HI ,
ba beak
oh Nhe p

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INSECTS AT HOME:

BEING

Can

A POPULAR ACCOUNT OF ALL THOSE INSECTS
WHICH ARE USEFUL OR DESTRUCTIVE,

’

- MINUTELY DESCRIBING THEIR STRUCTURE, HABITS,
AND TRANSFORMATIONS.

{pit |pwards of Seven fjumdved figures,

BY E. A. SMITIT AND J. B. ZWECKER;
ENGRAVED BY G. PEARSON.

BY THE

REV. J. G. WOOD, M.A., F.LS., Ere.

~ Author of ‘‘ Homes Without Hands,” ‘‘ Bible Animals,’’ ‘*‘ Common Objects of the Sea-shore
and Country,” ‘‘ The Illustrated Natural History,” “Strange Dwe'lings,”’ etc.

NEW YORK:
JOHN B. ALDEN, PustisHer,
1584,

PRHFACH.

———_e s+ _—_.

As this is not a work on comparative anatomy, but treats of
“Insects at Home,’ a greater stress is laid on the habits of the
insects than on their anatomy. Still, inasmuch as a general
knowledge of the various parts of an insect and of the terms
applied to them is absolutely necessary for all who wish to
study the subject, however superficially, I have given, together
with the different groups of insects, those portions of their
structure which serve to distinguish them from their fellows.

Moreover, there will be found: prefixed to the description cf
the chief groups chart-drawings of their anatomy, so as ‘to
enable the reader to recognise the various portions of an insect
when he examines it. I am led to do this by the remem-
brance of the difficulties undergone by myself during my earlier
years of entomology. In those days the only works which
gave illustrations as well as names were so few, and so costly,
that they were positively out of my reach as much as if they
had never existed. I have therefore endeavoured in this work
to supply that want which I felt so severely, and have so
arranged the work that no reader need be puzzled as to the
difference between mandible, maxilla, labium, and mentum,
as I was in former days. For example, the chart-drawing on
page 9 describes fully the structure of a Beetle, and is in fact
a key to that of all insects; that on page 296 gives all those

vi PREFACE.

points in which the Bees, Wasps, Ants and their kin differ
from the Beetles; and that on page 385 performs the same
service with regard to the Moths and Butterflies.

In the Woodecuts which are inserted in the text the num-
bered figures represent insects, and those to which letters are
attached represent the most important details of those insects.
It is by means of such details that entomologists are enabled
to arrange insects in some definite system, and so to enable
anyone who is acquainted with them to identify an insect
which he has never before seen.

The reader may probably notice that these figures of
insects are but slightly shaded, and in many cases are little
but outline. This is intentional, and the shading is omitted
in order that the reader may supply its place by colour. In
every case where red, yellow, or light hues of any tint are to be
used, their place is left as nearly blank as possible; and, as
the insects are described fully in the text, there will be no
difficulty in applying the colours. I would recommend a
liberal use of ox-gall in mixing the colours, so as to neutralise
the oily lines of the printer’s ink.

Should the reader wish to colour the page-size engravings,
he must first prepare them with a little size, or otherwise the
colours will run. It will be found better, in order to bring
out the insects more boldly, either to leave the background
uncoloured, or to put in the colours as lightly as possible. I
very strongly recommend the possessor of the work to colour
these illustrations, as he will thus fix the insects firmly in
his mind, and quadruple the value of the volume to other

readers.

October 1871.

CON TEN

Ce. I.—Ixrrenuction
I].—GxopEPHAGA
IIl.—GroperHaca—continucd
1V.—HypDRADEPHAGA .
V.— BRACHELYTRA
VI.—NeEcROPHAGA
VIL.—LAMELLICORNES .
VITL.—&terr xt
LTX.—MatacopErmMI

X.—HETEROMERA

XI.—RuywcHorHorA, OR WERBVILS

XIL.—LoNGICcORNES . 5
Nii —Horopk s P
XIV.—PsEUDOTRIMERA . ;

DRNCAPTDRA. os el uso. oe
ORTHOPTERA. cw at

THYSANOPTERA . 3 :
NEUROPTERA. ° . .
TRICHOPTERA 5 . .

H YMENOPTERA—
Ci. I—Saw-Friss . A “
IJ.—Tux Icuneumon Firms

TiI.—Ants anp Diccers .

IV.— Wasps anp Sorirary Bess

V.—Sociat Bres ‘

ss

° °
°
° e
° e
e
° °
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° °
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Vill CONTENTS.

PAGE

LEPIDOPTERA—
Cu. I.—Rxopatocers, oR BUTTERFLIES . : : ‘A 3 rz etatey.
TJ.—Herrrocera, orn Morus. s : 5 ; ; : > 412
IIl.—Gromerna:. 7 ;: ; : : ne ee 3 é . 446
IV.—Psrvupo-Bompyces, Deepancia, 4nd NoctuE . 4 sh ater 4638
V.—Detroiwes, PyrarmEs, AND CRAMbITHS ; ° ‘ 2 48
VI.—Torrricrs, TINEH, AND PreRoPHoRi. ; z s A ~ 002
VII.— Tine AND PTEROPHORI . 5 A : ° ° e « (ON

HOMOPTERA . . - . ° ° ° e ° e e 2 988

HETEROPTERA—
Cu. I.—-Avrocorisa, or Atr-Bues. A ‘ e e e e . ODD

I].—Hyprocortsa, or WatTER-Bues . e . - e ° . 581
APHANIPTERA—(Punicioz, om Famss), «© « © 2» « « O91

DIPTERA * ° ® e ® e e e @ e s ° e 599

PELUSTRATIONS:

PLATES.
PLATE I. PLANTS:—
TIGER BEETLES AND BOM- Trunk and Branch of Oak (Quercus

BARDIER To face p. 16

. Cicindela sylvatica and larva.

. Cicindela maritima and larva.
. Cicindela germanica and larva.
. Broscus cephalotes.

. Brachinus crepitans.

3, Carabus monilis.

Oo BR Oo OH

O>

PLANTS :—
Bramble (Rubus fruticosus). Above
Heath (Erica cinerea). Right of
middle.
Lavender Thrift (Statice Limon-
ium). Left or middle.
Fern (Pteris aquilina). Above

heath.

PLATE II.
GROUND BEETLES To face p. 32

1. Lebia crux-minor.

2. Calosoma inquisitor.

3, Carabus intricatus.

4, Cychrus rostratus.

5, Calosoma, larva in nest of Social
caterpillar.

6, Carabus, larva.

Robur). Above.

Wood Anemone (Anemone nemor-
osa). Across centre.

Cowslip (Primula veris). In middle,

PLATE III.

WATER BEETLES . To face p.54

le

Dyticus marginalis (male).

. Dyticus marginalis (female).
Gyrinus natator (and under).

. Dyticus marginalis, larva.

. Gyrinus natator, larva.

. Gyrinus natator, pupa case (on
arrow-head).

wo

o> ot HR

PLANTS:—

Arrow-head (Sagittaria sagittifo-
lia). Left upper corner. '
Creeping Mouse-ear (Myosotis re-

pens). Right upper corner.
Bristle-stalk Ciub-rush (Scirpus se-
taceus). Under Myosotis.
Water Feather-foil (Hottonia patl-
ustris). Under arrow-head.

x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
5. Meloé cicatricosus, larva (full
PLATE IV. | Sera be, oo
ROVE BEETLES AND BURYING | 8. Phytonomus tigrinus.
BEETLES To face p. 76 7. Lixus bicolor.
1. Boletobius atricapillus. 8. Lixus bicolor, nest.
2. Ocypus olens (egzs belew). 9. Aromia moschata.
3. Staphylinus ceesareus. aU: Clytus Ba ab
4. Necrophorus humator. 11. Cassida aa aaa
5. Necrophorus vespillo. 12. Coccinella septempunctata.
6. Necrophorus mortuorum. PLANTS :—
7. Choleva CaS ee Willow (Salix alba). Above.
8. Hister bimaculata. Wild Carrot (Daucus carota). Left
9. Nitidula depressa. of middle.
10. Boletobius in gills of mushroom.
11. Necrophorus humator, larva. PAE Wale
12. Silpka thoracica, larva.
13. Oeypus olens, larva. EARWIGS, FIELD-COCKROACH,
14. Silpha thoracica (on body of bird). AND CRICKETS To face p. 228
1. Forficula gigantea.
PLANT -— 2. Forficula aurivularia.
Edible Mushroom (Agaricus campes- 3. Blatta germanica.
tris). 4. Blatta germanica (egg-case).
5. Gryllotalpa vulgaris.
PLATE V 6. Gryllus campestris.
CHAFERS To face p. 114 | PLANTS:—

1. Cetonia aurata.
. Melolontha vulgaris (male).
. Geotrupes stercorarius.
. Lucanus cervus.
. .Lucanus cervus, larva (very young).
. Cetonia aurata, larva (three parts
grown).
7..Cetonia aurata (pupa cases or
cocoons).
8. Geotrupes
(young).
9. Melolontha, vulgaris, larva (three
parts grown).

& Om ow bo

stercorarius, larva

i PLANT :—
Wild Rose (Rosa canina). .

PLATE VI.

.GLOW-WORM, OIL-BEETLES,
WEEVILS, LONG-HORNS, AND

_LADY-BIRDS. To face p. 192
Lampyris noctiluea (male).
Lampyris noctiluca (female).
3. Meloé cicatricosus (male).
4, Melo cicatricosus (female).

1.
2.

Great Bindweed (Convolvulus see
pium). Above.

Purple Clover (Trifoliwm pratense).
Right of middle.

PLATE VIII.

DRAG ON- FLIES, MAY - FLIES,
AND CADDIS To face p. 266
1. Ephemera vulgata.
-2. Ephemera, larva.
3. Libellula depressa.
3a.Libellula emerging from pupa-
case,
4, Libellula, larva.
5. Calopteryx virgo.
6. Agrion minium.
7. Phryganea grandis.
8. Phryganea, larva cases, or caddis.

PLaANnTs :-—
Flowering Rush (Butomus umbella-
tus). In centre.
Mare’s Tail (Hippuris vulgaris). On

right.
Water Bistort (Polygonum amphi-
biwm). On lett.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xi

PLATE IX.

SAW-FLIES, GALL-FLIES, AND
SIREX . . To face p. 300
. Cimbex lutea.
. Cimbex, cocoon.
. Cimbex, larva.
. Lyda hortensis.
. Trichiosoma lucorum.
Cynips Kollari.
. Sirex Juvencus (male).

nN me CO NM

AD

~I

PLAntTs :—
Oak, Fir, and Hawthorn.

PLATE X.

PARASITIC HYMENOPTERA.
2 To face p. 324
1. Pezomachus zonatus and nests of
spider.
. Pezomachus fasciatus.
. Trogus atropos.
. Rhyssa persuasoria.
. Rhyssa depositing eggs.
. Chelonus oculator (rather magni-
fied).
Caterpillar of Death’s Head Moth.
In middle.

Done Ww ds

PLANTS :—
Willow. Above. ,
Dog-grass (Cynosurus). In middle,
with mud-nests of Spider.
Wood Sorrel ( Oxalis acetosella).
low.

Be-

PLATE XI.

ANTS, WASPS, AND SOLITARY
BEES To face p. 350
1. Formica rufa and nest.
2. Quedius brevis.
3. Eumenes and nest.
4, Vespa arborea and nest.
5. Andrena nitida.
6. Andrena Trimmerana.
7. Cilissa, heemorrhoidalis.
8. Nomada ruficornis,
9, Stylops melitte.

PLANTS :—
Harebell.

Common Heath (frica cinera), with
nest of Eumenes.
Ivy.

PLATE ‘XII.

HUMBLE BEES

1. Bombus lueorum (female).
2. Bombus muscorum (female).
3. Apathus vestalis (female.)
4. Encera longicornis (male),

To face p. 270

Prants :—
Hawthorn. Above.
Sea Campion (Silene maritina). Be-
low.

PLATE XIII.
BUTTERFLIES To face p. 39

1. Vanessa polychloros.
2. Vanessa Atalanta.
3. Vanessa cardui.

PLaNnTs :-—
Meadow Crane's Bill (Geranium pra-
tense). Above, on right.

Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus). In
middle. :

PLATE XIV.

HAWK MOTHS

1. Acherontia atropos.

2. Acherontia larva.

3. Macroglossa stellatarum.
4. Macroglossa fuciformis.

To face p. 422

PLant :—
Potato.

PLATE XV.

NIGHT FLIERS ..

1. Chelonia caja.

2. Lasiocampa quercus.
3. Saturnia carpini.

4, Digranura vinula.

To face p. 444

PLaNtTs:—
Oak and Willow

xu LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATE XVI,

GEOMETERS AND NOCTU.
To face p. 452
. Agrotis segetum.
. Agrotis larva.
. Xanthia flavago.
. Geometra papilionaria.
. Abraxas grossulariata.
. Abraxas grossulariata, larva.

uUrrP WwW DN

lor)

LLANTS -—

Currant and Strawberry.

PLATE XVII.

DELTOIDES, TORTRICES, TINEA,
AND PTEROPHORL.

To face p. 504

1. Hypena proboscidalis.
2. Hypena proboscidalis, larva.
8. Tortrix pomonana.
4. Tortrix pomonana, larva.
5. Pterophorus pentadactylus.
6. Pterophorus pterodactylus.
7. Nepticula aurella.
8 Bramble-leaves mined by Nepti-
cula.
PLANTS :—

Apple and Bramble.

PLATE XVIII.
TERRESTRIAL HOMOPTERA AND
HETEROPTERA . To face p. 588

1. Ledra aurita.
2. Ledra aurita, larva.

*. Triepphora sanguinolynta.
4. Pentatoma dissimile.
5. Stenocephalis agilis.

Prants :—
Great Ragwort (Senecio Jacobea),

Above.
White Dead Nettle (Lamium album).

Below.

PLATE XIX.

AQUATIC HETEROPTERA.
To face p. 584
1. Ranatra linearis.
2. Notonecta glauca.
3. Nepa glauca.

PLANTS :—
Duckweed (Lemna).
water.
Various-leaved Pondweed (Potamoge-
ton heterophyl/us).
Starwort (Aster tripelium).

On surface of

PLATE XX.

DIPTERA. To face p. 626
1. Tabanus bovinus.

2. Conops vesicularis.

3. Gasterophilus equi

4. Tachina grossa.

PLant :—
Honeysuckle.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS,

WOODCUTS.

{—Lucanus crervus. pissection. Parts of the Head.—1. Mandivles, or
laws. 2. Antenne. 2a. Scape. 24. Club. 3. Labium, or lower lip. 3a
Labial palpi, or lip-feelers. 4. Maxille, or lower jaws. 4a. Maxillary
palpi, or jaw-feelers. 5. Head, upper surface. 5a. Eyes. 5b. Vertex, or
crown. dc. Occiput, or back of head. 6d. Clypeus, or shield. 6. Head,
under surface. 6a. Eyes. 60. Insertion of antenne. Parts of Thorax ang
Abdomen.—7. Pronotum, or upper surface of thorax. 7a. Lateral margin.
70. Anterior margin. 7c. Posterior angles. 7d. Posterior margin. 7e.
Anterior angles. 8. Prosternum, or under surface of thorax. 8a. Sternum.
8d. Insertion of cox. 9. Mesothorax and upper surface of abdomen. 9a.
Mesothorax alone. 9. Abdomen, upper surface alone. 10. Metasternum
and abdomen. 10a. Metasternum alone. 104. Abdomen, under surface
alone. 10c. Parapleura, or side-pieces. 10d. Episterna, or breast-pieces.
12. Scutellum. Legs.—1l1. Anterior or first pair of legs. lla. Tarsi, or

. feet. 116. Tibia, or shank. lle. Femur, or thigh. 11d. Trochante..
lle. Coxa. 13. Intermediate pair of legs. 15. Posterior pair of legs.
The Wings.—14. Elytra. 14a. Suture. 145. Lateral margin. 14c. Apex.
14d. Base. 14e. Disc. 16. Wings folded on abdomen. 17. Left wing
expanded. 18. Right wing folded . ; : - : 2 3

[I.—1. Dromius quadrimaculatus, 2. Lebia cyanocephala. 8. Tarus axil-
laris. 4. Clivina fossor. 5. Notiophilus biguttatus. @. Dromius, maxilla.
. Cicindela, head. ce. Cicindela, maxillary palpus. @. Tarus, labial palpi.
e. Notiophilus, maxillary palpi. jf Lebia, maxillary palpi :

III.—1. Nebria brevicollis. 2. Pogonus luridipennis. 3. Pristonychus terri-
cola. 4. Sphodrus leucopthalmus. 5. Calathus cisteldides. a. Nebria,
labial palpi. 0. Nebria, maxillary palpus. c. Pogonus, labial palpi. d.
Pogonus, maxillary palpus - 4 : 4 2 : : : :

IV.—1. Anchomenus dorsalis. 2. Pterostichus madidus. 8. Amara obsoleta.
4. Harpalus eneus. 5. Stenolophus Skrimshiranus. a. Pterostichus, right
mandible. 6. Pterostichus, maxillary palpus. c. Harpalus, under side of
leg. d. Harpalus, right mandible. e. Harpalus, maxillary palpus

V.—1. Aipys marinus. 2. Philocthus biguttatus. 3. Notaphus [Bembidium]
fumigatus. 4. Bembidium quadriguttatum. 5. Bembidium pallidipenne.
a. ASpys, maxillary palpus. 6. Apys, labial palpi. ¢. A/pys, labrum.
d.- Zipys, right mandible. e. /Epys, antenna 4 ; . :

VI.—1. Agabus biguttatus. 2. Hydrophilus duodecim-pustulatus. 3. Hali-
plus variegatus. 4. Cnemidotus czesus. 5. Pelobius Hermanni. a. Dyticus,
process of metasternum. 0. Dyticus, maxillary palpus. ec. Dyticus, an-
terior leg of male. d. Dyticus, labial palpi. e. Gyrinus, posterior leg.
f. Gyrinus, antenna . : ; 2 : : 5 Rs
/

xu:

PAS?

16

35

47

xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE
ViL.—1. Falagria suleata. 2. Aleochara fusecipes. 3. Atemeles emarginatus.

4. Oxypoda luteipennis. 5. Homalota brunnea. a. Staphylinus, anterior
tarsus of female, undilated. 6. Staphylinus, anterior tarsus of male,
dilated. c. Staphylinus, closing its wings with extremity of its tail, d.
Falagria, maxillary palpus. ¢. Falagria, right mardible. f. Falagria,
labial palpi. g. Falagria, antenna . - : : - . , -, 68

VIII.—1. Gyrophena gentilis. 2. Quedius dilatatus, 3. Creophilus maxil-
losus. 4. Philonthus marginatus. 5. XNantholinus glabratus. a. Philon-
thus, right mandible. 6. Quedius, right mandible. e¢. Philonthus, labial
palpi. d. Quedius, labial palpi. ¢. Philonthus, antenna . ; : ey

IX.—1. Stilicus fragilis. 2. Stenus bimaculatus. 3. Omalium florale. 4.
Prognatha quadricornis. 65. Micralymma brevipenne. a. Stenus, ligula.
b. Stenus, left mandible. c. Stilicus, right mandible. d. Prognatha,
maxillary palpus. e¢. Prognatha, labium, f. Stilicus, maxillary palpus.
g. Stenus, maxillary palpus ¢ : . ‘ : 5 : : Sin GPs

X.—1. Necrodes littoralis. 2. Seydmenus tarsatus. 3. Anisotoma cinna-
momea, male. 4. Agathidium levigatum. 6. Meligethes eneus. a. Seyd-
menus, antenna. 6, Meligethes, maxilla. ¢. Anisotoma, labial palpi. d.
Necrodes, maxillary palpus. e. Necrodes, labium, (f. Necrodes, antenna,

g. Anisotoma, antenna. : a ; : ‘ f a Z + 192:

XI.—1. Rhizophagus ferrugineus. 2. Colydium elengatum. 8. Anommatus
duodecim-striatus. 4. Cryptophagus pilosus. 5. Mycetophagus quadripus-
tulatus. 6. Dermestes murinus. @. Rhizophagus, antenna. 4. Colydium,
antenna. c. Anommatus, antenna. d. Dermestes, pupa. e. Colydium,
larva. .f. Dermestes, larva. g. Cryptophagus, antenna. hk. Mycetophagus,
antenna. 7%. Dermestes, antenna F : 5 4 a : . 100

XIJ.—1. Byrrhus fasciatus. 2. Elmis eneus. 3. Heterocerus flexuosus. 4.
Hydréus piceus, male. a. Byrrhus, antenna. 0%. Elmis, antenna, .
Heterocerus, antenna. d. Hydré»_, tore leg of female. e. Hydrous, an-
enna of male. jf. Hydréus, tarva . , 4 : c i 5 . 106

AJU.—1. Typheeus fumatus. 2. Cereyon anale. 3. Dorcus parallelopipedus.
4, Agrilus biguttatus, 5. Elatcr sanguineus, a, Agrilus, antenna. 0.
Lypheeus, head of female. . Elater, antenna. d. Elater, head, under
side. e. Elater, larva. f. Agrilus, larva . - : : ! uy . 120

XIV.—1. Campylus linearis. 2. Telephorus fuseus. 8. Clerus formicarius.
4. Anobium striatum. 5. Mezium sulcatum. a. Mezium. side view. 0,
Mezium, antenna. c. Anobium, antenna, d. Anobium, larva. e. Clerus,
larva, jf. Telephorus, larva . : : A ‘ j ; ; . 181

XV.—1. Blaps mortisaga.. 2. Diaperis boleti. 3. Tenebrio molitor. 4.
Melandrya caraboides. 5. Orchesia undulata. a. Blaps, larva. 6. Melan-
drya, larva. c. Tenebrio, larva. d. Blaps, antenna, e¢. Diaperis, antenna.

f. Tenebrio, antenna. g. Melandrya, antenna, h. Orchesia, antenna. 144

XV.*—1, Sitaris humeralis. 2. Clerus apiarius. 3. Drilus flavescens, female.
4 Drilus flavescens, male. 5. Rhipiphorus paradoxus. a@. Balaninus
nueum, head. 6. Rhipiphorus, larva. ¢. Rhipiphorus, antenna, male. d.
Rhipiphorus, antenna, female. ¢ Meloé, young larva, magnified . » 147+

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

XV

PAGE

XVIL—1. Pyrochroa coccinea. 2. Anaspis ruficollis. 3. Lytta vesicatoria.
4. Bruchus rufimanus, 5. Platyrhinus latirostris. «@. Pyrochroa, larva.
6. Platyrhinus, larva. ec. Bruchus, larva. d. Pyrochroa, antenna. e.
Lytta, antenna. jf. Bruchus, antenna. g. Platyrhinus, antenna. Ah.
Anaspis, antenna, 7% Lytta, claws. y. Platyrhinus, tarsus. ‘ é

XVII.—1. Attelabus curculionoides. 2. Rhynchites Bacchus. $. Apion
earduorum. 4. Sitones lineatus. 5. Cleonus nebulosus. a. Attelabus,
antenna. 6. Rhynchites, antenna. ¢. Apion, antenna. d. Attelabus,
tarsus. ¢. Rhynchites, tarsus. jf. Apion, tarsus. g. Rhynchites, maxillary
palpus. 4%. Rhynchites, labium

XVIII.—1. Molytes germanus. 2. Otiorhynchus picipes. 3. Pissodes pini.
4, Anthonomus pomorum, 5. Balaninus nucum. uw. Otiorhynchus, antenna.
6. Otiorhynchus, larva. ¢. Anthonomus, antenna. d. Anthonomus, maxii-
lary palpus. e. Anthonomus, labial palpi. / Balaninus, pupa

XIX.—1. Tychius venustus. 2. Orchestes fagi. 3. Orobites cyaneus. 4.
Ceeliodes quercis. 5. Sitophilus oryze. a. Celiodes, head. 6. Orchestes,
head. ec. Orchestes, hind leg. d. Orchestes, antenna

XX.—1. Hylesinus crenatus. 2. Scolytus destructor. 8. Prionus coriarius.
4. Tonens typographicus. 5. Callidium violageum. a. Prionus, larva.
b. Tomicus, larva. ec. Scolytus, larva

XXI.—1. Gracilia pyemea. 2. Strangalia armata. 3. Astinomus edilis.
4, Pogonocerus pilosus. 5. Rhagium inquisitor

XXII.—1. Donacia Menyanthidis. 2. Crioceris merdigera. 3. Chrysomela
Staphylea. 4. Cryptocephalus coryli. 6. Timarcha levigata. a. Chryso-
nicla, antenna. 6. Cryptocephalus, antenna. e. Cryptocephalus, labial
palpi. d. Cryptocephalus, maxillary palpus. e. Donacia, antenna. fi
Crioceris, antenna

XXIII.—1. Prasocuris beccabunge. 2. Phyllotreta brassice. 8. Psylliodes
hyoseyami. 4. Cassida viridis. 5. Triplax russica. a. Phyllotreta, larva.
b. ‘Cassida, larva. c. Cassida, pupa. d. Cassida, maxillary palpus. e.
Cassida, labial palpi . :

XXIV.—1. Coceinelia ocellata. 4%. Lycoperdina boviste. 3. Trichopteryx
atomaria. 4.°Pselaphus Heisei. 5. Claviger foveolatus. a. Coccinella,
larva. 6. Coccinella, maxillary palpus. ce. Coccinella, labium. d. Cocci-
nella, antenna. e. Coccinella, leg

XXV.—1. Pachytylus migratorins. 2. Thamnotrizon cinereus. «a. Forceps
of Forficula gigantea, male. 0. Do. female. ¢. Do. Forficula auricularia,
male. d. Do, female. e¢. Blatta orientalis, egg-case. f. Do. section. g.
Gryllotalpa, inside of front tibia. h. Do. outside. ¢ Do. labium. 7. Do.
maxilla and palpus . 4 : : : Ser

XXVI.—1. Perla marginata. 2. Limnephilus bicolor. 38. Phryganea minor.
4. Leptocerus ceiiraceus. a. Limnephilus, labium. 6, Limnephilus, maxilla.
¢. Labium, female. d. Labium, male. e. Anal appendages, or clasper,
male : < : . . .

149

. 160

5 keys

bo
_
a

. 226

xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE
XXVII.—1. Phleothrips coriacea. 2. Cordulegaster annulatus. 3. Raphidia
ophiopsis. 4, Chrysopa vulgaris. 6. Osmylus chrysops. a. Eggs of
Chrysupa . . ; . : . : : ; : : oi Wee

XXVIIL—AnatTomMy OF A HYMENOPTEROUS INSECT.—THE HORNET (VESPA
CRABRO). 1. Head and parts of the mouth. a. Lingua, or tongue. 060,
Labial palpi. ec. Maxillary palpi. dd. Maxille. ee. Mandibles. f/f.
Eyes. gg. Toruli, or beds of the base of the antenne. Ah. Ocelli, or
simple eyes; sometimes called Stemmata. ¢ Clypeus. &. Labrum. /.
Epipharynx. 2. Thorax. a. Mesothorax. 00. Tegule. ¢. Seutellum.
d. Prothorax. e. Postscutellum. jf Metathorax. 38. Abdomen, upper
surface. 4. Abdomen, profile. 5. Head, front view. aa. Antenne. 00.
Eyes. ec. Ocelli. d. Scutellum. ee. Mandibles. 6. Thorax, under sur-

™Yace. a. Red :* coxe of pro-legs. 0. Sternum. c. Bed of coxe of inter-
mediate legs. d. Bed of cox of posterior legs. e. Bed of neck. 7.
Anterisr or pro-legs. a. Tarsus. 6. Tibia. ¢. Femur. d. Trochanter.
zg. Coxa. 8. Middle or intermediate legs. 9. Hinder or posterior legs.

10. Right wings. a@. Costal cell. &. Externo-medial cell. ¢. Interno-
medial cell. d. Anal cell. e. Marginal cell. jf First Submarginal cell.
g. Second Discoidal cell. 4. Second Submarginal cell. % Third Sub-
marginal cell. &, Fourth Submarginal cell. J. First Discoidal cell. m.
Third Discoidal cell. ‘”. Mirst Apical cell. 0. Second Apical cell. 11.
Left wings separated C - : : 4 5 5 : : . 296

XXIX.—1. Hylotoma rose. 2. Croesus septentrionalis. 3. Athalia spinarum,
4, Allantus serophularia. a. Croesus, larva. 0. Athalia, larva. c. Al-
lantus, larva. d. Hylotoma, antenna, ¢. Creesus, antenna. jf. Athalia,
antenna. g. Allantus, antenna - 3 3 ‘ 5 . s » 299

XXX.—1. Cimbex lutea. 2. Tenthredo zonatus. 3. Cryptus pallipes. 4.
Lophyrus pini. a. Cimbex, larva. 6. Lophyrus, larva. ¢. Jopiyrus,
cocoon. d. Do. antenna, male. e¢. Do. antenna, female . ; 4 , 201

XXXI.—1. Ichneumon proteus. 2. Ichneumou crassorius. $8. Tryphon
rutilator. 4. Cryptus migrator. 5. Pimpla instigator. «@. Tryphon, larva.
b. Pimpla instigator, female, rzofile of abdomen. c¢. Do. dried specimen.

d. Do. seen from beneath. ¢. Do. abdomen of male . : : . . oak

NXXIL—1. Microgaster glomeratus. 2. Mymar pulchellus. 3. Teleas
elatior. 4. Cleonymus maculipennis. a. Teleas, antenna, female. 6. Do
antenna, male. ¢. Microgaster, larva in caterpillar of cabbage-butterfly.

d. Cocoons of Microgaster alvearius . 4 ‘ s . : . 326

XXXIII.—1. Chrysis ignita. 2. Mutilla Europea, female. 3. Mutilla
Europea, male. 4. Formica rufa, winged female. 5. Do. neuter or
worker. 6. Do. winged male. a. Formica rufa, labium. ¢. Do, antenna,
male. e¢. Do. antenna, worker . F : ; : ~ ‘ A - 830

XXXIV.—1. Pompilus fuseus. 2. Astata bodps. 3. Mellinus arvensis. 4.
Crabro quadrimaculatus. 5. Cerceris arvensis. a@. Pompilus, maxilla and
palpus. 0. Do. labium. ¢, Mellinus, mandible. d. Do. labium. e. Do,
maxilla and palpus. jf. Crabro, larva. g. Astata, head of female . . 342

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XVil

XXXV.—1. Vespa crabro, female. 2. Vespa vulgaris, female. 3. Halictus
rubicundus, female. 4. Dasypoda hirtipes, female. a. Vespa crabro, head
of male. 0%. Dasypoda, leg of male. ec. Do. head of male. d. Halictus,
head of male. ¢. Do. abdomen of male. jf. Vespa vulgaris, head of male.
g. Vespa arborea, head. 4. Vespa vulgaris, head of female

XXXVI.—1. Celioxys simplex, male. 2. Do. female. 3. Melecta armata,
female. 4. Osmia rufa, female. 5. Megachile centuncularis, female

XXXVII.—1. Anthidium manicatum. 2. Bombus lapidarius, female. 3.
Do.neuter. 4. Do. male. a. Tongue of Anthidium, 6. Tongue of Bombus.
e. Mandible of Anthidium : : - - -

XXXVIII.—1. Apis mellifica, female. 2. Do.male. 3. Do.neuter. a, An-
tenna, female. 06. Hind leg, male. c¢. Tongue of male. d. Antenna,
male. e¢. Mandible, male. /f. Hind leg, neuter. g. Hind leg, female.
h, Sting and venom glands - < : - A :

XXXIX.—I. Front view of wad. IL. Side view. IIL. Fore wing.—1-5. Sub-
costal nervules. 6, 7. Discoidal nervules. 8-10. Median neryules. 11.
Submedian nervure. 12. Internal nervure, 138-15. Disco-cellular nervules.
16. Interno-median nervule. 17. Medianneryure. 18. Subcostal nervure.
a. Costalnervure. 6. Costa, or anterior margin. c. Apex, or anterior angle.
d. Posterior or hind margin. e. Posterior or anal angle. (7. Interior or
inner margin. g. Base. h. Discoidal cell. IV. Hind wing.—1, 2. Sub-
costal nervules. 8. Discoidal nervule. 4-6. Median nervules. 7. Sub-
median nervure. 8. Precostalnervure. 9. Subeostal nervure. 10. Median
nervure. 11, 12. Disco-cellular nervules. a. Costal nervure. 6. Costa, or
anterior margin. c¢. Apex, or anterior angle. d. Hind margin. e. Tail,
or caudal appendage. f. Anal angle. g. Abdominal or inner margin. 4.
Base. V. Underside of body.—1-7. Abdominal segments. 8. Caudal or
anal extremity. a@. Antenne. 0. Tarsus. c. Tibia. d. Femur. e. Palpi.
f. The head. g. The thorax. hk. Abdomen . :

XL.—1. Gonepteryx rhamni. 2. Colias edusa, male. 3. Pieris brassice.
a. Pieris, larva. 6. Do. pupa. c. Do. egg. e. Do. palpus. jf. Do. head
g. Do. claw of foot. d. Larva of Colias : ; : -

XLI.—1. Vanessa antiopa. 2. Grapta C.album. 3. Argynnis aglaia. a.
Argynnis, larva. 0. Argynnis, pupa c c . : -

XLIT.—1. Arge Galathea. 2. Erebia blandina. 38, Apatura Iris. a. Apa-
tura, non-walking fore-leg. 6. Do. club of antenna. ec. Do. larva

XLIII.—1. Polyommatus dispar, female. 2. Do. male, under surface. 3.
Polyommatus Adonis. 4. Hesperia Paniscus. 5. Hesperia alveolus. a.
Polyommatus dispar, larva. 6. Do.pupa. e¢. Do. antenna. d. Do. palpus

XLIV.—1. Anthrocera filipendule. 2. Sesia apiforms. 3. Deilephila
euphorbie. a. Deilephila, larva. 6. Anthrocera, larva. c. Do. cocoon

.

XLV.—1. Zeuzera esculi.. 2. Cossus ligniperda. a. Zeuzera, larva. 2.
Cossus, larva . ‘ 5 : é

. . . . .

NLVI.—1. Callimorpha Jacobee. 2. Deiopeia pulchella. 3. Gastropacha
quercifolia. «. Callimorpha, larva. 6. Deiopeia, larva. c. Gastrovacha,
larva s . . ;

a

PAGE

YViil LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE ~

XLVII.—1. Pygeera bucephala. 2. Liparis, or Psilura monacha. 38. Orgyia
antiqua, male. 4. Orgyia antiqua, female. a. Pygera bucephala, larva.
6. Orgyia antiqua, larva . 3 : : 5 - : 2 :

XLVIII.—1. Gonepteryx libatrix. 2. Catocalanupta. 38, Rumia crategata.
a. Gonepteryx, larva. 6. Rumia crategata, larva : . :

XLIX.—1. Amphydasis prodromaria. 2. Scodiona belg aria. 8. Hibernia
defoliaria. a. Biston, larva. 0. Hibernia, female. c. Hibernia, larva

L.—1. Cheimatobia brumata. 2. Oporabia dilatata. 3. Melanippe hastata.
4, Melanippe montana. 6. Melanthia albicillata . : : : :

LI.—1. Anticlea sinuata. 2. Scotosia certata. 3. Cidaria sagittata. 4.
Chesias spartiata. 5. Tanagra cherophylata . - - e

LIJ.—1. Cerura furcula. 2. Stauropus fagi. 8. Notodonta dromedarius.
a. Stauropus, larva. 0. Notodonta, larva : 3 ° : : .

LIUI.—1. Platepteryx faleula. 2. Psyche opaceila. 3. Thyatira batis. 4.

. 438

. 449

. 459

466

Diphthera Orion. a. Larva, Thyatira. 6. Larva, Psyche - : . 474
LIV.—1. Leucania turea. 2. Agrotis segetum. 8. Mamestra brassice. 4.
Triphena janthina, a. Tripheena, larva . C : : c “ . 476

LV.—1. Tryphena pronuba. 2. Phlogophora meticulosa. 3. Plusia chrysitis.
a. Triphena, larva. 6. Phlogophora, larva : - : 5 :

LVI.—1. Hypena rostralis. 2. Pyralis farinalis. 3. Aglossa pinguinalis.
4, Ennychia octomaculalis. @. Larva of Hydrocampa stagnalis. 6. Do. in
its leaf-case : : : : : : : : -

LVII.—1. Hydrocampa stagnalis. 2. Botys urticata. 3. Spilodes einctalis.
4. Stenepteryx hybridalis. a. Botys, larva. 0. Spilodes, larva A é

LVIII.—1. Galleria cerella. 2. Crambus hamellus. 38. Chilo phragmitellus.
4. Tortrix costana. 4. Tortrix sorbiana. a. Galleria, larva. 06. Do. pal-
pus of female, c. Do. palpus of male : < : - < :

LIX.—1. Ephippiphora fenelia. 1. Ephippiphora scutulana. « 3. Peronea
cristana. 4. Cnephasia octomaculana. 6. Xanthosetia zoegana A

LX.—1. Depressaria nervosella. 2. Coleophora ibipennella. 8. Tischeria
complanella. @ and J, Depressaria, larva. c¢. Coleophora, larva. d. Tis-
cheria, larva

LXI.—1, Lithocolletes corylella. 2. Nepticula aurella, a. Lithocolletes,
larva. 0. Nepticula, larva 5 : 5 ° . - :

LXII.—1. Ptyelus bifasciatus. 2. Centrotus cornutus. 3. Aphis tilie,
female. 4. ‘Aphis tiliz,male. a. Aphis,leg. 0. Do. labium. ¢. Do. head

LXIII.—1. Sehirus dubius. 2. Head, front view: a, Central lobe of face ;
b, Crown. 3. Head, under side; a, Rostral channel, w:th the rostrum or
beak in position. 4. Head, upper side; a, Ocellus. 5. Head, profile; a,
Rostrum. 6. Rostrum. 7. Antenna. 8. Leg; a, Fulerum; , Femur, or
thigh; ¢, Tibia; d, Tarsus. 9. Elytra and wing; a, Clavus: 6, Corium ;
¢, Elytron; d, Membrane; e, Wing . A 4 : : b %

i

. 480

. 489

494

. 016

. 624

637

556

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

X1x

PAGE

LXIV.—1. Asopus luridus. 2. Verlusia rhombea. 3. Coreus hirticornis.
4, Pyrrhocoris apterus. a. Do. fore-leg. 0. Do. side view of head, show-
ing antenna and tongue . : : ° ‘ : -

LXV.—1. Neides depressus. 2. Rhyparochromus dilatatus. 3. Henestaris
laticeps. 4. Phytocoris tiliz. @. Rhyparochromus dilatatus, leg. 0. Do.
head, antenna. and tongue : : : 3 ° . : . :

LXVI.—1. Systellonotus triguttatus, male. 2. Do. female. 3. Orthocephalus
hirtus. a. Do. head, antenna,and rostrum. 0. Do. tarsus. c¢. Do. labrum.
d. Do. elytron. ¢. Do. wing . , 5 ¢ : :

LXVII.—1. Acanthia lectularia. 2. Coranus subapterus, 3. Reduyius per-
sonatus. a. Acanthia lectularia, fore-ler. 6. Do. Antenna. c¢. Do. head,
showing position of rostrum. d. Do. rostrum . : ‘ .

LXVIII.—1. Hydrometra gibbifera. 2. Hydrometra argentata. 3. Corixa
Geoffroyi, 4. Halticocoris luteicollis. a. Hydrometra argentata, fore-leg.
6. Do. head, with antenna and tongue : ; - “

LXIX.—1. Pulex talpe. 2. Pulex irritans. 3. Culex pipiens, male. a.
Pulex talpe, mentum and palpi. 06. Do. side view of head. c¢. Do. palpus.
d. Do, tarsus. e¢. Pulex irritans, pupa. jf. Do. mentum and palpi. g.
Culex pipiens, male, palpus. #, Do. antenna . : - :

LXX.—Tipula longicornis. a. Side view of head, showing antenna, palpus,
and mouth. 6. Pupa. ce. Larva. d, Front view of mouth, showing the
two lobes . - : 5 - - - - . . . ‘

LXXI.—1. Asilus crabroniformis. 2. Asilus germanicus. 3. Stratiomys
fureata. 4. Eristalis tenax. a. Asiluscrabroniformis, tarsus. 06. Stratio-
mys furcata, antenna. c¢. Eristalis tenax, antenna . 5 . .

LXXII.—1. Volucella pellucens. 2. Volucella plumata. 3. Merodon clavipes.
4. Syrphus lucorum. a. Volucella pellucens, clypeus. 6, Do. antenna.
ce. Do. ocelli. d. Do. front of head. e. Syrphus lucorum, antenna

LXXIII.—1. Syrphus (or Sceva) pyrastri. 2. Conops macrocephalus. 3.
Tachina ferox. 4. Tachina grossa. a. Do. head. 6. Do. antenna. cc.
Conops macrocephalus, abdomen of male . - A . .

LXXIV.—1. Musca, or Anthomyia lardaria, female. a. Do.antenna. 0b. Do.
foot. c¢. Do. facets of eye. 2. Musca chloris, male. d. Musca chloris,
head of female. e¢. Do. tongue. #1 Do. antenna . -

LXXV.—1. Musca domestica. 2. Scatophaga’ seybalaria. 38. Scatophaga
stercoraria. a. Seatophaga scybalaria, antenna. 0%. Do. tongue 5

UXXVI.—1. Phora abdominalis. 2. Ornithomyia fringillaria. @. Phora
abdominalis: head, side view. 06. Do. leg. ¢. Ornithomyia fringillaria,
leg. d. Do. maxilla : . ° . .

- 008

. 566

608

. 612

. 623

. 628

- 629

- 632

635

xx LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE
LXXVII.—1. Hippobosca equina. 2. Stenopteryx hirundinis. a. Hippo-

bosea equina, antenna. 6, Do. maxilla. ce. Do. fore-leg. d. Stenopteryx
hirundinis, fore-leg. e¢. Do. lip and tongue. jf. Do. antenna . ; . 641

LXXVIII.—1. Hemobora pallipes. 2. Nyctoribia Latreilli. a, Hzmobora,
front view. 6. Do. leg. ¢. Do. mentum. d. Nyctoribia, leg. . Do.
head, side view F : P . 644

. . ° . °

LXXIX.— Setting’ Insects for the cabinet . . 2 ° . . 646

INSECTS AT HOME.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

MMIHERE is scarcely a branch of science, however interesting

it may be, which does not at first repel the intending student
py the array of strange words with which the treasures of know-
ledge are surrounded. This is especially the case in Botanv
and Zoology, which contain, in addition to the usual technical
language, vast numbers of names belonging to various plants
or animals, each name consisting of two words, one denoting
the genus and the other the species.

That many have been deterred from pursuing a study hedged
about with such difficulties is not a matter of wonder, and it
is much to be regretted that writers on science too often
increase rather than lessen the difficulties by their purely
technical mode of handling the subject. The real cause of the
general repugnance to science is to be found in the mode of
writing adopted by too many scientific writers, who forget the
first principles of instructive writing, and do not identify
themselves with the minds of those whom they are endeavour-
ing to teach.

The study of Enromo ogy, or the knowledge of insects, has
greatly suffered from this cause. It is one of the most fas-
einating of pursuits. It takes its votaries into the treasure-
houses of Nature. and explains some of the wonderful series of
hnks which form the great chain of creation. It lays open

B

Z INSECTS AT HOME.

before us another world, of which we have been hitherto un-
conscious, and shows us that even the tiniest insect, so small
perhaps tnat the unaided eye can scarcely see it, has its work
to do in the world, and does it. Among the insects, too, we find
not only instinct, but reason. We find that in these lesser
creatures the passions and emotions of humanity have their
counterparts. Love, for example, developes itself in many
ways, and so does hate; and, indeed, if the whole list of human
qualities be examined, there is scarcely one which cannot be
found in the insect world.

The habits of insects are very mines of interesting knowledge,
and it is impossible carefully to watch the proceedings of any
insect, however insignificant, without feeling that no writer of
fiction ever invented a drama of such absorbing interest as is
acted daily before our eyes, though to indifferent spectators.
Thus, even in the mere structure of insects there is more than
enough material for the study of a lifetime. Putting aside the
wonderful internal mechanism, which ought to be examined
when practicable, the outward form is full of interest. We
find among insects a variety and brilliancy of colour that not
even the must gorgeous tropical flowers can approach, and that
some of our dullest and most insignitecant little insects are,
when placed ander the revealing lens of the microscope, ab-
solutely blazing with natural jewellery. The variety of form,
too, is quite as boundless as that of colour, so that there is
much excuse even for the mere collector, who cares nothing for
insects unless he can kill them and set.them in rows in a cabinet.

In the following pages I intend to describe, as far as possible
within so limited a space, Insects at Homs, and, though giving the
needful scientific information, to use few technical terms, and
always to explain those which of necessity must he, employed.

Our first business is evidently, when treating of Insects at
Home, to define precisely what an insect is. This seems to bea
simple matter enough; but it really is not so, the question being
one which has occupied systematic zoologists for many years, and
which is even now rather a dubious one in severai cases. The
word insect is, as a rule, employed very loosely by those who haye
not studied the subject. Spiders, for example, are generally

ealled insects, and so are woodlice, centipedes, and a variety
* |

DEFINITION OF AN INSECT. 3

of other creatures which have really no right whatever to the
title. We will therefore see what an insect really is.

{Insects are technically described as being ‘ articulated ana-
mals, breathing by trachee, divided into three distinct portions
—-viz.the head, the thorax, and the abdomen—passing through
a series of tr ansformations, and having in the perfect or

“winged” state six articulated legs and two antenne.’

We will now take this description and examine it in detail.
The articulated animals are formed on a totally different plan
from the vertebrates, molluscs, radiata, or other divisions of
the animal kingdom. Their bodies: are formed of a series of
flattened rings, within which are contained all the muscles
and vital apparatus. It will be seen that a vast number of
animals come within this definition, which includes not only
the insects, but the Crustacea, such as the crabs, lobsters,
shrimps, woodlice, and others; the Arachnida, such as the
spiders, scorpions, and mites; the Myriapoda, such as the
centipedes and millipedes; and the Annelida, of which the
common worm is a familiar example. It is necessary, there-
fore, to find some mode of distinguishing tne insects from all
the other articulates, and, after much trouble, systematic
naturalists have agreed upon the short formula which has
already been given.

It is there stated that insects breathe through ‘ trachex.’
Now trachez are tubes composed of thin membranes, kept
open by a fine but stiff wiry thread, which is twisted spirally
throughout the whole course of the tube, just as a modern
flexible gas-tube is kept open by a spiral wire, no matter how
it may be twisted or bent. This is absolutely necessary in
insects, for the tracheze are not confined to a single portion of
the body, like the lungs of men or the gills of fish, but per-
meate the entire insect, passing through all the limbs, and even
reaching to the claws which terminate the feet. Any of my
readers who wish to see the extraordinary manner in which the
breathing apparatus is disposed over the whole body should
look at the plates of Strauss Durckheim’s wonderful work on
the common cockchafer, a work to praise which would be
simply impertinent.

I strongly advise all my readers to examine these marvell¢ us

structures for themselves. There is not the least pS in
BQ

4 INSECTS AT HOME.

finding them, for the real difficulty is to dissect any part of
the body without finding them. The largest of these tubes
are those which run along the sides of the insect, and are con-
nected with the oval openings along the sides, which are pos-
sessed by every insect. These openings are called spiracles,
from the Latin word spiro, because through them the insect
breathes. Any insect or caterpillar will furnish the trachex.
but the larger the better. They should be severed from the
body by a pair of fine scissors, then taken out with a pair cf
forceps, and laid on a glass slide. I have now before me a
preparation of the trachese of a silkworm which I made twenty-
two years ago, and it is not the least damaged by keeping.

These trachez afford a most important characteristic of the
insects, inasmuch as the Crustacea do not possess them at all,
and the Arachnida generally, though not always, breathe by
means of internal air-sacs.

Next, the creature must be divided into three distinct portions.
This is the signification of the title Insect, which is derived
from two Latin words, signifying cut-into, while the familiar
Greek name of Entoma (from which the word entomology is
formed) has precisely the same signification. This is, perhaps,
the most important of all the characteristics, asin the Crustacea
and Arachnida the head is merged into the thorax, so that they
are divided into two portions instead of three; while in the
Myriapoda and Annelida there is no distinct thorax, and some-
times scarcely a distinct head.

Next we come to the transformations which insects have to
undergo before they reach their perfect or adult state. All
animals really undergo a course of transformation, but in the
insect they take four very distinct forms; namely, the Egg,
the Larva (i.e. caterpillar or grub), the Pupa (or chrysalis), and
the Imago, or perfect insect. Any of my readers who have
had silkworms will be practically acquainted with this fact,
and will also know that the larva changes its skin, or moults,
several times before it assumes the pupal form. The reason
for this casting of skin is evident. The larva, like the perfect
insect, is made of a series of flattened rings, or rather, of a
double series of half rings, connected along the sides ty an
elastic membrane, so as to permit the creature to breathe and
eat.

TRANSFORMATION OF INSECTS. &

Now, the upper and lower portions of these rings are vom-
paratively inewstic, and cannot themselves expand, thougn
they can be opened wider at the sides in proportion to the
interior expansion of the body. Meanwhile, the larva continues
busily its sole business, that of eating, and increases rapidly ii:
size, so that, within a certain time, its skin is stretched to the
utmost, and can expand no more. Sti.! ~e larva continues to
increase, though its tight integumeuts cause it so much un-
easiness that it ceases to eat, and at last the overstretched
skin bursts, and the larva emerges, clad with a new skin, which
has been forming under the old one. As soon as it is free, it
takes a number of deep respirations, and in half an hour, or
thereabouts, is so much larger than its cast skin, that to put
it back again would be fatal. This process is repeated until
the larva is about to assume the third or pupal state.

In consequence of this mode of development, the whole of
the growth is completed during the larval state, and, however
long an insect may live, it never grows after it has attained its
perfect form; and, though it is common enough to find insects
though of the same species yet of very different sizes, the larger
have not grown since their last change, nor will the small
specimens ever attain the dimensions of their larger relatives.
In a measure, the same rule prevails among mankind, and.
though some may be giants and other dwarfs, the dwarf will
never become a giant, nor has the giant ever been a dwarf, and.
different as are their sizes, both ceased to grow when they
attained the age of manhood.

The modes of passing through the successive changes of forin
are exceedingly variable in the different orders of insects, and
are always most interesting to careful observers. I shall not
' mention them in this place, but shall give the descriptions of
the metamorphoses together with the history of the different
species.

Next in order comes the statement that all true insects
have six legs when they have attained the perfect form, or
Imago. The reader will see that this definition at once ex-
cludes all other Annulata. The Crustacea, for example, have
a considerable number of legs, and the Arachnida are eight-
legged, while the Myriapoda are, as their name infers, many-
legged, and the Annelida have no legs at all. It is true

6 INSECTS AT HOME.

that in some insects there only appear to be four legs, hut,
in these cases, the apparently missing organs may be dis-
covered on careful examination, much reduced in size, but still
presenta, ‘

A similar observation may be made with regard to the an-
tennz, or, as they are popularly called, ‘horns,’ or ‘feelers.’
The word antenna is a Latin one, signifying the yard-arm of a
ship, and has been appropriately given to these organs. In
most cases the antenne give great character to the aspect o.
an insect. Insome of the Beetles, for example, they are slender,
and each joint is so lengthened that the antenne are five times
as long as the body. In others they are comparatively short,
sometimes deeply toothed like combs, sometimes terminated
with a round club, sometimes with the ends developed into a
beautiful fan-like apparatus, and sometimes looking like a
number of coins joined together by a string running through
their centre. The knob-tipped antennez of the butterflies are
an unfailing characteristic whereby these insects can be dis-
tinguished from the moths, with their sharp-tipped antenne ;
while in the latter group of insects, the antenne of the male
are often wide and feathered, those of the female being mere
jointed threads, without any feathering whatever. Many in-
sects seem to be altogether without antennez, but, like the
undeveloped legs already mentioned, they can be found in
their places, though so small as to escape a hasty observation.

Having now briefly examined the general characteristics of
insects, we will take them in detail.

Among the insects, the CoLnoprera, or Brrries, are acknow-
ledged to hold the first rank, their development being more
perfect than is found in any of the other orders. The name of
Coleoptera is composed of two Greek words, signifying sheath-
wings, and is given to this order of insects in consequence of
their leading peculiarity, which is, that the upper pair of
wings is modified into horny or leathery cases, called elytra,
useless in flight, but employed in protecting the membranous
under pair of wings, which alone are used in flight. In many
Beetles the lower pair of wings is not developed, and in a few
both pairs are practically wanting, though the practised eye can
always detect them in a rudimentary form. The wings and

DEFINITION OF A BEETLE. i

elytra, together with other portions of the Beetle, will presently
be figured and described.

The changes, or metamorphoses, of the Beetles, though sin-
gularly interesting, are not easily seen, as Beetle larve require
food which is, as a rule, not easily procured, and in many cases
is so noisome that few persons would like to meddle with it.
A great number are carnivorous, feeding upon various living
creatures, so that to supply them properly with food is next to
impossible ; while, as the majority of them pass two years or
more in the larval state, the process of rearing them is tedious
as well as difficult.

All who have had silkworms, or have been in the habit of
watching insects when at liberty, are familiar with the appear-
ance of the three principal forms assumed by the moths and
butterflies in their different stages of growth—the caterpillar,
with its soft, cylindrical, ringed body, the pupa or chrysalis,
covered with a hard, shelly case, and the perfect insect, with
its beautiful wings. Now, although the Beetles pass through
similar changes, they do not assume similar forms. The larva
of the Beetle is, like that of the moth or butterfly caterpillar,
soft and ringed, and sometimes so resembles the caterpillar
that it may easily be mistaken by anyone unskilled in ento-
mology. Figures of the larve will be given in connection with
the different species.

Thus far the Beetle and moth bear some resemblance to
each other, but when they come to assume the pupal form,
they are so dissimilar that no one could possibly mistake one
for the other. Inthe moth pupa all the limbs are hidden
under a hard covering, but in the Beetle pupa all the members
of the insect are visible, though they are covered with a skin
which binds them down, and prevents them from being used
until the insect attains its perfect form, and bursts through the
investing skin. A figure of the larva and pupa of a Beetle
may be seen by referring to the Bacon Beetle (Dermestes lar-
darius), Woodcut XI.

If the reader will carefully examine the various stages of
Insect life, he will see that, whether the creature be in the
larval, pupal, or perfect state, the number of rings of which
it is composed are the same. Take, for example, a Beetle
larva, and it will be found to consist of thirteen rings, or

8 INSECTS AT HOME.

segments. The first of these forms the head, the next three
carry the legs, and the remaining rings constitute the body.
Should the same larva be successfully reared, and examined
after it has reached the perfect state, it will be found to have
precisely the same number of rings, though some are fused
together, and others are greatly modified.

There are few things more marvellous than the development
of a Beetle—say, for example, the Stag Beetle, because we shall
presently examine one of these insects in detail. In its larval
state it is a large, fat, soft grub, with legs so disproportioned
to the size of its body that it cannot walk, but can only move
about while lying on one side. It lives in the dark, buried in
the interior of some tree, and feeds upon the fragments of
wood which it bites off with its short but sharp and powerful
jaws. In its perfect state, it is furnished with highly developed
legs, with two wide and powerful wings, sheltered under their
horny elytra, with an elaborately organised mouth, and two
enormous jaws, while the antenne and eyes are in themselves
absolute wonders of mechanism. The larva of this Beetle is
almost exactly like that of the cockchafer, shown in Plate V.;
and the reader will see that it is hardly possible to imagine a
more complete contrast than exists between the very shapeless
erub and the insect in its perfect form.

In the accompanying illustration we have an example of the
Beetle, taken to pieces so as to show the various parts. The
Stag Beetle has been chosen for the purpose.

We begin with the head and its appendages. Fig. 1 shows
the mandibles, or upper jaws, which in the male Stag Beetle
are of very great size. Fig. 4 shows the maxille, or lower
jaws, with the maxillary palpi, or jaw-feelers, Fig. 4a. Fig. 3
shows the labium, or lower lip, with the labial palpi, or lip-
feelers, 3a. Next come the antenna, or feelers, Fig. 2. These
organs are divided into two parts—namely, the scape, or long
joint nearest the head, Fig. 2a, and the club, 2b. This latter
portion is subject to most extraordinary variations of form, as
will be seen in the following pages.

The head itself is shown at Fig. 5, the upper surface being
here given. 5aa are the eyes, 5b the vertex. or crown of the
head. 5e is the occiput, or back of the head; and 5d the

ANATOMY OF A BEETLE. 9

LUCANUS CERVUS. DISSECTION.

Parts of the Head.—1. Mandities, or jaws. 2. Antenne, 2a. Scape. 2b. Club. 3.
Labium, or lower lip. 3a. Labial palpi, or lip-feelers. 4, Maxille, or lower jaws. 4a,
Maxillary palpi, or jaw-feelers, 5. Head, upper surface. 5a. Eyes. 5b. Vertex, or crown,
5c. Occiput, or back of head. 5d. Clypeus, or shield. 6. Head, under surface. 6a. Eyes.
65. Insertion of antenne.

Parts ef Thorax and Abdomen.—i7, Pronotum, or upper surface of thorax.
7b. Anterior margin, 7c. Posterior angles. 7d. Posterior margin. 7e. Anterior angles.
8. Prosternum, or under surface of thorax. 8a. Sternum. 8b. Insertion of coxe. 9. Meso-
thorax and upper surface of abdomen. 9a. Mesothoraxalone. 9%. Abdomen, upper surface
alone. 10. Metasternum and abdomen. 10a. Metasternum alone. 10. Abdomen, under

7a. Lateral margin.

surface alone. 10c. Parapleura, or side pieces. 10d. Episterna, or breast-pieces. 12.
Scutellum,

Legs.—11. Anterior, or first pair of legs. lla. Tarsi, or feet. 116. Tibia, or shank. Ile.
Femur, or thigh. lld. Trochanter. lle. Coxa.

13. Intermediate pair of legs. 15,
Posterior pair of legs.

The Wings.—14. Elytra. 14a. Suture. 146. Lateral margin.

14c. Apex. 14d. Base.
14e. Disc. 16, Wings folded on abdomen. 17, Left wing expanded,

18. Right wing folded.

10 ; INSECTS AT HOME.

elypeus, or shield, which covers the actual mouth. Fig. 6
shows the under side of the head. 6aa are the eyes, 6b the
insertion of the antenne.

As reference has been made to the eyes, it must be men-
tioned that these organs, although apparently only two in
number, are in reality compound eyes, being made of a vast
number of facets gathered into two groups, one on each side of
the head. There is an apparent exception to this definition in
the well-known Whirligig Beetles (Gyrini), which appear to
have four eye-groups, two above and two below. This ex-
ception is, however, more apparent than real; the eye-groups
being in fact only two, but each pair being crossed by a band
of the horny material of which the outer skeleton is composed.
The compound eyes can be seen to great perfection in some of
the butterflies ; but for this purpose, a careful manipulation of
the microscope is needed.

If the reader should be disposed to prepare a portion of the
compound eye for the microscope, he will find that the opera-
tion, though a rather tedious one, will well repay him for the
trouble. Should he wish to do so, he can so arrange the eye
that some small object can be seen through it, when the effect
will be extraordinary, the object being apparently multiplied in
accordance with the number of facets in the field of the micro-
scope. The result is, in fact, exactly the same as that which is
produced by looking at any object through an ordinary multi-
plying glass. It is not, however, to be imagined that because
the compound eye of the insect has so many facets, the insect
perceives the object multiplied in proportion to the facets; for,
although the numerous facets give the insect an extended range
of vision, they convey but one image to the brain, just as the
duplicate eyes and ears of man convey to the mind but one
image and one sound.

In addition to these compound eyes, many insects possess
several small simple eyes, called ocelli. They are very small,

‘and in the Beetles are two in number, and placed on the back

of the head. They can be very easily seen in some of the
Hymenoptera, such as the bees and wasps. The eyes of the
spider are of a similar character.

Havine examined the head, we now take the next division of

PARTS OF THE THORAX. ll:

the insect, namely the thorax. Thisimportant part bears ali the
instruments of locomotion, whether they be legs or wings; and
is most wonderfully constructed for the purpose, being s1pplied
in. the interior with hard projections that are needed for
supporting the powerful muscular apparatus needful for flight,
and the less powerful, but still important system by which the
legs are moved.

The thorax is internally divided into three parts, which we
call prothorax, or front thorax; mesothorax, or middle thorax ;
and metathorax, or hinder thorax. Beginning with the pro-
thorax, we find it again divided into two portions, the upper
and the lower—the former going by the name of pronotum, i.e.
in front of the back, and the other called prosternum, i.e. in
front of the breast. Fig. 7 shows the pronotum of the Stag
Beetle: 7aa are the lateral margins, 7b is the anterior margin,
7cc are the posterior angles, 7d the posterior margin, and 7ee
the anterior angles.

Next we come to the prosternum, which is shown at Fig. 8 ;
8a being the sternum, and 80) the insertion of the coxa, a joint
which will be presently described.

The mesothorax with the abdomen is shown at Figs. 9 and 10,
the former exhibiting the upper, and the latter the under sur-
face. In the last figure, a is the metasternum, b the abdomen,
e the parapleura, or side-pieces (sometimes called paraptera,
because they are situated by the wings), and d the episterna,
or breast-pieces.

Each of these portions is set apart for a definite use, and is
employed for the attachment of some portion of the locomotive
apparatus.

The prosternum is used to carry the front pair of legs, as
can be seen by looking at the under side of any large Beetle,
or indeed of any small one, by the aid of a magnifier.

The mesothorax bears the elytra, or wing cases, and the
intermediate pair of legs, the former being attached to the
upper part, or mesonotum, and the latter to the lower part, or
mesosternum. The reader must remember that the word
‘sternum’ always signifies the breast, or under side of the
thorax, and ‘notum’ the back, or upper side. Lastly, the
mesothorax bears the lower, or membranous, wings and the
last pair of legs. As before, the wings are attached to the

=

‘2 INSECTS AT HOME.

upper part, or metanotum, and the legs to the lower part, o2
metasternum.

We come now to the legs, the three pairs of which are repre-
sented successively at Figs. 11, 13, 15; the first pair being
called the anterior legs, the second the intermediate legs, and
the third the posterior legs.

These legs are divided into several portions, which are
marked at Fig.11. Beginning at the extremity of the limb, a
is the tarsus, or foot, which consists of several joints. There
are mostly five joimts in the tarsus of Beetles, but in many
families one or two of the joints are so small as scarcely to be
visible, and only to be detected by a practised eye with the
aid of a tens. Next comes the tibia, or shank, which is shown
at b. Then follows the femur, or thigh, as seen at c. This
is attached to a small joint called the trochanter, which
is drawn at d; and last comes the coxa, or the joint which
connects the limb with the thorax. The action of the coxa
is very curious, it being a kind of ball-and-socket joint, but
with a limited range of movement, so that the legs cannot
be spread too far. The same divisions of the joints are found
in: the three sets of legs.

We next come to the wings. The upper pair, or elytra, are
shown at Fig. 14. For convenience of description they are
marked into several divisions. Fig. 14a is the suture, or line
of junction between the two elytra. The apex is shown at ¢,
and the base at d. The middle, or disc, is marked e, and the
lateral margin is at b. Fig. 17 shows one of the wings ex-
panded, as if for flight; Fig. 18 is the opposite wing, repre-
sented as folded, and at Fig. 16 are shown both wings as they
appear when the elytra are removed.

At first sight some of these terms may appear to be harsh,
repulsive, and difficult to master. In reality they are not so,
and a knowledge of them is absolutely necessary to anyone
who wishes to understand the description of an insect, and
himself to describe insects intelligibly. They form a kind
of shorthand by which knowledge can be rapidly communicated,
and the trouble taken in learning them is amply repaid by the
advantage gained by the student, even were the trouble multi-
plied tenfold.

But, in reality, there is scarcely any trouble needed. If the

MODE OF DISSECTING BEETLES. 13

intending entomologist should content himself with merely
learning a string of names by rote, he must expect to find his
lesson a hard and repulsive one, and that it will be forgotten
almost as soon as learned. Practical knowledge is ever the
best, and the reader who intends to become an entomologist
should take some Beetle—the largest he can find—and com-
pare it, piece by piece, with the figures and description.

The most effective plan of all, however, is to take the Beetle
entirely to pieces, and to lay out the portions on a card in
their proper order, numbering each piece, and writing an
index to the numbers. The various portions can be fixed to
the card by diamond cement or Kay’s coaguline, the latter
having the advantage of great holding power, so that a very
- little is required, perfect transparency, and sufficient elasticity
to guard against the tendency to chip away from the object,
which is so unpleasant in ordinary gum. I recommend taking
two Beetles, so as to show the upper and under sides of each
portion. This will be found peculiarly interesting in the
thorax. .

Before any attempt at dissecting the Beetle it should be
steeped in soft water for a time, until the soft parts are
thoroughly dissolved. The water should then be poured away,
and fresh water substituted until the whole of the muscles and
viscera have been washed away. Care must be taken lest any of
the smaller joints be lost during this process. When the whole
skeleton is fairly laid out, it can be mounted in a glass frame,
and, besides serving as an infallible guide to the external ana-
tomy of the Beetle, it is really a pretty and ornamental object.
Many years ago, when I first began the study of entomology,
I thus prepared several Beetles, and the knowledge thus gained
has never been lost. Had I studied books alone, I should
not have been able to gain the information half so easily, or te
have retained it half as long.

CHAPTER II.
THE GEODEPHAGA.

Tue word with which this chapter is*headed is not a very
alluring one, and yet to an entomologis‘ it would say that the
chapter contains the history of the best developed and some of
the most interesting of the British Beetles. The term Geode-
phaga is formed from two Greek words, signifying earth-de-
vourers, and is given to the large group of predacious Beetles
which live oft the ground. There is another large group, called
the Hydradephaga, or water-devourers, i.e. those predacious
Beetles which inhabit the water. We will take these twe
important groups in succession, selecting such examples as
may best illustrate them.

It must be, in the first place, observed that any Beetle may
he recognised as belonging to either of these great groups by
the structure of the mouth. In reference to the illustrations
already described, the reader will see that each of the maxilla
(Fig. 4) is furnished with a four-jointed maxillary palpus. All
these carnivorous Beetles possess the same organs, but, in addi-
tion, they have an inner lobe, which is also furnished with its
palpus. Several examples of this structure may be seen by
reference to the accompanying illustration (Figs. a,c, e, and /).
Both these groups are associated in one large group called
Adephaga, the word being a Greek one, and signifying greedy
or gluttonous.

Brernning with the Geodephaga, we take the first family of
the group, the Cicindelid#, or Tiger Beetles. In all these
Beetles there is a little movable hook at the end of the
maxilla, and the ligula is very short, and not appearing beyond
the mentum. There is unly one genus of these Beetles in-
habiting England, and thisir the typical genus Cicindela The

TIGER BEETLES. TS

members of this genus vary but little in size, being abovt half
an inch in length, having slender legs and antenne, powertul
and curved jaws, and very rounded and prominent eyes. They
are all prettily coloured, and some are absolutely magnificent
when viewed with the aid of a magnifying glass.

Never was a popular name more appropriate than the title
of Tiger Beetles, which has been given to this genus. If we

COLEOPTERA.
1. Dromius quadrimaculatus. 2. Lebia cyanocephala. 8. Tarus axillaris. 4. Clivina
fossor. 5. Notiophilus biguttatus. a. Dromius, maxilla. 6. Cicindela, head. C.
Cicindela, maxillary palpus. d. Tarus, labial palpi. e. Notiophilus, maxillary palpi.

7. Lebia, maxillary palpi.

can imagine tigers who, in addition to active limbs, their
teeth, and their talons, are furnished with large and powerful
wings, we can form some idea of the part which these creatures
play in the world of insects.

We will take as our first and typical example the common
GREEN Tiger BreEtLe or SPARKLER (Cicindela campestris).

16 INSECTS AT HOME.

At Fig. b of Woodcut II. is shown the head of this insect,
magnified some six diameters, in order tc show the extremely
formidable jaws with which it is armed. These jaws are not
only sharp at their points, and strongly curved, but are boldly
toothed; so that when the Beetle has once seized its prey, the
unfortunate insect has but little chance of escape.

The colour of this beautiful beetle is gold-green above, and
shining copper-green below; and there are several yellowish
spots on the elytra, varying much in shape, number, and hue.
Sometimes there are only three, but in many specimens there
are six. In former times, the variety in the number of spots

was thought to indicate that the Beetles belonged to different
species, but it is now decisively ascertained that they are only
varieties of one single species.

When this Beetle is casually examined, the elytra and head
seem to be merely dull green, but when a powerful light is
brought to bear on them, and they are placed under a trust-
alee lens, they absolutely blaze with #»m-like hues, so that
the eye is almost dazzled with their splendour. Scarcely any
two specimens are exactly alike, but in all there is a brilliant
metallic resplendence, sometimes as of pale gold, and some-
times as of red gold. 2

If the wing-cases be opened, and the broad membranous wings
spread, the upper surface. of the abdomen is seen to be deep
shining blue, very much like the colour of the ordinary ‘ blue-
bottle’ fly. As the Beetle darts through the air in the sunshine,
the light glitters on the burnished blue surface, a circumstance
which has ed for the Beetle the popular name of Sparkler.

One peculiarity of this insect is the strong but pleasing
scent which it emits. I well remember the first time that I
saw and captured this Beetle. It was on a sandy bank in
Bagley Wood, near Oxford, and I could not for some time
guess the origin of the pleasant, sweet-briar sort of scent which
clung to my hands. For some time I thought that I must
have grasped some fragrant herb, and it was not until I had
taken the Beetles out of the box (where, by the way, nearly
one half had been killed and partly eaten by the other half)
that I discovered the real source of the perfume.

The habits of all the species being very similar, we will pass
to another insect belonging to the same genus.

aie
in}

) Le

PLAT ET:

TIGER BEETLES AND BOMBARDIER:

. Cicindela sylvatica and larva.

. Cicindela maritima and larva.
Cicindela germanica and larva.
. Broscus cephalotes.

. Brachinus crepitans.

Or Rm & bo re

. Carabus monilis.

PLANTS :—
Bramble (Rubus fruticosus). Above.
Heath (Zrica cinerea). Right of Middle.
Lavender Thrift (Statice Iimonium). Left of Midéis
Fern (Pieris aguitna). Above Feath.

il

LARVA OF THE TIGER BEETLE. : 17

On Plate I. Fig. 1, is seen the Woop Tiger Brgtiz (Crcindela
sylvatica). This, although a really beautiful insect, cannot lay
elaim to the splendid colouring which adorns its congener, the
Green Tiger Beetle.

The colour of this insect is brown above, with a decided
purple gloss. The elytra have a cream-white curved mark at
the base, a narrow wavy mark of the same colour in the
middle, and a round spot close to the apex. Below, it is deep
bluish-green, often glossed with copper and purple.

This species is found in various parts of England, and chicAy
haunts sandy heaths and similar places. The reason for this
habit is, that in such localities the larva can find a home, and
the perfect insect a livelihood. The larva of the Tiger Beetle
is an odd-looking creature, having a broad flat head, armed with
sickle-shaped jaws, and the two next segments very large.
The eighth segment is developed to an extraordinary degree,
and is furnished on the back with two large tubercles crowned
with reddish bristles, and carrying two sharp recurved hooks, the
use of which will presently be seen. In consequence of this
peculiar form, the larva has been compared in shape to the
capital letter Z. The colour is whitish.

These odd-looking larve are burrowers, making tunnels in
the sandy soil nearly eighteen inches in depth, and a little
wider than the diameter of the body. They excavate in rather
an ingenious manner. With their jaws, assisted by their front
pair of legs, they scrape away the sand, and allow it to rest upon
the flat broad head. They then work their way up the tunnel,
and, when they have reached the orifice, throw off the burden.
The creature intends to make a perpendicular burrow, but is
sometimes obliged to alter its shape, in consequence of coming
across a stone or a furze-root. Sometimes, if a stone or root
happens to be a large one, the larva is obliged to abandon its’
unfinished task, and begin another tunnel.

On Plate I. are shown the tunnels of several species of
Cicindela; the larva being shown in the burrow, and the
perfect insect near its mouth. The third burrow, that of
Cicindela germanica, is represented as only partially completed,
so that the Jarva might be shown in its attitude of repose.

When the larva feels hungry, which is generally the case, it
ascends tu the mouth of the tunnel, and anchors itself there by

e

1s INSECTS AT HOME.

a

pressing the points of the hooks against the sides, so that no
muscular exertion is required in order to keep itself from
falling down the burrow. It then opens its jaws widely, and
waits for prey. In this position it is all but invisible; and
many a small insect runs heedlessly within its reach, and is
instantly seized in the terrible jaws. No sooner is the capture
made than the Cicindela larva retires to the end of its tunnel,
and there-devours its prey in peace. At Fig. 3 of Plate I. is
shown the larva at the bottom of the burrow, engaged in eating
an ant which it has just caught.

It is not very easy to procure the larvee, even in places where
they are tolerably common. In the first place, their peculiar
mode of life keeps them much out of sight. The mouth of the
burrow is not large; and when the larva suspects danger, it
immediately retreats to the bottom of its tunnel, and there
waits until it feels that the danger has passed by. In the next
place, even when the creature has been detected, to capture it
is a difficult task, owing to the nature of the soil, which is apt
to fall in when disturbed, and so to fill up the burrow and hide
the inhabitant. The best plan for catching these creatures
without injuring them is to introduce into the burrowa flexible
grass-stalk, or something of the same nature, and to pass it
gently down to ine very bottom of the tunnel in which the
larva is lying. By carefully digging around the grass-stalk,
the hidden grub can be secured.

More care is required in this operation than might at first
seem to be needful. The trowel or ‘digger’ should be put
into the ground at least eight inches from the mouth of the
burrow, and quite a large hole should be dug; as, if it be made
too small, the point of the trowel is apt to crush the soft-
bodied grub. Then, the grass-stalk must be carefully held
-upright in the left hand, while the right hand is employed in
digging; as, if unsupported, it is sure to fall out of the burrow
as soon as the operator has dug within some two or three
inches of the bottom of the hole, and then all the labour is
lost. These larve may be found about May, and a second
brood about August and the beginning of September.

Many insects are very voracious in the larval condition, but

become comparatively indifferent to food when they reach their

perfect state. This, however, is not the case with the Tiger
6

THE LEBIAD. 19

Beetles, which only cease from eating during the short period
of their pupal existence. In localities which these insects
prefer, such as sand-banks which are totally sheltered from the
wind, they may be seen busily engaged in chasing their prey.
They are more active in the air than any other Beetle, having
a way of spreading and foiding their beautiful wings so instan-
-taneously that they look more like flies than Beetles. Most
Beetles are very deliberate in preparing for flight and alighting
after it, but the Tiger Beetles are quite exceptional in this
respect, and dash about as easily as if their wings had not to be
unfolded and repacked under the elytra.

OnE exception to the general rule is found in the Cicindela
germanica.

This is the smallest of the British Cicindélide, being only
five lines in length. Its body is rather cylindrical, and its
eolour is much like that of the first-mentioned species, the
elytra being of a similar dull, but rich green. The elytra have
a cream-white spot on the shoulder, one near the middle of the
lateral margin, and a crescent-shaped mark at the apex. It is
blue-green below, glossed with a copper tinge.

Contrary to the habits of the other Tiger Beetles, this
species prefers wet to dry places, and has a liking for brackish
marshes. It does not take to wing as do its congeners, but it
is a very rapid runner, and traverses the wet surface of the
ground with great speed. It appears to be one of those species
which are at once intermittent and local in their appearance ;
being found plentifully in one season in some favoured locality,
and then disappearing for years. Black Gang Chine, in the Isle
of Wight, is said to be the place most frequented by this insect.

ANOTHER species, Cicindela maritima, is shown on Plate I.
Fig. 2. It is purplish or coppery-chocolate above, the coppery
hue being plainest along the suture; and the elytra have a
cream-white mark at the base and apex, and a wavy band in
the middle. It prefers the sand of the sea-shore, and may be
found on many of our sandy coasts.

We now come to the next family of British Beetles, the
Lebiade. All the Beetles of this family may be known by the

cZ

20 INSECTS AT HOME.

appearance of the elytra, which do not extend to the end of the
abdomen, and are abruptly squared, looking almost as if they
had been cut off. If their first pair of legs be examined, the
tibize will be seen notched on the inner side. They are all
rather small Beetles, and some are very prettily coloured.
They are tolerably active when they choose to take the trouble
of moving; but they are much given to hiding themselves in-
all kinds of crevices, so that some trouble is requisite in order
to procure them.

The young entomologist must always bear in mind that the
most unpromising localities will often prove to be singularly.
rich in insects, and that Beetles especially may be found in
any spot where there is a crack or a hole. Large stones are
nearly sure to shelter a Beetle or two beneath them ; moss is
generally full of them ; and a heap of decaying grass or leaves
is a hotbed which seems as well fitted to produce Beetles as to
force plants. The loose bark of trees always has Beetles under
it; and small Beetles creep into the burrows which larger
Beetles have made in the decaying wood of the tree. When a
quantity of long moss is to be seen, it is a good plan to fill a
bag with it—a paper bag will do in lieu of anything better—
and to bring it home, when it can be carefully examined by
shaking it bit by bit over a large sheet of white paper. Grass-
tufts can be treated in a similar manner, and mostly with great
success. Lumps of dry earth can also be brought home, where
they can be broken up and leisurely searched.

Tue typical example of this family is shown on Plate II.
Fig. 1. Its name is Lebia crux-minor. The insects belonging
to this genus have hard and somewhat flattened bodies, and
the antenne rather thickened towards the tip. The second
joint is the shortest, and the third the longest, the others
being of about equal length. One of the maxillary palpi is
drawn on Woodcut II. Fig. f.

The colour of this species is very decided. The head is
black and ‘ punctated,’ i.e. covered with minute holes or pune-
tures, and the thorax and elytra are rust-red, the latter being
marked with a bold black cross. No one can mistake this
pretty Beetle who has once seen it; but, unfortunately, to see it
except in cabinets is a very rare event, and any entomologis’

VARIETY OF COLOUR AND SIZE. 21

who is fortunate enough to capture it, is sure to publish the
fact. It is probably one of the intermittent and local species,
as it has been taken in some numbers near the Devil’s Dyke,
at Brighton. The length of the Beetle is about a quarter of
an inch.

ANOTHER species of this genus is drawn on Woodcut II.
Fig. 2. This is called Lebia cyanocephala. The latter of
these two words signifies blue-headed, and is given to the
insect because its head, instead ot being black, like that of the
preceding species, is bluish-green. The thorax is rust-red, and
is much punctated, and has a definite though slight groove
along itscentre. The colour of the elytra is somewhat variable,
but is generally greenish-blue, in some specimens being almost
entirely green, and in others almost entirely blue. It is bluish-
green beneath.

The size of the insect is as variable as its colour, some
specimens being quite a third larger than others. Its average
length is a quarter of an inch, or rather less. It is nota
common Beetle, but may be found upon the broom in the
summer time.

THERE is a common species of this beautiful genus also to
be procured from the broom. This is Lebia chlorocephala.
It much resembles the preceding insect in colour, but may be
known by,the greater depth of the punctures on the head, and
the longer and narrower thorax, with the posterior angles more
pointed. Like the preceding insect, it is exceedingly variable
both in colour and size. Mr. Stephens states that the specimens
which he took from the broom in Epping Forest were scarcely
half as large as those taken on the same tree in Darenth Wood,
and that in the Epping Beetles the prevailing colour was blue,
while in the Darenth specimens it was green.

Tue genus Dromius comes next on our list. There are nine
species of Dromius, all of them small and rather pretty insects.
Although they are almost invariably found under the bark of
trees, they must not be confounded with those little Beetles
which devour the bark or bore into the woed. On the con-
trary, such insects constitute the food of the Dromii, so that

22 INSECTS AT HOME,

the latter ought to be encouraged and protected as far as pos-
sible. Their bodies are long and flattish, so as to enable them
to run about under the bark in search of prey. The maxilla of
a Dromius is shown on Woodcut II. Fig. a.

On the same illustration, at Fig. 1, is shown a Beetle which
may be accepted as the type of the genus. Its name is Dro-
mius quadrimaculatus, the latter name being given to it on
account of the four white marks upon the elytra. The head cf
this species is black, and the thorax is rust-red. The elytra
are brown, and each of them has two white spots, as shown in
the illustration. The length of the Beetle is designated by
the line drawn by its side. It can be taken in various localities.
Throughout the year it can mostly be found by removing the
dead bark of trees, but in winter it can sometimes be found
under stones and in heaps of decaying leaves.

The word Dromius is of Greek origin, signifying a runner,
and is given to the members of this genus in consequence of
their activity.

Tue members of the genus Tarus can be known by examining
the structure of their mouths, and especially by looking at the
labial palpi, which have the iast joint very large, and shaped
like an axe-head. This shape is technically termed by ento-
mologists ‘ securiform,’ from the Latin word secwris, an axe or ~
hatchet. The figure d, of Woodcut No. II., represents the
labial palpi of a Tarus, and will at once explain \the shape
which the word securiform expresses.

On the same Woodcut, at Fig. 3, is drawn the owner of the
securiform palpi in question, Tarus axillaris.

Three members of this genus are known to inhabit England.
They are little Beetles, long bodied, and very flat, so as to
enable them to creep into small crevices. They are sombre in
hue, and not very easily distinguished from each other. Indeed,
even expert entomologists have been perplexed about these
Beetles, and some confusion has, in consequence, arisen respect-
ing their nomenclature.

The present species is rather less than the third of an inch
in length. Its colour is pitchy-black, but the thorax, legs, and
antenne are reddish, and the latter are downy at the tips.
The elytra are very polished, and have bold striz covered with

THE BOMBARDIER BEETLE. 23

punctures, and there is a dull orange mark on the shoulder,
a line of the same hue. running along the lateral margin.
None of the Tari are common, but they may be found nea the
sea-coast, hidden under stones in damp and marshy places.

Ir the reader will refer to Plate I. Fig. 5, he will see repre-
sentea an event which frequently occurs in the insect world,
and wnich, in spite of its frequency, never fails to attract at-
tention and excite admiration. |

There is a prettily-made, though soberly-coloured, little
Beetle, called Brachinus explodens, the latter title being
given to it in consequence of a most singular property which
it possesses, and which is almost unique in the animal kingdom.
It secretes a remarkable volatile fluid, which it has the power
of retaining or expelling at will. When alarmed, it throws
out a small quantity of this fluid, which immediately vola-
tilises with a slight explosion when it comes in contact with
the atmosphere, and looks very much like the fire of miniature
artillery. In consequence of this phenomenon, the insect which
produces it is popularly called the BomBarprer Bretie.

This curious property is used in defence. The Beetle, being
a small and comparatively feeble one, is liable to be attacked
by the larger Geodephaga, especially by those belonging to the
genus Carabus. The lesser insect could have no chance of
escape but for its curious weapons of defence. When the
Carabus chases the Brachinus, the latter waits until the former
has nearly reached its prey, and then fires a gun, so to speak,
in its face. The effect on the Carabus is ludicrous. The
insect seems quite scared at such a repulse, stops, backs away
from the tiny blue cloud, and allows its intended prey to reach
a place of safety.

The illustration represents this scene. The pursuing Beetle,
Carabus monilis, is chasing the Bombardier, and has very
nearly captured it, but is stopped by a discharge of artillery,
under cover of which the Bombardier will make off. Mean-
while, the Carabus, exchanging its rapid advance for a retreat
nearly as rapid, throws its antennze backwards—a movement
which is analogous to that of a dog when it drops its tail be-
tween its legs—and, before it can recover itself, its intended
prey has made good its escape.

24 INSECTS AT HOME.

The Brachini may be identified by the very convex body,
and their palpi without the securiform terminal joint. The
Bombardier Beetle is reddish-yellow, with dull deep-blue
elytra. It is, however, a variable species, as are all, or nearly
all, of those in which green or blue is the prevailing colour,
and, though most specimens are blue, or blue-black, some are
deep blackish-green. It also varies greatly in size, some
specimens being not a quarter of an inch in length, and others
more than the third of an inch long.

These Beetles love wet situations, especially when the water
is brackish, and hide under stones and in crevices, so that they
are seldom seen except by insect hunters. The banks of tidal
rivers are good hunting grounds for the searchers after
Brachini, such as the Thames, from Erith, or even Woolwich, to
its mouth. They are found in greatest numbers below Graves-
end, and ten or twelve may sometimes be seen under a single
stone, firing off their artillery when deprived of their shelter.

The volatile fluid which produces such curious effects is
secreted in a little sac just within the end of the abdomen.
It is not only capable of repelling the larger Beetles by its
explosion and cloud of blue vapour, but is potent enough to
discolour the human skin when discharged against it, as many
have found who have captured Bombardier Beetles by hand.
Should it get within the eyelids, the pain and irritation pro-
duced resemble those which would be caused by a correspond-
ing amount of the strongest vinegar.

The whole of the contents are not ejected at one discharge,
but there is sufficient to produce a series of explosions, each
perceptibly fainter than its predecessor. Even after the death
of the Beetle, the explosions may be produced by pressing the
abdomen between the finger and thumb. Even in our small
British species the phenomenon is very surprising, but there
are much larger species in hotter countries, which produce
much louder explosions, accompanied with quite a cloud of
vapour. Two British species of Brachinus are known to ento-
mologists.

We come now to another family of Geodephaga, of which
we can but take one example. The Scaritide, like the pre-
ceding family, are seldom seen in the open air, but, instead of

DIGGING FOR BEETLES. 25

creeping into clefts already existing, they make tunnels for
themselves. Tunnelling Beetles are almost invariably cylindric
in shape, and this is the case with the Scaritide. The thorax
of these Beetles is rather peculiarly shaped, being separated
from the abdomen by a sort of neck, or ‘ pedunculated, if we
use the scientific term. The tibie of the first pair of legs,
which are the tools chiefly used in burrowing, are very hard,
very strong, and boldly toothed, and the antenne are short,
and have scarcely any distinction between the joints.

One of the best examples of the Scaritidze is shown on Wood-
eut II. Fig. 4, and is an insect called Clivina fossor. The
length of this Beetle is rather more than a quarter of an inch.
Its colour is» exceedingly variable, ranging from pitchy-black
to chestnut, brown, or even brick-red. This variation in colour
depends chiefly upon the exposure to the air, the oldest spect-
mens being the darkest. This graduel darkening by exposure
to light is very frequent among insects; and a too familiar
example may be found in the common cockroach, which is
often seen almost white, darkening gradually until it assumes
its well-known red-brown hue. There are only two British
examples of this genus.

Usually, the Clivina is found under stones and in heaps of
decaying vegetable matter, but I have taken great numbers
out of a large rotten log, which was seen to be full of their
burrows as soon as the bark was removed. I took out of the
same log both the larve and pupz of the same Beetle, having
nothing to do but to break up the soft and rotten wood with a
powerful digger, previously laying a newspaper below the
log. The insects fell out in numbers without being injured,
and could be taken in any number.

The instrument which is here mentioned was not of the usual
form, but was made to order, and a very useful article it was.
It was shaped something like a mattock, the blade being
trowel-shaped and slightly curved, and a broad hammer taking
the place of the prongs. The blade was very strong and sharp-
edged, and on occasion could serve as an axe, while the
hammer end was useful for breaking up the hardened earth in
which many Beetles reside. It was particularly useful during
hard frosts, because the Beetles are then in their winter quarters,
and cannot be got at without some such weapon. If I were

26 INSECTS AT HOME.

to have another digger made, I should have the handle pro-
longed into a sort of crow-bar with a rather sharp edge, so as
to be able to use it as chisel and lever united.

When the insects are captured, the next business is to know
how to deal with them. There is not the least difficulty with
soft-bodied moths or butterflies, as they can be easily killed
when caught; but the hard-bodied Beetles are not so easily
deprived of life, and a great number of them will fight if
placed in the same vessel, and eat, or at least mutilate, each
other. There is nothing better for such insects, or rather for
their capturer, than the ‘laurel-bottle.’ This is very easily
made. ‘Take a wide-mouthed bottle, and fit a cork very firmly
into it. Bore a hole through the cork, and insert in the hole
a swan--quill or short metal tube about two inches long, so that
it may project at least’ half an inch through the cork into the
bottle. The upper end should be stopped with a cork, and it
will be better to cut the cork so long that it can be removed
by holding it between the teeth. I always cut the upper part
of the tube slopingly, so that a very small Beetle can be scooped
up with it.

For many Beetles nothing more is requisite, except to put a
piece of crumpled rag at tle bottom,so as to give them a foothold,
but for the fiercer and voracious Adephaga an additional precau-
tion is required, and they must be killed as soon as they are
put into the bottle, or an undisfigured specimen will never be
obtained.

If a bottle can be obtained without any neck, the following
is the neatest way of making a laurel-bottle :—Cut a flat cork
that fits rather tightly in the bottle, but not too tightly to be
pushed up and down. Take out a portion of its middle, and
insert a piece of fine wire gauze. It will be better to pass a
string through each side of the ‘ plug,’ as we will call this cork,
and knot them underneath, so that when the plug is to be
withdrawn it can be pulled up by the strings.

Next, procure a handful of the young buds and leaves of
laurel, put them into the bottle, and crush them into a paste
with the handle of a knife or some such instrument. Now
insert the plug, press it down upon the crushed leaves, put in
the cork, and the ‘laurel-bottle’ is complete. If the bottle
should have a neck, make a small gauze bag, tie up the

THE LAUREL-BOTTLE AND THE SWEEP-NET. 27

erushed laurel in it, and put it into the bottle. In either
case, the bottle must be kept firmly corked, or the vapour wil
escupe.

The use of the bottle will be shown as soon as it is employed.
Let a Beetle, however large, fierce, or voracious, be put into it,
and its fate is at once sealed. It begins to kick and struggle,
as if it knew its danger; but in less than a second the strug-
eling is evidently over, and the insect turns on its back, with
its legs quivering in the poisoned air. The fact is, the laurel
contains a large amount of prussic acid, and the interior of the
bottle is charged with its vapour. Now, as has already been
mentioned, the breathing apparatus of an insect pervades the
whole of the body, even to the end of the limbs ; and when the
poisonous vapour is inhaled, it penetrates simultaneously the
entire system, and causes almost instantaneous death. It will
be as well for the beginner to use the laurel-bottle for all
Beetles, as it does not damage them, and he need not trouble
himself to distinguish the voracious from the harmless species.

There is only one drawback to the laurel-bottle, and this
is more apparent than real. It stiffens the limbs, so that the
insects cannot be ‘set’ properly, and the legs will rather break
than bend. However, this difficulty is overcome in a very
simple way—namely, by leaving them in the bottle for a few
days, when the rigid limbs will become relaxed and as flexible
as they were during life. Some care, however, is required, as,
if they are left too long in the bottle, the process of softening
extends too far, and the limbs are apt to fall off altogether.

Very few instruments are required for the capture of Beetles
besides the digger which has already been described. Two
nets are almost indispensable, one made of stout net, and the
other of brown holland or the strongest linen. The former
should be about seven inches in diameter, and is used for
fishing Water Beetles and their larva out of ponds, ditches, and
streams.

The latter, which is called from its use the sweep-net, re-
quires to be made with some care, as it meets with very rough
usage, and, unless properly made, will soon be worn out.” The
depth should be at least twice its diameter.

The framework of the net is simply a ring or hoop about
nine inches in diameter, made of iron or brass about as thick

28 INSECTS AT HOME.

as an ordinary quill. If it be of lighter material, it will not
endure the rough work for which it is made. The ring is
covered loosely with the strongest tape, and to the tape is
sewn the net itself, which is nothing more than a bag of holland
or linen. The best sweep-nets have a number of small rings
soldered on the inside of the hoop. A stout wire is run through
the rings, and the net is made fast to the wire. By this plan
the net will outlast twenty nets made in the ordinary way.
The angles at the bottom of the net should be carefully
rounded off.

Now for the mode of using it. The simplest plan is to
attach to the ring a strong screw which fits into a ferrule at the
end of a stout walking-stick. The entomologist can, there-
fore, go about his task without betraying any signs of his
occupation. The sweep-net and water-net, folded round their
rings, are placed in one pocket, the laurel-bottle is in another ;
the digger is hidden under the skirts of the coat, and a pair of
curved forceps is in the waistcoat pocket.

When a promising sweeping-place is found, such as a hedge-
row, some long grass, fern or heather, a quantity of nettles, a
turnip field, or any such locality, the sweep-net is screwed to the
walking-stick, the laurel-bottle hung by a string to a button,
and all is ready. The net is then swept at random backwards
and forwards among the herbage, the stroke always having
an upward direction. This, with a little practice, can be done
so rapidly as scarcely to impede the walk. It is better, how~
ever, only to sweep one kind of plant at a time, so as to-be
sure of the particular herb or vegetable frequented by each
species.

After a time, comes the examination of the net. Lay it flat
on the ground, doubling it over, so that the pressure of the
hoop prevents the inmates from escaping. Now, draw it through
the hoop very slowly, taking care that none of the more active
Beetles make their escape, especially those which hop and fly ;
seize the insects as they make their appearance, and drop them
into the laurel-bottle, always replacing the cork. Most Beetles
—and, in fact, nearly all that are taken in the sweep-net—will
pass through the tube; but the large Ground Beetles, some of
the Water Beetles and chafers, and one or two others, require
to have the large cork removed.

MODE OF SETTING BEETLES. 29

On returning home, the entomologist should take out the
cork from the laurel-bottle, and empty the insects into some
boiling water, as some of the species have the strongest objec-
tion to die, and, after they have been apparently killed, have
a habit of reviving in a manner that is rather startling to
the young entomologist. It is no uncommon thing for an in-
sect-hunter to capture a number of Beetles, set them, put them
away in the ‘setting-box,’ and then, after a week or so, to find
three or four of them kicking about and doing their best to
escape. Some of the Geodephaga have been known to drag
the pin from the board, and, though still impaled, to devour
their fellow sufferers.

Ordinary Beetles can be taken by hand, but for the very
small species the forceps is used. This instrument should
be of good length. The regular dealers offer for sale a brass
forceps about two inches in length. This is nearly useless.
Get the forceps of steel, at least four inches long, and made
with a curve. The curved forceps is just as useful as the
straight instrument for picking up a Beetle from the ground,
while it can be inserted into crevices which the straight
forceps could not enter.

‘Setting’ Beetles is not a difficult matter. For moderately-
sized Beetles the following plan answers perfectly. Take a fine
pin, such as are sold for the purpose, and pass it through the
disc of the right elytron, and so fix the Beetle on a board. Now
draw out its legs, and place them in their natural position,
fixing them, if required, with pins and little bits of card-board.
Treat the antenne and palpi in the same way, and nothing
more is needed.

Very small Beetles should be fixed on white card-board with
coaguline. Ifthe cement be well thinned, there will be plenty
of time to fix the legs and antennz before it sets. Only one
Beetle should be set on one piece of card. In all cases, if the
Beetle have wings, and several specimens can be procured, one of
them should be set with the wings expanded as in flight ; and,
when card is used, one specimen should be laid on its back, so
that the structure of the mouth can be examined. Should a
more detailed examination be required, nothing is easier than to
damp the card-board, remove the insect, and replace it after its
structure has been investigated.

30 INSECTS AT HOME.

For examining the details of a Beetle, especially if it be a
small one, a pocket lens is required. These instruments are
made with either two or three glasses, and are small enough
to be suspended to the watch-chain by a ring. In order to
examine a Beetle with ease, the pin should be stuck into a
cork cemented on a flat piece of lead, so that it cannot be
knocked over. My own instrument is made of a champagne
cork, cut into a cylindrical form and rounded on the top. I pre-
fer the champagne cork for two reasons—the first being that it
is of an uniform and close texture, without the holes and hard
spots which are found in ordinary corks, and the second being
that it has not been pierced with the corkscrew.

Onty one other English genus belongs to this family, namely,
the genus Dyschirius. All its members are very brilliant, very
active, and very small, the largest being barely one-sixth of an
inch in length. Small as they are, they are as ferocious as the
Tiger Beetles, and are most persevering in their chase of prey,
which mostly consists of Beetles belonging to the Brachelytra.
There are several Beetles belonging to the genus Bledius or
Hesperophilus, which inhabit the sandy shores, and live in
small burrows which they make in the sand just above high-
water mark. On these little insects the Dyschirii feed, chasing
them through their tunnels just as weasels chase rats.

All these Beetles are cylindrical, and their surface has a-sort
of brassy polish. The mandibles are stout, very sharp, and
toothed at the base. The antenne are slender, with the second
joint the longest, and the thorax is globular.

CHAPTER’ Lt.

GHEODEPHAGA—continued.

Wer now coine to the important family of the Carabidex, to
which belong some of the largest and most powerful of the
Geodephaga. The Carabide are in many points exactly like
the Cicindelide, and if isolated parts of the mouth were taken
to an entomologist, he would have some difficulty in knowing
to which family they belonged. But, whereas the Cicindelidz
have a notch on the inner side of the front gees these limbs
are without the notch in the Carabide.

The typical genus is well represented in this country, and its
members are familiar to us by the title of Ground Beetles or
Garden Beetles. They are the largest of the family, some of
them being an inch in length, and strongly though elegantly
shaped. They are very active, as far as their legs go, but they
have no wings, these members being only found in a rudi-
mentary state under the hard and shining elytra, which in
most of the species are soldered together and cannot be opened.
In one species, however, Carabus granulatus, the elytra are
capable of motion, and the wings are more developed than is
generally the case. They are, however, much too small to be
used for flight. The mandibles have a small tooth in the
middle, and the labial palpi have the last joint securiform, or
axe-shaped. The thorax is somewhat heart-shaped, and has the
posterior angles boldly marked. In the male the tarsi of the
first pair of legs are broader than in the female.

Thirteen British species of Carabus are known, one of which
is represented on Plate I. Fig. b, in the act of chasing the
Brachinus. It is the Carabus monilis, a common and very
handsome insect. It is exceedingly variable in colour, and
slightly so in marking, but may be described as follows:—The
head is black, with bronze or green reflections, wrinkled in front,

32 INSECTS AT HOME.

and there is a deep hollow on each side just between the an-
terme. The thorax is wrinkled at the hinder angles and deeply
notched behind, and its colour is deep copper. The elytra are
metallic green or violet, and sometimes entirely green. Each
elytron is marked with three rows of raised striz, broken
regularly at intervals, or ‘interrupted,’ to use the scientific
term, and between them are three ridges which are not broken.
The line along the suture is black, and the under side of the
insect is dull black.

This Beetle is common in gardens, and, like the rest of its
kin, ought to be encouraged and protected, as it feeds almost
entirely on the smaller insects, and never meddles with the
vegetables. One of the species, Carabus auratus, which is
plentiful in France, though very scarce in this country, is most
useful to the farmer, as it watches for the female cockchafers
as they descend to deposit their eggs in the ground, and then
kills and eats them, thus doing more good than if it fed on the
destructive grub itself.

It can be found in the daytime by lifting stones, flower-pots.
logs of wood, dead leaves, or similar objects that have been
lying in one place for some little time. Care must be taken
in handling it, as all the Carabi have an unpleasant habit of
pouring from their mouths a blackish fluid which stains the
fingers, and is of a very disagreeable character. It is said that
the insect can project this fluid to some distance ; but I have
never seen this done, though I have caught great numbers of
Carabi, and given them every provocation to make use of this
weapon, which is analogous to the explosion of the Brachinus.

All the Carabide are beautiful insects, and it is difficult to
select any one that is pre-eminent beyond its fellows. Per-
sonally, I think that Carabus cancellatus carries off the palm,
though it is not so large as several of its congeners. Its
shape is peculiarly elegant, and its colour is greenish brass, or
coppery, sometimes deepening into black. On each of the
elytra are three chain-like marks composed of oblong tubercles
placed end to end, and between each of them is a single bold
ridge. These marks are similar in character to those of the
preceding insect, but they are very much larger and bolder,
and can easily be distinguished without the aid of a lens. There
are the rudiments of wings to be seen under the elytra. -In

af

4 Viet yen

PLATE II.

GROUND BEETLES,

. Lebia crux-minor.

. Calosoma inquisitor

. Carabus intricatus.

. Cychrus rostratus.

. Calosoma, larva in nest of Social caterpillar.

oO oO ® COW

. Carabus, larva.

PLANTs :—
Trunk and branch of Oak (Quercus Robur). Above
Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa). Across Cente
Cowslip (Primula veris), In Middle.

G

| Re

CARABUS 33

the spring time this insect inay pe taxen im decaying willow-
trees.

Another species of this genus, Caravus intricatus, may he
seen on Plate II. Fig. 2, where it is represented as ascending the
trunk of an oak-tree in search of prey. If any of my readers
should happen to see the insect itself, he will be the envy
of all brother entomologists, inasmuch as it is not only a
singularly handsome but a very scarce insect. It is the largest
British Carabus yet known, and is finely marked and coloured.
The head is black, with a violet gloss, and has a deep impres-
sion on either side. The thorax is of the deepest violet or
green, becoming black on the margin, and is wrinkled over its
entire surface. The elytra are very deep and shining-violet,
and on each elytron there are three rows of elevated tubercles
of an olive-green, the remainder of the surface being wrinkled.
The under surface of the body is biack, glossed with violet.

At Fig. 6, in the left-hand lower corner of the same plate, is
seen the larva of a Carabus. These larve are, like the perfect
insects, carnivorous. They are armed with powerful jaws, having
a strong tooth near the base. The antenne and maxillary
palpi have each four joints, and there are six ocelli, or simple
eyes, on each side. At the end of the tail are two horny spines,
each armed with a, sort of spur.

The last species which will be described is the Oarabui
violaceus, one of the commorest ard largest of the species.
It sometimes exceeds an inch in length. Its colour is rather
remarkable. At first sight it appears to be a black insect, bat °
a more careful examination shows that the supposed black is
in reality the deepest violet, which on the margins of the
elytra and thorax becomes of a rich burnished golden-violet,
like as of polished metal. "he whole of the upper surface is
granulated, the elytra more deeply than the thorax, along the
centre of which there is a slightly elevated line. Below, it is
black, with a slight green or blue reflection. Altogether there
are thirteen British Carabi.

Thesé Beetles afford good practice in setting. They are
large enough to bear handling, and yet small enough to require
care. Their legs are long, and look well when set out, and
the parts of the mouth are sufficiently large to show whetner
the operator has been careful about his work. Their omy

D

34 INSECTS AT HOME.

drawback is the lack of wings, but it is more than compensated
by the other advantages. These Beetles, by the way, are very
tenacious of life, and, though they can be at least rendered
insensible and harmless by the laurel-bottle, it will be as well
to dip them into boiling water before passing the pin through
them, so as to avoid the sight of an impaled Beetle trying to
release itself, or walking about the cabinet drawer with a pin
through its body.

I have always had a great liking for these Beetles, from the
time when I was accustomed to harness them into fairy chariots,
to that in which I first learned from them the wonders of
an insect’s organisation, and traced in them the early radi-
ments of those structures which find their fullest development
in man.

Next on our list comes the genus Notiophilus, which, being
translated, signifies wet-lover, and is a very appropriate title
All these Beetles are very small, none of them exceeding »
quarter of an inch in length. They may be found on the
banks of ponds and streams, running over the wet soil with
great activity in search of prey. Im consequence of thei:
fondness for water they were for a long time classed among the
Hydradephaga, or the voracious Beetles of the water, but have
now been placed in their right position among the Carabide.

On Woodcut No. IL. Fig. 5, is a magnified figure of a
common species of this genus, called Notiophilus biguttatus.
It is a very small Beetle, sometimes only one-sixth of an inch
in length, and seldom, if ever, exceeding a quarter of an inch.
It is a pretty little creature, with a highly polished surface, as
if made of bronze in which the copper predominated. Five
species of this genus are known to inhabit England, and they
may be found hidden under stones or at the roots of trees in
damp places. Willow-trees on the borders of streams are good
localities for these pretty little Beetles. They do not, however,
confine themselves to wet places, although they prefer such
places as a residence. They may be seen running about in the
hottest weather over places a mile at least from water.

The maxillary palpi of this genus have the last jcint rather
egg-shaned, and sharply cut off at ite end, as may be seen by
referenee to Woodcut II. Fig. e, which represents the left labial

MARITIME BEETLES. 35

palpus of this insect. The antenne are slender, and rather
thicker at the tip than at the base. The head has a deep
furrow between the eyes, and the elytra are long and flattened.

ANoTHER genus now comes before us, our example of which is
Nebria brevicollis, a figure of which is given on Woodcut III.
Fig. 1. These are larger insects than those of the preceding

1. Nebria brevicollis. 2. Pogonus luridipennis. 3. Pristonychus terricola. 4. Sphodrus
leucopthalmus. 5. Calathus cisteléides. a. Nebria, labial palpi. b. Nebria, maxillary
palpus. c. Pogonus, labial palpi. d, Pogonus, maxillary palpus.

genus, their length exceeding half an inch, and sometimes reach-
ing three-quarters of an inch. In these insects the antenne are
long and slender, and the mentum is divided into three distinct
lobes, the central lobe being cleft, as it were, into two. The
thorax is heart-shaped and abruptly cut off both in front and
behind, the basal angle being straight. The wings are well de-
veloped. Most of these Beetles belong to the maritime insects.
D2

36 INSECTS AT HOME.

The present species is called by the name brevicollis, in con-
sequence of its short neck. The head, thorax, and elytra are
black, and the antenne, palpi, tibiz, and tarsi are dull, pitchy-
red. The elytra have their surface marked with bold striz,
which are thickly punctured, and have several large pits on
the third stria from the suture. Although plentiful enough
when insect-hunters know where to look for them, the Nebrias
are not often found, owing to their habit of concealing them-
selves in the crevices of sea-side rocks, so that it is necessary
to break open the rocks in order to dislodge the Beetles. The
digger mentioned on page 25 will be found very useful for this
purpose. The Beetles prefer the sandstone rocks to the chalk
cliffs for their residence. The length of this species is one-third
of aninch. The peculiarly-formed labial palpi of this genus
can be seen by reference to Woodcut No. II. Fig. a, and the
maxillary palpi at Fig. 6. Four species of Nebria are known
to inhabit England.

Ir the reader will refer to Plate II. Fig. 2, he will see repre-
sented an episode in insect life which is not common in Eng-
land, where the insect is scarce, though sufficiently so on the
Continent, where it is plentiful. It seems very strange that
so narrow a strip of sea should separate so many insects from
us, especially as vessels are continually passing backwards and
forwards. It isa fact, however, that many of our very rarest
insects are quite common on the opposite coasts of France,
where they live under exactly similar conditions as those of our
own island. I cannot but think that, in cases where the insect
is, as in the present instance, an extremely useful one, any
entomologist would be doing a patriotic act by bringing over
a number of them and turning them out to get their living in
England.

There is no difficulty in distinguishing the genus Calosoma
from Carabus. The body and thorax are much more globose
and rounded, the third joint of the antennz is flattened, and
well-developed wings are seen beneath the elytra.

This handsome Beetle, called scientifically Calosoma syco-
phanta, ranks among our rarest British insects, but absclutely
swarms in many parts of the Continent, being so plentiful in
fir-woods, that if an entomologist go out at night, after the

LARVA OF THE CALOSOMA. 37

manner of his kind, with sugar and a lantern, the trunks of
the trees appear to be quite studded with gems, which are the
shining green bodies of the Calosoma.

The name Calosoma is formed from two Greek words, signi-
fying beautiful body, and is more appropriate than the gene-
rality of insect names. The head and thorax are very deep
violet, almost amounting to black, the violet being most brilliant
on the margins of the thorax, which are flattened and slightly
turned up like the brim of a hat. The whole surface of the
thorax is finely granulated, and there is a faint but distinct
groove along its centre. The elytra are singularly beautiful.
They are gold-green ‘shot’ with blue, the hues shifting, like
those of a pigeon’s neck, with every change of light. They are
deeply and regularly striated, and on each elytron there are
three rows of rather deep punctures, placed at some distance
apart. Counting from the suture, the punctures are placed on
the fourth, eighth, and twelfth striz. Although they are well
marked, they cannot be properly seen without a magnifying
glass, though when viewed with a side-light they look like
three rows of tiny glittering points. Beneath, the insect is black,
glossed with bronze. Its length is rather more than an inch.

It is impossible to calculate the benefit which this beautiful
insect confers upon the countries in which it lives, and it is not
too much to say that but for the Calosoma the fir-tree would
he extinct in many of those places from which we derive our
chief stores of timber. Both in the perfect and larval condi-
tions it is carnivorous, feeding upon certain destructive cater-
pillars belonging to the Bombycidze, among which those of the
Processionary Moth (Cnethocumpa processionea) and the Gipsy
Moth (Liparis dispar) are the most conspicuous. It does not,
however, feed only on the caterpillars of moths, but also devours
the larve of the Pine Saw Fly (Lophyrus pint), thus selecting,

with a curious instinct, the very creatures which do most harm
to the forest. In the plate the insect is represented as looking
down from the branch to whick *+ has climbed in search of the
Brown-tail Moth’s nest.

Although it eats many of these larve after it has attained
the perfect form, it commits the greatest ravages while itself
in the larval condition. In this state it is ugly as itis beautiful
when it becomes a Beetle. It is a black, soft-bodied grub,

38 INSECTS AT HOME.

something like that of the Carabus, flattened and scaly on the
upper surface of each segment and the head. It has two large,
sharp, curved, and powerful mandibles, from which no cater-
pillar has a chance of escape, and there are two horny spines at
the end of the tail. Its length, when full-grown, is about an
inch and a half.

The voracity of this larva is amazing. It will eat several
caterpillars, and even pupz, daily, and gorges itself to such an
extent that the soft body becomes quite distended like that of
a full-fed leech, and the creature is quite incapable of moving.
In this condition it often falls a victim to its own voracity, and
that in rather a curious manner. It has been mentioned that,
among other insects, the Processionary Moth forms a large
proportion of its food. Now the caterpillars of this moth are
social in their habits, and spin large webs, in which they live
together. Into these nests the larva of the Calosoma is sure to
creep, and sometimes as many as five or six have been found in
the same web, feeding on the inmates. Sometimes it happens that
a Calosoma grub, hungry and wandering in search of food, dis-
covers a nest of Processionary caterpillars, and straightway makes
its entrance. Being very hungry, it seizes the first creature
to which it comes, and sometimes catches its gorged and help-
less relative, which it devours without the least compunction.

I have already mentioned that the Calosoma is in all proba-
bility the means of preserving the supply of fir-wood. In some
years, as often happens with destructive insects, sundry pine-
feeding caterpillars absolutely swarm in the forest, the insect
armies being so vast that anyone walking through the forest
hears the sound of their busy jaws on every side as they devour
the leaves. With any tree such a visitation would be a mis-
fortune, but with the pine-trees it is death. Ordinary trees,
if stripped of their leaves, will put forth a fresh set of foliage _
in the succeeding year, and suffer little except being thrown
back in their growth; but a pine-tree, when deprived of its
leaves, has no such power, and always dies. The reader will,
therefore, see how invaluable are the services rendered to man
by this insect, which keeps down the numbers of the obnoxious
caterpillars, and saves whole forests from destruction.

Trees that have been perishing through the attacks of cater-~
pillars have been saved by the Calosoma. Some years ago,

DISCOVERY OF THE CALOSOMA. 39

M. Boisgérard, finding that some trees were being ravaged by
the caterpillars of the Gipsy Moth, placed upon the trees
several females of this Beetle, and simply left them. Next
year, the caterpillars appeared as usual, but in their nests were
the larve of the Calosoma, and in two or three years the de-
structive caterpillars were completely cleared off.

I should not be at all surprised if the insect could be em-
ployed in England for the same purpose. It would have plenty
of food among the caterpillar armies that occasionally devas-
tate certain localities; and, if at first it could escape the
fingers of collectors, it might have a chance of becoming natu-
ralised here, and rendering tc England the services which at
present it performs on the Continent. It is noteworthy that
the first recorded British specimen of this splendid insect was
captured at Aldborough, by Crabbe, the poet.

ANOTHER species of the same genus is found in England, and
is less rare than the preceding insect. This is Calosoma in-
quisitor. It is about three-quarters’ of an inch in length, and,
though a beautiful Beetle, is not so handsome as its larger
relative. A fine specimen now before me was captured by
myself in Bagley Wood, in the year 1846, at which time that
happy hunting ground of entomologists was open to all who
went there for entomological purposes, and did not disturb the
game. It had but lately emerged from the pupal state, and I
found it under a stone, where it was hiding itself until its soft
elytra had gained their hardness. It was so soft, indeed, that
I was almost afraid to handle it, lest its shape should be injured.
However, it soon became hard and glossy, and, never having
been exposed to injury, is a singularly perfect specimen. I
find in the MSS. of the late Mr. Hope, which he kindly lent
me, that, in the summer of 1820, several were beaten out of
the foliage of oaks, and others dug from beneath the roots of
the same trees in the early spring.

The colour of this Beetle is very beautiful. The head and
thorax are very deep bronze-green, and finely granulated, the
latter having a very deep pit on either side near the hinder
angle, and its edge being very bright blue-green. The elytra
are of a similar colour, and covered with striz. Each stria is
broken at short intervals with transverse lines, perceptible even

40 INSECTS AT HOME,

to the naked eye, and the edges are bright blue-green, like
those of the thorax. There are three rows of impressions on
the elytra, similar to those upon the preceding species, but not
so shining. The under surface of this handsome insect is dull
blue-green, and the legs and antenne are black.

Next in order comes the plainly-coloured, but elegantly-
shaped insect called Cychrus rostratus, the only British ex-
ample of the genus, a figure of which is given on Plate II.
Fig. 4.

The members of this genus can easily be distinguished by
the long and slender head and thorax, by the very large elytra,
which lap over the abdomen on either side, and by the pro-
jecting mandibles. The last-mentioned peculiarity has earned
for the insect the specific title of rostratus, or ‘ beaked,’ and,
indeed, the mandibles, head, and thorax are so prolonged, that
the insect might easily be mistaken for one of the larger
weevils.

To the unassisted eye this is a very dull-coloured insect,
appearing to be uniform black-brown; but when viewed
through a magnifying glass, the surface of the thorax is seen
to be thickly wrinkled and punctured, and that of the elytra
finely granulated, so that a soft and satiny gloss is imparted to
the otherwise unattractive surface. Its length is, on an average,
rather more than three-quarters of an inch.

It is not reckoned among our common insects, probably on
account of its habit of concealing itself in dark piaces, in which
it may easily escape observation in consequence of its sombre
colouring. I[t is to be found under heaps of leaves, stones, or
wood-piles, such as are left by the fagot-makers. I have
taken it in Wiltshire and about Oxford. This is one of the
very few Coleoptera which can produce any sound, and the
squeaking noise which is heard when the Beetle is handled, is
thought to be produced by the friction of the elytra against
the tip of the abdomen. The beautiful Musk Beetle produces
a similar sound, which will be described when we come to that
insect.

The larva of the Cychrus is something like that of Carabus,
but shorter and broader, and the projecting spines at the end
of the body are very short and without spurs. The palpi of

EXAMINING A BEETLE’S MOUTH. 41

this genus have the last joint very large and axe-shaped. Here

may mention that nothing is easier than to examine the
head and mouth of a Beetle, without doing the least injury to
the specimen, even though it be hard and dry in the cabinet.
Take the head between the points of the forceps, bend it gently
backwards and forwards, and it will snap off. Now put it into
warm water, and let it remain there until the parts are quite
relaxed. Then stick a needle perpendicularly into a piece of
cork, and run the eye portion into the ‘occipital’ hole, i.e.
that at the junction of the head and thorax. With a fine
needle, the parts of the mouth can be drawn out so as to be
properly displayed, and, when they have been examined, the
head can be replaced, and fixed, rather firmer than before, by a
small drop of coaguline. This will be found a good plan when
a Beetle has been badly set, and the parts of the mouth are not
properly seen.

Next in order comes the family of the Chleeniidz. In these
Beetles the front tarsi of the males have either two or three
joints much widened and squared, and very sponge-like below.
On Woodcut III. Fig. 2, is given an example of this family,
the insect being called Pogonus luridipennis. The members
of this genus have the last joint of the palpi egg-shaped and
rather elongated, with the tip blunt. The labial palpi are
shown at Fig. ¢, and the maxillary palpi at Fig. d, the internal
maxillary palpus being small and very slender.

They are all rather brilliant and shining Beetles, the surface
of their bodies having a metallic polish. They are small and
maritime in their habits, and may generally be found on the
southern coasts of England, hiding under the heaps of sea-weed
which are flung by the waves upon the shore,

The present species is about a quarter of an inch in length,
or a little more, and is a pretty little Beetle. The head and
thorax are shining green, with coppery reflections. The thorax
has a longitudinal furrow along the centre, a triangular hollow
in front, and a rather deep pit on the base at either side. The
elytra are pale ochreous-yellow, clouded with brown in the
middle, a peculiarity which has earned for the insect the spe-
cific name of lwridipennis, or ‘ pale-winged.’ They are covered
with greenish striz, and on the third stria are three rather

42 INSECTS AT’ HOME.

deep impressions. Ihe body is greenish below, changing te
rust-red at the tip. This species was first found on the coasts
of Norfolk. Three British species of Pogonus are known.

Anotuer Beetle belonging to this family is shown on Wood-
eut III. Fig. 3. Its name is Pristonychus terricola. As may
be seen by reference to the illustration, it is a very prettily-
shaped insect, the curves of the outline harmonising in a way
that would have delighted the soul of Hogarth, had he taken
the trouble to look at Nature’s original of his celebrated ‘ line
of beauty.’

Except in shape, it is not a very pleasing insect to the eye,
the colour being black, with a violet gloss when examined in
a proper light. The head is pitchy-black, and the thorax is
sometimes of the same colour as the head, and sometimes blue-
black, with a faint furrow in the centre, and a deep oblong
pit on either side of the base. The elytra are of the same
colour, and rather flattened, and covered with faint but regular
strie, which are slightly punctured. Along the edges there is
a series of roundish pits.

This Beetle is plentiful in most parts of England, and may
be found in cupboards, cellars, dark outhouses, and similar
localities. There is only one British species.

Ture is a Beetle, called Sphodrus leucopthalmus, which is
closely allied to the preceding insect, and, indeed, is included
in the same genus by many systematic entomologists. The
reader should try to catch one of these Beetles—no very diffi-
cult matter—and look at the very long third joint of the an-
tenne, and the long and slender palpi. In the males, the
trochanters of the hind pair of legs are developed into long
spines. This Beetle is shown on Woodcut III. Fig. 4.

The colour of the insect is pitchy-black, with a slight polish.
The head is smooth, oblong, and has an impression on either
side. The elytra are flattish, and faintly streaked, the streaks
resolving themselves under the lens into rows of small punc-
tures. Like the preceding species, it is common in outhouses,
stables, and similar localities, and is said to feed upon the
cockroazhes and other noisome and dark-loving insects. So,
though she Sphodrus be not a handsome Beetle, it is worth

SUN BEETLES. 43

protection, inasmuch as it is very far preferable to the cock-
roach. This is the only British representative of the genus.

On Woodcut II. Fig. 5, is represented the Beetle called
Calathus cisteloides. The members of this genus can be known
by the triangular head, the peculiarly-shaped thorax, and the
elliptical elytra. The mandibles are toothed at the base. The
colour of this insect is black, with a slight gloss in the male,
and quite dull in the female. The triangular head has a pit
on either side of the antenne, the thorax is wrinkled on the
dise, and on either side of the base is a deep impression. The
elytra are rather convex and covered with shallow striz, on
which are faint punctures. The wings are undeveloped.

This is a very common Beetle, and is one of the wet-lovers,
being generally found along the bottoms of damp hedges, under
heaps of stones, and similar localities. Eight British species
of Calathus are acknowledged by entomologists.

WE now come to the pretty little Beetles that are ranked
under the generic title of Anchomenus. All these insects have
an elongated thorax, the head egg-shaped, and the antenne
with the third joint twice as long as the second.

They are very active, and very brilliantly coloured, and, like
most bright-coloured Beetles, love the sunshine, in which they
dart about with exceeding rapidity. The popular name of
Sun Beetle is given to these and other insects, in consequence
of this peculiarity. They are sociable little creatures, and,
when one is seen, others are tolerably sure to be close at hand.
Some of them frequent wet and marshy places, and may gene-
rally be found at the roots of willows that are planted at the
water-side.

One example of this interesting genus is Anchomenus dor-
salis, which is shown, rather magnified, on Woodcut IV. Fig. 1.
The real length of the insect can be known by reference to the
line that is drawn on its right side. In this species the head
and thorax are dark-green, and the flattened elytra are pale
rust-red, diversified with a large spot of blue-black towards
the apex, but not quite reaching the tip. They are striated,
and the interstices between the striz are flat and smcoth,
_ without any punctures, Beneath, it is shining black.

44 INSECTS AT TOME:

This is a very common Beetle, and is rather interesting to
entomologists, because, like the Brachinus, it has the power of
defending itself by means of mimic artillery, and can produce a
number of the explosions in succession. There are more than
twenty British species of this genus.

1. Anchomenus dorsalis. 2. Pterostichus madidus. 3. Amara obsoleta. 4. Harpalus
eeneus 5. Stenolophus Skrimshiranus. a. Pterostichus, right mandible. b. Prerosti-
ehus, maxillary palpus. c. Harpalus, under side of leg. d. Harpalus, right mandible.

e. Harpalus, maxillary palpus,

Tue family of the Feroniide, which comes next in order,
comprises a number of Beetles, none of which are remarkable
for beauty, though there are several whose habits are very
curious and interesting. They may be known by the sinuated,
or wavy, form of the elytra at the apex, and by the basal joints
of the front tarsi of the males. These joints are not. squared,
like those of the Chleeniidze, but are somewhat heart-shaped,
and furnished with two rows of bristles beneath.

THE ‘ DEVOURER. 45

Our first example of this family is the Beetle which is known
to entomologists by the name of Pteostichus madidus, a
figure of which is given on Woodcut No. IV. Fig. 2. The strong
and peculiarly-formed mandible of this genus is shown at Fig. a,
and its maxillary palpus at Fig. b. The colour of the insect is
shining black, with a slight brassy gloss. The smooth head
has two impressions in front; the thorax is convex and narrow
behind, with a bold central furrow and a deep wrinkled pit at
each angle. A iens is required to make out these details.
The elytra are covered with regular striz, a circumstance which
has gained for these insects the generic title of Pterostichus, or
‘streaked-wing.’ There are a fewsmall punctures on each elytron,
and a row of bold punctures runs along each sees The
wings are not developed.

This is a very common insect, and can be taken in any
number, as it runs boldly about. Anglers often use it success-
fully as bait. Although devoid of wings, it is very quick on its
legs, darting about with such velocity that the generic name of
Steropus, or ‘ lightning,’ was once applied to it and another
allied Beetle.

Twenty-two British species of this genus are now acknow-
ledged, but in it are merged several genera of the older
entomologists.

WE now come to one of the largest and most interesting
insect of this family, though assuredly it is not a beautiful one.
This is Broscus cephalotes, a Beetle which is shown on Plate I,
Fig. 4.

This insect has been called the giant of its family, a name
which it well deserves, as it rivals the Carabi themselves in
size, sometimes reaching nearly an inch in length. Being a
predacious Beetle, it is gifted with very powerful jaws, which
are attached to a head of more than ordinary size. The
specific name cephalotes signifies large-headed, and is appro-
priately given to this Beetle. The generic name Broscus
signifies a devourer, and is equally appropriate.

‘This insect can at once be known by the very large head,
and the shape of the thorax, which is much narrowed towards
its base. A deep furrow runs along its centre, and its base has
a deep pit on either side. The elytra are rounded at the

46 INSECTS AT HOME.

shoulder, and striated; some small punctures being scantily
visible on the striz. The colour of the insect is black.

In this Beetle we see one of the fiercest and most voracious
of the whole insect race. It lives on the sea-shore, generally
hiding itself beneath decaying sea-weed or stones, and making
burrows under such points of vantage. From this burrow it
issues in search of prey, and successfully pursues all kinds of
insects, its own kind included. So voracious is it, and so many
insects does it kill, that if it reside for a day or two in one
burrow, it can be detected by the rejected elytra, limbs, and
other parts of insects which it has caught and eaten. It is the
only British example of its genus.

Tue large genus Amara now comes before us, and out of the
twenty-four species which are included in it I have selected
Amara obsoleta as our example. This insect is drawn on
Woodcut IV. Fig. 3. All the insects belonging to this genus are
small, and most of them are brightly coloured. They all take
rank as Sun Beetles or Sun Shiners; and, fortunately for them,
there is a wide-spread superstition that it is unlucky to kill a
Sun Beetle, and that its death will cause terrible storms.

The members of this genus are rather wide in proportion to
their length, and have the thorax wide behind, as wide, in fact,
as the elytra. They have large wings, which they can use with
great effect; and the males have three dilated joints on the
front tarsi. These Beetles are very plentiful, and may be seen —
either flying through the air on their ample wings, running
about in the full blaze of the sunshine, or temporarily hiding
under sticks and stones.

Although it is no very difficult matter to know an Amara
when it is seen, I must warn the reader that tv distinguish the
different species is a task which requires the minutest attention
to the smallest details,and had better be deferred until the eye
has been trained to seize at once on those small but important
characteristics, which at once strike the eye of a practised
entomologist, and invariably elude the scrutiny of a novice.
The eye can only see that which it has the power of seeing ; and
it is worthy of remark that twenty or thirty young observers
will miss exactly the most important detail in an insect structure
until it is pointed out by an experienced entomologist, when

COLOURS OF BEETLES. AT

they will at once see it, and wonder how anything so obvious
could have eluded them.

In any large genus of insects there is always a difficulty in
deciding upon the different species; and, even among the
moths, where size and colour are tolerably constant, mistakes
are continually made. But, among Beetles, these important

1, #pys marinus. 2. Philocthus biguttatus. 3. Notaphus [Bembidium] fumigatus.
4. Bembidium qnadriguttatum. 5. Bembidium pallidipenne. a. Apys, maxillary palpus.
b. Adpys, labial palpi. c, Aipys, labrum. d. Aipys, right mandible. e. Apys, antenna.

elements of size and colour go for almost nothing, and when-
ever green and blue are in question, colour absolutely does go
for nothing. Now, in the members of the genus Amara, blue
and green are the leading hues; and five individuals, which
undoubtedly belong to the same species, may be respectively
bluish-green, greenish-blue, brassy, coppery, or even black.
Then the head and thorax may be of one colour, and the elytra

48 INSECTS AT HOME.

of another; so that no dependence can be placed upon so
uncertain a characteristic.

The present species is a very common one. Its colour varies
from green to black, glossed with brass. The elytra are
striated, and the striz are bolder and deeper towards the apex
than at the base. The head is nearly smooth, but has a few
strize drawn across it in front.

We next come to the large family of the Harpalide, of
which we shall take one or two examples, illustrating the
principal genera. The males of the Harpalide have the four
basal joints of the front tarsi dilated, and sometimes the
corresponding joints of the middle pair of legs. These dilated
joints are covered with stiff bristles. The appearance of one of
these tarsi can be seen by referring to Woodcut No. IV. Fig. ¢,
which represents the under side of a male Harpalus’s leg. The
mentum is deeply notched, and has a small lobe in the centre.

Unlike the preceding family, which are for the most part
lovers of ight and fond of darting about in the full radiance of
the sunbeams, the Harpalide withdraw themselves from the
light, and hide themselves during the daytime in any crevice
that may present itself. Should, for example, the season be a
dry one, the cracks in the earth are sure to be tenanted by
Harpalide; and when the spade is employed, many of the
Beetles are turned up together with the soil in which they
have sought a refuge, and sought it in vain.

On Woodcut No. IV. Fig. 4, is shown an example of the typical
genus, Harpalus wneus. In this genus three joints of the
tarsi of both the front and middle pairs of legs are dilated in
the males.

The pretty species which has been chosen as our example is
polished on its upper surface like a mirror, the colour being
exceedingly variable. Some specimens are brassy, others
coppery, others green of various shades, and others again blue
of various shades, deepening into violet so dark that it appears
to be black. There are some faint striz on the elytra, and in
the flat interstices between the striz are punctures, very few
towards the suture, and plentiful towards the margin. Beneath
it is pitchy-black. In this insect, as indeed in most of the
members of this genus, the females are much duller than their

A SINGULAR DWELLING. 49

mates, this effect being produced by a very fine granulation of
the elytra. There are more than thirty known British species
of this genus.

The mandible of a Harpalus, with its bold scoop towards the
point, is shown at Fig. d of the same illustration, and the
maxillary palpi at e. The species from which these specimens
were taken is Harpalus ruficornis.

PROCEEDING with our list, we take an example of another
genus, a Beetle having the somewhat strange title of Steno-
lophus Skrimshiranus. The principal mark to distinguish this
genus from the preceding is that the notch of the mentum is
without the lobe, which is to be seen in that of Harpalus.
The species of this genus mostly inhabit wet and marshy places,
such as under stones on the banks of ponds, ditches, and
sluggish streams. The colour of this Beetle is dul! reddish-
brown, darkening into blackish-brown towards the apex of the
elytra, which are regularly striated. There is a slight groove
along the centre of the pale brick-red thorax, which has also a pit
on either side of the base. The head and the under surface
of the body are pitchy-black. This species is mostly found
in Norfolkshire, and derives its specific name from the ento-
mologist who sent a specimen of it to its describer, Mr. J. F.
Stevens.

On Woodcut No. V. Fig. 1, is given a much enlarged figure of
a very small Beetle called Apys marinus, an insect which is
on an average less than the twelfth of an inch in length. In this
genus only the two basal joints of the front tarsi are dilated in
the male insect, and they are rather triangular in shape. The
fourth joint of the same tarsus is armed with a strong spine.
The parts of the mouth and head are very remarkable, and are
therefore drawn in the same illustration. Fig. a represents the
maxillary palpi, and 6 the labial palpi; c is the labium, d the
right mandible, showing its curious notches or dentations, and
é the antenna.

This insect is the least of the Harpalid, and, partly from its
small dimensions, and partly from its habits, is not often seen,
except by those who intentionally look for it. It is one of the
maritime Beetles, but carries its love for salt water farther
‘han almost any other insect, inasmuch as its favourite haunt is

E

50 INSECTS AT HOME.

under stones in the mouths of tidal rivers, absolutely beneath
high-water mark. There are many insects which choose their
residence just above the tide-mark, but that any should prefer
to live below it, and be submerged by the salt water, is indeed
singular. Salt marshes are also favourite resorts for this
Beetle, which has been taken in various parts of England.
There is only one other species of this curious genus.

The colour of the Beetle is yellowish, darker above than
below. The head has a curved impression on either side; the
thorax has a short furrow on its centre, and a very shallow pit
on either side near the basal angles. The elytra are very
slightly punctated, and there are no ‘wings.

WE now come to the last family of the Geodephaga, namely,
the Bembidiide. In all these Beetles the palpi are formed
differently from those of the preceding families. If the parts
of the mouth be carefully observed, the last joint but one both
of the maxillary and labial palpi will be seen to be very large,
while the last joint is very short and very small, so small indeed
that at first sight it looks more like a spur than a separate joint.
All these insects are lovers of salt and wet places, and are found
on salt marshes near the mouths of tidal rivers, such, for example,
as those which cover the district between Rochester and Sheer-
ness, and upon the sea-shore itself.

Small as they mostly are, one species, Bembidiwm bistriatum,
being the smallest of the British Geodephaga, they are ex-
ceedingly voracious, and can kill creatures much larger than
themselves. There is, for example, Cillenium laterale, a little
copper-coloured Beetle, which never exceeds one-sixth of an
inch in length and is generally much less, which, in spite of
its small size, feeds on the common sandhopper, seizing the
active crustacean under the body, and so destroying it. Like
the A‘pys, which has already been described, this insect passes
much of its time submerged under salt water.

In reference to the water-loving habits of these Beetles, Mr.
Westwood gives a very useful hint to entomologists who wish
to procure these tiny creatures:—‘ These insects are generally
found upon the margins of streams, running about with great
velocity, and burying themselves in crevices in the ground or
under. stones, &e.; hence, at the time of high floods in winter,

THE BEMBIDIA. 51

the floating refuse is crowded with them, at which time the
ecilector will not fail to obtain a rich harvest.’

Our first example of this interesting family of Beetles is
taken from the typical genus, and is called Bembidiwm bigut-
tatum. This Beetle is by some entomologists placed in the
genus Philocthus ; but Mr. Waterhouse, whose system is followed
in this work, has united several genera under the one head of
Bembidium, in which he includes no less than forty-six species.

The insect is drawn on Woodcut No. V. Fig. 2. Its colour is
brassy or bronze-green, and its surface is polished and shining.
The head has a shallow impression on each side. The thorax
has a slight furrow along the centre, and a depression near each
basal angle. The elytra are striated and punctured nearly as
far as the apex, and between the second and third striz there
are two bold impressions, from which the insect derives its
specific name of biguttatum, or ‘ two-channelled. There is a
reddish-brown spot at the apex. The under surface of the body
is black, glossed with brassy or bronze reflections.

On the same woodcut, Fig. 3, is a very pretty, though very
tiny, Beetle called ean (Notaphus) fumigatum.

This little insect has the head of a deep green colour, the
thorax being very black, with brassy reflections. It has a
short central furrow, and a deep pit ov either side near the
basal angles. The colour of the elytra is exceedingly variable
in different individuals. The ground here, however, is pale-
brown or smoke-coloured, from which circumstance the insect
derives its name of fuwmigatum, or ‘smoky.’ Two irregular
black bands cross the elytra, and some black spots are scattered
about them. A bluish line runs along the suture, and the strize
are brown.

Next comes an insect called Bembidiwm (Lopha) quadri-
guttatum, which is shown on Woodcut No. V. Fig. 4.

This very conspicuous little Beetle is tolerably common, and
may be found in most damp places, whether the water be fresh
or salt. The smooth head has a deep but short furrow on each
side. The thorax is remarkably convex in front, and its colour
is shining blue-green, or greenish-blue, as the case may be.

E 2

a2 INSECTS AT HOME.

The elytra are rather convex, and their colour is something
like that of the thorax, but deepening into violet, which is some-
times so dark that it appears to be black. On the shoulder
of each elytron is a patch of cream-white, and there is another
near the middle, the insect deriving from these white marks
the specific title of quadriguttatum, or ‘four-spotted.’ The
spot on the shoulder is usually rather triangular, and that
on the middle of the elytron nearly round.

Our last example of the Geodephaga is the pretty little
insect called Bembidium wpallidipenne, which is shown on
Woodcut V. Fig. 5. The head and thorax of this species are
shining metallic green. The elytra are pale yellow, or straw
colour, giving to the insect its specific name of pallidipenne, or
‘pale wing.’ Across the elytra runs a zigzagged dark band,
varying much in different individuals both in depth of colour,
in breadth, and in shape. This species occurs chiefly on the
coasts of Lancashire, though it is found in other localities.

The reader will probably understand that when a name is
inserted between brackets, it is one by which the insect is known
in other systems.

CHAPTER IV.
ai - HYDRADEPHAGA.

WE have now completed our notices of the Geodephaga, the
analogues of the land Carnivora among the higher animals,
and we now come to the HypRraDEPHAGA, or carnivorous Beetles
of the water—the whales, porpoises, and seals of the insect
world.

We know that all animals are specially adapted to the life
which they have to lead, and therefore may naturally expect
that Beetles which live in the water will be formed very dif-
ferently from those which reside on the land, even though that
land be constantly wet. Shape, for example, is likely to be
altered. We know that the whales, dolphins, and seals, who
have to pass either the whole or the greatcr part of their lives
in the water, and to catch in it the living prey on which they
feed, become assimilated in shape to the fishes ; and it is likely
that insects will obey the same laws as mammals. This is
really the case, the shape of all the Hydradephaga being very
fish-like, in order to enable them to pass more easily through
the water. As there is much more friction in passing through
the water than through the air, the Water Beetles, as the Hy-
dradephaga are familiarly called, have the various portions
of the body fitting closely to each other, so as to leave an
uniform smooth and polished surface, something lke that of
the scaly surface of the fish, the slippery skin of the whales and
dolphins, and the ciose-set fur of the seals.

The limbs are also modified to suit the special purpose for
which they are designed. As these Beetles walk less than they
swim, greater provision has to be made for the latter mode of
progression. Accordingly, the first and middle pairs of legs are
comparatively small and feeble, the strength being thrown
into the hinder pair, which are large in comparison with the

54. INSECTS AT HOME,

others, and, in nearly all cases, flattened and furnished with a
fringe of stiff bristles on the inner side, so that they serve as
oars. They are jointed in a peculiar manner to the body, so
that there is room within the thorax for a set of very powerful
muscles which work them, and they are placed farther back than
is usual among Beetles—a peculiarity of structure which is
found also in the seals and the diving birds, especially the
penguin tribe.

Although they cannot, as a rule, walk well, they can all fly
well, and are furnished with very large and powerful wings, so
that, if food should fail them in one piece of water, they can
fly to another. They generally fly at night, and have an odd
way, when they reach a pond or stream, of closing their wings
while high in the air, and allowing themselves to fall like
stones into the water. Sometimes, deceived by the glitter in
the moonshine, they have been known to fall upon the roofs of
greenhouses.

Not only the Beetles, but their larve inhabit the water, and
they are equally predacious in both stages of existence, the
larva being armed with a pair of enormous sickle-shaped jaws.
They are all long and narrow, and have six minute eyes, or
ocelli, at each side of the head. We will now proceed to our
examples of these insects.

Tue Hydradephaga are divided into two families, the Dyticidz
and the Gyrinide. There is not the least difficulty in de-
ciding the family to which any Water Beetle belongs, as a
elance at the antenne is sufficient for the purpose. The antenne
of the Dyticide are long and slender, and those of the Gyrinidz
are stout, short, and club-like. Moreover, the first pair of legs
are short in the Dyticide and long in the Gyrinide. We
begin with the first family, and take an example of the typical
genus.

On Plate III. Figs. 1 and 2, are seen drawings of the Great
Warer Bertiz (Dyticus marginalis). The first represents the
male Beetle in the act of swimming, and the second the female,
as she appears when flying through the air. The sexes of this
and other species are so distinct that in the earlier days of en-
tomology they were looked upon as different species. As the
habits of this Beetle are almost identical with those of all its

—

a Wve eae

PLATE III.

WATER BEETLES:

. Dyticus marginalis (Male).
. Dyticus marginalis (Female),
. Gyrinus natator (and under).

m CO bD =

. Dyticus marginalis, larva.
. Gyrinus natator, larva.
. Gyrinus natator, Pupa case (on Arrow-head),

o> Or

PLANTS :—
Arrow-head (Sagittaria sagittifolia). eft Upper Corner.
Creeping Mouse-ear (Myosotis repens). Right Upper Corner.
Bristle-stalk Club-rush (Scirpus setaceus). Under Myosotis.
Water Feather-fcil (Hottonia palustris). Under Arrow-head.

mani

a a
’ A)
pep Y

»
vee

WEAPON OF THE DYTICUS. &5

family, it will be described at greater length than can be af-
forded to the generality of insects.

Several details which mark the Beetles of this genus are
given on Woodcut No. 6. At Fig. a is a magnified representa-
tion of a most curious development of structure. If one of
these Beetles be examined on the under side, the metasternum

1, Agabus biguttatus. 2. Hydrephilus duodecim-pustulatus. 3. Haliplus variegatus.
4. Cnemidotus caesus. 5, Pelobius Hermanni. a. Dyticus, process of metasternam, db,
Dyticus, maxillary }alpus. c. Dyticus, anterior leg of male, d. Dyticus, labial palpi.
e. Gyrinus, posterior leg. (7. Gyrinus, antenna.

will be seen to have a forked and rather sharp projection from
its centre, the points being directed to the end of the abdomen.
What may be the object of this curious appendage is not easy
to say; certain, however, it is, that it can be used as a
weapon on some occasions.

When, for example, an unpractised entomologist catches
one of these Beetles in his hand, and has taken care to keep his

56 INSECTS AT HOME.

fingers out of the way of its jaws, he finds himself suddenly
and smartly wounded, as the Beetle struggles to regain its
liberty. The fact is, the insect, led by some strange and un-
accountable instinct, always retrogrades when seized in the
hand, and so inflicts a rather unpleasant wound with the ends
of this appendage. Whether or not it knows of the presence
of the weapon, and the use to which it is put, is of course im-
possible to say; but that the insect can use its forked dagger as
well as if it were thoroughly acquainted with it, any of my
readers can easily test for himself by going to the nearest pond
and catching a Dyticus. Other Water Beetles possess the
forked appendage; but it takes different shapes in different
species, and is exceedingly useful to entomologists, by enabling
them to decide upon the species when other marks fail them.

This is, by the way, not the only weapon which the Dyticide
possess. Like the Carabide, and some other Geodephaga,
they exude a fluid of a singularly unpleasant smell when they
are captured ; but the liquid in question is white, and not black
like that of the Carabide. At Fig. b is shown the maxilla and
palpi of the Dyticus, and d are the labial palpi.

As the two sexes are so dissimilar in appearance, it will be
necessary to describe them separately. The colour of the male
Beetle is dim black, with the margins of the elytra marked with
a yellowish streak, narrow towards the apex, and widening
considerably towards and on the shoulders. It is in consequence
of this streak that the Beetle has received the specific name of
marginalis. The elytra are very smooth, with the exception
of three rows of punctures on the disc. There is a reddish-
yellow triangular mark on the forehead, and a very slight ridge
on the crown. The thorax is blacker than the elytra, and, like
them, has the margin yellow.

The legs of this Beetle are excellent examples of these limbs
as they are modified in the Hydradephaga. Both the middle
and hind pairs of legs are flattened, oar-like, and furnished
with the bristle blade, and the coxa is so made that it only
allows one kind of movement to the limb. In consequence of
this peculiarity the Dyticus cannot walk properly, but only
scrambles about; and if it should by chance fall on its back on
a smooth surface, it spins round and round in a most ludicrous
fashion.

FEET OF THE DYTICUS. 57

The first pair of legs, however, are the most interesting.
We have already seen that, in very many Beetles, the tarsi of
the front pair of legs are dilated in the male, but there are
none which even approach those of the Dyticus in complexity
of structure. The geodephagous males have the under surface
of these dilated joints merely furnished with a pad, but the
Dyticus has a most wonderful array of suckers, exactly analo-
gous in principle to those which stud the arms of the cuttle-
fish. One of these legs is shown on Woodcut No. VI. Fig. e.
The three basal joints of the tarsus are enormously swollen, so
that they assume a plate-like shape. Their upper surface is
smooth enough, but the under surface is covered with suckers,
one of them very large, and the second about half its size, and
a multitude of smaller suckers. The larger suckers are placed
directly upon the joint, and the others are at the end of
slender footstalks, looking something like the ‘ patera’ cham-
pagne glasses with the stems much attenuated.

In order to see this beautiful structure properly, several
specimens ought to be used. One can be simply cleaned, and
viewed as an opaque object, while another is cut so as to give
a section of the joints, and to show the manner in which the
suckers spring from them. ‘Three more specimens should also
be prepared, but mounted as transparent objects in Canada
balsam. This will be found rather a difficult process, but one
which will very well repay all the trouble. The difficulty is
to get rid of the air which remains in the suckers, and which
makes the mouth of each sucker look like a black shining ball.
A structure, similar in principle, though varying in detail, is
found throughout this group of Beetles.

The female is, as has been stated, very different from the
male in appearance. She does not possess the wide tarsi which
are so conspicuous in her mate. The elytra are very different
from those of the male, and, instead of being smooth and
polished, are deeply grooved nearly as far as the middle.

The voracity of this Beetle is really astonishing. It will eat
almost any kind of insect, or any kind of meat, raw or cooked,
preferring the former. Sometimes it is placed in fresh-water
aquaria by those who are not acquainted with its powers,
and the result is always disastrous. Not only will it attack
every living creature in the aquarium, but during the night; it

58 INSECTS AT HOME.

is sure to take to its wings and fly off in search of more food.
Even gold fish have been attacked by this insatiate devourer,
which does not even spare its own kind, and devours the oppo-
site sex as well as its own. When these Beetles take flight
from the pond or stream in which they have been living, they
always crawl up a reed or a water-plant, so as to gain space to
spread their beautiful wings. In consequence of this freedom
of locomotion, this Beetle may be found in almost any pond,
however small it may be. Even when ponds have been reduced
to mere puddles by the drought of summer, the Dyticus may
be found plentifully, hiding itself in the still soft mud.

The mode in which this insect breathes is really wonderful.
Being an insect, it is forced to breathe atmospheric air, and
yet it has to pass the greater part of its time under water.
The problem is solved by the Beetle converting itself for the
nonce into a diving bell, receiving the supply of air as often as
needful. This feat is accomplished in the following way :—The
body is rather flat, so that there is a space between the folded
wings and the elytra. Now, these elytra are very large, and,
when closed, are quite air-tight. When the Beetle wishes to
breathe, it comes to the surface of the water with its head
downwards, and just exposes the tip of its abdomen to the air.
In a moment it has expelled the air which has already been
used in breathing, and taken ina fresh supply, with which it
dives to the bottom. As the spiracles, or mouths of the breath-
ing tubes, open into the space between the elytra and the
abdomen, they can take in the air, and pass it through the
system. Sometimes, if the observer will approach very quietly,
he may see the Beetles floating with their heads downwards,
the tips of their tails just above the surface of the water, and
their hind legs spread out so as to balance the body in this
-strange position. All the Dyticidz employ this curious mode
.of supplying themselves with air, but it is most conspicuous in
‘the larger species, and is therefore described in connection
with this Beetle.

There is a rather remarkable point in the structure of the
«wings. On the inside of the elytra, and at their bases, is a
pair of membranous plates with finely-fringed edges, something
“like wings, for which reason they have been called ‘alulets,’ or
viittle,wings. These cannot be seen while the insect is at rest,

LARVA OF THE DYTICUS. 59

but when it takes to flight, the alulets are exposed. These
Beetles have the power of producing a sort of humming sound,
some species louder than others, and it is generally thought
that the sound is produced by means of the alulets.

Having now glanced at the history of the perfect Beetle,
we will turn to its larval existence.

There is no possibility of evading the fact, that the larva of
the Dyticus is ugly. It is very ugly. It is the crocodile of
the insect world, lying unseen in its muddy bed, and darting
out at any luckless insect that may pass near it. One of these
larve is shown on Plate III. Fig. 4, as it appears when seizing
its prey.

When full grown, this larva is two inches in length. Its
colour is yellowish-brown, sometimes one tint predominating,
and sometimes the other. The reader will see how this sombre-
ness of hue enables it to lie concealed upon the mud as it waits
for prey. At the end of its body may be seen two slender
appendages fringed with hairs. These appendages commu-
nicate with the breathing tubes which pervade the body, and
the larva may be observed in a position resembling that which
is assumed by the perfect insect, the head downwards, and the
extremity of the tail just above the surface of the water, sus-
pended and balanced by the appendages.

The mode in which this formidable creature obtains its
nourishment is very remarkable. The mandibles are, as may
be seen by reference to the plate, large, sharp, and curved.
When submitted to a good magnifier, they are seen to be con-
structed on the same principle as the fangs of a poisonous
serpent, a hollow groove running throughout their length.
This groove is not left open, but is closed for the greater part
of its length by a membrane, an aperture being left at the
base. This singular structure enables the larva first to plunge
its mandibles deeply into the body of its prey, and then to
suck out its juices though the hollow jaws.

As isthe case with the carnivorous Beetles generally, the
larva soon attains its full growth, and, when the time is at
hand for its change into the helpless pupal condition, it takes
itself to the bank, up which it climbs, and, burrowing into the
damp earth, forms for itself a sort of round cell or cocoon,
within which it assumes the pupal form. Should the change

GO INSECTS AT HOME.

occur in the summer, the pupa changes into a Beetle in a
fortnight or a few days more, according to the warmth of the
weather ; but if the larva should retire within its cell in the
autumn, it remains dormant during the winter, and does not
appear until the following spring. As is the case with dark-
coloured Beetles generally, the newly-developed insect is very
light in colour and soft in texture, not assuming its hard, dark
coat of mail until the expiration of some days.
There are altogether six British species of this genus.

We now pass on to another genus, of which nineteen species
are acknowledged to inhabit England, and will take, as our
example, Agabus bipunctatus, a figure of which is given on
Woodcut No. VI. Fig. 1.

It has already been mentioned that the Dyticide inhabit _
equally running or still water, and that they may be found indis-
eriminately in rivers and ponds. Still, some species prefer the
still, and others the running waters, and the latter insects are
almost always of brighter colour than the former. Such is the
case with the pretty little Beetle which is now before us. The
head is yellow in front, and black on the crown, with two rust-
red spots, sometimes fused into one, and sometimes so faint
as to be scarcely visible. The thorax is yellow, with the ex-
ception of two round black spots on the disc. These sometimes
are fused together, like those of the head. The elytra are pale-
yellow, diversified with small black-brown streaks, a brighter
yellow spot near the middle, and a stripe of the same colour
down the suture, and upon the lateral margins.

Passtna over several genera we come to a Beetle which is
shown on Woodcut No. VI. Fig. 2. It is called Hydroporus
duodecim-pustulatus, and is selected as an example of a very
large genus, containing between forty and fifty species. All
the Beetles of this genus have their bodies much flattened,
and the tarsi of the first and middle pairs of legs with four
joints, while those of the hind pair have five joints. The two
first joints of the antenne are rather longer than the others.

