Chapter II: Insects (1)

Insects are easily distinguished from the other jointed animals by many salient characters. They have one pair of antennæ, two large compound eyes, composed of a great number of facets, and sometimes one, two, or three simple eyes placed on the crown or front of the head. In its adult condition an insect is composed of three different parts, which can be most readily noticed in a wasp. There is the head, with the antennæ and mouth-parts; the thorax, to which one or two pairs of wings are attached above, and three pairs of legs below; and the abdomen. Insects breathe through openings, called "stigmata," in the sides of the thorax and abdomen. They never possess more than six legs in the perfect state, the abdominal legs present in caterpillars, etc., disappearing in the adult condition. They generally pass through what is called a "metamorphosis,"--four different stages of life, called respectively egg; larva or caterpillar; pupa, nymph, or chrysalis; and imago, or perfect insect.

Insects are divided into several large sections, of which the following seven are the most important, and many entomologists prefer to include all insects under them:--

Sheath-winged Insects, or Beetles; Straight-winged Insects, or Earwigs, Cockroaches, Soothsayers, Stick-insects, Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Locusts; Nerve-winged or Lace-winged Insects, or Dragon-flies and their relatives; Stinging Four-winged Insects, or Ants, Bees and Wasps, and their allies; Scale-winged Insects, or Butterflies and Moths; Half-winged Insects, or Bugs and Frog-hoppers; Two-winged Insects, or Flies.

We proceed to notice these orders separately.

SHEATH-WINGED INSECTS, OR BEETLES.

BY THE REV. THEODORE WOOD, F.E.S.

Beetles are distinguished from most other insects by the fact that the front wings are not employed in flight, but are modified into horny sheaths, which cover and protect the lower pair while not in use. This arrangement, however, is also found in the Earwigs as well as in the so-called "Black-beetle" and its allies, and it is to be noted that the wing-cases of beetles lie evenly side by side together when the wings are folded, while the folding of the wings themselves is transverse as well as longitudinal. The number of species is very great, upwards of 100,000 having already been described, of which about 3,400 have been taken in the British Islands.

The order is again divided into several smaller groups, first among which stand the predaceous beetles of the land. Of these the common English TIGER-BEETLE is a familiar example. It is found on sandy and peaty heaths, and may be known at once by its bright green wing-cases, marked with white spots, and the metallic blue of the abdomen. The legs are coppery. It flies with great swiftness in the hot sunshine, taking to wing as readily as a blue-bottle fly, and feeds entirely upon other insects.

Another representative of the group is rich golden green in colour, with coppery reflections. It is only an occasional visitor to Britain, but abounds in France and Germany, where it feeds upon the caterpillars of the famous Processionary Moth, and is largely instrumental in checking their ravages in the great oak forests.

TIGER-BEETLE.

The colouring of this insect is bright green with white markings and coppery legs.]

Familiar to almost all is the PURPLE GROUND-BEETLE, so plentiful in gardens, and easily recognisable by the violet margin to the black wing-cases. It pours out an evil-smelling liquid from the end of the body when handled.

The curious red-and-blue BOMBARDIER, which, when interfered with, discharges a little puff of bluish-white smoke from the tip of the abdomen, accompanied by a distinct report, is also a member of this group. It is found under stones on river-banks, and also on the coast.

Next come the predaceous beetles of the water, of which we have a well-known British representative in the GREAT BROWN WATER-BEETLE. This insect, which is plentiful in weedy ponds, swims by means of its hind limbs, which are modified into broad, flat oars, with a mechanical arrangement for "feathering" as they are drawn back after making each stroke. It flies by night, often travelling for a long distance from one pond to another, and regains the water by suddenly folding its wings and allowing itself to fall from a height. In the female insect the wing-cases are grooved for about two-thirds of their length.

GROUND-BEETLE.

The beetles of this group are generally of a black or bronzy colour, some species being beautifully metallic.]

GREAT BROWN WATER-BEETLE (MALE).

A large olive-brown species, about an inch in length, and nearly half as broad. The wing-cases of the female are grooved.]

This beetle must not be confounded with the still larger BLACK WATER-BEETLE, which belongs to another group. This fine insect, which is not predaceous in the perfect state, is locally plentiful in ditches, and is in great request as an inmate of the freshwater aquarium. The hind limbs are not modified for swimming purposes.

Next in order come the COCKTAILS, so called from their curious habit of turning up the end of the body when alarmed. To this group belong most of the tiny "flies" which cause such severe pain when they find their way into the eyes. Some species, however, attain to a considerable size, the well-known DEVIL'S COACH-HORSE being fully an inch in length. The great majority are scavengers, being found in carrion, manure, and decaying vegetable matter. A few, however, are lodgers in the nests of ants, by whom they appear to be regarded as pets and treated with the utmost kindness.

BLACK WATER-BEETLE.

A shining black species, longer, narrower, and more convex than the Great Brown Water-beetle.]

The next group includes the curious insects popularly known as BURYING-BEETLES, which inter the bodies of small animals in the ground, scooping out the earth from underneath them by means of their broad and powerful heads, and shovelling it back when the carcases have sunk to a sufficient depth. The eggs are laid in the carrion thus buried. Most of these beetles are distinguished by broad blotches or bars of orange on the wing-cases, but one common British species is entirely black.

Allied to these, and very similar in habits, are the FLAT BURYING-BEETLES, of which there are about a dozen British species. In the best known of these the thorax is dull red in colour, and the black wing-cases are curiously wrinkled. Another species is reddish yellow in colour, with two round black spots on each wing-case. It is found on oak-trees, and feeds upon caterpillars.

