
catch a swimming pupa, he will have instead the perfect
day-fly, for their metamorphosis takes place the moment
they feel the atmospheric air.
228 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Some years ago we observed multitudes of these insects
emerging from the Raritan River, in New Jersey, near
Trenton, but never have seen such an enormous quantity of
them as we once witnessed near the city of St. Petersburg,
in Russia. We were crossing the River Neva in a little
row-boat, and encountered probably hundreds of millions.
The whole atmosphere from one shore to the other was
filled with them, and from Lake Ladoga down to St. Peters-
burg, as far as Oranienbaum. The light of the sun was
intercepted as in a thick fog, so much so that nothing could
be distinguished at a distance of a few yards. The atmos-
phere had something the appearance it presents in a violent
snow-storm, and thousands of day-flies fell into the boat
and all over our persons, while the fishes in the water, the
birds in the air, and the domestic fowls upon the shore were
every where feasting upon them.
In the evening these flies are strongly attracted toward
a light, perhaps more so than any other nocturnal insect,
and it is very amusing to see the crowds of them that fly
through an open window and dance around the light, mak-
ing a variety of turns, and circles, and waltzes. They fly
so close together, and glisten with such splendor, that the
observer sees a ribbon of gold continually revolving around
the light, or imagines a celestial globe of living circles re-
volving in all directions, while the light represents the cen-
tral sun. This spectacle may be increased to any extent
in proportion to the number of lights placed in a room, un-
til the atmosphere be filled with these living miniatures of
the solar system.
Butterflies require a considerable time to issue from their
cocoons, and get their wings dry and expanded for flying ;
but these little day-flies perform the operation of extricating
their body, wings, and feet from their pupa, and getting
ready for their aerial journeys, in less time than a man
occupies in taking off his coat. And wonderful as is the
ORDER V. NET-WINGED INSECTS. 229
whole history of this diminutive and short-lived insect, as
we have thus far related it, we must still add another phe-
nomenon connected with it, and crowded into its brief ex-
istence, which is not observed in any other insect, viz. : that
many of them, after flying about in the air, cast their skin
a second time, and leave it attached to the trunk of a tree,
or on a fence, or house, in such a perfect condition, that
no one can tell it from the insect without handlino- it. Its
form, size, and general appearance are exactly like that of
the perfect-winged fly in the sitting posture, with its citron-
colored wings erect like those of a butterfly.
The ephemeral existence of the insects of this genus has
always excited the pity, as their wonderful history has the
admiration, of the true lover of Nature. That, after grovel-
ing in the earth so long, it should shoot up so brilliantly
into the ether, only to enjoy its perfect, winged state just
long enough to perform its last great function of reproduc-
tion, and then instantly expire, might well excite a passing
regret in the minds of its admirers. Often have we seen this
little insect in the early morning, sitting near the open
blossom of a purple morning-glory, as if instinct had taught
it that a similarity of fate had made them fit associates,
both breathing their matin song to the sun, whose last set-
ting rays were destined to see them wither and die. Like
two unhappy human souls, who find consolation only in
their mutual interchange of woe, until their short day-
dream is over, and the night of Death lulls them to eternal
rest. Reason, however, has assured us that life is not to
be measured by its length alone, but that that life is long
enough for all the enjoyment of which its recipient is capa-
ble, that endures until all the objects of its existence are
accomplished. Surely, then, the diligence of this little in-
sect, who so faithfully and successfully " works while it is
day," should shame the idle, listless man who trifles away
his brief existence, unmindful of the high and noble pur-
230 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
poses for which he was created. The insects live longer in
proportion than such men ; and man's life at best is short —
but a fleeting day, when compared with the long eternity
that awaits him. Plow strange that he should willingly
throw that little life away, and carelessly allow the pre-
cious pearl, whose value he does not recognize, to be cast
away by the rough waves of destiny upon the desolate shore
of destruction !
ORDER VI.
VEm-WINGED mSECTS—iHYMENOPTERA).
a
QuANTO potius Deorum opera celebrare, quam Philippi
aut Alexandri latrocinia." — This sentiment, uttered many
years ago by Seneca, " How much better it is to admire the
works of the gods, than the highway robberies of a Philip
or an Alexander !" has probably been repeated thousands of
times since by students of Natural History. Its truth has
been acknowledged and verified by the experience of sages
and philosophers in every age. But in no department of
Zoology has it been more often recognized and felt than in
the interesting order of insects we are about, to describe.
The practical utility of many of the Hymenopterous insects,
their persevering industry, the wonderful ingenuity with
which they construct their artificial dwellings, the prudence
and economy with which they collect and store up food for
themselves and their offspring, have always rendered them
the objects of man's peculiar admiration and care ; and not-
withstanding, like many of our most worthy and benevolent
citizens, they make no show of beauty on parade, they have
always been regarded as the most practically interesting
and useful of all the insect tribes.
The insects of the order Hymenoptera vary very much in
size ; some are smaller than a flea, while others measure, with
their ovipositor, full three inches. All are distinguished by
their four membranaceous wings, which are marked with
branching veins, and which are generally shorter and small-
er than those of the insects of the foregoing orders. The
body of the perfect insect is slender, with the exception of
232 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
that of the bee, and may be divided into three parts, viz. :
head, neck, and hind body, which are connected together by
a thread-like organ. The head consists almost exclusively
of two large eyes, two antennae, and denticulated jaws, and
in some species with a proboscis for sucking the nectar of
flowers. On the under part of the neck are placed six legs,
and above them four transparent, membranaceous wings.
Most of the females, and those without sex, as the workers
of bees and ants, are armed with a sting, and occasionally
with venom, which they infuse into the puncture. On this
account the whole tribe has been called Aculeata (stingers
or piercers). Gall-wasps, ichneumon-flies, wasps, ants, and
bees, with many others, come under this denomination, and
belong to this order. All the females are provided with an
ovipositor, which in some species has the form of a hair, in
others the form of a saw, and in others that of a sting.
The two former are prominent organs, which are visible
and can not sting, except into the soft skin of caterpillars,
where they sometimes deposit eggs, but the latter always
lies concealed in the body until used as a weapon of defense
or revenge.
The larva; of Hymenopterous insects are of various forms.
Some of them resemble caterpillars, having eighteen or even
twenty feet, others are maggots without any feet or eyes.
Most of the larvse are of this latter description ; but those
of the wood and leaf wasps have six horny feet on the neck,
and twelve or fourteen fleshy ones on the hind body. AH
the larva; of this order arc peculiar for living in clean places,
such as cells artificially built of wax, pieces of wood, leaves,
or mortar ; or they dwell in wood, in holes under ground, in
gall-apples or oak balls, and many live in caterpillars, but
none inhabit carrion, dunghills, or other putrid and filthy
places. AVlien full grown, all these larvse, like those of
butterflies, metamorphose themselves into a cocoon woven
of silk.
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 233
The Hymenoptera are found in almost every part of the
terrestrial globe, but they are most numerous and attain
the largest size in tropical countries. None of them are
nocturnal, but, like the worthy and useful laboring classes
of men, they rise with the sun, work unceasingly through
the day, and retire to rest as soon as the evening twilight
begins to draw its dark and damp vail over the face of
nature. They are neither seen nor heard when the cold
storm roars and whistles without, when the thick drops of
rain or hail come j)elting af the windows, nor even at night,
though the sparkling moonbeams dance like spectres through
the leafless branches ; but when the summer's sun first casts
its morning rays over the green leaves of meadows and for-
ests, and the sleeping birds awake to greet the rising day,
then the humming of these industrious insects begins, and
their earnest but monotonous music is heard all over the
country. They fly from flower to flower, not to injure or
destroy them, but to make them productive by distributing
their pollen ; or they collect honey and wax for the use of
man, or they go about to rid us of innumerable noxious
caterpillars and other insects, whch they convert into whole-
some food for tiieir oflTspring.
The value of ' hymenopterous insects as agents in fertiliz-
ing plants has many times been demonstrated by experi-
ment. We recollect an instance of this, which transpired
many years ago, so connected with pleasant associations
that it made a striking impression. While on a journey
from St. Petersburg to the transcaucasian provinces, in the
month of February, 1825, we were obliged, on account of
the intense cold, to stop in the Government of Twer, on the
estate of our friend, Gregor Wasiliewitsch Lihatchef, Col-
onel in the Imperial Garde a Cheval. There we were
shown a very spacious hot-house, full of fine flowering
plants ; and also, among others, about fifteen cherry-trees,
covered with blossoms. Wc congratulated Lady Lihatchef
234 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
upon the prospect of a large crop of fruit, when she inform-
ed us that her gardener had never succeeded in raising
more than one dishful of fruit from all those trees. We
assured her that if she would place in her green-house a
few full bee-hives there would be a charm about them that
would insure her an abundant harvest of fruit. Two years
afterward we visited that ladj in Moscow, on our return
from the Caucasus, when she desired an explanation of the
charm connected v/ith the bee-hives ; for, said she, " since
they were placed in the hot-house all the trees have pro-
duced fruit in abundance." "We then explained to her that
the bees collect the pollen of the flowers, and at the same
time bring this fertilizing farina of the stamens in contact
with the germ, which then produces the fruit.
So useful to man are all the insects of this order, that we
can not find fault, notwithstanding there are no other in-
sects which, when provoked, take revenge upon us with
dagger and venom, and notwithstanding a few genera spoil
the wood of the carpenter. Their good so far overbalances
their evil deeds, that the latter are hardly worthy of men-
tion.
Of the Hymenoptera of North America we shall now
have time to notice only a few of the most interesting, be-
cause the most useful genera and species.
Figure 64.
The Onerate Gall-wasp.
The Gall-wasp (Cynips).
This is a genus which is very common, and is composed
of a great number of species. Its perfect insects are gen-
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 235
erally very small, having a curved neck like a hunchback,
short antenna3, a short, almost triangular hind body, four
colorless wings, and a piercer or ovipositor, as thin as a
hair, which it most resembles, and by which they make a
hole in the soft parts of plants, into which they deposit
their eggs. These punctures in'the stems, leaves, or buds
of plants produce a swelling of the wounded parts, which,
by the irritation of the sucking maggots issuing from the
eggs, accumulate the sap, and rapidly increase in size, be-
coming spongy, or pulpy, or hard within. It is curious, but
it is a fact, that each egg growls larger after it has been de-
posited in the plant, and sometimes doubles its size before
the larva issues from it.
These excrescences, called galls, are in reality monstros-
ities, though they generally present a very fine appearance,
so nearly resembling fruits or flowers as to be mistaken for
them ; but, instead of seeds, they contain the larvae of in-
sects, which feed upon the juices flowing from the wound
they have made in the plant.
The most common protuberances, or galls, are those
found on oak-trees, called oak-balls, and those brought from
Tripolis, Smyrna, Aleppo, and Mosul, which are extensive-
ly known in commerce as a dye-stuff. But we also see
green, yellow, or red galls, of the size of graj)es, upon sev-
eral other kinds of plants. Upon the leaves of willows we
often find them resembling warts ; and the branches of the
honey-suckle (Azalia imdijlora) are covered with yellowish-
green galls of a spongy texture, which, with all the maggots
in them, are greedily devoured by many ignorant persons.
It is very easy to ascertain whether there are such larvoe in
a gall or not by cutting it open ; and if the insect has al-
ready made its exit there will be a hole left in the gall.
We have received a number of valuable insects, natives
of that State, from Professor D. S. Sheldon, of Iowa Col-
lege, at Davenport, and among others two nests of Gall-
236
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
wasps ; viz., that of the Cyn{j)s oneratus (Fig. 64), and Cynips
seminator (Fig. 65), both found on the white oak.
At almost any season of the year, by examining the
small twigs of the white oak, we may find around them
clusters of oak-balls, of the size of a small marble, which
are as hard as wood. These hard excrescences are the re-
sults of the punctures made in the tender twigs by the
Cynips oneratus, who at the same time deposits its eggs in
them. The swelling of these punctures is caused by the
gradual enlargement of the egg, and also by the continual
irritation of the little maggot, who is thus furnished with
food and a secure dwelling until it is ready to perforate
the oak-ball and come forth as a perfect four-winged wasp,
which metamorphosis usually takes place in June or July.
This little wasp is very small, being only about the sixth
of an inch long.
Oak-balls of this kind are found every where in North
America, and they might possibly be substituted for those
we receive from the Levant, and which constitute such a
valuable dye-stuff. They have never been used as such to
our knowledge ; but the suggestion is well worth the atten-
tion of chemists and dyers; for, if experiment should prove
them as valuable as the foreign oak-balls, a vast amount
Figure 65.
The Sower Gall-wasp.
ORDER VI.'— VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 237
of expense and trouble might be saved to our home manu-
facturers. For such purposes they should be collected ear-
ly in the spring or late in the autumn, as those which are
perforated with holes would be of no use as a dye-stuff.
The Cynips seminator is one of the smallest of the gall-
wasps, and yet the oak-ball, which is the consequence of its
puncture, is as large as a walnut, of a reddish color and a
rough exterior. Each one of these galls contains a large
number of maggots, and when it is ripe, or rather when it
has been abandoned by the perfecl insects, it is found to
contain a soft, spongy, and dry substance, like a toad-stool,
which is easily broken and reduced to powder.
A great number of different species of Gall-wasps are
found in all parts of the world, and their increase is only to
be desired, not dreaded, for, with the exception of the saw-
wasps, they do no injury to vegetation, but, on the con-
trary, are very useful to man ; as, for instance, those which
produce the oak-apples of commerce {Cynips Gallce tinciorice),
found upon the dyer's oak {Quercus infectoria), in the Le-
vant.
The IcHXEUiNiON-WASPS are another very useful and in-
teresting tribe of vein-winged insects. They are distin-
guished by their slender body, long ovipositor, and long an-
tennae, which are always in a continual quivering motion.
They deposit their eggs in the living body of other insects,
such as grubs, caterpillars, and all kinds of larvce, upon
whose substance they feed. Although able to pierce cater-
pillars, grubs, and cocoons, yet they never use their ovi-
positor for defense, and consequently can be handled with
impunity.
The larger ichneumons deposit only one g^^ in each lar-
va, as in the caterpillar of the Asterias Butterfly ; but the
smaller onei deposit several hundred eggs in one larva, as
we have seen in the potato-worm, from whose skin hun-
dreds of small ichneumons creep out, and immediately trans-
238 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
form themselves into white silken cocoons, which resemble
rice-seeds in appearance, and which cover the whole body
of the emaciated and dying caterpillar.
Very minute ichneumons, scarcely visible to the naked
eye, deposit their eggs in the eggs of different lepidopterous
insects, and from these the perfect ichneumon issues about
three weeks after.
The family of Ichneumon-wasps is immensely large in all
parts of the world. In 1829 the Swedish entomologist,
Gravenhorst, published three large volumes on " Ichneumon-
ologia Europcea,^'' to which Professor Nees, of Bonn, made a
considerable addition ; but if one should undertake to de-
scribe the genera and species of the American, Asiatic,
African, and Australian ichneumons, of all of which very
little is known, he would occupy more than twenty large
volumes.
The largest ichneumon of this country is the Pbipla
LrNATOR (Fig. 66), the body of which is about one inch
and a half, and the ovipositor three inches long. One
would naturally suppose that so long an organ, with the
two side bristles, which serve as a scabbard, would be
very burdensome to this insect ; but by watching her
movements he would soon see with what ease and skill
this little creature manages that instrument, and by means
of it introduces her eggs into those larvae which are con-
cealed in deep holes under the bark of trees, or in decayed
wood.
We have before spoken of the handsome green caterpillar
of the Asterias Butterfly, represented in Fig. 30, and found
so commonly upon the leaves of all the umbelliferous plants.
Our attempts to raise the handsome Papilio asterias from
these caterpillars have often been frustrated by a species
of ichneumon which, stinging the caterpillar, grows within
its body until it forms its cocoon, when it destroys the
chrysalis, and then emerges from the cocoon instead of the
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS.
239
Figure 66.
Long-tailed Ichneumon-fly.
240
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Figure 6T.
The Asterias Iclineumon-fly.
butterfly. This mischievous wasp we have called Ichneu-
mon asterice, and the co-
coon from which it issues,
which is properly that of
the Papilio asterias, is
represented at Fig. 67.
How the female ichneu-
mon knows that the cat-
erpillar in which it de-
posits an egg has not
been already pierced by
another insect, and why
it only deposits one egg
in the body of each lar-
va, is among the mysteries of nature that we can not fath-
om, much less explain.
The Gold-wasp {Chrysis) belongs also to the numerous
family of Ichneumons. It is distinguished by its splendid
colors, having a cylindrical yellow abdomen, with a green
neck and head. It is a little larger than a common fly.
If you take one in your hand, it will bend the abdomen
downward until its extremity reaches the head, giving the
insect the appearance of a ball or coil. Its sting is harm-
less, and it deposits its eggs in all kinds of larvae. Its
beauty, and the impunity with which it can be handled,
would undoubtedly make it much admired were it not for
its fetid odor.
Another useful family of insects belonging to the order
Hymenoptera are those wasps which are called by the
Germans Raupentbdter (" Caterpillar-killers")^ because they
kill every kind of larvae, such as grubs, spiders, cockroaches,
etc., with which they nourish their young. Of this family
there are several genera, of which one of the i^i^st promi-
nent in this country is
The Mud-wasp (Sphex Pennsylvanica), Fig. 68. — This
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS.
241
The Mud-wasp.
insect is more than one inch long, and of a dark-blue pur
pie color. It makes Figure 68.
its abode in the
loose,sandy ground,
and when digging
its hole resembles
a dog digging after
mice, throwing the
earth under it to-
ward its hind body
with the fore feet.