They are all small Beetles, and the present species is perhaps
the largest of its fellows, though it is, on an average, only a
quarter of an inch in length. The colour of the head is dvll

*

HALIPLUS AND CNEMIDOTUS. 6]

reddish-brown, lighter and redder in the middle. The anterior
margin of the thorax has a black stripe in the middle, while a
similar stripe on the posterior margin is widened so as to form
two black lobe-like marks on the thorax. The elytra are black,
and on each elytron are six spots of the same colour as the
middle of the head, three of the spots running parallel with
the suture, and the other three being placed along the margin.
Beneath, the body is yellowish.

This pretty little Beetle is exceedingly common in some
places, and correspondingly rare in others. Although the spots
differ much in size and shape, and in some specimens are even
fused into each other, there is no difficulty in recognising the
insect.

Our next example of the Hydradephaga is Haliplus varie-
gatus, an insect which is shown on Woodcut No. VI. Fig. 3.

Like the last species, this is a pretty little Beetle, and
exceedingly variable in its colour, so variable indeed that it
has been described by the same writer under the name of at
least two species. It is a very small insect, not quite one-sixth
of an inch in length. Its usual colour is as follows:—The head
is dark brick-red, deepening into blackish-brown on the top.
The thorax is paler than the head. The elytra are rather con-
vex, sharply pointed, deep reddish-brown in colour, and have
some blackish spots near the margin. This variety is common ;
but there is one which is much rarer, and in this the general
hue is greyish-yellow, and the whole insect altogether lighter
in colour. The brightest-coloured specimens are found in
rather swift streams running through a gravelly soil.

There are eleven British species belonging to this genus.

On Woodcut No. VI. Fig. 4, is shown another of these prettily-
coloured but variable Water Beetles. Its name is Cnemidotus
cesus, and it has a vast amount of detail in its colour, in
spite of its small size, which does not exceed one-sixth of an
inch. The general colour of the insect is light-yellow, the
head is punctated, and upon the base of the thorax is a curved,
punctated impression. In order to see the markings on the
elytra, or indeed to see any part of the markings properly, a
good lens is required. When viewed with such assistance, the

62 INSECTS AT HOME.

elytra are seen to be covered with alternate stripes and dots,
arranged in regular lines, of which there are two on each elytron.

This pretty little Beetle may be found in most parts of
England, pools and ditches being the best localities for it. It
is the only British species of its genus.

Our last example of the Dyticide is that which stands last in
the list. It is called Pelobius Hermanni, and is shown on
Woodcut No. VI. Fig. 5. This is the only British specimen of
its genus, wnich is very distinct from all the other Dyticide,
inasmuch as there is a distinct scutellum, and all the legs are
formed for walking, the hinder legs not possessing the peculiar
mode of jointing which was mentioned on page 54. The body
is very convex.

The colour‘is rather variable, but may be summed up as
follows :—The hue of the Beetle is rust-red, and there is a
blackish patch round the eyes. The thorax has the front and
hind margins black. The convex elytra have a blackish patch
in the middle, and are longitudinally wrinkled, the wrinkles
converging towards the suture at the tip of the elytra. Like
the preceding insect, though not very common, it is spread
tolerably evenly over the country. It has the capability of
producing a squeaking sound when handled.

Havine now gone through the Dyticidz, we come to the second
family of the Hydradephaga—that of the Gyrinide, or Whirl-
gig Beetles, so called on account of the manner in which they
whirl themselves about on the surface of the water.

There is not the least difficulty in determining whether or
not a Water Beetle belongs to the Gyrinide. Besides the
distinctions mentioned on page 54, the peculiar antenna of a
Gyrinus is shown on Woodcut No. VI. Fig. /, and the hinder leg
‘at Fig. e, both being much magnified. Besides these points, all
the Gyrinide appear to differ not only from the Dyticid, but
from Beetles generally, in having, or rather in appearing to
have, four compound eyes instead of two. The real fact, how-
ever, is that, in order to suit the peculiar habits of the insects,
the structure of the eye is modified.

These Beetles pass the greater part of their time on the
surface of the water, rowing themselves about with wonderful

EYES OF THE WHIRLIGIG. 63

velocity, and always on the look-out for prey. If the eyes
were formed like those of the Dyticide, the water would
certainly impinge against them and render the insect incapable
of seeing, by reason of the drops of water which would be
continually splashed over its eyes. In order to enable it to
see properly above the surface, it is needful that the eyes
should be placed high enough to be out of reach of the water ;
and to enable it to see objects in the water, it is necessary
that the eyes should be submerged.

All practical entomologists are personally acquainted with
this latter fact; for they know well that if they want to see
objects at the bottom of the water, the only way to do so is
to lie on the bank and submerge the eyes entirely. In some
parts of the world fishermen use a water-telescope for the same
purpose. This is nothing more than a tube, open at one end,
and having a plain glass closely fitted to the other. When used,
the closed end is pushed well below the surface, and the eye
applied to the open end, when it is found that objects can be
seen nearly as well below as above the water.

The eyes of the Whirligig Beetles are in fact water-telescopes.
Instead of being placed in two masses, one on each side of the
head, each is divided by the portion of the head which carries
the antennz; so that half of the eye-cluster is well out of the
water, and can see objects above the surface, while the other
half is submerged, and can see objects beneath it.

The Common Wuiruieie, Gyrimus natator, which is shown
on Plate III. Fig. 3, is very gregarious in its habits, and may
generally be seen in small companies, whirling about on the
surface of the water in very still and sheltered places. As
they dart about, they often strike against each other; but the
shock does no harm to their hard and polished bodies, and
they go on with their unceasing round as if nothing had
happened. Their chief object in thus continually darting over
the surface is to obtain food, which consists principally of
small flies, Beetles, and other insects which fall into the water.
They use their long fore legs in the capture of prey. They
are watchful little Beetles, and if they fear danger they dive
to the bottom, and there remain until they think that they
can return in safety to the surface.

As in the case with the Dyticidse, these insects-are furnished

64 INSECTS AT HOME.

with large and powerful wings, which they can use freely ; and
by the aid of which they can leave one piece of water and go tc
another at will, so that a newly-formed puddle is sometimes
seen with several of these Beetles disporting themselves on the
surface.

The life history of the Gyrinus is rather a curious one, and
is much the same with all the species. The eggs are deposited
on a water-plant, and laid in regular rows. From them, in a
week or a little more, the curious larve are hatched. One
of these larvee is shown on Plate III. Fig. 5. It is dirty-white
in colour, and has a large, flat, oval head, armed with powerful
jaws, and six rather long legs; while from each side of the
eight last joints of the body proceeds a very slender filament,
which is part of the respiratory system. The last segment has
two pairs of these filaments, each of which is seen, on being
viewed by the aid of the microscope, to contain an air-tube,
which passes into the body and there joins the general system.
When in the water its appearance is very much like that of a
centipede, except that the respiratory filaments have no in-
dependent motion, like the legs of the centipede, but trail
loosely in the water.

In due time the larva is full-fed, and it then, as do many
other aquatic creatures, leaves the water and crawls up the
stem of a water-plant, until it is several inches above the sur-
face. Having found a safe place, it spins for itself a small grey
cocoon, and there waits until it has assumed its perfect state,
when it breaks through the walls of the cover, and again seeks
the water. One of these cocoons is shown on Plate ILI. Fig. 6,
attached to the leaf of the Common Arrowhead (Sagittaria
sagittifolia).

Like the Dyticide, almost all the Whirligig Beetles exude a
whitish liquid of a very unpleasant odour, and are sure to do
so when handled.

There are six English species of Gyrinus, some of which are
rarer than others. The present species, which is the most
common, is about a quarter of an inch in length, and blue-
black in colour, with a reddish mouth. The elytra are greenish
at the margins, and become narrowed towards the apex. They
are very slightly striated and punctured. "

A much rarer species is Gyrimus bicolor, which must be

HAIRY WHIRLIiGIG. 65

sought in salt marshes and similar localities. It is much
larger in proportion to its width than the preceding species,
so that it can at once be detected. The most remarkable, or
at least the most divergent, of the Whirligigs is the Harry
Waurriicig (Orectochilus villosus), which may at once be de-
' tected by the fact that the upper part of its body is black,
covered with short greyish down. The body is reddish-yellow
beneath, and the elytra are thickly and deeply punctated.
This insect is not so fond of society as the other species,
neither does it love the light of day, but hides itself in the
banks of rivers and running waters during the daytime, and
seeks its prey by night. In consequence of this habit it is not
often seen, and even in places where it is tolerably common is
sure to escape the observation of anyone who does not know
how and when to look for it. It is rather a local insect, and
Mr. F. W. Hope gives the Dart and rivulets on Dartmoor as a
favourite locality. ‘

The popular name Whirlwig is often substituted for Whirli-
gig. The generic title Orectochilus is formed from two Greek
words, signifying ‘ stretched-lip,’ and alludes to the structure
of the labrum, or upper lip, which is lengthened by a pale-
coloured fringe on its edge.

CHAPTER V.

BRACHELYTRA.

Tue group of Beetles which comes next in order is equally
conspicuous with the Hydradephaga, but utterly unlike it or
any of the groups which have been described. These Beetles
are long-bodied, agile, and seem to play the same part among
Coleoptera as the weasel tribe among the Mammalia. Most,
though not all of them, are predatorial, and some of them,
especially the larger species, are -exceedingly fierce as well as
voracious, and will fight any foe, no matter how much they
may be overmatched.,

The name Brachelytra is. a very appropriate one, signifying
short elytra. These insects have the elytra very short and
syuared, so short indeed that six or seven segments of the
abdomen generally protrude beyondthem. Although the elytra
are so small, the wings are very large; and, though they
must necessarily be folded in a most complicated manner
before they can be packed under the elytra, these insects can
take the air with more readiness than any other Beetles, ex-
cept, perhaps, the Tiger Beetles, whose manner of flight has
been described on page 16. In foldiug the wings under the
elytra, the Beetle is cbliged to act in a very curious manner,
bending the tail over the back,’and with the extremity of the
body arranging the wings under their sheaths. The earwig
uses its forceps for a similar purpose, as we shall see when we
come to that insect. Fig. c, Woodcut No. VII., shows one of
the large Brachelytra in the act of packing up its wings. In
consequence of their activity both on the wing and on foot,
these insects have gained the popular name of Rove Burress.

All these Beetles have the habit of bending their bodies
upwards when alarmed, for which reason they have received
the popular name of Cocktail Beetles. ‘his act bas, in the

ODOUR OF THE ROVE BEETLES. 67

larger species, so menacing an aspect that many persons are
afraid to touch so formidable an insect. In reality, the smaller
species are more to be dreaded than the larger. I have already
mentioned that the Brachelytra take easily to wing, when
they may be mistaken for flies, so ample are their wings and
so quick their movements. Many of them are very small—
not thicker than an ordinary horsehair—and these are almost
invariably the little black ‘ flies’ that are in the habit of getting
into the eye on fine summer evenings, and causing an amount
of pain which seems quite disproportionate to the size of the
insect. Of course even a small fly would cause pain if it got
into the eye; but when one of these Beetles finds itself
imprisoned, it instinctively turns up its pointed tail, and
thus causes a double amount of irritation. I believe that,
out of every ten ‘flies’ that get into the eye, seven are Bra-
chelytra.

Although the larger Brachelytra need not be particularly
dreaded, in spite of their fierce looks, it is as well not to handle
them without necessity. Their bite, although sharp, is of no
particular consequence; but they possess a more formidable
weapon, than their jaws. At the end of the tail are two tuber-
cles, which exude a secretion of the most odious character.
Like that of the skunk, it has an odour, or rather a stench,
peculiarly—and fortunately so—its own, and which cannot be
described by any comparison. That of the common snake,
when irritated, comes, perhaps, nearer it than any other; but
even that singularly unpleasant emanation is not so utterly
disgusting as the effluvium of an angry Rove Beetle.

As each group of insects has certain characteristics by which
its members can be identified, I will here mention some of the
chief characters which mark the Brachelytra. The observer should
first note the comparative sizes and shapes of the joints of the
antenne, palpi, and tarsi; then, let him look for the spiracles,
or breathing holes, in the prothorax. Next in importance
come the quantity and colour of any down that may be on the
insect ; while the relative width of the front tarsi will deter-
mine the sex.

Tue first family is that of the Aleocharide. In this family
the spiracles on the sides of the prothorax are plainly visible,
F2

68 INSECTS AT HOME.

the antennz are set ciose between and in front of the eyes, and
the last joint of the maxillary palpi is very small and thread-
like. The form of the maxillary palpus can be seen by refer-
ence to Woodcut No. VII. Fig. d. In this family the front
tarsi of the males are not wider than those of the females, but
they can be detected by looking at the last segment but one

1. Falagria sulcata. 2. Aleochara fuscipes. 3. Atemeles emarginatus. 4. Oxypoda
luteipennis. 5. Homalota brunnea, a, Staphylinus, anterior tarsus of female, undilated.
d. Staphylinus, anterior tarsus of male, dilated. ¢. Staphylinus, closing its wings with ex-
tremity of its tail. d,. Falagria, maxillary palpus, e. Falagria, rignt mandible. ff,
Falagria, labial palpi. g Falagria, antenna.

of the abdomen, and seeing whether it is tubercled, ridged, or
has a thicker posterior margin. In such cases the insect is of
the male sex.

This is in many respects a very remarkable group of insects,
because in no less than eight of the genera included in it there
are Beetles which are parasitic upon other insects, and which
pass the whole of their lives in the nests of ants. There is

THE SMALL ROVE BEETLES. 69

even one species that inhabits the nest of the sand martin.
In the course of the following pages we shall come upon
several of these curious Beetles.

Our first example of this family is Falagria sulcata—it is
drawn on Woodcut No.VII. Fig. 1. There are four species of this
genus, which is distinguished by the large head, which is very
distinct from the thorax, the first joint of the tarsus long, and
the bases of the elytra without wrinkles. The structure of the
antennz can be seen by reference to Fig. g in the same illustra-
tion ; the maxillary palpns is shown at d, the right mandible
at e, and the labial palpi at /.

All the Beetles belonging to this genus are very small, and
many of them may be captured with an ordinary butterfiy-net,
while on the wing. Some of the Brachelytra are so exceedingly
minute that the best plan to procure them is the ‘ catch-em-
alive-oh’ principle. A few sheets of white paper should be
brushed over with very pure gum-water and left to dry, when
they will be useful at any time. When the entomologist wishes
to capture these minute creatures, all he has to do is to choose
a warm sunshiny day, damp one of these gummed sheets, and
wave it about under trees until it is dry. On examining it, a
number of tiny blackish specks will generally be seen, and most
of these, when a lens is brought to bear on them, prove to be
Brachelytra. The same paper can be used over and over again,
the captured insects being removed with the point of a fine
camel-hair pencil dipped in water. The specics which we are now
examining is shining brownish-black in colour. The thorax is
rather heart-shaped, and along the centre runs a very deep
furrow, reaching to the scutellum. The elytra are very wide,
smooth, and slightly sunk at the base. The legs and base of
the antenne are brick-red. This specimen is a very curious
one, and may be found in all parts of England, buried in fungi
and decaying vegetable matter. o

Tue typical genus Aleochara has the head deeply sunk into the
thorax, which is convex and broad. The elytra are broader
than they are long. The abdomen has a flattened margin
along the sides, and the tarsi have five joints, the basal joint of
the hinder tarsi being longest. The antennz are short, stout, and
the fourth and tenth joints are of equal length.

70 INSECTS AT HOME.

On Woodcut VII. Fig. 2, is represented a good example of
this genus, Aleochara fuscipes.

The colour of this Beetle is shining-black. The antennz
are short and thickened in the middle. The elytra are red,
edged with black, and the legs and base of the antenne are
red, the thighs being dull-brown instead of red. This insect
flies rapidly. It is a common species, and, small as it is, yet
is the largest of its genus. It haunts decaying substances,
whether animal or vegetable. Fifteen British species are
known.

ANoTHER member of the same family, Atemeles emarginatus,
is shown on Woodcut VII. Fig. 3, and is a rather odd-looking
insect. The genus is distinguished by its broad body, and the
two projections upon the last joint but one of the abdomen.
The second and third joints of the antennz are small. There
are only two British species of this genus.

The general colour of this insect is shining-brown. The
head is black, and the thorax has a shallow furrow along its
disc. The elytra are red-brown, covered with short golden
down, and the posterior angles are produced into short sharp
spines.

This is one of the parasitic Beeties, residing in the nests of
the bank-ant (Formica fusca), and a smaller species of ant
(Myrmica ruginodis). Both these ants are very fond of their
guest ; and if the nest be opened, the ants take as much care of
the Beetles as of their own young, picking them up in their
jaws, and carrying them into a place of safety. That these
Beetles do not eat either the ants, their eggs, or their young is
evident from this fact; and it is thought probable by many
entomologists that the Beetle discharges some secretion which
is grateful to the ants, as is the case with sundry Aphides.

Tux little Beetle, Oxypoda luteipennis, which is represented
on Woodcut VII. Fig. 4, also belongs to the same family.

The leading characteristics of this genus are as follows. The
thorax is much broader behind than in front, and the head is
sunk in it nearly to the eyes. The elytra have a distinct notch
at the outer angle of the apex. The abdomen is strongly
margined, and the tarsi have the basal joint rather larger than

HOW TO ELUDE AN ENEMY. 7)

the second. The antenne are long, and slightly thickened at
the tip. There are fourteen species of this genus.

The head of this species is black, and the thorax is convex,
with a deep pit at the base. Its colour is dusky-black, covered
with down. The elytra are dull brick-red, becoming brown at
the suture; the legs are red, and the abdomen is black with
red edges to all the segments. The insect is common every-
where.

Tue Beetle which is our next example of this family belongs
to an enormous genus, containing at least 160 species. Its
name is Homalota brunnea, and it is drawn on Woodcut VII.
Fig. 5. .

In this genus the head is without any distinct neck, and the
body is narrow and much flattened. The tarsi of the front legs
have four joints, and those of the hind legs five joints, the four
first joints being equal in size. The joints of the antenne are
bead-like.

The present species is a flat, shiaing, brick-red insect, with
the exception of the head and the last segment but one of the
abdomen, which are grey-black, the abdomen being thickly and
rather deeply punctured. ‘There is a very shallow groove in the
middle of the thorax. The legs are pale reddish-brown.

This isa very common insect, and yet Mr. E. A. Smith, who
has long given much attention to the Brachelytra, tells me that
he cannot fix upon any special locality for it, having found
it indifferently in sand-pits, on palings, and similar places.
Indeed, the whole family is a very bewildering and trouble-
some one to the investigator, and would require the uninter-
rupted labour of several years before it could be thoroughly
mastered.

Our last example of this large family is the Beetle called
Gyrophena gentilis, which is drawn on Woodceut VIII. Fig. 1.

The Beetles of this genus are broad in proportion to their
length, and much flattened; yet, in spite of their short
bodies, they are able to double, or rather roll, themselves up
until they look like anything but insects, and are difficult of
detection. The thorax is wider than the head and very short,
and the elytra are wider than they are long. The anterior

792 INSECTS AT HOME.

tarsi have only four joints, and the posterior five joints, the
latter having the basal joint longer than the others.

The species is dusky-red, with a tinge of yellow, with the
exception of the head and a belt on the abdomen, which are
pitchy-black. The thorax has a definite margin, and is thickly
punctured. The legs are paler than the body. It is found on

1, Gyrophena gentilis. 2. Quedius dilatatus. 8. Creophilus maxillosus. 4, Philonthus
fharginatus. 5. Xantholinus glabratus. a. Philonthus, right mandible. b. Quedins, right
mandible, c. Philonthus, labial palpi. d. Quedius, labial palpi. e, Philonthus, antenna,

fungi of various kinds. There is a curious point about this
insect which is worth recording. One of the very rarest of the
British Brachelytra is a Beetle of the same family, called
Myrmedonia Haworthi, one of the parasitic Beetles. When
the Gyrophena gentilis is placed under the magnifier, so as to
enlarge it to the size of the Myrmedonia, the two Beetles are
almost exactly alike.

‘SETTING ’ ROVE BEETLES. 73

Tue family of the Tachyporide comes next in order. Tese
Beetles have the head usually sunk deeply in the thorax,
without any distinct neck. The spiracles of the prothorax are
conspicuous, and the antenne are before the eyes, on the
margin of the forehead. The males have the basal joints of
the tarsi dilated. All these Beetles are unrivalled for their
speed, and in consequence of this characteristic the name of
Tachyporide, or ‘ swift-footed,’ has been given to them.

Among these insects will be found the most troublesome
examples of that telescopic shutting up of the body which has
already been mentioned. Mr. E. C. Rye recommends the fol-
lowing plan for preserving the proper-shape of the Beetle :—
‘The best way in mounting them is to put gum arabic, with
which a little sugar has been melted, under the tail; and, as
soon as that is dry, gum the entire last segment over with
tragacanth, keeping the abdomen from contracting (if you can)
» with a card brace. They should not be dried quickly.’ Some
of these insects are so troublesome in this respect, that the only
plan of getting them back into shape is to fix the last segment
of the body to the card with a tiny drop of coaguline or
diamond cement, which soon sets. Then, when it is sufficiently
hardened, take the front part of the body in the forceps, and
draw it gently forward until the segments of the abdomen have
been pulled out to their proper extent. Then put a small drop
of coaguline under the thorax, press it down with a card brace,
aud keep it down until it is dry.

Our first example of this family is a Beetle called Boletobius
atricapillus, which is shown on Plate IV. Fig. 1, two specimens
being drawn as crawling on the top of a mushroom, and the
other in flight. The insects of this genus live in fungi of
different kinds, on which account they are called by the name
of Boletobius, or ‘ fungus-inhabiting.’ Others are seen as they
appear when running in and out of the gills of a mushroom.
In this genus, which contains eight species, the body narrows
to a point behind, the head is long, the palpi slender, and the
antenn are long in proportion to the size of the insect.

The general colour of this species is glossy-red and shining.
The head, breast, scutellum, and tip of the abdomen are black,
and the elytra are blue-black with a cream-white curved mark

Tt INSECTS AT HOME.

on the shoulder, and a line of the same cclour upon the
posterior margin. The antenne are rather curiously coloured,
the four first joints being black, the next tive pale-red, and the
last black, like those of the base.

It is a very common insect, and may be found in fungi in
the autumn. Indeed, in consequence of their fungi-loving
habits, all these Beetles are to be found towards the close of
the year. As this is a common species, the reader is recom-
mended to try his hand at setting it in the way above-
mentioned. Even if three or four be spoiled, plenty more can
be procured, and the practice will be invaluable when insects of
greater rarity have to be set. None of the Tachyporidz are
large, and though most of them frequent fungi, many are found
under leaf-heaps, in bones, and similar localities.

Tue reader will experience no difficulty in identifying the
curious Beetle drawn on Woodcut No. VIII. Fig. 2, when he
finds it; for, in the first place, he will find no other Beetle in
the same locality, and in the next place, its serrated antennz
and round and shield-like thorax will at once point it out to
him. The name of this Beetle is Quedius [ Velleius | dilatatus.

There are more than twenty species of this genus, which may
be known by the shield-like thorax. Some of them are ex-
ceedingly variable; one of them, Quedius fulgidus, having
been called by no less than thirteen names. The present
species is broad and black, with a beautiful iridescence on the
abdomen, and, although so sombrely coloured, is a great acqui-
sition to the cabinet. Formerly it was the rarest of the rare
among British Beetles, and even now is one of the greatest
treasures that au entomologist can possess; but, now that its
locality is known, it may perhaps oftener find a place in our
cabinets. The secret of its rarity is that it is one of the
parasitic Brachelytra, and lives in the nest of the hornet. Mr.
F. Smith, who has paid so much attention to this subject,
thinks that the larva of the Quedius feeds upon that of the
hornet, and mentions that he has found in a hornet’s nest a
considerable number of dead larvae, which he believed to be
those of the Quedius. Up to the present time, 1871, he has
not found a specimen of the Beetle, though he has opened very
many hornets’ nests. We may call it the Hornet Berrie

RARITY OF THE HORNET BEETLE. io

Even now that the locality of this Beetle is known, to secure
a specimen is no easy matter. In the first place, it is a very
exceptional piece of good fortune to find a hornets’ nest that
contains a Quedius dilatatus, as I can testify from personal
experience, having seen plenty of hornets’ nests and never seen
a living specimen of this Beetle; and in the next place, a
hornets’ nest cannot be taken like that «f the wasp. To take a
Wasps nest is a very easy business, as the wasps always rest at
night, and their fortress can be stormed without the least
danger. But hornets have an uncomfortable plan of working
by night as well as by day, sv that no small risk has to be run
by anyone who tries to take the nest of a hornet. . Moreover,
whereas wasps usually make their nests in the ground, where
they can easily be dug out, Iiornets generally make theirs in
the hollows of trees, and often at a considerable height from
the ground, so that they cannot be extracted without the use of
saw, mallet, and chisel. The late Mr. F. Stone, who probably
had more experience with wasps and hornets than any other
naturalist, told me that, if he began to cut out a hornets’ nest
at midnight, he never expected to finish his task until six or
seven next morning, exposed the while to the attacks of hornets
that had been out to collect food or material. So it is no
wonder that Quedius dilatatus should be a valuable acqui-
sition, even though we do know where to find it.

The Beetle, however, does not restrict itself to the hornet,
but is sometimes parasitic on the caterpillar of the goat-moth.
In this case, though the task of getting it out of the tree is not
so dangerous as in the case when it quarters itself on the
hornet, it is quite as tedious and fatiguing.

One species of this genus, Quedius brevis, is to be found in the
nests of the wood-ant (Formica rufa). One of these Beetles is
shown on Plate XI. The length of this insect is about half an
inch, and its elytra are brick-red.

Tue family of the Staphylinide, which comes next in order,
contains the largest species of this group of Beetles, some of
them reaching, or even slightly exceeding, an inch in length.
They may be known by several peculiarities of structure. The
antenne are set far apart, their junction with the head being
in front, within the base of the mandibles, which are large and

76 INSECTS AT HOME.

formidable. The maxillary palpi are slender, and the ligula
small. The spiracles of the prothorax are large. he tarsi
of the front feet are dilated in the males and slender in the
females, and may be seen by reference to Woodcut No. VII.,
where Fig. a represents the tarsus of a female Staphylinus, and b
the same joint in the male. The jaws, too, are not so powerful
in the female, neither are their heads so large as in the case
with the other sex.

Our first example of the Staphylinide is one of the finest—in
my opinion the very finest—of that family. It is called scien-
tifically Creophilus mawillosus, but has, unfortunately, no
popular name, probably because it is confounded in the popular
mind with the common black species, which will be presently
desertbed. Its name is more appropriate and expressive than
is generally the case with insect names. The word Creophilus
is of Greek origin, and signifies ‘ flesh-lover, while the specific
title of mazillosus signifies ‘ large-jawed.’ Both names show
that those who affixed them to the insect were thoroughly ac-
quainted with its character and form, for the Beetle is a most
voracious carrion eater, and has jaws that are of enormous size
in proportion to its body. The colour of this Beetle is shining-
black, but it is mottled with short grey down.

In some places this Beetle is tolerably plentiful, but in others it
is seldomif ever seen. It can generally be captured in the bodies
of moles that have been suspended by the professional mole-
catchers—and, indeed, these unfortunate moles are absolute
treasure-houses for the coleopterist, as we shall see when we come
to the next group of Beetles. A figure of this insect is given on
Woodcut No. VIII. Fig. 3. It is the only British species of its
genus, which is distinguished by having short and thickened
antenn, smooth head and thorax, and the latter rounded.

Next comes a Beetle belonging to the typical genus of the
family, or, indeed, of the entire group. It is the Rep Rovz
BretLte (Staphylinus cesareus), which is represented on
Woodcut VII. Fig c, in the act of closing its wings after flight,
and on Plate IV. Fig 3, as it appears when flying.

There is some little difficulty respecting the name of Staphy-
Jinus. This title is given by ancient writers to two very

PLATE IV,

ROVE BEETLES AND BURYING BEETLES.

DNA Q Oo fF wON +

— SS
BPwohb Fr ©

. Boletobius atricapillus.

. Ocypus olens (eggs below).

. Staphylinus czsareus,

. Necrophorus humator.

. Necrophorus vespillo.

. Necrophorus mortuorum.

. Choleva angustata.

. Hister bimaculata.

. Nitidula depressa.

. Boletobius in gills of Mushroom,
. Necrophorus humator, larva.

. Silpha thoracica, larva.

. Ocypus olens, larva.

. Silpha thoracica (on body of bird),

PLant :-—
Edible Mushroom (Agaricus campestris).

DEVIL'S COACH-HORSE. ee

different objects, namely, a carrot or parsnip, and a sort ot
Beetle that gives out an unpleasant odour. As, however, the
insect in question was said to walk about with its tail in the
air, entomologists have considered that the term was applied
to some of the Brachelytra, and, rightly or wrongly, the name
has been accepted by entomologists of all countries. The
specific name cesareus, given to this insect, is in allusion to its
colour, which resembles the ‘ clotted-blood’ purple of Cxsar’s
imperial mantle.

There is another insect, which is found in the uorthern part
of England, and which very much resembles this species. It
is the Staphylunus erythropterus, or Ruddy-winged Rove Beetle,
and may be distinguished by the fact that the scutellum is
covered with gold-coloured hair. The Beetle is tolerably com-
mon, and in the summer-time may often be seen on the wing,
when it looks something like a reddish, long-bodied bee. It is
fond of settling on gravel walks which are exposed to the
heat of the sunbeams, partly for the sake of the warmth, and
partly because the colour of the gravel harmonises with the
ruddy hue of its body.

Six species of this genus inhabit England. The genus is
distinguished by having the whole of the body nearly smooth,
the thorax squared, and the antenne slender

Now comes an insect that is very familiar to us, the Drvi1’s
CoacH-HoRSE, as it is popularly and fancifully called. Its
scientific name is Ocypus olens, and it may be recognised by a
glance at Fig. 2 on Plate IV., where it is represented in the
attitude which it assumes when annoyed or when thinking
itself in danger.

I really think that this is the very ugliest insect in England.
It is scarcely so repulsive as the cockroach, its wonderful
courage and spirit being redeeming points, but it is so very
hideous, that the popular name exactly expresses its appear-
ance. Its colour is dull, dead black, its eyes, which scarcely
project from the head, have a cold, cruel look about them, and
its tail, when raised menacingly like that of a scorpion, pro-
trudes two yellow vesicles at the tip, from which emanates the
horrible odour that has been already mentioned. Sometimes
it finds its way into cellars and larders, if they be wholly or

78 INSECTS AT HOME.

partially underground; and then the servants are always much
alarmed at the creature, of which they have a dread which is
superstitious rather than the offspring of mere prejudice or
ignorance.

As its appearance suggests, it is one of the predacious Beetles,
and is as fierce and brave as it is voracious. It really seems not
to know what fear is, and no enemy seems to frighten it. I
once came across one of these Beetles at the foot of the old Clif-
ton Baths stairs at Margate, and threatened it with the point,
of my stick. The Beetle at once dashed at the stick with open
jaws, and fought most valiantly. Of course I did not wish to
hurt the insect, so I merely continued the feigned attack, the
Beetle retreating with its face to the foe and its jaws wide
open, until it had fairly surmounted the whole flight of stairs,
invariably turning round as it reached the top of each stair, and
making a fresh dash at the stick. It was exceedingly angry,
but did not show the least symptom of fear, though I repeatedly
struck violently within a few inches of its head. I was so
pleased with the dauntless courage of the Beetle, that, when it
reached the top, I put it into a deep chalk crevice of the cliff,
where it would be safe from the mischievous boys who infest
the place.

This is one of the most active of Beetles. Being furnished,
like all its family, with long and ample wings, and not being
burdened, like the chafers, with a thick and heavy body, it
flies with great rapidity, and can pass over incredible distances
without being obliged to rest. It is equally active on the
ground, for which reason the generic name of Ocypus, or
‘swift-footed,’ has been given to it. Some writers on entomo-
logy have given to this insect the generic name of Goerius,
or ‘mournful,’ in consequence of its sombre and funereal
colouring. The specific title olens, or ‘stinking,’ is given to
it in consequence of the horrible emanations from the tail
tubercles.

We will now glance at the life history of this Beetle, which,
in spite of its ugliness, is really a very interesting one.

The eggs of all the Staphylinide are large in proportion to
the creature which produces them, but those of the Devil’:
Coach-horse are larger than those of the largest British insect,
being one-tenth of an inch in length and one-twelfth broad.

PUP OF THE ROVE BEETLES. 79

A group of these eggs is shown on Plate IV., just below the
Beetle itself.

When these are hatched little larve issue from them, some-
what similar in form to the parent insect, though, of course,
without any vestige of wings. These larvee are quite as fierce
as the perfect insects, and much more voracious, eating beillg
indeed, as with all larve, the chief business of their lives.
They are predacious, and, though they will devour carrion when
they can procure it, will attack and kill any insect which comes
near them, not even sparing their own kind. They have an
ingenious mode of seizing their prey in the soft interval be-
tween the head and neck, and then, plunging their sharp and
curved jaws deeply into its body, suck out its juices.

These larvee can be found throughout the spring, and may
often be captured by digging shallow holes in the ground in
some sheltered spot, placing a piece of meat, a dead bird or
frog, in the hole, and covering it with a stone so as to protect
it from the elements, but leaving space for the ingress and
egress of the Beetles. Towards the end of spring or the be-
ginning of summer, the larva is full fed, and burrows a hole
in the earth, in which it undergoes the change to the perfect
form.

There is a strange peculiarity about the pupe of these
Beetles. With nearly all wing-bearing Coleoptera, the wings
are folded uAder the elytra, even though the latter organs be
comparatively short; but, in the pupze of these curious
Beetles, the wings are extended beyond the elytra and fold over
the breast, so that two-thirds of their length is seen beyond
the elytra. They remain in the pupal state for a fortnight or
three weeks, and then assume the perfect form. The Beetle
is most plentiful in the autumn. I strongly recommend any
of my readers not to injure this Beetle, repulsive as it may ap-
pear. It does no harm, either to the garden, the orchard, or
the field, but, on the contrary, from its inveterate insect-eating
habits, rather confers a benefit on the agriculturist.

Specimens of this Beetle should always be set so as to show
the beautiful wings; and one should be set on its back, in
order to exhibit the peculiarities of the under side. None of
the Brachelytra are easy insects to set properly, as their legs
have a tendency to twist themselves in the wrong direction, or

80 INSECTS AT HOME.

to fall off altogether, and their long bodies have a way of
shutting up like the joints of a telescope, so that the end of
the tail only comes a little beyond the elytra, thus entirely
altering the normal shape of the insect. These larger Staphy-
linidze, however, are not so troublesome as the smaller genera,
amd the beginner will find it better to commence with them,
and then proceed to the smaller kinds.

There are eleven British species of this genus, which is
known by the long thread-lke antenne, with the last joint
oblique at the tip and the large head.

Our next example of the Staphylinide is an insect of much
less size and very ditferent shape, called Philonthus marginatus,
the only specimen that we can take of the very large genus, of
which forty-seven British species are acknowledged. In this
genus the thorax is squared, the antennz and palpi are slender,
and there is a strong tooth in the middle of each mandible.
The antenna of this genus is shown on Woodcut No. VIII. Fig. e,
the mandible, with its central tooth, at a, and the labial palpi
at c. The name Philonthus signifies ‘dung-loving, and is
given to this genus because the largest and most conspicuous
species are found under patches of cow or horsedung. Some
of the smaller species, however, live under heaps of decaying
sea-weed, such as Philonthus fucicola, the latter term signifying
some creature that inhabits sea-weed. The present species is
generally to be found under dead leaves.

The colour of this little Beetle is black, but the legs and
the margin of the thorax are reddish-yellow, a peculiarity from
which it derives its specific name marginatus. The middle
segments of the abdomen have their edges yellow. This is a
very curious Beetle.

Tue family of the Xantholinide may be distinguished from
the Staphylinidze by the position of the antenne, which are
inserted before, and not within, the base of the mandibles, and
are consequently much nearer each other than those of the
preceding family. The spiracles of the prothorax are con-
spicuous. The middle pair of legs is longer than the others.
They are nearly all black, diversified with reddish-yellow, and
are very slender bodied ; and, in consequence of these charac-

THE RED-NECK. St

teristics, the name of Xantholinide, or ‘vellow threads,’ hai
been given to them. This thread-like form allows the insects
to pack themselves up into a very small space ; and when they
are reposing, they act like the Hottentots, and double themselves
up in so small a space that when they are disturbed and unroll
themselves, it is really surprising to see how the insect gra-
dually developes its limbs and general form.

The characteristics of the genus can easily be seen by re-
ference to Woodcut No. VIII. Fig. 5, which represents a com-
mon and pretty species called Xantholinus glabratus. The |
head is long, and the small eyes are placed well in the front.
There is a small cylindrical neck, and the thorax is marked
with bold punctures, which afford a valuable means of detect-
ing the various species. The present species is black, with
blood-red elytra. The disc of the thorax has four distinct rows
of very large punctures. The sides of the head and thorax are _
punctured, and the whole surface is glossy, as indeed is ex-
pressed by the specific name glabratus, which signifies smooth
or polished. . Eight British species are acknowledged.

ANOTHER family, the Pzderide, now comes before us. In
this family the spiracles of the prothorax are invisible, and the
antenne are set on the sides of the very front of the head.
The maxiliary palpi are rather long, and have the last joint so
ny that it scarcely looks like a joint. The left maxilla and
its palpus are shown on Woodcut IX. Fig. f. The head is
attached to the thorax by a very delicate neck, so that in a dried
specimen great care must be taken lest the head should fall
off. In some species there is a definite footstalk connecting
the head and thorax together.

We can only take one example of this family, namely, the
small but well-known Beetle called by entomologists Stilicus
fragilis, a figure of which is given on Woodeut IX. Fig. 1.
In this genus, of which there are seven British species, the
head is wide and rounded, and the thorax is much narrowed in
front. The curiously-toothed mandible is shown at Fig. ¢ of
the same illustration.

The present species is one of the few Brachelytra that has a
popular name. It is called the Red-neck, on account of the
bright-red colour of the thorax. Its head is shining-black,

G

82 INSECTS AT HOME.

covered with very small punctures, and the elytra are bluish-
biack edged with red. The legs are light-red. On account of
the extreme tenuity of the connection between the head and
the narrowed thorax, this insect is apt to fall to pieces in the
cabinet if the drawer containing it be shut with a jerk, and it
has therefore obtained the specific name of fragilis. It is not

1. Stilicus fragilis. 2. Stenus bimaculatus. 3. Omalium florale. 4. Prognatha quadri-
cornis. 5. Micralymima brevipenne. a. Stenus, hgula. 6. Stenus, left mandible. Co
Stilicus, right mandible. d. Prognatha, maxillary palpus. e. Prognatha, labium, fe
Stilieus, maxillary palpus. g. Stenus, maxillary palpus.

a very common insect, but is spread tolerably widely, and
may be found by careful searching in hotbeds and heaps of
decaying vegetable matter.

Other species of this curious genus can be found by looking
in the proper places. Stilicus geniculatus, for example, in-
habits chalky districts, and Stilicus orbiculatus must be sought
in marshes.

THE STENIDZ AND OMALID. 83

Next comes the family of the Stenidz. These insects may
be known by the position of the antennz, which are generally
set between the eyes or on the front margin of the forehead.
The basal joint of the maxillary palpi is long, and the last joint
almost imperceptible. See Fig. g on Woodcut IX.

Sometimes the young entomologist is much puzzled by a
phenomenon which takes place with sundry small Beetles
belonging to the Brachelytra. As soon as they are killed a
long and slender tongue-like organ darts from the mouth, and
protrudes itself until it looks like a proboscis. These Beetles
belong to the genus Stenus, of which we have an example in
Stenus bimaculatus, which is shown on Woodcut IX. Fig. 2.
This tongue-like organ is in fact composed of the ligula, the two
paraglosse, and the labial palpi, as may be seen by reference to
the same illustration, Fig. a. The mandibles of this genus
are strongly formed, having one very large tooth, and four
very small teeth, as may be seen at Fig. 6. The fourth joint
of the tarsi has a slightly double lobe. The long and slender
maxillary palpus is shown at g.

The present species is black, with the exception of a round
tawny spot on each elytron, from which the insect has derived
its specific name of bimaculatus, or ‘ two-spotted.’ The surface
is thickly and deeply punctured, and is covered with a scanty
whitish down. There is a deep furrow along the middle of the
thorax. The legs are tawny, with the exception of the knees
and tarsi, which are black.

This is ty very common and very good example of the genus,
and indeéd so well exhibits the characteristics of the family
that it is worth a detailed examination. It is a very common
insect, being found all over England, and almost always to be
taken on the banks of ponds and rivers among the aquatic
plants. In tolerably warm weather it may be taken running
about upon the stems of the plants, and on cold days lurking
in the muddy soil about their roots. Mr. E. A. Smith, to
whom I am indebted for much information concerning the
smaller Brachelytra, tells me that all the spotted Steni are
found in the wettest situations. This genus is a very large one,
containing more than fifty species.

Tue next family on our list is that of the Omalide. In

o 2

84 INSECTS AT HOME.

these Beetles the spiracles of the prothorax are hidden, the
antenn are set on the sides of the forehead, and the maxille
have a horny hook at the tip ; and there are two ocelli, or simple
eyes, upon the back of the head, this being a very valuable cha-
racteristic in arranging these insects. As a rule the Oma-
lide have flattened bodies, and long slender antenne, and
delight in damp places, whether wetted by fresh or salt water ;
so that they can be found under heaps of decaying sea-weeds on
the coasts, and under stones on the banks of ponds. Some of
them may be found under bark, and some in flowers; so that
they have a very wide range of locality.

Our first example of this family, Micralymma brevipenne, is
remarkable for its fondness for wet. The genus is known by its
very minute elytra, the long and broad abdomen, and the long
hairs upon the tarsi. A figure of the insect is given on Woodcut
EXE igs O.

The colour of this tiny Beetle is shining-black, and it may
easily be recognised by its size, shape, and colour, and the locality
in which it resides. It takes up its abode under decaying sea-
weed, but always selects a* spot that is well’ below high-water
mark; its object being, apparently, to give itself a chance of
being drowned or carried away to sea twice in the twenty-four
hours. It remains in this singular locality throughout the whole
of its life, and contrives, in’ some strange way, to pass through
its transformations, subject to the perpetual washing of the
waves.

ANoTHER example of the same family is shown on Woodcut
IX. Fig. 3, its name being Omaliwm florale. In this genus
the body is rather oval and flattened. The antenne are short
and hairy, becoming thicker at the tips. The thorax is short,
somewhat heart-shaped, and narrowed behind. The four basai
joints of the tarsi are short.

The species which serves as our example of the typical
genus is greyish-black and shining, the surface being thickly
punctured, and the punctures inclined to form strive on the
elytra. The legsare reddish, and the antenne and palpi black.
This is one of the flower-loving species, being found in the
spring time frequenting the flowers of the hawthorn and sallows
It is distributed over England generally, but does not seem to

THE FOUR-HORN. 85

be plentiful in any particular locality. Twenty British species
of this genus ure known.

Wr have only space for one more example of the Brachelytra :
it is drawn on Woodcut IX. Fig. 4. As may be seen by re-
ference to the illustration, this is a very curious insect. It is
the only British representation of the family to which it be-
longs, namely, the Piestide. In this family the spiracles of
the prothorax are hidden, the coxe of the front legs are globular,
and those of the hind legs transverse; there are five joints to
the tarsi, and the last segment of the abdomen is very small.

The genus is characterised by the flat, elongated body, the
long and hairy antenne, the Jong elytra, the five-jointed tarsi,
and the horned head of the males. The maxillary palpus is
shown at Fig. d, and the labinm at e. The colour of this
insect is shining-black. The elytra have four strize, and on the
dise is an oblique mark or dash of reddish-brown, the outer
angle being dusky. The tip of the abdomen is chestnut, and
the legs and antenne red. The illustration represents a male
insect, in which sex the sides of the head are developed into
two sharp horns pointing forward. The mandibles are each
furnished with a large horn. This very remarkable insect, is
not very scarce, and may be found under the bark of various
trees. Kensington Gardens is a good locality for it, where it
may be found lurking under the bark of elm-trees.

The scientific name of this Beetle is Prognatha quadricornis,
and it is popularly styled the Four-horn.

I may here mention that the only viviparous Beetles at
present known, belong to the Brachelytra. They are about one-
tenth of an inch in length, and are found parasitic in the nests
of the Brazilian Termites or White-ants. The abdomen is
enormously large, and is turned back over tue head, like the
tail of a squirrel.

CHAPTER Vif.
NECROPHAGA.

Tue r2ader will probably observe that, in the groups of insects
which have already been described, allusion has been made to
the analogies between them and certain groups of vertebrates.
The Geodephaga, for example, represent the land Carniv ora, the
Hydradephaga those of the water, and the Brachelytra represent
in some degree the slender and lithe-bodied weasels. We now
come to a group which takes among insects the part which is
played among the higher animals by the hyenas and vultures,
these Beetles being the scavengers of the insect world.

The name NecropuaGa, i.e. ‘carrion-eaters, which dis-
tinguishes this group, is expressive of their character. By
some systematic entomologists they are called CLAvicoryEs, or
‘club-horned,’ because their antenne, slender at the base, are
expanded at their tips into a rounded knob. This shape of
antenna is called ‘clavate’ by entomologists. The form of the
antenna is an admirable characteristic by which these Beetles
may be known. There is no palpus on the inner lobe of the
maxilla, the scutellum is always conspicuous, and the elytra
are wide, though not always long. Indeed, in many species
they do not nearly reach the end of the abdomen, and are
quite as short as those of many Brachelytra. In such cases
they are generally ‘truncate,’ i.e. looking as if they had
been cut off square.

Tuts is the case with the first family of Necrophaga, the
Silphide. The mandibles are powerful, as is required for the
work which they have to perform, there is a very distinct labrum,
and the trochanters of the hind legs are projecting. These are
again subdivided into two sub-families; the first being called
Silphina, and the latter Cholevina. The former sub-family may

BURYING BEETLES. 87

be known by the fact that the antenne have ten joints, and a
very distinct and rounded club. Their wings are very large
and powerful, as is needful for insects whose food is necessarily
scattered over a very wide area. It is worthy of notice that,
when they are flying, their elytra are carried very upright, so
that their backs approach quite closely to each other.

The first genus of the Silphide is Necrophorus, a word
which signifies ‘ carrion-bearer, in allusion to the singular
habits possessed by all the Beetles of this genus. They do not
content themselves with merely eating their food, but they
bury it, and then lay their eggs in it, so that it serves not only
asa feast for themselves, but as a provision for their future
young. In consequence of this habit, they go by the popular
name of BuryrnG, or Sexton Brererues. It is a very appropriate
name, for there is scarcely any dead animai or portion of an
animal which they will not contrive to bury; and if it be too
large for one Beetle, several others will take a share in the
work. If the reader will refer to Plate IV., he will see that a
number of these Beetles are engaged in burying a dead bird.

They will bury birds, frogs, rabbits, pieces of meat, or any-
thing of a similar kind, and do it with wonderful rapidity ; thus
rendering a doubly important service, by removing the
decaying animal matter from the surface of the earth, and
helping to fertilise the ground by burying it below the sur-
face. The manner in which these Beetles execute so difficult
a task is admirably told by Mr. E. Newman, in his ‘ Letters of
Rusticus ’—

‘Two days after, I was again in Godbold’s; and seeing the
bullfinch lie where he had been left, I lifted him up by the
leg, intending to make a present of him to a fine colony of
ants established, a little further on, in the days of Genera]
Oglethorpe, and which had maintained their station ever since.
They had made many a pretty skeleton for me, and I intended
to add that of a bullfinch to the store; but the buzz of a Beetle
round my head caught my ear. He flew smack against the bull-
finch, which | was holding up by the leg, and fell at my feet.
I knew that the gentleman was a Burying Beetle; and as I put
the bird down for him, he soon found it, mounted upon it, and,
after much examination, opened out his wing-cases and flew
away. I will profit by his absence to tell you a bit of his history

88 INSECTS AT HOME.

‘The Burying Beetle is about an inch in length; he is black,
with two bands across his back of a bright-orange colour:
these bands are formed by two blotches of that colour on each
of the wing-cases. He is a disgusting creature though in such
a gay dress, being so fetid that one’s hands smell for hours
after handling him; and if he crawls on one’s coat, or other
garments not often washed, the smell continues for days. The
whole tribe of Burying Beetles lay their eggs in the bodies of
dead animals, which, when possible, they bury for the purpose.
In Russia, where death itself does not do away with distinc-
tions, the poor people are buried but a few inches under
ground, the coffin consisting of four boards roughly nailed
together, and not particularly well fitted. The operation of
burying is often at the expense of the country, and therefore
done from necessity, not love. This mode affords great satis-
faction to the Burying Beetles, as it saves them the labours of
the grave-digger. They avail themselves of the bodies placed
so nicely within their reach, and the graves are pierced with
their holes in every direction. At evening, hundreds of these
Beetles may be seen in the Russian burying-places, either
buzzing about the graves, or sitting placidly at the mouths of
their burrows, which lead into them.

‘The Burying Beetle in this country seldom finds so con-
venient a provision for him, and he is under the necessity of
taking much more trouble. He sometimes avails himself of
dead dogs and horses, but these are too great rarities to be his
constant resort: the usual objects of his search are dead mice,
rats, birds, frogs, and moles; of these, a bird is most commonly
obtained. In the neighbourhood of towns, every kind of garbage
that is thrown out attracts these Beetles as soon as it begins to
smell; and it is not unusual to see them settling in our streets,
enticed by the grateful odour of such substances.

‘The Burying Beetles hunt in couples, male and female ;
‘and when six or eight are found in a large animal, they are
alinost sure to be males and females in equal numbers. They
‘hunt by scent only, the chase being mostly performed when
mo other sense would* be very available—viz. in the night.
When they have found a bird, great comfort is expressed by
the male, who wheels round and round above it like an eagle ;
vthe:female settles on it at once, without this testimonial of

BURYING A BULLFINCH. 89

satisfaction. The male at last settles also, and the bird under-
goes the scrutiny of four at least of the senses—touch, smell,
sight, and taste—for their heads are continually diving among
the feathers of the bird, and a savoury and ample meal is
made before the great work is begun. After the Beetles have
appeased the calls of hunger, the bird is abandoned for a while ;
they both leave it to explore the earth in the neighbourhood,
and ascertain whether the place is suitable for interment. If
on a ploughed field, there is no difficulty; but if on grass or
among stones, much labour is required to draw the body toa
more suitable place.

‘The operation of burying is performed almost entirely by
the male Beetle, the female mostly hiding herself in the body
of the bird about to be buried, or sitting quietly upon it, and
allowing herself to be buried with it. The male begins by
digging a furrow all round the bird, at the distance of about
half an inch, turning the earth outside. His head is the only
tool used in this operation; it is held sloping outwards, and
is exceedingly powerful. After the first furrow is completed,
another is made within it, and the earth is thrown into the
first furrow; then a third furrow is made, which being under
the bird, the Beetle is out of sight. Now the operation can
only be traced by the heaving of the earth, which soon forms
a little rampart round the bird; as the earth is moved from
beneath, and the surrounding rampart increases in height, the
bird sinks. After incessant labour for about three hours the
Beetle emerges, crawls upon the bird, and takes a survey of his
work. If the female is on the bird, she is driven away by the
male, who does not choose to be intruded on during the im-
portant business.

‘The male Beetle then remains for about an hour perfectly
still, does not stir hand or foot; he then dismounts, diving
again into the grave, and pulls the bird down by the feathers
for half an hour. Its own weight appears to sink it but very
little. The earth then begins heaving and rising all round, as
though under the influence of a little earthquake ; the feathers
of the bird are again pulled, and again the bird descends. At
last, after two or three hours’ more labour, the Beetle comes
up, again gets on the bird, and again takes a survey. and then
drops down as though dead, or fallen suddenly fast asleep,

90 INSECTS AT HOME,

When sufficiently rested, he rouses himself, treads the bird
firmly into its grave, pulls it by the feathers this way and that
way, and, having settled it to his mind, begins to shovel in
the earth. This is done in a very short time, by means of his
broad head. He goes behind the rampart of earth, and pushes
it into the grave with amazing strength and dexterity, the
head being bent directly downwards at first, and then the nose
elevated with a kind of jerk, which sends. the earth forwards.
After the grave is thus filled up, the earth is trodden in, and
undergoes another keen scrutiny all round, the bird being
completely hidden; the Beetle then makes a hole in the still
loose earth, and, having buried the bird and his own bride, next
buries himself. The female lays her eggs in the carcase of the
bird, in number proportioned to its size; and after this opera-
tion is over, and the pair have eaten as much of the savoury
viand as they please, they make their way out, and fly away in
quest of further adventures.’

We will now examine these insects a little more in detail.

On Plate IV. Fig. 4, is seen the large Necrophorus humator,
just by the head of the bird. This is a large, though not
brightly-coloured species. It sometimes exceeds an inch in
length, and its colour is deep, shining-black, with the three
last joints of the antennz reddish-yellow. The fringe-like
pads of the tarsi are of the same colour. This is a very common
species.

Under the neck of the bird two Burying Beetles are seen
forcing their way beneath it. These are two distinct species,
and are thus given, because in this attitude they display the
distinguishing marks of the species. The Beetle nearest the
bird’s beak is Necrophorus mortuorum. It varies in size from
not quite half to three-quarters of an inch. Its colour is
black, but on the base of the elytra is a broad, waved, orange
band, and at the apex is a curved spot of the same colour,
The hinder tibie are straight, and the club of the antenne is
black. This is also a common species, and is sometimes found
in decaying fungi, as well as in animal matter. ;

Next to this Beetle isa rather larger species, Vecrophorus
vespillo, which is, on an average, nearly a quarter of an inch
longer than the preceding insect. A casual observer would

ODOUR OF THE BURYING BEETLES. 91

inevitably believe these insects to be of the same species,
especially if he saw them apart. The practised eye of the
entomologist, however, at once detects the marks of difference.
In the first place, the hind tibiw are not straight, but much
curved, like those of a bow-legged man, and the club of the
antenne is orange. There is also a narrow line of golden
down on the front of the thorax. In the next place, there is a
considerable difference in the orange marks of the elytra,
which are two broad waving bands, one across the base, and
the other towards the apex, both being connected by a narrow
band of the same colour upon the margin. This species is
exceedingly variable in size, some specimens being barely half an
inch in length, while others attain the length of an inch. It
is very common in all parts of England. The specific name
vespillo is Latin, and signifies a man who carried out the dead
for burial at night.

The reader may as well be warned that, although these
Beetles are very pretty to the eye, they are not equally pleasing
to the nostril, being in the habit of sending from their mouth
a horribly fetid black fluid, the odour of which is as enduring
as it is disgusting. This fluid is probably produced by the
putrid nature of its food, for Beetles which have recently
changed from the pupal form, and those which have fasted for
some time, do not possess it.

We will now trace the progress of the insect from the egg
to the perfect Beetle.

Soon after they are deposited, the eggs are hatched; the
larve being rather long, fleshy, narrowed at each end, and
having the segments, or rings, of the body very distinctly
marked. The legs are very tiny, and much too small to move
the large, heavy body. A curious substitute for legs is, how-
ever, found. On the upper surface of each segment is a horny
plate, with strongly-toothed edges. By alternately elongating
and shortening its body, the creature is able to force its way
through the soft material on which it feeds, just asa snake
glides upon the ground, or the worm beneath it. One of these
larvee, a very young one, is shown on Plate IV. Fig. 11.

When the larva has attained the length of an inch anda
half, and is full-fed, it prepares for its change into the pupal
state. This it does by ceasing to feed, and making for itself a

92 INSECTS AT HOME.

sort of cell or cocoon under the ground, in which it casts off
its larva skin, and becomes a rather odd-looking pupa, having
the end of its tail armed with two sharp spines, by means of
which it is able to turn itself about in its cell, from which
it emerges, in the spring, a perfect Beetle.

1. Necrodes littor’ ls. 2. Scydmeenus tarsatus, 3. Anisotoma cinnamomea, male. 4,
Agathidium levigatum. 5. Meligethes zeneus. a. Scydmeenus, antenna. b. Meligethes,
maxilla. c. Anisotoma, labial palpi. d. Necrodes, maxillary palpus, e. Necrodes, la-
bium. J. Necrades, antenna. g. Anisotoma, antenna.

On Woodcvt No. X. Fig. 1, is a Beetle which is closely
allied to the preceding genus, but can at once be distinguished
by the shape of the antennx, the club of which is egg-shaped,
and not glob»lar, and by the shape of the elytra, which gra-
dually increas* in width from the base to the apex, where they
are abruptly truncated. Its name is Vecrodes littoralis. The
reader will notice the great size of the femora (or thighs) of
the hind pair of legs. This is a sign that the specimen from

THE SILPHAS AND THEIR HISTORY. 03

which it was drawn wasa male. The colour of the Beetle is
black, the three last joints of the antennz being reddish-
yellow. Each of the elytra has three smooth ridges running
down its complete length, and a short one at the base between
the second and third ridges. Between the second and third
ridges there is a bold elevated tubercle, the second ridge bend-
ing towards it and then beriding back to its course. Beneath,
the body is glossy-black.

Though not so plentiful as the preceding insects, this is not
a rare Beetle, and can be found in carrion, or under decaying
sea-weeds. I have knocked it out of suspended moles. The
antenna of this Beetle is shown on the same illustration,
Fig. 7, the maxillary palpus at d, and the labium ate. A
favourite resort for this Beetle is the bank of a river, or the
sea-shore, and on this account it has received its specific title
of littoralis. This is the only British species.

Tue genus Silpha is known by the flattened body, the
antenne being less boldly clubbed, and having eleven joints -
instead of ten. There are thirteen species inhabiting England,
and they are all much smaJler than the members of the pre-
ceding genera. Upon Plat> IV. is shown the handsomest of
the British Silphze, namely, Silpha thoracica. It is represented
as crawling over the body of the bird. This fine insect is
readily known by its colouring. The head is black, and the
thorax is brick-red, covered with a very short golden down,
and much crumpled. The elytra are very much like those of
the preceding insect, being black, and traversed longitudinally
by three ridges, the second and third of which are connected
by a raised tubercle. The surface, however, is more satiny
than that of Necrodes, and, when viewed with a magnifying
lens and a strong light, the space between the ridges is change-
able in patches, like ‘moire’ silk, and there are short ridges at
the base of the elytra.

« The larve of all the Silphas are very different from those of
Necrophorus. Instead of being sluggish, fat, long-bodied grubs,
they are active, flat, and wide, running about with wonderful
velocity. A heap of old marrow bones is a very favourite
baunt of these larve, and, if the bones are tapped so as to
disturb without hurting their inmates, it is wonderful to see

94 INSECTS AT HOME.

how the flat, black larvae come scurrying out, looking very
much like black wood-lice, and perfectly well able to take care
of themselves ; while the larvze of Necrophorus are utterly help-
less on the surface of the ground.

Silphee may be found in much the same localities as the
preceding insects. The best places to find them are, however,
the moles that are too often seen suspended on twigs, and the
more moles there are near each other, the richer will be the
harvest of Silphz. I have found that ten moles on one branch
contain many more Silphz than double the number scattered
over a wide area.

But, the ‘ happy hunting grounds’ of any entomologist who
is looking after Necrophaga are the ‘keepers’ trees,’ those
monuments of misguided energy. The best keepers’ trees, in
an entomological point of view, are those of the New Forest, and
on them are found the carecases of owls, weasels, stoats, hawks,
mag*pies, ravens, and now and then a rare bird or two, such as
the honey-buzzard. The suspended carcases look quiet enough,
but when the net is held under one of them, and a series of
taps administered, it is wonderful to see how it swarms with
animal life. First, out come Beetles of various kinds, some
trying to,tly away as soon as they reach the open air, but most
letting themselves fall into the net. Next comes a whole
swarm of larvee, and, when the bird is a large one, it really
seems as if the creatures never would cease from pouring out.
Those who wish to collect and watch the habits of these
Beetles cannot do better than make a preserve for them by
hanging up the body of a rabbit, a puppy, a kitten, or some
such creature, so that it may be within the reach of the eye,
and out of the reach of any except winged devourers.

The word Silpha is Greek, and signifies an ill-smelling
insect, but the nomenclature of the ancient writers is so uncer-
tain that we cannot absolutely identify the name with the
insect. The specific name thoracica, refers to the very con-
spicuous colour and the large size of the thorax. The larvae
of this Beetle is shown on Plate IV. Fig. 12, first appearing
from under the wing of the bird.

Tue sub-family of the Cholevina are known by their nar
rower bodies, and their heads being sunk im the thorax. One

INFLUENCE OF LIGHT ON COLOUR. 95

of these Beetles, belonging to the typical genus, is drawn on
Plate IV. Fig. 7, and is shown as crawling on the top of one of
the mushrooms. Its name is Choleva angustata.

The genus, of which there are seventeen British species, is
known by its narrow body, its long and slender legs and
antenn, the very obtuse hinder angles of the thorax, and the
oval and striated elytra. The insect is represented of its natural
size, which seldom varies much from one-sixth of an inch in
length. The head is black and shining, the thorax is pitchy-
black, becoming greyish at the margins and posterior angles.
The elytra are rather variable in colour, black being the lead-
ing hue, but taking shades of red or grey according to the
individual. The apex is round and short, and each elytron is
marked with seven faint stria. The legs are pale reddish-
yellow. The body is covered with a very fine and very short
yellowish down.

It is not uncommon to take a specimen that is pale rusty-
red or yellow, the reason for this paler hue being that the
Beetle has only recently emerged from the pupal state, or that
the atmosphere has not exercised its full influence upon it.
When it has been exposed for a few days to the air and light,
the reddish-yellow will change to the dark-red or grey-black
which is the usual colour of the Beetle.

Next comes the family of the Scydmenide, of which we
shall take one example, namely, Scydmanus [Eumicrus]
tarsatus, which is shown on Woodcut X. Fig. 2. These insects
are ail very minute, the present species, though only the twelfth
of an inch in length, being the largest of the family. They
are all covered with down, are without wings, and have the
elytra coming completely to the end of the abdomen. The facets
of the eyes are very boldly marked, and the peculiar form of the
antenne, which are terminated with three very large joints,
each increasing in size, may be seen by reference to the same
illustration, Fig. a. The maxillary palpi are very conspi-
cuous.

The head and thorax of this species are black, and the elytra
are very deep chestnut. Like the rest of its kin, it is to be
found in hotbeds, leaf-heaps, cucumber frames, and similar
localities. The name Scydmenus is Greek, and signifies ¢ sullen.

96 INSECTS AT HOME.

Tue family of the Anisotomidz is known from the Silphida
by several points of structure, none of them being singly very
conspicuous, but not to be mistaken in the aggregate. They
are much more globular, the Silphide being ‘flattened; the legs
and antennz are short, and the mandibles have a single tooth at
the base. Like the preceding family, these are small insects,
the largest being Anisotoma cinnamomea, which is shown on
Woodcut X. Fig. 3. This Beetle is about one-sixth of an inch
in length. In this genus the tarsi of the first and middle pairs
of legs have five joints, while those of the hinder pair have but
four joints. The club of the antenne has three joints, as may
be seen at Fig. g of the same illustration. The structure of
the labial palpi is shown at c. The generic title Anisotoma
is derived from a Greek word signifying unequal, and has been
given to these Beetles in consequence of the inequality of the
joints of the front and hind tarsi.

The specific name cinnamomea refers to the colour of the
insect, which is very much like that of cinnamon, with the
exception of the club of the antenna, which is black. There
are eight punctured strize on each of the elytra. The hinder
tibize are very long and boldly curved in the male, but not in
the female insect, which has them small and straight. This
Beetle is found chiefly upon the truffle. There are twelve or
thirteen species of this genus.

Another member of this family is shown on Woodcut X.
Fig. 4. Its name is Agathidiwm levigatum.

In this genus the antennz are short, and the club is egg-
shaped and composed of three joints. The thorax is large and
round, and with overhanging sides, and the body is very globu-
lar. All the tarsi have four joints. The present species is smooth
shining-black, with the exception of the lateral and posterior
margins of the thorax, which are edged with a narrow line of
rust-red. The elytra are not striated. Like all the members of
the genus, this insect has a habit of rolling itself into a ball
when alarmed, so that it looks more like a very small shot than
an insect. It inhabits fungi and decaying wood, dead leaves,
and similar localities. It can be best obtained by taking up
handfuls of dead leaves from under. hedges, and shaking them
over paper, when the Agathidia will appear like little black
beads.

THE MIMIC BEETLES. 97

They will not stir for a long time, unless the sun be shining
powerfully on the paper.

Tux important family of the Histeride now comes before us.
These are flattish square-bodied Beetles, with a sort of steely
look about them, and as hard to the touch as if their elytra
were veritable pieces of plate armour. It is no easy task to
get a fine entomological pin through these creatures, the pin
either bending, or its point repeatedly slipping off the hard
and polished surface of the Beetle in a manner calculated to
injure the temper as well as the pin. I always used to keep
by me a rather fine needle fixed in a handle, and projecting
about one-third of an inch, so that I could pierce the hard
elytra with the steel point, and then introduce the pin. This
needle was useful in setting many other hard-bodied Beetles,
especially some of the weevils.

These hard and glossy elytra are much shorter than the
body, and abruptly truncated; but below them may be seen
a beautiful and wide pair of wings packed away with wonderful
neatness. The basal joint of the antenne is very long, and the
club is boldly marked, the three last joints being almost fused
into a globular and velvety knob. The generic name of Hister
is derived from a Latin word signifying an actor or a mimic,
and is given to these Beetles on account of their habit of
simulating death when alarmed. The popular name of Mimic
BrxEtxes is often given to them by entomologists.

On Plate IV. Fig. 8, may be seen one of the handsomest
species of this genus, namely, the Four Spor Mimic Breer.
(Hister quadrimaculatus). The colour of this insect is black,
but on each elytron is a large C-shaped red mark reaching from
the base nearly to the apex. This mark is often divided in the
middle, so as to produce the effect of four red spots on the
back. A narrower line of the same colour mostly runs along
the margin ; but this, like in many other Beetles, is apt to he
exceedingly variable in the arrangement of its colouring.

This, together with the rest of the genus, can be found in or
under decaying animal matter, patches of cowdung being
favourite resorts. The pertinacity with which these insects
will feign death when captured is most remarkable, for they
will endure aimost any amount of rough handling without

H

98 INSECTS AT HOME.

giving the least signs of life, the legs being folded flatly under
the body so that they are scarcely visible. Indeed, I scarcely
know whether they or the Pill Beetles, which will presently be
described, are the most obstinate in this respect.

The larvee of the Mimic Beetles are also to be found in cow-
dung, and are not in the least like their parents, being long-
bodied, cylindrical, whitish in colour, with two forked appendages
at the tail. Some species prefer dead animals, and may be found
in the moles to which reference has already been made. About
fourteen British species of Hister are known; and the young
entomologist will find that, owing to variations of colour, he
will often be rather perplexed to determine the exact species
of some new capture.

Wirz great reluctance I am obliged to omit several genera,
and must proceed at once to the next family, the Nitidulide.
The Beetles of this family have short clubbed antennze. The
head is sunk in the thorax as far as the eyes, and the mandi-
bles are notched at the tip; the thorax is rather square, and
the tarsi have five joints. The body is flattened. The little
Beetles which are found in such numbers in flowers, and have
such shining bodies, mostly belong to this family, to which
the name of Nitidulide@ has been given on account of their
glittering bodies.

The typical sub-family, the Nitidulina, are known by the
length of the elytra, which reach to the last joint of the
abdomen, andthe shape of the thorax, which does not cover the
base of the elytra. One of these insects, Nitidula [ Omosita]
depressa, is shown at Fig. 9 on Plate IV., and is represented as
crawling up the stem of the central mushroom.

The body of this Beetle is oval, and, as may be inferred from
its name, is much flattened. Its colour is rusty-brown, and the
surface is thickly punctured. Upon the elytra are some faint
oblong black streaks, and a curved mark of paler hue than the
rest of the body. This is a very plentiful species, and may
be found in fungi, as represented on the plate, under the bark
of trees, and even in old bones.

The larvze of these Beetles feed on various substances, chiefly
on decaying vegetable matter. One of them, for example,
Nitidula grisea, is found about the burrows made by willows

MODE OF DETERMINING SPECIES. oa

feeding caterpillars. It is a whitish grub, thick towards the
shoulder and tapering to the head and tail. The segments are
very distinctly marked, and the last segment is armed with two
hook-like appendages curving upwards. When it is about to
change to the pupal form, it descends the trunk of the tree,
and hides itself in the moist earth about the roots; and after it
bas obtained its perfect form, it is generally to be found in the
crevices of the bark.

On Woodeut X. Fig. 5, is shown another of these Beetles,
Meligethes eneus. This genus is known by the squared and
metallic body, the long elytra, and the third joint of the
antenne, exactly as long as the fourth and fifth together. The
form of the maxilla is shown gn the same illustration at
Fig. 6. Allthe Beetles of this genus are very small, and are
invariably to be found in flowers, creeping from their hiding
places under the petals when the flower is gathered or shaken.
Being very minute insects, a careful examination with a some-
what powerful lens is needed to distinguish the species, and,
even then, the little creatures are so like each other in size
and colour, that the entomologist is obliged to abandon the
nsual mode of determining species, and to trust to the wumber
of notches in the tibiz of the first pair of legs.

This species is variable in colour, being blue-black, violet,
or dark green-blue, over which is a sort of brassy gloss, It
seldom exceeds the twelfth of an inch in length, and is a very

good example of its genus. It is plentiful throughout Eng-
land.

Stitt keeping to the same family, we take another of the
sub-families, the Ipsina, which have the front of the head
lengthened and covering the labrum, the fourth joint of the
tarsus being very minute. Our first example of these insects is
Rhizophagus ferrugineus, which is shown on Woodecut XI.
Fig. 1. These Beetles have much narrower bodies than the
preceding, the antennz are short and boldly clubbed, with
a large basal joint. The head is not sunk in the thorax,
and the elytra are not so long as the abdomen. They are
mostly to be found under the bark of trees, but some are
fond of inhabiting old bones, and are even parasitic in ants’

H 2

100 INSECTS AT HOME.

nests. The name I?hizophagus signifies ‘ root-eating, and

there are about ten British species. Though they are for the
most part vegetable-feeders, some at least of the species are
known to be carnivorous, and have been detected in eating the
larve of other bark-feeding Beetles belonging to the genus
Hylesinus.

1. Rhizophagus ferrugineus. 2. Colydium elongatum. 3. Anommatus duodecim-striatus,

4, Cryptophagus pilosus. 5. Mycetophagus quadripustulatus. 6, Dermestes murinus,
a. Rhizophagus, antenna. 6. Colydium, antenna. c. Anommatus, antenna. d. Der-
mestes, pupa. e. Colydium, larva. J. Dermestes, larva. g. Cryptophagus, antenna,
h. Mycetophagus, antenna, 2. Dermestes, antenna,

The colour of this species is smooth shining rust-red, some-
times deepening into reddish-black. There is a pit on either
side of the head, the elytra are thickly punctured and striated,
and beneath it is rust-red. This Beetle has been , chosen
because it is the largest of the genus, sometimes exceeding
one-sixth of an inch in length. The rather peculiar antenna
of this genus is shown at Fig. @ of the same woodcut.

THE BLIND BEETLE. 101

Tux family of the Colydiide have the antenne nearly straight,
and not bowed as in the preceding family, and the tarsi are
four-jointed. Most of them are found in wood, but they may
be found among grass heaps, in sandy places, and other localities.
One of the most curious examples of this family is the insect
which is represented on Woodcut XI. Fig. 2, and called by the
name of Colydium elongatum. A glance at the figure will
show the appropriateness of this name, the whole body, and
especially the abdomen and elytra, being elongated in a most
extraordinary manner, really looking as if the Beetle had been
drawn out like wire. The colour of this curious Beetle is
smooth shining-black, the elytra being reddish at the base, and
deepening into black at the apex, near which is an oval reddish
spot, varying in colour and size in different specimens. This
insect lives chiefly in the burrows of wood-eating Beetles,
especially those of Sinodendron or Hylesinus, and therefore
is so seldom seen that it is considered a valuable addition to
the cabinet. But, when one of its haunts is detected, a number
of the Beetles can generally be found. Mr. Ingall, for example,
took a quantity of these insects out of an old elm rail near
Sydenham. By some authors the generic name of Nemosoma
is prefixed to this Beetle. This is a very appropriate name,
signifying ‘ thread-bodied.’ It is the on!y British species of
its genus.

The larva of this Beetle is shown at Fig. ¢ on the same
woodcut. Mr. Westwood went to visit the elm rails at Syden-
ham, and there succeeded in procuring many examples of
larvee and perfect insects. He remarked that the perfect
insects were sluggish during the day, but that at night they
became more active, trying to bite each other if they met.
The larve, like many other creatures which inhabit burrows,
can run backwards as easily as, they can forwards, and this
they do by means of a clasper on the end of the body. They
are sluggish except when excited, and then move about very
much after the manner of the Rove Beetles, moving their
head from side to side, and opening their strong jaws as
if in menace.

ANnoTHER member of this family is remarkable for being
without eyes. This is Anommatus duodecim-striatus, which

102 INSECTS AT HOME.

is shown on Woodcut XI. Fig. 3. It is the only British species
of its genus. This tiny Beetle is about the fourteenth of an
inch in length, and may be found in stores of flour and rice,
especially the latter, from which fact some entomologists infer
that it has been imported into England, and is not an indigenous
British species. Its colour is warm-chestnut, and its body
is very smooth and shining, but deeply punctured, and the
elytra are regularly striated. The generic title Anommatus
signifies ‘eyeless, and is given to the insect in consequence
of the entire absence of eyes, so that it really deserves the
name of Buinp BrrtLte. Perhaps the reader may remember that
several other orders of insects afford examples of eyeless species,
especially among the exotic ants.

Tue family of the Cryptophagid will be represented by one
example.

In all these little Beetles the antennz have eleven joints, and
«re boldly clubbed at the end. The elytra are not truncated,
and the cox of the first and intermediate pair of legs are
ylobular, while those of the hind pair are cylindrical. The
1ame of Cryptophagidz is given to these Beetles because they
feed mostly on cryptogamous plants, especially the fungi. Like
the last family, the species are very much like each other, and
require much care before they can be ascertained. In examin-
ing the details of all these minute Beetles, I have found a
compound microscope with a two or one-and-a-half-inch object-
glass better than an ordinary pocket lens, but a Coddington
lens will answer nearly as well in experienced hands.

One example of this family is Cryptophagus pilosus, which
is shown on Woodcut XI. Fig. 4, and the form of the antenna
is shown at Fig. g. The genus is known by the shape of the
margins of the thorax, which are more or less toothed. The
present species is oblong, and its colour rust-red, the surface of
the body being sparingly covered with very fine down. The
thorax is thickly punctured, especially on the disc. In this
Beetle the marginal toothing of the thorax is not so conspicuous
as in most of the species, and is rather undulated than toothed.
It is to be found in and about fungi. There are about seven-
teen species of this genus.

THE BACON BEETLE. 103

Tue next family is called Mycetophagi, a word having much
the same signification as that of the last family, the Greek
word Myces signifying a fungus, especially the kind of fungus
that grows on tree-trunks. The insects of this family are rather
convex-bodied and oval, and covered with a delicate down.
The tarsi have four joints, except in the males, which have vhe
tarsi of the first pair of legs only three-jointed.

Our example of this family is taken from the typical genus,
and is known by the name of Mycetophagus quadripustulatus,
a figure of which is given on Woodcut XI. Fig. 5. The genus
is distinguished by the shape of the thorax, which is as wide at
its base as the base of the elytra, the margins of the thorax and
elytra forming one continuous line without any division. The
club of the antennz is rather long and composed of five joints,
the last joint being egg-shaped, and the four others short and
dise-like. The antenna is shown at Fig. h on the same wood-
cut. Six species are known in England.

This really seems quite a large insect when we compare it
with some of those which have lately been described, as it
sometimes reaches a length of a quarter of an inch. The head
of this Beetle is reddish, and the antennz are black in the
middle and red at the tip. The thorax is black, narrow in
front and broad behind, with rather sharp posterior angles, and
a rounded pit on each side towards the base. The elytra are
black, and on each of them are two reddish-yellow spots, one at
the base, and a smaller one over the apex. Some specimens have
the smaller spot so pale as to be scarcely visible, while in others
the two spots are united by a streak of pale yellow. This is a
very pretty little Beetle, and easily to be found when the
searcher knows where to look for it. The interior of fungi,
rotten wood, sad similar localities are the dwellings of this
Beetle, which may be found in perfection about the middie of
summer. Asa rule, all these fungi-loving Beetles are in good
preservation when captured, as the nature of their habitations
shields them from injury.

Tue next family, the Dermestide, is a very interesting one to
the entomologist, although he can but hold its members ip
bitterest hatred. The word Dermestes is of Greek origin, and
signifies ‘skin-eater.’ The name is but too appropriate, as all

104 INSECTS AT HOME.

possessors of zoological collections know to their cost. It is the
Dermestes which forces taxidermists to use the dangerous
arsenical soap in their preparations, and it has been the means
of depriving many a hard-working man of his best teeth, the
arsenic loosening them so that they fall out almost at a touch.
By way of a set-off, it is the Dermestes which drove the late
Mr. Waterton to the invention of his wonderful mode of taxi-
dermy, in which no arsenical soap is used, but by which the
skin is rendered so hard and elastic, that it is able to retain the
form of the animal without having a wire, a piece of wood, or
even a pinch of cotton wool inside it. Full many a valuable
museum has been utterly ruined by these destructive Beetles,
which, even when the skin is poisoned with arsenical soap, will
attack the hair or the feathers, and strip the creature as bare as
if it had been shaved. Moses Harris, the old entomologist,
mentions that he found these Beetles alive in the body of a
living Eyed-hawk Moth.

This family is distinguished by their short, straight, and
doubled antennz, their small and retractile head, the five-
jointed tarsi, and the length of the elytra, which cover the
abdomen. In the typical genus, the antenne are shorter than
the thorax, and the club is egg-shaped, as seen at Fig. 7 on
Woodecut XI. The palpi are thread-like and shorter than the
maxille, and the first joint of the tarsus is shorter than the
second. For illustration of this genus I have selected the
well-known Bacon Burris (Dermestes lardarvus), which is
shown on Woodcut XI. Fig. 6.

This is really a pretty, though not gailv coloured, Beetle, its
body being black, and its elytra having a very broad greyish
band across the base, on which are three black or pitchy spots.
On examination with a lens, the band is seen to be composed
of a short but thick grey down, the black spots being simply
places on which the down does not grow, so that the black of
the elytra is rendered visible.

This Beetle may be found plentifully in the ‘ keepers’ trees’
which have already been mentioned ; and even after the animals
have been so dried by exposure that their skins are as hard as
horn, the Dermestes will attack them, its sharp teeth enabling
it to overcome the hardened skin. The chief havoc caused by
this Beetle is due to the larvae, one of which may be seer

THE PILL BEETLES. 105

figured on Woodcut XI. Fig. f. Its colour is whitish-brown
above and white below, and it is profusely covered with long
hairs. The cast skins of these larvee may be seen abundantly
when the Beetle has taken possession of any place, and by them
the museum owner is,often warned of the danger which has
come on his collection. The reader will see that, like many
other destructive insects, it is most valuable in its right place,
and does good service by removing from sight objects which
are not only unpleasant to the eye and nostril but injurious to
the health. In these places it should be protected and en-
couraged ; but when it makes *+s way into a house, extermina-
tion is the only course to be ured.

WE now come to the Byrrhida, or Pill Beetles, so called from
their rounded shape, and the manner in which they can hide
their limbs and antennz when alarmed. There is no difficulty
in distinguishing Beetles belonging to this family. The an-
tenn are gradually thickened towards the extremity, and the
head is very small and deeply sunk in the thorax, with which it
can be completely retracted in most of the species.

The machinery by which the legs are packed up is extraor-
dinary, and this alone would serve to indicate the family. On
the tibiz there is a groove in which the tarsi are received when
doubled, the tibize fold closely to the femora, and the whole leg,
thus reduced into a very small compass, is received into a
groove under the body. In fact, the legs are packed up very
much like the joints of a portable easel. The head being at
the same time withdrawn into the thorax, the antenne lie
pressed closely against its sides, so that when the Beetle has
thus packed away all its limbs, it does not bear the least re-
semblance to an insect. This mode of concealment, or rather
of evasion, is rendered more perfect by the fact, that the
surface of the body is covered with fine down, which retains
the dust of the roads on which it so often travels, and gives to
the Beetle the aspect of a little round dusty stone. And, so
pertinaciously does it keep this attitude when alarmed, that it
will suffer its limbs to be torn from its body rather than give
the least sign of life.

The typical genus has the antenne rather flattened, and
shorter than the thorax, the basal joint being large, the second

/

106 INSECTS AT HOME.

small and globular, and the third long and slender. The
club is formed by a series of joints regularly increasing in
size, the last joint being egg-shaped. One of these antennz is
drawn on Woodcut XII. Fig. a. The thorax is waved behind,
and the body is very convex. .

The species which has been chosen for illustration is the
Banprep Pint Bertie (Byrrhus fasciatus), which is drawn on

1. Byrrhus fasciatus. 2. Elmis eneus. 3. Heterocerus flexuosus. 4, Hydroéus piceus,
male. a. Byrrhus, antenna. 6. Elmis, antenna. c. Heterocerus, antenna. d, Hydrous,
fore leg of female. e. Hydrous, antenna of male. $f. Hydrdéus, larva.

Woodcut XII. Fig. 1. The colour of this Beetle is black, the
thorax having a decided golden tinge. Upon the elytra are
a number of very short black stripes, and in the middle is a
reddish-yellow band, shaped as is seen in the figure. This is

a tolerably plentiful species, though it is not so often found as

the Common Prt Beurtzy (Byrrhus pilula), which is without

HOW TO CATCH THE BANK-SIDE BEETLES. 107

the yellow band across the elytra. Five species of this genus
inhabit England.

Tue next family is the Heteroceride, which have the an-
tenn short, with a long flattened club of seven joints, as may
be seen by referring to. Woodcut XII. Fig.c. The legs are
evidently adapted to burrowing in the earth. The body is
flat, broad, and covered with a thick silken down. They are
all frequenters of the water, and live in burrows which they
excavate in the damp soil. There is only one genus in this
family, containing seven species, of which our example is
Heterocerus flecwosus, which is drawn on Woodecut XII. Fig. 2.
This insect is yellowish or dun-coloured, very finely punctured,
and covered with down. Along the elytra is a wavy or flexuous
stripe composed of black spots irregularly disposed, a mark
from which the Beetle derives its specific name of flexwosus.
Towards the shoulders there is a biack spot, and another in
the middle towards the suture, the latter not being so dark
or well-defined as the former.

It is a water-loving Beetle, and has been taken on the banks
‘of the Thames, near Gravesend. Mr. Stephens remarks, that
to obtain any of the Beetles of this family is a very easy pro-
cess. All that is required is, to go to the bank of some river
—tidal rivers are the most frequented—and then to stamp and
trample on the muddy bank. The little Beetles are alarmed
at the turmoil overhead, and come out to see what is the
matter, when they can be captured. The insect-hunter must,
however, be very quick in seizing them, as they are back
again almost immediately, or hide themselves in crevices where
their tiny bodies cannot be seen.

Lixr the preceding Beetles, the Parnide are water-lovers,
and some of them prefer to live under the water rather than
above it. The head is sunk into the prosternum, and the
anterior segments of the abdomen are fixed together and im-
movable. They are divided into two sub-families, the Par-
nina and Elmina, which may easily be distinguished by
examining the coxe of the front pair of legs. In the Parnina
they are cylindrical, and in the Elmina globular. One ex-
ample of this family is taken from the latter sub-family, and

108 INSECTS AT HOME.

is called Elmis wneus. One of these Beetles is shown on
Woodcut XII. Fig. 2, and the antenna is drawn at Fig. b of
the same illustration.

All the species belonging to this genus, of which five British
examples are known, are very curious insects. They are plen-
tiful and yet are seldom found, and, indeed, are hardly ever
found except by those who know where to look for them. In
the first place, they are small, and would escape observation,
and in the next they are subaquatic in their habits, not swim-
ming about conspicuously like the Hydradephaga, but clinging
to the under side of submerged stones in swiftly-running
streams. Most aquatic Beetles prefer still water, but the
stream can never be too swift for the Elmis Beetles, which
will even select a waterfall as their place of residence.

The present species is the commonest of the genus.

As may be inferred from its specific name, the surface of
the insect has a brassy gloss. The thorax is squared, very
convex, and on either side of the disc is an elevated straight
line. The elytra are striated and punctured, and the under
surface of the body is clothed with thick golden down. Besides
the characteristics already given, the last joint of the tarsi is
very long, and armed with two large, sharp, and curved claws,
by means of which they are enabled to retain their position on
the stones in spite of the rushing water. It is rather remark-
able that, although the upper surface of the body is very
smooth, and the Beetles pass the greater part of their time
submerged in rapid streams, the body is often so caked with
mud that the shape of the insect is nearly obscured.

Now we come to a very familiar but little understood
insect, popularly called the Buack Warer Brreriz. Like some
of the preceding species, it has been confounded with the
Hydradephaga, merely because it inhabits the water, no re-
ference being made to its structure, or even its mode of
feeding. Indeed, I believe that scarcely any, except entomo-
logists, have the least idea that the Dyticus and the present
Beetle are not the same insect, the only difference being that
one is much larger than the other. Now, if we examine this
Beetle, Hydrous piceus, we shall find a vast number of strue
tural differences, as well as complete divergence in habits.

THE BLACK WATER BEETLE. 109

The Beetle belongs to the family of Hydrophilide, i.e.
water-lovers. Sometimes the two halves of the word are
transposed, the Beetles being called Philhydrida, the significa-
tion being exactly the same in both cases. The family may be
known by the size of the palpi, which are as long as the
antennz and sometimes longer—the latter organs never having
more than nine joints, and sometimes only six—and by the
double lobe of the maxilla and the very short mandibles. The
tarsi have five joints. The typical genus has the mandibles
armed on the inside with three strong teeth, notched at their
tips; the second joint of the maxillary palpi is very long, and
the elytra become narrower towards the apex.

The insect is represented on Woodcut XII. Fig. 4, of its
natural size, showing that, with the exception of the Stag
Beetle, it is our largest coleopterous insect. A glance at the
figure will show one of the principal peculiarities of this
Beetle, namely, that the palpi far exceed in length the an-
tenn, and project in front considerably before those organs.
The sexes are easily distinguished by a glance at the antennae,
and the tarsi of the first pair of legs. The antenna of the male
is drawn on the same woodcut, Fig. e, and in the same sex the
last joint of the front tarsi is very much dilated, and assumes
the form of a partly flattened triangle. The same limb in the
female does not possess the widened joint, and may be seen by
reference to Fig. d. The metasternum terminates in a sharp
spine, so long that its point reaches beyond the coxe of the last
pair of legs.

The colour of this Beetle is smooth blackish-olive, the
margins of the elytra taking a bluish tinge. The wings them-
selves are very large, and have a very fine effect when spread.
On each of the elytra are eight striw, and the breast is clothed
with thick yellow down. The metasternum is developed, as in
the Dyticus, into a pointed process, but in this insect the
weapon is simply needle-shaped, and is about the size of an
ordinary darning-needle. It is black, highly polished, and very
sharp. There is much variation in tint in different individuals,
but the average hues are as given above.

The life history of this insect is a very curious one. The
female Beetle is furnished with a complete silk-spinning appa-
ratus, the spinnerets being placed, not in the mouth, as is the

110 INSECTS AT HOME.

case with the silkworm, but at the end of the tail. With these
instruments she forms a cocoon shaped almost exactly like a
turnip, being round, and having a pointed projection from one
side. Within this cocoon, which soon becomes hard and water-
tight, and is fastened to the stem of a water-plant, the eggs are
placed; and in a time varying from a fortnight to six weeks,
according to the warmth of the weather, the larve are hatched.
About fifty or sixty eggs are placed in one cocoon, and by this
extraordinary provision they are preserved from harm until the
larvee are able to escape into the water and shift for themselves.
They are very small at first, but rapidly increase in size until
they attain the length of three inches.

One of these larve is shown at Fig. f, and is represented as
partly grown. It is soft, fat, and dusky in colour, and feeds
voraciously on molluscs and other aquatic animals, as might be
inferred from the large and curved jaws. It is one of the air-
breathing larvee, and is therefore obliged to come frequently to
the surface in order to take in a supply of air, which is done by
means of a filamentous appendage at the end of the tail.
Somewhere about July the larva has completed feeding ; and
then leaves the water and crawls up the bank, searching for a
soft spot in which to burrow. Here it sinks its tunnel, and
forms an oval cocoon, in which it awaits its change into the
pupal state.

The Beetles belonging to this group, being, like the larve,
air-breathers, are forced to come to the surface for the purpose
of respiration ; and they contrive to carry down a supply of
atmospheric air by enclosing a bubble under the bodies, where
it looks like a globe of quicksilver as they swim about. As this
species is not only handsome but harmless, it is in great favour
with the keepers of aquariums, and is in consequence quite
scarce in many places where it used to be plentiful, the
professional dealers having ransacked all the streams within
easy reach of London.

Tuer family next in order, the Sphzridiide, are distinguished
from the preceding family by the shape of the tarsi, which are
not fitted for swimming, and the hinder pairs of which members
have the first joint much longer than the others. They are all
small insects, rather globular in form, from which peculiarity

THE CERCYONS. 111

the name of the family is derived; and they are dark-coloured,
black being the usual hue, relieved in some species by reddish
spots. In the genus Cercyon, from which our example is taken,
the club of the antenne is large and bold, the palpi are slender,
and the mentum is broad and flat.

As is the case with most red and black Beetles, the colour is
exceedingly variable in different individuals, so different indeed,
that the present. species, Cereyon anale, which is drawn on
Woodcut XIII. Fig. 2, has been described under four separate
names, each name being used to represent a different species.
Its colour is black, but the elytra are generally tinted towards
the apex with reddish-chestnut, the size and exact tint of this
mark varying exceedingly; and in some specimens the elytra
are altogether black. Like the rest of the genus, it can be
found in cowdung.

Formerly some sixty species of Cercyon were catalogued, but
they have now been reduced to seventeen genuine species ; two-
thirds of the imagined species proving, on careful investigation,
to be nothing but varieties. In one case, that of Cercyon
nigriceps, the same insect had been described under seven
different names by the same naturalist.

CHAPTER VII.

LAMELLICORNES.

Tus chapter will be given to that very important group of
insects, the Lametiicorn Beetles, popularly called Cnarmrs.
The former term is composed of two Latin words signifying
‘Jeaf-horned,’ and is applied to these Beetles because the club
of the antennz is composed of a series of flat plates or leaves,
which are movable like the*rays of a fan, except in the Stag —
Beetle and its kin. The antenne are always short, with a long
or large basal joint, and set near the eyes and in front of them.
If the reader should have skill to open an insect, he is strongly
recommended to do so, in order to see the singular manner in
which the large and apparently heavy bodies of these insects
are lightened by a great number of air-vessels connected with
the breathing tubes. These air-vessels extend all over the
body, and are found even in the head.

The larve are fat, fleshy, soft-skinned grubs, feeding on
vegetable matter, mostly, though not always, in a state of
decay; and the last segment of the body is much larger than
the others. After they are full-fed, they make cocoons from
the chips of wood or other fragments of the material on which
they have been feeding ; and therein await their change into
the pupal and perfect form.

Tux first family of the Lamellicornes is the Cetoniide, or
Rose Beetle family. We have but few examples of these
beautiful insects in England, and one or two of them are very
rare. In this family the antenne are short, and have only ten
joints, three of them forming the club. The body is broad,
and the elytra are flattened and not quite long enough to reach
the end of the abdomen. A very familiar example of this
family is given on Plate V. Fig. 1, namely, the common Rosk
BrEt.e (Cetonia aurata).

KING OF THE ANTS. 113

In this genus there is a curious structure of the epimera, or
side pieces, of the metathorax, which are largely developed, so
that they act upon the bases of the elytra, and prevent the insect
from opening them widely. Any of my readers who has
watched a Rose Beetle flying must have noticed that, although
the wings are very ample, the elytra are scarcely opened at all,
so that they cover some portion of the lower wings; whereas
Beetles generally hold the elytra well elevated, and out of the
way of the wings. The edges of the elytra are deeply waved in
this genus.

This is a truly handsome insect. The upper surface of the
body is beautiful shining-green, glossed with gold. The elytra
have a number of impressed dots and curved marks scattered
irregularly over them, and towards the apex are a nwmber of
scattered whitish marks, very variable in size, hue, number, and
shape, according to the individual insect. Below, it is bright
polished-copper.

The perfect Beetles are generally to be found in roses,
especially the white and wild roses, which they are thought to
damage in some degree. Gardeners have an objection to these
Beetles, because they are apt to settle upon the flower of the
strawherry, and devour just those parts by which the fruit is
produced. In the south of “ngland, the privet blossom is a
favourite resort of these Beetles. The larva, however, does not
content itself with such light diet as rose-leaves, but lives on
the less poetical but more substantial nourishment afforded by
decaying wood, in which it remains for three years. One of
these larve is shown on Plate V. at Fig. 6, as it appears when
occupying its dwelling among the debris of rotten wood at the
roots of the tree. As may be seen by reference to the plate, it
is by no means an attractive-looking creature, and gives no
sign of the magnificent colours which its fat, soft, wkite body
will soon develope.

Sometimes, on opening a wood ant’s nest, one of these larve
is found in it, a circumstance which has gained for it the name
of King of the Ants. It most probably takes advantage of the
large quantity of wood-chips, bits of straw, fir-leaves, and
similar material, with which the ants make their nest; and
finds therein an abundant supply of food. The ants do not

I

114 INSECTS AT HOME.

meddle with it, probably finding that it remains in one spot.
and does not interfere with the conduct of their nest.

The reader will notice that the larva is represented in a
curved attitude. This is done because it is the natural, and
indeed the needful, attitude of these larve. Their legs are so
small, and the end of the body is so large, that they cannot
support themselves by their legs; and, if laid on a flat surface,
immediately roll over on their'sides. This clumsiness—if we
may so call it—of form is not peculiar to the Rose Beetle, but
is found in all the group.

After it has remained in the larval state for the full period,
it makes for itself a cocoon from the wood-chips or other
materials on which it has been feeding; and it sometimes
happeng that when a decayed tree-trunk is suddenly blown or
cut down, a great quantity of these cocoons roll out from
among the ruins. Even when the larva has taken up its abode
in an ants’ nest, it makes a cocoon from the surrounding
materials. A group of these cocoons is shown on the same
plate, Fig. 7.

A somewhat similar but rarer Beetle also inhabits England.
Itis called Gnorimus nobilis, and may at once be recognised by
a glance at the elytra, which are not waved at their edges.
Otherwise, in habits, colour, and general shape, it is very much
like the Rose Beetle, and the body is shining green-gold. The
elytra, however, are wrinkled, and there are white spots scat-
tered over them. There are also white spots on the edges of the
abdomen, and the breast is covered with hairs. It is generally
found on umbelliferous flowers.

Wer must say a word or two respecting the well-known
insect, the Phyllopertha horticola, which is called indifferently
Bracken Crock or Junr Bue, and is known to anglers by its old
Welsh name of Cocn-y-Bonpuu, often corrupted by them into
the rather ludicrous word Cockerbundy. It is about half an
inch in length, and has reddish-brown elytra and dark-green
head and thorax. It is found in ‘great abundance—often too
great abundance for any except anglers—busily engaged in
devouring the leaves, blossoms, and even the young fruit of our
orchard-trees. In its larval state it does much harm to the
grasses, of which it devours the roots, much after the fashion

PLATE V-.

CHAFERS.

Cetonia aurata.
. Melolontha vulgaris (Male).
. Geotrupes stercorarius.

. Lucanus cervus.

Lucanus cervus, larva (very young).

. Cetonia aurata, larva (three parts grown).

. Cetonia aurata (Pupa cases or Cocoons).

. Geotrupes stercorarius, larva (young).

. Melolontha vulgaris, larva (three parts grown}.

Oo CO ID OP OO dD

PLANT :—
Wild Rose (Rosa cantna).

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THE COMMON COCKCHAFER. 115

of the cockchafer grub, whose ill deeds will presently be
recorded.

The insect belongs to the family Rutelide, the members of
which have strong, horny mandibles, those of the preceding
family being only horny on the outside; and, besides these
differences, the elytra are lined with a membrane which
projects a little behind. In the genus to which we are re-
ferring, the antenne have nine joints, the clypeus is short, and
the thorax is narrowed behind. The name Phyllopertha is
composed of two Greek words, signifying ‘ leaf-destroyer,’ and
is very appropriately given to this insect, on account of the
ravages which it makes among the leaves of fruit-trees. The
specific title of horticola is formed from two Latin words, and
signifies ‘ garden-frequenting.’

Next we come to the small though important family of
the Melolonthide, which includes those insects which are popu-
larly called Cockchafers. Only five species of this family in-
habit England, and of these only two are even tolerably common.
These two, however, more than compensate by their enormous
numbers for the paucity of the other species; and in some seasons
are so exceedingly plentiful that they become an absolute pest
to the agriculturist, laying waste thousands of trees, and de-
stroying acre upon acre of pasture land.

The family of the Melolonthidz have very strong mandibles,
as is evident from the havoc which the insects make among
leaves, and the outer lobe of the maxille is strongly toothed.
In the -typical genus, the antenne are ten-jointed, and the
club of the male is composed of seven joints, while that of the
female contains only six. The flattened plates of the club are
much smaller in the female than in the opposite sex.

On Plate V. Fig. 2, is shown a male specimen of the common
Cocxcnarer (Melolontha vulgaris) crawling to the trunk of a
tree. The insect is so well known that a detailed description is
scarcely necessary. The peculiar bent projection at the end of
the abdomen is worthy of notice, as are the rows of triangular
white spots along its sides. There is a greyish down on the
breast, and the elytra are covered with a yellowish down.
Unless the insect have quite newly emerged from the pupa!
state and been handled very carefully, the down is sure tu be

12

116 INSECTS AT HOME.

rubled off, and the beauty of the specimen greatly impaired ;
so that a really perfect specimen even of so common a Beetle is
worth having.

The life history of this insect demands a brief notice. The
female deposits her eggs in the ground, where in due time they
are hatched, and straightway begin to feed upon the roots of
grass, which form the chief part of their diet. They remain in
the ground for three years, continually destroying grass-roots,
and increasing to a wonderful size ; so large and fat, indeed, that
their tightened skin seems scarcely able to hold its contents.
And when they are dissected, it really seems still more wonderful
that they should not have burst with sheer fat and gorging. I
have opened numbers of them, and found them more trouble-
some than any other larve, the quantity of fat being so enor-
mous that the spirits of wine in which they were sunk had to
be changed over and over again before it was sufficiently clear
to allow the structure to be seen. Then, even when that diffi-
culty was overcome, another remained, for the whole of the
stomach and intestines was so crammed with a mixture of grass-
roots and earth, that it looked like a well-stuffed and very
black sausage, with a very thin skin. The quantity of roots
consumed by one of these insects is very great; and in some
places they have so completely destr.yed the grass, that the °
turf has been completely detached from the ground, and might
be rolled up by hand as easily as if the turf-cutter’s spade had
passed under it. These mischievous grubs do not confine
themselves to grass-roots, but eat many of the underground
crops, the potato often suffering terribly from them. “One of
these larve is shown on Plate V. Fig. 9, as it appears when
about one-third grown. .

I believe that the rooks are our best friends with regard to
this grub—technically known as White-worm in some parts
of England. They seem to be able to detect the presence of
the grub by hearing its teeth at work on the grass-roots, and
then, pecking a hole with wonderful rapidity, they drag out
the grub and take it home to their young. The rooks, in fact,
aid us in ridding our grass lands of the White-worm just as
do the starlings in destroying the larve of the daddy-long-legs.

When full-fed, the grub makes for itself a cocoon in the
earth, and then emerges, only to work as much destruction

PROJECTS FOR UTILISING THE COCKCHAFER. 117

above the soil as it did below. In the larval state it fed upon
the roots of grasses, and was out of sight; it now feeds on the
leaves of trees, and is out of reach. In this way the Beetles are
scazcely less mischievous than they were in their former state, for
they will sometimes denude whole tracts of trees, so that, in the
full beauty of summer-tide, the trees look as if the season were
the depth of winter. In this country we are almost ignorant
of the harm which the Cockchafer can do, for, although our
crops and potatoes often suffer severely from its attacks, they
are not wholly ruined, as is the case on the Continent. In
consequence of the noxious character of this Beetle, I never had
the least seruple in killing it, and can strongly recommend it
to my readers as an excellent ‘subject’ for the study of insect
anatomy. Thus a double service is rendered: first to the
country by its death, which prevents it from perpetuating a nu-
merous progeny ; and next to the investigator, because it affords
him a subject which will train both the hand and the eye, and
which can be so easily obtained that he need not be afraid of
spoiling a few specimens. Although this Beetle is at present
nothing but an unmitigated pest, I cannot but think that it
may yet be made to turn to the service of man. I should
not wonder if the silkworm were originally a great plague to
gardeners until its real value was discovered, and so it is not
utterly impossible that some mode may be found of turning the
Cockchafer to account. At present it is but of little use to man.
It is employed rather largely during its brief existence in the
Beetle state as bait for sea-fish, and there has been an attempt
made to procure a sort of coarse oil from the tat bodies of the
erubs. Some utilitarians, of abnormal boldness, have proposed
that 11 might be prepared as an article of food, and have sug-
gested that it may be thought as much a delicacy as is the palm-
worm of the West Indies. But they entirely forget that the
palm-worm lives in the interior of trees, and that it contains
nothing but vegetable matter, whereas a full-grown Cockchafer
grub contains a full thimbleful of earth, a substance which no
amount of cooking could.render palatable.

Tue family of the Geotrupide has eleven joints in the an-
tenna, of which three form the club, and the margin of the
head divides the eyes somewhat like the structure of the

118 INSECTS AT HOME.

Gyrini, except that, in the case of those insects, the eyes are
divided by a broad, flat band, and in the present family by a
narrow ridge of horny substance. The body is very convex and
the thorax large, in order to give room for the muscles that
move the large wings and the powerful digging fore-legs.
Three genera of Geotrupide exist in England, two of which
will be illustrated by examples.

On Plate V. Fig. 3, may be seen one of the commonest
English species, represented as crawling up the trunk of a
tree. This is the Geotrupes stercorarius, popularly known as
the Dor Brrr, the Frying WatcHMan, the DumBiE-por, and
similar names, according to the locality in which it lives. The
genus Geotrupes has the basal joint of the antenna rather
long, and the fourth joint shorter than the fifth, the body very
convex, and the basal joint of the tarsus is the shortest. The
generis name Geotrupes is formed from two Greek words,
signifying ‘ earth-digger,’ and, as we shall presently see, is a
very appropriate one.

The colour of this species is black above, sometimes
glossed with green or blue, and rich shining-violet beneath.
On the middle of the clypeus there is a sharp tubercle. The
thorax is smooth, except at the margins, which are thickly
punctured, and on each side there is a nearly circular im-
pression, thickly punctured in the interior. The middle of the
scutellum is punctured, and the elytra are striated, the spaces
between the striz being smooth. The sexes may be distin-
guished by means of the tibize of the first pair of legs and the
femora of the hind pair, the male having on the inner side of
the front tibia a single erect spine, and the inner edge of the
hind femora strongly toothed. As this insect is hable to much
variation in colour, it is necessary to call attention to these
minute points of structure by which the species can be definitely
ascertained.

The life history of this Beetle may be briefly told as follows:—

In the autumn evenings the Beetles may be seen flying
about in large circles, as if they were predacious insects quar-
tering the ground in search of prey. In one sense, this is
exactly what they are doing, as they are hunting after a fa-
vourable spot wherein to place their eggs, and are wheeling over
the ground in hopes to find one. Attracted probably hy the scent,

LABOURS OF THE DOR BEETLE. 119

the Beetle discovers a patch of cowdung, alights near it, crawls
upon it, and straightway burrows through the soft material,
and is lost to sight. When she—for it is the female who
does the work—reaches the earth, she does not cease to burrow,
but goes on with her labour until she has excavated a perpen-
dicular tunnel some twelve inches in depth, and carried a
quantity of the cowdung into it. In this substance she de-
posits an egg, crawls out of the burrow, and proceeds to make
another, and so goes on until she has laid all her eggs.

The egg remains in its concealment until it is hatched, and
then the larva consumes the food which its mother has taken
the trouble to bring down for it. After this is eaten, the grub
is strong enough to ascend the burrow and obtain as much
food as it wants at the entrance. Within this retreat the larva
passes through its transformations, and then ascends to the
outer air, ready to take its part in the work of preparing
nurseries for a future progeny. Five species of Geotrupes are
known in England. Twice as many species have been described,
but recent investigations have shown that exactly half the
supposed species were simple varieties.

On Woodcut XIII. Fig. 1, is represented a Beetle of a very
odd appearance, the sides of the thorax being prolonged into a
pair of very formidable horns, a shorter horn occupying the
centre of the anterior margin. This is the male Typhwus
vulgaris, the only British example of the genus. The female
has only the veriest rudiments of horns, the anterior angles of
the thorax being merely developed into a short, sharp pro-
minence, like the teeth of a saw, while the place of the centra-
horn is taken by a ridge running across the forehead. Indeed,
owing to the absence of these horns, the female is so unlike
the other sex, that no one who was ignorant of entomology
would be likely to believe the two creatures to be nothing
more than different sexes of the same insect. The female so
closely resembles the ordinary Dor Beetle, that the older
entomologists comprised the Typhcus within the genus Geo-
trupes.

The name of Typhceus was given to this genus in the days
when classical mythology was the source of new names for
insects, and to this genus the name of Typmwhus was given on

120 INSECTS AT HOME.

account of its menacing aspect, which was fancifully compared to
the giant Typhceus, who frightened Zeus and the other gods
out of heaven merely by his looks. As, however, was the case
with its ancient prototype, the Typhceus is not nearly so
terrible as it seems, and its array of horns cannot do the least
injury to the hands of its capturer. At Fig. b, on the same
woodcut, the head of the female Typhceus is shown.

1. Typheeus fumatus, 2. Cereyon anale. 8. Dorcus parallelopipedus. 4, Agrilus bi-
guttatus. 5. Elater sanguineus. a. Agrilus, antenna. 6. Typhoeus, head of female.
c. Elater, antenna. d. Elater, head, under side. e. Elater, larva. jf. Agrilus, larva.

There is no possibility of mistaking this insect, which is
the only British example of its genus; which, in addition to
the characteristics that have been already described, has the
first and last joints of the tarsus of equal length, and longer
than the others. The colour of the insect is shining-black, the
elytra being regularly but not very deeply striated. ‘Phere is,
however, considerable variation in this insect, as even in some

|
|

THE APHODIUS. 12t

males the horns are comparatively small, and little better de-
veloped than those of the female. The colour also slightly
varies, a warm-chestnut tint underlying the black, so that the
entomologist ought to procure a series of specimens, in order
to show the usual varieties of form and colour. It varies in
size as well as in colour, some specimens being five-sixths of
an inch in length, while others are barely half an inch long.
This extreme difference in size is common among the Lamel-
licornes.

Considering that the Typhceus is a very common insect,
it is surprisingly little known, and I have often found that
entomologists who restricted themselves to the Lepidoptera
alone have been totally ignorant of its existence, and expressed
much surprise when I showed them a fine male Typhcus.
This insect is in one sense an extremely interesting one, inas-
much as it is one of our few British examples of the strange
and almost grotesque forms assumed by male Lamellicornes,
but which are seldom seen except in exotic Beetles.

This insect may be found in all parts of England: some of
those in my own collection were taken near Oxford, and the
others in Wiltshire, on the Downs. The end of May and be-
ginning of August are the times when it is in best condi-
tion, and at the latter season it may often be seen lying dead
in roads or pathways. Like the Dor Beetle, it is a burrower,
and has been taken while making its tunnel in sand.

TueEreE is a large family of small Beetles which must not be
- passed over without a brief notice. This is known by the name
of Aphodiide, a name formed from two Greek words which
refer to the habits of the different species, which are always to
be found in cowdung. They are rather oblong and cylindrical
in shape, and the elytra cover nearly the whole of the body.
Many species are among the commonest of our British insects,
and they must be sought in their accustomed haunts if the
beetle-hunter wishes to obtain a good series of specimens. <A
stick will generally suffice to eject them from their hiding-
places, but tae *digger’ which has been already described is a
more effective instrument, as the insects can be dug out of their
shelter beneath the surface of the earth. Forty species of
Aphodius are known to entomologists.

122 INSECTS AT HOME.

Tue family of the Lucanidz is represented in England by
four genera, but by very few species, only one British species
belonging to each genus. This family may at once be known by
the club of the antenne, which, though formed of a series of
plates, is unlike that of the other Lamellicornes, in that the
plates cannot be folded together, and are arranged so as to
look as if the club were simply pectinated. The claws have a
very slender secondary claw inside them. Besides these ex-
ternal modifications of structure, the internal anatomy of the
Lucanide differs from that of the other Lamellicornes, the
nervous system being distributed in a manner which at present
is not known in any of the Lamellicornes which have been
dissected. In the males the mandibles are enormously de-
veloped, and, in consequence of these distinctions, many
entomologists have thought that the Lucanide ought not to
belong to the Lamellicornes, but to be formed into a group
by themselves. The name of Pectinicornes, or ‘combed
antenn,’ has been suggested as an appropriate title. As to
this proposed alteration, Mr. Rye very judiciously remarks,
that such a change ought not to be made until all the known
Lamellicornes have been dissected, and their nervous system
examined.

The genus Lucanus is distinguished by the flattened body,
the apparently pectinated four-jointed club of the antenna,
and the enormous jaws of the male, which are often half as
long as the head, thorax, and body together. Our only British
species is the well-known Srag Benriy (Lucanus cervus), which
derives its popular name from the jaws of the male, which —
look somewhat like the horns of a stag. In some parts of the
country it goes by the name of Horn-sua. A figure of this
fine insect is shown on Plate V. Fig. 4, the Beetle being repre-
sented in the act of flying.

This is the largest of the British Beetles, as it sometimes
attains a length of nearly three inches. The size, however, is
extremely variable, as some males are barely half that length,
and have their jaws comparatively small and weak. These are
generally called undeveloped males, their inferiority being
probably due to a want of food while in the larval state. Lest,
however, a small and degenerate race of Stag Beetles should
be perpetuated, the males always fight for possession of the

HISTORY OF THE STAG BEETLE. 125

females, and the consequence is, that none but the largest and
strongest individuals have a chance of obtaining a mate.

The head and thorax of the Stag Beetle are black, profusely
punctured. The elytra are deep-chestnut, becoming black on
the margins, and at first sight appear to be quite smooth, but
are, in reality, covered with the finest imaginable punctures.
The jaws are of the same colour as the elytra, and the legs are
black. The female is shaped like the male, with the exception
of the jaws, which are small, curved, and sharply pointed. The
head, too, is smaller than that of the male, because the muscles
attached to the jaws are comparatively small. The peculiar
maxille, with their hairy inner lobes, can be seen on page 9,
Fig. 4b. When in their places, these lobes are close together,
and look like a yellow tongue.

This Beetle is in some parts of England very common, and
in others not only rare, but absolutely wanting. I hunted
insects industriously at Oxford for a series of years, and not
only never saw a living Stag Beetle within many miles of that
city, but never knew that a specimen had been taken in that
locality. There is no apparent reason why it should find that
Oxford does not suit it, for the same trees flourish there as
they do in Kent, where it is one of the comiaonest of the
Beetle tribe, and the same water that flows past Oxford rolls
through the Thames valley of Kent. Whatever may be the
reason, the fact exists; and I well remember my gratification
and astonishment when I first saw the Stag Beetles flying
about nearly as plentifully as Cockchafers or Dor Beetles.

The larva of this insect somewhat resembles that of the
Rose Beetle, and lives in rotten wood. I have tried to rear
this larva, but unsuccessfully, as the creature would die betore
it had become full-fed. Indeed, I never saw the larva even
attempt to eat, though I kept it in a mass of the same wood
in which it was living when captured. One specimen, however,
which is now alive on my desk, did eat the white paper lining
of the box; but it entirely refused the decayed wood, though I
repeatedly placed scraps of its natural food within its jaws. One
of these larvee is represented on Plate V. Fig. 5, as it appears in
itshome. The oak supplies its favourite food, but it also lives in
the willow ; and, according to some entomologists, the willow-fed
specimens are smaller than those which live in the oak. These

124 - INSECTS AT HOME.

larvee often du very great harm, their powerful jaws enabling
them to eat into the living as well as the dead wood, and into
the roots themselves. It remains in the larval state for at least
four, and perhaps as much as six years, and when it is about to
become a pupa, makes for itself a cocoon out of the wood-chips
with which it is surrounded.

The jaws of the male are quite as formidable weapons as
they appear to be, the muscles which close them being very
powerful, and their sharp and strong teeth inflicting a severe
bite. Mr. Curtis mentions that the jaws retain the power of
biting long after the head has been separated from the body, and
that in one case when a severed head of a Stag Beetle was taken
home in the evening, it retained on the following morning
sufficient power to pinch the finger. Still, severe as is the
bite of the male Stag Beetle, that of the other sex is still more
severe, the points of the strong, sharp, curved jaws being made
to meet in the flesh.

At first sight it would appear that the insect must be a car-
nivorous one, and that such formidable weapons were used for
the purpose of capturing and destroying other insects. In
reality the Stag Beetle is essentially a feeder on juices, which
it obtains by wounding twigs and fruits with the sharp teeth
of its mandibles. If kept in captivity, it will feed on moistened
sugar, and has a curious way of flattening itseif on the ground,
in order to reach the sugar with its tongue. Indeed, it only
uses its jaws as weapons of offence, when it fights for the pos-
session of the female, or when it is captured and wishes to
escape. It will bite fiercely in such a case, and, if kept alive,
will resent with open jaws any attempt to disturb it.

On Woodeut XIII. Fig. 3, is represented an insect which is
evidently allied to the Stag Beetle, the short, powerful, toothed
mandibles looking exactly like the tips of the Stag Beetle’s
jaws. This Beetle is called scientifically Dorcus parallelopi-
ppedus, but, I believe, has no popular name. The word Dorcus,
in Greek, signifies an antelope, the name being given to the
‘imsect in consequence of the shape of its jaws, which are
thought to resemble the horns of the antelope, as those of the
preceding insect resemble the horns of the stag. The specifi¢
‘name.is in allusion to its peculiar form.

THE ANTELOPE BEETLE. 125

The genus is distinguished from Lucanus by the comparative
shortness of the jaws in the male, and the club of the antenne,
which is more leaf-like than that of the Stag Beetle. In the
female the jaws are comparatively small and simple. It is not
a pretty Beetle as far as colour goes, for it is dull, dead-black,
the whole of the surface being covered with very fine punctures.
In the male these are very much finer on the head and thorax
than on the elytra, so that these members have a sort of gloss
somewhat resembling that of a new black kid glove. If the
head be examined, the eyes will be seen to be nearly severed
by the margins of the head, which overlap them considerably in
front, though not behind.

This insect is found plentifully in those parts of the country
where the Stag Beetle abides, and, in consequence, is very
common along the Thames valley of Kent. It is, however, to
be seen in places where the Stag Beetle does not live, for in
the late Mr. Hope’s note-book I found a memorandum, stating
that in 1820 he had caught the Dorcus at Oxford, where the
Stag Beetle is, as above-mentioned, not known. My own
specimens were taken in Wiltshire. Like the Stag Beetle,
this insect lives in rotten wood, the female digging holes in
which she may lay her eggs, the powerful fore-legs being used
for the purpose.

Although, as has been already stated, this insect has no
popular name, there is no reason why it should not have one.
We will therefore confer one upon it by literally trans.ating ita
scientific title, and will call it the ANTELOPE BEETLE.

CHAPTER VIII.

STERNOAXL.

THE group that now comes before us is a very boldly marked
one, and yet has been described under more than one title.
Some entomologists have selected the word Serricornes, or
‘saw-horned, because the antenne are serrated, i.e. notched,
like the teeth of a saw, two examples of which may be seen on
Woodcut XIII. Figs. a andc. As, however, so many Beetles
that do not belong to this group have their antennz serrated,
the word has been abandoned in favour of Sternowi, or ¢ sharp-
breasted,’ because the prosternum, or under side of the thorax
(see Woodcut I. Fig. 8), is prolonged backwards with a sort of
spike, which fits into a cavity between the middle pair of legs.
This projection is technically named the ‘mucro,’ or dagger.
The body is long, rather cylindrical, but slightly flattened, and
the antenne are mostly serrated, but sometimes pectinated,
and in a few instances nearly plain and thread-lke. There
are other distinctions, but these are so bold and evident that
they will be quite sufficient for the reader’s purpose.

Most of these insects possess the curious power of leaping,
which has earned for them the popular title of Skipyack BrEErLgs.
Their legs are very short, so that if the Beetle should by any
chance fall on its back on a flat surface, it would have no
power of recovering itself, but for the curious piece of me-
chanism of which the ‘mucro’ forms a portion. Whenever
the Beetle falls on its back, and cannot recover itself, it lies
still for a few moments, and then begins to arch its body, so
that it rests only upon the end of the abdomen and the back
of the head, the thorax being well elevated. By this move-
ment, the mucro is drawn out of the groove into which it fits.
Suddenly, the insect reverses its position and springs the elastic
mucro into its place, thus driving the base of the elytra against
the ground, and causing itself to fly up into the air.

CLICK BEETLES. 12%

This apparatus is shown on Woodcut XIII. Fig. d, which
represents the under side of the thorax. The mucro is seen in
the middle, as it appears when its point is lifted out of the
hollow, and the two dark lines above represent the grooves
in which the antennz lie in order to protect them from the
shock of the fall. The spring is always accompanied with a
slight but sharp clicking sound, from which these insects have
derived the name of Crick Brretites. There is an absolute
necessity for this curious provision of nature. The Click
Beetles are all feeble, slow, and defenceless, and their only
way of escaping from an enemy is by loosening their hold of the
herbage on which they are crawling, and allowing themselves
to drop to the ground. The sweep-net is very useful in catch-
ing these Beetles, as it anticipates the movement, and captures
them as they fall.

If put on a plate or other hard substance, the insect will
jump a surprising height. Ona very smooth surface like that
of a plate, the legs can take no hold as the insect falls, and it
generally rolls over on its back again. It instantly repeats
the jump, and again failing to secure a hold, seems to get into
a passion, leaping seven or eight times in rapid succession, and
then to turn sulky, lying on its back without moving a limb.
These insects have large wings, and are able to use them well,
though without much power of directing their course. They
always fly with the head well upwards and the body drooping
downwards, and are so slow that they can be captured easily by
hand. They have an ingenious habit of flying to some upright
green stem, clinging to it just below the seced-vessels, and
quickly closing their wings; so that, even when the spot where
they alighted has been observed, it is no easy matter to see
them.

We will now proceed to describe one or two typical examples
of this group. The first family, the Buprestide, is known by
the short serrated antenne, the hinder angles of the thorax,
which are not produced backward into spines, and by the mauner
in which the prothorax sits so closely against the base of the
elytra that there is no power of leaping. Thus, in one sense,
they have no right to be ranked among the Skipjacks or Click
Beetles, except as Skipjacks that cannot skip, and Click Beetles

128 INSECTS AT HOME.

that cannot click. The body is always hard, rigid, and metallic
in its colouring. In England, our species of Buprestide are
comparatively small; but many exotic species, especially those
of South America, are of very large size, and absolutely gor-
geous in colour, their bodies having every shade of scarlet,
blue, purple, gold, and copper, and their surfaces being in very
many cases polished like burnished metal.

I may here mention that the word Buprestis is of Greek
origin, and signifies ‘ ox-swelling.’ The name was given by the
earlier naturalists to a sort of Beetle which, according to
popular ideas, was eaten by cattle together with the grass, and
caused their bodies to swell to such an extent that the animals
died. The name has for many years been applied to this
family of Beetles, and, in default of a better, has been re-
tained. I need scarcely remark that a banquet on green clover
is quite sufficient to cause an ox to swell and perhaps die, with-
out the addition of any Beetle whatever.

Of these insects our example will be Agrilus biguttatus,
which is represented on Woodcut XIII. Fig. 4. In the genus
Agrilus the body is cylindrical, the thorax is squared, and the
basal joint of the antenne is very short.

This is a lovely insect, and it is a great pity that its beauti-
ful colour cannot be properly indicated by black and white.
The colour of the upper surface is brilliant-blue or green, with
a bronzed gloss, and towards the apex of each elytron, and close
to the suture, is a cream-coloured spot covered with thick but
short hair. The whole of the upper surface is rendered richer
in its colouring by the way in which it is broken up by wrinkles
and punctures on the head and thorax, and profuse granulation
on the elytra. Beneath, it is also blue or green, with the excep-
tion of several pure white down-covered spots on the sides.
The legs are of the same colour as the elytra.

Although this is not a very common species, it is at all
events not one of our rarities, and is one of the many beautiful
British Beetles which are to be captured in Darenth wood. This
is the largest of the British Buprestide, and is the best repre- —
sentation of its gorgeous exotic relations. It flies well, and
can be taken on the wing as well as by the sweep-net. As for
the hand, it has scarcely a chance against this lovely but pro-
voking Beetle, which takes alarm at the least movement of ite

THE ELATER. 129

intended captor, folds its limbs and antenne closely to its body,
and falls to the ground, where search is almost useless, its
small green body harmonising so well with the colour of the
herbage.

At Fig. f on the same woodcut the larva of this insect is
shown, rather magnified, though not so much as the Beetle
itself. In its larval stage of existence the insect lives in dead
or decaying trees, usually just under the bark. The present
- species prefers the oak, and burrows under the bark of the
old oak-stumps that are left by the woodcutters after they have
felled the trees. When the larve are full-fed they make their
cells between the bark and the tree itself, and, like many other
brightly-coloured Beetles, remain in the pupal cell for some
time after they have thrown off the pupal envelope, so that the
integuments of the body may gain their full hardness before
the insect moves into the open air.

Passine by the family of the Eucnemide, which, like that of
the Buprestide, has the prothorax fitting so closely against
the base of the elytra that the insect cannot leap, we come to
the typical genus, of which our exampie is later sanguineus,
drawn on Woodcut XIII. Fig. 5. In this family the antenne are
long, and inserted just in front of the eyes, which are large and
round. The two hinder angles of the thorax are produced into
spines pointing backwards, and the mucro is able to move freely
in the cavity into which it fits, in consequence of the distance
between the base of the elytra and the thorax. In this genus
the tarsi are bristly, the joints becoming gradually smaller, the
body is flattened, and the sides of the thorax are not widened.
The name Elater is Greek, and signifies a ‘striker’ or ‘hurler,’ the
name being given to the insect in consequence of its power of
hurling itself into the air.

The ground colour of the present species is black, but it is
covered with brown-black or red-brown down, the thorax being
rather convex, punctured, and having a short and shallow
furrow behind. The elytra are of a more decided hue, being

blood-red (whence the specific name, sanguineus), and are
striated and punctured. It is not a very common insect, but
may be found in woods. I have taken it in a copse on tke
Wiltshire downs.

K

130 INSECTS AT HOME.

Gn Woodeut XIII. Fig. e, is drawn the larva of this species,
which some of my readers will probably recognise as the WIRE-
worm. The fact is, there are many Wire-worms, the larve of
several species of Skipjack Beetles being called by this con-
venient name. They are termed Wire-worms for two reasons—
first, because they are long and narrow, seeming to be drawn
out, as it were, like wire; and, secondly, because they are
tough and hard-skinned, so that a roller passing over them
does them no manner of harm, but only squeezes them into the
soil, as if they were so many pieces of wire.

Some of these larve commit terrible ravages among the crops,
feeding upon the roots, and so remaining themselves hidden
while their ravenous jaws are destroying the very life of the
plants. There are few things which uritate an agriculturist
more than such a foe as this. He makes up his mind to the
caterpillar, the turnip-fly, the snail, and other creatures which
devour the plant itself. They at least can be seen while
eating, however closely they may conceal themselves at other
times, and the amount of food which they take is proportionate
to the mischief which they do. But the Wire-worm wastes and
eats in concealment, and, while it only eats one-tenth the
amount of that consumed by a caterpillar of equal size, destroys
ten times the number of plants. Various projects have been
set on foot for extirpating the Wire-worm, but I hear of no
plan that has succeeded except that provided by Nature,
namely, the fondness of certain birds for the Wire-worm. Mr.
Westwood mentions that even pheasants are useful to the
farmer in this respect, their crops having been found stuffed
with Wire-worms. ‘There are very few plants or flowers which
this voracious insect will not attack, and the gardener as well
as the farmer is therefore interested in the Skipjack Beetles
and their progeny.

The mole is a great eater of Wire-worms, as it finds them
near the surface, and can take them while making the super-
ficial burrows which it often excavates within an inch or two
of the surface of the ground. It is stated that this destruc-
tive larva remains five years in the ground before assuming the
pupal stage, so that we ought to encourage as far as possible
2very creature which assists in keeping down its numbers.

THE CAMPYLUS. T3L

Ovr last example of these insects is that which is repre-’
sented on Woodcut XIV. Fig. 1, and is known by the name of
Campylus linearis.

As the reader may see by reference to the figure, this insect
is very unlike any of the Beetles of this group which have
been already described. The head projects boldly from the
thorax, and the eyes are very large. The hinder angles of the

1. Campylus linearis. 2. Telephorus fuscus. 8. Clerus formicarius. 4. Anobium
striatum. 5. Mezium sulcatum. a. Mezium, side view. 6. Mezium, antenna. c, Ano-
bium, antenna. d, Anobium, larva. e. Clerus, larva. f. Telephorus, larva.

thorax are rather elevated, sharp, and bent outwardly. The
body is long and slender, a fact which has gained for the insect
the specific title of linearis. The generic title Campylus is of
Greek origin, the word signifying a peculiar staff; and the
name has been chosen on account of the slender, stick-lke
form of the insect.

This is an extremely variable species in point of colour,

K 2

132 INSECTS AT HOME.

the female being very remarkable in this respect. Red, however,
is the leading colour, and the average hues of the insect may
be described as follows :—The head is black and deeply pune-
tured, and the thorax has a deep furrow along the centre,
and a transverse pit or ‘impression’ a little behind the middle.
Its colour is brick-red, and in many specimens there is a black
spot on the centre, while in others the same part is brown.
The elytra are rather more convex in the female than in the
opposite sex, and are covered with striz and punctures. Their
colour is somewhat the same as that of the thorax, but rather
paler, though in many examples, especially among the females,
the whole elytra are yellowish-brown except the margin, which
retains the ordinary brick-red colour.

The insect is a plentiful one, especially in certain years. It
is best taken by means of the sweep-net, which should be used
along the sides of hedges, in copses, and similar localities. It
is the only British example of its genus.

CHAPTER IX.

MALACODERMI.

In this group of Beetles are gathered together a number of
Beetles differing much from each other in many points, but
agreeing in the one characteristic which has gained for them
the name of MaLacoprri, or Soft-skinned Beetles. In these
insects the exterior of the body, instead of being quite hard
and strong, as is the case with those Beetles which we have
examined, is soft and flexible, and generally covered with a
very short and delicate down.

We begin our notice of these Beetles with the family of the
Lampyride, of which only one species inhabits England, namely,
the well-known Giow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca). In this
family, the female possesses neither wings nor elytra, the head
is concealed under the large and rounded prothorax, and
both sexes have the power of emitting a phosphorescent light,
the lamp of the female being very much brighter than that of
her mate.

This, almost our sole representative of the exotic light-giving
insects, is fortunately very plentiful in this country, and may
be seen abundantly in sheltered spots, preferring those which
are slightly damp. It is very abundant in Kent, and in the
summer evenings the green-blue lamp of the Glow-worm may
be seen shining amid the leaves. If examined in the dark, the
light is seen to proceed from the three last segments of the
body, the under side of which emits the light in a wavering,
uncertain sort of way, the fact of being handled seeming to
alarm the insect and cause it to retain the light-giving power.
Sometimes, indeed, it puts out its lamp altogether when
handled, the light being evidently under the control of the in-
sect. It is said, however, that if a Glow-worm be placed in
oxygen gas the light is greatly intensified, and the Beetle

134 INSECTS AT HOME.

seems unable or unwilling to retain it. Gilbert White, in his
‘Selborne,’ remarks that the Glow-worms put out their lamps
between eleven and twelve at night, and shone no more for the
rest of the night.

Both sexes of the Glow-worm are represented on Plate VI.,
the male at Fig. 1, and the female on his right at Fig. 2. The
dissimilarity between the sexes is very strongly marked, the
female being entirely wingless, while the male has large wings,
and elytra which cover the whole of the body. It is popularly
thought that the male does not possess the light-giving power ;
but this is a mistake, as every practical entomologist must
know. Still, though the male does possess a lamp, it is very
much smaller and feebler than that of the female, and, instead
of a mass of phosphorescence, throwing a radiance of some
inches in extent, it is nothing more than two tiny spots of light,
no larger than minnikin pins’ heads. I once took a male
Glow-worm on the wing with his lamps lighted.

As to the object of the light, it is a matter of very great
uncertainty. ‘The obvious solution of the problem is to say
that the light is intended to guide the male to his mate ; and
if the naturalist be a classical scholar, he will be sure to make
an allusion to Hero and Leander—

The chilling night-dews fall—away, retire ;
.. For see, the Glow-worm lights her amorous fire!
‘. Thus, ere night’s veil had half obscured the sky,
The impatient damsel hangs her lamp on high:
True to the signal, by love’s meteor led,
Leander hastened to his Hero’s bed.

These lines, even though written by so acute a naturalist as
Gilbert White, are more poetical than true. I cannot of course
say that the light of the female may not act as a guide to her
mate, but I cannot see that this is the object of the light.
There are plenty of night-flying insects which manage to find
their mates in the dark without the use of any such aid, being
attracted to them by scent rather than sight; and, even if the
light emitted by the female Glow-worm be intended for such
a purpose, that of the male cannot be of the slightest use either
to him or to the mate whom he is seeking.

Moreover, not only the perfect insects, but the pup, the
larvee, and even the eggs are slightly luminous, so that in these

ee

THE GLOW-WORM. 135

eases the light evidently cannot act as a guide. I am inclined
to believe that no utilitarian theory will account for this sin-
cular development of light from a living insect, and that the
phosphorescence was given to it for the same reason that the
butterfly’s wing glows with many-coloured plumage, and the
rose is dowered with softly-tinted petals and sweet perfume.

This insect is doubly interesting to the entomologist. In
the first place, it isa British light-producer ; and in the second,
its life in the larval state is a very valuable one to the agricul-
turist. It feeds on snails, attacking and devouring them while
still alive, their shells being no protection to the luckless mol
luscs. The structure of this larva is rather remarkable. In
the first place, it bears a singularly close resemblance to the
perfect female insect; and in the next, it is furnished with a
peculiar apparatus at the end of the tail, which serves a double
purpose, primarily of assisting in locomotion, and secondarily
acting as a brush, by which the slime of the snail can be swept
from its body. In some works on entomology, this organ has
been erroneously drawn like a shaving-brush cut off square at
the end, whereas it consists of some seven or eight projections
from the end of the body, which can be protruded or with-
drawn at will. Almost as soon as the snails begin to come out
from the hiding-places in which they have lain dormant
through the winter, the Glow-worm larva is ready to attack
them, and thus plays its part in reducing the number of snails
that would have been produced by those which it kills, and so
helping to preserve the balance of Nature.

It remains in the larval state until April or May, according
to the warmth of the weather, and then changes into a pupa,
the male and female forms being then very distinct, as the
former exhibits the rudiments of the elytra, while the latter
remains as wingless as in the larval state. After the lapse of
a fortnight or a little more, the pupal envelope bursts, and the
perfect Beetle makes its appearance. The generic name of

Lampyris is formed from two Greek words, signifying ‘ shining-
tail.’

Iy the little Beetle known by the name of Drilus flavescens,
we have another of the many unknown benefactors of tha
agriculturist and gardeners. -A portrait of this insect is given

136 INSECTS AT HOME.

on Woodcut XV*. Fig. 4, enlarged about two and a half dia-
meters, so as to show the peculiarities of its structure.

The genus is distinguished by several points of structure.
The antenne of the male are beautifully and deeply pectinated,
the pectination being on the inner side only of thé antenne.
The head projects boldly from the thorax, thus differing greatly
from the preceding insect, and the ends of the mandibles are
two-notched. The body is rather long and moderately convex.
The ground colour of this insect is black, but when it is in
good condition, it is thickly covered with yellowish-grey
down, which has a sort of rich velvet-like aspect. The elytra
are also covered with down, and are very soft.

This description applies only to the male Beetle, the female
being so utterly unlike her mate, that few persons, even if
they had some acquaintance with entomology, would believe
her to be the female of the pretty little Beetle which has just
been described. Indeed, for a long time the two sexes were
regarded as two distinct insects, belonging even to different
genera, the male retaining the name of Drilus, and the female
being described under the title of Cochleoctonus vorax. The
name was appropriate enough, inasmuch as the word Cochleoc-
tonus signifies ‘snail-killer, and the specific name voraw was
given in allusion to its voracity.

It is really no wonder that creatures so different in appear-
ance should be looked upon as two distinct insects. In the
first place, the female is inordinately larger than her mate,
who looks by her side—to borrow Reaumur’s simile—like a
hare standing by a cow. A figure of the female is given on
Woodent XV*. Fig. 3, where she is represented of the natural
size, i.e. about three-quarters of an inch in length. Now, the
male Drilus seldom exceeds one-quarter of an inch in length,
and often is below that measurement. Like the female glow-
worm, she is entirely wingless, but is more cylindric than
that insect, and the body is narrowed in front. The colour is

reddish-yellow, and each segment has two dark patches on the -

upper side. Altogether, she is not a pretty insect—-indeed,
she may almost be called ugly; and how the slender, elegant
little male finds any attraction in such a huge, awkward-look-
ing mate, does certainly seem wonderful.

The larva is very much like the female, but has a row of

se"

SOLDIERS AND SAILORS. 137

conical fleshy lobes along the sides, and two rows of hairy
bunches on its back. At the end of the tail is a forked lobe,
which, like the similar part of the glow-worm larva, is used as
a means of locomotion. It is by these lobes and bunches that
the larva is enabled to force its way into the snails on which it
feeds. This larva is but seldom seen, as it lives throughout its
eutire larval and pupal existence within the shell of the snail,
and the skin, which it casts preparatory to changing into the
pupal state, exactly fills up the entrance of the shell.

The male Beetle is widely spread over England, but is
seldom captured except by skilled insect-hunters, while the
female is so rare that many entomologists, who have taken the
male Drilus repeatedly, have never even seen the female.

The following account of the capture of one of these Beetles
is given by Mr. E. C. Rye :—‘I once took, at the base of Shak-
speare’s Cliff, a full-grown female larva, running rapidly in the
hot sunshine among snail-shells. It was more than half an
inch long; flat, narrow, but rather widening behind; with a
flat head, armed with two sharp and rather widely-separated
mandibles; six moderately long anterior legs, ten thin tubercles
on each side of the fourth and following segments, gradually
vetting longer, and clothed with stout brown bristles ; and two
longer elevated protuberances, also set with long hairs on the
upper side, with an oval elongation beneath, on the last seg-
ment. It was nearly the colour of raw sienna, and had a
widening row of black spots on each side, beginning on the
thorax.’

There is but one British species of this genus.

Tue family of the Telephoridz comes next in order. These
insects have long and very soft elytra, which often do not cover
the whole of the abdomen. The head is not hidden under the
thorax, and both the antennz and the palpi are slender. The
various species are very plentiful, especially on the flowers of
umbelliferous plants, and are popularly known as Soldiers and
Sailors—the red species being called by the former name, and
the blue species by the latter.

One of these Beetles, called Telephorus fuscus, is shown on
Woodcut XIV. Fig. 2. In this genus the elytra reach to th»
end of the abdomen, and the thorax is not notched. Soft-

138 INSECTS AT HOME.

bodied as are these Beetles, they are among the most quarrel-
some of insects, and fight to the death on the least provoca-
tion. Indeed, it has long been the custom for boys to catch
these Beetles, and set them fighting with each other. There
is not the least difficulty in this, inasmuch as the Beetle is as
ready for battle as a game-cock, and, not content with fighting
to the death, eats its vanquished antagonist after killing it.
The popular idea among boys used to be, that a soldier and a
sailor must be pitted against each other; but this is not the
case, for these Beetles will fight and devour each other without
the least’ reference to species or even to sex, so that a soldier
male and female will fight as fiercely as if they were two males
of different species.

They are not active insects, and though they can fly well,
and use their wings freely, are slow of progress, and can be
taken by hand while in the air. The larva of the Telephorus
is represented on Woodcut XIV. Fig. f. Like the perfect
insect, it is carnivorous, feeding generally upon earth-worms,
but having no scruple in devouring its own kind. These
larvee may be found among grass and moss during the earlier
months of the year, after the severe frosts have ceased. They
pass the whole of the winter in the larval state, and assume the
pupal condition about April or May, according to the warmth
of the season. Twenty-two species of Telephonis are indigenous
to England.

Tue family of the Cleride are mostly beautiful insects, and,
although they are not large, some of them may rank among
our prettiest Beetles. The body is oblong, hard, and covered
with down, and the head and thorax are not as wide as the
elytra. The genus Clerus is known by several points of struc-
ture. The basal joint of the tarsus is very minute, the last
joint of the labial palpi is hatchet-shaped, and the last joint
of the antenne is large, rounded, and furnished with a curious
projecting point directed inwards.

In their larval state these Beetles are carnivorous and para-
sitic on other insects. We shall take two examples of this
pretty genus, the first of which is Clerus formicarius, which is
shown on Woodeut XIV. Fig. 3. The head of this insect is
black, and the thorax brick-red, the front margin being black.

THE HIVE BEETLE. 139

The elytra are very boldly coloured, their ground hue being
black crossed by two snow-white bands, shaped as seen in the
illustration, and their base is of the same colour as the thorax.
The larva, which is shown at Fig. e, is found under the bark of
trees, not to eat the wood or bark, but to destroy and feed upon
the larvze of wood-boring Beetles. Its colour is dark-pink,
spotted in front. The specific name of formicarius is given
to this Beetle because it has an ant-like aspect.

Another species, Clerus apiarius, is represented on Wood-
cut XV*. Fig. 2. This is very differently coloured from the
preceding species. It has the head and thorax deep-blue, and
the elytra red, crossed with three blue bands. The larva of
this insect is parasitic on bees, preferring the comb of the hive-
bee, in which it is very mischievous, devouring not only one
larva, as is generally the case with such parasites, but several
in succession, creeping for the purpose from one cell to the
other. We may call it the Hive Brer.e.

The name of Clerus was given by Aristotle, in his ‘History of
Animals,’ to a destructive insect that did much harm in bee-
hives, and it has therefore been appropriated to these Beetles.
It is very likely, however, that the Clerus of Aristotle was
really the larva of the Honey-moth (Galleria), too familiar to
all bee-keepers. This is the more likely, because the Honey-
moth is very common, and the Beetle is always a scarce insect.
There is another species, Clerus alvearius, which inhabits the
nests of solitary bees, such as those belonging to the genera
Osmia and Megachile. All the species form cocoons when they
are about to pass into the pupal state; and after they have
attained their perfect form, they can walk boldly into the open
air, even the stings of the hive-bee being of no avail against
the hard armour of the Beetle.

Tue reader will remember that the larva of the first example
of the Cleride feeds on those of certain wood-boring Beetles.
We now come to one of the insects which furnishes unwilling
nourishment to the Clerus. It is represented on Woodcut XIV.
Fig. 4, and is called Anobium striatum. This Beetle belongs
to the family of the Ptinide, a group of small and very de-
structive Beetles. They are cylindrical in shape, covered with
very short down, and are able to draw their heads completely

140 INSECTS AT HOME.

under the overhanging thorax. Their legs can be packed
closely to the body, and the tarsi have five joints. The genus
Anobium, of which there are eleven British species, has the
three last joints of the antenne rather longer than the others,
and the last joint egg-shaped.

The various species of this genus work terrible havoc among
furniture, in which they produce the defect that is popularly
known by the name of ‘worm-eaten.’ They are not in the
least particular as to their diet, and will devour almost any
kind of food. They seem to have a special appetite for weapons
and implements made by savages, as I know to my proper
cost, sundry Kaffir articles being absolutely riddled with the
burrows of these tiny Beetles, and not to be handled without
pouring out a shower of yellow dust, caused by the ravages of
the larva. The most complete wreck which they made was
that of a New Guinea bow, which was channelled from end to
end by them, and in many places they had left scarcely any-
thing but a very thin shell of wood.

In such eases I have but one remedy, namely, injecting into
the holes spirits of wine in which corrosive sublimate has been
dissolved. This is not so tedious a business as it may seem to
be, as the spirit will often find its way from one hole to another,
so that, if half a dozen holes be judiciously selected, the poison
will penetrate the whole piece of wood, kill all the insect in-
habitants, and render it for ever impervious to their attack.
The above-mentioned bow cost me but little trouble. I first
shook out the greater part of the yellow powder, and then,
placing the bow perpendicularly, injected the spirit into several
holes at the upper end. The effect was magical. The little
Beetles came out of the holes in all directions, and not one
survived the touch of the poisoned spirit; many of them,
indeed, dying before they could force themselves completely
out of the holes. They will also eat skins and any dried
animal substance; and I have found a neglected box of moths
completely eaten by these voracious insects.

The present species is rather convex, and blackish-brown in
eolour. The thorax is rather narrowed behind, and on each
side of the hinder margin are two pits. The elytia are boldly
striated, each stria being seen, when examined with the aid of
a lens, to consist of a number of punctures placed in regular

THE DEATH-WATCH. 141

rows. It is a very common species. The larva of this de-
structive insect is drawn, much magnified, at Fig. d, and the
antenna at c.

The old popular terror respecting the Death-watch is well-
known, a mysterious ticking being heard in the dead of night,
which was—and is still—supposed to presage the approaching
death of some one in the house. The ticking of the Death
watch is, in fact, the call of the Anobium to its mate, and, as
the insect is always found in old wood, it is very evident why
the Death-watch is always heard in old houses. There is, by
the way, a species of cockroach which acts in a similar manner,
and generally disports itself on board ship, where the sailors
know it by the name of Drummer.

Our last example of this group is represented on Woodcut
XIV. Figs. 5 and a, the latter showing the profile of the
insect, whose name is Meziwm sulcatum. There are three
insects very closely resembling each other, belonging respec-
tively to the genera Mezium, Gibbium, and Niptus, each being
the sole British representative of its genus. The two former
are almost exactly alike, but can be distinguished by look-
ing at the thorax with a lens, the difference being that
in Gibbium the thorax is smooth, whereas in Mezium it is
covered with longitudinal furrows, whence the name sulcatwm,
or * furrowed.’

To my mind, these are the oddest-looking Beetles that we
nave in England, and, indeed, at first sight they much more
resemble spiders than Beetles. Their bodies are globular, and
covered with pale golden down of a silky or satiny lustre.
When the insect is placed under a moderate microscopic power
—say about thirty diameters—it is seen to be clothed with a
double set of hairs, i.e. a thin, soft down lying flat to the
body with the points of the hairs directed backwards, and mixed
with a quantity of stiff and rather curved bristles, set in regular
rows over the surface. In those places where the Beetle has
been roughly handled, both the down and the bristles fall off,
showing the ground colour of the elytra beneath, which is a
dark chocolate-brown. These Beetles have no wings, and the
head is quite under the thorax, which, being globular and
apparently bearing the antenne, is often mistaken for the read

142 INSECTS AT HOME.

itself. The relative position of the head and thorax can be
seen by reference to Fig. a. There are no wings.

The Mezium can pence be found in the cupboards and
other recesses of old houses, and, indeed, all three Beetles may
be captured on the same premises. A very good trap for them
is a deep and steep-sided basin, with a little moist sugar at the
bottom, and a stick or two laid against the sides by way of
a ladder. The Mezium is very fond of sugar, gets up the
ladder, lets itself tumble into the sugar, and then cannot get
out again, not being able to cling to the polished sides of the
basin. It is thought by many entomologists, that neither of
these Beetles is indigenous, but that all three have been im-
ported from abroad.

CHAPTER X.

HETEROMERA.

THis is a very important section of the Coleoptera, em-
bracing many of our most familiar Beetles, though in England
the number of Heteromerous Beetles is very small when com-
pared with the list of exotic insects. The name Heteromera is
compounded of two Greek words, signifying ‘ unequal-jointed,’
and is applied to these Beetles because they all have five joints in
the tarsi of the first and intermediate pairs of legs, and only
four joints in those of the hinder pair. As has been mentioned
in connection with other four-jointed tarsi, the full number of
five joints is in reality present, but the basal joint is very long,
and in it is merged the missing joint; so that the joint is in
reality not absent, but so small as to escape ordinary ob-
servation.

The reader may object that many other Beetles are possessed
of this characteristic. So they are, but, nevertheless, the
distinction is a good one. In the first place, the missing joint
in other Beetles is merged in the last and not in the basal
joint; in the next place, the true Heteromera have the eyes
kidney-shaped, and not projecting far from the head; the
antenne are ‘moniliform,’ i.e. looking like a row of beads on a
string, and the mandibles are notched at their tips.

The first family of this section is named Blaptide, and its
members are known by the ‘securiform,’ or hatchet-shaped last
joint of the maxillary palpi, and the long femora of the hind
legs. The wings are not developed, and the elytra are soldered
together. In England we only have one genus of this family,
containing three species. That which we will take as our type
is the Cuurcnyarp Brsrix (Blaps mortisaga), which is repre-
sented on Woodcut XV. Fig. 1, the antenna being shown at
Fig. d, below the insect. All the species belonging to this

144 INSECTS AT HOME.

genus are—to use a word which I do not like to apply to
insects—ugly. They are dull, dead-black in colour, are won-
derfully sluggish, crawling slowly as if afflicted with rheum-
atism, and always frequenting damp, dark, and dismal places.
Being often found in the murkiest crannies of cellars, they have
gained the popular and appropriate title of CuLLar BExrizs.

XV

1. Blaps mortisaga. 2. Diaperis boleti. 3. Tenebrio molitor. 4. Melandrya caraboides.
5. Orchesia undulata. a. Blaps, larva. b. Melandrya, larva. c. Tenebrio, larva.
d. Blaps, antenna. e. Diaperis, antenna, f. Tenebrio, antenna. g. Melandrya, antenna,
h. Orchesia, antenna,

The species represented in the illustration may be recognised
by the*bold puncturing and contracted base of the thorax, and
the lengthened projection at the apex of the elytra. It is not
so generally plentiful as the second species, Blaps mucronata,
being seldom found in the southern parts of England. Still
these species are very similar in their habits. They are
possessed of a very nauseous odour, suggestive of dwelling

KILLING BEETLES. 145

among the graves. Yet, unpleasant as these Beetles may be,
we are informed that an Egyptian species, Blaps sulcata, is
employed as a remedy for ear-ache, and a cure for the sting of
the scorpion; while the women are in the habit of seeking and
eating it, in order to produce the fatness which is thought in
the East to be an essential point in female beauty.

This Beetle is singularly tenacious of life, having been
known to revive after having been immersed in spirits of wine
for a whole night. However, it cannot withstand boiling
water, and instantaneously dies when immersed in it. The
Beetle-hunter will always find that boiling water affords the
most merciful way of killing the larger Beetles. As all the
nervous system runs along the under side of the body, the
Beetle should be plunged into the water with its legs down-
wards, and the consequence is that the action of the heat
instantly destroys both sensation and life. Care must, how-
ever, be taken that the water is absolutely boiling, and the
Beetle must not be allowed to remain in it, or it will fall to
pieces. The best way is to seize the insect by a pair of forceps,
to plunge it quickly into the water, and then to withdraw it.

The larva of the Blaps is represented on Woodcut XV. Fig.
a, and is very much like the common meal-worm.

Passtna over several families, we come to the Diaperide,
which are smooth, shining, and brightly-coloured. In general
form and colour they very much resemble the Chrysomelidz
(which will be presently described), but may be at once distin-
guished from them by the tarsi of the first pair of legs having
five joints, whereas the Chrysomelide have only four visible
joints to these members.

The typical genus, from which our example is taken, is
distinguished by the basal joint of the hind tarsi, which is
short, whereas it is long in the other genera. The pretty little
Diaperis boleti is shown on Woodcut XV. Fig. 2,and one of its
antenne at Fig.e. This is a boldly-coloured insect, its body
being shining-black, crossed on the elytra by two yellow bands,
one near the base of the elytra, and the other rather beyond
the middle. It derives its specific name from the fact that in
the larval state it is a fungus-eater, feeding on several of the
boleti which grow on the trunks of trees. It is remarkable for

L

146 INSECTS AT HOME.

possessing no eyes. Before it changes into the perfect form it
scoops for itself a cell, and then lines it with silk, so as to form
it intoacocxn. This is one of the very rarest British insects,
and is the only species of its genus.

Tue family of the Tenebrionidze only contains one genus,
and that genus but two British species. These Beetles possess
large wings, and are capable of flight, the elytra not being
soldered together as is the case with the Blaptide. The thorax
is squared, and its base is as wide as the base of the elytra.

On Woodcut XV. Fig. 3 is drawn the typical British species,
Tenebrio molitor, and at Fig. f on the same woodcut is one of
the antennz. The colour of this Beetle is shining blackish-
brown, and the body is rather flat and very thickly punctured.
Each of the elytra has one very short stria next to the
scutellum, and eight others reaching to the apex. It lives in
corn-mills, flour-stores, bakehouses, and similar localities, and
in consequence is often called the Fiour Breertz. The cream-
coloured larva of this insect is shown on the same illustration,
Fig. c. It is popularly known by the name of Mrst-worm,
under which title it is largely supplied to bird-fanciers, who
find that many of their feathered pets will not live unless they
have a constant supply of insect food, such as is afforded by the
Meal-worm, which, in consequence of the perpetual warmth of
its home, breeds throughout the year. From April to June is,
however, the best time to find the perfect insect.

