UC-NRLF B 3 1DM D7b . •. THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID I THE LIBRARY OF ENTERTAINING KNOWLEDGE. INSECT MISCELLANIES. LONDON: CHARLES KNIGHT, PALL MALL EAST; LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, & GREEN, PATERNOSTER-ROW OLIVER & BOYD, EDINBURGH; ATKINSON & CO., GLASGOW; WAKEMAN, DUBLIN ; WILLMER & SMITH, LIVERPOOL J AND BAINES & CO., LEEDS. MDCCCXXXI. 0 LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES, Stamford Street. ub, CONTENTS, SECTION I.— SENSES OF INSECTS, Page Difficulty of the subject . . . »•••«! Mistakes from hasty inferences .••••• CHAPTER I.— SENSE OF TOUCH. The organs of touch . . • . • • • • .4 The legs of spiders . . • >% Spiders depend on other senses • • « • • The spinneret, an organ of touch ....•• 6 The claws . 7 The cushioned feet of beetles and flies . . • 8 The feelers (palpi} or an tennules . • • • • .9 Similar organs'in birds and fish . . • • . • ib. Opinions of Bonsdorf and Lehmann . . . • • 10 The wings as organs of touch ...... 12 Facts from the clouded' butterfly Similar facts from the bat . . . . . . • • 14 Origin of the proverb "blind as a beetle" . . . . Sense of heat in insects .16 Spiders said to predict weather . • . » • 17 Objections to this from facts. •••••• ib. Night appearance of spiders ... . . . • 18 Appearance of insects at certain hours. . . • • 20 Experiments of Decandolle ... . . . 20 Influence • Opinions of Chabrier and Reaumur, . • » • °° Experiments of Reaumur and Hunter in- Humming in the air .,..«••• The buzz of flies * * Q? Experiment of J. R. . . • • • • • • Opinion of Derham ..«••••» -J2 Experiments of DeGeer .,.••»• Buzz of the gnat •[* Drone of the beetle ...••« • ™ Sounds of flies arising from terror . • t • • lb» CONTENTS. Vti Page Experiments of Reaumur ...««»» 97 Cry of the death's-head moth ...... 96 Experiments of Passerini and Duponchel , ... 98 The death-watch 98 Ridiculed by Dean Swift 99 Observations of Swammerdam and Derham . . . 100 Opinions of Geoffrey, Ollivier, and Tigny .... ib. Several species of death-watch 101 Imperceptible sounds . 102 Range of human hearing 104 Organ of hearing in insects ........ 105 Position of the ears of Certain animals « • • • ib. Antennae of insects analogous to ears . . . . . 106 Remarks of Kirby and Spend? . . • ib. Illustrations from the hare and the rook .... 108 Experiments by J. R 109 Insects with very long antennae ib. Opinion of Huber respecting autennal language . . . 110 Objections to this ........ 113 Experiments and analogies disproving it . ... 114 An tennal box of water-beetles ...... 115 Opinion of Comparetti ....«, . . 116 Comparison with the stethoscope ...... 11? CHAPTER V.— VISION OF INSECTS. Insects which are supposed to be blind . . . • . 118 Experiments by J. R. on Ponera contracta . * * . 119 Spiders said to' be blind ....... ib. Vision of bees 121 Seeing one object with multiplying eyes . . . « 123 Illustration, from birds 124 Various positions of the eyes of spiders ..... 125 The coronet eyes of bees ....... 127 Experiments by Reaumur ib. Double eyes of the whirlwig ..*... 128 Experiments of Leeuwenhoeck ...... 129 Structure of the eyes of bees ...... 130 Mr. HerschelPs opinions on vision 132 Researches of Muller of Bonn ...... 133 SECTION II.— FOOD OF INSECTS. Division of insects according to their feeding organs ... 142 CHAPTER VI.— EATING INSECTS. The jaws of insects . . . . 144 Jaws of insects do not indicate their food .... 1 45 Illustration from the stag-beetle and the earwig ... ib. Method of entrapping earwigs 147 Cannibalism of earwigs ....... ib. Similar propensities of crickets 148 Experiment relative, to this ...... 149 Tree- hoppers (Cicada) do not live on dew . . • .150 Locusts do not chew the cud ...«•• 151 Voracity of the cockroach .....«• 152 Cannibalism of the mantis «.»••• 154 Vlii CONTENTS. Page Singular fornj of the mantis . . . • , , . 156 Illustration from the rabbit 157 Dragon flies .••••,... 158 Inappropriate names 159 Voracity of termites 160 Smeathman's account ..*.•.. 161 Verified by Kaempfer and Percival . . . • 164 Attack upon a ship of the line 167 Attack upon the piers at Bridlington ..... 168 CHAPTER VII.— LAPPING INSECTS. ij Manner in which quadrupeds lap ••.... 170 Lapping of ants . . . ib. Tongue of the bee and its sheath 17 L Muscles of the bee's tongue ....... 172 Form adapted to the nectaries of flowers . . 174 Difference in the structure of wasps 176 CHAPTER VIII.— SUCKING INSECTS. Structure of the suckers in insects 377 Sucker of aphis quercus ....... 178 History of the American blight ..... ib. Account of, by Mr, Knapp 18ft Singular mistake of Mr. Swainson 183 Savigny's theory respecting the suckers of insects . . ib. Origin of the word bug ....... 184 History of the bed-bug 185 Spirited description of, by Goldsmith , » . . ib. Sucker of the water-bug ....... 187 Muscular strength of the flea 183 Fleas kept for amusement ....... ib. Sucker of the flea , ib. Quaint description from Mouffet ....,, 189 Anecdote of Christina, Queen of Sweden .... 190 Preventive of fleas . 191 Chigoe of the West Indies ib. Dangerous experiment by a friar 192 Danger of gnat bites .193 Description from Pliny ib. Observations of Reaumur . • . . . . . . 194 Sucker of the gnat described ...... 195 Mode of its operation ....... 196 Only female gnats bite 198 Mistakes of Kirby and Svvammerdam • . . ib. Extraordinary accounts of gnats , * . • . 199 Irish gnats 200 Gadflies and cleg 201 Observations of Reaumur » . . • • . . • 202 Savigny's theory ...... ••• 203 Objections thereto ..«•••.. 205 SECTION III.— SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC HABITS OF INSECTS. CHAPTER IX.— PAIRING OF INSECTS. 1 Causes of sociality V 206 Illustrated from spiders, quadrupeds, and birds . . . ib> CONTENTS. h£ Page "Pairing" as it refers to insects . . « » , 208 Cannibalism among fish and spiders . . . » . 209 Distinctive marks of the sexes . . . * . • 210 Stag-beetle, horned wasp, and humble-bee .... 211 Male and female of a mason-bee ...... 213 Male and female moths and butterflies .... 214 Male and female dragon-flies .«•••• ib. Wingless females • 215 Mistakes from similarity ....... ib. Males probably guided by smell . • • . . ib. Sembltng of the Lbndoil collectors . . • • . . 216 Unsuccessful sembling ....... ib. Female insects short-lived . . . . . . . 218 Ephemerae live more than one day . . . . . 219 Experiment of Huber on the queen-bee . . • • ib. Luminous insects 222 Common opinion respecting the glow-worm . • • . ib. Theory of Mr. Knapp ....»•• ib. Disproved by facts and experiments . • • • . 224 Insects flying to the light • 225 Time of the glow-worm's appearance • • . . « 226 Opinions of Kirby and John Murray ..... 227 Fire-fly of the West Indies 228 Electric centipede ........ 230 Luminosity of the sea ..««•••. 231 Various causes assigned for it . • • • • • 232 CHAPTER X.-— SINGULARITIES IN PAIRING. Pairing of aphides » 234 Godart's singular opinion ....••« ib. Opinions of Leeuwenhoeck and Bourguet • . 235 Experiment^ of Bonnet . . , i ; . ^ • . . ib. Investigation requested by the Academic des Sciences . . 236 Bazin's experiments ib, Trembley's experiments ....... 237 Reaumur's experiments ....... 238 Bonnet's confirmatory experiments . . • • . 239 Mistake of Goldsmith ....... 241 Pairing of ants < « . . ib. The common ants imperfect females . » . 242 The male and female ants ....•». ib. Observations of the younger Huber . . . 243 Workers guard the females . 244 Death of the male ants ....... 246 Proceedings of the females . . . . « • ib. Deprive themselves of their wings . . . . . 248 Experiments of Huber ........ ib. Observations of Gould ^ • 249 Foundation of ant colonies ,.<*... 252 Labours of female ants .«•••*• ib. Age of female ants ........ ib. Pairing of bees 253 Only one female and about 600 males in a hive . . ib. Debraw's observations ....*.. 254 Bonnet confirms these ........ ib. Disproved by Huber 255 Opinion of Swammerdam .«•..«. 256 b CONTENTS. Opinion of Hattarf and Schirach . . . ." . 257 Huber's experiments and conclusion ..... ib. .Disbelieved by practical bee proprietors .... 258 Massacre of the male bees ...... . 259 Objections of Bonnet ....... ib. Reaumur's observations confirmed by Huber . . . 260 Males sometimes preserved ..... . 261 Remark of Bonner confirmed by Huber . . . . . ib. CHAPTER XI.— MIGRATIONS OF INSECTS. Artificial migrations . . ....... 262 Sheep on the Alps ........ ib. Bee caravans of Germany ...... . ib. Bee barges in France and Egypt ..... ib. Local stations of insects ....... 263 Capricious flight of insects ...... 265 Destructive migrations ......... 266 Perishing of butterflies in the sea ..... ib. Migrations of the painted lady butterfly . . . ib. Migrations of ladybirds ....... 267 Migrations of aphides ........ 268 Description of the locust from Joel ..... 269 Verified by Barrow ........ ib. Progress and destruction, according to Jacksou . . . 270 Haselquist's account . . . . . . . ib. Observations of Irby and Mangles ..... 271 Illustrations from the Lemming rat ..... ib. -- from the land crab ..... 272 Diffusive migrations ......... 273 Migrations of ants ....... . ib. Decamping of garden ants ....... 276 •Non-migratory disposition of the yellow ants . , , 278 Observations and experiments of Huber . . . . ib. Emigrations of young spiders ...... 281 Migrations of bees ......... 282 •Causes investigated by Reaumur ..... 283 Remarks of Dr. Warder and Mr T. Knight . . . .284 Instance by Dr. Evans ....... 285 Reaumur does not believe in bee spies . « • . . ib. Description of swarming, from Huber .... 287 Indications of swarming ....... 288 Importance of fine weather ...... 289 Proceedings of the queen ....... 290 CHAPTER XII.— GOVERNMENT OF INSECT COMMUNITIES. Division of labour ......... 292 Insects unimproveable by age ...... 293 Remarks of Kirby and Bonnet . ..... in. Government of termites . . • • • • 29-4 Ranks and sexes in the community « . . • ib. Proceedings of the king and queen ..... 296 Duties of the labourers and soldiers ..... 297 Government of ants (Formicidce) ....... ib. Whether the females possess authority .... 298 Sentinel ants ......... lb- Observations of Gould ....... 2" Female ants not sovereigns ...•••• 301 Plans of individuals adopted and opposed ...» 302 CONTENTS. Xi Page Punishments for laziness ....... 305 The sick and dying- illtreated ...... ib. Government of wasps and bees ... • . . 30(5 Wasps and humble-bees annually shift .... ib. No subordination in their communities .... 307 Sentinel wasps ........ ib. 'Rivalry among the females . . . . . . . 308 Females do riot superintend swarming .... 309 Rivalry among the queens of the hive-bee . . . . ib. Observations of Huber . ' 310 Battles of the queens ib. Experiments of Huber , . ib. 'Schirach's discovery 311 Verified by Huber and Dunbar ...... ib. Queens produced from common grubs . « . • 313 Illustrated from plants . . . . . . . 316 'Experiments of Huber 31? Loyalty of bees . . . ' 318 Experiments of Dr. Warder . . . . . ib. The queen's guard ........ 320 ' Feats of Wildman ib. His explanation (hereof 321 CHAPTER XIII.— WARS OF INSECT COMMUNITIES. Wars of bees and wasps Ill Descriptions by Pliny and Virgil Ill Sting of the bee 323 Poison of the bee 326 'Formidable attacks of bees . . . . . .32? Bee duels 328 'Robber bees 329 Watch bees appointed 380 Robbery of wasps ... • • . • • 331 Wars^of termites ......... ib. • Soldiers, a peculiar order ib. Observations of Smith and Smeathman .... ib. • Difficulty of observing their proceedings .... 333 Wars>f ants , 335 -Ancient records of ant battles . . . . . . ib. Observations of Huber ib. Experiments of J. R 338 Battle between herculean and sanguine ants . . . 339 Each knows its own party 340 Manoeuvring of the sanguine ants ..... 341 Contiguity not always a cause of war ib. Ant expeditions to capture slaves 342 •Discovery of slave-making ants by Huber . . . ib. Attacks several times renewed ^ 344 •Tactics employed against the mining ant .... 346 Experiments of J. R. . ib. £_ ..Proceedings of the attacked ants ib. Tactics of the sanguine ants 348 •Huber's narrative ..»....« 349 Circumstances partially known to Gould and White . . 351 The slave-making ants never make prisoners of the old . ib. Ant slaves not apparently miserable ..... 352 Warrior ants dislike labour 353 Experiment of Huber .«,..... ib. Observation of Latreille • 356 Xii CONTENTS. SECTION IV. CHAPTER XIV.— ON'THE COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION OF INSECTS FOR THE PURPOSES OF STUDY. Page Plan of study — Addison's approved of ...... 358 Watching the progress of insects recommended ... 359 Places in which insects may be found 360 Importance of the study to domestic comfort . . . 361 Its use in husbandry. ....... ib. Keeping of insects alive ..;..... 362 Glasses useful . t ib. Stephens's breeding-cage ....... 363 Method of supplying insects with growing foods . . . 365 Plants on which insects are found ..... 366 Collecting of insects 36? Use of an umbrella for this purpose ..... ib. Boxes for securing them ....... 368 Water-net . 369 Butterfly-net 370 Clap-net ; . 371 Net forceps 372 French insect forceps ........ 373 Digger .......... ib. Collecting-box ......... 374 Setting of insects 376 Insect pins .. . . . * . . . . 377 ; Braces ..«.;..... ib. Setting-board • ;;...... ib. Cabinet 378 Arrangement of specimens 379 CHAPTER XV.— SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENTS OF INSECTS. The wing system . . 381 Aristotle's classification ....... ib. Linnaeus's classification ....... ib. De Geer's classification ....... 382 The locality system * 383 Aldrovand's classification ....... 384 Vallisnieri's classification ...*«.. ib. Fabricius's geographical classification ..... ib. Latreille's geographical classification * . * 385 The transformation system . . . . . . « ib. Swammerdam's classification ...... 386 Ray and Willughby's classification * .... ib. The cibarian, maxillary, or mouth system 38 Fabricius's classification i Cuvier's classification * 389 Lamarck's classification . . . . • . . , • ib. The ovary, or egg system 390 Sir Everard Home's classification • • . ib. The eclectic or modern system ....... 391 Clairville's classification ....... ib. Latreille's classification * ib. Leach's classification ..».«.•. 392 Stephens'* classification ....... 393 The Quinary system ..,.....« 394- Mac -Leay's classification , •••••. 395 INSECT MISCELLANIES. SECTION I. SENSES OF INSECTS. IT was well said by the distinguished Danish natu- ralist, Fabricius, that " nothing in natural history is more abstruse and difficult than an accurate descrip- tion of the senses of animals*" This inherent complexity of the subject appears to have induced Lehmann to undertake the investigation of the senses of insects f. He collected into a focus all that was known previous to his time, though he has added very little from his own observation ; but since that period much has been done by Marcel de Serres, Wollaston, Miiller, and others. The chief difficulty of the subject arises from the great physical differences which exist between ani- mals furnished with bones and warm blood, and insects that have neither, rendering all inference from analogy much less to be depended on than if the physical structure of each were similar. When we see an elephant, for example, use his trunk to lift a small piece of money from the ground, we cannot doubt but that he feels the coin as plainly as we should do in lifting it with the hand, and hence the inference * Nye Samling as det Danske, &c. ii. 375. f De Sensibus Externis Insectorum, p.l,4to., Gottingge, 1798, B INSECT MISCELLANIES. that the trunk of the elephant is an organ of touch follows of course. But when we see an ichneumon fly vibrating its long antennae before the entrance of a bee's nest, and sometimes even inserting one or both of them into the hole as if to explore its contents, we are not thence entitled to conclude that the antenna? are organs of touch, for they may, with as much pro- bability, be inferred to be organs of hearing employed to listen to sounds produced by the inhabitant of the nest. It would also be too hasty, as it appears to us, to infer that flies, gnats, and moths, are en- dowed with eyes of very quick sight, because we find it difficult to approach them without putting them to flight; for the earth-worm (Lumbricus terrestris, LINN.) will retreat with similar rapidity into its hole when the light of a candle is thrown upon it at night *, though no anatomist has ever discovered its eyes, nor believes that it has any; and the insects al- luded to may be warned of the approach of danger by smell, by hearing, or by touch from slight changes in the currents of air, as probably as by sight. Analogy, it would thence appear, is very apt to mis- lead ; and as we have little else to go upon in the subject of the senses in insects, we can seldom as- certain the facts with minute accuracy, and must rest contented with probabilities and approximations to the truth. Respecting one point there can be no doubt, — namely, that an object must always be present in order to produce a sensation or feeling; light and colours being in this manner the objects of the sense of see- ing, and sound of the sense of hearing. In man the impression made by light upon the eye or by sound upon the ear passes along peculiar nerves to the brain, as the signal from a distant telegraph is communicated to a metropolis, In insects we may * J.R. SENSES OF INSECTS. 3 suppose that such impressions upon the eye or the ear are only conveyed to the next nervous centre (ganglion), since they possess no general brain simi- lar to ours, but a number of central points in different parts of the body where the adjacent nerves unite *. Whether, also, insects possess one set of nerves for feeling and another set for motion, as Mr. Charles Bell has recently discovered to be the case among larger animals, remains to be ascertained, though analogy would lead us to conclude that they must have something at least similar. Be this as it may, the most obvious mode in which we can discuss the subject before us, is to examine the structure of the organs, and the probable action of objects upon these. It appears to be the most convenient order to begin with the Sense of Touch, and then to take up Taste, Smell, Hearing, and Vision, in succession. * See Insect Transformations, pp. 400 and 139. B 2 CHAPTER I. SENSE OF TOUCH. THOUGH we may entertain considerable doubts of the accuracy of the poet's observation, when he says the spider (l Lives in each thread, and feels along the line," there can be no question that the legs of spiders pos- sess considerable powers of touch, so far as resistance is concerned ; for in constructing1, and still more in repairing, their webs, they never advance a step with- out making sure of the strength of what has been already completed. They are not even always con- tent with pulling the threads for this purpose, but frequently let themselves down like a plummet from the thread whose strength they wish to try, and bob backwards and forwards with the whole weight of the body. But that the acuteness with which the motion of the threads is felt, when a fly is caught in the net, chiefly governs the motions of the spider in seizing it, we doubt for several reasons. Spiders, for example, are furnished with not less than six, though more commonly with eight, eyes of sparkling bril- liancy, and placed in a very prominent situation ; and these we should be apt to look upon as in part su- perfluous, were the sense of touch so exquisite as is generally believed. We have tried numerous experi- ments by moving and vibrating the lines of the webs of many species, so as to imitate as nearly as possible the entrapment of a fly ; but in no case have we SENSE OF TOUCH. £ succeeded in bringing1 the spider to the spot, because, as we inferred, her eyes always detected our attempted deception. But when a fly is held near a web and made to buz, the spider in most cases will peep from her lurking-hole, to look whether it has not been caught in some of the lines or meshes not under her view, proving that the sense of hearing is as acute and useful in such cases as either vision or touch. It appears, further, that a small spider ascertains by touch the superior strength of a blow-fly or a large syrphus which may chance to be caught in its web, hesitating long before venturing to attack it, and sometimes never venturing at all, — a circumstance we have often remarked, and we have frequently, be- sides, repeated the experiment of putting large flies in the webs of small spiders with similar results*. The stretching out of the legs of the long-bodied spider (Tetragnatha extensa, LATR.), when it places itself in the centre of its geometric web, appears to have given origin to the opinion under review : though it may be remarked that it does not spread its legs around so as to take cognizance of as many lines as possible, but, on the contrary, huddles them into a close bundle, more apparently with the view of mak- ing them appear motionless and lifeless than actively on the alert. This view is still more strongly proved by the circumstance, that when this spider is not on its web watching for prey, but resting on a wall, or in the fold of a leaf, it stretches out its legs in the same manner. The long-legged house spider (Pholcus phalan- gio'ides, WALCK.) may be referred to as giving more countenance to the opinion, because it not only spins a very loose irregular web in the corners of walls, but keeps its legs spread about as if on purpose to feel the more readily when any thing is caught. We * J. R. B3 6 INSECT MISCELLANIES. may remark, however, that both its sight and hear- ing seem to be still more acute than its touch, for its eyes are more than usually prominent and closely grouped, and the faintest hum of a gnat puts it on the alert. It requires, indeed, no little agility to seize these, particularly the vibrating gnat (Chirono- mus motitator, FABR.), which we have observed to be its chief prey, as the slightest movement or the faintest noise puts these gnats to flight ; and hence we infer that the very long legs of this spider are intended more for pursuit than for feeling*. Long-legged house spider (Pholcus phalangloidei). It appears to us, that a much stronger proof of the acuteness of touch in spiders may be derived from the manner in which they construct their webs. They must use their eyes indeed, in planning their frame- works ; but they cannot be guided by sight in the details, for the spinneret, whence they draw their threads, being situated behind, they must depend in a great measure on the tact of this organ for the accuracy of their workmanship. The soft yielding consistency, and the papillary form of this wonderful organ, indeed, seems to indicate its being well adapted for an instrument of touch f« But the claws them- * J. R. f See Insect Architecture, page 336—8. SENSE OF TOUCH.V 7 selves must also have this sense in perfection ; for in making the various rays as well as the cross lines of a geometric net, the spider always guides the thread from the spinneret by one of its hind claws, which it cannot possibly see with any one of its eyes, as these are all placed forwards on the head. The ex- quisite workmanship of these webs, thus woven as it were in the dark, indicates that the sense of touch by which alone it can be accomplished must be pecu- liarly delicate. In the family of the harvest spiders (Phalan- gioidce), which have only two eyes, and do not spin webs, the long legs are used not only to escape from enemies and pursue prey, but to explore, by touch, the objects among which they travel. That the very long legs of these insects are endowed with much nervous power, appears from their continuing to move for many hours after being accidentally detached from the body *, a circumstance which we have fre- quently witnessed with wonder, and which could not well occur if these creatures possessed a brain. On the other hand, most beetles, it is probable, and the various moths, make little use of their feet to explore the things around them. There are many other insects, however, which seem to have feet little less exquisitely formed, as organs of touch, than the human hand, if softness and elasticity be taken as the standards of comparison. The insects to which we allude are those which live among grass and herbage, comprehending a few beetles (Chrysomelidce, 4*c.), most two-winged flies (Diptera), and, if we mistake not, all the crickets and grasshoppers (Gryllidcd^ <§rc.) The foot of the com- mon fly has been shown by Sir Everard Home and Mr. Bauer to be admirably adapted for climbing upon * Latreille, Monographic des Faucheurs, Hist, des Fourmis, page 371. g INSECT MISCELLANIES. glass, even when the body hangs downwards *, and it is also finely adapted, both as a brush and as a comb, for cleaning the body and wings f ; but it is no less fitted for being an organ of touch, from its softness and flexibility. Amongst the locusts (Lo- custidfB), however, this structure is more conspicuous from the greater size of the insects, the terminal por- tion of the foot being riot only furnished with a move- able claw, but with two soft round palms, if we may call them so, which must greatly assist in feeling the nature of the surface over which the insect walks. Even in insects of smaller size, as the musk beetle (Cerambyx odoratus, DE GEER), and the catch- weed a Musk beetle {Cerambyx odoratus). &' Catch-weed beetle (Timarcha, tenebricosa). * See Insect Transformations, p. 390-1. It is right to mention that a paper has been recently read at the Linnsean Society, in which the principle of suction, by which the fly is said to hold on against gravity, is disproved. See Taylor's Philosophical ;Magazine. f J. Rennle, in Journal of Royal Institution, for Oct.- 1830. SENSE OF TOUCH. 9 beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa, MEGERLE), this struc- ture of the feet is very obvious without the aid of a glass, which is required in observing the palms of the two-winged flies (Diptera). In some other beetles, again, whose horny covering would seem to preclude them from possessing the means of touch over the surface of their body like the softer animals, and which even have their legs equally horny and stiff, we may observe, that a beautiful pro- vision is made for the sense of touch in a long, many- jointed, flexible claw at the termination of the foot. This is particularly remarkable in the common dung beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius), in which the flexibi- lity and easy motion of the jointed claw contrasts strikingly with the apparently awkward stiffness of the other joints, and indeed of the whole body. According to the greater number of naturalists, however, the two chief organs of touch in insects are the antenna? and palpi, both of which have been in popular language termed feelers. Latreille calls the palpi antennules*. Leaving the antennae to be dis- cussed in our chapter on Hearing, we shall only at present attend to the palpi, which are usually four in number. These organs are small and gene- rally cylindrical, consisting of from one to six joints, one palpus being implanted in each of the two lower jaws, and the remaining two being attached to the lower lip, as exhibited in p. 43, fig. a. The former, or upper pair, are, in most cases, a joint longer than the under, so as that they may all four, when bent down, reach to the ground at the same time. They are most commonly smooth, and end in a softish point ; but in some cases they are covered with hair (Copris, Cicindela, fyc.). The only organs, in the higher animals, which seem analogous to these, are the whiskers (Vibrissce) in the cat, the seal, and the night- * Regne Animal, iv. 301, edit. 1829. 10 INSECT MISCELLANIES. jar (Nytichelidon Europeans, RENNIE), and the ap- pendages at the lips of the cod-fish (Gadus morhua), the surmullet (Mullus barbatus), and some others. This want of analogous organs in other animals of course renders our investigation of the use of the palpi in insects much more difficult. Staff beetle (Lucanus Gems') oa the wing. a a The four palpi, or antennules. Bonsdorf, in his singular tract upon the use of the palpi, endeavours to show that they are organs of smell * ; Knoch imagined that the upper pair were * De Fabr. et Usu Palporutn in Insectis. SENSE OF TOUCH. 11 for smelling1, and the lower pair for tasting; while Lehmann says, that " whoever undertakes to deny that they are organs of touch, proves thereby that he has not observed living insects*." Cuvierf and Du- meril J express a similar opinion, supported chiefly by the observation, that most insects, when they walk, apply their palpi incessantly, or very often, to the surface upon which they are moving ; while spiders sometimes employ them as legs, and scorpions as hands. They are always put in great activity when the insect is feeding. To as the most probable opinion appears to be, that the palpi may be used somewhat in the same way as we employ our lips and tongue, both as in- struments of touch and of taste ; their situation near the mouth suggesting this, though they are otherwise little analogous in site or structure. This opinion is supported by the consideration that one of the chief employments of insects being the search after food, they are thence led to apply their palpi incessantly for its discovery, and also for ascertaining its capa- bility of being consumed, should the discovery be originally made by means of smell. In this respect insects act much in the same manner as the human infant. Every body must have remarked, that a young child carries every thing to its mouth, whether it be hungry or not, and the only design of this seems to be the examination of the object. We may often, indeed, see a child pressing its gums with whatever comes in its way, to allay the uneasy sen- sations occasioned by the protruding teeth; but even when this is not the case, it carefully tries every thing both with the mouth and with the hands, hold- ing the object at different distances from the eye, * De Sensibus Externis, page 38. t Anatomic Com par. ii. 676. J Considerations generates, p. 9. 12 INSECT MISCELLANIES. and grasping it in various directions and positions. In a word, instead of being, as most people suppose, engaged in an idle and unprofitable amusement, the infant is employed in eager study and examination, in order to learn the effects of the qualities of objects upon its senses. The insects, on the other hand, are too short-lived to require the same multifarious know- ledge of hardness, softness, distance, and form, and hence they only employ their palpi in examining what may be proper or improper for food. An important organ of touch in insects, as it appears to us, has been altogether overlooked by naturalists. We refer to the surface of the wings, minutely furnished, as they appear to be, with nerves for this express purpose. It must be this, indeed, which, in a great measure, serves to direct their flight, as the focus of their eyes appears, according to our ideas of senses, to be too short for this pur- pose. We have elsewhere remarked, that the marsh fritillary butterfly (Militcea Artemis, OCHSENH.) seldom flies beyond the field in which it is pro- duced*; but this is not so remarkable in insects of slow and heavy flight, and in a field hedged in, as in those of rapid flight and restless disposition, in the open country. We remarked, for several weeks, near St. Adresse, in Normandy, a very limited spot, close by the sea, to be daily frequented by about half a dozen of the clouded yellow butterfly (C 'alias Edusa, STEPHENS), which seemed to make a regular circuit, and return again, altogether independent of the direc-1 tion of the wind, against which they often made way. Now, as they often rose to so considerable a height that they must have lost sight of the ground, we con- clude that they guided their flight more by the weight of the superincumbent air than by the direction of the wind — an inference rendered more probable by * See Chapter on Migrations, SENSE OF TOUCH. 13 their never being seen on the heights which there rise steeply from the shore *. a Clouded yellow butterfly (Colias Edusa), male. 6 Pale-clouded butterfly (Colias Hyale), female. It is, probably, in part through the information de- rived from the varied impression of air on the wings that bees can return so unerringly to their hives ; and hence the reason of their flying in curves and circles both when they depart and return, a circumstance *J.R, c 14 INSECT MISCELLANIES. which Huber more particularly remarked in the queen- bee, when she left the hive for the purpose of pairing1. Carrier pigeons, we have also remarked, employ the same circular mode of flight, both in departing from an unknown station and in arriving" at their home from a distance. These facts are strikingly illustrated by the extra- ordinary delicacy of touch possessed by bats, which made Spallanzani conceive that they had a peculiar sense distinct from any found in other animals ; and, to satisfy himself upon this point, he performed many cruel experiments. He found that bats, when blindfolded, and even when their eyes are destroyed altogether and leather glued over the sockets, can fly nearly as well as before, and can avoid in their flight the smallest threads and other objects hung up to interrupt them. They can even dart through a hole in a net or curtain, large enough only to admit their passage, and that without previous examination. They can likewise thread the mazes of a cavern, without hurting themselves on the walls, and go directly to their nest-holes. When Spallanzani de- stroyed the ears and nostrils, as well as the eyes, of bats, he found that they could direct their flight equally well. The correctness of these statements was verified by Professor Jurine, of Geneva, arid by Sir A. Carlisle, who repeated the experiments ; but it was Cuvier, if we mistake not, who first gave a plausible explanation of them. He considers the wing of the bat analogous to the hand, with the fingers very much elongated, and united by membrane; and as it is not only of great extent, compared with the body, but is one continued tissue of exquisitely sensible nerves, co- vered with a fine skin, furrowed like that on the human fingers, the delicacy of its touch is by no means marvellous. If this be correct, the blinded . SENSE OF TOUCH. 15 bat is guided wholly by the impression of the air on its wings : and yet we have observed bats, confined in a house, beat themselves against the windows, as wild birds and bees will do, though never against the walls*. Man has the same means of knowledge in a slight degree : for it is easy in the dark to say when one approaches a wall, by the impression of the air on the face. The faculty in the bat of perceiving, and being able to avoid such obstructions, is a pro- vision of creative wisdom well worthy of our notice, as the creature, always flying in the twilight and in the night, could not well depend on its eyes in avoid- ing objects during its rapid flight in pursuit of noc- turnal moths. Moths, and most night-flying insects, possess this faculty in an inferior degree. Beetles, indeed, seem to be deficient either in the power of perceiving objects or of avoiding them, as they often, during the twilight, dash against the traveller, (from which originated the proverb of "blind as a beetle"); but we have never observed any of the night moths thus deceived. The feeling of the various degrees of temperature, whether hot or cold, is so different from the other per- ceptions of touch, that some naturalists, among whom are Darwin and Fleming, refer it to a peculiar sense. As insects appear to be extremely susceptible of varying temperature, we must not pass it over with- out notice. Dr. Fleming distinguishes what he terms the sense of heat from touch by its not requiring, like the latter, any muscular effort for its exercise f. That there are peculiar nerves in various parts of the skin appropriated to the perception of heat, Dr. Darwin thinks is proved by the heat of a furnace giving no pain to the nerve of the eye, while it scorches and pains the parts adjacent. Warm water, again, or warm * J. R. f Philosophy of Zoology, i. 171. c2 16 INSECT MISCELLANIES. oil, when poured into the ear^ gives no pain to the nerves of hearing, arid its warmth is not even per- ceived by them, though it may be hot enough to scald the external orifice. He evidently does not, in this, make any account of these nerves being deep-seated. Whether these facts, and others of a similar kind, are sufficient to authorise us to consider the sense of heat distinct from that of touch, we shall not here stop to determine, but content ourselves with men- tioning a few circumstances upon the subject, derived from the observation of insects. Ants, for example, are so delicately sensible of cold, that the finest day will not tempt them to place their eggs, or pupae, at the top of the nest, should the air be chill ; and it was remarked so long ago as the time of Pliny, that, pre- viously to bad weather, they are all in a bustle to se- cure their eggs, forewarned, no doubt, by the percep- tion of an altered temperature. In the interesting proceedings of bees when swarming, as we shall afterwards see, temperature, it would appear, is of the utmost importance, so much so that Huber ascribes to increased heat, arising from the agitation of bees in a hive, the immediate cause of a body of emigrants leaving the parent hive* ; and even on ordinary occa- sions the working bees, while collecting honey in the fields, are so feverishly afraid of bad weather, that a single cloud passing over the sun will cause them to make a precipitate retreat homewards. The only analogous circumstance which we recol- lect as occurring in man with regard to the foresight of bad weather, is found in the wandering pains in the limbs experienced by persons subject to gout or rheu- matism, which are felt so distinctly, some time before rain or increased cold, as to enable the patients to predict a change with the utmost certainty ; and we * Huber on Bees^p. 184. SENSE OF TOUCH. 17 doubt not that it is from some such feelings that ants, bees, and other insects, are observed to provide for a coming change. According to Brez, his friend D'Isjonval observed spiders to have so good a knowledge of the weather that when it was wet and windy they spun only 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 *.'* *' Without going the length/' says Kirby, " of deeming this important enough to regulate the march of armies or the sailing of fleets, or of proposing that the first appearance of these barometrical spiders in spring should be an- nounced by the sound of trumpet, I have reason to suppose, from my own observations, that his state- ments are in the main accurate, and that a very good idea of the weather maybe formed from attending to these insects f." This theory, as it appears to us, may be supported so far as the winds are concerned at the time the frame- work of the web is constructed, but not far- ther. This framework, being the most difficult part of the structure, is always taken much care of, and strengthened from time to time with additional lines ; so that, when not accidentally broken, it may last for many days, and serve for the basis of many successive nets destroyed by entrapped in- sects, or other causes. In such cases, it is not of course varied to suit the varying weather. The longest line of frame-work we remember to have seen, was that of the orange spider (Aranea auran- tia, OLIVIER), which was thrown from the branch of an elm on the Boulevard du Mont Parnasse at Paris, a distance of four or five yards, and fixed to the ground. The spot being sheltered by the adjacent trees, it would appear that the spider could not other- * Flore des Insectophiles, Notes suppl, p. 134. f Intr» i« 420. c3 18 INSECT MISCELLANIES. wise form a base line than by dropping itself down from the branch ; but, unfortunately for the theory, a high wind, accompanied by rain, set in within a few hours after we had observed the web, which must have been rent by the first blast. In the case of a long- bodied spider (Tetragnatha extensa), whose proceed- ings we watched every day for more than a month in a garden at Lee, the base line of the web was uni- formly placed between two posts, about five feet high, so long as the wind was either north or south, the direction in which they stood ; and of course the line was always of the same length, whether the wind was light or boisterous. From the line lying across the garden path, it was broken every day and renewed at night. When the wind changed to east or west, how- ever, there being no elevated object quite near to which to attach the base line, it was floated in a slop- ing direction till it fixed on some of the plants in the flower borders, and in that case was often more than thrice its former length, whether it was calm or not. The only probable reason of these base lines being short in windy weather is, that the floating line is carried more rapidly to an adjacent object, arid when that object is distant, the spider by repeated trials finds that it cannot stand against the storm, and, as in all other cases of insufficient strength, it is broken by her and abandoned. We have never observed anything, in a long acquaintance with spiders, to indicate that they have any other knowledge of the weather than this*. One circumstance in the economy of spiders, con- nected with this subject, we may mention as curious. It is well known that the whole tribe are, essentially, night insects, though we might imagine they would be more successful in their captures during the day, when more insects are abroad and on the alert. It * J.R. SENSE OP TOUCH. 19 would not, indeed, be then so easy to secure a fly, when animated with the enlivening influence of the sunshine, and the web would stand the chance of more frequent and extensive breaches. But be the causes what they may, spiders most usually hunt in the night ; and, as we have remarked, also in the day, during cloudy weather ; for during bright sun- shine, it is rare to see one making or mending a web*. Whether this singularity arises from the effect Red underwing (Catocala Nuptd). * J. R. 20 INSECT MISCELLANIES. produced by moist air on their organs of touch, oi4 whether it arises from the diminution of light upon their eyes, we cannot tell. That it is not the quantity of light alone which regulates the movements of many insects by day or by night, appears from several facts. Some insects, for example, appear only during particular hours of the day, though the light before and after is much the same. We have thus observed that the clouded yellow butterfly (ColiasEdusa) does not fly before ten, and goes to rest soon after four o'clock*. The red underwing moth (Catocala Nupta, SCHRANK), again, has always been observed only about six or seven o'clock in the morning, and never at any other time. Some of the smaller beetles (Hoplice) are only to be observed swarming before noon, when they all disappear f; as do most of the gnats, after dancing for an hour or two at sunset. That these movements are rather periodical than depending on either the de- gree of light or heat, is rendered probable by close analogies derived from plants. The Star of Bethle- hem (Ornithogalum umbellatum), for example, ex- pands its flowers about eleven, and closes them at three in the afternoon, displaying its beauties about two hours less than the clouded yellow butterfly. The goats' beard (Tragopogon pratensis) is still more remarkable from closing its petals at mid-day, and hence its provincial name of Go-to-bed-at-noon. That light, however, is one of the most common agents of these changes appears from the ingenious experi- ments of Decandolle, made at the Jardin des Plantes in an underground cellar, illuminated by lamps giving a light equal to fifty-four ordinary wax candles. By lighting these lamps he was able to produce the opening of the flowers of the Star of Bethlehem at pleasure, and also of the sea chamomile (Anthemis * J. R. f Linn. Trans, v. 256. SENSE OF TOUCH. 21 maritima), which keeps its flowers closely shut in the night ; but he could produce no artificial effect with the strongest light upon several species of wood sorrel (Oxalis stricta and Oxalis incarnata), whose flowers and leaves are both folded up at night. With the sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica) again he succeeded in so completely changing the hour of closure, that on the third day from being placed in the lighted cellar, it began to fold its leaves in the morning and open them in the evening*. Insects are also peculiarly sensible to electric changes in the atmosphere, though we do not find facts sufficient to bear out all the speculations of M. D'Isjonval upon this subject. Kirby and Spence tell us, that "when the atmosphere is in a highly electrified state, and a tempest is approaching, insects are usually most abundant in the air, especially towards the evening ; and many species may then be taken which are not at other times to be met with : but before the storm comes on, all disappear, and you will scarcely see a single individual upon the wing." They conjecture, that the organs destined for perceiving these electric changes are the antennae, particularly those furnished with a lateral bristle, and the plumose and pectinated ones, from this form seeming to be calculated to act on the electricity and moisture of the atmosphere, " which, in certain states and proportions, may certainly indicate the approach of a tempest, or of showers, or a rainy season, and may so affect these organs as to enable the insect to make a sure prognostic of any approaching change ; and we know no other organ that is so likely to have this power f." This conjecture is, no doubt, ingenious, though there is no plausible circumstance to support it besides * Medical Review, vol. vi» f Intr. iv. 246. 22 INSECT MISCELLANIES. the peculiar forms of the antennae. We should be more disposed to refer to the hairs with which the bodies of most insects are beset, and which, from the analogy of quadrupeds, may be presumed to be acted on by atmospherical electricity. This is rendered more probable from the feelings which most persons experience during a thunder-storm, which cannot be referred to any circumscribed organ as light is to the eye, but to a certain vague sensation of nervous languor or uneasiness diffused through the body. Bees, it may be remarked, which exhibit the most acute feelings of electric changes, are among the most hairy of all insects, while their thick bent antennae do not correspond to those which Kirby deems best adapted for detecting electricity. It is but right to state, however, that it is added by the author — " upon this head I wish to make no positive assertion, I only suggest the probability of the opinion*." * Intr. iv. 246. 23 CHAPTER II. TASTE IN INSECTS. IT has been concluded by several naturalists that birds are destitute of the faculty of taste, because the tongue of some is in part formed of bone or gristle, and in all is rigid and dry, particularly in birds which feed on grain*. By the same mode of inference we might be led to decide that insects are also without taste, because the organs in them, which appear analogous to the tongue and palate, are, in many cases, dry and horny. But, unfortunately for these conjec- tures, the habits of the animals demonstrate that they are endowed with this sense, in many cases, in as great perfection as the theorists themselves. Without taste, indeed, no animal could continue its existence; and, consequently, it is indispensable to all organized beings, though its peculiarities cannot always be traced to the structure or form of the organs. In cattle, and animals which feed on green herbs, the tongue is both large and studded with large tasters (Papillce), abundantly moistened with saliva, and also, as Blumenbach discovered, with a peculiar mucus t. In herbivorous animals this is more necessary than in those which feed upon flesh ; for the variety of herbs is so great, and they often grow so promiscuously together, that, had cattle riot an acuteness and nicety of taste in distinguishing, they might frequently be poisoned. This, however, rarely * Montagu, Ornith. Diet., Intr. f Specimen Hist. Nat,, p. 4, &c. 4to. Gottingoe, 1816. j 24 INSECT MISCELLANIES. happens, for (with a few exceptions, such as the pro- pensity of some quadrupeds to crop the young shoots of the yew,) nothing will induce them to eat any plant which is not their natural food ; and we have frequently remarked that when cut herbage was given to domestic animals they would toss aside the species they did not like, and even reject them when they accidentally got into their mouths with others. Grass is very commonly eaten by them all; but of other plants, the horse, the cow, the sheep, the goat, and the hog make each their favourite selections, — the goat, for example, feeding greedily on the water- hemlock (Cicuta virosa), which is a deadly poison to cows *. Insects, it would appear, are still nicer than cattle in their selection of food, and of course in the acuteness of their taste. The caterpillar of the antler moth (Char&as graminis, STEPHENS), though it feeds on a variety of grasses, and sometimes com- mits such ravages in the meadows of Sweden as to endanger the lives of the cattle for want of food, does not touch the fox-tail grass (Alopecurus) ; yet to us the leaves of this grass taste little, if anything, different from some of those which it so greedily devours. The caterpillar of the ringlet-butterfly (Hipparchia Hyperanthus, FABR.), again, feeds only on one spe- cies of grass, the annual poa (Poa annua), while the caterpillar of the gate-keeper (H. Pamphilus) confines itself to the dog's-tail grass (Cynosurus cristatus) f. De Geer remarked that a sort of caterpillar, found indifferently on the poplar and the sallow, would only eat the leaves of the sort of tree on which it was hatched ; for those hatched on the poplar would ra- * See Linnseus, Lachesis Lapponica ; Horticultural Journ. p. 242 ; and Insect Transformations, p. 78. f Stewart's Elemeots, ii. 131—69. TASTE IN INSECTS. 25 The annual poa grass, with the ringlet butterfly (Hipparchia, Hyperanthus). a, upper side ; 6, under side. ther die of hanger than touch the leaves of the sallow, and vice-versa*. We have observed a delicacy of taste still more remarkable in the caterpillar of the small ermine moth (Yponomeuta padella)^. By far the most striking fact, however, connected with this seeming fastidiousness occurs among insects which * Memoires, i. 319. f See Insect TransformatiouSj p, 205. 2G INSECT MISCELLANIES. suck the blood of larger animals ; though we do not recollect that what we refer to has been noticed by naturalists. Our attention was directed to the cir- cumstance many years ago in Scotland, where the midge (Culicoides punctata, LATH.), a very small kind of gnat, was so very troublesome to a party of hay-makers, that it was with difficulty they could continue their work ; yet, notwithstanding the gene- ral attack made by the insects wherever they could find a spot of uncovered skin, one individual among the hay-makers was never touched, while the skin of his companions was covered with bites as if scourged with nettles. It was evident, therefore, that the midges, though otherwise apparently indiscriminate in their attacks, did not relish the blood of this in- dividual, from some unknown peculiarity of constitu- tion or of disease*. The midge is not so trouble- some in the neighbourhood of London as the gnat, Derham says, " these gnats are greedy bloodsuckers, and very troublesome where numerous, as they are in some places near the Thames, particularly in the breach waters that have lately fallen near us in the parish of Dagenham, where I found them so vexa- tious that I was glad to get out of these marshes : yea, I have seen horses so stung with them, that they have had drops of blood all over their bodies where they were wounded by them. Among us in Essex they are called Nidiots^." A similar selection of individuals even of the same species is very remarkable in the ox-breeze fly (Hypo- derma Bovis, LATR.), which always prefers young cattle of two or three years old, and avoids old cattle in depositing its eggs, as if aware that her progeny would find it harder to penetrate an old, tough hide, * J.R. t Physico-Theology, Book iv. c, 11, No, u. See also Mouffet, Theatr. Insect., xiii. 82. TASTE IN INSECTS. 27 while they would likewise fare worse after they had effected a lodgment * ; but whether this selection is made through the medium of taste, smell, touch, or vision, we have no means of ascertaining. The midge, however, is by no means peculiar in its apparent capriciousness of taste ; for the same preference and antipathy is exhibited by most of the other blood-sucking insects. Of two individuals, for example, who had been together for a whole day on a nutting expedition, and who slept in the same bed-chamber, next morning one was covered all over with red blotches from the attacks of the harvest- bug (Leptus autumnalis, LATR.), while the other was quite untouched f- Stewart says that this mite chiefly attacks women and children J. Harvest-bug (Leptus autumnalis), greatly magnified. A species of this family (Acarina), probably the red tick (Pediculus coccineus, SCOPOLI), or a rnite (Leptus Phalangii), described by De Geer, appears to be much more indiscriminate in its tastes; for * Insect Architecture, page 412. t J. K. J Elements, ii. 324. D2 28 INSECT MISCELLANIES. during the summer of 1830 we found it at Havre de Grace, infesting insects of the most different families. It particularly abounded on the marbled butterfly (Hip- parchia Galathea, LEACH), so that many of them were scarcely able to fly from the exhaustion caused by these little blood-suckers ; and so pertinaciously did they retain their hold, that several of them now ad- here to the specimens of the butterfly in our cabinet. Marbled butterfly (Hipparchia Galathea) and caterpillar. What was most remarkable, although the ringlet butterfly (H. Hyperanthus) was plentiful at the same time, and is similar in food and habits, not one of the parasites was found on some hundreds which we TASTE IN INSECTS. 29 caught expressly to ascertain the fact. This appears the more strange, that several dragon flies (Libellu- lina, MAC LEAY) were found as much infested with them as the marbled butterfly. We also more than once found them on field crickets, ants, and beetles, and once on a harvest spider (Phalangium Opilio)*. Another species (Gamasus Coleoptratorum, FABR.) indiscriminately infests the common dung-beetle and the humble-bee (Bombus terrestris), so as often to destroy them ; a circumstance which, from its fre- quent occurrence, may have caught the observation of persons who otherwise pay little attention to insects. The parasite which thus infests the bee and the dung-beetle, however, is not so pertinacious in ad- hering to its victim as those which died of hunger rather than quit our butterfly specimens. The bee mite, on the contrary, though not very easily dislodged while the insect is alive, immediately scampers ofPas soon as it dies, and even long before, when it becomes sickly from the irritation of the numbers by which it is infested, as we have often witnessed by confining insects thus attacked. Whether this arises from their finding it more difficult to penetrate the skin, or from their not relishing the diseased fluids, we cannot tell. That the latter is the more probable reason, appears from another curious fact connected with our im- mediate subject, namely, that fleas and other para- sitic insects never infest a person who is near death ; and so frequently has this been observed, that it has become one of the popular signs of approach- ing dissolution. This is in all probability caused by the alteration in the state of the fluids immediately under the skin, either in quality or quantity. It must be upon the same principle that women and children are always more infested with the bed-bug (Cimex lectularius) and other parasitic insects, than old men, *J.R. D3 30 INSECT MISCELLANIES. whose subcutaneous fluids are scanty, and their skin, in consequence, more rigid and diy. That insects correct their sense of smell by means of taste appears from numerous observations. Leh- mann, for example, tells us, that being taken ill while he was eagerly studying the senses of insects, and was using a bitter decoction of wormwood, he ob- served a fly (Musca domestica) pounce upon a bit of sugar which had been accidentally moistened with the medicine. It began to suck the sugar, but upon tasting the bitter it instantly flew off to a contiguous vase, and endeavoured to reject the nauseous drug*. It is in a similar way that flies, when they become troublesome in apartments by their great numbers, are lured to their destruction by poisoned waters sweetened with honey or sugar. Corrosive sublimate (Perchloride of Mercury) and king's yellow (Sesqui Sulphur et of Arsenic) are the poisons most usually employed for this purpose; and we cannot too strongly warn our readers that it is dangerous to leave them in the way of children, or even to have any sort of food near upon which the poisoned flies may alight. Infusion of quassia, however, is equally effectual, and quite safe. The fact of the flies sucking up the poisoned water at all, may be adduced to prove that the flies are destitute of taste, in the same way as it may be said that birds or fishes who poison themselves with food drugged with nux vomica do not taste what they are eating; but the argument will not apply, for the taste of the poison is artfully dis- guised, and it might as justly be argued that Majen- die's maid-servant was destitute of taste when she poisoned herself with prussic acid, deceived by its fine nutty flavour into the notion that it was something very nice f- * De Sensibus Externis, p. 36. ^ t See Insect Transformations, p. 77. " TASTE IN INSECTS. 31 As the goat relishes the taste of the poisonous water-hemlock, so our soft-billed birds will also feed on poisonous berries. We have not heard of any bad consequences to those who eat goat's flesh, nor to the Italian amateurs of beca-ficos, though the latter have been partly fattened on the deleterious berries of the laurel or the nightshade ; but in Ame- rica, birds eaten after they have fed on the fruit of the kalmia are reported to have produced fatal con- sequences *. The flowers of the latter plant also, and several others ranked as virulent poisons, are frequently robbed of their honey by bees, whose taste does not seem to intimate the existence of any dele- terious quality, no more than does the taste of people who afterwards partake of such honey to their cost. It is not mentioned, indeed, that this honey, so fatal to man, is at all injurious to the bees by which it is collected ; though Dr. Darwin tells us, that the bees are well aware of the sorts of honey which would injure themselves, and will not therefore touch itf. " Perhaps," says the elder Huber, u the sense of taste is the least perfect of those enjoyed by bees ; for, contrary to the received opinion, they display little choice in collecting honey ; nor do they testify greater nicety in the quality of their water, for the most corrupted marshes and ditches seem to be pre- ferred to the most limpid streams, nay, even to dew itself. Nothing, therefore, is more unequal than the quality of honey, the produce of one district dif- fering from another, and the honey of spring being unlike that of autumn ; while even the contents of one hive do not always resemble those of the one which is contiguous. But though bees are thus not * See Dr. Schumacher's Cases in Anderson's Journ. iii. 456. t Temple of Nature. 32 INSECT MISCELLANIES. very choice in their nutriment, and are by no means delicate in regard to the quality of honey, they are far from being indifferent with regard to quantity. They soon discover, and consequently frequent the places where most is to be found, and they quit their hive much less in regard to the fineness or tempera- ture of the weather, than according to their prospects of a plentiful or a scanty collection. When the lime- tree and black-thorn blossom, they brave the rain, departing before sun-rise, and returning later than ordinary ; but this activity soon relaxes : when the flowers begin to fade, and when the scythe has cut down the fields of clover, the bees are seldom tempted to go from their home by the most brilliant sun- shine*" With respect to poisonous honey, the earliest notice of it we have met with is given by Xenophon, who tells us that, during the memorable retreat of the ten thousand Greeks from Persia, the soldiers, on coming to a place near Trebizonde, where there was a great number of bee-hives, sucked some of the combs, and in consequence became intoxicated, and were seized with a virulent cholera morbusf. Tournefort, the celebrated French botanist, when in the vicinity of Trebizonde, was anxious to ascertain the facts mentioned by Xenophon, and obtained good reason to be satisfied with his inquiries. He con- cluded that the poisonous honey is collected from a flowering shrub, abundant in that neighbourhood, the very odour of whose blossoms, smelling like honey-suckle, produce intoxicating effects- J. It is not very clear, from his description, whether it is the rose- laurel (Rhododendron ponticum) or the yellow * Huber on Bees, page 258. f Memorabilia. J Voyage du Levant; 4to, Paris, 1717. TASTE IN INSECTS. 33 Rose-laurel (Rhododendron politician), azalea (Azalea pontica), both of which are poison- ous and indigenous in Asia Minor. Father Lam- berti also found the same plants and poisonous honey in Mingrelia*. During the autumn and winter of 1790, the honey collected near Philadelphia was found to be so fatally deleterious to those who partook of it, that it attracted the attention of the American Government, and a minute inquiry was ordered to be instituted. The result was, that the poisonous honey was traced to the flowers of the Kalmia latifolia. Dr. Barton * Mission to Mingrelia, in Thevenot's Collection. 34 INSECT MISCELLANIES. Yellow azalea (Azalea pontica'). enumerates several other species of Kalmia, Azalea, Rhododendron, and Andromeda, which produce poi- sonous honey that proves injurious to dogs, as was ascertained by experiment. Upon man it produces vertigo, dimness of sight, delirium, ebriety, pain in the stomach and bowels, convulsions, profuse perspi- ration, foaming at the mouth, vomiting, purging, and sometimes temporary palsy of the limbs, though it seldom proves fatal*. Recently, however, two per- sons at New York are said to have lost their lives by eating wild honey, supposed to have been collected * Barton, in Amer. Phil. Trans. TASTE IN INSECTS. 35 from the flowers of the dwarf laurel, which abounds in the American woods*. "It may seem," says Mouffet, "to be not so much to Dame Nature's honour, that she should bring forth a thing so desired of all men, as honey is, and so ordinarily to temper it with poyson. Nay, but in so doing she did not amiss, so to permit it to be ; that she might thereby make men more cautious and lesse greedy, and to excite them not only to use that which should be wholesome, but to seek out for antidotes against the unwholesomeness of it : and for that cause she hath hedged the rose about with prickles, given bees a sting, hath infected the sage with toad- spittle, and mixed poyson (and that very deadly too) with honey, sugar, and manna.'* The remarks of Dr. Evans, upon the probability of our British honey being poisoned, are worthy of attention. " As most of the plants,'* he says, " enu- merated as producing poisonous honey, are now in- troduced into our gardens, and the thorn apple (Datura stramonium) has long become perfectly naturalized, they might be supposed to injure the British honey. Most probably, however, their pro- portion to the, whole flowers in bloom is too small to produce any such inconvenience ; whereas, on their native continent, they exclusively cover whole tracts of country, as in the Jerseys t-" That vegetable poisons are sometimes fatal to bees themselves, however, appears from the following no- tice:— A large swarm of bees having settled on a branch of the poison ash (Rhus vernix), in the county of West Chester, in America, was taken into a hive of fir, at three o'clock in the afternoon, and removed to the place where it was to remain, at nine. About five the next morning the bees were found dead, * Bevan on Bees, p. 68. f The Bees, a Poem, ii, 95, Note* 36 INSECT MISCELLANIES. swelled to double their natural size, and black, except a few, which appeared torpid and feeble, and soon died on exposure to the air*. It may be, that the honey collected from deleterious plants is only noxious in considerable quantity, which we may illustrate by the instance of the oxalic acid. In small proportions this is not uncommonly used to acidulate punch, and to make an acidulous beverage similar to lemonade, of which we ourselves have frequently drunk without the slightest bad conse- quences ; but when taken in the quantity of an ounce or more, as it usually is when mistaken for Epsom salts, it but too often produces death f. Captain Beaufort furnishes a still more striking illustration in his excellent account of Karamania. In an excur- sion to the country, his people, fatigued with heat and thirst, were about to drink of a river of pure- looking water, but were told by the guides that it was certain poison, though, upon a cautious trial, they found it well tasted. The ingenious rules, therefore, which Dr. Abercrombie, of Edinburgh, has devised for judging of the qualities of food and medicine, by taste alone, would in these cases be quite at fault. It is a remark which will be found to hold good, both in animals and vegetables, that no important motion or feeling can take place without the pre- sence of moisture. In man, the part of the eye which is the seat of vision is always bedewed with moisture ; the skin is softened with a delicate oil ; the sensitive part of the ear is filled with a liquid ; but moisture is still more abundant in our organs of taste and smell than in any of the other senses. In the case of taste, moisture is supplied to our mouth and tongue * Nicholson's Journal, xxiii. 234. f See Rennie's New Supplement to the Pharmacopeias,— Art* OXALIC ACID, TASTE IN INSECTS. 37 from several reservoirs (glandi) in their neighbour- hood, whence pipes are laid and run to the mouth. The whole surface, indeed, of the mouth and tongue, as well as the other internal parts of our body, give out more or less moisture; but besides this, the mouth, as we have just mentioned, has a number of fountains expressly for its own use. The largest of these foun- tains lies as far off as the ear on each side, and is formed of a great number of round, soft bodies, about the size of garden-peas, from each of which a pipe goes out, and all of these uniting together form a common channel on each side. This runs across the cheek nearly in a line with the lap of the ear and the corner of the mouth, and enters the mouth, opposite to the second or third of the double teeth (molares), by a hole, into which a hog's bristle can be introduced. There are, besides, several other pairs of fountains, in different parts adjacent, for a similar purpose. We have been thus particular in our description, in order to illustrate an analogous structure in insects, for they also seem to be furnished with salivary foun- tains for moistening their organs of taste. One of the circumstances that first awakened our curiosity with regard- to insects, was the manner in which a fly contrives to suck up through its narrow sucker (haustellum) a bit of dry lump sugar ; for the small crystals are not only unfitted to pass, from their an- gularity, but adhere too firmly together to be se- parated by any force the insect can exert. Eager to solve the difficulty, for there could be no doubt of the fly's sucking the dry sugar, we watched its proceed- ings with no little attention ; but it was not till we fell upon the device of placing some sugar on the out- side of a window, while we looked through a mag- nifying glass on the inside, that we had the satisfaction of repeatedly witnessing a fly let fall a drop of fluid 38 INSECT MISCELLANIES. upon the sugar, in order to melt it, and thereby render it fit to be sucked up, on precisely the same principle that we moisten with saliva, in the process of mastication, a mouthful of dry bread to fit it for being swallowed — the action of the jaws, by a beau- tiful contrivance of Providence, pressing the moisture along the channels at the time it is most wanted*. Readers, who may be disposed to think the circum- stance of the fly thus moistening a bit of sugar fan- ciful, may readily verify the fact themselves, in the way we have described. At the time when we made this little experiment, we were not aware that several naturalists of high authority had actually discovered, by dissection, the vessels which supply the saliva in more than one species of insect, as we shall now describe. Swammerdam seems to have been the first to ob- serve these in the small tortoiseshell butterfly (Vanessa urticce) ; but as he could not trace their termination, he says, with his usual scrupulous caution, " what the office of these vessels is, and whether they may not be the salivary ducts, I cannot take upon me to determine t." Lyonnet afterwards discovered a con- spicuous pair of these vessels in the caterpillar of the goat-moth (Cossus ligniperdd), distinct from the silk reservoirs*, with which Swammerdam, as well as Ramdohr, was inclined to confound them ; an opinion which Heroldt has also disproved in his admirable anatomy of the cabbage caterpillar (Pontia brassicce). The following are a few of the more interesting facts given by Ramdohr, whose work we have studied with much pleasure. The pipes which carry the saliva do not always open into the mouth, but sometimes into the gullet, * J. R. f Book of Nature, part ii. page 21, | Traite Anatomique, page 112, TASTE IN INSECTS. 39 as in a sort of bug (Pentatoma), and sometimes into the stomach itself, as in the bee flies (Syrphi, Bombylii). It is remarkable that the latter insects, from feeding exclusively on the nectar of flowers, do not require a supply of saliva to moisten their food in the first instance, though it appears to be indispen- sable to digestion ; while in bugs (Reduvius, Pen- tatoma), which feed on vegetable and animal juices, one pipe opens into the sucker (haustellum), to en- able the animal to soften, if necessary, the skin it has to pierce through, and another into the stomach or gullet to aid digestion. In the common flies (Muscce)^ again, and the gad-fly (Tabanus), both pipes open into the sucker, and we have already seen the in- genious use which is made of this when the insects feed on dry sugar. In the water- scorpion (Nepa ci- nerea*), there are no fewer than six of these vessels, though it is rare that there are more than two in other insects. It is worthy of remark, that the exterior double pair in the Nepa, is found, when highly mag- nified, to consist of little globules resembling a bunch of currants ; and a similar structure has also been detected in one of the bee flies (Syrphus arcuatus), precisely like what we have above described, as oc- curring in our own salivary fountains. In the case of drinking thin fluids, like water, saliva is not wanted ; and, it may be remarked, when we drink cold water it actually astringes and shuts up the openings of the salivary pipes : hence it is that drinking does not quench thirst when the saliva is rendered viscid and scanty by heat, by fatigue, or by the use of stimulant food and liquor ; and sometimes a draught of cold water, by carrying off all the saliva from the mouth, and at the same time astringing the orifices of the ducts, may actually * Figured in Insect Transformations, page 121. K2 40 INSECT MISCELLANIES. produce thirst. Ices produce this effect on many persons. It is, no doubt, in consequence of their laborious exertions, as well as of the hot nature of their acid fluids producing1 similar effects, that ants are so fond of water. We have seen one quaff a drop of dew almost as large as its whole body; and when we present those in our glass formicaries with water, they seem quite insatiable in drinking1 it*; a circum- stance which is well illustrated by the following anec- dote from Huber: — "The feet," he says, "of my artificial formicary were plunged in vessels constantly rilled with water. This, which was originally adopted to prevent their escape, proved to them a fruitful source of enjoyment, by supplying them with a plentiful beverage during the heats of summer. One day, while they were assembled at this fosse of the formicary, occupied in licking up the little drops which filtered between the fibres of the wood, which they preferred to taking it from the basin itself, I amused myself in disturb- ing them, upon which the greater number ascended ; but a few remained, whom my presence had not alarmed, and who continued carousing. One of those, however, who had regained the nest, came back, and approached another apparently quite absorbed in the pleasure of drinking. It pushed the drinker with its mandibles several times successively, raising and lowering its head alternately, and at length succeeded in driving it off. The officious ant then reached another, similarly engaged, with whom it found no less difficulty ; but at length, being persuaded of the necessity of withdrawing, the drinker passed precipi- tately to the bell glass. A third, warned in the same manner and by the same ant, quickly regained the nest ; but a fourth remained alone at the water's * J, B. TASTE IN INSECTS. 