Chapter XXXVII: Book VI: Articulated Animals (1)

§ I. _Annelida, or Ringed Animals._

THESE creatures constitute a class by themselves, under the name of _Annelida_, in the works of modern naturalists. They are distinguished from the caterpillar and maggot, by undergoing no change, and crawling by means of the annular structure of their bodies.

The _Earth Worm_ has neither bones, eyes, or ears; it has a round, annulated body, with generally an elevated fleshy belt near the head. Though considered a great nuisance by gardeners, Earth Worms perforate, and loosen the soil, and render it pervious to rains and the fibres of plants, by drawing into it straws and the stalks of leaves: and chiefly by throwing infinite numbers of lumps called worm-casts, which form a fine manure for grass and corn. They are, however, very injurious to plants in pots.

IS about three inches in length, and in its exterior form somewhat resembles the worm, when extended, but often contracts itself greatly in length, at the same time expanding in thickness. It has a small head, a black skin, with six yellow lines above, and spotted with yellow below. The mouth of the Leech is of curious construction; it has three jaws, each of which is armed with two ranges of very fine teeth, with which it pierces the skin; and then draws up, as through a siphon, the blood, upon which it feeds. The progressive movement of the Leech is effected by sticking, by suction, its mouth to a certain spot, then bringing its tail, which also has the property of sticking, in the same manner as the head, and then advancing its head further on, quickly followed by the tail, and so on. The common Leech is very often met with in brooks and rivulets. Its uses in medicine are well known, as by its means the blood can be extracted from diseased parts, to which the lancet cannot be applied.

The blood which the Leech sucks out of the wound it makes supplies it with nutriment for so great a period of time, that a Leech, after having been satisfied with blood, has been known to live three years withoutany food. It is usual, however, to make them disgorge the greater part of the blood they have swallowed by sprinkling them with salt; as otherwise they would not bite again till the blood they had taken was fully digested.

Leeches lay eggs, which are covered with a kind of membrane, which serves to protect them when they are deposited in the clay and holes in the sides of ponds. They appear to live on the eggs of fish or frogs, but eagerly attach themselves to the legs of human beings, horses, or cows, whenever they have an opportunity. As there is a prejudice among the country people that Leeches never breed well till they have tasted blood, it is said that they drive their horses and cows into the water inhabited by the Leeches, and consequently that the Leech districts are remarkable for their wretched-looking horses and cattle. Leeches must be five years old before they are fit for medical purposes; and they are caught in shallow water in spring by people going in with naked feet and ankles, to which the Leeches adhere, when they are picked off and put in baskets provided for the purpose. In summer a raft is made of twigs, and the waters being disturbed with a stick, the Leeches rise to the surface, and get entangled in the raft. When caught, they are washed in water with a very little salt in it, and packed in wet linen cloths, which are put into a barrel with a canvas cover, and sent away for sale. London used to be chiefly supplied from the fenny districts of Lincolnshire, but the consumption of these useful worms has been so great that most of our Leeches are now imported through Hambro’ from the east of Europe. Some years since Dr. Pereira stated that the number of Leeches imported by the four principal dealers in London amounted to 7,200,000 annually. They are also, when kept in a glass bottle with water, a good barometer, as they always come up to the neck of the bottle when rainy weather is approaching, remain at the bottom in dry weather, and move anxiously up and down when the weather is stormy. Horse-Leeches are larger than the common species, more voracious, and narrower at each extremity.

§ II. _Crustacea._

HAS a cylindrical body, long antennæ, and a broad tail. Its large claws enable it to seize on its prey, to fix itself on the small prominences of rocks in the sea, to resist the motion of the waves, and to defend itself against its enemies. When the Lobster wants to spring off the rocks, it makes a fulcrum of its tail, which has the action of a powerful spring. Its gait is awkward, as in all the crustacea. Besides its claws, it has four small legs on each side, to assist it in its movements. Under the tail the hen Lobster preserves her eggs till they are hatched. They are extremely prolific. Dr. Baxter says he counted twelve thousand four hundred and forty-four eggs under the tail of a female Lobster, besides those that remained in the body undeveloped. Like the rest of their tribe, they cast their shells annually, previous to which they appear languid and restless: they acquire an entirely new covering in a few days.

MAY be called the lobster of fresh water, and its presence is generally esteemed an evidence of the goodness of the water. Crayfish are considered a very strengthening food. They are caught in shallow brooks, hid under large stones, out of which they crawl backwards to seek for their prey, which consists of small insects; the hooks employed to catch them are baited with liver or flesh, which they nibble most greedily.

CRABS are of various sizes, some weighing several pounds, and others only a few grains, all of different species. They do not move forward, but sideways. They have a small tail closed on the body; which forms a considerable and essential difference between them and the lobsters, prawns, shrimps, and crayfish.

The most remarkable circumstance in the history of these animals is the changing of their shells and the renewal of their broken claws. The former, as it is stated, take place once a year, and usually between Christmas and Easter. During the operation they retire among the cavities of rocks, and under great stones. Crabs are naturally quarrelsome amongst themselves, and frequently have serious contests, by means of those formidable weapons, their great claws. With these they lay hold of their adversary’s legs; and wherever they seize, it is not easy to make them forego their hold. The animal seized has, therefore, no other alternative but to leave part of the leg behind in token of victory.