If the pile of sand
becomes too high
or troublesome, it
places itself upon it, and throws the earth behind it with
great force until it is leveled. As soon as its subter-
ranean abode is prepared, it seizes a large spider, or a
caterpillar, or some other insect, stings it in the neck, and
then carries it into its hole. It is curious to see one of
these wasps take hold of a cockroach, seizing it by one of
its long antenn£e, and continually walking backward, com-
pelling the cockroach to follow, notwithstanding its great
reluctance and constant opposition, until both have arrived
at the hole, when the wasp kills it by a sting in the neck,
then tears it into pieces, and carries it into her subterranean
dwelling as food for her offspring.
There are several other species of this wasp which man-
age in a similar manner with their prey, but which make
their dwellings in rotten wood, as the Philanthis ; or build
dwellings of clay upon the walls of houses, as the Pelopmis.
There are others which build cells resembling honey-
combs, which they manufacture out of decayed fibres of
wood, aftemconvcrting them into a paper-like material.
One species of these wasps fasten their abode, which con-
sists only of a few dozen combs, upon the twig of a bush or
L
242 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
tree, while another makes a globular paper-nest of combs
under ground, which nest is sometimes a foot in diameter,
and actually resembles a subterranean city, having houses
and streets, the whole being surrounded and fortified with
a paper wall.
But of all the ichneumon tribe, probably the Hornet
( Vespa chartaria) is the most celebrated for its ingeniously-
built dwelling, it being of a globular form and filled with
cells, which are constructed of the paper which this insect
manufactures out of wood. These hornet's nests are found
every where in North and South America, either suspend-
ed in the air or closely built around the branch of a tree or
under the eaves of houses. They are a sort of solid, round,
vessel, often more than a foot in diameter, the walls of
which are of a white or gray color, and in appearance and
thickness closely resemble thin pasteboard. Such a nest
often contains a dozen or more combs, is several stories
high, with hexagonal cells, and has its entrance, which is
about the diameter of a finger, at the bottom. The inhab-
itants of such a dwelling, several thousand in number, are
composed of workers, females, and males, the latter of which
are the largest. The Avorkers and the females are provided
with a sting, which is justly much dreaded, children hav-
ing not unfrequently died from its effects, and adults often
having experienced severe suffering from the same cause.
The hornets are of a dark-brown color, and are known to
every one who has spent much time in the country.
It would be interesting, and possibly might be made very
profitable, to institute experiments with the wood from
which these insects manufacture their paper ; for if a new
material for the manufacture of paper could thus be discov-
ered, the fortunate discoverer would be well repaid, and the
country would really be enriched by possessing aj^ther source
of revenue, and we should not be obliged to import so many
rags from Trieste and other Austrian sea-ports.
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 243
All the insects of this order thus far enumerated are
more or less useful to man, by their agency in the destruc-
tion of such a vast number of caterpillars, grubs, and other
insects directly injurious to vegetation. But we must men-
tion one family of the ichneumons that are as destructive to
vegetation as they are to the caterpillars, viz., that com-
posed of the several genera of the Saw-wasp.
Now there is one fact in connection with the larvae of this
family which should be mentioned in the beginning. The
true caterpillars, which are metamorphosed into moths and
butterflies, never have more than sixteen legs ; but many
of these larva? are found which almost exactly resemble
caterpillars in appearance, but which have more than eight
pairs of legs, and these are called pseudo or false caterpil-
lars, because *they do not transform into lepidoptcra, but
into hymenopterous insects.
Formerly, many experienced naturalists held the opinion
that all the wasps which they found issuing from the co-
coons spun by these pseudo-caterpillars were the produc-
tion of ichneumons ; but more extensive and closer investi-
gations proved this to be an error. The pseudo-caterpillars
proceed from eggs deposited by different species of hymen-
optera, and each propagate their own species, some being
ichneumons, others very different species of wasps. Those
which feed on leaves deposit their eggs on them, while other
wasps, which feed on wood, deposit their eggs under the bark
of trees. When fully grown, most of the caterpillars go to the
ground, and transform themselves into cocoons under its sur-
face. None of these wasps are provided with a venomous sting.
Notwithstanding the pseudo -caterpillars, like the true
ones, are ornamented with a great variety of colors, cast
their skin four times, and spin silky cocoons, yet they may
be recognized as false by their globular brown or black
head, and by the number of their feet, which sometimes is
eighteen, sometimes twenty, and even twenty-two.
244 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Saw-wasps (Tenthreds).
These insects are distinguished by the double saw at the
extremity of the hind body, with which all the females are
provided, and with which they cut, like a carpenter, little
slits in the stems and leaves of plants, into which they drop
their eggs. The larvae of the Saw-wasps exactly resemble
caterpillars, and they feed upon the leaves of those plants
upon which their mother had glued her eggs, that is, upon
which they were born. They cast their skin four times,
and, when fully grown, some species go into the ground in
order to make their cocoons ; while others metamorphose
and fasten their cocoons on the stem of a plant, like the
caterpillars of butterflies.
The Elm-tree Saw-wasp {Cimhex Ulmi) 4s one of the
largest insects of this family. It is about one inch long,
and its wings expand about two inches. Its head and tho-
rax are black, the hind body blue, the antennas of a nankeen
color toward the top and dusky at the base, the feet pale
yellow, and the legs black. The female may be seen de-
positing her eggs, early in June, upon elm-trees, the leaves
of which serve as food for the insect and her offspring.
The caterpillars which issue from these eggs are of a green-
ish-yellow color, and have twenty-two legs. When fully
grown, they descend from the tree, conceal themselves under
the fallen leaves on the ground, and there spin their cocoon,
within which they remain during the whole winter, and
until the following May or June, when the perfect insect
makes its exit.
The AVood-wasps are the most destructive insects of this
whole order, and often do great injury to our forest, as well
as our ornamental and fruit trees. Perhaps the most con-
spicuous insect of this species in this country is
The Pigeon Tremex {Tremex Columba), Fig. 69. This
insect is more than one inch long, and, like the whole fam-
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 245
Figure 69.
The Pigeon Tremex.
ily of them, is provided with a borer, which is one incli
long, as thick as a bristle, of a black color, and always con-
cealed within the body when not in use. Elm-trees and
button-wood are their favorite points of attack, into the
trunks of which they bore holes half an inch deep and
drop their eggs therein. In performing this operation they
not unfrequently become victims of their zeal and labor,
driving in their borer so tightly that they are not able to
extract it, in consequence of which they are fastened to the
spot and perish by starvation. Their eggs are oblong, and
the larvae, or grubs, proceeding from them are in turn often
stung by the long piercer of the Pimpla, who smuggles her
cuckoo egg into the hole upon that of the Tremex, and in
so doing also loses her life very often, by being in like man-
ner fastened to the trunk of the tree.
The larvae of the wood-wasp are yellow, somewhat re-
sembling the grubs of the May-beetle, and are often found
in blocks of wood at the sliops of carpenters. They feed
exclusively on wood, making long passages through it, and
thus destroying much valuable timber ; and as they grow
246 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
veiy slowly, and remain several years in the larva state,
they often become injurious to whole forests of trees. When
fully grown, they' are about one inch long, when they make
their cocoon ; and in a few days after undergo their final
transformation into the perfect insect.
We now come to a much more wonderful, and, with one
exception perhaps, the most interesting genus of the whole
order Hymenoptera — a genus of world-wide notoriety, and
one that seems to partake in a remarkable degree of that
intelligence which naturally belongs to the highest order of
animals. We mean
The Ants (Formica).
These insects are found in all parts of the globe, but in
greater number and of larger size in the tropics, where
their vitality is not affected by cold weather. The genus
Formica contains a great number of black, yellow, red, and
brown species, of very different sizes, some being only two
or three lines, while others are an inch long. Their head is
broad, thorax small, and hind body large ; their upper jaw
is very wide, like a broad forceps ; their antennae small, of
a triangular or elbow shape, similar to those of the Snout-
beetle ; their eyes are very small, and the sting is some-
times wantino;.
Each species live in a social community by themselves,
in ant-hills, and is composed of males and females, who are
provided with wings ; and workers, who have no wings. The
males and females, of which there is a great number, have
nothing to do but to enjoy themselves and multiply their
species. The wingless workers do all the necessary in-and-
out-of-door business : they build their habitation, or ant-
hill, of earth, pine-wood leaves, and woody fibres, with
which they also manufacture their subterranean caverns:
they feed the young ones, and carry the cocoons from one
ORDER VI. VEIN-AVINGED INSECTS, 247
place to another with their large jaws, the instruments with
which they perform all their work. The maggot is white,
without feet, has a horny, brown head, and is fed like a lit-
tle bird by a worker, and after a few weeks' growth spins a
white cocoon.
^11 ants are benumbed during the winter, and lie im-
movable in their subterranean abodes, without taking any
kind of food. In the summer, however, their food is very
various. They eat all kinds of fruit, dead as well as living
insects, sugar, honey, and other sweet juices, principally
that of plant-lice, called honey-dew, which exudes from their
bodies without doing them any injury. Plant-lice, on this
account, were called by Reaumure, " the milch-cows of the
ants ;" and to ascertain their abodes in the trees it is only
necessary to follow the march of the ants, who will climb
to the top of the highest tree in search of their beloved
friends, whom they caress in the most affectionate manner,
sucking the honey-dew from their bodies without harming
them in the least, although they will attack and devour
every other kind of insect, even the largest caterpillars.
This honey-dew, of which the ants are so fond, is nothing
but the digested vegetable juices, which are continually ex-
haled by the plant-lice.
As has already been intimated, ants are not only her-
bivorous but also carnivorous, and almost any kind of ani-
mal food is palatable to them. If a small dead animal — for
instance, a mouse or a rat, a frog or a lizard — be put into
one of their ant-hills, it will be converted by them into a
very well-prepared skeleton in less than twenty-four hours ;
but if it remain longer, it will fall to pieces, leaving only
the bones, because the ants will eat up even the ligaments
and cartilages.
White, oval bodies, resembling barley seeds, are found
in the ant-hills during the summer, which have sometimes,
and now are by the common people called ant-eggs, which
248 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
form an excellent food for all kinds of warblers, soch as
mocking-birds and nightingales. In the cities of Europe
they are sold by the quart in the markets. These miscalled
ant-eggs, -which are as large, and even larger than the ants
themselves, can not be their eggs, but are the cocoons of
the metamorphosed maggots, of which the workers take so
much care. If they are taken out of the hill and scattered
about over the ground, it is curious and astonishing to see
with what anxious solicitude and indefatigable zeal the
workers pick them up again with their jaws and carry them
back into the hill, for greater safety transporting them deep-
er than ever in the ground. In order to collect these pupae,
or cocoons, as food for warblers kept in cages, it is only
necessary to fix a dry and shady spot of ground near one of
their ant-hills, then stir up the hill with a stick, or pour a
considerable quantity of water in it, and after a few mo-
ments the w^orkers will convey the cocoons to the shady and
dry spot, where they can be collected at pleasure.
The real eggs of ants are as small as a grain of sand, and
almost invisible, white and shining as if they had been var-
nished. The maggot, issuing from each egg, has twelve
ringlets, and in the pupa, which is semi-transparent, all the
members of the perfect insect are visible.
Most of the ants are provided with a small sting, which,
when applied to human flesh, produces a little itching, some-
times a slight swelling and inflammation, caused by the
venom of the insect, which enters the wound with the sting.
This venom is nothing else than the M-ell-known formic acid,
which produces the pleasant sour odor when the ant-hill is
stirred up, and which is procured by druggists for medicinal
purposes. This acid substance may be obtained by putting
a certain quantity of ants into a bag, placing the bag under
a press, and then squeezing out their fluids, but it may also
be obtained much easier by a chemical process. This for-
mic acid changes vegetable blue to red ; so that if ants pass
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 249
over larkspur, borage, or other blue flowers, and discharge
any of their fluid substance upon them, their blue color will
be changed into red.
In the ant-hills among the pine woods we very commonly
find little resinous cakes, formed like pebble-stones, which,
like other building materials, are carried into their dwellings
by the ants. This substance, saturated with the formic
acid, is very similar to the so-called frankincense, used in
churches as well as private houses as a perfume, because
when put upon lighted coals its smoke emits a pleasant,
amber-like odor, somewhat resembling that of frankincense,
but which is undoubtedly due to the presence of formic acid,
with which this resinous substance is impregnated by the
ants. The true frankincense {Olibamim, Libanus thurifera)
is brought from Central India, and is obtained from the res-
inous juice of a tree called Browellia serrata. This resin
is used in India not only for its perfume, but as pitch, when
boiled with oil, for pitching the bottoms of ships ; and in
medicine for its stimulant, astringent, and diaphoretic prop-
erties. The formic acid was first discovered, about a cen-
tury ago, by the German chemist Marggrafi^, in Berlin,
and it is now also artificially prepared by distillation for
medicinal purposes, as well as for its perfume when
burned.
Many curious and Interesting phenomena have been ob-
served in connection with the habits and customs of the
ants, a few of which we must notice in this place. In the
pleasant evenings of the month of August there are often
seen swarms of male and female ants rising in large col-
umns perpendicularly into the air, ascending and descend-
ing in large masses, and, after thus manceuvring for a time,
they come down to the ground, lose their wings, and die, as
soon as the females have deposited their eggs in the hills
and left them in charge of the workers. These flying col-
umns of ants sometimes appear like a mass of thick smoke,
L 2
250 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
and have often been seen in such numbers as to alarm many
people, who supposed some building was on fire at a dis-
tance.
But the closest observations have been made, and the
most wonderful plienomena have been witnessed, when the
ant-hills have been placed under a glass box, where all
their movements could be distinctly watched. The high
degree of intelligence which these little creatures display
under such circumstances has never failed to excite the
wonder and admiration of every observer. Looking at the
ants through such a glass box, w^e see here and there a fe-
male, accompanied by some of the workers, running along
dropping her eggs, which are immediately taken up by her
attendants and carried away. These eggs are of an oval
form, milk-white, very small, and opaque ; but by-and-by
they become larger, growing like the eggs of the gall-wasp,
and then they become transparent, when a black spot may
be seen in the centre of each, which is the embryo of the
future ant. These eggs will all dry up and perish if the
workers are removed; for, in order to be developed, they
must be continually moistened with the saliva of the work-
er ; and so, even in insect life, the sweat of the laborer be-
comes the source of plenty and prosperity. With this nour-
ishing care the eggs teem with life, and in about two weeks
the maggot is hatched, which is transparent, but without
feet or antennae.
The ants are proverbially an industrious race, and when
the first rays of the morning sun fall upon the ant-hill those
tliat are on the outside run hastily within, rousing the slum-
berers, touching all those that are inside the hill with their
antennae, pressing and pushing them until the whole popu-
lation is in motion. The lazy ones and those that move
too slow are seized with the jaws and carried up to the top
of the hill, as well as the maggots and pupa3 of the nurser-
ies, where they are all exposed to the sun's rays about a
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 251
quarter of an hour, after which they are carried down under
the first stratum, and there fed.
We may receive still greater evidence of their intelligence
if we observe their language of signs. If the ants on the
outside of the hill are disturbed by strange ants, part of
them will at once put themselves into offensive and defens-
ive position, while others will immediately run into the hill
and alarm those within, who then come rushing out to as-
sist their brethren in attacking the foe, while the guardians
of the nurseries carry the maggots and pupae to the lowest
part of the hill for greater security.
So, if one ant discovers a closet where are sweet articles,
such as fruit or sugar, it quickly returns to its fellows for
the purpose of acquainting them of its discovery, and in a
very short time whole swarms of them will arrive with the
discoverer to divide the spoils. They go out in companies,
also, to drink, of which they are very fond ; but if one of
them is disturbed in so doing he communicates the fact im-
mediately to all the rest by pushing the one nearest him,
who passes on the news in the same way to all the rest,
when all receiving the sign run to the hill ; but if any one
is not attentive to such admonition, he is seized by the legs
and dragged to the hill. In general, they give signs to one
another in all their operations by their angular or elbowed
antenna?, which work somewhat like the old French tele-
graph. With their antennoe they also express their friend-
ship and love, as we may see when we observe them caress-
ing one another, or their friends the plant-lice.
Their social sympathy, and their mutual attachment for
one another, is as great, and even greater than that of the
bees ; for it is well known that, even when cut into pieces,
they do not cease to defend their mansion and their off-
spring. The head and thorax of an ant, without any hind
body, have been seen to carry a pupa to a place of security.
And Professor Latreille cut off the antennae of some ants,
252 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
and then let them go back to the hill, when some of their
brethren commenced moistening the wounded parts with
their saliva, which probably is their remedy. So, too, ants
which had been separated from the hill under glass for four
months were brought back, and were immediately recog-
nized by their brethren, who commenced a mutual caress-
ing with their antennae and jaws, while general satisfaction
and joy was distinctly seen throughout the whole commu-
nity.
Again, the ants, which inhabit hills favorably situated
for finding plenty of food and drink, are seen to play and
frolic with one another like little dogs or kittens. On fine,
sunny days they may be seen in crowds running about on
the outside of their nests, the antennog of each moving with
great rapidity, while some with their fore feet caress the
heads of others, and some rise up in pairs on their hind feet,
take hold of one another with their jaws, throw each other
upon the ground, and, in short, wrestle like turners without
injuring one another.
With regard to their nourishment, also, or at least their
need of it, the antennae seem to be the principal organs of
their language. Having no store-house like the bees, those
ants which remain at home are obliged to wait until the
others bring home food for them, which generally consists
of small insects, of which each of the resident ants take a
morsel. But if those who go in search of food find only
fruit, or large bodies, such as worms, caterpillars, dead
mice, or lizards, which they can not carry home, they suck
out all their liquid substance, preserve it in their own
stomachs, and, when they get back to the hill, discharge it
by drops into the mouths of their comrades. When one is
hungry, therefore, it touches with the antennse that one by
whom it desires to be fed, and the latter, after such an ad-
monition, opens its mouth and feeds the former with the
fluid substance it has preserved in its stomach, while the
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 253
recipient expresses its gratitude by caressing with the fore
feet the head of the donor.