41 edge, and would not retire, nor pay any attention to the reiterated blows of its friendly monitor, who at length seized it by one of its legs and dragged it away rather roughly. The toper, however, returned, keeping his large mandibles extended with all the ap- pearance of rage, arid again stationed himself to quaff the delightful beverage; but its companion would give it no quarter, and, coming in front, it seized it and dragged it by main force to the nest*." The deficiency of fluids in butterflies, so different in this their mature or rather old agef, from their youth in the caterpillar state, — a deficiency which is no doubt rendered still greater by their sporting so ac- tively in the sun, — renders them no less thirsty than the ants. We have often remarked accordingly, and more particularly in the autumnal months, that crowds of the small garden white butterfly (Pontia Rapce, HAWORTH), during sunny weather, congregate around the margins of ponds and other moist places. At Compton Basset, in Wiltshire, we once counted above fifty of these butterflies all assembled within a space of a few yards on the sludge which had just been left by, the water of a pond, partially dried up by the sun. What was most remarkable, they seemed to have quite lost the pugnacious disposition which they are affirmed to display when they meet with their congeners on the wing. At the pond, on the contrary, all was harmony among these light-winged belligerents, no one disturbing its neighbour, though they stood side by side, and almost touching one an- other. They were, indeed, too intent on quenching their thirst to think of attack or defence. We re- marked, in the autumn of 1829, a similar congre- gating of the same species of butterflies on the watered * Huber on Ants, page 150. f See Insect Transformations, page 49. E3 42 INSECT MISCELLANIES. roads in the vicinity of London*. They do not seem to be more choice in the quality of their water than bees, who, most naturalists tell us, prefer that which is stagnant and putrescentf. The tongue, which analogy points out as the chief organ of taste, is, in insects, frequently very different from the same organ in the larger animals ; but in the locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets (Orthoptera, OLIVIER), and in the dragon-flies (Libellvlina), it is rounded and fleshy, somewhat resembling that of quadrupeds J. The dragon-flies have, besides, a sort of palate, consisting of a square fleshy cushion, beset, like the upper surface of their tongue, with minute black tasters (papillce) ending in a short bristle. The same may be observed in many bee- tles (Geotrupes, Dytiscus, fyc ), and it is proba- ble it exists in most if not all other insects, though hitherto unexamined, or, from the minuteness of the parts, undiscovered. The hairs, which have just been mentioned as arising from the tasters, occur on the tongues of many insects, as in all the bees (Apidfe, LEACH), and generally in the predacious beetles (Adephaga, CLAIRVILLE), and are supposed by Kirby and Spence to be mechanically useful for securing food §. It is more probable that, by pene- trating into a morsel, they aid in distinguishing its flavour. It is worthy of notice that the dung-beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius), and some others, have the hairs on their tongues bent back, like the tubercles on the tongue of the cat and the lion, which we know to be used mechanically in filing down, as it were, portions of their food ||. In some insects there are also projections on the tongue, similar to teeth; and * J. R. f Reaumur, v. 697. J Cuvier, Anatomie Compar. iii. 347. § Intr. iii. 454. || See Menageries, vol. i. page 179. TASTE IN INSECTS. 43 in the wasp it is forked, somewhat like the tongue of a serpent In the saw-flies (Tent hredhi idee) it is divided into three, and in a predacious beetle (Leistus) it is formed like a trident. Lcistus fulvibarbas ; a, its trident-shaped tongue, highly magnified, In bees the tongue is very long and tubular, as we shall afterwards notice ; and in the bugs (Cimicida?) it is bristle-shaped and sharp. 44 CHAPTER III. SMELL IN INSECTS, WHEN a brood of the large tortoiseshell butterfly (Vanessa polychlorus) is observed frequenting a row of elm trees, they may all be speedily attracted to a particular branch by putting a little honey on the leaves, and thus the collector may secure as many as he shall require. This circumstance is to be attributed wholly, as it appears to us, to the acute scent of the insects, who no doubt mistake it for some melliferous flower. We have observed, indeed, that butterflies of all species, though far from being voracious feeders, will often dart down from a considerable height upon a flower beneath their track, even when their leading object seemed to be very different from searching for food. This struck us more particularly in a narrow garden at Havre de Grace, enclosed with stone walls fifteen feet high ; for no butterfly, in passing over it, omitted to descend for the purpose of visiting the blossoms of an alpine bluebottle (Centaurea mon- tana), whose smell, however, to our organs, is far from being powerful enough to be perceived at the distance of one foot, much less at fifteen or twenty feet, as it must have been by the butterflies ; for we often saw the painted lady {Cynthia Cardui), and other high flying species, alight there*. These facts will appear more remarkable, if we believe, with M. Le Cat, — though he gives no reason for his opinion, but puts us off with a simile — that odours, * J-R. SMELL IN INSECTS. 45 Painted lady butterfly {Cynthia Cartful); and Alpine bluebottle (Centau- rea montana). being much heavier than air, seldom rise in it, and when they do, it is only in consequence of the velo- city with which they are ejected from bodies, — in the same manner that a horse at full speed, and the wind together, will raise a cloud of heavy dust on a high- way *. The ingenious experiments of Redi also show the acuteness of smell in blow-flies, which actually laid their eggs on the silk covering of the meat he em- * Traite des Sensations, Paris, 1767. 46 INSECT MISCELLANIES, ployed, deceived by the very sense given them by Providence to direct their instinct*. Upon the sea- beach, we have often been struck with the almost in- stantaneous appearance of clouds of stercorarious flies attracted by a recent horse-dropping, though not one had been in sight an instant before ; and many of these we have observed trooping on towards the place of rendezvous, even in the face of the strong breeze which had wafted to them the intelligence that put them in motion. We once observed a pair of the burying beetles (Necrophorus sepultor, DE JEAN) in Copen- hagen fields, flying at the height of about twenty feet from the ground ; when they suddenly de- scended, and crept under the body of a dead frog, Burying beetles {Necrophorus sepultor), and dead frog, * See Insect Transformations, page 6. SMELL IN INSECTS. 47 hid amongst the grass, though this was so dried up with the extreme heat of the weather (1825) that we could perceive little or no smell, even when close to the place, and it was in the forenoon, when the sun was bright and powerful, — a time when scents are much less diffusable than in the cool of a dewy even* ing*. Few circumstances, we think, could more strikingly illustrate the acuteness of smell in these useful insects. In bees, the odour of honey produces the most obvious influence. Mr. John Hunter mentions that he has seen great commotion produced in a recent swarm, in wet weather, when he supposed the bees to have been hungry, by placing honey on the floor of a glass hive, which gave him a good opportunity of observing their proceedings. All of them ap- peared to be eagerly on the scent, and even those which were weak and hardly able to crawl, threw out their tongues as far as possible to get at the honey f. The elder Huber instituted some experiments still more interesting. " In order," he says, " to ascertain whether the appearance of the flowers or the odour of the honey apprises bees of its presence, we placed honey in a window, near a hive, where the shutters, almost close, still permitted them to pass if they wished. Within a quarter of an hour four bees and a butterfly had insinuated themselves, and we found them feeding thereon. For the purpose of a still more accurate experiment, I had four boxes, different in size, shape, and colour, made with small card shutters, corre- sponding to apertures in the covering. Honey being put into them, they were placed at the distance of two hundred paces from my apiary. In half an hour bees were seen trooping thither, and by carefully tra- * J, B, Phil. Trans, 48 INSECT MISCELLANIES. versing the boxes, they soon discovered the openings through which they might introduce their bodies, and, pressing against the valves, reached the honey. Their extreme delicacy of smelling is hence most obvious, for not only was the honey quite concealed from view, but its very effluvia, from being purposely covered and disguised, could not be much diffused. "It is worthy of remark that some flowers have a structure resembling the valves in the experiment. The honey-vessel of several species is situated at the bottom of a tube, enclosed or concealed among the petals; yet, in spite of this concealment, the bee finds it out, though its instinct, less refined than that of the humble-bee (Bombus), affords fewer resources. The latter, when unable to penetrate the flowers by their natural cavity, drills an aperture at the base of the tube, through which it insinuates its sucker into the place where nature has placed the reservoir of honey. By means of this stratagem, and favoured by the length of its sucker, the humble-bee can ob- tain honey which the hive-bee could reach with^great difficulty, if at all*/' We have frequently observed with much interest the method taken by various species of bees to open the operculated flower of the common snapdragon (Antirrhinum niajus). Resting upon the lower lip of the flower, the insect insinuates its tongue between the upper lip and the valve, and then thrusting in its head, acts with it as a wedge to force the shut edges asunder. In this manner it speedily accomplishes an entrance, and the flower shuts over it with a snap; hence, perhaps, the popular name. When the bee has obtained the honey at the bottom of the flower, it makes its exit in the same way as it entered. Contrary to what we understand Huber to affirm * Huber on Bees, p, 261. SMELL IN INSECTS. 49 Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus), and bees entering the flowers. in the above quotation, we have, in some hundreds of instances, seen the hive-bee open these flowers as dexterously as the humble-bees, and the latter uni- formly opened the spring valve of the flower, and never attempted a perforation at the bottom *. Our opinion seems to be partly corroborated by what is stated by Kirby and Spence. " Several flowers,1 say they, u that produce much honey, the bees pass *J.R, 50 INSECT MISCELLANIES. by, in some instances from inability to get at it. Thus, for this reason probably, they do not attempt those of the trumpet honey-suckle, which, if separated from the germen after they are open, will yield two or three drops of the purest nectar ; so that, were this shrub cultivated with that view, much honey in its original state might be obtained from a small num- ber of plants*.'* Were Huber's remarks correct, this is the very flower which the humble-bees would select to perforate. The humming-bird moth (Ma- Humming-bird moth (Macroglossa stellafnrum) ; and trumpet honey- suckle {Caprifulium sempervirens), #Inttvn, 180. SMELL IN INSECTS. 51 croglossa stellatarum, STEPHENS) fares the better for this neglect of the bees, as, by means of its long sucker, it can get to the very bottom of the honey- vessel, while it poises itself on the wing at the open- ing of the flower. The younger Huber, however, we find, expresslys tates that he has seen humble- bees pierce the large tubes of the flowers of beans to get at the honey, when, by trial, they found they could not otherwise reach it*. M. Aubert du Petit Thouars, also, a respectable French naturalist, observed hum- ble-bees, as well as the violet carpenter-bee (Xylocopa violacea), pierce the nectaries of the snapdragon, toad flax (Linaria vulgaris), and marvel of Peru (Mira- bilis Jalapa), as the bees of the Isle of France per- forate the flower-tubes of the common Indian shot (Canna Indica-\). Kirby has observed holes in the nectaries of columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris), which he attributes to the same agency J. A similar experiment to that of Huberts is said to prove successful upon fishes, particularly eels, by enclosing a piece of meat or fish in a box perforated with holes, and sinking it in deep water, where, in a short time, the eels discover it, no doubt by the sense of smelling,, and crowd into the box §. In the case of smelling at a distance, vultures and birds which feed on carrion have long been famous; for, "where the carcass is, there will the vultures be gathered together." Dr. James Johnson, however, has stated several facts, which render it more probable that this ought to be attributed to acuteness of vision. He was led, he tells us, to doubt the received opinion, while observing, some years ago, a concourse of birds of prey, from every point of the horizon, towards a corpse floating down * Linn. Trans, vol. vi. f Nouv. Bulletin des Sciences, i. 45. J Intr.ii. 523 § Monro, Anatomy of Fishes. F2 5$ INSECT MISCELLANIES. the river Ganges, and that during the north-east monsoon, when the wind blew steadily from one point of the compass for months in succession. It was extremely difficult to imagine that the effluvium from the body in the water could stream off in direct opposition to the wind, so as to be perceived by birds many miles distant. It has been ascertained, by direct experiments, that where very putrid carrion was enclosed in a basket, through which the effluvium could penetrate, while it was concealed from sight, it attracted not the notice of birds of prey ; but when it was exposed to view, crowds of them came rapidly from different quarters of the horizon, where they were invisible a few minutes before. This is most rationally accounted for from their soaring at an alti- tude beyond our sight, though they can thence discern their prey*. The discovery of distant water by the camel seems to depend on the sense of smell f. In Dr. Stewart TrailPs account of the captivity of Scott among the Moors of the Sahara, we are told that the camels of the caravan discovered the approach of a wolf at the distance of half a mile ; and that they can also smell a tiger at a great distance, which is known by their refusing to advance, and their putting themselves in an attitude of defence J. The elephant is said to have a similar faculty of smelling out a tiger. The late Lord Clive exhibited a combat between two of these animals, at Calcutta ; but at first nothing could allure or force the elephant to advance along the road, where the cage containing the tiger had passed, till a gallon of arrack was given, when, his horror sud- denly turning to fury, he broke down the paling to get at his enemy, and killed him without difficulty. * Medico-Chirurgical Review for Dec. 1828. t See Menageries, vol.-i. J Edinb. Phil, Journ. 1820. SMELL IN INSECTS. 53 It is by no means improbable that many insects employ the offensive odours which nature has enabled them to discharge, to produce effects of terror upon their enemies. Perhaps the most familiar instance of this occurs in the extensive family of bugs (Cimicidce), the fcetor of which is always similar, though their food is so various; and the pretty little beetles, the lady- birds (Coccinellidee), of which children are so fond, emit a similar, though not quite so offensive an odour. The rove-beetles (&taphyVinid(e), in addition to their threatening and formidable attitudes, emit a very disagreeable odour, though it is not quite so bad as that of others (Silphida) which feed on carrion. The church-yard beetle* (Blaps mortisagd) has been noted for the same circumstance since the time of Pliny f. Some bees (Andrenidce), again, have a strong smell of garlic, which may probably be disagreeable to their various enemies J. We have had an opportunity of examining the curious organ, supposed to be intended for the similar purpose of defence, in the very beautiful caterpillar of the swallow-tailed butterfly (Papilio Machaon, LINN.)? three of which we took upon fen- nel in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris. The cater- pillar itself is of a fine green, banded with black. The instrument in question § is of a dark orange, and is always concealed within one of the rings on the shoulders, unless the creature be irritated, when it darts it out to the extent of about an inch, and at the same time emits a strong odour resembling fennel. This may be intended to intimidate the ichneumons from depositing their parasite eggs in its body, or warning off the thrushes or the carnivorous locust (Acrida verrucivora) from devouring it. On the * Figured in Insect Transformations, p. 241, 281. f Hist. Nat. xxix. 6. J Kirby, Monographia, i. 136. § Figured in Insect Transf. p. 281, a. F3 54 INSECT MISCELLANIES. same plant, indeed, where these caterpillars were feeding, we saw one of the latter lurking about, no doubt with evil intent*. A small green beetle (Anchomenus prasinus, BONELLI), not uncommon near London, gives battle to its most formidable enemies by repeated dis- charges of smoke and noise. This species, however, is not perhaps so well known as another, called by Latreille the bombardier (Brachinus crepitans, WEBER), known by its head and thorax being brick- red, and the rest of the body a deep blackish-blue. a, Bombardier (Brachinus crepitans). b, Calosoma inquisitor. When we attempt to catch it, we are surprised by a discharge resembling a pop-gun, accompanied with a sort of smoke, of which it is furnished with a bladder sufficient to fire off, according to Rolander, twenty shots in succession. If this chance to get into the eyes, it will make them smart as if they had been bathed with brandy. Its chief enemy is a beetle * J. R. SMELL IN INSECTS. 55 (Calosoma inquisitor, WEBER), larger than itself, which hunts it without mercy. As it finds it impos- sible to escape by speed of foot, it stops short, and awaits its pursuer ; but just as he is about to seize it, he is saluted with a discharge, and while he is for a moment stupified with surprise, the bombardier en- deavours to gain a hiding-place. Another species (B. displosor) can direct its smoke, according to report, to any particular point, by bending itself in the re- quired direction. M. Leon Dufour says the smoke has a pungent odour, similar to nitric acid, and it reddens white paper *. It is right to inform our younger readers, who may be desirous of witnessing the performance of this Lilliputian artilleryman, that he is not always prepared, or at least in the humour, to fire his guns ; for we have in several instances been disappointed when we wished to exhibit the phenomena f. It may have been in consequence of such accidental disappointment that Millard, a practical collector of insects, has been led to treat the whole as little better than a fable J. " I presume," says Stephens, " that this author must have laboured under some delusion, or has not -paid that attention to the subject which appears requisite before attempting to controvert a well established fact. So far as my experience leads me, I have invariably found that the insects are ready to discharge their ammunition at all times, especially if roughly handled ; and Mr. Cooper informs me that one he met with at Cobham, in the beginning of the present spring, performed the operation no less than thirteen times in rapid succession §." The whole proceedings of these beetles strikingly resemble those of the American weasel, called the skunk (Viverra * Annales du Museum, xviii. 70. f J. R. J{ Outlines of British Entomology, p. 221. § Illustr.~i. 35. 56 INSECT MISCELLANIES. putorius, LINN.), which discharges a foetid vapour upon its pursuers *. Many of the ants (Formica fcetens, F. fuliginosa, fyc.) exhale a powerful and unpleasant smell, which may, perhaps, be given them as a means of defence; though it also appears to furnish them with the means of following the routes of their companions to and from their encampments. We once observed, on Hampstead Heath, a track of the negro ant (F. fused) several yards in length, leading to a numerous colony, arid crowded through its whole extent with foragers. By simply drawing a walking stick across this track in several places, so as to obliterate the scent, the whole train of foragers were instantly thrown into confusion, and wandered about as if blindfolded or tipsy; and though we remained upon the spot for a considerable time to observe their proceedings, they did not succeed in reuniting the points of the track which we had dissevered, though most of them found their way to the nest by cir- cuitous and zig-zag routes t- The track in ques- tion was not visibly hollowed out, as Huber says is done by the wood-ant (F. rufa), to the extent some- times of a hundred feet in length, and several inches in breadth, or of the emmet (F. fuliginosa) which is said to cut the grass in its pathways ; but marked solely by the effluvia of the insects. The odour of the wood-ant is so powerful, that a frog thrown into one of their encampments will be suffocated in five minutes J. The preceding statements show that ants are endowed with an acute sense of smell, which is more remarkably proved, as it appears to us, from some other facts which have been otherwise explained. Professor Bradley tells us that a nest of ants iu a * Kalm's Travels. t J. B. t Nouv, Diet, d'Hist. Naturelle, xii. 24. SMELL IN INSECTS. 57 nobleman's garden discovered a closet, many yards within the house, in which conserves were kept, which they constantly attended, till the nest was destroyed. It was remarked that they always went to it by the same track, scarcely varying- an inch from it, though they had to pass through two apart- ments ; nor could the sweeping and cleaning of the rooms discomfit them, or cause them to pursue a different route*. It is inferred that some in their rambles must have discovered this depot of sweets, and informed the next of it : we should rather say they were successively led thither by smell, or at least that the road was pointed out not so much by gesti- cular signs as by the smell of the conserves left on the track of the first who had been at the pots. Dr. Franklin made an observation upon ants for the purpose of ascertaining their capability of imparting intelligence. He put a little earthen pot, containing treacle, into a closet, and soon found a number of ants feasting upon it ; upon which he shook them out, and suspended the pot by a string from the ceiling of the room. By accident there re- mained in the pot a single ant, which, after gorging itself, found, with some difficulty the way to the ceiling along the string. It had scarcely been gone half an hour, when a swarm of ants issued forth, got up to the ceiling, and crept along the string to the pot, and a regular march and counter-march of foragers was soon established between the nest and the pot. This we are disposed to explain as we have done the facts mentioned by Bradley — an expla- nation rendered probable by some experiments which we have tried. We laid a bruised raisin, dipped in moist sugar, upon a grass-plot, where a few ants of various spe- cies were observed straggling about ; and it was not * Account of the Works of Nature, 58 INSECT MISCELLANIES. long before one of them discovered the prize. Our object, however, being1 to prevent this individual from informing1 the rest, we seized it, as we did several others as they successively arrived ; but although we were not aware of any ant-hill within a good many yards of the spot, we speak within compass when we say that we could have caught several hundreds within an hour at the raisin, none of which could by possibility have been informed by their companions, whom we kept close prisoners. That they were led to it by smell also appeared from those of the same nest arriving usually by the same straight track. We admit, indeed, that when we allowed the pri- soners their liberty, a much greater number came to the feast ; but that, as we imagine, was occasioned, as in Franklin's experiment, not by mutual commu- nication, but by the scent of the sugar left on 'their path*. We do not see how our first experiment could be explained otherwise ; and though some readers may accuse us of refining too much on the second, it is eorroborated by many analogical facts. It is credibly reported, for example, of the Negroes in the Antilles, that they can follow their master as a dog does, by smelling the track of his feet ; — nay more, that they can distinguish the track of a Frenchman from that of a Negro f. Humboldt expressly states, that the American Indians have distinct terms to express the odour of a Negro, a European, and a native Ameri- can J. Sir Kenehn Digby mentions a boy whose smell was equally acute with that of the Antilles Negroes ; and a monk, who could distinguish diffe- rent persons in the dark by smell, began a treatise on odours, but did not live to execute the task. The * J. R. f Journ. des Spavans, pour 1667, p. 60. { Political Essay on New Spain, London, 1811. SMELL IN INSECTS. 59 singular boy, Mitchel, born deaf and blind, had the same faculty of distiguishing persons by smell *. The most close analogy, however, to the smell of ants, is furnished by various hounds, which can track unerringly, by the odour left on the grass, the path of hares, foxes, and other animals, and by that means discover their lurking-place. An instance of the almost miraculous acuteness of smell in the blood- hound is related by Boyle. " A person of quality," he says, " to make trial whether a young blood- hound was well instructed, caused one of his ser- vants to walk to a town four miles off, and then to a market-town three miles farther. The dog, with- out having seen the man he was to pursue, followed him by the scent to the above-mentioned places, not- withstanding the multitude of market people that went along the same way, and of travellers that had occasion to cross it ; and when the blood-hound came to the chief market-town, he passed through the streets, without taking notice of any of the people there, and left not fill he had gone to the house where the man he sought rested himself, and found him in an upper room, to the wonder of those that followed him t." The very subtle nature of odours, however, tends to strip these instances of sagacity of their apparent magic ; for a particle of camphor, less than the two-millionth part of a grain, has been found distinctly perceptible to smell J. This has led Von Walther and others into the opinion, that odours are analogous to heat, light, and magnetism; in support of which they urge many very curious and plausible arguments. The French chemists, on the other hand, consider aroma as a distinct element $. * See Wardrop's Account, t Boyle on the Nature of Effluvia, chap. iv. I Haller, Elementa Physiol., vol. v. p. 58, 4to. § Rennie's Supp, to the Pharraacop, 4rt, droma, 60 INSECT MISCELLANIES. M. Bomare relates an experiment to prove that the bed-bug* (Cimex lectularius) is not attracted, as is popularly supposed, by heat, but by smell. He put a bug into an empty bed-chamber, and throwing him- self upon the bed, perceived that the insect did not at first know whither to turn ; but it was not long in smelling him out, and ran right towards his face * ; but we can infer nothing certain from so clumsy an experiment, and only mention it because it is quoted as an authority by Lehmann t and others. We know not whether the proposition of Goze to expel bugs by the odour of horses (sudore equino), is any better founded J, though they certainly dislike the smell of coal-gas, coal-tar, turpentine, rosin, and camphor, as most insects do. ORGAN OP SMELL. As insects breathe in a very different manner from the larger animals, namely, by a number of spiracles along each side of the body, it becomes a question of some difficulty, where their organs of smell are situated. We cannot, indeed, easily conceive of smell being produced except by a current of air, in which odoriferous particles are diffused, passing through a moistened channel, as was first so admirably de- scribed two hundred years ago by Schneider § ; but though it would be bad reasoning to infer that this must be the case in insects, because we cannot conceive any other, yet, as the analogy is strong, we ought at least to investigate the point. B aster || seems to have been the first who con- ceived that the spiracles, or breathing-holes of insects * Diet. Raisonn6 d'Hist. Nat., Art. Punaise. f De Sensibus Extern. 29. J Natur. Menschenleben und Vors, ii. 213. § De Sensu ac Organo Odoratus, 12mo, Witteb, 1655. || Opusc, subs. ORGAN OF SMELL. 61 are their organs of smell ; and the opinion has been adopted by Cuvier, Dumeril, and Lehmann, chiefly for the reason already mentioned, that the inspira- tion of air seems to be an indispensable condition ot smelling. If it should be objected, that it is no less re- quisite for this organ to be near the mouth to serve for a guide as to the quality of food, Lehmann answers, that this is not so requisite in insects, because they are usually so much smaller than their food, and frequently even reside in what they eat, and may therefore smell as advantageously with the tail as the head *. To us, this appears quite as vague and conjectural as the argument of Cuvier f, who thinks, from the wind-pipes (tracheae) being lined with a soft arid moist membrane, that organ calculated, like the Schneiderian membrane of our nostrils, -to perceive odours ; but though this was really soft and moist, as it is not J, it would no more prove this point, than would the soft, moist surface of our inner eye- lids, or of our tongue and palate, prove them to be organs of smell. M. De Blainville decides more positively than the facts seem to authorize that the antennae are the organs of smell. The modification, he remarks, of the skin which invests them, is in general olfactory only in a small degree, this power appearing to be more vivid in the thickest portion of the organ, where it is more soft and tender, as in the carrion beetles (Necrophaga), which possess so delicate a sense of smelling. From spiders being destitute of antennae, he thinks it very difficult to conceive where the seat of their organ of smell is placed, if indeed they possess one, which he is disposed to doubt. Crabs and lobsters on the * De Usu Antennarum, p. 31. f Anatomie Comparat. ii. 675. J Sprengel, Commentar. 14 j and Lyonnet, Trait6 Anato- mique, 103. 62 INSECT MISCELLANIES. other hand, whose scent is very delicate, are furnished with no less than two pairs of antennae*/ It is ob- vious, however, that all this is pure conjecture, un- supported by any sort of proof, direct or analogical. It is probable that M. De Blainville was influenced to adopt these opinions from the high authority of Latreille, whose reasoning on the subject it may be worth while to quote. "The exercise of smell," he says, " consists only in the action of air impregnated with odoriferous particles, on the nervous or olfactory membrane, which transmits the sensation. If in- sects be endowed with an organ furnished with similar nerves, and with which air charged with odoriferous particles comes in contact, such an organ may be regarded as that of smell. Should the an- tennae present a tissue of many nerves, what incon- venience can result from supposing that this tissue is capable of transmitting odour? Would not this hypothesis, on the contrary, be more simple and more consonant to anatomical principles, than that which fixes the seat of smell at the entrance of the stigmata ? Besides, this last mode of explanation will not, I presume, suit the crustaceous animals, which so nearly approach to insects. Many male insects have their antenna? more developed than the females ; a fact easily explained, if we admit that these organs are the seat of smell. It is certain that most of those insects which live or deposit their eggs on putrid animals, or vegetable matters, stagnant waters, or any substance, in short, which for a time affects peculiar localities, are almost uniformly distinguished by a greater development of the antennae. Such for example are the Scarabseus, Dermestes, Silpha, Cle- rus, Tenebrio, Tipula, Bibio, &c. These require a more perfect sense of smell, and are organized ac- cordingly. A great many insects which are entirely * Del1 Organisation des Animaux, vol. i,j Paris, 1823, ORGAN OF SMELL. 63 predaceous have simple antennae ; and those which are characterized by similar manners, and which are sedentary, have none at all ; as, for instance, the Acari, and a considerable portion of Lamarck's arachnida discover their habitation and food by the sense of smell. I ha\e deprived several in- sects of their antenna?, when they instantly fell into a state of stupor or derangement, and seemed to be incapable of recognizing- their haunts or their food, though just beside them. Such experiments deserve to be prosecuted. I would recommend, for example, the varnishing or covering the antennae of dung beetles, and placing them near animal excrements, of which they are particularly fond, to observe if they would repair to them as usual. The nerves ter- minate at the antennae ; and their articulations, though externally covered with a pretty thick mem- brane, are hollow, lined within by a soft substance, which is often of a watery consistency, and whose extremity, when opposed to the air, may receive its impressions." Mr. Kirby, in speaking of the Eucera (or long-horned bee), says : " A singular circum- stance distinguishes their antennae, which to the best of my knowledge has never before been noticed, and which may possibly lead to the discovery of the use of these organs. Placed under a powerful magnifier, the last ten joints appear to be composed of innu- merable hexagons, similar to those of which the eyes of these insects consist." If we reason from analogy, this remarkable circumstance will lead us to con- jecture, that the sense, of which this part so essential to insects is the organ, may bear some relation to that conveyed by the eyes. As they are furnished with no instrument for receiving and communicating the impressions of sound similar to the ear, that defi- ciency may be supplied by extraordinary means of vision. That the stemmata are of this description 64 INSECT MISCELLANIES. seems very probable ; and the antennae may, in some degree, answer a similar purpose : the circumstance just mentioned furnishes some presumption that they do this, at least in the case of these males ; else why do they exhibit that peculiar structure which distinguishes the real eyes? We are indebted to the elder Huber for several in- genious experiments which appear to bring the diffi- culties of the question within a narrower compass, and render it probable that the organ of smell, in bees at least, is situated in the head. " A pencil," he tells us, " dipped in oil of turpen- tine, one of the substances most disliked by insects, was presented successively to all parts of the body of a bee, which did not appear in the least affected even when it was brought near the spiracles of the chest. We then took a very fine pencil, that we might try every minute point of the head, and approached it to the antenna?, the eyes, and sucker while feeding, but without the least effect. When, however, we put it near the cavity of the mouth, above the insertion of the proboscis, the bee instantly started back, left the honey on which it was feeding, beat its wings with great agitation, and would have taken flight had not the pencil been withdrawn. Having renewed its repast, we again brought the pencil near the mouth as be- fore, when the bee quitted the honey, fixed upon the table, and fanned itself with its wings as if to blow away the turpentine. It appears obvious, therefore, that the organ of smell resides either within the mouth or the parts contiguous. " As bees not occupied in feeding appeared more sensible of the odour of turpentine, being affected with it at a greater distance, but when their sucker was immersed in honey, several parts of the body might be touched by the pencil without annoying them, we inferred that their attention was either ab- ORGAN OF SMELL, (>5 sorbed by the smell of the honey or their organs less exposed. To ascertain this, we tried the following experiment : — We seized several bees, and oblig- ing1 them to stretch out their sucker, we filled their mouths with flour paste, and when it was dry enough to prevent their rubbing it off, we set them at liberty. They did not appear to suffer any incon- venience, and breathed and moved with the same facility as their companions. But now honey failed to attract them, for they neither approached it, nor, so far as we observed, were they affected by odours in other cases offensive to them. We dipped pencils in oil of turpentine and cloves, in ether, in fixed and volatile alkalies, and insinuated their points very near the mouth, where we had previously found them so sensitive ; but the odour of these fluids, which would have occasioned a sudden shock to bees in their natural state, had no effect upon them. On the contrary, several mounted on the impregnated pencils, and even traversed them with impunity : consequently their sense of smelling was obstructed by the paste put into their mouths*.'* Humboldtr in referring to Lyonnet's admirable anatomy of the caterpillar of the goatmoth, takes oc- casion to blame authors for drawing general conclu- sions from one insect to another t» and certainly in some cases this might lead to error; but, in many others, the converse might be equally illogical, as ap- pears, for example, from the singular opinions of Com- parettij. He supposes that the organs of smell are situated in different organs in different families of insects. la beetles (Geotrupes stercorarius, fyc.) he thinks it resides in the knob of the antennae ; * Huber on Bees, p. 264. •}• Ueber (Jie gereizte Muskelfaser, i. 273, Not. $ De Aure Intent Cpmpar. p. 288—304. 03 66 INSECT MISCELLANIES. in butterflies and moths in the sucker, and in flies (Muscidce) and locusts, in certain cells in the fore- head. M. Christ, again, supposed that insects smell near objects with their antennules (palpi), and re- mote ones with their antennae*. Reaumur, conceiv- ing the antennae to be the organs of smell, concluded that they inspired air, and upon immersing the knobs of the antennae of a butterfly in water, he actually perceived minute bubbles of air issuing from them t ; but Lehmann disproved the conclusion by removing the bubbles, formed as he thinks merely from the air in the exterior sculpture, for it could not pene- trate the interior, and no more bubbles were formed after the first J. Kirby and Spence, on the other hand, carrying the argument from analogy farther than their predecessors, assign several reasons, chiefly from anatomy and from the preceding experiments of Huber, that the organ of smell in insects is " the extremity of the nose, between it and the upper lip, or under those parts :" and " that the nose corresponds with the so named part in Mammalia, both from its situation and often from its form, must be evident," they think, " to every one who looks at an insect §." They after- wards describe what they call the " nostril piece (I'hinarium) " in the burying beetle (Necrophorus Vespillo), the water-beetle (Dytiscus marginalis), and one of the dragon-flies (JEshna varia, SHAW). Did insects breathe by any part of their head the mystery of smell would be less ; but so far as re- searches have hitherto been made, this is not the case, for no spiracles have been discovered in the head, * Naturgeschichte der Hymenopterorum, p. 24. f Memoires, i. 224. « { De Sensibus Externis, 31. § Intr. iv. 256. ORGAN OF SMELL. Green dragon-fly (JEshna variety. though there is a pair in the first segment of the trunk obvious enough in most caterpillars and grubs *, but seldom observed in perfect insects. It may be seen, however, in the common rove-beetle (Goerius olens, STEPHENS), and in the mole-cricket, just be- hind the arms. From some experiments of Huber, however, it appears not improbable that we have still much to learn respecting the upper spiracles, at least in bees. Swammerdam had ascertained the existence of three pair of spiracles in the chest, and seven in the abdomen of bee pupae ; and Huber, anxious to learn whether these were continued in the adult state, * See Insect Transformations, pp, 138, 175, 200. 68 INSECT MISCELLANIES, Rove beetle (Goerius Glens') on the wing. immersed a number of bees in water, slightly heated to prevent any effect from torpidity in consequence of cold. " When only the head of a bee," he says, " was plunged in mercury or water, it did not seem to suf- fer; out if the head alone remained out of the fluid, the insect stretched out its sucker and gradually swooned away; if the head and thorax were im- mersed, leaving the abdomen free, it struggled a few minutes and quickly died. The mouths of the spi- racles appearing from this to be in the chest, that was left free, while the head and the abdomen were im- mersed. A bee supported this experiment very pa- tiently, and took flight when released. The action of the spiracles can be best observed by the suffocation of bees in water. Four air-bubbles then become conspicuous, — two between the origin of the neck and the root of the wings, a third on the neck at, the origin of the tongue, and a fourth on the opposite extremity of the chest close to its junction with the abdomen. The bee seems to have some power in the retention of air, as the bubbles do not rise to the surface till they acquire sufficient size to overcome the resistance of inspiration or adherence to the sides of the cavities. By the third and fourth bubbles, the ORGAN OF SMELL. 69 existence of spiracles, not observed by Swammerdam, is indicated. As other experiments showed that one orifice remaining free is sufficient for carrying on respiration, some internal communication must sub- sist between the spiracles*." It would appear, in- deed, that the orifice mentioned at the origin of the tongue is in or near the spot indicated by his preced- ing experiments as the organ of smell ; and even should we say this organ is in the pair of spiracles on the second ring, we have an analogy to support it in the gills of fish, which are situated behind and not before the mouth. The connexion of smell and taste is much closer in man than most persons are aware of; and this, taken in conjunction with the experiments of Hu- ber, gives additional weight from analogy to the opinion that the organ in insects is near the mouth. The connection in question seems to have been first observed by Willis, who found that if a sapid sub- stance is put into the mouth when the nostrils are closed, the sensation of taste is suspended f. Ac- cording to some recent experiments by Dr. Rousseau, of the United States, the operation of poisonous and inebriating effluvia is prevented by the same means. One man, after his nostrils were stuffed, was made to breathe the vapour of boiling brandy for an hour without producing any effect, except a little smarting of the throat. Next day he breathed the vapour with his nostrils open, and in less than half an hour was thereby rendered so intoxicated that he could not stand. A delicate lady, who could not bear the smell of to- bacco without being sick, volunteered to try a similar experiment upon herself. Some tobacco accordingly was kept boiling in a saucepan, and she breathed the vapour for half an hour, keeping all the while her nostrils closely pressed, and she experienced no in- * Huber on Bees, p. 293, t De Anima Brutorum. >0 INSECT MISCELLANIES, convenience. Dr. Rousseau comes to the conclusion that without smell we could have no taste ; and he proved his opinion by successively blind-folding some young physicians, who were sceptical respecting it, and closing their nostrils made them guess onions to be apples, and camphor to be bread *. This doctrine appears not a little plausible, but it will only hold in case of flavours, that is, when odour accompanies taste, the two sensations being as distinct as their causes, — a distinction first pointed out, we believe, by Dr. Prout f. The varied effects of different odours on bees were experimentally ascertained by the elder Huber in numerous instances. He found that the mineral acids and volatile alkali acted still more powerfully than spirit of turpentine. " On our presenting musk," he says, " to bees feeding before the entrance of their hive, they ceased, and partially dispersed, but without precipitation or beating their wings. We sprinkled some powdered musk on a drop of honey, into which some bees thrust their suckers as if by stealth, for they kept as far back from it as possible ; but although they often appeared to suck it, we did not perceive it to become less in a quarter of an hour, long before which it would have disappeared had it not been mixed with musk. Pounded assa- foetida, whose odour is so disagreeable to us, upon being mixed with honey and put at the entrance of a hive, did not seem to annoy the bees ; for they greedily sucked all the honey, neither attempting to withdraw, nor vibrating their wings, till they only left the particles of the gum. u Having had remarked, that bees going out to the fields and coining home, turned aside in the air to avoid passing immediately over a piece of cam- * Philadelphia Journ., edit, by Dr. Chapman, No. 7. t London Med.and Phys. Journ. for 1812. ORGAN OF SMELL. 7t phor laid before the entrance of their hive, I tried the effect of bringing some camphor towards their mouths while their tongues were plunged into some honey placed on a card. All of them took flight, but after flying about for some time, they ventured to alight near the honey. While they were tempted again to try it, I threw some bits of camphor on the surface* They drew back a little, still keeping the tip of their tongues amongst the honey, and carefully avoided the camphor. One vibrated its wings as it fed, while some were less affected, and others not at all ; but when I covered the honey entirely with camphor, they all instantly flew away. I had this card carried to my hives, while some honey was put on another clean one within reach of the bees. The latter was soon discovered, arid the honey consumed in a few minutes ; but an hour elapsed before a single bee came near the camphorated card, when, at length, two ventured to alight on it, and thrust their tongues into the edge of a drop of honey. Others followed, and two hours after it was covered with them, and all the honey consumed, the camphor alone remain- ing, whence it was proved, that the attraction of honey overcomes their repugnance to the smell of camphor*." Huber also tried the effect of alcohol upon bees shut up in a close vessel. Having allowed a small glass of spirits of wine to evaporate under a receiver, he placed in it a bee that had just been sa- tiated with honey. It endeavoured to escape, and vibrated its wings incessantly for an hour, when a continued tremor of the limbs, the wings, and the sucker became perceptible, and, at length, unable to stand, it lay down on its back, and began to use its wings like oars or feet, at the same time disgorging all the honey it had previously swallowed, Window * Huber on Bees, p, 267, 72 INSECT MISCELLANIES. flies and wood-lice (Onisci) were destroyed by the same vapour, but it did not seem to affect a large spider. We shall only mention the effect of the odour of one other substance on bees, namely, their own poison, which Huber was curious to ascertain. The sting of one was accordingly extracted, and presented to some workers before the entrance of a hive. Al- though they had previously been quiet and tranquil, they became all at once much agitated. None flew away, but two or three darted against the sting, and one furiously assailed the experimenters. That it was the odour of the sting-poison alone which pro- duced these violent emotions, was obvious from their appearing insensible of its presence when it lost its scent by drying. In another instance, bees were confined in a glass tube and irritated with an awn of barley, till they protruded their stings and left some poison on the sides of the glass. The mouth of the tube was then presented to a group of bees at the en- trance of a hive, arid it soon produced the agitation of rage obviously unaccompanied with fear *. * Huber, p. 269. 73 CHAPTER IV. HEARING IN INSECTS. THE speech of Mamilius, in the Winter's Tale,- — I will tell it softly, Yon cricket* shall not hear it *, shows that Shakspeare had a more accurate know- ledge of insects, than two of our most distinguished naturalists — Linnaeus and Bonnet, who are disposed to deny that insects can hear at all. " Passing by a hedge," says the latter, " upon which there was a nest of common caterpillars (Clisiocampa neustria?), I remarked that the sound of my voice appeared to incommode them, for when I spoke they briskly agi- tated with repeated jerks (reprises) the fore-part of their bodies. I did not indeed suppose that they possessed an organ of hearing, — I know no observa- tion which proves insects to be endowed with this sen,se,— but t conjectured with more probability, that the sound of my voice was communicated to the organ of touch in the caterpillars, — a fact which proves that they have a very delicate touch f." It would have been well, however, if Bonnet had made sure of the fact before theorizing upon it, as it appears to us he must have been mistaken, and might have seen the lackeys jerking themselves in the same way, altogether independent of the sound of his voice. We have repeatedly watched by the hour these cater- pillars repeating the jerks in question, when it could * Winter's Tale, Actii., Sc. 1. f Bonnet, CEuvres, ii. 36. H 74 INSECT MISCELLANIES. Lackey moth (Clisiocampa neustrid), in all its stages, a, spiral chain of eggs; b, larva; c, pupa, in a cocoon; d, moth. not possibly be in consequence of any sound. It seenied more for the purpose of producing1 a rent in the skin near the head *, as it was more remarkable * See Insect Transformations, p. 169, HEARING IN INSECTS, 75 just before their moulting than at any other time*. This also, as it happens, was the very period when Bonnet made his observation, as he expressly says, " some of them had undergone, and others were about to undergo their first moult." Bonnet imagined, however, that he had proved his opinion by a similar experiment upon caterpillars of another species, which also live in society a part of their lives. " While they were exposed," he Says, " to a burning sun, and ran quickly from one side to another, I bethought myself of ringing a small bell at a very short distance from the nest: some of them stopt instantly and briskly agitated the fore-part of their bodies, as if they felt the sound of the bell dis- agreeable t." It is unfortunate that, from Bonnet's inattention to system, we cannot tell the species of the caterpillars on which the experiment was tried ; but we have repeated it in a number of cases., both with social and solitary caterpillars, without being able to verify his observations. At the time of wri- ting this, we tried the effect of a great variety of sounds upon a nest of the brown-tail moth (Porthesia auriflua) — most probably Bonnet's species — soon after their first moult, but we were unable either in the sun or the shade to produce any effect upon them by sounds ; and several full-grown caterpillars of the fox -moth (Lasiocampa Rubi, SCHRANK) in a box beside them appeared equally insensible. We are thus inclined to explain Bonnet's second experiment as we did the first, though his own ac- count is not improbable ; for all caterpillars are rather sensitive, and jerk themselves when touched, particu larly should any of their companions come upon them. In most cases the jerk succeeds in driving away the intruder; but in the cannibal species it only serves as a cause of irritation which leads them to plunge * J. R. t CEuvres, ii. 37. H2 INSECT MISCELLANIES. Fox-moth {Lasiocampa rtibi), and caterpillar. their mandibles into the offender's body. We have had a brood of the caterpillars of the cinnabar moth (Callimorpha JacobcecB, STEPHENS), which, notwith- standing their jerking1 and writhing, devoured one another, till only one out of ten remained *. To return to Shakspeare's cricket, it is well known to every boy that the field one, of a fine green colour (Acrida mridissima), which during the summer * J.. R. HEARING IN INSECTS, 77 months is by no means sparing of its stridulous music, instantly ceases to crink the moment it hears a foot fall ; and hence it is not easy to discover the spot where it is, unless it be approached in the most cau- tious manner, for it is silent if a person approach within several yards of it. Brunelli, an Italian naturalist, tried some experiments upon this insect, more satisfactory than the preceding ones of Bonnet. He kept several in a chamber, which continued their crinking song through the whole day ; but the instant they heard a knock at the door, they were silent. Green field cricket (Acrida viridissima'), with its nest and e£ H 3 78 INSECT MISCELLANIES. He subsequently invented a method of imitating their sounds, and when he did so outside the door, at first a few would venture upon a soft whisper, and by and bye the whole party burst out in chorus to answer him ; but upon repeating the rap at the door, they instantly stopped again as if alarmed. He likewise confined a male in one side of his garden, while he put a female in the other at liberty, which began to leap as soon as she heard the crink of the male, and immediately came to him, an experiment which he frequently repeated with the same result*. It is re- markable that the males alone of these insects are musical ; for " the females," as Swammerdam long ago observed, " of locusts, grasshoppers, and others, make no noise f.J> We may in passing request our readers to remark, that Brunelli's insect has very long antennae. It seems to be not illogical to infer, from the variety of sounds produced by insects, that, in the instance in question, as well as in many others, they are intended for signals to their companions, who, of course, must possess organs of hearing. The drum or instrument by which the last-mentioned in- sect produces its loud music has been described by De Geer, and subsequently by Lichtenstein J. " Our male green field-hoppers," says the former, " in that part of the right wing case which is folded horizon- tally over the trunk, have a round plate, made of very fine transparent membrane, resembling a little mirror or piece of talc, and as tense as a drum. It is surrounded by a strong and prominent nervure, but is concealed under the fold of the left wing case, where also there are strong nervures corresponding to what may be called the hoop of the drum. It is exceedingly probable that the quick motion with * Comment. Instit. Bonon. vii. 199, &c., apud Lehmann. t Biblia Natune, i. 217, J Linn. Trans, iv. 51. HEARING IN INSECTS. 79 which the insect rubs these nervures against each other, produces a vibration in the membrane, whence the sound is augmented *." By alternating the mo- tion rapidly from right to left, the sound is produced in an almost continued strain, as we have remarked in those we have kept in our study t; while in the crickets, who alternate the motion more slowly, the sound is emitted at interrupted intervals, — a remark which any person may readily verify. The grasshoppers and locusts (Locustidce) pro- duce their chirp by applying the hind shank to the thigh, rubbing it smartly against the wing-case, arid alternating the right and left legs. They have also a drum like the preceding family (Gryllidce) for augmenting the sound. " On each side," says De Geer, *' of the first segment of the abdomen, imme- diately above the origin of the hind thighs, there is a large deep opening, somewhat oval in form, and partly closed by an irregular flat plate or lid, of a hard substance, but covered by a flexible, wrinkled B Drum of the grasshopper. , Deep A, Part of the first ring of the abdomen, greatly magnified, cavity, partially covered by the plate b. B, The cavity with the parts as they appear when the plate b is re- moved, c, White membrane, stretched across the bottom of the cavity. d, Oval hole. De Geer, Memoires, iii. 429. t J.R. 80 INSECT MISCELLANIES. membrane. The opening left by the lid is in form of a half-moon, and at the bottom of the cavity is a white membrane, shining like a mirror, and tensely stretched. On the side of the opening, towards the head, there is a small oval hole, into which the point of a pin may easily pass ; and when the membrane is removed a large cavity is brought into view. The whole of this apparatus seems to contribute much both to produce and to increase the sound caused by the insects*/' We have examined the hole mentioned by De Geer in a number of individuals, and have been struck with its resemblance to the hole in a military drum, as well as in violins and guitars. We found, indeed, upon stopping up this hole with a bit of wafer, that the insect could no longer produce its peculiar sound, but only a sort of muffled scraping f. Swam- merdam was acquainted with this instrument, though he does not mention the hole. " The grasshopper," he says, " has two peculiar small drums, like the drum of our ear, which being struck by the help of two lunulated cartilages, vibrate the air in such a manner as to produce the sound J." The crickets (Achetidce, LEACH), another family of this order of insects, are well known for their chirping-song, which, associated as it is either with the snug chimney-corner or the sunshine of summer, affords a pleasure which certainly does not arise from the intrinsic quality of its music. " Sounds," it is well observed by White, " do not always give us pleasure according to their sweetness and melody ; nor do harsh sounds always displease. Thus the shrilling of the field-cricket (Acheta campestris, FABR.), though sharp and stridulous, yet marvellously delights some hearers, filling their minds with a train * De Geer, Memoires, Hi. 471. f J. R. J Biblia Naturae, ii. 217, HEARING IN INSECTS. 81 of summer ideas of every thing that is rural, ver- durous, and joyous*." " Sounds inharmonious in themselves and harsh, Yet heard in scenes where peace for ever reigns, And only there, please highly for their sake." COWPER, Task, book i. This circumstance, no doubt, causes the Spaniards to keep them in cages, as we do singing-birds. White tells us, that, if supplied with moistened green leaves, they will sing as merrily and loud in a paper cage as in the fields ; but he did not succeed in planting a colony of them in the terrace of his garden, though he bored holes for them in the turf to save them the labour of digging. Swammerdam entertained a different notion of their music. " I remember,'* says he, " that I once saw a whole field full of these singing crickets, each of which had dug itself a hole in the earth two fingers deep, and then, sitting at the entrance thereof, they made a very disagreeable noise with the creak- ing and tremulous motion of their wings : when they heard any noise they immediately retired with fright into their little caverns f." The hearth-cricket (Acheta domestica), again, though we hear it occasionally in the hedge-banks in summer, prefers the warmth of an oven or a good fire, and thence, residing as it were always in the torrid zone, is ever alert and merry, a good Christmas fire being to it what the heats of the dog- days are to others. Though crickets are frequently heard by day, yet their natural time of motion is only in the night. As soon as it becomes dark, the chirping increases, and they come running forth, and are often to be seen in great numbers, from the size of a flea to that of their full stature. Like the field- * Nat. Hist, of Selborne, ii. 73. t Biblia Nature, i. 95. 82 INSECT MISCELLANIES. cricket, they are sometimes kept for their music ; and the learned Scaliger took so great a fancy to their song that he was accustomed to keep them in a box in his study. It is reported that in some parts of Africa they are kept and fed in a kind of iron oven, and sold to the natives, who like their chirp, and think it is a good soporific *. Milton chose for his contem- plative pleasures a spot where crickets resorted : — " Where glowing embers through the room Teach light to counterfeit a gloom, Far from all resort of mirth, Save the cricket on the hearth." — II Penseroso. We have been as unsuccessful in transplanting the hearth-cricket as White was with the field-crickets. In two different houses we have repeatedly intro- duced crickets, but could not prevail on them to stay. One of our trials, indeed, was made in summer, with insects brought from a garden wall, and it is pro- bable they thought the kitchen fireside too hot at that season t- The instrument upon which the male cricket plays (for the female is mute) consists, as in the preceding case, of strong nervures or rough strings in the wing- cases* by the friction of which against each other a sound is produced and communicated to the mem- branes stretched between them, in the same way that the vibrations caused by the friction of the finger upon the tambourine are diffused over its surface. We deem this explanation the more necessary, as it is erroneously stated in a popular work, ** That the organ is a membrane, which in contracting, by means of a muscle and tendon placed under the wings of the insect, folds down somewhat like a fan ;" and this being " always dry, yields by its motion a sharp piercing sound J." * Mouffet, Theatrum Insect. 136. t J. R. J Bingley, Anim..Biog. iv. 54 j 6th ed. HEARING IN INSECTS. 83 Insects of a very different order (Homoptera, LEACH), but which our translators have confounded with the grasshoppers, have been famous for their singing from the earliest antiquity. We allude to the insects which we have called tree-hoppers (Ci- cadce), so remarkable for the instrument with which they cut grooves in wood for depositing their eggs *. Under side of the cicada. P™m of the cicada. a a, The outer drums; 6, the muscular strings; c c, the inner drums. Their musical organ is no less interesting, as it has been described by Reaumur, whose account we shall follow. It is only the male tree-hopper which is musical, and for this purpose he is furnished with a pair of drums, one on each side, consisting of two large plates, oval or circular in some, and triangular in other species, fixed to the trunk between the belly and the hind legs. When this exterior membrane * See Insect Architecture, p, 150, 84 INSECT MISCELLANIES. is raised, a cavity is brought into view, part of whicn seems to open into the belly, and another part to be covered with a second membrane, much more delicate than the exterior one, tensely stretched, and iridescent, and in the middle there is a horny plate, placed horizontally along the bottom. All this, how ever, seems only a secondary portion of the instru- ment ; for the sound is in the first instance produced by a bundle of muscular strings, which are attached at one extremity to another membrane in the interior, obviously the true drum ; for when Reaumur pulled the strings and let them go again, the sound was produced even after the insect had been a long while dead. These muscles, indeed, are so attached to the under concave surface of the drum, that when they pull it downwards and let it jerk quickly back again, a vibration is produced; the sound issues through an opening contrived on purpose, like the opening in our own larynx, or the sound-hole in a violin*. As in the case of the field cricket, very different opinions appear to have been held of the music of the celebrated tettix (Terr^f) of the Grecian poets. " In the hotter months of summer," says Dr. Shaw, " especially from midday to the middle of the after- noon, the cicada, tettix, or grasshopper (as we falsely translate it), is perpetually stunning our ears with its most excessively shrill and ungrateful noise. It is in this respect the most troublesome and impertinent of insects, perching upon a twig, and squalling some- times two or three hours without ceasing, thereby too often disturbing the studies or short repose that is frequently indulged in these hot climates at those hours. The tettix of the Greeks must have had a quite different voice, more soft, surely, and melodious, otherwise the fine orators of Homer, who are com- * Reaumur, Mem. v. 178. HEARING IN INSECTS. 85 pared to it, can be compared to nothing- better than loud loquacious scolds *." Dr. Shaw appears to forget that a loud clear voice was one of the highest excellences of a warlike orator in addressing a body of troops in the open air, and that Virgil seems to be much of the same opinion with himself as to their musical powerst, which Sir J. E. Smith calls a most disagreeable dull chirping J. One would suppose from this, that instead of the tuneful cicada, celebrated by the Greek poets, our authors were referring to another family (Ful- goridte), who appear, however, to sing by night rather than by day, such as the great lantern-fly (Fulgora lanternaria, LINN.), which makes a noise somewhat between the grating of a razor-grinder and the clang of cymbals, so loud also that it is called scare-sleep, by the Dutch, in Guiana §. It is probably the same or a similar species which Ligon tells us makes a great noise in the night at Barba- does. They " lie," he says, " all day in holes and hollow trees, and as soon as the sun is down begin their tunes, which are neither singing nor crying, but the shrillest voices 1 ever heard : nothing can be so nearly resembled to it as the mouths of a pack of small beagles at a distance." This author, however, thought this sound by no means unpleasant. " So lively and chirping/' he continues, " the noise is, as nothing can be more delightful to the ears, if there were riot too much of it, for the music hath no inter- mission till morning, and then all is hushed ||." Pos- sibly he may allude to another insect (fettigonia septendecim), which is said to visit Philadelphia, in the month of May, every seventeen years, in num- bers almost incredible, and makes so loud a noise that ' * Travels in Barbary, p. 186. fGeorgics, iii. 328. JTour on the Continent, iii. 95. § Stedman, Surinam, ii. 37. j| History of Baibadoes, p. 65. I 86 INSECT MISCELLANIES. people are stated not to be able to hear each other speak *. In the latter case recourse might be had to a re- medy, recorded by Ledelius to have been effectual in the case of crickets. A woman, who disliked their music, and had in vain tried to banish or silence them, at length succeeded by accident Having one day invited several guests to her house to celebrate a wed- ding, she procured a band of music, with drums and trumpets, to entertain the company. This music was so much greater than the crickets had been used to or could imitate, that they instantly took to flight, and were never afterwards heard in the house t- That the real cicadae are very noisy, however, there can be no doubt, from the testimonies above quoted : besides, Smeathman, who has given so interesting a history of the white ants, says that a cicada may be heard to the distance of half a mile, and that the singing of one in a room will immediately silence a whole company J ; and the Swedish naturalist, Thun- berg, tells us that a Javanese species makes a noise as shrill and piercing as if it proceeded from a trum- pet §. Yet there cannot be a doubt that these loud songsters were the tettiges of the Greeks, and were placed upon a harp as the emblem of music, because, as Mouffet gives the legend, when two rival musicians (Eumonius and Ariston) were competing upon the harp, a tettix, flying to the former, and sitting upon his harp, supplied the place of a broken string, and so secured to him the victory |[. Madam Merian says that the music of another species (Tettigonia tibicen) is thought to resemble the sound of the harp so nearly, that the Dutch actually call it the harper. * Stoll, Cigales, p. 26. j- Goldsmith, Animated Nature, iv. 238. J Bingley, Anim. Biogr. iv. 64. § Travels, iv. 201, || Theat, Insect. HEARING IN INSECTS. 87 Amidst all this variety of conflicting opinions, we need the less wonder that the Grecian poets should praise the music of the cicada, and imagine it to feed on dew, and live in perpetual youth, — fictions, how- ever, altogether poetical and visionary ; for, like the rest of thrs order, it feeds on herbage and leaves, and so far from being long-lived, it does not, we believe, survive its arrival at maturity more than a week or two. The preceding are the most celebrated of our in- sect musicians, but there are numerous others, which, though less celebrated, are not unworthy of notice, and frequently attract the notice of the most incurious : for example, they are very short, and in some of the beetles cannot be bent to the plane upon which they walk. The great importance of the organ, however, to beetles and some water insects is proved by the care taken to protect it, and the mariner in which it is employed. In the water-scorpion (Be- lostoma) there is a cavity in the head, containing a very deep kidney-shaped box between the eye and the throat, to receive and defend its singular antenna?, which, when they are reposing, is closed by the ex- terior harder joints, and from which it seems as if they turned out like a sentinel out of his box. In some water-beetles (Gyrinns, Parniis, fyc.) they are withdrawn within a lateral cavity of the same part, and are defended from the water externally by the auricle at their base. When a beetle rouses itself from repose, the first thing it uniformly does is to expand its antennae, which are usually kept in active motion till it stops again, for the purpose as it seems to us, not of feeling its way, because they seldom touch anything, but of listening to the approach of enemies or of prey. * J,R. 116 INSECT MISCELLANIES, Amongst the authors who have advocated the opinion of antennae being the organ of hearing, BonsdorfF appears to have been amongst the first *; and his statements were followed up and extended by M. Christ f and Goze, the latter holding it a good argument that insects erect their antenna as other animals do their ears J, but which Lehmann, full of his own notion of aeroscepsy, treats as a mere con- jecture, devised because they could find no other parts like the ears of other animals §. Comparetti, an Italian naturalist, however, persuaded himself that he could demonstrate an organ of hearing in insects, consisting of certain little sacs (Sacculi), filled with fluid, in hollows under the bulbs of the eyes, and pellucid ducts convoluted and intermingled with white filaments of nerves, distinct from the vessels of the wind-pipes (tracheee). Of these he has given minute descriptions as they appear in the field-cricket, the locust, the cicada, the white butterfly, the dragon- fly, the hornet, the common fly (Musca domestica), the ant, the bee, and in spiders |(. Whether this be, in fact, part of the internal appa- ratus for hearing in insects, we cannot tell ; but, at all events, from being situated near the base of the antennae, it does not contradict the position we have maintained. The same is also confirmed in a re- markable manner by the known situation of the ears in crabs and lobsters, which agree with insects in possessing antennae. At the base of the antenna?, accordingly, in crustaceous animals, are two moveable organs in the form of protuberant papillae, but thicker and harder than the shell that covers the body. The centre of these is perforated with a round hole, over which, in the living animal, an * De Usu Antennarum. f Der Hymenopterorum, p. 53. £ Natur. Menschenl. und Voreseh. v. 389. § De Sensibus Externis, p. 26. || De Aure interna comparata, pp. 287 — 304. ORGAN OF HEARING. 117 elastic membrane like the drum in the human ear is tensely stretched*. Fabriciust and Cavalini J, in- deed, term this the drum (tympanum) : Scarpa calls it the window of the vestibule. But be this as it may, the nerves of hearing are expanded upon the interior, and are intimately connected with the antenna?. Ear, &c. of the crab, a a, the ears, from the base of which the antennae, b b, arise ; c, the palpii. According to this view of the matter, the antennas of crabs and lobsters, and by analogy in insects, may perform something of the same office as Laennec's instrument called the Stethoscope, which medical men use for assisting the ear to ascertain the sounds produced within the chest by breathing, speaking, the beating of the heart, and other organic move- ments. The stethoscope magnifies these sounds, and gives facility and precision of listening. * Scarpa.de A\iditu, pp.' 2, 3. t Nye Skrifter, ii. 376, J Lehmann de Sensibus Externis, p. 26. 