An experiment was tried to prove the extremely tenacious disposition of the Crab. By irritating it, a fisherman made a Crab seize one of its own small claws with a large one. The animal did not distinguish that it was itself the aggressor, but exerted its strength, and soon cracked the shell of the small claw. Feeling itself wounded, it cast off the piece in the usual place, but continued to hold it with the great claw for a long time afterwards.

The _Violet Land-Crabs_ of the Caribbee Islands are most singular in their habits; they descend in annual and regular caravans from the mountains, their natural abode, to the sea-shores, in order to deposit their spawn, after which they again return to the mountains. These Crabs form, in their procession, a body of fifty paces broad, and three miles in length. This battalion moves slowly, but with regularity and uniformity, either when they descend or ascend the hills. They abound in Jamaica, where they are accounted a great delicacy by the natives, and are common in the adjacent islands.

(_Pagurus bempardus_,)]

IS a curious animal, and ought to be noticed here for its singular habits. It is somewhat like a lobster divested of its shell; it is about four inches in length, and has no shell on the hinder part, but is covered down to the tail with a rough skin; it is also armed with strong hard nippers. This Crab has not been provided by nature with a shell, and is obliged to seek for one which has been deserted by its legitimate tenant; but as this covering cannot grow of course proportionally with him, he is forced out of it by his increasing size, and finds himself under the necessity of looking out for a new one: it is curious to see him when in want of a new house, crawling from one empty shell to another, examining and trying his new habitation. Sometimes, when two competitors happen to eye the same premises, a great contest arises, and of course the strongest gets the manor.

THE SHRIMP is a well-known small crustaceous animal, nearly allied to the lobster, which it resembles in shape. Its length is rather more than two inches; in colour it is greenish-grey, dotted with brown. It has long slender feelers, between which are two projecting laminæ; ten feet and five fins, but no claws. This animal breeds on all the sandy shores of Great Britain: it is frequently found in harbours, and even in the ditches and ponds of salt marshes; it is also very common on the French coast. During life the body is semi-transparent, and so much resembles sea-water that the animal is distinguished with difficulty. Its ordinary motion consists of leaps. Its flavour is very delicate.

2. THE PRAWN. (_Palæmon serratus._)

THE PRAWN is not unlike the shrimp, but exceeds it considerably in size, its length being between three and four inches. It has a projecting ridge down the back, furnished with sharp teeth. Its natural colour is greyish, with small red and brown spots, but when boiled it assumes a most beautiful pink tint. The flesh is very delicate, although perhaps inferior in flavour to that of the shrimp.

Prawns are very common on the coasts of France and England; they are chiefly found among sea-weed, and in the vicinity of rocks, at a little distance from the shore. They seldom enter the mouths of rivers. They feed on all the smaller kinds of marine animals, which they seize and devour with great voracity. In their turn, they are the prey of numerous species of fish, although the sharp and serrated horn in front of their head constitutes a powerful weapon of defence against the attacks of all the smaller kinds. At the side of the head there is frequently to be observed a large and apparently unnatural lump. This, if examined, will be found to contain, under the thoracic plate, a species of parasitic animal, which occupies the whole cavity, and there feeds and perfects its growth. The same tumour or lump may also be observed on the shrimp.

Being in great request for the table, both shrimps and Prawns are eagerly sought for by fishermen, who catch them either in osier baskets, similar to those employed in catching lobsters, or in a kind of net called a _Putting-net_. These, which are well known to all frequenters of the sea-coast, are five or six feet in width, and flat at the bottom; and are pushed along in the shallow water, upon the sandy shores, by a man who walks behind. There is a great number of other species belonging to the same family as the shrimp and prawn, but they are for the most part inhabitants of foreign seas, and what other British species exist are rare in comparison to the two we have described.

Fossil crustaceans, which are apparently members of the same family, have also been found in France and Germany.

§ III. _Arachnida._

THIS ORDER, according to Lamarck, and other modern zoologists, contains the Spiders, Scorpions, and Mites, which do not undergo any metamorphoses. These creatures differ from the true insects in the number of their feet, which are generally eight, while those of the true insects never exceed six.

ALL the Spiders are distinguished by having no antennæ, eight legs, and generally eight eyes; mandibles terminated by a movable claw, which sometimes emits poison; and an abdomen without rings, furnished at its point with four or six spinnerets, from which the Spider emits the threads used in spinning its web. This web is wonderful in its formation. It consists of a number of stout threads radiating from the centre to various objects in the neighbourhood, and crossed by a great quantity of finer threads arranged in a close spiral, so as to produce the impression of a number of concentric circles. These fine threads are braided and glutinous, so that any unfortunate fly that comes in contact with them adheres readily:

“The Spider’s touch, how exquisitely fine!
Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.”
POPE.