The second species, Tenebrio obscurus, is quite as plentiful,
and so much resembles its congener, that the two are generally
confounded together. The latter insect can, however, be dis-
tinguished by its colour, which is dull pitchy-black and not
shining, and by a number of faint tubercles which stud the
interstices between the strie. The larva of this species is pale-
brown instead of cream-colour. Many entomologists think
that neither of these insects is indigenous, but that they were
both introduced in cargoes of corn or flour.

Tur next family in our list is that of the Meiandryade.
These Beetles have small antenne, and enormously-developed
maxillary palpi, the last joint especially, not only being long but
very broad. The head is bent down, and sometimes sunk ip

ORCHESIA, OR ‘ JUMPER.’ 147

the thorax nearly to the eyes, so that it cannot be seen from
above.

Our first example of this family is Orchesia undulata, which
is shown on Woodcut XV. Fig. 5. This genus can be known
by the extraordinary length of the spines of the hinder tibia,
and the antenne gradually thickening to the tip, as is seen at

1, Sitaris humeralis. 2. Clerus apiarius, 3. Drilus flavescens, female. 4. Drilus
flavescens, male. 5. Rhipiphorus paradoxus, a. Balaninus nucum, head. 6. Rhipipho-
rus, larva. c. Rhipiphorus, antenna, male. d, Rhipiphorus, antenna, female, e. Meloé,

"young larva, magnified.

Fig. h. The word Orchesia signifies ‘jumper,’ and is applied to
these Beetles because they possess the power of leaping, a power
which is exercised in rather a ludicrous way when they are turned
out of their homes, skipping and popping about like so many
sandhoppers. The head and thorax of this species are rust-red,
and on the thorax are two black arches, under each of which is
a black dot. The colour of the elytra is yellower than that of
L2

148 INSECTS AT HOME.

the thorax, and they are crossed with four black belts, as shown
in the figure.

These beautiful little insects live in boleti and rotten wood.
Of another species, Orchesia micans, Mr. Curtis writes as
follows :—‘I once found this insect in abundance beneath
moist boleti attached to the trunks cf elm-trees in Norfolk, in
the month of June; and, dropping as soon as the boletus was
touched, it became necessary to hold a net beneath, in which
they fell and skipped about like shrimps.’ It is probable that
the very long spines of the hinder tibiz afford the means by
which these insects leap. The third, and last British species of
this genus is Orchesia minor.

Our next example, Melandrya caraboides, is drawn on
Woodeut XV. Fig. 4. In this genus the spines of the hinder
tibiz are not lengthened as in Orchesia; the body is long,
rather flattened, and slightly narrowed in front. The maxillary
palpi have the last joint large and egg-shaped, horny on the
outside and fleshy on the inside. The antenna is shown at
Fic. g.

The colour of this insect is shining blackish-blue, and the
body is very flat. The larva, which is shown at Fig. 6, burrows
in old willow-trees, and, by breaking them up, both the larva
and perfect Beetle can be obtained at the proper time of yea.
It is scarcely possible to secure the insect without breaking up
the stump, as it usually lives in the burrows made by the larvee,
and retreats into them at the least indication of danger.
Sometimes, however, it can be obtained by suddenly tearing off
the bark, taking care to place under it a net or sheet of paper,
as the Beetles have a habit of tucking up their legs and falling
to the ground, when they have no burrows into which they can
run. They are winged, and can fly well.

These are not plentiful insects, but the present species is»
tolerably common, and can be found from March to June.
There are only two British species of this genus.

Tux family of the Pyrochroide is rendered familiar to us by
means of the well-known CarpinaL BrrerLte (Pyrochroa coc-
cinea), so called on account of its beautiful scarlet colour.
The insect is represented on Woodcut XVI. Fig. 1.

CARDINAL BEETLE. 149

The Pyrochroide are known by the distinct neck, the rounded
thorax, and the form of the antennz, which in the males are
boldly toothed, as may be seen at Fig. d. ‘The mandibles are
deeply notched at the tips, the maxillary palpi have the last
joint rather axe-shaped, and the elytra are long, wide, and
cover the whole of the abdomen. The typical genus has the

1. Pyrochroa coccinea. 2. Anaspis ruficollis. 3. Lytta vesicatoria. 4, Bruchus rufi-
manus. 5. Platyrhinus latirostris. a. Pyrochroa, larva. 6. Platyrhinus, larva.
¢. Bruchus, larva. d. Pyrochroa, antenna. e. Lytta, antenna. Jf. Bruchus, antenna,
g. Platyrhinus, antenna. h, Anaspis, antenna. i. Lytta, claws, . Platyrhinus, tarsus.

antenne longer than the head and thorax, end very boldly
‘pectinated,’ or comb-like, in the males, in which sex the eyes
are distant from each other. ‘ Pectination’ is nothing more
than a development of ‘ serration,’ or saw-like form, each of the
joints being drawn out into a long and narrow tooth, sometimes
on one side only, but often on both sides. The latter form of
pectination is conspicuously shown in many moths, as we shall
see when we come to treat of these insects.

150 INSECTS AT HOME.

The forehead of the Cardinal Beetle is black, and there is 3
curved rust-red mark between the eyes. The thorax and elytra
are rich scarlet, intensified by a short velvety down with which
the surface is covered. This insect is as plentiful as it is
handsome, and it may be captured throughout the summer.
It is often one of the inmates of the sweeping-net, after that
implement has been used among the flowers of hedgerows.
The larva is shown at Fig. a of Woodcut XV. It is whitish in
colour, and inhabits decaying willows.

There are two other species of this genus, one of which,
Pyrochroa rwbens, much resembles the preceding insect, but
may be distinguished by its head, which is entirely black, and
by the scutellum, which is black instead of red.

Or the family of the Mordellide we shall take two ex-
amples. These are very odd-looking Beetles, and can at once
be detected. The front part of the body is very large and
deep, and the body rapidly slopes away towards the tail, where
it ends almost ina point. The head is bent down, and, when
the insect is alarmed, is tucked under the thorax, so that it is
hardly visible. The first pair of legs are the shortest, then
come the middle pair, the hinder pair being the longest of all.
These Beetles are plentiful in the summer, and may be found in
any numbers on the flowers of umbellifere. The guelder rose
is also a favourite flower of theirs. In order to take them, the
best plan is to put the net under the flowers, and then tap the
flower-stem, when the insects will loosen their hold and fall
into the net. They are very active creatures, and in many in-
stances it is a good plan to make a swift, sweeping blow at the
flower, so as to cut it off, and leave it, together with its insect in-
habitants, in the net.

Our first example is Anaspis ruficollis, which is shown on
Woodcut XVI. Fig. 2. In this genus the end of the abdomen
does not end ina pointed projection, or ‘style,’ and there is
a distinct scutellum; the tarsi of the first and middle pairs
of legs have the last joint but one with two lobes, and the
hinder tibize have long spurs at their tips. The present species
is black, but covered with a short dusky down, the thorax
taking a warm-yellow tint. The mouth, base of antennz, and
legs are yellowish. This is a tolerably common species, and

THE RHIPIPHORUS. idl

is distributed throughout the whole of Enyland. It is to be
found in flowers.

We now come to a very extraordinary Beetle, named Rhipi-
phorus paradoxcus. A figure of the insect is given on Wood-
eut XV*. Fig. 5. In this genus, of which there is only one
British species, the head is not visible when the insect is viewed
from above, and the antenne are doubly pectinated in the male
and singly in the female. The antennz of the two sexes are
shown on the same woodcut—that of the male at Fig. b and of
the female at Fig.c. The generic name Rhipiphorus is formed
of two Greek words, signifying ‘ fan-bearing,’ and is given to
the Beetle in consequence of the fan-like antennz of the male.
The thorax is much arched, and lengthened behind into a point
that takes the place of the scutellum. The elytra are not
closed throughout their length, but separate at the apex, where
they are narrowed into points, the wings extending beyond their
tips. The colour of the head is black, and so is the middle of
the thorax, the lobe on either side being brick-coloured. \ There
is a bold channel along the middle of the thorax. In the
male insect the elytra are yellowish, changing to black at the
apex, while in the female they are almost entirely black, with
a slight yellew tinge. The abdomen is orange. The female
Beetle is rather larger than the male.

So much for the form and colour of this Beetle, and we will
now go into its singular history.

Until comparatively late days, this insect was one of our very
rarest Beetles, only one or two specimens having been captured,
and nothing known of their food or mode of life, this ignorance
of their transformations being the reason for the specific name
paradoxus, or ‘puzzling.’ Accidentally, however, its true
habitation was discovered, and since that time it cannot be rec-
koned among our rarest insects, though the Beetle-hunter is
always glad to come on specimens either of the larva, the pupa,
or the perfect imsect. It is, in fact, one of the parasitic
Beetles, taking up its abode in wasps’ nests—a very strange
locality, considering its object there, and the terrible weapons
with which its involuntary hosts are armed.

Even after it was known that the Rhipiphorus was parasitic
on the wasp, the insect had still a right to the name paradoxus,

152 INSECTS AT HOME.

for entomologists were undecided as to its food, though they
conjectured that, like many, though not all, parasitic Beetles,
it fed upon wasps or their larva. This question was, however,
completely set at rest by the late Mr. S. Stone, in a series of
experiments on insects that were parasitic on the bees and
wasps. Some of Mr. Stone’s extraordinary achievements with
these insects will be mentioned in connection with the Hymeno-
ptera. In the ‘ Proceedings of the Entomological Society,’ Jan.
2, 1865, Mr. Stone made a series of valuable communications
on this subject, which ought to be given in his own words.
After mentioning that he had previously found the pup and
male and female Beetles, but could not detect a single larva,
he proceeds as follows :—

‘On the 19th I was more fortunate, for, on taking out a nest
of V. vulgaris and proceeding to open the closed-up cells, I
found a larva of the parasite firmly attached to the full-grown
larva of the wasp; the mouth of the former buried in the body
of the latter just below the head; its neck bent over that of
its victim, whose body appeared to be tightly compressed by
that of its destroyer, showing the latter to be possessed of a
considerable amount of muscular power. It was of minute size
when discovered, and appeared to have only very recently
fastened upon its victim; but so voracious was its appetite,
and so rapid its growth, that in the course of the following
forty-eight hours it attained its full size, having consumed
every particle of its prey with the exception of the skin and
mandibles, which, from observations I have since been enabled
to make, these creatures retain in their grasp even after they
have passed into the pupa state. They scarcely appear to cease
eating, except now and then for a minute or so, from the time
they first begin to feed till they have become full-grown. The
larva is a singular-looking one. ‘The head is bent forward
under the body. Between the segments it is more deeply
furrowed than any larva with which I am acquainted. A
longitudinal furrow extends down the back from the head to
the anal extremity, cutting each segment across. The skin,
during life, throughout the whole course of this furrow, is per-
fectly transparent, so that the workings of the internal organs
may be plainly seen. The body of the larva, while alive, has the
appearance of a thin transparent skin filled with minute par-

MR. STONE'S NOTES. 153

ticles of curd. These appearances vanish after death, when the
body becomes dense, and has an appearance of solidity about it
which it had not before. Several pups of the parasite were
found in the nest, as well as examples of the perfect insect. It
also contained a number of cocoons spun by the larve of Ano-
malon Vesparum, with the larve still unchanged inside the
cocoons. ‘

‘Between the above date and September 3, I took out thir-
teen more nests of V. vulgaris, which contained examples of
Rhipiphorus either in the larva, pupa, or perfect state. In one
which had been destroyed by means of gas tar a few days be-
fore I took it out, I was fortunate in discovering a small larva
of Rhipiphorus firmly attached to its victim. Both were dead
and had become partially dried, so that when immersed in
spirits they did not separate, but remained attached just as
they were before death. These are interesting, because in
them may be seen the exact way in which the parasitic larva
fastens on its prey. In another which I took out on Septem-
ber 2, I found, on opening some closed-up cells appropriated to
queens, one larva and one pupa, which differed in nothing that
I could discover from those of Rhipiphorus found in the cells of
workers, except that they were something like double the size ;
in fact, about as much larger as the larve and pupe of queen
wasps are larger than those of workers.

‘Until the present summer I had not met with a specimen
of Rhipiphorus since the year 1859, although I had made dili-
gent search for it every succeeding summer. What had be-
come of it all that time, and how it was that all at once it
made its appearance in such numbers, are questions more easily
asked than answered. Where it occurs it appears to be very
local, for I have never met with it, except in one particular
part of Cokethorpe Park, within a space of ground about four
furlongs in length by two in width. I have searched yearly
for it in nests obtained from other parts of the park and the
surrounding neighbourhood, but always in vain.’

The reader will remember that the female Beetle is, as a
rule, larger than the male. For some years it was taken for
granted that the larvee of the female Beetles fed upon those of
female wasps, i.e. the largest larve in the largest cells, and
thereby obtained their superior development. Mr. Stone, how-

.

154 INSECTS AT HOME.

ever, is disposed to take a different view of the case, as will
be seen from the following statement :—

‘It is certainly not the fact that female Rhipiphori are found
exclusively in female cells of wasps, and males in those of
workers; for I have bred scores upon scores of both males and
females from the cells of workers; nor can I perceive any very
ereat difference in the size of the sexes, although the females
are unquestionably somewhat larger, and much more plump in
appearance, than-the males; still there is nothing approaching
the vast disproportion in size which exists between full-grown
larvee found occupying the cells of queens, and those found in
the cells of workers. The former must produce specimens of
gigantic size.

‘Then there must either be two distinct species, or there
must be a permanently large and small variety, the former
invariably depositing its eggs in the cells of queens, the latter
in those of workers; or, if there is only one species, and no
permanent variety of the insect, it must be that the difference
in size arises solely from the fact, that some larve have been
placed, or by a piece of good luck have placed themselves, in a
situation in which they have met with an abundant supply of
food, thus enabling them to attain the full and proper size,
and so produce Rhipiphorus as it ought to be; while the
others must be looked upon as diminutive examples of the
insect, dwarfed and stunted by the limited and insufficient
supply of food allotted to the larvee from which they were
produced.’

Everyone who has walked in the country, and used his eyes,
must have noticed the well-known O11 Berruns, so called from
their curious habit of ejecting a drop of clear yellowish oil
from the joints of their legs when they are handled. One of
these Beetles, Meloé cicatricosus, is shown on Plate VI., the
male being represented at Fig. 3, and the female at Fig. 4.
The colour of these Beetles is dull, dark indigo-blue, and they
are wingless, slow-moving insects, especially the females, so
that they have no chance of escaping from capture, to which
their very conspicuous shape renders them liable.

The life history of the Oil Beetle is a very curious one. The
female Beetle deposits in little holes in the ground a vast

THE OIL BEETLE, 155

number of the tiniest imaginable yellow eggs, placing several
thousands in each hole. As soon as the eggs are hatched, the
larvee make their way into the open air. They are most ex-
traordinary creatures, and no one who saw the newly-hatched
and the full-grown larva of this Beetle would ever imagine
that they could be the same creature, and in the same stage of
metamorphosis. They are scarcely so large as the semicolon
(;) used in this work, and are long-bodied, furnished with six
long and prehensile legs, and gifted with great activity. A
magnified figure of one of these larva is shown on Woodceut
XV*. Fig. e. As soon as they reach the open air, they climb
the stems of flowers and gain the blossoms, where they lie in
wait. Presently a bee comes to gather honey or pollen, when
the little larva leaves the flower, climbs upon the bee, and
clings to its body with its clasping legs.

The bee, unconscious of its new burden, goes as usual to its
nest, when the larva quits its hold, and remains in the nest.
The parent bee being gone, thinking that everything is right,
the Meloé larva’devours the egg, and then throws off its first
larval form in order to assume another, in which it some-
what resembles the grub of the cockchafer. It now turns its
attention to the food prepared by the bee for its young, and
finds therein just sufficient nutriment to carry it through its
larval condition. One of these larvee, nearly full-fed, is shown
on Plate VI. Fig. 5. The reader will see that it bears not the
least resemblance to the long-bodied, quick-legged larva in the
first stage of growth.

To prepare these insects for the cabinet requires some little
care and patience, especially with the females, for when the crea-
ture dies, the large soft abdomen begins to shrink, and when it
is quite dry, the abdomen is not one-third its proper size, is full
of wrinkles, and crumpled out of all shape. The only plan,
therefore, is to stuff it with cotton wool. The usual mode of
so doing is, to cut a slit on the under side, remove the contents
of the abdomen, and replace them with cotton wool. I have,
however, found this plan scarcely satisfactory, inasmuch as the
edges of the slit are apt to recede from each other, so that the
cotton wool is visible. There is another plan, certainly in-
volving more trouble, but with far better results. With
sharp scissors cut off the abdomen altogether, squeeze and draw

1L5€ INSECTS AT HOME.

out its contents gently by the hole which is made at its base
by the blades of the scissors; through the same aperture in-
troduce the cotton wool, a very little at a time, so that you
can exactly restore the original shape of the abdomen, taking
care to stuff it a trifle larger than it was originally, because
the skin will contract a little on the votton wool. Now, stick
the point of a needle perpendicularly into the setting-board,
and pass the eye into the abdomen, so as to prevent it from
losing shape by lying down. Set the other half of the Beetle
independently, and, when both parts are quite dry, join them
with a tiny drop of coaguline. If this be properly done, there
will not be the slightest mark of any junction, and the speci-
men will always look as well as it did when living, and preserve
its soft, rounded contour.

If ever there were a Beetle which was incapable of fighting,
that insect would seem to be the Meloé. Yet Mr. F. Smith
discovered that it not only could fight, but was ready to fight,
and that to the death. He had captured near Margate a num-
ber of examples of a rare species called Meloé rugosus, as they
were crawling near the nest of the bee on which they were
parasitic. He put them into a box, thinking no harm of them,
but found that on the second day of their captivity a ‘free
fight’ had taken place among them, the result of which was
that, some were killed and reduced to fragments, the greater
number of the survivors had lost either legs or antenne or
both, and out of two dozen Beetles only four escaped without
injury. It was difficult to account for this extraordinary de-
velopment of pugnacity, for the females had already deposited
their eggs; so that the casus belli was not that which is usual
among all the lower animals, insects included, namely, posses-
sion of the female.

We are still among some very strange Beetles, and that of
which we now treat is so strange, that for very many years it
was not known to be a Beetle, some observers having thought
it to be a hymenopterous insect, some taking it for the sole repre-
sentative of a separate order, under the name of Strepsiptera,
but no one discovering that it was in reality a Beetle belonging
to the family of the Meloide, a tribe of the Oil Beetles. These
insects can be distinguished by the short neck, and by the

THE STYLOPS. 157

peculiar structure of the claws, each of which is furnishcd with
a small supplementary claw on its lower surface.

On Plate XI. the reader will see near the Andrena some
curious little insects, which evidently do not belong to ths
order of insects represented on the plate. These are the re-
markable insects that have just been mentioned, and which are
known by the name of Stylops Melitte. The discovery of the
Stylops is due to the late Mr. Kirby. He had often observed
little projections from between the segments of the abdomen
in certain bees belonging to the genus Andrena, but thought
that they were simply the little mites or acari that beset
not only bees but Beetles. He passed a pin under it, and,
on trying to disengage it, drew from the body of the bee a
little whitish grub, the head of which was projecting from
between two of the segments, the whole of its body being buried
in the abdomen of the bee.

Being naturally surprised at such a result, he tried another
specimen, and this time found that he had hit upon a pupa
just ready to cast its envelope. ‘The reader may imagine how
greatly my astonishment was increased, when, after I had
drawn it out but a little way, I saw its skin burst, and a head
as black as ink, with large staring eyes, and antenne consisting
of two branches, break forth, and move itself briskly from side
to side. It looked like a little imp of darkness just emerged
from the infernal regions. I was impatient to become better
acquainted with so singular a creature. When it was com-
pletely disengaged, and I had secured it from making its escape,
I set myself to examine it as. closely as possible; and I found,
after a careful inquiry, that I had not only got a nondescript, but
also an insect of a new genus, whose very order seemed dubious.’

Since that time, much care has been given to the investiga-
tion of these insects, and it has been found that several genera
inhabit England, the whole constituting the family Stylopide.
The word Siylops is Greek, and signifies ‘stalk-eyed.’ It is
given to these insects because some of them have their eyes
set on footstalks of greater or lesser length. These are also
remarkable for the very few facets which they contain. The
compound eyes of most insects may count their facets by thou-
sands, and in many cases by tens of thousands; but in the
Stylopide they are counted only by tens, and in one species,

158 INSECTS AT HOME.

Elenchus tenwicornis, each compound eye only contains fifteen
facets or lenses.

The antennw are very remarkable, being doubly branched,
so that the insect seems to have four antennz instead of two.
These little insects fly well, the second pair of wings being
enormously large in proportion to the body, and opening like
a wide fan, the anterior and posterior margins reaching to the
head and tail of the insect. When flying, the Stylops has a
peculiar milky look about the wings, not easy to describe, but
easily to be recognised when once seen. Wings of such mag-
nitude necessarily require a very large thorax, in order to give
support to the muscles which move them; and accordingly we
find that the thorax is nearly twice as large as the head and
abdomen together, the latter part of the insect looking quite
insignificant when compared with the enormous thorax to
which it is attached, and of which it almost seems to be an
unimportant appendage, instead of being, as it is, the seat of
the chiefly vital organs.

As might be expected, the part of the thorax which bears
the hind pair of wings, namely, the metathorax, is very largely
developed, while that which bears the little attenuated elytra
is comparatively small. These members are indeed so small,
that they have been called pseudelytra, or false elytra. Many
species of bees and wasps are infested with this singular para-
site, though the genus Andrena seems to be its favourite prey.

Wirn two more examples of the Heteromera, we close our
notice of this group. One is the Buisrer Berrie or SPANISH
Fry (Lytta vesicatgria), which is shown on Woodcut XVI.
Fig. 3. This insect is well known for its use in medicine, the
peculiar substance contained in it being highly inflamma-
tory, and raising blisters upon the human skin. This sub-
stance is called cantharidin, and, when separated from the in-
sect which produces it, takes the form of white flat crystals,
which can be dissolved in alcohol, but not in water.

This genus is known by the long narrow body and elytra,
the two long wings, and the egg-like form of the last joint of
the maxillary palpi. The colour of the Buisrrr Brer.e is rich-
green, mostly glossed with gold or copper. The elytra are very
slightly wrinkled, and upon eac> elytron there are twe :idges.

BLISTER BEETLE. 159

Entomologists believe that this is not an indigenous insect,
but has been introduced from the Continent. It occurs much
too sparingly in this country to be of any practical use, and
our chief supply is obtained from Spain, whence the popular
name of Spanish Fly. In England it is usually found in the
southern counties, the ash being its favoured tree, and when it
is seen at all, it generally occurs in some profusion. Should
the Beetle-hunter capture any of these insects, he is advised to
be very cautious how he handles them. He should carefully
avoid allowing his fingers to come near his eyes, and should
wash them as soon as he has finished his task. Indeed, with
these Beetles, the less the fingers, and the more the forceps, are
used, the better for the operator.

On Woodeut XV*. Fig. 1, is drawn a very:remarkable, and
in this country very rare, insect, called Sitaris muralis, a
Beetle which derives its specific title from the fact that it is
parasitic on certain solitary bees which inhabit holes in walls.
Bees belonging to the genus Anthophora seem to be chiefly
the objects of its attacks. On the Continent it is comparatively
common, and it is from Continental entomologists that we
have received our principal knowledge of the Beetle and its
habits.

The Beetle is known by the elytra, which are very long and
narrowed to the apex, but do not cross each other. There are
two wings, and the antenne are quite simple, without pectina-
tion or serration. The colour of the insect is very plain, the
body being black and the elytra yellowish-brown.

The female Sitaris acts in some respects like the female
Meloé, for she deposits her eggs in packets containing several
thousands each. She does not, however, lay them in the
ground, but places them at the very entrance of the holes in
which the bees have taken up their residence. The eggs are
hatched, and the little larvee, which have larger bodies and
shorter legs than those of the Meloé, enter the nest, and there
undergo their transformations.

Mr. Westwood mentions some curious discoveries communi-
cated to him by M. Audouin :— In examining the interior of a
nest of a large Anthophora, very common near Sevres, he
detected one of the bee-larve in its cell, with the interior of

160 INSECTS AT HOME.

the body entirely consumed, a thin pellicle only remaining;
and from within this bladder-like exuvie he extracted a female
Sitaris, which had evidently therein undergone its transforma-
tion. He did not, however, observe whether the pellicle of
the larva or of the pupa of the Sitaris was contained within
the pellicle of the bee-larva. He subsequently found more
specimens of the Sitaris at large in the nests of this bee, and
observed one of the females, whilst in a state of captivity,
deposit her eggs, from which were hatched the minute larvee.’
Mr. Westwood then proceeds to point out the distinctions be-
tween the larva of Meloé and that of Sitaris. The two species
of Anthophora in which this Beetle is generally found are not
natives of England,

CHAPTER Al.

RHYNCHOPHORA, OR WEEVILS.

‘T'axse terribly destructive insects do not attain any great mm:
mensions in England, but they make up for their diminutive
size by their enormous numbers. How many species are knowa
to inhabit this country it is impossible to say, as new species
—especially those of small size—are continually being added to
our lists; but if we say that about five hundred British species
are at present known, we shall be very near their number.

The name Rhynchophora is formed from two Greek words,
signifying ‘snout-bearer,’ and is given to these insects because
the head is very much prolonged and narrowed, in some species
looking like the long curved beak of the ibis or curlew. The
mouth and its accompanying organs are always at the end of
this beak, and in some species of Weevils the resemblance to
the head and mouth of the Porcupine Ant-eater of Australia is
really startling. The name of Tetramera, or ‘ four-jointed,’ was
formerly given to this group, because its members appear to have
only four joints in the tarsi. Mr. Westwood, however, with his
wonted acuteness, pointed out that there were really five joints,
the missing joint being microscopically small, and hidden
under the lobes of the third joint. Several of these tarsi may
be seen on Woodcut XVII. The three basal joints of the
tarsus are always furnished with a thick pad beneath, and may
be seen by examining the feet of any of our common Weevils
with a pocket-lens.

The antennz are always set well in front on the ‘rostrum,’
or beak, and in most, though not in all, species are furnished
with a very long basal joint, so that they are elbowed, or ‘ ge-
niculated,’ according to the scientific term. I shall in this
work always use the English forms of such words, provided that
they express the same idea as the scientific term, which will,

M

162 INSECTS AT HOME.

however, be always explained. For the future, therefore, I
shall employ the English word beak instead of the Latin
rostrum, and the word elbowed in preference to the Sanscrito-
Greco-Latinised-Anglified word geniculated.

According to the system which is at present in vogue, the
Weevils are divided into two sections—namely, those in which
the antennze are not elbuwer', and those in which they are.
The former are called Ortheceri, or ‘straight-horned,’ and the
latter Gonateceri, or ‘knee-horned.’ We begin with the former,
and take fo ov» first example of these Beetles the Rup-roorrep
Werevit (Pruchus rufimanus), which is drawn on Woodeut
XVI. Fig. 4, its antenne being shown at f. This insect be-
longs to the family Bruchide, which have antenne rather
serrated, and becoming gradually thicker towards the apex.
The elytra do not reach to the end of the abdomen, and the
basal joint of the tarsus is long and curved. In the genus
Bruchus the antenne are rather delicate, and the elytra are
oblong and squared.

The Red-footed Weevil is rather variable both in size and
colour, but is usually as follows:—The general hue is black,
Upon the thorax, which has its edges slightly waved, there are
two white spots uvon the disc, and a large triangular spot
about the middle of the base, some ashy-white hairs being
scattered on the disc. The elytron is striated and punctured,
and has a number of white spots scattered over it, and a
whitish-grey streak near the scutellum. The tip of the abdo-
men is white, with the exception of two dun-coloured spots.

All the species of this genus are exceedingly destructive,
feeding upon the seeds of beans, peas, and similar vegetables,
very often doing enormous damage by dint of numbers, in
spite of their small individual size. The reader may perhaps
have had occasion to notice that, when peas are newly shelled,
one frequently occurs in which a hole cr a groove is scooped,
and which is tenanted by a little white maggot. These
maggots are alincst always the larve of this or some allied
species of Weevil. One of these larvee is shown, much mag-
nified, on Woodeut XVI. Fig. c. They remain in the sceds
until they have attained their perfect condition, when they
escape through a round hole made for the purpose while in
the larval state. Eight species are acknowledged to be in-

IMMIGRANT BEETLES. 163

digenous to Great Britain. Many other species have been
placed on the British lists, but entomologists have decided
that they have been introduced into England in cargoes of
peas, beans, or corn, and therefore ought not to be admitted as
genuine British insects. Indeed, it could Be wished that the
law of extradition could be extended to insects, and that these
Weevils, together with the cockroach and sundry other de-
structive and noxious insects, could be restored to the country
whence they came.

Tue family of the Anthribide will be represented by one
example. This family has also eleven, joints in the antenne,
the whole of which is formed of three joints, as is seen at
Fig. g, and the second joint of the tarsi has two lobes, as
shown at Fig. 7. Our example of this family is Platyrhinus
latirostris, Woodeut XVI. Fig. 5, and is the only British
specimen of its genus. The generic name of this insect, signi-
fying ‘ broad-nosed,’ points out one of the leading peculiarities
of this genus, which has the head so wide and short that it
scarcely seems to belong to the long-snouted Rhynchophora.
In this genus the two pasal joints of the antenne are short,
and the club is a very bold and abrupt one, like the knob at
the end of a life-preserver. The elytra reach to the end of the
body, and the antennze are longer in the male than in the
female.

The present species is oblong in shape, and the general
colour is black. The short beak is ashen-white, changing to
black at the tip, and the thorax is punctured and boldly
wrinkled. The elytra are adorned with rows of punctures, and
are black in colour, except towards the apex, on which are two
black dots, and in some species two or three little dusky
streaks. The abdomen is white, changing to black at the
sides, and the legs are black, but have a greyish-white down on
them.

This is not a plentiful insect, and requires much searching
before it can be found, owing to its dusky colours, and its in-
genious mode of selecting such localities as harmonize best
with its mottled surface. Heaps of dry sticks, for example,
are places where an insect-hunter may expect, if anywhere, to
find this Beetle. It also clings to the trunks of ash, alder, and

M 2

164 INSECFS AT HOME.

birch-trees. _ [f, however, one specimen be found, a number
will generally reward the collector, for, although it is not
widely distributed, it generally occurs plentifully in some
favoured locality. The ash-tree is chosen by this Beetle on
account of the fimgi which grow upon it, and which form its
food. When it cannot find a convenient fungus, it is obliged
to content itself with burrowing into decaying wood or beneath
the dead bark. On Woodcut XVI. Fig. b, the larva of this
Beetle is shown.

Or the Attelabidze we shall take two examples, the first be-
longing to the typical genus, and known by the name of
Attelabus curculionoides, Woodeut XVII. Fig. 1.

In this family the head is more elongated, and the beak is
rather widened towards the end. The antenne are straight, as
may be seen at Fig. a, which represents one of the antenne of
the present species. The rather peculiar tarsus is shown at d.
The elytra do not reach to the end of the body. The genus is
known by the broad and rather flattened body, the wide thorax,
and the shape of tke head, which is not narrowed into a neck
behind the eyes, as is the case with Apoderws, a genus which
otherwise much resembles it, but has a definite neck and a
body more flattened.

The present species is very common throughout England,
and is a very pretty little Beetle, varying in length from an
eighth to a quarter of an inch. The head is black, and slightly
wrinkled between the eyes. The thorax is small, very finely
punctured, and brick-red in colour, the elytra being of the
same hue.

Oak and hazel, especially the underwood, are the best
localities for this Beetle, which can best be captured, like many
others of its group, by the sweep-net. Sometimes eight or ten
specimens will be found in the net after a few minutes’ sweep-
ing. The reason for its prevalence in such localities is, that
the larva feeds on the young leaves of the oak. Leaves which
have been attacked by this insect are very common in oak-
copses, and a pocketful can often be obtained in a short time.
They are known by being rolled up tightly into a shape which
‘as been well compared to a lady’s thimble. To the naked
eye, the brick-red of this Beetle looks rather dull, but when

HIDDEN BEAUTIES. 165

viewed by the aid of a microscope, the surface both of thorax
and elytra is seen to possess astonishing beauty, the rich
shining-red being broken up into various shades by the rows of
punctures.

I have often wondered whether the insects themselves are
capable of seeing and admiring these beauties without the aid of

XVII

1. Attelabus curculionoides. 2. Rhynchites Bacchus. 3. Apioncarduorum. 4. Sitones
lineatus. 5, Cleonus nebulosus. a. Attelabus, antenna. b. Rhynchites, antenna, Ce
Apion, antenna. d. Attelabus, tarsus. e. Rhynchites, tarsus. J. Apion, tarsus. Jo
Rhynchites, maxillary palpus. h. Rhynchites, labium

the microscope, as well as we do with its assistance. When view-
ing through a lens some tiny and apparently dull-coloured insect,
and noticing how magnificently beautiful the colouring really
js when we put ourselves under the conditions which enable
us to see the many details which were before concealed from us,
I cannot but feel that such beauties were surely intended to
delight some eyes, and most probably the eyes of its fellows.

166 INSECTS AT HOME.

Ow next example of this family is Rhynck tee Bawchus, re
presented on Woodcut XVII. Fig. 2.

The generic name Rhynchites is taken from t} 2 Greek, and
signifies long-nosed, or, to be more accurate bul tess elegant,
‘nosey, and is given to it on account of the shape of the snout
or beak, which is much more lengthened than in cither of the
preceding Weevils, and forms one of the principal characters of
the genus. The other characteristics are, that the beak is
more or less widened at the end, that the head is not narrowed
into a neck behind the eyes, and that the antennz have cleven
joints. The form of the antennz is shown at Fig. 6, that of the
tarsus at e, the maxillary palpus at y, and the labium at h.
There are seventeen British species belonging to this genus.

Many of the insects of this genus are remarkable for their
beauty, their bodies being of all imaginable brilliant colours,
and having their brilliancy increased by their metallic gloss.
This species is certainly not the least handsome among its
splendid brethren, its colour being a rich-red, almost coppery-
gold, on which is a long soft down. The thorax is deeply
punctured, and the elytra, which are rounded at their tips and
rather separated from each other, are as of burnished-copper,
sometimes taking a purplish hue. Their surface is covered
with very deep and bold punctures, and with a vast number of
wrinkles running transversely against them. There is much
variation in the colour of this splendid Beetle, which is some-
times greenish and sometimes blue; but, as is the case with
many of such Beetles, the exact hue depends very much on
the angle at which the light is reflected from them to the eye,
green changing to blue, then to purple, and purple to gold,
as the insect is turned to one side or the other.

It is a rare insect, but has been taken in Darenth Wood. It
has also been taken plentifully near Crayford, in Kent, on the
‘blackthorn (Prunus spinosus).

‘TuErE is an enormous genus of Weevils, consisting of very
:tiny species, about as large and somewhat the shape of a note
of admiration (!) as here given. Their bodies look very much
like pears, the stalk of the fruit representing the beak of the
insect. In consequence of this resemblance they have received
-tthe generic name of Apion, which is a Greek word signifying

THE APIONS, OR PEAR WEEVILS. 167

a pear. They have also been compared to peg-tops; and, if
the peg were curved instead of straight, the resemblance would
be almost complete. We will call them Pear Weevils.

The genus Apion is an admirable test of an entomologist’s
zeal. It he can set, examine, and determine the Apions which
he will catch in an hour’s walk with the sweep-net, there is no
doubt about his zeal for entomology, a zeal which the genus
Apion is admirably calculated to quench. They are all so tiny
that a tolerably high power is required for their proper exami-
nation, and the pocket-lens must be laid aside in favour of a
microscope; and in many instances the colour of the trochanter
forms one of the principal characteristics. Then, their bodies
are so boldly rounded that only a small portion can come into
focus at the same time. The necessity for a high power
is seen by the fact that without it the antenne appear only to
have eleven joints, whereas they have in reality twelve, the
twelith being an extremely minute one at the very end of the
club. None of this genus possess wings, and the elytra com-
pletely cover the abdomen. Along the side of the beak are
seen two deep grooves, in which the basal joints of the antennz
can lie; and it is to be noted that in death the antenne of
these Beetles are directed backwards, lying partly in the grooves,
so that the tip of the antenna comes close to the junction of
the head with the thorax.

In spite of the difficulties which attend the examination of
these insects, the entomologist will find his time well bestowed
upon them. Independently of other sources of interest, these
tiny Beetles are marvellously beautiful. Their colours are ex-
ceedingly various, and the richness and perfection of the
sculpture which adorns their tiny bodies must be seen to be
appreciated. It is as if the very exuberance of creative power
had sported with these little creatures, a thousand of which
could be contained in a lady’s thimble, and yet which bear
upon every portion of their bodies a limitless profusion of
highly-elaborated ornament. The head and thorax are covered
with a multitude of deep impressions, at first seeming as if
scattered at random, but in reality disposed with most con-
summate art; while the elytra baffle all attempts to describe
their varied beauty. Agreeing in one point—namely, the bold
ridges which run longitudinally along them—they are of

168 INSECTS AT HOME.

infinite variety in their details, so that a full description of al)
the species would occupy well-nigh more than the space that
can be given to the whole of the Beetle tribe.

I have often thought, when examining these little beings
with the microscope, that artists in metals might find in them
and other Beetles an exhaustless mine of new and most beauti-
ful patterns; and, indeed, artists, no matter in what depart-
ment, cannot do better than study the insect tribes, in order to
learn many secrets of form and colour.

Tiny as they are, the Apions often do much damage to the
agriculturist, many of them living in peas and beans, as has
been stated of the Bruchus, some boring into the stems or
roots of plants, or making a gall-like excrescence on the leaves
or twigs. They specially frequent clover, and in a field of this
plant, and along the adjoining hedgerows, the entomologist
can take sufficient Apions ina morning to give him full em-
ployment during the winter months with his microscope. I
may here mention that some knowledge of drawing is a potent
help in the study of insects; and, indeed, the note-book
and pencil should be always at hand. No matter how rude
may be the sketch, it is. sure to be useful, and has a wonderful
power in fixing details in the mind.

On Woodeut XVII. Fig. 3, is shown Apion cardworum,
being about one-seventh of an inch long, while the generality of
Apions are not much more than half that length. The antenna
is represented at c, and the tarsus at f. The head and thorax
of this insect are black, with short shining hairs scattered very
thinly over the surface. Near the base of the head the an-
tenn are set upon two rather bold tubercles. The elytra are
of a verdigris-green, with a tinge of blue—a colour which is
rather common to this genus—and the spaces between the striw
are very flat.

Some eighty British species are known to entomologists, and
I would strongly recommend the beginner to lay aside the ex-
amination of these little beings until his eye is trained to
seizing details by some practice with the larger insects.

The specific name of this insect, carduworwm, signifies ¢ of
the thistles,’ and is given because it can be found upon that
‘plant. Indeed, the majority of the Apions are named after
the plants which they principally frequent. The reader wil!

ENTOMOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE, 169

have noticed that I have explained a considerable number of
the names of the insects, and that some are left unexplained.
The fact is that many names have no explanation. Systematic
entomologists, when they find new genera crowding on them,
are quite at a loss for suitable names. They can manage
pretty well with the specific name, because they can take one
of the chief characters which marks the species, and give its
synonym in Greek or Latin. But this is not to be done with
the generic title, and so they are driven to various expedients
—such as calling a new genus after the name of some particular
friend, or a favourite child, or perhaps a pet dog or cat.
Having exhausted their resources, there yet remains another,
which will account for some of the remarkable names which
we see in entomological lists. Cut up some paper into small
squares, and write upon each of them a letter of the alphabet
—a child’s toy alphabet will answer still better. Take at
random half a dozen letters, taking care to have a vowel or
two among them, arrange them on the table, and try if they
can be made into a pronounceable word. If not, take some more
letters and try again; and when a word is at last formed, there
is the generic name ready. Ifa sort of classical air be thought
necessary, all that is required is to add ws or um at the end
of it.

WE now come to the Weevils with elbowed antennz, the
first family of which is the Brachyderide. In these insects
the head is short, wide, and set on the thorax without any
separate neck, a peculiarity which Has gained for the family
the name of Brachyderide, or ‘ short-necks.’

Our example of this family is Sitones lineatus, which is
represented on Woodcut XVII. Fig. 4. This genus is known
by the possession of wings, the short beak, and the third joint
of the antennze, which is shorter than the second. About
fourteen British species of this genus are acknowledged. The
present species is a pretty though not a brilliant insect. The
ground colour is black, but the body is clothed above with
scales of a warm-brown hue, while the under surface of the
body is similarly clothed, but with scales having a silvery
lustre. There is a central furrow on the dise of the thorax, and
a rather deep impression across its apex. The elytra are

170 INSECTS AT HOME.

punctured and striated, with white interstices between the
striz. These white lines form the distinguishing characteristic
of the species, which is apt to be very variable in other respects.

The young entomologist must be very careful in handling
this and other scale-clad Weevils, as the scales are easily rubbed
off, so that nothing is seen but the dull-black of the elytra.
A roughly-handled Weevil is just as unfit for the cabinet as
a butterfly with the rich plumage rubbed from its wings.

All the members of this genus are injurious to the crops,
especially clover and peas. The generic name of Sitones
(erroneously spelt Sitona by some entomologists) is a Greek
word signifying a corn-dealer, and has been given to the Beetles
in consequence of their influence upon the harvests.

In the family of the Cleonide, which comes next in order,
the beak is rather long and strong, and curved downwards in
some species with a very sudden bend. In the typical genus
the beak is larger than the head, and has the antennez set near
its end. The body is thickly covered with scales, and the
tibie «shave a strong spine at the tip. Some of the largest
British Weevils are found among the members of this genus,
one of which, Cleonus nebulosus, is represented on Woodcut
XVII. Fig. 5. As may be seen by the line which accompanies
the figure, this is quite a large Weevil, sometimes being four-
fifths of an inchin length. As is the case with all the members
of its genus, its body is covered with scales, which in this
species are of an ashen-grey. The beak is also clothed with
scales, with the exception of a ridge, or keel, which runs along
its centre. The thorax, which has a white streak on each side,
is punctured and wrinkled, with a short ridge in the middle,
and on each side a number or small tubercles. The elytra are
deeply striated and punctated, and have several spots and two
distinct bands denuded of scales, as may be seen by reference
to the figure. The reader will see from the markings on this
insect how necessary is precaution in handling Weevils, as at
a very slight touch the scales will fall off, and the distinctive
spots and bands be no more distinguished.

These are all very hard-shelled Beetles, and require the use
of a needle-point in order to induce the fine entomological pin
to pass through their bodies. Their larvee feed upon the stems

VARIOUS WEEVILS. 171

of thistles, in which they may be found. There are four species
of this genus, of which one is exceedingly rare, another suffi-
ciently rare to be valuable, while the other two are local, but
tolerably plentiful in the places to which they take a fancy.
The present species is moderately abundant in the New Forest.
The specific name of nebulosus, or cloudy, is given to this

1. Molytes germanus. 2. Otiorhynchus picipes. 3. Pissodes pini. 4, Anthonomus
pomorum. 5. Balaninus nucum, a. Otiorhynchus, antenna. 6. Otiorhynchus, larva.
c. Anthonomus, antenna, d, Anthonomus, maxillary palpus. e. Anthonomus, labial palpi.

J. Balaninus, pupa.

Beetle in allusion to the colouring of the body. Like many
other Beetles, this species is liable to some variety, the
scales of the head and thorax sometimes assuming a red hue,
and a line of similar colour running along the suture of the
elytra.

On Woodcut XVIII. Fig. 1, is represented a very fine example
of English Weevils. It is called Molytes germanus, and is so

172 INSECTS AT HOME.

conspicuous that it cannot possibly be mistaken if seen. This
genus, of which two British species are known, is distinguished
by its broad, smooth, egg-shaped body, the minute and scarcely
visible scutellum, and the strong hock at the tip of the tarsi.
The colour of this species is shining-black, and the thorax is
deeply punctured, and marked with three irregular spots on
each side, the spots being composed of dull-yellow hairs. The
elvtra are covered with many dull-yellow spots and a number
of shallow rounded impressions.

Both species of Molytes are found in chalky districts, and
the present species seems to be a very local one, Kent and
Sussex being the places where it has chiefly been found.

ANOTHER example of this family may be seen on Plate VI.
Fig. 6. This is the Beetle. known by the name of Phytonomus
tigrinus, an insect which is found plentifully at Dover. In
this genus the antenne have twelve joints, the scape being
clubbed, and reaching to the eyes, the club being oval. The
beak is twice as long as the head, rounded and curved, the
elytra are thickly clothed with seales, and the tibiz are without.
spurs.

The insects of this genus are remarkable for constructing
pensile cocoons when they are about to change into the perfect
state. One of these cocoons is represented just below the
Beetle. These cocoons are really wonderful examples of insect
art, and that they should be made by such a creature as a little
long-bodied hairy grub seems almost incredible. The form is
oval, and the material is silken thread secreted by the insect.
The peculiarity in these cocoons is that they are made of open
network, the meshes being large enough to admit an ordinary
pin. A very good imitation of one of these cocoons could be
made by taking some galvanised iron net, and forming it into
an egg-like shape; for the threads of the cocoon are in their
way quite as strong as the wire. The cocoon represented in
the plate is of the natural size.

The larva always takes care to spin its cocoon on the under
surface of a leaf, so that it will not be seen unless the leaves be
lifted. As a rule, the young entomologist will find that the
under surfaces of leaves will often afford him a rich harvest,
when no sign of an insect is to be seen on the upper surface.

COCOON-MAKING BEETLES. 173

Fourteen species of this genus are known, and all of them
make similar cocoons in which to pass their pupal existence.
These are not the only cocoon-making Weevils, for there is
another genus, Cionus, which is equally distinguished as an
architect. The cocoon of the Cionus resembles in every es-
sential that of the Phytonomus, but is spherical instead of oval.
These insects feed on the mullein; and the best plan to secure
the cocoon of the insect is to find out some place where
mulleins grow, and search them diligently. The Great Mullein
(Verbascum thapsus), which grows in waste grounds, on sandy
or gravelly soil, is nearly sure to furnish either the Beetle or
the cocoon, and perhaps both. Mr. Stephens states that he
took all the species of this genus upon a single mullein plant.
The Knotted-root Figwort (Scrophularia nodosa) is another of
their favourite plants. The generic name, Phytonomus, is
formed from two Greek words, and signifies * herb-grazer.’

Tue next family is that of the Otiorhynchide. This rather
crabbed name is compounded of two Greek words, the former
signifying an ear and the latter a nose or snout, and is given to
this family because the beak is developed at each side into a
flat ear-like lobe. The beak is short and stout, and the basal
joint of the antennz reaches beyond the eyes when directed
backwards.

Of this family our first example is Otiorhynchus picipes,
which is represented on Woodcut XVIII. Fig. 2. The typical
genus, to which this insect belongs, has the antenne long, and
generally set on the tip of the beak. The scutellum is often
absent, and where it does exist is very small; there are no
wings, and the body is egg-shaped and convex. In this genus
the ear-like lobes projecting at the tip of the beak, sometimes
termed winglets, are very well developed, and can be easily
seen with the aid of a magnifier. By these projections there is
a deep groove in which the antenne are set; and in many of
the species the head has a most curious resemblance to that of
a moose when viewed sideways, the resemblance being increased
by the hairs with which the muzzle, if we may so call it, is
thickly set.

The insects of this genus are very destructive to plants and
fruit-trees, some species attaching themselves more particularly

174 INSECTS AT HOME.

to definite plants, but the generality being in no wise par-
ticular as to the sort of plant, tree, or flower on which they
feed. The present species is very plentiful, and prefers young
leaves to every other kind of food. This fact shows that it is
one of the insects that are found in the spring time, and, by
beating whitethorn hedges about April and May, any number
ean be procured. Although not brightly coloured, it is rather
a pretty Beetle. Its colour is chestnut-brown, and the elytra
are covered with a thick coating of scales, through which a few
stiff and shining bristles project. They are boldly striated,
each stria being composed of a series of circular impressions,
and between the striz is a row of elevated, smooth, blackish
tubercles. The thorax is very globular and thickly granulated.

The scales which have been just mentioned are found in the
members of this family generally, and are most lovely objects
when viewed under the microscope. The most beautiful of
these scales are to be found on the little green Weevils that are
so plentiful upon nettles and hedge-side plants. Seen by the
unaided eye, there is nothing remarkable about these insects,
which appear to be simple dull-green Beetles; but if one of
them be placed under the microscope, and viewed with a half-
inch glass with light concentrated on it by a ‘ bull’s-eye’ lens,
it undergoes a transformation like that of Cinderella when
touched by the fairy wand. The whole of its body, head,
thorax, and elytra is clad with rounded glittering scales, set in
regular order, the scales being larger and fewer on the under
side than on the upper side of the thorax. Their colour is
gold-green, the latter hue being strongest at their tips, but
both colours shifting in accordance with the change of light.
The elytra are wonderfully beautiful, for they are boldly and
regularly ridged; and as each ridge is densely covered with
scales, the play of colour upon them is really wonderful. As if
to give more richness to the colouring, the elytra themselves
are rich golden-brown, which would be very beautiful even
without the clothing of emerald scales, but which are quite
thrown into the shade by the beauty of their covering.

Nor do the wonders of the insect cease here. If a still
higher power be used, one for example which magnifies some
two-hundred diameters, each scale is seen to be shaped with
the most elaborate care. The form somewhat resembles that

THE APRICOT WEEVIL. 175

of a battledore with the handle broken off, and the head rather
rounded. The surface is covered with ridges as regular as
those of the elytra from which it came, and each ridge projects
a little beyond the end of the side, so as to produce a series of
teeth. Over the whole of each scale the light plays with a
changing lustre, and indeed each tiny scale seems, when greatly
magnified, to reproduce in itself the splendid colours of the
entire insect.

Several other members of the typical genus are well known
to gardeners from the mischief which they do to the flowers and
fruits. For example, there is the Groovep Wuevit (Otio-
rhynchus sulcatus), which is too plentiful in gardens, and has a
peculiar predilection for potted plants, getting just between the
root and the stem, and nibbling round the plant until it first
weakens, and then ~destroys it. Owing to the sober-grey
exterior of the Beetle, it is enabled to lie concealed on the
very spot where it does so much harm; its egg-shaped body,
disguised with the particles of earth which cling to its scaled
and bristly surface, looking more like a dusty stone than an
insect.

The larva of this destructive Beetle was found by Messrs.
Westwood and Haworth busily engaged in devouring the roots
of a species of Sedum, which had been potted. This larva is
rather long in proportion to its width, and is covered with
short stiff hairs, by means of which it is able to push its way
through the earth. It lives but a very little below the surface
of the ground, and never eats any portion of the plant that
makes its way into the open air, and, as it continues to
feed throughout the winter months, does an enormous amount
of unsuspected mischief. It changes to the pupa state about
May or June, and assumes the perfect form in three or four
weeks.

Another of these Beetles is popularly known by the name of
Apricot WrEvIL (Otiorhynchus tenebricosus), because it chiefly
attacks those fruit-trees which are nailed against the wali,
the apricot often suffering direfully from its inroads. This
Beetle is pitchy-black and rather shining , and, when examined
through a lens, the head, thorax, and elytra are seen to be
thickly granulated, while on the elytra are also regular rows of
punctures. It may seem strange, but it really is the case that

176 INSECTS AT HOME.

these strize, composed of tiny punctures, are more apparent to
the naked eye than under the lens, which brings out the granu-
lations in bold relief, and throws the punctures into the shade.

If the Beetle be examined sideways and turned gradually
round, a narrow line of warm-chestnut appears near the edge
of the elytra, always shifting as the body of the insect revolves.
When the Peetle is placed under the microscope, and a half-
inch power brought to bear on it, this chestnut hue is seen to
be occasioned by a number of short reddish bristles, which,
when viewed from above, are too few to have any perceptible
effect on the pitchy-black of the body: but, when seen in pro-
file, so that a number of them are brought into the field of
view, are able to assert themselves and develope their colour.
The reader may easily see a parallel case by looking at the
back of the hand first from above, and then by viewing it side-
ways against the light. In the first ease the hairs scattered
over the surface almost escape observation, while in the latter
case they assume quite an important aspect. The bristles of
this Beetle, by the way, are easily rubbed off, and therefore the
chestnut line is not seen to advantage except in young speci-
mens that have been carefully handled, as is the case with the
example from which I write this description.

It is common in hedges, and there does no great harm, but
when it takes to invading our orchards, its presence cannot be
permitted. It is fond of lurking under the loose bark of grape-
vines, in the earth around the roots of the fruit-trees, along
the bases of the walls, and in old nail-holes. All these places
should be searched, the base of the walls well drenched occa-
sionally with tobacco-water, the loose bark stripped from the
vines, and the nail-holes stopped with mortar. In the present
genus, as now restricted, eighteen British species are acknow-

ledged.

Next comes the family of the Erirhinide. This name is
compounded from two Greek words, which signify ‘long-
beaked,’ and is given to the family because their beaks are of
considerable length, nearly as long indeed as the thorax.
The first pair of legs are set very close to each other.

On Plate VI. Fig. 7, may be seen one of the Beetles
belonging to this family, together with the home in which it

PINE BEETLES. jy de

resides while in the larval state. Its name is Liwus bicolor.
The genus to which this insect belongs is known by its
elongated, narrow, cylindrical body, its long and nearly
straight beak, and the sharp and strong hook at the end of the
tibie. This singularly beautiful insect derives its name of bi-
color, or two-coloured, from the hue of the body, which is
clothed with thick scarlet and yellow down. This splendid
coat, however, is easily rubbed off, and hence it is difficult to
obtain a specimen in really good condition. Thistles and ge-
raniums form the usual habitation of this Beetle, which burrows
into the interior of the stem, and there remains until it has
undergone its changes. Deal is one of the places where this
beautiful Beetle is found; and the best mode of obtaining good
specimens is, therefore, to examine carefully the roots and
stems of the plants on which it feeds, and if a swelling should
appear on any of them, to pull up the plant, take it home, and
keep it alive, if possible, until the Beetle makes its appear-
ance. Owing to the extreme delicacy of the downy coat, the
laurel-bottle is needed for the various Lixi, as, if left to run
about in a box or bottle, they would sadly damage tlieir
beautiful clothing. Even when the fatal bottle has received
them, care should be taken that it be carried steadily, so as t>
avoid shaking the delicate insect against its sides.

Mr. Hope mentions in his MS. notes that he has taken
two species of Lixus—namely, Livus paraplecticus, a wonder-
fully long and thin Beetle, and Liaus angustatus—near Oxford,
both on flags growing in the Isis.

On Woodcut XVIII. Fig. 3, is seen a magnified representa-
tion of another Beetle belonging to this family. Its name is
Pissodes pini. This genus has the beak quite as long as the
thorax, and the body is egg-shaped, but long in proportion to
its diameter. The species which is represented in the illustra-
tion is a northern insect, and is found in Scotland, where it is
plentiful among fir-trees. It is a handsome Beetle, its colour
being rich red-brown, variegated with golden spots.

Mr. Rye describes the habits of this insect in the following
words :—-‘ Pissodes . . . frequents pine forests, one species, Pis-
sodes piii, abounding in many parts of Scotland, where I have
geen the female with her rostrum deeply buried in the soft part

N

178 INSECTS AT HOME.

between the outer bark and solid timber of fresh-cut fir-trees,
In the hole thus formed an egg is deposited, the larva proceed-
ing from which eats galleries under the bark until it is full-
grown, when it closes its retreat with particles of wood, grass,
&e., and changes to a pupa. The perfect insects ... cling
very tightly to the fingers when handled.’ The name Pissodes
is formed froin a Greek word signifying pitch, and is given to
these insects because they inhabit the fir-tree.

THERE is an insect, belonging to the same family, which is
too well known to gardeners by the name of AppLe WrrEviL
(Anthonomus pomorum). Unlike the Weevils which attack
the roots and stems of plants, this insect confines itself to the
flowers, a circumstance which has caused entomologists to give it
and its kin the name of Anthonomus, or ‘ flower-dweller.’ In this
genus the body is egg-shaped and convex, but rather long, the
tibize are widened in the middle, and the femora are toothed.
The insect is represented on Woodcut XVIII. Fig. 4, the form
of the antenna is shown at c, the maxillary palpus at d, and
the labial palpi at e.

The colour is brown mottled with chestnut, and on the elytra
is a bold white mark much like the letter V. This Beetle may
be found in the winter time under the bark of trees, and if
touched will at once drop to the ground, where it can hardly
be seen. Towards the beginning of March— the time depending
much on the state of the weather—the Apple Weevil awakes
from its dormant state, and flies abroad in search of a mate.
The future proceedings of the insect have been admirably told
by Mr. E. Newman, in his ‘ Letters of Rusticus’ :—

‘By the time the female is ready for the important task of
depositing her eggs, the spring has considerably advanced, the
apple-buds have burst, and the little bunches of blossom are
readily to be distinguished. The Weevil soon finds out these,
and, selecting a blossom every way to her mind, commences her
operations. The beak or trunk, before alluded to, is furnished
at its extremity with short teeth or mandibles: with these
she omaws a very minute hole into the calyx of the future blos-
som, and continues gnawing until the trunk is plunged in up
to her eyes; the trunk is then withdrawn, and the hole ex-
amined with careful scrutiny by the introduction of one of her
feelers, or outer prongs of her trident. If it seem to require

THE APPLE WEEVIL. 179

any alteration, the trunk goes to work again, and again the
feelers ; at last, being fully satisfied that the work is well ac-
complished, she turns about, and, standing with the extremity
of her abdomen over the hole, thrusts into it her long oviposi-
tor, an instrument composed of a set of tubes retractile one
within the other, and deposits a single egg (never more) in the ,
very centre of the future flower. Another examination with
her feelers now takes place; and when she is thoroughly satis-
fied that all is right, away she flies to perform the same opera-
tion again and again, never tiring while she has an egg to lay.

‘The bud continues to grow like the other buds; the little
perforation becomes invisible. By and by the egg bursts, and
out comes a little white maggot, with neither legs nor wings.
This maggot, directly it is hatched, begins to devour the young
and tender stamens; next to these the style is attacked, and
eaten down to the fruit, the upper part of which is quickly
consumed: the maggot is then full-fed; it casts its skin, be-
comes a chrysalis, and lies perfectly still. Up to this time the
blossom has continued healthy, no trace of the enemy being to
be discovered without ; but when the neighbouring blossoms
are expanding their petals to the genial breath of spring, those
of the mutilated bud remain closed, and retain the arched,
balloon-like appearance of a bud about to burst. For a few
days they preserve their lovely pink colour, and then, by
degrees. fade to dingy-brown. In this state they remain until
the ot!.er apples are well knit ; and then the damaged blossoms,
by their decided contrast, appear very conspicuous. On open-
ing these brown, or rather rust-coloured, blossoms between
June 10 and 15, the chrysalis will be found to have changed to
a perfect Beetle, similar to its parent, above described, which,
had it been left to itself, would in a few days have eaten its
way through the weather-beaten case of dried petals and left its
prison-house, flying about to take its pleasure, until the chilly
winds of autumn should drive it to its winter habitation under
the bark.’

The insect also conceals itself under stones, sticks, leaves, or
other rubbish lying under the trees, so that the gardener who
cares for his fruit-trees will do well to scrape together all these
sticks and leaves, and burn them about the beginning of
February. Five English species belong to this genus.

n 2

180 INSECTS AT HOME.

We now come to a Beetle which has doubtlessly annoyed
many of my readers, especially if they should happen to be, or
to have been, schoolboys. When cracking a filbert after the
primitive fashion, it is by no means pleasant to find the shell
of the nut yield sooner than expected, and the mouth filled
with a bitter black powder, instead of the richly-flavoured
kernel. There are few things nastier in their way than such a
nut, and the fault lies entirely with the Nur Wrrvit (Balaninus
nucum), a figure of which is given on Woodcut XVIII. Fig. 5.
This is a very curious Beetle, its beak being as fine as a needle,
very long and very much curved, so that the insect, when
viewed in profile, looks something like a shoemaker’s awl. A
much magnified view of the head and beak is given on
Woodcut XV*. Fig. a.

This genus is at once known by the long and:slender beak,
which is nearly as long as the triangular body. The antenne
are set in the middle of the beak. The present species is rather
prettily coloured. The general colour is soft-brown, but the
elytra have a nearly white mark shaped like the letter U, its
outlines being defined by two black bands. The scutellum is
white. These colours are produced by the clothing of down
with which the insect is covered, and when the down is rubbed
off, the Beetle becomes nearly black.

The life story of this Beetle is very simple. As soon as the
nut blossom has fallen, and the fruit has fairly ‘set,’ the female
Weevil begins her work. She bores a hole into the young and
still soft fruit, and in the hole she deposits a single egg, re-
peating the process until she has disposed of her whole stock
of eggs. Her business in life is now finished, and she dies.
Meanwhile, the eggs are hatched, and the young larve begin
to feed on the substance of the nut, carefully avoiding a vital
part, so that, to all external appearances, the nut is perfectly
sound and good, though three-quarters of its substance may
have been eaten by the larva—the little white, fat-bodied
grub which we all know so well. As soon as the larva is full-
fed, it nibbles a round hole through the shell of the nut,
escapes through it and falls to the ground, into which it wriggles
its way, and then undergoes its transformations.

As the grub is concealed within the nut until all the mis-
chief is done, there is scarcely any possibility of checking the

THE NUT WEEVIL AND ITS KIN. 181

evil. It has been suggested that, as the nuts which have been
attacked by this Beetle become rather loose on their stems, the
branches should be beaten before the nuts are ripe, and all the
fruit that falls should be burned. Eight species of this genus
are known. The larva of the Nut Weevil is shown on Woodcut
XVIII. Fig. b, and the pupa at f. The name Balaninus is

1. Tychius venustus. 2.. Orchestes fagi. 3. Orobites cyaneus, 4. Ceeliodes quercfis.
5. Sitophilus oryze. a. Coeliodes, head. 6. Orchestes, head. c. Orchestes, hind leg.
d. Orchestes, antenna,

derived from a Greek word, signifying an acorn, because the

acorn as well as the nut is attacked by species of the same
genus.

THe genus Tychius has also a long beak, but the body is
rounded and oval instead of triangular, and the thorax is nearly
globular. An example of this genus, Tychius venustus, is
given on Woodcut XIX. Fig. 1. These are all pretty insects,

182 INSECTS AT HOME,

their bodies being thickly clothed with variously coloured
scales. The present species is one of the prettiest of them,
although its colours are not brilliant. The upper part of the
body is covered with ashen-grey scales, the elytra being striated
and punctated, with very narrow and delicate white longitu-
dinal streaks. Beneath, it is pure white. This seems to be
rather a local insect, but is found plentifully in certain spots,
of which Darenth Wood is one. It frequents plants of the
vetch tribe, and has been taken on the broom.

WE now come to a strangegenus of Weevils, strange in their
forms, and strange in their ways. They are all very tiny
Beetles, rarely more than the tenth of an inch in length, and
generally much less. The femora of the hind legs are ex-
ceedingly thick and strong, and the Beetle uses them for leap-
ing, an exercise which it pursues with wonderful agility.

From this peculiarity, the genus is named Orchestes, a word
which signifies ‘leaper.’ One of these Beetles, Orchestes fagi,
a name which may be translated as ‘ beech-hopper,’ is repre-
sented on Woodcut XIX. Fig. 2, its head is shown at Fig. b,
and its hind leg at Fig. ¢.

Small as are these Beetles, they are able to do a vast amount
of harm, not so much in their perfect as in their larval state.
The larve of this genus are long and flat, as is necessary for
their mode of life. They burrow into the leaves of various
trees, penetrating between the upper and under layer of the
leaf, and feeding on the ‘parenchyma,’ a soft green substance
that lies between them. Mr. Curtis mentions some observa-
tions which he made on the habits of the insect which we have
taken as our example :—

‘In 1832, Lord Farnham informed me that the beech-trees
on his estate in Cavan, Ireland, had for the last three or four
years suffered, not only in appearance, from the leaves being
partially blighted by a species of these insects, Orchestes fagt,
in June and the beginning of July, when they assumed an
autumnal appearance, but the general health of the trees
seemed to be considerably impaired. It appeared that, on the
bud opening, it was immediately occupied by the Orchestes,
which perforated the leaves, and to so great an extent that
scarcely a tree escaped.

THE CRYPTORHYNCHIDA. 183

‘On June 10, in the previous year, in a ramble through the
New Forest, I observed that the leaves of the trees looked very
brown, and those of the beech were quite blistered. This I at first
attributed to the severe frost we had in the morning of May 6,
but on examining them I found a larva inclosed in each leaf,
which in a short time changed to Orchestes fagi; so that at
the period when Lord Farnham observed it in Ireland, this
Beetle seems to have been equally abundant in England.’

Twelve species of this genus are known in England, and
most of them are named after the trees which they inhabit.
Many more species are described by the older entomologists,
but it has now been ascertained that many supposed species
are nothing but varieties, our present example having been
described under five names. The colour of this species is black,
with the exception of a reddish down scattered rather sparingly
over the elytra. It is, however, a variable insect, sometimes
having the downy clothing green instead of red.

WE now come to a family of Weevils called Cryptorhynchide.
This name is composed of two Greek words, signifying ‘ hidden
snout,’ and is given to this group of Beetles because they have
the beak bent downwards, and capable of being received into a
groove on the under side of the body. This attitude is as-
sumed when the Beetle is in repose or alarmed. On Woodcut
XIX. Fig. 4, is represented one of these insects, named Celiodes
quercus, the head of which is shown at Fig. a. In this genus
the hollow in which the beak lies is between the first and
middle pairs of legs, and it is on account of this channel that
the name Celiodes, or ‘ hollowed.’ has been given to the genus.

These are all very little, dumpy-bodied, sober-coloured
insects, and, when placed under the microsvope, they bear a
curious resemblance to the apteryx, whose round body and long
curved beak almost exactly reproduce the form of the Weevil.
They are generally to be found on nettles, and can be taken with
the sweep-net. Owing to the rotundity of their bodies, they are
very difficult subjects for the setting board. Moreover, in
death, the head always bends itself downwards, and the beak
tucks itself so firmly into its groove, that to bring it out with-
out injuring the insect is no easy matter. ’

Although this species is not a brilliantly-coloured one, it is

184 INSECTS AT HOME.

very pretty when viewed through a lens. The colour i» pitchy-
black, the head and thorax being thickly granulated. The
elytra are striated and punctated, and are variegated by a few
whitish patches. The under surface of the body is clothed with
white down. As its specific name implies, it is to be found
upon the oak.

Our next example of this family is Orobites cyaneus. The
genus is known by its globular and polished body, and the
short groove on the chest. The insect which is figured is the
only British species of its genus, and is by no means common.
Vetches are good localities for it, and it has been found on
willows and in hedgerows. Its colour is very dark-blue, and
it has a curious way of avoiding observation if alarmed. As
the reader may see by reference to the illustration, its legs are
rather long in proportion to its body; yet, it possesses the
power of packing them so tightly under its body, that it looks
more like a dry polished seed than an insect, and, in order to
assist the deception, it is instinctively taught to remain per-
fectly still as long as any sign of danger remains. The generic
name Orobites is Greek, and signifies ‘ vetch-eating,’ and the
specific name cyaneus signifies ‘ dark-blue,’ so that both titles
are perfectly appropriate.

Omirtina of necessity several genera. of these insects, we
come to one which is among the most destructive of the group.
This is the Rice Wsuvit (Sitophilus oryze), which is shown
on Woodcut XIX. Fig. 5. The generic name of Sitophilus
signifies ‘ grain-lover,’ and is given to the insect on account of
the terrible havoc which it makes in corn-stores. It belongs
to the family Calandride, of which there is only one British
genus, that which has just been mentioned. In this family the
antenne have eight joints, the last joint being large and
rounded. The body is rather flat, and the elytra, which are
boldly striated, do not quite cover the end of the abdomen.
There is another species, the Corn Wanvit (Sitophilus grana-
aus), Which feeds upon corn as the present species does on
rice. The Rice Weevil is distinguished by having four red
spots on the elftra, the Corn Weevil being altogether dusky -
red.

RAVAGES OF THE RICK WEEVIL. 185

Like the Nut Weevil, these insects do their destructive work
in secret, and there is no finding out the mischief until it is
too late. The mother Weevil—tiny herself—inhabits a tiny
hole in a grain of corn, and therein deposits a single egg. The
larva is soon hatched from the egg, and sets to work at feeding
in the interior of the grain, the whole of which it consumes,
leaving the exterior untouched, so that the grain appears quite
sound. Of course, the damaged grain is lighter than the sound
one, the body of the larva not compensating in weight for the
amount of substance devoured by it; and, if the corn be thrown
into water, the damaged corn will rise to the surface, and may
be skimmed off and burned. As, however, damaged corn and
rice can both command a sale, and as all damaged grain is
not attacked by the Weevil, the dealers will seldom employ
such a measure ; though to destroy all the light corn for the
sake of killing the Weevils would in the long run be more
profitable than keeping it tor sale and allowing the Weevils
to live.

The destruction wrought by these tiny foes can scarcely be
over-estimated, but some idea of it may be estimated from the
following statements which were made at the Entomological
Society, April 4, 1870. Seventy-four tons of Spanish wheat
had been carefully sifted or ‘screened’ to separate the Weevils
from it, and out of this quantity ten hundredweight of Weevils
were sifted. Again, one hundred and forty-five tons of Ameri-
can maize were subjected to the same process, and at two siftings
a ton and three-quarters of Weevils were removed. Now, each
of these Beetles had consumed several times its own weight of
corn before it attained the perfect state; and the reader may see
that, if the grain had been subjected to the water-test and the
light portion burned, the proprietor would have saved the cost
of some two tons of corn, instead of all owing it to be eaten by
these insect devourers, the stock of whom increased in propor-
tion to the diminution of the stores. It is rather a remarkable
fact that all these Beetles were Rice, and not Corn Weevils,
although there was no rice among the grain which they so
seriously damaged.

The larva of these Beetles is very short, fat, and thick, and
has two recurved hooks at the end of the body. It remains
inside the grain throughout its larval and pupal life.

186 INSECTS AT HOME.

Tuere has been some controversy among systematic entomo-
logists with regard to the insects which come next in order.
Some, thinking that they ought to form a separate group, have
given them the name of Xylophagi, i.e. ‘ timber-eaters ;’ while
others have contended that they are really Weevils, and ought
to form the last family of that group. The weight of opinion
seems to be on the latter side, and we will therefore take some
examples of the family of Weevils, called Hylesinide, i.e.
‘wood-devourers. The name is a very appropriate one, as we
shall presently see.

In this family of Weevils the head has but a very short beak,
and is globular in shape and deeply sunk in the thorax. The
antennz are elbowed, and have a long basal joint and a flattened
club. The front tibiz are broad at the tip, and used for dig-
ging purposes, and the mandibles are short, strong, sharp, and
triangular. They are all timber-feeders, and sometimes work
terrible destruction in the forests, even when the trees are still
living.

Our first example of this insect is called Hylesinus crenatus,
and is represented on Woodceut XX. Fig. 1. This genus may
be known by the long oval club of the antenne, and the slight
spurs of the tibie. The colour of this insect is black, the
thorax is thickly and boldly punctured. The elytra are pitchy-
black, and are both striated and ‘ crenated,’ i.e. covered with
marks like parts of circles. From tliis peculiarity, the insect
has derived its specific title, crenatus. 'The interstices between
the striz are wrinkled. The body is covered with down, and
rather elongated. This is not a very common insect, but may
be found under the bark of old trees. Four species of this
genus inhabit England.

On Woodeut XX. Fig. 2, is shown the most destructive
wood-eating Beetle that we have in this country. Its name is
Scolytus destructor, and a very appropriate name it is, the
generic name being of Greek origin, and referring to the wind-
ing passages or burrows which it makes when in the larval
state, and the specific name explaining itself. There are six
species of British Scolyti, but the present example serves as
the best type of the whole genus. This genus is distinguished

THE SCOLYTUS. 187

by the shape of its body, which is obliquely cut off behind, and
by the club of the antennz, which is three-jointed, solid, and
flattened. The last joint but one of the tarsus is cleft.

The colour of our species is slightly variable, but is mostly
as follows:—The head is black, wrinkled longitudinally, and
. the thorax is very large in proportion to the size of the insect,

1. Hylesinus crenatus. 2. Scolytus destructor. 3. Prionus ccriarius. 4, Tomicus
typographicus. 5. Callidium violaceum. a. Prionus, larva, 6. Tomicus, larva.
c. Scolytus, larva.

and is covered with very small punctures. The elytra are
sometimes black, sometimes pitchy, and sometimes bright-
chestnut, and are striated, the spaces between the striw being
punctured. So much for the appearance of this Beetle—we
will now proceed to its history.

When the mother Scolytus is about to deposit her eggs, she
flies to a tree, and searches about the bark for a favourable
spot. Having found it, she sets to work and gnaws a hole

188 INSECTS AT HOME.

completely through the bark, until she gets between the bark
and the solid wood. She next drives a tunnel, scarcely wider
than her own body, and then goes back along the tunnel, and
deposits her eggs along it. In many cases she exhausts all her
life-powers in the effort, and dies before she can entirely escape
from the burrow, the entrance of which is stopped up by her
body, so that no foe can enter.

The eggs are soon hatched, and then the larve begin their
destructive work. They feed on the soft inner bark, and each
larva, as it feeds, instinctively turns itself at right angles to the
burrow in which it was hatched, and gnaws for itself a tunnel,
which widens in proportion to the growth of the larva. These
burrows extend for an inch and a half or two inches in length,
and the result is, that a piece of bark, some three inches or
more in diameter, is completely severed from the tree and can
no longer perform its office. At the widened end of the burrow
the larvee ass ime the pupal form, and, after. undergoing their
change into the perfect insect, gnaw their way through the
bark, and are ready to lay the foundations of new colonies.

When a great number of these insects bore into a tree, they
often destroy it entirely, the bark being separated as com-
pletely from the wood as turf is severed from the ground when
the spade is passed under it. There is a tree—or rather, what
was a tree—standing within a few yards of my house, which
has been killed by the Scolytus. The whole of the bark has
peeled off, and nothing is left but the naked wood, scored all
over with the radiating tunnels of the destroying insect.

Should the reader wish to examine this insect for himself,
he will find no difficulty in so doing. He has only to visit any
place where elm-trees grow, and he is nearly sure to find the
Scolytus under the bark. August is perhaps the best time for
the purpose, as then the perfect insects, the larve, and the
pupe can be discovered. The larva is white, thick, and fleshy,
the back is deeply wrinkled—probably to aid the creature in
forcing its way through the wood, this being an absolute con-
dition of existence. It cannot remain in the same place,
‘because it grows so fast that the unyielding substances around
-would not permit its increase in size, and it would in conse-
quence soon perish. It is forced, therefore, to push Atself
onwards, and to occupy the space which was originally filled

DAMAGE TO ELM TREES. 189

by the wood and bark on which it has fed, and for this purpose
the bold wrinklings of the upper surface afford as useful means
of progression to the insect as the ventral scales of the snake
do to the reptile. The head is hard and scaly, and the jaws
are exceedingly powerful. One of these larve is shown on
Woodeut XX. Fig. c.

When nearly full-fed, the greater number of the larve
burrow directly into the tree, making holes about half an inch
ip depth, at the bottom of which they are quite safe, even
though the bark should fall off, as is often the case. They are,
further, protected from weather and the eyes of hungry birds
by the ‘ frass,’ or digested remains of the wood, which fills up
the tunnel behind the larva. It is much doubted whether the
Scolytus ever attacks a healthy tree, principally, as is con-
jectured, because in such trees the burrows of the insects are
filled with sap, which not only drives out the Beetles, but pre-
vents their eggs from being hatched. Still, when a tree
becomes unhealthy, the attacks of the Scolytus prevent it from
recovering itself; and such serious damage has been done by
this insect te our trees, especially the elms in and about
London, that the attention of entomologists has long been
directed to the subject, in hopes of discovering some device by
which the ravages of the Scolytus may be checked, if not
altogether stopped. As yet, however, no scheme has suc-
ceeded. Various plans have been suggested, such as injecting
poisonous fluids into the hole made by the mother Scolytus.
This might possibly answer, provided the operator could be
sure of discovering all the holes, and provided that the liquid
did not kill the tree as well as the insect. The ‘ Gishurst
Compound’ would do as much in this way as anything could,
but it cannot be employed on a large scale.

At present, the opinion seems to be that the only plan which
offers the least probability of success is a ‘ stamping out’ pro-
cess, similar to that which saved us in the time of the cattle-
plague. By this plan, all trees which are visibly attacked by
the Scolytus are to be cut down, and stripped of their bark and
the outer layer of wood, which are then to be burned, so as to
destroy the Scolytus, its larve, pup, and eggs.

Dr. Chapman states that all the species of Scolytus are in the
habit of fighting with each other. Tney ‘have a fashion of

190 INSECTS AT HOME.

placing their foreheads against other individuals, and giving a
thrust by pushing forward the jaws. They employ this process
to remove another Beetle from a station which they desire to
occupy ; it appears also to be an expression of anger, sometimes
two Beetles having an encounter in this way; and they use the
same movement in recommending themselves to the other sex.’

Our last example of the Weevils is a tiny Beetle, which,
though quite as destructive as the Scolytus, is, happily for us,
not nearly so plentiful. It is called Tomicus typographicus,
and a figure of it is given on Woodcut XX. Fig. 4. This
genus is distinguished by the club of the antenne, which is
four-jointed and rounded. The present species is blackish,
clothed with rather long yellow hair. The thorax is very long,
and there is a space between it and the elytra, which are deeply
striated and punctated ; the spaces between the striz being
convex and smooth. The apex of the elytra is abrupt and
rather turned up, and has six distinct teeth, the fourth being
the largest.

This insect attacks the fir, and in some parts of Europe does
even worse harm to those trees than the Scolytus does to the
elm in this country. The larva makes tunnels under the bark,
but, instead of proceeding in a tolerably straight line, as does the
larva of Scolytus, it makes a devious track, which often presents
a fanciful resemblance to letters; hence its name of typo-
graphicus, or ‘ letter-writer.’

In the pine-producing districts of Germany there is great
dread of this Beetle, which is popularly called the Turk, the
tracks left by its larva being known by the name of Wurm-
trockniss. So terrible are sometimes the ravages of this Beetle,
that towards the end of the last century more than a million
and a half of trees were destroyed by the Tomicus in the Hartz
forest alone, without reckoning those that perished in other
parts of the country. Thirteen species of this genus are known
to inhabit England, and some of them are plentiful.

CHAPTER XII.
LONGICORNES.

Tus group of Beetles derives its name from the shape of the
antennz, which are generally long, though in some of our
commonest species they are only of moderate length; but,
whether they be long or short, they are never clubbed, and are
mostly slender and thread-like. Their head is not lengthened
into a beak like that of the preceding group, and the elytra are
always broader at the base than the thorax. There are other
peculiarities of structure, but these are quite sufficient to dis-
tinguish them. Indeed, there is something so characteristic
in the appearance of a Longicorn Beetle, that even a novice
finds no difficulty in recognising it.

They are all wood-borers in the larval condition, and are
thin, long, whitish grubs, rather flattened, and with the seg-
ments boldly marked. By means of this latter structure, the
larvee are able to force their way through the wooden tunnels in
which they live. They possess the usual six legs, but these
limbs are only rudimentary, and of no use in locomotion. One
of these larve is shown on Woodcut XX. Fig. a. As the grub
has to feed upon hard material, it is furnished with very strong
horny jaws, and, in order to accommodate the muscles which
move these jaws, the head is very broad and covered with a hard
skin, nearly as strong indeed as the jaws themselves. In conse-
quence of their habits, the proceedings of the larve are difficult
of observation, and require machinery such as few entomolo-
gists can hope to possess. Still, by carefully opening the trees
which are infested by these destructive insects, much can be
learned of their habits, and many pleasant and instructive
hours can be spent in this task. We will now proceed tc

)examine some of the British species of the Longicorn Beetles.

Our first example is the largest, though by no means the

192 INSECTS AT HOME,

handsomest, of our Long-horned Beetles. It is called Prionus
coriarvus, and is represented of the natural size on Woodcut
XX. Fig. 3. It is the only British representation of its
family, the Prionide, though there are many exotic species
belonging to it. In this family the labrum is so small that it
is scarcely visible, while the mandibles are large and strong.
The antennze are moderately serrated, and inserted just above
the base of the mandibles, and the head is not narrowed behind
into a neck. The thorax is rather squared and furnished with
spines at the sides, and the elytra are lengthened, with blunt
spines at the tips.

The colour of this Beetle is blackish-brown above and chest-
nut-brown below, the colour being, however, rather variable in
different individuals. Like the Stag Beetle it is exceedingly
variable in size, some specimens being twice as large as others,
the difference in size being probably owing to the quality and
quantity of the food. The larva is white, flattish, broad at the
part which will afterwards become the thorax, but narrowing
towards the tail. The rings, or segments, are deeply marked,
and the legs are very small, the grub being able to force
itself through its burrow by the alternate extension and con-
traction of its body. In this task it is aided by certain fleshy
projections attached to the segments which constitute the
abdomen. One of these larve is shown on Woodcut XX.
Fig. a.

When it is nearly full-fed, it makes its way towards the bark
of the tree on which it feeds, and then forms from the wood-
chips a cocoon, in which it awaits its change into the pupal form.
In this stage of development, the long and boldly notched an-
tenn are laid along the sides of the body, over the elytra.

This is not a common Beetle, being necessarily restricted to
wooded districts. It is, however, much more plentiful than is
generally supposed, owing to its peculiar habits, which with-
draw it from the notice of all but skilful entomologists, who
not only know where to look for it, but how to recognise it
when they see it. For the Prionus is a lazy, sluggish sort of
insect, which seldom betrays itself to the unpractised eye. It
is essentially a being of darkness, and, contrary to the habits
of many Beetles, carries into its adult life the darkling ways
of its early stages of existence. During the day it remains

‘eM

Vs y
oth w
an a ai
masa

PLATE VI.

SLOW-WORM, OIL-BEETLES, WEEVILS, LONG-HORNS,
AND LADY-BIRDS.

1, Lampyris noctiluca (Male).

2. Lampyris noctiluca (Female).
3. Meloé cicatricosus (Male).
4, Meloé cicatricosus (Female).
5. Meloé cicatricosus, larva (full grown),
6. Phytonomus tigrinus.

7. Lixus bicolor.

8. Lixus bicolor, nest.

9. Aromia moschata.
10, Clytus arietis.

11. Cassida murina.

12. Coccinella septempunctata,

PLANTS :—
Willow (Salix alba). Above.
Wild Carrot (Daucus carota). Left of Middle,

PINT

SSS SSS
SS
——_

|
i
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SAT

A Ni NCA
| 3 a HT LEME NA i a
HT hf PT j it | } Y ! ! H i 4 i tN IK vy |
| MHI | ih i, HN ih I ll hi il HL i Mi

LH sl Hae
ANAT

A
ele

VR
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MUSK BEETLE. 193

perfectly still, clinging to the trunk of some tree, and harmo-
nising so well with the colour of the surface that it may easily
be mistaken for a mere excrescence of the bark. By night,
however, it flies in search of its mate, and is sometimes seen by
entomologists who are engaged in the pleasing task of ‘ sugar-
ing’ for moths at night in some wood. Darenth Wood is one
of the favoured localities of this insect, two specimens of which
were lately captured there by R. Evans, Esq., as they were
clinging to the bark in fancied security.

The name Prionus is taken from a Greek word, which signi-
fies a sawyer, and is given to the insect on account of its wood-
Jestroying habits.

Next in order comes the family of the Cerambycide. This
name is a Greek one, and is apparently given to the group of
Beetles on account of their long antenne, or horns, the Greek
word keras (unfortunately written ceras) signifying a horn.
In this family, the head is slightly bent downwards, the thorax
is widened at the sides, and the antenne, which are never
serrated, are inserted in the inner margin of the eyes, which
are semilunar.

Our first example is the beautiful Musk Berets (Aromia
[or Cerambyx] moschata), an insect which is equally grateful
to the eye and the nostril. One of these Beetles is shown on
Plate VI. Fig. 9. This is really a lovely insect, the shape
being peculiarly elegant, and the colour a soft green, some-
times glossed with blue, gold, copper, or bronze, the hue being
exceedingly variable. Even the thorax partakes of this varia-
bility, being sometimes rough, and sometimes very smooth and
glossy.

It owes its popular name to the powerful and pleasing odour
which it exhales, and which is said by some persons to resemble
ottar of reses.. For my part, I never could perceive much re-
semblance between the somewhat sickly scent of the ottar and
the fresh sweetbriar-like odour of the Beetle. This scent can
be perceived ata considerable distance, and the presence of the
Beetle can often be. detected by it, even when the insect is
itself concealed. Shortly after I came to live in West Kent, I
was passing along the road, and declared that a Musk Beetle
Was lu the neighbourhood. My companions, not knowing the

)

194 INSECTS AT HOME.

scent, could not believe me, and made themselves rather merry
on the subject. In the course of the day, however, one of the
same party, a young lady, was passing by the same place, and
carried off a fine Musk Beetle in her hair.

The scent of this insect is said to be more powerful in the
breeding season than at any other time of the year, and
stronger in the female than in the male. This is very likely
to be the case, and will serve to explain the mysterious mauner
in which many night-flying insects contrive to find their mates
in the hours of darkness. In the present instance, the odour
heppens to be one of which our senses are cognisant; but it
may well be that other insects, though to our nostrils absolutely
scentless, may yet emit an odour which is as evident to them as
is that of the Musk Beetle to us. The scent of this insect is as
enduring as it is powerful, and, if the Beetle be held with a
gloved hand, or wrapped in a handkerchief, it will impart either
to the kid or cambric its peculiar odour, which will last for a
very long time. From a series of experiments made some few
years ago, I have come to the conclusion that the Musk Beetle
can emit or retain its odour at pleasure as long as it is in full
health, but that when the insect is weak, or in a dying state, it
is unable to retain the scent. '

The Musk Beetle is one of the Beetles which are popularly
called Squeakers, on account of the sound which they are
capable of producing, and which somewhat resembles the squeak
of a bat. If the reader will watch one of these insects while
producing the sound in question, he will find that it moves its
head smartly up and down, so as to cause the sound by the
friction of one part of the hard surface against another. If the
Beetle be held in the hand, the whole body is perceived to
quiver with the exertion.

Wherever willow-trees are to be found abundantly, there the
Musk Beetle is sure to be, because it feeds on the interior of
that tree while in the larval state. The ground on which my
house stands being very high, and the soil being gravel, I was
very much surprised at perceiving the Musk Beetle which has
just been mentioned, thinking that no willow-trees were near.
However, after a while, I came upon some of these trees, at a
distance of some 300 yards, growing on the banks of a L.ttle
stream that ran in the valley below. Sometimes a tree 13

HOME OF THE MUSK BEETLE. 195

absolutely riddled with the burrows of these larvae, which bore
deeply into the very heart of the timber, and leave little
except a shell of bark surrounding a sort of soft wooden sponge.

If one of these trees be opened, the scene disclosed is a very
remarkable one. In the first place, the scent of the Beetles is
overpowering, and in the next, the wood is filled with a
wonderful variety of animal life. In some burrows, close to
the bark, may be seen the glittering green bodies of newly-
developed Beetles, as they lie waiting until their surfaces have
acquired sufficient hardness to enable them to face the dangers
of the world; in others the helpless pupze may be seen; and in
others, the white, flat, soft-bodied, hard-headed larvee move
themselves restlessly as they perceive the unwonted light. The
many ‘burrows which have been evacuated by their makers are,
however, seldom empty, but have pleuty of tenants in the shape
of woodlice, centipedes, earwigs, spiders, millipedes, and sundry
predacious Beetles, the latter AULD evidently entered the
burrows in search of food.

Those who wish to capture the Musk Beetle will find that
they cannot do better than explore the largest, the oldest, and
the most rugged willow-trees. The Musk Beetle is not a very
active Insect, and is fond of clinging to the bark of the willow,
and remaining perfectly still for many hours together. I may
mention that the surface of this Beetle affords a most gorgeous .
object for the microscope.

On Woodeut XX. Fig. 5, is drawn a very pretty Beetle
called Callidiwm violaceum. In this genus the head is sunk
in the thorax nearly as far as the eyes, which are semilunar.
The body is slender, and the legs short.

The present species derives its specific name from its colour,
which is violet, sometimes glossed with green or bronze.
Whatever may be the exact hue, a deep, rich, shining violet is
always the predominant colour—a violet that would make
the fortune of any dyer if he could only transfer it to silk.
The elytra are thickly and coarsely punctured. This pretty
little Beetle is thought to have been introduced into this
country from America. It is well known that wood-boring
Beetles are often transported from one country to another, the
larva or pupa remaining in the wood after the tree is cut down

02

196 INSECTS At HOME.

and shaped into timber. Sometimes a Beetle has Leen known
to emerge from a piece of fwmiture which has been in the
house for several years, the changed conditions having retarded
the growth of the Beetle. This insect inhabits the fir-tree,
and, as it has of late years become comparatively plentiful from
being one of our rarest Beetles, it is likely that many specimens
are imported in the fir cargoes from Canada, where it is one of
the commonest of insects.

The owners of the trees in question would be only too glad if
the Beetle were less common, for it does very great damage to
the timber, seizing upon the trees soon after they are felled,
and laying its eggs in crevices of the bark. When the larve
are hatched they set to work at their burrows, driving oblique
tunnels deeply into the body of the tree, and so spoiling the
timber. As is necessary for such a task, the larva is furnished
with exceedingly stout and strong mandibles. Four British
species of Callidium are known.

On Plate VI. Fig. 10, may be seen a figure of a very common
and very pretty Beetle, belonging to the same family, and
known to entomologists by the name of Clytus arietis. . In this
genus the antennz are shorter than the body, the last joint
being somewhat conical. The palpi are short, with the last
joint stout and three-sided, the angles being rounded. The
thorax is globular, and the/body is cylindrical.

The colour of this species is black, with three yellow bands
across the elytra, and a yellow patch at their tips, so that the
insect has a very waspish look, and is popularly known as the
Wasp Brette. The similitude is increased by its fussy mode
of walking, and the perpetual movement of its antenne, and,
as it crawls in and out of the foliage on hedges, it has so very
wasp-like a look that few persons, except they be entomologists,
like to touch it. In its larval state it burrows into wood, and
-emerges somewhere about midsummer. It is fond of fre-
quenting flowers, and can be taken in almost any quantity.
‘Being rather variable in the hue of its markings as well as in
size, a series ought to be taken for the cabinet.

Like many wood-boring insects, it sometimes makes its ap-
pearance when it is least expected. In 1833, for example, Mr.
Denny.deseribed a curious visitation of the Wasp Beetle in his

———
.

CURIOUS APPEARANCE OF THE WASP BEETLE. 197

museum. He had a case of stuffed birds, in which the birds
had been made to perch on oak branches. These branches had
been first carefully dried and then baked, and yet, after the
lapse of three years, three specimens of the Wasp Beetle
emerged from the branches, having survived the very un-
pleasant process to which they had been subjected.

This is not a solitary instance of the appearance of the Wasp
Beetle. In 1865 a piece of pollard oak was sent to the British
Museum, for the purpose of exhibiting the round, hard galls of
Cynips lignicola, which was then not nearly so common as it is
now. The oak, with its crop of galls, was placed in a glass
case, together with a large lump of camphor, a material which
is supposed to be poisonous to insects. Yet, on every suc-
ceeding spring, several specimens of the Wasp Beetle made
their escape from the wood in which they had passed their
larval state, the camphor having had no injurious effect upon
them. A still more curious example of the unexpected ap-
pearance of a wood-boring Beetle will presently be mentioned.

Our last example of this family is shown on Woodcut XX1.
Fig. 1. Its name is Gracilia pygmwa. This genus is to be
distinguished by the long slender body, the clubbed femora.
the long fifth joint of the antennz, and the elongated last joint
of the paipi.

As its specific name implies, this is a very small insect, neve1
exceeding a quarter of an inch in length, and being generally
much less. The colour of the Beetle is reddish-brown, with
the exception of the under surface of the abdomen, which is
shining-black. There is an angular projection in the middle of
the elytra.

This tiny wood-borer is one of those insects which are very
local, but very plentiful in those places which they choose for
their residence. Sometimes it prefers to live in houses, and
sometimes in the open air. It takes as great a range in point
of diet as in residence. Its ordinary, and indeed its normal,

. food is decaying wood, and the insect may accordingly be

found in old railings and similar localities. But it sometimes
takes a strange fancy for leather, and has been captured in
some numbers while feeding on old shoes. Sometimes sveci-
mens of this insect have been taken in the middle of 4our-

198 INSECTS AT HOME.

barrels; the larve having probably been hatched in the wood
of which the staves were made, and then relinquished their
original habitations for the richer diet furnished by the flour.

WE now come to a most extraordinary insect, which is drawn
on Woodcut XXI. Fig. 3. It goes by a great number of
names. ‘The scientific title by which it is now known is

1, Gracilia pygmea. 2. Strangaliaarmata, 3. Astinomus edilis, 4. Pogonocerus pilosus.
5, Rhagium inquisitor,

ee edilis. There is no possibility of mistaking this
insect, our sole representative of its genus, which may be
known by the broad flattened body, the tubercles on the sides of
the thorax, and the enormous length of the antennae, which in
the females are twice as long as the body, and in the males some-
times more than four times the length of the body. This
inordinate length is obtained by the elongation of the joints,
not by multiplying them.

—

THE TIMBERMAN. 199

This is essentially a northern insect, being seldom seen alive
south of Scotland. Rannoch Wood is the best known locality
for this wonderful Beetle, and in that favoured spot the ex-
perienced entomologist will generally manage to capture it.
Indeed, it is plentiful enough to have gained a popular name,
that of TrmBERMAN, not only because it frequents timber, but
because its long antennz present, when spread, a curious resem-
blance to a pair of compasses, these being used by the timber-
men in calculating the cubic contents of a tree-trunk or log of
wood. The specific name, edilis, is that of the officer who in
ancient times had charge of houses and public buildings.
When the insect flies, the long antenne trail behind it, and
present a very curious appearance.

Untortunately for the entomologist, the males are exceed-
ingly quarrelsome, and when two of them meet together they
are sure to fight, especially if one of the opposite sex be at
hand. ‘Their combats are so fierce that mutilation is sure to
be the result to one or both, so that a perfectly complete
specimen is of no small value for the cabinet.

In its larval state the Timberman Beetle lives in the in-
terior of pine stumps, its tunnels being of considerable size.
When it is full-fed, it makes a nest near the bark, in which it
changes to the pupal state. The pupa of a male Timberman
presents a very curious sight. All insects with long antennze have
some remarkable mode of packing them away while they still
retain the pupal form. In this Beetle they are brought down
by the sides, along the body, and then curled back again over
the head, so as to make two large loops, one on each side.
The larva changes to the pupal form somewhere about the end
of May, changes again to the perfect form in about a month,
but does not leave its nest until the following summer, its
surface gradually gaining consistence and hardness during the
time of its long repose.

It has been already mentioned that this is a northern insect. ¢
Only the day before writing this account I was in the British
Museum, and asked whether the Timberman had ever been
taken in any of the southern parts of England. The answer
was, that the only southern place where it had been captured
alive was the British Museum. The insect had been discovered
within the walls of the Museum, having evidently escaped

200 INSECTS AT HOME.

from timber which was being used for building purposes. This
Beetle has also been discovered embedded in a seam of coal at
Coatbridge, at a depth of nearly 900 feet from the level of the
ground. It is evident that the insect must have emerged
from some of the timber which is so largely employed in coal-
mines.

A raTHER remarkable Beetle is shown on Woodcut XXI.
Fig. 4. Its name is Pogonocerus pilosus, both of which titles
refer to the structure of the antennz. In this genus the body
is short and rather convex, the dise of the thorax is covered
with tubercles, the tips of the elytra are developed into spines,
and the antenne are covered beneath with a clothing of hair.
The generic title Pogonocerus (mostly, but wrongly, spelt
Pogonocherus) is formed from two Greek words, the one signi-
fying a beard and the other a horn; so that the whole word
may be translated as ‘ bearded-horn.’ The specific name,
pilosus, is Latin, and signifies ‘hairy. There are three
known English species, one, Pogonocerus fascicularis, being
very rare, and the other two moderately plentiful. The present
species has the tubercles of the thorax pointed, and there are
two sharp spines on either side of the thorax. The general
hue of the insect is reddish-brown, the elytra having a broad
grey band at the base, and some black spots near the suture.
They have also a single spine on the outer edge.

The second species, Pogonocerus hispidus, may be distin-
guished by the fact that it has two tubercles on the upper
surface of the thorax, one spine on each side, and the tip of
each elytron developed into two teeth, of which the outer is
the longer. There are also some little black patches of hair
near the tips, close by the suture. All these species have much
the same habits, and can be found among dry wood.

THE insect which is represented on Woodcut XXI. Fig. 5,
is called Rhagivwm inquisitor, and belongs to the family of the
Lepturide. In this family the eyes are nearly rounded, and
the antennz are of moderate length and set before the eyes.
The head is bent rather downwards and narrowed into a neck,
the thorax is narrower in front than the head, and the elytra are
gradually narrowed from the base to the tips. In the genus

yn a

COCOON OF THE RHAGIUM. 201

Rhagium the body is rather flattened, and there is a sharp
spine at either side of the thorax. The word Rhagium is a
Greek one, and signifies a little berry.

There is not the least difficulty in distinguishing the present
species. The colour is blackish, but the surface is covered
with a very fine yellowish down, and is thickly punctated.
The elytra have an elevated line, or rib, running longitu-
dinally along them; and upon the middle, or disc, there are
two irregular reddish-yellow bands, placed as shown in the
illustration. During its larval existence this insect lives in
decaying ash and willow-trees, and may be dug out of them in
spring, and found on and about them in summer.

There is another species, not so common as the former,
which inhabits decaying fir-trees. Only a short time before
writing this account, I dug several of them out of some fir-
stumps near my house. In one small stump, not more than
seven inches in diameter, I found four specimens. The name
of this species is Rhagiwm bifasciatum. It is marked much
as is the preceding insect, but may be known by a conspicuous
groove along the top of the head, and the fact that the elytra
have three longitudinal ridges instead of one. The yellow
bands, too, are shorter, and the colour both of these and the
elytra is exceedingly variable.

It is a remarkable fact that these insects invariably assume a
perpendicular position before changing into the pupal form.
They may always be found with their heads upwards, and their
antennez and legs packed closely against their bodies. Their
behaviour when the light is allowed to shine on them is rather
variable, and depends much on the weather. Should the day
be a warm one, the Rhagium seems glad to escape, and
struggles hard to free itself from the decaying wood with which
it is surrounded; but on a cold day, especially if there be a
sharp wind, the insect retreats as far as possible into its curious
nest, and tries to shelter itself alike from wind and light.

The nest, or cocoon, which the Beetle makes is a very
curious one. Just before it undergoes its change into the pupal
form, it prepares an oval chamber, and within this chamber
makes a cocoon from rather long wood-chips, which it arranges
with great art, so as to form a soft bed in which it can repose
during the long period of quiescence, It isnot easy to procure

202 INSECTS AT HOME.

one of these nests, owing to the fragility of the material. One
of them, in which a female Rhagium was reposing, was found
in the fir-wood which has just been mentioned. The excava-
tion is rather more than an inch and a quarter in depth, and
the actual cocoon, which lies at the bottom of the burrow, is
tive-eighths of an inch long and not quite a quarter of an inch
wide. The mouth of the excavation, however, is an inch and
a quarter in length, and a little more than a quarter of an
inch in width. I noticed that the inhabitant of this burrow,
instead of availing herself of the opportunity of escape, as did
all the others, crept closely into the recesses of the cocoon as
soon as it was opened, and would not leave it until she was
removed by force. The same stump contained two other
nests of the Rhagium, but none so perfect as that which has
been described.

AnotHer Beetle, belonging to the same family, is shown on
Woodcut XXI. Fig. 2, and is known by the name of Strangalia
armata. In this genus the thorax is without spines, is narrow in
front and flattened above. The body is very narrow and almost
pointed behind. The front of the head is rather le.gthened.
The present species has the ends of the elytra deeply cut, so as
to form a rounded notch with toothed edges, and the male can
be recognised by two conspicuous tooth-like processes on the
inner side of the hinder tibie. Owing to these peculiarities, the
specific name of armata, or ‘armed,’ has been given to the
Beetle. In colour and size it is one of the most variable of
British Beetles, scarcely any two specimens being exactly alike.
Sometimes it is almost entirely black barred with yellow,
sometimes yellow barred with black, while it varies in length
from five lines to three-quarters of an inch. Being so variable,
the entomologist ought to have a series of specimens in his
cabinet. ‘There is not the least difficulty in obtaining them,
as it is a very common Beetle, and can be found in plenty
upon the umbelliferous plants—these being the favourite
resorts of many Beetles. It is tolerably active, and takes to
the wing as soon as it is alarmed. Seven species of this genus
are known in England.

"= =F

CHAPTER XIII.

EUPODA.

WE now leave the Longicorn Beetles, and come to another
section, called the Eupopa, a name derived from two Greek
words, signifying ‘beautiful feet. By some authors the
section is named Phytophaga, this word being also of Greek
origin, and signifying ‘plant-eater. They are all pretty
insects, and some of them, though not large, are singularly
beautiful both in form and colour. In the Beetles belonging
to this section the antenne are short and slender, and have a
short basal joint. The head is deeply sunk into the thorax,
the elytra cover the sides of the abdomen, and the last joint
but one of the tarsus has two lobes. They are all vegetable-
feeders, and, as most of them are attached to certain plants,
there is little difficulty in finding them.

Passing by the family of the Sagridee, of which we have but
four species in England, all belonging to one genus, we begin
with the Donaciadz. In this family the antennz are longer
than is usually the case with the Eupoda, and they are set just
in front of the eyes. The head is large in front and narrowed
behind, and the first segment of the abdomen is very long.
Our example of this family belongs to the typical genus, and
is known to entomologists by the name of Donacia menyan-
thidis, a figure of which is given on Woodcut XXII. Fig. 1.
In this genus the body is flattened, polished, and shining above,
thickly punctured, and having altogether a metallic aspect.
Below, it is covered with a very fine down. The antennze have
the fourth and following joints elongated, as may be seen by
reference to the same woodcut, Fig. e.

All the Donaciz may be found on water-plants, especially on
reeds, from which they derive the generic name, Donax being
a Greek word, signifying a reed. Although some of the species

204 INSECTS AT HOME.

are rather rare, the Donaciz are, beyond comparison, the most
common of water-frequenting Beetles, and the leaves of reeds,
water-lilies, and other plants are often studded with these
beautiful insects, whose polished and variously-coloured bodies
glitter in the sunbeams like living gems. As many of the
species are exceedingly variable in colour, it will be as well for

XXII.

1. Donacia Menyanthidis. | 2. Crioceris merdigera. 3. ChrysomelaStaphyl~a. 4. Cryp-
tocephalus coryli. 5. Timarcha levigata. a, Chrysomela, antenna. b. Cryptocephalus,

antenna. c. Cryptocephalus, labial palpi. d. Cryptocephalus, maxillary palpus. e. Donacia,
antenna, Jj. Crioceris, antenna.

the entomologist to procure a considerable number of speci-
mens, many, which at first sight appear to be different species,
being, when closely examined, seen to be nothing but varieties
of the same species. There is scarcely a colour of the rainbow
which is not exhibited by one or other of the Donaciz, and in
some instances the same species exhibits an astonishing variety
of colour—one being perhaps almost black, another blue,

oy hws

LOSS OF COLOUR. 205

another green, another copper, another purple, another red,
while another is as made of burnished gold.

The larve of these Beetles live within the stems of the
various water-plants, and on that account the species have
derived their names from the plants on which they live. One
species, for example, takes its name from the bog-bean, or
yellow water-lily (Menyanthes nymphcoides), on which it is
found. Another is named Donacia typhe, from the common
bull-rush or reed-mace (Typha latifolia). Another has the
name of Donacia sagittarie, from the arrow-head (Sagittaria
sagittifolia); and so forth. Altogether, exclusive of varieties,
of which there are a great number, nineteen British species of
this beautiful genus are known. In some places these Beetles
are so plentiful that seven species have been found on water-
plants within the limits of one small pond.

The present species is shining-green above with a brassy
gloss, and below it is silvery-white, owing to the soft down
with which it is clothed. There is a bold groove on the front
of the head, and the elytra are both striated and ‘ crenated,’ i.e.
covered with little marks formed lke segments of circles. It
is not a very common species, being rather confined to certain
localities.

THE next insect on our list is that which is shown on Wood-
cut XXII. Fig. 2, and is known by the name of Crioceris
merdigera. It belongs to another family, the Crioceride. In
this family, the outlines of the eyes are notched, and the antennz
are set in front, within the inner margin. The mandibles are
short and abrupt at the tip, and have several sharp teeth. The
genus Crioceris has the palpi slender, the joints of the antennz
short, and the elytra wide. The name Crioceris is formed from
two Greek words, signifying ‘ram-horned,’ and is given to the
insects on account of the form of the antenne.

Only three English species of this genus are known, of
which the insect which is shown on the illustration is by far
the most remarkable. Its colour is bright scarlet, but unfor-
tunately, as is the case with many brilliant insects, the colour
only exists during life, and fades rapidly after death. This
fading is generally caused by want of moisture, and in some
cases has been checked, if not altogether stopped, by opening

206 INSECTS AT ILOME.

the insect, and introducing a small quantity of glycerine into
the body and under the elytra. This plan might be tried on
the present species, and certainly would do no harm even if it
did not succeed. The ‘insect is a very rare one, but may be
taken in the flowers of lilies.

The larva of this species feeds on lily leaves, and is pos-
sessed of a habit which, though very remarkable, is found in
other Beetles belonging to the Eupoda. The digestive appa-
ratus is so formed, that the excrements, instead of being
dropped, as is the case with most animals, are pushed upon
the back, where they soon dry, and form a covering which
protects the larva equally against the sun and the rain. The
larva has the power of freeing itself at will from this very
singular covering. When full-fed, the larva descends to the
earth, into which it burrows, and there makes an oval cocoon
in which it undergoes its changes.

TuE best known species of this genus is the AsPaRaGus
BgerLE (Crioceris asparagv), which feeds on the plant from
which it derives its name, This insect is much longer in the
body than the preceding species, though smaller in point of
size. It is very prettily coloured, the thorax being deep-red,
and the head and elytra shining-blue or green-black, the latter
being marked with reddish-yellow, so as to look as if they were
yellow on which a black cross had been laid. The larve are
grey, soft-bodied creatures, and, together with the perfect
insect, can be found in any number upon the asparagus after it
has been allowed to run to seed, and wave its feathery branches
and pretty round fruit in the air.

Tur family of the Cryptocephalide is represented by Cryp-
tocephalus coryli, which is shown on Woodcut XXII. Fig. 4.
In this family, the head is so deeply sunk in the thorax that it
is quite invisible from above, a peculiarity which has earned
for the insects their name, which signifies ‘ hidden-head.’ The
body is rather cylindrical and black, the antenne are slender,
and the eyes are kidney-shaped. The genus Cryptocephalus
has the antennz slender, and as long as the body. One of
these antenne is shown at Fig. b of the same illustration, the
labium at c, and the maxilla palpus at d.

HOW TO CATCH TIMID BEETLES. 207

Many of the species of Cryptocephalus are very common, but,
plentiful though they be, cannot be taken without some trouble
and a perfect knowledge of their habits. They are the wariest
of insects, and at the approach of the would-be captor they
fall from the leaves on which they have been reposing, and
allow themselves to drop to the ground.

I do not know a more irritating habit than this. Many of
our: wariest insects take to the wing at the slightest alarm ;
but in that case there is some hope of capturing them in
fair chase, and the excitement of the hunt affords some com-
pensation for the difficulty of capture. But when a little
Beetle simply lets itself fall among the thick herbage and
underwood, where even the sharpest eye can scarcely distinguish
it, nothing can be more annoying to the entomologist who was
in hopes of an easy capture. These lovely little Beetles give
excellent practice to the young entomologist in the art of
approaching insects. They will take alarm if he moves with a
hasty or noisy tread, and they will be sure to drop among the
underwood if he allows even the shadow of himself or his
net to fall across them. Moreover, as befits their splendid
pene: they are creatures of light and warmth, and always

reuich e ea and et ‘ie avoid throwing a cinders upon them.

The larve of these Beetles envelope themselves in a curious
pear-shaped cell, which seems to be formed from the same
materials as the covering of the larva cf Crioceris merdigera,
described on page 206. These lovely little Beetles are of
various colours, among which green and blue are the most
common. ‘The present species is remarkable for the distinc-
tion in colour between the sexes—the thorax being black in
the male insect, and red in the female. The head is black
with a few yellowish spots on the front, and the elytra are red,
and covered with punctures arranged in irregular lines. As
the specific name implies, it feeds on the hazel (Corylus
avellana), and it has been taken upon the leaves of that tree
in Darenth Wood, and in Norfolk. It is a very rare species.
At least twenty species of Cryptocephalus are known in
England, but many additions are likely to be made through
the rapid’ extension of entomological knowledge, and the
almost daily increase in number of insect-hunters.

208 INSECTS AT HOME.

Now we come to a family in which most-of the species are
brilliantly coloured; and even those in which the hue is appa-
rently of a sombre cast are seen, when closely examined, to be
really clothed with as much beauty as their more conspicuous
relatives. This family is called the Chrysomelide, a name
which is composed of two Greek words, signifying ‘ golden
apple,’ and ‘s appropriately given to these Beetles on account
of the globular shape of their bodies, and the lovely tints with
which they are adorned. In these Beetles the head is very
far sunk in the thorax, but not so deeply as in the last-mentioned
family, and the antenne are stouter, shorter, and more thickened
towards the tip. One of these antenne is shown on Woodcut
XXII. Fig. a. The body is oval or round, and the legs are of
equal size. Inthe genus Timarcha, from which our example
is taken, the wings are not developed, and the elytra are firmly
soldered together at the suture, so that they cannot be opened.

On Woodeut XXIT. Fig. 5, is represented an insect which is
very plentiful, and known by the name of Timarcha levigata.
It is better known, however, by the popular name of Bioopy-
Nose Bretie, because it has a habit of ejecting a large drop
of red fluid from its mouth when it is handled. There are
only two British species belonging to this genus, and they are
by far the largest English representatives of the Chrysomelide.
The present species sometimes nearly reaches a length of three-
quarters of an inch, and, as the body is very stout and globular,
it may take rank among the larger British Beetles.

At the first glance, this insect appears to be black, but a
careful examination with a magnifying glass, aided by a strong
light, shows that the real colour is the deepest indigo-purple,
sometimes with a gloss of green. The whole of the upper
surface is thickly covered with small punctures, which impart
to it a sort of velvety gloss. The tarsi are very broad, and
furnished beneath with thick, greyish-yellow pads. There is a
very broad impression on the forehead. The second species,
Timarcha coriacea, much resembles the present insect. It is
not, however, so large, and is rather blacker above. The chief
distinction, however, is to be found in the punctures of the
elytra, which are deep, and have a tendency to run together, so
as to form irregular lines. This formation cannot be seen
without the use of a magnifying glass.

A CONSPICUOUS LARVA. 209

The larva of this Bloody-Nose Beetle is wonderfully like tne
perfect insect. It is large, heavy, soft-bodied, and covered
with a shining blue or green skin, a yellowish patch appear-
ing at the apex of the body. It is very common in the ditches
under hedgerows, especially if the hedge be allowed to flourish
in the luxuriant and picturesque manner which is so fascinating
to an artistic eye, and so hateful to the agricultural eye of the
farmer, who cares nothing for beauty, and would sacrifice the
loveliest country scene in England to get another cart-load of
turnips out of his field. How these great, sluggish, conspicuous
larvee ever escape the many perils of larval life is realiy won-
derful. I can only account for their survival on the supposition
that they are distasteful to the insect-eating birds. Very many
larvee of this section secrete a bitter, or acrid liquid, and the
Timarcha larva may perhaps be protected by some such means.

On Woodcut XXII. Fig. 3, is represented a member of the
typical genus, Chrysomela staphylea. In this genus the wings
are fully developed, and the last joint of the palpi is rather
hatchet-shaped. The present species is a moderately large one,
and has the body extremely convex. The general colour is
reddish-brown with a slight metallic gloss. The whole upper
surface is covered with punctures, those of the head and thorax
being very fine, and those of the elytra large and irregularly
disposed. Beneath, the body is pale-browwn. There are about
twenty British species of this beautiful genus. The present
species takes its name from the common Bladder-nut (Staphy-
let pinnata), upon which it can be found. It is a very
common insect.

We will take one more example of this family, namely, the
insect which is represented on Woodcut XXIII. Fig. 1, and
is known to entomologists by the name of Prasocuris [or
ITelodes| beccabunge. In this genus the body is rather elon-
gated, the wings are developed, and the thorax is squared.
This beautiful little insect is found on the plant sometimes
called the Brooklime, or Short-leaved Water Speedwell ( Vero-
nica beccabunga), that is so plentiful in running streams, its
thick fleshy stems reclining upon the water and just upholding
its pretty blue flower.

P

210 INSECTS AT HOME. \

The colour of the Beetle is bright polished-blue above,
sometimes taking a deep-green hue, and there is a reddish
patch below at the apex of the body. The thorax is rather
convex and thickly punctured, and on each elytron there are
ten rows of striw, the intervals between them being very finely
wrinkled. The insect is common in some localities, but in

1, Prasocuris beccabunge. 2. Phyllotreta brassice. 3. Psylliodes hyoscyami. 4. Cas-
sida viridis. - 5. Triplax russica, a. Phyllotreta, larva. 6. Cassida, larva. ce, Cassida
pupa. d, Cassida, maxillary palpus. e. Cassida, labial palpi.

others seems to be rather scarce—its rarity or plenty depend-
ing, in all probability, on the presence or absence of the herb
on which it generally feeds. There are five British species of
this genus,

Passtna by the family of the Galerucide, we come to the
enormeus family of the Halticide, the members of which,

THE TURNIP-FLEA, 211

though individually small and insignificant, collectively exer-
cise very great influence upon the agriculture of our country.
One of these insects is shown on Woodcut XXIII. Fig. 2, and
is one of several Beetles which are known by the popular name
of Turnip-F Leas or Hoppers. It is called scientifically Phyllo-
treta (or Haltica) brassice.

All the Halticidz can be distinguished by the very thick
hinder femora, which denote the possession of great leaping
powers on the part of the insect. The antennz are set between
the eyes, and the edges of the elytra are wavy. They are
attached to different plants, and are so constant to them that
their specific names are often taken from their food-plant.
The colour of the present species is deep-black, ahd there are
two longitudinal yellow streaks upon each of the elytra, one
near the base, and the other towards the apex. The body is
egg-shaped, and the elytra are rounded at their tips. It is
about the smallest species of the genus.

The true Turnip-flea is another species, called Phyllotreta
nemorum, the colour of which is black, with a broad longitu-
dinal yellow streak running nearly, but not quite, to the end
of the elytra. Both in the larval and perfect stages this insect
is extremely damaging to the turnips, feeding upon the first
tender shoots as they appear above the ground, and so destroy-
ing the whole plant. Sometimes they will devastate a field so
completely, that it must be re-sown if a crop be wanted. The
early life of this Beetle has been well told by Mr. Le Keux, in
the ‘ Transactions of the Entomological Society, vol. ii. After
narrating the destruction which these insects had wrought, he
proceeds as follows :—

‘Being still at fault as to the origin of the larve, I captured
ten males and ten females in pairs, and enclosed them in a
glass tube covered at each end with wire gauze, into which I
introduced a single leaf of turnip, with water to keep it fresh ;
by this means I was enabled to examine the insects and leaf
on all sides with a magnifying-glass at any time without dis-
turbing them. Having, previous to introducing the leaf,
ascertained with a strong magnifier that there were no eggs
or larvee upon it, on the following day I had the satisfaction
to perceive five small, smooth, oval-shaped eggs adhering to
the under side of the leaf, and so nearly resembling it in

P 2

‘

212 INSECTS AT HOME.

colour, that I was no longer surprised that they should hitherto
have escaped my observation.

‘This leaf was removed with the eggs upon it, and placed
in water, and its place supplied by a fresh one, which, on the
following day, had three eggs upon it, and the third leaf four
eggs, each of which leaves was placed separately in water.
The fourth leaf I suffered to remain with the insects a week,
supplying it with fresh water daily, and at the end of that
time it had thirty-one eggs upon it. In two other glass tubes
I confined single pairs of insects, with a leaf in each, upon
which I never found more than a single egg deposited on the
same day, and in those leaves taken from the field with larvee
in them (some containing six), no two of them were of the
same growth.

‘I found great difficulty in preserving the leaves during
the length of time necessary for the hatching of the eggs; and
as it would have been impossible to have preserved them
long enough for the feeding of the larve, I began to despair
of success, until I observed that, in those leaves taken with
larvee in them from the field, it was not uncommon for the
larva to leave the burrow it had first commenced, and, travel-
ling (which from its formation I had supposed it incapable of
doing) to a distant part of the leaf, form anew one. About
the time, therefore, when I expected the eggs to hatch, I placed
fresh leaves by the side of the old ones, to which the young
larve soon found their way, and lodged themselves.

‘The egg hatches in ten days from the time it is laid, and
the larva immediately begins to eat its way into the leaf and
form a burrow by feeding upon the pulp between the upper
and under surface of the leaf, which, however, is not easily
perceptible to the eye unless held up against the light, al-
though the track is sufficiently obvious after the larva has left
it and it has become dry. The larva is full-fed and goes into
the earth at the end of sixteen days, burying itself about an —
inch and a half below the surface, and in such a situation that
the turnip-leaf above may afford shelter in case of rain. I
have reason to believe that it remains in the earth about a
fortnight before changing into the perfect Beetle. Some of
the first specimens of larve and pupz which I took in the
field I placed in finely pulverised and very dry earth, and in a

TORTOISE BEETLES. 213

few days they were shrivelled up. The others I also put inte
fine earth, and saturated it with water. Unfortunately, there
was no opening at the bottom of the cup; and the next day,
perceiving that the earth was still saturated with water, I
drained it and removed the larva, but they were all dead. This
accident may serve to account for the scarcity of the insects
after very wet seasons.’

The result of this and other experiments is, that the insects
are in all probability attracted to their food-plant by scent;
and, as they have large wings which they can use well, it is
impossible to keep them out of a field which contains their
favourite food. Mr. E. Newman suggests that all weeds should
be cut, dried, and kept in heaps until the Beetles are on the
wing, when they should be placed in heaps on the windward
side of the field and lighted, so that the smoke—strengthened
with a little sulphur—may blow over the ground and repel the
Beetles. If they can be kept off for a time, the plant gains
strength, and then the Beetles cannot kill it, though they
may seriously damage it.

The name Phyllotreta is of Greek origin, and signities ‘ leaf-
borer.” There are more than a hundred British species of
these little Beetles, and the now restricted genus Phyllotreta
contains thirteen species. The larva of this Beetle is shown
on Woodcut XXIII. Fig. a.

AnoTHER example of this family is shown on Woodcut
XXIII. Fig. 3. Its name is Psylliodes hyoscyami. There is
a curious structure in the antennz of the insects belonging to
this genus—the second and third joints being so fused to-
gether as to form one long joint. The tibie of the hind legs
are abruptly sloped at the end, and the tarsi are set on the
upper edge and above the apex. The colour of this Beetle is
green above and black below, a brassy gloss covering the whole
of the surface. The large hinder femora are black, and the
whole of the upper surface is thickly punctured, the punctures
being arranged in striz on the elytra. It is not a very com-
mon insect.

WE now pass to the family of the Cassidiide, commonly
known by the popular and appropriate name of Torroisa

214 INSECTS AT HOME.

Brrties. There is no possibility of mistaking these Beetles,
which are flat-bodied, rounded, and have the head completely
hidden under the wide thorax, which overlaps the base of the
elytra. As the insects sit upon leaves, the whole of the head
and limbs are completely hidden by the thorax and elytra, just
as are those of a tortoise by its shell. Most of the species are
green, though some of them are adorned with spots and stripes
of red and gold. All these colours are exceedingly fugitive,
and vanish soon after the death of the insect. Glycerine
has been tried with some of these insects, as mentioned on
page 206.

A very common species, Cassida viridis, is shown on Wood-
eut XXIII. Fig. 4. It is of a rather dull-green colour, the
base of the elytra taking a slightly reddish hue. It may be
found plentifully on thistles.

At Fig. 6 of the same illustration is shown the extraordinary
larva of the Tortoise Beetle. It is very flat, and has the sides
covered with flattened spines. But the most curious portion
of its structure is the forked apparatus that proceeds from its
tail and passes over its back. This fork serves a very curious
purpose. Like the larva of Crioceris merdigera, which has
been described on p. 206, this creature is sheltered by a sort of
umbrella formed of the same materials as those of Crioceris.
But, instead of lying directly on the back, the umbrella is
supported on the fork at some little distance from the body,
and, when it becomes too weighty, it can be shaken off and a
new one gradually produced. The pupa is scarcely less curious
in appearance, and is drawn at Fig. c, Woodcut XXIII. The
maxilla of the perfect insect is shown at d, and the labium
at ¢é.

There is only one British genus of this family, and it con-
{ains about thirteen species. One of the variegated species is
shown on Plate VI. Fig. 11. Its name is Cassida murrea, and
its colour is sometimes red and sometimes green, blotched with
black near the suture and spotted with the same colour on the

disc.

{
.
4
4
F
:

CHAPTER XIV.

PSEUDOTRIMERA.

WE now come to the last section of the Beetles, the Psrupo-
TRIMERA. This name is compounded of three Greek words,
signifying ‘false three-joints,’ and is given to the insects on
account of the structure of their tarsi, which appear to have
only three joints, though in reality they have four joints; the
missing joint, which is the third, being very minute, and
hidden within the doubly-lobed second joint. This structure
can be seen by reference to Woodcut XXIV. Fig. e, which
represents the leg of a Lady-bird.

The first family of these Beetles, the Erotylide, can be dis-
tinguished by the bold three-jointed club of the antennz, and
the large flattened club-shaped last joint of the maxillary
palpi. One example of this family is Triplax russica, which
is represented on Woodcut XXIII. Fig. 5. In this genus the
body is oblong and the antennz rather stout, and the club has
the last joint blunt and egg-shaped, and the other two joints
transverse. The generic name, Triplax, is formed from two
Greek words, signifying ‘three-plated,’ and is given to this
genus on account of this structure of the club.

The present species is the largest of the genus, although it
never exceeds a quarter of an inch in length. The head and
thorax of this insect are red, and the elytra are deep blue-
black. The abdomen is reddish, and the whole surface is
shining. All the species of this genus live in fungi; and in such
localities may be found this insect, which is not very common,
but is more plentiful than seems to be the case on account of
its way of hiding itself within the fungi. There is another
genus belonging to this family, called Hngis, the members of
which are found in similar localities. They are pretty little
beings—shining, rather convex, and elongated, and usually dark-

216 INSECTS AT HOME.

brown with yellow thorax and shoulders. The peculiar three-
jointed club of the family will at once distinguish them. The
genus Triplax contains five English species,

Tur next family, the Coccinellide, is composed of insects
which are very familiar to us under the popular name of Lady-

1. Coccinella ocellata. 2. Lycoperdina boviste. 3. Trichopteryx atomaria. 4. Pselaphus
Heisei. 5. Claviger foveolatus. a, Coccinella, larva. 6. Coccinella, maxillary palpus.
ec. Coccinella, labium. d. Coccinella, antenna, e. Coccinella, leg.

birds or Lady-cows—the former being the more common as well
as the more poetical name. These insects are ‘all flat below
and convex above, the body is rounded and the antenne are
short. The structure of the various parts of this genus is
shown on Woodcut XXIV., the antenna being represented at
d, the maxilla and its palpus at 6, the labium at c, and the leg,
with the tiny third joint of the tarsus, at e The typical

LADY-BIRDS. 217?

genus, Coccinella, has the hinder angles of the thorax acute.
Many species of these pretty insects inhabit England, but some
of the species are so exceedingly variable in point of colour,
that the varieties have been described as actual species by
practised entomologists. It is common enough to find a blue
insect running into shades of green, and vice versd; but in
some of these Lady-birds, the same species will be red spotted
with black, black spotted or blotched with red, black spotted
with yellow, yellow spotted and barred or blotched with black,
and so on in infinite variety.

We will now briefly describe two species, one a rarity and
the other a very common one, and then proceed to the habits
of the insect. On Woodcut XXIV. Fig. 1, is represented a
very beautiful insect, which we may call the Eyep Lapy-nirp
(Coccinella ocellata). The head and thorax of this species are
black, and on the latter are two yellow spots at the base and a
patch of the same colour at each side. The elytra are red,
and upon each elytron are nine black spots, more or less oval,
each of them surrounded with a ring of yellow, giving them
the ‘eyed’ appearance which is expressed by the specific
name ocellata. There is also a black, yellow-edged streak
over the apex of the elytra. Several varieties of colouring
are known. ‘This insect has been found upon the pine, the fir,
and the beech.

On Plate VI. Fig. 12, is drawn the common Serven-spot
Lapy-zirp (Voccinella septempunctata), a species that derives
its name from the seven black spots upon the elytra. These
spots are exceedingly variable in size, and sometimes one or
two spots are absent, while there is one variety in which there
are no spots at all. It is represented in flight, in order to
show the large size of its wings.

Beautiful as are the Lady-birds, it is not for their beauty
alone that they are valued, inasmuch as they are among the
greatest benefactors of civilised man, and preserve many a
harvest which, but for their aid, would be hopelessly lost. For,
in their larval state they feed upon the aphides—the ‘ green
blight’ or ‘ green-fly’ of gardeners—and, being exceedingly
voracious, deyour vast numbers of those destructive insects.
Few persons would suppose, on looking at the Coccinella larva,
what was its real condition of life. It looks as harmless, dull,

218 INSECTS AT HOM3.

sluggish a creature as can be imagined, and uch more likely
to be eaten itself than to eat other insects. Yet, with all
this innocence of aspect, it is so ruthless a destroyer of animal
life, that if a few of them be placed on a bush or plant whic)
is infested with aphides, in a day or two not an aphis will
be left. ,

Especially is the Lady-bird useful in those parts of the country
where hops are grown. There is an aphis which feeds specially
upon this plant, and which has been known to destroy whole
plantations in a single season, causing the greatest distress
among the multitudes whose living depends more or less directly
upon the hop. Fortunately, the Lady-bird—usually the little
Two-Sror Lapy-zsrrp (Coccinella bipwnctata)—comes to the
rescue, and follows the aphides wherever they are most plenti-
ful. The mother insect lays her eggs in packets among the
aphides, and, as soon as the young larve are able to move
about, they begin to feed upon the insects near where they
have been placed.

In some seasons the swarms of Lady-birds almost exceed
belief. I have seen the streets absolutely red with them, and
the houses covered with their multitudes, while within doors a
thick band of Lady-birds ran along the angle of the walls
and ceiling like a red cable, large bunches hanging in each
corner. These insects very well illustrated the adage that
‘dirt is only matter in the wrong place. Nothing could be
more beneficial than their presence in the locality, as it was
situated in the very midst of hop gardens, and by their means
the year’s harvest was saved from destruction. But, though
they were very much wanted out of doors, they were not at all
wanted inside the house, especially as Lady-birds have a very
unpleasant odour, which, when multiplied by tens of thousands,
becomes almost unbearable. Even after the rooms had been
cleared, they were almost uninhabitable, and the more so that
it was impossible to keep the windows open, because the Lady-
birds flocked into the room in swarms, and would soon have
replaced those which had been ejected. Even throughout the
winter many of them retained their positions, having been
kept alive by the warmth of the fire.

When the larva is full-fed, it attaches itself to a twig or leaf
vby the.end of its tail, and thus hangs with its head downwards.

oe

A CURE FOR THE TOOTHACHE. 219

Presently, the larval skin splits down the back, but the pupa
does not emerge, remaining within the larval skin until it has
changed into its perfect form. It has been mentioned that
the Lady-birds give out avery unpleasant odour. This is caused
by a yellowish tiquid which issues from the joints of the limbs,
as has been described in connection with the Oil Beetle, on
page 154, and which has a very powerful and disagreeable scent.
In some parts of the country this liquid is considered to be a
cure for toothache, the finger being first rubbed against the
legs of the Lady-bird, and then on the offending tooth. In its
larval state it emits a similar liquid from the tubercles upon
its body.

It is rather remarkable that the popular names of Lady-bird
and Lady-cow are not peculiar to England. In France, for
example, the insect is called Béte de la Vierge, or Vache 4
Dieu. The children, however, do not respect the insect in con-
sequence of its popular names, but, on the contrary, when they
catch one, look upon it as a means of showing their ingenuity
in prolonging torture without destroying life.

Tue next family, that of the Endomychide, is represented
by one species, Lycoperdina boviste, which is shown on Wood-
cut XXIV. Fig. 2.

In this family the antennz are tolerably long, the thorax is
impressed behind, and the last joint of the maxillary palpus is
never hatchet-shaped. In the genus Lycoperdina the thorax is
heart-shaped, and abruptly cut off at the base, and there is no
distinct club to the antenne. The present species is an odd,
black, flat insect, which has been very happily compared to a
Blaps in miniature. It is to be found inside the well-known
puff-ball (Lycoperdon bovistw), from which it derives its
generic name, and makes its exit by the aperture which exists at
the top of the fungus, and through which the spores escape like
clouds of smoke. It is not at all a common insect, and a vast
number of puff-balls may be examined without a single speci-
men of the Beetle being found. But, like many other rare
insects, when one specimen is found, plenty more are generally
to be seen, and though five hundred of the fungi may have been
examined without success, the five hundred and first may con-
tain enough Beetles to stock a dozen cabinets.

220 INSECTS AT HOME.

The wide and deeply fringed maxilla is worthy of notice.
This is the only English species of the genus, the second sup-
posed species being nothing more than a variety.

Tur family of the Trichopteridze contains a good many
species, of which we select one as our example. This is 7'ri-
chopteryx atomaria, which is represented on Woodcut XXIV.
Fig. 3.

These are all little Beetles, and, indeed, are the tiniest of the
British Coleoptera. Small as they are, they can be easily
recognised when examined by the aid of a lens, so bold are
the characteristics which mark them. The antenne are long,
slender, and beset with long hairs, and having a bold three-
jointed club. : The wings are very long and narrow, and fringed
with hairs, a peculiarity which has gained for them the name
of Trichopteryx, or ‘hairy wings.’ Sometimes the wings are
undeveloped, but when they are present they are always fringed
with hair. There are other characteristics of the family, but
these are sufficient for the recognition of any insect that belongs
to it.

In the typical genus, Trichopteryx, the antennz are about
half as long as the body, the head is convex, large and trian-
gular, and the wings are furnished at their tips with several
bundles of hairs. The present species is one of the largest of
the family, and yet it is only one twenty-fourth of an inch in
length. Small as it is, by the side of other species of the
same genus it is only a giant, most being the thirty-sixth part of
an inch in length, while there are some which are barely one-
hundredth of an inch long. Some notion of the size of these
tiny creatures may be obtained by looking at the little line on
the right hand of Fig. % and reflecting that they measure just
one quarter of that length.

The little insect which has been chosen as our example of
these ‘ micro-coleoptera,’ as the tiny Beetles are called, is tole-
rably comrnon, and can be found under heaps of decaying
leaf-mould and similar localities. Though the finder may not
be able to recognise the precise species when he discovers it,
he can at all events see that it 2s a Beetle, whereas, when he
finds the exceedingly minute creatures which have just been
mentioned, it is impossible for him to know, without the aid

THE BLIND BEETLE. 221

of a lens, that the little black speck is even an insect, much
less whether it be a Beetle or not. The best mode of capturing
these Beetles is to take some leaf-mould from under a heap,
scatter it thinly on a sheet of white paper, and then go over
it carefully with a tolerably powerful lens.

Owing to the very minute dimensions of these Beetles, the
exact definition of the species is a very difficult business, but
it is estimated that twelve species are known in this country.

Passtna by one family of this section, we come to the
Pselaphidse, of which remarkable family two examples will be
given, each illustrating one of the sub-families.

In these Beetles the elytra are very short, so short, indeed,
that for many years these insects were classed among the
Brachelytra. The club of the antenre is bold and well-defined,
the last joint being very large. The head is narrowed behind
into a distinct neck.

The first sub-family is called the Pselaphine, and in them
the antenne ‘have eleven joints, and the eyes and parts of the
mouth are well developed. The genus Pselaphus, of which
there are only two British species, has the antenne, palpi and
legs very long. The commonest species, Pselaphus Heisei,
which is represented on Woodcut XXIV. Fig. 4, is shining
yellow-brown, has its body very flat and wide, and on each side
of the suture of the elytra there is a stria which runs from the
base to the tip. It can be shaken out of moss, as can its con-
gener, Pselaphus Dresdenensis, which may be distinguished
by its dark colour and a semicircular impression at the base of
the thorax.

Tue last example of the British Beetles is, perhaps, the
strangest of all our native insects, and how it can find any
gratification in existence is not easy to see. We think that
the life of a deaf and dumb man is a hard one, shut out as he
is from free intercourse with his fellow creatures, and incapable
of enjoying, or even of comprehending, the common blessings
of sight and hearing. Yet he is capable of one kind of
animal enjoyment, for he can eat, and indeed upon this capa-
bility is based the course of instruction by which such afflicted
persons have been rescued from their wretched isolation, and

222 INSECTS AT HOME.

taught to interchange ideas with their fellow men. But, sup-
posing that a man who was incapable of sight or hearmng were
also found without a mouth, and yet possessing the power of
living without food, we should think that such a being must
have reached the very abyss of misery—a misery beyond all
power of alleviation.

Yetin the Beetle which is shown on Woodcut XXIV. Fig. 5,
we see an insect in which these imaginary privations are the
normal state, and which possesses neither eyes nor mouth, and
is capable of supporting existence without food. We should,
however, be very wrong in supposing that this insect must be
miserable because a human being under such conditions would
be supremely wretched, and may be sure that, in some myste-
rious way, this Beetle, which leads a darkling life and is incapable
of eating, is just as happy in its way as the brilliant butterfly
that basks in the sunshine, and flits from flower to flower, en-
joying their lovely colours and sweet juices. |

Whether the insect be possessed of some senses unknown to
us, must of necessity be a problem not likely to bé solved, but.
as far as we can judge, the only sense which it can possess is
that of touch. The name Pselaphide refers to this supposition,
and is formed from a Greek word, signifying the groping move-
ments of one who tries to find his way in the dark.

The name of this Beetle is Claviger foveoclatus, the former
name signifying ‘club-bearer, and given to the insect on
account of the form of the antenna, which is boldly clubbed,
and has only five joints. This Beetle can be found in the nests
of the yellow ant (Formica flava), a very common insect, which
makes its nests under large stones if it can find them, or, in
default of such shelter, throws up little mounds of zarth. It
can be found plentifully on heaths and hilly districts. The
colour of the insect is yellow, like that of the ant with which
it lives, and it has no wings. The name foveolatus is given
to it on account of the deep fovea, or hollow, in tke middle of
the abdomen.

PLATE VII.

EARWIGS, FIELD-COCKROACH, AND CRICKETS.

. Forficula gigantea.

. Forficula auricularia.

. Blatta germanica.

Blatta germanica (egg-case).
. Gryllotalpa vulgaris.

On P who

. Gryllus campestris.

PLANTS :—
Great Bindweed (Convolvulus sepium). Above.
Purple Clover (Trifolium pratense). Right of Middle

i

La
by

“3

DERMAPTERA.

CHAPTER I.

THESE insects, popularly known as Earwies, are remarkable for
many reasons. None of them are large, and some are very small.
There are but few species, and most of the British species
are very common—in fact, much too common as far as flower-
gardens are concerned. Yet, though they are small, few, and
common, they have been the occasion of more disputes among
entomologists than all the other insects put together. Some
asserted that they were an ‘aberrant’ branch of the Brachelytra
and allied to the common Rove Beetles, while others as strenu-
ously asserted that they belonged by right to the Orthoptera,
and were allied, though distantly,.to the Cockroach. The use
to which they put the forceps with which their tails are armed
furnished another fertile source of dispute, while even their
popular English name was cause for abundant quarrel—one
party considering the name to be properly Earwzg, in allusion
to the popular idea that they were in the habit of crawling
into human ears; and the other spelling the word Earwing, be-
cause the spread wing of the insect is shaped like a human ear.

We will take each of these disputed points in succession,
and begin with the first—namely, the position which they ought
to occupy in the world of insects.

It is satisfactorily ascertained that they cannot be Beetles, if
only for the one fact, that in the pupal state they are not in-
active, but resemble in every respect the perfect insect, except
that the wings are rudimentary. The elytra, instead of being
horay, are soft and leathery, very small, without veins; and
nearly, but not quite, cover the wings, the leathery hinge of
which projects just beyond them when folded. ‘This hinge

Q

226 INSECTS AT HOME.

is a most important part of the wing, and will be presently
described more fully. The name Dermarprmra is formed from
two Greek words, signifying ‘skin-winged,’ and is given to these
insects on account of the structure of the elytra.

As the wings form one of the most important characteristics
in these insects, we will proceed to describe them. ° Very few

1. Pachytylus migratorius. 2. Thamnotrizon cinereus. a. Forceps of Forficula gigantea,
male, 6. Do. female. ce. Do. Forficula auricularia, male. d. Do. female. e. Blatta
orientalis, egg-case. 7. Do. section, g. Gryllotalpa, inside of front tibia. h. Do. outside.
i, Do, labium. jy. Do. maxilla and palpus.

persons have the least idea that the Earwig is furnished with
wings of remarkable size and beauty, and that, although it is
possessed of much speed in running it is quite as active in the
air as on foot. On Plate VII. Fig. 2, the Common Earwie (For-
Jicula auricularia) is shown, as it appears with its beautiful
wings extended.

WINGS OF THE EARWIG. 29"

To display these wings properly is a business of exceeding
difficulty, and demands the greatest patience as well as skill.
They have to be coaxed from under the tiny elytra with infinite
care, and their delicate folds spread one by one lest they should
be torn. I have found that a glass tube, drawn toarather fine
point, is exceedingly useful, for the wings can often be blown
open by a current of air directed upon them, when the use of
a needle would be nearly certain to damage them. Even when
they are at last ‘teased’ out, it is no easy matter to spread
them flat and keep them so while the card braces are being
pressed on them, inasmuch as the membrane, though delicate,
is very elastic, and has a tendency to contract and crumple up the
whole wing into folds, just as it has been nicely and satisfactorily
flattened. If any of my readers should be afflicted with hasty
tempers and wish to put themselves through a course of disci-
pline, I can strongly recommend them to take a few Earwigs
and set them with expanded wings, taking care to make both
wings look alike. When they have succeeded in doing so
without losing temper they may be perfectly easy as to their
ability in conquering their infirmity.

The mode in which these large and delicate wings are packed
into so small a compass is singularly beautiful. The front
margin of the wing, from the base to a spot about half-way
along it, is rather hard and firm, and at that point is a broad
leathery patch which acts as a hinge. From this point the
folds of the wing radiate just like those of an open fan;
and, at half their length, the edge of each of these folds is
strengthened by a small patch of similar leathery material.

When the wing is to be gathered together under its elytron,
the radiating folds are closed exactly like the bars of a fan,
and the closed folds are then doubled twice, once at the small
and once at the large hinge. If we suppose each of the bars of
a fan to have two hinges, so as to divide it into three equal parts,
we can understand that it could be folded into a very small com-
pass, first by closing the fan longitudinally, and then doubling
it twice crosswise. In consequence of this beautiful piece of
mechanism Mr. Westwood proposed the name EvpLuxorTera
for the Earwigs, the name being of Greek origin, and signifying
beautifully-folded wings.

I have mentioned that it is a very difficult task to get the

Q2

228 INSECTS AT HOME.

wings expanded. It is all but impossible to put them back
again under the elytra. How, then, can the insect manage to
replace them? This question involves the real use of the for-
ceps at the end of the tail. They are generally considered as
instruments of offence, and as such they can be used, being
capable of inflicting a tolerably sharp pinch, as anyone can
testify who has handled an Earwig. This, however, is not their
primary use, for they are employed in the act of packing the
wings under the elytra, and without their aid the insect could
never secure its wings properly. I have more than once seen
an Earwig pack up its wings, and a very curious and interesting
sight it is.

As soon as the insect settles, it partially folds its wings, so
that they fall into a set of wrinkles, apparently without any
arrangement, but in reality—like the seeming confusion of
ropes on board ship—each being exactly in its appointed place,
and ready for the next movement. After a very brief pause,
the folds of the wings are brought still closer together, and
gathered towards the elytra; and then the tail is bent over
the back. the wings are seized by the forceps, and by their aid
are tucked away under the elytra.

It is said that the insect also makes use of the forceps in
expanding the wings as well as in closing them. This may be
the case, but I have never seen an Earwig use its forceps ex-
cept for the latter office, the mere beat of the wings against the
air seeming to have the power of spreading them to their full
extent. In each case the species was the LirrLn Earwia (Labia
minor), and indeed I never did see the Common Earwig use
its wings.

These insects are remarkable in many respects, and one
species—whatever may be the case with the others—has been
ascertained to behave very differently from the generality of
the insect-race. As a rule insects take no care of their young.
They deposit their eggs in some spot where the young larva
ean find its food when hatched, and then take no further care
of them. Indeed, the greater number of insects die as soon as
they have deposited their eggs, so that maternal care is im-
possible. It may be urged that bees, wasps, and ants take care
of their young. This, however, is not the case. Care is cer-
tainly taken of the young larve, but not by the mother, who

a
ee ee

THE EARWIG AND ITS YOUNG. 229

does nothing but deposit the eggs, and then leaves to the
workers the task of feeding and nurturing the helpless
young.

But, according to the observations of De Geer, the Earwig
forms an honourable exception to this rule, and watches as
carefully over the young as a hen does over her chickens. She
deposits the eggs in some spot which is at the same time
damp and moist, and if one of these conditions should fail
shifts the eggs to another place. The same observer noticed
that even after the eggs have been intentionally displaced the
mother insect will collect and replace them. These curious
statements have been corroborated by Mr. Spence, who writes
as follows: ‘This remarkable fact I have myself witnessed,
having found an Earwig under a stone, which I accidentally
turned over, sitting upon a cluster of young ones, just as this
celebrated naturalist has described.’

The larve very much resemble in form the perfect insect,
except that they have no wings, and the forceps are not well
developed, the prongs being nearly straight and not possess-
ing the bold curve which is seen in the perfect insect. In the
pupal state the wing-cases make their appearance in a rudi-
mentary form, but the wings are not developed until the insect
has passed through its final change. Moreover, in the imper-
fect stages of life the Earwig has much fewer joints in the
antenne—the perfect insect of the common species having
fourteen and the larva only eight.

[nteresting as is the Earwig to the naturalist, it is specially
hateful to the gardener. It has a very disagreeable habit of
feeding on the petals of flowers, nibbling their edges and
making them unsightly. The dahlia and the carnation are
favourite flowers with the Earwig, and as a true and perfect
edge forms one of the chief points in these flowers the gar-
dener has good reason to hate the insect. As, moreover, the
Earwigs as a rule feed by night it is no easy matter to guard
the flowers from their depredations.

Disliking the light, Earwigs hide themselves by day in any
dark cranny that they can find; and, by taking advantage of
this habit, their numbers can be sensibly diminished, though
they cannot be altogether extirpated. For this purpose, gar-
deners are in the habit of putting inverted flower-pots, lobster-

230 INSECTS AT HOME.

claws, and similar objects, on the tops of the sticks to which
the plants are tied, so that the Earwigs may crawl into them at
night and be captured in the morning. There is, however,
a neater and more effective mode of catching these insects.

Instead of capping the tops of the sticks with such unsightly
objects as lobster-claws and flower-pots, let a number of tubes
be made, about three or four inches in length and half an inch
or less in diameter. These may be made from elder branches,
from wild hemlock stems, or even from brown paper. One end
must be plugged up, and the tube is then hung to the stick
with the open end downwards. In the morning, the tubes
should be gently lifted from the sticks to which they are sus-
pended, the plug removed, and the Earwigs blown into a con-
venient vessel, from which they can be thrown into boiling
water. The plug is then replaced, and the tube allowed to
hang in its former place.

These insects are able to devour both animal and vegetable
food, though they seem to prefer the latter. They are said to
enter the nests of certain solitary bees and to feed upon the
larve ; and De Geer remarked that the young Earwigs which
he watched not only ate the bodies of their brethren who died,
but ill repaid the watchful care of their mother by devouring
her dead body.

Only a few species of Earwig are known in this country, and
none of them attain any great size. The Giant Earwia, the
largest and rarest of these insects, is represented on Plate VII.
Fig. 1. Its name is Labidura gigantea, and, as Lord Lytton
remarks, ‘to the great grief of naturalists, and to the great
honour of Providence, is very rarely found.’ It was first dis-
coved by the Rev. W. Bingley, in 1808, upon the beach near
Christchurch. He observed that it seldom quits its place of
refuge in the rocks during the daytime, but runs about the
sands in search of food after the sun has gone down.

For many years, no other specimens of this fine insect were
discovered, and some doubts were entertained as to the pro-
priety of admitting it among the British insects. Of late
years, however, its haunts have been known, so that Mr. Bing-
ley’s specimens were not the only examples. A good specimen
in my collection was taken on the sands at Folkestone by a
lady who had sufficient observation to see that the insect was a

THE GIANT EARWIG. 231

peculiar one, sufficient courage to capture it, and sufficient dis-
crimination to send it to me. It was caught in the afternoon,
and I think that it must have been frightened out of its hiding-
place by a little boy who was digging in the sand and getting
into mischief, after the custom of children on the sea-shore.

By some entomologists this insect is placed in a separate
genus on account of its antennz, which have more than twice
as many joints as those of the common species. The name
Labidura is composed of two Greek words, signifying ‘ pincer-
tail, and is a very appropriate one, the forceps being of very
great proportionate size. The name Forficula, which is given
to the common species, is Latin, and signifies ¢ little forceps.’

As this instrument is so important, both in the economy of the
insect and in deciding the species, the forceps of the two species
which have been described are given on Woodeut XXV. At
Fig. a is shown the forceps of the male Giant Earwig, and at
Fig. b those of the female. Similarly, the forceps of the male
Common Earwig are shown at Fig. c, and those of the female
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ORTHOPTEHRA.,

CHAPTER I.

THE word OrrHopTeRA signifies Straight-wings, and is given to
this order of insects because their wings are not capable of
being folded crosswise, as is the case with the Beetles and
Earwigs. The elytra are soft, leathery, strongly veined, and
cross each other at their tips, and the true wings are gathered
under them in longitudinal folds, like those of a fan, the tips
frequently projecting from under the elytra. The larve and
pupz resemble the perfect insect in shape, but do not possess
wings, and the pupa has no quiescent stage, but is as active as
the larva or perfect insect, therein differing essentially from
the Beetles. In consequence of the soft texture of the wing-
covers, some entomologists have suggested that the name ‘ teg-
mina’ be substituted for ‘elytra.’ I cannot, however, admit
the necessity for such alteration, and shall therefore retain the
word elytra.

This order of insects is tolerably well represented in this
country, and some of its members are so numerous and so dis-
agreeable that we should be very glad to dispense with them
altogether. Our English Orthoptera may be classed under the
general terms of Cockroaches, Grasshoppers, and Crickets;
while in other countries we find the strange ‘ Walking-stick’
insects, Soothsayers, and Leaf-insects. A few examples will
serve to illustrate the British Orthoptera.

®
Mr. Westwoop divides all the Orthoptera into four sections.
First come the Cursoria, or runners, of which the Cockroach is
a familiar example. Then come the Raptoria, or snatchers,
such as the Mantis or praying insect, which have the first pair
of legs developed into instruments of prehension. The third

r

236 INSECTS AT HOME.

section is the Ambulatoria, or walkers, such as the Walking-
stick insects; and the last section is the Saltatoria, or jumpers,
such as the Grasshoppers and their kin.

The first section is represented in England by one genus
only-—namely, Blatta—and, considering the nature of the
cursorial Orthoptera, we may be glad that they have no more
representatives in this country. In these insects the body is
rather oval and flat, the thorax is very large and shield-shaped,
the head being almost concealed under it, and the antennz are
very long and thread-like. The males are fully winged, while
in the females both wings and elytra are much smaller than in
the male, and in some species are altogether absent. There
are several species of Cockroach in this country, some of which
are indigenous, while others have evidently been imported.

Such is the case with the Domestic Cocxroacn (Blatta
orientalis), which has completely taken possession of England.
As far as is known it was originally imported from the Levant,
and at first was confined to seaport towns. The climate,
however, suited it, and so did the prevalence of kitchen fires,
which are allowed to smoulder through the greater portion of the
night, thus affording the requisite supply of warmth. As for
moisture, which is as necessary to the insects as warmth, the
drippings of the kitchen boiler are generally sufficient for the
purpose. However this may be, the insects have spread them-
selves over England in a manner which is really wonderful,
considering that the female is wingless, and must therefore be
transported by other means of locomotion than her own limbs
can supply.