118 CHAPTER V. • VISION IN INSECTS, THERE is no animal naturally blind, says Bidloo*. But the universality of the position is rendered doubt- ful by the structure, if not by the actions, of some insects observed by distinguished naturalists, whose testimony is unimpeachable. Latreille, for example, describes two species of ants, whose workers are, to all appearance, blind, though their males and females have eyes sufficiently obvious. One from South Ame- rica (Formica cceca)y in Olivier's collection, he had never seen alive ; the other (Ponera contracta, LATR.) he found under stones near Paris, though not com- mon. " I have never," he says, " been able to detect the eyes, even with the aid of a lens half a line in focus. I have seen a great number of individuals, both living and dead, and I have only once or twice imagined I could just see a very small depressed point in the place of the eyef." Again, he says, "if the eyes exist at all, they can be of little more use to these ants than those with which nature has furnished the mole ; for, like it, they are destined to pass their days in obscure retreats, inaccessible to light, and are never seen running about like the others, in open day, and if they do venture abroad from their dark galle- ries, it is only during the night J." We have ourselves verified all these observations upon this species, at Havre de Grace, where it is more common than at Paris. We found that their dislike * De Oculis et Visu. f Hist, Nat, des Fouwiis, 1?6. J Ibid. VISION IN INSECTS. , 119 to light was so great, that when we shut up a few of them, with their pupae, under a glass, with only a sprinkling of earth, they contrived to pile up enough to cover themselves completely in ; and even when we made the floor of their prison of a plate of glass, so that the light could be admitted below, they still con- trived to manage their scanty materials so as to pave this glass floor, sprinkling it with minute grains. Two females, with a few workers that chanced to escape, were afterwards discovered on the floor, within a bramble leaf, -which had coiled up in withering, and, in deficiency of other material to stop up the open- ings, they had gnawed portions of the leaf itself, and masoned them into little walls to exclude the light, But, so far from inferring from this that they are blind, we should be disposed to conclude that they have eyes extremely sensible to light , though, from their mi- nuteness, they elude our search. It is to be recol- lected, indeed, that the insect is one of the smallest, being rather less than a sixth of an inch in length ; but the circumstance is more remarkable from most ants having very large and prominent eyes*. A more extraordinary opinion has been maintained respecting the blindness of spiders, inasmuch as their eyes are, in most species, so very conspicuous, and more brilliant than in any animal we at present re- collect. Speaking of one of the hunting spiders (Salticus scenicus ?), Swammerdam says, " These seize their prey by a sudden leap, and therefore na- ture has provided them, as well as other spiders, with eight eyes, and a most acute sight. It is more difficult to judge of this sight in spiders that make webs, for, so far from taking any notice of a finger put close to their eyes, they neither express any con- cern at it, nor attempt to run away ; whereas, let the most minute animal fall into their nets, they imme- 120 INgfiCt MISCELLANIES. diately perceive and lay hold of it. This apparent insensibility on the one hand, and readiness of per- ception on the other, has made some philosophers think the web-spiders had no eyes, but received in- formation concerning their prey only by the tremulous motion of their web. When these gentlemen further consider, that what look like eyes in spiders never ap- pear, when viewed with the microscope, of a reticular form, as is the case in the scorpion, they more roundly deny that they have any eyes. But it by no means follows, from the web-spider's never leaping upon its prey, or from its never running to it, unless when taken in its net, that it has no eyes ; and this con- clusion must appear yet weaker, on considering that eyes are as distinctly perceivable in this kind as in the j umping-spider (Satticus scenicus?), and withal are disposed in the same manner. As to the argument drawn from the parts which look like eyes in web- spiders not being formed in the netted manner as in other insects, it is equally unsatisfactory; for what dif- ference is there between its eyes being placed singly in different parts of the surface of the body, as in the jumping-spider, and their being gathered into one net, as in other insects ? Besides, the eyes of spiders thus scattered are much larger than those which form the netted eyes in other insects ; so that, every thing duly considered, there is reason to affirm that spiders have a more perfect sight than the generality of other insects, except the dragon-fly (Libellula), which ap- pears to have very large and very numerous complex eyes. Thus has nature displayed her wonders, even in those little animals, which at first sight appear to many beneath their notice*." The best ascertained instance of the want of eyes in insects occurs in the white-ants (Termites), all the 'members of whose communities, except the males and * Biblia Naturae, i,23. VISION IN INSECTS. 121 females, are considered blind. Even the males of one species ( Termes fatalis) are said by Dr. Konig *, who observed them at Tranquebar, to have only an obscure spot near the antenna? ; and he could not perceive the gold-coloured point in the forehead, described by Fa- bricius f- The seinsects, it mus thowever be remark- ed, like Latreille's blind French ants, are impatient of light, and always, even in foraging1, walk under cover. If we turn to insects which are admitted by all to possess vision, we shall find that authors are by no means agreed respecting its nature and extent, as is most strikingly the case in the instance of bees. "How great," exclaims the elder Huber, "is their perfection of sight, as if to compensate the defects of their hearing J. The bee, from this cause, recognises its habitation amidst an apiary of numerous others resembling it, and returns in a straight line with great velocity : we must suppose that it is distinguished by marks escaping our notice. The bee departs, and flies straight to the most flowery field ; and having ascertained its course, it is seen traversing it as directly as the flight of a cannon or musket ball. When it has made its collection, it rises aloft in the air to reconnoitre its hive, and returns with the ra- pidity of lightning §." Wildman, on the other hand, tells us that he has observed them go up and down, seeking the door of the hive, and be obliged after alighting to rise again in order to find it. He conceived that they see better when flying than when alighted || ; not, however, as Dr. Bevan remarks, because their vision is improved by the act of flying, but from objects being placed at a greater distance, and better adapted to the focus of * Beschaftigungen der Berlin, iv. 1. f Bestimmung des Geschlechts, i. 179. J See page 73. § Huber on Bees, p. 221. || Wildman on Bees. M 122 INSECT MISCELLANIES. their eyes*. The observations of Dr. Evans corro- borate those of Wildman. " We frequently observe bees,'* he says, " flying straight homeward through the trackless air, as if in full view of the hive ; then running their heads against it, and seeming to feel their way to the door, with their antennae, as if totally blind f." The experiments of Sir C. S. Mackenzie support the same doctrine, for he remarked the im- perfect vision of bees» and how much they are some- times puzzled to find their way, if the hives were re- moved two or three yards from the place where they usually stood ; and he found that, for the first day or so, they did not venture to fly to a distance, till they had visited and recognised neighbouring objects J. The author of " The Pleasures of Memory," upon the authority of Prevost, adopts the notion of bees being near-sighted : " Hark \ the bee winds her small but mellow horn, Blithe to salute the sunny smile of morn. O'er thymy downs she bends her busy course, And many a stream allures her to its source. 'Tis noon, 'tis night. That eye, so finely wrought Beyond the search of sense, the soar of thought, Now vainly asks the scenes she left behind ; Its orb so full, its vision so confined ! Who guides the patient pilgrim to her cell ? Who bids her soul with conscious triumph swell ? With conscious truth retrace the mazy clue Of varied scents that charm'd her as she flew ? Hail ! Memory, hail ! thy universal reign Guards the least link of being's glorious chain." But unfortunately for this poetical fancy, it does not accord with the facts; for independently of * The Honey-Bee, p. 311. t The Bees, a Poem. J Bevan on the Honey-Bee, p, 314, VISION IN INSECTS. 123 the practice of bees flying, as Huber has stated, straight to and from the hive, we have in numerous instances seen a bee search the same blossom two or three times in the course of a few minutes, in utter forgetfulness of having already plundered it of its honey *. If Reaumur, however, be correct in his opinion, as we are inclined to think he is, these apparent dis- crepancies may be easily reconciled ; for he attempts to show, that bees and most other insects are en- dowed with two sorts of eyes, one for distant, and another for near vision; instead of having the power as we have of adapting the eye to various distances, the nature of which adaptation is not well under- stood f. In order to understand this more precisely, it will be necessary to enter into a few details as to the number and structure of the eyes of insects. It may at first appear riot a little puzzling to con- ceive how a spider with eight eyes, a centipede with twenty, and a butterfly with thirty-five thousand facets in its two eyes, can perceive only one object ; yet the difficulty is not of a very different kind from that of our own two eyes representing only a single object and not two, — a subject which has exercised the ingenuity of many a philosopher. Vandermonde J, for example, supposed that children at first see double, and correct the error by experience ; an opinion adopted by Blumenbach : Dr. Reid referred it to an original and inexplicable law of human na- ture §, confessing thereby his inability to explain it ; and some of the old philosophers satisfied themselves that it was because the nerve from each eye meets * J. R. t Des Cartes, Mariotte, Juriue, Dr. T. Young, Mr.C. Bell, Mr. Travers, &c. have given various opinions on this subject. I Apud Haller, Physiol. § Inquiry into the Human Mincb 124 INSECT MISCELLANIES. before reaching the brain. The latter would have perhaps been satisfactory, had it not been refuted by the simple experiment of pushing one of the eyes a little aside, when objects will be seen double, though this cannot alter the meeting of the nerves. Dr. Wells explains it by the coincidence of what he calls the visible direction *. Whatever opinion be adopted, it is evident that most creatures can see an object by using one eye only, sometimes better than when both are employed. The celebrated painter, Leonardo da Vinci, upon this principle recommended his pupils always to look at distant objects with one eye onlyt, and we have frequently observed in birds, particularly those which feed on insects (Sylviadce, Merulidce, #c.), that on looking out for prey, they most commonly turn their head on one side, so as to bring only one eye to bear on the object. A thrush always does so when he ex- amines a snail- shell that he means to attack, and a red-breast before he pounces upon a worm. It is no doubt for this very reason that the wryneck (Yunx torquilla) is enabled to move its head in the man- ner from which it derives its popular name ; and many insects, such as the dragon-flies (Libellulina), can turn their heads nearly round about ; though, from the great volume of their eyes, this might al- most be considered superfluous. Most spiders have eight, though some only six eyes, and these are so variously arranged, that their positions have been employed by systematic writers for distinguishing the genera and species; and as it may not only be useful for this purpose, but illustra- tive of the subject immediately before us, we shall here give figures of the position of the eyes of a number of spiders. * Phil. Trans, for 1792 and 1811. f Mem. d'Acad,, Berlin, 1768, p. 80. VISION IN INSECTS. 125 a, Eyes of Mygale aviculana» O O °° o o 0 o°00°o o o o o &, Eyes of Mygale ccementaria— and c, Lycosavorax. O O Oo O ° d, Eyes of Dolomedes marginalus—and 0 0< oooo 0°°0 o o 7i, Eyes of Ciubiona accentuata—and I, Pysdera erytkiina. if 3 126 INSECT MISCELLANIES. Co oOO0 , m O oo C) oooo n m, Eyes of Segestria perjida—antii n, Tegenaria domestica. an excellent account of whose researches has been given by Mr. Parsons, of which we shall avail ourselves. " The compound eye of the com- mon or grey dragon fly" (Libdlula Vulgata), says Mr. Parsons 'Swhen examined externally, may be divided into two parts ; one superior and posterior, of an obscure red colour, and provided with facets * Encycl. Metropol., Art. LIGHT. f Act, Cur, Bonn ; and Meikel's Archiv. 1829. N 134 INSECT MISCELLANIES. at least twice as broad as those of the other part, which is anterior and below, and of a greyish tint. When a section of the eye is made, we see behind the cornea (a) a layer of black pigment (c) ; then a broad zone (e), orange-coloured posteriorly, and black in front ; and a second zone (g), situated within the first, and appearing to be nearly wholly of a somewhat deep black hue. This latter imme- diately surrounds the white swelling or ganglion of the optic nerve (./). Each of these parts shall now be described more in detail. " The cornea (a) is thickest at the posterior part of the eye ; the facets there being about four times as thick as they are broad ; in that part also it may be readily seen that each facet is separated from the adjoining ones by an opaque line, a kind of suture, which gives to the whole of this transparent layer a bluish tinge, and thus softens, when the eye is exa- mined externally, the intense colour of the pigment beneath. "The black pigment (c) forms a layer of a very dark colour ; but its thickness is not so great as that of the cornea. Muller very justly regards it as iden- tical with the pigment situated more deeply in the eye. At a first and cursory examination it might very readily be supposed that this layer is perfectly continuous beneath the cornea, so as to intercept completely the passage of light to the parts within it ; but a careful removal of the internal structures of the eye, leaving this pigment untouched, will show that, although very thick at the sutures of the facets, where it is continuous with the pigment of the more internal textures, it becomes, towards the cen- tre of each facet, exceedingly thin, and at the very centre no pigment can be seen ; a minute perfora- tion, as it were, in the layer being there observed. If a cornea, with its layer of pigment still attached VISION IN INSECTS. 135 to it, be put in water, and its internal surface be then examined at different angles, and with a powerful magnifier, a position will be soon found in which the light will be seen to traverse, without obstruction, the centre of each facet. This position, of course, varies very much, because the internal prolongations or septa, which the pigment forms in its course to- wards the centre of the eye, are necessarily cut and torn in exposing the internal surface of the cornea ; and consequently they float and waver about in all directions, If the cornea is examined out of water, these septa lie flat upon its internal surface, and, masking in this manner the perforations, exhibit the appearance of one continuous layer. 44 The presence of this layer does not therefore inter- cept the passage of light, but merely diminishes its quantity. It is found in many, if not all, the diurnal insects, and is perforated with as many holes as there are facets on the cornea ; but, as might indeed be expected, it is not met with in any of the nocturnal insects. 44 The zone (e) which is observed in the section of the eye, within the layer just described, is seen, when examined with a powerful magnifier, to be very evidently composed of straight and transparent cylinders, smaller at the lower and anterior part of the eye, where the facets have the least dimensions, than at the upper and posterior part. They are equal in number to the facets of the cornea. The orange and black tints already mentioned are owing to the coloured pigment which extends between these crys- talline cylinders, surrounding and insulating them throughout their whole length. Besides the general difference in size just mentioned, the cylinders are found to be much longer at the back than in the front of the eye ; all are perpendicular to the surface of the cornea, and they converge regularly towards 136 INSECT MISCELLANIES. the centre of the eye. When examined individually, they are seen to be exactly rectilinear and parallel to each other, except, of course, the slight divergence consequent upon their radiated arrangement. They are cylindrical in the greater part of their length, and from ten to twenty times longer than they are broad. This great length of these diaphanous bodies is one of the peculiarities of the eyes of the Libellula?: it is much less in most other insects, in which also they are conical. Their perfect transparency has caused them to be mistaken for bundles of tracha? mixed with nervous filaments; but the absence of all lines, whether spiral or otherwise, in their structure, ought to have prevented this error. They refract light in the same manner as it is done by glass cylin- ders. When torn and emptied, they appear as membranous sheaths, which, in the perfect state, contain a viscid humour, requiring some pressure for its expulsion. The contained humour is coagulated by alcohol ; is of greater density than water, in which it sinks ; and the perfect cylinders themselves very evidently refract light when they are immersed in water. The extremity of each cylinder, towards the cornea, terminates in an obtuse point (/*), which is inserted in the perforations of the superficial pigment already noticed. At their opposite extremity, these bodies become suddenly very slender, and are then continuous with the nervous filaments which consti- tute part of the deeper zone already mentioned. " This zone (§-), of a deeper black colour than the preceding, and of greater thickness at the front than at the back part of the eye, contains the nervous fila- ments, which, arising from the bulb or ganglion of the optic nerve, terminate in the transparent cylin- ders already described. .Like these latter, the fila- ments converge from the circumference towards the centre, being linear, straight, and as nearly parallel VISION IN INSECTS. 137 as their radiated disposition will permit ; but they are much smaller in diameter than the cylinders, and, notwithstanding their sleriderness, appear, under the microscope, somewhat opaque and of a fibrous texture. Surrounded by a dark choroid secretion (i), these filaments, on account of their great tenuity, cause the pigment to appear much thicker and darker, when regarded en masse, than that portion of it represented as passing between the cylinders. These latter are almost in immediate contact with each other: the nervous filaments, on the contrary, are separated by spaces much exceeding in size their own diameter. " In the centre of the eye is the optic ganglion (j), which, however pulpy and homogeneous it may ap- pear at first sight, exhibits nevertheless a fibrous and radiated structure when submitted to moderate com- pression. Indeed, it may in some degree be regarded as the optic nerve passing into the filamentary ar- rangement observed a little farther from the centre. " Such are the anatomical details exhibited in the eye of the grey Libellula and of other insects, with some modifications to be hereafter noticed. In exa- mining each of these parts, we may, to a certain extent, refer them hypothetically to the structures forming the simple eye of the vertebrated animals. In fact, we find in these compound eyes a nervous filament attached to the extremity of a transparent body representing the vitreous humour and crystal- line lens ; a transparent cornea covering externally this apparatus ; and a choroid membrane, represented here by a coloured pigment, which surrounds, as in the vertebrated animals, these minute organs of refraction and sensation. We may still further remark that the pigment, continuous in all parts, although varying in thickness, forms between the cornea and the transparent or crystalline cylinder, an N3 138 INSECT MISCELLANIES. iris (Z)j or at least a uvea, which allows the light to pass only through the centre of the apparatus. There is also a perforation, a true pupil, which appears black, as in man, when examined with a powerful magnifier. The whole of these pupils, whose axes correspond to that of the eye of the observer, form the black and mobile spot which has often been a source of embarrassment to those examining these parts. " In the Lucanus Cervus, the cornea (a) is of ex- traordinary thickness, and its facets are accordingly so much elongated as to appear like prisms. The cones have their bases nearly in contact with the cornea, and at that part are apparently without pig- ment; towards their apices, where they are attached to the nervous filaments, they are surrounded with pigment of a violet colour. The nervous filaments, also, in the greater part of their course from the optic nerve, are without any investiture of coloured matter." Numerous details of a similar minute kind are given of the eyes of many other insects, but what we have now quoted will show the nature of these researches. We cannot, however, omit one other extract, exhi- biting M. Miiller's idea of the principles of insect vision. " The following figure," we again use the words of Mr. Parsons, " represents the section of a compound eye, in order to show the course of VISION IN INSECTS. 139 the light. If rays of different colours, given out from the points «, 6, c, d, fall upon the eye, the cone h will , be illuminated throughout its whole length by the ray d', which traverses this cone in the direction of its long axis. The other cones situated in the vicinity of the line m d will not be illumi- nated as far as their internal extremity by the rays from d, which penetrate less and less deeply into the neighbouring cones, in proportion as they become more remote from the line m d. The nervous fila- ment ra, corresponding to the cone h, is conse- quently impressed with the ray d' ; other rays from d, being absorbed by the pigment investing the neighbouring cones, will of course produce no effect on any nervous filament placed out of the line m d. The coloured ray df is therefore perceived only by means of the filament my on which latter alone it impinges. So also the ray c', given out at the point 140 INSECT MISCELLANIES. c, will pass through the whole length of the cone g, and will affect only the corresponding nervous fila- ment I ; the ray bf traverses only the cone f, and is perceived only by means of the filament k ; and the ray a', emitted at the point a, is perceived only by means of the filament z, after having passed through the cone e. "The variously coloured rays given out from the points «, b, c, d, will thus produce in the interior of the eye a determinate figure, corresponding to the luminous object without; and the same remarks will necessarily apply to any number of points situ- ated between a, 6, c, d. "Each nervous filament conveys to the bulb of the optic nerve the impression of the ray which it has individually received ; and, as all the nervous fila- ments, at first insulated by the pigment, are at length united together into one common and con- tinuous bulb or nervous expansion, the impression received by each filament is united to those of all the others in the bulb of the optic nerve, and so a com- mon and continuous image is produced. Rays coming from one point of a remote object will, it is true, illuminate throughout more than a single cone ; and then, to each luminous point without, there will correspond in the interior of the eye, not exactly a single illuminated point, but rather a little circle of diffused or dispersed light ; and, in consequence, an image of but little distinctness will be reproduced on the sentient surface or retina ; the distinctness of the image of course increasing in proportion as the object approaches the eye. "The image in the interior of the eye will be more distinct, precisely as the cones, in a given portion of the eye, are more numerous ; the distinctness will also increase in proportion to the length of the cones ; for the longer the cones are, the more com- pletely will all rays entering them obliquely be pre- VISION IN INSECTS. 141 vented from reaching their internal extremity or apex. The dipterous and neuropterous insects, whose eyes contain thousands of facets and corre- sponding cones, are distinguished in general by their more powerful sight from other insects ; and this is owing to the number of facets, &c., and not to the size of the eyes; for the size of the eyes merely in- fluences the extent of their visual horizon. " From this statement, it may be inferred that the vision of the compound eyes must be very imperfect and indistinct ; but at the same time, no doubt, it is amply sufficient for the wants of insects, &c. The quantity of light which enters into the interior of the eye is also very small; but the optic nerve is proba- bly so constituted as to perceive the faintest dif- ferences in the intensity of light and colours. Of the whole light emitted or reflected by exterior objects, we ourselves receive into the eye only that portion which the pupil is capable of admitting ; and yet, when the pupil is at its minimum of dilata- tion, as at the time of our looking at very near or brightly illumined objects, or when we are in con- siderable darkness with the pupil dilated perhaps to its maximum", the smallest quantity of light will be sufficient to enable us to distinguish the general forms of bodies. A light of moderate intensity, with a mean degree of dilatation of the pupil, seems best suited to the degree of perceptibility of our sense of vision; for, when the pupil is widely dilated, as by means of belladonna, objects at other times moderately bright then become dazzling. As soon as the general sensation of light exists, the local di- versities of clear, dark, and coloured parts in bodies will likewise be perceived, provided only those con- ditions are present which are required for the proper insulation of the different kinds of rays*." * Loudon's Mag. of Nat, Hist., vol. iv, p. 124, &c. J42 SECTION II. FOOD OF INSECTS, IT appears to have been first observed by Aristotle, that insects may be divided into such as are fur- nished with jaws for eating, and such as are provided with a tongue for lapping or sucking *, — a division which in modern times was placed in a more pro- minent light by Clairvillet, and has been adopted by Stephens "J and other eminent living naturalists. In one point of view these two divisions are of consi- derable value, as they afford an obvious and broad basis upon which to build the minor divisions of a system ; but like many other distinctions in natural history, it requires no little refinement of erudition to render the principle in all cases practically applicable. An intelligent reader, for example, who has not paid much attention to the study of insects, upon being told that all insects either masticate solids or suck fluids, may wish to verify the distinction upon the first he meets with : and if he chance to light upon a beetle or a gnat, he will find that the former has jaws and the latter a sucker ; but if a bee should come in his way, he would be somewhat embarrassed, for, upon perceiving its large jaws, he would be disposed to arrange it among eating insects, did he not advert to the well-known fact of its lapping honey with its tongue — an organ no less conspicuous than its jaws. * Hist.AnimaI.viii.il. t Entomologie Helvetique, Zuric, 1798. J Systemat, Catal, &c. FOOD OP INSECTS. 143 Aristotle was shrewd enough to perceive this diffi- culty, when he says of such insects (JJymenoptera) that they have teeth, not for feeding but for fulfilling other instincts*, such as building cells of wax, and similar materials. In the systems, however, founded on Clairville's arrangement, bees and other insects of the same order are classed among eating insects. As it would not suit the design of our little work to throw in the way of the reader any difficulties of this kind which we can avoid, we shall follow a hint thrown out by Kirby and Spence t, and consider them under the three-fold division of eaters, lappers, and suckers, though plausible objections, we are well aware, may be made to this, as well as to most other arrangements. * De Partib. Animal., iv, 5. f Intr. iii. 418, 144 CHAPTER VI. EATING INSECTS. THE larger animals differ so much from one another in their feeding organs, that Linnaeus selected the teeth as best adapted to distinguish his orders of quadrupeds, — a circumstance which appears to have led his celebrated Danish pupil, Fabricius, to fix upon the analogous organs in insects for the same purpose. But, confining our views only to insects which eat, we shall find that the structure and form of the organs in question are much more diversified than in the larger animals. From the latter, the jaws differ in not being placed vertically but horizontally. There are two pairs of jaws, one above the other, with an upper and under horizontal lip. The upper pair of jaws, or mandibles (mandibulcB), one on the right and another on the left, usually resemble a large tooth, more or less curved, and jointed into the sides of the head immediately below the upper lip (labruni). Their substance is hard, horny, and of considerable strength, and is usually more or less indented with projections resembling teeth, but which make a por- tion of the jaw itself, not being inserted, in sockets like the teeth of other animals. The under pair of jaws (maxilla) are inserted in the right and left of the inner cavity of the mouth ; but their structure differs from the upper jaws, being jointed and furnished with appendages, perhaps for feeling (palpi). They are protected below by the under lip, and the projection iipon which the latter is attached, called the chin (mentum) *. * V, Audouin, Resume d'Entomol, ii, 52, EATING INSECTS. 145 The jaws, it has been well remarked, " are ad- mirably adapted for their intended services : some sharp and armed with spines and branches for tearing flesh ; others hooked for seizing, and at the same time hollow for suction ; some calculated like shears for gnawing leaves ; others more resembling grind- stones, of a strength and solidity sufficient to reduce the hardest wood ; and this singularity attends the major part of these insects, that they possess in fact two pairs of jaws, an upper and an under pair, both placed horizontally, not vertically, — the former ap- parently in most cases for the seizure and mastica- tion of their prey ; the latter, when hooked, for re- taining and tearing, while the upper comminute it previously to its being swallowed*." Among quadrupeds we can readily tell what food an individual naturally feeds on by inspecting the teeth. But amongst insects this principle is by no means so obviously applicable ; for several of those which are furnished with the most formidable jaws, such as the stag-beetle (Lucanus Cervus), feed upon vegetable substances almost exclusively. We say almost, for it is not a little remarkable that a very great number of insects, whose natural food seems to be vegetable, will occasionally prey upon animals in the same way as soft-billed birds (Syl- viadfB, 4*c.) wiH feed either on berries or insects as they can procure them, and as the common garden snail (Helix aspersa, MULLER), though it usually devours leaves, will sometimes make a meal of an earth-worm, as we have observed more than once f. In the case of insects, we may illustrate our re- mark by referring to the earwig (forficula auricu- laria, LINN.), well known in every garden. There * Kirby and Spence, Intr., i. 394. t J. R. See also Sowerby on Helix nemoralis, in Zool. Journ. i. 285. O 146 INSECT MISCELLANIES. is nothing more certain, Goldsmith tells us, than that it lives among flowers and destroys them, and when fruit has been wounded by flies, the earwig generally comes in for a second feast, and sucks those juices which they first began to broach ; yet the insect, he adds, is not so noxious as it would seem, since it is seldom found but where the mis- chief has been originally begun by others*. Bing- ley copies all this without any suspicion of its inaccuracy, and subjoins, that " in the night they may occasionally be seen in amazing numbers upon lettuces and other esculent vegetables, committing those depredations which are often ascribed to snails or slugs f." On the contrary, it agrees with our observation that the depredations frequently imputed to earwigs are more usually committed by slugs, particularly in the case of flowers. We had a con- siderable collection of the finest varieties of heart' s- ease (Viola tricolor), which, just as they came into bloom, were rendered unsightly by holes and notches gnawed into the petals during the night, and we did not hesitate to accuse the earwigs of the damage, till we began to reflect that it was too early in the summer for them to appear in sufficient numbers, the broods not being yet hatched. Obser- vation being always preferable to the most plausible conjecture, we soon satisfied ourselves of the fact by examining our flowers after dark by candle-light, when we did not find a single earwig, but a great number of minute slugs, little larger than a pin's- head, and recently hatched, no doubt, from eggs de- posited the preceding autumn. The leaves of the plants were probably too tough and coarse for their infant organs, since they uniformly attacked the * Animated Nature, iv. 241. f Anim, Biogt iv. 43 j 6th edit. EATING INSECTS. Uf blossoms, and, when these were unexpanded, gnawed their way into the bud*. There can be no doubt, however, that when the summer is more advanced, and the young broods of earwigs have left their mothers f, they commit simi- lar depredations upon flowers to those of the young slugs in the spring. " The English women," says Mouffet, " hate them exceedingly, because of the flowers of clove gilliflowers that they eat and spoyl, and they lay snares for them thus : they set in the utmost void places ox-hoofs, hogs-hoofs, or old cast things that are hollow, upon a staff fastened into the ground, and these are easily stuffed with cloathes or straw ; and when by night the earwigs creep into these to avoid the rain or hide themselves, in the morning these old cast things being suddenly taken away and shook forth, a great multitude of them fall, and are killed with treading upon them J." The bowls of tobacco-pipes, or the claws of lobsters stuck upon the top of the sticks supporting flowers, are the usual methods for entrapping earwigs in the vicinity of London ; arid we recollect bein«' not a little puzzled to conjecture what was the meaning of sticking up some dozens of lobsters' claws over a flower-border ; for, upon the notion that, like the broken tea-cups ranged on the mantel-piece of Gold* smith's village ale-house, they were meant f( For ornament, and not for use," we deemed the taste of the suburban Londoners not a little singular. But though vegetable substances seem to be the staple food of earwigs, they not only upon occa- sion show carnivorous, but even cannibal, propensi- ties, for we have more than once given a dead ear- * J. R. f See Insect Transformations, p. 102. J Theatre of Insects, by Maserne, p. 1023. 148 INSECT MISCELLANIES. wig to one confined in a box, and found that it devoured it * ; and a brood of young ones, reared by Baron de Geer, ate the dead body of their own mother, as well as the bodies of several of their brethren which chanced to die f. It has, therefore, been inferred with considerable plausibility that ear- wigs in some degree make up for their ravages by diminishing the number of other insects, though the night habits of the earwig renders it not a little difficult to ascertain this. A similar propensity to carnivorous habits exists among locusts and crickets, whose staple food is derived from vegetable substances. The house- cricket (Acheta domestica, FABR.) seems in this way to be a vegetable-feeder, for it thrives best in the vicinity of a baker's oven, where there are plenty of bread crumbs. Mouffet marvels at its extreme lankness, inasmuch as there is not " found in the belly any superfluity at all, although it feed on the moisture of flesh and fat of broth, to which, either poured out or reserved, it runs to in the night ; yea, although it feed on bread, yet is the belly always lank and void of superfluity J." White of Selborne, again, says, " as one would suppose, from the burn- ing atmosphere which they inhabit, they are a thirsty race, and show a great propensity for liquids, being frequently found dead in pans of water, milk, broth, or the like. Whatever is moist they are fond of, and, therefore, they often gnaw holes in wet woollen stockings and aprons that are hung .to the fire. These crickets are not only very thirsty but very voracious ; for they will eat the scummings of pots, yeast, bread, and kitchen offal, or sweepings of almost every description §." Latreille, on the other * J. R. t De Geer, Mem. iii. 548. J Theatre of Insects, p. 996. § Nat. Hist, of Selborne. EATING INSECTS. 143 hand, says it only eats insects, — a palpable mistake, since it would often be impossible for them to find any in the places which they frequent, except in some instances where they may be established in the same hearth with a colony of the cock-roach (Elatta Oriejitalis, LINN.), when it is probable the two species prey reciprocally on each other. A foreign insect, which Kirby supposes to be a cricket (Achetd), is described by Captain Green to have exceeded our common cricket in voracity. At Cuddapa, in the ceded districts to the northward of Mysore, these are said to abound in the night, being very injurious to papers, books, and leather, which they both discolour and devour. Such also is their boldness and avidity, that they attack the exposed parts of the human body during sleep, nibbling the ends of the fingers, particularly the skin under the nails, which is only discoverable by a slight soreness that succeeds *. Although we have paid considerable attention to the habits of this order, both in the fields and when individuals were kept in a state of confinement, and have watched their movements for hours together, we never saw them, when at liberty, attack other insects, much less any of their own kindred. But having one day put several blue under-winged grasshoppers (Locusta ccerulescens, &c.) alive into a collecting phial, for the purpose of feeding some insectivorous birds (Sylvia hortensis, &c.), we were not a little surprised to see them fall immediately upon one another, with the most cannibal voracity. In another instance we placed a male and female of the large green locust (Acrida viridissima) in the same phial, when the female forthwith munched a large piece out of the other's back, and upon rescuing him from her fangs, and giving him the advantage of * Intr. i. 242. o3 150 INSECT MISCELLANIES. position, he immediately made reprisals by eating a hole into her side. Yet we had for several weeks a great number of this species, both male and female, hopping about our study, without one attempting to prey on another. They manifested, however, not a little mutual fear on a near approach, and in such cases the male always uttered two or three notes of alarm, and started away *. An eminent entomologist of the present day having caught one of these insects, and holding it by one of its hind-legs, it made a sudden spring, and jerked off its leg: the limb was put with the insect in a phial, and by the following morning this portion of itself was half-devoured. Those who have been erroneously taught at school to translate the Latin cicada and the Greek Terrtf, by " grasshopper," will perceive from these details that it is a very mistaken notion to suppose these insects feed on dew t« It is to the treehopper, and not to the grasshopper, that these lines of Anacreon apply : Happy creature! what below Can live more happily than thou ? Seated on thy leafy throne, (Summer weaves thy verdant crown,) Sipping o'er the pearly lawn The fragrant nectar of the dawn, Little tales thou lovest to sing, Tales of mirth — an infant king. But we need wonder less at popular mistakes of this kind, when we find similar ones promulgated, respecting the insects in question, by so eminent a naturalist as Swammerdam. " I preserve," says he, " a three-fold stomach of a locust, which is very like the stomachs of animals that chew the cud, and particularly has that part of the stomach called *J.R. t Virgil, Bucol. v. 77 j Plin, Hist, Nat, xi. 26. EATING INSECTS. 151 echinus very distinctly visible. I do not therefore doubt but locusts chew the cud, as well as the ani- mals just mentioned : indeed, I persuade myself that I have seen this*." Ramdohr, on the other hand, demonstrates that this is altogether erroneous t> while we can readily point out the origin of the mistake, so far as it regards observation. Like spiders, then, and many other insects J, locusts and grasshoppers are very assiduous in cleaning their limbs ; and we have seldom seen them long stationary without doing something of this kind, their mandibles being actively at work in mumbling their antenna? and other organs, and biting off every film or particle of dust adhering to them. To an ordinary observer this action of the jaws might readily suggest a resem- blance to ruminating animals chewing the cud, par- ticularly as the long slender antennae of some species (Acrida viridissima, &c.)» when thus operated upon, may be overlooked, while the attention is wholly directed to the motion of the mandibles. This it was, we have no doubt, that led Swammerdam to imagine he had actually seen a locust chewing the cud ; though it is not a little singular that, with his habits of accu- rate and minute observation, he did not detect the genuine fact, particularly as the limbs and feet, which are large and obvious, are very frequently operated upon, it being indispensable in these, as in all insects which walk against gravity, to keep the suckers or cushions of their feet free from all extraneous defilement. It is, indeed, not a little interesting to a naturalist to see, as we have frequently done, a large heavy locust walking with ease up the glass pane of a window, and occasionally stopping to examine one or other of its feet to try whether it is fit for duty, and going * Book of Nature, i. 94. f Anatomic der Insekten, 18. $ See Insect Arch. p. 368 j and Ins. Transf. p. 357. 152 INSECT MISCELLANIES, carefully over it both with its teeth and its tongue for this purpose ; the whole resembling riot a little the chewing of the cud*. The family of the cockroaches (Blattidce, STE- PHENS) appear to be still more voracious than the preceding. A small species (Blatta Lapponica, Giant cockroach (Blatta gigantea'), reduced in size. * J. R. EATING INSECTS. 155 LINN.), occasionally met with about London, swarms numerously in the huts of the Laplanders, and will sometimes, in conjunction with a carrion-beetle (Sz7- pha Lapponica, LINN.), devour in a single day their whole store of dried fish.* In London, and many other parts of the country, cockroaches — originally, it would appear, introduced from abroad — have mul- tiplied so prodigiously as to be a very great nuisance. We have seen them so numerous in kitchens and lower rooms in the metropolis as literally to cover the floor, and render it impossible for them to move, ex- cept over each other's bodies. This, indeed, only happens after dark, for these are strictly night insects, and the instant a candle is intruded upon their as- sembly, they rush towards their hiding places, and in a few seconds not one of the countless multitude is to be seen. In consequence of their numbers, inde- pendently of their carnivorous propensities, they are forced to eat every thing which comes in their way ; and besides devouring every species of kitchen stuff, they gnaw clothes, leather, and books. They likewise pollute every thing they crawl over, with an unplea- sant nauseous smell. These black-beetles, as they are commonly called, however, are harmless, when compared with a foreign species, the giant-cockroach (Blatta gigantea), which is not content with devour- ing the stores of the larder, but will attack human bodies, and will gnaw the extremities of the dead and the dying*. Another family of the same order are no less savage than voracious, and, together with the numerous other instances which we have given of cannibal insects, afford no colour to the doctrine maintained by some, that man is the only animal who preys on his own species. According to Sir Walter Scott, # Drury's Illustrations of Nat. Hist. iii. Pref. 154 INSECT MISCELLANIES. Even the tiger fell, and sullen bear, Their likeness and their lineage spare : Man only mars kind nature's plan, And turns the fierce pursuit on man*. The praying mantis (Mantis oratoria, LINN.) is one of these cannibal insects. Sir J. E. Smith tells us, that a gentleman having put a male and a female into a glass vessel, the female began to gnaw off the head of her companion, and ended by devouring his whole body f. According to Mr. Barrow, the Chinese chil- dren have taken advantage of the ferocious habits of these insects to procure an amusement, only outdone in barbarity by the cock-fighting and bull-baiting of our own country, by placing two of the insects in a bamboo cage to make them fight J. It is remarkable that they show the same savage habits in the earliest stage of their existence. Their eggs are placed in an oblong bag of a thick, spongy, imbricated substance, and fastened lengthwise to the branch of a plant. Rosel, being desirous of observ- ing the development of the insects, placed one of these egg-bags in a close glass, into which, when the young appeared, he put different sorts of plants. But ve- getable food not suiting their taste, they preyed upon one another. This determined him to supply them with insect food, and he accordingly put several ants into the nurse-glass. Then, however, they betrayed * Rokeby, iii. 1. The passage of the modern poet is a para- phrase of Juvenal : — Sed jam serpentum major concordia. Parcit Cognatis maculis similis fera. Quando leoni Fortior eripuit vitam leo ? quo nemore unquain Exspiravit aper majoris deritibus apri ? Jndica tigris agit rabida cum tigride pacem Perpetuam : scevis inter se convenit ursis Ast homini ferrum letale incude nefanda Produxisse parum est^ &c. Lib. x. Sat. xv. ver. 159—166. f Tour on the Continent. £ Travels in China. EATING INSECTS. 155 as much cowardice, as they had previously showed barbarity ; for the instant the ants were observed the mantes attempted to escape in every direction, evi- dently from instinctive fear of a natural enemy. Afterwards, he tried them with some of the common house-flies, and these they seized with eagerness, and tore to pieces. But, notwithstanding their apparent fondness for flies, they continued to destroy each other through savage wantonness. Rosel despair- ing at last, from their daily decrease, of rearing any to the winged state, separated them into small parcels, in different glasses ; but here, as before, the strongest of each community destroyed the rest. Having, subsequently, received several pairs of the same insects, arrived at their full growth, Rosel, pro- fiting by his former experience, separated them, placing a male and a female together, in different glasses : but they, even in this arrangement, exhibited the most ferocious enmity, which neither age nor sex had any effect in softening. No sooner did they ob- serve each other than they threw up their heads, brandished their fore legs, and each waited an attack. They did not remain long in this posture ; for the boldest, throwing open his wings with the velocity of lightning, rushed at the other, and tore it in pieces. Rosel compares the onset to a combat between two hussars ; for they dexterously guard and cut with the edge of the fore claws, as the hussars do with their sabres, and sometimes, at a stroke, one of them cleaves the other through, and severs its head from its body, the conqueror always devouring his anta- gonist*. M. Pairet made similar experiments to those of Rosel, by putting a male and female mantis into a glass. The female instantly made an attack upon her companion, seizing him between the sharp points of her claws, with which she soon cut off his head. As * Insecten Belustigung, iv. 96. 156 INSECT MISCELLANIES. they are very tenacious of life, he continued to appear lively for a considerable time ; but the female ended by devouring him *. The singular form, and particularly the attitudes, of the insect in question, have given rise to several superstitions. " They are called Mantes, that is, for- tune-tellers," says Mouflfet, " either because by their coming (for they first of all appear) they do shew the spring to be at hand, so Anacreon, the poet, sang ; or else they foretell death and famine, as Cselius, the scholiast of Theocritus, writes ; or lastly, because it always holds up its fore feet like hands, praying, as it were, after the manner of their diviners, who, in that gesture, did pour out their supplications to their gods. So divine a creature is this esteemed, that if a childe aske the way to such a place, she will stretch out one of her feet, and shew him the right way, and seldome or never misse. As she resembleth those diviners in the elevation of her hands, so also in likeness of mo- tion, for they do not sport themselves as others do, nor leap, nor play, but walking softly, she returns her modesty, and showes forth a kind of mature gravity f." The attitude, however, which has obtained for the insect the name of praying mantis (Prie Dieu, in France), is nothing more than the posture in which it patiently lies in wait for its prey ; for, having once set its eyes upon an insect, it rarely loses sight of it, though it may require some hours before it can make a capture. Should the insect be over head, and be- yond its reach, it slowly erects its long neck, and elevates itself on its hind legs. If this bring it within reach, it throws open the last joint of its fore paws and snaps the insect between the spines, set in rows on the second joint. Should it prove unsuccessful, * Encyclopedic Methodique, Insectes, in voce, * Theatre of Insects, page 983. EATING INSECTS. 157 it does not retract its paws, but holds them stretched out, and waits again till the insect is within its reach, when it springs up and seizes it. Should the insect go far from the spot, it flies or crawls after it slowly on the ground, like a cat; and, when the in- sect stops, it erects itself as before*. Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa). The cannibal propensities of some of the preceding herbivorous insects may be illustrated by what occurs among larger animals, particularly the order of gnaw- ing quadrupeds (Glires, LINN., Rodentia, Cuv.). Among these, the mouse lives chiefly among grain, and the rabbit (Lepus cuniculus) upon greens ; but when their natural food fails, or some apparently unnatural appetite is developed by disease, they will sometimes exhibit carnivorous habits. In this way we had once a large box of insects destroyed by mice, who ate, indiscriminately, the soft feathery wings of butterflies and the hard wing-cases (elytra) of * Anim. Biog. iv. 49. 158 INSECT MISCELLANIES. beetles. Having thus acquired a taste for insect food, we found it not a little difficult to prevent them from destroying our whole collection by eating through the wood-work of the drawers. Rabbits, however, are occasionally much more carnivorous. A poulterer, near Covent Garden, having some live rabbits in a hutch, upon the top of which he had placed some fowls ready for the spit, with their heads hanging down over the bars, and within reach of the rabbits, we remarked that they had gnawed away almost the whole head of one. The poulterer told us that this, which appeared so anomolous to us, was by no means of uncommon occurrence. What is still more remark- able, however, a friend of ours had a litter of rabbits, about two months old, which were not separated from their dam ; when she unexpectedly produced a second litter. But the elder brood, as if determined not to be supplanted by their younger brethren, fell upon them, and, tearing off their limbs, devoured them with evident relish*. Even the mother rabbit will some- times also eat some of her own offspring, particularly should these appear sickly ; and the same unnatural appetite has been observed among cats and swine t- It has never occurred to us to witness any of the dragon-flies (Libdlulina, MAC LEAY) preying upon their own kindred, though they will often drive away intruders from their hawking stations ; yet it is by no means improbable that they may, upon occasion, make a meal of a conquered relative. Their habits very much resemble those of the flycatchers (Musci- capida, VIGORS), among birds, as, like them, they frequently select a post, or a leafless branch, as a station from which they make frequent excursions upon the insect tribes on the wing around them. * J. R. t Architecture of Birds, chap, xiv., Parasite Birds. Darwin, Zoonomia, xvi. 5. 1. EATING INSECTS. 159 Like the swallow and the bat, also, the dragon-flies always catch their prey on the wing, but, like the fly- catcher and the butcher-birds (Laniidce, VIGORS), they always return to their resting-place, to devour it at leisure/ While the Rev. R. Sheppard was sitting by the side of a pond, to observe a large dragon-fly as it was hawking backwards and forwards in search of prey, aeabbage butterfly (Pontia Brassica) sud- denly flew past. The dragon-fly instantly . attacked and caught it in the»air, then settled on a twig, close at hand, to eat it at leisure. It bit off the wings, and then, in less than a minute, devoured the body*. " I have been much amused," says Kirby, " by ob- serving the proceedings of a species, not uncommon here. It keeps wheeling round and round, and backwards and forwards, over a considerable portion of the pool it frequents. If one of the species comes in its way, a battle ensues; if other species of the family presume tovapproach, it drives them away, and it is continually engaged in catching water-flies (Phryganece), and other insects, that fly over the water, pulling off their wings with great adroitness, and devouring in an instant the contents of the bodyt." ' It is not a little remarkable that this voracious and blood-thirsty family are very conspicuous for gay and even gaudy colouring, from which the French have been led to give them the inappropriate name of damsels (Demoiselles), and the systematic writers such appellations as pretty- wing (Calepteryx), girl (Pael- la)t bride (Sponsa), and virgin (Firgo). Kirby very correctly talks of their " dress" as kt silky, brilliant, and variegated, and trimmed with the finest lace ;" and Mouffet, with no less truth, says, they " set forth Nature's elegancy beyond the expression of * Bingley, Anitn. Biogr. iv. 117. t Intr. i. 276. 160 INSECT MISCELLANIES. Virgin dragon-fly (Calcpleryx Virgo). art." One (Calepteryx Virgo?), he adds, uis of a most curious colour ; the body blue or sky-colour, the wings of a bright violet ; the space between the shoulders is adorned with four golden gems, set, as it were, in a blackish collet/' Another he describes as having " the eyes blue, the head green, the whole body mixed with green and blue, except the wings, which are most accurately wrought with silver-colour and black, in the middle shadowed with a dark purple*." Voracious, however, as these insects undoubtedly are, they are far exceeded by the white ants (Ter- mites) of warm climates. Forbes tells us that on surveying a room which had been locked up during an absence of a few weeks, he observed a number of advanced works t in various directions towards some prints and drawings in English frames, the glasses of which appeared more than usually dull, and the frames covered with dust. " On attempting," * Theatre of Insects, p. 943. t See Insect Architecture, p. 289. EATING INSECTS. 161 he adds, " to wipe it off, I was astonished to find the glasses fixed to the wall, not suspended in frames as I had left them, but completely surrounded with incrustation, cemented by the white ants, who had actually eaten up the deal frames and backboards, and the greater part of the paper, and left the glasses up- held by the incrustation, or covered way, which they had formed during their depredation*." They make their way with the utmost ease into trunks and boxes, even though made of mahogany, and destroy papers and everything they contain, con- structing their galleries, and sometimes taking up their abode in them. One very serious consequence of this, as Humboldt informs us, is, that throughout all the warmer parts of equinoctial America, where these and other destructive insects abound, it is in- finitely rare to find papers which go fifty or sixty years back f. Cloth, linen, and books are equally to their taste, and in one night they will devour all the boots and shoes left in their way. Mr. Smeathman informs us, that " The tree termites, when they get within a box, often make a nest there, and, being once in possession, destroy it at their leisure. They did so to the pyramidal box which contained my compound microscope. It was of mahogany, and I had left it in the store of Go- vernor Campbell, of Tobago, for a few months, while I made the tour of the Leeward Islands. On my return, I found these insects had done much da- mage in the store, and, among other things, had taken possession of the microscope, and eaten every- thing about it, except the glass, or metal, and the board on which the pedestal is fixed, with the drawers under it, and the things inclosed. Their cells were built all round the pedestal and the tube, * Oriental Memoirs, i. 362. t Pol. Ess, on New Spain, iv, 135. P3 162 INSECT MISCELLANIES. and attached to it on every side. All the glasses, which were covered with the wooden substance of their nests, retained a cloud of a gummy nature upon them that was not easily got off, and the laquer or burnish with which the brass-work was covered was totally spoilt Another party had taken a liking to the staves of a Madeira cask, and had let out almost a pipe of fine old wine. If the large species of Africa (Termites bellicosi) had been so long in the possession of such a store, they would not have left twenty pounds weight of wood remaining of the whole building, and all that it contained. " These insects are not less expeditious in destroy- ing the shelves, wainscoting, and other fixtures of a house, than the house itself. They are for ever piercing and boring in all directions, and sometimes go out of the broadside of one post into that of another joining to it ; but they prefer, and always destroy, the softer substances first, and are particularly fond of pine and fir boards, which they excavate and carry away with wonderful dispatch and astonishing cunning : for, except a shelf has something standing upon it, as a book, or anything else which may tempt them, they will not perforate the surface, but artfully preserve it quite whole, and eat away all the inside, except a few fibres, which barely keep the two sides connected together, so that a piece of an inch-board which appears solid to the eye, will not weigh much more than two sheets of paste-board of equal dimen- sions, after these animals had been a little while in possession of it. In short, the termites are so insi- dious in their attacks, that we cannot be too much on our guard against them : they will sometimes begin and raise their works, especially in new houses, through the floor. If you destroy the works so begun, and make a fire upon the spot, the next night they will attempt to rise through another part ; arid if EATING INSECTS. 163 they happen to emerge under a chest or trunk, early in the night will pierce the bottom, and destroy or spoil everything in it before the morning. " When the termites attack trees and branches in the open air, they sometimes vary their manner of doing it. If a stake in a hedge has not taken root and vege- tated, it becomes their business to destroy it: if it has a good sound bark round it, they will enter at the bottom and eat all but the bark, which will remain, and exhibit the appearance of a solid stick (which some vagrant colony of ants, or other insects, often shelter in till the winds disperse it); but if they cannot trust the bark, they cover the whole stick with their mortar, and it then looks as if it had been dipped into thick mud that had been dried on. Under this co- vering they work, leaving no more of the stick and bark than is barely sufficient to support it, and fre- quently not the smallest particle ; so that, upon a very small tap with your walking-stick, the whole stake, though apparently as thick as your arm, and five or six feet long, loses its form, and, disappearing like a shadow, falls in small fragments at your feet. They generally enter the body of a large tree, which has fallen through age or been thrown down by violence, on the side next the ground, and eat away at their leisure, within the bark, without giving themselves the trouble either to cover it on the outside or to re- place the wood, which they have removed from within, being somehow sensible that there is no necessity for it. These excavated trees have deceived me two or three times in running; for, attempting to step two or three feet high, I might as well have attempted to step upon a cloud ; and have come down with such unexpected violence, that, besides shaking my teeth and bones almost to dislocation, I have been pre- cipitated, head foremost, among the neighbouring trees and bushes. Sometimes, though seldom, the 164 INSECT MISCELLANIES. animals are known to attack living trees ; but not, I apprehend, before symptoms of mortification have appeared at the roots, since it is evident, as is before observed, that these insects are intended, in the order of nature, to hasten the dissolution of such trees and vegetables as have arrived at their greatest maturity and perfection, and which would, by a tedious decay, serve only to encumber the face of the earth. This purpose they answer so effectually, that nothing pe- rishable escapes them, and it is almost impossible to leave any thing penetrable upon the ground a long time in safety ; for the odds are, put it where you will abroad, they will find it out before the following morn- ing, and its destruction follows very soon, of course. In consequence of this disposition, the woods never remain long encumbered with the fallen trunks of trees or their branches ; and thus it is, as I have be- fore observed, the total destruction of deserted towns is so effectually completed, that in two or three years a thick wood fills the space ; and unless iron-wood posts have been made use of, not the least vestige of a house is to be discovered *." Teak-wood (Tectonia grandis) is the only wood which they will not touch, probably on account of some essential oil in it disagreeable to their taste ; for they will eat lignum vita?, which is considerably harder f. Kaempfer gives a similar account of the white-ants in Japan. He observed, upon rising one morning, that a gallery, of the thickness of his finger, had been formed across his table ; and found, upon further ex- amination, that the insects had bored a passage up one foot of the table, run the gallery across it, and then pierced down another foot to the floor; all of which had been effected during the few hours that he had been asleep J. * Smeathman, Phil. Trans. 1781, p. 183. f Kirby and Spence, Intr. i. 243. J Japan, ii. 127. EATING INSECTS. 165 The account which Percival gives of the white- ants of Ceylon is precisely similar. *' The white- ants/' he says, " in the space of one night, will demolish and eat up all the boots, shoes, and bottoms of trunks, which come in their way, or are left on the ground. This is never done but by the careless- ness of the black servants. In camp, the furniture of the tents is placed on inverted bottles, with their necks planted in the ground, which, on account of the slip- pery nature of the glass, cannot be climbed up by the ants. In the dwelling-houses, the trunks, chairs, and bed-posts, are for the same reason placed in tin vessels full of water. I have frequently seen the large beams of a house almost eaten through by these insects, and ready to tumble down on the heads of the inhabitants. " This destructive insect, however, is not without the most singular utility, and is made by the Creator to serve the same benevolent purposes which are con- spicuous in every part of his plan. In the immense forests which they inhabit, and which are never sub- ject to the hand of cultivation, the constant accumu- lation of decayed timber would in time greatly impede, if not entirely choke vegetation, were not these animals employed by Providence continually to devour it *." Insects, indeed, tiny and insignificant as they may appear, are, in such cases, the principal scavengers of nature ; and wherever decaying vegetable or animal substances abound on land or in water, there myriads of insects are certain to be met with, greedily devour- ing what is most noxious in quality, and offensive to our senses. At the same time, the multiplication of their numbers, from this abundant supply of food, provides an almost exhaustless store of prey for those species of birds which feed upon insects. We shall subjoin one other extract from Smeath- man's interesting paper : — * Percival's Ceylon, p. 308. 166 INSECT MISCELLANIES. " The large species, " he says, " are not only much more destructive, but more difficult to be guarded against, than those of trees (Termites Arborum), since they make their approaches chiefly under ground, de- scending below the foundations of houses and stores at several feet from the surface, and rising again either in the floors, or entering at the bottoms of the posts, of which the sides of the buildings are com- posed, which they bore quite through, following the course of the fibres to the top, or making lateral per- forations and cavities here and there as they proceed. " While some are engaged in gutting the posts, others ascend from them, entering a rafter or some other part of the roof. If they once find the thatch, which seems to be a favourite food, they soon bring up wet clay, and build their pipes or galleries through the roof in various directions, as long as it will sup- port them ; sometimes eating the palm-tree leaves and branches of which it is composed, and, perhaps, (for variety seems very pleasing to them,) the rattan, or other running plant which is used as a cord to tie the various parts of the roof together, and that to the posts which support it : thus, with the assistance of the rats, who, during the rainy season, are apt to shelter themselves there, and to burrow through it, they very soon ruin the house, by weakening the fas- tenings and exposing it to the wet. In the mean time the posts will be perforated, in every direction, as full of holes as that timber in the bottoms of ships which has been bored by the worms, the fibrous and knotty parts, which are the hardest, being left to the last. "They sometimes, in carrying on this business, find (I will not presume to say how) that the post has some weight to support ; and then, if it is a con- venient track to the roof, or is itself a kind of wood agreeable to them, they bring their mortar, and fill all or most of the cavities, leaving* the necessary EATING INSECTS. 167 roads through it, and as fast as they take away the wood, replace the vacancy with that material, which being worked together by them closer and more com- pactly than human strength or art could ram it, when the house is pulled to pieces, in order to ex- amine if any of the posts are fit to be used again, those of the softer kinds are often found reduced almost to a shell, and all, or a greater part, trans- formed from wood to clay, as solid and as hard as many kinds of free-stone used for building in Eng- land. It is much the same when the Termites bel- licosi get into a chest, or trunk, containing clothes or other things ; if the weight above is great, or they are afraid of ants or other vermin, and have time, they carry their pipes through, and replace a great part with clay, running their galleries in various directions*." " Not content/' as the authors of the Introduction to Entomology express it, " with the dominions they have acquired, and the cities they have laid low on Terra Firma, encouraged by success, the white ants have also aimed at the sovereignty of the ocean, and once had the hardihood to attack even a British ship of the line (the Albion) ; and in spite of the efforts of her commander and his valiant crew, having boarded they got possession of her, and handled her so roughly, that when brought into port, being no longer fit for service, she was obliged to be broken up. She was indeed in such a condition from the attack of insects, supposed to be white ants, that had not the ship been firmly lashed together, it was thought she would have foundered in her voyage hornet." As the species, however, does not in the preceding case appear to have been correctly ascertained, it is * Phil. Trans, for 1781, p. 179. f Intr. i. 246. 168 INSECT MISCELLANIES. not improbable that it may have been an insect (Lim- noria, LEACH) of another family, one species of which, according to the same authors, " in point of rapidity of execution seems to surpass all its Euro- pean brethren, and in many cases may be productive of more serious injury than any of them, since it attacks the wood-work of piers and jetties constructed in salt water, and so effectually, as to threaten the rapid destruction of those in which it has established itself. In December, 1815, I was favoured by Charles Lutwidge, Esq. of Hull, with specimens of wood from the piers at Bridlington Quay, which wofully confirm the fears entertained of their total ruin by the hosts of these pigmy assailants, that have within a few years made good a lodgment in them, and which, though not so big as a grain of rice, ply their masticating organs with such assiduity, as to have already reduced great part of the wood -work into a state resembling honey-comb. One specimen was a portion of a three-inch fir plank nailed to the North Pier about three years since, which is now crumbled away to less than an inch in thickness : in fact deducting the space occupied by the cells, which cover both surfaces as closely as possible, barely half an inch of solid wood is left ; arid though its pro- gress is slower in oak, that wood is equally liable to be attacked by it. If this insect were easily intro- duced to new stations, it might soon prove as de- structive to our jetties as the Teredo navalis to those of Holland, and induce the necessity of substituting stone for wood universally, whatever the expense ; but happily it seems endowed with very limited powers of migration ; for though it has spread along both the North and South Piers of Bridlington har- bour, it has not yet, as Mr, Lutwidge informs me, reached the Dolphin, nor an insulated jetty within the harbour. EATING INSECTS. 169 " The inhabitants of Bridlington may believe that this insect was left there a few years ago by an American vessel, with what foundation I know not ; but that it is an imported insect, and, like the Teredo navalis, not originally an European animal, seems very probable from the fact, that I can find no de- scription of any species of oniscus at all resembling it, prior to that of Dr. Leach, who seems first to have given it a name, and it appears highly improbable that if it had been an European species it should not long since have attracted attention and been de- scribed. No other remedy against its attacks is known, than that of keeping the wood free from salt water for three or four days, in which case it dies ; but this method, it is obvious, can be rarely applicable. In order to ascertain how far pure sea-water is essential to this insect, and consequently what danger exists of its being introduced into the wood-work of our docks and piers communicating with our salt-water rivers, as at Hull, Liverpool, Bristol, Ipswich, &c., where it might be far more injurious than even on the coast, I have, since December 15th, 1815, when Mr. Lut- widge was so kind as to furnish me with a piece of oak full of insects in a living state, poured a not very strong solution of common salt over the wood every other day, so as to keep the insects constantly wet. On examining it this day (February 5th, 1816), I found them alive ; and what seems to prove them in as good health as in their natural habitat, num- bers have established themselves in a piece of fir- wood which I nailed to the oak, and have in this short interval, and in winter too, bored many cells in it*;1 * Intr. i. 238. 170 CHAPTER VII. LAPPING INSECTS. THOSE who have paid attention to a cat while lap^ ping milk, may have remarked, that on darting out her tongue she bends the sides and point of it upwards, so as to form a sort of hollow scoop or spoon, sufficient to contain a considerable quantity of liquid. This is partly aided by the structure of the surface of the tongue itself, which is all over thickly studded with projecting denticulations * (if we may call them so), among which the particles of the liquid must be detained. This flexible and den- ticulated structure of the tongue gives to this family of animals a facility of lapping, which art would in vain attempt to imitate. Quadrupeds of other fami- lies, such as horses and oxen, drink not by lapping, but by sucking. In insects again, with which we are more imme- diately concerned, somewhat similar varieties of structure and habits prevail. The first instance which occurs to our recollection, as forming a sort of link between eating and lapping insects, is in the ant family (Formicidce, LEACH). " When ants,5* says the younger Huber, " are disposed to drink, there comes out from between their lower jaws, which are much shorter than the upper, a minute, conical, fleshy, yellowish organ, which per- forms the office of a tongue, being pushed out and drawn in alternately : it appears to proceed from * Figured in Menageries, vol. i. p. 179, LAPPING INSECTS. 