22102059320 >*** o Med K6859 INSECT ARCHITECTURE: TO WHICH ARK ADDED, MISCELLANIES, ox THE RAVAGES, THE PRESERVATION FOR PURPOSES OF STUDY, AND THE CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. JAMES RENNIE, A.M. A NEW EDITION. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1857. X 9es, as dew, mist, and rain, is dependent for its illus- trations upon a knowledge of the most complicated facts, such as the influence of heat and electricity upon the air ; and this knoAvledge is at present so imperfect, that even these common occurrences of the weather, which men have been observing and reasoning upon for ages, are by no means satisfactorily explained, or reduced to the precision that every science should aspire to. Yet, however difficult it may be entirely to comprehend the phenomena we daily witness, everything in nature is full of instruction. Thus 9 INTSECT ARCHITECTURE. the humblest flower of the field, although, to one whose curiosity has not been excited, and whose understanding has, therefore, remained uninformed, it may appear worth- less and contemptible, is valuable to the botanist, not only with regard to its place in the arrangement of this portion of the Creator’s works, but as it leads his mind forward to the consideration of those beautiful provisions for the support of vegetable life, which it is the part of the physiologist to study and to admire. This train of reasoning is peculiarly applicable to the economy of insects. They constitute a very large and interesting part of the animal kingdom. They are every- where about us. The spider weaves his curious web in our houses ; the caterpillar constructs his silken cell in our gardens ; the wasp that hovers over our food has a nest not far removed from us, which sho has assisted to build with the nicest art ; the beetle that crawls across our path is also an ingenious and laborious mechanic, and has some curious instincts to exhibit to those who will feel an interest in watching his movements ; and the moth that eats into our clothes has something to plead for our pity, for he came, like us, naked into the world, and he has destroyed our garments, not in malice or wantonness, but that he may clothe himself with the same wool which we have stripped from the sheep. An observation of the habits of these little creatures is full of valuable lessons, which the abundance of the examples has no tendency to diminish. The more such observations are multiplied, the more are we led forward to the freshest and the most delighful parts of knowledge ; the more do we learn to estimate rightly the extraordinary provisions and most abundant resources of a creative Provi- dence ; and the better do we appreciate our own relations with all the infinite varieties of Nature, and our dependence, in common with the ephemeron that flutters its little hour in the summer sun, upon that Being in whose scheme of existence the humblest as well as the highest creature has its destined purposes. “ If you speak of a stone,” says St. Basil, one of the Fathers of the Church, “if you speak of a fly, a gnat, or a bee, your conversation will be a sort of INTRODUCTION. 3 demonstration of His power whose hand formed them, for tho wisdom of the workman is commonly perceived in that which is of little size. He who has stretched out the heavens, and dug up the bottom of the sea, is also He who has pierced a passage through the sting of the bee for the ejection of its poison.” If it be granted that making discoveries is one of the most satisfactory of human pleasures, then we may without hesitation affirm, that the study of insects is one of the most delightful branches of natural history, for it affords peculiar facilities for its pursuit. These facilities are found in the almost inexhaustible variety which insects present to the curious observer. As a proof of the extraordinary number of insects within a limited field of observation, Mr. Stephens informs us, that in the short space of forty days, between the middle of June and the beginning of August, he found, in the vicinity of Ripley, specimens of above two thousand four hundred species of insects exclusive of caterpillars and grabs, — a number amounting to nearly *a fourth of the insects ascertained to be indigenous. He further tells us, that, among these specimens, although the ground had, in former seasons, been frequently explored, there were about one hundred species altogether new, and not before in any collection which he had inspected, including several new genera; while many insects reputed scarce were in con- siderable plenty.* The localities of insects are, to a certain extent, constantly changing ; and thus the study of them has, in this circumstance, as well as in their manifold abundance, a sourco of perpetual variety. Insects, also, which are plentiful one year, frequently become scarce, or disappear altogether, the next— a fact strikingly illustrated by the uncommon abundance, in 1820 and 1827, of the seven-spot lady-bird ( Coccinella septempunctatu), in the vicinity of London, though during the two succeeding summers this insect was comparatively scarce, while the small two-spot lady -bird ( Coccinella bipunctata) was plentiful. There is, perhaps, no situation in which the lover of nature and the observer of animal life may not find oppor- * Stephens’ Illustrations, vol. i., p. 72, note. 4 IX SECT ARCHITECTURE. tunities for increasing his store of facts. It is told of a state prisoner, under a cruel and rigorous despotism, that when he was excluded from all commerce with mankind, and was shut out from books, he took an interest and found consolation in the visits of a spider ; and there is no improbability in the story. The operations of that persecuted creature are among the most extraordinary exhibitions of mechanical ingenuity ; and a daily watching of the workings of its instinct would beget admiration in a rightly-constituted mind. The poor prisoner had abundant leisure for the speculations in which the spider’s web would enchain his understanding. We have all of us, at one period or other of our lives, been struck with some singular evidence of contrivance in the economy of insects, which we have seen with our own eyes. "Want of leisure, and probably want of knowledge, have prevented us from following up the curiosity which for a moment was excited. And yet some such accident has made men Naturalists, in the highest meaning of the term. Bonnet, evidently speak- ing of himself, says, “ I knew a naturalist, who, when he was seventeen years of age, having heard of the operations of the ant-lion, began by doubting them. He had no rest till he had examined into them ; and ho verified them, he admired them, he discovered new facts, and soon became the disciple and the friend of the Pliny of France.” * (Keaumur.) It is not the happy fortune of many to be able to devote themselves exclusively to the study of nature, unquestionably the most fascinating of human employments ; but almost every one one may acquire sufficient knowledge to be able to derive a high gratification from beholding the more common operations of animal life. His materials for contemplation are always before him. Some weeks ago we made an excursion to West Wood, near Shooter’s Hill, expressly for the purpose of observing the insects we might meet with in the wood : but we had not got far among the bushes, when heavy rain came on. "NY e imme- diately sought shelter among the boughs of somo thick underwood, composed of oak, birch, and aspen ; but we * Contemplation do la Nature, part ii. ch. 42. INTRODUCTION". 5 could not meet with a single insect, not even a gnat or a fly, sheltered under the leaves. Upon looking more nar- rowly, however, into the bushes which protected us, we soon found a variety of interesting objects of study. The oak abounded in galls, several of them quite new to us ; while the leaves of the birch and the aspen exhibited the curious serpentine paths of the minute mining caterpillars. When we had exhausted the narrow field of observation immediately around us, we found that we could considerably extend it, by breaking a few of the taller branches near us, and then examining their leaves at leisure. In this manner two hours glided quickly and pleasantly away, by which time the rain had nearly ceased ; and though we had been disappointed in our wish to ramble through the wood, we did not return without adding a few interesting facts to our previous knowledge of insect economy.* It will appear, then, from the preceding observations, that cabinets and collections, though undoubtedly of the highest use, are by no means indispensable, as the observer of nature may find inexhaustible subjects of study in every garden and in every hedge. Nature has been profuse enough in affording us materials for observation, when we are prepared to look about us with that keenness of inquiry, which curiosity, the first step in the pursuit of knowledge, will unquestionably give. Nor shall we be disappointed in the gratification which is thus within our reach. Were it no more, indeed, than a source of agreeable amusement, the study of insects comes strongly recommended to the notice of the well-educated. The pleasures of childhood are generally supposed to be more exquisite, and to contain less alloy, than those of riper years ; and if so, it must be because then everything appears new and dressed in fresh beauties : while in manhood, and old age, whatever has frequently recurred begins to wear the tarnish of decay. The study of nature affords us a succession of “ ever new delights,” such as charmed us in childhood, when everything had the attractions of novelty and beauty ; and * The original observations in this volume which arc marked by the initials J. B., are by J. Rennie, A.M., A.L.S. G INSECT ARCHITECTURE. thus the mind of the naturalist may have its own fresh and vigorous thoughts, even while the infirmities of age weigh down the body. It has been objected to the study of insects, as well as to that of Natural History in general, that it tends to with- draw the mind from subjects of higher moment; that it cramps and narrows the range of thought ; and that it destroys, or at least weakens, the finer creations of the fancy. Now, we should allow this objection in its fullest extent, and even be disposed to cany it further than is usually done, if the collecting of specimens only, or, as the French expressly call them, chips ( echantillons ), be called a study. But the mere collector is not, and cannot be, justly considered as a naturalist; and, taking the term naturalist in its enlarged sense, we can adduce some distinguished instances in opposition to the objection. Bousseau, for example, was passionately fond of the Linmean botany, even to the driest minutiae of its technicalities ; and yet it does not appear to have cramped his mind, or impoverished his imagination. If Itousseau, however, be objected to as an eccentric being, from whose pursuits no fair inference can be drawn, we give the illustrious example of Charles James Fox, and may add the names of our distinguished poets, Goldsmith, Thomson, Gray, and Darwin, who were all enthusiastic naturalists. 'We wish particularly to insist upon the example of Gray, because he was very partial to the study of insects. It may be new to many of our readers, who are familiar with the ‘ Elegy in a Country Church-yard,’ to be told that its author was at the pains to turn the characteristics of the Linnsean orders of insects into Latin hexameters, the manuscript of which is still preserved in his biterleaved copy of the ‘Systema Natural.’ Further, to use the somewhat exaggerated words of Kirby and Spence, whose work on Entomology is one of tire most instructive and pleasing books on the science. ‘ Aristotle among the Greeks, and Pliny the Elder among the Bomans, may be denominated the fathers of Natural History, as well as the greatest philosophers of their day ; yet both these made insects a principal object of their attention : and in INTRODUCTION. more recent times, if we look abroad, what names greater than those of Redi, Malpighi, Vallisnieri, Swammerdam. Leeuwenhoek, Reaumur, Linnaeus, I)e Geer, Bonnet, and the Hubers ? and at home, what philosophers have done more honour to their country and to human nature than Ray, Willughby, Lister, and Derham ? Yet all these made the study of insects one of their most favourite pursuits.” * And yet this study has been considered, by those who have superficially examined the subject, as belonging to a small order of minds ; and the satire of Rope has been indiscriminately applied to all collectors, while, in truth, it only touches those who mistake the means of knowledge for the end : — “ O ! would the sons of men once think their eyes And reason given them but to study Flies ! See Nature, in some partial, narrow shape, And let the Author of the whole escape ; Learn hut to trifle ; or, who most observe, To wonder at their Maker, not to serve.”+ Thus exclaims the Goddess of Dulness, sweeping into her net all those who study nature in detail. But if the matter were rightly appreciated, it would be evident that no part of the works of the Creator can be without the deepest interest to an inquiring mind ; and that a portion of creation which exhibits such extraordinary manifestations of design as is shown by insects must have attractions for the very highest understanding. An accurate knowledge of the properties of insects is of great importance to man, merely with relation to his own comfort and security. The injuries which they inflict upon us are extensive and complicated ; and the remedies which we attempt, by the destruction of those creatures, both insects, birds, and quadrupeds, who keep the ravages in check, are generally aggravations of the evil, because they are directed by an ignorance of the economy of nature. The little knowledge which we have of the modes by which insects may be impeded in their destruction of much that * Introduction to Entomology, vol. i. f Duneiad, hook iv. 8 INTSECT ARCHITECTURE. is valuable to us, has probably proceeded from our contempt of their individual insignificance. The security of property ha$ ceased to be endangered by quadrupeds of prey, and yet our gardens are ravaged by aphides and caterpillars. It is somewhat startling to affirm that the condition of the human race is seriously injured by these petty annoyances ; but it is perfectly true that the art and industry of man have not yet been able to overcome the collective force, tho individual perseverance, and the complicated machinery of destruction which insects employ. A small ant, according to a most careful and philosophical observer, opposes almost invincible obstacles to the progress of civilization in many parts of the equinoctial zone. These animals devour paper and parchment ; they destroy every book and manuscript. Many provinces of Spanish America cannot, in consequence, show a written document of a hundred years’ existence. “ What development,” he adds, “ can the civilization of a people assume, if there be nothing to connect the present with the past — if the depositories of human knowledge must be constantly renewed — if the monuments of genius and wisdom cannot be transmitted to posterity ?” * Again, there are beetles which deposit their larvae in trees in such formidable numbers that whole forests perish beyond the power of remedy. The pines of the Hartz have thus been destroyed to an enormous extent ; and in North America, at one place in South Carolina, at least ninety trees in every hundred, upon a tract of two thousand acres, were swept away by a small black, winged bug. And yet, according to Wilson, the historian of American birds, the people of the United States were in the habit of destroying the red- headed woodpecker, the great enemy of these insects, becauso he occasionally spoilt an apple, f The same delight- ful writer and true naturalist, speaking of tho labours of the ivory-billed woodpecker, says, “ Would it be believed that the hawse of an insect or fly, no larger than a grain of rice, should silently, and in one season, destroy some thousand acres of pine-trees, many of them from two to # Humboldt, Voyage, lib. vii., eh. 20. t Amer. Oruitli., i., p. 144. INTRODUCTION. 9 three feet in diameter, and a hundred and fifty feet high? In some places the- whole woods, as far as you can see around you, are dead, stripped of the bark, their wintry- loolcing arms and hare trunks bleaching in the sun, and tumbling in ruins before every blast.”* The subterraneous larva of some species of beetle has often caused a complete failure of the seed-com, as in the district of Hallo in 1812. f The corn-weevil, which extracts the flour from grain, leaving the husk behind, will destroy the contents of tho largest storehouses in a very short peiiod. The wire-worm and the turnip-fly are dreaded by every farmer. The ravages of the locust are too well known not to be at once recollected as an example of the formidable collective power of the insect race. The white ants of tropical countries sweep away whole villages with as much certainty as a fire or an inundation ; and ships even have been destroyed by these indefatigable republics. Our own docks and embankments have been threatened by such minute ravagers. The enormous injuries which insects cause to man may thus bo held as one reason for ceasing to consider the study of them as an insignificant pursuit; for a knowledge of their structure, their food, their enemies, and their general habits, may load, as it often has led, to tho means of guarding against their injuries. At the same time we derive from them both direct and indirect benefits. The honey of the bee, the dye of the cochineal, and the web of the silk-worm, the advantages of which are obvious, may well be balanced against the destructive propensities of insects which are offensive to man. But a philosophical study of natural history will teach us that the direct benefits which insects confer upon os are even less import- ant than their general uses in maintaining the economy of the world. The mischiefs which result to us from the rapid increase and the activity of insects are merely results of tho very principle by which they confer upon us num- berless indirect advantages. Forests are swept away by * Amer. Ornith., iii., p. 21. f Blurnenbach; sec also Insect Transformations, p. 231. 10 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. minute beetles ; but the same agencies relieve us from that extreme abundance of vegetable matter which would render the earth uninhabitable were this excess not periodically destroyed. In hot countries, the great busi- ness of removing corrupt animal matter, which the vulture and the hyaena imperfectly perform, is effected with •certainty and speed by the myriads of insects that spring from the eggs deposited in every carcase by some fly seeking therein the means of life for her progeny. Destruc- tion and reproduction, the great laws of Nature, are carried on very greatly through the instrumentality of insects; and the same principle regulates even the increase of parti- cular species of insects themselves. 'When aphides are so abundant that we know not how to escape their ravages, flocks of lady-birds instantly cover our fields and gardens to destroy them . Such considerations as these are thrown out to show that the subject of insects has a great philoso- phical importance — and what portion of the works of Nature has not? The habits of all God’s creatures, whether they are noxious, or harmless, or benefifcial, are worthy objects of our study. If they affect ourselves, in our health or our possessions, whether for good or for evil, an additional impulse is naturally given to our desire to attain a knowledge of their properties. Such studies form one of the most interesting occupations which can engage a rational and inquisitive mind; and, perhaps, none of the employments of human life are more dignified than the investigation and suivey of the workings and the ways of Nature in the minutest of her productions. The exercise of that habit of observation which can alone inako a naturalist — “ an out-of-door naturalist,” as Daines Barrington called himself — is well calculated to strengthen even the most practical and merely useful powers of the mind. One of the most valuable mental acquirements is the power of discriminating among things which differ in many minute points, but whose general similarity of ap- pearance usually deceives the common observer into a belief of their identity. The study of insects, in this point of view, is most peculiarly adapted for youth. According INTRODUCTION. 11 to our experience, it is exceedingly difficult for persons arrived at manhood to acquire this power of discrimination ; but, in early life, a little care on the part of the parent or teacher will render it comparatively easy. In this study the knowledge of things should go along with that of words. “If names perish,” says Linnaeus, “the knowledge of things perishes also and, without names, how can any one communicate to another the knowledge he has acquired relative to any particular fact, either of physio- logy, habit, utility, or locality ? On the other hand, mere catalogue learning is as much to be rejected as the loose generalizations of the despisers of classification and nomen- clature. To name a plant, or an insect, or a bird, or a quadruped rightly, is one step towards an accurate know- ledge of it ; but it is not the knowledge itself. It is the means, and not the end, in natural history, as in every other science. If the bias of opening curiosity be properly directed, there is not, any branch of natural history so fascinating to youth as the study of insects. It is, indeed, a common practice in many families to teach children, from their earliest infancy, to treat the greater number of insects as if they were venomous and dangerous, and, of course, meriting to be destroyed, or at least avoided with horror. Associ- ations are by this means linked with the very appearance of insects, which become gradually more inveterate with advancing years; provided, as most* frequently happens, the same system be persisted in, of avoiding or destroying almost every insect which is unlucky enough to attract observation. How much rational amusement and innocent pleasure is thus thoughtlessly lost; and how many dis- agreeable feelings are thus created, in the most absurd manner ! “ In order to show that the study or (if tho word be disliked) the observation of insects is peculiarly fasci- nating to children, even in their early infancy, we may refer to what we have seen in tho family of a friend, who is partial to this, as well as to all the departments of natural history. Our friend’s children, a boy and girl, wero taught, * Nomina si pereant, perit et cognitio rertmi. 12 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. from the moment they could distinguish insects, to treat them as objects of interest and curiosity, and not to he afraid even of those which wore the most repulsive appear- ance. The little girl, for example, when just beginning to walk alone, encountered one day a large staphylinus ( Goerius olens? Stephens; vulgo, the devil’s coach-horse), which she fearlessly seized, and did not quit her hold, though the insect grasped one of her fingers in his formi- dable jaws. The mother, who was by, knew enough of the insect to be rather alarmed for the consequences, though she prudently concealed her feelings from the child. She did well ; for the insect was not strong enough to break the skin, and the child took no notice of its attempts to bite her finger. A whole series of disagreeable associations with this formidable-looking family of insects was thus averted at the very moment when a different mode of acting on the part of the mother would have produced the contrary effect. For moro than two years after this occur- rence the little girl and her brother assisted in adding numerous specimens to their father’s collection, without the parents ever having had cause, from any accident, to repent of their employing themselves in this manner. The sequel of the little girl’s history strikingly illustrates the position for which wo contend. The child happened to bo sent to a relative in the country, where she was not long in having carefully instilled into her mind all the usual antipathies against “ everything that creepeth on the earth;” and though she afterwards returned to her paternal home, no persuasion or remonstrance could ever again per- suade her to touch a common beetle, much less a staphy- linus, with its tail turned up in a threatening attitude, and its formidable jaws ready extended for attack or defence.* We do not wish that children should be encouraged to expose themselves to danger in their encounters with insects. They should be taught to avoid those few which are really noxious— to admire all — to injure none. The various beauty of insects —their glittering colours, their graceful forms— supplies an inexhaustible source of * J. It. in Mag. of Natural History, vol. i„ p. 334. INTRODUCTION. 13 attraction. Even tlie most formidable insects,' both in appearance and reality, — the dragon-fly, which is perfectly harmless to man, and the wasp, whose sting eveiy human being almost instinctively shuns, — are splendid in their appearance, and are painted with all the brilliancy of natural hues. It has been remarked, that the plumage of tropical birds is not superior in vivid colouring to what may be observed in the greater number of butterflies and moths.* “See,” exclaims Linmeus, “the large, elegant painted wings of the butterfly, four in number, covered with delicate feathery scales ! With these it sustains itself in the air a whole day, rivalling the flight of birds and the brilliancy of the peacock. Consider this insect through the wonderful progress of its life, — how different is the first period of its being from the second, and both from the parent insect ! Its changes are an inexplicable enigma to us : we see a green caterpillar, furnished with sixteen feet, feeding upon the leaves of a plant ; this is changed into a chrysalis, smooth, of golden lustre, hanging suspended to a fixed point, without feet, and subsisting without food ; this insect again undergoes another transformation, acquires wings, and six feet, and becomes a gay butterfly, sporting in the air, and living by suction upon the honey of plants. What has Nature produced more worthy of our admiration than such an animal, coining upon the stage of the world, and playing its part there under so many different masks ?” The ancients were so struck with the transformations of the butterfly, and its revival from a seeming temporary death, as to have considered it an emblem of the soul, the Greek word psyche signifying both the soul and a butterfly ; and it is for this reason that we find the butterfly intro- duced into their allegorical sculptures as an emblem of immortality. Trifling, therefore, and perhaps, contempt- ible, as to the unthinking may seem the study of a butter- fly > yet when we consider the art and mechanism displayed in so minute a structure, — the fluids circulating in vessels so small as almost to escape the sight— the beauty of the wings and covering— and the manner in which each part is * Miss Jermyn’s Butterfly Collector, p. 11. 14 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. adapted for its peculiar functions, — we cannot but be struck with wonder and admiration, and allow, with l’aley, that “ the production of beauty was as much in the Creator’s mind in painting a butterfly as in giving symmetry to the human form.” A collection of insects is to the true naturalist what a collection of medals is to the accurate student of history. The mere collector, who looks only to the shining wings of the one, or the green rust of the other, derives little knowledge from his pursuit. But the cabinet of the naturalist becomes rich in the most interesting subjects of contemplation, when he regards it in the genuine spirit of scientific inquiry. What, for instance, can be so delightful as to examine the wonderful variety of structure in this portion of the creation ; and, above all, to truce the beauti- ful gradations by which one species runs into another? Their differences are so minute, that an unpractised eye would proclaim their identity; and yet, when the species are separated, and not veiy distantly, they become visible even to the common observer. It is in examinations such as these that the naturalist finds a delight of the highest order. While it is thus one of the legitimate objects of his study to attend to minute differences of structure, form, and colouring, he is not less interested in the investigation of habits and economy; and in this respect the insect world is inexhaustibly rich. We find herein examples of instinct to parallel those of all the larger animals, whether they are solitary or social ; and innumerable others besides* altogether unlike those manifested in the superior depart- ments of animated nature. These instincts have various directions, and are developed in a more or less striking mannor to our senses, according to the force of the motive by which they are governed. Some of their instincts have for their object the preservation of insects from external attack ; some have reference to procuring food, and involve many remarkable stratagems ; some direct their social economy, and regulate the condition under which they live together either in monarchies or republics, their colonizations, and their migrations ; but the most powerful instinct which INTRODUCTION. 15 belongs to insects lias regard to the preservation of their species. We find, accordingly, that as the necessity for this preservation is of the utmost importance in the economy of nature, so for this especial object many insects, whose offspring, whether in the egg or the laiva state, are peculiarly exposed to danger, are endued with an almost miraculous foresight, and with an ingenuity, perseverance, and unconquerable industry, for the purpose of avoiding those dangers, which are not to he paralleled even by the most singular efforts of human contrivance. The same ingenuity which is employed for protecting either eggs, or caterpillars and grubs, or pupse and chrysalides, is also exercised by many insects for their own preservation against the changes of temperature to which they are exposed, or against their natural enemies. Many species employ those contrivances during the period of their hyber- nation, or winter sleep. For all these purposes some dig holes in the earth, and form them into cells ; others build nests of extraneous substances, such as hits of wood and leaves; others roll up leaves into cases, which they close with the most curious art ; others build a house of mud, and line it with the cotton of trees, or the petals of the most delicate flowers ; others construct cells, of secretions from their own bodies ; others form cocoons, in which they undergo their transformation ; and others dig subter- raneous galleries, which, in their complexity of arrange- ment, in solidity, and in complete adaptation to their purposes, vie with the cities of civilised man. The con- trivances by which insects effect these objects havo been accurately observed and minutely described, by patient and philosophical inquirers, who knew that such employ- ments of the instinct with which each species is endowed by its Creator offered the most valuable and instructive lessons, and opened to them a wide field of the most de- lightful study. The construction of their habitations is certainly among the most remarkable peculiarities in the economy of insects ; and it is of this subject that we pro- pose to treat under the general name, which is sufficiently applicable to our purpose, of Insect Architecture. 16 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. In the descriptions which we shall givo of Insect Archi- tecture, we shall employ as few technical words as pos- sible ; and such as we cannot well avoid, we shall explain in their places : but, since our subject chiefly relates to the reproduction of insects, it may be useful to many readers to introduce here a brief description of the changes which they undergo. It was of old believed that insects were produced spon- taneously by putrefying substances ; and Virgil gives the details of a process for creating a swarm of bees out of the carcase of a bull : but Redi, a celebrated Italian naturalist, proved by rigid experiments that they are always, in such cases, hatched from eggs previously laid. Most insects, indeed, lay eggs, though some few are viviparous, and some propagate both ways. The eggs of insects are very various in form, and seldom shaped like those of birds. We Macnified ob!:* of o, Cruwtra cn-m Uata; b, of an unknown water Insect : c, of the acqurv ninth ; and the openings of the cells are also downwards ; while (their united bottoms fonn a nearly uniform level upon (which the inhabitants of the nest may walk. \\ e have tseen, in describing the economy of the carder-bee, that ■when a young bee had escaped from its cradle-cell, and so ! rendered it empty, that cell was subsequently appropriated to the storing of honey. But in the case of wasps, a cell thus evacuated is immediately cleaned out and repaired for the reception of another grab — an egg being laid in it by a female wasp as soon as it is ready. When the foundress-wasp has completed a certain number ■ of cells, and deposited eggs in them, she soon intermits her building operations, in order to procure food for the young grubs, which now require all her care. In a few weeks these become perfect wasps, and lend their assistance in the extension of the edifice ; enlarging the original coping of the foundress by side walls, and forming another platform of cells, suspended to the first by columns, as that had been suspended to the ceiling. In this manner several platforms of combs are constructed, the outer walls being extended at the same time ; and, by the end of the summer, there is generally from twelve to fifteen platforms of cells. Each contains about 1 060 cells — forty-nine being contained in an inch and a half square, and, of course, making the enormous number of about 1G,000 cells in one colony. Reaumur, upon these data, F lit) INSECT ARCHITECT!] RE. calculates that one vespiary may produce every year more than 30,000 wasps, reckoning only 10,000 cells, and each serving successively for the cradle of three generations- But, although the whole structure is built at the expense of so much labour and ingenuity, it has scarcely been finished before the winter sets in, when it becomes nearly useless* and servos only for the abode of a few benumbed females, who abandon it on the approach of spring, and never A, represents one ot the roils from which the terraces are suspended. B, a portion of the external crust. return ; for wasps do not, like mason-bees, ever make use of the same nest for more than one season. Both Reaumur and the younger Huber studied the proceedings of the common wasp in the manner which has been so successful in observing bees — by means of glazed hives, and other contrivances. In this, these na- turalists were greatly aided by the extreme affection of wasps for their young ; for though their nest is carried off, or even cut in various directions, and exposed to the light., they never desert it, nor relax their attention to their progeny. When a wasp’s nest is removed from its natural situation, and covered with a glass hive, the first operation of the inhabitants is to repair the injuries, it has suffered. They cany off with surprising activity all the earth or other matters which have fallen by accident into the nest; and when they have got it thoroughly cleared of everything extraneous, they begin to secure it from further derangement, by fixing it to the glass with papyraceous columns, similar to those which we have already described. The breaches which the nest may have suffered are then repaired, and the thickness of the walls is SOCIAL-WASPS. . augmented, with the design, perhaps, of more effectually , excluding the light. The nest of the hornet is nearly the same in structure with that of the wasp ; but the materials are considerably coarser, and the columns to which the platforms of cells are suspended are larger and stronger, the middle one being twice as thick as any of the others. rlhe hornet, also, does not build underground, but in the cavities ol trees, or in the thatch or under the eaves of bains. Reaumur once found upon a wall a lioniet’s nest which Hornet’s Xest In Us first stage. had not been long begun, and had it transferred to the outside of his study-window ; but in consequence, as he imagined, of the absence of the foundress-hornet at the time it was removed, he could not get the other five hornets, of which the colony consisted, either to add to the building or repair the damages which it had sustained. M. Reaumur differs from our English naturalists, White, 68 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. and Kirby and Spence, with respect to the materials em- ployed by tho hornet for building. The latter say that it employs decayed wood ; the former, that it uses the bark of the ash-tree, but takes less pains to split it into fine fibres than wasps do ; not, however, because it is destitute of skill ; for in constructing the suspensory columns of the platforms, a paste is prepared little inferior to that made by wasps. We cannot, from our own observations, decide which of the above statements is correct, as we have only once seen a hornet procuring materials, at Compton-Bassett, in Wiltshire ; and in that case it gnawed the inner bark of an elm which had been felled for several months, and was, consequently, dry and tough. Such materials as this would account for the common yellowish-brown colour of a hornet’s nest. (J. It.) When hornets make choice of a tree for their domicile, they select one which is in a state of decay, and already partly hollowed; but they possess the means, in their sharp and strong mandibles, of extending the excavation to suit their purposes ; and Beaumur frequently witnessed their operations in mining into a decayed tree, and carrying off what they had gnawed. He observed, also, that in such cases they did not make use of the large hole of the tree for an entrance, but went to the trouble of digging a gallery, sufficient for the passage of the largest hornet in the nest, through the living and undecayed portion of the tree. As this is perforated in a winding direction, it is no doubt intended for the purpose of protecting the nest from tho intrusion of depredators, who could more easily effect an entrance if there were not such a tortuous way to pass through. Ono of the most remarkable of our native social-wasps is the tree- wasp ( Vespa Britannica), which is not uncommon in the northern, but is seldom to be met with in the southern parts of the island. Instead of burrowing in the ground like the common wasp ( Vespa vulgaris), or in the hollows of trees like the hornet ( Vespa crabro ), it boldly swings its nest from the extremity of a branch, where it SOCIAL-WASPS. G9 exhibits some resemblance, in size and colour, to a Welsh wig bung out to dry. We have seen more than one of these nests on the same tree, at Catrine, in Ayrshire, and at Wemyss Bay, in Renfrewshire. The tree which the Britannic wasp prefers is the silver fir, whose broad flat branch serves as a protection to the suspended nest both from the sun and the rain. We have also known a wasp’s nest of this kind in a gooseberry-bush, at Red-house Castle, East Lothian. The materials and structure are nearly the same as those employed by the common wasp, and which we have already described. (J. R.) A singular nest of a species of wasp is figured by Reaumur, but is apparently rare in this country, as Kirby and Spence mention only a single nest of similar construc- tion, fouiTd in a garden at East-Dale. This nest is of a flattened globular figure, and composed of a great number of envelopes, so as to assume a considerable resemblance to a half-expanded Provence rose. The British specimen mentioned by Kirby and Spence had only one platform of cells; Reaumur had two; but there was a large vacant space, which would probably have been filled with cells, had the nest not been taken away as a specimen. The whole nest was not much larger than a rose, and was com- posed of paper exactly similar to that employed by the common ground-wasp.* * Two British species of wasp, Vespa Holsatica, Fabr., and Vespa Britannica, Leach, if indeed they be truly distinct species, make pendent vespiaries, attached to the branch of a shrub or tree. The nest of the Vespa Holsatica is said to be much larger than that of the other, and in the north of England it is often found in gooseberry-bushes. A nest of this kind we have ourselves seen in such a bush, in Derbyshire, — it was pendent and loosely constructed externally of foliaceous layers. In the Mag. ot Nat. Hist. 1831), p. 458, 51 r. Shuekard gives an account of the nest of a wasp, which he regards as Vespa Britannica,— remarkable for the material of which it was constructed, and for the locality in which it was found. This nest, which was exhibited at a meeting of the Entomological Society, was found near Croydon, built in a sparrow’s nest, and attached to the lining feathers. “ The smallness of the nest,” says Mr. Shuekard, “ and also of the tier of cells, as well as the peculiar material of which it appeared composed, led to a discussion, the tendency of which seemed to support the opinion that it was most probably the 70 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. There is another species of social-wasp ( Epipone nidulans , Latr.) meriting attention from the singular construction of its nest. It forms one or more terraces of cells, similar to those of the common wasp, but without the protection of an outer wall, and quite exposed to the weather. Swarn- Wasp’s Nest. merdam found a nest of this description attached to the stem of a nettle. Reaumur says they are sometimes attached to the branch of a thorn or other shrub, or to stalks of grass ; — peculiarities which prove that there are several species of these wasps. uest of a Polistes, a social-wasp not yet found in this country, but if not of Polistes, certainly not yet determined or known.” The nest was ovate, about an inch and a half long, with a tier of cells internally, originating from a common pedicle. It appeared to be constructed “ ot the agglutinated particles of a soft white wood, probably willow, very imperfectly tri turn ted whence it had externally a rough granulated appearance. It was sprinkled with black specks, arising perhaps from the intermixture of more decayed portions of the wood ; and was of a very fragile texture. “ The nature of the material, and its unfinished execution, as well as the situation in which it was found, appeal- to me to be its own peculiarities, and I must necessarily consider it merely an accidental variation in material and locality from the usual nests of the Vespa Britannica of Leach.” — Mr. Shuckard concludes his paper by stating that he strongly suspects the identity of Vespa Holsatica and Vespa Britannica. SOCIAL- WASPS. 71 The most remarkable circumstance in the architecture of this species of vespiary is, that it is not horizontal, like those formerly described, but nearly vertical. The rea- son appears to be, that if it had been horizontal, the cells must have been frequently tilled with rain ; whereas, in the position in which it is placed, the rain runs oft with- out lodging. It is, besides, invariably placed so as to face the north or the east, and consequently is less exposed to rains, which most frequently come with southerly or westerly winds. It is another remarkable peculiarity, that, unlike the nests of other wasps, it is covered with a shining coat of varnish, to prevent moisture from soaking into the texture of the wasp’s paper. The laying on this varnish, indeed, forms a considerable portion of the labour of the colony, and individuals may be seen employed for hours together spreading it on with their tongues. Few circumstances are more striking, with regard to insects, as Kirby and Spence justly remark, than the great and incessant labour which maternal affection for their progeny leads them to undergo. Some of these Wasps' Cells attached to a Branch. 72 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. exertions are so disproportionate to tire size of the insect, that nothing short of ocular conviction could attribute them to such an agent. A wild bee, or a wasp, for instance, as we have seen, will dig a hole in a hard bank of earth some inches deep, and five or six times its own size, labouring unremittingly at this arduous task for several days in succession, and scarcely allowing itself a moment for eating or repose. Tt will then occupy as much time in searching for a store of food ; and no sooner is this finished, than it will set about repeating the process, and, beforo it dies, will have completed five or six similar cells, or even more. We shall have occasion more particularly to dwell upon the geometrical arrangement of the cells, both of the wasp and of the social-bee, in our description of those interesting operations, which have long attracted the notice, and com- manded the admiration of mathematicians and naturalists. A few observations may here bo properly bestowed upon the material with which the wasp-family construct the interior of their nests. The wasp is a paper-maker, and a most perfect and intelligent one. W hile mankind •were arriving, by slow degrees, at the art of fabricating this valuable substance, the wasp was making it before their eyes, by very much the same process as that by which human hands now- manufacture it with the best aid of chemistry and ma- chinery. While some nations carved their records on wood, and stone, and brass, and leaden tablets, — others, more advanced, wrote with a style on Avax, — others em- ployed the inner bark of trees, and others the skins of animals rudely prepared, — the Avasp was manufacturing a firm and durable paper. Even Avhen the papyius Avas rendered more fit, by a process of art, for the transmission of ideas in Avriting, the w'asp avus a better artisan than the Egyptians ; for the early attempts at paper- making were so nide, that the substance produced Avas almost useless, from boing extremely friable. The paper of the papyrus Avas formed of the leaA-es of the plant, dried, pressed, and polished ; the wasp alone kneAv Iioav to reduce vegetable SOCIAL-WASPS. 73 fibres to a pulp, and then unite them by a size or glue, spreading the substance out into a smooth and delicate leaf. This is exactly the process of paper-making. It would seem that the wasp knows, as the modern paper- makers now know, that the fibres of rags, whether linen or cotton, are not the only materials that can be used in the formation of paper ; she employs other vegetable matters, converting them into a proper consistency by her assiduous exertions. In some respects she is more skilful even than our paper-makers, for she takes care to retain her fibres of sufficient length, by which she renders her paper as strong as she requires. Many manufacturers of the present day cut their material into small bits, and thus produce a rotten articlo. One great distinction between good and bad paper is its toughness ; and this difference is invariably produced by the fibre of which it is composed being long, and there- fore tough ; or short, and therefore friable. The wasp has been labouring at her manufacture of paper, from her first creation, with precisely the same instruments and the same materials; and her success has been unvarying. Her machinery is very simple, and there- fore it is never out of order. She learns nothing, and she forgets nothing. Men, from time to time, lose their excel- lence in particular arts, and they are slow in finding out real improvements. Such improvements are often the effect of accident. Paper is now manufactured very extensively by machinery in all its stages ; and thus, instead of a single sheet being made by hand, a stream of paper is poured out, which would form a roll large enough to extend round the globe, if such a length were desirable. The inventors of this machinery, Messrs. Fourdrinier, it is said, spent the enormous sum of 40,000/. in vain attempts to render the machine capable of determining with precision the width of the roll ; and, at last, accomplished their object, at the suggestion of a bystander, by a strap revolving upon an axis, at a cost of three shillings and sixpence. Such is the difference between the workings of human knowledge and experience, and those of animal instinct. Wo proceed slowly and in the dark — but our course is not bounded by 74 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. a narrow line, for it seems difficult to say what is the perfection of anjr art ; animals go clearly to a given point — but they can go no further. We may, however, learn something from their perfect knowledge of what is within their range. It is not, improbable that if man had attended in an earlier state of society to the labours of wasps, he would have sooner known how to make paper. We are still behind in our arts and sciences, because wje have not always been observers. If we had watched the operations of insects, and the structure of insects in general, with more care, we might have been far advanced in the know- ledge of many arts which are yet in their infancy, for nature has given us abundance of patterns. We have leamt to perfect some instruments of sound by examining the structure of the human ear ; and the mechanism of an eye has suggested some valuable improvements in achro- matic glasses. Reaumur has given a very interesting account of the wasps of Cayenne ( Chartergus nidulans ), which hang their nests in trees.* Like the bird of Africa called the social grosbeak ( Loxia socia ), they fabricate a perfect house, capable of containing many hundreds of their community, and suspend it on high out of the reach of attack. But the Cayenne wasp is a more expert artist than the bird. He is a pasteboard-maker ; — and the card with which he forms the exterior covering of his abode is so smooth, so strong,, so uniform in its texture, and so white, that the most skilful manufacturer of this substsftice might be proud of the work. It bikes ink admirably. The nest of the pasteboard-making wasp is impervious to water. It hangs upon the branch of a tree, as represented in the engraving ; and those rain-drops which penetrate through the leaves never rest upon its hard and polished surface. A small opening for the entrance of the insects terminates its funnel-shaped bottom. It. is impossible to unite more perfectly the qualities of lightness and strength. * Mcmoires sur les Insectes, tom. vi., mem. vii. See also Bonnet, vol. ix. SOCIAL-WASPS. 7 5 In the specimen from which we take our description, the length of which is nine inches, six stout circular plat- forms stretch internally across, like so many floors, and fixed all round to the walls of the nest. They are smooth above, with hexagonal cells on the under surface. These platforms are not quite flat, but rather concave above, like a watch-glass reversed ; the centre of each platform is perforated for the admission of the wasps, at the extremity of a short funnel-like projection, and through this access is gained from story to story. On each platform, therefore, Nest of the Pasteboard-maker Wasp, with part removed to show the arrangement of the Cells. can the wasps walk leisurely about attending to the puprn secured in the cells, which, with the mouths downward, cover the ceiling above their heads — the height of the latter . being just convenient for their work. Pendent wasps’-nests of enormous size are found in Ceylon, 7G INSECT ARCHITECTURE. * suspended often in the talipot-tree at the height of seventy feet. Idle appearance of these nests thus elevated, with the larger leaves of the tree, used by the natives as umbrellas and tents, waving over them, is very singular. Though no species of European wasp is a storer of honey, yet this rule does not apply to certain species of South America. In the ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ for June, 1841, will be found a detailed account, with a figure, of the pendent nest of a species termed by Mr. A. White Myraptet'a scuteUaris. The external case consists of stout cardboard covered with conical knobs of various sizes. The entrances are artfully protected by pent-roofs from the weather and heavy rains ; and are tortuous, so as to render the ingress of a moth or other large insect difficult. Internally are fourteen combs, exclusive of a globular mass, the nucleus of several circular combs, which are succeeded by others of an arched form — that is, constituting segments of circles. Many of the uppermost combs were found to have the cells filled with honey of a brownish-red colour, but which had lost its flavour. After entering into some minute details, Mr. A. White makes the following interesting observations : — “ Azara, in the account of his residence in various parts of South America, mentions the fact of several xcasjxs of these countries collecting honey. The Baron Wachenaer, who edited the French translation of this work, published in 1809, thought that the Spanish traveller, who was unskilled in entomology, had made some mistake with regard to the insects, and regarded the so-called wasps as belonging to some bee of the genus of which Apis amalthea is the type ( Melipona ). Latreille (who afterwards corrected his mistake) also believed that they must be referred to the genera Melipona or Trigona — insects which in South America take the place of our honey-bee. These authors were afterwards clearly convinced of the correctness of Azara ’s observations, by the circumstance of M. Auguste de St. Hilaire finding near the river Uruguay an oval grey-coloured nest of a papery consistence, like that of the European wasps, suspended from the branches of a small shrub about a foot from the ground : he and two other attendants partook of SOCIAL-WASPS. p* ( ( some honey (contained in its cells) and found it of an agreeable sweetness, free from the pharmaceutic taste which so frequently accompanies European honey. He gives a detailed account of its poisonous effects on himself and his two men.” Afterwards he procured specimens of the wasp, which was described by Latreille under the name of Polities Lecheguana. It would seem that the nest described by Mr. White agrees -with that of a wasp termed Ckiguana by Azara (or Lecheguana) , and is very different to the slight paper}" nest of the Polistes Lecheguana of Latreille. We may add that M. Auguste de St. Hilaire speaks of two species of wasp remarkable for storing honey in South America ; the honey of one is white, of the other reddish. That the habits of these honey-wasps must differ considerably from those of any of our European species we may at once admit ; perhaps in some points of their economy these insects may approach the bee. ( 78 ) 1 * CHAPTER V. ARCHITECTURE OF THE BEE-HIVE. Part of a Honeycomb, and Bees at work. Although tlie hive-bee (Apis mellifica) has engaged the attention of the curious from the earliest ages, recent dis- coveries prove that we are yet only beginning to arrive at a correct knowledge of its wonderful proceedings. Pliny informs us that Astromachus, of Soles, in Cilicia, devoted fifty-eight years to the study ; and that Philiscus tho Thracian spent his whole life in forests for the purpose of observing them. But in consequence (as we may naturally infor) of the imperfect methods of research, assuming that what they did discover was known to Aristotle, Columella, and Pliny, we are justified in pronouncing the statements of these philosophers, as well as the embellished poetical pictures of Virgil, to be nothing more than conjecture, almost in every particular erroneous. It was not indeed HIVE-BEES. 79 till 1712, when glass hives were invented by Maraldi, a mathematician of Nice, that what we may call the in-door proceedings of bees could be observed. This important invention was soon afterwards taken advantage of by M. Reaumur, who laid the foundation of the more recent discoveries of John Hunter, Scliirach, and the Hubers. The admirable architecture which bees exhibit in their miniature cities has, by these and other naturalists, been investigated with great care and accuracy. We shall endeavour to give as full an account of tho wonderful structures as our limits will allow. In this we shall chiefly follow M. Huber, the elder, whose researches appear almost miraculous when we consider that he was blind. At the early age of seventeen this remarkable man lost his sight by gutta serena, the “drop serene” of our own Milton. But though cut off from the sight of Nature’s works, he dedicated himself to their study. He saw them through the eyes of the admirable woman whom he married ; his philosophical reasonings pointed out to her all that ho wanted to ascertain ; and as she reported to him from time to time the results of his ingenious experiments, he was enabled to complete, by diligent investigation, one of the most accurate and satisfactory accounts of the habits of bees which have ever been produced. It had long been known that the bees of a hive consist of three sorts, which was ascertained by M. Reaumur to be distinguished as workers or neuters, constituting the bulk of the population ; drones or males, the least numerous class ; and a single female, the queen and mother of the colony. Scliirach subsequently discovered the very extraordinary fact, which Huber and others have proved beyond doubt, that when a hive is accidentally deprived of a queen, the grab of a worker can bo and is fed in a particular manner so as to became a queen and supply the loss.* But another discovery of M. Huber is of more importance to the subject * It is right to remark that Huish and others have suggested that the grubs thus royalized may originally be misplaced queens ; yet this admission is not necessary, since Madlle. Jurine has proved, by dissec- tion, the workers to be imperfect females. 80 INTSECT ARCHITECTURE. of architecture now before us. By minute research he ascertained that the workers which had been considered by former naturalists to be all alike, arc divided into two important classes, nurse-bees and wax-makers, The nurse-bees are rather smaller than the wax- workers, and even when gorged with honey their belly does not, as in the others, appear distended. Their business is to collect honey, and impart it to their companions ; to feed and take care of the young grubs, and to complete the combs and I cells which have been founded by the others ; but they are not charged with provisioning the hive. The wax-icorkers, on the other hand, are not only a little larger, but their stomach, when gorged with honey, is capable of considerable distention, as M. Huber proved by repeated experiments. He also ascertained that neither of the species can alone fulfil all the functions shared among the workers of a hive. He painted those of each class with different colours, in order to study their proceedings, and their laboui’s were not interchanged. In another experi- ment, after supplying a hive deprived of a queen with brood and pollen, he saw the nurse-bees quickly occupied in the nutrition of the grubs, while those of the wax-working class neglected them. When hives are full of combs, the wax- workers disgorge their honey into the ordinary magazines, making no wax : but if they want a reservoir for its recep- tion, and if their queen does not find cells ready made wherein to lay her eggs, they retain the honey in the stomach, and in twenty -four hours they produce wax. Then the labour of constructing combs begins. It might perhaps be supposed that, when the country does not afford honey, the wax- workers consume the provi- sion stored up in the hive. But they are not permitted to touch it. A portion of honey is carefully preserved, and the cells containing it are protected by a waxen covering, which is never removed except in case of extreme necessity, and when honey is not to be otherwise procured. The cells are at no time opened during summer ; other reservoirs, always exposed, contribute to the daily use of the com- munity; each bee, however, supplying itself from them IIIVE-15EES. 81 with nothing but what is required for present Avants. TV ax- workers appear with large bellies at the entrance of their hi\-e, only A\rhen the country affords a copious collection of honey. From this it may be concluded that the production of the Avaxy matter depends on a concurrence of circum- stances not invariably subsisting. Isurse-bees also produce AArax. but in a Arery inferior quantity to Avhat is elaborated by the real Avax-AA'orkers. Another characteristic Avhereby an attentive observer can determine the moment of bees collecting sufficient honey to produce Avax, is the strong odour of both these substances from the hive, Avliich is not equally intense at any other time. From such data, it AAras easy for M. Huber to discover whether the bees worked in Avax in his own hives, and in those of the other cultivators of the district. There is still another sort of bees, first observed by Huber in 1809, which appear to be only casual inmates of the hive, and Avhich are driven forth to starve, or are killed in conflict. They closely resemble the ordinary workers, but are less hairy, and of a much darker colour. These have been called black bees, and are supposed by Huber to be defective bees;* but Kirby and Spence conjecture that they are toil-worn superannuated workers, of no further use, and are therefore sacrificed, because burden- some to a community which tolerates no unnecessary inmates. The very great number of black bees, however, which sometimes appear, does not Avell accord with such an opinion. The subject remains, therefore, still in uncer- tainty. Preparation of Wax. In order to build the beautiful combs, which every one must have repeatedly seen and admired, it is indispensable that the architegt-bees should be provided Avith the materials —with the Avax, in short, of which they are principally formed. Before we folloAv them, therefore, to the operation of building, it maybe necessary to inquire how the Avax itself is procured. Here the discoveries of recent inquirers have * Huber on Bees, p. 338. G 82 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. been little less singular and unexpected than in other departments of the history of these extraordinary insects. Now that it has been proved that wax is secreted by bees, it is not a little amusing to read the accounts given by our elder naturalists, of its being collected from flowers. Our countryman, Thorley,* appears to have been the first who suspected the true origin of wax, and Wildman (1769) seems also to have been aware of it ; but Reaumur, and particularly Bonnet, though both of them in general shrewd and accurate observers, were partially deceived by- appearances. The bees, we are erroneously told, search for wax “upon all sorts of trees and plants, but especially the rocket, the simple poppy, and in general all kinds of flowers. They amass it with their hair, with which their whole body is invested. It is something pleasant to see them roll in the yellow dust which falls from the chives to the bottom of the flowers, and then return covered with the same grains: but their best method of gathering the wax, especially when it is not very plentiful, is to carry away all the little particles of it with their jaws and fore feet, to press the wax upon them into little pellets, and slide them one at a time, with their middle feet, into a socket or cavity, that opens at their hinder feet, and serves to keep, the burthen fixed and steady till they return homo. They are sometimes exposed to inconveniences in this work by the motion of the air, and the delicate texture of the flowers which bend under their feet, and hinder them from packing up their booty, on which occasions they fix themselves in some steady place, where they press the wax into a mass, and wind it round their legs, making frequent returns to the flowers ; and when they have stocked themselves with a sufficient quan- tity, they immediately repair to their habitation. Two men, in the compass of a whole day, could not amass so much as two little balls of wax ; and yet they are no more than the common burthen of a single bee, and the produce of one journey. Those who are employed in collecting the wax from flowers are assisted by their companions, who * Melissdogia, or Female Monarchy, 8vo., Loud. 1714. HIVE-BEES. 83 attend them at the door of the hive, ease them of their load at their arrival, brush their feet, and shake out the two balls of wax ; upon which the others return to the fields to o-a ther new treasure, while those who disburtliened them convey their charge to the magazine. But some bees, again, when they have brought their load home, carry it themselves to the lodge, and there deliver it, laying hold of one end by their hinder feet, and with their middle feet sliding it out of the cavity that contained it ; but this is evidently a work of supererogation which they are not obliged to perform. The packets of wax continue a few moments in the lodge, till a set of officers come, who are charged with a third commission, which is to knjead this wax with their feet, and spread it out into different sheets, laid one above another. This is the unwrought wax, which is easily distinguished to be the produce of different flowers, by the variety of colours that appear on each sheet. When they afterwards come to work, they knead it over again ; they purify and whiten, and then reduce it to a uniform colour. They use this wax with a wonderful frugality ; for it is easy to observe that the whole family is conducted by prudence, and all their actions regulated by good govern- ment. Everything is granted to necessity, but nothing to superfluity ; not the least grain of wax is neglected, and if they waste it, they are frequently obliged to provide more ; at those very times when they want to get their provision of honey, they take off the wax that closed the cells, and carry it to the magazine.”* Reaumur hesitated in believing that this was a correct view of the subject, from observing the great difference between wax and pollen ; but lie was inclined to think the pollen might be swallowed, partially digested, and disgorged in the form of a kind of paste. Schiracli also mentions, that it was remarked by a certain Lusatian, that wax comes from the rings of the body, because, on withdrawing a bee while it is at work, and extending its body, the wax may be seen there in the form of scales. The celebrated John Hunter shrewdly remarked that the * De la Pluche, Spectacle de la Nature, vol. i. 84 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. pellets of pollen seen on the thighs of bees are of different colours on different bees, while the shade of the new-made comb is always uniform ; and therefore he concluded that pollen was not the origin of wax. Pollen also, ho observed, is collected with greater avidity for old hives, where the comb is complete, than for those where it is only begun, which would hardly be the case were it the material of wax. He found that, when the weather was cold and wet in June, so that a young swarm was prevented from going abroad, as much comb was constructed as had been made in an equal time when the weather was favourable and fine. The pellets of pollen on the thighs being thence proved not to be wax, he came to the conclusion that it was an external secretion, originating between the plates of the belly. When he first observed this, lie felt not a little embarrassed to explain the phenomenon, and doubted whether new plates were forming, or whether bees cast their old ones as lobsters do their shell. By melting the scales, he ascertained at least that they were wax ; and his opinion was confirmed by the fact, that the scales are only to be found during the season when the combs are con- structed. But he did not succeed in completing the dis- covery by observing the bees actually detach the scales, though lie conjectured they might be taken up by others, if they were once shaken out from between the rings.* We need not be so much surprised at mistakes committed upon this subject, when we recollect that honey itself was believed by the ancients to be an emanation of the air — a dew that descended upon flowers, as if it had a limited commission to fall only on them. The exposure and cor- rection of error is one of the first steps to genuine know- ledge ; and when we are aware of the stumbling-blocks which have interrupted the progress of others, we can always travel more securely in the way of truth. That wax is secreted is proved both by the wax-pouches within the rings of the abdomen, and by actual experiment. Huber and others fed bees entirely upon honey or sugar, * Philosophical Trans, for 1792, p. 143. 1IIVE-BEES. 85 and, notwithstanding, wax was produced and combs formed as if they had been at liberty to select , their food. “ When bees were confined,” says M. Huber, “ for the purpose of discovering whether honey was sufficient for the production of wax, they supported their captivity patiently, and showed uncommon perseverance in rebuilding their combs as we removed them. Our experiments required the presence of grubs ; honey and water had to be provided ; the bees were to be supplied with combs containing brood, and at the same time it was necessary to confine them, that they might not seek pollen abroad. Having a swarm by chance, which had become useless from sterility of the queen, we devoted it for our investigation in one of my leaf-hives, which was glazed on both sides. We removed the queen, and substituted combs containing eggs and young grubs, but no cell with farina ; even the smallest particle of the substance which John Hunter conjectured to be the ‘basis of the nutriment of the young was taken away. “ Nothing remarkable occurred during the first and second day : the bees brooded over the young, and seemed to take an interest in them ; but at sunset, on the third, a loud noise was heard in the hive. Impatient to discover the reason, we opened a shutter, and saw all in confusion ; the brood was abandoned, the workers ran in disorder over the combs, thousands rushed towards the lower part of the hive, and those about the entrance gnawed at its grating. Their design was not equivocal ; they wished to quit their prison. Some imperious necessity evidently obliged them to seek elsewhere what they could not find in the hive and apprehensive that they might perish if I restrained them longer from yielding to their instinct, I set them at liberty. The whole swarm escaped, but the hour being unfavourable for their collections, they flew around the hive, and did not depart far from it. Increasing darkness and the coolness of the air compelled them Very soon to return. Probably these circumstances calmed their agita- tion; for we observed them peaceably remounting their combs ; order seemed re-established, and we took advantage of this moment to close the hive. 86 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. “Next day, the 19th of July, we saw the rudiments of two royal cells, which the bees had formed on one of the brood-combs. This evening, at the same hour as on the preceding, wo again heard a loud buzzing in the closed hive; agitation and disorder rose to the highest degree, and we were again obliged to let the swam escape. The bees did not remain long absent from their habitation ; they quieted and returned as before. We remarked on the 20th that the royal cells had not been continued, as would have been the case in the ordinary stato of things. A great tumult took place in the evening ; the bees appeared to be in a delirium ; we set them at liberty, and order was restored on their return. Their captivity having endured five days, we thought it needless to protract it farther ; besides, we wero desirous of knowing whether the brood was in a suitable condition, and if it had made the usual progress ; and we wished also to try to discover what might be the cause of the periodical agitation of the bees. M. Burnens (the assistant of Huber), having exposed the two brood-combs, the royal cells were immediately recog- nised ; but it was obvious that they had not been enlarged. Why should they ? Neither eggs, grubs, nor that kind of paste peculiar to the individuals of their species wero there ! The other cells were vacant likewise ; no brood, not an atom of paste, was in them. Thus, the worms had died of hunger. Had wo precluded the bees from all means of sustenance by removing the farina? To decide this point, it was necessary to confide other brood to the care of the same insects, now giving them abundance of pollen. They had not been enabled to make any collec- tions while wo examined their combs. On this occasion they escaped in an apartment where the windows wero shut ; and after substituting young worms for those they had allowed to perish, we returned them to their prison. Next day we remarked that they had resumed courage ; they had consolidated the combs, and remained on the brood. They were then provided with fragments of combs, where other workers had stored up farina ; and to be able to observe what they did with it, we took this substance HIVE-BEES. 87 from some of their cells, and spread it on the board of the hive. The bees soon discovered both the farina in the combs and what wo had exposed to them. They crowded to the cells, and also descending to the bottom of the hives, took the pollen grain by grain in their teeth, and conveyed it to their mouths. Those that had eaten it most greedily mounted the combs before the rest, and stopping on the cells of the young worms, inserted their heads, and re- mained there for a certain time. M. Bumens opened one of the divisions of the hive gently, and powdered the workers, for the purpose of recognising them when they should ascend the combs. He observed them during several hours, and by this means ascertained that they took so great a quantity of pollen only to impart it to their j’oung. Then withdrawing the portions of comb which had been placed by us on the board of the hive, we saw that the pollen had been sensibly diminished in quantity. They were returned to the bees, to augment their provision still further, for the purpose of extending the experiment. The royal, as well as several common, cells were soon closed ; and, on opening the hive, all the worms were found to have prospered. Some still had their food before them ; the cells of others that had spun were shut with a waxen covering. “ We witnessed these facts repeatedly, and always with equal interest. They so decisively prove the regard of the bees towards the grubs which they are intrusted with rearing, that we shall not seek for any other explanation of their conduct. Another fact, no less extraordinary, and much more difficult to be accounted for, was exhibited by bees constrained to work in wax, several times successively, from the syrup of sugar. Towards the close of the experi- •ment they ceased to feed the young, though in the be- ginning these had received the usual attention. They even frequently dragged them from their cells, and carried them out of the hive.”* Mr. Wiston, of Germantown, in the United States, men- tions a fact conclusive on this subject. “ I had,” says he, * Huber on Bees. 88 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. “ a late swarm last summer, which, in consequence of the drought, filled only one box with honey. As it was late in the season, and the food collected would not enable the bees to subsist for the winter, 1 shut up the hive, and gave them half-a-pint of honey ever)' day. They immediately set to work, filled the empty cells, and then constructed new cells enough to fill another box, in which they de- posited the remainder of the honey.” A more interesting proof is thus related by the same gentleman. “ In the summer of 1824, I traced some wild bees, which had been feeding on the flowers in my meadow, to their home in the woods, and which I found in the body of an oak-tree, exactly fifty feet above the ground. Having caused the entrance to the hive to be closed by an expert climber, the limbs were separated in detail, until the trunk alone was left standing. To the upper extremity of this, a tackle-fall was attached so as to connect it with an adjacent tree, and, a saw being applied below, the naked trunk was cut through. When the immense weight was lowered nearly to the earth, the ropes broke, and the mass fell with a violent crash. The part of the tree which con- tained the hive, separated by the saw, was conveyed to my garden, and placed in a vertical position. On being re- leased, the bees issued out by thousands, and though alarmed, soon became reconciled to the change of situation. By removing a part of the top of the block the interior of the hive was exposed to view, and the comb itself, nearly six feet in height, was observed to have fallen down two feet below the roof of the cavity. To repair the damage was the first object of the labourers: in doing which, a . large part of their store of honey was expended, because it was at too late a season to obtain materials from abroad. In the following February these industrious but unfortunate ' insects issuing in a confused manner from the hive, fell dead in thousands around its entrance, the victims of a poverty created by their efforts to repair the ruins of their habitation.”* In another experiment, M. ITuber confined a swarm so * American Quarterly Review for June, 1828, p. 382. IIIVE-BEES. 89 that they had access to nothing beside honey, and five times successively removed the combs with the precaution of preventing the escape of the bees from the apartment. On each occasion they produced new combs, which puts it beyond dispute that honey is sufficient to effect the secre- tion of wax without the aid of pollen. Instead of supply- ing the bees with honey, they were subsequently fed, exclusively, on pollen and fruit ; but though they were kept in captivity for eight days under a bell-glass, with a comb containing nothing but farina, they neither made wax nor was any secreted under the rings. In another series of experiments, in which bees were fed with different sorts of sugar, it was found that nearly one-sixth of the sugar was converted into wax, dark-coloured sugar yielding more than double the quantity of refined sugar. It may not bo out of place to subjoin the few anatomical and physiological facts which have been ascertained by Huber, Madlle. Jurine, and Latreille. The first stomach of the worker-bee, according to Worker-bee, magnified— showing the position of the scales of Wax. Latreille,* is appropriated to the reception of honey, but this is never found in the second stomach, which is sur- rounded with muscular rings, and from one end to the other very much resembles a cask covered with hoops. It is within these rings that the wax is produced ; but the * Latreille, Mem. Acad, des Sciences, 1821. 90 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. secreting vessels for this purpose have hitherto escaped the researches of the acutest naturalists. Iluher, however, plausibly enough conjectures that they are contained in the internal lining of the wax-pockets, which consists of a cellular substance reticulated with hexagons. The wax- pockets themselves, which are concealed by the over- lapping of the rings, may be seen by pressing the abdomen of a worker-bee so as to lengthen it, and separate the rings further from each other. "When this has been done, there may be seen on each of the four intermediate hoops of the belly, and separated by what may be called the keel (carina), two whitish-coloured pouches, of a soft texture, and in the form of a trapezium. Within, the little scales or plates of wax are produced from time to time, and are Abdomen of Wax-worker Bee. removed and employed as we shall presently see. AN e may remark, that it is chiefly the wax- workers which produce the wax ; for though the nurse-bees are furnished with wax-pockets, they secrete it only in very small quantities; while in the queen-bee, and the males or drones, no pockets are discoverable. 11 All the scales,” says Iluber, “ are not. alike in every bee, for a difference is perceptible in consistence, shape, and thickness ; some arc so thin and transparent as to HIVE-BEES. 91 require a magnifier to be recognised, or we have been able to discover nothing but spicule similar to those of water freezing. Neither the spiculte nor the scales rest imme- diately on the membrane of the pocket, a slight liquid medium is interposed, serving to lubricate the joinings of the rings, or to render the extraction of the scales easier, as otherwise they might adhere too firmly to the sides of the pockets.” M. Huber has seen the scales so large as to project beyond the rings, being visible without stretching the segments, and of a whitish yellow, from greater thick- ness lessening their transparency. These shades of difference in the scales of various bees, their enlarged dimensions, the fluid interposed beneath them, the correspondence between the scale, and the size and form of the pockets, seem to infer the oozing of this substance through the membranes whereon it is moulded. He was confirmed in this opinion by the escape of a transparent fluid on piercing the membrane, whose internal surface seemed to be applied to the soft parts of the belly. This he found coagulated in cooling, when it resembled wax, and again liquefied on exposure to heat. The scales themselves, also, melted and coagulated like wax.* By chemical analysis, however, it appears that the wax of the rings is a more simple substance than that which composes the cells ; for the latter is sohible in ether, and in spirit of turpentine, while the former is insoluble in ether, and but partially soluble in spirit of turpentine. It should seem to follow, that if the substance found lying under the rings be really the elements of wax, it undergoes some subsequent preparation after it is detached ; and that the bees, in short, are capable of impregnating it with matter, imparting to it whiteness and ductility, whereas in its unprepared state it is only fusible. Pkopous. Wax is not the only material employed by bees in their architecture. Beside this, they make use of a brown, * Huber on Bees, p. 325. 92 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. odoriferous, resinous substance, called propolis* more tena- cious and extensible than wax, and well adapted for cementing and varnishing. It was strongly suspected by Reaumur that the bees collected the propolis from those trees which are known to produce a similar gummy resin, such as the poplar, the birch, and the willow ; but he was thrown into doubt by not being able to detect the bees in the act of procuring it, and by observing them to collect it where none of those trees, nor any other of the same description, grew. His bees also refused to make use of bitumen, and other resinous substances, with which he supplied them, though Mr. Knight, as we shall afterwards see, was more successful. f Long before the time of Reaumur, however, Mouffet, in his Jnsectarum Theatrum, quotes Cordus for the opinion that propolis is collected from the buds of trees, such as the poplar and birch ; and Reim says it is collected from the pine and fir.J Huber at length set the question at rest; and his experiments and observations are so interesting, that we shall give them in his own words : — “For many 3‘ears,” says he, “1 had fruitlessly endea- voured to find them on trees producing an analogous sub- stance, though multitudes had been seen returning laden with it. “ In July, some branches of the wild poplar, which had been cut since spring, with very large buds, full of a reddish, viscous, odoriferous matter, were brought to me, and I planted them in vessels before hives, in the way of the bees going out to forage, so that they could not be insensible of their presence. Within a quarter of an hour, they were visited by a bee, which separating the sheath of a bud with its teeth, drew out threads of the viscous substance and lodged a pellet of it in one of the baskets of its limbs ; from another bud it collected another pellet for the opposite limb, and departed to the hive. A second bee * From two Greek words, irpo iro\is, meaning before the cit;/, as the substance is principally applied to the projecting parts of the hive. f Phil. Trans, for 1807, p. ‘242. J Schiraeh, Hist, des Abeilles, p. 241. IIIVE-BEES. 93 took the place of the former in a few minutes, following the same procedure. Young shoots of poplar, recently cut, did not seem to attract these insects, as their viscous matter had less consistence than the former. * “Different experiments proved the identity of this substance with the propolis ; and now, having only to discover how the bees applied it to use, we peopled a hive, so prepared as to fulfil our views. The bees, building upwards, soon reached the glass above ; but, unable to quit their habitation, on account of rain, they were three weeks without bringing home propolis. Their combs remained perfectly white until the beginning of July, when the state of the atmosphere became more favourable for our observa- tions. Serene, warm weather engaged them to forage, and they returned from the fields laden with a resinous gum, resembling a transparent jelly, and having the colour and lustre of the garnet. It was easily distinguished from the farinaceous pellets then collected by other bees. The workers bearing the propolis ran over the clusters, sus- pended from the roof of the hive, and rested on the rods supporting the combs, or sometimes stopped on the sides of their dwelling, in expectation of their companions coming to disencumber them of their burthen. We actually saw two or three arrive, and carry the propolis from off the limbs of each with their teeth. The upper part of the hive exhibited the most animated spectacle ; thither a multitude of bees resorted from all quarters, to engage in the pre- dominant occupation of the collection, distribution, and application of the propolis. Some conveyed that of which they had unloaded the purveyors in their teeth, and deposited it in heaps; others hastened, before its balden- ing, to spread it out like a varnish, or formed it into strums, proportioned to the interstices of the sides of the hives °to be filled up. Nothing could be more diversified than the operations carried on. “ The bees> apparently charged with applying the pro- * Kirby and Spence observed bees veiy busy in collecting propolis trom tlie tacamaliaca-tree ( Populus balsamifera).— Introd., ii. 186. 94 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. polis within the cells, were easily distinguished from the multitude of workers, by the direction of their heads to- wards the horizontal pane forming the roof of the hive, and on reaching it, they deposited their burthen nearly in the middle of intervals separating the combs : then they con- veyed the propolis to the real place of its destination. They suspended themselves by the claws of the hind legs to points of support, afforded by the viscosity of the pro- polis on the glass ; and, as it were, swinging themselves backwards and forwards, brought the heap of this substance nearer to the cells at each impulse. Here the bees employed their fore feet, which remained free, to sweep what the teeth had detached, and to unite the fragments scattered over the glass, which recovered all its transparency when the whole propolis was brought to the vicinity of the cells. “ After some of the bees had smoothed down and cleaned out the glazed cells, feeling the way with their antennas, one desisted, and having approached a heap of propolis, drew out a thread with its teeth. This being broken oft', it was taken in the claws of the fore feet, and the bee, re- entering the cell, immediately placed it in the angle of two portions that had been smoothed, in which operation the fore feet and teeth were used alternately ; but probably proving too clumsy, the thread was reduced and polished ; and we admired the accuracy with which it was adjusted when the work was completed. The insect did not stop here : returning to the cell, it prepared other parts of it to receive a second thread, for which we did not doubt that the heap would be resorted to. Contrary to our expecta- tion, however, it availed itself of the portion of the thread cut off on the former occasion, arranged it in the appointed place, and gave it all the solidity and finish of which it was susceptible. Other bees concluded the work which the first had begun : and the sides of the cells were speedily secured with threads of propolis, while some were also put on the orifices ; but we could not seize the moment when they were varnished, though it may be easily conceived how it is done.”* * Huber on Bees, p. 408. HIVE-BEES. 95 This is not the only use to which bees apply the propolis. They are extremely solicitous to remove such insects or foreign bodies as happen to get admission into the hive. \\ hen so light as not to exceed their powers, they first kill the insect with their stings, and then drag it out with their teeth. But it sometimes happens, as was first observed by Maraldi, and since by Reaumur and others, that an ill-fated snail creeps into the hive : this is no sooner perceived than it is attacked on all sides, and stung to death. But how are the bees to carry out so heavy a burthen? Such a labour would be in vain. To prevent the noxious smell which would arise from its putrefaction, they immediately embalm it, by covering every part of its body with propolis, through which no effluvia can escape. 'When a snail with a shell gets entrance, to dispose of it gives much less trouble and expense to the bees. As soon as it receives the first wound from a sting, it naturally retires within its shell. In this case, the bees, instead of pasting it all over with propolis, content themselves with gluing all round the margin of the shell, which is sufficient to render the animal for ever immovably fixed. Mr. Knight, the learned and ingenious President of the Horticultural Society, discovered by accident an artificial substance, more attractive than any of the resins experi- mentally tried by Reaumur. Having caused the decorti- cated part of a tree to be covered with a cement composed of bees’-wax and turpentine, ho observed that this was frequented by hive-bees, who, finding it to be a very good propolis ready made, detached it from the tree with their mandibles, and then, as usual, passed it from the first leg to the second, and so on. When one bee had thus collected its load, another often came behind and despoiled it of all it had collected ; a second and a third load were frequently lost in the same manner ; and yet the patient insect pursued its operations without manifesting any signs c.f anger * Probably the latter circumstance, at which Mr. Knight seems to have been surprised, was nothing more than "an * Philosophical Traus. for 1807, p. 242. 