Now, although among each community of ants there
reigns entire love, friendship, unity, and equality ; still, if
two different species come in contact, they make war to the
death, just as rival human nations do, only there is no cun-
ning diplomacy or base espionage used by the former.
They fight bloody battles, a great number are mutilated,
many lives are lost, and their fortresses are besieged, taken,
and destroyed. In these bloody contests, as among men,
the workers alone have to fight and suffer, while the males
and females, like emperors and kings with their royal fami-
lies, fly to some distant place of security, and order their
subjects to mutilate and massacre one another for the sake
of their glory, ambition, and power.
Some very remarkable stories, sounding more like fiction
than like facts, have been told by various ancient authors
concerning the " Wars of the Ants ;" but the most astonish-
ing descriptions ever related were abundantly confirmed by
the observations of Mr. P. Huber, of Geneva, in Switzer-
land, who published a monograph concerning the ants in
1810, ^'' Maeurs des Fourmies mdigenes,'" as well as afterward
by Mr. Hanhart, of Basle. The latter gentleman describes
a battle he witnessed between brown and black ants, and
states that the brown ants had two hills near one another
at the foot of a tree, while the black ants occupied five hills
near together at a distance of forty feet from them. In the
month of June, at 10 o'clock a.m., he observed a great
movement in the hills of the brown ants. They marched
out to the middle of an uncultivated field, which was situ-
ated between them and their enemies, and arrayed them-
selves in a long, uninterrupted, oblique line of battle, which
line was about twenty-four feet long, and consisted of only
one file. In the mean time, the much more numerous, but
much smaller black ants, also marched out and arrayed
254 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
themselves in a line of battle, three ranks deep, their right
wing being covered by a mass of several hundred, while
their left wing was supported by nearly a thousand individ-
uals. Thus the two armies moved one against the other,
until they approached each other near enough to commence
the battle, when the two masses which supported the wings
formed oblong squares, from three to four inches wide, with-
out taking part in the affray. Then the fighting began with
fury, the jaws, stings, and venom constituting their formi-
dable weapons ; and very soon mutilated bodies, heads, and
headless trunks, torn-out feet and legs could be seen lying
all over that miniature battle-ground. The fight was con-
tinued with great vigor until noon, when the massacre
ceased, and the remnant of the brown ants took flight to
parts unknown, while the black ants, as the victors, took
possession of the fortresses of the enemy, carrying along
with them their wounded fellow-soldiers.
Such stories seem really wonderful ; but they are true,
and may be seen in our pine woods every summer by every
person who will take the pains to be an attentive observer
of natural phenomena, and not be content to go through
life a mere thoughtless, promenading automaton.
We have called the ants useful insects, and so they are
in many ways. They furnish us with formic acid and
frankincense, and they rid us of many injurious larvce and
other noxious insects, besides destroying carrion ; but they
are injurious to bee-hives, flowers, cherries, pears, and oth-
er fruit. They are more numerous and voracious in hot
climates. While in the island of Hayti, we left open, dur-
ing only one night, a case containing more than three hun-
dred specimens of valuable insects on pins, and the next
morning we were much grieved, as well as surprised, to
find the case entirely empty ; nothing but the pins were left ;
all the insects had been devoured by the ants. No article
of food, no clothing, and no papers of importance can be
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 255
secured from their voracious appetite, unless preserved in
tight bureaux or boxes of mahogany, which they do not at-
tack ; but furniture of pine or oak wood will be destroyed
by them in less than three months.
Of their dangerous voracity in the tropics, and carnivor-
ous propensity, there are many strange but well authentica-
ted instances. Dionisio Carli, of Piacenza, Missionary in
Congo, Africa, was once sick in bed while there, when his
little pet ape suddenly jumped upon his head. He thought
that some rats had probably frightened the little animal,
and tried to tranquilize him, when several negroes shouted
to him to get up, because the ants had entered the house.
He was then obliged to be carried into the garden in order
to save his life, for the ants had already commenced crawl-
ing on his feet, and the floor of the room was covered with
them to the height of one foot. Those ants, he relates,
ate up every living object within their reach ; and of one
cow, which was accidentally left over night in the stable
through which they passed, nothing but the bones were
found the next morning.
The Visiting Ants {Formica ceplialotes), which inhabit
the tropics of America, are. not less destructive in their rav-
ages, although not as dangerous as the African species.
They are as large as a common wasp, and chestnut colored.
Once every year they issue from their subterranean abodes
in innumerable swarms, enter the houses, run through all
the rooms, and kill all the large and small insects that are
to be found therein — such as scorpions, centipedes, spiders,
as well as lizards and toads. Not only these small ani-
mals, but even the human inhabitants of the houses, are
obliged to flee before them ; and yet they are quite welcome,
and are not disturbed in their progress, for these ants thor-
oughly clean a house of all vermin, and as soon as they
have accomplished this they leave it for another dwelling,
through which they pass in the same manner. The insects,
256 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
also, are of the greatest use in the tropics, because they so
rapidly devour noxious carrion, which, if allowed to remain
until its decomposition and evaporation, would speedily cause
a pestilence. Their superabundance, which would be dan-
gerous to human life in the tropics, is checked by different
species of ant-eaters and armadillos in all the tropical re-
gions of America, Asia, and Africa. These animals feed
exclusively on ants, and are unquestionably the instruments
which a kind Providence has created for the purpose of
limitins the increase of these voracious insects.
But our limits forbid us further to pursue this subject,
and we, therefore, shall now conclude our history of the Hy-
menoptera with the consideration of the most interesting
genus of the order — in fact, the most interesting, and in
many respects the most useful, of all the insects that inhabit
the globe, viz.,
The Honey-hee (Apis mellifera).
This is an insect that in every country has universally
attracted man's attention and his nurturing care, from the
earliest ages of the world to the present time — a little an-
imal that has, probably, excited more admiration from all
classes of men than any other animated being on the earth's
surface not of the genus Homo — an insect celebrated in
the most ancient as well as the most modern records of the
world, both sacred and profane, as a riddle to the learned,
a marvel to the scientific, a faithful servant to the ignorant,
who has only known that it would ten-fold reward his care,
an object of wonder and reverence to the superstitious and
the heathen, and a model lesson to the child ! Even in our
nursery rhymes it has been distinguished above all other
animals as an example of industry, and the little lisping
child is taught to sing
" How doth tlic little busy bee
Improve each shining hour!"
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 257
The most exalted and the purest minds that have ever
drawn their moral illustrations from the works of Nature
have singled out this little creature as a wonderful and con-
vincing evidence of the design and handiwork of a God.
One distinguished writer truly says : " That within so small
a body should be contained apparatus for converting the
virtuous sweets which it collects into one kind of nourish-
ment for itself, another for the common brood, a third for
the royal, glue for its carpentery, wax for its cells, poison
for its enemies, honey for its master; with a proboscis as
long as the body itself, microscopic in its several parts, tel-
escopic in its mode of action, with a sting so infinitely
sharp that, were it magnified by the same glass which
makes a needle's point seem a quarter of an inch, it would
yet itself be invisible, and this, too, a hollow tube ; that all
these varied operations and contrivances should be included
within half an inch of length and two grains of matter,
while in the same 'small room' the 'large heart' of at least
thirty distinct i'.isects is contained, is surely enough to crush
all thoughts of atheism and materialism."
But whatever reflections the examination of their won-
derful life and history may excite in the minds of observ-
ers, certain it is that, either as pure natural curiosities, or
on account of the profit that may be derived from them,
bees have ever been the subjects of much research and in-
vestigation on the part of practical agriculturists as well as
scientific entomologists. We find works descriptive of them,
and the manner in which they should be treated so as to
make them most productive, in all languages, ancient as
well as modern ; and the number of works written on this
single species of one genus of insects is greater than those
published on any complete genus or order in entomology.
Among the scientific works on this subject we may par-
ticularly refer to those of Swammerdam and Reaumure, pub-
lished about the middle of the last century. The former,
258 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
ill his ^' Bihlia Naturoe,^^ gives his minute anatomical inves-
tigations of the external and internal parts of the bee, "vvhile
to the latter we are indebted for some of the best observa-
tions concerning bees, published in the fifth volume of his
" Histoire des Jnsectes.^' The works of JSIr. Huber, of Gene-
va, in Switzerland, '■^ Nouvelles Observations sur les Aheillesj'''
1814, as well as the "Treatise of Bees, by Robert Huish,
London, 1815," are both very rich in new observations con-
cerning the history and treatment of these insects. The
excellent work of the last-named author can not be too
highly recommended, and should be in the possession of ev-
ery apiarian-
It is probably on account of their great utility, more than
because of the wonderful phenomena which they exhibit,
that bees have always received so much attention from
mankind in general. "While we are at no great expense for
their food, they furnish us with a precious and lucrative
luxury, and, except the silk-worm and cochineal, they are
the only insects of direct commercial value to man. In
comparison with the silk-worm and cochineal, the bees oc-
cupy a superior rank, and are more generally beneficial to
man, because they prosper in all climates, even where the
former can not live. In those old times before the process
of makin" sujifar was known, and for a lono; time after in
countries and among classes of people that could not pro-
cure it, bees were much more important because of their
honey. On this account, so much care was bestowed upon
them in ancient times, as is related by Cato, Yarro, Colu-
mela, Palladius, and Yirgil.
The great importance of these insects, and the interest
universally manifested in them, demands from us a tolera-
bly minute description of their natural history, as well as
the best modes of treating them, so as to make them most
productive.
It is impossible for any reflecting person to look at a bee-
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 259
hive in full operation without being astonished at the act-
ivity and surprising industry of its inhabitants. We see
crowds constantly arriving from the woods, meadows, fields,
and gardens, laden with provisions and materials for future
use, while others are continually flying off on similar col-
lecting expeditions. Some are carrying out the dead, others
are removinoj dirt or offal, while others are givin"- battle to
any strangers that may dare intrude. Suddenly a cloud
appears, and the bees hurry home, thronging at the entrance
to the hive by thousands, until all are gradually received
within their sacred inclosure. In the interior of the hive
w^e see with what skill they work their combs and deposit
the honey which they have manufactured ; and when their
labor is over for the day, we observe them resting in chains
suspended from the ceiling of their habitation, one bee cling-
ing with its fore feet to the hind feet of the one above it,
until it seems impossible that the upper one can be strong
enough to hold on to the ceiling and support the weight of
so many hundreds, without letting them drop. But all
these circumstances will be mentioned in their proper places ;
and, for the purpose of presenting our readers with a com-
plete history of this most interesting species of insects, as
well as with correct ideas of their proper management, we
propose to explain in order :
\st. The different individuals of which a bee-hive is
composed ;
2cZ. The different kinds of bee-hives ;
3c/. The laying of their eggs ;
A^th, The development of the egg ;
^th. The swarms ;
^tli. Their sting, and battles ;
*lth. The collection of honey and wax ;
8^/z. The combs ;
^ih. The honey harvest ;
10^/^. The uses of wax and honey.
260 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
First, then, every bee-hive is composed of three diiFerent
individuals, viz. : one femnle, called the Queen Bee, who is
the sovereign ; a number of males called Di^ones, w^ho rep-
resent the peers ; and a large number of working-bees,
which are also females, but of an imperfect organization.
The Queen Bee has a slender body, armed with a sting,
and very short wings. The drones are larger and thicker ;
they have long wings, but no stings, and consequently are
harmless. The working bees are smaller than either, but
are by far the most numerous ; in a large hive, their num-
ber is not unfrequently from twelve to fifteen thousand, and
sometimes more. They are the proletarians in that mon-
archy, and their business is to nurse the young ones, to
build the combs, and to collect the pollen and nectar of
flowers, with which they prepare their honey and wax. All
these materials which they collect they carry home in their
fossa, a spoon-like excavation in their hind legs. They,
like their queen, are armed with a sting.
The Queen Bee is not only the sovereign, but also the
mother of the hive, and it is probably because all look to
her as the only one capable of propagating the race that
she is held in such high estimation. Her progeny is enor-
mous, for she lays eggs to the number of several thousands.
But wdio is the father of this immense brood has been a
question of dispute for ages, and is still not satisfactorily
settled. Naturalists have always supposed the drones en-
titled to the parentage, as they are the only males in the
establishment ; but Reaumure, and many others who have in-
defatigably watched the manoeuvres of the Queen Bee, both
night and day, have never yet been able to detect her in
any act of copulation. The queen has even been confined
in a glass hive with the drones, separate from the Avorkers,
but no intercourse took place, and all died a few days after-
ward. Huber gives as his opinion that the queen has in-
tercourse with the drones when taking flight with them in
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 261
the air ; but this can hardly be possible, because the queen
is constantly occupied in dropping her enormous number
of eggs into the cells, and has no time to fly out ; besides
she is not able to make flying excursions, because her wings
are too short, and her body too heavy. It is, moreover,
not a little absurd to suppose that Nature should have
placed one female at the disposal of a thousand males, who,
in order to gain her favor, would quarrel and murder one
another until the whole colony would be destroyed. We
must conclude, then, that her majesty the Queen Bee de-
serves to be titled the Virgin Mother and Queen of the Bees.
But the eggs of the queen, after they have been deposited
by her in the cells, are probably fecundated by the drones,
in the same manner as the male fishes fructify the spawn.
To this opinion is objected the fact that the drones are mas-
sacred by the working bees every autumn, and if so, how
can eggs laid in the spring be fecundated? We answer,
that we have never seen a hive, even in winter, that did not
contain drones, and if we had, there is no reason why they
could not have fecundated the empty cells previous to their
death. At all events, it is conceded that the drones, beins:
the only males, are the only agents connected with the hive
that are capable of fructifying the eggs, whatever be the
process by which it is done.
The drones are larger than the working bees and have a
rounder head. They are called by the French "Bourdons,"
because they hum louder than the others, and they are vis-
ible only from the beginning of May to the end of July.
Their number is about ten or twelve times less than that
of the workers, and their chief business, as we have said,
is to fecundate the eggs which are deposited in the cells by
the queen.
It was known in ancient times that a large bee with a
long body and short wings existed in every hive, and it was
called the King of the Bees, and to him was attributed the
262 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
highest degree of wisdom in governing and managing the
different inhabitants of the hive. This opinion was uni-
versal until about one hundred and fifty-six years ago, when
Swammerdam, by a series of profound anatomical investi-
gations, proved that this so-called king was a female, which
lays all the eggs necessary to the growth and multiplication
of the society she governs, and which accordingly is now
called the Queen Bee. Aristotle and Virgil held the opin-
ion that this bee lays no eggs at all, but only brings home
some substance from the flowers and fruits, from which the
maggots originated. This opinion, also, was proved erro-
neous by anatomical investigation; and to prove its falsity it
is only necessary to open the body of the Queen Bee, when
several thousand eggs will be found within her.
The best way of making the acquaintance of the Queen
Bee is to divide a new swarm, and put each into a separate
hive. The one which is in possession of the queen will
soon be contented, and then she can be seen running about
at the bottom of the hive entirely alone ; but after a little
time about a dozen of the working bees will surround and
accompany her, and their number will gradually increase.
Some approach her and are caressed by her proboscis,
while others offer her honey with their proboscis, and she
licks it off. Keaumure, having divided a swarm in this
manner, says that the smaller one, with the queen, worked
very negligently for several days, and then swarmed with
the queen and placed themselves upon a twig of a tree, prob-
ably because their number was too small to promise a large
progeny. After he had put them into the hive several
times, they went off again, and finally united with the bees
of a neighboring hive, where they were all massacred. The
other swarm, without a queen, seemed to be satisfied at
first, several of them going out the following day, but re-
turning without bringing home any provisions or materials.
They remained in this condition six days without making a
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 263
single cell, and in three weeks, without having accomplished
any work, the greater part of them flew away, wiiile the one
thousand which remained were found dead in the hive the
next morning. This experiment was repeated several times,
but always with the same unhappy result.
From these and such like experiments we are convinced
that they do not work if their number is not sufficiently
large, or if they have no queen, and therefore that the ob-
ject of their labor is to rear and provide for a numerous
progeny. If in the spring we observe bees returning from
the meadows and gardens with empty fossae, and if we as-
certain that no new combs have been made since winter, we
may be certain that the queen is dead. Every day less and
less bees return to such a hive, and by the month of June
scarcely one thousand can be found in the hive. They per-
ish, or they try to smuggle themselves into another hive,
where they are generally killed.
In order to prove that the bees always follow the queen,
Sv/ammerdam fastened a hair on her foot, and tied it to the
top of a pole, which he stuck in the ground in his garden.
The whole swarm immediately followed, and surrounded the
queen on all sides. In this manner he was able to carry
the whole swarm any where he pleased. Labet relates that
he found, in his travels through Western Africa, a man who
called himself the Lord of the Bees, because they constantly
followed him, flying about him wherever he went, alighting
on his cap, face, shoulders, and hands, without stinging him.
The people thought that he had rubbed himself with some
plant or substance that prevented their stinging him ; but
the secret of all these manoeuvres probably consisted in his
carrying a queen concealed in his cap or elsewliere.
It is not their admiration for the queen's beauty or es-
teem for lier rank that makes the bees follow her and min-
ister unto lier wants, but rather tlieir attachment to the in-
dividual which produces eggs, and from Avhom they expect
264 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
a numerous progeny. If, for instance, some hundred bees
are taken from one hive and transferred into an empty one,
they are at jfirst very unruly, but as soon as a strange queen
is put into it they collect around her, as if about to celebrate
a great holiday ; they lick her for hours, press themselves
close around her, creep under her, lift her up and cover her
on all sides. Soon after they fly out, collect materials for
wax, and in the first twenty-four hours make a comb about
the size of a half-dollar piece, without paying the least at-
tention to the hive from which they were taken, even if it
is near by. Such small colonies, however, never prosper,
but soon emigrate with their queen and perish.
