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RITISH INSECTS. 
 
UNIVEESIT 
 
 

 B/O 
 
BKITISH INSECTS 
 
 FAMILIAR DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FORM, STRUCTURE, HABITS, AND TRANSFORMATIONS 
 OF INSECTS. 
 
 v 
 
 'UNIVERSITY 
 
 E. F. STAVE LEY, 
 
 AUTHOR OP "BRITISH SFIDBHS." 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 L. REEVE AND CO,, 5 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN 
 
 1871. 
 
LONDON: 
 
 SAVILL. EDWARDS AND CO., PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET, 
 COVENT GARDEN. 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 THIS little work is planned on the supposition that the 
 reader knows nothing scientifically of the Insect World, 
 but that he has exercised some degree of observation on 
 such common species as must have come before him. 
 From this it is attempted to lead him on to a general idea 
 of the Structure and Classification of Insects. 
 
 The main endeavour of the writer has been to induce 
 the student to keep ahead of the book, which a small 
 amount of pains in examining the very common insects 
 chiefly described will enable him to do. 
 
 Thus, for example, after reading the first four chap- 
 ters, and comparing the insects described in them with 
 the Table of Orders (p. 60), he will find that by the 
 time he requires the more particular tables of characters 
 which follow the various orders, he will already be 
 familiar with most of the characters used, and will 
 require guidance only as to their application. 
 
 As few technical terms as possible have been em- 
 ployed, and, where practicable, English names have been 
 used for the species described. This, however, is always 
 a difficulty, from the utter absence of precision in the 
 application of popular names ; the most dissimilar insects 
 frequently sharing one name, while one insect may 
 be endowed with half-a-dozen " aliases" in the same 
 county; and each one of these is the right name, and 
 the only name, to him who employs it. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 For instance 
 
 " JAN. What's got there, you ? 
 
 WILL. A blastnashun Straddlebob craalun about in 
 the nammut bag. 
 
 JAN. Straddlebob ! Where dedst leyarn to caal'n by 
 that neyam ? 
 
 WILL. Why, what should e caal'n ? tes the right 
 neyam, esn ut ? 
 
 JAN. Eight neyam, no ! Why ye gurt zote vool, casn't 
 zee tes a Dumbledore ? 
 
 WILL. I know tes ; but vur aal that Straddlebob's zo 
 right a neyam vorn as Dumbledore ez. 
 
 JAN. Come, I'll be deyand if I doan't laay thee a quart 
 o' that. 
 
 WILL. Done ! and I'll ax meyastur to-night when I 
 goos whoam, beet how't wool. 
 
 ***;** 
 
 WILL. I zay, Jan ! I axed meyastur about that are, 
 last night. 
 
 JAN. Well ! what did ur zay ? 
 
 WILL. Why, a zed one neyam ez jest zo vittum vorn 
 as tother ; and he louz a ben caald Straddlebob ever 
 zunce the island was vust meyad."* 
 
 There is a story of a young preacher who, feeling for 
 an opinion on his sermon, elicited the compliment, " It 
 was short." "Yes," replied the gratified orator, "I 
 wished to avoid being tedious." "But you were 
 tedious !" 
 
 The writer of the present work earnestly hopes that 
 the attempt to be popular, yet without scientific inac- 
 curacy, may not result in a verdict of "Slovenly but 
 dry." 
 
 * Specimen of Isle of Wight dialect from Halliwell, in Latham's 
 " History of the English Language." 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. P4GH 
 
 INTRODUCTION 1 
 
 I. THE DISTINGUISHING CHAEACTEBS OF INSECTS . 14 
 II. THE EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF INSECTS ... 24 
 
 III. THE WINGS OF INSECTS, AND THEIR CLASSI- 
 
 FICATION 40 
 
 IV. THE CHANGES OF INSECTS 55 
 
 V. COLEOPTERA 63 
 
 VI. COLEOPTERA (continued) 86 
 
 VIL EUPLEXOPTERA 109 
 
 VILL ORTHOPTERA 113 
 
 IX. THTSANOPTERA 123 
 
 X. NEUROPTERA . . . 126 
 
 XI. TRICHOPTERA 146 
 
 XII. HYMENOPTERA 152 
 
 XIII, HYMENOPTERA (continued} TEREBRANTIA . . 155 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. *AGE 
 
 XIV. TEREBRANTIA (continued) 169 
 
 XV. HYMENOPTERA (continued) ACULEATA . . .187 
 
 XVI. ACULEATA (continued) 203 
 
 XVII. ACULEATA (continued) 213 
 
 XVIII. ACULEATA (continued) 221 
 
 XIX. ACULEATA (continued) 231 
 
 XX. LEPIDOPTERA 255 
 
 XXL LEPIDOPTERA (continued) 268 
 
 XXII. LEPIDOPTERA (continued) LARVAE . . . .276 
 
 XXIII. HOMOPTERA 296 
 
 XXIV. HETEROPTERA . 315 
 
 XXV. APHANIPTERA 329 
 
 XXVI. DIPTERA . . 332 
 
 GLOSSARY 380 
 
 INDEX TO FAMILIES, GENERA, ETC 382 
 
 GENERAL INDEX . . .387 
 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. 
 
 PLATE I. 
 
 COLEOPTERA. 
 
 SECTION I. PEXTAMERA. 
 
 Adephaga. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Fig. 1. Cicindela campestris ( Tiger Beetle) . . 66 
 
 ,, 2. Carabus violaceus ...... 67 
 
 Hydradephaga. 
 
 3. Acilius sulcatus $ ..... 69 
 4. Gyrinus natator (Whirligig Beetle) . . . 70 
 
 Necrophaga. 
 5. Silpha quadripunctata (Burying Beetle) . . 73 
 
 Brachelytra. 
 6. Goerius oleus (Devil's Coach-horse) . . 75 
 
 PLATE H. 
 
 COLEOPTERA (continued). 
 
 PENTAMERA (continued). 
 
 Clavicornes. 
 
 Fig. 1. Byrrhus pilula (Pill Beetle). 1, a. Profile of 
 
 head 77 
 
 Lamellicornes. 
 2. Geotrupes stercorarius (Common Dung Beetle, 
 
 or Dumbledor) ...... 78 
 
 3. Melolontha vulgaris $ (Cockchafer) . . 79 
 
 Macrosterni. 
 
 4. Elater (Athous) vittatus (Skipjack) . . 80 
 Aproeterni. 
 
 5. Lampyris noctiluca ^ (Glowworm), male. 
 
 5, a. Profile of head . - , . . . .81 
 6. Ditto ditto female . . 81 
 
X DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. 
 
 PLATE III. 
 
 COLE OP TEE A (continued). 
 PENTAMER A (con tinned). 
 Aprosterni (continued). 
 
 PA.GB 
 
 Fig. 1. Telephorus fusca (Sailor) . ; . . 81 
 2. Anobium striatum (Death-watch) ... 84 
 
 SECTION II. HETEROMERA. 
 Trachelia. 
 
 3. Pyrochroa rubens (Cardinal Beetle) . . 86 
 ,, 4. Meloe proscarabasus (Oil Beetle) ... 87 
 
 SECTION III. TETRAMERA. 
 Rhyncophora. 
 
 5. Phyllobius argentatus ( Weevil) . 5, a. Profile 
 
 of head 89 
 
 Longicornes. 
 6. Clytusarietis(JFasp Beetle) .... 93 
 
 PLATE IV. 
 EUPLEXOPTERA. 
 
 Fig. 1. Forficula auricularia (Earwig), with wings 
 
 expanded ....... 110 
 
 ORTHOPTERA. 
 
 2. Blatta lapponica (Small Cockroach) . .115 
 3. Acheta domestica (House Cricket) . . .116 
 4. Phasgonura (Gryllus) viridissima (Great Green 
 
 Grasshopper) . . . . . .120 
 
 5. Locusta flavipes . . . . . .122 
 
 THYSANOPTERA. 
 
 6, Phaslothrips cerealis (Thrips) . . . .123 
 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. XI 
 
 PLATE V. 
 NEUROPTERA. 
 
 Fig. 1. Ephemera vulgata (Mayfly} . . . .135 
 
 2. Panorpa communis $ (Scorpion-fly) . .140 
 
 ,, 3. Hemerobius perla (Lacefly) . . . .139 
 
 4. Sialis lutaria . . . . . .140 
 
 5. Raphidia ophiopsis (Snake fly) . . .141 
 
 TRICHOPTERA. 
 6. Phryganea grandis (Caddis-fly or Water-moth} 146 
 
 PLATE VI. 
 
 HYMENOPTERA. 
 
 SECTION I. TEREBRANTIA. 
 
 Serrifera. 
 Fig. 1. Tenthredo zonata (Sawfly) . . . .158 
 
 Terebellifera. 
 2. Sirex Gigas (Woodbarer), less than natural size 168 
 
 Spiculifera, 
 
 ,, 3. Cynips lignicola (now Kollari) (Gallfly) . 177 
 
 ,, 4. Ophion luteus (Yellow Ophion). 4, a. Side 
 
 view . . . . . . . .180 
 
 5. Chalcis flavipes . . ... 182 
 
 Tubulifera. 
 6. Chrysis ignita (Ruby-tail) . . . .184 
 
 PLATE VH. 
 
 HYMENOPTERA (continued). 
 
 SECTION II. ACULEATA. 
 
 Heterogyna (Ants). 
 
 Fig. 1. Formica flava (Yellow Ant) . . . .188 
 2. Mutilla Europsea (Solitary Ant) . . .201 
 
Xll DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. 
 
 PLATE VII. (continued). 
 Fossores (Sand and Wood-wasps). 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fig. 3. Pompilus exaltatus ..... 206 
 ,, 4. Amrnophila sabulosa . . . . .206 
 ,, 5. Tachytes pompiliformis ..... 207 
 ,, 6. Mellinus arvensis. 6, a. Head of ditto, profile 208 
 
 PLATE VIII. 
 
 HYMENOPTERA (continued). 
 
 ACUJ.EATA (continued) . 
 
 Fossoi*es (continued) . 
 
 Fig. 1. Crabro vagus . . . . . .210 
 
 2. Pemphredon lugubris . . . . .211 
 
 Diploptera (True Wasps). 
 
 3. Eumenes coarctata (Solitary Wasp) . . 213 
 ,, 4. Odynerus antilope (Solitary Wasp) . .214 
 5. Vespa vulgaris (Common Wasp) (Social). 
 
 5, a. Face of ditto . . . . . 215 
 6. Vespa Norvegica (Social Wasp). 6, a. Face 
 
 of ditto 220 
 
 PLATE IX. 
 HYMENOPTERA (continued). 
 
 ACULEATA (continued) . 
 AndrenidcB (Short-tongued Bees). 
 
 Fig. 1. Sphecodes rufescens . . . . . 227 
 
 ,, 2. Halictus morio $ . . . . . . 227 
 
 3. Andrena fulva $ 229 
 
 Apidcs (Long-tongued Bees). 
 4. Nomada sexfasciata . - 234 
 
 ,, 5. Osrnia bicornis 236 
 
 6. Bombus terrestris Q .243 
 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. Xlll 
 
 PLATE X. 
 
 LEPIDOPTERA. 
 
 SECTION I. RHOPALOCERA. 
 
 Fig. 1. Gonepteryx rhamni $ (Sulphur Butterfly) . 260 
 2. Hipparchiajanira (Meadow -brown Butterfly) 262 
 3. Polyommatus alexis (Common Blue Butterfly) 264 
 
 SECTION II. HETEROCERA. 
 
 Sphingina. 
 
 4. Chgerocampa porcellas (Small Elephant Hawk- 
 Moth) 269 
 
 Bombycina. 
 5. Pygasra bucephala (Buff '-tipped Moth) . . 270 
 
 Noctuina. 
 6. Gonoptera libatrix 272 
 
 PLATE XL 
 
 LEPIDOPTERA (continued). 
 HETEROCERA (continued) . 
 
 Geometrina. 
 (Not represented here.) 
 
 Pyralidina. 
 
 Fig. 1. Botys urticata (Small Magpie Moth) . . 273 
 2. Hypena proboscidaiis (Snout Moth) . 273 
 
 Tortricina. 
 3. Xanthosetia zygaena 274 
 
 Tineina. 
 4. Cemiostoma laburnella 275 
 
 Pterophorina. 
 5. Pterophorus pentadactylus (Strawberry Plume 
 
 Moth) ' 275 
 
 A lucitina. 
 6. Alucita polydactyla (Twenty-plume Moth) . 275 
 
XIV DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. 
 
 PLATE XII. 
 HOMOPTERA. 
 
 SECTION I. TRIMERA. PAGB 
 
 Fig. 1. Cicada anglica 300 
 
 2. Anthophora spumaria (Cuckoo-spit Insect) . 302 
 
 3. Cercopis sanguinolenta ..... 302 
 
 4. Membracis cornuta. 4, a. Ditto, side view . 302 
 
 SECTION II. DIMERA. 
 5. Aphis Rosae (Rose Aphis). 5, a. Side view, 
 
 natural size ...... 303 
 
 6. Aleyrodes chelidonii. 6, a. Ditto, three times 
 
 natural size, to show position of wings . . 308 
 
 PLATE XIII. 
 
 HETEROPTERA. 
 
 SECTION I. HYDROCORISA. 
 
 Fig. 1. Notonecta glauca ( Water Boatman) . .316 
 ,, 2. Nepa cinerea ( Water Scorpion) . . .318 
 
 SECTION II. AUROCORISA. 
 
 3. Gerris paludum 320 
 
 ,, 4. Capsus spissicornis ..... 322 
 
 5. Lygseus equestris . . . . . .323 
 
 ,, 6. Pentatoma rufipes ..... 324 
 
 PLATE XIV. 
 DIPTERA. 
 
 SECTION I. PROBOSCIDEA. 
 
 Nemocera. 
 
 Culicidce. 
 
 Fig. 1. Culex pipiens $ (Common Gnat). 1, a. Head 
 of ditto $ (antennge truncated). 1, j. Ditto 
 (antennae truncated) . . . . .347 
 
 Brachycera. 
 
 Stratiomidce. 
 
 ,, 2. Stratiomys chameleon (Soldier-fly) . . 354 
 
 ,, 3. Sargus cuprarius. 3, a. Antenna . . .354 
 
 TdbanidcB. 
 4. Tabanus autumnalis (Horsefly). 4, a. Antenna 355 
 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. XV 
 
 PLATE HIV. (continued). 
 
 Asilidcs. p AGB 
 
 Fig. 5. Asilus crabroniformis . . . . .356 
 
 Leptidce. 
 6. Leptis Scolopacea. 6, a. Antenna . . 357 
 
 PLATE XV. 
 
 DIPTERA (continued). 
 
 PROBOSCIDEA (continued). 
 
 Brachycera (continued). 
 
 Bombylidce. 
 Fig. 1. Bombylius major (Beefly) .... 357 
 
 Empidce. 
 2. Empis tessellata ...... 358 
 
 Syrphidce. 
 
 3. Eristalis tenax (Dronefly) ... 47, 360 
 4. Syrphus pyrastri. 4, a. Antenna . . .361 
 5. Melithneptus menastri ..... 362 
 
 Conopidce. 
 6. Conops rufipes 363 
 
 PLATE XVI. 
 
 DIPTEK A (continued) . 
 
 PROBOSCIDEA (continued). 
 
 Brachycera (continued) . 
 
 Muscidce. 
 
 Fig. 1. Bucentes geniculatus . . . . .364 
 2. Stomoxys calcitrans (Stable-fty) . . . 364 
 ,, 3. Musca domestica (Housefly). 3, a. Antenna . 365 
 4. Sepsis cynipsea 368 
 
 (Estrida. 
 5. (Estms (or Cephalemyia) ovis (Gadfly). 
 