171 the lower lip, which itself has the power of moving forwards in conjunction with the lower jaws : and when the insect wishes to lap, all this apparatus moves forward ; so that the tongue, which is very short, does not require to lengthen itself much to reach the liquid*. It requires, however, very minute observation to see this, and it was only after many fruitless trials that we succeeded in verifying the fact. The method we found most convenient was to place one or more ants withinside an inverted wine-glass, upon the inner edge of which a drop of water had been put. By means of a pocket magnifying-glass, they can then be observed without disturbing them, for notwithstanding their anxiety to escape from confinement, they will greedily drink of whatever fluid may be presented to them, and, when satiated, will renew their efforts to get out f. In the case of bees, such minute observation is not required, as their organs are large and con- spicuous ; and while they are collecting the nectar of flowers or sipping honey, which may be offered to them, we can readily perceive their long, glittering tongue darted out from its sheath, and busy in per- forming its office. But as this is an organ of no little interest, it may be well to describe it a little more in detail. It consists of no less than five dis- tinct branches, — a central piece of four horny scales, which constitutes the tongue, tapering to a point, convex outwards, and concave on the side facing the trunk ; the two outer ones sheathing the inner ones so as to appear but one single tube ; by a joint in the middle they bend, or extend all at once, carrying with them the unjointed tongue, which is cylindrical, and about the size of a hair: seen through a magnifier, it appears to be composed * Huber on Ants, p. 4 j £c. t J. R. 172 INSECT MISCELLANIES. of successive rings. If we hold a bee between the fingers, we can easily perceive a kind of brown, shining instrument, curved like a surgeon's needle, folded closely down from the mouth towards the throat, where it terminates in a point. At the plea- sure of the bee this instrument can be projected forward either in a curved or straight form, so as to resemble the beak of a bird. The sheath, or Tongue of the bee, A, a a, tongue. B, b b, tongue ; c, sheath of the tongue; d, muscles for moving the tongue. C, tongue greatly magnified. rather sheaths, for there are two, of the bee's tongue are considerably different from similar organs in other insects, one of these covering scarcely half its length, and the other not extending quite round the circumference. Each of the sheaths consists of two pieces, which may be called the demi-sheath. In order to see these different pieces distinctly, and the ingenuity of their arrangement, it is necessary to squeeze them gently at their origin, so as to make them protrude, when its apparently simple structure LAPPING INSECTS. 173 will disappear, and the five pieces come plainly into view. As a detailed description of this complicated apparatus could not well be made intelligible with- out magnified figures, we shall give such as appear to us most interesting. Structure of the bee's tongue. The first of these figures (a) represents the upper side of the whole apparatus, the sheaths being opened 174 INSECT MISCELLANIES. and spread out on either side, and the tongue stretched out to its greatest elongation. The latter is seen to terminate in a sort of button, fringed with a circle of hairs, as are the rings of the tongue (above forty in number) to its very base. These hairs are no doubt intended to brush off and secure the honey which is found in the cups of flowers, and a more efficient and beautiful instrument we could not con- ceive. The second figure (6) exhibits the under side of the apparatus with the tongue lodged in the sheath, arising from a pivot within the head, and furnished with two muscular levers, by means of which it can be elongated. At the termination, the sheath is furnished with two small divaricating feelers, if we may call them so, consisting of several joints, and covered with a few scattered hairs, intended, it is probable, to assist its tactile powers, which we may naturally infer are put forth to ascertain whether it may be necessary to unsheath the tongue itself. The third figure (c) is a representation of the un- der side of the same apparatus, but with the tongue partly inclosed in the inner sheath. At the base the pivot (which is pushed back in the first figure) may be seen advanced by means of the muscular levers, destined to regulate the movements of the tongue. It is probable that the bee's tongue is furnished with as many short muscles as the tongue of a fish, which are capable of moving it in all directions. Wildman, indeed, asserts that he has seen it grow- ing bigger and less by turns, swelling as it was exerted in collecting honey ; and this alternate less- ening and enlargement was propagated from the extremity to the root. These varied movements and alterations of form and position are admirably fitted for its visiting every corner of the nectaries of flowers, many of them pf such difficult access, LAPPING INSECTS. 175 that it has been said, by more than one respectable naturalist, that the bees eat their way into them by means of their jaws. We have only to look at the deeply curved nectaries of larkspur (Delphinium), or columbine (Aquilegia), to see, in a striking light, this beautiful contrivance of Providential wisdom in the tongue of the bee. A B A, Larkspur (Delphinium choilanthum) ; B, Columbine {Aquilegia bicolor) ; showing the horn-shaped nectaries. The bee can unfold, with great rapidity, its appa- ratus for lapping, and dart it into every part of a flower where it discovers the presence of honey ; and can with equal ease sweep the convex and concave sides of a flower. When it has thus collected a suf- ficient quantity, it is first deposited in a sort of membranous bag capable of considerable inflation, previous to its being swallowed and consigned to the honey-stomach. But no sooner is its office per- formed, than it is as rapidly sheathed as it had been unfolded ; for, in consequence of its length, it would be exposed to injury without this important pro- 176 INSECT MISCELLANIES. vision. When at rest, therefore, it is doubled up by means of its joint, and lies in a very small compass, the first portion being brought within the lip, and a second part folded under the head and neck. It is altogether different then from the tubular sucking tongue of a fly, being imperforate and only fitted for lapping; while the insect is at the same time furnished with mandibles of similar structure to those of the eating insects described in the preceding chapter. Having thus entered so minutely into the struc- ture of the tongue of the bee, it will be unnecessary to describe in detail the similar organs of some other families, more particularly as these seem to be of inferior interest, at least so far as we have exa- mined them. The wasps (ITespida), which so nearly resemble bees both in habits and in general appear- ance, are greatly different in the development of these organs, the tongue being small, while the man- dibles, on the other hand, are large, and more like the insects which we have considered in the preceding chapter as exclusively eaters. They are accordingly better known for their depredations on fruit, than for feeding in the manner of bees; yet are they very fond of sweet things, since they will plunder bee- hives of their honey (though they will riot take the trouble of collecting it from flowers), and they fre- quently devour great quantities of sugar. Kirby tells us, that a tradesman of his acquaintance cal- culated his loss of sugar in one year, by wasps alone, at twenty pounds sterling*. Wasps, besides, are insects of prey, and in France, Reaumur says, the butchers are glad to have wasps attend their stalls for the sake of their services in driving away the blow-flies ; for a similar purpose the Americans sometimes suspend a hornet's nest in their parlour t. * Intr. i, 228. t St. John's Letters of an American Farmer. 177 CHAPTER VIII. SUCKING INSECTS. WE have elsewhere remarked that, " the beak (haustellum) of an aphis is no more fitted for lap- ping honey-dew, than the bill of JSsop's crane was for eating out of a shallow plate*." The mere in- spection of one of these insects with a pocket mag- nifier will be sufficient to demonstrate the position ; but, for the sake of illustration, we shall give a few details, and for that purpose we shall select the brown aphis of the oak (Aphis Quercus, LINN^US), in which, from its being much larger than its con- geners, the parts are more conspicuous. The sucker in this insect is much longer than the body, and, when unemployed, is carried between the legs close to the belly, extending behind the insect, like a tail slightly curved upward. The instrument consists of a transparent tube, terminating in a hole so minute, that Reaumur could not discover it with his most powerful microscopes, but easily proved its existence by pressing out from it a drop of fluid. By means of pressure, also, he could render more obvious two instruments of a brownish colour contained in the sucker, and which he conjectured to act like the piston of a pump ; though from their minuteness this could not be correctly ascertained. We might suppose them to act as perforators, were it not that the point of the sucker itself seems sufficiently adapted to that purpose. The figures which we have here given will render our description easily understood. * Insect Transf. p, 18. 178 INSECT MISCELLANIES. Aphis Quercus. a> real size, showing the sucker bent under it like a tail; b, magnified ; c, sucker magnified. With so efficient an instrument for wounding plants, we need not wonder that a race so countlessly nume- rous as the aphides effect most destructive ravages in the vegetable kingdom. The serious ravages of the dolphin, or collier (Aphis Fabae), on the bean crop, and of the hop-fly (A. Humuli) in hop- grounds, are but too well known. Of late years an- other of these pests, called the American, or white, blight (Aphis lanigera, ILLIGER; Eriosoma Mali, LEACH),- has been extensively destructive to our apple-trees. According to Mr. Knapp's information. SUCKING INSECTS. 179 it was first observed in the West of England, in 1819, in the nursery gardens of Messrs. Millar and Sweet, near Bristol, introduced, as was supposed, by some imported plant*. Salisbury, on the other hand, says, " I have from good authority heard that it was brought to this country from France in the reign of Louis XIV., when a colony of refugees settled at Paddington, and there it was first ob- served to begin its depredations on the apple-trees. Eriosoma mall, a, b, the insects magnified." c, an infected apple branch * Journal of a Naturalist, p, 341 ; Note, 180 INSECT MISCELLANIES. I am in some measure warranted in my belief, that the insect in question was introduced from France, as an old French gardener who worked in my garden stated that he was well acquainted with the bug, as he termed it, since his childhood, and that it had been the destruction of many fruits, not apples in parti- cular, in the neighbourhood of Montpelier, where he had been brought up*." We have ourselves seen the insect in the orchards about Harfleur, in Nor- mandy t; and M. Blot informs us that it is exceed- ingly destructive to the apple-trees in the department of Calvados J. Sir Joseph Banks traced the supposed first ap- pearance of the insect to a nursery in Sloane-street, Chelsea ; and, upon being informed that it was un- known in France, concluded that it was most pro- bably imported from North America, with some apple- trees which had been brought over to that nursery. But, in whatever way it originated, it spread rapidly, though it was at first confined to the vicinity of the metropolis, where it destroyed thousands of trees §. Subsequently it found its way into other parts of the kingdom, arid, in 1810, so many of the cyder apple- trees in Gloucestershire were infested with it, that it was apprehended the making of cider would have to be abandoned. The particular history of the insect is well given by Mr. Knapp. " In the spring of the year," says he, " a slight hoariness is observed upon the branches of certain species of our orchard fruit. As the season advances, this hoariness increases ; it becomes cottony, and, toward the middle or end of summer, the under sides of some of the branches are invested with a thick, downy substance, so long, as at times to be * Hints on Orchards, p. 39. t J. R. J Mem, Societe Linn, de Caen pour 1824, p. 104. § Trans, Hort. Soc., ii, 162. SUCKING INSECTS. 181 sensibly agitated by the air. Upon examining this substance, we find that it conceals a multitude of small wingless creatures, which are busily employed in preying upon the limb of the tree beneath. This they are well enabled to do, by means of a beak terminating in a fine bristle, which, being insinuated through the bark and the sappy part of the wood, enables the creature to extract, as with a syringe, the sweet, vital liquor that circulates in the plant. The sap-wood (Alburnum) being thus wounded, rises up in excrescences and nodes all over the branch, and deforms it ; the limb, deprived of its nutriment, grows sickly ; the leaves turn yellow, and the part perishes. Branch after branch is thus assailed, until they all become leafless, and the tree dies. "Aphides attack the young and softer parts of plants ; but this insect seems easily to wound the harder bark of the apple, and by no means makes choice of the most tender parts of the branch. They give a preference to certain sorts, but not always the most rich fruits ; as cider apples and wildings are greatly infested by them, and, from some unknown cause, other varieties seem to be exempted from their depredations. The Wheeler's-russet and Crofton- pippin I have never observed injured by them. This insect is viviparous, or produces its young alive*, forming a cradle for them by discharging from the extremities of its body a quantity of long, cottony matter, which, becoming interwoven and entangled, prevents the young from falling to the earth, and completely envelops the parent and the offspring. In this cottony substance, we observe, as soon as the creature becomes animated in spring, and as long as it remains in vigour, many round pellucid bodies, which, at first sight, look like eggs, only that they are larger than we might suppose to be ejected by the * See Insect Transformations, p, 112. R 182 INSECT MISCELLANIES. animal. They consist of a sweet glutinous fluid, and are probably the discharges of the aphis, and the first food of its young'. That it is thus consumed, I con- jecture from its diminution, and its by no means increasing so fast as faecal matter would do, from such perpetually feeding creatures. I have not, in any instance, observed the young to proceed from these globular bodies, though they are found of various ages at all times during the season. This lanuginous vestiture seems to serve likewise as a vehicle for dispersing the animal ; for, though most of our species of aphides are furnished with wings, I have never seen any individual of this American blight so provided ; but the winds, wafting about small tufts of this downy matter, convey the creature with it from tree to tree throughout the whole orchard. In the autumn, when this substance is generally long, the winds and rains of the season effectually disperse these insects, and we observe them endeavouring to secrete themselves in the crannies of any neighbouring substance. Should the savoy cab- bage be near the trees whence they have been dis- lodged, the cavities of the under sides of its leaves are commonly favourite asylums for them. Multi- tudes perish by these rough removals, but numbers yet remain, and we may find them in the nodes and crevices, on the under sides of the branches, at any period of the year, the long cottony vesture being re- moved ; but still they are enveloped in a fine, short, downy clothing, to be seen by a magnifier, proceeding apparently from every suture, or pore, of their bodies, and protecting them in their dormant state from the moisture and frosts of our climate. This aphis, in a natural state, usually awakens and commences its labours very early in the month of March; and the hoariness on its body may be observed increasing daily ; but if an infected branch be cut in winter, and SUCKING INSECTS. 183 kept in a warm room, these aphides will awaken speedily, spin their cottony nests, and feed as they are accustomed to do in the genial season*.'* With numerous facts of a similar kind on record, it was a singular oversight in Mr. Swainson, to state that sucking insects " can do no injury to the agri- culturist t." A numerous family of a different order of insects is but too well known, both in gardens and houses, under the general name of bugs (Cimicidce, LEACH) ; most, if not all the species, being distinguished by an exceedingly disagreeable smell, particularly when pressed or bruised. Their sucking instrument has been so admirably dissected and delineated by M. Sa- vigny, in his Theory of the Mouth of Six-legged (hexapod) Insects J, that we cannot do better than follow so excellent a guide. In the figure (6) is a view of the under side of the head of the black-horned bug (Cimexnigricornis, FABR.), exhibiting the sucker in its sheath, directed backwards, which is its natural position during repose. The sheath is composed of four pieces, which, according to Savigny's Theory, represent an under lip much prolonged. The edges bend downwards, and form a canal for receiving the four bristles, which he supposes to correspond with the two mandibles and the two lower jaws. In the figure (a) the sheathed upper lip, and the four bristles placed together and drawn out of their sheath, are presented from above ; arid in the third figure (c) the four bristles (representing the upper arid lower pair of jaws) are developed so as to exhibit them sepa- rately. It is probable that the two middle ones act as piercers, while the other two, being curved at the * Journal of a Naturalist, 341. f Loudon's Encycl. of Agricult. page 1113, 2d edition. I Mem. Anim. sans Vertebres, i. 36. E.2 184 INSECT MISCELLANIES. extremity (though not at all times naturally so), assist in the process of suction. Suckers of the black-horned bug (Cimex nigricornis) . The plant-bugs are all furnished with wings and membranous wing-cases, and many of them are of considerable size, and decked in showy colours ; dif- fering in all these points, from their congener, the bed-bug (Cimex lectularius) , which is small, without wings, arid of a dull uniform brown. The name is derived from the same root as bug-bear, and hence the passage in the Psalms, "thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night*," is rendered in Matthew's Bible " thou shgilt not nede to be afraide of any bugs by * Psalms; xci. 5. SUCKING INSECTS. 185 night." In earlier times, indeed, this insect was looked upon with no little fear, no doubt because it was not so abundant as at present. " In the year 1503," says Mouffet, " Dr. Penny was called in great haste to a little village, called Mortlake, near the Thames, to visit two noblemen, who were much frightened by the appearance of bug-bites, and were in fear of I know not what contagion ; but when the matter was known, and the insects caught, he laughed them out of all fear*." This fact, of course, disproves the statement of Southall, that bugs were not known in England before 1670. Linnaeus was of opinion, however, that it is not originally a native of Europe, but has been imported from America. Be this as it may, it seems to thrive but too well in our climate, though it mul- tiplies less in Britain than in the warmer regions of the continent, where it is also said to grow to a larger size, and to bite more keenly. We never observed this insect in Ireland f. But even in our own island these obtrusive insects often banish sleep. " The night is usually the season when the wretched have rest from their labour ; but this seems the only season when the bug issues from its retreats to make its depredations. By day it lurks, like a robber, in the most secret parts of the bed ; takes the advantage of every chink and cranny, to make a secure lodgment ; and. contrives its habita- tion with so much art that it is no easy matter to dis- cover its retreat. It seems to avoid the light with great cunning ; and even if candles be kept burning, this formidable insect will not issue from its hiding-place. But when darkness promises security, it then issues from every corner of the bed, drops from the tester, crawls from behind the arras, and travels, with great assiduity, to the unhappy patient who vainly wishes for rest and refreshment. It is generally vain to destroy * Theatr. Insect, 270. f J. R. 186 INSECT MISCELLANIES. one only, as there are hundreds more to revenge their companion's fate ; so that the person who thus is sub- ject to be bitten (some individuals are exempt) remains the whole night like a sentinel upon duty, rather watching the approach of fresh invaders than inviting the pleasing approaches of sleep *." Mouffet assures us, that against those enemies of our rest in the night our merciful God hath furnished us with remedies, which we may fetch out of old and new writers, either to drive them away or kill them t- The following is given as the best poison for bugs, by Mr. Brande of the Royal Institution : — Reduce an ounce of corrosive sublimate (Perchloride of mercury), and one ounce of white arsenic, to a fine powder ; mix with it one ounce of muriate of ammonia in powder, two ounces each of oil of turpentine and yellow wax, and eight ounces of olive oil : put all these into a pipkin, placed in a pan of boiling water, and when the wax is melted, stir the whole, till cold, in a mortar J. Though most people, however, dislike this insect, others regard it not only with apathy but with pro- tecting care; at least, one gentleman would never suffer them to be disturbed, or his bedsteads removed, till in the end they swarmed to an incredible degree, crawling up even the walls of his drawing-room ; and after his death, millions were found in his bed and chamber furniture §. In the Banian hospital, at Surat, the overseers are said frequently to hire beggars from the streets, at a stipulated sum, to pass the night among bugs and other vermin, on the express con- dition of suffering them to enjoy their feast without molestation ||. The bed-Dug is not the only one of its congeners which preys upon man. St. Pierre mentions a bug, * Goldsmith, Anim. Nature, iv. 198. f Theatr. Insect. J Materia Medica, Index. § Nicholson's Journ. xvii.40. . |{ Forbes, Oriental Mem. i, SUCKING INSECTS. 187 found in the Mauritius, the bite of which is more venomous than the sting of a scorpion, being suc- ceeded by a swelling as big as the egg of a pigeon, which continues for four or five days*. Ray tells us that his friend Willughby had suffered severe tem- porary pain, in the same way, from a water-bug (Notonecta glauca, LINN.) f- The instrument em- ployed by some of the water-bugs appears, from Savigny's dissections, to be still more formidable than the preceding. Magnified figures of the sucker of a water- bug (Nepa neptunia). a, the sucker in its sheath j 6, the several parts developed, so as to exhibit them separately ; c, the sucker unsheathed. From another pertinacious insect, the flea (Pulex irritans, LINN.), being without wings, some of our readers may suppose it to be nearly allied to the bed- bug ; though the former does not even belong to the same order, but to a new one (Aphamptera, KIRBY), established on the principle that the wings are obso- lescent or inconspicuous. As we have elsewhere mentioned several extraordinary feats of strength re- corded of fleas by various authors j, we shall here * Voyage to the Isle of France. t Hist. Insect. 58. I Insect Transformations, p. 180. 188 INSECT MISCELLANIES. give our own testimony to a similar fact, which we have just witnessed. At the fair of Charlton, in Kent, 1830, we saw a man exhibit three fleas, harnessed to a carriage in form of an omnibus, at least fifty times their own bulk, which they pulled along with great ease ; another pair drew a chariot; and a single flea a brass cannon ! The exhibitor showed the whole first through a magnifying glass, and then to the naked eye ; so that we were satisfied there was no deception. From the fleas being of large size, they were evidently all females*. It is rarely, however, that we meet with fleas in the way of amusement ; unless we are of the singular humour of the old lady mentioned by Kirby and Spence, who had a liking to them, because, said she, " I think they are the prettiest little merry things in the world ; I never saw a dull flea in all my lifef." When Ray and Willughby were travelling, they found " at Venice and Augsburg fleas for sale, and at a small price too, decorated with steel or silver collars round their necks, of which Willughby purchased one. When they are kept in a box amongst wool or cloth, in a warm place, and fed once a day, they will live a long time. When they begin to suck they erect themselves almost perpendicularly, thrusting their sucker, which originates in the middle of the forehead, into the skin. The itching is not felt im- mediately, bat a little afterwards. As soon as they are full of blood, they begin to void a portion of it, arid thus, if permitted, they will continue for many hours sucking and voiding. After the first itching no uneasiness is subsequently felt. Willughby 's flea lived for three months by sucking in this manner the blood of his hand ; it Was at length killed by the cold of winter J." From this narrative, we should say that it was not *J. R. t Intr. i. 102. J Ray, Hist. Insect, p. 8. SUCKING INSECTS. 189 without good reason that two eminent naturalists have arranged fleas in a group, called, by way of eminence, suckers (Suctoria, DE GEER ; Suceursy LATREILLE). According to Mouffet's account of the sucker of the flea, *' the point of his nib is something hard, that he may make it enter the better ; and it must neces- sarily be hollow, that he may suck out the blood and carry it in*." Modern authors, particularly Straus and Kirby, show that Rosel was mistaken in sup- posing this sucker to consist of two pieces, as it is really made up of seven. First, there are a pair of triangular instruments, somewhat resembling the beak of a bird, inserted on each side of the mouth, under the parts which are generally regarded as the antennae. Next, a pair of long sharp piercers (Scalpdla, KIRBY), which emerge from the head below the preceding instruments : and a pair of feelers (palpi), consisting of four joints, are attached to these near their base. In fine, there is a long, slender tongue, like a bristle, in the middle of these several pieces. Suckers of the flea, greatly magnified, a, side view ; 6, under side ; c, upper side. According to Mouffet, also, " the lesser, leaner, and younger they are, the sharper they bite, the fat ones being more inclined to tickle and play ; and then are not the least plague, especially when in greater numbers, since they molest men that are * Theatre of Insects, p. 1102. 190 INSECT MISCELLANIES. sleeping-, and trouble wearied and sick persons ; from whom they escape by skipping ; for as soon as they find they are arraigned to die, and feel the fin- ger coming, on a sudden they are gone, and leap here and there, arid so escape the danger ; but so soon as day breaks, they forsake the bed. They then creep into the rough blankets, or hide themselves in rushes and dust, lying in ambush for pigeons, hens, and other birds, also for men and dogs, moles and mice, and vex such as passe by. Our hunters report that foxes are full of them, and they tell a pretty story how they get quit of them. The fox, say they, gathers some handfuls of wooll from thorns and briars, arid wrapping it up, he holds it fast in his mouth, then goes by degrees into a cold river, and dipping himself close by little and little, when he finds that all the fleas are crept so high as his head for fear of drowning, and so for shelter crept into the wool, he barks and spits out the wool ful of fleas, and so very froliquely being delivered from their molesta- tion, he swims to land *," This is an excellent trick certainly for a flea-bitten fox on a summer's day ; but a little more doubtful even than the story told of Christina, Queen of Sweden, who is reported to have fired at the fleas with a piece of artillery, still exhibited in the royal arsenal at Stock- holm f. Her Majesty ought to have made an expe- dition to Tiberias, where, as an Arab Sheikh informed Dr. Clarke, " the king of the fleas held his court J." Nor are fleas confined to the old continent, for Lewis and Clarke § found them exceedingly harassing on the banks of the Missouri, where it is said the native Indians are sometimes compelled to shift their quar- ters, to escape their annoyance. They are not ac- * Theatre of Insects, p. 1102. f Linnaeus, Lachesis Lapon., ii. 32 ; Note *. J Travels, vol. ii. $ Travels. SUCKING INSECTS. 191 quainted, it would therefore seem, with the device of the shepherds in Hungary, who grease their clothes with hog's lard to deter the fleas, — nor with the old English preventive: — " While wormwood hath seed, get a handful or twaine To save against March to makeflearefraine: Where chamber is swept and wormwood is strown, No flea for his life dare abide to be known *." Linnaeus was in error in stating that the domestic cat (Felis maniculatus, TEMMINCK?) is not infested with fleas ; for in kittens in particular they abound as numerously as upon dogs t- Fleas, it may be worth remarking, are not all of one species, those which infest animals and birds differing in many particulars from the common bed flea (Pulex irritans), and as many as twelve distinct sorts have been found in Britain alone J. The most annoying species, however, is fortunately not indi- genous, being a native of the tropical latitudes, and variously named in the West Indies, chigoe, jigger, nigua, tungua, and pique (Pulex penetrans, LINN.) Chigoe (Pulex penetrans}. According to Stedman, this " is a kind of small sand- flea, which gets in between the skin and the flesh without being felt, and generally under the nails of the toes ; where, while it feeds, it keeps growing till it * Tusser, Points of Goode Husbandry. f «*• R. J Insect Transformations, p. 393. 192 INSECT MISCELLANIES. becomes of the size of a pea, causing1 no further pain than a disagreeable itching1. In process of time its operation appears in the form of a small bladder, in which are deposited thousands of eggs, or nits, and which, if it breaks, produce so many young chigoes, which in course of time create running ulcers, often of very dangerous consequence to the patient ; so much so indeed, that I knew a soldier, the soles of whose feet were obliged to be cut away before he could recover : and some men have lost their limbs by amputation, nay, even their lives, by having neg- lected, in time, to root out these abominable vermin. The moment, therefore, that a redness and itching more than usual are perceived, it is time to extract the chigoe that occasions them. This is done with a sharp-pointed needle, taking care not to occasion unnecessary pain, and to prevent the chigoe from breaking in the wound. Tobacco ashes are put into the orifice, by which in a little time the sore is per- fectly healed *." Old Ligon tells us that in this way he had ten chigoes taken out of his feet in a morning " by the most unfortunate Yarico f," whose tragical story is so well known from the popular drama. Walton mentions that a Capuchin friar, in order to study the history of the chigoe, permitted a colony of them to establish themselves in his feet : but before he could accomplish his object, his foot mortified and had to be amputated J. No wonder that Cardan calls the insect "a very shrewd plague §." Another troublesome sort of insects, less dangerous perhaps, though equally pertinacious, arid more widely diffused than the chigoe, is the family of gnats (Culicidai). Even these, however, sometimes pro- duce formidable consequences ; for M. Reaumur * Stedman's Surinam ; and Svvartz, Swedish Trans., ix. 40. f History of Barbadoes, p. 65. J Walton's Hispanioia. § Subtilia. lib. ix. SUCKING INSECTS. 193 says, " I have seen in marshy districts on the sea coast, individuals whose arms and legs were ren- dered shocking with the reiterated bites of gnats, and some of them so bad, that it was doubtful whe- ther they could be cured without amputating- the limb*." He adds, that if we will exert a little patient attention, we shall be compelled to admire the very instrument with which the insect wounds us. The elder Pliny becomes more than usually eloquent upon the structure of this insect. " In these so little bodies," he says, — " nay, points or specks, rather than bodies indeed, — how can one comprehend the reason, the power, and the inexplicable perfection that Nature hath therein shewed? How hath she bestowed all the five senses in a gnat ? and yet some there be lesse creatures than they. But where, I say, hath she made the seat of the eyes to see before it? Where hath she set and disposed the taste? Where hath she placed and inserted the organ of smelling ? and above all, where hath she disposed that dreadful and terrible noise that it maketh — that wonderful great sound, as I may call it, in proportion to so little a body ? Can there be devised a thing more finely and cunningly wrought than the wings set to her body? Mark, what long shanked legs above ordinary, she hath given unto them. See, how she hath set that hungry hollow concavitie in- stead of a belly : and hath made the same so greedie and thirstie after blood, and man's especially. Come to the weapon that it hath to pricke, pierce, and enter through the skinne ; how artificially hath she pointed and sharpened it ! and being so little as it is, for the fineness thereof can hardly be seen, yet as if it were of bignesse and capacity answerable, framed it, she hath, most cunningly for a two-fold use, to wit, most sharpe pointed to pricke and enter, and withall, hoi- * Mem. iv. 573. 194 INSECT MISCELLANIES. low like a pipe to sucke in and convey the blood through it*." It is not a little singular that notwithstanding the early attention which was thus given to the sucker of the gnat, authors are by no means agreed as to its structure; and even a recent author of talent, M. Robineau Desvoidyf, has rather added to former errors than contributed to expunge them. The most accurate details and figures are those of Reaumur and Roffredi, which we shall chiefly follow. To the naked eye, the sucker of the gnat appears like a needle finer than a hair, solid and pointed ; but the microscope shows that what appeared so simple, is really compound and complicated. It consists, ac- cording to Leeuwenhoeck of four pieces ; Swam- merdam found six, including the lip ; but Reaumur says there are only five. It may be that their ob- servations were made upon different species, or upon individuals which had sustained accidental mutilation. Swammerdam, indeed* mentions that he often ob- served in dead gnats the suckers broken off from their case J. This case or sheath is divided in its whole length, enclosing an apparatus of five piercers or lancets (Scalpella), with which it cuts into the skin. " After a gnat," says Reaumur, " had done me the honour of settling on my hand, I perceived that it put forth a very fine point from its sucker, with the end of which it felt four or five spots of my skin, ap- parently with the design of discovering where it could obtain the most blood with the least trouble §." This fine point, Swammerdam imagined to be simple and indivisible, and says, " the point is so sharp that I could never observe the least breadth in it with the best microscopes I could procure, though if you put the edges of the sharpest razors, or the points of the * Holland's Plinie, xi. 2. t Mem. Soc. (THist. Nat. de Paris, iii. 390. $ Biblia Nat. i, 157. § Mem. iv. 583. SUCKING INSECTS. 195 finest needles or lancets before the microscope, you will easily see that they have visible breadth, and ap- pear blunt, ragged, and dull.'* But Reaumur is not a little surprised at this, for Leeuwenhoeck and him- self found this fine point composed of several needles, some of them barbed with teeth, as may be verified by pressing the instrument between the fingers. The magnified figures will give a clearer idea of the or- gan than the most minute description. Magnified figures of the sucker of the gnat: a, the sucker In its sheath ; 6, half of the sheath broken off to show the sucker ; c, the sucker developed to show its several parts ; d, the barbed point of one blade of the sucker. The sheath is composed of a flexible substance, and is employed, it would appear, for supporting and keeping steady the piercers during the process of penetrating into the skin. Besides this, Swammer- dam says, " I should think that the acute and hollow extremity of the sheath is certainly introduced into the wound, and by means thereof the gnat afterwards sucks the blood, which running or ascending by suction between these parts, is at length conveyed 196 INSECT MISCELLANIES. into the stomach of the insect Hence, there appears almost the same use of this sheath, as there is of the silver pipes (canulce) used by surgeons, through which they pass their lancets into parts deep seated, in order to prevent their wounding any other part than that which they intend to cut *." Our readers will be better able to judge of the accuracy of these views, by inspecting the figures below of the differ- ent positions of the sheath in penetrating the skin. Modes of operation of the gnat's sucker. The mere wound, however, would not probably cause much uneasiness, were it not for the insertion at the same time of a sort of poisonous fluid, for the purpose, as Reaumur imagined, of thinning the blood, and rendering it thereby more easy to suck. If this conjecture be correct, we can thence understand why the pain and itching are not felt so acutely at first as some time afterwards. Rogers has given a * Biblia Nat. i. 157. SUCKING INSECTS. 197 lively sketch of the sanguinary proceedings of the gnat, when he had fallen asleep by a woodside, and was poetically dreaming of fairy-land : (i 'Tis thine to range in busy quest of prey Thy feathery antlers quivering with delight, Brush from my lids the hues of heaven away, And all is solitude, and all is nigh I Ah, now thy barbed shaft, relentless fly Unsheaths its terrors in the sultry air ! No guardian sylph, in golden panoply, Lifts the broad shield and points the sparkling spear. Now near and nearer rush the whirring wings, Thy dragon scales still wet with human gore, Hark, thy shrill horn its fearful larum rings, I wake in horror and dare sleep no more*." a, Male, an along every lane and hedge, and prying into every corner in search of a mate, whose care it seems to be to conceal herself as scrupulously as possible. In the instance of the orange-tip butterfly mentioned above, While every meadow is swarming with males, we seldom see more than one or two females in a whole season, and those which are observed are seldom on the wing. In some of the smaller ichneumons, among which the same distinction takes place, we may at first sight mistake the female for a large ant with an exserted sting, — a mistake that we have ourselves committed in the case of a male hunting- spider (Salticus formicarius, LATREILLE), which in size, form, and colour, narrowly resembled the wood- ant (Formica rufa) ; and we would certainly have passed it by as such, had we not found it on the rocky shore of the sea near Havre de Grace, and at a distance from any probable haunt of the pismiref. But though female insects almost universally con- ceal themselves in the manner we have recorded, the male by his restless and active search is almost certain to discover their retreat. It is highly pro- bable, as before mentioned, that their discovery is made through the medium of the sense of smell. Be the organ what it may, however, there can be no doubt of the fact that the males of many, if not of all insects, can discover the females at considerable * See figures in Insect Transformations, p. 95. t J R. 216 INSECT MISCELLANIES, distances, even when placed in concealment. Upon this is founded the practice of tembling, as it is called by the London collectors, among whom, as we learn from Barbut and Harris, it has been long in use, for entrapping the males of the fox-moth (Lasiocampa Rubi), the grass-egger (L. Trifolify, and others. " It is a frequent practice," says Haworth, " with the London aurelians, when they breed a female of the lappit-moth (Gasteropacha quercifolia) , and some other day-flying species, to take her in a box with a gauze lid into the vicinity of the woods, where, if the weather be favourable, she never fails to attract a numerous train of males, whose only business ap- pears to be an incessant, rapid, and undulating flight in search of the females. One of these is no sooner descried, than they become so much enamoured of their fair kinswoman, as absolutely to lose all fear for their own personal safety, which, at other times, is effectually secured by the reiterated evolutions of their strong and rapid wings. So fearless, indeed, have I beheld them on these occasions, as to climb up and down the sides of the cage which contained the dear object of their eager pursuit, in exactly the same manner as honey bees which have lost themselves climb up and down the glasses of a window." In other instances this does not succeed. In the spring of 1830 we bred a female of the lime-hawk moth (S?nerinthus Tilice, LATREILLE), and placed her on a small lime-tree, planted in a garden-pot, and left her at full liberty, trusting to the known station- ary habits of female insects for not losing her. In this we were not deceived, for though the tree con- tained only a single stem about three feet high, she never left it, remaining upon the same leaf some- times for several days without stirring, and when she did move, it was only to perambulate the plant, agita- ting her wings the while (as she did while stationary) PAIRING OF INSECTS, 217 with a sort of tremulous quivering not very percep- tible unless closely inspected. It might be that there were no males in the vicinity, though the insect is by no means rare around Lee ; at ail events, she re- mained without a mate for about three weeks, as the eggs which she at length laid proved to be in- fertile, and she died soon after. In the instance of a much rarer insect, the clear under-wing (JEgeria asiliformis, STEPHENS), having discovered a brood in the trunk of a poplar tree, we were desirous of securing all that issued from it, and having caught a female, we placed her in a box covered with gauze at the root of the tree, — the notion of surrounding the tree itself with gauze not having occurred to us at the moment. As this moth is one of the day- fliers, we expected to make sure of all the males in the neighbourhood ; but, to our no small disappoint- ment, not one approached the box, though we after- wards inclosed in it another female. This was the more remarkable, that, from the protrusion of the pupa cases from the tree, there was evidently not only one or two, but a considerable number evolved after the box had been placed there. In 1828, having discovered a beautiful male crane-fly (Ctenophora pectinicornis, MEIGEN), apparently just disclosed from the pupa, we carefully examined the old willow stump upon which it rested, expecting to find more of the same brood. Next day we accordingly observed a female, and imagining it to be one of the rare species (Ct. ornata or Ct. jlaveolata), we placed her in a gauze-covered box ; but no male approached for five days, when a large hunting-spider found means to in- troduce himself into the box, and make a meal of her *. There is one extraordinary fact connected with this subject, which is worthy of being prominently stated, namely, — that after insects pair, and the females de- * J.R. u 218 INSECT MISCELLANIES. a, Ctenophoraflaveolata. fe, Ctenophora oruata. posit their eggs, they very soon die, seldom living a few days, sometimes only a few hours, afterwards ; but should pairing be prevented, their lives, and par- ticularly that of the female, may be protracted to an indefinite period. Collectors, indeed, find that it is with the utmost difficulty a female can be deprived of her life before laying ; and we have no doubt that the marvellous stories reported of the revival of flies and other insects, after long immersion in spirits, or after being crushed by shutting a book, originated in this circumstance, as well as the prolonged life of some insects, which is given on good authority. Rusel, for example, informs us that he kept a rose-chafer (Cetojiia aurata) upwards of three years, feeding it with fruit and moist bread * ; and Audebert is said to * Jnseckten Belustig. iii. 379. PAIRING OF INSECTS. 219 have kept a spider for several years *. This, how- ever, will not authorise us to credit Goldsmith's story of a spider, not confined, living for three years, par- ticularly as it does not appear that he had any means of identifying the individual ; and much less to believe that a flea, even when confined and well fed, would live six, or a mantis ten years, — such circumstance being so very anomalous as to be quite incredible. It would not be correct, however, to say that the day-flies (EphemeridcE) live only one day, and in some species only a few hours ; for, in the form of grubs, some of those short-lived flies continue for two years ; and though the goat-moth (Cossus ligni- perda) and the stag-beetle (Lucanus cervus) live in their perfect state only a few weeks, their larvae live for three years ; that of the cock-chafer (Melolontha vulgar is) lives four years, as a destroyer of the roots of grass and other herbage t ; while the beetle only lives to pair, and deposit its eggs. The same holds true of the queen-bee ; but she does not, like the beetles and the moths, lay her eggs at once, but sometimes continues, if we may credit the elder Huber, for two successive years to deposit her eggs. The following experiment which he made to ascer- tain the fact of the first swarms being always, as Reaumur had conjectured, led by an old queen, is interesting as to this point : — "One of my glass hives," he says, "consisting of three parallel combs, in frames opening like the leaves of a book, was well peopled, and abundantly provided with honey and wax, and with brood of various ages. From this hive I removed the queen, on the 5th of May, and next day transferred into it all the bees from another hive, with a fertile queen, at least a year old. They entered easily, without fighting, and were well received by the old inhabitants, who, upon having * Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. ii. 285. t See Insect Transformations, p. 227. 220 tNSECT MISCELLANIES. beeri deprived of their queen, had begun twelve royal cells. They likewise gave the queen a good recep- tion, presenting her with honey, and surrounding her in regular circles. In the evening, however, there occurred a little agitation, though this was confined to the surface of the comb, where the queen had been placed, and which she had not quitted : on the other side all was perfectly quiet. By the morning of the 7th the bees had destroyed the twelve royal cells, but in all other respects good order continued to prevail in the hive ; and the queen commenced to lay the eggs of males and of workers respectively in the large and small cells. " About the 12th, I found the bees occupied in constructing twenty-two royal cells, of the species described by Reaumur, namely, — with the bases not in the plane of the comb, but appended perpendicularly by foot-stalks of different lengths, like stalactites, on the edge of the passage made by the bees through their combs. They bore, indeed, a considerable re- semblance to the cup of an acorn, the longest being only about two lines and a half in depth from the bottom to the orifice. On the 13th, the queen seemed to be already more slender than when introduced into the hive ; but she still continued to deposit some eggs both in common cells and in those of males. I also surprised her this day, laying in a royal cell : she first dislodged the worker there employed, by pushing it away with her head, and then supported herself by the adjoining cells, while depositing the egg. On the 15th, the size of the queen was still farther re- duced, and the workers continued their attention to the royal cells, which were all unequally advanced, some to the height of three or four lines, while others were already an inch long ; thus proving that the queen had not deposited eggs in the whole at the same time. " At a moment when it was least expected, the hive swarmed on the 19th. We were warned of this by a PAIRING OP INSECTS. 221 uoise in the air, and hastened to put the bees into a hive prepared on purpose. The object of the expe- riment, notwithstanding this unexpected occurrence, was completely fulfilled ; for, on examination of all the bees, I was convinced they had been conducted by the old queen, whom 1 had introduced on the 6th of the month, and who had been marked, by depriving- her of one of her antenna? ; and what was more, there was no other queen besides this one in the colony ; but in the hive she had left I found several royal cells, close at the top, but open at the side, and quite empty; eleven more were sealed, and some others newly be- gun. No queen remained in the hive. " My attention was now directed to the new swarm, which I watched during the winter and the following spring, and in April I had the satisfaction of seeing another swarm depart, with the same queen at its head who had conducted the former one the preceding May. This experiment, then, is positive arid conclusive ; and I have repeated it several times, with equal success. It therefore appears to be incontestable, that the old queen always conducts the first swarm, but never quits the hive before depositing eggs in the royal cells, from which other queens will be disclosed, after her departure, to succeed to her abandoned kingdom. These royal cells are prepared by the bees only while the queen is laying male eggs, which is attended by the remarkable fact, that after this laying terminates, her belly being considerably diminished, she can easily fly, whereas it is previously so heavy that she can hardly drag it along. It becomes necessary, there- fore, that she should lay, in order to be in a state for undertaking her journey, as this may sometimes be of considerable length *." We are hence authorised to infer that the deposition of eggs, from once pairing, takes the queen-bee above a year. * Huber on Bees, p. 149. u3 222 INSECT MISCELLANIES. In the glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca), again, we have ascertained, by numerous observations, that the laying takes place soon after pairing, and is com- pleted within a day or two ; but as the circumstances attending the pairing of these insects have given rise to an opinion very generally diffused, it may be proper to examine its validity. We refer to the beautiful light from which the creature derives its name, and which is believed to be peculiar to the female, for the purpose of guiding the darkling flight of the male. " This phosphorescent light," saysDumeril, " appears to be intended by nature as the lamp of love — the pharos — the telegraph of the night, which scintillates and marks, in the silence of darkness, the spot ap- pointed for the lovers* rendezvous *." " The female glow-worm," say Kirby and Spence, " hangs out her lamp of love, and the male, led by it, wings his way to hert." "The torch which the wingless female, doomed to crawl upon the grass, lights up at the ap- proach of night, is a beacon which unerringly guides the vagrant male to ' her love-illumined form/ how- ever obscure the place of her abode J." Upon this statement Mr. Knapp has engrafted the following ingenious and pretty theory respecting the structure of the male glow-worm. " Most creatures," says he, " have their eyes so placed as to be enabled to see about them ; or, as Hook says of the house-fly, to be * circumspect animals ;' but this male glow-worm has a contrivance by which any upward or side vision is prevented. Viewed when at rest, no portion of his eyes is visible, but the head is margined with a horny band, or plate, being a character of one of the genera of the order coleoptera, under which the eyes are situ- ated. This prevents all upward vision; the blinds, or winkers, are so fixed at the sides of his eyes as greatly to impede the view of all lateral objects. The chief * Diet, des Sciences Naturelles, xxv. 216. •)• Intr. iv, 514. I Ibid, ii. 428. PAIRING OF INSECTS. 223 end of this creature, in his nightly peregrinations, is to seek his mate, always beneath him on the earth ; and hence this apparatus appears designed to facilitate his search, confining his view entirely to what is be- fore or below him. The first serves to direct his flight, the other presents the object of his pursuit ; and as we commonly, and with advantage, place our hand over the brow, to obstruct the rays of light falling from above, which enables us to see clearer an object on the ground, so must the projecting hood of this creature converge the visual rays to a point beneath. This is a very curious provision for the purposes of the insect, if my conception of its design be reason- able. Possibly the same ideas may have been brought forward by others; but as I have not seen them, I am not guilty of any undue appropriation, and no injury can be done to the cause I wish to promote, by de- tailing again such beautiful and admirable contri- vances *." We are no less anxious to promote the cause ad- vocated by the ingenious author than he can be ; but in the instance in question he seems to have over- looked the circumstance, that the structure of the female glow-worm is precisely similar to that of the male, the head being not only covered with a broad plate which overshadows the eyes, but being re- tractile like that of the snail, a structure which, in her case, cannot be required for the purpose assigned by him to the male. A peculiarity which strikes us more remarkably, is the extraordinary magnitude of the eyes of the male, these being more than double, while the body is not above half the size of that of the female f. It is a question indeed by no means decided, whe- ther the light of the glow-worm is intended for the purpose popularly and poetically believed. We have * Journal of a Naturalist, 293, 1st edit. t J.R. INSECT MISCELLANIES. Male and female glow-worms. Male winged, female wingless. Head of male glow-worm. recently verified in several instances the facts first stated by Baron de Geer, " that this insect shines in its infant state, in that of larva, and even after it has taken the form of a nymph. Now, as in the first of these states it cannot propagate, and still less in the second, with what design is the light displayed ? It must serve some purpose yet unknown. The authors who have spoken of the male glow-worms say posi- tively that they shine in the dark as well as females*." We have in two instances observed this luminosity of the male, which however is much more feeble than that of the female. Ray first discovered this * De GeeiyMemoires, iv. 44, PAIRING OF INSECTS. 225 fact * in the common glow-worm, and Geoffroy and Miiller give their testimony to its accuracy ; while Illiger records it as occurring still more remarkably in two foreign species (Lampyris splendidiila, and L. hemiptera). Kirby and Spence make an at- tempt to rebut the inferences drawn from these facts, by remarking that the circumstance of the male having the same luminous property, no more proves that the superior brilliancy of the female is not intended for conducting him to her, than the existence of nipples, and sometimes of milk in man, proves that the breast of woman is not meant for the support of her offspring f. But we do not see how the light in the male glow-worm can be thus com- pared with such decidedly sexual organs, though in the larva it may certainly be explained upon the prin- ciple of gradual development. Mr. Main thinks that the design of the light in the female is proved by the propensity of the males to fly towards light, and states that they have been seen in such numbers, as sometimes to cover a table round a lighted candle in an open room. But he surely forgets that gnats and moths do the same, although their females are not luminous. In order to put this to a more certain test than a lighted candle, in July, 1830, we placed a number of female glow-worms in full light in an open shallow box, and after sun-set left it for about an hour on the sea-bank, near Havre de Grace where the insect abounds : but though there was here a concentrated blaze no males made their appearance ; no, not though we afterwards carried the box about in all directions till near midnight, about which time White of Selborne observed the light to be extinguished, a circumstance also remarked by Shakspeare, who ascribes it to the male : * Historia Insect. 81. f Intr. ii. 429. 226 INSECT MISCELLANIES. The glow-worm shows the matin to be near, And 'gins to pale his ineffectual fire. It amounts also to a strong negative proof, that among the considerable numbers of females which we have collected when shining, we only once found a male ; and Mr. Knapp says, " he has ever been a scarce creature with me, meeting perhaps with one or two in a year.'* The same author mentions ano- ther circumstance, which he thinks does not accord with the sexual theory of the light. Observation had taught him that the light is not emitted after the middle of July, at least so clearly and steadily, (we found them at Rudesheim on the Rhine in full light at the end of August) * ; but he " repeatedly noticed, deep in the herbage, a faint evanescent light pro- ceeding from these creatures even as late as August and September. This was particularly manifested September 28th, 1826. The evening was warm and dewy, and I observed on the house bank multitudes of these small evanescent sparks in the grass. The light displayed was very different from that which they exhibit in the warm summer months. Instead of the permanent green glow, that illumined all the blades of the surrounding herbage, it was a pale transient spot, visible for a moment or two, and then so speedily hidden that we were obliged, in order to capture the creature, to employ the light of a candle. The number of them, and their actions, creeping away from our sight, contrary to that half lifeless dullness observed in summer, suggested the idea that the whole body had availed themselves of this warm, moist evening to migrate to their winter sta^ tiori. A single spark was to be seen on some even- ings after this, but no such large moving parties were discovered again. If we conclude that the summer light of the glow-worm is displayed as a signal taper' * See Insect Transformations, p, 39, PAIRING OF INSECTS. 227 the appearance of this autumnal light can have no such object in view, nor can we rationally assign any use of it to the creature itself, unless, indeed, it serves as a point of union in these supposed migrations, like the leading call in the flight of night-moving birds*" We suspect, however, that these ingenious con- jectures are altogether founded on mistake. It is not correct to say with our author, that the glow- worms "retire during the winter to shine out again when revived by the summer's warmth t ; "for, as we have seen above, both the males and females uni- formly die a few days after pairing ; and we have nd doubt that those which he observed at the end of September were the grubs hatched in the preceding summer, and which differ little in appearance from the perfect female. We found several such grubs in September, at Havre de Grace. Mr. Knapp's mention of birds reminds us of other conjectures re- specting the design of the glow-worm's light, which, according to Kirby and Spence, " may defend them from the attack of some enemies," in the same way as they think the golden wasps (Chrysididcr, LEACH) " are adorned with the most brilliant colours, which by their radiance, especially in the sunny situations frequented by those insects, may dazzle the eyes of their enemies, and enable them to effect unhurt the purpose for which they were created J." But in a subsequent page they remark, that " female glow- worms have the faculty of extinguishing or concealing their light, a very necessary provision to guard them from the attacks of the nightingale, and other noc- turnal birds §." Mr. John Murray, on the other hand, thinks the only use of the light is either as a * Journal of a Naturalist, p. 294. f Ibid. p. 293, J See Insect Transformations, pp. 34 and 141. § Intr.ii.411. 228 INSECT MISCELLANIES. guide to its food, or as a sign to nightingales where to find their prey *. It would have been well how- ever, before theorizing, to ascertain that the nightin- gale feeds at all during the night, which we much doubt, and that it feeds upon glow-worms, which we also doubt. We are, at all events, certain that the glow-worm never extinguishes its light when it is alarmed or even seized, and hence one portion of the theories must be given up. In a still more splendid luminous insect, the fire- fly (Elater noctilucus) of tropical countries, we are ' Fire-fly (Elator noctilucus'). not informed whether the light is in any way con- nected with pairing, though it is not improbable it may be for some other unknown purpose. The insect itself is one of the click-beetles (Elateridte, LEACH), several others of which are also luminous. Southey has given a spirited and accurate description of this fire-fly :— * Experimental Researches. PAIRING OP INSECTS. 229 • " soon did night display More wonders than it veil'd : innumerous tribes From the wood-cover swarm'd, and darkness made Their beauties visible : one while they streamed A bright blue radiance upon flowers that closed Their gorgeous colours from the eye of day; Now motionless and dark, eluded search, Self-shrouded ; and anon, starring the sky, Rose like a shower of fire." Madoc. We are told by Mouffet, that when Sir Thomas Cavendish and Sir Robert Dudley landed in the West Indies, and saw in the evening an infinite num- ber of moving lights in the woods, which, though nothing more than fire-flies, were taken by them for Spaniards advancing upon them by torch-light, they immediately fled to their ships *. Lantern-fly {Fulgora lanternariti). We are not aware that any native insect is luminous besides the glow-worm and the electric centipede * Theatr. Insect. 112. X 230 INSECT MISCELLANIES. (Scolopendra electrica), which is by no means un- common, though its light is seldom seen, in con- sequence of its living1 in holes or under ground, from which it is seldom roused during the night. We have, however, more than once seen it in out-houses, or crawling along a pathway, upon which it sometimes leaves a track of phosphoric matter that may be lifted. On two different occasions we collected^some of this, but it disappeared, probably :by evaporation, before we could subject it to chemical analysis *. Electric centipede (Scolopendra electriccT). It does not seem to be yet satisfactorily ascertained to what cause is to be ascribed the beautiful pheno- menon of the sparkling light so frequently seen at night in the waters of the sea, though the most prevalent opinion is, that it arises from marine insects, or crustaceous or molluscous animalcules, among which the shining crab (Cancer ful gens, &c.) has been particularized, apparently more from con- jecture than observation. It is very improbable indeed that any species of crab would be so abundant, *J,R, PAIRING iOF INSECTS. 231 particularly since they do not swim so well " as to bestar with their phosphorescent splendour the vast surface of the ocean, and transform it into a sea of flame," — a spectacle, continues Humboldt, "which stamped upon my memory an ineffaceable impression, and always excited fresh astonishment, although it was renewed every night for months together. It may be seen in every zone ; but those who have not witnessed it within the tropics, and above all upon the main ocean, can form but a very imperfect conception of the grandeur of the phenomenon, particularly if the spectator places himself in the shrouds of a ship of the line, during a fresh breeze, when she ploughs through the crests of the waves, and at every roll her side is raised out of the water enveloped in ruddy flames, which stream like light- ning from the keel, and flash towards the surface of the sea. At other times, the dolphins, while sporting in the waters, trace out sparkling furrows in the midst of the waves*." Leaving out of our consideration as inadmissible, the opinion of Le Gentilf and ForsterJ, that the light in question arises from electricity excited by the friction of the water upon the sides of the advancing ship, — the ascertained facts appear to be the fol- lowing. There are several luminous molluscse which have the faculty of emitting at pleasure a feeble phosphorescent light, generally of a bluish colour. Three of these have been particularized, (Nereis noc- tiluca ; Medusa pelagica, /3 § ; and Monophora noc- tiluca,) the latter discovered by M. Bory de St. Vincent in Baudin's expedition ||. Besides these, a * Humboldt, Tableau de la Nature, vol. ii. p. 9, and Note. f Voyage aux Indes, i. 685—98. J Remarks made in a Voyage round the World, p. 57. §Forskal, Fauna /Egyptiaco-Arabica, p. 109. (I Voy. aux lies d'Afrique, i. 104. 232 INSECT MISCELLANIES. Monophora noctiluca. number of microscopic animalcules of species still undetermined, which Forster found swimming in innumerable multitudes in the sea near the Cape of Good Hope, have been confidently asserted to be the cause of the phenomenon. But though these may be partly or sometimes the cause, yet, in the greater number of instances, no animalcules whatever can be discovered in the luminous water, even by the aid of the best glasses. Such was the decision come to by Humboldtfrom numerous observations in the tropical seas, and his authority is one of the highest which can be adduced *. We had recently an opportunity of repeating these observations at Havre de Grace, and could not discover the slightest trace of animal- cules, although the water which we examined was so strongly luminous, that it shone upon the skin of some night-bathers like scattered clouds of lambent flame, appearing more as a property of the water itself than anything extraneous diffused through it ; but we particularly remarked that no light appeared in quiescent water, it being only seen when the * Humboldt, Tableau de la Nature, ii, 90. PAIRING OP INSECTS. 233 surface was broken by the ripple of the tide, or when a wave dashed upon the pebbles on the beach*. Humboldt, however, is of opinion, that though the phenomenon is only at times caused by animated lamp-bearers, it may probably arise in general from the decomposed fibrillaB of dead mollusca which abound beyond all calculation in the bosom of the waters. He proved this by passing some of the luminous water through cloth, when some of the fibrillffi were separated, and appeared in the form of luminous points. We should, on the other hand, have been inclined to infer that these points were .caused by the luminous water moistening the fibres of the cloth : and our author himself afterwards seems to abandon the notion of fibrillae for that of a gela- tinous fluid produced by the decomposition of the dead bodies, and imparting to sea-water the nauseous taste, which is as much disliked by us as it is relished by the fishes. Water may thus be rendered luminous by throwing into it a quantity of herring brine, and hence it appears that salt is indispensable ; for, as M. Bory de St. Vincent justly remarks, the waters of our lakes and marshes are never luminous, though these abound with polypi, both living and dead. There seem also to be certain states of the air favourable or unfavourable to the development of the light ; for one night it will appear with great brilliance, while on the following, though the circumstances seem all equal, it will be gone. It seems to be more frequent, as Humboldt remarked, " when the sky was thick and cloudy, and upon the approach of a storm." We have remarked it as frequently following as preceding a storm ; but it seems to be independent of heat or cold ; for on the banks of Newfoundland it is observed to shine with great brilliance during the most rigorous frosts. * J. R. x3 234 CHAPTER X. SINGULARITIES IN PAIRING. IT may be perceived from some of the preceding details, that insects differ very considerably from the larger animals in their modes of pairing ; but there are several species in which the peculiarities1 are much more remarkable. In the case of moths we have seen the extraordinary phenomenon of life itself being extended several weeks beyond its natural period when a mate could not be met with ; and in butter- flies it is probably extended to several months ; in the case of those females (Vanessa To, F". Urticce, Gone- pteryx Rhamni, &c.) which are hatched late in the autumn and live till they meet with a mate in the ensuing spring; while, had they been hatched a month or two earlier, and had left a progeny to supply their place, they would have infallibly died. PAIRING OF APHIDES. THE earlier naturalists observing that aphides were always found where ants abound, concluded, without further investigation, that the ants shed upon the leaves of plants a sort of plastic humour, from which the aphides were generated*, on the same principles as they erroneously imagined flies to be produced from dead carcasses f. But miraculous as this would have been had it been the case, it is perhaps surpassed by the actual facts which have been ascertained by subsequent observations con- * Godart, ii. Exp. 22. t See Insect Transformations, chap. i. PAIRING OF APHIDES. 235 ducted in the most rigid scientific manner — Nature, as is well remarked by Bonnet, having sown them upon all sorts of plants and trees, to provide food for other species of insects, as we sow grain for our own subsistence*. In a word, it appears that the old opinion maintained by Leeuwenhoeck, Cestoni, and Bourguet, which maintains aphides to be gene- rated without pairing, is partially true. Reaumur, in consequence of repeated accidents, was unsuccessful in his observations; but Bonnet, by extraordinary patience and care, succeeded beyond what could have been anticipated. We think his experiments cannot fail to prove interesting. Upon a leafy branch of spindle- tree (Euonymus), plunged in a phial of water, and set in a garden-pot, he placed an aphis which he had seen born the in- stant before of a mother without wings ; arid having previously examined the leaves and stem with the most minute care lest there might be any other aphides upon them, he covered the whole with a glass vessel, the edges of which being plunged into the mould, he felt as confident that he had the control of the conduct of his prisoner as Acrisius did as to the actions of Danae when he shut her up in a brazen tower. This was done on the 20th of May at five in the evening ; and he con- tinued to watch with a magnifying glass the im- prisoned insect every day from hour to hour, begin- ning about five in the morning, and leaving off about nine or ten at night, noting its every movement in his journal. It changed its skin four times, in the same manner as caterpillars, and during the last moult it caused our ingenious experimenter not a little un- easiness, from its appearing as if it were preyed upon by internal parasites f, as in that case he would have * Insectologie, (Euvres, i. 10. •)• See Insect Transformations, page 57, &c. 23G INSECT MISCELLANIES. lost much time of painful watching*. His fears however proved to be vain, for it accomplished its moult without accident, and at seven o'clock in the evening on the first of June, it gave birth to a young one, and up to the 22nd of June inclusive it produced altogether ninety-five, all alive. The size of the mother became at this period much di- minished, and precisely like those imagined by Geoffrey to be males. M. Bonnet's subsequent ob- servations were interrupted by her escape ; though the point was ascertained, as far at least as one experiment went, that the mother of ninety-five aphides had never paired *. The result of these observations having been transmitted to Reaumur and read by him at a sitting of the Academic des Sciences at Paris, produced an extraordinary sensation among those who were in- terested in such pursuits ; and as it was desirable that a deviation so very singular from the common laws of nature should not rest upon individual tes- timony, however respectable, the experiments and observations were repeated and varied in every pos- sible way at the request of the Academy by a number of the most distinguished naturalists then living, namely, M. Bazin of Strasbourg, MM. Lyonnet and Trembley at the Hague, by M. Bonnet himself at Geneva, and in fine by M. Rdaumur, who says he would have justly merited reproach if he had neglected to see with his own eyes experiments undertaken at his express request f. M. Bazin was fortunate in selecting the species which feeds on the poppy (Aphis papaveris, FABR.) as the young arrive at maturity in seven or eight days, and they are besides not apt to ramble far from the spot where they are born. A young aphis of this * Bonnet, (Euvres, i. 30. t MemoireSjVi. 