90 IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. instance of the division of labour so strikingly exemplified in every part of the economy of bees. It may not be out of place here to describe the apparatus with which the worker-bees are provided for the purpose of carrying the propolis as well as the pollen of flowers to the hive, and which has just been alluded to in the observations of Mr. Knight. The shin or middle portion of the hind pair of legs is actually formed into a triangular basket, admirably adapted to this design. The bottom of this basket is composed of a smooth, shining, hom-like substance, hollowed out in the substance of the limb, and surrounded with a margin of strong and thickly-set bristles. Whatever Structure of tlie legs of the Bee, for carrying proi>oUs ami pollen, magnified. materials, therefore, may be placed by the bee in the interior of this basket, are secured from falling out by the bristles around it, whose elasticity will even allow the load to be heaped be}rond their points without letting it fall. In the case of propolis, when the bee is loading her sin- gular basket, she first kneads the piece she has detached with her mandibles, till it becomes somewhat dry and less adhesive, as otherwise it Avould stick to her limbs. This preliminary process sometimes occupies nearly half an hour. She then passes it backwards by means of her feet to the cavity of her basket, giving it two or three pats to make it adhere ; and when she adds a second portion to the first, she often finds it necessary to pat it still hauler. \\ hen she HIVE-BEES. . 97 has procured as much as the basket will conveniently hold, she flies off with it to the hive. * The Building of the Cells. The notion commonly entertained respecting glass hives is altogether erroneous. Those who are unacquainted with bees imagine that, by means of a glass hive, all their pro- ceedings may be easily watched and recorded ; but it is to be remembered that bees are exceedingly averse to the intrusion of light, and their first operation in such cases is to close up every chink by which light can enter to dis- turb them, either by clustering together, or by a plaster composed of propolis. It consequently requires consider- able management and ingenuity, even with the aid of a glass hive, to see them actually at work. M. Huber employed a hive with leaves, which opened in the manner of a book; and for some purposes he used a glass box, inserted in the body of the hive, but easily brought into view by means of screws. But no invention hitherto contrived is sufficient to ob- viate every difficulty. The bees are so eager to afford mutual assistance, and for this purpose so many of them crowd together in rapid succession, that the operations of indiv iduals can seldom be traced. Though this crowding, however, appears to an observer to be not a little con- fused, it is all regulated with admirable order, as has been ascertained by Reaumur and other distinguished naturalists. When bees begin to build the hive, they divide them- selves into bands, one of which produces materials for the structure ; another works upon these, and forms them into a rough sketch of the dimensions and partitions of the cells. All this is completed by the second band, who examine and adjust the angles, remove the superfluous wax, and give the work its necessary perfection ; and a third band brings pro- visions to the labourers, who cannot leave their work. But no distribution of food is made to those whoso charge, in collecting propolis and pollen, calls them to the field, because it is supposed they will hardly forget themselves J II 98 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. neither is any allowance made to those who begin the architecture of the cells. Their province is very trouble- some, because they are obliged to level and extend, as well as cut and adjust the wax to the dimensions required ; but then they soon obtain a dismission from this labour, and retire to the fields to regale themselves with food, and wear oft' their fatigue with a more agreeable employment. Those who succeed them, draw their mouth, their feet, and the extremity of their body, several times over all the work, and never desist till the whole is polished and completed ; and as they frequently need refreshments, and yet are not permitted to retire, there are waiters always attending, who serve them with provisions when they require them. The labourer who has an appetite, bends down his trunk before the caterer to intimate that he has an inclination to eat, upon which the other opens his hag of honey, and pours out a few drops : these may he distinctly seen rolling, through the whole of his trunk, which insensibly swells in every part the liquor flows through. When this little repast is over, the labourer returns to his work, and his body and feet repeat the same motions as before.* Before they can commence building, however, when a colony or swarm migrates from the original hive to a new situation, it is necessary first to collect propolis, with which every chink and cranny in the place where they mean to build may be carefully stopped up ; and secondly, that a quantity of wax he secreted by the wax-workers, to form the requisite cells. The secretion of wax, it would appear, goes on best when the bees are in a state of repose ; and the wax-workers, accordingly, suspend themselves in the interior in an extended cluster, like a curtain which is composed of a series of intertwined festoons or garlands, crossing each other in all directions — the uppermost bee maintaining its position by laying hold of the roof with its fore legs, and the succeeding one by laying hold of the hind legs of the first. “ A person,” says Reaumur, “ must have been bom devoid of curiosity not to take interest in the investigation * Spectacle de la Nature, tome i. IIIVE-BEE3. 09 of such wonderful proceedings.” Yet Reaumur himself seems not to have understood that the bees suspended them- selves in this manner to secrete wax, hut merely, as he imagined, to recruit themselves by rest for renewing their labours. The bees composing the festooned curtain are individually motionless ; but this curtain is, notwithstand- C'urtaln uf Wax-workers secreting wax. ing, kept moving by the proceedings in the interior; for the nurse-bees never form any portion of it, and continue their activity — a distinction with which Reaumur was unacquainted. Although there are many thousand labourers in a hive. 100 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. they do not commence foundations for combs in several places at once, but wait till an individual bee has selected a site, and laid the foundation of a comb, which serves as a directing mark for all that are to follow. Were wo not expressly told by so accurate an observer as Huber, we might hesitate to believe that bees, though united in what appears to be an harmonious monarchy, are strangers to subordination, and subject to no discipline. Hence it is, that though many bees work on the same comb, they do not appear to be guided by any simultaneous impulse, The stimulus which moves them is successive. An indi- vidual bee commences each operation, and several others successively apply themselves to accomplish the same purpose. Each bee appeal’s, therefore, to act individually, either as directed by the bees preceding it, or by the state of advancement in which it finds the work it has to proceed with. If there be anything like unanimous consent, it is the inaction of several thousand workers while a single individual proceeds to determine and lay down the foun- dation of the first comb. Reaumur regrets, that, though he could by snatches detect a bee at work in founding cells or perfecting their structure, his observations were generally interrupted by the crowding of other bees between him and the little builder. He was therefore compelled rather to infer the different steps of their procedure from an ex- amination of the cells when completed, than from actual observation. The ingenuity of Huber, even under all the disadvantages of blindness, succeeded in tracing the minutest operations of the workers from the first waxen plate of the foundation. We think the narrative of the discoverer’s experiments, as given by himself, will be more interesting than any abstract of it which we could fur- nish : — “ Having taken a large bell-shaped glass receiver, we glued thin wooden slips to the arch at certain intervals, because the glass itself was too smooth to admit of the bees supporting themselves on it. A swarm, consisting of some thousand workers, several hundred males, and a fertile queen, was introduced, and they soon ascended to HIVE-BEES. 101 'the top. Those first gaining the slips fixed themselves tthere by the fore-feet ; others, scrambling up the sides, 'joined them, by holding their legs with their own, and tthey thus formed a kind of chain, fastened by the two ends rto the uppei^ parts of the receiver, and served as ladders or a bridge to the workers enlarging their number. The Hatter were united in a cluster, hanging like an inverted ] pyramid from the top to the bottom of tire hive. “ The country then affording little honey, wo provided tthe bees with syrup of sugar, in order to hasten their ! labour. They crowded to the edge of a vessel containing it; and, having satisfied themselves, returned to the group. We were now struck with the absolute repose of this hive, (contrasted with the usual agitation of bees. Meanwhile, 'the nurse-bees alone went to forage in the country; they i returned with pollen, kept guard at the entrance of the hive, cleansed it, and stopped up its edges with propolis. The wax-workers remained motionless above fifteen hours : 'the curtain of bees, consisting always of the same indi- viduals, assured us that none replaced them. Some hours Hater, we remarked that almost all these individuals had wax scales under the rings ; and next day this phenomenon 'was still more general. The bees forming the external layer of the cluster, having now somewhat altered their ; position, enabled us to see their bellies distinctly. By the projection of the wax scales, the rings seemed edged with white. The curtain of bees became rent in several places, and some commotion began to be observed in the hive. “Convinced that the combs would originate in the 1 centre of the swarm, our whole attention was then directed i towards the roof of the glass. A worker at this time de- tached itself from one of the central festoons of the cluster, separated itself from the crowd, and, with its head, drove away the bees at the beginning of the row in the middle of the arch, turning round to form a space an inch or more in 'diameter, in which it might move freely. It then fixed itself in the centre of the space thus cleared. “ Tlie worker now employing the pincers at the joint of one of the third pair of its limbs, seized a scale of wax 102 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. projecting from a ring, and brought it forward to its mouth with the claws of its fore-legs, where it appeared in a vertical position. We remarked that, with its claws, it turned the wax in every necessary direction ; that the edge of the scale was immediately broken down, and the fragments having been accumulated in the ho\low of the mandibles, issued forth like a very narrow ribbon, impreg- nated with a frothy liquid by the tongue. The tongue itself assumed the most varied shapes, and executed the most complicated operations, — being sometimes flattened like a Wax-worker laying the foundation of the first Cell. trowel, and at other times pointed like a pencil ; and, after imbuing the whole substance of the ribbon, pushed it forward again into the mandibles, whence it was drawn out a second time, but in an opposite direction. “ At length the bee applied these particles of wax to the vault of the hive, where the saliva impregnating them promoted their adhesion, and also communicated a white- ness and opacity which were wanting when the scales were detached from the rings. Doubtless this process was to give the Avax that ductility and tenacity belonging to its perfect state. The bee then separated thoso por- tions not yet applied to use Avith its mandibles, and Avith the same organs afterwards arranged them at pleasure. The founder bee, a name appropriated to this worker, repeated the same operation, until all the fragments, Avorked up and impregnated with the fluid, Avere attached to the \Tault, when it repeated the preceding operations on the part of the scale yet kept apart, and again united to the rest Avhat Avas obtained from it. A second and third scale were similarly treated by the same bee ; yet the work Avas only sketched ; for the worker did nothing but accumulate the particles of Avax together. Meanwhile the founder, . ttsL . •- mA , rja , ^ HIVE-BEES. 103 quitting its position, disappeared amidst its companions. Another, with wax under the rings, succeeded it, which, suspending itself to the same spot, withdrew a scale by the pincers of the hind legs, and passing it through its mandibles, prosecuted the work ; and taking care to make its deposit in a line with the former, it united their ex- tremities. A third worker detaching itself from the in- terior of the cluster, now came and reduced some of the scales to paste, and put them near the materials accumu- lated by its companions, but not in a straight line. Ano- Curtatn of Wax-workers (see p. 99). ther bee, apparently sensible of the defect, removed the misplaced wax before our eyes, and carrying it to the former heap, deposited it there, exactly in the order and direction pointed out. “From all these operations was produced a block of a rugged surface, hanging down from the arch, without any 104 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. perceptible angle, or any traces of cells. It was a simple wall, or ridge, running in a straight line, and without the least inflection, two-thirds of an inch in length, about two- thirds of a cell, or two lines, high, and declining towards the extremities. We have seen other foundation walls from an inch to an inch and a half long, the form being always the same ; hut none ever of greater height. “The vacuity in the centre of the cluster had permitted us to discover the first manoeuvres of the bees, and the art with which they laid the foundations of their edifices. However, it was filled up tdo soon for our satisfaction ; for workers collecting on both faces of the wall obstructed our view of their further operations.” * * Huber on Bees, p. 858. ( 105 ) CHAPTER VI. ARCHITECTURE OF THE BEE-HIVE CONTINUED — FORM OF THE CELLS. The obstruction of which M. Huber complains only ope- rated as a stimulus to his ingenuity in contriving how he might continue his interesting observations. From the time of Pappus to the present day, mathematicians have applied the principles of geometry to explain the construc- tion of the cells of a bee-hive ; but though their extra- ordinary regularity, and wonderfully-selected form, had so often been investigated by men of the greatest talent, add skilled in all the refinements of science, the process by which they are constructed, involving also the causes of their regularity of form, had not been traced, till M. Huber devoted himself to the inquiry. As the wax-workers secrete only a limited quantity of wax, it is indispensably requisite that as little as possible of it should be consumed, and that none of it should be wasted. Bees, therefore, as M. Reaumur well remarks,* have to solve this difficult geometrical problem : — a quan- tity of wax being given, to form of it similar and equal cells of a determinate capacity, but of the largest size in proportion to the quantity of matter employed, and dis- posed in such a manner as to occupy the least possible space in the hive. This problem is solved by bees in all its conditions. The cylindrical form would seem to be best adapted to the shape of the insect ; but had the cells been cylindrical, they could not have been applied to each other without leaving a vacant and superfluous space between every three contiguous cells. Had the cells, on the other hand, been square or triangular, they might have been con- * Reaumur, vol. v. p. 380. 106 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. structed without unnecessary vacancies ; but these forms would have both required more material and had been very unsuitable to the shape of a bee’s body. The six- sided form of the cells obviates every objection ; and while it fulfils the conditions of the problem, it is equally adapted with a cylinder to the shape of the bee. M. Reaumur further remarks, that the base of each cell, instead of forming a plane, is usually composed of three pieces in the shape of the diamonds on playing cards, and placed in such a manner as to form a hollow pyramid. This structure, it may be observed, imparts a greater degree of strength, and, still keeping the solution of the problem in view, gives a great capacity with the smallest expendi- ture of material. This has actually, indeed, been ascertained by mathematical measurement and calculation. Maraldi, the inventor of glass hives, determined, by minutely measuring these angles, that the greater were 109° 28', and the smaller 70° 32'; and M. Reaumur, being desirous to know why these particular angles are selected, requested M. Koenig, a skilful mathematician (without informing him of his design, or telling him of Maraldi’s researches), to determine by calculation what ought to bo the angle of a six-sided cell, with a concave pyramidal base, formed of three similar and equal rhomboid plates, so that the least possible matter should enter into its construction. By em- ploying what geometricians denominate the infinitesimal calculus, M. Koenig found that the angles should be 109° 26' for the greater, and 70° 34' for the smaller, or about two- sixtieths of a degree, more or less, than the actual angles made choice of by bees. The equality of inclination in the angles has also been said to facilitate the construction of the cells. M. Huber adds to these remarks, that the cells of the first row, by which the whole comb is attached to the roof of a hive, are not like the rest ; for, instead of six sides, they have only five, of which the roof forms one. The base, also, is in these different, consisting of three pieces on the face of the comb, and on the other side of two : one of these only is diamond-shaped, while the other two are HIVE-BEES. 107 of an irregular four-sided figure. This arrangement, by bringing the greatest number of points in contact with the interior surface, insures the stability of the comb. It may, however, be said not to be quite certain, that Reaumur and others have not ascribed to bees the merit of ingenious mathematical contrivance and selection, when ‘the construction of the cells may more probably originate in the form of their mandibles and the other instruments employed in their operations. In the case of other insects, we have, both in the preceding and subsequent pages of this volume, repeatedly noticed, that they use their bodies, or parts thoreof, as the standards of measurement and Arrangement of Cells. modelling ; and it is not impossible that bees may proceed on a similar principle. M. Huber replies to this objection, that bees are not provided with instruments corresponding to the angles of their cells ; for there is no more resem- blance between these and the form of their mandibles, than between the chisel of the sculptor and the work which he produces. The head, he thinks, does not furnish any better explanation. He admits that the antennae are very flexible, so as to enable the insects to follow tho outline of every object ; but concludes that neither their structure, nor that of tho limbs and mandibles, are adequate to explain the form of the cells, though all these are employed in the operations of building, — the effect, according to him, de- pending entirely on the object which the insect proposes. We shall now follow M. Huber in the experiments which he contrived, in order to observe the operations of the bees 108 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. subsequent to their laying a foundation for the first cell ; and we shall again quote from his own narrative : — “ It appeared to me,” he says, “ that the only method of isolating the architects, and bringing them individually into view, would be to induce them to change the direc- tion of their operations and work upwards. “ I had a box made twelve inches square and nine deep, ' with a moveable glass lid. Combs, full of brood, honey, and pollen, were next selected from one of my leaf-hives, as containing what might interest the bees, and being cut into pieces a foot long, and four inches deep, they were arranged vertically at the bottom of the box, at the same intervals as the insects themselves usually leave between them. A small slip of wooden lath covered the upper edge of each. It was not probable that the bees would attempt to found new combs on the glass roof of the box, because its smoothness precluded the swarm from adhering to it ; therefore, if disposed to build, they could do so over the slips resting on the combs, which left a vacuity five inches high above them. As we had foreseen, the swarm with which this box was peopled established itself among the combs below. We then observed the nurse-bees displaying their natural activity. They dispersed them- selves throughout the hive, to feed tho young grubs, to clear out their lodgment, and adapt it for their convenience. Certainly, the combs, which were roughly cut to fit the bottom of tho box, and in some parts damaged, appeared to them shapeless and misplaced ; for they speedily com- menced their reparation. They beat down the old wax, kneaded it between their teeth, and thus formed binding materials to consolidate them. We were astonished beyond expression by such a multitude of workers employed at once in labours to which it did not appear they should have been called, at their coincidence, their zeal, and their prudence. “ But it was still more wonderful, that about half the numerous population took no part in the proceedings, remaining motionless, while tho others fulfilled the func- tions required. The wax-workers, in a state of absolute HIVE-BEES. 109 repose, recalled our former observations. Gorged with the honey we had put within their reach, and continuing in this condition during twenty -four hours, wax was formed under their rings, and was now ready to be put in opera- tion. To our great satisfaction, we soon saw a little foun- dation wall rising on one of the slips that we had prepared to receive the. superstructure. No obstacle was offered to the progress of our observations ; and for the second time we beheld both the undertaking of the founder-bee, and the successive labours of several wax-workers, in forming tho foundation wall. Would that my readers could share the interest which the view of these architects inspired ! “ This foundation, originally very small, was enlarged as the work required ; while they excavated on one side a hollow, of about the width of a common cell, and on the opposite surface two others somewhat more elongated. The middle of the single cell corresponded exactly to the partition separating the latter : the arches of these excava- Foundatlon-wall enlarged, and the Cells commenced. tions, projecting by the accumulation of wax, were con- verted into ridges in a straight line ; whence the cells of the first row were composed of five sides, considering the slip as one side, and those of the second row, of six sides. “ The interior conformation of the cavities, apparently, was derived from the position of their respective outlines. It seemed that tho bees, endowed with an admirable deli- cacy of feeling, directed their teeth principally to the place where the wax was thickest ; that is, the parts where . other workers on the opposite side had accumulated it ; and this explains why the bottom of the cell is excavated in an angular direction behind the projection on the sides of which the sides of the corresponding cells are to rise. The largest of the excavations, which was opposite to three 110 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. others, was divided into three parts, while the excavations of the first row on the other face, applied against this one, were composed of only two. “ In consequence of the manner in which the excava- tions were opposed to each other, those of the second row, and all subsequent, partially applied to three cavities, were composed of three equal diamond-shaped lozenges. I may here remark, that each part of the labour of bees appears the natural result of what has preceded it; therefore, chance has no share in these admirable combinations. “ A foundation-wall rose above the slip like a minute vertical partition, five or six lines long, two lines high, but only half a line in thickness ; the edge circular, and the surface rough. Quitting the cluster among the combs, a nurse-bee mounted the slip, turned around the block, and visiting both sides, began to work actively in the middle. It removed as much wax with its teeth as might equal the diameter of a common cell ; and after kneading and moisten- ing the particles, deposited them on the edge of the excava- tion. This insect having laboured some seconds, retired, and was soon replaced by another ; a third continued the work, raising the margin of the edges, now projecting from the cavity, and with assistance of its teeth and feet fixing the particles, so as to give these edges a straigliter form. More than twenty bees successively participated in the same work ; and when the cavity Avas little abo\ro a line and a half in height, though equalling a cell in width, a bee left the SAvarm, and after encircling the block, com- menced its operations on the opposite face, where yet un- touched. But its teeth acting only on one half of this side, the holloAV which it formed A\'as opposite to only one of the slight prominences bordering the first cavity. Nearly at the same time another worker began on the right of the face that had been untouched, Avherein both Avere occupied in forming cavities Avhich may be designed the second and third ; and they also Avere replaced by substitutes. These tAvo latter cavities were separated only by the common margin, framed of particles of wax withdrawn from them ; Avhich margin corresponded with the centre of the cavity on HIVE-BEES. Ill the opposite surface. The foundation -wall itself was still of insufficient dimensions to admit the full diameter of a cell : but while the excavations were deepened, wax- workers, extracting their scales of wax, applied them in enlarging its circumference ; so that it rose nearly two lines further around the circular arch. The nurse-bees, which appeared more especially charged with sculpturing the cells, being then enabled to continue their outlines, pro- longed the cavities, and heightened their margins on the new addition of wax. “The arch, formed by the edge of each of these cavities, was next divided as by two equal chords, in the line of which the bees formed stages or projecting borders, or margins meeting at an obtuse angle : the cavities now had four margins, two lateral and perpendicular to the sup- porting slip, and two oblique, which were shorter. “ Meantime, it became more difficult to follow the ope- rations of the bees, from their frequently interposing their heads between the eye of the observer and the bottom of the cell ; but the partition, whereon their teeth laboured, had become so transparent, as to expose what passed on the other side. “ The cavities, of which we speak, formed the bottom of the first three cells ; and while the bees engaged were advancing them to perfection, other workers commenced sketching a second row of cells above the first, and partly behind those in front— for, in general, their labour pro- ceeds by combination. We cannot say, ‘ When bees have finished this cell, they will begin new ones but, ‘ while particular workers advance a certain portion, we are certain that others will carry on the adjacent cells.’ Further, the work begun on one face of the comb is already the com- mencement of that which is to follow on the reverse. All this depends on a reciprocal relation, or a mutual con- nexion of the parts, rendering the whole subservient to each other. It is undoubted, therefore, that' slight irregu- larities on the front will affect the form of the cells on the back of the comb.” * * Huber on Bees, p. 3G8. 112 IN'SECT ARCHITECTURE. When they have in this manner worked the bottoms of the first row of cells into the required forms, some of the nurse-bees finish them by imparting a sort of polish, while others proceed to cut out the rudiments of a second row from a fresh wall of wax which has been built in the mean- while by the wax-workers, and also on the opposite side of this wall ; for a comb of cells is always double, being arranged in two layers, placed end to end. The cells of this second row are engrafted on the borders of cavities hollowed out in the wall, being founded by the nurse-bees, bringing the contour of all the bottoms, which is at first unequal, to the same level ; and this level is kept uniform in the margins of athe cells till they are completed. At first sight nothing appears more simple than adding wax to the margins ; but from the inequalities occasioned by the shape of the bottom, the bees must accumulate wax on the depressions, iiq order to bring them to a level. It follows accordingly that the surface of a new comb is not quite flat, there being a progressive slope produced as the work proceeds, and the comb being therefore in the form of a lens, the thickness decreasing towards the edge, and the last-formed cells being shallower or shorter than those preceding them. So long as there is room for the enlarge- ment of the comb, this thinning of its edge may be re- marked ; but as soon as the space within the hive prevents its enlargement, the cells are made equal, and two flat and level surfaces are produced. M. Huber observed, that while sketching the bottom of a cell, before there was any upright margin on the reverse, their pressure on the still soft and flexible wax gave rise to a projection, which sometimes caused a breach of the partition. This, however, was soon repaired, but a slight prominence always remained on the opposite surface, to the right and left of which they placed themselves to begin a new excavation ; and they heaped up part of the materials between the two flutings formed by their labour. The ridge thus formed becomes a guide to the direction which the bees are to follow for their vertical furrow of the front cell. IIIVE-BEES. 113 We have already seen that the first cell determines the place of all that succeed it, and two of these are never, in ordinary circumstances, begun in different parts of the hive at the same time, as is alleged by some early writers. When some rows of cells, however, have been completed in the first comb, two other foundation-walls are begun, one on each side of it, at the exact distance of one-third of an inch, which is sufficient to allow two bees employed on the opposite cells to pass each other without jostling. These new walls are also parallel to the former; and two more are afterwards begun exterior to the second, and at the same parallel distance. The combs are uniformly enlarged, and lengthened in a progression proportioned to the priority of their origin ; the middle comb being always advanced beyond the two adjoining ones by several rows of cells, and these again beyond the ones exterior to them. Did the bees lay the foundations of all their combs at the same time, they would not find it easy to preserve paral- lelism and an equality in their distances. It may bo re- marked further, that beside the vacancies of half an inch between the cells, which form what we call the highways of the community, the combs are pierced in several places with holes which serve as postern-gates for easy communi- cation from one to another, to prevent loss of time in going round. The equal distance between the combs is of more importance to the welfare of the hive than might at first appear ; for were they too distant, the bees would be so scattered and dispersed, that they could not reciprocally communicate the heat indispensable for hatching the eggs and rearing the young. If the combs, on the other hand, were closer, the bees could not traverse the intervals with the freedom necessary to facilitate the work of the hive. On the approach of winter, they sometimes elongate the cells which contain honey, and thus contract the intervals between the combs. But this expedient is in preparation for a season when it is important to have copious magazines, and when, their • activity being relaxed, it is unnecessary for their communications to be so spacious and free. On the return of spring, the bees hasten to contract the elon- i 114 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. gated cells, that they may become fit for receiving the eggs which the queen is about to deposit, and in this manner they re-establish the regular distance.* We are indebted to the late Dr. Barclay of Edinburgh, well known as an excellent anatomist, for the discovery that each cell in a honeycomb is not simply composed of one wall, but consists of two. We shall give the account of his discovery in his own words : — “ Having inquired of several naturalists whether or not they knew any author who had mentioned that the par- titions between the cells of the honeycomb were double, and whether or not they had ever remarked such a struc- ture themselves, and they having answered in the nega- tive, I now take the liberty of presenting to the Society pieces of honeycomb, in which the jToung bees had been reared, upon breaking which, it will be clearly seen that the partitions between different cells, at the sides and the base, are all double ; or, in other words, that each cell is a distinct, separate, and in some measure an independent structure, agglutinated only to the neighbouring cells ; and that when the agglutinating substance is destoyed, each cell may be entirely separated from the rest. “I have also some specimens of the cells formed by wasps, which show that the partitions between them are also double, and that the agglutinating substance between them is more easily destroyed than that between the cells of the bee.”| Irregularities in their Workmanship. Though bees, however, work with great uniformity when circumstances favour their operations, they may be com- pelled to vary their proceedings. M. Huber, made several ingenious experiments of this kind. The following, men- tioned by Dr. Bevan, was accidental, and occurred to his friend Mr. Walond. “ Inspecting his bee-boxes at the end of October, 1817, he perceived that a centre comb, burthened with honey, had separated from its attachments, and was * Huber on Bees, p. 220. f Memoirs of the Wernerian Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. ii. p. 2G0. niVE-BEES. 115 leaning against another comb so as to prevent the passage of the bees between them. This accident excited great activity in the colony ; but its nature could not be ascer- tained at the time. At the end of a week, the weather being cold, and the bees clustered together, Mr. Walond observed, through the window of the box, that they had constructed two horizontal pillars betwixt the combs alluded to ; and had removed so much of the honey and wax from the top of each as to allow the passage of a bee : in about ten days more there was an uninterrupted thoroughfare ; the detached comb at its upper part had been secured by a strong barrier, and fastened to tiie window with the spare wax. This being accomplished, the bees removed the horizontal pillars first constructed, as being of no further use.”* A similar anecdote is told by M. Huber. “ During the winter,” says he, “a comb in one of my bell-glass hives, having been originally insecure, fell down, but preserved its position parallel to the rest. The bees were unable to fill up the vacuity left above it, because they do not build combs of old wax, and none new could be then obtained. At a more favourable season they would have engrafted a new comb on the old one ; but now their provision of honey could not be spared for the elaboration of this substance, which induced them to ensure the stability of the comb by another process. “ Crowds of bees taking wax from the lower part of other combs, and even gnawing it from the surface of the orifices of the deepest cells, they constructed so many irregular pillars, joists, or buttresses, between the sides of the fallen comb, and others on the glass of the hive. All these were artificially adapted to localities. Neither did they confine themselves to repairing the accidents which their works had sustained. They seemed to profit by the warning to guard against a similar casualty. “The remaining combs wore not displaced; therefore, while solidly adhering by the base, we were greatly sur- prised to see the bees strengthen their principal fixtures * Bevau on Bees, p. 32G. 116 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. with old wax. They rendered them much thicker than before, and fabricated a number of new connections, to unite them more firmly to each other and to the sides of their dwolling. All this passed in the middle of January, a time that these insects commonly keep in the upper part of their hive, and when work is no longer seasonable.”* M. ITuber the younger shrewdly remarks, that the tend- ency to symmetry observable in the architecture of bees does not hold so much in small details as in the whole work, because they are sometimes obliged to adapt them- selves to particular localities. One irregularity leads on to another, and it commonly {irises from mere accident, or from design on the part of the proprietor of the bees. By alloAving, for instance, too little interval between the spare for receiv- ing the foundation of the combs, the structure has been continued in a particular direction. The bees did not at first appear to be sensible of the defect, though they after- wards began to suspect their error, and wore then observed to change their line of work till they gained the customary distance. The cells having been by this change of direc- tion in some degree curved, the new ones which were com- menced on each side of it, by being built everywhere parallel to it, partook of the same curvature. But the bees did not relish such approaches to the “ line of beauty,” and exerted themselves to bring their buildings again into the regular form. In consequence of several irregularities which they wished to con-ect, the younger Huber has seen bees depart from their usual practice, and at once lay on a spar two founda- tion walls not in the same line. They could consequently neither be enlarged without obstructing both, nor from their position could the edges unite had they been prolonged. The little architects, however, had recourse to a very ingenious contrivance : they curved the edges of the two combs, and brought them to unite so neatly that they could bo both prolonged in the same line with ease ; and when carried to some little distance, their surface became quite uniform and level. * Huber on Bees, p. 41G. HIVE-BEES. 117 “Having seen bees,” says the elder Huber, “work both up and down, I wished to try to investigate whether we could compel them to construct their combs in any other direction. Wo endeavoured to puzzle them with a hive glazed above and below, so that they had no place of support but the upright sides of their dwelling ; but, betaking them- selves to the upper angle, they built combs perpendicular to one of these sides, and as regularly as those which they usually build under a horizontal surface. The foundations were laid on a place which does not serve naturally for the base, yet, except in the difference of direction, the first row of cells resembled those in ordinary hives, the others being distributed on both faces, while the bottoms alternately corresponded with the same symmetry. 1 put the bees to a still greater trial. As they now testified their inclination to carry their combs, by the shortest way, to the opposite side of the hive (for they prefer uniting them to wood, or a surface rougher than glass), I covered it with a pane. W henever this smooth and slippery substance was inter- posed between them and the wood, they departed from the straight line hitherto followed, and bent the structure of their comb at a right angle to what was already made, so that the prolongation of the extremity might reach another side of the hive, which had been left free. “ Varying this experiment in several ways, 1 saw the bees constantly change the direction of their combs, when I presented to them a surface too smooth to admit of their clustering on it. They always sought the wooden sides. I thus compelled them to curve the combs in the strangest shapes, by placing a pane at a certain distance from their edges. These results indicate a degree of instinct truly wonderful. They denote even more than instinct: for glass is not a substance against which bees can be warned by nature. In trees, their natural abode, there is nothing that resembles it, or with the same polish. The most singular part of their proceeding is changing the direction of the work before arriving at the surface of the glass, and while yet at a distance suitable for doing so. Do they antici- pate the inconvenience which would attend any other mode 118 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. of building ? No less curious is the plan adopted by the bee for producing an angle in the combs : the wonted fashion of their work, and the dimensions of the cells, must be altered. Therefore, the cells on the upper or convex side of the combs are enlarged ; they are constructed of three or four times the width of those on the opposite surface. How can so many insects, occupied at once on the edges of the combs, concur in giving them a common curvature from one extremity to the other? How do they resolve on establishing cells so small on one side, while dimensions so enlarged are bestowed on those of the other? And is it not still more singular, that they have the art of making a correspondence between cells of such reciprocal discrepance ? The bottom being common to both, the tubes alone assume a taper form. Perhaps no other insect has afforded a more decisive proof of the resources of instinct, when compelled to deviate from the ordinary course. “ But let us study them in their natural state, and there we shall find that the diameter of their cells must be adapted to the individuals which shall be bred in them. The cells of males have the same figure, the same number of lozenges and sides, as those of workers, and angles of the same size. Their diameter is 3~ lines, while those of workers are only 2*. “ It is rarely that the cells of males occupy the higher part of the combs. They are •generally in the middle or on the sides, where they are not isolated. The manner in which they are surrounded by other cells alone can explain how the transition in size is effected. When the cells of males are to be fabricated under those of workers, the bees make several rows of intermediate cells, whose diameter augments progressively, until gaining that proportion pro- per to the cells required; and in returning to those of workers, a lowering is observed in a manner corresponding. “ Bees, in preparing the cells of males, previously esta- blish a block or lump of wax on the edge of their comb, thicker than is usually employed for those of workers. It is also made higher, otherwise the same order and symmetry could not be preserved on a larger scale. HIVE-BEES. 119 “ Several naturalists notice the irregularities in the cells of bees as so many defects. What would have been their astonishment had they observed that part of them are the result of calculation ? Had they followed the imperfection of their organs, some other means of compensating them would have been granted to the insects. It is much more surprising that they know how to quit the ordinary route, when circumstances demand the construction of enlarged cells ; and, after building thirty or forty rows of them, to return to the proper proportions from which they have departed by successive reductions. Bees also augment the dimensions of their cells Avhen there is an opportunity for a great collection of honey. Not only are they then con- structed of a diameter much exceeding that of the common cells, hut they are elongated throughout the whole space admitting it. A great portion of irregular comb contains cells an inch, or even an inch and a half, in depth. “ Bees, on the contrary, sometimes are induced to shorten their cells. "When wishing to prolong an old comb, whose cells have received their full dimensions, they gradually reduce the thickness of its edges, by gnawing down the sides of the cells, until they restore it to its original lenti- cular form. They add a waxen block around the whole circumference, and on the edge of the comb construct pyramidal bottoms, such as those fabricated on ordinary occasions. It is a certain fact, that a comb never is ex- tended in any direction unless the bees have thinned the edges, which are diminished throughout a sufficient space to remove any angular projection. “ The law which obliges these insects partly to demolish the cells on the edges of the comb before enlarging it, unquestionably demands more profound investigation. IIow can we account for instinct leading them to undo what they have executed with the utmost care ? The wonted regular gradation, which may be necessary for new cells, subsists among those adjoining the edges of a comb recently con- structed. But afterwards, when those on the edge are deepened like the cells of the rest of the surface, the bees 120 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. no longfer preserve the decreasing gradation which is seen in the new combs.”* The Finishing op the Cells. While the cells are building, they appear to be of a dull white colour, soft, even, though not smooth, and translucent ; but in a few days they become tinged with yellow, particu- larly on the interior surface ; and their edges, from being thin, uniform, and yielding, become thicker, less regular, more heavy, and so firm that they will bend rather than break. New combs break on the slightest touch. There is also a glutinous substance observable around the orifices of the yellow cells, of reddish colour, unctuous, and odoriferous. Threads of the same substance are applied all around the interior of the cells, and at the summit of their angles, as if it were for the purpose of binding and strengthening the walls. These yellow cells also require a much higher temperature of water to melt them than the white ones. It appeared evident, therefore, that another substance, different from wax, had been employed in varnishing the orifices and strengthening the interior of the cells. M. Huber, by numerous experiments, ascertained the resinous threads lining the cells, as well as the resinous substance around their orifice, to be propolis ; for ho traced them, as we mentioned in our account of propolis, from the poplar buds where they collected it, and saw them apply it to the cells ; but the yellow colour is not imparted by pro- polis, to which it bears no analogy. We are, indeed, by no means certain what it is, though it was proved by experiment not to arise from the heat of the hives, nor from emanations of honey, nor from particles of pollen. Perhaps it may bo ascribed to the bees nibbing their teeth, feet, and other parts of their body, on tho surfaces where they seem to rest ; or to their tongue (haustcllmn) sweep- ing from right to left like a fine pliant pencil, when it appears to leave some sprinkling of a transparent liquid. * Huber ou Bees, p. 391. HIVE-BEES. 121 Beside painting and varnishing their cells in this manner, they take care to strengthen the weaker part of their edifice by means of a mortar composed of propolis and wax, and named jrissoceros* by the ancients, who first observed it, though Reaumur was somewhat doubtful respecting the existence of such a composition. We are indebted to the shrewd observations of Huber for a reconcilement of the Roman and the French naturalists. The details which he has given of his discovery are perhaps the most interesting in his delightful book. “Soon,” he says, “after some new combs had been finished in a hive, manifest disorder and agitation pre- vailed among the bees. They seemed to attack their own works. The primitive cells, whose structure we had advan- mired, wero scarcely recognizable. Thick and massy walls, heavy, shapeless pillars, were substituted for the slight partitions previously built with such regularity. The substance had changed along with the form, being com- posed apparently of wax and propolis. From tho persever- ance of the workers in their devastation, we suspected that they proposed some useful alteration of their edifices ; and our attention was directed to the cells least injured. Several were yet untouched ; but the bees soon rushed precipitately on them, destroyed the tubes, broke down the wax, and threw all the fragments about. But wo remarked, that the bottom of the cells of the first row were spared ; neither were the corresponding parts on both faces of the comb demolished at the same time. The bees laboured at them alternately, leaving some of the natural supports, other- wise the comb would have fallen down, which was not their object : they wished, on the contrary, to provide it a more solid base, and to secure its union to the vault of the hive, with a substance whose adhesive properties infinitely surpassed those of wax. The propolis employed on this occasion had been deposited in a mass over a cleft of the hive, and had hardened in drying, which probably rendered it more suitable for the purpose. But the bees experienced some difficulty in making any impression on it ; and we * From two Greek words, signifying pitch and wax. 122 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. thought, as also had appeared to M. de Reaumur, that they softened it with the same frothy matter from the tongue which they use to render wax more ductile. “ We very distinctly observed the bees mixing fragments of old wax with the propolis, kneading the two substances together to incorporate them ; and the compound was em- ployed in rebuilding the cells that had been destroyed. But they did not now follow their ordinary rules of archi- tecture, for they were occupied by the solidity of their edifices alone. Night intervening, suspended our observa- tions, but next morning confirmed what we had seen. “ We find, therefore, that there is an epoch in the labour of bees, when the upper foundation of their combs is con- structed simply of wax, as Reaumur believed ; and that, after all the requisite conditions have been attained, it is converted to a mixture of wax and propolis, as remarked by Pliny so many ages before us. Thus is the apparent contradiction between these two great naturalists explained. But this is not the utmost extent of the foresight of these insects. When they have plenty of wax, they make their combs the full breadth of the hive, and solder them to the glass or wooden sides, by structures more or less approach- ing the form of cells, as circumstances admit. But should the supply of wax fail before they have been able to give sufficient diameter to the combs whose edges are rounded, large intervals remain between them and the upright sides of the hive, and they are fixed only at the top. Therefore, did not the bees provide against it, by constructing great pieces of wax mixed with propolis, in the intervals, they might be borne down by the weight of the honey. These pieeces are of irregular shape, strangely hollowed out, and their cavities void of symmetry.” * It is remarked by the lively Abbe la Fluche, that the foundations of our houses sink with the earth on which they are built, the walls begin to stoop by degrees, they nod with age, and bend from their perpendicular ; — lodgers damage everything, and time is continually introducing some now decay. The mansions of bees, on the contrary, * Huber on Bees, p. 415. HIVE-BEES. 123 grow stronger the oftener they change inhabitants. Every bee-grub, before its metamorphosis into a nymph, fastens its skin to the partitions of its cell, but in such a manner as to make it correspond with the lines of the angle, and without in the least disturbing the regularity of the figure. During summer, accordingly, the same lodging may serve for three or four grubs in succession ; and in the ensuing season it may accommodate au equal number. Each grub never fails to fortify the panels of its chamber by arraying them with its spoils, and the contiguous cells receive a similar aug- mentation from its brethren.* .Reaumur found as many as seven or eight of these skins spread over one another : so that all the cells being incrusted with six or seven cover- ings, well dried and cemented with propolis, the whole fabric daily acquires a new degree of solidity. It is obvious, however, that by a repetition of this pro- cess the cell might be rendered too contracted ; but in such a case the bees know well how to proceed, by turning the cells to other uses, such as magazines for bee-bread and honey. It has been remarked, however, that in the hive of a new swarm, during the months of Jidy and August, there are fewer small bees or nurse-bees than in one that has been tenanted four or five years. The workers, indeed, clean out the cell the moment that a young bee leaves its cocoon, but they never detach the silky film which it has previously spun on the walls of its cell. But though honey is deposited after the young leave the cells, the reverse also happens ; and accordingly, when bees are bred in con- tracted cells, they are by necessity smaller, and constitute, in fact, the important class of nurse-bees. We are not disposed, however, to go quite so far as an American periodical writer, who says, “ Thus we see that the contraction of the cell may diminish the size of a bee, even to the extinction of life , just as the contraction of a Chinese shoe reduces the foot oven to uselessness.” f We know, on the contrary, that the queen bee will not deposit eggs in a cell either too small or too large for the proper rearing of * Spectacle tie la Nature, vol. i. f North American Rev. Oct. 1828, p. 355. 124 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. the young. In the case of largo cells, M. Iluber took ad- vantage of a queen that was busy depositing the eggs of workers, to remove all the common cells adapted for their reception, and left only the large cells appropriated for males. As this was done in June, when bees are most active, he expected that they would have immediately repaired the breaches he had made ; but to his great surprise they did not make the slightest movement for that purpose. In the meanwhile the queen, being oppressed by her eggs, was obliged to drop them about at random, pre- ferring this to depositing them in the male cells, which she know to be too large. At length she did deposit six eggs in the large cells, which were hatched as usual, three days after. The nurse-bees, however, seemed to be aware that they could not be reared there, and though they supplied them with food, did not attend to them regularly. M. Huber found that they had been all removed from the cells during the night, and the business both of laying and nursing was at a complete stand for twelve days, when he supplied them again with a comb of small cells, which the queen almost immediately filled with eggs, and in some cells she laid five or six. The architecture of the hive, which we have thus de- tailed, is that of bees receiving the aid of human care, and having external coverings of a convenient form, prepared for their reception. In this country bees are not found in a wild state; though it is not uncommon for swarms to stray from their proprietors. But these stray swarms do not spread colonies through our woods, as they are said to do in America. In the remoter parts of that continent there are no wild bees. They precede civilization ; and thus when the Indians observe a swarm they say, “ The white man is coming.” There is evidence of bees having abounded in those islands, in the earlier periods of our history ; and Ireland is particularly mentioned by the Venerable Bede as being “rich in milk and honey.”* The hive-bee has formed an object of economical culture * “ Hibernia dives lactis ac mellis insula.” — Beda, Hist. Eccles. i. 7. HIVE-BEES. 125 in Europe at least for two thousand years ; and Yarro describes the sort of hives used in his time, 1870 years ago. We are not aware, however, that it is now to be found wild in tho milder clime of Southern Europe, any more than it is in our own island. The wild bees of Palestine principally hived in rocks. “ He made him,” says Moses, “ to suck honey out of the rock.” * “ With honey out of the rock,” says the Psalmist, “ should I have satisfied thee.” + In the caves of Salsette and Elephanta, at the present day, they hive in the clefts of tho rocks and the recesses among the fissures, in such numbers, as to become very troublesome to visitors. Their nests hang in innumerable clusters. J We are told of a little black stingless bee found in the island of Guadaloupe, which hives in hollow trees or in the cavities of rocks by tho sea-side, and lays “ up honey in cells about the size and shape of pigeons’ eggs. These cells are of a black or deep violet colour, and so joined together as to leave no space between them. They hang in clusters almost like a hunch of grapes.” § The follow- ing are mentioned by Lindley as indigenous to Brazil. “ On an excursion towards Upper Tapagippe,” says he, “ and skirting the dreary woods which extend to the in- terior, I observed the trees more loaded with bees’ nests than even in the neighbourhood of Porto Seguro. They consist of a ponderous shell of clay cemented similarly to martins’ nests, swelling from high trees about a foot thick, and forming an oval mass full two feet in diameter. When broken, the wax is arranged as in our hives, and the honey abundant.” || Captain Basil Hall found in South America, the hive of a honey-bee very different from tho Brazilian, but nearly allied to, if not tho same as, that of Guadaloupe. “ The hive we saw opened,” ho says, “was only partly filled, which enabled us to see the economy of the interior to more advantage. The honey is not contained in the * Deut, xxxii. 13. f Psalm Lxxxi. 1G. t Forbes, Orien. Mem. i. § Amer. Q. Rev. iii. p. 383. 11 Roy. Mil. Cliron. quoted in Kirby and Spence. 126 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. elegant hexagonal cells of our hives, hut in wax bags, not quite so large as an egg. These bags or bladders are hung round the sides of the hive, and appear about half full ; the quantity being probably just as great as the streugth of the wax will bear without tearing. Those near the bottom, being better supported, are more filled than the upper ones. In the centre of the lower part of the hive we observed an irregularly-shaped mass of comb, furnished with cells like those of our bees, all con- taining young ones in such an advanced state, that, when we broke the comb, and let them out, they flew merrily away.” Clavigero, in his * History of Mexico,’ evidently de- scribing the same species of bee, says it abounds in Yucatan, and makes the honey of Estabentum, the finest in the world, and which is taken every two months. He men- tioned another species of bee, smaller in size, and also without a sting, which forms its nest of the shape of a sugarloaf, and as large or larger. These are suspended from trees, particularly from the oak, and are much more populous than our common hives. Wild honey-bees of some species appear also to abound in Africa. Mr. Park, in his second volume of travels, tells us that some of his associates imprudently attempted to rob a numerous hive of its honey, when the exasperated bees, rushing out to defend their property, attacked their assailants with great fury, and quickly compelled the whole company to fly. At the Cape of Good Hope the bees themselves must be less formidable, or more easily managed, as their hives are sought for with avidity. Nature has there provided man with a singular and very efficient assistant in a bird, most appropriately named the honey-guide ( Indicator major, Vieillot ; Cucvius indicator, Latham). The honey -guide, it is said, so far from being alarmed at the presence of man, appears anxious to court his acquaintance, and flits from tree to tree with an expressive note of invitation, the meaning of which is well known both to the colonists and the Hottentots. A person thus invited by the honey-guide HIVE-BEES. 127 seldom refuses to follow it onward till it stops, as it is 'certain to do, at some hollow tree containing a bee-hive, usually well stored with honey and wax. It may be that the bird finds itself inadequate to the attack of a legion of bees, or to penetrate into the interior of the hive, and is thence led to invite an agent more powerful than itself. The person invited, indeed, always leaves the bird a share of the spoil, as it would bo considered sacrilege to rob it of its due, or in any way to injure sp useful a creature. The Americans, who have not the African lioney-guide, employ several well-known methods to track bees to their hives. . One of the most common though ingenious modes is to place a piece of bee-bread on a flat surface, a tile for instance, surrounding it with a circle of wet white paint. The bee, whose habit it is always to alight on the edge of any plane, has to travel through the paint to reach the bee- bread. When, therefore, she flies off, the observer can track her by the white on her body. The same operation is repeated at another place, at some distance from the first, and at light angles to the bee-line just ascertained. The position of the hive is easily determined, for it lies in the angle made by the intersection of the bee-lines. Another method is described in the * Philosophical Trans- actions for 1721.’ The bee-hunter decoys, by a bait of honey, some of the bees into his trap, and when he has secured as many as he judges will suit his purpose, ho incloses one in a tube, and, letting it fly, marks its course by a pocket-compass. Departing to some distance, he liberates another, observes its course, and in this manner determines the position of the hive, upon the principle already detailed. These methods of bee-hunting depend upon the insect’s habit of always flying in a right line to its home. Those who have read Cooper’s tale of the ‘ Prairie ’ must well remember the character of the bee-hunter, and the expression of “ lining a bee to its hive.” In reading these and similar accounts of the bees of distant parts of the world, we must not conclude that the descriptions refer to the same species as the common honey- 128 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. bee. There are numerous species of social bees, which, while they differ in many circumstances, agree in the praci- tice of storing up honey, in the same way as we have numerous species of the mason-bee and of the humble-bee. Of the latter Mr. Stephens enumerates no less than forty- two species indigenous to Britain. ( 129 ) CHAPTER VII. CARPENTRY OF TREE-HOPPERS AND SAW-FLIES. The operations of an insect in boring into a leaf or a bud to form a lodgment for its eggs appeal’ very simpler. The tools, however, by which these effects are performed are very complicated and curious. In the case of gall-flies ( Cynips), the operation itself is not so remarkable as its subsequent chemical effects. These effects are so different from any others that may be classed under the head of Insect Architecture, that we shall reserve them for the latter part of this volume ; although, with reference to the use of galls, the protection of eggs and larval, they ought to find a place here. We shall, however, at present confine ourselves to those which simply excavate a nest, without producing a tumour. The first of these insects which we shall mention is celebrated for its song, by the ancient Greek poets, under the name of Tettix. The Romans called it Cicada, which we sometimes, but erroneously, translate “ grasshopper;” for the grasshoppers belong to an entirely different order of insects. We shall, therefore, take the liberty of calling the Cicadae Treehoppers, to which the cuckoo-spit insect ( Tetti - gonia spumaria, Oliv.) is allied ; but there is only one of the true Cicadm hitherto ascertained to be British, namely, the Cicada hcematodes (Linn.), which was discovered in the New Forest, Hampshire, by Mr. Daniel Bydder. M. Reaumur was exceedingly anxious to study the eco- nomy of those insects ; but they not being indigenous in the neighbourhood of Paris, he commissioned his friends to send him some from more southern latitudes, and he pro- cured in this way specimens not only from the South of France and from Italy, but also from Egypt. From these specimens he has given the best account of them yet K. 130 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. published ; for though, as ho tells us, he had never had the pleasure of seeing one of them alive, the more interesting parts of their structure can be studied as well in dead as in living specimens. We ourselves possess several specimens from New Holland, upon which we have verified some of ; the more interesting observations of Reaumur. Virgil tells us, that in his time “the cicadse burst the very shrubs with their querulous music but we may well suppose that he was altogether unacquainted with the singular instrument by means of which they can, not poet- ically, but actually, cut grooves in the branches they select for depositing their eggs. It is the male, as in the case of birds, which fills the woods with his song; while the female, though mute, is no less interesting to the naturalist on account of her curious ovipositor. This instrument, like all those with which insects are furnished by nature for cutting, notching, or piercing, is composed of a homy substance, and is also considerably larger than the size of the tree-hopper would proportionally indicate. It can on this account be partially examined without a microscope, being, in some of the larger species, no less than five linesf in length. The ovipositor, or auger ( tariere ), as Reaumur calls it, is lodged in a sheath which lies in a groove of the terminat- ing ring of the belly. It requires only a very slight pres- sure to cause the instrument to protrude from its sheath, when it appears to the naked eye to be of equal thickness throughout, except at the point, where it is somewhat enlarged and angular, and on both sides finely indented with teeth. A more mi mi to examination of the sheath demonstrates that it is composed of two horny pieces slightly curved, and ending in the form of an elongated spoon, the concave part of which is adapted to receive the convex end of the ovipositor. When the protruded instrument is further examined with a microscope, the denticulations, nine in number on each side, appear strong, and arranged with great sym- * “Cantu querulro rumpent arliusta cicadffl.” Georg, iii. 328. f A line is about the twelfth part of an inch. TREE-HOPPERS. 131 nnetry, increasing in fineness towards the point, where ithore are three or four very small ones, beside the nine tthat are more obvious. The magnifier also shows that The instrument itself, which appeared simple to the naked teye, is, in fact, composed of three different pieces, two c exterior armed with the teeth before mentioned, denomi- : nated by Reaumur files (limes'), and another pointed like a lancet, and not denticulated. The denticulated pieces, i moreover, are capable of being moved forwards and back • 'wards, while the centre one remains stationary ; and as This motion is effected by pressing a pin or the blade of ; a knife, over the muscles on either side at the origin of i the ovipositor, it may be presumed that those muscles are destined for producing similar movements when the insect : requires them. By means of a finely-pointed pin carefully introduced between the pieces, and pushed very gently • downwards, they maybe, with no great difficulty, separated in their whole extent. The contrivance by which those three pieces are held united, while at the same time the two files can bo easily put in motion, is similar to some of our own mechanical inventions, with this difference, that no human workman could construct an instrument of this description so small, fine, exquisitely polished, and fitting so exactly. • AN e should have been apt to form the grooves in the central piece, whereas they are scooped out in the handles of the files, and play upon two projecting ridges in the central piece, by which means this is rendered stronger. M. Reaumur discovered that the best manner of showing the play of this extraordinary instrument is to cut it off with a pair of scissors near its origin, and then, taking it between the thumb and the finger at the point of section, work it gently to put the files in motion. Beside the muscles necessary for the movement of the files, the handle of each is terminated by a curve of the same hard homy substance as itself, which not only fur- nishes the muscles with a sort of lever, but serves to press, as with a spring, the two files close to the central piece, as is shown in the lower figure. 132 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. M. Pontedera, who studied the economy of the tree- hoppers with some care, was anxious to see the insect Ovipositors, with files, of Tree-hopper, magnified, itself make use of the ovipositor in forming grooves in wood, but found that it was so shy and easily alarmed, that it took to flight whenever lie approached ; a circumstance of which Reaumur takes advantage, to soothe his regret that the insects were not indigenous in his neighbourhood. But of their workmanship, when completed, he had several specimens sent to him from Provence and Languedoc by the Marquis de Caumont. The gall-flies, when about to deposit their eggs, select growing plants and trees; but the tree-hoppers, on the contrary, make choice of dead, dried branches, for the mother seems to be aware that moisture would injure her progeny. The branch, commonly a small one, in which Excavations for eggs of Tree-hopper, with the chip-lids raised. eggs have been deposited, may be recognised by being covered with little oblong elevations caused by small SAW-FLIES. 133 i splinters of the wood, detached at one end, but left fixed : at the other by the insect. These elevations are for the most part in a line, rarely in a double line, nearly at ' equal distances from each other, and form a lid to a i cavity in the wood about four lines in length, containing : from four to ten eggs. It is to be remarked, that the insect always selects a branch of such dimensions, that it 'Can get at the pith, not because the pith is more easily bored, for it does not penetrate into it at all, but to form a warm and safe bed for the eggs. M. Pontedera says, that when the eggs have been deposited, the insect closes the mouth of the hole with a gum capable of protecting them from the weather; but M. Reaumur thinks this only a fancy, as, out of a great number which he examined, he could discover nothing of the kind. Neither is such a pro- tection wanted ; for the woody splinters above mentioned furnish a very good covering. The grubs hatched from these eggs (of which, M. Pon- tedera says, one female will deposit from five to seven hundred) issue from the same holes through which the eggs have been introduced, and betake themselves to the ground to feed on the roots of plants. They are not transformed into chrysalides, but into active nymphs, remarkable for their fore limbs, which are thick, strong, and furnished with prongs for digging ; and when we are told, by Dr. Le Fevre, that they make their way easily into hard stiff clay, to the depth of two or three feet, we perceive how necessary to them such a conformation must be. Saw-Flies. An instrument for cutting grooves in wood, still more ingeniously contrived than that of the tree-hopper, was first observed by Yallisnieri, an eminent Italian naturalist, in a four-winged fly, most appropriately denominated by M. Reaumur the saw-fly ( Tenthredo ), of which many sorts are indigenous to Great Britain. The grubs from which those flies originate are indeed but too well known, as they frequently strip our rose, gooseberry, raspberry, and red 134 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. currant trees of their leaves, and are no less destructive to birch, alder, and willows ; while turnips and wheat suffer still more seriously by their ravages. These grubs may readily be distinguished from the caterpillars of moths and butterflies by having from sixteen to twenty- eight feet, by which they usually hang to the leaf they feed on, while they coil lip the hinder part of their body in a spiral ring. The peifect flies are distinguished by four transparent wings ; and some of the most common have a flat body of a yellow or orange colour, while the head and shoulders are black. In order to see the ovipositor, to which we shall for the present turn our chief attention, a female saw-fly must be taken, and her belly gently pressed, when a narrow slit will be observed to open at some distance from the apex, and a short, pointed, and somewhat curved body, of a brown colour and horny substance, will be protruded. a, Ovipositor ot Saw-fly, protruded from its sheatli, magnified. The curved plates Avhich form the sides of the slit, are the termination of the sheath, in which the instrument lies concealed till it is wanted by the insect. The appear- ance of this instrument, however, and its singular struc- ture, cannot be well understood without the aid of a micro- scope. The instrument thus brought into view is a very finely- contrived saw, mado of a homy substance, and adapted for penetrating branches and other parts of plants where the eggs are to be deposited. The ovipositor-saw of the insect is much more complicated than any of those em- ployed by our carpenters. The teeth of our saws are formed in a line, but in such a manner as to cut in two SAW-FLIES. 135 Hines parallel to, and at a small distance from, each other. 'This is effected by slightly bending the points of the raltemate teeth right and left, so that one-half of the whole tteeth stand a little to the right, and the other half a little tto the left. The distance of the two parallel lines thus I formed is called the course of the saw, and it is only the ] portion of wood which lies in the course that is cut into : saw-dust by the action of the instrument. It will follow, ■ that in proportion to the thinness of a saw there wall be the less destruction of wood which may be sawed. When cabinet-makers have to divide valuable wood into very thin leaves, they accordingly employ saws with a narrow course ; while sawyers who cut planks, use one with a broad course. The ovipositor-saw being extremely fine, does not require the teeth to diverge much ; but from the manner in which they operate, it is requisite that they should not stand, like those of our saws, in a straight line. Ovipositor-saw of Saw-fly, with rasps shown In the cross lines. The greater portion of the edge of the instrument, on the contrary, is towards the point somewhat concave, similar to a scythe, while towards the baso it becomes a little convex, the whole edge being nearly the shape of an Italic /. The ovipositor-saw of the fly is put in motion in the same way as a carpenter’s liand-saw, supposing the tendons 136 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. attached to its base to form the handle, and the muscles which put it in motion to be the hand of the carpenter. But the carpenter can only work one saw at a time, ■whereas each of these flies is furnished with two, equal and similar, which it works at the same time — one being advanced and the other retracted alternately. The secret, indeed, of working more saws than one at once is not un- known to our mechanics ; for two or three are sometimes fixed in the same frame. These, however, not only all move upwards and downwards simultaneously, but cut the wood in different places ; while the two saws of the ovi- positor work in the same cut, and consequently, though the teeth are extremely fine, the effect is similar to a saw with a wide set. It is important, seeing that the ovipositor-saws are so fine, that they be not bent or separated while in opera- tion—and this, also, nature has provided for, by lodging the backs of the saws in a groove, formed by two mem- braneous plates, similar to the structure of a clasp-knife. These plates are thickest at the base, becoming gradually thinner as they approach the point which the form of the saws requires. According to Yallisnieri, it is not the only use of this apparatus to form a back for the saws, he having discovered, between the component membranes, two canals, which he supposes are employed to conduct the eggs of the insect into the grooves which it has hollowed out for them.* The teeth of a carpenter’s saw, it may bo remarked, are simple, whereas the teeth of the ovipositor-saw are themselves denticulated with fine teeth. The latter, also, combines at the same time the properties of a saw and of a rasp or file. So far as we are aware, these two proper- ties have never been combined in any of the tools of our carpenters. The rasping part of the ovipositor, however, is not constructed like our rasps, with short teeth thickly studded together, but has teeth almost as long as those of the saw, and placed contiguous to them, on the back of the instrument, resembling in their form and setting the * Reaumur, Mem. des Insectes, v. p. 3. SAW-FLIES. 137 teeth of a comb, as may be seen in the figure. Of course, such observations are conducted with the aid of a micro- scope. Portion ot Saw-fly’s comb-toothed rasp, and saw. When a female saw-fly has selected the branch of a rose-tree, or any other, in which to deposit her eggs, she may be seen bending the end of her belly inwards, in form of a crescent, and protruding her saw, at the same time, to penetrate the bark or wood. She maintains this recurved position so long as she works in deepening the groove ; but when she has attained the depth required, she unbends her body into a straight line, and in this position works upon the place lengthways, by applying the saw more horizontally. When she has rendered the groove as large as she wishes, the motion of the tendons ceases, and an egg is placed in the cavity. The saw is then withdrawn into the sheath for about two-thirds of its length, and at the same moment a sort of frothy liquid, similar to a lather made with soap, is dropped over the egg, either for the purpose of gluing it in its place or sheatliing it from the action of the juices of the tree. She proceeds in the samo manner in sawing out a second groove, and so on in succession, till she has deposited all her eggs, sometimes to the number of twenty-four. The grooves arq usually placed in a line, at a small distance from one another, on the same branch ; but sometimes the mother-fly shifts to another, or to a different part of the branch, when she is either scared or finds it unsuitable. She commonly, also, takes more than one day to the work, notwithstanding the superiority of her tools. Reaumur has seen a saw-fly make six grooves in succession, which occu- pied her about ten hours and a half. The grooves, when finished, have externally little 138 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. elevation above the level of the bark, appearing like the puncture of a lancet in the human skin ; but in the course of a day or two the part becomes first brown and then black, while it also becomes more and more elevated. This increased elevation is not owing to the growth of the bark, the fibres of which, indeed, have been destroyed by the ovipositor-saw, but to the actual growth of the egg; for when a new-laid egg of the saw-fly is compared with one which has been several days enclosed in the groove, the latter will be found to be very considerably the larger. This growth of the egg is contrary to the analogy observable in the eggs of birds, and even of most other insects ; but it has its advantages. As it continues to increase, it raises the bark more and more, and conse- quently widens, at the same time, the slit at the entrance ; so that, when the grub is hatched, it finds a passage ready for its exit. The mother-fly seems to be aware of this growth of her eggs, for she takes care to deposit them at such distances as may prevent their disturbing one another by their development. Another species of saw-fly, with a yellow body and deep violet-coloured wings, which also selects the rose- tree, deposits her eggs in a different manner. Instead of making a groove for each egg, like the preceding, she forms a large single groove, sufficient for about two dozen eggs. These eggs are all arranged in pairs, forming two straight lines parallel to the sides of the branch. The eggs, however, though thus deposited in a common groove, are carefully kept each in its place ; for a ridge of the Nest of eggs of Saw-fly, In rose tree. wood is left to prevent those on the right from touching those on the left— and not only so, but between each egg SAW-FLIES. 139 of a row a thin partition of wood is left, forming a shallow cell. , The edges of this groove, it will he obvious, must be farther apart than those which only contain a single egg, and, in fact, the whole is open to inspection ; but the eggs are kept from falling out, both by the frothy glue beiore mentioned, and by the walls of the cells containing them. They were observed also, by Yallisnieri, to increase in size like the preceding. ( 140 ) CHAPTEK VIII. LEAF-ROLLING CATERPILLARS. The labours of those insect-architects, which we have endeavoured to describe in the preceding pages, have been chiefly those of mothers to form a secure nest for their eggs, and the young hatched from them, during the first stage of their existence. But a much more numerous and not less ingenious class of architects may be found among the newly-hatched insects themselves, who, un- taught by experience, and altogether unassisted by pre- vious example, manifest the most marvellous skill in the construction of tents, houses, galleries, covert-ways, forti- fications, and even cities, not to speak of subterranean caverns and subaqueous apartments, which no human art could rival. The caterpillars, which are familiarly termed leaf-rollers, are perfect hermits. Each lives in a cell, which it begins to construct almost immediately after it is hatched ; and the little structure is at once a house which protects the caterpillar from its enemies, and a store of food for its sub- sistence, while it remains shut up in its prison. But the insect only devours the inner folds. The art which these caterpillars exercise, although called into action but once, perhaps, in their lives, is perfect. They accomplish their purpose with a mechanical skill, which is remarkable for its simplicity and unerring success. The art of rolling leaves into a secure and immovable cell may not appear very difficult : nor would it bo so if the caterpillars had fingers, or any parts which were equivalent to those deli- cate and admirable natural instruments with which man accomplishes his most elaborate works. And yet the human fingers could not roll a rocket-case of paper more regularly than the caterpillar rolls his house of leaves. A leaf is not a very easy substance to roll. In some trees it CATERPILLARS. 141 is very brittle. It has also a natural elasticity, — a disposi- tion to spring back if it be bent, — which is caused by the continuity of its threads, or nervures. This elasticity is speedily overcome by the ingenuity with which the cater- pillar works ; and the leaf is thus retained in its artificial position for many weeks, under eveiy variety of tempera- ture. We will examine, in detail, how these little leaf- rollers accomplish their task. One of the most common as well as the most simple fabrics constructed by caterpillars, may be discovered dur- ing summer on almost every kind of bush and tree. We shall take as examples those which are found on the lilac and on the oak. A small but very pretty chocolate-coloured moth abun- Lilac-tree Moth. ( Lozotcenia Ribeana, Stephens?) dant in every garden, but not readily seen, from its fre- quently alighting on the ground, which is so nearly of its own colour, deposits its eggs on the leaves of the currant, the lilac, and of some other trees, appropriating a leaf to each egg. As soon as the caterpillar is hatched, Nest of a I.llac-lcaf Holler. it begins to secure itself from birds and predatory insects 142 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. by rolling up tbe lilac leaf into the form of a gallery, where it may feed in safety. We have repeatedly seen one of them when just escaped from the egg, and only a few lines long, fix several silk threads from one edge of a leaf to the other, or from the edge to the mid-rib. Then going to the middle of the space, he shortened the threads by bending them with his feet, and consequently pulled the edges of the leaves into a circular form ; and he retained them in that position by gluing down each thread as he shortened it. In their younger state, those cater- Another nest of Lilac-leaf Roller. pillars seldom roll moro than a small portion of the leaf ; but, when farther advanced, they unite the two edges together in their whole extent, with the exception of a small opening at one end, by which an exit may be made in case of need. Another species of caterpillar, closely allied to this, rolls up the lilac leaves hi a ditferent form, beginning at the end of a leaf, and fixing and pulling its threads till it gets it nearly into the shape of a scroll of parchment. To retain this form more securely, it is not contented, like the former insect, with throads fixed on the inside of the leaf ; CATERPILLARS. 143 but has also recourse to a few cables which it weaves on the outside. Another species of moth, allied to the two preceding, is of a pretty green colour, and lays its eggs upon the Small green Oak-moth. (.Tartrix Viridana.) leaves of the oak. This caterpillar folds them up in a similar manner, but with this difference, that it works on the under surface of the leaf, pulling the edge downwards and backwards, instead of forwards and upwards. This species is very abundant, and may readily be found as soon as the leaves expand. In June, when the perfect .Nests of Oak-leaf-rolling Caterpillars. insect has appeared, by beating a branch of an oak, a whole shower of these pretty green moths may bo shook into the air. Among the leaf-rolling caterpillars, there is a small 144 I.VSECT ARCHITECTURE. dark-brown one, with a black head and six feet, very common in gardens, on the currant-bush, or the leaves of the rose-tree (Lozotamia Rosana, Stephens). It is ex- ceedingly destructive to the flower-buds. The eggs are deposited in the summer, and probably also in the autumn or in spring, in little oval or circular patches of a green colour. The grub makes its appearance with the first opening of the leaves, of whose structure in the half- expanded state it takes advantage to construct its summer tent. It is not, like some of the other leaf-rollers, con- tented with a single leaf, but weaves together as many as there are in the bud where it may chance to have been hatched, binding their discs so firmly with silk, that all the force of the ascending sap, and the increasing growth of the leaves cannot break through ; a farther expansion is of course prevented. The little inhabitant in the mean- while banquets securely on the partitions of its tent, eating door-ways, from one apartment into another, through which it can escape in case of danger or disturb- ance. The leaflets of the rose, it may be remarked, expand in nearly the same manner as a fan, and the operations of this ingenious little insect retain them in the form of a fan nearly shut. Sometimes, however, it is not contented , with one bundle of leaflets, but by means ofi ts silken cords unites all which spring from the same bud into a rain-proof canopy, under the protection of which it can feast on the flower-bud, and prevent it from ever blowing. In the instance of the currant-leaves, the proceedings of the grab are the same ; but it cannot unite the plaits so smoothly as in the case of the rose leaflets, and it re- quires more labour, also, as the nervures, being stiff, demand a greater effort to bend them. When all the exertions of the insect prove unavailing in its endeavours to draw the edges of a leaf together, it bends them in- wards as far as it can, and weaves a close web of silk over the open space between. This is well exemplified in one of the commonest of our leaf-rolling caterpillars, which may bo found as early as February on the leaves of the CATERPILLARS. 145 mettle and the white archangel ( Lamium album). It is of a 1 light dirty-green colour, spotted with black, and covered ’with a few hairs. In its young state it confines itself to (the bosom of a small leaf, near the insertion of the leaf- .* stalk, partly bending the edges inwards, and covering in t the interval with a silken curtain. As this sort of covering is not sufficient for concealment when the animal advances in : growth, it abandons the base of the leaf for the middle, where it doubles up one side in a very secure and ingenious manner. ' Nest of the Nettle-leaf-rolling Caterpillar. We have watched this little architect begin and finish his tent upon a nettle in our study, the whole operation taking more than half an hour. (J. E.) He began by walking over the plant in all directions, examining the leaves severally, as if to ascertain which was best fitted for his purpose by being pliable, and bending with the weight of his body. Having found one to his mind, he placed himself along the mid-rib, to the edge of which he secured himself firmly with the pro-legs of his tail ; then stretching his head to the edge of the leaf, he fixed a series of parallel cables between it and the mid-rib, with another series crossing these at an acute angle. The position in which he worked was most remarkable, for he did not, as might have been supposed, spin his cables with his face to the leaf, but throwing himself on his back, which was turned towards the leaf, he hung with his whole weight by his first-made cables. This, by drawing them into the form of a curve, shortened them, and consequently pulled the edge of the leaf down towards the mid-rib. The weight of his body was not, however, the only power which he employed ; for, using the terminal L 146 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. pro-legs as a point of support, lie exerted the whole muscles of his body to shorten his threads, and pull down the edge of the leaf. When lie had drawn the threads as tight as he could, he held them till ho spun fresh ones of sufficient strength to retain the leaf in the bent position into which he had pulled it. He then left the first series to hang loose while he shortened the fresh-spun ones as before. This process was continued till he had worked down about an inch and a half of the leaf, as much as he deemed sufficient for his habitation. This was the first part of the architec- ture. By the time he had worked to the end of the fold, he had brought the edge of the leaf to touch the mid -rib ; but it was only held in this position by a few of the last- spun threads, for all the first-spun ones hung loose within. Apparently aware of this, the insect protruded more than half of its body through the small aperture left at the end, and spun several bundles of threads on the outside pre- cisely similar to those ropes of a tent which extend beyond the canvas, and are pegged into the ground. Unwilling to trust the exposure of his whole body on the outside, lest he should be seized by the first sand-wasp (odynerus) or sparrow which might descry him, he now withdrew to complete the internal portion of his dwelling, where the threads were hanging loose and disorderly. For this purpose he turned his head about, and proceeded precisely as he had done at the beginning of his task, but taking care to spin his new threads so as to leave the loose ones on the outside, and make his apartment smooth and neat. When he again reached the opposite end, he con- structed there also a similar series of cables on the out- side, and then withdrew to give some final touches to the interior. It is said by Kirby and Spence,* that when these leaf- rolling insects find that the larger nervures of the leaves are so strong as to prevent them from bending, they “ weaken it by gnawing it hero and there half through.” We have never observed the circumstance, though we * Introd. vol. i. p. 457. CATERPILLARS. 