 5, a. Antenna ...... 369 
 
 SECTION II. EPROBOSCID.E. 
 6. Melophagus ovinus (Sheeptick) . . .372 
 
LIST OF VIGNETTES. 
 
 EGYPTIAN HAWK-HEADED SCARABJEUS THRUSTING FORWARD THE 
 DISK OF THE SUN. 
 
 From a Carved Stone in the British Museum. Page 63, 
 
 TITHONOUS. 
 
 From an antique gem. Page 113. 
 
 LION AND BEE. 
 
 Roman Mithraical gem from the Gemma Antiques of 
 Agostino. Page 152. 
 
 DEATH'S HEAD BUTTERFLY AND URN. 
 
 From a Neo-Platonian gem, signifying the Immortality 
 of the Soul. Page 255. 
 
 Or, Ephemera? signifying the shortness of life. See 
 page 10, and note, page 136. 
 
 DEUS MYIAGRUS (the God of Flies). See page 2, note. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 38, title of cut, read " Naucoris cimicoides." 
 
 103, the line " SUBSECTION I. ADEPHAGA," should pre- 
 cede the three lines above. 
 ,, 115, last line, for " Lapponia," read "Lapponica." 
 
C l "^K 
 
 UN' 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 As the object of this work is, not to teach Entomology, 
 but to lead the reader in the first steps towards that 
 science, by increasing the interest with which he may 
 be disposed to regard the tribe of insects, it may not 
 be altogether out of place to devote a few pages to 
 their connexion with the history and superstitions of 
 past ages. 
 
 They are a small people, but they have no small work 
 to accomplish in the world. They are a small people, 
 but they hold no inconsiderable place in the history of 
 mankind. In our own day there are whole tracts of 
 country where their dominion cannot be overthrown by 
 man, and from whence he is driven by them. There was 
 a time when a mighty king was shaken in his purpose 
 " by reason of the swarm of flies," and there was a time 
 when nations bowed down before the Lord of Flies. 
 
 The worship of the Fly, or rather of the Fly-destroyer 
 personified, is said to have commenced in Egypt. From 
 Egypt the Caphtorim carried it into Palestine, and 
 there we find their descendants, the Philistines of Ekron, 
 worshipping the Fly-god under the name of Baal-zebub.* 
 
 2 Kings, i. 2. 
 B 
 
2 INSECTS. 
 
 By the Phoenicians this worship was introduced into 
 Tyre, Sidon, and Babylon, and from these three great 
 centres of commerce and civilization it spread into other 
 parts of the world. 
 
 In Greece the origin, according to tradition, of this 
 worship was, that Hercules, being tormented during the 
 Olympic rites by hosts of flies, offered a sacrifice to 
 Zeus in order to be rid of them. The sacrifice was 
 accepted, and the flies removed beyond the boundary of 
 the River Alpheus. From this time the great Zeus was 
 known at Olympia by the surname of 'ATTO/UWO^ (Apo- 
 myius) " driving away the flies" and the annual 
 sacrifice of a bull to Zeus Apomyius* at the Olympic 
 games, is said to have been performed with the result of 
 dispersing the hosts of flies, which were the torment of 
 those rites ; whilst the Elians were unremitting in the like 
 worship, by which they deprecated the infliction of those 
 swarms of flies, which they believed to bring with them 
 pestilence and disease. At the festival of Athena at 
 Aliphera, the Hero Myiagrus, or Myioides (juutayjooe, that 
 is, the fly-catcher) was invoked as the protector against 
 flies. 
 
 The Romans also had their Deus Myiagrus, and into 
 the Temple of Hercules, at Rome, flies were not permitted 
 to enter. 
 
 Coming nearer to our own day, we read of the same 
 or a similar worship as prevalent amongst the Hottentots, 
 who adore " as a benign deity, a certain insect, peculiar, 
 it is said, to the Hottentot countries. This animal is of 
 
 * A representation of Zeus Apomyius, or the Deus Myiagrus, on an 
 ancient gem, will be found figured at the head of the chapter on Diptera. 
 The face of the god is given in the figure of the fly. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 the dimensions of a child's little finger, the back is green, 
 and the belly speckled with white and red. It is pro- 
 vided with two wings, and on its head with two horns. 
 To this little winged deity, whenever they set eyes on it, 
 they render the highest tokens of veneration ; and if it 
 honours a Kraal (a village) with a visit, the inhabitants 
 assemble about it in transports of devotion, as if the 
 LORD OF THE UNIVERSE was come among them. They 
 sing and dance round it while it stays, troop after troop 
 throwing to it the powder of Bachu, with which they cover 
 at the same time the whole of the kraal, the tops of their 
 cottages, and everything without doors. They likewise 
 kill two fat sheep as a thank-offering for this high honour. 
 It is impossible to drive out of a Hottentot's head that 
 the arrival of this insect to a kraal brings favour and 
 prosperity to the inhabitants."* 
 
 That this worship should have obtained so widely, will 
 not seem wonderful, when we recal the historical 
 evidences of the power of these little creatures, and re- 
 member that under the polytheistic system of religion, 
 not only were the beneficent powers of nature adored, 
 but the agents prejudicial to man were personified, and 
 became the objects of deprecation. Hence, it could 
 hardly fail that creatures so powerful for evil as to be 
 the means of devastating and rendering uninhabitable 
 whole tracts of country, should find a place amongst the 
 fear-inspiring gods of the heathen. 
 
 Thus, too, it may easily be conceived that while the 
 Israelites of old were rejoicing over the messengers of 
 their All-Powerful Protector, that plague, which took its 
 
 * Kolben's " Present State of the Cape of Good Hope," vol. i. , quoted 
 in Parkhurst's Greek Lexicon, under " Beelzebub." 
 
 B2 
 
4 INSECTS. 
 
 rank amongst such miseries as pestilence, murrain, hail 
 with fire, and bereavement, had to the Egyptians yet 
 another horror added when in it they found their great 
 deity subject to the bidding of the leader of their op- 
 pressed slaves. 
 
 Very different from the place held by the fly is that 
 occupied by a representative of another order of insects, 
 namely, the Bee. Seldom, or perhaps never, actually 
 the object of adoration, it finds its place in the symbolism 
 and amongst the superstitions of all times and countries. 
 
 It is as 
 
 " Creatures that by a rule in Nature teach 
 The art of order to a peopled kingdom" 
 
 that they are found amongst the hieroglyphs of Egypt, 
 the symbol of royalty being, according to Horapollo, a 
 reed (or sceptre) followed by a bee ; denoting the people 
 obedient to a king.* 
 
 It may have been in the same sense that it was adopted 
 as a badge by the ancient kings of France, as, for in- 
 stance, by Childeric, on the opening of whose tomb in St. 
 Denis, above 300 golden Bees, which had formed the 
 decoration of his robe, were found ; whilst it is known 
 that Louis XII. and Henri IV. sometimes used these 
 emblems instead offleurs de lys. Upon this it is con- 
 jectured that the fleur de lys was a corruption of the 
 
 * Hence too perhaps arose the superstition prevalent among the Greeks 
 and Romans that the sudden appearance of a swarm of bees was inauspi- 
 cious and ominous of slavery. Virgil, in his 4th Georgic, says of them 
 that 
 
 " Not Egypt, India, Media, more 
 With servile awe their idol king adore." DRYDEN. 
 
 Mr. Sharpe, the great Egyptologist, denies that the bee and sceptre in the 
 hieroglyphs conveyed this meaning. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 figure of a bee, the three upper leaves representing the 
 body and wings of a bee with the head downwards, while 
 the lower parts of the leaves took the place of the head 
 and legs, &c. 
 
 The Great Napoleon, who while changing the esta- 
 blished order of things, never missed an opportunity of 
 showing that he knew full well the value attaching to 
 the prestige of antiquity, replaced the dishonoured fleur 
 de lys by the imperial and more ancient badge of the 
 bee ; and his coronation robe, probably in imitation 
 of that of Childeric, was " seme' with golden bees. 
 
 As a symbol of plenty or fecundity, the bee, or its 
 produce, occurs on all sides. The " Land flowing with 
 milk and honey" of the Bible, is the most familiar 
 instance of this, and the combination is found else- 
 where. 
 
 Thus in the Hindoo Mythology, in which Maya, the 
 Mother of the World and of the Sea of Milk, or primi- 
 tive matter, holds so high a place, we find the bee also 
 bearing a part among the symbols of fecundity. Cama 
 (Love), is represented as a child-god, supported on a 
 quiver, from which issues Yotma (strength), under the 
 form of a lion, the group resting on a bee. Yotma is also 
 represented under the form of a compound being, with 
 a head half bull half lion, the wings of an eagle and the 
 body of a serpent. From the yawning mouth of this 
 being proceeds another deity Prakriti (goodness), in 
 the form of a cow, accompanied by a swarm of bees. 
 But there is one curious figure which exceeds these in 
 interest. Maya, the Creatrix, holds her child, the 
 infant God of Love, in her arms ; behind him is his 
 quiver, and in his hand a bow of sugar-cane strung with 
 bees. Possibly the sting is the point of this figured 
 
6 INSECTS. 
 
 epigram, which at least reminds us of the answer of 
 Venus to young Love's complaint, 
 
 " Oh, mother, I am dead ! 
 An ugly snake, they call a bee, 
 see it swell ! hath murdered me. 
 
 " Venus with smiles replied, ' Oh sir, 
 Does a bee's sting make all this stir ? 
 Think what pains then attend those darts 
 Wherewith thou still art wounding hearts,' " &c. 
 
 The great blue bee also appears in the Hindoo Mytho- 
 logy, reposing on a lotus, and sacred to Vishnu, the second 
 person (or preserver) of the Trimurrti, or Trinity.* 
 
 The bee is found on the coins of those parts of 
 Greece in which the ancient and beneficent god Aris- 
 tseus, son of Apollo and Gyrene, was worshipped. He 
 taught men to keep bees, and the medals of Athens, of 
 Ceos, and other places, bear this insect as his attri- 
 bute. It occurs also on the coins of Ephesus, the 
 city worshipping the great goddess of all fertility and 
 abundance, whose symbol was a bee. 
 
 Again, the bee occurs in the representations of the 
 mithraical worship of Persia, as afterwards adopted in 
 Rome, where the principle of fertility or production is 
 combined with that of strength, under the figure of 
 a lion with a bee at the mouth, forcibly reminding 
 us of the Hindoo use of the same symbols. A very 
 beautiful ancient gem with this subject is figured by 
 Agostino (Gemma Antiquce], in which, according to 
 him, allusion is made to the riddle of Samson, " Out 
 of the strong came forth the sweet. "t 
 
 * For figures of the above Hindoo representations, see the " Nouvelle 
 Galerie Mytkologique, par J. D. Guigniaut." Paris, 1850. 
 
 t A woodcut of this gem will be found at the head of the first chapter 
 on Hymenoptera. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 In Greece bees were recognised as omens of future 
 eloquence, and the stories are well known of the swarin- 
 ing of bees upon the lips of Pindar and of Plato, who 
 
 "Did shed 
 Sweet words like dropping honey." 
 
 And the title of " The Attic Bee" was bestowed upon 
 Xenophon.* 
 
 Later, Antonius, a Greek monk (of the eighth ? 
 twelfth ? century), who formed two Books of Sentences 
 collected from the rich field of the writings of the early 
 Christian Fathers, was surnamed " Melissa," or the Bee ; 
 and Leo Allatius (keeper of the Vatican Library in the 
 seventeenth century), gave to the illustrious men of his 
 own time the collective name of Apes Urbanae. 
 
 It is not easy to account for some of the modern super- 
 stitions which attach to bees. 
 
 The county of Kent is rich in these ; there, if the 
 bees swarm upon a dead tree, the result is a death in 
 the family of their owner ; and so strong is the feeling 
 upon this subject, that care is taken to avert such a 
 misfortune by cutting down any dead tree before the 
 time of the swarming of the bees. In the same county 
 the intimate relation between the hive and the house- 
 hold is also shown by a curious custom which prevails 
 of waking up the bees by knocking on the hive, to tell 
 them when a death occurs in the family. In Brittany 
 (and in Cornwall ?) they tie a small piece of black stuff 
 to the beehives at the time of a death, and a piece of red 
 in the case of a marriage ; without this the bees would 
 never thrive. In the district of Quimperle, if the hives 
 
 Contrast with these our " Wasp of Twickenham." 
 
8 INSECTS. 
 
 have been robbed, the bee-keeper immediately gives them 
 up, there being an old Breton proverb, " No luck after 
 the robber."* 
 
 In Ireland, bees are considered " the luckiest things 
 at all," and an unfortunate house and unsuccessful dairy 
 have been known to go right from the moment of the 
 arrival of swarming bees. 
 
 These "smallest among fowls" have found a place even 
 in heraldry. They were in the family arms of Urban VIII., 
 in whose pontificate Allatius wrote his Apes Urlana, 
 and in England "three bees volant, azure, on a ground, 
 or," are borne by the family of Bye, formerly the Saxon, 
 and still the Dutch name for the bee. 
 
 The Ant, an insect of the same order as that to which 
 the bee belongs, is the subject of a curious superstition 
 in Ceylon, which is quoted by Messrs. Kirby and Spence 
 from Knox's " Ceylon." There is a species of black ant 
 there which " bites desperately, as bad as if a man were 
 burnt by a coal of fire ; but they are of a noble nature, 
 and will not begin unless you disturb them. Formerly 
 these ants went to ask a wife of the Noya, a venomous 
 and noble kind of snake ; and because they had such a 
 high spirit to dare to offer to be related to such a gene- 
 rous creature, they had this virtue bestowed upon them 
 that they should sting after this manner. And if they 
 had obtained a wife of the Noya, they should have had 
 the privilege to sting full as bad as he." 
 
 Like the bee, the ant is present in representations of 
 the god Mithras, and Plutarch tells that it was used in 
 divination. 
 
 We will turn now from these tribes of ruling, ruled, 
 
 * Nesquet a chunche, varlearch ar laer. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 and provident creatures, with their much-lauded virtues, 
 to the joyous, musical, sun-loving tribes of grasshoppers 
 and cicadas " harmless creatures, nourished upon dews," 
 as was once fondly believed, and whose song is to the 
 peasant a harbinger of fair weather and a plentiful harvest. 
 And here again we will quote from the Introduction to 
 Entomology 
 
 " . . . . They were addressed by the most endearing 
 epithets, and were regarded as all but divine. One bard 
 entreats the shepherds to spare the innoxious tettix, that 
 nightingale of the nymphs, and to make those mischievous 
 birds the thrush and blackbird their prey. ' Sweet pro- 
 phet of the summer,' says Anacreon, addressing this 
 insect, ' the Muses love thee, Phoebus himself loves thee, 
 and has given thee a shrill song ; old age does not wear 
 thee ; thou art wise, earth-born, musical, impassive, 
 without blood : thou art almost like a god.' " 
 
 Our authors go on to suggest that the TTTI% of the 
 Greeks must have been more musical than those of other 
 countries, which have been " execrated for the deafening 
 din that they produce ;" but there is as great variety in 
 musical taste as in the quality of music, and among 
 English poets we find one attributing the " sweet music" 
 of the woods to the chorus of lark, linnet, throstle, night- 
 ingale, and grasshopper ; while another writes of " scream- 
 ing grasshoppers," which " fill everye eare with noyse." 
 That the cicada itself entertained little doubt of its musical 
 powers was proved in a contest between Eunomus and 
 Ariston at the Pythian games, when, one of the strings 
 of the cithara of Eunomus being broken, a cicada perched 
 upon the instrument, supplied the deficiency, and won the 
 day for him. 
 