The LEAF-HORNED BEETLES are distinguished by the fact that the terminal joints of the antennæ lie one upon another like the leaves of a book. In many cases they can be expanded at will into a broad fan-like club. The well-known STAG-BEETLE of Great Britain is a representative of this group. It is a somewhat local species, being plentiful in some parts of the country, and entirely unknown in others. The grub lives for several years in the trunks of elm-trees, feeding upon the solid wood. When fully grown, it buries itself in the earth, and constructs a large cocoon, in which it passes the chrysalis stage of its existence. The perfect beetle emerges in November, but remains within the cocoon until the following June. In the female the jaws are very much smaller than in the male, but are nevertheless more formidable as weapons. The insect may often be seen flying on warm summer evenings.

[_Regent's Park._

TWO BURYING-BEETLES.

These insects are about an inch in length; many are black, but others have orange-red bands on the wing-cases.]

A still larger insect belonging to the same group is the HERCULES BEETLE, found in the West Indies and tropical America, a male of average size being nearly 5 inches in length. In this beetle the thorax is prolonged into a horn, which is curved downwards, while the head is produced into a similar horn curved upwards, so that the two look like a pair of enormous jaws. It has been stated that these horns, both of which are furnished with tooth-like projections, are employed in sawing off the smaller branches of trees, the beetle grasping a bough firmly, and flying round and round in a circle, till the wood is completely cut through. This assertion, however, is totally unworthy of credit. An example of the beetle--evidently imported--was recently found crawling on a hedge near Biggleswade.

One of the largest of all known beetles is DRURY'S GOLIATH BEETLE, a native of the Gaboon, whose body is almost as big as the closed fist of a man. It appears to feed, while a grub, on the wood of decaying trees, and undergoes its transformation to the chrysalis state in an earthen cocoon, the peculiarity of which is that a thick belt, or ridge, runs round the middle. How this belt is formed is a mystery, as it lies upon the outside, while the grub necessarily constructs the cocoon from the inside. Several living examples of this beetle were exhibited in the summer of 1898 in the Insect-house of the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park, where they remained for five or six weeks, feeding on the flesh of melons. A photograph of this beetle will be found in the Coloured Plate.

The common COCKCHAFER belongs to another division of the same group. This insect is extremely injurious, as the grub lives for three years or more underground, feeding on the roots of various cultivated plants. The perfect beetle appears in May and June, and is only too plentiful almost everywhere. A month or so later its place is taken by the SUMMER CHAFER, or JUNE BUG, which may often be seen flying in hundreds round the tops of low trees soon after sunset, while the smaller COCH-Y-BONDDHU--the "Cockerbundy" of the angler--often appears about the same time in hundreds of thousands. The beautiful ROSE-BEETLE, too, with its bright golden-green wing-cases marked with wavy whitish lines, may often be seen sunning itself in roses or on the blossoms of pinks.

[_Regent's Park._

MALE STAG-BEETLE.

The males are often 2 inches long; the females have comparatively small jaws.]

SKIPJACK BEETLE.

The larvæ of this family are known as Wire-worms.]

[_New York._

HERCULES BEETLE FLYING.

The most remarkable feature about this insect is its huge horn-like projection from the thorax, which is nearly as long as the rest of its body.]

The famous EGYPTIAN SCARABÆUS is also a member of this group. It is remarkable not only for the sacred character attributed to it by the ancient Egyptians, but also for its curious habit of rolling along balls of dung until it can find a soft spot in which to bury them. When the egg hatches, the grub feeds upon the dung, the quantity provided being exactly sufficient for its requirements. The common DOR BEETLE of Great Britain is allied to this insect; it tunnels down to a depth of 14 or 15 inches beneath a patch of excrement, and lays its egg at the bottom of the burrow.

The SKIPJACK BEETLES, parents of the well-known Wire- worms, which cause so much mischief by feeding upon the roots of cultivated crops, represent another group. These beetles owe their popular title to their singular method of regaining their feet when they happen to roll over upon their backs. Their bodies being very smooth and polished, and their legs very short, they cannot recover their footing in the ordinary manner. On the lower part of the body, however, is a highly elastic spine, known as the "mucro," which lies in a sheath. When the beetle falls over, it arches its body into the form of a bow, resting only upon the head and the extreme tip of the abdomen, removes the spine from its sheath, and then drives it sharply back again. The result is that the central part of the body strikes the ground with such force that the insect springs into the air to a height of 2 or 3 inches. Then, turning half over as it falls, it alights on its feet.

[_Sheffield._

COCKCHAFER ON DAISY.

A very destructive insect which feeds on the leaves of trees. The larva devours the roots of plants, and is often so plentiful as to cause very serious mischief.]

The FIRE-FLY of the tropics belongs to the same group. The luminosity of this insect proceeds from two different parts of the body, a brilliant yellowish-green light shining out through two transparent window-like spots on the thorax, while an orange glow is visible on the lower surface of the abdomen. The exact cause of the light is unknown, as is also the manner of its control by the insect.

The same may be said of the common English GLOWWORM, in which the light proceeds from the lower surface of the hind part of the body. The male of this insect is winged; the female is grub-like in appearance and wingless. The grub itself, which may be found in autumn, is also luminous, and feeds upon snails.