That the Cockroach should spread over London is easy to
understand. London isa seaport town, and the insect could
therefore establish itself firmly enough by the water-side, and
afterwards make its way to different parts of the metropolis, a
task in which it is greatly assisted by the laundress and her
basket. Innocently and ignorantly the laundress is one of the
principal agents in the dispersion of the Cockroach. Her
washhouse, with its perpetual fire and water, is a very paradise
for the Cockroach, which multiplies therein exceedingly,
keeping itself hidden during the day, according to the wont
of these light-hating insects. The laundress, having made up
her basket of linen, goes off to her well-earned rest; and as

THE COCKROACH. 237

soon as the light is removed out come the Cockroaches in
shoals, and hold revel all night in the warmth and wet of the
room. In the morning they mostly retire to their hiding-
places, but, if suddenly disturbed, scurry off to any place
which can conceal them, and find the linen-baskets very con-
venient for the purpose. Hidden in the baskets, they are
carried off to the various houses, where they escape and soon
produce fresh colonies.

Still, though the Cockroach can be carried about London
by the laundress, it cannot reach the interior of England by
such means, and is in all probability imported in hampers,
paper parcels, and boxes, having crept into them while the
goods were waiting in the London offices.

Like many other insects, the Cockroach has a habit of dis-
charging from its mouth a dark-coloured fluid which possesses
a most abominable smell. This odour, indeed, is one of the
principal reasons why the Cockroach is so universally detested,
for every place which the insects frequent becomes in time
impregnated with this nauseous odour, which sometimes is so
powerful that it sensibly affects the flavour of provisions that
have been left in larders in which the Cockroaches are specially
plentiful. Yet, in spite of this odour, and possibly on account
of it, the Cockroach is a favourite food with many animals,
almost all insectivorous birds being fond of it, and the hedge-
hog being so partial to it that one of these animals is some-
times kept in the kitchen for the express purpose of destroying
the Cockroaches.

I have even heard of a case where human beings have been
free from the usual dislike of these insects. Some thirty years

ago two young ladies, sisters, were at school in London, where

they had been sent from Jamaica, their native place. After
everyone but themselves was asleep they used to get up
quietly, slip down into the kitchen, and there catch and eat
the Cockroaches. This extraordinary habit was not detected for
some time, but at last the mistress found it out, and remon-
strated with them. They, however, defended themselves by
saying that they had seen her eat shrimps, which fed upon all
manner of carrion, whereas the Cockroaches were clean feeders,
living on the crumbs which had been suffered to lie about in
the kitchen. Even after the discovery it was almost im-

238 INSECTS AT HOME.

possible to keep them from the kitchen at night, so strong was
their love for the Cockroaches.

In popular kitchen parlance these insects are called Black-
beetles, though why they should have such a name, not being
beetles and their colour being dark brown with a decided
tinge of red in it, is not easy to see. I find on enquiry that
in some bakehouses the males, which are distinguished by their
wings, are called Cockroaches, while the wingless females are
termed Black-beetles. As is the case with insects generally,
the Cockroach, when it first emerges from its pupal skin, is
almost white, the dark colour being attained by slow degrees.
Wishing to know how long a period was required for the deve-
lopment of the dark hue, I tried the experiment by catching
one of these ‘ white Black-beetles,’ as the servants called it, and
keeping it in my room under a glass cover. The dark colour
was fully developed on the third day, but I fancy that a longer
period would be required in the darkling recesses in which the
insect loves to pass its life.

One of the most curious points about the Cockroach, is the
mode in which its eggs are deposited. The eggs of most in-
sects are independent of each other, or at the most are attached
to each other after they are deposited, and are either defended
by being laid in some sheltered spot, by animal varnish with
which they are covered, or, in a few instances, by an artifieial
covering placed over them by the mother insect. But the
eggs of the Cockroach are differently constituted, and are laid
all together, enveloped in a hard horny covering, in which
they lie like peas in a pod. The technical name for this egg-
case is odtheca, a word which signifies ‘egg-purse. The egg-
case of the common Cockroach is shown in Woodeut XXV.
Fig. e, and at f the same egg-case is drawn, but represented as
laid open, so as to show the manner in which the eggs lie side
by side in it. :

This egg-case looks exactly like the kind of tart called
popularly a ‘turnover;’ and indeed if the apple which is generally
enclosed in the ‘turnover’ were cut into slices, and these slices
arranged side by side, a very accurate copy of the egg-case
would be made, the apple representing the eggs, and the crust
the egg-case itself, These egg-cases vary in appearance ac-
cording to the species of the insect which produced them.

EGG-CASE OF THE COCKROACH. 239

That of the domestic species is wonderfully large considering
the size of the insect, being three-eighths of an inch in length,
and nearly half as much in width. It is shaped something like
an oblong steel purse, the part which represents the purse itself
eing well rounded, and that which represents the clasp having
a row of very fine notches. When the young are hatched, they
escape through this portion of the egg-case, the whole side
opening exactly like the clasp of a purse, and, owing to the
elasticity of the material of which the case is composed, the
opening closes as soon as the young have escaped, and ex-
ternally the egg-case looks exactly as it did when the eggs
were still in it.

If the empty case be cut open a curious sight presents
itself. On the outside of the case are eight small rounded
projections, set in a row just beneath the opening. When the
interior of the case is shown, a double row of eight cells is seen
to occupy it, half of the cells lying on either side of the case;
each cell being lined with a stout yellowish membrane, and
the end of the cells exactly corresponding with the little projec-
tions which have just been mentioned. The mother Cockroach
takes a considerable time in depositing this egg-sac, and carries
it about with her for several days before she finally places it
in the spot where the young are to be hatched.

ANOTHER species of Cockroach is shown on Plate VIL.,
Fig. 3. This is the Frerp Cocxroacn (Blatta germanica), a
much smaller insect than the domestic species.

Its colour is a pale yellow, sometimes taking a reddish hue,
and on the large prothorax are two conspicuous longitudinal
black lines, a peculiarity by which it may at once be recognised.
Unlike the domestic Cockroach, which only lives in houses, the
Field Cockroach lives in the open air as well as in houses, and
in the former case is to be found under decaying leaves and
similar situations. There is a slight difference in the colour
of the insect, according to its habitation, the paler specimens
being those of the open air, and the reddish hue belonging to
those which live within doors.

Whether or not this species is indigenous is a mooted point,
but in all probability the insect has been introduced from the
Continent. Mr. Westwood remarks that he has received it

240 INSECTS AT HOME.

from Van Diemen’s Land, and has taken it on board vessels which
had just arrived from India. It is also common in Russia,
where it is popularly known as the Prussian, because it is
thought to have accompanied the army on their return from
Germany after the Seven Years’ War.

The egg-ease of this species is just a quarter of an inch long
and one-eighth of an inch wide, and contains thirty eggs,
whereas that of the domestic species only contains sixteen,
eight on each side.

The escape of the young when hatched was witnessed by
Hummel, the naturalist. He took an egg-case of the Field
Cockroach, put it into a bottle, and then introduced a female
Cockroach. She at once seized the egg-case with her fore-legs
ang slit it open from end to end. Within the case lay the
young larve attached to each other in pairs, and enveloped in
a delicate membrane, which the female stripped from them so
as to set them at liberty.

AutrnoucH there has been some doubt respecting the native
country of these two insects, there is none respecting certain
small Cockroaches which are undoubtedlyindigenons to England.
They all live in the open air, and may be captured with the
sweep net in long grass, heath, rushes, and similar situations.
One of the smallest, Blatta ericetorwm, is barely one-third of
an inch in length, and like the rest of the out-door species is
pale yellowin colour. It is found among heath.

ENGLAND possesses no example of the Ambulatoria or Raptoria,
and we therefore pass at once to the Saltatoria, which may be
recognised at once by the length of their hinder legs and the
great development of the thighs, which are large and powerful,
as is the case with nearly all leaping insects.

The first family of these insects is the Achetide or Crickets,
in which the antennz are very long and slender, often longer
than the whole body. The wings when folded project far beyond
the elytra, and form a pair of long, slender filaments. In the
males there is a large spot at the base of the elytra, shining as
if made of talc, and at the end of the abdomen there are two
long and hairy bristles, which seem almost to serve as a second

HOUSE CRICKET. 241

pair of antennz, and to warn the insect of any danger ap-
proaching from behind. The female has an ovipositor, or in-
strument for depositing the eggs, which in some species is as
long as the body.

The best known English species is the common HovseE
Cricket (Acheta domestica), which is so well known as to need
but little description. Still, the reader will find that a careful
examination of this insect will be especially interesting and
instructive, as it affords an excellent type of the whole family.
The peculiar veining, or ‘ neuration’ as it is scientifically called,
of the elytra is very well displayed, this being a very important
point in the economy of the insect.

Every one is familiar with the shrill noise or ‘ song’ produced
by the Cricket. This sound is not uttered from the mouth,
but is caused by the action of the elytra on each other. If
the reader will examine one of these elytra taken from the
male insect, he will see that there is a very strong vein or
nervure, starting from a thickened spot almost one-third
of the length of the elytra from the base. In the right
elytron this nervure is marked underneath with a series of
notches like those of a file, and this is the instrument which
produces the sound. When the wings are closed, the right
elytron lies over its fellow, so that its notched underside comes
upon the upper part of the corresponding nervure in the left
elytron. The elytra being put in rapid vibration, the notched
nervure plays against its fellow, and a shrill sound is produced,
strengthened by the form of the elytra, which act as sounding-
boards. The action of the notched nervure is exactly the same
as that of the iron ‘rasp’ which used to supply the place of a
knocker in old houses. I may as well mention here that the
name Acheta is Greek, and signifies ‘ shrill-sounding.’

The whole arrangement of the nervures, indeed, differs in
the two sexes; so that a single elytron is sufficient to tell the
entomologist the sex of the insect from which it was taken.
In the Mole Cricket, which will presently be described, this
peculiarity is of very great value, as it affords almost the only
external characteristic by which the male can be distinguished
from the female. In both sexes the elytra do not—as they
appear to do at a casual glance—merely lie flat on the back.
_ There is a very strong longitudinal nervure running from the
R

242 INSECTS AT HOME.

base to the tip, which divides the elytron into two parts,
namely, a tolerably hard part that covers the back, and a softer
part that is folded on the sides, and cannot be seen when the
insect is viewed from above. On examination with a lens,
this nervure is shown to be a sort of hinge, and along its inner
side the elytron has a very deep fold, so that the soft part can
be turned down at right angles with the hard portion.

Up to this point, the elytra are alike in both sexes, but now
all resemblance ceases. The male elytron is much broader
than the female, and the nervures, instead of simply running
in a sort of network composed of delicate threads, are very
strong, and converge towards the hard spot which has already
been mentioned, merging themselves into the fine network
only at the very end of the wing. On removing the right
elytron, and examining it carefully, the serrations which produce
the sound can be seen, if the light be properly adjusted. They
are not sharp, but rounded, and their outlines are waved in this

fashion ‘. I particularly mention the adjustment of the light,

because the serrations are not easily seen; and indeed, when

I first looked for them, I had some difficulty in finding them.

The true wings of the insect are large enough to carry their
owner through the air, but, like those’of the cockchafer, the
dor, and stag Beetle, are not sufficiently large to prevent it from
knocking itself against obstacles. Gilbert White, in his ‘Sel-
borne,’ Letter XLVI., mentions that the house in which he was
writing was so infested with Crickets, that they became absolute
pests at night, even flying into the flame of the candle and
the faces of persons sitting in the room.

Of their mode of flight, he makes the following remarks :——
‘In the summer we have often observed them to fly, when it
became dusk, out of the windows, and over the neighbouring
roofs. This feat of activity accounts for the sudden manner
in which they often leave their haunts, as it does for the
method by which they come to houses where they were not
known before. It is remarkable that many insects seem never
to use their wings but when they have a mind to shift their
quarters, and establish new colonies. When in the air, they
move volatu undoso, in waves or curves, like woodpeckers,
opening and shutting their wings at every stroke, and so are
always rising or sinking. Mr. Westwood remarks that he has

——

FIELD CRICKET. 243

observed that Crickets not only appear suddenly in places
where they had not been seen before, but disappear as suddenly
from places where they had been plentiful.

In this insect, the ovipositor is long, straight, slender, and
spear-shaped, being armed at the end with a sharp and en-
larged tip, which looks just like the head of the spear, the
shaft being represented by the body of the ovipositor. On a
closer examination, this apparatus is seen to be double, and,
with a little pains, the two halves may be separated from each
other. Each half is then seen to be hollow, a deep groove
running throughout its whole length, so that when they are
placed in apposition, they form a tube along which the egg
can pass.

There is, however, a further provision for the deposition of
the eggs. Not only is the shaft of the ovipositor hollow, but
the enlarged tip is hkewise hollow, each half looking very
much like the bowl of a spoon. A still closer examination
reveals another fact, namely, that each of these spoon-like
parts is itself double, being cleft along the centre, and capable
of being opened by pressure from within. The reader will
now see how beautiful and delicate is this contrivance, which
enables the mother insect to introduce her egg into a very
smali crevice, and, while she is doing so, to hold it with a
grasp—not as of the two unyielding spoons, but of four elastic
springs, which can be relaxed, contracted, or entirely loosened,
at the will of the insect.

Crickets are wonderfully quarrelsome animals; so quarrel-
some, indeed, that if they are kept in confinement, they must
be kept separately. Of a number which I placed under a glass
cover, for the purpose of studying them, not one escaped un-
hurt. Some had their limbs torn from their bodies, some had
their legs bitten completely through, all were more or less
shorn of their antennz, and several were killed outright.
Whether they fight in this manner when at liberty, I cannot
say; but they invariably fight when placed in confinement,
males and. females being alike combative, and alike suffering
the penalties of warfare.

On Plate VII. Fig. 6, is shown the Frerp Cricker (Acheta
campestris), an insect stronger, larger, and burlier than its
R 2

244 INSECTS AT HOME.

domestic relative. The sexes rather differ in colour, the male
being black with a yellow patch on the base of the elytra, and
the female darkish-brown. As is the case with many other
insects, especially of this order, the colours change rapidly
after death.

This insect lives in the open air, residing in deep burrows,
which it digs in banks where the soil is loose and moderately
dry. The holes are tolerably deep, and carefully avoid a straight
line, so that the inhabitant cannot be seen while lying at the
extremity of the burrow. It is no easy task to get the Field
Cricket out of its burrow by force, for the burrow is deep,
and the soil mostly so loose that when the spade is introduced
into the ground, the earth all falls together, and the Cricket
is lost. A much surer way of obtaining it is to push a long
and flexible grass-stem into the hole, for the Field Cricket is a
very irascible being, and is sure to seize the intruding object
so firmly in its strong jaws that it can be drawn out of its
hole before it quits its hold. In France children catch it by
tying a fly to the end of a horsehair, by way of bait, and then
pushing the fly towards the Cricket, by which it is at once
seized. The fly, however, is quite needless, as the bare horse-
hair would answer just as well, the Cricket being actuated not
by hunger but by anger.

As far as is known, the Field Cricket is a solitary being, the
individuals of each sex living separately in their own burrow,
and only meeting at night. During the daytime, although
the insects will sit and sing at the mouths of their tunnels.
they will not use their wings, nor even exert their powerful
legs, except for slow crawling. This is a very wary insect,
taking alarm at the approach of a footstep, and retreating
at once into its burrow; so that although the place be one of
those localities which the Field Cricket is pleased .to favour
with its presence, it is seldom seen though continually heard.

Tt has already been mentioned that the insect is a quarrel-
some one. Gilbert White, who has written a charming account
of it in his ‘ Selborne,’ remarks that when he caught a number
of Field Crickets, and tried to stock an old stone wall with
them, the first comers took umbrage at the introduction of new
settlers, and invariably attacked them with their powerful
jaws. He found also, that to transplant a colony of these

{
J
F

MOLE CRICKET. 245

insects was practically impossible, no matter how carefully the
habitation was prepared for them. He tried the experiment
of boring a number of deep holes in a sloping bank in his
garden, and putting into them a number of Field Crickets
which he took from their accustomed haunts outside the village.
For a time he thought that he had succeeded in his wish, as
the insects fed and sang, but they deserted their new habita-
tion by degrees, and at last wholly abandoned it.

ANOTHER species of British Cricket is the Woop Cricker
(Acheta sylvestris). This is much smaller than the preceding
insect, the head and body not being qnite half an inch in
length, excluding the antennz and appendages of the abdomen.
It may be known by the structure of the elytra, which in the
male do not reach to the end of the body, and in the female
are only one-third as lone as the abdomen. The male is darker
and more mottled than the female. This is a very rare insect.
Its home is in the New Forest, where it has been found near
Lyndhurst, under dried leaves in a gravel-pit.

On Plate VII. Fig. 5, is shown the odd-looking Mo.e
Cricket (Gryllotalpa vulgaris), one of the largest insects
inhabiting England, not only being larger than most of our
insects, but stouter and more muscular. The name of Mole
Cricket is a very appropriate one, for the insect is not only
a Cricket, but is shaped wonderfully like the mole, and has
many of the habits of that animal, as we shall presently see.
There is but one genus and one species of Mole Cricket in-
habiting England, and there is no possibility of mistaking the
insect even in the earlier stages of existence. The tibie of
the fore-legs are developed into a stout, broad, flat, digging
apparatus, armed with sharp and strong claws, the whole limb
being almost exactly like that of the mole. Two views of this
extraordinary apparatus are given in Woodcut XXV.,, the upper
surface being drawn at Fig. 9, and the under surface at Fig. b.
The latter figure shows how the small feet and claws are tucked
away under the broad, palmated tibia, so as not to be injured
while the insect is employed in digging. Other portions of
the anatomy of the insect are given in the same illustration,
Fig 7 representing the labium and 7 the maxilla with its palpus,

246 INSECTS AT HOME.

In these insects the female does not possess any ovipositor,
and the only method of determining the sex without dissection
is by examining the structure of the elytra, the males possessing
the notched nervure, and the females being without it. The
sound produced by the Mole Cricket is neither so loud nor so
shrill as that of the domestic Cricket, but yet it has been pro-
duced artificially by rubbing together the elytra of a newly
killed insect. The males, by the way, seem to be rarer than
the females.

In consequence of this sound, it is called by several popular
names, varying according to the district in which it is found.
In some places, for example, it is called the Cuurr-worm, or
JARR-WORM, or Evr-Cuurr, while in others it is named the
Croaker. Its hard, shelly limbs and general conformation
have also gained for it the name of Earrnu Cras. The colour
of this inséct is brown above, with a peculiarly velvety surface,
and the elytra are much paler, with brown nervures.

The Mole Cricket is, as its structure shows, one of the bur-
rowers, and it carries out, though to a greater extent, many ot
the habits of the Field Cricket, and prefers similar ground, so
that it is necessarily a local insect. Loose sandy places are the
best spots wherein to find the Mole Cricket, which can generally
be captured by the simple device of pushing a flexible twig or
long grass-stem into its burrow, and then digging round the
twig. There is a village called Besselsleigh, a few miles from
Oxford, where the Mole Cricket is tolerably plentiful, and from
that place Dr. Kidd obtained the specimens which he employed
when writing his almirable monograph on the insect. ‘The
soil there is loose dry sand, heaped in many places in _hillocks
and partly overgrown with grass, and, as it is dry, the sand
falls back into the holes made by the spade. Yet, Gilbert
White, in his ‘ Selborne,’ states that the Mole Cricket haunts
most moist meadows, and frequents the sides of ponds and
banks of streams, performing all its functions in a swampy,
wet soil.

The normal food of the Mole Cricket is of a vegetable cha-
racter, and in some places where the insects are common, they
do much damage to the root-crops, and even destroy garden
flowers, cabbages, and grass, by devouring their roots. They
will, however, eat raw meat, and on occasions become cannibals.

GREAT GREEN GRASSHOPPER. 247

Dr. Kidd mentions in his monograph that he often found the
hard and horny parts of various insects when dissecting the
digestive apparatus; and another student of this curious insect
has stated that he fed a Mole Cricket for several months on ants.
Like other Crickets, the males are very quarrelsome, and fight
to the death, the victor always eating his conquered adversary.

The males appear to be much scarcer than the females, and

in them the right elytron ‘laps over the left, whereas in the
females the reverse seems to be the case. The male may
also be known by the arrangement of the nervures of the
elytra and the notches of the large nervure of the right
wing-case.

The eges of the Mole Cricket are deposited under ground in
a chamber about the size and shape of a hen’s egg cut longitu-
dinally. This cell is dug near the surface of the ground, so
that the warmth of the sun can penetrate through the thin

~ covering of earth, while the eggs are perfectly concealed from

any ordinary foe. The eggs vary in number from one to four
hundred, and are a greyish-yellow in colour. The wings being
small in proportion to the size of the body, the flight of the
Mole Cricket is in a succession of dips, like that of our
ordinary short-winged birds.

Wr now come to another family, namely, the Gryllide, in
which are included the great bulk of the British Grasshoppers.
The word Gryllide is taken from the Greek, and signifies ‘a
murmurer, in allusion to the familiar sound which is produced
by the males of most though not of all the species.

In this family the antennz are long and very slender ; the
females are furnished with a sword-shaped ovipositor, and
the wing covers of the males have a talc-like spot at their
bases. Mostly both wings are furnished with these spots, but
in some species there is only one spot. ‘There is, however, one
character which is common to both sexes, namely, the disposi-
tion ot the wings and their covers, which, when the insect is at
rest, are laid along the back and elevated in the middle like a
slanting roof. These wing-covers often extend tar beyond the
end of the body.

Our best type of these insects is the Great GREEN GRass-
noppen (Acrida viridissima). This handsome insect has

248 INSECTS AT HOME.

always been a favourite of mine, partly on account of its
beauty, partly on account of its habits, and partly on account
of its size, which renders it an admirable object for the
entomologist who is studying that most absorbing branch
of science, the comparative anatomy of insects. Moreover,
the structure of the internal organism is so clearly marked,
that its dissection is quite an easy task, compared with that of
many insects. A figure of the Great Green Grasshopper is
given in the frontispiece, a female insect being shown in the
act of depositing her eggs.

When living, this insect is of the most beautiful leaf-green,
but, unfortunately, this colour is very evanescent, and no sooner
is the grasshopper dead than the colour begins to fade. Indeed,
the hue of a living and dead specimen is as different as that of
a living and dead leaf, the one being light-green and the other
yellowish-brown, even becoming black in some places. I do not
know any mode of preserving for any length of time the soft
ereen hue of this beautiful insect, and regret this the more,
because the creatures, which would form such beautiful objects
in a cabinet, actually become unsightly, and can only be valued
for scientific purposes.

This is a tree-loving insect, and is seldom found in the grass.
When I was engaged in studying the internal structure of in-
sects, I procured my specimens of the Great Green Grasshopper
from a hazel hedge in a garden just on the outskirts of Oxford,
the insects having for some reason or other taken an_ extra-
ordinary fancy to this hedge. The young entomologist must,
however, bear in mind that for the Great Green Grasshopper
to be in a particular tree is one thing, and that to find it is
another ; for its colour harmonises so exactly with that of the
leaves that no small practice is required before it can be
detected. The ery of this insect is a loud one, and wher
it produces the shrilling sound, it clings tightly with its
feet to the object on which it is standing, presses its body
-slightly downwards, and seems to shudder as long as the sound
lasts.

The ovipositor of the female insect is very long and sword-
shaped,.and, on being closely examined, is found to consist of
several blades, which fit against each other when the instru-

ment.is not in use, and can be separated to allow the egg to

—_—

WARTBITER. 249

pass to its extremity, and thus be emitted. In consequence
of the shape of the ovipositor, some entomologists invented the
generic name Phasgonura, or sword-tailed, and placed in it
this and allied insects. When the young are hatched, an event
which takes place in the spring, they are very tiny, but are
shaped much lke their parents, except that there are no wings,
and in the females there is no sign of the ovipositor. This
remarkable appendage does not appear until the larve is seven
or eight weeks old, and it increases in size with every change
of skin.

If the reader should possess sufficient skill and time, he
should dissect a few specimens of this insect, for the purpose of
studying the internal structure. Among other points, one of
the most interesting is the ‘gizzard.’ Before it is opened, it
looks very like a swelling of the digestive tube, but if it be
carefully slit horizontally, and spread flat, a number of
narrow, parallel bands will be seen. On placing one of these
bands under the microscope, it will be seen to consist of a
number of very small teeth, arranged with perfect regularity,
and admirably calculated for triturating morsels of the leaves
which have been cut off by the powerful jaws, and then swal-
lowed. As for the jaws themselves, their power may be easily
ascertained, for the insect is generally given to biting; andif the
searcher after knowledge will put his finger in the way of this
Grasshopper’s jaws, he will at once be convinced both of the
sharpness and strength of the jaws. Moreover, he will not
feel it necessary to repeat the experiment.

THERE is a smaller species of this group, which is closely
allied to the Great Green Grasshopper. This is the TREE
GrassHoprer (Meconema varia), an insect which, as its name
implies, is a denizen of trees rather than a dweller on the ground.
It is to be found on the oak, and the best mode of obtaining
it is to beat the branches and catch the falling insects in a
sheet or net held beneath the boughs. Otherwise, there will
be much difficulty in detecting its presence, its bright green
colour being almost identical in hue with the oak leaves among
which it dwells. In this insect the wing-covers of the male are
without any stvidulating apparatus, so that it is quite silent,
and the difficulty of finding it is thereby increased.

250 INSECTS AT HOME.

ANOTHER of these insects is rare in England, though plentiful
on the Continent. It is known by the name of WanrrtsiTsr,
because its bite is supposed by the Swedish peasant to have
the effect of destroying the wart. Its scientific name is Dec-
ticus griseus.

Very probably it really does have this effect, for there is no
doubt that these unpleasant and mysterious excrescences do
make their appearance and disappear without any assignable
reason. Only a few days before writing this account, I over-
heard a dialogue between some tradesmen’s boys, who, after
the manner of their kind, were having a chat under cover of a
hedge, instead of going about their duties. One of them made
some jeering remarks to the others respecting the warts with
which his hands were covered. The boy replied that he did
not care for the warts, as he was going to have them charmed
away next morning, and appealed to another boy, who said that
his hands had been covered with warts, but that he had been
to an old man who charmed them away for twopence. He
held out his hands in proof of his assertion; and certainly,
whatever may formerly have been the state of his hands, there
was then not a wart upon them.

It is remarkable, by the way, that scarcely any two wart- ,

charmers employ the same method. Some -rub the wart with
a piece of bread or oat-cake, which they bury in the earth, the
wart being supposed to vanish as the bread decays. Some
hold the afflicted hand between their own, and blow on it, while
some stroke the spot and repeat some gibberish in an undertone.
All, however, appear to agree in one point—they must be paid,
and paid in coin. However small the fee, it must be a
bond fide payment in cash, as otherwise the charm loses its
efficacy.

The only solution of the problem that has been afforded is,
of course, that the cure is wrought, not by the means employed
by the charmer, but by the imagination of the person who is
acted upon. But how imagination can so act upon a wart as to
cause it utterly to vanish is in itself a problem which requires
solution, and certainly has never received one. It is easy to see
how imagination can cure an imaginary malady, but how
an emotion of the mind can absorb into the system an externa!
excrescence of the skin is not so easy of comprehension.

MIGRATORY LOCUST. 251

Tue very remarkable insect which is shown in Woodcut
XXYV. Fig. 2, may be known by the exceedingly small size of the
wings and elytra, which in the female are practically absent,
and in the male are exceedingly small, not extending one-
fourth along the body.

Its name is Thamnotrizon cinereus, and the name is a very
appropriate one. It is composed of two Greek roots, the first
signifying a garden, and the other, to sing, or rather, to trill,
and is given to the insect on account of its habits of singing in
gardens. The colour is brownish or rather grey, which in the
male is marked with dark brown. The colour is altogether
darker in the male than in the female. As is often the case
with insects of this order, the males are comparatively rare, so
that the capture of a perfect male Thamnotrizon may be looked
upon as an event in an entomologist’s day. The insects are
found in gardens, or sitting among logs and brushwood, and
they also frequent fir woods.

Wer now pass to the true Locusts, of which we shall take one
example. In these insects, the antenne are comparatively
short, and the female is without the sword-like ovipositor. On
Woodeut XXV. Fig. 1, is shown the well-known Mierarony
Locusr (Pachytylus migratorius). The name Pachytylus is
composed of two Greek words, one signifying thick and the
other a knot or hump, and is given to the insect because the
front of its forehead is rather projecting, and very hard and
thick. Some authors give it the name of Hdipoda, or Swollen
Leg, on account of the enormous dimensions of the thighs ot
the hind pair of legs.

This fine insect is very variable in point of colour, but is ge-
nerally as follows :—The colour is pale brown, the elytra being
simply spotted with dark brown. The wings are very large and
shining, and have a slight green tinge. The legs are brown,
banded alternately with black and yellow, as shown in the illus-
tration. The thorax is covered with fine down.

This insect is happily very rare in England, and, although a
few specimens make heir appearance almost annually, the insect
has never fairly acclimatised itself. During the summer, news-
paper paragraphs are plentiful, announcing the capture of the
Locust, and describing its dimensions. Many of these insects

252 INSECTS AT HOME.

however, are not Locusts at all, the word’ Locust being applied
in various parts of England to any large caterpillar or grub.
Mr. E. Newman, being aware of this fact, tried to verify the
‘Locust of the newspapers, and succeeded in six cases, three of
which turned out to be caterpillars of the Death’s-head Moth,
one the same insect in its perfect state; and the other two
were specimens of the common Humming-bird Hawk-moth. In
all other instances I have gained no reply whatever, the writers
being so confident of their entomological omniscience as to
resent the idea of identification being needful.’

In hotter countries, however, the Migratory Locust is one
of the most dread plagues that can pass over a land. The
insects swarm in countless myriads, and, as they fly on their
course, they darken the air like black clouds. Like clouds
also they follow the course of the wind, for they have little
power of guiding their flight, and are carried along as the
wind happens to blow. Nothing but a change of wind seems
to have the least effect in checking their progress, for they
seem to care nothing for every obstacle that the art of man
can place in their path; and even fire can do nothing to stop or
divert them. Vast ranges of brushwood have been fired as
soon as the Locusts were in sight, but the insects were swept
whistling along by the wind; and though hundreds of thou-
sands perished in the flames; the survivors continued their
onward course, and the Locust army passed on, its numbers
scarcely perceptibly thinned.

Even in Europe the ravages of the Locust have been
terrible ; and in the South of France rewards have been offered
for many years for the destruction of these insects, a certain
sum being paid per kilogramme of the eggs, and double the
amount for the perfect insects. But in Asia and Africa, their
armies almost exceed belief. One column of these insects
measured no less than five hundred miles. in length, and was
so wide that, as it passed along, it darkened the earth to such
an extent that large buildings could scarcely be seen at a
distance of less than two hundred yards. This swarm occurrec
in India.

There is a powerful account given by Chenier, and quoted
by Southey in his ‘ Thalaba,’ of the effects produced by a swarm
of Locusts in Morocco. ‘In 1778, the empire of Morocee

i
P
|
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i
‘

RAVAGES OF THE LOCUST. 253

was ravaged by these insects. In the summer of that year
such clouds of Locusts came from the south that they darkened
the air and devoured a part of the harvest. Their offspring
committed still greater mischief. Locusts appeared and bred
anew in the following year, so that in the spring the ground
was wholly covered, and they crawled one over the other in
search of their subsistence.

‘The whole country was eaten up: the very bark of the fig,
pomegranate, and orange-tree—bitter, hard, and corrosive as it
was—could not escape the voracity of these insects. The lands,
ravaged throughout all the western provinces, produced no
harvest ; and the Moors, being obliged to live on their stores,
began to feel a dearth. Their cattle died with hunger; nor
could any be preserved but those which were in the neigh-
bourhood of mountains or in marshy grounds, where the re-
growth of pasturage is more rapid.

‘In 1780, the distress was still further increased. The dry
winter had checked the products of the earth, and given birth
to a new generation of Locusts, who devoured whatever had
escaped from the inclemency of the season. The husbandman
did not even reap what he had sowed, and found himself
destitute of food, cattle, or seed corn. In this time of extreme
‘ wretchedness, the poor felt all the horrors of famine. They
were seen wandering over the country to dig roots, and,
perhaps, abridged their days by digging into the entrails of
the earth in search of the crude means by which they might
be preserved.

‘Vast numbers perished of indigestible food and want. I
have beheld country people in the roads, and in the streets,
who had died of hunger, and who were thrown across asses
to be taken and buried. The husband, with the consent of his
wife, would take her into another province, there to bestow
her in marriage, as if she were his sister, and afterwards come
and reclaim her when his wants were not so great. I have
seen women and children run after camels, and rake their
dung, to seek for some undigested grain of barley, which,
if they found, they devoured with avidity.’

The writer also mentions the mode in which the young
Locusts were destroyed in one province. A vast trench was
dug, more than three miles in length, and extending from the

254 INSECTS AT HOME.

sea to a river. The miniature Locusts, which were unable to
fly, their wings not being as yet developed, were driven into
the ditch, whence they were unable to escape. In this way
the district was cleared of the Locusts; but their numbers
were so vast that, on the third day after they were driven into
the ditch, their putrefying bodies infected the air, so that no
one could approach the trench. The reader will doubtless
have noticed how similar is this account to the many Scriptural
references to the Locust and its numbers. In Southern Africa,
the young Locusts are called Voet-gangers, or Foot--goers, and
are even more dreaded by the agriculturist than the mature
insects. |

There is certainly one redeeming point about the Locusts.
They eat the leaves, the floweis, the grass-blades, and the very
twigs; but, then, they can be eaten themselves. I never had
the opportunity of tasting a Locust, but I know several tra-
vellers who have done so; and they all agree in saying that the
insect, though dry, is rather palatable than otherwise, and
that, when the provisions run short, the Locusts form an
acceptable addition to the commissariat. I think, however,
that the dryness which is mentioned is caused by the rough-
and-ready style of cooking which is adopted by travellers
under such circumstances, and that if the insects were better °
cooked they would be better flavoured.

I am led to this belief by the Nineveh sculptures in the
British Museum. One of them represents a train of servants
carrying various meats to a great feast. Among them there
are several men, who are bearing long sticks, on which are tied
Locusts, just as cherries are tied on a stick or onions on a
string. It is evident that in this case the Locust is not looked
upon merely as a succedaneum for better food, but as being a
delicacy which was worthy of a place at a public feast, and
was borne aloft by bearded attendants.

Although this is the species which is most common in these
Locust armies, several other species equally deserve the name
of Migratory, and are equally destructive to the herbage.

I cannot leave the Orthoptera without mentioning that the
arrangement of its members is very unsatisfactory, and, in
spite of the exertions of several able entomologists, much

ARRANGEMENT OF ORTHOPTERA. 255

remains to be done. No common arrangement has as yet been
accepted, and the consequence is that scarcely any two books,
or two cabinets, employ the same system, to the very great
confusion of the beginner in entomology. Still, the broad
distinctions which have been given in the preceding pages
are simple and intelligible, and, by their means, the various
Orthopteran insects of England can be grouped without much
difficulty. :

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LHYSANOPTERA.

CHAPTER I.

Tue little creatures which will be briefly described in :hese
pages are now ascertained to belong to a separate order,
which has been named THYSANOPTERA, on account of the
curious structure of their wings. This name is derived from
two Greek words—one signifying a tassel, and the other a
wing—and has been given to the insects of this order because
their wings are furnished on the edges with a fringe of long
hairs. These wings are long, narrow, and are not folded, but
lie flat along the back, and slightly crossed over each other.
There is no distinction between wings and elytra, and in most
of the species the hairy fringe is more than twice as wide as
the wing which it surrounds. In some species the wings are
long, but in some they are short, while in others they are
practically absent, being only represented by the undeveloped
rudiments.

One of these insects, Phlwothrips coriacea, is shown in
Woodcut XXVII. Fig. 1, and is a good example of the order.
As may be seen by the line on its left side, it is a very tiny
insect, about the twelfth or fourteenth of an inch in length,
and yet it is larger than many of the same curious group.
Owing to their small size, it is not very easy to make out their
structure, but the reader should try, with the aid of the micro-
scope, to examine the head and the parts of the mouth, which
are very remarkable; and, though formed of mandibles and
palpi, are united into a sort of conical sucker, which lies under
the breast when the insect is still.

There is no difficulty in procuring specimens, as the insects
are exceedingly plentiful—much too plentiful indeed—and

8 2

260 INSECTS AT HOME.

may be seen in swarms upon flowers and various plants, espe-
cially infesting those of the greenhouse, where they become an
absolute pest, particularly if the gardener be careless about his
plants. They collect in great numbers on the underside of
the leaves, the chief part of the damage being done by the
larvee, which mark the leaves with little decayed patches.
Stone fruits of various kinds are also much damaged by them,
the little creatures making their way into the ripe fruit at the
base of the stalk, and then crawling in—much as do the ants—
between the stone and the soft substance of the fruit.

There are many species of these insects, which popularly go
under the collective name of Thrips, but the distinctions are
too many and minute for any but a purely scientific work.
The exact position of the order is still a mooted point among
entomologists, as these insects resemble the Orthoptera and
Hemiptera in their transformations, while the structure of the
mouth is quite unlike that of either of these orders. Van der
Hoeven seems scarcely to think that the Thysanoptera con-
stitute a separate order, and considers them as an appendix to
the Orthoptera.

NEUROPTERA.

CHAPTER I.

Ture important order of insects which comes next on our list
is a very remarkable one. The name Neuroptera is formed
from two Greek words, the one signifying a nerve, and the
other a wing, and has been given to these insects because the
transparent wings are traversed by a vast quantity of nervures,
which divide the wings into a greater number of spaces or
‘cells’ than is the case with any other order of insects. Both
pairs of wings are of equal size and of equal solidity. The
larva has always six legs, and the pupa is sometimes quiescent
and sometimes active.

The Neuropterous insects fall naturally into several groups,
the characteristics of which are so strongly marked that they
are well known by popular names, such as Stone-flies, Dragon-
flies, Lace-wing-flies, and the like. There are not many
species inhabiting England, but the insects are mostly plentiful,
and are sufficiently large and handsome to constitute much of
the beauty of our country scenes.

We will begin with the Perlide, or Stone-flies, as they are
popularly called. These insects are very dear to the angler,
inasmuch as they supply some of his best and most certain baits,
whether the real insect be used, or only the imitation called
the ‘artificial fly.” They are the more valuable from being
dull and sluggish in their habits, so that they can be easily
captured as they sit upon the trunks, stones, and other objects
near the water’s edge.

One of these insects, Perla marginata, is shown in Wood-
eut XXVI. Fig. 1, and may be at once recognised. The
colour of this insect is pale yellowish brown, and the nervures

264 INSECTS AT HOME.

of the upper wings are peculiarly large and bold. All the
Perlide have the second pair of wings, very large, and capable of
being folded. The body is rather flattened, and equally wide
throughout its length. The tarsi have three joints.

These insects are aquatic in their habits. During their
larval and pupal stages they live in the water, and after they

XXVI

1. Perla marginata. 2. Limnephilus bicolor. 3. Phryganea minor. 4, Leptocerus
ochraceus. a. Limnephilus, labium. 6. Limnephilus, maxilla. c. Labium of ditto,
female. d, Labium, male, e. Anal appendages or clasper, male.

have attained their perfect condition, they love to remain near
the water in which they were reared, and seldom travel to any
distance from the familiar banks. The mother insect imitates
in one respect the female Cockroach, for she carries the eggs
about with her, attached to the end of the abdomen, for some
time before they are laid. They are not, however, enclosed in
a hard case or pouch, like those of the Cockroach, but are
merely united together in a small black globular bundle,

{
1
‘
;

STONE-FLIES. 265

the effect of which against the light-brown grey body and
wings is very remarkable, as the insect flutters heavily from
spot to spot. The membranous envelope within which the
eggs are contained is exceedingly delicate, so that it shows
both the shape and colour of the eggs which it encloses. The
ege-cluster of Perla marginata is about as large as a swan-
shot, and nearly as black. It is rather more barrel-shaped
than globular, and, on being examined with a lens, is seen to
be composed of several hundred eggs, agglutinated together in
asort of semi-order, as if the eggs had been deposited in strings,
and the strings wound at random into a ball.

These eggs are deposited in the water, and when hatched,
the young larve manage to crawl under stones and similar
sheltered localities. They prefer running to still waters, and
the more rapid parts of the stream to those which are com-
paratively still. In the swift river Dove these creatures are
very plentiful, and I used to capture almost any number of
them in the spring time, the rippling, eddying stream exactly
suiting them. Near my present house is a very small pond,
through which a stream of water continually runs. It is mar-
vellously rich in insect life, and I have captured in it a variety
of aquatic insects in all stages, which utterly astonish those
who are not initiated in the wealth of entomology. Yet,
though I have industriously fished every inch of this pond, I
have never found the larva of the Stone-fly. Larvze of May-
flies, Dragon-flies, Caddis-flies, Dyticus, Acilius, Gyrinus, Noto-
esta, Gnats, and other aquatic creatures, I take in plenty, but
not one single Stone-fly larva have I found, though I have
sedulously examined both the inlet and outlet of the stream
which runs through the pond and keeps it supplied with water.

In the present genus, the abdomen is very stout, and has
two long slender appendages at its tip. The wings of the male
are very short in proportion, and altogether he is quite an
inferior being to his stately mate. There are several species of
this group in England, some of which are known to anglers by
various popular names. The name of Stone-fly is, however,
given indiscriminately to at least four species. One is that
which has already been mentioned; another is scientifically
known as Perla grandis; a third is Perla cephalotes, which, as
its name implies, has a very large head ; and a fourth, perhaps

266 INSECTS AT TOME.

the best known, is Perla bicaudata. Then, the fainiliar
‘Yellow Sally’ of anglers is Chloroperla viridis, and the
equally familiar ‘ Willow-fly’ belongs to the genus Nemoura.

As is the case with many other aquatic insects, the pupz of
the Stone-flies crawl out of the water when they are about to
assume their perfect state, so that when they come to expan!
their wings an ample space may be gained for this important,
and often perilous, task. The details of this process will be
explained in connexion with the various species of Neuropterous
insects.

All the Perlidze have a very moth-like aspect, especially on
the wing, and, owing to the invariable sombreness of their hues,
and their great similitude in shape, there is considerable diffi-
culty in distinguishing between the various species. With
many species this difficulty is still more increased by the
difference in size between the sexes, the males being scarcely
one-third as large as the females, and having wings very short
in proportion to the length of their bodies.

Now we come to another family, the Ephemeride, better
known by the popular name of May-flies. In many respects
these are very curious insects, and not the least remarkable
point about them is that in the perfect state they have no
mouth. The parts of the mouth are certainly there, but in a
rudimentary condition, and entirely incapable of receiving
food, so that during the time of its existence as a perfect
insect, the Ephemera never eats, neither does it require to eat.

The wings are very unequal in size, the lower pair being very
small, and in some species reduced to mere rudiments. In
consequence of this formation of the wings, Dr. Leach con-
sidered that the May-flies ought to be formed into a separate
order, to which he gave the name of Anisoptera, or unequal-
winged insects. The end of the body is furnished with either
two or three long and slender filaments; and by these three
characters—-the mouth, the wings, and the tail—the May-flies
may be at once distinguished from all other insects. The best
known species, Ephemera vulgata, or Common May-F1y, is
shown on Plate VIII. Fig. 1.

The transformations of the May-flies are very remarkable,
and in some respects almost unique. In its larval condition,

PLATE VIII.

DRAGON-FLIES, MAY-FLIES, AND CADDIS,

1, Ephemera vulgata.

2, Ephemera, larva.

3. Libellula depressa.

8a. Libellula emerging from pupa-case.
4, Libellula, larva.

. Calopteryx virgo.

or

6. Agrion minium.
7. Phryganea grandis.
8. Phryganea, larva cases, or Caddis.

PLANTS :—
Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus). In Centre,
Mare’s-tail (Hippuris vulgaris). On Right.
Water Ristort (Polygonum amphibium). On Left.

MAY-FLIES. 267

the May-fly is an inhabitant of the water, and in form much
resembles the perfect insect, except that it has no wings.
This species lives in the muddy banks of rivers and ponds, and
burrows for itself certain ingenious: tunnels. These burrows
are double, running horizontally into the mud, and having two
outlets. In fact,.they are shaped much lke the letter C, so
that the larva can crawl in and out of its hole with perfect
ease. Its food appears to consist of the decaying vegetable
matter of which fresh-water mud is largely composed.

In consequence of its hidden dwelling, this larva is not often
seen even by those who are in the habit of fishing for aquatic
insects. I have found two plans to be successful in its capture.
The first is, to detach a large piece of mud, take it carefully
from its place, and then examine it under water. The second
plan is, to push a stick into the mud and work it about so as
to drive the larvz out of their burrows, and then to move the
net rapidly to and fro in the clouded water. By this plan
several other aquatic insects may be captured, which are much
too wary to allow a net to come near them as long as they can
see it. The muddy water, however, reduces them to a tem-
porary state of blindness, and they are then taken without
difficulty. Some of the smaller species do not burrow, but
live at liberty in the water. In these species the surface of the
body is harder than in those which burrow.

One of these larve is shown in Plate VIII. Fig. 2, in order
tw give the reader an idea of its shape. In its larval condition
this creature is furnished with two rather long and many-
jointed antennz, which, in the perfect insect, shrink into an
almost rudimentary form. Along each side of the body runs.a
series of thin plates in which the branchiz or gills spread them-
selves. These are said to assist in locomotion, but I have not
seen them used for that purpose; the undulation of the body
and the employment of the legs seeming to be sufficient for
that purpose. At the end of the abdomen are three fringed
appendages or set, and it is a rather curious fact that even in
those species which have only two setz in the perfect state, the
larva possesses three of those appendages. The pupa differs
little in shape from the larva, except that the wings show
themselves boldly in the form of projections in the back of the
thorax.

268 INSECTS AT HOME,

After passing some two years in the preliminary stages, the
Ephemera prepares for its change into the perfect form. The
pupa leaves the water, and almost as soon as it emerges into
the open aj, the pupal skin splits, and enables the insect to
crawl from within its former envelope. The wings are soon
stretched to their utmost, and the insect then flies slowly tu
some tree or post where it affixes itself, and appears to rest
after its exertions.

Another change, however, awaits the insect, for this state is
only preliminary, and is scientifically called by the name of
‘pseudimago,’ or false insect. After it has waited for some
little time—depending, as far as I can see, on the .warmth and
dryness of the atmosphere—the skin again splits, and through
the aperture the insect emerges, leaving the abandoned skin
clinging to the tree, and looking exactly tike the living insect.
The wings now assume a lighter and more delicate aspect, the
filaments at the end of the body increase to nearly twice their
former length, and the May-fly launches into the air to take
its part in that evening dance with which we are all so familiar,
the insects rising and falling almost in the same place for several
hours together. Should the reader be an angler, he will
recognise in the female pseudimago the ‘Green Drake,’ and in
the perfect insect the ‘Grey Drake.’ The angler only cares
for the female insects, because the fish prefer them, laden as they
are with eggs, to the males, which have little in them but air.

The May-fly has not much time in which to enjoy its new
phase of existence. As has already been mentioned, it has
no mouth, and as it cannot eat, is evidently incapable of any
lengthened term of life. It has in fact but one business,
namely, to seek a mate, and provide a new generation in place
of that which is now passing away. The May-fly seldom lives
more than a few hours, and in its natural condition is supposed
never to exceed the limits of a single day. The name Ephem-
era, which is formed from two Greek words signifying an
existence of a day, alludes to this shortness of life, and was
given to the insect as long ago as the time of Aristotle.
Isolated specimens have certainly lived longer than this brief
term, for they have been known to live more than a week in
captivity. Had they, however, been at liberty, it is most pro-
bable, if not certain, that their lives would have been as short
as is mostly the case with the May-flies.

DRAGON-FLIES. 269

In Kirby and Spence’s well-known work, there is an account
of a still more strange prolongation of life. There are certain
flies whose larvze feed on aphides, which live in their three
stages about six weeks. One of them had been caught when
half-grown, and, having been once or twice fed, was forgotten
for three months, when it was found to be alive. It actually
lived for a whole year without a particle of food, and, as is well
remarked, ‘it had existed in the larva state more than eight
times as long as it would have lived in all its states, if it had
regularly undergone its metamorphoses, which is as extraordi-
nary a prolongation of life as if a man were to live 560 years.’

Sometimes the May-flies are wonderfully numerous, the air
being filled with their swarms as they flutter up and down in
their strange flight, and the trees and banks covered with the
shed pellicles of the first-winged stage. Even in England I
have known the May-flies to be in such swarms that the
very trout could not be taken with the hook, so gorged were
they with the May-flies that fell by thousands into the water.
In some parts of Europe, however, the numbers of these insects
are so vast, that their bodies are collected into heaps and used
for manuring the fields.

Tux next family is a very conspicuous one, and there is no
likelihood of mistaking one of them for any other kind of
insect. Scientifically these insects are termed Libellulida, and
they are familiarly known as Dragon-flies or Horse-stingers, the
latter name being given them from an absurd notion that they
sting horses. It is curious to notice how widely and deeply
this idea has impressed itself upon the general mass of country
people, and to see how terrified they are at the very idea of
touching a Dragon-fly. I suppose that the convulsive jerkings
of the long-bodied Dragon-flies when captured have given rise
to this opinion. With regard to the name of Dragon-flies, it
is a very appropriate one, as we shall presently see.

In these insects the body is always long, and in most cases
nearly cylindrical, though in some it is rather wide and flat-
tened. The wings are very large, powerful, translucent,
strongly veined, and of equal size; and the meshes, or ‘ reticula-
tios,’ are so close as to divide the wing into a very great num-
ber of cells.

270 INSECTS AT HOME.

The head is adorned with two enormous eyes, or rather eye-
masses, and, during the life of the insect, the light plays in
and through these eyes in a most beautiful but quite inde-
scribable manner. Unfortunately, this play of colour and
light fades together with the life, and, when the insect is dry,
it vanishes altogether. Beside the compound eyes, there are
three ‘ocelli, or simple eyes, placed usually in a row on the
front of the head. The antennz are very short and small,
and have never more than eight joints. The mouth is very
curiously formed, the mandibles and the maxillz being hidden
behind two large flat lips, which move up and down while tiie
insect is eating, so that at first sight the Dragon-fly really
looks as if its mouth worked vertically and not laterally.

During its preliminary stages the Dragon-fly lives in the
water, and the larva is one of the most curious and interesting
beings which our waters produce. These larvee are so wonderful,
in fact, and possess so many points of interest, that I scarcely
know which to take first. The chief points of interest lie,
however, in the head and the tail, and we will give to the
former the place of honour.

At first sight the head does not appear to differ very much
from that of other insects, but on closer examination a very
singular development of the mouth is shown. If the creature
be turned on its back, a horny plate will be seen, which covers
the whole of the under side of the head and descends as far as
the bases of the middle pair of legs. With a pin it is easy
to raise this plate, which then shows itself to be composed of
several portions and furnished with a hinge, by means of
which it can be doubled upon itself. The upper part, which
covers the face, is much widened, and is furnished with two
jaw-like appendages, which can be opened or closed at will,
and are finely toothed at their lower edges.

This remarkable apparatus is a development of the lower lip,
and is called the mask, because, when closed, it covers the
lower part of the head. The object of the mask is to catch
prey, and a very effective apparatus it is. When an unfor-
tunate insect comes near, the Dragon-fly larva suddenly un-
folds its mask, darts it out to its full length, and seizes the
insect in the jaws. The mask is then closed again, and, when
folded, the jaws of the mask come exactly upon those of the

LARVA OF THE DRAGON-FLY. 271

mouth, so that the prey can be eaten without trouble. In
Plate VIII. Fig. 4, the end of the still folded mask is seen, the
jaws being opened preparatory to the darting forward of the
mask. The shape and details of this structure vary somewhat
in the different species.

The larva is a voracious creature, and will eat almost any
ayuatic insect which it can master, and has even been known
to catch and eat small fishes. In its own turn, however, it
falls a victim to the more powerful inhabitants of the water,
being attacked and eaten by the Dyticus and even by the
Acilius. Two specimens of Acilius which I kept in an
aquarium managed to eat, in little more than a fortnight,
three out of four Dragon-fly larvee which were in the same
vessel ; and in the waters where the creatures live I have often
found the dead and partly-eaten bodies of Dragon-fly larve, the
destroyer having evidently been the Dyticus.

We will now proceed to the other end of the creature, and
examine its tail. When taken out of the water, the tail
appears to end in a sharp, horny point; but, when it is re-
placed in water, the pointed tail opens and shows that it is
composed of five sharp appendages, three being much larger
than the others. When they are opened, a tube is discovered
passing into the body of the larva. All the five spikes are
jointed together at their bases, so that if one be drawn aside
the other four immediately spread themselves apart. The
aperture which lies between them is just large enough to allow
an ordinary pin to pass easily through it. :

Within the abdomen is the respiratory apparatus, which ex-
tracts the oxygen from the water, and, when that gas has been
exhausted, the water is expelled and a fresh supply taken in
through the same aperture. If the larva be placed in a shallow
vessel and watched carefully, the process of respiration can
be easily observed. The five pointed projections are kept about
half open, and the water is ejected in gentle and tolerably
regular pulsations as long as the creature is undisturbed.
Should it, however, be alarmed, it suddenly expels the water
with such violence that it drives itself forward with great
speed, the principle being exactly the same as that which
causes the flight of a rocket.

If the bottom of the vessel in -vhich the larva is kept be

272 : INSECTS AT HOME.

dusted with fine sand, the force of the expelled water can he at
once measured by the displacement of the sand If the vessel
be a deep one, no such proof of the propelling power can be
seen, and the creature darts through the water as if impelled
by some magic power. The reader may perhaps remember
that a ‘direct action’? movement has lately been applied to
steamboats, the principle having been avowedly borrowed from
this very creature.

There is very little change in form or habits between the
larva and the pupa. ‘Towards the end of the larval existence,
a sort of longitudinal hump makes its appearance on the upper
part of the thorax, and, when the last larval skin is thrown off,
this hump is seen to consist of the future wings, which are at
present thick, narrow and small, their tips only reaching about
one quarter of the length of the abdomen. The mask retains
its place and office, but the head is much larger and broader,
and the splendid eyes of the perfect insect begin to shine
under their covering.

It is quite as voracious in the pupal as in the larval stage of
existence. One of my own specimens has just seized with its
mask the larva of a Whirlwig Beetle which had been unlucky
enough to come within reach. The whole proceeding was very
much like that of the toad when catching insects. The mask
flashed out so rapidly that its movements were scarcely visible,
and in a moment the unfortunate larva had been grasped
by the middle and held against the cruel jaws. So rapid,
indeed, was the movement, that it looked very much as
if the larva had intentionally darted into its destroyer’s
mouth.

One of these insects made a rather absurd mistake. It saw
a detached leg of a Dyticus which was floating on the surface,
shot itself immediately under it, and seized the leg in passing.
It soon discovered its error; and, after trying in vain to eat
the hard-shelled limb, jerked it away as if in anger. I have
noticed that in seizing its prey the Dragon-fly larva prefers,
like the shark, to get below it, and to make an upward stroke
with its armed mask.

A still stronger proof of voracity was also given. I had
taken a larva of the Acilius, one of the Water Beetles, which
is closely allied to the Dyticus described on page 59. It is

VORACITY OF THE DRAGON-FLY LARVA. 273

itself a voracious and formidable creature, being furnished
with two enormous curved jaws, and in form almost exactly
resembling the larva of the Dyticus shown on Plate III. Fig. 4.
Thinking that the larva would be very well able to take care
of itself, I put it into the basin, intending next morning to
observe through the microscope the fringed apparatus at the
end of the body. But, at a very early hour next morning, the
larva had vanished. I knew that it was physically incapable
of crawling out of the vessel, and at last, after a strict search,
I found one of its large mandibles lying at the bottom of the
basin, the only vestige that the voracious Dragon-fly larva had
left of its victim.

Since that enormous meal the larva has changed into a
pupa, and is just as restless and voracious, and has completed
its course of destruction by killing and eating its companion,
the contents of whose body it has completely scooped out.

Although neither in the larval nor pupal state does it
possess the vivid colours with which the perfect insect is
adorned, it is yet possessed of a certain beauty. The colour of
the body is pale brown, but the legs are as translucent as if
made of horn and banded at regular intervals with small
dark-brown stripes. Along the sides, each segment of the
body is furnished with two sharp and projecting spikes, which
point towards the tail. In consequence of this structure, the
creature is a difficult one to hold, wriggling itself like a snake
when held in the fingers, and gradually working its way through
them. The best way of examining these curious beings is to
take one of them and place it in a shallow saucer, with just
enough water to cover it. The under surface can be observed
in the same vessel; for, if the larva be laid on its back, it
gives a few struggles and then seems to acquiesce in its posi-
tion, lying perfectly still, and allowing the lens to be placed
close to its body without appearing to be in the least
alarmed.

The particular larva that has been described is that of
Aishna grandis, one of our largest Dragon-flies, but the de-
scription will suit almost any species, their general form and
habits being very much alike.

When the pupa has nearly completed its time it ceases to
feed, and the respiration seems difficult and laboured. Ar

e

B74 INSECTS AT HOME.

irrepressible instinct then drives it to leave the water in which
it has so long lived, and, seizing the stem of a reed or other
aquatic plant, it crawls upwards until it is a foot or two above
the surface; clasping the reed firmly with its feet, it sways
itself backwards and forwards until the pupal skin splits along
the shoulders and the wings and body of the perfect insect
show themselves beneath it.

The respiration is now changed. Formerly, as has been
described, that function was performed by means of a gill-like
apparatus within the body, but now the insect. begins to
breathe atmospheric air by means of spiracles. It rests for a
time, as if to accustom itself to so radical a change, and then
recommences its struggles. By degrees it draws itself entirely
from the pupal envelope, which is left still clinging to the
plant up which it had crawled. In spots where Dragon-flies
abound, these shed skins can often be found, clinging as firmly
to the plant as if still tenanted by the insect. The meta-
morphosis, though complete in one sense, is not yet finished;
for the wings are still thick, short, and scarcely larger than in
the pupal state. Presently the insect begins to take a series of
deep inspirations, quivering the wings the while; and, as it
does so, they rapidly enlarge, fold after fold shakes itself out
as the air is driven through the vessels which permeate them,
and at last they are spread in all their shining beauty. Yet a
while the insect waits until the wings have gained their need-
ful strength, and then it darts off into the air to begin its
new life.

As in its former stages, the Dragon-fly is terribly preda-
ceous, and, contrary to the ways of most insects, eating seems
to be the chief object in life. From early morning to night-
fall the Dragon-fly is perpetually hunting and devouring prey,
and in nowise particular respecting the nature of its food nor
the way in which it is obtained. For example, if a Dragon-fly
be caught uninjured, and held by its wings, it will eat almost
any amount of insects that may be supplied to it. Nor does it
confine itself to insects, for it will devour spiders, centipedes,
millipedes, fresh-water shrimps, and similar creatures; and, as
soon as it is released, it will start off again on a hawking ex-
pedition, apparently as hungry as if it had had nothing to eat
for a whole day.

— »§

FLIGHT OF THE DRAGON-FLY. 275

There is a peculiarity in the flight of the Dragon-fly—at all
events in some species—which assists it greatly in chasing prey
It has the power of suddenly reversing the stroke of its wings,
so that it can stop itself in full career, and can even fly back-
wards with some spead. This power is specially useful when
the Dragon-fly is engaged in chasing an insect among obstacles,
and, when it has darted into a narrow passage in which there
is not sufficient space for it to turn, it can back itself out again
without much difficulty.

It is a pity that the lovely colours with which most of these
insects are decorated should be so fleeting, but it is a sad fact
that there are scarcely any insects in which the colours last for
so short a time after death. The only plan for preserving
them that seems at all feasible is that which was employed by
the late Mr. Waterton, namely, taking the insect to pieces,
removing the interior, painting the inside of the empty shell
with the requisite colours, and then putting the pieces to-
gether again. Still, even this tedious and laborious plan does
not answer with the comparatively solid thorax, and, as many
species have stripes of bright scarlet, yellow, blue or green on
the thorax, the process is evidently an imperfect one. The
species which is shown in the Plate, Libellula depressa,
keeps its colour better than any which I know, but then its
hues are never at any time brilliant. Some of them retain
sufficient colour to show what their hues have been, but in all
cases the brilliancy of the various tints passes away and cannot
be renewed.

WE will now take in detail one or two of the most prominent
species as examples of this beautiful family. They are divided
into two large groups, called Libellulides and Agrionides. The
insects of these groups may easily be distinguished by the
shape of the head, which in the Libellulides is rounded, and in
the Agrionides is more cylindrical and set cross-wise to the
body, something like that of the hammer-headed shark. Se
strongly is this mode of structure defined in some of the
species, that without their wings they bear no little resem-
blance to croquet-mallets. We will take two examples of each
group.

On Woodcut XXVII. Fig. 2 is represented one of our finest

T 2

276 INSECTS AT HOME.

Dragon-flies, known to entomologists as Cordulegaster annu-
latus. In this genus the ocelli are set in a row, the eyes
toward each other above; the lower or anal angles of the lever
wings are boldly angulated, and the abdomen is club-shaped.
Reference is made to this peculiarity in the generic name
Cordulegaster, which is composed of two Greek words, the
former signifying a club, and the other the belly. The insect

1, Phlxothrips coriacea. 2. Cordulegaster annulatus. 8. Raphidia ophiopsis. 4. Chrysopa
vulgaris. 5, Osmylus chrysops. a. Eges of Chrysopa.

attains a very great size, being sometimes even larger than
the illustration, and is very handsome in point of colour, the
whole body and thorax being marked with bold bands and
stripes of rich golden-yellow. A specimen in my collection
has retained the yellow marks of the thorax in a wonderfully
perfect manner, but those of the abdomen have almost wholly
perished.

bo

DEMOISELLE DRAGON-FLY. ae,

Our next species is that which is represented on Plate VIII.
Fig. 3. Its name is Libellula depressa, and it is generally
accepted as the typical species of the family. In the insects of
this genus the ocelli are set in a triangle, the body is mostly
broad and flattened, and the anal angle of the lower wings is
rounded. The present species is not so handsome in point of
colour as the preceding, but is yet adorned with a delicate
blueish tint, looking in life very much as if the body had been
first painted blue, and then dusted very finely with pearl-
powder. The upper part of the thorax is yellow. The dark
spots at the bases of both pairs of wings are deep rich chestnut
brown.

This is a wonderfully active insect, and, probably on account
of its short body, it has a way of darting boldly among the
branches of trees and shrubs in order to chase its prey. When
thus engaged, and with prey in sight, it becomes so much
engaged in pursuit that it can be easily captured in the net,
though at other times it is very wary, and will seldom permit
the net to approach within striking distance. The larva of this
insect is shown at Fig. 4 at the bottom of the page, and at
Fig. 3a is represented the escape of the perfect insect from the
pupal skin.

Next come the Agrionides, two of which are shown on the
same page. At Fig. 5 is shown the beautiful DrmorseLin
_ Dracon-riy (Calopteryz virgo). In the insects of this genus there
is no ‘stigma,’ or dark spot on the outer edge of the wings.
This species is remarkable for the very great difference in colour
between the sexes. The females, one of which is here figured,
are totally green, both wings and body, whereas the males are
deep-blue, with black patches on the wings. In some places
these insects absolutely swarm, and about Oxford they may
be found in the greatest profusion, hovering over the many
streams and ditches which intersect the country, and giving
almost a tropical beauty to the scene, as they flit about with
the sunshine glittering on their richly-tinted bodies and
wings. —

An example of the typical genus Agrion miniwm is given
on Plate VIIl. Fig. 6. There is no difficulty in distinguishing
the members of this genus from other Dragon-flies. The

278 INSECTS AT HOME.
‘stigma’ is not only existent on both pairs of wings, but it is
boldly rhomboidal in shape, the angles sloping inwards.

It does not look very conspicuous, and this is exactly its
character. The Agrions are so slender and delicate that on a
bright summer day they scarcely look like insects, but appear
more like streaks of coloured light wafted here and there
without any settled purpose. The eye soon learns to distin-
guish their forms, but there is really something so delightfully
fairy-like about them as they come and go, apparently by
magic, that the disillusioning is really matter of regret. They
are of various colours, among which red and blue predominate.
The present species is vermilion-red, from which it derives its
specific title of mimiwm, and on the thorax are streaks of
yellow as well as of red. The red colour forms a conspicuous
patch on the end of each joint of the abdomen.

WirH very great regret [ must leave these beautiful and
interesting insects, and proceed to another family, which are
not at all beautiful, and, though interesting in their way,
cannot be compared in that respect to the Dragon-flies. These
are the Raphidiide, a family of insects formed after a very
curious fashion, the prothorax being lengthened into a pro-
longed neck, and the head being rather broad and much
flattened. The females are furnished with a long and slightly
curved ovipositor, consisting of two blades. The wings are of
moderate dimensions, and nearly equal in point of size, and
they are very strongly veined.

Owing to the long neck-like prothorax, the insects are able
to twist their heads about in various directions, from which
habit they have received the popular name of SNAKE-FLIES.
They are predaceous in their habits, and may mostly be seen on
or near the banks of ponds and small streams, where they can
find their prey. They are not at all handsome in point of
colour, their hues being confined to greyish-brown, mottled
with darker brown or black. One of the largest British species,
Rhaphidia ophiopsis, is shown on Woodeut XXVII.

The larva of this insect is predaceous, feeding upon small
insects. It is long and narrow, and even in the larval form
shows the elongated prothorax which is so characteristic of the
perfect insect. Mr. Westwood, who had this creature alive,

LACEWING-ELY. 279

atates that ‘it creeps but slowly, but gives to its body violent
jerking motions in every direction, somewhat like those of a
serpent. In the pupal state, the wings are pressed to the body
in such a way that they cover the hind pair of legs. These
larvee may be found under the bark of trees.

The name Raphidia is formed from a Greek word signifying
a needle, and is given to these insects on account of the great
elongation of the prothorax. The specific name ophiopsis is
also from the Greek, and signifies ‘snake-eyed.’ The females
of this group have a long and slightly curved ovipositor, formed
of two plates.

On Woodcut XXVIII. Fig. 4 is shown one of our most
beautiful British insects. This is the Lacewrne-riy (Chrysopa
vulgaris), a representative of the family Hemerobiide. The
wings of this family are large and broad, and pressed against
the sides of the body when at rest: the antenne are long,
delicate, and many jointed; and the head is small, with two
very prominent and rounded eyes. ‘The tarsi have five joints.
The form of this insect is very accurately given, though it is
impossible with the simple black and white of a wood en-
graving to do justice to the wonderful and delicate beauty of
the insect, about which is not one particle either of black or
white. Its body, head, and thorax are leaf-green, and its wings
are wide, thin, gauzy, and glossed with changing hues of green
and pink, according to the angle at which the light falls on
them.

The chief beauty of the insect lies, however, in its eyes,
which, without the aid of a magnifying glass, look like two
tiny beads of burnished gold, and have earned for the insect
the popular name of GoupEN-ryE, of which the Greek word
Chrysopa is but a translation. But if the insect be placed
under the microscope, and a brilliant light be directed on the
eyes, a wonderful change takes place. They are very convex
in form, and the hexagonal facets are marked with extreme
boldness, considering the small size of the organ. They are so
clearly defined, indeed,. that even with a common pocket
maguifier of low power they can be easily distinguished.

Were the eye to be simple brown or even black it would be a
beautiful object, in consequence of these hexagonal lenses, but

280 INSECTS AT HOME.

over the whole surface of the compound eye plays a brilliant
combination of colour. Every separate hexagon looks like a
framework of burnished gold, changing with the shifting hght
into various hues of rich green and carmine. In fact, the
whole eye looks very much like a hemispherical brooch, entirely
covered with emeralds and rubies.

It is rather hard on the insect to expose it to this strong
light, which is needed to bring out its beauties, for it is a lover
of darkness, and only comes out after sunset, when it may be
observed fluttering with apparently aimless flight in the air.
But it is impossible to see the full splendour of this magnifi-
cent object without exposing the insect to some inconvenience.
A dead specimen is useless, for the colour departs alike from
body and eye. As to the pale-green of the body, it is the most
fugitive colour that an insect can possess, while the more
gorgeous hues of the eye vanish soon after the life departs, and
very little is left of their once magnificent beauty. Would that
some method could be discovered of preserving the too fugitive
tints of this lovely insect. There is a specimen now before me
which has only been dead some forty-eight hours, and already
the tender green of its body is fading, and the fiery splendour
of its eyes is quenched. Lovely as is the insect to the eye, it
can offend another sense most grievously, for it possesses a
peculiarly evil odour, which attaches itself strongly to the
finger that crushes it, and cannot be removed without many
washings.

The Lacewing-fly is allied to the Ant-lions, of which we have
no genuine representative in England. When in the larval
state it is very predaceous, as is betokened by its large and
curved mandibles. Jt feeds mostly on aphides, of which it
devours vast numbers, draining them of their juices, and then
covering itself with the emptied bodies of its victims, so as to
render itself scarcely distinguishable from the lichens among
which it mostly lives. The neck of the larva is very flexible,
so that it can dart its head in any direction in order to seize
its prey. It can eat two large aphides in one minute, and is so
voracious that if two Lacewing larvee’meet each other they are
sure to fight, and the conqueror is equally sure to eat the
vanquished combatant. These larvee are quick in their growth,
and do not require much more than a fortnight before they

EGGS OF THE LACEWING-FLY. 281

pass into the pupal state, provided only that they can find an
abundant suppiy of aphides on which to feed. When full fed
the larva spins a cocoon, in which it passes into the pupal and
perfect stages. Like the Ant-lion, to which it is allied, it
packs itself up in a wonderfully small compass, for the cocoon
is only as large as a sweet pea, and very much of the same
shape.

The eggs of the Lacewing-fly are quite as remarkable as the
cocoon. They are generally deposited on leaves, but, instead
of being laid directly on the leaf, every egg is fixed to the end
of a slender footstalk about half an inch in length. This foot-
stalk is formed from a viscous matter secreted by the female,
and is delicately white and translucent. Mr. A. G. Butler, of
the British Museum, told me that he has kept Lacewing-flies,
and often seen them lay their eggs. The end of the abdomen
is first pressed against the leaf, and a tiny drop of the viscous
matter deposited. The abdomen is then raised quickly, so as
to draw out a thread, which becomes stiff and hard almost as
soon as it comes into contact with the air. Then the insect
pauses a little, and rapidly places an egg on the end of the
thread, fixing it there with another tiny drop of the secretion.
The eggs are always laid in groups, one of which is shown on
Woodeut XXVII. Fig. a. Some specimens in my own col-
lection are laid along a lilac twig, and in all of them the
remains of the viscous drops are apparent in the form of a partly
conical footstalk, much resembling in shape and translucency the
foot and stem of a wine-glass. The eggs themselves are pure
white, and, when viewed through a microscope, have something
of a papery aspect. They bear a curious resemblance to the
capsules of certain mosses, and indeed have been described
and figured in books as specimens of British moss.

ANOTHER member of the same family is shown on Woodcut
XXVII. Fig. 5. This is called scientifically Osmylus chrysops,
but I am not aware whether it possesses any popular name.
This genus can at once be distinguished from Chrysopa by
looking at the front of the head, in which there are three
ocelli or simple eyes, set in a triangle on the forehead, whereas
‘there are no ocelli in Chrysopa.

This is the largest British example of the family, and,

282 INSECTS AT HOME.

though not so eminently beautiful as the preceding insect, is yet
a pretty creature. The wings are translucent, with a glossy,
iridescent sheen, very much resembling the surface of the
varnished skeleton leaves on which the Chinese artists paint
such exquisite little pictures. The spots with which they are
variegated are pale brown. The insect is tolerably common,
and at Oxford is plentiful on the branches of oaks. The pupa
is to be found in the moist earth of ditch banks.

Burore passing to the next order, it is necessary to say
a few words respecting the Scorpion-fly, or Panorpidee, which
form a very marked family of their own.

They derive their popular name from the remarkable con-
formation of the abdomen, the joints of which are almost
exactly like those of a Scorpion, and in the typical insect, the
common Scorpion-FLy (Panorpa communis), are terminated,
in the male, by a pair of small forceps, sufficiently strong to
make themselves felt on the skin of the human hand. When
the insect is handled, it brandishes its abdomen about in so
menacing a fashion that I have often seen its captors hastily
loosen their hold, thinking that it really must possess the
power of mischief which it so well imitates. The pincers are
formed by a development of the eighth segment of the abdomen.
The insect is a very common one, and can be taken by beating
hedges and underwood.

There are only two British genera of Panorpidee—one to
which the common Scorpion-fly belongs, and which contains
five species; and the other, named Boreus, of which a single
species is known, Boreus hyemalis.

This is a most singular being. It is a very tiny insect, and,
with its lone legs and peculiarly shaped body, bears a great
resemblance to a larval grasshopper. The form of the head,
however, is enough to show that it really belongs to the
Panorpide. In the male, the wings are very small, useless
for flight, and project from the back something like Mr. Punch’s
hump. In the female, the wings are entirely undeveloped,
and the body is terminated by a long ovipositor, very curiously
constructed. There is no direct passage or ‘ oviduct,’ so that
the eggs must first be deposited, and then picked up between

THE SCORPION-FLY. 283

the blades of the ovipositor, which open vertically, and not
laterally, like those of the Orthoptera.

This is not a common inse¢t, and, as if to add to its
eccentricity, it chooses the middle of winter for its appearance
in the perfect state. Hence its scientific name of Boreus
hyemalis—the former word signifying the north wind, and the
other wintry. The males are rarer than the females.

TRICHOPTERA.

'
RA 5 ves ; ;
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Pe i, AROTYOROI A Br:

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7 H i ) i

PRC HOPr ih ha.

CHAPTER I.

TueErE has been much discussion respecting the insects which
now come before our notice, some entomologists thinking that
they ought to belong to the Neuroptera, but the majority
deciding that they really form an order of their own, which
has been called by the name of TrichoprERa, on account of the
structure of the wings. They are popularly known as Cappis-
FLIES, sometimes abbreviated into ‘ Cads,’ Straw-worms, Pipers,
Cockspurs, Cod-baits, Grannums, &e.; and, both in the perfect
and larval conditions, are very familiar to anglers.

In this order the wings are four in number, the first pair
generally covered profusely with hair, and the second pair
large, and folded when at rest. The tibiz are furnished
with long spurs, in some species running to a wonderful length
in the second and third pair of legs. The mouth, like that of
the May-fly, is quite undeveloped, so that when the insects
have attained their perfect state they can take no nourish-
ment.

The larva is aquatic, and furnished with six feet. It lives
in cases more or less cylindrical, constructed by itself from
various materials, such as leaves, sticks, bits of grass, stones,
sand, shells, and even the opercula of water-snails. I have
taken within the distance of a few yards several cases thus
constructed ; and I once took a case, the principal portion of
which was a chrysalis of a moth—I believe the common
Hop-dog—which had fallen into the water. The larva retains
its position by means of two hooked appendages at the end of
the tail. ”

Having now glanced at the leading characteristics of the

288 INSECTS AT HOME.

order, we will proceed ty a more detailed examination, and
take for our type the Grear Cappis-riy (Phryganea grandis),
which is drawn on Plate VIII. Fig. 7, and can be easily
recognised from the figure.

In this genus the spurs of the tibiz are moderately
developed, and the wings are very heavy. The palpi of the
male have only four joints, whereas those of the female have
five. The wings are very thickly covered with hair, so thickly
indeed that, under the microscope, they look as if they were
clothed with fur. ‘The hairs are comparatively pale and small
on the membrane of the wing, but dark, stout, and bristle-
like upon the nervures. The body is similarly furred, and
even the antennz are so densely haired that the divisions of
the joints are quite hidden. It is on account of this profuse
erowth of hair that the name Trichoptera, or Hairy-wings,
has been given to this order of insect.

There is no particular beauty of colour to be found in any
of the Trichoptera, the hues being in all the species nothing
more than various shades of brown, the difference in colour
being produced in most species by the greater or less admixture
of yellow.

The habits of these insects are very interesting. Unlike the
Lacewing-fly, they are quick on foot, and can run with a
curious celerity, being even able to make their way upon the
surface of the water, over which they scuttle quickly, using
much exertion, and the edges of their closed lower wings
leaving a long track behind them. They can even travel
under water. The females are in the habit of crawling
down the stems of aquatic plants nearly a foot below the
surface, in order to deposit their eggs. If the plant to which
they are clinging be smartly tapped, they will at once leave it
and swim under water to another submerged plant. This
habit of theirs often causes them to fall victims to various fish,
which towards midsummer find an unfailing supply of such
food.

As in the case with the Stone-flies, which have already been
described, the female Caddis-fly collects her eggs and carries
them about at the extremity of the body. The egg-cluster is
double, green in colour, and the eggs are held together by a
gelatinous substance, in which they are enveloped. By means

CADDIS-FLIES. 289°

of this velatinous secretion, which has the capacity of resisting
water, the egg-cluster is affixed to the stem of some subaquatic
plant, and there left to be hatched in due time. The duties of
the mother Caddis-fly being then over, she perishes, either by
natural decay, or by means of some fish, which doubtlessly
thinks itself deceived in having been induced to eat a mere
shell of an insect,as is the Caddis after she has deposited her eggs.

When the little larvee emerge from the egg, they set to
work in forming for themselves the remarkable habitations in
which they pass the whole of their larval and pupal existence.
Being long, soft-bodied creatures, with only the head and neck
defended by a horny covering, they would fall victims to
various predacious inhabitants of the water, if they possessed
not the power of forming for themselves some sort of pro-
tection. Following the general rule under such circumstances,
the protection in question assumes the shape of a case more or
less cylindrical, and is capable of being enlarged in proportion
to the growth of the inhabitant.

As has been already mentioned, these habitations are made
of various materials, and are all more or less cylindrical as far
as regards their interior, though in many instances their
exterior departs as far as possible from that shape.

For example, one or two of the species always select dead
leaves, which they fit together, face to face, so that scarcely
anyone on seeing them would imagine that between the leaves
was the tubular residence of a Caddis-worm. Sometimes, asin
Phryganea rhombica, short pieces of grass stems are used, which
are cut into tolerably equal lengths, and fixed across each other
so as to leave a hollow in their centre. Sometimes, as in
Phryganea lunaris, the pieces of grass are much longer, and
laid side by side. Some species, such, for example, as Phry-
ganea fusca, use the shells of various aquatic molluscs, which
they fasten together without the slightest reference to the
feelings of the inhabitants, some of which may be seen vainly
trying to progress in one direction, while the Caddis-worm is
crawling in another. Examples of these two last-mentioned
forms may be seen in Plate VIII. Fig. 8. Some species, such
as Sericostoma multiguttatum, employ particles of sand,
tiny stones, and similar materials, forming them into a conical
ease with a slight curve, very much resembling in shape an

U

290 INSECTS AT HOME.

ordinary cow’s horn.’ In fact, the materials, and ce msequently
the forms, of these remarkable habitations are so various that
it is impossible to do more than briefly deseribe the leading
varieties.

All the habitations which have just been mentioned are
movable, and are carried about by the larva, just as the Hermit
Crab carries its shell-house with it. There are, however,
Caddis-cases which are fixed to stones, and which cannot be
moved. Such, for example, are the habitations of Hydro-
psyche senee and Hydropsyche maculicornis, the former of
which makes a house that is shaped very much like a leech
when at rest, and is fixed by the whole of its under side to the
stone. The habitation of the latter, however, is quite worm-
like in shape, and often considerably curved.

In consequence of the differing form of these habitations, it
follows that there must be a corresponding difference in the
structure of the inhabitants. All the Caddis larve hold them-
selves within their cases by means of claspers at the end of the
body, and very firmly they hold, as anyone can tell who has
ejected them from their habitations. But these claspers are
modified in their construction according to the kind of habita-
tion. Those larvae which dwell in movable tubes never leave
them, but crawl at liberty from one spot to another in search of
food. They have really wonderful powers of adhesion, and can
climb smooth and hard surfaces with the greatest ease. There
are now before me some larve of Sericostoma which have
crawled up the sides of a glass vessel, one or two of them
having even raised themselves partially above the surface of the
water. In ajl these species the claspers are short, so that they
only permit the head and leg-bearing segments of the body to
protrude beyond the mouth of the tube. But in the species
which live in fixed tubes the claspers are placed at the ends of
two long footstalks, so that the larva can thrust itself far out of
its tube, and thus obtain a wide range wherein to procure food.
Some of these creatures feed upon small aquatic larve, but the
food of the greater part seems to be mostly vegetable, though
all the species appear to vary their diet occasionally with
animal substances.

Whatever may be the species, and whatever the material of
their cases, the various portions of which the habitations are

LARVA OF THE CADDIS-FLY. 291

composed are always fastened very strongly together with a glu-
tinous cement which has the property of hardening under
water. If one of these cases be pulled asunder, and the
severed surfaces submitted to the microscope, the cement will
be seen to have been torn into short, white threads, very much
like the ‘byssus’ of certain bivalves, such as the common
mussel of our sea-coasts.

When the larva is full-fed, and is about to pass into the
quiescent and feeble state of pupa, it fortifies its habitation by
spinning across each end a network of a very peculiar construc-
tion. There are many species of Caddis-flies, and I do not
think that in any two species the network is exactly the same.
In all it is very stiff and strong, but there is invariably a dis-
tinct pattern on which the meshes are arranged, and which
can only be made out by the use of a tolerably powerful mag-
nifier.

After remaining within the fortified case for a time, which
varies according to the species, the pupa makes its way out of
the case, and, when fairly in the open air, shakes off its pupal
skin and assumes its perfect form. There is some slight dif-
ference as to the mode of performing this feat, the larger
species acting like the Dragon-flies, and crawling up the stems
of aquatic plants, while the smaller are content to make use of
their cast skins as rafts, on which they can stand while they
shake out their newly-acquired wings to dry in the air.

Havine now traced the life of the Caddis-fly from the egg
to the perfect insect, and taken one species as the type, we
will briefly examine one or two other species as examples of
this remarkable, though small order.

The first of these is the Lesser Cappis-rty (Phryganea
minor), a figure of which is given on Woodcut XXVI. Fig. 3.
This, though smaller than the Great Caddis-fly, is really a
handsomer insect, being much more variegated than its larger
relative. The colour of the body is yellowish-brown, and the
back of the head and thorax are covered with yellowish down.
The upper wings are densely clothed with hair, and are pale
brown, variegated with a rich dark brown, which near the
end of the wing forms a band stretching nearly’across it, in a
slightly diagonal direction. The lower wings are shining

u2

292 INSECTS AT HOME.

and iridescent, and the antenne are pale brown barred with
the same dark hue as that which ornaments the upper wings.

On Woodecut XXVI. Fig. 2, is shown an insect which has the
popular name of the Erneanr Grannum (Limnephilus ele-
gans). In the genus to which this insect belongs, the body is
rounded, and the wings are narrow and rather squared at the
ends. The maxilla and its palpus is shown at Fig. b, and the
labium with its palpi at Fig. a. There are nearly fifty species
of this large genus, all of which have a very moth-like appear-
ance, specially when seen on the wing or when ‘set’ in a
cabinet.

When alive, the body of this species has a slight yellowish
tinge, the upper part being blackish, and the segments being
edged with whitish grey. The wings are very shining, and the
upper pair are pale brown with dark nervures, and one or two
dark spots and streaks. The lower pair are pearly in hue, and
rather iridescent when the light falls on them in different
angles.

On the same W oodcut, Fig. 4, is shown another of these curious
insects, named scientifically Leptocerus ochraceus. In the
insects belonging to this genus, the tibie of the hindmost
pair of legs have two spurs, and the antenne are exceedingly
long and slender. The name Leptocerus alludes to this latter
characteristic. It is formed from the Greek words, signifying
‘clender-horned.’ In the illustration, the antennez are of the
ight length, but are too thick, especially at the base. These
organs are in reality almost as slender as hairs, and even when
the insect has been set and dried, the long and delicate an-
tenn wave about with every breath of air, and give to the
dead insect an air as if it were again alive. When the wings
are closed, and the insect is sitting on a leaf, it bears a
curiously close resemblance to the Long-horn moths which will
be described on a future page. There are rather more than
thirty species of this genus.

HYMENOPTERA,

HYMENOPTERA.

CHAPTER I.
SAW-FLIES.

WE now come to one of the largest and most important orders
of insects, namely the Hymrnoprera, an order which com-
prises the insects known popularly as Saw-flies, Gall-flies,
Ichneumon-flies, Ants, Wasps, and Bees. Those insects which
are known as White Ants or Termites, belong, however, to a
different order, namely the Neuroptera.

The characteristics of this order are well defined. and there
is no difficulty in ascertaining, almost at a glance, whether an
insect belongs to the Hymenoptera or not. The wings are
four in number, the second pair being smaller than the first
pair, and having fewer veins. They are without hair and
membranous, as indeed is shown by the name Hymenoptera,
which is formed from two Greek words, the one signifying a
membrane, and the other a wing. When at rest, the wings
are separate, but when the insect flies, both pairs are hitched
together by a series of little hooks which run along the upper
edge of the lower pair, so that, for the time, the insect flies
with two wings instead of four. These hooks are beautifully
constructed, and should be examined with a microscope. They
will be found well developed in the common wasps and bees.
On Woodcut XXVIII. the wings of a hornet are shown on the
left side as they appear when separated, and on the right as
they are when united by the hooks. ‘The head is armed with
horny jaws, and between them lies a fleshy tongue enclosed in
the maxille, which form a sort of sheath to it. The abdomen
ef the female is furnished with a horny ovipositor formed of

296 INSECTS AT HOME.

oa XXVIIL

ANATOMY OF A HYMENOPTEROUS INSECT.—THE HORNET (VESPA CRABRO).

1. Headand parts of the mouth. a. Lingua, or tongue. 06, Labialpalpi. cc. Maxillary
palpi. dd. Maxille. ee. Mandibles. (f/f. Byes. gg. Toruli, or beds of the base of the
antennz, hh. Ocelli, or simple eyes; sometimes called Stemmata. 7. Clypeus. k. La-

brum. 7. Epipharynx. 2. Thorax. a. Mesothorax. 6b. Teguile. c. Scutellum.
d. Prothorax. e. Postscutellum. J. Metathorax. 3. Abdomen, upper surface. 4, Ab-
domen, profile. 5. Head, front view. aa. Antenne. 6b, Hyes. ec. Ocelli. ad. Scu-

tellum. ee. Mandibles. 6, Thorax, under surface. a. Bed of cox of pro-legs. 0. Sternum.
c. Bed of coxe of intermediate legs. d. Bed of coxze of posterior legs. e. Bed of neck,
7. Anterior, or pro-legs. a. Tarsus. b. Tibia. c. Femur. d. Trochanter, e. Coxa.
8. Middle, or intermediate legs. 9, Hinder, or posterior legs. 10. Right wings. a. Costal
cell. b, Externo-medial cell. c. Interno-medial cell. d. Anal cell. e. Marginal cell.
J. First Submarginal cell. g. Second Discoidal cell. h. Second Submarginal cell, i. Third
Submarginal cell. k. Fourth Submarginal cell. 1. First Discoidal cell. m. Third Dis-
coidal cell. n. First Apical cell, o. Second Apical cell. 11. Left wings separated.

SAW-FLIES. rie Eh

several pieces, which in many instances is modified into a
poison-hearing sting. The pupa is quiescent, and the larva
is both quiescent and without feet, except in one group, that of
the Saw-flies.

In all books that treat scientifically-of the Hymenoptera, a
vast amount of technical language will be found. Many of the
words, such as those which express the general divisions of the
body, the parts of the mouth, the anatomy of the limbs, &c.,
are the same as those which we have already learned when
treating of Beetles. But, in this order of insects, very great
stress is laid upon sundry portions of organisation which are
but little considered in the Coleoptera, and therefore I have
given a chart-drawing of a hornet, similar to that of the Stag-
beetle on page 9. I strongly advise the young entomologist
to take a hornet, or even a wasp, and make out all the parts
by means of this diagram, and he will find that if he colours
the diagram he will fix it more firmly in his memory. The
colouring should be taken from the insect itself.

According to Mr. Westwood’s system, the Hymenoptera are
divided into two great sections, namely, the Terebrantia, or
Borers, and the Aculeata, or Sting-bearers. We will proceed
with these sections in order. The first subsection is called
Serrifera, or Saw-bearers, in which the abdomen is attached to
the thorax by the whole of its diameter, and the larve feed
upon vegetable substances, and have a well-developed mouth
furnished with mandibles. This subsection includes the whole
of the Saw-flies and Gall-flies.

We will begin with the insects which are so well known as
Saw-flies, and are scientifically termed Tenthredinide. This
word is a very old one, being used by Aristotle in his ‘ History
of Animals’ to signify some kind of bee or wasp. It is formed
from a Greek word signifying to gnaw or nibble. The names
Andrena, Pemphredon, &c., are derived from the same source.

In these insects, the wings are large, with many ‘complete’

cells, i.e. cells closed on every side by nervures, and having a
large stigma or spot. The abdomen has no footstalk, and is
furnished in the females with the extraordinary apparatus
which has gained for the group of Hymenoptera the popular
and appropriate name of Saw-flies

298 INSECTS AT HOME.

At the extremity of the abdomen and on its under surface
are placed two flat horny plates set side by side. These are
the saws, and, like the well-known ‘ tenon-saw’ of carpenters,
have one edge toothed, and the other strengthened by a flat
thick plate. On examination wivh a tolerably powerful lens,
the teeth are seen to be most elaborately constructed. Instead
of being mere simple teeth, like those of a saw, each tooth is
formed of a cone set in a footstalk, the cone being deeply cut
into eight or ten deep grooves, having a sharp edge between
each. This structure is wonderfully adapted to prevent the
saw from clogging with the green wood in which it has to work,
and might with advantage be copied by our tool-makers. The
toothing of the saw differs in the various species of Saw-fly,
but the form which has been described is found in some of the
insects with which our list commences.

The strengthened backs of these saws are received into grooves
or sheaths in which they slide backwards and forwards, and they
are so contrived that while one saw is being thrust forward,
the other is being drawn back. There is not the least difficulty
in getting these beautiful instruments under the microscope.
They are of course best seen in the recent specimen, but even
after the insect has been long dead and dry, the saw can be
detached with a little careful manipulation. The object of the
saw, which is indeed a modification of the ovipositor, is to pre-
pare a resting-place for the eggs. By alternately working the
saws, a groove is rapidly cut in a twig, or a leaf rib, and an
egg is then passed between the saws and deposited in the groove,
where it is fixed by asmali drop of liquid secreted by the insect.
The number of grooves and of the eggs deposited in them
varies according to the different species of Saw-fly. Even if the
observer should fail to see a Saw-fly in the act of depositing
her eggs, he can always see the grooves and the eggs in them,
by carefully examining the leaves and young twigs of various
trees. The common currant is often much damaged by Saw-
flies, and on a single bush there will be scarcely a leaf in
which the grooves cut by the Saw-fly cannot be found. These
grooves are made on the under side of the leaf, partly because
the nervures are thicker, and partly because the eggs are
sheltered from the rain.

In process of time the eggs are hatched, and from them are

LARVA OF THE SAW-FLIES. 299

produced larvae which very much resemble those of moths.
They can, however, be at once distinguished from them by the
fact that they have more legs and ‘ pro-legs, or false feet,
than the true caterpillars. No caterpillar has more than
sixteen of these members, whereas the larva of the Saw-fly
has from eighteen to twenty-two. One of these larve, that

1 Hylotoma rose. 2. Creesus septentrionalis. 3. Athalia spinarum. 4, Allantus
scrophularia. a. Croesus larva. 6. Athalia larva. c. Allantus larva. d. Hylotoma,
antenna, e. Croesus, antenna. /, Athalia, antenna. g. Allantus, antenna.

of Cimbex lutea, is shown on Plate IX. Fig. 3, and others are
seen on Woodcut XXIX. Figs. a 6 and ¢.

Havine thus rapidly. gone through the chief characteristics
of the Saw-flies, we will examine them somewhat more in
detail.

The first insect on our list is Cimbex lutea, which is shown
on Plate IX. Fig. 1, of its natural size, and a more detailed

300 INSECTS AT HOME,

drawing is given on Woodeut XXX. Fig. 1, in order to show
the characteristic details of the genus. In this genus the club
of the antennz consist of two joints soldered together, and the
rest of the organ is formed of five joints. The spurs are
rather short and blunt, and in the male insect the tarsi of the
fore-legs are spined beneath. There are about eight British
species of Cimmbex. The colour of the present species is, as may
be inferred from its name, yellow, and all inexperienced
observers might easily mistake the insect for a wasp, especially
when flying.

The larva is shown both in Plate IX. Fig. 3, and in Wood-
cut XXX. Fig. a, the latter figure being given in order to
show its structure. It has in all twenty-two feet and four
legs, and the body is covered with very small tubercles. Just
over the spiracles, or breathing holes, there are some apertures,
through which the larva can spirt a greenish fluid to some
little distance. It ejects the fluid when it is alarmed, but the
supply is limited, and each successive discharge is weaker than
its predecessor. Like most Saw-fly larve its colour is greenish
erey. Contrary to the usual practice among insects, this larva
prefers the upper side of the leaf, where it may be found partly
coiled up, with its tail in the centre. It feeds on various trees,
such as the elder, the birch, and the beech, but Mr. F. Smith
tells me that he has generally found it on the willow.

In process of time, the larva attains its full growth, and then
sets to work at spinning a cocoon in which it can undergo its
transformations. The cocoon is wonderfully tough and leathery
in texture, brown in colour, and is rather fluffy on the outside.
It is affixed to some twig of the tree on which the larva fed,
and in winter time is very conspicuous owing to the absence
of leaves. One of these dwellings is shown on Plate IX. Fig. 2.
If one of these cocoons be carefully opened before the insect
has made its final change, the pupa can be seen lying quietly
in its cell like a child in a cradle, and apparently as help-
less. It remains for a considerable time in the cocoon, and
finally makes its escape at one end of its dwelling.

On Plate IX. Fig. 5, is seen a very fine insect, known
scientifically as Trichiosoma lucorum. The name of this
genus is formed from two Greek words, signifying Hairy-hody,

PLATE IX.

SAW-FLIES, GALL-FLIES, AND SIREX.

—

. Cimbex lutea.

. Cimbex, cocoon.

. Cimbex, larva.

Lyda hortensis.

. Trichiosoma lucorum,
. Cynips Kollari.

. Sirex juvencus (Male).

“IO Oo FP co to

Prants :—
Oak. Fir, and Hawthorn,

=

SUZ
Si

=

Ly)

COCOONS OF SAW-FLIES. 301

and is given to the insects because their bodies are thickly
covered with hair, instead of being nearly naked like those of
the preceding genus. The whole appearance of the body is so
bee-like that most persons who see the insect imagine that it
belongs to the bees and not to the Saw-flies. It can, however,

1. Cimbex Intea. 2. Tenthredo zonatus. 3. Cryptus pallipes. 4, Lophyrus pini.
a. Cimbex larva. 6. Lophyrus larva, c. Lophyrus, cocoon. d. Do. antenna, male.
e. Do. antenna, female.

be distinguished by the shape of the antennex, which are ter-
minated by round knobs composed of three joints fused to-
gether. The rest of. the organ is composed of five joints.
The colour of the insect is dark brown, and the wings are
darkish, with a smoky streak along their lower edges.

The insect is common upon whitethorn, and may be seen in all
these stages. The larva, like that of the last-mentioned Saw-
fly, prefers the upper surface of leaves, and coils itself up in a

302 INSECTS AT HOME.

similar fashion. The cocoons are not easily seen as long as the
leaves are on the trees, but if a whitethorn hedge be carefully
examined in the winter, the cocoons of the Trichiosoma will
probably be found in tolerable plenty. The twig on which
they are fixed should be cut off, and the cocoons placed in a box
with a cover of wire gauze in order to await the appearance of
the perfect insect, which takes place in the spring. At that
time of year, the fly is not at all uncommon, and may be cap-
tured with the net asit flits about the hedges, seeking for con-
venient spots wherein to deposit its eggs.

I well remember taking some of these Saw-flies when begin-
ning my entomological career, and, not having access to books,
being entirely puzzled by them. At first, I naturally took
them for bees, but could not understand how the knobbed
antenne could belong to a bee. Then, the creatures, though
they were females, had no sting, and as I was not then aware
that Saw-flies of such magnitude existed in this country, I was
naturally puzzled. Yet, the very fact of this bewilderment
served to fix the creatures so firmly in my mind that, even at
this distance of time, I could draw from memory the first
Trichiosoma that I ever caught. The saws of this insect are
well worthy of examination, as they possess the cone-tipped
teeth which have been described on page 298.

The larve can be taken at the end of summer, when they
-are nearly full-fed, and as they are very large and conspicuous,
there is little difficulty in obtaining them.

On Woodecut XXIX. Fig. 1, is seen a figure of the Rosz
Saw-Fy, called scientifically Hylotoma rose. The name Hylo-
toma is formed from two Greek words, signifying * Wood-
cutter,’ and is therefore a very appropriate one.

In this genus the marginal cell is drawn out to a point, and
the shape of the antenne differs in the two sexes. Those of
the male are nearly straight and hairy, while those of the
female are smooth and tend to a club towards the ends. The
antenna of the male is shown on Woodcut XXIX. Fig. d.

This is a much smaller insect than those which have been
described, as may be seen by the cross-mark immediately below
it. The colour of the thorax is black, and that of the abdomen
bright yellow, with an orange tinge during life. The upper

TURNIP-FLY OR ‘ NIGGER’ 303

edge of the wing is black, and the tips are darker than the
centre. The larva of this insect may be known by having the
sides of each segment of the abdomen lengthened into a sort of
flap, which covers the pro-legs. This larva may be found on
the leaves of the rose, with its body bent upwards, and some-
times even assuming a double curve.

Tue most superficial observer must notice that the insect
which is represented on Woodeut XXX. Fig. 3, is a very
curious one. It belongs to the same group of Saw-flies as the
last-mentioned insects.

The male is remarkable for the structure of the antenne,
which, as may be seen from the illustration, are not only
feathered, but double, the divisions taking place at the scape
or first joint. In the female the antenna is single and not
feathered. The head and thorax of thi3 curious insect are
black, and its abdomen yellow. Its scientific name is Schizo-~
cerus pallipes. Both names are appropriate. The first is
formed from the Greek words signifying ‘ Divided horn,’ and
the second, which signifies Pale-footed, is given to the insect in
consequence of the pale colour of its legs. The insect was first
taken in Coombe Wood, by Mr. J. King, and has since heen cap-
tured sparingly. It still remains, however, a very rare insect.

Here must be mentioned the terrible TurNnrp-FLY or Niccrr
(Athalia spinarum) which is shown on Woodcut. XXIX. Fig. 3.
In this genus the insects have either nine or ten joints in the
antenne, the third joint being a long one and the ends widen-
ing into an ill-defined club, as may be seen at Fig. f. In the
wings there are two marginal and four submarginal cells.
The reader will now see the importance of these cells in the
arrangement of the Hymenoptera. Many persons seem to
think that neither number, shape, nor size is of the least con-
sequence, and that, in drawing such an insect, the artist may
put in any number of cells and shape them as he likes. The
entomologist, however, knows better, and though he cannot be
expected to carry in his mind the exact number and shape of
the cells, he can always tell at a glance whether the wings
have been carefully sketched from nature, or carelessly drawn
from imagination.

304 INSECTS AT HOME.

The head of the insect is black, and so are the sides and
base of the thorax, while the rest of the body is bright yellow.
The wings are translucent, and along the upper edge is a
streak of black. The larva of this insect is grey-black, and
is therefore popularly called the Nigger. It is always to be
found in some localities where turnips are grown, but in certain
years it appears in vast numbers, and is one of the worst
plagues that a farmer can fear. Somewhere about July, the
parent insects appear by tWousands, and make their way to the
turnip-fields, where they lay their eggs, using for the purpose
the saw-like ovipositor which has already been mentioned.
Mr. E. Newman has given great attention to these small
though terrible insects, and his description of them in the
‘ Letters of Rusticus’ is so graphic that I cannot do better than
transfer it to these pages :—

‘ These flies do not taste the turnips, but only come to them
on family business: they deposit their eggs on the under side
of the leaf, gluing them on the cuticle. In a very few days
they were hatched; from the eggs had emerged the little
caterpillars. On August 9, these little creatures swarmed on
every leaf. I walked over field after field, and found them all
in the same state. On Mr. Moline’s farm, at Old Pond, three
men were hoeing the turnips on a Saturday; I showed them
the enemy, and told them that the turnips would be thin
enough by Monday, without any hoeing; however, they were
farmer’s men, and “ knowed better.” On Sunday I could not
get out so far as a turnip-field. On Monday I was again in the
field at Old Pond, and the turnips were not. Since my last
visit they had been swept from the face of the earth. The
land was everywhere as bare as on the day it had been sowed.
There was no speck of green for the eye to rest on. It was a
wild and universal desolation ; and the black, crawling vermin
that had caused the ruin were clustered in bunches on the
ground, or lingering about the skeletons of the turnip-leaves,
No plague of Egypt could have been more effective ; the mis-
chief was complete. Some fields received the blast a few days
later than others, but all had it; not one escaped, unless the
crop were swedes, and it is remarkable that these were un-
touched.

‘I will now give a somewhat more particular history of this

RAVAGES OF THE * NIGGER.’ 305

blight. The egg is of an oblong form and pale colour, and is
so firmly glued to the cuticle of the leaf that I have never
been able to get one off without breaking it ; but when the egg
is removed it leaves, or rather discloses, a wound in the cuticle
of the leaf, and I have little doubt that this wound is made
by the parent fly, in order that the egg itself may receive
nourishment from the juices of the plant. This is perhaps
a little hypothetical, but there is a fact which seems to re-
“quire such an explanation, for the ebe positively grows, while
still to all appearance an egg. At the end of four days its
bulk is nearly doubled, and by the ninth day, when the grub
comes out, it is actually three times as large as when
deposited.

‘Directly the young Nigger is let out of the egg-shell, he
begins eating away in right earnest. The first onslaught is
generally made as near as possible to the spot where he was
bora, but after a day or two the edges of the leaf seem to be
most favoured by his attentions, and here the whole family may
be seen working with awill, their heads atthe work of demolition,
and their tails cocked up m the air. In an incredibly short
space of time the green of the leaf is gone, and nothing is
visible but the naked skeletons of veins, which the Niggers do
not choose to consume. The colour of the grub is a dull lead
colour, with a rather rough or wrinkly skin, but without hairs ;
and down each side, from stem to stern, is a paler line. Its
length, when full grown, is between half and three-quarters of
an inch. It has no less than twenty legs, six of which are placed
in three pairs, very near the head. These six are long, hard,
horny, and sharp-pointed, and with them the grub holds fast
the edge of the leaf while he goes on devouring it; the other
iourteen legs are arranged in seven pairs along the body, and
are soft and fleshy without any horny substance, and quite
without sharp points. These legs are used when the grub is
crawling; but while he is eating, and the tail, indeed the
greater part of the body, is, as I have already said, cocked up
in the air, they are quite unemployed. Sometimes, and es-
pecially when offended or in danger, the Nigger-grub coils him-
self up in a ring, holding the leaf very slightly by the first
pair of legs, that pair next the head, and when touched in this
state, falls directly to the ground, and there lies as though

x

306 INSECTS AT HOME.

dead ; indeed, if not in a ring before, he almost always rolls
himself into one when touched.

‘When the Nigger has reached his full size—a period de-
pending on the temperature of the weather and the supply of
food, but averaging twenty days—he burrows in the earth,
and there makes a little oval house, just big enough for his
body, which has all at onee become shorter and thicker: he
then plasters the walls of this place with a sort of sticky varnish
or glue, which he discharges at this time only; he keeps on®
discharging and spreading this glue till he is quite surrounded
with a strong, tough, and hard cocoon, the particles of earth
being mixed with the glue, and the whole forming an admirable
and perfect defence against wet or the attacks of insects. The
period of his stay in this cocoon varies according to cireum-
stances: if the weather is hot, it sometimes happens that the
grub becomes a mummy-like chrysalis in ten days, and a
perfect fly, and again on the wing, in five more; but the
greater part of the brood remain unchanged all through the
autumn, winter, and spring. I have turned up the cocoons,
and found the grub little altered even in May.

‘Soon after this the change to a chrysalis must take place,
and the change to a fiy occurs, in average seasons, about the
middle of July; when this is accomplished, it moistens one
end of its cocoon, so as to make it easy to come out, and then
it climbs up through the earth and takes wing. But the
plough and harrow, the operations of which are sure to follow
the eating off of the turnip-crop, often turn up and expose the
cocoons, so that, instead of being an inch or two below tlfe
surface, they are laid at the top. The system of crop rotation,
however, serves to remove the fly of the Nigger from the foag
best fitted for its progeny; and it often happens that the flies
come to maturity in a field of ripening grain, the ears of which
they mount, and, spreading their wings, float off in myriads to
the nearest turnip-field.

‘I find a hundred recipes for the destruction of these
Niggers, all of which are moonshine except one, and this, for a
wonder, is rational. It is this: buy an immense number of
ducks, and turn them into your turnips, and they will devour
the niggers by millions, and in a few days become as fat 48
butter. Thus two birds are killed with one stone—the ducks
fattened and the turnips saved.

HAND-PICKING. 307

‘When we get on a little farther with our inquiries into the
history of animals, and especially such little things as insects,
you may depend on it we shall find the best way to check the
increase of any hurtful kind is to encourage any other animal,
whether beast, bird, fish, or insect, that makes the injurious
one its prey.’

Hand-picking has also proved serviccable, but I am not
aware of any other plan that is of the least practical use in
destroying this insect. The rule which Mr. Newman has laid
down is a wost admirable one, and is worth the attention of
all cultivators of land, whether for farming or horticultural pur-
poses. The ‘Nigger’ larvais shown on Woodcut XXIX. Fig. b.

TuereE is a closely allied genus, called Selandria, the larve
ot which are singularly unpleasant to the eye, as well as
injurious to vegetation. They continually exude from the sides
of the body a thick, sticky liquid, of a greenish-black colour,
in which they are completely enveloped. This is evidently used
as a means of concealment, for the larva does not move so long
as daylight endures, but flattens itself to the object on which it
is resting, and looks like a mere lump of unpleasant slime that
has accidentally fallen upon the tree. In America these larvae
go by the popular and expressive name of Slug-worms, and
often do great damage to the peach, the plum, the cherry, the
quince, and similar fruit-trees.

Next in order comes the insect which is shown on Woodcut
XXIX. Fig. 4. Its name is Allantus scrophularie.

In this genus the abdomen is longer and more slender than
in the preceding genera, the hind pair of legs are com-
paratively long, the clypeus is deeply notched, and the antennze
are rather slender, the third joint being longer than the fourth.
One of these antennew is shown at Fig. g. The cells of the
wings are formed like those of Athalia. These insects are
very plentiful, and are decidedly pretty, the abdomen being
coloured with bright yellow or green, the former hue pre-
dominating. In the present species the antenne are rather
short and thick, but in some they are much longer. There
ure between forty and fifty species of this large genus.

The larva, which is shown at Fig. c, feeds upon the Figwort .

x 2

308 INSECTS AT HOME.

(Scrophularia), from which the insect derives its specific name.
It has twenty-two feet, and varies much in colour after its
changes of skin. When it is full-fed, it leaves the plant on
which it has fed, and burrows beneath the soil at its root,
making for itself a cell below the surface of the earth, but not
spinning a genuine cocoon.

On Woodcut XXIX. Fig. 2, is a rather remarkable Saw-fly,
called Cresus septentrionalis. In this genus the antennz are
composed of nine elongated and slender joints, as may be
seen at Fig. e. The wings have one marginal and four sub-
marginal cells, and into the second run two small nervures,
called ‘recurrent’ nervures. The hind legs are large, and the
first joint of the tarsi very large and flattened. There are
many species of this genus, and the present species is a very
pretty one. The head, thorax, and base of the abdomen are
black and shining, and the rest of the body is bright red.
The legs are black, diversified with many white patches, as
seen in the illustration. The name Croesus is given to the
insect in allusion to the golden red of the abdomen.

This is a very local insect, and though not generally spread
throughout the country, is tolerably plentiful in places where
it does exist. Mr. F. Smith tells me that he has taken it near
Poole, feeding upon the alders that grew upon marshy ground.
Mr. Doubleday has taken it in Epping Forest, feeding on the
filbert. The larve are partly gregarious, dull green in colour,
spotted with black, and changing to yellow at the end of the
body. When they are alarmed, they protrude from between
the fore-legs a number of blackish tubercles, and withdraw
them when the danger has passed away. Like the larve of
the Cimbex, they roll themselves up if touched. When full-fed,
the grub seeks the ground, and constructs under the surface
a small cocoon, brown in colour, and very slight in texture.
Darenth Wood is mentioned as one of the localities in which
it is to be found. The larva of this species is shown at Fig. a.

Tun fine insect shown on Woodcut XXX. Fig. 2, belongs to
the typical genus of this family, and is known as Tenthredo
zonatus. This genus has the antenne long and slender, the
third joint not being longer than the fourth. The wings have

PINE SAW-FLY. 309

two marginal and four submarginal cells, and the abdomen is
rather long and flattened. The present species differs con-
siderably in colour, according to the sex, the male being
almost entirely yellow, while the female is black, with a
broad yellow band or zone across the body, as is seen in the
illustration. The specific name zonatus, or banded, refers to
this yellow belt in the female. The male is rather smaller
than the female, but his inferiority in size is compensated by
the superior brilliancy of his colour.

Most persons who possess, or who take an interest in gardens,
have noticed how liable is the gooseberry to be destroyed by a
eaterpillar-like grub. This is the larva of a Saw-fly called
Nematus grossularie, an insect which is more pretty than it is
agreeable. The insects of this genus have nine joints to the
antenna, and in the wings there are one marginal and four
submarginal cells, into the second of which run two ‘recurrent
nerves. The tarsi are not dilated.

When these larve take possession of the gooseberries, it is
most difficult to extirpate them, and I believe that nothing
but handpicking will answer the purpose. Mr. Waterton’s
plan of ‘dishing ’ the gooseberries, i.e., cutting away the centre
and training the branches so as to radiate in the form of a
hollow cone reversed, makes this operation much easier, as well
as permits the gooseberries to be gathered without risk of
pricking the fingers. As many as 4 thousand larve have been
found on a single gooseberry bush, and as there are two broods
in a year, the mischief which they can do is almost incalculable.

Throughout their imperfect stages, these creatures are social,
and their cocoons may be found in great numbers, attached to
each other by their ends. The colour of the larve is a smooth
leaden hue, and across their bodies are many rows of tiny
biack, hair-bearing warts. There are many species of this genus,
which feed upon various trees, and which do much damage,
not only in the orchard but in plantations, the willow, alder,
osier, &c., being specially subject to their attacks.

On Woodcut XXX. Fig. 4, is a slightly magnified figure of
a Saw-fly with rather curious habits. This is the Pine Saw-
FLY (Lophyrus pint). In this genus the male is always less than

310 INSECTS AT HOME.

the female, and may be distinguished by the form of the
antenne. In the female these organs are comparatively
simple, as is shown at Fig. e, but in the male they are deeply
and doubly toothed, the teeth being very much longer on the
inner than on the outer side. One of these antennz is shown
on Fig. d.

In this species, the male and female also differ greatly in
colour, the former being wholly black, while the latter is yellow,
with a black head, and broad black-grey band across the middle
of the abdomeu. The comparative proportions of yellow and -
black vary much in different specimens. As its name imports,
this insect feeds, while in a larval state, on the pine, and con-
sequently is found more plentifully in the northern than in the
southern parts of Europe. Happily, in this country, it is
rather a scarce insect, but in some of the pine-growing dis-
tricts of Northern Europe it does considerable damage.

The larva which is shown at Fig. b, is dirty yellow in colour,
diversified with black spots arranged longitudinally. Like the
larva of the Nematus, it is social in its habits, and may be found
in groups, numbering a hundred or so, upon the pine-trees,
feeding upon the leaves. ‘heir mode of eating the needle-like
leaves of this tree is from tip to base, and has been graphically
compared to the manner in which men eat radishes. When the
leaves are finished, the larvee proceed between the young shoots,
which they completely strip of their bark, and so proceed from
one branch to another, rendering them as leafless as if the
trees were dead.

Owing to the nature of their food, they naturally swallow a
large amount of pure resin, and, if they are touched, they allow
a drop of liquid resin to flow from their mouths. When they
are full-fed they proceed to envelope themselves in cocoons,
which are attached to the pine-leaves, and it is remarkable
that the cocoons of the female insects are larger than those of
the male. One of these cocoons is shown at Fig. c. The
perfect insects make their appearance about May. Only a
‘very few British species of this genus are known.

Tur Saw-fly which is represented on Plate IX. Fig. 4, belongs
to a genus named Lyda, in which the larve of the different
species vary remarkably in their habits. In this genus the

HORN-TAILED SAW-FLIES, 311

antenne are not feathered, and their joints vary in number from
nineteen to thirty-six. There are two marginal and four sub-
marginal cells, and the tibiz of the second and third pairs of
legs have three spines. The name of the present species is
LIyda hortorwm, and it is a really pretty insect. The head
and thorax are black, and the abdomen a very warm orange
red. The wings are peculiarly shining. Mr. F. Smith tells
me that it is a very erratic and uncertain insect in its appear-
ance, being found in plenty one day, while on the next not a
solitary specimen is to be seen. It is exceedingly active and
difficult to catch, and while flying, its wings glitter in the
sunshine as if they were made of burnished gold.

The larve of this genus have no pro-legs on the abdomen,
but at the end of the body are two jointed projections some-
what resembling the true legs of the thorax. In consequence
of this structure, the movements of the larve are slow and of a
gliding character. The larve are semi-social, and live in
company after a very curious fashion. A number of them
associate together upon a branch, each larva spinning for
itself a separate case in which it lives, while the entire associa-
tion is covered by a common roof formed of the leaves of a tree
fastened to each other with silkeu webs. The larve of some
species of Lyda form their cases of leaves, which they roll
up into a cylindrical form, and in which they live like the
caddis-worms in their tubes.

We now come to a remarkable group of Saw-flies, which at
first sight scarcely seem to belong to the same family as those
which have just been mentioned. They are, indeed, so different
in aspect that many systematic entomologists have formed them
into a separate family, named Uroceride, i.e. Horn-tailed Saw-
flies. In these insects, the saws are modified into a powerful
boring apparatus, by means of which the female insect can
drill a hole into solid timber, instead of merely cutting a groove
in soft bark. The body is nearly cylindrical in form, but flatter
in the males than in the females. The prothorax is elongated,
and forms a sort of neck between the head and the thorax. The
mandibles are strong and horny, though small; and the front
tibizee have one spur at the tip, and in the males the hinder
tibia: are flattened.

312 INSECTS AT HOME.

On Plate IX. Fig. 7, is shown one of these remarkable Saw-
flies, called Strex or Urocerus juvencus. The specimen is a
male, so that the very long ovipositor is not shown. In this
genus the neck is a very short one, there are two marginal and
four sub-marginal cells, the maxillary palpi are very short, and
the boring instrument is very long, and exterior to the body.
The colour of the present species differs greatly according to
sex, the male being black and yellow, while the female is a
very deep violet, almost amounting to black.

I very strongly recommend any of my readers who may obtain
a female Sirex to disengage the actual borer from its two-bladed
sheath, and examine it with the aid of a microscope. A half-
inch object-glass will give quite sufficient power. It is straight,
stiff, and elastic, as if made of steel, and, if bent, will spring
back to its proper form with the elasticity of a Toledo rapier.
In form it somewhat resembles the instrument known technically
as a ‘rymer,’ except that the edges are rounded, and not square.
But the borer possesses an auxiliary cutting apparatus which
places it far above the rymer in point of efficacy. Even with
an urdinary magnifying lens, it is easy to see that the end of
the borer is developed into a sharp head very much resembling
that of a boarding-pike, and that the outline of the shaft is
broken into a series of notches.

The half-inch glass, however, discloses a marvellous example
of mechanical excellence. The head of the borer is then seen
to be armed with long, sharp teeth, slightly curved inwards,
and acting just as does the carpenter’s ordinary centre-bit.
So much for the head of the borer: we will now turn to the
shaft. It appears that, in order to make a clean-cut hole for
the reception of the egg, the shaft of the borer has to finish the
task which the head begins. Accordingly, it is armed on each
of its sides with a series of hard, sharp-edged ridges, running
diagonally across it, and acting exactly as do the sharp ridges
of a coffee-mill. A more effective implement could not have
been invented, and the various boring instruments of modern
days, however novel they may appear to be, are in reality formed
on exactly the same principle as the borer of the Sirex, though
perhaps they may not carry out their object with such pertection.

This is a wood-boring insect, the female drilling a hole in the
zolid wood, usually that of the fir, and depositing her eggs in

THE SIREX AND THE PINE-TREE. 5 US

it. It is thought by many naturalists that the Sirex never
attacks growing trees, but restricts itself to those which are
either dead or dying. The late Mr. Waterton was of this
opinion. Shortly before his lamented death he showed me two
fir-trees which he had ‘ girdled’ in order to kill them, for the
purpose of seeing whether or not the Sirex would attack them.
Unfortunately, the accident from which he died put a stop to
the experiment.

It is, at all events, certain that the Sirex does exist in dead
timber, and nothing is more common than to see a newly
erected summer-house absolutely infested by the Sirex, which,
although harmless enough, looks so like a hornet that. scarcely
any persons who are not practical entomologists can believe
that an insect so formidable in appearance, and armed with
so huge a sting, can be anything but dangerous.

In Curtis’ ‘ British Entomology’ it is mentioned that the
Sirex has made its appearance in York Minster, a number of
the males having been captured as they were flying about the
tower; and Mr. Curtis took occasion to prognosticate danger
to the tower, not only from the weakening of the timber, but
from its increased liability to combustion, owing to the nume-
rous tunnels with which it is perforated.

I have quite a collection of these insects, sent to me by
persons who have found them in newly-panelled rooms, in
summer-houses, and similar localities, and who have been quite
alarmed at their presence. These, however, mostly belong to
another species, Sirex gigas, the female of which is yellow and
black, like the male, and which therefore looks much more
like a hornet than its relative, Sivex juvencus. It is really a
splendid insect. One that I have taken at random from a box
measures an inch and a half from the head to the end of the
tail, the spread of wing is two inches and three quarters, and
the boring apparatus, which is as large as a * No. 5’ needle, is
rather more than an inch in length, so that if people mistake
it for a poison-bearing sting, they are likely to be afraid of the
insect.

The colouring of this insect is peculiarly bold. The head
is thickly punctured, and deep black, except a patch of bright
yellow behind the eyes. The thorax is also black, punctured,
and covered with a coating of fine black down, The abdomer

314 INSECTS AT HOME.

is bright ochreous yellow, with the exception of a broad
satin-like belt round the middle, the colour being black,
glossed with violet. The boring instrument is brown, with a
slight tint of-red in it. The femora, or thighs of the legs, are
black, and the rest yellow, and the antenne are yellow. Even
the wings have a decided yellow tinge about them.

The reader may remember that most wood-boring insects are
exceedingly variable in size. The Sirex is no exception to the
rule, for, while some specimeéns are almost gigantic in dimen-
sions, others are the merest dwarfs by their side.

The larva bears some resemblance in general form to that of
the Musk Beetle, described on page 195. The mandibles are
very strong, and furnished with saw-like teeth at the end, their
action being as remarkable as it is powerful. They remain in
the larval state for a considerable time; but the duration of the
pupal existence depends much on circumstances, those which
change to the pupal condition in the summer only waiting a
month or so, while those which change at the end of autumn
have to wait for nearly a year.

As a rule, none of the species of Sirex are very common in
this country. They are, however, tolerably plentiful in the
neighbourhood of my house, because there is a small fir-wood
within a hundred yards of it, and that wood has been fenced
off by a paling made from the misshapen firs. That they may
be thus locally common may be seen from an account published
in the first volume of the ‘Transactions of the Entomological
Society.’ A part of a fir-tree, some twenty feet long, was placed
in an outhouse, and for several months the Sirex juvencus issued
at the rate of five or six per diem. At first they were nearly
all males, then a few females appeared, and during the last two
weeks, i.e. the end of November, females alone made their
appearance. The piece of wood in question was sent to the
Society by Mr. Raddon, from Bewdley Forest, Worcestershire.

AN enormous group of Hymenoptera now comes before us,
appropriately entitled Enromornaca. This name is formed
from two Greek words, signifying ‘insect-eating. It is given
to them because, in the larval state, the greater number
of them are parasites within other insects; usually, but not
always, attacking them while still larve. In them the abdomen

THE GALL-FLIES. 315

is attached to the thorax by a very small portion of its déa-
meter, and is often lengthened into a more or less slender
footstalk. The females are furnished with an ovipositor com-
posed of several valves, and similar in most respects to that of
the Sires. Mr. Westwood arranges them in two groups; the
one, which he calls Spiculifera, having ‘two delicate spicula,
working in a horny semi-canal, which is defended at rest by
two often partially exserted valves.’ The second division in-
cludes those in which the abdomen is terminated by a tele-
scopic retractile tube.

The first family is the Cynipide, popularly known as Gall-
flies, in which the ovipositor is internal and more or less spiral,
and the antenne are straight and have from thirteen to fifteen
joints. By means of the ovipositor, the female insect punctures
various portions of plants, the ribs and nervures of leaves,
young twigs and roots, being the favourite objects, and by the
same instrument she introduces an egg into the wound, to-
gether with a drop of some irritant liquid. The effect of this
liquid is very curious. It mixes in some way with the sap of
the tree, which causes * swelling to take place, in the middle
of which the egg is hatched into a larva, and finds at once its
board and lodging combined. As is the case with the Saw-
flies, the egg of the Gall-fly enlarges after it is deposited,
until it is three or four times as large as when it was first de-
posited.

The varieties of galls, in shape, colour, and size, are almost be-
yond calculation ; for, despite the enormous number of Gall-flies
that are already known, new specimens are still being discovered,
and every species makes its own gall. How the instilled liquid
acts no one knows, and there are few more curious problems in
nature than that which the growth of the gall involves. Were
each kind of tree, for example, to produce one kind of gall,
it would be easy enough to understand that the irritating liquid
introduced by the insect would produce a certain sort of ab-
normal swelling. But when we find that a variety of Gall-flies
attack one tree, such as the oak, and that each produces an
entirely different gall, the problem is a very perplexing one.
In many cases, such as the well-known currant-gall, the nut-
eall, and the hard, woody gall of Cynips Kollari, which is shown
on Plate IX. Fig. 6, each gall has but one inhabitant. “But in

316 INSECTS AT HOME.

ovhers, of which the common ‘ oak-apple’ gall and the ‘ bede-
guar’ of the rose are familiar examples, a number of cells are
enclosed in a common gall, and each insect inhabits its own
cell.

WE will now examine in detail a few of the most prominent
insects of this group. The insect on Plate [X., to which refer-
ence has just been made, belongs to the typical genus of the
family. By some entomologists it is called Cynips Kollarz, in
honour of the well-known entomologist, and by some it is en-
titled Cynips lignicola, in consequence of the hard and almost
woody structure of the gall. In this genus the abdomen is
rather egg-shaped, and there is a small, but boldly marked
triangular submarginal cell. The antenne of the male have
fifteen, and the female fourteen joints. The colour of this
species is dull plain brown.

The rapid manner in which insects can spread themselves
over a district when the conditions are favourable is well ex-
emplified by this Gall-fly. Comparatively a few years ago it
was unknown in the vicinity of London. But Mr. F. Smith
brought from Devonshire a branch on which were a number of
the galis, and fastened 1t in an oak hedge. Next year the oaks
bore these galls in numbers, and the insect has so rapidly made
its way that its galls are now better known than those of any
other species. They are so plentiful that they are even strung
on wires, and made into ornamental baskets for holding ferns.
I have in my garden an oak hedge which is thickly studded
with the round, hard galls. Even in summer-time, when the
leaves are on the trees, these galls are easily seen; but in the
winter, when no foliage obstructs the sight, they are the most
conspicuous objects in the hedge. In this part of the country,
ie. West Kent, there is great abundance of oak underwood, and
in consequence this species, in common with other oak-loving
insects, finds ample subsistence.

I have had great numbers of these Gall-flies, and when the
first batch escaped from the galls, I was sadly disappointed at
the dull, sombre brown colour, and altogether commonplace
look of the insect. Still, owing to the size of the Cynips, the
structure of the ovipositor can be easily made out with the
aid of a tolerable microscope and a fair stock of patience.

a

A CAUTION TO ENTOMOLOGISTS. 317

Sometimes two, or even more, of the galls will be made so
close together that they coalesce to a greater or smaller de-
gree. I possess one rather remarkable instance of this fusion.
Contrary to the general practice, the instinct of the enclosed
insect misled it. After the pupa has changed into the perfect
state, the Cynips gnaws its way through the substance of the
gall, and so gains the outer air. The distance to be traversed
is about half an inch, and the insect has quite enough strength
to accomplish the task. But, in the instance of which I speak,
one of the Gall-flies had mistaken its way, and, instead of
directing itself to the point which would lead it most directly
into the open air, unfortunately took exactly the opposite direc-
tion, and hit upon the very spot where the galls were joined
after the fashion of the Siamese twins. Consequently, instead
of having to gnaw its way through a wall barely half an inch
in thickness, it had to traverse an inch and a half before it
could reach the air. Very naturally, its strength was ex-
hausted before it could perform such a task, and I found it
lying dead on the spot where the galls were joined.

To me, one most interesting point was to observe the
economy of Nature even in so small an insect as a Gall-fly.
Normally it has to bite its way through half an inch of material,
and it has strength for that purpose. But it has not more
than sufficient strength, and so it happened that the insect in
question, after traversing its allotted half inch, had no strength
to proceed further, and so died on the scene of its uncompleted
labours.

An insect so plentiful, so conspicuous, and so sluggish
might be supposed to suffer much from birds. It has, how-
ever, been well observed that this species has, when handled,
a very disagreeable odour, and that therefore the birds may
reject it, as is known to be the case with many other insects.

Ir is impossible, with the limited space at our command, to :
do more than give this brief sketch of the life of a Gall-fly.
There are very many other species, some of which are exceed-
ingly beautiful and others comparatively dull. Breeding them
from the gall is a very interesting pursuit, but I must warn
the novice in this art that, although he may hatch a number
of Hymenoptera from galls, it does not by any means follow

318 INSECTS AT ITOME.

that they are its lawful inhabitants; for there are certain
ichneumon flies (of which we shall presently treat) which are
parasitic upon the gall insects, and take their place within the
galls.

Some of the habitations produced by these insects are very
beautiful. For example, the leaf-galls of the oak are of a
pearly translucency, and coloured with golden yellow, orange.
and red, like a ripe apple. The currant galls, which hang in
strings from the twigs, are similarly beautiful in colouring,
while the rich crimson bedeguar of the rose, with its thick,
fur-like clothing, is too familiar to need description.

To secure the insects which inhabit these galls is easy
enough. Those which are found at the middle or end of
autumn may be plucked, together with the part of the tree
to which they are attached, and placed in boxes, each box
being carefully labelled with the date and locality of the
capture. But when the galls are found at the beginning of
summer, this plan often fails, because the galls are: still draw-
ing nourishment from the sap, and, unless they can do so, the
insect does not obtain sufficient nutriment, and either perishes
before it can make its way through the partly dried walls of
its habitation, or is itself withered, shrivelled, or deformed, in
consequence of the deterioration of its food.

In such cases, the best plan is to take a piece of green
muslin or leno, and tie it loosely over the gall. In gardens or
private grounds this is always the best plan, and, even in
places open to the public, the green muslin will mostly escape
observation. Indeed, it is often so difficult to discover, that
the safest plan is to note in the pocket-book the particular
tree and branch on which any galls have been thus secured.
It is rather curious that, although the Gall-flies can gnaw their
way through the walls of their former habitations, they seldom,
if ever, try to break through the gauze in a similar manner,
but crawl about in an uncertain way, as if bewildered with
their new position.

THERE is one smal] but remarkable family of these insects,
called the Evaniidz, in which the relation, size, and position
of the abdomen and thorax are most curiously modified. Like
several other groups of insects now inhabiting Britain, they

THE EVANIIDA. 319

are thought by many entomologists not to be indigenous, but
to have been brought over by vessels, and to have acclimatised
themselves.

In these insects the thorax is enormously large, and the
abdomen is curiously small, scarcely larger, in fact, than one
of the hind-legs. It 4s very slender, and attached to the upper
part of the thorax by a slight footstalk, just below the inser-
tion of the wings. In some species, the abdomen is barely
half the size of one of the hind legs, and bears about the same
relative proportion to the thorax that a comma (such as this ,)
bears to the capital letter O. In fact, the creature seems to
be all legs and wings, without any nutritive apparatus.

All the Evaniide are small, but we may gain some idea of
their remarkable construction if we take the head, thorax,
legs, and wings of a wasp, remove the abdomen altogether,
and ‘substitute the corresponding part of a gnat, stuck or
the upper part of the thorax, just at the base of the wings.
Only, to make the resemblance clearer, we must make the
hind legs nearly twice as long, and flatten the tibiz into trian-
gular plates. The Evaniide are parasitic in their nature, but
their economy is not yet thoroughly known.

320 INSECTS AT HOME

CHAPTER II.

THE ICHNEUMON FLIES.

WE now come to the Ichneumonidae, one of the largest, most
important, and most perplexing groups in the insect, world.
They are termed Ichneumonide, or Iclneumon-flies— because
they enact the same part towards various insects that the ichneu-
mon was said to act towards the crocodile. They are parasites
upon other insects, and for the most part they spend their
larval existence within the bodies of their victims, where they
lurk unseen and unsuspected until the time comes when they
have to change their forms. In this family the abdomen is
attached to the end of the thorax, and not to its upper part,
as in the Evaniide, and the first pair of wings have always
‘perfect’ cells, i.e. cells closed on all sides within their dise.
The ovipositor of the females is straight, and the antenne are
not elbowed. There are many other characters of this family,
but these are sufficient for identification.

The first and typical genus of this family is [chneumon, in
which the abdomen is rather egg-shaped but oblong, and the
ovipositor is not external. The antenne are linear, and the
wings have the areolet five-sided and boldly marked. The
outer cell is complete. |

Our first example of this genus is given on Woodcut XXXI.
Fig. 1, and is called Ichnewmon proteus. Why it should have
obtained the name of Proteus is more than I can understand.
‘The name decidedly implies that it is exceedingly variable in
-some way, but in a long series that I have examined I could
not find any variation worth noticing. The colour of this
insect is black, with a yellow secutellum, and a yellowish patch
‘in the middle of the antenne. The wings are translucent, but
shaded toward the tips.

At. Fig. 2 of the same Woodcut is shown the male of another

THE OVIPOSITOR AS A WEAPON. 321

species of this genus, Ichnewmon crassorius. In this insect
there is a bold distinction between the two sexes, the females
being altogether black, with the exception of a yellow scutel-
lum, and the males having a broad band of orange-yellow across
the middle of the abdomen. When a female of any large
species of Ichneumon is caught in the hands, she uses her ovi-
positor as a weapon of offence, by bringing its sharp point
against the skin. She cannot do any injury, for she has no

1, Ichneumon proteus. 2, Ivhneumon crassorius. 3. Tryphon rutilator. 4. Cryptus
migrator. 5. Pimpla instigator, a. Tryphon, larva, 6. Pimpla instigator, female, pro-
file of abdomen, c. Do., dried specimen, d. Do., seen from beneath. e. Do., abdomen of
male.

poison apparatus, and the ovipositor is too feeble even to
penetrate the skin. She can, however, prick sharply enough

to cause a novice to think that she really has a sting, and to
release her accordingly.

Wz now come to the genus Tryphon, in which the tarsi of

x7

4

322 INSECTS AT HOME.

the hinder legs are very slender, the abdomen has a very short
footstalk, and the areolet is not well defined, but is either
triangular, or approaching to a circular form. One of these
insects, Tryphon rutilator, is drawn on Woodcut XXXI. Fig. 3.

The present species is exceedingly variable, but in general
the head and thorax are black, and the abdomen dull red in
the middle, with a black base and tip. <A rather curious cir-
cumstance has occasionally happened to one or two species of
this genus. The eggs had been extruded—probably by pres-
sure when the insect was caught—and remained at the end of
the abdomen, where they were hatched. Having no proper
food, they commenced feeding on each other. One of the
larvee is shown at Fig. a.

On Plate X. Fig. 3, is seen a very fine Ichneumon-fly, which
is called Trogus atropos. In this genus the scutellum is
elevated, the head is large and wide, the abdomen is joined to
the thorax by a footstalk, is convex, and the ovipositor is not
protruded. The colour of this species is black, with the
scutellum and the basal half of the abdomen yellow.

This insect preys upon the caterpillar of the Death’s Head
Moth (Acherontia atropos), one of which is partly shown in—
the middle of the Plate. Those who rear moths from the
caterpillar are too familiarly acquainted with the Ichneumon,
for it often happens that, after watching and cherishing a
caterpillar until it is full-fed, the creature dies, and from its
withering body proceeds the splendid but objectionable Ich-
neumon. It is in consequence of choosing this caterpillar
that the name of Atropos haus been given to the insect.

Another species of [chneumon is shown on Woodeut XXXI.
Fig. 4, and is called Cryptus migrator. In this genus the ovi-
positor is rather long and protruded. In other respects it agrees
with the preceding genus. This is rather a variable species,
but in general it is black, with the exception of the abdomen,
which is dark-red. It is parasitic on solitary bees, belonging
for the most part to the genus Odynerus. ‘The name Cryptus,
which signifies hidden, was given to the insects on account of
the manner in which they he hidden in the bodies of their
prev nntil they are developed. This is a very large genus,
coutaining some sixty species.

THE SPIDER PARASITES. 323

On Plate X. Figs. 2, 3, and 6, are drawn two species of a
most curious little Ichneumon, which might easily be thought
not to be a winged creature at all. In this genus the abdomen
has a footstalk, and the ovipositor is short and protruded.
The wings are unfitted for flight. The generic. name of Pezo-
machus is Greek, and signifies a foot-soldier. It is given to
those insects because the females are unable to use their rudi-
mentary wings.

At Figure 6 is represented the female of Pezomachus zona-
tus. The head of this species is black, and the rest of the
body is yellow, with the exception of two black belts across
the abdomen, from which the insect derives its name of zonatus,
or belted.

In Pezomachus fasciatus, which is seen at Fig. 3, the female
is entirely without wings. Its colour is yellow, and it has a
single black band on the abdomen, from which it derives its
specific name of fasciatus, or banded. In one species, Pezo-
machus hemipterus, the female has very short wings with
black tips. They are, however, merely rudimentary, and quite
ineapable of flight. The specific name of hemipterus, or half-
winged, refers to this structure.

The Pezomachi are parasitic on spiders, and can be almost
always obtained by using the sweep-net among grass and
bushes where the spiders’ nests abound. There isa very common
spider, called Agelena brunnea, which makes its nest on furze
and grass, and then covers it with earth, so as to hide the
white, glittering silk of the nest itself. From these nests the
Pezomachus may often be hatched. In all cases, the male is
much rarer than the female, and the surest mode of procuring
it is to take a number of spiders’ nests and await the exit of
any Pezomachi that may happen to have been parasitic on
them.

Ont of the larger species of Ichneumons is represented on
Woodeut XXXI. Fig. 5. Its name is Pimpla instigator. In
this genus the abdomen has no footstalk, and is smooth and
convex, with the segments marked by tubercles. The areolet
is triangular, and the ovipositor is protruded.

The colour of this species is black, and the legs are reddish.
It is a wonderfully variable insect in point of size; some speci-

x2

324 INSECTS AT HOME.

mens being as large as the figure, if not larger, while others
are no bigger than gnats. The mode in which the oe
deposit their eggs is well told by Mr. Westwood :—

‘May 29, 1830, I observed a Pimpla, with the ovipositor
almost as long as the body, in the act of oviposition in a dry
paling, which had been much perforated, and out of which I
had just dug a black Pemphredon. The part in which the
ovipositor was introduced appeared to be quite solid. (Réau-
mur represents his specimens as inserting their ovipositors
in a circular patch of dried clay, used to stop up the entrance
to the nest of the intended victim.) There were several very
minute blackish spots, as they seemed to be, close to the place
where the ovipositor was inserted, and which were probably
other places of insertion of the ovipositor.

‘When first observed, the insect had introduced about half
the terebra into the post, the part remaining uninserted being
at right angles with the body, the sheaths being curved and
their tips being brought to the place of insertion, thus evidently
strengthening the terebra in its operations. The abdomen was
at this time alternately turned from left to right, and vice versa,
whereby a bradawl kind of motion was given to the terebra,
enabling it to penetrate the wood to a greater depth. It then
alternately partially withdrew and replunged the terebra into
the hole thus made, as though in the act of passing an egg or
eggs, standing all this while on the tips of the tarsi. On cutting,
however, into the post, I was not able to discover any lignivorous
larva, finding only a channel of fine, white pulverised wood,
which had been made by a previous occupier of the
tube.’

Some further details of this insect are given on Woodeut
XXXI. Fig. b shows the lateral view of the female abdomen
in a fresh insect, and c is the same portion of a dried specimen.
Fig. d@ shows the abdomen as seen from beneatk, and Fig. e
shows the end of the male abdomen.

Somn of the Ichneumons have wonderfully long and slender
ovipositors. One of them, Rhyssa persuasoria, is shown on
Plate X. Fig. 5, one being seen in the act of depositing her
eggs, and the other to be flying. In this genus the abdomen
is without a footstalk, long, convex, and furnished with a very

PLATE X.

PARASITIC HYMENOPTERA.

. Pezomachus zonatus and nests of Spider.
. Pezomachus fasciatus.

to +4

. Trogus atropos.
. Rhyssa persuasoria.
. Rhyssa depositing eggs.

o Or —& CO

. Chelonus oculator (rather magnified),
Caterpillar of Death's Head Moth. In Middle.

PLANTS :—
Willow. Above.
Dog-grass (Cynosurus). In Middle, with mud-nests of Spider.
Wood Sorrel (Owalis acetosella). Below.

. \

a
u

vet
Sone k

THE PRESERVERS OF THE CABBAGE. 325

long ovipositor. The present species is nearly as variable in
size as the Pimpla which has just been described. Its colour
is black, diversified by bright yellow spots along the sides of
the thorax and body, as seen in the illustration. Like some
other Ichneumons with very long ovipositors, it is parasitic on
larvze which burrow into solid wood.

On Plate X. Fig. 6, is seen a magnified figure of a curious
insect, called Chelonus oculator. In this genus there are two
submarginal cells, the first of which is not complete. The
eyes are hairy. This species is not a common insect, and seems
to be a local and recurrent one. Mr. F. Smith tells me that in
one day he took more than fifty specimens, by sweeping the grass
on the top of the cliffs at Lowestoft, and that he has hardly ever
seen as many since as he took on that one occasion. The
colour of the insect is black, some specimens, particularly the
males, having a yellow band across the abdomen. It is, how-
ever, very variable both in size and colour. The economy of
this insect is very curious, and is not thoroughly cleared up.

On Woodcut XXXII. Fig. 1, may be seen a much magnified
illustration of a very small but singularly useful insect—so
useful, indeed, that without its aid we should scarcely be able
to raise a single cabbage. This is called Microgaster glome-
ratus. In this genus the eyes are hairy, the antenne long and
consisting of eighteen joints. The present species is dark-
bodied, and its wings are translucent, but, when viewed through
the microscope, are wonderfully beautiful, glittering with every
hue of the rainbow as the light plays over them.

This little insect is parasitic on the common Cabbage-cater-
pillar, i.e. the larva of the Great Cabbage White Butterfly, and
so rapidly does it multiply that, after watching its progress
from the larva to maturity, it seems strange that a single
Cabbage White Butterfly should be found in the country.
as to its numbers, the young entomologist wili find this
insect an admirable one for experiments. If a hundred Cab-
bage-caterpillars be captured, there will be only one or two
which do not contain the larvee of the Microgaster. Their rela-
tive size in proportion to the caterpillar is shown at Fig. ¢ of
the same Woodcut, but neither their numbers nor their position,

326 INSECTS AT HOME.

If a ‘stung’ caterpillar be carefully dissected, so that the skin
is removed from the body, the space between the digestive
organs and the skin, which ought to be occupied by a layer
of fat, is found to be literally stuffed with the tiny white
grubs of the Microgaster.

The fatty substance on which these larve feed is intended

1. Microgaster glomeratus. 2. Mymar pulchellus. 3. Teleas elatior. 4. Cleonymus ma-
culipennis. a. Teleas, antenna, female. b. Do., antenna, male. c. Microgaster, larva

in caterpillar of cabbage-butterfly. d. Microgaster alvearius, cocoons.

as material from which the future butterfly is to be evolved.
But, as it is almost entirely consumed by these internal foes,
the insect seldom has sufficient strength to effect its change
into the pupa—much less into the butterfly. Just in propor-
tion as the fat decreases, the _Ichneumon larve increase, so that
to the eye the caterpillar looks quite plump and healthy, when
it is in reality absolutely emaciated. Yet the presence of these

DEATI OF THE CATERPILLAR. 327

parasites seems to have no effect on the caterpillar, who eats as
voraciously and grows as rapidly as if it were free from its in-
ternal devourers.

All, therefore, goes on apparently well, until the time when
the insect ought to make its change to the pupal state, being
full-fed, or at least as full-fed as it can be. But the larve of
the Microgaster are full-fed too ; and, just before the caterpillar
changes into the pupa, they burst through it in all directions
and leave it to die. Generally, it dies so soon that its shrivelled
body remains in the midst of its enemies, and it seldom has
sufficient strength to move more than a few inches away from
them. The Ichneumon larve immediately begin to spin for
themselves little yellow cocoons of silk, very much resembling
that of a silkworm, and clustered closely” together. I have
noticed that those which come from one caterpillar generally —
congregate into two totally distinct clusters, those which occu-
pied the different sides of the caterpillar remaining neighbours
as before. The specific name of glomeratus, or clustered,
refers to this habit.

Almost any number of these cocoon-clusters may be obtained
from the walls, posts, or palings that adjoin kitchen-gardens ;
and the tree-trunks of the garden are equally prolific in them,
If a cocoon be cut open with a very fine pair of scissors, the
pupa may be seen lying in its silken cell, and, with a little care,
the whole progress of the insect can be watched, from the larva
to the pupa. I have dissected great numbers of cabbage cater-
pillars for the sake of observing the curious relationship between
the caterpillar and the Ichneumon, and the development of
the latter insect.

TneErz is a closely allied species, named Microguster alvearius,
which in many things resembles the preceding species, but which
has a different method of arranging its cocoons, Those of the
preceding insect are arranged quite at random, or indeed can
scarcely be said to be arranged at all, the larve spinning their
cocoons without any reference as to the position in which they
might happen to be at the time. But, the present insects
when they are about to change into the pupal state, arrange
their cocoons side by side with the greatest regularity, as seen
at Fig. d on Woodcut XXXII. Masses of these pretty cocoons

328 INSECTS AT HOME.

can be found adhering to twigs, and from them the insects can
be procured in considerable numbers. I find, on examining a
series of these cocoon-masses, that the number of individual
cocoons is somewhere about one hundred and fifty.

When the pupa changes to its perfect form, it gnaws a round
hole at one end of the cocoon, so as to cut out a sort of lid, by
raising which it can escape. Very often, the inverted lid is
left in the cut end of the cocoon and closes it. The average
leneth of the cocoon-cluster is nine-tenths of an inch, its width
nearly a quarter of an inch, and the depth of cell one-tenth of
an inch. ‘The insects are pale and shining yellow, with the
upper part of the abdomen and end of the thorax black.

Wer now come to the great family of the Chalcidide.
These insects are parasitic, are for the most part exceedingly
small, and many are very tiny indeed. The head is trans-
verse, the eyes set on the sides, and the antennz are short.
The upper pair of wings are almost without nervures, though
the course of one or two can be traced by careful examination
with a microscope. The lower wings have only a single nervure.
They are parasitic insects, many of them being actually para-
sitic upon other parasites, and some depositing their eggs in
various galls, where they feed upon the rightful inhabitants,
and in due time make their appearance, to the great perplexity
of practical entomologists who have kept the galls for the pur-
pose of rearing the particular Gall-flies which belong to them.

One of these insects, called Cleonymus maculipennis or
depressus, is shown on Woodeut XXXII. Fig. 4.

It is a very pretty little insect, the colour being a deep
metallic blue, changing to green and pink according to the
variation of the light. The antennz are red, tipped with black,
and the abdomen is flattened, a characteristic which gained for
it the name of depressus. The wings are prettily mottled
with brown, as seen in the illustration. Mr. F. Smith says
that he has often seen it running quickly about posts and rails,
busily engaged in prying into every orifice, probably for the
sake of detecting some wood-boring insect, in whose body it
can lay its eggs.

In this genus the thorax is rather long and egg-shaped, the

ae a a ae

y

ial

THE MYMAR AND ITS WINGS. 329

antenne have eleven joints, the second of which is longer
than the fourth. The ovipositor is not protruded.

WE now pass to the family of Proctotrupide. This family
comprises some of the smallest known Hymenoptera ; indeed,
many of them are so exceedingly minute that they can only be
seen by the aid of a lens. In these insects the hind wings have
no nervures at all, while those of the fore wings are but few in
number. The antenne have the first joint larger than the
others, and-in some species they are as long as the body.

One of the larger species is given on Woodcut XXXII.
Fig. 3. Its name is Teleas elatior. In this genus the legs are
formed for jumping, the abdomen has a footstalk, and the

_antenne have twelve joints, and are hairy in the male. The

male antenna is shown at Fig. 5, that of the female at Fig. a.
The colour of this species is very deep black-blue, and the
wings are very iridescent.

The various species of this genus deposit their egos in the
eggs of other insects, particularly those of moths and butterflies,
and so very minute are some of them that a single butterfly’s
egg will serve for the support of several Teleas’ larva. By the
assistance of these tiny parasites, it therefore happens that even
the eggs of the Lepidoptera are destroyed before they can
hatch, and so our gardens and crops are protected by friends so
exceedingly minute that they can scarcely be seen without the
aid of a lens.

ANoTHER example of this curious family is given on Woodcut
XXXII. Fig. 2. It is called Mymar pulchellus. In this
genus the antenne of the male have thirteen joints, while
those of the female have only nine. The first joint is very long
and slender. The very remarkable little inseet which is drawn
in the illustration has the lower pair of wings reduced to mere
bristles, and the upper pair are little more than two very long
nervures with a broad fringe at the ends. This species may
be taken with the sweep-net by brushing it over grass throughout
the summer and autumn. This and other species are often found
crawling up the window-panes of houses, when they can be easily
taken by putting a pill-box over them.

330 INSECTS AT HOME.

THE next group of this enormous array of Hymenoptera is
that which is called TusuLirera, or Tube-bearers, because the
last segments of the abdomen are modified into a telescopic
and retractile tube. The antennz are elbowed. Only one
family belongs to this group, namely, the Chrysidide, popularly

EXAIIL

1. Chrysis ignita. 2. Mutilla Europea, female. 3. Mutilla Europsea, male, 4. Formica
rufa, winged female. 5. Do., neuter or worker. 6. Do., winged male, a. Formica
rufa, labium, 6. Do., antenna, male. c. Do., antenna, worker,

called Ruby-tailed flies, and familiarly known on account of
their splendid colouring.

At first sight the abdomen appears to consist of a very few
segments, sometimes three, and five at the utmost, but, in fact,
the missing segments are modified into the telescopic tube
which has just been mentioned, and which is retracted within
the body when not required for its legitimate purpose, namely,
the deposition of eggs. The abdomen is attached to the thorax

THE RUBY-TAILED FLIES. ao

by a very short foot-stalk. In consequence of the mode by
which the abdomen is attached, the insect is able, when alarmed,
to roll itself up into a ball, in which itis aided by the shape of
the abdomen, the under surface of which is concave so as to
receive the thorax. At the end of the retractile tube, is a
small, sting-like ovipositor, capable, as I can testify from ex-
perience, of inflicting a smart prick when the insect is moved
to anger. There is, however, no poison-gland, so that the prick,
though it may startle, cannot injure.

The Ruby-tailed flies are among the most beautiful of our
insects, and if they were only enlarged, might challenge the
most gorgeous productions of the tropics for brilliant splendour.
The head and thorax are coloured with vivid blue or green,
and the abdomen is of a fiery ruby, looking, as the insect flits
about in the sunshine, as if made of burnished metal. Five
genera of these insects are known to inhabit England, contain-
ing altogether about twenty-four species. They are all para-
sitic upon other insects, mostly affecting the larve of solitary
Hymenoptera, among which the well-known Sand-wasp (Ody-
mnerus) is so frequently the victim that Dr. Chapman, who has
paid great attention to the Chrysidide, states that ‘the de-
struction caused by Chrysididz amongst the young brood of
Odynerus spinipes, roughly measured by the cocoons collected
last winter, is in the proportion of one to three of those of the
wasp.” The mode in which these parasitic insects achieve their
task is so well narrated by Dr. Chapman that I cannot do better
than quote his own words.

‘On July 17th I observed a nest of Odynerus parietum, with
one cell open, and containing a nearly complete supply of
Lepidopterous larve. <A Chrysis ignita, flying about, settled
beside the cell; and, after a brief examination with her
antenne, wheeled round, and introducing her abdomen into
the cell, rested for about twenty seconds, doubtless in the act
of oviposition. I now regret that I did not then examine the —
contents of the cell, in order to ascertain the fate of the egg
of Odynerus parietum. Three-quarters of an hour later,
Odynerus parietum had closed the cell with the usual earthen
pellets. Two days afterwards I examined this cell, when I
found a larva of Chrysis ignita a quarter of an inch long,
together with the Lepidopterous larve stored by the wasp, but

332 INSECTS AT HOME.

there was no trace of either ege or larva of the latter. On the
23rd, six days from the date of oviposition, the Chrysis larva
had eaten all the store, and was full-fed. I obtained evidence,
by finding the exuvize, of its having cast its skin three times,
whilst under observation; and from the analogy of Chrysis
bidentata, I believe it had done so four times altogether. The
stored larv:e had all been eaten, their heads alone remaining,
just as when eaten by the wasp grub. The larva then spun a
cocoon, which I know to be typical of C. cgnita. This was the
only occasion on which I had a feeding larva of C. ignita, and
the rapidity with which it fed up astonished me. None of my
C. neglecta or bidentata fed up so rapidly; but the warm
sunny wall on which O. parietwm had built her nest may partly
account for this, my larve of the other two species having been
kept comparatively cool.