147 have witnessed the process in some hundreds of instances ; i and we doubt the statement, from the careful survey which the insect makes of the capabilities of the leaf before the operation is begun. If she found upon examination that a leaf would not bend, she would reject it, as we have often seen happen, and pass to another. (J. E.) A species of leaf-roller, of the most diminutive size, merits particular mention, although it is not remarkable in colour or figure. It is without hair, of a greenish-white, and has all the vivacity of the other leaf-rollers. Sorrel is the plant on which it feeds ; and the manner in which it rolls a portion of the leaf is very ingenious. The structure which it contrives is a sort of conical Leaf-rolling Caterpillars of the Sorrel. pyramid, composed of five or six folds lapped round each other. From the position of this little cone the cater- pillar has other labours to perform, beside that of rolling the leaf. It first cuts across the leaf, its teeth acting as a pair of scissors ; but it does not entirely detach this seg- ment. It rolls it up very gradually, by attaching threads of silk to the plane surface of the leaf, as we have before seen ; and then, having cut in a different direction, sets the cone upright, by weaving other threads', attached to the centre of the roll and the plane of the leaf, upon which it throws the weight of its body. This, it will be readily 148 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. seen, is a somewhat complicated effort of mechanical skill. It has been minutely described by M. Reaumur; but the preceding representation will perhaps make the process clearer than a more detailed account. This caterpillar, like those of which we have already spoken, devours all the interior of the roller. It weaves, also, in the interior, a small and thin cocoon of white silk, the tissue of which is made compact and close. It is then transformed into a chrysalis. The caterpillars of two of our largest and handsomest butterflies, the painted lady ( Cynthia cardui , Stephens), and the admirable, or Alderman of the London fly-fanciers ( Vanessa atalanta ), are also leaf-rollers. The first selects the leaves of the great spear-thistle, and sometimes those of the stemless or star-thistle, which might be supposed rather difficult to bend ; but the caterpillar is four times as large and strong as those which we have been hitherto Nests of the Hesperia malvat, with Caterpillar, Chrysalis, and Butterllies. describing. In some seasons it is plentiful ; in others it is rarely to be met with : but the admirable is seldom CATERPILLARS. 149 scarce in any part of the country ; and by examining the leaves of nettles which appear folded edge to edge, in July and August, the caterpillar may be readily found. Another butterfly ( Hesperia malvce ) is met with on dry banks where mallows grow, in May, or even earlier, and also in August, but is not indigenous. The caterpillar, which is grey, with a black head, and four sulphur-coloured spots on the neck, folds around it the leaves of the mallow, upon which it feeds. There is nothing, however, pecu- liarly different in its proceedings from those above de- scribed ; but the care with which it selects and rolls up one of the smaller leaves, when it is about to be trans- formed into a chrysalis, is worthy of remark ; it joins it, indeed, so completely round and round, that it has some- what the resemblance of an egg. Within this green cell it lies secure, till the time arrives when it is ready to burst its cerements, and trust to the quickness of its wings for protection against its enemies. Among the nests of caterpillars which roll up parcels of leaves, we know none so well contrived as those which are found upon willows and a species of osier. The long and narrow leaves of these plants are naturally adapted to be adjusted parallel to each other; for this is the direction which they have at the end of each stalk, when they are not entirely developed. One kind of small smooth cater- pillar (Tortrix chkn'ana), with sixteen feet, the under part of which is brown, and streaked with white, fastens these leaves together, and makes them up into parcels. There is nothing particularly striking in the mechanical manner in which it constructs them. It does precisely what we should do in a similar case : it winds a thread round those leaves which must be kept together, from a little above theiv termination to a very short distance from their extreme point ; and as it finds the leaves almost constantly lying near each other, it has little difficulty in bringing them together, as is shown in the following cut, a. The prettiest of these parcels are those which arc made upon a kind of osier, the borders of whose leaves sometimes form columnar bundles before they become developed. A 150 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. section of these leaves lias the appearance of filigree-work (see b ). Nest of Willow-leaf Holler. . A caterpillar which feeds upon the willow, and whose singular attitudes have obtained for it the trivial name of Ziczac, also constructs for itself an arbour of the leaves, by drawing them together in an ingenious manner. M. Itoesel* has given a tolerable representation of this nest, and of the caterpillar. The caterpillar is found in June ; and the moth (Notodonta ziczac') from May to July in the following year (see cut, p. 151). Beside thoso caterpillars which live solitary in the folds of a leaf, there are others which associate, employing their united powers to draw the leaves of the plants they feed upon into a covering for their common protection. Among those Ave may mention the caterpillar of a small butterfly, * Roesel, cl. ii., Pap. Noctum., tab. xx. fig. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 6. CATERPILLARS. 151 the plantain or Glanville fritillary ( Melitea cinxia ), which is very scarce in this country. Although a colony of these caterpillars is not numerous, seldom amounting to a hundred individuals, the place Ziczac Caterpillar and Nest. which they have selected is not hard to discover. Their abode may be seen in the meadow in form of a tuft of herbage covered with a white web, which may readily be mistaken, at first view, for that of a spider, but closer in- spection soon corrects this notion. It is, in fact, a sort of common tent, in which the whole brood lives, eats, and undergoes the usual transformations. The shape of this tent, for the most part, approaches the pyramidal, though that depends much upon the natural growth of the herbage which composes it. The interior is divided into compart- ments formed by the union of several small tents, as it were, to which others have been from time to time added according to the necessities of the community. 152 IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. When they have devoured all the leaves, or at least those which are most tender and succulent, they abandon their first camp, and construct another contiguous to it under a tuft of fresh leaves. Several of these encamp- ments may sometimes be seen within the distance of a foot or two, when they can find plantain {Plant, ago lanceolata ) fit for their purpose ; but though they prefer this plant, they content themselves with grass if it is not to be pro- cured. When they are about to cast their skins, but particu- larly when they perceive the approach of winter, they construct a more durable apartment in the interior of their principal tent. The ordinary web is thin and semi-trans- parent, permitting the leaves to be seen through it; but their winter canvas, if we may call it so, is thick, strong, and quite opaque, forming a sort of circular hall without any partition, where the whole community lie coiled up and huddled together. Early in spring they issue forth in search of fresh food, and again construct tents to protect them from cold and rain, and from the mid-day sun. M. Reaumur found upon trial, that it was not only the caterpillars hatched from the eggs of the same mother which would unite in constructing the common tent ; for different broods, when put together, worked in the same social and harmonious manuer. We ourselves ascertained, during the present summer (1829), that this principle of sociality is not confined to the same species, nor even to the same genus. The experiment which we tried was to confine two broods of different species to the same branch, by placing it in a glass of water to prevent their escape. The caterpillars which we experimented on were several broods of the brown-tail moth ( Porthesia aurijlua), and the lackey ( Clisiocampa neustria). These we found to work with as much industry and harmony in constructing the common tent as if they had been at liberty on their native trees ; and when the lackeys encountered the brown-tails they manifested no alarm nor uneasiness, but passed over the backs of one another, as if they had made CATERPILLARS. 153 only a portion of the branch. In none of their operaiions did they seem to be subject to any discipline, each indi- vidual appearing to work, in perfecting the structure, from individual instinct, in the same manner as was remarked by M. Huber, in the case of the hive-bees.* In making such experiments, it is obvious that the species of cater- pillars experimented with must feed upon the sdme sort of plant. (J. It.) The design of the caterpillars in rolling up the leaves is not only to conceal themselves from birds and predatory insects, but also to protect themselves from the cuckoo- flies, which lie in wait in every quarter to deposit their eggs in their bodies, that their progeny may devour them. Their mode of concealment, however, though it appear to be cunningly contrived and skilfully executed, is not always successful, their enemies often discovering their hiding-place. We happened to see a remarkable instance of this last summer (1828), in the case of one of the lilac caterpillar which had changed into a chrysalis within the closely-folded leaf. A small ichneumon, aware, it should seem, of the very spot where the chrysalis lay within this leaf, was seen boring through it with her ovipositor, and, introducing her eggs through the punctures thus made into the body of the dormant insect. We allowed her to lay all her eggs, about six in number, and then put the leaf under an inverted glass. In a few days the eggs of the cuckoo-fly were hatched, the grubs devoured the lilac chrysalis, and finally changed into pupae in a case of yellow silk, and into perfect insects like their parent. (J. E.) ( 154 ) CHAPTER IX. Insects forming Habitations of detached Leaves. The habitations of the insects which we have just described consist of growing leaves, bent, rolled, or pressed together, and fixed in their positions by silken threads. But there are other habitations of a similar kind which are con- structed by cutting out and detaching a whole loaf, or a portion of a leaf. We have already seen how dexterously the upholsterer-bees cut out small parts of leaves and petals with their mandibles, and fit them into their cells. Somo of the caterpillars do not exhibit quite so much neatness and elegance as the leaf-cutting bees, though their struc- tures answer all the purposes intended ; but there are others, as we shall present^ see, that far excel the bees, at least in the delicate minutiae of their workmanship. We .shall first advert to those structures which are the most simple. Not far from Longchamps, in a road through the Bois de Boulogne, is a large marsh, which M. Reaumur never observed to be in a dry stato even during summer. This marsh is surrounded with very lofty oaks, and abounds with pondweed, the water-plant named by botanists pota- mogeton. The shining leaves of this plant, which are as large as those of the laurel or orange-tree, but thicker and more fleshy, are spread upon the surface of the water. Having pulled up several of these about the middle of June, M. Reaumur observed, beneath one of the first which ho examined, an elevation of an oval shape, which was formed out of a loaf of the same plant. He carefully examined it, and discovered that threads of silk were attached to this elevation. Breaking the threads, he raised up one of the ends, and saw a cavity, in which a caterpillar POND WEED TEXT-MAKER. , loo ( Hydrocampa potamogeta ) was lodged. An indefatigable ob- server, such as M. Keaumur, would naturally follow up this discovery ; and he has accordingly given us a memoir of the pondweed tent-maker, distinguished by his usual minute accuracy. In order to make a new habitation, the caterpillar fastens itself on the under side of a leaf of the Pot.amogeton. With its mandibles it pierces some part of this leaf, and afterwards gradually gnaws a curved line, marking the form of the piece which it wishes to detach. When the caterpillar has cut off, as from a piece of cloth, a patch of leaf of the size and shape suited to its purpose, it is pro- vided with half of the materials requisite for making a tent. It takes hold of this piece by its mandibles, and conveys it to the situation on the under side of its oavu or another leaf, whichever is found most approprite. It is there dis- posed in such a manner that the under part of the patch — the side which was the under part of the entire leaf — is turned towards the under part of the new leaf, so that the inner walls of the cell or tent are always made by the under part of two portions of leaf. The leaves of the potamogeton aro a little concave on the under side ; and thus the caterpillar produces a hollow cell, though the rims are united. The caterpillar secures the leaf in its position by threads of white silk. It then weaves in the cavity a cocoon, which is somewhat thin, but of very close tissue. There it shuts itself up, to appear again only in the form of the perfect insect, and is soon transformed into a chrysalis. In this cocoon of silk no point touches the water ; whilst the tent of leaves, lined with silk, has been constructed underneath the water. This fact proves that the cater- pillar has a particular art by which it repels the water from between the leaves. When the caterpillar, which has thus conveyed and disposed a patch of leaf against another leaf, is not ready to be transformed into a chrysalis, it applies itself to make a tent or habitation which it may carry everywhere about with it. It begins by slightly fixing the piece against 156 IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. the perfect leaf, leaving intervals all round, between the piece and leaf, at which it may project its head. The piece which it has fixed serves as a model for cutting out a similar piece in the other leaf. The caterpillar puts them accurately together, except at one end of the oval, where an opening is left for the insect to project its head through. When the caterpillar is inclined to change its situation, it draws itself forward by means of its scaly limbs, riveted upon the leaf. The membranous limbs, which are riveted against the inner sides of the tent, oblige it to follow the anterior part of the body, as it advances. The caterpillar, also, puts its head out of the tent every time it desires to eat. There is found on the common chickweed ( Stellaria media), towards the ends of July, a middle-sized smooth green caterpillar, having three brown spots bordered with white on the back, and six legs and ten pro-legs, whose architecture is worthy of observation. When it is about to go into chrysalis, towards the beginning of August, it gnaws off, one by one, a number of the leaves and smaller twigs of the chickweed, and adjusts them into an oval cocoon, somewhat rough and unfinished externally, but smooth, uniform, and finely tapestried with white silk within. Here it undergoes its transformation securely, and, when the period of its pupa trance has expired in the following July, it makes its exit in the form of a yellowish moth, with several brown spots above, and a brown band on each of its four wings below. It is also furnished with a sort of tail. On the cypress-spurge (Euphorbia ci/parissias), a native woodland plant, but not of very common occurrence, may be found, towards the end of October, a caterpillar of a middle size, sparely tufted with hair, and striped with black, white, red, and brown. The leaves of the plant, which are in the form of short narrow blades of grass, are made choice of by the caterpillar to construct its cocoon, which it does with great neatness and regularity, the end of each leaf, after it has been detached from the plant, being fixed to the stem, and the other leaves placed parallel, CYPRESS-SPURGE CATERPILLAR. 157 as they are successively added. The other ends of all these are bent inwards, so as to form a uniformly rounded oblong figure, somewhat larger at one end than at the other. Cypress-Spurge Caterpillar— (Acronvcta Euphraticeft— with a Cocoon, on a branch. A caterpillar which builds a very similar cocoon to the last-mentioned may be found upon a more common plant — the yellow Snap-dragon or toad-flax* ( Antirrhinum linaria ) —which is to be seen in almost every hedge. It is some- what shaped like a leech, is of a middle size, and the pre- vailing colour pearl-grey, but striped with yellow and black. It spins up about the beginning of September, forming the outer coating of pieces of detached leaves of the plant, and sometimes of whole leaves placed longitu- dinally, the whole disposed with great symmetry and neat- ness. The moth appears in the following June. It is worthy of remark, as one of the most striking instances of instinctive foresight, that the caterpillars which build structures of this substantial description are destined to lie much longer in their chrysalis trance than those which spin merely a flimsy web of silk. For the most part, indeed, the latter undergo their final trans- formation in a few weeks ; while the former continue en- tranced the larger portion of a year, appearing in the per- fect state the summer after their architectural labours have hecn completed. (J. R.) This is a remarkable example of the instinct which leads these little creatures to act as if under the dictates of prudence, and with a perfect know- 158 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. - ledge of thq| time, be it long or short, which will elapse before the last change of the pupa takes place. That the caterpillar, while weaving its cocoon and preparing to assume the pupa state, exercises any reflective faculties, or is aware of what is about to occur relative to its own self, we cannot admit. It enters upon a work of which it has had no previous experience, and which is per- formed, as far as contingencies allow, in the same manner by every caterpillar of the same species. Its labours, its mode of carrying them on, and the very time in which they are to be commenced, are all pre-appointed ; and an instinctive impulse urges and guides ; and with this instinct its organic endowments are in precise harmony ; nor does instinct ever impel to labours for which an animal is not provided. ‘ ‘ The same wisdom,” says Bonnet, “ which has constructed and arranged with so much art the various organs of animals, and has made them concur towards one determined end, has also pro- vided that the different operations which are the natural results of the economy of the animal should concur to- wards the same end. The creature is directed towards his object by an invisible hand ; he executes with pre- cision, and by one effort, those works which we so much admire ; ho appears to act as if ho reasoned, to return to his labour at the proper time, to change his scheme in case of need. But in all this he only obeys the secret influence which drives him on. He is but an instrument which cannot judge of each action, but is wound up by that adorable Intelligence, which has traced out for every insect its proper labours, as he has traced the orbit of each planet. When, therefore, I see an insect working at the construction of a nest, or a cocoon, I am impressed with respect, because it seems to me that I am at a spectacle where the Supreme Artist is hid behind the curtain.”* There is a small sort of caterpillar which may be found on old walls, feeding upon minute mosses and lichens, * Contemplation de la Nature, part xv. chap. 38. MOSS-BUILDING CATERPILLAR. 159 the proceedings of which are well worthy of attention. They are similar, in appearance and size, to the cater- pillar of the small cabbage-butterly ( Pontia rapes), and are smooth and bluish. The material which they use in building their cocoons is composed of the leaves and branchlets of green moss, which they cut into suitable pieces, detaching at the same time along with them a portion of the earth in which they grow. They arrange these upon the walls of their building, with the moss on the outside, and the earth on the inside, making a sort of vault of the tiny bits of green moss turf, dug from the surface of the wall. So neatly, also, are the several pieces joined, that the whole might well be supposed to bo a patch of moss which had grown in form of an oval tuft, a little more elevated than the rest growing on tho wall. When these caterpillars are shut up in a box with some moss, without earth, they construct with it cells in form of a hollow ball, very prettily plaited and interwoven. Moss-Cell of small Caterpillar ( Iiryophila perla ?) In May last (1829), wo found on the walls of Green- wich l’ark a great number of caterpillars, whoso manners bore some resemblance to those of the grub described by M. Reaumur. (J. R.) They were of middle size, with a dull orange stripe along the back ; the head and sides of the body black, and the belly greenish. Their abodes were constructed with ingenuity and care. A caterpillar of this sort appears to choose either a part where the mortar contains a cavity, or it digs one suited to its design. Over the opening of tho hollow in the mortar it builds an arched wall, so as to form a chamber considerably larger than is usual with other architect caterpillars. It 160 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. selects grains of mortar, brick, or lichen, fixing them, by means of silk, firmly into the structure. As some of these vaulted walls were from an inch to an inch and a half long, and about a third of an inch wide and deep, it may be well imagined that it would require no little industry and labour to complete the work. Yet it does not demand more than a few hours for the insect to raise it from the foundation. Like all other insect architects, this cater- pillar uses its own body for a measuring-rule, and partly for a mould, or rather a block or centre to shape the walls by, curving itself round and round concentrically with the arch which it is building. We afterwards found one of these caterpillars, which had dug a cell in one of the softest of the bricks, cover- ing itself on the outside with an arched wall of brick-dust, cemented with silk. As this brick was of a bright-red colour, we were thereby able to ascertain that there was not a particle of lichen employed in the structure. The neatness mentioned by Reaumur, as remarkable in his moss-building caterpillars, is equally observable in that which we have just described ; for, on looking at the sur- face of the wall, it would be impossible for a person unac- quainted with those structures to detect where they were placed, as they are usually, on the outside, level with the adjoining brick-work ; and it is only when they are opened by the entomologist, that the little architect is perceived lying snug in his chamber. If a portion of the wall be thus broken down, the caterpillar immediately commences repair- ing the breach, by piecing in bits of mortar and fragments of lichen, till we can scarcely distinguish the new portion from the old. ( 161 ) CHAPTER X. Caddis-Worms and Carpenter-Caterpillars, There is a very interesting class of gmbs which live under water, where they construct for themselves move- i able tents of various materials as their habits direct them, ■ or as the substances they require can be conveniently procured. Among the materials used by these singular j grubs, well-known to fishermen by the name of caddis- worms , and to naturalists as the larva; of the four-winged flies in the order. THcKoptera of Kirby and Spence, we may mention sand, stones, shells, wood, and leaves, which are skilfully joined and strongly cemented. One of these gmbs forms a pretty case of leaves glued together longi- tudinally, but leaving an aperture sufficiently large for the inhabitant to put out its head and shoulders when it Leaf Nest of Utyltf Is-Worm. wishes to look about for food. Another employs pieces of reed cut into convenient lengths, or of grass, straw, wood, &c., carefully joining and cementing each piece to its fellow as the work proceeds ; and he frequently finishes Reed Nest of Caddis-Worm. the whole by adding a broad piece longer than the rest to shade his door-way over-head, so that he may not be seen from above. A more laborious structure is reared by the grub of a beautiful caddis-fly (. Phryganea ), whicli weaves together a group of the leaves of aquatic plants AI 10- INSECT ARCHITECTURE. into a roundish ball, and in the interior of this forms a cell for its abode. The following figure from Roesel will give a more precise notion of this structure than a lengthened description. Another of these aquatic architects makes choice of tho tiny shells of young fresh-water mussels and snails ( Planorbis ), to form a moveable grotto; and as these little shells are for the most part inhabited, he keeps the Shell Nests of Caddis- Worms. poor animals close prisoners, and drags them without mercy along with him. These grotto-building grubs are by no means uncommon in ponds ; and in chalk districts such as the country about 'Woolwich and Gravesend, they are very abundant. One of the most surprising instances of their skill occurs in tho structures of which small stones are the principal material. The problem is to make a tube about the width of the hollow of a wheat-straw or a crow-quill, and equally smooth and uniform. Now the materials being small CADDIS-WORMS. 163 .-stones full of angles and irregularities, the difficulty of i performing this problem will appear to be considerable, it mot insurmountable : yet the little architects, by patiently texamining their stones and turning them round on every {side, never fail to accomplish their plans. This, however, Stone Nest of Caddis- Worm. iis only part of the problem, which is complicated with another condition, and which we have not found recorded i by former observers, namely, that the under-surface shall be flat and smooth, without any projecting angles which : might impede its progress when dragged along the bottom i of the rivulet where it resides. The selection of the ; stones, indeed, may be accounted for, from this species living in streams where, but for the weight of its house, it would to a certainty be swept away. For this purpose, it is probable that the grub makes choice of larger stones than it might otherwise want ; and therefore also it is that wo frequently find a case composed of very small stones and sand, to which, when nearly finished, a large stone is Sand Nest balanced with a Stone. added by -way of ballast. In other instances, when the materials are found to possess too great specific gravity, a bit of light wood, or a hollow straw, is added to buoy up the case. Nest ol Caddis Worm balanced with Straws. It is worthy of remark, that the cement, used in all these cases, is superior to pozzolana * in standing water, in which it is indissoluble. The grubs themselves are also admirably adapted for their mode of life, the portion * A cement prepared of volcanic earth, or lava. 164 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. of their bodies which is always enclosed in the case, being ' soft like a meal-worm, or garden-caterpillar, while the head and shoulders, which are for the most part projected beyond the door-way in search of food, are firm, hard, and consequently less liable to injury than the protected portion, ! should it chance to be exposed. We have repeatedly tried experiments with the inha- ; bitants of those aquatic tents, to ascertain their mode of building. We have deprived them of their little houses, j and furnished them with materials for constructing new ones, watching their proceedings from their laying the first stone or shell of the structure. They work at the i commencement in a very clumsy manner, attaching a great number of chips to whatever materials may be within their reach with loose threads of silk, and many of these ; they never use at all in their perfect building. They act, indeed, much like an unskilful workman trying his hand before committing himself upon an intended work of diffi- cult execution. Their main intention is, however, to have abundance of materials within reach : for after their dwelling is fairly begun, they shut themselves up in it, and do not again protrude more than half of their body to procure materials ; and even when they have dragged a stone, a shell, or a chip of reed within building reach, they have often to reject it as unfit, (J. R.) C A RPEXTER-C ATERPII.LARS. Insects, though sometimes actuated by an instinct ap- parently blind, unintelligent, or unknown to themselves, manifest in other instances a remarkable adaptation of means to ends. We have it in our power to exemplify tins in a striking manner by the proceedings of the cater- pillar of a goat-moth ( Cossus ligniperda ) which we kept till it underwent its final change. This caterpillar, which abounds in Kent and many other parts of the island, feeds on the wood of willows, oaks, poplars, and other trees, in which it eats extensive galleries; but it is not contented with the protection G OAT-MOTH. 165 afforded by these galleries during the colder months of winter, before the arrival of which it scoops out a hollow un the tree, if it do not find one ready prepared, sufficiently Caterpillar of Goat-Moth In a Willow Tree. ! large to contain its body in a bent or somewhat coiled-up ] position. On sawing off a portion of an old poplar in the winter of 1827, we found such a cell with a caterpillar coiled up in it. Winter Nest of the Goat-Caterpillar It had not, however, been contented with the bare walls of the retreat which it had hewn out of the tree, for it had lined it with a fabric as thick as coarse broadcloth, and equally warm, composed of the raspings of the wood scooped out of the cell, united with the strong silk which every species of caterpillar can spin. In this snug retreat 166 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. our caterpillar, if it had not been disturbed, would have spent the winter without eating ; but upon being removed into a warm room and placed under a glass along with some pieces of wood, which it might eat if so inclined, it was roused for a time from its dormant state, and began to move about. It was not long, however, in constructing a new cell for itself, no less ingenious than the former. It either could not gnaw into the hr plank, where it was now placed with a glass above it, or it did not choose to do so ; for it left it untouched, and made it the basis of the edifice it began to construct. It formed, in fact, a covering for itself precisely like the one from which we had dis- lodged it, — composed of raspings of wood detached for the purpose from what had been given it as food, the largest piece of which was employed as a substantial covering and protection for the whole. It remained in this retreat, mo- tionless, and without food, till revived by the warmth of the ensuing spring, when it gnawed its way out, and began to eat voraciously, to make up for its long fast. These caterpillars are three years in arriving at their final change into the winged state ; but as the one just mentioned was nearly full grown, it began, in the month of May, to prepare a cell, in which it might undergo its metamorphosis. Whether it had actually improved its skill in architecture by its previous experience wo will not undertake to say, but its second cell was greatly superior to the first. In the first there was only one large piece of Xest of Goat-Moth.— Figured from specimen, and raised to show the Pupa. wood employed ; in the second, two pieces were placed in such a manner as to support each other, and beneath the PUSS-MOTH. 1G7 single thus formed an oblong structure was made, composed, *as before, of wood-raspings and silk, but much stronger in ktexture than the winter cell. In a few weeks (four, if we [recollect aright) the moth came forth. (*J. K) A wood-boring caterpillar, of a species of moth much rearer than the preceding (^yEgcria asilifomiis , Stephens), (’exhibits great ingenuity in constructing a cell for its meta- imorphosis. We observed above a dozen of them during ithis summer (1829) in the trunk of a poplar, one side ot 'which had been stripped of its bark. It was this portion cof the trunk which all the caterpillars selected for their (final retreat, not one having been observed where the tree 'was covered with bark. The ingenuity of the little ^architect consisted in scooping its cell almost to the very s surface of the wood, leaving only an exterior covering of 'unbroken wood, as thin as writing-paper. Previous, there- i fore, to the chrysalis making its way through this feeble 1 hairier, it could not have been suspected that an insect was lodged under the smooth wood. N\ e observed more than one of these in the act of breaking through this cover- ing, within Avhich there is, besides, a round moveable lid of a sort of brown wax. (J. It.) Another architect caterpillar, frequently to be met with in July on the leaves of the willow and the poplar, is, in the fly-state, called the puss-motli ( Centra viniila). The caterpillar is produced from brown-coloured shining eggs, about the size of a pin’s head, which are deposited — one, two, or more together — on the upper surface of a leaf. In the course of six or eight weeks (during which time it casts its skin thrice) it arrives at its full growth, when it Eggs of the Puss-Moth. is about as thick, and nearly as long, as a man’s thumb, and begins to prepare a structure in which the pupa may 168 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. sleep securely during tlie Avinter. As we have, oftener than once, seen this little architect at work, from the foundation till the completion of its edifice, we are thereby enabled to give the details of the process. The puss, it may be remarked, does not depend for pro- tection on the hole of a tree, or the shelter of an overhang- ing branch, but upon the solidity and strength of the fabric which it rears. The material it commonly uses is the bark of the tree upon which the cell is constructed ; but when this cannot be procured, it is contented to employ what- ever analogous materials may be within reach. One which we had shut up in a box substituted the marble paper it was lined with for bark, which it could not procure.* With silk it first wove a thin web round the edges of the place which it marked out for its edifice ; then it ran several threads in a spare manner from side to side, and from end to end, but very irregularly in point of arrange- * It is justly remarked by Reaumur, that when caterpillars are left at liberty among their native plants, it is only by luckyjehance they can be observed building their cocoons, because the greater number abandon the plants upon which they have been feeding, to spin up in places at some distance. In order to see their operations, they must be kept in confinement, particularly in boxes with glazed doors, where they may be always under the eye of the naturalist. In such circum- stances, however, we may be ignorant what building materials we ought to provide them with for their structures. A red caterpillar, with a few tufts of hair, which Re'aumur found in July feeding upon the flower bunches of the nettle, and refusing to touch the leaves, began in a few days to prepare its cocoon, by knawing the paper lid of the box in which it was placed. This, of course, was a material which it could not have procured in the fields, but it was the nearest in properties that it could procure ; for, though it had the leaves and stems of nettles, it never used a single fragment of either. When Re'aumur found that it was likely to gnaw through the paper lid of the box, and might eft’ect its escape, he furnished it with bits of rumpled paper, fixed to the lid by means of a pin: and these it chopped down into -such pieces as it judged convenient for its structure, which it took a day to complete. The moth appeared four weeks after, of a brownish-black colour, mottled with white, or rather grey, in the maimer of lace. Bonnet also mentions more than one instance in which he observed caterpillars making use of paper, when they could not procure other materials. PUSS-MOTH. 1G9 nicnt ; these were intended for the skeleton or frame-work of the building. IVhen this outline was finished, the next step was to strengthen each thread of silk by adding lludiments of the Cell of the Puss-Moth. several (sometimes six or eight) parallel ones, all of which were then glued together into a single thread, by the insect running its mandibles, charged with gluten, along the line. The meshes, or spaces, which were thus widened by the compression of the parallel threads, were immediately filled up with fresh threads, till at length only very small spaces were left. It was in this stage of the operation that the paper came into requisition, small portions of it being gnawed off the box and glued into the meshes. It was not, however, into the meshes only that, the bits of paper were inserted; for the whole fabric was in the end thickly studded over with them. In about half a day from the first thread of the frame-work being spun the building was completed. It was at first, however, rather soft, and yielded to slight pressure with the finger ; but as soon as it became thoroughly dry, it was so hard that it could with difficulty be penetrated with the point of a penknife. (J. R.) Cell built by the Larva of the Puss-Moth. A question will here suggest itself to the curious in- quirer, how the moth, which is not, like the caterpillar, furnished with mandibles for gnawing, can find its way 170 IN'SECT ARCHITECTURE. through so hard a wall. To resolve this question, it is asserted by recent naturalists (see Kirby and Spence, vol. iii. p. 15), that the moth is furnished with a peculiar acid for dissolving itself a passage. We have a specimen of the case of a puss-moth, in which, notwithstanding its strength, one of the ichneumons had contrived to deposit its eggs. In the beginning of summer, when we expected the moth to appear, and felt anxious to observe the recorded effects of the acid, we wore astonished to find a large orange cuckoo-fly make its escape ; while another, which attempted to follow, stuck by the way and died. On detaching the cell from the box, we found several others, which had not been able to get out, and had died in their cocoons. ' (J. K.) Ichneumon ( Ophion lutcum), figured from the one mentioned. Among the carpenter-grubs may be mentioned that of the purple capricorn-beetle ( Callidium violaceum ), of which the Kev. Mr. Kirby has given an interesting account in the fifth volume of the * Linntean Transactions.’ This insect feeds principally on fir timber which has been felled some time without having had the bark stripped off ; but it is often found on other wood. Though occasionally taken in this kingdom, it is supposed not to have been originally a native. The circumstance of this destructive little animal attacking only such timber as had not been stripped of its bark ought to be attended to by all persons who have any concern in this article ; for the bark is a temptation not only to this, but to various other insects ; and much of the injury done in timber might be prevented, if the trees were all barked as soon as they were felled. The female is furnished, at the posterior extremity of her body, with a flat retractilo tube, which she inserts between the bark and the wood, to the depth of about a quarter of an inch, and there deposits a single egg. By stripping off the bark, CAPRICORN-BEETLE. 171 it is easy to trace tlie whole progress of the grub, from the spot where it is hatched, to that where it attains its full size. It first proceeds in a serpentine direction, filling the space which it leaves with its excrement, resembling saw- dust, and so stopping all ingress to enemies from without. When it has arrived at its utmost dimensions, it does not confine itself to one direction, but works in a kind of labyrinth, eating backwards and forwards, which gives the wood under the bark a very irregular surface : by this means its paths are rendered of considerable width. The bed of its paths exhibits, when closely examined, a curious appearance, occasioned by the gnawings of its jaws, which excavate an infinity of little ramified canals. When the insect is about to assume its chrysalis state, it bores down obliquely into the solid wood, to the depth sometimes of three inches, and seldom if ever less than two, forming holes nearly semi-cylindrical, and of exactly the form of the grub which inhabits them. At first sight one would wonder how so small and seemingly so weak an animal could have strength to excavate so deep a mine ; but when we examine its jaws, our wonder ceases. These are large, thick, and solid sections of a cone divided longitudinally, which, in the act of chewing, apply to each other the whole of tbeir interior plane surface, so that they grind the insect’s food like a pair of millstones. Some of the grubs are hatched in October ; and it is supposed that about the beginning of March they assume their chrysalis state. At the place in the bark opposite to the hole from whence they descended into the wood, the perfect insects gnaw their way out, which generally takes place betwixt the middle of May and the middle of Juno. These insects are supposed only to fly in the night, but during the day they may generally be found resting on the wood from which they were disclosed. The grubs are destitute of feet, pale, folded, somewhat hairy, convex above, and divided into thirteen segments. Their head is large and convex.* It would not bo easy to find a more striking example of * Kirby, in ‘Linn. Trans.,’ vol. v. p. 240, and Introd. ii. 172 IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. ingenuity than occurs in a small caterpillar which may he found in May, on the oak, and is supposed by Kirby and Spence to be that of the Pyralis strigulalis. It is of a whitish-yellow colour, tinged with a shade of carnation, and studded with tufts of red hairs on each segment, and two brown spots behind the head. It has fourteen feet, and the upper part of its body is much flatter than is common in caterpillars. "When this ingenious little insect begins to form its cell, it selects a smooth young branch of the oak, near an offgoing of the branchlets whose angle may afford it some protection. It then measures out, with its body for a rule, the space destined for its structure, the basement of which is of a triangular form, with the apex at the lower end. The building itself is composed of small, rectangular, strap-shaped pieces of the outer hark of the branch cut out from the immediate vicinity ; the insect indeed never travels further for materials than the length of its own body. Upon the two longest sides of the tri- Magnlfled Celts of Pyralis strigulalis? a The walls before they are Joined. 6. Walls Joined, but not closed at top. c. Side view of structure complete. angular base it builds uniform walls, also of a triangular shape, and both gradually diverging from each other as they increase in height. These are formed with so much OAK-BARK CATERPILLARS. 173 mathematical precision, that they fit exactly when they are afterwards brought into contact. As soon as the little architect has completed these walls, which resemble very much the feathers of an arrow, it proceeds to draw them together in a manner similar to that which the leaf- rolling caterpillars employ in constructing their abodes, by pulling them with silken cords till they bend and converge. Even when the two longest sides are thus joined, there is an opening left at the upper end, which is united in a similar manner. When the whole is finished, it requires close inspection to distinguish it from the branch, being formed of the same materials, and having consequently the same colour and gloss. Concealment, indeed, may be supposed, with some justice, to be the final object of the insect in producing this appearance, the same principle being ex- tensively exemplified in numerous other instances. ( 174 ) CHAPTER XI. Earth-mason Caterpillars. Many species of caterpillars are not only skilful in conceal- ing themselves in their cocoons, but also in the concealment of the cocoon itself ; so that even when that is large, as in the instance of the death’s-head hawk-moth ( Achcr&ntia atropos), it is almost impossible to find it. We allude to the numerous class of caterpillars which, previous to their changing into the pupa state, bury themselves in the earth. This circumstance would not be surprising, were it confined to those which are but too well known in gardens, from their feeding upon and destroying the roots of lettuce, chicory, and other plants, as they pass a considerable por- tion of their lives under ground ; nor is it surprising that those which retire under ground during the day, and come abroad to feed in the night, should form their cocoons where they have been in the habit of concealing themselves. But it is very singular and unexpected, that caterpillars which pass the whole of their life on plants and even on trees, should after-wards bury themselves in the earth. Yet, the fact is, that perhaps a greater number make their cocoons under than above ground, particularly those which are not clothed with hair. Some of those caterpillars, which go into the ground previous to their change, make no cocoon at all, but are contented with a rude masonry of earth as a nest for their pupa} : into the details of their operations it will not be so necessary for us to go, as into those which exhibit more ingenuity and care. When one of the latter is dug up it has the appearance of nothing more than a small clod of earth, of a rouudish or oblong shape, but, generally, by no means uniform. The interior, however, when it is laid open, always exhibits a cavity, smooth, polished, and. EARTH-MASON CATERPILLARS. 175 regular, in which the cocoon or the chrysalis lies secure (Fig. b, p. 176). The polish of the interior is precisely such as might he given to soft earth by moistening and kneading it with great care. But beside this, it is usually lined with a tapestry of silk, more or less thick, though this cannot always be discovered without the aid of a magnify- ing glass. This species of caterpillars, as soon as they have completed their growth, go into the earth, scoop out, as the cossus does in wood, a hollow cell of an oblong form, and line it with pellets of earth, from the size of a grain of sand to that of a pea— united, by silk or gluten, into a fabric more or less compact, according to the species, but all of them fitted for protecting the inhabitant, during its winter sleep, against cold and moisture. Outside view of Vests of Earth-mason Caterpillars. One of the examples of this occurs in the ghost-moth ( Hepialus humidi ), which, before it retires into the earth, feeds upon the roots of the hop or the burdock. Like other insects which construct cells under ground, it lines the cemented earthen walls of its cell with .a smooth tapestry of silk, as closely woven as the web of the house- spider. Inaccurate observers havo inferred that these earthen structures Avere formed by a very rude and unskilful process — the caterpillar, according to them, doing nothing more than roll itself round, while the mould adhered to the gluey perspiration with which they describe its body to be covered. This is a process as far from the truth as Aristotle’s account of the spider spinning its web from wool taken from its body. Did the caterpillar do nothing more than roll itself in the earth, the cavity would be a long 176 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. tul>e fitted exactly to its body {fig. c.) : it is essentially different. Neste, &c., of an Earth-mason Caterpillar. It does not indeed require very minute observation to perceive, that every grain of earth in the structure is united to the contiguous grains by threads of silk; and that consequently, instead of the whole having been done at once, it must have required very considerable time and labour. This construction is rendered more obvious by throwing one of these earthen cases into water, which dissolves the earth, but does not act on the silk which binds it together. To understand how this is performed, it may not be uninteresting to follow the little mason from the beginning of his task. When one of those burrowing caterpillars has done feed- ing, it enters the earth to tho depth of several inches, till it finds mould fit for its purpose. Having nowhere to throw the earth which it may dig out, the only means in its power of forming a cavity is to press it with its body ; and, by EARTH-MASON CATERPILLARS. 177 ttuming round and round for this purpose, an oblong hollow iis soon made. But were it left in this state, as Rdaumur 'well remarks, though the vault might endure the requisite ttime by the viscosity of the earth alone, were no change to Take place in its humidity, yet, as a great number are 'wanted to hold out for six, eight, and ten months, they rrequiro to be substantially built; a mere lining of silk, ; therefore, would not be sufficient, and it becomes necessary •to have the walls bound with silk to some thickness. When a caterpillar cannot find earth sufficiently moist to I bear kneading into the • requisite consistence, it has the i means of moistening it with a fluid wliich it ejects for the ] purpose ; and as soon as it has thus prepared a small pellet of earth, it fits it into the wall of the vault, and secures it ■ with silk. As the little mason, however, always works on i the inside of the building, it does not, at first view, appear i in what manner it can procure materials for making one or i two additional walls on the inside of the one first built. As ithe process takes place under ground, it is not easy to i discover tho particulars, for the caterpillars will not work in glazed boxes. The difficulty was completely overcome by M. Reaumur, in the instance of the caterpillar of the water-betony moth ( Cticullia scrophularice, Sciirank), which he permitted to construct the greater part of its under- ground building, and then dug it up and broke a portion off from the end, leaving about a third part of the whole to be rebuilt. Those who are unacquainted with the instinct of insects might have supposed that, being disturbed by the demolition of its walls, it would have left off work ; but the stimulus of providing for the great change is so powerful, that scarcely any disturbance will interrupt a caterpillar in this species of labour. The little builder accordingly was not long in recom- mencing its task for the purpose of repairing the disorder, which it accomplished in about four hours. At first it pro- truded its body almost entirely beyond the breach which had been made, to reconnoitre the exterior for building ma- terials. Earth was put within its reach, of the same kind as it had previously used, and it was not long in selecting 178 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. a 0 ) CHAPTER XTI. CLOTHES-MOTH AND OTHER TENT-MAKINS CATERPILLARS. — LEAF AND BARK MINERS. There are at least five different species of moths similar in manners and economy, the caterpillars of which feed upon animal substances, such as furs, woollen cloths, silk, leather, and, what to the naturalist is no less vexing, upon the specimens of insects and other animals preserved in his cabinet. The moths in question are of the family named 'Tinea by Entomologists, such as the tapestry-moth ( Tinea tapetzella ), the fur-moth ( Tinea pellionella), the wool-moth ( Tinea vestianella ), the cabinet-moth ( Tinea destructor, Ste- phens), &c. The moths themselves are, in the winged state, small and well fitted for making their way through the most minute hole or chink, so that it is scarcely possible to exclude them by the closeness of a wardrobe or a cabinet.* If they cannot effect an entrance when a drawer is out, or a door open, they will contrive to glide through the key-hole; and if they once get in, it is no easy matter to dislodge or destroy them, for they are exceedingly agile, and escape out of sight in a moment. Moufet is of opinion that the ancients possessed an effectual method of preserving stuffs from the moth, because the robes of Serving Tullius were preserved up to the death of Sejanus, a period of more than five hundred years. On turning to Pliny to learn this secret, we find him relating that stuff laid upon a coffin will be ever after safe from moths ; in the same way as a person once stung by a scorpion will never afterwards be stung by a bee, or a wasp, or a hornet ! Rhasis again says that cantharides suspended in a house drive away moths ; and, * See fig. d„ p. 193. MOTH-CATERPILLARS. 191 lie adds, that they will not touch anything wrapped in a lion’s skin !— the poor little insects, says Reaumur sarcasti- cally, being probably in bodily fear of so terrible an animal.* Such are the stories which fill the imagination even of philosophers, till real science entirely expels them. The effluvium of camphor or turpentine, or fumigation by sulphur or chlorine, may sometimes kill them, when in the winged state, but this will have no effect upon their eggs, and seldom upon the caterpillars ; for they wrap themselves up too closely to be easily reached by any agent except* heat. This, when it can be conveniently applied, Avill be • certain either to dislodge or to kill them. When the effluvium of turpentine, however, reaches the caterpillar, Bonnet says it falls into convulsions, becomes covered with livid blotches, and dies.f The mother insect takes care to deposit her eggs on or near such substances as she instinctively foreknows will be best adapted for the food of the young, taking care to distribute them so that there may be a plentiful supply and enough of room for each. We have found, for example, some of those caterpillars feeding upon the shreds of cloth used in training wall-fruit trees ; but we never saw more than two caterpillars on one shred. This scattering of the eggs in many places renders the effects of the caterpillars more in- jurious, from their attacking many parts of a garment or a piece of stuff at the same time. (J. R.) When one of the caterpillars of this family issues from the egg, its first care is to provide itself with a domicile, which indeed seems no less indispensable to it than food ; for, like all caterpillars that feed under cover, it will not. eat while it remains unprotected. Its mode of building is very similar to that which is employed by other caterpillars that make use of extraneous materials. The foundation or frame-work is made of silk secreted by itself, and into this it interweaves portions of the material upon which it feeds. It is said by Bingley, that “ after having spun a fine coating of silk immediately around its body, it cuts the filaments of the * Reaumur, ‘Mem. Hist. Insectes/ iii. 70. t ‘ Contemplation de la Nature,’ part xii. chap. x. note. 192 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. wool or fur close by the thread of the cloth, or by the skin, with its teeth, which act in the manner of scissors, into con- venient lengths, and applies the bits, one by one, with great dexterity, to tlio outside of its silken case.”* This statement, however, is erroneous, and inconsistent with the proceed- ings not only of the clothes -moth, but of every caterpillar that constructs a covering. None of these build from within outwards, but uniformly commence with the exterior wall, and finish by lining the interior with the finest materials. •Reaumur, however, found that the newly-hatched caterpil- lars lived at first in a case of silk. We have repeatedly witnessed the proceedings of these * insects from the very foundation of their structures ; and, at the moment of writing this, we turned out one from the carcase of an “ old lady moth ” ( Mormo maura, Ochsenheim) in our cabinet, and placed it on a desk covered with green cloth, where it might find materials for constructing another dwelling. It wandered about for half a day before it began its operations ; but it did not, as is asserted by Bonnet, and Kirby and Spence, “ in moving from place to place, seem to be as much incommoded by the long hairs which surround it, as we are by walking amongst high grass,” nor, “ accordingly, marching scythe in hand,” did it, “ with its teeth, cut out a smooth road.” f On the contrary, it did not cut a single hair till it selected one for the foundation of its intended structure. This is cut very near the cloth, in order, we suppose, to have it as long as possible ; and placed it on a line with its body. It then immediately cut another, and placing it parallel to the first, bound both together with a few threads of its own silk. The same process was repeated with other hairs, till the little creature had made a fabric of some thickness, and this it went on to extend till it was large enough to cover its body ; which (as is usual with caterpillars) it employed as a model and measure for regulating its opera- tions. We remarked that it made choice of longer hairs * ‘Animal Biognfyhy,’ vol. iii. p. 330, Third Edition. f Bonnot, xi. p. 204 ; Kirby and Spence, ‘ Introduction,’ i. 4C4, Fifth Edition. MOTH-CATERPILLARS. 193 for the outside than for the parts of the interior, which it thought necessary to strengthen by fresh additions ; but the chamber was ultimately finished by a fine and closely- woven tapestry of .silk. We could see the progress of its work, by looking into the opening at either of the ends ; for at this stage of the structure the walls are quite opaque, and the insect concealed. It may be thus observed to turn round, by doubling itself and bringing its head where the tail had just been ; of course, the interior is left wide enough for this purpose, and the centre, indeed, where it turns, is always wider than the extremities. (J. R.) When the caterpillar increases in length, it takes care to add to the length of its house, by working-in fresh Cases, &c, of the Clothes-Moth (.Tinea peUionella.).—a, Caterpillar feeding in a case which lias been lengthened by ovals of different colours; ft, Case cut at the ends for experiment; c. Case cut open by the Insect for enlarging It; d, e. The clothes-moths in their perfect state, when, as they cease to cat, they do no further injury. hairs at either end ; and if it be shifted to stuffs of dif- ferent colours, it may be made to construct a party- coloured tissue, like a Scotch plaid. Reaumur cut off with scissors a portion at each end, to compel the insect to make up the deficiency. But the caterpillar increases in thickness as well as in length, so that, its first house becoming too narrow, it must either enlarge it, or build a new one. It prefers the former as less troublesome, and accomplishes its purpose “as dexterously,” says o 194 IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. Bonnet, “ as any tailor, and sets to work precisely as we should do, slitting the case on the two opposite sides, and then adroitly inserting between them two pieces of the requisite size. It does not, however, cut open the case from one end to the other at once ; the sides would separate too far asunder, and the insect be left naked. It therefore first cuts each side aboiit half-way down, beginning sometimes at the centre and sometimes at the end (Fig. c), and then, after having filled up the fissure, proceeds to cut the remaining half ; so that, in fact, four enlargements are made, and four separate pieces inserted. The colour of the case is always the same as that of the stuff from which it is taken. Thus, if its original colour be blue, and the insect, previously to enlarging it, be put upon red cloth, the circles at the end, and two stripes down the middle, will be red.” * Eeaumur found that they cut these enlargements in no precise order, but some- times continuously, and sometimes opposite each other, indifferently. The same naturalist says he never knew one leave its old dwelling in order to build a new ; though, when once ejected by force from its house, it would never enter it again, as some other species of caterpillars will do, but always preferred building another. We, on the contrary, have more than once seen them leave an old habitation. The very caterpillar, indeed, whose history we have above given, first took up its abode in a specimen of the ghost- moth ( Flepialus hum all), where, finding few suitable mate- rials for building, it had recourse to the cork of the drawer, with the chips of which it made a structure almost as warm as it would have done from wool. Whether it took offence at our disturbing it one day, or whether it did not find sufficient food in the body of the ghost-moth, we know not ; but it left its cork house, and travelled about eighteen inches, selected “ the old lady,” one of the largest insects in the drawer, and built a new apartment, composed partly of cork as before, and partly of bits dipt out of the moth’s wings. (J. E.) * Bonnet, vol. ix. p. 203. TENT-MAKING CATERPILLARS. 195 We have seen these caterpillars form their habitations of every sort of insect, from a butterfly to a beetle ; and the soft, feathery wings of moths answer their purpose very well : but when they fall in with such hard materials as the musk beetle (Cerambyx vwscliatus ), or the large scolo- pendra of the West Indies, they find some difficulty in the building. When the structure is finished, the insect deems itself secure to feed on the materials of the cloth or other animal matter within its reach, provided it is dry and free from fat or grease, which Reaumur found it would not touch. This may probably be the origin of the practice of putting a bit of candle with furs, &e., to pre- serve them from the moth. For building, it always selects the straightest and loosest pieces of wool, but for food it prefers the shortest and most compact ; and to procure these it eats into the body of the stuff, rejecting the pile or nap, which it necessarily cuts across at the origin, and permits to fall, leaving it threadbare, as if it had been much worn. It must have been this circumstance which induced Bonnet to fancy (as we have already mentioned) that it cuts the hairs to make itself a smooth, comfortable path to walk upon. It would be equally correct to say that an ox or a sheep dislikes walking amongst long grass, and therefore eats it down in order to clear the way. Tent-making Caterpillars. The caterpillars of a family of small moths ( Tineidce ), which feed on the leaves of various trees, such as the hawthorn, the elm, the oak, and most fruit-trees, particu- larly the pear,, form habitations which are exceedingly ingenious and elegant. They are so very minute that they require close inspection to discover them ; and to the cursory observer, unacquainted with their habits, they will appear more like the withered leaf-scales of the tree, thrown off when the buds expand, than artificial structures made by insects. It is only, indeed, by seeing them move about upon the leaves,' that we discover they arb inhabited 1 9(5 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. by a living tenant, who carries them as the snail does its shell. These tents are from a quarter of an inch to an incf in length, and usually about the breadth of an oat-straw That they are of the colour of a withered leaf is not surprising ; for they are actually composed of a piece ol leaf; not, however, cut out from the whole thickness, but artfully separated from the upper layer, as a person might separate one of the leaves of paper from a sheet of paste- board. The tents of this class of caterpillars, which are found on the elm, the alder, and other trees with serrated leaves, are much in the shape of a minute goldfish. They are A caterpillar's tent upon a leaf of the elm.— a, a, the part of the leaf from which the tent has been cut out; it, the tent Itself. convex on the back, where the indentations of the leaf out of which they have been cut add to the resemblance, by appearing like the dorsal fins of the fish. By depriving one of those caterpillars common on the hawthorn of its tents, for the sake of experiment, we put it under the necessity of making another; for, as Pliny remarks of the clothes-moth, they will rather die of hunger than feed unprotected. When we placed it on a fresh haw- thorn leaf, it repeatedly examined every part of it, as if seeking for its lost tent, though, when this was put in its way, it would not again enter it ; but, after some delay, commenced a new one. (J. R.) For this purpose, it began to eat through one of the two outer membranes which compose the leaf and enclose the pulp ( parenchyma ), some of which, also, it devoured, and then thrust the hinder part of its body into the per- TEXT-MAKING CATERPILLARS. 197 foraiion. The cavity, however, which it had formed, being yet too small for its reception, it immediately re- sumed the task of making it larger. By continuing to gnaw into the pulp, between the membranes of the leaf (for it took the greatest care not to puncture or injure the membranes themselves), it soon succeeded in mining out a gallery rather larger than was sufficient to contain its body. We perceived that it did not throw out as rubbish the pulp it dug into, but devoured it as food — a circumstance not the least remarkable in its proceedings. As the two membranes of leaf thus deprived of the enclosed pulp appeared white and transparent, every movement of the insect within could be distinctly seen ; and it was not a little interesting to watch its ingenious operations while it was making its tent from the mem- branes prepared as we have just described. These, as Reaumur has remarked, are in fact to the insect like a piece of cloth in the hands of a tailor ; and no tailor could cut out a shape with more neatness and dexterity than this little workman does. As the caterpillar is furnished in its mandibles with an excellent pair of scissors, this may not appear to be a difficult task ; yet, when we examine the matter more minutely, we find that the peculiar shape of the two extremities requires different curvatures, and this, of course, renders the operation no less complex, as Reaumur subjoins, than the shaping of the pieces of cloth for a coat.* The insect, in fact, shapes the membranes slightly convex on one side and concave on the other, and at one end twice as large as the other. In the instance which we observed, beginning at the larger end, it bent them gently on each side by pressing them with its body thrown into a curve. We have not said it cuts, but shapes its materials ; for it must be obvious that if the insect had cut both the membranes at this stage of its operations, the pieces would have fallen and carried it along with them. To obviate such an accident it proceeded to join the two edges, and secure them firmly with silk, before it made * ‘Mem. Hist. Insect.’ iii. p. 106. , 198 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. a single incision to detach them. When it had in this manner joined the two edges along one of the sides, it inserted its head on the outside of the joining, first at one end and then at the other, gnawing the fibres till that whole side was separated. It proceeded in the same manner with the other side, joining the edges before it cut them; and when it arrived at the last fibre, the only remaining support of its now finished tent, it took the precaution, before snipping it, to moor the whole to the uncut part of the leaf by a cable of its -own silk. Con- sequently, when it does cut the last nervure, it is secure from falling, and can then travel along the leaf, carrying its tent on its back, as a snail does its shell. (J. R.) We have just discovered (Nov. 4th, 1829) upon the nettle a tent of a very singular appearance, in consequence of the materials of which it is made. The caterpillar a, The Caterpillar occupying the space It has eaten between the cuticle of the leaf; b, A portion of the upper cuticle, cut out for the formation of the tent; c. The tent nearly completed ; d, The perfect tent, with the caterpillar protruding Its head. seems, indeed, to have proceeded exactly in the same manner as those which we have described, mining first between the two membranes of the leaf, and then uniting these and cutting out his tent. But the tent itself looks singular from being all over studded with the stinging bristles of the nettle, and forming a no less formidable coat of mail to the little inhabitant than the spiny hide of the hedgehog. In feeding it does not seem to have mined into the leaf, but to have eaten the whole of the lower membrane, along with the entire pulp, leaving STONE-MASON CATERPILLARS. 199 nothing but the upper membrane untouched. (J. E.) During the summer of 1830 we discovered a very large tent which had been formed out of a blade of grass ; and another .stuck all over with chips of leaves upon the common maple. Tests of Stone-Mason Caterpillars. The caterpillar of a small moth {Tinea) which feeds upon the lichens growing on Avails, builds for itself a moveable tent of a very singular kind. M. de la Yoye was the first who described these insects ; but though they are frequently overlooked, from being very small, they are by no means uncommon on old Avails. Reaumur observed them regularly for twenty years together on the terrace- Avall of the Tuileries at Paris ; and they may be found in abundance in similar situations in this country. This accurate observer refuted by experiment the notion of Lichen-Tents and Caterpillars, both of their natural size and magnltled. M. de la Yoye that the caterpillars fed upon the stones of the Avail ; but he satisfied himself that they detached particles of the stone for the purpose of building their tents or sheaths ( fourreaux ), as he calls their dwellings. In order to Avatcli their mode of building, Reaumur gently ejected half-a-dozen of them from their homes, and ob- served them detach grain al'ter grain from a piece of stone, binding each into the Avail of their building Avith silk till the cell acquired the requisite magnitude, the AA'liole operation taking about twenty-four hours of continued 200 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. labour. M. do la Voye mentions small granular bodies of a greenish colour, placed irregularly on the exterior of the structure, which he calls eggs ; but we agree with Reaumur in thinking it more probable that they are small fragments of moss or lichen intermixed with the stone : in fact, we have ascertained that they are so. (J. R.) When these little architects prepare for their change into chrysalides before becoming moths, they attach their tents securely to the stone over which they have hitherto rambled, by spinning a strong mooring of silk, so as not only to fill up every interstice between the main entrance of the tent and the stone, but also weaving a close, thick curtain of the same material, to shut up the entire aperture. It is usual for insects which form similar structure to issue, when they assume the winged state, from the broader end of their habitation ; but our little stone-mason proceeds in a different manner. It leaves open the apex of the cone from the first, for the purpose of ejecting its excrements, and latterly it enlarges this opening a little, to allow of a free exit when it acquires wings ; taking care, however, to spin over it a canopy of silk, as a temporary protection, which it can afterwards burst through without difficulty. The moth itself is very much like the common clothes-moth in form, but is of a gilded-bronze colour, and considerably smaller. In the same locality, M. de Maupertuis found a nume- rous brood of small caterpillars, which employed grains of stone, not, like the preceding, for building feeding-tents, but for their cocoons. ' This caterpillar was of a brownish- grey colour, with a white line along the back, on each side of which were tufts of hair. The cocoons which it built were oval, and less in size than a hazel-nut, the grains of the stone being skilfully woven into irregular meshes of silk. In June, 1829, we found a numerous encampment of the tent-building caterpillars described by MM. de la Voye and Reaumur, on the brick wall of a garden at Iilackheath, Kent. (J. R.) They were so very small, however, and so like the lichen on the wall, that had not our attention STONE-MASON CATERPILLARS. 201 been previously directed to their habits, we should have considered them as portions of the wall ; for not one of them was in motion, and it was only by the neat, turbi- nated, conical form in which they had constructed their habitations that we detected them. We tried the experi- ment above-mentioned, of ejecting one of the caterpillars from its tent, in order to watch its proceedings when constructing another; but probably its haste to procure shelter, or the artificial circumstances into which it was thrown, influenced its operations, for it did not form so good a tent as the first, the texture of the walls being much slighter, while it was more rounded at tho apex, and of course not so elegant. Reaumur found, in all his similar experi- ments, that the new structure equalled the old ; but most of the trials of this kind which we have made correspond with the inferiority which we have here recorded. The process indeed is the same, but it seems to be done with more hurry and less care. It may be, indeed, in some cases, that the supply of silk necessary to unite the bits of stone, earth, or lichen employed, is too scanty for perfecting a second structure. We remarked a very singular circumstance in the opera- tions of our little architect, which seems to have escaped the minute and accurate attention of Reaumur. When it commenced its structure, it was indispensable to lay a foundation for the walls about to be reared ; but as the tent was to be moveable like the shell of a snail, and not stationary, it would not have answered its end to cement the foundation to the Avail. We had foreseen this difficulty, and felt not a little interested in discovering how it Avould be got over. Accordingly, upon watching its movements with some attention, we were soon gratified to perceive that it used its own body as the primary support of the building. It fixed a thread of silk upon one of its right feet, warped it over to the corresponding left foot, and upon the thread thus stretched betAveen the two feet it glued grains of stone and chips of lichen, till the Avail Avas of the required thickness. Upon this, as a foundation, it continued to Avork till it had formed a small portion in 202 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. form of a parallelogram ; and proceeding in a similar way, it was not long in making a ring a very little wider than sufficient to admit its body. It extended this ring in breadth, by working on the inside only, narrowing the diameter by degrees, till it began to take the form of a cone. The apex of this cone was not closed up, but left as an aperture through which to eject its excrements. It is worthy of remark, that one of the caterpillars which we deprived of its tent, attempted to save itself the trouble of building a new one, by endeavouring to unhouse one of its neighbours. For this purpose, it got upon the outside of the inhabited tent, and, sliding its head down to the entrance, tried to make its way into the interior. But the rightful owner did not choose to give up his premises so easily; and fixed his tent down so firmly upon the table where we had placed it, that the intruder was forced to abandon his attempt. The instant, however, that the other unmoored his tent and began to move about, the invader renewed his efforts to eject him, persevering in the struggle for several hours, but without a chance of success. At one time we imagined that he would have accomplished his felonious intentions; for he bound down the apex of the tent to the table with cables of silk. But he attempted his entrance at the wrong end. lie ought to have triod the aperture in the apex, by enlarging which a little he would undoubtedly have made good his entrance ; and as the inhabitant could not have turned upon him for want of room, the castle must have been surrendered. This experiment, however, was not tried, and there was no hope for him at the main entrance. Muff-shaped Tents. The ingenuity of man has pressed into his service not only the wool, the hair, and even the skins of animals, but has most extensively searched the vegetable kingdom for the materials of his clothing. In all this, however, he is rivalled by the tiny inhabitants of the insect world, as MINING CATERPILLARS. 203 we have already seen ; and we are about now to give an additional instance of the art of a species of caterpillars which select a warmer material for their tents than even the caterpillar of the clothes-moth. It may have been remarked by many who are not botanists, that the seed- catkins of the willow become, as they ripen, covered with a species of down or cotton, which, liowevm-, is too short in the fibre to be advantageously employed in our manufac- tures. But the caterpillars, to which we have alluded, find it well adapted for their habitations. The muff-looking tent in which we find these insects a, Brunei) of the Willow, with seed-spi kes covered with cotton ; 0, Muff Tents, made of this cotton by c, the Caterpillar. does not require much trouble to construct ; for the cater- pillar does not, like the clothes-moth caterpillar, join the willow-cotton together, fibre by fibre — it is contented with the state in which it finds it on the seed. Into this it burrows, lines the interior with a tapestry of silk, and then detaches the whole from the branch where it was growing, 204 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. and carries it about with it as a protection while it is feeding.* An inquiring friend of Reaumur having found one of these insects floating about in its muff-tent upon water, concluded that they fed upon aquatic plants ; but he was soon convinced ^hat it had only been blown down by an accident, which must frequently happen, as willows so often hang over water. May it not be, that the buoyant materials of the tent were intended to furnish the little inhabitant with a life-boat, in which, when it chanced to be blown into the water, it might sail safely ashore and regain its native tree ? Leaf-mining Caterpillars. The process of mining between the two membranes of a leaf is carried on to more extent by minute caterpillars allied to the tent-makers above described. The tent -maker never deserts his house, except when compelled, and there- fore can only mine to about half the length of his own body ; but the miners now to be considered make the mine itself their dwelling-place, and as they eat their way, they lengthen and enlarge their galleries. A few of these mining caterpillars are the progeny of small weevils (Carculionidce), some of two- winged flies ( Diptera ), but the greater number are produced from a genus of minute moths (( Ecophora , Latr.), which, when magnified, appear to be amongst the most splendid and brilliant of Nature’s produc- tions, vying even with the humming-birds and diamond- beetles of the tropics in the rich metallic colours which bespangle their wings. Well may Bonnet call them “ tiny miracles of nature,” and regret that they are not en grand. \ There are few plants or trees whose leaves may not, at some season of the year, be found mined by these caterpillars, the track of whose progress appears on the upper surface in winding lines. Let us take one of the most common of these for an example, — that of the rose- * Reaumur, iii. p. 130. f Bonnet, * Contempt de la Nature,’ part xii. MIXING CATERPILLARS. 205 leaf, produced by the caterpillar of Ray’s golden-silver spot ( Argyromiges Bayella ? Curtis), of "which we have just gathered above a dozen specimens from one rose-tree. (J.R.) It may be remarked that the winding line is black, closely resembling the tortuous course of a river on a map, — beginning like a small brook, and gradually in- creasing in breadth as it proceeds. This representation of a river exhibits, besides, a narrow, white valley on each side of it, increasing as it goes, till it terminates in a broad delta. The valley is the portion of the inner leaf from Cpiif of the Monthly Hose ( Rose Jndica ), mined by Caterpillars of Argyromiges ? which the caterpillar has eaten the pulp ( parenchyma ), while the river itself has been formed by the liquid ejecta- menta of the insect, the watery part becoming evaporated. In other species of miners, however, the dung is hard and dry, and consequently these only exhibit the valley without the river (see p. 207). On looking at tho back of the leaf, where the winding line begins, we uniformly find the shell of the very minute egg from which the caterpillar has been hatched, and hence perceive that it digs into the leaf the moment it escapes from the egg, without wandering a liair’s-breadth from the spot ; as if afraid lest the air should visit it too 206 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. roughly. The egg is, for the most part, placed upon the mid-rib of the rose-leaf, but sometimes on one of the larger nervures. AY hen once it has got within the leaf, it seems to pursue no certain direction, sometimes working to the centre, sometimes to the circumference, sometimes to the point, and sometimes to the base, and even, occa- sionally, crossing or keeping parallel to its own previous track. The most marvellous circumstance, however, is the minuteness of its workmanship ; for though a rose-leaf is thinner than this paper, the insect finds room to mine a tunnel to live in, $nd plenty of food, without touching the two external membranes. Let any one try with the nicest dissecting instruments to separate the two plates of a rose-leaf, and ho will find it impossible to proceed far without tearing one or other. The caterpillar goes still further in minute nicety ; for it may be remarked, that its track can only be seen on the upper, and not on the under surface of the leaf, proving that it eats as it pro- ceeds only half the thickness of the pulp, or that portion of it which belongs to the upper membrane of the leaf. We have found this little miner on almost every sort of rose-tree, both wild and cultivated, including the sweet- briar, in which the leaf being very small, it requires nearly the whole parenchyma to feed one caterpillar. They seem, however, to prefer the foreign monthly rose to any of our native species, and there are few trees of this where they may not be discovered. Tunnels very analogous to the preceding may be found upon the common bramble ( Rubus fruticosus) ; and on the holly, early in spring, one which is in form of an irregular whitish blotch. But in the former case, the little miner seems to proceed more regularly, always, when newly hatched, making directly for the circumference, upon or near which ,'dso the mother moth deposits her egg, and winding along for half the extent of the leaf close upon the edge, following, in some cases, the very indentations formed by the terminating nervures. The bramble-leaf minor seems also to differ from that MIXING CATERPILLARS. 207 of the rose-leaf, by eating the pulp both from the upper and under surface, at least the track is equally distinct above and below ; yet this may arise from the different consistence of the leaf pulp, that in the rose being firm, while that of the bramble is soft and puffy. Leaf of the Dew-berry Bramble (.Rubus casiiu), mined by Caterpillars. On the leaves of the common primrose ( Primula veris'), as well as on the garden variety of it, the polyanthus, one of those miffing caterpillars may very frequently be found. It is, however, considerably different from the preceding, for there is no black trace— no river to the valley which it excavates: its ejectamenta, being small and solid, are Leaf of the Primrose ( Primula verif), mined by a Caterpillar. seen, when the leaf is dried, in little black points like grains of sand. This miner also seems more partial than the preceding to tho mid-rib and its vicinity, in conse- quence of which its path is seldom so tortuous, and often appears at its extremity to terminate in an area, compara- 208 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. tively extensive, arising from its recrossing its previous tracks. (J. R.) Swammerdam describes a mining caterpillar which he found on the leaves of the alder, though it did not, like those we have just described, excavate a winding gallery ; it kept upon the same spot, and formed only an irregular area. A moth was produced from this, whose upper wings, he says, “ shone and glittered most gloriously with crescents of gold, silver, and brown, surrounded by borders of delicate black.” Another area miner which he found on the leaves of willows, as many as seventeen on one leaf, producing what appeared to be rusty spots, was metamor- phosed into a very minute weevil ( Curculio Rhinoc.). He says he has been informed that, in warm climates, worms an inch long are found in leaves, and adds, with great simplicity, “ on these many fine experiments might have been made, if the inhabitants had not laboured under the cursed thirst of gold.” * The vine-leaf miner, when about to construct its cocoon, cuts, from the termination of its gallery, two pieces of the membrane of the leaf, deprived of their pulp, in a similar maimer to the tent-makers described above, uniting them and lining them with silk. This she carries to some distance before she lays herself up to undergo her change. Her mode of walking under her burthen is peculiar, for, not contented with the security of a single thread of silk, she forms, as Bonnet says, “ little mountains ( monticules ) of silk, from distance to distance, and seizing one of these with her teeth, drags herself forward, and makes it a scaffolding from which she can build another.”! Some of the miners, however, do not leave their galleries, but undergo their transformations there, taking the precaution to mine a cell, not in the upper, but in the under surface ; others only shift to another portion of the leaf. * Swammerd., ‘ Book of Nature,’ vol. ii. p. 84. f ‘ Contempt de la Nature,’ part xii. p. 197. BARK-MINING CATERriLLARS. 2G9 Social Leaf-Miners. ' The preceding descriptions apply to caterpillars who construct their mines in solitude, there being seldom more than one on a leaf or leaflet, unless when two mother-flies happen to lay their eggs on the same leaf ; but there are others, such as the miners of the leaves of the henbane (Uyos- cyamus niger), which excavate a common area in concert — from four to eight forming a colony. These are very like flesh-maggots, being larger than the common miners ; the leaves of this plant, from being thick and juicy, giving them space to work and plenty to eat. Most of the solitary leaf-miners either cannot or will not construct a new mine, if ejected by an experimenter from the old, as wo have frequently proved ; but this is not the case with the social miners of the henbane-leaf. Bonnet ejected one of these, and watched it with his glass till it commenced a new tunnel, which it also enlarged with great expedition ; and in order to verify the assertion of lleaumur, that they neither endeavour nor fear to meet one another, he introduced a second. Neither of them mani- fested any knowledge of the other’s contiguity, but both worked hard at the gallery, as did a third and a fourth which he afterwards introduced ; for though they seemed uneasy, they never attacked one another, as the solitary ones often do when they meet.* Bark-mining Caterpillars. A very different order of mining caterpillars are the progeny of various beetles, which excavate their galleries in the soft inner bark of trees, or between it and the young wood (alburnum). Some of these, though small, commit extensive ravages, as may readily be conceived when we are told that as many as eighty thousand are occasionally found on one tree. In 1783 the trees thus destroyed by the printer-beetle (Tomicus typographus, Latr.), so called from its tracks resembling letters, amounted to above a million and a half in the Hartz forest. It appears there * Bonnet, ‘ Observ. snr les Insectes,’ vol. ii. p. 425. P 210 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. periodically, and confines its ravages to the fir. This insect is said to have been found in the neighbourhood of London. On taking oft' the bark of decaying poplars and willows, we have frequently met with the tracks of a miner of this oi'der, extending in tortuous pathways, about a quarter of an inch broad, for several feet and even yards in length. The excavation is not circular, but a compressed oval, and crammed throughout with a dark-coloured substance like sawdust — the excrement no doubt of the little miner, who is thereby protected from the attacks of Staphylinida! , and other predaceous insects, from behind. But though we have found a great number of these subcortical tracks, we have never discovered one of the miners, though they are very probably the grubs of the pretty musk-beetle ( Cerambyx moschatus )* which are so abundant in the neighbourhood of the trees in question, that the very air in summer is perfumed with their odour. (J. R.) Another capricorn beetle of this family is no less de- Capricom Beetle ( Cerambyx Lamia ampulator), rounding off the bark of a tree. structive to bark in its perfect state than the above are when grubs, as from its habit of eating round a tree, it cuts the course of the returning sap, and destroys it. ( 211 ) CHAPTER XIII. STRUCTURES OF GRASSHOPPERS, CRICKETS, AND BEETLES. Grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, and beetles are, in many respects, no less interesting than the insects whose archi- tectural proceedings wo have already detailed. They do not, indeed, build any edifice for the accommodation of them- selves or their progeny; but most, if not all of them, exca- vate retreats in walls or in the ground. The house-cricket ( Acheta domestica ) is well known for its habit of picking out the mortar of ovens and kitchen fire- places, where it not only enjoys warmth, but can procure- abundance of food. It is usually supposed that it feeds on bread. M. Latreille says it only eats insects, and [it cer- tainly thrives well in houses infested by the cockroach ; but we have also known it eat and destroy lamb’s-wool stockings, and other woollen stufl’s, hung near a fire to dry. It is evidently not fond of hard labour, but prefers those places where the moi’tar is already loosened, or at least is new, soft, and easily scooped out ; and in this way it will dig covert ways from room to room. In summer, crickets often make excursions from the house to the neighbouring fields, and dwell in the crevices of rubbish, or the cracks made in the ground by dry weather, where they chirp as merrily as in the snuggest chimney comer. 