 We cannot, in a chapter devoted to such associations, 
 
1 INSECTS. 
 
 pass from the grasshopper and his associates without one 
 word of him whom " only" 
 
 "Cruel immortality consumes :" 
 
 Who dwelt 
 
 " In presence of immortal youth, 
 Immortal age beside immortal youth." 
 
 Tithonous appears to have been seldom made the 
 subject of representation in ancient art ; but there is a 
 curious gem which represents him " undergoing his 
 metamorphosis," of which an engraving is placed at the 
 head of the chapter on Orthoptera.* 
 
 To speak of the butterfly as connected with the super- 
 stitions of past ages would be an injustice. It stands 
 forward amongst the corrupted myths of the ancients, a 
 beautiful example of pure symbolism, and Psyche ($wxfj) 
 or the soul, is almost constantly, in the later periods of 
 ancient art, to be recognised by her butterfly wings. 
 
 First, the grovelling life of this world crawling and 
 feeding upon the earth ; then the deathlike sleep silent 
 and motionless ; then the breaking forth free, beautiful, 
 and winged surely it is not wonderful that to the 
 poetical Grecian mind, man, living, dead, immortal, was 
 pictured here. 
 
 And thus we find it in a thousand representations. 
 On the lips of Plato, preacher of the immortality of the 
 soul, rests a butterfly ;f and the symbol was introduced 
 into early Christian Art by his descendants, the Neo- 
 
 * It will be observed that insects of two orders have here been mixed, 
 but though separated in science, as musicians they are closely connected, 
 and it is sometimes not easy to ascertain to which animal some notices of 
 the ancients, on this point, are to be referred. 
 
 t Or sometimes butterfly's wings are on his head. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 1 
 
 Platonians, to whom is attributed an engraved gem in 
 which a butterfly hovers over a death's-head.* 
 
 Perhaps a more interesting series of examples of the 
 application of this symbol could hardly be found than is 
 presented by the bas-relief on a Koman sarcophagus, 
 described by Maury,f in which are set forth the 
 course of man's destiny, his creation, the imparting 
 to him a living soul ; his life and sufferings ; his death, 
 or the parting of soul and body ; and the transportation 
 of the disembodied spirit. 
 
 The subject begins with the creation of man, and the 
 reader must be prepared for a little confusion, entailed 
 by Prometheus bearing a double character as creator and 
 as the prototype of man. 
 
 Prometheus is represented seated, holding the finished 
 man, the work of his own hands, upon his knee. Before 
 him stands Minerva, in the act of placing the Butterfly 
 on the head of the newly-created (" and man became a 
 living soul") ; whilst near this group are seen Terra 
 (the Earth, from whence all men come), and Cupid 
 and Psyche, who, embracing each other, set forth 
 the union of soul and body. Above, the fates are 
 busy ; Clotho winds the thread of man's life upon a 
 spindle, while Lachesis traces his horoscope upon a globe. 
 
 The next scene represents the sufferings of Prometheus 
 (as man)', and Deucalion and Pyrrha, types of the per- 
 petuation of the race of mankind, are present ; but, whilst 
 the race subsists, the individual passes away, and the 
 next figure is of the lifeless body extended before Atropos, 
 who sits with the book of destiny open, whilst Love, in 
 
 * Figured at the head of the chapter on Lepidoptera. 
 f " Nouvelle Galerie Mythologique." 
 
12 INSECTS. 
 
 the character of the Angel of Death, watches the butter- 
 fly which is escaping from the body. Terra, present at 
 the birth, is here present at the death, as if to take back 
 to herself the mortal remains ; while Mercury, the soul- 
 bearer, is seen transporting the figure of Psyche, or the 
 soul a female, with butterfly's wings to the regions of 
 the blest. 
 
 Amongst our own less observant and less poetical 
 countrymen, we may perhaps refer the naming of these 
 insects to a feeling of superstition, or a state of mind 
 akin to that described by Bishop Taylor, when "every 
 bush is a wild beast, and every shadow is a ghost, and 
 every glowworm is a dead man's candle, and every lantern 
 is a spirit ;" and accept Messrs. Kirby and Spence's sug- 
 gestion that it is from the old notion that the dead fly 
 about at night in search of light, that in the north and 
 west of England the nocturnal moths which fly into the 
 candles are called sanies (souls), as in Germany they 
 are " ghosts ;" while the Italians believe the fireflies to 
 be spirits arisen from the graves, and avoid them in 
 terror. 
 
 It is gratifying to turn from the contemplation of super- 
 stitious cowardice to the example of valour tempered by 
 mercy, given by our British Ajax Telamon, who, "when 
 grown as mad as any hare (For he had sought each place 
 with care, And found his Queen was missing)" 
 
 " He next upon a glowworm light, 
 (You must suppose it now was night,) 
 Which, for her hinder part was bright, 
 
 He took to be a devil : 
 And furiously doth her assail, 
 For carrying fire in her tail ; 
 He thrashed her rough coat with his flail ; 
 The mad king feared no evil. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 ' Oh,' quoth the glowworm, ' hold thy hand 
 Thou puissant king of fairy land. 
 Thy mighty strokes who may withstand ? 
 
 Hold, or of life despair I :' 
 
 Together then herself doth roll, 
 
 And tumbling down into a hole, 
 
 She seemed as black as any cole, 
 
 Which vext away the fairy." 
 
 DRAYTON'S Nymyihidia. 
 
 To enter upon any account of the Scarabceus, or Sacred 
 Beetle of the Egyptians, would be but to burden the 
 reader with matter with which he must be already familiar, 
 and its place in the symbolism of Egypt, where, bear- 
 ing its orb -like burthen, it represents the vivifying 
 power of the sun, is too well known to require 
 more than this passing notice. It would seem, how- 
 ever, that veneration for the Beetle tribe is not 
 confined to that ancient nation, as it is said that in 
 Sweden there is a belief that any one who shall place 
 an overturned cockchafer on his legs will have three sins 
 remitted to him. It is to be hoped that cockchafers are 
 plentiful in Sweden. 
 
 Many more are the details which might be collected 
 of the place held by insects in history and in literature, 
 but the present chapter has already over-passed all reason- 
 able limit, and we must proceed to the more deeply 
 interesting facts laid open by an examination of the 
 objects themselves. 
 
ON THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS OF INSECTS. 
 
 THE name " Insect" is in common parlance applied very 
 indiscriminately to whole classes of animals which have 
 little in common, except the smallness of their size. 
 Flies, earthworms, tadpoles creatures farther removed 
 from each other in their intimate structure than are the 
 horse, the shark, and the eagle, are sometimes confounded 
 together, and called " Insects." 
 
 Nor is this all ; we have read that " flies are bred from 
 worms;" that certain large moths are "a kind of little 
 birds ;" that murex* is " a genus of insects belonging to 
 the order Vermes Testacea," and is " of the snail kind !" 
 Nay, the writer once heard a lady reply to some remark 
 upon a mouse, that she did " not like any insects !" 
 
 Ignorance such as this is perhaps now rare ; yet it is 
 doubtful whether, even amongst those who do know that 
 a mouse and a tadpole are not insects, there are not many 
 persons who would be sorely puzzled to tell in what the 
 difference consists, and who would be surprised at the 
 assertion that a tadpole or a snake is more nearly related 
 to a horse or an eagle, than to any wriggling grub in 
 the waters or creeping worm upon the earth ; and that 
 the whole tribe of flying insects, whether large or small, 
 
 * " Enyclopaedia Britannica." 
 
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS OF INSECTS. 15 
 
 are in their nature and construction farther removed 
 from the birds than these are from the lion and the tiger ; 
 nay, that that which is the apparent link between these 
 " fowls" (to use the inclusive term of an old writer), 
 namely, the power of flight, is attained by organs which 
 are absolutely without any relation but that of their 
 function ; and which consequently form no true link as 
 regards the structure and constitution of the two animals, 
 the bird and the insect. 
 
 The object then of the present chapter is to show the 
 characters by which insects are distinguished from 
 animals of other classes. To do this it will be necessary 
 to lay before the reader a slight sketch of some of the 
 leading characters of both one and the other. 
 
 Throughout the animal kingdom we find several plans, 
 as it were, or systems; even as the animal kingdom itself 
 is one system among many others in creation. It appears 
 as if the Creator had confined within these plans or 
 systems such variations of detail as were essential to 
 attain all the ends which He had in view, and what these 
 ends were we may in a great measure ascertain by the 
 study of nature herself, learning from this the work which 
 is done, and the variety of life and enjoyment with which 
 our world is filled, by the multiplication of living beings 
 under a diversity of form, habit, and character. 
 
 The whole of the animal kingdom is divided by science 
 into two great classes, namely, the Vertebrata, or animals 
 possessing a spinal column, and the Invertebrata, or 
 animals which are without this. It must be noted, however, 
 that while the class Invertebrata contains many systems or 
 groups, as those of the insects, the worms, the " shellfish," 
 and others, Vertebrata contains but a single such system 
 or group, within which are only such differences as are 
 
1 6 INSECTS. 
 
 produced by variation in the details of parts. In this 
 class are included man, beasts, birds, reptiles, and 
 fishes. 
 
 It is now time to support the assertion that a tadpole 
 comes nearer in its nature to a horse, or an eagle, or a 
 mullet, or a man, than to the grub of a water-beetle born 
 and bred in the same stagnant pool with itself ; and to 
 do this a few words must be given first to those verte- 
 brate animals, and next to that section of the Invertebrata 
 to which insects belong. 
 
 The tadpole is a young and undeveloped frog, and 
 can, of course, be spoken of only as a frog. Now the 
 frog, the horse, the bird, the fish, the man, agree in these 
 respects, they all possess an internal bony and jointed 
 framework, or skeleton, composed of living tissues, 
 nourished throughout life by bloodvessels, and growing 
 with the growth of the animal. To this framework the 
 muscles are attached. The principal parts of this 
 skeleton are the spinal column or backbone, with the 
 ribs, the skull, and the bones of four limbs. All these 
 parts are not however found in all vertebrate animals, and 
 indeed the backbone seems to be the only part of the 
 skeleton which is never wanting. Thus, for instance, the 
 frog has no ribs, the snake has no limbs, and there is a 
 fish which has no skull. Again, these parts, when 
 present, are in various animals variously modified, 
 enabling each to fill its own place in creation ; and in an 
 examination of these modifications we perceive the con- 
 nexion existing among these animals under the greatest 
 diversity of form and habit. 
 
 To take the four limbs, for example. In man they 
 form two legs and two arms ; in the ape four arms ; in 
 the horse four legs. In the tortoise we might hesitate 
 
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS OF INSECTS. 17 
 
 whether to call them hands or feet, while in the turtle 
 they are fins. The bird offers yet another variety, its 
 limbs consisting of two legs and two wings. Now a 
 glance at a skeleton will show how small a difference of 
 development in the proportions and direction of the bones 
 makes the difference between the foot and the hand 
 in man. It takes more study to find that the foot 
 of the horse is the foot of the man, saving that only 
 one enormous toe with a proportionate nail (the hoof) is 
 developed, the rudiments of but two others appearing on 
 dissection, while the rest are altogether atrophied. This 
 will appear less startling when the development is traced 
 next in the two-toed animals ("cloven-fqoted"), as the 
 cow, the three-toed rhinoceros, the pig with its four toes 
 two big and two little, the cat with its five-clawed 
 toes, one of which takes a direction separate from the 
 others like the human thumb. 
 
 These examples must suffice : it would be out of place 
 in this work to trace the variety of development which, 
 from the same system of bones, produces the human hand, 
 the wing of a bird, and the hundred-fingered fin of the 
 skate ; or again, to trace the atrophy of parts by which 
 in reptiles the limb dwindles down to a mere indication 
 as in the slow worm to be altogether lost in the true 
 snakes. No line can be drawn between the highest and 
 the lowest of the vertebrata which shall separate them 
 from each other so clearly as it will be shown that they 
 are separated from all invertebrate animals. 
 
 Passing from the framework of the body to the organs 
 by which the vital functions are performed, we find in all 
 the vertebrata a nervous system originating and centring 
 in the brain, whence, by ramifications from the spinal 
 chord, the whole body is supplied with nerves, the mys- 
 
 c 
 
18 INSECTS. 
 
 terious vehicles of communication between mind and body 
 nerves of motion carrying the orders from the mind to 
 the body, nerves of sensation carrying information from 
 the body to the mind, with much more of the abstrusest 
 nature. In all this the brain appears to be the centre 
 of life, and if communication be cut off between the 
 brain and any member, that member becomes useless. 
 
 The nutrition, or building up of the body of an animal 
 (vertebrate or invertebrate) is a compound operation, con- 
 sisting first, of the collection of material ; secondly, of 
 its preparation ; thirdly, of its application ; and fourthly, 
 of its reparation when deteriorated. The collection of 
 material is simply the process of feeding. Its prepa- 
 ration is that of digestion, by which is elaborated out of 
 various substances a fluid containing the ingredients 
 necessary to the nourishment of the body. The third 
 and fourth processes, namely, the application and repa- 
 ration of this building material, the blood, are dependent 
 on circulation and respiration. 
 
 In the vertebrata these take place as follows : 
 The blood, elaborated by digestion from the food, is 
 committed to the heart, which first sends it to the lungs 
 to take in a supply of oxygen from the air which they 
 contain, and then receives it back again to send it forth 
 on its journey through the body. This it performs, at 
 first through the channel of the arteries, visiting every 
 part, and in each depositing some of its constituents. 
 One organ robs a portion of it of one substance, another 
 of another ; each organ, attending to its own business, 
 chooses, probably through the operation of its nerves, 
 its required material. Secretions are formed, tissues are 
 constructed, bones, muscles, fat, receive their appropriate 
 food ; laboratories unnumbered, working without cessa- 
 
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS OF INSECTS. 19 
 
 tion, are without cessation supplied \vith material for 
 their mysterious operations. 
 
 Through the arteries this stream of life, impelled by 
 the repeated action of the heart, continues to pour ; but 
 at each point a portion of the stream, deprived of its 
 oxygen and of other component parts, becomes debased 
 and loses its value and power : by another series of 
 channels therefore, the veins, it flows back towards the 
 heart, receiving from the stomach on its way fresh nutri- 
 tive material, again is sent to the lungs to gather from 
 the air contained in them the oxygen by whiph its life- 
 giving powers are renewed, and again is propelled into 
 the arteries to recommence the circuit of the body. 
 
 Now, leaving untouched all other anatomical details 
 and physiological phenomena, let us compare what has 
 been said of the vertebrata with the facts which we find 
 in the invertebrata, using in this comparison, in order to 
 shorten and simplify the chapter, only the order of insects 
 from among the invertebrata in which this order forms 
 a perfect group. 
 
 Insects are without any internal skeleton at all. The 
 body is supported by an external more or less hard and 
 jointed case, which forms the covering of the body, and 
 to which the muscles are attached, as in the vertebrata 
 to the internal skeleton. This case, in fact, answers the 
 purposes of both skin and skeleton. 
 
 The limbs of a perfectly-developed insect consist of 
 six jointed legs, neither less nor more; certain four- 
 legged butterflies being merely instances of aborted 
 limbs, while in the many-legged caterpillars the extra 
 "legs," as they are called, are sucker-like and jointless 
 processes of the skin. 
 