‘Chrysis bidentata, when about to deposit her eggs, searches
for a full-grown larva of Odynerus spinipes at, or immedi-
ately after, the period of spinning. O. spinipes, on the com-
pletion of her burrow, fills up the mouth with clay long before
the most accessible cells can contain full-grown larve; but it
happens that, in a large proportion of cases (about half), the
wasp meets with some accident, and her burrow remains un-
completed, the cell last constructed being thus only protected
by the wall of clay that was to serve as a party wall between
it and the succeeding one, had the wasp lived to complete her
work. Such slightly protected cells are those chosen by
C. bidentata for her oviposition. I once found satisfactory
evidence of C. bidentata having burrowed through half an
inch of the clay stopping placed by the wasp over one of these
cells. The parasite was in the burrow, covered with the dust
brought down into it by her excavation to form an entrance—
a passage too small for the wasp to enter, but just large
enough for herself; and in the cell thus reached by her were to
be seen her eggs, freshly deposited. On another occasion, a
C. bidentata alighted on a spot I was examining, and where I
had partially exposed some cocoons of O. spinipes: she com-
menced to carefully investigate them with ber antenne, and
now and then to scratch away some earth partly covering
them; she did not, however, deposit any egg, possibly because
the inmates of the cocoons were not in proper condition.

a

re

Ph

PERSEVERANCE AND ITS REWARD. 333

‘When a cocoon contains eggs of C. bidentata, there is often
to be found, at its upper end, a minute aperture, through
which the ovipositor of the Chrysis has been thrust ; at other
times, this aperture is wanting, simply, I believe, because the
larva of O. spinipes had not done spinning her cocoon when
the Chrysis deposited her eggs within it. There is nearly
ulways a small spot outside on the yellow silken top of the
cocoon, as if the Chrysis had attacked it first with her jaws;
and those containing C. bidentata may be selected by this mark
from a number of cocoons of the Odynerus.

‘The young larva of C. bidentata seizes that of O. spinipes
with its jaws, pinching up a fold of skin, and contrives to®
extract fluid nutriment from it, without, apparently, making
any aperture in the skin, until it approaches to mature growth
itself. I have very carefully examined larvee of O. spinipes
that were thus half sucked away (I cannot say eaten), and I
could find no mark at the spot whence I had just removed a
larva of Chrysis. I have several times squeezed the Odynerus
larva firmly, without any fluid exuding: even when squeezed
almost to bursting, on only one occasion did a drop of clear
fluid exude. Nor is the Chrysis larva particular as to where
it seizes the Odynerus, any point that may offer itself to its
jaws being seized.

‘When the devourer is nearly full-grown, and the victim is
very flaccid, a process that may be called eating takes place,
and the spinipes larva almost entirely disappears. The manner
in which the larvee of C. neglecta and ignita and of O. spinipes
itself eat the httle green grubs is precisely similar. When
young, they merely suck the juices of several, and sometimes
return to and finish these when they are larger, but they may
often be found neglected when the larva is full-grown.’

These insects are wonderfully persevering in their attempts
to deposit their eggs. A French naturalist mentions that he
saw one of them enter the nest of a solitary bee which builds
in the holes of walls, while the bee was absent in search of the
pollen on which the young larva was to feed. She happened
to return while the Ruby-tail was still in the nest, and at once
attacked:-the intruder, which endeavoured to avoid her jaws by
rolling into a ball, after the fashion of her kind. The bee,
however, persevered in her attacks, bit off all the enemy’s wings,

334 INSECTS AT HOME.

dragged her out of the nest, threw her to the ground, and pro-
ceeded to deposit her load of pollen in the cell. She then
flew off in search of a further supply, when the Ruby-tail,
all mangled as she was, crawled up the wall, re-entered the
nest, and succeeded in depositing her egg, which she pushed
carefully between the pollen and the wall of the cell, so that
the bee should not see it on her return.

CHAPTER III.
ANTS AND DIGGERS.

TuE insects which compose the remainder of the Hymenoptera
have been arranged by Mr. F. Smith, who has brought to bear
upon them an enormous amount of labour and knowledge.
His arrangement and definitions will be observed in this work.
He divides them primarily into four tribes, the first of which
is called Herzrogyna. These insects are sometimes solitary
and sometimes social, the latter being more common than the
former. The social species have apparently three, but really
only two sexes, namely, perfect males, perfect females, and
workers, which are, in fact, partially developed females. The
males are always winged, but the females only possess these
organs temporarily. As to the solitary species, the females
are altogether without wings.

The first division of the tribe is the Aculeata, or sting-
bearers. In them, the females have an abdomen consisting of
six segments, and furnished with a sting. The antenne hare
twelve joints. The antennz of the males have thirteen joints,
and the abdomen has seven segments, but has no sting. In
fact, as the sting is a modification of the ovipositor, it follows
that no male insect can possess a sting.

We pass to the first family of these insects, the Formicide,
or Social Ants. In this family the head is more or less trian-
gular, and the basal joint of the antenne is extremely long,
often occupying half the length of the entire organ, and form-
ing a bold elbow at the juncture with the third joint. The
eyes are placed at the sides of the head, and do not reach to its
top. In the perfect males the ocelli are three in number, set
triangularly, and larger than those of the opposite sex. The
wings are large and delicate, and only exist in the males and

(336 INSECTS AT HOME,

females, the workers, or neuters, as they are sometimes called,
being wingless.

Our first example of this most interesting group is the
Woop-Ant, Horsr-Anz, or Hiti-Ant (Formica rufa), which is
shown on Woodcut XXXII. Figs. 4, 5, 6, all the figures being
magnified. At Fig. 4 is shown the perfect male, at Fig. 6
the perfect female, and at Fig. 5 the imperfect female, neuter,
or worker.

These are our largest British ants, the female exceeding a
third of an inch in length, and the male being only a little
less. The workers are of two sizes, one rather more thana
quarter of an inch in length, and the other about the fifth or
sixth of an inch. In the female, the head and thorax are rust-
red, and the abdomen black. The wings are translucent milky
white, with a tinge of brown towards the base. The male is
yellowish-black, with red legs, and has wings like those of the
female. The larger workers are coloured much like the per-
fect female, but there is more black about them. The smaller

workers are generally darker than their larger sisters of labour. -

This is one of the commonest species of British ants, as is
evident from the fact that it has three popular names. It is
termed Wood-Ant because it prefers woods for its habitation ;
Horse-Ant, because it is larger than the other species; and
Hill-Ant on account of the shape of its nests. These nests are
very common in our woods, and especially plentiful in fir-
woods, because in them the needle-like leaves of the fir-trees
fall in numbers to the ground, and afford material ready pre-
pared for making the hillocks in which are concealed those
portions of the habitation which are above ground. Sometimes
‘the ants further protect themselves by taking advantage of a
itree which is hollow to the ground, and building their nests

vwithin it.

In order to form this external nest, which is often of enor-
‘mous size, the ants travel to great distances, always following
some definite track, which in course of time is plain to the
eye, even though all the ants be within their nest. When
once these ants have taken to a track, they adhere to it, and
many successive generations continue to use it. I have been
shown ant-roads by old men, who stated that they have been
fumiliar with them from their earliest recollections. Ona fine

fi

+a aaa
ae

THE WOOD ANT AT HOME. 33/7

Gay, it is very interesting to watch the Ants travelling back-
wards and forwards on these roads, some going out to their
work, and others returning with bits of stick, blales of grass,
small leaves, and other materials for the nest. Some, again,
carry in their jaws caterpillars, flies, and other insects for food,
and in all cases, whenever a caterpillar or a grub is carried, it
is held by one end of the body, so that it projects straight in
front of the Ant.

Some Ants are detailed to climb the trees near the path, nm
search of aphides or other insects, and in many cases, if a tree
be examined closely, it will be found to swarm with Ants, even
to the ends of the twigs. A smart kick to the trunk of the
tree will often bring down quite a shower of Wood Ants, many
of them retaining in their jaws the prey which they had cap-
tured.

The nest, towards which all their labours tend, is mostly
built under some sort of cover, such as a bush or tree, though
many nests are totally unconcealed. It consists of two por-
tions, one below the surface of the ground, and the other above
it. Though it is made of such fragile materials as small twigs
and leaves, which are put together without any cement or
without being even interwoven, it is tolerably firm in its struc-
ture, and completely riddled with chambers and passages, all
communicating with each other. In consequence of the loose
architecture of the nest, it is a very difficult business to see its
internal economy, the walls of the chambers and_ passages
falling to pieces as soon as the nest is opened, and leaving not
a vestige of their presence except the unfortunate inhabitants
which they contained.

I have, however, succeeded in obtaining an excellent view
into the interior of a Wood Ants’ nest, though it was but a
short one. Accompanied by my friend Mr. H. J. B. Hancock,
I was visiting some remarkably fine Wood Ants’ nests near
Bagshot. We took with us a large piece of plate-glass, placed
it edgewise on the top of an ant-hill, and, standing one at each
side, cut the nest completely in two, leaving the glass almost
wholly buried in it. After the expiration of a few weeks,
during which time the Ants could repair damages, we returned
to the spot, and, with a spade, removed one side of the nest as
far aS the glass, which then served as a window through which

Zz

338 INSECTS AT HOME.

we could look into the nest. It was really a wonderful
sight.

The ant-hill was honeycombed into passages and cells, in
all of which the inhabitants were hurriedly running about,
being alarmed at the unwonted admission of light into their
dwellings. In some of the chambers the pup were treasured,
and these chambers were continually entered by Ants, which
picked up the helpless pupze and carried them to other parts of
the nest where the unwelcome light had not shown itself.
Unfortunately, this view lasted only a short time. Owing to
the partial decomposition of the vegetable substances of
which the Ants’ nest is made, the interior is always hot and
always moist. Now, the day on which we visited the nest
happened to be a cold one, and, in consequence, the moisture
of the nest was rapidly condensed on the inner surface of the
glass, and in a few minutes completely hid the nest from view,
leaving me only time to make a rapid sketch. Unfortunately
some one discovered the plate of glass and stole it. Next time
that I examine a Wood Ants’ nest I shall take care to insert
the glass exactly east and west, and shall open its southern side
towards noon on a hot, sunshiny day, so that the rays of the
sun may wari the glass and prevent evaporation.

At the bottom of Plate XI. part of this nest is shown, with
the Ants running to and fro and carrying off the white pup
which are lying in the passages. On the left hand, near the
bottom, may be seen that curious little beetle, Quedius
brevis, which has so strange a habit of living in the nests of
this Ant. This beetle has been described on page 75. No less
than twenty species of beetles have been found by Dr. Power
inhabiting the nest of this Ant. When the nest is disturbed a
very pungent vapour arises, not unlike that of strong vinegar,
and grievously affects both the eyes and nostrils. This is
caused by the formic acid, which is secreted by Ants in great
quantities. Indeed, it is so plentiful that in some parts of the
world ‘ant-vinegar’ is made by steeping Ants in boiling water
and extracting the formic acid from them.

Mention has been made of the pupz of the Ant. These are
the little, oval, white bodies that are popularly called ‘ ants’
eges. The transformations of the Ant tribe are very simple.
The larva is fed by the nurses until it is full-grown, when it

= 2 8

THE BLACK ANT. 339

sets to work and spins for itself a cocoon in which it is entirely
enveloped. The charge of these cocoons falls upon the workers,
and admirable nurses they are. They take the greatest care of
the cocoons, continually shifting them to higher or lower parts
of the nest according to the temperature of the day. If one of
these cocoons be opened the insect is found lying inside it,
nearly as white as its habitation, and having its limbs tucked
against its body. The cocoons are of different sizes, the largest
containing those of the perfect males and females, the next size
those of the larger workers, and the smallest those of the little
workers.

When the perfect insects are developed, they often make
their appearance in vast multitudes, and, as they are not able
to direct their flight against the wind, are blown about at
random just as the breeze happens to turn. Sometimes they
fall into the river, where the fish hold high festival over them,
and, out of the swarms which leave a nest only a very few
survive and found fresh colonies. Indeed, were they all to live,
or were even a moderate percentage to survive, the whole country
would be eaten up by the Wood Ant alone in a tew years.
Supposing, however, a pair to have escaped the many dangers
of their flight, they disrobe themselves of their wings, and do
so, not by tearing them from their insertions, but by simply
unhitching them. The wings are thrown well forward, and the
insect sharply presses their ends against the ground, when they —
immediately fall off, and are left lying where they fell, the Ant
running away, apparently quite pleased at being rid of its
beautiful wings.

Tue habits of other British Ants are, on the whole, very
much like those of the Wood Ant, though each species has
some peculiarity of its own. For example, the Biack Ant
(Formica fuliginosa) is remarkable for its sluggish nature, so
different from the quick, active fussiness of Ants in general.
If a nest of the Black Ant be opened the insects take it very
easily, moving gently and quietly as if half-paralysed. How-
ever, with all their slowness, they seem to have a very good
idea of taking care vf themselves, and contrive to slip out of
sight, while the more active Yellow or Red Ants would be
fussing about, trying one means of escape after another.

42

340 INSECTS AT HOME.

Sometimes two entirely distinct species of Ant may be found
to occupy different sides of the same hillock, ard I have found
the Black Ant and the Yellow Ant under the bark of a little
fir-stump about seven inches in diameter. Until I took off
the bark I was not aware of their existence; and it was a very
curious sight to see two distinct colonies in such close proximity,
yet neither interfering with the other. Mr. F. Smith mentions
that he has found a nest of another ant, Myrmica levinodis,
within a hill made by the Wood-Ant. Myrmica nitidula has
been taken in the same locality.

The Rep Ant (Formica sanyuinea) is worthy of some notice,
because it is one of the slave-making species. It invades the
nests of other Ants and carries off the pups, and transfers them
to its own nest. The captors take as much care of them as of
their own pups ; and, when they assume the perfect form, make
slaves of them. Mr. Smith mentions no less than four species
of Ants which are thus imprisoned and enslaved by the Red Ant.
The large workers resemble the females in colour, and vary in
length from the third to the fourth of an inch. They are
fierce and courageous, and by them the nests of other Ants are
stormed and the pupe carried off as spoils of war. The small
worker is rather duller in hue, the crown of the head, the
middle of the thorax, and the legs being rather dun than red.

The colour of the female is blood-red, slightly toned down
with a very fine ashen dun. The abdomen is reddish-black,
and so are the top of the head and the face. The wings re-
semble those of the Wood Ant. The male resembles that of
the Wood Ant, but is redder. This Ant is not very generally
distributed throughout England, but is plentiful in some
places, such as the New Forest.

Ture is a very singular family of Ants, called Mutillida, or
Sorrrary Ants, very few of which are known to inhabit Eng-
land. This is rather curious, because they are very plentiful
in most quarters of the globe, and seem equally at home in the
hottest and coldest climates. More than three hundred species
of the Solitary Ant are in the British Museum, and this num-
ber will probably be increased as soon as practical entomologists
eet to work in various parts of the world which have hitherte

THE DIGGERS. 341

not been explored by them. In these Ants there are no
workers or neuters, and the males are always winged and the
females without wings. The legs of the female are strong and
used for burrowing.

Cm Woodcut XXXITI. Fig. 2, is shown the female of one of
our few species, Mutilla Europea, the male being drawn at
Fig. 3.. In this insect the principal colours are black and
yellow. The head and legs are black, the thorax is rust-red, and
the abdomen is shining black, with a band of pale, shining
yellow hair on the first, second, and third segments. The legs
are black, and covered with hair and bristles. The male is
steely-blue rather than black, the thorax is redder than in the
female, and the wings are dusky, darkening on the edges to-
wards the tips. This is a scarce, though widely-distributed
insect, and has been taken in that very fertile locality, Darenth
Wood. It is also found in the New Forest.

It is a parasitic insect, the larva of the Mutilla feeding on
that of the Humble Bee. In Denmark, out of a nest of
Humble Bees containing nearly eighty cells, only two of the
legitimate inhabitants were hatched, and seventy-six Mutillas,
forty-four being males and the remainder females. The
Mutillide are not all parasitic on Humble Bees; as, in coun-
tries where Humble Bees are very scarce, the Mutillide are
plentiful; while in England, where the Humble Bees and their
nests are so common, the Mutillidz are very scarce.

WE now come to the Diacrrs, and take first the family of
Pompilide, in which the thorax is broad—sometimes broader
than it is long, and sometimes slightly squared. The hinder mar-
gins are rather angular, the legs are long, and the abdomen is at-
tached to the thorax by a short footstalk. On Woodcut XXXIV.
Fig. 1, is shown one of these insects, called Pompilus fuscus,
slightly enlarged, so as to show better the formation of the
wing. In this genus the head is wide, and set transversely on
the thorax, and the three ocelli are placed in a triangle on the
forehead. The antenne of the female form a curl at the end,
as represented in the illustration, while those of the male are
only bent. The front wings have one marginal and three sub-
marginal cells. The hind legs are long, and their claws have
a little pad between them. The abdomen is longer in the

342 * INSECTS AT HOME.

female than in the male. At Fig. @ is shown the maxillary
palpus, and at Fig. b the labium.

These insects are all burrowers, and vary much in the soil
which they prefer for their tunnels. The present species pre-
fers such soil as is found on sandy heaths, and, as it is plentiful
all. over England, may be captured almost anywhere. The

KEXLV

1. Pompilus fuscus. 2, Astata bodps. 3. Mellinusarvensis. 4. Crabro quadrimaculatus.
5. Cerceris arvensis. a. Pompilus, maxilla and palpus. 6. Do., labium. c. Mellinus,
mandible. d. Do., labium. e. Do., maxilla and palpus. J. Crabro, larva. g. Astata,
head of female.

object of the burrow is to form a retreat for its young; and,
when the tunnel is formed, the insect lays an egg in it, nearly
fills the hole with spiders, and then closes its mouth. The
young Pompilus, when hatched, begins to feed upon the spiders,
and the mother insect is taught by instinct to place in the
nest just so many spiders that, when the last is eaten, the

larva is ready to change into its pupal state.

HABITS OF THE ASTATA. 345

All the Pompili are pretty insects. The general colour of
this species is slightly shining black. The first three segments
of the abdomen are rust-red, each having a narrow black band.
The wings are dusky, with a livid blackish band on the tips
and lower edges. About twenty British species of Pompilus
are now known.

In the family Larridw, which comes next in order, the outer
edges of the mandibles are curved towards their bases. The
tibie of the two first pair of legs have one spine at their tips,
whereas those of the hind pair of legs have two spines. These
may seem to be but trifling characteristics, and yet we shall
see their value when we come to define the next family.

On Woodcut XXXIV. Fig. 2, is drawn an example of this
family. Its name is Astata bodps, and both names are pecu-
liarly appropriate, as we shall presently see. The head is very
large, and wider than the thorax, and the eyes are very large,
even in the female, while in the male they are so enormous
that they meet on the top of the head, of which they occupy
the greater part. The specific name of bodps, or ox-eyed, is
given to it in consequence of its very large eyes. The figure
is that of a male, while the head of the female is shown at
Fig. g. The antenne are much more curved in the female
than in the male. The first pair of wings have one marginal and
three submarginal cells, shaped as may be seen at Fig. 2. The
abdomen has a very short footstalk, and in the male the upper
surface is flattened. The colour of the insect is black; there is
a little grey down in front of the face. The abdomen is black,
with the first and second segments rusty-red, as also the base of
the third segment. Its edges are somewhat flattened. The wings
are nearly transparent, and have a broad blackish band at the
tip of the submarginal cell. This is the colouring of the
female. The male is usually, though not always, smaller than
the female, and the whole face and cheeks—i.e., the part be-
hind the eyes—are covered with shining silvery white down.
His eyes are red and the sides of the thorax, the tip and base
of the abdomen are covered with long, greyish down.

This is one of the burrowing insects, and is a very active
creature, from whence is derived its name of Astata, signifying

344 INSECTS AT HOME.

something that is too restless to stand still. It is a sand-lover,
and sand-pits and their neighbourhood are good localities
wherein to search for it. Mr. F. Smith states that he has
taken it in plenty on Hampstead Heath during the end of July
and August. It is not, however, a common species, being one
of the many local insects that are plentiful enough in the place
which they frequent, but not to be found out of certain limited
districts.

The female prefers the hard to the loose sand, and makes
therein a tunnel, some four or five inches in depth, stocking it
with different insects. According to Mr. Smith the Astata
generally selects for this purpose the larve of one of the field-
bugs (Pentatoma), but he has seen it carrying a hymenop-
terous insect, belonging to the genus Oxybelus. Only two
British species of Astata are at present known.

Tu family of the Nyssonidze are easily distinguished from
the preceding family by the jawsand the legs. The mandibles
are not waved beneath, and all the legs are moderately spined.
A rather pretty and very interesting example of this family is
given on Woodcut XXXIV. Fig. 3. Its name is Mellinus
arvensis.

In this genus the head is not wider than the thorax, and the
eyes are large and oval. These large eyes are used to some
purpose, as we shall presently see. The front pair of wings
have one marginal and four submarginal cells, the fourth ex-
tending to the tip of the wing. The abdomen is long, and its
first. segment is so drawn out as to form a sort of footstalk by
which it is attached to the abdomen. The colour of the insect
is black, diversified with yellow feet, and four yellow bands on
the abdomen. It is one of the commonest of its kind, and by
the following extract the reader will see how to search for and
eatch it. Mr. F. Smith gives the following graphic account of
the Mellinus in his ‘ Catalogue of British Hymenoptera in the
British Museum.’

‘Having frequently observed the habits of the type of this
genus, Mellinus arvensis, and reared it from the larval state,
a few observations are here required. When the parent insect
has found a burrow of the required length, and enlarged the
extiemity into a chamber of proper dimensious, she issues forth

HOW THE MELLINUS CATCHES FLIES. 345

in search of the proper food for her young. This corsists of
various Dipterous insects. Species of various genera are equally
adapted to her purpose.

‘It is amusing to see feur or five females lie in wait upon a
patch of cow-dung until some luckless fly settles on it. When
this happens, a cunning and gradual approach is made. A
sudden attempt would not succeed, for the fly is the insect of
quickest flight, and therefore a degree of artifice is necessary.
This is arranged by running past the victim slowly and ap-
parently inan unconcerned manner, until the poor fly is caught
unawares and carried off by the Mellinus to its burrow. The
first fly being deposited, an egg is laid, the necessary number
of flies are soon secured, and her task is completed. Some-
times she is interrupted by rainy weather, and it is some days
ere she can store up the quantity required.

‘A larva found feeding became full-fed in ten days; six
flies were devoured, the heads, harder parts of the thorax,
portions of the abdomen, and the legs, being left untouched.
The larva spins a tough, thin, brown, silken cocoon, passes the
winter in the larval state, changes to the nymph (or pupa) on
the approach of summer, and appears about the beginning of
autumn in the perfect state.’

The mandible of this insect is shown at Fig. ¢, the labium
at d, and the maxilla ate Only two British species of the
genus are known.

In consequence of the vast number of British Hymenoptera,
we are forced to select a comparatively few examples, taking
those which afford the best types of the different families.
We now come to the family of the Crabronide. In them the
_head is large, and frequently of very great size in proportion
to the body. The shape of the abdomen is extremely variable,
sometimes having a foot-stalk and sometimes none; while it/
may be either oval, elliptical, or club-shaped. The eyes aie
oval, and sometimes have an impression on one side, which
gives them somewhat of a kidney shape.

On Woodcut XXXIV. Fig. 4, is drawn Crabro quadrimacu-
latus, one of the most common of its kind. In consequence of
the great number of species in this genus, nearly forty being
already known, Mr. F. Smith separates them into several

346 INSECTS AT HOME.

divisions, the first of which has the abdomen set on a long foot-
stalk ; the second, in which the abdomen has a moderate foot-
stalk ; and the third, in which it has a very short foot-stalk, and
the ocelli are set in an equilateral triangle. To this divisior.
the present species belongs. Its colour is black, variegated
with yellow patches, which are variable both in number and
size. The clypeus is deeply keeled in the centre, and thinly
covered with fine yellowish down. The abdomen has generally
four yellow patches—hence the name of quadrimaculatus
and one yellow band.

It is a very common species, and makes its burrows in de-
cayed wood. The future larva is supplied with various insects,
mostly gnats and other small Diptera. The larva of this
insect is shown at Fig. f

Tur family of the Philanthide comes next on our list. In
these insects the head is always wider than the thorax. The
tibie of the middle pair of legs have a single spur at their tips,
and the front tarsi are strongly fringed. A good example of
this family, Cerceris arvensis, is shown on Woodeut XXXIV.
Fig. 5. The colour of the insect is black, with the face and
thorax mottled with yellow. The female has four yellow bands
on the abdomen and the male five, and there is a yellow spot
on each side of the first segment. In this genus, the head is
squared, and the three ocelli are set in a triangle on the crown.

The first pair of wings have one oblong marginal, and three

submarginal cells. The first segment of the abdomen is
narrowed to half the width of the second, so as to form a sort
of footstalk. The legs are strong and the tarsi of the first pair
are fringed on the outside.

All the members of this genus are burrowers, and this species
prefers hard, flat, and sandy spots. It is, perhaps, the most
plentiful of its genus, and Mr. F. Smith remarks that it is
more miscellaneous in its choice of food for its young than any
other of the burrowing Hymenoptera. It always takes weevils,
but, owing to the vast numbers of these beetles, it has a very
wide choice. It has been observed to carry off the Nut-weevil
(Balaninus nucwm), and even the Grooved-weevil (Otio-
rhynchus sulcatus). Botb of these insects have been de-
scribed, the former on page 180, and the latter on page 175.

Se

FOOD OF THE CERCERIS. 347

That the latter beetle should be selected for such a purpose
is really astonishing. As all entomologists know, its round,
hard-shelled body is scarcely pervious to a pin, and, before it
can be placed on the setting-board, a needle has to be used in
order to pierce the hard elytra and make way for the pin.
Yet such an insect as this is actually used as food for the young
larva of the Cerceris. Mr. Smith remarks that this difficulty
is obviated by a peculiarity in the development of the Cerceris.
The egg is not hatched until some days after it has been depo-
sited, so that the dampness of the soil acts upon the hard
exterior of the beetle, and renders it soft enough to be pierced
by the jaws of the larva.

The Cerceris seems not to be in the least particular as to
the species of weevil with which it provisions its nest, but to
take any species that may be most plentiful in the neighhour-
hood of its burrow. The middle of July is the best time in
which to search for this beetle.

345 INSECTS AT HOME

CHAPTER IV.
WASPS AND SOLITARY BEES.

WE now come to the great group called Diploptera, or ‘ folded
wings,’ because in repose the second pair of wings are folded
longitudinally. In these insects there are Solitary and Social
species, and in all the former there are only two sexes, namely,
the perfect male and female, while in the latter there is a third,
or imperfect. or neuter sex, called the Worker. These are, in
fact, undeveloped females. All the females, whether perfect
or not, are armed with a venomous sting, the construction
of which will be described when we come to treat of the
Hive Bee. We know these insects popularly by the name of
Wasps, and while some species are familiarly known to all
who take the least interest in the works of Nature, others,
more especially the solitary species, are utterly unknown except
to naturalists.

We will begin with the Sonrrary Wasps, or Eumenide,
which may be distinguished by the claws of the tarsi, which
are double in the Solitary and single in the Social Wasps. On
Plate XI. Fig. 1, may be seen two examples of these remarkable
insects, one shown in flight, and the other, just below it,
engaged in forming its curious nest. The latter specimen, as
well as Fig. 3, serves to show the longitudinal folding of the
lower pair of wings. The name of this insect is Hwmenes
coarctata, the only British example of its genus.

In this genus the head is triangular, the wings large, with
one marginal and three submarginal cells, and the abdomen is
somewhat pear-shaped, the first segment being drawn out so as
to form a decided footstalk. Its colour is black, variegated
with yellow. The front edge of the prothorax and the tibize
and tarsi are yellow. The segments of the abdomen are edged
with yellow, and there are ten spots of the same colour on the

SOLITARY WASPS. 349

second segment. This is another of the local insects which are
tolerably plentiful in their limited districts. Mr. Smith men-
tions Sandhurst and Sunning Hill as places where it may be
found in moderate numbers, and Weybridge as a place where
it has occurred sparingly.

This insect is chiefly remarkable for the vase-shaped nest
which it constructs from mud. These nests, or cells, are

1. Vespa crabro, female. 2. Vespa vulgaris, female. 3. Halictus rmbicundus, female.
4. Dasypoda hirtipes, female. a, Vespa crabro, head of male. b. Dasypoda, leg of male.
c. Do., head of male. d. Halictus, head of male. e. Do., abdomen of male. Jf. Vespa

vulgaris, head of male. g. Vespa arborea, head. h. Vespa vulgaris, head of female.

attached to the twigs of various plants, but especially to the
common heath, as is shown on Plate XI. In each of these
cells the mother-insect lays a single egg, and then provisions
the cell with the larvee of small Lepidoptera.

Brrore parting with the Solitary Wasps, of which we have
so few British examples, we must mention a very interesting

350 INSECTS AT HOME.

genus called Odynerus, the members of which make their nests
in tubes and hollows of various kinds. Some of them are very
fond of boring out the pith of dead rose or bramble sticks,
making therein a series of cells, and placing in each cell an
ege and a supply of food, such as small caterpillars. Two
species, Odynerus levipes and melanocephalus, adopt this
plan, and their curious cells may be found in almost every
garden. The former of these insects—a rare species—lines
the tube with sand, and constructs the cells of the same mate-
rial. Some of them, such as Odynerus quadratus, burrow into
old wood if they can find no hole ready made; but if they can,
they make use of it. Mr. F. Smith mentions that he has found
its nests in the hollow reeds that formed the thatch of an out-
house, and that he has known of a case where it filled with its
cells both barrels of a pistol that was hanging to a post in a.
garden-house. The cells of this species are provisioned with
small green caterpillars. F

Tue next family is that of the Social Wasps, or Vespide.
There is but one British genus, namely Vespa, and eight
British species, some of which, such as the Common Wasp and
the Hornet, are very well known, while others are almost
unknown except to naturalists. All the species build nests of
remarkable beauty, some being built under cover, and some
being so constructed that they can endure the open air. I once
had a beautiful series of nests of British Wasps. The collection
included not only the nests, but the nests in various stages of
progress, from the first cell to the complete edifice, and each
complete nest was accompanied by the male, female, and
worker Wasp. The collection was made for me by the late
Mr. S. Stone, whose lamented loss deprived the scientific
world of a laborious, close, and accurate observer.

In all these nests, however different they may appear ex-
ternally, there are one or two points in which they agree. The
cells are all placed with their mouths downwards, and are
arranged side by side in regular tiers, one above another, with
just sufficient space between each tier for the Wasps to pass
freely. They are all made of a paper-like substance, obtained
by tearing off and masticating small fibres of wood, sometimes
sound and sometimes decaying wood.

PLAT Bac.

ANTS, WASPS, AND SOLITARY BEES.

. Formica rufa and nest,
. Quedius brevis.

. Eumenes and nest.
Vespa arborea and nest,
. Andrena nitida,

Gow oo to

. Andrena Trimmerana.
. Cilissa heemorrhoidalis,
. Nomada ruficornis.

co on

. Stylops melittee.

Pants :—
Harebell.
Common Heath (£rica cinerea), with nest of Eumenes,

Ivy.

>

,,

i

il

NEST OF THE COMMON WASP. 301

We will take first the Common Wasp (Vespa vulgaris),
which may be seen on Woodeut XXXYV., and watch it through
the process of making its nest.

In the sprin® a female Wasp issues from the hiding-place
in which she has passed the winter, and begins to search for a
suitable locality in which to make her nest. She always
chooses for this purpose a hole, such as that of a mouse or rat
—generally the former—and, at some distance from the en-
trance, sweeps away the earth, so as to form a small rounded
chamber. Somewhere in the roof of this chamber there is
sure to be a root of some kind, and to this root the Wasp
attaches a short pillar of papier-maché, somewhere about one-
third of an inch in length. At the lower portion of this pillar
she forms a small cell, not a sixth of an inch in length, and
after a little while places two others at its side. An egg is
then deposited in each cell, and the Wasp proceeds to make a
roof over them, shaped just like an umbrella.

More cells are now made, more eggs laid, and the first larve
are hatched, require constant feeding, and grow rapidly, so
that, in proportion to their growth, the length of the cell-walls
has to be increased. The umbrella-like covering is now too
small to serve its purpose, so the Wasp makes a larger one,
cutting up and re-masticating the old one. This is always
done whenever the nest is enlarged, and it is quite easy to
trace the remains of the successive coverings. By this time
the larvee are about to change into the pupal state, and each
spins a white silken cocoon over the mouth of its cell, thus
shutting itself up from all disturbance. It soon passes through
its transformations, and then bites its way through the cell-
cover and issues into the nest, a perfect insect, ready to take
its share in the eulargement of the nest.

All these early Wasps belong to the workers, and, like the
worker-ants, are undeveloped females. They cannot lay eggs,
leaving that duty to the original queen, if we may so call her;
but they can, and do, collect materials, masticate them into
papier-maché, and build fresh cells. They also scoop away the
earth from the chamber and enlarge it, so as to fit it for the
increasing nest.

By this time the number of worker-wasps has increased
so much that a second tier of cells is needed for their energies

352 INSECTS AT HOME.

to be expended on. Accordingly, they fix a number of papier-
maché pillars to the mouths of the cells of the first tier, and
to them they suspend a second tier of cells. A third, fourth,
and fifth tier follow in rapid succession; and, as the nest is
enlarged, so the covering is enlarged in proportion. Some-
times the Common Wasp builds its nest in a hollow tree or
in some similar locality; and it is remarkable that the
covering of the nest is, in this case, very different from that
which is employed when the insect builds an underground
habitation. In the latter case the nest is surrounded with
layer after layer of paper, so as to protect the cells in case the
sides or any of the earthen chambers should collapse ; but in
the former case the covering is quite thin, and scarcely con-
tains a tenth of the material that is needful for the sub-
terranean nest.

Whatever may be the shape of the nest, the Wasp never
leaves the cells without a covering. Knowing this instinct,
Mr. Stone induced Wasps to build nests in any form which he
liked, simply by arranging pieces of the comb and waiting till
the Wasps had covered them. For this purpose he prepared a
series of boxes, and actually induced a single swarm of Wasps
to build six complete nests, and to begin a seventh. These
nests were of all kinds of shapes. One, for example, was like
an hour-glass, another like a claret-jug without its handle,
another like a stalactite cavern, and so forth. Indeed, when I
last saw him, he said that he meant in the following spring to
make the Wasps build a nest shaped like St. Paul’s cathedral,
and I have not the least doubt that he would have suc-
ceeded.

Wasps feed chiefly on other insects, though they are very
fond of ripe fruit and sugar, and have a fashion of picking out
the ripest part of the choicest fruit in a way that is anything
but agreeable to the gardener. Flies they eat in great abund-
ance, and, at Walton Hall, I have seen the Wasps flying by
hundreds into the pig-sties, and carrying off the flies as they
swarmed upon the pigs that were luxuriously basking in the
sun. Thus they are not without their usefulness, and, unless
they swarm to a great extent, certainly do more good than
harm. There are two species of Wasp which are very much
alike. These are the Common Wasp (Vespa vulgaris), and

———

BRITISH WASPS AND THEIR NESTS. 353

the German Wasp (Vespa germanica). The latter, however,
may be known by three black spots upon the edge of the first
segment of the abdomen. In the construction of the nest, the
former insect uses decaying, and the latter sound wood. Con-
sequently, the nests of the former insect are of a paler and
greyer hue than those of the latter. I have seen a nest which
was made by a double swarm of Wasps, one half of each species.
The nest was a singularly beautiful one, the grey and warm
brown being curiously variegated, according to the portions
made by the different species. The nest was preserved by Mr.
Stone, and given by him to Mr. F. Smith.

Ir has already been mentioned that some of the Wasps build
their nests in the open air. One of these insects, together with
its nest, is drawn on Plate XI. Fig. 3. This is called the TREE-
Wasp (Vespa arborea), because its nests are suspended from
the branches of trees and bushes, the Wasp sometimes choosing
quite a low bush, and sometimes building in a lofty tree-branch.
In this insect, the ‘scape,’ i.e. the long joint of the antenne,
is yellow in front, in both sexes, and there are three black
spots on the clypeus. ‘The nest is very delicately and beau-
tifully made, and, in spite of the apparently fragile nature of
its structure, is perfectly able to resist the weather. The nest
is suspended by an elongated footstalk, running for nearly an
inch parallel with the twig to which the nest is suspended.

Another species, the Norway Wasp (Vespa Norvegica), also
builds in trees, and the nest is very similar to that of the
former insect. A specimen in my collection shows very plainly
the successive coverings that have been made by the mother
insect. There are only five cells, and the outer covering has
been drawn about half way over that which actually protects
the cells. On holding it up to the light and looking at it, the
streaks made by the Wasp, while spreading the papery paste,
are as plain as those of a painter’s brush on the canvas, and the
outer covering is so thin that the light can be plainly seen
shining through it. Compensation, however, is found for this
delicacy by the fact that the several coverings, each standing
a little from the other, protect the cells far better than would
be the case if there were but one covering, and that a very
thick and strong one.

AA

354 INSECTS AT HOME.

Now we come to the largest and most formidable of the
British Wasps, the terrible Hornur (Vespa crabro), a figure of
which is given on Woodcut XXXYV. Fig. 1. This figure re-
presents a perfect female of the natural size. The workers are
much, less, and, indeed, many worker Hornets are no bigger
than the common Wasp, from which, however, they can at once
be distinguished by the dark red-brown of their markings.

The nest of the Hornet is exactly similar in character to that
of the common Wasp, but the cells are very much larger. The
nest is usually made in hollow trees ; and within a few hundred
yards of my house are several Hornets’ nests—a fact which I
take care not to mention, lest any anxious parent should
destroy them, fearing that they might injure his children, a
fate that befell one of these nests last year. There is really not
the least occasion for fear. The Hornet has a great deal too
much tv do to spend its time in stinging children, and, unless
its nest be attacked, it is peaceable enough. Mr. Stone kept
many Hornets’ nests at work, and was no more stung by them
than a bee-master is stung by his bees. Outhouses and similar
places are favourite localities for Hornets’ nests. ‘

The successful capture of a Hornets’ nest is 1 very difficult
business, aud that of a Wasps’ is child’s play ty it. In the first
place, it is much more difficult to cut a nest out of a hollow
tree than to dig it out of the earth; and in the next place,
the Hornet works all night, provided the moon shines, whereas
the Wasp stays at home.

The food of the Hornet consists of other insects, and it has a
special liking for Wasps. My brother once saw a Hornet in
chase of some Atalanta butterflies, and the instinct exhibited by
the insect was really wonderful. In the open air the short-
winged, heavy-bodied Hornet would have no chance of catching
the ample-winged butterfly. So the Hornet kept. flying back-
wards and forwards in front of the butterfly, until the Atalanta
thought to escape by flying through the branches of an elm
tree. This was the object of the Hornet’s manceuvres, for it at
once dashed among the foliage, where the wide wings of the but-
terfly were at a disadvantage, captured the unfortunate Ata-
lanta, bit off its head and wings, and flew away with the body.

Tux next tribe of Hymenoptera is that which is called An-

SOLITARY BEES. 355

thophila, vr Flower-lovers, and sometimes Mellifera, or Honey-
bearers. It comprises the insects which are familiarly known
as Bees. As is the case with the Wasps, the Bees are both Social
and Solitary, and in the former case the workers, or imperfect
females, form the majority of the community. The antenne
of the male Bees have thirteen joints, and those of the females
only twelve; and the same proportion exists in the rings or
seoments of the abdomen, the male having seven, and the
female only six. The larva is always fed on pollen or honey,
or both, this food being stored in cells constructed for the
purpose.

Ail these insects possess a very remarkable modification of
the parts of the mouth which are formed with the organ
known as the tongue, trunk, or proboscis. The end of the
tongue is furnished with a slender brush, formed by tiny hairs
which edge the rings of which the organ is composed. Mag-
nified illustrations of the tongues of two kinds of Bee may be
seen on Woodcut XXXVII. Figs. a and b. A very full and
detailed description of this organ is given by Mr. Westwood in
his admirable ‘ Introduction,’ vol. ii. pp. 256-260. I strongly
recommend any of my readers who wish to make themselves
adepts in practical entomology, to procure a few specimens of
the largest Bees and examine this beautiful apparatus with the
aid ofalens The common Humble-bees will answer the purpose
very well. This apparatus is used, as we all know, for ex-
tracting from flowers the sweet juices which will become honey
after being taken into the system of the insect. The juices in
question are not sucked, as they are by the proboscis of a
moth or butterfly, but are swept out of the flower by means of
the brush.

The first family, called Andrenidz, comprises the Solitary
Bees, and is divided into two groups, namely, the Obtusi-
lingues, or blunt-tongued Bees, and the Acutilingues, or sharp-
tongued Bees; the tongues of the former, group resembling
those of the wasps, while those of the second group are long,
lance-shaped, and pointed. Examples of the sharp-tongues
will presently be given.

On Woodcut XXXY. Fig. 3, is drawn a Solitary Bee called
Halictus rubicundus. In this genus the head is rather trian-
gular, and the ocelli are set in a curve upon the crown. The

aAA2

356 INSECTS AT HOME.

wings have one marginal and three submarginal cells, the first
of which is nearly as long as the other two together. The
antennze of the males are much longer than those of the females.
The ‘colour of the present species is black, a very fine dun-
coloured brown being upon the face, and a fringe of shining
yellow hairs edging the labrum. The middle of the thorax is
covered with tawny red down, becoming paler on the sides and
towards the base of the thorax. The abdomen is smooth and
shining, with a little tawny down at the base. The females
have narrow white bands on all the segments, and the males
have a similar band on the first four segments only. The shape
of the male abdomen is shown at Fig.¢. The head of the male,
with its long antennae, is drawn at Fig. d.

This is a burrowing insect, making a tunnel several inches in
depth, and only just large enough to allow of the passage of
the Bee. The end of the burrow is slightly enlarged, so as to
form a sort of chamber, and in this chamber the Bee places one
egg and a quantity of pollen. I have found that the pollen is
kneaded together so as to form a hard, paste-like ball, which,
by careful digging, can be removed from the burrow without
being broken. Nor is this all. From the main shaft, if we
may so call it, several short burrows are made, not more than an
inch or so in length, and in each of them an egg and a supply
of polien are placed.

Mr. F. Smith has paid great attention to these insects, and
has observed that the female Halicti appear early in April and
are hard at work until the end of June, when they gradually
disappear. About August the male Bees begin to show them-
selves, soon followed bya quantity of females, who immediately
begin to form fresh tunnels. The time occupied in passing
through the changes is very short, for in ten or twelve days
after the larva is hatched it is ready to pass into the pupal
state. It is evident, therefore, that, like the Social Wasps and
Bees, the Halicti females hybernate after meeting their mates,
so as to begin their nest-making as early as possible in the
following year. .

There are more than twenty species of this genus, among
which, one, called appropriately Halictus mimutissimus, is
remarkable for being the smallest British Bee yet known, The
male is barely one-eighth of an inch in length.

THE ANDRENA AND HER PARASITIC BEETLE. 357

Nzxtr comes the typical genus of the family, two examples of
which are given on Plate XI. The genus Andrena has the
head as wide as the thorax, and, in the male, occasionally
wider. The antenne are elbowed; the wings have one mar-
ginal and three submarginal cells, and the hinder tibiz are
furnished with stiff bristles by means of which the insect can
earry to its home the pollen which it ‘obtains from flowers.
One of these Bees may be seen on Plate XI. Fig. 4. It is
called Andrena nitida, from the polished and shining abdomen.
The colour is black, the thorax being clothed with yellowish
down. The nervures of the wings are rust-red, and there is a
darkish clouding at their tips. On each side of the second and
third segments of the abdomen is a patch of white down,
and the tip of the abdomen has a fine dun-coloured fringe.

This pretty species occurs early in spring, and may be found
on the flowers of the common dandelion. It makes a burrow
very similar to that of the Halictus, and, like that insect, forms
short accessory burrows radiating from the principal shaft.

ANOTHER species, Andrena Trimmerana, is seen on Plate
XI. Fig. 5. The colour of this Bee is black, the thorax being
covered with a reddish-dun down, and the legs being covered
with brownish hairs on their upper surface. The antenne of
the female are longer than is usually the case. One of its
burrows is seen, from which it is just emerging. One of the
larvee is shown at Fig. 10.

This insect is common near London, and is worthy of atten-
tion as being often infested with the remarkable little beetle
called the Stylops, which has been described on page 157. At
Fig. 5 the Stylops may be seen just appearing from beneath
one of the segments of the abdomen; and at Fig. 6, at the
top of the Plate, the insect is seen as it appears when flying,
the peculiar milkiness of the wings being very well given.
The species which is most attacked by the Stylops is Andrena
convexiuscula. Out of thirty specimens of this insect, not
one had escaped the Stylops. It is found in the Isle of Wight
and other places, but does not appear to live near London.

Of this enormous genus, nearly seventy species are in the
British Museum. Some burrow in loose sand, some in hard
ground, and some even prefer very hard, strong paths, over

358 INSECTS AT HOME.

which there is continual traffic. One species is called by
Mr. F. Smith the Kuntisn Bez (Andrena pilipes), because it
is almost peculiar to Kent. It is a very boldly marked Bee.
The down on the bead and thorax is black, the abdomen is
shining, and the hinder tibie are silvery white beneath and
brown above. I have found it burrowing in a nearly perpen-
dicular sand-bank at Abbey Wood, and reared several of the
Bees from their pupa-cells. The tunnels do not run to any
great depth, and I was able to cut out the cells with an ordi-
nary pocket-knife. In one year there was quite a colony of
the Kentish Bee in that spot. It frequents the thistle; and as
it returns to its nest, covered with the white pollen of that
flower, it presents a very singular appearance.

Just above Andrena nitida, on Plate XI. and at Fig. 7 is
seen another Bee belonging to the same family. Its name is
Cilissa hemorrhoidalis.

In this genus the head is transverse, the ocelli*are set in a
curve upon the crown, and the wings are like those of Andrena.

The colour of the present species is black, with a sprinkling
of pale down. The face of the male is densely clothed with
bright, but pale yellowish down. On the middle of the thorax
the down is black, and the rest similar to that of the face.
The down on the first joints of the antenne is pale and on the
others is black, with a few yellowish hairs along the sides.
The wings are clouded towards their ends. There is a slight
difference between the sexes, the female being decidedly larger
than the male, and having a line of bright yellowish hair round
the thick patch on the thorax, the rest of the down being grey.
The fifth and sixth segments of the abdomen are covered with
dense golden yellow down.

According to Mr. F. Smith, this is a local insect, and seems
to confine itself to places in which the blue-bell grows, that
flower being the only one which it frequents. The habits of the
insect are exactly like those of Andrena. There are only two
species known to inhabit England.

Tue very beautiful Bee which is shown on Woodeut XXXYV.
is our last example of the Andrenide. It has, I believe, no
popular name, but its scientific title is Dasypoda hirtipes.

vs pala

THE WASP-BEES AND THEIR HABITS. 359

In this genus the ocelli are set in a slight curve on the
crown of the head. The upper wings have one marginal and
two submarginal cells, the labial palpi have four joints and the
maxillary palpi six. Mr. F. Smith calls this ‘the most beau-
tiful Bee found in this country; the appearance of the female
when loaded with pollen is sufficiently singular to attract the
attention of the most apathetic observer.’ There is no dif-
ficulty in identifying it, as the very long and dense hair of the
legs, especially of the hinder pair, is sufficient to indicate it.
The general colour is black, but the abdomen has three white
bands. The male may be distinguished by his smaller size and
brighter colouring. Jich segment of the abdomen is reddish
yellow at the upper edge, and is fringed with pale yellow down.

It is one of the burrowers, making its tunnels in sand-banks.
It does not appear to breed in the immediate neighbourhood
of London, but is plentiful in many parts of Kent, especially
those in which sand abounds. Sandown, Isle of Wight, is,
for that reason, a favourite locality of this beautiful insect.
The head and hind legs of the male are seen at Figs. ¢ and d.
both the scientific names of this insect refer to the exceedingly
tong hair of the hinder legs. The word ‘ Dasypoda’ is Greek,
and signifies ‘shaggy-footed,” and the word ‘hirtipes’ has
exactly the same signification in Latin.

WE now come to the Bees or Apide. In these insects the
tongue is very long, and can be folded under the head and
breast when not inuse. They are divided into several groups
or sub-families, the first of which is called Andrenoides, or An-
drena-like Bees. They have similar habits to the Andrena.
Only two species of this sub-family are known, both belonging
to the genus Panurgus.

An example of the next sub-family, the Cuculine, is given on
Plate XI. Fig. 9,and is named Nomada ruficornis. The insects
belonging to this group are popularly known as Wasp-bees,

because, although evidently Bees, they have a very wasp-like

look about. them, especially in the colouring. They have no
pollen-gathering apparatus, neither pollen brushes nor pollen-
scales, and are by some authors termed Denudata, or Naked

- Bees, in consequence of this peculiarity. The reason for the

absence of this ajparatus is evident enough. Nature never

360 INSECTS AT HOME.

supplies organs unless they have their work to do, and, as the
Bee is a parasitic one, there is no reason why it should take the
trouble of gathering pollen. The name of Cuculine, or Cuckoo-
bees, is given to them in consequence of their parasitic habits.

In this genus the antenne are elbowed, and are nearly as long
as the thorax. The upper wings have one marginal and three
submarginal cells. The last segment of the abdomen is blunt
in the females and sharp in the males.

This is a most variable insect in point of colour, but it may
be generally described as rust-red, with three black longitudinal
lines in the thorax, and with yellow spots and bands on the
abdomen. There is but little difference in the dimensions of
the sexes.

That these Bees are parasitic is well known, but the par-
ticular mode of parasitism is scarcely ascertained.

They enter the burrows of certain Solitary Bees, and in those
burrows the young Nomad are matured. It is supposed that
when the Solitary Bee has laid in its stock of pollen, the Cuckoo-
bee enters the burrow, deposits an egg, and goes off to repeat
the process elsewhere. When the real owner of the burrow
returns, she finds an egg already laid, takes it for her own, and
so goes away and makes afresh burrow. This, however, is only
conjectured, as is the theory that the parasite not only lays an
egg, but closes the burrow herself. ;

One of the most curious points connected with these insects
is the fact that the Solitary Bee never interferes with the
parasite. Mr. F, Smith has the following remarks on this sub-
ject: ‘I have on several occasions watched with much enjoy-
ment a large colony of Eucera longicornis’ (this will be pre-
sently described); ‘the males occasionally darting forwards
with great velocity, then turning sharply round, and as it were
swimming in circles close to the ground ; then darting off again
and again in an unceasing round of sportive enjoyment. Their
industrious partners, whose whole existence appears to be bound
up in one unceasing round of labour, would occasionally return
home laden with food for their young progeny.

‘ Sometimes it would happen that a Nomada had previously
entered her nest. When such proved to be the case, she
would issue from it, and, flying off to a short distance, wait
patiently until the parasite came forth, when she would

CUCKOO BEES. 361

re-enter and deposit her burden. It will be observed in this
instance, that between Hucera and Nomada no resemblance
exists in general appearance, one being several times larger
than the other, and covered with pubescence of a sombre
colour ; whereas the parasite is a gaily-coloured insect, desti-
tute of pubescence, and readily observed from the brightness
of its colouring.’

As the result of long, laborious, and minute examination,
Mr. Smith is of opinion that the Nomada is parasitic upon
the food, and not upon the larva of the Solitary Bee, and that
when the latter finds an egg in her burrow, she deserts it and
goes off to make another. Altogether, twenty-four British
species of a Nomada are known. The generic name Nomada
is Greek, and signifies a creature that wanders in search of
food and has no fixed home.

On Woodcut XXXVI. Figs. 1 and 2, are shown both sexes of
the parasitic bee called Celioxys simplex. One of the most
striking points in this genus is the strongly marked difference
in form of the two sexes. In the female, as seen at Fig. 2,
the abdomen is peculiarly sharp, giving occasion for the
generic title of Ccelioxys, or ‘sharp-bellied.’ The abdomen of
the male, however, is broad, and boldly toothed at the end.
Tae head is as wide as the thorax, and the ocelli are placed
upon the crown in a triangular form ; the eyes are rather long
and hairy. The thorax is rather globular, and the scutellum
has a tooth on either side. The upper wings have one mar-
ginal and two submarginal cells, as shown in the illustration.

The present species is perhaps the most plentiful of its
genus, of which six British species are known, all being
parasitic on Solitary Bees. The colour of the insect is black,
with a very pale yellowish down on the head and thorax. The
wings are dusky, but translucent, and are darker towards their
tips. The abdomen is shining black, with a few large punc-
tures. These Cuckoo-bees are often parasitic on the well-
known Leaf-cutter Bees, one of which is shown at Fig. 5 of
‘the same Woodcut.

In the Bee which is drawn on Woodcut XXXVI. Fig. 3,
we have an example of parasitism carried out to a curious

362 INSECTS AT HOME.

extent, as we shall presently see. Its name is Melecta armata.
The genus to which this Bee belongs has the head transverse,
and the ocelli set in a line upon the crown. The upper wings
have one marginal and three submarginal cells. There are
only two species of Melecta known to inhabit England, the
present species being the more common of the two.

1. Ceelioxys simplex, male. 2. Do., female. 3. Melecta armata, female. 4, Osmia rufa,
female. 5. Megachile centuncularis, female.

The colour of the insect is-variable, but is mostly as
follows :—The general colour is black, and the greater part of
the body is covered with ashen grey down. There is a tuft of
white down on either side of the thorax, and the wings are
transparent, but clouded towards their tips. The abdomen is
shining black, with the exception of a white patch on either
side of the base, another on the second segment, and a very
~small white spot on each side of the third and fourth segments. __

THE SOLITARY BEE AND ITS ENEMIES. 363

In some specimens the white spots do not appear, so that the
insect is entirely black. Both sexes are coloured much in the
same manner, with the exception that the whole of the downy
clothing has a slight yellowish tinge.

This is a parasitic insect, laying its eggs in the nest of one
of the burrowing bees, named Anthophora acervorum. This
Bee makes its nest in the holes of old walls, chalk-pits, and
similar localities, and is a very common insect, absolutely
swarming in some localities. It is subject to the attacks of
three other insects, which are the common Earwig, the Firetail-
fly, already described on page 330, and the Melecta, the two
Hymenopterous foes being often seen at once engaged in their
destructive work. The Melecta is, however, itself much
- infested with the larve of the Oil-beetle, which may be found
clinging to the under side of the thorax.

At Fig. 4, Woodcut XXXVI. is shown an example of one of
our most interesting groups of wild Bees, named scientifically
Osmia rufa. The specimen is a female. In this genus
the upper wings have one marginal and two submarginal
cells. The ocelli are set in a slight curve on the crown of the
head.

The present species is black and hairy. The head of the
female is provided with a sort of horn on either side of the
face, the ends of the horns being slightly bent inwards. The
down on the middle or disc of the thorax is black, hecoming
dun towards the base, while on the sides and beneath it is ashen
grey. The male has no horns on the head, and the face is
covered with long white down. The antenne are long and
slender, and the head and thorax, instead of being black, are
deep green-blue. The abdomen is covered with thick yellowish
down arranged in successive bands or belts.

I mentioned just now that this insect belongs to one of our
most interesting groups of Bees. It has always interested me
greatly on account of the curious nests which it makes.
Generally, one species adheres strictly to one kind of locality,
but this is not the case with the Osmia, which adapts its
cells to various localities, according to the exigencies of the
moment. There are ten species of Osmia, each having some
particular point of interest attached to its mode of nesting.

364 INSECTS AT HOME.

Take, for example, Osmia bicolor. This insect generally
makes its cell within the empty shells of garden snails, not
because it is unable to make a burrow, but because it finds the
empty shells to be as good as ready-made burrows. So it begins
by depositing an egg at the end of the whorl, putting in a suf-
ficiency of honey and pollen, and making a partition wall of
some vegetable substance. A second chamber is then formed in
like manner, and so on until the Bee has reached the mouth of
the shell, which it closes with a strong barrier.

There is in the British Museum a very curious example of
sagacity in this Bee, showing clearly that the insect possesses
some share of reasoning powers as well as mere instinct. She
had taken the sheil of the large garden snail, and when she came
near the mouth, found-that it was much too large. So, instead
of proceeding after the usual fashion, she has made two cells
and placed them side by side, and close to the mouth itself
has actually set the cells crosswise.

As, in order to emerge into the air, it is necessary for the
inhabitants of the lower cells to pass through the others, this
necessity is met in a very simple manner. Those eggs which
are laid in the outermost cells produce males, and are developed
before the others, so that those insects which inhabit the cells
immediately beneath them can pass through their deserted
homes.

Another species, Osmia leucomelana, burrows in bramble-
sticks, not taking out the whole of the pith, but scraping out a
series of chambers, which are connected by small passages, so
that the walls of division take but little material.

Another species, Osmia fulviventris, makes its burrows in
decaying wood; while another, Osmia parietana—a northern
species—chooses the under surface of stones. There is in the
British Museum a stone, measuring ten inches by six, on which
are no less than two hundred and thirty cells of this Bee. Mr.
F. Smith took charge of this mass of cells, and found that the
Bees escaped at intervals during three years. ‘When found,
one-third were developed. The following year a second brood
came forth, and while in my possession a third. In the first
instance, the whole deposit was subject to the same influences
and had produced larve ; what was the cause of the retarded
development of the rest, it were vain to attempt to determine.’

HOOP-SHAVER BEE. 395

To the next genus belong those curious Bees which are popu-
larly called Lear-currer BrEs, because they line their burrows
with pieces of various leaves, those of the rose being the favour-
ites. They burrow in various materials, and sometimes the same
species makes its tunnels in decaying wood or in sandstone.
The species which is shown on Woodcut XXXVI. Fig. 5,
Megachile centuncularis, sometimes burrows in decaying wood,
sometimes in old walls, and sometimes in the ground.

In this genus the head is large, and the ocelli are set in a
triangle on the crown. The upper wings have one marginal
and two submarginal cells, and the females have a very thick
pollen-brush on the abdomen. ‘This species, which is very
plentiful, is black, with ashen grey down, becoming yellowish
on ihe face. The disc of the thorax is nearly naked. The
abdomen is heart-shaped in the female, and longer and blunter
in the male, and each segment has a very narrow edging ot
pale yellow down. Beneath, the down is bright golden yellow.
It must here be remarked that these colours are only to be
found in specimens recently escaped from the pupal cell, the
beautiful hues fading by exposure.

On Woodecut XXXVII. Fig. 1, is a rather magnified figure
of the insect called by Gilbert White the Hoop-suavur Bex,
from a habit which will be presently described. In this genus,
of which only one species is known to inhabit England, the head
is nearly as wide as the thorax, and the ocelli are set in a tri-
angular form rather forward on the crown. The upper wings
have one marginal and two submarginal cells, and the abdomen
is rather curved, and furnished in the female with a thick pollen-

‘brush, and in the male with spikes at the end, as seen in the

illustration. The present species has five of these spines. Tis
colour is exceedingly variable in detail, but is generally black,
with yellow on the sides of the face and the clypeus. The ab-
domen has a yellow spot on either side of each seement.

The Bee is a burrower in the decayed wood of willow-
trees, but, if possible, she will take advantage of the deserted
burrows of the Goat-moth, which will be described in the fol-
lowing pages. In order to prepare a home for its future young,
it gees to some down-covered plant, such as the campion, and
strips off the woolly covering, running along the stem, and

a

366 INSECTS AT HOME.

shaving it quite bare. It then collects the bundle of down
between its head and fore-legs, carries it off to the burrow,
and with it makes a cocoon-like cell, binding together the
fibres of down with some kind of glutinous material. Within
this cell it places an egg and a quantity of pollen sufficient to
last the young grub throughout its larval condition. When

1. Anthidium manicatum, 2. Bombus lapidarius, female. 3. Do., neuter. 4. Do., male.
a. Tongue of Anthidium. 6. Tongue of Bombus. c. Mandible of Anthidium.

full-fed, the larva.spins within its cell a silken cocoon, from
which it emerges in its perfect state somewhere about Mid-
summer.

This Bee presents one very remarkable point of difference
from insects in general, the male being as much larger than
the female as the female is usually larger than the male. The
_ species is quite a common one, especially towards the south of
England.

® .

USE OF A NOTCH. acy

Tur Bee which occupies the centre of Plate XII. well
deserves its names of Hucera longicornis. The former of
these two names is Greek, and signifies ‘ beautiful horns,’
while the latter is Latin, and signifies ‘long-horned.’ Both
titles are given to the insect on account of the great length of
the antennz of the male, which are as long as the head,
thorax, and body together. These antennz are very remark-
able when viewed through the microscope, the joints being
covered with honeycomb-like markings, as if a net with six-
sided meshes had been drawn over them. The ocelli are set in
a slight curve on the crown of the head, and the upper wings
have one marginal and two submarginal cells.

Only one species is known in England. It is black, clothed
with a dun-coloured down, changing to very pale yellow on the
sides, and ashen grey beneath.

This is one of the burrowing Bees, preferring a hard, clay
soil for that purpose. It needs no lning for the cells, but
kneads the clay wall of its cell so hard and smooth that it is
able to hold the soft paste of pollen and honey with which it
is stored. Some of the habits of this insect have been
mentioned when treating of the Firetailed-fly (p. 331). Mr.
F. Smith has the following remarks on this Bee: ‘It does
not spin a cocoon, but passes the winter in the larva state,
changing about the end of April to the pupa, and. shortly
after arriving at its perfect condition. The pupa throws off a
thin, transparent shroud. The male, on emerging from its
cell, passes its long antennz through the notch at the base of
the first joint of the anterior tarsus, drawing the antenne
through, and thus readily divests those organs of the thin
pellicle in which they are enveloped. Here we see another
beautiful exemplification of the truth that “ nothing is made
in vain.” The long antennze of the males of this genus
are doubtless adapted to some peculiar phase in their
economy, and the remarkable hexagonal reticulation of the
joints also answers some purpose connected with a peculiar
sense the exact functions of which we are unable to ap-
preciate.’

This is not a rare insect, but in some localities is much
more plentiful than in others, forming large colonies, and
almost honeycombing the earth with its burrows.

368 INSECTS AT HOME,

CHAPTER Y.

SOCIAL BEES.

Tur Socran Brses may be roughly divided into two groups,
the Wild Bees and the Domesticated Bees. I use the latter
terms intentionally in the plural number, because there are
several species of Domesticated Bees, two of which are culti-
vated in this country. We will begin with the Wild Social
Bees, popularly known as Humsie Bers, Hummen Buns, or
Dumpir Bers, the popular name evidently referring to the
deep humming sound which they produce when on the wing.
In this country the greater part of them constitute one genus,
namely Bombus, of which we will take some of the most
conspicuous insects as examples of the rest.

In this genus of Bees, the body is egg-shaped, and thickly
covered with hair. The head is somewhat triangular in form,
and the antenne are slender, elbowed, and a little longer
than the head. On the crown there is a semilunar groove or
impression, in which the ocelli are placed. The mandibles are
stout, and their tips are rounded and grooved. The upper
wings have one marginal and three submarginal cells. The
females have on the tibia of the hind legs a thick fringe of
stiff hairs, which forms a sort of basket for carrying the
pollen with which the young are fed. This apparatus is
scientifically termed the corbicula, or little basket. In the
males, the mandibles are fringed with curled hair, and there
are no pollen-baskets on the hind legs.

The history of these Bees is at once interesting, simple, and
perplexing, and perhaps is the more interesting on account of
the extraordinary and apparently contradictory mixture of
simplicity and complication. Everyone knows the Humble
Bees, but it is not everyone who can say, upon seeing a

THE CARDER BEE. 369

Humble Bee, to which species it belongs. Eighteen species of
Humble Bee exist in this country, and, except in some of the
more prominent species, it is not easy to identify the insects.
Varieties in colour and size are almost interminable, especially
among the males; and so striking are these varieties, that
Mr. F. Smith did not dare to publish his researches on the
Humble Bees until he had worked for more than twenty
years at them. The result of his labours has been—as is the
result of all true labour—simplification. He has found that
no less than seven species described by Kirby are but varieties
of the Carder Humble Bee, and that six more so-called
species are varieties of the Meadow Humble Bee.

Our first example of these insects is the CarpER Bre
(Bombus muscorum), so called on account of the curious
manner in which it constructs its nest. One of these insects is
represented on Plate XII. Fig. 2, in the act of flying, and
with its tongue extended. Part of the nest itself is seen
below, with one of the inhabitants just entering it.

The colouring and dimensions of this Bee are exceedingly
variable, but the following description is that which has been
decided upon by Mr. F. Smith:—The Bee is very hairy,
and the general colour of the female is black, with the face
covered with dull yellow down. The thorax is orange above,
yellow on the sides, and grey beneath. The abdomen is more
or less banded with black. The male is less than the female,
and has the down on the head of pale yellow, becoming
blackish on the crown. The abdomen is yellowish-grey, with
several ill-defined dark bands. The worker is often barely
half the size of the male, and in colour almost exactly re-
sembling the female.

The habits of this species are very interesting. During the
winter, a number of females or ‘ queens’ lie torpid, as do those
of the wasp and hornet, in any convenient crevice that they can
find, seldom if ever remaining for that purpose in the nest
which they inhabited. Hollow tree-trunks, haystacks, the thatch
of barns and outhouses, and similar localities, are much favoured
by these females, the intended progenitors of future colonies.

In the spring, the Bees recover consciousness, and at once
set to work in searching after fit spots for nest-building. It is

BB

3570 INSECTS AT HOME.

very interesting to watch a Carder Bee thus engaged. In
the early part of the present year, I watched for nearly an hour
the proceedings of a Carder Bee, who fortunately restricted
herself to a small patch of ground. The soil is very light,
partly covered with ferns, and on it are one or two oak trees,
one of large size. There is also plenty of moss within a few
yards, so that the locality is a very favourable one. As long
as she was on the wing I had to be very quiet, as she would
have taken alarm at a sudden movement, but whenever she
settled I was able to approach her quite closely. She investi-
gated almost every inch of ground, trying it in all directions,
and apparently testing the character of the soil by scratching it
with her feet. At last, she evidently fixed upon a convenient
spot—a small hollow in the ground near the roots of an oak.

She was so absorbed in her work, that I was able to kneel
down and watch her through a magnifying glass without dis-
turbing her. At last, I thought I would try a small practical
joke, and built over her a small hut of twigs and leaves. She was
still so preoccupied that she took no notice, until I pushed her
gently with a grass stem through the interstices of the hut.
This treatment roused her from her abstraction, and she
bounced up against the roof of the miniature hut in great
perturbation, at last forcing her way through it, and going off
at full speed and with an angry hum.

When the Bee has fixed upon a suitable spot, she procures

some vegetable substance, generally moss, but sometimes dead
leaves, grass, fern-fronds, &c., and draws them through her
legs, much as wool is carded. With these materials she builds
a sort of low dome, so arranged as to harmonise with sur-
rounding objects, and look like a mere swelling of the ground.
Mr. F. Smith mentions an instance in which the Bee flew into
a stable, and carried off a quantity of horsehair, which she wove
into a nest as if it had been moss. In order to preserve the
interior from rain, she lines the dome with a coarse wax, similar
in nature, though not in quality, to that of the Hive Bee, and
under its protection she makes a series of cells. These cells
are not in the least like the delicate, sharply defined, hex-
agonal cells of the Hive Bee, but are oval, and distributed
almost at random.

In them are laid the eggs which at first produce worker
Bees, they being needful in order to help the Queen Bee in

PLATE XII.

HUMBLE BEES.

2. Bombus lucorum (Female).
2. Bombus muscorum (Female).
8. Apathus vestalis (Female).
4, Eucera longicornis (Male).

PLANTS :—
Hawthorn. Above.
Sea Campion (Silene maritima). Below.

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= wa (

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ft

WOOD HUMBLE BEE. 371

forming a large colony. The larve soon become full-fed, and
then spin a silxen cocoon, in which they pass their helpless
state. When they have attained the perfect condition, they
gnaw round the top of their cocoons, and escape by means of
the circular orifice. When they first emerge, their colours are
very ill-defined, and several days elapse before the long down
with which they are so profusely clothed changes to its varied
and beautiful colouring. ,

On Plate XII. Fig. 1, is shown another well-known species of
Humble Bee, with her nest. This is the Woop Humsiz Ber
(Bombus lucorum). The colour of this Bee is black, with the
front of the thorax and the second segment of the abdomen
yellow, and the end of the body white. The worker is scarcely
half the size of the perfect female, but is coloured after the
same fashion. The male is intermediate in size, and has the
face, the front of the thorax, the scutellum, and the two first
segments of the abdomen yellow, and the three last seements
of the belly white. Beneath it is yellowish-white, and on the
tibize is a fringe of yellow hairs.

This is one of the earliest of the Humble Bees in appearing,
and is generally spread over the kingdom. Like one or two
other species, it makes its nest underground, and is rather a
ferocious sort of Bee, resenting even an approach vv uis nest, and
using its large sting very freely. Many persons have an idea
that Humble Bees cannot sting, an idea that is probably
originated from the fact that at certain times of the year the
male Bees, which have no sting, are rather more plentiful than
the females.

Not that they are more numerous, but that we see more of
them, because the male Bees have no hard duties to perform at
home. They collect no honey nor pollen, they secrete no wax,
they build no cells, and they nurse no young. Those Bees within
the nest are almost invariably females, while those which roam
about at their ease from flower to flower are very often males,
and consequently cannot sting their captors. If anyone doubts
whether the female Humble Bees have stings, let him attack
the nest of any of the underground species, particularly that of
the Stone Humble Bee, and he will be speedily convinced of his
error. I have taken the nest of most of the British Humble

BB 2

ane INSECTS AT HOME.

Bees, and can testifv that, whereas the females of the Carder
Bees take such attacks quietly, and seldom use their stings,
those species which build underground resent the assault, and
very soon let their assailants know that they have stings and can
use them.

The Plate gives a very good idea of the Wood Humble
Bee’s nest, and of the shape and position of the cells. The
wax of which they are made is coarse and brown, and the walls
of the cells are of considerable thickness. They are of various
sizes, according as they are intended to serve as the habitations
of females, males, or workers. Some contain honey, which is
usually of a pinker hue than that of the Hive Bee, and is
peculiarly sweet and fragrant. It is, however, seldom fit for
food, as it gives a violent headache to most persons, myself
among the number. I have suffered severely from a hard,
throbbing headache, caused by eating scarcely a teaspoonful of
this insect’s honey, before I found out its evil qualities. It is
a pity that the honey should have such an effect, for it is far
superior in flavour to that of the Hive Bee, having a sort of
delicate perfume about it.

The size as well as the position of the nest differs greatly.
Sometimes there are but a few cells, and sometimes the colony
is so strong that there are about two hundred cells in the nest,
The depth in the ground also varies, much as does that of the
common wasp, and for the same reason. The Humble Bee
very seldom, if ever, makes the whole of the excavation in
which her nest is placed, but takes advantage of a deserted
mouse-hole, and scoops out the earth wherever she finds it
most convenient.

ANOTHER specias, the Stone Humble Bee (Bombus lapi-
darvus), is drawn on Woodcut XXXVII. Figs. 2, 3, and 4.
At Fig. 2.is shown the perfect female, or Queen Bee; 3 is
the imperfect female, or worker, and 4 the male, these
figures being of the average size of the sexes. This is the
*red-hipped Humble Bee’ of Shakspeare, and is a very familiar
insect. The female is black, with the three last segments
of the abdomen bright rusty-red. The worker is coloured
like the female, and the male is black, with yellow down on
the face, top of the head, and collar. Yellow hairs are also

THE STONE HUMBLE BEE. 37S

scattered on the scutellum and first segment of the abdomen,
the four last segments of which are red.

This is a very common species, and derives its name of
lapidarius from the fact that it always, if possible, constructs
its nest under stones. Those heaps of rough stones which are
often left for several years on the sides of country roads are
favoured habitations of this Bee, which seems to consider that
not only the particular stone-heap which it has chosen, but
also a considerable surrounding space, is its own property. In
most cases, the attacks of the Bees are so fierce that anyone
who is tempted to linger near the heap finds himself obliged
to remove at once from the vicinity of these irritable insects.

It does not, however, absolutely restrict itself to such habi-
tations, for stone-heaps are not to be found everywhere, and so
it has to put up with burrows in the ground, preferring such
places as banks and the roots of trees.

On the upper part of Plate XII. Fig. 3, is represented a very
remarkable insect. At first sight, anyone would say that it was
a Humble Bee; and, as the insect may be found in Humble
Bees’ nests, it may well be ranked among their number. Yet,
as we shall presently see, it must not be reckoned among these
insects, and, though with them, it is scarcely of them.

The genus Apathus very much resembles Bombus in its
characteristics. But it has no pollen-baskets in the female,
the tibia of the male is convex on the outside, and there is no
worker. The absence of the nollen-basket in the female and
the convexity of the hind tibiz in the male are the most
striking points of difference.

We naturally ask ourselves, why the Apathus does not
possess the pollen-basket. The reason is, that it does not
require it. It does not work, but subsists on the labour of
others, and that in a very curious manner. As a general rule,
the presence of parasites in a nest is exceedingly troublesome
to the rightful inmates, who resent with all their power the
presence of the intruder. This, however, is not the case with
the Apathus.

Mr. F. Smith, who has paid great attention to this curious
subject, and has thoroughly tested and investigated the re-
searches of Kirby, the original discoverer of the distinction

374 INSECTS AT HOME.

between the Apathus and the Humble Bee, has the following
remarks on these insects :—

‘Although the parasitic connection between these and the
true Bombi has long been conjectured, no author has hitherto
found them in the nests of the working species. Although
I have taken or examined a very large number of the nests
of Bombus, I have only occasionally met with the parasites in
them; but never in the nests of the brown Humble Bees... .

‘What office these Bees perform in the economy of the nest
has not been discovered. They live on the most friendly
terms with the industrious part of the community, and it is
probable that upon them devolves some important office, the
nature of which it would be very interesting to discover. It
has been supposed, from the very close resemblance of the
Apathi to the Bombi, that the former are an idle race reared
at the expense of the industrious Bees, and wearing a livery
in imitation of them, for the purpose of deception. But,
there can be little doubt of these aristocrats of the community
performing important and necessary duties highly conducive to
the general prosperity of the whole. That the close resem-
blance of these Bees is not for the purpose of deception is at
once proved by the fact of Apathus barbatellus, a yellow-
bearded Bee, being found in the nest of Bombus Derhamellus,
a black species, having the tip of the body red; and we have
already seen that amongst the solitary Bees the greatest
difference in appearance exists.’

The colour of this species is black, with a broad orange
band in front of the thorax. The abdomen is shining and less
covered with down than is the case with the true Humble
Bees. There isa little white down on the sides of the third
segment, followed by yellowish down on the fourth and fifth,
and the sixth has a little reddish tuft at the tip. This is the
colouring of the female. That of the male is somewhat similar
but brighter, the wings are slightly clouded at their tips, and.
there is some yellow down on the scutellum and the first
segment of the abdomen. The insect is quite a common one,
and is parasitic in the nest of the Common Humble Bee
(Bombus terrestris). 4

Tue whole of Woodecut XX XVIII. is devoted to one insect,

oe

THE HIVE BEE. 375

the common Hive Brg (Apis mellifica). The three sexes are
shown at Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Fig. 1 represents the perfect
female, or ‘queen,’ of which there are very few in one
community, and only one that is active. Fig. 2 is the male or
‘drone’ Bee, of which a considerable number exist for a
limited period, and Fig. 3 is the worker, of which the popula-
tion of the community is chiefly composed.

1. Apis mellifica, female. 2. Do., male, 3. Do., neuter. a, Antenna, female.
6. Hind leg, male. c. Tongue of male. d. Antenna, male. e. Mandible, male.
J. Hind leg, neuter, g. Hind leg, female, h. Sting and venom glands.

In this genus the eyes of the male are very large, meeting
on the crown, as may be seen at Fig. 2, and the tibiz of the
hind legs are slender at the base, gradually widening to the
end, as shown at Fig. b. The eyes of the female and worker
are comparatively small and unhairy. The workers have the
basal joint of the tarsi of the hind legs concave, and covered
with transverse hairy ridges, as shown at Fig. 7. That of the

376 INSECTS AT HOME.

perfect female, or queen, is smooth, as shown at g. The
antenn, too, are different in the sexes, as may be seen by
referring to Figs. a and d, the former representing the antenna
of the female, and d that of the male.

I may mention here that the little hieroglyphic marks
attached to the figures on this and a few other woodcuts
denote the sex. They are, in fact, the old astronomical
figures used to denote the planets by a sort of short-hand.
The circle with the barbed point was used as the emblem of
Mars, and is employed by naturalists to denote the male sex.
The circle with the crossed line below it was the emblem of
Venus, and denotes the female sex, while the circle with the
uncrossed line denotes the imperfect female, or neuter.

A detailed account of this wonderful insect would be abso-
lutely impossible within the limited space at our command,
inasmuch as the whole volume would be consumed in such
an undertaking. I will, therefore, only mention a few of the
more salient points connected with the economy of the Hive
Bees, and leave the reader to look for further information
into the many excellent works which have been written ex-
pressly on this subject by men practically skilled in bee-
keeping.

The constitution of the community, or, as we popularly call
it, the hive, differs from that of other social insetts.

There is but one perfect female permitted to live within the
hive, her duty being a very simple one—namely, to lay the
enormous number of eggs from which proceed the future
swarms. She never leaves the hive except when sue issues
into the air to find a mate, and she does no work of any kind,
not even requiring to feed herself. In form she is somewhat
longer than the worker, and, though, when young, she is
scarcely different from the worker in size, she may be recognised
by the shortness of her wings, and the manner in which they
cross each other at the tips as they lie at rest on her back.
Her whereabouts in the hive can soon be detected by a prac-
tised eye, as there is always a cluster of Bees around her, with
their: heads towards their sovereign. They behave as politely
asany modern courtier. Wherever she goes they go too, but
they never turn their backs on her, always keeping a small
space lear round her, just large enough to enable her te

FORMATION OF WAX. 377

walk, and advancing, retreating, or sidling as she happens to
move.

The males, or drones, are comparatively numerous. They
can be at once recognised by their greater thickness, and the
blunt abdomen with its little tufts of hair. Even on the wing
the drone Bee can be distinguished by its low, dull, deep hum.
It seems to be much more sluggish in its ways than the worker.
Some years ago, when I was engaged in reproducing the dis-
sections of John Hunter, I supplied myself with drone Bees, by
watching the entrance of the hive, and taking the drones off
the foot-board as they came out of the hive. They seldom
troubled themselves to make any effort at escape, and I could
take as many as I liked without even arousing the anger
of the workers.

As to the workers themselves, they are so familiar that
nothing need be said about their appearance.

The construction of the nest differs from that of any other
insect, though it bears a great resemblance to that of the wasp
or the hornet. The cells are hexagonal, but are made of wax
instead of paper. They are double, being set end to end, or
rather, base to base, and lie nearly ,horizontally, instead of
perpendicularly as in the wasp tribe. We will glance at each
of these points, and will first take the material of which the
nest or ‘comb’ is made.

This, as we all know, is wax, and, as most of us know, is
secreted by the Bee, and not gathered from flowers, as was
formerly thought to be the case. When the Bees are about to
build a new comb they hang in strings, holding by each other’s
feet, and remain in that position for a considerable time,
perfectly still. If, at the expiration of that period, the under
side of the insect be examined, six tiny white crescents will be
seen. These crescents are the edges of the wax plates, which
project from beneath the little flaps called ‘ wax-pockets.’
With the exercise of a little care, the plates of wax may be
removed from the pockets, and put up as specimens. Much
care, however, must be taken of them, as I have learned by
experience. [ had, with some trouble, secured the six plates of
a single Bee, and had arranged them in their order upon a slip
of dark-blue paper, which was carefully inserted into a bottle.
One bright summer day, avisitor was examining the series of bee

378 INSECTS AT HOME.

dissections, and was particularly pleased with the wax plates.
He took the bottle to the window to examine the plates more
easily, held the bottle in the hot rays of the sun, and
melted the six plates into six formless waxen drops.

A sufficient quantity of wax being obtained, the Bees set to
work at kneading it with their jaws, and continue to do so
until they have made it quite plastic. They then begin their
labours, and, urged by an instinct which is quite beyond our
comprehension, construct with this substance a double set of
perfectly hexagonal cells, which practically illustrate the
problem of constructing a vessel which shall consume the
minimum of material and hold the maximum of contents.
The mathematical problems involved in the structure of the
bee-cell are most interesting, but there is not sufficient space
at our command. I would, therefore, refer the reader to my
‘Homes without Hands,’ page 428, in which these problems
are given in detail. Suffice it to say that the key to the
structure of the bee-cell lies in the angles of the three equal
lozenge-shaped plates which form the base of the cell.

If the reader will examine a fresh bee-comb he will see that
the edges of the cells are much thickened and rounded, besides
being rather darker and redder than the wax which forms the
sides. The material with which this is done is termed ‘ pro-
polis, and is a gummy substance obtained by the Bees from
certain trees, among which the horse-chestnut is conspicuous.
Everyone is familiar with the sticky substance that coats the
buds of this tree, and guards them from the weather. This is
the principal source of the propolis, and the Bees may be seen
continually scraping off and carrying home this material, which
they use as a cement as well as a strengthening edging to the
cells.

Still looking at the comb, the reader will see that the cells
are not quite horizontal, but that they slope slightly from
mouth to base. The object of this slope is that they shall the
more easily receive the honey which is stored in them, and
which is, when first placed in the cells, nearly as transparent
and liquid as water. In fact, it is much of the consistency of
eau sucrée. Honey is a really peculiar substance. It is not
obtained ready-made from the flowers, and simply transferred
to tne cells.

HONEY AND BEE-BREAD. 379

The sweet juice of the flower is indeed to honey much what
erape-juice is to wine. It is licked out of the flowers by the
brush-tipped tongue of the Bee, and then passed into the
honey-bag, a nearly spherical membranous sac, situated at the
base of the abdomen, close to the short footstalk which conjoins
the thorax and abdomen. Within this sac it undergoes the
change which converts it from a mere saccharine juice into
honey. What that change is we do not precisely know, nor
how it is achieved, for the honey-bag appears to be nothing more
than a membranous sac. Still, some change, and that a great
one, is made, as is evident from the fact that if the Bees be
supplied with sugar and water they make honey from it.
Despite this change, however, the honey always retains some-
thing of the flavour belonging to the flower whence it was
obtained, together with some of its properties; so that there
have been instances where those who have eaten honey have
been nearly poisoned by it, the Bees having made it from
plants which possessed poisonous qualities. That which is
made from heather is generally thought to be the best and
purest. We may, perhaps, ask ourselves why the Bee should
take the trouble of making so many cells wherein to store the
honey, instead of putting it into one or two larger vessels.
The reason is that when honey is taken out of the cells, and
placed in larger vessels, it soon crystallises, and in that state is
even injurious to the Bees, whereas it can be kept perfectly
fluid while in the small and tightly-closed cells.

The ‘bee-bread,’ on which the young Bees are fed, is made
from the pollen of various plants pressed tightly into the cells.
If a cell fuli of bee-bread be cut longitudinally, each cargo of
the Bee can be discerned, some eight or ten journeys being
required to procure a sufficiency of pollen to fill up the cell ;
and the pollen of each cargo being generally marked by a
slight difference of colour.

Some six or seven species of Bee are domesticated in dif-
ferent parts of the world, and Mr. Westwood suggests that there
are many other species which might with advantage be brought
to subserve the purposes of man. The structure of the sting
is shown on Woodcut XXXVIII. Fig. h. This well-known
weapon is in fact a modification of the ovipositor, with the
addition of a poisonous liquid. This liquid is secreted by twa

380 INSECTS AT HOME.

very delicate poison- glands, which resemble threads, not nearly
so thick as a human hair, and white in colour. These glands
unite together at their bases and form a short common tube,
which opens into the poison sac, in which the venom is retained
until it is wanted. The base of the sting is connected with
the poison sac, and as soon as the weapon is used, the poison
flows down the sting and is injected into the wound. ‘

‘LEPIDOPTERA.

BH PIVOP THR A

CHAPTER I.

RHOPALOCERA, OR BUTTERFLIES.

I very much regret the necessity for using such words as that
which appears at the head of this chapter. I employ such words
as seldom as possible, and always explain them when compelled
to use them, as is the case at present. Still, in many instances,
scientific terms are absolutely necessary, because there are no
existing English words which have the same signification, and,
in many others, even though there may be English equivalents,
the scientific terms are so universally employed that it is neces-
sary to introduce them and explain their meaning.

To begin with the word Lepidoptera. Itis formed from two
Greek words, the one signifying a scale, and the other a wing,
and is given to those insects because their wings are, for the
most part, covered on both sides with flat scales which overlap
each other just like the tiles of a house. This is the most
important characteristic of the order, but there are one or two
others which must be noticed. The mouth is formed for
suction. The mandibles, or jaws, which are so conspicuous in
the insects which we have hitherto examined, and which indeed
are large and powerful in the larval state, are scarcely visible,
being reduced to mere rudiments of jaws. The maxillz, on the
contrary, are very much elongated, and modified into the
beautiful proboscis through which the insect is able to suck
+he sweet juices of flowers. The pupa is enclosed in a hard,
shelly case, not fesembling the perfect insect, this form being
scientifically called ‘ obtected.’

The Lepidoptera fall naturally into two great divisions or

384 INSECTS AT HOME.

sections, known popularly as Burrerriies and Morus. We will
begin with the Butterflies.

These insects are, as may be seen by reference to the be-
ginning of the chapter, called Rhopalocera, This term is
formed from two Greek words, the one signifying a club and
the other a horn, and is given to the Butterflies because, as a
rule, their antennz are clubbed, or knobbed, at the end. As
far as English Lepidoptera are concerned, there is no difficulty
whatever in distinguishing between them and the Moths, the
latter always having their antennz pointed instead of clubbed
at the tip. Butterflies, moreover, cannot fold their antennz to
the body as is done by many of the Moths, those organs always
standing out boldly from the head.

Then, the head itself is very distinct from the thorax, and is
never sunk into it, asis the case with so many insects, but is
attached by a slender neck. The compound eyes possessed by
Butterflies are remarkable for the astonishing number of facets
which they possess, some of them having sixteen thousand
facets on each side, or thirty-two thousand in all. The wings,
too, serve to distinguish Butterflies and Moths. The latter
insects often have the hind, or second, pair of wings folded
longitudinally, but those of the Butterflies are quite rigid and
incapable of being folded. When the insect is at rest both
pairs of wings are raised over the back, and mostly pressed
closely together. This attitude is often employed as a means
of avoiding detection, for the Butterfly, when its wings are thus
closed, has very much the air of a leaf or a flower petal, and
so escapes observation. The splendid and conspicuous Red
Admiral and Peacock Butterflies frequently elude the eye in
this manner.

Fotiowi1ne the plan which I have adopted throughout this
work, I now give a map or chart of a Butterfly, showing the
principal portions of the insect, and the distinctive names
attached to them by entomologists. Some of these words look
rather formidable, but there is really little difficulty in learn-
ing and retaining them; and the best way of learning them is,
to trace them out on the wings of various Butterflies, and, if
possible, to sketch those wings on an enlarged scale, and write
the names of the different portions. The principal portions of

ANATOMY OF A BUTTERFLY. 385

the wings are those which are denoted by letters, and which
should therefore be learned first ; the knowledge of the other

XXXIX

I. Front view of head. Il. Side view.

Ill. Fore wing. 1—5. Subcostal nervules, 6, 7. Discoidal nervules. 8—10. Median
nervules. 11. Submedian nervure. 12. Internal nervure. 13—15. Disco-cellular nervules.
16. Interno-median nervule. 17. Median nervure. 18. Subcostal nervure. a. Costal ner-
vure. 6. Costa or anterior margin. c. Apex or anteriorangle. dd. Posterior or hind margin.
e. Posterior or anal angle. J. Interior or inner margin. g. Base. h. Discoidal cell.

IV. Hind wing. 1, 2. Subcostal nervules. 3. Discoidal nervule. 4—6. Median nervules.
7. Submedian nervure. 8. Precostal nervure. 9. Subcostal nervure. 10. Median
nervure. 11,12. Disco-cellular nervules. a. Costal nervure. 6. Costa or anterior
margin, c. Apex or anterior angle. d. Hind margin. e. Tail or caudal appendage.
J. Anal angle. g. Abdominal or inner margin. h. Base.

V. Underside of body. 1—7. Abdominal segments. 8. Caudal or anal extremity.
a. Antenne. 6. Tarsus, c. Tibia, d. Femur. e. Palpi. J. The head. g. The
thorax, h. Abdomen.

portions being gained by degrees. Here I may mention that
Mr. E. Newman repudiates the word nervure, and substitutes
cc

386 INSECTS AT HOME.

the simpler word ‘ray, as analogous with the fin-rays of
fishes. He is undoubtedly justified in considering that ‘ ray
is the better word, but as in all scientific accounts of the Lepi-
doptera the word ‘nervure’ is used, I have employed it, leaving
the reader to substitute the word ‘ray’ if he should prefer it.

The reader will notice the enormous size of the eye-masses,
as shown in Fig. 1, this great size and bold projection being
rendered necessary by the fact that these insects are ali day-
fliers, perpetually on the wing, and, consequently, very con-
spicuous. Now, there are many creatures—certain birds, for
example, dragon-flies, and other predacious foes—which are very
fond of Butterflies, and would wofully thin their numbers did
not their multitudinous eyes enable them to see the approach-
ing enemy in time for their broad wings to carry them out of
danger. The form of the proboscis is also shown in Figs. 1
and 2, the former representing it as it appears when coiled up
so as to be out of harm’s way, and the latter showing it as
partly uncoiled, as it appears when the insect is about to take
food.

WE now proceed to take in their order some typical examples
of British Butterflies. The first family is called Papilionide,
and may be distinguished by having the first pair of legs formed
for walking, the tip of the antennz not hooked, and the dis-
coidal cell of the hind wings quite closed. Only one genus
inhabits this country, and only one species, the beautiful
SwaLLow-TaiL Butterfly (Papilio Machaon), which is sown in
the frontispiece.

In the genus to which this Butterfly belongs, the hind wings
are tailed, and the caterpillar, or larva, is furnished with a
forked appendage called the ‘nuchal horn’ because it issues
from the neck. In this species the horn is only used in
moments of irritation, and is concealed within the body, its
place being only marked by two dots. If, however, the cater-
pillar be irritated or hurt, it immediately throws out the horn,
which can be produced to the length of half an inch or so.
Many naturalists suppose that this horn is intended for the
purpose of driving away the ichneumon flies when they attack
we larva. I can, however, scarcely accept this theory, veeause
tne ichneumon flies are terribly injurious to many other vater.

A DAY WITH THE SWALLOW-TAIL. 387

pillars, which yet are supplied with no apparatus for driving
them away. This organ, whatever purpose it may subserve,
gives forth a very strong odour, much resembling that of
fennel, and so powerful that even in the open air it can be
perceived at some distance.

The colour of this splendid Butterfly is almost entirely
yellow and black. On the lower wings, however, there is a row
of six cloudy blue spots, sprinkled with yellow dots, and at the
anal angle of each lower wing is a large red spot with a slight
blue crescent on the upper part. This Butterfly was once spread
over a considerable part of England, but now seems to be
restricted to the marshy parts of Cambridge, Huntingdon, and
Norfolk. It has been taken in many other places, but I believe
that in all those instances it was not native to the place, but
had been artificially introduced. I once saw a specimen in a field
by the Cherwell, close to Oxford, and chased it for some time,
but unsuccessfully. Whether or not this was an introduced
specimen, I have no means of ascertaining.

I was never fortunate enough to have a day’s Machaon-
hunting, but my friend, Mr. D. J. French, has sent me an
account of a very successful day’s hunt :—

‘Saturday, July 10, 1871, will always be a red-letter doen in
my annals of natural history.

‘ My brother and I drove off, amid the rain-like mist, along
one of those everlastingly flat Cambridge roads, till we sighted
the whitewashed front of the old public, with the conspicuous
sign of ‘ Five miles from anywhere.” Ina few minutes more
we were over the ferry, and stepping off to the fens with some-
what hopeful feelings, for the sun was peeping out.. The ditch
was soon cleared by the help of the jumping-pole, kept at the
aforesaid inn for the use of entomologists. My brother was
over first, and before I could follow a hearty shout informed me
that a Swallow-tail was captured. In less than three minutes,
at 1.5 p.M., three hurrahs rang through the fens, as I beheld,
for the first time in my life, a self-captured Papilio Machaon
within my net. Oh, ’twas a pleasant sight to see !

‘ The next two hours were exciting ones indeed, for no sooner
had I pinned an insect than another was seen. Although
ready to drop through the heavy chase just completed, off we
dashed, disturbing from their nests and passing unheeded

cc2

388 INSECTS AT HOME.

whinchats, stonechats, whitethroats, and other sedge and grass-
loving birds. A swift foot soon brought the aérial object near ;
then came the sudden switch and the simultaneous drop—a sign
that all was right. The fall into a sitting posture was the
natural, necessitous, and happily convenient move, for directly
the capture was made our legs lost all power, and suggested a
seat on the fen as the right position for pinning the prize;
and so it was.

‘Experience taught me these lessons in the capture of the
Swallow-tail. When in the neighbourhood of flowers, take it
gently; move slowly up to the insect, and when within a
couple of yards secure it with a dash. This is all easy enough ;
but when forced into a smart chase over the fen, the following
manoeuvre proved successful. I found that the pursued insect,
after a long flight, generally branched off at a right angle; so
that if I kept a respectful distance behind, and when it altered
its course turned at an acute angle in the same direction, I was
fortunate enough to meet the object of my chase, so that the
Butterfly and I formed a right-angled triangle. Intelligisne ?
I think the description clear, though it may perhaps smell a
little of the mathematical odour of the ’Varsity. We caught in
the two hours thirty-five specimens, one of which I send here-
with. Several, however, were much worn; no doubt through
creeping about in the herbage during the preceding unfavour-
able weather for flight. My brother obtained eleven larve
from the same spot last year. All the pupz have not yet dis-
gorged their contents. An imago gladdens my eyes every now
and then. Several of the specimens have slightly different
markings. . One, however, has the hind margins of the under
wings lightly coloured with the same chestnut-red hue which
composes the prevailing tint in the large spot close to the anal
angle of each wing; a unique variety, I believe.’

The egg of this insect is light green in colour and oval in
shape. It may seem rather superfluous to say that an egg is
oval in shape, but we shall presently see that many eggs of
Butterflies are anything but oval in shape. Just before the
ege is hatched, its colour darkens until it is nearly black, which
in fact is the colour of the young caterpillar. As soon as the
larva is hatched, it eats the shell of the egg in which it has
been developed, and after every change of skin it eats in like

THE WHITE BUTTERFLIES, 389

manner the garment which it has thrown off. The colour of
this caterpillar is a beautiful leafy green, the interstices between
the segments being velvet-black. Upon each of the twelve
segments of the body there is a black bar, which in all the seg-
ments except the second is adorned with six orange spots.
There are other markings, but these are the most charac-
teristic.

This beautiful larva feeds on several plants, such as the
hog’s-wort, or cow-parsnip (Heracleum sphondyliwm), the
marsh-parsley (Peucedanum palustre), and even on the leaves
of the common carrot, when nothing better can be obtained.
Larve of this splendid Butterfly have been successfully reared
upon carrot leaves.

When the caterpillar is full-fed, it quits its food-plant,
crawls up the stem of a weed, and there assumes the pupal
form, binding itself to the weed by a sort of belt, like that of
the chrysalis shown in Woodcut XL. Fig. b. This belt may
be almost called a cable, for it is very stout and strong, as well
as elastic, and will sustain a considerable tension before it is
snapped. There are many British Butterflies whose pupz are
thus girt to the object on which they undergo their trans-
formation. Mr. Newman gathers these together in a group,
which he terms Succincti, or Girted Chrysalids. All these
pupz have the head directed upwards.

Tue next family, the Pieride, is distinguished by the fact
that the hind wings form a sort of receptacle in which the
abdomen lies. The larve do not possess the nuchal horn, and
are wider in the middle and narrower at the two ends. The
insects which compose this family are the most familiar of our
English Butterflies, and are popularly known as White Butter-
flies. There are, however, several White Butterflies that do not
belong to this group, and several that belong to it which can
scarcely be called white. However, the popular name is
expressive, though not wholly accurate.

Common as they are, they have raised great controversy
among entomologists, and have been shifted backwards and for-
wards into the various genera, until it is scarcely possible to
reconcile the conflicting statements. ‘ Who shall decide when
doctors disagree?’ So we will not attempt to decide upon

390 INSECTS AT HOME.

such a subject, but accept Doubleday’s system. In accordance
with this principle we proceed to the best known of all our
Butterflies, the Laran Cappace Burrerriy (Pieris brassicc),
which is drawn in Woodcut XL. Fig. 3. As to the colours of
this insect, they are simply black and white, so that the illus-
tration gives us a very good idea of the colour as well as of the

1. Gonepteryx rhamni. 2. Colias edusa, male, 8. Pieris brassicee. a. Pieris, larva.
b. Do., pupa. c. Do., egg. e. Do., palpus. J. Do., head. g. Do., claw of foot.
d,. Larva of Colias.

form of the insect. The specimen represented is a male; the
female being similarly coloured, but without the two large
black spots on the fore wings. In its larval condition this is a
most destructive creature, and does great damage to the plant
from which it takes its name. It is, in fact, so destructive that
those who keep kitchen gardens, or are interested in agricul-
ture, should ruthlessly kill every Cabbage Butterfly that comes
across them, ‘There is no cruelty in doing so, for no one has

THE BLACK-VEINED AND SMALL WHITES. 391

any scruple in killing the caterpillar, and it is surely better to
kill one Butterfly than fifty or sixty caterpillars which it
produces.

At Fig. ¢ is shown the egg of this insect. The reader may
remember that, when treating of the Swallow-tail Butterfly, I
stated that all insect eggs were not oval. This egg is an
example of a considerable departure from the oval shape.
These eggs are deposited in small clusters, varying from two or
three to twelve, and they all stand upright on their bases, just
like a number of little bottles, being fixed to the leaf by a
gummy secretion. The caterpillars are hatched in about a
fortnight, and grow very rapidly. One of them is shown at fig.
a. When full-fed they ascend some convenient object, and
change into the pupa, which is fixed by its tail, and prevented.
from falling by a stout silken belt’ passed loosely round its
body. This pupa is seen at Fig. b. Its colour is grey-white,
with a slight dash of blue, diversified by a number of little
black spots. The point of the head is yellow, and so is a line
along the ridge of the back.

There are two broods of this destructive insect, the first in
May and the second in August, so that, if its numbers were not
kept down by the ichneumon flies, we should scarcely have a
cabbage in England. I have dissected the larve of all our
common Lepidoptera, and never found any to be so afflicted
with the ichneumon as that of the Cabbage Butterfly. Inc+e’,
the difficulty was to find one that was not being slow! —
consumed by the tiny but fatal larve of the Microgaster,
which has been described on page 325.

Other details of this insect are given on Woodcut XL. Fig. e
representing the palpus, f the head, and g the claw of the foot.

THERE are several other Butterflies which go by the popular
name of Whites. There is, for example, the BLAcK-VEINED
Wuite (Pieris crategi), which is without spots, but the
nervures are black. This is, in consequence, an admirable
insect for the study of the wings. It is a local and somewhat
intermittent insect, and appears about Midsummer.

Then there is the Smatn Wuite (Pieris rape), a very
variable Butterfly, in which the male is nearly white, except a
clouding at the tips of the upper wings, and a rather indistinct

32 INSECTS AT HOME.

dark spot on the costal edge of the lower wings. The females
are at once distinguished by having two black spots on the dise
of the upper wings. The caterpillar is a pretty green larva,
and is a very indiscriminate feeder. I have bred a long series
of them from mignonette growing in a window-box. The
Butterfly appears in the midst of summer.

The Green-vEINeD Wuits (Pieris Napi) may be known by
the peculiarity from which it takes its name. When inspected
from below, the under surface of the lower wings is seen to be
dull yellow, the nervures being edged witha greyish tint, which
has the effect of green when contrasted with the yellow. The
upper wings have much the same colouring, but not so strongly
marked, except at the tips. It is a variable insect, and the
varieties have been considered by some authors as being three
distinct species, one of which they call by the specific name
of Napi, another by that of Napew, and a third was called
Sabellice. Indeed, I find, on referring to my old cabinet,
which I arranged according to Stephens’s system, these varieties
under their different names. This caterpillar feeds on the
watercress and one or two other plants.

Lastly, there is the Grrmn CuEquereD Wuitr (Pieris Da-
plidice), which derives its name from the beautiful green
mottlings of the under surface of the lower wings. It is a very
local insect, and is generally taken on the coast of Kent.
Mr. E. Newman has a theory that, although a few specimens
may be had in England, it is properly a French insect, and is
blown across the Channel. This theory is strengthened by the
fact that. Butterflies have been seen to cross the Channel,
settling on the water when tired, and taking to wing with-
out difficulty. August is the best month for finding this
insect.

There is also the little Woop Wurrr (Leucophasia sinapis),
a small, rather narrow-winged, slow-flying insect, with white
wings clouded with black at the ends of the upper pair
early this spot, or cloud, is more or less squared.

CiosELy allied to the Whites is the beautiful Oran@u-riP
(Anthocharis cardamines), so well known by the orange-tipped
wings of the male, from which it derives its popular name.
‘The female is without the orange hue, but both sexes have the

;

THE BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY. 399

under side of the lower wings beautifully mottled with green.
The insect is as plentiful as it is beautiful, and may be
captured in almost every meadow or lane in the early summer.
It does not fly very fast, and generally keeps rather low, so
that there is no difficulty in taking it. The caterpillar feeds
on various cruciform plants, and its colour is opaque green.

On Woodcut XL. Fig. 1 may be seen a drawing of a very
well-known insect, the Brimstone Burrerriy (Gonepteryx
rhamni), the popular name being derived from the beautiful
deep yellow of the male. The female is very much paler, as if
the colour had been washed out of her, and in both sexes there
is a little orange-red spot on each wing, the position and shape
of which are indicated in the illustration. In this genus the
wings are boldly angled at their tips, from which circumstance
the name of Gonepteryx, or ‘angle-winged,’ has been given to
it. The antennz have a peculiar curve downwards, which can
be seen by viewing the insect sideways.

This is one of our earliest Butterflies, sometimes making its
appearance even in winter, should the sun happen to shine
brightly. I see, by reference to my notes, that I took it at
Oxford in February. These early specimens are, in fact, the
Butterflies which are developed in the autumn of the preceding
year, and which had retired to some secluded spot wherein to
hibernate. The warmth and light of a bright, sunshiny day
awake them from their torpor, and tempt them into the open air.

I believe that such early Butterflies only live a few hours,
hecause the exertion-of flight causes them to need food, and no
food is to be found at that time of year. It is a remarkable
fact, noticed by Mr. Newman, that, although both sexes of the
Brimstone Butterfly are developed in the autumn, they take
no notice of each other unless they happen to survive to the

following spring. The larva of this Butterfly feeds on the

buckthorn (Rhamnus), from which it derives its specific name
of Rhamni. The colour of the larva is green, but the surface
of the body is thickly covered with tiny black projections or
warts, each tipped with a slender white point.

On Woodcut XL. Fig. 2, is represented one of the prettiest
of our Butterflies, the CLouprp YrLuow (Colias edusa).

394 INSECTS AT HOME.

All those who have studied the Lepidoptera must have been
struck with the marvellous variety and contrast of colour that
can be produced by one or two hues. This insect is nothing
more than black and orange, and yet is a singularly handsome
one. The upper wings are warm orange, edged with a deep
border of black, in which are a few pale orange spots in the
female, the black band of the male being unspotted. There
is also a bold black spot near the upper edge. The lower
wings are coloured in much the same way, except that the
orange is pale, and approaching to yellow. There is, however,
a warm orange spot on the disc. Both pairs of wings are
edged with a very warm border of orange, brighter and warmer
in the upper than in the lower pair. Beneath, the colour is
yellow, warming into orange on the disc of the upper wings,
and the spot on the lower wings is brown, with a white centre.

This handsome Butterfly is widely spread, and occasionally
occurs in considerable numbers, especially in and near our
Southern coasts. I have a number that were taken by my
brother at Sheerness, and others taken by myself in Oxford-
shire and Wiltshire. It is found in best condition at the end
of summer, and through the autumn ; but, as it is a hibernator,
individuals are seen in the early spring, somewhat shabby
and worn in appearance, and lacking the brillianey which
distinguishes the newly-developed insect.

The larva is grass-green in colour, and is covered with a
great number of tiny bristle-bearing warts. It feeds on the
clover, and consequently clover fields are much haunted by the
perfect insect. The eggs are long and narrow, and have been
compared to ninepins in shape. They are affixed to the leaf
by one of the ends, so that they stand upright. The larve are
hatched about Midsummer. One of them is shown on Wood-
eut XL. Fig. d. The chrysalis, or pupa, is attached by its
tail and a belt, like that of the Cabbage Butterfly, and does
not seem to be very particular as to its position, generally
being upright, but sometimes horizontal.

We now come to the beautiful family of the Vanessida,
which includes some of our handsomest and best-known
Butterflies. Among other distinctions, in all these insects, the
first pair of legs are very small, and not used in walking.

THE FRITILLARIES. 395

Our first example is the Dark Green Frititiary (Argynnis
agluia), a figure of which is given on Woodcut XLI. Fig. 3.
The Butterflies belonging to this genus are popularly known as
Fritillaries, and all of them have the under surface of the lower
wings adorned with metallic spots and markings which look as if
made of burnished silver. The generic name Argynnis, which

1. Vanessa Antiopa. 2. Grapta C. album. 3. Argynnis Aglaia, —
a. Argynnis, larva. b. Argynnis, pupa.

is taken from the Greek, signifies ‘ brilliant’ or ‘ shining,’ and is
given to the insects in consequence of this peculiarity. The
colour of the present species is bright warm brown in the male,
marked with a dark bronze-green in the female. The wings
are profusely spotted with black on the upper surface, and on
the under surface of the lower wings are a number of round
bright silver spots, and near the margin of the wing is a row
of seven semicircular silver spots.

396 "INSECTS AT HOME,

This insect is generally spread over England, and is plentiful
in many parts of Kent, especially on the downs which lead
towards the seas Mr. Newman remarks that hilly, fern-
covered ground is the best locality for this Butterfly. The
larva, which is shown at Fig. a, feeds on the dog violet
(Viola canina). Its colour is very dark shining grey, mottled
with black. When full-fed, which takes place about the
middle of July, it selects a suitable spot, and there changes
into a pupa, suspending itself by its tail, which is very strongly
curved. One of these pupe is shown at Fig. b. It remains in
the pupal state about eighteen days, and then emerges in its
perfect form.

There are five other species of the Fritillary, all of which are
very similar in their colouring. As they are liable to varia-
tion, the beginner finds great difficulty in identifying them.
This, however, can generally be done by means of the silver
markings on the lower wings, which in some species form bold,
clearly defined spots, like solid silver leaf, and in others
take the shape of marks or streaks, just as if a brush had been
dipped in silver powder and drawn over the wing. The larve
of all the species are spiny, and feed upon the violets and their
kin.

Next we take the typical genus Vanessa, of which we must
examine several examples, as they are among the most con-
spicuous of our insects. In this genus the club of the antenne
is short and. bold, the first pair of wings are more or less
regulated, and the eyes are extremely hairy. If examined
with the microscope, it will be seen that the hairs are planted
at the angles of the hexagonal facets.

The handsomest and rarest of these Butterflies is drawn on
Woodeut XLI. Fig.1. Its scientificname is Vanessa Antiopa,
and it is popularly called the WuHITE-BORDERED, on account of
the broad white edging of the wings, or the CAMBERWELL
Bravry, because in 1748 three specimens were taken near
Camberwell.

My brother saw one on the banks of a railway cutting in
Wales, as he was going to church with his wife. Rare insects
are always perverse. You may go to the most famous localities
for them, furnished with every appliance, search and watch day

THE CAMBERWELL BEAUTY. 397

after day, and never even see a specimen. Then, just where
they are least expected, and when no means are at hand for
capturing them, they make their appearance—and generally
their escape—in a manner that is calculated to test the temper
severely.

In the present instance, the sudden appearance of such an
insect at his very feet was too much for the discoverer, and,
hat in hand, he dashed down the cutting after the Butterfly.
Of course, having taken him to the bottom, it ascended to the
top, and so on, giving him a chase of a quarter of an hour
perpetually up and down the cutting, and at last getting away
over a hedge, leaving its pursuer breathless on the ground, and
his hat and clothes generally in a more than dishevelled state.
In his letter to me relating the circumstance, he says that if
anyone wants to take a Turkish bath, and is not within reach
of one, he recommends a chase of the Camberwell Beauty in a
deep railway cutting with very steep sides.

The colour of this magnificent insect is rich brown, shot with
deep purple. The wings are edged with a broad grey-white
band, just inside which is a row of blue spots. This is a very
plentiful insect in America and on the Continent, and speci-
mens are often taken from France and passed off as English.
They can, however, be detected by the colour of the white
band, which in genuine English specimens is grey-white, and
in foreign specimens yellow-white.

It is a very capricious insect in its appearance in this
country. Owing to the great and rapidly increasing number of
entomologists in this country, and the many periodicals which
are devoted to Natural History, scarcely a specimen of this
conspicuous Butterfly can be at large without being seen and
recorded. It seldom happens that a single specimen is thus
mentioned; but, if one entomologist happens to be fortunate
enough to capture an Antiopa on Monday, several others are
nearly sure to be caught within the week, and then no more
seem to make their appearance. I never had the good fortune
to see one of these Butterflies at liberty, and very much suspect
that I never shall.

On Woodeut XLI. Fig. 2, is seen a profile portrait of the
Comma Burrerrty, scientifically termed C. album, or the

398 INSECTS AT HOME.

White C. These names are given to the insect because on tlie
under surface of the lower wings there is a curved mark, very
much like the letter C in shape, and of the purest white.
There is not the least difficulty in identifying this insect, even
without taking the trouble to inspect the under surface, -for
both pairs of wings are so deeply scalloped that there is no
possibility of mistake. The upper surface of the wings is warm
red-brown, mottled with black, both the ground hue and the
markings being subject to considerable variation.

This is considered to be an inland species. In those places
which it frequents it is common enough. I have taken many
specimens in Bagley Wood, near Oxford, in the days when that
beautiful little wood was one of the finest insect preserves in
England.

The larva is known to feed on the elm, the hop, and the
currant, and in the midland counties is said to be common in
the hop-growing districts. It is a thick spine-bearing larva,
grey in colour, mottled with chestnut, and having a white
stripe along part of its back. The perfect insect appears in
the beginning of autumn.

Next we come to the Great Torror1sesHELy ( Vanessa poly-
chloros), which is drawn on Plate XIII. Fig. 1.

This handsome insect is well named, as its rich mottlings of
black and warm chestnut-brown bear no small resemblance to
the colours of the tortoiseshell. In some parts of England
this species is tolerably common, while in others it is never
found. The first specimen that I ever took I saw in the
window of a grocer’s shop at Oxford, one of the very last places
where one might have expected such a Butterfly to be found.
It was quite plentiful in Bagley Wood, where any number
could have been taken, and had evidently been blown into the
streets and then attracted by the sugar in the window.

It is common in Kent. Lieut.-Col. C. J. Cox, who has given
great attention to this insect, told me an anecdote of the mode
in which it deposits its eggs. He watched a female deposit an
ego or two on a leaf, and, wishing to rear the insect from the
ego, he cut off the branch and removed it. The Butterfly,
however, continued to fly up and down near the spot, and
refused to leave it, evidently searching for the leaf on which

|
.

PLATE XIIL

BUTTERFLIES.

1. Vanessa polychloros.
2, Vanessa Atalanta.
3. Vanessa cardui.

PLANTS :—
Meadow Crane’s Bill (Geranium pratense). Above, on Right.
Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus). In Middle.

THE TORTOISESHELL AND ATALANTA. 399

she had deposited her eggs. The branch was then restored to its
place in the tree, as nearly as could be done. The Butterfly at
once saw and recognised it, proceeded to the same leaf, and
deposited more eggs upon it.

Tur Smati TorroisksHELL, or Common TortorsesuELL ( Va-
nessa wrticce), is coloured much like the preceding insect, but
the hues are rather brighter, and the whole pattern of the
wings defined more clearly, and looking more compressed. It
is too familiar to need any detailed description. The cater-
pillar feeds on the common stinging-nettle, and may be found in
great numbers upon it, sometimes being so numerous as to
blacken it with the caterpillars clustering upon the leaves,
which are drawn together with the silken threads spun by the
larve. The pupa is suspended by the tail, and is very angular.
Its colour is brown, mottied and spotted with black, and
having several patches of a brilliant gold, as if burnished gold
leaf had been laid upon it. This beautiful colouring has given
to the pupa the name of Chrysalis, this being a Greek word,
signifying anything that is gilded. The golden hue is un-
fortunately very transient, and vanishes as soon as the Butterfly
has emerged from the pupal envelope.

The splendid, and fortunately common, insect, the Rer
ApmiraL (Vanessa atalanta), a figure of which is given on
Plate XIII. Fig. 2, comes next in order. This Butterfly can be
at once recognised by the broad scarlet band near the upper
wings and along the edge of the lower wings, a bold and con-
spicuous style of colouring possessed by no other British insect.
The ground-colour of the wings is velvet-black, diversified with
some large white spots on the tips of the upper pair of wings,
and an oval blue spot on the anal angle of the lower pair. Itis
easy enough to describe the markings of the upper surface, but
those of the lower surface are almost beyond description.
Suffice it to say that the colour of the first pair is much like
that of the upper surface, only paler ; while the under surface
of the lower wings exhibits a most complicated mottling of
brown, grey, blue, green, ochre, and black, arranged in a
marvellously artistic manner, and forming a series of definite,
but complicated patterns.

If this beautiful Butterfly were only rare, it would be the

400 INSECTS AT HOME.

admiration of all collectors. As it is plentiful, it is only
admired by those who value Nature for her own sake, and
not for the sake of mere rarity. Being one of the latter kind, I
have a most enthusiastic admiration for the Red Admiral, and
am never tired of examining it in the cabinet, or watching it
as it flits at liberty in the open air, with the graceful flight
that has earned for the insect the name of Atalanta.

The larva of this Butterfly is a nettle-feeder, and is quite
common. It is not, however, so often seen as that of the
Tortoiseshell Butterfly, as it always feeds in concealment,
making a shelter by drawing together with silk the leaves of
the plant on which it feeds.

Even when it has ceased eating, andis about to pass into the
pupal state, it has the instinct of concealment strong upon it,
and ensures a convenient retreat by nibbling the stalk of the
nettle nearly asunder, some four or five inches from the top.
The severed portion, of course, falls over, and is spun up with
silk so as to leave a hollow cavity within which the caterpillar
can undergo its changes. The chrysalis, which may be found
at the end of summer, is suspended by its tail from the roof
of this habitation, and there hangs until the perfect insect
makes its escape. This chrysalis, ike that of the preceding
insect, is adorned with brilliant golden patches on the sides,
and its general colour is warm grey, mottled with black.

Mr. Newman mentions that he has captured the Atalanta at
night, as it was feeding on the sugar which had been laid
out for the purpose of attracting moths. Jam not aware that
any other Butterfly has been known to depart so greatly from
the usual day-flying habits of the group. Asin the case with
other insects of the same genus, though the Butterflies are
developed in the autumn, the two sexes take no notice of each
other until the following year, but occupy themselves with
flitting about from flower to flower, and in sucking their
sweet juices. During the winter they hibernate, and at the
beginning of the following summer they seek their mates and
lay their eggs, from which the future brood is to proceed. |

In consequence of this habit, those specimens which appear
at the beginning of summer are never in fine condition as to
their plumage, their wings being battered and faded during the
previous year. Those, however, which make their appearance

j
,
}
t

THE PAINTED LADY. 401

in August, are in their full splendour, and, unless the collector
prefer rearing them from the caterpillar, he should select the
month of August as the time for the capture of specimens for
the cabinet.

Although it can fly rapidly when it chooses, it seldom
takes the trouble to do so, and appears, indeed, to be so en-
gaged in searching for and taking food that it may be
captured without the least difficulty. Ripe and fallen fruit is
always a great attraction for this Butterfly. One of the most
magnificent sights I ever saw was due to this predilection for
fruit. An egg-plum tree had been entirely neglected, and its
fruit permitted to ripen on the boughs and then fall to the
ground. A lot of insects took advantage of such an oppor-
tunity, and the tree and its vicinity swarmed with wasps,
ants, and other lovers of sweets.

But the most striking point was the host of Atalanta
Butterflies which surrounded the tree. They were approaching
in every direction; the branches were crowded with them,
and the fallen fruit upon the ground was so covered with
them that neither fruit nor ground could be seen for the
Butterflies, as they waved their black and scarlet wings gently
up and down. So completely occupied were they with their
rich banquet that they took no notice of me as I stood by
them, and even permitted me to pick them up with my fingers.
The sun was shining brightly on this wonderful assemblage,
and brought out the grandly contrasted colours until they
shone with tropical splendour. I never saw such a sight before,
and am not likely to see such a one again.

On Plate XIII. Fig. 3 is shown the pretty Butterfly called,
on account of the variegated colouring of the under surface,
the Painted Lady. Its scientific title is Vanessa carduwi.
The shape and position of the markings can be seen by
reference to the illustration. The colour of the upper wings
is deep black. The five spots near the tip are pure white,
and the pale markings on the dise of the wings are warm
chestnut. There is a slight white scalloping along the edge of
the wing. The iower pair of wings are coloured in much the
same way, but the only white portion is the scalloped edging
The bases of the wings are thickly covered with scales of a

DD

402 INSECTS AT HOME.

golden lustre. I would here take the opportunity of advising
any of my readers who possess a microscope, to examine care~-
fully the scales of every lepidopterous insect that they capture,
taking a few from both surfaces of the wings. If care be taken,
these lovely objects can be removed without damaging the
beauty of the wings. The under surface of the lower wings is
beautifully mottled with various shades of brown and yellow,
and near the edges are four rounded spots in a row, the two
exterior spots being twice as large as the others. Each of the
large spots is composed of a glittering green centre, surrounded
by warm brown. Round the brown is a stripe of yellow, and
the whole is surrounded with a bold black line. The two
smaller spots have no black outline.

In its larval state, the Painted Lady feeds on the thistle
(Carduus arvensis), from which the insect derives its specific
name of Cardui. It prefers the young and tender leaves of
the plant, and draws their edges together, so as partially to
enclose itself in the leaf. When it changes into a pupa, it
suspends itself by the tail, and there remains until it emerges
in its perfect form, somewhere about August.

In its habits, the Painted Lady much resembles the pre-
ceding insects, becoming developed in the autumn of one year,
but not pairing until the spring of the next year. It is fond
of flitting about in search of honey-bearing flowers, and
especially frequents the teazle, on which flower the Red
Admiral, the Great Tortoiseshell, and the Peacock Butter-
fly often bear it company. I have taken all those insects
plentifully on teazles in Bagley Wood, near Oxford.

As in the case with other Butterflies, the Painted Lady i is
wonderfully intermittent in its appearance, sometimes heing
absent or extremely scarce for several years, and then appearing
in swarms for a year or two in succession. I well remember
the year in which I first saw this beautiful insect in any
number. I had in my cabinet one solitary, battered specimen,
the only one that I had ever seen since I had begun to collect.
One autumnal day I went to Bagley Wood, and near the road
saw a Painted Lady fly into a gravel-pit. I went after it at
best speed, jumped into the pit, and found it absolutely full of
Painted Ladies. The Butterflies had taken some strange fancy
to the place, and were flying through it almost in streams.

THE PEACOCK AND PURPLE EMPEROR. 403

They were all in splendid condition, and in a very short time
I had captured a sufficient number to fill my box.

WE must not complete our notice of this genus without a
brief mention of the beautiful Pzacock Butrerry ( Vanessa
Io), so conspicuous on account of the ‘eyes’ or circular marks
on both pairs of wings. The under surface of the insect is
brown-black, mottled in a most curious but almost indescrib-
able manner. Whether the sombre colouring be intended for
defence I cannot say, but there is no doubt that the insect
often owes its life to the contrast between the upper and
under surface. When a Peacock Butterfly is chased, it has a
way of flying round a tree trunk, and settling on it, closing
its wings at the same time, and bringing them together over
its back. In this attitude it looks wonderfully like a dead
leaf, and the change from a large, active, beautifully-coloured
butterfly, to a thin, black, shrivelled leaf, is so great and so
rapid that scarcely any eye but that of an entomologist would
detect the insect.

The larva is one of the nettle-feeders, and is mostly very
common, in some places quite as plentiful as that of the Tor-
toiseshell, while in others it has to be searched for carefully
before it can be found. The general colour of the caterpillar
is black, and the body is covered with a great number of long
spines, which may, perhaps, defend it from the poisonous spikes .
of the plant on which it feeds. The chrysalis is green in
colour, brighter when the change is first made, and darker
when the future Butterfly is nearly developed.

On Woodcut XLII. Fig. 3, is shown one of our handsomest
Butterflies, the celebrated Purrtr Emprror, or EmPERor oF
Morocco (Apatura Iris). This genus differs from Vanessa in
having the club of the antenne long instead of knobbed, as is
shown at Fig. b, and the club nearly straight. The eyes are
without hairs, the hind wings scalloped, and the first pair of
legs are not used for walking. At Fig. a is shown one of these
partially developed limbs. Those legs that are seen at Fig. 3
are the second pair, the first pair being tucked up under the
front of the thorax. Only one species inhabits England.

Those of my readers who do not restrict their studies to

DD 2

404 INSECTS AT HOME.

contemporary literature are doubtless familiar with ‘ Peter
Pindar’s’ poem on Sir Joseph Banks and the ‘Emperor of
Morocco,’ certainly one of the best of his inimitable witticisms
at the expense of science. The present insect is the ‘ Emperor

of Morocco, who led Sir Joseph such a chase, and left him at *

last in the hands of an exasperated market-gardener.

XLII.

1, Arge Galathea. 2. Erebia blandina. 3. Apatura Iris.
a. Apatura, non-walking fore-leg. b. Do., club of antenna, c. Do., larva.

Its popular name of Purple Emperor is a very appropriate
one, at least as far as regards the male insect. The ground
colour of the upper wings is brown-black in some lights, but in
others is a rich shining purple, this effect being produced by
the shape and arrangement of the scales, as can be seen by
examining a specimen under the microscope. The light-
coloured bands and spots are white, pure white in the male,
and yellowish-white in the female. Beneath, the general colour
is rust-red, blotched with black, grey, and here and there blue,

\

— = <=

CATCHING THE PURPLE EMPEROR. 405

When I first began to collect the British Butterflies, the
Purple Emperor was considered one of the great prizes of
entomologists—hardly inferior, in fact, to the Great Copper,
which seems to have totally disappeared from the country. In
those days the Emperor was supposed to restrict himself to the
topmost branches of the oak-trees, and entomologists were
accustomed to supply themselves with nets furnished with long
handles made on the principle of the fishing-rod, the handle of
the net being at least thirty feet in length. It so happened
that I was engaged in getting together an illustrative series of
insects for the Anatomical Museum at Oxford, and happening
to possess a specimen of the Purple Emperor, I merged my
personal feelings in the public welfare, and presented to the
Museum my valued specimen.

There is a well-known saying to the effect that ‘ Virtue is
rewarded,’ and so it turned out on this occasion. A very short
time after the personal sacrifice above-mentioned, a friend sent
me a couple of Purple Emperors, male and female, which he
had captured in Bagley Wood, while they were drinking in a
puddle. Since that time the habits of the insect have been
carefully studied, and the result has been that the Purple
Emperor has been rendered comparatively familiar. Beautiful
as it is, it has a strange liking for the most repulsive viands.
There is nothing it likes better than the juices of putrid
animal substances, and a dead dog or cat, which would drive
away any human being who possessed nostrils and was not an
entomologist, would attract the Purple Emperor to a rich
banquet.

Now-a-days entomologists who wish to catch the Purple
Emperor do not trouble themselves to procure nets with pre-
posterous handles—weapons with which I scarcely believe that
a successful stroke can be made. They now look out for a

secluded open space or glade in the wood, situated, if possible,

on wet soil, lay on the ground a piece of bullock’s liver, a dead
rat or rabbit, or, in fact, any kind of animal substance, and go
away again. The best plan is to make a circle of half a mile
or so in diameter, and lay down the baits at distances of a few
hundred yards.

In two or three days, according to the weather, they come
back again, and steal quietly to the spot. Should the district

406 INSECTS AT HOME.

be one that is favoured by this insect, very few of the baits will
be without a Purple Emperor either settling on it or being at
hand; and, like the Red Admiral, when engaged in taking
food, the insect is so absorbed in its occupation that it can be
taken without the least difficulty. If the locality be well
selected, and the baits judiciously laid, it is very seldom that
the entomologist will complete his round without having the
opportunity of capturing this splendid Butterfly. So successful
is this method of capturing the Purple Emperor that one
entomologist succeeded in taking eighty specimens in nine
days. .

The caterpillar or larva is a very odd-looking creature, and
is represented on Woodcut XLII. Fig. ¢. The most conspicuous
points in this curious larva are the two horns with which the
head is furnished. It feeds on the sallow, and, when partly
erown, assumes so nearly the colour of the leaf that a sharp eye
is needed to detect it. There are many markings and shades
of colour in the caterpillar which need no notice, the general
green hue and the horned head affording characteristics which
cannot be mistaken. The perfect insect appears somewhere in
July, the precise date depending much on the weather.

Next comes the family of the Satyridew, in which the first
pair of legs are not used for walking, the club of the antenna
is bold and abrupt, and the wings are rounded. The larva has
no spines, and the pupa is nearly smooth. Our first example is the
Marsiep Waits (Arge Galathea), which is drawn on Woodcut
XLII. Fig. 1. The colours of this pretty insect are simply

black and yellowish white, the amount of yellow differing —

according to the sex. The under surface is paler than the
upper. The first pair of wings have a small eye-like spot near
the tip, and on each of the second pair there are six similar
spots arranged in a row near the edge of the wing. The row is
not complete, there being a gap between the third and fourth
spots. The larva feeds on grass, and the pupa does not
suspend itself, nor indeed take any trouble in securing a
resting-place. The perfect insect appears in July, and is very —
plentiful in many places, while in others it is scarcely ever —
-seen. The sea-coasts of Kent are favoured localities of this
‘Butterfly, especially the country near Dover, Folkestone, and

THE ‘BROWN’ BUTTERFLIES. 407

Margate. Some years ago I took a great number of Marbled
Whites in a field near St. Margaret’s Bay, and could have filled
a cabinet with them in a few hours. Sometimes this Butterfly
frequents a certain pasture field, which is a sure locality for it.
Then if the field be ploughed up, and devoted to corn or
clover, the Butterfly vanishes entirely from the neighhour-
hood.

ANOTHER insect belonging to this family is given on Woodcut
XLII. Fig. 2. Its popular name is the NortHern Brown
(Erebia blandina or Medea). The latter of these names is
the older in date, and although not so familiar as the former
name, has been restored by Mr. Newman on the score of
priority.

The colour of this Butterfly is deep blackish-brown, with an

indistinct broad band of rust-red running nearly parallel with

the hind margin of the wings. These bands are adorned with
black eye-like spots, with centres of pure white. The two first
spots of the upper wings are always united so as to form a
figure of 8. The under surface of this Butterfly is very pretty,
the colours being disposed in a very bold manner. The first
pair of wings are dark-brown, with a very broad yellowish band
in which are eye-like spots corresponding with those of the
upper surface. The second pair of wings are lable to much
variety, but may be generally described as grey with two broad
waved dark bands. Several little black spots with white centres
occupy the space between the bands.

This is not a common insect, inasmuch as it belongs more
especially to the northern portions of our island ; and, though it
is very plentiful in some parts of Scotland, is the rarest of the
rare in the southern counties.

There are several other well-known Butterflies belonging to
this family, but our space will not permit of description. Such, for
example, are the SprckLteD Woop Borrerriy (Satyrus Egeria),
the Watt Burrerry (Satyrus Megera), the Grariine (Satyrus
Semele), the Mzapow-Brown (Satyrus Janira), and the RincLer
(Satyrus Hyperanthus), the last-mentioned insect being re-
markable for the fact that the upper surface of the wings is
perfectly plain brown, while the under surface is warm brown
adorned with sixteen spots, each spot having a white centre,

408 INSECTS AT HOME.

then a broad black circle, and then an outer circle of white.
It is an extremely variable Butterfly, both in the size and
number of the spots; but ninety-nine specimens out of a
hundred have the sixteen spots, three on each of the upper
wings and five on each of the lower wings, the latter being
arranged in two groups consisting of three and two spots. All
these Butterflies are plentiful, and can be caught without
difficulty in lanes or fields, their flight being sluggish, and
never rising much above the ground.

We now pass to the family of the Lycznide, in which are
included those small, but very lovely Butterflies which are
known by the popular name of Blues and Coppers, in allusion
to the prevalent tints of their wings. The latter insects are
seldom seen except by those who go to look for them, but the
former are prevalent everywhere, fluttering low over wide
downs, settling on wild flowers, or aiding in adorning our
gardens with their beautifully variegated wings. I well re-
collect that one of the chief pleasures of my childhood was to
watch for the appearance of the Blue Butterflies in our garden
at Oxford, a locality for which some of the species had a special
predilection.

They might well frequent that garden, for I never killed but
oue of them, and that was for the purpose of examining the
spots on the under surface by the aid of a small pocket
microscope—to which instrument I owe much of my attach-
ment to Natural History. Children have strange ideas in their
little heads, and in my own brain as a child was a deeply
rooted conviction of some affinity between the Blue Butterflies
and the flower of the sweet-pea. I have plenty of children of
my own now, but I can never see a Blue Butterfly without
thinking of a clump of sweetspeas, an old garden wall, a snow-
berry bush, and a lattice-sided summer-house, covered with
vine-leaves and grape-clusters. Neither wall, bush, summer-
house, nor vine has now an outward existence, but they are as
vividly present to my memory whenever I see a Blue Butterfly
as they were when I was a child of six years old.

On Woodecut XLIII. Figs. 1 and 2, is shown the rarest,
even if not the most beautiful, of these Butterflies, the

THE GREAT COPPER BUTTERFLY. 409

celebrated Great Copper Burrerriy (Polyommatus or Chry-
sophanus dispar).

The two sexes of this insect are very differently coloured.
The male is fiery copper above, with a little blackish spot and a
black hind margin to the upper wings. The lower wings are
also edged with black, and have a slight streak in the middle.

ALIIL

1. Polyommatus dispar, female. 2. Do., male, under surface. 3. Polyommatus Adonis
4. Hesperia Paniscus. 5. Hesperia alveolus. a. Polyemmatus dispar, larva. 6. Do., pupa
c. Do., antenna. d. Do., palpus.

The female has the upper wings marked with a broad black
edge and a number of black spots, as shown in the illustration.
Her under wings are brown, edged and spotted with black, and
have a copper band parallel with the hind margin. Beneath,
both sexes are alike, the upper wings being orange, diversified
with a number of deep black spots, most of which are sur-
rounded with a grey line. The under wings are grey, with an

410 INSECTS AT HOME.

orange band corresponding with the copper band of the other
side, and a number of grey-edged black spots.

Fig. 1 represents the female, and Fig. 2 the male.

The larva is a sluggish and slug-like creature, feeding on the
great water dock (Rumex hydrolapathum), which only grows
in wet places. It moves very slowly, and, as the colour almost
exactly resembles that of the leaf on which it feeds, it is not
easily seen. This caterpillar is shown at Fig. a, and the pupa
at Fig. b, Fig. ¢ represents one of the antenne, Fig. d, the
palpus.

As far as England goes, this handsome Butterfly is now
extinct. In former years it was tolerably plentiful in the fens
of Cambridge and Huntingdon, but no specimens have been
seen for many years, and, in all probability, the last British
specimens were taken in 1848.

A goop example of the Blue Butterflies is given on Wood-
eut XLII. Fig. 3. This is the Cuirpen Brive (Polyommatus
Adonis).

The colour of this pretty species is bright shining blue, ©
with a delicate white line on the costal margin of the fore-
wings, and a black line on the hind margin. The fringe of the
wing is pure white, with a black spot at the end of each
nervure. The female is brown on the upper surface, with a
slight gloss of blue, and on the fore-wings is an indistinct
blackish spot on the disc, and a number of small spots parallel
with the hind margin. Both sexes have the under-side of the
wings brownish, with a number of little spots. This Butterfly
is found on chalk downs and similar places, but seems to be
restricted to those spots where there is a substratum of
chalk.

Passtne of hecessity by the rest of the Blues and the little
Butterflies called by the name of Hair-streaks, we come to
the family of Hesperide, popularly known by the name of
Skippers, probably on account of their quick, uncertain flight.
They are all small insects, coloured with brown, black, grey,
and white, and very thickly and clumsily made, so that many
persons unskilled in entomology take them for moths. They
have the fore-iegs fitted for walking, and when at rest they

THE SKIPPERS. 4\1

hold their wings only partially erect, and never pressed closely
together, as is the case with the previously-mentioned Butter-
flies. They are plentiful in country lanes, and are often
taken in the net when the stroke is made at other insects,
their vague and almost jerking flight carrying them into it.

The pupz of these insects resemble those of several moths
in the manner in which they are protected during their help-
less state of existence. When the larva is full-fed, it spins a
cocoon among the leaves of its food-plant, and in that silken
cell awaits its change into the perfect condition.

The species which is represented on Woodeut XLIII. Fig. 4,
is the Chequered Skipper (Hesperia paniscus). The colour
of its wings is dark brown, upon which are a number of yellow
spots, arranged as shown in the illustration. The antenne are
bright yellow beneath, and banded with black and yellow above.
It is rather a local species, and is found chiefly in the Midland
counties. It appears in the beginning of summer.

A MoRE common species, the GrizzLEep Sxipper (Hesperia
malve or alveolus) is shown on Woodcut XLII. Fig 5. The
wings are nearly black, sprinkled with white spots, as shown in
the illustration. The antenne are white, ringed with black.
There are, however, several varieties of colouring, one of which
is so constant that the insects have been considered to form a
different species, under the name of Scarce Grizzled Skipper.

The larva of this species feeds on the common bramble, and
draws together the edges of the leaves, so as to form a tem-
porary habitation. Its colour is brownish green, with a few
dark stripes, and the pupa is greyish white, spotted with black.
‘The perfect insect appears at the beginning of summer.

CHAPTER II.
HETEROCERA, OR MOTHS.

THE NOCTURNI, INCLUDING THE SPHINGES AND BOMBYCES OF LINNAUS.

Ir has already been mentioned that there is no difficulty in
distinguishing English butterflies from English Moths. Simi-
larly, there is none in distinguishing English Moths from Eng-
lish butterflies.

In the first place, the antenne of these insects are not
knobbed at the end, but pointed. Some of them have the
ends of the antenne much enlarged, as may be seen by
reference to the Moths on Plate XIV. and Woodcut XLIV. In
all these, however, the club of the antenna is elongated, and
the end is pointed. Moreover, whereas in the butterfly the
shaft of the antenna is straight and simple, in many of the
Moths it is curved, and in others is adorned with a feathering,
sometimes on one side and often on both. For this reason the
scientific name of Hurrmrocura, or ‘ Varied horns, has been
given to these insects, just as Rhopalocera, or ‘ Clubbed horns’
is given to the butterflies.

Then, the wings of a Moth at rest are not pressed to-
gether over the back, like those of the butterflies, but either.
lie flat on the body or along its sides. The body, moreover,
has no waist like that of the butterfly. . Keeping these few and
obvious distinctions in his mind, the young entomologist need
never hesitate to decide to which great group any lepidopterous
insect belongs.

Tur first family is that of the Sphingide or Sphinx-Moths.
They derive their name, not from any peculiarity in the Moths
themselves, but in their larvae, some of which are thought to
bear in their attitude a fanciful resemblance to the well-

DEATH’S HEAD MOTH. 413

known Sphinx of Egypt. The Moths themselves are popularly
and appropriately called Hawk-Moths, on account of the great
swiftness of their flight, which very much resembles that of
the hawk tribe. Their whole structure, indeed, shows that
they are made for rapid flight, and, if we compare them with
the swift-flying birds, especially the swallows and the hummine-
birds, we shall find that the outlines of Moths and birds are
wonderfully similar. Their bodies are of moderate length,
and pointed at the tail, and their wings are long, strong, stiff,
narrow, and pointed. In fact, if the shadow of a humming-
bird and of a Hawk Moth were thrown side by side on the
same surface, it would not be easy to tell which was the
shadow of the bird and which of the insect.

With a very few exceptions, these Moths fly only at night or
in the dusk of the evening, so that to watch their flight is not
an easy matter. The best plan is, on some moonlight night,
to take a stand near some honey-bearing flowers, to remain
perfectly still, and watch quietly. Should there be Hawk-
Moths in the neighbourhood, some of them are tolerably sure
to come to the flowers, and to feed in their own peculiar
manner, by poising themselves in mid-air on their rapidly
quivering wings, and thrusting their sucking-tubes or trunks
into the recesses of the flower. As these Moths will not fly by
day, and as the partial darkness prevents their movements from
being seen, it is better to look out for the well-known
Humming-bird Hawk-Moth, which does fly by day, and is a
very bold insect, allowing itself to be approached quite closely.

Ovr first example of the Hawk-Moths is the magnificent
Dzatn’s Heap Morn (Acherontia Atropos), a figure of which is
given on Plate XIV. Fig. 1.

This splendid creature ranks among the very largest of our
insects, inasmuch as the spread of its wings is very consider-
able, and the body is thick and heavily made. The upper
surface of the fore wings is warm-brown, with bands and
mottlings of a darker hue, and a little white spot on the disc.
The hind wings are yellow, with two black bands. The
thorax is densely covered with a soft velvet-like down, feeling
to the touch very much like the fur of the mole. The colour
is a very deep black-brown, and in the middle is a yellow

414 ' INSECTS AT HOME.

mark which bears the most startling resemblance to a skuil
and the two collar bones. The hair is so long that the shape
of the skull can be altered by pressure. The body is yellow,
with a longitudinal black stripe along the middle, and six
black transverse bands, each marking the edge of a segment.
Beneath, the body and wings are yellow, with an indistinct
dark band across the middle of each wing and a slightly
darkened edging. ‘The antennz are very thick, covered with
down, and furnished at the tips with a sharp hook.

In fact, the chief characteristic of this insect is hair, with
which the body, thorax, head, antennze, and legs are thickly
covered, even the wings have a soft, downy aspect, which is
due to the structure of the scales. If some of these scales be

detached, and examined by means of a microscope, they will —

be seen to be very large, and increasing in width from the base
to the tip, which is modified into four or five long points.

The larva of this Moth is of enormous size, as may be seen
by reference to Plate XIV. Fig. 2, in which the larva is drawn
of its natural size. It is a very handsome caterpillar, and
exceedingly variable in tint, the general colour varying
through different shades of yellow, green, and grey. The
whole surface is covered with very tiny black dots, and on
each side are seven diagonal blue or purple stripes, edged with
white. - Near the end of the tail is a curious horn-like ap-
pendage, curved downwards and then slightly recurved upwards
near the point. The horn, contrary to the usual fashion of such
horns, is very rough and covered with tubercles.

It feeds on various plants, of which the jessamine and the
potato are the favourites, though it may be found in the
snowberry, the tea-tree, and the deadly nightshade, this plant
being allied to the potato. This caterpillar is invariably
called a locust by the country people. As both the caterpillar
and Moth are nocturnal feeders, although the country be
covered with potato-fields, and the insect be quite plentiful, it
will be seen as seldom as if it were one of the rarest of species.
In the neighbourhood of my house there are several large
potato-fields, and I often have these splendid Moths brought
to me, so that I have been enabled to supply my friends with
specimens, and to watch their ways when in confinement.

One of the most remarkable points in connection with this

CRY OF THE DEATH’S HEAD MOTH. 415

insect is its capability of producing sounds—a capability which
is scarcely* less striking than the skull depicted upon its
thorax. If seized, or alarmed in any way, it produces—for I
cannot say utters—a sharp squeaking sound, something like
the cry of a mouse. It was always easy to make my Death’s
Head Moths squeak, nothing more being required than to
introduce a little stick under the glass shade which covered
them, and to press one of their feet. The aggrieved Moth
would then crouch as low as possible, and, with a sort of shiver
or tremble of the whole body, out came the squeak.

Although this sound is familiar to entomologists, no one has
yet discovered its source. Some have thought that it is caused
by the rubbing of the head against the thorax, some by the
attrition of the antennze and trunk, and some by the friction of
the thorax against the abdomen. ‘These theories are, however,
neutralised by the fact that not only can the perfect insect
produce the squeak, but that the caterpillar can do so, which
possesses neither trunk nor antenne, and has no distinctive
head, thorax, or abdomen.

It is a remarkable point that agricultural labourers, who
have the very best opportunities of ascertaining the habits of
living beings, scarcely ever do so, and when they do are
invariably afraid of them. The ominous-looking mark on the
thorax has always caused the insect to be looked on with dread,
not only in this country but on the Continent generally, in the
southern parts of which it is very plentiful. The power of
producing a sound is another cause of fear, and I have else-
where narrated an amusing incident, where a whole circle of
village people were standing around a Death’s Head Moth that
had by some mischance got into the churchyard. Not one of
them dared touch it, and at last it was killed by the village
blacksmith, who courageously took a long jump and came down
on the unfortunate Moth with his iron-shod boots.

In this country it certainly does no harm, but in Southern
Europe it is said to enter bee-hives and lick the honey from
the cells.

Owing to the vast quantity of hair with which the body is
covered it is of some consequence to secure specimens that are
not damaged by being rubbed, as is generally the case with
those that are captured by hand. The best mode of obtaining

416 INSECTS AT HOME.

really perfect specimens is to rear them from the caterpillar.
Labourers are not much afraid of the caterpillar, though they
are of the perfect insect, and the easiest mode of obtaining
both the larva and the pupa is to go to a potato-field in which
the labourers are at work, and offer a small sum for uninjured
‘locusts’ and ‘ ground-grubs.’

It will be as well to take a pupa in order to show them the
exact object that is wanted. Drawings, however faithful, are, I
find, utterly useless, the uneducated eye being absolutely unable
to comprehend them. Some time ago, wanting a few living
specimens of the Flour Beetle (Tenebrio molitor), described on
page 146, I made some careful coloured drawings of the insect,
took them to different bakers, and asked them to procure some
specimens. I do not know whether baking is a business that
atfects the human intellect or the human eye, but in every case
the bakers brought me a paper bag full of cockroaches. And
even when the different size, colour, and shape of the two
insects was pointed out, the bakers in question could not be
made to understand but that one insect ‘ would do’ as well as
another.

The caterpillars of the Death’s Head Moth being obtained,
and a continual supply of fresh potato-leaves ensured, they
should be kept as much as possible in the dark. When they
are full-fed they should be placed on light soft earth, into
which they will burrow, and undergo their transformations
underground. It is as well to plant in the soil a few sticks up
which the Moth can climb when it emerges, and to which it
can cling while it dries its wings. Care must be taken to keep
the earth moderately moist, placing damp but not wet moss
upon it. Unless this precaution be taken, the outer skin of
the pupa will become so hard that the insect will not be able
to make its way out when it is fully developed. I have lost
several Moths in this way, and have had one or two in a very
maimed and imperfect condition, their wings being quite
shrivelled, and scarcely one-sixth their proper size.

Against this evil the Moth-breeder can easily guard, but
there is one against which he is powerless, and that is the
presence of the ichneumon-fly, which has been described on
page 322. It is impossible to obviate or ameliorate this
danger, for, even if there were any indications of the pavasite’s

SPURGE HAWK-MOTH. 417

presence, it could not be extracted without killing the cater-
pillar. Supposing, however, that the Moth has successfully
made its exit from the pupal shell, and has shaken out its
wings to the fullest extent, it can be killed by placing it under
a glass, and introducing into the same some bruised young
laurel-leaves. I find that the most effectual mode of employing
the laurel is to take a dozen small leaves, wrap them in muslin,
roll them up tightly, and, with two or three blows of a mallet,
erush them. The folded muslin can then be slipped under the
glass, and in a very short time the Moth quietly expires, su
that an absolutely perfect and bright specimen is obtained.

When the insect is quite dead the abdomen should be care-
fully severed from the body, and the whole of the contents
removed by enlarging the little opening which will then be left
at its base. The empty abdomen should then be stuffed with
cotton wool, care being taken to make it full large in order to
allow for shrinking, and when it is dry it may be joined to the
thorax without leaving the least trace of the junction. It will be
as well to pour a few drops of benzole into the abdomen and
also into the thorax, as this precaution will keep off the mites
and other creatures that work destruction among dried insects.
All large-bodied Moths should be thus treated, and some of
them can scarcely be preserved from the unsightly ‘ grease,’ so
hated by entomologists, without this useful substance.

For the purpose of rearing the Moth from the larva, the
latter should be obtained about August, as it will then be
nearly full-fed, and save a vast amount of trouble in procuring
a supply of food. The pupze themselves may be found,under
the soil somewhere about September.

On Woodcut XLIV. Fig. 3, may be seen a figure of the
pretty and rare Spurae Hawx-Morn (Deilephila euphorbic).
The colour of the upper wings of this insect is grey, with two
large olive-brown spots and a diagonal band of the same colour.
The lower wings are pink, with a large black patch near the
base, a black band nearly parallel with the margin, and a white
spot at the anal angle.

Specimens of these Moths have been bred from the cater-

illar, but I believe that none have been captured with the
net, so that of the many specimens which are found in private
E F

\

418 INSECTS AT HOME.

collections nearly all are impostors, having been brought from
the Continent, and then sold as genuine British specimens.
The professional collectors, who make a living by the sale of
insects, are terribly addicted to this trick, and although several
of them are good practical naturalists, and have done service to
science by discovering the haunts of sundry rare insects, the
generality have no more conscience than dog-dealers or pigeon-

ALIV

es ee

1. Anthrocera filipend le. 2. Sesia apiformis. 3. Deilephila ewphorbie.
a, Leilephila, larva. d, Anthrocera, larvae c. Do., cocoon,

fanciers, and will invent a history for any insect so that they
get a good price for it.

The larva of this Moth is shown at Fig. a of the same
Woodeut, and will serve as a good example of the usual form
among Hawk-Moth caterpillars, one of the most conspicuous
characteristics being the sharply pointed horn at the end of its
body. The use of this horn is exceedingly problematical. That
it must serve some purpose is evident, but what that purpose

EYED HAWK-MOTH. 419

may be is still a question. There are many parts in many
animals which seem to serve no purpose, and are evidently the
rudiments of some organ which has not been developed. This
horn, however, is clearly not within this category, as it is far
too large and conspicuous not to be of real importance. At
first sight it looks as if it were a weapon, but in the first place,
a caterpillar needs no weapon, and in the second case, the horn
is incapable of being used as a weapon. Take any Hawk-Moth
caterpillar, and if roughly handled it will twist itself about in
its efforts to escape, but it will not even attempt to pierce the
hand with its horn. And, even if it did wish to do so, the
position of the horn is about the worst that could be selected
for the purpose. There is no doubt that the formidable-looking
horn does deter ignorant people from touching the caterpillar,
but I cannot believe that so conspicuous an appendage was
given to the larva for so limited a purpose.

All the caterpillars of the Hawk-Moths are prettily coloured,
while in some of them the hues may almost be termed brilliant.
In the present species the general colour is black, relieved by a
vast number of tiny white dots. The head is red, and a red
streak runs along the back from the head to the horn, the basal
part of which is red, the tip being black. The large spots
which are seen on the larva are whitish-grey, and beneath them
are smaller spots of the same red as that of the head.

Ow1ne to our limited space, we can but casually glance at
some other British Hawk-Moths. There is, for example, the
Eyep Hawx-Morn (Smerinthus ocellatus), so conspicuous by
the large eyelike spots in the middle of the lower wings, and
the beautiful pink-brown of the upper wings. The larva of
this Moth has a very rough skin, is pale-green in colour,
speckled with white, and has seven diagonal stripes on each
side of the body. ‘The horn is blue.

Then there is the less conspicuous, but really beautiful,
Portar Hawx-Morn (Smerinthus populi), so common in the
summer, clinging to the bark of trees, to rough posts, and
other objects which somewhat resemble it in general colour.
It may be known by the mottled brown of the upper wings,
with a white spot in the middle, and the warm chestnut at the
hase of the lower wings. The caterpillar is rough, like that of

ER 2

420 INSECTS AT HOME.

the last-mentioned species, and is green sprinkled with yellow,
and has seven diagonal yellow stripes on each side. The horn is
yellow above and orange beneath. This caterpillar is plentiful,
and can be beaten out of the boughs of the Lombardy poplar.