541. PAIRING OF APHIDES. 237 species accordingly, of which M. Bazin witnessed the birth on the 29th of July, was secluded upon a poppy leaf, and by the 7th of August it had brought forth seven young ones. In similar trials with others of the same species, as well as with that of the rose (Aphis Rosce), the same results followed. M. Trembley proceeded somewhat differently, se- lecting two nearly of the same age from the species which feeds on the elder (Aphis Sambuci), and treating them in the same way, placing each upon a shoot of elder enclosed in a glass tube open at both ends, one of which he plunged into water, and covered the other with cotton. Although he did not begin his observations till the 28th September, the first produced young on the 25th, and the second on the 28th November, and continued at irregular intervals according to the temperature of the air. Trembley's breeding apparatus. The species selected by M. Lyonnet were those of the rose and of the willow (Aphis Solids) , with which the results were the same as the preceding. M. Reaumur in his experiments introduced the stem of the plant through an aperture in a piece of moist parchment which covered a glass containing 238 INSECT MISCELLANIES. water, and over the whole he placed a larger glass, both being then placed on a bed of cotton. The species he selected were those of the elder, of the peach (Aphis Pruni ?), and of the currant (A. Ribis) ; but they did not seem to agree with such close con- finement and moist air so well as those of the poppy tried by M. Bazin, for all of them died in a few days. He then had recourse to a gauze cover, the meshes of which were sufficiently small to prevent the escape of the insects, or the entrance of their congeners, while it furnished them with fresh air. With the latter apparatus, he succeeded in verifying the ob- servations of M. Bazin upon the aphis of the poppy*. Reaumur's breeding apparatus. We have been thus particular in giving an abstract of the experiments and observations of these dis- tinguished naturalists, for the purpose of removing all doubt respecting a fact so singular and extraordi- nary. But this anomaly, singular as it is, may be in some measure paralleled among another class of animals (Mollusca), it being well known that the earth-worms (Lumbrici) and snails (Li- maces) are hermaphrodite, that is, each individual is * Memojres, vi. 544. PAIRING OF APHIDES. 239 both male and female, and capable of producing1 eggs; snails and earth-worms, however, could not produce eggs, if secluded at the moment of birth as the aphides were in the preceding experiments, pair- ing being as indispensable with them as with the distinct males and females of other animals. The fact discovered by M. Bonnet, which had been so strangely misrepresented by Leeuwenhoeck, Cestoni, and Bourguet, led him to push the in- vestigation still farther, and his perseverance was rewarded by the discovery of other facts still more wonderful, and less to have been expected. He commenced with the aphis of the elder (A. Sambuci), secluding not only an individual at the moment of its birth, but one of its progeny, and so on successively, till he saw the fifth generation produced without any intermediate pairing; and the young of the latter brood, he had reason to believe, might have been equally fertile, had it not been in the winter, when he could not procure them a fresh elder-branch for nou- rishment. In a subsequent experiment with the large species which feeds on the bark of the oak (Eriosoma Quercus, STEPHENS) Bonnet pushed his observations as far as the ninth generation, which were produced in three months, the males being throughout rigorously excluded from the nurse-boxes in which the females were isolated*. Lyonnet made similar experiments with the aphides of the willow, but without recording the number of generations produced, his object being to ascertain whether they ever paired at all like other insects, or whether, as M. Trembley had imagined, they paired before birth. Both Lyonnet and Bonnet distinctly ascertained that Trembley's notion did not accord with fact, for after a time the fecundity of the females becomes ex- hausted, and pairing is then as indispensable to render * Bonnet, (Euvres, i, 89. 240 INSECT MISCELLANIES. them fertile, as to any other animal. It is very sin- gular, however, that the female after pairing is not viviparous, that is, does not produce living young, but eggs; or, as M. Bonnet was inclined to think, a species of pupae like eggs * : whereas the insects which are thence disclosed produce living young without pairing ; and more wonderful still, all these broods are uniformly females, no males being pro- duced till the pairing season, which is towards the close of summer or autumn. Amongst all these singularities relating to aphides, there is another which merits further investigation than it has yet received, namely, that some indivi- duals are furnished with wings, while others are not. Analogy led to the supposition that the wingless ones are females, and the winged ones males, as occurs among the glow-worms (Lampyridce), the cochineal insects (Coccidce), and some moths. Ob- servation, however, disproved this, it having been ascertained by Lyonnet and De Geer, that there are females as well as males, both winged and not winged t. No other family of insects, so far as we are aware, exhibits anything similar to the aphides in these anomalies, and we must therefore guard our young readers against the following error in a popular work on natural history. " However similar," says Goldsmith, " insects of the gnat-kind are in their appearance, yet they differ widely from each other in the manner in which they are brought forth, for some are oviparous, and produced from eggs, — some are viviparous, and come forth in their most perfect form ; some are of neither sex, yet still pro- duce young without any pairing whatsoever. This is one of the strangest discoveries in natural history. * See Insect Transformations, page 113. t De Geer, Mem. iii. 21. PAIRING OF ANTS. -241 A gnat separated from the rest of its kind, and in- closed in a glass vessel, with air sufficient to keep it alive, shall produce young, which also, when separated from each other, shall be the parents of a numerous progeny. Thus, down to five or six generations, do these extraordinary animals propa- gate in the mariner of vegetables *." It must have been some dreamy recollection of what he had read in Reaumur or Bonnet, whose works he elsewhere quotes, that led Goldsmith into so palpable an error. a, Aphis'of the elm ; 6, aphis of the willow, greatly magnified ; c, common gnat, (Culex pipiens}> natural size. PAIRING OF ANTS. THE multitudinous population which attracts the attention of the common observer in an ant-hill is not composed, in the usual meaning of the terms, either of males or females, they being all incapable of propagation. Their chief employment is, however, the female duty of nursing the rising generation of * Animated Nature, iv, 310. V 242 INSECT MISCELLANIES. the colony, providing them with food, constructing chambers for their reception *, and taking care to shelter them from cold and wet. On minutely ex- amining their conformation, accordingly, these nurse- ants or workers, as they are usually termed, have been discovered to be, like the workers in a bee-hive, females imperfectly developed, and, therefore, inca- pable of laying eggs. This office is appropriated to a distinct class of the colony, which would not at first be recognized by the common observer as belonging to ants at all, inasmuch as they are not only thrice the bulk of the nurse-ants, but provided with four very ample wings, and are besides, in some species, very different in colour. The female, for example, of the yellow ant (Formica flava) is of a blackish-bronze colour, and might, if deprived of her wings, be taken for a worker of the jet-ant (F.fuliginosa) , become grizzled with age. Although much remains still to be investigated with regard to these singular insects, and particularly as to their pairing, enough has been discovered by Gould, De Geer, and the younger Huber, to awaken interest and excite wonder. Towards midsummer, on to the close of autumn, if a populous ant-hill of any species be examined, there will be seen mixed with the wingless workers a number of larger insects, with whitish, glistening wings, but not taking any part in the labours of the colony. Amongst these winged insects, also, further examination will show that some are much larger than others, though agreeing nearly with them in colour. These larger ones are the fe- males ; those of less size, the males. A very little attention will show, however, that these are neither kings nor queens in the State, at least so far as freedom of action is concerned, for they are not * See Insect Architecture, chap, xiv. PAIRING OF ANTS. 243 allowed to move without a guard of workers to pre- vent their leaving the boundaries, and if one straggles away unawares, it is for the most part dragged back by the vigilant sentinels, three or four of whom may, in such cases, be seen hauling along a single deserter by the wings and limbs. We have never seen the delinquent offer the slightest resistance, nor make any endeavour to escape, but always, on the contrary, exhibiting as much eagerness as the guard to regain the nearest gateway of the city. When a colony, indeed, is exposed by removing the stone or other covering which shelters them, the winged in- habitants are always eager to conceal themselves in the lower chambers, and in a few minutes none of them are to be seen; but even in such a case the extreme jealousy of the workers is not contented with any display of agility, and they always subject them more or less to the dragging system. We may mention that this is not one of those rare phe- nomena which accident only brings under the eye of the naturalist, as it may be always witnessed whenever males and females are present in an ant- hill ; and out of some hundreds which we have visited within a few days (Formica flava, F.fusca, 4*c.), we saw what we have described in more than two-thirds of the number*. We state this more particularly, as it does not appear to be alto- gether in accordance with the observations of Gould and the younger Huber. " Let us retire," says the latter, " to a meadow on a fine summer's day, at a time when they first make use of their wings, and take a survey of their habitation, on the surface of which we shall observe, walking to and fro, many of its winged inhabitants. These are the males and females of the field-ant : they climb all the plants which surround their resi- * J. R. Y2 244 INSECT MISCELLANIES. dence, and are every where accompanied by a mul- titude of workers, who follow their steps with cease- less solicitude. Some, however, attempt to retain and reconduct them to the ant-hill ; but the greater part content themselves with simply escorting them. They offer them nourishment for the last time, and render them the last token of their care and af- fection." Again he says, u disorder and agitation are now manifest in the ant-hill ; the bustle increases every moment. The winged insects climb with, alacrity the adjacent plants, followed by a numerous train of workers, who are continually running from one male to another, touching them with their antenna?, and offering them food. The males, at length, quit the paternal roof, and take flight as from one general impulse, in which they are quickly followed by the females. The winged tribe soon disappear. The workers retrace, for some instants, the steps of these highly favoured beings, to whom they have shown such extreme care and attention, and whom they are never destined to see more." — u When the weather is favourable (not below 67° Fahr.), the labourers, who seem to be aware of it, form several apertures in the ant-hill, to give ready passage to the crowd that are about to quit it. The males and females may be then seen coming to take air at the entrance. The hour of departure arrives : they all take flight. The workers alone re-enter the nest and close the entrances *." According to our observations, on the other hand, the workers, so far from ever facilitating the exit, much less the departure of the winged ones, more particularly the females, guard them most assidu- ously in order to prevent it ; and are only forced to acquiesce in it when the winged ones become too * Huber on .Ants, p. 99. PAIRING OP ANTS. 245 numerous either to be guarded or fed. There seems, indeed, to be a uniform disposition in the winged ones to desert their native colony ; and as they never return after pairing, it would soon become depopu- lated in the absence of females. In such a case, indeed, the workers would give up their industry, and would soon wander away and perish. But when they succeed in retaining a few females amongst them, they renew their labours with fresh ardour. One circumstance is of importance to be con- sidered. The actual pairing does not seem to take place within the ant-hill, and we have observed scouts posted all around, ready to discover and carry back to the colony as many fertile females as they could meet with. Nay, we are quite certain that whole colonies have been thus dispersed, and when they did not find fertile females near their encampment, they have gone farther and farther till they found them, and when it was deemed too far, never re- turned, but commenced a number of new establish- ments, according to their convenience. This, as it appears to us, accounts, in the only rational way, for the existence of so many colonies of the same spe- cies, frequently found near each other in particular localities. We have witnessed two instances in which populous colonies were in this manner com- pletely broken up, and their original city abandoned by the workers, who had dispersed in pursuit of the fertile females which had escaped. One was the ash-coloured ant (Formica fusca), the other the red ant (Mynnica rubra) ; and an instance of the latter has just occurred to us in which a numerous establishment was, in the same way, reduced, within a few days, to two or three dozen ; and these would probably have been dispersed in the same way, had they not been successful in capturing and retaining Y3 246 INSECT MISCELLANIES. a few females, which we observed to he guarded with great care*. The males, it is probable, soon after pairing, die, as do the males of bees and other insects ; for, as the workers never bring any of them back, nor take any notice of them after leaving the ant-hill, they must perish, being entirely defenceless, and destitute both of a sting and of mandibles to provide for their sub- sistence. They accordingly disappear in a very short time, many of them falling a prey to spiders; and we have not only seen the webs of some of the geometers (Tetragnatha extensa, &c.) literally studded with their bodies, but have observed several of the hunters (Ly- cosa saccata, &c.) pouncing upon those which were enfeebled by hunger, when endeavouring to hide themselves among the grass f. The subsequent proceedings of the females are very different, and of curious interest. It was supposed by the ancients, that all ants at a certain age acquired wings ; but it was reserved for recent naturalists to ascertain that it is only the males and females that are ever winged, and that the latter lose these soon after pairing, as they have no longer any use for them. The younger Huber, in particular, by means of his artificial formicaries, traced the development of the wings in the female from the first commence- ment, till he saw them stripped off and laid aside like cast clothes. " One day," says he, " with the view of ascer- taining the precise condition of the females, I visited certain ant-hills, which I knew to be filled with winged ants, and whose departure could not be very distant. Scarcely had I reached the spot when I saw several, both females and males, pass over my head ; while at the ant-hill, I observed several take flight, the males always preceding, and the labourers, * J. R. t J. R* PAIRING OF ANTS. 247 as far as they could, accompanying them.*' — " I took eight pairs of these and placed them in a box, to ob- serve them on my return ; but a violent rain, which came on at this moment, offered me a sight as singular as unexpected. As soon as the shower had passed, I saw the earth strewed with females without wings ; they were, most likely, the identical females I had seen traversing the air. They were of the same spe- cies (Formica brunnea) as the first. "On my return home, I placed my eight prisoners, with some moistened earth, in a garden vase, covered with a glass receiver. It was nine o'clock in the evening ; at ten, the females had lost their wings, which I observed scattered here and there, and were hiding themselves under the earth. On the following day I procured three other females, and this time I observed them with the greatest attention from the moment of pairing until nine in the evening, — a period of five hours ; but during this time nothing was done to denote the approaching loss of their wings, which remained still firmly affixed. They ap- peared to be in excellent condition ; and when I saw them pass their feet across their mouths, then over the antenna?, and again brush them upon one an- other, I expected to see their wings fall off, and could not conceive what retarded this, since the others had lost them so readily. I had no idea that the mere difference of the bottom of a sand-box, where there was no earth, would have had any influence in pre- venting this ; but, in order that it might not affect them, I took some earth, strewed it lightly over the table, and covered it with a bell-glass. I still pos- sessed three fecundated winged females, one of which I introduced under the recipient. I induced her to go there freely, by presenting her a fragment of straw, on which I conveyed her to her new habita- tion, without touching her. Scarcely did she perceive 248 INSECT MISCELLANIES. the earth which covered the bottom of her abode than she extended her wings, with some effort, bringing them before her head, crossing them in every direc- tion, throwing them from side to side, and producing so many singular contortions, that all her four wings fell off at the same moment in my presence. After this change she reposed, brushed her corslet with her feet, then traversed the ground, evidently appearing to seek a place of shelter. She did not seem to be in the least aware that she was confined within a nar- row enclosure. She partook of the honey I gave her, and at last found a hiding-place under some loose earth, that formed a little natural grotto. " If I was surprised at seeing this female strip her- self of her wings voluntarily, I was even more so, on finding that she did riot appear to suffer from it, and that, after an act which would seem to us anything but natural, she delivered herself peaceably to her ap- petite, and sought a retreat, as if nothing out of the ordinary course had happened. This singular fact merited confirmation. I introduced a second female under the bell-glass about two hours afterwards, and with the same precautions, adding to the dry earth a little water. When she perceived that she stood upon moistened earth, she advanced a few paces, felt the ground with her antenna, and took up a po- sition in order to dispossess herself of her wings. Resting on her belly, she opened her wings in a dis- orderly manner, extended them in every direction, passed her legs behind them, and pressed them closely toward the ground. When she had succeeded in dis- embarrassing herself of them, I observed her walking about tranquilly in her enclosure, and begin construct- ing a grotto of earth. " I still possessed another, which I reserved for the following morning, and, being confined to the dry sand, she had not lost her wings, though it was about PAIRING OF ANTS. 249 sixteen hours later than the two former ones. She appeared in excellent condition, and had not appa- rently suffered by the delay. Scarcely had she touched the ground, than she hastened to get rid of her wings in the same manner as the others had done. In fine, I repeated the like experiments on several females, of different species, and always ob- tained the same result*." Had this extraordinary fact rested on the single authority of Huber, we might have been disposed to think he had permitted his fancy to aid his observa- tion. But several of the circumstances, as we have already noticed, had been observed by LinnaBus, De Geer, and particularly by Gould, with whose accurate account of English ants Huber does not seem to be ac- quainted. Gould terms the winged females, ant-flies, and goes on to state, — " If you strip a large ant-fly of its wings, when a week old or more, which is very easily done, for they will come off by the most gentle touch imaginable, and then place it in a microscope with a queen (meaning a wingless female), you will perceive 110 manner of difference as to their frame ; the like indented places or little hollows in the breast, where the wings commonly lie, will be found in each ; whence there is great reason to believe, the queen was originally adorned with such gaiety, and ap- peared in the character of a fly. It is also observable, as a strong confirmation of this sentiment, that abun- dance of the large ant-flies, just before or after leaving the colonies, actually drop their wings, and, except a small difference in complexion, which has not attained its true gloss, are not to be distinguished from the queens. You may, in the latter end of July and great part of August, often meet with unwinged ants travelling about as it were at random. If you * Huber on Ants, page 117. 250 INSECT MISCELLANIES. place a number of large ant-flies in a box, the wings of many of them will, after some time, gradually fall off like autumnal leaves. This circumstance is pecu- liar to the large sort ; for if you confine the small ones (meaning the winged males) ever so long, their wings will continue fixed, and cannot be separated without some difficulty." Again, Mr. Gould remarks, that " the casting of their wings is an instance peculiar to the large ant- flies. These are, to other insects, their highest deco- rations, and the want of them lessens their beauty, and shortens their life. On the reverse, a large ant- fly gains by the loss, and is afterwards promoted to a throne, and drops these external ornaments as em- blems of too much levity for a sovereign*." We have, in several instances, verified these facts respecting the female ants losing their wings, and by confining them under glasses, have twice observed the process t; but after the details already given, it would be superfluous to record these experiments here. When the females are thus disencumbered of their wings, they prepare for the new duties of their situa- tion, by constructing suitable chambers in the first piece of moist earth which they find fit for the pur- pose. Those which we have placed in confinement performed similar labours, under various circum- stances ; for we found that a single female would Work at the excavation as well as when several were put together, and also when they had several workers to assist them they did not appear to relax in assiduity J. These observations accord, in most particulars, with the experiments of Gould and Huber. The former, on opening mole-hills, found clusters of six or seven * Account of English Ants, 12mo. London, 1747. f J.R. J J.R. PAIRING OF ANTS. 251 large female ants near the surface, but in no regular apartment. He deposited one of these clusters in a box, with some earth, under which they concealed themselves, still keeping together, but did not exca- vate any chamber. " Some time after," he adds, " three or four of these females laid a few eggs, but did not seem to take any great notice of them. For curiosity, I placed in the box a cell of workers, of the same species ; and it was surprising to observe what fondness was expressed. The common ants imme- diately surrounded the females, took care of the eggs, and in a short period made an apartment in the earth fit to receive them. It may also be observed that there were no common ants (workers) in the hills where I found the above clusters. In all probability they were originally large ant-flies, which, having been expelled their colonies, and not falling victims to their adversaries, associated together in this man- ner, and survived the winter.*" The concluding conjecture shows that Gould mistook the efforts of the sentinel-ants to detain the females for forcible means of expulsion ; so different does the same cir- cumstances often appear when observed through the medium of preconceived notions. Huber, in the same way as we have repeatedly done, enclosed several impregnated females in ves- sels filled with moist earth, in which they constructed apartments; laid eggs, of which they took great care; and, though they could riot vary the temperature of their habitation, reared some of their larvae till they were of tolerable size, but which perished from Hu- ber's own neglect. " I afterwards," he continues, " placed some other females in a similar apparatus, and delivered to them some pupae of workers, to as- certain if their instinct would teach them to open the covering in which they were enclosed. Although * Gould's Account of English Ants. 252 INSECT MISCELLANIES. these females had never paired, and were provided •with wings, they laboured so well that I found on the following morning three workers among them. Some days after, T saw them occupied in delivering other labourers from their last envelope : they acted in the same way as ordinary ants, and did not appear to be at all embarrassed in the part which they now per- formed for the first time. It is, therefore, evident that females, in case of necessity, are enabled, unassisted, to educate their family. I have endeavoured to as- sure myself of this fact by proofs still more positive. After long researches, I discovered the retreat of these females, and the infant colonies which they had esta- blished, situated at a little depth in the earth, a small number of workers only being seen by the side of the mother, and some larvae which they nourished. I have seen two examples of these newly-established colonies *." But, with all deference to M. Huber, we are clearly of opinion that these new establish- ments were composed of old workers, who, in their scouting expeditions, had discovered and seized upon fertile females, a circumstance of which we have wit- nessed numerous instancesf. The age to which these females live does not seem to have been ascertained ; but it does not probably last above a few weeks after laying, — at least, if we may judge by analogies drawn from other insects. We are certain of one thing, that, on opening the nests of the wood-ant (F. rufa) and of the yellow-ant (F. flava) , during the winter, we have never been able to detect a female ; but whether some of the late-hatched females, as is the case with wasps and humble-bees, pair in winter and lay eggs in spring, or whether they lay their eggs in autumn, from which the summer females are subsequently hatched, we are still in the dark ; though it is a point that might, * Huber, utsup. t J- R- PAIRING OF BEES* 253 with some perseverance in making experiments, be probably ascertained *. PAIRING OP BEES. FEW subjects have been more puzzling to scientific naturalists than the pairing of the hive-bee (Apis niellificd), as it differs in many particulars from what we have just related of ants, and which also is nearly similar to the pairing of wasps and humble-bees; for, among all these, a considerable number of females as well as males is produced towards the close of autumn. But in a honey-bee's hive only one female can exist at the same time ; for, though several are always hatched, these either migrate successively, in order to establish new colonies, or are destroyed by the rivalry of the reigning queen, most commonly before they quit their cells, while they are of course incapa- ble of defending themselves. The males, on the other hand, which are proverbially known by the name of drones, amount to six or eight hundred ; and, as Kirby and Spence remark, to be born and die seems to be nearly the sum total of their history. Provi- dence, however, has certainly some wise design in, the creation of what appears at first sight so super- fluous a number ; probably to furnish a supply of food to the swallows and carnivorous insects, which, at the time the drones take flight, are eagerly on the hunt for prey, both to satisfy their own wants and the voracious cravings of their young. Be this as it may, the fact of these comparative numbers of the male and female hive-bees is ascertained beyond question. As the pairing of these has never been actually observed, many conjectures respecting it have been published. One of the most ingenious appears to have been suggested by Aristotle, and revived by Maraldi, the celebrated inventor of glass-hives, viz. *J,R. 234 INSECT MISCELLANIES. that the males fertilize the eggs after they are de- posited in the cells, in the same way as male fish fecundate the spawn which has been previously de- posited amongst sand or gravel, — a notion that also struck Swammerdam, who asserts the same of the day-flies (Ephemeridce)* '. In 1777, Mr. Debraw, an apothecary at Cambridge, made some observations which appeared strongly to countenance the opinion. Having discovered, at the bottom of cells containing eggs, a substance of a different appearance from that which bees commonly collect around their newly- hatched young, he conjectured it might be what Maraldi had supposed, and he became on that ac- count anxious to watch the proceedings of every male bee in the hive. He accordingly observed some of the smaller males, which are produced in workers' cells, visiting the cells containing eggs, for the pur- pose, as he supposed, of fertilizing them ; and farther, he found that those eggs actually did become pro- ductive, whilst others remained sterile. By repeating these observations, and by devising various experi- ments to verify it, he proved to his own satisfaction that the opinion of Maraldi was correct f. Bonnet objected at first that the ordinary sized males were too bulky to be able to reach the eggs in the bottom of the workers' cells. One day, however, he observed one of the larger males repeatedly striking the mouths of cells, containing eggs, with his abdomen, — a cir- cumstance which he inferred to be favourable to the theory J. But Reaumur, as Bonnet himself confesses, had proved, by the most careful and rigorous experiment, that from August till April there is not, in ordinary cases, a single male, though the queen lays eggs in * Book of Nature, 1221. t Philosophical Trans, vol. 67. J Contempt* cle la Nature, CEuvres, x, 136> note« PAIRING OF BEES, 255 February and March, which fail not to be productive; and this is not explicable by the preceding theory. The elder Huber repeated the observations of Debraw, and was disposed at first to think them correct ; but more minute investigation convinced him that what Debraw had taken for a fluid was nothing more than a peculiar reflection of light from the bottom of the cells, no vestiges of a fluid being perceptible when the cells were detached and cut asunder. But Huber did not rest contented with this ; for, taking advantage of the fact that bees can remain under water a consider- able time without much injury, he had several swarms immersed for the purpose of examining whether any males were present. In his first experiment of this kind, having ascertained that there were no males present, not even in embryo, as soon as the bees were dry, he replaced them, with their queen, in the hive, taking the precaution to barricade the entrance so as to prevent the intrusion of any males from without. This was done the 6th of August, and the same day the queen deposited fourteen eggs in workers' cells, which were all duly hatched four days afterwards. This experiment appeared to be decisive ; but lest it might be alleged that the workers, when deprived of males, might search for the fecundating matter in other hives, and bring home what was wanted, Huber tried another experiment, rigidly confining all the bees, which had as before undergone immersion, from the 10th till the 14th of August; yet in this case he found forty young larvae just hatched. He even immersed this hive a second time, examining every individual bee by hand, with a similar result. He therefore came to the conclusion that Debraw had employed in his experiments queens, with whose previous his- tory he was not acquainted *. Swammerdam, again, was inclined to adopt the still * Huber on Bees, p. 14, 25f» INSECT MISCELLANIES. more fanciful opinion that the eggs were fecundated by some subtle effluvia, or aura, which he imagined he could distinguish himself by its peculiar odour. In his case this was the more singular, as he rarely travels out of the path of legitimate induction, and generally rests satisfied with recording facts. He appears to have been misled by trusting to the analogy of the experiments of Harvey respecting some other animals* ; and had he lived in our own day, he might have taken similar advantage of the recent ones of Treviranus and Tiedemann. He also refers us to " seeds committed to the earth, or being only on its surface, which are affected by the moisture of the soil ;" but, from his concluding remarks, he appears to distrus this own theory. " God/' he says, " even in those minute insects and their parts, has concealed from the incurious eye stupendous mira- cles ; nor is it difficult to discover and illustrate those things, provided one sedulously applies to their in- vestigation. Consider, therefore, what progress the acute and sagacious may make in these inquiries, if they will industriously search into them. What I have hitherto described and exhibited are, indeed, but light shadows of the things themselves : it would be easy for ingenious persons to discover and lay open all these things thoroughly, and more perfectly, to the glory of the great God. As for myself, I do most willingly confess that my capacity is so slender, that I am able to behold the works of God only at a distance ; nay, the more frequently I view them, the more I am convinced of my ignorance, and I know my own weakness t»" Hattarf, on the other hand, as well as Schirach, supposed the queen-bee to be self-impregnated ; for having excluded a queen from all access to the males, * Exercit. de Generations Animal, p. 228, &C, I Book of Nature, i. £23. PAIRING OF BEES, 257 she nevertheless deposited eggs*. Huber, likewise, repeated this experiment ; but when he employed a queen which had never left the hive from her birth, she always remained barren. Huber thus finding that none of these opinions are tenable, set himself to investigate the circumstances, by further experi- ments, which were rewarded by the discovery that the queen-bee always leaves the hive for the pur- pose of pairing, flying high in the air, and generally returning in about half an hour. We shall use his own words in relating the more conclusive of these interesting experiments. " From a very great number of hives," says he, " I removed all the reigning females, and substituted for each, a queen taken at the moment of her birth. These experimental hives were divided into two classes, — from the first, all the males, both large and small, were taken, and I adapted a glass tube at the entrance so narrow that no male could pass, while it admitted a free passage to the workers. In the hives of the second class, I left the whole of the males belonging to them, and even introduced more, while, in order to prevent their exit, a glass tube similiar to the former was fixed to the entrance. For more than a month, I carefully watched the progress of these experiments ; but, much to my surprise, every queen remained barren ; and thence I concluded that pair- ing could not take place within the hive. " Knowing that in summer the males usually leave the hive in the warmest part of the day, I inferred that if the queens did go out to meet them, it must be about the same time. Accordingly, at eleven in the forenoon, on the 29th of June, 1788, we placed ourselves opposite a hive containing a virgin- queen, five days old. The sun shone brightly, the air was warm, and the males began to go abroad, * Schirach, Hist, Nat. de la Heine des Abeilles, 8vo. 1771. 23 258 INSECT MISCELLANIES. We then enlarged the entrance of the one selected from which the males immediately took flight, and soon afterwards the young queen made her appear- ance; but she remained at first on the board, tra- versing it and brushing herself with her legs, and apparently unnoticed either by the workers or the males. At length she took flight, but proceeded only a few feet from the hive, to which she immediately returned, as if for the purpose of examining objects that she might again recognise. She then flew away, describing horizontal circles, twelve or fifteen feet above the earth. In order that she might not escape our observation on her return, we contracted the entrance of the hive, and placed ourselves at the centre of the circles described in her flight, that we might the more easily witness her movements; but to our great regret and disappointment, she rapidly rose out of sight. We resumed our place before the hive, and in seven minutes she returned to the entrance, probably to make another survey of its locality. We permitted her to enter the hive, and in a quarter of an hour she re- appeared, and after brushing herself as before, took to flight, soon rising so high that we lost sight of her. This second ab- sence was much longer than the first, lasting for twenty-seven minutes; but we found her, at her return, in a different condition, which left no doubt of her having paired. We then confined her rigidly to the hive, and within two days she deposited nearly a hundred fertile eggs in workers' cells. The same experiments were repeated on virgin-queens, eleven, twenty, twenty-five, and thirty days old, with similar results*." These observations seem now to be universally admitted among scientific naturalists; though it is the general opinion, we believe, of those who only keep * H uber on Bees; page 23. PAIRING OF BEES. 259 bees for economical purposes, that a queen never leaves the hive, except to accompany a migrating swarm, which, according to Huber, is only true of an old queen, all the young ones proceeding as we have just detailed, within twenty days after their birth, provided they are left at liberty. It only remains for us to relate the subsequent history of the males, whose life, as in the case of other insects, is extremely short ; the eggs from which they are hatched being usually laid in April and May, and their destruction terminated in July and August. It had long been remarked that the drones or male bees of a hive perished towards the end of summer, caused by the persecution of the workers, who, according to John Hunter, drive them from the hive by pinching them with their mandibles. Reau- mur also remarked that, though the males are superior in size to the workers, their want of a sting disquali- fies them for withstanding the assaults of the latter. He does not seem, however, to have observed the actual massacre, as he terms it, of these devoted males. Swammerdam says that " about the begin- ning of August the common bees become inflamed with so much hatred against the males, that they unmercifully, and for no crime, kill them ; whereas, in May or sooner, they build houses for them, care- fully nourish them, and bring them there, and take all possible care of them. Nor indeed is it difficult for the bees to kill these males, for they are not fur- nished with any weapon to defend themselves *." Bonnet, on the other hand, upon examining with the utmost care the bodies of those males which he found dead, could discover no wound nor other mark of violence ; and besides, he has frequently seen the workers mounted upon the backs of males as if they had been about to exterminate them, and yet they * Book of Nature, i, 169, 191. 260 INSECT MISCELLANIES. did them no injury ; but in other cases, he has ob- served them chased into a corner behind the combs, where he imagines they must die of hunger. He consequently objects to Reaumur's expressions of "massacre," "frightful carnage," and "horrible slaughter," as not borne out by facts*. The re- searches of Huber, however, proved that Reaumur was right. In his letter to Bonnet he remarks, that though it was probable they might die of hunger, the carnage might notwithstanding take place in the bottom of the hive, and might have escaped observa- tion, because the observer could not see what took place there. " In order," he adds," to ascertain this point, a glass table was constructed, on which were put six hives with swarms of the same year ; and placing ourselves below, to see what passed in the scene of action, we endeavoured to discover how the drones were de- stroyed. This contrivance was completely success- ful. On the 4th of July we saw the workers actually massacre the males, in the whole six swarms, at the same hour, and with the same pecu- liarities. The glass table was covered with bees full of animation, rushing upon the males as they came from the bottom of the hive : they seized them by the antenna?, the limbs, and the wings, and after having dragged them about to the place they deemed most fit for execution, they killed them by repeated stings, directed between the rings of the belly. The moment when they felt the weapon was the last of their existence ; they stretched their wings and ex- pired. At the same time, as if the workers did not consider their victims quite dead, they pushed their stings still deeper, so that they could not easily withdraw them without turning themselves round for the purpose. * Contempt, de la Nature, (Euvres, x, 118;note, PAIRING Off BEES. 261 " Next day, having renewed our former position, we witnessed fresh scenes of carnage. During three hours the workers slaughtered the males with the utmost fury. On the preceding evening they had massacred all which belonged to their own hive, but now they attacked those which had been driven from the neighbouring hives, and had taken refuge among them. We likewise saw them tear some remaining male pupae from the cells, and having first greedily sucked all the fluid from their bodies, they carried them off. The following day not a single male could be discovered in the hives*." This appears to be so very unnatural a proceeding, that but for the concurring testimony of observers of the highest authority, we should be almost disposed to reject it as chimerical ; and yet it is not, perhaps, subjecting them to a more cruel fate than awaits most other insects, which all perish of hunger or disease, within a few days after pairing. That it is not the consequence of a blind indiscriminating instinct, we may infer from the remarkable circum- stance that no massacre of the males occurs when a hive is deprived of its queen. Bonnet, who first remarked this, conjectured that the males were pre- served for the sake of the additional heat they would produce during the winter; but Huber solves the question with more plausibility, by the supposition that they are reserved for pairing with a new queen. For a similar reason, the males are preserved in those hives where the queens are only capable of laying the eggs of males, as they always do when pairing has been retarded beyond the twenty-first day of their age. * Huber on Bees, page 112. 262 CHAPTER XI, MIGRATIONS OF INSECTS. THE shepherds of the Alps, as we learn from Saussure, as soon as the snows are melted on the sides of the mountains, transfer their flocks from the valleys below to the fresh pasture revived by the summer sun, in the natural parterres and patches of meadow-land formed at the foot of crumbling rocks, and sheltered by them from mountain storms ; and so difficult sometimes is this transfer to be accom- plished, that the sheep have to be slung1 by means of ropes from one cliff to another before they can be stationed on the little grass-plot above *. A similar artificial migration (if we may use the term) is effected in some countries by the proprietors of bee- hives, who remove them from one district to another, that they may find abundance of flowers, and by this means prolong the summer. Sometimes this transfer is performed by persons forming an ambulatory establishment, like that of a gypsey horde, and encamping wherever flowers are found plentiful. Bee caravans of this kind are reported to be not uncommon in some districts of Germany ; and in parts of Italy and France the transportation of bees was practised from very early times. But a more singular practice in such transportations was to set the bee-hives afloat on a canal or river ; and we are informed that, in France, one bee-barge was built of capacity enough for from sixty to one hundred hives, * Voyages dans les Alpes, MIGRATIONS OF INSECTS. 263 and by floating gently down the river, the bees had an opportunity of gathering honey from the flowers along the banks. In Lower Egypt, where the blowing of flowers is considerably later than in the upper districts, the practice of transporting bee-hives is much followed. The hives are col- lected from different villages along the banks, each being marked and numbered by individual propri- etors, to prevent future mistakes. They are then arranged in pyramidal piles upon the boats pre- pared to receive them, which floating gradually down the river, and stoppmg at certain stages of their passage, remain there a longer or a shorter time, according to the produce afforded by the surrounding country. In this manner the bee-boats sail for three months : the bees having culled the honey of the orange flowers in the Said, and of the Arabian jassmine and other flowers in the more northern parts, are brought back to the places from which f they had been carried. This procures for the Egyptians delicious honey and abundance of bees' wax. The proprietors in return pay the boatmen a recompence proportioned to the number of hives which have been thus carried about from one ex- tremity of Egypt to the other. The celebrated traveller Niebuhr saw upon the Nile, between Cairo and Damietta, a convoy of 4000 hives in their transit from Upper Egypt to the coast of the Delta. These artificial transportations of a domesticated race of insects exhibit a partial example of what fre- quently takes place in a natural manner, when it is necessary to shift from one place to another for the sake of a better supply of food. In many cases, however, where food is abundant, and other circum- stances favourable, particular insects limit their excursions to a very narrow range. Thus we have observed the forester moth (Ino statices, LEACH) 264 INSECT MISCELLANIES* literally swarming- on the north bank of the Ser- pentine in Kensington Gardens, though not one was to be seen on the south bank, nor in any other spot in the vicinity. In the same way we once noticed some hundreds of the burnet moth (Anthrocera fili- pendula, STEPHENS) on a small portion of the north shore of the Great Cumbra Island in the Firth of Clyde ; but though on the same day we made a botanical excursion all round the island, as well as on the opposite coasts of Largs and of the Isle of Bute, we did not elsewhere meet with one of those insects. In the dell below the hanging-wood at Charlton, in Kent, we observed a similar local assemblage of the cinnabar moth (Calimorpha ja- B, LATREILLE), not one being discoverable in a, Marsh fri till ary (Melitcea artems). b, Six-spot burnet moth (^Anthrocera Jilipendulce). MIGRATIONS OP INSECTS. 265 any of the surrounding fields*. An instance no less marked occurs in the case of the marsh fritillary (Mditcea artemis, OCHSENHETMER), a butterfly so very local, that, according to Harris, who observed it at Wilsden, near Harrow-on-the-Hill, it seldom if ever leaves the field in which it has been bred, though hundreds of them may be seen there flying- low, and frequently settling f. It is probable the race is now extinct at Wilsden, at least we have twice failed in discovering them there at the season indi^ cated by Harris. These, however, are only exceptions to the general rule of nature, which seems to be to diffuse a species over as great a space as possible, and thus to stock every corner of the earth with life and enjoyment. Hence it is that while a very few species of moths and butterflies are confined to certain fields, as a very few species of fish are confined to certain lakes or rivers |, by far the greater number may be seen wan- dering from flower to flower, and from field to field, with no other rule to direct their flight beyond the most wayward caprice. All the movements of insects, however, so far from being capricious, are chiefly if not solely produced by the two great prin- ciples of self-preservation and reproduction, though movements may sometimes be observed to which neither of these principles very obviously apply — anomalies which require other circumstances for their explanation, as we shall now endeavour to ex- emplify. Were it recorded that a numerous flight of spar- rows directed their course in an undeviating straight line towards the ocean, and not having sufficient power of wing to cross it, were seen to drop into the water and perish, it might well be doubted whether * J. R. t Harris, Aurelian, 28. I Mag. of Natural History, i. 487. 2 A 266 INSECT MISCELLANIES. an occurrence so very unnatural ever happened, unless the character of the witnesses thereof was so high as to be beyond suspicion. Yet this very case is so frequently paralleled among various species of insects, that instead of an anomalous or miraculous fact, it may be considered, under particular circum- stances, as the usual order of things. We are told, for example, by Mr. Lindley, that when he was in Brazil, in March, 1803, an immense flight of butter- flies of white and yellow colours continued for many days successively. They were observed never to settle, but proceeding in a direction from north-west to south-east, no obstacle appeared to stop them in their course, which lay toward the ocean, where they must all inevitably perish *. A somewhat different migration of butterflies was recently observed in Switzerland. In the beginning of June, Madame de Meuran Wolff and her family, established during the summer at Grandson, on the lake of Neufchatel, observed with surprise an immense flight of butterflies traversing the garden with great rapidity. They were all of the species called Belle Dame by the French, and by the Lon- don collectors the Painted Lady (Cynthia cardni, STEPHENS). They were all flying close together in the same direction, from south to north, and were so little afraid when any one approached, that they turned not to the right or to the left. The flight continued for two hours without interruption, and the column was about ten or fifteen feet broad. They did not stop to alight on flowers, but flew onwards, low and equally. This fact is the more singular, when it is considered that the caterpillars of this species are solitary from the moment they are hatched t> nor are the butterflies themselves usually * Voyage to Brazil. f See Insect Transformations, pp, 6$-— 71 < MIGRATIONS OF INSECTS. 267 gregarious. Professor Bonelli, of Turin, however, observed a similar flight of the same species of but- terfly in the end of the March which preceded their appearance at Grandson, when it may be presumed they were just evolved from their chrysalides. Their flight, as at Grandson, was from south to north, and their numbers were so immense that at night the flowers were literally covered with them. As the spring advanced their numbers diminished, though even in June a few still continued. A similar flight of butterflies is recorded about the end of last cen- tury by M. Loche, in the Memoirs of the Turin Academy *. The chief extraordinary migrations of insects which have been recorded as occurring in Britain, are those of aphides and their enemies, the lady-birds (Coc- cinellidce) , which accompany them as whales follow a shoal of herrings, or as the locust-eating thrush of Southern Africa follows a swarm of locusts. " I know no other reason," says Kirby, "to assign for the vast numbers that are sometimes, especially in autumn, to be met with on the sea-coast, or the banks of large rivers. Many years ago those of the H umber were so thickly strewed with the common lady-bird (Coccinella septempunctatd) , that it was difficult to avoid treading on them. Some years afterwards, I noticed a mixture of species collected in vast numbers on the sand-hills on the sea-shore at the north-west extremity of Norfolk. My friend, the Rev. Peter Lathbury, made long since a similar ob- servation at Orford, on the Suffolk coast : and about five or six years ago (in 1807), they covered the cliffs at Brighton, and of all the watering-places on the Kentish and Sussex coasts, to the no small alarm of the superstitious, who thought them forerunners of some direful evil, and who were ignorant that their * Mem. de la Soc. de Phys. et d'Hist. Nat. de Geneve. 2 A3 268 INSECT MISCELLANIES. little visiters were emigrants from the neighbouring hop-grounds *." The aphides upon which they prey, in like manner shift their quarters ; and amongst other instances on record, White informs us that about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 1st of August, 1785, the people of the village of Selborne were surprised by a shower of aphides which fell in those parts. Persons who walked in the street at this time found themselves covered with them, and they settled in such numbers in the gardens and on the hedges as to blacken every leaf. Mr. White's annuals were thus all dis- coloured with them, and the stalks of a bed of onions were quite coated over for six days afterwards. These swarms, he remarks, were then no doubt in a state of emigration, and might have come from the great hop-plantations of Kent and Sussex, the wind being all that day in the east. They were observed at the same time in great clouds about Farnham, and all along the vale from Farnham to Alton t- It would have been well if the particular species had been as- certained, so as to make sure whether they belonged to the hop-fly (Aphis liumuli). White, however, was not so minutely acquainted with insects as to notice the difference of species ; but this could scarcely be the case with Kirby, whose knowledge of the science is second, we believe, to that of no living naturalist, yet he leaves us equally in the dark, when he says, ** A similar emigration of these flies I once witnessed, to my great annoyance, when travelling later in the year in the Isle of Ely. The air was so full of them, that they were incessantly flying into my eyes, nos- trils, &c., and my clothes were covered by them; and in 1814, in the autumn, the aphides were so abundant for a few days in the vicinity of Ipswich, as, * Introduction, ii. 8 ; and i. 264. f Natural History of Selborne, ii. 101. MIGRATIONS OF INSECTS. to be noticed with surprise by the most incurious ob- servers*." We confess we feel not a little disappointed that the species is not mentioned in these instances, as it might serve to fill up a blank in the history of some of those which are most destructive. In the case of the hop-fly, we have remarked for several successive years, that soon after Midsummer they all disappear, though the leaves have only a few days before been literally covered with them in millions. The same is the case with those called the dolphin, which infest the bean (Aphis fab ce), and that named the zebra (A. sambuci). It is highly probable that all these perish soon after the deposition of the eggs for the succeeding spring ; but it is by no means an easy matter to ascertain this. If they migrate to the sea- coast and are drowned, as we are partly entitled, from the statements just given, to infer, their fate is similar to another still more destructive insect, the locust (Locusta migratoria, LEACH) f. The prophet Joel, who has given so striking a picture of the devastation produced by locusts J, has not forgotten to notice their destruction, when he says, " I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill-savour shall come up be- cause he hath done great things §." Mr. Barrow tells us, that in Southern Africa, in 1784 and 1797, they covered, during their progress, an area of nearly two thousand square miles, but were ultimately driven into the sea by a north-west wind, where they formed upon a shore, for fifty miles, a bank three or four feet high, and when the wind was south-east their * Iritr. ii. 9. f See Insect Transformations, p. 251. J Ibid. p. 246. § Joel, chap. ii. 20. 2 A3 270 INSECT MISCELLANIES. stench was so powerful as to be perceptible at the distance of a hundred and fifty miles*. The account given by Jackson of their progress and final destruction in northern Africa is precisely similar. Before the plague, in 1799, the face of the country from Mogador to Tangier was covered with them and ravaged, as well as the whole region from the confines of the Sahara ; but on the other side of the river El Kos not one was to be seen, though there appeared nothing to prevent them from flying over. The water of the river seemed to be a barrier to their progress, for they were proceeding north- ward until they arrived at its banks, when they im- mediately turned to the east ; and in consequence all the country north of El Araiche remained unravaged, and abundant in grain, pulse, and fruits, exhibiting a very striking contrast to the desolation of the adja- cent district. The usual fate awaited this desolating swarm : a violent hurricane drove them in a cloud into the Western Ocean, and the shore was ren- dered so noxious by their carcasses, that it is be- lieved to have been the cause of a pestilence which followed f. Hasselquist, the disciple of Linnaeus, who went to the east expressly to study its natural history, tells us, that the " locust is not formed for travelling over the sea; it cannot fly far, but must alight' as soon as it rises ; for one that came on board us, a hundred certainly were drowned. We observed in the months of May and June a number of these insects coming from the south, and directing their course to the northern shore ; they darken the air like a thick cloud : but scarcely have they quitted the shore, when they, who a moment before ravaged and ruined the country, cover the surface of the sea with their dead * Travels in S. Africa, p. 257. t Travels iu Morocco, p. 54, MIGRATIONS OF INSECTS. 271 bodies. By what instinct/' he adds, " do these crea- tures undertake this dangerous flight ? Is it riot the wise institution of the Creator to destroy a dreadful plague to the country*?" We think that it is more consistent with other instances of extensive destruc- tion among particular species to refer it to the design of Providence to furnish food for carnivore us animals. The day-flies (Ephemeridce), for example, are a harmless race, and yet the numbers of them which perish only a few hours after they acquire wings is scarcely inferior to those of the locusts t- Like the locusts, too, they chiefly perish in the water, both affording an abundant banquet for the fishes. There is one circumstance in these migrations, which is remarked by most observers, that appears to corroborate these views ; we refer to the direction commonly taken by them being towards the sea, and their pursuing their course with little deviation. The locusts seen by Captains Irby and Mangles, on the southern shore of the Dead Sea, were said to be on their way to Gaza, to which they pass almost an- nually J; those observed in Barbary by Dr. Shaw " marched directly towards the sea§ ;" and Hassel- quist tells us they seldom or never deviate from the direction of their course. These very singular facts are strikingly illustrated by the migrations of a much larger, though it would appear no less destructive animal, the lemming rat (Mus lemmus, LINN.), which inhabits the north of Europe, and lives on vegetable food. The migrations of the lemming take place at uncertain intervals of about ten years, from Lapland towards the southern parts of Sweden, induced, it is supposed, by the foresight of a severe * Has=elquist's Voyage, p. 444. •j- See Insect Transformations, pp. 218 and 373. J Travels in Egypt and Syria, 443. § Travels, 287. 272 INSECT MISCELLANIES. winter, to escape to a more genial climate ; though the migration has the effect, like that of the locusts, of reducing an overgrown population, and at the same time of supplying food to many animals who might otherwise have starved. In their journeys, they always endeavour to keep in a direct line ; and hence multitudes of them perish in their endeavours to cross lakes and rivers. If they are disturbed or pur- sued while swimming over a lake, and their phalanx chances to be separated by oars or poles, they will not recede; but keep swimming directly on, and soon get into regular order again. So obstinate, indeed, are they in holding on their direct course, that they have sometimes been known to try to pass over a vessel. This army of rats moves chiefly by night, or early in the morning; and makes such destruction among the herbage, that the surface of the ground over which they have passed appears as if it had been burned. Their numbers have at times induced the people of Norway to believe that they descended from the clouds ; and the multitudes that are some- times found dead on the banks of rivers, or other places, corrupt the whole atmosphere around *. We recollect another remarkable migration of a different species of animal also towards the sea- coast, but for a very different purpose, and we men- tion it here more particularly, because it will lead us back by a natural transition to families of insects influenced by similar motives, — we refer to the land- crab of the West Indies (Ocipoda ruricola, LA- TREILLE). The usual residence of this species is the inland mountains and woods, where they live in holes dug by themselves. Annually, about the months of April and May, they set forth in a body, often consisting of some millions, for the sea-coast. They always march in a direct line to their place of * Pennant, Arctic Zoology. MIGRATIONS OF INSECTS. 273 destination, and are said seldom to turn out of their way, on account of intervening obstacles, and even if they encounter a lofty wall or a house, they will attempt to scale it ; but when they meet with a river they follow the course of the stream, as if instinc- tively aware that it will ultimately lead them to the sea, as was probably the case with the African locusts, mentioned by Jackson. These multitudinous hordes of crabs, however, do riot perish in the sea, but go there to spawn; though from this spawn forming a rich banquet for the sea-fish, the provi- dential effect is nearly the same as in the instances of locusts, aphides, lady-birds, and sawflies. Some of the more remarkable migrations of in- sects are, in the same way, for the purpose of de- positing their eggs, or disposing of their supernu- merary progeny in suitable localities, in the case, for example, of ants and bees. Kirby and Spence have given the following animated arid eloquent account of the migrations of the former. " In the warm days that occur from the end of July to the beginning of September, and sometimes later, the habitations of the various species of ants may be seen to swarm with winged insects, which are the males and females, preparing to quit for ever the scene of their nativity and education. Every thing is in motion — and the silver wings, contrasted with the jet bodies which compose the animated mass, add a degree of splendour to the interesting scene. The bustle increases, till at length the males rise, as it were by one general impulse, into the air, and the females accompany them. The whole swarm alternately rises and falls, with a slow movement, to the height of about ten feet, the males flying ob- liquely, with a rapid zig-zag motion, and the females, though they follow the general movement of the column, appearing suspended in the air, like bal- 274 INSECT MISCELLANIES, loons, seemingly with no individual motion, and having their heads turned towards the wind. " Sometimes the swarms of a whole district unite their infinite myriads, and, seen at a distance, pro- duce an effect resembling the flashing of an aurora borealis. Rising with incredible velocity, in dis- tinct columns, they soar above the clouds. Each column looks like a kind of slender net-work, and has a tremulous, undulating motion, which has been observed to be produced by the regular alternate rising and falling just alluded to. The noise emitted by myriads and myriads of these creatures does riot exceed the hum of a single wasp. The slightest zephyr disperses them ; and if in their progress they chance to be over your head, if you walk slowly on, they will accompany you, and regulate their motions by yours. The females continue sailing majesti- cally in the centre of these numberless males, who are candidates for their favour, each till some fortunate lover darts upon her, and, as the Roman youth did the Sabine virgins, drags his bride from the sportive crowd, and the nuptials are consummated in mid-air; though sometimes the union takes place on the summit of plants, but rarely in the nests*. After this danse de V amour is celebrated, the males disap- pear, probably dying, or becoming, with many of the females, the prey of birds or fish t ; for since they do not return to the nest, they cannot be de- stroyed, as some have supposed, like the drone-bees, by the neuters. That many, both males and females, become the prey of fish, I am enabled to assert from my own observation. In the beginning of August, 1812, I was going up the Orford river, in Suffolk, in a row-boat, in the evening, when my attention was caught by an infinite number of winged ants, both males and females, at which the fish were * De Geer, ii. 1104. f Gould, p. 99. MIGRATIONS OF INSECTS. 275 everywhere seen darting, floating alive on the surface of the water. While passing the river, these had probably been precipitated into it, either by the wind or by a heavy shower which had just fallen : and M. Huber, after a similar event, observed the earth strewed with females that had lost their wings, all of which could not form colonies. " Captain Haverfield, R. N., gave me an account of an extraordinary appearance of ants observed by him in the Medway, in the autumn of 1814, which is confirmed by the following letter, addressed by the surgeon of the Clorinde, now Dr. Bromley, to Mr. MacLeay : ' In September, 1814, being on the deck of the hulk to the Clorinde, my attention was drawn to the water by the first-lieutenant (Haver- field) observing there was something black floating down with the tide. On looking with a glass, I dis- covered they were insects. The boat was sent, and brought a bucket full of them on board ; they proved to be a large species of ant, and extended from the upper part of Salt-pan Reach out towards the Great Nore, a distance of five or six miles. The column appeared to be in breadth eight or ten feet, and in height about six inches, which I suppose must have been from their resting one upon another.' These ants were winged — whence this immense column came was not ascertained. From the numbers here agglomerated, one would think that all the ant-hills of Kent and Surrey could scarcely have furnished a sufficient number of males arid females to form it. " When Colonel Sir Augustus Frazer, of the horse-artillery, was surveying, on the 6th of October, 1813, the scene of the battle of the Pyrenees, from the summit of the mountain called Pena de Aya, or Les Quartres Couronnes, he and his friends were enveloped by a swarm of ants, so numerous as en* 276 INSECT MISCELLANIES. tirely to intercept their view, so that they were glad to remove to another station in order to get rid of them*." Our readers will feel equal interest in a migration of ants of a different kind, which was first circum- stantially recorded by the younger Huber, though it attracts and has attracted the notice of every observer. There are few gardens, even of small extent, which do not contain one or more colonies of the negro- ants (Formica fusca), or the turf-ants (Myrmica cfBspitum), and these are, perhaps, the most restless emigrants of the whole family (Formicidte, LEACH) ; for their edifices being constructed among the grass or in the sand, are liable to be destroyed by the foot of every passenger, if not in the operations of gardening, and whenever such accidents occur, they become fidgetty and dissatisfied with the old place, and soon set about selecting a new one. When watching their architectural proceedings, accordingly, we have been frequently disappointed in our expecta- tions by the little colonists decamping altogether, instead of making good the bits of wall which we had broken down for the sake of experiment f. During the summer of 1830, we paid considerable attention to a numerous colony of the negro-ant (F. fiisca), established on a sloping border at the root of a carnation ; but soon after the plant came into flower, the ants resolved to migrate to the other side of the gravel-walk — having been probably disturbed by gathering the flowers, or invited by the shelter of a thick pear-tree that overhung the border to which they had removed. Their march, as is usual, was very orderly, confined to a direct line, sufficiently broad to let two pass without jostling; and their first * Intr. ii. 54. f See Insect Architecture, p. 270, MIGRATIONS OF INSECTS. 277 concern was to form a covert way at the end, which terminated in the new establishment. Along this high-road might be seen the busy inhabitants carrying off eggs and pupae from their former domi- cile, and in the earlier part of the removal some were carrying their companions, for the purpose of showing them the road ; but when once it was sufficiently imbued with their odour to be recog- nised, this clumsy method of imparting information was given up. We found, however, that we could again set them upon the carrying process by pressing our foot across their track, or otherwise obliterating the odour left by their previous passengers. In this case, an emigrant is completely bewildered the instant he arrives at the broken line, as much as a hound would be if a bush-harrow had been dragged across the track of the hare or the fox, of which he is in chase. In another garden, in which there are at least a dozen colonies of the turf-ant and of the red ant (Myrmica rubra), we seldom go round it without seeing some of them moving their pupa? to a newly selected spot, or dragging each other from one chink in the soil or plot of grass to another. A notice to quit the settlement is generally obeyed with alacrity, the whole colony immediately undertaking the labour of constructing a new encampment, as well as of removing thither all that they esteem most valuable, following the individual arit that first decides on the new location, (as the Americans term it)*. These observations, in which we took more interest and pleasure than most readers may do in the pe- rusal of our imperfect sketch, were, we confess, sug- gested by the curious details of Huber, without which they might have escaped our notice ; but every body * J.R. 278 INSECT MISCELLANIES. may readily repeat them without going to the trouble of constructing artificial formicaries. The three spe- cies which have just been mentioned will be found to be better adapted for such observations than the yellow ants (F.flava), which are by no means of a migratory disposition, perhaps because their hills are of more laborious and extensive construction, and a general movement is not therefore so easily effected. The wood-ants (F. nifa), again, appear, from the observations of Huber as well as our own, to be considerably addicted to emigration; though from their preferring to live in woods, they are not so convenient for most observers to study. Huber one day deranged the dome of one of the encampments of the latter, at which they took offence and emi- grated. " I saw," says he, " at the distance of ten paces from their nest, a fresh ant-hill, which communicated with the old by a path struck out in the grass, along which the ants were passing and repassing in great numbers. I remarked that all those going towards the new establishment were loaded with their com- panions, whilst those moving in a contrary direction were running one after the other. From that period, I put several of these republics to the same proof. I destroyed so often the roof of their underground city, that I succeeded in driving them from their resi- dence. The first and second times they repaired the breaches, but the third they resolved to seek an asylum less exposed to such accidents. I then ob- served one of the labourers leave the nest, carrying one of its companions, and I watched it till it depo- sited its burden at the margin of a subterranean cavity. This little carrier was soon succeeded by others, whose numbers, at first but trifling, increased every moment. After several had beeu carried iu MIGRATIONS OF INSECTS. 