 As in the vertebrata, so in insects, there is great 
 
20 INSECTS. 
 
 diversity of development in the parts, and great modifi- 
 cation of form to suit the needs of various modes of life. 
 But, while we may sometimes trace a curious resemblance 
 to certain of the vertebrata in the functions, and even in 
 the external forms of these members, their fundamental 
 differences are as great as ever, and the adherence of 
 each to the principles of the separate plan or system to 
 which it belongs only becomes the more evident when 
 the same end is attained under various systems by means 
 always in accordance with those systems. Thus the 
 burrowing mole-cricket has a flattened, hand-like fore-leg, 
 which forcibly reminds us of the mole ; the grasshopper 
 has the large and springing thigh of a frog ; the water 
 beetle has fin-like legs : but in each of these, we find 
 that it is but a change in the proportion of the parts 
 which makes the difference between the legs of the cricket, 
 the grasshopper, the beetle, even as we found before that 
 the limbs of the vertebrata have one series of parts 
 variously modified.* 
 
 Besides these six legs, the perfect insect is furnished 
 with two pairs of wings. The wings of a bird are, as has 
 been said, composed of the same bones as those which 
 form the forelegs, or arms, of other vertebrata, only under 
 a different proportion and development of parts. 
 
 The wings of an insect are, on the contrary, an ap- 
 pendage of the breathing apparatus ; with this they are 
 closely connected, and it maybe supposed that it receives 
 assistance from them in the performance of its functions. f 
 
 * This will be illustrated by figures in the second chapter. 
 
 + That a communication exists between the lungs and the wing bones 
 in birds, and that the acts of respiration and of flight affect each other in 
 these also, is a farther proof of analogy in function under a different plan 
 in structure. 
 
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS OF INSECTS. 21 
 
 Taking the nervous system next, we find an important 
 difference between the vertebrate animals and insects. 
 In insects, instead of one nervous centre or brain, a 
 series of nerve-knots, called ganglions, communicating 
 with each other, and yet acting apparently with some 
 degree of independence, send off the supply of nerves 
 required by the body. Thus, while a vertebrate animal dies 
 at and below the point at which the connexion with the 
 brain is cut off, an insect may be cut into several pieces, 
 and to all appearance each may, for a considerable time, 
 show signs of vitality. Thus a headless insect may be 
 seen to walk ; and a dragonfly, accidentally divided into 
 three parts, the head, the thorax, and the abdomen, has 
 for days kept up considerable action in the separated 
 parts, the wings fluttering violently on any attempt to 
 confine them, and the abdomen wriggling when touched. 
 
 The circulating and breathing systems are next to be 
 compared. 
 
 Until recently (i.e., within the last fifty years) insects 
 were believed to be without any heart or circulating 
 system whatever, although a certain motion of fluids 
 had been observed before that time. Now, however, it 
 has been shown that a long muscular vessel, which is 
 in fact a sort of compound heart, or series of heart- 
 valves terminating in a large artery, runs from the end 
 of the body into the head. Here this vessel branches 
 off, and although from the extreme delicacy of its minute 
 offshoots these have been traced but a little way, there 
 seems reason to believe that a system of arteries and 
 veins exists on the same principle as in the vertebrata. 
 
 The hearts of the vertebrata and of insects are not 
 more unlike than are the organs of respiration. In the 
 place of the lungs, two large spongy bodies, full of air- 
 
22 INSECTS. 
 
 cells, to which, in the vertebrata, the blood is brought 
 for aeration by the heart ; in insects the air is carried in 
 tubes, or air passages, to every part of the body. Down 
 each side of the insect runs a large air tube, commu- 
 nicating by short tubes running out of it with the 
 breathing holes, or spiracles, which lie along each side of 
 the abdomen. From these two main passages shoot 
 little clusters of smaller tubes, which ramify again and 
 again, until their minute branches are to be found in 
 every part of the body. Thus, while the vertebrate 
 animal inhales only through the double passage ter- 
 minating in the mouth (or, as in fish and reptiles, in the 
 gills), the insect breathes through a series of openings 
 in its abdomen ; and the air, instead of being carried to 
 the chambers in which the blood visits it, is carried to 
 the blood in every part of the body. 
 
 It now remains to define the especial character of the 
 true insect, and to show in what it differs from other 
 animals not separated from it by barriers of so decided a 
 nature as those just mentioned. 
 
 The name insect is now much more restricted in its 
 use than it formerly was. Spiders, centipedes, scorpions, 
 woodlice, shrimps, and even lobsters, have been included 
 under the term, but are now considered as belonging to 
 other orders. The true insect, as at present received, is 
 an animal arriving at maturity through a series of moults, 
 or metamorphoses. It is without internal skeleton, 
 having the body enclosed in a jointed covering, and is 
 composed of three principal parts head, thorax, and 
 abdomen ; the head bearing antennee, the thorax bearing 
 six jointed legs, and (with certain exceptions) four wings. 
 
 The reader will bear in mind that this definition applies 
 to the perfect insect only, and that caterpillars, footless 
 
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS OF INSECTS. 2S 
 
 fly-grubs, and the like, are but young and imperfect 
 insects, bearing indeed something of the same relation 
 to those full grown as does the tadpole to the frog. 
 
 They are no arbitrary characters which thus separate 
 insects from nearly allied races. Thus, the spider, ex- 
 cluded from the list of insects by its eight legs and its 
 head and thorax being in one mass instead of two, is also 
 separated from them by far more important internal cha- 
 racters; as, for instance, the possession of true lungs. 
 Thus also the many-legged woodlouse, shrimp, &c., with 
 the spider, are more widely separated from the six-legged 
 insect by the absence of metamorphosis, than by any 
 difference in the number of their limbs. 
 
 These non-changing animals attain the perfect state 
 merely by increasing in size and in the perfection, some- 
 times also in the number, of their parts. From time to 
 time they cast their skin, as it becomes too small to 
 contain them, but they undergo no essential change of 
 form or character after their exclusion from the egg. 
 
 Insects, on the contrary, as has been said, undergo a 
 series of " metamorphoses" or changes, more or less 
 complete, before arriving at the perfect or winged state. 
 It is true that these metamorphoses are but develop- 
 ments, and that the chrysalis, for instance, is not changed 
 into a butterfly, but that it is itself a butterfly in a husk ; 
 still the difference between the perfect and the imperfect 
 insect is, as a rule, so great, and the stages of develop- 
 ment are so marked, that the word metamorphosis may 
 fairly be applied. 
 
CHAPTEK II. 
 
 ON THE EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF INSECTS. 
 
 IT is not proposed to enter into any elaborate account 
 of the anatomy of insects, and many things usually con- 
 sidered to be of the alphabet of Entomology, will 
 be omitted in this chapter. Much of this however, 
 laborious and uninteresting if studied first in descrip- 
 tions, is acquired gradually, without trouble, and indeed 
 almost unconsciously, as the various species of insects 
 come, one by one, under the notice of the student. A 
 short account therefore of such parts only as it is 
 absolutely necessary to know by name will be given, 
 with familiar examples, in the hope that the reader will, 
 if possible, examine for himself every insect named, and 
 observe for himself many things not noted here. 
 
 The name Insect (as also the Greek tWo/za, entoma, 
 whence " Entomology ") is given on account of the cut, 
 or divided character of the body. The body consists of 
 a series of joints, or rings, called segments. These 
 are soldered together so as to be with difficulty distin- 
 guishable in some parts of the body, but are usually 
 very evident in the abdomen. The perfect insect is 
 divided into three principal parts : the head, formed of 
 one, or, as some say, of more than one segment; the 
 thorax, to which the wings and legs are attached, and 
 which is composed of three segments closely united ; and 
 the abdomen, in which the number of segments varies, 
 nine, or possibly ten being the highest number found. 
 
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF INSECTS. 25 
 
 The organs principally to be noticed in the head are 
 the eyes, the antennae or " horns," and the mouth. 
 
 The eyes of insects are of two kinds, simple and com- 
 pound. The reader must often have observed the large 
 convex brown eyes of the common house-fly, and those 
 lustrous bodies which form so conspicuous a feature in the 
 dragonfly, and the glorious golden or ruby eyes of the 
 delicate lace-fly. He may also have observed that these 
 eyes are immovable, and consequently, the motion of 
 the head being very limited, would be of little use either 
 in the avoidance of danger or in the pursuit of prey, 
 were they constructed like our own and able to see in 
 one direction only. That the vision of the fly is not so 
 limited will be amply proved by a few attempts to " get 
 on the blind side " of one. Approach him from above, 
 from below, from before, from behind, from either 
 side, or from round the corner, he perceives and avoids 
 the danger. How is this ? The large eye which we 
 observe on either side of the head is in fact a cluster of 
 eyes, or, to speak more properly, is a compound eye. 
 Looking closely at this eye in one of the large insects, 
 the reader will observe the surface marked out into 
 hexagons (fig. 1). Each of these is the 
 surface of a true eye, and the hexagonal 
 form is such as a number of cylindrical 
 or conical eyes would naturally assume 
 if pressed together. It will be seen that 
 
 Small portion of 
 
 such a cluster of eyes, if arranged so as eye highly magni- 
 to form a semi-globular surface, would fied ' 
 be able to see all objects on one side of an insect, whilst 
 the fellow eye could receive impressions from objects on 
 the other side. These eyes then are so arranged. 
 
 It has been said above that the compound eye is 
 
26 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 composed of many cylindrical, or rather conical eyes 
 (which for convenience sake we will call eyelets), whereas 
 the common idea of an eye is that it is an organ of 
 globular form. It would require more space than can 
 he afforded here to describe the structure of the cylin- 
 drical eyelet ; it must suffice to say that in it are repre- 
 sented nearly all the principal parts which exist in the 
 human eye, even to the iris and pupil, although together 
 they form a long slender cone instead of a globe* (fig. 2). 
 Fig. 2. This striking dif- 
 
 ference finds its 
 explanation when 
 we consider that 
 this form, by re- 
 ducing the rays 
 of light which can 
 possibly reach the 
 retina to such 
 
 only as fall di- 
 Eyes of Hive Bee (Male). rectly uponit} pre . 
 
 vents the confusion which would arise from the recep- 
 tion by each eyelet of images from all sides. It may be 
 observed here that some insects (e.g. the butterfly) 
 possess as many as 34,650 of these eyelets. 
 
 Very curious observations have been made upon the 
 connexion which exists between the size and position of 
 the eyes, and the flight of the insect. Thus the dragon- 
 flies and butterflies, alike remarkable for the freedom 
 and extent of their flight, have large and convex eyes, 
 so placed that the field of vision must be very great. 
 Others again, as the bees, which have long and narrow 
 
 * In this figure (partly borrowed from Dr. Carpenter) the lenses are 
 made large out of proportion, in order the better to show their form. 
 
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF INSECTS. 27 
 
 eyes, with upward and downward but little lateral scope, 
 have an irregular flight, usually directed up, down, or for- 
 ward, but very little from side to side. The field of 
 vision of the grasshoppers, &c., is still more limited, and 
 their flight is short and hesitating. In the earwigs, which 
 fly little and crawl much, the eyes are small, and are 
 placed on the top of their flat heads. 
 
 It has also been observed that in the eyes of some 
 insects (as the dragonfly) the eyelets are by no means 
 uniform in size, the surfaces of the upper being con- 
 siderably larger than those of the lower eyelets. The 
 inference from this appears to be, that there is some 
 variation in the length of the sight the eyelets turned 
 earthwards being probably shorter sighted than those 
 which are on the look out for birds of prey and other 
 aerial enemies.* 
 
 Besides these compound eyes most insects have also a set 
 of semi-globular simple eyes, or " ttemmata" or " ocelli." 
 These are usually three in number and placed in a triangle 
 upon the forehead (see fig. 6). They maybe easily observed 
 in the bee, wasp, and dragonfly. It is supposed that they 
 are intended for the perception of near objects only. 
 
 What has been written applies only to perfect insects. 
 The larva of insects (i.e., insects in an early stage, as cater- 
 pillars, &c.) never possess compound eyes, but (with the 
 exception of such as from their subterranean or other habits 
 require no eyes, and therefore have none) have always 
 one or more pairs of simple eyes, resembling the stem- 
 rnata already mentioned. Where several of these exist, 
 
 * For much more on the subject of insects' eyes the .reader is referred 
 to some interesting papers by Mr. Parson "On the Discoveries of Miiller 
 and others," in the "Magazine of Nat. Hist." for 1831 ; and to "The 
 Honey Bee, its Natural History, Habits, &c," by James Samuelson and 
 Dr. J. B. Hicks : Van Voorst. 
 
28 INSECTS. 
 
 as in the larva of Dyticus, a large water beetle, which 
 has five or six on each side, they are still simple, being 
 independent of each other, and having separate optic 
 nerves, whereas in compound eyes one large optic nerve 
 or ganglion sends branches to all the eyelets.* 
 
 The antennae of insects have long perplexed naturalists, 
 who have in turn ascribed to them every known sense 
 but that of sight smell, touch, taste, even hearing. 
 It is not, however, even yet ascertained to what sense 
 they belong. They are evidently of the greatest impor- 
 tance to the insect in a variety of ways, aiding it in its 
 perceptions and guiding it in its actions, and this in 
 matters so various as to suggest that it may be the organ 
 of some sense or senses to which we have nothing corre- 
 sponding, or of the combination of which, at least, our 
 limited experience gives us no means of forming an idea. 
 
 The forms of antenn to be observed are very various, 
 and, in some instances, exceedingly beautiful. Some 
 are thread-like, others clubbed, and others feathered- 
 all these are found in moths and butterflies : others 
 again are like strings of beads, or are toothed like a comb, 
 or terminate in a fan, as may be seen in beetles. In one 
 species of these last the antenna is about four times as 
 long as the body, while in certain species of flies it con- 
 sists principally of a little globe, with a curved bristle 
 sticking out of it, like the reaping-hook by which Daniel 
 O'Rourke held on to the moon. 
 
 These organs are so valuable in the determination of 
 genera, &c., that the young student should from the begin- 
 
 * These simple eyes are found in the spiders, woodlice, centipedes, 
 &c. ; none but the true insects (i.e., those which undergo metamorphosis) 
 possessing the compound eyes. 
 
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF INSECTS. 29 
 
 ning accustom himself to observe their character in every 
 insect which comes before him, always remembering, how- 
 ever, that there is often much difference between the an- 
 tenna of the male and female, even in the same species. 
 
 The mouths of insects, as might be expected, afford a 
 most interesting variety of structure, being adapted not 
 only to the various nature of the food proper for the 
 different species, but also to their various modes of 
 life. Thus, among the architectural species, parts of 
 the mouth are so modified as to act as spades, trowels, 
 &c. ; to the upholsterers they are scissors ; in the chase 
 they seize and hold the prey, while the warlike tribes 
 find in them powerful weapons of offence. 
 
 The principal parts of the mouth are six ; the upper 
 and lower lips, and two pairs of jaws, those of each pair 
 acting upon each other, from side to side. 
 An idea of the arrangement of the mouth 
 may be formed from the accompanying 
 diagram, in which A represents the upper 
 lip, or labium ; B, the lower, or labrum; c c, 
 the upper pair of jaws, or mandibles; d d, 
 the lower pair, or maxillas. (See also fig. 6, p. 32.) 
 
 Insects are divided primarily into biting and suck- 
 ing insects, and while the parts just named are easily 
 recognised in the first division, they are in the second 
 so differently developed and modified as to be hardly 
 traceable, except by such a process as that described 
 in chap, i., for tracing the relationship between the 
 horse's foreleg, the bird's wing, and the arm of a man. 
 
 The mouth of a beetle affords an excellent example 
 of all these parts, as they are found in biting insects 
 Fig. 3 represents the top of the head of a Tiger- 
 beetle (PL I., fig. 1), and shows the situation of the 
 
 c c 
 
 d d 
 
30 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 mandibles, which are very 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 a Head of Tiger-beetle, (magnified) 
 
 with jaws closed. 
 6 Ditto, with jaws open. 
 
 large in this insect a for- 
 midable pair of pincers 
 when extended as in the 
 figure (b), and lying quite 
 across each other when 
 closed (a). These organs 
 are even larger and more 
 conspicuous in the male of 
 the Stag-beetle, whilst in 
 most other beetles they 
 are much smaller and less 
 powerful. 
 