The Spider sits in the middle, and at the least motion caused by a fly or other insect pressing against it, rushes on his prey, and sucks its juices; if, however, it should appear at all formidable, the Spider carefully encloses it in a shroud of web, which, of course, quite disables it; and then feasts on it at his convenience. The most difficult part of the business is to eject the remains, which is often attended with great detriment to the net. The female generally lays from nine hundred to a thousand eggs, which are contained in a kind of bag, and thus an immense number of Spiders are hatched every year, which would soon become troublesome from their numbers, if they were not kept in check by the numerous birds which prey upon them. The silk which the Spider produces is not strong enough to be employed for any useful purposes, though, out of curiosity, gloves and stockings have been woven out of it. A great difficulty, however, arises in the pugnacious habits of Spiders, as, when a number of them are kept together, they fight so dreadfully, that in a short time only a very few are left alive; and a great number would be required, as twelve Spiders do not produce so much silk as a single silkworm. Spiders resemble the crustacea in having the power of reproducing the legs which they lose.

THE HOUSE SPIDER, (_Tegenaria domestica_,)

IS a very different species from the Garden Spider. It dwells in the dark corners of houses and outbuildings, forming a dingy web of irregular threads, all of which communicate with a concealed chamber or den in which the Spider lurks.

THE DIVING SPIDER, (_Argyroneta aquatica_,)

IS another kind, which forms a sort of tent by stretching its threads between the stems of aquatic plants far below the surface. In this den it dwells, and here it devours the prey which it captures during its excursions; and in order to provide a stock of air for its respiration, it carries down successive small portions entangled amongst the hairs of its abdomen. This process is exactly similar to that by which diving-bells used to be supplied with air, and indeed the dome-like habitation of this Spider is constructed precisely on the same principle as the diving-bell.

There are also several kinds of _Water Mites_, the most abundant of which is of a rich red colour, and grows to nearly the bulk of a pea. It may commonly be seen swimming among the plants in pools and ditches.

THIS Spider is a native of the South of Europe. It lives in fields, and its dwelling is about four inches deep in the ground, half an inch wide, and closed at the mouth with a net. They lay about seven hundred and thirty eggs, which are hatched in the spring. These Spiders do not live quite a year; the parents never survive the winter.

Inflammation, difficulty of breathing, and sickness, are said to be the inevitable consequences of the bite of this animal. Dr. Mead, and other medical men, have countenanced the popular story of these effects being counteracted by the power of music. It is, however, now well known, that this singular mode of cure was nothing more than a trick frequently practised on credulous travellers, who were desirous of witnessing it. Mr. Swinburne, when he was in Italy, minutely investigated every particular relative to the Tarantula. The season was not far enough advanced, and it was pretended that no persons had as yet been bitten that year: he, however, prevailed upon a woman, who had formerly been bitten, to dance the part before him. Several musicians were summoned, and she performed the dance, as everyone present assured him, to perfection. At first she lolled stupidly on a chair, while the instruments played a dull strain. They touched at length the chord supposed to vibrate to her heart; and up she sprung with a hideous yell, staggered about the room like a drunken person, holding a handkerchief in both hands, raising them alternately, and moving in very true time. As the music grew brisker, her motions quickened, and she skipped about with great vigour, and in a variety of steps, every now and then shrieking very loud. The scene was unpleasant, and, at his request, an end was put to it before the woman was tired.

He informs us, that, whenever they are to dance, a place is prepared for them, hung round with bunches of grapes and ribbons. The patients are dressed in white, with red, green, or yellow ribbons; on their shoulders they have a white scarf; they let their hair fall loose about their ears, and throw the head quite back. He says that they are exact copies of the ancient priestesses of Bacchus. The introduction of Christianity abolished all public exhibitions of heathenish rites; but the women, unwilling to give up their darling amusement, in performing the frantic character of Bacchantes, devised other pretences; and he supposes that accident led them to the discovery of the Tarantula, of which they took advantage for that purpose.

THE CHEESE MITE. (_Acarus siro._)

THESE destructive little creatures differ from spiders in having the thorax and abdomen united and covered with the same skin, though it is contracted in one part. They have also, when young, only six legs, though the two others appear afterwards; and their feet are armed with strong hooks, which enable them to retain hold of the cheese or other food, in which they take up their abode. Their bodies are covered with hair, and their mouths are furnished with strong mandibles, with which they soon hew down huge rocks and mountains of cheese. The eggs of these Mites are so small, that it has been computed that a pigeon’s egg would contain thirty millions of them. It must be observed that this Mite is only found in dry cheese, in which it looks like reddish dust. The cheese-hopper, found in moist rotten cheese, is the maggot of a kind of fly. (_Piophila Casei._)

§ IV. _Insects._

INSECTS have all six legs and two antennæ or feelers; and though the transformations they undergo differ slightly in the different kinds, the following is the order in which they occur:--The perfect insect lays eggs, which when hatched produce larvæ; and which are called grubs when they belong to beetles, maggots to flies, and caterpillars to butterflies and moths. These larvæ eat voraciously; and as they rapidly increase in size, they generally moult, that is, change their skins, two or three times. When the larvæ are full grown, they go into the pupa state, in which they remain torpid and without food for a considerable length of time, sometimes first spinning a loose covering for the pupa called a cocoon. The pupa is generally called a chrysalis; but it is also sometimes called a nymph, and sometimes an aurelia. The last transformation is when the insect breaks from its covering in a perfect form, when it is called the imago. There are, however, some insects which are active throughout their lives, and in these the larvæ and pupæ are very similar to the perfect insect. The perfect insect is divided into three segments, or parts, called the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.