279 this manner to the new ant-hill to begin operations, a portion of them returned to the old for recruits, and it was not a little interesting to observe their procedure. They accosted the first they met, caress- ing them with their antennae, and no doubt pro- posing in their way the journey ; and when they succeeded in persuading them, they laid hold of them with their mandibles, coiled them up into the small- est possible compass, and bore them off. All this took place in the most amicable manner, with much the same gesticulations as when one supplies another with food. But it sometimes happened that the individuals of the emigrant party seized the other ants by surprise, dragging them out of the ant-hill, and without allowing them time either to make up their mind or to offer resistance, hurrying them off with great rapidity." " My glass frames," continues Huber, " often per- mitted me to see what occurred in the interior during emigration, for when the labourers espied any issue that had escaped my vigilance, they profited by it to go in search of a place more to their liking. They spread themselves at first separately over the floor, and observed all the corners of my study, hoping to discover an asylum in which they might be sheltered, and on the moment they discovered this, they com- menced recruiting. The individual which had found a place of safety went immediately to seek its com- panions, one after the other on the floor, and then in the glass formicary ; but it was sufficient, as I dis- covered, to stop the emigration, by simply taking away at the time the first recruit, and it was not rer newed till some other individual had made a suitable discovery. The recruiting continued several days ; but when the whole labourers knew the route to their new habitation, they ceased to carry each other. 2 B2 280 INSECT MISCELLANIES. They had by this time constructed large vaulted chambers, avenues, and lodges ; they first brought off the pupae and larvae, and then the males and the females. When the removal was complete, they for ever abandoned the artificial ant-hill, and the road leading thereto. " Upon opening the shutter of my formicary whilst the emigration on the exterior was in full activity, all appeared tranquil within ; those recruiting arrived at the very gate of the ant-hill, but the ants, who were not immediately the object of their search, paid no attention to their proceedings ; they continued, as usual, their ordinary avocations, and did not appear to suspect what was going forward so near them. It now and then happens that several workers un- dertake at the same time to found a new city, and con- duct there the whole colony, which gives place to a temporary existence of several ant-hills ; but these in- sects are soon aware of this division, and do not delay in the last recruiting to bring the whole colony into one encampment. " When the ants are displeased with the city they have chosen, they quit it for a third, and sometimes even for a fourth, where they definitively fix. We even see them very frequently return to the ancient nest before being fully established in the new. The recruiting then takes place in a contrary direction, and the couples meet each other in the same road, but the last has always the advantage over the pre- ceding emigrations. When the new ant-hill is at a considerable distance from the old, the ants com- monly establish some intermediate residence, in which they deposit the recruits, the larva?, the males, and the females, which they are unable to carry in one journey to their proper destination. I have seen several relays established upon the same route ; they MIGRATIONS OF INSECTS. 281 consisted of cavities pierced in the earth, containing sufficiently spacious apartments, generally covered with fragments of straw, and resembling* small ant- hills. We might there observe some sentinels doing daily duty, that is to say, opening and closing the gates of the ant-hill morning and evening. Sometimes these asylums become little colonies, which maintain a close connection with the principal ant-hill ; they are different habitations, common to the same ants, serving them for places of refuge on any derange- ment of what we might term their capital*." The only analogous instance of a number of es- tablishments formed in the vicinity of the parent nest, occurs among spiders, who do not, like the ants, live in communities, but every individual forages for itself. Redi and some recent naturalists mention the experiment of confining young spiders for a long time without food, and talk of their even devouring the bodies of their brethren ; but however that may have been after their separation, we are certain that it could not have happened before : at least we have very often confined them together in the same box without food for weeks together, and never saw anything to countenance the supposition. But it is chiefly their proceedings after leaving the nest which here claim our notice. From fifty to a hundred or more are usually produced by one mother, and as soon as they are strong enough to make their way, they quit the maternal nest, to com- mence war upon every insect that flies. When the nests of several of the geometric spiders are placed, as they often are, near the iron railings of our squares, every interval may be seen filled with the nets of the little emigrants, as if in their journeyings from home each had appropriated to its exclusive use the half of * Huber on Auts; p, 166. 282 INSECT MISCELLANIES. a pair of the iron bars. Sometimes again the points of the arrow heads at the top of the bars are se- lected, and in that case it is a pretty sight, particu- larly in a dewy morning, to see them fringed with the neat and regular lace-work of the spiders, glitter- ing- with dew-drops all round the square *. MIGRATIONS OF BEES. THE migrations of the hive-bee are very different, both in principle and procedure, from any of the foregoing instances. The ants in many cases can extend their premises indefinitely, and therefore can have little inducement to emigrate, unless they exhaust all the provision obtainable in their neighbourhood. With hive-bees the case is different ; for being con- fined within a limited space, they cannot there increase and multiply beyond a certain point, and conse- * J. JR. MIGRATIONS OF BEES. 283 quently, when the hive becomes too crowded for the population, it is expedient to thin their numbers by emigration. That a too crowded hive, however, is not the only cause of emigration was proved from several experiments by Reaumur. He frequently possessed hives so full of bees that a portion of them were compelled to remain on the outside, conglo- merated in a mass, and yet no swarm was sent off to thin their numbers. In other hives, on the contrary, where there was much spare room, more than one swarm was thrown off. To assure himself of this, he placed a colony in a very large pyramidal hive, of Reaumur's large pyramidal hive. 284 INSECT MISCELLANIES, which they only filled three- fourths, and yet a body of emigrants took their departure. The researches of naturalists, indeed, have discovered many curious facts relative to the proceedings of the bees in such cases ; but still many things,"like the immediate cause of their swarming, remain doubtful or obscure. We have seen that the ants are generally influenced in their change of residence by some individual who has discovered a spot that appears preferable ; but authors are by no means agreed whether bees are similarly guided. Dr. Warder is of opinion that they always send out scouts to select a suitable place several days before swarming, and infers that their usually clustering together upon a bough soon after their departure arises from their wish to form a united body prior to their last flight. Mr. T. A. Knight mentions several circumstances corroborative of this opinion. In on.e case, he ob- served from twenty to thirty bees paying daily visits to some decayed trees, about a mile distant from his garden ; all of them appearing to be busily employed in examining the hollow parts, and particularly the dead knots around them, as if apprehensive that the knots would admit moisture. These surveyors, if such they were, in about a fortnight after were fol- lowed by a large swarm from one of his hives, which was tracked the whole way till it alighted in one of the cavities that had been thus pre-examined, and it was observed to take nearly a direct line from the parent hive to the tree. On another occasion, Mr. Knight remarked a number of bees occupying one of the cavities for some time before ; but having offered them better accommodation in a hive, they deserted the tree*. Dr. Evans also mentions an instance in which a * Phil. Trans. 1807. MIGRATIONS OF BEES. 285 swarm made its way either over the tops of some very high houses, or through several winding streets, to an old house in the centre of Shrewsbury, and passing through an aperture in the wood-work to a room on the first floor, were there hived by the family. In another case, he had permitted a hive, whose tenants had died in the winter, to remain upon the stand till spring, when he observed several bees paying it daily visits, and busily employed within, but leaving it at the close of evening. These, he infers, were the precursors of a swarm which took possession of it in the following June *. Reaumur, on the other hand, looks upon these opinions as altogether fabulous ; since, if the bee- queen is thus provided with spies and quarter- masters, he thinks them very ignorant of their duties, — at least the choice of a place does but small credit to their foresight, — as they for the most part fix upon the bough of a tree, where they are exposed to all the vicissitudes of the weather. Mr. T. A. Knight seems to think, however, that their settling on the branch of a tree is nothing more than a resting-place, where the whole may rendezvous, and that this is previously fixed upon by the scouts as well as the spot intended for their final establishment. But Reaumur mentions a fact which will not at all accord with this, namely, that upon whatever branch or other place they thus alight, combs are always found to be commenced, even though their stay may be very short ; which proves, he thinks, that they in- tended it for a permanent abode. Were they left to themselves, indeed, they would not remain there ; but they would only leave it when, upon trial, they found it inconvenient, from being too hot or too cold, or exposed to rain and windf. * The Bees, a Poem ; Notes, •j- Memoiresj v. 621, 286 INSECT MISCELLANIES, Swarm of bees on a laburnum tree branch. What is better ascertained with respect to the original formation of swarms is, that in a populous hive, containing a fertile queen, a prodigious quantity of the eggs of male bees are laid in the course of May, and at the same time royal cells are constructed by the workers, to the number of from sixteen to twenty-seven, but the queen lays only a single egg- in one of these on the same day, as it is important that no two queens should be of the same age. When the grubs hatched in the royal cells are ready to be transformed into pupa?, the mother-queen leaves the hive, together with a large number of the workers of all ages, the original hive remaining without a queen till the transformation of the eldest royal pupa. All MIGRATIONS OF BEES. 287 the royal cells are after her departure assiduously watched by the workers. u At length," says the elder Huber, " the female hatched from the first egg laid by the old queen leaves her cell; the workers then treat her with indifference. But impelled by the instinct which urges her to destroy her rivals, she seeks the cells where they are enclosed; yet no sooner does she approach than the sentinel bees bite, pull, and harass her, so that she is forced to remove, though the royal cells being numerous she can scarcely find a place of rest. Incessantly animated with the desire of attacking the other queens, and as continually repelled, she becomes agitated, and hastily traverses the different groups of workers, to which she communicates her disorder. At this moment numbers of bees rush towards the aperture of the hive, and, accompanied by the young queen, forsake it to seek another residence. After the departure of this second colony, the remaining workers set another queen at liberty, and treat her with equal indifference as the first. They drive her from the royal cells ; she also, from being perpetually harassed, becomes agitated, departs, and carries along with her a third swarm. In a populous hive this scene is repeated with the same circumstances three or four times during the summer. The number of bees being then, so much reduced, they are no longer capable of pre- serving a strict watch over the royal cells; several females are enabled to leave their confinement at once, when they seek each other, fight, and the queen who is at last victorious reigns peaceably over the republic*." For two or three nights previous to the departure of a swarm, a singular humming sound is heard in the hive. The sounds, which are sharp and clear, * Huber on Bees, 176, 288 itfs&CT MISCELLANIES. seem to proceed from a single bee, but they cannot always be distinguished unless the ear be placed near the mouth of the hive. John Hunter compared the sound to the lower A in the treble of the piano- forte, and others think it resembles the stridulous toot, toot, of a child's penny trumpet. It has been supposed by Wildman that this sound proceeds from the contest of the rival queens about sallying forth, but the facts above given show this to be an unfounded conjecture; and with still less truth Butler sup- poses it to be a parley between the young and the old queen — the former at the bottom of the hive re- questing leave to emigrate, and the latter answering in her bass note from the top *. Others gravely construe the sound into a harangue of the queen to animate her subjects to the meditated undertaking of founding a new empire. On the other hand, there is also for the most part unusual silence in the hive, that is, little of the ordi- nary hum ; the intended emigrants being, it is sup- posed, busily engaged in eating a hearty meal, and laying in a cargo of honey as a provision for bad weather previous to their departure. In proof of this, John Hunter, upon opening the crops of the emigrants, found them full of honey, whereas he found but a small portion in the crops of those which remained. Perhaps it may be this circumstance which produces their obvious neglect of collecting, as well as of other labour, some days previous to emigra- tion. One of the most indubitable signs of swarming, according to Reaumur, is when — particularly on a sunny morning, the weather being favourable to their labours — few bees go out of a hive, from which on the preceding day they had issued in great numbers. He is of opinion that this proves all, or almost all * Monarchia Femina, 1634, MIGRATIONS OF BEES. 289 the inhabitants of a hive to be aware of a project which will not be put in execution before noon, or some hours later ; otherwise, why should bees, who worked the day previous with so much activity, cease their labours in a habitation they are to quit at noon ; There is a well-known anecdote of an old grenadier, who, being seen resting inactive, while his less expe- rienced comrades were busily pitching their tents, Marshal Turenne, his general, asked him why he did not bestir himself like the rest, — " Because," he replied, " we shall have to march again in a few hours" — a reason which the bees, intending to emi- grate, well understand*. About the same time an unusual number of male bees may be observed on the outside of the hive, as well as a body of workers clustered together at its entrance, driven thither, it has been conjectured, in consequence of the heat of the hive, arising from the agitation among the inhabitants, — the usual spring temperature of the hive from 90° to 97° being thus augmented to 104°. This is farther increased by the heat of the sun, for a swarm is seldom, if ever, seen, except when the sun shines and the air is calm, — so much so, that if but a cloud pass before the sun, all the agitation coincident with their prepa- ration to depart is intermitted. It has even been imagined that they can foresee fine weather, though the circumstance just mentioned shows that their foresight in this respect must be very limited ; be- sides, swarms are not unfrequently caught in a shower and obliged to return to the hive for shelter. Reaumur had one which set out at one o'clock and was caught in a shower at three. At the same time, it is certain that they are always feverishly alive to the state of the weather ; and while ranging in the * Reaumur, Mem. v. 611. 2c 290 INSECT MISCELLANIES. fields, a chance cloud passing over the sun will in- duce their precipitate return, though, when the sky is totally overclouded, they are not deterred from col- lecting, and in such a case the commencement of a soft rain does not alarm them. " I am persuaded/' says Huber, " that the neces- sity of a fine day for swarming is one reason for the protracted captivity of the young queens in their cells, though in some cases this appears to be quite arbi- trary ; but it is always remarkably extended when bad weather continues for several successive days. The providential reason appears to be, that if the young queens were at liberty to leave their cradles during intemperate weather, a plurality of queens and constant warfare between them would be the consequence. Instead, therefore, of the multiplica- tion of the species being left to the chance of rain or fine weather, it is by the wise disposition of Provi- dence rendered independent of either. By allowing only a single queen to escape at once, the formation of swarms is insured. Another important circum- stance resulting from the temporary captivity of the young queens is, that they are in a condition to fly the instant they are set at liberty, and consequently can take advantage of the first moment of sunshine to head the emigrants*." At first, the queen does not alight on the branch where the swarm settles, but waits till a number of the bees are formed and clustered before she joins them. Immediately afterwards the clustering be- comes more dense, all the bees in the air hasten- ing to join their companions, each clinging to one another by the claws of their feet as when they form a curtain during the production of waxf; * Huber on Bees, p. 179. f See Insect Architecture, p. 119, for a figure of this. MIGRATIONS OF BEES. 291 and a singular spectacle it is to see from twelve to forty thousand bees thus conglomerated in a living mass. Swarm of 40,000 bees on a branch of fig-tree, with Reaumur's apparatus for weighing them, and computing their number. 292 CHAPTER XII, GOVERNMENT OF INSECT COMMUNITIES THE points of analogy between the forms of human and of insect government are much fewer and slighter than they have been represented by fanciful and in- accurate writers; for, among the termites, the ants, the wasps, and the bees, though we find their asso- ciations denominated monarchies and republics, they exhibit but little of what is usually understood by those terms, though the bonds of union arising from mutual assistance and protection are much the same. The chief coincidences which appear obvious are between the insect communities and certain very arti- ficial and unnatural forms of society among mankind. Thus the great importance of the division of labour, as an instrument of civilizing men in a savage state, probably gave rise to the institution of castes in India and in ancient Egypt*, and to the singular military state of Sparta, which bears the nearest resemblance to insect communities of any other on record. Some ancient legislators, indeed, carried into rigid practice the doctrine maintained by some modern visionaries, that all men at birth are equal in faculties ; and therefore, like a piece of clay, of which a potter can make " one vessel to honour and another to dis- honour," men might be moulded at the will of their instructors into priests, soldiers, herdsmen, agricul- turists, or artisans, as in Egypt, according to Di- odorus ; or into philosophers, cultivators, herdsmen, * Herodotus, ii. and iii. j Diod. Sic. i.; and Strabo, xvii. GOVERNMENT OF INSECT COMMUNITIES. 295 merchants, warriors, overseers, or counsellors, as in India, according to Arrian. Though this doctrine, however, as far as regards mankind, is contrary to universal observation, it is strictly true in the case of social insects, which, as soon as they arrive at maturity, are invariably en- dowed with the same powers, unimprovable also, so far as we are aware, by any mode of management or of instruction. A spider, the moment it issues from the maternal nest, can spin a web as neatly as it can ever afterwards do during the experience of a long life; and we have just been observing a worker ant (Myrmica rubra) which had begun to move about for the first time, and still wore the pale hue peculiar to this species in infancy, set to work in re- moving rubbish and assisting to place the pupae of the formicary with as much dexterity and skill as its old, experienced, dark-coloured compatriots*. Human society is united chiefly by the bonds of mutual protection and assistance, the latter leading to the multifarious arrangements of the divisions of labour ; but in the case of insects, as has been well remarked by Kirby and Spence, the great end being the multiplication of the species, " Providence has employed extraordinary means to secure the fulfilment of this object, by creating a particular order of individuals in each society, which, freed front sexual pursuits, may give themselves wholly to labour, and thus absolve the females from every employ- ment but that of furnishing the society from time to time with a sufficient supply of eggs to keep up the population to its proper standard f." Yet it is pro- per to repeat, that notwithstanding all which has hitherto been discovered respecting social insects, we are still much in the dark as to many important points. " The more I am engaged," says Bonnet, *J.R. f lQtr' "• 30- 2o 3 294 INSECT MISCELLANIES. " in making fresh observations upon bees, the more firm is my conviction, that the time is riot yet arrived in which we can draw satisfactory conclusions re- specting their policy. It is only by varying and com- bining experiments in a thousand ways, and by placing these industrious flies in circumstances more or less removed from their ordinary state, that we can hope to ascertain the right direction of their instinct, and the true principles of their government*." What we have to state, therefore, concerning these interest- ing communities, must be considered only an ap- proximation to the truth as near as we can bring it from the facts already ascertained. GOVERNMENT OF WHITE ANTS, OR TERMITES. THE government of the extraordinary insect co- lonies belonging to the genus Termes does not appear to be quite so well understood as their labours in architecture and their destructive pro- pensities ; for though the different orders are suffi- ciently distinct, their analogies to bees and ants have not yet been clearly ascertained. From what has been observed by Smeathmanf, it appears there are four different descriptions of these insects in each community; and Latreille has discovered a fifth, whence we have workers, nymphs, soldiers, males, and females. - The workers or labourers are not in their perfect state, like the workers among the common ants, but are only grubs (larvce) as hatched from the egg. When full-grown they are about a quarter of an inch long, and they constitute the most numerous part of the population, there being at least a hundred workers to one of the soldiers, from which they differ in having round heads and short mandibles. They are the most active members of the community, * OEuvres, x. 194. f Phil, Trans, vol. Ixxi. GOVERNMENT OF WHITE ANTS. 295 being" incessantly employed in erecting, enlarging, or repairing the buildings, foraging for provisions, or in attending to the eggs and the young. The nymphs or pupae which were discovered by Latreille, differ little from the workers, except in having the rudiments of wings, or rather wings folded up, as happens with butterflies in the state of chrysalis*. They seem to be equally active as the workers, which probably led Smeathman to over- look their difference f. The soldiers were supposed by Smeathman to be nymphs or pupae, but Latreille discovered that they form a distinct order of perfect insects of neither sex, and not imperfectly developed females, as is the case with the workers among bees and common ants. There is about one of these soldiers for every hun- dred of the workers, and they are distinguished by their being more than half an inch in length, nearly fifteen times as large as a worker, and furnished with a formidable pair of awl-shaped, jagged mandibles, as hard as a crab's claw, and capable of inflicting a painful wound. Their head likewise is strong, horny, and larger than all the rest of the body. It is the part of these to guard the colony, and defend it from attack. The males and females, unlike the preceding, be- come furnished with wings for the purpose of mi- grating to establish new colonies, but afterwards lose these wings, as do the females of common ants. Like the males and females of the hive-bee, they are exempt from all labour. These Smeathman has de- nominated kings and queens ; though we must cau- tion our readers not to take these terms according to the strict letter, for they have, apparently, neither power nor authority in the community, and are more * See Insect Architecture, p. 287. f See Insect Transformations, p. 294, 5. 296 . INSECT MISCELLANIES, like state prisoners. We may remark, however, that each colony possesses only one male and female, which are, it would appear, elected after taking wing. " Some," says Smeathman, " being found by the labouring insects that are continually running about the surface of the ground under their covered galleries, are elected kings and queens of new states; all those which are not so elected and preserved, perish. The manner in which these labourers protect the happy pair from their innumerable enemies, not only on the day of the massacre of almost all their race, but for a long time after, will, I hope, justify me in the use of the term election. The little industrious creatures immediately enclose them in a small chamber of clay* suitable to their size, into which at first they use but one entrance, large enough for themselves and the soldiers to go in and out, but much too little for either of the royal pair to use ; and, when necessity obliges them to make more entrances, such entrances are never larger, so that the voluntary subjects charge themselves with the task of providing for the offspring of their sovereigns, as well as of working and fighting for them, until they have raised a pro^ geny capable of at least dividing the task with them f. " The king and queen, after having been enclosed in this solitary cell, never afterwards quit it, but are kept close prisoners. The abdomen of the queen soon begins to enlarge, stretching out like a bag, till it becomes nearly two thousand times the size of her body. Smeathman says, he has seen it five inches long, of an irregular oval shape J, and containing a countless number of eggs, of which she has been ob- served to lay as many as sixty. in a minute. Instinct * See Insect Architecture, p. 292, 3. f Phil. Trans, vol. Ixxi. J See Figure in Insect Architecture, p. 293. GOVERNMENT OF ANTS. 297 directs the labourers to surround the queen at this pe- riod *, and carry off the eggs as soon as laid to nurse- ries prepared for the purpose, where they attend them till hatched, and then provide for the wants of the young. The royal cell is also provided with a few soldiers, who seem to do the duty of a body-guard to the king and queen; and the surrounding apart- ments always contain a number of both labourers and soldiers in waiting, that they may be in readiness when wanted to attend upon and defend the common father and mother, on whose safety the happiness and even the existence of the whole community depend ; and whom these faithful subjects never abandon, even in the last distress. Yet withal it does not appear that they exert the least authority, or indeed that any part of the population rules another. All seem to know their several duties, and to perform them with- out being ordered or commanded ; and consequently no police nor punishments for neglect or breach of order are required — a state of things which is in a great measure inconceivable, were we to take human society as a standard, in which there are always so many of the selfish passions in active play as to produce incessant breaches of the admirable order and mutual subordination, without individual supe- riority, conspicuous in these insect communities. GOVERNMENT OF ANTS (Formicidce) . THE charter according to which a community of ants is regulated, resembles very much that of the termites, the exceptions being rather in the details than in the leading principle. The worker ants, for example, are ascertained to be females imperfectly developed, incapable of producing eggs; but hence, the better capable of attending to the nursing of the young hatched from the eggs of the perfect females, * See Figure in Insect Transformations, p. 15. 298 -INSECT MISCELLANIES. which are, like the preceding, kept imprisoned, though not so strictly, while the males are neglected, and left to perish a few days after their disclosure. The male ants, consequently, are as idle as the males (drones) of a bee-hive; but not so the females, which are as active as the workers in placing the eggs, larvae, or pupae in the most suitable temperature which the hive affords ; though, after the original esta- blishment of a colony by a single mother, we are not aware that the females ever provide food for the young, or for themselves, a task which is wholly performed by the workers, as well as the buildings or galleries requisite for the lodgment of the com- munity. When the females, deprived (as we have seen in a preceding page) of their wings, are established in the original colony, they lose all desire of making their escape, and though no longer detained prisoners, and dragged about by the workers, yet each, ac- cording to Gould and Huber, is attended by a body- guard, a single ant, accompanying her every where, and providing for her necessities. Kirby and Spence, apparently from mistaking an expression in Huber, tell us that the station of this sentinel " is re- markable, it being mounted upon her abdomen, with its posterior legs upon the ground*;'* but we ven- ture to say, that such an occurrence is not, at least, the common order of things, for among the nu- merous instances examined by us, we have never observed anything like this ; and Huber says ex- pressly, that it " rests upon its abdomen, with its hind legs stretched out." This sentinel is frequently re- lieved by others, the female never being left by her- self for an instant; but no sooner does she begin to lay, than her attendants are increased, from ten to fifteen constantly following her, and rendering her * Intr. ii. 55, GOVERNMENT OF ANTSf 299 similar homage to that evinced by bees for their queen. Crowds eagerly press around her, present- ing her with food, and conducting her through the steep and difficult passages, to the galleries, by car- rying her in their mandibles, in which case she coils herself up into a round ball, so as to incommode her bearer as little as possible. "The eggs," says Huber, " taken up by the labourers, at the instant of their being laid, are collected around her. When she seeks repose, a group of ants environ her. Several females live in the same nest ; they show no rivalry ; each has her court; they pass each other uninjured, and sustain in common the population of the ant-hill ; but they possess no power, which, it would seem, entirely lodges with the workers*." " You may sometimes," says Gould, " expect to find two queens in the same colony. I have once or twice met with three. They most usually reside in the same lodgment, and live together in perfect harmony and union." We have recently visited a numerous colony of the red ant (Myrmica rubra), in which we saw no less than eight females without wings, all residing in the same large chamber, and no (apparently) distinct group of attendants round each, though a crowded body of workers indis- criminately surrounded the whole eight. In the under-ground chambers, which we did not open, there might, perhaps, have been others t. Gould further tells us, that " in whatever apartment a queen- ant condescends to be present, she commands obedience and respect. A universal gladness spreads itself through the whole cell, which is expressed by particular acts of joy and exultation. They have a peculiar way of skipping, leaping, and standing upon their hind legs, arid prancing with the others. These frolicks they make use of both to congratulate * Page 133. f J- R- 300 INSECT MISCELLANIES. each other, when they meet, and to show their re- gard for the queen. Some of them gently walk over her ; others dance round her, and all endeavour to exert their loyalty and affection. She is generally encircled with a cluster of attendants, who, if you separate them from her, soon collect themselves into a body, and inclose her in the midst. However ro- mantic this description may appear, it may easily be proved by an obvious experiment. If you place a queen-ant with her retinue under a glass, you will, in a few moments, be convinced of the honour they pay and the esteem they entertain for her*." The same ingenious observer remarked, however, that as soon as a female ant had laid eggs in any cell, the attentions of her followers became obviously less, their chief concern then being the care of the eggs. She herself also exhibits uneasiness, and, becoming unsettled, she wanders away to another apartment, where she obtains renewed homage from another party, who, in turn, abandon her as soon as she furnishes them with a deposit of eggs. Huber preserved a family of the yellow ant (Formica flava) all the winter, and in April, taking a glass with a little earth, let down a piece of wood about midway into the vessel, upon which he placed some plants, aphides, arid the ants with their larva?, and one female. " They gathered together," he adds, *' a little earth which they found scattered over the leaves, and constructing therewith a little lodge be- tween the branches, they placed their queen in it. In a few days they discovered a narrow passage be- tween the glass arid the border of the plank, and finding moist earth underneath, they lost no time in constructing in this place lodges, paths, and vaulted chambers. Thither they transported the greater part of the larva? ; but they could not so easily in- * Account of English Ants, GOVERNMENT OF ANTS. 301 troduce the female. She had descended to the border of the plank very willingly, and endeavoured to pass the opening which lay between it and the side of the glass. She placed her head almost every moment at this opening, and made every effort to enter, as if she were aware there was a space underneath where she could be more conveniently lodged. She at length found a place of sufficient width to thrust in the whole of her head. The ants in the lower story rubbed her with their mandibles and caressed her with their antennae, as if to invite her to follow them. Some seized her by their mandibles, others mounting on the plank drew her by the legs towards the lower apartment. She made several vain attempts to in- sinuate her body, and the workers collecting around seemed desirous of repairing the injury her un- fruitful efforts had occasioned. I now seconded the wish of my little protegees by slightly moving aside the plank, when the workers were enabled to lead the female to the bottom of her abode without further obstacle. We see by these details of the conduct of workers in regard to females, that if they deprive them of their liberty and sometimes of their wings, it is only with the view of insuring the population of the ant-hill ; and that the condition to which nature destines them yields in no respect to that of queen- bees. The attachment of the labourers to the females would appear to continue after their death ; for, when a pregnant female dies, five or six labourers rest near her, and during several days brush and lick her continually, either in token of lasting affection, or that by these means they hope to re-animate her *." In all this, however, these females, or queens (if we must call them so), exercise none of the functions of sovereignty in issuing orders or enforcing obe- dience ; nay, it would appear that, but for the eggs * Huber, p. 140. 2D 302 INSECT MISCELLANIES. which they furnish to recruit the population of the ant-hill, they would receive no attention nor respect whatever. The males again have still less right to the title of kings; and nothing could be more correct than the statement of Solomon that they have " no guide, overseer, or ruler*," for no individual seems en- dowed with any authority over the others. Each seems to act independently of its companions, and yet all seem to agree in forwarding the same designs. In their structures and galleries, whether mined into the soil, hewn out of wood, or built of masonry f, the first who conceives a plan of easy execution im- mediately gives the sketch of it, and others have only to continue what this has begun, inferring from an inspection of its labours what they ought to engage in. It would appear, also, that planning is confined to no particular order, every individual exercising an equal right in this, as well as in the execution, or in foraging for provisions. In the still more important measure of fixing upon a spot to which the whole community migrate, a chance indi- vidual seems to originate the measure, to which all the others accede, according to Huber, without a single dissentient. From some facts, however, which he has elsewhere stated, as well as from several ob- servations which we have made, these views seem to require some modification. We have mentioned above that the red ant, and particularly the turf-ant (Myrmica ccespitum), are seldom satisfied for any length of time with the spots selected for their nests. In consequence of this they are constantly pulling about and carrying their com- panions to places supposed to be more eligible ; but although in many cases these go quietly along, in others they are quite refractory, and retaliate upon * Proverbs, vi. 6. f See Insect Architecture, chapters xiv. and xv. . GOVERNMENT OF ANTS. 303 the reformers by seizing1 their legs or antennae in no very gentle manner; for they sometimes go the length of biting them through, and even, if we do not greatly mistake, of devouring those they suc- ceed in mutilating and mastering. We have seen several instances of this in those we accidentally ob- served in the fields ; but as we could not, in such cases, be certain whether both individuals belonged to the same community, arid as those even of the same species are always at deadly enmity, we placed several nests of the red ant (Myrmica rubrd) in glass frames, in order to watch their proceedings. The result was, that when they were confined within narrow limits, they all lived amicably enough, and did not attempt any change, because there was only a single place at all fit for their purpose : but when a passage was allowed them to several places at a distance, the desire for change put them all in agita* tion, and we soon witnessed scenes of dragging arid mutilation such as we had previously seen in the fields. We had, consequently, no doubt that the plans of individuals often meet with opposition which lead to violent feuds, sometimes ending in the death of the proposer or of individuals who refused to agree to his plans*. To many all this may appear an imaginary sketch suggested by theory, but we have not stated one circumstance which we have not ac- tually seen in repeated instances. The following re- marks by Huber partly corroborate the preceding facts. " I have been enabled,'' he says, " to observe, through the glasses of my artificial ant-hill, the great care taken of the larvaB. They were generally guarded by a body of ants, who were raised upon their feet, with their tail between their legs ready to cast their venom upon all intruders, whilst, here and there, other * J. R. 304 INSECT MISCELLANIES. workers were engaged in clearing the passages by removing the materials which were out of place ; a great number of their companions taking at the same time their repose, and appearing to be fast asleep : but a busy scene occurred at the moment of trans- porting their little ones to enjoy the warmth of the sun. When the sun's rays fell upon the exterior portion of the nest, the ants which were then on the surface descended with great rapidity to the bottom of the ant-hill, struck with their antennae the other ants, ran one after the other, and jostled their com- panions, who mounted at the moment under the bell- glass and redescended with the same speed, putting in their turn the whole colony in motion, so that we could observe a swarm of workers filling up all the passages ; but what proved still more their intention by these movements, was the violence with which the workers seized, with their mandibles, those who did not appear to understand them, dragging them forth to the top of the ant-hill, and immediately leaving them, to go and seek those still remaining with the young*." Gould's testimony to the same circumstance is still more pointed, and he is of opinion that they kill and devour individuals which from accident or illness are unfit to labour for the benefit of the common weal, as the hive-bees massacre their males. " The red colonies," he says, " are the only ones I could ever observe to feed upon their own species. You may frequently discern a party of from five or six to twenty surrounding one of their own kind, or even fraternity, and pulling it to pieces. The ant they attack is generally feeble arid of a languid com- plexion, occasioned, perhaps, by some disorder or other accident f." An old naturalist mentions a very similar circumstance in still stronger terms. " If," * On Ants, p. 73. t Account of English Ants, p. 104. GOVERNMENT OF ANTS, 305 says he, " they see any one idle, they not only drive him as spurious, without 'food, from the rest, but likewise a circle of all ranks being assembled, cut off his head before the gates, that he may be a warning to their children not to give themselves up for the future to idleness and effeminacy *." That the writer may have witnessed such an occurrence is exceedingly probable, though the inference he draws is evidently too refined. Kirby, on quoting these passages, says, " I once saw one of these ants (Myrmica rubra) dragged out of the nest by ano- ther, without its head ; it was still alive and could crawl about. A lively imagination might have fancied that this poor ant was a criminal condemned by a court of justice to suffer the extreme sentence of the law. It was more probably, however, a champion that had been decapitated in unequal combat, unless we admit Gould's idea, and suppose it to have suf- fered because it was an unprofitable member of the community. At another time I found three indivi- duals that were fighting with great fury, chained to- gether by their mandibles ; one of these had lost two legs of one side, yet it appeared to walk well, and was as eager to attack and seize its opponents as if it was unhurt. This did not look like languor or sickness j\" With reference to the notion of the feeble or the sick being persecuted or expelled, we may mention that it is not uncommon in artificial formicaries to see indi- viduals become ill and die, either from confinement, from surfeit, or from improper food ; but in two colo- nies of the red ants now under our eye, where several individuals are obviously in a dying state, the active members of the community seem to take no more notice of them than if they were a bit of earth, and * Mouffet, Theatrum Insect. 241. f Intr. ii.71. 2 D3 306 INSECT MISCELLANIES. even walk over their bodies, if they chance to be in their way, with the greatest indifference. When they actually die, however, they in general, though not always, remove their bodies to some distance, out in such cases we never saw any instance of their devouring their unfortunate compatriots*. GOVERNMENT OF WASPS AND BEES. THE communities of the social wasps and of humble- bees (Bombi) are constituted in a very similar man- ner to those of ants, though they differ in several remarkable particulars. A colony of ants, for ex- ample, particularly of the jet-ant (Formica fuliginosd), and others which build in trees, may continue in the same spot for a number of years ; we have known a hill built in a meadow by the yellow ant (F. flava) continue for five successive years, its dimensions be- ing annually enlarged, and its population at the same time increased. But it is seldom if ever that wasps or humble-bees continue in the same spot for two successive years, inasmuch as their societies do not hybernate as the ants do, being always broken up at the close of autumn, and all the population perishing, with the exception of a few females which survive the winter. Each of these survivors becomes the foundress of a summer colony, like those female arits who escape the scouting parties despatched from the parent communities to capture them f« These fe- males are six times the size and weight of one of the workers, and may be seen in the early spring eagerly prying into every hole and crevice of a hedge-bank for the purpose of discovering a suitable place for their nest. Afterwards they are rarely seen, keeping themselves, like the queen of the hive-bee, entirely at home ; but they are not like her idle, for they con- * J. R. t See page 244. GOVERNMENT OF WASPS AND BEES. 307 tinue to labour in the building of cells, with the same assiduity as their progeny. The foundress wasp, or humble-bee, also, is not the mother of the colony, as is the case with a hive-queen ; for instead of produc- ing at her first laying- the eggs of workers only, she deposits those of both males and females : but the latter, when hatched, and come to maturity, are only a sixth part of the size of their mother, and only lay the eggs of males. Such are the various orders among the population of a community of social wasps or humble-bees ; but it does not appear that there prevails among them anything like what we understand by subordination. Every one, indeed, seems to do what seems right in its own eyes, without taking counsel of its neighbour. The only circumstances which look like appointments to particular duties, occur in the instance of the male wasps, which are riot an idle race, like those among ants and hive-bees. They do not, indeed, forage for building-materials or provisions, nor take any con- cern in the business of nursing; but, if we may trust the younger Huber, they act as the scavengers of the nest, by sweeping the floors of the terraces and the passages leading to them, carrying off every species of rubbish, as well as the bodies of those individuals which chance to die. When a burden, also, is too heavy for the strength of an individual, two unite in the task, as is done by the workers among ants, and sometimes recourse is had to the expedient of lightening the load by dividing it. It may be, that their rendering themselves useful in this manner is the reason why they are not massacred like the males of hive-bees. Mr. T. A. Knight, when quite a boy, discovered that wasps seem to appoint sentinels at the entrance of their nest to give the necessary alarm in case of danger, and that the intimations of no other indivi- 308 * INSECT MISCELLANIES. dual are attended to. For if these sentinels be taken by surprise and destroyed, and their communication with the interior prevented, no provocation will excite the wasps arriving from the fields to attack an in- truder ; but if one escape from within, it immediately proclaims war, and is seemingly commissioned to avenge the invasion of the state, and prepared to sacrifice its life in the execution of its orders*. It further appears to arise from some public order that each individual wasp has its own particular portion of work assigned in the task of building, the extent of this being from an inch to an inch and a half; a cir- cumstance that does not occur among ants, where a bit of wall is usually raised by several individuals coming to it in succession, and who, merely by chancing to pass that way, perceive what is requisite to be done. Amongst the humble-bees the most remarkable circumstance is, the jealous rivalry of the larger female, who has founded a colony for the small fe- males, which she has just before been so careful in rearing. The younger Huber, while watching at midnight the proceedings of a nest which he kept under a bell-glass, observed the bees to be much agitated, and discovered the cause to be the con- struction of a nurse-cell, in which several of the small females were busily engaged. Their mother, upon perceiving their object, came and drove them off; but she, in turn, was attacked by others who came to their assistance, and, pursuing her with the utmost fury and beating- her with their, wings, drove her to the bottom of the building. The original builders then returned and finished the cell, and two of them laid eggs in it at the same time. Their mo- ther, however, soon returned to the charge, seeming to be in a great rage at their proceedings, and again chasing away her disobedient and pertinacious chil- * Phil. Trans, for 1807, p. 242. GOVERNMENT OF WASPS AND BEES. 309 dren, she thrust her head into the cell, seized the eggs which they had deposited, and devoured them with great avidity. A similar scene was repeated some time after ; and subsequently one of the small fe- males returned and covered in with wax the cells which the mother had despoiled of their eggs ; and when she was afterwards removed, the small females contended for a cell with similar animosity, all of them being eager to deposit in it at the same time *. These contentions, however, do not appear, in this case, as in the instance of the hive-bees, to arise from the wish for supreme dominion, as nothing of that kind has place in these communities. Even the mother-bee of the hive, who has been dignified by all writers with the title of queen, has apparently less authority than any individual in the community, her sole employment being to people the state by laying eggs, and though she has been said to lead the bees in the case of swarming, the fact appears to be, that she is as much a follower as a leader. Swarms, indeed, will not settle nor work without a female along with them, but this arises from her being indispensable to add to their numbers, and not that her superinten- dence is wanted, much less indispensable. So far, however, as increasing the population is concerned, a hive is essentially monarchical, and hence every- thing is arranged, in the management of the state, so as to have always one female and no more. The queen-regnant is on that account inspired with deadly enmity towards her own offspring, should any other female be evolved while she remains in the hive; and when she has migrated with a swarm, the same animosity is shown by a young queen towards her juniors, even while they are still in their cells; and what is most wonderful, her murderous pur- poses seem to be expressly abetted by the royal * Linnsean Trans, vol. vi« 310 INSECT MISCELLANIES. grubs not spinning complete cocoons, as is done by the other bees, — leaving an opening through which she can easily sting them to death *. "In one of my hives," says the elder Huber, " there were five or six royal cells, each including a nymph. When the eldest was transformed, scarcely ten minutes elapsed from the time of her leaving her cradle, when she visited the other royal cells ; and furiously attacking the nearest, she succeeded by dint of labour in opening the top, by tearing the .silk of the cocoon with her teeth. Probably, how- ever, she found her efforts inadequate to effect her purpose, for she abandoned this and attacked another, in which she succeeded in making a wider breach. In this aperture she thrust her abdomen, and, after several abortive efforts, she at last succeeded in giv- ing the helpless nymph a mortal sting. Upon her quitting the cell, a number of bees, who had previously been spectators of her attack, began to enlarge the opening, and drew forth the dead body of the em- bryo queen, just disclosed from her envelope. " In the meanwhile, the queen was proceeding in her work of assassination by attacking another royal cell ; but as the nymph in this was not so mature as in the former, she did not sting it. It appears pro- bable, indeed, that the immature nymphs inspire their rivals with less animosity, though they do not, on that account, escape destruction ; for whenever a royal cell has been, as this was, prematurely opened, the workers always extract the contents, whether in the state of grub, nymph, or queen, and accordingly, as soon as she had left it, a party of workers enlarged the breach she had begun, and dragged out the in- cluded nymph. The queen was, in the meanwhile, attacking a third cell ; but as she laboured in a lan- guid manner, being exhausted perhaps by her pre- * See*Insect Transformations, p. 331. GOVERNMENT OF WASPS AND BEES. 311 vious exertions, she did not succeed in tearing open the silk. We removed the other royal cells with the design of procuring queens for future experiments*." Schirach and Reim, observing that when there were two queens in a hive, one soon disappeared, were led to suppose that one was killed or expelled by the workers ; but Huber found that the workers take no part in the affair, which is left wholly to the rival females themselves, while Mr. Dunbar observed that a stranger queen was not stung to death, but closely confined by a body of workers, till she was either suffocated or perished from hunger. We shall give Huber' s observations in his own words. "Two young queens," he says, " quitted their cells in one of our thinnest hives almost at the same moment, and immediately, when they came within sight, rushed upon each other with the most un^ governable fury. They placed themselves in such an attitude that the antennae of each were held by the antagonist's mandibles, head being opposed to head, trunk to trunk, and abdomen to abdomen. They had, indeed, only to bend their tails, and they would have fallen reciprocal victims to each other's sting. But it having been so ordered by Providence that these duels should not prove fatal to both combatants, upon finding themselves in this perilous situation, a panic fear seemed to strike them, and they disengaged themselves with the utmost precipitation, and fled. I have repeated this observation very often, so that it leaves no room for doubt. A few minutes after they had separated, their terror abated, and the at- tack was renewed, but the result was the same as before. During all this time, the workers seemed in great agitation, and the tumult seemed to increase when the combatants separated. Twice I observed them stop the flight of the queens, seize their limbs, * Huber on Bees, p. 93. 312 INSECT MISCELLANIES. and retain them prisoners above a minute. At last, the queen which was either the strongest or the most skilful warrior, darted on her rival at a moment when unperceived, caught one of her wings near its joint, and rising exultingly above her, inflicted a mortal sting. Quitting hold of the wing she withdrew the weapon, while the wounded queen fell down, dragged herself languidly along, and her strength failing, she soon expired *." Experiments in proof of this were varied in every possible way, both with impregnated and virgin queens, and always with similar results. Reaumur has said, that when bees have a queen they are satisfied with, they are nevertheless disposed to give a good recep- tion to any female seeking refuge among them. This, however, does not at all agree with the experiments of Huber and Dunbar, and it appears probable that Reaumur mistook for caresses the anxiety of the crowd which surrounded the stranger, on her introduction, in order to keep her in confinement, his hives being too thick for him to observe what followed. Huber introduced into a very thin hive, containing a fertile queen, another in the same condition, after painting her thorax for the sake of distinction. " A circle of bees/* he says, " quickly formed round the stranger, but not with the intention of caressing and receiving her well ; for their number soon increased so much, and they surrounded her so closely, that in less than a minute, she lost her liberty and became a prisoner. It was remarkable that other workers at the same time collected around their legitimate queen, and restrained all her motions, for we saw her imprisoned as closely as the stranger. It may be said that the bees anticipated the combat in which these queens were about to engage, and were impatient to behold the issue of it, for they retained their prisoners only * Huber on Bees, p. 93. GOVERNMENT OF WASPS AND BEES. 313 when they appeared to withdraw from each other, and opened their ranks to allow them to fight. The cluster around the reigning queen having allowed her a little freedom, when she advanced all receded till she came in sight of the stranger, upon whom she precipitately rushed, and seizing her by the wing near its origin, plunged her sting in her body*." A queen appearing thus to be indispensable in a hive, the question may be asked, what are they to do, if they are by accident deprived of her? The social wasps, in such circumstances, are said to become rest- less and idle, wandering away from their nest, and never returning. But though the loss of a queen spreads temporary consternation through a hive of bees, the population do not abandon themselves to despair ; but make all haste to supply their loss by means of an expedient, which is, perhaps, one of the greatest singularities in insect history, since they can actually, it would appear, form a queen out of the grub of a worker, by feeding it in a particular manner, and by enlarging its cell. This circumstance is said to have been known to the Greeks and Italians from time immemorial, and even acted upon in practice, parti- cularly in the little Sicilian island of Favignana ; but it does not appear to have been at least published before the appearance of Schirach's celebrated work. It is but right to state, however, that the doctrine was far from being universally received. Needham, though an advocate for the absurd doctrine of the transformation of plants into animals f, attacked the opinion with violence J ; and even John Hunter pub- lished some sarcastic strictures upon it §; while a more practical, though less profound man, Keys, * Huber on Bees, page 99. f See Insect Transformations, p. 129. $ Bonnet, (Euvres, ix. 128, note. § Phil. Trans, for 1792. 2 E 314 INSECT MISCELLANIES. treated it with equal ridicule"*. The subsequent ex- periments, however, of Huber, Dunbar, and others, have now established the fact beyond all question. " During ten years," says Huber, " that I have studied bees, I have repeated Schirach's experiment so often and with such uniform success, that I can no longer entertain the least doubt on the subject." But it also appears that Schirach made several mistakes, supposing, for example, that it is necessary for the grubs selected for becoming queens, to be at least three days old, and also that the cells which are enlarged for them are precisely similar to those regularly built for queens ; neither of which is the fact. It may be as well, for the satisfaction of our readers, to prove the point by experiments made subsequent to the discovery. In July, when a mirror-hive had become rilled with comb and bees, and well stored with honey, the queen being very fertile, laying a hundred eggs a-day, Mr. Dunbar opened the hive and took her away. It was eighteen hours before the bees ap- peared to miss her, at least they continued their labours ; but no sooner was their loss discovered than all became agitation and tumult, and they rushed to the entrance as if preparing to swarm. They remained, however, in the hive, and immediately set about providing for their loss, as, on the succeed- ing morning, he observed that they had begun no fewer than five royal cells, and by the afternoon four more were founded in a part of the comb containing eggs, which had been deposited only a day or two before. On the fourteenth day after he had removed the queen, a young queen made her appearance, and proceeded towards the other royal cells, for the pur- pose of attacking them. She was, however, pulled * Trans, of the Bath Society. GOVERNMENT OF WASPS AND BEES. 315 violently away by the workers ; but at every repulse from the cells of her rivals, she appeared sulky and cried peep, peep, — one of the unhatched queens re- sponding, though in a somewhat harsher tone ; a circumstance which explains the two different sounds heard prior to the issuing of second swarms. On the afternoon of the second day, another queen was hatched, and was immediately surrounded by a cluster of bees. Next morning Mr. D unbar found her dying, having no doubt been slain by her rival. Contrary to the statements of Huber, therefore, Mr. Dunbar found that the artificial queens are surround- ed by a guard, and that they are not mute*. Bonnet, to whom Schirach communicated his ex- periments, remained long unconvinced, as well as Wilhelmi, Schirach' s brother-in-law; but the uniform success of the experiment made them ultimately re- nounce their scepticism. Bonnet, also, was successful in repeating it f ; and Mr. Payne, of Shipham, in Norfolk, told Kirby that he accidentally observed the bees of one of his hives, which had lost their queen, erecting some royal cells on the ruins of the common ones. Their usual mode of proceeding, indeed, is to throw three contiguous common cells into one, two of the three grubs which occupy them being sacrificed, and the remaining one liberally fed with royal jelly. This is a pungent food, prepared by the workers exclusively for the purpose of feeding such of the grubs as are destined for queens. It is not so mawkish and is more stimulating than the food given to the common grubs, having a perceptibly spicy acescent taste. " It does not appear to me improbable," says Bonnet, " that a certain kind of nutriment, and in more than usual abundance, may cause a development, in the grubs of bees, of organs * Bevan on Bees, p. 22. f Contertipl. de la Nature, (£uvres,ix.27. 316 . INSECT MISCELLANIES. which would never be otherwise developed. I can readily conceive, also, that a habitation, considerably more spacious and differently placed, is absolutely necessary to the complete development of organs which the new nutriment may cause to grow in all directions*." Instances of analogous development, as well as the contrary, might be produced to infinity in all the departments of nature ; though those are perhaps more abundant in the vegetable than in the animal world. We have but small room to spare for illus- trating this, and shall content ourselves with men- tioning a single experiment by Mr. T. A. Knight. Wishing to ascertain the effect of stimulating manure, he took a plant of the cockscomb (Celosia cristata), and kept it regularly moist with water, in which pigeons' dung had been steeped, arid at the same time had it successively shifted into larger pots, as the roots reached the sides. The latter, to some, may appear very superfluous labour, as the plant might have been placed from the first in a pot sufficiently large ; but in that case it would have wanted the stimulus arising from the roots impinging on the sides of the pot. The result was, that the plant produced a flower of larger dimensions than had ever been witnessed f. This experiment illus- trates the effects both of stimulant food arid space for enlargement. On the contrary, confined space not only retards the growth, but prevents the due deve- lopment of peculiar functions; in proof of which it is stated by John Hunter, that when a cow brings forth two calves, and one of them is a female, it is always barren J. It would be leaving this curious point imperfect, were we not to add to the preceding proofs some of * On Bees, p. 56. f Horticult. Trans. $ On the Animal Economy, p. 65, GOVERNMENT OP WASPS AND BEES. 317 the experiments of Huber, undertaken at the instance of Bonnet, to ascertain how far Schirach was to be trusted. " I placed," says he, " in a hive deprived of the queen, some pieces of comb containing eggs of workers, in cells of the same kind as those already hatched. The same day several cells were enlarged by the bees and converted into royal cells, the grubs being supplied with a thick bed of jelly. We then removed five of the grubs from those cells (to remove the possibility of their being from royal eggs), and substituted for them five common grubs, which had been hatched forty-eight hours previously under our eyes. The bees did not seem to perceive the change, watching over the substituted worms as over those of their own selection ; and continuing to enlarge the cells, they closed them at the usual time. Seven days afterwards we took away the cells to preserve the queens that would be produced; and in due time two were excluded almost at the same moment, of the largest size, and in every respect well formed. No queens having appeared in the other cells, we opened them, and found two with only the dried skins of the grubs, and in the other a dead queen- nymph. I can conceive nothing more conclusive than this experiment, since it demonstrates the power possessed by the bees of converting the grubs of workers into queens, — for they did so with grubs which we ourselves had selected ; and it also proves that it is not indispensable for these grubs to be three days old." " A hive in my possession," continues Huber, " having been long deprived of the queen, contained neither egg nor grub, and I provided for it a queen of the greatest fertility. She immediately began laying in the cells of workers, but I removed her before she had been quite three days in the hive, and before any of her eggs were hatched. The 2 E3 318 . INSECT MISCELLANIES. following morning, being the fourth from her intro- duction, we counted fifty minute worms, the oldest scarcely hatched twenty-four hours. Already, how- ever, several were destined for queens, indicated by the bees depositing around them a much more abundant provision of food than is ever supplied to the grubs of workers." Next day, the grubs being then nearly forty hours old, the bees had enlarged their cells, and had converted them from the hexa- gonal to the cylindrical form of greater capacity. They continued their attention to them during the succeeding days, and on the fifth from the hatching of the grubs they closed them. Seven days after the first of these royal cells had been closed, a queen of the largest size issued from it, and immediately rush- ing towards the other cells, endeavoured to destroy their nymphs and grubs *." It appears that the cells of workers, which are contiguous to royal cells, frequently, if not always, produce workers capable of laying eggs, — the cir- cumstance arising, it is supposed, from their re- ceiving by accident a portion of the royal jelly. Huber, indeed, ascertained this from several experi- ments ; and he also found the queen to attack these fertile workers with as much fury as she would have done a rival queen f. From all these details it is evident that the only attention, homage, and respect, paid by bees to their queen arises from the affection they have for her progeny. In order to ascertain the extent of the loyalty of the bees to their sovereign, Dr. Warder ran the hazard of destroying a whole swarm. With this view, having shaken on the grass all the bees from a hive where they had only been settled on the preceding day, he stirred them about with a stick till he found the queen, whom he placed, with a few * On Bees, p. 69. f Ibid. Letter v. GOVERNMENT OF WASPS AND BEES. 319 attendants, in a box. He took this into his parlour, and opened it, when she flew immediately to the window with her attendants. He then cut off one of her wings, and returned her to the box, where he confined her for above an hour. The swarm, in less than a quarter of an hour, ascertained their loss, when, instead of clustering as before in a conglo- merated mass, they spread themselves about, became agitated and restless, and uttered a doleful sound. About an hour after, they all took flight and settled on the hedge where they had first alighted on migrating from the parent hive ; but instead of hanging together, as is usual with swarms accom- panied by a queen, they scattered themselves along1 the hedge, in small parties of forty or fifty. In these circumstances the Doctor presented them with their queen, around whom they immediately congregated, uttering a joyful hum, and uniting in a suspended cluster. He hived them again at night, and on the following morning repeated his experiment, to ascer- tain whether they would rise, for the queen, in con- sequence of the loss of her wing, could not fly to accompany them ; but they continued with her for several hours, appearing to be willing to die rather than desert her. Upon removing her a second time, they again spread about as if in search of her; and when she was restored to them repeatedly, at dif- ferent parts of their circle, " these poor loyal and loving creatures (in the words of the Doctor) always marched and counter-marched every way the queen was laid." He continued the same experiments for five days and five nights, during which period they had not tasted food, and at length the whole perished, the queen surviving the others only a short period. He infers that the queen was no less attached to the bees than they to her, for she uniformly refused to 320 INSECT MISCELLANIES. take the honey which he offered her when separated from the swarm*. Dr. Evans relates a case in which also the queen's guard, if we may call them so, remained faithful to the death. In a thinly peopled hive he observed a queen lying on some honey-comb apparently dying, and surrounded by six bees with their faces turned towards her, quivering their wings and holding their stings unsheathed and brandished, like a sentinel with his fixed bayonet. He presented these guar- dian bees with honey, but though it was eagerly eaten by the other bees, they seemed so completely absorbed in their care of the queen, that they would not touch a drop. The queen died ; yet on the fol- lowing day he found her body still guarded, and though supplied with honey the bees gradually pined, and in three or four days they were all dead f. It was by taking advantage of this attachment that Wildman was wont to perform feats with bees, which astonished all that witnessed them, as Dr. Evans gives it : " Such was the spell, which round a Wildman's arm Twin'd in dark wreaths the fascinated swarm ; Bright o'er his breast the glittering legions led, Or with a living garland bound his head. His dexterous hand, with firm yet hurtless hold, Could seize the chief, known by her scales of gold, Prune, 'mid the wandering throng, her filmy wing, Or o'er her folds the silken fetter fling." The Bees. " Long experience has taught me," says Wildman himself, " that as soon as I turn up a hive, and give some taps on the sides and bottom, the queen im- mediately appears. Being accustomed to see her, I * Wardei's True Amazons, or Monarchy of the Bees. t The Bees, a Poern ; notes. GOVERNMENT OF WASPS AND BEES. 321 readily perceive her at the first glance ; and long practice has enabled me to seize her instantly, with a tenderness that does not in the least endanger her person. Being possessed of her, I can, without ex- citing any resentment, slip her into my other hand, and returning the hive to its place, hold her, till the bees, missing her, are all on the wing and in the utmost confusion." It was then, by placing the queen in view, he could make them alight wherever he pleased, and sometimes using a word of com- mand to mystify the spectators, he would cause them to settle on his head, and even to hang from his chin like a living beard, from which he would order them to his hand, or to an adjacent window. But, however easy such feats may appear in theory, Wildman cautions those who are inexperienced not to put themselves in danger by attempting to imitate him. A liberated Roman slave, C. F. Cnesinus, being accused before the tribunals of witchcraft, because his crops were more abundant than those of his neighbours, produced as his witnesses some superior implements of husbandry, and well-fed oxen, and pointing to them, said, "These, Romans! are my instruments of witchcraft; but I cannot show you rny toil, my perseverance, and my anxious cares." " So," says Wildman, " may I say, These, Britons ! are my instruments of witchcraft ; but I cannot show you my hours of attention to this subject, my anxiety and care for these useful insects ; nor can I com- municate to you my experience acquired during1 a course of years *." * Treatise on Bees, 1769. 322 CHAPTER XIII. WARS OF INSECT COMMUNITIES. WHEN the population of a rookery resolve to feast in security upon the helpless cockchafer grubs of a particular field, they have always a sentinel rook posted on some adjacent tree, who may give timely intimation of any threatening danger ; but whether this watch-bird is elected by vote, or whether the office is held in rotation by tacit consent of the whole colony, we have no means of ascertaining. Their sociality, however, approaches much nearer the prin- ciples of human policy, than the instinct displayed by the chance crowds of blow-flies collecting round a carcass, or of frogs in a pond, which manifest not, at least to our observation, any bond whatever of social union. In some of the circumstances which we have now to mention, the uniting together to perform one common object is much more distinct and obvious ; arid, in the case of some of the European ants, leads to consequences more calculated perhaps to excite wonder, than any other circumstance connected with insect history. Before coming to this peculiarity of the ants, however, we shall take brief notice of what may justly be termed wars, both offensive and defen- sive, among other families of social insects. BEES AND WASPS. THE singular wars of bees were observed by the most ancient naturalists, and are recorded by Aristotle*, Virgil, and Pliny. " If it happens," says the latter, that the meat in one hive be spent, the bees belonging * Hist. Anim. ix. 25. WARS OF INSECT COMMUNITIES. 