This, by the way, is a simple and very effective plan of
securing larve, not to mention perfect insects. Nothing more
is wanted than an umbrella and a long stick. The umbrella is
opened, reversed, and held under the boughs. A smart tap
with the stick is sure to dislodge the caterpillars, and send
them tumbling into the umbrella, whence they can be transferred
to the collecting-box. If bough-beating is to be carried out
on a large scale, it is as well to have a sheet held under the
branches, and then to ascend the tree, and tap every bough
that can be reached. In fact, the poplar can scarcely be
treated in any other manner. The umbrella, however, is
sufficient for ordinary purposes.

As to the collecting-box which has just been mentioned, I
had one which I found extremely useful. It was oval, boldly
domed above, and from the middle of the lid projected a tube
an inch in height, and three-quarters of an inch in diameter.
This was closed with a cork, and through it the caterpillars
were introduced into the box. Unless some such plan be
adopted, the collector is horribly worried by the caterpillars.
There is no difficulty about the first two or three, but when a
dozen or more large caterpillars are in the box, it is no easy
matter to put in one without three or four pushing their way
out, so as to run the risk of being squeezed to death when the
lid is closed. By employing the tube and cork, however, no
such risk is run, and the box can be quite filled with cater-
pillars without one even attempting to escape. Some collectors
suspend the box over their shoulders, but I always kept it in a
pocket, merely fastening it by a string to a buttonhole of the
coat, so as to guard against its loss by falling out of the
pocket. A few small holes should be bored in the lid for the
admission of air. As far as regards size, they should not be
larger than pin-holes, and, as far as regards number, six or
eight are quite enough.

On lime and elm trees may be found the larva of the Liuz
Hawx-Morn (Smerinthus tiliw). This is easily known by the

——- —— ee +

LIME AND PRIVET MOTHS. 421

very deep scalloping of the fore-wings and the prevalence of
olive-green in its colouring. There is some variation in the
arrangement of the markings, but the present species is the
only one in which the deep olive-green is the leading colour,
without any admixture of chestnut or pink. The attitude of
the Moth at rest is a very curious one, the under wings being
completely concealed beneath the upper pair, the scalloped
edges of which, and their mottled surface, have the most
astonishing resemblance to a pair of withered leaves.

The larva is pale green, and covered with very small tubercles,
each being topped with yellow. Along the sides are seven
diagonal stripes of yellow, which are mostly edged with pink.
The horn is blue above and yellow beneath. In most parts of
England this is a very plentiful insect, and can be either bred or
captured without the least difficulty. In my collection, by far
the greater number were bred from the caterpillar, and most of
them from the full-fed larva, which was captured as it was de-
scending the trunks of trees in search of loose soil in which to
bury itself. I have bred considerable numbers of this insect,
and have found no difficulty in rearing them—less difficulty,
in fact, than I have experienced with any Hawk-Moth, except,
perhaps, the Privet Moth, respecting which a few words must
presently be said.

Passina by the Convotvutus Hawx-Mors (Sphina convol-
vuli), we may pause for a while upon the well-known Priver
Morn (Sphinx ligustri), so called in honour of the plant on
which the larva feeds.

This fine Moth is really one of the commonest of British
insects, although seldom seen on account of its nocturnal habits
and the limited amount of the plant on which it mostly feeds.
The Moth itself is a very handsome one, with a wide expanse of
wings, very prettily coloured. The upper wings are very warm
brown, mottled and clouded with dark brown; and the lower
wings are pink, crossed by three nearly horizontal black bands.
The body is pink, banded and striped with black. The caterpillar
is a peculiarly handsome one. It is smooth and green, and has
on each side seven diagonal stripes, the upper part of each stripe
being violet, merging rapidly into white towards the under side.

These caterpillars feed on the common privet, and may

422 INSECTS AT HOME.

almost always be found in profusion where that plant is
present. The best plan for ascertaining the presence or
absence of this larva, is to examine the ground beneath the
plant. If there be some tiny, oblong bundles of masticated
leaves, there is no doubt about the matter, and all that is
required is a fair amount of perseverance.

In consequence of the large size of this larva, it has always
been rather a pet among entomologists, especially after New-
port’s splendid dissections. The horn is rather in the way
when the caterpillar is laid on its back for dissection, but the
various organs are well defined, and give little trouble to the
dissector who undertakes the task of tracing the development
of each organ, from the larval to the perfect state.

ANOTHER of the Hawk-Moths which deserves a passing notice
is the Evyrnant Hawx-Moru (Cherocampa Elpenor). This
species is smaller than those which have been described, and is
a very pretty insect. The upper wings are brown-green, shaded
diagonally with pink, and the lower wings are pink, with black
bases. The thorax and body are coloured like the upper
wings, their ground hue is brown with a green gloss, and there
are four longitudinal pink stripes upon the thorax, while the
sides of the abdomen are pink, and a stripe of the same colour
runs down the centre.

The name of Elephant Moth which is given to it is due, not
to the perfect insect, but to the larva, which possesses the
power of elongating or contracting the three first segments of
the body in a manner which is fancifully thought to resemble
the proboscis of the elephant. The generic title of Chero-
cwmpa, or swine-caterpillar, is given to this and other Moths
on account of this structure of the larva. On either side of the
fourth and fifth segment is a large, black, eye-like mark, which
many persons really think to be the eyes of the caterpillar.
This larva feeds chiefly on the common willow-herb, and may
be found in August. The perfect insect makes its appearance
in June.

WE now come to a very common and interesting insect, well
mown by the popular and appropriate name of HumMiIne-Brrp
Moru (Macroglossa stellatarwm), a figure of which is given on
Plate XIV: Fig 3.

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PLATE XIV.

HAWK MOTHS, os ay

1. Acherontia atropos.

2. Acherontia larva. “a

3. Macroglossa stellatarum, —
4, Macroglossa fuciformia,

rd

PLANT :—

le >

THE HUMMING-BIRD HAWK-MOTH. 423

The colours of this insect are anything but brilliant or con-
spicuous, and yet it is a very pretty Moth. The upper wings
are brown, with a few slight black mottlings, and the lower
wings are warm chrome yellow, with a narrow edging of black.
Beneath, it is coloured much like the lower wings, but the hue
is duller. The thorax and abdomen are of the same colour as
the upper wings, but the latter has some black and white spots
along the sides, which are covered with tufts of black and white
hair, which are spread during flight. There is a tuft of black
hair at the end of the abdomen.

The caterpillar feeds chiefly on the Bedstraw (Galiwm), and,
but for the characteristic horn at the end of the body, would
scarcely be taken for the larva of a Hawk-Moth. Its colour
is greenish brown, sometimes taking a pink tinge, and there
are two lines along the sides, one pink and white, which reaches
to the base of the horn, and the other dull brown, beneath the
lighter line.

In some places, the Humming-bird Hawk-Moth is exceed-
ingly plentiful, while in others it is quite rare. In Kent, it
absolutely swarms in some seasons, but in others only a few
are seen. ‘This variability probably depends much on the
weather. Last year (1870), when we had a continuance of hot
weather in the summer, the Humming-bird Moth appeared in
multitudes ; whereas, in the corresponding part of the present
year (1871) the Moths have been comparatively few and far
between.

Sombre as is the colouring of t.*s insect, I really do not
know any Moth which is more interesting to the spectator.
Fortunately, it flies by day, and, like the lovely bird whose
flight it imitates, revels in the hottest sunshine. If, on a hot
summer day, the observer will take his stand by a jessamine or
other honey-bearing flower, and will quietly wait there, he will
assuredly see a Humming-bird Moth before long, should the
locality be one which is frequented by this insect. Suddenly,
as he is watching a flower, his eyes see a kind of shadowy
form flitting in front of the flowers, and his ears are greeted by
the hum which accompanies the flight of the Moth. Let him
but lift a hand, and the creature is gone—how, or where, it is
impossible to say, so amazingly swift is the darting flight.

Still, though it be gone, it will come back again if no meve-

42-6 INSECTS AT HOME.

ment be made, and, in the same mysterious manner, the Motk
is again hovering in front of the flowers. Presently, it selects
one of them, and, poising itself within an inch or so of the
blossom, its body becomes visible, while its rapidly vibrating
wings look like two grey patches of mist on the sides of the
motionless body. Presently, a wonderfully long and slender
tongue is thrust from the head, plunged deeply into the re-
cesses of the flower, and, thus suspended in mid-air, the insect
takes its sweet repast. It is a very remarkable fact that the
Humming-birds themselves feed in precisely the same manner.

Indeed, the whole bearing of this insect, including the scand
made by its wings, so closely resembles that of the bird, that
many persons who have lived in those parts of the world which
are favoured by the presence of the Humming-birds, have been
so completely deceived by the Moth that they have written
letters to newspapers and scientific journals, asserting that
humming-birds have at last made their way even to England.
There is no better proof of the wonderful resemblance between
the bird and the moth than that persons who have been long
familiar with the former should mistake the latter for it, and
should, moreover, be filled with indignation when practical
entomologists ventured to assert that the creature in question
was a moth, and not a bird.

The boldness of this Moth is as remarkable as its wariness.
It really seems to place such confidence in its magnificent
powers of flight that it despises danger. Let a Humming-bird
Moth take a fancy to a particular flower, and it will be almost
impossible to keep it from that flower. Time after time it may
be driven away, for, as I have already mentioned, even the
lifting of a hand will startle it. But it continually returns to
the same flower, and, sooner or later, takes its fill of the sweet
juices. There is scarcely a year wherein this Moth does not
tind a place in the newspapers under some title or other, some
of them not a little ludicrous. Residents in the East Indies
may well be pardoned for thinking the Moth to be a veritable
humming-bird, but it is not so easy to see why so many persons
should assert that it is the locust of Scripture, should mention
it under that name to the daily journals, and should answer
with .contumelious epithets the letters of entomologists whe

THE BEE HAWK-MOTHS. 425

tell them that locusts and moths are not exactly the same
insects.

The enormously long proboscis or tongue, with which it ex-
tracts the liquid sweets from the flowers, has obtained for the
genus to which this and a few other insects belong, the name
of Macroglossa, or Long-tongue.

Tue next insect on our list is the Narrow-BorDERED BEE
Hawx-Morn (Macroglossa bombyliformis).

According to Mr. Newman, this Moth belongs to the same
genus as the last, but some authors place it in a different
family. Personally, I agree with Mr. Newman, and so accept
his name. This is one of a number of Moths in which the
wings are almost wholly denuded of scales, so that they are
as transparent as those of the Hymenoptera, to some of which
they bear a curious, not to say startling, resemblance.

The present species is called the Bee Hawk-Moth, because,
with its translucent wings and hairy body, it bears a strangely
close resemblance to a humble-bee. Indeed, so precisely do
some of those insects resemble certain bees and wasps that,
even to a practised eye, there is some difficulty in distinguish-
ing them when on the wing. The colouring of this species is
very simple. The edge of the wings is brown, narrow on the
upper wings, and much narrower on the lower pair. The
thorax is brown with a very slight tinge of green. The abdomen
is dun-colour, crossed by three black bands; one a very broad
one at the base of the abdomen, and the two others quite
narrow. There are some tufts of stiff black hair on the sides,
which it spreads when flying, after the manner of the
Humming-bird Moth.

THERE is another allied British Moth belonging to this
genus, namely the Broap-Borprrep Bre Hawx-Moru (Macro-
glossa fuciformis), which is drawn on Plate XIV. Fig. 4. In
this insect the transparent wings are edged with a broad,
chestnut border, the upper wings having a brown, diagonal
spot in the centre, and a large patch of the very deepest
black-green at the base. The thorax and base of the abdomen
are brown with a slight green tinge, as is the tip, the remainder
being warm chestnut brown. Like the preceding insect, it has

426 INSECTS AT HOME.

along the sides some black tufts of hair, which it spreads
during flight.

This beautiful Moth appears about May; but, as it is a
creature of the sun, it is seldom seen, except by experienced
entomologists, who know where and when to look for it.
Sheltered glades and open spaces in woods are its favourite
haunts, but it never appears unless the air be both warm and
still. Should the day be cold and dull, and especially if the
wind should be in the north-east, the practised insect-hunter
knows that he need not trouble himself about this beautiful
and capricious insect.

The larva of this species feeds on several plants, among
which are mentioned the bedstraws, the common lychnis, and
the wood scabious. It is chiefly in consequence of this mode of
feeding that these insects have been separated from the next
group, which bear a great external resemblance to them, but
whose larvee burrow into wood.

Tue next family is that of the Sesiadee, the members of which
have a wonderful resemblance to certain bees, wasps, and flies,
their wings being translucent, and their bodies being elongated
and narrow, quite unlike those of the preceding naked-winged
insects. The antennz have no feathering, and are very often
tipped with a small tuft of hairs. The tongue is not nearly so
long as in the preceding genus, and in most cases the end of
the abdomen is tipped with a spreading brush of hair.

Our first example of these remarkable Moths is the Popiar
Horner Ciuar-wine (Sesia apiformis), which is represented on
Woodeut XLIV. Fig. 2. This remarkable insect affords one of
the best examples of imitation that I know. Only a few hours
before writing this account, I was looking over some rather
neglected drawers of insects, on the glass of which a slight
layer of dust had been allowed to accumulate. I knew that a
Hornet Clear-wing was among them, and yet the insect twice
escaped observation, so strongly does it resemble the hornet
beetle in colour and shape.

The upper wings of this insect are transparent, with a slight
yellowish tinge, and a narrow, dark border. The head is
yellow, aud there is a yellow patch on either side of the brown

THE CLEAR-WINGS. 427

thorax. The abdomen is yellow, with a broad dark-brown
band near the middle, and a very narrow band of a similar
colour nearer the base. The legs are orange-yellow. In fact,
the colouring of this Moth is almost identical with that of the
hornet, the peculiar rich, warm brown of the markings and the
yellow of the ground colour being almost exactly identical
in both insects. f

The caterpillar of this Moth burrows into the wood of the
poplar and aspen, and in its tunnel undergoes all its changes.
When the larva is full-fed, it spins for itself a rather tough
cocoon, made of small fragments of wood bound together with
silk, and the Moth emerges about midsummer. The larva of
this species passes two years in the tree before it changes to
the pupal state.

To this genus, which contains thirteen British species, belong
the lesser Clear-wing Moths, which derive their names from the
singular resemblance which they bear to various flies and
Hymenoptera. They all have slender bodies, tipped with a
spreading brush of hair, and their wings are transparent, with
a black edge, black nervures to the lower wings, and the upper
wings edged and mostly barred with black, brown, or orange.

The commonest of them is the Currant Clear-wing (Sesia
tipuliformis), which may be found in the summer-time resting
on the leaves of the currant. It bears a remarkable resem-
blance to a gnat, whence the name tipuliformis, i.e. formed
like a gnat. There are two longitudinal yellow streaks on the
thorax, and three bars of the same hue across the body.

The larva of this Moth lives inside the twigs and young
branches of the currant, from which it bores out the pith, and
often kills the branch. Indeed, whenever a bough of the
currant begins to wither away without any perceptible cause, a
larva of this Moth may generally be found within it.

One of these curious Moths takes its name from the ant,
another from the chrysis or fire-tail, another from the gall-fly,
and so on. None, however, afford such a perfect example of
imitation as does the Hornet Clear-wing of the poplar, which
would even deceive an entomologist unless examined closely.

Tue familv of the Zeuzeridz is remarkable for the fact that
the females are furnished with a long and hard ovipositor,

428 INSECTS AT HOMP.

by means of which they can introduce their eggs beneath
the bark of the trees on which the caterpillars feed. The
tongue and antenne are short, and the larva is naked, with the
exception of a few scattered hairs. There is a peculiarity in
the chrysalis, which will presently be described.

A very characteristic example of this family is given on
Woodcut XLV. Fig. 1, the insect being popularly and appro-
priately called Woop Lroparp Morn (Zeuzera esculi). This
is a very pretty moth, though the colours are simply white and
black. The white, however, is partially translucent, and the
black is in reality the very deepest blue-green. The figure
represents the female. The male is coloured in a similar
manner, but his antenne are boldly curved, and adorned for the
first half of their length with a deep double comb.

At Fig. a isrepresented the caterpillar of the Wood Leopard,
about half-grown. As may be seen by reference to the illustra-
tion, it very much resembles the perfect insect in markings,
the green colour being white and the spots shining black.
Behind the head is a large black plate. This caterpillar
burrows into the limbs of many trees, especially fruit trees,
but appears to do little, if any, harm to them. Indeed,
Mr. Newman states that fruit trees which are pierced by this
larva bear even more abundantly than those which are
untouched by it.

The perfect insect appears in the middle of summer, and is a
common insect, though it will seldom be found except by
persons who know where and when to look for it. The female
mostly remains near the tree in which she was bred, and may
be found at night clinging to the trunk, where she can be
detected by the aid of a lantern. The male is much bolder,
and flies abroad in search of his mate. He is one of the many
Moths that fly towards a light, and can often be taken by the
simple process of putting a lamp near an open window. Many
entomologists have made quite valuable collections of insects by
this one plan.

With respect to this particular Moth, Mr. W. C. Hewitson
notices, in ‘The Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine,’ for Sep-
tember 1869, a very curious appearance of this insect. * A fort-
night ago, twelve Zeuzera zesculi came down my drawing-room |
chimney. They were all males. What business they had

THE WOOD LEOPARD MOTH. 429

=

there I cannot say. I looked in vain for a female.’ There
is some little difference of opinion respecting the generic
name of this Moth. Professor Westwood states that the right
mode of spelling it is Zenzera, that being the original name
given to it by Latreille, and that Zeuzera is simply the error
of the printer, who had mistaken the letter w for the n, or,
perhaps, had turned the m upside down. Be this as it mav,

7

1, Zeuzera zesculi. 2. Cossus ligniperda, a. Zeuzera, larva. 6. Cossus, larva.

the word Zeuzera is now so universally acknowledged among
entomologists that I have retained it, and simply mention
Mr. Westwood’s correction. ;

There is a peculiarity in the structure of the chrysalis of
this and other Moths of the family. Each segment is fur-
nished on its edges with a row of little hooks by means of
which it can traverse its tunnel nearly as fast as it could
while in the caterpillar state. As the pup of the Lepide-

430 INSECTS AT HOME.

ptera generally are quiescent, and few can do more than jerk
the tail from side to side when irritated, it is rather startling
to see a chrysalis wriggle itself up and down the burrow which
it has made while in the caterpillar state.

Wer now come to the Goat Morn (Cossus ligniperda),
so-called on account of the very strong odour which is given
out by the larva, and bears some resemblance to the powerful
scent of the he-goat. A figure of this insect is given on
Woodcut XLV. Fig. 2.

The colour of this Moth is nothing more than brown 2f
different shades, arranged as shown in the illustration. As far
as the perfect insect goes, there is but little interest about it,
but in the larval condition it is peculiarly interesting, were it
only for the fact that everything which can do harm contains
within itself an element of interest. We will rapidly trace the
life of the Goat Moth, from the deposition of the egg to the
development of the perfect insect.

It has already been mentioned that the female Moths of this
family possess a long ovipositor. With this instrument the
female Goat Moth carefully lodges her eggs deeply in the crevices
of the bark of some tree, and there leaves them. In process of
time they are hatched, and, tiny as they are, soon are able to
bore their way into the tree. They spend four years in the
body of the tree, apparently never ceasing to eat, and boring
their tunnels through and through the solid wood. These
tunnels increase in size according to the development of the
caterpillar, and, as a great number of larve generally inhabit
one tree, it is no wonder that so many trees are killed by
them.

The number of these destructive creatures that are found in
one tree may be imagined from an experiment made by Mr.
Douglas. He found an elm lying on the ground, having been
blown down in consequence of the galleries of the Goat Moth
caterpillar weakening the trunk so much that it could not
endure the wind. He cut off a piece of the trunk two feet
long, and twenty-three inches in diameter at one end and
fifteen at the other. Wishing to place it in a vessel sixteen
inches in diameter, he was obliged to cut it to the required
size, and in so doing turned out no less than sixty-seven

eS

THE GOAT MOTH. 431

eaterpillars, while the remainder of the block was equally well
stocked with these larve.

One of these caterpillars, about one-fourth grown, is shown
at Fig. b, and a curious-looking creature it is. The skin is
very smooth and shining, and without hairs, except some stiff
bristles which project from each segment. These are not so
conspicuous in the larva as in the drawing. The colour is pale
mahogany, except the head and a hard plate on the second
segment, which are black. The body is rather flattened, the
head is wedge-shaped, and furnished with very powerful jaws.
When full-grown the caterpillar exceeds three inches in length,
and is as thick as a man’s finger. The strength of a full-grown
larva is enormous, and its powers of forcing its way out of the
vessel in which it is confined must be seen to be appreciated.
I have kept many of these larve, and never felt sure of them.
They were continually escaping. Putting them into a wooden
box was quite useless, as they ate their way through the side in
a very short time. Putting them in a tin box was equally
useless unless the cover were tied down, for they had a way of
pushing at the lid round the edges, and so gradually opening it
sufficiently to permit their escape. Even perforated zinc is not
safe from them, for I have known my caterpillars to find out a
place where the zine has been cracked, fix their short and
powerful jaws in the holes, and fairly twist down a flap through
which they managed to force themselves.

The odour which these creatures give out is equally powerful
and enduring, and to many persons is peculiarly hateful.
Whether from use or not I cannot say, but I do not find it
nearly so offensive as the odour of many other insects, such as
the Dyticus beetle and the Lace-wing fly. The odour per-
meates the whole of the tunnels, and for years after they have
been deserted the scent is sufficiently strong to denote the
inhabitant.

When the larva is full-fed it forms a cocoon made of
fragments of gnawed wood and silk. The cocoon is very tough,
and will withstand much rough handling. These cocoons are
oval, similar in shape at both ends, flexible, and yellow in
colour, and are very strongly scented with the odour of the
insect which made them. There is considerable variety in the

size of the cocoons, and some are barely half as large as others,

432 INSECTS AT HOME.

The small cocoons seem never to produce Moths, but are
infested by an ichneumon-fly, which, fortunately for us, preys
on the Goat Moth caterpillar. Not that the large cocoons are
free from this parasite, for, as every one knows who has bred
them, the large cocoons frequently disappoint the collector, and
produce ichneumons instead of Moths. It is a curious fact
that the ichneumon itself (Lampronota setosa) possesses an
odour similar to that of the larva in which it lays its eggs.

In the ‘ Entomologist’ for August 1868, Miss E. Newman
mentions that she possesses a Goat Moth cocoon which was
made with earth instead of wood-chips, and was discovered in
April, in the middle of an arable field. After being removed
from the cocoon and placed in a breeding-cage, the larva again
burrowed into the earth, and emerged at the end of June,
perfect in every respect, but rather smaller than the usual size.

After the larva has lain in its cocoon for some time, it
discharges from its mouth a fluid which is contained in two
large sacs within the body, and softens the silk so that it can
be easily broken. It then throws off the caterpillar skin and
becomes a chrysalis, which is at first white and soft, but
afterwards hard and brown. The edges of the segments are
furnished with little points directed backwards, and by alter-
nately stretching and contracting the abdomen, the pupa forces
itself along its larval tunnel until it comes to the end. Just
before the final transformation the pupa renews its efforts, and
fairly pushes itself through the thin shell of bark that has been
allowed to remain by the larva.

It still continues to push its way on until it has forced itself
through the opening, as far as the base of the abdomen. After
a while the pupal skin splits, and the Moth emerges slowly,
climbing up the bark of the tree, and there clinging while it
shakes out its wings. The empty pupa skin remains at the
entrance of the tunnel, and towards the middle or end of
summer, according to the season, plenty of these empty shells
may be found projecting from trees that are infested with the
Goat Moth larva. The Moth itself can generally be captured
upon the bark of the tree in which it has passed its pupal state.

The willow is the tree that is usually infested by this insect,
and vast damage is often done by it. On the Kentish marshes
neat my house are numbers of willow-trees, or rather the

1
|
1

THE BURNET MOTHS. 433

remains of them, which have owed their death to the Goat
Moth larva, and from them I have procured larve and cocoons
in plenty. Other trees, however, are attacked by this destruc-
tive insect, especially the elm, and Mr. Newman is cf opinion
that those trees which are apparently killed by the Scolytus
(which has been described on page 186) have received their
death-blow from the Goat Moth, and have only been attacked
by the Scolytus when dying.

The Moth*is a very troublesome one in a cabinet, as it is
very liable to the two chief pests of the cabinet, namely, ‘ grease ’
and mites. I have known one of these Moths to be completely
hollowed by the mites, and to show little signs of injury except.
the brown powder scattered under the affected insect. As soon
as the Moth was taken up its body broke in two, and at least
two teaspoonfuls of powder and mites were discharged over the
other insects. Consequently it will be found advisable to stuff
this Moth, and to put a drop or two of benzole into the cavity.

For further information on this insect, and a full account of
its ravages, I refer to an admirable monograph by Mr. Newman
in the ‘ Entomologist ’’ of November 1869.

On Woodcut XLIV. (page 418) and Fig. 1 is seen a common
and very psetty Moth belonging to the family Zygenide.
The insects belonging to this family may be distinguished
by their very brilliant and boldly contrasted colours, their
habit of flyiag by day, the stout and hairy caterpillar, and the
cocoon fastened in an upright position against the stems of
grasses. Ouly one genus inhabits England. The Moth which
is given in the illustration is called scientifically Zygena or
Anthrocera filipendule, and is popularly known as the Srx-
spoTTED Burner. There are four species of Burnet Moth, three
of which are so much alike that none but a practised entomo-
-ogist can distinguish them, especially as the spots, from the
number of which they derive their popular name, are almost
precisely similar. This very beautiful insect has the upper
wings of the deepest possible green, so deep indeed as to
appear black unless the light be properly thrown upon it.
The lower wings are rich crimson, edged with black. The
pec iar form of the antennz is so well shown in the illustra-
tic: as to need no description.

FF

434 INSECTS AT HOME.

The caterpillar, which is drawn at Fig. b, feeds on the
Bird’s-foot trefoil (Trifolium ornithopodioides) or the Common
Deepwort (Spirea filipendula), from the latter of which the
insect derives its specific name. The colour is yellow, with a
slight brownish tinge, and it is diversified by a double row of
black spots. When the larva is full-fed it climbs up a grass
stem, and there spins a very curious cocoon, shaped exactly like
a spindle, or, to speak more familiarly, like the wooden ‘ cats’
that boys are apt to make in more profusion than is agreeable
to adult pedestrians. These cocoons are pale straw-colour,
rather tough, and very firmly fixed to the grass. The cocoon is
shown at Fig.c. The perfect insect makes its appearance at the
beginning of summer, and always flies in the hottest weather,
so that the sunbeams play gloriously upon its splendidly
coloured wings and body. Cold seems to paralyse the insect,
and though on a hot calm day the Moths may be flying in
hundreds over the field, a change of wind, bringing with ita
blast of cold air, will send them all under cover, so that, though
the field be actually studded with their cocoons, not a Moth
will be seen.

The insect does not appear to travel far, but, like many
others, to restrict itself to certain favoured localities. There
were one or two fields near Oxford, which absolutely swarmed
with these beautiful Moths, while at the distance of half a
mile not a Burnet Moth was in sight. Owing to the great
similarity of the different species, the entomologist who wishes
to make a good collection must catch pretty well every Burnet
Moth that he sees. With the exception of the Transparent
Burnet (Zygena Minos)—which I believe is an Irish, and not
an English insect—it is absolutely impossible to distinguish
one species from the other on the wing, and much care ia
required to separate them even when they are safely in the
collecting box. I well remember, when beginning my practical
researches into entomology, how puzzled I was with the differen’.
species of Burnet Moth, and how difficult it was to believe that.
they really were different species, and not merely varieties
one species.

Passina of necessity over many Moths, we come to an insect
which is both pretty and interesting. This is the CinNABAR

THE CINNABAR MOTH. 435

Morn (Callimorpha Jacobew), which is represented on Woodeut
XLVI. Fig. 1. Itis an example of the family Euchelide, in
which the antenne are slender and without any fringe. Tho
ecterpillar spins a slight web, in which its hairs are scattered,
and the pupa is small. The name Euchelide is formed from
two Greek words, signifying Beautiful Caterpillar, and is given
to the genus because the larve are all very beautifully coloured.

To me this is one of the most familiar British Moths, being

1. Callimorpha Jacober. 2. Deiopeia pulchella. 3. Gastropacha quercifolia.
a. Callimorpha, larva. 6. Deiopeia, larva. c. Gastropacha, larva.

one of those that attracted me most as a child. At Oxford it is

one or the most plentiful of insects, flying about so abundantly

in the gardens that I always had—and still retain—a childish

notion that it was the blossom of a scarlet-runner gifted with

the power of flight. Common as it is in some places, it really is

scarce in others. For example, so practised an entomologist as
rr 2

436 INSECTS AT HOME.

the Rev. J. Greene states that he has only taken one specitmer
of the Cinnabar Moth in England, though he did find the
pupa. This part of Kent seems to be objectionable to the
Cinnabar Moth, though the ragwort (Senecio Jacobea), on which
it feeds, grows profusely in the neighbourhood. In and near
Oxford there is scarcely a plant of ragwort on which the pretty
caterpillar, with its orange body and black rings, may not be
found, or which has not some of the shining brown pupz near its
roots. This larva is shown at Fig.a. It has a habit of coiling
itself into a ring when alarméd, and falling to the ground.

The colouring of the Cinnabar Moth is very bold, and is
easily described. The upper wings are very deep olive-brown,
looking almost black by the contrast with the brilliant crimson
stripe near the costal margin, and the two crimson spots near
the hind margin. The lower wings are wholly crimson, slightly
paler than that on the upper wings, and are edged with a
narrow border of olive-brown. It is remarkable that the upper
and under surfaces of this insect are exactly alike, except that
the under surface is slightly paler than the upper. The popular
name of Cinnabar Moth is given to the insect on account of the
cinnabar-crimson colour of its wings.

On Woodcut XLVI. Fig. 2 is drawn a very pretty and very
searce Moth, called, from its: colouring, the Crimson SprckLED
(Deiopeia pulchella). The upper wings of this moth are white,
and they are covered with a number of square spots, seeming
at first sight to be scattered promiscuously over the wings, but
having a tolerably regular arrangement. These spots are
scarlet and black, and are set in transverse rows, the black and
scarlet running alternately. The lower wings are white, with
a slight clouding of black towards the margin. The pretty
caterpillar is leaden blue, with a white streak along the back,
and a row of scarlet spots along each side.

This is one of the rarest of genuine British Moths, and, if any
of my readers should be requested to purchase a ‘ warranted
British Crimson Speckled,’ they may be quite certain that the
vendor is a conscious impustor, inasmuch as so valuable a prize
. would not be hawked about for sale.

Mr. Newman’s quait andi true remarks respecting certain
butterflies will apply to this and other rare moths :—‘ They are
‘to be purchased in abundance at 1d., 2d., or 3d. each, neither

A

SSS sO

THE TIGER MOTHS. 43?

species being uncommon on the Continent. Supposing the
yurchaser to be fastidious as to his collection being purels
British, he may obtain a warranty with any individual speci
men he is selecting, by paying twenty or thirty shillings addi
tional. The specimen then becomes “ British,” just as a wealthy
tradesman becomes an esquire by paying for armorial bearingt
which some ingenious manufacturer professes to find in Herald’s
College. I prefer dispensing with warranty, as too expensive
a luxury.’

A really genuine British specimen is now before me. It
was caught by a young lady close to my house at Belvedere,
Kent, on Sept. 11, 1871, and brought to me while the wings
were still flexible.

There are only three British species of this beautiful family.
Two have been described, and the third is the handsomest of
themall, This is the Crimson TicEr (Callimorpha Dominula),
which, fortunately for entomologists, is not very scarce, thougb
it is decidedly local. The upper wings are dark olive-brown,
with a gloss of the richest and deepest green, and on them are
a number of bold white spots, variable in number and size,
but always tending to orange towards the middle of the wing.
The lower wings are crimson, with several black patches.

The caterpillar of this lovely Moth is blue-black, with a
rather broad yellow stripe down the middle of the back, and a
narrow stripe on either side. It feeds on the common Hound’s-
tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), which grows among valleys
and on road-sides. Wherever this plant, with its downy, dark-
green leaves and crimson flower, grows in plenty, there is sure
to be a favourable locality for the caterpillar of the Crimson
Tiger, if not for the Moth itself.

AnotHer family now comes before us — the Chelonida,
popularly known as Tiger-Moths. They have the antenne
more or less deeply fringed in the male, and the caterpillar is
very hairy, coiling itself into a ring when alarmed. Before
it changes into the pupal state, it spins a very loose web
mixed profusely with its hairs.

The best known of these insects is shown on Plate XY.
Fig. 1, and may be reckoned as the type of the family. It is
the Common Ticrer-Mortn (Chelonia or Arctia caja), so called

438 . INSECTS AT HOME.

on accourt of the bold cream and black markings of its upper

wings. The lower wings are red, with some large black spots
glossed with blue. The body is red, barred with black. This is a
most variable insect, the number, size, shape, and tint differing
in a most bewildering manner. But however variable it may
be, there is never any possibility of mistaking it.

It is one of the commonest of British insects, and towards
the end of summer the Moth is quite plentiful. It is wonder-
fully quick of foot, and, as it runs with closed wings among the
herbage, has a most. curious resemblance to a small mouse.

The larva is covered with long, brown, stiff hairs, and is
popularly known by the name of the Woolly Bear. It feeds
principally on the common dead nettle, but is not in the least
particular as to its food, and, being very hardy, is an admirable
subject for experiments in Moth-breeding. Personally I have
a sort of respect for this larva, as being the first caterpillar that
I ever dissected, and consequently the first creature that let me
into the secrets of insect anatomy. When full-fed, the cater-
pillar spins a slight hammock, woven so loosely that the form
of the enclosed pupa can be seen through its meshes, and in
this hammock it remains until the perfect insect is developed.

Passtne@ by one or two well-known insects for which we have
no space, such as the Ermines, the Brown-tail, the Golden-tail,
the Gipsy, we come to the Buack Arcugs (Liparis monacha), the
female of which is shown on Woodcut XLVII. Fig. 2. In the
whole of this family white is the prevailing colour, if colour it
can be termed, though in several instances the female is nearly
white, while the male has some more pronounced hue. In the
preliminary stages of existence, not only the larve but the
pupee are covered with hair.

The Black Arches Moth derives its popular name from the
peculiar colouring of the wings. The upper wings are white,
and covered with a vast number of black, arch-like marks,
rather variable in size. In some specimens, for example, the
markings are quite narrow, and look as if they had been drawn
with a very fine camel’s-hair brush on a satiny-white ground.
In others, the marks are so broad that black seems to be the
prevailing colour, and that the title of White Arches would be
really the most appropriate one. The male is much smaller

oe a

THE VAPOURER MOTH. 439

than the female, and his colours, though brighter and more
compressed, are sufficiently similar to those of the female to
show that they both belong to one species. Moreover, his an-
tenn are deeply and doubly feathered, and his body is pink,
with three rows of black spots on it over the middle, and one
on either side.

XLVI

a
\\ 1/4
i NY

1. Pygera bucephala, 2. Liparis or Psilura monacha. 3. Orgyia antiqua, male,
4, Orgyia antiqua, female. a. Pygera bucephala, larva, 6. Orgyia antiqua, larva.

The larva is one of the many oak-feeders, and the perfect
insect appears in the autumn. Those who wish for good speci-
mens of this pretty Moth ought to rear it from the caterpillar,
which can be obtained in full condition towards the end of
June, by beating the oak, the birch, and one or two other trees.

Next comes that interesting insect, the common VAPouRER
Morn (Orgyia antiqua), the male of which is represented on
Wocdeut XLVII. Fig. 3.

440 INSECTS AT HOME.

This is rather a pretty Moth, though the colours are any-
thing but brilliant. The wings are warm chestnut, the upper
pair having some waved transverse marks, as shown in the illus-
tration, and a bold, nearly semilunar white spot at the anal
angle.

He is very common, and is one of the few Lepidoptera— except
perhaps the Clothes-Moth, which is more plentiful than desired
—that is very common in London, and may be found even in
the dingiest and smokiest portions, provided that trees or shrubs
erow init. I should think that if even Leicester Square could
produce a tree, it would also produce the Vapourer Moth. He
is one of the day-flying moths, and seems to revel in the
blazing sunbeams, flitting about with rapid, and apparently
uncertain wing, upon the hottest days of summer.

There is, however, nothing uncertain about his flight, for he
has a very definite object, namely, to seek a mate. Consider-
ing the kind of creature she is, and her peculiar habits, one is
led to marvel, in the first place, how the active, prettily-
coloured male Vapourer can find anything attractive in the
female, who is about as plain—not to say, plebeian—an insect
as can well be imagined. A figure of the female is given
on Woodcut XLVII. Fig. 4, and the reader will see that a
less attractive and more commonplace creature can hardly be
seen. She has no wings to speak of, these organs being quite
undeveloped and simply rudimentary, so that she could not fly
one single inch. Her body is large, thick, soft, and covered
with grey down, slightly darker at the edge of each segment.

This curious creature never wanders from the spot where she
happens to have passed into the pupal state. Like the male,
-she has, when a full-fed caterpillar, spun a silken web, within
which she has undergone her transformation.

The male has done the same, but when he has assumed the
perfect form, he shakes out his pretty wings, takes to the air,
and gaily sets out, like ‘ Celebs,’ in search of a wife. She, on
the other hand, never travels at all. Where she was reared, there
she lives, there she is mated, there she provides a fresh brood,
and there she dies, fulfilling the duties of her life within very
narrow bounds. Her eggs are laid upon the silken web which
she herself spun as a caterpillar, and from those eggs are hatched
a brood of tiny larve, each of which is intended to follow in
the track of its parents.

THE OAK-EGGAR. 441

So plentiful are these egg-groups that, were it not for the
presence of sundry little birds, which find much of their
winter’s nourishment in the eggs of various Lepidoptera, we
should be soon overrun with Vapourer Moths, and our trees and
hedges would suffer sadly. The female moths themselves,
being utterly unable to escape, and not seeming able even to
crawl beyond the limits of the pupal web, also fall victims to
the birds in no small number.

The caterpillar is shown at Fig. b of the same Woodcut, and
is a very pretty one. Its colours are exceedingly variable, but
it is always furnished with a brush-like tuft of yellow hairs on
the back of the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth segments,
two long black tufts on the second segment, directed forwards,
and a single similar tuft on the last segment but one, directed
backwards. There is scarcely a tree or shrub on which this
strange-looking caterpillar will mot feed.

On Plate XV. Fig. 2 is seen the male Oax-zaaar Morn
(Bombyx or Lasiocampa quercis). This well-known insect
belongs to another family, the Bombycide, in which the cater-
pillars are mostly hairy, the pupa smooth, and the perfect in-
sect large and stout-bodied, and coloured with various shades
of brown or grey. The smooth pupa at once distinguishes this
insect from the last.

Although the colours of this insect are not brilliant, the
Moth is a very handsome one, the simple colouring of its wings
being well contrasted. The male has the wings rich warm
chestnut, and across each of them is drawn a slightly waved
yellowish band. Rather towards the base of the disc there is a
white spot very clearly marked. His antennz.are deeply and
doubly feathered. The female is much larger, but not nearly
so handsome, the colour being mostly yellow with the band pale
and undefined.

The chief interest of this moth lies in its preparatory stages.
The caterpillar is a very fine one, and remarkable for its change
in appearance when it bends its body. The ground colour of
this larva is deep velvety-black, very thickly covered with rich
brown hairs. When the caterpillar is straight it appears to be
uniformly brown, but when it curves the body, the velvet-black
appears bet'veen ihe segments and gives a very bold and effec-

®
442 INSEOTS AT HOME.

tive appearance to the hitherto plain caterpillar. There are
other marks, but these velvet rings are amply sufficient for
identification.

It is very plentiful in some places, and though it is a very
general feeder, eating almost every non-poisonous herb or leaf
that may be given to it, the larva has fancies of its own and
prefers one place to another, though apparently both localities
are exactly alike in every respect. There was, for exampie, a
portion of a hedge, about half a mile in length, to which I
always resorted when in want of an Oak-eggar caterpillar. I
generally used the sweep-net for this purpose, passing it very
gently through the herbage, and was sure to be rewarded with
success.

This caterpillar, especially when nearly full-grown, is a
troublesome being in a collecting-box, and I do not know of
any which has a more unpleasant knack of pushing its way
out of the box whenever the lid is removed for the admission
of anew inmate. In fact, unless the collector should be pro-
vided with a box such as has been described on page 420, he
will find that the Oak-eggar caterpillars are greatly trying
to the temper, and may perchance get themselves crushed while
trying to make their escape.

When full-fed, the caterpillar spins a cocoon of wonderful
toughness and strength. It is shaped very much like an egg
(whence the popular name of Oak-eggar), and is brown and very
close in texture. About the end of summer or beginning of
autumn, the Moth breaks its way through the cocoon and ap-
pears in the perfect state. It mostly flies at night, but I have
seen it on the wing at mid-day.

On Woodcut XLVI. Fig. 3 is seen the well-known Larpst
Mors (Gastropacha or Lasiocampa quereifolia). This curious
insect derives its popular and scientific names from two totally
different attributes. The name quercifolia, or ‘oak-leaf,’ is
given to it on account of the astonishing resemblance which
it bears, when its wings are closed, to a brown withered oak-
leaf.

On reference to the illustration, the reader will see that the
edges of the wings are deeply scalloped, just as are those of the
oak-leaf. The colour of the Moth is warm chestnut-browz,

—— “

THE LAPPET MOTH. 445

and on the upper wings are three dark bands, scalloped in con-
formity with the margins. There is also a black dot on the
middle of the wing. The lower wings are marked somewhat
in the same manner, save that the dark bands are less defined.
There is no difference in colour between the sexes, which can,
however, be at once distinguished by a glance at the antenna,
which are doubly feathered in the male and thread-like in the
female. For a short time after it escapes from the pupal en-
velope, the surface of the Moth is remarkable for a beautiful
blue or purple gloss, which has been well compared to the
bloom on a plum. It is quite as fragile as that bloom, and
even more fugitive, for it vanishes in a few hours, no matter
what care may be taken of the specimen.

Whether this union of colouring and outline be intended
for the purpose of concealment is at present an open question
and likely to continue so. Suffice it to say that it certainly does
serve that purpose very effectually. The reader must have ob-
served that the oak-tree, late to develope new leaves, is equally
late in parting with the old foliage, the old leaves clinging
tightly to the branches until actually pushed off by the new
generation. Now, if two oak-twigs were put side by side, on
one of which were two or three withered oak-leaves, and on
the other a leaf and a Lappet Moth, it would be almost im-
possible to distinguish the animal from the vegetable, except
by close examination.

So much for the name of quercifolia, and we come to the term
Lappet. This name is given to the insect on account of the
construction of the caterpillar, which grows to a considerable
size, and is easily recognisable. Along each side is a row of
fleshy appendages, or ‘ lappets,’ those of the second, third, and
fourth segments being the largest. The colour of the larva is
variable, but it may always be known by the peculiar lappets,
the hump on the twelfth segment, and the two stripes of deep
velvety-purple between the second and third, and third and
fourth segments. Willow and blackthorn are its favourite
food.

One of these larve is shown on Woodcut XLVI. Fig. c.,
as it appears when almost half-grown.

When full-fed it spins for itself a rather large cocoon, looser
in texture and darker in colour than the firm, egg-like habita-

444 INSECIS AT HOME.

tion of the preceding insect. The pupa is blacker than that
of the Oak-eggar. The perfect insect appears about the be-
ginning of summer. Large and strong as this Moth appears
to be, the plumage is in reality exceedingly delicate, and sure
to be rubbed and damaged if the insect be caught in a net.
Rearing it from the caterpillar, or pupa—the latter plan gene-
rally producing the finest specimens—will generalhy ensure
perfect insects, one of which should be carefully set as it
appears when at rest.

Our last example of the Nocturni is the beautiful Emprror
Morn (Saturnia Carpini or pavonia-minor), the female of
which is represented on Plate XV. Fig. 3. The general ap-
pearance of both sexes is very similar, except that the colours
of the male are much more brilliant than those of the female.
As she is figured in the Plate, we will describe her first. The
colour and markings are so conspicuous that there is no neces-
sity for very minute detail. The wings are pearly-grey, mottled
and striped with brown, dark-grey, and chestnut. On each of
the wings there is an eye-like spot, black in the middle, and
surrounded with consecutive rings of warm buff and black,
variegated with dark-crimson and violet.

The male has the upper wings of deeper and richer hues
than those of his mate, and the under wings are warm ochreous
orange, mottled and striped as in the female. The eye-like —
spots are similar in both sexes. The male is also distinguished
by the antennze, which are shorter than those of the female,
and have a beautiful double feathering, widest in the middle,
and decreasing towards the base and tip, so as to give the
whole organ an outline much resembling that of the laurel
leaf,

The caterpillar is quite as conspicuous as the perfect insect.
It is beautiful leafy-green in colour, and the segments are
marked so very distinctly that they look as if a number of
threads had been tied tightly round the insect at the junctures
of the segments. On each segment are a number of pink
tubercles, each tubercle bearing a small brush of black bristles,
and being surrounded with a ring of black. It feeds on a
variety of plants, but I have found it more frequently on
heath than on any other plant.

PLATE XV.

NIGHT FLIERS.

1. Chelonia caja.

. Saturnia carpini.
4. Dicranura vinule,

Prants —

= |

. Lasiocampa quercus,

THE EMPEROR MOTH. 445

When it is full-fed, the larva spins a light-brown cocoon
among its food, and the perfect insect appears in the middle of
spring.

This cocoon is one of the most remarkable and interesting
of insect habitations. Externally it is a simple brown, oval
structure, more pointed at one end than the other, and having
an outline much resembling that of a balloon. If it be care-
fully opened, and cut in two longitudinally, a most remarkable
structure is seen. The smaller and pointed end is double, and
within the outer case is a ring of short and stiff tlireads, look-
ing much like bristles, their free ends directed towards the
mouth of the cocoon, which is allowed to remain open. As
these bristle-like threads follow the curve of the wall of the
cocoon, it is evident that their ends must converge so as to
close the opening against the entry of any insect foe, while
they yield to the pressure of any creature within.

In consequence of this arrangement, the pupa remains
securely shut up in its habitation, and, when the time comes
for its assumption of the perfect state, the newly developed
Moth creeps easily out of the cocoon, the guardian threads of
which yield to its passage, and then close again, so that to all
appearance, the cocoon looks just as it did when it contained
the chrysalis. As the caterpillar is a tolerably hardy one,
there is no difficulty in obtaining the beautiful cocoons.

CHAPTER III.
GEOMETRE.

Tue large and important group of GromeTR#&, or Loopers, now
come before us. These appropriate terms are applied to the
Moths on account of the mode of progression adopted by the
larva. The caterpillars are so constructed that they cannot
walk after the usual fashion of such beings. The reader will
remember that the caterpillars hitherto mentioned have a
number of false legs, or claspers arranged on the under side of
the body, in addition to the six true legs which are situated
on that part of the body which will afterwards become the
thorax of the perfect insect. Most caterpillars have five pairs
of these claspers, but the Geometra larvee have only two pairs,
which are set closely together at the very end of the body.
The caterpillar is therefore obliged to adopt a peculiar mode
of progression.

When it wishes to move, it clings very firmly with its true
legs, loosens the grasp of its claspers, and draws them close to
the legs, so that its body is brought into an arch or loop.
The claspers then fix themselves tightly to the object on which
the caterpillar is moving, and the body is stretched out in
order to find a fresh foothold for the legs. Thus, the cater-
pillar proceeds’ by bringing its body into the loop-like form
and stretching it out for another hold. This may seem an
awkward mode of progression, but it is nothing of the kind.
There is even a sort of grace about the movement, and the
caterpillar gets along at a wonderful pace, forming its succes-
sive loops with a rapidity that seems almost incredible.

The muscular strength of these caterpillars is wonderful.
Most of us have seen acrobats fix their feet to an upright pole,
or grasp it with their hands, and stretch out their bodies
horizontally. This attitude requires great muscular powers

THE SWALLOW-TAILED MOTH. 447

very carefully applied, as those readers well know who have
practically studied gymnastics. The leverage is so great that
the strongest and most accomplished gymnast cannot maintain
his position for any length of time, the attitude requiring the
strongest possible strain on the muscles. Yet this attitude is
not only easy to the Geometre, but appears in some cases to
be the chosen attitude of rest.

Several of these larve pass a large portion of their time
stretched out at full length from the twig on which they are
clinging. In this attitude they so exactly resemble twigs, that
the sharpest eye can scarcely detect them, and even the most
experienced entomologists are often deceived, taking veritable
twigs for caterpillars, and caterpillars for twigs. None of the
caterpillars are hairy, and their smooth bodies, often furnished
with blunt spikes or humps, bear the most curious resemblance
to the smooth-barked, bud-bearing twigs of the trees on which
they live. Such caterpillars can be at once recognised as
belonging to the Geometrz, and every entomologist knows that
if he should find a looping caterpillar, and rear it, the result
will certainly be a Geometra Moth of some kind.

In the perfect state it is not so easy to distinguish the
Geometre, though there is a certain and almost indescribable
aspect about them that a practised entomologist rarely fails to
detect, even though the species be new to him. We will now
proceed to examine some of the most characteristic of these’
Moths in detail.

Tus first family of the Geometre is called Urapteryde, or
Wing-tail Moths, because in them the hinder wings are drawn
out into long projections, popularly called ¢ tails.” In England
we have but one insect belonging to this family, the beautiful,
though paie-coloured, SwaLLow-raILeD Morn (Urapteryx sam-
bucata). The generic name is spelt in various ways, some
writers wishing exactly to represent the Greek letters of which
it is composed, and others following the conventional form
which is generally in use. If the precisians are to be followed,
the word ought to be spelled Ourapteryx.

There is no difficulty in recognising this Moth, the colour
and shape being so decided. Both pairs of wings are delicate
yellow, and the upper pair are crossed by two narrow brown

448 INSECTS AT HOME.

stripes, which run from the upper tothe lower margin. These,

stripes are very clear and well-defined, but besides there are a
vast number of very tiny streaks of a similar colour, which
look as if they had been drawn in water-colours with the very
finest of brushes, and then damped so as to blur their edges.
The hind wings have only one streak, which runs obliquely
towards the anal angle, and, when the wings are spread, looks
as if it were a continuation of the first stripe on the upper
wings. The shape of the Moth almost exactly resembles that
of the Brimstone Butterfly, described on page 393.

The larva affords an admirable example of the twig-resem-
bling caterpillars. It is exceedingly variable in colour, but is
always some shade of brown. It has seven bud-like humps,
and a few pale stripes along the sides. It is a very general
feeder, and may be found on a considerable number of trees
and plants. It is quite common, and but for its curious
form would certainly be found much more frequently than is
the case. The perfect insect appears about July, and can be
beaten out of bushes and hedges. Though the wings are large,
they are thin and not very powerful, so that there is no diffi-
culty in capturing the insect.

Next comes the family of the Ennomide, popularly called
the Thorns, containing nearly thirty species, two of which we
will select for examination. In this family the hind wings
are not tailed. Our first example is the Brimstons Morn
(Rumia crategata), which is shown on Woodcut XLVIIL.
Fig. 3.

This, very plentiful Moth is of a bright sulphur yellow, with
a few irregular streaks, and several ruddy chestaut spots on the
edge of the upper wings.

The caterpillar has three humps, and possesses four pairs of
claspers instead of two. The first and second pairs.are, how-
ever, not used for progression. This larva is shown at Fig. b,
and gives a good idea of the general aspect of a Geometra
larva when the body is stretched out at full length. It feeds
both on the blackthorn and whitethorn, and when full-fed
spins a thick cocoon close to the ground, and sometimes on it.
The Moth may be found throughout the summer, as may the
caterpillar.

THE OAK BEAUTY. 449

Our next example is the Oak Brauty (Amphydasis pro-
dromaria), which is shown on Woodeut X LIX. Fig. 1.

Although the colours of this insect are nothing but various
shades of black, grey, and white, it is a very pretty Moth.
The ground colour of the wings is greyish-white, and across
the upper pair are drawn two irregular broad bands of a rich
brown colour, edged with black. The dots and speckles which

XLVIII

\ \)
A)
a

é. 1 3

1. Gonepteryx libatrix. 2. Catocala nupta. 3. Rumia crategata.
a. Gonepteryx, larva. 6. Rumia crategata, larva.

are so profusely scattered over the wings are also black. The
back of the thorax is brown, the sides grey, and the head
white. The antennz of the female are thread-like, and those
of the male are feathered. The caterpillar feeds on the oak
and birch, and the Moth is developed in the spring. This
caterpillar is shown on the same Woodcut, Fig. a, as it appears
when full-fed. Its colour is brown, mottled with white, and
the little projections on the back are reddish.
GG

450 INSECTS AT HOME.

On Plate XVI. Fig. 4, is shown one of the prettiest of the
Geometree, the Laran Empratp (Geometra papilionaria), be-
longing to the family of the Geometride.

There is little need to describe the colouring of this beauti-
ful Moth, further than to. say that the wings are rather pale
leaf-green, and the scalloped markings and dots are white.
The head and thorax are green, and the body is greyish-white.
The sexes can be distinguished by the antennz, those of the
male being feathered, and those of the female, as shown in the
illustration, simple and thread-like. Both the antenne and
the fore legs are whitish. The name papilionaria is given to
it because it has a sort of butterfly appearance about it.
This is a tolerably common Moth, and is mostly found in woods
and copses, where it can be taken by beating the bushes. The
caterpillar is green, like the perfect insect, and has many
humps. It feeds chiefly on the hazel, but may be found on
other trees.

Passing, of necessity, over many of the Geometra, we come
to that very familiar insect, the Currant Morn (Abraxas
grossulariata), which is shown on Plate XVI, Fig. 5. In con-
sequence of its boldly contrasted markings, it is sometimes
called the Macriz Morn.

This is invariably one of the first Moths of the young
collector’s cabinet, and its larva is perhaps the best known of
the Geometre.

The colour of the wings is white, with a yellow patch at the
base of the upper wings, and a rather curved band of a similar
colour rather beyond the middle. Upon both wings are a
number of deep black spots and blotches, varying greatly in
different specimens. Sometimes the black spots are so large
that they unite with each other, and make the Moth look as if
it were black and yellow. Sometimes the reverse takes place,
and the insect is almost entirely white and yellow, with a
few pale and uncertain markings of a darker colour, while in
many specimens there is a decided preponderance either of the
light or the dark portions of the wings. The antenne of the
female are thread-like, and those of the male very slightly,
but decidedly, feathered.

This Moth is one of the partial day-fliers, and may be cap-
tured in any numbers in gardens where the gooseberry or black-

THE MAGPIE MOTH. 451

currant is grown. ‘The insect is a very bold one, and while it
is engaged in depositing its eggs, may be picked up with the
fingers without much difficulty.

The larva, which is represented on Plate XVI. Fig. 6, is
coloured very much like the perfect insect. Being so common,
I have been accustomed to watch it from childhood, and have
much to say on the subject. But Mr. Newman has so com-

) XLIX

1, Amphydasis prodromaria. 2. Scodiona belgiaria, 3. Hibernia defoliaria.
a. Biston, larva. 6. Hibernia, female. c. Hibernia, larva.

pletely made it his own that I can do no better than give his
own spirited words :-—

‘I have seen the females of this species busily engaged in
oviposition, not only in the evening, but in the middle of a
warm summer’s-day, depositing a single egg on a leaf of goose-
berry or black-currant, and then flying off to another. I once
watched ten females simultaneously occupied in this manner
along a garden wall less than eighty yards in length.

‘ Like the eggs of most diurnal Lepidoptera, they remain but

«G2

452 INSECTS AT HOME.

a short time before hatching. The young caterpillar feeds for
two, three, or four weeks, rarely longer, and then spins to-
gether the edges of a gooseberry leaf, having first taken the
precaution of making the leaf fast to its twig by numerous
silken cables, which prevent the possibility of its falling when
dehiscence takes place in the autumn. In the little cradle
thus fabricated the infant caterpillar sleeps as securely as the
sailor in his hammock. Snow-storms and wintry winds are
matters of indifference to him, but no sooner have the govse-
berry bushes begun to assume their livery of green in the
spring, than instinct informs him that food is preparing to
satisfy his appetite, so he cuts an opening in his pensile
cradle, emerges, and begins to eat.

‘The full-fed caterpillar commonly rests in a straight pos-
ture, lying parallel with the branch; but when annoyed, he
elevates his back, and tucks in his head until it is brought
ito contact with the abdominal claspers. If the annoyance
be continued, he drops from his food, hanging by a thread, and
rarely falling to the ground; but when this is the case, he is
bent double, and remains a long time in that posture.’ »

In spite of the very conspicuous colouring of this caterpillar,
it is not eaten by birds, seeming to be distasteful to them. It
is also distasteful to toads. If one of these larve be placed
before a toad, it will be snapped up as soon as it moves, but
will at once be rejected, the toad moving off as if disgusted
with a creature on which it hoped to feed. The colour of this
larva is creamy white, spotted and striped with orange, and
having a number of bold black spots and stripes, as seen in the
illustration.

The pupa is smooth and black, with a slight tinge of red,
banded with yellow, so that the caterpillar, the pupa, and the
perfect insect have all the same colouring. The Moth appears
in the middle of summer.

Tux family of the Hybernide is represented by the Morriep
Umper Morn (Hibernia defoliaria), the male of which is shown
on Woodcut XLIX,. Fig. 3.

The colour of the upper wings is very pale brown, across which
are drawn two bold brown bands, as seen in the illustration. The
under wings are paler brown than the upper, and are sprinkled

PLATE XVI.

GEOMETERS AND NOCTUA.

1. Agrotis segetum.

2. Agrotis larva.

3. Xanthia flavago.

4, Geometra papilionaria.

5. Abraxas grossulariata.

6. Abraxas grossulariata, larva.

PLANTS :—
Currant and Strawberry.

YY

Ay

AN

SILK SPINNING. 453

with very tiny black dots. It is an exceedingly variable
insect, and there is one variety which now and then occurs in
which the brown bands are absent and the whole of the wings
is covered with the little black dots. There is no difficulty
in distinguishing the female from the male, as may be seen
by referring to Fig. 6 in the same Woodcut. The wings
are reduced to the merest rudiments, and are not only useless
for flight, but absolutely useless for any purpose whatever.
Like those of the ostrich and emeu, they are inefficient as
wings. But the two birds which have been mentioned are
exceedingly swift of foot, and the wings, though they are
not used for flight, do at least assist them in running. But
the female Mottled Umber is by no means swift) of foot, aud
indeed a distance of six inches is quite a journey to her. The
body of the female is warm brown in colour, and on each seg-
ment are two conspicuous black spots. This larva is shown at

Fig. ¢ in the same Woodcut.

The larva is one of those which are furnished with a spinning
apparatus, and use it for defensive purposes.

I may here remark that, in all silk-spinning caterpillars, the
machinery is the same, though the length, quantity, and
quality of the silk differ greatly. Along each side of the body,
and closely pressed against the digestive organs, grows the
silk-vessel. This is a tube of greater or less capacity according
to the needs of the insect, in which is secreted the peculiar
substance which is known as silk. Each of these tubes ends in
a very slender outlet, scarcely as thick as a human hair, and
the two outlets unite in an instrument which very much
resembles the barrels of a double-barrelled pistol. Through
these tubes or barrels the gummy secretion is forced, and
hardens as soon as it comes in contact with the atmosphere.

Those larve in which the supply of this secretion is small
are very chary of it, and only use it for the purpose of spin-
ning the cocoon or hammock in which the caterpillar changes to
the pupal and perfect states. Those, however, in which the
supply is more abundant employ it in various ways, and are
often indebted to it for their escape from many foes. What-
ever they may be doing, or wherever they may move, they
always draw with them their silken thread, one end of which is
attached to the leaf or branch on which they are walking, so

454 INSECTS AT HOME.

that, like Goldsmith’s Traveller, they ‘drag at each remove a
lengthening chain.’ If they be alarmed in any way, they at
once drop towards the ground, supported by their {pread.
Generally, they drop only a few inches; but if the alarm
continue, they drop more and more, until they reach the
ground, where they lie until they are assured of safety. They
climb up again rather slowly, but steadily, using their legs for
the purpose, and packing up the line into a series of loops as
they proceed.

On Woodcut XLIX. Fig. 2, is drawn the Moth which is pro-
perly called the Grey ScaLLorep Bar (Scodiona belgiaria),
which is an example of the family Fidonide.

In this insect there is a very marked distinction between the
sexes. In the male, the upper wings are greyish-white, and
covered with a number of black marks, whose shape and
number can be seen by reference to the illustration. The
female is blackish-grey instead of white, but the black mark-
ings are nearly the same. In the male the antenne are
feathered, and in the female they are simple and thread-like.

The larva of this Moth feeds on the common ling (Collunu
vulgaris), which is so much used for thatching, for rude but
strong ropes, for broom making, and for a good yellow aye.
Like many other larve, if alarmed, it falls at once to the
ground, coils itself in a ring, and will lie motionless for hours
together. Its colour is dull-brown, with a few grey mottlings,
and one or two small streaks of white. It. is full-fed at the
beginning of May, and the perfect insect appears at the end of
the same month.

Quiet and simple-looking as is the Winter Morn (Cheima-
tobia brumata), which is represented on Woodcut L. Fig. 1,
there are few of our British insects which do more harm to the
trees, especially the fruit-trees.

The colour of the upper wings is greyish-brown, more or less
tinged with yellow, and marked with a few waved transverse
bars of a darker tint. The lower wings are much the same
colour, but almost without markings. Owing to its peculiar
habits, this is one of our most familiar Moths. It appears in
the cold months of November and December, and on a sunshiny

THE WINTER MOTH. 455

day may be seen flitting along the hedges in perfect content,
even though the ground be thickly covered with snow.
Thegfemale, though really the more important of the two, is
seldom noticed. Her wings are mere rudiments, and she is
unable to fly. She only appears at night, when she crawls up
the stems of trees for the purpose of depositing her eggs upon
them. When the little caterpillars are hatched, they make
their way to the unopened buds, and burrow into them, thus

1. Cheimatobia brumata. 2. Oporabia dilatata.
4. Melanippe montana. 5. Melanthia albicillata,

3. Melanippe hastata.

at the same time concealing themselves from sight, and doing
all the harm of which so tiny a creature is capable. It is in
search of these caterpillars that the small birds, more espe
cially the bullfinch and chaffinch, pick off and devour the
buds of fruit-trees. It is true that they do not restrict them-
selves to those bucs which contain caterpillars, but that they
act rather at random, picking off a bud first, and afterwards

456 INSECTS AT HOME.

looking to see whether or not it contains a caterpillar. Still,
the good that they do very much counterbalances the harm,
and the little birds should be allowed to have their own way
with the fruit-trees. The late Mr. Waterton would never allow
a single little bird ever to be scared from his trees, much less
killed, and I never saw anywhere better prospects of heavy
crops.

Various plans have been tried to exterminate these mis-
chievous caterpillars. Being silk-spinners, they lower them-
selves by their threads when alarmed, and, by taking advan-
tage of this habit, the gardener can kill great numbers of the
larve by simply tapping the boughs so as to frighten the
caterpillars from their food. But ‘ prevention is better than
cure, and, on account of the structure and habits of the
female, she can generally be prevented from depositing her
egos. Had she wings, nothing could be done; but as she is
wingless, and is forced to climb up the trunks of trees before
she can lay her eggs, it is mostly possible to prevent her from
doing so. If the trunks of the trees be kept smeared with a
sticky compound, renewed as soon as it begins to harden, vast
numbers of the female can be interrupted in their march up
the tree, and detained until they are slaughtered by the
gardener.

Then, at night, the gardener should examine the trunks of
all trees by the aid of a lantern, and he will be sure to find a
number of female Winter Moths, each desirous of depositing
her stock of two hundred eggs. I should fancy that birdlime
might be useful. A mixture of Stockholm tar and cart-grease
has been recommended; but if I had any standard fruit- ~
trees, especially plums, greengages, or filberts, I should try the
efficacy of bird-lime. In this part of the country, where
cherry orchards abound, the fruit-growers paint the trunks of
the trees with whitewash mixed with weak size. This process
may or may not be efficacious, but there is no doubt that it is
very unsightly, making the otherwise beautiful cherry-orchard
an absolute eyesore.

When the caterpillar has become too large to be contained
within the bud, it turns its attention to the young leaves,
fixing its silken threads to their edges, and drawing two or
three together, so as to form a sort of tent, in which it lives.

s

se

THE ARGENT AND SABLE MOTH. 457

It is not at all particular as to the tree on which it feeds,
and, although it certainly prefers fruit-trees, may be found on
almost every tree which is grown in England. The caterpillar
is full-fed about May, and then descends to the ground, in
which it burrows to a very little depth, and there changes to a

pupa.

CiosExy allied to the Winter Moth is the November Mora
(Oporabia dilatata), which is shown on Woodcut L. Fig. 2

It is a prettier insect than the preceding, and exceedingly
variable in its markings, so that different names have been
given to the most common variations, no less than seven such
names having all been referred to this single species. The
ground colour of the wings is mostly blackish-grey, and the
waved lines which cross them are blackish-brown, the lower
wings being paler than the upper pair. This Moth is very
common, and may be found in the month from which it takes
its popular name. The caterpillar, like that of the Winter
Moth, is a general feeder, and can be found on almost any tree.
It is full-fed somewhere about midsummer. Its general colour
is velvety green with a white stripe behind the spiracles, and
it is often marked with purple, especially towards the end of
the body.

On Woodcut L. Fig. 5, is shown the Braurirun CaRPET
(Melanthia albicillata).

This is a singularly beautiful insect, the colours, though not
brilliant, being arranged and contrasted in a most charming
manner. The upper wings are cream-white, and on each of
them are two rich brown patches, one at the base and another
on the costal margin near the tip. The hind margin is dusky,
and upon it are drawn two delicate waved grey streaks.

The caterpillar is nearly as pretty as the perfect insect. It
is deep velvet-like green, and in the middle of the body is a
row of orange-brown spots. It feeds on the bramble, and is
full-grown at the end of summer.

Next comes that very striking insect called appropriately
the ArGENT AND SaBLE (Melanippe hastata), which is shown
on Woodcut L. Fig. 3. As may be inferred from the name,

458 INSECTS AT HOME.

the colours of this Moth are entirely black and white, mostly
arranged as seen in the illustration, though there is some varia-
tion in different specimens. Even the body is black and white,
and the very antenne are black, with white rings.

The larva is rather variable, but is generally very dark brown,
with a series of small black dots along each side, and another
row of crescent-shaped white marks below the spiracles, each
of which is surrounded with a white ring. It feeds on several
trees and plants, such as the birch, and always lives in conceal-
ment, drawing together with silk the leaves of the plant on
which it feeds, and living within this shelter. It is full-fed
towards the middle of the autumn, and the perfect insect appears
at the beginning of the following summer.

ANOTHER species of this beautiful genus is shown on the same
Woodcut, Fig. 4. This is the Sirver Grounp Carper (Mela-
nippe nontand).

The upper wings of this Moth are cream-white, and across
them is drawn an irregular stripe of dark ochre-grey, which
mostly has a whitish patch upon it near the costal margin of
the wing. There is a small triangular patch of similar colour
at the base of the wing. There is a smoky grey edging to
the wing, through which is drawn a waved whitish line. These
markings look rather too black in the figure. The larva feeds
on the common primrose, and is pale brown, covered with a
variety of markings, the most conspicuous of which are three
large black spots shaped something like the letter V, upon the
seventh, eighth, and ninth segments. The caterpillar is full-
fed about the end of March or beginning of April. All the
Moths represented in this Woodcut belong to the family of the
Larentide.

On Woodeut LI. Fig. 1, is shown the Royan Manriz (An-
ticlea sinwata), a name which was given to the little Moth on
account of the beauty of its colouring. The markings of this
pretty insect are so many and so complicated that they cannot
fully be described, but are generally as follows. The ground
colour of the upper wings may be considered as creamy grey,
and at the base is a large triangular patch, divided by severil
bars of a lighter colour. Towards the tip of the wing is a

THE ROYAL MANTLE. 459

blackish patch, and the rest of the wing is taken up with zig-
zageged and scalloped lines drawn as seen in the illustration.
There is a great resemblance between the various members of
this genus, and one or two, such as the Frame Morn (Anticlea
rubidata) and the Snovutper Strive (Anticlea badiata), are so
much alike that a sharp eye is required to distinguish the one
from the other.

The larva of this Moth feeds on the Lady’s Bedstraw (Galiwm
verwm), and the colour is green with two black stripes along

LI

us 4 G
Ste
1. Anticlea sinuata. 2. Scotosia certata, 3. Cidaria sagittata,
. 4, Chesias spartiata, 5. Tanagra chcerophyllata.

the back. There are numbers of little black hairs scattered
over the whole body. About the middle of autumn it is full-
fed, and then spins for itself a web among the leaves of its
food-plant. It passes the winter in the pupal state, and appears
as a Moth in the summer of the following year.

+60 INSECTS AT HOME.

A verry pretty insect belonging to this large family is the
Scarce Tissug (Scotosia certata) which is represented on Wood-
eut LI. Fig. 2.

This is a larger Moth than the others. The hind margin of
both pairs of wings is scalloped, that of the upper pair very
slightly, and that of the under pair more boldly cut. The
specific name of senwata, or waved, is given to the insect in
consequence of these scallopings of the wings. The colour of
the wings is pale grey brown, and across them are drawn a
number of irregular bars, as shown in the illustration. Just
inside the, hind margin of both pairs of wings runs a narrow
black line, following the outline of the scalloping.

The larva feeds on the barberry, and regarding it Mr. New-
man makes the following remarks: ‘When young they spin
together two leaves of the barberry, adjusting the edges with
so much care that the two leaves look like one. The back of
the upper leaf I always find applied to the face of the lower
and between these leaves the enclosed caterpillar rests in a
curved posture, the head brought round to touch the side of the
tenth segment, but the caterpillar always resting on its ven-
tral surface, and not. ring-fashion. In this retreat it eats the
cuticle and parenchyma of the upper leaf, its operations always
betraying its whereabouts by the appearance of a large brown
blotch on the surface.’

This caterpillar is blue-brown above, with a black stripe
on each side, and a row of orange spots beneath them. It is
full-fed about midsummer, and the perfect insect appears at the
end of the spring of the succeeding year.

Our last. example of this large family is the Mars Carper
(Cidaria sagittata), one of our most local insects.

The upper wings of this pretty Moth are delicate fawn colour,
on which are two bold patches of very dark olive-brown edged
with white, one occupying the base and the other the middle
of the wing. The latter runs out into a sharp angle towards
the hind margin, and assumes a shape which has been fancifully
thought to resemble an arrow-head. The specific name of
sagittaria has been given to the insect in consequence of this
supposed resemblance. The lower wings are comparatively
vale and without much marking.

THE CARPET MOTHS. 461

The larva feeds upon the meadow-rue (Thalictrxum flavum),
a plant which grows only in places which are constantly wet,
such as the ditches of water-meadows and fen districts. For
this reason the Moth has received its popular name of Marsh
Carpet. The fen district of Cambridge is the only locality
in which this Moth has been known to occur in England.

The caterpillar feeds mostly on the seeds of the meadow-
rue, but will at a pinch eat the leaves or panicles of other
plants belonging to the same genus. It is a singularly pretty
caterpillar and very curiously shaped. Each of the segments,
from the fifth to the tenth inclusive, is developed above into a
sort of hump, and at the side into a lobe or flap, which contains
the spiracle. The top of each hump is deep velvety olive-green,
and the spaces between them are in some specimens bright leaf-
green, and in others rose-coloured, a velvet-black edge throw-
ing out these colours in a most beautiful manner.

This lovely caterpillar finishes its feeding towards the middle
of autumn, and generally spins a web among the flowers of the
food-plant, in which it undergoes its changes. Sometimes,
however, it descends to the ground, and there takes the pupal
form. The perfect insect appears in summer, but can only be
found by those who know where to look for it, as it has hitherto
been only found in one county of England.

There are many of the Moths which are popularly termed
‘Carpets.’ This name is given to them because the beautiful
patterns of their wings are thought to have some resemblance
to those of carpets. I only wish that the patterns of carpets
resembled those of the wings.

Tue family of the Eubolide is represented in this work by the
Moth which is appropriately termed the Streak (Chesias spar-
tiata), and is drawn on Woodcut LI. Fig. 4.

The insect is easily recognised by the peculiarity from which
it derives its name, viz. the white streak which runs nearly
from base to tip of the light brown wings. There is a slight
white line that runs just inside the hind margin, and three
rather indistinct darker oval marks, one above the streak and
the other two below it. A sort of silky or satiny sheen glosses
the surface of the upper wings. The lower wings are much
paler than the upper, and the whole body is dark greyish

462 INSECTS AT HOME. /

brown with a silky gloss. The larva feeds on the common
Broom (Spartium scoparia) whence its specific title of spar-
tiata. The Moth appears in September.

Tue last of the Geometrez scarcely looks as if it belonged to
that group. This is the common Curmney-Sweerer (Tana-
gra cherophyllata), which is represented on Woodcut LI.
Fig. 5.

As may be inferred from its popular name, the colour of this
Moth is sooty-black. The fringe is grey, except at the tip
of the upper wings, where it is snowy-white. The larva is
rather a pretty one, being dark green with a few lines of olive-
green and light green. The spiracles are red. It feeds on the
common earth-nut, or pig-nut (Buniwm flecuosum) and is full-
fed at the beginning of June, when it descends into the earth
and changes to the pupal state. “At the end of that month it
assumes ils perfect form, and in many localities appears in
great num ers.

—e

CHAPTER IV
PSEUDO-BOMBYCES, DREPANULA, AND NOCTUZ..

Tre two first of these groups are gathered by Mr. Newman
into one group, which are termed Cuspidates, because the
tail of the larva,mostly ends in a cusp or point. Some of
the strangest caterpillars in the world belong to this group,
and we have in sober England a number of Cuspidate larve
which may rival the most wonderful productions of the tropics
for beauty of colour and strangeness of form, the latter being
in many cases actually grotesque.

The Pseudo-Bombyces are so called because the Moths look
at first sight as if they belonged to the true Bombyces. The
structure and habits of the caterpillar, however, show that
these Moths are very rightly placed in a separate group.

The first family is the Dicranuride, so called on account of
the structure of the larva. The name is formed from two
Greek words, signifying Double-tailed, and is given to these
insects because the tail of the larva is very deeply cleft, so as,
in fact, to resemble two distinct tails.

The first of these insects is the common Puss Mora (Dicra-
nura vinula), which is represented on Plate XV. Fig. 4.

This insect affords another example of the effect which can be
got out of simple black and white. The upper wings are soft
greyish-white and rounded at the tips, and have a peculiar
softness in their general aspect. Most of the larger nervures
are without scales, and show themselves conspicuously, but
at the branches they are thickly covered with black scales. The
wings are covered with bold markings in black and dark grey,
as seen in the illustration. The lower wings are white at the
base, deepening to blackish grey towards the margin, and have
a few dark spots on the fringe. The large thorax is covered
with long, soft down of a snowy-white colour, diversified with

464 INSECTS AT HOME.

eight very black spots, so that it strongly reminds the observer
of minever. The head is also white, and is held so much
under the thorax that, when the creature is at rest, the head is
quite invisible, and nothing can be seen but the ends of the
antennee, which are laid along either side of the thorax.

The caterpillar of this pretty Moth affords a singular example
of grotesque form and beautiful colouring. The head is flat.
and, when the creature is at rest, is drawn back into the second
segment. The fourth segment is produced into a large and
pointed hump, and from the ninth segment the body tapers to
the end. Here are developed two rough horn-like projections,
from each of which can be protruded a horny pink filament,
which seems to be employed as a weapon. It has been
suggested that these appendages are used for the purpose of
driving away ichneumon-flies when they settle on the body in
the hope of depositing their eggs. Whether this theory be
correct or not 1s undetermined, but the caterpillar certainly
does protrude them when irritated. The larva has another
weapon, if it may be so called. Below the head there is a
transverse slit about the sixth of an inch in length. When
the creature is alarmed or angered, from this aperture is
ejected a fluid of an acrid character, which may probably have
some injurious or deterrent effect upon the enemies of the
Puss Moth larva.

The colour of this caterpillar is singularly beautiful—leaf-
green on the sides and whitish above, with some stripes of
purple-brown. Between these two colours a white stripe
runs from the side of the head to the tip of the hump, and
then passes to the base of the double tail. The stripes are so
arranged that when the larva is viewed from above, they appear
something like the capital letter X. In some specimens,
though not in all, there is a large purple patch on the eighth
segment.

This larva feeds both on the willow and poplar, and, being
very hardy, is easily reared throughout its changes. When
full-fed, which takes place about the end of May, it leaves its
food, crawls down the trunk of the tree, and creeps into some
convenient crevice of the bark. In this refuge it forms a
cocoon made of small chips of the bark fastened together with
silk, and of wonderful strength. The cocoon, indeed, is mostly

—-

COCOON OF THE PUSS MOTH. 465

constructed of silk, the bark chips being merely added to it in
order to make it agree in appearance with the trunk of the
tree. Moisture does not soften this silken secretion, though
air hardens it, and the consequence is that after exposure to
the atmosphere, the cocoon becomes as hard as if made of
horn, so that the inmate is safe from nearly all enemies ; while
the exact similitude between the surface of the cocoon and the
bark of the tree renders it almost incapable of discovery.

A very good specimen of this cocoon in my collection was
discovered by me quite accidentally, and so precisely did it
resemble the bark of the tree that I was obliged to keep my
finger on the spot while I opened my knife, fearing that if I
once lost the exact place I should never find it again. If the
larva be kept in captivity, and deprived of material from
which the wood-chips of the cocoon are formed, it is obliged to
form its habitation entirely of silk, and thus enables the
observer to see the construction of this remarkable cocoon.

hough formed of silk, it is not made like that of the silkworm
Moth, of a thread which is wound into an oval shape. No thread
is visible, but the whole cocoon looks (and feels) as if it were
made from very thin horn, so translucent that the form of the
inmate can easily be seen through it. I imagine that, although
the cocoon is spun like that of the silkworm and other Moths,
the silk does not harden immediately it comes in contact with
the atmosphere, so that the whole mass becomes fused together,
and the individuality of the thread is thereby lost. I have
reared many of these larve, and found that, although they
would always use portions of their food-plant in the construc-
tion of the cocoon, they were really quite independent of it,
and did not suffer in any way by being obliged to form their
dwelling entirely of silk.

It is always easy to force a Puss Moth larva to form such a
cocoon. When it is full-fed it loses the brilliancy of its
colours, a brownish hue comes over its body, and it looks as if
it were about to die. It should then be removed from its food -
plant, and placed in the glass vessel in which the cocoon is to be
preserved for the collection. After the cocoon is fully formed,
the vessel should be subjected to the vapour of bruised laurel
leaves long enough to kill the pupa, and the dead insect

| HH

466 INSECTS AT HOME.

should then be carefully dried in an oven, and the case
rendered air-tight.

The caterpillar is full-fed about midsummer, and, passing
the winter in its chrysalis state, is developed into the Moth in
the following June.

1. Cerura furcula. 2, Stauropus fagi. 3. Notodenta dromedarius.
a. Stauropus, larva. b. Notodonta, larva.

Next in order comes the Moth which, as the larva feeds on
sallow and the insect belongs to the same genus as the Puss
Moth, but is much smaller, is popularly termed the SaLLow
Kirren Morn (Dicranura or Cerura furcula). This insect is
represented on Woodeut LII. Fig. 1. The specific name of
furcula signifies a little fork, and is given to the insect in
consequence of the shape of the larva, which is terminated by
two diverging horns, continuous in their outline with that of
the body, and not projecting from it like the horn of a Hawk
Moth larva.

ee ee

LOBSTER MOTH. “AG

Though not so strikingly handsome an insect as its larger
relative, the Sallow Kitten is really a pretty Moth. The
upper wings are greyish white, traversed by a number of
black-grey streaks arranged as seen in the illustration, one or
two of them being accompanied by a line of yellow. The
lower wings of the male are pure white, clouded with grey and
having a few blackish spots, while those of the female are
mostly dusky. The thorax is coloured like the upper wings,
and is crossed transversely by three bars of black and yellow.

The larva is shaped and coloured very much like that of the
Puss Moth, but may be recognised by the shape of the body
with its deeply forked end. When the larva is full-fed, it
spins a cocoon much like that of the Puss Moth, and the
perfect insect appears in June.

On Woodcut LIT. Fig. 2, is drawn a Moth which in the
perfect state does not attract much attention, but which, as a
larva, is one of the most extraordinary beings that England
possesses. In fact, supposing that the creature were not known,
no artist would dare to figure so bizarre an object ; for if he did
so, all the entomologists would be in arms against him, and
say that such a creature could not possibly exist.

The shape and markings of the insect can be seen by refer-
ence to the illustration, and as the wings are merely grey-
brown marked with a darker tint,they need not be described
in detail. The figure represents a male. The female is
similarly coloured, but is larger, and her antennz are thread-
like and without the feathering.

Now we come to the larva, which is shown at Fig. a of the
same illustration. The three remarkable characteristics of this
larva are the enormously long legs, so unlike the short, feeble
legs of most caterpillars; the high and pointed humps of the
middle segments, and the enormously developed thirteenth, or
last segment, with its double, club-shaped horns.

The attitude in which it is represented is that which it
assumes when at rest. The colour is reddish-brown, profusely
spotted with minute dots of a paler hue, and there are two
slight blackish stripes along the back, and a grey stripe
between them. There are also a few black marks on the sides
of the body. ‘Tinis extraordinary caterpillar feeds on oak and

HH 2

468 INSECTS AL HOME.

beech, and, when it is full-fed, which occurs about the end of
September, it spins together several leaves, and within them
makes its cocoon. At the beginning of winter the leaves fall,
but the habitation which the caterpillar has made is so formed
that it protects the inmate from the shock of the fall, which,
however is but slight, as the dry, withered leaves and enclosed
cocoon are very light, and only come fluttering gently to the
ground. The perfect insect appears in June. It is not a common
Moth, and is never found in the northern parts of England.
The scientific name of this insect is Stawropus fagi, and its
popular title, the Losstrr Morn. Both names refer to the
caterpillars. The word Stawropus, or stake-footed, refers
to the great length of the legs, which almost look as if they
were slender sticks projecting from the larva; and the name of
Lobster Moth is given to it because the larva is thought to
resemble a lobster rather than an ordinary caterpillar, the
uplifted and enlarged last segment doing duty for the claw.

THE very common and really handsome Moth, the Burr-rip
(Pygera bucephala) is drawn on Woodeut XLVII. Fig. 1,
page 439. The figure represents a male with its wings spread.

The upper wings of this Moth are beautifully coloured with
various shades of grey, crossed with bars and bands of different
browns, mixed here and there with ochreous yellow, and
taking a slight purplish gloss along the costal margin. At the
tip of each wing is a large buff blotch, marked off from the
rest of the wing by two dark-brown lines enclosing a grey line
between them. The buff blotch has on it a few markings of
deeper hue. The hind wings are paler greyish ochre, and the
whole of the under surface is of the same colour, with the
exception of a dark bar crossing the lower wings diagonally,
and a dark hind margin to the upper wings. The thorax is
large, covered with dense, gold-coloured down, and nearly
conceals the head.

When at rest, this Moth presents a very curious aspect.

The wings are pressed against the body which they cover, the
two yellow spots at their tips exactly balancing at one end the
yellow thorax at the other. The large thorax itself looks very
much like a head, and on that account the specific name of
bucephala, or ‘ bull-headed, has been given to the insect. In

|
:
:
ia
:

THE BUFF-TIP MOTH. 469

consequence of the peculiar aspect of the quiescent attitude,
the Buff-tip Moth often escapes observation, as most persons
would mistake it for a piece of dried stick.

The caterpillar feeds upon the lime, the elm, the hazel, and
one or two other trees, and often does considerable damage. It
is semi-social in its habits, and, though plentiful, is not often
seen until full-fed, in consequence of its peculiar idiosyncrasies.
The eggs are laid in batches, sometimes as many as sixty in
number, on the upper part of a leaf, and when hatched, the
little caterpillars belonging to each brood remain together, and
feed on the upper surface of the leaf. After their first change
of skin, they break up into six or seven small companies, and
each company remains together until the change into the
pupal state is at hand. As they become larger they make
their way to the topmost branches, where they work great
havoc among the leaves, often leaving bough after bough
completely denuded of foliage.

When full-fed they separate, and each caterpillar makes its
way down the tree, and starts off on its travels in search of a
resting-place in which it can pass its pupal state of existence.
Being very numerous and very conspicuous, these caterpillars
are familiar to most residents in the country. They go reso-
lutely in their search, making their way over everything in
their path, utterly careless of observation. In some places
they are so numerous that they become a positive nuisance,
and, indeed, I do not know any creature which has a greater
talent for getting in the way.

Towards the beginning of August these caterpillars begin to
show themselves, and anyone who wishes to rear the Moth from
the caterpillar may procure as many as he likes. Last year
(1870) they grievously offended tidy housekeepers by their
intrusion. It was hardly possible to set foot outside the door
without crushing one or two of them on the white door-step,
and, not content with infesting the steps and paths, they
crawled into the houses, ana travelled over c.. »ets and oil-
cloths as determinately as if they had been traversing the -
fields). When at last they have suited themselves with a spot
which seems to them a favourable one, they throw off the last
caterpillar skin, and change into smooth brown pupe. These
pupze are wonderfully hardy, enduring the frost of winter

470 INSECTS AT HOME.

without the least protection, and emerging in the perfect state
in the early summer of the following year. Pup so exposed
are naturally liable to destruction. Uncounted thousands are
eaten by birds, and, indeed, were it not for the destruction that
awaits the larger proportion of the larve as they travel in
search of resting-places, and the havoc that is made among
them in the pupal state, their armies would be so enormous
that scarcely a forest tree would survive their ravages.

The colour of the caterpillar is yellow, covered with a
number of short longitudinal black bars arranged in nine rows,
as seen at Woodcut XLVII. Fig. a. The pupa is remarkable
for the doubly forked apparatus at the end of the tail.

Next comes a family of Moths called Notodontide, or Tooth-
backs, because the backs or inner margins of the upper wings
are toothed, or have elevated portions along the inner margins,
from which they derive the popular name of Prominents. As
an example of these Moths we will take the Iron PRoMINENT
(Notodenta dromedarius), the male of which is shown on
Woodcut LIL. Fig. 3.

The colouring of this insect is very simple. The ground hue
is brown, with a slight purplish tinge, upon which is a broad
rust-red streak and two small pale bars, arranged as seen in the
illustration.. The outlines of all the markings are vague and
indistinct, and there is considerable variation in different
individuals. The lower wings are greyish brown, with a dark
spot on the disc, and two pale and ill-defined bars.

The caterpillar, although not so bizarre in appearance as that
of the Lobster Moth, is yet a very quaint and odd-looking
creature. <A portrait of this larva is given at Fig. b on the same
Woodeut. As may be seen by reference to the figure, the head
is comparatively large, and the second and third segments are
so small as to form a sort of neck. From the fifth to the ninth
segments the back is humped. The colour is rather pretty,
being green more or less tinged with yellow, and marked with
a very deep purple-brown. There are other markings, but the
shape of the larva is so peculiar that minute detail is not
needed for its identification.

This caterpillar may be found on the birch, where it remains
until full-fed, an event which takes place somewhere abvut the

THE NOCTUA 47)

end of September. It then descends the tree, and beneath it
spins for itself a slight cocoon, which is generally screened from
observation by having a fallen leaf fastened to its upper
surface. In this exposed situation it changes into a pupa, and
there lies until the following June, when it assumes the perfect
form. The insect is, and yet is not, a common one. Those
entomologists who have not yet learned to look behind the
scenes of Nature’s theatre reckon the Iron Prominent to be
quite a rarity ; while those who have been long accustomed to
the practical study of insects and their ways, experience no
creat difficulty in obtaining either the moth, the pupa, or the
caterpillar, and in consequence consider the Iron Prominent as
rather a plentiful insect.

WE now come to one of the largest groups of British Moths,
the Nocru#, so called because, as a rule, they are exclusively
night-fliers, and never, except by accident, appear in the day-
time. In these Moths the body is almost always stout and
thick, as is the thorax, the hairs of which often rise nearly
erect, so as to form a sort of crest. Generally these Moths hide
themselves by day, taking advantage of crevices in walls, the
bark of trees, old posts, palings, and invariably selecting those
which best harmonise with the colour of their closed wings.
So close is often the resemblance between the colour of the
insect and that of the object on which it rests, that even the
most experienced and keenest entomologists often find them-
selves deceived, and have only detected the well-disguised
insect when, by an accidental touch, they have forced it to take
flight. Even those species which have their under wings
adorned with beautiful colours, have almost invariably their
upper wings plainly mottled with brown, grey, black, and dun,
so that when they are at rest the splendid under wings are
concealed, and their glories veiled by the sombrely tinted
upper pair. Many, in fact, most of them, have both pairs of
wings coloured in the simplest and least imposing manner, not
even having any bold black, white, or brown markings on
either pair of wings. Consequently, when a number of Noctua,
which are of about the same size, are collected, it is a very
difficult matter to refer them to their proper positions, and

472 INSECTS AT HOME.

even the most skilful of entomologists is forced to refer to his
books before he can, with any confidence, assign to some sixty
or a hundred Noctuez their exact names.

As they mostly fly by night, and are always attracted by
light, these Moths form the greater number of those which are
captured by the familiar and most efficacivus process of
‘sugaring. This process may be briefly explained. The
intending sugarer mixes together the roughest and coarsest of
sugar—‘ foots’ as it is called—with water or beer, and boils
them together. I believe that water is quite as efficacious as
beer. He may then cork it up tightly in bottles, and keep it
until he wants to use it.

On some dark, calm evening—the latter attribute being
absolutely necessary—the entomologist pours a sufficiency of
the mixture into a basin, adds a few spoonfuls of new rum, and
steeps in it ten to sixteen pieces of old rag. When the rags
are thoroughly soaked, he removes them, allows the super-
fluous moisture to drip from them, puts the saturated rags into a
tightly closed vessel, and pours the rest of the sweet liquid
into the bottle, in readiness for the next occasion.

Provided with a number of pill-boxes, the ordinary net,
pins, forceps, and other entomologica] paraphernalia, the col-
lector further adds a dark lantern—not a ‘ bull’s-eye ’—a box
of matches, and a small bottle of chloroform, or, in default
thereof, a ‘laurel-bottle,’ in which the pounded laurel leaves
are made up into little packets about as wide as a sixpence and
as thick as a penny. Arrived at a spot where there are plenty
of trees, the collector lights his lantern, takes the saturated
rags from the box, and pins them upon the trunks of trees,
taking care to arrange them as nearly as possible in a circle, so
as to concentrate the odour of the sugar and rum. When he
has pinned up the last piece of rag, he sees that his apparatus is
all in good order, and slowly goes round his former track,
always taking care to throw the light of the lantern on the rags.

Should the night be favourable, an extraordinary sight
presents itself. Hundreds of Moths are converging upon the
spot from all directions, and as many others are gathered
round the sweet mixture, while every now and then the two
round eyes of some large Moth glow amid the darkness like
two balls of fire. Some of the commoner kinds are mften in

PEACH-BLOSSOM MOTH. 473

such profusion as to be absolutely annoying, crowding to the
sugar in multitudes, and quite distracting the eye of the col-
lector from the Moths which he wishes to take. With a little
practice, however, the task of selection becomes a tolerably easy
one, and there are few nights when valuable additions may not
be made to the cabinet. When the collector has made the
round of his sugar rags often enough, he unpins them, and
puts them back into the tin box ready to serve for another
occasion. ‘This plan is far less cumbrous than the old method
of carrying a jar of sugar and beer and a brush wherewith to
spread the compound on the trees.

Most of the pup of the Noctuas undergo their changes
beneath the surface of the ground, and the chrysalids that are
found by the collector when ‘digging for pupe’ generally
belong to this group of insects.

Our first example of the Noctuas is the pretty Pracu-
Buossom Moru (Thyatira batis), which is represented on
Woodcut LILI. Fig.:3.

This very pretty Moth has received its popular name in
consequence of the colouring of the wings. The upper pair
are olive-brown, decorated with four large and conspicuous
spots, the largest being at the base of the wing, and one
smaller spot on the inner margin. These spots are lovely
pink in the middle, surrounded with white, and each of them
really does bear some resemblance to the petal of a peach-
blossom. A few bars of rose-colour cross the brown thorax. The
body is brown, and has a small crest on the back of the second,
third, and fourth segments. The beautiful pink colour of the
spots is very liable to fade, unless the insect be very carefully
kept in the dark. Several of my specimens have almost lost
their lovely pink in consequence of being kept in a badly
constructed cabinet. The Moth is tolerably common.

The larva of this insect is a very odd-looking creature,

as may be seen by reference to Fig. a on the same Woodcut.
Its colour is warm chestnut-brown mottled with grey, and the
surface has a velvety aspect. One peculiarity in this cater-
pillar is that it seems to make no use either of its true legs or
of the claspers at the end of its body, but clings to its food
plant by means of the claspers of the middle of the body.

474 INSECTS AT HOME.

The largest hump is that of the third segment, and it is
furnished at the top with a clert projection. This curious
larva can be found on the common ramble, and is in best
condition about the end of August, or beginning of September,
when it is full-fed, and about to ‘spin up. When it finally
ceases to feed it spins a slight cocoon, which it fastens among
the leaves, changes into the pupal state, and makes its appear-

LI

NEN
) ae

NaN

1. Platepteryx falcula. 2. Psyche opacella. 3. Thyatira batis. 4. Diphthera Orion.
a, Thyatira, larva. b. Psyche, larva.
ance as a Moth in the ensuing summer. This pretty Moth
used to be very plentiful about Oxford when I was collecting
there. It belongs to the family Trifidee.

Next comes an example of the Bombycoidze—a Moth quite as
beautiful as the preceding insect, but with a different style of
beauty. Its scientific name is Diphthera Orion, and its popular
title the Scarce Mrrveit pu Jour. See Woodeut LIT. Fig. 4.

The colour of the upper wings is very remarkable. . The

THE DOUBLE-LINE. 475

ground hue is bright green, across which four pure white
sitires are drawn longitudinally, and three black jagyed bars
transversely. The two middle white stripes are the widest, the
two others being quite narrow, one running close to the costal
margin of the wing, and the other equally clese to toe hind
margin. The hind margin is edged with a row of spots having
the centre white and the exterior black. The head is green,
like the upper wings, and the thorax is green in the middle,
black in front, and black and pale green behind. The lower
wings are smoky-grey, and with a dark spot on the disc, and a
few white lines at the anal angle.

The caterpillar is a very pretty larva, blue-black on the back,
and adorned with orange and pale yellow on the sides. It has
been known to feed both on birch and oak, and Mr. Crewe, who
reared some of these insects from the egg, thinks that the
caterpillar feeds alternately on oak and birch, passing from one
to the other at will. I scarcely see how this can be the case,
as oak and birch trees are not always in proximity to each
other, and, unless their branches actually touched, it is difficult
to see how the larva could pass from one tree to another. The
pupa forms for itself a cocoon of gnawed wood, and the perfect
insect appears in June. It is a rare species, but has been
found in Kent, the New Forest, near Ipswich, and one or two
other localities.

Tae Moth which is represented on Woodcut LIV. Fig. 1, is an
instance of an insect, which was once plentiful, becoming rare.
Its popular name is the DousLn-.1ng, and its scientific title is
Leucania turca. It is an example of the group Genuine, and
the family Leucanide.

The colour of this Moth is simple. The ground hue of the
upper wings is brick-red, very much like that of red blotting-
paper, but rather duller and browner, and across them are
drawn two dark brown bars, which have gained for the insect
its popular name. In the middle of the wing is a small,
curved, white spot. The lower wings are pale brown, becoming
reddish on the margins.

The larva feeds on wood grasses, and is mostly to be found in
the southern parts of England, especially those which are near
the coast. The Moth appears in June.

476 INSECTS AF HOME.

On the same Woodcut, at Fig. 3, is shown the too common
Caspace Morn (Mamestra brassice).

That this Moth subserves some good purpcse is evident from
the fact of its existence, but what that purpose may be is not
easy to discover. It may, perhaps, be useful in keeping down
the too abundant vegetation in wild and uncultivated countries,
and so may have done good service when this land was one vast

LIV

1. Leucania turca, 2. Agrotissegetum., 3. Mamestra brassice. 4. Trypheena janthina,
a. Trypheena, larva.

hunting-ground, and our predecessors used flint instead of steel,
and a wash of woad by way of dress. At all events, it is very
much out of place so far as regards civilised society, and we
could well spare it if it had been improved off the face of
creation, in company with the wolf, the bear, and the beaver.
The caterpillar of this Moth is one of the most voracious
herb-feeders in this country. It can eat almost any herb, but
prefers those which belong to the cabbage tribe. As for those

THE TURNIP MOTH. AGT

which are cultivated with solid masses of vegetation, such as
the summer-cabbage and the broccoli, this larva is terribly
destructive, burrowing through and through the very heart of
the vegetable, and leaving behind it a track or gallery, filled
with the watery juices of the plant and the ejecta of the
caterpillars. For my part, I have seen-so much of these
abominable beings that I have not for many years ventured to
touch a ‘summer-cabbage.’ I am not particularly fastidious,
but have not yet brought myself to appreciate boiled cater-
pillars, and rather fancy that I never shall accept them as an
article of food.

It is quite impossible for the cook to extirpate them from
the cabbage, no matter how conscientiously she may steep it in
strong salt and water. Those caterpillars which are merely
lurking between the leaves are dislodged easily enough, and
often come tumbling out in such numbers that the cook is
persuaded that she has completely ejected them. But, deep
within the heart of the cabbage, sorely grieved indeed by the
salt, but too deeply buried to make their escape, are sundry of
the largest and best-fed caterpillars, which are eventually
boiled with the cabbage, and mostly eaten ignorantly: by those
who partake of the vegetable. During life they are darker
than the bright green of the leaf, but the boiling water reduces
leaf and caterpillar to a very similar hue, and it is not easy to
distinguish the one from the other.

The colour of the upper wings of this Moth is dark greyish-
brown, mottled variously with darker brown and grey. The
lower wings are paler brown, with a smoky or blackish tint.
The caterpillar is exceedingly variable in its colours, but is
generally olive- brown above and yellow below, and on the back
of each segment is a blackish triangular mark in which are two
white dots. Sometimes the body is pale dusky-green above
and below. When full-fed it descends to the earth, makes a
shallow burrow in it, and changes to a smooth brown chrysalis.
Both the Moth and caterpillar are plentiful through the
summer, and during the autumn the ground may be nearly
cleared of pupze by judicious digging and hand-picking.

Tue family of the Noctuide will be represented by three
examples, the first of which is the Tornip Morn (Agrotis
segetwm), which is drawn on Woodcut LIV. Fig. 2.

478 INSECTS AT HOME.

This is a small and inconspicuous Moth, but it dves far
more damage than many Moths of much larger size and more
conspicuous colouring. The larva of this insect is to turnips
what that of the last-mentioned insect is to the cabbage, and
with this difference, that whereas the Cabbage caterpillar
works above ground and may be detected by the eye, the
Turnip caterpillar works for the most part below the surface
of the earth, and the only evidence of its presence is the
drooping state of the plant. When very young, it feeds upon
the leaves of the turnip and many other plants, such, for
example, as the carrot, or some flower, and in that stage may
be removed by hand-picking; but, when it grows larger, it
descends towards the earth, fixes upon the upper portion of
the root, just where it joins the stem, and there gnaws a
eroove completely round the stem, the entire plant often
dying from the injury. It grows with great rapidity, and,
when about three-quarters grown, burrows into the earth and
attacks the root itself, beginning near the bottom, burrowing
deeply into it, and gnawing large hollows in it.

These caterpillars are only too familiar to agriculturists.
They are nearly smooth, grey-striped more or less, and covered
with little shining, round spots, from each of which proceeds a
short bristle. As a rule, the gardener cannot mistake in
killing every brown-looking caterpillar that he finds beneath
the ground, for it is sure to be one of those beings that
make havoc among the crops, and the greater because their
ravages are carried on out of sight. It is principally in
search of these destructive caterpillars that the rooks frequent
turnip-fields. When the birds are seen busily digging with
their powerful beaks, they are engaged in the search after
the turnip caterpillar, and not trying to eat the turnip
itself.

The whole history of this Moth is a very interesting one,
but our space is diminishing so rapidly that we must pass on
to other insects.

Tux pretty insect which is shown on Woodcut LIV. Fig. 4,
is popularly called the Lxsser Broap Borprer (Tryphoena
janthina). It forms one of a group called the Yellow Under-
wings, because the ground hue of their lower wings is bright

THE UNDERWING MOTHS, 479

ochreous yellow. The upper wings of this Moth are shining
brown, with a slight purplish gloss when viewed in a side
light. The purple shows best by placing the insect with the
tip of the wing towards the light, and then looking at it from
base to tip. On the wing are drawn a number of waved and
indistinct bands of chestnut, and there is a decided patch
of that colour on the costal margin, near the tip. The under
wings are bright orange above, with a brown patch at the
base, and a broad, waved black band nearly parallel with the
hind margin. This black band is more perceptible on the
under surface of the wing.

The caterpillar feeds on several garden-flowers, and, like
many of its kin, hides itself by day, and only comes from its
place of concealment at night. It has a particular fancy for
the crown or top of the root, but will also eat the leaves. It
is dull, greyish-yellow in colour, with some pale streaks on the
side and eight bold black spots on the back. An outline
of this larva is given at Fig. a. It is full-fed at the end of
spring, when it burrows into the ground, and there changes
into a brown, smooth chrysalis, merging into the Moth state
towards the end of summer.

This is a wonderfully pretty little creature, the mottlings
of the upper wings being peculiarly rich, and forming an
admirable foil to the bold black and orange of the under
wings. It is moderately common throughout the greater part
of England. My own specimens were taken in Oxfordshire,
Wiltshire, and Kent.

Tue Lancer YeLtLow Unperwine (Tryphena pronuba),
which is figured on Woodcut LV. Fig. 1, is, as its name
implies, considerably larger than the preceding insect.

Its upper wings are exceedingly variable in colouring, but
are always of some shade of brown. There are several pale,
narrow, waving bands drawn across the wing, and on the
upper part of the disc a large kidney-shaped black spot with
a pale centre and a chestnut outline; there is also a small
black spot near the tip. The under wings are orange-yellow,
but not so richly coloured as in the preceding insect, and
parallel with their hind margin is a bold black stripe, broad
above and narrowing below to a point. There is a very slight

?

4280 INSECTS AT HOME.

golden streak on its costal’margin. Beneath, it is remarkable
for a shining golden stripe that runs along the lower edge of
the upper pair of wings, the gold changing in some lights to
prismatic effects of green and blue.

The caterpillar is another of the nocturnal larve. It feeds
upon the crown, stem, and heart of various garden plants,
especially favouring lettuces when they are tied up to blanch.
The colour of the larva is as variable as that of the perfect

1, Tryphzena pronuba. 2. Phlogophora meticulosa. 8. Plusia chrysitis,
a. Trypheena, larva. b. Phlogophora, larva,

insect, but is generally some shade between olive green and
brown, and on the body are a variety of brown and black
streaks, as may be seen by its portrait at Fig. a. It is a very
general feeder, and there are very few garden plants or vege-
tables which escape its jaws. When full-fed, it forms a kind —
of rude oval cell, and therein undergoes its transformation —
into the Moth. Both the caterpillar and Moth are exceedingly
common, and may be captured in any numbers.

2

THE ANGLE-SHADES MOTH. 481

On Plate XVI. Fig. 3, is seen the Moth which goes by the
popular name of the Pinx-Barrep YELLOW (Xanthia silago).
This insect belongs to the large family of the Orthoside.

This is of a brighter hue than the last-mentioned insect,
the ground colour of the upper wings being yellow. It is for
this reason that the generic name of Xanthia, or Yellow,
is given to this and other Moths of the same genus. The
markings on the wings are purplish brown, and the hind wings
are pale brown, taking a yellowish hue towards the hind
margin. There is a good deal of colour about the body, the
head and the front of the thorax being dark rust-red with a
purple gloss, the rest of the thorax yellow, and the body grey
with a yellowish tinge.

The larva of this pretty Moth feeds on the sallow, and the
perfect insect appears in the middle of autumn. It seems to
be widely spread, though not very plentiful.

PassInG over a considerable number of species, we come
to an example of the Hadenide, the familiar Anatu-SHapzEs
(Phlogophora meticulosa), which is shown on Woodeut LV.
Fig. 2.

I have always felt a great predilection for this insect,
because it is one of the first Moths that I ever reared. I had
found a number of pupz in the summer, and put them into
a small box, which I covered with stout wire gauze, having in
those days some hazy idea that a Moth could get through
muslin or linen. I had also made up my mind that no Moths
could emerge until the following year ; and my astonishment
was extreme on finding one morning a fine Angle-Shades
Moth clinging to the wire gauze, and shaking out its newly-
developed wings. Insignificant as is such an incident in itself,
it often forms a stand-point in life; and such was the case with
this Moth, the development of which under my own eye
inspired an interest in this branch of natural history that has
never been and never will be forgotten.

The name of Angle-shades is given to this Moth on
account of the manner in which the wings are coloured. The
upper wings are pale grey, tinged either with ochreous yellow
or olive green. In the middle is a bold marking, shaped much
like the letter V, and formed of several shades of brown. The

Il -

482 _ INSECTS AT HOME.

other marks of the wing are also of brown, but not quite so
dark. The edges of the hind margins of the upper wings are
deeply scalloped. The lower wings are slightly scalloped, and
are of a pale yellowish grey and crossed by two very slight
waved bands of reddish brown. Towards the hind margins
they are suffused with a slight pinkish tint. The thorax is
covered with long hair, which in front stands out like the
double ruff of Elizabeth’s time. Then comes a wedge-shaped
ridge in the middle of the thorax, and then two rather large
tufts at the back. The colour of these tufts is soft umber
brown, tipped with a darker and warmer brown.

The caterpillar of the Angle-shades is represented at Fig. b
of the same Woodcut. Its colour varies from bright green
-to dark olive green or olive brown, profusely sprinkled with
whitish dots not very well defined. There are three greyish
lines along the body, and the spiracles are white, surrounded
with a black line. It feeds on various herbs and flowers, espe-
cially groundsel and primrose, and is full-fed about May, when
it seeks the ground, and there spins a very slight cocoon.
There are two broods of this pretty Moth—one towards the
end of May, and the other at the end of autumn.

The specific name meticulosa signifies fearful or timorous,
but I never could find out the reason for giving such a name
to the insect. The Angle-shades is not a whit more timorous
- than Moths in general, and though it has no distinctive
boldness, it certainly has no distinctive timidity.

On Woodcut LY. Fig. 3, is represented the Moth which is
appropriately called the Burnisuep Brass (Plusia chrysitis),
in consequence of the metallic colouring of the wings. The
specific name of chrysitis, or gilded, is given to it for the
same reason. This insect belongs to another family of the
Noctuz, namely, the Quadrifide or Pluside.

The colour of the upper wings is bright golden green, which
must be seen in a side light before its beauty can be properly
distinguished. There is a large and nearly triangular blotch
of brown on the middle of the wing, the base of the triangle
resting on the costal margin, another patch of the same colour
at the base, and a third on the inner margin, just below the
large triangular patch. These two often coalesce, as is the

* GREASE,’ 483

case with the specimen now before me. The hind wings are
greyish brown, and so is the body.

The caterpillar is green, with a row of white dots under the
spiracles, a white streak above them, and six white marks on
the back of each segment. It assumes a curious attitude when
at rest, the front of the body being bent upwards, so that the
caterpillar only holds to its food-plant by its claspers. There .
are two broods of the Burnished Brass Moth in the year—one
in the early summer, and the other in the middle of autumn.
It feeds on several plants, such as the common white dead-
nettle, and even the stinging-nettle.

The Moth, when preserved, is very lable to ‘ grease,’ which
will sometimes affect it to such a degree that a whole row
of Moths will be deprived of their beautiful metallic lustre,
the wings becoming almost uniformly brown, with a sort of
rusty red hue, in the place of the gold-green which formerly
adorned them. In such a ease, the only plan is to saturate the
insect with benzole, by dropping it on the thorax, and, when it
is completely steeped, even to the tips of the wings, in that
useful but mal-odorous liquid, to let it dry in a strong
draught. The most effective mode of doing this is to open a
window about an inch and a half, pin the insect under the
window, and then leave the door open. In the winter time,
the fire will cause sufficient draught. The Moth should be
fixed with its head pointing to the interior of the room, so
that the in-rushing air may blow up the downy plumage of the
body and prevent it from being plastered down, as often is the
case if this precaution be not taken.

To the same pretty genus belong several other well-known
Moths, such as the Sitver Y (Plusia gamma), so easily recog-
nised by the bright silver mark in the middle of the upper
wings, closely resembling the English letter y or the Greek
letter gamma (vy). Then there is the BrautiruL GoLDEN Y
(Plusia pulchrina), the upper wings of which have a y-like
mark of burnished golden scales, and below it a round spot of the
same colour. Another of these Moths is the GoLp SpanaLz
(Plusia bractea), in which the upper wings have on the disc a
moderately large and nearly square spot, which looks as if a
patch of gold-leaf had been placed on the wing, and brilliantly
burnished. ‘

} 112

484 INSECTS AT HOME.

Ir the reader will refer to Woodcut XLVIII. on page 449,
and Fig. 1, he will see a portrait of the well-known HEraLp
Morn (Gonopteryx libatriw), our only British representative of
the family Gonopteride.

Even were not the colour of this insect so conspicuous, it
could at once be identified by the shape of its upper wings,
the hinder margins of which are deeply cut and scalloped, very
much like those of the Comma Butterfly, which has been de-
scribed on page 397. The colour of the upper wings is soft
brown-grey, with a downy surface, and slightly powdered with
rust-red. On the middle of the wing is a broad dash of bright
rust-red reaching as far as the base, and having a tiny, but
conspicuous spot of pure white in its middle. Parallel with
the hind margin a whitish-grey line runs across the wing and
has a narrow, pale brown streak accompanying it. The front
of the thorax is furnished with a ruff of long, soft down, of
the same rust-red as that of the wing. The rest of the body
and the lower wings are greyish-brown. The caterpillar, which
is shown at Fig. a, is green, with a narrow grey streak along
the sides. It feeds on the Sallow, and when full-fed spins a
eccoon within two or three of the leaves, which it draws togethcr
with silk.

The popular name of Herald is given to this Moth because
it appears at the end of autumn, and is supposed to be the
herald of the coming winter. Though feeding in the open air,
it has a singular predilection for the habitations of man, and
coutrives to make its way into stables, outhouses, and even into
houses that are inhabited. It is one of the commonest of the
raany window Moths, and often causes great consternation
among thrifty but ignorant housewives, who think that it has
come for the purpose of eating their woollen clothes, their furs,
and their feathers, and that, as it is so much larger than the
common Clothes Moth, it will eat so much the more. The
name of Gonoptera, or Angle-winged, refers to the bold
scalloping of the upper wings.

Mr. Newman remarks that these Moths often make up their
minds to hibernate almost immediately after they have passed
from the pupal shell, and that in that case, when they have
settled in a house, they remain in the same spot until the fol-
lowing spring, passing the whole of the time in a state of
torpidity.

THE RED: UNDERWINGS. 4835

Just as one group of Moths is popularly termed the Yellow
Underwings, so is another termed the Red Underwings, the
ground colour of their lower wings being brilliant red.

The first of these splendid insects is the Rep Unperwinc
(Catocala nupta), which is represented on Woodcut XLVIII.
Fig. 2. This is one of the largest and handsomest of the group,
though its colours are not quite so brilliant as that of another
species which will be presently mentioned.

The upper wings are grey with a slignt yellowish tint, and
profusely covered with waved bars and other marks of black,
nearly every such mark being accompanied by a grey bar of
similar shape. The under wings are red, diversified with two
black bars, one, a very broad oue, parallel to the hind margin,
and another, a comparatively narrow and much curved bar,
running across the middle of the wing. Beneath, the upper
- wings are white, crossed by three broad black bars, and the lower
wings are similarly coloured, but warming into light red towards
the inner margin, and having two bars across them.

The caterpillar is grey in colour, not unlike the hue of the
upper wings of the perfect insect, and sometimes has two black
waved stripes on the back. I never saw this caterpillar, but
Mr. Newman’s account of its habits is so admirable that I
transter it to these pages :—

‘It feeds on the Crack Willow (Saliva fragilis), and, when
closely adherent to the bark, is almost impossible to detect. I
have sometimes found it by passing my hand gently over the
surface of the bark about a foot below the branches of a pollard
willow, when its cold, soft feel at once betrayed it. It spins a
network cocoon among the leaves, or in a crevice of the bark
about Midsummer, and changes to a smooth chrysalis covered
with a purple bloom.’

The perfect insect appears about August; and, though it
may be ccmmon, it is not often seen, owing to its mode of
concealment. It carries into its perfect state one of its cater-
pillar habits, and has a way of settling on the trunks of willow
trees and closing its wings. In this position the splendid red
under wings are completely hidden by the sombrely tinted
upper pair, which so exactly resemble the colour of the bark
that, even when the Moth is pointed out, very few can dis-
tinguish it. I well remember the first time of discovering one

486 INSECTS AT HOME.

of these beautiful Moths. I was going tu bathe in the river
Cherwell, near Oxford, a river which is bordered with willows.
I happened to place my hand on the trunk of one of the wil-
lows, when out bounced a grand Red Underwing, startling me
as much as a novice in shooting is startled by his first pheasant.
I afterwards found that the Moths were tolerably plentiful upon
these trees.

The generic name Catocala is formed from the Greek, and
signifies something which is beautiful beneath. The name has
been given to these insects because their chief beauty les in
the under wings, which are hidden beneath the upper pair when
the Moth is at rest.

On the Frontispiece may be seen a portrait of a smaller but
more richly coloured species, called the Lieur Crimson UnpDrER-
wine (Catocala promissa).

Tn this fine Moth, the upper wings are coloured much like
those of the preceding species, but the marblings are much
richer and more clearly defined, and on the middle of the wing
there is a decided ochreous tinge. There is considerable
variation in the aforesaid markings. The ground colour of
the lower wings is crimson, with a very broad black band
following the hind margin, and a narrow band crossing the
middle, and almost angular in its form.

The caterpillar feeds on the oak, and is greenish-grey in colour,
and covered with tubercles of a warmer hue. ‘It is full-fed in
June, and spins a web among the leaves, appearing as a perfect
insect in a month or so. This is not nearly so common an
insect as the Red Underwing, but has been found in most of
the southern counties of England, the New Forest being noted
as its best locality.

To the same genus belongs that magnificent insect which is so
very common in France and so very rare in England, the CLirpENn
NonpareIL (Catocala fraxini). This Moth can at once be
recognised by its superior size and the colour of its under wings,
which are black, with a broad band of bluish grey drawn through
their centre. It is believed by many practical entomologists
that this insect does not rightly belong to England, but that
those few specimens which have been taken within the limits
of our island have been blown across the Channel from their
legitimate home in France.

CHAPTER V.
DELTOIDES, PYRALIDES, AND CRAMBITES.

I very much regret that there should be no simpler words
which can be substituted for those which head this chapter.
There are, however, none whatever, so we must be content to
use the terms which are adopted by the best entomologists of
the time. Indeed, the only group of which it is even possible
to form a simple English word which fully expresses the cha-
racter of the insects, is the first, which literally signifies
Delta-like, and may be freely translated as Delta-Moths, be-
cause when the insects are at rest, their wings assume a shape
which bears some resemblance to the Greek letter Delta (A).
All the above-mentioned insects are small, but the number
of species is enormous, for they reckon among their ranks
more species than all the groups which have heretofore been
described. As is the case with the Noctuse, the Moths of
each group bear a great resemblance to each other, and
much afflict the mind of the collector by their prevailing
similitude. At first, the collector finds himself utterly be-
wildered, when brought in contact with a number of these
Moths, and a feeling of despair seizes upon him. He feels much
as if a flock of sheep were brought before him, and he were
required to distinguish and name every animal. However, re-
membering that a good shepherd actually does know by sight
every sheep in his flock, and that his eye can seize upon little
points of difference which are absolutely invisible to the un-
initiated, he sets determinately to work, and after a little while
feels that he is beginning to make his way.

First, after long and careful examination, he picks out one
individual, and succeeds in finding the points in which it differs
from its fellows. Having done this, he is able to refer it to its
proper place in the list, and then finds but little difficulty in ©

48% INSECTS AT HOME.

picking out any other specimens that belong to the same species.
Half his task is now over, and he is able in a comparatively
short time to detect in the other Moths those distinctions which
his predecessors have already noticed, and by means of which
their species is ascertained. In fact, just as the above-men-
tioned shepherd learns to know by sight, and even by name,
every member of a large flock of sheep, which to the eye of a
stranger are exactly alike, so does the entomologist gain the
power of seeing at once the differences that exist in insects
which to an unaccustomed eye seem to have no marks of dis-
tinction at all.

Onn example of the Deltoides will be sufficient for our present
purpose, and we will select the Banpep Snour( Hypena rostralis),
which is represented in the central figure of Woodcut LVI.

This is one of the Moths which have received the popular
name of Snouts on account of the extremely elongated palpi,
which project in front of the head so as to look very much like
a proboscis. The antenne of these insects are simple in the
females and tufted in the males; their bodies are slender and
furnished with a tuft on the first segment.

The present species has the upper wings of a yellowish-brown,
crossed with a dark, grey-edged band. It is a common Moth,
and one of the earliest to appear in spring. The caterpillar is
long and slender, hairy, and when full-fed spins a silken web
among leaves and then changes into a long and slender pupa,
having the head portion much elongated in order to contain
the ‘snout’ or elongated palpi. There are three species be-
longing to this genus, one of which, called par excellence TuE
Snout (Hypena proboscidalis), has the upper wings boldly
hooked at the tips; and another, called, by a remarkable
collocation of words, the BrauriruL Snout (Hypena crassalis),
has the upper wings dark brown, with a patch of creamy white
at the base, and a rather paler border, in which are a number of
little black spots, each surrounded by a ring of cream-white.

The largest and the finest species, named TH Snovz, is drawn
on Plate XVII. *ig. 1. It may at once be recognised by the
peculiarity which has already been mentioned, namely, the
bold, hooked tips of the upper wings. Their colour is yellow-
ish-brown, and the markings are dark-brown. The lower wings

MEAL-MOTHS AND PEARL-MOTHS. 489

are simply pale-brown. The elongated and odd-looking larva
of this species is shown at Fig. 2 of the same Plate. Its
proper food is the common stinging-nettle.

Next come the Pyraripes, which some authors class with
the preceding insects. They include, among other insects, the

EVE

_ 1. Hypena rostralis. 2. Pyralis farinalis. 3. Aglossa pinguinalis.
4, Ennychia octomaculalis. a. Larva of Hydrocampa stagnalis. 6. Do. in its leaf-case,

Meal-Moths, and the beautiful group of Pearl-Moths, so called
because the surface of their wings has a peculiar sheen, much
resembling that of mother-of-pearl.

We will begin with the small group scientifically called
Pulverulents, and popularly Meal-Moths, because their larve
feed on meal, flour, and similar food. I have often wondered
what such larvee fed upon before men discovered the cultivation
of corn, and the process of grinding it into flour. They must

490 INSECTS AT HOME.

have fed upon something, and yet it is not easy to conjecture
what that something was, for there is nothing in nature analo-
gous to flour or meal.

On Woodcut LVI. Fig. 2, is shown one of those curious
insects, the common Meal-Moth (Pyralis farinalis). In these
Moths the wings have a gloss on the surface, are rather long
and narrow, and, when the insect is at rest, fall into a trian-
gular form. The antennz of the males are hairy beneath,
while those of the females are plain.

This very pretty little Moth has the upper wings dark brown,
variegated with yellowish bars, as shown in the illustration.
The figure is rather magnified, in order to bring out its mark-
ings more distinctly, and the same is the case with most,
though not all, of the remaining Moths.

_Only three British species of the genus are known, the most
familiar of which is the Doustz-Bar Mzat Morn (Pyralis
glaucinalis). It is less than the preceding species, and is
scarcely so pretty. The colour of the wings is brown, across
which are drawn two bands of a paler hue.

On the same Woodcut, at Fig. 3, is drawn the too familiar
Tansy Moru (Aglossa pinguinalis).

The Moth is rather a pretty one. Its upper wings are yel-
lowish-brown, with a very dark and nearly black patch at the
base of each wing, and a broad stripe of the same colour run-
ning parallel with the hind margin, and much wider above
than below. A narrow white streak divides the dark from the
lighter portions of the wing. The lower wings are of the
same pale dun as the upper pair, but they are without the
dark markings, and have only two jagged narrow streaks of
white near them. When the wings are expanded, these marks
look as if they were continuations of the corresponding marks
of the upper wings.

This may almost take rank as one of the Clothes Moths, as
in the larval state it feeds on old and greasy clothing. Grease,
indeed, seems to be a necessity with this insect, which delights
especially in old horse-rugs that are neglected by careless
erooms. The specific name of pinguinalis signifies fatty or
ereasy, and is given to the species on account of the substances
on which the larva feeds.

THE WHITE-SPOT MOTH. 491

The caterpillar, which does the mischief, is a brown creature
with a hard and horny skin, and having a head darker than the
rest of the body. Like the ordinary Clothes Moths, it does not
meddle with articles that are either in common use or that are
carefully aired and looked after. But, should a groom throw a
horse-rug into a corner, and let it lie there for several days,
the larve of the Tabby Moth find their opportunity, and make
sad havoe with the cloth. When full-fed the larva makes a
slight cocoon, and therein undergoes its transformations.

This genus of Moths receives the name of Aglossa, or tongue-
less, from the fact that the maxilla, which when united form
the proboscis or tongue, are almost entirely absent. The an-
tenne of the male are doubly feathered. Like the Meal-
Moths, these insects are found abundantly in and about out-
houses. There is only one other British species of this genus,
namely, the Smart Tanby (Aglossa cuprealis). As its name
implies, this is a smaller species. The wings are of a light-
brown colour, and across them are drawn some indistinct bands
of coppery-brown. It is as common as its larger relative, and
the larva possesses similar habits.

Next comes an example of another family, the Luride or
Ennychide. This is the rare and conspicuous Wuuits-Spot
(Ennychia octomaculalis), a figure of which is given on
Woodcut LVI. Fig. 4. In this genus the antenne are slender,
and long in proportion to the insect, and the palpi, which
are not quite so long as the head, are united, so as to form a
sort of beak.

This is one of the few Pyralides which it is impossible to
mistake. Both pairs of wings are deep-black, and on each
wing are two whitish-yellow spots with boldly defined outlines.
The hind margins of the wings have a delicate white fringe,
which on the inner margin of the lower wings becomes
very long and has an exceedingly pretty effect, as it contrasts
with the deep-black of the wing which it edges. The body is
black, and the abdomen has each segment marked by a very
narrow, but very distinct white line, scarcely wider than if
scratched with a needle-point. There is scarcely any differ-
ence in the colouring of either surface, except that on the
lower wings the two white spots coalesce.

4YZ INSECTS AT HOME.

This singularly pretty little Moth has been found in most
parts of England, but in none does it appear to be common.
The specimen from which the above description is taken is
from my Oxford collection, the insect having been captured in
Bagley Wood. I had at one time four or five of the White-
Spot Moth, all taken in the same locality.

Now we come to a very extraordinary creature.

There is one family of Moths, comprising only four species,
the larvee of which are dwellers in the water, thus trespassing
on the domains of other orders of insects. There is a group
of Moths popularly called China Marks, because the general
character of the surface of the wing and its markings has very
much of a porcelain character about it. The typical. species
is Hydrocampa stagnalis. In all these Moths, the female is
considerably larger than the male, and is rather variable in her
colouring, so that the older entomologists have in several cases
considered the sexes as forming distinct species. The male
has no feathering to the antenne, and the palpi are short,
- close together, and directed upwards.

The Moths are pretty little creatures, but the chief interest
of the insect lies in the larva, which has a mode of existence
that seems quite opposed to the whole character of the Lepi-
doptera. The caterpillars feed upon aquatic plants, and in
some species are absolutely sub-aquatic themselves. It is
evident that the respiratory apparatus of such larve cannot be
formed like that of ordinary caterpillars, which breathe atmo-
spheric air through spiracles and breathing tubes. Accord-
ingly, these larve, like those of the caddis, the May-flies, and
one or two beetles, such as the whirliwig, all of which have
been described in the course of this work, are furnished with
gill-like filaments along their sides, by means of which they
extract the oxygen from the water just as fishes do.

This is a most wonderful fact, and almost without a parallel
in entomology. There is one species of Ichneumon-fly, called
Agriotypus armatus, which is so far aquatic in its character
that it crawls down the sides of stones and water-plants to a
considerable depth, evidently for the purpose of laying its
eges in some aquatic larva. It really seems to be fond of
diving for its own sake, and if kept in an aquarium will sub-

THE BEAUTIFUL THINA MARK. 493

merge itself fora considerable time, the appearance of a hymen-
opterous insect beneath the surface of the water being most
extraordinary, and always exciting the admiration and surprise
of those who have any practical knowledge of insects. But,
that a caterpillar should actually pass its life under the water
is still more contrary to all preconceived opinions, and the idea
of a water-caterpillar is not one whit more abnormal than that
of a water-butterfly. The name Hydrocampa is formed from
two Greek words, literally signifying water-caterpillar, and
is given to this genus of Moths in consequence of the aquatic
life of the larva.

On Woodeut LVI. Fig. a, is drawn one of these larve, being
the preliminary stage of a Moth called scientifically Hydro-
campa stagnalis. This larva feeds upon the common duck-
weed (Lemna). It does not crawl freely upon this vegetable,
but remains submerged, and protects itself after the manner of
the caddis, which it so closely resembles in many of its habits,
by means of a case constructed from the epidermis of the pond-
weed (Potamogeton). From the under surface of the broad,
floating leaves of this plant, the larva strips off a sufficiency.
to form a kind of tent, in which it resides, very much as do
the caterpillars of several British Moths with the leaves of the
oak and other trees. At Fig. b, is seen this caterpillar, with
the head and legs just protruding from its case, which, being
of the same colour as the aquatic plants, serves for conceal-
ment as well as for protection.

The Moths themselves are very common, and can be taken
‘in plenty on the banks of ponds and any wet places where
duck-weed, pond-weed, and water-lilies grow. The perfect
insect is shown on Woodcut LVII. Fig. 1. It is popularly
known as the BeautiruL Cuina Marx, and well deserves its
name. The ground colour of the wings is pearly-white, and
on these are traced a number of soft brown lines, the most
conspicuous of which is a mark near the tip of the upper
wings, somewhat resembling the letter Y with the angle
rounded.

We next come to the Pearl Moths, which have already been
casually mentioned, and which are placed in the genus Botys.
A much more appropriate and withal intelligible name was

494 INSECTS AT HOME.

suggested by Mr. Stephens, namely Margaritia, from the Greek
word Margarites, which signifies a pearl. By the way, it is
evident that brunettes should never be named Margaret, the
name being as inappropriate as Blanche or Lily.

The name, however, has been reluctantly rejected by ento-
mologists, because the name of Botys, given to these Moths by
Latreille, has the priority, and entomologists are obliged to be

LVIL

4 of
1, Hydrocampa stagnalis. 2. Botys urticalis. 3. Spilodes cinctalis.
4, Stenopteryx hy bridalis. a. Botys, larva. b. Spilodes, larva.

as jealous of priority as are officers of seniority. It does not |
matter who invents a name, or how appropriate—or the con-
trary—it may be. That name which is first published has the
priority, and that name will be accepted ever afterwards.
There is only one chance of deposing an old and inappropriate
name in favour of a newer and better, namely, to prove that
the old name has clearly been anticipated in some branch of
zoology. If such anticipation can be shown beyond contra-

THE MOTHER OF PEARL. 495

diction, the older name is by common consent abandoned, and
the next in seniority takes its place. There are, of course,
some disadvantages in this system, but they are enormously over-
borne by its advantages, for, without some such system, there
would be no fixed nomenclature of insects, and every one who
thought that he could improve upon a name would do so, and
the result would be an inextricable confusion, which every
year would augment.

In the genus Botys, the body is larger than the wings, and
both pairs are marked in a similar manner.

The colour of this pretty little Moth is Pecan enon on
which are a number of dark markings arranged as shown in the
illustration on Woodcut LVII. Fig. 2. The popular name of
this insect is the Motuer or PEARL, and its scientific name is
Botys urticalis.

Although the general character of these marks is the same
in all species, there is some variation in different specimens,
both in their arrangement and depth of tint. In colour they
are nearly black, but if viewed by a side light, a purplish
metallic gloss is seen upon them, being best defined along the
costal margin of the upper wings. Both surfaces are coloured
in much the same manner, but on the under surface the marks
are not so dark, and the purple gloss is more conspicuous,
especially on the lower wings. When closed, the wings assume
a heart-like shape, and usually look very round, as if a flat
plate of thin mother of pearl had been cut into the shape of a
heart, and carefully painted with dark spots. The thorax is
bright golden-yellow, the abdomen is black, each segment being
edged with yellow, and there is a tuft of yellow hairs at the end
of the tail.

The caterpillar is one of the numerous nettle-feeders. It is
thicker in the middle than at the ends, and so thin-skinned
that it has a semi-transparent appearance when viewed against
the light. Its colour is whitish-grey on the back, relieved by
a central black line, and the sides are green. This larva is
shown at Fig. @ on Woodcut LVII. It draws together the
leaves of the nettle with silken threads, and so feeds in conceal-
ment. There are ten species of this pretty genus.

On Woodcut LVII. Fig. 3, is seen the Moth which is po-
pularly called the Lessrr Pzart (Spilodes cinctalis).

496 INSECTS AT HOME,

By the older entomological writers this insect was eomprised
in the same genus with the preceding insect. It has now,
however, been placed in a different genus, and that for two
reasons. ‘The first lies in the shape of the wings, which are
much deeper in proportion than those of the insects belonging
to the genus Botys; and the second is the appearance of the
wings, which do not possess the delicate, pearly translucency
which is so characteristic of these Moths, but are quite
opaque, their opacity being due to a very dense layer of white
scales on the under surface.

The general character of the markings can be seen by refer-
ence to the illustration. The darker portions are, however, of
various degrees of depth, and the light portions are glossy
cream-white, sometimes taking a yellow tinge. The generic

name Spilodes is taken from the Greek, and signifies anything

that is spotted. The specific name, cinctalis, or banded,
alludes to the manner in which the spots are arranged, so as to
form almost continuous bands.

The caterpillar of this insect is seen at Fig. 0.

Another pretty insect, belonging to the same genus, is the
Diamonp Svor (Spilodes sticticalis).

This little Moth is brown, the upper wings being much
darker than the lower, and having a conspicuous spot of pure
white near the tip. It is a rare Moth, but has been taken in
many parts of England, always appearing about September. The
caterpillar is shaped like that of the preceding species, and is
green, having along its back a dark line edged with yellow,
and some streaks of the same colour at the sides. It feeds on
the field-southernwood (Artemisia campestris) or the mugwort
(Artemisia vulgaris).

We now come to the last group of the Pyralides. These
insects have been termed Plicate, or folded, because when
the insect is at rest the wings are folded closely against the
body.

One example of this group will serve our purpose, namely,
the Rust VunrEer (Stenopteryx hybridalis). There is only
one British genus of these insects, and the name of Stenopterya
or ‘ Shortwing’ has been given to it, not so much because the
wings are exceptionally short, as because the abdomen is ex-

THE PEARL-STREAK VENEER. 497

ceptionally long, making the wings look short in proportion.
This insect is drawn on Wocdcut LVII. Fig. 4.

The upper wings of this species are rather narrow, and their
colour is brown, with.some rather large spots of a deeper
brown. The lower wings are plain grey-brown. When *he
insect is in repose, the upper wings overlap each other, the
end of the abdomen just appearing beyond them. The male
is distinguished by having his antennz feathered, while those
of the female are plain and thread-like. Although thi’ is a
very common Moth, I can find no mention of the larva, and do
not myself know it.

Tue next group of Moths which comes before us is called
CrampitEs, this name being apparently derived from a Greek
word signifying a kind of caterpillar. Whether or not this is
the case I cannot say, but the word has long been accepted by
entomologists. The reader will notice that all Moths which
belong to this group have their specific names ending in
‘ellus’ or ‘ella,’ according to the gender of the generic name.

We will begin with an example of the typical genus, namely,
the PEARL-STREAK VENEER (Crambus hamellus). It is drawn
on Woodcut LVIII. Fig. 2. In all the insects belonging to
this genus, the labial palpi are very long, and at first sight
look very much like a beak, or short proboscis. The upper
wings are long, narrow, and convoluted in repose, and the
antenne are thread-like.

This beautiful little Moth is rather gaily coloured. The
oround hue of its upper wings is rich dark brown, and
parallel with the costal margin and just below it is drawn a
narrow streak of pearly white, from which its popular name is
derived. The hind margins of the wings are yellow, that
colour being separated from the brown by a dark, wavy bar.
The lower wings are much lighter in colour than the upper
pair, and not nearly so handsome, their colour being pale
grey-brown, with an edging of yellow like that of the upper
pair.

It is not a very common Moth, but can be taken in open
places in woods by beating the bushes. It makes its appear-
ance in the very midst of summer.

Kk

498 INSECTS AT HOME.

On Woodeut LVIII. Fig. 3, is shown an example of the
family Chilide—a word which hy rights ought to be spelt
as Cheilide. It is derived from a Greek word signifying a beak
or snout, and is given to these insects because the labial palpi
are very long, as long in fact as the head and thorax together.
and project from the head like a beak. This great development
of the palpi is well shown in the illustration, those organs
being so long as almost to look like a second pair of antenne.
The upper wings of these Moths are lancet-shaped, long, ye
comparatively narrow.

The present species is called the Warnscor VenuEr (Chilo
phragmitellus), and is one of the largest, if not the very
largest of the family. Its colour is nearly uniform pale yellow
dun, with a slight streak or dash of a darker hue just below
the costal margin of the upper wings. Both pairs of wings are
nearly of the same colour. The male may be known from the
female by having the antenne slightly feathered and the wings
Jonger, narrower, and more sharply pointed.

The caterpillar is coloured much like the perfect insect, but
has not so much of the yellow about it, except on the head
and following segment, which are orange brown. It feeds on the
common reed (Arundo phragmites )—whence its specific name
of phragmitellus—and only in places where that plant grows,
and where in consequence the coot and the reed-bunting
abound, can either the caterpillar or the perfect insect be
taken. Although the reed is plentiful in its own chosen
localities, it is very particular as to the place of its growth.
Mostly it grows on marshy lands, or in waters which are very
shallow and occasionally exposed to the air in hot and dry
summers. Whittlesea Mere is one of the places where the
Wainscot Veneer can be taken; and I should fancy that the
great reservoir at Swindon would be a likely place for it, as
the reed grows there in large patches, forming semi-islands in
the water.

At a little distance these islands look very easy of approach,
and the coots’ nests in them appear as if anyone could just
step in and take them; but to penetrate the stronghold of
the coot is not always so easy as it looks, for the tall, sturdy
reed-stems form a natural stockade, strong enough to prevent a
human being from forcing his way through them, but not strong

THE GIGANTIC VENEER. 499

enough to bear his weight. Even if a boat be rowed hard at
one of these semi-islands, it often fails to penetrate it, the
reeds partly yielding to the impetus, and then recoiling and
driving the boat back with no small violence. Such places as
this are the localities loved by the Wainscot Veneer, and any
one who wishes to obtain it should visit them in June and
July for the perfect insect, and in May for the full-fed cater-
pillar.

LVIII

4
é ;
1. Galleria cerella. 2. Crambus hamellns. 3. Chilo phragmitellus. 4, Tortrix
costana. 5. Tortrix sorbiana. a. Galleria, larva. 6. Do., palpus of female.

c. Do., palpus of male.

There are a tolerable number of Moths called by the popular
name of Veneers, the largest of which is the Gigantic VENEER
(Schenobius gigantellus). An exceptionally fine specimen of
this insect will measure almost two inches across the spread
wings. In colour this insect very much resembles the Wainscot
Veneer, but there is a decided difference in the colour of the
sexes. The male has both pairs of wings bright yellow-brown,
and the upper pair slightly spotted; whereas those of the

Kk 2

500 INSECTS AT HOME.

female are pale brown without the spots, and the under wings
are nearly white.

Like the preceding insect, this Moth is rare except in places
where the reed abounds. The somewhat odd-looking name
Schcenobius alludes to this fact, and is derived from two Greek
words signifying something that lives among reeds. Several
other of the Veneers belong to the genus Crambus, which has
already been mentioned.

Tue last of the Crambites which we can examine is an
insect with which all bee-keepers would very gladly dispense,
as it plays much the same part with the bee-comb that the
Clothes Moth does with wool, fur, or feathers. This is the little
insignificant-looking Honry-comsp Morn (Galleria cerella), a
figure of which is given on Woodcut LVIII. Fig. 1. The
specific name of cerella (from the Latin word cera, wax) has
been given to this insect in consequence of the wax-eating
propensities of the larva. Linnzus, being deceived by the
structure of the palpi, gave to the male the specific name of
cereand, and to the female that of melonella (from the Latin,
mel, honey). So, in order to avoid confusion, both these
names have been rejected, and the present specific name
accepted in their stead.

The colour of this Moth is simply brown, the lower wings
grey-brown, the upper pair having a tinge of chestnut.
They are rather boldly scooped at the tips, in which respect
they differ from those of one or two other Moths, which will
presently be mentioned. i

Personally, I have a very strong objection to this Moth, and
cannot easily forgive it for the destruction of a valuable collec-
tion of bee-combs. I well remember my dismay at discovering
the havoc which this insect had made ina veryshort time. The
cases containing the combs had been put away forsome months,
until I had to refer to them. On opening the cases, I was —
dismayed to find that the combs had almost entirely disap-
peared, and in their place was a complicated mass of long
silken tubes, running in all directions, and swarming both with
the caterpillar and perfect insect of the Honey-comb Moth.
The rapidity with which they form their galleries is really _
wonderful, and the caterpillars appear even to extend them

THE HONEY MOTH. 501

where they are not required. I could very easily understand
why they should drive their silken tunnels through the combs,
or even on their surface, but I never could see any object in
the extraordinary excursions in which they continually indulged.
The silken tubes ran all over the box, extending to spots far
distant from the comb. One of these tubes had actually been
made between the lid and the edge of the box, and ran for
nearly the whole distance, so that when the box was opened,
the tube was torn asunder for nearly the whole of its length,
and its inmate was discovered, much to its discomfiture.

The object of the tubes is evident. The body of the cater-
pillar is quite soft, and the only parts that are at all hard are
the head and thorax. The aggrieved bees would be sure to
destroy the invader of their hives if they could only get at it,
but the horny skin defends the one end of the caterpillar,
while the other is sheltered in thé tube, and the consequence is,
that the bees are powerless and often are driven out of their
hives by this little Moth. I have often wondered that the
bees never seem to think of tearing up the silken tubes and
turning the caterpillars out of them. The tubes may resist
the sting of the bee, but, although they are tough, they are not
so strong that the strong jaws of the bee could not pull them
to pieces.

The caterpillar proceeds in its tube-making in a very sys-
tematic way. It thrusts its head out of the end of the tube,
and eats the cells and their contents until it cannot protrude
itself further without exposing the soft part of its frame. So
-it sets to work and adds to the tube until it has brought it
close to its food, and thus proceeds until it is full-fed, and the
time arrives for it to undergo its transformation. The cater-
pillar is marvellously active when within its tube, and can
run backwards as fast as it can forwards. On the least move-
ment near it, the caterpillar takes alarm, and jerks itself
backwards into the protecting tube with a movement exactly
resembling that of a frightened tortoise drawing its head into
its shell.

A figure of the caterpillar is shown at Fig. a of the Wood-
eut LVIII. in the act of forcing its way through the honey-
. comb. The reader must remember that the silken gallery is
of necessity omitted, as otherwise the caterpillar could not be

502 INSECTS AT HOME.

shown. I have watched these larve carefully, and never yet
saw one of them protrude itself further from the mouth of the
tunnel than it could be protected by the hard covering of the
head and the next three segments.

With regard to my own specimens of devoured combs, there
was good reason for the vast number of caterpillars. They
came from a hive nearly all the inhabitants of which had died
in the winter, so that the Honey-comb Moths found no difficulty
in getting among the combs, and depositing their eggs when
and where they liked.

In this insect the sexes may be at once distinguished by the
very different structure of the palpi. Fig. ¢ shows the palpus
of the male. and Fig. 6b that of the female.

This is not the only species of Moth that feeds on the honey-
comb. There is, for example, the Gremn-SaapED Honzy-
Comp Morn (Melia sociella), which is rather more gaily
coloured than the preceding insect, and has on the dise of its
upper wings a yellowish streak spotted with black dots; and
the Honzy Mors (Achroia grisella), a much smaller species,
having brown wings covered with tiny black dots. All the
caterpillars of the comb-eating Moths possess similar habits.

CHAPTER VI.

TORTRICES, TINE, AND PTEROPHORI.

Tue Tortrices or Twisters are so called because many, though
not all of them, are in the habit of twisting or rolling up
leaves while in the larval state. Of these insects, a vast number
of species are already known, and new species are continually
being brought forward for investigation. There is, however,
so great a resemblance between the different species, and each
species is so apt to run into varieties, that all systematic ento-
mologists look with suspicion on any newly announced species
of this group, and the discoverer is sure to be sharply chal-
lenged as to his proofs of its novelty. So extremely variable
are some of these Moths, that in one case no.less than thirty-
seven alleged species have been reduced to one, and shown to
be merely varieties; while in another species twenty-three
varieties have been detected, and in another, fourteen.

There is little difficulty in knowing whether a Moth belongs
to this group. In these, the body is comparatively short and
slender, and the wings have a peculiar wave on their costal
margin, so that when the insect is at rest with closed wings,
the outline is curiously like that of a bell. We will take a
few of the most conspicuous of these Moths.

At their head come some Moths which scarcely seem to
belong to the Tortrices. They are popularly called by the name
of Silver Lines, because their green wings are crossed with
some narrow lines of silvery-whiteness. As a rule, the Tor-
trices are all little Moths, but some of the Silver-Lines are
exceptions to this rule, and are, indeed, the very giants of their
race. .

There are but three of these insects, which form the family
of the Cymbidz, a name which will be presently explained.

004 INSECTS AT HOME.

The commonest of them is the Grenn Srrver Lines (Halias
fraxinana). The upper wings of this Moth are beautiful leaf-
green, across which are drawn three diagonal silvery lines,
taking a pinkish hue near the inner margin. The head and
thorax are of the same green hue as the wings. The lower
wings and abdomen are pale yellow. The larva of this insect
feeds on the oak, the ash, and one or two other trees, and the
perfect insect appears in May. The middle of July is a good
time for taking the larva, as it is then nearly full-fed. The
colour of the caterpillar very much resembles that of the
Moth’s wings. This Moth measures about an inch and a half
in the spread of its wings.

The largest of all these Moths is the Scarce Sitver Lins
(Halias quercana), which measures about two inches in ex-
panse of wing. The upper wings of this species are leaf-green,
and are crossed by two diagonal silvery lines, nearly but not
quite parallel with the hind margin. The caterpillar of this
insect should be sought for in May, the perfect insect appear-
ing towards the end of summer.

When the caterpillar is full-fed, it changes into a chrysalis,
which is fastened to a leaf. The form of the chrysalis is most
peculiar, and has been compared to that of a boat with the
keel uppermost. The name of Cymbidze, which has been given
to this family, is taken from a Greek word signifying a boat,
and alludes to this form of the pupa.

WE now proceed to the typical family, the Tortricide, of
which we shall take a few examples, the first of which is the
Haze, Morn (Tortria sorbiana), a figure of which is given ~
on Woodcut LVIII. Fig. 5.

This is the largest of its family, and is rather a conspicuous
insect, its colours being boldly contrasted. The general
character of these markings is shown in the illustration, but
they vary so much in direction, shade, and dimensions that
scarcely any two specimens are exactly alike. The colour of
the upper wings is light warm brown, upon which are some
bold marks of dark brown. These are mostly three in number,
namely, a rather jagged band across the middle of the wing,
another near the base, and a triangular spot near the tip, the
base resting on the costal margin. The male may be known

PLATE XVII.

DSELTOIDES, TORTRICES, TINEA, AND PTEROPHOM

1, Hypzena proboscidalis.

2. Hypeena proboscidalis, larva.
3. Tortrix pomonana.

4, Tortrix pomonana, larva.

5. Pterophorus pentadactylua
6. Pterophorus pterodactylus.
7. Nepticula aurella.

8. Leaves mined by Nepticula,

PLANTS :—
Apple and Bramble.

UNS:
1 \

a

THE PEA-GREEN MOTH. 505

by the formation of his upper wings, which have a narrow fold
that reaches nearly to the middle.

As its popular name imports, the caterpillar of this Moth
feeds mostly on the hazel, though it is found on other trees.
It is not one of the actual leaf-rollers, but draws the leaves
together with silk, and feeds snugly between them. The
caterpillar is full-fed about the end of April or beginning of
May, according to the weather, and the perfect insect appears
in June.

TuE very pretty, but very destructive Pra-Green Morn or
Oax-Morn, as it is indifferently termed, requires a short notice.
The scientific name of this insect is Tortrix viridana. The
appearance of this little Moth is very prepossessing, the upper
wings being leaf-green, and the lower pair greyish-brown.
When the wings are closed, the green is the only portion of
the insect that is visible, so that the Moths may be thickly
spread over a branch, and yet not one be distinguishable from
the leaves. This insect isin some years very destructive among
the oak trees. It may be found in abundance at the beginning
of summer, in any place where oaks are numerous.

Next comes the Srraw OsiiqueE Bar (Tortria costana),
which is seen on Woodcut LVIII. Fig. 4.

This pretty Moth derives its popular name from the colour-
ing of the wings. The upper pair are a very glossy straw-
colour, sometimes taking rather a pale tint. Upon them are
some markings of rather dark warm brown, arranged as shown
in the illustration. There is some variation in different in-
dividuals, but the central bar, which runs obliquely, is most
distinct at the costa. The other markings are not so distinct.
This is a common insect in nearly all marshy places, as the
larva feeds upon almost ‘any plants that grow in such situa-
tions. The colour of the caterpillar is dull brown, and its
head is black.

Passing by a number of species, we come to the Burron
Tortrix (Peronea cristana), which is shown on Woodcut LIX.
Fig. 3.

This is the insect of which so many varieties have been
recorded. So variable an insect cannot be described in detail,

>

506 INSECTS AT HOME.

but there are one or two points about it which are the same in
all the varieties. The upper wings are always brown of some
shade, and much darker than the lower pair. Each of the
upper wings has in the middle a little button-like tuft of
ereyish-white scales, from which the popular name of Button
Moth is derived; and along the lower edge of the wings there
is a streak or dash of the same hue.

LIX

1. Ephippiphora feenella. 2. Ephippiphora sentulana. 3. Peronea cristana,
4, Cnephasia octomaculana, 5, Xanthosetia zoegana.

This Moth is not rare, though it is rather local, occurring in
some profusion in those spots wherein it takes up its residence.
Woods and forests are the localities which it generally pre-
fers, and it appears from the end of summer throughout the
autumn.

Tue very conspicuous Norcuwine (Teras caudana) deserves
a short description, on account of the peculiarity of the upper

THE BERGMANNIAN TORTRIX. 507

wines. If one of these wings be taken by itself, it looks exactly
as if the insect had met with an accident, and had a large
piece torn out of the upper edge. This notch, from which the
insect takes its name, occupies fully one-third of the length of
the wing, and is rather deeper towards the base than the tip.
It is rather a variable insect, but the deep and long notch is
sufficient for identification. Generally, the ground colour of
the upper wings is soft grey-brown with a satiny gloss. About
the centre of the wing the colour warms into chestnut, and
a narrow edging of the same colour surrounds the wing. The
edge of the scallops is white, and a dark grey band is drawn
beneath them, and taking the same outline.

The caterpillar of this little Moth feeds on the sallow, and
is green, with a yellow head. The Notchwing prefers the
north of England to the south.

On the rose-tree is often seen a little white caterpillar with
a black head. If approached quietly, it can be detected while
feeding on the leaves, but if the branch be jarred, the cater-
pillar drops for some distance, letting itself down by a silken
line. This is the larva of a very destructive little Moth, called
the Beramannian Tortrix (Dictyopteryx Bergmanniana).

The upper wings of this insect are rather long, and their
upper edge is decidedly arched in front. The colour of these
wings is grey with a dash of ochreous yellow, pencilled indis-
tinctly with brown, and across them are drawn two diagonal
whitish marks having a silvery lustre. On the hind margin
there is a brown band, variegated with minute white spots. The
best way of getting rid of the insect is to tap the stem of the
rose gently, when the larve will let themselves drop, and can
easily be taken as they hang suspended by their silken life-
lines.

Axzout the exact position of the little Moth which comes next
on our list there has been considerable uncertainty, some ento-
mologists placing it in the genus Lozotenia. As, however, we
accept in this work Mr. Doubleday’s well-known catalogue, we
place it in the position which he givesit. The popular name of
this Moth is the ArrerNoon TortrIx, and its scientific title
Cnephasia musculana. Both these names refer to its colour,
the former word being taken from the Greek, and signifies

508 INSECTS AT HOME.

dusky, or anything which comes out in the dusk, while the
latter name is Latin, and signifies a little mouse, in allusion to
the nocturnal habits of the mouse.

The upper wings of this insect are dull grey. At the base is
a patch rather darker than the ground colour of the wing, and
very indistinct. The central band is dark-brown with a greyish
tint, the other marks are light-grey brown. The larva of this
Moth feeds on the common bramble, drawing two leaves together
with silk, and remaining hidden between them. The Moth is
tolerably plentiful.