ORDER I. _Coleoptera, or Beetles._

THE larva of the beetle is a grub, which often continues in that state three or four years, eating voraciously during the whole period. When full grown it in most cases either descends into the ground, where it undergoes its transformations, first into a nymph, or pupa, and then into a beetle; or it makes itself a rough cocoon of bits of stick and dead leaves, in which it changes into a pupa, and afterwards into a beetle. The wood-eating beetles undergo their transformations in the tree on which they feed. The pupa of the beetle is termed incomplete, because all the parts of the insect are visible in it, instead of being enclosed in one thick covering, as in the moths and butterflies. The head of the beetle is furnished with two compound eyes; two antennæ (differing in shape in the various species, but having usually eleven joints); and a mouth, consisting of a labrum, or upper lip, a labium, or under lip, two mandibles, or upper jaws, and two maxillæ, or under jaws. There is also the mentum, or chin, and a part called the clypeus, to which the upper lip is attached.

The thorax is the part which supports the legs and wings. The legs are divided into five portions, of which the part terminated by the claw is called the tarsus. There are two membranous wings, covered by two hardened wings or wing-cases, called the elytra, which generally open by a straight line down the back; and hence the name of Coleoptera, which signifies wing in a case: the abdomen is simply the body.

The number of beetles is very great, and indeed Mr. Westwood informs us that more than thirty thousand species have been described, of which about three thousand five hundred are natives of Britain.

THE COCKCHAFER is one of the lamellicorn beetles. The female lays her eggs in the ground, and the grubs, when hatched, are soft, thick, and whitish. It is from its white appearance that the grub of the Cockchafer is called _le ver blanc_ by the French. These grubs, sometimes in immense numbers, work between the turf and the soil in the richest meadows, devouring the roots of the grass to such a degree that the turf rises, and will roll up with almost as much ease as if it had been cut with a turfing knife; the soil underneath appearing, for more than an inch in depth, like the bed of a garden. In this the grubs lie, on their backs, in a curved position, the head and tail uppermost, and the rest of the body buried in the mould. It is also said that a whole field of fine flourishing grass has become, in a few weeks, withered, dry, and as brittle as hay, in consequence of these grubs devouring the roots.

In the year 1688 great numbers of Cockchafers appeared on the hedges and trees of the south-west coast of the county of Galway, in clusters of thousands, clinging to each others’ backs, in the manner of bees when they swarm. During the day they continued quiet, but towards sunset the whole were in motion; and the humming noise of their wings sounded like distant drums. Their numbers were so great that, for the space of two or three square miles, they entirely darkened the air. Persons travelling on the roads, or who were abroad in the fields, found it difficult to make their way home, as the insects were continually beating against their faces, and occasioned great pain. In a very short time the leaves of all the trees, for several miles round, were destroyed, leaving the whole country, though it was near midsummer, as naked and desolate as it would have been in the middle of winter. The noise which these enormous swarms made, in seizing and devouring the leaves, was so loud, as to be compared to the distant sawing of timber. Swine and poultry destroyed them in vast numbers; waiting under the trees for the clusters of insects to drop, and then devouring such swarms as to become fat upon them alone. Even the native Irish, from the insects having eaten up the whole produce of the ground, adopted a mode of cooking them, and thus used them as food. Towards the end of the summer they disappeared so suddenly that in a few days there was not one left.

Rooks are very fond of eating these grubs, and often, when they are seen in a newly-sown field, apparently devouring the grain, they are, in fact, rendering the greatest service to the farmer, by destroying his great enemy, the white worm.

THE DOR, OR BLIND BEETLE.

(_Geotrupes stercorarius._)

THIS well-known insect, which is sometimes also called “the shard-borne beetle,” has been often noticed by the poets. Amongst others, Shakespeare makes Macbeth say:

“Ere to black Hecate’s summons
The shard-borne beetle, with its drowsy hum,
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.”

This beetle, which is a British insect, lays its eggs in a mass of cow-dung, which it afterwards buries in the earth. It makes a dull drowsy noise when it flies, and often strikes itself against any person or object it may meet, as though it were blind. It has also the habit of stretching out its limbs and pretending to be dead when caught.

“See the proud giant of the beetle race;
What shining arms his polished limbs encase!
Like some stern warrior, formidably bright,
His steely sides reflect a gleamy light;
On his large forehead spreading horns he wears,
And high in air the branching antlers bears;
O’er many an inch extends his wide domain,
And his rich treasury swells with hoarded grain.”
BARBAULD.

THIS insect is the largest, and most singular in shape, of any in this country. It is known by two horn-like mandibles, projecting from its head, and resembling those of a stag, with which it is able to pinch very severely. These mandibles are strongly dentated from the root to the point. The wing-cases have neither streaks nor spots. The whole insect is of a deep brown. It is sometimes found in hollow oaks and beeches, near London.