 The second pair of jaws, 
 or the maxillaB (fig. 4), are 
 more complicated and 
 delicate. The principal 
 parts of the maxilla are 
 a kind of blade (a), fringed with hairs, and an antenna-like 
 Fig. 4. Fig. 5. feeler or palpus (ft), 
 
 called the maxil- 
 lary palpus. In 
 the Tiger-beetle and 
 some other preda- 
 ceous beetles there 
 is a second appen- 
 dage (c) resembling 
 a less developed pal- 
 pus. 
 
 The upper lip is a 
 horny plate, without 
 appendages. The 
 lower lip, or " la- 
 rf I. Mm" (%. 8), is very 
 
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF INSECTS. 31 
 
 different in different orders of insects. It is composed 
 of several pieces, more or less developed, and both 
 these separate pieces and the whole organ have been 
 variously named by various authors. It is generally 
 composed of a basal horny plate, succeeded by a 
 second horny or membranous plate, something like 
 a lip, or by a prolonged fleshy tongue-like organ ; 
 and always bears a pair of palpi, called labial palpi 
 (fig. 5, a a, and 6, //). Sometimes the whole organ 
 is called the labium or lip, sometimes only the second 
 part is so called, the first being called mentum or chin. 
 Sometimes the whole is called " lip," " tongue," " pro- 
 boscis," and so on. In the present work the whole organ 
 will generally be called by the most usual name of 
 labium, while the English words "lip," or "tongue," 
 will be applied according to the form, whether it be, as 
 in beetles, for instance, a lip-like plate, or, as in bees, a 
 fleshy projectile tongue-like instrument. In the dragon- 
 fly and the grasshopper the lining of the lip is free, and 
 forms an internal tongue something like our own. 
 
 In the first five orders of biting insects namely, 
 those which contain the beetles, earwigs, grasshoppers, 
 dragonflies, and caddis-flies,* no important variation 
 occurs in the character of the parts of the mouth as 
 described above. In the sixth order, however, contain- 
 ing the bees and their relations, we come to the first re- 
 markable change in the form of these parts, though they 
 are still to be recognised with ease. The peculiarities 
 
 * The caddis is included in this list for the sake of uniformity, but in 
 fact, these insects, living but a short time in the perfect state, and requir- 
 ing little or no food, have the mouth in a very rudimentary and unde- 
 veloped state. 
 
32 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 of development being most conspicuous in the bee itself 
 
 this shall be taken as an example. 
 
 The upper lip, or labrum (fig. 6, b), and the mandibles, 
 
 or upper jaws (c c) of the 
 bee resemble those of other 
 biting insects. The mandi- 
 bles are of various forms in 
 the several genera (as will 
 be shown in chap, xix., but 
 are always strong, horny, 
 biting jaws). The maxillae 
 or lower jaws (d d), how- 
 ever, of the bee, entirely lose 
 their jaw-like character, and 
 become long, thin, membra- 
 nous plates (always bearing 
 the maxillary palpi,*) and 
 fulfil the office, when drawn 
 together, of a sheath to the 
 tongue. This tongue, or 
 ligula (g), is a long, slender, 
 
 Face of neuter hive-bee, magnified. 
 a, clypeus ; b, labrum ; c, man- 
 dibles ; d, maxillae ; e, labium ; 
 /, labial palpi ; g, ligula of the 
 labium. 
 
 hairy organ, growing on a fleshy base, and is, in fact, 
 a prolongation of the " labium " (e e), the fleshy base 
 being sometimes called the " mentum," and on each 
 side of the tongue (as the organ is here called, having 
 altogether lost its lip-like character) the two labial 
 palpi (//) are found. Besides the palpi, the tongue is 
 furnished with two slender filaments, called paraglossse 
 (napa, near, yAwac-a, the tongue), which are found also 
 in some other biting insects. The tongue of the bee, 
 
 * The maxillary palpi and paraglossse are not shown in this figure, but 
 may be seen in that of Anthophora retusa, in the twelfth chapter. 
 
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF INSECTS. 3o 
 
 enclosed in its sheath and folded close under the 
 
 breast, will- he easily seen in the first hive or humble 
 
 bee the reader may examine ; and, if the bee has not 
 
 been so long killed as to have 
 
 become stiff, all the parts of 
 
 the organ can be opened out 
 
 and displayed by placing a needle 
 
 below the tongue and drawing it 
 
 forward. 
 
 In some bees the labium is com- 
 paratively short, and in different 
 genera cleft or acute, as will be 
 described in a later chapter. 
 
 With the bees we come to the 
 
 . ' . _ i- ' - n Profile of Neuter Hive Bee, 
 
 end of the first division ot in- W uh the tcngue folded 
 sects; namely, those which have out of sight, 
 biting mandibles. In the second division, containing 
 the insects with sucking mouths, and without biting jaws, 
 the whole structure of the mouth appears widely different. 
 The stinging proboscis of the gnat, the fleshy blunt trunk 
 of the housefly, the long slender tongue of the butterfly, 
 all these display variation of structure. 
 
 The " tongue" in these insects is composed of some or 
 other of the parts already mentioned, recognisable 
 though greatly altered from the biting type, and occasio- 
 nally so soldered together, or transformed in figure, that 
 nothing but a careful analysis can reduce them to a uni- 
 form plan. This will not be attempted here, but it would 
 be well for the reader to aim at tracing the connexion 
 existing in the organs of the various insects he dissects 
 from time to time. 
 
 In the butterflies and moths a long tubular proboscis 
 is found, which coils up under the mouth when at rest 
 
 D 
 
84 INSECTS. 
 
 (fig. 8 1, 2). This is a development of the maxillae, 
 Fig. 8. other parts of the mouth, ex- 
 
 cepting the lower lip, being 
 almost undeveloped. The 
 under lip is furnished with a 
 pair of large palpi, thickly 
 clothed with hair. 
 
 Next in order come the 
 aphis, cicada, &c., and the 
 water-boatmen, bugs, &c. 
 Profile head of Moth. The proboscis O f these IS a 
 
 fine but sometimes very hard tube, containing four hair- 
 like lancets. These lancets wound the surface of plant 
 or animal, the juices of which are then sucked up through 
 the tube. In this case the tube is formed by the labium, 
 the four lancets representing the maxillae and mandibles. 
 
 In the flea the mouth is a sucking apparatus with a 
 pair of serrated lancets ; but the parts, though closing 
 upon each other when at rest, differ from those of the 
 two preceding orders in being free and independent of 
 each other. 
 
 The "two -winged flies such as the housefly, the gnat, 
 and the Daddylonglegs, present some variety in the form 
 of mouth ; but in all a series of lancets and a sucking 
 tongue are the main features. This tongue is an ex- 
 ceedingly beautiful object when magnified, and is very 
 easily examined in the large bee-like 'Drone-fly,' de- 
 scribed in the following chapter. 
 
 The appendages to the Thorax of insects are, as has 
 been said, the legs and wings. The wings having been 
 used as the basis of the classification of insects, will 
 form the subject of a separate chapter. 
 
 The legs and wings are attached to the parts of the 
 
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF INSECTS. 35 
 
 thorax as follows : the first segment bears the first pair 
 of legs ; the second segment bears the second pair of 
 legs and the first pair of wings ; the third segment bears 
 the third pair of legs and the second pair of wings. 
 
 The legs of insects are six in number. These are 
 adapted to several modes of progression, as walking, 
 leaping, burrowing; while they serve other purposes also, 
 the fore legs being prehensile in some species, the hind 
 legs adapted to carry burdens in others, and so on. 
 The principal parts of the leg are, the Fi s- & - 
 coxa; trochanter; femur; tibia, and 
 tarsus (see fig. 9). The coxa (a) is 
 a large and flat joint hinged to the 
 body. It is very conspicuous in the 
 large water-beetle, Dyticus. The tro- 
 chanter (6) is the next, and a very 
 small joint. In the hind leg ef some 
 insects, e.g. saw-flies, it is formed of Middle le of pyti- 
 
 cus margirialis. 
 
 two pieces instead of one. The next a coxa 
 joint is the femur (c) or thigh the & trochanter. 
 large and usually thick joint which <% tibia!"' 
 stands out horizontally from the in- e - tarsus, 
 sect's body. Next is the tibia (d), or shank, usually of 
 about the same length as the femur, but thinner ; and 
 lastly the tarsus (e), which is composed of a series of 
 joints, terminating in a clawed foot. The joints in the 
 tarsus in different insects are from one to five in number. 
 It is in the fore and hind legs that we find the most 
 striking variations of development for special ends ; the 
 following figures are intended for comparison with 
 figure 9, in order to give the reader an idea of 
 the manner in which the parts are modified. Fig. 9 
 shows an ordinary form of insect's leg. Fig. 10 
 
36 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 is the hind leg or oar of the common water-boat- 
 man. This leg is a true oar, and little more. It is 
 elongated and strongly fringed with hairs, only two joints 
 Fig. 10. Fig. 11. Fig. 12. 
 
 Hind leg of 
 Notonecta. 
 
 Hind leg of (jryrinus extended, 
 greatly magnified. 
 
 The same contracted. 
 
 are developed in the tarsus, and the claws are generally 
 wanting. 
 
 Fig. 11 is the hind leg of the little shiny black "whirli- 
 gig beetle," also a denizen of the waters, where it is ren- 
 dered conspicuous by the marvellous rapidity of its evolu- 
 tions. The wonderful little living paddles by which these 
 motions are made deserve close attention, and far exceed 
 in beauty the oars of the Notonecta. They are quite flat, 
 the femur, tibia, and joints of the tarsus being composed 
 of horny plates beautifully articulated together. The femur 
 and tibia are triangular. The three upper joints of 
 the tarsi are excessively dilated on the inner side, so 
 that when expanded they form, with the crescent-shaped 
 fourth and fifth joints, a thin semicircular disk. The 
 limb in this state opposes to the water these broad flat 
 horny plates. When contracted (fig. 12), the tarsal joints 
 fold over each other like the vanes of a fan, and may 
 consequently be drawn through the water with little 
 
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF INSECTS. 
 
 Fig. 13. 
 
 resistance. The limb is, like most swimming legs, 
 beautifully fringed with hairs. 
 
 In figure 13 is seen a leg fitted for leaping, the leg of 
 the common grasshopper ; and the thick and muscular 
 thigh,' the strong but 
 slender and spurred tibia, 
 and the firmly knit but 
 supple joints, all point 
 to the action for which 
 this limb is adapted. 
 Besides this, the great 
 length of the hind or 
 leaping legs as com- 
 pared with the two other 
 pairs should be remem- 
 bered, and the leaping leg 
 of the grasshopper will 
 be seen to be as good an 
 example of peculiar development for a special purpose 
 as the swimming legs lately described. 
 
 From this we turn to the fore leg of a near relation of 
 the Grasshopper, but an insect of far other habit* 
 Figure 14 represents the burrow- 
 ing mole-like hand of the mole 
 cricket. In this curious instru- 
 ment, as in the paddle of the 
 gyrinus, the tibia and tarsus are 
 unusually broad and flat, and so 
 arranged as to be capable of fitting 
 close to each other and to the a< p ore i eg O f Mole Cricket, 
 thigh. The tibia is deeply cut ^n iron, outside. 
 
 1 " b. Ditto from inside. 
 
 into finger-like lobes, to which it c . Coxa of fore leg. 
 
 owes its hand-like appearance, and like the broad short 
 
 Hiud leg of Giasshopper (Acrida 
 viridisaima). 
 
 Fig. 14. 
 
38 INSECTS. 
 
 hand of the mole forms a most admirable implement 
 for burrowing. 
 
 Figure 15 displays a pair of unmistakeable nippers, 
 Fig 15 and woe betide the luckless shrimp 
 
 or larva which finds itself between 
 the forceps of the water-scorpion. 
 Of the raptorial character of these 
 arms there can be little doubt. 
 
 It would require too much space 
 to describe here the wonderful fore- 
 Head, thorax, and fore- J e g of the water-beetle Dyticus, 
 
 leg of Naucori cini- .. TI.L-I-.L T i 
 
 caule, magnified, one with tarsus dilated into a disk, 
 
 claw closed. covered with the most exquisite 
 
 little membranous suckers ; the hind leg of the hive- 
 bee, furnished on one side with a basket in which 
 to carry home the stores of pollen collected from flower 
 to flower, and on the other, with rows of combs for use 
 in its manipulations within the hive ; or many another 
 curious and beautiful illustration of the variety to be 
 found in the legs of perfect insects alone. In those of 
 various larvae there are yet other forms, but, as a general 
 rule, these are more simple than in the imago. 
 
 The feet of insects are curious and beautiful. The 
 commonest form is of two claws with one, two, or three 
 soft pads; but the pads are often wanting, and some- 
 times one or both claws. Further description of them 
 is unnecessary here, as they are objects which the stu- 
 dent will find no difficulty in examining for himself. 
 
 The abdomen has little to describe of external organs, 
 the principal being the various ovipositors or instru- 
 ments for the placing of the eggs, which will be de- 
 scribed later, and the spiracles or breathing holes 
 spoken of page 22. These are sometimes exceedingly 
 
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF INSECTS. 39 
 
 beautiful, and perhaps the most strikingly so is the fringe- 
 guarded spiracle of the large water-beetle (Dyticus). The 
 reader may easily prepare this for examination by simply 
 cutting through the skin under the wing-cases, removing 
 the part containing the spiracle and washing it well with 
 water and a camel-hair brush. The two pairs of 
 breathing holes nearest to the tail are the largest and 
 most beautiful. 
 
40 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON THE WINGS OF INSECTS, AND ON THEIR 
 CLASSIFICATION. 
 
 THE youDg student of Entomology will perhaps be 
 agreeably surprised to find tbat characters so obvious as 
 those presented by the wings of insects, are set before 
 him as the basis of the classification of the tribe. It 
 will at once occur to him that if the four network wings 
 of the dragonfly, the two membranous wings of the house- 
 fly, the down-covered wings of the butterfly, are suffi- 
 cient to point out the orders to which these insects 
 belong, then it cannot be very difficult to take the first 
 step in Entomology that of determining to what order 
 any insect belongs. 
 
 That he may not, however, suppose this character to 
 be chosen merely as a means of sorting insects not 
 essentially allied, he must, for the present, take for 
 granted that of which he will soon perceive the truth 
 namely, that a certain character of wing is found 
 to correspond with more important characters in the 
 general structure and habits of insects, and that the 
 orders thus formed are in fact natural groups. 
 
 The beetles stand first in most arrangements of in- 
 sects, with them, therefore, the description should com- 
 mence. But let it be understood that by " beetles" are 
 not meant " black beetles," and that " black beetles" are 
 not beetles. 
 
WINGS OF INSECTS, AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 41 
 
 "What then is a beetle ?" 
 
 The name of the order to which beetles belong will 
 partly answer this question. Coleoptera, from icoXtoc 
 (Koleos), a sheath, irrtpov (Pteron), a wing. A beetle 
 may be described as a four-winged insect, whose first 
 pair of wings, being thickened to a horny or leathery 
 consistence, form a covering or " sheath" to the hind 
 pair. This is the most conspicuous character of the 
 order, and one by which nearly all beetles may at once 
 be recognised. The common cockchafer will .serve as a 
 familiar example, for there are few persons who do not 
 know this insect. There are even perhaps few who have 
 not watched it raise its brown wing-cases, and, spreading 
 them apart, unfold the large and beautiful wings, delicate 
 glistening membranes, extended and supported by strong 
 nerves, which are to them what the spars of a ship are 
 to the sails. But no ship's spars are so jointed as these 
 nerves no sails so reefed as these membranes; .the 
 captain of no ship could fling out his sails, let the 
 wind blow which way it will, and, helmless, trust 
 them to bear him to his haven. Yet this can our 
 little beetle do. And this he does, let it be observed, 
 with a single pair of wings, whilst the other pair, 
 thickened, and utterly useless in flight, unless indeed 
 they serve to guide it, might seem to be even a 
 hindrance to his motions. Now, certainly, we should 
 not have expected that beetles, perhaps on the whole 
 the most ponderous of flying insects, should thus 
 have been deprived of half their support by such a 
 modification of the very organs of locomotion as the 
 conversion of one pair of wings into a sheath for the other. 
 