If a queen and some of the working bees are thrown into
water until they are nearly dead, and are then brought
into a warm place, the latter, as soon as they recover from
the shock sufficiently to move, begin to manifest their anx-
iety for the queen, and endeavor to restore her to life by
licking her ; and as soon as she moves a limb a cheerful huz-
za is expressed by a general humming. The bees show a
similar affection toward every queen without distinction ;
even if two strange queens are put into a full hive, a crowd
immediately collects around them and begins to hum, and
soon the humming becomes general throughout the hive.
This fact does not seem in consonance with the common
opinion that only one queen bee is permitted in a hive, which
is undoubtedly true ; but then it must be remembered that
the reason why they can not live together is only on account
of the persecution of the legitimate queen, because the bees
have no other desire than to people their hive as quickly
and as much as possible ; and in this instinct teaches them
right, for a thickly-peopled hive will endure the coldest win-
ter, while one that contains but a few will perish for want
of the necessary higher temperature produced by them.
But if there is more than one queen in a hive, these two la-
dies settle their pretensions to the throne by single combat,
ORDER VI.— VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 265
while neither their coward peers nor the proletarians will
interfere, they being indifferent who is at the head of their
government, except that, according to the law of their na-
ture, they must have a female sovereign. It is, therefore, a
fixed fact that in their female monarchy the bees have love
for nothing else except for their progeny, and that they work
not only for their own subsistence, but more even for that
of their successors and descendants.
2. The different I^nds of Bee-hives. — As wild bees,
in the forests of all countries, make use of hollow trees for
their dwellings, it was natural that the persons who first
domesticated the bees should imitate them in the construc-
tion of their habitations. Accordingly, the first bee-hives
were made by hollowing out the trunk of a tree ; and such
rustic bee-hives were still in use thirty years ago, when we
traveled through Hungary and Poland. We found them
also in the Ukraine and Russia, where a single proprietor
had from three to four hundred such hives fenced in, and
under shelter in some open space in the forests. A hand-
some income was there derived from these animals, their
food costing not a single farthing.
Another kind of hive, in shape like a bell, and construct-
ed of willow boughs, or more commonly of straw, is frequent-
ly seen in Germany, France, and Great Britain ; but they
tu'C very inconvenient on account of the difficulty of taking
out the honey without destroying the bees. It is true, how-
ever, that straw-hives will best protect these insects from the
intense heat of summer, as well as from the great cold of
winter.
Bee-hives in the shape of an oblong box, composed of
four boards with a movable top, are very common in this
country, and are more convenient than the straw-hives, for
taking out the honey and wax, which is done by removing
the cover and placing over the box an empty one of the
same size, inverted so that both open tops shall come togeth-
M
266 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
er. If then the lower box be gently beaten with a stick,
the bees will ascend to the upper one, and the box contain-
ing the honey can be removed and emptied at pleasure, with-
out any destruction of the bees. But these boxes must not
be exposed during the winter, or its inhabitants will perish
of cold and hunger.
Within the past few years great improvements have been
made in the construction of hives, both in Europe and in
North America. Among the Europeans, the hive of Pro-
fessor Huber, of Geneva, occupies the first rank ; but there
are many others in use which are described by Robert Huish,
in his "Treatise on Bees," and also in "The Naturalist's
Library."
Among the many patent hives of North America, we feel
justified in recommending the "Platform Bee-hive," in-
vented in 1853 by Sylvester Davis, of Claremont, New
Hampshire. At the " Exhibition of the Industry of all
Nations," in the Crystal Palace at New York, this hive re-
ceived the medal for its ingenuity and practical utility in
the keeping of bees. The Committee of the Ohio State
Board of Agriculture, also, awarded a silver medal and di-
ploma to the inventor ; and they spoke in special terms of
commendation of the combined merits of this hive, the in-
vention of v/hich has reduced the matter of keeping bees to
a system, which vies with the manufacture of honey by the
bees themselves. This hive has also taken the first premi-
um at the State and County Fairs in Vermont, New Hamp-
shire, Massachusetts, Indiana, and Ohio, and justly so, for
with it any one may keep bees with perfect safety and suc-
cess, since all difiiculty and uncertainty are entirely removed.
With it the bees may be made to swarm from one or more
hives, or may be conducted into any one hive without
swarming, and still have a full supply of queens, while all
the bees are entirely protected from the bee-moth, Snd other
insects which annoy and ruin them. The work and prog-
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 267
ress of the bees, also, may be seen in the hives, honey -box-
es, and feed-drawers, and each step of their development
may be watched. Mr. Davis, also, has a preparation with
which to feed the bees in winter and spring, which costs
about three cents a pound, and another kind of food, com-
posed of seven different articles, which he uses after the
bloBsoms disappear, and which costs from five to six cents a
pound. This Platform Bee-hive, with a book giving full
directions for making the hive, feeding and managing the
bees, may be obtained for $10 of the inventor, S. Davis,
Claremont, New Hampshire.
According to the Report of a Committee of the New York
Agricultural Society, at Albany, September 3, 1850, the
profits of nine swarms of bees that were fed were $383 75 ;
while in 1854 Mr. Davis, with his preparations, fed five
swarms of bees, at a net profit of $75 a swarm ; show-
ing a great advantage either in the feeding or management
of the bees.
In order to observe the operations of the bees in a hive
at least two sides of it must be of glass, covered with shut-
ters which can be opened at pleasure. In this way it will
be seen that the combs form perpendicular and parallel
walls, with intermediate spaces, or streets, wide enough for
two bees to pass one another. Each comb has cells on both
sides, with here and there passages through the comb, which
give the bees much shorter and speedier access from one side
to the other. But this internal construction of the hive is
subject to many irregularities, because the bees always ac-
commodate themselves to circumstances.
It was formerly thougiit that the cells were the habita-
tions of the bees, because they are seen so constantly putting
their heads into them ; but this is not so; they do tliis either
to fecundate the eggs, or to put honey in them, or else
they are feeding the young ones. On account of their mul-
titude, it is almost impossible to observe the operations of
268 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
one bee for any length of time, for it soon escapes the eye
and is lost among the crowd, until it seems as if all were
in the greatest confusion and disorder. This, however, may
be partially avoided by marking one or more bees upon the
neck with a solution of sealing-wax in alcohol.
3d. The laying of Eggs. — The Queen Bee resides in the
interior of the hive, between two combs, and has no other
business than to deposit an egg in each empty cell, which
is done very quickly, and principally during the montlis of
April and May. The egg is oblong, white, and fastened at
one end to the bottom of the cell. During the season of
laying the eggs the bees work with indefatigable industry
in order to furnish the necessary number of cells ; and so fast
do they accomplish their task that a comb nine inches long
is often built in one day, and yet, notwithstanding this ra-
pidity, the queen is often obliged to deposit her eggs in half-
finished cells. When thus occupied in discharging the grand
function of her life, she marches with great dignity, always
accompanied by a do2;en or more of her subjects, like the
Virgin Queen with her courtiers.
We may form some estimate of the enormous number of
eggs which the queen lays, from the size of a swarm which
leaves the parental roof in May or June. Such a swarm
will number about twelve thousand, and the eggs from
which they came Avere laid in the preceding months of
March or April ; but still the queen continues laying, and
we may obtain one or two more swarms from the same hive
during the summer. Each queen lays a few eggs from which
proceed queens, and from seven hundred to a thousand eggs
from which proceed drones, while all the rest will produce
working bees.
4th. Development of the Egg. — The egg is fastened by
one end to the bottom of the cell, so that it looks as if it
were suspended in the air. It is soft and smooth, and is
five times as long as it is thick. It was formerly believed
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 269
that these eggs were developed slowly, being hatched by the
drones, but this is now proved to be impossible, because bees
are cold-blooded, and that process would be useless, while
the temperature in a hive is as high as that under a brood-
hen. The eggs are first developed into maggots which are
scarcely able to move : they have a mouth like a caterpillar,
two white eyes, and ten air-holes, which are their respirato-
ry organs, on the sides of the body. They are fed with
honey by the workers for about a week, after which time
their nurses make a wax cover over the cell, and inclose the
maggot within, which then becomes a pupa, remains ten
days in this condition, and then breaks open its wax cover,
creeps out from the cell, dries its wings, runs about over the
combs for a while, and then flies away out of the hive in
company with its companions to collect materials and pro-
visions for the hive.
5th. The Swarms. — Of the immense number of esfffs
CO
laid by the queen, those of the workers are laid first, then
those of the drones, and at last those of the young queens ;
and as the eggs are developed into perfect bees as often as
every four weeks during the season, the new progeny, with
a young queen at their head, swarms — that is, they leave the
hive, and become the founders of a new colony. This emi-
gration principally occurs during the months of INIay and
June, and between 10 o'clock a.m. and 3 o'clock p.m. They
issue in such crowds that the air looks as if filled with
snow, and, flying about for a while, finally settle themselves
upon the limb of a tree, crowded close together, and hang-
ing one upon another in a lump, which resembles a long
and bushy beard. It is, therefore, the best plan -to have no
high trees near the apiary, for if the swarms are obliged to
fly high up before they lodge on the tree they are frequently
lost. In such a case some people throw up fine sand into
the air, which aflects the bees like rain, and makes them de-
scend. In some places they drum with iron upon tin pans,
270 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
brass kettles, etc., to make the bees swarm, because it was
observed that sounds imitating thunder make them hasten
home.
After a swarm has alighted and hangs from a limb, it
must gently be placed in an empty hive made ready for that
purpose, the inside of which is to be perfumed with some
aromatic plant, as lavender, or mint, etc., and then left in
a shady place upon the ground until after sunset, when it
may be removed to its destined place in the apiary. But
if a swarm should happen to settle within a hollow tree, it
must be drawn out durinor the nig;ht with a loner and flat
stick, and then placed in the hive.
It sometimes happens that there are two queens in one
swarm, which then separates into two very unequal lumps,
one perhaps as large as a man's head, and the other about
the size of an orange ; but the two often unite again, even
at the expense of one of the queens. Eeaumure had a
swarm with three queens, which he placed in a hive. The
first and second day the bees seemed to be contented, but
very inactive ; the second day one of the queens was found
dead, and on the following day another, and then for the
first time the bees beijan to work. This is the case with
all such swarms ; the supernumerary queens are always
killed, for these unhappy creatures can not, like human sov-
ereigns, find a safe asylum in foreign countries, but are al-
ways murdered by their rivals.
Swarms differ in size, according to several circumstances
that have been already mentioned ; some will weigh only
four pounds, while others will weigh from eight to ten
pounds, or even more. A good swarm weighs generally
from six to eight pounds, and the weight, of course, is as-
certained by weighing first the empty hive, and afterward
the full one. If the bees are satisfied with the hive, and
have been properly swarmed, they soon ascend to the upper
part of it, and in course of two days will make a comb
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 271
more than a foot long, and four inches wide, before they
fly out, which fact is regarded as a proof that they produce
jvax from their own bodies, without having ever collected
any of the pollen of flowers or other materials for that pur-
pose. If the weather is fine, they fly out on the third day
for the purpose of collecting their materials, and in twenty-
four hours after a comb may often be seen, twenty inches
long, by eight inches wide ; and in five days half of the hive
will be filled with combs.
Qth. Their Sting and Battles. — The proboscis of mos-
quitoes and horse-flies forms their venomous weapon of de-
fense ; but this member is entirely harmless in the bee, while
their sting, which is found at the hindmost extremity of
their bodies, is much more formidable, and in its construc-
tion is somewhat remarkable and deserving of notice. If a
bee be taken by the neck between two fingers, or, what is
safer, between the blades of a pair of forceps, it will bend
itself toward the part where it is held, and repeatedly dart
forth its sting for the purpose of inflicting a wound. If the
hind body be pressed in the same manner, the sting w^ill be
forced out, and although it is very thin, it may readily be
examined with the naked eye, and a small drop of venom
will be seen at its extremity, which is proof that it is hol-
low. With the further assistance of a magnifying glass, we
find that this sting is composed of four parts, like bristles
united together, of which the two internal ones are armed
with a hook. These four bristles are all inserted in the
wound made by the sting, which is thus formed into a hol-
low tube, filled with clear and fluid venom, which proceeds
from a small bladder at its upper part within the body.
Hence if a bee is suddenly driven away as soon as it has
stung a person, the whole of the sting remains in the wound,
retained by its hook, and with it also remains the venom-
bag, with some of the entrails, on account of which the bee
loses its life. All this may be witnessed by forcing a bee
272 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
to sting a piece of leather, and suddenly withdrawing it, for
the sting will remain upon the leather, and with it a long
filament of intestine, with the venom-bag.
That the pain and swelling of the wound of the honey-
bee arises not from the sting alone, but rather from the
venom, may easily be proved by any one who will prick his
finger with a fine needle (the wound of which he knows will
occasion very little pain, and will soon heal up without tu-
mefaction), and insert into the wound only a small part of
a drop of the venom of the bee, when he will soon find the
pain and swelling as great as if stung by the bee itself A
member of the French Academy, who would not believe in
the strength of this venom, inoculated a large drop of it
into his arm, and in consequence was convinced of his er-
ror by terrible and excruciating suffering. Another proof
of the influence of this venom is the fact that the sting of
bees is comparatively insignificant in winter ; while it is
worse in summer, when the heat increases the quantity of
venom : the same also as is the case with venomous snakes.
Eeaumure allowed a wasp to sting him, and although at
the expense of much pain, he waited until that insect had
withdrawn his sting, when one of his servants, at his re-
quest, was soon after stung by the same wasp and experi-
enced very little pain ; immediately after Reaumure was
again stung by the same insect, and felt no pain at all,
probably because its venom had become exhausted, and in
spite of all his irritation he could not make the wasp sting
for the fourth time. Swammerdam rflade many such ex-
periments with bees, and even put their venom upon his
tongue, whereupon he experienced at first a sweet taste,
which soon became acrid and caustic, and so continued for
several hours. As blue litmus paper is not reddened by
this venom, it is supposed not to contain acid ; but its chem-
ical nature has never been satisfactorily determined. Olive-
oil and vinegar have been recommended as remedies for the
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 273
pain and tumefaction caused by the venom of bees ; but cold
water or spirits of hartshorn (volatile alkali) is perhaps
the best application after the sting has been extracted.
This latter remedy we have often proved, and always carry
a phial of it when making entomological excursions ; we
have found it universally successful in relieving the effects
of the sting of bees, wasps, mosquitoes, and snakes, partic-
ularly in tropical countries. Laudanum, or onion-juice
mixed with salt, is also an excellent remedial application.
The stings of bees are their weapons of offense as well as
of defense ; with them they fight their battles, murder their
rivals, and massacre the drones. During the autumn and
winter the drones are a useless burden to the community in
the hives, as they do not work, and could only remain idle
consumers of the honey which the working bees have man-
ufactured and stored up for their own use ; hence they are
murdered by wholesale every autumn — the workers killing
them with their stings. In this respect they are not unlike
the ancient Spartans, whose laws allowed them to kill their
children if they were deformed ; or the Chinese, Avho are
permitted to destroy each new-born infant that they deem
themselves unable to support ; or the savages, who believe
it their religious duty to kill all the superannuated or infirm
among them, and thus put them out of misery.
Besides this annual massacre of the drones, the working-
bees fiaht battles amona; themselves in the hives, where one
throws herself with great fury upon another; then, coming
out of the hive, they fall to the ground, and wrestle together
head to head, continually trying to sting one another, until
at last one or the other succeeds in thrusting its sting be-
tween two ringlets, or into the head of the other, and thus
kills her. Very often, however, the sting of the victor re-
mains in the wound of the slain, and, if so, she also soon
perishes. Such a battle sometimes continues only a few
minutes, while at others it lasts for hours before the fatal
M2
274 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
victory is won. Aristotle mentions the fact that in his
time horses were stung to death by bees, and such in-
stances have also happened in modern times ; so that it is
actually dangerous for little children to have their play-
ground too near an apiary. Like the ants, also, the bees
consider the inhabitants of other hives as their enemies, and
wage deadly war upon them whenever they come in con-
tact ; so that if a swarm loses its way and enters a full
hive a murderous battle ensues, sometimes lasting a whole
afternoon, or until not a vestige of the enemy remains.
There was formerly some dispute as to whether or not
the queen bee was armed with a sting like the workers.
It is true that she is very quiet and peaceable, not so much
disposed to fight as the workers, and will even run upon the
hand without inflicting any wound ; but as soon as you
touch her, or she is in any way irritated, she will dart out
her sting at you, and its venom is as strong as that of the
others. With it, at all events, she kills all her rival queens.
1th. The Collection of Wax and Honey. — In order to
understand the modus operandi of this the principal occupa-
tion of the bees, it is necessary to become acquainted with
the instruments with which they work. The head of the
bee is covered with hair, which is completely powdered
with pollen when the head is thrust into the open blossom
of a flower. On each side of the head are two oblong
eyes, and above and between them three small stemmata,
or coroneted eyes, arranged in the form of a triangle, while
a little below are two antennje^ probably the organs of hear-
ing. Below these are two horny jaws and their proboscis.
The neck, trunk, or thorax, is united to the head by a
thread-like ligament, and to its upper part are attached
four wings, while from its under part proceed six legs.
The hind body, or abdomen, consists of six scaly ringlets,
and is attached to the thorax by a slender ligament. With
regard to their legs, it is necessary to know that their fore
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 275
feet are used in the capacity of hands, with which they
collect the pollen, brush it from the head, move it along to
the second pair of legs, and thence to the hind legs, which
are much longer than the others, and upon each of which
is a small triangular cavity, shaped something like a spoon,
and hence called a fossa, which is destined to receive the
pollen of flowers, which they thus carry to their hives, for
the purpose of furnishing food for themselves and the
drones, and for the manufacture of wax. Humble-bees
have similar baskets, or fossae, in their hind legs.