The larvæ, or grubs, lodge under the bark, or in the hollow of old trees; which they bite and reduce to fine powder. The larvæ are supposed to exist three or four years before they form their cocoons. These insects are mostly found in Kent and Sussex. In Germany there is a popular but idle notion, that they sometimes, by means of their jaws, carry burning coals into houses; and that, in consequence of this mischievous propensity, dreadful fires have been occasioned. The Stag Beetle is one of the lamellicorn Coleoptera.

(_Scarabæus_, or _Dynastes Elephas_,)]

IS found in South America, particularly in Guiana and Surinam, as well as near the river Orinoko. It is one of the largest beetles of its kind; it is black, and the whole body is covered with a very hard shell, quite as thick and as strong as that of a small crab. Its length, from the hinder part to the eyes, is almost four inches; and from the same part to the end of the large horn on the head (from the resemblance of which to the proboscis of an elephant, and its great size, the beetle has obtained its name) four inches and three quarters. The transverse diameter of the body is two inches and a quarter; and the breadth of each case, for the wings, upwards of an inch. The horns are about an inch long, and terminate in points. The head-horn is an inch and a quarter long, and turns upwards, making a crooked line terminating in two horns, each of which is nearly a quarter of an inch long. Above the head is a prominence, or small horn, which, if the rest of the trunk were away, would cause this part to resemble the horn of a rhinoceros. There is, indeed, a beetle named after that animal, whose lower horn resembles this: its scientific name is _Oryctes Rhinoceros_.

(_Cerambyx moschatus_, or _Aromia moschata_.)]

THIS is one of the longicorn beetles. It is a very beautiful insect, of a glossy bluish-green colour, with a cast of shining gold; the under part of the body is bluish. It is about an inch and a half in length, and is elongated in form, its breadth being small in proportion to its length; the wings under the case are black; the legs are of the same bluish-green colour, only somewhat paler; and the breast is pointed at each extremity. Between these points are three little tubercles near the wings, and three smaller towards the head. The cases of the wings are oblong, and somewhat in the shape of a lance, with three ribs a little raised, and running lengthwise. The feelers are as long as the body, composed of many joints, which grow smaller near the ends. This Beetle is very common in the south of England, and is chiefly to be found on old pollard willows. It emits a strong and agreeable odour, which is not unlike attar of roses. It certainly has not the slightest resemblance to musk, though those who named it appear to have thought that it had.

THE GROUND BEETLE is not only one of the largest, but the most beautiful and brilliant that this country produces. The head, breast, and wing-cases are of a coppery green; the latter having three longitudinal rows of oblong raised spots. All the under part of the insect is black. Having only very short wings beneath the cases, Nature has providentially supplied it with such legs as enable it to run with amazing swiftness. This insect is frequently found in damp places, under stones and heaps of decayed plants in gardens. There are several species, one of which (_Carabus violaceus_) is of a beautiful purple.

The larvæ live under ground, or in decayed wood, where they remain until metamorphosed to their perfect state, when they proceed to devour the larvæ of other insects, and all weaker animals that they can conquer.

The Ground Beetles are found as early as the beginning of March, in paths and near old walls, where the sun warms the earth with its vivifying beams. Many of the large species have been found between the decayed bark and wood of willow trees.

IT is only the female Glowworm which produces the beautiful light for which the insect is so well known, and she frequently communicates this light to her eggs. She is without wings or wing-cases, and possesses no beauty when seen by daylight. The male has wings, and leathery elytra. The larva is a very ugly and very voracious grub, which feeds greedily on snails and slugs.

THIS creature is called the Death-Watch, from a superstitious notion that, when its beating is heard, it is a sign that some one in the house is going to die. The insect lives in wood, and the noise is produced by its striking its head against whatever is near it. These insects, in the larva state, do a great deal of mischief to old furniture, in which they perforate numerous round holes. To enable them to do this they are furnished with two maxillæ formed like two cutting pincers, with the help of which they bore the holes so neatly that the French call them _vrillettes_, from _vrille_, a gimlet. They also perforate books in the same way, and thus do much damage in old libraries:

“Insatiate brute, whose teeth abuse
The sweetest servants of the muse!
His roses nipt in every page,
My poor Anacreon mourns thy rage;
By thee my Ovid wounded lies;
By thee my Lesbia’s sparrow dies;
Thy rabid teeth have half destroyed
The work of love in Biddy Floyd;
They rent Belinda’s locks away,
And spoiled the Blouzelind of Gay;
For all, for every single deed,
Relentless justice bids thee bleed.
Then fall a victim to the Nine,
Myself the priest, my desk the shrine.”
PARNELL.

Sometimes two of these insects may be heard ticking, answering each other; and sometimes the Death-Watch may be made to tick by tapping with the finger-nail upon a table. These creatures imitate death with great exactness when they are caught, or when they think themselves in danger.

THE SPANISH FLY, OR CANTHARIS.