'Whether they ever dig retreats in such circumstances we have not ascertained ; though it is not improbable they may do so for the purpose of making nests. M. Bory St. Vincent tells us that the Spaniards are so fond of crickets that they keep them in cages like singing birds.* The Mole-Cricket. The insect, called, from its similarity of habits to the mole, the mole-cricket ( Gryllotalpa vulgaris , Latr.) is but * Diet. Classique d’Hist. Nat. Art. Grillon. 212 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. too well known in gardens, com-fields, and the moist banks of rivers and ponds, in some parts of England, such as Wilt- shire and Hampshire, though it is comparatively rare or unknown in others. It burrows in the ground, and forms extensive galleries similar to those of the mole, though smaller ; and these may always be recognised by a slightly elevated ridge of mould : for the insect does not throw up the earth in hillocks like the mole, but gradually, as it digs along, in the manner of the field-mouse. In this way it commits great ravages, in hotbeds and in gardens, upon peas, young cabbages, and other vegetables, the roots of which it is said to devour. It is not improbable, we think- that, like its congener, the house-cricket, it may also prey upon underground insects, and undermine the plants to get at them, as the mole has been proved to' do. Mr. Gould, indeed, fed a mole-cricket for several months upon ants. The structure of the mole-cricket’s arms and hands (if we The Mole-Cricket, with a separate outline of one of Its hands. may call them so) is admirably adapted for these operations, being both very strong, and moved by a peculiar apparatus of muscles. The breast is formed of a thick, hard, homy substance, which is further strengthened within by a double framework of strong gristle, in front of the extremi- MOLE-CRICKET. 213 ties of which the shoulder-blades of the aims are firmly jointed: a structure evidently intended to prevent the breast from being injured by the powerful action of the muscles of the arms in digging. The arms themselves are strong and broad, and the hand is furnished with four large sharp claws, pointed somewhat obliquely outwards, this being the direction in which it digs, throwing the earth on each side of its course. So strongly indeed does it throw out its arms, that we find it can thus easily support its own weight when held between the finger and thumb, as we have tried upon half-a-dozen of the living insects now in our possession. The nest which the female constructs for her eggs, in the beginning of May, is well worthy of attention. The Rev. N est ot the Mole-Cricket. Mr. White, of Selbome, tells us that a gardener, at a house where he was on a visit, while mowing grass by the side of a canal, chanced to strike his scythe too deep, and pared off a large piece of turf, laying open to view an interesting scene of domestic economy. There was a pretty chamber dug in the clay, of the form and about the dimensions it would have had if moulded by an egg, the walls being neatly smoothed and polished. In this little cell were deposited about a hundred eggs, of the size and fonn of caraway comfits, and of a dull tarnished white colour. The eggs were not very deep, but just under a little heap of fresh mould, and within the influence of the sun’s heat.* The dull tarnished white colour, however, scarcely agrees * Natural History of Selbome, ii. 82. 214 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. with a parcel of these eggs now before us, which are trans- lucent, gelatinous, and greenish. Like the eggs and young of other insects, however, those of the mole-cricket are exposed to depredation, and par- ticularly to the ravages of a black beetle which burrows in similar localities. The mother insect, accordingly, does not. think her nest secure till she has defended it, like a fortified town, with labyrinths, intrenchments, ramparts, and covert ways. In some part of these outworks she stations herself as an advanced guard, and when the beetle ventures within her circumvallations, she pounces upon him and kills him. The Field-Cricket. « Another insect of this family, the field-cricket ( Acheta campestm ), also forms burrows in the ground, in which it lodges all day, and comes out chiefly about sunset to pipe its evening song. It is so very shy and cautious, however, that it is by no means easy to discover either the insect or its burrow. “ The children in France amuse themselves with hunting after the field-cricket; they put into its hole an ant fastened by a long hair, and as they draw it out the cricket does not fail to pursue it, and issue from its retreat. Pliny informs us it might be captured in a much more expeditious and easy manner. If, for instanco, a small and slender piece of stick were to be thrust into the burrow, the insect, he says, would immediately get upon it for the purpose of demanding the occasion of the intrusion : whence arose the proverb stultior grillo (more foolish than a cricket), applied to one who, upon light grounds, provokes his enemy, and falls into the snares wjkich might have been laid to entrap him.”* The Rev. Mr. White, who attentively studied their habits and manners, at first made an attempt to dig them out with a spade, but without any great success; for either the bottom of the hole was inaccessible, from its terminating under a large stone, or else in breaking up the ground, the poor creature was inadvertently squeezed to death. Out of one thus bruised, a great number of eggs were taken, which # Entomologie, par It. A. E, 18mo., Paris, 18*26, p. 168. FIELD-CRICKET. 215 were long and narrow, of a yellow colour, and covered with a very tough skin. More gentle means were then used, and these proved successful. A pliant stalk of grass, gently insinuated into the caverns, will probe their windings to the bottom, and bring out the inhabitant ; and thus the humane inquirer may gratify his curiosity without injuring the object of it. When the males meet, they sometimes fight very fiercely, as Mr. White found by some that he put into the crevices of a dry stone wall, where he wished to have them settle. For though they seemed distressed by being taken" out of their knowledge, yet the first that got possession of the chinks seized on all the others that were obtruded upon him with his large row of serrated fangs. With their strong jaws, toothed like the shears of a lobster’s claws, they perforate and round their curious regular cells, having no fore claws to dig with, like the mole-cricket. When taken into the hand, they never attempt to defend themselves, though armed with such formidable weapons Of such herbs as grow about the mouths of their burrows they eat indiscri- minately, and never in the day-time seem to stir more than two or three inches from home. Sitting in the entrance of their caverns, they chirp all night as well as day, from the middle of the month of May to the middle of July. In hot weather, when they are most vigorous, they make the hills echo ; and, in the more still hours of darkness, may be heard to a very considerable distance. “ Not many sum- mers ago,” says Mr. White, “ I endeavoured to transplant a colony of these insects to the terrace in my garden, by boring- deep holes in the sloping turf. The new inhabitants stayed some time, and fed and sang ; but they wandered away by degrees, and were heard at a greater distance every morning ; so it appears that on this emergency they made use of their wings in attempting to return to the spot from which they wore taken.”* The manner in which these insects lay their eggs is represented in the following figure ; which is that of an insect nearly allied to the crickets, though of a different genus. # Natural History of Sclborne. 210 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. * Acrida vet-rudrora depositing her eggs. Tile usual position of the ovipositor is represented by dots. A more laborious task is performed by an insect by no means uncommon in Britain, the Burying Beetle (AWo- phorus vespillo), which may be easily recognised by its longish body, of a black colour, with two broad and irregularly indented bands of yellowish brown. A foreign naturalist, M. GHeditsch, gives a very interesting account of its in- dustry. He had “ often remarked that dead moles, when laid upon the ground, especially if upon loose earth, were almost sure to disappear in the course of two or three days, often of twelve hours. To ascertain the cause, he placed a mole upon one of the beds in his garden. It had vanished by the third morning ; and on digging where it had been laid, he found it buried to the depth of three inches, and under it four beetles, which seemed to have been the agents in this singular inhumation. Not perceiving anything par- ticular in the mole, ho buried it again ; and on examining it at the end of six days, he found it swarming with maggots, apparently the issue of the beetles, which M. Gleditsch now naturally concluded had buried the carcass for the food of BURY IN G-BEETLE. 217 their future young. To determine these points more clearly, he put four of these insects into a glass vessel, half filled with earth and properly secured, and upon the surface of the earth two fi'ogs. In less than twelve hours one of the frogs was interred by two of the beetles ; the other two ran about the whole day, as if busied in measuring the dimen- sions of the remaining corpse, which on the third day was also found buried. He then introduced a dead linnet. A pair of the beetles were soon engaged upon the bird. They began their operations by pushing out the earth from under the body, so as to form a cavity for its reception ; and it was curious to see the efforts which the beetles made, by dragging at the feathers of the bird from below, to pull it into its grave. The male, having driven the female away, continued the work alone for five hours. He lifted up the bird, changed its place, turned it and arranged it in the grave, and from time to time came out of the hole, mounted upon it, and trod it under foot, and then retired below, and pulled it down. At length, apparently wearied with this uninterrupted labour, it came forth, and leaned its head upon the earth beside the bird without the smallest motion, as if to rest itself, for a full hour, when it again crept under the earth. The next day, in the morning, the bird was an inch and a half under ground, and the trench remained open the whole day, the corpse seeming as if laid out upon a bier, surrounded with a rampart of mould. In the evening it had sunk half an inch lower, and in another day the work was completed, and the bird covered. M. Gleditsch con- tinued to add other small dead animals, which were all sooner or later buried ; and the result of his experiment was, that in fifty days four beetles had interred, in the very small space of earth allotted to them, twelve carcasses, viz., foui liogs, three small birds, two fishes, one mole, and two giasshoppers, besides the entrails of a fish, and two morsels of the lungs of an ox. In another experiment, a singlo beetle buried a mole forty times its own bulk and weight in two days.”* * Act. Acad. Berolin. 1752, et Glcditscli, Phys. Botun., quoted by lvirby and Spence, ii. 353. 218 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. In the summer of 1826, we found on Putney Heath, in Surrey,' four of these beetles, hard at work in burying a dead crow, precisely in the manner described by M. Gle- ditsch. (J. It.) Dung-Beetle. A still more common British insect, the Dorr, Clock, or Dung-Beetle ( Geotrupes stercoranus'), uses different materials for burying along with its eggs. “ It digs,” to use the words of Kirby and Spence, “ a deep cylindrical hole, and carrying down a mass of the dung to the bottom, in it deposits its eggs. And many of the species of the genus Ateuchus roll together wet dung into round pellets, deposit an egg in the midst of each, and when dry push them back- wards, by their hind feet, to holes of the surprising depth of three feet, which they have previously dug for their re- ception, and which are often several yards distant. The attention of these insects to their eggs is so remarkable, that it was observed in the earliest ages, and is mentioned by ancient writers, but with the addition of many fables, as that they were all of the male sex ; that they became young again every year ; and that they rolled the pellets containing their eggs from sunrise to sunset every day, for twenty-eight days, without intermission.”* “ We frequently notice in our evening walks,” says Mr. Knapp, “ the murmuring passage, and are often stricken by the heedless flight of the great dorr-beetle ( Geotrupes sterco- rariiis ), clocks, as the boys call them. But this evening my attention was called to them in particular, by the constant passing of such a number as to constitute something like a little stream ; and I was led to search into the object of their direct flight, as in general it is irregular and seem- ingly inquisitive. I soon found that they dropped on some recent nuisance : but what powers of perception must these creatures possess, drawn from all distances and directions by the very little fetor which, in such a calm evening, could be diffused around, and by what inconceivable means * Moufet, 153. Kirby and Spence, ii. 350. DUNG-BEETLE. 219 could odours reach this beetle in such a manner as to rouse so inert an insect into action ! But it is appointed one of the great scavengers of the earth, and marvellously endowed with powers of sensation, and means of effecting this pur- pose of its being. Exquisitely fabricated as it is to receive impressions, yet probably it is not more highly gifted than any of the other innumerable creatures that wing their way around us, or creep about our paths, though by this one perceptible faculty, thus ‘ dimly seen,’ it excites our wonder and surprise. How wondrous then the whole ! “ The perfect cleanliness of these creatures is a very notable circumstance, when we consider that nearly their whole lives are passed in burrowing in the earth, and re- moving nuisances ; yet such is the admirable polish of their coating and limbs, that we veiy seldom find any soil ad- hering to them. The meloe, and some of the scarabsei, upon first emerging from their winter’s retreat, are com- monly found with earth clinging to them ; but the removal of this is one of the first operations of the creature ; and all the beetle race, the chief occupation of which is crawling about the soil, and such dirty employs, are, notwithstanding, remarkable for the glossiness of their covering, and freedom from defilements of any kind. But purity of vesture seems to be a principal precept of nature, and observable through- out creation. Fishes, from the nature of the element in which they reside, can contract but little impurity. Birds are unceasingly attentive to neatness and lustration of their plumage. All the slug race, though covered with slimy matter calculated to collect extraneous things, and reptiles, are perfectly free from soil. The fur and hair of beasts, in a state of liberty and health, is never filthy or sullied with dirt. Some birds roll themselves in dust, and, occasionally, particular beasts cover themselves with mire ; but this is not from any liking or inclination for such things, but to free themselves from annoyances, or to prevent the bites of insects. Whether birds in preening, and beasts in dressing themselves, be directed by any instinctive faculty, we know not ; but they evidently derive pleasure from the operation, and thus this feeling of enjoyment, even if the sole motive, 220 INSECT ARCHITECTURE, becomes to them an essential source of comfort and of health.”* The rose or green chafer ( Cetonia aurata ), which is one of our prettiest native insects, is one of the burrowers, and, for the purpose of depositing her eggs, digs, about the middle of June, into soft light ground. When she is seen at this operation, with her broad and delicate wings folded up in their shining green cases, speckled with white, it could hardly bo imagined that she had but just descended from the air, or dropped down from some neighbouring rose. The proceedings of the Tumble-Dung Beetle of America (Scar aba; us pilularius, Linn.) are described in a very interest- ing manner by Catesby, in his ‘ Carolina.’ “I have, ’’ says he, “ attentively admired their industry, and mutual assist- ing of each other in rolling their globular balls from the place where they made them to that of their interment, which is usually the distance of some yards, more or less. This they perform breech foremost, by raising their hind parts, and forcing along the ball with their hind feet Two or three of them are sometimes engaged in trundling one ball, which, from meeting with impediments on account of the unevenness of the ground, is sometimes deserted by them. It is, however, attempted by others with success, unless it happens to roll into some deep hollow or chink, where they are constrained to leave it ; but they continue their work by rolling off the next ball that comes in their way. None of them seem to know their own balls, but an equal care for the whole appears to affect all the community. They form these pellets while the dung remains moist, and leave them to harden in the sun before they attempt to roll them. In their moving of them from place to place, both they and the balls may frequently be seen tumbling about the little eminences that are in their way. They are not, however, easily discouraged ; and, by repeating their attempts, usually surmount the difficulties.” He further informs us that they “ find out their sub- * Journal of a Naturalist, p. 311. TUMBLE-DUNG-BEETLE. 221 sistence by the excellency of their noses, which direct them in their flight to newly-fallen dung, on which they immediately go to work, tempering it with a proper mixture of earth. So intent are they always upon their employ- ment, that, though handled or otherwise interrupted, they are not to he deterred, but immediately, on being freed, persist in their work without any apprehension of danger. They are said to be so exceedingly strong and active as to move about, with the greatest ease, things that are many times their own weight. Dr. Brichell was supping one evening in a planter’s houso of North Carolina, when two of them were conveyed, without his knowledge, under the candlestick. A few blows were struck on the table, and, to his great surprise, the candlesticks began to move about, apparently without any agency ; and his surprise was not much lessened when, on taking one of them up, he dis- covered that it was only a chafer that moved.” We have often found the necklace-beetle ( Cardbus monilis ) inhabiting a chamber dug out in the earth of a garden, just sufficient to contain its body, and carefully smoothed and polished. From the form of this little nest, it would seem as if it were constructed, not by digging out the earth and removing it, but chiefly by the insect pushing its body forcibly against the walls. The beetles which we have fcmnd nestling in this manner have been all males ; and therefore it cannot be intended for a breeding-cell ; for male insects are never, we believe, sufficiently generous to their mates to assist them in such labours. The beetle in question appears to be partial to celery trenches (J. B.) ; probably from the loose earth of which they are composed yielding, without much difficulty, to the pressure of its body. ( 222 ) CHAPTER XIV. ARCHITECTURE OF ANTS. — MASON-ANTS. All the species of ants are social. There are none soli- tary, as is the case with bees and wasps. They are all more or less skilful in architecture, some employing ma- sonry, and others being carpenters, wood-carvers, and miners. They consequently afford much that is interest- ing to naturalists who observe their operations. The genuine history of ants has only been recently investi- gated, first by Gould in 1747, and subsequently by Linnaeus, Be Geer, Huber, and Latreille. Previous to that time their real industry, and their imagined foresight, were held up as moral lessons, without any great accuracy of observation ; and it is probable that, even now, the mixture of truth and error in Addison’s delightful papers in the Guardian (Nos. 156, 157), may bo more generally attractive than the minute relation of careful naturalists. Gould disproved, most satisfactorily, the ancient fable of ants storing up corn for winter provision, no species of ants ever eating grain, or feeding in the winter upon anything. It is to Huber the younger, however, that we are chiefly indebted for our knowledge of the habits and economy of ants ; and to Latreille for a closer distinction of the species. Some of the more interesting species, whose singular economy is described by the younger Huber, have not been hitherto found in this country. We shall, however, discover matter of very considerable interest in those which are indigenous ; and as our principal object is to excite inquiry and observation with regard to those insects which may bo easily watched in our own gardens and fields, we shall chiefly confine ourselves to the ants of , these islands. We shall begin with the labours of those native ants which may be called earth-masons, from their MASON-ANTS. 223 digging in the ground, and forming structures with pellets • of moistened loam, clay, or sand. Mason- A nts. We have used, in the preceding pages, the terms mason- bees and mason-wasps , for insects which build their nests of earthy materials. On the same principle, we have followed the ingenious M. Huber the younger, in employing the term mason-ants for those whose nests on the exterior appear to be hillocks of earth, without the admixture of other materials, whilst in the interior they present a series of labyrinths, lodges, vaults, and galleries constructed with considerable skill. Of these mason-ants, as of the mason- wasps and bees already described, there are several species, differing from ono another in their skill in the art of architecture. One of the most common of the ant-masons is the turf- ant ( Formica ccespitum , Latr.), which is very small and of a blackish-brown colour. Its architecture is not upon quite so extensive a scale as some of the others ; but, though slight, it is very ingenious. Sometimes they make choice of the shelter of a flat stone or other covering, beneath which they hollow out chambers and communicating galleries ; at other times they are contented with the open ground ; but most commonly they select a tuft of grass or other herbage, the stems of which serve for columns to their earthen walls. We had a small colony of these ants accidentally esta- blished in a flower-pot, in which we were rearing some young plants of the tiger-lily ( Lilium tigrinum ), the stems of which being stronger than the grass where they usually build, enabled them to rear their edifice higher, and also to make it more secure, than they otherwise might. It was wholly formed of small grains of moist earth, piled up between the stems of the lily without any' apparent cement ; indeed it has been ascertained by Huber, as we shall after- wards see, that they use no cement beside water. This is not always to be procured, as they depend altogether on rains and dew ; but they possess the art of joining grains 224 INTSECT ARCHITECTURE. of dry sand so as to support ono another, on some similar principle, no doubt, to that of the arch. The nest which our turf-ants constructed in the flower- pot was externally of an imperfect square form, in con- sequence of its situation ; for they usually prefer a circular plan. The principal chambers were placed under the arches, and, when inspected, contained a pile of cocoons and pupae. Beneath those upper chambers there were others dug out deeper down, in which were also a numerous collection of eggs and cocoons in various stages of advance- ment. (J. K.) Mr. Knapp describes a still more curious structure of another species of ant common in this country : — “ One year,” says he, “ on the third of March, my labourer being employed in cutting up ant-hills, or tumps as we call them, exposed to view multitudes of the yellow species (Formica jiarn) in their winter’s retirement. They were collected in numbers in little cells and compartments, communicating with others by means of narrow passages. In many of the cells they had deposited their larvae, which they were surrounding and attending, but not brood- ing over or covering. Being disturbed by our rude opera- tions, they removed them from our sight to more hidden compartments. The larvae were small. Some of these ant-hills contained multitudes of the young of the wood- louse ( Oniscus armadillo'), inhabiting with perfect familiarity the same compartments as the ants, crawling about with great activity with them, and perfectly domesticated with each other. They were small and Avliite ; but the constant vibration of their antennae, and the alacrity of their motions, manifested a healthy vigour. The ants were in a torpid state ; but on being removed into a temperate room, they assumed much of their summer’s animation. How these creatures are supported during the winter season it is difficult to comprehend ; as in no one instance could we perceive any store or provision made for the supply of their wants. The minute size of the larvae manifested that they had been recently deposited ; and consequently that their parents had not remained during winter in a dormant state, MASON-ANTS. 225 and thus free from the calls of hunger. The preceding month of February, and part of January, had been re- markably severe; the frost had penetrated deep into the earth, and long held it frozen ; the ants were in many cases not more than four inches beneath the surface, and must have been enclosed in a mass of frozen soil for a long period ; yet they, their young, and the onisci, were per- fectly uninjured by it : affording another proof of the fallacy of the commonly received opinion, that cold is universally destructive to insect life.” # The earth employed by mason-ants is usually moist clay, either dug from the interior parts of their city, or moist- ened by rain. The mining-ants and the ash-coloured ( Formica fuse a) employ earth which is probably not selected with so much care, for it forms a much coarser mortar than what we see used in the structure of the yellow ants (F. flava) and the brown ants ( F. brunnea). We have never observed them bringing their building materials of this kind from a distance, like the mason-bees and like the wood or hill ant (F. rufa) ; but they take care, before they fix upon a locality, that it shall produce them all that they require. We are indebted to Huber the younger for the most complete account which has hitherto been given of these operations, of which details we shall make free use. “ To form,” says this shrewd observer, “ a correct judg- ment of the interior arrangement or distribution of an ant- hill, it is necessary to select such as have not been acci- dentally spoiled, or whose form has not been too much altered by local circumstances ; a slight attention will then suffice to show that the habitations of the different species are not all constructed after the same system. Thus, the hillock raised by the ash-coloured ants will always present thick walls, fabricated with coarse earth, well-marked stories, and large chambers, with vaulted ceilings, resting upon a solid base. We never observe roads, or galleries, properly so called, but large passages, of an oval form, and all around considerable cavities and # Journal of a Naturalist, p. 304. 226 I.N’SECT ARCHITECTURE. extensive embankments of eartb. We further notice, that the little architects observe a certain proportion between the large arched ceilings and the pillars that are to support them. “ The brown ant ( Formica brunnea), one of the smallest of the ants, is particularly remarkable for the extreme finish of its work. Its body is of a reddish shining brown, its head a little deeper, and the antennas and feet a little lighter in colour. The abdomen is of an obscure brown, the scale narrow, of a square form, and slightly scolloped. The body is one line and two-fifths in length.* “ This ant, one of the most industrious of its tribe, forms its nest of stories four or five lines in height. The partitions are not more than half a line in thickness : and the substance of which they are composed is so finely grained, that the inner walls present one smooth unbroken surface. These stories are not horizontal ; they follow the slope of the ant-hill, and lie one upon another to the ground-floor, which communicates with the subterranean lodges. They are not always, however, arranged with the same regularity, for these ants do not follow an invariable plan ; it appears, on the contrary, that nature has allowed them a certain latitude in this respect, and that they can, according to circumstances, modify them to their wish ; but, however fantastical their habitations may appear, we always observe they have been formed by concentrical stories. On examining each story separately, we observe a number of cavities or halls, lodges of narrower dimensions, and long galleries, which serve for general communication. The arched ceilings covering the most spacious places are supported either by little columns, slender walls, or by regular buttresses. Wo also notice chambers, that have but one entrance, communicating with the lower story, and large open spaces, serving as a kind of cross-road ( carrefour ), in which all the streets terminate. “ Such is the manner in which the habitations of these ants are constructed. Upon opening them, we commonly * A line is the twelfth part of the old French inch. See Companion to the Almanac for 1830, p. 114. MASON-ANTS. 227 find the apartments, as well as the large open spaces, filled with adult ants ; and always observed their pupae collected in the apartments more or less near the surface. This, however, seems regulated by the hour of the day, and the temperature*: for in this respect these ants are endowed with great sensibility, and know the degree of heat best adapted for their young. The ant-hill contains, sometimes, more than twenty stories in its upper portion, and at least as many under the surface of the ground. By this arrangement the ants are enabled, with the greatest facility, to regulate the heat. When a too burning sun over-heats their upper apartments, they withdraw their little ones to the bottom of the ant-hill. The ground-floor becoming, in its turn, uninhabitable during the rainy season, the ants of this species transport what most interests them to the higher stories ; and it is there we find them more usually assembled, with their eggs and pupa;, when the subterranean apartments are submerged.” * Ants have a great dislike to water, when it exceeds that of a light shower to moisten their building materials. One species, mentioned by Azara as indigenous to South America, instinctively builds a nest from three to six feet high,t to provide against the inundations during the rainy season. Even this, however, does not always save them from submersion ; and, when that occurs, they are compelled, in order to prevent .themselves from being swept away, to form a group somewhat similar to the curtain of the wax-workers of hive-bees (see p. 99). The ants constituting the basis of this group, lay hold of some shrub for security, while their companions hold on by them ; and thus the whole colony, forming an animated raft, floats on the surface of the water till the inundation (which seldom continues longer than a day or two) subsides. We confess, however, that we are somewhat sceptical respecting this story, notwithstanding the very high character of the Spanish naturalist. * M. P. Huber on Ants, p. 20. f Stednmn's Surinam, vol. i„ p. 100. 228 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. It is usual with architectural insects to employ some animal secretion, by way of mortar or size, to temper the materials with which they work ; hut the whole economy of ants is so different, that it would be wrong to infer from analogy a similarity in this .respect, though the exquisite polish and extreme delicacy of finish in their structures, lead, naturally', to such a conclusion. M. F. Huber, in order to resolve this question, at first thought of subjecting the materials of the walls to chemical analysis, but wisely' (as we think) abandoned it for the surer method of observation. The details which he has given, as the result of his researches, are exceedingly curious and in- structive. lie began by observing an ant-hill till he could perceive some change in its form. “ The inhabitants,” say's he, “ of that which I selected, kept within during the day, or only went out by' subter- ranean galleries which opened at some feet distance in the meadow. There were, however, two or three small openings on the surface of the nest; but I saw none of the labourers pass out this way, on account of their being too much exposed to the sun, which these insects greatly dread. This ant-hill, which had a round form, rose in the grass, at the border of a path, and had sustained no injury. I soon perceived that the freshness of the air and the dew invited the ants to walk over the surface of their nest ; they began making new apertures ; several ants might be seen arriving at the same time, thrusting their heads from the entrances, moving about their antennas, and at length adventuring forth to visit the environs. “ This brought to my recollection a singular opinion of the ancients. They believed that ants were occupied in their architectural labours during the night, when the moon was at its full.”* M. Latreillo discovered a species of ants which were, so far as he could ascertain, completely blind, t mul of course it would be immaterial to them whether they worked by' night or during the day. All observers indeed agree that * M. P. Huber on Ants, p. 23. f Latreillo Hist. Nat. des Fourmis. MASON-ANTS. 229 ants labour in tbe night, and a French naturalist is there- fore of opinion that they never sleep, — a circumstance which is well ascertained with respect to other animals, such as the shark, which will track a ship in full sail for weeks together.* The ingenious historian of English ants, Gould, says they never intermit their labours by night or by day, except when compelled by excessive rains. It is probable the ancients were mistaken in asserting that they only work when the moon shines ;f for, like bees, they seem to find no difficulty in building in the dark, their subterranean apartments being as well finished as the upper stories of their buildings. But to proceed with the narra- tive of 3VI. P. Huber. “ Having thus noticed the movements of these insects during the night, I found they were almost always abroad and engaged about the dome of their habitation after sunset. This was directly the reverse of what I had observed in the conduct of the wood-ants (F. rufa), who only go out during the day, and close their doors in the evening. The contrast was still more remarkable than I had previously supposed ; for upon visiting the brown ants some days after, during a gentle rain, I saw all their architectural talents in full play. “ As soon as the rain commenced, they left in great numbers their subterranean residence, re-entered it almost immediately, and then returned, bearing between their teeth pellets of earth, which they deposited on the roof of their nest. I could not at first conceive what this was meant for, but at length I saw little walls start up on all sides with spaces left between them. In several places, columns, ranged at regular distances, announced halls, lodges, and passages, which the ants proposed establishing ; in a word, it was the rough beginning of a new story. “ I watched with a considerable degree of interest the * Dr. Cleghorn, Thesis tie Sorano. t Aristotle Hist. Animal, ix. rH8. Pliny says, “ Opernntur et noctu plenA luua ; eadem interlunio cessant,” t. e., They work in the night at full moon, but they leave off between moon and moon. It is the latter that we think doubtful. 230 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. most trifling movements of my masons, and found they did not work after the manner of wasps and humble-bees, when occupied in constructing a covering to their nest. The latter sit, as it were, astride on the border or margin of the covering, and take it between their teeth to model and attenuate it according to their wish. The wax of which it is composed, and the paper which the wasp employs, moistened by some kind of glue, are admirably adapted for this purpose, but the earth of which the ants make use, from its often possessing little tenacity, must be worked up after some other manner. “ Each ant, then, carried between its teeth the pellet of earth it had formed by scraping with the end of its man- dibles the bottom of its abode, a circumstance which I have frequently witnessed in open day. This little mass of earth, being composed of particles but just united, could be readily kneaded and moulded as the ants wished ; thus when they had applied it to tho spot where they had to rest, they divided and pressed against it with their teeth, so as to fill up the little inequalities of their wall. The antennae followed all their movements, passing over each particle of earth as soon as it was placed in its proper position. The whole was then rendered more compact by pressing it lightly with the fore-feet. This work went on remarkably fast. After having traced out the plan of their masonry, in laying here and there foundations for the pillars and partitions they were about to erect, they raised them gradually higher, by adding fresh materials. It often happened that two little walls, which were to form a gallery, were raised opposite, and at a slight distance from each other. When they had attained tho height of four or five lines, the ants busied themselves in covering in the space left between them by a vaulted ceiling. “ As if they judged all their partitions of sufficient elevation, they then quitted their labours in the upper part, of the building ; they affixed to the interior and upper part of each wall fragments of moistened earth, in an almost horizontal direction, and in such a way as to form a ledge, which, by extension, would be made to join that MASON- ANTS. 231 coming from the opposite wall. These ledges were about half a line in thickness ; and the breadth of the galleries was, for the most part, about a quarter of an inch. On one side several vertical partitions were seen to form the scaffolding of a lodge, which communicated with several corridors, by apertures formed in the masonry ; on another, a regulary-formed hall was constructed, the vaulted ceiling of which was sustained by numerous pillars ; further off, again, might be recognised the rudiments of one of those cross roads of which I have before spoken, and in which several avenues terminate. These parts of the ant-hill were the most spacious : the ants, however, did not appear embarrassed in constructing the ceiling to cover them in, although they were often more than two inches in breadth. “ In the upper part of the angles formed by the different walls, they laid the first foundations of this ceiling, and from the top of each pillar, as from so many centres, a layer of earth, horizontal and slightly convex, was carried forward to meet the several portions coming from different points of the large public thoroughfare. “ I sometimes, however, laboured under an apprehension that the building could not possibly resist its own weight, and that such extensive ceilings, sustained only by a few pillars, would fall into ruin from the rain which continually dropped upon them ; but 1 was quickly convinced of their stability, from observing that the earth brought by these insects adhered at all points, on the slightest contact ; and that the rain, so far from lessening the cohesion of its particles, appeared even to increase it. Thus, instead of injuring the building, it even contributed to render it still more secure. “ These particles of moistened earth, which are only held together by juxtaposition, require a fall of rain to cement them more closely, and thus varnish over, as it were, those places where the walls and galleries remain uncovered. All inequalities in the masonry then disappear. The upper part of these stories, formed of several pieces brought together, presents but one singlo layer of compact 232 INTSECT ARCHITECTURE. earth. They require for their complete consolidation nothing but the heat of the sun. It sometimes, however happens that a violent rain will destroy the apartments especially should they be but slightly arched ; but under these circumstances the ants reconstruct them with won- derful patience. “ These different labours were carried on at the same time, and were so closely followed up in the different quarters, that the ant-hill received an additional story in the course of seven or eight hours. All the vaulted ceilings being formed upon a regular plan, and at equal distances from one Avail to the other, constituted, when finished, but one single roof. Scarcely had the ants finished one story than they began to construct another ; but they had not time to finish it — the rain ceasing before the ceiling Avas fully completed. They still, however, continued their Avork for a few hours, taking advantage of the humidity of the earth ; but a keen north Avind soon sprung up, and hastily dried the collected fragments, Avhieh, no longer possessing the same adherence, readily fell into powder. The ants, finding their efforts ineffectual, Avere at length discouraged, and abandoned their employment ; but what Avas my astonishment Avhen I suav them destroy all the apartments that Avere yet uncovered, scattering here and there over the last story the materials of which they had been composed ! These facts incontestably prove that they employ neither gum, nor any kind of cement, to bind together the several substances of their nest ; but in place of this avail themselves of the rain, to work or knead the earth, leaving the sun and wind to dry and consolidate it.”* Dr. Johnson of Bristol observed very similar proceed- ings in the case of a colony of red ants ( Myrmica rubra ?), the roof of Avhose nest was formed by a flat stone. During dry Aveather, a portion of the side Avails fell in ; but the rubbish Avas quickly removed, though no repairs were attempted till a shower of rain enabled them to work. As soon as this occurred, they Avorked Avith extraordinary # M. P. Huber on Ants, p. 31. MASON-ANTS. 233 rapidity, and in a short time the whole of the fallen parts were rebuilt, and rendered as smooth as if polished with a trowel. When a gardener wishes to water a plot of ground where he has sown seeds that require nice management, he dips a strong brush into water, and passes his hand backwards and forwards over the hairs for the purpose of producing a fine artificial shower. Huber successfully adopted the same method to excite his ants to recom- mence their labours, which had been interrupted for want of moisture. But sometimes, when they deem it unadvi- sable to wait for rain, they dig down (as we remarked . to be the practice of the mason-bees) till they arrive at earth sufficiently moist for their purpose. They do not, however, like these bees, merely dig for materials ; for they use the excavations for apartments, as well as what they construct with the materials thence derived. They appear, in short, to be no less skilful in mining than in building. Such is the general outline of the operations of this singular species ; but we are still more interested with the history which M. P. Huber has given of the labours of an individual ant. “ One rainy day,” he says, “ I observed a labourer of the dark ash-coloured species ( Formica fusca ) digging the ground near the aperture which gave entrance to the ant-hill. It placed in a heap the several fragments it had scraped up, and formed them into small pellets, which it deposited here and there upon the nest. It returned constantly to the same place, and appeared to have a particular design, for it laboured with ardour and perseverance. I remarked a slight furrow, excavated in the ground in a straight line, representing the plan of a path or gallery. The labourer (the whole of whose move- ments fell under my immediate observation) gave it greater depth and breadth, and cleared out its borders ; and I saw, at length— in which I could not be deceived— that it had the intention of establishing an avenue which was to lead from one of the stories to the underground chambers. This path, which was about two or three inches in length, and 234 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. formed by a single ant, was opened above, and bordered on eacb side by a buttress of earth. Its concavity, in the form of a pipe ( gouttiere ), was of the most perfect regularity : for the architect had not left an atom too much. The work of this ant was so well followed and understood, that I could almost to a certainty guess its next proceeding, and the very fragment it was about to remove. At the side of the opening where this path terminated was a second opening, to which it was necessary to arrive by some road. The same ant began and finished this under- taking without assistance. It furrowed out and opened another path, parallel to the first, leaving between each a little wall of three or four lines in height.” Like the hive-bees, ants do not seem to work in concert, but each individual separately. There is, consequently, an occasional want of coincidence in the walls and arches ; but this does not much embarrass them, for a worker, on discovering an error of this kind, seems to know how to rectify it, as appears from the following observations : — “ A wall,” says M. Huber, “ had been erected, with the view of sustaining a vaulted ceiling, still incomplete, that had been projected towards the wall of the opposite chamber. The workman who began constructing it, had given it too little elevation to meet the opposite parti- tion, upon which it was to rest. Ilad it been continued on the original plan, it must infallibly have met the wall at about one-half of its height ; and this it was necessary to avoid. This state of things very forcibly claimed my attention ; when one of the ants arriving at the place, and visiting the works, appeared to be struck by the difficulty which presented itself; but this it as soon obviated, by taking down the ceiling, and raising the wall upon which it reposed. It then, in my presence, constructed a new ceiling with the fragments of the former one. “ W hen the ants commence any undertaking, one would suppose that they worked after some preconceived idea, which, indeed, would seem verified by the execution. Thus, should any ant discover upon the nest two stalks of plants which lie crossways, a disposition favourable to the MASON-ANTS. 235 construction of a lodge, or some little beams that may bo useful in forming its angles and sides, it examines tlie several parts with attention : then distributes, with much sagacity and address, parcels of earth in the spaces, and along the stems, taking from over}" quarter materials adapted to its object, sometimes not caring to destroy the work that others had commenced ; so much are its motions regulated by the idea it has conceived, and upon which it acts, with little attention to all else around it. It goes and returns, until the plan is sufficiently understood by its companions. “ In another part of the same ant-hill,” continues M. Huber, “ several fragments of straw seemed expressly placed to form the roof of a large house ; a workman took advantage of this disposition. These fragments lying hori- zontally, at half-an-ineh distance from the ground, formed, in crossing each other, an oblong parallelogram. The industrious insect commenced by placing earth in the several angles of this framework, and all along the little beams of which it was composed. The same workman afterwards placed several rows of the same materials against each other, when the roof became very distinct. On perceiving the possibility of profiting by another plant to support a vertical wall, it began laying the foundations of it ; other ants having by this time arrived, finished in common what this had commenced.” * # Huber on Ants, p. 48. 236 IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. M. Ilubcr made most of liis observations upon the pro- cesses followed by ants in glazed artificial hives or formi- caries. The preceding figure represents a view of one of his formicaries of mason-ants. We have ourselves followed up his observations, both on natural ant-hills and in artificial formicaries. On dig- ging cautiously into a natural ant-hill, established upon the edge of a garden-walk, we were enabled to obtain a pretty complete view of the interior structure. There were two stories, composed of large chambers, irregularly oval, communicating with each other by arched galleries, the walls of all which were as smooth and well-polished as if they had been passed over by a plasterer’s trowel. The floors of the chambers, we remarked, were by no means either horizontal or level, but all more or less . sloped, and exhibiting in each chamber at least two slight depressions of an irregular shape. We left the under story of this nest untouched, with the notion that the ants might repair the upper galleries, of which we had made a vertical section ; but instead of doing so they migrated during the day to a large crack formed by the dryness of the weather, about a yard from their old nest. (J. E.) We put a number of yellow ants (Formica flam), with their eggs and cocoons, into a small glass frame, more than half full of moist sand taken from their native hill, and placed in a sloping position, in order to see whether they would bring the nearly vertical, and therefore insecure, portion to a level by masonry. We were delighted to perceive that they immediately resolved upon performing the task which had been assigned them, though they did MASON-ANTS. 237 not proceed very methodically in their manner of building ; for instead of beginning at the bottom and building upwards, many of them went on to add to the top of the outer surface, which increased rather than diminished the security of the whole. Withal, however, they seemed to know how far to go, for no portion of the newly-built wall fell ; and in two days they had not only reared a pyramidal mound to prop the rest, hut had constructed several gal- leries and chambers for lodging the cocoons, which we had scattered at random amongst the sand. The new portion of this building is represented in the figure as supporting the upper and insecure parts of the nest. We are sorry to record that our ingenious little masons were found upon the third day strewed about the outside of the building dead or dying, either from over fatigue or perhaps from surfeit, as we had supplied them with as much honey as they could devour. A small colony o turf-ants have at this moment (July 28th, 1829) taken possession of the premises of their own accord. (J. R.) ( 238 ) CHAPTER XV. STRUCTURES OF THE WOOD-ANT OR PISMIRE, AND OF CAR- PENTER-ANT'S. The largest of our British ants is that called the Ilill- ant by Gould, the Fallow-ant by the English translator of Huber, and popularly the Pismire ; but which we think may be more appropriately named the Wood-ant (Formica rufa , Latr.), from its invariable habit of living in or near woods and forests. This insect may be readily distinguished from other ants by the dusky black colour of its head and hinder parts, and the rusty brown of its middle. The structures reared by this species are often of considerable magnitude, and bear no small resemblance to a rook’s nest thrown upon the ground bottom upwards. They occur in abundance in the woods near London, and in many other parts of the country : in Oak of Honour wood alone, we are acquainted with the localities of at least two dozen, — some in the interior, and others on the hedge- banks on the outskirts of the wood. (J. R.) The exterior of the nest is composed of almost every transportable material which the colonists can find in their vicinity : but the greater portion consists of the stems of withered grass and short twigs of trees, piled up in apparent confusion, but with sufficient regularity to render the whole smooth, conical, and sloping towards the base, for the purpose, we may infer, of carrying off rain- water. When within reach of a eom-field, they often also pick up grains of wheat, barley, or oats, and carry them to the nest as building materials, and not for food, as was believed by the ancients. There are wonders enough ob- servable in the economy of ants, without having recourse to fancy — wonders which made Aristotle extol the sagacity of bloodless animals, and Cicero ascribe to them not only WOOD-ANTS. 239 sensation, but mind, reason, and memory. * ./Elian, how- ever, describes, as if be bad actually witnessed it, the ants ascending a stalk of growing corn, and throwing down “ the ears which they bit olf to their companions below.” Aldrovand assures us that he had seen their granaries ; and others pretend that they shrewdly bite off the ends of the grain to prevent it from germinating. | These are fables which accurate observation has satisfactorily contra- dicted. But these errors, as it frequently happens, have con- tributed to a more perfect knowledge of the insects than we might otherwise have obtained ; for it was the wish to prove or disprove the circumstance of their storing up and feeding upon grain, which led Gould to make his observations on English ants ; as the notion of insects being produced from putrid carcases had before led Bedi to his ingenious experiments on their generation, let, although it is more than eighty years since Gould’s book was published, we find the error still repeated in very respectable publications. J The coping which we above described as forming the exterior of the wood-ant’s nest, is only a small portion of the structure, which consists of a great number of interior chambers and galleries, with funnel-shaped avenues lead- ing to them. The coping, indeed, is one of the most essential parts, and we cannot follow a more delightful guide than the younger Iluber in detailing its formation. “The labourers,” he says, “of which the colony is composed, not only work continually on the outside of their nest, but, differing very essentially from other species, who willingly remain in the interior, sheltered from the sun, they prefer living in the open air, and do not hesitate to carry on, even in our presence, the greater part of their operations. “ To have an idea how the straw or stubble-roof is formed, let us take a view of the ant-hill at its origin, * In formica non modo sensus, sed etiam mens, ratio, memoria. t Aldrovandus de Formicis, and Johnston, Thaumaturg. Nat. p. 35G. X See Professor Paxton’s Illustrations of Scripture, i. 307. 240 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. when it is simply a cavity in the earth. Some of its future inhabitants are seen wandering about in search of materials fit for the exterior work, with which, though rather irregularly, they cover up the entrance ; whilst others aro employed in mixing the earth, thrown up in hollowing the interior, with fragments of wood and leaves, which are every moment brought in by their fellow- assistants ; and this gives a certain consistence to the edifice, which increases in size daily. Our little architects leave here and there cavities, where they intend con- structing the galleries which are to lead to the exterior, and as they remove in the morning the barriers placed at the entrance of their nest the preceding evening, the passages are kept open during the whole time of its construction. We soon observed the roof to become convex ; but we should be greatly deceived did we con- sider it solid. This roof is destined to include many apart- ments or stories. Having observed the motions of these little builders through a pane of glass, adjusted against one of their habitations, I am thence enabled to speak with some degree of certainty upon the manner in which they are constructed. I ascertained that it is by excavating or mining the under portion of their edifice, that they form their spacious halls — low, indeed, and of heavy construc- tion, yet sufficiently convenient for the use to which they are appropriated, that of receiving, at certain hours of the day, the larvae and pupae. “ These halls have a free communication by galleries, made in the same manner. If the materials of which the ant-hill is composed were only interlaced, they would fall into a confused heap every time the ants attempted to bring them into regular order. This, however, is obviated by their tempering the earth with rain-water, which, after- wards hardened in the sun, so completely and effectually binds together the several substances, as to permit the removal of certain fragments from the ant-hill without any injury to the rest ; it, moreover, strongly opposes the introduction of the rain. 1 never found, even after long and violent rains, the interior of- the nest wetted to more WOOD- ANTS. 241 than a quarter of an inch from the surface, provided it had not been previously out of repair, or deserted by its inhabitants. “ The ants are extremely well sheltered in their chambers, the largest of which is placed nearly in the centre of the building ; it is much loftier tlidn the rest, and traversed only by the beams that support the ceiling ; it is in this spot that all the galleries terminate, and this forms, for the most part, their usual residence. “As to the underground portion.it can only be seen when the ant-hill is placed against a declivity ; all the interior may be then readily brought in view, by simply raising up the straw roof. The subterranean residence consists of a range of apartments, excavated in the earth, taking an horizontal direction.” * J\f. P. Huber, in order to observe the operations of the wood-ant with moi'e attention, transferred colonies of them to his artificial formicaries, plunging the feet of the stand into water to prevent their escape till they were reconciled to their abode, and had made some progress in repairing it. On the next page is a figure of the apparatus which he used for this purpose. There is this remarkable difference in the nest of the wood-ants, that they do not construct a long covert way as if for concealment, as the yellow and the brown ants do. The wood-ants are not, like them, afraid of being surprised by enemies, at least during the day, when the whole colony is either foraging in the vicinity or employed on the exterior. But the proceedings of the wood-ants at night are well worthy of notice ; and when M. Huber began to study their economy, he directed his entire attention to their night proceedings. “ I remarked,” says he, “ that their habitations changed in appearance hourly, and that the diameter of those spacious avenues, where so many ants could freely pass each other during the day, was, as night approached, gradually lessened. The aperture, at length, totally disappeared, the dome was closed on all sides, and the ants retired to the bottom of their nest. * Huber on Ants, p. 15. R 242 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. “ In further noticing tho apertures of these ant-hills, I fully ascertained the nature of tho labour of its inhabitants, of which I could not before even guess the purport; for the surfaco of tho nest presented such a constant scene of agitation, and so many insects were occupied in carrying materials in ever}7 direction, that the movement offered no other image than that of confusion. “ I saw then clearly that they wore engaged in stopping up passages ; and for this purpose they at first brought forward little pieces of wood, which they deposited near the entrance of those avenues they wished to close ; they placed them in the stubble ; they then went to seek other twigs and fragments of wood, which they disposed above the first, but in a different direction, and appeared to choose pieces of less sizo in proportion as the work advanced. They, at length, brought in a number of dried leaves, and other materials of an enlarged form, with which they covered the roof : an exact miniature of the art of our builders, when , they form the covering of any building. Nature, indeed, seems everywhere to have anticipated the inventions of which we boast, and this is doubtless one of the most simple. CARPENTER-ANTS. 243 « Our little insects, now in safety in their nest, retire gradually to the interior before the last passages are closed ; one or two only remain without, or concealed behind the doors on guard, while the rest either take their repose, or engage in different occupations in the most perfect security. I was impatient to know what took place in the morning upon these ant-hills, and therefore visited them at an early hour. 1 found them in the same state in which I had left them the preceding evening. A few ants were wandering about on the surface of the nest, some others issued from time to time from under the margin of their little roofs formed at the entrance of the galleries : others afterwards came forth, who began removing the wooden bars that blockaded the entrance, in which they readily succeeded. This labour occupied them several hours. The passages were at length free, and the materials with which they had been closed scat- tered here and there over the ant-hill. Every day, morning and evening, during the fine weather. I was a witness to similar proceedings. On days of rain the doors of all the ant-hills remained closed. When the sky was cloudy in the morning, or rain was indicated, the ants, who seemed to be aware of it, opened but in part their several avenues, and immediately closed them when the rain com- menced.” * The galleries and chambers which are roofed in as thus described, are very similar to those cf the mason-ants, being partly excavated in the earth, and partly built witli the clay thence procured. It is in these they pass the night, and also the colder months of the winter, when they become toipid, or nearly so, and of course require not the winter granaries of corn with which the ancients fabulously furnished them. Carpenter-Ants. The ants that work in wood perform much more exten- sive operations than any of the other carpenter insects which we have mentioned. Their only tools, like those * Huber on Ants, p. 11. 244 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. of bees and wasps, aye their jaws or mandibles ; but though these may not appear so curiously constructed as the ovipositor file of the tree-hopper ( Cicada ), or the rasp and saw of the saw-flies ( Tenthredinidce), they are no less efficient in the performance of what is required. Among the carpenter-ants the emmet or jet-ant (F. fnlvjinosa) holds the first rank, and is easily known by being rather less in size than the wood-ant, and by its fine shining black Colour. It is less common in Britain than some of the preceding, though its colonies may occasionally be met with in the trunks of decaying oak or willow trees in hedges. “ The labourers,” says Iluber, “ of this species work always in the interior of trees, and are desirous of being sci'eened from observation : thus every hope on our part is precluded of following them in their several occupations. I tried every expedient I could devise to surmount this difficulty ; I endeavoured to accustom these ants to live and work under my inspection, but all my efforts were unsuccessful ; they even abandoned the most considerable portion of their nest to seek some new asylum, and spurned the honey and sugar which I offered them for nourishment. I was now, by necessity, limited to the inspection only of their edifices ; but, by decomposing some of the fragments with care, I hoped to acquire some knowledge of their organization. “ On one side I found horizontal galleries, hidden in great part by their walls, which follow the circular direc- tion of the layers of the wood ; and on another, parallel galleries, separated by extremely thin partitions, having no communication except by a few oval apertures. Such is the nature of these works, remarkable for their delicacy and lightness. “ In other fragments I found avenues which opened laterally, including portions of walls and transverse par- titions, erected here and there within the galleries, so as to form separate chambers. When the work is further advanced, round holes are always observed, encased, as it were, between two pillars cut out in the same wall. CARPENTER-ANTS. 245 These holes in course of time become square, and the pillars, originally arched at both ends, are worked into regular- columns by the chisel of our sculptors. This, then, is the second specimen of their art. This portion of the edifice will probably remain in this state. “ But in another quarter are fragments differently wrought, in which these same partitions, pierced now in every part, and hewn skilfully, are transformed into co- lonnades, which sustain the upper stories, and leave a free communication throughout the whole extent. It can readily be perceived how parallel galleries, hollowed out upon the same plan, and the sides taken down, leaving only from space to space what is necessary to sustain their ceilings, may form an entire story; but as each has been pierced separately, the flooring cannot be very level : this, however, the ants turn to their advantage, since these furrows are better adapted to retain the larvae that may be placed there. “ The stories constructed in the great roots offer greater irregularity than those in the very body of the tree, arising either from the hardness and interlacing of the fibres, which renders the labour more difficult, and obliges the labourers to depart from their accustomed manner, or from their not observing in the extremities Portion of a Tree, with Chambers and Galleries chiseled out by Jet-Ants. of their edifice the same arrangement as in the centre ; whatever it be, horizontal stories and numerous partitions 240 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. are still found. If the work be less regular, it becomes more delicate ; for tho ants, profiting by the hardness and solidity of the materials, give to their building an extreme degree of lightness. I have seen fragments of from eight to ten inches in length, and of equal height, formed of wood as thin as paper, containing a number of apartments, and presenting a most singular appearance. At the entrance of these apartments, worked out with so much care, are very considerable openings ; but in place of chambers and extensive galleries, the layers of the wood are hewn in arcades, allowing the ants a free passage in every direction. These may be regarded as the gates or vestibules conducting to the several lodges.”* It is a singular circumstance in the structures of these ants, that all the wood which they carve is tinged of a black colour, as if it were smoked ; and M. Iluber was not a little solicitous to discover whence this arose. It certainly does not add to the beauty of their streets, which look as sombre as the most smoke-dyed walls in the older lanes of the metropolis. M. Iluber could not satisfy himself whether it was caused by tho exposure of the wood to the atmosphere, by some emanation from the ants, or by the thin layers of wood being acted upon or decomposed by the formic acid.f But if any or all of these causes operated in blackening the wood, we should be ready to anticipate a similar effect in the' case of other species of ants which inhabit trees ; yet the black tint is only found in the excavations of the jet-ant. We are acquainted with several colonies of the jet- ants, — one of which, in the roots and trunk of an oak on the road from Lewisham to Sydenham, near Brockley, in Kent, is so extremely populous, that the numbers of its inhabitants appeared to us beyond any reasonable estimate. None of the other colonies of this species which we have seen appear to contain many hundreds. On cutting into tho root of the before-mentioned tree, we found the vertical excavations of much larger dirnen- * Huber, p. 56. , t The acid of ants. CARPENTER-ANTS. 247 sions, both in width and depth, than those represented by Huber in the preceding cut (page 245). What sur- prised us the most was to see the tree growing vigor- ously and fresh, though its roots were chiseled in all directions by legions of workers, whilo every loaf, and every inch of the bark, was also crowded by parties of foragers. On one of the low branches we found a de- serted nest of the white-throat (Sylvia cinerea, Temminck), in the cavity of which they were piled upon one another as close as the unhappy negroes in the hold of a slave- ship ; but we could not discover what had attracted them hither. Another dense group, collected on one of the branches, led us to the discovery of a very singular oak gall, formed on the bark in the shape of a pointed cone, and crowded together. It is probable that the juice which they extracted from these galls was much to their taste. (J. K.) Beside the jet-ant, several other species exercise the art of carpentry, — nay, what is more wonderful still, they have the ingenuity to knead up, with spiders’-web for a cement, the chips which they chisel out into a material with which they construct entire chambers. The species which exercise this singular art are the Ethiopian (Formica nigra ) and the yellow ant (F. flava)* We once observed the dusky ants (F. fasca), at Black- heath, in Kent, busily employed in carrying out chips from the interior of a decaying black poplar, at the root of which a colony was established ; but, though it thence appears that this species can chisel wood if they choose, yet they usually burrow in the earth, and by preference, as we have remarked, at the root of a tree, the leaves of which supply them with food. Among the foreign ants we may mention a small yellow ant of South America, described by Dampier, which seems, from his account, to construct a nest of green leaves, “Their sting,” he says, “is like a spark of fire ; and the)T are so thick among the boughs in some * II ubcr. 248 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. places, that one shall be covered with them before he is aware. These creatures have nests on great trees, placed on the body between the limbs : some of their nests are as big as a hogshead. This is their winter habitation ; for in the wet season they all repair to these their cities, where they preserve their eggs. In the dry season, when they leave their nests, they swarm all over the woodlands, for they neVer trouble the savannahs. Great paths, three or four inches broad, made by them, may be seen in the woods. They go out light, but bring home heavy loads on their backs, all of the same sub- stance, and equal in size. I never observed anything besides pieces of green leaves, so big that I could scarcely see the insect for his burthen ; yet they would march stoutly, and so many were pressing forward that it was a very pretty sight, for the path looked perfectly green with them.” Ants observed in New South Wales, by the gentlemen in the expedition under Captain Cook, are still more in- teresting. “Some,” we are told, “are as green as a leaf, and live upon trees, where they build their nests of various sizes, between that of a man’s head and his fist. These nests are of a very curious structure : they are formed by bending down several of the leaves, each of which is as broad as a man’s hand, and gluing the points of them together, so as to form a purse. The viscous matter used for this purpose is an animal juice which nature has enabled them to elaborate. Their method of first bending down the leaves we had no opportunity to observe ; but we saw thousands uniting all their strength to hold them in this position, while other busy multitudes were employed within in applying this gluten that was to prevent their returning back. To satisfy ourselves that the leaves were bent and held down by the efforts of these diminutive artificers, we disturbed them in their work ; and as soon as they were driven from their stations, the leaves on which they were em- ployed sprang up with a force much greater than we could have thought them able to conquer by any com- CARPENTER-ANTS. 249 bination of their strength. But, though we gratified our curiosity at their expense, the injury did not go un- revenged; for thousands immediately threw themselves upon us, and gave us intolerable pain with their stings, especially those which took possession of our necks and hair, from whence they were not easily driven. Their sting was scarcely less painful than that of a bee ; but, except it was repeated, the pain did not last more than a minute. “ Another sort are quite black, and their operation and manner of life are not less extraordinary. Their habitations are the inside of the branches of a tree, which they contrive to excavate by working out the pith almost to the extremity of the slenderest twig, the tree at the same time flourishing as if it had no such inmate. When we first found the tree we gathered some of -the branches ; and were scarcely less astonished than we should have been to find that we had profaned a consecrated grove, where every tree, upon being wounded, gave signs of life ; for wo were instantly covered with legions of these animals, swarming from every broken bough, and inflicting their stings with incessant violence. “ A third kind we found nested in the root of a plant, which grows on the bark of trees in the manner of mistletoe, and which they had perforated for that use. This root is commonly as big as a large turnip, and sometimes much bigger. When we cut it we found it intersected by innumerable winding passages, all filled with these animals, by which, however, the vegetation of the plant did not appear to have suffered any injury. We never cut one of these roots that was not inhabited, though some were not bigger than a hazel-nut. The animals themselves are very small, not more than half as big as the common red ant in England. They Tiad stings, but scarcely force enough to make them felt : they had, however, a power of tormenting us in an equal, if not in a greater degree; for the moment we handled the root, they swarmed from innumerable holes, and running about those parts of the body that were uncovered, produced a 250 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. titillation more intolerable than pain, except it is increased to great violence.”* The species called sugar-ants in the West Indies are particularly destructive to the sugar-cane, as well as to lime, lemon, and orange-trees, by excavating their nests at the roots, and so loosening the earth that they are fre- quently uprooted and blown down by the winds. If this does not happen, the roots are deprived of due nourish- ment, and the plants become sickly and die.f * Hawkesworth’s Account of Cook’s First Voyage, f Phil. Trans., xxx., p, 346. ( 251 ) CHAPTER XVI. STRUCTURES OF WHITE ANTS, OR TERMITES. When we look back upon the details which we have given of the industry and ingenuity of numerous tribes of insects, both solitary and social, we are induced to think it almost impossible that they could be surpassed. The structures of wasps and bees, and still more those of the wood-ant ( Formica rufa), when placed in comparison with the size of the insects, equal our largest cities com- pared with the stature of man. But when we look at the buildings erected by the white ants of tropical climates, all that wo have been surveying dwindles into insignificance. Their industry appears greatly to surpass that of ‘our ants and bees, and they are certainly more skilful in architectural contrivances. The elevation, also, of their edifices is more than five hundred times the height of tho builders. Were our houses built according to the same proportions, they would be twelve or fifteen times higher than the London Monument, and four or five times higher than the pyramids of Egypt, with corresponding dimensions in the basements of the edifices. These state- ments are, perhaps, necessary to impress the extraordinary labours of ants upon the mind ; for we are all more or less sensible to the force of comparisons. The analogies between the works of insects and of men are not perfect ; for insects are all provided with instruments peculiarly adapted to the end which they instinctively seek, while man lias to form a plan by progressive thought, and upon the experience of others, and to complete it with tools which he also invents. The termites do not stand above a quarter of an inch high, whilo their nests are frequently twelve feet; and Jobson mentions some which he had seen as high as 252 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. twenty feet ; “ of compass,” lie adds, “ to contain a dozen men, with the heat of the sun baked into that hardness, that we used to hide ourselves in the ragged tops of them when we took up stands to shoot at deer or wild beasts.”* Bishop Heber saw a number of these high ant-hills in India, near the principal entrance of the Sooty or Moor- shedabad river. “ Many of them,” he says, “ were five or six feet feet high, and probably seven or eight feet in cir- cumference at the base, partially overgrown with grass and ivy, and looking at a distance liko the stumps of decayed trees. I think it is Ctesias, among the Greek writers, who gives an account alluded to by Lucian in his ‘ Cock,’ of monstrous ants in India, as large as foxes. The falsehood probably originated in the stupendous fabrics which they rear here, and which certainly might be supposed to be the work of a much larger animal than their real architect.”+ Herodotus has a similar fable of the enormous size and brilliant appearance of the ants of India. Nor is it only in constructing dwellings for themselves that the termites of Africa and of other hot climates employ their masonic skill. Though, like our ants and wasps, they are almost omnivorous, yet wood, particularly when felled and dry, seems their favourite article of food ; but they have an utter aversion to feeding in the light, and always eat their way with all expedition to the interior. It thence would seem necessary for them either to leave the bark of a tree, or the outer portion of the beam or door of a house, undevoured, or to eat in open day. They do neither ; but are at the trouble of constructing galleries of clay, in which they can conceal themselves, and feed in security. In all their foraging excursions, indeed, they build covert ways, by which they can go out and return to their encampment. J Others of the species (for thero are several), instead of building galleries, exercise the art of miners, and make # Jobson’s Gambia, in Purclms’s Pilgrim, ii. p. 1570. f Heber's Journal, vol. i. p. 248. J Smeathman, in Phil. Trans., vol. lxxi. WHITE ANTS. 253 their approaches under ground, penetrating beneath the foundation of houses or areas, and rising again either through the floors, or by entering the bottom of the posts that support the building, when they follow the course of the fibres, and make their way to the top, boring holes and cavities in different places, as they proceed. Multitudes enter the roof, and intersect it with pipes or galleries, formed of wet clay ; which serve for passages in all direc- tions, and enable them more readily to fix their habitations in it. 1 hey prefer the softer woods, such as pine and fir, which they hollow out with such nicety, that they leave the surface whole, after having eaten away the inside. A shelf or plank attacked in this manner, looks solid to the eye, when, if weighed, it will not out-balanco two sheets of pasteboard of the same dimensions. It sometimes happens that they carry this o iteration so far on stakes in the open air, as to render the bark too flexible for their purpose ; when they remedy tho defect by plastering the whole stick with a sort of mortar which they make with clay ; so that, on being struck, the form vanishes, and the artificial covering falls in fragments on the ground. In the woods, when a large tree falls from age or accident, they enter it on the side next the ground, and devour it at leisure, till little more than the bark is left. But in this case they take no precaution of strengthening the outward defence, but leave it in such a state as to deceive an eve unaccustomed to see trees thus gutted of their insides : and “ you may as well,’ says Mr. Smeathman, “ step upon a cloud.” It is an extraordinary fact, that when these crea- tures have formed pipes in the roof of a house, instinct directs them to prevent its fall, which would ensue from their having sapped the posts on which it rests ; but as they gnaw away tho wood, they fill up the interstices with clay, tempered to a surprising degree of hardness ; so that, when tlie house is pulled down, these posts are transformed from wood to stone. They make the walls of their gal- leries of the same composition as their nests, varying tho materials according to their kind: ono species using the red clay, another black clay, and the third a woody substance, 254 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. cemented witli gums, as a security from the attacks of their enemies, particularly the common ant, which, being defended by a strong, horny shell, is more than a match for them ; and when it can get at them, rapaciously seizes them, and drags them to its nest for food for its young brood. If any accident breaks down part of their walls, they repair the breach with all speed. Instinct guides them to perform their offico in the creation, by mostly con- fining their attacks to trees that are beginning to decay, or such timber as has been severed from its roots for use, and would decay in time, Vigorous, healthy trees do not re- quire to be destroyed, and, accordingly, these consumers have no taste for them.* M. Adanson describes the termites of Senegal as con- structing covert ways along the surface of wood which they intend to attack ; but though we have no reason to distrust so excellent a naturalist, in describing what he saw, it is certain that they more commonly eat their way into the interior of the wood, and afterwards form the galleries, when they find that they have destroyed the wood till it will no longer afford them protection. But it is time that we should come to their principal building, which may, with some propriety, be called a city ; and, according to the method we have followed in other instances, we shall trace their labours from the com- mencement. We shall begin with the operations of the species which may be appropriately termed the Warrior ( Terms fatalis, Linx. ; 7’. bellicosus, Smeatii.) We must premise, that though they have been termed white ants, they do not belong to the same order of insects with our ants; yet they have a slight resemblance to ants in their form, but more in their economy. Smeatlunan, to whom we owe our chief knowledge of the genus, describes them as consisting of kings, queens, soldiers, and workers, and is of opinion that the workers are larva, the soldiers nymphae, and the kings and queens the perfect insects. In this opinion he coincides with Spamnannf and others; but Latreille is inclined to think, from what he observed * Smeatlunan. f Quoted by De Geer, vol. vii. WHITE ANTS. 255 in a European species ( Tennes luci/ugus ), found near Bor- deaux, that the soldiers form a distinct race, like the neuter workers among bees and ants, while the working Tennes bellicosus In the winged state. termites are larva?,* which are furnished with strong man- dibles for gnawing ; when they become nymphs, the rudi- ments of four wings appear, which are fully developed in the perfect insects. In this state, they migrate to form new colonies, but tho greater number of them perish in a few hours, or become the prey of birds, and even the natives, who fry them as delicacies. “ I have discoursed with several gentlemen,” says Smeathman, “upon the taste of the white ants, and on comparing notes, we have always agreed that they are most delicious and delicate eating. Ono gentleman compared them to sugared mar- row', another to sugared cream and a paste of sweet almonds.”