Another group includes a very large number of beetles of very varying character and appearance. Among these are the OIL-BEETLES, so called from their habit of exuding small drops of an oily liquid from the joints of their limbs when handled. The eggs are laid in batches of several thousand in holes in the ground, and the little long-legged grubs, on emerging, clamber up the stems of flowers, and hide themselves among the petals to await the coming of a bee. When one of the latter appears, two or three of the grubs cling to its hairy body, and are carried back to the nest, in which they live as parasites. One of these beetles may be seen commonly upon grassy banks in early spring.

Allied to these insects is the BLISTER-BEETLE, or SPANISH FLY, so well known from its use in medicine. It is a very handsome species, of a bright golden-green colour, occasionally found in Great Britain on the foliage of ash-trees. In many parts of Southern Europe it is extremely abundant.

The beetles belonging to the large and important group of WEEVILS are characterised, as a rule, by the fact that the head is prolonged into a more or less long and slender snout, or "rostrum," at the end of which the jaws are situated. The number of species already known is above 20,000.

[_New York._

HARLEQUIN BEETLE.

Notice the enormous length of the front legs.]

One of the largest and most famous of these insects is the DIAMOND-BEETLE of Brazil, the scales from whose wing-cases are so frequently mounted as microscopic objects. When viewed through a good instrument under a powerful light, the beauty of these scales is simply indescribable. All that one can say of them is that they seem to be composed of diamonds, rubies, topazes, and emeralds massed together in rich profusion, while diamonds are transformed into rubies, rubies into topazes, and topazes into emeralds at every change of light.

The OSIER-WEEVIL, a black-and-white species about three-eighths of an inch long, is found on osiers in Great Britain, the grub boring galleries in the stems, and often causing considerable damage. The well-known CORN-WEEVIL is still more destructive in granaries, the walls of which are often completely blackened by its crawling multitudes. The grub lives inside the grain, eating out the whole of the interior, and a single pair of the weevils are said to be capable of producing a family of more than 6,000 individuals in the course of a single season. The RICE-WEEVIL is equally destructive to rice, and may be recognised by the two red spots on each wing-case.

The famous "GRU-GRU" of the West Indies, which is regarded as so great a dainty both by the negroes and by many of the white colonists, is the grub of the PALM-WEEVIL. It lives in the stems of palm-trees, and also in those of sugar-canes, causing a great deal of mischief by its burrowings. When fully fed, it constructs a cocoon by tearing off strips of bark and weaving them neatly together. The SUGAR-WEEVIL is still more troublesome, feeding upon the juice of the sugar-cane, and affecting the entire plant in such a manner that sugar can no longer be manufactured from it.

"Bad" nuts are also due to one of these insects, the common NUT-WEEVIL. which introduces its egg into the kernel during the earlier stages of its development. When the grub hatches, it proceeds to devour the kernel, leaving a quantity of bad-flavoured "frass" behind it, while the shell is left untouched until the perfect insect emerges. An allied species attacks acorns in a similar manner.

[_Colesborne._

JUMPING-BEETLE. ALLIED TO THE TURNIP-FLEA.

It is about one-tenth of an inch in length.]

Among the finest and largest of all beetles are many of those belonging to the great Long-horn group, of which the common BRITISH MUSK-BEETLE is a familiar example. This insect owes both its popular and scientific titles to its powerful odour, which perhaps resembles that of sweetbriar rather than musk, and can often be detected at a distance of twenty or thirty yards. The beetle, which is rich metallic green in colour, with long, slender antennæ, may be found in July sunning itself on the trunks or foliage of willow-trees. It varies considerably in size.

Still more plentiful is the WASP-BEETLE, with its black wing-cases banded with bright yellow. While flying, it may easily be mistaken for the insect whose name it bears. The grub lives in old posts, rails, hop-poles, etc., feeding upon the solid wood.

The TIMBERMAN is remarkable for the extreme length of the antennæ, which, in the male insect, are three or four times as long as the body, and trail out far behind it during flight. It is found, not uncommonly, in fir woods in Scotland.

The beautiful HARLEQUIN BEETLE of tropical America is one of the largest members of the group, and is remarkable for the great length of the front legs as well as for the singular colouring of the wing-cases. It lives almost entirely in the trees, swinging itself from branch to branch somewhat after the manner of a spider-monkey. When it ventures into the air, it is greatly incommoded by the size of its limbs and the length of its antennæ, and seems to have but little power of directing its course.

REED-BEETLE.

Among the group to which this insect belongs are many of the most brilliantly coloured British beetles.]

Another great group of beetles is that of the PLANT-EATERS, many of which are exceedingly beautiful. The REED-BEETLES of Britain, for example, are resplendent in crimson and green and purple and blue, while the metallic radiance of others has gained for them the title of GOLDEN APPLES.

The notorious COLORADO BEETLE is a member of this group. It may be recognised at once by the five black streaks running down each of the yellow wing-cases. On the havoc which it causes among potato-plants in North America it is unnecessary to dilate. On a smaller scale, the TURNIP-FLEA is very mischievous in Britain, perforating the leaves of turnip-plants, or--worse still--eating off the seed-leaves as soon as they appear above the surface of the ground. Of only too many of these exquisite beetles, in fact, it must be said that their beauty is only equalled by their destructiveness.

The LADYBIRDS include a very large number of species. Some of these, such as the common TWO-SPOT LADYBIRD, are exceedingly variable, a long series being easily obtained in which no two specimens resemble one another. Both as grubs and as perfect insects they feed upon the "Green Fly" of the farmer, combining with the grubs of the Lace-wing and Hoverer Flies to keep its numbers within due limits.