ANOTHER species of this genus is the E1rent-Spor Morn (Cne
phasia octomaculana), a figure of which is given on Woodcut
LIX. Fig. 4.

Although its colours are simple, they are very pleasing and
prettily arranged. The ground colour of the upper wings is
white, minutely speckled with grey, and each wing has four
dark greyish-black marks, from which the insect derives its
name of octomaculana, or eight-blotched. There is some
variation in the size and form of the marks, but as a rule they
are found as they appear in the illustration. The under wings
are simply grey.

The larva of this insect feeds on the thistle, and is more
common in Scotland and the northern parts of England than
in the southern counties.

It is with much regret that I find myself obliged to omit
many insects which are well deserving of notice. Our space,
however, is so rapidly diminishing that we must content our-
selves with only a very few out of the many pretty little Moths
which form this large group.

Another of the rose-feeding pests is the caterpillar of the
Moth which goes by the popular name of the Brown CLOAK
(Spilonota roborana).

In the insects belonging to this genus the upper wings are
very narrow, being twice as long as they are broad. The hind
wings, however, are so wide that they carry off the narrowness
of the upper wings, which none but a practised eye would
notice. The palpi are broad and flattened, and the male is
known from the female by his tufted abdomen.

This is a pretty Moth, though the colours are very simple

THE CODLIN MOTH, 509

The upper wings are creamy white, with a large triangular
patch of dark-brown at the base, and a blotch of lighter brown
at the tip. The space between these dark patches is mottled
with blackish-grey, and there are one or two black spots scat-
tered about it. The under wings are pale greyish-brown. The
larva of this Moth can be found about the end of April or May,
and the perfect insect appears in June.

Closely allied to this is another rose-eater, the Cream Snort-
cLoaK (Spilonota ocellana) which derives its popular name
from the creamy white of the upper wings, and the bold brown
spots upon them. It is a very pretty little insect. The upper
wings are, as above-mentioned, of a creamy-white, and upon
them is a large, dark-brown patch at the base, occupying more
than a quarter of the wing. A bold spot of the same colour is
placed at the tip of the wing, and another at the middle of the
inner margin, a similarly shaped spot, but of dark-grey, occu-
pying the middle of the costal margin. The spots are, how-
ever, exceedingly variable, both in number, form, anc position.
The lower wings are plain dark-brown.

Next on our list comes the lovely, but destructive CopLiNn
Morn (Tortria or Carpocapsa pomonana), which is drawn on
Plate XVII. Fig. 3.

This is a most exquisitely coloured insect, but a magnifying
glass and a good light are required in order to bring out all
its beauties. The upper wings are rich brown, banded at the
base and tip with a darker and warmer brown. In the dark
band at the tip of the wing is an oval mark of brilliant gold-
coloured scales, having a very dark centre. In certain lights
this dark centre takes a reddish hue, while a golden gloss per-
vades the whole of the wing. Even the outer wings, when
viewed in a side light, shine as if made of the richest satin.
By a proper adjustment of the light, a rather curious effect can
be produced, the wings of one side glittering and shining in
full splendour, while the corresponding wings of the other side
are nothing but dull grey, brown, and black.

So excellent a description of the ravages of this little Moth
is given by Mr. E. Newman in his ‘ Letters of Rusticus’ that
I cannot do better than allow so excellent an observer and 30
amusing a writer to speak for himself :—

510 INSECTS AT HOME.

‘It is the most beautiful of the beautiful tribe to which
it belongs; yet from its habits not being known, it is sel-
dom seen in the Moth state, and the apple-grower knows
no more than the man in the moon to what cause he is in-
debted for his basketfuls of worm-eaten windfalls in the stillest
weather.

‘To find the Moth in the daytime, the trunks of the apple-
trees should be carefully looked over; or if your orchard be
surrounded by a wooden fence, the Moth may often be found
sitting against it, with its pretty wings neatly folded round its
body. Towards evening—in fact, at sunset—it begins to move,
and may then be seen hovering about the little apples, which by
the time the Moth leaves the chrysalis—the middle of June—
are well knit, and consequently fit for the reception of the eggs,
which it lays in the eyes, one only in each, by introducing its
long ovipositor between the leaves of the calyx, which form a
tent above it, that effectually shields it from the inclemency of
the weather, or any other casualty.

‘ As soon as the egg hatches, the little grub gnaws a hole in
the crown of the apple, and soon buries itself in its substance ;
and it is worthy of remark that the rind of the apple, as if to
afford every facility to the destroyer, is thinner here than in
any other part, and consequently more easily pierced. The
apple most commonly attacked is the codlin, a large, early sort,
which ripens in July and August.

‘ The grub, controlled by an unvarying instinct, eats into the
apple obliquely downwards, and, by thus avoiding the core and
pips, in no way hinders its growth. At first it makes but slow
progress, being little bigger thana thread, but after a fortnight
its size and operations have much increased; it has now eaten
half way down the apple, and the position of the hole at the
top, if the apple continue upright, or nearly so, is inconvenient
for a purpose it has up to this time been used for, that is, as a
pass to get rid of its little pellets of excrement, which are
something like fine sawdust or coarse sand. Another communi-
cation with the outer air is therefore required, and it must be
so constructed as to allow the power of gravity to assist in
keeping it clear; it is accordingly made directly downwards
towards that part of the apple which is lowest, and thus the
trouble of thrusting the pellets upwards through the eye of the

THE CODLIN MOTH. 51\

apple is saved, and a constant admission given to a supply of
air without any labour.

‘The hole now made is not, however, sufficiently open for
an observer to gain by its means any knowledge of what is
going on within ; this is only to be obtained by cutting open a
number of the apples as they gradually advance towards ripe-
ness; the hole is, however, very easily seen, from its always
having adhering to it on the outside an accumulation of little
grains which have been thrust through.

‘ Having completed this work the grub returns towards the
centre of the apple, where he feeds at his ease. When within a
few days of. being full-fed, he, for the first time, enters the
core through a round hole gnawed in the hard, horny substance
which always separates the pips from the pulp of the fruit, and
the destroyer now finds himselfin that spacious chamber which
codlins in particular always have in their centre. From this
time he eats only the pips, never again tasting the more com-
mon pulp which hitherto had satisfied his unsophisticated
palate; now nothing less than the highly-flavoured, aromatic
kernels will suit his tooth, and on these for a few days he feasts
in luxury.

* Somehow or other, the pips of an apple are connected with
its growth, as the heart of an animal with its life: injure the
heart, an animal dies; injure the pips, an apple falls. Whether
the fall of his house gives the tenant warning to quit, I cannot
say, but quit he does, and that almost immediately; he leaves
the core, crawls along his breathing and clearing-out gallery,
the mouth of which, before nearly closed, he now gnaws into a
smooth, round hole, which will permit him free passage with-
out hurting his fat, soft, round body ; then out he comes, and
for the first time in his life finds himself in the open air. He
now wanders about on the ground till he finds the stem of a
tree; up this he climbs, and hides himself in some nice little
erack in the bark.

‘I should remark, that tne fall of the apple, the exit of the
grub, and his wandering to this place of security, usually take
place in the night-time. In this situation he remains without
stirring for a day or two, as if to rest himself after the uncom-
mon fatigue of a two yards’ march; he then gnaws away the
bark a little, in order to get further in out of the way of

512 INSECTS AT HOME.

observation ; and having made a smooth chamber big enough for
his wants, he spins a beautiful little milk-white silken case, in
which, after a few weeks, he becomes a chrysalis, and in this
state remains throughout the winter and until the following June,
unless some unlucky, black-headed tit, running up the trunk,
peeping into every cranny, and whistling out his.merry see-saw,
‘happen to spy him, in which case he is plucked without cere-
mony from his retreat, and his last moments are spent in the
bird’s crop; but, supposing no such ill-fortune betide him, by
the middle of June he is again on the wing, and hovering round
the young apples on a midsummer evening as before.

‘By burning weeds in your garden at this time of year, you
will effectually drive away this little Moth. If you have trees
the crops of which you value, make a smoking (mind! not a
blazing) fire under each; it will put you to some inconvenience
if your garden be near your house, but the apples will repay
you for that.’

Despite these destructive habits of this insect—perhaps in
consequence of them—I have always cherished a kindly remini-
scence of this Moth. When I was a child there was a re-
markably fine codlin apple-tree in the garden, the fruit of _
which ripened early and was particularly juicy. As children,
we were not allowed to gather the fruit at our discretion, but
were permitted to take that which fell without any unfair
means being used, such as beating or shaking the branches.
Thanks to the Codlin Moth, a considerable number of apples
always did fall annually, having ripened much before their time,
as is the manner of fruit which will never come to perfection.
Like most larvee which never see the light until they are full-
fed, the caterpillar of this insect is nearly colourless, with the
exception of the head, which is brown-black, hard, and shining.

On Woodcut LIX. Fig. 2, is seen a magnified representation
of a Moth known by the popular name of the Sinete Buiotce
(Ephippiphora scutulana).

It derives its name from the rather peculiar colouring of
the wings, the upper pair of which are brown, variously
mottled, and each having on the inner margin a single square
hlotch of white. It isa plentiful insect in all parts of Eng-
land.

THE ZOEGIAN TORTRIX. 513

An allied species, Ephippiphora fanella, isshown at Fig. 1
It is a very pretty little creature, the upper wings being dark
brown, each having a pretty white spot, as seen in the illustra~
tion. The under wings are nearly as dark as the upper pair.

WHILE we are engaged on this subject of Tortrices that are
destructive to fruit, we must mention the W#sBERIAN TortRix
(Semasia Weeberana), which affects the various stone-frui just
as the Caddis Moth attacks the apples.

I scarcely knowa more lovely Moth than this little being, its
beauties, however, being so minute that they can scarcely be even
suspected until the magnifying glass is brought to bear upon
them. When viewed with a moderately powerful lens and a
good light, the upper wings start into sudden and unexpected
beauty. Their rich, satiny warm brown surface is seen to be
covered with innumerable tiny and delicate pencillings, scarcely
wider than a hair, but each traced with perfect decision, and
glittering as if it were formed of highly burnished gold.

Although belonging to the Tortrices, it is not a leaf-roller,
nor even a fruit-eater, but restricts itself to the inner bark, on
which it seems to feed exclusively. Although thus hidden
from human sight, it can easily be detected, because, like the
Codlin Moth, it ejects from the mouth of the burrow the
digested remains of its food, which may be seen in the furm of
fine yellow powder. Brushing oil into the holes has been
strongly recommended as a mode of killing these mischievous
caterpillars. I should think that to forve a drop of oil sharply
into the burrow by means of a fine syringe would be much
more effectual. Oil is instantaneously fatal to insects, because
it chokes up the spiracles and prevents them from breathing.
But, it must first reach the spiracles, and I rather doubt
whether the mere brushing oil over the mouths of the burrows
would have that effect, whereas, forcing it into the tunnels
with a smart push of the syringe-piston could scarcely fail
of that effect.

Tue last of the Tortrices which we can mention in this work
is the Zoician Torrrix (Lortria zoegana).
The colouring of this insect is very bold. The ground colour
of the upper wings is yellow, and the upper part of their
LL

514 INSECTS AT HOME.

bases is tinged with rusty red. An irregular spot of the same
colour is on the middle of the wing, just beluw the longitudinal
fold, and the end of the wing is rust-red, with the exception of
arather large oval spot of the same yellow as the ground colour
of the wing. The caterpillar of this Moth feeds on the root of
the scabious. The perfect insect, though it seems to be widely
distributed, is not very common anywhere.

CHAPTER VII.
TINEA AND PTEROPHORI.

WE now come to a vast group of Moths, some of which are
moderately large, while some are so very minute that they
scarcely seem to be ranked among the Lepidoptera.

The name Tine is taken from a Latin word signifying a
Clothes Moth, and has nothing to do with our word ‘ tiny,’
however appropriate that may be in many cases. The number
of these Moths is really unknown, for there is scarcely a year
in which some new species of the Tinez is not discovered and
placed on the list. Indeed, so numerous are they that they
have collectively been ranked under a separate name, viz.
Micro-lepidoptera, and their study has become quite a distinct
branch of entomology. Their average dimensions may be seen
by reference to Fig. 7 gn Plate XVIJ., in which the beautiful
little Moth called the Golden Pigmy is represented of its
natural size.

We will now proceed to examine a few examples of this
group of Moths, and begin with the insect which is figured
on Woodcut LX. Fig. 1. Its scientific title is Depressuria
nervosella. No popular name has yet been given to it, so, in
allusion to the peculiar colour of its upper wings, I will call
it the Brown Pius.

Without a magnifying glass, it is impossible to make out
correctly the colours of this little Moth. The upper wings are
brown, with a slight reddish gloss, and on close examination are
seen to be covered with a great number of tiny longitudinal
streaks of a yellowish dun. Altogether, the general effect of the
upper surface of the wing is exactly like that of a piece of brown
plush. The base of the upper wings is dark brown, and so is a
small spot near the inner margin, and two dusk-dun spots on
the disc. The fringe of the wings is greyish-dun. The lower

Ty Tine

516 INSECTS AT HOME.

wings and the abdomen are grey, as is the under surface of the
wings.

The larva of this insect is bluish-black, with an orange stripe
on each side, and is really a handsome little creature. It feeds
on the Hemlock Water Dropwort (Hnanthe crocata). A mag-
nified figure of this caterpillar is given at Fig. a@ of the same
Woodeut, and Fig. 6 shows the caterpillar of its natural

ike

1. Depressaria nervosella. 2. Coleophora ibipennella. 3. Tischeria complanella.
a and 6. Depressaria, larva. ¢- Coleophora, larva. d. Tischeria, larva.

size, feeding on the flowers of the dropwort which it has drawn
together with silken threads.

I cannot pass unnoticed the very beautiful and very mis-
chievous insect called by the popular name of the LirrLk ErMINE
(Hyponomeuta padella). With respect to the first of these
names, I must mention that some writers on entomology omit

THE LITTLE ERMINE. shy

the H and spell the word Yponomeuta. This practice, although
it is largely indulged in by various writers, is utterly wrong, as
it omits the aspirate in the Greek, the English representative
of which is the letter H.

Following exactly the spelling as well as the arrangement of
certain authors, I have more than once accepted this omission
of the aspirate, but I can do so no longer, and hereby offer my
protest against any such barbarism. The scientific names of
insects are quite crabbed enough as it is, and there is no need
to add to the difficulty of remembering them by false spelling.

It would be thought extremely absurd to write of burning
ydrogen gas, of killing an yena, of using yperbola, of singing
an ymn, of planting an yacinth, of inserting an yphen between
two words, of unmasking an ypocrite or supporting an ypothesis ;
and yet, such words are not one whit more ridiculous than
Yponomeuta for Hyponomeuta. I rather think they have been
so spelt by persons more conversant with entomology than
philology, and who have learnt enough Greek to know the
alphabet, but not enough to know the aspirate.

In the next place the reader will remark that the specific
names of the insects belonging to the Tinez are made to end
in ‘ella.’ The specific name of the insect just described, used
to be given as nervosa, but has been altered to nervosella for
the sake of uniformity.

It is impossible to mistake the little Ermine, whose long,
narrow, satiny white upper wings, sprinkled with black dots,
render it exceedingly conspicuous. The destruction wrought
by this little insect is almost incredible, whole trees be-
ing stripped of their foliage, and, instead of bearing leaves,
covered with the white webs and strong threads of the cater-
pillars.. Even in the midst of London, in the densest, smok-
iest, dingiest part of Bermondsey, I have seen this Moth in
full force. It was simply master of the situation. The little
square yard which did duty for a garden was overrun with the
caterpillars, which stretched their tough silken cables across
the yard, across the windows, across the doorways, across the
path, and, in fact, seemed to have calculated how they could
most annoy the legitimate proprietors of the place.

Not content with taking possession of the tinv garden, they
invaded the houses around, and every window that was opened

518 INSECTS AT HOME.

was at once stormed by the caterpillars, which entered the
rooms, crawled over the furniture, trailed their silken lines
over everything in the room, and really made the inhabitants
of the houses quite afraid to admit the little air that ever stirs
in such localities. Yet, in the midst of all the smoke, the
dust, the ‘ blacks,’ and the other adjuncts of the neighbourhood,
the little Moths fluttered about with wings as purely white as
if they had never come within twenty miles of a chimney.

Wer must not pass over without notice the lovely Long-horn
Moths, of which we have several examples in England. These
Moths are remarkable for the extreme length and delicacy of
their antenne, these appendages being very much longer in the
males than in the females. The best known of these is the Dz
Gurrnan (Adela de Geerella). This is a truly magnificent
insect. Even to the naked eye its upper wings are singularly
beautiful, but when it is examined by the microscope its
splendour absolutely baffles description. Suffice it to say that
the wings then appear to be covered with scale armour of
burnished gold, every scale taking a rich purple hue in certain
lights. As the insect is turned under the microscope the edges
are deeply purple, this hue being strongest and most con-
spicuous towards the tips. The fringe of the wings has also a
tendency to purple.

The antennz of this Moth are of enormous length. Just at
the base they are rather thicl:, and have a very slight feathering.
They then suddenly diminish, and are so long and so delicate
that they almost look like the threads of a spider’s web that
have been casually attached to the creature’s head. Indeed, I
have often taken the Moth by watching for the flash of light
reflected from the antennz as they wave about in the air like
threads of gossamer, while the insect is sitting quietly on a
leaf.

The caterpillar of this Longhorn Moth feeds on the Wood
Anemone, and is pale yellow with a black head. The structure
of the chrysalis is very remarkable, on account of the manner
in which the antennze are disposed. In the pupa of ordinary
Lepidoptera the antennz le straight down the front of the
body, but such a provision would be quite insufficient for the
Long-horn, whose antennz are many timcs as long as the body.

THE CONFLUENT BARRED MOTH. 519

On examining one of the pups, it will be found that the
antennz are led down the body as usual, but are then rolled
spirally round the end of the tail, so as to make quite a bold
knob, thus disposing of their enormous length in a very small
compass.

There is another common and most beautiful species, the
GREEN LonGHorn, in which the upper wings are glittering
golden-green, instead of gold-brown and purple. The colour of
the wings much resembles that of the young oak-leaf, on which
the Moth loves to sit,and, were it not for the gleam of the
waving antenne, it might readily escape observation. Both
these species are common in oak copses, and are often taken in
the sweep net when the collector is searching for beetles. Six
species of Long-horn Moths are known to inhabit England, tbe
two which have been mentioned being the most conspicuous.

As an example of the leaf-rolling Tinex, we will take that
very well-known species which infests the lilac, and is known
by the popular name of the ConrLuznt Barrep Morn (Gracil-
laria syringella). It is a pretty little insect, the upper wings
being ochreous and mottled profusely with dark brown, while
near the tip of the wing there is an eye-like mark with a black
centre. The lower wings are greyish-brown. In consequence
of its food it is sometimes called the Lilac Moth.

The caterpillar of this insect undergoes two distinct stages of
larval life, and is at one time a burrower and at another a
leaf-roller. Almost as soon as the egg is hatched, the little
caterpillar, which is then scarcely recognisable without a mag-
nifying-glass, eats its way into the interior of a leaf, and there
remains for some time, feeding on the parenchyma, or soft
substance between the upper and under sides of the leaf.
Before very long it grows too large for this habitation, and
then makes its way into the open air, where it immediately
sets about preparing a more suitable home. The mode in
which it does so is very curious.

Selecting a rather young and tender leaf, the tiny caterpillar
attaches a number of silken threads to the edges and tip, and
fastens the othet ends of the threads to the middle of the leaf,
fixing them in a row, so that they look something like the warp
threads in a loom. These threads, slight as they may be, are

520 ‘INSECTS AT HOME.

both strong and elastic, and by their elasticity the tip of the
leaf is partially curled over. The caterpillar then pulls at the
threads, tightens those that are in the least loose, and so
proceeds until the leaf will bend no more. It then goes back
to the tip, which is now bent over, fastens another row of
threads about the eighth of an inch beyond the first set, and
fixes them in the same manner as before. The leaf being now
much more bent, the first threads hang loosely, and are again
shortened, tightened, and fastened down. In this way the
caterpillar proceeds until it makes the leaf into a hollow roll,
in which it may live. When one of these leaf-rolls is newly
finished, the extreme elasticity of the threads can easily be
tested, for the roll can be partly opened, when the threads will
allow themselves to be considerably stretched, and as soon as
the force is removed will spring back again to their former
length. Row after row of these threads may be seen, all set in
recular order, and looking almost like strips of the finest white
silk.

On Woodcut LX. Fig. 2 is shown a magnified portrait of
a most beautiful little Moth named Coleophora ibupennella.
This insect, though apparently larger than those on Plate XVII.
Fig. 7, is really much about the same size, the long fringes of
the wings making them look larger than they really are. As
the reader may see by reference to the illustration, the actual
wings are very small, very narrow, and very pointed, their
apparent width being entirely due to the fringe. The colour
of the upper wings is satiny-white, the few nervures are slightly
yellow, and there is a tendency to brown towards the tips.
The under surface of these wings is grey, with a tinge of
reddish-brown. The under wings are dark grey. The head
and thorax are white, and the abdomen is grey with a white
tuft at the end of the tail.

The scientific name of this little Moth has alreasiy been
given. Hitherto it has not been recognised by any popular
name, so I will call it the FLAKxeE.nr, in allusion to its resem-
blance to a little snow-flake.

The caterpillar is a pretty little creature. Its body is a sort
of dull amber-yellow, and its head is black. The second
segment has a large double black mark on the back, the third

ey
‘<a , =
SS

THE COLEOPHORA PALLIATELLA. 521

segment has four black spots, and the last segment has one
similar spot. <A figure of the caterpillar is given on Woodcut
LX. Fig. c. Like many of the Tine larve, it does not live in
the open air, but makes for itself a kind of case, shaped very
much like a pistol. This case is very dark brown, sometimes
black, and stands on its end, the muzzle on the leaf and the
but in the air. The caterpillar only protrudes its head from the
case, and when alarmed it shrinks entirely within its home, and
draws the opening closely against the surface of the leaf. It
feeds mostly on the birch, and is quite common in most parts of
England. The generic name Coleophora is formed from two
Greek words, signifying Sheath-bearer, and alludes to the habit
of living within a portable case or sheath.

TueERE is, for example, the Coleophora palliatella, a Moth
much resembling the preceding species, but larger, its spread of
wings being nearly half an inch.

This larva makes a case very much resembling a paper bag
tied so as to form a sort of narrow neck and a large irregular
bulb. I have bred many of these Moths, and have been
extremely interested in the structure of their movable
dwelling. To the unassisted eye, it looks merely like a rather
irregular piece of blackish membrane, but when the magnifying
glass is brought to bear on it, a very remarkable structure is
disclosed. If it be examined by means of an ordinary lens,
it looks as if made of a vast number of small black scallop
shells fastened together at their edges.

If a portion of this case be removed, and placed under a
tolerably powerful microscope, the real formation of the case is
revealed. It is made entirely of silk, each scallop being
formed separately, and joined to its neighbours. In some
cases the junctions have given way, and the scallops have
become partially separated. I have seen a knitted counter-
pane formed on exactly the same principle technically called the
‘shell-pattern,’ the scallops having been knitted separately, and
then sewn together at theiredges. It is quite easy to trace the
dates of these little scallops, for those of oldest date are dark
and discoloured, while those that are last made are pure white. —

On opening this case with a pair of very fine scissors, a
second case is found within it, firmly attached to the outer

522 INSECTS AT HOME.

case by its base, the mouths of ‘the two cases coincidine with
each other, and consequently being very thick and strong.
This inner case is not the least like the outer one, being nearly
cylindrical, and hardly wider than the neck, except at the
base, where it slightly widens. Owing to the residence of the
caterpillar within it, the colour of the inner case is much
darker than that of the outer. It is formed in the same
manner, being constructed of a great number of silken scallops.

When the larva is full-fed, it draws the mouth of this double
case tightly against the surface of the leaf, and fastens it down
with a great number of silken bands, always attaching it
to some nervure, generally the middle nervure, of the leaf.
Within this double fortress the larva changes to a pupa, and
not until it assumes the perfect shape does it leave the silken
case in which it passed its larval existence.

Such is a brief description of this very remarkable habita-
tion. I have always found them on the oak, fixed to the
upper surface of the leaf, and have taken as many as I wanted
in a small path running over Shooter’s Hill, in Kent, where

the quantity of oak underwood brings all oak-loving insects °

easily to hand.

As to the other members of this genus, they all make cases
more or less curious, but all constructed of the same materials
and for the same purpose. That of Coleophora therinella is
very long and slender, quite straight, and of a pale-brown.
That of Coleophora currucipennella is shaped something like
a round-headed Fiji club, the neck being very narrow, and the
base very large and covered with all sorts of irregular projec-
tions. The popular name of this Moth is the Lirrtn Waaconmr,
and its colouring is very much like that of the preceding species,
except that the nervures are yellow towards the base and
become brown towards the tips of the wings. The larva is
rather a general feeder, and has been found upon the leaves of
the oak, the sallow, the hornbeam, and other trees. The larva-
ease of Coleophora conspicuella well deserves the name, for it is
extraordinarily black, and looks very much like a black pea-
pod in miniature, stuck by one end to a leaf.

On Woodeut LX. Fig. 3 is shown the Rup Fuatumr (Zische-
ria complanella), so called from its colour and the feathery

THE BROWN DOLLY. 620

character of its wings, the upper pair being warm orange with
a longitudinal black bar, as seen in the illustration. This is
another of the oak-feeders, and the perfect insect is common
everywhere during the earlier part of the summer. The
name Red Feather is almost a literal translation of Stephen’s
name of rufipennella, which he gave to it, but which could
not be retained because the name complanella was of earlier
date. The larva of this insect is shown at Fig. d.

Tue next group of Tinez are all leaf-miners in the larval
state. The name of this group is the Lithocolletide. The
object of this name I really cannot determine. It is derived
from two Greek words, the former signifying a stone, and the
latter to glue or cement. Taken collectively, the words may
either signify a stone-cementer, or something that is inlaid or
cemented with stone. Perhaps the colouring of the wings

\may have given some notion of a mosaic wall, which is made of
small cubes of stone cemented together.

A Figure of one of the prettiest of these very pretty insects
is given on Woodcut LXI. Fig. 1, very much magnified. The
scientific name of this insect is Lithocolletes corylella. No
popular name has been given to it, so I shall call it the
Brown Dotty, because the brown markings on the white wings
bear, when viewed from base to tip, a certain resemblance to a
rude wooden doll. It is really a very pretty insect.. Viewed
with the naked eye, it is so small that the shape of the
markings is wholly invisible, and all that can be seen is a
white surface profusely sprinkled with brown, or a brown
surface spotted with white. But, when the magnifying glass
is brought to bear upon it, the markings are seen to be very
clearly defined. I have examined a considerable number of
these beautiful little Moths, and in none of them was there
any noticeable variation.

Although but few colours are employed in the decoration of
the little Moth’s plumage, it is a most beautiful insect, the
rich brown and pure creamy white being contrasted in a
wonderfully bold manner. There is a slight difference in the
colour of the sexes, the upper wings of the male being soft
ereamy-white, while those of the female are cold grey-white.

524 INSECTS AT HOME.

Upon their surface are drawn the rich brown markings shown in
the illustration. The fringe is whitish-grey. The under wings
are grey, fringed with a much lighter hue, and darkening at
the base. The sides of the head are yellow, and the face
snowy-white; the thorax is of the same colour as the upper
wings, and the abdomen is grey, ended with a tuft of very pale
yellow.

1. Lithocolletes corylella. 2. Nepticula aurella.
a. Lithocolletes, larva. d. Nepticula, larva.

The larva is represented at Fig. a, very much magnified.
When living it is about as long as the capital letter I, and
indeed, could not be much larger in consequence of the
character of its home. Its colour is pale yellow, with a
blackish-brown head, and a patch of deep orange upon the
ninth segment. It burrows into the leaves of the hazel
(Corylus avellana), from which it obtains its specific name
corylella.

THE GOLDEN PIGMY. aaa

This little creature is common upon its food-plant, and can
easily be obfained by rearing it from the larval state. I find
that nearly all leaf-miners are easily reared. They require
very little trouble, and the collector is free from the ever-
constant labour of procuring food, which is a serious tax on
anyone who cannot pay a substitute to do it for him. But,
with leaf-miners, there is scarcely any trouble at all, and the
following directions will be found amply sufficient. Cut off
the twig on which grows the mined leaf, and bring it home.
In order to ascertain whether the larva is still inside the leaf,
hold it up to the light, when a short, opaque line will at once
detect its presence. Tie a piece of fine gauze loosely over the
leaves, put the stem in water and all is done. These little
creatures go through their transformations very quickly, and in
a comparatively short time the beautiful little Moths may be
seen fluttering within their gauzy prison.

The gauze bag, with its living burden, is then alpped into
the iarek- bottle, and the Moths can then be set.

It is very easy to say that such Moths must be set, but to
set them is a very different business. They are so very small
that to get even the slenderest of pins through the thorax is
quite out of the question, and they must therefore be mounted
on card. It is best done by taking some very white card-board,
moistening the surface with transparent cement, laying the
Moths upon it, and drawing their wings into position with a
very fine needle-point. As soon as the cement is dry, the
card-board can be cut up into strips, so as to have the Moth at
one end of the strip and the pin at the other, just as is done
with small beetles. I have seen a number of these Micro-
lepidoptera thus displayed on a piece no larger than a lady’s
visiting card, the effect of their glittering wings being abso-
lutely gorgeous when a bright light was reflected upon them.

Tue last of the Tinez which we can mention in this work is
the Gotpen Picmy (Nepticula awrella), which is shown on
Woodeut LXI. Fig. 2. This isa very much magnified figure, as
can be seen by comparing it with Plate XVII. Fig. 7, where
it is represented of its natural size. |

This ‘very common insect affords an admirable example of
the Tinez, its small size and glittering bues being two of the

526 INSECTS AT HOME.

leading characteristics of the group. The upper wings are
rich brown with a golden gloss and a tendency to purple
beyond the middle. Across the middie runs a broad diagonal
band of shining gold, which, under the microscope, is aban
lutely painful to the eyes from its splendour.

Indeed, were this minute insect only as large as our common
peacock butterfly, it would be acknowledged to be the most
magnificent insect in the world, and even the most gorgeous
inhabitants of the tropics would pale before its splendour.
Fortunately, the entomologist is imdependent of such con-
siderations as mere size, for the microscope enables him to
enlarge the smallest insect to any dimensions that he wishes,
so that he can give to the smallest of insects all the pictorial
effects which they would have if they were many thousand
times their real size.

The larva of the Golden Pigmy is shown at Fig. b. This
caterpillar burrows in the leaf of the common bramble, and in
many cases is the cause of the devious tracks which are seen
in its leaves. The particular path taken by these larvze seems
to be very much a matter of choice. When very young, they
seem to be deterred by the presence of a nervure, and to
change the direction of their track when they come across it,
whereas, when they become older and stronger, they mine
their way through the nervures with perfect indifference.
Sometimes a Pigmy caterpillar happens to make its way,
when very young, to the extreme edge of the leaf. When it
does so, it seems never to be able to extricate itself from
the margin, but follows with the utmost fidelity the notched
edges of the leaf, sometimes nearly travelling round the leaf
before it ceases to feed. When it is full-fed, it makes a very
little cocoon at the end of its devious tunnel, and in a short
time emerges in the perfect state.

There is scarcely a plant the leaf of which is not mined by
some species of this lovely genus, so that to obtain a tolerably
good series of the Nepticule, or Pigmies, as they are popularly
termed, is not a difficult matter. This, indeed, is almost the
only mode of obtaining these Lilliputian Moths—the humming-
birds of the Lepidoptera—in any number, for, in spite of their
extremely brilliant colours, it is very difficult to detect them
-when.at liberty. . They have a habit of settling on the rough

PLUME MOTHS. 527

trunks of trees, old palings, and similar localities, and placing
themselves so that the brown hue of their wings corresponds
with that of the object on which they have settled, while the
light does not reflect the glittering metallic hues with which
nearly all the species are decorated. Rearing them, however,
is, as has already been mentioned, extremely easy, and the only
difficulty is to set them neatly without damaging their gorgeous
plumage.

One of these Pigmies, Vepticula plagicolella, is supposed to be
the very smallest of British Lepidoptera. It is a most lovely
little being, the wings being deep brown with a violet gloss,
across which is drawn a glittering band of burnished silver.
Another, Nepticula urgentipedella, has the upper wings of a
velvet black shot with violet, and a central band of pure
white. Then, Nepticula acetosella, has the upper wings dark
shining bronze, crossed with a band of rich violet edged with a
line of pure white. Much has been done with these lovely
little insects of later years, but much more remains to be done,
and if any of my readers will take up this one subject of the
leaf-miners, they will find themselves amply rewarded for their
trouble.

WE are now among some very curious and withal beautiful
insects, though none of them possess the magnificent colour-
ing which distinguishes the lovely little Moths which have
just been described. They are scientifically known by the
name of Preropuonri, or Feather-Bearers, and bear the popular
name of Plume Moths, on account of the structure of the
wings. In those Lepidoptera which we have hitherto examined,
the wings are formed of a thin membrane stretched between
certain strengthening nervures, or wing-rays, the principal of
which radiate from the base of the wing. But in the Plume
Moths there is no membrane, each nervure being furnished
with long, hair-like plumes by which the insect is sustained in
the air. In the under wings, the nervures are separate nearly
from the base to the tip, but the upper wings are only divided
from the middle.

There are, however, exceptions to most rules, and such is the
ease with the Plume Moths, for there is.one Plume Moth

528 INSECTS AT HOME.

called Adactyla, or zlgdistes Bennetii, which has scarcely the
least appearance of belonging to this group of Moths, the
wings not being divided at all. The popular name of this
Moth is the PrumeLess Pioume. It is found on our coasts.
the caterpillar feeding upon sea-loving plants, such as the
Lavender Thrift (Statice limoniwm). Both pairs of wings of
this insect are very long, slender, and sharply pointed. The
upper pair are yellowish-brown with a few small black spots,
and the under pair simply pale brown.

Tur commonest and one of the prettiest of the Plume
Moths is shown on Plate XVII. Fig. 5. It is popularly known
as the Laraz Wuitr Prune, the SxnLmron, or the PHantom, all
names being perfectly ‘appropriate. Its scientific name is
Pterophorus pentadactylus.

This very beautiful though simply coloured insect has the
wings pure snowy-white, and divided into separate plumes, as
shown in the illustration. In all cases the feathering of the
plumes is much wider on the inner than the outer side of the
nervure, very much like the structure of an ordinary bird’s
feather. If the wings be examined with the microscope, it
will be seen that the long fringes which form the feathering
are composed of the ordinary scales which cover the wings of
the Lepidoptera, such scale being drawn out to a great length.
Indeed, length of scale is one of the leading characteristics of
these Moths, and the scales which clothe the base of the wings
are also remarkable for their length. When viewed by a
side light, these plumes have a satiny lustre, which quite dis-
appears when they are viewed through a magnifying-glass, so
as to render each of the delicate filaments visible.

Tuz Moth conceals itself during the day, making its appear-
ance at dusk, when it flutters about like a snow-flake driven at
random by the wind. It never makes a long flight, but if
disturbed in one spot, just flits a yard or two and again settles
on some leaf, where its white, outstretched, though not outspread
wings render it very conspicuous when at rest. It never folds
its wings to its body as do so many Moths, but remains with
them stretched on either side to their very fullest extent, as if
actually courting observation.

THE MANY-PLUME MOTH. 529

THERE are nearly thirty species of this genus known to
inhabit England, the handsomest of which is certainly the
Rosz Puiume (Pierophorus rhododactylus). This is really a
very lovely insect. It is only partially plumed, the upper
wings being without any divisions, and only the lower pair
feathered. The whole of both wings is rosy pink, except the
basal half of the upper wings, which are golden. yellow, white,
and the darkest possible chestnut brown.

The plainest and simplest of all these Moths is probably the
Stone Puume (Plerophorus pterodactylus), which is drawn on
Plate XVII. Fig. 6. This insect is simply brown, and the
darkest of all the species. The upper wings are without
plumes. The habits of all the species are very similar.

Tue last of the Plume Moths, and indeed, the last Moth in
our list of British Lepidoptera, is the beautiful little insect
which is called various names, only one of which is in any way
correct. In some places it is known by the name of the
THOUSAND PLuME, in others by that of the Twenty PLums, and
in others the Many-CLerr PLumME, sometimes abbreviated into
Many Puvume. This last name is the only one which is correct in
any way, and, after all, its correctness is only owing to its vague-
ness, which is almost a literal translation of its scientific name,
Alucita polydactyla, or the Many-fingered Moth. In real
fact the Moth has twenty-four plumes, which radiate from the
body, so that, when the insect is at rest, its outline is almost
semicircular.

It is but a little insect, the largest specimen measuring
barely half an inch across the outspread wings. In its habits
it is quite different to the Plume Moths. They are always to
be found in the open air, whereas the Many-Plume Moth 1s
almost invariably taken in outhouses or similar buildings. I have
frequently found it on the windows of my own rooms, its peculiar
shape immediately betraying it. It can easily be taken by the
plan called ‘ pill-boxing, i.e. putting an empty pill-box over _
the Moth, slipping a piece cf card or paper under it, and then
putting on the lid of the box as the card is withdrawn. The
box can then be put into the laurel bottle, or into a vessel in
which a few drops of chloroform have been placed, and in a few
minutes a perfect specimen will be at the collector’s disposal.

M M

530 INSECTS AT HOME.

The colour of this little Moth is very pale brown, speckled with
erey and dark brown, and taking an ochreous tint towards the
base of the wings.

The larva of this Moth feeds on the has of the honeysuckle,
and is very common. About the end of July or the beginning
of August the caterpillar is full-fed, and then spins for itself a
eocoon, in which it undergoes its changes. This, I believe, is
the only Plume Moth that makes a cocoon. In three or four
weeks from the time of its change into the pupal state it is
fully developed, and then makes its way to the nearest place of
concealment, in which it may remain dormant throughout the
winter.

In those places where the honeysuckle grows wild, and man
has no habitation within a reasonable distance, the Many-
Plume Moth is obliged to put up with hollow. tree-trunks and
similar localities. But barns, sheds, and outhouses generally
are much more convenient places of refuge, and in them the
Many-Plume remains, never moving, unless disturbed, from the
spot in which it settled. It is quite curious to see the same
spot occupied for months together by the same insect. This
little creature must have a wonderful power of resisting cold,
for I have seen it flattened against the wall in an old shed
throughout the severest winter, and even though the tempera-
ture must several times have been but little above zero, the
Moth seemed nothing the worse for it, but came out in the
following spring, the warmth having completely restored it to
animation.

HOMOPTERA.

ee

We have now arrived at a new order of insects, the Homoprzra.
This order includes a number of insects that are apparently
dissimilar, but which can, on careful examination, be recognised
as belonging to the same group. Our first business is to under-
stand the name of Homoptera.

This name is formed from two Greek words, signifying
Same-winged, and is given to the insect because both the upper
and under pairs are of a similar character. Both pairs are
membranous, the upper pair are longer than the lower, and
they do not lap over each other in repose. ‘She body is always
convex, which partly accounts for the disposition of the wings,
the antenne are usually short, and the feet have not more than
three joints. The mouth is set rather back on the under
surface of the head, and is furnished with a proboscis formed
from the mandibles and maxillz, which are very slender’ and
elongated, and enclosed in the labium, which is formed into a
sort of canal. The pupa is active, and bears some resemblance
to the perfect insect.

In this order are comprised several well-known insects, such
as the ‘ cuckoo-spit,’ the aphis or green blight, and the scale
insects, besides the comparatively rare Cicada. All these insects
are very unlike each other, but they agree in the character of
the wings, the form and position of the proboscis, and the mode
of transformation.

It has already been mentioned that the Homoptera never
have more than three joints in their feet. Mr. Westwood
eousiders the number of joints in the tarsi as a matter of such
importance that he bases his arrangement upon it, and divides
the Homoptera into three groups, those which have three joints

534 INSECTS AT HOME.

in the tarsi, those which have two joints, and those which only
have one joint. We will begin with the first of these groups,
the Trimera, as they are called. All these insects have very
small antenne, at the end of which is a slight bristle. The
females possess a complicated and beautiful ovipositor, with
which they bore into the stems of the plants in which they
deposit their eggs. The structure of these borers should be
compared with that of the boring Hymenoptera, which have
already been described. Three families are contained in this
group, only two of which find representatives in England.

Tue first of these families is called the Cicadidx, of which
only a single British species is known to exist. This insect is
too rare to have any popular name, and is called Cicada
anglica. A coloured representation of this interesting insect
is given on the frontispiece, being shown in the act of flying.
The colouring and appearance of this insect are so well given
in the illustration that there is no need for further description
on that head. In all the Cicadide the head is short, broad,
and transverse, with three ocelli set in a triangle on the back
of the head, and two very large and prominent compound eyes.
The beak is three-jointed.

This is a rare insect, but is occasionally found in various
parts of the kingdom, never, I believe, extending its journeys
towards the northern counties. The New Forest is one of the
localities where it is most frequently found. In ‘The Entomo-
logist’s Monthly Magazine,’ vol. i. page 171, is an account by
Mr. C. G. Barrett of the capture of a female Cicada in Surrey.
The insect was ‘ flying in the sunshine down a grassy side, and
pitched rather suddenly among some rushes and long grass
which were growing in a wide open space at a bend of the path, —
where I managed to secure it. Its strong membranous wings
made a rustling sound similar to that produced by dragon-flies,
but, being a female, it of course made no other noise whatever.
I am pretty certain that I saw another specimen a few days
afterwards, flying by the same spot (one of the warmest and
most sheltered nooks in the neighbourhood), but its flight was
so rapid that there was no chance of capturing it.’

The males are usually taken by being beaten out of the
white thorn, while the females haunt the common bracken fern,

THE CICADA. a0

on the roots of which it is supposed that the larva feeds. The
peculiar sound of its wings has already been noticed, and an
allusion made to sounds produced in some other manner. In
most of the Cicadz, the males are able to produce a very loud,
shrill, and monotonous sound, which in some species is so loud
that it can be heard at the distance of a mile. This sound is
produced by means of a remarkable internal apparatus, con-
sisting of a pair of tightly stretched membranes or ‘drums,’
which are acted upon by powerful muscles. This apparatus is
guarded from harm by two large plates formed from the sides
of the metasternum. If these plates be lifted up, the drums
can be plainly seen below them, the space between the drums
and the plates being so large as to form a cavity, which evi-
dently serves as a sounding-board.

Whether our British species sings or not appears to be a
still mooted question which could easily be settled. It is true
that a male kept in captivity for two or three days made no
sound, and on the strength of this very negative evidence, the
English Cicada was set down as dumb. Now, I have at this
moment a male of the Great Green Grasshopper under a glass
shade. He was perfectly silent for some time after he was
placed in confinement, but is now so musical that he becomes
almost a nuisance, his loud, shrill ery being plainly heard
from the room below that in which I am sitting. His musical
propensities are the more remarkable as he kicked off one of
his hind legs while being transferred from a little tumbler to
the large glass shade. Had this insect been as rare as the
Cicada, and had it lived for some two days in captivity and
then died, it might have been pronounced to be dumb with
quite as good reason.

The females—fortunately for the ears of cantando not
possess the shrilling apparatus, but they are provided with an
instrument which is in its way quite as wonderful. This is the
boring instrument or ovipositor. The principle of these borers
is something like that of the corresponding instrument in the
saw-fly ; but, instead of being composed of two flat saws, the
borer of the Cicada is formed of a double spear-headed in-
strument, the edges of the spear-head being strongly toothed.
With this instrument the female Cicada bores holes in the
material in which the future larva is to be produced, and lays

536 INSECTS AT HOME,

therein her eggs. The larva is shaped very much like the
perfect insect, except that it has no wings, and the fore-legs
are enormously developed, so as to fit them for digging. With
these excavating limbs they sink deep burrows into the earth,
some species of Cicada reaching a depth of three feet, and
feeding on the roots of plants.

The pupa is almost exactly like the larva, except that the
rudimentary wings appear in the form of four thick and pointed
projections on the sides. When the time for the first trans-
formation approaches, the pupa leaves the earth, crawls up
some convenient plant, and there undergoes much the same
process as has been related of the dragon flies under similar
circumstances. ‘The pupal skin splits completely along the
middle of the thorax and across the head, and through this
T-shaped aperture the perfect Cicada makes its exit from the
pupal shell.

The empty pupal skin is then left clinging as it stood, and,
as the natural elasticity of the skin causes the aperture to
close, the empty skin is apparently unchanged in external
appearance, its translucency alone betraying that there is
nothing but air inside it. Even the very covering of the eyes
is thrown off, and I find that although the hexagonal facets
of the compound eye are plain enough when viewed through
an ordinary pocket-magnifier, no trace of them is to be seen
upon the cast pupal skin. Indeed, in, this shed skin the
horny covering of the eyes looks wonderfully like the similar part
of the cast skin uf a serpent. The great Cicade of Surinam,
which can be obtained for a few pence at any naturalist’s shop,
are admirable assistants to the student, as their great size
enables him to handle them easily, and there is a wonderful
difference between the dissection of an insect a quarter of an
inch in length and one that measures from two to three inches.
' Passinc by the Fulgoride, or Lantern-flies, of which we
have no British examples, we come to the third family, the
Cercopidee, which are plentifully represented in this country, and,
indeed, are much too plentifully represented according to the
ideas of gardeners. In this family the antenne have only three
joints, the last joint being elongated into a slender, bristle-
like filament. There are only two ocelli, which are set either

THE FROG-HOPPERS. 537

on the forehead or the face, and the legs are fitted for leaping.
The males do not possess any sound-producing apparatus.
They are familiarly known in their perfect state by the
popular name of Hoppers, and in their larval state by that of
Cuckoo-spit, or Frog-spit. :

The name Cercopis is Greek, and was used by the ancient
writers on natural history to denote some kind of Cicada.

LAI

1. Ptyelus bifasciatus. 2. Centrotus cornutus. 3. Aphis tilize, female.
4, Aphis tiliz, male. a, Aphis, leg. 6. Do., labium. c. Do., head.

Our first example of this family is the Earp Hopper
(Centrotus cornutus), which is shown at Fig. 2 on Wood-
eut LXII.

This creature is remarkable, not for the brilliancy of its
colouring, nor for the boldness of its marking; for it is simply
dark-brown dotted with a very slight yellowish-dun, and has
no markings whatever.

538 INSECTS AT HOME.

But the ‘ pronotum,’ or first portion of the upper part of the
thorax, is developed in the most extraordinary manner into a
horn-like projection at each side, while the centre bears a long,
sword-like appendage, which reaches over the whole of the
body and very nearly reaches to the tip of the abdomen. The
whole of the upper part of the thorax, the two appendages at
the side, and the sword-shaped horn, are covered with tubercles,
which give the surface a glittering aspect when the light
shines on it. A magnifying-glass is necessary in order to detect
these tubercles. The only colour in the upper wings is
restricted to the base, where there is a little patch of circular,
eye-like spots, each having a solid black centre, then a white
ring and then a narrow black ring or outline. There is also a.
slight clouding of chestnut brown.

This curious insect has the upper wings shining and rather
yellowish, and the under wings transparent and iridiscent, with
brown nervures. The thighs are rusty red, and the rest of the
leg pitchy black. It is tolerably common in woods and gardens,
and can be taken in the sweep-net by passing it over laurels,
thistles, and the herbage of the hedge-side. It appears in May
and June. The first specimen of this insect that I ever
possessed was given to me in 1850 by the late Rev. F. W.
Hope, with whose magnificent collection all entomologists are
familiar.

On Plate XVIII. Fig. 1 is represented an insect which is
called by the name of Ledra aurita. I do not know that it
has any popular name. Like the last-mentioned insect, it has
some curious projections from the thorax, which in this case
take the form of two flat projections from each side, looking
somewhat like ears, whence the specific name aurita, or eared.
The edges of these ‘ears’ are notched or waved. It is nota
handsome insect in point of colour, its principal hue being dull
olive-green, which is apt to change after death to yellowish-
brown. The head is covered with a number of small reddish
tubercles. As to the rest of the insect, it cannot be seen
properly until the wings are spread. The upper pair are olive-
green, becoming transparent towards the tip, and the nervures
are brown. The under wings are pale grey-brown with dark
nervures. The abdomen is very wide, flat, and covered with a

PLATE XVIII.

TERRESTRIAL HOMOPTERA AND HETEROPTERA,

. Ledra aurita.

Ledra aurita, larva.
Triepphora sanguinolenta.
. Pentatoma dissimile.

Ca ae

. Stenocephalus agilis.

PUANTS :—
Great Ragwort (Senecio Jacobea). Above.
White Dead Nettle (Zamium album), Belew.

ZZ
ZZ
TYOYw¥x

La

sist

'

THE SCARLET HOPPER. 439

rather horny skin. The perfect insect jumps when alarmed,
but can only leap a very short distance.

The larva of this insect is shown at Fig. 2 of the same Plate.
It is coloured much like the adult insect, but has no wings nor
the least signs of the conspicuous ‘ears’ which decorate it
when adult. Even when it assumes the pupal state these
prcsections are not visible, their places being merely indicated
by two raised knobs. It is not a common insect, and has been
mostly taken in the New Forest by beating it out of oak. The
larva feeds upon oak, and does not surround itself with the
frothy secretion so familiar to us as Cuckoo-spit. One of them
was discovered by the Rev. T. A. Marshall, while digging at
the roots of an oak in January; this discovery proving that
the insect hibernates while still in the larval state. It has
been found in Purfleet in Kent.

On the same Plate, Fig. 3, is shown a very beautiful insect,
which in point of colour is by far the handsomest of our British
Homoptera. This is the Scarrer Horprr (Triepphora—or
Cercopis—sanguinolenta). It is impossible to give in the
simple black and white of printer’s-ink an idea of the beautiful
and bold colouring of this insect.

That part which appears as white is rich scarlet, and the rest
deep black, both having a velvety appearance. When one of
these beautiful wings is placed under the microscope, the cause
of the rich velvety look is at once shown. The surface of the
wing, instead of being smooth, as it appears to the unaided eye,
is covered with a vast number of minute rounded projections,
very much like those on the upper surface of a geranium petal.
An irregular network of fine black lines traverses the whole of
the wing, and at each of the intersections there is a round
black spot with a translucent centre, the whole of these markings
having the effect of softening and enriching the colour in a
very effective manner. Both the black and the red portions of
the wing are thus adorned.

This handsome insect is very local, and in many parts of the
country is never seen. It used to be very plentiful in Bagley
Wood, near Oxford, and all the specimens in my collection
were taken there by myself in 1847. It was always found on
the fern, and was mostly captured by using the sweep-net at

540 INSECTS AT HOME.

random. It could often be seen sitting on the fern-leaves, but
it is so active and wary that as soon as the intending captor
approaches, it jumps off the leaf, falls to the ground, and is lost.
Sometimes it flies to a little distance, but as a rule it does
not trouble itself to use its wings, but merely leaps to the
ground.

Next come those insects which are popularly known as
Cuckoo-sriTs, because it used to be the general opinion that
they were formed either from the spittle of the cuckoo or that
of the frog, and in consequence they have also received the
name of Froc-nopprrs. This very absurd notion is by no
means confined to this country, neither is it modern; for in the
days of Aristotle the insects were said to be generated from the
spittle of the cuckoo, while the French popular name of
Crachat de Grenouilles shows that the notion of the frog-spit
prevails on the Continent as well as in England.

One of these insects, scientifically termed Ptyelus bifasciatus,
is shown on Woodcut LXII. Fig. 1.

This is a most accommodating creature as far as regards
colour, for it takes almost any hue or mixture of hues between
erey and black. Some specimens are almost wholly black, and
some are entirely grey. Many have the upper wings black, and
the thorax spotted with yellow. Generally, however, the insect
is crossed with two bands of a lighter hue than its ground
colour, whence the specific name of bifasciatus, or two-banded.

The larva of this and allied insects has a very curious mode of
life. It fixes its residence on the young and tender twigs, and
drives its proboscis into the bark, whence it draws the sap
which constitutes its nutriment. Just as the larve of several
insects cover their bodies with the remains of their solid food,
so are the larvee of the Frog-hopper protected by the remains
of their liquid food. They eject a quantity of liquid, which is
formed into bubbles, and takes the form of a frothy substance,
in which the body of the larva is entirely concealed. As every
one knows, bubbles have a proverbially short existence, and
these bubbles break in succession, allowing a drop of clear
transparent fluid to collect at the bottom of the froth-mass,
When this drop becomes too large to be upheld it falls to the

WING OF THE FROG-HOPPER. 541

ground, and another takes its place. If the froth be put aside
the larva will be discovered in its midst—a little, soft, white
-creature, with tiny black eyes that form a curious contrast to
the general white hue of the body.

In the perfect state all these insects jump with great agility,
and in this movement their hind legs are almost exclusively
employed. The commonest of all the species, Aphrophora
spumaria, or the Common FRoG-HOPPER, can jump to a won-
derful distance, even unaided by its wings. Indeed, the ordinary
leap of the Frog-hopper is about equal to that of a man who
could jump four hundred yards without even taking a run. In
making this astonishing leap, the insect is aided by some sharp
spikes or spines upon the ends of the tibize, which enable the
limb to take a firm hold of the ground.

Perhaps the actual damage done by the Frog-hopper is not
so great as is imagined. A tree contains a vast amount of sap,
and none of our British Homoptera possess the wonderful
distilling power of a Madagascar species (Aphrophora Goudoti:),
which has been found capable of pouring out a considerable
amount of clear and apparently pure water in the very middle
of the day, the sap appearing simply to run through the insect
as through a tube. The generic name, Aphrophora, which has
been given to this and many allied insects, is formed from two
Greek words, literally signifying ‘ foam-bearing.’

To the unassisted eye, the common Frog-hopper is about
as inconspicuous and commonplace an insect as can be found
anywhere. The magnifying-glass, however, alters the whole
aspect of the creature, and an ordinary pocket-lens will show
that the upper wings are covered with tiny projections, giving
them an appearance very much like that of shagreen.

If, however, one of these upper wings, or elytra, if they may
be so called, be detached from the insect, and viewed through a
moderately powerful microscope—an ordinary half-inch object-
glass being employed—the simple, uninteresting object starts
into sudden beauty. The groundwork of the wing is seen to be
composed of a membranous network, much like that of the
wings of the dragon-fly, and upon it are innumerable round
eye-like spots, arranged in irregular transverse rows. These
spots are of uniform size, and consist of a dark centre sur-
rounded by a white transparent line, each spot being separated

wo

542 INSECTS AT HOME.

from its neighbour bya space about equalling its own diameter.
These spots are, in fact, the little tubercles whose existence is
described as being detected by the pocket-lens.

Many species of Frog-hopper inhabit England, but the two
which have been selected will serve as excellent examples,

Tue next group of this remarkable order is that which is
named Dimera, or two-jointed, because the tarsus has only two
joints. The antenne are always slender and longer than the
head, and the winged individuals possess four wings, both pairs
being of much the same texture. We will pass at once to the
important family of Aphidz, or Plant-lice, sometimes known
under the popular name of Green Blight.

One of the commonest of these most remarkable insects, the
Lre-Buieut (Aphis tilice), is shown on Woodcut LXII. Figs. 3
and 4, the upper figure representing the female, and the lower
the male.

The colour of the male is dull yellow, with a double row of
black dots down the back. In the wings the stigma, or spot, is
yellow, and all the nervures are yellowish-brown at the tips.
The female is simply yellow. Fig. b represents its rostrum, or
beak, and Fig. ¢ the front of the head, all these figures being
much magnified. The insect can be taken with the sweep-net
in long grass, which the male loves to frequent, while the
female is found on the lime-tree.

Insignificant as may be a single Aphis, these insects are most
formidable from their numbers, as all gardeners know to their
cost. Roses are often so thickly covered with these pestilential
insects that the leaves and buds are completely hidden, the
latter never being permitted to develope themselves into flowers.
Indeed, there is scarcely a plant that has not its Aphis, and
these extraordinary beings not only haunt the leaves and the
twigs of plants, but the roots and the fruit. Mr. Newman
remarks in his ‘ Letters of Rusticus’: ‘ Plant-lice are every-
where. I have to-day (August 15, 1835) cut open codlin after
codlin, and found the pips garrisoned with them ; not one lone
Aphis, but a whole troop of all sizes. When I let in the day-
light there was a considerable sprawling and waving of legs,
and no small alarm in the hive, but by degrees they got used to
light and fresh air, and were quite still. I tried to tickle them

INCREASE OF THE APHIS. 543

with a straw in order again to watch their movements, when,
lo and behold, they were all dead—gathered to their fathers—
gone to the tomb of all the Capulets! Some had heaved
anchor, and dropped from the pip; others, fixed more firmly,
had died at their posts, and, tucking their legs together under
them, hung by their beaks.

‘In no apple was there any road in or out. There was no
chance of their passing to the exterior air, or of their having
come from it; indeed, their speedy death showed that change
of air did not agree with them. I was particularly careful in
my search for a via, but there wasnone. I have often.seen the
same thing in a bloated poplar-leaf; but here is a possibility
of the egg being laid between the cuticles of the leaf; thus,
the sap-suction commencing, the bloat may be caused, but this
is impossible in a huge apple with an inch and a half of pulp
in every direction. Jam unable to explain the mystery; and,
like many other wiseacres, content myself with wondering
how, in the name of fortune, the Aphides got there.’

These insects are prolific almost beyond belief. As a general
rule, insects lay eggs which are hatched, pass through the state
of larva and pupa, and then become perfect insects. But the
Plant-lice go on avery different plan. Sometimes, as if to
show that they are amenable to law, they do lay eggs; but
this is the exception and not the rule, which is somewhat
as follows, though varied every now and then by these most
eccentric of insects. |

A female Aphis takes her place on a branch—say of the
rose—plunges her beak into the tender bark and begins to
suck the sap. After a short time she begins to produce young
Aphides, at an average rate of fourteen per diem. These
young creatures are just like their mother, only less, and
immediately follow her example by. first sucking the sap of
the plant and then producing fresh young. As to the opposite
sex, it is no business of theirs, and I have often wondered
that the Shakers have not adduced the Aphides in support
of their peculiar tenets. The extent to which this peculiar
mode of increase can be carried may be imagined from the
fact that a single female Aphis, isolated from the other sex,
began to produce prolific females, which in their turn pro-
duced others, and so on for four years; during the whole of

544 INSECTS AT HOME.

which time not a male Aphis had been suffered even to ap:
proach them.

It is in consequence of this remarkable mode of production
that the twigs and buds become so rapidly covered with
Aphides, the quickly-succeeding generations crawling over the
backs of their predecessors, so as to arrive at an unoccupied spot
of bark in which they can drive their beaks. Thus, at the be-
ginning of a week, say on Monday, a rose-tree may be apparently
free from Aphides, or have at the most six or seven of the
‘blight’ upon it. But, by Thursday, the whoie plant will be
so thickly covered with Aphides that scarcely a particle of the
bark can be seen, the whole being crowded with the green
bodies of the insect, each with its beak dug deeply into the
plant, and draining it of its juices. It is difficult to prescribe
any mode of getting rid of these garden pests. The double-brush
answers as well as anything I know that can be applied by the
hand of man; but there is nothing so effective as the natural
foes of the Aphides, namely the Lady-birds, whose mode of feed-
ing has already been described, and the Syrphi or Hawk-flies.

If the reader will refer to the illustration on Woodeut
LXII., he will see that from the back of the Aphis and to-
wards the tail there are two slender projections. These are
tubes, from which exudes a sweet liquid; which, with the aid
of the microscope, can be seen starting in minute drops from
the end of each tube. When the Aphides are in great pro-
fusion upon a tree, this liquid falls from them, and covers the
leaves with the sweet, sticky substance which is so familiar to
us under the name of ‘ honey-dew.’ Trees thus distinguished are
always overrun by swarms of ants, which lick the sweet drop-
pings from the leaves and hold high revels on this substance,
whose origin was once so mysterious.

The ants even go farther than this. Not content with
taking the honey-dew that has fallen from the Aphides, they
anticipate its fall, and eagerly lap up the sweet secretion as it
exudes from the insects. In fact, they make much the same
use of Aphides as we do of cows, and even carry off the ant-
cows, as they may be called, to their own nests, and there keep
them. That the ants do this has long been known, but the
notion of keeping milch-cows seemed so far beyond the capaci-
ties of an insect that many persons refused to give credence

ANTS AND THEIR MILCH-COWS, 645

to so romantic a story. It is, however, perfectly true, as
may be seen by the following extract from the ‘Letters of
Rusticus ’ :—

‘Another odd station for Aphides is on the roots of plants.
I have found them by hundreds on a thistle-root, closely
packed together, and almost as white as snow. The other day
I pulled up a large thistle that grew on an ant-hill, and thus I
brought to light a whole colony of these white Aphides. I
had long knoWn of the great value which ants set on these
little beasts; so I shook down some dozen of them from the
thistle-root, among the ants, which were all a-swarm at the
damage I had done to their dwelling.

“No sooner were the ants aware of the presence of the
Aphides, than they began to fondle them with their legs,
sometimes positively taking them round the neck, to tap them
on the back with their antenne, and to lick them with thei
tongues; they then took hold of them with their jaws and
lifted them from the ground, and carried them with the
ereatest care, one by one, into the recesses of the nest. I
walked by the same way about three hours afterwards, and
found the nest all quiet and orderly, and not an Aphis was to
be seen. So I went to work with my knife and scraped down
the side of the hill. I soon came to the Aphides. They were
clustered together on little bits of thistle-root, which had
been broken off in the ground, and were attended by numbers
of ants. When the ants found their cattle were again in
jeopardy, they drew them gently from the root and carried
them still farther into the nest.

‘I am quite convinced that honey-dew is a secretion from
the Aphides, and that ants devour this honey-dew, and a
sweet, clear, liquid honey it is. I have often watched an ant
go from one Aphis to another, stand behind each, and gently
squeeze the body with its fore-legs; perhaps one Aphis in ten,
not more, will give out a small drop of honey as clear as
erystal, which the ants instantly swallow. The ants take
much more care of the Aphides than the Aphides do of them-
selves; they are sad, dufl, stupid creatures. It is very pretty
to see the licking and washing and cleaning and caressing which
the ants constantly bestow on them. When the Aphides cast

NN

546 INSECTS AT HOME.

their skin, the ants instantly carry it away, ncr will they let
any dirt or rubbish remain among them or on tlem.

‘But the most amusing care of the ant is guarding the
Aphides from the attacks of that little parasitic fly, whose
operations Mr. Haliday has so well described. You must have
seen a sheep-dog run over the backs of a whole flock of sheep,
when closely crowded together, in order to bring back some
sinner that bas gone astray; so will the ants, in the hot
sunshine, run about over an establishment of A®phides, driving
away the rascally parasite that is for ever hovering over to
destroy them.’

The reader will doubtless have noticed that some Aphides
have wings and that others have none. In fact, by far the
ereater number of these insects are without wings, like the
central figure on Woodcut LXII. In the early part of the
year they are ali without wings, those organs being added
about the end of summer.

The effect which these insects have upon vegetation is
extraordinary. As to the hop-plant, it is in a great measure
dependent for its success upon the presence or absence of the
Aphis, which in hop-growing districts is called Tur Fry, no
other winged insect being deserving of such a name. All
hop-growers watch their crops with the utmost assiduity, and
the presence of the Aphis, though only upon a few plants,
causes consternation in the hearts of the growers. Owing to
the astonishing fecundity of the insect, and the rapid manner
in which plants which were perfectly free from the Aphis become
absolutely covered with its green armies, an idea is prevalent
that the insects are brought by certain winds; and no sooner
does a chill, depressing, north or north-western wind blow for
any length of time, than all the gardeners’ heads are shak-
ing ominously, and all their tongues are muttering fears of
‘blight.

Now, absurd as are many of their notions, such an idea as
‘this could not have gained so universal a hold without having
some element of truth in it, which element I take to be this.
The ‘Aphides form the food of very many insects. The larvae
of the Ladybirds feed entirely upon them, and so do those of
the Lacewing-flies, both of which insects have already been
described. ‘They are also eaten by the larve of the swift and

— s

ee

THE APHIS AND THE ICHINEUMON-FLY. o47

active Syrphida, which will presently be mentioned. Several
Hymenoptera provision their nests with them, and others of
the parasitic kind, such as Chalcidice, Proctotrupide, Cyni-
pide, and Ichneumonide.

As to these last insects, the mode in which they operate on
the Aphis is very remarkable. As may be inferred from the
size of the Aphides, on which they are parasitic, they are of
very small dimensions, and one of these tiny creatures when
standing on the back of an Aphis which it is about to wound,
looks much like a rook perched on a sheep’s back.

When the fatal egg has been introduced under the skin of
the Aphis, the wounded insect, like the stricken hart, separates
itself from its fellows and passes to the under side of a leaf,
and there fixes itself. Its body soon begins to swell, and at
last becomes quite globular and horny, the change being
caused by the death of the Aphis and the rapid growth of the
parasite within it. The ichneumon passes rapidly through its
changes, and in a short time assumes the perfect form, always
with its head next the tail of its victim, pushes off the last two
or three segments of the dead Aphis and makes its escape into
the world. The dead and empty skins of such hapless Aphides
may be found plentifully towards the end of summer, sticking
firmly to the leaf, and showing the round aperture through
which the destroying parasite has crept.

Sometimes there is a sort of contest between the Aphis
and the ichneumon-fly, the former, however, having no more
chance against its tiny foe than has a rabbit against a weasel.
If the Aphis have its beak deeply plunged into the bark, the
ichneumon-fly has an easy task, for the Aphis can do nothing
but kick and struggle while anchored to the spot by its pro-
boscis, and all that the ichneumon-fly has to do is to make its
deadly lunge. But, if the Aphis be wandering about the
plant, the ichneumon-fly has to walk about with it, and try
first one side and then the other, until she can find an
opportunity of depositing her egg.

WE now come to a very remarkable group of Aphides which
have been gathered together under the generic name of
Eriosoma, or Wool-bodied, because their bodies are covered
with a substance like very fine cotton wool. These insects

NN 2

048 INSECTS AT HOME.

do not possess the honey-dew distilling apparatus, and the
antennee are shorter than in the generality of the Aphide. The
peculiarity, however, which principally distinguishes them is
the envelopment with woolly fibre, which almost entirely covers
the body, and renders it so ight in comparison with its size
that it can be blown through the air like a small tuft of swan’s
down, and in this way it passes from one locality to another.
The best known of these insects is that which is popuiarly
called Amurican Buicut (Lriosoma aphis, or Lachnus lani-
gera), which sometimes overruns our orchards in a marvellously
rapid manner, and sometimes destroys hundreds of apple-trees
by its vast numbers.

The following graphic and amusing description of this insect,
and the best mode of getting rid of it, is given in the ‘ Letters
of Rusticus,’ to which reference has already been made :—

‘I don’t know why our brethren on the other side the
Atlantic are charged with sending us the greatest pests of our
orchards, but so it is. We call an insect the American Blight,
which, for aught I could ever make out, may have come from
China or Botany Bay. However, a name once in vogue will
have its day; and one might as well attempt to turn a pig in
an entry as argue against an established belief, so American
Blight it shall be. In very hot weather you may now and
then see this Blight on the wing ; it has just the look of a bit
of cotton, or a downy seed, floating in the air, and is driven by
every breath of wind quite as readily.

‘If you catch and examine it, you will find it to be just like
the plant-louse which infests our rose-trees, &c.; but, unlike
all other plant-lice, it is clothed and muffled up with eotton-
wool in such quantities, that you would at first have no more
idea that the lump contained an insect than that the mass of
clothes on a stage-coach box in winter contained aman. Some
folks wonder what can be the use of so much clothing; I am
not much of a theorist, but I should guess that the vermin
came from the torrid zone, and nature kindly furnishes this
garment to protect them from the cold of our climate.

‘These Blights wander wherever the wind pleases to carry
them; and if bad luck should drive one of them against the
branch of an apple-tree, there it will stick, creep into a crack
in the bark, bring forth its young, and found a colony. The

THE AMERICAN BLIGHT. 549

white cotton soon appears in large bunches; branch after
branch becomes infected; the tree grows cankery, pines, and
dies. How this is effected no one knows, though the plague
and its doings are too evident to escape the notice of the
commonest clown.

‘In large orchards it is in vain to hope for a cure, but not so
in gardens. Directly you see the least morsel of cotton, make
up your minds to a little trouble, and you will get rid of it. In
the first place, get a plasterer’s whitewashing brush, then get
a large pot of double size, make your man heat it tiil it is
quite a liquid, then go with him into the garden and see that
he paints over every patch of white, though not bigger than a
sixpence ; the next morning have the size-pot heated again,
and have another hunt, and keep on doing so every morning
for a fortnight. Your man will tell you it’s no use; tell him
that’s your business, not his: your neighbours will laugh at you
for your pains ; do it before they are up. I have tried it and
known it to be effectual. Spirit of tar has been used with
partial effect, so also has resin; whitewashing has been often
tried, and, as it contains some size, is not entirely useless, and
some horticulturists think it ornamental; I do not.’

Even in the winter time the task of extermination can be
carried on. When the weather becomes cold, the Aphides crawl
down the trunks of the trees and hide themselves among the
roots below the surface of the soil. As they cannot endure the
cold, the best way of getting rid of them is to expose them te
it. So, in the depth of winter, when the thermometer is at its
lowest, an inch or two of soil should be scratched up around
the trunks of the trees, so as to expose the roots and let the
cold air upon the Aphides that are in hiding. The ground
should be freshly turned up every day while the frost lasts,
and, when the thaw comes, the ground should be well saturated
with a solution of ammonia before the earth is replaced. The
ammonia-water from the gas-works is amply sufficient for this
purpose, is very cheap and easily obtained.

We now come to the last great group of the Homoptera,
namely, the Monomera, or those which have but one joint in
the tarsus. These are all included in the genus Coccus, popu-
larly known as Scale Insects, on account of the singular form

550 INSECTS AT HOME.

of the female, and Mraty-Bues, on account of the white sub-
stance which envelopes the young Cocci. Mr. Westwood re-
marks that these form ‘one of the most anomalous tribes of
insects with which we are acquainted, and which already prove
that annulose animals may exist, which become more and more
imperfect as they approach the winged state, and which in
that state lose all trace of articulation in the body as well as
6f articulated limbs (as in the female Cocci), leaving, in fact,
inert and fixed masses of animal matter, motionless and ap-
parently senseless, and which resemble nothing more nearly
than the vegetable excrescences called galls. The same
eminent entomologist also points out the remarkable analogy
which exists between the Coccide among the insects, and the
Cirrhipeda, or Barnacles, among the crustacea.

It is rather difficult to find a starting-point for the history
of this remarkable insect, but we will begin at the early larval
condition. In this state both sexes are alike, very small, and
nearly as large as the dot over the letter 1; six-footed, active,
and having two long and slender bristles at the end of the
body. When they are large enough to shift for themselves,
they proceed along the branches and fix their beaks into the
bark of the twig, or the spider-veins of the leaf, and remain
from that time motionless, growing rapidly in size, but losing
the tail-bristles. Thus they remain throughout the winter,
and not until the following spring do the sexes develope them-
selves; the males assuming their wings and taking to flight,
and the females remaining where they were. The subsequent
career of the insect has been traced by Alphonse Karr, in his
‘Voyage autour de mon Jardin,’ a translation of which was
published by Messrs. Routledge and Co. in 1854 :—

‘The journey once completed, it will repose after it for the
rest of its life. It will fasten itself to a young branch, and
not only will it never leave it again, but, still further, it will
never quit the point of the branch upon which it has established
itself. It grows—that isits mission, that is its duty. When it
become as large as a pea, there comes a most singular little
fly, of a deep red, with two wings twice as long as its body.
These wings are of an opaque white, ornamented on the out-
ward side by a rich carmine band. These little flies are the
males of the animated tubercles.

THE SCALE INSECT. 551

‘Among tnese insects may be seen that which the Romans
required of woman carried to the highest degree—

Lanam fecit, domum servavit.

She spun her wool and kept her house.

While the male—small, rakish, nobly clothed in purple—flies
about at hazard, the female, scarcely living, taken for a
gall of the tree, for the swelling of a leaf or branch, remains
motionless and waits for her husband. The male, who is
singularly small in comparison, walks over her, surveys her
all over, for she is for him a sufficiently large tract. He ex-
amines her from north to south and from east to west, and it
is not until he is fatigued with running about over his beloved
object that he risks the avowal of his flame; after which,
flying once or twice round his beloved, he departs.

‘The wife from that moment thinks of nothing but the
numerous family she has to bring into the world—about two
thousand children. She begins to lay, and her eggs all come
enveloped in a sort of cotton. Lanam fecit.

‘Then the Scale Insect changes its form—its belly flattens
and becomes so thin that it joins the back; which forms a
hollow space under it in which are its eggs. Its back hardens,
the belly and the back are quite confounded; the Scale Insect
withers, dies, and becomes a dwelling-place for its young ones.
This is better than the domum servavit; she does not remain
in the house, she becomes the house itself,’

In England the Scale Insects are an unmitigated nuisance,
especially in greenhouses and hothouses, where they flourish
in great abundance, sticking upon the leaves of various
plants and sadly vexing the heart of the gardener. Yet some
of the Cocci are directly beneficial to man, though those
species which reside in our country have never yet been put
to any use. It is to an Asiatic species of Coccus (Coccus
lacca, or Lac Insect) that we are indebted for our sealing-
wax and the basis of many varnishes. The female insect
produces the well-known material called ‘lac,’ and without her
aid we should be deprived of a most useful as well as orna-
mental substance.

Another of these insects, Coccws ceriferus, produces in
abundance a kind of wax, in which the body of the female is

Yay, INSECTS AT HOME.

entirely enveloped. But the most valuable of these creatures
is perhaps the CocningaL Insecr (Coccus cacti) of South
America, from which is obtained the most brilliant of crimson
dyes. Other species of Coccus produce a fine scarlet colour,
but none of them can be compared with the Mexican insect
for the wonderful abundance and rich colour of the dye.
The valuable colour called carmine is made from the Cochinea!
insect.

HETEROPTERA.

HETEROPTERA.

CHAPTER I.

AUROCORISA, OR AIR-BUGS.

Tue reader may remember that the insects of the last order are
called Homoptera because their wings are of similar character.
In the new order which now comes before us, the wings are
formed after a manner which has earned for them the name of
Heteroptera, or Different-wings. They include a large number
of familiar insects, many of them aquatic, among which may be
mentioned the Water-fleas, the Water-scorpions, the Water-
boatmen, and the too familiar Bed-bug.

In some of these insects the wings are not developed, but in
those that are furnished with wings the upper pairs are larger
than the lower, and lap over them when the insect is at rest,
and the basal part of them is hard and leathery, while the
remainder is membranous and translucent. The body is always
flattened, and the mouth furnished with a beak, or proboscis,
which starts from the under surface of the head, but from the
front and not the back. The pupa is active, and resembles the
perfect insect in appearance, save that it does not possess wings.

These insects are broadly divided into two great sections,
the one called Hydrocorisa, or Water-bugs, and the other,
Geocorisa, or Land-bugs.

We will begin with the latter of these two sections. Mr.
Westwood prefers to give to the insects the name of Aurocorisa,
or Air-bugs, because many of the species do not affect the land,
but pass the greater part of their time on the water, though
they do not dive beneath its surface.

Tue first of these insects is the rather rare one which is
represented in the accompanying illustration. Having already

56 INSECTS AT HOME.

Or

been practised in the anatomy of other orders, the reader will
not find much difficulty in mastering the details of a Hetero- -
pterous insect. The chief point lies in the beak, proboseis, or
promuscis, as it is called by some writers. This instrument
is either three or four-jointed, the latter being the case
with the insect which is drawn in the illustration. This

LXIIL

1. Sehirus dubius. 2. Head, front view ; a, Central lobe of face; b, Crown. 3. Head,
under side; a, Rostral channel, with the rostrum or beak in position. 4. Head, upper side ;
a, Ocellus. 5. Head, profile; a, Rostrum, 6. Rostrum, 7. Antenna, 8. Leg;
a, Fulcrum; 06, Femur or thigh; c, Tibia; d, Tarsus, 9. Elytra and wing; a, Clavus 3
6, Corium ; c, Elytron; d, Membrane; e, Wing.

does not, however, tonstitute the whole of the apparatus, as it
is only a sheath for the real piercing instrument, and is, like
the mask of the dragon-fly larva, a development of the labium.
If this sheath be opened under a microscope it will be found to
contain four delichte sharply-pointed bristles, which, when
examined by the aid of the microscope, are seen to be the jaws
and maxille of the insect modified into this singular form. In

THE BISHOP’S MITRE. 557

some of the predaceous species the end of the mandible is
spear-shaped, and the outer side of each spear-head is armed
with a row of extremely sharp teeth, not at all unlike those
of a shark. Indeed, I have in my ethnological collection a
Kingsmill Island spear, which is armed along the side with
shark’s teeth, and bears a singular resemblance to the mandible
of a Water-boatman, an insect which will be presently described.

Unfortunately, very few of the Heteroptera possess popular
names, so that I am compelled to use the scientific titles.
The name of the insect which is shown on Woodcut LXIII. is
Sehirus, or Cydnus dubius, and it belongs to the family
Cydnide. It is a rather small, but decidedly handsome insect.
The general hue is deep violet-blue, so deep that it seems black
in a faint light, and the surface is finely punctured and
shining. The edges of the thorax and the elytra are marked
with a narrow line of yellow, from which circumstance it has
been named albo-marginatus, or white-edged, by some ento-
mologists. If the insect be turned up, the under side of the
abdomen will be seen to be extremely convex.

It is not a common insect, and seems to be local. It has
been taken at Portland and Pangbourne.

Next comes the insect which is represented on Woodcut
LXIV. Fig. 1, an example of another family, the Asopide.
Its name is Asopus luridus.

Although not so brilliant as the insect which has just been
described, it is a pretty creature. Its colour is yellowish.
thickly punctured with black and rather shining. On the head
aud sides of the thorax there is a deep blue gloss, which
occasionally changes to bronze. Below, it is yellowish, with
two distinct longitudinal rows of black spots. The female has
also a large black spot on the sixth segment of the abdomen.

This species is not very common, but is wider spread than
the preceding insect, and may be found on trees.

The whole group of insects to which this species belongs is
popularly known under the name of Bisnoprs, or sometimes
Bisnor’s Mirres, on account of their form. They are much
and justly dreaded by fruit-growers, and this for two reasons.
In the first place, they greatly damage the fruit as soon as it
ripens, by sucking the juice ; and in the second place, many of

558 INSECTS AT HOME.

them possess a most abominable odour, which communicates
itself to any fruit over which a Mitre insect has walked. The
cherry orchards are sadly infested by these insects, but no way
of destroying or even checking them has vet been found.

This odour is due to a fluid which passes out of two little
pores between the hind feet, and the insect is able to eject or
retain it at will. It has been observed that if a Mitre insect

LXIV.

1. Asopus luridus. 2. Verlusia rhombea. 3. Coreus hirticornis. 4. Pyrrhocoris
apterus. a. Do., fore-leg. b. Do., side view of head, showing antenna and tongue,

be suddenly seized, plunged into water, and held there, the two
pores give out a nymber of tiny bubbles, which rise rapidly to
the surface, burst, and then give out the disagreeable odour.

Fruit is often rendered quite uneatable by being tainted with ©
this evil-smelling substance. I believe that the insect uses”

the fluid as a means of defence, as is the case with many other
insects and animals, and that it does not eject any of it upon a
fruit except when alarmed. There are some few of these

os

ee ee

THE COREIDZ, 559

insects in which the scent is ratner agreeable than otherwise
but as a general rule the odour is simply disgusting, as anyone
knows who has captured and set many specimens.

On Woodcut LXIV. are seen two examples of the family
Coreide. ‘This is a large family, and contains within it many
of the largest and most conspicuous members of the Heteroptera.
They are known by the form of the antennz, which consist of
four joints, and have the last joint either thickened or elon-
gated. The beak is usually long. Fig. 2 represents the insect
called Verlusia rhombea.

This species is not brilliantly coloured, the general hue
being a dull yellowish-brown. The upper surface is covered
with exceedingly minute punctures. The head is darker than
the rest of the body, and the sides of the thorax are ochreous-
yellow. It is much paler below than above, and the legs are
yellow. It is common on the leaves of trees in the autumn.
The specific name of Rhombea is given to this insect in
consequence of the singular shape of the abdomen, which is
flattened and widened into a rhomb-like shape, as seen in the
illustration.

In common with the rest of its family, the species can both
run and fly well, choosing the hottest part of the day for their
flight. As is the case with the Water-boatmen, they make a
loud humming sound with their wings, sometimes as loud and
deep as that of the humble-bee.

Ar Fig. 3 on the same Woodcut is shown an insect belonging
to the typical genus called Coreus hirticornis.

The colour of this insect is dull chocolate-brown above, and
the upper surface is thickly covered with minute wrinkles,
which even extend over the legs and thighs. Beneath, it is
ochreous-yellow, mottled with a rather darker hue. The sides
of the thorax have a narrow edge of white. .The antenne are
remarkable for their hairy covering, which extends throughout
their whole length, and has gained for the insect the specific
name of hirticornis, or hairy-horn. The insect is common on
thistles.

The larvee and pup of insects belonging to this family
are like the perfect insect in general form. The larve, how-

560 INSECTS AT HOME.

ever, possess no wings, and the pup only have them in an
undeveloped state. Mr. Westwood mentions that he possesses
some larvee and pupz, which also differ from the perfect insect
in being without ocelli, and having only two joints in the
tarsus.

On Plate XVIII. Fig. 5, is shown another example of this
family. This insect is called Stenocephalus agilis. °

The colour of the insect is pale brown, with a tiny red spot
on each shoulder. The legs and antennz are yellow, except
that each joint has a black tip. The generic name is formed
from two Greek words, signifying ‘short-headed,’ and its

specific name of agilis is given to it because it is remarkably |

active, both on foot and on the wing, and is fond of running
about in the hottest sunshine.

THE curious insect which is represented on Woodcut LXIV.
Fig. 4, is one of a group which contains many brilliantly-
coloured insects.

The present species is called Pyrrhocoris apterus, and its
colours are black and scarlet. The ground colour of the
insect is scarlet and shining. On the top of the convex thorax
isa broad black spot, square, with slightly rounded angles, and
the abdomen is black also. On account of the preponderance
of scarlet, the generic name of Pyrrhocoris, or Scarlet Bug, has
been given to it.

The life history of this insect is a remarkable one. Some-

times, as in the illustration, it has fully-developed wing-covers,

but generally the elytra are small and undeveloped, without
possessing the usual membranous portion at the tip, whence
the name of apterus, or wingless. Such creatures as these
are termed ‘imperfect perfect insects.’ They were at one time
thought to be pup, but it is now ascertained that they are
really perfect with the exception of the full development ot
the flying apparatus. In some of the Heteroptera, such as the
well-known Water Gnats, the imperfect perfect insects are aa
destitute of wings as they were when in the larval condition.
This is not a common species, though it has appeared in vas'
quantities in certain localities. Some years ago, the insect
appeared in great profusion at Torquay, on some little islands;

INSECT CANNIBALS. 561

and Mr. Curtis mentions, in his work on British insects, that,
off Teignmouth, a rock in the sea was quite reddened with
them. In fact they were as numerous as the ladybirds are in
some seasons. They seem to be social insects, loving to collect
together in groups rather than disperse themselves. Mr.
Westwood states that in the neighbourhood of Berlin, especially
in the gardens of the palace of Charlottenburg, the place
swarmed with them, and that they were employed in sucking
various fallen berries and seeds under the trees.

They also exhibited cannibalistic tastes. Owing to their
great numbers, many of them had been trodden under foot,
and these unfortunates were eagerly drained of their juices by
their surviving comrades. It has been also noticed that,
although these creatures will thus feed on dead insects, they do
not meddle with living ones. This insect does not emit a
disagreeable odour, fortunately for those whom it visits in such
numbers.

It has been noticed that, in this group of insects, there are
some that are brightly coloured, and some that are compara-
tively dull and sombre. Those species that are brilliantly
decorated are mostly found on plants and flowers, as if anxious
to exhibit their beauties, while their duller companions, as if
ashamed of themselves and anxious not to bring themselves
in contrast with their gorgeously clothed relatives, restrict
themselves to the roots and lower parts of the stems.

The Pyrrhocoris belongs to a group termed Cecigenina.
This name, which signifies blindness, is given to the insects
because they possess no ocelli. The second joint of the
antenne is the longest. As the word apterus signifies wing-
less, some entomologists have considered that it is not appro-
priate to this insect, on the ground that many specimens have
fully-developed wings, while in others the wings are partly
developed, and in none absolutely wanting. They have, there-
fore, suggested the specific name of calmariensis, by which it
is known in several lists.

According to Mr. Curtis’ theory, climate has some influence
in the development of the wings, a hot climate forwarding it
and a cold one retarding it. He stated that he had never
found specimens in this country with the wings fully developed,
thongh he had done so in the South of France. As, however,

00

562 INSECTS AT HOME.

a perfectly-winged specimen was taken by Linnzus in a lati-
tude more northerly than that of England, the theory cannot
be universally true, though it may be partially so.

On Woodcut LXV. Fig. 1 is a curious-looking insect called
Neides depressus, belonging to the family Berytide.

The members of this genus are remarkable for the length
and slenderness of their bodies and legs, which very much
resemble those of the water-gnats. This is not a handsome
species in point of colour, yellowish-brown being the chief hue.
The antenne are rather light-yellow, and the edges of the
front part of the thorax whitish-grey. The abdomen is black
above, and the elytra are so transparent that they permit the
- colour of the abdomen to be seen through them.

It is a local insect, living on plants that prefer the seaside.
At Deal it has been found about the roots and stems of the
hemlock stork’s-bill (Hrodiwm cicutariwm), and in the Isle of
Wight it has been captured under the common restharrow, or
ecammock (Ononis arvensis). Mr. Westwood states that he
hay found the Neides in all its stages under the last-named
plant in a spot at the back of the Isle of Wight. The insect
was very slow in its movements, and did not attempt to use
its wings. As both larve and pupw# were found in the
same situations, he thinks that there is no doubt that the
Neides derives its nourishment from the plant under which he
found it.

The chief point in this genus is the extreme length of the
antenne, which are as long as the abdomen and thorax
together. The basal joint is extremely long, and when the
insect is alive the antenne are slightly elbowed at this joint.

Next in order comes the insect which is shown on Wood-
eut LXV. Fig. 2. Its name is Rhyparochromus dilatatus,
and it belongs to the family of Rhyparochromide. The insects
belonging to this genus are known by the two ocelli and the
flattened and widened thighs of the fore-legs. In the present
species this peculiarity is very strongly marked, and from that
circumstance the specific name of dilatatus, or widened, has
been given to the insect. The same joint is also remarkable
for the very bold toothing of its inner edge, as may be seen by

THE HENESTARIDA. 563

reference to Fig. a on the same Woodeut. At Fig. b, a side
view of the head is given, showing one of the antennz, with
its short first joint and long fourth joint, and the curiously
formed hair-covered beak.

The generic name Rhyparochromus is formed from two
Greek words, and signifies dirt-coloured, but I have not the
least idea in what way it can be considered appropriate. The

LXV

1. Neides depressus. 2. Rhyparochromus dilatatus. 3. Henestaris laticeps.
4, Phytocoris tilia. a. Rhyparovhromus dilatatus, leg. b. Do., head, antenna, and tongue.

colour of this species is as follows:—The general hue is glossy
black, thickly clothed above and beneath with fine yellow
down. The junctions of the joints of the antennz and tarsus
are yellowish. It is not a rare insect, and can be taken under
moss.

Anotuer family, the Henestaride, is represented by Hene-
staris laticeps, which is shown on Woodcut LXV. Fig. 3.

ovo }

564 INSECTS AT HOME.

This is rather a rare insect, but has been found in the Isle of
Wight in the month of August.

Its general colour is ochreous-yellow, clouded more or less
with brown, and sprinkled with very fine yellow down. The
ocelli are red. The upper part of the thorax is deeply
punctured in front, and just behind the anterior margin are
two black pits or depressions, which are well shown in the illus-
tration. The thighs are thickly covered with black spots,
which in many places coalesce and form blotches of black.
The abdomen is black above and brown below, with a dash of
ochreous-yellow. The specific name, laticeps or wide-headed,
refers to the remarkable form of the head, which, including
the eyes, is wider’ than the widest part: of the body. This
peculiarity is well shown in the illustration.

On the same Woodcut, Fig. 4, is shown a much more
striking insect, called Phytocoris tii, as an example of the
Phytocoride.

In these insects the antenne are very long and slender, the
first joint being as long as the head and thorax together. The
hind legs are also very long, and the head is broader than it is
long. The name Phytocoris is Greek, and literally signifies
Plant-bug.

The colour of this insect is pale green, sometimes being so
very pale as to appear grey with a slight greenish tinge, and
being edged with a line of a darker hue. The insect is thickly
clothed with patches of grey down, the grey hue being produced
by the mixture of black and white hairs. Itis rather a variable
species, but mostly has the sides of the thorax black, and the
tip of the elytra of the same hue. Sometimes the elytra are
rather differently coloured, having two large black spots in the
middle, and two smaller spots on the tip. The leathery part
of the elytra is spotted with black. The second joint of the
antenne and the tibiz are banded with black, and the re-
maining joints of the legs are pale yellow with black blotches.

As its shape imports, this is an active insect, and can both
_ run and fly with agility. It is fond of fruit, and especially
frequents raspberries, the juices of which it sucks through its
beak. No great harm would be done by this small robbery if
the Phytocoris would only content itself with abstracting juices.
Unfortunately, while it sucks the liouids of the raspberry, it

ODOUR OF THE PLANT-BUG. 565

deposits some of its own—that highly scented fluid which has
already been mentioned, and, in consequence, so nauseous a
flavour is imparted to the fruit that no one can eat it. The
very odour is so powerful that it generally suffices as a warning
to intending consumers. But, if by ill-chance one of them
should be taken into the mouth, the flavour and odour are so
utterly detestable that no one who has ever experienced them
will allow himself to be again deluded. I can speak rather
feelingly on this subject, having been victimised by this insect,
and having therefore learned to test every raspberry before I
venture to eat it.

WE now come to some very curious beings. On Woodcut
LXVI. Figs. 1 and 2, is shown a remarkable insect, called
Systellonotus triguttatus.

According to the older entomologists, this insect was placed
in the same family with that species which has just been
described. The modern entomologists, however, have broken
up the old family, with many others, and have placed this
insect in the family Idolocoride. The insects of this genus
are remarkable for the shape of the abdomen, which is very
much narrowed or contracted at the base, where it joins the
thorax. The generic name Systellonotus is composed of two
Greek words signifying narrowed-back, and is therefore a very
appropriate one. The shape of the abdomen can be best seen
by reference to Fig. 2, which represents the wingless female.

The general colour of the male is reddish-brown, and over
the body is spread a thin coating of yellowish down, which
stands particularly upright. On each of the elytra are three
white diagonal bars, one of a silvery character and the others
greyish-white. It is from these three bars that the name of
triguttatus, or three-streaked, has been given to the species.

The word guttatus is taken from the Latin gutta, or drop,
and is applied to marks that are made as if by a drop of
colour which had been allowed to run over the surface and then
become dry. A good idea of the true shape of the gutta may
be obtained by taking a white piece of paper, letting a drop of
ink fall on it, and then holding it diagonally, so that the ink
may trickle a little way down the paper.

The female, as may be seen by reference to Fig. 2, is almost

566 INSECTS AT HOME.

wholly without wings or wing-cases, these organs being merely
indicated by some very small rudimentary appendages to the
thorax. In colour they are yellowish-brown, and have none of
the distinguishing characteristics of the Heteropteran wing.
The insect is extremely swift of foot, and bears some resem-
blance to the wood-ant. Both sexes are rare, but the female
is even scarcer than the male, and is a’ great prize to any
entomologist who finds her.

LXVI

1. Systellonotus triguttatus, male. 2. Ditto, female. 3, Orthocephalus hirtus.
a. Do., head, antenna, and rostrum. 6. Do., tarsus. ec. Do. labrum. d. Do., elytron.
e. Do., wing.

An example of the restricted family Capsidz is given on
Woodcut LXVI. Fig. 3. This is called Orthocephalus hirtus.

Even to the unaided eye this is a remarkable insect, but is
shown to be still more curious when examined with the aid of
a microscope. The general colour of this insect is black, with
a slight dash of yellow. If it be placed under the microscope,
it will be seen that the ground hue is black, covered first with

THE BED-BUG. 567

golden-yellow scales, and then with rather long, erect black
hairs which project between the scales. The elytra of the male
are blackish-brown. In the male the upper part of the front
part of the thorax or pronotum is bent down towards the
head, whereas in the female it is straight. The thighs are
long and black, and the tibiz reddish-yellow, often tipped with
black, as shown in the illustration.

At Fig. a is given a profile view of the head, so as to show
the very long second joint of the hair-clad antenne, and the
way in which the long, four-jointed beak is bent under the
breast. The rather peculiar tarsus is shown at 0, and the
labrum at c. The word Orthocephalus is formed from two
Greek words, signifying’ straight-headed, and the Latin specific
name hirtus, or hairy, is given to the insect in allusion to the
long black hair with which its body is covered. The shape of
the elytron, or wing-cover, of the male is shown at Fig. d, and
that of the true or flying wing at Fig. e of the same illustration.

Tue family of the Acanthiide is represented by the common
Brv-Bue (Acanthia lectularia or Cimex lectularius), which
is represented on Woodeut LXVII. Fig. 1. In this genus the
abdomen is nearly circular, and both sexes are almost without
wings, their position being only indicated by a pair of little
scale-like projections. Some entomologists assert that specimens
have been found possessing perfect wings, but there is no
satisfactory proof of any such development among the numbers
that are annually killed.

When and how this singularly unpleasant insect was intro-
duced into this country is not known; but there is no doubt
that it is not indigenous, and that it was unknown some three
hundred years ago. It is true that there are several allusions
to the Bug in Shakespeare, as well as in older writers ; but in
every case the word does not allude to the noxious insect, but
is taken in its original sense, namely, something that can
terrify or annoy, and originally signifies some terrible spectre
that walks by night. Thus in Ps. xci. 5, the word which is
now rendered as ‘terror’ by night, was in the older editions of
the Bible translated as Bugge, the allusion being evidently to
spectral apparitions. It is still used in this sense in the word
Bug-bear. We can easily see how an insect, newly introduced

568 INSECTS AT HOME.

into England, ard spreading with a rapidity to which the cus-
toms of our ancestors gave every assistance, would be distin-
guished by a name which signified a nightly terror.

Being very flat and short-legged, and always walking with
the legs in nearly the same plane as the body, the Bug can
creep into very narrow crevices, and hundreds can hide them-
selves where there seems scarcely to be room for half a dozen.
In the chinks of old furniture, and especially behind the
wooden panels of old walls, they pack themselves so closely

LXVIL

1, Acanthia lectularia. 2. Coranus subapterus. 3. Reduvius personatus. a. Acanthia

lectularia, fore-leg. 6. Do., Antenna. c. Do., head, showing position of rostrum.
d. Do., rostrum.

and in such numbers that they form thick layers of living
insects, and the language of the carpenter in ‘ Punch’ is hardly
exaggerated when he said that if he were to take away a
panel, they would get up on their hind legs, and bark like dogs.

The eggs of this insect are very small, and can be inserted

LIFE-HISTORY OF THE BED-BUG. 569

by the parent at the very bottom of the crevices in which she
has made her home. There are four broods in the year, and
each female lays, on an average, fifty eggs each time. When
newly laid, the eggs are covered with a sort of varnish, which
rapidly hardens when exposed to the air, and forms a cement
by which the eggs are securely fixed to the object on which
they are laid.

In some three weeks from the time that they are laid, the
young Bugs are hatched. They are then so small as almost to
be invisible, and, in fact, unless they have tasted blood, can
hardly be seen except with a magnifying-glass. When, how-
ever, they have succeeded in attacking some human being, the
extreme transparency of their skins causes the sucked blood to
be seen through their tissues, and they look like tiny moving
specks of scarlet. They attain their full growth in about three
months. 3

As is the case with other blood-sucking insects, the Bug is
rather capricious in its attacks. There are many persons whom
it never touches, or at least, as I rather fancy, to whom it
causes no annoyance if it does attack them; while there are
others—myself among the number—who seem to be the centre
of attack of every blood-sucking insect in the neighbourhood,
and who suffer little less than torture from their venomous
beaks. In attaining its prey, the Bug often displays much in-
genuity. If it cannot otherwise get at a person who is lying
on a bed, it will ascend the wall, crawl along the ceiling, and
then fall on the bed, to the great discomfiture of its inmate.

I have remarked that in most cases those who are most
obnoxious to the attacks of the Bug are most sensitive to its
odour, and vice vers&. There were some rooms in Paris in
which these abominable insects swarmed. They even came out
in the daytime, and I have seen the little scarlet young
perambulating the walls in the early morning. My olfactory
nerves, however, were amply sufficient, without the sense of
sight, to betray the presence of the insects, and yet the inmates
of the room were absolutely insensible both in nostrils and skin
to the presence of these abominable insects.

A still stronger case occurs to my memory. Some years ago
at Oxford, I was visiting a working shoe-maker. The room
was clean, and the walls neatly, though rather quaintly, deco-

570 INSECTS AT HOME.

rated with red wafers, like the spots on a toy-house. The
odour of the room was, however, almost asphyxiating, and the
air was so foul that some pure water which I had brought with
me was covered with scum in a few minutes. On examining
the walls a little more closely, I found that the imagined red
wafers were nothing but Bugs, each of which had been smashed
by a blow from the broad-headed shoemaker’s hammer. Not
one of the family, however, was in the least aware that the
atmosphere within the room was more offensive than that
without it, and none of them suffered any discomfort from the
insects with which their house swarmed.

It is probable that the Bug does not absolutely require human
blood, which is but a luxury to it. In its original condition it
is said to live upon the juices of various trees, and to be able to
procure nourishment from them even when the timber has
been dried and made into furniture. Many entomologists
believe that the first Buys which were introduced into this
country came over with the large cargoes of American timber
that were used in rebuilding those parts of London which had
been destroyed by the great fire of 1666. Some timbers, how-
ever, such as walnut, mahogany, oak, or cedar, are said not to
afford them any nourishment.

The question of extirpating these insects is really an im-
portant one. Cleanliness and the increasing use of metal bed-
steads have done much in lessening their numbers, but, despite
all precautions, no house and no room is really safe from them.
A single female may be brought to the house in the laundress’
basket, find her way to some crevice, lay her eggs, and so
found a large colony before their presence is fairly discovered.
Various means of ridding the place of them have been tried,
such as taking the furniture to pieces and painting all the
joints with turpentine. Such means are effectual enough as
far as the turpentine can reach, but no farther; and when the
insects have taken up their residence in chinks of the wall,
they cannot be subjected to turpentine or any other liquid.

It is evident that, in such a ease, the insects can only be
touched by vapour, and the question arises what vapour to
employ. That of sulphur:has heen used with success, as has
that of one or two other suffocating substances. But in any of
these cases, the vapour must be so thick that no human being

EXTIRPATION OF THE BED-BUG. O71

can breathe it and live, so that there is an element of danger.
and the after effects of sulphur vapour are anything but agree-
able. I once had a room which was suddenly and grievously
afflicted with these insects, and managed to clear it entirely
from them without doing any damage to the house or furniture,
or running the least risk of injuring any human being. ‘There
is a very valuable insect-powder, sold by Mr. H. Easter, of
Cloudesley Square, Islington, which has the property of killing
all insects, while it is quite harmless with regard to vertebrate
animals, so that it can be sprinkled over birds, cats, dogs, and
other animals without the least danget My pet cat was once
greatly tormented with parasites. I put a large teaspoonful of
the powder into a bag, introduced pussy into it, much against
his will, tied up the mouth, and left the bag on the floor. Of
course, the ,cat tumbled about inside the bag, and rolled about
the floor so as to introduce the powder thoroughly into the fur.
In about twenty minutes I let out the cat, and found that
every flea that had tormented him lay either dead or dying in
the bag.

Finding this process so effectual I bethought me of trying
the vapour upon aphides, moth-eaten fur, &c. &c., and, as the
vapour was quite as destructive as the powder itself, I deter-
mined on trying it on a large scale. So I made a number of
brown-paper cylinders, just like squib-cases, and filled them
with the insect-powder, taking care toram it down hard. Ithen
pasted paper over every crevice that could let the smoke out of
the room, or the air into it, lighted the squibs at the open end,
blowing them into a bright red glow, disposed them about the
room, and then closed the door, pasting paper from the outside
across the junction of the door with the doorway.

After an hour or so, I took from the keyhole the cotton-wool
which I had placed in it, looked into the room, and found that
it was thick with smoke-wreaths. The smoke began to settle
down in some three or four hours, and when it had nearly sub-
sided, I entered the room and opened the window. The sight
was an astonishing one. In every direction lay dead or dying
Bugs, from the full-grown veteran to the tiniest larva. In
some places where the smoke had not been very thick, the in-
sects were still on their feet, but so stupified that they could
ynly just put one leg before another. I am almost afraid to

ate INSECTS AT HOME,

say how many were captured, but it is sufficient to mention
that they were counted, not by individuals, but by measure.

About a month afterwards, the process was repeated, for the
purpose of killing those which had escaped on the first occasion,
and the young larvze which might have been hatched since the
fumigation. Scarcely any survivors were discovered, and ever
afterwards the room was quite free from them. It appeared
that they had been introduced in a bedstead which had been
warranted free from all insects.

It is said that spiders are great enemies to Bugs, and that
they will destroy numbers of them if allowed to remain in the
infested rooms.

Some years ago, I was very much perplexed, not to say
annoyed, by the occasional presence of these insects in my
dining-room, as well as in a bed-room immediately above it.
I found at last that they came from some nests of the common
house martin that were fixed just above the window. I gota
long ladder for the purpose of examining the nests, and found
their clay walls absolutely swarming with these insects. I tried
a few experiments on a small lump of clay which was tenanted
by them, and found that although they disliked the odour of
turpentine, and crawled out of their refuge when placed in a
tin box together with a piece of cotton-wool soaked in spirits of
turpentine, they were not killed by it after an imprisonment of
thirty-six hours, and rapidly recovered themselves when re-
stored to the fresh air.

I was extremely sorry to disturb the martins, for I used much
to enjoy watching the pretty birds so close to my window.
But their parasites were so annoying that there was no alterna-
tive but to remove the nests and brush oil over the wall, so
that the clay would not adhere when the birds tried to erect new
nests in the same spot. Some entomologists think that these
insects are not the same species as the Acanthia lectularia.
Whether this be the case or not, they have the same unpleasant
habit of attacking human beings and the same abominable
odour, and must be extirpated ruthlessly. They will travel for

-considerable distances from the nests in which they are hatched.
I have seen four or five of them creeping along a wall and
making their way to a window which was not only much below
the nest, but quite on the opposite side of the house.

THE FLY-BUG. 5t3

A few of the details of this insect’s structure are given on
Woodcut LXVII. At Fig. ais shown one of its fore-legs, at
Fig. b the antenna, with its slender terminal joint. Fig d is
a greatly magnified representation of the beak, and Fig. ¢
shows a profile view of the head together with the beak.

Ir has already been mentioned that the spider will destroy
the Bed-Bug. There is one of its own relations, however, which
performs this operation much more effectually. It is popularly
called the Fry-Bue, and its scientific name is Reduvius per-
sonatus. A rather enlarged portrait of this curious insect is
given on Woodeut LXVII. Fig. 3. This insect is an example
of the Reduviide.

The colour of the Fly-Bug is brown, sometimes blackish,
and sometimes with a yellowish tint. The tibiz are yellow at
their bases, and the abdomen has a shining surface, black below,
but with a vellow patch in the middle above.

The insect is sometimes found within houses, but is generally
taken on account of its habit of flying towards light, and so
entering at night windows of lighted rooms. Mr. E. A. Smith
tells me that at Deal he found several Fly-Bugs lying dead
under a window-sill. Both in its perfect and preliminary
stages, the Fly-Bug feeds on other insects, and has such a
liking for the Bed-Bug that a room has been cleared of these
obnoxious insects by the introduction of a few Fly-Bugs.

In its larval and pupal states, this insect has a habit of en-
veloping itself in a thick coating of dust and other refuse, and
is so addicted to this practice that, after it has shed its skin
and come out all bright and clean, it has been seen deliberately
to take the dust coating from its shed skin and place it on its
new coat. The specific name of personatus, or disguised, has
been given to the insect in consequence of this habit. The
Reduvius is a much more formidable enemy to the Bed-Bug
than the spider, for the latter has to wait for the chance of its
prey coming to its net, whereas the former is a hunter and
seeks prey for itself. An entomologist in my neighbourhood,
who kept a larva of the Reduvius, found that it would eat
three or four Bugs daily, so that a few of these insects, if at
liberty, must cause great havoc among our ‘ Norfolk Howards.’

Apart from the service which it renders, this Reduvius is not

574 INSECTS AT HOME.

avery pleasant insect. Its odour is scarcely less disgusting
than that of its wingless relative, and, if captured, it has a very
unpleasant way of driving its beak into the fingers of its captor.
Under such conditions, it also emits a rather sharp creaking
sound, which is said to be produced by the friction of the elytra.

ANoTHER example of the Reduviide is given on Woodcut
LXVII. Fig. 2. It is called Coranus subapterus.

In all the Reduviide the beak is comparatively short, thick,
and more or less curved. The head is so narrowed behind as
to form a neck. There are two ocelli, the eyes are very pro-
minent, and the terminal joints of the antenne are slender.
The legs are long and active. Many of these insects have the
wings only slightly developed, so that they come under the
category of ‘imperfect perfect insects.’ Such is the case with
the present species, which has derived its name of swbapterus
(a most barbarous compound, by the way) from the structure
of the wings, which only reach as far as the third segment
of the abdomen.

I really do not like to translate such a word as subapterus,
which is a repulsive hybrid between Latin and Greek, and—
with all respect to the eminent entomologist who first manu-
factured it—ought not to be accepted in its present form.
What, for example, should we think of such words as eight-
agon, twelvehedron, dreiangle, petitscope, telesseer, insectology,
etoilonomy, erdology, and so forth? Yet there is not one ot
these words which is one whit more ridiculous than swhapterus.
Should we be allowed to talk, much less write, of a hemiglobe,
an eve positor, a chiudmeter, a baromeasurer, a virful deed, or a
megananimous sentiment ? But, if we are to retain the one word,
there can be no reason why we should not employ the others.

However, the name being given and accepted, let us see
what it means. The preposition ‘sub,’ when prefixed to adjec-
tives, gives them a partial sense. Thus, subiratus means
rather angry; subdoctus, moderately learned; subcandidus,
whitish; and so forth. But, in all these cases, both parts of
the word belong to the same language. Had the offending
entomologist used the word subalatus, or partly winged, no
one could have objected to it, as both words are Latin. Apart
from other reasons, it is a prettier-looking word than subapterus

- THE WATER GNATS. d70

and much easier to say. But when he employs the word sub,
which is Latin, as a prefix to the Greek pteron, I do not see
that we should be called upon to excoriate our own ears and
those of future generations with such an atrocious compound.

I believe that brown sugar and oysters are considered incom-
patible, as is salt with strawberry cream. There is, perhaps,
not one in ten thousand who wouid not feel direfully aggrieved
by having any such mixtures forced on him as part of his
daily diet. And there is really no more reason for offending
our eyes, ears, -and mental taste by swhapterus, than our mere
palates by the above-mentioned mixtures.

The general colour of this insect is dusky black, relieved by a
clothing of short, yellow hairs. Beneath it is yellowish-brown.
The ocelli are red and the antennz pale brown. The mem-
branous portion of the short wing is rather contracted, and the
nervures are black. It is found in dry, sandy places, hiding
under heath, furze, and other plants. When handled, it gives
out an odour which, unlike those of most of its kind, is of a
pleasant nature, and bears some resemblance to that of a ripe
pear. Although in most cases the wings of this insect are in
the imperfect state which has just been described, they are
sometimes, but very rarely, fully developed.

WE now come to that group of Heteroptera which has
been mentioned as passing most of their time on, though not
in, the water. They are scientifically called Hydrometride, or
Water-measurers, because they seem to measure the surface of
the water with their long and slender legs; and they are
popularly known by the name of Water-gnats, because the
smaller specimens have some resemblance to gnats without
their wings. ‘wo specimens of this group are given on
Woodcut LXVIII., in order to show the aspect of the insect
in different attitudes.

In all these insects the body is long, narrow, and is mostly
covered on the under-surface with a fine coating of velvet-like
hairs, which are capable of resisting the action of the water.
The beak is rather long, curved under the breast, and the last:
joint but one is considerably longer than the others. Some of
them run over the surface of the water with great speed, their
middle pair of legs acting as propellers, their hind legs as

576 INSECTS AT HOME.

rudders whereby they direct their course, and their fore-legs
stretched out in front for the purpose of seizing their prey.
When the insect is at rest, these legs are folded under the
body in the attitude which they assume when the prey is held
against the breast, so that the long, curved, sharply-pointed
beak may be driven into it. One of these prehensile legs is
shown at Fig. a, and a profile view of the head, so as to show
the form of the beak, with its long penultimate joint, is given
at Fig. b.

LXVIL

1. Hydrometra gibbifera. 2. Hydrometra argentata. 3. Corixa Geoffroyi.
4. Halticocoris luteicollis. a. Hydrometra argentata, fore-leg. b. Do., head, with
antenni and tongue.

These insects afford many examples of the imperfect-perfect
state, which has been the trouble of most entomologists until
its true nature was cleared up. In this condition, the Hydro-
metride so exactly resemble pupz, that when they were seen
exercising all the functions of the perfect insect, the observers
were naturally perplexed.

THE WATER-GNATS. aw iT)

Those specimens in which the wings are fully developed can
use them well. I have noticed that, when alighting in the
water after flight, they always use their legs for the purpose of
tucking the wings under the elytra, just as the earwig uses its for-
ceps and the rove-beetle the end of its flexible tail. With these
legs they wash themselves frequently, appearing to be singularly
fastidious respecting cleanliness. I have often seen these in-
sects standing on the three legs of one side, while employing
those of the other side in brushing the body, every portion
of which was carefully passed under the feet. The attitude is
most singular, and I have never seen it adopted by any other
insect.

They are all predacious, seizing their prey with their fore-legs.
I have seen one of these creatures, having caught an insect,
hold it out in front of its body with its fore-feet, while making
its way to some place where it could in safety suck the life-
juices of its prey. Predacious as they are, they also fall victims
to larger inhabitants of the water—the well-known Water-
boatman making great havoc among them, and taking on the
average five or six minutes in sucking dry the body of its prey.

The name of the species shown at Fig. 1 is Hydrometra
gibbifera. Its colour is blackisb-brown above, and beneath it
is black, with a silvery or brassy lustre when seen in a side-
light. The specific name of gibbifera, or bunch-bearing, is
given to it on account of a rounded tubercle or bunch upon
the anterior angles of the thorax. The male has also a large
orange-coloured tubercle on the back of the thorax, near its
junction with the abdomen. There is a short, thick, yellow
line drawn longitudinally on the middle of the front part of
the thorax. The elytra are blackish-brown, with a slight blue
gloss in certain lights, and the nervures are clothed with
golden hairs and scales. The middle pair of legs is the
longest. This species is very common on the surface of water.
whether it be stagnant or running.

On Woodcut XLVIII. Fig. 2, is shown another species,
Hydrometra wrgentata.

This insect is remarkable as being the smallest of the family.
Its colour is blackish-brown above, with a decided silvery gloss
below. The antennez are black. The colour of the elytra is

Bap

578 INSECTS AT HOME.

brown in some lights and bluish-grey in others. The abdomen
of the male has the last two segments marked with a narrow
yellow line, and that of the female has the last four segments
similarly marked. It is much rarer than the preceding insect.

Tue last of the Aurocorisa which will be mentioned in this
work is the insect which is represented on Woodeut LXVIII.
Fig. 4. Its name is Halticocoris luteicollis, and it belongs to
the family of Halticocoride, or Jumping-Bugs, because they
have the capability of leaping, very much like the Haltice, or
Turnip-fleas, which have already been described on page 211.
The structure of the hind legs, with their greatly developed
thighs, is sufficient to show that the insect is gifted with the
power of leaping.

The general colour of this insect is shining black, over
which are spread a number of fine yellow hairs, very short,
and bent downwards. In this species the elytra are fully
developed, but in the only other British species of this genus,
Halticocoris pallidicornis, they are undeveloped. The head
and antennz are ochreous yellow, and so are the legs except
the thighs of the second and third pairs, which are black.
The upper part of the thorax is very finely wrinkled in front,
and has a very fine and delicate furrow running along its
centre.

The insect is not a scarce one, but requires to be looked
after, as it takes up its residence in clover fields, aud upon
several species of Bed-straw (Galiwm). The sweep-net will
generally bring it within the reach of the entomologist.

On Plate XVIII. Fig. 4, is shown a figure of an insect called
Pentatoma dissimile. The insects of this genus have the
scutellum very large, the tarsi with three joints, and the eyes
rather prominent. In some of the family to which this insect
belongs, the scutellum is of enormous size, from which the
family ‘has derived the name of Scutellaride. The generic
name!Pentatoma signifies ‘ five-pieces’ or joints, and is given
to the insects because their antenne have five joints. Like
others of the same order, they exhale a very unpleasant odour,
and sometimes render uneatable any fruit over which they
crawl. .They are mostly vegetable feeders, but sometimes take

STRUCTURE OF THE PROBOSCIS. 579

~to animal food, a number of them having been observed
gathered round the body of a caterpillar, with their beaks
sunk deeply into it. The well-known naturalist, De Geer,
states that some species of this family watch over their eggs
until they are hatched, and then take care of their young, just
as is said of the earwig. He remarked that the mother
reminded him of the hen and her chickens, leading them from
spot to spot, and evidently keeping guard over them until
they were strong enough to shift for themselves.

The same naturalist further observed that these insects can
disengage the piercing portion of the proboscis from the sheath,
and replace it at will. His description is as follows. I have
not his work by me,*but follow the translation given in
Griffith’s edition of Cuvier’s ‘ Animal Kingdom.’

‘It has happened to me,’ says De Geer, ‘to observe on one
of these young bugs, placed under the microscope, that its
proboscis was entirely disengaged out of the furrow of the
sheath. It hung then at the end of the tongue, like a very
long thread. I saw, again, that at the end of the thread the
three pieces of which it was composed were separated one from
the other. The following day I observed on the same bug
that everything was restored to its proper place—that the
proboscis was placed, as before, in the, furrow of the sheath.
It appears, then, that the bug can withdraw its proboscis out
of its sheath and put it back when it thinks proper. It drew
the proboscis out of its sheath once again; I then saw how the
intermediate part of the proboscis and of the point played—
how the bug elongated and shortened it alternately. I saw
some drops of fluid come out of and re-enter the proboscis.
The two semi-sheaths which accompanied it played also
alternately in front and rear.

‘I was attentive to observe how the bug caused its proboscis
to re-enter into the furrow of the sheath, and at last I achieved
this, after having observed it without interruption for more
than a quarter of an hour. It first of all puts its proboscis in
a parallel line with the sheath, or at least it holds it extended
the entire length of the sheath; afterwards it gives an inflexion
to the sheath, about the middle of its extent. It folds it like
aknee. It then applies this knee against the middle of its

Pip 2

580 INSECTS AT HOME.

proboscis, or against that part of the proboscis which is oppo~
site to the knee. The anterior feet then come to its assistance.
The bug presses its proboscis with its feet against the sheath,
so that this portion of its proboscis is then stopped in the
groove or furrow. Finally, it presses the rest of its proboscis
against the sheath with the same feet, and thus causes it to
slide into the groove. As soon as the proboscis has once re-
eatered, i+ stays there.’

CHAPTER Ii.

HYDROCORISA, OR WATER-BUGS.

WE now come to the second group of Heteroptera—the Hydro-
corisa, or Water-Bugs. There are many species, differing
greatly in external appearance ; but they all have very short
antenne concealed in cavities beneath the eyes, and their fore-
legs are rather short, and can be folded close to the body, so as
to look like claws. With these limbs the insects seize their
prey, which consists of various inhabitants of the water that do
not appear to be so strong as themselves.

Tue first family is that of the Notonectidw, which embraces
the various insects known by the popular name of Water-
boatmen. The scientific name signifies Back-swimmer, and
both titles are equally appropriate. The Notonectide have a
habit of lying on their backs in the water, and their body
then assumes a shape very much like that of a boat. The two
hind legs are exceedingly long, and as they are stretched out
at right angles with the body, look exactly like oars, and in-
deed are used as if they were oars. The ends of these legs are
furnished with hairy fringes, which act like the blade of the oar,
and enable the insect to drive itself along with very great speed.

All who have handled an oar know of the difficulties which
beset them in the proper mode of feathering, i.e. turning the
oar as it is brought out of the water, so that the edge of the
blade is turned to the air as the oar is swept backwards for the
next stroke. In the oar-like legs of the Water-boatman we
find a provision for a similar feathering, the bristles standing
out boldly as the leg is forced against the water to make the
next stroke, and collapsing as the limb is drawn through the
water in readiness for the next stroke. The insect never lifts
its oar-legs out of the water, and, unless some provision of the
sort were made, it would travel nearly as fast backwards as

582 INSECTS AT HOME.

forwards. In fact, the movement of the Water-boatman’s leg
very much resembles that of the North American Indian’s
paddle. He never takes the paddle out of the water, but first
makes his stroke with the flat of the blade, and then turns the
paddle so that its edge is presented to the water as it is
brought forward in readiness for the next stroke.

One of these insects, Notonecta glauca, is shown on Plate
XK Rig,

TuE manners and customs of the Water-boatmen are well
worthy of study, and I have passed many pleasant hours in
watching their habits, both at liberty and in captivity. Asa
rule, they lie on their backs in the water, but they do not
always maintain this position. On fine, hot, summer days,
they turn over and sit almost on the surface of the water, with
the wing-cases half open and the wings partly protruding from
them. In this curious attitude they will sit for an hour at
a time, and even more unless disturbed, as long as the sun
shines on them. It is remarkable how mere attitude will
alter the aspect of an insect. The Water-boatman, as it
appears when darting through the water, and when sitting
sunning itself on the surface, is so totally different in aspect,
that no one who was not acquainted with the insect could
suspect its identity.

As is the case with aquatic insects in. general, the Water-
boatman breathes atmospheric air, respiration being conducted
much like that of the Water Beetles, which have already been
described. In the case of the Water-boatman, however, the
comparative transparency of the elytra enables the mode of
respiration to be seen better than can be done with the
beetles. I have often watched the breathing of the Notonec™,
which is conducted as follows. The insect lies on its back,
with its legs spread, the tip of its tail just above the surface
of the water, and its head just below it. Air is taken into the
space between the elytra and the body, and is passed onwards
towards the shoulders, being alternately taken in and ejected
through the spiracles, and its course being traceable by the
quicksilvery look which it gives to the elytra. Having com-
pleted its course through the respiratory system, the air is
sqeezed out at the junction of the elytra with the under part

HABITS OF THE WATER-BOATMAN. 583

of the thorax, and ascends in bukbles to the surface. There is
always a small bubble of air at that point, which continually
increases in size until it is detached from the insect, rises to
the surface, and gives way to another.

The wings of these insects are large and powerful, and can
carry their owner at a considerable speed. The insect is even
able to take to flight directly from the surface of the water,
an accomplishment which startled me in no small degree when
I first saw it. When it wishes to fly, it dives to some little
distance below the surface, so as to bring itself into a per-
pendicular position, with its head upwards. It then darts
upwards, giving a smart stroke with both its swimming legs
as it reaches the surface. By this stroke, or leap, it is jerked
several inches out ofthe water, when it spreads its wings
suddenly, and with a loud, dull humming sound, much like
that of a wasp on the wing, flies away.

In common with the rest of its kin, this is a predacious
insect, feeding almost entirely upon other aquatic insects. It
does not eat them, but seizes them with its fore-legs, clasps
them tightly to its body, drives its beak deeply into them, and
sucks out their juices, leaving their bodies scarcely altered
in form. I have often watched the Notonecta seize other
inhabitants of the water, and thus kill them. When it has
once clasped an insect in its fatal hold, it can scarcely be
induced to release it until it has finished its meal, but swims
about, holding its victim firmly pressed against its body until
all its juices are sucked out.

It pays a great regard to its personal cleanliness, and is
fond of washing itself much after the fashion of the house-
fly, using its fore-legs for this purpose, and passing them over
every part of its body, the head being moved and twisted
from side to side exactly like that of the blue-bottle under
similar circumstances.

The larva and pupa of the Water-boatman resemble the
perfect insect in habits as well as in form, excepting that the
former has not even a vestige of wings, and the latter only
exhibits them in their rudimentary form; consequently they
are unable to fly, and their whole life is passed in the water.

The proboscis or beak, which is employed by the Water-
boatman in draining its victims of their juices, is very strong

584 INSECTS AT HOME.

and sharp, and can be used as an instrument of defence at the
will of the insect. If the Notonecta be seized carelessly, it
will drive its beak into the*hand, causing a sharp, smarting
pain, which at the moment so closely resembles the sting of a
wasp, that few persons can resist the instinctive action of
dropping the insect. No real harm, however, can be done,
and the pain goes off almost as rapidly as it was caused.

There are many species of Water-boatman, the insects be-
ing arranged in several genera; but, as the form and habits
of them all are very similar, there is no need for further
description.

AN allied group of insects is known by the generic name of
Corixa. A magnified view of the commonest of these Water-
boatmen is shown on Woodecut LXVIII. Its scientific name
is Coriwa Geoffroyt. In these insects the scutellum is not
visible, because the thorax is prolonged over it. The fore-legs,
although they are used for prehensile purposes, are not so
entirely raptorial as those of the Notonecte, and the tarsus is
composed of a single long pointed joint, fringed on the inner
edge with stiff bristles. The middle legs are slender, as are
their claws, and the long hind legs have the two tarsal joints
fringed, and are used for swimming. The body is much
flattened above, and this peculiarity alone is sufficient to dis-
tinguish it from the Notonectix, with their boat-like backs.
The beak is short but sharp, and can inflict a smart prick on
the fingers if incautiously seized.

Mr. Westwood remarks that in the winter time he has seen
great numbers of Corixee huddled together under the ice, most
of them grasping each other with their legs. They appeared
to be stupified with the cold, and to have no idea of devouring
each other.

The present species is blackish-brown, with a slight yellowish
tinge. Upon the upper part of the thorax are a number of
small yellowish spots, arranged in transverse rows, and some-
times running into each other, so as to produce the effect of
delicate, irregular stripes. The head is yellow, and the eyes
and beak are black. If the elytra be examined with a tolerably
powerful magnifying glass, they will be seen to be covered
with very fine hairs of a pale yellow tint.

PLATE XIX. ,

AQUATIC HETEROPTERA.

1. Ranatra linearis.
2. Notonecta glauca
3. Nepa cinerea.

PLANTS :—
Duckweed (Lemna). On surface of water.
Various-leaved Pondweed (Potamogeton heterophyllus).
Starwort (Aster tripohum).

IN
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Ml
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NTN
wn

Una

LN
we

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Sack

——SSS ZY

=—S—SS \\

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We S

i gle

*

THE WATER-SCORPION. 585

‘ The insect is common in some places, and can be taken in
company with the Notonecta as it darts through the water.
I have taken great numbers of them in the Swindon Reservoir,
and, as far as I know, all my specimens were taken in that spot.

Tue next family is that of the Nepide, popularly known as
W ateR-Scorpions, of which we have but three British examples.
The best known of these insects is the common WaArTER-
ScorPion, which is shown on Plate XIX. Fig. 3. Its scientific
name is Nepa cinerea. The Nepide may be easily known by
the flat and leaf-like body and the shape of the first pair of
legs, which are formed for seizing prey, their joints doubling
upon each other as the blade of a clasp-knife is doubled into
its handle. The other two pairs of legs are formed for walking.

In some of the species, the end of the tail is furnished
with two long, slender, bristle-like filaments, which look very
much like an apparatus of offence. They are, however, adjuncts
to the respiratory system, and serve to conduct the air to the
spiracles while the body is submerged. In these insects the
spiracles are placed quite at the end of the body, those of the
sides being only indicated by rudimentary marks. ° In the
larval state these filaments are represented by a single sharp
point.

Unlike the quick, dashing, and wary Water-boatman, it is a
slow, crawling, inactive insect, and, if seen creeping among
the plants near the water side, can be picked up with the
fingers; indeed, it is so very sluggish in its movements that,
as it is predacious in its habits, and depends for its food on
the capture of other inhabitants of the water, it seems hardly
capable of gaining a subsistence. There is, however, but little
difficulty in this respect. The Water-scorpion lies quietly
among the aquatic plants until some luckless insect comes by,
when, with a rapid clutch of its fore-legs, the victim is
captured, and held tightly until its juices have been extracted.
When in the water, the insect looks so exactly like a small
dead leaf, that the quickest eye might fail to discern it as long
as it did not move. It is probably on account of this re-
semblance to a leaf that the Water-scorpion is able to secure
its prey, which consists mostly of the larvee of aquatic insects,
such as the Mayfly and Whirlwig beetle.

586 INSECTS AT HOME.

The eggs of this insect are of a most singular shape, the base
of each being furnished with seven horn-like projections, ar-
ranged inacircle. Before the eggs are laid, the horns of one egg
act as a cup, into which the end of the next egg is received;
but when they are deposited, the horns bend backwards, so
as to form a circle of hooks around the upper end of the ege.

As is the case with all the British Nepidz, the colour of the
Water-scorpion is dull brown. When, however, the elytra are
opened, the upper part of the body is seen to be of a brick-red,
which also tinges strongly the base of the wings.

Ture is a closely allied insect, called scientifically Ranatra
linearis, which resembles the Water-scorpion in many par-
ticulars. This insect is shown on Plate XIX. Fig. 1.

This is more active than the preceding insect, and uses
its fore-legs in a most wonderfully skilful manner. With these
legs it seizes its prey, which consists mostly of aquatic insects ;
but the Ranatra is not very particular, and will attack any-
thing, so that it be alive. The larve of the Mayfly are its
favourite food, but I have seen it eat various other creatures,
especially the freshwater crustacea. It is really a fierce being,
and, if attacked, has no idea of flight, but boldly assumes the
offensive. JI have seen one of these insects fight a piece of
stick in a most determined manner, striking at it fiercely with
its long fore-leys. When so acting, it has a most formidable
aspect, as may be seen by reference to the illustration.

The wings of the Ranatra are packed away very neatly, but
are quite large enough to bear their owner through the air.
Mr. Westwood mentions that he has seen the Ranatra alight,
in a pond, and have great difficulty in forcing itself beneath
the surface of the water, on account of the dryness of the two
bristle-like appendages of the tail.

Tue last British species of this family is called Nawcoris
cimicoides, and is easily distinguished by possessing no fila-
ments at the end of the tail. The body is not so flat as that of
the Water Scorpion, and the hind legs are formed for swimming.
It is very much more active than either of the preceding
insects, and in the water looks so like the Water-boatman that
it might easily be mistaken for that insect. The fore-legs are

THE NAUCORIS. 587

raptorial, and the thighs are extremely large and powerful.
I have taken great numbers of this insect in the Swindon
Reservoir, and been made practically acquainted with the
power of the beak and its capability of piercing the human
hand. The beak, though it be short, is very strong and very
sharply pointed ; and when the insect is at rest, the end of the
beak exactly reaches to the base of the fore-legs.

APHANIPTERA.

rie ek |
Fi ie Ay igre

APHANIPTERA.

CHAPTER I.

PULICIDA, OR FLEAS,

Tue rather long word with which this chapter is headed is
formed from the Greek, and signifies ‘ Non-appearing Wines.’
This name is given to the insect because the wings are not
visible to ordinary observation, being merely represented by
four very minute scales on the thorax, the upper two of which
are the rudiments of the first pair of wings, and the lower
of the second pair. Popularly, they are known as Fieas,
and are rather more familiar to us than agreeable.

When placed under the microscope, the Flea really be-
comes an interesting insect, with some share of beauty about
it. The body is rather narrowed, or ‘ compressed,’ as is the
correct term; it is covered with a very hard, shining, horny
skin, on which are rows of short and sharp bristles, having
their points directed backwards. It is owing to these bristles
and the projecting edges of the horny segments, that to hold a
Flea in the fingers is so difficult a task. By means of its
powerful limbs, the insect forces itself through the fingers a
very little at a time; but, however short may be the progress at
each struggle, it is still a step towards freedom, for the bristly
rings very effectually prevent it from being forced back into
the position from which it had escaped.

The hind legs are formed for leaping, and it is by their means
that the insect takes such prodigious jumps. It can crawl as
well as leap, and indeed, does crawl by preference, only
jumping when it thinks itself in danger.

The beak, or rostrum (called a rostrulum by Kirby and

592 INSECTS AT HOME.

Spence), is exceedingly complicated, but is formed of modifica-
tions of parts of the mouth which already existed, and not of
entirely new organs. Indeed, like the beak of the suctorial
Heteroptera, the beak is formed of the lips and jaws, which are
modified so as to suit the wants of the insect. These organs,
though similar in character, vary much in form in the different

LXIX

1. Pulex talpe. 2. Pulex irritans. 3. Culex pipiens, male. a. Pulex talpz, mentum
and palpi. b. Do., side view of head. c. Do., palpus. d. Do., tarsus. e. Pulex irritans,
pupa. fF. Do., mentum and palpi. g. Culex pipiens, male, palpus. h. Do., antenna.

species, as may he seen by reference to Woodcut LXIX. Figs. «
and f, of which the former represents the mouth of the male
Flea, and the latter that of the common Flea.

The transformations of this insect are worthy of some notice.
The female Flea lays a very few eggs, seldom more than twelve
in number, and deposits them in any convenient spot. Héarth-
rugs are favourite resting-places for these eggs, and so are the
little crevices in the floor or walls in which the adult insects

HABITS OF THE FLEA. 593

hide themselves during the day-time. In due course of time
these eggs are hatched, and produce larve in the shape of
tiny white grubs. These larve are entirely without feet, but
push themselves along by means of the hairs which are attached
to the segments of the body. The last segment has two little
hooks, the use of which is rather obscure. Perhaps they may
be used in order to afford a fulcrum by which the body can be
retracted, just as the stiff hairs afford points by which the
creature can be urged forward. _

Be this as it may, the larve are very active little beings,
twisting about with great agility, something like those of the
gnat. The food of this larva is said to consist of the fleshy
part of the feathers and the blood of animals, but I very much
doubt this statement. I do not venture to deny that the larva
will feed on these substances, when it can get them; but,
seeing that at least ninety-nine per cent. of Flea-larve now
living must have been without access to mammalian blood, or
fresh feathers, this kind of food cannot be universal. Indeed,
I have often wondered how Fleas support life, and, unless they
feed on each other, I can scarcely understand their mode of
supporting existence.

When I was at school, I had the misfortune to suffer a
simultaneous dislocation and fracture of the ankle, and was
conveyed to the infirmary, a large room at the top of the house.
Now, this room had been without tenants ever since I re-
membered it, and I believe that for at least seven years no
human being had entered the room, except to open the win-
dows in the morning and shut them at night. The room was
kept most scrupulously clean, and no one even imagined that
a Flea was in it.

That the room was tenanted by these insects I found to my
own proper cost. No sooner was the candle put out than a
simultaneous attack was made on me in all directions. From
every part of the room Fleas came in battalions. There was a
nurse in the room, who was one of those persons that are either
impervious or objectionable to Fleas, and she escaped them
entirely, while they concentrated all their energies on me.

Now, a damage such as I had suffered is not conducive to
rest, even with all appliances. The limb swells, until the skin
feels almost unable to resist the tension, and the burning heat

QQ

594 INSECTS AT HOME,

is as if melted lead were being continually poured over the joint.
Fever rages through the frame, and the first endeavour of the
surgeon is to subdue it as much as possible. Under such
circumstances, it may well be imagined that the ceaseless
attacks of the Flea armies were not calculated to produce
quietude, and, indeed, had the occupier of the bed been in
perfect health and strength, one such night would have sufficed
to drive him into a fever. The only portion of the skin that
escaped was that which was covered by the bandages, and even
there the dreadful little insects had found out the junctions of
the bandages, forced themselves under the edges, and driven
their beaks into the skin, so that when the bandage was
removed in the morning, its course could be traced by the
rows of fleabites.

The insects had never enjoyed such a chance of a banquet in
their lives, and naturally made the most of it. But, I cannot
but wonder on what food they had subsisted before any
wretched human being was delivered over to them. Genera-
tion after generation must have been hatched, lived, and died,
and never even seen a particle of blood. No animals of any
kind ever remained in the room, which was entirely disused,
and, as I have mentioned, only entered for a minute or two
daily, and that at a time when all the Fleas were safe in their
hiding-places.

The larvee are hatched about the beginning of autumn, pass
the winter in the larval condition, and change to pupz in the
spring of the following year. One of these pupz is shown on
Woodcut LXIX. Fig. 2. When it first escapes from the larval
skin it is white, but it rapidly assumes the well-known
reddish-brown hue of the perfect insect. In this state it is
perfectly quiescent, the legs being enclosed in separate cases,
and so remains for about a fortnight, when it throws off the
pupal skin and emerges as a perfect Flea, ready to exercise its
wonderful apparatus of laceration and suction, if it should only
be fortunate enough to find a subject.

The Flea is possessed of an amount of muscular power which
is really enormous in comparison with the size of the insect.
How great is this strength is shown by the performances of the
Industrious Fleas, of which we have all heard, and which some of
us have seen. One of these insects will draw behind it a weight

THE MOLE-FLEA, 595

which is as much disproportioned to the size of its body as
would be one of Pickford’s largest and heaviest-laden waggons
to a human being. With the leaping powers of the Flea we
are likewise familiar, though perhaps we have not reflected
that the average jump of a Flea is about thirty times its own
height, and that, supposing a man of six feet in stature were to
perform the same leap, he would jump as high as the gallery of
the Monument.

THERE are many species of Flea known to entomologists.
Mr. Westwood states that the largest specimen that he has seen
was captured on that curious animal, the Echidna, or Porcupine
Ant-eater, of Australia. This insect measured no less than
one-sixth of an inch in length, which is to most Fleas what a
man of twelve feet in height would be to ordinary human beings.
One of the largest Fleas that inhabit this country is that which
is parasitic on the mole, and is therefore called Pulex talpe.
A portrait of this odd-looking insect is given on Woodcut LXIX.
Fig. 1. At Fig. ais shown the mentum or chin of the Moir
FLEA, with its palpus at either side, and its apparatus of
lancets in the middle. The profile view of the head is
given at Fig. 6, so as to show these organs in a different posi-
tion. One of the palpi is shown at Fig. ¢, as it appears when
severed from the head, and the foot is drawn at Fig. d.

The Common Fiza (Pulex writans) is shown at Fig. 2 of
the same illustration, and the reader can easily see how
different are these two species, even in external appearance.
The mentum, palpi, and lancets are shown at Fig. f.

Besides these, almost every animal has its own species of
Flea, each of which has some characteristic points in which it
differs from its congeners, and can be recognised with the aid
of the microscope. Fortunately, in this country we have no
Flea which can inflict any real damage on us. It can annoy
us terribly, but there its power ceases. In the West Indies,
however, there is a Flea, popularly called the Jiaarr, or
Cuigor (Pulex penetrans), which makes its way under the
skin, especially of the toes, lays its eggs there, and, if it be
suffered to proceed in its task unmolested, fearful ulcers come,

QQ 2

596 INSECTS AT HOME.

and the damage has been known to be so great that amputa-
tion has been necessary in order to preserve the life of the
patient. The Chigoe, not being a British insect, must not be
described in these pages; but no history of the Flea, however
short, would be complete without a reference to this small but
dangerous insect.

DIPTERA.

DIPTERA.

CHAPTER I.

Tue last Order of Insects is the Diptera, i.e. those insects which
have only two transparent wings, incapable of being folded.
In strict accuracy, these insects really have four wings, but one
pair is undeveloped, and only represented by two httle projec-
tions called halteres, or balancers. These will be described
presently. The wings have generally at their bases a pair of
little winglets, or ‘alulets,’ which are not separate wings, but
merely appendages of the true wings. The tarsi have five
joints. There are other distinctions, but these are amply suff-
cient for our purposes.

Now, let us give a short time to the examination of the
halteres. If the reader will take any Dipterous insect—the
common Daddy-long-legs is as good an example as can be
found—-and look at the thorax with a magnifying glass, he will
see that the development of that part of the body is very
curiously managed.

The front division, or the ‘ prothorax,’ is very small, so small
indeed that it is scarcely more than a collar, just large enough
to afford support to the first pair of legs. The middle division,
or ‘mesothorax, is enormously large, the reason being that it
has to carry not only the middle pair of legs, but the upper
pair of wings, and must therefore afford space for the muscles
which move those organs. And, as in the generality of the
Diptera, the wings are moved with singular rapidity, it is
evident that their muscles must be proportionately large. The
last division, or ‘metathorax,’ is larger than the prothorax, and
much smaller that the mesothorax. It carries the hind pair of

600 INSECTS AT HOME,

legs below, and the balancers above. These organs, which are
the rudiments of the under wings, are generally shaped like
tiny bristles tipped with a round knob, and they are furnished
with muscles by which they can be kept in a state of rapid
vibration. So important are these organs that, even in those
Diptera in which the upper wings are wanting, the halteres are
present.

Their small size renders them useless for the purposes of
flight, but it has been proved that they serve in some mode to
euide the flight—how, it is not easy to say. The ordinary
shape of these balancers can be seen by reference to the insect
which is represented on Woodcut LXX. The word ‘halteres’ is
Greek, and signifies an adjunct to gymnastics, which has long
been abandoned. Those athletes who competed for the wide
jump, used to take in their hands the halteres; i.e. a pair of
iron and leaden weights, and, as they made the spring, they
swung the arms forward, so that the impetus of the weights
should add to the force of their leap. They were also employed
of a larger size, for the purpose of exercisir~yz the arms, much as
we use dumb-bells.

Other peculiarities of this Order of Insects will be mentioned
in the course of the following pages.

Wirn regard to the arrangement of these insects, there has
been much controversy between systematic entomologists, and
much yet has to be done in this respect. As, however, this is
not a purely systematic work, but deals more with the actions
than the comparative anatomy of insects, we will accept the
system of Professor Westwood, a system which he has elaborated
with great labour and skill. He divides them first into two
great Sections, the first of which he calls CupHazora, because
the head is quite distinct from the thorax, and not sunk into
it. The larva undergoes its transformation without the body of
the parent, and the claws of the tarsi are not toothed. The
first of these definitions, however, is quite sufficient to enable
the observer to know in which section he ought to place any fly
that may come before him.

This section he again separates into two Divisions, the first
of which is the Nemocera, or Thread-horned Diptera, in which
the antennz have more than six joints, and the palpi have

PROBOSCIS OF THE GNAT. 601

either four or five joints. The second is the Brachocera, or
Short-horned Diptera, in which the antenne have not more
than three distinct joints, and the palpi not more than two
joints, and often only one.

The first Division embraces tlfose insects which are popularly
known as Gnats and Daddy-long-leys, and scientifically as
Culicide and Tipulide. We will begin with the former, and
take as an example the Common Gwar (Culex pipiens), the
male of which is represented on Woodcut LXIX. Fig. 3.

In this family, the parts of the mouth are developed into a
long beak, rather thickened at the end, and being generally
about half as long as the head and body of its owner. The
beak is better studied from a female than a male specimen, as
only in the former is the complicated structure fully developed.
The beak consists altogether of seven pieces, some being used
as lancets, which the insect can drive into the substances on
which it feeds, and the others act as sheaths or strengthening
pieces. Owing to the very small size of the Gnat the dissection
of the beak is a very difficult process. Mr. Westwood, how-
ever, has succeeded in accomplishing it, and his account is
briefly as follows. ‘All the parts of the mouth of a mandibu-
lated insect are here observable. There is a broad and hollow
lancet-like piece, representing the wpper lip (which is the
most robust part of the mouth, except the labium); a pair of
slender, needie-like pieces, as the mandibles, which are serrated
on the outside at the tip; a second pair of similar, but much
more slender organs, dilated at the base, representing the
macille, to the bases of which the palpi are attached; a very
slender, needle-like instrument, representing the tongue, and
the outer tubular canal, in which the others lodge when at rest,
representing the lower lip.’

I have slightly abridged the above description, and inserted
the italics, in order to point out more strongly the analysis of
the parts, so that the reader may see that the beak of the Gnat,
with its apparatus of lancets and suction-tube, is formed of ex-
actly the same elements as the mouth of the Stag-Beetle which
is represented on page 9.

I strongly recommend any reader who has access to a micro-
scope to examine carefully the head and thorax of the Gnat,
both male and female. The Gnat is a singularly unpleasant

602 INSECTS AT HOME.

insect in a room, but it is marvellously beautiful under the
microscope, and should be examined both with direct and
transmitted light, and with a succession of powers, beginning
at the lowest and ending at the highest, so as to gain its
beauties of detail by degrees: The antenna of the male, for
example, which is represented on Woodcut LXIX. Fig. h, is a
wonderfully beautiful object. There are fourteen joints, and
each joint is furnished with a whorl of long hair, disposed as
seen in the illustration. The same portion of the female has
the whorl of hair so short as to be invisible without the aid of
a lens. Then again, the beak, the wings, the limbs, and the
body generally are studded with beautiful scales, resembling in
form those of the Lepidoptera, but more deeply grooved, and
having the ridges prolonged beyond the end, so as to forma
row of little spikes. These scales are so plentiful, so easily
detached from the insect, and so readily recognised, that if a
Gnat should have been kept in a box in which various other
insects have been placed, the microscope will detect upon all
the later comers some of the scales of their predecessor.

These scales give to the insect a splendour of colouring
which cannot be appreciated until the microscope is brought to
bear on it, and which entirely baffles any power of description.
So I recommend my readers to look for themselves, and to
place the first Gnat that they catch under a microscope, taking
care to concentrate upon it as brilliant a light as they can
obtain. When they have done this, they will begin to realise
some of the wonders of Fairyland, and to see actually before
their eyes splendours which the most daring fairy tale has but
faintly pictured. Dull and colourless as the Gnat may appear
to the unaided eye, it has only to be placed under the revealing
glass of the microscope to blaze out in a magnificence which
would pale all the fabled glories of Aladdin’s fairy palace. I
have no doubt that all this splendour is perfectly visible to the
eyes of the insects themselves, and that the beauties which are
hidden from us until we have recourse to artificial vision, are
seen and appreciated by the insects whose bodies they adorn.

To descend to more prosaic details—though after all, the
history of every insect is really a poem—we must bear in mind
that, though both sexes partake of this splendid apparel, the
male does not possess the skin-piercing lancets with which the

VENOM OF THE GNAT. 603

mouth of the female is armed. The male Gnat, in fact, is
perfectly harmless, and it is to the female alone that we owe
the annoyances which have rendered the sight of the delicate
little insect hateful to our eyes, and the really musical hum of
its wings a terror to our ears.

In this favoured country, we know little of the powers of the
Gnat. We often suffer very considerable inconvenience and
annoyance from them, as I can testify, having twice in the
summer of 1870 lost the use of my right hand for a week
together in consequence of a single gnat-bite. In both cases
the bite took place just at the junction of the thumb and the
wrist, and in both cases the effect was the same. The hand
swelled until it looked like a boxing-glove, was purple in
colour where it was not crimson, the fingers could neither be
closed nor opened, and the only mode of subduing the fierce
heat of the hand was by carrying it in a sling, and having a
piece of ice fastened on it over the spot where the Gnat had
inserted her beautiful but objectionable beak. I did not fully
recover the use of the hand for full three weeks after the bite
had been inflicted.

Such being the effect of a single gnat-bite in England, we
may form some idea of the terrors of this little insect in the
countries where it is known as the Mosquito, where the venom
of its bite is increased tenfold, and its numbers are multiplied
by millions. Life is absolutely rendered a burden by these
tiny insects, which assume to themselves the mastery of the
country in which they live. There are some parts of the world
where the Gnat has absolutely driven the human inhabitants
from the land into the water. For some reason, not at present
ascertained, the Gnat never lives at any distance from land. It
may travel inland for miles from the spot where it was hatched,
but it will not willingly travel to any distance over the water.
Knowing this peculiarity of constitution, the inhabitants of
such spots have taken advantage of it, and made their homes
on the bosoms of lakes, supporting them on piles driven into
the ground.

Here we really have no idea of the vast Gnat armies that
besiege other lands. Even in parts of Russia, as we are told by
Dr. Clarke from his own experience, no amount of gloves,
handkerchiefs, and thick clothing could defend man or woman

604 INSECTS AT HOME.

from the Gnats. On one occasion, on a close sultry night.
when not the slightest breeze was stirring, and in consequence
every breath of air was priceless, he was driven to take refuge
in his carriage, and to shut all the windows. Now closed
windows, although they may exclude those Gnats which are
outside the carriagé, cannot eject those that are already in it,
and they were so numerous that Dr. Clarke was forced to tie
several handkerchiefs over his head, in spite of the sultry
weather. Setting these handkerchiefs at defiance the Gnats
got into his mouth, crawled up his nostrils, and forced them-
selves into his ears. In despair, he tried to light a lamp and
succeeded, but the flame was instantly extinguished by the
Gnats, who flew to the light, and poured in such numbers down
the glass chimney that a large conical heap of their bodies lay
over the burner.

As for remedies, it is no easy matter to recommend them. I
have an idea that the remedy must suit the idiosynecrasy of the
sufferer, and that a prescription which suits one person admir-
ably will have little or no effect upon another. For my own part,
I have found that arnica serves to keep down the swelling and
irritation better than anything else. This year, 1871, I have been
bitten several times, but have applied arnica, and found that it
saved a vast amount of. torture. There was some swelling and
considerable irritation, lasting for several days, but the aggra-
vated symptoms of the preceding year did not show themselves.

The life history of the Gnat is very interesting. When the
female is about to deposit her eggs, she proceeds to the nearest
water, and there sets about the last task of her life. Placing
her front legs on a piece of floating stick, straw, or anything
that will support her tiny weight, she allows the middle pair of
legs to rest on the surface of the water, and crosses thé hind
pair so as to look like the capital letter X. She then deposits
a rather long and spindle-shaped egg, and places it upright
with the base downwards in the angle of the X. Another egg
is quickly placed by the side of the first, and followed hy
others, all of which are glued together by a cement which is
not affected by water. Guided by the crossed legs, the eggs
are formed into a boat-like shape, and are then left to float on
the surface of the water.

These little egg-boats are quite plentiful in the summer

TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE GNAT. 605

time, and any number can be taken for the purpose of experi-
menting. ‘Their shape very much resembles that of the life-
boat now in‘ use, and, like the life-boat, the ege-boat cannot be
sunk, and if capsized rights itself again immediately. Even if
some of these boats be placed in a vessel of water, and the
contents of the vessel be poured from a height into the pond,
the little boats float at once to the surface like so many corks,
and each, as it rises, assumes its proper position.

In due course of time the larva is hatched, pushes off the
lower end of the egg, which opens like a little circular trap-
door, and allows itself to float off into the water. The larva is
a quaint-looking little being, with a long body terminated at’
one end with a large round head, and at the other with a
forked tail. When examined through the microscope the larva
is a most curious creature, the semi-transparency of the body
rendering the internal organs almost as plainly visible as if
there were no skin at all. The young and small larvee, which
have just shed one of their successive skins, are better for
microscopical examination than those of a larger size, because
their integuments become more opaque with age. Through
the centre of the body the digestive organs are marked by their
darker hue, and just above them pulsates the ‘dorsal vessel’
which stands insects in the stead of a heart.

On either side of the body runs a rather dark tube, and the
two, joining each other at the angle of the fork of the tail,
turn off to one of the points of the fork, and run side by side
along it. These tubes are the two principal canals of the
respiratory apparatus, as is easily seen by putting a high power
to the microscope—say, an object-glass magnifying some two
hundred diameters. When this is done, the spiral thread which
is coiled round the breathing tube of insects becomes plainly
visible, and at once declares the character of these dark vessels.
At regular intervals smaller vessels branch off to the other
parts ice the body, and the tubes are finally lost in the com-
paratively opaque head.

After shedding the larval skin several times, the aa state
is assumed. In this condition the future Gnat can move about
with some activity, but it cannot take nourishment, all the
apparatus of its mouth being enveloped in the pupal skin.
After passing a short time in this state, the pupa cracks along

606 INSECTS AT HOME.

the back, and through the aperture the head and legs of the
Gnat show themselves. In a short time the Gnat draws itself
entirely out of the pupal shell, and uses it as a kind of raft on
which it can stand while it shakes out its damp and crumpled
wings. So small a creature does not require any long time for
this process, and as soon as it is completed the Guat flies
merrily away.

I have been often asked to give some hints as to the extir-
pation of these insects. There are but very few that can be given.
In all places where ponds and stagnant waters are near, nothing
can be done. But I find that the chief nursery of the Guat is
the open rain-water-butt.

The ordinary cover is useless as a protection from Gnats, as
the delicate little flies can insinuate themselves through very
small crevices. With regard to my own butt, I first nail down
the ordinary wooden cover, and then run a broad strip of
canvas round the upper part of the butt, fastening the lower
edge to the butt, and nailing the upper edge on the wooden
cover. I also caulk with tow any crack in the cover, and with
the same substance fill in the space between the rain-water
pipe and the sides of the hole in the cover through which it
passes. There has been a notable diminution of Gnats since
these precautions were taken, and I am sure that if every
water-butt were similarly protected, the number of Gnats that
get into houses would be diminished at least ninety per cent.