+ Mr. Smeathman’s very interesting paper affords us the most authentic materials for the further description of these wonderful insects ; and wo therefore continue partly to extract from, and partly to abridge, his account. The few pairs that are so fortunate as to survive the various casualties that assail them, are usually found by workers (larva?), which, at this season, are running con- tinually on the surface of the ground, on the watch for them. As soon as they discover the objects of their search they begin to protect them from their surrounding enemies’ by inclosing them in a small chamber of clay, where they become the parents of a new community, and are distin- ' * Hist. Nat. Generate, vol. xiii. p. 6G. f Smeathman, in Phil. Trans, vol. lxxi. p. K59, note. 256 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. guished from the other inhabitants of the nest, by the title of king and queen. Instinct directs the attention of these labouring insects to the preservation of their race, in the protection of this pair and their offspring. The chamber that forms the rudiment of a new nest is contrived for their safety, but the entrances to it are too small to admit of their ever leaving it ; consequently, the charge of the eggs devolves upon the labourers, who construct nurseries for their reception. These are small, irregularly-shaped chambers, placed at first round the apartment of the king and queen, and not exceeding the size of a hazel-nut ; but in nests of long standing they are of great comparative magnitude, and distributed at a greater distance. The re- ceptacles for hatching the young are all composed of wooden materials, apparently joined together with gum, and, by way of defence, cased with clay. The chamber that contains the king and queen is nearly on a level with the surface of the ground ; and as the other apart- ments are formed about it, it is generally situated at an equal distance from the sides of the nest, and directly beneath its conical point. Those apartments which consist of nurseries and magazines of provisions, form an intricate labyrinth, being separated by small, empty chambers and galleries, which surround them, or afford a communication from one to another. This labyrinth extends on all sides to the outward shells, and reaches up within it to two- thirds or more of its height, leaving an open area above, in the middle, under the dome, which reminds the spec- tator of the nave of an old cathedral. Around this are raised three or four large arches, which are sometimes two or three feet high, next the front of the area, but diminish as they recede further back, and are lost amidst the innumerable chambers and nurseries behind them. Every one of these buildings consists of two distinct parts, the exterior and the interior. The exterior is one large shell, in the manner of a dome, large and strong enough to inclose and shelter the interior from the vicis- situdes of the weather, and the inhabitants from the attacks of natural or accidental enemies. It is always, therefore, WHITE ANTS. 257 much stronger than the interior building, which is the habitable part, divided, with a wonderful kind of regularity and contrivance, into an amazing number of apartments for the residence of the king and queen, and the nursing of the numerous progeny ; or for magazines, which are always found well filled with stores and provisions. The hills make their first appearance above ground by a little turret or two, in the shape of sugar-loaves, which are inn a foot high or more. Soon after, at some little distance, while the former are increasing in height and size,; they raise others, and so go on increasing their number, and widen- ing them at the base, till their works below are covered with these turrets, of which they always raise the highest and largest in the middle, and, by filling up the intervals between each turret, collect them into one dome. They are not very curious or exact in the workmanship, except in making them very solid and strong ; and when, by their joining them, the dome is completed, for which purpose the turrets answer as scaffolds, they take away the middle ones entirely, except the tops, which, joined together, make the crown of the cupola, and apply the clay to the building of the works within, or to erecting fresh turrets for the purpose of raising the hillock still higher ; so that some part of the clay is probably used several times, like the boards and posts of a mason’s scaffolds. When these hills are little more than half their height, it is a common practice of the wild bulls to stand as sentinels on them, while the rest of the herd are ruminat- ing below. They are sufficiently strong for that purpose ; and at their' full height, answer excellently well as places of look-out; and Mr. Smeathman has been, with four more, on the top of one of these hillocks, to watch for a vessel in sight. The outward shell, or dome, is not only of use to protect and support the interior buildings from external violence and the heavy rains, but to collect and preserve a legular degiee of ihe warmth and moisture necessary for hatching the eggs and cherishing the young. The royal chamber occupied by the king and queen appears to be, in the opinion of this little people, of the most consequence, s 258 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. being always situated as near the centre of the interior building as possible. It is always nearly in the shape of half an egg, or an obtuse oval, within, and may be supposed to represent a long oven. In the infant state of the colony, it is but about an inch in length; but in time will be increased to six or eight inches, or more, in the clear, being always in proportion to the size of the queen, who, increasing in bulk as in age, at length requires a chamber of such dimensions. Queen distended with Eggs. Its floor is perfectly horizontal, and, in large hillocks, sometimes more than an inch thick of solid clay. The roof, also, which is one solid and well-turned oval arch, is generally of about the same solidity, but in some places it is not a quarter of an inch thick, on the sides where it joins the floor, and where the doors or entrances are made level with it, at nearly equal distances from each other. These entrances will not admit any animal larger than the soldiers or labourers ; so that the king and the queen (who is, at full size, a thousand times the weight of a king) can never possibly go out, but remain close prisoners. The royal chamber, if in a large hillock, is surrounded by a countless number of others, of different sizes, shapes, and dimensions; but all of them arched in one way or another — sometimes elliptical or oval. These either open into each other, or communicate by passages as wide as, and are evidently made for, the soldiers and attendants, of whom great numbers aro necessary, and always in waiting. These apartments aro joined by the magazines and nurseries. WHITE ANTS. 259 The former are chambers of clay, and are always well filled with provisions, which, to the naked eye, seem to consist of the raspings of wood, and plants which the termites de- stroy ; bnt are found by the microscope to be principally the gums or inspissated juices of plants. These are thrown together in little masses, some of which are finer than others, and resemble the sugar about preserved fruits; others are like tears of gum, one quite transparent, another like amber, a third brown, and a fourth quite opaque, as we see often in parcels of ordinary gums. These magazines are intermixed with the nurseries, which are buildings totally different from the rest of the apartments ; for these are composed entirely of wooden materials, seemingly joined together with gums. Mr. Smeathman calls them the nurseries, because they are invariably occupied by the eggs and young ones, which appear at first in the shape of labourers, but white as snow. These buildings are exceed- ingly compact, and divided into many very small irregular- shaped chambers, not one of which is to be found of half an inch in width. They are placed all round, and as near as possible to the royal apartments. When the nest is in the infant state, the nurseries are close to the royal chambers ; but as, in process of time, the queen enlarges, it is necessary to enlarge the chamber for her accommodation ; and as she then lays a greater number of eggs, and requires a greater number of at- tendants, so it is necessary to enlarge and increase the number of the adjacent apartments ; for which purpose the small nurseries which are first built are taken to pieces, rebuilt a little further of a size larger, and the number of them increased at the same time. Thus they continually enlarge their apartments, pull down, repair, or rebuild, according to their wants, with a degree of sagacity, regularity, and foresight, not even imitated by any other kind of animals or insects. All these chambers, and the passages leading to and from them, being arched, they help to support each other ; and while the interior large arches prevent them from falling into the centre, and keep the area open, the ex- 260 INSECT ARCHITECT!] RE. terior building supports them on the outside. There are, comparatively speaking, few openings into the great area, and they, for the most part, seem intended only to admit into the nurseries that genial warmth which the dome collects. The interior building, or assemblage of nurseries, chambers, &c., has a flattish top or roof, with- out any perforation, which would keep the apartments below dry, in case through accident the dome should receive any injury, and let in water; and it is never exactly flat and uniform, because the insects are always adding to it by building more chambers and nurseries ; so that the division or columns between the future arched apartment resemble the pinnacles on the fronts of some old buildings, and demand particular notice, as affording one proof that for the most part the insects project their arches, and do not make them by excavation. The area has also a flattish floor, which lies over the royal cham- ber, but sometimes a good height above it, having nurse- ries and magazines between. It is likewise waterproof, and contrived to let the water off if it should get in, and run over by some short way into the subterraneous pas- sages, which run under the lowest apartments in the hill in various directions, and are of an astonishing size, being wider than the bore of a great cannon. One that Mr. Smeathman measured was perfectly cylindrical, and thirteen inches in diameter. These subterraneous passages, or galleries, are lined veiy thick with the same kind of clay of which the hill is composed, and ascend the inside of the outward shell in a spiral manner ; and wind- ing round the whole building up to the top, intersect each other at different heights, opening either immedi- ately in the dome in various places, and into the interior building, the new turrets, &c., or communicating with them by other galleries of different diameters, either cir- cular or oval. From every part of these large galleries are various small covert ways, or galleries leading to different parts of the building. Under ground there are a great many that lead downward by sloping descents, three and four WHITE ANTS. 2G1 feet perpendicular among the gravel, whence the workers cull the finer parts, which, being kneaded up iu their mouths to the consistence of mortar, become that solid clay or stone of which their hills and all their buildings, except their nurseries, are composed. Other galleries again ascend, and lead out horizontally on ever}’ side, and are carried under ground near to the surface a vast distance : foi if all the nests are destroyed within a hundred yards of a house, the inhabitants of those which are left unmolested farther off, will still carry on their subterraneous galleries, and, invading it by sap and mine, do great mischief to the goods and merchandises contained in it. It seems there is a degree of necessity for the galleries under the hills being thus large, since they are the great thoroughfares for all the labourers and soldiers going forth or returning, whether fetching clay, wood, water, or provisions ; and they are certainly well calculated for the purposes to which they are applied by the spiral slope which is given them ; for if they were perpendicular, the labourers would not be able to carry on their building with so much facility, as they ascend a perpendicular with great difficulty, and the soldiers can scarcely do it at all. It is on this account that sometimes a road like a ledge is made on the perpendicular side of any part of the building within their hill, which is flat on the upper surface and half an inch wide, and ascends gradually like a staircase, or like those winding roads which are cut on the sides of hills and mountains, that would otherwise be inaccessible ; by which and similar contrivances they travel with great facility to every interior part. This, too, is probably the cause of their building a kind of bridge of one great arch, which answers the pur- pose of a flight of stairs from the floor of the area, to some opening on the side of one of the columns that sup- port the great arches. This contrivanco must shorten the distance exceedingly to those labourers who have the eggs to carry from the royal chamber to some of the upper nurseries, which in some hills would be four or five feet in the straightest line, and much more if carried 262 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. through all the winding passages leading through the inner chambers and apartments. Mr. Smeathman found one of these bridges, half an inch broad, a quarter of an inch thick, and ten inches long, making the side of an elliptic arch of proportionable size ; so that it is wonderful it did not fall over or break by its own weight before they got it joined to the side of the column above. It was strengthened by a small arch at the bottom, and had a hollow or groove all the length of the upper surface, !“ I *3 WHITE ANTS. 263 either made purposely for the inhabitants to travel over with more safety, or else, which is not improbable, worn by frequent treading. Turret-building White Ants. Apparently more than one species smaller than the pre- ceding, such as the Termes mordax and T. atrox of Smeath- man, construct nests of a very different form, the figures of which resemble a pillar, with a large mushroom for a capital. These turrets are composed of well-tempered black earth, and stand nearly three feet high. The conical mushroom-shaped roof is composed of the same material, and the brims hang over the column, being three or four inches wider than its perpendicular sides. Most of them, Turret N'esu of White Ants. One nest Is represented cut through, with the upper part lying uu the ground. says Smeathman, resemble in shape the body of a round windmill, but some of the roofs have little elevation in the middle. When one of these turrets is completed, the insects do not afterwards enlarge or alter ; but if it be found too small for them, they lay tho foundation of another at a few inches’ distance. They sometimes, but not often, begin the second before the first is finished, and a third before they have completed the second. Five or six of these 264 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. singular turrets in a group may be seen in the thick woods at the foot of a tree. They are so very strongly built, that in case of violence, they will sooner tear up the gravel and solid . heart of their foundation than break in the middle. When any of them happen to be thus thrown down, the insects do not abandon them ; but, using their over-turned column as a basis, they run up another per- pendicularly from it to the usual height, fastening the under part at the same time to the ground, to render it the more secure. The interior of a turret is pretty equally divided into innumerable cells, irregular in shape, but usually more or less angular,’ generally quadrangular or pentagonal, though the angles are not well defined. Each shell has at least two entrances ; but there are no galleries, arches, nor wooden nurseries, as in the nests of the warrior ( T. bellico- sus). The two species which build turret nests are very different in size, and the dimensions of the nests differ in proportion. The White Ants of Tubes. Latreille’s species of white ant ( 7emes lucifugus, Rossi), formerly mentioned as found in the south of Europe, appear to have more the habits of the jet ant, described page 243, than their congeners of the tropics. They live in the interior of the trunks of trees, the wood of which they eat, and form their habitations of the galleries which they thus excavate. M. Latreille says they appear to be fur- nished with an acid for the purpose of softening the wood, the odour of which is exceedingly pungent. They prefer the part of the wood nearest to the bark, which they are careful not to injure, as it affords them protec- tion. All the walls of their galleries are moistened with small globules of a gelatinous substance, similar to gum Arabic. They are chiefly to be found in the trunks of oak and pine trees, and are very numerous.* * Latreille, Hist. Nat. General?, tom. xiii. p. G4. WHITE ANTS. 205 Another ot the species ( Termes arborum), described by Sraeathman, builds a nest on the exterior of trees, alto- gether different from any of the preceding. These are of a spherical or oval shape, occupying the arm or branch of a tree sometimes from seventy to eighty feet from the ground, and as largo, in a few instances, as a sugar-cask. The composition used for a building material is apparently similar to that used by the warriors for constructing their nurseries, being the gnawings of wood in very small par- ticles, kneaded into a paste with some species of cement or glue, procured, as Smeathman supposes, partly from gum- miferous trees, and partly from themselves ; but it is more probable, we think, that it is wholly secreted, like the Avax of bees, by the insects themselves. With this cement, whatever may be its composition, they construct their cells, in Avhich there is nothing very wonderful except their great numbers. They are very firmly built, and so strongly attached to the trees, that they will resist the most Ariolent tornado. It is impossible, indeed, to detach them, except by cutting them in pieces, or sawing off the branch, which is frequently done to procure the insects for young turkeys. (See engraving, p. 262, for a figure of this nest.) This species very often, instead of selecting the bough of a tree, builds in the roof or Avail of a house, and unless obseiwed in time, and expelled, occasions considerable damage. It is easier, in fact, to shut one’s door against a fox or a thief, than to exclude such insidious enemies, Avhose aversion to light renders it difficult to trace them even Avhen they are numerous. If we reflect on the prodigious numbers of those insects, and their power and rapidity of destroying, we cannot but admire the Avisdom of Providence in creating so inde- fatigable and useful an agent in countries where the decay of vegetable substances is rapid in proportion to the heat of the climate. We have already remarked that they always prefer decaying or dead timber ; and it is indeed a very general law among insects which feed on wood to prefer what is unsound; the same principle holds with respect to fungi, lichens, and other parasitical plants. 2GG INSECT ARCHITECTURE. All the species of Termites are not social ; but the solitary ones do not, like their congeners, distinguish themselves in architecture. In other respects, their habits are more similar ; for they destroy almost every substance, animal and vegetable. The most common of the solitary species must be familiar to all our readers by the name of wood-louse ( Termes pulsatorium, Linn.; Atropos lignarius, Leach) — one of the insects which produces the ticking superstitiously termed the death-watch. It is not so large as the common louse, but whiter and more slender, having a red mouth and yellow eyes. It lives in old books, the paper on walls, collections of insects and dried plants, and is extremely agile in its movements, darting, by jerks, into dark comers for the purpose of concealment. It does not like to run straight forward without resting every half- second, as if to listen or look about for its pursuer, and at such resting times it is easily taken. The ticking noise is made by the insect beating against the wood with its head, and it is supposed by some to be peculiar to the female, and to bo connected with the laying of her eggs. M. Latreille, however, thinks that the wood-louse is only the grub of the Psocus abdominalis, in which case it could not lay eggs ; but this opinion is somewhat questionable. Another death-watch is a small beetle (Anobium tesseJatum) . ( 267 ) CHAPTER XVII. STRUCTURES OF SILK SPUN BY CATERPILLARS, INCLUDING THE SILK-WORM. “ Millions of spinning-worms, That in their green shops weave the smooth-hair’d silk.” Milton’s C'omus. All the caterpillars of butterflies, moths, and, in general, of insects with four wings, are capable of spinning silk ; of various degrees of fineness and strength, and differing in colour, but usually white, yellow, brown, black, or grey. This is not only of advantage in constructing nests for themselves, and particularly for their pup®, as we have so frequently exemplified in the preceding pages, but it enables them, the instant they are excluded from the egg, to protect themselves from innumerable accidents, as well as from enemies. If a caterpillar, for instance, be exposed to a gust of wind, and blown off from its native tree, it lets itself gently down, and breaks its fall, by immediately spinning a cable of silk, along which, also, it can reascend to its former station when the danger is over. In the same way, it frequently disappoints a bird that has marked it out for prey, by dropping hurriedly down from a branch, suspended to its never-failing delicate cord. The leaf- rollers, formerly described, have the advantage of other caterpillars in such cases, by being able to move as quickly backwards as forwards; so that when a bird puts in its bill at one end of the roll, the insect makes a ready oxit at the other, and drops along its thread as low as it judges convenient. We have seen caterpillars drop in this way from one to six feet or more; and by means of their cable, INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 268 « which they are careful not to break, they climb back with great expedition to their former place. The structure of their legs is well adapted for climbing up their singular rope —the six fore-legs being furnished with a curved claw ; while the pro-legs (as they have been termed) are no less fitted for holding them firm to the branch when they have regained it, being constructed on the principle of forming a vacuum, like the leather sucker with which boys lift and drag stones. The foot of the common fly has a similar sucker, by which it is enabled to walk on glass, and otherwise support itself against gravity. The different forms of the leg and pro-leg of a spinning caterpillar are represented in the figure. Leg and Pro-leg of a Caterpillar, greatly magnified. In order to understand the nature of the apparatus by which a caterpillar spins its silk, it is to be recollected that its whole interior structure differs from that of warm- blooded animals. It has, properly speaking, no heart, though a long tubular dorsal vessel, which runs along the back, and pulsates from twenty to one hundred times per minute, has been called so by Malpighi and others : but neither Lyonnet nor Cuvier could detect any vessel issuing from it; and consequently the fluid which is analogous to blood has no circulation. It differs also from the higher orders of animals in having no brain, the nerves running along the body being only united by little knobs, called ganglions. Another circumstance is, that it has no lungs, and does not breathe by the mouth, but by air-holes, or SPINNING CATERPILLARS. 269 spiracles, eighteen in number, situated along the sides, in the middle of tho rings, as may be seen in the following figure from Lyonnet. Caterpillar of the Goat Moth (Cossus lignipcrda). These spiracles communicate on each side with tubes, that have been called the wind-pipes (trachea-). The spinning apparatus is placed near the mouth, and is con- nected with the silk-bags, which are long, slender, floating vessels, containing a liquid gum. The hags are closed at their lower extremity, become wider towards the middle, and more slender towards tho head, where they unite to form the spinning-tube, or spinneret. The bags being in most cases longer than the body of the caterpillar, neces- sarily lie in a convoluted state, like the intestines of quadrupeds. The capacity, or rather the length, of the silk-bags, is in proportion to the quantity of silk required for spinning ; the Cossus ligniperda, for example, from living in the wood of trees, spins little, having a hag only one- fourth the length of that of the silk-worm, though the caterpillar is at least twice the dimensions of the latter. The following figure, taken from the admirable treatise of Lyonnet on the anatomy of the Cossus, will render these several organs more easily understood than any descrip- tion. The spinneret itself was supposed by Reaumur to have two outlets for tho silk ; but Lyonnet, upon minute dissec- tion, found that the two tubes united into one before their termination ; and he also almost assured himself that it was composed of alternate slips of homy and membranaceous substance, — the one for pressing the thread into a small diameter, and the other for enlarging it at the insect’s pleasure. It is cut at the end somewhat like a writing- pen, though with less of a slope, and is admirably fitted 270 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. for being applied to objects to which it may be required to attach silk. The following are magnified figures of the spinneret of the Cosmis, from Lyonnet. “ You may sometimes have seen,” says the Abbe de la Pluche, “ in the work-rooms of goldsmiths or gold-wire- SPINNING CATERPILLARS. 271 drawers, certain iron plates, pierced with holes of different calibres, through which they draw gold and silver wire, in order to render it finer. The silk-worm has under her Side-view of the Silk-tube. Section of the Silk-tube, magnified 22,000 times. mouth such a kind of instrument, perforated with a pair of holes [united into one on the outside*], through which she draws two drops of the gum that fills her two hags. These instruments are like a pair of distaffs for spinning the gum into a silken thread. She fixes the first drop of gum that issues where she pleases, and then draws hack her head, or lets herself fall, while the gum, continuing to flow, is Labium, or lower lip of Cossus.-a. Silk-tube- drawn out and lengthened into a double stream. Upon being exposed to the air, it immediately loses its fluidity, becomes dry, and acquires consistence and strength. She * Lyonnet. 272 INSECT AltCIIITECTUHE. is never deceived in adjusting the dimensions of the [united] apertures, or in calculating the proper thickness of the thread, but invariably makes the strength of it propor- tionable to the weight of her body. “ It would be a very curious thing to know how the gum which composes the silk is separated and drawn oil' from the other juices that nourish the animal. It must be accomplished like the secretions formed by glands in the human body. I am therefore persuaded that the gum-bags of the silk-worm are furnished with a set of minute glands, which, being impregnated with gum, afford a free passage to all the juices of the mulberry-leaf corresponding with this glutinous matter, while they exclude every fluid of a different quality.”* When confined in an open glass vessel, the goat-moth caterpillar will effect its escape by construct- ing a curious silken ladder, as represented by lioesel. Caterpillars, as they increase in size, cast their skins as lobsters do their shells, and emerge into renewed ac- tivity under an' enlarged covering. Previous to this change, when the skin begins to gird and pinch them, they may be observed to become languid, and indifferent to their food, and at length they cease to eat, and await the sloughing of their skin. It is now that the faculty of spinning silk seems to be of great advantage to them ; for being rendered inactive and helpless by the tighten- ing of the old skin around their expanding body, they might be swept away by the first puff of wind, and made prey of by ground beetles or other carnivorous prowlers. To guard against such accidents, as soon as they feel that they can swallow no more food, from being half choked by the old skin, they take care to secure themselves from danger by moorings of silk spun upon the leaf or the branch where they may be reposing. The caterpillar of the white satin-moth ( Leucoma salicis, Stephens) in this way draws together with silk one or two leaves, similar to the leaf-rollers (Tortricidcc) though it always feeds openly without any covering. The cater- pillar of the puss-moth again, which, in its third skin, is * Spectacle de la Nature, vol. i. SPINNING CATERPILLARS. 273 large and heavy, spins a thick web on the upper surface of a loaf, to which it adheres till the change is elfected. The most important operation, however, of silk-spin- ning is performed before the caterpillar is transformed into a chrysalis, and is most remarkable in the caterpillars of moths and other four-winged flies, with the exception of those of butterflies ; for though these exhibit, perhaps, greater ingenuity, they seldom spin more than a few threads to secure the chrysalis from falling, whereas the others spin for it a complete envelope or shroud. We have already seen, in the preceding pages, several striking instances of this operation, when, probably for the purpose of husbanding a scanty supply of silk, extraneous substances are worked into the texture. In the case of other cater- pillars, silk is the only material employed. Of this the cocoon of the silk-worm is the most prominent example, in consequence of its importance in our manufactures and commerce, and on that account will demand from us some- 7 » m what minute details, though it would require volumes to incorporate all the information which has been published on the subject. Silk-Worm. The silk-worm, like most other caterpillars, changes its skin four times during its growth. The intervals at which the four moultings follow each other depend much on climate or temperature, as well as on the quality and quantity of food. It is thence found, that if they are exposed to a high temperature, say from 81° to 100° Fahrenheit, the moultings will be hastened ; and only five days will be consumed in moulting the third or fourth time, whilst those worms that have not been hastened take seven or eight days.* The period of the moultings is also influenced by the temperature in which the eggs have been kept during the winter. When the heat of the apartment has been regu- lated, the first moulting takes place on the fourth or fifth Cours d’ Agriculture, par INI. Rozier. Paris, 1801. T 274 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. day after hatching, the second begins on the eighth day, the third takes up the thirteenth and fourteenth days, and the last occurs on the twenty-second and twenty-third days. The fifth age, in such cases, lasts ten days, at the end of which, or thirty-two days after hatching, the caterpillars attain their full growth, and ought to be three inches in length ; but if they have not been properly fed, they will not be so long. With the age of the caterpillar, its appetite increases, and is at its maximum after the fourth moulting, when it also attains its greatest size. The silk gum is then elaborated in the reservoirs, while the caterpillar ceases to eat, and soon diminishes again in size and weight. This usually requires a period of nine or ten days, commencing from the fourth moulting, after which it begins to spin its shroud of silk. In this operation it proceeds with the greatest caution, looking carefully for a spot in which it may be most secure from interruption. “We usually,” says the Abbe do la ITuche, “ give it some little stalks of broom, heath, or a piece of paper rolled up, into which it retires, and begins to move its head to different places, in order to fasten its thread on every side. All this work, though it looks to a bystander like confusion, is not without design. The caterpillar neither arranges its threads nor disposes one over another, but contents itself with distending a sort of cotton or floss to keep off the rain ; for Nature having ordained silk-worms to work under trees, they never change their method even when they are reared in our houses. “ When my curiosity led me to know how they spun and placed their beautiful silk, I took one of them, and frequently removed the floss with which it first attempted to make itself a covering; and as by this means I weakened it exceedingly, when it at last became tired of beginning anew, it fastened its threads on the first thing it encountered, and began to spin very regularly in my presence, bending its head up and down, and crossing to every side. It soon confined its movements to a very contracted space, and, by degrees, entirely surrounded SILK-WORM. 275 itself with silk ; and the remainder of its operations became invisible, though these may be understood from examining the work after it is finished. In order to complete the structure, it must draw out of the gum-hag a more delicate silk, and then with a stronger gum bind all the inner threads over one another. “ Here, then, are three coverings entirely different, which afford a succession of shelter. The outer loose silk, or floss, is for keeping off the rain ; the fine silk in the middle prevents the wind from causing injury ; and the glued silk, which composes the tapestry of the chamber where the insect lodges, repels both air and water, and prevents the intrusion of cold. “ After building her cocoon, she divests herself of her fourth skin, and is transformed into a chrysalis, and subse- quently into a moth ( Bombyx vwri), when, without saw or centre-bit, she makes her way through the shell, the silk, and the floss ; for the Being who teaches her how to build herself a place of rest, where the delicate limbs of the moth may be formed without interruption, instincts her likewise how to open a passage for escape. “ The cocoon is like a pigeon’s egg, and more pointed at one end than the other ; and it is remarkable that the caterpillar does not interweave its silk towards the pointed end, nor apply its glue there as it does in every other part,* by bending itself all around with great pliantness and agility : what is more, she never fails, when her labour is finished, to fix her head opposite to the pointed extremity. The reason of her taking this position is, that she has purposely left this part less strongly cemented, and less exactly closed. She is instinctively conscious that this is to be the passage for the perfect insect which she carries in her bowels, and has therefore the additional precaution never to place this pointed extremity against any substance that might obstruct the moth at the period of its egress. “ When the caterpillar has exhausted herself to furnish * This is denied by recent observers. 270 IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. the labour aud materials of the three coverings, she loses the form of a worm, her spoils drop all around the chry- salis ; first throwing off her skin, with the head and jaws attached to it, and the new skin hardening into a sort of leathery consistence. Its nourishment is already in its stomach, and consists of a yellowish mucus, but gradually the rudiments of the moth unfold themselves, — the wings, the antennaj, and the legs becoming solid. In about a fortnight or three weeks, a slight swelling in the chrysalis may be remarked, which at length produces a rupture in the membrane that covers it, and by repeated efforts the moth bursts through the leathery envelope into the cham- ber of the cocoon. “ The moth then extends her antennas, together with her head and feet, towards the point of the cone, which not being thickly closed up in that part gradually yields to her efforts ; she enlarges the opening, and at last comes forth, leaving at the bottom of the cone tho ruins of its former state — namely, the head and entire skin of the caterpillar, which bear some resemblance to a heap of foul linen.”* Reaumur was of opinion that the moth makes use of its eyes as a file, in order to effect its passage through the silk ; while Malpighi, Peck, and others, believe that it is assisted by an acid which it discharges in order to dissolve the gum that holds the fibres of the silk together (see p. 170). Mr. Swayne denies that the threads are broken at all, either by filing or solution ; for he succeeded in unwinding a whole cocoon from which the moth had escaped. The soiling of tho cocoon by a fluid, however, we may remark, is no proof of the acid ; for all moths and butterflies discharge a fluid when they assume wings, whether they be inclosed in a cocoon or not ; but it gives no little plausibility to the opinion, that “ the end of tho cocoon is observed to be wetted for an hour, and sometimes several hours, before the moth makes its way out.” f Other insects employ different contrivances for escape, as we have already seen, and shall still further exemplify. * Spectacle de la Nature, vol. i. f Count Dandolo’s Art of Rearing Bilk-Worms, Eng. Transl., p. 215. SILK -WORM. 277 It is the middle portion of the cocoon, after removing the floss or loose silk on the exterior, which is used in our manufactures ; and the first preparation is to throw the cocoons into warm water, and to stir them about with twigs, to dissolve any slight gummy adhesions which may have occurred when the caterpillar was spinning. The threads of several cones, according to the strength of the silk wanted, are then taken and wound off upon a reel. The refuse, consisting of what we may call the tops and bottoms of the cones, are not wound, but carded, like wool or cotton, in order to form coarser fabrics. We learn from the fact of the cocoons being generally unwound without breaking the thread, that the insect spins the whole without interruption. It is popularly sup- posed, however, that if it be disturbed during the operation by any sort of noise, it will take alarm, and break its thread ; but Latreille says this is a vulgar error.* The length of the unbroken thread in a cocoon varies from six hundred to a thousand feet ; and as it is all spun double by the insect, it will amount to nearly two thousand feet of silk, the whole of which does not weigh above three grains and a half : five pounds of silk from ten thousand cocoons is considerably above the usual average. When we consider, therefore, the enormous quantity of silk which is used at present, the number of worms employed in producing it will almost exceed our comprehension. The manufacture of the silk, indeed, gives employment, and furnishes subsistence, to several millions of human beings ; and we may venture to say, that there is scarcely an individual in the civilized world who has not some article made of silk in his possession. In ancient times, the manufacture of silk was confined to the East Indies and China, where the insects that produce it are indigenous. It was thence brought to Europe in small quantities, and in early times sold at so extravagant a price, that it was deemed too expensive even for royalty. The Emperor Aurelian assigned the expense as a reason * Oil a tort de croire quo lo bruit nuise a ces insectes, Hist. Nut. Generate, vol. xiii. p. 170. 278 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. for refusing his empress a robe of silk ; and our own James I., before liis accession to the crown of England, had to borrow of t lie Earl of Mar a pair of silk stockings to appear in before the English ambassador, a circumstance which probably led him to promote the cultivation of silk in England.* The Roman authors were altogether ignorant of its origin,— some supposing it to be grown on trees as hair grows on animals, — others that it was produced by a shell-fish similar to the mussel, which is known to throw out threads for the purpose of attaching itself to rocks, — others that it was the entrails of a sort of spider, which was fed for four years with paste, and then with the leaves of the green willow, till it burst with fat, — and others that it was the produce of a worm which built nests of clay and collected wax. The insect was at length spread into Persia; and eggs were afterwards, at the instance of the Emperor Justinian, concealed in hollow canes by two monks, and conveyed to the isle of Cos. This emperor, in the sixth century, caused them to be introduced into Con- stantinople, and made an object of public utility. They were thence successively cultivated in Greece, in Arabia, in Spain, in Italy, in France, and in all places where any hope could be indulged of their succeeding. In America the culture of the silk-worm was introduced into Virginia in the time of James I., who himself composed a book of instructions on the subject, and caused mulberry-trees and silk-worms’ eggs to be sent to the colony. In Georgia, also, lands were granted on condition of planting one hundred white mulberry-trees on every ten acres of cleared land. I The growth of the silk-worm has also been tried, but with no great success, in this country. Evelyn computed that one mulberry-tree would feed as many silk-worms annually as would produce seven pounds of silk. “Ac- cording to that estimate.,” says Barham, J “the two thou- sand trees already planted in Chelsea Park (which take up # Shaw’s Gen. Zoology, vol. vi. f North American Review, Oct. 1828, p. 440. X Essay on the Silk-Worm, p. 95. London, 1719. EMPEROR-MOTH. 279 one-third of it) will make 14,000 lbs. weight of silk ; to be commonly worth hut twenty shillings a pound, those trees must make 14,000/. per annum.” During the last century, some French refugees in the south of Ireland made con- siderable plantations of the mulberry, and had begun the cultivation of silk with every appearance of success ; but since their removal the trees have been cut down.* In the vicinity of London, also, a considerable plantation of mulberry-trees was purchased by the British, Irish, and Colonial Silk Company in 1825 ; but we have not learned whether this Company have any active measures now in operation. The manufacture of silk was introduced into this coun- try in 1718, at Derby, by Mr. John Lombe, who travelled into Italy to obtain the requisite information ; but so jealous were the Italians of this, that according to some statements which have obtained belief, he fell a victim to their revenge, having been poisoned at the early age of twenty-nine, t There are not only several varieties of the common silk- worm ( Bombyx mori), but other species of caterpillars, which spin silk capable of being manufactured, though not of so good qualities as the common silk. None of our European insects, however, seem to be well fitted for the purpose, though it has been proposed by Fabricius and others to try the crimson under-wing ( Catocalu sponsa, Schraxk), &c. M. Latreille quotes from the ‘ Recreations of Natural History,’ by W ilhelm, the statement that the cocoons of the emperor-moth ( Saturnia pavonia) had been successfully tried in Germany, by M. Wcntzel Hegeer de Berchtoldsdorf, under an imperial patent. Emperor-Motii. The emperor-moth, indeed, is no less worthy of our attention with respect to the ingenuity of its architecture * Preface to Dandolo on the Silk-Worm, Eng. Transl., p. xiii. t Glover’s Directory of the County of Derby, Introd., p. xvi. 280 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. than the beauty of its colours, and has consequently at- tracted the attention of every Entomologist. The cater- pillar feeds on fruit-trees and on the willow, and spins a cocoon, in the form of a Florence flask, of strong silk, so thickly woven that it appears almost like damask or leather. It differs from most other cocoons in not being closed at the upper or smaller end, which terminates in a narrow circular aperture, formed by the convergence of little bundles of silk, gummed together, and almost as elastic as whalebone. In consequence of all these termi- nating in needle-shaped points, the entrance of depredators is guarded against, upon the principle which prevents the escape of a mouse from a wire trap. The insect, however, not contented with this protection, constructs another in form of a canopy or dome, within the external aperture, so as effectually to shield the chrysalis from danger. We have' formerly remarked (page 1(37) that the caterpillar of the JEgeria asiliformis of Stephens in a similar way did not appear to be contented with a covering of thin wood, with- out an additional bonnet of brown wax. The cocoon of the Cocoons of the Emperor-moth, cut open to show Uielr structure. emperor-moth, though thus in some measure impenetrable from without, is readily opened from within ; and when the moth issues from its pupa case, it easily makes its way out without either the acid or eye-files ascribed to the silk- worm. The elastic silk gives way upon being pushed from MOTHS. 281 within, and when the insect is fairly out, it shuts again of its own accord, like a door with spring hinges, — a circum- stance which at first puzzled Koesel not a little when he saw a fine large moth in his box, and the cocoon apparently in the same state as when he had put it there. Another naturalist conjectures that the converging threads are in- tended to compress the bod)’ of the moth as it emerges, in order to force the fluids into the nervures of the wings ; for when he took the chrysalis previously out of the cocoon, the wings of the moth never expanded properly.* Had he been much conversant with breeding insects, he would rather, we think, have imputed this to some injury which the chrysalis had received. Wo liavo witnessed the shriveling of the wings which he alludes to, in many instances, and not unfrequently in butterflies which spin no cocoon. The shriveling, indeed, frequently arises from the want of a sufficient supply of food to the caterpillar in its last stage, occasioning a deficiency in the fluids. The elasticity of the cocoon is not peculiar to the em- peror-moth. A much smaller insect, the green cream- border-moth ( Turtnx chlomna) before mentioned (page 149), for its ingenuity in bundling up the expanding leaves of the willow, also spins an elastic shroud for its chrysalis, of the singular shape of a boat with the keel uppermost. Like tho caterpillar of Pyralis strigulalis (page 172), whose building, though of different materials, is exactly of the same form, — it first spins two approximating walls of whitish silk, of the form required, and when these are completed, it draws them forcibly together with elastic threads, so placed as to retain them closely shut. The passage of the moth out of this cocoon might have struck Eoesel as still more marvellous than that of his emperor, in which there was at least a small opening ; while in the boat cocoon there is none. \\ e have now before us two of these, which we watched the caterpillars through the pro- cess of building, in the summer of 1828, and from one only a moth issued, — tho other, as often happens, having died in * Meiuecken, quoted by Kirby and Spence, iii. 280. 282 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. the chrysalis. But what is most remarkable, it is impos- sible by the naked eye to tell which of these two has been opened by the moth, so neatly has the joining been finished. (J. R.) Some species of moths spin a very slight silken tissue for their cocoons, being apparently intended more to retain them from falling than to afford protection from other acci- dents. The gipsy-moth ( Hypogymna dispar ), rare in most parts of Britain, is one of these. It selects for its retreat a crack in the bark of the tree upon which it feeds, and over this spins only a few straggling threads. We found last summer (1829), in the hole of an elm-tree in the Park at Brussels, a group of half a dozen of these, that did not seem to have spun any covering at all, but trusted to a curtain of moss ( Hypna ) which margined the entrance. (J. E.) In a species nearly allied to this, the yellow- tussock ( Dasychiru pudihtnda, Stephens), the cocoon, one of which we have now before us, is of a pretty close texture, and interwoven with the long hairs of the caterpillar itself (see figure b, page 17), which it plucks out piece-meal Net-work cocoon. daring the process of building, — as is also done by the vapourer ( Orgyia antiqua , Hubner), and many others. These are additional instances of the remarks we for- SPINNING CATERPILLARS. 283 raerly made, that caterpillars which spin a slight web are transformed into perfect insects in a much shorter period than those which spin more substantial ones. Thus the cream-spot tiger (Arctia villica, Stephens) lies in chrysalis only three weeks, and therefore does not require a strong web. It is figured in the preceding page, along with another, which is still slighter, though more ingeniously woven, being regularly meshed like net-work. A very prettily-netted cocoon is constructed by the grub of a veiy small grey weevil ( Hypera liumicis), which is not uncommon in July, on the seed spikes of docks (Iiumices) . This cocoon is globular, and not larger than a garden pea, though it appears to be very large in proportion to the pupa of the insect, reminding us not a little of the carved ivory balls from China. The meshes of the net-work are also large, but the materials are strong and of a waxy con- sistence. Upon remarking that no netting was ever spun over the part of the plant to which the cocoon was attached, wo endeavoured to make them spin cocoons perfectly globular, by detaching them when nearly finished ; but though we tried four or five in this way, we could not make them add a single mesh after removal, all of them making their escape through the opening, and refusing to re-enter in order to complete their structure. (J. R.) The silk, if it may be so termed, spun by many species of larva) is of a still stronger texture than the waxy silk of the little weevil just mentioned. We recently met with a remarkable instance of this at Lee, in the cocoons of one of the larger ichneumons ( Ophion Vinulce? Stephens), inclosed in that of a puss-moth ( Centra Vinvla)— itself remarkable for being composed of sand as well as wood, the fibres of which had been scooped out of the under-ground cross-bar of an old paling, to which it was attached. Rut the most singular portion of this was the junction of the outer wall with the edges of the hollow thus scooped out, which was formed of fibres of wood placed across the fibres of the bar nearly at right angles, and strongly cemented together, as if to form a secure foundation for the building. In this nest were formed, surreptitiously introduced into 284 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. the original building, five empty cells of a black colour, about an inch long, and a sixth of an inch in diameter ; nearly cylindrical in form, but somewhat flattened ; vertical Nest of Fuss-moth, inclosing live cocoons of an Ichneumon. Natural size. and parallel to one another, though slightly curved on the inner side. The cells are composed of strong and some- what coarse fibres, more like the carbonized rootlets of a tree than silk, and resembling in texture a piece of coarse milled cloth or felt, such as is used for the bases of plated hats. It is worthy of remark, that all these cells opened towards one end, as if the caterpillars which constructed them had been aware that the wall of the puss-moth, in which the flies would have to make a breach, was very hard, and would require their united efforts to effect an escape. The importance of such a precaution will appear more strikingly, when we compare it with the instance formerly mentioned (page 170), in which only one ichneu- mon had been able to force its way out. (J. R.) It appears indispensable to some grubs to be confined within a certain space in order to construct their cocoons. We saw this well exemplified in the instance of a grub of one of the mason-bees ( Osmia bicornis ), which we took from its nest, and put into a box, with the pollen paste which the mother bee had provided for its subsistence. (See pages 33, 34.) When it had completed its growth, it began to spin, but in a very awkward manner — attaching threads, SPINNING CATERPILLARS. 285 as if at random, to the bits of pollen which remained unde- voured, and afterwards tumbling about to another part of the box, as if dissatisfied with what it had done. It some- times persevered to spin in one place till it had formed a little vaulted Avail ; but it abandoned at the least three or four of these in order to begin others, till at length, as if compelled by the extreme urgency of the stimulus of its approaching change, it completed a shell of shining broAvn silk, woven into a close texture. Had the grub remained within the narrow clay cell built for it by the mother bee, it would, in all probability, not ha\re thus exhausted itself in vain efforts at building, which were likely to prevent it from e\rer arriving at the perfect state — a circumstance Avhich often happens in the artificial breeding of insects. This bee, however, made its appearance the following spring. (J. E.) Beside silk, the cocoons of many insects are composed of other animal secretions, intended to strengthen or otherwise perfect their texture. We have already seen that some caterpillars pluck off their own hair to interweave amongst their silk ; there are others which produce a peculiar sub- stance for the same purpose. The lackey caterpillar ( Clisio- campa neustria, Curtis) in this manner lines its cocoon Avith pellets of a doAvny substance, resembling little tufts of the floAvers of sulphur. The small egger, again ( Emgaster lanestris, Gicrmar), can scarcely be said to employ silk at all,— the cocoon being of a uniform texture, looking, at first sight, like dingy Paris plaster, or the shell of a pheasant’s egg ; but upon being broken, and inspected narroAvly, a feAv threads of silk may be seen interspersed through the Avhole. In size it is not larger than the egg of the gold-crested Avren. It has been considered by Brahm a puzzling cir- cumstance, that this cocoon is usually perforated with one or tAvo little holes, as if made by a pin from Avithout ; and Kirby and Spence tell us that their use has not been ascer- tained.* May they not he left as air-holes for the included chrysalis, as the close texture of the cocoon might, Avithout this provision, prove fatal to the animal? Yet, on com- * Bralim’t) Ins. Nat. 289, and Kirby and Spence’s Iutr.iii. 223. 286 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. paring one of these with a similar cocoon of the large egger- moth ( Lasiocampa Quercus ), wo find no air-holes in the latter, as we might have been led to expect from the close- ness of its texture. We found a cocoon of a saw-fly ( Trichi - osotna), about the same size as that of the egger, attached to a hawthorn twig, in a hedge at New-Cross, Deptford, but of a leathery texture, and, externally, exactly the colour of the bark of the tree. During the summer of 1830 we found a considerable number of the same cocoons. These were all without air-holes. The egger, we may remark, unlike the dock-weevil or the bee-grub just mentioned, can work her cocoon without any point of attachment. We had a colony of these caterpillars in the summer of 1825, brought from Epping Forest, and saw several of them work their cocoons, and we could not but admire the dexterity with which they avoided filling up the little pin-holes. The supply of their building material was evidently mea- sured out to them in the exact quantity required ; for when we broke down a portion of their wall, by way of experi- ment, they did not make it above half the thickness of the previous portion, though they plainly preferred having a thin wall to leaving tho breach unclosed. (J. E.) Several species of caterpillars, that spin only silk, are social, like some of those we formerly mentioned, which unite to form a common tent of leaves (see pages 151, 152). The most common instance of this is in the caterpillars which feed on the nettle — the small tortoise-shell ( Vanessa urticce), and the peacock’s eye ( V. I.) Colonies of these may be seen, after Midsummer, on almost every clump of nettles, inhabiting a thin web of an irregular oval shape, from which they issue out to feed on the leaves, always re- turning when their appetite is satisfied, to assist their com- panions in extending their premises. Other examples, still more conspicuous from being seen on fruit-trees and in hedges, occur in the caterpillars of the small ermine-moth ( Yponomeuta padella'), and of the lackey ( CUsiocampa neustria ), which in some years are but too abundant, though in others they are seldom met with. In the summer of 1826, every hedge anti fruit-tree around London swann cd with colonies SPINNING CATERPILLARS. 287 of the ermine, though it lifts not since been plentiful ; and in the same way, during the summer of 1829, the lackeys were to be seen everywhere. We mention this irregularity of appearance that our readers may not disappoint them- selves by looking for what is not always to be found. It is probable, that in 1830, the lackoys will be few, for, notwith- standing the myriads of caterpillars last summer, we saw only a single moth of this species, and out of a number of chrysalides which a young friend had in his nurse-boxes, not one moth was bred. The caterpillars of other moths, which are in some years very common such as tho brown-tail ( Porthesia aurijiua') , and the golden-tail (P. Chrysoirhcea), are also social; and, as the eggs are hatched late in the summer, the brood passes the winter in a very closely-woven nest of warm silk. -This is usually represented as composed of leaves which have had their pulpy parts eaten as food by the colo- nists ; hut from minute observation of at least twenty of these nests in the winter of 1828-9, we are quite satisfied 288 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. that leaves are only an accidental, and not a necessary, part of the structure. When a leaf happens to be in the line of the walls of the nest, it is included ; but there is no appa- rent design in pressing it into the service, nor is a branch selected because it is leafy. On the contrary, by far the greater number of these nests do not contain a single leaf, but are composed entirely of grey silk. In external form, no two of these nests are alike ; as it depends entirely upon the form of the branch. When, therefore, there is only one twig, it is somewhat egg-shaped ; but when there are several twigs, it commonly joins each, assuming an angular shape, as may be seen in the preceding figure. This irregularity arises from the circumstance of each individual acting on its own account, without the direction or superintendence of the others. The interior of the struc- ture is, for the same reason, more regular, being divided Winter nests of Porthetia chrysoiThren, one being cut open to show the chambers. The dots represent the egesta oi the caterpillars. into compartments, each of which forms a chamber for one or more individuals. Previous to the cold weather, these chambers have but slight partitions ; but before the frosts set in the whole is made thick and warm. SPINNING CATERPILLARS. 289 A no less remarkable winter nest, of a small species of social caterpillar, is described by M. Bonnet, which wo omitted to introduce when treating of the Glanville fritil- lary (page 151). The nest in question is literally pendulous, being hung from the branch of a fruit tree by a strong silken thread. It consists of one or two leaves neatly folded, and held together with silk, in which the caterpillars live harmoniously together. Pendulous leaf-nests, from Bonnet. In a recently-published volume of ‘ Travels in Mexico,’ we find a very remarkable account of some pendulous nests of caterpillars, which appear to be almost as curious as the nests of the pasteboard-making wasps, described at p. 74. The author of these Travels does not define the species of caterpillar whose constructions attracted his observation. He says, “After having ascended for about an hour, we came to the region of oaks and other majestically tall trees, the names of which I could not leam. Suspended from their stately branches, were innumerable nests, enclosed, apparently, in white paper bags, in the manner of bunches of grapes in England, to preserve them from birds and flies. 1 had the curiosity to examine one of them, which I found to contain numberless caterpillars. The texture is so strong that it is not easily tom ; and the interior contained a quantity of green leaves, to support the numerous orogeny within.”* ° J * * Hardy’s Travels in the Interior of Mexico, p. 32. 290 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. In all the nests of social caterpillars, care is taken to leave apertures for passing ont and in. It is remarkable, also, that however far they may ramble from their nest, they never fail to find their way back when a shower of rain or nightfall renders shelter necessary. It requires no great shrewdness to discover how they effect this : for by looking closely at their track it will be found that it is carpeted with silk — no individual moving an inch without constructing such a pathway, both for the use of his com- panions and to facilitate his own return. All these social caterpillars, therefore, move more or less in processional order, each following the road which the first chance travel- ler has marked out with his strip of silk carpeting. There arc some species, however, which are more remark- able than others in the regularity of their processional marchings, particularly two which are found in the south of Europe, but are not indigenous in Britain. The one named by Reaumur the processionary ( Cmthocampa pro- Ncst and order of marching of the Processlonary Caterpillars of the oak ( Gnelhocampa processioned). cessionea , Stephens) feeds upon the oak; a brood dividing, when newly hatched, into one or more parties of several SPINNING CATERPILLARS. 291 hundred individuals, which afterwards unite in constructing a common nest nearly two feet long, and from four to six inches in diameter. As it is not divided like that of the brown-tails into chambers, but consists of one large hall, it is not necessai-y that there should be more openings than one ; and accordingly, when an individual goes out and carpets a path, the whole colony instinctively follow in the same track, though from the immense population they are often compelled to march in parallel files from two to six deep. The procession is always headed by a single cater- pillar; sometimes the leader is immediately followed by one or two in single file, and sometimes by two abreast, as represented in the cut. A similar procedure is followed by a species of social caterpillars which feed on the pine in Savoy and Languedoc ; and though their nests are not half the size of the preceding, they are more worthy of notice, from the strong and excellent quality of their silk, which Reaumur was of opinion might be advantageously manufac- tured. Their nests consist of more chambers than one, but are furnished with a main entrance, through which the colonists conduct their foraging processions. ( 292 ) CHAPTER XVIII STRUCTURES OF SPIDERS. Modern naturalists do not rank spiders among insects, because they have no antennae, and no division between the head and the shoulders. They breath by leaf-shaped gills, situated under the belly, instead of spiracles in the sides ; have a heart connected with these ; have eight legs instead of six ; and eight fixed eyes. But as spiders are popularly considered insects, it will sufficiently suit our purpose to introduce them here as such. The apparatus by which spiders construct their ingenious fabrics is much more complicated than that which we have described as common to the various species of caterpillars. Caterpillars have only two reservoirs for the materials of their silk; but spiders, according to the dissections of M. Treviranus, have four principal vessels, two larger and two smaller, with a number of minute ones at their base. Several small tubes branch towards the reservoirs, for carry- ing to them, no doubt, a supply of the secreted material. Swammerdam describes them as twisted into many coils of an agate colour.* We do not find them coiled, but nearly straight, and of a deep-yellow colour. From these, when broken, threads can be drawn out like those spun by the spider, though we cannot draw them so fine by many degrees. From theso little flasks or bags of gum, situated near the apex of the abdomen, and not at the mouth as in cater- pillars, a tube originates, and terminates in the external spinnerets, which may be seen by the naked eye in the larger spiders, in the form of five little teats surrounded by a circle, as represented in the following figure. We have seen that the silken thread of a caterpillar is * Hill’s Swammerdam, part i. p. 23. SriDERS. 293 composed of two united within the tube of the spinneret, but the spider’s thread would appear, from the first view of its five spinnerets, to be quintuple, and in some species which have six teats, so many times more. It is not safe, Garden Spider (.Eix-rira diadema ), suspended by a thread proceeding from its spinneret. however, in our interpretations of nature to proceed upon conjecture, however plausible, nor to take anything for granted which we have not actually seen ; since our infer- ences in such cases are almost certain to be erroneous. If Aristotle, for example, had ever looked narrowly at a spider when spinning, he could not have fancied, as he does, that the materials which it uses are nothing but wool stripped from its body. On looking, then, with a strong magnifying glass, at the teat-shaped spinnerets of a spider, we perceive' them studded with regular rows of minute bristle-like points, about a thousand to each teat, making in all from five to six thousand. These are minute tubes which we may appropriately term spinnerules, as each is connected with the internal reservoirs, and emits a thread 294 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. of inconceivable fineness. In the following figure, this wonderful apparatus is represented as it appears in the microscope. We do not recollect that naturalists have ventured to assign any cause for this very remarkable multiplicity of Spinnerets of n Spider magnified to show the Spinnerules. the spinnerules of spiders, so different from the simple spinneret of caterpillars. To us it appears to ho an admir- able provision for their mode of life. Caterpillars neither require such strong materials, nor that their thread should dry as quickly. It is well known in our manufactures, particularly in rope-spinning, that in cords of equal thick- ness, those which are composed of many smaller ones united are greatly stronger than those which are spun at once. In the instance of the spider’s thread, this principle must hold still more strikingly, inasmuch as it is composed of fluid materials that require to be dried rapidly, and this drying must he greatly facilitated by exposing so many to the air separately before their union, which is effected at the distance of about a tenth of an inch from the spinnerets. In the following figure each of the threads represented is reckoned to contain one hundred minute threads, the whole forming only one of the spider’s common threads. Leeuwenhoeck, in one of his extraordinary microscopical observations on a young spider not bigger than a grain of sand, upon enumerating the threadletR in one of its threads, SriDERS. 295 calculated that it would require four millions of them to be as thick as a hair of his beard. Another important advantage derived by the spider from the multiplicity of its threadlets is, that the thread affords A single thread of a Spider, greatly magnified, so that, for the small space represented, the lines are shown as parallel. a much more secure attachment to a wall, a branch of a tree, or any other object, than if it were simple ; for, upon pressing the spinneret against the object, as spiders always do when they fix a thread, the spinnerules are extended Attached end of a Spider's thread magnified. over an area of some diameter, from every hair’s-breadth of which a strand, as rope-makers term it, is extended to com- 296 I.YSRCT ARCHITECTURE. pound the main cord. The preceding figure exhibits this ingenious contrivance. Those who may be curious to examine this contrivance, will see it best when the line is attached to any black object, for the threads, being whitish, are, in other cases, not so easily perceived. Shooting of the Lines. It has long been considered a curious though a difficult investigation, to determine in what manner spiders, seeing that they are destitute of wings, transport themselves from tree to tree, across brooks, and frequently through the air itself, without any apparent starting point. On looking into the authors who have treated upon this subject, it is surprising how little there is to be met with that is new, even in the most recent. Their conclusions, or rather their conjectural opinions, are, however, worthy of notice ; for by unlearning error, we the more firmly establish truth. 1 . One of the earliest notions upon this subject is that of Blancanus, the commentator on Aristotle, which is partly adopted by Eedi, by Ilenricus Regius of Utrecht, by Swam- merdam,* by Lehmann, and by Kirby and Spenee.t “ The spider’s thread,” says Swammerdam, “is generally made up of two or more parts, and after descending by such a thread, it ascends by one only, and is thus enabled to waft itself from one height or tree to another, even across lim- ning waters ; the thread it leaves loose behind it being driven about by the wind, and so fixed to some other body.” “I placed,” says Kirby, “the large garden spider ( Epeira cliadema ) upon a stick about a foot long, set upright in a vessel containing water It let itself drop, not by a single thread, but by two, each distant from the other about the twelfth of an inch, guided, as usual, by one of its hind feet, and one apparently smaller than the other. When it had suffered itself to descend nearly to the surface of the water, it stopped short, and by some means, which I could not distinctly see, broke off, close to the spinners, * Swammerdam, part i. p. 24. + Intr. vol. i. p. 415. SPIDERS. 207 the smallest thread, which still adhering by the other end to the top of the stick, floated in the air, and was so light as to be carried about by the slightest breath. On approach- ing a pencil to the loose end of this line, it did not adhere from mere contact. I, therefore, twisted it once or twice round the pencil, and then drew it tight. The spider, which had previously climbed to the top of the stick, immediately pulled at it with one of its feet, and finding it sufficiently tense, crept along it, strengthening it as it pro- ceeded by another thread, and thus reached the pencil.” We have repeatedly witnessed this occurrence, both in the fields and when spiders were placed for experiment, as Kirby has described ; but we very much doubt that the thread broken is ever intended as a bridge cable, or that it would have been so used in that instance, had it not been artificially fixed and accidentally found again by the spider. According to our observations, a spider never abandons, for an instant, the thread which she despatches in quest of an attachment, but uniformly keeps trying it with her feet, in order to ascertain its success. We are, therefore, per- suaded, that when a thread is broken in the manner above described, it is because it has been spun too weak, and spiders may often be seen breaking such threads in the pro- cess of netting their webs. (J. R.) The plan, besides, as explained by these distinguished writers, would more frequently prove abortive than suc- cessful, from the cut thread not being sufficiently long. They admit, indeed, that spiders’ lines arc often found “ a yard or two long, fastened to twigs of grass not a foot in height Here, therefore, some other process must have been used.”* 2. Our celebrated English naturalist, Dr. Lister, whose treatise upon our native spiders has been the basis of every subsequent work on the subject, maintains that “some spiders shoot out their threads in the same manner that porcupines do their quills ;+ that whereas the quills of the * Kirby and Spence, vol. i. Intr. p. 416. "t Porcupines do not shoot out their quills, as was once generally believed. 298 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. latter are entirely separated from tlieir bodies, when thus shot out, the threads of the former remain fixed to their anus, as the sun’s rays to its body.”* A French periodical writer goes a little farther, and says, that spiders have the power of shooting out threads, and directing them at plea- sure towards a determined point, judging of the distance and position of the object by some sense of which we are ignorant. f Kirby also says, that he once observed a small garden spider (. Aranea reticulata) “ standing midway on a long perpendicular fixed thread, and an appearance caught ” his “ eye, of what seemed to be the emission of threads.” “ I,” therefore, he adds, “ moved my arm in the direction in which they apparently proceeded, and, as I had suspected, a floating thread attached itself to my coat, along which the spider crept. As this was connected with the spinners of the spider, it could not have been formed” by breaking a “ secondary thread.” J Again, in speaking of the gossamer- spider, he says, “ it first extends its thigh, shank, and foot, into a right line, and then, elevating its abdomen till it becomes vertical, shoots its thread into the air, and flies off from its station. ”§ Another distinguished naturalist, Mr. White of Selborne, in speaking of the gossamer-spider, says, “Every day in fine weather in autumn do I see these spiders shooting out their webs, and mounting aloft : they will go off from the finger, if you will take them into your hand. Last summer, one alighted on my book as I was reading in the parlour ; and running to the top of the page, and shooting out a web, took its departure from thence. But what 1 most wondered at was, that it went off with considerable velocity in a place where no air was stirring ; and I am sure I did not assist it with my breath.”|| Having so often witnessed the thread set afloat in the air by spiders, we can readily conceive the way in which those eminent naturalists were led to suppose it to be ejected by * Lister, Hist. Animalia Anglire, 4to. p. 7. f Phil. Mag. ii. p. 275. x Vol. i. I at r. p. 417. § Ibid. ii. p. 339. || Hat. Hist, of Selborne, vol. i. p. 327. SPIDERS. 299 some animal force acting like a syringe ; but as the state- ment can be completely disproved by experiment, we shall only at present ask, in the words of Swammerdam — “ how can it be possible that a thread so fine and slender should be shot out with force enough to divide and pass through the air ? — is it not rather probable that the air would stop its progress, and so entangle it and fit it to perplex the spider’s operations?”* The opinion, indeed, is equally improbable with another, suggested by Dr. Lister, that the spider can retract her thread within the abdomen, after it lias been emitted.! De Geer* very justly joins Swammer- dam in rejecting both of these fancies, which, in our own earlier observations upon spiders, certainly struck us as plausible and true. There can be no doubt, indeed, that the animal has a voluntary power of permitting the material to escape, or stopping it at pleasure, but this power is not projectile. 3. “ There are many people,” says the Abbede lariuche, “who believe that the spider flies when they see her pass from branch to branch, and oven from one high tree to another ; but she transports herself in this manner : she places herself upon the end of a branch, or some projecting body, and there fastens her thread ; after which, with her two hind feet, she squeezes her dugs ( spinnerets ), and presses out one or more threads of two or three ells in length, which she leaves to float in the air till it be fixed to some particular place.”§ Without pretending to havo observed this, Swam- merdam says, “ I can easily comprehend how spiders, with- out giving themselves any motion, may, by only compress- ing their spinnerets, force out a thread, which being driven by the wind, may serve to waft them from one place to another.”|| Others, proceeding upon a similar notion, give a rather different account of the matter. “ The spider,” says Bingley, “ fixes one end of a thread to the place where she stands, and then with her hind paws draws out several other threads from the nipples, which, being lengthened * Book of Nature, part i. p. 25. + Hist. Anim. Angliso, 4to. I Me'moires, vol. vii. p. 189. § Spectacle de la Nature, vol. i. || Book of Nature, part i. p. 25. 300 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. out and driven by the wind to some neighbouring tree or other object, are by their natural clamminess fixed to it.”* Observation gives some plausibility to the latter opinion, as the spider always actively uses her legs, though not to draw out the thread, but to ascertain whether it has caught upon any object. The notion of her pressing the spinneret with her feet must be a mere fancy ; at least it is not coun- tenanced by anything which we have observed. 4. An opinion much more recondite is mentioned, if it was not started, by M. D’lsjonval, that the floating of the spider’s thread is electrical. “Frogs, cats, and other animals,” lie says, “ are affected by natural electricity, and feel the change of weather ; but no other animal more than myself and my spiders.” During wet and windy weather he accordingly found that they spun very short lines, “ but when a spider spins a long thread, there is a certainty of fine weather for at least ten or twelve days afterwards.”+ A periodical writer, who signs himself Carolan,j; fancies that in darting out her thread the spider emits a stream of air, or some subtle electric fluid, by which she guides it as if by magic. A living writer (Mr. John Murray), whose learning and skill in conducting experiments give no little weight to his opinions, has carried these views considerably farther. “ The aeronautic spider,” he says, “ can propel its thread both horizontally and vertically, and at all relative angles, in motionless air, and in an atmosphere agitated by winds ; nay more, the aerial traveller can even dart its thread, to use a nautical phrase, in the ‘ wind’s eye.’ My opinion and observations are based on many hundred experiments. .... The entire phenomena are electrical. A hen a thread is propelled in a vertical plane, it remains perpendi- cular to the horizontal plane, always upright, and when others are projected at angles more or less inclined, their direction is invariably preserved; the threads never inter- * Animal Biography, vol. iii. p. 475, 3rd edition. f Brcz, Flore des Iusectophiles. Notes, Supp. p. 134. J Thomson’s Ann. of Philosophy, vol. iii. p. 306. SPIDERS. 301 mingle, and when a pencil of threads is propelled, it ever presents the appearance of a divergent brush. These are electrical phenomena, and cannot be explained but on electrical principles.” “ In clear, fine weather, the air is invariably positive ; and it is precisely in such weather that the aeronautic spider makes its ascent most easily and rapidly, whether it be in summer or in winter.” “ When the air is weakly positive; the ascent of the spidor will be difficult, and its altitude extremely limited, and the threads propelled will be but little elevated above the horizontal plane. When negative electricity' prevails, as in cloudy' weather, or on the approach of rain, and the index of He Saussure’s hydro- meter rapidly advancing towards humidity', the spider is unable to ascend.”* Mr. Murray had previously told us, that “ when a stick of excited sealing-wax is brought near the thread of sus- pension, it is evidently' repelled ; consequently, the electri- city of the thread is of a negative character,” while “ an excited glass tube brought near, seemed to attract the thread, and with it the aeronautic spider.”f His friend, Mr. Bowman, further describes the aerial spider as “ shoot- ing out four or five, often six or eight, extremely’ fine webs several yards long, which waved in the breeze, diverging from each other like a pencil of ray's.” One of them “ had two distinct and widely-diverging fasciculi of webs,” and “ a line uniting them would have been at right angles to the direction of the breeze. ”J Such is the chief evidence in support of the electrical theory ; but though we have tried these experiments, we have not succeeded in verifying any one of them. The fol- lowing statements of Mr. Blackwall come nearer our own observations. 5. “ Having procured a small branched twig,” says Mr. Blackwall, “ I fixed it upright in an earthen vessel containing water, its base being immersed in the liquid, * Loudon’s Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 322. t Experim. Researches in Nat. Hist., p. 136. f Mag. Nat. Hist, vol, i. p. 324. 302 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. and upon it I placed several of the spiders which produce gossamer. "Whenever the insects thus circumstanced were exposed to a current of air, either naturally or artificially produced, they directly turned the thorax towards the quarter whence it came, even when it was so slight as scarcely to be perceptible, and elevating the abdomen, they emitted from their spinners a small portion of glutinous matter, which was instantly earned out in a line, consist- ing of four finer ones, with a velocity equal, or nearly so, to that with Avhicli the air moved, as was apparent from observations made on the motion of detached lines similarly exposed. The spiders, in the next place, carefully ascer- tained whether their lines had become firmly attached to any object or not, by pulling at them with the first pair of legs ; and if the result was satisfactory, after tightening them sufficiently, they made them pass to the twig; then discharging from their spinners, which they applied to the spot where they stood, a little more of their liquid gum, and committing themselves to these bridges of their own constructing, they passed over them in safety, drawing a second line after them, as a security in case the first gave way, and so effected their escape. “ Such was invariably the result when spiders were placed where the air was liable to be sensibly agitated : I resolved, therefore, to put a bell-glass over them ; and in this situation they remained seventeen days, evidently un- able to produce a single line by which they could quit the branch they occupied, without encountering the water at its base ; though, on the removal of the glass, they regained' their liberty with as much celerity as in the instances already recorded. “ This experiment, which, from want of due precaution, has misled so many distinguished naturalists, 1 have tried with several geometric spiders, and always with the same success.”* Mr. Blackwall, from subsequent experiments, says he is “ confident in affirming, that in motionless air spiders have * Linn. Trans., vqL xv. p. 456. SPIDERS. 303 not tlie power of darting their threads even through the space of half an inch.”* The following details are given in confirmation of this opinion. Mr. Blackwall observed, the 1st Oct., 182G, a little before noon, with the sun shining brightly, no wind stirring, and the thermometer in the shade ranging from 55°. 5 to G4°, a profusion of shining lines crossing each other at every angle, forming a con- fused net-work, covering the fields and hedges, and thickly coating his feet and ankles, as he walked across a pasture. He was more struck with the phenomenon, because on the previous day a strong gale of wind had blown from the south, and as gossamer is only seen in calm weather, it must have been all produced within a very short time. “ What more particularly arrested my attention,” says Mr. Blackwall, “ was the ascent of an amazing quantity of webs, of an irregular, complicated structure, resembling ravelled silk of the finest quality and clearest white ; they were of various shapes and dimensions, some of the largest measuring upwards of a yard in length, and several inches in breadth in the widest part ; while others were almost as broad as long, presenting an area of a few square inches only. “ These webs, it was quickly perceived, were not formed in the air, as is generally believed, but at the earth’s sur- face. The lines of which they were composed, being brought into contact by the mechanical action of gentle airs, adhered together, till, by continual additions, they were accumulated into flakes or masses of considerable magnitude, on which the ascending current, occasioned by the rarefaction of the air contiguous to the heated ground, acted with so much force as to separate them from the objects to which they were attached, raising them in the atmosphere to a perpendicular height of at least several hundred feet. I collected a number of these webs about mid-day, as they rose ; and again in the afternoon, when the upward current had ceased, and they were falling ; but scarcely one in twenty contained a spider: though, on * Mag. Nat Hist., vol. ii. p. 397. 304 IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. minute inspection, I found small winged insects, chiefly aphides, entangled in most of them. “ From contemplating this unusual display of gossamer, my thoughts were naturally directed to the animals which produced it, and the countless myriads in which they swaimed almost created as much surprise as the singular occupation that engrossed them. Apparently actuated by the same impulse, all were intent ' upon traversing the regions of air : accordingly, after gaining the summits of various objects, as blades of grass, stubble, rails, gates, &c., by the slow and laborious process of climbing, they raised themselves still higher by straightening their limbs ; and elevating the abdomen, by bringing it from the usual hori- zontal position into one almost perpendicular, they emitted from their spinning apparatus a small quantity of the glu- tinous secretion with which they construct their webs. This viscous substance being drawn out by the ascending current of rarefied air into fine lines several feet in length, was carried upward, until the spiders, feeling themselves acted upon with sufficient force in that direction, quitted their hold of the objects on which they stood, and com- menced their journey by mounting aloft. “ Whenever the lines became inadequate to the purpose for which they were intended, by adhering to any fixed body, they were immediately detached from the spinners and so converted into terrestrial gossamer, by means of the last pair of legs, and the proceedings just described were repeated ; which plainly proves that these operations result from a strong desire felt by the insects to effect an ascent.”* Mr. Blackwall has recently read a paper (still unpublished) in the Linnean Society, confirmatory of his opinions. 6. Without going into the particulars of what agrees or disagrees in the above experiments with our own observa- tions, we shall give a brief account of what we have actually seen in our researches. (J. K.) So far as we have deter- mined, then, all the various species of spiders, how different soever the form of their webs may be, proceed in the cir- # Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 453. SriDERS. 305 cumstance of shooting their lines precisely alike ; but those which we have found the most manageable in experiment- ing, are the small gossamer spider (Aranea obtextrix , Becii- stetjj), known by its shining blacltish-brown body and reddish-brown semi-transparent legs ; but particularly the long-bodied spider ( Tetragnatha extensa, Late.), which varies in colour from green to brownish or grey — but has always a black line along the belly, with a silvery white or yellowish one on each side. The latter is chiefly recom- mended by being a vory industrious and persevering spinner, while its movements are easily seen, from the long cylin- drical form of its body and the length of its legs. We placed the above two species with five or six others, including the garden, the domestic, and the labyrinthic spiders, in empty wine-glasses, set in tea-saucers filled with water to prevent their escape. When they discovered, by repeated descents from the brims of the glasses, that they were thus surrounded by a wet ditch, they all set them- selves to the task of throwing their silken bridges across. For this purpose they first endeavoured to ascertain in what direction the wind blew, or rather (as the experiment was made in our study) which way any current of air set,— by elevating their arms as we have seen sailors do in a dead calm. But, as it may prove more interesting to keep to one individual, we shall first watch the proceedings of the gossamer spider. Finding no current of air on any quarter of the brim of the glass, it seemed to give up all hopes of constructing its bridge of escape, and placed itself in the attitude of repose ; but no sooner did we produce a stream of air, by blowing gently towards its position, than, fixing a thread to the glass, and laying hold of it with one of its feet, by way of security, it placed its body in a vertical position, with its spinnerets extended outwards; and immediately we had the pleasure of seeing a thread streaming out from them several feet in length, on which the little aeronaut sprung up into the air. We were convinced, from what we thus observed, that it was the double or bend of the thread which was blown into the air; and we assigned as a reason x 30G INSECT ARCHITECTURE. for her previously attaching and drawing out a thread from the glass, the wish to give the wind a point d'appui — some- thing upon which it might have a purchase , as a mechanic would say of a lever. The bend of the thread, then, on this view of the matter, would be carried out by the wind, — would form the point of impulsion, — and, of course, the escape bridge would be an ordinary line doubled. Such was our conclusion, which was strongly corro- borated by what we subsequently found said by M. Latreille — than whom no higher authority could be given. “ When the animal,” says he, “ desires to cross a book, she fixes to a tree or some other object one of the ends of her first threads, in order that the wind or a current of air may cany the other end beyond the obstacle and as one end is always attached to the spinnerets, he must mean that the double of the thread flies off. In his previous publications, however, Latreille had contented himself with copying the statement of I)r. Lister. In order to ascertain the fact, and put an end to all doubts, we watched, with great care and minuteness, the proceedings of the long-bodied spider above mentioned, by producing a stream of air in the same manner, as it peram- bulated tho brim of the glass. It immediately, iis the other had done, attached a thread and raised its body per- pendicularly, like a tumbler standing on his hands with his head downwards ; but we looked in vain for this thread bending, as we had at first supposed, and going off double. Instead of this it remained tight, while another thread, or what appeared to be so, streamed off from the spinners, similar to smoke issuing though a pin-hole, sometimes in a line, and sometimes at a considerable angle, with the first, according to the current of the air, — the first thread, ex- tended from the glass to the spinnerets, remaining all the while tight drawn in a right line. It further appeared to us, that the first thread proceeded from the pair of spin- nerets nearest the head, while the floating thread came * “ L’un des bouts de ces premiers fils, afin quo le vent ou un courant d’air pousse l’autre ext re mite de fun d’eux au de la de l'obstacle.” — Diet. Classique d’Hist. Nat., vol. i. p. 510.- SPIDERS. 307 from the outer pair, — though it is possible in sucli minute objects we may have been deceived. That the first was continuous with the second, without any perceptible join- ing, we ascertained in numerous instances, by catching the floating line and pulling it tight, in which case the spider glides along without attaching another line to the glass; but if she have to coil up the floating line to tighten it, as usually happens, she gathers it into a packet and glues the two ends tight together. Her body, while the floating line streamed out, remained quite motionless, but wo distinctly saw the spinnerets not only projected, as is always done when a spider spins, but moved in the same way as an infant moves its lips when sucking. We cannot doubt, therefore, that this motion is intended to emit (if eject or project be deemed too strong words) the liquid material of the thread ; at the same time, we are quite certain that it cannot throw out a single inch of thread without the aid of a current of air. A long- bodied spider will thus throw out in succession as many threads as we please, by simply blow- ing towards it ; but not one where there is no current, as under a bell-glass, where it may be kept till it die, without being able to construct a bridge over water of an inch long. We never observed more than one floating thread produced •at the same time ; though other observers mention several. The probable commencement, we think, of the floating line, is by the emission of little globules of the glutinous material to the points of the spinnerules — perhaps it may be dropped from them, if not ejected, and the globules being carried off by the current of air, drawn out into a thread. But we give this as only a conjecture, for we could not bring a glass of sufficient power to bear upon the spin- nerules at the commencement of the floating line. In subsequent experiments we found, that it was not in- dispensable for the spider to rest upon a solid body when producing a line, as she can do so while she is suspended in the air by another line. When the current of air also is strong, she will sometimes commit herself to it by swinging from the end of the line. AVe have even remarked this when there was scarcely a breath of air. 308 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. We tried another experiment. We pressed pretty firmly upon the base of the spinnerets, so as not to injure the spider, blowing obliquely over them ; hut no floating line appeared. Wo then touched them with a pencil and drew out several lines an inch or two in length, upon which we blew in order to extend them, but in this also we were unsuccessful, as they did not lengthen more than a quarter of an inch. We next traced out the reservoirs of a garden- spider ( Epeira diadem a) , and immediately taking a drop of the matter front one of them on the point of a fine needle, we directed upon it a strong current of air, and succeeded in blowing out a thick yellow line, as we might have done with gum- water, of about an inch and a half long. When we observed our long-bodied spider eager to throw a line by raising up its body, we brought within three inches of its spinnerets an excited stick of sealing- wax, of which it took no notice, nor did any thread extend to it, not even when brought almost to touch the spinnerets. AVe had the same want of success with an excited glass rod ; and indeed we had not anticipated any other result, as we have never observed that these either attract or repel the floating threads, as Mr. Murray has seen them do ; nor have we ever seen the end of a float- ing thread separated into its component threadlets and. diverging like a brush, as he and Mr. Bowman describe. It may be proper to mention that Mr. Murray, in con- formity with his theory, explains the shooting of lines in a current of air by the electric state produced by motion in consequence of the mutual friction of the gaseous par- ticles. But this view of the matter does not seem to affect our statements. Nests, Webs, and Nets of Spiders. The neatest, though the smallest sender's nest which we have seen, was constructed in the chink of a garden post, which we had cut out in the previous summer in getting at the cells of a carpenter-bee. The architect was one of the large hunting-spiders, erroneously said SPIDERS. 