Almost equally common is the SEVEN-SPOT LADYBIRD, a considerably larger insect, with seven round black spots on its scarlet wing-cases, which may be seen on almost any grassy bank in spring. Both this and the preceding species sometimes visit the Kentish coast in vast swarms, the beach being reddened by their bodies for miles. The last immigration of this description took place in 1886, in the summer of which year the hops in East Kent were almost destroyed by blight, and the ladybirds made their way at once to the hop-fields and cleared them of the pest in a wonderfully short space of time. A much smaller species, known as the TWENTY-TWO SPOT, is yellow in colour and has eleven black spots on each wing-case. It is generally found crawling about on nettle-leaves in the early part of the summer.

Allied to the Ladybirds are the very curious TORTOISE-BEETLES. In these insects the wing-cases project to a considerable distance beyond the sides of the body, and the legs are so short that only the feet can be seen from above, so that the appearance is very much like that of a tortoise with the limbs partly withdrawn into the shell. Many different species are known, in some of which the wing-cases are streaked with brilliant metallic silver, which, however, fades away very shortly after death. The commonest of the British tortoise-beetles is found on thistles.

[_Regent's Park._

MUSK-BEETLE.

The odour of this beetle may often be detected at a distance of twenty or thirty yards.]

Another very large group of beetles is represented by the CELLAR-BEETLE, which is generally very common in old houses. This insect must not be confused with the so-called "Black-beetle," from which it may easily be distinguished by its deep black colour, its very much shorter feelers, and the curious point into which the end of its body is produced. It hides away in dark corners by day, and crawls slowly about by night. Related to it is the MEAL-WORM, so much in request for the food of cage-birds, which is usually very plentiful in granaries.

Very different, in appearance, yet belonging to the same group, is the handsome CARDINAL BEETLE, a bright scarlet insect which is not uncommon in summer. It may sometimes be found lurking behind pieces of loose bark, and is also fond of resting upon the flowers of umbelliferous plants in the hot sunshine. A second species, which is not nearly so plentiful, may be distinguished by the fact that the head is entirely black.

Still more curious is the RHIPIPHORUS BEETLE, which is parasitic within the nests of wasps. Where the egg is laid, or how the grub first finds its way into the nest, no one has yet succeeded in discovering; but having made its entry, the insect proceeds to burrow into the body of a wasp-grub, and lives within it for several days, feeding upon its flesh meanwhile. After increasing considerably in size, it creeps out of the carcase of its victim and changes its skin, after which it resumes its interrupted meal, and continues to feed until the last vestige of the wasp-grub has been devoured. It then changes to a chrysalis in the cell, and the perfect insect appears a few days later. Oddly enough, the wasps appear to take no notice of its presence, and never attempt to molest it. The two sexes of this beetle are quite unlike one another, the male having the wing-cases yellow and the feelers heavily plumed, while the female is black, with the feelers only slightly toothed.

Most singular of all the insects belonging to this order, however, is the strange little STALK-EYED BEETLE, which spends the greater part of its life half buried in the body of a bee. In this insect the feelers are branched, somewhat like the antennules, or lesser feelers, of a lobster, and the eyes, which are comparatively few in number, are set at the ends of short foot-stalks. The male has very narrow wing-cases, but extremely large wings, which have a milky appearance during flight that can hardly be mistaken. The female has no wings at all, and in general aspect is nothing more than a grub. In early spring a great number of solitary bees are infested by this extraordinary parasite, which burrows into their bodies under cover of the projecting edges of the segments, and there remains feeding upon their internal juices for several weeks, with only just the tip of its tail protruding. When fully fed, it emerges from the body of its involuntary host, leaving a large round hole behind it, which frequently closes up and heals. In any case, strange to say, the ravages of the parasite appear to have but little effect upon the health of the bee.

STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS, OR EARWIGS, COCKROACHES, SOOTHSAYERS, STICK-INSECTS, CRICKETS, GRASSHOPPERS, AND LOCUSTS.

BY W. F. KIRBY, F.L.S.

The insects of this order are less numerous in species than those of any other but the next, and are easily recognised. The fore wings are usually of a leathery consistency, and the hind wings are folded beneath them like a fan in the more typical families, though in the Earwigs and Cockroaches a somewhat different arrangement prevails. In the Earwigs, indeed, the wings are doubled back at the ends, and in the Cockroaches the wing-cases, or "tegmina," as they are technically called, overlap. As a rule these insects feed entirely on vegetable substances. The "Soothsayers" form an exception, being carnivorous, though they are not parasitic, like the Ichneumon-flies, but feed on fresh food; and several species of Earwigs, Cockroaches, and Crickets, especially those which are semi-domesticated, are omnivorous, and will eat animal as well as vegetable food. These insects have an imperfect metamorphosis--that is, there is no inactive pupa-state; but, the young, on emerging from the egg, already possess a recognisable resemblance to their full-grown parents, and their metamorphosis consists of a series of moults, before the last of which rudimentary wings appear in those species which ultimately acquire these appendages. A considerable number of species never have wings, a circumstance which frequently renders it difficult to determine whether a specimen is fully developed. The antennæ are usually long, and the joints distinctly separated, but are very rarely feathered. At the other end of the body we often find two long jointed organs, called "cerci." The jaws are always furnished with strong mandibles. Many Grasshoppers and Locusts have a curious arrangement on the shank of the front leg, consisting either of a round or an oval cavity on each side, closed by a membrane, or of two long parallel slits in front. These are considered to be organs of hearing. The largest known insects belong to this order; the proportion of large or moderate-sized species is considerable; and the smallest are probably considerably larger than the smallest members of any other group. They are not numerous in temperate climates; there are only about fifty British species, and most of the larger of these are either naturalised species, or merely casual visitors from abroad.