 How then is this loss compensated ? In the beetles the 
 hind wings (which in most other orders of insects are con- 
 
42 INSECTS. 
 
 siderably the smaller) are much larger and more fully 
 developed than the fore wings, so much so indeed as to be 
 able to do the double share of work which falls upon 
 them. Then, to ensure the safety of the wing a wing 
 exceeding in size the sheath which should protect it 
 it is furnished with a double set of joints, which enable 
 it to be folded and packed closely beneath the wing- 
 case. The wing folds longitudinally, and at the same 
 time a hinge-like joint in the longitudinal nerves, about 
 one-third from the tip, allows it to be turned inwards 
 and shortened (fig. 1 6). The process of unfolding this 
 may be easily seen by watching a ladybird, cock- 
 Fig. 16. chafer, or other slow- 
 moving beetle. 
 
 Some beetles are with- 
 out the second fold in 
 the wing, the wing being 
 wider, but not longer 
 Wing of large Water-beetle. than the wing-case. 
 
 Other beetles again, such as the well known " Devil's 
 coachhorse," have the wing-case so short as not to cover 
 a third part of the abdomen, yet so perfect is the folding 
 of the underwing that it is in most cases entirely 
 covered by the wing-case. 
 
 For figures of Order I., Coleoptera, see Plates L, II. ,111. 
 Those beetles which have short wing-cases are fol- 
 lowed naturally by the earwigs, which resemble them in 
 this particular, while they are distinguished from them 
 by the pincer-like termination of the body, and more 
 especially by the form, veiniug, and folding of the 
 wings, which also are not entirely covered by the very 
 short wiog-case, the exposed part being protected by a 
 thickening of the membrane. The wing of the earwig is 
 
WINGS OF INSECTS, AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 43 
 
 very broad, the outline being rather more than the quarter 
 
 Fig 17 
 
 of a circle. The veins radiate 
 
 from a point in the thickened 
 
 part of the membrane, and the 
 
 wing is packed first by being 
 
 closed together like a fan and 
 
 then transversely folded in two 
 
 places (fig. 17). From this 
 
 complicated double folding is 
 
 derived the name of the order to b. 
 
 which the earwigs belong, viz., c " 
 
 EUPLEXOPTERA (tu, well, TrXfKToc, folded ; irrtpov, wing). 
 
 For figures of Order II., Euplexoptera, see Plate IV. , 
 fig. I. 
 
 To the earwig, the grasshopper, cricket, locust, and cock- 
 roach (or blackbeetle of our kitchen) succeed. Resembling 
 the earwig in the fan-like folding of the hind wing, they 
 differ from it in having no transverse folding (fig. 18), and 
 
 natural size. 
 closed ' 
 
 from this character of the 
 wing is derived the name 
 of the order under which 
 these insects are ranged; 
 namely, Orthoptera, or 
 straight - winged (6p9bs, 
 straight ; nrtpov, a wing.) 
 The fore wings, although 
 
 Fig. 18. 
 
 Wing of Grasshopper (A crida 
 riridissima). 
 
 much thickened, are less thick and horny than those of 
 either the beetles or the earwig, and are useful in flight. 
 And here we come upon a most curious little appara- 
 tus. The merry chirp of the house cricket and of the 
 grasshopper are amongst our most familiar sounds, yet 
 few inquire the nature of the instrument by which the 
 little creature produces its pleasant music. This, the pri- 
 
44 INSECTS. 
 
 rnitive violin with bow, string, and sounding-board, 
 is to be found in the fore wings. 
 
 This instrument is most conspicuous in the crickets. 
 It consists of a clear space in the wing-cases, or fore- 
 wing, consisting of a tense membrane eucjosed by strong 
 and prominent nervures ; near this lies a strong nerve or 
 ridge, with a toothed, file-like surface. This file (the 
 bow), most prominent on the upper surface of the wing 
 which underlies, and on the under surface of that which 
 overlaps, plays, when the wings are rubbed together, 
 upon the raised ribs, causing a strong vibration in the 
 drum -like membrane, or sounding-board, beside them, 
 and thus producing the sound. 
 
 Figure 19 shows the drum and file (or sounding-board 
 
 Base of under side of wing-case of green Grasshopper (Acrida 
 viridissima) magnified. 
 
 and bow) in the left wing of the green grasshopper. 
 Fig. shows the instrument in the right wing (A) of 
 another species, Acrida brachelytra, in which one of the 
 strings crosses the sounding-board. B is the left wing, 
 on which in this species is the file or bow. C is the file 
 or bow more highly magnified. In the common house 
 cricket the sounding-board is divided by nervures into 
 several areas of various sizes and shapes, and the sound 
 is supposed to be influenced by this circumstance. 
 
WINGS OF INSECTS, AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 45 
 
 It has been found that he sound may be produced 
 artificially in dead specimens by rubbing the wings 
 together.* 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
 A. Upper surface of right wing-case of Acrida brachelvtra. 
 
 B. Under surface of left wing-case of do. 
 
 C. File more highly magnified* 
 
 For figures of Order II I. , Orthoptera, see Plate IV., 
 figs. 2, 3, 4, 5. 
 
 From the insects whose encased and folded wings 
 have been described, we turn to the dragonfly, with 
 four large, strong, ever-expanded wings, which bear 
 the insect forward, backward, or from side to side with 
 equal ease, and with a swiftness far beyond that of almost 
 any pursuing enemy. 
 
 These wings, with those of the smaller dragonflies, of 
 the delicate golden-eyed lace-fly, and others, are chiefly 
 characterized by their numerous nerves, which, inter- 
 secting their whole surface, form a kind of fine network 
 of small squarish meshes. The insects with these wings, 
 and some others in which the network is not so perfect, 
 belong to the order Neuroptera (vtvpoc, nerve, irrepov, 
 wing). The wings are always four in number, and 
 
 * These figures, with some others nsed in this work, are taken from 
 Todd and Bowman's " Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology." 
 
46 INSECTS. 
 
 in some, but not in all cases, the four are of equal 
 size. 
 
 For figures of Order IV., Neuroptera, see Plate F., 
 figs. 1,2, 3,4, 5. 
 
 The large, hairy, moth-like wing of the Trichoptera 
 (rpi\itt)v, hairy ; irrtpov, wing) are the sign of another 
 order. It is not difficult to mistake the large brownish 
 or drab-coloured caddis fly, or " water-moth," as it is 
 called by anglers, for a true moth. The downy wings of 
 this are, however, clothed with simple hairs, instead of 
 the dust-like scales with which the wings of the moth are 
 covered, and very slight attention will prevent any mistake. 
 
 For a figure of Trichoptera, see Plate V.,fi.g. 6. 
 
 Next come the bees, wasps, ants, sawflies, and others. 
 These have four clear wings with fewer nerves than 
 those of the dragonfly, and which form fewer, or some- 
 times hardly any, meshes ; indeed, in the case of some 
 minute genera the wings are altogether without veins. 
 As then the name of a former order, Neuroptera, was 
 taken from the predominance of the nerves, so in the 
 naming of this, as the membrane predominates, the order 
 to which these insects belong is called Hymenoptera 
 (v/ir/f, a membrane; irrtpov, a wing). 
 
 In the wings of this order we find mechanism as un- 
 expected as that in the wing of the cricket, though of a 
 different nature, and as an example we will take the 
 common hive bee, so well known to all. Most of us 
 know also the common " drone-fly," which so nearly 
 resembles it in size and form, and which we have seen 
 clustering by hundreds on the Michaelmas daisy in the 
 light of a November sun, making the whole air musical 
 with their merry hum, and the very sunlight brighter with 
 their glancing wings. It will be convenient to compare 
 
WINGS OF INSECTS, AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 47 
 
 this insect with the bee. Let us, therefore, lay the two 
 side by side. Here (fig. 2l,b) Fig 21 
 
 is the drone-fly with its 
 bright broad wings it seems 
 no wonder that the creature 
 flies. Now turn to the bee 
 (a) ; four little wisps lie 
 upon its back, and we mar- 
 vel how it uses them.* The 
 bee is heavier than the fly, ; 
 the wings may perhaps be of slightly magnified, 
 equal, or more than equal expanse when unfolded, but 
 how much force is lost by their division ? The drone- 
 fly has one broad wing on each side, the bee has two 
 narrow ones. Why is this ? and how is it compensated ? 
 Let us begin at the beginning. When our drone-fly 
 crept from the egg he found himself an uninviting looking 
 little grub with a most inordinate tail, which although 
 it had its uses, by no means improved his appearance. 
 Besides this, he was unfavourably placed, being in the 
 mud at the bottom of a dirty pool, or perhaps of a more 
 dirty drain. Finding it in vain to try to be ornamental, 
 the little grub set about being useful, and began by 
 seeing what could be done with his tail, which, lengthen- 
 ing it with a sort of telescope movement, and elevating 
 it to the surface of the water (he himself being immersed 
 to the depth of perhaps some inches), he found to be an 
 excellent breathing tube, through which he might obtain 
 
 * It was intended that a worker hive bee should be figured here, but 
 the figure is of a drone, whose wings are larger. The wings are also par- 
 tially expanded in the figure, not closed up into a small space as described. 
 The reader must therefore be referred to a live honey-bee when at rest, 
 and to which the following description applies. 
 
48 INSECTS. 
 
 a constant supply of atmospheric air, while engaged in 
 his labours below. 
 
 Of these labours it must here suffice to say that, 
 feeding on putrifying substances, he was doing his part 
 towards the purification of the world by converting 
 noxious dead matter into the material of an organized, 
 living, wholesome being. At this task he laboured, and 
 if he gained his own advantages thereby, who would 
 grudge them to him, or who could fail to recognise 
 therein the wisdom which has taught each creature to 
 find in his allotted task his allotted share of enjoyment ? 
 
 Having at length done his work and earned his re- 
 ward, he next took a little sleep as " pupa," and then 
 burst forth into life, a sun-loving, flower-enjoying, 
 .winged creature, with nothing to do but to be happy 
 and nothing to think of but his pleasures. No house 
 building for him he wants no house. His life will 
 end with the year's warmth and brightness, for he knows 
 no winter. No family cares, for him his children can 
 make their own way in their own muddy pool, be 
 happy and prosperous without his help. Never need he 
 dim his bright wings with sordid labour, or soil his 
 polished body till his little life shall end. And so his 
 broad smooth wings are well suited to his needs. 
 
 But now for our bee. He first awoke to conscious- 
 ness in the form of a fat little, comfortable, lazy white 
 maggot, packed cosily in a waxen cradle ready made for 
 him, with nothing to do for himself or for anybody else, 
 except to open his mouth for the food which careful 
 guardians daily and hourly brought to him, and, delibe- 
 rately masticating it ? to wait for more. 
 
 So time rolled on with him, and the one only exertion 
 to which the little sybarite thought of arousing himself 
 
WINGS OF INSECTS, AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 49 
 
 was that of providing for his own further comfort in the 
 matter of spinning himself a silken nightgown, in which 
 to take his pupa sleep. 
 
 Awaking from this the scene was changed, he had 
 become a winged and perfect animal ; and into his mind 
 rushed a full sense of his responsibilities. First, he had 
 to make sure of his position in the hive as father, 
 mother, or worker, and finding himself, we will say, a 
 worker, he, or rather she, became aware that the duties 
 of house-builder, housekeeper, nurse, and even of soldier 
 and sentinel, devolved upon her. 
 
 The business of life now opened before her, she 
 addressed herself to the task of repaying to futurity that 
 debt which the cares of a former generation had laid 
 upon her, and daily she toiled in its fulfilment. 
 
 In these labours not only would the bee have found 
 a pair of wings large enough to sustain her weight a 
 serious encumbrance in some situations, and during some 
 employments, but the wings themselves would have been 
 liable to injury on a thousand occasions, unless the bee 
 had had the power of packing them into a small com- 
 pass. Therefore, as we have said, she is furnished with 
 
 Fig. 22. Fig. 23. 
 
 Wing of Drone-fly. Two Wings of Bee. 
 
 (Eristalis tenax.) 
 
 two narrow wings on each side, which lying, when not in 
 use, the one above the other in a small space, passscathe- 
 
 E 
 
50 INSECTS. 
 
 less " thoro' bush, thoro' briar/' as she wends her way 
 in search of food for the day or stores for the future, or 
 as she traverses the narrow passages of the hive, admi- 
 nistering food to the ever-ready pupa, or forming fresh 
 cells wherein to lay up her golden treasures. 
 
 We see then the purpose of the division of the wing ; 
 and now, how is the loss of power compensated ? By 
 the presence of a row of hooks on the front edge of the 
 hind wing, which, fitting into a fold in the hind edge 
 of the fore wing, connect the two in flight and make, as 
 it ivere, one wing of the two. 
 
 Fig. 24. 
 
 (A) portion of hind margin of upper wing of 
 Bee, showing (a) thickened ridge for reception of 
 hooks (6), on upper side of lower wing (} of ditto. 
 
 Here is a beautiful illustration of this variety of 
 structure, with an evident purpose. 
 
 For figures of Order VI., Hymenoptera, see Plates 
 VI. to IX. 
 
 After the insects with clear and membranous wings, 
 come the tribes of butterflies and moths, and here at 
 least are insects with which all are familiar. Even the 
 painted scales or dust upon their wings cannot pass un- 
 observed, and the Lepidoptera (AcTrie, a scale ; irrtpbv, 
 wing) would seem to require no introduction. 
 

 WINGS OF INSECTS, AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 5 1 
 
 Yet what is the painting upon these beautiful wings, 
 and by what means are the gem-like colours obtained ? 
 Let us look into the composition of this common and 
 doubtless very simple little object a butterfly's wing. 
 
 The wing here, as in other tribes, consists of two fine 
 membranes, between which lie the " nervures," a series 
 of tubes, on the nature of which philosophers are hardly 
 yet agreed. Nevertheless, be they veins, or air-tubes, or 
 whatever they may be, it is certain that they perform 
 the mechanical office of bones, in strengthening and 
 supporting the wing. 
 
 Attached to the membranes, on both sides of the 
 wings, are innumerable minute scales (the dust), each 
 having a little stalk inserted in the membrane of the 
 wing, and all being arranged like tiles, in regular rows, 
 one overlapping another. The variety of form in these 
 scales is very great even in the different parts of each 
 individual ; but a distinctive form of scale, generally con- 
 fined to the male, is found in some genera and species. 
 Some scales are oblong, others triangular, others heart- 
 shaped and tasselled, others in the form of a battledore. 
 
 The structure of these scales is next to be observed, 
 and it will be seen that they are not quite so simple as 
 we might have expected, if we believed as of course we 
 ought to believe all the instructive little books that 
 talk to us about the " simplicity of nature." 
 
 Each of these scales is found to consist of two or 
 three layers of fine membrane. In some the upper layer 
 is more or less covered with granules of colouring 
 matter ; in others the second layer is covered with parallel 
 lines, apparently composed of these granules ; while in 
 others the second and third layers have the power of re- 
 flecting the most brilliant prismatic colouring. By some 
 E '4 
 
52 INSECTS. 
 
 writers these parallel lines are supposed to be tubes ; 
 and let the reader imagine, if he can, the size of a tube 
 of which a large number are found in a single grain 
 of dust on a butterfly's wing ! Of these scales, or 
 grains of dust, Leuwenhoeck computed the number on 
 the wing of a single moth to exceed 400,000. 
 