It was formerly supposed by many, even by some dis-
tinguished naturalists, that the bees were blind ; but so ab-
surd an idea can easily be proved erroneous by covering
their eyes with thick varnish, when, being unable to fly
around, they rise perpendicularly in the air and disappear,
in the same manner as does a crow, to which a bait be-
smeared with bird-lime has become fastened on its head.
Notwithstanding the ingenious Francis Huber, of Geneva,
tried, by several experiments, to prove that the wax pro-
ceeds from the honey, and not from pollen, still the previ-
ous experiments of Reaumure, as well as those of some of
the most experienced apiarians since, have distinctly de-
monstrated the contrary, as is also stated in the " Treatise
on Bees, by Robert Huish, London, 1815." Reaumure says
that the bees collect the substance of wax only from flow-
ers, filling their fossce or leg-cavities with farina, and lick-
ing from the bottom of the blossoms the nectar, or sweet
substance, which they swallow, and afterward disgorge it
into the cells. But in the same manner they also gather
from other vegetables a viscous substance, which they carry
home in their fossoe, and with this gluey matter, collected
from the poplar, birch, willow, fir, and other trees, and the
farina they compose a glutinous aromatic substance called
propolis, which is similar to wax, but different in its fabrica-
tion ; in fact it is wax, but coarser in its constitution. The
276 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
bees use it to close all the crevices of their habitation ; they
also cover the bodies of interlopers with it, such as large in-
sects, snails, etc., which enter the hive, and whose bodies
are too heavy for them to carry out ; and with this substance,
also, they glue their combs to the side walls of the hive.
The distinguished apiarian, Huish, speaking of the pro-
polis, says, " It is a resin, soluble in spirit of wine and oil of
turpentine. Independently of the use to which it is applied
in medicine as a digestive, it has been discovered by ex-
periment that, dissolved in the above solvents, it forms an
excellent substitute for the varnish which is used in giving
the color of gold to silver, or to tin made into foil. If, for
example, it be incorporated v/ith mastic or sandarac it
would be excellent in the gilding of leather, etc."
The pollen of flowers, called also farina or ambrosia, and
erithace and cerinthe by Pliny, is, as may be daily demon-
strated, the real food of the bees, and therefore deserves the
name which has been given to it, of bee-bread. This dust,
which is found on the top of the stamens of all flowers, and
which the bees collect and transport in their foss£e to their
hives, is their real food and nourishment, and also the real
material from which they manufacture both the propolis
and the wax.
But how these little creatures transform the pollen into
wax is a very different matter, and a question which has
puzzled the most learned naturalists from the time of Aris-
totle, 300 B.C., to the present century. It is true that there
are trees and shrubs which furnish a wax-like substance ;
for instance, the wax-tree, or bayberry {Myrica cerifera),
found in all our Northern and Southern States, from the
berries of which we obtain, by boiling them, a green waxy
substance, which is used for making candles, and of which
berries one pound will make two ounces of wax ; but from
the pollen of floAvers no one has ever been able to make any
kind of wax. If bees, returning from their excursions to
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 277
the hive with bee-bread, are caught with a bird-lime twig,
and examined with a powerful magnifying glass, this farina,
which they carry in their fossas, shows no difference from its
former condition, when on the stamen. If it is held, in a
spoon, over the fire, it will not melt as wax does, but, on
the contrary, will burn to ashes.
It was at one time believed that the pollen, mixed with
the honey, or the venom of bees, would produce wax ; but
all the experiments made in this manner, or for this pur-
pose, proved a failure. The pollen must, therefore, undergo
a chemical change within the body of the bee before it can
become wax ; and, in order to make the latter from the for-
mer, it is necessary that the bees swallow the pollen, when
it is manufactured into wax within their stomachs. Ac-
cording to Reaumure, it is then disgorged by the mouth as
wax ; but, according to the observations of Huber and other
apiarians, the wax comes out in little scales from the abdo-
men, between the ringlets. This latter opinion is consid-
ered the correct one, and is now well established by observa-
tion and experience ; so that the questions, whether the wax
is made out of honey or out of the pollen, and whether the
wax is disgorged from the mouth or detached from between
the ringlets of the hind body in the form of little scales, seem
to be now entirely settled among the most learned entomol-
ogists and apiarians.
The third article which the bees collect is honey, with
which they fill the cells. We have already mentioned that
this substance is obtained from the bottom of the calyx, or
from the nectaries of flowers. Honey, with the farina,
foiTns the principal food of bees — the former especially,
when the weather is unfavorable for their excursions out
of the hive, and during winter, when they perish unless
they have a sufficient quantity of this food in the hive.
The perfume, which is more or less contained in both
the wax and honey, is derived from the pollen of aromatic
278 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
plants, particularly of those of the natural order Lahiaice;
as thyme, niint, hyssop, lavender, sweet basil, catmint, mar-
joram, mountain-mint, sage, and many others. Besides
these aromatic plants there are many others rich in farina ;
as the willow, apple, and pear-trees, strawberries, sun-flow-
er, melons, pumpkins, cucumbers, Indian corn, buckwheat,
golden-rod, and many others.
8tk. The Combs. — The cells of bees are hexagonous, or
six-sided in form, as may be readily seen in every comb ;
but it is not so easy to observe how they build them. While
looking at the bees in a glass hive, it seems as if all were
taking part in the construction of the comb at one time,
and such a crowd is concentrated in one spot that nothing
can be seen. Still it may be observed that they put on the
wax with their jaws, and give it a form, commencing at the
top or ceiling of the hive, suspending their combs from
above, and fastening them with propolis.
Oih. The Wax and Honey Harvest. — This usually takes
place, in this country as well as in Europe, during the months
of September or October. The manner of obtaining this
important harvest is different according to the views and ex-
perience of different apiarians, but it is usually done either
by suffocating the bees and taking all their products, or by
driving them out into another hive, and then depriving them
of a portion of their food, when they are allowed to go back
into the hive. Many apiarians use the former method, and
kill all the bees in the old hives, so that they may use the
whole amount of wax and honey contained in them. This
merciless and cruel treatment of creatures who do us no pos-
sible harm, but are really very beneficial to us, is sometimes
resorted to as a matter of necessity ; for instance, where the
hives are old, or infested by the bee-moth, or when the 'api-
arian uses bell-shaped straw-hives, from which the honey
can not be extracted without danger of being stung, and
of killing the largest number of the bees by the operation.
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 279
Although this method of operating is cruel, and, in the
opinion of many apiarians, unprofitable, still there are some
arguments in its favor. A well-experienced apiarian, at
present in possession of twenty hives each one year old, as-
sured us that he realized from every hive an average of six-
ty pounds of wax and honey, for which there is a great de-
mand in the market, the wholesale price of the wax being
one shilling, and of the honey two shillings per pound. He
suiFocates the bees of all the hives that are one year old, and
takes out all the wax and honey, but does not disturb the
new hives obtained in the preceding months of May and
June, which are generally two swarms or hives from each old
one. He was well convinced that by this mode of obtain-
ing the wax and honey he experienced much less trouble,
and more profit, than those who employed other methods,
and besides the harvest thus obtained he was able to sell
about twenty young hives every year.
M. La Grenee, a French apiarian, and a strenuous advo-
cate for the suffocating system, says : " I have scrupulous-
ly perused all the writings on the subject : I have not only
studied their theory, but practiced their different methods ;
but neither books nor experiments have been able to con-
vince me that there is a more preferable method than that
which I use, which is by suffocation." "In regard to the
common or bell-shaped hives, every body knows that the
principal part of the honey being placed at the top, the
sticks, which are absolutely necessary to support the combs,
are an insurmountable obstacle to the extraction of the
comb in a neat and profitable manner, as those transverse
sticks can not be taken out without great injury to the
combs ; and what person does not perceive that this opera-
tion must place the bees in a terrible state of agitation, and
be the death of thousands, one half of which would perish
by the stings, which they would bestow with profusion on
their tormentors in spite of fumigation, and the remainder
280 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
by the honey, which would stifle them. I have always ex-
perienced very great trouble in extracting the honey-comb
from a hive the bees of which have been smothered, for the
sole reason that the cross-sticks could not be drawn out."
" In regard to those hives composed of stories, I allow
that the deprivation of the honey is performed much more
easily than in others. But is the proprietor always careful
of the important circumstance of extracting only that par-
ticular quantity from the hives which will prevent the dan-
ger of famine 1 For, if the stories be small, and if, for fear
of injuring the bees, he extracts but a small portion of their
produce, wherein then does his advantage consist? On the
other hand, if the upper stories be large, they contain per-
haps the whole of the honey, and in taking that away the
bees are consequently deprived of their winter food, and must
inevitably perish. If, to avert this evil, the system of feed-
ing be resorted to, the proprietor will be under the necessity
of returning to the bees the honey wdiich he took from them ;
and if the bees escape from a death by famine, they will in-
evitably perish by the pillage, wdiich is frequently and almost
universally occasioned by these artificial supplies of food.
It is evident that this method does not obviate the two
principal inconveniences, which are so conspicuous ; one of
which is the entire loss of the hives during the winter, if a
great quantity of provision be extracted from them ; and
the other is the paucity of supply to the public, and almost
no profit whatever to the proprietor, if only a little be taken.
But let us calculate the produce of this method with that
which is produced by the system of suffocation. We will
suppose that a proprietor has ten hives : according to the
removing system, they will furnish each twelve pounds of
honey, w^iich will amount in all to one hundred and twen-
ty pounds ; and the proprietor will possess twenty hives, ten
old, and ten new ones. The sixty pounds of honey may be
valued at £9, and the twenty hives at £20. According to
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 281
the suffocating system, ten hives will produce thirty pounds
of honey each, which amount to three hundred pounds ; and
the proprietor will have twelve young hives — that is, ten
composed of the first swarms, and two of the second and
third ; or, in other words, the honey will amount to £22 IO5.,
and the hives to £12. In order to facilitate the calcula-
tion, I suppose that each hive gives but one swarm in the
year. Now, although these two species of profit, as well in
honey as in hives, appear to the two proprietors to amount
to nearly the same sum in money, a considerable difference
is still to be remarked ; for, in the first case, the public
profit only by one hundred and twenty pounds of honey for
their consumption, and the proprietor has realized only £9
in money ; whereas, in the second case, the public are put in
possession of three hundred pounds of honey, and the pro-
prietor has realized £22 IO5. in money.
" Moreover, it must not be supposed that in the following
years the benefit of the first proprietor will far exceed that
of the second, by the greater multiplication of his hives:
this would be tantamount to a voluntary concealment of
the frequent and almost general mortality occasioned by
the method of removing the bees from one hive to another,
and which will indubitably reduce every year the great
number of hives of the first proprietor to a number below
that remaining to the second, by which we may be assured
that the annual profits of the former, so far from being
more considerable than those of the latter, will always be
much smaller. This method, therefore, of removing the
bees into other hives, after the departure of the first swarm,
is neither advantageous to the proprietor nor to the pub-
lic."
Now, on the other hand, although the ideas of M. La
Grenee may be founded in truth, and are the result of his
practical observations, still others have had different experi-
ences, and offer many arguments in favor of the mode he so
282
NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
much deprecates. In the first place, they say it is inhu-
man and cruel to destroy so many precious lives, particular-
ly where it is unnecessary and unprofitable ; and, secondly,
that if one is well acquainted with the management of bees,
it will very seldom happen that a hive perishes by starva-
tion or cold, and that the profits of the proprietor will
rapidly increase by the method of deprivation, and by keep-
ing the bees alive. Let us suppose an apiarian who well
understands the management of bees has, to commence
with, ten old hives; he may have by this method, at the
end of five years, six hundred and thirty-six hives, if he
chooses to keep so many, and may realize a profit of nearly
$1500, as illustrated by the following table:
Years.
Hives,
Pounds of
Honey.
New
Hive?.
Sum of
Hives.
Profit of
Honey.
First
10
22
48
102
212
100
220
480
1020
2120
12
26
54
110
424
22
48
102
212
636
$25
50
120
230
504
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
The idea of having an apiarium of six hundred and thir-
ty-six hives may seem rather eccentric, and many, doubt-
less, would think that so large a number of bees could hard-
ly find pasture enough for their support in any one section
of Europe ; but in the immense territory of the United
States there are many thousand acres covered with woods,
and prairies abounding in odoriferous herbs and flowers,
principally in the West, where the inhabitants would find
this branch of industry, nowhere thoroughly attended to, a
very easy and lucrative business. At all events, if it should
be found impracticable to keep so many hives, still a very
handsome profit could be realized every year from the sale
of all the superfluous hives.
The usual method of removing the honey and wax,
where it is intended to keep the bees alive, is the follow-
ing: The full hive is turned bottom-side up, and a new
ORDER VI. ^VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 283
empty one of the same diameter is placed immediately over
it, with a cloth around the centre where the two join, in order
to prevent the bees from molesting the operator. The sides
of the lower hive are then gently beaten with sticks in or-
der to make the bees ascend to the upper one, which event
may be ascertained by a loud humming noise, and soon the
whole community will have gone into the new hive, and
then may be removed to the apiary. Besides this method
there are two others used to drive the bees from one hive
into another, viz., by filling the hive with smoke or water.
In the latter case there is little danger of killing the bees,
for they are very hard to die by drowning ; and often, after
being in the water a wdiole hour, and taken out apparently
dead, they will soon revive if they are placed upon a warm,
dry sheet. By this latter process it may be more easily as-
certained what is the number of the bees, and the condition
of the queen, etc. If bees from several hives have been
partially drowned and afterward resuscitated, they may all
be put into one hive, and they will live peaceably together,
provided only that there is one queen left with them — a new
hydropathic remedy that might be employed with advant-
age, perhaps, in cases of domestic or national discords ; so
that, instead of granting divorces, or violently separating
States, we would recommend this easy method of making
hostile parties live peaceably together.
If either of these methods of depriving the bees of their
wax and honey should be adopted, it may be done in the
month of June, soon after the first swarm has left the hive,
or it may be done in the month of October. The depriva-
tion in the beginning of summer has this advantage, that
you can take all the honey and wax from them, because the
bees will have time enoucrh durin«]r the summer and fall to
store up food sufficient for their winter use, provided that
the country affords good pasture for them. It has other
advantages also, and important ones too. In the first place,
284 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
both the wax and honey are better taken at this season ;
and in the second place, you have an opportunity of in-
specting the combs, to see whether the bee-moth has infest-
ed them, and to prevent this it is better to give the bees a
new hive. If, on the other hand, the deprivation is effected
in October or November, two thirds of the wax and honey
must be left to the bees for their winter provisions; and
hence it becomes necessary to ascertain the weight of the
full hive before the operation takes place, in order to calcu-
late the quantity of honey-comb which may be extracted.
It is surprising that, with the large profits which api-
culture realizes from a very little capital and labor, so lit-
tle attention has been paid to it of late years, and in this
country particularly. It would seem that every country-
man who possesses only a few acres, or even an ordinary
garden, would have at least one bee-hive from which to
raise honey for his own domestic purposes.
In some countries, it is true, this culture has the prefer-
ence before all other agronomical occupations. It is said
"that when the Romans became masters of the island of
Corsica, they imposed on the inhabitants a tribute of wax
which amounted to 200,000 pounds per annum. Suppos-
ing, therefore, that the island retained the same quantity
for its own use, we have 400,000 pounds of wax made by
these wonderful little insects on one island. It is well
known that the proportion of wax to honey is about one to
fifteen or twenty; multiplying, therefore, these 400,000
pounds by fifteen or twenty, we have six or eight millions
of pounds of honey. AYhat a source of riches for the island
of Corsica, if the culture of the bee was carried on as for-
merly, especially since the price of honey and wax is so
much liigher now than it was then."
Apiculture is flourishing in Turkey, Wallachia, and Mol-
davia, from which places an immense quantity of wax is
exported. In the small kingdom of Hanover, in Germany,
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 285
the annual produce of wax is estimated at 300,000 pounds,
and of honey 4,500,000 pounds.
Wax is also an important article of commerce in Russia,
of which a large quantity goes to England and France, for
in both these latter countries very little wax is produced.
In England apiculture is very much neglected ; and Mr.
Huish says, " Excepting the Spanish, I know of no nation
which entertains such superstitious prejudices in regard to
bees as the English. It -^-ill hardly be credited that in
some parts of England the bees are not permitted to leave
the hive on a Friday, and this is founded on religious scru-
ples." The military despotism and tyrannical conscription
which prevails in France is undoubtedly the reason why
this branch of industry does not flourish there.
According to the statistical view by J. D. B. De Bow,
in the year 1850, the United States of America produced
14,853,790 pounds of honey and wax, which is a small
.quantity in comparison with Hanover. It is, therefore, de-
sirable that some measures should be taken for the encour-
agement of apiculture in this country, similar to those that
have been adopted in other countries ; for, although it is at-
tended with some difficulty, we have a number of different
patent hives which render the labor exceedingly easy in
comparison with that of other branches of culture. "In
Germany," says Mr, Huish, " it is actually made a part of
education, and certain persons are appointed. and paid by
the government to instruct the peasants in the cultivation
of bees. It is not only theoretically, but practically taught,
and for this purpose alone gardens are kept containing no-
thing but bee-hives and their food, for the instruction of
the peasants. Thus, in Vienna a bee-master has been ap-
pointed, who has a garden containing a hundred hives, which
is provided with every implement and improvement neces-
sary for the elucidation of the practical management of bees.
Particular days arc specified in which public lectures are
286 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
held in this garden ; and it is generally frequented by young
men intended for the clerical life, who are obliged to attend
that they may be able to impart their knowledge to their
future parishioners. A regular journal is kept of the pro-
ceedings of the establishment, which is open to the inspec-
tion of every one.