323 thereto will assaile their next neighbours, with intent to rob and spoile them of their provision. But those on the contrary side put themselves in battel aray, with full intent to take them again. And if there chance to be a keeper by to see the combat, that party which perceives him to favour their side, will not once make at him for to sting him ; other causes there are which make them often go together by the ears, and then shall ye have two severall cap tain es to arrange their battalions one against another f." Virgil exhibits such a battle with great splendour of diction, and the passage loses none of its magnilo- quence in the hands of one of his translators : " If to fight they issue forth — (for oft Between two kings fierce discord reigns) — The pop'lar rage and courage, while their hearts Tremble with eager appetite for war, You may foreknow. A clarion, shrill as brass Rouses the laggers, and a martial noise Afar is heard, like trumpets' broken sounds. Then trembling they rush on with quiv'ring wings, And with, their sharp proboscis whet their stings And trim their claws; while round their leader's court They crowd and muster, and with loud acclaim Provoke the foe. Now having gained a sky Serene, and open fields of vernal air, They issue from their gates and join the shock Of battle ; humming through the ethereal void, In one huge cluster they conglobe, and fall Precipitant: nor thicker falls the hail, Nor showers of acorns from a shaken oak. The leaders also, 'twixt the middle ranks, Conspicuous shine, and spread their glistening wings; Their tiny breasts inspired with mighty souls, Resolute not to yield till these or those Vanquished inglorious turn their backs in flight." Trapp, Georg. iv. 100. t Holland's Plinie, p. 320. 324 INSECT MISCELLANIES. The correction of one error into which Virgil has fallen in this passage, will lead us to describe the sin- gularly ingenious structure of the bee's sting. This weapon never requires to be whetted, and, if it did, it could not be reached for that purpose by the pro- boscis or tongue. The formidable instrument con- sists, like the ovipositor of the saw-flies*, of an exten- sile sheath, enclosing two needle-shaped darts much finer than a human hair. The latter can seldom be distinguished by the naked eye, what is usually taken for the sting being only the sheath. Swammerdam, however, could never ascertain whether the bee can wound or pierce the skin with the sheath onlyf; being very sharp, it may possibly be used to make the first puncture before the darts are thrust out. The fineness of the point of the sheath may be strik- ingly inferred from the observations of Hook : " An exceedingly small needle," he tells us, "being ex- amined by a microscope, the point thereof appeared above a quarter of an inch in breadth ; not round or flat, but irregular and unequal ; and the surface, though extremely smooth and bright to the naked eye, seemed full of ruggedness, holes, and scratches. In short, it resembled an iron bar out of a smith's forge." The sheath of a bee's sting, on the other hand, viewed through the same instrument, showed every where a polish most amazingly beautiful, with- out the least flaw, blemish, or inequality, and ended in a point too fine to be visible J. The two darts are distinctly separate, even to the base; and though so very close to one another, they can be made to act independently, for Swammerdam has often seen one thrust out farther than the other. Towards their extremity these darts are armed with ten minute teeth, standing obliquely like those of a saw, and * See Insect Architecture, p. 153. f Biblia Nat. i. 200. . J Hook's Micrographia. WARS Otf INSECT COMMUNITIES. 325 hence it happens, when they are plunged into a bit of leather or the human skin, the bee can seldom with- draw them again. The consequence is, that both they and their sheath, with all the parts connected, are forcibly wrenched out of the insect's body, a mu- tilation which must prove fatal. Structure of the sting of the common bee. a, Terminal ring of the abdo- men, cut open, and the sting and its appendages exhibited. 6, Sting and its appendages taken out from the abdomen, c, Profile of the sting and appendages. All greatly magnified, but in different degrees. The sting is articulated to the lower end of the bee's body by thirteen scales, and moved by muscles, which, though so small as to be indistinct to the naked eye, are yet strong enough to force the sting to the depth of the twelfth of an inch into the thick skin of a man's hand. Swammerdam found these muscles to be eight in number, into which the horny parts of the sting are inserted. When the insect is prepared to sting, one of the darts, having its point a little in advance of the other, first plunges into the skin, and being fixed by its foremost barb, the other strikes in also, and they alternately penetrate deeper and deeper, till they acquire a firm hold of the flesh with their hooks. This is not all : the mere darts of the bee would not, of themselves, produce any more pain than the 326 INSECT MISCELLANIES. puncture of a needle, as Swammerdam indeed ascer- tained by experiment ; but in such cases, he care- fully wiped the sting to free it from the poison •which it usually carries, and which is the main cause of the pain and swelling of the part stung1. This poison is secreted into a bag or bladder, situated near the base of the sting, and communicating Poison-bag of the bee attached to the base of the sting ; very greatly magnified. with the tube of the sheath. It is moreover fur- nished with a very strong muscle, which twines itself around it, and has its tendon in the middle. When this muscle contracts itself, the poison is thereby forcibly squeezed out, and thrown into the wound, so that the sting may be compared to a small WARS OF INSECT COMMUNITIES. 327 syringe, the little bladder, with its muscle, acting the part of the impelling plug*. The poison is a transparent fluid, and when tasted is sweetish, followed by a hot acrid sensation, similar to the milk of the spurge (Euphorbium). It is soluble in water, but not in spirits of wine, and in this it resembles the poison of the viper, as well as when dry and chewed, appearing tenacious, gum- my, and elastic ; but the poison of the viper is tasteless, and has none of the chemical characteris- tics of acidity. The poison of the bee, however, affects vegetable blues, and hence the Abbe Fon- tana concludes, that it at least contains a portion of some acidf. Dr. Bevan says, "if a humble-bee be irritated to sting paper tinged with litmus, or any other of the vegetable blues, the colour is changed, by the acid of the venom, to a bright red." He adds that it does not seem to differ from the bombic or the formic acidsj ; but this we should be much disposed to doubt, for the formic is now known to be a mix- ture of the acetic and malic acids§, and can be made artificially, which the bee's poison cannot be||. Be this as it may, the poison of the bee is so very active that Fontana supposes a grain of it would be suffi- cient to kill a pigeon. Mr. Talbot informs us that during the summer of 1820, the Rev. R. Leeming having sent a fine horse to grass at a neighbouring farmer's, who kept about twenty stocks of bees, the animal got upon the lawn, where the hives were placed, and by accident overturned one of them, the bees of which attacked him with great virulence. The horse, rearing and kicking from agony, over- threw another hive, and having thus doubled the * Swammerdanij i.'v f Fontana on Poisons, i. 265— 9. J On Bees, p. 284. § Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat.xii. 94. || Rennie's Sup. to Phar. 2 F2 328 INSECT MISCELLANIES. number of his assailants, his sufferings brought him to the ground, and in less than five minutes from the commencement of the attack, the poor animal was literally stung to death *. A similar fact is recorded by Mungo Park. His people, while searching for honey, disturbed a large colony of bees, who sallied forth in myriads, and attacking men and beasts indiscriminately, put them all to the rout. One horse and six asses were either killed or missing in consequence of their attack ; and for half an hour the bees seemed to have completely put an end to their journey. On another occasion, one ass was lost and a man almost killed by the beesf. Lesser relates, that in 1525, during the confusion occasioned by a time of war, a mob of peasants assembling in Hohorstein, attempted to pillage the house of the minister of Eleude, who, having in vain employed all his eloquence to dis- suade them from their design, ordered his servants to fetch his bee-hives, and throw them into the mid- dle of the enfuriated multitude. The effect answered his expectations, for they were immediately put to flight {, Besides attacking the larger animals, however, individuals of adjacent hives often engage in fatal duels. Sometimes a bee, while sitting peaceably on the outside of a hive or walking about, is rudely jostled by another, when the combat immediately commences with such bitter violence, that they per- mitted Reaumur to examine them quite closely with a magnifying glass. They wrestle, turn, pirouette, arid throttle each other ; and after rolling about in the dust, the victor, watching the time when the enemy uncovers ,his body by elongating it in the * Five Years' Residence in the Canadas. f Park's last Mission to Africa, pp. 153-^297. J Insecto-Theologiejii. 171, WARS OF INSECT COMMUNITIES. 329 attempt to sting-, thrusts its weapon between the scales, and the next instant its antagonist stretches out its quivering wings, and expires ; for the stroke of the sting, when it once penetrates the muscles, is mortal. In these engagements the conqueror is not always able to extricate his sting, and then both perish. The duration of such duels is uncertain ; sometimes it lasts an hour, and at others is very soon determined : and occasionally it happens that both parties, tired with their fruitless struggles, give up the contest and fly off* Though it seems natural for bees to be industri- ous, in hives ill managed or not properly supplied with food, the inhabitants, instead of continuing a well-constituted civil society, become a formidably organized band of robbers. Schirach denominates these corsair bees f; the English writers call them robbers. The robbing season, according to Keys, occurs sooner or later as the summer has been more or less favourable ; but in general, it happens in March or August. He once had a stock attacked in August and again in October. When a hive de- termines to commence robbing, Keys says, "they send spies to discover the state of neighbouring stocks. A few of the spies for several days dodge about the doors, trying to get in to obtain more knowledge of their strength and riches ; but are driven away by the powerful stocks, who plant guards at their door, and as the weak stocks do not, they are therefore the first to be assaulted. The next day they return in force, and begin a violent siege ; and a desperate conflict ensues, both within and without the hive, neither side giving quarter. The stoutest warriors make a desperate attempt and rush forward, and seize the queen ; knowing that, by * Reaumur, Mem. v. 360—5. t Schirach, sur la Reine des Abeilles, p. 49. 999 330 INSECT MISCELLANIES, despatching her, instant victory is the consequence ; for the assaulted bees always desist and join the victors, the moment they are apprised of their queen's death, become as one fraternity, and assist to carry their own treasure to their new habitation. But in case the queen is protected, they fight on with rage and fury, and death and pillage soon destroy the stock *." Mouffet's account is somewhat different. " Theeves," he says, "being naturally odious to the bees, steal upon their labours when they are absent, wasting and spoyling their provision of honey. Yea, they do so glut themselves in the meanwhile, that they are not able many times to get out again, they are so full, or to stand in their own defence ; whereupon the bees, at their return, without any more adoe, severely punish them, and» according to their just demerits, kill them outright." Again he says, " the bees have watchmen which observe at night when they come home, and they defend and secure them from the theeves, and if they spie a thief come in they set upon him and beat him, throw him out of doors, and there leave him for dead, or half dead at least ; for so it happens, that the thief having filled himself with honey is not able to fly away, but tumbles up and down at the door of the hive, till they that goe out finde him, and having branded him with igno- miny and scorn, deprive him of his lifef." Keys says, that when a hive does not appoint watch-bees, nor show resentment upon the intrusion of robbers, it is a sure sign of their weakness J. Sometimes, it is reported, small parties of three or four will unite to rob, as we may say, on the highway. These waylay straggling individuals, or a humble-bee (Bombus) as it returns to its hive loaded with honey. The robbers then make their * Keys's Treatise, p. 174; ed. 1814. | Theatre of Insects, p. 921. J Keys, p. 175. WARS OP WHITE ANTS. 331 attack: one seizes by a leg, another by a wing1, or perhaps there are two on each side confining or pulling its limbs while they maul and pummel its chest or bite its head. This maltreatment obliges it to unfold its tongue and disgorge its honey, which the robbers eagerly lap till they are satisfied, and then let their prisoner go *. Wasps are also audacious robbers of bee-hives, and one wasp is said to be a match for three bees. This is partly owing to their reckless temerity or courage, for they will boldly encounter evident danger, and one wasp will fearlessly oppose a whole host of bees to filch a bellyful of honey f. WHITE ANTS, OR TERMITES. As the white ants (Termites) have a portion of their community expressly set apart for the duties of war, they may be expected to exhibit the most per- fect form of insect tactics ; and such, indeed, is the fact, though the details hitherto published by those who have had an opportunity of observing them are not so particular respecting many points as we could have wished. Upon making a breach in one of their castles J a general alarm is excited amongst all ranks of the inhabitants ; but the labourers, pre- viously the most conspicuous, being incapable of fighting, immediately betake themselves to the inte- rior, while the soldiers take their places. Imme- diately upon striking the wall, a soldier, probably a sentinel, starts out, walks rapidly over the breach to reconnoitre, and after ascertaining the nature of the danger threatened, retires to give the alarm. Upon this two or three more hurry out, and the intelligence spreading, the breach is soon filled with soldiers * Kirby and Spence, ii.208. f Keys, p. 180. J See Insect Architecture, p. 300. 332 INSECT MISCELLANIES. rushing out to defend their citadel, which they do with indescribable fury. Apparently they can only direct their movements by feeling1, though they do not spend much time in deliberating, but bite fiercely at every thing within their reach, and in their haste they frequently lose their footing and tumble down hill. In biting they frequently strike their forceps upon the wall, which makes a crackling noise somewhat shriller and quicker than the ticking of a watch, and this, which may be heard at the dis- tance of several feet, the labourers within seem to understand, as they reply to it with a kind of hissing. " I one day," says Smith, " attempted to knock off the top of one of the hills with my cane, but the stroke had no other effect than to bring thousands of the insects out of doors to see what was the matter ; upon which I took to my heels, and ran away as fast as I could." Others have had more courage than Smith to renew their attack, in which case the bustle and fury increase in a tenfold degree. If, in their rage, they come in contact with the hands or legs of their assailant, they make their mandibles meet through the skin at every stroke, and inflict consi- derable pain, while the blood from one of their wounds will stain the stocking to more than an inch in width. They never quit their hold, but will suffer themselves to be pulled limb from limb, without making any attempt to escape. " If, on the other hand," says Smeathman, " you cease to batter, in half an hour they retire into the nest, as if they supposed the wonderful monster that had battered their castle to be beyond their reach. The labourers, who had fled on the first alarm, are now seen hastening to repair the breach, every one with a burthen of ready-tempered mortar in its mouth. This they stick on to the breach with such wonderful celerity and order, that although thou- WARS OF WHITE ANTS, 333 sands, nay, millions, seem employed, yet they never embarrass one another. While the labourers are thus engaged, the soldiers retire, save here and there one who saunters about, never touching the mortar. One in particular places itself close to the part undergoing repair ; it may be seen turning lei- surely on all sides, and every now and then, at an interval of a minute or two, lifting up its head, and with its forceps beating upon the building and making a vibrating noise, on which a loud hiss, apparently from the whole body of labourers, issues from within- side the dome and all the subterranean passages: that it comes from the labourers is very evident, for all these may be seen hastening at every such signal, redoubling their pace, and working as fast again." A renewal of the attack instantly changes the scene. " At the first stroke," continues Smeathman, " the labourers run into the many pipes and galle- ries with which the building is perforated, and this they do so quickly that they seem to vanish, for in a few seconds all are gone, and the soldiers rush out as numerous and as vindictive as before. On finding no enemy they return leisurely into the hill ; and soon afterwards the labourers appear loaded as at first, with soldiers here and there among them, who act in the same manner as before, one or other of them giving the signal to hasten the business, Thus the pleasure of seeing them come out to fight and to work alternately may be obtained as often as cu- riosity excites, or time permits; and it will certainly be found, that the one order never attempts to fight nor the other to work, let the emergency be ever so The furious valour and pertinacity of these soldier- insects present a serious obstacle to those who have * Phil. Trans, vol. Ixjd. 334 INSECT MISCELLANIES. the curiosity to explore the interior structure of their edifices, which is also increased by the mutual de- pendance of the walls and archways, and the activity of the labourers in building up with almost magical celerity the parts broken down. The soldiers, Smeathman tells us, "fight to the very last, dis- puting every inch of ground so well, as often to drive away the negroes, who are without shoes, and to make the white people bleed plentifully through their stockings. Neither can we let a building stand so as to get a view of the interior parts without in- terruption ; for, while the soldiers are defending the out-works, the labourers keep barricading all the way against us, stopping up the different galleries and passages which lead to the various apartments, particularly the royal chamber, all the entrances to which they fill so artfully as not to let it be distin- guishable while the work remains moist ; and, exter- nally, it has no other appearance than that of a shapeless lump of clay. It is, however, easily found, from its situation with respect to the other parts of the building, and by the crowds of labourers and soldiers which surround it, and which exhibit their loyalty and fidelity by dying under its walls. The royal chamber is often capacious enough to hold many hundreds of the attendants, besides the royal pair, and is always found as full of these as it can hold. These faithful subjects never abandon their charge, even in the last distress ; for, whenever I took out the royal chamber, as I often did, and pre- served it for some time in a large glass bowl, all the attendants continued to run round the king and queen with the utmost solicitude, some of them stopping at the head of the latter, as if to give her something*." * Phil. Trans, vol. Ixxi. WARS OP ANTS. 335 WARS OF ANTS. THE wars of ants have furnished a theme not pe- culiar to modern times, though it belongs to living naturalists to have traced many interesting circum- stances respecting these, which could scarcely have been dreamed of, and would certainly not have been credited but upon the very high authority of the wit- nesses. One of the older records of an ant-battle is given by ^Eneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope Pius II., which was contested with obstinacy by a great and a small species, on the trunk of a pear-tree. " This action," he states, *' was fought in the pon- tificate of Eugenius the Fourth, in the presence of Nicholas Pistoriensis, an eminent lawyer, who re- lated the whole history of the battle with the greatest fidelity." Another engagement of the same de- scription is recorded by Olaus Magnus as having happened previous to the expulsion of Christiern the Second from Sweden ; and the smallest species, having been victorious, are said to have buried the bodies of their own soldiers that had been killed, while they left those of their adversaries a prey to the birds *. Our readers, however, we are per- suaded, will listen with more interest to some of the minutely circumstantial narratives of the chief historian of ants, the younger Huber. " If," says he, " we are desirous of beholding regular armies wage war in all its forms, we must visit the forests in which the wood-ant (Formica rufa) establishes its dominion over every insect within the neigh- bourhood of the colony. We shall there see popu- lous and rival cities, and regular military roads diverging from the ant-hill like so many rays from a centre, frequented by an immense number of com- batants of the same species, for they are naturally * Mouffet, Theatrum Insect. 242. 33d INSECT MISCELLANIES. enemies, and jealous of any encroachment upon the territory which surrounds their capitals. I have witnessed in these forests the inhabitants of two large ant-hills engaged in spirited combat ; two empires could not have brought into the field a more numerous or more determined body of com- batants. The rival cities were situated about a hundred paces from each other, and alike in extent of population : what occasioned their discord I cannot pretend to say. " Let us figure to ourselves this prodigious crowd of insects covering the ground lying between these two ant-hills, and occupying a space of two feet in breadth. Both armies met at half-way from their respective habitations, and there the battle com- menced. Thousands of ants took their station upon the highest ground, and fought in pairs, keeping firm hold of their antagonists by their mandibles : a considerable number were engaged in the attack and leading away prisoners. The latter made several in- effectual efforts to escape, as if aware that, upon their arrival at the camp, they would experience a cruel death. The scene of warfare occupied a space of about three feet square ; a penetrating odour exhaled from all sides ; numbers of dead ants were seen covered with venom. The ants, composing groups and chains, laid hold of each other's legs and pincers, and dragged their antagonists on the ground. These groups formed successively. The fight usually com- menced between two ants, who seized each other by the mandibles, and raised themselves upon their hind-legs, to allow of their bringing their abdomen forward, and spurting the venom upon their adver- sary. They were often so closely wedged together, that they fell upon their sides, and fought a longtime in that situation in the dust, till a third came to decide the contest. It more commonly happened WARS OF ANTS, 3j7 that both ants received assistance at the same time, \vhen the whole four, keeping firm hold of a foot or antennae, made ineffectual attempts to win the battle. In this way they sometimes formed groups of six, eight, or ten firmly locked together, the group being only broken when several warriors from the same republic advanced at the same time, and compelled the enchained insects to let go their hold, and then the single combats were renewed : on the approach of night, each party retired gradually to their own city. " Next morning, before dawn, the combatants re- turned to the field of battle, the groups again formed — the carnage recommenced with greater fury than on the preceding evening, and the scene of combat oc- cupied a space of six feet in length by two in breadth. The event remained for a long time doubtful ; but about mid-day the contending armies had removed to the distance of a dozen feet from one of the cities, whence I conclude some ground had been gained. The ants fought so desperately that they did not even perceive my presence ; for though I remained close to the combatants, not one of them attempted to climb iny legs, seeming to be wholly absorbed in the object of finding an enemy to wrestle with. During this furious warfare the common operations of the two colonies were not suspended, for the paths, which led to a distance in the forest, were as much thronged as in time of peace, and all around the ant-hill order and tranquillity prevailed. On that side alone where the battle raged were seen crowds of the colonists running to and fro, some to join the army and some to escort the prisoners. This war terminated without any disastrous results to the two republics. In fact it appeared that its duration was shortened by long-continued rains, which com- pelled each of the belligerents to keep within their '2 G 338 INSECT MISCELLANIES. walls, and the warriors ceased to frequent the road which led to the camp of the enemy *." It may surprise some of our readers, that among ants " the battle is not to the strong,' ' for those of larger size seem as much if not more afraid to en- counter the smaller than those apparently more powerful than themselves. Any of our readers, who have the curiosity, may verify this by throwing a parcel of small ants, with their eggs, larvae, or pupae, into the nest of a larger species, when the giants will be seen every where retreating before the pig- mies. A small black species (Myrmica ? ), little more than a line in length, of which we have thrown two or three dozen into a hill of the miner (Formica cunicularia), which is nearly three times the size, put to flight every one that attempted to carry their property into the underground apart- ments, though the miners had the advantage of being at home. The cause of the superiority of the smaller is their dexterity in seizing the others by the antennae or the legs, and their obstinacy in retaining their hold, even should they be pulled to pieces. These small ones, also, like the red and the turf-ants, had the advantage of a sting, of which the miners were destitute ; but we seldom observed them use it, seeming to trust more to their mandibles f- Huber says, " when the large attack the small, they appear to do it by surprise, most likely to prevent the latter from fastening on their legs : they seize them in the upper part of the body, arid strangle them imme- diately between their pincers. But when the small ants have time to guard against an attack, they in- timate to their companions the danger with which they are threatened, when the latter arrive in crowds to their assistance." It does not, however, agree with anything which we have observed in these com- * On Ants, p. 194. t J. R. WARS OP ANTS. 339 bats, that assistance is ever rendered to an individual by its fellow colonists, for the numerous combats which we have witnessed have been exclusively duels, and though many of these duels were con- tested within a few inches of each other, no com- batants ever interfered with the antagonist of ano- ther*. The larger species appear to stand most in need of assistance, for when a small ant fixes upon their legs or antenna? it never lets go its hold, and may often, even after it is dead or half of its body bitten off, be seen remaining immoveable, sub- jecting the individual it has thus fixed upon to no little inconvenience. Huber's observations, how- ever, do not relate to the same species as ours. One of the battles which he witnessed was be- tween a colony of the Herculean ant (Formica Her- culaned), which is nearly half an inch long, and has not been found in Britain, and the sanguine ant (F. sanguinea), only half the size, and rare in Britain, though Mr. Stephens has taken it near London. "These Herculean ants," says Huber, " quitted the trunk of the tree in which they had established their abode, and marched up to the very gates of the nest of the sanguine ants. The latter had the advantage in point of number ; yet they acted on the defensive. The earth, strewed with the dead bodies of their companions, bore witness that they had suffered the greatest carnage, and it was no doubt on this account that they had taken the prudent part of fixing their habitation elsewhere, and with great activity transported to a distance of fifty feet from the spot, the several objects that interested them. Small detachments of the workers were posted at little distances from the nest, apparently placed there to cover the march of the recruits, and to pre- serve the city itself from any sudden attack. They * J. R, 2G2 340 INSECT MISCELLANIES. struck against each other when they met, and had al- ways their mandibles separated in the attitude of defi- ance. As soon as the Herculean ants approached their camp, the sentinels in front assailed them with fury. They fought at first in single combat. A sanguine ant threw itself upon a Herculean, fastened upon its head, turned its abdomen against the chest of its adversary, or against the lower part of its mouth, and inundated it with venom. It sometimes quitted its antagonist with great quickness ; more frequently, however, the Herculean ant held between its feet its audacious enemy. The two champions then rolled themselves in the dust, and struggled violently. The advantage was at first in favour of the largest ant ; but its adversary was soon assisted by those of its own party, who collected around the Herculean ant, and inflicted several deep wounds with their teeth. The Herculean ant yielded to numbers ; it either perished the victim of its temerity, or was conducted a prisoner to the enemy's camp*." Not the least wonderful circumstance connected with these insect battles is the instinct which enables each ant to know its own party, more particularly when the combatants on both sides are of the same species, and thousands of individuals mingle in the strife, who appear, at least to our senses, to be pre- cisely alike in shape, size, and colour. Sometimes, indeed, according to Huber, they do attack those of their own party, but on recognising them imme- diately relax their hold ; while it often happens that the individuals who have been the sufferers from this temporary error, caress their companions for the purpose, it would appear, of appeasing their anger. The warfare, however, is conducted in various manners according to the genius of the species %* Huber on Ants, p, 137. WARS OF ANTS. 341 engaged in it ; and when a party of the wood-ant (F. rufa) attacks a party of the sanguine ant (F. sanguined), the manoeuvring reminds us strongly of our own battles. The sanguine ants, in this case, go and await the enemy in little troops at some dis- tance from the nest, advancing in a body without separating, and seize all those of their enemies who venture too far from the camp. "The two parties," says Huber, "place themselves in ambuscade, and suddenly attack each other in turns ; but when the sanguine ants perceive that the wood-ants are ad- vancing in force against them, they inform those at the ant-hill, by messengers, of the need in which they stand of their assistance. Immediately a con- siderable army is despatched from the sanguine city, advances in a body, and surrounds the enemy. I have witnessed instances of this kind every day for several weeks, the ant-hills being in the same hedge, but at some distance from each other, and the com- bats renewed every day." Contiguity, however, is not always the cause of such warfares, for we have seen innumerable in- stances of colonies of different species, not only in the same hedge, but with their boundary walls almost touching each other, without any appearance of hostility. Nay, we have more than once seen colonies of three different species established under the same stone. In an instance of this kind there were separate colonies of the yellow ant (F.flava), the negro ant (F. fused), and the red ant (Myrmica rubra)', though the latter is most pugnacious perhaps, and certainly the most virulent of the whole tribe, yet all the three were living in harmony, though the stone which served them as a common covering was not a foot in diameter. Even in this case, however, it was by no means safe for an individual to cross its own boundaries and venture into its neighbour's ter- 342 INSECT MISCELLANIES. ritory, and when we forced one to encroach in this way, it always scampered off with the utmost trepi- dation, as if well aware, without consulting Vattel or P uffen dor f, that it had infringed an international law*. It is of importance, as will presently appear, to state that these three colonies were all quite distinct, and none subjected to another in the relation of masters and slaves, as, strange to tell, sometimes occurs in ant communities. The details on this curious sub- ject are well worthy our attention. ANT EXPEDITIONS TO CAPTURE SLAVES. THE following history of the mode in which com- munities of ants obtain labourers is altogether so extraordinary, that, did the evidence rest upon the testimony alone of one observer, we might be dis- posed to believe that it had originated in some im- perfect observation, where the fancy had influenced the judgment of the observer. But when the testi- mony of the younger Huber is confirmed by such men as Professor Jurine and M. Latreille, we have no room left for scepticism. From our own expe- rience, indeed, we can well believe Huber when he says, "the more the wonders of nature have attractions for me, the less do I feel inclined to alter them by a mixture of the reveries of imagination." We may premise that the ant named by him the Legionary, or Amazon (F. rufescens), is a large iron-brown coloured species, not hitherto found in Britain. " On the seventeenth of June, 1804," says Huber, " whilst walking in the environs of Geneva, between four and five in the evening, I observed, close at my feet, traversing the road, a column of legionary ants. They moved with considerable rapidity, and occupied a space of from eight to ten inches in length, by three * J.R. ANT EXPEDITIONS TO CAPTURE SLAVES. 343 or four in breadth. Quitting the road in a few minutes, they passed a thick hedge, and entered a meadow, where I followed them, and observed them winding- along the grass without straggling, their column remaining unbroken, in spite of the obstruc- tions in their way. They soon approached a nest inhabited by a colony of the negro-ant (F.fusca), the dome of which rose above the grass, at a dis- tance of twenty feet from the hedge. Some of the negroes were guarding the entrance ; but, on the discovery of an approaching army, darted forth upon the advancing legion. The alarm instantly spread into the interior, whence their companions rushed forth in multitudes to defend their homes. The legionaries, the bulk of whose army lay only at the distance of two paces, quickened their march, and when they arrived at the hill, the whole battalion fell furiously upon the negroes, who, after an obstinate, though brief conflict, fled to their subterranean gal- leries. The legionaries now ascended the dome, collected in crowds on the summit, and taking pos- session of the principal avenues, left some of their companions to excavate other openings in the exterior walls. They soon effected this, and through the breach the remainder of the army made their en- trance; but in about three or four minutes after- wards issued forth again, each carrying off a pupa or a grub, with which booty they retraced their route, in a straggling, irregular march, very different from the close orderly array they had before exhi- bited." Our author followed them for some time, but lost sight of them in a field of ripened corn ; and on re- turning to examine the state of the assaulted city, he found a small number of the defeated negro- workers perched on the stalks of plants, holding in their mouth the few grubs they had succeeded in 344 INSECT MISCELLANIES. rescuing from the pillage. Next morning, Huber returned at the same hour with the hope of ascer- taining the nature of these proceedings, when he discovered a numerous encampment of the legion- aries." " These formed," he tells us, " into column, set forth in a body, and fell upon one of the negro hills, which they triumphantly entered after a very feeble opposition. One division immediately re- turned with the grubs which they had captured, while another party less fortunate came away empty- handed ; but resolved, it would appear, not to go home without booty, they marched in a body upon another negro establishment, where they were abun- dantly successful. The whole army now forming two divisions, hastened to their own encampment, which I took care to reach a little before them ; but what was my surprise to observe all around a great number of that identical species, the negroes, which they had gone forth to attack. I raised up a por- tion of the building, and upon still perceiving more, I conjectured that it was one of the encampments which had already been pillaged by the legionaries, but I was set right by the arrival at the entrance of the very army I had been watching, laden with the trophies of victory. Its return excited no alarm among the negro-ants, who, so far from offering op- position to the entrance of the triumphant army, I even observed to approach the warriors to caress them, and present them with food, as is the custom among their own species, whilst the legionaries in turn consigned to them their prisoners to be carried into the interior of the nest *." They do not always complete the pillage at the first, or even the second attack, for this negro colony was successively invaded in the same manner three seve- ral times. The third time, however, the invaders * Huber on- Ants, p. 254, ANT EXPEDITIONS TO CAPTURE SLAVES. 345 had to undertake a siege in regular form, for the negroes, as if conscious of their own weakness, lost no time in throwing up trenches, barricading the several entrances, and reinforcing the guard of the interior, in order to provide for future safety. With the same view, they had brought together all the little pieces of wood and earth within reach, with which they had blocked up the passage to their en- campment. Upon discovering these defensive pre- parations, the legionaries at first hesitated to ap- proach, but rambled about or returned to the rear till sufficiently reinforced ; but at length, upon a signal given, they rushed forward in a body with great impetuosity, and began to demolish the bar- ricades with their mandibles and their feet. When they had thus made a sufficient breach, they entered into the interior by hundreds, in spite of the resist- ance of the poor negroes, and carried off their re- maining property. " I was witness,'' says Huber " every day during summer to these invasions *." The negro-ants are most commonly the victims of these hostile excursions, probably in consequence of their pacific and docile disposition ; but in more than one instance Huber observed successful attacks made upon the more warlike and powerful commu- nities of the mining ant (Formica cunicularia) , a British species, though not abundant, and nearly re- sembling the wood-ant (F. rufa) in colour, though about a fourth less in size. It is interesting to re- mark, that though the result of a victory is precisely similar to the case already detailed, the legionaries are obliged to employ a different mode of warfare, as we shall see from Huber's narrative. " Between four and five in the evening," he says, " a time when the army usually commences its march, the legionaries were already assembled on, * Huber on Ants, p. 263. 346 INSECT MISCELLANIES. the nest, and ready to set forth. They proceeded like a torrent along a deep hollow, and marched in a more compact body than ordinary, till they arrived at a nest of miners, which they intended to attack. As soon as the invading army began to enter the subterranean city, the miners rushed out in crowds, and whilst some fell upon the invaders with great spirit, others passed through the scene of contest, solely occupied in bearing off the larvae and pupae to a place of safety. The surface of the nest was for some time the theatre of war. The legionaries were often despoiled of the pupae they had captured by the miners, who darted upon them with fury, fighting body to body, and disputing the ground with an exasperation I had never before witnessed. The legionary army, however, gained the victory, and recommenced its march in good order, laden with booty ; but instead of proceeding in file, it now main- tained close rank forming a compact mass, a precau- tion more necessary, as the courageous miners has- tened in pursuit, and continued to harass their march to within ten paces of their citadel*." This conduct of Huber's miners contrasts strongly with the behaviour of a colony of the same species, upon which we made some experiments. The difference, no doubt, arose from the very different circumstances of the case. Desirous of seeing what would follow, we threw a considerable number of the minute black ant (Formica contract^ LATR.), with their pupae, upon the surface of a hill inhabited by miners ; but the latter, so far from attacking the intruders, fled from them with the utmost alarm whenever they encountered them. Imagining that his might arise from the virulent character of the black ants, we afterwards introduced a similar num- ber of the more pacific negroes (F. fused) ; but * Huber on Ants, p. 292. ANT EXPEDITIONS TO CAPTURE SLAVES. 347 the miners seemed to be no less afraid of them, and indeed all the species which we tried in the same way, among which were the carnivorous red ant (Myrmica rubrd), and the pacific yellow ant (F. Jlava), produced the same effect of fear among the miners, though they now and then snatched up some of the pupae, and carried them into the galleries below. The red ants, however, in particular, always followed them, and though so much inferior in numbers, succeeded in rescuing their property. In these experiments our miners, it is probable, had a notion that the intruders did not come for the pur- pose of invasion, otherwise their fear might have changed into courage *. "During these combats," continues Huber, " the pillaged ant-hill presented in miniature the spectacle of a besieged city ; hundreds of the inhabitants being seen to quit it, carrying off their young to preserve them from the enemy. The greater number mounted the neighbouring plants bearing the young in their mandibles, and others hid them under thick bushes. When the danger appeared to be over, they brought them back to the city, and barricaded the gates, near which they posted themselves in great force to guard the entrance. Immediately after the legionaries again departed, and proceeded towards another colony of miners of considerable extent, and threw themselves in a body upon one of the galleries indifferently guarded ; but their number not permitting them to enter all at once, the mining ants that were without precipitated themselves upon the invaders ; and whilst they were engaged in desperate combat, their fellow- citizens losing, perhaps, every hope of defending their abode and the little ones confided to their care, carried these off, took flight in every direction, and literally covered the ground to a considerable dis- * J,R. 343 iNSEdT MISCELLANIES* tance. The contest became every moment warmer between the assailants and the assailed. Legionaries and miners attacked each other impetuously, and often, in the excess of their fury, deceived as to their object, fell upon their companions, whom however they soon released. This commotion was confined to the rear guard of the legionary army; for the main body, laden with booty, having departed on their return from the pillaged city, retraced their steps to their own citadel, constantly assailed by the miners, who continued to harass their march. It was only by their address, indeed, the rapidity of their movements, and the use of their sting, that the legionaries were enabled to disengage themselves. The pillage and skirmishes are not of long con- tinuance, for in less than a quarter of an hour we usually found the legionaries on the road to their garrison *." Huber's legionary ant (jP. rufescens) is not the only species which engages in those expeditions ; for the sanguine ant (F. san guinea), mentioned by Mr. Ste- phens as having been discovered near London, is also a capturer of slaves, though the tactics employed for this purpose are considerably different. The san- guine ant is so named from the head, thorax, and feet being blood-red, while the abdomen is ash-coloured and slightly bronzed. They much resemble the wood-ant (F. rufa) ; and their nest, which is usually placed on the slope of a hedge or bank facing the south, is, like that of the wood-ant, covered with fragments of leaves, stalks of plants, moss, and little stones, which form a species of mortar difficult to break. They do not, like the legionaries, send out numerous armies, nor attempt to carry their point by impetuosity ; but make their attacks in small succes- sive divisions. As it would diminish the interest to * Huber on Ants, p. 295. ANT EXPfcbmoNS TO CAPTURE SLAVES. 349 Curtail Huber's narrative, we shall give it in his own words. 44 On the fifteenth of July," he says, "at ten in the morning*, a small division of the sanguine ants was despatched from the garrison, and arrived in quick inarch near a colony of the negro-ant (F. fusca), situated above twenty paces distant, around which they took their station. The inhabitants, on perceiving these strangers, rushed forth in a body to attack them, and led back several prisoners. The sanguine ants made no further advance, but appeared to be waiting for some reinforcement. From time to time, accordingly, small companies arrived to strengthen the brigade ; and when they considered themselves in sufficient strength they advanced a little nearer, as if more willing to run the hazard of a general engagement ; yet it was remarkable, that in proportion as they approached the negro encamp- ment, the more solicitous did they seem to despatch couriers to their own garrison, who, arriving in great haste, produced considerable alarm, when another division was immediately appointed to join the army. But, though thus reinforced, they evinced little ea- gerness for the combat, and only alarmed the negroes by their presence. The negroes took up a position in front of their encampment of about two feet square, where nearly their whole force was assembled to wait the enemy. " Frequent skirmishes took place all around the lines, the besieged always attacking the besiegers ; and, judging from their numbers, the negro-ants gave token of a vigorous resistance, but distrusting their own strength, they look to the safety of the young committed to their care, and in this respect exhibit one of the most singular traits of insect pru- dence. Even long before success is at all dubious, they bring up the pupa3 from the chambers under 2 n 350 INSECT MISCELLANIES. ground, and heap them up on the other side of the nest from that where the invading- army is making its chief assault, in order that they may be more conveniently carried off, should they lose the battle. Their young females also take shelter on the same side, When the danger becomes more imminent by the sanguine army, after receiving repeated reinforcements, rushing upon the phalanx of the ne- groes, and pressing them back to the very gates of the city, the latter, after a spirited stand, give way, and seizing upon the pupa?, deposited with that view on the outside, convey them to a place of safety. The invaders pursue and endeavour to rob them of their treasure. " The whole body of the negroes are now in flight ; yet a few, more courageous than their fellows, re- turn through the ranks of the enemy, at the hazard of their lives, and once more enter their encamp- ment to bring off the larvae that would otherwise be devoted to pillage. The sanguine ants are now, indeed, in the very act of descending into the inte- rior, taking possession of the avenues, and ap- pearing to establish themselves in the abandoned city. Little bands of troops continually pour in from the garrison and begin taking away the re- mainder of the larvae and pupae, establishing an un- interrupted chain from one ant-hill to the other: thus the day passes, and night comes on, before they have transported all their booty. A considerable number of sanguine ants still remain in the negro residence, and on the following morning, at break of day, recommence the transfer of the rest of its contents *." It would appear, from some notices collected by Kirby and Spence, that some hints at least of these extraordinary proceedings were known to our English * Huber, ut supra, p. 337. ANT EXPEDITIONS TO CAPTURE SLAVES. 351 naturalists before the interesting observations of Huber. Willughby, for example, in mentioning the care which ants take of their pup», says, "they also carry the aureliae of others into their nests as if they were their own * ;" G ould also remarks of the wood- ant (F. rufa), that " this species is very rapacious after the vermicles (larva) and nymphs (pupa) of other ants : if you place a parcel before or near their colonies, they will, with remarkable greediness, seize and carry them offf." White, of Selborne, made the same observation J, which must, indeed, occur to every naturalist who is in the least acquainted with ants. It belongs, however, exclusively to Huber to have developed the use which is made of the pur- loined pupa? by the legionary and the sanguine ants. One of the most remarkable circumstances disco- vered by Huber respecting these expeditions is, that the invaders never capture the old negroes or miners, aware, it should seem, of the impracticability of taming tnem down to the condition of slaves. Their only object is to obtain a number of pupa?, when the embryo-ants are in a state of repose, and consequently have formed no attachment to their natal colour. The city of the stranger thus becoming the only one with which they are acquainted, they consider it their home, and employ their natural activity in repairing and enlarging it, as well as adding to its provisional stores, — putting forth, in a word, the same exertions which they would have done had they never been captured. " Developed," says Huber, " in the enemy's encampment, they afterwards become house- stewards, and auxiliaries to the western tribe with whom they are associated. Brought up in a strange nation, not only do they live socially with their cap- * Rail Historia Insect. 69. f Account of English Ants, p. 91. J ii. 278. 2 H 2 352 INSECT MISCELLANIES. tors, but bestow the greatest care upon their larvsc and pupae, their males and females, and even evince the same regard for themselves, transporting them from one part of the colony to another, going in search of pro- visions for them, building their habitation — forming, as occasion requires, new galleries, and fulfilling the duties of sentinels, by guarding the exterior of their common abode, apparently not once suspecting that they live with those very insects which kidnapped them in their helpless and unconscious infancy. Whilst the negro-ants are engaged in these laborious employments, their masters rest tranquilly at the bot- tom of their subterranean city till the hour fixed for their expeditions arrives ; reserving their strength, courage, and skill in tactics, for the purpose of bring- ing in from some adjacent colony hundreds of pupae which they confide to the charge of their slaves *." It is most justly remarked by Kirby and Spence, that, although Providence has gifted these creatures with an instinct so extraordinary, and seemingly so unnatural, it does not prove, as in the instance of human slavery, a source of misery to the slaves them- selves ; for their situation is little, if at all, different from what it would have been had they never been carried from their native colony ; and they are ex- posed to no unusual hardships or oppression in conse- quence of their change of residence. It may be said, indeed, that they have to perform serious additional labours for their warlike masters ; but this objection will disappear when the minute division of labour among ants is taken into account, and when we con- sider that these slaves are commonly very numerous. Above all, it is to be recollected that the species of ants captured appear to place their chief pleasure in incessant labour, and would be as miserable, if com- pelled to be idle, as the poor animals which we see confined in menageries without space for exercise, * Huber, ut supra ,27 1. ANT EXPEDITIONS TO CAPTURE SLAVES. 353 The warrior ants, on the other hand, seem to have as much dislike to any sort of labour but war, as the barbarous Spartans of old ; and, when not in active service in the field, they seem to be as helpless as an Otaheitan prince. They are apparently incapable even of feeding themselves, an office which is always per- formed by the slaves, on whom therefore they depend, not only for house and home, but even for existence ; arid so faithful are these devoted negroes, that they seem to begrudge no exertion in providing for their masters. In their turn, however, they also exercise authority ; for they will not permit them to leave the colony alone, nor before tfye proper season; and when they return from a predatory excursion without the expected booty, they meet with a very cold reception, and are often refused admission, or dragged out again if they presume to enter. In these cases, the slaves are evidently the masters, and in no case are the latter ever observed directing their employments or keeping them to their work. Anxious to learn whether the warrior ants could subsist by their own exertions without the assistance of slaves, Huber tried the experiment of isolating them, to ascertain how they would proceed. "I enclosed," he tells us, "thirty of the legionary ants (F. rufescens), with several pupae and larva? of their own species, and twenty pupae belonging to the negroes, in a glass box, the bottom of which was covered with a thick layer of earth. I placed a little honey in the corner of their prison, and cut off all association with their auxiliaries. At first they ap- peared to pay some little attention to the larvae : they carried them here and there, but presently replaced them. More than one half of the legionaries died of hunger in less than two days. They had not. even traced out a dwelling, and the few individuals still in existence were languid and without strength. 354 INSECT MISCELLANIES. I commiserated their condition, and gave them one of their negro servants. This individual, alone and unassisted, established order, formed a chamber in the earth, gathered together the larvae, extricated several young ants that were ready to quit the condi- tion of pupa?, and, in a word, preserved the life of the remaining legionaries *." Our naturalist, not satisfied with what he could observe on the exterior of these singular communi- ties, opened one of the hills inhabited by legionary and negro ants. The latter lost no time in carrying away the larvae and pupae, which had thence been exposed, to a place of safety, and opening galleries which had been obstructed, while the legionaries appeared to look on their exertions with the utmost indifference, and never deigned to lend the least as- sistance. They seemed, indeed, so confounded at the altered aspect of the city, that they wandered about quite at randoms till the negroes helped them out of their embarrassment by carrying them to some open passage. " I observed one/' continues Huber, " after several ineffectual windings, take the precau- tion of laying on the earth the legionary, who remain- ed in the same spot until the negro returned to its assistance, who, having well ascertained and examined one of the entrances, resumed its burthen and bore it into the interior. If the entrance to any gallery was unluckily obstructed by a mass of earth, and the negro-ant wished to introduce, by that way, one of the legionaries, it quickly deposited its load, and be- gan clearing away the impediment, which was no sooner effected than the Amazon was again taken up arid carried triumphantly into the nest. These facts fully prove the harmony which reigns between the two species t." * Huber on Ants, p. 287. f Huber, ut tupra, p. 273, ANT EXPEDITIONS TO CAPTURE SLAVES. 35$ By means of his artificial glass formicaries, Huber was enabled to try a number of experiments upon these mixed communities of masters and slaves — if we may continue to use terms which are not very strictly appropriate. He had already ascertained that when their habitation is not sufficiently commo- dious, the negroes alone, and not the legionaries, choose a new locality, decide upon removing1, com- mence building, and as soon as chambers are pre- pared to receive them, carry thither the legionaries in their mandibles. In one of his experiments he was witness to a similar scene. He put the greater portion of the inhabitants of a mixed colony into a woollen bag which had a wooden tube, glazed at the top, fitted into its mouth, and communicating with a glass formicary*. On the following morning some of the negroes were seen leaving the bag, and traversing the tube ; the second day they commenced carrying each other, till at length there was barely room for the crowd of passengers going and return- ing. When he found they had thus begun to establish themselves, he separated the bag and scat- tered those which still remained in it about his study, as well as the remainder of the nest which he brought in from the field. Immediately the negroes, who were already settled, eagerly carried all those that were thus scattered about the floor into the formicary, both their own companions and the le- gionaries, and turned over every clod of earth to ex- tricate pup« and larvre accidentally buried, similar to the famous dogs which extricate travellers engulphed in the snows of the Alps. The legionaries, as usual, took no active part in these labours ; but the negro-ants appeared very solicitous to conduct them into the interior of the nest, and sometimes, when one did not know what to do, it would implore the assist* * Figured in Insect Architecture, p, 269. 356 INSECT MISCELLANIES. ance of a negro, which was always most willingly accorded. In eight days the formicary was com pletely peopled, when it was placed out of doors; and next day the legionaries actually made an expedition, and returned with a rich booty of negro pupre from a neighbouring colony. By raising the shutters with caution, he could now see everything that was going forward in the interior, and he ascertained in this way most of the facts which we have already de- tailed. Amongst other things of singular interest, he likewise found that there are never any negro males or females in these communities, but male, female, and neuter legionaries ; and the female legionary, like other species of ants, is always the foundress of a colony, performing in the first instance all the duties of a labourer, as Latreille observed at Brive before the discoveries of Huber. Huber concluded his experiments by bringing two legionary armies into immediate combat, by placing his formicary full in front of an advancing column from another encampment. " After a trifling com- bat," he says, " which took place at the door of the formicary, those in the interior went out in force, when the enemy's column appeared desirous to avoid battle, taking at first another direction, then return- ing and re-entering their nest. Several ants from the formicary put themselves in pursuit: some went even as far as the enemy's garrison, where they were retained ; two or three only escaped, and these, as I observed, returned in great haste. The entire army now left the formicary, and proceeded to the mixed ant-hill, where I looked forward to a general battle ; but when the column had arrived to within a few paces of the entrance, it fell back, with the exception of a small body, composed of about three hundred legionary ants, who continued their route till they reached the ant-hill. The legionaries assembled on ANT EXPEDITIONS TO CAPTURE SLAVES. 357 the surface appeared extremely agitated, as if they had foreseen the attack with which they were threatened. The combatants fought body to body ; but the strangers threw themselves into a gallery with so much impetuosity that the other could not restrain them. This courageous incursion did not succeed ; they all perished, not, however, with- out making great havoc; for, when I saw the le- gionaries of the natural ant-hill resume their expedi- tions, I found their army reduced to one half its original number : the formicary had not suffered so great a diminution*.'* * Huber on Ants, p, 323. 358 CHAPTER XIV. ON THE COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION OF INSECTS FOR THE PURPOSES OF STUDY. " I COULD wish," says Addison, in ' The Spectator,5 " our Royal Society would compile a body of natural history, the best that could be gathered together from books and observations. 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 man- kind, 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, moreover, 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 facts, who were quite unacquainted with systematic natural history, we hold it to be un- * Spectator, No. 111. PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. 359 deniable 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 endeavour to trace them to their causes, has every chance to be successful in adding to his own knowledge, and frequently in making dis- coveries of what was previously unknown. We adverted in a former volume to the spider, which M. Pelissan, while a prisoner in the Bastille, tamed by means of music*; and in another place we quoted some observations on hunting-spiders, by the cele- brated 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 in- stincts, 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 knowledge. In accordance with these views, we advise the young naturalist to watch as far as possible the pro- gress of every insect which he may meet with, from * See Antoine, Animaux Celebres, i, 24. 360 INSECT MISCELLANIES. 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 be liable, — the latter ap- pearing, to our limited comprehension, to be some of the means appointed by Providence to restrain ex- cessive 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 observed, or the rank it holds in any particular system. These, however, it may be inte- resting for the observer to ascertain afterwards, in order that he may compare his own observations with those of other naturalists. At the commence- ment, 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 con- siderable use, when we could not readily trace the names we wanted amongst the almost interminable synonymes to be met with in systems of classifica- tion. If we should be asked, what is the best place to find insects, our answer must be every-where — woods, fields, lanes, hedge-rows, 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 with wherever these abound. In the waters, again, both running and stagnant, from the rill to the river, and from the broad lake to the little pool formed in a cow's footstep, aquatic in- sects 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 PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. 361 observation of these forms a most interesting branch of the study. The species which prey on animal substances, either living or dead, often possess such habits as may deter some students from attending to them, and yet they fulfil most important purposes in nature, and have furnished the distinguished natu- ralists, Redi, Swammerdam, Leeuwenhoeck, Reau- mur, and De Geer, with highly interesting subjects of research. The history of many of these animals becomes highly interesting, 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 which are sometimes seen at a distance from places where 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 (Haltica Nemorum, ILLIGER), which is not a fly, but a small jumping-beetle. " In these circumstances," says Mr. W. Greaves, " I flatter myself will be found the cause of the disease here mentioned: the manure which is taken from the farm-yard, and spread upon the soil already cleared for turnips, is afterwards 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 autumnal season, and there de- posit their eggs for future generations in the succeed- ing years. These eggs are hatched by the heat of * Beechey's Voyage in the Blossom. 362 INSECT MISCELLANIES. 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 caterpillar, 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*." But had this writer taken the trouble to confine these dung maggots under a gauze cover till they were hatched, he would have found, instead of the haltica?, 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 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 the 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 his- tory of the insect may he read from day to day by simple inspection. We 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 * Treatise on Agriculture. PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. 363 cimens, but to ascertain facts, we advise the breeding of every insect whose history it is required to inves- tigate. In order to succeed in this object, it will be indis- pensable 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 preferable 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, we have used ale-glasses or glass tumblers with success, either turn- ing 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 De Geer, in those researches which are quite un- rivalled 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 ; arid 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 wooden or wire frames ; each compartment has a separate door, and is, more- ovdr, furnished with a phial in the centre, for the purpose of containing water, in which the food is kept fresh ; arid 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 pupce*, as Well as * The French naturalists use fine dry sand. See ( Manuel du Naturaliste Preparateuf,' 2i2 364 INSECT MISCELLANIES, highly important for the use of such larva as con- struct their cocoons of rotten wood. The chief ad- vantages 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 exten- sively in rearing insects. Whatever be the construc- tion 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 ac- complish the latter object, I keep a thick layer of moss upon the surface, which I take out occasionally, perhaps once a week in hot weather, and once a fortnight or three weeks in winter, and saturate completely 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 much aridity. By numbering the cells, and keeping a register corresponding with the numbers, the history of any particular larvae or brood may be traced*." We prefer glass sides to the cells, with gauze doors, opening above, rather than at the sides, ac- cording to the following figure -f. Breeding-cage, with gauze doors and glass sides. Some of the beautiful experiments of Bonnet and Reaumur suggested to us the idea of supplying in* Ipgpen's < Instructions/ p. 13t f J,K. PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. 365 sects with growing food, instead either of gathered leaves or branches kept fresh in water ; and we have in several instances, particularly 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 escape. We have since carried this somewhat far- ther, 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, be- sides, have the advantage of attracting into the garden where the pots are plunged the insects pe- culiar to the several trees ; and when we say that the 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 plantation unsuitable to their convenience, if they are disposed to such pursuits. Herbaceous plants can, for the most part, be pro- cured and planted at any season they may be re- quired, and hence it is not so necessary to keep any collection of them growing ; whereas the trans- planting of trees in summer is most likely to kill them*. This plan has, besides, the peculiar advantage of putting it in our power, by means of sufficiently ample gauze coverings, 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 research, is as yet very imperfectly known. * J.R. 366 INSECT MISCELLANIES. It would be 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 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 information 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 ; innumerable artifices and stratagems are acted in the howling wilderness, and In the great deep, that can never come to our know- ledge. Besides, that there are infinitely more spe- cies 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. However, from the consideration of such animals as lie within the compass of our know- ledge, we might easily form a conclusion 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 arid trees, and prying into every corner where insects may lurk, is one means of dis- covering their haunts,, — the only one, indeed, with respect to many species ; but collectors are not sa- tisfied with a process so necessarily slow, and take various means for expediting the capture of numbers, rather than observing the natural movements and * < Spectator,' No. 111. PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. 3.67 dispositions of a few. We may advantageously adopt these methods when we wish to furnish our cages with live insects, 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 instanc£, 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 procured the cater- pillars 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 canvass spread under the tree. The tops of the taller plants may be shaken by the hand over the umbrella. When 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, arid to introduce, particularly along with caterpillars, a bit of the fresh leaf or other substance upon which they have been feeding. We prefer separate, small boxes for such purposes, to the larger larvee-box in 368 INSECT MISCELLANIES. 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 species devouring another, — an incident not uncommon among the caterpillars of moths, as we have recorded in a former page. The collec- tor's larvae-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 in- troducing the larvae. 0, Larvae-box ; and 6, Pocket collecting box. For water-insects a net, similar to a fisher's land* ing net, is employed, fixing it to a long pole, and raking with it through every piece of water within reach. The net which we have had constructed con- sists 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 canvass is used, the water does not escape through it with sufficient facility. Many interesting water-insects, however, may be procured by mere inspection of water-plants, particu- larly the under-sides of their leaves, at the edges of ditches, ponds, canals, rivers, and lakes, and when the water is clear, by examining the bottom of the PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. 369 Water-net. 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 food, they fur- nish excellent materials for interesting observation. It is easy, indeed, in this way to have several suc- cessive generations, and when gnats' eggs are pro- cured the whole history of these curious insects may be traced with little difficulty. When the pupae are observed to be about to be transformed into winged insects, a gauze covering may be employed to pre- vent their escape. Analogous to the water-net in size and construc- tion is the butterfly -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 370 INSECT MISCELLANIES. 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 ordinary purposes ; but for the purple emperor but- terfly (Apatura Iris), and other high-flying insects, thirty feet is not too Jong? Butterfly net. The instrument chiefly used for 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-catcher's bat-fowling-net, but of slighter materials. The rods of the one which we use are about five feet long, when the three pieces are joined by means of brass ferules. They ought to be made, tapering like a fishing rod, of hazel or any tough wood, with two bent pieces of cane at the end, tightly fitted in so as not to slip when the apparatus is used. The net may be made of fine white muslin, for small insects ; but green gauze is best for moths and 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 whole spread out so as * This and all the other instruments here described are to be procured of Mr. Holmes, 2, Sidney's-alley, Leicester-square, PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. 