EARWIG. The forceps-like appendage at the end of this insect's body is said to be used for folding and unfolding the wings.]

[_Regent's Park._

AMERICAN COCKROACH.

Common in many warehouses in England, and now found in most parts of the world.]

The EARWIGS form the first family. Some are wingless, but most have very short wing-cases, under which very large wings, forming the most beautiful feature of these otherwise unattractive insects, are doubled and folded into a very small compass. Some of the smaller species fly readily; but others, such as the COMMON EARWIG, though furnished with ample wings, are rarely seen to use them. The most conspicuous organ of the earwigs is the curious forceps at the extremity of the body, the use of which does not seem to be well made out, though it has been suggested that it is used for folding and unfolding the wings. The forceps differs very much in size and shape in different species; it is always larger in the male than in the female, and often differently shaped. In the common earwig the male forceps is flattened and contiguous at the base, and rounded and incurved at the extremity. There are two varieties, in one of which the forceps is twice as long as in the other; but intermediate gradations do not seem to be met with. In the female the forceps is narrow, nearly straight, and approximating. The earwig is a nocturnal insect, and hides itself during the day in large-headed flowers, like dahlias, to which it is very destructive, or in any convenient dark and narrow crevice, especially among decaying vegetable matter. It derives its name from its occasionally entering the human ear, but it may be easily driven out by dropping in a little olive oil. In most books it is denied that earwigs enter the ear at all, but it is, nevertheless, an undoubted fact; and the fanciful derivation that has been suggested of _earwing_ in the place of _earwig_ cannot be entertained respecting an insect which seldom shows its wings at all. It should be noted that the female earwig is said to tend her young very much as a hen tends her chickens--an uncommon habit in insects.

STICK-INSECT.

The largest insect known is a species of stick-insect; it is a native of Borneo, and measures 13 inches.]

[_Parson's Green._

WALKING LEAF-INSECTS.

Natives of the East Indies, and remarkable for their resemblance to green leaves.]

The COMMON COCKROACH is too well known to need description. The individuals with half-developed wings are the perfect females; but there are other species in which the wings are fully developed in both sexes, others in which the male is winged and the female wingless, and others again in which both sexes are wingless. In warm countries and on ship-board cockroaches are far more troublesome than in cold climes; and the large brown ones, with a mark on the back of the thorax resembling a crown, and very broad wing-cases and wings, are called DRUMMERS in the West Indies, from the loud noise they keep up during the night.

Lady Burton has given an amusing account of her introduction to cockroaches abroad: "After two days we were given a very pleasant suite of rooms--bedroom, dining- and drawing-room--with wide windows overlooking the Tagus and a great part of Lisbon. These quarters were, however, not without drawbacks, for here occurred an incident which gave me a foretaste of the sort of thing I was to expect in Brazil. Our bedroom was a large whitewashed place; there were three holes in the wall, one at the bedside bristling with horns, and these were cockroaches some three inches long. The drawing-room was gorgeous with yellow satin, and the magnificent yellow curtains were sprinkled with these crawling things. The consequence was that I used to stand on a chair and scream. This annoyed Richard very much. 'A nice sort of traveller and companion _you_ are going to make,' he said; 'I suppose you think you look very pretty and interesting standing on that chair and howling at those innocent creatures.' This hurt me so much that, without descending from the chair, I stopped screaming, and made a meditation like St. Simon Stylites on his pillar; and it was, 'That if I was going to live in a country always in contact with these and worse things, though I had a perfect horror of anything black and crawling, it would never do to go on like that.' So I got down, fetched a basin of water and a slipper, and in two hours by the watch I had knocked ninety-seven of them into it. It cured me. From that day I had no more fear of vermin and reptiles, which is just as well in a country where Nature is over-luxuriant. A little while after we changed our rooms we were succeeded by Lord and Lady Lytton, and, to my infinite delight, I heard the same screams coming from the same room a little while after. 'There,' I said in triumph, 'you see I am not the _only_ woman who does not like cockroaches.'"

HOUSE-CRICKET.

Very similar in its habits to the cockroach.]

The dimensions of the insects are not so much exaggerated; for I believe this story refers to the large reddish American cockroach, which is common in many English cities, although only in warehouses. It does not usually much exceed an inch in length; but the antennæ are very long, and the wing-cases expand nearly 3 inches. (See photograph on page 689.)

MOLE-CRICKET.

A brown insect about 2 inches long. The very broad and flat front legs are used for burrowing.]

The SOOTHSAYERS, or PRAYING-INSECTS, are not British, though one or two species are found in the south of Europe. They have long fore legs, the shanks of which are set with a double row of long, curving, sabre-like spines, and when at rest they hold them up as if in the attitude of prayer; but they are really on the look-out for prey, and the long spines are admirably adapted for wounding or grasping the insects which form their food. They also fight fiercely among themselves, and it is no uncommon occurrence for a female to tear to pieces and devour her mate, either during or after their courtship. The soothsayers are often of a green colour, so as to match the grass and leaves among which they live, and thus conceal them from their prey.