"There is a * Patriotic Apiarian Society of Bavaria,'
which is a most laudable institution, and its laws ought to
be translated into the language of every country where bees
are known. It is not permitted for a peasant to have his
own apiary, but a particularly favorable spot is pointed out
by the Society, in which the different proprietors deposit
their hives. This place is under the management of a skill-
ful apiarian, appointed by the Society; and it is ordained
that no more than one hundred and fifty hives shall be kept
in one place, and each establishment must be four miles dis-
tant. A trifling tax is levied upon each hive not belonging
to the Society ; and thus the peasant looks forward, at the
end of the year, to a certain profit, with a very slight out-
lay, and without any demand upon his time or labor.
Should a poor peasant wish to become the proprietor of one
or more hives, he applies to the Society, who immediately
accede to his wishes, and an annual deduction is made from
his profits until the Society is repaid the value of the hives
it has bestowed.'*
In many parts of Germany the peasants receive from the
Government a florin for every hive which they rear during
the season, and, to prevent their killing the bees, the florin
is not paid until the spring, at which time it would be of no
advantage to the proprietor to destroy his bees. So in this
country the foundation of an independent Apiarian Society
in each State, or, at least, its particular encouragement by
the different Agricultural Societies, would greatly tend to
the promotion of this interesting and useful branch of in-
dustry.
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 287
lO^A. The Uses of Wax and Honey. — It need hardly
be mentioned that both these are extensive articles of com-
merce, and as such are the means by which large sums of
money are made every year. "NYe are informed on good
authority that Great Britain, where this branch of rural
economy is quite neglected, annually imports more than
four hundred thousand dollars' worth of beeswax. This
article is extensively used in the manufacture of candles for
lighting churches and palaces, as well as more humble dwell-
ings ; it is also used for polishing floors and tables. In
anatomical museums it is used for the representation of
every part of the body, and of almost every surgical disease
or deformity ; and to so great an extent has this useful art
been carried in France and Germany, that medical students
are spared the necessity of much disagreeable labor among
the dead bodies, and many disgusting and dangerous inves-
tigations. The figures of distinguished persons are also
modeled in wax, and painted to represent the life ; so also
are faces for doll-babies, and all kinds of fruit and flowers,
natural as if growing on their native stock, made out of this
substance which the little busy bee has manufactured for
man.
Honey is a not less important article of commerce. Be-
fore the process of manufacturing sugar was known, it was
generally used as a sweetening substance, and it is still ex-
tensively used for this purpose, as well as an ingredient of
many medicinal compounds. The ancients pounded bees to
a jelly, and used it as a beverage in maladies of the stomach
and bowels, particularly in dysentery ; they believed it re-
moved freckles from the face, and, incorporated with nut-
oil, restored lost hair. Honey was at one time thought to
be a universal panacea: it dissipated melancholy, anger,
corrupted blood ; it cured inveterate coughs, pain in the
side, and gout ; it assuaged the troubles of the mind, re-
stored the health impaired by age, etc., etc.
288 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Many people in Germany and Hungary carry on an ex-
^ tensive trade in pastry, of which the principal ingredient is
honey. The city of Nuremberg, in Bavaria, celebrated for-
merly as the principal manufactory of geographical maps and
terrestrial globes, is now distinguished for the manufacture
of all sorts of gingerbread and cakes (called Niirenberger Leh-
kuchen), made of honey and flour, which are in great de-
mand through all the cities of Germany, and are even ex-
ported to Kussia. In the city of Presburg, in Hungary,
among thirty or forty thousand inhabitants, we found at
least a dozen pastry-cooks, each of whom, with their several
journeymen, did nothing else but make small and large
cakes in the form of a horseshoe, which were filled with
pounded poppy-seed {Pcqmver rheas) mixed with honey.
These cakes, of different sizes, weighing from half a pound
to six pounds, are exported in quantities, and are known
in Europe as the celebrated and delicious poppy-cakes {Pres-
burger Mohnhuclieii)^ which are commonly used as birthday,
Christmas, and other holiday presents.
In Hungary, Poland, Russia, Prussia, and throughout
Germany, a delicious, refreshing, and wholesome beverage
is prepared from honey and water, which is called mead.
There are three kinds — the simple, compound, and the vi-
nous mead. The simple mead is made of honey and water,
without undergoing fermentation ; the compound is mixed
with fruit, essences, etc., to give it a mixed flavor ; and the
vinous is the simple mead fermented.
Simple mead is made by boiling three quarts of water
in which one part of honey has been dissolved : the quan-
tity of honey may be augmented or diminished according
to the taste of the persons who use it. It must be boiled
over a moderate fire to two-thirds of the quantity, when
the liquor is skimmed and poured into a barrel, taking care
that the barrel is full : it is allowed to subside for three or
four days, when it may be drawn off for use. This sort of
ORDER VI.— VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 289
mead may be made more or less generous, according to the
quantity of honey given to it, and forms an excellent sto-
machic. " In coughs it excites more expectoration, and is
gently laxative." As an economical apiarian will not al-
low any part of his produce to be wasted, the linens which
have been used for filtering the honey should be rinsed in
the water destined for the mead. If the linen has been well
saturated with the honey, the strength of the mead will be
considerably increased.
To make the compound mead the following directions
may be observed : During the time that the quantity of
honey and water, as above, is boiling, some raisins, cut in
two, must be boiled, allowing half a pound of raisins to six
pounds of honey, and four pints of water are necessary to
boil them properly. The liquor being diminished one half,
it is strained through a linen, slightly squeezing the raisins,
and is then mixed with the decoction of honey and water,
and the whole is boiled together for a short time ; a toasted
crust of bread, steeped in beer, is then put into it, and, hav-
ino- taken off the scum which has formed afresh, the w^hole
is taken off the fire and allowed to subside. It is gently
poured into a barrel, into which has been put an ounce of
salt of tartar dissolved in a glass of spirit of wine, particu-
lar care being taken, as before, that the barrel is quite full.
It must then be exposed to the influence of the sun with
the bung out, or in a chamber heated by a stove, keeping
the barrel constantly full, until no more froth is emitted,
when the bung may be fastened and the barrel put into
the cellar, where it must remain a few months before it is
fit for use. To render this mead more agreeable, five or
six drops of the essence of cinnamon may be mixed with
the spirit of wine in which the salt of tartar has been dis-
solved. Some pieces of lemon-peel, or the sirup of goose-
berries, cherries, strawberries, or aromatic flowers, may be
mixed with it, according to the palate of the fabricator.
N
290 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
This compound mead ferments a considerable time, and is
preserved like the other. Care must be taken to rinse all
the new barrels with brandy before the mead is put in them.
" To make the vinous mead, take one pound of honey to
three pints of water. This is the beverage of the majority
of the Northern people ; they call it miod. The Russians,
for example, compose their mead with honey, cherries,
strawberries, gooseberries, and mulberries ; they commence
the fabrication by soaking these fruits for some days in clear
water, to which they then add some virgin honey and a
piece of bread soaked in beer. The barrels are placed in a
room in which a heat of 18 to 25 degrees Reaumure is main-
tained day and night. The fermentation commences at the
end of six or eight days, lasts for about six weeks, and
ceases spontaneously. The common people of the same
country make mead with honey which is not separated
from the wax, and with combs in which the brood still ex-
ists ; they beat these combs in warm water, leave the liquor
to subside, strain it through a bag, boil and drink it."
Mr. Huish made an excellent mead in the following
manner: *'To thirty pounds of honey add forty-five bottles
of water ; the mixture is boiled in a great copper vessel,
and when the liquor is reduced one half it is sufficiently
boiled. Put two thirds of this in a new barrel well rinsed
with brandy, and the other third into bottles closed with
fine linen or coarse muslin. If in this state the liquor is
tasted, it is insipid ; and, in order to render it vinous, it must
undergo fermentation, which imparts to it all the fumes of
wine, and from which brandy, etc., may be made. In
order to destroy more effectually the honey taste of this
beverage, chalk, charcoal, and the white of eggs must be
added in the following manner : the honey, water, and the
chalk are put into a copper vessel, the size of which should
be one third larger than the volume of the mixture, and the
whole must be boiled for two minutes. The charcoal is
ORDER VI. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 291
then put into the liquor and well mixed with a spoon, and
the boiling is continued for two minutes more, after which
the white of eggs is added, and the whole is then mixed
with the same care as the charcoal, and it is again boiled
for about two minutes; the vessel is then taken from the
fire, the liquor is left to cool, and is then strained throuo-li
a sieve or flannel.
" To excite fermentation the liquor must be exposed to
heat. Two methods are practiced for this purpose : the
first is to place the liquor in a stove, or the corner of a
chimney, in which a constant fire is l^ept ; some bottles are
filled Avith the same liquor. In about seven or eight days
the liquor emits a thick and dirty froth, which leaves a
vacuum in the barrel which must be filled up from the
bottles, which are also in a state of fermentation, which
lasts about two months, and then ceases of itself The
other method is to expose the liquor to the sun ; but in this
case it must be done in the month of June, and left exposed
until the fermentation ceases, which takes place in three or
four months. On placing the barrel in the Avarmest situa-
tion, it must be raised a little from the ground, and atten-
tion must be paid to the bees and other insects attracted by
the odor. During the heat of the day the liquor swells,
the froth rises to the bung-hole, and runs down on each
,sidc of the barrel. Instead, therefore, of placing the barrel
exactly horizontal, it is better to give it a slight inclination,
taking the bung-hole as the parallel. As soon as the sun
sets, or is obscured, the volume of the liquor is diminished,
and the barrel has no longer the appearance of being full.
In the first case the bees will lick up, without danger to
themselves, the liquid which has flowed from the barrel;
but in the second the bung-hole must be closed Avith a plate
of lead pierced in holes; Avithout this precaution the bees
would drown themselves. The plate of lead must be taken
off Avhen the liquor begins to froth, and Avhen the barrel is
292 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
no longer full enough to throw off the froth it must be filled
up from the bottles.
"The fermentation having ceased, the barrel is put into
the cellar, taking due precaution that it is full. After two
or three years it may be put into bottles, which must be
well corked, and allowed to stand one month to see if they
do not burst. They may then be ranged in bins like other
wines. The taste of this wine resembles that of Malaga ;
it is a great cordial, dissipates flatulence, and promotes
perspiration. It must, however, be drank with modera-
tion, as it is of a very intoxicating quality, and the intoxi-
cation caused by it lasts a very long time. The natives of
Poland and Lithuania, whose principal beverage is mead,
communicate a very agreeable odor to it by putting into
the barrels a certain quantity of dried elder flowers, and so
medicinal qualities may be given to mead by mixing with
it the juice of different plants."
The wines of Malaga, Muscat, and some other sweet
wines, are imitated in Paris by means of mead ; but it is not
diflicult to discover this imposition, by taking a small de-
canter of glass and pouring into it the adulterated wine.
If you stop the entrance of this bottle with your thumb,
turn it upside down, dip it under water, and draw away
your thumb, if the wine is spurious, the water will become
cloudy, and the honey will be precipitated into it, while*
what remains in the bottle will be insipid water of an un-
pleasant taste.
Very good vinegar may also be made from honey, by dis-
solving half a pound in a pint of water, and exposing it to
the heat of the sun, covering the bung-hole with a piece of
coarse linen, in order to prevent insects from entering. In
about six weeks this mixture will be excellent vinegar.
We have been thus minute in the descriptions of the com-
mon uses of honey, because every apiarian in the country
should know how to use his products to the best advantage,
ORDER VI.— VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. 293
and because the mead manufactured for domestic use is
both healthful and refreshing, and all who keep bees should
know how to make it. "The laborer is worthy of his
hire," and nothing tends more to the encouragement of do-
mestic industry than the certain prospect of abundant re-
ward. Pie who made all nature beauty to man's eye and
music to his ear, also placed him in the midst of creatures
whose lives are devoted solely to minister to his taste and
gratify his palate, and thus for all his care and protection to
return an exquisitely grateful and sufficient reward.
ORDER VI I.
TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES— (DIP TEH A).
The insects of this order, as their Greek name imports,
are creatures with two wings, which we commonly call
flies. They are generally small, and we find among them
some so diminutive that they can be seen only with a mag-
nifying glass. Their bodies are divided into a head, tho-
rax, and hind body or abdomen, which are connected to-
gether by a thin filament. The head consists of two large
eyes, with an addition in some species of three small ones,
and two short antennae, very near together; below these
are found, in some species, a soft proboscis, as in the house-
fly ; in others a hard, pointed sucking-tube, as in the mos-
quito ; and in others simply a mouth. On the under side
of the thorax are fastened three pair of feet, and on the
opposite side one pair of thin, transparent wings, by the
vibration of which they produce a humming sound when
flying. The hind body consists of ten ringlets.
These insects are for the most part oviparous, only a few'
species being viviparous. Their maggots are white, of a
spindle form, and without feet, but some of them have mi-
nute fleshy warts which answer the purpose of feet, and
upon which they are able to move ; they have two respira-
tory organs on the neck, and two on the hind body. Many
of these larvae live in the water, but the greatest part of
them live in dirt, dung-hills, cheese, spoiled meat, fruits,
etc. After a time the skin of these maggots becomes hard
and brown, and thus they are transformed into a pupa,
which in many species has the form of a barrel, from which
afterward the perfect fly issues.
ORDER VII. TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 295
Flies are of very little use to man, and are generally
deemed injurious insects, as many of them are able indirect-
ly to kill even large quadrupeds ; most of them vex us by
their impudence, and torment man and beast by their stings
and blood-sucking ; while, in the maggot state, they even
dwell in the skin on frontal cavities, or even in the entrails
of some animals. So many dogs and other animals perish.
The number of genera of this order is immense, and far
surpasses that of the lepidoptera. The most conspicuous
of those found in the United States are the following :
The Gad-fly.
These resemble bumble-bees, and are sometimes known
under the name of Bot-bees. These are two-winsed in-
sects, the females of which deposit their eggs upon the skin
of animals, and their larvaa enter the body, and dwell either
under the skin, or in the nose, or in the entrails. Of these
there are several species.
The Horse Gad-fly, or Large Bot-fly {Oestrus equi),
has spotted wings, and a body covered with yellow hair.
I'his is one of the principal flies whose young sometimes
cause the death of a horse. " The horse, which, among the
animals useful to man, occupies the first rank, seems not to
have been created for man alone ; but even an insignificant
fly usurps dominion over him, appropriates him to his own
use as an article of food ; so that while the horse is simply
useful to man, he is really necessary to the existence of
these insects, who can only live and develop in his stomach
and intestines. The stomach of a horse is sometimes paved
with these larvae, or bots, as a street is paved with stones,
and this, too, without the animal seeming to sufi'er by it.
Formerly it was believed that this gad-fly deposits her eggs
under the tail of the horse, and that the larvae issuing from
them creep through all the intestines until they reach the
stomach ; but investigations have shown this not to be the
296 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
case, but, on the contrary, as may be seen almost every day
in spring and the beginning of summer, the female of this
fly deposits her eggs, often five hundred in number, upon
the fore-legs of the horse. In about four days these eggs are
hatched ; and as by their motions they produce a tickling
or itching, the horse tries to remove them with his tongue,
and in doing so swallows most of them, by which means
they are transported to the stomach, where each one fastens
itself, by means of two horny hooks, to the internal coat,
there sucking its fleshy fibres and feeding on the gastric
juice. When full grown, and about three quarters of an
inch long, they leave this viscus, are carried along through
the intestines, and, with the balls of fecal matter, fall to
the ground, enter it, and transform themselves into pupse,
from which, after three or four weeks, they come out as
perfect flies.
As each of these maggots, for its habitation, bores a cell
as large as a grain of Indian corn, and by this operation
causes more or less of irritation, often inflammation of the
stomach ; and as their number often amounts to many hun-
dreds, we may imagine that the consequences would be very
serious, as indeed they are, often causing fatal epidemic dis-
eases of horses. In such cases the animal loses his appe-
tite and flesh, is afllicted with cough, bites its sides, dis-
charges much phlegm from the nose, breathes with great dif-
ficulty, and will die unless remedies are successfully used to
expel these larvae, such as mild laxative oils, etc.
But as the gad-fly that infests the horse is found only in
fields, bots are found only in such horses as feed in pas-
tures or work in the fields, and hence much may be done
in the way of preventing their ravages by currying and
cleaning the horse twice a day.
Dr. Harris, in his work on Injurious Insects, mentions
also the Small Red-tailed Bot-fly {Giistrus hccmorrhoidalis),
which deposits her eggs on the lips, and the Brown Farrier
ORDER VII. TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 297
Bot-flj {Qilstriis vefermus), which deposits her eggs under the
throat of the horse. The mnggots then enter the mouth
of this animal, are carried into the stomach, and go through
the intestines like the former ones, producing the same ef-
fects.
The Ox Bot-fly {(Estrus hovis) is nearly one inch long,
has a yellow breast, with a black band across it, while the
hind body is white and yellowish red, covered with hair,
and resembling that of the bumble-bee. The female of
this insect, with its long, horny ovipositor, pierces the skin
of the ox or cow, generally on the back of the body, and
deposits therein her egg, which is hatched by the caloric
of the animal. The maggot, as soon as hatched, finds its
nourishment in the cavity where it was born, and, as it de-
velops, causes the skin to swell, forming a protuberance
like that caused by gall-wasps on plants, and finally pro-
ducing a running sore. In the month of May there may
frequently be seen on the backs of young cattle from four
to twenty such boils, each an inch thick, with an opening
from which flows a purulent discharge. These maggots
live about four weeks under the skin, when they come out
from their disgusting and filthy abode, fall to the ground,
change into pupce, and a week after are transformed into
the perfect fly. The female of this insect is so prolific that
a single one may infest a whole drove of cattle with its
eggs.
The Sheep Bot-fly {Gi^strus ovis) has transparent wings
spotted at the lower margin, a brown spotted hind body,
with yellow and brown lateral lines, sparingly covered with
hairs. This insect dees not show much inclination to fly
or to walk, and is very slow in its motions. The female
lays its eggs on the nostrils of sheep, whence the hatched
maggots creep into the frontal cavit}-, and there develop
until fully grown, when they come out, fall to the ground,
and change into pupce, in which state they remain about
N2
298 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
six weeks before they are transformed into the perfect
fly.