309 by some naturalists to be incapable of spinning. The nest in question was about two inches high, composed of a very close satin-like texture. There were two parallel chambers placed perpendicularly, in which position also the inhabitant reposed there during the day, going, as we presume, only abroad to prey during the night. But the most remarkable circumstance, was, that the openings (two above and two below) were so elastic, that they shut almost as closely as the boat cocoon of the Tvrtrix Chlorana (see page 281). We observed this spider for several months, but at last it disappeared, and we took the nest out, under the notion that it might contain eggs ; but we found none, and therefore conclude that it was only used as a day retreat. (J. It.) The account which Evelyn has given ot these hunting-spiders is so interesting, that we must transcribe it. “Of all sorts of insects,” says he, “there is none has afforded me more divertisement than the venatores (hunters), which are a sort of lupi (wolves) that have their dens in rugged walls and crevices of our houses ; a small brown and delicately-spotted kind of spiders, whose hinder legs are longer than the rest. Such I did frequently observe at Borne, which, espying a fly at three or four yards’ distance, upon the balcony where I stood, would not make directly to her, but crawl under the rail, till being arrived at the antipodes, it would steal up, seldom missing its aim ; but if it chanced to want anything of being perfectly opposite, would, at first peep, immediately slide down again, till, taking better notice, it would come the next time exactly upon the fly’s back: but if this happened not to be within a competent leap, then would this insect move so softly, as the very shadow of the gnomon seemed not to be more imperceptible, unless the fly moved ; and then would the spider move also in the same proportion, keeping that just time with her motion, as if the same soul had animated both these little bodies ; and whether it were forwards, backwards, or to either side, without at all turning her body, like a well-managed horse : but if the capricious fly took wing and pitched upon another place 310 IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. behind onr huntress, then would the spider whirl its body so nimbly about, as nothing could be imagined more swift : by which means she always kept the bead towards her prey, though, to appearance, as immoveable as if it had been a nail driven into the wood, till by that indiscernible progress (being arrived within the sphere of her reach) she made a fatal leap, swift as lightning, upon the fly, catching him in the pole, where she never quitted hold till her belly was full, and then carried the remainder home.” One feels a little sceptical, however, when he adds, “I have beheld them instructing their young ones how to hunt, which they would sometimes discipline for not well observing ; but when any of the old ones did (as sometimes) miss a leap, they would run out of the field and hide themselves in their crannies, as ashamed, and haply not to be seen abroad for four or five hours after ; for so long have I watched the nature of this strange insect, the contemplation of whose so wonderful sagacity and address has amazed me ; nor do I find in any chase whatsoever more cunning and stratagem observed. I have found some of these spiders in my garden, when the weather, towards spring, is very hot, but they are nothing so eager in hunting as in Italy.”* Wo have only to add to this lively narrative, that the hunting-spider, when he leaps, takes good care to provide against accidental falls by always swinging himself from a good strong cable of silk, as Swammerdam correctly states, t and which anybody may verify, as one of the small hunters ( Salticus scenicus ), known by having its back striped with black and white like a zebra, is very common in Britain. Mr. Weston, the editor of ‘ Bloomfield’s Bemains,’ falls into a very singular mistake about hunting-spiders, imagin- ing them to be web-weaving ones which have exhausted their materials, and which are therefore compelled to hunt. In proof of this he gives an instance which fell under his own obseiwation !J * Evelyn’s Travels in Italy. t Book of Nature, part i. p. 24. J Bloomfield’s Remains, vol. ii. p. C4, note. SPIDERS. 31 1 As a contrast to the little elastic satin nest of the hunter, we may mention the largest with which we are acquainted, — that of the labyrinthic spider ( Agelena labyrin- thica, A\ alckenaer). Our readers must often have seen this nest spread out like a broad sheet in hedges, furze, and other low bushes, and sometimes on the ground. The middle of this sheet, which is of a close texture, is swung like a sailor’s hammock, by silken ropes extended all around to the higher branches ; but the whole curves upwards and backwards, sloping down to a long funnel- shaped gallery which is nearly horizontal at the entrance, but soon winds obliquely till it becomes quite perpen- dicular. This curved gallery is about a quarter of an inch in diameter, is much more closely woven than the sheet part of the web, and sometimes descends into a hole in the ground, though oftener into a group of crowded twigs, or a tuft of grass. ITere the spider dwells secure, frequently resting with her legs extended from the entrance of the gallery, ready to spring out upon whatever insect may fall into her sheet net. She herself can only be caught by getting behind her and forcing her out into the web ; but though we have often endeavoured to make her construct a nest under our eye, avo have been as unsuccessful as in similar experiments with the common house spider ( Aranea domestica.) (J. K.) The house spider's proceedings Avcro long ago described by Homberg, and the account has been copied, as usual, by almost eveiy subsequent Avriter, Goldsmith has, indeed’ given some strange misstatements from his oavu observa- tions, and Bingley has added the original remark, that, after fixing its first thread, creeping along the wall, and joining it as it proceeds, it “ darts itself to the opposite side, Avhere the other end is to be fastened!”* Ilomberg’s spider took the more circuitous route of travelling to the opposite Avail, carrying in one of the claAvs the °end of the thread previously fixed, lest it should stick in the Avrong place. This Ave believe to be the correct statement, * Animal Biography, iii. 470-1. 312 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. for as the web is always horizontal, it would seldom answer to commit a floating thread to the wind, as is done by other species. Ilomberg’s spider, after stretching as many lines by way of warp as it deemed sufficient between the two walls of the corner which it had chosen, proceeded to cross this in the way our weavers do in adding the tooof, with this difference, that the spider’s threads were only laid on, and not interlaced.* The domestic spiders, however, in these modern days, must have forgot this mode of weaving, for none of their webs will be found to be thus regularly constructed ! The geometric, or net-working spiders ( Tendeuses, Latr.), are as well known in most districts as any of the preceding ; Geometric Net of JCpeira diadema- almost every bush and tree in the gardens and hedge-rows having one or more of their nets stretched out in a vertical * Mein, tie l’Acad. ties Sciences pour 1707, p. 339. SPIDERS. 313 position between adjacent branches. The common garden spider ( Epeira diadema), and the long-bodied spider ( Tetrag - natha extensa ), are the best known of this order. The chief care of a spider of this sort is, to form a cable of sufficient strength to bear the net she means to hang • upon it ; and, after throwing out a floating line as above described, when it catches properly she doubles and re- doubles it with additional threads. On trying its strength she is not contented with the test of pulling it with her legs, but drops herself down several feet from various points of it, as we have often seen, swinging and bobbing with the whole weight of her body. She proceeds in a similar manner with the rest of the framework of her wheel-shaped net ; and it may be remarked that some of the ends of these lines are not simple, but in form of a Y, giving her the additional security of two attachments in- stead of one. In constructing the body of the net, the most remarkable circumstance is her using her limbs as a measure, to regu- late the distances of her radii or wheel-spokes, and the circular meshes interweaved into them. These are conse- quently always proportional to the size of the spider. She often takes up her station in the centre, but not always, though it is so said by inaccurate writers ; for she as fre- quently lurks in a little chamber constructed under a leaf or other shelter at the comer of her web, ready to dart down upon whatever prey may be entangled in her net. The centre of the net is said also to be composed of more viscid materials than its suspensory lines, — a circumstance alleged to be proved by the former appearing under the microscope studded with globules of gum.* We have not been able to verify this distinction, having seen the sus- pensory lines as often studded in this manner as those in the centre. (J. K.) Mason-Spiders. A no less wonderful structure is composed by a sort of spiders, natives of the tropics and the south of Europe, * Kirby and Spence, Intr. i. 419. 314 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. which have been justly called mason-spiders by M. La- treille. One of these ( Mygale nidulans, W'alckn.), found in the West Indies, “ digs a hole in the earth obliquely downwards, about three inches in length, and one in diameter. This cavity she lines with a tough thick web, which, when taken out, resembles a leathern purse ; but ■vyhat is most curious, this house has a door with hinges, like the operculum of some sea-shells, and herself and family, who tenant this nest, open and shut the door when- ever they pass and repass. This history wfas told me,” says Darwin, “ and the nest, with its door, showm me by the late Dr. Butt, of Bath, who wras some years physician in Jamaica.”* The nest of a mason-spider, similar to this, has been obligingly put into our hands by Mr. Biddle, of Black- heath. It came from the West Indies, and is probably that of Latreille’s clay-kneader ( Mygale cratiens ), and one of the smallest of the genus. We have since seen a pair of these spiders in possession of Mr. William Mello, of Blackheath. The nest is composed of very hard argilla- ceous clay, deeply tinged with brown oxide of iron. It is in form of a tube, about one inch in diameter, between six and seven inches long, and slightly bent towards the lower extremity — appearing to have been mined into the clay rather than built. The interior of the tube is lined with a uniform tapestry of silken web, of an orange-white colour, with a texture intermediate between India paper and very fine glove leather. But the most wonderful part of this nest is its entrance, which w^e look upon as the perfection of insect architecture. A circular door, about the size of a crown piece, slightly concave on the outside and convex within, is formed of more than a dozen layers of the same web which lines the interior, closely laid upon one another, and shaped so that the inner layers are the broadest, the outer being gradually less in diameter, except towards the hinge, which is about an inch long ; and in consequence of all the layers being united there, and prolonged into the tube, it becomes the thickest and strongest part of the * Darwin’s Zooriomia, i. 253, 8vo. ed. SPIDERS. 315 structure. The elasticity of the materials, also, gives to this hinge the remarkable peculiarity of acting like a spring, and shutting the door of the nest spontaneously. It is, besides, made to tit so accurately to the aperture, which is composed of similar concentric layers of web, that it is almost impossible to distinguish the joining by the most careful inspection. To gratify curiosity, the door has been opened and shut hundreds of times, without in the least destroying the power of the spring. When the door is shut, it resembles some of the lichens ( Lecidea ), or the leathery fungi, such as Polyponts versicolor (Michkli), or, nearer still, the upper valve of a young oyster shell. The door of the nest, the only part seen above ground, being of a blackish-brown colour, it must be very difficult to dis- cover. (J. E.) Nest of the Mason-Spider. A. The nest shut. 15. The nest open. (’. The spider, Mygale cmnmtaria. D. The eyes magnified. K, F. Parts of the foot and claw magnified. Another mason-spider ( Mygale camentaria. Lath.), found in the south of France, usually selects for her nest a place 316 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. •bare of grass, sloping in such a manner as to carry off the water, and of a firm soil, without rocks or small stones. She digs a gallery a foot or two in depth, and of a diameter (equal throughout) sufficient to admit of her easily passing. She lines this with a tapestry of silk glued to the walls. The door, which is circular, is constructed of many layers of earth kneaded, and bound together with silk. Exter- nally, it is flat and rough, corresponding to the earth around the entrance, for the purpose, no doubt, of conceal- ment : on the inside it is convex, and tapestried thickly with a web of fine silk. The threads of this door-tapestry are prolonged, and strongly attached to the upper side of the entrance, forming an excellent hinge, which, when pushed open by the spider, shuts again by its own weight, without the aid of spring hinges. When the spider is at home, and her door forcibly opened by an intruder, she pulls it strongly inwards, and even when half-opened often snatches it out of the hand; but when she is foiled in this, she retreats to the bottom of her den, as her last resource.* Kossi ascertained that the female of an allied species (My gale sauvagesii, Late.), found in Corsica, lived in one of these nests, with a numerous posterity. He destroyed one of these doors to observe whether a new one would be made, which it was : but it was fixed immoveably, without a hinge ; the spider, no doubt, fortifying herself in this man- ner till she thought she might re-open it without danger. t “ The Eev. Kevett Shepherd has often noticed, in the fen ditches of Norfolk, a very large spider (the species not yet determined) which actually forms a raft for the pur- pose of obtaining its prey with more facility. Keeping its station upon a ball of weeds about three inches in diameter, probably held together by slight silken cords, it is wafted along the surface of the water upon this floating island, which it quits the moment it sees a drowning insect: The booty thus seized it devours at leisure upon its raft, under * Mem. Soc. d’Hist. Nat. do Paris, An. vii. f Ibid., p. 125, and Latreille, Hist. Nat. Ge'ne'r. viii. p. 103. SPIDERS. 317 which it retires when alarmed by any danger.”* In the spring of 1830, we found a spider on some reeds in the Croydon Canal, which agreed in appearance with Mr. Shepherd’s. Among our native spiders there are several besides this one, which, not contented with a web like the rest of their congeners, take advantage of other materials to construct cells where, “ hushed in grim repose,” they “ expect their insect prey.” The most simple of those spider-cells is constructed by a longish-bodied spider ( Aranea holosericea, Liistn.), which is a little larger than the common hunting spider. It rolls up a leaf of the lilac or poplar, precisely in the same manner as is done by the leaf-rolling cater- pillars, upon whose cells it sometimes seizes to save itself trouble, having first expelled, or perhaps devoured, the rightful owner. The spider, however, is not satisfied with the tapestry of the caterpillar, but always weaves a fresh set of her own, much more close and substantial. Another spider, common in woods and copses ( Epeira quadrata ?) weaves together a great number of leaves to form a dwelling for herself, and in front of it she spreads her toils for entrapping the unwary insects which stray thither. These, as soon as caught, are dragged into her den, and stored up for a time of scarcity. Here also her eggs are deposited and hatched in safety. When the cold weather approaches, and the leaves of her edifice wither, she abandons it for the more secure shelter of a hollow tree, where she soon dies; but the continuation of the species depends upon eggs, deposited in the nest before winter, and remaining to be hatched with the waimth of the ensuing summer. The spider’s den of united leaves, however, which has just been described, is not always useless when withered and deserted ; for the dormouse usually selects it as a ready- made roof for its nest of dried grass. That those old spiders’ dens are not accidentally chosen by the mouse, appears from the fact, that out of about a dozen mouse-nests * Kirby and Spence, Intr. i. 425. 318 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. of this sort found during winter in a copse between Lewis- ham and Bromley, Kent, every second or third one was fur- nished with such a roof. (J . R.) Diving Water-Spider. Though spiders require atmospheric air for respiration, yet one species well known to naturalists is aquatic in its habits, and lives not only upon the surface hut below the surface of the water, contriving to carry down with it a sufficiency of air for the support of life during a consider- able period of time. Its subaqueous nest is in fact a sort of diving-bell, and constitutes a secure and most ingenious habitation. This spider does not like stagnant water, but prefers low running streams, canals, and ditches, where she may often be seen, in the vicinity of London and else- where, living in her diving-bell, which shines through the water like a little globe of silver : her singular economy was first, we believe, described by Clerek,* L. M. de Lig- nac,t and De Geer. “ The shining appearance,” says Clerek, “ proceeds either from an inflated globule surrounding the abdomen, or from the space between the body and the water. The spider, when wishing to inhale the air, rises to the surface, with its body still submersed, and only the part containing the spinneret rising just to the surface, when it briskly opens and moves its four teats. A thick coat of hair keeps the water from approaching or wetting the abdomen. It comes up for air about four times an hour or oftener, though I have good reason to suppose it can continue with- out it for several days together. “ I found in the middle of May one male and ten females, which I put into a glass filled with water, where they lived together very quietly for eight days. I put some duck -weed ( Lemna ) into the glass to afford them shelter, and the females began to stretch diagonal threads in a con- fused manner from it to the sides of the glass about half- * Aranei Sueciei, Stockholm, 1757. t Mem. des Amiga. Aquat., 12mo. Paris, 1799. SPIDERS. 319 way down. Each of the females afterwards fixed a close bag to the edge of the glass, from which the water was expelled by the air from the spinneret, and thus a cell was formed capable of containing the whole animal. Here they remained quietly, with their abdomens in their cells, and their bodies still plunged in the water ; and in a short time brimstone-coloured bags of eggs appeared in each cell, filling it about a fourth part. On the 7th of July several young ones swam out from oue of the bags. All this time the old ones had nothing to eat, and yet they never attacked one another as other spiders would have been apt to do.”* “ These spiders,” says He Geer, “ spin in the water a cell of strong, closely-woven, white silk in the form of half the shell of a pigeon’s egg, or like a diving-bell. This is sometimes left partly above water, but at others is entirely submersed, and is always attached to the objects near it by a great number of irregular threads. It is closed all round, but has a large opening below, which, however, I found closed on the 15th of December, and the spider living quietly within, with her head downwards. I made a rent in this cell, and expelled the air, upon which the spider came out ; yet though she appeared to have been laid up for three months in her winter quarters, she greedily seized upon an insect and sucked it. I also found that the male as well as the female constructs a similar subaqueous cell, and during summer no less than in winter. ”f We have recently kept one of these spiders for several months in a glass of water, where it built a cell half under water, in which it laid its eggs. Cleanliness op Spiders. ■When we look at the viscid material with which spiders construct their lines and webs, and at the rough, hairy covering (with a few exceptions) of their bodies, we might conclude, that they would be always stuck over with frag- ments of the minute fibres which they produce. This, * Clerek, Aranei Suceici, cap. viii. t De Geer, Mein, des Insectes, vii. 312. 320 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. indeed, must often happen, did they not take careful precautions to avoid it ; for we have observed that they seldom, if ever, leave a thread to float at random, except when they wish to form a bridge. 1 hen a spider drops along a line, for instance, in order to ascertain the strength of her web, or the nature of the place below her, she in- Triple-clawed loot of a Spider, magnified. variably, when she reascends, coils it up into a little ball, and throws it away. Her claws are admirably adapted for this purpose, as well as for walking along the lines, as may be readily seen by a magnifying glass. There are three claws, one of which acts as a thumb, the others being toothed like a comb, for gliding along the lines. This structure, however, unfits it to walk, as flies can do, upon any upright polished surface like glass ; although the contrary* is erroneously asserted by the Abbe de la Pluche. Before she can do so, she is obliged to construct a ladder of ropes, as Mr. Blackwell remarks, f by elevating her spinneret as high as she can, and laying down a step upon which she stands to form a second ; and so on, as any one may try by placing a spider at the bottom of a very clean wine glass. The hairs of the legs, however, are always catching bits of web and particles of dust; but these are not suffered to remain long. Most people may have remarked that the house-fly is ever and anon brushing its feet upon one another to rub off the dust, though we have not seen it remarked in authors that spiders are equally assiduous in keeping themselves clean. They have, besides, a very * Spectacle de la Nature, i. 58. t Linn. Trans, vol. xv. Sl’IDERS. 321 efficient instrument in their mandibles or jaws, which, like their claws, are furnished with teeth ; and a spider which appears to a careless observer as resting idly, in nine cases out of ten will be found slowly combing her legs with her mandibles, beginning as high as possible on the thigh, and passing down to the claws. The flue which she thus combs off is regularly tossed away. With respect to the house-spider (,4. domestica), we are told in books, that “she from time to time clears away the dust from her web, and sweeps the whole by giving it a shake with her paw, so nicely proportioning the force of her blow, that she never breaks anything.”* That spiders maybe seen shaking their webs in this manner, we readily admit ; though it is not, we imagine, to clear them of dust, but to ascertain whether they are sufficiently sound and strong. We recently witnessed a more laborious process of clean- ing a web than' merely shaking it. On coming down the Maine by the steam-boat from Frankfort, in August 1829, we observed the geometric-net of a conic-spider ( Epeira conica, Walck.) on the framework of the deck, and as it was covered with flakes of soot from the smoke of the engine, we were surprised to see a spider at work on it ; for, in order to be useful, this sort of net must be clean. Upon observing it a little closely, however, we perceived that she was not constructing a net, but dressing up an old one ; though not, we must think, to save trouble, so much as an expenditure of material. Some of the lines she dexterously stripped of the flakes of soot adhering to them ; but in the greater number, finding that she could not get them sufficiently clean, she broke them quite off, bundled them up, and tossed them over. We counted five of these packets of rubbish which she thus threw away, though there must havo been many more, as it was some time before we discovered the manoeuvre, the packets being so small as not to bo readily perceived, except when placed between the eye and the light. When she had cleared off * Spectacle de la Nature, i. p. 61. y 322 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. all the sooted lines, she began to replace them in the usual way ; but the arrival of the boat at Mentz put an end to our observations. (J. E.) Bloomfield, the poet, having observed the disappearance of these bits of ravelled web, imagined that the spider swallowed them ; and even says that he observed a garden spider moisten the pellets before swallowing them !* Dr. Lister, as we have already seen, thought the spider retracted the threads within the ab- domen. # Remains, ii. 62-5. It is a remarkable fact, as recorded from personal observation by Mr. Bell (British Reptiles), that the toad swallows the cuticle detached from its body during the moult which it undergoes. ( 323 ) CHAPTER XIX. STRUCTURES OF GALL-FLIES AND APHIDES. Many of the processes which we have detailed bear some resemblance to our own operations of building with materials cemented together ; but we shall now turn our attention to a class of insect-architects, who cannot, so far as we know, be matched in prospective skill by any of the higher orders of animals. We refer to the numerous family which have received the name of gall-flies, — a family which, as yet, is very imperfectly understood, their economy being no less difficult to trace, than their species is to arrange in the established systems of classification ; though the latter has been recently much improved by Mr. Westwood. Small berry-shaped galls of the oak leaf, produced by t'vnips quercuxfuUif One of the most simple and very common instances of the nests constructed by gall-insects, may be found in abund- ance during the summer, on the leaves of the rose-tree, the oak, the poplar, the willow ( Salix viminaUs ), and many other trees, in the globular form of a berry, about the size of a 324 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. currant, and usually of a green colour, tinged with red, like a ripe Alban or Baltimore apple. When this psuedo-'apple in miniature is cut into, it is found to be fresh, firm, juicy, and hollow in the centre, where there is either an egg or a grub safely lodged, and protected from all ordinary accidents. Within this hollow ball the egg is hatched, and the grub feeds securely on its substance, till it prepares for its winter sleep, before chang- ing into a gall-fly ( Cl/nips') in the ensuing summer. There is a mystery as to the manner in which this gall-fly con- trives to produce the hollow miniature-apples, each enclos- ing one of her eggs ; and Ihe doubts attendant upon the subject cannot, so far as our present knowledge extends, be solved, except by plausible conjecture. Our earlier natur- alists were of opinion that it was the grub which produced the galls, by eating, when newly hatched, through the cuticle of the leaf, and remaining till the juices flowing from the wound enveloped it, and acquired consistence by exposure to the air. This opinion, however, plausible as it appeared to be, was at once disproved by finding unhatched eggs on opening the galls. There can be no doubt, indeed, that the mother gall-fly makes a hole in the plant for the purpose of depositing her eggs. She is furnished with an admiral ovipositor for that express purpose, and Swammerdam actually saw a gall-fly thus depositing her eggs, and we have recently witnessed the same in several instanoes. In some of these insects the ovipositor is conspicuously long, even when the insect is at Ovipositor of gall-fly, greatly magnified. GALL-FLIES. 325 rest ; but in others, not above a line or two of it is visible, till the belly of tlio insect be gently pressed. When this is done to the fly that produces the currant-gall of the oak, the ovipositor may be seen issuing from a sheath in form of a small curved needle, of a chestnut-brown colour, and of a horny substance, and three times as long as it at first appeared. What is most remarkable in this ovipositor is, that, it is much longer than the whole body of the insect, in whose belly it is lodged in a sheath, and, from its homy nature, it cannot be either shortened or lengthened. It is on this account that it is bent into the same curve as the body of the insect. The mechanism by which this is effected is similar to that of the tongue of the wood-peckers ( Picidce ), which, though rather short, can be darted out far beyond the beak, by means of a forked bone at the root of the tongue, which is thin and rolled up like the spring of a watch. The base of the ovipositor of the gall-fly is, in a similar way, placed near the anus, runs along the curvature of the back, makes a turn at the breast, and then, following the curve of the belly, appears again near where it origi- nates. We copy from Keaumur his accurate sketch of this remarkable structure. Gall-ily, and mechanism of ovipositor, greatly magnilied. 326 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. With this instrument the mother gall-fly pierces the part of a plant which she selects, and, according to our older naturalists, “ ejects into the cavity a drop of her corroding liquor, and immediately lays an egg or more there ; the cir- culation of the sap being thus interrupted, and thrown, by the poison, into a fermentation that bums the contiguous parts and changes the natural colour. The sap, turned from its proper channel, extravasates and flows round the eggs, while its surface is dried by the external air, and hardens into a vaulted form.”* * * § Kirby and Spence tell "us, that the parent fly introduces her egg “ into a puncture made by her curious spiral sting, and in a few hours it becomes surrounded with a fleshy chamber.”t M. Yirey says, the gall tubercle is produced by irritation, in the same way as an inflamed tumor in an animal body, by the swell- ing of the cellular tissue and the flow of liquid matter, which changes the organization, and alters the natural external form.J This seems to be the received doctrine at present in France. § Sprengel, speaking of the rose-willow, says, the insect in spring deposits its eggs in the leaf buds. “The new stimulus attracts the sap, — the type of the part becomes changed, and from the prevailing acidity of the animal juice, it happens, that in the rose and stock-shaped leaves which arc pushed out, a red instead of a green colour is evolved. ”|| Without pretending positively to state facts which are, perhaps, beyond human penetration, we may view the pro- cess in a rather different light. (J. R.) Following the analog)* of what is known to occur in the case of the saw-flies (see page 137), after the gall-fly has made a puncture and pushed her egg into the hole, we may suppose that she covers it over with some adhesive gluten or gum, or the egg itself, as is usual among moths, &c., may be coated over * Spectacle de la Nature, i. 119. f Introduction ii. 449. J Hist, des Mosul's et de Tlnstinct, vol. ii. § Entomologie par R. A. E, page 242. Paris, 1820. |j Elements of the Philosophy of Plants, Eng. Trans., p. 285. GALL-FLIES. 327 with such a gluten. In either of these two cases, the gluten will prevent the sap that flow’s through the puncture from being scattered over the leaf and wasted; and the sap, being thus confined to the space occupied by the eggs, will ex- pand and force outwards the pellicle of gluten that confines it, till becoming thickened by evaporation and exposure to the air, it at length shuts up the puncture, stops the further escape of the sap, and the process is completed. This explanation will completely account for the globular form of the galls alluded to ; that is, supposing tho egg of the gall-fly to be globular, and covered or coated with a pellicle of gluten of uniform thickness, and consequently opposing uniform resistance, or rather uniform expansibility, to the sap pressing from within. It will also account for the remark- able uniformity in the size of the gall apples ; for the punctures and the eggs being uniform in size, and the gluten, by supposition, uniform in quantity, no more than the same quantity of sap can escape in such circumstances. Bedeguar Gall of the Bose, produced by Ci/nipt Rosa \ But though this explanation appears to be plausible, it is 328 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. confessedly conjectural ; for though Swammerdam detected a gall-fly in the act of depositing her eggs, he did not attend to this circumstance ; and in the instances which we have observed, some unlucky accident always prevented us from following up our observations. The indefatigable Beaumur, on one occasion, thought he would make sure of tracing the steps of the process in the case of the gall-fly which pro- duces the substance called bedeguar on the wild rose-tree, and to which we shall presently advert. His plan was to enclose in a box, in which a brood of flies had just been produced from a bedeguar, a living branch from a wild rose-tree ; but, to his great disappointment, no eggs were laid, and no bedeguar formed. Upon further investigation, he discovered that the brood of flies produced from the bedeguar were not the genuine bedeguar insects at all, but one of the parasite ichneumons ( Callimone Bedeguaris, Ste- phens), which had surreptitiously deposited their eggs there, in order to supply their young with the bedeguar grubs, all of which they appeared to have devoured. It may prove interesting to look into the remarkable structure of the bedeguar itself, which is very different from the globular galls above described. One of the bristles of the Bedeguar of the rose magnified. The gall-fly of the willow ( Cynips viminalis) deposits, as we have just seen, only a single egg on one spot; but the bedeguar insect lays a large cluster of eggs on the extremity of a growing branch of the wild rose-tree, making, probably, a proportionate number of punctures to procure materials for the future habitation of her young progeny. As in the former case, also, each of those eggs becomes (as we may suppose) surrounded with the sap of the rose, enclosed in a pellicle of gluten. The gluten, however, of the bedeguar insect is not, it would appear, sufficiently tenacious to con- GALL-FLIES. 329 fine the flowing sap within the dimensions of any of the little clustered globes containing the eggs, for it oozes out from numerous cracks or pores in the pellicle ; which cracks or pores, however, are not large enough to admit a human hair. But this, so far from being a defect in the glutinous pellicle of the bedeguar fly, is, as wo shall pre- sently see, of great utility. The sap which issues from each of these pores, instead of being evaporated and lost, shoots out into a reddish-coloured, fibrous bristle. It is about half an inch long, and, from the natural ten- dency of the sap of the rose-tree to form prickles, these are all over studded with weak pricklets. The bedeguar, accordingly, when fully formed, has some resemblance, at a little distance, to a tuft of reddish-brown hair or moss stuck upon the branch. Sometimes this tuft is as large as a small apple, and of a rounded but irregular shape ; at other times it is smaller, and in one instance mentioned by Reaumur, only a single egg had been laid on a rose-leaf, and, consequently, only one tuft was produced. Each member of the con- geries is furnished with its own tuft of bristles, arising from the little hollow globe in which the egg or the grub is lodged. The prospective wisdom of this curious structure is admirable. The bedeguar grubs live in their cells through the winter, and as their domicile is usually on one of the highest branches, it must be exposed to every severity of the weather. But the close, non-conducting, warm, mossy collection of bristles, with which it is surrounded, forms for the soft, tender grabs a snug protection against the winter’s cold, till, through the influence of the warmth of the succeeding summer, they undergo their final change into the winged state ; preparatory to which they eat their way with their sharp mandibles through the walls of their little cells, which are now so hard as to bo cut with diffi- culty by a knife. (J. E.) Another structure, similar in principle, though different in appearance, is very common upon oak-trees, the termi- nation of a branch being selected as best suited for the purpose. This structure is rather larger than a filbert, and 330 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. is composed of concentric leaves diverging from the base, and expanding upwards, somewhat like an artichoke. Whether this leafy structure is caused by a superinduced disease, as the French think, or by the form of the pores in Artichoke Gall of the Oak-bud, with Gall-fly ( Cynipt quercus gemma), natural size, and Its ovipositor (a) magnified. the pelliclo of gluten surrounding the eggs, or rather by the tendency of the exuding sap of the oak to form leaves, has not been ascertained ; but that it is intended, as in the case of the bedeguar, to afford an efficient protection against the weather to the included eggs or grubs, there can be no doubt. From the very nature of the process of forming willow- galls, bedeguar, and the artichoke of tho oak, whatever theory be adopted, it will be obvious that their growth must be rapid ; for the thickening of the exuded sap, which is quickly effected by evaporation, will soon obstruct and finally close the orifice of the puncture made by the parent insect. It is accordingly asserted by Reaumur and other observers, that all the species of galls soon reach their full growth. GALL-FLIES. 331 A very minute reddish-coloured grub feeds upon dyer’s broom (Genista), producing a sort of gall, frequently glo- bular, but always studded with bristles, arising from the amorphous leaves. The stem of the shrub passes through this ball, which is composed of a great number of leaves, shorter and broader than natural, and each rolled into the form of a hom, the point of which ends in a bristle. In the interior we find a thick fleshy substance, serving to sustain the leaves, and also for the nourishment of tho grubs, some of which are within and some botween the leaves. They are in prodigious numbers, — hundreds being assembled in the small gall, and so minute as scarcely to be perceived without the aid of a magnifying glass. The bud of the plant attacked by those grubs, instead of forming a shoot, pushes out nothing but leaves, and these are all rolled and turned round the stem. Some shrubs have several of these galls, which are of various sizes, from that of a filbert to that of a walnut. Leafy Gall of Dyer's Broom, produced by Cvttips genista f A, gall, natural size • B a leaflet magnified. * * A similar but still more beautiful production is found upon one of the commonest of our indigenous willows (Salix purpurea), which takes the name ol rose-willow, more pro- 332 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. bably from this circumstance than from the reel colour of its twigs. The older botanists, not being aware of the cause of such excrescences, considered the plants so affected as distinct species ; and old Gerard, accordingly, figures and describes tho rose-willow as “ not only making a gallant show, but also yielding a most cooling air in the heat of summer, being set up in houses for decking the same.’’ The production in question, however, is nothing more than the effect produced by a species of gall-fly ( Cynips salicis) depositing its eggs in the terminal shoot of a twig, and, like the bedeguar and the oak artichoke, causing leaves to spring out, of a. shape totally different from the other leaves of the tree, and arranged very much like the petals of a rose. Decandolle says it is found chiefly on the Salix helix , S. alia > and S. liiparia* A production very like that of the rose-willow ma)r be commonly met with on the young shoots of the hawthorn, the growth of the shoot affected being stopped, and a crowded bunch of leaves formed at the termination. These leaves, beside being smaller than natural, are studded with short bristly prickles, from the sap (we may suppose) of the hawthorn being prevented from rising into a fresh shoot, and thrown out of its usual course in the formation of the anus. These bristles appear indiscriminately on both sides of the leaves, some of which are bent inwards, while others divergd in their natural manner. This is not caused by the egg or grub of a true gall-fly, but by the small white tapering grub of some dipterous insect, of which we have not ascertained the species, but which is, probably, a cecidomyia. Each terminal shoot is in- habited by a number of these — not lodged in cells, however, but burrowing indiscriminately among the half-withered brown leaves which occupy the centre of the production. (J. R.) A more remarkable species of gall than any of the above we discovered, in June 1820, on the twig of an oak in the grounds of Mr. Perkins, at Lee, in Kent. W hen we first # Flore Fran?. Disc. Prelirainaire. GALL-FLIES. 333 saw it, we imagined that the twig was beset with some species of the lanigerous aphides, similar to what is vulgarly called the American or white blight (aphis lanata ) ; but on closer examination we discarded this notion. The twig was indeed thickly beset with a white downy, or rather woolly, substance around the stem at the origin of the leaves, which did not appear to be affected in their growth, being well formed, healthy, and luxuriant. AYe could not doubt that the woolly substance was caused by some insect ; but though we cut out a portion of it, we could not detect any egg or grub, and we therefore threw the branch into a drawer, intending to keep it as a specimen, whose histoiy we might complete at some subsequent period. A few weeks afterwards, on opening this drawer, we were surprised to see a brood of several dozens of a species of gall-fly ( Cynips ), similar in form and size to that whose eggs cause the bedeguar of the rose, and differing only in being of a lighter colour, tending to a yellowish brown. We have since met with a figure and description of this gall in Swammerdam. We may remark that the above is not Semi-Gall of the Hawthorn, produced by Cecidomuia f drawn from a specimen. the first instance which has occurred in our researches, of gall insects outliving the withering of the branch or leaf from which they obtain their nourishment. The woolly substance on the branch of the oak which we have described was similarly constituted with the bedeguar 334 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. of the rose, with this difference, that instead of the indivi- dual cells being diffused irregularly through the mass, they were all arranged at the off-goings of the leaf-stalks, each cell being surrounded with a covering of the vegetable wool, which the stimulus of the parent egg, or its gluten, Woolly Gall of the Oak, less than the natural size, caused by a Cynips, and drawn from a specimen. had caused to grow, and from each cell a perfect fly had issued. We also remarked that there were several small groups of individual cells, each of which groups was con- tained in a species of calyx or cup of leaf-scales, as occurs also in the well-known gall called the oak-apple. We were anxious to watch the proceedings of these flies in the deposition of their eggs, and the subsequent develop- ments of the gall-growths ; and endeavoured for that purpose to procure a small oak plant in a garden-pot ; but we did not succeed in this : and though they alighted on rose and sweet-briar trees, which we placed in their way, we never observed that they deposited any eggs upon them. In a week or two the whole brood died, or disappeared. (J. R.) There are some galls, formed on low-growing plants, GALL-FLIES. 335 which are covered with down, hair, or wool, though by no means so copiously as the one which we have just described. Among the plants so affected are the germander speedwell, wild thyme, ground-ivy, and others to which we shall after- wards advert. Oak-apple Galls, one being cut open to show the vessels running to granules. The well-known oak-apple is a very pretty example of the galls formed by insects ; and this, when compared with other galls which form on the oak, shows the remarkable difference produced on the same plant by the punctures of insects ot different species. The oak-apjile is commonly as large as a walnut or small apple, rounded, but not quite spherical, the surfaco being irregularly depressed in various places. The skin is smooth, and tinged with red and yellow, like a ripe apple ; and at the base there is, in the earlier part of the summer, a calyx or cup of five or six small brown scaly leaves ; but these fall off as the season advances. If an oak-apple be cut transversely, there is brought into view a number of oval granules, each contain- ing a grub; and embedded in a fruit-looking fleshy sub- stance, having fibres running through it. As these fibres, however, run in the direction of the stem, they are best exhibited by a vertical section of the gall ; and this also shows the remarkable peculiarity of each fibre terminating m one of the granules, like a foot-stalk, or rather like a vessel for carrying nourishment. Keaumur, indeed, is of 336 IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. opinion that these fibres are the diverted nervures of the leaves, which would have sprung from the hud in which the gall-fly had inserted her eggs, and actually do carry sap-vessels throughout .the substance of the gall. Reaumur says the perfect insects ( Cynips querent) issued from his galls in June and the beginning of July, and were of a reddish-amber colour. We have procured insects, agreeing with Reaumur’s description, from galls formed on the bark or wood of the oak, at the line of junction between the root and the stem. These galls are precisely similar in structure to the oak-apple, and are probably formed at a season when the fly perceives, instinctively, that the buds of the young branches are unfit for the purpose of nidifi- cation. Ruot Galls of the Oak, produced by ('t/nips quercus ivferus f drawn from a specimen. There is another oak-gall, differing little in size and appearance from the oak-apple, but which is very different in structure, as, instead of giving protection and nourish- ment to a number of grubs, it is only inhabited by one. This sort of gall, besides, is hard and woody on the outside, resembling a little wooden ball of a yellowish colour, but internally of a soft, spongy texture. The latter substance, however, encloses a small hard gall, which is the immediate residence of the included insect. Galls of this description are often found in clusters of from two to seven, near the extremity of a branch, not incorporated, however, but dis- tinctly separate. We have obtained a fly very similar to this from a very common gall, which is formed on the branches- of the willow. Like the one-celled galls just described, this is of a hard, ligneous structure, and forms an irregular protuber- ance, sometimes at the extremity, and sometimes on the body, of a branch. But instead of one, this has a consider- able number of cells, irregularly distributed through its GALL-FLIES. 337 substance. The structure is somewhat spongy, but fibrous ; and externally tho bark is smoother than that of the branch upon which it grows. (J. R.) Woody Gall on a Willow branch, drawn from a specimen. The currant-galls (as the French call them) of the oak are exactly similar, when formed on the leaves, to those which we have first described as produced on the leaves of the willow and other trees. But the name of currant-gall Currant Gall of the catkins of the Oak, produced by Cjrnips quercuis peduncutif seems still more appropriate to an excrescence winch grows on the catkins of the oak, giving them very much the appearance of a straggling branch of currants or bird- z 338 IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. cherries. The galls resemble currants which have fallen from the tree before being ripe. These galls do not seem to ditfer from those formed on the leaves of the oak ; and are probably the production of the same insect, w'hich selects the catkin in preference, by the same instinct that the oak-apple gall-fly, as we have seen, sometimes deposits its eggs in the bark of the oak near the root. The gall of the oak, which forms an important dye-stuff, and is used in making writing-ink, is also produced by a Cynips, and has been described in the ‘ Library of Entertain- ing Knowledge’ (Vegetable Substances, p. 16), The employ- ment of the Cynips pse?ies for ripening tigs is described in the same volume, p. 244. Gall of a Hawthorn Weevil. In May 1829, we found on a hawthorn at Lee, in Kent, the leaves at the extremity of a branch neatly folded up in a bundle, but not quite so closely as is usual in the case of leaf-rolling caterpillars. On opening them, there was no caterpillar to be seen, the centre being occupied with a roundish, brown -coloured, woody substance, similar to some excrescences made by gall-insects (Cynips). Had we been aware of its real nature, we should have put it immediately under a glass or in a box, till the contained insect had deve- loped itself ; but instead of this, we opened the ball, where we found a small yellowish grub coiled up, and feeding on the exuding juices of the tree. As Ave could not replace the grub in its cell, part of the Avails of which Ave had unfortu- nately broken, Ave put it in a small pasteboard box with a fresh shoot of hawthorn, expecting that it might construct a fresh cell. This, hoAvever, it Avas probably incompetent to perform : it did not at least make the attempt, and neither did it seem to feed on the fresh branch, keeping in preference to the ruins of its former cell. To our great surprise, although it was thus exposed to the air, and deprived of a considerable portion of its nourishment, both from the part of the cell having been broken off', and from the juices of the branch having been dried up, the insect HAWTHORN WEEVIL. 339 went through its regular changes, and appeared in the form of a small greyish-brown beetlo of the weevil family. The most remarkable circumstance in the case in question, was the apparent inability of the grub to construct a fresh cell Gall of the Hawthorn Weevil, drawn from specimen, a, Opened to show the grub. after the first was injured,— proving, we think, beyond a doubt, that it is the puncture made by the parent insect when the egg is deposited that causes the exudation and subsequent concretion of the juices forming tho gall. These galls were very abundant during the summer of 1830. (J. E.) A few other instances of beetles producing galls are re- corded by naturalists. Kirby and Spence have ascertained, for example, that the bumps formed on the roots of kedlock or charlock ( Sinapis arvensis ) are inhabited by the larva; of a weevil ( Curculio contractus, Marsham ; and Rhynchoenus assimilis, Fabr.) ; and it may be reasonably supposed that either the same or similar insects cause the clubbing of the roots of cabbages, and tho knob-like galls on turnips, called in some places the anbury. We have found them also in- festing the roots of the holyhock (Alcea rosea). They are evidently beetles of an allied genus which form the woody galls sometimes met with on the leaves of the guelder-rose (Viburnum), the lime-tree (TUia europcea), and the beech (Fagus sylvatica). • There are also some two- winged flies which produce 340 INTSECT ARCHITECTURE. woody galls on various plants, suck as the thistle-fly ( Tephritis cardui , Latr.). The grubs of this pretty fly produce on the leaf-stalks of thistles an oblong woody knob. On the common white briony ( Bryonia dioica ) of our hedges may be found a very pretty fly of this genus, of a yellowish- brown colour, with pellucid wings, waved much like those of the thistle-fly with yellowish brown. This fly lays its eggs near a joint of the stem, and the grubs live upon its substance. The joint swells out into an oval form, furrowed in several places, and the fly is subsequently disclosed. In its perfect state, it feeds on the blossom of the briony* (J. E.) Flies of another minute family, the gall -gnats ( Cecidomyia Latr.), pass the first stage of their existence in the small globular cottony galls which abound on ger- mander speedwell ( Veronica chamcedrys), wild thyme ( Thymus serpyJlum ), and ground-ivy ( Glechoina hederacea). The latter is by no means uncommon, and may be readily recognised. Certain species of plant-lice (Aphides), whose complete history would require a volume, produce excrescences upon plants which may with some propriety be termed galls, or semi-galls. Some of these are without any aperture, whilst A Plant-Louse (.Aphis), magnified. others are in form of an inflated vesicle, with a narrow opening on the under side of a leaf, and expanding (for the most part irregularly) into a rounded knob on its upper surface. The mountain-ash (Pyrus aucupandj has its leaves and young shoots frequently affected in this way, and sometimes exhibits galls larger than a walnut or even than a man’s fist ; at other times they do not grow larger than a filbert. Upon openirtg one of these, they are found to be filled with the aphides sorhi . If taken at an early stage of GALL-BEETLES. 341 their growth, they are found open on the under side of the leaf, and inhabited only by a single female aphis, pregnant with a numerous family of young. In a short time the aperture becomes closed, in consequence of the insect making repeated punctures round its edge, from which sap is exuded, and forms an additional portion of the walls of the cell. In this early stage of its growth, however, the gall does not, like the galls of the cynips, increase very much in dimensions. It is after the increase of the inhabitants by the young brood that it grows with considerable rapidity : for each additional insect, in order to procure food, has to puncture the wall of the chamber and suck the juices, and from the punctures thus made the sap exudes, and enlarges the walls. As those galls are closed all round in the more advanced state, it does not appear how the insects can ever effect an exit from their imprisonment. A much more common production, allied to the one just described, may be found on the poplar in June and July. Most of our readers may have observed, about Midsum filer, a small snow-white tuft of downy-looking substance floating about on the wind, as if animated. Those tufts of snow- white down are never seen in numbers at the same time, but generally single, though some dozens of them may be observed in the course of one day. This singular object is a four-winged fly (Eriosoma pop id i, Leach), whose body is thickly covered with long down — a covering which seems to impede its flight, and make it appear more like an inani- mate substance floating about on the wind, than impelled by the volition of a living animal. This pretty fly feeds upon the fresh juices of the black poplar, preferring that of the leaves and leaf-stalks, which it punctures for this purpose with its beak. It fixes itself with this design to a suitable place upon the principal nervuro of the leaf, or upon the leaf-stalk, and remains in the same spot till the sap, exuding through the punctures, and thickening by contact with the air, surrounds it with a thick fleshy wall of living vegetable substance, intermediate in texture between the wood and the leaf, being softer than the former and 342 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. harder than the latter. In this snug little chamber, secure from the intrusion of lady-birds and the grabs of aphidi- vorous flies ( Kyrpki ), she brings forth her numerous brood of young ones, who immediately assist in enlarging the extent of their dwelling, by puncturing the walls. In one respect, however, the galls thus formed differ from those of the mountain-ash just described, — those of the poplar having always an opening left into some part of the cell, and usually in that portion of it which is elongated into an obtuse beak. From this opening the young, when arrived at the winged state, make their exit, to form new colonies ; and, during their migrations, attract the attention of the most incurious by the singularity of their appearance- (J. B.) Galls produced on the leaves and leaf-stalks of the Poplar by Enoscma pcpuli, with the various forms of the Insects, winged, not winged, and covered with wool, both of the natural size and magnilled. On the black poplar there may be found, later in the season than the preceding, a gall of a very different form, though, like the other, it is for the most part on the leaf- LEAF-ROLLING APHIDES. 343 stalk. The latter sort of galls are of a spiral form ; and though they are closed, they open upon slight pressure, and appear to be formed of two lam i me, twisted so as to unite. It is at this opening that an aperture is formed spon- taneously for the exit of the insects, when arrived at a perfect state. In galls of this kind we find aphides, but of a different species from the lanigerous ones, which form the horn-shaped galls above described. Leaf- Rolling Aphides. It may not be improper to introduce here a brief sketch of some other effects, of a somewhat similar kind, produced on leaves by other species of the same family (Aphidcc). In all the instances of this kind which we have examined, the form which the leaf takes serves as a protection to the insects, both from the weather and from depredators. That there is design in it appears from the circumstance of the aphides crowding into the embowering vault which they have formed ; and we are not quite certain whether they do not puncture certain parts of the leaf for the very pur- pose of making it arch over them ; at least, in many cases, such as that of the hop-fly (Aphis humuli), though the insects are in countless numbers, no arching of the leaves follows. The rose-plant louse, again (A pins ivsce'), sometimes arches the leaves, but more frequently gets under the protecting folds of the half-expanded leaf-buds. (J. It.) One of the most common instances of what we mean occurs on the leaves of the currant-bush, which may often be observed raised up into irregular bulgings, of a reddish- brown colour. On examining the under side of such a leaf there will be seen a crowd of small insects, some with and some without wings, which are the Aphides ribis in then- different stages, feeding securely and socially on the juices of the leaf. The most remarkable instance of this, however, which we have seen, occurs on the leaves of the elm, and is caused by the Aphis ulmi. The edge of an elm-leaf inhabited by those aphides is rolled up in an elegant convoluted form, IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. .344 very much like a spiral shell ; and in the embowered chamber thus formed, the insects are secure from rain, wind, and, partially, from the depredations of carnivorous insects. One of their greatest enemies, the lady-bird ( Coccinella ), seldom ventures, as we have remarked, into concealed Leaf of the Currant-bush, bulged out by the Aphis ribis. comers, except in cold weather, and contrives to find food enough among the aphides which feed openly and unpro- tected, such as the zebra aphides of the alder ( Aphides sam- buci). The grubs, however, of the lady-bird, and also those of the aphidivorous flies ( Syrplii ), may be found prying into the most secret recesses of a leaf to prey upon the inhabit- ants, whose slow movements disqualify them from effecting an escape. (J. E.) The effect of the puncture of aphides on growing plants is strikingly illustrated in the shoots of the lime-tree and several other plants, which become bent and contorted on the side attacked by the insects, in the same way that a shoot might warp by tho loss of its juices on the side ex- posed to a brisk fire. Tho curvings thus effected become very advantageous to the insects, for the leaves sprouting from the twig, which naturally grow at a distance from PSEUDO-GALLS. 345 each other, are brought close together in a bunch, forming a kind of nosegay, that conceals all the colour of the sprig, as well as the insects which are embowered under it, pro- tecting them against the rain and the sun, and, at the same time, hiding them from observation. It is only requisite, however, where they have formed bowers of this description, to raise the leaves, in order to see the little colony of the aphides, — or the remains of those habitations which they have abandoned. We have sometimes observed sprigs of the lime-tree, of a thumb’s thickness, portions of which re- sembled spiral screws ; but we could not certainly have assigned the time cause for this twisting, had we not been acquainted with the manner in which aphides contort the young shoots of this tree.* The shoots of the gooseberry and the willow are sometimes contorted in the same way, but not so strikingly as the shoots of the lime. Shoot of the Lime-tree contorted by the punctures ot the Aphis TUias. Pseudo-Galls. It may not be out of place to mention here certain ano- malous excrescences upon trees and other plants, which, though they much resemble galls, are not so distinctly traceable to the operations of any insect. In our researches after galls, we have not unfrequently met with excrescences * Reaumur, vol. iii. 346 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. which so very much resemble them, that before dissection we should not hesitate to consider them as such, and predict that they formed the nidus of some species of insects. In more instances than one we have felt so strongly assured of this, that we have kept several specimens for some months, in nurse-boxes, expecting that in due time the perfect insects would be disclosed. Pseudo-Gall of the Bramble, drawn from a specimen. One of these pseudo-galls occurs on the common bramble ( Rithus fruticosus ), and bears some resemblance to the bede- guar of the rose when old and changed by weather. It clusters round the branches in the form of irregular granules, about the size of a pea, very much crowded, the whole excrescence being rather larger than a walnut. A\ e expected to find this excrescence full of grubs, and were much surprised to discover, upon dissection, that it was only a diseased growth of the plant, caused (it might be) by the puncture of an insect, but not for the purpose of a nidus or habitation. (J. R.) Another sort of excrescence is not uncommon on the terminal shoots of the hawthorn. This is in general irre- gularly oblong, and the bark which covers it is of an iron colour, similar to the scoriae of a blacksmith’s forge. "W hen dissected, we find no traces of insects, but a hard, ligneous, and rather porous texture. It is not improbable that this PSEUDO-GALLS. 347 excrescence may originate in the natural growth of a shoo* being checked by the punctures of aphides, or of those grubs which we have described (page 338). Many of these excrescences, however, are probably altogether unconnected with insects, and are simply hyper- trophic diseases, produced by too much nourishment, like the wens produced on animals. Instances of this may be seen at the roots of the holyhock ( Althea rosea) of three or Pseudo-galls of the Hawthorn, drawn from specimens. four years’ standing; on the stems of the elm and other trees, immediately above the root; and on the upper branches of the birch, where a crowded cluster of twigs sometimes grows, bearing no distant resemblance to a rook’s nest in miniature, and provincially called witch- knots. One ot the prettiest of these pseudo-galls with which we are acquainted, is produced on the Scotch fir (Finns sylves- tris), by the aphis pini, which is one of the largest species of our indigenous aphides. The production we allude to may be found, during the summer months, on the terminal shoots of this tree, in the form of a small cone, much like 348 INSECT ARCHITECTURE the fruit of the tree in miniature, but with this difference, that the fruit terminates in a point, whereas the pseudo- gall is nearly globular. Its colour also, instead of being green, is reddish ; but it exhibits the tiled scales of the fruit cone. Pseudo-gall produced by Aphis Pini on the Scotch dr, drawn from a specimen. We have mentioned this the more willingly that it seems to confirm the theory which we have hazarded respecting the formation of the bedeguar of the rose and other true galls — by which we ascribed to the sap, diverted from its natural course by insects, a tendency to form leaves, &c., like those of the plant from which it is made to exude. ( 3« ) CHAPTER XX. ANIMAL GALLS,* PRODUCED BY BREEZE-FLIES AND SNAIL-BEETLES. The stmcturcs which we have hitherto noticed have all been formed of inanimate materials, or at the most of grow- ing vegetables ; hut those to which we shall now advert are actually composed of the flesh of living animals, and seem to he somewhat akin to the galls already described as formed upon the shoots and leaves of plants. These were first investigated by the accurate Vallisnieri, and subse- quently by Beaumur, De Geer, and Linnaeus ; but the best account which has hitherto been given of them is by our countryman Mr. Bracey Clark, who differs essentially from his predecessors as to the mode in which the eggs are deposited. As, in consequence of the extreme difficulty, if not the impossibility, of personal observation, it is no easy matter to decide between the conflicting opinions, we shall give such of the statements as appear most plausible. The mother breeze-fly ( Oestrus bovis, Clark ; — Hypoderma bom, Latr.), which produces the tumors in cattle called wurbles, or wormids (quasi, worm-holes'), is a two-winged insect, smaller, but similar in appearance and colour to the carder- bee (p. 54), with two black bands, one crossing the shoulders and the other the abdomen, the rest being covered with yellow hair. This fly appears to have been first dis- covered by Vallisnieri, who has given a curious and inter- esting history of his observations upon its economy. “ After having read this account,” says Beaumur, “ with sincere pleasure, I became exceedingly desirous of seeing with my own eyes what the Italian naturalist had reported in so * In order to prevent ambiguity, it is necessary to remark that the excrescences thus called must not be confounded with the true galls, which are occasionally found in the gall-bladder. 350 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. erudite and pleasing a manner. I did not then imagine that it would ever be my lot to speak upon a subject which had been treated with so much care and elegance ; but since I have enjoyed more favourable opportunities than M. Vallis- nieri, it was not difficult for me to investigate some of the circumstances better, and to consider them under a different point of view. It is not, indeed, very wonderful to discover something new in an object, though it has been already carefully inspected with very good eyes, when we sit down to examine it more narrowly, and in a more favourable position ; while it sometimes happens, also, that most indif- ferent observers have detected what had been previously unnoticed by the most skilful interpreters of nature.”* From the observations made by lieaumur, he concluded that the mother-fly, above described, deposits her eggs in the flesh of the larger animals, for which purpose she is furnished with an ovipositor of singular mechanism. We have seen that the ovipositors of the gall-flies ( Cynips ) are rolled up within the body of the insect somewhat like the spring of a watch, so that they can be thrust out to more than double their apparent length. To effect the same pur- pose, the ovipositor of the ox-fly lengthens, by a series of sliding tubes, precisely like an opera-glass. There are four of these tubes, as may be seen by pressing the belly of the fly till they come into view. Like other ovipositors of this sort, they are composed of a horny substance ; but the ter- minal piece is very different indeed from the same part in the gall-flies, the tree-hoppers ( Cicadce ), and the iclineu- mons, being composed of five points, three of which are longer than the other two, and at first sight not unlike a fleur-de-lis, though, upon narrower inspection, they may be discovered to terminate in curved points, somewhat like the claw of a cat. The two shorter pieces are also pointed, but not curved ; and by the union of the five, a tube is com- posed for the passage of the eggs. It would be necessary, Eeaumur confesses, to see the fly employ this instrument to understand in what manner it * Reaumur, Mein. iv. 505. ANIMAL GALLS. 351 acts, though he is disposed to consider it fit for boring through the hides of cattle. “ Whenever I have succeeded,” he adds, “in seeing these insects at work, they have usually shown that they proceeded quite differently from Ovipositor of the Breeze-fly, greatly magnified, with a claw and part of the tube distinct. ’ v hat 1 had imagined ; but unfortunately I have never been able to see one of them pierce the hide of a cow under mv eyes.”* J Mr. Bracey Clark, taking another view of the matter, is decidedly of opinion that the fly does not pierce the skin of cattle with its ovipositor at all, but merely glues its eggs to the hairs, while the grubs, when hatched, eat their way under the skin. If this be the fact, as is not improbable, the three curved pieces of the ovipositor, instead of actino- as Reaumur imagined, like a centre-bit, will only serve to prevent the eggs from falling till they are firmly glued to the hair, the opening formed by the two shorter points permitting this to be effected. This account of the matter is rendered more plausible, from Reaumur’s statement that * Mein. iv. 538 352 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. the deposition of the egg is not attended by much pain, unless, as he adds, some very sensible nervous fibres have been wounded. According to this view, wo must not esti- mate the pain produced by the thickness of the instrument ; for the sting of a wasp, or a bee, although very consider- ably smaller than the ovipositor of the ox-fly, causes a very pungent pain. It is, in the latter case, the poison infused by the sting, rather than the wound, which occasions the pain ; and Yallisnieri is of opinion that the ox-fly emits some acrid matter along with her eggs, but there is no proof of this beyond conjecture. It ought to be remarked, however, that cattle have very thick hides, which are so far from being acutely sensitive of pain, that in countries where they are put to draw ploughs and waggons, they find a whip ineffectual to drive them, and have to use a goad, in form of an iron needle, at the end of a stick. Were the pain inflicted by the fly very acute, it would find it next to impossible to lay thirty or forty eggs without being killed by the strokes of the ox’s tail; for though Yallisnieri supposes that the fly is shrewd enough to choose such places as the tail cannot reach, Reaumur saw a cow repeatedly flap its tail upon a part full of the gall-bumps ; and in another instance he saw a heifer beat away a party of common flies from a part where there were seven or eight gall-bumps, lie concludes, therefore, with much plausibility, that these two beasts would have treated the ox-flies in the same way, if they had given them pain when depositing their eggs. The extraordinary effects produced upon cattle, on the appearance of one of these flies, would certainly lead us to conclude that the pain inflicted is excruciating. Most of our readers may recollect to have seen, in the summer months, a whole herd of cattle start off across a field in full gallop, as if they were racing, — their .movements indescri- bably awkward — their tails being poked out behind them as straight and stiff as a post, and their necks stretched to their utmost length. All this consternation has been known, from the earliest times, to be produced by the fly we are describing. Yirgil gives a correct and lively picture ANIMAL-GALLS. 353 of it in his Georgies,* of which the following is a transla- tion, a little varied from Trapp : — Round Mount Alburnus, green with shady oaks. And in the groves of Silnrus, there flies An insect pest (named (Estrus by the Greeks, By us Asilus ) : fierce with jarring hum It drives, pursuing, the affrighted herd From glade to glade ; the air, the woods, the banks Of the dried river echo their loud bellowing. Had we not other instances to adduce, of similar terror caused among sheep, deer, and horses, by insects of the same genus, which are ascertained not to penetrate the skin, we should not have hesitated to conclude that Yal- lisnieri and licaumur are right, and Mr. Bracey Clark wrong. In the strictly similar instance of Reindeer-fly ( (IJstnis tarandi, Linn.), we have the high authority of Linnajus for the fact, that it lays its eggs upon the skin. “ I remarked,” he says, “ with astonishment how greatly the reindeer are incommoded in hot weather, insomuch that they cannot stand still a minute, no not a moment, without changing their posture, starting, pulling and blow- ing continually, and all on account of a little fly. Even though amongst a herd of perhaps five hundred reindeer, there were not above ten of those flies, every one of the herd trembled and kept pushing its neighbour about. The fly, meanwhile, was trying every means to get at them ; but it no sooner touched any part of their bodies, than they made an immediate effort to shake it off. . I caught one of these insects as it was flying along with its tail protruded, which had at its extremity a small linear orifice perfectly white. The tail itself consisted of four or five tubular joints, slipping into each other like a pocket spying-glass, * Est hicos Silari circa ilicibusque virentem Plurimus Alburnum volitans, cui nomen asilo Romanum est, (Estrum Graii vertere vocantes, Asper, acerba sonans; quo tota exterrita silvis Diffugiunt aririenta ; furit mugitibus rather Concussus, sylvreque et sicci ripa Tatiagri. Georg, lib. iii. 14(j. 2 A 354 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. which this fly, like others, has a power of contracting at pleasure.”* * * § In another work he is still more explicit. “ This well- known fly,” he says, “ hovers the whole day over the back of the reindeer, with its tail protruded and a little bent, upon the point of which it holds a small white egg, scarcely so large as a mustard-seed, and when it has placed itself in a perpendicular position, it drops its egg, which rolls down amongst the hair to the skin, where it is hatched by the natural heat and perspiration of the reindeer, and the grub eats its way slowly under the skin, causing a bump as large as an acorn.’ f The male and female of the reindeer breeze- fly are figured in the 4 Library of Entertaining Knowledge, Menageries,’ vol. i. p. 405. There is one circumstance which, though it appears to us to be of some importance in the question, has been either overlooked or misrepresented in books. “ While the female fly,” say Kirby and Spence,. “ is performing the operation of oviposition, the animal attempts to lash her off as it does other flies, with its tail though this is not only at variance with their own words in the page but one preced- ing, where they most accurately describe “the herd with their tails in the air, or turned upon their backs, or stiffly stretched out in the direction of the spine,” § but with the two facts mentioned above from Reaumur, as well as with common observation. If the ox then do not attempt to lash off the breeze-fly, but runs with its tail stiffly extended, it affords a strong presumption that the fly terrifies him by her buzzing (asper, acerba souans), rather than pains him by piercing his hide : her buzz, like the rattle of the rattle- snake, being instinctively understood, and intended, it may be, to prevent an over-population, by rendering it difficult to deposit the eggs. The horse breeze-fly ( Gasterophilus equi, Leach), which produces the maggots well known by the name of Lotts in * Linnaeus, Lachesis Lapponica, July 19tli. f Linnaeus, Flora Lapponica, p. 378, ed. Loud. 1792. J Kirby and Spence, Introd. i. 151. § Ibid. p. 149. ANIMAL-GALLS. 3o5 horses, is ascertained beyond a doubt to deposit her eggs upon the hair, and as insects of the- same genus almost invariably proceed upon similar principles, however much they may vary in minute particulars, it may be inferred with justice, that the breeze-flies which produce galls do the same. The description given by Mr, Bracey Clark, of the proceedings of the horse breeze-fly, is exceedingly interesting. “ When the female has been impregnated, and her eggs sufficiently matured, she seeks among the horses a subject tor her purpose, and approaching him on the wing, she carries her body nearly upright in the air, and her tail, which is lengthened for the purpose * curved inwards and up- wards ; in this way she approaches the part where she designs to deposit the egg ; and suspending herself for a few seconds before it, suddenly darts upon it and leaves the egg adhering to the hair ; she hardly appears to settle, but merely touches the hair with the egg held out on the pro- jected point of the abdomen * The egg is made to adhere by means of a glutinous liquor secreted with it. She then leaves the horse at a small distance, and prepares a second egg, and poising herself before the part, deposits it in the same way. The liquor dries, and the egg becomes firmly glued to the hair : this is repeated by these flies till four or five hundred eggs are sometimes placed on one horse.” Mr. Clark farther tells us, that the fly is careful to select a part of the skin which the horse can easily reach with his tongue, such as the inside of the knee, or the side and back part of the shoulder. It was at first conjectured, that the horse licks off the eggs thus deposited, and that they are by this means conveyed into its stomach ; but Mr. Clark says, “ I do not find this to be the case, or at least only by accident • for when they have remained on the hair four or five days, they become ripe, after which time the slightest application of warmth and moisture is sufficient to bring forth, in an * These circumstances aftbrd, we think, a complete answer to the query of Kirby and Spence-“ There can be little doubt (or else what is the use of such an apparatus ?) that it bores a hole in the skin.”— Iutrod. i. 102, 2nd edit. IXSECT ARCHITECTURE. 356 instant, tlie latent larva. At this time, if the tongue of the horse touches the egg, its operculum is thrown open, and a small, active worm is produced, which readily adheres to the moist surface of the tongue, and is thence conveyed with the food to the stomach.” lie adds, that “a horse which has no ova deposited on him may yet have botts, by performing the friendly office of licking another horse that has.”* The irritations produced by common flies ( Antho- myice meteoricce, Mkigex) are alleged as the incitement to licking. The circumstance, however, of most importance to our purpose, is the agitation and terror produced both by this fly and by another horse breeze-fly ( Gasterophilus liamor- rhoidalis, Leach), which deposits its eggs upon the lips of the horse as the sheep-breeze fly ( (Estrus ovis ) does on that of the sheep. The first of these is described by Mr. Clark as “very distressing to the animal, from the excessive titillation it occasions ; for he immediately after rubs his mouth against the ground, his fore-feet, or sometimes against a tree, with great emotion ; till, finding this mode of defence insufficient, he quits the spot in a rage, and endeavours to avoid it by galloping away to a distant part of the field, and if the fly still continues to follow and teaze him, his last resource is in the water, where the insect is never observed to pursue him. These flies appear some- times to hide themselves in the grass, and as the horse stoops to graze they dart upon the mouth or lips, and are always observed to poise themselves during a few seconds in the air, while the egg is prepared on the extended point of the abdomen." + The moment the second fly just mentioned touches the nose of a sheep, the animal shakes its head and strikes the ground violently with its fore-feet, and at the same time holding its nose to the earth, it runs away, looking about on every side to see if the flies pursue. A sheep will also smell the grass as it goes, lest a fly should be lying in wait, and if one be detected, it runs off in terror. As it will not, * Linn. Trans, iii. 305. f Ibid. ANIMAL-GALLS. 357 like a horse or an ox, take refuge in the water, it lias recourse to a rut or dry dusty road, holding its nose close to the ground, thus rendering it difficult for the fly to get at the nostril. a. The belly of the grub, b. Its back. c. The tall of the grub, grcatlv magnified d The bump, or gall, having Us external aperture tilled with the tail of (foe grui,. 1 ^ hen the egg of the ox-breeze fly ( Hypodsmia bovis, L vtr. j is hatched, it immediately (if Mr. Bracey Clark be correct) burrows into the skin ; while, according to Reaumur, it is hatched there. At all events, the grab is found in a bump on the animal’s back, resembling a gall on a tree, “ a place,” says Reaumur, “where food is found in abundance, where it is protected from the weather, where it enjoys at all times an equal degree of warmth) and where it finally attains maturity.”* When in an advanced stage, the bumps appear much like the swellings produced upon the forehead by a smart blow. These, with the grabs, are represented in the foregoing figure, and also at page 359. Every bump, according to Reaumur, has in its inside a cavity, which is a lodging proportionate to the size of the insect. The bump and cavity also increase in proportion to the growth of the grab. It is not until about the middle of May that these bumps can be seen full grown. Owing to particular circumstances, they do not all attain an equal * Mem. iv. 540. 358 IN’SECT ARCHITECTURE. size. The largest of them are sixteen or seventeen lines in diameter at their base, and about an inch high : but they are scarcely perceptible before the beginning or during the course of the winter. It is commonly upon young cattle, such, namely, as are t";o or three years old, that the greatest number of bumps is found; it being rare to observe them upon very old animals. The fly seems to be well aware that such skins Fly, maggot, anil grub of the Ox-breeze fly, with a microscopic view ol the maggot. will not oppose too much resistance, and seems to know', also, that tender flesh is the most proper for supplying good nourishment to it’s progeny. “ And why,” asks Reaumur, “ should not the instinct which conducts it to confide its eggs to the flesh of certain species only, lead it to prefer the flesh of animals of the same species which is most prefer- able?” The number of bumps which are found upon a beast is equal to the number of eggs which have been depo- sited in its flesh ; or, to speak more correctly, to the number of eggs which have succeeded, for apparently all are not fertile ; but this number is very different upon different cattle. Upon one cow only three or four bumps may be observed, while upon another there will appear from thirty to forty. They are not always placed on the same parts, nor arranged in the ' same manner : commonly, they are near the spine, but sometimes upon. or near the thighs and shoulders. Sometimes they are at remote distances from each other ; at other times they are so near that their cir- cumferences meet. In certain places, three or four tumors animal-galls. ;j59 may be seen touching each other ; and more than a dozen sometimes occur arranged as closely together as possible. It is very essential to the grub that the hole of the tumor should remain constantly open ; for by this aperture a com- Itumps or wurbles produced on cattle by the Ox-breeze fly. munication with the air necessary for respiration is pre- served ; and the grub is thence placed in the most favour- able position for receiving air. Its spiracles for respiration, like those of many other grubs, are situated immediately upon the posterior extremity of the body. Now, being almost always placed in such a situation as to have this part above, or upon a level with the external aperture, it is enabled to respire freely.* We have not so many examples of galls of this kind as we have of vegetable galls; and when wo described the surprising Aarieties of the latter, we did not i^crceive that it was essential to the insects inhabiting them to preserve a communication with the external air: in the o-;vl]s 0f trees, openings expressly designed or kept free for°the ad- mission of air are never observed. Must the grub, then, which inhabits the latter have less need of respiring air than the grub of the breeze-flies in a flesh-gall ? Without * Iieaumur, iv. 549. .'JGO LVSEGT ARCHITECTURE. doubt, not ; but the apertures by which the air is admitted to the inhabitants of the woody gall, although they may escape our notice, in consequence of their minuteness, are not, in fact, less real. We know that, however careful we may be in inserting a cork into a glass, the mercury with which it is filled is not sheltered from the action of the air, which weighs upon the cork ; we know that the air passes through, and acts upon the mercury in the tube. The air can also, in the same way, penetrate through the obstruc- tion of a gall of wood, though it have no perceptible open- ing or crack ; but the air cannot pass in this manner so readily through the skins ard membranes of animals. In order to see the interior of the cavity of an animal gall, Reaumur opened several, either with a razor or a pair of scissors ; the operation, however, cannot fail to be pain- ful to the cow, and consequently renders it impatient under the process. The grub being confined in a tolerably large fistulous ulcer, a part of the cavity must necessarily be filled with pus or matter. The bump is a sort of cautery, which has been opened by the insect, as issues are made by caustic : the grub occupies this issue, and prevents it from closing. If the pus or matter which is in the cavity, and that which is daily added to it, had no means of escaping, each tumor would become a considerable abscess, in which the grub would perish : but the hole of the bump, which admits the entrance of the air, permits the pus or matter to escape ; that pus frequently mats the hairs toge- ther which are above the small holes, and this drying around the holes acquires a consistency, and forms in tho interior of the opening a kind of ring. This matter appears to be the only aliment allowed for the grub, for there is no appearance that it lives, like the grubs of flesh-flies, upon putrescent meat. Mandibles, indeed, similar to those with which other grubs break their food, are altogether wanting. A beast which has thirty, forty, or more of these bumps upon its back, would be in a condition of great pain and suffering, terrible indeed in the extreme, if its flesh were torn and devoured by as many large grubs ; but there is every appearanco that they do not at all afflict, or only GRUB PARASITE IN THE SNAIL. 361 afflict it with little pain. For this reason cattle most co- vered with bumps are not considered by the farmer as injured by the presence of the fly, which generally selects those in tho best condition. A fly, evidently of the same family with the preceding, is described in Bruce’s ‘ Travels,’ under the name of zimb, as burrowing during its grub state in the hides of the ele- phant, the rhinoceros, the camel, and cattle. “ It resem- bles,” he says, “the gad-fly in England, its motion being more sudden and rapid than that of a bee. There is some- thing peculiar in the sound or buzzing of this insect ; it is a jarring noise together with a humming, which as soon as it is heard all the cattle forsake their food aiid run wildly about the plain, till they die, worn out with fatigue, fright, and hunger. I have found,” he adds, “ some of these tubercles upon almost every elephant and rhinoceros that I have seen, and attribute them to this cause. W hen the camel is attacked by this fly, his body, head, and legs break out into large bosses, which swell, break, and putrefy, to the certain destruction of the creature.”* That camels die under such symptoms, we do not doubt ; but we should not, without more minutely-accurate observation, trace all this to the breeze-fly. MM. Humboldt and Bonpland discovered, in South Ame- rica, a species, probably of the same genus, which attacks man himself. The perfect insect is about the size of our common house-fly ( Musca domestica ), and the bump formed by tho grub, which is usually on the belly, is similar to that caused by the ox breeze-fly. It requires six months to come to maturity ; and if it is irritated it eats deeper into the flesh, sometimes causing fatal inflammations. Grub Parasite in the Snail. During the summer of 1829, we discovered in the hole of a gai den-post, at Blackheath, one of the larger grey snail shells (Helix aspersa, Muller), with three white soft-bodied grubs burrowing in the body of tho snail. They evidently, . * Bruce’s Travels, i. 5, and v. 191. 3G2 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. from their appearance, belonged to some species of beetle, and wo carefully preserved them in order to watch their economy. It appeared to us that they had attacked the snail in its stronghold, while it was laid up torpid for the winter ; for more than half of the body was already de- voured. They constructed for themselves little cells attached to the inside of the shell, and composed of a sort of fibrous matter, having no distant resemblance to shag tobacco, both in form and smell, and which could be nothing else than the remains of the snail’s body. Soon after we took them, appearing to have devoured all that remained of the poor snail, wo furnished Ihem with another, which they devoured in the same manner. They formed a cocoon of the same fibrous materials during the autumn, and in the end of October appeared in their perfect form, turning out to be Drilus favescens, the grub of which was first discovered in France in. 1824. The time of their appearance, it may be remarked, coincides with the period when snails become torpid. (J. E.) In the following autumn, we found a shell of the same species with a small pupa-shaped egg deposited on the lid. From this a caterpillar was hatched, which subsequently devoured the snail, spun a cocoon within the shell, and was transformed into a small moth (of which we have not ascertained the species) in the spring of 1830. END OF INSECT ARCHITECTURE. ( 363 ) MISCELLANIES. I. — ON THE RAVAGES OF INSECTS. VORACITY OF CATERPILLARS, GRUBS, AMD MAGGOTS. Insects, in the early stage of their existence, may be com- pared to an Indian hunter, who issues from his hut, as they do from the egg, with a keen appetite. As soon as he is successful in finding game, he gorges himself till ho can eat no more, and then, laying him down to sleep, only bestirs himself again to go through a similar process of gorging and sleeping ; just so the larvrn of insects doze away a day or more when casting their skins, and then make up for their long fast by eating with scarcely a pause. Professor Bradley calculates (though upon data somewhat question- able) that a pair of sparrows carry to their young about three thousand caterpillars in a week ;* but this is nothing when compared with the voracity of caterpillars. Of the latter we have moro accurate calculations than that of Bradley, who multiplied the number of caterpillars which he observed taken in one hour by the hours of sunlight in a week. Redi ascertained by experiment that the maggot of the common blow-fly ( Musca carnaria) becomes from 140 to 200 times heavier within twenty-four hours ;f and the cultivators of silk- worms know the exact quantities of leaves which their broods devour. “The result,” says Count Dandolo, “of the most exact calculations is, that the * Account of the Works of Nature. f Esperienze de Insetti, p. 23. 