Reference has been made to the too familiar hum of the
Gnat. This sharp and almost trumpet-like sound has been
carefully investigated, and by means of an instrument known as
the Siren it is possible to count the number of beats made in a
given time by the wings of the Gnat. The Siren is an
instrument which can produce any required number of vibra-
tions, and as-they are produced registers them on a dial. Now
it is found that when the vibrations exceed a certain number
per second, a definite musical sound is produced, the sound or
tone becoming sharper in exact proportion as the number of
vibrations becomes greater. So, if a Gnat be heard to hum,
and a Siren be forced to produce the same note, the instrument
not only gives the exact note, but registers on its dial the
number of vibrations required to produce that note—in other
words, the number of vibrations of the Gnat’s wing per second

THE DADDY LONG-LEGS. 607

Here it must be mentioned that these wings are moved ina
very curious manner. It was formerly thought that they
passed into the cavity of the thorax, and were worked by means
of the powerful muscles attached to their bases. Such, how-
ever, is not the case. Let any reader take a fly-—one of the
many Hoverer flies is perhaps the best-—kill it, and press the
point of a pin lightly on the middle of the thorax. It will be
found that as soon as the point of the pin presses the thorax,
down go both the wings, so that in fact the movements of
flight are made by the action of the thorax to which the wings
are attached, and not by the action of muscles directly con-
nected with the wing. In point of fact the wing moves by the
rapid contraction and expansion of the mesothorax, such move-
ment being caused by the powerful set of muscles within it.

There is much more to be said about the Gnat, but our
rapidly diminishing space warns us to proceed to another
typical insect.

On Woodcut -LXX. Fig. 1, is represented one of our finest
British examples of the insects called by the popular name of
DaDDY-LONG-LEGS, or CRANE-FLY.

The name of this particular species is Tipula longicornis,
the latter name being given to it on account of the great length
of its antenne.

In the family of Tipulidz, to which this insect belongs, the
proboscis is very short, with its internal organs very slightly
developed. The legs are very long and slender, as is the body,
and the alulets are almost wholly wanting. The larvee of some
of the Tipulide live in the water. Those of the genus Chiro-
nomus are long, slender, scarlet, and worm-like, and are well-
known under the name of Blood-worms. The rain-water butt
is a favourite nursery of these insects, and their larvae may often
be seen in the ewer, jerking and twisting about like little bits
of scarlet thread endowed with life.

The general colour of the present species is ochreous-yellow.
The thorax is black, with a slight ashen-grey down, and there ©
is a yellow semi-lunar spot before each of the wings. The
abdomen has a short slate-coloured streak down each side. It
is a tolerably common insect, and can be seen while flying
along hedge-rows in the dusk.

608 INSECTS AT HOME.

The life history of all the members of the genus Tipula is
very similar. The eggs are laid in the ground by means of the
sharp ovipositor which is seen at the end of tne abdomen of the
female, and, when she is seen in the act of depositing her eggs,
the object of the long legs is evident. She always chooses some
grassy spot, and then stands almost erect on her hind legs

Fe

on Tey

Tipula longicornis. a. Side view of head, showing antenna, palpus, and mouth. b. Pupa.
c. Larva. d. Front view of mouth, showing the two lobes.

among the blades of grass, with the point of the ovipositor on
the surface of the ground. She then begins to turn her body
from side to side, just as the carpenter turns a bradawl when he
wishes to bore a hole in a plank, and in a short time is enabled
to deposit an ege beneath the surface of the ground. This done,
she goes to another spot and repeats the process, until she has
deposited all her eggs.

When the young larvee are hatched, they make their way

TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE DADDY LONG-LEGS. 609

among the roots of the grasses, on which they feed. One of
these larve is shown at Fig. c. They are tough-skinned, hard-
headed beings, and do incalculable damage to our lawns and
pasture lands, sometimes cutting away the roots of the grass so
completely that large masses of turf are completely separated
from the soil, and can be rolled up by the hand as if a turf-
cutter had been under them. There is no remedy against these
erubs which is half so effective as the starling. This bird
has a wonderful power of detecting the presence of the sub-
terranean larva.

If any of my readers will get up very early, so as to be
abroad at day-break, and will hide himself in some convenient
nook near a grass lawn, he will see how the starlings can work
for the benefit of man. They evidently employ the sense of
hearing as their principal mode of discovering their prey, and
may be seen with the side of their heads pressed against the
ground, evidently listening for the unseen grub. When they
have made up their minds, there is no delay, for the bird
gives half a dozen sharp pecks, thrusts its beak deeply into the
ground, gives a strong pull, and hauls out the Tipula larva,
which it has seized by the head. It does not eat the gruh,
but flies off with it, still holding it by the head with the very
tip of its beak.

The pupal form of this insect is shown at Fig. b. When the
pupa is about to change into the perfect form, the pupa issues
partly out of the ground, and the skin then splits and allows
the perfect insect to escape.

For ‘the following interesting details of the Daddy Long-
- legs, I am indebted to the Rev. J. W. Brooks, pales Ponton
Rectory, near Grantham :—

‘Some years since, when I was Vicar of Nottingham, I
turfed over a small plot in the garden at the back of my house
with turves procured from a sandy meadow in the neighbour-
hood. They proved to be full of the eggs of the Fly above
named ; and in the spring the grass portion of the garden,
Piigshondind only about three hundred and fifty square yards,
was swarming with their grubs, with which I had not pre-
viously been acquainted. They were sluggish-looking larve,
curled, and apparently harmless. It was not until the period
of their escape that I discovered what they really were, and

RR

610 INSECTS AT HOME.

killed about twelve hundred by hand-picking, giving them a
squeeze in the head as they were taken.

‘I did not, however, at that time understand their habits,
or the slaughter would have beeu greater. It was not until
the latter part of the year that I noticed that the Fly comes
forth from the earth at twilight—chiefly in the evening, but in
the morning twilight also. They may then be easily taken by
pacing about upon the grass, and watching them as they emerge.
To aid their capture the grass should be kept close cut during
the season of their appearance. I killed upwards of two
thousand in the second year, and in the fifth year of their
invasion, I saw no more of them.

‘T observed that the male commonly leaves his case in the
earth, and begins to fly immediately on his emerging there-
from; or, after the lapse of a minute or so, while he rests upon
the grass. He is small and active, and scuttles about close to
the ground in a zigzag manner, like a spaniel in search of
game.

‘The female, being fat and plump, particularly towards the
end of the abdomen, often cannot extricate herself from the
old case in which she has been entombed, as the abdomen
sticks fast in the upper part of it, which is the narrowest. I
have seen them shoot up by the half-score together in the
twilight of a soft summer's evening, unable to bring the case
fully out of the ground. The wings at their extremities
frequently remain encased together with the abdomen, and
thus the insect is prevented from struggling except with its
fore-legs.

‘I have measured them when in this position, and found
them, with the case attached, two inches and a half in length.
Both sexes are of a light blanched colour on their first coming
forth from the ground ; but a few minutes with the female, and
a few seconds with the male, change them to their usual dusty-
drab.

‘The reason of the active, searching motion of the male
quickly becomes apparent—he is hunting for the female. As
soon as he discovers one of them in the hampered position
already described, he rushes to her aid, and with his fore-legs
drags her out of the light pupa-case. The insects remain
together for several hours, and may thus be destroyed betore
the female has had time to deposit her eggs.

THE CHAMELEON-FLY. 611

‘If the mornings or evenings are frosty or damp, the insects
are duil and torpid, and may easily be taken with the hand;
but if the weather be hot and dry, they are lively and saucy,
and fly away as the captor approaches. They are, however, so
silly, that often, when they seem to be flying away, they rise
up in the air, make a short gyration, and descend, with a
sudden dart, at his very feet.

‘The time of the appearance of the perfect fly, varies
according as the season has been warm and cry or cold and
damp. In the course of the four years that I watched for
them, their first appearance varied from the eighth of August
to the fifth of September, and their disappearance from
the fifth to the thirtieth of September. The process of
transformation from the larva to the fly continued, in the
entire community of them, from twenty-one to twenty-five
days.’

The pupa of this insect is shown at Fig. b. Fig. a@ repre-
sents a magnified profile view of the head of the perfect insect,
and Fig. d is the front view of the mouth.

We now come to the second division of the Cephalota,*
namely the Brachocera, or Short-horned Diptera. They are
divided into smaller groups, or Stirpes, as Mr. Westwood
calls them. The first of them is the Notacantha, or Thorn-
backs, in which the antennz are apparently composed of only
three joints (of which the last is seen, when examined by a
lens, to be articulated), and the proboscis seldom contains‘
more than two lancets. The pupa is enclosed in the skin of
the larva, which, however, retains its previous shape instead of
being formed into an oval cocoon, as is the case with the com-
mon flies‘and bluebottles. We can only take one example of
this group, the Forkep CuamELeon Fy (Stratiomys furcata),
which is represented on Woodcut LXXI. Fig. 3. In this
genus the proboscis is very short, and the basal joint of the
antennz is much longer than the second. The third joint is
apparently very long, but the microscope shows that it 1s
composed of several joints fused together, as may be seen by
reference to Fig. b.

Most of the insects belonging to this family are beautifully
coloured, and many of them shine with metallic tints, mostly

RR 2

612 INSECTS AT HOME,

tending to purple. The present species is rather variable in
colouring, whence one of the three species derives the name of
Chameleon. It always, however, has a velvet-black body, on
which are a number of bold yellow patches, arranged as shown
in the illustration. The legs alsoare yellow. There are three
species all very much alike in colouring. and almost identical

LxXXl

1, Asilus crabroniformis. 2. Asilus germanicus. 3. Stratiomys furcata. 4. Eristalis
tenax. a, Asilus crabroniformis, tarsus. 6. Stratiomys furcata, antenna. c. Hristalis
tenax, antenna.

in their life history. The larva of this insect is an odd-
lookiny eature, long, slender, and worm-like, with its seg-
ments very strongly marked, and gradually diminishing in
diameter towards the tail, which is furnished with a star of
radiating hairs. As is the case with the larva of the Gnat, that
of the Chameleon-fly breathes through the end of the tail,
the larva remaining suspended with its head downwards and its
star-tipped tail at the surface. The life history of the Common

TRANSFORMATIONS UF THE CHAMELEON-FLY. 613

CuamMELron-ry (Stratiomys Chameleon) has been so tersely and
fully given by Mr. F. Walker in his ‘ Insecta Britannica,’ that
I cannot do better than transfer his account to these pages :—

‘These flies feed on the honey of flowers, and appear in the
spring and in the summer on aquatic plants: their flight in
hot weather is very rapid, but short, and they quickly return to
the spot whence they took wing. The larve are aquatic, and
the metamorphosis of Stratiomys Chameleon has been often
observed.

‘Its eggs from white ‘become green, and then change to
orange-green; they are arranged like tiles on a roof, one laid
partly over another, on the underside of the leaves of Alisma
plantago, the water plantain. The larva often remains
suspended by its radiated anus at the surface of the water,
with its head downwards. Its ganglions are so near each other
as to appear like a string of beads. When it is disposed to
sink to the bottom or to descend, by bending the sides of its
tail, so as to form a concavity, it includes in them a bubble of
air, in brilliancy resembling silver or pearl, and then sinks
with it by its own weight: when it would return to the surface
it is by means of this bubble. If it moves upon the surface or
horizontally, it bends its body alternately to the right and
left, contracting itself into the form of the letter S, and then
extending itself again into a straight line: by these alternate
movements it makes its way slowly in the water. It has much
resemblance to some of the Polypi vaginati. The last joint of
the pupa retains the exact form of the larva-body, is extremely
long, and terminates in an orifice to receive the air, which is
surrounded by a circle of about thirty diverging rays, con-
sisting of beautifully feathered hairs or plumes.

‘The feathery hairs are so prepared as to repel the water,
and thus to suspend the animal by its tail at the surface, and
preserve a constant access of air. When it has occasion to
sink, it turns these hairs in and shuts the orifice, carrying down
with it an air-bubble that shines like quicksilver, and, as
is conjectured, enables it again to become buoyant when it
wants to breathe. The dorsal vessel (series of hearts, or artery)
is attenuated at both ends. The ovaries of the fly are agglo-
merate, and the egg-tubes form two bundles, in which the
branches are not discernible.’

614 INSECTS AT HOME.

The last-mentioned fact is a very curious one, as all will
admit who have dissected insects. I have dissected a vast
number of insects, representing every order, and nearly every
important group in entomology, but i never dissected a
Stratiomys, and never saw the remarkable structure which
Mr. Walker mentions.

When the larva is about to undergo its change to the pupal
form, the larval skin hardens, without much alteration of its
shape, and within this cover the pupa becomes developed.
Being much smaller than the larva, the pupa only occupies a
portion of the larval skin, so that a large space is left, render-
ing the pupa and its case much lighter than water, and
enabling it to float at liberty on the surface.

WE now come to the next group, or Stirps, of the Cephalote
Diptera. They are called Tanystoma, or Long-mouthed Flies,
in consequeace of the construction of the mouth, which is
generally very prominent, and is furnished with a lancet-like
labrum and tongue. The larve are very worm-like, without
feet, and having the head hard and scaly. They live under-
ground, and there pass through their transformations, as we
shall see in onr short history of the following insect.

On Plate XX. Fig. 1 is represented the Great Breuze FLy,
Gap FL y, or Crue (Tabanus bovinus), one of the largest of our
Dipterous insects. Its colour is rather variable, but its general
effect is brown, sometimes deepening into dark-brown and yellow,
with chestnut triangular marks down the centre. It has very
much the aspect of a large bee, and its wheeling flight and
loud hum serve to strengthen the similitude. The mouth is
armed with most formidable lancets, and the insect, at least the
female Breeze Fly, can employ them with terrible effect. The
tough skin of cattle is no defence against the lancets of the
Breeze Fly, and the very hum of one of these insects is able
to set a whole herd of cattle scampering off in every direction.

Even human beings are not exempt from the attacks of the
Breeze Fly, as I can aver from much experience. Some years
ago I was spending a week or two in the New Forest, and
would have enjoyed it without alloy, had it not been for the
Breeze Flies, which almost drove me out of the Forest. They
seemed to detect me at a wonderful distance, and, with a loud,

ATTACKS OF THE GREAT GAD-FLY. 615

fierce hum, as if sounding the charge, they would -dart at me,
and in a moment bury their lancets in the skin. So fierce
were their assaults that they even pierced a stout coat of
Scotch tweed and a flannel shirt, and, in spite of these protec-
tions, drew blood from my arms. For the first few days I
was so persecuted by these insects that I hardly dared venture
into the Forest, and was seriously considering whether I shou!d
not be obliged to go home again.

Their favourite point of attack was just behind the ear.
There was no hope of resisting them, for they did not wait to
settle, as reasonable flies might be expected to do, but drove
straight at me with extended beaks, and buried their lancet-
armed beak so deeply that each prick felt as if a stout needle
had been run sharply into me. On returning to my lodging,
after a few hours in the Forest, I have had the whole space
behind my ears filled with clotted blood, my neck filled also
with blood, my collar glued to my neck, and long tracks of
blood running down my body and arms. The hands were
served in just the same way, and, if I had not worn leather
gauntleted gloves, and tied them at the wrists, I should scarcely
have been able to move a finger.

At last I discovered a plan which enabled me to enjoy
comparative immunity from these and other insect pests.
Before starting into the Forest, I dipped a little sporge in
paraffin and rubbed it well over my hands, face, and neck. I
also put some of the liquid into the gloves, and took ‘a little
bottle with me, so that I might renew it as soon as the odour
began to decrease in strength. Thus armed, I went into the
Forest, and, hearing in the distance the well-known trumpet-
charge of the Breeze Fly, determined to await its onset without
flinching. a

The creature drove fiercely at my face until it was within a
foot or eignteen inches from me, when it came within the
vapour of the paraffin, and darted off like an arrow. Two or
three times it tried the assault, and as often had to check
itself, until at last it flew off in disgust and did not return.
After this glorious repulse of the enemy I never troubled
myself about the flies, but used to amuse myself by hearing
them in the distance, and then seeing them dart away, utterly
discomfited with the novel odour. Of course, the smell of the

616 INSECTS AT HOME.

paraffiu was not very agreeable to my own nostrils, but of the
two evils it was infinitely the lesser, and I was only too glad te
accept it.

On the frontispiece, Fig. 9, is a coloured portrait of the
Hovmpiu-ben Fry (Bombylius medius), as it appears while on
the wing.

This insect is an example of the Bombylidz, a family in
which the body is short and thick, with the wings extended
horizontally on either side of the body. The proboscis is very
long, and the thorax very convex. All the Bombylide fly
with wonderful rapidity, and in many of their habits resemble
the Humming-Bird Moth, which has already been described.
Like that insect, the fly has a way of suddenly appearing as if
by magic, and then disappearing as rapidly, its darting flight
being as invisible as the track of a bullet through the air.
Like the Humming-bird Moth, it feeds while on the wing,
balancing itself at some little distance from a flower, plunging
the end of its long proboscis into the nectary, and sucking out
the sweet juices.

A warm spring day is the time in which the Humble-bee Fly
may generally be seen. I have taken many of them in Bagley
Wood, and found no great difficulty in catching them when
their ways were learnt. It is useless to run after one of these
insects, as the least movement will terrify it, and send it off far
beyond the reach of the net. Whenever I wanted to catch a
Bombylius, I used to look out for a patch of primroses on
which the sun was shining, and to wait there with the net
placed close to the flowers in readiness for a stroke. After
waiting some little time, and taking care not to make the
slightest movement, a Bombylius was nearly sure to come to
the flowers, and hover first over one and then over another as if
to ascertain which blossom contained the most honey. Having
at last fixed upon a flower, it would plunge its proboscis into it,
and then a quick stroke of the net would secure it before it had
time to dart away.

Passina by a considerable number of Flies, we come to the
family Asilide. In this family, the body is long and the
thorax narrowed in front. The wings have some perfect cells,

THE DRONE-FLY. 617

and the proboscis is stretched forward and about as long as the
head. There are many of these insects, and as their habits are
very similar we will take the present species as an example.

The Great Horser Fry (Asilus crabroniformis) is shown on
Woodcut LXXI. Fig. 1. Its colouring is simple, but exceed-
ingly bold. The thorax is chrome-yellow, rather darker behind,
and two blackish stripes run parallel to each other on the back.
The basal half of the abdomen is velvet-black, and the rest
bright chrome-yellow. The wings are yellow and so are the
legs.

At a little distance this insect really looks very much like a
hornet, and it has all the predacious habits of that insect. It
is seldom seen without a fly or other insect in its grasp, the
fore-legs clasping it firmly and the beak driven into the body
of its victim. It is spread over the whole of England, but
prefers sea-side downs and similar places. My own specimens
were all taken on the great rolling chalk-downs of Wiltshire.

It has rather a peculiar mode of flight. It keeps near the
ground, and there waits until it feels that it is in danger, when
it rises and, with a sort of uncertain drifting movement, flies
some ten or twelve yards, and then settles again. If followed
up it is easily taken, as it soon appears to tire of these repeated
flushings, and allows the pursuer to come quite close before it
will move. This is by far the handsomest and most con-
spicuous of its family, all the others being comparatively dull.
At Fig. a is shown the tarsus of this insect.

Tue next family which comes before us is the large and
important family of the Syrphidz, popularly known as Hoverers,
Hawk-flies, and Drone-Flies. In this family the head is hemi-
spherical, and in the males the gréater portion of it is oecupied
by the eyes. The antennz are three-jointed, and bear a bristle,
as seen at Fig. ¢ on Wovdcut LXXI. There are several perfect
cells in the wings.

We shall take several examples of this large family, on
account of the peculiar habits of their larve.

On Woodcut LXXI. Fig. 4 is shown the common Drong-FLY
(Eristalis tenax), which is so plentiful in the summer time,
and is so often taken for a bee on account of its form, colour,

618 INSECTS AT HOME.

large wings, and humming flight. Moreover, it has a bee-like
habit of moving its abdomen up and down as if threatening to
use a sting, and in consequence of this resemblance it is very
needlessly dreaded by the generality of those who see it. Its
colour is variable, but is generally some shades of brown, grey,
and black. It is very swift on the wing, and has a quick
darting flight much resembling that of the Humble-Bee Fly,
which has just been described.

The larva is a most curious being. It is a worm-shaped
grub, the tail of which is prolonged into a wonderfully long
telescopic tube, by means of which the creature breathes, the
air-tubes passing through it exactly as was related of the gnat
larva. When this telescopic tail is prolonged to its greatest
extent, it is about as thick as an ordinary pin. Owing to the
transparency of its walls, the double air-tube within it can be
easily seen, and when the tail is elongated so are the air-tubes.
But when the larva is frightened and contracts its tail, the air-
tubes may be seen doubled up in an apparently complicated
but really simple manner, just below the base of the tail. As
may be supposed, when a telescopic tail of more than two
inches in length is suddenly shut up and reduced to a nullity,
the elastic air-tubes within it must undergo a process of
folding. This is done with such precision that the tail can be
gradually extended or smartly closed over and over again, and
yet not one single fold of the enclosed air-tubes ever hitches
over another so as to impede the play of the all-important
tubes.

This may appear a very simple matter, but it is in fact a
very complicated one, as may be seen from the following
parallel. Suppose that an ordinary telescope were drawn out
to its fullest extent, and that two india-rubber tubes were
stretched inside it, parallel to each other. Now if the telescope
be closed, the tubes fall of necessity into coils in the lowest and
largest joint of the telescope. Open the telescope again, and
the two tubes will again be straight and parallel, provided that
they have not interfered with each other while they were coiled
up together at the bottom of the telescope. Let but one single
coil envelope another, and either the telescopic joints cannot
be opened, or one of the tubes is snapped.

I have dissected numbers of these larvee, and have always

THE RAT-TAILED MAGGOT. 619

been impressed with the wonderful power and foresight dis-
played in this one point. Suppose that an Eristalis larva, or
Rat-tailed Maggot as it is popularly called, be put into spirits
of wine for the purpose of killing it, the tail at once contracts,
so that no one who was not acquainted with the creature could
recognise it. If, however, the tip of the tail be seized between
the points of the forceps, and the organ be drawn out to its full
extent, the air-tubes can be seen to unfold themselves with the
most perfect accuracy. A hitch never occurs, but the coils, or
rather the folds, open out one after the other, and the two
convoluted tubes become straight and parallel.

This remarkable tail is rendered necessary on account of the
habits of the larva which owns it. The creature lives in a
manner which to us would be about as miserable as can be
imagined. It passes the whole of its life immersed in thick
and semi-putrid mud, with its head downwards. The mud
cannot be too thick, too black, or too noisome for this larva.
There was one place where I could procure as many Rat-tailed
larve as I liked. Just under the eaves of a church roof a large
tub had been sunk in the ground, for the purpose of catching
the rain-water. Year after year it had been neglected, and it
had become two-thirds full of a horribly fetid mud, composed
of dead leaves, worms that had crawled over the edge of the
tub and fallen into the water, frogs and toads that had foolishly
jumped: into the tub, forgetting that they could not jump out
again, quantities of moths, beetles, and other insects that had
inadvertently fallen into the water and been drowned, field-
mice that had overbalanced themselves in trying to drink, and
other substances too numerous to mention.

The state of such a mud can easily be imagined, and yet this
horrible compound was in its way a Paradise to vast numbers
of Rat-tailed Maggots, which were busily employed in their
beneficent task of transmuting death into life, and of devouring
this poisonous and mephitic mud, so that it might be changed
into bright and active flies. Such is indeed the task of these
and many other insects, and it is absolutely impossible to
exaggerate the debt of gratitude which we owe them. Every
Drone-Fly which we see is a living proof that a certain amount
of pestilential matter has been consumed and rendered harm-
less, and it is evident that such insects ought to be encouraged

620 INSECTS AT HOME.

and protected in every mode that lies in the power of civilised
man.

To return for a moment to our larva. It is impossible that
any creature could obtain air while buried in the thick mud
which has just been described. There are many creatures,
especially crustacea, which do live buried in mud, but then
they always form a slight tunnel, so that they are really
immersed, not in mud, but in water. The Rat-tailed Maggot,
however, is really buried in the mud, and needs some apparatus
for communicating with the air. This apparatus is supplied by
the telescopie tail of the larva, which can be projected out ot
the mud, and by means of the double air-tubes which it
contains conveys the necessary amount of oxygen to the system.

The ‘tail’ can be retracted with great rapidity. I had a
great number of the larve in a bottle, on the bottom of which
was placed a layer of mud in which the creatures could bury
themselves, and the rest of the bottle nearly filled with water.
When all was quiet, all the tails remained quite upright, and
looked like a number of young aquatic plants. But if the
slightest jar were given to the bottle, all the tails were
retracted, and the water was left clear and empty as if by a
conjuring trick.

When the larva is full-fed on the disgusting substances
which form its dainties, it extricates itself from the mud by
means of seven pairs of tiny hooked feet, crawls ashore, buries
itself in the earth, and there awaits its change. The larval
skin then shortens and hardens, and the pupa separates itself
from its former skin, which then acts the part of a cocoon. In
process of time the transformation is complete, and the dull
motionless grub that had passed its whole life sunk in the dark
and obscene mud is transformed into a creature of light, gifted
with enormous eyes and glittering powerful wings, and darting
through the air with a rapidity so great that the eye cannot
follow its track. The specific name of tenax is given to the
insect on account of the tenacity with which it holds to any
object that it may grasp with its feet.

On Woodcut LXXII. Fig. 3 is represented an insect called
Merodon clavipes.
In this genus the body is blunt and hairy, the third joint of

THE MERODON. 621

the antenne is oval, and the thighs of the hind legs havea
strong tooth at their tips. The generic name Merodon refers
to this structure, signifying literally ‘thigh-toothed,’ and
the specific name of clavipes, or club-footed, alludes to the
thickened and club-like form of the hind leg.

This is rather a pretty insect. The thorax is shining black,
with grey hair at the sides, and the abdomen is black, adorned

LXXII

1. Volucella pellucens. 2. Volucella plumata. 3. Merodon clavipes. 4. Syrphus lucorum.
a. Volucella pellucens, clypeus. 6. Do., antenna. c. Do., ocelli. d. Do., front of head.
e. Syrphus lucorum, antenna.

with a covering of rich golden hairs. There is also a tuft of
golden hair at the base of the antenne. The larva feeds on the
bulb of the narcissus, into which it burrows, and devours the
inside. It is rather an odd and clumsy-looking grub, shaped
much like a rolling-pin, and covered with successive rings of
hair. The mouth has two scaly hooks, and immediately above
them are two short, forked horns.

622 INSECTS AT HOME.

On Woodcut LXXII. Fig. 1 is shown one of our most curious
insects, called Volucella pellucens.

It is impossible for a mere woodcut to represent the very
peculiar structure of this creature. In the illustration, the
two large white patches on the abdomen look as if they were
merely white and opaque, whereas, in reality, they are almost
as translucent as if made of glass. Indeed the whole upper
part of the abdomen seems as if it were made of very transpa-
rent horn, the only opaque portion being the dark stripe down
the centre. Like the generality of its family, the insect is very
swift-winged, and has a quick, darting flight, which makes its
capture a work of some difficulty. I have taken plenty of
specimens in Bagley Wood, waiting for them as they balanced
themselves near flowers, and then capturing them with a smart
stroke of the net.

The larva of the Volucella is parasitic on the nests of social
hymenoptera. I have often obtained these larve from the
nests of humble-bees, and always thought that they restricted
themselves to these bees. Mr. 8. Stone, however, found that
the common wasp was also favoured with the presence of these
parasites. In his description of sundry wasp-nests, published
in the ‘ Zoologist,’ p. 9452, he writes the following remarks :—
‘Upon the crown of almost every nest (of Vespa vulgaris) I
examined, after the season had become advanced, I found eggs
of Volucella, and my attention was in several instances drawn
to a nest by seeing aspecimen of Volucella pellucens or of Volu-
cella bombylans hang about or alight near the entrance to it.’

These larvae are most extraordinary-looking beings. Sup-
posing a rolling-pin to be cut in two transversely in the middle,
each half will accurately resemble the Volucella larva. The
small end of this larva is the head, which is furnished with a
pair of double-toothed mandibles and six little tentacles; and
the large and bluntly-truncated end is the tail, around the
circumference of which are planted six soft radiating tentacles.
The whole of the body is thickly covered with transverse
wrinkles, and along the sides is a row of five points. At
Fig. a is shown the curiously notched clypeus of this insect.
At Fig. 6 one of the antennz is drawn, so as to show the bold
double-feathering with which the bristle of the antenne is
adorned ; and at Fig. c the front of the head is drawn, for the

THE HAWK-FLIES. 623

purpose of showing the enormous eyes of the insect, and the
space which they occupy in the head. The ocelli, or simple
eyes, are shown at Fig. ¢.

On the same Woodcut, Fig. 2, is shown another species,
ealled Volwcella plumata, so called because the bristle of the
antennz is so strongly feathered that it is quite conspicuous
even to the naked eye. It looks very much like a humble-bee,
and indeed, so closely resembles a worker humble-bee, that no
one who was not an entomologist would think that it could be
any other insect. The thorax is shining black, and has a
quantity of golden-yellow hair on the sides. The thorax is also
black, with yellow hair on the base, and grey hair at the end.

This species haunts the nests of humble-bees, and probably,
owing to the bee-like aspect of the insect, mixes freely with
the bees and passes in and out of the nest without challenge.
I have often taken them near the nests of humble-bees, and, in
consequence of the remarkable similitude of the insects, at
first allowed the Flies to escape, taking them for bees. Indeed,
in the first instance, it was only the difference of flight that
betrayed the parasite.

At Fig. 4 of Woodcut LXXII. is drawn an insect belonging
to the typical genus.. Its name is Syrphus lucorwm.

The word Syrphus is Greek, and is given under a remark-
able variety of forms, being indifferently spelt as Serphos,
Sterphos, or Seriphos. It is used to designate some small
winged insect, but that the word is not rightly applied to the
present group of insects is evident from the fact that an old
Greek proverb alludes to the Syrphus as possessing a sting.

In these insects the third joint of the antennz is oval, the
abdomen is elliptic and depressed, the legs are slender, and the
tarsi simple in both sexes, whereas in some genera the front tarsi
of the males are flattened and widened. They are popularly
known as Hawk-flies.

This species is rather a pretty insect. Its general colour is
black. The thorax is clothed with rich, warm-brown hairs,
and the base of the abdomen with golden down. It is slightly
variable in the colour and extent of its markings, and in some
specimens there is a brown patch on the base of the abdomen.

624 INSECTS AT HOME.

The larva of the Syrphus is predacious, and feeds upon the
aphides; so that every Syrphus that is seen in the garden
ought to be protected as an inestimable friend to the gardener.
In shape it very much resembles the Volucella larva which
has just been described, the grub being small and tapering at
the head, and wide and blunt at the tail, When the female
Syrphus is engaged in the great work of oviposition, she looks
out for the leaves or twigs which are most thickly beset with
aphides, and deposits an egg among them, never putting two
egos near each other. As soon as it is hatched, the young
Syrphus larva finds itself in the midst of its food, and straight-
way takes advantage of the position in which it is placed.
Clinging to the leaf with the projections on its under surface,
the larva stretches out the fore part of the body, and, with a
curious apparatus belonging to its mouth, seizes onan aphis. It
then pulls the aphis from its hold on the leaf or twig, and holds
it aloft, so that. the struggles of its prey are quite useless, and
in this position sucks the juices. A very few minutes suffice for
this operation, and it then throws away the emptied skin of the
unfortunate aphis, and waits until another ccies in its way.

When full-fed, the Syrphus larva fixes its tail very firmly to
the plant on which it has been living, attaching it by means
of a sort of glue or cement. The whole of the body then
contracts, and the pupa is developed within the larval skin,
which acts the part of a cocoon. It is a curious fact that
when this change takes place, the creature exactly reverses its
shape, the thick, blunt tail being contracted nearly into a
point, while the slender, attenuated fore part of the body
becomes thick_and blunt. Before many days have elapsed,
the fly is fully developed, pushes strongly against the end of
its habitation, forces off the end with its head, and emerges
upon the world.

Axotumr species of these insects, Syrphus or Scwva pyrastri,
is shown on Woodcut LXXIII. Fig. 1. This fine insect is
blackish-blue, on which is a whitish-grey down. The thorax
is very shining, and on each side of the abdomen are three
short bands, varying from pure white to golden yellow. In
some few species the bands are absent. The larva may he
found feeding on the aphides of the rose-tree.

SWARM OF HAWK-FLIES. 625

All the Hawk-flies are extremely variable in their numbers,
sometimes being very scarce, while at other times they appear
in swarms. There is a notice in the ‘ Entomologist,’ vol. iv.
page 357, by Mr. C. Horne, in which the numbers of these
insects are mentioned.

‘At Margate, on August 24, 1869, there came a great
number of these insects, so as to attract the notice of all

LZAZIIL

1. Syrphus (or Sczva) pyrastri. 2. Conops macrocephalus. 3. Tachina ferox.
4. Tachina grossa. a. Do., head. 6. Do., antenna. c. Conops macrocephalus, abdomen
of male.

visitors. Many specimens were taken, among which I have
identified Syrphus balteatus, S. decorus, S. teeniatus, S. topia-
vius, and Eristalis tenaz. The wind was then blowing from
the east, and it was very hot weather. The pier at Ramsgate
on the same day was almost covered with them, and everyone
said that they came from the Channel. After this the wind
was from inland, but it was too fresh and breezy for many to
ss

626 INSECTS AT HOME.

remain; and they had become so scarce in the month of
September, that with difficulty seven or eight specimens were
procured.

‘The servant at one of the houses in Clifton Terrace,
Margate, says that she had to go to all the windows with
a dust-pan and brush, to take them away from the window-
ledges; and I have been given to understand that it was the
same in most of the houses at the place. They went by
strange names, but the most common one was that of “ horse-
stingers,” from their appearance.

‘You have already noticed flights of this class of insects
in the “ Zoologist ;” and Mr. F. Smith, of the British Museum,
tells me that he saw, some years since, the line of surf on the
beach for miles covered with the dead bodies of Syrphus
pyvrastri, so that they might have been taken up by shovels-
full. This was at Bournemouth, and the insects had been
drowned in the sea, and their remains thus cast ashore. The
same thing, he tells me, was observed to occur at the back of
the Isle of Wight, which is not far off. Hence these flights
would appear to be not uncommon, although when they do
occur they are worthy of note.’

THE next family is that of the Conopidz, which are repre-
sented by a very pretty insect, called Conops vesicularis, which
is shown on Plate XX. Fig. 2.

In all the Conopidz the proboscis is always long and pro-
jecting, elbowed, and siphon-shaped; while it varies in form
from conical and cylindrical to thread-like. In this organ
both the mandibles and the lancet which represent the maxillz
are absent, and only those portions remain which represent the
upper lip and tongue; so that all the Conopide are perfectly
harmless, and cannot even prey upon other insects.

This species bears the most extraordinary resemblace to
the solitary wasps belonging to the genus Odynerus. The
thorax of this insect is black, and the base of the abdomen is
orange, the remainder being black and yellow, arranged as
shown in the illustration. The wings are transparent, and are
clouded with brown.

In its larval state this is one of the many parasitic insects,
living in the interior of the humble-bee. Like the Stylops,
which has already been described in the course of this work,

PLATE XX.
DIPTERA.

es

1. Tabanus bovinus.
2. Conops vesicularia,
3. Gasterophilus equi
4, Tachina grossa,

PLANT :—
Honeysuckle,

> Z
ae
SOLE

QZ

S i
\ UMS Spa
AZALI CELA

i} nh dia
ry

THE MUSCIDZA. 627

it undergoes all its transformations within the body of the
living bee, and then forces its way into the world between
the segments of the insect in which it had lived. Latreille
reared four of these curious flies from humble-bees which he
had placed in a box.

There are several species of Conops, all prettily coloured.
There is, for example, Conops flavipes, a smaller and slighter
insect than the preceding species, velvet-black in colour, banded
with bright golden yellow. Then there is Conops rufipes,
which is coloured exactly like the hornet, the thorax being
reddish-brown and the abdomen yellow, banded with dark brown.
Another species, Conops macrocephalus, is shown on Woodeut
LXXITI. Fig. 2, and the curious abdomen of the male insect is
drawn at Fig.c. The specific name macrocephalus signifies
long-headed, and is given to the insect in consequence of the
shape of the head, which is wider than the thorax.

This is a pretty and not common inseet. The general colour
is black, and there is a coating of short ashen hairs. The face
is yellow, the antennz rust-red, and upon the shoulder of the
thorax there is a spot of silvery white. The wings are yellowish,
darkening into brown on the costal margin. The abdomen is
black, the margin of each segment is yellow, with a silvery
gloss. The legs are reddish, and the base of the thighs dark
brown. The insect may be found upon flowers.

The generic name Conops is clearly a wrong one, and
calculated to mislead anyone who is something of a classical
scholar and little of an entomologist. The word is Greek,
signifying a gnat, and has been incorporated in our lan-
guage in the well-known word ‘ canopy,’ i.e., a gnat-curtain,
that being the real meaning of the word. Herodotus employs
the word Conops when describing the gnats or mosquitos which
infest the marshy lands on the banks of the Nile, and the
method employed by the fishermen in guarding themselves
from the attacks of these troublesome insects.

WE now come to the enormous family of the Muscidae, a
family which may rank with the ichneumon-flies, the Noctuz
and Tinez Moths, and the Rove-beetles, as tests of an entomo-
logist’s temper and patience. It is hardly possible to imagine
anything more trying to the entomologist than to have half a

ss 2

628 INSECTS AT HOME.

dozen large boxes of Muscide placed before him,with instructions
to find out their names, and to’ marshal them in their right
places. The task really seems to be a hopeless one, and life to
be too short for accomplishing it, more especially as there are
sure to be some hitherto undescribed species, and they are
equally sure to come first to hand, as if for the express purpose
of making the unfortunate entomologist hunt for their descrip-
tion in vain. At least a thousand species of Muscide are
known to inhabit England, and it is probable that twice that
number may be yet discovered and named.

Fortunately, there is no difficulty in deciding whether a fly
belongs to this family or not, as a glance at the proboscis will
at once determine its place. This organ is short and mem-
branous, and terminated by two large lobes, the structure of
which will be briefly described in the course of the following
pages. None of the Muscide are of any great size, the ordi-
nary house-fly being of about the average dimensions.

Wirnovt going further into detail, we will begin with the
insect which is represented on Woodcut LXXIII. Fig. 3, and
which is called Tachina ferom.

In some respects this insect resembles the ichneumon-flies
which have been already described. The female lays her eggs
upon the bodies of various caterpillars, and the young larve, as
soon as they are hatched, penetrate into the body of the cater-
pillar, and feed upon the fatty substance which was intended
to be the subsistence of the insect during its pupal stage of
existence. One naturalist reared as many as eighty speci-
mens of Tachina from a single caterpillar of the Death’s-head
Moth. Not only the Lepidoptera, but other orders of insects,
are subject to the attacks of these flies, for they have been as-
certained to inhabit the larve of various Coleoptera, Hymen-
optera, and even the bodies of spiders.

The present species has its head tinged with grey, and
chestnut hairs on either side. The abdomen is yellowish, and
shining as if made of horn, and is black along the middle, and
slightly clothed with stiff hairs. The wings are transparent,
and tend to yellow towards the base.

Tue largest of these insects is that which is drawn on Wood-
eut LXXIII. Fig. 4. It is called Tachina grossa, and is so

THE MEAT-FLY. 629

large and hairy that it looks very much like a black humble-
bee. The general colour of this insect is black, but there is
some yellow hair on the face and sides. The very peculiar
antenna is shown at Fig. 6, and the front of the head at Fig. a.
Altogether no less than one hundred ard sixty-six species of
Tachina have been discovered in this country, and described ;
and, in all probability, many more remain to be discovered.

LXXIV

£

cre
1. Musca or Anthomyia lardaria, female. a. Do., antenna. b. Do., foot.
c. Do., facets of eye. 2. Musca chloris, male. d. Musca chloris, head of female,

e. Do., tongue. jf. Do., antenna.

Another figure of Tachina grossa is given on Plate XX.
Fig. 4.

On Woodeut LXXIV. Fig. 1 is shown an insect called
the Muar-rry (Musca Anthomyia or Aricia lardaria). In
this genus the bristle of the antennz is feathered, the abdomen
is oval and bristly, and the alulets are large. The colour cf

630 ; INSECTS AT HOME.

this species is blue-black, and the head is gilded above and in
front. The eyes are hairy, there are four longitudinal black
stripes on the thorax, and the whole of the body is sparingly
covered with very short greyish down.

There are many species of this genus, the larve of which
undergo their transformation in various substances, both animal
and vegetable. These substances are generally in a more or less
decaying state, but there are some species which make their
larval home in the roots of different plants, the radish and the
onion being particularly favoured by them.

The last-mentioned insect, Anthomyia ceparum, lays her
eggs close to the ground, sheltered by the leaf-sheath. Thus
protected, the larva is soon hatched, burrows downwards into
the very heart of the balb, and very effectually destroys it. Then
there is the Lurrucs-riy (Anthomyia lactucce), which burrows
into the heart of the lettuce, as it is tied up for the purpose
of blanching the leaves; and the CanBacu-riy (Anthomyia
brassice), which performs a similar task with regard to the
cabbage, choosing for its depredations. the junction of the
stem and leaves.

THE second species on Woodcut LXXIV. is called Musca
chloris, and the two are introduced so as to show the construe-
tion of the most conspicuous parts of these insects.

On account of its colour, this insect is sometimes called the
GREEN-BOTTLE, in contradistinction to the Blue-bottle. Its
colour is bright shining green, slightly inclining to blue, or
taking a golden gloss. There is a black stripe upon the crown of
the head. The eyes are brownish-red, and are divided in the
female by a broad band, and in the males by a narrow one.
The name chloris is Greek, and signifies green. The insect
is tolerably common. and is very active and quick on the wing,
so that it is not easily caught.

Fig. a shows the antenna of Anthomyia, the very long and
almost cylindrical third joint being armed with a feathered
bristle. Fig. c shows in outline five of the. facets which go to
make up the compound eye of the insect. If dissected, this
is shown to be a very wonderful structure, each of the facets being
then seen to be the termination of a separate eye. Every
one of these facets is set, so to speak, in a frame, which is,
for the most part, hexagonal, like a honeycomb, but at the

THE HOUSE-FLY. 631

edges becomes either pentagonal or even square. It consists of
a conical transparent body, called the cone, which is set in a layer
of dark red pigment. If a fly be crushed, this pigment escapes,
and looks just like blood. Then follows the ‘rod,’ a delicate
fibre which connects the cone with nerve-centres in the head.

The whole of this structure has been thoroughly worked out
by Mr. B. T. Lowne in his valuable monograph on ‘The
Anatomy and Physiology of the Blow-Fly,’ a work which every
entomologist ought to possess, as the information which it
gives does not merely relate to the particular insect of which
the author treats, but explains the structure of various other
insects. Having myself dissected great numbers of Blow-Flis,
I am qualified to express an opinion on the subject, and to
appreciate the careful pains and labour that the author has
bestowed upon his investigations.

At Fig. b is given an outline drawing of the foot, with its
two pads. The structure of this member has already been
described, so that we need not refer to it again. At Fig. e is
given a’ side view of the proboscis, showing its right lobe.
This instrument forms a most beautiful object in the micro-
scope. The two lobes are then seen to be traversed by a
number of air-tubes of a rather peculiar structure, all radiating
from two principal tubes, one to each lobe.

Generally the air-tubes or trachez of insects are kept in
shape by a spiral thread between the two layers of which
they are composed, but in the air-tubes of the proboscis the
place of the spiral thread is taken by a number of incomplete
rings, called false tracheze. These incomplete rings look some-
thing like the ancient torque, or, to speak more familiarly, like
a horse-shoe. The open part of each ring is downward, and
the result of this structure is that they form a sort of strainer
through which the liquid portions of their food are passed.
The shape of this curious organ is greatly varied, and although
the proboscis of every Fly agrees in the principles of its
construction, there are not any two species which have it
exactly alike.

At Fig. 1 of Woodeut LXXYV. is shown the common Hovusg-
Fy (Musca domestica), slightly magnified. In all the insects
belonging to this genus, the trausformation is conducted in

632 INSECTS AT HOME.

much the same manner. When the larva is full-fed, the slin
hardens into an oval cocoon, and the pupa is thus developed
within its original larval skin.

To this enormous group belongs the BLow-F Ly or BLUE-BOTTLE
(Musca vomitoria), which is so very familiar in our houses, and
is so apt to deposit its eggs upon meat that even approaches
decomposition. Here I may mention that the oval meat-safes,
like dish-covers, which are so largely sold for the purpose of
keeping the Blow-Flies from the meat, do entirely exclude the
Flies, but they do not exclude the eggs, so that the cook who
has covered the meat carefully with one of these safes, often
finds that, in spite of her precautions, the meat is as ‘ fly-blown’
as if it had been totally exposed to the Blue-bottles. The fact
is, when the mother insect finds that she cannot gain actual
access to the meat, she goes to the top of the cover, and lets
her eggs drop through the meshes of the wire gauze.

Then there is another insect, popularly called the Firsn-F'Ly
or the Baxrr (Musca or Sarcophaga carnaria), which proceeds
in a different and more expeditious way. With the Blute-bottle
the eggs have to be hatched after they are deposited, but with
the Flesh-Fly they are deposited as maggots, being hatched
within the body of the parent. If the female be dissected
before she has deposited her young, a most curious spectacle is
disclosed. The abdomen is almost entirely filled with two
white rolls, like riband, and when these rolls are examined
with the microscope, they are seen to consist of a vast number
of tiny maggots, placed side by side in perfect order. Each of
these rolls contains from eight to ten thousand larvee ; and the
reader may easily imagine how rapid is the demolition of the
substances on which one of these Fles deposits her multi-
tudinous young.

It was to this species that Linnzus referred when he wrote
the apparent paradox that three Flies could eat an ox as fast as
a lion. The Fly does not even wait for decomposition, or at
all events can detect incipient decomposition long before it is
apparent to the human senses; for I have often found that if a
recently-killed mouse or bird be allowed to lie in any exposed
place for an hour or two, vast numbers of these tiny larvee will
be deposited upon it, the mother Fly having taken the pre-
caution to place them under the wings, in the mouth, at the

THE COW-DUNG FLIES. 633

junction of the legs with the body, or, if the creature be lying on
the ground, upon the surface of the body that is next to the earth.

This is not the only Fly that deposits its young in this
curious manner, but I have selected the best known species as
an example of the group.

On Woodcut LXXV., at Figs. 2 and 3, are shown two
species of the well-known Dung-Flies, of which the common

1. Musca domestica. 2. Scatophaga scybalaria. 3. Scatophaga stercoraria.
a. Scatophaga scybalaria, antenna. 6. Do., tongue.

Cow-pune Fry (Scatophaga stercoraria) is the most plentiful.
In this genus the last joint of the antenna is rather long, the
head is spherical, and the body covered with stiff hairs. These
Flies may always be found in fields frequented by cows, as it is
upon the dung of these animals that the larve are fed.

The most remarkable point in the economy of these insects
is the development of the egg. It is necessary for the due

634 INSECTS AT HOME.

hatching of the young that the egg should be kept in a state
of moisture as well as warmth, and this point is secured by
depositing the egg in the recent cow-dung. This, however, is
not all. If the egg becomes dry, it shrivels up and the young
maggot is never hatched, while, if it should sink entirely,
it is drowned, so to speak, the egg requiring air as well as
moisture.

This object is attained in a very simple but effective manner.
The egg is shaped something like that of the domestic fowl,
being larger at one end than at the other. At the large end,
two horn-like appendages project from the egg and diverge
from each other, their roots being about one-third of the
length of the egg from the upper part, so that the egg cannot
sink deeper than the horns. When the time comes for the
hatching of the larva, the egg opens at the wide end, and the
young grub escapes through the opening. These eggs may be
found in plenty, more than a hundred being stuck into a space
scarcely wider than a man’s hand. The larva is conical in
shape, the head being at the apex of the cone, and the broadest
or tail end being armed with a number of little fleshy points.

The common yellow Cow-dung Fly is too well known to need
description. The other species, Scatophaga scybalaria, which
is shown at Fig. 2, is orange-ochreous in colour, but through
the soft yellow hair a number of black bristles protrude. The
thorax and scutellum are brownish, and the first segment of the
abdomen is ashen-grey. The wings are slightly iridescent and
brown, inclining to orange on the costal margin. ‘The tips of
the thighs of the hind legs are black.

On Woodcut LXXVI. Fig. 1 is a magnified representation of
a little Fly called Phora abdominals. In this genus the
third joint of the antenn, instead of being long and nearly
cylindrical, is almost spherical. The margin of the wings is
fringed. The name of abdominals is given to this species on
account of the form of the abdomen, which is broad at the base
and tapers rapid?y to the tip. One of the hind legs is shown at
Fig. b, and a profile view of the head is given at Fig. a.

The colour of this species is glossy black, and the head is
irregularly and coarsely punctured. The palpi are orange.
The thorax is downy, the abdomen rust-red, and the wings

THE BOT-FLIES. 635

yellowish, with brown nervures. Some of these insects were
hatched from larve found attached to the pup of ladybirds.
The larve of these Flies are found to feed on various
substances, some being believed to be parasitic on other larvee,
and others having been observed to feed on vegetable sub-
stances. For example, the larva of one species, Phora dauct,

LXXVI

1. Phora abdominalis. 2. Ornithomyia fringillaria. a. Phora abdominalis: head,
side view. 6. Do., leg. ¢. Ornithomyia fringillaria, leg. d. Do., maxilla,

was seen to feed upon the interior of decaying radish-roots.
The larva is nearly cylindrical in shape, but is slightly nar-
rowed in front. The last segment of the body has eight
radiating points, like those of the one or two larve which have
been described, and there are also two spiracles on the same
segment.

WE now come to the small but important family of the
(Estride, popularly known as Bot-Flies. In these insects the

636 INSECTS AT HOME.

parts of the mouth are quite undeveloped, the whcle of the
structures being represented by two or three little tubercles.
In the perfect state, therefore, these Flies are quite harm-
less, but in their larval condition they are hurtful to various
animals. In fact, all our cattle are attacked by these insects,
which are parasitic upon or in them, and not even the thick-
skinned camel and rhinoceros are exempt from them.

One of these insects, the common Bor-riy (Gasterophilus
equi) is shown on Plate XX. Fig. 3. Its life history is briefly
as follows :—

The mother insect flies about a horse, and with its ovipo-
sitor places an egg on the hair of some part which the horse is
sure to lick. The egg is thus taken up by the tongue and con-
veyed into the stomach, where it is hatched. The larva then
attaches itself to the inner membrane of the stomach, and
appears to feed upon the secretions.

The number of these larvz which will inhabit the stomach
of the horse is really wonderful. I have seen the interior of that
organ so covered with them that the surface of the stomach
was completely hidden by their depending bodies. In form
they are nearly cylindrical, but the body is suddenly narrowed
towards the head, which is armed with a number of little
hooks, by which the grub attaches itself to the interior of the
stomach. They remain within the stomach of the horse
throughout the winter, and in the spring they are full-fed and
loosen their hold of the stomach. They are then carried
through the intestines and fall to the ground, into which they —
at once burrow and there assume their pupal form. The pro-
cess of transformation lasts about three weeks, and at the
expiration of that time the perfect fly appears.

Opinions are greatly divided as to the effect produced on the
horse by these larve. Some of our best authorities, Mr.
Youatt among the number, believe that they do no harm,
while some go so far as to think that their presence is bene-
ficial. I cannot but think, however, that as these larve derive
all their nourishment from substances within the stomach of the
horse, they must abstract a corresponding amount from the
nourishment of the horse, and that, whether they cause incon-
venience or not to the animal, their presence must be in some
way hurtful to it.

THE BREEZE-FLIES. 637

The generic name Gasterophilus is formed from two Greek
words, and signifies ‘ belly-loving.’ It has been given to the
insect in consequence of the habits of the larve. It is rather
a pretty insect, and has some resemblance to an Andrena.
The thorax is black, partly covered with warm chestnut down,
and the abdomen is alternately banded with ruddy chestnut
and black. The wings are slightly clouded with brown.

THERE are several other insects belonging to this family,
each of which selects some particular animal for its home.

There is, for example, the WursLe BrEEZE-FLY, or GAD-FLY
(istrus bovis), the economy of which is very remarkable, the
creature seeming to produce much the same effect upon the ox
that the gall-flies do upon plants. Instead of being taken into
the stomach of the animal, as is the case with the last-mentioned
species, this species never penetrates further than the skin.

Into the skin the larva burrows as soon as hatched, and it is
remarkable that the female insect takes as much care to place
the egg on the back where the tongue of the ox cannot reach
it, as the Bot-fly to place the egg where the tongue of the
horse has easy access to it. Beneath, or rather in, the thick-
ness of the skin, the larva makes its residence, its head being
downwards and_ its wide tail upwards, so as to receive air into
the two spiracles which are there placed. The habitation of
the Wurble, as the grub is called, is made evident by a small
swelling, in the upper part of which is an opening through
‘which the tail end of the larva can be seen.

When it is full-fed, the larva retrogrades out of its habita-
tion and falls to the earth. No sooner is it fairly on the
ground than it begins to burrow, and then undergoes its trans-
formations underground, exactly as has been stated of the
Bot-fly. The colour of this species is brownish, the base of the
abdomen is covered with grey down, and the rest is ruddy
chestnut.

Tun there is the Surrp-riy (@strus ovis), a smaller, greyer,
and more slender species, The female of this insect selects
the nostril of the sheep as the place whereon she is about to
deposit her eggs. The sheep are very much afraid of this
insect, and do all in their power to rid themselves of thei

638 INSECTS AT HOME.

enemy, rubbing their noses against the ground, shaking their
heads, and rushing about in all directions. Their exertions are,
however, useless. Sooner or later, the fly succeeds in depositing
her eggs just inside the nostril, and there leaves them. They
are svon hatched, and then the young larva, which is furnished
with hooked appendages to its head, crawls up the nostril, and
fixes itself in the frontal sinus. Its life then much resembles
that of the other insects of the family.

Antelopes are known to be specially subject to the attacks of
the Gad Fly, and all African hunters say that the head of the
enu is never found to be without at least one Gad Fly grub in
the frontal sinus.

WE now come to the last great division of the Diptera, the
THORACOCEPHALA, or those insects whose heads are sunk in the
thorax. Like the preceding insects, they are all parasitic, but
they differ in many points from them. In the first place,
there is the position of the head, to which reference has just
been made, and besides, the antennz are differently arranged,
and the mode of transformation is different. In consequence
of these peculiarities, it has been thought by several eminent
entomologists that these insects ought not to be ranked with
the Diptera, but to be constituted into a separate order, to
which the name of Homaloptera was given. It has now, how-
ever, been decided that they really are Diptera, though they
form a very divergent branch of that great order.

They are divided into two families, the first of which is
named Hippoboscide. This term is composed of two Greek
words, the former signifying a horse, and the latter, to feed
upon. How thoroughly appropriate is the word, anyone can
tell who has driven or ridden a horse when the Flies are
about. They are very active on foot, and can run sideways as
fast as they can forward, burying themselves among the hair
or feathers of the creature which they attack. In some of the
insects the wings are entirely wanting, as is the case with the
very common Suxxp-Tick (Melophagus ovinus). I need
scarcely say that the name is entirely a wrong one, inasmuch
as the Sheep-tick is an insect, and the true ticks belong to
quite a different class of beings. This, being very plentiful,
will serve as an excellent example of the Hippoboscide. It

THE SHEEP-TICK. €39

can be found without difficulty upon almost any sheep; but to
get it away without damaging it is not a very easy task, the
hooked and powerful legs grasping the wool as if with six pairs
of pincers, and the insect pushing its way deeper and deeper
in the fleece as it thinks itself in danger. While thus engaged
in evading the pursuer, the Sheep-tick looks so very much like
a spider that the French call it the Spider Fly.

The whole structure of the head and beak of this insect is
very remarkable, and it is not very easy to trace the analysis of
the various parts of the mouth. If one of these insects be
examined with a microscope, the front of the head is seen to
be furnished with two rather long, curved, pointed, horny
piates, covered with bristles, between which lie the setz or
piercing organs. Mr..Westwood thinks that these instruments
are intended for the purpose of pushing away the hair of the
animal on which the Fly is feeding, so that the sete may
penetrate the more deeply into the skin.

It is evident that these projecting horny processes would be
very much in the way of the Sheep-tick when it travels to and
fro through the wool. If, however, the insect be turned over,
-so that the under surface can be seen, the mode in which this
difficulty is overcome is at once evident. On the under surface
of the thorax there is a deep pit, extending beyond the fore-
leos as far as the base of the middle pair of legs. When the
head is bent downwards, the two horny projections, together
with the piercing and sucking apparatus of the mouth, are
- sunk completely into the pit, so that nothing is presented to
the wool but a perfectly smooth and shining surface which can
easily glide between the fibres.

The colour of the Sheep-tick is yellow-brown, and the thorax
and limbs are polished and granulated. The legs are re-
markably strong, and the claws are jet-black and shining.
In shape they very much resemble the incurved claws of the
sloth, and the analogy betw2en them is carried out in their
action as well as in their form. Just as the hooked claws of
the sloth enable it to move with great activity among the
branches, swinging itself from bough to bough as easily as does
a monkey, so do the similar claws of the Sheep-tick enable
the insect to traverse the thick wool, among the fibres of

640 INSECTS AT HOME.

which it travels with a rapidity that seems scarcely possible in
such a locality.

I never saw a sloth on a level or smooth surface, but it is
well-known that the long and curved claws which are so useful
among the branches, are absolutely impediments when the
creature is on flat and hard ground on which its claws have no
hold. Similarly, I find that whereas the common Flies can
move about actively enough on glass, even though it be
upright, the Sheep-tick is quite at a loss when placed on a
plate or any similarly smooth substance. Under such circum-
stances it moves its legs with great rapidity, but does not suc-
ceed in making much progress, and the unwonted effect of its
exertions seems to throw it into quite a fever of fright and
anxiety.

This is one of the wingless species. It is so completely
without wings that even the practised eye of the entomologist,
aided by the microscope, can hardly detect the undeveloped
rudiments of these organs. The insect, indeed, seems to be
nothing but legs and abdomen, the latter being nearly flat and
round, this shape being intended to serve a purpose which will
presently be described.

On Woodcut LXXVI. Fig. 2 is given a figure of the Finca
Fry (Ornithomyia fringillaria).

On the right hand of the Fly, and at Fig. d, is drawn the
under part of the head, so as to show the horny projections
which have already been mentioned in the description of the
Sheep-tick. Mr. Kirby remarks that he has himself suffered
from the attacks of one of the Ornithomyiz, which would
persist in alighting on his head, and driving their beaks into his
skin. He succeeded in ‘catching two specimens, and found
them to be Ornithomyia avicularia.

The colour of our present species is ochreous, changing in
some lights to green. The head and thorax are shining
yellow mottled with brown, and having a faint line down the
middle of the back. The abdomen is dull green and hairy,
the legs are bright green, and the claws jet black. The wings
are iridescent and smoky. This is the smallest species of its
genus, and it is found on various small birds, such as the tit-
mouse, the yellow-hammer, and the robin. :

THE HORSE-FLY. 641

On Woodeut LXXVII. Fig. 1 is shown the insect which has
been accepted as the type of its family. This is-the too fami-
liar Horsz-riy (Hippobosca equina).

This very plentiful and very unpleasant insect is an absolute
pest to those who have to deal with spirited horses, especially
when passing through woods. The Flies settle in numbers on

LXXVII

c
1. Hippobosca equina. 2. Stenopteryx hirundinis. a. Hippobosca equina, antenna.
6. Do., maxilla. c. Do., fore-leg. d. Stenopteryx hirundinis, fore-leg. e. Do., lip and

tongue. J. Do., antenna,

the animal, and cling so tightly with their hooked claws that
they cannot be shaken off by any efforts of the aggrieved
quadruped. They cluster round its eyes, get behind its ears,
under the belly, and, if they can, creep under the tail. All
the angry lashings of that organ do not in the least affect their
flat and tough bodies, and the repeated pricks of their sharp
beaks sometimes irritate a sensitive horse to such a degree that
it runs away, in the vain hope of escaping its persecutors.
ET

642 INSECTS AT HOME.

The life history of this insect is very remarkable.

Fortunately for horses, the Horse Fly is anything but pro-
lifice, producing its young in a mode which is, I believe, con-
fined to insects of this group. The mother Horse Fly never
lays more than one egg, but then that egg is a phenomenon.
In truth, it ought not to be called an egg, having no more
right to that title than the so-called ‘ants’ eggs’ which have
already bee» described. The reader may remember that the
egos of certain Flies are hatched in the body of the parent,
so that they are deposited in the larval and not the egg state.
The Hippobosca goes a step further. The egg, as it appears to
be, is no egg at all, but the skin of the larva, within which
the pupa is formed, so that the young Hippobosca is already a
pupa when it enters the world.

When first produced, the puparium (to use the scientific
term) is white; but it soon darkens, and becomes quite hard
and tough. Ifit be opened carefully, within it may be found
the pupa, an odd-looking, crab-like being, with the legs tightly
folded over the body. When the time comes for the assump-
tion of the perfect state, it throws off the pupal skin, which it
leaves within the puparium, pushes off the end of the case in
which it had resided, and emerges as a perfect insect.

The chief points in the external anatomy of this insect are
given on the same Woodcut. Fig. a represents one of the
antennze separated from the head. Fig. 5 is the part of the
mouth containing the diverging horns which have already been
mentioned, and Fig. ¢ represents one of the fore-legs, with its
very powerful thigh, and its black, incurved claws.

At Fig. 2 of the same Woodcut is seen the SwaLtLtow Fiy
(Stenopteryx hirundinis), so called because it is found almost
exclusively on the swallow tribe. The generic name is formed
from two Greek words signifying ‘ narrow-winged,’ and is very
appropriate, as may be seen by reference to the illustration.

Mr. Kirby mentions that this Fly sometimes attacks human
beings :—‘ One found its way into the bed of the Rev. R.
Sheppard, where it first, for several nights, sorely annoyed a
friend of his, and afterwards himself, without their suspecting
the culprit. After a close search, however, it was discovered,
in the form of this Fly, which, forsaking the nest of the

THE BIRD-FLIES. 643

swallow, had by some chance taken its station between the
sheets, and thus glutted itself with the blood of man.’

Mr. Sheppard remarks, as a reason for this dereliction of
their appropriate food, that no sooner does life depart from the
bird that these Flies infest, than they immediately desert it
and take flight, alighting upon the first living creature that
they meet with; which, if it be not a bird, they soon quit,
but, as it should seem from the above facts, not until they
have made a trial how it will suit them as food.’

The fore-leg of this insect is shown at Fig. d, the lip and
tongue at ¢, and the antenna at f. These organs should be
compared with those of the previously described insects, as by
their means identification becomes easy.

THE generic name of the insect represented on Woodcut
LXXVIII. Fig. 1 is formed from two Greek words, signifying
‘ blood-devourer, and is very appropriate. Its scientific name
is Hemobora pallipes. I believe it is not common enough to
have any popular name.

The general colour of this insect is shining greenish-yellow,
clouded with brown. The eyes and claws are black. Beneath,
the thorax is boldly punctured, and covered with short and
strong hairs. The wings are nearly transparent, with yellow
nervures, and slightly ciliated on the costal margin. The
insect is found in the New Forest, attacking indiscriminately
any kind of quadruped.

The points in which this insect differs from those which have
hitherto been described are shown in the illustration. Fig. a
gives the front view of its head, which, as will at once be seen,
is very different from that of the other Hippoboscide. The
wings, too, are very much larger in proportion, and have a few
very distinct nervures. The antenna is feathered, and the
fore-leg, as shown at b,is short and strong. The peculiar form
of the mentum, with its array of bristles, is shown at e.

Tue second family of this group, or Nycteribiide, has the
nead very small and set on the back or upper part of the
thorax, and it cannot be bent down into a cavity of the under
surface of the thorax, as is the case with the preceding insect.
They are without wings, but Mr. Westwood thinks that a pair

7 T 2

644 INSECTS AT HOME.

of curious little organs, like semi-circular combs, which are
at the base of the intermediate legs, are the representatives of
wings. The thorax is flat, and seems to be made almost
entirely of the first joints of the legs, which are very long in
proportion to the size of the body.

There is a peculiarity in the legs of these insects which is
worthy of notice. The basal joint of the tarsus, instead of

LXXVIII

1. Hemobora pallipes. 2. Nycteribia Latreilli. a. Heemobora, front view.
b. Do., leg. ce Do., mentum. d. Nycteribia, leg. e. Do., head, side view.

being small and short, as is usually the case, is very long, and
in fact, though not so thick, is quite as long as the tibia itself.
Indeed, were it separated from the rest of the limb, it would be
certainly mistaken for the tibia. The claws, too, are so large
that they remind the observer of the sting of the scorpion.
One of the legs is shown at Fig. d of Woodeut LXXVIIL.

On Woodcut LXXVIII. is shown the insect popularly called
the Bat-Lovsn, because it is never found except on the bat. The

THE BAT-LOUSE. 645

name, though, is quite as inappropriate as that of the Wood-
Louse, both words signifying creatures which belong to different
classes in the animal kingdom. Its colour is ochreous and
shining. The hinder part of the thorax is deeply waved, and
it is punctured beneath, with a channel down the centre. The
abdomen is ochreous brown, and the legs are covered with hair,
the tibie being very broad and flat. It is plentiful on the com-
mon Bat ( Vespertilio murinus), so that there is no difficulty in
procuring this curious insect. Ifa bat be killed, and taken into
the hand, the Nycteribie immediately crawl from beneath the
hairs of the dead animal, and crowd upon the hand of the holder.
As long as the animal is alive they remain upon it, but no sooner
is the life extinct than the Nycteribiz desert it, and fasten upon
the first living being that they can find, just as has been related
of the Bird Flies. In some mysterious manner they know at
once that the life, which constitutes their home, has fled, and
they at once desert the empty tenement.

Our task is now ended, and all that remains is to see how to
prepare—or ‘set,’ as is the technical term—insects which are
taken as specimens for the cabinet. On Fig. 1 of the accom-
panying illustration, the little black dot shows the spot at
which the pin ought to be inserted in all Beetles that are more
than a quarter of an inch in length. Even those ot smaller
size can be thus treated, provided that the entomologist use
one of the fine pins which are employed for this special
purpose, and can be obtained at any of the naturalists’ shops.

The best pins are gilt, so as to prevent them from producing
that abominable green verdigris which is almost invariably to
be found springing from the spot where the pin pierces the
insect, and which so often covers and spoils the insect itself.
Beetles of smaller size should be set on little strips of white
card-board, some transparent cement being used for the purpose.
In this case, one specimen at least should be set on its back, so
as to show the under side, on which the entomologist often
finds the principal distinguishing characteristics. The same
rule applies to Earwigs, Grasshoppers, and their kin. It is
always as well to set one specimen with spread wings, when
those organs are present.

646 INSECTS AT HOME.

Fig. 2 shows the place of the pin in Butterflies, Moths, Bees,
Flies, Dragon-flies, and their kin, and indeed in all insects
where the wings are spread. Fig. 4 shows the manner in
which the card braces are used for the purpose of fixing the
wings, and Fig. 3 shows a section of the ‘setting-board,’ the
upper part being made of cork.

LXXIK

(|
Wis all y

2

SETTING INSECTS FOR THE CABINET.

Such a board, however, is rather a luxury than a necessity.
Cutting a groove in cork is a very difficult business, and can
scarcely be done by any except a professional cork-cutter,
whose instruments are specially made for the purpose, are as
keen-edged as razors, and are sharpened after every cut that is
made with them. Ihave found, for my part, that it is quite
sufficient to fasten two strips of cork side by side on a piece of
soft wood, leaving between them a space just sufficient for the
body of the insect.

SETTING INSECTS 647

While the process of drying is going on—a process that
takes from one to five weeks, according to the size of the insect
—the boards must be protected from dust and the attacks of
other insects. I have always employed a ‘setting-box,’ which
can be made by any lad with the least notion of carpentering.
Take any conveniently sized box, with a closely fitting lid, cut
a large square piece out of the lid, another out of the bottom
of the box, and supply their place with wire gauze.. Turn the
box on its side, so that the lid opens like a door, and nail strips
of wood on either end, so that a number of setting boards can
be placed on them, like shelves in a book-case. Leave two
inches clear space between the boards. Such a box is particu-
larly useful, as it can be shifted from place to place at the will
of the owner, and can be arranged in any spot where there is a
draught of dry air.

Care must be taken not to dry insects too rapidly, as the
wings generally warp and the body shrinks. Provided that a
current of dry air be kept up, the process of drying cannot be
too long, and above all things the young entomologist should
avoid the fire. It is very tempting to dry an insect by the aid
of the fire in half. the time that would be occupied by the
ordinary process, but such temptations must be strenuously
resisted if the collector wishes to have specimens worthy of his
cabinet.

If an insect be badly set, it can easily be relaxed by a very
simple process. Bury in the ground a good sized flower-pot,
and get a flat stone that will perfectly cover it. Pin the insect
on a piece of cork, put it into the flower-pot, cover it over
completely, and in two or three days the wings and legs will
be relaxed, and can be reset as easily as if the creature were
recently killed. In the British Museum there is a neat con-
trivance on the same principle. In shallow earthen vessels
with tightly fitting covers a layer of sand is placed. The sand
is kept damp, and when insects have to be relaxed, they are
simply placed in the pan, which is then covered and put
aside until the dried limbs are sufficiently moistened.

I am often asked to give hints as to the proper construction
of a cabinet, and my reply is, that, unless the entomologist has
plenty of money, he had better not have a cabinet at all. <A
good cabinet is a very expensive affair, and to procure one

‘

648 INSECTS AT HOME.

cheaply is out of the question. A guinea per drawer is the
invariable price of a cabinet, and it is impossible to buy one
for less than that sum. Now, as the British Beetles alone will
eeceupy from twenty-five to thirty drawers, and the British
Moths at least the same number, it is evident that if the col-
lector desires to put up all his insects in cabinets, he will not
see much change out of a hundred pounds.

It is useless even to look out for second-hand cabinets, for
they cost quite as much as if they were new; and, indeed, any
practical entomologist would much rather buy an old cabinet
than a new one, because he would be sure that no part of it
would warp. There are very few joiners who know how to
make an entomological cabinet, and of these few it is almost
impossible to find one who will not use unseasoned wood in
those places where he thinks it will not be seen.

I strongly recommend the young entomologist not to trouble
himself about cabinets, but to purchase some ordinary entomo-

logic boxes, the cost of which is comparatively trifling, and:

which are just as efficacious as cabinets in the preservation of
insects. It is as well to label them on the back, so that a
glance will tell the owner which box he will need, wheu
he comes to put another insect in it. The two first boxes in
my own collection are thus labelled :—

COLEOPTERA COLEOPTERA
ls 2.
CICINDELA . . . AMARA. AMARA .. . HYGROTUS.

The best mode of arranging the insects in the drawers or
boxes appears to a novice to be a waste of time and space, and
to be considerably disheartening to boot. Complete lists, which
can be purchased at the professiona] naturalists, should be
obtained, cut up, and pinned or otherwise fastened to the floor
of the boxes in regular rows, a space being left between the
names for the insertion of the insects when they are obtained.
Of course, the spaces needed will depend very much on the
size of the insect, and the best plan is to leave room for four
rows of insects, two or three abreast, according to their size.
At first, the number of blanks is quite appalling, but after a
while the eye becomes familiarised to them, and then each

ARRANGEMENT OF SPECIMENS. 649

blank becomes a sort of challenge, calling upon tne collector to
fill it up. Thus, a perpetual interest is taken in the collection,
and the proprietor regards it with increasing pride, as year by
year the blanks become filled up, and their places are taken by
row upon row of well-set insecta.

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See. GEQDEPHAGA

Family, Crcinpenip#, 14
Genus, Cicindela, 14
Species, — campestris, 16
— germanica, 17
— maritima, 19
Fam. LepiapZm, 19
Gen. Lebia, 20
Sp. — erua-minor, 20
— cyanocephala, 21
— chlorocephala, 21
Gen. Dromius, 21
Sp. —
22
Gen. Tarus, 22
Sp. — axillaris, 22
Gen, Brachinus, 23
Sp. explodens, 23
Fam. Scaritip#, 24
Gen. Clivina, 25
— fossor, 25
. Dyschirius, 30
Fam. Caragip#, 31
Gen. Carabus, 31
Sp. — monilis, 31
— auratus, 32
— cancellatus, 32
— intricatus, 33
— violaceus, 33
. Notiophilus, 34
. — biguttatus, 34
. Nebria, 35
— brevicollis, 35
. Calosoma, 36
— sycophanta, 36
— inguisitor, 39
. Cychrus, 40
— rostratus, 40
Fam. CHimznup», 41
. Pogonus, 41
-— luridipennis, 41
. Pristonychus, 42
Sp. — terricola, 42
Gen, Sphodrus, 42
Sp. — leucopthalmus, 42

quadrimaculatus,

iMATIC INDEX.

Orprr, COLEOPTERA.

, Gen. Calathus, 43

Sp. — eistcloides, 43

Gen. Anchomenus, 43

Sp. — dorsalis, 43

Fam. Frronups”, 44

Gen. Pterostichus, 45

Sp. — madidus, 45

Gen. Broseus, 45

Sp. — cephalotes, 45

Gen. Amara, 46

Sp. — ohsoleta, 46

Fam. Harpauipm, 48

Gen. Harpalus, 48

Sp. — eneus, 48

Gen. Stenolophus, 49

Sp. — Skrimshiranus, 49

Gen. ZEpys, 49

Sp. — marinus, 49

Fam. Bememupe, 50

Gen. Cillenium, 50

Sp. — daterale, 50

Gen. Bembidium, 50

Sp. — bistriatwm, 50
— biguttatum, 51
— fumigatum, 51
— quadriguttatwm, 51
— pallidipenne, 52

Sec. HYDRADEPHAGA

Fam. Dyticipz, 54

Gen. Dyticus, 54

Sp. — marginalis, 54

Gen. ae 60

Sp.

Gen. Bc dicnorns 60

Sp. — duodecim-puncta-
tus, 60

Gen. Haliplus, 61

Sp. — variegatus, 61

Gen. Cnemidotus, 61

Sp. — cesus, 61

Gen. Pelobius, 62

Sp. — Hermanni, 62

Fam. Gyrinip#, 62

60

Gen. Gyrinus, 63

Sp. — natator, 63
— bicolor, 64

Gen. Orectochilus, 65

Sp. — villosus, 65

Sec. BRACHELYTRA

Fam, ALEOCHARIDE, 67

Gen. Falagria, 69

Sp. — suleata, 69

Gen. Aleochara, 69

Sp. —fuscipes, 70

Gen. Atemeles, 70

Sp. — emarginatus, 70

Gen. Oxypoda, 70

Sp. — luteipennis, 70

Gen. Homalota, 71

Sp. — brunnea, 71

Gen. Gyropkiena, 71

Sp. — gentilis, 71

Gen. Myrmedonia, 72

Sp. — Haworthi, 72

Fam. TacHyprorip2, 73

Gen. Boletobius, 73

Sp — atricapillus, 73

Gen. Quedius, 74

Sp. — dilatatus, 74
— brevis, 75

Fam. STapHyLinipm, 75

Gen. Creophilus, 76

Sp. — maxillosus, 76

Gen. Staphylinus, 7 6

Sp. — cesareus, 76
-- erythropterus, 77

Gen. Ocypus, 77

Sp. — olens, 77

Gai Philonthus, 80

Sp. — marginatus, 80

Fam. XANTHOLINIDA, 80

Gen. Xantholinus, 81

Sp. — glabratus, 81

Fam. P#pERID#, 81

Gen. Stiliens, 81

\Sp. — fragilis, 81

Sp. — geniculatus, 82
— orbiculatus, 82

Fam. STENIDE, 838

Gen. Stenus, $3

Sp. — bimaculatus, 83

Fam. Omatip#, 83

Gen. Micralymma, 84

Sp. — brevipenne, 84

Gen. Omalium, 84

Sp. — florale, 84

Gen. Prognatha, 85

Sp. — qguadricornis, 85

See. NECROPHAGA

Fam. SirpHmp#, 86
Sub-fam. Silphina, 86
Gen. Necrophorus, 87
Sp. — humator, 90

— vespillo, 90
Gen. Necrodes, 92

Sp. — littoralis, 92
Gen. Silpha, 93
Sp. -— thoracica, 93

Sub-fam. Cholevina, 94
Gen. Choleva, 95

Sp. — angustata, 95
Fam. ScypDM2NID#, 95
Gen. Scydmeenus, 96

Sp. — tarsatus, 95
Fam. ANISOTOMID®, 96
Gen. Anisotoma, 96

Sp. — cinnamomea, 96
Gen. Agathidium, 96
Sp. — levigatum, 96

Fam. Histeripa, 97
Gen. Hister, 97

Sp. —gquadrimaculatus, 97

Fam. Nirmpunipz, 98

Snb-fam. Nitidulina, 98

Gen. Omosita, 98

Sp. — depressa, 98
— grisea, 98

Gen. Meligethes, 99

Sp. — eneus, 99

Sub-fam. Ipsina, 99

Gen. Rhizophagus, 99

Sp. —ferrugineus, 99

Fam. Cotypim», 101

Gen. Colydium, 101

Sp. — elongatum, 101

Gen. Anommatus, 101

Sp. — duodecim-striatus,

101
‘Fam. CrypropHacipm, 102
Gen. Cryptophagus, 102
S — pilosus, 102
Fam. Mycrropuaae, 102
Gen. Mycetophagus, 103

Sp. — quadripustulatus, 103

SYSTEMATIC INDEX.

Fam. Dermestip™, 103
Gen. Dermestes, 1038
Sp. — lardarius, 104
Fam. Byrruipm, 105
Gen. Byrrhus, 106
Sp. — fasciatus, 106
— pilula, 106
Fam. HreTrroceripm, 107
Gen. Heterocerus, 107
Sp. — flexuosus, 107
Fam. Parnip#, 107
Sub-fam, Parnina, 107
Sub-fam. Elmina, 107
Gen. Elmis, 107
Sp. — eneus, 107
Fam. Hypropuiripm, 108
Gen. Hydroéus, 108
Sp. — piceus, 108
Fam. SpHmripupm®, 110
Gen. Cereyon, 111
Sp. — anale, 111

Sec. LAMELLICORNES

Fam. Crronupz, 112
Gen. Cetonia, 112

Sp. — aurata, 112
Gen. Gnorimus, 114
Sp. — nobilis, 114

Fam. Rurreripm, 115
Gen. Phyllopertha, 115
Sp. — horticola, 115
Fam. Metotontuip”, 115
Gen. Melolontha, 115

Sp. — vulgaris, 115
Fam. GrotTruPip®, 117
Gen. Geotrupes, 118

Sp. — stercorarius, 118
Gen. Typheus, 119
Sp. — vulgaris, 119

Fam. ApHopip#, 121
Gen. Aphodius, 121
Fam. Lucanipm, 122
Gen. Lucanus, 122

Sp. — cervus, 122

Gen. Dorecus, 124

Sp. — parallelopipedus,
124

Sec. STERNOXT

Fam. Burrestip®, 127
Gen. Agrilus, 128

Sp. — biguttatus, 128
Fam. ELATER ID #&, 129
Gen. Elater, 129

Sp. — sanguineus, 129
Gen. Campylus, 131
Sp. — linearis, 131

See. MALACODER! MI

Fam. LamMpyrip#, 133

Gen. Lampyris, 133

Sp. _- noctiluca, 133

Gas Drilus, 135

Sp. — flav: scens, 135

Fam. TrLePpHoRIDA, 137

Gen. Telephorus, 137

Sp. — fuseus, 137

Fam. Ciera, 138

Gen. Clerus, 138

Sp. — formicarius, 158
— aptarius, 139
— alvearius, 1389

Fam. Prinipm, 139

Gen, Anobium, 139

Sp. — striatum, 1389

Gen. Niptus, 141

Gen. Gibbium, 141

Gen. Mezium, 141 !

Sp. — sedeatum, 141

Sec. HETEROMERA

Fam. Buapripm, 143
Gen. Blaps, 1438
Sp. — mortisaga, 143
— mucronata, 144
Fam. Diarpermpm, 146
Gen. Diaperis, 145
Sp. — boleti, 145
Fam. TENEBRIONIDA, 146
Gen. Tenebrio, 146
Sp. — molitor, 146
— obscurus, 146
Fam. Meranpryap#, 146
Gen. Orchesia, 147
Sp. — undulata, 147
— micans, 148
Gen. Melandrya, 148
Sp. — carabvides, 148
Fam. Pyrrocuroin®, 148
Gen. Pyrochroa, 148
Sp. — coccinea, 148
— rubens, 149
Fam. MorpE.iipm, 150
Gen. Anaspis, 150

Sp. — ruficollis, 150 -
Gen. Rhipiphorus, 151
Sp. -— paradoxus, 151

Fam. Mrtorma, 154

Gen. Meloé, 154

Sp. — eieatricosus, 154
— rugosus, 156

Gen. Stylops, i57

Sp. _ — meliite, 167

Gen. Elenchus, 158

Sp. — tenutcornis, 168

Gen. Lytta, 168

ee ee

Sp. — vesicatoria, 158
Gen. Sitaris, 159
Sp. — muralis, 159

See. RHYNCHOPHORA

Sub-See. ORTHOCERI
Fam. Brucuips, 162
Gen. Bruchus, 162
Sp. — rufimanus, 162
. ANTHRIBID, 163
. Platyrhinus, 163

— latirostris, 163
. ATTELABIDA, 164
. Attelabus, 164

— curculionoidcs, 164
. Apoderus, 165
. Rhynchites, 166

— Bacchus, 166
. Apion, 166

— carduorum, 168

Sub- See. GONATOCERI
Fam. BracHypDERIDs, 169
Gen. Sitones, 169
Sp. — lineatus, 169
Fam. CLEoNIDz, 170
Gen. Cleonus, 170
Sp. — nebulosus, 170
Gen. Molytes, 171
Sp. — germanus, 171
Gen. Phytonomus, 172
Sp. — tigrinus, 172
Fam. Ortornyncu®, 173
Gen. Otiorhynchus, 173
Sp. — picipes, 173

— sulcatus, 175
— tenebricosus, 176

Fam. Ermuinip&, 176
Gen. Lixus, 177
Sp. — bicolor, 177

— paraplecticus, 177

— angustatus, 177
. Pissodes, 177

— pini, 177
. Anthonomus, 178
178 |

. Tychius, 181

— venustus, 181
Orchestes, 182

aes. Sagi, 182
CRYPTORHYNCHID®,

Gen.

Sp.

Fam.
183

SYSTEMATIC INDEX.

Gen. Ceeliodes, 183
Sp. — quercus, 188
Gen. Orobites, 184
Sp. — cyaneus, 184
Fam. CaLranprip#®, 184
Gen. Sitophilus, 184
Sp. — oryze, 184

— granarius, 184
Fam. HyLestnip, 186
Gen. Hylesinus, 186
Sp. — erenatus, 18§
Gen. Scolytus, 186
Sp. — destructor, 186
Gen. Tomicus, 190
Sp. — typographicus, 190

See. LONGICORNES

Fam. Prionip#, 192 .
Gen. Prionus, 192
Sp. — coriarius, 192
Fam. CeramBycip#, 193
Gen. Aromia, 193
Sp. _— moschata, 198
Gen. Callidium, 195
Sp. — violaceum, 195
Gen. Clytus, 196
Spr. == arietis, 196
Gen. Gracilia, 197
Sp. — pyamea, 197
Fam. Laman, 198
Gen. Astinomus, 198
Sp. — edilis, 198
Gen. Pogonocerus, 200
— pilosus, 200
. Leprorip#, 200
. Rhagium, 200
— inquisitor, 200
— bifasciatum, 201
. Strangalia, 202
— armata, 202

—_—_—

See. HUPODA

. DonactanZ, 203

. Donacia, 203

— menyanthidis, 203
— nympheoides, 205
— typhe, 205

— latifolia, 205

653

Sp. — sagittaria, 205
Fam. Criocerip#, 205
Gen. Crioceris. 205
Sp. — merdigera, 205
— asparagi, 206
Fam. CRYPTOCEPHALID®, 206
Gen. Cryptocephalus, 206
Sp. — coryli, 206
Fam. CurysoMELID®,
Gen. Timarcha, 208
Sp. — levigata, 298
— coriacea, 28
Gen. Chrysomela, 20:9
Sp. phylea, 209
Gen. Prasocuris, 209
Sp. — beccabunge, 209
Fam. Harricipm, 210
Gen. Phyllotreta, 211
Sp. — hrassiee, 211
Gen. Phylliodes, 213
Sp. — hyoscyami, 213
Fam. Cassipiip, 213
Gen. Cassida, 214
Sp. — viridis, 214
— murrea, 214

208

Sec. PSEUDOTRIMER4

Fam.
Gen.
Sp.

Gen.
Fam.
Gen.

Sp.

Eroryrip®, 213
Triplax, 216

— russica, 215
Engis, 215
CoccINELLID#, 216
Coccinella, 2

— ocellata, 217

— septempunctata,

217
— bipunctata, 218
Fam. Ennomycuipm, 219
. Lyeoperdina, 219
-- boviste, 219
. TRICHOPTERID®, 220
Gen. Trichopteryx,. 220
Sp. — atomaria, 220
Fam. Psriapuip2%, 221
Sub-fam. Pselaphine, 221
Gen. Pselaphus, 221
Sp. — Heisei, 221
— Dresdenensis, 221

Sub-fam. Clavigerina, 222
Gen. Claviger, 222
Sp. — foveolatus, 222

OrpeR, DERMAPTERA.

Fam. ForricuLip®, 226
Gen. Forficula, 226
Sp. — auricularia, 226

Gen. Labia, 228
Sp. — minor, 228

Gen. Labidura, 230
Sp. — giganiea, 230

654

OrperR, ORTHOPT ERA.

See. CURSORIA

Fam. Buatrip®, 236

Gen. Blatta, 236

Sp. — orventalis, 236
— germanica, 239
— ericetorum, 240

SYSTEMATIC INDEX.

See. SAL TATORIA

Fam. AcHETID®, 240
Gen. Acheta, 241
Sp. — domestica, 241
— campestris, 243
— sylvestris, 245
Gen. Gryllotalpa, 245
Sp. — vulgaris, 245
Fam. Grytiipm, 247
Gen. Acrida, 247

| Sp.

Sp. + — viridiss'ma, 247
Gen Meconema, 249

— varia, 249

Gen. Decticus, 250

Sp. — griseus, 250
Gen. Thamnotrizon, 261
Sp. — cinereus, 251
Fam. Locustip a, 251
Gen. Pachytylus, 261

Sp. — migratorius, 251

Orver, THYSANOPTERA.

Fam. THRIPIp™, 259

| Gen. Phiseothrips, 259

| Sp.

— coriacea, 259

Orprery NEUROPTERA.

Fam. Prurtipm, 263
Gen. Perla, 263
Sp. — marginata, 263
— grandis, 265
— + phalotes, 265
— bicaudata, 266
Gen. Chloroperla, 266
Sp. — viridis, 266
Fam. EPpHEMERIDA, 266
Gen. Ephemera, 266
Sp. — vu/gata, 266
Fam. Lipetiurinm, 269
Sub-fam. Libellulides, 269

Gen. Adshna, 273

Sp. — 9 a Die
Gen. Libellula, 275
Sp. — depressa, 275

Gen. Cordulegaster, 276
Sp o— annulatus, 276
Sub-fam. Agrionides, 277
Gen. Calopteryx, 277

Sp. — virgo, 277

Gen. Agrion, 277

Sp. — minium, 277

Fam. Raruipiupa#, 278

Gen. Rhaphidia, 278
Sp. — ophiopsis, :
Fam. Hemeropimn”,
Gen. Chrysopa, 279
Sp. — vulgaris, 279
Gen. Osmylus, 281

Sp. — chrysops, 281
Fam. Panoreipm@. 282
Gen. Panorpa, 282

Sp. — communis, 282
Gen. Boreus, 282

Sp. — hycmalis, 282

278
27

9

Orpver, TRICHOPTERA.

Fam. PuryGanipm, 288
Gen, Phryganea, 288
Sp. — grandis, 288
minor, 29%
rhombica, 289
lunaris, 289 |

5

Sp. — fusca, 289

Gen. Sericostoma, 289
Sp.
Gen. Hydropsyche, 290
Sp.

— nultiquttatum, 289) Sp.

— maculicornis, 290 | Sp.

Sp. — senerx, 290
Gen. Limnephilus, 292
— elegans, 292
Gen. Leptocerus, 292

— ochraceus, 292

Orprr, HYMENOPTERA.

Sec. TEREBRANTIA

Sub-See. PHYTOPHAGA
Fam. TENTHREDINIDE, 297
Gen, Cimbex, 299

Sp. — lutea, 299

Gen. Trichiosoma, 300

Sp. — lucorum, 300
Gen, Hylotoma, 302

— rose, 302
ren. Schizocerus, 303
— pallipes, 308
Gen. Athalia, 303

— spinarum, 308
Selandria, 307
Allantus, 307

307
. Creesus, 308

Sp. — — septentrionalis,

308

‘Gen, Tenthredo, 308

Sp. — conatus, 308
Gen. Nematus, 309

Sp. — gressularie, 309
Gen. Lophyrus, 309
s — pini, 309

\

Pp.
' Gen. Lyda, 311

/

Sp. — hortorum, 311
Fam. Urnocerip™®, 311
Gen. Urocerus, 312

Sp. — Juvencus, 312
— gigas, 313
Sub-See, ENTOMOPHAGA

Tribe, Sp1cuLtFERA, 315
Fam. Crnipipa, 315

Gen. Cynips, 316

Sp. — Kollari, 316
Fam. Evantip®, 318

Fam. IcHNETUMONID®, 320
Gen. Ichneumon, 320

Sp. — proteus, 320
— erassorius, 321

Gen. Tryphon, 321

Sp. — rutilator, 322

Gen, Trogns, 322

Sp. — atropos, 322

Gen. Cryptus, 322

— migrator, 322
. Pezomachus, 323
— conatus 323
— fasciatus, 323
. Pimpla, 323
— instigator, 323
n. Rhyssa, 324
— persvasorid, 324

Gen. Chelonus, 325

Sp. — _ oculator, 326

Gen. Microgaster, 325

Sp. — glomeratus, 325
— alveariis, 327

Fam. CHarcrpicm. 328

Gen, Cl PDE 328
Sp. — maculipnnis, 328
Fam. Procrorrurip®, 329
Gen. Teleas, 329
Sp. — élatior,
Gen. Mymar, 329
Sp. — pulchcllus, 329
Tribe, TUBULIFERA. 330
Fam.-Curysipin a, 330
Gen. Chrysis, 331
Sp. — ignita, 331
— bidentata, 332
— neglecta, 332

329

Sec. RHOPALOCERA

Fam. Papmiontpm, 386

Gen. Papilio, 386

Sp. — machaon, 386

lam. Pieripa. 389

Gen. Pieris, 390

Sp. — brassice, 390
— craiegi, 391
— rape 391

SYSTEMATIC INDEX.
See. HETEROGYNA
Tribe, ACULEATA. 335
Fam. Formicip®, 336
Gen. Formica, 336
Sp. — rufa, 33
— fuliginosa, 339
— sanguinea, 340
| Gen. Myrmica, 340
Sp. — levinodes, 340
— nitidula, 340
Fam. Mutillide, 340
| Gen. Mutilla, 341
Sp. — Kuropea, 341
| Tribe, Fossores, 341
Fam. Pomprtip#, 341
Gen. Pompilus, 341
Sp — fuscus, 341
Fam. Larripm, 343
Gen. Astata, 343
Sp. — boops, 348
Fam. Nyssonip2:, 344
| Gen. Mellinus, 344
Sp. — arunsis, 844
Fam, Crapronip®, 345
Gen. Crabro. 345
Sp. —quadrimacw'atus, 345
Fam. Poinanruipm®, 346

Gen. Cerceris, 346
| Sp. — arvensis, 346

| +See. DIPLOPTERA
i Fam. Evmenrpm, 318
Gen. Eumenes, 348

Sp. — coarctata, 348
Gen. Odynerus, 350
Sp. — /evipes, 350
— melanocephalus,
350

— quadratus, 350

Fam. Vrsprip®, 300

Gen. Vespa, 351

Sp. — vulgaris, 351
— germanica, 353
— arborea, 353

2

A
ne

oF]
Dr
on

— Norvegica, 353
9
— eralro, 354

See. ANTHOPHILA

. ANDRENID®, 856
. Halictus, 345
— rubicundus, 355
— minutissimus, 356
. Andrena, 357
— convexiuscula, 357
— nitida, 357
— Trimmerana, 357
— pilrpes, 858

Gen. Cilissa, 358
Sp. — hemorrhoidalis, 358
Gen. Dasypeda, 358
Sp. — hirtipes, 358
Fam. Aripm, 359
Gen. Nom:da, 359
Sp. — ruficornis, 359
Gen. Celioxys, 361
Sp. — simplex, 361
Gen. Melecta, 362
Sp. — armata, 362
Gen. Osmia, 363
Sp. — rufa, 363
— bico or, 363
— leucomelana. 264
— fulviventris, 364
— parwtana, 364
Gen. Megachile, 365
Sp. — centuncularis, 365
Gen. Anthidium, 365

Sp. — manicatum, 365

Gen. Eucera, 367 .

Sp. — longicornis, 367

Gen. Bombus, 369

Sp. — muscorum, 369
— lucorum, 371
— lapidarius, 372

Gen. Apathus, 373

Sp.

— vestalis, 373
— barbatellus, 374

Gen. Apis, 375

Sp.

(rpER, LEPIDOPTERA.

Sp. — napi, 392

— Daplidice, 392
Gen, Leucophasia, 392

| Sp. — sinapis, 392

| Gen. Anthocharis, 392
Sp. — cardamines, 392
| Gen. Gonepteryx, 393

/ — rhamni, 398

| Colias, 393

Sp.
Gen.
‘Sp. — cdusa, 393

Fam.

— mellifica, 375

VANESSIDm, 394

Gen. Argynnis, 895

Sp.

a aglaia, 895

Gen. Vanessa, 396

Sp.

— antiopa, 396
— C.album, 397
polychloros, 398
urtice, 399 ,
atalanta, 399
cardui, 401

(Sp)
Or
(=P)

Ap. — Lo, 403
Gen, Apatura, 403
Sp. — Tris, 403

Fam. Satyripm, 406
Gen. Arge, 406

Sp. — Galathea, 406
Gen. Erebia, 407
Sp. — blandina, 407

Gen. Satyrus, 407

Sp. — Kgeria, 407
— Megera, 407
— Semel, 407
— Janira, 407
— Hyperanthus, 407

Fam. Lycmnip™, 408

Gen. Polyommatus, 409

Sp. — dispar, 409
— Adonis, 410

Gen. Hesperia, 411

Sp. — paniscus, 411
— malve, 411

See. HETEROCERA.

Tribe, Nocturnt, 412

Fam. SpHincip#, 412

Gen. Acherontia, 413

Sp. — Aftropos, 413

Gen. Deilephila, 417

Sp. — euphorhie, 417

Gen. Smerinthus, 419

Sp. — ocellatus, 419
— populi, 419
— tilie, 420

Gen. Sphinx, 421

Sp. -— convolvult, 421
— ligustri, 421

Gen. Cheerocampa, 422

Sp. — elpenor, 422

Gen. Macroglossa, 422

Sp. -— stellatarwm, 422
— hombyliformis, 425
— fuciformis, 426

Fam. Sssiap7, 426

Gen. Sesia, 426

Sp. — apiformis, 426
— tipuliformis, 427

Fam. Zruzerina, 427

Gen. Zeuzera. 428

Sp. — esculi, 428
Gen. Cossus, 430
Sp. — ligniperda, 430

Fam. Zyemnivm, 433
Gen. Anthrocera, 433
Sp. — filivendule, 433
— Minos, 434
Fam. Evcnmima, 435
Gen, Callimorpha, or
chelia, 485
-— Jacolee, 435

Ku-

Sp.

| Sp.

SYSTEMATIC INDEX.

Gen. Deiopeia, 4:,6

Sp. — pulchella, 436
Gen. Callimorpha, 437
Sp. — Dominula, 437
Fam. CuHEnontin®, 437
Gen. Chelonia, 437

Sp. — caja, 437

Gen. Liparis, +38

Sp. — monacha, 438

| Gen. Oreyia, 439

Sp. — antigua. 439

Gen. Bombyx, 441

Sp. — quercis, 441

Gen, Gastropacha, 442

gurcifolia, 442

Gen. Saturnia, 444

Sp. — Carpini, 444

Tribe, GEOMETR #, 446

Fam. Uraprerypm, 447

Gen. Urapteryx, 447

Sp. — sambucata, 447

Fam. Exnomip, 448

Gen. Rumia. 448

Sp. — erategata, 448

Gen. Amphydasis, 449

Sp. — prodromaria, 449

Gen. Geometra, 450

Sp. — papiionaria, 460

Gen. Abraxas, 450

Sp. — grossulariata, 450

Fam. Hisernip#, 452

Gen. Hibernia, 452

Sp. — defoliaria, 452

Fam. Frnontp™, 454

Gen. Scodiona, 454

Sp. — belgiaria, 464

Gen. Cheimatobia, 464

Sp. — brumata, 454

Gen. Oporabia, 457

Sp. — dilataia, 457

Gen. Melanthia. 457

Sp. — aillicillata, 457

Gen. Melanippe, 457

Sp. — hastata, 457
— montana, 458

Gen. Anticlea, 458

Sp. — sinuata, 458
— rubidata, 459
— hadiata, 459

Gen. Scotosia, 460

Sp. — certata. 460

Gen. Cidaria, 460

Sp. — sagittata, 460

Fam. Evro.m2, 461

Gen. Chesias, 461

Sp. — spartiata, 461

Gen. Tanagra, 462

Sp. — cherophyllata, 462

Tribe, PSEUDO-BOMBYCHS,

463
Fam. Dicranurip™®, 463

| Sp.

Gen. Dicranura, 463
Sp. — vinula, 463

— furcula, 466
Gen, Stauropus, 468
Sp. — fagi, 468
Gen. Pygeera, 468
Sp. — bueephala, 468
Fam. Notoponripa, 470
Gen. Notodonta, 470
Sp. — dromedarius, 474
Tribe, Noctu™, 47]
Fam. Triripm, 473
Gen. Thyatira, 473
— hatis, 473
Fam. Bowsycricor, 474
Gen. Diphthera, 474
Sp. — Orion, 474
Fam. Leucanip™, 475
Gen. Leucania, 476
Sp. — turca, 475
Gen. Mamestra, 476

| Sp — brassice, 476

Fam. Noeruip2, 477
Gen. Agrotis, 477

Sp. — segetwm, 477
| Gen. Tryphzena, 478
Sp. — janthina, 478

— pronula, 479
. OrtTHOsIDA, 481
. Nanthia, 481
Sp. — silago, 481
. Haprenipa, 481
. Phlogophora, 481
Sp. — auticulosa, 481
. Quaprirm a, 482
Gen. Plusia, 482
Sp. —- chrysitis, 482
— gamma, 488
— pulchrina, 488
— bractea, 488
Fam. Gonoprerip™, 484
Gen. Gonopteryx, 484
Sp. — lihatrix, 484
Fam. Catocaripam, 485
Gen. Catocala, 485
Sp. — nupta, 485
— promissa, 486
— fraxini, 486

Sec. DELTOIDES

Fam. Hyrrenipm, 488

Gen. Hypena, 488

Sp. — rostralis, 488
— proboscidalis, 486
— crassalis, 488

Sec. PYRALIDES

| Fam. PvivervLenta, 489

Gen. Pyralis, 490

Sp. — furinalis, 490
— glaucinalis, 490

Gen. Aglossa, 490

Sp. — pinguinalis, 490

Fam. Lurip#, 491

Gen. Ennychia, 491

Sp. — octomaculalis, 491

Fam. HyprocaMPip#, 492

Gen. Hydrocampa, 492

Sp. — stagnalis, 492

Fam. Borypm, 494

Gen. Botys, 494

Sp. -— urtialis, 495

Gen. Spilodes, 496

Sp. — Sticticalis, 496
— cinctalis, 496

Fam. Pricatm, 496

Gen. Stenopteryx, 496

Sp. — hybridalis, 496

Sec. CRAMBITES

Fam. CramBipz, 497
Gen. Crambus, 497

— hamelius, 497
. Cuinipm, 498
. Chilo, 498

. Schcenobius, 499
— gigantellus, 499
. Puysip”, 500
. Galleria, 500
— cerclla, 500
. Melia, 502
— sociella, 502
. Achroia, 502
— grisella, 502

See ZORTRICES

Fam. Cympip™, 503
Gen. Halias, 504

Sec. TRIMERA

Fam. Crcapipm, 534
Gen. Cicada, 534

Sp. — anglica, 634
Fam. Crercorip®, 536
Gen. Cantrotus, 537

Sp. - — cornutus, 537
Gen. Ledra, 538
Sp. — aurita, 538

Gen. Triepphora, 539

— phragmitellus, 498 |

SYSTEMATIC INDEX.

Sp. — fraxinana, 504

— guercana, 504

Fam. Torrricipm, 504

Gen. Tortrix, 4504

Sp. ' -- sorbiana, 504
— viridana, 505
— costana, 50d

Gen. Peronea, 506

Sp. — eristana, 505

Gen. Teras, 506

Sp. — caudana, 506

Gen. Dictyopteryx, 507

Sp. — Berginanniana,

507 |

Gen. Cnephasia, 508
Sp. octomaculana,
008

Fam. SpPrLonotip2, 508

Gen. Spilonota, 508

Sp. — roborana, 508
— ocellana, 509

Fam. GRAPHOLITHID. £, 609

Gen. Carpocapsa, 509

Sp. — pomonana, 509

Gen. Ephippiphor a, 512

Sp. , o12
— fenella, 513

Gen. Semasia, 513

Sp. — Weberana, 6138

Fam. Cocuyiip®, 513

Gen. Xanthosetia, 513

Sp. — zoéyana, 613

Sec. T/NZ.

Fam. GELECHID, 515
Gen. Depressaria, 515

Sp. — nervosella, 515
Fam. Hyeonomevtip#. 516
Gen. Hyponomeuta, 516

Eat

| Gen. Jithocolletes,

OrperR, HOMOPTERA.

Sp. — sangutnolenta, 539
Gen. Ptyelus, 540

Sp. — difasciatus, 540
Gen. Aphrophora, 541

Sp. — spumaria, 541

Sec. DIMERA

Fam. Apuip™, 542

Gen. Aphis, 542

Sp. — nadella,516

Fam, Tinripm, 518

Gen. Adela, 518

Sp. — de Geerella, 518

Fam, GRACILLARID®, 519

Gen. Gracillaria, 519

Sp. — syringella, 519-

Fam. CoLroPHorip®, 520

Gen. Coleophora, 520

Sp. — tipennella, 520
— palliatella, 521
— therinella, 522
— currucipennella,522
—- conspicuella, 522

Fam. EvacuistTin®, 522

| Gen. Tischeria, 522

Sp. — complanella, 523
Fam. LItTHocoLLeTiD®, 523
523

Sp. — corylella, 523
Fam. Nepricurip®, 625

| Gen. Nepticula, 525
| Sp.

— aurella, 525

— plagicolella, 527
— argentipedella, 527
— acetosella, 527

Sec. PTEROPHORI

Fam. PreropHorip®, 527

Gen. Agdistes, 628

Sp. — Bennetit, 528

Gen. Pterophorus, 528

Sp. — pentadactylus, 528
— rhododactylus, 529
— pterodactylus, 528

Fam. Atucitipm, 529

Gen. Alucita, 529

Sp. — polydactyla, 529

Sp. — tilie, 542
Gen Ericsoma, 547
Sp. — aphis, 548

Sec. MONOMERA

Fam. Coccipm, 519
Gen. Coceus, 549

658

SYSTEMATIC INDEX.

Orper, HETEROPTERA.

Sec. AUROCORISA

Fam, Cypnip™, 557

Gen. Sehirns, 557

Sp. — dubius, 557

Fam. Asopipm, 557

Gen. Asopus, 557

Sp. — duridus, 557

Fam. Corsipm, 559

Gen. Verlusia, 559

Sp. — rhombea, 559

Gen. Coreus, 559

Sp. .— hirticornis, 559

Gen, Stenocephalus, 560

Sp. — agilis, 560

Fam. Cacicmnina, 560

Gen. Pyrrhocoris, 560

Sp. — apterus, 560

Fam. Beryripa, 562

Gen. Neides, 562

Sp. — depressus, 562

Fam. RuyparocHRomipZ,
562

Gen, Rhyparochromus, 562

Sp. — dilatatus, 562
Fam. Henesrarip@®, 563
Gen. Henestaris, 563
Sp. — laticeps, 563
Fam. Puytocorima, 564

| Gen. Phytocoris, 564

Sp. — tilie, 564

Fam. IpoLocoripa, 565
Gen. Systellonotus, 565
Sp. — trigutta‘us, 565
Fam. Capstpa, 566

Gen. Orthocephalus, 566
Sp. — hirtus, 566
Fam. AcantHup, 567
Gen. Acanthia, 567

Sp. — lectularia, 567
Fam. Repuvups, 573
Gen. Reduvius, 573

Sp. — personatus, 578
Gen. Coranus, 574

Sp. — subapterus, 574
Fam. HypRomerrip™, 575
Gen. Hydrometra, 577
Sp. — gibbifera, 577

Sp. — argentata, 577

Fam. Hatricocormm, 578

Gen. Halticocoris, 578

Sp. — luteicollis, 578
— pallidicornis, 578

Fam, Scure.naripm, 578

Gen. Pentatoma, 578

Sp. — dissimile, 578

Sec. HY DROCORISA

Fam. Noronecrip™, 581
Gen. Notonecta, 582

Sp. — glauca, 582
Gen. Corixa, 584

Sp. — Geoffroyi, 584
Fam. Nreprpas, 585

Gen. Nepa, 585

Sp. — cinerea, 585
Gen. Ranatra, 586

Sp. linearis, 586
Gen. Naucoris, 586

Sp. — eimicoides, 586

Orprer, APHANIPTERA.

Fam. Puricip®, 591

Sec. CEPHALOTA

Tribe, NemocuRA, 600
Fam. Curicip®, 601
Gen. Culex, 601
Sp. — pipiens, 601
Fam. Trpurip 2, 607
Gen. Tipula, 607
Sp. — longicornis, 607
Gen. Chironomus, 607
Tribe, BRacHocERA, 61]
Stirps, Noracanrxa, 611
Fain. SrratiomyD#, 611
Gen. Stratiomys, 611
Sp. — furcata, 611

— chameleon, 612
Stirps, Tawysroma, 614
Fam. Tapanip™, 614
Gen. Tabanus, 614
Sp. — bovinus, 614
Fam. Bompyiip™, 616

| Gen. Pulex, 595
Sp. — ¢w¢ritans, 695

Orprr, DIPTERA.

Gen. Bombylius, 616

Sp. — medius, 616

Fam. Astzripm, 616 .

Gen. Asilus, 617

Sp. — erabroniformis,617
Stirps, Arz»ericera, 617
Fam. Syrpuipm, 617

Gen. Eristalis, 617

Sp. — éenazx, 617
Gen. Merodon, 620
Sp. — clavipes, 620

Gen. Volucella, 622

Sp. — pellucens, 622
— plumaia, 623

Gen. Syrphus, 623

Sp. — lducorum, 623
— pyrastri, 624
— balteatus, 625
— decorus, 625
— teniatus, 625
— topiarius, 625

| Sp. — talpe, 595
Sp. — penetrans, 595

Fam. Conopipm, 626
Gen. Conops, 626
Sp. — vesicularis, 626
— flavipes, 627
— rufipes, 627
— macrocephalus, 627
Fam. Muscipm, 627
Gen. Tachina, 628
Sp. — ferox, 628
— grossa, 628
Gen. Authomyia, 629
Sp. — lardaria, 629
— ceparum, 630
— lactuce, 630
— brassice, 630
Gen. Musca, 631
Sp. — domestica, 631
— vomitoria, 632
— carnaria, 632
Gen. Scatophaga, 633
| Sp. — stercoraria, 638

SYSTEMATIC INDEX. 65

Sp. — scyhalaria, 634 7m Sp. — equina, 641
ea. Phora Bed ese IAAI A ME ace Gon. eae 642
Sp. — ahdominalis, 634 Fam. Hreroposcip®, 638 Sp. — hirundvnis, 642

— dauci, 635 Gen. Melophagus, 638 Gen. Heemobora, 643
Fam. Cstripm, 635 Sp. — ovinus, 638 Sp. — pallipes, 643
Gen. Gasterophilus, 636 Gen. Ornithomyia, 640 Fam. Nycrerinpip2, 643
Sp. — equi, 686 Sp. — fringillaria, 640 | Gen. Nycteribia, 644
Gen. Gstrus, 637 — avicularia, 640 Sp. — Latreilli, 644
Sp. — dovis, 637 Gen. Hippobosea, 641

— ovis, 637

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, AIP EA BE TICAL TNDEX:

ABR
BRAXAS, 440 |
Acanthia, 567, 572

Acanthitdee, 567
Acherontia, #22, 413
Acheta, 241
Achetida, 240
Achroia, 502
Acilius, 27%
Acrida, 247
Aculeata, 297, 336
Adactyla, 628
Adela, 518
Adephzega, 14
fEpys, +9
A‘shna, 273
Afternoor Tortrix Moth, 507 |
Agevus, 69
Agathidium, 96
Agdistes, 528
Agelena, 323
Aglossa, 490

Agrilus, 178

Agrion, 277

Agrionides, 275, 277
Agriotypus, 492
Agrotis, 477

Air Bug, 556
Aleochara, 69
Aleocharidse, 67
Allantus, 307

Alueita, 529

Amara, 47

American Blight, 548
Amphydasis, 449
Anaspis, 150

Anatomy of Beetle, 9
Anchomenus, +3
Andrena, 357
Andrenide, 3855
Andrenoides, 359
Angle-shades Moth, 481
Anisoptera, 266
Anisotoma, 96
Anisotomidze, 96 i Bi
Anobium, 139 |
Anommatus, 101 i

ANT
Ants, 294, 338
Black, 339
Hill, 336
Horse. 336
Lions. 280
Red, 340
Social, 335
Solitary, 340
Wood, 336
Yellow, 340
Antelope Beetle, 125
Anthocharis, 392
Anthomyia, 630
Anthonomus, 178
Anthophila, 356
Anthophora, 363
Anthribide, 163
Anthrocera, 433
Anticlea, 458
Apathus, 373
Apatura, 403
Aphaniptera, 589
Aphide, 542
Aphis, 542
Aphodiide, 121
Aphodius, 121
Aphrophora, 541
Apidee, 359
Apion. 166
Apis, 376
Apoderus, 164
Apple Beetle, 178
— ‘Weevil, 178
Apricot Beetle, 175
— Weevil, 175
Arctia, 437
Arge, 406
Argent and Sable Moth,

457

Argynnis, 395
Aricia, 629
Armed Beetle, 202

| Aromia, 193

Asilide, 616
Asilus. 617
Asopidie, 557

BEE
Asopus, 559
Asparagus Beetle, 206
Astata, 343
Astinomus, 198
Atalanta, 400
Atemeles, 70
Athalia, 303
Attelabus, 164
Aurocorisa, 556, 578

| ACK-SWIMMER Buge
581

Bacon Beetle, 104

Baker Fly, 632

Balaninus, 180

Banded Pill Beetle, 106

Banded Snout-Moth, 488

Bat-Louse, 644

Bearded-horn Beetle, 209

Beautiful Carpet Moth, 447

— China Mark Moth, 493

-— Golden-Y Moth, 483

— Snout-Moth, 488

Bed Bug, 556, 667

Bee, 295, 359

— Carder, 369

— Cuckoo, 360

— Donnesticated, 3868

— Dumble. 368

— | Hive: 375

— Hoop-shaver, 365

— Humble, 368

— Hummel, 368

— Kentish, 358

— Leaf-cutter, 361, 365

— Meadow, 369

— Naked, 359

— Social, 348, 368

— Solitarv, 348. 345., 360

Stone Humble, 372

Wasp, 359

Wild. 368

Wood Humble, 371

Beech-hopper Beetle, 182

Beech-hopper Weevil, i382

662

BEE

Beetle, 6

— Antelope, 125

— Apple, 178

— Apricot, 175

— Armed, 202

— Asparagus, 206

— Bacon, 104

— Banded-Pill, 106

— Bearded-horn, 200
— Beech-hopper, 182
— Black, 238

— Black Water, 108
— Bladder-nut, 209
—S 1eihoavsly KO}

— Blister, 158

— Bloody-nose, 208
— Bombardier, 23

— Bracken clock, 114
— Burying, 87

— Cardinal, 148

— Cellar, 143

== (Chater, 112

— Churehyard, 143

— Click, 127

— Club-bearer, 222

— Coch-y-Bondhu, 114
— Coekehater, 115

— Cockerbundy, 114
— Cocktail, 66

— Corn, 184

— Death-Watch, 141
— Devil’s Coach-horse, 77
— Dor, 118

— Drummer, 141

— Dumble Dor, 118
— Eyed Ladybird, 217
--— False Three-jointed, 215
— Flour, 146

--- Flower-dweller, 178
~—- Flying Watchman, 118
-~ Four-horn, 85

-- Four-spot Mimie, 97
—- Garden, 31

-~ Glow-worm, 133

— Golden-apple, 208
— Grain Lover, 184
— Grooved, 175, 346
— Groind, 31

— Hidden-head, 206
— Hidden-snout, 183
— Hive, 139

— Hopper, 211

— Horn-bug, 122

— Hornet, 74

— June-bug, 114

— King of the Ants, 113
— Lady-bird, 216

— Lady-cow, 216

—- Leaf-borer, 213

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

BEE
Beetle, Leaper, 182
— Letter-writer, 190
— Little-berry, 201
— Long-horned, 192
— Meal-worm, 146
— Mimic, 97
— Musk, 193, 314
— Nut, 180, 346
-— Oil, 144, 219, 363
— Pear, 167
— Pill, 105
-- Ram-horned, 202
— Red-footed, 162
— Red Neck, 81
— Rice, 184
— Rose, 112
— Rove, 66, 225
— Sawyer, 193
— Sexton, 87
— Skipjack, 126
— Soldiers and Sailors, 137
— Spanish Fly, 158
— Sparkler, 15
— Squeaker, 194
— Stag, 122
— Three-plated, 215
— Tiger, 1d
— Timber-eating, 186
— Timberman, 199
— Tortoise, 214
— Turnip-flea, 211
— Two-spot Lady-bird, 218
— Wasp, 196
— Water, 54
— Whirligig, 62
— White-worm, 116
— Wood-devouring, 186
— Wood-eating, 186
Bembidium, 50
Bembidiide, 50
Berghmannian Tortrix Moth,

507
Berytidee, 562
Bishops, 557
Bishop’s Mitres, 557
Bird-flies, 643
Black Ant, 3389
Black Arches Moth, 438
Black Beetles, 238
Black-veined White Butter-
fly, 391

Black Water Beetle, 108
Bladder-nut Beetle, 209
Blaps. 143
Blaptide, 143
Blatta, 236
Blind Beetle, 102
Blister Beetle, 158
Blood-worms, 607

BUT
Bloody-nose Beetle, 208
Blow-fly, 632
Bluebottle-fly, 632
Blue Butterfly, 408

| Boletobius, 73

Bombardier Beetle, 23 ’

Bombus, 368

Bombyeide, 441

Bombycoidee, 474

Bombylide, 616

Bombylius, 616

Bombyx, 441

Boreus, 282

Bot-fly, 635

Botys, 493 ;

Brachelytra, 66, 221, 225

Brachinus, 23

Brachocera, 601, 611

Brachyderidee, 169

Bracken Clock, 114

Brimstone Butterfly, 393

Brimstone Moth, 448

Broseus, 46

Brown Cloak Moth, 508

Brown Dolly Moth, 523

Brown Plush Moth, 515

Bruchus, 162

Buff-tip Moth, 468

Bug, Air, 556

— Bed, 556, 567

— Back-swimmer, 581

— Jumping, 578

— Land, 556

— Mealy, 549

— Plant, 564

— Scarlet, 556

— Water, 556,581

Bupyrestidee, 127

Burnet Moth, 483

Burnished Brass Moth, 482

Burying Beetlo, 87

Butterflies, 383

— Atalanta, 400

— Black-veined White, 391

— Blue, 408

— Brimstone, 393

— Camberwell Beauty, 396

— Chequered Skipper, 411

— Cliden Blue, 410

— Clouded Yellow, 393

— Comma, 397

— Common Tortoiseshell
399

— Copper, 408

— Dark Green Fritillary,395

— Emperor of Morocco, 403

— Grayling, 407

— Great Copper, 405, 409

BUT

Butterfly, Great Tortoise-
shell, 398

— Green-chequered White,
392 :

— Green-veined White, 392

— Grizzled Skipper, 411

— Large Cabbage, 390

Marbled White, 406

Meadow Brown, 407

Northern Brown, 407

Orange Tip, 392

Painted Lady, 401

Peacock, 403

Purple Emperor, 403

Red Admiral, 399

Ringlet, 407

Skipper, 410

Small Tortoiseshell, 399

Small White, 391

Speckled Wood, 407

Swallow Tail, 386

Wall, 407

White, 389

White Bordered, 396

Wood White, 392

Button Tortrix Moth, 606

Byrrhide, 105

Byrrhus, 106

ABBAGE CATERPIL-
LAR, 325
— Fly, 630
— Moth, 476
— White Butterfiv, 325
Cads, 287
Caddis-fly, 287
— Grannums, 287
— Great, 288
— Lesser, 291
Ceecigenina, 561
_ Calathus, 43
Callidium, 195
Callimorpha, 437
Calopteryx, 277
Calosoma, 36
Camberwell Beauty Butter-
fly, 396
Campylus, 131
Cannibal Insects, 561
Capsidee, 566
Carabide, 31
Carabus, 31
Carder Bee, 369
Cardinal Beetle, 148
Carpet Moths, 461
Carpocapsa, 509
Cassida, 214
Cassidiide, 213
Catocala, 485

ALPHABETICAL INDEX,

CEL
Cellar Beetle, 144
Centrotus, 537
Cephalota, 600, 611
Cerambycide, 193
Cerambyx, 193
Cerceris, 346
Cercopide, 536
Cereopis, 537
Cerura, 466
Cereyon, 111
Cetonia, 112
Cetoniids, 112
Chafers, 112
Chaleidide, 328
Chequered Skipper Butter-

fly, 411

Cheilidee, 498
Cheimatobia, 454
Chelonia, 437
Chelonide, 437
Chelonus, 325
Chesias, 461
Chigoe Flea, 595
Chilidee. 498
Chilo, 498
Chimney-sweeper Moth, 462
China Mark Moth, 492
Chironomus, 607
Chleeniide, 41
Chloroperla, 266
Cherocampa, 422
Cholevina, 94
Chrysididee, 330
Chrysis, 331
Chrysomela, 209
Chrysomelide, 208
Chrysopa, 279
Churchyard Beetle, 143
Churr-worm, 246
Cicada, 534
Cieadide, 534
Cicindela, 14
Cicindelidee, 14
Cidaria, 460
Cilissa, 358
Cillenium, 50
Cimbex, 299
Cinnabar Moth, 434
Cionus, 173
Clavicornes, 86
Claviger, 222
Clear-wing Moth, 427
Cleg Fly, 614
Cleonide, 170
Cleonus, 170
Cleonymus, 328
Cleride, 138
Clerus, 138

| Click Beetle, 127 «

663

CRI

1 Clifden Blue Butterfly, 410

Clifden Nonpareil Moth, 4&6
Clivina, 25

Clothes Moth, 440, 490
Clouded Yellow Butterfly, 393
Club-bearer Beetle, 222
Clytus, 196

Cnemidotus, 61

Cnephasia, 507

Coccide, 550

Coccinella, 217
Coccinellide, 216

Coceus, 549

Cochineal Insect. 552
Cochleoctonus, 136
Coch-y-Bondhu Beetle, 114
Cockroach, 225

— Domestic, 236

— Field, 239

Cockchafer, 115
Cockspurs, 287

Cocktail Beetles, 66
Cod-baits, 287

Codlin Moth, 509
Ceeliodes, 183

Ceehoxys, 361

Coleophora, 529
Coleoptera, 6

Colias, 393

Colydiidee, 101

Colydium, 101

Comma Butterfly, 397
Confluent Barred Moth, 532
Conopidee, 626

Conops, 626

Convolvulus Hawk Moth. 421
Copper Butterfly, 408
Coranus, 574
Cordulegaster, 276
Coreidee, 549

Coreus, 559

Corixa, 584

Corn Beetle, 184

— Weevil. 184

Cossus, 430

Cow-dung Fly, 633

Coxa, 12

Crabro, 345

Crabronide, 345
Crambites, 487, 497
Crambus, 497

Crane Fly, 607

Cream Short-Cloak Mc th, 509
Creophilus, 76

Cricket, 240

— Churr-worm, 246

— Croaker, 246

— LEarth-crab. 246

— Eve-churr, 246

664

CRI

Cricket, Field, 248
— House, 241
— Jarr-worm, 246
— Mole, 241, 245
— Wood, 245
Crimson Speckled Moth, 486
Crimson Tiger Moth, 437
Crioceridze, 205
Crioceris, 205, 207, 214
Croaker Cricket, 246
Creesus, 308
Cryptophagide, 102
Cryptophagus, 102
Cryptocephalide, 206
Cryptocephalus, 206
Cryptorhynchide, 183
Cryptus, 322
Cuckoo-bee, 360
Cuckoo-spit, 537, 540
Cuculine, 359
Culex, 601
Culicide, 601
Currant Clear-wing

427
Currant Moth, 450
Cuspidates, 463 |
Cychrus, 40
Cydnidee, 557
Cyduus, 557
Cymbide, 503
Cynipidee, 316
Cynips, 316

Moth,

iP erets - LONG - LEGS,
599, 601, 607

Dark Crimson Underwing
Moth, 486

Dark Green Fritillary But-
terfly, 395

Dasypoda, 358

Death's - Head Moth,
413

Death-Watch Beetle, 141

De Geerean Moth, 518

Deilephila, 417

Deiopeia, 436

Delta Moth, 487

Deltoides, 487

Demoiselle Dragon-fly, 277

Depressaria, 515

Dermaptera, 223

Dermestes. 103

Dermestide, 103

Devil's Coach-Horse Beetle,
17

Diamond Spot Moth, 496

Diaperide, 145

Diaperis, 145

322,

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

DIC

Dicranura, 463, 466

Dicranuride, 463

Dictyopteryx, 507

Digger, 26

Diggers, 335, 341

Dimera, 542

Diploptera, 348

Dipthera, 474

Diptera, 597

Domesticated Bees, 368

Domestie Cockroach, 236

Donacia, 203

Donaciadee, 203

Dor Beetle, 118

Dorcus, 124

Double-Bar Meal Moth, 490

Double-line Moth, 475

Dragon-fly, 2638, 269

Dragon-fly, Demoiselle, 277

Dragon-fly, Horse Stingers,
269

Drepanule, 463

Drilus, 135

Dromius, 21

Drone Fly, 617

Drummer Beetle, 141

Dumble Bee, 368 ©

Dumble-Dor Beetle, 118

Dung Fly, 633

Dyschirius, 30

Dyticidee, 54

Dyticus, 54, 271

ARED Hopper, 637
Earth Crab Cricket, 246
Earwig, 225
— Giant, 230
= Mathle, 228
Fight-spot Moth, 508
Elater, 129
Elegant Grannum, 292
Elephant Hawk-Moth, 422
Elmine, 107
Elmis, 107
Emperor Moth, 444
Emperor of Morocco Butter-
fly, 403
Endomy chidee, 219
Engis, 215
Ennomide, 448
Ennychide, 491
Ennychrus, 95
Entomology, 1
Entomophaga, 314
Ephemera, 266
Ephemeride, 266
Ephippiphora, 612
Epimera, 113

FLY

Episterna, 11
Erebia, 407
Eriosoma, 547
Eristalis, 617
Erotylide, 215
Errhirinide, 176
Eubolide, 461
Eucera, 360, 367
Euchelia, 485
Euchelide, 435
Euecnemide, 129
Eumenes, 348
Eumenide, 348
Kuplexoptera, 227
Eupoda, 203
Evaniide, 318
Eve-churr, 246

Eyed Hawk Moth, 419
Eyed Lady Bird, 217
Hyes of Insects, 10

ALAGRIA, 69
False - three - jointed
Beetle, 215
Femur, 12
Feroniide, 44
Fidonide, 454
Field Cricket, 243
— Cockroach, 239
Finch Fly, 640
Flakelet Moth, 520
Flame Moth, 459
Flea, 591
— Chigoe, 595
— Common, 595
— Jigger, 595
— Mole, 595
Flesh Fly, 632
Flour Beetle, 146, 416
Flower-dweller Beetle, 178
Fly, Baker, 632
— Blow, 632
— Blue-bottle, 632
— Bot, 635
Bug, 573
Cabbage, 630
Cleg, 614
Crane, 61:7
Cow-dung, 633
Drone, 617
— Dung, 633
— Finch, 640
— Flesh, 632
Forked Chameleon, 611
Gad, 614
Great Breeze, 614
Great Hornet, 617
— Green-bottle, 630

FLY
Fly, Hawk, 623
Horse, 641
House, 631
Hoverer, 617
Humble Bee, 616
Ichneumon, 492
Lettuce, 630
Long-mouthed, 614
Meat, 629
Sheep, 637
Spider, 639
Swallow, 642
— Wurble- Breeze, 637
Ez Fly; ing Watchman, 118
Porficula, 226
Forked Chameleon Fly, 611
Formica, 336
Formicide, 335
Four-horn Beetle, 85
Four - spot Mimic Beetle,

97

Frog Hopper, 537, 540
Frog-spit, 537
Fulgoride, 536

\AD-FLY, 614, 637
Gall-fly, 295, 316

Galleria, 500
Galerucide, 210
Garden Beetle, 31
Gasterophilus, 636
Gastropacha, 442
Genuine, 475
“ Geocorisa, 556
Geodephaga, 14
Geometra, 450
Geometree, 446
Geometridz, 450
Geotrupes, 118
Geotrupidee, 117
German Wasp, 353
Giant Earwig, 230
Gibbium, 141
Gigantic Veneer Moth, 499
Glow-worm, 133
Gnat, 601
Gnorimus, 114
Goat-Moth, 365, 430
Golden-Apple Beetle, 208
Golden-eye Fly, 279
Golden Pigmy Moth,

525
Gold-Spangle Moth, 483
Gonatoceri, 162
Gonepterye, 393
Gonoptera, 484
Gonopteride, 484
Gracilia, 197

41d,

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

GRA

Gracillaria, 519

Grain-lover Beetle, 184

Grannums, 287

Grasshopper, 247

— Great green, 247

— Tree, 249

— Warthiter, 249

Grayling Butterfly, 407

Great Breeze Fly, 614

— Caddis Fly, 288

— Copper Butterfly, 405, 409

— Green Grasshopper, 247

— Hornet Fly, 617

— Tortoiseshell Butterfly,
398

Green Blight, 542

—- Bottle Fly, 630

— Cheequered White Butter-
fly, 392

— Drake May-fly, 268

— Long-horn Moth, 519

—-shaded Honey-comb Moth,
502

— Silver-lines Moth, 504

—-veined White Butterfly,
392

Grey Drake May-fly, 268

— Scalloped Bar Moth, 454

Grizzled Skipper Butterfly,
411

Ground Beetles, 31
Grooved Weevil, 175, 346
Gryllide, 247
Gryllotalpa, 245
Gyrinide, 54, 62
Gyrinus, 63

Gyrophena, 71

ADENID, 481
Hemobora, 643

Halias, 504
Halicti, 356
Halictus, 356
Haliplus, 61
Haltice, 578
Halticidee, 210, 211
Halticocoris, 578
Halticocoride, 578
Harpalus, 48
Harpalide, 48
Hawk Moth, 413
— Fly, 623
Hazel Moth, 504
Helodes, 209
Hemerobiide, 279
Henestaride, 563
Henestaris, 563
Herald Moth, 484

665

HYF

Hermit Crab, 290
Hesperidee, 410
Heterocera, 412
Heteroceridze, 107
Heterocerus, 107
Heterogyna, 335
Heteromera, 143
Heteroptera, 553
Hibernia, 452
Hidden-head Beetle, 206
—-snout Beetle, 183
—-snout Weevil, 182
Hill Ant, 336
Hippobosea, 641
Hippoboseidee, 638
Hive Bee, 374
Hive Beetle, 139
Hister, 97
Histeride, 97
Homaloptera, 638
Homalota, 71
Homoptera, 531
Honey-comb Moth, 499
Honey Moth, 502
Hoop-shaver Bee, 365
Hopper Beetle, 211
Hoppers, 537
Horse Ant, 336
Horse Fly, 641
Horse Stinger, 269
Horn Bug, 122
Hornet, 295, 354
Hornet Beetle, 74
Tlorn-tailed Saw-fly, 311
House Cricket, 241
House Fly, 631
Hoverer Fly, 617
Humble Bee, 341, 368
Humble-bee Fly, 616
Hummel Bee, 368
Humming-bird Hawk Moth,
413
Humming-bird Moth, 422
Hybernide, 452
Hydradephaga, 53
Hydrocampa, 492
Hydrocorisa, 556, 581
Hydrometra, 577
Hydrometride, 575
Hydrophilide, 108
Hydroiis, 108
Hydroporus, 60
Hydropsyche, 290
Hylesinide, 186
Hylesinus, 186
Hylotoma, 302

| Hymenoptera, 203, 314
| Hypena, 448

| Hyponomeuta, 516

666

ICH
CHNEUMON-FLY;
320, 492

Ichneumonidee, 320
Idolocoridee, 365
Insect Cannibals, 361
Insect, Definition of, 2
Ipsine, 99
Tron Prominent Moth, 470

295,

ARR-WORM, 246
e Jigger Flea, 595
Jumping Bug, 578
June Bug, 114

Kk SNTISH BEE, 358
iN Killing Beetles, 145
King of the Ants, 113

ABIA, 228
J lLabidura, 230
Labium, 8
Lace-wing Fly, 263, 279
Lachnus, 548
Lac Insect, 551
Lady-bird, 216
Lady-cow, 216
Lamelligornes, 112
Lampyride, 133
Lampyris, 133
‘Land Bugs, 556
Lantern Flies, 536
Lappet Moth, 442
Large Cabbage Butterfly, 390
Large Emerald Moth, 450
Larger Yellow Underwing
Moth, 479 y
Large White Plume Moth,
525
Larride, 343
Lasiocampa, 44]
Laurel Bottle, 26
Leat-borer Beetle, 213
Leaf-eutter Bee, 361, 365
Leaper Beetle, 182
Lebia, 20
Lebiade, 19
Ledra, 538
Lepidoptera, 381
Leptocerus, 292
Lesser Broad Border Moth, |
478
Lesser Caddis Fly, 291
Lesser Pearl Moth, 495
Letter-writer Beetle, 190
Letter-writer Weevil, 190
Lettuce Fly, 630

| May Fly, 266

| — Grey Drake, 268

| Meal Moth, 489

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

LEU
Leucania, 475
Lecanide, 475
Leucophasia, 392
Libellula, 275, 277
Libellulide, 269
Libellulides, 275
Lilae Moth, 518
Lime Blight, 542
-— Hawk Moth, 420
Limnephilus, 292
Liparis, 488
Lithocolletes, 523
Lithocolletidse, 523
Little-berry Beetle, 201
Little Earwig, 228
Little Ermine Moth, 516
Little Waggoner Moth, 522
Lixus, 177
Lobster Moth, 468
Locust, 251
— Migratory, 251
Long-horned Beetle, 192
Longicornes, 191
Long-horned Moths, 518
Long-mouthed Fly, 614
Looper Moth, 446
Lopha, 651
Lophyrus, 309
Louse, Bat, 644
Lozoteenia, 506
Lucanida, 122 ®
Lueanus, 122
Luride, 491
Lycenide, 408
Lycoperdina, 219
Lyda, 310
Lytta, 158

\ ACROGLOSSA, 422
Magpie Moth, 450
Malacodermi, 133
Mamestra, 476
Many-cleft Plume Moth, 5292
Many Plume Moth, 429
Marbled White Butterfly, 406
Margaritia, +94
Marsh Carpet Moth, 460

— Common, 266
— Green Drake, 268

Meadow Bee, 369
Meadow Brown Butterfly, 407

— Worm, 146
Mealy Bugs, 549
Meat-fiy, 629
Meconema, 249

MOT

Megachile, 365
Melandrya, 148
Melandryade, 146
Melanippe, 457
Melanthia, 457
Melecta, 262
Melia, 502
Meligethes, 99
Mellinus, 344
Meloé, 154
Melolontha, 115
Melolonthide, 115
Melophagus, 638
Merodon, 620
Mesothorax, 11 4
Metasternum, 11
Mezium, 141
Micralymma, 84
Micro-coleoptera, 220
Microgaster, 325, 391
Micro-lepidoptera, 574
Migratory Locust, 251
Mimie Beetles, 97
Mole ericket, 241, 245
Mole-flea, 595
Molytes, 171
Monomera, 549
Mordellide, 150
Moths, 384, 412
— Afternoon Tortrix, 507
— Angle Shades, 481
— Argent and Sable, 447
— Banded Snout, 488
— Beautiful Carpet, 447
— — China Mark, 493
— — Golden-Y, 483
— — Snout, 488
— Berghmannian

507
— Black Arches, 4388
— Brimstone, 448
— Brown Cloak, 508
— — Dolly, 523
— —-plush, 515
— Buff-tip, 468
— Burnet, 433
— Burnished Brass, 482
— Button Tortrix, 505
— Cabbage, 476
—- Carpet, 461
— Chimney Sweeper, 462
— China, 492
— Cinnabar, 434
— Clear-wing, 427
— Clifden Nonpariel, 486
— Clothes, 440, 490
— Codlin, 509
— Common Tiger, 437
— Confluent Barred, 519

,

Tortrix,

_
-
3

MOT

Moth, Cony lvulus Hawk,421 |

-— Cream Short Cloak, 409

— Crimson Speckled, 436

— Crimson Tiger, 437

— Currant Clear-wing, 427, |
450

—- Dark Crimson Underwing,
486

— Death’s Head, 322, 413

— De Geerean, 518

— Delta, 487

— Diamond Spot, 496

— Double-bar, 490

— Double-line, 475

— Eight-spot, 508

— Elephant Hawk, 422

— Emperor, 444

— Eyed Hawk, 419

— Flakelet, 520

— Flame, 459

' — Gigantic Veneer, 499
— Goat, 365, 430

— Golden Pigmy, 515, 525

— Gold Spangle, 483

— Green Long-horn, 519

— — -shaded Honeycomb,
502

— — Silver-lines, 504

— Grey Scalloped Bar, 454

— Hawk, 413

— Hazel, 504

— Herald, 484

— Honey, 502

— Honeycomb, 500

— Humming Bird, 413, 422

— Iron Prominent, 470

— Lappet, 442

— Large Emerald, 450

— Larger Yellow Under-
wing, 479

— Large White Plume, 528

— Lesser broad border, 478

— Lesser Pearl, 495

— Lilae, 518

— Lime Hawk, 420

— Little Ermine, 576

— Little Waggoner, 522

— Lobster, 468

— Long-horn, 518

Looper, 446

Magpie, 450

Many-cleft Plume, 529

Many-plume, 529

— Marsh Carpet, 460

Meal, 489

— Mother of Pearl, 495

— Mottled Umber, 452

— Narrow - bordered

Hawk, 425

Bee

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

MOT

Moth, Notchwing, 506

— November, 457

— Oak, 506

— Oak Beauty, 449

—- Oak Eggar, 441

— Peach blossom, 473

Pea green, 505

Pearl, 493 :

Pearl-streak Veneer. 497

— Phantom, 528

— Pigmy, 526

Pink-barred Yellow, 431

Plume, 527

Plumeless Plume, 528

— Poplar Hawk, 419

— Poplar Hornet Clearwing,
426

— Privet, 421

— Prominent, 470

— Puss, 463

— Red Feather, 522

— Red underwing, 485

— Rose plume, 529

— Royal Mantle, 458

— Rust Veneer, 496

— Sallow Kitten, 466

— Scarce Merveil du Juur,
474

— Silver lines, 504

— Tissue, 460

— Shoulder stripe, 459

— Silver Ground Carpet,
458

— — lines, 503

= ¥, 413

Single blotch, 542

Six-spotted Burnet, 453

Skeleton, 528

Small Tabby, 491

Snout, 488

Sphinx, 412

Spurge Hawk, 417

Stone plume, 629

Straw Oblique Bar, 405

Streak, 461

Swallow-tailed, 447

Tabby, 490

Thorn, 448

Thousand plume, 529

Tiger, 437

Transparent Burnet, 434
Turnip, 477

Twenty plume, 529
Twisters, 503

Vapourer, 439

— Weberian Tortrix, 513
— Wainscot Veneer, 498
— White spot, 498

— Winter, 454

667

NYS
Moth, W pod Leopard, 428
— Yellow Underwing, 478
Zoégian Tortrix, 513
Mother of Pearl Moth, 495
Mottled Umber Moth, 452
Musca, 629
Muscide, 627
Musk Beetle, 193, 3 14
Mutilla, 341
Mutillide, 340
Mycetophagide, 103
Mycetophagus, ?*?
Mymar, 329
Myrmedonia, 71
Myrmica, 340

AKED BEES, 5389
Narrow-bordered Bee
Hawk Moth, 425
Naucoris, 586
Nebria, 35
Necrodes, 92
Necrophaga, 86
Necrophorus, 90
Neides, 562
Nemasoma, 101
Nematus, 309
Nemocera, 600
Nemoura, 266
Nepa, 585
Nepticula, 525
Nepide, 585
Net-sweep, 27
Neuroptera, 261
Nigger, Turnip fly, 303
Niptus, 141
Nitidula, 98
Nitidulide, 98
Noctuz, 463, 471, 482
Noctuidae, 477
Nomada, 359, 361
Northern Brown Butterfly,
407
Norway Wasp, 353
Notacantha, 611
Notaphus, 51

' Notiophilus, 34

Noteh-wing Moth, 506
Notodonta, 479
Notodontide, 470
Notonecta, 582
Notonectidex, 581
November Moth, 457
Nut Beetle, 180, 346
Nut Weevil, 180, 346
Nycteribiide, 643
Nyssonide, 344

068

OAK
one BEAUTY MOTH,
449

— Egear Moth, 441

— Moth, 50d

Oeypus, 77

Odynerus, 322, 331, 350
(Edipoda, 251

(Estridz, 635

CHstrus, 637

Oil Beetle, 154, 219, 363
Omalide, 83

Omalium, 84

Mmosita, 98

Oporabia, 457
Orange-tip Butterfly, 392
Orchesia, 147
Orchestes, 182
Orectochilus, 65
Orgyia, 439
Ornithomyia, 640
Orobites, 184
Orthocephalus, 566
Orthoceri, 162
Orthoptera, 225, 233
Orthoside, 481

“)smia, 363

Osmylus, 281
Oriorhynehide, 173
Otiorhynchus, 173
Ourapteryx, 447
xypoda, 70

ACHYTYLUS, 251

Peederidze, 81
Painted Lady Butterfly, 401
Palpi, 8
Panorpa, 282
Panorpide, 282
Panurgus, 359
Papilio, 386
Papilionide, 386
Paraptera, 11
Parnide, 107
Pavonia, 444
Peach-Blossom Moth, 473
Peacock Butterfly, 403
Pea-green Moth, 506
Pear Beetle, 167
Pearl Moth, 493
Pearl-streak Veneer Moth,

496

Peetinicornes, 122
Pelobius, 62
Pemphredon, 824
Pentatoma, 578
Perla, 263
Perlidee, 263
Peronea, 505

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

PEZ

Pezomachns, 323
Phantom Moth, 528
Philanthidee, 346
Philonthus, 78
Philhydrida, 108
Phlogophora, 481
Phleothrips, 259

Phora, 634

Phasgonura, 248
Phryganea, 288
Phyllopertha, 114
Phyllotreta, 211
Phytocoridee, 564
Phytocoris, 564
Phytonomus, 172
Pieride, 389

Pieris, 390

Piestidee, 85

Pigmy Moths, 526

Pill Beetle, 105

Pimpla, 323

Pine Saw-fly, 309

Pink-barred Yellow Moth,

481

Piper, 287

Pissodes, 177

Plant Bug, 564

Plant Lice, 542

Platyrhinus, 163
Plumeless Plume Moth, 528
Plume Moth, 527
Plusia, 482

Plusidee, 432
Pogonocerus, 200
Pogonus. 41
Polyommatus, 409
Pompilidee, 341
Pompilus, 341

Poplar Hawk Moth, 419
Poplar Hornet Clear-wing

Moth, 426

Porcupine Ant-eater, 595
Prasocuris, 209
Prionus, 192
Pristonychus, 42

Privet Moth, 421
Proctotrupide, 329
Prognatha, 85

‘ Prominent Moth, 470
Pselaphidee, 221
Pselaphine, 221
Pselaphus, 221 ~
Pseudo-Bombyces, 463

Pseudotrimera, 215

' Psylliodes, 213
Pterophori, 503, 515, 527
| Pterophorus, 528
Pterostichus, 45
Ptinide, 139

SAL

| Ptyelus, 549

Pulex, 595

Pulicide, 591

Pulverulentz, 489

Purple Emperor Butterfly,
405

Puss Moth. 463

Pygeera, 468

Pyralides, 487, 489, 496

Pyralis, 490

Pyrochoa, 148

Pyrochroide, 148

Pyrrhocoris, 560, 561 ~

(acne 482
Quedius, 74, 338

R AM-HORNED BEETLE,
UL 205

Ranatra, 586
Raphidiide, 278
Rat-tailed Maggot, 619
Red Admiral Butterfly, 399
Red Ant, 340

Red Feather Moth, 522
Red-footed Beetle, 162

| Red-neck, 61

Red Underwing Moth, 485
Reduviide, 473
Reduyius, 573

Rhagium, 200
Rhaphidia, 278
Rhipiphorus, 151
Rhizophagus, 99
Rhopalocera, 383
Rhynchites, 166
Rhyparochromide, 562
Rhyparochromus, 562
Rhyssa, 324

Rice Beetle, 184

Rice Weevil, 184
Ringlet Butterfly, 407
Rose Beetle, 112

Rose Plume Motn, 529
Rose Saw-fly, 502

Rove Beetle, 66, 225
Royal Mantle Moth, 458
Ruby-tailed fly, 330
Rumia, 448

Rust Veneer Moth, 496
Rutelide, 115

AGRIDA, 203
kK) Sailors, 137
Sallow Kitten Moth, 466 _
Saltatoria, 240

a OS a

SAN
Sand Wasp, 331
Saturnia, 444
Satyridze, £06
Satyrus, 407
Saw-bearers, 297
Saw Fly, 298
— Horn-tailed, 311
— Pine, 309
— Rose, 302
Sawyer-Beetle, 193
Seveva, 624
Seale Insect, 549, 551
Searee Merveil du Jour
Moth, 474
— Silver lines Moth, 504
— Tissue Moth, 460
Searitidee, 24
Searlet Bug, 560
Searlet Hopper, 539
Seatophaga, 633
Schizocerus, 308
Seodiona, 454
Schceenobius, 499
Scolytus, 186, 433
Scorpion Fiy, 282
Seotosia, 460
Scutellaride, 578
Seydmienide, 95
Seydmzenus, 95
Sehirus, 557
Selandria, 307
Semasia, 313
Sericostoma, 289
Serricornes, 126
Serrifera, 297
Sesia, 426
Sesiadee, 426
Setting Beetles, 29
Setting Insects, 645
Sexton Beetle, 87
Sheep-fly, 637
Sheep-tick, 638
Shoulder-Stripe Moth, 459
Silk, 453
Silpha, 95
Silphide, 86
Silphine, 86
Silver-Ground Carpet Moth,
458
— -lines Moth, 503
— Y Moth, 483
Single-blotch Moth, 512
Sirex, 312
Sitaris, 159
Sitones, 169
Sitophilus, 184
Six-spotted Burnet Moth,
433
‘Eeleton Moth, 528

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

SKI
Skipjack Beetle, 126
Skipper Butterfly, 410
Slug Worm, 307
Small Tabby Moth, 491
Small Tortoiseshell Butter-
fly, 399
Small White Butterfly, 391
Smerinthus, 419
Snake Fly, 278
Snout Moth, 488
Social Ants, 335
— Bees, 348, 368
— Wasps, 350
Soldiers, 137
Solitary Ants, 340
— Bees, 348, 355. 360
— Wasps, 348
Sparkler, 15
Speckled Wood Butterfly,
407
Spiculifera, 315
Spider Fly, 639
Spilodes, 495
Spilonota, 508
Spheeridiidee, 110
Sphingide, +12
Sphinx, 421
Sphinx Moths, 412
Sphodrus, +2
Spurge Hawk Moth, 417
Squeaker Beetle, 194
Stag Beetle, 122
Staphylinide, 75
Staphylinus, 76
Stauropus, 468
Stenide, 83
Stenolophus, 49
Stenocephalus, 560
Stenopteryx, 496, 642
Stenus, 83
Sternoxi, 126
Sternum, 11
Stilicus, 81
Sting-bearer, 297
Stirps, 614
Stone Fly, 263
— Yellow Sally, 266
Stone Humble Bee, 572
Stone-plume Moth, 529
Strangalia, 202
Stratiomys, 611
Straw Oblique Bar Moth,
505
Straw Worms, 287
Streak Moth, 461
Strepsiptera, 156
Stylops, 157, 357
Sugaring, 472
Swallow Fly, 642

66¢

TRI

Swallow-tail Butterfly 386
Swallow-tailed Moth, 447
Swollen-leg Locust, 251
Syrphidee, 617

Syrphus, 623
Sysiellonotus, 565

ABANUS, 614
Tabby Moth, 490

Tachina, $28
Tachyporide, 73
Tanagra, 462
Tanystoma, 614
Tarsus, 12
Tarus, 22
Teleas, 329
Telephoride, 137
Telephorus, 137
Tenebrio, 146
Tenebrionide, 146
Tenthredinidz, 297
Tenthredo, 308
Teras, 606
Terebrantia, 297
Termites, 295
Tetramera, 161
Thamnotrizon, 251
Thoracocephala, 638
Thorn-back, 611
Thorn Moth, 448
Thousand-plume Moth, 42§
Three-plated Beetle, 215
Thrips, 260
Thyatira, 473
Thysanuptera, 257
Tiger Beetle, 15
Tiger Moth, 437
Timarcha, 208
Timber eating Beetles, 186
Timberman, 199
Tipula, 607
Tipulide, 601, 607
Tinee, 503, 515
Tischeria, 622
Tomicus, 190
Tortoise Beetie, 214
Tortrices, 503
Tortricide, 504
Tortrix, 504
Transformation, 4
Transparent Burnet Moth,

454
Tree Grasshopper, 249
Tree Wasp, 353
Trichiosoma, 300
Trichoptera, 285
Trichopteridee, 220
Trichopteryx, 220

670

TRI
Triepphora, 539
Triphidee, 474
Trimera, 534
Triplax, 215
Trogus, 322
Trypheena, 478
Tryphon, 321
Tube Bearers, 330
Tubulifera, 330
Turnip Flea, 211
—- Fly, 303
--- Moth, 497
Twenty-plume Moth, 529
Twisting Moths, 502
Two-spot Lady Bird, 218
Tychius, 181
Typheeus, 119

foe 447
Urapteryx, 447

Uroceride, 311

Urocerus, 312

Catal eae 396
Vanessidee, 394

Vapourer Moth, 439

Velleius, 74

Verlusia, 559

Vespa, 350

Vespidee, 350

Volucella, 622

Viviparous Beetle, 35

yy eee Tortrix
Moth, 613

Wainscot Veneer Moth, 497

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

WAL
Wall Butterfly, 407

| Wartbiter Grasshopper, 249

Wasp, 295, 348

Bees, 359

— Beetle, 191
Common, 361
German, 353
Norway, 353
Sand, 331

Social, 350
Solitary, 348

Tree, 353
Watchman, Flying, 118
Water Beetle, 44

— Boatmen, 546, 511
— Bugs, 556, 581

— Fleas, 556

— Gnats, 5795

— Measurers, 576

— Scorpion, 546, 695
Weevils, 161

— Apple, 178
Apricot, 175
Beech-hopper, 182
Corn, 184
Flower-dweller, 178
Grain-loyer, 188
Grooved, 175, 646
Hidden-Snout, 183
Leaper, 182
Letter-writer, 190°
Nut, 180, 846
Pear, 167
Red-footed, 162
Rice, 184

— Wood-eating, 186
Whirligig Beetle, 62
White Ant, 295

ZYG

White-bordered
396

— Butterfly, 389
— -spot Moth, 491
— Worm, 116
Wild Bee, 368
Willow Fly, 266
Winter Moth, 454
Wireworm, 130
Wood Ant, 336
— Cricket, 246
— -eating Beetles, 186
— Humble Bee. 371
— Leopard Moth, 428
— White Butterfly, 392
Woolly Bear, 438
Wurble Breeze-fly, 637

Butterfly,

ANTHIA, 481
Xantholinus, 81
Xantholinidz, $0
Xylophagi, 186

ELLOW ANT, 340
Yellow-Sally Stone Fly,
266
Yellow Underwing Moth,
478

EUZERA, 428
Zeuzeride, 427
Zoégian Tortrix Moth, 613
Zygenia, 433
Zygenide, 433

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