In former times, and even now, many country people
think that these maggots are the cause of giddiness in
sheep, and even epileptic fits, on which account the an-
cients recommended tlie maggots of the sheep bot-fly as a
remedy for epilepsy; and we read in Trallianus that the
oracle of Delphi advised a certain Democrates of Athens,
who was afflicted with epilepsy, to use these worms tied up
in a linen bag and worn around his neck.
This fact certainly argues that the Homeopathic Law
taught by the celebrated Hahnemann, Similia similihiis cu-
rcmtei', was applied to the treatment of disease in very an-
cient times, and those who will not acknowledge this law
of therapeia must have very little acquaintance with the
ancient history of medicine and its collateral sciences.
Cicero, in his epistle to Atticus, says that the Greek phy-
sician Craterus cured the elephantiasis of the East, caused
by immoderate use of reptile food, by administering small
quantities of the flesh of vipers ; and Antonius Musa, the
physician of the Emperor Octavius Augustus, cured invet-
erate ulcers in the same manner.
Some years ago, when we were traveling through Hayti,
there lived a Frenchman named Morin in the mountains
of Fond des Negres, near Port-au-Frince, who was so fond
of liquor that he filled a bottle with whisky out of a hogs-
head in which we preserved snakes, lizards, toads, and
frogs, and of course drank it all. Three weeks afterward
his face and whole body were swollen, and covered with a
thick, leathery skin, constituting the disease called ele-
phantiasis. When that unfortunate man applied to us for
a remedy for tliat dreadful disease, we, remembering the
prescription of Craterus and Antonius Musa, advised him
to use the flesh of snakes, which benefited him very much,
and relieved his sufferings ; but whether or no our homeo-
ORDER VII. TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 299
pathic remedy cured him we never heard, as we left the
island soon after prescribing it, and have never heard from
him since.
Formerly, when the negroes of St. Domingo were slaves,
elephantiasis was more frequent among them than it is now,
probably because they fed almost exclusively on the salted
flesh of green turtles. So at one time, many years ago,
about 40,000 people in the neighborhood of Cairo were
afflicted with that disease, on account of the immoderate
use of the flesh of different snakes, which they ate in order
to please their prophet Mohammed, and to appear as saints
among their fellow-men. But we do not intend to write a
treatise on diseases, nor to advocate any particular dogma
in medicine, and so must confine ourselves as closely as is
possible to our main subject.
Among the flies with a fleshy proboscis there is none so
blood-thirsty as the Horse-fly {Tahanus), and none have
so terrible a sting. This instrument consists of six sharp
needles, concealed under the proboscis, and so very sharp
and strong is it that it pierces the thickest skin of horses,
cows, and oxen, inflicting painful and bloody wounds.
These flies are a real pest to horses and cattle, following
them wherever they go, with loud humming, and, when
once reaching them, fastening on to their skin and piercing
it until often the blood oozes out in drops. Horses are
sometimes so covered with them that their whole body is
bloody, and the poor, tormented animals run away in their
madness, breaking whatever vehicle is attached to them ;
so, also, whole herds have sometimes become furious from
being stung by these insects, and have precipitated them-
selves into the first stream of water that they reach.
This genus horse-fly (Tabanus) must not be confounded
with the Bot-fly (Q^sirus), which also infests the horse,
300 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
because the latter deposits its eggs in the body of the horse,
"vvhile the larvas or maggots of the former, as well as their
pupa3, are plentifully found in the ground, in meadows and
near ditches.
Dr. Harris mentions three species of horse-fly, viz. : The
Black Horse-fly (Tahanvs atratus), the body of which is
black, and its back covered with a whitish bloom, like a
plum. This fly is almost an inch long, has very large
wings, as well as very large, bluish-black, shining eyes,
and is found commonly throughout the United States.
The Belted Horse-fly {Tabanus cinctus) is smaller, of
an orange color, and is not as common in the States.
The Lined Horse-fly (Tabanus Imeatus) is still much
smaller, and has a whitish line along the top of the hind
body, and is very common.
There are many other species of this blood-thirsty genus,
but most of them are smaller, and comparatively uninter-
esting ; and as this order of insects has had the least atten-
tion from naturalists, there are very few facts known as yet
regarding their life and history. We trust, however, that
the zealous entomologist. Baron Osten Sachen, of the Rus-
sian Legation at Washington, will soon favor us with a vol-
ume on North American Diptera, which he has for several
years made a principal study, and of which we are sadly in
want.
The House-fly {Musca domestka) is well known to every
one as an insect about three lines long, which has a dark-
brown thorax with four black lines, a dark-brown hind
body spotted with black. The eyes are reddish-brown.
Between the claws there is a small round ball, from which,
when pressed, there issues a glutinous fluid, which enables
the fly to run upon smooth surfaces, such as mirrors, win-
dows, ceilings, etc., which hence become covered with dirty
ORDER VII. TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 301
spots. The wings are covered with millions of small hairs,
which give them a glistening appearance, as the minute
hairs can not be seen with the unassisted eye.
The house-fly is an inhabitant of every country on the
globe ; it is found in the coldest countries of Greenland, as
well as the warmest portions of the torrid zone, and by
mankind every where is esteemed a great nuisance. In its
persevering impudence and provoking titillation it is no re-
specter of persons, attacking the king on his throne with as
much freedom as the beg:cfar in the ditch, and leavin"; ev-
ery where the dirty remembrances of its offensive assaults.
Still the poor fly caii not be blamed, as it is only seeking
its food, which consists in the juices of animals and the ex-
halations from their skin, as well as the moisture of plants
and vegetables, and the decayed particles of food and offal.
These flies deposit their eggs in all kinds of manure, and
hence are found in greatest abundance in the neighborhood
of stables and farm-houses. Their maggots are also found
on the corpses of animals, and wherever there is any filth,
even in spittoons, if they are not constantly cleaned. They
transform themselves into reddish-brown pupa3, from which
the perfect flies are constantly issuing throughout the sum-
mer.
House-flies are often subject to a peculiar disease, the
symptoms of which are, a considerable swelling of the hind
body, which is filled with a greasy white substance, pene-
trating the skin, and accumulating on the surface of the
body. In this condition we often find them dead upon win-
dows or flowers, looking as if glued to them with their pro-
boscis. The cause of this fatal disease is, probably, their
intemperance in eating, or because they have partaken of
some poisonous substance.
The house-fly is not only an niiiabitant of every country,
but it is found at all seasons of the year, although it is
rarely seen in very cold weather except in warm rooms, or
302 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
where the sun shines brightly. The female is larger than
the male ; and when about ready to lay her eggs, the hind
body becomes so transparent that the eggs are seen through
it on both sides. The development of the egg may best be
observed by putting moistened wheat or barley into a glass
vessel, and leaving it until it is spoiled and has become
black, when three or four eggs will be seen on the grains
and may be closely watched. These eggs are cylindrical in
form, pointed at one end, and its surface shines like mother-
of-pearl. After about twenty-four hours the maggot leaves
the egg, and grows for two weeks, until it is about three
lines long, when it is metamorphosed into a cylindrical red-
brown pupa, from which the perfect fly, with its hairy gray
feet, issues in about two weeks. These hairy feet are of
great use to this little insect, and assist in keeping it nice
and clean, because it uses them as brushes, with the hind
ones to brush the dust from its wings, and with the fore
feet wiping its face and eyes.
As these flies torment man, they are in the same ratio
themselves tormented by very small mites, which in large
numbers move between their hairs, and which they can not
get rid of by any means. "NVe resort to many measures to
abate the nuisance of flies, and there are many mixtures
recommended as sure death to these our little tbrmentors ;
but it is doubtful, with all of them, whether they do not at-
tract the flies in greater proportion than they destroy them.
Dr. Harris says : " If a plateful of strong green tea, well
sweetened, be placed in an outer apartment, accessible to
flies, they will taste of it, and be killed thereby as soon as
by the most approved fly-poison."
The Meat-fly (Musca vomitoria) is about half an inch
long, and two lines thick, hairy, black, and has a shining
blue hind body. This insect is remarkable for its extraor-
dinary sense of smell, and hence a piece of meat can hardly
be placed out of its reach ; for, unless very securely closed
ORDER VII. TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 303
against the attacks of all insects, these flies will scent it a
great distance, and, arriving at it in crowds, they deposit
upon it their eggs, which are commonly called fly-blows.
The riiaggots of this fly are well known in meat-shops,
pantries, and kitchens, and are every where considered as
disgusting in the extreme. They are spindle-formed, white,
soft, and armed with two horny hooks, which enable them
to move, and tear small pieces from the meat for their food.
It is surprising how fast these maggots will develop.
Signer Eedi, a distinguished Italian naturalist, placed a
fish at the disposal of these flies, upon which they soon de-
posited their eggs. The second day after these maggots
were hatched they doubled in size, when thirty of them
weighed one grain ; but from that moment they grew so
fast, that on the next, or third day, one maggot alone
weighed seven grains, thus becoming two hundred times
heavier in twenty-four hours. These maggots arrive at
their full growth in about four days, when they creep to
the ground, change into an egg-shaped pupa, and come out
as perfect flies a few days after.
A great deal of instinct is exhibited by these flies in re-
gard to the locality where they deposit their eggs, which
must be a place that will furnish good food for their off-
spring: for>instance, if you set before them a thin piece of
meat, however good, they will move over it and feed upon
it, but will not deposit an egg upon it, because they know
it will soon dry up ; but if you put a piece of meat upon a
damp or moist ground, where it will decay rapidly, it will
soon be covered with eggs, the maggots of whicli will
scratch it with their hooks, and soil it with their fluid
evacuations, causing the whole piece to putrefy very rapidly
and become fetid.
The Meat-fly is a great lover of human cadavers, and
in ancient times the people were much excited when it was
ascertained that a human corpse was actually devoured by
304 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
worms; they looked iipon.it as a special instance of divine
punishment ; but as long as bodies were not buried deep in
the ground, or were deposited in the vaults of churches,
such things happened very frequently. These flies follow
the coffins and lu)ver about them, until, by the putrefaction
and expansion of the bodies, the seams of the coffin are
pressed open, when they enter the cracks, deposit their
eggs, and soon after the maggots are hatched and ready for
their depredations. Those, therefore, who wish to avoid
being early devoured by worms must be interred, according
to Masonic rule, in a grave six feet deep under ground, due
east and west.
Another insect of this order, and perhaps the most dis-
tinguished in the archives of our Government, certainly the
most celebrated in Congressional and editorial harangues, is
The Hessian-fly {Cecidomyia destructor). — This insect,
although incorrectly, yet very generally, was believed to
have been brought to America in 1780, in vessels laden
with grain, by the Hessian army that was rented to Great
Britain during the Revolutionary War. But, as we have
said, this was incorrect, as this insect was seen and known
in Staten Island, and at Flatbush, Long Island, as early as
1776. As early as 1788 the ravages of this insect had be-
come so great throughout the fields of wheat, rye, and bar-
ley, in many of the States, as to cause very considerable
alarm, and to call for decisive action on the part of the dif-
ferent Legislatures, as well as of Congress. Consultations
were held as to the best means of averting an evil which
threatened to be more terrible than pestilence. Messengers
were dispatched to the diffi}rent custom-houses in the Unit-
ed States, for the purpose of examining every ship-load that
arrived, to sec that no more of these insects were brought
ashore ; and notices to the same effect were sent to all our
embassadors in Europe. The debates in Congress, with the
information that was collected in regard to this little insect,
ORDER VII. TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 305
occupied more than two hundred sheets of paper. At last
Sir Joseph Banks, a distinguished naturalist in England, was
applied to for information ; but so little was known of ento-
mology here that, although whole packages of descriptions
were forwarded to him, he could not explain whether the
injurious insect was a moth, a bug, or a fly.
Soon afterward, however, the natural history of the Hes-
sian-fly, and the measures necessary to prevent its ravages,
became the subject of investigation of several scientific gen-
tlemen, among whom were Dr. Isaac Chapman, in the
"Memoirs of the Philadelphia Society for the promotion
of Agriculture ;" Jonathan N. Havens, Esq., in the "Trans-
actions of the Society for promoting Agriculture in New
York;" Mr. Herrick, in the "American Journal of Sci-
ence;" Mr. Edward Tilghman, of Maryland, in the "Culti-
vator;" and, above all, our distinguished naturalist, Thomas
Say, in the "Journal of the Academy of Natural Plistoiy
of Philadelphia." From the researches of these distin-
guished men we derive the following information:
Tlie Plessian-fly is very small, and its body and wings are
entirely black. The female deposits her eggs on the stalk
or leaves of wheat, barley, rye, and Timothy grass, as soon
as the plants are up in the spring or fall, the maggots from
which enter the stalk and feed upon its substance and sap,
thereby weakening the stem and causing it to break and
fall before the grain is ripe. The eggs are very diminutive,
of a reddish color, and are hatched by the caloric of the at-
mosphere, according to the temperature, in one or two
weeks. The maggots are also of a reddish color, and as
soon as hatched fasten themselves on one of the joints and
suck the sap of the stem, until after five or six weeks they
attain their full size, and then change into light-brown
pupai from which the perfect insect soon emerges. This
process takes place at least twice, and sometimes thrice a
year, upon the wheat and other grain that grows in spring,
306 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
and upon that which grows in autumn, so that when there
are two crops of grain a year there will be at least two gen-
erations of these flies.
Miss Margaretta H. Morris, of Germantown, Pennsyl-
vania, whose labors in the science of entomology are well
known, and whose articles, published in the " Transactions
of the American Philosophical Society," have gained her
great reputation, has discovered another species of Hessian-
fly which lives altogether inside of the stalk, and which she
calls Cecidomyia culmicola.
The means used to destroy these noxious insects have
been very various, and not always as successful as antici-
pated. Miss Morris recommends obtaining seed-wheat
from places where the fly has never been. Mr. Garret
Bergen, of Brooklyn, New York, soaked his seed-wheat in
strong pickle, and the crop was free from the fly. Mr.
Herrick advises to burn the stubble of wheat, rye, and bar-
ley immediately after the harvest, and then plow and har-
row the land, which process, he says, will destroy the largest
part of the pupae that are left.
Another very common insect of this order is the Cheese-
fly {Piopliila casei)) which is not larger than a small ant,
of a brown color, its neck shining like a mirror, and its
wings larger than the body.
The maggots of this fly are better known than the per-
fect insect, and are almost universally found in cheese, al-
though many persons are so little acquainted with the na-
ture of these disgusting animals that they eagerly devour
them — in fact, consider them as the most delicious portion
of the cheese. It was formerly believed that these maggots
originated by the putrefaction of the cheese ; but the con-
trary is rather the case, for they crumble the cheese, admit-
ting air into it, and soil it with their fluid excrement, which
causes putrefaction, particularly when many of them die,
as is often the case when the perfect insect has been stung
ORDER VII. TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 307
by small ichneumons. These maggots have a skin as strong
almost as parchment, two horny hooks near the head, as in
the meat-fly, with which they work the cheese and effect
their jumping motions. In the performance of this latter
feat these disgusting little creatures far excel man or any
animal whatever. One of them not longer than a quarter
of an inch will jump up into the air six inches — at least
twenty-four times its length. Plow strange that we can
look upon the wonderful feats like this, performed by in-
significant little insects, without being amazed at the im-
mense effort and agility displayed ! It is only because we
do not think of them sufficiently deep, and compare their
motions with our own. The step of a fly is so small in
comparison with that of a man, we do not think to com-
pare the number or the speed of their steps to those of man,
and yet the latter is the proper light by which to observe
them.
M. Delisle once watched a fly, only as large as a grain of
sand, which ran three inches in half a second, and in that
space of time made the enormous number of five hundred
and forty steps. If a man were to be able to walk as fast,
in proportion to his size, supposing his step to measure two
feet, he would, in the course of a minute, have run upward
of twenty miles — a task far surpassing our express railroad
en«:ines, or even the famous " Seven Leaji-ue Boots" record-
cd in the nursery fable. So, in jumping or leaping, these
insects display astonishing power. Some spiders leap a
couple of feet upon their prey. The insect called the
"frog-liopper" can leap more tlian two hundred and fifty
times its own length. A flea can leap two hundred times
its own length ; so also can the locust. If a man were six
feet long, and could leap as high and as far as one of these
insects, he might stand near the custom-house in New
York, leap up into the air over the top of Trinity Church
spire, and alight in Greenwich Street; which would be
308 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
something more wonderful than has ever yet entered into
the minds of the writers of fairj tales to conceive of.
The maggots of the cheese-fly, when fully grown, become
very hard, leave the cheese, and fall to the ground, which
they enter, and there remain for ten or Cwelve days, after
which they emerge as perfect insects.
The Flea (Pulex irritans).
This insect, with its reddish-brown uniform, thick body,
small head and antennae, is probably as well known to per-
sons of all classes of society and of all countries as any
other insect in this order. It has no wings, and hence can
not fly, but it has been placed among the flies of the order
diptera, because its characteristics are more like those than
any other, and it undergoes the same metamorphoses that
all dipterous insects do, viz., depositing eggs, from which
proceed maggots, which metamorphose into pupce, and are
afterward transformed into perfect insects.
The flea makes its abode principally in the fur of do-
mestic animals, particularly the dog and cat, but it also
dwells on foxes, mice, squirrels, bats, and pigeons, as well as
upon the skin of man. As a general rule, its presence may
be avoided by paying proper attention to cleanliness, by
keeping the rooms of our houses dry and clean, and if pet
dogs and cats are in the house, of keeping them also clean
and free from these troublesome blood-suckers. If beds or
carpets have become infested with them, dogs and cats will
prove the best remedy, because these insects are attracted
by them, and much prefer to dwell in their soft fur. Fleas
are more numerous in the months of August and Septem-
ber, although no season is entirely exempt from them.