The STICK-INSECTS. or SPECTRE-INSECTS, have some resemblance to the Soothsayers, but are exclusively vegetable-feeders, and have long, sprawling legs, or shorter ones, sometimes more or less lobate; but they never possess prehensile fore legs for seizing prey. The wing-cases are generally quite small; but some species have beautiful large green or pink wings, folded fan-wise, and covered by the stout front border of the wing. Many species are wingless, and of a grey or brown colour, which renders them scarcely distinguishable from dry bits of stick; and among these is the largest living insect known, a grey stick-like species from Borneo, measuring nearly 13 inches from head to tail. Other species have curious excrescences on the legs and body, which make them look like bits of wood overgrown with moss or lichen; while others possess large flat lobes growing from the legs and body, which cause them to be almost indistinguishable from green leaves; and, indeed, these insects are frequently called "Walking Leaves."

[_New York._

LONG-HORNED GRASSHOPPER.

This insect belongs to the same family as the well-known British species. The specimen from which this photograph was taken had unfortunately (as is often the case) broken antennæ; they should be twice as long as the wings.]

With the CRICKETS we commence the last three families of the group, which are distinguished from the others by their power of leaping. The hind legs are very long, with very thick thighs, and generally a double row of strong teeth or spines on the shanks. The feet are generally three-jointed, and there is usually a long ovipositor in the females. There are very few true crickets in England, but three of these are very conspicuous species. The first is the MOLE-CRICKET, a large light brown insect nearly 2 inches long, with broad, short front legs rather like those of a mole, which it uses in a similar way. Though common and destructive in fields and gardens, it is not often seen: but if water be thrown on the ground overnight, and a board laid over it, one or two mole-crickets are likely to be found underneath in the morning. The HOUSE-CRICKET resembles this insect in colour, but is not much more than half an inch long, and there is nothing remarkable in the structure of its legs. It is almost the only noisy insect found in English houses, and is very similar to the common cockroach in its habits, although free from the disagreeable smell which adds to the disgust the latter insect often inspires. The third species, the FIELD-CRICKET, is a smooth black insect, larger and stouter than the house-cricket. It constructs burrows in grassy places, but is not now a very common species in England. In the last two species, and many others, there is a bare space on one of the wing-cases of the male, crossed by ribs in a manner varying according to the species, which helps to produce the loud chirping for which these insects are remarkable.

[_Colesborne._

CAPE GRASSHOPPER (FEMALE).

This insect, which is remarkable for the inflated bladder-like appearance of the male, is an object of superstition among the Boers. Colour, bright apple-green with white stripes.]

The LONG-HORNED GRASSHOPPERS, which form the next family, are distinguished by having four joints to their feet, a long ovipositor in the female, and very long, slender antennæ. The commonest species inhabiting England, and one of the largest grasshoppers, is the GREAT GREEN GRASSHOPPER, which is found leaping about among long grass and low bushes, especially in the south of England. It is about 2 inches in length. Among the foreign species of this rather extensive family, we may mention some green or reddish South American species, with a large round spot on the hind wings, not unlike those seen in the peacock-butterfly.

EGYPTIAN LOCUST.

A common North African species, of which specimens occasionally visit England.]

EGYPTIAN LOCUST.

This figure shows the upper surface of the specimen represented in the preceding photograph.]

[_Cambridge._

WART-EATING GRASSHOPPER (TWO VIEWS).

Used by Swedish peasants to bite off their warts.]

The last family includes the SHORT-HORNED GRASSHOPPERS, or TRUE LOCUSTS, so very destructive in many countries, though the real MIGRATORY LOCUSTS are only casual visitors to England, the native British species being all small insects, found among grass, and doing but little damage. The commonest of the Migratory Locusts visiting Britain is the RED-LEGGED LOCUST, which expands from 2 to 4 inches, and has grey wing-cases varied with brown, pale green hind wings, and red hind shanks, with white black-tipped spines. Another species, the EGYPTIAN LOCUST, more rarely met with, has brown fore wings, and grey hind wings, crossed by a broad blackish band. Two photographs are given on page 693 of a specimen brought to England among vegetables in the spring of 1901. Many foreign locusts, large and small, have beautiful red or blue hind wings, and some of these are common on the Continent, though not in England; those found in Europe are comparatively small, measuring only 1 or 2 inches across the wing-cases; but some of the great South American locusts measure as much as 7 or 8 inches in expanse. However, some of the smaller species, such as the CYPRIAN LOCUST and the ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOCUST, which measure less than 2 inches across the wing-cases, are much more destructive than the large species.

A real invasion of locusts is a terrible calamity, for the insects fly like birds, but in vast flocks, and devour every scrap of vegetation where they settle. Sometimes a flight, two or three miles broad, continues to fly steadily over the same spot for hours together. Sometimes flocks perish at sea, and are cast up on the beach in heaps like sand-hills, extending for a distance of forty or fifty miles. Nor are the young locusts less destructive before they acquire wings; for they march across a district in such numbers as to extinguish fires, fill up trenches, and overcome all similar obstacles placed in their way by sheer force of numbers; and it is well said of a visitation of locusts, "The land is as the Garden of Eden before them, and behind is a desolate wilderness."

NERVE-WINGED OR LACE-WINGED INSECTS, OR DRAGON-FLIES AND THEIR RELATIVES.

BY THE REV. THEODORE WOOD, F.E.S.

The Nerve-winged Insects owe their title to the peculiar character of their wings, the horny veins which form the framework of those organs being multiplied and sub-divided to such an extent that they assume the appearance of exceedingly delicate network.

These insects fall naturally into two great groups, in one of which the chrysalis, or pupa, is active, and continues to take food like the grub, while in the other it is passive and helpless, like that of a butterfly or a moth.