364 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. quantity of leaves drawn from the tree employed for each ounce of eggs amounts to 1609 lbs. 8 oz., divided in the following manner — Sorted leaves, lie fuse, lbs. oz. lbs. oz. First age 60 18 Second age 18 0 3 0 Third age 60 0 9 0 Fourth age 180 0 27 0 Fifth age 1098 0 102 0 Per ounce of eggs of sorted leaves , lbs. 1362 0 142 8 Refuse 142 8 Lost fiom the leaves by evaporation, &c. 105 0 1609 8 He adds to this curious table, that from the 1362 lbs. of sorted leaves given to the caterpillars, it is necessary to deduct 155 lbs. 7 oz. 4 drs. of litter, consisting of fragments of uneaten leaves, stalks, fruit, &c., and consequently that they actually devour only 1206 lbs. 4 oz. 4 drs. It is necessary also to mention that of this quantity 745 lbs. 8 oz. of dung are earned from the hurdles ; and consequently there is only digested 771 lbs. 7 oz. 4 drs. of pure leaves, which produce 120 lbs. of silk cocoons,— giving a loss by evaporation from the worms in gas and vapour of 496 lbs. 4 oz., nearly three parts of this loss occurring in the six last days of the fifth age.* These deductions, however, do not affect the amount eaten by the caterpillars produced from 1 oz. of eggs, which is upwards of 1200 lbs. A single silk-worm, as we before mentioned, consumes within thirty days about 60,000 times its primitive weight. When we take these facts into consideration, we need not be surprised at the extensive ravages committed by other caterpillars, many of which are much larger than the silk-worm, and all of them produced in broods of consider- able numbers. Mr. Stephens, in his valuable catalogue of [British insects, a work of very extraordinary accuracy, enumerates nearly 2000 species of native moths and butter- * Count Daiulolo’s Art of Rearing Silk-Worms, p. 322-24, Eng. Transl. VORACITY OF CATERPILLARS. 365 flies ; and as the females of these are for the most part very prolific, we have little reason to he surprised at the occa- sional extent of their depredations. The 2000 species just mentioned are, besides, not more than a fifth of our native insects, most of the grubs and maggots of which are exceed- ingly voracious and destructive. It appears to bo indispensable for most insects to feed copiously during their larva state, in order to supply a store of nutriment for their subsequent changes; for many of them eat nothing, and most of them little, after they have been transformed into puprn and perfect insects. W hat is no less wonderful, a corresponding change takes place in the internal formation of their organs of digestion. A caterpillar will, as we have seen, devour in a month 60,000 times its own weight of leaves, while the moth, or the butterfly, into which it is afterwards transformed, may not sip a thousandth part of its weight of honey during its whole existence. Now, in the caterpillar, nature has pro- vided a most capacious stomach, which, indeed, fills a very large portion of its body ; but in the butterfly the stomach is diminished to a thread. By a series of minute dissections, conducted with great skill, Heroldt traced these changes’ as they successively occur, from the caterpillar to the butterfly. In the caterpillaf he found the gullet, the honey - stomach, the true stomach, and the intestines capacious. Two days after its first change all these are visibly dimi- nished, as well as the silk reservoirs, which, in a chrysalis eight days old, have wholly disappeared ; while the base of the gullet is dilated into a crop, and the stomach still more contracted into a spindle form. When near its change into the perfect insect the gullet is still more drawn out.^ while the crop, still small, is now on one side of the gullet ; and in the butterfly is enlarged into a honey-stomach. It is remarkable that in men of such extraordinary ap- petite as amounts to a disease ( Bulimia , Cullen), the natural capacity of the stomach, which, according to Blumenbach, contains about three pints,* is very much enlarged. This * Blumenbach, Physiol., s. xxiii. 366 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. was peculiarly the case with Tarare, an Italian juggler, who from swallowing flints, whole baskets of fruit, the same nest did not hatch till the third season.”'1' We reared, during 1829, several nests both of the brown-tails and of the golden-tails, and a number of the females depo- sited their eggs in our nurse-cages ; but, contrary to the experiment just quoted, all of theso were hatched during the same autumn. (J. L’.) The difference of temperature and moisture in particular seasons may produce this diver- sity. An alarm, similar to those we have recorded, was pro- duced in France in 1735 by the green-striped caterpillars of a moth very common in Britain, called by collectors, from a mark on its upper wings, the Y, or more properly the y moth ( Plusia Gamma, Ocus.). Though ranked in some classifications amongst the nocturnal moths, it flies chiefly by day, and may be seen in Battersea-fields, or other moist meadows, flitting from herb to herb and flower to flower, in short and low flights ; for it seldom soars higher than the tallest grass-stem, or the crimson flower-heads of the knap- weed, upon whose honey it sometimes regales, re- maining on the wing all the while it is sipping it. During the cold rainy summer of 1829 it was almost the onljr moth which appeared plentiful. (J. K.) At least two broods seem to be produced during the season ; which may account for its being found from May till the setting-in of the winter frosts. Notwithstanding its being so plentiful, however, we have not heard of its having ever been so destructive here as in France, where, as usual, the most improbable causes were assigned for its increase. “ In some places,” says Reaumur, “ they assured me they had seen an old soldier throw the spell ; and in other places an ugly and mischievous old woman had wrought all the evil.”t These supposed super- natural agents, however, must have been either very nume- rous or very active to fill, not only the gardens, but even- field, with legions of those caterpillars, which devoured almost every green thing, and left only the stalks as monu- ments of their devastation. The alarm proceeded farther, * Salisbury, Hints on Orchards, p. 53. f Reaumur, ii. 33G. CATERPILLARS. 377 for it began to be whispered that they were poisonous ; and many were in consequence afraid to touch soups or salads. Reaumur thought it incumbent on him to refute this notion at some length ; but we cannot accept his doctrine as very TransforiHatiiins of the y moth (Plusia Gamma), a, the eng, greatly magnifled, on a moth °f Ca ' ‘‘ lhe egg un a lear’ uatural size. c. the larva, d, the pupa, e, the palatable, when he tells us that few dishes of soup or salad are ever prepared without containing caterpillars, and yet all the world are not poisoned thereby, any more than by eating oysters or viper broth. He endeavoured also to account by calculation for their excess, from the data of the female moth laying about four hundred eggs. Now, if there were only twenty caterpillars distributed in a garden, and all lived through the winter, and became moths in the succeeding May, the eggs laid by these, if all fertile, would produce 800,000, a number much more than sufficient to effect great destruction.* Hid not Providence, therefore, Put causes in operation to keep them in duo bounds, the caterpillars of this moth alone, leaving out of consideration the 2000 othei British species, would soon destroy more than half of our vegetation. The caterpillar just mentioned, amongst other pot-herbs, * Reaumur, ii. 337. 378 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. attacks coleworts and cabbage ; and may sometimes be found there along with, another, not uncommon, but seldom very destructive, called by collectors the burnished brass ( Plusia chrysitis), which differs little from the caterpillar of the y moth, except in being of a brighter green. Another, called the old gentlewoman ( Mamestra brassicce, Treitsche), is so destructive to cabbages in Germany, that the gardeners gather whole basketsful and bury them ; but as Kosel re- marks, they might as well endeavour to kill a crab by covering it with sea-water, for it is natural to them to burrow under ground when they change into chrysalides.* We have seen this caterpillar, as well as that of the brown- eye ( Mamestra oleracea ), do considerable damage in Wilt- shire, but nothing to what is reported of it in Germany. The leaves of cabbages, cauliflower, brocoli, coleworts, and turnips, are frequently devoured to a more considerable extent by the sub-gregarious caterpillars of the white butter- flies ( Pontia brassicce , P. napi, &c.). From the great multi- plicity of the butterflies, indeed, and from their being two broods in the year, we have reason to wonder that their ravages are not more extensive. But we have remarked that they seem more partial to wild than cultivated plants ; for we have seen, near Islington, the olcraceous weeds, such as rape ( Brassica napus ), overrun with them in the very same fields with cultivated cabbages, wbicli were not touched (J. K.) ; so that the caterpillars are not always so injurious as we might at first suppose, since in this case they tend to keep down the weeds, while the birds and the ichneumon- flies keep them in check by making prejT of them. The gregarious cate rpi liars of an allied species, called the black-veined white butterfly ( Pieris Cratcegi , Stephens), is in some seasons and districts no less destructive to orchards and hawthorn hedges than the preceding ones are to the kitchen- garden. Salisbury, who wrote at Chelsea in 1815, says it “ commits great destruction every spring, and not only to the apple-trees, but other kinds of fruits.”+ Mr. Stephens, writing in 1827, says, “In June 1810, I saw it in plenty * Rosel, Iiisecktcn, i. iv. 170. f Hints on Orchards, p. 56. CATERPILLARS. S79 at Cooinbe Wood, and in the following year I captured several at Muswell-hill, since which time I have not seen any at large.”* Mr. Haworth also says, “ it has not of late years been seen at Chelsea, where it formerly abounded.” We have never met with it at all. According to Salisbury the female butterfly lays her eggs near the extremity of an old rather than a young branch, and covers them with a coating of gluten, which is both impervious to moisture and impenetrable (this we doubt) to the bills of birds. “ In this state,” he adds, “ we have instances of their remaining without losing their vitality for several years, until a favourable opportunity of their being brought into exist- ence arrives.”! The caterpillars, which are at first black and hairy, live in common in a silken tent. They become subsequently striped with reddish brown, and disperse over the trees. This caterpillar and its butterfly are figured in a subsequent page. Our gooseberry and red-currant bushes are very fre- quently despoiled of their leaves, both by the speckled caterpillar of the magpie moth {Abraxas grosmlariata), and by what Keaumur terms the psoudo-caterpillars of one of the saw-flies ( Nematus Ribesii, Stephens). The latter insect has a flat yellow body and four pellucid wings, the two outer ones marked with brown on the edge. In April it issues from the pupa, which has lain under ground from the preceding September. The female of the gooseberry saw-fly does not, like some of the family, cut a groovo in the branch to deposit her eggs; — “of what use, then,” asks Keaumur, “is her ovipositor-saw ?”J In order to satisfy himself on this point, he introduced a pair of the flies under a bell-glass along with a branch bent from a red-currant bush, that he might watch the process. The female immediately perambulated the leaves in search of a place suited to her purpose, and passing under a leaf began to lay, depositing six eggs within a quarter of an hour. * Illustrations, i. Haustellata; 27. f Hints on Orchards, p. 57. I See chap. vii. for a description of this curious instrument. ci8(J ■ RAVAGES OF INSECTS. Each time she placed herself as if she wished to cut into the leaf with her saw ; hut, upon taking out the leaf, the eggs appeared rather projecting than lodged in its sub- stance. They adhered so firmly, however, that they could not be detached without crushing them. He could not dis- cover any groove ;* but we think it likely that a minute a a a, Saw-fly of the gooseberry (.Kematus Hilxsii, Stkfhkns> b, its egea on the ner- vures of a leaf, d d, the caterpillars eating, c, one rolled up. /, one extended. cut is made in the exterior membrane of the leaf, the edges of which grasp and hold firm the part of the egg which is thrust into it by the insect. Be this as it may, the caterpillars are hatched in two or three weeks; and they feed in company till after midsummer, frequently stripping both the leaves and fruit of an extensive planta- tion. The caterpillar has six legs and sixteen prolegs, and is of a green colour mixed with yellow, and covered with minute black dots raised like shagreen. In its last skin it loses the black dots and becomes smooth and yellowish white. The Caledonian Horticultural Society have pub- lished a number of plans for destroying these caterpillars. * Reaumur, v. 125. CATERPILLARS. 381 An allied species of saw-fly ( Nematus Caprece, Stephens) frequently becomes extensively destructive to several species of willow, sallow, and osier. It is so like that of the gooseberry and that of the willow ( Nematus salicis ), which is not British, that it has been confounded with these by Fabricius, Stewart, Gmelin, and other authors. In the summer of 1828, we observed a considerable group of young standards of the golden osier ( Salix vitellina), in a nursery at Lewisham, rendered quite leafless by these caterpillars; which, when feeding, throw themselves into singular postures by holding only with their fore feet. The a, Nematus cairrett, on the osier; b, Sdandria alnit on the alder. fly appears in spring, and places its eggs in a round patch on the back of the leaf, and not along the nervures, like the gooseberry saw-fly. During the three last summers, we also remarked that the alders (Alnus glutinosa ) along the 382 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. banks of the Ravensbourne, in Kent, were extensively stripped of their leaves by a saw-fly caterpillar, very like the preceding, but of a larger size. (J. R.) It appears to be the same as one figured by Reaumur* ( Selandria Alni ? Stephens). Another slimy caterpillar of a saw-fly, allied to that of the cherry ( Tenthredo Cerasi) , is called the slug-wonn in North America, where it has increased so numerously as to threaten the entire destruction of fruit-trees, including the cherry, plum, pear, and quince. Where they are numerous, the air becomes loaded with a disagreeable and sickly efflu- vium. The history of this orchard pest has been admirably written by Professor Peck.t When a turnip crop has been fortunate enough to escape the ravages committed on it in the seed-leaf by a small jumping beetle ( Haltica nemorum, Illiger), and by a root weevil ( Nedyus contractus, Stephens), a no less formidable depredator sometimes appears in a caterpillar belonging to the saw-fly family ( Tenthredinidce ). and apparently of the genus Athalia. An instance is recorded by Marshall, in the Philosophical Transactions, of many thousand acres having had to be ploughed up on account of the devastations caused by these insects. It is, he informs us, the general opinion in Norfolk that they come from over-sea; and a fanner averred that he saw them arrive in clouds so as to darken the air, while the fishermen reported that they had repeatedly witnessed flights of them pass over their heads when they were at a distance from land. On the beach and the cliffs, indeed, they lay in heaps, so that they might have been taken up with shovels ; while three miles inland they crowded together like a swarm of bees. J We have little doubt, however, that these details are put in an inverse order ; as frequently occurs in histories of the proceedings of insects by those but little acquainted with their habits. Insects of this family, indeed, seldom fly far, and could not at all events cross the sea, unless it might be * Reaumur, vol. v., pi. 11, fig. 1, 2. t Nat. Hist, of the Slug-Worm, Boston, 1790. J Phil. Trails., vol. lxxiii. p. 317. CATERPILLARS. 383 a narrow bay or inlet ; and if they bad, we ought, to have heard of their departure as well as their arrival, since their extraordinary number could not have failed to attract public notice on other shores. The nature of these insects is to lie in the pupa state during the winter under ground ; and when, at its appointed time, the fly comes forth, it only lives to lay its eggs, usually dying within a few days or weeks. It must have been, therefore, after the laying their eggs on the turnips, and not before, that clouds of the flies were seen at sea and on the shore, though not arriving, but going away. They were, doubtless, impelled by that rest- less desire of change felt by all animals when death is approaching, and which in tropical countries is yearly exemplified in the destruction of locusts, for these always make for the sea, and perish there. But though they were thus got rid of in August 1782, they left a progeny behind them in the black caterpillars which were hatched from their eggs. In the summer of 1783, accordingly, we are told by Mr. Marshall, that whole districts were ravaged by them, — the descendants, of course, in the second generation, of the saw-flies which perished on the beach and at sea the preceding autumn. Some caterpillars, which either conceal themselves under ground, or feed on roots and the wood of trees, do consider- able injury, without apparent cause ; and often give occa- sion to the popular notions respecting mysterious blights, in this manner will the caterpillars of the ghost-moth ( Hepialiia Hamuli ) gnaw the roots of the burdock, and, what is of more consequence, of the hop plant, till the shoots are weakened, and the leaves droop in bright sunshine. 'V 0 have repeatedly seen, in the gardens about Lee, a large branch of red-currant bush, though previously healthy and loaded vitli fruit, all of a sudden droop and wither, giving good cause to surmise, except in the leaves not being brown or parched, that it had been struck with lightning. On cutting into such branches, however, the cause was uniformly found to be the ravages of the caterpillar of the currant hawk-moth (JEgeria tipuliformis, Stephens), which abounds in the vicinity. But we have also remarked that 384 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. it only occasionally produces this effect upon the trees ; for several hushes upon which we have found old pupa- cases projecting from the hark, remained healthy and uninjured. (J. It.) Sir Joseph Banks showed Mr. Kirby a currant branch perforated by this caterpillar to the pith, and said the size of the fruit was in consequence dimi- nished.* In Germany it is reported to destroy even large bushes of the red currant. There can be no doubt that the caterpillars of the goat-moth frequently destroy willow, poplar, and oak trees, of considerable magnitude ; but the mother moth seems to prefer laying her eggs upon those which have already begun to decay. A black poplar tree, not thicker than a man’s leg, and stripped on one side of more than a foot of the bark, was bored by above a dozen caterpillars of the clear underwing (Algeria asili- formis, Stephens), without seeming to have its growth at all retarded. f It does not appear that a minute moth, called by Leeuwenhoeck, who writes its history, the wolf, and by Haworth the mottled-woollen ( Ph . Tinea yranella , Linnjeus), is so abundant in Britain as to do much damage to the grain stored in granaries, upon which it feeds. But it seems to have created considerable alarm on the Continent. It has been found near London, and may increase with us. The caterpillar, which is smooth and white, ties together with silk several grains of wheat, barley, rye, or oats, weaving a gallery between them, from which it projects its head while feeding ; the grains, as lWaumur remarks, being prevented from rolling or slipping by the silk which unites them. He justly ridicules the absurd notion of its filing off the outer skin of the Avheat by rubbing upon it with its body, the latter being the softer of the two ; and he dis- proved, by experiment, Leeuwenhoeck’s assertion that it will also feed on woollen cloth. It is from the end of May till the beginning of July that the moths, which are of a silvery grey, spotted with brown, appear and lay their eggs in granaries. * Kirby and Spence, vol. i. p. 197. t See page 1G(J. CATERPILLARS. 385 The caterpillar of another still more singular grain-moth (Tinea Hordei, Kirby and Spence) proves sometimes very- destructive of granaries. The mother moth, in May or June, lays about twenty or more eggs on a grain of barley or wheat ; and when the caterpillars are hatched they dis- perse, each selecting a single grain. M. Reaumur imagines that sanguinary wars must sometimes arise, in cases of preoccupancy, a single grain of barley being a rich heritage for one of those tiny insects ; but he confesses he never Transformations of the grain-moths, a, grain of barley, including a caterpillar: b,c the grain cut across, seen to be hollowed out, and divided by a partition of silk ; d, the moth (.Tinea Harder)-, e, grains of wheat tied together by the caterpillar,/; u. the moth ( Euplocamu* yranella > • saw such contests. When the caterpillar has eaten its way into the interior of the grain, it feeds on the farina, taking care not to gnaw the skin nor even to throw out its excre- ments, so that except the little hole, scarcely discernible, the grain appears quite sound. When it has eaten all the farina, it spins itself a case of silk within the now hollow grain, and changes to a pupa in November.* Two other caterpillars of a different family, the honey- comb-moth ( Galleria cercana, Fabr.), and the honey-moth ( G . alvearia, Fabr.), the first having square, and the second rounded wings, f do very considerable damage to the hives of bees. The moths of both, according to Reaumur, appear * Reaumur, Mem., vol. ii. p. 486, &c. f Stephens’s Catalogue, vol. ii. p. 213. RAVAGES OF INSECTS. 386 about the end of June or beginning of July ; and when in danger they run rather than fly, gliding with such celerity that they can easily elude the vigilance of the bees, which, indeed, if we may trust Swammerdam, never attack them, nor prevent their entrance into the hives, unless they chance to brush against them in their passage. But Reaumur actually saw the bees pursue one, though without success. It becomes easy for a moth, at all events, to lay eggs among the combs ; or, as Keys says, at the entrance of the hive: this writer adds, “ she spins a close and strong web to defend the young;”* which is impossible, as no insect, subsequent to its larva state, can spin. The caterpillar of the first species, “ wherever it passes,” says Swammerdam, “ gnaws round holes through the waxen cells, one caterpillar sometimes breaking open and destroy- ing fifty or sixty cells. tY her ever it penetrates it always fabricates a hollow tubulated web, in which, as a rabbit in its burrow, it can very swiftly pass from one part to another, and speedily run back again. It fills the whole comb with such webs, and turns itself in them every way into various bendings and windings ; so that the bees are not only per- plexed and disturbed in their work, but they frequently entangle themselves by the claws and hairs of their legs in thoso webs, and the wholo hive is destroyed.” The other species he accuses of being not only destruc- tive to the wax, but to the bees themselves. “ I saw one of these little caterpillars,” he says, “whilst it was still small, and was breaking the cells in which the pupa of the bees lie, and eating the wax there, cover up these pup® with its excrements, so that they could scarcely be known.” He adds with groat naivete, “ I have learned these matters much against my inclination, and have been full of wrath against the insect for thus defiling and killing some bee pup® which I had designed to observe in their changes.”+ M. Bazin, a friend of Reaumur’s, discovered the cater- pillar of a moth of this order feeding on chocolate, of which it seemed very choice, always preferring that which had the * Keys, Treatise on Bees, p. 178, edit. 1814. f Swammerdam, vol. i. p. 225. GRUBS. 387 Transformations of the honeycomb-moths, a a a. Galleries of the cell-boring caterpil- lar; b, the female; c, the male moth (Galleria alvearia ); d d d d, galleries of the wax-eating caterpillar, e, seen at the entrance ;/, the same exposed; g, Its cocoon; h, the moth ( Galleria cereana). summer. It is probable that, like the cheese-fly, it might, in default of Ghocolate, select some other aliment.* Grubs. We frequently hear farmers and gardeners complaining that their produce is destroyed by “ the grub they might with equal propriety accuse “ the bird ” when their ripe seeds are devoured by sparrows, chaffinches, linnets, and other seed-eaters. Instead of one sort of grub, as the expression seems to indicate, we are far under the mark in reckoning a thousand species indigenous to Britain, each peculiar in its food and its manners. We shall, however, adhere as nearly as -possible to the terms in common use ; but as the larvae of the crane-flies ( Tipvlidce , Leach), being without legs, cannot bo accurately ranked with the legged finest flavour. The moth is sometimes produced in Sep- tember, and sometimes in the beginning of the following * Reaumur, vol. iii. p. 277. 388 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. grubs of beetles, we shall consider them as maggots, though they are usually termed grubs by the farmers. The most destructive, perhaps, of the creatures usually called grubs, are the larvae of the may-bug or cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris), but too well known, particularly in the southern and midland districts of England, as well as in Ireland, where the grub is called the Connaught worm;* but fortunately not abundant in the north. We only once met with the cockchafer in Scotland, at Sorn, in Ayrshire. (J. R.) Even in the perfect state, this insect is not a little destructive to the leaves of both forest and fruit trees. In 1823, we remember to have observed almost all the trees about Dulwich and Camberwell defoliated by them; and Salisbury says, the leaves of the oaks in Richmond Park were so eaten by them, that scarcely an entire leaf was left. But it is in their previous larva state that they are most destructive, as we shall see by tracing their history. The mother cockchafer, when about to lay her eggs, digs into the earth of a meadow or corn-field to the depth of a span, and deposits them in a cluster at the bottom of the excavation. Roscl, in order to watch the proceedings, put some females into glasses half-filled with earth, covered with a tuft of grass and a piece of thin muslin. In a fort- night, he found some hundreds of eggs deposited, of an oval shape and a pale-yellow colour. Placing the glass in a cellar, the eggs were hatched towards autumn, and the grubs increased remarkably in size. In the following May they fed so voraciously that they required a fresh turf every second day ; and even this proving too scanty provender, he sowed in several garden pots a crop of peas, lentils, and salad, and when the plants came up he put a pair of grubs in each pot ; and in this manner he fed them through the second and third years. During this period, they cast their skins three or four times, going for this purpose deeper into the earth, and burrowing out a hole where they might effect their change undisturbed ; and they do the same in winter, during which they become torpid and do not eat. * Bingley, Anim. Biog., vol. iii. p. 230. GRUBS. 389 When the grub changes into a pupa, in the third autumn after it is hatched, it digs a similar burrow about a yard deep ; and when kept in a pot, and prevented from going Transformations of the cockchafer ( Melotontha vulgarity. a, Newly-hatched larv® 0. larva, one year old. c, the same larva at the second year ol Its growth, d, the same three years old. e, section of a bank of earth, containing the chrysalis of the fourth year. /, the chafer first emerging from the earth, g, the perfect chafer in a sittine posture, ft, the same flying. * deep enough, it shows great uneasiness and often dies. The perfect beetlo comes foi-th from the pupa in January or February; but it is then as soft as it was whilst still a grub, and does not acquire its hardness and colour for ten or twelve days, nor does it venture above ground before May, on the fourth year from the time of its hatching. At this time, the beetles may be observed issuing from their holes in the evening, and dashing themselves about in the air as if blind. During the three summers then of their existence in the grub state, these insects do immense injury, burrowing 390 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. between the turf and the soil, and devouring the roots of grass and other plants ; so that the turf may easily be rolled off, as if cut by a turfing spade, while the soil under- neath for an inch or more is turned into soft mould like the bed of a garden. Mr. Anderson, of Norwich, mentions having seen a whole field of fine flourishing grass so under- mined by these grubs, that in a few weeks it became as dry, brittle, and withered as hay.* Bingley also tells us that “ about sixty years ago, a farm near Norwich was so infested with cockchafers, that the farmer and his servants affirmed they gathered eighty bushels of them ; and the grabs had done so much injury, that the court of the city, in compassion to the poor fellow’s misfortune, allowed him twenty-five pounds. ”f In the year 1785, a farmer, near Blois, in France, employed a number of children and poor persons to destroy the cockchafers at the rate of two liards a hundred, and in a few days they collected fourteen thousand. J “I remember,” says Salisbury, “seeing in a nursery near Bagshot, several acres of young forest trees, particu- larly larch, the roots of which were . completely destroyed by it, so much so that not a single tree was left alive.” § We are doubtful, however, whether this was the grub of the cockchafer, and think it more likely to have been that of the green rose-beetle ( Cetonia aurata ), which feeds on the roots of trees. The grub of an allied genus, the midsummer chafer (Zantheumia solstitialis, Leacii), has for the last two years been abundant on Lewisham Hill, Blacklieath, doing con- siderable injury to herbage and garden plants. This beetle may be known from being smaller and paler than the cock- . ohafer, and from its not appearing before midsummer. The grub is very similar. The best way of preventing the ravages of these insects would be to employ children to collect the perfect insects when they first appear, before they lay their eggs ; but when a field is once overrun with the larva, nothing can * Phil. Trans., vol. xliv. p. 579. f Anim. Biog., vol iii. p. 233. $ Anderson’s Recr. in Agricult., vol. iii. p 420. § Hints, p. 74. GRUBS. 391 be done with it, except paring and burning tbe surface, or ploughing it up, and turning in a flock of ducks or other poultry, or a drove of pigs, which are said to eat these grubs, and to fatten on the fare. Drenching the field with stable urine* by means of reservoir-carts, like those used for watering-roads, would, if sufficiently done, both kill the grubs and beneficially manure the land. The grub called the ycire-icorm, though not very appro- priately, is the larva of one of the spring or elicit beetles ( IJemirhipus lineatus, and //. obscurus, Latreille), known by their long flattish body, and their power of springing with a clicking sound out of the hand when caught. In some works on agriculture, the larva of a common crane-fly ( Tip ul a oleracea or T. crocata) is called the wire-worm ., — we suppose by mistake.f. The grubs of the click-beetles, just alluded to, are said by BierscanderJ and by Mr. Paul of Starston, Norfolk, § who watched their transformations, to a, Wire-worm ; 6, Click beetle. continue five years before producing the perfect insect. During this time the grub feeds chiefly on the roots of wheat, rye, oats, barley, and grass ; but seems also some- times to attack the larger roots of potatoes, carrots, and salads. Its ravages are often so extensive as to cut oft' entire crops of grain. It appears to be most partial to land newly broken up ; and has not been found so abundant in * See the Harleian Dairy System, p. 222. t See Loudon’s Encycl. of Agricult., s. G921. X Act. Holm. 1779, p. 284. § Kirby and Spence, vol. i. p. 182. 392 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. meadows and pastures, unless in fields recently laid down with grass. “ The wire-worm,” says Spence, “ is particularly destructive for a few years in gardens recently converted from pasture ground. In the botanic garden at Hull, thus circumstanced, a great proportion of the annuals sown in 1813 were destroyed by it. A very simple and effectual remedy, in such cases, was mentioned to me by Sir Joseph Banks. He recommended that slices of potatoes, stuck upon skewers, should be buried near the seeds sown, ex- amined every day, and the wire-worms, which collect upon them in great numbers, destroyed.”* The wire-worm is long, slender, and very tough and hard ; but otherwise it has no resemblance to wire, being whitish in colour, of a flattish form, and jointed or ringed. Its breathing spiracles, two in number, are on the back of its last ring. An insect of this family (Elater noctilucus, Linn.) is ex- ceedingly destructive, in the West Indies, to the sugar- cane ; the grub, according to Humboldt and Bonpland, feeding on its roots and killing the plants. ”+ Instances are by no means rare, however, of insects being accused of depredations of which they are not guilty, from the mere circumstance of their being found in abundance where ravages have been committed by others that have naturally disappeared. It is not improbable that this was the case with a grub of some beetle (Staphylinidce ?) men- tioned by Mr. Walford, and mistaken by him for the wire- worm. Out of fifty acres of wheat sown in 1802, ten had been destroyed in October by this grub eating into the centre of the young stem an inch below the surface and killing the plant. J It seems still more probable that the grub of a native beetle ( Zcibrus gibbus , Stephens) which has been found in considerable numbers near Worthing, Brighton, Hastings, and Cambridge, has been unjustly blamed as a destroyer of corn ; though we have the respect- able authority of Gennar, who, with other members of the society of Natural History of Halle, imagined he had ascer- * Intr. i. 182-3. + Geo g. des Plantes, 136. $ Linn.. Trans., vol. ix. p. 156-61. GRUBS. 393 tained the fact. In the spring of 1813, about two hundred and thirty acres of young wheat are said to have been de- stroyed by it ; and it is farther supposed to be the same insect which caused great destruction in Italy in 1776. This grab is said to take probably three years in coming to a beetle, in which state it is alleged to clamber up the stems at night to get at the corn. It is important to remark, that along with these grubs were found those of a chafer ( Melolontha rujicornis , Fabk.), in the proportion of about a fourth.* a b a, Zabrus gibbus ; 6, Melolontha niflcomls. To this account Mr. Stephens appends the shrewd ques- tions— “ May not these herbivorous larvae [of the chafer] have been the principal cause of mischief to the wheat, while those of the Zabrus rather contributed to lessen their numbers than to destroy the corn ? And is it not probable that the perfect insects ascend the com for the purpose of devouring the insect parasites thereon ? This is a subject,” ho justly adds, “ that requires investigation, as it is highly important, for the interests of the agriculturists in those districts where the insect abounds, that the question should be thoroughly set at rest ; because, should the Zabri depart from the habits of the group to which they belong, and become herbivorous instead of carnivorous, their destruction would be desirable ; while, on the contrary, if they destroy the devourers of our produce their preservation should bo attempted. ”f * Germar, Mag. dcr Entomol., i. 1-10 ; and Kirby and Spence, i. 169. t Stephens, Illustrations, i. Mnndib. pp. 4 and 140. 394 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. We have little doubt that Mr. Stephens is right, and Germar wrong; hut it would be improper to decido the question by analogy unsupported by direct experiment. One thing is certain, that both this family ( Harpalidce , Mac- Leay) and the whole section ( Adephaga , Clairville) are not herbivorous, but carnivorous.* Similar errors will come under our notice, as we proceed, not more defensible than that of the old soldier causing caterpillars in France. Even when agricultural produce escapes being devoured at the root, or the young shoots eaten up, the seeds are often made the prey of the grubs of beetles and weevils. Among the first, the gnawing beetles ( Bruchidce , Leach) are very destructive. In North America, the pea-beetle ( Bruchus Pisi , Linn.) commits such extensive depredations on pulse, that in some districts the sowing of peas has been abandoned as useless. Kalin, the Swedish traveller, hav- ing witnessed these depredations in America, became quite alarmed when he discovered the insect among some peas he had brought to Sweden, lest he should be the means of introducing so formidable a pest.f His fears seem to us to have been in a great measure groundless ; for, probably, the insect may be indigenous to Sweden, as it is to Britain, though from circumstances of climate, and other causes, it is seldom produced in such numbers with us as to occasion extensive damage. It may have been the same or an allied species of grub mentioned by Amoroux as having spread an alarm in France in 1780, when the old fancy of its being poisonous induced the public authorities to prohibit peas from being sold in the markets. J The insect most de- structive to our peas is the pulse-beetle ( Bruchus granarius, Linn.), which sometimes lays an egg on every pea in a pod, which the grub, when hatched, destroys. In the same way, clover-seed is often attacked by two or more species of small weevil ( Apian , Herbst), known by the yellow colour of their thighs or their feet ; and when the fanner expects * See an illustration in p. 181. f Kalin's Travels, vol. i. p . 173. J Amoroux, Insectes Venimeux, p. 288. Kirby and Spence, vol. i. p. 177. GRUBS. 395 to reap considerable profit, be finds nothing but empty husks. We have mentioned the ravages committed in granaries by the caterpillars of small moths ; but these are rivalled in the work of destruction by several species of grubs. One of these grubs is called by the French cadelle ( Trtxjo - sita mauritanica, Olivier), and is reported to have done more damage to housed grain than any other insect.* The pest of the granaries, which is but too well known in this countiy, is the grain weevil ( Calandra granaria, Clairville), the same, probably, which is mentioned by Virgil — — : Populatque ingentem farris acervum Curculio. Georg, i. 87. The high stacks of corn Are wasted by the weevil. Trapp. Kirby and Spence calculate that a single pair of weevils V Com weevil ( Calandra granaria'), magnified. may produce in one season 6000 descendants ; and they were told by an extensive brewer that he had collected and destroyed them by bushels, f— meaning, no doubt, insects and damaged grain together. Another beetle grub, popularly called the meal-worm, the larva of Tenebrio molitor, Linn., which lives in that state two years, does no little damage to flour, as well as to bread, cakes, biscuit, and similar articles. Accounts are also given of the ravages committed by the grubs of other beetles, of several species apparently not well ascertained, upon differ- ent sorts of provisions, such as bacon, ham, dried tongues, ship-biscuit, &c. Sparrman tells us that he has witnessed * Olivier, vol. ii. p. 19. f Intr. i. p. 173. 396 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. the ground peas on shipboard so infested with these grubs, that they were seen in ever}’- spoonful of the soup. In the case of soup, or of other food which has been exposed to heat, the only inconvenience is the disgust which must ensue ; but, unfortunately, there may sometimes occur cir- cumstances of a more serious nature, from either the eggs or the insects themselves being incautiously swallowed alive. We do not wish, however, to create, so much as to allay, the fears entertained by those who are unacquainted with the habits of insects ; and nothing we are persuaded will do this more effectually than a statement of facts well ascertained. “ Several people,” says the Abbe de la Pluche, “ never eat fruit because they believe that spiders and other insects scatter their eggs upon it at random but even if this were so, as it is not, it would be impossible for the young, should they be hatched in the stomach, to live there for an instant. The possible cases in which this may occur we shall now briefly notice ; they are fortunately very rare. The grub of the nut weevil ( Balaninus Nucum, Gkrmar) might, perhaps, by rare accident, get into the stomach, either of man or of the quadrupeds which feed on nuts ; but as it is by no means so tenacious of life as the grub of the churchyard-beetle ( Blnps mortisaga), it is unlikely that it would produce any considerable disorder. The weevil in question, like the rest of its congeners, is furnished with an instrument for depositing its eggs considerably different from those of the ichneumons and saw-flies. For this purpose the weevil makes use of its long horny beak ( Rostrum ) to drill a hole in filberts and hazel-nuts, while in their young and soft state, about the beginning of August. The mother weevil may then be seen eagerly running over the bushes, and it would appear that she always rejects the nuts in which one of her neighbours may have previously laid an egg ; at least we never find two grubs in the same nut. The egg which is thus thrust into the young nut, is of a brown colour, and is batched in about a fortnight, the grab feeding on the interior of the shell as well as the soft * Spectacle de la Nature, vol. i. p. 65. GRUBS OF BEETLES. 397 pulp, till the one becomes too hard and the other too dry to be nutritive. It is remarkable that, during this period, he takes care not to injure the kernel, but permits it to ripen before he attacks it. Had he done this prematurely, he would have ultimately been starved, as ho has not the power of perforating another nut when the first is consumed. It is said also that he is very careful to preserve the original hole made by the mother, by gnawing around its inner edges, in order to facilitate his exit,* which he effects when the nut falls to the ground in September or October. The hole found in the nut appears much too small to have admitted of its passage ; but from being very soft it no doubt stretches itself out for the purpose, using its short claws as instruments of motion. Rose], in order to observe the transformation of these nut grubs, put a number of them, at the commencement of winter, into glasses half filled with earth, covered with green turf. All of them dug directly down into the earth, remained theie all the winter, and did not change into pupm till the following June ; the perfect weevils appeared from the 1st till about the 20th of August, but still kept under ground for the first week after their change. “During the autumn,” says Salisbury, “wo frequently observe a small red weevil busily employed in traversing * Bingley, Animal Biography, vol. iii. p. 251. 398 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. the branches of apple-trees, on which it lays its eggs by perforating the bloom buds. In the spring these hatch, and the grubs feed on the petals of the flowers, drawing up the whole flower into a cluster by means of their web. The bloom thus becomes destroyed, and the grub falls to the ground, where it lays itself up in the chrysalido state ; and in the autumn afterwards we find the weevil renewed, which again perforates the buds, and causes a similar destruction in the following spring. Mr. Knight, in his treatise on the apple, mentions a beetle which commits great destruction on the apple-trees in Herefordshire ; but I do not think it the same as the one I have described above, and which is very common in the gardens near London.”* Salisbury’s weevil is probably the Anthonomus Pomorum of Germar; and Knight’s, his Polydrusus Mali. Another weevil ( Rhynchites Bacchus, IIerbst), one of our most splendid but not very common native insects, bores into the stone of the cherry, &c., while it is young and soft, and deposits an egg there, as the nut weevil does in the nut. Perhaps the most voracious grub on record is that of a large and beautiful beetle ( Calosoma sycophanta, Weber), which is rare in Britain. It is sometimes found in the nests of the procession ary and other gregarious caterpillars, so gorged with those it has devoured that it can scarcely move without bursting. Not contented with this prey alone, however, the younger grubs are said “often to take advantage of the helpless inactivity into which the gluttony of their maturer comrades has thrown them, and from mere wantonness, it should seem, when in no need of other food, pierce and devour them.’ + It is a familiar occurrence to those who breed insects to find caterpillars, whose natural food is leaves, devouring others in the same nurse-box ; and without any apparent discrimination whether these are the progeny of their ov7n mother, or of a different species. J (J.R.) * Salisbury’s Hints on Orchards, p. 92. f Kirby and Spence, vol. i. p. 277. % See also De Geer, vol. i. p. 533, &c., and Reaumur, vol. ii. p. 413. GRUBS OF BEETLES. 399 We have frequently observed a very remarkable instinct in the grubs of a species of beetle (Scolytus destructor , Geoffkoy), which lives under the dead bark of trees. The mother insect, as is usual with beetles, deposits her eggs in a patch or cluster in a chink or hole in the bark; and when the brood is hatched, they begin feeding on the bark which had formed their cradle. There is, of oourse, no- thing wonderful in their- eating the food selected by then- mother; but it appears that, like the caterpillars of the clothes-moth, and the tent insects, they cannot feed except under cover. They dig, therefore, long tubular galleries between the bark and the wood; and, in order not to interfere with the runs of their brethren, they branch off from the place of hatching like rays from the centre of a circle : though these are not always in a right line, yet, however near they may approach to the contiguous ones, none of them ever break into each other’s premises. We cannot but admire the remarkable instinct implanted in these grubs by their Creator ; which guides them thus in lines diverging farthor and farther as they increase in size, so that they are prevented from interfering with the com- forts of one another. Bark mined In rays by beetle-grubs. The various instances of voracity which wo have thus described sink into insignificance when compared with the 400 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. terrible devastation produced by the lain-* of the locust ( Locusta migratoria , Leach),— the scourge of Oriental coun- tries. “ A fire devoureth before them,” says the Prophet Joel, “ and behind them a flame burnetii : the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness ; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The sound of their wings is as the sound of chariots, of many horses running to battle ; on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their faces, the people shall be much pained, all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men ; they shall climb the wall like men of war ; and they shall march every one in his ways, and they shall not break their ranks ; neither shall one thrust another.”* The intelligent traveller, Dr. Shaw, was an eye-witness of their devastations in Barbary in 1724, where they first appeared about the end of March, their numbers increasing so much in the beginning of April as literally to darken the sun ; but by the middle of May they began to disappear, retiring into the Mettijiah and other adjacent plains to deposit their eggs. “ These were no sooner hatched in June,” he continues, “than each of the broods collected itself into a compact body, of a furlong or more in square ; and marching afterwards directly forwards toward the sea, they let nothing escape them, — they kept their ranks like men of war ; climbing over, as they advanced, every tree or wall that was in their way ; nay, they entered into our very houses and bed-chambers, like so many thieves. The inhabitants, to stop their progress, formed trenches all over their fields and gardens, which they filled with water. Some placed large quantities of heath, stubble, and other combustible matter, in rows, and set them ’on fire, on the approach of the locusts ; but this was all to no purpose, for the trenches were quickly filled up, and the fires put out, by immense swarms that succeeded each other. “ A day or two after one of these hordes was in motion, * Joel ii. 2, &c. LOCUSTS. 401 others1 were already hatched to march and glean after them. Having lived near a month in this manner, they arrived at their full growth, and threw off their nympha shite by cast- ing their outward skin. To prepare themselves for this change, they clung by their hinder feet to some bush, twig, or corner of a stone; and immediately, by using an undu- lating motion, their heads would first break out, and then the lest of their bodies. The whole transformation was performed in seven or eight minutes ; after which they lay for a small time in a torpid, and, seemingly, in a languish- ing condition ; but as soon as the sun and the air had hardened their wings by drying up the moisture that re- mained upon them after casting their sloughs, they resumed their former voracity, with an addition of strength and agility. Yet they continued not long in this state before they were entirely dispersed.”* It is difficult to form an adequate conception of the swarms of locusts which, in 1797, invaded the interior of southern Africa, as recorded by Mr. Barrow. Tn the part of the country where he was, the whole surface of the ground, for an area of nearly two thousand square miles, might literally be said to be covered with them. The water of a very wide river was scarcely visible, on account of the dead carcases of locusts that floated on the surface, di owned in the attempt to come at the reeds that grew in it. They had devoured every blade of grass, and every gieen herb, except the reeds. But they are not precisely without a choice in their food. When they attack a field of corn just come into ear, they first, according to Mr. Barrow, mount to the summit and pick out every grain before they touch the leaves and stem, keeping the while constantly in motion, with the same intent of destruction always in view. When the larvae, which are much more voracious than the perfect insects, are on a march during the day, it is utterly impossible to turn the direction of the troop, and this seems usually to correspond with that of the wind. Towards the setting oi the sun the march is discontinued, when the * Shaw’s Travels, p. 287. 402 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. troop divides into companies that surround the small shrubs, or tufts of grass, or ant-hills, in such thick patches, that they appear like so many swarms of bees ; and in this manner they rest till daylight. At these times it is that the farmers have any chance of destroying them ; this they sometimes effect by driving among them a flock of two or three thousand sheep, by whose restlessness great numbers of them are trampled to death. Idle year 1797 was the third of their continuance in Sneuwberg ; and their increase had been more than a million-fold from year to year. This district, however, had been entirely free from them for ten years preceding their visit in 1794. Their former exit was singular : all the full-grown insects were driven into the sea by a tempestuous north-west wind, and were afterwards cast up on the beach, where they formed a bank of three or four feet high, and extending to a distance of nearly fifty miles. When this mass became putrid, and the wind was at south-east, the stench was sensibly felt in several parts of Sneuwberg, although distant at least a hundred and fifty miles.* Pallas gives a more detailed account of the daily proceed- ings of the larvae of the Italian locust (Locust a Jtalica, Leach). “In serene weather,” he tells us, “the locusts are in full motion in the morning, immediately after the evaporation of the dew; and if no dew has fallen, they appear as soon as the sun imparts his genial warmth. At first, some are seen running about like messengers among the reposing swarms, which are lying partly compressed upon the ground at the side of small eminences, and partly attached to tall plants and shrubs. Shortly after the whole body begins to move forward in one direction, and with little deviation. They resemble a swarm of ants, all taking the same course, at small distances, but without touching each other : they uniformly travel towards a certain region as fast as a fly can run, and without leaping, rmless pursued ; in which case, indeed, they disperse, but soon collect again and follow their former route. In this manner they ad- * Barrow’s Travels in South Africa, p. 257. LOCUSTS. 403 vauce from morning to evening without halting, frequently at the rate of a hundred fathoms and upwards in the course of a day. Although they prefer marching along high roads, footpaths, or open tracts, yet, when their progress is opposed by bushes, hedges, and ditches, they penetrate through them; their way can only be impeded by the ^ateis of brooks or canals, as they are apparently terrified at e\ ery kind of moisture. Often, however, they endeavour to gain the opposite bank, with the aid of overhanging boughs; and, if the stalks of plants or shrubs be laid across the water, they pass in close columns over these temporary biidges, on which they even seem to rest, and enjoy the i efreshing coolness. Towards sunset, the whole swarm giadually collect in parties, and creep up the plants, or encamp on slight eminences. On cold, cloudy, or rainy days, they do not travel. As soon as they acquire wings, they progressively disperse, but still fly about in large swarms.”* ® A\ hen Captains Irty and Mangles were travelling round the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, in the end of May, they had an opportunity of observing these insect depre- dators. “ In the morning,” say they, “ we quitted Shobek. On our way we passed a swarm of locusts that were resting themselves in a gully : they were in sufficient numbers to alter apparently the colour of the rock on which they had alighted, anti to make a sort of crackling noise while eatino- which we heard before we reached them. Volney compares it to the foraging of an army. Our conductors told us they were on their way to Gaza, and that they pass almost annually.’ f Even our own island has been alarmed by the appearance of locusts, a considerable number having visited us in 1748 • but, they happily perished without propagating. Other parts ot Europe have not been so fortunate. In 1650 a cloud of locusts were seen to enter Russia in three different places ; and they afterwards spread themselves over Poland and Lithuania in such astonishing multitudes, that the air * Travels in Kussia, vol. ii. pp. 422-G. t Irby and Mangles’ Travels in Egypt and Syria, p. 443. 404 RAVAGES OP INSECTS. was darkened, and the earth covered with their numbers. In some places they were seen lying dead, heaped upon Locust. each other to the depth of four feet ; in others they covered the surface of the ground like a black cloth : the trees bent with their weight, and the damage the country sustained exceeded computation.* They have frequently come also from Africa into Italy and Spain. In the year 591 an infinite army of locusts, of a size unusually large, ravaged a considerable part of Italy, and being at last cast into the sea (as seems for the most part to be their fate), a pesti- lence, it is alleged, arose from their stench, which carried off nearly a million of men and beasts. In the Venetian territory, likewise, in 1478, more than 30,000 persons are said to have perished in a famine chiefly occasioned by the depredations of locusts, t Maggots. Adhering to the distinction of terming those larvae which are destitute of feet, maggots , we shall notice here a very destructive one, which is sometimes popularly called the grub, and sometimes confounded with the wire-worm. + We allude to the larvae of one or two common species of crane-flies ( Tipididoe ), well known by the provincial names of Father long-legs, Jenny-spinners, and tailors. These * Bingley, Anim. Biog., vol. iii. p. 280. f Moult'd, Theatr. Insect., p. 123. X See Sticknoy’s Observ. on the Grub, 8vo. Hull, 1800. MAGGOTS. 405 insects are so common in some meadows, tliat, being very shy and fearful of danger, they rise in swarms at every step — some of them flying high, others only skipping over the grass, and others running and using their long legs as the inhabitants of marshy countries use stilts, and employing their wings like the ostrich to aid their limbs. These flies deposit their eggs in the earth : sometimes in grass-fields or moist meadows, and sometimes in the tilled ground of gardens and farms. For this purpose the female is provided with an ovipositor well adapted to the operation, consisting of a sort of pincers or forceps of a homy consistence, and sharp at the point. By pressure, as Beaumur says, the eggs may be extmded from this in the same way as the stone can be easily squeezed out of a ripe cherry, as in the following figure. Ovipositor and eggs of the crane-fly (Tipula). The eggs are exceedingly small and black, like grains of gunpowder, and each female lays a good many hundreds. The position which she assumes appears somewhat awkward, for she raises herself perpendicularly on her two hind-legs' using her ovipositor as a point of support, and resting with her fore-legs upon the contiguous herbage. She then thrusts her ovipositor into the ground as far as the first l ing of her body, and leaves one or more eggs in the hole • and next moves onwards to another place, but without 406 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. bringing herself into a horizontal position. The maggot, when hatched from the egg, immediately attacks the roots of the grass and other herbage which it finds nearest to it; and of course the portion of the plant above ground withers for lack of nourishment. The maggots of this family which seem to do most injury are those of Tipula oleracea and T. comieina. In the summer of 1828, we observed more than an acre of ground, adjoin- ing the Bishop of Oxford’s garden at Blackheath, as entirely stripped, both of grass and everything green, as if the tuif had been pared off from the surface, the only plant un- touched being the tiny bird-tare ( Ornitkopus perpusillus). On digging here to learn the cause, we found these larvrn already full-fed, and about to pass into pupee, after having left nothing upon which they could subsist. It was not a little remarkable that they seemed to be altogether confined to this spot ; for we did not meet with a single foot of turf destroyed by them in any other part of the heath, or in the adjacent fields. So very complete, however, was their destruction of the roots on the spot in question, that even now, at the distance of two years, it is still visibly thinner of herbage than the parts around it. (J. R.) Reaumur gives a similar account of their ravages in Poitou, where, in certain seasons, the grass of the low moist meadows has been so parched up in consequence, as not to afford sufficient provender for the cattle, lie describes the soil in Poitou as a black peat mould ; and it was the same in which we found them at Blackheath, with this difference that the spot was elevated and dry. According to M. Reaumur, also, their only food is this sort of black mould, and not the roots of grass and herbage, which he thinks are only loosened by their burrowing.* This view of the matter appears strongly corroborated by the fact that several species of the family feed upon the mould in the holes of decaying frees, particularly the larva of a very beautiful one ( Ctenophora Jiaveolata, Meigex), which is very rare in Britain. It is proper to mention, however, that * Reaumur, v. 12, Ac. MAGGOTS. 407 Mr. Stickney’s experiments,* contrary to the conclusions of Keaumur, indicate that these larva} devour the roots of grass ; and Stewart 'says they “ feed on the roots of plants, coni, and grasses, and are thence destructive to gardens, fields, and meadows. They prevailed in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and other places in Scotland, in the spring of 1800, when they laid waste whole fields of oats and other grain.”f In many districts of England these insects cut off a large proportion of the wheat crop, particularly, it would appear, when it had been sown on clover leys. “ In the rich district,” say Kirby and Spence, “of Sunk Island, in Holdemess, in tho spring of 1813, hundreds of acres of pasture have been entirely destroyed by them, being ren- dered as completely brown as if they had suffered a three months drought, and destitute of all vegetation except a few thistles. A square foot of the dead turf being dug up, 210 grabs were counted on it; and, what furnishes a strik- ing proof of the prolific powers of those insects, last year it was difficult to find a single one.”J It is worthy of remark that the mandibles of these de- structive creatures, which are claw-shaped and transverse, do not act against each other as is usual among insects, but against two other pieces which are immoveable, convex, and toothed, — as if the under-jaw in quadrupeds were divided into two, and should act vertically on the two portions of the immoveable upper-jaw thrown in between them. The maggot of a minute fly of the same family, known by the name of the wheat-fly ( Cecidomyia Tritici, Ivirby and Spence), is frequently productive of great damage in the crops of wheat. Its history was first investigated by Marsham, and subsequently by Kirby and Spence, and several other intelligent naturalists. The parent fly is very small, notunlike a midge (Culicoides punctata, Latr.), of an orange colour, and wings rounded at tho tip, and fringed * Obs. on the Grub. f Elements, ii. 2G7. J Intr. i. 318, note. 408 RAVAGES OF IN'SECTS. with hairs.* The female is furnished with a retractile ovi- positor, four times as long as the body, and as fine as a hair, for depositing her eggs, which she does in the glumes of the florets of the grain. The following account of its proceedings is given by Mr. Shireff, an intelligent farmer of East Lothian : — “Wheat-flies,” he says, “were first observed here this season on the evening of the 21st of June; and, from the vast number seen, it is probable a few of them may have been in existence some days previous. The eggs were visible on the 23rd, tho larvae on the 30th of that month, and the pupae on the 29th of July. The flies were observed depositing eggs on tho 28th, and finally disappeared on the 30th of July ; thus having existed throughout a period of thirty -nine days. “ The flies were observed to frequent the wheat-plant, including the tliick-rooted couch-grass ( Triticum repens'). They generally reposed on the lower parts of the stems during the day, and became active about sunset, except when the wind was high. I have, however, seen them flying about on cloudy mornings, till seven o’clock ; and, upon one occasion, witnessed them depositing their eggs, in a shaded situation, at two in the afternoon. Their move- ments appear to be influenced by the rays of light, of which they seem impatient, being active when the sun is below or near the horizon : they frequent the most umbrageous part of the crop, and shun that which is deficient in foliage. “ The flies almost invariably preferred the ears emerging from the vagina, to those farther advanced, for depositing their eggs on ; and as one side only of the ear is exposed when the plant is in this stage of growth, the other side generally remained uninjured The fly deserted the fields as the crop advanced towards maturity, and were found longest on the spring-sown portion of the crop. It seemed to feed on the gum adhering to the newly-emerged ears ; and as there is a great diversity in the time of sowing Avheat in this neighbourhood, and consequently of the ears * Linn. Trans., vol. iii. p. 243; iv. 234-240; v. 9G. MAGGOTS. 409 escaping from the vagina, I attribute the unusual length of time it has existed this season, to the supply of food thus gradually furnished. “ The fly deposits its eggs with much intensity, and may easily be taken when so employed. Upon one occasion, 1 numbered thirty-five flies on a single ear ; and, after carry- ing it a distance of a quarter of a mile, six of them still con- tinued to deposit eggs. At another time, I placed a fly, then laying, between the face and glass of my watch, where it deposited several eggs, although invariably interrupted by the revolution of the moment hand. “ The eggs of the fly are generally found in clusters, varying in number from two to ten, upon the inner chaff, in which the furrowed side of the grain is embedded, and are also occasionally to be seen in the interior parts of the flower and chaff. The eggs are deposited by means of a long slender tube, and fixed with a glutinous substance possessed by the fly. A thread of glutinous matter fre- quently connects a cluster of eggs with the style, where the larvm seem to subsist on the pollen ; jn one instance, fifteen eggs were numbered on such a thread, several of which were suspended on the portion extending between the cliafl and the style. The fly not only seems thus to provide a conveyance from the larvae to the style, but also food for their support. The anthers are prevented from leaving the style in consequence of being gummed down by the glutinous matter of the fly, and the pollen thereby detained for the use of the larvae, which otherwise would, in part, be carried out of the glumes by the expansion of the filaments, — known to fanners by the term bloom. In the exertion of gumming down the anthers, many of the flies are entangled in the vascules of the corolla, and thus become a sacrifice to their maternal affection. “ The larvae are produced from the eggs in the course of eight 01 ten day s : they are at first perfectly transparent, and assume a yellow colour a few days afterwards. They travel not fi om one floret to another, and forty-seven have been numbered in one. Occasionally there are found in the same floret larval and a grain, which is generally 410 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. shrivelled, as if deprived of nourishment ; and although the pollen may furnish the larvae with food in the first instance, they soon crowd around the lower part of the germen, and there, in all probability, subsist on the matter destined to have formed the grain.”* Another intelligent observer, Mr. Gorrie, of Annat Gardens, Perthshire, found that by the first of August all the maggots leave the ears, and go into the ground about the depth of half an inch, where it is probable they pass the winter in the pupa state. f Germination of a (train of wheat a, the heart of the grain, the part devoured by the insect. 6, bag of the seed, c, the root. <1, vessels to convey the nutriment for the root, e, feathers conveying the pollen to fructify the seed. It is interesting to learn that this destructive insect is providentially prevented from multiplying so numerously as it might otherwise do, by at least two species of ichneu- mons, which deposit their eggs in the larvaj. One of these ( Encyrtus inserens , Late.) is very small, black, and shining. The other ( Platygastcr Tipulce, Late.) is also black, with * Loudon’s Mag. of Nat. Hist., Nov. 1829, p. 450. f Ibid, Sept. 1829, p. 324. MAGGOTS. 411 red feet, and a blunt tail. These have been frequently mistaken for the wheat-fly ; but as it has only tico wings, while they have four, the distinction is obvious. In order to observo the proceedings of the ichneumons, Kirby placed a number of the larvae of the wheat-fly on a sheet of white Transformations of the wheat-fly; n, the female flv, magnified ; b, larva- natural size feeding; c, one magnified. ' ’ paper, and set a female ichneumon in the midst of them. She soon pounced upon her victim, and intensely vibrating her antennae, and bending herself obliquely, plunged her ovijiositor into the body of the larva, depositing in it a single egg. She then passed to a second, and proceeded in the same manner, depositing a single egg in each. Nay, when she examined one which she found had already been pricked, she always rejected it and passed to another.* Mr. Shireff repeated these experiments successfully, except that he saw an ichneumon twice prick the same maggot, which “writhed in seeming agony,” and “it was again stung three times by the same fly.” He adds, “ the earwig also destroys the larva}, three of which I successively pre- sented to an earwig, which devoured them immediately .”+ Mi . Gorrie describes these ichneumons as appearing in myriads on the outside of the ear; but as impatient of bright light, sheltering themselves from the sun’s rays among the husks. Our English naturalists were for many years of opinion, that the insect called the Hessian-fly, so destructive to wheat ciops in America, belonged to the same family ( Musculo;) with the common house-fly; and Mr. Markwick, an intelligent naturalist, by a scries of observations on a * Linn. Trans, ut supra. f Loudon’s Mag.'ui supra. 412 RAVAGES OF IN'SECTS. British fly ( Chlorops pumUionis, Meigen) which attacks the steins of wheat, created no little alarm among agriculturists. Markwick’s fly is less than a fourth of an inch in length, with dark shoulders striped with two yellow lines ; and the maggot- is white. He planted roots of wheat containing larvae in a small flower-pot, and covered them with gauze. Each stem produced one of thp above flies. The crop of wheat attacked by this maggot, though at first it appeared to fail, turned out well in consequence of numerous side shoots. It is only the early wheat sown in October that is affected by it.# a. The Hesslan-fly (Cecidomi/ia destructor); 6, Mark wick fly (Chlorops pumHionisX magnified. It now appears that Markwick was altogether mistaken in identifying his insect with the Ilessian-fly (Cecidomyia destructor. Say), which has been accurately described by Mr. Sav in the ‘ Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia’ fur 1817. It is a little larger than our wheat-fly, more slender in the body, has longer legs, and is not orange, but black and fulvous. The female deposits from one to eight or more eggs on a single plant of wheat, between the sheath of the inner leaf and the stem nearest the roots ; in which situation, with its head towards the root or first joint, the young larva passes the winter, eating into the stem, and causing it to break. f The devastation committed by the Hessian-fly seems to have been first observed in 1776, and it was erroneously supposed that the insect was conveyed among straw by the Hessian troops from Germany. It was first noticed in the wheat fields of Long Island, from which it spread gradually * Mag. Nat. Hist., July 1829, p. 292. f Ibid., vol. i. p, 228. MAGGOTS. 413 at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles round ; and in 1789 it had advanced two hundred miles from its original station in Long Island. Other accounts state that it did not travel more than seven miles annually, and did little serious damage before 1788. Their numbers seem almost incredible. The houses in the infested districts swarmed with them to so groat a degree, that every vessel was filled with them ; five hundred were actually counted on a glass tumbler which had been set down for a few minutes with a little beer in it. They were observed crossing the Delaware river like a cloud ; and even mountains do not seem to interrupt their progress.* We can well understand, there- fore, that so formidable a ravager should have caused a very great alarm ; and even our own government was in fear lest the insect should be imported. The privy council, indeed, sat day after day in deep consultation what mea- sures should be adopted to ward oft' the danger of a calamity more to be dreaded, as the}7 well knew, than the plague or the pestilence. Expresses were sent off in all directions to the officers of the customs at the different outports respecting the examination of cargoes, — despatches were written to the ambassadors in France, Austria, Prussia, and America, to gain information, — and so important altogether was the business deemed, that the minutes of council, and the documents collected from all quarters, fill upwards of two hundred pages, j As in the case of the English wheat-fly, the American Ilessian-fly has a formidable enemy in a minute four- winged fly ( Cerciphron destructor, Say), which deposits its eggs in the larvae. Were it not for the Ceraphron, indeed, Mr. Say is of opinion that the crops of wheat would bo totally annihilated in the districts where the Hessian-fly prevails.! Those who have, from popular associations been ac- customed to look with disgust at the little white larvae * Kirby and Spence, vol. i. p. 172. t Young, Annals of Agric., vol. xi. + Journ. of Acad. Pliiladelpli. at supra. 414 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. common in cheese, well known under the name of hoppers , will he somewhat surprised to hear the illustrious Swam- merdam say, “ I can take upon me to affirm that the limbs and other parts of this maggot are so uncommon and elegant, and contrived with so much art and design, that it is impossible not to acknowledge them to be the work of infinite power and wisdom, from which nothing is hid, and to which nothing is impossible.”* But whoever will examine it with care, will find that Swammerdam has not exaggerated the facts. The cheese-fly ( Piophila Casei, Fallen) is very small and black, with whitish wings, margined with black. It was one of those experimented upon by Bedi to prove that insects, in the fabric of which so much art, order, contrivance, and wisdom appear, could not he the pro- duction of chance or rottenness, but the work of the same Omnipotent hand which created the heavens and the earth. This tiny little fly is accordingly furnished with an admir- able instrument for depositing its eggs, in an ovipositor which it can thrust out and extend to a great length, so that it can penetrate to a considerable depth into the cracks of cheese, where it lays its eggs, 25G in number. “ I have seen 'them myself,” says Swammerdam, “ thrust out their tails for this purpose to an amazing length, and by that method bury their eggs in the deepest cavities. I found in a few days afterwards a number of maggots which had sprung from those eggs, perfectly resembling those of the first brood that had produced the mother fly. I cannot but also take notice that the rottenness of cheese is really caused by these maggots ; for they both crumble the sub- stance of it into small particles and also moisten it with some sort of liquid, so that the decayed part rapidly spreads. I once observed a cheese which I had purposely exposed to this kind of fly grow moist in a short time in those parts of it where eggs had been deposited, and had afterwards been hatched into maggots ; though, before, the cheese was perfectly sound and entire. ”f * Bibl. Naturte, vol. ii. p. G3. f Swammerdam, vol. ii p. 69. MAGGOTS. 415 The cheese-hopper is furnished with two horny claw- shaped mandibles, which it uses both for digging into the cheese and for moving itself, being destitute of feet. Its powers of leaping have been observed by every one ; and Swammerdam says, “ I have seen one, whose length did not exceed the fourth of an inch, leap out of a box six inches deep, that is, twenty-four times the length of its own body: others leap a great deal higher.”* For this purpose it first erects itself on its tail, which is furnished with two wart-like projections, to enable it to maintain its balance. It then bends itself into a circle, catches the skin near its tail with its hooked mandibles, and after strongly contracting itself from a circular into an oblong form, it throws itself with a jerk into a straight line, and thus makes the leap. One very surprising provision is remarkable in the breathing-tubes of the cheese-maggot, which are not placed, Cheese-hoppers (Piophila casci, Fallrn). a, the maggot extended: 6, In a leanlmr position ; the same magnified; f, the fly magnified; /, the fly, mhural stoe. as in caterpillars, along the sides, but a pair near the head and another pair near the tail. Now, when burrow- ing in the moist cheese, these would be apt to be obstructed; but to prevent this, it has the power of bringing over the front pair a fold of the skin, breathing m the meanwhile through the under pair. Well may Swammerdam denominate these contrivances “ surprising miracles of God’s power and wisdom in this abject crea- ture.” Like the other destructive insects above mentioned, the * Bibl. Natunc, vol. ii. p. 65. 416 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. multiplication of the cheese-fly is checked by some insect, whose history, so far as we are aware, is not yet known. Swammerdam found many of the maggots with other larvte in their bodies ; but he did not trace their transformations. If they were the larvae of an ichneumon, it must be ex- ceedingly minute. It must have attracted the attention of the most in- curious, to see, during the summer, swarms of flies crowd- ing about the droppings of the cattle, so as almost to con- ceal the nuisance, and presenting instead a display of their shining corslets and twinkling wings. The object of all this busy bustle is to deposit their eggs where their progeny may find abundant food ; and the final cause is obviously both to remove the nuisance, and to provide abundant food for birds and other animals, which prey upon flies or their larva;. The same remarks apply with no less force to the blow-flies which deposit their eggs, and in some cases their young, upon carcases. The common house-fly ( Musca domestica) belongs to the first division, the natural food of its larvae being horse-dung ; consequently it is always most abundant in houses in the vicinity of stables, cucumber beds, &c., to which, when its numbers become annoying, attention should be primarily directed, rather than having recourse to fly- waters. Another common insect ( Bibio hortulanus, Meigen) lives in the larva state in cesspools, along with rat-tailed larvae, &c. The maggot of the bibio is very peculiar in form. They are hatched from eggs with shells as hard as Paris plaster, deposited on the adjacent walls, and fre- quently upon the pupa-case which the mother has pre- viously quitted. Like the larvae of the crane-flies above described, this one moves itself chiefly by means of its mandibles, and therefore it can make no progress on a piece of smooth glass. Its skin, it may be remarked, is so exceedingly hard and tough, that it is no easy matter to kill it.* We have introduced this insect here, how- * Swammerdam, x. 212. CLOW-FLIES. 417 ever, chiefly for the purpose of refuting an erroneous popular accusation against it, which is supported by the high authorities of Ray and Reaumur. Our great Eng- lish naturalist calls it the deadliest enemy of the flowers Transformations of Bibio hortulanua, Mmo.i y. a, the prr magnified ; 6, tlie same when hatched ;c,d, the maggutand pupa magnified; e, /, the same, natural sine; u, the fly. in spring, and accuses it of despoiling the gardens and fields of every blossom.*. Reaumur is less decided in his opinion ; for though he perceived that, not being furnished with mandibles, they could not, as is supposed, gnaw the buds of fruit-trees ; yet, from their being found crowded upon flowers and buds, ho thinks they may suck the juices of these, and thus cause them to wither. f We are satisfied, by repeated observation, that the fly only uses its sucker (hausteUum) for sipping the honey of flowers, or the gum with which the opening bud is usually covered. The damage of which it is accused is more probably done by caterpillars, snails, or other night-feeding insects, which, not being seen by day, the fly is blamed for what it is entirely innocent of. (J. R.) In the case of the blow-flies Linnaeus tells us that the larvae of three females of Musca vomitoria will devour the carcase of a horse as quickly as would a lion ; and we are not indisposed to take this literally, when we know that * Itaii Ilist. Insect. Pref. p. xi. f Reaumur, v. 56. 2 E 418 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. one mother of an allied species (iJ/. carnaria') produces about 20,000, and that they have been proved by lledi to increase in weight two-liundred-fold within twenty-four hours. The most extraordinary fact illustrative of the voracity of these maggots which we have met with, is the following, given by Kirby and Spence, from ‘ Bell’s Weekly Messenger — “ On Thursday, June 25th, died at Asbornby, Lincoln- shire, John Page, a pauper belonging to Silk- Willoughby, under circumstances truly singular. lie being of a restless disposition, and not choosing to stay in the parish work- house, was in the habit of strolling about the neighbouring villages, subsisting on the pittance obtained from door to door : the support he usually received from the benevolent was bread and meat; and after satisfying the cravings of nature, it was his custom to deposit the surplus provision, particularly the meat, betwixt his shirt and skin. Having a considerable portion of this provision in store, so deposited, lie was taken rather unwell, and laid himself down in a field, in the parish of Scredington ; when, from the heat of the season at that time, the meat speedily became putrid, and was of course struck by the flies : these not only pro- ceeded to devour the inanimate piece of flesh, but also literally to prey upon the living substance ; and when the wretched man was accidentally found by some of the inha- bitants, he was so eaten by the maggots that his death seemed inevitable. After clearing away, as well as they were able, these shocking vermin, those who found Page conveyed him to Asbornby, and a surgeon was immediately procured, who declared that his body was in such a state, that dressing it must be little short of instantaneous death ; and, in fact, the man did survive the operation but a few hours. When first found, and again when examined by the surgeon, he presented a sight loathsome in the extreme ; white maggots of enormous size were crawling in and upon his body, which they had most shockingly mangled, and the removing of the external ones served only to render the sight more horrid.” Kirby adds, “ in passing through this parish last spring, I inquired MAGGOTS. 419 of the mail-coachman whether he had heard this story ; and he said the fact was well known.”* The year in which this remarkable circumstance occurred is not men- tioned. The importance of the insects just mentioned, in re- moving with great rapidity what might otherwise prove nuisances of considerable magnitude, naturally leads us to notice another sort of larva, no less useful in diminishing the numbers of the plant-lice ( Aphides ) which do so much damage to cultivated vegetables. We do this also the more readily, that these very insects, which are so benefi- cial to the husbandman and the gardener, are often erro- neously accused of being themselves the cause of the mis- chief. A correspondent of the * Natural History Magazine,’ for example, says, “ the lady -bird is remarkably abundant this season. The shrimp (Jana ) of this insect destroys both turnips and peas in many parts of England.”t The truth is, however, that all the species of lady -birds ( Cocci - nellidw , Late.), both in the larva and the perfect state, feed exclusively on aphides, and never touch vegetable sub- stances. The eggs are usually placed in a group of twenty or more upon a leaf where aphides abound : and when the young are hatched they find themselves in the midst of their prey. There are a considerable number of species of this family (Mr. Stephens enumerates fifty) ; but the most common, perhaps, is the seven-spotted lady-bird ( Coccinella septempunctata) , whose larva is of considerable size, and, of course, when abundant, must destroy a vast number of aphides. The maggots of many species of a beautiful family (Syr- phidee , Leach) of two- winged flies are also voracious devour - ers of the aphides. These larva: are of a tapering form, and they can contract or lengthen their bodies to a consi- derable extent ; while they have a retractile instrument, armed with three prongs like a trident, with which they transfix their helpless and hapless victims. “ When dis- posed to feed, says Kirby, “ he fixes himself bv his tail, * Iutr. vol. i. p. 140, aiul note. + Mug. of Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 101. 420 RAVAGES OF INSECTS. and being blind, gropes about on every side, as the Cyclops did for Ulysses and his companions, till he touches one, w hich he immediately transfixes with his trident, elevates into the air, that he may not be disturbed with its straggles, and soon devours. The havoc which these grabs make amongst the aphides is astonishing. It was blit last week that I observed the top of every young shoot of the currant trees in ray garden curled up by myriads of these insects. a, Lacc-wlnped fly; b, tlie grub of the same, magnified; c, syrphus; d, larva of the same devouring the aphides of the elder ; e, the head magnified, to show the mouth. On examining them this day, not an individual remained ; but beneath each leaf are three br four full-fed larva? of aphidivorous flies surrounded with heaps of the skins of the slain, the trophies of their successful warfare.”* The larva? of the lace-winged flics ( Hemerobida; , Leach) are even more destructive to the aphides than either of the preceding ; insomuch that Reaumur was induced to call them the lions of the aphides. The mandibles of the larva of Hemerobius are somewhat crescent-shaped, and, like those of the ant-lion, are hollow, by means of which they suck the juices of their victims. These are rarely so numerous as the two preceding families, but they make up for their fewness in the voracity with which they devour the little destroyers of our vegetables. * Intr. vol. i p. 264. ( 421 ) IT— ON THE COLLECTION AND PBE8ERVATION OF INSECTS FOE THE PURPOSES OF STUDY. ‘I could wish, says Addison, in ‘ The Spectator,’ “our Royal Society would compile a body of natural history, the best that could be gathered together from books and observ- ations. If the several writers among them took each his particular species, and gave us a distinct account of its original, birth, and education ; its policies, hostilities, and alliances ; with the frame and texture of its inward and outward parts, — and particularly those which distinguish it from all other animals, — with their aptitudes for the state of being in which Providence has placed them ; it would be one of the best services their studies could do mankind, and not a little redound to the glory of the All -wise Creator. * Now, though we can scarcely consider Addison as a naturalist, in any of the usual meanings of the term, it would be no easy task, even for those who have devoted their undivided attention to the subject, to improve upon the admirable plan of study here laid down. It is, more- over, so especially applicable to the investigation of insects, that it may be more or less put in practice by any person who chooses, in whatever station or circumstances he hap- pens to be placed. Nay, we will go farther; for since it agrees with experience and many recorded instances that individuals have been enabled to investigate and elucidate particular tacts, who were quite unacquainted with sys- tematic natural history, we hold it to be undeniable that any person of moderate penetration, though altogether unacquainted with what is called Natural History! who will take the trouble to observe particular facts, and endea- * ‘ Spectator,’ No. 111. 