 For figures of Order VIII., Lepidoptera, see Plates 
 X., XI. 
 
 With the Lepidoptera we enter on a division of in- 
 sects which differ in one important respect from those 
 which have been already mentioned, and which possess 
 biting jaws. In Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) the 
 character of the mouth is entirely changed, and these, 
 and all the following orders, may be classed as insects 
 which live by suction. The structure of both kinds of 
 mouth has been described in the second chapter. 
 
 The moths and butterflies then, compose the first order 
 of the sucking tribes ; the second is that which comprises 
 the cicada, cuckoo spit, aphis, &c. 
 
 These have two pairs of wings, which in cicada, aphis, 
 and others, are all alike clear and membranous ; while in 
 the froghopper and others the front pair is more or less 
 thickened, somewhat like those of the grasshopper. This 
 is the only order in which the beginner could make a 
 mistake. Attending only to the slight description given 
 here of the wings and wing-cases, he might refer some of 
 the clear-winged insects to Hymenoptera, and others with 
 thickened fore-wings to Orthoptera ; but it must never be 
 forgotten that the Hymenopterous and Orthopterous in- 
 sects are biters, whereas these are sucking insects, without 
 horny mandibles, and usually provided with a long 
 tubular beak, sufficiently conspicuous to distinguish them 
 with ease. These insects belong to the order Homoptera 
 alike; irrspov, wing), so called because, 
 
WINGS OF INSECTS, AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 53 
 
 whether the two pairs resemble each other or not, the 
 wings of the front pair are of the same texture through- 
 out. By this character they are separated from the 
 order next to be described Heteroptera (tTspog, heteros, 
 different; Trrt/oov, wing), in which part of the fore-wing 
 is thickened, and part membranous* 
 
 For figures of Order IX., Homoptera, see Plate XII. 
 
 To the order Heteroptera belong all the rest of those 
 sucking insects which have something like wing-cases, 
 but as has been said, these wing-cases are only partially 
 thickened, and have received the name of hemelytra 
 or half elytra, distinguishing them from the elytra, or 
 perfect wing-cases of the beetles. Of these a good 
 example is found in the common plant bugs, with their 
 variegated colours, or delicate green hue. The water- 
 boatman, the water-scorpion, and many others rank with 
 them. 
 
 For figures of Order X., Heteroptera, see Plate XIII. 
 
 The next tribe is called Aphaniptera, or not showing 
 its wings (atyavfig, invisible ; Trrepov, wing), which is 
 only a civil way of saying that the insects which belong 
 to it the fleas have no wings. They have at least 
 none, in the common sense of the word. It has been 
 both suggested and denied that the four wings proper 
 to insects are represented by four scales which grow on 
 the sides of the thorax, and appear to be undeveloped 
 wings. It may be remarked that the want of wings 
 is compensated by the great power of the springing legs, 
 which fully answer all purposes of locomotion. 
 
 From the fleas, with their four little scale-like repre- 
 
 * These two orders were formerly combined, and on their division re- 
 ceived their present designations, which accounts for the first being called 
 by a name which distinguishes it from the second half of the old order 
 rather than from the insects of other orders. 
 
54* INSECTS. 
 
 sentatives of wings (if they be so), we come to the flies, or 
 two-winged insects, Diptera (Sic, twice ; TTT^OOV, wing). 
 
 All the insects hitherto described have been shown to 
 possess four wings or their rudiments (unless indeed the 
 fleas be an exception), though these wings are sometimes 
 greatly modified, as in the beetles. The order of Flies, 
 now to be described, clearly possesses but two organs, 
 which can with any propriety be called wings ; but even 
 here the deficient wings (which in this case are the 
 hind pair) are supposed to be represented by two little 
 appendages, which grow from the same spot as that 
 which would naturally be occupied by the hind wings, 
 and which are present in no four-winged insect. Of 
 these organs (which are known as the " halteres," 
 " poisers" or " balancers," from one of their supposed 
 uses ; and " malleoli," or little hammers, from their form), 
 little is as yet known. It has been proved, however, 
 that a knot of nerves as considerable as that which 
 supplies each pair of wings in other orders, or the single 
 pair in this, is in connexion with the halteres, and 
 from this it is inferred that they perform some function 
 of importance. 
 
 For figures of Order XIL, Diptera, see Plates 
 XIV., XV., XVI. 
 
 Enough has now been said to show that this small part 
 of so small a creature, even a fly's wing, is no simple 
 matter, devoid of interest, or unworthy of study ; and 
 enough to prove that it is but our own ignorance which 
 makes any work of creation small to us our own blind- 
 ness which hinders us from seeing the evidences of power 
 and wisdom which lie before our eyes. The above is, 
 however, but a slight sketch of part of the subject; there 
 is much more which might be told of insects' wings. 
 
55 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE CHANGES OF INSECTS. 
 
 THE changes, or metamorphoses of insects, have already 
 been referred to, and it is time to give some account of 
 the various characters of these changes. 
 
 In the butterfly and moth tribe they are familiar to 
 all, while perhaps there are many persons to whom the 
 fact will be new, that the process of changing is not con- 
 fined to butterflies and moths, but that beetles, flies, 
 wasps, grasshoppers, and, indeed, all true insects 
 (see p. 23) undergo changes of like nature, though not 
 in all points the same. 
 
 In describing these metamorphoses, the butterfly ap- 
 pears to be the most suitable, because the best known, 
 example. 
 
 From the egg of the butterfly proceeds at first a 
 minute caterpillar, which feeds and grows until, having 
 outgrown its skin, this bursts, and the little caterpillar 
 emerges in a newer and larger garment which has been 
 preparing beneath the first. This process (called moult- 
 ing) is repeated from time to time until the caterpillar 
 has arrived at its full growth ; when, by prolonged 
 and apparently distressful exertions, the last skin is 
 burst, and the caterpillar emerges in the form of a 
 chrysalis. The chrysalis lies to ail appearance dormant 
 until the time for the animal's final change, when, in its 
 
56 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 turn, it is cracked from within, and the butterfly comes 
 forth. 
 
 All true insects, as has been said, undergo these three 
 changes, but their condition in the imperfect stages is 
 not alike in all, nor will the terms caterpillar and chry- 
 salis always apply to them. We must therefore use the 
 scientific names of Larva* for the second or Caterpillar 
 stage, and Pupa-f for the third or Chrysalis stage ; the 
 perfect insect is usually termed the Imago. 
 
 Both the larvae and the pupae differ greatly in habit 
 and in appearance, in the various orders. The larva 
 j,j 25 may be a footless and almost in- 
 
 active maggot, and even in some 
 cases (as with the social bees, see 
 fig. 25, and ants) be dependent 
 for food upon the care of the 
 parent or nurses. Other larvas 
 
 are active and ravenous, and as 
 Larva of Bee. unlike the perfect ingect &g pog . 
 
 sible, as in the case of the water-beetles (fig, 26) ; whilst 
 
 in others, as the earwig, grasshopper, cockroach, &c., 
 
 Fig. 2t>. 
 
 Larva of Water-beetle (Dyticus). 
 
 * From the Latin word larva mask, 
 t From pupa, a child referring to the swathing-bands of infants. 
 
THE CHANGES OF INSECTS. 
 
 57 
 
 the larva closely resembles the perfect insect, except in 
 being without wings. Besides these varieties, the larvse 
 of some terrestrial insects are aquatic in their habits, as in 
 the case of the common gnat, the dragonfly, &c. 
 
 The variety of character observable in the pupa is of the 
 more importance, from a scientific point of view, as it coin- 
 cides (though not without exceptions) with the principal 
 divisions of the insect tribes, and has, indeed, by some of 
 the best writers, been used to mark those divisions. 
 Thus all the beetles (Coleoptera), and all the insects of 
 the bee, wasp, and ant tribes (Hymenoptera) (figs. 27, 28), 
 
 Fig. 27. Fig. 28. Fig. 29. Fig. 30. 
 
 Pupa of Bee 
 (Front). 
 
 Pupa of Bee 
 (Profile). 
 
 Pupae of Diptera. 
 
 1. Pupa of Drone-fly still 
 
 in larva skin. 
 
 2. Ditto, with larva-skin 
 
 removed. 
 
 3. Ditto of Anthomyia. 
 I. Ditto of Mycetobia. 
 
 Pupa of Sphinx- 
 Moth. 
 
 have a pupa which is inactive and non-eating, but which 
 differs from those of the moths and butterflies (Lepidop- 
 tera) (fig. 29) and from some of the two-winged flies 
 (Diptera) (fig. 30) in being covered by a skin, which 
 allows the limbs to show separately, as the hand is 
 covered by a glove ; whereas in the butterflies and some 
 flies the whole pupa is enclosed in a simple case or 
 envelope. In these, therefore, the pupa in no degree 
 
58 INSECTS. 
 
 resembles the perfect insect, while in the former it bears 
 some likeness to a dead and wingless specimen. 
 
 In other classes of insects the pupa is active, and 
 closely resembles the perfect insect, forming indeed, in 
 most cases, a link between this and the larva. Of this 
 kind are the pupse of the earwigs (Euplexoptera), and the 
 grasshoppers and cockroaches (Orthoptera), which can 
 only be distinguished from the wingless larva and the 
 winged imago by the rudimental wings, or rather wing- 
 cases, wherein the true wings are being prepared. 
 
 To sum up. From the egg of an insect emerges the 
 larva, which, whether active and independent, or partially 
 inactive and dependent on others, is always a feeding and 
 a growing animal. To the larva succeeds the pupa, 
 which may be totally quiescent and incapable of feeding, 
 or which may be active and voracious, but which never 
 grows or moults. From the pupa proceeds the imago 
 or perfect insect, which thenceforth neither grows nor 
 undergoes change or moult. 
 
 In the life of some insects the chief part seems to be 
 played whilst in the preliminary states ; the imperfect 
 insect preying, building, tailoring, and generally living 
 for a much longer time than the perfect insect ; the only 
 business of which, in these cases, seems to be to perpetuate 
 the species and to die ; whilst, on the other hand, there 
 are those which, having lived a dependent and inactive 
 life in their earlier stages, take upon them in their 
 maturity all the duties of parents, nurses, governors, 
 citizens, and artizans. 
 
 And now, after all that has been written in this and 
 the preceding chapters, it must be confessed that the 
 young student will occasionally find difficulties in his 
 way, even in the first step of determining whether a cer- 
 
CHANGES OF INSECTS. 59 
 
 tain animal be a true insect or not. Again, there are 
 exceptional insects, concerning which he will at first be 
 puzzled to decide whether they are in a perfect or imper- 
 fect stage ; but a very little experience and observation 
 will do more for him than the addition of many words in 
 this place ; and he is advised here, and throughout his 
 studies, to turn at once from the written page to an 
 examination of the objects themselves, and thus to 
 exchange words for knowledge. 
 
60 
 
 TABULAR SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS II., III., IV. 
 A. Insects with biting jaws. 
 
 ORDER I. COLEOPTERA (jcoXeoe = koleos, a sheath ; -nrepov = 
 
 pteron, a wing}. 
 Pupa inactive. 
 Fore-wings horny or leathery, covering the hind- 
 
 wings. 
 Hind-wings with branching nerves, folded 
 
 lengthwise and across. 
 Examples. Cockchafer, Devil's coachhorse, 
 
 Ladybird, &c. 
 
 ORDER II. EUPLEXOPTERA (ev = eu, well; TrXeicroc = plectos, 
 
 folded). 
 
 Pupa active, resembling larva and imago. 
 Fore-wings leathery, very small, not quite cover- 
 
 ing the hind- wings. 
 Hind- wings large, with radiating nerves, folded 
 
 lengthwise like a fan, then folded twice 
 
 across. 
 Example. Earwig. 
 
 ORDER III. ORTHOPTERA (o^dog = orthos, straight). 
 Pupa active, resembling larva and imago. 
 Fore-wings parchment-like. 
 Hind- wings large, with radiating veins, folding 
 . like a fan. 
 
 Examples. Cockroaches, Grasshoppers. 
 
TABULAR SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS II., III., IV. 61 
 
 [ORDER IV. TRTSANOPTERA. See Chapter IX. 
 Example. Thrips. ] 
 
 ORDER V. NEUROPTERA (vevpov == 'neuron, a nerve). 
 Pupa active or inactive. 
 Four wings, all clear and membranous, with 
 
 veins forming a fine network. 
 Examples. Dragonfly, Lacefly, &c. 
 
 ORDER VI. TRICHOPTERA (rpix^y = trichion, hairy). 
 Pupa inactive. 
 
 Four wings covered with hairs. 
 Hind- wings larger than fore, and folding. 
 Example. Caddis-fly. 
 
 ORDER VII. HYMENOPTERA ( vpjv = hymen, a membrane). 
 Pupa inactive. 
 Four wings, clear and membranous. Veins 
 
 branching, not numerous. 
 Hind-wings smaller than the fore-wings, and 
 
 connected with them in flight by hooks. 
 Examples. Bees, Wasps, &c. 
 
 [ORDER VIII. STREPSIPTERA. See end of Chapter VI. 
 Example. StylopsJ] 
 
 B. Insects with sucking mouths. 
 
 ORDER IX. LEPIDOPTERA (AeTrtc = lepis, a scale). 
 
 Pupa inactive. 
 
 Four wings, large, covered on both sides with 
 fine dust or scales. 
 
 Examples. Moths, Butterflies. 
 [HEMIPTERA. Now divided into Hamoptera and Heteroptera.] 
 
62 INSECTS. 
 
 ORDER X. HOMOPTERA (opoiog = homoios, alike). 
 
 Pupa active.* Sometimes resembling the perfect 
 
 insect. 
 Four wings, all clear and membranous ; or the 
 
 fore-wings slightly thickened throughout. 
 Fore-wings largest, not overlapping. 
 Proboscis springing from under the face, near 
 
 the throat. 
 Examples. Aphis, Cuckoo-spit insect, &c. 
 
 ORDER XI. HETEROPTERA (trspog = heteros, different). 
 Pupa active, resembling the perfect insect. 
 Hind- wings clear and membranous. Fore-wings 
 
 thickened in part, and clear in part, and 
 
 overlapping each other.f 
 
 Proboscis springing from the front of the face. 
 Examples. Water-boatman, Plant bugs, &c. 
 
 ORDER XII. APHANIPTERA ('A^a^e = Aphanes, invisible). 
 Pupa inactive. 
 Wingless. 
 Example. flea. 
 
 ORDER XIII. DIPTERA (Aic = dis, twice). 
 - Pupa inactive.^. 
 
 Two wings, membranous, clear, and not folded. 
 A pair of balancers in place of hind-wings. 
 Examples. Gnat, Daddylonglegs Housefly, Blue 
 bottle, &c. 
 
 * Except Aleyrodes. 
 
 f There are several exceptions to this rule. The mouth must then de- 
 cide the order. J Exception, Gnats. 
 
63 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 
 
 THAT great diversity of habit, food, and structure should 
 be found in the order Coleoptera, might be inferred from 
 the fact that the species of Beetles (of which it is com- 
 posed) greatly exceed in number those of any other order 
 of insects. In England alone there are about 8000 known, 
 and the number constantly increases. 
 
 Amongst these then we find inhabitants of the land 
 and of the water, dwellers on the earth and under the 
 earth ; we find scavengers and sextons, fierce hunters 
 and sluggish vegetarians, and, strangest of all, we find a 
 servile race content to live in captivity and minister to 
 the needs or luxury of another tribe of animals. 
 