Prominent among the members of the first division are the Dragon-flies, which owe their title partly to their extreme voracity, and partly to the fact that they feed entirely upon living insects, which they pursue through the air. They are exceedingly swift of wing, and may be seen hawking over ponds and streams on any fine day throughout the summer and early autumn.

The earlier part of their lives is spent in the water, in which the eggs are laid by the parent insect. The grubs are usually of a dull grey or brownish-green colour, and are remarkable for a curious organ known as the "mask," which partly covers the lower surface of the head. This apparatus consists of two joints, which fold upon one another, but can be extended at will, the one farthest from the head terminating in a pair of large and powerful jaws. When the grub perceives an insect-victim, it swims cautiously beneath, and seizes it by means of these jaws. The "mask" is then folded, and the prisoner drawn down within reach of the mandibles, by means of which it is speedily devoured.

[_Regent's Park._

DRAGON-FLY.

These insects are often known as "Horse-stingers," although they do not sting horses; in fact, they are perfectly harmless, except to insects smaller and weaker than themselves.]

The method of swimming practised by the dragon-fly grub is also very curious. Through the centre of the body runs a longitudinal tube, terminating in a circular orifice, closed by means of five tightly fitting valves. These valves, which together form a sharp spike when closed, can be separated at will. When the insect wishes to swim, it fills the tube with water, and then squirts the contents forcibly out, the result being that it is driven swiftly forwards by the reaction.

The pupa of the dragon-fly is very much like the grub, with the exception that the rudiments of the future wings may be seen on the back.

About forty species of these insects are found in the British Islands, of which the GREAT DRAGON-FLY is a well-known example. The body is 3 inches in length, while the extended wings measure about 4 inches from tip to tip. In colour it is light rusty brown, with a few pale markings. The "HORSE-STINGER"--which is perfectly harmless, notwithstanding its popular title--is also common, and may be recognised at once by its flat dull yellow body, which becomes blue in the fully developed male. In the graceful and beautiful DEMOISELLE the male is deep blue, with black patches on the wings, while the female is entirely green.

Allied to these insects is the COMMON MAY-FLY, popularly supposed to live for one day only. As a matter of fact, however, it spends a couple of years in the grub and pupa states, inhabiting burrows in the banks of ponds and streams. These burrows are curved, and have two entrances, one above the other, so that the insect can pass in and out with perfect ease.

The May-fly is also remarkable for the fact that the perfect insect changes its skin shortly after reaching maturity. Before this change takes place the female insect is the "Green Drake" of the angler; afterwards, the "Grey Drake."

QUEEN TERMITE.

Her huge white body is full of eggs, of which she lays thousands every day.]

To this group belong also the TERMITES, or "White Ants," so exceedingly numerous in almost all the warmer parts of the world. These are social insects, living together in vast colonies, and making most wonderful nests, which consist of a vast and complicated series of chambers and passages, sheltered beneath a turreted dome of clay. In the centre is the "royal cell," inhabited by the "king" and "queen," as the perfect male and female are called. These are winged when first they leave the pupal shell. But after taking a single flight, they snap off their wings at the base, just as ants do; while for the rest of their lives they are absolute prisoners in the cell built around them by the workers.

Shortly after this strange incarceration takes place, the body of the queen swells to a huge size, so that, to quote Professor Drummond, she becomes "a large, loathsome, cylindrical package, 2 or 3 inches long, in shape like a sausage, and as white as a bolster." She now begins to deposit eggs at the rate of several thousands in a day, which are at once carried off by the workers, to whom is entrusted the entire care of the helpless young. These workers, which are exceedingly numerous, also enlarge the nest from time to time, and construct tunnels of clay up the trunks and along the branches of trees, through which they may convey to the nurseries in security the gums and decaying wood for the nutriment of the young.

A fourth form of insect is also found in the termites' nest, known as the "Soldier." The head is much larger and the jaws are much longer and stronger than those of the worker, and the sole function appears to be to defend the nest when attacked. Both soldier and worker, apparently, proceed from the same eggs which produce the king and queen, the difference in development being probably due--as in the hive-bee--to the character of the food with which the young are supplied.

[_Regent's Park._

TERMITES.

The perfect male and female are winged, the "worker" and the "soldier" being more like grubs than perfect insects.]

[_Milford-on-Sea._

TERMITES' NESTS IN QUEENSLAND.

These nests are sometimes 14 or 15 feet high.]

[_Milford-on-Sea._

TERMITES' NEST IN QUEENSLAND.

The smaller nests, when opened and emptied, are used by the natives as ovens.]

[_Milford-on-Sea._

TERMITES AT WORK.

This shows one of the most destructive of wood-eating insects, nearly of the natural size.]

In a state of nature termites are undoubtedly beneficial. They are scavengers, in fact, whose duty it is to remove the dead and decaying wood which would otherwise encumber the ground for many years. But in civilised districts they are extremely mischievous, books, furniture, and all the woodwork of houses being often completely destroyed by them before their presence is even suspected.

The second division of the order also forms two well-marked groups--namely, the Flat-winged Insects, in which the wings are fully spread, horizontally or obliquely, even in repose, and the Hairy-winged Insects, in which those organs can be folded longitudinally, like the joints of a fan.