422 PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. vour to trace them to their causes, has every chance lo he successful in adding to his own knowledge, and fre- quently in making discoveries of what was previously un- known. "We have before adverted to the spider, which M. Pelissan, while a prisoner in the Bastille, tamed by means of music ;* and in another place we quoted some observa- tions on hunting-spiders, by the celebrated Evelyn, both of which are strong proofs of our position, and show that though books are often of high value to guide us in our observations, they are by no means indispensable to the study of nature, inasmuch as the varied scene of creation itself forms an inexhaustible book, which “ even he who runneth may read.” It shall be our endeavour, therefore, in what we shall now add, to point out a few particulars by way of assisting young naturalists to read the book of nature with the most advantage. It will be of the utmost importance, in the study here recommended, to bear in mind that an insect can never be found in any situation, nor make any movement, without some motive, originating in the instinct imparted to it by Providence. This principle alone, when it is made the basis of inquiry into such motives or instincts, will be found productive of many interesting discoveries, which, without it, might never be made. With this, indeed, exclusively in view, during an excursion, and with a little attention and perseverance, every walk — nay, every step — may lead to delightful and interesting know- ledge. In accordance with these views, we advise the young naturalist to watch as far as possible the progress of every insect which he may meet with, from the egg till its death, marking its peculiar food, the enemies which prey on it, and the various accidents or diseases to which it may bo liable, — the latter appearing, to our limited comprehension, to be some of the means appointed by Providence to restrain excessive multiplication. It is obvious that all this may be done (it actually has been done by an illiterate labourer at Blackheath) without knowing the name of the insect * See Antoine, Aniinaux Celebres, vol. i. p. 24. CLASSIFICATION, 423 observed, or the rank it holds in any particular system. These, however, it may be interesting for the observer to ascertain afterwards, in order that he may compare his own observations with those of other naturalists. At the com- mencement, therefore, of such investigations, it may be useful, when the name of an insect is unknown, to mark it with some number by way of distinction, till the name (if it have one) given it by systematists be discovered. In our own researches we have found these numeral names — 1, 2, 3, or A, B, C, — of considerable use, when we could not readily trace the names we wanted amongst the almost interminable synonymes to be met with in systems of classification. If we should be asked, what is the best place to find insects, our answer must be, everywhere — woods, fields, lanes, hedgerows, gardens : wherever a flower blooms or a green leaf grows, some of the insects which feed on living vegetables will be sure to be found, as will those which feed on decaying leaves and decaying wood be met Avith wherever these abound. In the Avaters, again, both running and stagnant, from the rill to the river, and from the broad lake to the little pool formed in a coav’s footstep, aquatic insects of numerous varieties may be seen. Winged insects, of countless species, may be seen in the air during their excursions in search of food, or for the purposes of pairing or depositing their eggs, and the observation of these forms a most interesting branch of the study. The species Avhich prey on animal substances, either living or dead, often pos- sess such habits as may deter some students from attend- ing to them, and yet they fulfil most important purposes in nature, and have furnished the distinguished naturalists, Redi, Swammerdam, Leemvenhoeck, Reaumur, and I)e Geer, with highly-interesting subjects of research. The history of many of these animals becomes highly interest- ing, from its relation to our domestic comfort. The house- fly, for instance, is said to breed amongst horse-dung ; but that its maggots find food in other substances not hitherto ascertained, is rendered probable by the enormous numbers Avhich are sometimes seen at a distance from places where 424 PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. they could obtain the alleged nutriment, as in Pitcairn’s Island in the Pacific Ocean,* where there never was a horse. With reference to husbandry, again, the correct history of many insects is perhaps still more important, of which we beg leave to give one striking instance in the case of what is called the turnip-fly ( Haiti/ :a Nemorum, Illiger), which is not a fly, but a small jumping-beetle. “ In these circumstances,” says Mr. W. Greaves, “ 1 flatter myself will be found the cause of the disease here men- tioned . the manure which is taken from the farm-yard, and spread upon the soil already cleared for turnips, is after- wards turned in with the plough ; the seed is then put in, and nature does not rest till it is time for hoeing. Now, it must be obvious that manure put into the ground at this season of the year (June) must be full of eggs of flies, which are seen to swarm upon manure heaps in the autum- nal season, and there deposit their eggs for future genera- tions in the succeeding years. These eggs are hatched by the heat of the sun, when the manure is laid upon the ground, or by the warmth of the earth when it is ploughed in, and make their first appearance in the shape of a eater- pillar, which may be observed jumping and crawling on the land. The leaves of vegetables are their choicest food, and in turnip land, though they find nothing else, they find plenty of leaf, and on this they feed to the absolute ruin of the root.”j P>ut had this writer taken the trouble to con- fine these dung maggots under a gauze cover till they were hatched, he would have found, instead of the halticae, some common two- winged flies, which a simple experiment would have convinced him do not eat green leaves of any kind, being incapable thereof for -want of eating-organs; and our young naturalists who may wish to try this will be enabled to prove to any farmer, who is in fear of diffusing injurious insects by manure, that no insects bred in dung ever touch a green leaf. This remark brings us directly back to our subject of instructing the student how to keep such insects as he may * Beechey’s Voyage in the ‘ Blossom.’ f Treatise on Agriculture. FOOD. 425 find, in order to study their economy. In the case of those just mentioned, which live in dung, in decayed vegetables, or in earth, when they cannot climb upon glass, we have found that open ale-glasses or common tumblers filled with the materials among which they are found, and kept in a due state of moistness, constitute the best apparatus ; for even when tho animals dig down, their movements can usually be observed through the sides of the glass. In the case of the meal-worm, which lives upon flour, the same expedient answers well, and the whole history of the insect may be read from day to day by simple inspection. Wo are well aware that it is not common in these collecting days of ours, to take the trouble of breeding any insects besides moths and butterflies ; but our design being not to procure specimens, but to ascertain facts, we advise the breeding of every insect whose history it is required to investigate. In order to succeed in this object, it will be indispens- able to place the insects as much as possible in their natural circumstances. Those who breed moths and butterflies to procure specimens, feed them in boxes, into which a branch of the plant each feeds on is placed in a straight-necked phial of water, to keep it fresh. We have found it prefer- able to give them fresh leaves twice or thrice a-day, for the plants kept in water are apt to scour and kill the insects. When we have been unprovided with boxes, avc have used ale-glasses or glass tumblers with success, either turning them bottom upwards, and admitting air round the edges by inserting slips of card, or covering them with gauze at top. Such glasses seem to have been the chief apparatus used by Reaumur, Bonnet, and Do Geer in those researches which are quite unrivalled in our own days. Small pasteboard boxes, like those made for ladies’ caps answer very well when covered with gauze. * The breeding-cage employed by Mr. Stephens he has thus described The length of the box is twenty inches • height twelve; and breadth six ; and it is divided into five compartments. Its lower half is constructed entirely of wood, and the upper of coarse gauze, stretched upon 426 PRESERVATION1 OF INSECTS. wooden or wire frames ; each compartment has a separate door, and is, moreover, furnished with a phial in the centre, for the purpose of containing water, in which the food is kept fresh ; and is half-filled with a mixture of fine earth and the dust from the inside of rotten trees, the latter article being added for the purpose of rendering the former less binding upon the pupa,* as well as highly important for the use of such larva as construct their cocoons of rotten wood. The chief advantages of a breeding-cage of the above description are the occupation of less room than five separate cages, and a diminution of expense ; both important considerations when any person is engaged extensively in rearing insects. Whatever be the construction of the box, it is highly necessary that the larvae be constantly supplied with fresh food, and that the earth at the bottom should be kept damp. To accomplish the latter object, I keep a thick layer of moss upon the surface, which I take out oc- casionally, perhaps once a week in hot weather, and once a fortnight or three weeks in winter, and saturate com- pletely with water, and return it to its place : this keeps up a sufficient supply of moisture, without allowing the earth to become too wet, which is equally injurious to the pupae with too nmch aridity. By numbering the cells, and keeping a register corresponding with the numbers, the history of any particular larvae or brood may be traced. ”f We prefer glass sides to the cells, with gauze doors, opening above, rather than at the sides, according to the following figure. (J. R.) Some of the beautiful experiments of Bonnet and Reaumur suggested to us the idea of supplying insects with growing food, instead either of gathered leaves or branches kept fresh in water ; and we have in several instances, particu- larly in town, where we could not always procure fresh food for our broods when wanted, kept plants growing in garden-pots, and either confined the insects by means of gauze, or surrounded the pots with water, to prevent their * The French naturalists use fine dry sand. See ‘ Manuel du Natur- aliste Pre'paratcur.’ f Ingpen’s ‘ Instructions,’ p. 13. BREEDING-CAGES. 427 escape. We have since carried this somewhat farther, having procured young plants of forest and orchard trees and shrubs, and planted them in garden-pots, which are plunged, as the gardeners term it, to defend them from drought, and are ready for any experiment we choose to make. These, besides, have the advantage of attracting into the garden where the pots are plunged the insects peculiar to the several trees ; and when we say that the Breeding-cage, with gauze doors and glass sides. space occupied is only about thirty or forty feet in length, by two in breadth, while none of the trees are suffered to get above two or three feet high, we apprehend that few persons, who have any garden at all, will find such a plan- tation unsuitable to their convenience, if they are disposed to such pursuits. Herbaceous plants can, for the most part, be procured and planted at any season they may be required, and hence it is not so necessary to keep any col- lection of them growing ; whereas the transplanting of trees in summer is most likely to kill them. (J. R.) This plan has, besides, the peculiar advantage of putting it in our power, by means of sufficiently ample gauze cover- ings, to make moths, butterflies, and other insects deposit their eggs under our eye on the plants or trees on which they would do so when at liberty, — an interesting part of insect history, which, on account of the difficulties of re- search, is as yet very imperfectly known. It would bo in vain for us to attempt to enumerate the various plants, trees, and other things on or in which the larvae or perfect insects should be sought for, as such an enumeration would necessarily be nearly as extensive as 428 PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. the number of known species. A useful little French work, by M. Brez, entitled ‘ Flore des Insectophiles,’ was published about forty years ago, containing a systematic list of plants, with the peculiar insects found on each, and though recent discoveries render it very imperfect., it may still be consulted with advantage. But, with all the infor- mation we can procure, the remarks of Addison, in the paper we have quoted, still hold true, that “ Seas and deserts hide millions of animals from our observation ; in- numerable artifices and stratagems are acted in the howling wilderness, and in the great deep, that can never come to our knowledge. Besides, that there are infinitely more species of creatures which are not to be seen without, nor indeed with the help of the finest glasses, than of such as are bulky enough for the naked eye to take hold of. How- ever, from the consideration of such animals as lie within the compass of our knowledge, we might easily form a con- clusion of the rest, that the same variety of wisdom and goodness runs through the whole creation, and puts every creature in a condition to provide for its safety and sub- sistence, in its proper season.”* Looking minutely at all the leaves, flowers, and stems of plants and trees, and prying into every comer where in- sects may lurk, is one means of discovering their haunts, — the only one, indeed, with respect to many species ; but collectors are not satisfied with a process so necessarily slow, and take various means for expediting the capture of numbers, rather chan observing the natural movements and dispositions of a few. We may advantageously adopt these methods when we wish to furnish our cages with live in- sects, in order to study, their economy. One of the most useful and handy instruments for this purpose is an umbrella. In walking through a meadow, for' instance, where the grass is not too short, we may stretch the umbrella, hold the hollow side uppermost, .and push it through the grass, when the insects which may be above its level will fall into the trap. In this way we have * ‘Spectator,’ No. 111. LARVyE BOXES. 429 procured the caterpillars of saw-flies, moths, and butterflies, which feed on grass and on the other herbage in meadows, where we might probably have searched for them in vain by the eye. The sides of drains and ditch-banks may be trailed in the same manner. The butterfly-nets, to be afterwards described, may be used in the same way, and are, we think, superior to the apparatus invented by Mr. Paul, of Starston in Norfolk, for taking the turnip-fly. The umbrella is equally useful for holding under the branches of shrubs and trees, which ought to be beaten smartly over it with a strong walking-stick, the shock of the strokes causing the insects to drop down. This, however, will only answer for the smaller and lower branches : when it is required to beat the higher boughs, a long pole must be used, with a sheet or a piece of canvas spread under the tree. The tops of the taller plants may be shaken by the hand over the umbrella. M hen insects are thus found, it will be necessary to secure them, in order to take them to the cages uninjured, to be provided with a number of pill-boxes, with pin-holes drilled in them to admit air, and to introduce, particularly along with caterpillars, a bit of the ffesh leaf or other substance upon which they have been feeding. We prefer separate, small boxes for such purposes, to the larger larv®- °> Larvas-box ; and b, pocket collecting box. box in use among collectors ; since we can by their means more readily remember the different plants on which several species were found, besides avoiding the risk of one 430 PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. species devouring another, — an incident not uncommon among the caterpillars of moths, as we have recorded in a former page. The collector’s larvas-box is an oblong chip box, such as is used for wafers, with a gauze lid for air, and a hole at one end, furnished with a stopper, for introducing the larvae. . For water- insects a net, similar to a fisher’s landing-net, is employed, fixing it to a long pole, and raking with it through every piece of water within reach. The net Water-net. which we have had constructed consists of an interior lining of gauze, as strong as it can be procured, with a strong fish-net on the outside to strengthen this. 'When canvas is used, the water does not escape through it with sufficient facility. Many interesting water-insects, how- ever, may be procured by mere inspection of water-plants, particularly the under-sides of their leaves, at the edges of ditches, ponds, canals, rivers, and lakes, and when the water is clear, by examining th6 bottom of the channel. In consequence of aquatic insects, for the most part, preying upon one another, they are usually very nimble in their movements, so that it requires considerable dexterity and quickness to entrap them. For the same reason a number of phials, containing water, will be as requisite to carry them as pill-boxes to carry the land-insects. But when they are kept in wine or ale-glasses, and supplied with BUTTERFLY-NET. 431 food, they furnish excellent materials for interesting ob- servation. It is easy, indeed, in this way to have several successive generations ; and when gnats’ eggs are procured the whole history of these curious insects may he traced with little difficulty. When the pupte are observed to be about to be transformed into winged insects, a gauze coxoring may be employed to prevent their escape. Analogous to the water-net in size and construction is the butterfiy-net, which is chiefly used on the Continent, though seldom, we believe, in this country. It consists of a hoop, about a foot in diameter, of brass or iron wire, jointed or not, so as to fold up into a narrow compass, with a bag-net of gauze or thin muslin, two feet deep, attached to it. This is screwed into a pole about six feet long, for Butterfly-net. ordinary purposes; but for the purple emperor butterfly ( Apatura Ins), and other high-flying insects, thirty feet is not too long. J The instrument chiefly used fur the same purpose in this country is much more unwieldy, though more easily managed by the inexperienced. It is a clap-net, similar to a bird-catchers bat-fovvhng-net, but of slighter materials. Phn lods of the one which we use are about live feet lone: when the three pieces are jotted by weans of brass ferulel fhey ought to bo made, tapering like a fishing-rod of hazel or any tough wood, with two bent pieces of caw, at the end. tightly fitted m so as not to slip when the appa- ratus IB used, file net may bo made of fine white mtis/in for small insects; but green gauze is best for moths and 432 PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. Clap-net. whole spread out so as to intercept insects on the wing, which are secured by clapping the rods together. A little practice will render this easy, except when there is much wind, and in that case few insects fly It is no less useful for throwing over insects when they alight on low flowers, and in this way we have caught some very fine butterflies and moths. An instrument still more used by collectors than any of the preceding is the net-forceps, which may be readily con- structed out of an old pair of curling-irons, such as have Ring-net. Net- Forceps. rings for the finger and thumb, binding these with silk or cotton to prevent their hurting the hand. To the blades butterflies, the edges being bound with broad tape all round, so as to form a place for the rods to slip in. When the net is mounted, a rod is held in each hand, and the FRENCH BEETLE-FORCEPS. 433 of these, hoops should be fitted, covered with fine gauze, and made to close accurately when moved like a pair of scissors. It requires some experience and dexterity to catch nimble insects with these ; but it is indispensable for a collector to acquire this skill. Without opening them at all, the forceps may be used for securing an insect when alighted on a wall, or other flat surface, by merely covering it ; for which purpose some collectors also use a ring-net. A\ e are ot opinion, however, that it is more convenient to have few instruments, for multiplicity only serves to embarrass. We have taken a great number of insects by means of a pill-box, putting the lid on one side and the bottom on the other side of a leaf, and suddenly shutting in both the insect and the part of the leaf it was sitting on. When a small moth, again, or other insect, is resting on a wall, a pane of glass, or the smooth trunk of a tree, we take off the a, French beetle-forceps; anil b, Pliers. lid of a pill-box, cover the insect with the bottom part which we move backwards and forwards till the insect takes refuge from the annoyance at the very bottom, when we cover it as quickly as possible with the lid. This is by far the best way of taking small moths, for their delicate plumage is not injured, as it must inevitably be when they are touched even in the most gentle way. J We purchased last year, in Paris, a pair of insect forceps which do not seem to bo known to our collectors, but. 2 F 434 PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. which we have found exceedingly useful for taking beetles and other insects out of holes where they cannot be other- wise easily reached. The instrument is made of steel, and resembles a pair of large scissors. In some, the handle- rings are like those of scissors, on a lino with the blades ; in others, they are at right angles to these. The pliers used by our collectors are much inferior in utility, being too small, short, and slender. The French instrument is farther useful for seizing venomous or dangerous insects. In other cases the fingers alone are often sufficient, and for minute beetles a wetted finger. In order to get at beetles and larvae which feed under the bark, or in the wood of trees, and also under ground, the instrument which we have found most convenient is a very strong clasp-knife : one which has a saw-blade, a hook, a file, and other instruments in the same handle, is pre- ferable ; but most of the London collectors use what is called a digger, and first, if we mistake not, described by Mr. Samouelle, in his Compendium. It is made of steel, of from twelve to eighteen inches long, forked at the extremity, and fixed into a wooden handle. In addition to this, we recommend a long slip of very thin, and narrow whalebone, which may be introduced into the holes of such insects as burrow in the earth or sand, to direct us in digging down to their nests, the hole being certain to be filled up, and probably lost, without such a contrivance. When a piece of whalebone is not at hand, a long straw will form a good substitute. Digger. When insects are caught merely for the cabinet, and not with reference to their habits and economy, collectors provide themselves with a quill-barrel, sealed at one end with wax, and having a cork stopper at the other, for very minute specimens; with a wide-mouthed phial, containing COLLECTING-BOX. 435 weak spirits of wine, into which dark-coloured beetles wasps, and bees, are put, the spirits instantly killing them,’ and preserving them for future purposes ; and with a pocket collecting-box or boxes for winged insects. An ob- iong chip wafer-box, lined at top and bottom with cork, and covered with white paper, will form a very good collecting box, taking care that it is neither too shallow nor too deep iu ■-ome avo a square box, made of mahogany, deal, or cet ai wit 1 hinges on one side and a spring on the other, so that it can be opened by the left hand while an insect is wheV? h611nght’ a1nd %ured b at page 429. Sparmann, en travelling at the Cape, used to stick his insect speci- Tfd6 f hi8 hat’ t0 the consternation of the simple Hottentots, who took him for a conjuror. A more judicious plan is for a collector to have the crown of his hat lined inside with cork, which will save him the trouble boxes ? C°lleCting-box* When a collector has not his often 1 him’ a blt °f paper> twistcd at each end, will often answer every purpose. Chip collecting-box, opened. Wlion nil insect is caught, before it bo placed in the collecting box or tbc habcroivn, it i8 „oce JL “ *£> the ctargToT cmcWy Tbfr t6 ‘°f m"Ch on »f tbc that mosl days, and that (heir feeling of ^.ve many much less acute than those „ “I ’ r Wn and cerebral and PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. 436 are destitute. Accordingly, a fly without its head will walk about almost as if nothing had happened to it, and a wasp will eat greedily with the head only when it has been separated from the body. We should not like, however, to be considered advocates of any species of cruelty, how- ever slight, and in killing insects for a collection the speediest methods are to be preferred. In the case of but- terflies and some moths, as well as other winged insects, a slight pressure upon the breast will instantly kill them, and exposing them to heat is a still more rapid means, plunging those contained in a phial into boiling water, and holding Setting-needles and brush ; with the method of setting insects, a, Swallow-tailed butterfly ( Fapilio machaony, b, Wasp ; c. Beetle. those in pill-boxes near the fire. Suffocating them with sulphur, as some recommend, spoils the colours ; and wo remarked in the museums of Brussels, Louvain, and Frank- METHOD OF SETTING. 437 fort-on-tlie-Maine, that all the insects had had their colours injured in this way, the black spots on white butterflies being turned to brown, and the white tinged with yellowish- green. In the case of insects tenacious of life, such as some moths, particularly females which have not deposited their eSSs> piercing their breast with a pin dipt in nitric acid will instantly kill them. After killing dragon-flies, the intestines must be carefully removed, otherwise the colours will all become black. Method of mounting small Insects. To fit insects for a cabinet, they require to be set, as it is termed ; that is, all their parts must be placed in the manner best fitted to display them. For this purpose each is pierced, when dead, with au insect pin, a fine slender sort, manufactured on purpose. Beetles ought to have the pins passed through the shoulder of the right wing-case, and butterflies and other insects through the corslet, on a right line with the head, and a little back from it. While the insect is fresh and flexible, the legs and wings are to be stretched out with a setting-needle, or a large pin bent at the point and fixed into a wooden handle, then stuck upon a board covered with cork and paper, and kept in their proper position by means of pins and braces till they become dry and stiff. The braces are made with slips of fine card, or thick hot-pressed paper, stuck through at one end with a strong pm. When insects have become stiff before being set, they may be rendered flexible again by oo verm g them over for several hours with a damp cloth which, however, must not be permitted to touch them. A camel-hair pencil is used for brushing off dust. The mode of sotting will be best understood from the figures 438 - PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. When insects are very small, as piercing them with a pin would destroy them, it is usual to gum them on a slip of card or cut wafer, and to arrange this in the cabinet. Minute beetles and flies may thus be preserved, as is shown in the figures. The setting-board ought to be kept where there is a free ventilation of air till the set insects are thoroughly dry ; but it is necessary that it be also out of the reach of spiders ; for we have in several instances had our specimens, while drying, mutilated and destroyed by these prowlers. The most convenient apparatus is an upright box, with grooves, into which the setting-boards may slide, with the door and the side of the box opposite to it covered vdth gauze. Setting-board frame. No other preservative is wanted, after the insects are set and dried, except to keep them from damp, to put a little camphor in the cabinet drawers to prevent mites, and to take care to prevent them from being destroyed by the larvse of some small moths and beetles, which the camphor will not do, nor anything else with which we are acquainted. We had once a whole drawer of insects destroyed by mice. Glazing the drawers of a cabinet, and occasional careful inspection, will be indispensable to keep a collection in good condition. The cabinet may consist of more or fewer drawers, according to the extent of a collection. The most con- venient dimensions of the drawers are from a foot to eighteen inches square, and two inches deep ; and the best THE CABINET. .. 439 wood is mahogany, cedar, or wainscot, deal being apt to split or warp. The doors ought to have velvet glued round the edgos, to keep out dust and small insects. The bottoms of the drawers are lined "with sheet cork, about a sixth of an inch in thickness, made uniformly smooth by filing, and having white paper pasted over it. Where a cabinet has not been procured, collectors make use of store boxes, made on the principle of a backgammon board, each leaf being about two inches deep, and lined with cork and paper. These are convenient, also, for travellers sending home insects from a distance. The specimens are best arranged in columns from top to bottom of the drawers, with the names attached to each. We are unwilling, amidst the great variety of systems, to recommend any particular one as the best ; and prefer leav- ing our readers to choose for themselves, by giving the outlines of the principal classifications which have been proposed from the earliest times till the present day. ( 440 ) HI.— SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENTS OF INSECTS. When we consider that the number of known species of British insects alone amounts to more than ten thousand, being about six times more than the species of our plants — that is, six species of insects, on an average, to each species of plant — it will be obvious that, in a collection of speci- mens, some systematic order of arrangement will be requi- site ; though, for purposes of out-door study of manners and economy, nice distinctions are less indispensable, as appears from the beautiful and successful researches of Reaumur, Gould, Lyonnet, Bonnet, the Hubers, and other distinguished inquirers, who paid little or no attention to the minutiae of classification. In consequence, however, of a course diametrically opposite having been pursued by other naturalists of celebrity, wo consider it our duty to warn our readers against the error of considering arrange- ment the sole end and aim of study ; whereas the correct view of the matter, as we understand it, is not to neglect or discard system, as was dono by Reaumur and Bonnet, but to make it subservient to such details of causes, motives, and effects, as we have endeavoured to exemplify. In every page of this work we have accordingly kept systematic distinctions closely, though subordinately, in view. Wo shall now give a brief sketch of several classifications of insects, invented by celebrated writers, from the earliest times. The Wing System. The illustrious Aristotle, almost the only genuine natur- alist among the ancients, seems to have been the first who distinguished insects by their wings, — a principle followed with greater minuteness, in recent times, by Linnaeus and THE WING SYSTEM. 441 De Geer. Aristotle does not, indeed, put his system in a tabular form ; but, for the sake of brevity, we shall draw up a table, founded on indications in his admirable History of Animals. Aristotle's Classification. I. Winged Insects ( Pterota , Ptilota). 1. With wing-cases — beetles — ( Coleoptera). 2. With coriaceous wings— grasshoppers ( Pedetica ). 3. Without jaws— bugs ( Astomata). 4. With powdery wings— moths and butterflies ( Psychx ). 5. With four transparent wings ( Tetraptera). Without stings, and larger— dragon-flies. M ith stings — bees and wasps ( Opisthocentra), 6. With two wings ( Diptera ). Without mouth-piercers, and smaller— flies and crane-flies. With mouth-piercers— gnats and gad-flies ( Emprosthocentra). II. Wingless Insects. 1. Occasionally acquiring wings : — Ants (Myrmices). Glow-worms ( Pygola mpides). 2. Without wings (Aptera). L humus' s Classification. 1. d inged Insects. II 1. With four wings : — a, Upper wings more or less crustaceous : the under wings m embra naceous. Upper wings quite crustaceous, and not overlapping— beetles ( Coleoptera). I pper wings semi -crustaceous, and overlapping— bugs and grasshoppers ( Hcmiptera). b, Upper and under wings of the same texture Wings covered with small tiled scales-butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). Wings membranaceous and naked. Without a sting-dragon-flies, &c. (Neuroptera ) o Ti/ -,'! lth a stlnS wasps, bees, &c. ( Jlymenoptera). 2. With two vnngs .—Flies, gnats, &c. (Diptera) Wingless Insects (Aptera). , ... _ De Geer's Classification. 1. Winged Insects. 1. Winy* four, without wing-cases:—- a, Wings covered with scales; tongue spiral— butterflies and moths. 442 SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENTS OF INSECTS. b, Wings naked and membranaceous— May-flies and caddis- flies. c, Wings equal, membranaceous, and netted ; the mouth with teeth — dragon-flies and lace-winged flics. d, Wings unequal ; nervures placed lengthwise ; mouth with teeth; and the females having a sting or ovipositor — bees, wasps, ants, ichneumons, saw-flies, &c. • e, Wings membranaceous ; the tongue bent under the throat— tree-hoppers, &c. * 2. Wings two, covered by two wing-cases : — a, Wing-cases partly coriaceous and partly membranaceous, overlapping each other ; tongue bent under the throat — bugs, &c. b, Wing-cases coriaceous, or somewhat crustaceous and wing- like, overlapping ; mouth with teeth — locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers. c, Wing-cases hard and crustaceous, not overlapping, covering tlie under wings ; mouth with teeth — beetles. 3. Wings two, without loing-cases : — a. Two membranaceous wings, and two poisers behind these ; mouth with a tongue, but no teeth — flies, gnats, Ac. b, Two membranaceous wings in the male, but no poisers tongue, nor teeth ; no wings in the female, but a tongue in the breast — vine-louse, &c. II. Wingless Insects. 1. Undergoing transformation : — With six legs, and the mouth having a tongue — fleas. 2. Undergoing no transformations : — a, With six legs, tho head distinct from the trunk — white ants, &c. b, With eight or ten legs, and the head not distinct from the Irunk — spiders, crabs, &c. c, With fourteen or more legs, and the head distinct from the trunk— centipedes, wood-lice, Ac. The Locality System. The next system, in order of time, reckoning from tlie period of Aristotle, is taken, not from the structure of insects, but the places they frequent. ^Ye owe the first sketch of an arrangement on this principle to the great naturalist of Italy, Ulysses Aldrovand, whom it has been the recent fashion to decry as a collector of fables; but whose voluminous works, written in Latin, and never, we believe, translated, must always be consulted with admira- THE LOCALITY SYSTEM. 443 tion by every genuine inquirer, as a mine of information altogether miraculous as the production of one man. Ahlrovand' s Classification. I. Land Insects ( Terrestria). 1. With feet fPudataJ : — a, With wings ( Ala(a). Without wing-cases ( Anelytra). With membranaceous wings ( Membranacea). Honey-making ( Favifica). Not honey-making (Non favifica). With scaly wings ( Farinosa ). With wing-cases ( Ebjtrota). b, Without wings ( Aptera ). Witli few feet ( Paucipeda). With many feet ( Multipeda ). 2. Without feet ('Apodaj. II. Water Insects (Aquatica). 1. With feed ('Pedata) ; — a, With few feet (Paucipeda). b, With many feet ( Multipeda ). 2. Without feet "(fApodaJ. Vallisnieri's Classification. I. Plant Insects (I nsetti, che annidano nelle pianti e le divorano). II. Water insects ( Insetti, che nuotano, crescono, vivono, e sempre dimorano ne' soli fluidi). III. Insects inhabiting Earthy or Mineral Substances (Insetti, che si trovano dentro i marmi, sassi, Crete, ossa, e conchiglie). 13 . Insects inhabiting Living Animals (Insetti, che fanno dentro, o sopra i viventi*). Fabricius's Geographical Classification. This celebrated systematic writer divides the globe into eight insect climates : — • 1. Indian, 2. Egyptian. 3. Southern. 4. Mediterranean. 5. Northern. 6. Oriental. 7. Occidental. 8. Alpine. Latrcille's Geographical Classification. This celebrated French systematist has written a curious and ingenious paper on the Geography of Insects, as a * Esperienze ed Osservazioni, pp. 42, 43 ; 4to., Padova, 172C. 444 SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENTS OF INSECTS. companion to Humboldt’s famous Geography of Plants. He divides the globe into twelve insect zones or climates, thus : — I. Arctic, all North of the Equator. 1. Polar. 2. Sub-Polar. 3. Superior. 4. Intermediate. 5. Supra-tropical. 6. Tropical. 7. Equatorial. II. Antarctic, all South of the Equator. 1. Equatorial. 4. Intermediate. 2. Tropical. 5. Superior. 3. Supra-tropical. Connected with this subject is the doctrine of Representa- tion and Replacement, by which it is maintained, that when a particular species of insect, or rather animal, is not found in two several countries or districts, such as Britain and New England, it is represented or replaced by some species resembling it in form and in function. Taking a more popular example than insects furnish, it is held, ac- cording to this system, that the puma of America replaces the lion of Africa, or that the pccari represents in Mexico the hog of Europe. The Transformation System. There are considerable differences in transformations among various species. These, the illustrious Swammer- dam, whose accurate observations are now as valuable as when they were made nearly two centuries ago, has made the basis of his system. Swammerdam's Classification. I. Transformations immediate, the insects being hatched perfectly formed — fleas, spiders, &c. II. Transformations taking place under a covering* — locusts, crickets, hugs, dragon-flies, May-flies, &c. TII. Transformations with a pupa-case intermediate* — beetles, bees, wasps, saw-flies, gnats, &c. * In explaining Swammerdam’s system, Kirby and Spence use the terms of “ complete ” and “ incomplete," which are not in the original. THE TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM. 445 Transformations in the pupa state obtected — moths and butter- flies. IV. Transformations in the pupa state coaretate— ichneumons, flies, &e. Ray and WiUughby’s Classification. £. INSECTS UNDERGOING NO TRANSFORMATIONS ( Afj eTafiopTa ) . 1. Without feet (AiroSa) : — a, Land Insects, including worms, &c. ( Terrestria). b, Water Insects, including Leeches, &c. (Aquatica). 2, With feet fPedataJ : — a. With six feet ( Ilexapoda). Land Insects ( Terrestria). Larger, including lignivorous larvae (Majora). Less, including lice and springtails (Minora). Water Insects, including the river sin-imp ( Aquatica). h, With eight feet ( Octopoda). With tails — scorpions ( Caudata). Without tails — spiders, mites (Non caudata). c, With fourteen feet — woodlice (TecrtrapecrKaideKairoSa). d, With twenty-four feet. With thirty feet. /, With many feet flloAiuroSaJ. Land Insects (Terrestria). With a roundish body — millepedes (Tereti seu subrotundi). With a flat or compressed body — centipedes ( Plano seu com- pressa). Water Insects (Aquatica). With a round body ( Corpore tereti). With a flat body ( Corpore piano). With a double tail ( Bicaudatum). II. Insects undergoing Transformations (Mfrafiopcpovfieva). 1. Transformations instantaneous (Transmutatio instantauea) : — a, Lace- winged flies ( Libelhc seu Perlx ), Ac. b, V ild bugs ( Cimices sylveslres). c, Locusts and mantes (Locustm). d, Field-crickets ( Grylli campestres). e, Hearth-crickets f Grylli domestici). /, Mole-cricket ( Gryllo talpa). g, Tree-hoppers ( Cicadse). h, Cock-roaches (Blattie). i, Crane-flies (Tipulx). k, Water-scorpion (Scorpius aquaticus). 440 SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENTS OF INSECTS. l, Water-flies ( Muscie aquatiem). m, May-flics ( Hemerobii ). n, Ear-wigs (Forjicula seu auricularia). 2. Transformations twofold (Metamorphosis duplex} : — • a, With wing-cases — beetles ( HovAeo-impa seu Vagini pennia). b, Without wing-cases (A v(Avrpa). With mealy wings — butterflies and moths (Alls farinaceis). With membranaceous wings — bees, flies ( Alis membranaceis') . With two wings (Ainrepa). With four wings (Terpaima). Gregarious ( Gregaria). Making honey — bees, &c. (Mellifica). Not making honey (Non meUifica ). Solitary ( Solita/ria ). Bee-formed ( Apiformia ). Wasp-formed ( Vespiformia). Butterfly-formed ( Papilioniformia). With an ovipositor (SeticuucUe seu Tripilia). The Cesarian-, Maxillary, or Mouth System. Fabricins, a Danish systematic writer of high celebrity, emulous of the fame of Linnaeus, conceived the idea of classifying insects according to the structure of their mouths, or their feeding organs ( Jnstrumenta cibaria). Fabricius's Classification. A. 1. With the lower jaws naked, free, and carrying palpi — beetles ( Eleutherata). 2. With the lower jaws covered by an obtuse shield or lobe — locusts, crickets, &c. (Vlonata). 3. With the lower jaws jointed at the base, and joined with the lip. — lace-wing flies, &c. (Synistata). 4. With the lower jaws horny, compressed, and often elongated — bees, wasps, &c. (Fiezata). 5. With the lower jaws homy, toothed, and having two palpi — dragon-flies, &c. ( Opontata). 6. With the lower jaws homy, vaulted, and no palpi — centipedes wood-lice, &c. (Mitosata). B. 7. With the lower jaws homy, and armed with a claw— spiders, &c. ( Onogata ). C. 8. With many jaws within the lip, the palpi mostly si x(rolygonata). THE OVARY, OR EGG SYSTEM. 447 9. With many jaws, without the lip closing the mouth (Kleistag- natha ). 10. With many jaws without tho lip, covered by palpi (Exocli- nata ). D. 11. Mouth with a spiral tongue, between reflected palpi— butterflies and moths ( Glossata ). 12. Mouth with a rostrum and a jointed sheath— bugs &c. (Ryngota). 13. Mouth with a sucker without joints— flies, &c. ( Antliata ). Cuvier s Classification. I. Insects with Jaws. 1. Without wings— crabs, spiders ( Gnathoptera). 2. With four equal wings— dragon-flies, &c. (Neuropterd). 3. With four unequal wings— bees, wasp3 ( Hymenoptera). 4. With wing-cases — beetles ( Coleoptera). 5. With four straight wings— crickets, &c. ( Orthoptera). II. Insects without Jaws. 1. With upper wings of unequal consistence— bugs, &c. (Hemiptera). 2. With powdery wings— butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). 3. With two wings— flies, &c. (Diptera). 4. Without wings— fleas, mites, Ac. ( Apt era). Lamarck's Classification. I. Insects with Jaws. 1. With wing-cases— beetles (Coleoptera). 2. With straight wings— crickets, Ac. (Orthoptera). 3. With four equal wings— dragon-flies, (Neuroptera). II Insects with Jaws and a sort of Sucker. 4. W ith tour unequal wings — bees, Ac. (Hymenoptera). III. Insects with no Jaws, but having a Sucker. 5. With powdery wings — moths, Ac. (Lepidoptera). 6. W ith upper wings of unequal consistence — bugs, Ac. (Hemi- ptera). 7. With two wings— flies, Ac. (Diptera). 8. Without wings ( Aptera). The Ovary, or Egg System. It has heen recently proposed to arrange all animals ac- cording to the structure, &c., of their eggs (ova) ; and, in .accordance with this principle, an ingenious arrangement has been constructed by a venerable and enthusiastic inquirer, from which we shall givo what relates to certain insects forming the eighth class. 448 SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENTS OF INSECTS. Sir Everard Home's Classification. M ETA MORPHOG ENO A, Having the embiyo produced from an egg which is formed in the ovarium, subjected to transformation, and breathing by air-tubes ( spiracula ); heart wanting ; blood white . 1. The embryo developed from eggs attached under the tail. Lobster ( Cancer). 2. The embryo developed from eggs carried upon the anterior feet. Spider ( Aranea). 3. The embryo developed from eggs deposited under the cuticle of the skin or stomach. Gad-fly ( QSstrus). 4. Embryos developed from eggs for several generations, impreg- nated at the same time. Plant-louse (Aphis). 5. Embryos, produced from eggs of one mother, that compose the whole republic. Bee (Apis). 6. Embryos from eggs deposited under water. The water-moth (Phryganea). The Eclectic, or Modern System. M. Clairville appears to have first conceived the idea of uniting the principles of several of the .preceding systems, an idea which has been followed up by Latreille, Dr. Leach, and Mr. Stephens. * Clairville' s Classification. I. Winged Insects (Pterophora). 1. With jaws (Mandibulata) : — a, With wing-cases ( Elytroplera ). h, With coriaceous wings (Deratoptera). c, With netted wings (Dictyoptera). d. With veined wings (Phleboptera). 2. With suckers (Haustellata) : — a. Wings with poisers ( Halter iptera). h, Wings powdery ( Lepidoptera ). c, Wings partly opaque and partly translucent ( Jlemimeroptera) . II. Wingless Insects (Aptera). 1. With a sucker (Haustellata). With a sharp sucker ( Bophoptera). 2. With jaws (Mandibulata). With legs formed for running (Pododunera). Latreille' s Classification.* I. Insects with more than Six Feet, and without Wings (Myriapoda ). 1. With many jaws — wood-lice ( Cliilognatha ). 2. IF ith many feet— millepedes ( Chilopoda). * Rcgne Animal, Svo. Paris, 1829. 449 THE ECLECTIC, OR MODERN SYSTEM. II. Insects with Six Feet. Without wings : — «, With organs of motion like feet ( Thysanura). b. Mouth witli a retractile sucker (Pwranta). c. External mouth with a jointed tube enclosing a sucker ; ( Suctoria ). With four toings : — A, Upper wings crastaceous or coriaceous, at least at the base. a, With the under wings folded crosswise- beetles (Coleoptera). 1. Pentamera; 2. Heteromera; 3. Tetramera; 4. Trimera. b, With the under wings folded lengthwise (Orthoptera). Legs formed for running ( Cursoria). Legs formed for leaping ( Saltatoriu). c, With a sucker enclosing several bristles (Hemiptera). 1. Heteroptera ; 2. Homoptera. B, Upper wings membranaceous. a, Wings naked and netted ( Neuroptera ). 1. Subulicoraes ; 2. Plauipennes ; 3. Plicipennes. b, Wings naked and veined ( Hymenoptera). 1. Terebrantia ; 2. Aculeata. c, Agings with dust-like scales ( Lepidoptera ). 1. Diurna; 2. Crepuseularia ; 3. Nocturne. With two twisted elytra and two wings (Rhipiptera ). 1. Xenos ; 2. Sty lops. With two wings (Diptera). Leach's Classification. I. Insects undergoing no Transformation (Ametabolia). 1. AN itli bristles at the tail ( Thysanura ). 2. AN itli no bristles at the tail ( Anoplura). 11. Insects undergoing Transformation ( Metabolic ). 1. AN itli two wings folded crosswise, and covered with hard wing- cases ( Coleoptera). ° 2. NN itli two wings folded lengthwise and crosswise, and short and softer wing-cases ( Dermaptera). 3. ANith two wings i folded lengthwise, and wing-cases overlapping each other at the edges ( Orthoptera). ° 4. AN iti. two wings twice folded lengthwise, and wing-cases obliquely - °v"lttKPmg; mouth with jaws (Didyoptera). ■>. ith two wings, and overlapping wing-cases, having the apex membranaceous ( Hemiptera). 1 ° WfOiMop/era°88’ anJ Conaceous or membranaceous wing-cases '• Wlth 110 wi“gs nor wing-cases (Aptera). 2 a 450 SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENTS OF INSECTS. 8. With four wings covered with meal-like scales ( Lepidoptera). 9. With four membranaceous wings, tire wingbones hairy (Tri- choptera ). 10. With four nearly equal membranaceous reticulated wings (Neu- roptera). 11. With four unequal membranaceous wings, the wing-bones running lengthwise ( Hymenoptera ). 1 2. With two wings folded lengthwise ( Rhipiptera ). 13. With two wings not folded; mouth formed for sucking — flies ( Diptera )■ 14. With two or with no wings ; mouth with long jaws — bird-flies, bat-flies ( Omaloptera). Stephens's Classification. I. Insects with Mandibles ( Mandibulatu ). 1. With hard wing-cases ( Coleoptera) . a, Voracious (Adephaga). Ground feeders ( Geodephaga ). Water feeders ( II y dr adephaga ). h, Cleansers (Rijpophaga). Haunting water (Philhydrida). Feeding on can-ion, or putrid wood (Necrophaga). With short wing-cases (Brachelytra,). c, Chilognathiform larvae. With clavate sublaminate antenna? ( Helocera ). With laminate antennae ( Lamclli comes). With filiform antennae (Sternoxi). With setaceous or abruptly clavate antennae. d, Vennifonn larvae. With a rostrum ( Rhinchophora, ). Without a rostrum (Longicomes ). e, ’ Anopluriform ? larvae. Tarsi tetramerous. Body elongate (Eupoda). Body ovoid or oval ( Cyclica ). Tarsi trimerous ( Trimeri ). /, Heteromerous beetles (Heteromera). 2. With short and somewhat crustaceous wing-cases — earwigs ( Dermaptera ). 3. With coriaceous wing-cases ( Orlhoptera ). 4. With netted wings (Neuroptera ). a, Scorpion-flies ( Panorpina ). b, Day-flies ( Anisoptera). c, Dragon-flies ( Libellulina) . d, White-ants ( Termitina). e, With large wings ( Megaloptera ). 5. With four hairy wings ( Trichoptera ). THE QUINARY SYSTEM. 451 6. With four unequal wings (Hymenopteraj. a. Borers ( Terebrantia). b. wasps, bees, ants, &c. e. ■ ruby tails, &c. ”• stylops (Strepsiptera). II. Insects with Suckers (HausteUata). 1. With powdery wings ( Lepidoptera). a, Butterflies appearing by (lay (Diurna). 1), Moths appearing at twilight (Orepuscularia). c Moths appearing in the afternoon ( Pnmeridiana ). d, Moths appearing at night (Nodurna). e. Moths appearing partly by day ( Semidvuma). /, Moths appearing in the evening ( Vespertina). 2. With two wings (Diptera) f elouged jaws and two wings, or none ( Homaloptera ). 4. With wings not perceptible-fleas (Aphaniptera). 5. \\ lthout wings ( Aptera). G. With two wings and overlapping wing-cases (Hemiptera). «, liana insects ( Terrestria ). b. Water insects (Aquatica). 7. With two wings and wing-cases not overlapping each other ( Homoptera). The Quinary System. Mr. W. S. MacLeay, the author of this system, proposes to arrange insects m circular groups of fives, so as to place ose which have the nearest resemblance, or (as he terms it) affinity contiguous to one another in their several circles We Sba11 be™ Sive the Horse Entomologies his ar- rangement of Clairville’s Mandibulata, with translations, &c ot his terms (see p. 452). Insects have also been divided according to the condition ion food ; but the arrangements on this principle have not, as far as we know, been perfected. L Insects feeding on Living substances ( Thalerophaga ). 1. Feeding on living flesh (Carnivora). a. F eeding on aphides ( Aphidirora ). 1. Feeding on growing vegetables (Phytophaga). a, heeding on grain and seeds ( Grand or a ). b, Feeding on fungi (Fungimra). II. Insects feeding on Dead substances $Saprophaga). 1. Feeding on dead wood (Lignwora). 2. Feeding on dung (Coprophaga). 3. Feeding on dead animals (Necrophitga). 452 SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENTS OF INSECTS, MacLeay's Classification. Albemarle Street, London. February, 1857. MR MURRAY’S GENERAL LIST OF WORKS. ABBOTT’S (IIbv. J.) Philip Mnsgrave; or. Memoirs of a Church of England Missionary in the North American Colonics. Post 8vo. 2s. 6 d. ABERCROMBIE’S (John, M.D.) Enquiries concerning the Intel- Fcap.48vo°Wfo8(WR Investigation of Truth. F./Teentk Edition. of ,Le UmI *«"»«*• diseases oT^n^01^?1 ,and ,Practical Kesearehes on the Visoera of the Abdomen! ’’ Tkird^tion' Fcap.'fivo0 fr™’ “'ld °tber ACLA?2tomSf 7: d?H,A,fLf ), P°Pular Account of the Manners and di “t 1 Uustrated with Numerous Anecdotes. Post8vo. 2s. 6d A DIS^;S By ni!Kw A Nr Edition> with a New Life and tEl‘W1S- 4VOlS' 8V°- Ration. AtbCHYLLS. (The Agamemnon and Choephorce.) A New 2 Vola. 8vo. 9$. each. J »» . rziLR, u.D. Second Edition* AS0PLcABb®L tIS JaSI™’ from the Original by John Tknmel. EdTion! 1W sfo T£. ^ 10° W°°dcuts* AMBER«lTOH^aB)^Tje j interesting Trial for Wild,- German by Lady Duff Gordon.1 Post 8vo“°2s'. 6Jranslated fro>“ the ARABIAN NIGHTS.^ A New Translation with Explanatory ARISTOPHANES. The Birds an7 the° ^ ”*• from Sum, by W. K. Hamilton, F.K.S. 2 vSu“lL S^^*1 ARTHUR'S (Little) History of England By' I n auntIdXS"' w;tl;rvoodc"ta- ^h£LCuaar a Lady. W^dcuts^ielo. ^ * St°ry B°°k f°r Childrcn. By B o LIST OF WORKS ADMIRALTY PUBLICATION'S ; Issued by direction of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty: — 1. A MANUAL OF SCILNTIFIC ENQUIRY, for the Use of Officers in H.M. Navy and Travellers in General. By Various Hands. Edited by Sm J. F. IIebschel, Bart. Second Edition. Post 8vo. 10s. 6 d. 2. AIRY’S ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS made at Gbkemwich. 18S6 to 1847. Royal 4to. 50s. each. 3. APPENDIX TO THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 1S36, 1837, 1842, 8s. each ; and 1847, 14s. Royal 4to. CONTENTS. 1836. — Bessel’s Refraction Tables. Tables for converting Errors of R.A. and N.P.D. into Errors of Longitude and Ecliptic P.I). 1S37. — Logarithms of Sines and Cosines to every Ten Seconds of Time. Table for converting Sidereal into Mean Solar Time. 1S42. — Catalogue of 1439 Stars. 1847. — Twelve Years’ Catalogue of Stars. 4. MAGNETIC AL AND METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVA- TIONS. 1840 to 1847. Royal 4to. 50s. each. 5. ASTRONOMICAL, MAGNETICAL, AND METEOROLO- GICAL OBSERVATIONS, 1848 to 1854. Royal 4to. 60s. each. 6. REDUCTION OF THE OBSERVATIONS OF PLANETS. 1750 to 1S30. Royal 4to. 50s. 7. LUNAR OBSERVATIONS. 1750 to 1830. 2 Vols. Royal 4to. 50s. each. 8. BERNOULLI’S SEXCENTENARY TABLE. London, 1779. 4to. 5s. 9. BESSEL’S AUXILIARY TABLES FOR HIS METHOD OF CLEAR- ING LUNAR DISTANCES. 8vo. 10. FUNDAMENTA ASTRO NO M HE : Begiornonlii, 1818. Folio. 60s. 11. BIRD’S METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING MURAL QUADRANTS. London, 1768. 4to. 2s. 0d. 12. METHOD OF DIVIDING ASTRONOMICAL INSTRU- MENTS. London, 1767. 4to. 2s. 6tf. 13. COOK, KING, amd BAYLY’S ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. London, 17S2. 4 to. 21s. 14. EIFFE’S ACCOUNT OF IMPROVEMENTS IN CHRONOMETERS. 4to. 2s. 15. ENCKE’S BERLINER JAIIRBUCH, for 1830. Berlin, 1828. 8vo. 9s. 16. GROOMBRIDGE’S CATALOGUE OF CIRCUMPOLAR STARS. 4to. 10s. 17. HARRISON’S PRINCIPLES OF HIS TIME-KEEPER. Plates. 1767. 4to. 5s. 18. HUTTON’S TABLES OF THE PRODUCTS AND POWERS OF NUMBERS. 1781. Folio. 7s. 6//. 19. LAX’S TABLES FOR FINDING THE LATITUDE AND LONGI- TUDE. 1821. 8vo. 10s. 20. LUNAR OBSERVATIONS at GREENWICH. 1783 to 1819. Compared with the Tables, 1821. 4to. 7s. 6 d. 21. DISTANCES of the MOON’S CENTRE from the PLANETS. 1822, 3s.; 1823, 4s. 6 d. 1824 to 1835, Svo. 4s. each. 22. MASKELYNE’S ACCOUNT OF THE GOING OF HARRISON’S WATCH. 1767. 4to. 2s. 6d. 23. MAYER'S T1IEORTA LUNA* JUXTA SYSTEMA NEWTONI- ANUM. 4 to. 28.6(1. 24. TABULA* MOTUUM SOLIS ET LUNAS. 1770. 4to. 5s. 25. — ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS MADE AT GOT- TINGEN, from 1756 to 1761. 1826. Folio. 7s. 6d. PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. 3 Admiralty Publications — continued. 26. NAUTICAL ALMANACS, from 1767 to I860. 8vo. 2s. 6d. each. FR0:51 THE ADDITIONS V I Hi t 1 VITA Xa 28. 29. up to 1812. 8vo. 5s. 1831-54. sVo. os. ' svo. 2s. each. SUPPLEMENTS, 1S2S to 1833, 1837 and 1838. Ireii 8vo & TABLE requisite to be used with the N.A. ^ PON» ShASTIlONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 1811 to 1835. 4to. 21s. 31. SAMSDEN’S ENGINE for Divnuxo Mathematical Instruments. 32 ENGINE for Dividing Straight Lines. 4to. 5s. 33. SABINE s PENDULUM EXPERIMENTS to Determine the Figube oetiieEabth. 1S25. 4to. 40s. iglrk 34. SHEPHERDS TABLES for Correcting Lunar Distances. 1772. *■ f TABLES, GENERAL, of the MOON’S DISTANCF from the SUN, and 10 STARS. 1787. Polio. 6s 6' BYRON’S POETICAL WORKS. Edited, with Notes. 6 vols WORKS OF DRYDEN. Edited, with Notes. HUME’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Edited with Notes WORKS OF SWIFT. Edited, with Notes WORKS OF JOSEPH ADDISON. Edited, with Notes. 6 LIST OF WORKS BRITISH ASSOCIATION REPORTS. 8vo. York and Oxford, 1831-32, l^i. 6 d. Cambridge, 1833, 12s. Edinburgh, 1884, 15s. Dublin’ 1835, 13s. 6 (I. Bristol, 1886, 12s. Liverpool, 1837, 16s. 6d. Newcastle, 1838, 15s. Birmingham, 1839, 13s. 6 d. Glasgow, 1840, 15s. Plymouth. 1841, 13s. 6 d. Manchester, 1842, 10s. 6 d. Cork, 1843, 12s. York, 1844. 20s. Cambridge. 1845, 12s. Southampton. 1846, 16s. Oxford, 1847, 18s. Swansea, 1848, 9s. Birmingham, 1849, 10s. Edinburgh, 1850, 15s. Ipswich 1851, 16s. 6d. Belfast, 1852, 15s. Hull, 1S53, 10s. 6il. Liverpool, 1854, 18s! Glasgow, 1855, 15s. BROGDEX’S (Rev. Jas.) Illustrations of the Liturgy and Ritual of the United Church of Eugiaud and Ireland. Being Sermons and Disconrses selected from the Works of eminent Divines of the 17tli Century. 3 Vols. Post 8vo. 27s. — 1 — — Catholic Safeguards against the Errors, Corruptions, and Novelties of the Church of Home. Being Sermons and Tracts selected from the Works of eminent Divines of the 17th Century. Second Edition. With Preface and Index. 3 Vols. 8vo. 86s. BROOKE’S (Sir James) Journals of Events in Borneo, including the Occupation of Lalman, and a Visit to the Celebes. Together with the Expedition of Il.M.S. Iris. By Caft. Rodney Muxdy, R.N. Plates. 2 Vols. 8vo. 32s. BROUGHTON’S (Lord) Journey through Albania and other Provinces of Turkey in Europe and Asia, to Constantinople, 1800 — 10. Second Edition. Maps and Woodcuts. 2 Vols. 8vo. 30s. BUBBLES FROM THE BRUNNEN OF NASSAU, By an Old Man. Sixth Edition. 16mo. 5s. BUNBURY’S (C. J. F.) Journal of a Residence at the Cape of Good Hope; with Excursions into the Interior, and Notes on the Natural History aud Native Tribes of the Country. "Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 9s. BUNYAN (John) and Oliver Cromwell. Select Biographies. By Robert Southey. Post 8vo. 2s. 6 d. BUONAPARTE’S (Napoleon) Confidential Correspondence with his Brother Joseph, sometime King of Spain. 2vols.8vo. 26s. BURGHERSH’S (Lord) Memoir of the Operations of the Allied Armies under Prince Schwarzenberg and Marshal Blucher during the latter end of 1813 — 14. 8vo. 21s. Early Campaigns of the Duke of Wellington in Portugal and Spain. Svo. 8s. tW. BURN’S (Lieut-Col.) French and English Dictionary of Naval and Military Technical Terms. Third Edition. Crown Svo. 15s. BURNES’ (Sin Alexander) Journey to the City of Cabool. Second Edition. Plates. Svo. 18s. BURNS’ (Robert) Life. By John Gibson Lockhart. Fifth Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 3s. BURR’S (G. D.) Instructions in Practical Surveying, Topogra- phical Plan Drawing, and on sketching ground without Instruments. Second Edition. Woodcuts. Post8vo. 7s. 6d. BUXTON’S (Sir Fowell) Memoirs. With Selections from his Correspondence. By his Son. Fifth Edition. Svo. 16s.; or, Popular Edition, Post 8vo. Ss. 6 d. PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY, 7 BYRON’S (Lord) Life, Letters, and Journals. By Thomas Moore. Plates. 6 Vols. Fcap. Svo. 18s. Life, Letters, and Journals. By Thomas Moore. Portrait and Vignette. O ne Volume, royal 8vo. 12s. Poetical Works. Library Edition. Portrait. 6 Vols. Demy 8vo. 45s. Poetical Works. Plates. 10 Vols. Fcap. 8vo. 30s. Poetical Works. Portrait and Vignette. One Volume, royal Svo. 12s. Poetical Works. One Compact Volume. For the use of Travellers. Portrait, Crown Svo, i»s. Poetical Works. Pocket Edition. 8 Vols. 24mo. 20s. Or separately as follows : — Chllde Harold. 1 Vol. ; Dramas, 2 Vols.; Tales and Poems, X Vol. ; Miscellanies, 2 Vols.; Bcppo and Don J uon, 2 Vols. 2s. 6 d. Each Volume. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. Illustrated Edition. With 30 Vignettes. Crown Svo. 10s. 6d. Beauties. Poetry and Prose. Fcap. Svo. 3s. CALVIN’S (John) Life. With Extracts from his Correspondence. By Thomas H. Dtf.u. Portrait. 8vo. 15s. CALLCOTT’S (Lady) Little Arthur’s History of England. 18/A Edition. With 20 Woodcuts. Fcap. Svo. 2s. 6d. CARMICHAEL’S (A. N.) Greek Verbs. Their Formations, Irregularities, and Defects. Second Edition. Post 8vo. Ss. 6 d. CARN AIt\ ON’S (Lord) Portugal, Gallicia, and the Basque Provinces. From Notes made during a Journey to those Countries Third Edition. Post 8vo. 6s. CAMPBELL S (Lord) Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Groat Seal of England. From the Earliest Times to the Death of Lord Eldon in 1838. itlt Edition. 10 Vols. Crown Svo. 6s. each. Life of Lord Bacon. Reprinted from the Lives of the Chancellors. Fcap. Svo. 2s. — Lives of the Chief Justices of England. From the Norman Conquest to the Death of Lord Mansfield. 2 Vols. Svo. 80s. . - — Lives of Lords Kenyon, Ellen borough, and Tenterden England ''^'svo'11^11 Volume of tlle ’’ Lives of the Chief Justices of ---■ ■ (George) Modern India. A Sketch of the System m?'1!, 0 0 ver"m«nt- „ With some Account of the Natives aud Native Institutions. Second Edition. Svo. 16s. India as it may he. An Outline of a proposed Government and Policy. Svo. 12s. ~ (Thos.) Short Lives of the British Poets. With an Essay on English Poetry. Post Svo. 6s. CASTLLb EAGH (The) DESPATCHES, from the commencement lif , 'V caTor"f tllu Itt,e Viscount Castleroagh to the close of his life. Edited by the Marquis of Londonderry. 12 Vols. 8vo. 11s. each. 8 LIST OF WORKS CATHCAET’S (Sir George) Commentaries on the War in Eussia and Germany, 1812-18. Plans. 8vo. 14s. Military Operations in Kaflfraria, which led to the Termination of the Kaffir War. 8vo. 12s. CAVALCASELLE (G. B.) Notices of the Early Flemish Painters ; Their Lives and Works. Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 12*. CHAEMED EOE (The) ; or, The Story of the Little Brother and Sister. By Otto Specktbb. Plates. 16mo. 6.?. CLARENDON (Lord Chancellor) ; Lives of his Friends and Contemporaries, illustrative of Portraits in his Gallery. By Lady Theresa Lewis. Portraits. 3 Vols. 8vo. 42s. CLAUSEWITZS (Carl Yon) Campaign of 1812, in Russia. Translated from the German by Lord Ellesmere. Map. 8vo. 10s. 6 d. CLIVE’S (Lord) Life. By Rev. G. E. Gleig, M.A. Post 8vo. 6a. COLERIDGE (Samuel Taylor). Specimens of his Table-Talk. Fourth Edition. Portrait. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. (Henry Nelson) Introductions to the Study of the Greek Classic Poets. Third Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 5s. 6 d. COLONIAL LIBRARY. [See Home and Colonial Library.] COMBER’S (Dean) Friendly Advice to the Roman Catholics of England. By Rev. Dr. Hook. Fcap. 8vo. 8s. COOKERY (Domestic). Founded on Principles of Economy and Practical Knowledge, and adapted for Private Families. Xeto Edition. Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 5s. CORNWALLIS (The) PAPERS. Being the Public and Private Correspondence of Charles, Marquis CornwallK during the American War, — his two Administrations in India,— the Union with Ireland, and the Pence of America. From Papers in possession of the Family, &c. Edited by Charles Ross. 2 Vols. 8vo. In Preparation. CRABBE’S (Rev. George) Life, Letters, and Journals. By his Son. Portrait. Fcap. 8vo. 3s. Life, Letters, Journals, and Poetical Works. Plates. 8 Vols. Fcap. 8vo. 24s. Life, Letters," Journals, and Poetical Works. Plates. One Volume. Royal 8vo. 10s. 6 d. CRAIK’S (G. L.) Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties. Xeto Edition. 2 Vols. Post 8vo. CUMMING’S (R. Gordon) Five Years of a Hunter’s Life in the Far Interior of South Africa. Fifth Edition. Woodcuts. PostSvo. 5s. CURZON’S (Hon. Robert) Visits to the Monasteries of the Levant, Fourth Edition. Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 15s. Armenia and Erzeroum. A Year on the Frontiers of Russia, Turkey, and Persia. Third Edition. Woodcuts. Post8vo. 7s. 6 d. PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. 9 CUNNINGHAM’S (Allan) Life of Sir David Wilkie. With his Journals and Critical Remarks on Works of Art. Portrait. 3 Vols. 8vo. 42s. Poems and Songs. Now first collected and arranged, with Biographical Notice. 24mo. 2*. 6 d. (Cai>t. J. D.) History of the Sikhs. From the Origin of the Nation to the Battle of the Sutlej. Second Edition Maps. Svo. 16s. (Pi;tf.k) London — Past and Present. A Hand- book to the Antiquities, Curiosities, Churches, Works of Art, Public Buildings, and Places connected with interesting and historical asso- ciations. Second Edition, Post 8vo. 16.*. Modern London. A complete Guide for Visitors to the Metropolis. Map. 16mo. 6s. Westminster Abbey. Its Art, Architecture, and Associations. Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 1$. Works of Oliver Goldsmith. Edited with Notes. Vignettes. 4 vols. 8vo. 30s. (Murray's British Classics.) Lives of Eminent English Poets. By Samukl Johnson, LL.D. Edited with Notes. 3 vols. Svo. 22s. 6d. (Murray’s British Classics.) CHOKER’S (Riqht Hon. J. W.) Progressive Geography for Children Fifth Edition. 18mo. Is. Gd. Stories for Children, Selected from the History of England. Fifteenth Edition. Woodcuts. 16mo. 2s. Gd. Boswell’s Life of Johnson. Including the Tour to the Hebrides. Third Edition. Portraits. Koyal 8vo. 15s. Lokd Hkrvey’s Memoirs of the Reign of George the from his Accession to the death of Queen Caroline. Edited withJsotes. Second Edition. Portrait. 2 Vols. Svo. 21*. Historical Essay on the Guillotine. Fcap. 8vo. l.$, CROMWELL (Oliver) and John Bunyan. Select Bioo-raphies By Robert Southp.y. Post Svo. 2». Gd. CROW E’S (J. A.). Notices of the Early Flemish Painters • Their Lives and Works. Woodcuts. Post8vo. 12s. DARWIN’S (Charles) Journal of Researches into the Natural World7 Po8?8vo01?fef M CoU"trieS viHited durin» a Voyage rouud the DAVY’S (Sir Humphry) Consolations in Travel: or. Last Davs of a Philosopher. Fifth Elition. Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. Salmonia ; or, Days of Fly Fishing. With some Account wi^cms “ F«p 8vo.eS tod0n"lns *° the eonus Salmo- Fourth DENNIS’ (Georoe) Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria- or the extant Local Remains of Etruscan Art. Plates. 2 Vols. 8vo. 42s. DHVEREUX S (Hon. Capt., R.N.) Lives and Letters of the Devereux f^?ftin3Sru’|infl,1r Ueigns E»««beth, James I.. and Charles 1., 1640 1646. Chiefly from unpublished documents. Portraits. 2 Vols o\ o. oU*( 30 LIST OF WORKS DODGSON’S (Rev. C.) Controversy of Faith ; or, Advice to Candi- dates for Holy Orders. Containing an Analysis and Exposition of the Argument by which the Catholic Interpretation of the Baptismal Services is to be vindicated. 12mo. 3s. DOG-BREAKING ; the Most Expeditious, Certain, and Easy Method, whether great excellence or only mediocrity be required. By Lietjt.-Col. Hutchinson. Third Edition. Revised and enlarged. Woodcuts. Post Svo. 9s. DOMESTIC MODERN COOKERY. Founded on Principles of Economy and Practical Knowledge, and adapted for Private Families. New Edition. "Woodcuts. Fcap. Svo. 5s. DOUGLAS’S (Genera i. Sir Howard) Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Gunnery. Fourth Edition. Plates. 8vo. 21s. — - — Treatise on the Principle and Construction of Military Bridges, and the Passage of Rivers in Military Operations. Third Edition. Plates. 8vo. 21s. DRAKE'S (Sir Francis) Life, Voyages, and Exploits, by Sea and Land. By John Barrow. Third Edition. Post 8vo. 2 s.iid. DRINK WATER’S (John) History of the Siege of Gibraltar, 1779-1783. With a Description and Account of that Garrison from the Earliest Periods. Post Svo. 2s. 6tf. DRYDEN’S (John) Works. A New Edition, based upon Sir Walter Scott's Edition, entirely revised. Svo. In Preparation. DUDLEY’S (Earl of) Letters to the late Bishop of Llandaff. Second Edition. Portrait. Svo. 10s. (id. DURHAM’S (Admiral Sir Philip) Naval Life and Services. By Capt. Alexander M unit ay. Svo. 5s. (id. DYER’S (Thomas II.) Life and Letters of John Calvin. Compiled from authentic Sources. Portrait. Svo. 15s. EASTLAKE (Sir Charles) The Schools of Painting in Italy. From the Earliest times. From the German of Kuglp.k. Edited, with Notes. Third Ediliim. Illustrated with 100 Engravings from the Old Masters. 2 Vols. Post Svo. 30s. EDWARDS’ (W. H.) Voyage up the River Amazon, including a Visit to Para. Post 8vo. 2s. (id. EGERTON’S (Hon. Capt. Francis) Journal of a Winter’s Tour in India; with a Visit to Nepaul. Woodcuts. 2 Vols. Post Svo. 18s. ELDON’S (Lord Chancellor) Public and Private Life, with Selec- tions from his Correspondence and Diaries. By Horace Twiss. Third Edition. Portrait. 2 Vols. Post Svo. 21s. ELLESMERE’S (Lord) Two Sieges of Vienna by the Turks. Translated from the German. Post Svo. 2s. 6 d. Second Campaign of Radetzky in Piedmont. The Defence of Temeswar and the Gamp of the Ban. From the German. Post Svo. 6s. 6 d. - Life and Character of the Duke of Wellington ; a Discourse. Fcap. Svo. 6 d. ■ Campaign of 1812 in Russia, from the German of General Carl Von Glausewitz. Map. Svo. 10s. (id. Pilgrimage, and other Poems. Illustrated. Crown 4to. 21s. PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY 11 ELIOT'S (Hon. W. G. C.) Khans of the Crimea. Being a Nar- rative of an Embassy from Frederick, tbe Great to the Court of Krim Gerai. Translated from the German. Post8vo. 6s. ELLIS (Mrs.) On the Education of Character, with Hints on Moral Training. I'ost. 8vo. 7s. (id. ELPHINSTONE'S (Hon. Mountstuart) History of India — the Hindoo and Mahomedan Periods. Third, Edition. Map. 8vo. 18s. ELWIN’S (Rev. W.) Lives of Eminent British Poets. From Chaucer to Wordsworth. 4 Yols. 8vo. In Preparation. ENGLAND (History or) from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles, 1713—83. By Lokd Mahon. Library Edition, 7 Yols. 8vo, 93s.; or, Popular Edition, 7 Vols. Post 8vo, 42s. — From the First Invasion by the Romans, down to the 14th year of Queen Victoria’s Reign. By Mrs. Markham. 98fft Edition. Woodcuts. 12mo. 6s. — As it is : Social, Political, and Industrial, in the Middle of the 19th Century. By W. Johnston. 2 Vols, Post 8vo. 18s. and France under the House of Lancaster. AVith an Introductory A’iew of the Early Reformation. Second Edition. Svo. 16 s. ENGLISHWOMAN IN AMERICA. Post Svo. 10«. 6d. RUSSIA : or, Impressions of Manners and Society during a Ten Years’ Residence in that Country. Fifth Thousand. AVoodcuts. Post Svo. 10s. 6d. ERSKINE'S (Capt., R.N.) Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western Pacific, including the Fejees, and others inhabited by the Polynesian Negro Races. Plates. 8vo. 16s. ESKIMAUX (Tiie) and English Vocabulary, for the use of Travellers in the Arctic Regions. 16mo. Ds. 6 d. ESSAYS FROM “THE TIMES.” Being a Selection from the Litkrarv Papers which have appeared in that Journal. 7th Thousand. 2 vols. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. EXETER’S (Bishop op) Letters to the late Charles Butler, on the Theological parts of bis Book of the Roman Catholic Church; with Remarks on certain AVorks of Dr. Milner and Dr. Lingard, and on some parts of the Evidence of Dr. Doyle. Second Edition. Svo. 16s. FAIR? RING (The), A Collection of Tales and Stories for Young Persons. From the German. By J. E.. Taylor. Illustrated by Richard Dovle. Second Edition. Fc-up. Svo. FALKXER’S (Fred.) Muck Manual for the Use of Farmers. A Treatise on the Nature and Value of Manures. Second Edition, with a Glossary of Terms und an Index. F cap. Svo. 6s. FAMILY RECLIPT-BOOK. A Collection of a Thousand Valuable and Useful Receipts. Fcap. Svo. 6s. 6d by Sir CHAELaa Eastlaxe. Woodcuts. 2 PICTURE GALLERIES OF ITALY. Beintr a Svo11 UictIonarr of Italian Painters. With a Chan. Post GREECE- the Ionian Islands, Albania, Thcssalv and Macedonia. Maps. Post8vo. 15$. * 9 . . , 1CRKEY Malta, Asia Minor, Constantinople A i menia, Mesopotamia, &c. Maps. Post 8vo. 10s. “ EGYPT Thebes, the Nile, Alexandria, the Pyramids, Mount Sinai, &c. Map. Post8vo. 15*. DENMARK — Norway and Sweden. Maps. Cairo, Svo. 12s. Svo. 12s. RUSSIA — The Baltic and Finland. Maps. LONDON, Past and Presknt. Post Post *» *» ohiecta KSSstf* °f 16 LIST OF WORKS HANDBOOKS (MURRAY’S); DEVON AND CORNWALL. Maps. Post 8vo. (5 s. WILTS, DORSET, AND SOMERSET. Map. Rost 8vo. 6s. BRITISH MUSEUM ; its Antiquities and Sculp- ture. 2?ku> Edition. Woodcuts. Post8vo. WESTMINSTER ABBEY — its Art, Architecture, and Associations. Woodcuts. 16mo. Is. PARIS. Post 8vo. INDIA. Post 8vo. CATHEDRALS OF ENGLAND. Post Svo. In Preparation. CHURCH AND STATE. Giving an Historical Account of the Duties attached to the various Civil and Ecclesiastical Departments of the Government. Post Svo. 6s. FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS. Chiefly from English Authors. A New Edition, with an Index. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. ARCHITECTURE. Being a Concise and Popular Account of the Different Styles prevailing in all Ages and Countries Bv James Ferqussox. With 850 Illustrations. 2 Vols. Svo. 36s. ARTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES AND RE- naissance. By M. Jules Labarte. With 200 Illustrations. 8vo. 18s. HEAD’S (Sir Francis) Rough Notes of some Rapid Journeys across the Pampas and over the Andes. Post Svo. 2s. 6 d. Descriptive Essays : contributed to the “ Quarterly Review.” 2 Vols. Post Svo. 18s. Bubbles from the Brunnen of Nassau. By an Old Man. Sixth Edition. 16mo. 5s. Emigrant. Sixth Edition. Fcap. Svo. 2#. 6d. London and North-Western Railway. Post Svo. 2a. 6d. Defenceless State of Great Britain. Contents — 1. Mili- tary Warfare. 2. Naval Warfare. 3. The Invasion of England. 4. The Capture of London by a French Army 6. The Treatment of Women in War. 6. How to Defend Great Britain. Post 8vo. 12s. Sketches of Paris, or Faggot of French Sticks. Xew Edition. 2 Vols. Post Svo. 12s. Fortnight in Ireland. Second Edition. Map. 8vo. 12s. (Sir George) Forest Scenes and Incidents in Canada. Second Edition. Post 8vo. 10s. Home Tour through the Manufacturing Districts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, including the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. Third Edition. 2 Vols. Post8vo. 12s. (Sir Edmund) Handbook of Painting — the German, Dutch, Spanish, and French Schools. Partly from the German of Kuglkr. With Illustrations. 2 Vols. Post Svo. 24s. Shall and Will ; or, Two Chapters on Future Auxiliary Verbs. Fcap. Svo. 3s. PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. 17 1IEBER (Bishop) Parish Sermons; on the Lessons, the Gospel sarae? svs? sss? % v,,r- for "•*** «*« 9*. lid. Sermons rreaehed in England. Second Edition. 8vo. Hymns written and adapted for the weekly Church service of the \ ear. Twelfth Edition. 16mo.** 2^. 7 s.6d 1 oetical A\ orks. Fifth Edition. Portrait. Peap. 8vo. “ATT ^rongh the Upper Provinces of India, From ,o Madras and tue s°uthcni pr°- II EI II ESS (Tub) in Her Minority; or, The Progress of Character. By the Author of “Bertha’s Journal.” 2VoIs 12mo. l&s. HERODOTUS. A Hew English Aversion. Translated from the re.xt of Gaisjord, and Edited with Notes, illustrating the History and th® mo8t r,!C0,lt sources of infommtion. I R^^ErSEL J O- Wtucmso*. HERS CHE LS (Sir J.AY. F.) Manual of Scientific Enquiry, for the Use of Travellers. By various Writers. Second Edition. BostSvo. 10s. 6d. HERVEY’S (Lord) Memoirs of the Reign of George the Second, from his Accession to the Death of Queen Caroline. Edited with Notes /volfK,w- Ci:okkr- &cmul and sau&. toSSS: HICKMAN’S (Wk.) Treatise on the Law and Practice of Naval Courts Martial. 8vo. 10s. (kf. IHLL ^rsdewc) On Crime: its Amount, Causes, and Remedies. HILLARD’S (G. S.) Six Months in Italy. 2 Vols. Post 8vo. 16s. HISTORY OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE urder the House WS lutroduetory View of the Early Keforuiatio,,: HOLLANDS (Rev. AY. B.) Psalms and Hymns, selected and ldl*M J ° HlB Varl0US Sole"mitit3 of the Church. Third Edition. 24mo. HOLLAYAY’S (J. G.) Month in Norway. Fcap. 8vo. 2s. H0NEtIrlySeS“LpAL.^ur- E<5Printed fr0m the “ Quar' HOOK’S (Rev. Dr.) Church Dictionary. Seventh Edition. 8vo. 16s. 8vElSL°UrSeS °n the Reli«iou3 Controversies of the Day. inEsSaj’ tinted from the “Quarterly c 18 LIST OK WORKS HOME AND COLONIAL LIBRARY. Complete in 76 Parts. Post 8vo, 2s. 6 d. each, or bound in 37 Volumes, cloth. CONTEXTS OP THE SEMES. THE BIBLE IN SPAIN. By George Borrow. JOURNALS IN INDIA. By Bishop IIeber. TRAVELS IN THE HOLY LAND. By Captains Irby and Mangles. THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR. By John Drinkwater. MOROCCO AND THE MOORS. By J. Drcsimond Hay. LETTERS FROM THE BALTIC. By a Lady. THE AMBER-WITCH. By Lady Dupe Gordon. OLIVER CROMWELL & JOHN BUNYAN. By Robert Soctiiey. NEW SOUTH WALES. By Mrs. Meredith. LIFE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. By John Barrow. FATHER RIPA’S MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF CHINA. A RESIDENCE IN THE WEST INDIES. By M.-G. Lewis. SKETCHES OF PERSIA. By Sm John Malcolm. THE FRENCH IN ALGIERS. By Lady Duff Gordon. BRACEBRIDGE HALL. By Washington Irving. VOYAGE OF A NATURALIST. By Charles Darwin. HISTORY OF THE FALL OF THE JESUITS. LIFE OF LOUIS PRINCE OF CONDE. By Lord Mahon. GIPSIES OF SPAIN. By George Borrow. THE MARQUESAS. By Hermann Melville. LIVONIAN TALES. By a Lady. MISSIONARY LIFE IN CANADA. By Rev. J. Abbott. SALE’S BRIGADE IN AFFGIIANISTAN. By Rev. G. R. Gleio. LETTERS FROM MADRAS. By a Lady. HIGHLAND SPORTS By Charles St. John. JOURNEYS ACROSS THE PAMPAS. By Sir F. B. Head. GATHERINGS FROM SPAIN. By Richard Ford. SIEGES OF VIENNA BY THE TURKS. By Lord Ellesmere. SKETCHES OF GERMAN LIFE. By Sir A. Gordon. ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS. By Hermann Melville. STORY OF BATTLE OF WATERLOO. By Rev. G. R. Gleio. A VOYAGE UP TnE RIVER AMAZON. By W. II. Edwards. THE WAYSIDE CROSS. By Capt. Milman. MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF INDIA. By Rev. C. Aci.and. CAMPAIGNS AT WASHINGTON. By Rev. G. R. Gleig. ADVENTURES IN MEXICO. By G. F. Ruxton. PORTUGAL AND GALLICIA. By Lord Carnarvon. LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. By Rev. G. R. Gleig. BUSH LIFE IN AUSTRALIA. By H. W. Havgarth. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HENRY STEFFENS. TALES OF A TRAVELLER. By Washington Irving. SHORT LIVES OF THE POETS. By Thomas Campbell. HISTORICAL ESSAYS. By Lord Mahon. LONDON & NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. By Sir F. B. Head. ADVENTURES IN THE LIBYAN DESERT. By Baylk St.John. A RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. By a Lady. LIFE OF GENERAL MUNRO. By Rev. G. R. Gleig. MEMOIRS OF SIR FOWELL BUXTON. By his Son. LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH. By Washington Irving. PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. 19 HOOKER’S (Dr.J.D.) Himalayan Journals; or, Notes of an Oriental Naturalist in Bengal, tlie Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Klinsia -Mountains, dy, with English Translation for Junior Classes. Second Edition. 12uio. 2a. LAYAltD’S (A. H.) Nineveh and its Remains. Being a Nar- rative of Researches and Discoveries amidst the Ruins of Assyria. With an Account of the Chaldean Christians of Kurdistan ; the Yezedis, or Devil-worshippers; and an Enquiry into the Manners and Arts of the Ancient Assyrians. Sixth Edition. Plates and Woodcuts. 2 Yols. 8vo. 36s. Nineveh and Babylon ; being the Result of a Second Expedition to Assyria. Fourteenth Thousand. Plates. Svo. 21*. Or Pine Paper, 2 Vols. 8vo. 30s. - Popular Account of Nineveh. 15f/t Edition. With Woodcuts. Post Svo. 6s. Monuments of Nineveh. First and , Second Scries. Illustrated by One Hundred and Seventy Engravings. 2 Yols. Imperial Folio, 101. 10s. each. LEAKE’S (Col. W. Martin) Topography of Athens, with Remarks on its Antiquities; to which is added, tne Demi of Attica. Second Edition. Plates. 2 Vols. Svo. 80s. Travels in Northern Greece. Maps. 4 Vols. Svo. 60s. Disputed Questions of Ancient Geography. Map 8vo. 6*. 6d. — — Numismata Hellenica. A Catalogue of Greek Coins. With Map and Appendix. -Ito. 68*. Peloponnesiaca : A Supplement to Travels in the Morea. 8vo. 15*. Thoughts on the Degradation of Science in England 8vo. 3s. 6d. ° LESLIE’S (C. R.) Handbook for Young Painters. With Illustra- tions. Post 8 vo. 10s. 6d. LETTERS FROM THE SHORES OF THE BALTIC. Bv a Lady. Post 8vo. 2s. 6 d. J Madras ; or, First Impressions of Life and Manners in India. By a Lady. Post 8vo. 2s. (ki. Sierra Leone, written to Friends at Home. By a Lady. Edited by Mrs. Nobtos. Post Svo. 6s. ~ “ ~ Head Quarters ; or, The Realities of the War 1" t.lu‘..Crim,ea- , By au Offices OF THK Stakf. Second Edition. 1 ortrait of Lord Kaglan and Plans. 2 vols. Tost Svo. 2 U. LEXINGTON (The) PAPERS; or. Some Account of the Courts of London and Vienna at the end of the 17tli Century. Edited by Hon H. M assess Suttos. 8vo. 14s. 22 LIST OF WORKS LEWIS’ (Sir G. C.) Essay on the Government of Dependencies. 8vo. 12s. Glossary of Provincial Words used in Herefordshire and some of the adjoining Counties. 12mo. is. Gd. (Lady Theresa) Friends and Contemporaries of the Lonl Chancellor Clarendon, illustrative of 1’ortrnits in his Gallery. With a Descriptive Account of the Pictures, and Origin of the Collec- tion. Portraits. 3 Vols. 8vo. 42s. (M. G.) Journal of a Residence among the Negroes in the West Indies. Post 8vo. 2s. Gd. LIDDELL'S (Dean) History of Rome. From the Earliest Times to the Establishment of the Empire. With the History of Literature and Art. Library Edition. 2 Vols. Svo. 28s. - SCHOOL HISTORY OF ROME. Abridged from the Larger Work. With 100 Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 7 s. 6. 1123. 8vo. 18s. ROBINSON’S (Rev. Dr.) Biblical Researches in the Holy Land. Being a Journal of Travels in 1838, and of Later Researches in 1S52. With New Maps. 3 Vols. 8vo. 36s. *»* The “ Later Researches” map be had separately. Sro. 15s. ROMILLY’S (Sir Samuel) Memoirs and Political Diary. By his Sons. Third Edition. Portrait. 2 Vols. Fcap. 8vo. 12s. ROSS'S (Sir James) Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions during the years 1839-43. Plates. 2 Vols. 8vo. 36s. RUNDELL'S (Mrs.) Domestic Cookery, founded on Principles of Economy and Practice, and adapted for Private Families. New and Revised Edition. Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. BUXTON’S (George F.) Travels in Mexico ; with Adventures among the Wild Tribes and Animals of the Prairies and Rocky Moun- tains. Post8vo. 6s. SALE’S (Lady) Journal of the Disasters in Afghanistan. Eighth Edition. Post 8vo. 12s. (Sir Robert) Brigade in Afghanistan. With an Account of the Seizure and Defence of Jellalabad. ByREV.G.R.GLEto. Post 8vo.2s.6d. SANDWITII’S (Humphry, M.D.) Narrative of the Siege of Kars and of the Six Months’ Resistance by the Turkish Garrison under Genernl Williams, to the Russian Army. With Remarks on the Present State of Turkey. 7th Thousand. Post 8vo. 3s. 6 d. SCROFE’S (William) Days of Deer-Stalking in the Forest of Atholl ; with some Account of the Nature and Habits of the Red Deer. Third Edition. Woodcuts. Crown 8vo. 20s. Days and N ights of Salmon Fishing in the Tweed ; with a short Account of the Natural History and Habits of the Salmon. Second Edition. Woodcuts. Royal 8vo. 31s. 6d. PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. 29 SCllOPE’S (G. P.) Memoir of Lord Sydenham, and his Administra- tion in Cannda. Second Edition. Portrait. Svo. 9s. tki. SEYMOUR’S (H. Danby) Travels in the Crimea and along the Shores of the Sea of AzotT and the lilack Sea. Third Edition. Slap. Svo. 12s. SHAW’S (Thos. B.) Outlines of English Literature, for the Use of Young Students. PostSvo. 12s. SHEIL’S (Lady) Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia. Wood- cuts. Post Svo. 12s. SIERRA LEONE ; Described in a Series of Letters to Friends at Horae. By A Lady. Edited by Mbs. Norton'. Post Svo. 6s. SMITH’S (Wm., LL.D.) Dictionary of Greek and Roman Anti- quities. Second Edition. With 500 Woodcuts. 8vo. 42s. Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Third Edition. With 200 Woodcuts. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and My- thology. With 500 Woodcuts. 3 Vols. Svo. 51. 15 s. 6 d. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. With Woodcuts. 2 Vols. 8vo. Historical Atlas of Ancient Geography. 4to. [ In Preparation. Dictionary of Biblical Antiquities, Biography, and Geo- graphy. With Woodcuts. Svo. . [In Preparation. - Classical Dictionary for the Higher Forms in Schools. Compiled from the larger works. Third Edition. Svo. 15s. Smaller Classical Dictionary. Third Edition. With 200 Woodcuts. Crown Svo. 7s. 6 d. Latin - English Dictionary. Based upon the Works of Forcelliui and Freund. Svo. 21s. Smaller Latin- English Dictionary. Square 12mo. 7 3.6c?. School History of Greece ; from the Earliest Times to the Roman Conquest. With the Histmy of Literature and Art. Seventh Edition. Woodcuts. Crown Svo. 7s. 61. School History of Rome ; from the Earliest Times to the Establishment of the Empire. With the History of Literature and Art. By H. G. Liddell. D.D. Woodcuts. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. [ Uni- form with Dr. Wm. Smith's History of Greece.] Questions on Dr Wm. Smith’s History of Greece. For the Use of Schools and Teachers. By Rev. Charles Bickhokk. Post Svo. 2«. — — (Hbbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Edited, with Notes. Portrait and Map. 8 Vols. 8vo. 60s. (Murray’s British Classics.) Student’s Gibbon ; being the History of the Decline and Fall, Abridged. Incorporating the Researches of Recent Com- mentators. Woodcuts. PostSvo. 7s. 6 d. (Wm. Jas.) Grenville Letters and Diaries, including Mb. Grenville’s Diaby of Political Events, while First Lord of the Treasury. Edited, with Notes. 4 Vols. 8vo. 64s. (James & Horace) Rejected Addresses. 23 rd Edition. Fcap.8vo. la., or Fine Paper, with Portrait. Fcap. 8vo. 5s. 30 LIST OF WORKS SOMERVILLE'S (Mary) Physical Geography. Third Edition. Portrait. 2 Vols. Fcap. 8vo. 12s. Connexion of the Fhysical Sciences. Eighth Edition. Plates. F cap. 8vo. 10s. 6t l. SOUTHEY’S (Robert) Book of the Church ; with Notes contain- ing the Authorities, and an Index. Sixth Edition. 8vo. 12s. Lives of JolinBunyan& Oliver Cromwell. FostSvo. 2x.6d. SPECKTER’S (Otto) Puss in Boots, suited to the Tastes of Old and Young. A New Edition. With 12 Woodcuts. Square 12mo. Is. 6d. Charmed Roe ; or, the Story of the Little Brother and Sister. Illustrated. 16mo. STANLEY’S (Edward, D.D., Bp. of Norwich) Addresses and Chauoks. With a Memoir of his Life. By His Sox. Second Edition. 8vo. 10s. 6 d. (Arthur P.) Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistles to the Corinthians, with Notes and Dissertations. Second Edition. 2 Vols. 8vo. Historical Memorials of Canterbury. The Landing of Augustine — The Murder of Becket— The Black Prince— The Shrine of Becket. Second Edition. Woodcuts. 8vo. 6s. 6 d. — Sinai and Palestine, in Connexion with their History. Third Edition. Map. 8vo. 16s. ST. JOHN’S (Charles) Wild Sports and Natural History of the II ighlands. Post 8vo. 6*. (Bayi.e) Adventures in the Libyan Desert and the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon. Woodcuts. Post 8vc. 2.*. 6d. STEPHENSON’S (Georcie), Life. The Railway Engineer. By Samuel Smiles. Portrait. 8vo. In the Press. STOTHARD'S (Thos., It. A.) Life. With Personal Reminiscences. By Mrs. Bray. With Portrait and 00 Woodcnts. 4to. 21*. STREET’S (G. E.) Brick and Marble Architecture of Italy, in the Middle Ages. Plates. 8vo. 21s. STRIFE FOR THE MASTERY. Two Allegories. With Illus- trations. Crown 8vo. Gs. SUNLIGHT THROUGH THE MIST; or, Practical Lessons drawn from the Lives of Good Men, intended as a Sunday Book for Children. By A Lady. Second Edition. 16mo. 3s. Cd. SWIFT’S (Jonathan) Works. New Edition, based upon Sir Walter Scott's Edition, entirely revised. 8vo. In Preparation. SYDENHAM’S (Lord) Memoirs. With his Administration in Canada. By G.PouletScrope, M.P. Second Edition. Portrait. Svo. 9s.6d. SYME’S (Jas.) Principles of Surgery. Fourth Edition, revised. 8vo. 14*. TALBOT’S (H. Fox) English Etymologies. Svo. I2«. TAYLOR’S (Henry) Notes from Life. Fcap 8vo. 2s. (J. E.) Fairy Ring. A Collection of Stories for Young Persons. From the German. With Illustrations by Richard Doyle. Second Edition. Woodcuts. Fcap. Svo. PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. 31 TENNENT’S (Si* J. E.) Christianity in Ceylon. Its Introduction and Progress under the Portuguese, Dutch, British, and American Mis- sions. With an Historical Sketch of the Brabmanical and Buddhist Superstitious. Woodcuts. 8vo. 14s. THliEE-LEAV ED MANUAL OP FAMILY PRAYER; arranged so as to save the trouble of turning the Pages backwards and forwards. Royal 8vo. 2s. TICKNOR'S (George) History of Spanish Literature. With Criti- cisms on particular Works, and Biographical Notices of Prominent Writers. Second Edition. 3 Vols. 8vo. 24s. TOCQUEYILLE’S (M. i>e) State of France before the Revolution, 1789, and on tbe Causes of that Event. Translated by Hrnby Ref.vk, Esq. 8vo. 14s. TREMENTIEERE'S (H. S.) Political Experience of the Ancients, in its bearing on Modern Times. Fcap. 8vo. 2s. Cd. Notes on Public Subjects, made during a Tour in the United States and Canada. Post Svo. 10s. fid. Constitution of the United States compared with onr own. Post 8vo. 9s. fid. TWISS’ (Horace) Public and Private Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon, with Selections from his Correspondence. Portrait. Third Edition. 2 Vols. Post 8vo. 21s. UBICINI’S (M. A.) Letters on Turkey and its Inhabitants — the Moslems, Greeks, Armenians, &c. Translated by Lady Easthope. 2 Vols. Post Svo. 21s. VAUGHAN’S (Rev. Dr.) Sermons preached in Harrow School. 8vo. 10s. fid. New Sermons. 12mo. 5s. VAUX’S (W. S. W.) Handbook to the Antiquities in the British Museum; being a Description of the Remains of Greek, Assyrian, Egyptian, and Etruscan Art preserved there. With Woodcuts. Xew Edition. Post Svo.; VENABLES’ (Rev. R. L.) Domestic Scenes in Russia during a Year’s Residence, chiefly in the interior. Second Edition. Post 8vo. 5s. VOYAGE to the Mauritins and back, touching at the Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena. By Author of “Paddiana." Post8vo. 9s. fid. "WAAGEN’S (Dr.) Treasures of Art in Great Britain. Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Sculpture, Manuscripts, Miniatures, &c. &c, in this Country. Obtained from Personal Inspec- tion during Visits to England. 3 Vols. Svo. 36s. WADDINGTON’S (Dean) Condition and Prospects of the Greek Chnrcli. New Edition. Fcap. 8vo. Ss. fid. WAKEFIELD’S (E. J.) Adventures in New Zealand. With some Account of the Beginning of the British Colonisation of the Island. Map. 2 Vols. Svo. 28s. WALKS AND TALKS. A Story-book for Young Children. By Aunt Ida. With Woodcuts, lfimo. 5s. WARD'S (Robert Peumer) Memoir, Correspondence, Literary and Unpublished Diaries and Remains. By the Hon. Edmund Phipps. Portrait. 2 Vols. Svo. 28s. 32 LIST OF WORKS PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. * WATT (James) ; Origin and Progress of his Mechanical Inventions. Illustrated by his Correspondence with his Friends. Edited with an Introductory Memoir, by ,J. P. Mujrhead. Plates 3 vols. 8vo 45s or Large Paper. S Vols. 4to. WELLESLEY’S (Rev. Dn.) Anthologia Polyglotta ; a Selection of Versions in various. Languages, chiefly from the Greek Antlioloirv 8vo, 15s. ; or 4to, 42s. 67 ' WELLINGTON’S (The Duke of) Character, Actions, and Writings. By Jules Maurkl. Second Edition, Is. Od. Despatches during his various Campaigns. Compiled from Official and other Authentic Documents. By Col. Gurwood, C.B. New Enlarged Edition. 8 Vols. 8vo. 21s. each. Selections from his Despatches and General Orders. 8vo. 18s. Speeches in Parliament. Collected and Arranged with his snnetion. 2 Vols. 8vo. 42s. WILKIE’S (Sir Davie) Life, Journals, Tours, and Critical Remarks on Works of Art, with a Selection from his Correspondence. By Allas Cusxingham. Portrait. 3 Vols. 8vo. 42s. WILKINSON’S (Sir J. G.) Popular Account of the Private Life, Manners, and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians. New Edition. Kevised and Condensed. With 500 Woodcuts. 2 Vols. Post 8vo" 12s. Dalmatia and Montenegro ; with a Journey to Mostar in Hertzegovina, and Remarks on the Slavonic Nations. Plates and Woodcuts. 2Vols.8vo. 42s. Handbook for Egypt. — Thebes, the Nile, Alex- andria, Cairo, the Pyramids, Mount Sinai, &c. Map. Post Svo. 15s. (G. B.) Working Man's Handbook to South Aus- tralia: with Advice to the Farmer, and Detailed Information for the several Classes of Labourers and Artisans. Map. 18mo. Is. 6d. WOOD’S (Lieut.) Voyage up the Indus to the Source of the River Oxus, by Kabul and Badakhshan. Map. Svo. 14s. WORDSWORTH’S (Rev. Dr.) Athens and Attica. Journal of a Tour. Third Edition. Plates. Post8vo. 8s. 6 d. — — King Edward Vlth’s Latin Grammar, for the Use of Schools. 1015 Edition, revised. 12mo. 3s. 0d. First Latin Book, or the Accidence, Syntax and Prosody, with English Translation for Junior Classes. Second Edition. 12mo. 2s. WORNUM (Ralph). A Biographical Dictionary of Italian Painters : with a Table of the Contemporary Schools of Italy. By a Lady. Post 8vo. 6s. 6 d. YOUNG’S (Dr. Tnos.) Life and Miscellaneous Works, edited by Dean- Peacock and Jonx Leitcii. Portrait and Plates. 4 Vols. Svo. 15s. each. BRADBURY AND IVANS, PRINTERS, WHITKVRIAR8. BOUND BY