371 to intercept insects OH 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 arid moths. Clap-net. An instrument still more used by collectors than any of the preceding is the net-forceps, which may be readily constructed out of an old pair of curling- irons, such as have rings for the finger and thumb, binding these with silk or cotton to prevent their hurting the hand. To the blades 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 col- lectors also use a ring-net. We are of opinion, however, that it is more convenient to have few in- struments, for multiplicity only serves to embarrass. 372 INSECT MISCELLANIES. Ring-net. Net-forceps. We have taken a great number of insects by means of a pill-box, putting the lid on one side and the bot- tom 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 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. We purchased last year, in Paris, a pair of insect forceps, which do not seem to be known to our col- lectors, but which we have found exceedingly useful for taking beetles and other insects out of holes where they cannot be otherwise easily reached. The instru- ment is made of steel, and resembles a pair of large scissors. In some, the handle-rings are like those of scissors, on a line with the blades; in others, they are at right angles to these. The pliers used by our col- lectors are much inferior in utility, being too small, PRESERVATION OP INSECTS. 373 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. a, French beetle-forceps ; and &, Pliers. In order to get at beetles and larvae which feed \inder 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 in- struments in the same handle, is preferable ; 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. Digger-. In addition to this, we recommend a long slip of Very thin and narrow whalebone, which may be in- troduced into the holes of such insects as burrow in 2 K 3U INSECT MISCELLANIES, 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. 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 stop- per at the other, for very minute specimens ; with a wide-mouthed phial, . containing 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 oblong chip wafer-box, lined at top arid 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 ; but some have" a square Chip collecting-box, opened. box, made of mahogany, deal, or cedar, with hinges on one side and a spring on the other, so that it can be opened by the left hand while an insect is held in the right, and figured above (6, p. 368). Sparmann, when travelling at the Cape, used to stick his insect PRESERVATION OF INSECTS, 375 specimens on the outside of his hat, to the consterna- tion 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 of carrying a col- lecting box. When a collector has not his boxes with him, a bit of paper, twisted at each end, will often answer every purpose. When an insect is caught, before it be placed in the collecting box or the hat-crown, it is necessary to kill it, and this circumstance has given rise to much prejudice, on the charge of cruelty, — the objectors forgetting that most of the insects so killed could not naturally survive many days*, and that their feelings of pain are, in all probability, much less acute than, those of animals furnished with a brain, and cerebral and vertebral nerves, of which they are destitute f- 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, however slight, and in killing insects for a collection the speediest methods are to be pre- ferred. In the case of butterflies 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 those in pill-boxes near the fire. Suffocating them with sulphur, as some recommend, spoils the colours ; and we remarked in the museums of Brussels, Lou- vain, and Frankfort-on-the-Maine, that all the in- sects 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. * See Insect Transformations, p. 347, &cj t Ibid. ch. xviu 2 K2 376 INSECT MISCELLANIES. In the case of insects tenacious of life, such as some moths, particularly females which have not depo- sited their eggs, 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. 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 an insect- Setting-needles and brush; with the method of setting- insects, a, Swal* }o\y-tailed butterfly (Papilio m.ichaon) ; &, Wa*p; c, Beetle, __ PRESERVATION OF INSECTS, 377 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 pin. When insects have become stiff before being set, thtey may be rendered flexible again by covering 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 setting will be best understood from the figures. 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. Method of mounting small insects. The setting-board ought to be kept where there is a * To be had of Hales, Great Dover-street, Southwark • and of Durnford and Co,, Gracechurch-street, London. 2K3 378 INSECT MISCELLANIES. 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 de- stroyed 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 with 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 rnites, and to take care to prevent them from being destroyed by the larvae of some small moths and beetles, which the camphor will not do, rior 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 in- spection, 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 convenient dimensions of the drawers are from a foot to eighteen inches square, and two inches deep ; and the best wood is mahogany, cedar, or wainscot, PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. 379 deal being- apt to split or warp. The doors ought to have velvet glued round the edges, 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 irom 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 leaving 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. 380 CHAPTER XV, SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENTS OF INSECTS. WHEN we consider that the number of known spe- cies 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 specimens, some sys- tematic order of arrangement will be requisite ; though, for purposes of out-door study of manners and economy, nice distinctions are less indispen- sable, 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 clas- sification. In consequence, however, of a course diametrically opposite having been pursued by other naturalists of celebrity, we consider it our duty to warn our readers against the error of considering arrangement 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 done by Reaumur arid Bonnet, but to make it subservient to such details of causes, motives, and effects, as we have endeavoured to exemplify. In every page of these volumes we have accordingly kept systematic distinctions closely, though subordinately, in view. We shall now give a brief sketch of several classifica- tions of insects, invented by celebrated writers, from the earliest times. THE WING SYSTEM, 381 THE WING SYSTEM. illustrious Aristotle, almost the only genuine naturalist 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 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, orPtilota). 1. With wing-cases — beetles (Coleoptera). 2. With coriaceous wings — grasshopper s(Pedetica). 3. Without jaws — bugs (Astomata). 4. With powdery wings — moths and butterflies (Psyches). 5. With four transparent wings (Tetraptera) . Without stings, and larger — dragon-flies. With 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 (Em~ prosthocentra). II. WINGLESS INSECTS. 1. Occasionally acquiring wings : — Ants (Myrmices). Glow-worms (Pygolampides), 2. Without wings (Aptera). Linnaus's Classification. I. WINGED INSECTS. 1. With four unngs : — #> Upper wings more or less crustaceous ; the under wings membranaceous. 382 INSECT MISCELLANIES. Upper wings quite crustaceous, and not over- lapping— beetles (Coleoptera) . Upper wings semi -crustaceous, and over-lap- ping— bugs and grasshoppers (Hemiptera). b, Upper and under wings of the same texture. Wings covered with small tiled scales — butter- flies and moths (Lepidoptera) . Wings membranaceous and naked. Without a sting— dragon-flies, &c. (Neu- roptera). With a sting — wasps, bees, &c. (Hymenop- tera). 2. With two wings .-—Flies, gnats, &c, (Diptera), II, WINGLESS INSECTS (Aptera). De Geer's Classification. I. WINGED INSECTS. 1, Wings four, without wing-cases : — a, Wings covered with scales ; tongue spiral- butterflies and moths. 5, Wings naked and membranaceous — May-flies and caddis-flies. c, Wings equal, membranaceous, and netted ; the mouth with teeth — dragon-flies and lace- winged flies. d, Wings unequal ; nervures placed lengthwise ; mouth with teeth ; and the females having a sting or ovipositor — bees, wasps, ants, ichneumons, saw-flies, &c. ey 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 mem- branaceous, overlapping each other ; tongue bent under the throat — bugs, &c. b. Wing-cases coriaceous, or somewhat crusta- ceous and wing-like, overlapping; mouth with teeth— locusts, crickets, and grass- hoppers. THE LOCALITY SYSTEM, 383 c, Wing-cases hard and crustaceous, not over- lapping, covering the under wings ; mouth with teeth — beetles. 3. Wings two, without wing-cases : — a, Two membranaceous wings, and two poisers behind these ; mouth with a tongue, but no teeth — flies, gnats, &c. &, 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, the head distinct from the trunks-white ants, &c. b, With eight or ten legs, and the head v not dis- tinct from the trunk — spiders, crabs, &c. c, With fourteen or more legs, and the head distinct from the trunk — centipedes, wood- lice, &c- THE LOCALITY SYSTEM. THE next system, in order of time, reckoning from the period of Aristotle, is taken, not from the struc- ture of insects, but the places they frequent, We owe the first sketch of an arrangement on this prin- ciple to the great naturalist of Italy, Ulysses Aldro- vand, 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 admiration by every genuine inquirer, as a mine of information altogether miraculous as the production of one man. 3^4 INSECT MISCELLANIES. Aldrovand's Classification. I. LAND INSECTS (Terrestria). 1. With feet (Pedata) :— a, With wings (Alata). Without wing-cases (Anelytra). With membranaceous wings (Membranacea) . Honey-making (Favifica). Not honey-making (Non favifica). With scaly wings (Farinosa). With wing-cases (Elytrota). b, Without wings (Aptera). With few feet (Paucipeda). With many feet (Multipeda). 2. Without feet (Apoda). II. WATER INSECTS (Aquatica). 1. With feet (Pedata) :— a, With few feet (Paucipeda). b, With many feet (Multipeda). 2. Without feet (Apoda). Vallisnieri 's Classification. I. Plant Insects (Insetti, che annidano nelle piante e le divorano). II. Water Insects (Insetti, che nuotano, crescono, vivono, e sempre dimorano ne1 soli fluidi). III. Insects inhabiting Earthy or Mineral Substances (Insetti, che si trovano dentro i marmi, sassi, crete, ossa, e comhiglie). IV. Insects inhabiting Living Animals (Insetti, che fanno dentro, o sopra i viventi*). Fabricius9s 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. * Esperienze ed Osservazioni, p. 42, 43 j 4to.; Padova, LOCALITY SYSTEM. 385 Latreilles Geographical Classification. This celebrated French systematist has written a curious and ingenious paper on the Geography of Insects, as a 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. 5. Supra-tropical. 6. Tropical. 7. Equatorial. 4. Intermediate. II. ANTARCTIC, all South of the Equator. 1. Equatorial. 2. Tropical. 4. Intermediate. 5. Superior. 3. Supra-tropical. Connected with this subject is the doctrine of Representation and Replacement, by which it is maintained, that when a particular species of insect, or other animal, is not found in two several coun- tries or districts, such as Britain and New England, it is represented or replaced by some species resem- bling 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 pecari repre- sents in Mexico the hog of Europe. THE TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM. BY consulting our previous volume on Insect Trans- formations, it may be seen that there are considerable differences in this circumstance among various species. These, the illustrious Swammerdam, whose accurate observations are now as valuable as when they were 386 INSECT MISCELLANIES. made nearly two centuries ago, has made the basis of his system. Swammerdam's Classification. I. Transformations immediate,the insects beinghatched perfectly formed — fleas, spiders, &c, II. Transformations taking place Under a covering* — locusts, crickets, bugs, dragon-flies, May-flies, &c. III. Transformations with a pupa-case intermediate * — beetles, bees, wasps, saw-flies, gnats, &c. Transformations in the pupa state obtected — moths and butterflies. IV. Transformations in the pupa state — eoarctate, ichneumons, flies, &c. Ray and Willughby*s Classification. I. INSECTS UNDERGOING NO TRANSFORMATIONS 1, Without feet ( JAsr^«) :— a, Land Insects, including worms, &c. (Ter* restrict). b, Water Insects, including Leeches, &c. (Aqua- tica). 2. With feet (Pedata) :— a, With six feet (Hexapoda). Land Insects (Terrestria) t Larger, including lignivorous larvse (Majora). Less, including lice and springtails (Minora). Water Insects, including the river shrimp (Aquatica). b, With eight feet (Octopoda). With tails— scorpions (Caudata). Without tails — spiders, mites (Non caudata). . c, With fourteen feet— woodlice (Twffapsxufe* XC&VfOQOL), *In explaining Swammerdam's system, Kirby and Spence use the terms of "complete" and « incomplete " which are not in the original. i THE TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM, 387 d, With twenty-four feet. e, With thirty feet. f, With many feet (rbxy^a). Land Insects (Terrestria) . With a roundish body — millepedes (Tereti seu subrotundi). With a flat or compressed body — centipedes (Piano seu compressa). Water Insects (Aquatica). With a round body (Corpore tereti).\ With a flat body (Corpore piano). With a double tail (Bicaudatum). II, INSECTS UNDERGOING TRANSFORMATIONS, J. Transformations instantaneous (Transmutatio instantanea) : — «, Lace-winged flies (Libellce seu Perlce), &c. £, Wild bugs (Cimices sylvestres). c, Locusts and mantes (Locustce). d, Field-crickets (Grylli campestres). e, Hearth-crickets (Grylli domestici). f, Mole-cricket (Gryllo talpa). f, Tree-hoppers (Cicada?). , Cock-roaches (Blattce). i, Crane-flies (Tipulce). k, Water-scorpion (Scorpius aquaticus). /, Water-flies (Muscce aquatics). m, May- flies (Hemerobii). n, Ear-wigs (Forficula seu Auricularia). 2. Transformations two-fold (Metamorphosis du- plex) : — a, With wing-cases—beetles (KyXs^r^a seu Va- gini pcnnia). by Without wing-cases ('AvsXyr^a). With mealy wings — butterflies and moths (Alis farinaceis). With membranaceous wings— bees, flies (Alis membranaceis) . With two wings (A<*m£«). 2L 2 388 INSECT MISCELLANIES. With four win£S (Tirx^rri^cc). Gr egario u s (Gregaria) . Making honey — bees, &c. (Mellifaa). Not making honey (Non mellifica). Solitary (Solitaria). Bee-formed (Apiformia). Wasp-formed (Vespiformia) . Butterfly-formed (Papilioniformia) . With an ovipositor (Setwaudce seu Tripilia). THE CIBARIAN, MAXILLARY, OR MOUTH SYSTEM. FABRICIUS, a Danish systematic writer of high cele- brity, emulous of the fame of Linnaeus, conceived the idea of classifying insects according to the structure of their mouths, or their feeding organs (Instru- menta 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. (Ulonata). 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. (Piezata.) 5. With the lower jaws horny, toothed, and having two palpi — dragon-flies, &c. (Opontata). 6. With the lower jaws horny, vaulted, and no palpi —centipedes, wood-lice, &c. (Mitosata). B. 7. With the lower jaws horny, and armed with a claw — spiders, &c. (Unogata). C. 8. With many jaws within the lip, the palpi mostly six (Polygonyta), THE MOUTH SYSTEM. 389 9. With many jaws, without the lip closing the mouth, (Kleisiagnatha) . 10. With many jaws without the lip, covered by palpi, (Exochnata). 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. (Neur* optera). 3. With four unequal wings — bees, wasps (Hymen- optera). 4. With wing-cases — beetles (Coleoptera) . 5. With four straight wings — crickets, &c. (Or~ thoptera). II. INSECTS WITHOUT JAWS. 1. With upper wings of unequal consistence — bugs, &c. (Hemiptera). 2. With powdery wings —butterflies and moths (Le- pidoptera) . 3. With two wings — flies, &c. (Diptera). 4. Without wings — fleas, mites, &c. (Aptera). Lamarck's Classification. I. INSECTS WITH JAWS. 1. With wing-cases — beetles (Coleoptera). 2. With straight-wings — crickets, &c. (Orthoptera) . 3. With four equal wings— dragon-flies (Neurop- tera). II. INSECTS WITH JAWS AND A SORT OP SUCKER. 4. With four unequal wings — bees, &c. (Hymen- opt era). 2L3 390. INSECT MISCELLANIES. III. INSECTS WITH NO JAWS, BUT HAVING A SUCKER. 5. With powdery wings — moths, &c. (Lepidoptera). 6. With upper wings of unequal consistence-p- bugs, &c. (Hemiptera) . 7. With two wings — flies, &c. (Diptera). 8. Without wings (Aptera), THE OVARY, OR EGG SYSTEM. IT has been recently proposed to arrange all animals according to the structure, &c. of their eggs (ova) ; arid, in accordance with this principle, an ingenious arrangement has been constructed by a venerable and enthusiastic inquirer, from which we shall give what relates to certain insects forming the eighth dags. Sir Everard Home's Classification. METAMORPHOGENOA, Having the embryo 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. Gadfly ((Estrus). 4. Embryos developed from eggs for several ge- nerations, impregnated 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, 391 THE ECLECTIC, OR MODERN SYSTEM. M. CLAIRVILLE appears to have first conceived the idea of uniting the principles of several of the pre- ceding- 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 (Elytroptera). bt With coriaceous wina;s (Deratoptera). c, With netted wings (Dictyoptera) . d, With veined wings (Phleboptera). 2. With suckers (Haustellata) : — a, Wings with poisers (Halteriptera) . b, Wings powdery (Lepidoptera) . c, Wings partly opaque and partly translucent (Hemimeroptera) . II. WINGLESS INSECTS (Aptera). 1. With a sucker (Haustellata). With a sharp sucker (Rophoptera) . 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 (Chilognatha). 2. With many feet — millepedes (Chilopoda). II. INSECTS WITH Six FEET. Without wings : — a, With organs of motion like feet (Thysanura). by Mouth with a retractile sucker (Parasita). c, External mouth with a jointed tube enclosing a sucker (Suctoria). With four wings : — Ay Upper wings crustaceous or coriaceous, at least at the base. a, With the under wings folded crosswise — bee- * Regne Animal, 8vo. Paris, 1829. 392 INSECT MISCELLANIES. ties (Coleoptera). 1. Pentamera; 2. Hete- romera ; 3. Tetramera ; 4. Trimera. by With the under wings folded lengthwise (Or- thoptera) . Legs formed for running (Cursoria). Legs formed for leaping (Saltatoria). c, With a sucker enclosing several bristles (He- miptera). 1. Heteroptera; 2. Homoptera. By Upper wings membranaceous. a, Wings naked and netted (Neuroptera). 1. Sub- ulicornes ; 2. Planipennes ; 3. Plicipennes. b, Wings naked and veined (Hymenoptera) . 1. Terebrantia ; 2. Aculeata. c, Wings with dust-like scales (Lepidoptera) . 1. Diurna ; 2. Crepuscularia ; 3. Nocturna, With two twisted elytra and two icings (fthi- piptera}. 1. Xenos; 2, Stylops, With two wings (Diptera), Leach's Classification. I, INSECTS UNDERGOING NO TRANSFORMATION (Ame* tab olio). 1, With bristles at the tail (Thysanura). 2. With no bristles at the tail (Anoplura). II, INSECTS UNDERGOING TRANSFORMATION (Meta- bolia). 1. With two wings folded crosswise, and covered with hard wing-cases (Coleoptera). 2. With two wings folded lengthwise and crosswise, and short and softer wing-cases (Dermaptera). 3. With two wings folded lengthwise, apd wing cases overlapping each other at the edges (Orthop- tera}. i 4, With two wings twice folded lengthwise, and wing-cases obliquely overlapping ; mouth with j aws , (Dictyoptera) . 5. With two wings, and overlapping wing-cases, having the apex membranaceous (Hemiptera). 6. With two wings, and coriaceous or membrana- ceous ^wing-cases (Omoptera). 7. With no wings nor wing-cases (Aptera). THE ECLECTIC, OR MODERN SYSTEM. 393 8. With four wings covered with meal-like scales (Lepidoptera) . 9, With four membranaceous wings, the wing-bones hairy (Trichoptera). 10. With four nearly equal membranaceous reticu- lated wings (Neuroptera) . 11. With four unequal membranaceous wings, the wing-bones runninglengthwisefTfymeTzopfero^. 12. With two wings folded lengthwise (Rhipiptera) . 13. With two wings not folded ; mouth formed for sucking — flies (Dipt era), 14. With two or with no wings; mouth with long jaws — bird-flies, bat-flies (Omaloptera). Stephens' s Classification. I. INSECTS WITH MANDIBLES (Mandibulata) . 1. With hard wing-cases (Coleoptera) . a, Voracious (Adephaga). Ground feeders (Geodephaga) . Water feeders (Hydrodephaga). by Cleansers (Rypophaga). Haunting water (Philhydrida), Feeding on carrion, or putrid wood (Necro* phaga). With short wing-cases (Brachelytra). c, Chilognathiform larvae. With clavate sublaminate antennae (Helocera). With laminate antennae (Lamellicornes) . With filiform antennae (Sternooci). With setaceous or abruptly clavate antennae. d, Vermiform larva?. With a rostrum (Rhinchophora) . Without a rostrum (Longicornes). e, Anopluriform ? larvae. Tarsi tetramerous. Body elongate (Eupoda). Body ovoid or oval (Cyclica), Tarsi trimerous (Trimeri). f, Heteromerous beetles (Heteromera) , 2. With short and somewhat crustaceous wing- cases — earwigs (Dermaptera) . 3. With coriaceous win^-cases (Orthoptera) , 4. With netted wipgs (Neuroptera). 394 INSECT MISCELLANIES, a, Scorpion-flies (Panorpina). by Day-flies (Anisoptera) . c, Dragon-flies (Libellulina). dy White-ants (Termitina). 6y With large wings (Megaloptera). 5. With four hairy wings (Trichoptera). 6. With four unequal wings (Hymenoptera). a, Borers, (Terebrantia). bt wasps, bees, ants, &c. c, ruby tails, Sec. jr. stylops (Strepsipterd). II, INSECTS WITH SUCKERS (Haustellata). 1. With powdery wings (Lepidoptera). a, Butterflies appearing by day (Diurna). b, Moths appearing at twilight (Crepuscularia) . c, Moths appearing in the afternoon (Pomeri- diana) . dy Moths appearing at night (Nocturna). e, Moths appearing partly by day (Semidiurna). /, Moths appearing: in the evening (Vespertina) . 2. With two wings (Diptera.) 3. With elonged jaws and two wings, or none (Ho- maloptera). 4. With wings not perceptible — fleas (Aphanip-* tera). 5. Without wings (Aptera). 6. With two wings and overlapping wing-cases (Hemiptera). a, Land insects (Terrestria). • by 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, pro- poses to arrange insects in circular groups of fives, so as to place those which have the nearest resemblance, or (as he terms it) affinity, contiguous to one another in their several circles. We shall here give from the Horse JCntomologicse his arrangement of Clairville's Mandibulata, with translations^&c., of his terms. THE SYSTEM. 395 MacLeay's Classification. 2 HYMENOPTERA. {Unequal-winged Insects.) ••» I? i? > COLEOPTERA. (Wins-cased Insects.) . ts.} MANDTBULATA, (C%> ^ if 3§6 INSECT MISCELLANIES. Insects have also been divided according to the condition of their food ; but the arrangements on this principle have not, as far as we know, been perfected. J. INSECTS FEEDING ON LIVING SUBSTANCES (Tha- lerophaga). 1. Feeding on living flesh (Carnivorq). a, Feeding on aphides (Aphidivora). 2. Feeding on growing vegetables (Phytophaga). a, Feeding on grain and seeds (Granivora). bt Feeding on fungi (Fungivora). II. INSECTS FEEDING ON DEAD SUBSTANCES (Sapro- phaga). 1. Feeding on dead wood (Lignivora). 2. Feeding on dung (Coprophaga) . 3. Feeding on dead animals (Necrophagaj. ILLUSTRATIONS. '1 Long-legged house-spider (Pholcus Phalangioides) ... 6 2 Musk-beetle (Cerambyx odoratus) . . . . . • . 8 3 Catch-weed beetle (Timarcha tencbricosd) • • . . ib. 1 4 Stag-beetle (Lucanus Cervus} on the wing .... 10 5 Clouded yellow butterfly (Colias Edusa), male .... 13 6 Pale clouded butterfly (Colias Hyale\ female . . . . ib. 7 Red underwing (Catocala nuptaj 19 8 Upper and under sides of the ringlet butterfly (Hipparchia Hyperanthus) 25 9 Harvest-bug (Leptus autumnalis), greatly magnified ... 27 10 Marbled butterfly (Hipparchia Galathea) and caterpillar . . 28 11 Rose-laurel (Rhododendron ponticum) 33 12 Yellow azalea (Azalea pontica) 34 13 J,eistus fulvibarbus, with the tongue magnified .... 43 14 Painted lady butterfly (Cynthia Cardui) : and Alpine blue-bottle (Centaurea montana) ........ 45 15 Burying-beetles (Necrophorus sepultor), and dead frog . . 46 16 Snapdragon (Antirrhinum TOO/MS), and bees entering the flower . 49 17 Humming-bird-moth (Macroglossa stellatarwri), and trumpet honey-suckle (Caprifolium sempervirens) .... 50 18 Bombardier (Brachinus crepitans) ....•• 54 19 Calosoma inquisitor ......... ib. 20 Green dragon-fly (JEshna varia) ...... 67 21 Rove-beetle (Goerius olens} on the wing ..... 68 22 Lackey-moth, in all its stages . 74 23 Fox-moth (Lasiocampa rwW), and caterpillar .... 76 24 Green field-cricket (Acrida viridissima), with its nest and eggs . 77 25 Drum of the grasshopper ••«•••• 79 26 Under-side of the Cicada 83 27 Drum of the Cicada • ib. 28 Wasp-fly (Chrysotoxum fasciolatum) 91 29 Father long-legs (Pedicia rivosa'), together'with the poisers and the winglets . . 30 Death's-head hawk-moth (Acherontia Atropos~) ... 96 31 Heads of the death's-head hawk-moth, showing experiments respecting sound ...*••«• 97 31 Anolnum tesselatum, a death-watch beetle, magnified . . 101 32 Anobium striatum, a death-watch beetle, magnified , , . ib. 33 Anobium pertinax ; a death-watch beetle, magnified . . . ib. 34 Acanthocinus cedilis . . .110 35 Adela De Geerella, male and female ib. 30 Kar of the crab. . .117 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 H 398 ILLUSTRATIONS. 37 Eyes of My gale avicularia . • • . . . .125 38 „ Mygalc ccementaria . ./ . . . . , ib. 39 Lycosa vorax ib. Dolomedes marginatus • ••••. ib. Ctenus dubius . « ib. Sphasus indianus ....... ib. Attus parus •••..... ib. Eresus cinnnberinus ib. Thomisus citreus . . . . . . « ib. Clubiona accentunta .*..... ib. Dysdera erythrina ib. Segestria perjida ....... 126 Tegenaria domestica ib. Epeira diadema ........ ib. Thoridion coronatum 126 Latrodecta i3-guttata ib. Argyroneta aquatica ....... ib. ad of the worker-bee 127 55 Eyes of the male bee • . • i . . . . ib. 56 Tt-tropS prcensta 128 57 Eyes of ditto, greatly magnified ...... ib. 58 Gyrinus natator . . i ib. 59 Eyes of ephemera, greatly magnified , i . . ib. 60 Eyes of the bee, greatly magnified 131 61 Section of the eye of the dragon-fly ; . -. -. 133 62 Section of the eye of the stag-beetle ..... 138 63 Section of a compound eye, showing the course of the light . 139 64 Giant cockroach (Blatta giganted) . . . . . 152 65 Praying mantis (Mantis religiosd) • • . . . 157 66 Virgin dragon-fly (Calepteryx Virgo) . : . . .160 67 Tongue of the bee, with its muscles and sheath . j . 172 68 Structure of the bee's tongue ...;.. 173 69 Larkspur (Delphinium choilanthum), and Columbine {Aquilegia bicolor), showing the horn-shaped nectaries .... 175 70 Aphis Quercus, real size and magnified -. . . . 178 71 Sucker of the Aphis Quercus, magnified . . . . ib. 72 Eriosomamali, and an infected apple-branch .... 179 73 Suckers of the black-horned bug (Cimex nigricornis) magnified 184 74 Magnified figures Of the sucker of a water-bug (Nepa neptania) 187 75 Suckers of the flea, greatly magnified . . ± 189 76 Chigoe (_Pulex penetrans) v 19} 77 Magnified figures of the sucker of the gnat .... 195 78 Modes of operation of the gnat's sucker . i 196 79 Male and female gnat, magnified 197 80 The cleg (Hcematopota pluvialis") 201 81 Parts of the cleg magnified, to show the sucker . . . ib. 82 Sucker of Sphinx celerlo 204 83 Male spider, with the palpi magnified ..... 210 84 Male and female stag-beetle . . . . i 4 .211 85 Male and female Bombus ....... 212 86 Clenophorajlaveofata ........ 218 87 Ctenophora drnata : . . . ib. 88 Male and female glow-worms 224 89 Head of male glow-worm il>. 90 Fire-fly (Elater noctilucus') . 228 91 Lantern-fly (Fulgora lanternaria) 229 92 Electric centipede (Scolopendra electrical . . . .230 93 Monophora noctiluw , 232 ILLUSTRATIONS. 399 94 Trembley's breeding apparatus ..,.;. 237 95 Reaumur's breeding apparatus .•..«. 237 96 Aphis of the elm, magnified ....... 248 97 Aphis of the willow, magnified ...... ib. 98 Common gnat {Cule.v pipiens) ...... ib. 99 Marsh-fritillary (Mclit&a artemis*) 264 100 Six-spot burnet moth {Anthrocerajilipendulce} . . , ib. 101 Spiders' webs on iron railings ...... 282 102 Reaumur's large pyramidal hive ...... 283 103 Swarm of bees on a laburnum tree branch .... 286 104 Swarm of 40,000 bees on a tig-tree, and Reaumur's apparatus for weighing them 291 105 Structure of the sting of the common bee .... 325 106 Poison bag of the bee, magnified 326 107 Breeding-cage, with gauze doors and glass slides : . . . 364 108 Larvae-box and pocket collecting box . . . . . 368 109 Water-net 369 110 Butterfly.net 370 111 Clap-net 371 112 Ring-net 372 H3 Net-forceps . . ib. 114 French beetle forceps and pliers ...... 373 115 Digger . ib. 116 Chip collecting box, opened . v . . 374 117 Setting needles and brush, with the method of setting insects . 376 118 Method of mounting small insects 377 119 Setting-board frame ........ 378 2 M2 GENERAL INDEX TO INSECT ARCHITECTURE, INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS, AND INSECT MISCELLANIES. The references to the above volumes are distinguished by the letters A., T., and M., preceding the folio of the page referred to. Abraxat glotsulariatat Leach, T. 147; 150; 154; 193; 214 Acanthocinut cedilit, M. 110, jiff. Acanthosoma gritea, Steph., T. 103 Acarina, M. 27 Accentor modular it, T.34 Acherontia atropot, A. 200; T. 69; M. 96, jiff. ; 113 Acheta campestris, A. 244 ; M. 80; A. domestica,A. 241 ; T. 414 ; M.81; 139 Achetidce, Leach. M. 80 Acrida verrucivora, A. 246, fig. ; M. 53, A.viridistima, M. 76, 77, Jig.; 109; 149, 151 AcronyctaEuphrasitp,A. 179; A.LigiM- tri, Ochsenheim. T. 141 Adela de Geerdla, M. 110, figs. Adephaga, Clairville, T. 232; M. 42 JEgeria asilij'vrmis, Steph., A. 192; 321 ; T. 316; 220; 322; M. effects of, on currant and poplar trees, T. 220; nest of, in a poplar, A. 192; pupae of, T. . 323, Jig. ; M. tipuliformis , T. 220 u5E*/ma,T.338; M. varia, Shaw,M. 67, Agelena labyrinthica, Walck., A. 357 Age of female ants, M. 252; insects not improved by, M. 293 Aglossa pinguinalis, Latr., T.236 Agrion puella, T. 403 .Alcedo, T.33. Aldrovand's classification, M. 384 Aleyrodet, T. 98. , Alopecurus, M. 24. Alucita, T. 98 ; A. hexadactyla. Leach, T.345 Alucitidte, Leach, T. 345 Amazon ants, M. 313 American ants, raft formed by, A. 260 American blight, history of, M. 178 Analogy between human and insect go- Anas mollissima, Linn., T. 79 Anbury on the roots of cabbages, &c. A. 390 Anchomenus prasinus, Bonelli, M. 51 Andrcena nigroosnea, Steph., T. 66 Andrena cineraria, Fabr.,T. 51 Andrew?, A. 43 Andrenida, M. 53 Anecdote of St. Francis Xavier, A. 63 ; of a water measurer, T. 357 Anecdotes, A. 5, from Huber, T. 408 Angle-shades moth, magnified eggs of, T. 42, ji>, Animal galls, A. 601 Anobium pertinax, A. 26 ; T. 50 ; M . 101, jiff-i A- striatum, M. 101, jig. ; . A. tesselatum, A. 305 ; M. 101, Jig. Ant, history of a labouring, by M. Huber. A. 267; alleged to be blind, 119; battles, ancient records of, M. 335; expeditions to capture slaves, , 342 .- slaves, condition of, 352 Ant-lion, A. 209; structure of the grub 210, Jig. ; formation of the traps ,211, Jig., 212,,/iff. ; expansion fly of the, T. 334, fi .. Antennae of insects supposed to be analogous to ears, M. 106 Antennal box of water-beetles, M. 115; Antennal language, objections to, M. 110, 113 Antennules, M. 9 nthemis maritima, M. 20 nthomyia meteorica, M eigen, A. 409 nthonomus pamorum, T. 244 nthophora retusa, A. 34, 85, 41 nthrennt mnseorum, Fabr., T. 183 nthrocerajilipejidulir, Steph., T. 171 nthut pratensis, Bechstein, T. 78 nthydiwn manicatum, Fabricius, A, 57 Antirrhinum mnjus, M. 49 Ants, architecture of, A. 254; general history of, begun by Gould, 254 ; sort of earth employed by, 257; night pro- ceedings of, 262 ; proceedings of, du- ring rain, 262 ; experiments with re- gard to the proceedings of, 266 ; nests, experiments respecting, 271 ; sports of, T.3J6; gymnastics of, 377; hy- bernation of, 407; drinking of, M. 40 ; odour of, 56 ; their lapping, 170 ; pairing of, 241 ; male and female, 246 ; migrations of, 273; garden, de- camping of, 276 ; government among, 297 ; wars of, 335 Apatela leporina, Steph., T. 35 Aphaniptera, M. 157 Aphides, A. 390 ; 394 ; T. 65 ; 87 ; 260 Aphides on currant-leaves, A. 395 ; on lime- tree shoots, 396; checked by lady- birds and syrphidae, T. 271 .-fecundity of, 19; sometimes produce eggs, some- times young, 112; leaf-rolling, A. 394; migrations of, 79; singular pair- ing of, 68 Aphis ribit, A. 394, 395 ; A. sambuci, 395; A.sorbi, .4.391; A. semi-galls of, A. 390 Aphit, A. 891 ; T. 47, 112 ; A. of the oak, sucker of, M. 177; A. Alni,A. Pruni, and Sambuci, T. 87; A. Faba:, M. 178; A. humuli, A. 394; T. 12; M. 178; A. lanata, A. 381 ; A. lanigera, Jlliger, M. 178 ; A. pint, A. 399; A. quercus,T. 113 ; M. 177, 169 ; A. rotcB, A. 394 ; T. 105 ; A. tiliae, A. 396 ; A. ulmi, 395 Apidte, Leach, M. 42 Apion, Herbst. T. 233 ; M. 106 Apia rnellifica, A. 697; M. 129 Apple and pear mould, microscopic view of, T. 30, Jig. Aquatic mites walking through water, T. 385 Aquilegia bicolor, M. 175 J A> vulgariu, 51 Arathnida, T. 177 402 INDEX. Aranea aurantia, Oil*. M. 17 ; A. dia- dema, T. 359 ; A. domestica, A. 357 ; 868; A. holoserica, Linn., A. 364; A.obtectrix, Bechstein, A. 350; T. 397 ; A. reiiculata, A. 342 Arctia ca;a,Steph., T. 69, 176,187, 193; A. villica, Steph., A. 324, Jig. Argyromiges Rayella, Curt., A. 234 Argyroneta aquatica,Wa.lck.t A. 365; f. 382 ; 398 Aristptle's Classification, M. 381 Armadillo vulgaris,Cu.vier, T. 188 Aroma, M.59 Arrangements, systematic, M. 380 Arrangement of specimens, M.379 Artichoke gall of the oak-bud, with gall-fly, A. 378, Jig. Atelhiy aquaticus. Leach, T. 3S3 Ateucus,A.$'i9 Athalia, T. 218 Atropot lignaritu, Leach, A. 304; A. nultatoriiu, M. 102 Amelia, A. 22 Aurelia, A. 21 Azalea pontica, M. 34, fig. lialaninus Nucum, Germar, T. 242 Bark-grub, raised galleries of a, T. 245 Bark, mined in rays by beetle grubs, T. 245,JZff«. Bari-mining caterpillars, A. 239 Easter's opinion of smell, M.61 Bat, guided by the touch of its wings, M. 14 Battles of ants, ancient records of, M. 335 Battles between queen bees, M. 311 Bazin's experiments on Aphides, M. 236 Bedeguar of the rose, A. 375, Jig. ; one of the bristles magnified, A. 377, Jig. Bee, cells strengthened by the' grub of, A. 140 ; hunting in America, A . 146 ; and syrphus, comparative figures of, T. 4,Jig. ; Swammerdam's account of the wings of the, T. 343; tongue of, adapted to the nectaries of flow- ers, 1/2,. /Z#.; barges of Egypt and France, 262 ; caravans of Germany, 262; duels, 328; robbers, 329 Bees compared to mechanics, A. 25 ; dissections of, by Mademoiselle Ju- rine and M. Latreille, A. 102 ; di- vision of the labour of, 112 ; Huber's experiments with, 115; mathemati- cal problem solved by, 121 ; symme- try in the architecture of, explained, 133 ; Virgil's receipt for making a swarm of, T.3; cleanliness of, 6; and wasps, parasites of, 67 ; hyber- • nation of, 410 ; whether they per- forate flowers, M. 175; pairing of, 253 ; migrations of, 283 ; wars of, 322 ; government of, 306 ; vision of, 121 Bees' -wax, erroneous account of the Abbe" La Pluche concerning, A. 94 ; conjectures of Re"aumur concerning, 95 ; discovery of John Hunter con- cerni»g, 96; experiments of Huber respecting the formation of, 97 Beetles, A. 247 Belostoma, M. 115 Btroe globulosa, Lamarck, T. 353 B'biofebrilis, feetjof, T. 391, Jig*. JBihio hortulanus, Meigen, T. 266, 267, sBf- Birds, moulting of, T. 17<} ; of prey, peculiar faculty of, 361 ; smell in, M.51 Black-Veined white butterfly, disap- pearance of the, T. 214 Blainville's opinion of smell, M. 62 Blackheath, destruction of herbage on, T.254 Blap* mortisaga, Fabr. T. 240, 241, 242 ; M.53 Blatta, T.66; B. Orientalis, M. 149 ; B. gigantea, M. 152, Jigs. ; 153 ; B. lapponica, M. 152 Blattidce, Steph. M. 152 Blennius ovo-viviparous, Lacep6de, T, 108 Blight, popular errors respecting, T. 11; Dr. Good's account of, 12; caused by an oak-leaf-roller, 203 ; American, history of> M. 1?3 Blind ants, A. 261 " Blind as a beetle," origin of the pro- verb, M. 15 Blood, supposed formative of the, T-. 132 ; supposed showers of, accounted for, I1. 351 Blood-worm, T. 304 ; plumed appara- tus in the, T. 305 ; remarkable evo- lution of the, T. 319 Blow-fly (chequered), T. l\0,fig.; Ab- domen and young larvae, 100, .fig. • coil ot'larvae, 110, j?g. ; Large Grey, with the abdomen and young mag- gots, 111, fig. ; breathing apparatus of the maggot, 111, Jig. ; bellows ap- paratus in the pupa of the, 321 $ newly-hatched, 338, fig. Blue-bottle, feet of, T. 391, figs. Boletophila, T. 98 Bombardier Beetle, its proceedings, M. 54,^. Bombi, A. 36 Bombus lapidaria^ A. 70 ; B. tmwcorum, Latr., 64 ; B. terrestris, ib. 69, 70; M. 29 Bombylii, T. 4 ; M. 39 Bombyxmori,A.Z15, 320 ; T.64 Bonnet's experiments on aphides, M. 69 ; observations on hearing, M. 73 Bonsdorf 's opinion of the palpi, M. 10 Boxes for collecting insects, M. 369, Jig.; 375, Jig. Braces for setting, M. 377, Jig* Brachinus crepitans, M. 54 ; B. displo- *or, M. 55 Bramble, pseudo gall of the, A. 397, fig. Breeding-cage, Stephens's, M. 364 Rennie's, M. 365, Jig. Breeze-fly's egg, hatching of the, A. 4 10, fig. Breeze-fly, ovipositor of, 403, Jig. ; ef- fects produced by the, upon cattle, A. 405; 412, Jig. ; ovipositor, of the rein-deer, observation of Linnaeus on the, A. 406; of man, 415; deli- cacy of taste in, M. 26 Brown Ants, proceeding of the, A. 253 Brown-tail Moth, winter nest of the, A. 330, fig. ; extraordinary ravages of the, T. 208; female, 83, fig.} tweezers of, 84, Jig. Bruchidce, Leach, T. 233 Bruchus P.isi ^ and B. Granarius, Linn., T. 233 Brunelli's experiments on Grasshop- pers, M-77 Bryophila Perla, A. 183 Buds of plants, dissection of, T. 136 Buff-tip, ravages of the, T. 204 Bug, experiment with, by Bomare, M. 60; sucker of the black-horned, M, INDEX. 183, 184,. fig. ; origin oftheword,184; the bed, its history, 185; sucker of a •water-bug, 1 87 , j£ji Bumps or warbles produced on cattle, A. 412, ./iff. Burying Beetle, A. 247; smell in, 31. 40',Ji£'. Butterflies, admirable and painted lady, A. 168; supposed to be coloured like flowers, T. 149; forced in winter, all ; retarding the evolution of by cold, 312; battles of, 3/1; drinking of, M. 41; male and female, "214 ; perishing in the sea, 26'j Butterfly and Moth, eggs of, magni- fied, f . 41, Jig. ; egg of the meadow brown, magnified, 43, Jig.; net, M. 371, fig. Buzz of Flies, M. 90 ; of the Gnat, 94 Cabbage Butterfly, egg of, T. 133, Jig. ; embryo butterflies in the caterpillar, 135. fig; caterpillar when grown, 135, fig; perfect female of, 136, Jig; caterpillars prefer weeds, T. 213 Cabinets useful, but not indispens- able in the study of natural history, A. 6 Caddis Worms, A. 185 ; leaf and reed- nests of, 185, Jig. ; shell -nests cf, 186, Jig. ; stone and sand-nests of, 187, Jig ; nests of, balanced with straws, Caddis Flies, netted doors in the pupa cases of, T. 3-20 Catandra Granaria, Clairville, T. 234 Calepteryx Virgo, M. 160, Jig. Callidium Violacenm,A. 196 Catlimorie Bedeguaris, Steph., A. 373; T. 60 Caltinwrpha Jacobaece, Steph., M . 76 Calosoma Inquisitor, M. 55, Jig. Calosoma Sycophanta, Weber, T. 244 ; voracity of, 244 Camel, smell in, M. 52 Cannibalism of Earwigs and Crickets and Mantis, M. 147, 154; among Cariiui Indica, M.51 Capricious flight of insects, M. 265 Capricorn Beetle, A. 240, Jig. Caprifolium Sempervirens, M.50,Jig. Carabus Monilii, A. 255 Carder Bees, A. 64; method of prepar- ing and conveying their materials, A. 65, fig. ; nests, structure of, 67, Jig. ; breeding cells of, 68, Jig. ; in- terior of nest of, 68, Jig. Card-making Wasp or Cayenne, A. 87 ; nest of, 88 Jig. Carpenter Ants, A. 279. Carpenter Bees. A. 45; methods of working, 45 ; history of one at Lee, 46 ; violet coloured of France, 47, 49 ; fig.; nests of, 49, Jig. ; teeth of. mag- nified, 49, Jig. ; compared with our joiners, 50; (C/ielostoma) instance of maternal care in the, T. 50 ; of the elder and of the bramble, A. 51 Carpenter Caterpillars, A. 189 Carpenter Wasp, A. 52; curious ac- count of, 53, Jig. ; nests of, 53, Jig. ; cacoon of, 53, Jig. Case-fly, with pupae, and grating of pupa case, T. 321, Jig*. Castida Equestris, Fabr., T. 190, 191, fig. ; grub of, 191, Jig. ; grub of, with its canopy, 191, Jig-. ; casting of the ; the ?t9WKb in larvae, 174 ; cast skins sometimes de- voured, 177 Caterpillar, A. 20; of Tussock Moth, 20; lilac-leaf rolling, Itfo, fig.; oak- leaf rolling, 162, Jig. • rose-leaf roll- ing, 163; groups of eggs of, T. 20, Jig. ; nettle-leaf rolling, A. 164, fig.; sorrel-leaf rolling, 167, Jig. ; wi'll.W- leaf-bundling, 1/0, lie. ; zigzac, nest of, 172, Jig. : of the rhick-weed, its nest, 178 ; of the cypress spurge, 179, Jig.; its nest, 179, Jtg. ; (Ilryophila Perla f) and its moss cell, 163, Jig.; of Greenwich Park wall. 184; of goat moth, 189, fig. ; winter nest of, 190. Jfg. ; singular nest of, 191; air holes of, 308, Jig, ; mode of escap- ing from a drinking glass, T. 178, fig. ; bark building of the oak, 197 ; of the ghost moth, 201 ; of the clothes moth, 217; mode of the building of the, 219; eiperiments on, 220; cases of the, 221, Jig. ; migra- tion of the, 222 ; 011 the leaf of the monthly rose, 234, Jig. ; on the leaf of the bramble, 236, fig.; on the leaf of the primrose, 237, Jig. ; vine-leaf mining. 238 ; on the leaf of the alder, 238; bark-mining, 239; parasite or* the garden snail, 416; embryo butter- fly in the, T. 13 ; of the angle- shaded moth, 194, fig. ; of the drinker moth, 194, Jig. ; of the gooseberry saw-fly, ravages of the, 215; which feeds on chocolate, 224 • leaf-rolling, A. 159; gregarious, experiments ohi 174; rolling leaves, design of, 174; nests, durability of, 180; compared with our structures, 181 ; earth mason, 200 ; tent making, 223 ; tent on the leaf of an elm, 224, Jig. ; in different stages, 226, Jig. ; on a nettle leaf, 226, Jig. ; constructed on stones, 258, Jig. ; stone mason, 227 ; leaf mining, 233; social leaf mining, 238; mode of spinning by, described by La Pluche, 310; social spinning, 829; nest of processionary, 334, Jig.; solitary and gregarious, T. 71 ; struc- ture of, 128 ; internal structure of, 138; imitative forms of, 142; inform of branches, 145 ; conspicuously co- loured, 147 ; singular forms of, 151 ; moulting of, 1/2, Jig. ; defensive hairs and spines of, 187; hrmy hairs of, 189, Jig*. ; winter covering of, 192 ; ravages of, 202 ; of the ermine moth, experiments with, 206 ; in particular yeais, cause of the abundance of, 210 ; in what manner some suspend themselves, 2/4; the attempt of, to suspend themselves, sometimes un- successful, 277 ; organ of, for holding fast while suspending themselves, 2/8; suspensory cincture of some, 279 Catocala fraxini, Schrank, ff . 142, fig. 143,J»g-.; C.nupta, A. 19; M. 19, Jig. 20; C.sponsa, A. 320. Cat, its mode of lapping, M., 170 Cecidomyia, A. 381, 382; 290 Cecidomyia destructor, Say, T. 261 Cecidvmyia Trilici, Kirby, T.256 Cells of bees enlarged when honey is plentiful, A. 136; building of the, A, 111 ; of male bees, size of, A. 136 Centaurea montana, M. 45, Jig. Cercerii aurita, Lat., and C. quadiifas* data, Bosc. T. 55 ; £, vmQta, T, ft 404 INDEX, Ceramhyx (lamia) amputator, A. 240 ; C. moschutns, A. 222, 240 ; C. odoratus, De Geer, M. 8, Jig. 96, Certtp/iron destructor, T. 263 Ceratina albilabris, A. 51 Cercopida, Leach, T. 393 Cerura vinula, Steph., A. 192; 325 ; T. 35; 127; 151 Cetonia aurata, A. 251 ; T.228; M. 95 Chabrier's account of the hum of bees, M.88 Chalcididte, Westwood, T. 59 Chalcis, T.59 Charceas Graminis, Steph., M. 24 Cheese-hopper, the maggot of Piophila, T. 263 ; structure of the, 264 ; trans- formation of the into a fly, 265, Jig. Chelostomajlorisomne, T. 50 Chigoe of the West Indies, M., 191, Jig. Chironomi, T. 383 Chironomus aterrimus, Meigen, T. 365 ; C.motitator, Fabr., M.6 ; C.plumosus, T. 305, figs.; 306; 320 Chirp of crickets, M. 80 Chloropg Pumilionis, Meigen, T. 261 Christina, Queen of Sweden, M., 190 Chrysalides, A. 2"2 ; hatched under a hen, T, 310 Chrysalis, A. 21 ; and transformations of the peacock fly, T. 294 Chrysis, T. 53; C ignita, T. 54 ; Chrysomela Populi, A. 20 Chr'ysomelida:,M.7 Chryscpa perla, Leach, T. 191 ; 335 ; C. reticulata, ib. 44 Chrysotoxum fasciolatum, M. 90 Churchyard Beetle, in the grub and perfect state, T. 241, Jig*. Cibarian system, M. 388 Cicada, A. 147 ; its music, M. 83, 84 Cicada, A. 2/8; 403; T. 8 ; 56 ; M. 82, 83 ; figs. ; do not live on dew, M. 150 Cicada hcematodes, Linn., A. 147 Cicutavirosa, M. 24 Cimex lectularius, T. 165 ; M. 29 ; 60 ; 183; C.nigricornis, M. 183, 184 Cimicidce, M. 43; 53 ; 183 Cicindela, A. 20/, 209 ; M. 9 ; nest of, A. 207 Cinclus aquaticus, Bechstein, T. 362 ; 383 Circulation during the sleep of man, how effected, T. 404 Clairville's classification, M. 391 Clapnet, M., 371, Jig. Classification of insects, M. 381 Claws of spiders organs of touch, M. 7 Click-beetle, T. 230, Jig. Clisiocampa NeusMa, A. 174; 327; 329 ; T. 69 ; 85 ; 154 ; 205 ; M. 73, 74, Clothes-rn s-moths, varieties in the species of, A. 217 ; methods of destroying, Clouded yellow butterfly, anecdote of, M. 13,Jig. Clypeaster, Parkinson, T. 42 Cnethocampa Pitzocampa, Steph., T. 195 ; C. process ionea, ib. A. 333, 334 Coccidce, Leach, T. 87 Coccinella, A. 395 ; C. bipunctata,A. 4 ; C. 2-punctata, and C. 20-punctata, Linn., T. 270 ; septempundata, A. 4 ; T. 35; 269 Coccinelloe, T. 45 CoccineWdcE, Lat. T. 269; 285 ; M.53 Cocco- vivipa.rOW, Colias Ednsa, M. 13, Jig. 20 ; C. Hyale, Steph., M.I 2 Jig. Collecting Box, M . 368, Jig. Collection of insects, M ., 366 Colours meant for concealment, theory of, T. 33 ; of caterpillars not intended for concealment, T. 140 Coluber berus, Linn. T. 108 Comparetti's opinions of smell, M. 65 Contiguity not always a cause of war with ants, M. 341 Contrivances for the escape of larvae from confinement, T. 178 Copris, M.9 Cofethra, T. 98; C. culiciformis.T. 286. Corethrce (?) night gambols of, on a book, T. 365. Corethra plumicorniit, Meigen, T. 285; transformations of, 287, figs. Coronet eyes (Stemmata), M. 12/, Jigs. Corn-weevil, T. 234,Jig. Cossus muscles of the, T. 181, 182, Jig.; wonderful strength of the, T. 184 ; Jig.; viscera of the, T. 199, fig. ; pupae of, T. 323, Jig. Cossus ligniperda, Fabr., A. 207,308, 3«9,Jig. ; T. 321 ; Jig. ; 166, 178, M. 38 ; C. robinece, Peck, T. 323 Cotton-gatheriiig-bee, A. 57. Crane-fly, ovipositor, and eggs of, T. 253, Jig. ; in the act of ovipositing, T. 254, Jig. Craterina Hirnndims, Olfers, T. 118 Cream-spot tiger-moth, cocoon of the, A. 324 Crickets, structure of, A. 241 ; mode of depositing its eggs, A. 246 ; chirp of, M. 80; banished by drums and trumpets, M. 86; their cannibalism, M., 149 Crimson snow, theories devised to ac- count for, T. 352 ; curious fact ex- plaining, by Mr. T. Nicholson, T. 354 Crioceris merdigera, Leach, and C. cy anella, T. 190. Cry of the death's head moth, M. 96. Cryptus, Fabr., T. 63 Ctenophorajlaviolata, T. 255 Cuckoo-flies, A. 27,Jig. Cuckoo spit, origin of the froth on plants, called, T. 191 Cucullia Scrophulariee, Hubner, A. 204, 214 ; T. 147. Cuculus indicator, Lath. A. 145. Culex pipiens, T. 156, Jig. ; 313 , 365 ; M. Culicidce,Latr.,T. 154; 303; 407 ; M. 18-2,201. Culicoides pimctata, Lati. T. 256 ; M. 96 Curculio contract us, Maisham. At 389: C.Rhinoc,, A, 23? i IKDEX. 405 C*mrf/«*iAr,A.l8d; T. 55 Currant-bush leaf bulged out by the Aphis ribes,A.3Q5,Jig. Currant, gall of the catkins of the oak, A.M7,.fig. Cushioned feet of flies and beetles, M. 8 Cuvier's opinion of smell, M. 61 ; classification, M. 389 Cynipida, Westwood, T. 121 L'ynips, A. 147 ; 3/1 ; 382 ; 38H ; 402 ; T. 59 ; C. Genista:, A. 390 ; C. Quercus gemma, A. 3/8 ; C. Quercus inferi, A. 385 ; C. quercus peduncuti, A. 387; C. psenes, A. 388 ; C. Rosa, A. 376 ; C. Solicit, A. 380 ; C. viminalit, A. 876 Cynosurus cristatus, M. 24 Cynthia Cardui, Steph., A. 168; T.69, M. 45, Jig. Darwin and Robinet, fancies of, T . 9 Dasychira pudibunda, Steph., A. 323 Datura stramonium. M. 35 Death-watch, A. 304; insects, M. 98 Death's head moth, cry of the, M. 96 Death, approach of, indicated by in- sects, M. 29 Debraw's observations on bees, M. 254 Decandolle's experiments on plants, JVf.20 Deformed butterflies and moths, speci- mens of, T 350. Jigs. De Geer's opinion of the glow-worm, M . 224 ; classification of, 382 Delphinium choilanthum, M. 175, Jig. Deslongchamps, experiments by, T. 238 Destructive migrations, M. 469 Dew-berry, moths' eggs found on the, T. ]-2(>,Jig. Dinphora mendica, Steph., T. 314 Diffusive migrations, M . 273 Digger, M. 373,^. Diptera, T. *c96 Diving water-spider, A. 365 Division of labour, M. 292 Dock weevil, experiment with, A. 325 Domestic importance of insect study, M. 361 Dorthesia, T. 88 Dragon-fly, evolution of the, T. 337 Dragon flies, grub of, T. 162,.fig.; dis- section of the grub of, 1 62, .fig. ; mask of the grub of, lGl,Jig. ; trans- formations of, 336, 337, Jig. ; male green, M. 67, Jig. : voracity of, 159; male and female, 21 1 Drilusjlavescens, A. 416 Drink, effect of on the saliva, M. 39 Drone of the dung beetle, M. 95 Drum of the ear, T. 103,. fig. ; of the field cricket, M . 78 ; of the grass- hopper, M. 79, fig. Duels of bees, M. 328 Dumeril's opinion of the glow-worm, M. 222 Dunbar's experiments on queen bees, M. 314 Dung-beetle, A. 249 ; cleanliness of the, A. 250 Dung- fly, with eggs, T. 44, fig. Dusky-ants, A. 283 Dying ants ill treated, M. 304 Dysdera erythina, Walckenaer, T. 358, 359, fig.; magnified head and comb of, T. 359, fig. Dytiscus, M. 42 Dytiscus marginalit, M. CG Ear of the crab, M. 117, fig. Ears, position of, in certain animals, M. 105 Earth-mason caterpillars, A. 200 ; out- side walls of the nests of, A. 201, 202, fig. ; nests moth, &c., 205, .fig. Earwig, hatching eggs, anomalous in- stance of the, T. 102 Earwigs cannot get into the brain, T. 103; its jaws, M. 145; their can- nibalism, M. 147 Eating insects, M. 144 Eclectic system, M. 391 Economy of nature, reflections on the, A. 214 Eggs of insects, 19, Jigs. ; structures for protecting, A . 23 ; of insects capable of bearing great degrees of heat and cold, 23 ; all insects produced from, T. 1; not dispersed in the air, 14; specific gravity of, 15; expelled by insects from fear, 25 ; physiology of, 33; of birds not protected by their colour from the attacks of depredators, 84 ; cause of the colours of, 36 ; of ants, structure of the, 38 ; spiders and glow-worms, 39 ; form of, 40 ; of birds, cause of the oval form, 41; sculpture of 41 ; curious appendages to, 43 ; with foot-stalks, 45 ; life-boat of, con- structed by the gnat, 72 ; of insects, hibernation of, 79; experiments on, by Spallanzani and John Hunter, 79 ; singular groups of, 81 ; protection of, from heat, 83 ; in spiral groups, 85, fig. ; of the lackey moth, arched form of, 86, fig. ; of aphides, hybernation of, 87 ; of cocci, singular protection of, 88 ; of the vapourer moth, on its cocoon, 95 ; of insects, effects of cold on, 96 ; of birds, structure of the, 100 ; of insects, hatching of, 100; not hatched hv insects, 101 ; hatched be- fore they are laid, 108 ; of silk-worms, management of, 120; of some in- sects, increase in size, 121 ; of ants, growth of, 122; of spiders, develop- ment of, 123 ; of insects, valves of, 1*6 Elateridie, M.226 Elaternoctilucus,Lmn., T. 230; M. 228, Eleftric centipede, M. 230, fig. Electricity, influence of, on insects, M. 21 Elephant, smell in, M- 52 Emberiza pecoris, Wilson, T. 53 Emmets or jet-ants, A. 279; galleries of, in trees, 281 ; populous colony of, '202 Emperor moth, A. 320 ; cocoon of, 321 Encyrtus inserens, Kirby, T. 260 Entotizaria, T. 238. Epeira conica, Walck., A. 368 Epeirea diadema, A. 336; 340 ; 353 ; 358, 359; T. 39; 67; 93; 123; 358; hatching of the egg of, 124, fig. Epeira, T. 104 Epeira quadrata, A. 364 Ephemera, 205, 206; T. 138, 139 ; nests of the grubs of, A. 206, fig. : grub of 206, fig. ; nests of, in holes of cossus, A. 207, .fig. Ephemera, A. 207; T.316 Ephemeras live more than one day, M. 219 Ephemera grubs, nests of, A. 206 ; nests of, in a willow-stump, 207 ; dissection of the water-grub of. T. 139, fig. Ephemera vulgata, T. 402 2N 406 INDEX. EphemeriJa;, T. 285 ; 373; M. 205; cho- ral assemblies of, T. 3; 3 Epipone nidulans, Latr , A. 83 Erinaceus Europccus, T. 187 Eriogaster lanestris, A. 327; T. 314, 315 ; experiment with, A. 327 Eriosomamali, Leach, M. 178, 179, fig. Eriosoma populi, Leach, A. 392, 393 Eristalis tenax, Fabr., T. 184 ; 322; and E. apiforrnis, Meigen, T. 5 Ermine moths, encamping caterpillars of the, T. 205 Error of Gcedart and of De Mei con- cerning the production of bees, T. 5 Error of Virgil and Columella ex- plained, T. 4 Eudidia glyphica, Ochsenheim, T. 147. Eumenes, A. 52 Euonymus, T. 207 Euplocamiu granella, T. 221 Euplocami and Tineas, destruction of grain by, T- 221 Eurytoma stigma, Steph., T. 60 Evania apendigaster, T. 66, .fig. Evolution of some insects, fixed me of the day for the, T. 316 Exotic plants sometimes selected by in- sects as food for their young, T. 69 Expeditions of ants to capture slaves. M. 342 Experiments on the gnat's life-boat of eggs, T. 75 ; on the wolf spider, by Swammerdam, Bonnet, and J. R , 105; showing the embryo butterfly in the caterpillar, 134 Eyes, multiplying, M. 129 Fabricius's geographical classification, M.384 F alco ossifrqgus, T. 361 Falco tinnuncidus, T . 361 Fat, a probable defence against cold, T. 195 Fecundity of insects compared with other animals, T . 46 Feet of flies, apparatus in the, T. 390 Feligmaniculutus,Temm., M. 191 Female ants take off their own wings, M. 246; their authority, 302 Female insects short-lived, M. 218 Field-cricket, A. 244 Fishes, smell in, M. 51 Fire-fly of the West Indies, M. 228, fig. Ffea, leaping muscles of the, T. 392,,/?g-. Fleas made to draw miniature coaches, T. 180; M. 188; sucker of, 189; pre- vention of, 191 Flies (Muscidee), parchment-like pupa case of, T. 282 Fly, curious procedure in, M. 37 Fasnusjaculator, M. 107 Folded wings of some two-winged flies, T. 338 Food, effects of, on bee grubs and plants, M. 315 Food, growing, plan of supplying, M.365 Food of insects, M. 142 Foot of the fly, supposed springs in the, T. 388 Forceps, French, M. 373, Jigs. Foreign ants, A. 284 ForficUa auricularia, Linn., T. 102: 342; M. 145 Formica brunnea, A. 258; M. 113; F. caca, M. 118 ; F. ccespitum, Latr., A. 256, 257; T. 192; F. Jlava, A. 256 ; 270 ; 283; T. 113 ; 192 ; 330 ; 409; F. fastens, M. 56 ; F. fuliginosa, A. , A, see j m, T. 410 ; M. 56 • F.fusca, F. lnmnect> and F.rufa,A. 257 ; F. nigra, A . 283 , F. rufa, Latr. A. 262; 272 ; 2b9; T. 377; 407; M. 56 Formicaries, glazed artificial, A. 269 Formicary, for experiments, A. 2/6 Formicidae, Leach, M. 170 Fox-moth and caterpillar, M. 76, figs. Franklin's experiment on ants, M. 57 Fringilla Moris, Temminck, T. 35 Fringilla domestica, Linn., T. 35 Frogs, snails, &c. supposed showers of, T. 23 Fruit grubs, T. 242 Fulgora lanternaria, Linn., M. 229, fig. Fulgoridie, M. 85 GadusMorkua, M. 10 Gallerue, bee-hives injured by, T. 222 Galleria cereana, G. alvearia, Fabr., T. 222, 223 Gall flies, experiments with, A. 384; structure off A . 370 Gall-fly, ovipositor of the, A. 372, Jig. Gall insects, T. 88 Galls, opinions concerning the cause of, A. 373 Gammasus Baccarum, Fabr., T. 386 Garnmasus Coleoptratorum, Fabr., M. 29 Gamma moth, alarm caused in France by the, T. 211 ; calculation of the fe- cundity of the, T . 212 ; transforma- tion of, T. 2 12, ./?£*. Gastrophaca quercijolia, T. 293 Gasterophilut eyui, Leach, A. 407 Gastervphilus hcemorrhoidalis, Leach, A. 409 Gelis agilis, Thunberg, T. 65 Gcometra illunaria, T. 35 Geometric spiders, A. 358 GeometridMlerma bovit, Latr., A. 400; 411; M.26 par, Stephens, A. 323; . 1,5; 39; 79; 100 Ichneumon, A. 195, fig. Ichneumon Fly and |the cuckoo, om- parison between the, T. 52 ; with its ovipositor, T. 57, Jig- '; manner of 2N2 Hyputw T. 1,5 408 INDEX. ovipositing, 38, fig. ; Transformations of, 62, fie. Ichneumon Flies, A. 27 Indicator Major, Veill., A. 145 Imago, A. %2, fig. Impulsion of fluids into the wings, T. 341 Instruction derivable from common things, A. 1 Insectiferous winds, T. 22 Insects, extraordinary numbers and va- rieties of, A. 3 ; may be studied in every situation, 4 ; the study of, does not narrow the mind, A. 7; injuries and benefits c aused by, 9 ; study of, fascinating to youth, 13 ; beauty of, 15; varieties in the economy of, 16; states of, 17 ; produced from eggs, 17; in the perfect state, 22; with legs on its back, T. 385; not killed by severe frosts, 98 ; probably gnaw through their egg-shells, 125 ; from plants, difference of, 137 ; muscular, strength of, 179 ; newly transformed, expansion of the body and wings in, 333; newly-evolved, discharges from, 350; peculiar locomotions of, 3?9; imperfect, from fallen chrysalides, 349; peculiar motions of, 356 ; flight of, 395 ; nest of, 399 ; have neither brain nor spinal chord, 400; day- movements of, 400 ; supposed pulse in, 401 ; have neither a proper heart nor blood, 401 ; alleged discovery of a circulation in, 402 ; torpidity of, in winter, 406 Instantaneous appearance of insects, T. 19 Instinct, infallibility of, questioned, T. 76; mistakes of, 77 ; irregular disclo- sure of the different individuals of the same brood, 315. Intestinal canals of caterpillar, pupa, and butterfly, T. 201, Jig*. ; worms, 239, Jlgt. Intestinal worms, mistakes of Linnaaus, Dr. Barry, and Dr. J. P. Frank, re- specting, T. 237 Italian locust, T. 240 Jaws of insects do not indicate their food, M. 144 Jet Ants or Emmets, A. 279 Julus terrestris, T. 384, 386, Jigs. Kircher, curious experiment of, T. 2 ; recipe for the manufacture of snakes, 2 Knapp's opinion of the glow-worm, M.222 Labourers, duties of among termites, M.331 Laburnum, section of the bud of the, T. 136, Jig. Labyrinthic Spider's nest, A. 356 Lacerla agilis, Linn., T. 108 ; L. Gecko, Linn., 390 Lace-winged Flies and eggs, T. 45, fig.; fly and grub, 2/1,^*. Lackey Moth's eggs, arched form of, T. 86 ; transformations of, M. 74, jigs. Lady Birds, popular mistakes respect- ing, T. 269; transformations of, traced to the eggs, 270, Jigs.; migra- tions of, M . 267 Lamarck's classification, M. 389 Lamia, M. 109 Lampyris nocliluca, T. 39; M.222; L. Ilalica,T. 403 Land crab, migrations of, M . 272 Laniadte, M. 159 Language antennal, and objections to, M. 110, 113 Lapidary Bees, A. 70 Lapping insects, M. 170 Laria fascelina, A. 20; pupa of, T. 300, fig. Larvae, coil of, in the body of a blow- fly, T. 110, Jig.; growth, moulting, strength, defence, and hibernation of, 166 ; the moulting of, interrupted by accidents, 170 ; means of escape of, by spinning, 186 ; excrementitious covering of some, 190; jaws or man- dibles of, 202 ; proceedings of, at their approaching transformation, 2/3 Larva of the common gnat, A. 20, Jig. of the poplar beetle, 20,Jjg-.; of Si- rex, 20, figs. Lasiocampa quercus, A. 328 ; L. Rubi, Schrank, M. 75, 76, fig. Latreille's opinion of smell, M. 62; ge- ographical classification, M. 391 Laziness punished among ants, M.305 Leach's classification, M. 39-2 Leaf gall of the dyer's broom, A. 379, Leaf galls of mountain ash, A. 390 Leaf mining Caterpillars, A. 233; maggots arid fly, T. 70, fig. Leaf roller, ingenious contrivance in a small, T. 324 Leaf rolling, method of, A. 165; pro- bable mistake concerning, 16G; leaves detached, formed into habitations, 167 Leaf rolling Caterpillars, A. 159 j aphides, 394 Lecidea, A. 361 Leg and pro-leg of a Caterpillar, mag- nified, A. 307, fig. Legionary Ants, M. 342 Legs of the Bee for can &c., A. 110 ; of Spiders, M. 4 Lehmann's opinion of the palpi, M. 10; opinion of smell, M. 61 Leistusfulvibatbus, M. 43, figs. Lemming Rat, migrations of, M. 271 Lemnochares holoscricea, Latr., T. 383 Leptus autumnalis, ib., M. 27, fig. ; L. phalangii, M. 27 Lepus cuniculus, M. 157 Lestris'parasiticus, Boie% M. 114 Leucoma salicis, Stephens, A. 312; T. 14, 150 Libellula, Fabr., T. 164 Libellula;, A. 214 Libellula vulgata, compound eye of, M. 133, fig. Libeltulidce, Leach, T.I 60 Libellulina, M'Leay, T. 46, 163, 285, 335,896; M.29, 42, 158 Light, effects of, on eggs, T. 120 Lilac -leaf rolling Caterpillar, A. 160; nest of, 161,. fig.; 162, fig, „ Lilac-tree Moth, A. 160, fig. Limnoria, Leach, M. 168 Lime tree, shoot of, contorted by the Aphis tilia, A. 39,'i, fig. Linariavidgaris,M..5l Linnaeus's classification, M. 381 Localities of insects, M. 360 Locality system, M. 383 Local stations of insects, M. 264 Locusta, T. 143 ; L. ccerutescens, M. . 140; L. Ita/ica, Leach, T. 249; t,, migraloria, ib., i-itS INDEX. 409 toaulMtP, M. 8, 79 Locust, T. 251, Jig.', migrations of, M.269 Locust Moth, singularity in the, T. 323 Locusts, ravages of, T. 246 ; swarms of, in Southern Africa, T. :M7 ; do not chew the cud, M. 150 Lozntcenia ribeana, Steph., A. 160; T. 21; L. rosana, ib., A. 163; T. 16 Loxia soda, Latr., A. 87 Loyalty of bees, M. 320 Lucnnus cervus, M. 10, Jig. • 145 LumbricutlerruMt,T.J9; M. 2 Luminosity of the sea, M. 230 Luminous insects, M. 2-22 Lyconna pklceat, Fabr, T. 371 Lycteniedae, Leach, T. 279/280 Lycosa saccata. Latr., T. 104, 124, 382, '386 Mac Leay's classification, M. 395 Macroglossa utetfatarum, M. 50, Jig. Maggot, A. 20, fig. Maggots, structure of, T. 1-28; of crane fltes, popularly called the grub, 252; voracity of, -252; of blow flies, vora- city of, 268 : of blow flies, instance of man being devoured by the, 268 Male ants, death of, M . 246 Male bees massacred, M. 259; some- times preserved, M. 261 Mallow butterfly of France, A. 169 Mamestra Bnuticar, Treitschke, T.213, M. ofcracea,213 Manoeuvring of sanguine ants, M. 341 Mantis, A. 63 ; T. 143 ; cannibalism of, M.144; M.oratoria, Linn., M. 154; M. religion, M. 157, Jig. Markwick fly, T. 261, fie. Mary Riordan, extraordinary case of, by Dr. Pickells, T. 237 Mason-ants, A. 255 ; artificial hive for observing, 2'69,fig. ; nest, section of, XjO.fig. ; contrivance of to strengthen their nests, 271, fig. Mason-bee, A. 34, fig. : nest of a, on the wall of Greenwich Park,33Jig. ; male and female, M. 213 Mason-bees' clay mine at Lee, A. 35, fig. ; labour estimated, 37; structures of; 41,. fig. ; restless disposition of, 42 ; and nest, 43, fig. Mason-spiders, A. 360; nest of, 362, Maso ason -wasp, proceedings of a, at Lee, A. 26: mandibles of, 27, fig.; cau- tion of, outwitted by a fly, 28 ; struc- ture of a, 29. fig. ; nest and cocoons of, 29, fig., 81, fig. ; storing up live caterpillars, 32 Mason- wasps, A. 26, fig. Massacre of male bees, M. 259 Maternal care of insects respecting their eggs, T. 49 Maxillary system, M. 388 Meal-worm, the grub of Tenebrio moli- tor, T. 234; and beetle produced from it, 235, Jig-*. Meandrina cerebriformit, Parkinson, T. 9 Megachile, Latr., A. 33; M. centun- cularis, 59; M. muraria, 35, 37; 38, 41 Melitea cinxia, A. 172 Melolontha rnficornis, Fabr., T. 231, fig., 232; M. vulgaris, 225, 227; 348 Mesenibrina meridiana, Meigen, T. 46 ; Merulidte, M. 1-24 Metamorphosis, supposed animal and vegetable, T. I SI, Jig.; the term of, objected to, 258 Microgaater aphidum, Spinola, T. 65 M. gl,>mrratu3,6l, 62.65 Midi;i>. delicacy of taste in, M. 23 Midges, oblique pace of, T. 3M4 Migrations in Palestine and Europe, T. 257; of insects, M. 77; destruc- tive, M.269 Mitita-a artemia, Ochs., M. 12 Mimosa pudica, M. 21 Mining-ants made slaves, M. 351 Mining-bees, A. 43; cell of, 43; their different proceedings in Britain and, in France, 44 M it -alnlix jatapa, M. 51 Mistakes' from hasty inferences, M. 2; from similarity, M.231 Modern system, M. 391 Moisture necessary to taste, M. 37 Mole-cricket, A. 242 ; with outline of ine of its hands, 243, fig. ; nest of, ,, Molobrus, T. 367 Mormo maura, Ochs., A. 219 Mosses on walls, origin of, T. 27 Motacilla;, T. 363 Moth, winter nest of the brown- tailed, A. 330; winter nest of the golden- tailed, 331; egg of the brimstone, t1. 43, Jig. Moths, ingenuity of, T. 79 ; anal twee- zers of, T. 84 ; male and female, M.214 Motion indispensable to life, T. 356 Mould in the heart of an apple, origin of, T. 30 Moulting or casting the skin, process of, in larvae, T. 169; position of the hairs in the, 173,figs. Mouth system, M. 388 Muff-making caterpillars, A. 232,^.; tents of, 232 Muller's researches on insect vision, M. 133 Mullusbarbatua,M. 10 Multiplying eyes, M. 129 Musca Caesar, Linn, t.109; 3; car- miria, 196; 268; 321 ; domestica, A. 415 ; T. '266 ; 347 ; 357 ; 388 ; M. 30; 116; 193; vomitoria, ib. T. 76, 109; 118; 126 ; 267; 232 Miucida,, Leach, T. 63; 177 ; 261 ; 282; M. 60; 115 Muscicapidce, M. 149 Muscles of the bee's tongue, M. \?2,fig. Muscular strength of fleas, T.392 Museum beetle, grub of, T. 187, fig*. Mutilla, T. 47 Mygale avicularia, T. 394, 395 ; 397, fig. ; camentaria, Latr. A. 361, 362, fig. ; eyes of, 302 Ji£.; parts of the foot and claw, M*,Jtg. Mygale cratiens, A. 360 ; nidulans, VV'alck., 360 ; Sauvagesii, Latr. 363 Myrmeleonfurmicalen, Fabr., A. 22 ; 209 ; T. 334, 335 Myrmica rubra,A. 266 Nais, T.237; water worms, 159 Names in natural history, use of names in, A. 12 Naturalists, different opinions of, A.75; discrepancies of opinions among, T. 413 Necklace beetle, A. 253 Necrophaga, M. 61 Necrophorus sepultor, De Jean, M. 46, " *. ; vespillo, A. 247 ; M. 66 contractus, Steph., T. 218 2N3 Xedyut 410 INDEX. tfeides elegans, Curtis, T. 380, 381, fig. Pairing of aphides, M, 234; of ants, fiematus capreie, Steph., and N. salicis, 241 ; of bees, 253 T. 215 ; 217 ; Ribesii, ib. 215 Palpi, organs of touch, M. 9 Nemopteryx coa, Leach, A. 22 Nepa cinerea, Linn., A. 22 ; T. 43 ; M . Papiliouidas, Leach, T.280 Papilio Machaon, T. 281 ; 309 ; 342 ; M. 39 ; neptunia, 187 53 Nepidce, Leach, T. 122 Papillae, M. 23 Nests, pendulous leaf, from Bonnet, A. Parasite of the cabbage-caterpillar, T. 332 61 ; of the cock-roach, T. 66 Net forceps, M. 372, Jiff. Nets for insects, M. 369, 370, 371,372, Parasites of eggs, T. 63 ; of the aphides, 65 ; of bees and wasps, 07 fig*- Parliament of Paris, strange enactment Net-work cocoon, A. 324, fig. of the, T. 209 Negro ants made slaves, M. 351, 352 Parnus, M. 115 Negroes, smell in, M. 59 Parus catidatus, T. 92 Night insects rest in the day, T. 399 Peacock butterfly and its chrysalis, T Jfirmus, T. 125 Noctua Algos, Fabr., T. 141 Pedicia rivosa, with its poiser and Notodonta ziczac, Steph., A. 171 J T. winglets, M. 93, figs. 151 Pediculus coccineus, Scop., M. 27; P. ffotonecta glauca, M. 178 humanus, T. 125 ; egg of, 126, Jig. ; HotonectidtK, Leach, T. 366 Swammerdam's opinion concerning, Nurse bees, A. 91 297 Nut and apple tree beetles, transforma- tions of, T. 243, figs. Pendulous leaf nests, A. 332, Jig- ; gossamer, account of the - Swammerdam's observations on bees, ascent of, 346 ; nests, trebs, and nets * M. 236 ; classification, M. 386 INDEX. 413 Swarming of bees, M. 283 ; indications of, M. -287 Sylvia cinerea, Temm., A. 282. Sylvia atricapilla, M. 115 Syrphidx, M.93 Sylviada;, M. 124, 145 Sylvia hortensis, M. 149 ; S. phtrnicurns, Lath. T. 36; S. rubecula, 36 ; M. 115 ; S. trochilus,T.35 Syrphi, A. 392, 395; T. 4, 45 ; vibratory motions of, when flying, T. 360 Syrphidie, Leach, T. 5, 270, 283, 360 ; flask-shaped pupsc of, 284 Syrphns, T. 284, 285, 398; and larva devouring aphides, T. 271,. figs.; S. arcuatus, M.39 ; S. inanis, muscular ribbons for moving the wings of, T. 397, Jig*. Systematic arrangements of insects, M. Tabanidae, M. 202 Tabanus, M. 39 Tabby moth caterpillar devours butter and fat, T. 236 ; transformations of, 236,^*. Tachina, T. 53; T. larvarum, A. 28, 29. Tact of insects in discovering food for their young, T.68 Tactics of the slave-: lave-making ants, M. 341 Taste in insects, M. 23. Teazle moth, mistakes of Bonnet with regard to the, T. 325 Tect,mi0,Jig.; nests of, 151, Jig. Treehopper, (cicada) sounding instru- ment of, M. 83, ,Jig. Tree wasp's nest in Ayrshire, A. 81 Trembley's experiments on Aphides, M. 237, figs. Trichocera hiemalis, Meigen, T. 363 Trichiosoma, A. 328 Tricnoptera, A.185 Tringa pugnax, Linn., T. 372 .tf Triton palustris, Flem., T. 177. Trochilidte, T.394 Trogosita Mauritania, Oliv., T. 234 Trombidium holosericeum, Latr., T. 383 Trumpet honeysuckle, M . 50, fig. Tumble dung beetle, A. 251 Turnip fly, erroneously fancied to romo across the sea, to Norfolk, T. 218 Turf ants, structure of, A. 255 Turret-building white ants, A. 301; singular form of the nests of, 302 Twenty-plume moth, T. 345, fig. Two-horned mason- bee, proceedings of at Lee, A. 39 Umbrella used to collect insects, M* 367 Unger's observations on the supposed transmutations of plants into ani» mals, T. 130 Upholsterer bees, A. 53; taste of in ornament, 56 Urania Leilus, T.I 89 Vria alle, Temminck, T. 354 Vallisnieri's classification, M. 384 Vancllus cristatu*, Meyer, T. 77 Vanessa, T. 41, 360, 406; V. Antiopa, L 208, 274, 276 ; caterpillars of, .with manner of moulting, 2/4, Jigt. ; $vp» 414 INDEX. lution of the chrysalis of, 876, Jigs.; Wax, preparation ef, A. 93 / secretion V.Atalanta, A. 168; T. 14, 71, 273, of, 116 3/1 ; V. C. album, 69 ; V. In, A. 3'29 ; Weather, whether predicted by spiders, T. 277, 294, 295; V. polychloru*, 95, M.17; importance of in bee-swarm- 118; M. 44; V. Vrticas, A. 329; T. ing, 289 42, 69, 278, 312, 349, 350 ; M. 38; caterpillar of, T. 200, Jig. ; intestines Weevil of the apple-bud, T.243 Weevil-galls, A. 388 of caterpillar of, 200, fig. ; suspension Weevil-gall of the hawthorn, A. 389 of chrysalides of, 2? 8, figs.; V. Ur- ticee, V. Atalania, and V. Jo, 35; V. Wheat, probable mistake respecting the destruction of, T. 231 ; germina- Urticee, V. lo, and V. Antiopa, 148; tion of a grain of, 259, fig. V. Urticte and V. lo, 310 Wheat-fly described by Mr. Shireff, T. Vanessa, T. 154, 188, 350, 367 256 ; transformations of, 260, Jigs. Vapourer moth, eggs of the, on its co- Whirlwig, account of the, by Kirby coon, T. 95, Jig. and by Knapp, T. 368 Various periods of its disclosure in the Whirlwig's eyes, remarkable structure same brood, T.314 of the, T.370 ; M. 128 Velio, current, Latr., T.382; V.rivu- Whirlwig beetle, sailing of the, T. 381 lorum, Latr.,3f,2,jig. White ants or termites, structures of, Vespa Britannica, A. 71 ; V. crairo, 81 ; A. 288 ; extraordinary comparative V. vvlgaris,7},8l height of, 288 ; mining operations of, VespidcB, M. 167 289 ; queen distended with eggs, 295, Vine- leaf-mining caterpillar, A. 238 Jig. ; turret nests of, 301, jig.; of Viola tricolor, M. 146 trees and timber, 302 Viverra putorius, Linn., M. 55 Wild bees of America, Ireland, and Virgil's receipt for making a swarm of Palestine, A. 143 bees, T. 3 ; description of bee -battles, Wild honey-bees, A. 142 M. 323 Wildman's feats with bees, M. 320 Vision of insects, M. 118 Willow, branch of, with seed spikes, A. Volucella plumata, Meigen, T. U9,fig. 232,^.; leaf-bundler, 170; woody Velucetlfe, Geoffroi, T. 148, 395 Voracity of grubs, maggots, and cater- gall of the, 386 Winds, insectiferous, T. 22 pillars, T. 196 ; instances of human, Wingless females, M. 215 201 ; of the cockroach, M. 153 Wings of insects, air- tubes in the, T. Vulgar errors of insects being gene- 344, Jigs. ; of plumed moths, ver- rated by putrefaction and by blight- dures of, 345, figs. ; mechanism of, Ing winds, T. 1 396 ; organs of touch, M. 12 Wing system, M. Walking-leaf insect, T. 144, Jig. Wall-mason-bees of France, A. 38 "Wire-worm, the grub of Hemirhipu* T. 229, 230, fig. Wall-caterpillar, moss cell of a, A. 183 Wolf-bug (Reduvius\ dust mask of the. Warrior ant (Termes bellicosus), A. 291 ; T. 165 in the winged state, A. 291, fig. ; used Wood-ants, structures of, A. 272 ; nests, as delicate food, 292; nest, royal materials employed in fabricating, chamber of, 295 ; nest, nurseries in, 2/2 ; nest, coping of, 273 ; interior 296 ; nest, galleries and covert ways structure of, 275 ; artificial hive for, in, 298 ; dislike labour, M. 353 276,Jig. ; proceedings at night-fall, Wars of insect communities, M. 322 277 ; emigration of, M . 2/8 Wasp, paper made by the, compared Wood-feeders, contrivance in the pupae •with ours, A. 85; card-making of of, T. 322 Cayenne, 87 ; fly (chrysotoxum fas- Worker ants guard the females, M.244 ciolatum), M. 91, Jig.; robberies, M. Worker bee, A. 103, Jig. 331 ; structure of the tongue in the, Working ants, imperfect females, M. M., 176 242 Wasps, paper fabricated by, A. 75; « Worm i' the bud,' the, traced to its rose-shaped nest of, 82, Jig. ; verti- egg, T. 20 cal nest of, 83, Jig. ; and bees, rare parasites of, T.67; government, M. Xenos, T. 67. 306; have no subordination of ranks, Xylocopa, T. 50 ; X. violacea, A. 47, 49, 307 ; wars of, 331 52; M.51,95 Watch bees, M. 330 Water grubs, forms of, T. 154 Yellow ants, winter nest of, A., 256 ; of Water larva, syringe for respiration in a non-migratory disposition, M. 278 the, T. 161 ; curious mask of the, 163 Yponomeuta euonymella, T. 207 ; 1'. pa- Water larvae, breathing organs in, T. della, A. 329 ; T. '205 ; M. 25 ; en- 156 ; telescopic-tailed, 158 campment of, T. 206, Jig. Water net, M. 369, fig. Yunx, torquilla, M. 124 Water worms (Nais), T. 159; maybe mistaken for larvae, 159, Jig. Zabrus, T. 232 ; Z. gibbus, Steph.,T. Wax-working bees, A. 91 ; abdomen, 231, fig. 104,^.; curtain of, 114, Jig.; 119, Zantheumia Solstitialit, Leach, T. 228 ; Jig. ; commencing the first cell, 117, 348 Jig> Zimb( breeze-fly ?) of Africa, A.4J5 FINIS. W, CI.OWES, Stamford Street. I '• '•'- "'