Of the former group, the ANT-LION of Southern Europe is a familiar example. The perfect insect is seldom seen, owing to its nocturnal habits. In appearance it is not unlike a small and delicately built dragon-fly, with a yellowish head, a black body, and transparent wings marbled with brownish spots. The larva, however, is terrestrial, and lives in a funnel-shaped pitfall which it scoops out in the sand, always working backwards in a spiral direction, and jerking out the sand with its broad head in an almost continuous shower. Having completed the excavation, it buries itself at the bottom with merely the tips of its jaws appearing above the surface, and there waits for ants or other small creatures to fall down the sloping sides, accelerating their descent, if need be, by flinging sand upon them. The size of the pit varies with that of the insect, the fully grown grub digging down to the depth of about 2 inches, while the cavity is about 3 inches in diameter.

The mouth of the ant-lion grub is very curiously constructed, the jaws lying in a groove on the inner margin of the mandibles, or jaws proper; so that while an insect is held prisoner by the latter, the former can be employed in sucking its juices. When the body of the victim has been completely drained, the empty skin is thrown out of the pit by a jerk of the head.

The chrysalis, too, is remarkable for possessing jaws, by means of which it cuts its way out of the cocoon which it made, when a larva, by spinning grains of sand together with silken threads.

In some South European and African insects allied to the ant-lions the hind wings are modified into extremely long and slender shafts, slightly expanded at the extremities. In an Indian species belonging to a related genus these wings are scarcely more than threads, and bear a superficial resemblance to the attenuated limbs of certain gnats. One group, of which a Japanese species is a well-known representative, is characterised by the long, slender, and clubbed antennæ.

[_Milford-on-Sea._

TERMITES' NEST.

Showing one year's reconstruction to nest, of which the photographer made a section.]

The MANTIS-FLIES are remarkable for the structure of the fore limbs, which are almost exactly similar in character to those of the praying-mantis. The upper segment of the leg is so lengthened as to look like an additional joint; the lower surface of the thigh is armed with a number of long, sharp spines; and the tibia, or lower part of the leg, folds closely down upon it, after the manner of the blade of a clasp-knife. These limbs are used for seizing, an insect which is once grasped being effectually prevented by the spines from breaking away.

The larvæ of these insects are parasitic in the nests of tree-wasps and spiders, and have the peculiarity of practically losing their limbs as they approach maturity; so that while at first they are free and active, they afterwards become almost as helpless as those of many beetles. One species is found in Southern Europe, the remainder being widely distributed over the hotter regions of the globe.

Allied to the Mantis-flies are the curious SNAKE-FLIES, or CAMEL-FLIES. In these insects the head is very large, and is attached to the thorax, or central division of the body, by a long and distinct neck, which allows it great freedom of motion. The neck is usually raised and the head bent down, giving to the insect a remarkably snake-like appearance.

These flies are predaceous in their habits, and the four British species may be found on the banks of ponds and small streams, where they can obtain insect-victims in plenty. The larvæ live beneath the bark of trees, and wriggle about in a singularly serpentine fashion.

SCORPION-FLY.

Remarkable for the curious structure of the end of the body.]

Equally curious in a different way are the SCORPION-FLIES, in which the body is prolonged into a slender three-jointed process, the extremity of which, in the male, is furnished with a pair of curved forceps. In spite of their somewhat formidable appearance these insects are perfectly harmless. They are very plentiful almost everywhere, and may be found in numbers on any sunny summer morning resting on the herbage on hedge-banks, or running actively about on the leaves of low bushes. Like the Snake-flies, they are predaceous, feeding entirely upon other insects, and often attacking those which are bigger and apparently stronger than themselves. The eggs are laid underground, and the grubs, which are entirely subterranean in their habits, feed upon decomposing vegetable matter. When fully fed, they burrow still deeper into the ground, and there change into pupæ, from which the perfect insects emerge about a fortnight later. In the common English species the body is shining black, and the legs are yellow, while the transparent wings are marked with brown spots, which generally form three broken transverse bands. The insect is about half an inch in length.

Certain allied insects have very slender bodies and long legs, and might easily be mistaken for "daddy-long-legs" by any one who failed to notice the presence of two pairs of wings. A species found in Southern Europe is reddish yellow in colour, with a brown thorax and yellowish wings. It has a curious habit of suspending itself from a twig by its fore legs, and seizing any flying insect which may come within reach with the middle and hinder pairs.

[_Regent's Park._

ADULT FORM OF ANT-LION.

The grub of this insect lives in small pits in sandy places, and feeds upon the ants, etc., which roll down the sloping sides.]

Allied to the foregoing is the extraordinary little snow-insect, which makes its appearance in mid-winter, and may even be found crawling on the surface of snow. In general appearance it is not unlike a larval grasshopper, with very long, slender legs, and antennæ of about the same length as the body. There is also a well-developed beak. The wings are quite rudimentary in the female, while even in the male they are so short as to be perfectly useless for flight. The insect is remarkably active, nevertheless, and possesses the power of leaping, although the hinder thighs are not developed in any great degree. In colour it is metallic green, with the beak, antennæ, legs, wings, and ovipositor rusty red. It is not uncommon in the north of England and Scotland.

Far more generally distributed is the LACEWING-FLY, or GOLDEN-EYE, which may be seen almost anywhere on warm summer evenings flitting slowly to and fro in the twilight. During the daytime it may often be found resting upon fences, or sitting on the leaves of low plants. In colour it is pale green, with a peculiar milky appearance, and the eyes glow as though lighted by an inward fire. The wings are so closely and elaborately veined that they look like a piece of the most delicate lace-work. It is not advisable to handle the insect, for, although perfectly harmless, it possesses the power of pouring out from its body a liquid of the most horrible odour, which clings to the fingers in spite of repeated ablutions.