(_Cantharis vesicatoria._)

THESE insects are found but rarely in this country; they are more common in France, but Spain, Italy, and Russia seem to be their favourite localities. They make their appearance in July, and are generally found upon ash trees, the leaves of which form their food. They are of great commercial importance, for they are found very useful in medicine on account of their remarkable blistering powers. They have a very disagreeable smell, and emit a fluid of so corrosive a nature that many persons have suffered greatly from gathering them; and it is said to be extremely dangerous to sleep under a tree infested by them, as their smell produces a lethargic sleep, which frequently terminates in death. They are generally caught by laying linen cloths under the trees they infest, and beating the boughs; they are then put into hair sieves, and held over vessels of boiling vinegar, till the vapour kills them. After this they are dried in ovens, or on hurdles, exposed to the sun, and then packed up for sale. When dried, fifty of them hardly weigh a drachm, but they do not lose their medicinal properties by age unless allowed to get damp. Though bearing the name Spanish Flies, the greatest quantity is obtained from St. Petersburg, the Russian insects being considered the best.

They are of a highly poisonous nature, and there are many instances, some even recent, of their producing violent hemorrhage and death.

THIS is a little beetle about an eighth of an inch in length, of a reddish-brown colour, with a slender proboscis projecting from the front of the head, at the extremity of which the mouth is situated. As this proboscis is not thicker than a fine needle, our readers may form some notion of the minute size of the jaws with which the mouth is furnished; nevertheless, they are sufficiently powerful to enable the little creature to eat corn and biscuit. In the larva state they are exceedingly destructive to corn in granaries, sometimes abounding to such an extent in a heap of grain as to leave nothing of it but the husks.

There are an immense number of Weevils, all of which have the front of the head elongated into a proboscis or beak. A very common one is the _Nut-Weevil_ (_Balaninus micum_), which has a very long and slender beak; with this the female eats into the soft shells of young nuts, and deposits her eggs in the hole; the grubs devour the kernel of the nut, and leave nothing but dust in the interior of the shell.

(_Coccinella septem-punctata._)]

THE larva of this well-known and beautiful little beetle is disagreeable and almost disgusting in its appearance; but to compensate for this it is extremely useful in destroying the aphis, or green fly. In the perfect insect the elytra are scarlet, beautifully spotted with black; some species having seven, and others five spots, and one of the most beautiful, eighteen. The head is very small, the antennæ and legs very short, and the body nearly round. This beetle is generally regarded with much favour in almost all countries, and in Catholic times was in a manner dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Hence its name of Lady Bird.

ORDER II. _Orthoptera._

IN this order the elytra, or wing-cases, are much softer and more flexible than in the beetles; they are frequently membranous or webbed, and when closed they do not form a straight line down the back. The mouth is also different; the maxillæ being terminated by a horny, toothed piece called the galea. There is also a kind of tongue, and the metamorphosis is incomplete.

_Unlike_ most other insects, the female Earwig watches over her eggs until they are hatched, and afterwards attends upon her young progeny for some time. At the beginning of the month of June, M. de Geer found, under a stone, a female Earwig, accompanied by many little ones, evidently her young. They continued close to her, and often placed themselves under her body, as chickens do under a hen.

This little animal is very nimble, and perfectly harmless, except to flowers, notwithstanding the fabulous charge which was so long believed against it, of its entering the human ear, and depositing its eggs there, which were said to cause intolerable pain when hatched, and the young began to gnaw the inside of the ear. The Earwig possesses wings, which, when extended, cover nearly the whole insect. The elytra, or wing-cases, are short, and do not extend along the whole body, but only over the breast. The wings are concealed beneath these, and are somewhat of an oval shape. There is great elegance in the manner in which the insect folds its wings beneath its elytra.

THE BLACK BEETLE, OR COCKROACH,

(_Blatta Orientalis_,)

SO common in London kitchens, is nearly allied to the Earwig.

THIS insect is remarkably shaped. The head is joined to the body by a neck, longer than the rest of the body. It has two polished eyes, and two short feelers. This neck consists of the first segment of the waist or thorax. The wing-cases, which cover two-thirds of the body, are veined and reticulated, or netted. The wings are veined and transparent. The hinder legs are very long, the next shorter; and the foremost pair of thighs are terminated with spines: the others have membranous lobes, which serve them as wings in their flight. The top of the head is membranous, shaped like an awl, and divided at its extremity. This animal is one of the innumerable instances which Nature affords of the infinite wisdom of the Creator; for, whenever an animal is found to deviate in shape from the general system, it is still formed to answer the design of its existence. Thus this insect, having such long legs, could never have sustained itself in the air had not Providence bestowed on the legs themselves a species of wings to balance their weight. These are instances with which Nature teems; and which would make the atheist tremble did he but contemplate the admirable design and system with which they are characterised as

“Parts of one stupendous whole;
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul.”

These insects are partly of a pale yellowish green, and partly brown; so that they look like dead leaves, whence their English name. They are found in the East Indies and China.

THE ordinary Mantides, or _Praying Insects_, as they are sometimes called, from their apparently devotional attitudes, resemble the species just described in their general structure, but are seldom furnished with so long a neck and so leaf-like a body. They carry the head erect, and the long fore-feet, which shut together like a clasp-knife, are used in catching their prey; it is while thus engaged that their postures have been considered to resemble an attitude of devotion.