It was formerly, and is now, believed by many persons
that all sorts of vermin are bred from filth, and that these
insects originate from saw-dust under floors which have been
often wet, on which account they arc so often found in
ORDER VII. TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 309
nurseries. This, however, Is a great mistake ; for although
they abound in filthy localities, it is only because the fe-
male has selected as a place of deposit for her eggs those
places where they will be safe and furnished with a plenti-
ful supply of food as soon as hatched ; hence the damp
cracks in floors are often chosen. The process of their de-
velopment may be observed with ease and accuracy by put-
ting some fleas with the black dust of decayed trees into a
glass bottle, the opening of which is then covered with a
magnifying glass. The female will soon be seen to deposit
about twenty white, oval eggs, from which, after six days
in summer, and twelve days in winter, small, white, snake-
like maggots will proceed, which are scarcely one line long,
but whose bodies are composed of thirteen hairy ringlets,
and their heads provided with two short antennas, a mouth,
and two eyes. At' the extremity of their hind bodies are
seen two yellowish, fine bristles, which assist them in their
serpentine motions. Most of the time they creep about, but
if disturbed immediately conceal themselves. They must
be fed with flies, of which the head is taken oflT, or with
dried, pulverized blood. Under the solar microscope they
appear ten feet long, and of course all their motions can be
distinctly seen. In about two weeks they acquire their full
growth, when they conceal themselves in the ground and
metamorphose into a pupa, from which, about a week aft-
erward, the perfect flea issues. The female flea drops her
eggs any where she happens to be, but in preference upon
heaps of manure, in the cracks of dirty floors, etc., on which
account it is well to wash the floors with boiling water
wherever they have appeared.
The head of the perfect flea is disproportionably small,
and the eyes still much smaller, round, and shining. The
antenna2 are club-like in form, and the alimentary organ
consists of a long, hollow sucking-sting, which probably
represents the jaws. The whole body consists of twelve
310 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
rinf^lets and six feet, the extremities of which are provided
with bristles and two claws, by which tiie flea produces a
tickling sensation, when walking, upon the skin. Its hind
pair of feet are much the longest, and endowed with ex-
traordinary strength, in proportion to the size of the animal,
which enables it to make as long journeys and in as quick
time as if it had wings and could fly. We have already
alluded to its wonderful feat of leaping a distance two hun-
dred times longer than its body — a feat only realized by ap-
plying its magnitude to man or other larger animals. If a
man five feet high was able to do the same thing, he could
jump a thousand feet without trouble, and it would be a
mere trifle for him to jump up over the cupola of St. Paul's
Church in London, over St. Peter's in Rome, over the Miin-
ster in Strasburg, over the steeple of St. Stephen's in Vien-
na, or over any of the Pyramids of Egypt, which, averaging
only a height of five hundred feet, would consequently re-
quire only half the bodily force.
The flea, however, is short-lived, and generally dies two
or three days after having deposited her eggs. These in-
sects are natives of Europe aaid Asia, where, in many lo-
calities, they are very troublesome, and from whence they
have emigrated to North America. Our unpleasant and
changeable climate, however, does not agree with them as
well as their own native climate, and hence their number
is quite small in comparison. A certain poet gives us the
song of a young flea who had emigrated to this country
from Prussia, and thus expresses his dissatisfaction to his
sweet-heart in his abominable Berlin dialect :
t
'* Kennst du nunmehr das Land, wo Dorngestripp und Disteln bliih'n,
Im frost'gen "VVald nur eckelhafte Tannenzapfen gliih'n,
Der Schierling tief, und hodi der Sumach steht,
Ein rauher Wind vom schwarzen Himmel weht;
Kennst du es wohl? O lass uns eilig zieh'n,
Und schnell zuruck in unsre Heimath flieh'n I"
ORDER V!I. TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 311
A prose translation of which is: *'Knowst thou now this
country, where only briers and thistles bloom ; where ugly
fur-nuts only glow in the icy forest; where down in the
vale the fetid hemlock grows, and on the hills the poison-
ous sumach ; where heavy winds blow from black clouds
over desolate lands? Dost thou not know enough of this
country? Oh, then, let us fly in haste and return to our
own fatherland !"
Another species of flea, and a much more troublesome
and dangerous insect, is
The Sand-flea, or Chique {Pulex penetrans)^ whose at-
tacks have often been attended with horrible consequences,
such as the loss of feet, legs, and arms, and even of human
liv^es. This insect is very small, and can not hop like the
former species, but runs about in the sand and dust in the
mountainous parts of the West Indies, as well as in South
America. Near the sea-shore and during the rainy season
it is seldom seen ; but as soon as the dry season begins, in
the hilly localities, where coffee and cotton trees thrive, it
is found in great abundance.
During our travels in San Domingo we were very anx-
ious to make minute observations on those little creatures,
which are very numerous upon all the high grounds during
the dry season from August to March; but it must be con-
fessed we were glad to leave the country as well and no
wiser than before. We were confined to the bed for three
months from the wounds caused by these insects, and were
physically and mentally unable to make any observations,
being under surgical care the whole time, and barely escap-
ing amputation of the feet. Every part of the body almost
was wounded by the stings of these horrible and stealthy
enemies ; and as soon as we recovered sufficiently to be able
to move, we precipitately left their abode, and went from
the coffee and cotton groves down to the sugar-cane fields
near the sea-shore, in the neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.
312 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
Almost all we know, therefore, of the natural history of this
formidable insect has been derived from the observations of
others, our own unfortunate experience having taught us
enough of the sufferings they are able to cause, and con-
vincing us that if this sand-flea could leap like the common
flea, the whole of tropical America would become uninhab-
itable.
The Sand-flea, or Chique, as we have already said, is very
small; but the hind body of the female, just before she de-
posits her eggs, swells to an enormous size for the animal
(we saw their bodies as large as a pea), and from it the head,
neck, and feet seem to stick out as if protruded from a bag.
The female almost imperceptibly, certainly without causing
any noticeable sensation, works herself into the skin of the
feet between the toe-nails and the flesh, as well as into the
hands. By-and-by this produces a little itching, which we
supposed at first to have been caused by a mosquito bite.
If this happens to a person well acquainted with the insect
and the country of which it is a native, it is sufficient to
attract his attention to it, and he will at once have it ex-
tracted with a fine needle, which operation is performed by
skillful negro women ; but if he is unacquainted, and this
operation be neglected, the hind body of the insect pene-
trates deeper and deeper into the flesh, and produces an ex-
cavation in it so deep that the abdomen, which resembles a
bag, is entirely concealed, and only the small head is visi-
ble. When this bag, which contains an enormous number of
eggs, attains the size of a large pea it bursts, and the almost
invisibly small maggots creep out and scatter all over the
neighboring parts, burrowing into the flesh, and every where
forming new bags and excavations, by means of which not
only painful, itching sores, but even malignant ulcers are
generated.
The negro women of San Domingo are so accustomed to
them, and so thoroughly trained, that they very skillfully
ORDER VII. TWO- WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 31
o
loosen such a bag from the flesh without tearing it ; for,
should it be torn, the young ones will imperceptibly dis-
perse all over the foot or hand of the patient wherever they
may have located, and every one of them ^Vill establish a
new dwelling for itself.
As the negroes of that country all go barefooted, they
suffer immensely from this plague, and are obliged to ex-
amine their feet and hands every day in order to extract
this insect, if one has entered them ; and, notwithstanding
all this precaution, many of them become lame, and even
lose their limbs by amputation. This was the case with a
fool-hardy Capuchin monk, who, when he left San Do-
mingo, took with him a live colony of these insects, which
he allowed to dwell in his foot, in order to bring them in
good condition to Paris, and present them for examination
to the naturalists of the Academy of Sciences. The ex-
periment proved unfortunate, both for him and for science ;
for his foot, covered with ulcers, and loaded with these in-
sects, had to be amputated to save his life during the voy-
age', and was given up to the waves of the ocean.
This insect is also found in Brazil, where it is called
Tunga ; also Bicho. The inhabitants of the Antilles, to
prevent its entering their flesh, use the caustic oil of the
Cache w-nut {Anacavdium occidentale) ; they also use tar to
besmear the feet with ; but there is no remedy, after the
sand-flea has entered the flesh, but to extract it without
rupturing its bag, or abdomen.
The Mosquito (Culex).
This insect, called by the French Maringouin, or Cousin,
and by the Germans Siechsc/macke, or Golse, is a genus of
the order Diptera, so numerous that its species cover the
globe from one pole to the other, and from east to west
through both hemispheres ; and as most of them exhibit
the same mischievous propensities and general characteris-
314 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
tics, differing here and there mainly in size, it is very diffi-
cult to divide them into many different and distinct species.
Nor do we propose to attempt it here ; but so common an
insect we could not omit, even in our brief history of North
American diptera. We trust, however, to see a work on
this subject ere long from Baron Osten Sacken, in which
all the flies of our country will be properly and scientific-
ally classed.
There are few insects of which man and beast complain
so much as of the mosquitoes. It is true that there are
insects, such as wasps, bees, and the fleas we have just
mentioned, that inflict painful and even dangerous wounds,
but no other insect pursues us with such obstinacy, day
and night, and is such a universal torment to man, as the
mosquito. In some localities, particularly near rivers, lakes,
and ponds, the inhabitants can scarcely invent means to
protect them from the attacks of these insects ; nor are our
cities exempt from them, but almost every w^here they are
found biting and sucking our blood during the day, and at
night whistling and singing in our ears, preventing all sleep
to those that are not covered with gauze.
When traveling some years ago in the country of the
Czernomorzi, or Cossacks of the Black Sea, we observed
before each house of the different slanitzas, or villages,
of the Cossacks, large heaps of half-dried manure ignited
and smoking, which our driver informed us was for the
purpose of keeping off the mosquitoes. Toward evening,
on a very hot June day, we ascended the right bank of the
muddy and slowly-running River Kuban, on the left bank
of which the independent Circassia stretched out before us,
when suddenly swarms of small mosquitoes covered us, our
servant, and driver, and horses, lighting upon us in lumps
an inch thick, and, in spite of all the covering we could
hastily throw over us, tormenting us excessively with their
bites.
ORDER VII. TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 315
On the road, at a distance of every four or five versts
(three or four English miles), we found a military post of
about a dozen Cossacks, keeping themselves and their horses
under ground, except one sentinel, vv^ho was standing upon
a scaffold twelve feet high, in order to watch any inimical
movements of the Circassians, to repulse their attacks, and,
in case of one, to give notice of it to the two nearest posts
by means of the ancient Persian telegraph, viz. : by igniting
a bundle of straw, which was then fastened to the top of a
high pole and elevated. At midnight our misery reached
its climax. Though covered with a wide cloak, the mos-
quitoes entered every opening, and inflicted upon us such
painful wounds that our faces were so swollen we could
scarcely recognize one another. To our joy a large camp-
fire was seen at some distance, which, according to the
driver's assurance, was the post-station, where fresh horses
could be had. We arrived at the spot, and with great pre-
cipitation left the carriage, running in haste to the fire, near
which a large dog was howling and running as if mad; the
horses, as soon as they were unharnessed, sprang into the
fire to get rid of the mosquitoes, and only with difficulty
could they be removed to the subterranean stable, where the
postmaster, a half-invalid officer of the army, with some
men and a number of imperial horses, resided. The officer
immediately ordered fresh horses for us, and, looking from
under a very heavy covering at our pitiful condition, told
us to hurry on, and by daybreak we should arrive at the
next station, where we could find comfortable houses and
be relieved from the attacks of mosquitoes. In less than
five minutes the horses were harnessed, and the Russian
word BosJioal, " Go on," from the commander to the new
driver, was music to our ears. When we arrived at the
next station we stopped at the first house, the owner of
which was a captain of the Cossacks, who received us with
the usual hospitality, inborn in the Russians of all grades.
816 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
and entirely unknown in any part of Europe or America,
Poland and Hungary excepted. The captain conducted us
into a well-furnished, comfortable room, assisted us to un-
dress and get to bed, and from time to time applied wet
cloths to our swollen face and body, until a profound sleep
temporarily relieved our excruciating pains. The same
care was taken of our servant, who,' in the madness caused
by his sufferings, attempted to shoot himself that he might
be out of misery, but was prevented by two athletic Cos-
sacks, and watched and nursed until he, too, w^as relieved
by sleep. It was not until after a week of suffering that
the fever and inflammation subsided so that we could open
our eyes, and then, with many hearty thanks to our hospi-
table host. Captain Wasil Iwanovich, and his kind-hearted
family, and with the deepest gratitude, we continued our
travel to Mosdok, from which town we weot with a cara-
van, escorted by two cannon, two hundred infantry, and
sixty Cossacks on#lorseback, through the fertile valleys of
romantic Circassia, with her castles and w\arlike knights, to
the Russian fortress Wladicaucas ; thence we ascended the
bank of the furious Terek, through the Porta Caucasica, to
the height of nine thousand feet, from which we descended
to the delicious plains of Transcaucasia, every where enjoy-
ing the same hospitable reception.
The utmost hospitality is found among all the Russians,
and one can not visit their principal cities without being
thoroughly convinced of it. The English Captain Coch-
rane, known by his pedestrian travels in Russia, started
from St. Petersburg, taking with him only five francs, and
when he arrived in Moscow — a distance of seven hundred
versts, o^' four hundred English miles — his five francs were
still in his pocket.
As the Cossacks of the Black Sea are no agriculturists,
but derive their subsistence from their numerous herds of
horses, oxen, sheep, goats, and hogs, they suffer immensely
ORDER VII. TWO-AVINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 317
at times from the ravages of the mosquitoes. Although
they are fortunately not seen every year, these blood-suckers
may be considered a real Egyptian plague among the herds
of these Cossacks ; for they soon transform the most delight-
ful plains into a mournful, solitary desert, killing all the
beasts, and completely stripping the fields of every animated
creature. One can not look upon the spectacle without
pity when he sees the poor cattle exhibiting so much terror
at the approach of these innumerable swarms of mosquitoes,
whole herds hurrying home for shelter, running as if mad,
and often, in their fright, plunging into the river and being
drowned. Thousands of these insatiate tormentors enter
the nostrils, ears, eyes, and mouth of the cattle, who short-
ly after die in convulsions, or from secondary inflammation,
or from absolute suffocation. In the small town of Eliza-
bethpol alone, during the month of June, thirty horses, forty
foals, seventy oxen, ninety calves, a hundred and fifty hogs,
and four hundred sheep, were killed by "these flies.
In temperate climates this kind of mosquito is only ter-
rific during several weeks in summer, but in the tropics, al-
though they are not so injurious, they are very troublesome
throughout the year ; and in our excursions in the Antilles
of America we could never enter the woods without having
the head, face, and neck covered with gauze, and the hands
with leather gloves, for every leaf of every plant and tree
actually swarmed with them.
As we have already mentioned, there are many species
of the mosquito scattered all over the globe, but their ex-
ternal and internal condition and characteristics, as well as
their h.ibits and manner of living, are about the same.
They are provided with a long, horny, stiff, and perpendic-
ular proboscis, with antenna; consisting of fourteen joints,
feathered on the males, and witli two wings covered with
small scales. Every part of this insect, when magnified,
presents not only a beautiful and wonderful appearance, but
318 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS.
can not fail of exciting contemplations of the most serious
kind. Indeed, one has no idea of the amazing beauty of
these diminutive creatures until he has observed them
through a microscope.
The common Mosquito {Culex pipiens) of America, as
well as of Europe, is gray, and has immaculate wings.
The females are the principal tormentors, hovering up and
down in large swarms near the water, and at night perse-
cuting man and beast with their stings, as well as their in-
tolerable music.
Their visible proboscis is not the sting itself, but only
the case or scabbard which incloses the instruments for
piercing the skin and sucking our blood. These instru-
ments are five bristles, which may be seen protruding from
the scabbard, or proboscis, if you take hold of the neck of
the insect and squeeze the proboscis. These bristles, cut off
and placed under the microscope, appear like lancets with a
hook in the end, which remains in the wound made by it,
if the insect be driven away suddenly when sucking, and
which causes greater pain and inflammation than if the in-
sect is allowed to withdraw it when he has ceased sucking.
After the hollow sting has entered the flesh about three-
quarters of a line, and the insect has filled its body with
human blood, the wound begins to itch and swell — not on
account of the insignificant puncture, but on account of
the venomous saliva which entered it, for the purpose, prob-
ably, of diluting the blood. We see the same thing when
a fly drops some liquid from its proboscis upon a piece of
sugar, in order to dissolve it and diminish its strength, so
that it can suck it up. The saliva, therefore, performs the
same office in insects that it does in mammals when mas-
ticatino; their food.
Mosquitoes deposit their eggs in stagnant water, and
this is probably the reason that they are more numerous in
wet summers. If a hogshead or barrel of water be placed
ORDER VII.' — TWO-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 319
in the garden or yard during the summer, it will in a few
weeks be entirely populated with the larvae of mosquitoes ;
for each female deposits about three hundred eggs, which,
in three or four weeks after, are metamorphosed into per-
fect flies, which again deposit new eggs, and so on until six
or seven generations take place in one season. Their im-
mense number would give us much trouble in every section
of the country were they not the favorite food of many
birds, particularly of the swallows, as well as of dragon-
flies and other insects, who diminish their number and help
to rid us of their troublesome company.
Their eggs are of an oval form, and, perpendicularly glued
together in masses, swim upon the water like rafts, about
three lines long. They are at first white, but become green
after a few hours, and afterward gray. After two days the
larvse come out, and swim around with the greatest rapid-
ity, very often coming to the surface of the water to breathe,
their respiratory organ being situated at the extremity of"
the hind body. In two weeks they change into a pupa,
which still remains upon the surface of the water, and
after a week bursts open, and the perfect mosquito flies out
as if shot from underneath the water.
THE END.
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