HAS a shorter neck than the Mantis, and its fore-legs are not constructed as claspers, but the body is very flat and leaf-like, and the wing-cases are veined so as to look exactly like a leaf; indeed, if seen adhering motionless to the branch of a tree, it would certainly be mistaken for a leaf. They are found in the East Indies. It is curious that while these creatures present such a deceptive resemblance to leaves, there are some near relatives of theirs which are equally similar to sticks and twigs, so that the semblance of a leafy branch might easily be made by fixing the former upon the latter. Some of these _Walking Sticks_ are eight or nine inches in length, and the whole body and legs are of precisely the colour and texture of bark.

IS of a green colour, with the wing-cases brown, and the head somewhat resembling that of a horse; the corselet is armed with a strong buckler. Of its six legs the hinder two are much longer than the others, to assist the insect in leaping. The male makes a chirping noise, which is caused by the thighs being rubbed against the sides of the wing-cases: if handled roughly, the Grasshopper bites very sharply.

Toward the end of autumn the female deposits her eggs in a hole, which she makes in the earth for the purpose. These eggs sometimes amount to a hundred and fifty; they are about the size of caraway-seeds, white, oval, and of a horny substance. The female, having thus performed her duty, soon languishes and dies. In the beginning of May following a small white larva issues out of each egg. The creature passes about twenty days under this humble form; after which, having assumed the pupa shape, while all the rudiments of the future Grasshopper are concealed under a thin outward skin, it retires under a thistle or a thorn-bush, most likely in order to be more secure; and there, after a variety of laborious exertions, writhings, and palpitations, the temporary covering divides, and the insect jumps out of its _exuviæ_.

THE Bible, which was written in a country where the Locust made a distinguished figure among natural productions, has given us several very striking images of these animals’ numbers and rapacity. It compares an army to a swarm of locusts: it describes them as rising out of the earth, where they are produced; as pursuing a settled march to destroy the fruits of the earth; and as the frequent instruments of Divine indignation.

The native countries of the Locust are Central Asia and the North of Africa, but they migrate every year to Europe, where they destroy every green thing they meet with. Other species of Locusts are met with in various parts of the world, which, like the true migratory Locust, pass from place to place in vast flocks, causing immense damage wherever they take up their temporary abode.

When the Locusts take the field they have a leader at their head, whose flight they observe, and to whose motions they pay a strict attention. They appear at a distance like a black cloud, which, as it approaches, gathers upon the horizon, and almost hides the light of the day. It often happens that the husbandman sees this imminent calamity pass away without doing him any mischief; and the whole swarm proceed onward, to settle upon the labours of some less fortunate country. But wretched is the district upon which they fix; they ravage the meadow and the corn land; strip the trees of their leaves, and the gardens of their beauty; the visitation of a few minutes destroys the expectations of a year; and a famine but too frequently ensues. In their native climates they are not so injurious as in the south of Europe, for in Syria and Palestine, though the plain and the forest be stripped of their verdure, the power of vegetation is so great, that an interval of three or four days repairs the calamity; but our verdure is the produce of a season; and we must wait till the ensuing spring repairs the damage. Besides, in their long flights to this part of the world, the Locusts are famished by the tediousness of their journey, and are therefore more voracious wherever they happen to settle. But it is not by what they devour that they do so much damage as by what they destroy. Their very bite contaminates the plant, and injures its future vegetation. To use the expression of the husbandman, they burn whatever they touch, and leave the marks of their devastation for two or three years ensuing. And if so noxious while living, they are still more so when dead; for wherever they fall they infect the air in such a manner that the smell is insupportable.

In the year 1690 clouds of Locusts were seen to enter Russia in three different places; and thence to spread themselves over Poland and Lithuania in such astonishing multitudes, that the air was darkened, and the earth covered with their numbers. In some places they were seen lying dead, heaped upon each other to the depth of four feet; in others they covered the surface like a black cloth: the trees bent beneath their weight, and the damage which the country sustained exceeded computation. In Barbary their numbers are formidable, and their visits frequent. In the year 1724 Dr. Shaw was a witness of their devastations in that country. Their first appearance was about the latter end of March, when the wind had been southerly for some time. In the beginning of April their numbers were so much increased, that in the heat of the day they formed themselves into large swarms, which appeared like clouds, and darkened the sun. In the middle of May they began to disappear, retiring into the plains to deposit their eggs. In the next month, being June, the young brood began to make their appearance, forming many compact bodies of several hundred yards square; which, marching forward, climbed the trees, walls, and houses, eating everything that was green in their way:

“---- To their general’s voice they soon obeyed
Innumerable. As when the potent rod
Of Amram’s son, in Egypt’s evil day,
Waved round the coast, upcalled a pitchy cloud
Of Locusts, warping on the eastern wind,
That o’er the plains of impious Pharaoh hung
Like night, and darkened all the land of Nile;
So numberless were those bad angels seen,
Hovering on wings, under the cope of Hell,
’Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires.”
MILTON.

THE two fore-feet of this insect, placed very near the head, are short and broad, and, like those of the mole, are contrived to help the insect in burrowing under ground. The Mole Cricket is very destructive in gardens, as it attacks the roots of young plants, and causes them soon to rot and die. The female forms a nest of clammy earth, in which she lays from two to four hundred eggs. The nest is carefully closed up on every side, to secure the brood from the incursions of grubs and other subterraneous depredators. The song of the Mole Cricket is a low, dull, jarring note, which is continued for a long time with great pertinacity.

THE domestic Crickets generally inhabit houses, selecting for their place of retirement the chimneys or backs of ovens; and feeding upon anything that comes in their way, flour, bread, meat, and especially sugar, of which they seem to be particularly fond. The chirping noise, which they make nearly without intermission, proceeds only from the males, who produce it by rubbing the bases of their wing-cases one over the other.

Crickets are generally of a brown rusty colour, and the organ of vision appears in them to be very weak and imperfect, as they find their way much better in the dark than when dazzled by the sudden light of a candle. The Field Cricket (_A. campestris_) has the same form, but is of a different species to the House Cricket, and is black, with a fine gloss. Its noise is heard at a great distance, and is so similar to that of the grasshopper, that it is difficult to distinguish one from the other.

ORDER III. _Hemiptera._

THESE insects have neither mandibles nor maxillæ, but in lieu of them they have a tubular articulated rostrum, adapted for suction. Insects thus formed are called haustellated. The four wings are all membranous, but the outer ones are leathery at the base. Some of the species are without wings. The antennæ are often small, and sometimes scarcely perceptible. The metamorphoses of these insects are incomplete.

THIS Lantern Fly is a nocturnal insect, with a hood or bladder on the head, which is semi-transparent, and very curiously ornamented with red and green stripes. By some writers it has been affirmed that this part of the insect shines brilliantly at night, so that it is even possible to read by it. No modern entomologist has, however, witnessed this phenomenon, and it is generally believed that the supposed luminosity of the Lantern Fly exists only in the stories of the natives of South America. The wings and whole body are elegantly adorned with a mixture of red, green, yellow, and other splendid colours.

THE Cochineal Insect is of the same genus as the scale insect on the vine, which looks like a little bit of wool attached to the branch, but which, when pressed, stains the fingers with a red liquid. The Cochineal Insect in the like manner affixes itself to the leafy stems of the nopal-tree, a kind of opuntia, or prickly-pear, common in Mexico and South America, whence the Cochineal used in Europe is principally imported.

When the Mexicans have gathered the Cochineal Insects, they put them into holes in the ground, where they kill them with boiling water, and afterwards dry them in the sun; or they kill them by putting them into an oven, or laying them upon hot plates. From the various methods of killing them arise the different colours in which they appear when brought to us. While they are living, they seem to be sprinkled over with a white powder, which they lose when the boiling water is poured upon them, but preserve when killed in an oven. Those dried upon hot plates are the best.

The quantity of Cochineal annually exported from Mexico and South America is said to be worth more than five hundred thousand pounds sterling--a vast sum to arise from so minute an insect; and the present annual consumption of Cochineal in England has been estimated at about one hundred and fifty thousand pounds weight. The Mexicans think so highly of their trade in this insect, that the republic has adopted the nopal-tree as part of its arms.

It is for dyeing scarlet that Cochineal is chiefly in demand; but, although a peculiarly brilliant dye is now obtained from it, this substance gave only a dull crimson colour until a chemist of the name of Kuster, who lived at Bow, near London, about the middle of the seventeenth century, discovered the art of preparing it with a solution of tin. Cochineal, if kept in a dry place, may be preserved without injury for a great length of time. An instance has been mentioned of some of this dye, one hundred and thirty years old, having been found to produce the same effect as though it had been perfectly fresh.

THE APHIDES are sometimes viviparous, and at other times oviparous, according to the season of the year. Those of the rose-tree have been particularly noticed, and of ten generations produced in one spring, summer, and autumn, the first nine were viviparous, and the last oviparous. The first nine generations consisted of females only; but in the tenth there were males. In this singular aberration from the common laws of nature this insect is a remarkable anomaly. They multiply at such an extraordinary rate--the whole ten generations within three months--that from a single Aphis ten thousand million millions may be produced in that short period, and it has been calculated that the progeny of a single Aphis during a single summer, supposing its multiplication to be subject to no check, might exceed in weight the entire human population of China.

The moss-rose, the hop, the vine, the apple-tree, the bean, the willow, and privet, are all particularly liable to be infested with this insect; the various species of which take their names according to the plants on which they are usually found. The red tumours, commonly called galls, which are seen on the surfaces of leaves, especially on those of the willow, varying from the size of a ladybird to that of a pigeon’s egg, are produced by Aphides, and contain thousands of small lice. From a pair of small tubes placed near the end of the body of these insects exudes a saccharine fluid, of which ants are very fond; and it is this fluid dropped upon the adjacent leaves, or the extravasated sap flowing from the wounds caused by the punctures of the insects, which is known under the name of honeydew.

After a mild spring, most of the species of Aphis become so numerous as to destroy all the young shoots of the plants on which they are found. No successful mode of destroying them has yet been discovered, but the best remedy against them is to wash the infested shoots with tobacco water or soap lees; and to repeat the operation when any Aphides are seen.

ORDER IV. _Neuroptera._

THESE insects have four transparent wings, strongly and beautifully varied, so as to resemble net-work. The mouth has mandibles and maxillæ. The abdomen of the female has neither ovipositor nor sting.