 Between the larval and the perfect state of the same 
 species, diversity is also to be found. Thus some, fiercely 
 predaceous in the imperfect, become vegetarian in the 
 perfect state ; and the aquatic larva produces a beetle 
 which, though furnished with swimming organs, and 
 certainly most at home in its native element, is yet both 
 able and willing to use the powerful wings with which 
 also it is provided. Even upon land the water-beetles 
 are by no means destitute of the means of progression, 
 
64 INSECTS. 
 
 though they can hardly be considered graceful, the gait 
 of the water-beetle on land strongly resembling the 
 hurried shuffle, or " scuttling" motion of a frightened 
 turtle. 
 
 This variety of habit implies variety of structure, and 
 it follows hence that, with observation, we may learn to 
 recognise those peculiarities of form which attend certain 
 modes of life, and that thus we shall, in some cases at 
 least, be enabled to read, in the form of a hitherto un- 
 known insect, something of its life and character. 
 
 The number of British beetles being so great, it is im- 
 possible here to enumerate even the families, much Jess 
 the genera, in any manner which would be instructive or 
 interesting to the reader ;* and only a very slight out- 
 line of the order will be attempted, illustrated by examples 
 taken from among common beetles, which may be 
 already familiar to the reader, or which he may easily 
 procure and recognise. An examination and compari- 
 son of these will enable him to render himself familiar 
 with the characters used in scientific divisions. 
 
 The number of the tarsal joints (see p. #5, fig. 9, e) is 
 used to divide the beetles into four large sections. These 
 are 
 
 PENTAMERA, in which all the tarsi are five-jointed. 
 
 HETEROMERA, in which the four front tarsi are five- 
 jointed, the hind tarsi four-jointed. 
 
 TETRAMERA, in which all the tarsi are four-jointed. 
 
 TRIMERA, in which all the tarsi are three-jointed. 
 
 The word pseudo (false) is sometimes prefixed to 
 -tetramera and -trimera, as these are only apparently 
 
 * In the series to which the present work belongs, one interesting volume 
 is devoted to this branch of entomology. "British Beetles, an Introduc- 
 tion to the Study of our Indigenous Coleoptera," by E. C. Rye. 
 
ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 
 
 65 
 
 three and four-jointed; a minute and concealed additional 
 joint existing in both cases. 
 
 The form and clothing of the joints of the tarsi are 
 to be noted in the examination of beetles. 
 
 The antennas Fig. 31. 
 
 are next to be ob- 
 served. Some are 
 slender and taper- 
 ing, or thread- 
 like, (filiform, fig. 
 31, 1) ; others 
 thickened to\vards 
 the free end, and 
 club-shaped (cla- 
 vate) ; or knob- 
 bed (capitate, 2). 
 In some the last 
 joints are flat and 
 leaf-like (lamel- 
 late), attached to- 
 gether at one end 
 and opening and 
 closing like a fan 
 (fig. 3 1,5); while in 
 others these joints 
 are thick, and much 
 larger on one side 
 than on the other, forming a knob or club with deep fis- 
 sures (fissate, 6). 
 
 In some the antennas are slender and toothed more 
 or less deeply, like a saw (serrate, 7), or a comb (pecti- 
 nate, 8) ; and in others the joints present the appear- 
 ance of a string of beads (moniliform) . When the knob 
 
 1. Filiform. 
 
 2. Capitate. 
 
 3. Perfoliate club. 
 
 4. Geniculate. 
 
 5. Lamellate. 
 
 6. Fissateclub. 
 
 7. Serrate. 
 
 8. Pectinate. 
 
66 INSECTS. 
 
 is formed of thin, flat, distinct joints, as at fig. 31, 3, 
 it is called per foliate, and when the antennae form an 
 angle, as at 4 and 6, it is geniculate, kneed or elbowed. 
 
 In beetles of the Section PENTAMERA the antennae 
 generally afford some indication of the habits of the 
 insects, though exceptions are numerous. Thus, those 
 with slender, filiform antennas are mostly found to feed 
 on living insects. Those with club-shaped antennae on 
 dead animal or vegetable matter ; those with lamellate 
 and fissate clubs, and also those with slender serrate 
 antennae, on living plants. 
 
 The Pentamerous beetles are divided into four Sub- 
 sections.* 
 
 The first is ADEPHAGA ('ASrj^ei'yoe, adepliagos, raven- 
 ous), and contains predaceous beetles, both land and 
 water, which have long horns and two pairs of palpi on 
 their maxillae. (See fig. 4, p. 65.) 
 
 These are again subdivided into land and water 
 beetles. 
 
 Of the first Subdivision, Geodephaga (Fr), ge, earth), 
 or the land ravenous beetles, the tiger and violet beetles 
 (PL I. figs. 1, 2) are good examples. 
 
 The tiger beetle, Cicindela campestris (PI. I. fig. I, 
 and fig. 3, a, b, p. 30), is often to be seen on heaths 
 and Sandy roads, and from its great beauty is very un- 
 likely to escape observation. It is easily recognised by 
 its elegant shape and beautiful colouring, and by the 
 remarkable agility of its motions, both running and 
 using its wings with a freedom rare among beetles. 
 
 A slender, yet strong-looking little creature, with 
 large eyes, compact thorax, and throat and waist well 
 
 * See the table at the end of Coleoptera. 
 
ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 6? 
 
 marked ; of a glorious green colour, shaded, or rather 
 illuminated with crimson and gold, and bearing cream- 
 coloured spots ; long wiry crimson legs with a metallic 
 lustre, and breast and belly clothed with burnished plate 
 armour of bluish green, crimson, and gold : this is the 
 Tiger-beetle. 
 
 The ferocity of this beetle is perhaps as great as that 
 of any animal known. The female has often been seen 
 to deliberately dismember and eat her husband, though 
 it remains a puzzle to naturalists that the husband an 
 insect apparently equal to herself, or nearly so, in size 
 and power should submit to this. In captivity the 
 Cicindelse will (says Mr. Holmes, "Zoologist," 475) "fight 
 savagely, rearing up against one another like dogs. I 
 have known one decapitate his adversary by a single 
 stroke of his jaws." It is not, however, usual for beetles 
 to prey on their own species when alive and not in con- 
 finement, though this rule is not without exception. 
 The female may be known by two dusky spots near the 
 base of the elytra, and also by the difference of form in 
 the legs of the two sexes ; the tarsi being simple in the 
 female, while in the male the three basal joints are 
 slightly dilated and cushioned. 
 
 There are only five British species of the Cicindela, 
 which may be recognised by a pointed claw or hook 
 terminating the maxillaa, and which is found in no other 
 British land beetle (see fig. 4, p. 30). The Cicindela 
 is essentially diurnal in its habits, running and flying 
 freely in the sunshine. 
 
 Carabusviolaceus (PL I. fig. 2), another of the raven- 
 ous land beetles, is a large, elegantly formed beetle with a 
 beautiful violet lustre upon the thorax and the wing- 
 cases, which latter, like those of many of the family, are 
 
68 INSECTS. 
 
 firmly soldered together. It is frequently to be met with 
 in houses haunted by cockroaches and crickets, finding 
 there a plentiful supply of food, the nocturnal habits 
 of these insects (especially the cockroach) agreeing well 
 with its own, as, indeed, with those of most of the 
 Carabi. Predaceous though the Carabus be, it is almost 
 as common to find it half devoured by ants as alive and 
 well, and it appears highly probable that these little 
 creatures attack it when alive, and when one would have 
 supposed it capable of defending itself from their attacks 
 That ants do so attack large living beetles is well 
 known, and the writer once saw a cockchafer under the 
 process of being devoured alive. In this case the whole 
 of the abdomen was gone, and great part of the thorax, 
 only enough being left to hold together the head, wing- 
 cases, and three legs, one on one side and two on the 
 other. With these three legs and this nearly empty 
 half of a thorax, the miserable creature was walking 
 about, carrying with him his " detested parasites," which 
 continued their attentions till they were somewhat forcibly 
 brought to a conclusion by the finder. 
 
 Another insect of this division is the " Bombardier," 
 which is not uncommon, and attracts attention by a 
 peculiar habit of suddenly ejecting an acrid fluid, as by 
 a little explosion, and which is visible and, at least in 
 the larger foreign species, even audible. The beetle is 
 easily provoked by irritation to these explosions, which 
 however, become weaker when repeated. Mr. Holmes 
 (Zool. 475) mentions the fact that the discharge has 
 been induced so long as four days after death. 
 
 The second Subdivision of the predaceous long- 
 horned beetles are the Hydradephaga (vSwp, hydor, 
 water). 
 
 The water-beetles may generally be recognised as 
 
ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 69 
 
 such by their hind legs, which are long, somewhat flat- 
 tened, tapering, and fringed with hairs ; and occasionally 
 present more remarkable modifications of form (see 
 Gyrinus, p. 86, figs. 11, 12), and are obviously fitted for 
 swimming rather than for walking. 
 
 The large Dyticus, a beetle common in fresh-water 
 aquaria, is an example of this division, and it, and the 
 smaller and commoner Acilius (PL I., fig. 3), much 
 resembling it, and which may be seen floating tail 
 upwards, in almost any pool or duck-pond in the country, 
 are both well-known insects. They are rendered con- 
 spicuous by the curious fore-legs of the male, three of 
 the tarsal joints of which are spread out, and together 
 form a nearly circular disc fringed with strong hairs 
 and studded with suckers, forming a singular and beauti- 
 ful prehensile organ. 
 
 In the Dyticus, as in the other predaceous water - 
 beetles, the long oar-like hind-legs are conspicuous and 
 well-marked as natatory organs ; and, like most other 
 rapacious animals, the Dyticus is enabled to move very 
 swiftly. This powerful insect, enclosed in plate-armour, 
 swift and ravenous, must be a frightful antagonist to the 
 soft-bodied inhabitants of the waters. 
 
 In the Oxford Museum is one which was taken in the 
 act of devouring a young pike longer than itself. A 
 fierce fight between two Dytici is no uncommon sight, 
 and the male frequently falls a victim to the fury of the 
 female, who attacks and eats him. When however this 
 does not take place, the male usually dies first, and is 
 then devoured by his wife. 
 
 The larva is a slender, active animal, with a pair of 
 long, sharp, and curved jaws (see fig. 26, p. 57), which 
 make it no less formidable a companion than the perfect 
 insect. A writer in the " Zoologist" gives a rather 
 
70 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 striking instance of the voracity of one of these insects 
 which, plunged with its prey, a half-dead eft, into strong 
 spirits of wine, continued to eat for twenty minutes or 
 half an hour, during which time he was himself actually 
 dying. Zool. ii. 702. 
 
 The merry little companies of the Whirligig beetle 
 (Gyrinus natator, PI. I. fig. 4) can hardly escape the 
 notice of any haunter of shady pools ; and the means by 
 which the gyrations of these glittering and silvery glo- 
 bules (as they appear when in motion), are described in a 
 foregoing page (p. 36). 
 
 The Gyrinus is small, boat-shaped, and black in colour, 
 Fig 32> and has peculiarities of form be- 
 
 sides that in the swimming appa- 
 ratus. The eyes (fig. 32) are so 
 divided as to give the appearance 
 of a pair on each side of the head 
 one directed upwards, the other 
 down ; a modification which is 
 Side view of head of Gyrinus. found in some Dung beetles. 
 The antennae also, are remarkable in form (fig. 33), 
 
 and the parts of the 
 mouth are well worth 
 examining. The in- 
 sect issupposed to live 
 on small dead insects, 
 which it seizes when 
 floating on the water 
 If neither the swift- 
 ness of the gyrating 
 motion, nor the 
 beauty of the contri- 
 
 Fig. 33. 
 
 Antennae of Gyrinus in different positions, 
 highly magnified. 
 
 vance which produces it, nor the singularity of the other 
 
ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 71 
 
 parts of the common little Gyrinus natator, serve to 
 impress it upon the recollection of the reader when once 
 seen, he will not easily forget it when once smelt. This 
 remark, however, does not apply to the other species of 
 Gyrinus.* 
 
 The eggs are placed end to end in parallel lines upon 
 the leaves of water-plants. 
 
 The second Subsection of Pentamera is RYPOPHAGA 
 (PVTTOC, RypO8,JUih), and consists of what may be called 
 scavengers of both land and water. They are distin- 
 guished from the preceding (the ravenous beetles) by the 
 form of the antennse, which are comparatively short and 
 more or less club-shaped, and by the maxillae, which have 
 but a single palpus. 
 
 The first Subdivision of these are the water-lovers, 
 Philhydrida (0tAu, phileo, to love ; vSup, hydor, 
 water.) 
 
 The best known of these is the very large Hydrophilus 
 Piceus or Hydrous Piceus, which greatly exceeds the 
 large Dyticus in size, and is fiercely predaceous in its 
 larval state. The perfect beetle is a quiet and peaceable 
 animal, which, notwithstanding the great strength and 
 completeness of its coat of mail, sometimes falls a 
 victim to its smaller carnivorous brethren. 
 
 As in the Dyticus, there is a remarkable enlargement 
 in the fore tarsus of the male Hydrophilus, the last joint 
 forming a large triangular plate, furnished with spines. 
 The second pair of legs is also spinous, as in the 
 Dyticus the tarsi of the second pair correspond with 
 those of the first in being furnished with suckers. 
 
 * It is supposed to arise from the voluntary emission of a volatile fluid. 
 The same thing occurs in many other beetles, as in the Carabus, the Bom- 
 bardier, and others. 
 
72 INSECTS. 
 
 The larva of this beetle is one of the fiercest hunters 
 of the water. 
 
 The Hydrophilus has a habit, singular among beetles, 
 of spinning a flexible silken sac, in which to enclose 
 Fi<r 34 her eggs (fig. 34). This is described 
 as resembling a turnip upside down ; a 
 curved, pointed horn, about one inch 
 long, rising from the upper side of the 
 sac, which, being compressed on two 
 sides, measures about three-quarters of 
 an inch at its widest, and half an inch at 
 its narrowest diameter. 
 Nest of eggs of Hy- There are several other families of 
 drous piceus. non-predaceous beetles both aquatic and 
 semi-aquatic. Some live in the moss and grass by the 
 side of pools and streams, at times freely entering the 
 water and running on the bottom. Others live in or 
 on the muddy bottom ; others are found on the stems 
 and leaves and among the roots of water plants. In 
 cases like these the legs are usually adapted for crawling 
 or wading rather than for swimming. 
 
 The water-beetles, however, of most marked aquatic 
 form and habit, by no means confine themselves to their 
 own element ; those of the carnivorous section especially 
 frequently leave the water at night, but are seldom found 
 on the wing in the daytime. 
 
 Of the land beetles with clubbed horns, and which feed 
 chiefly on dead matter of various kinds, the sextons 
 or burying beetles are perhaps the most remarkable, 
 and are certainly amongst the most disagreeable, owing 
 to a disgusting scent which they acquire from their food. 
 They form the second Subdi vision, Necropliaga(NtK.poQ, 
 necros, dead ; (payw, phago, eating), and are an invaluable 
 
ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 73 
 
 portion of the insect tribes, being indefatigable in tbeir 
 labours among putrifying substances, and it needs but 
 little consideration to enable us to realize the vast impor- 
 tance of these labours. Rapidly as the chemical process of 
 decomposition follows upon the death of either animals or 
 vegetables, it seldom in nature outstrips the generation 
 of agents which more than neutralize the attendant evils ; 
 agents which in fact turn this decomposition to account 
 under that law of creation which forbids all waste, and 
 exhibits the spectacle of life and enjoyment arising out of 
 death and decay. 
 
 To this it is no objection that all the evils which can 
 arise from decay and putrefaction are to be met with 
 in cities and other congregations of men, and that nature 
 provides no means adequate to the demand in such 
 cases. Where men congregate and cause these evils, 
 there human labour is the provided remedy. Nature is 
 no longer the sole agent, art takes her share of responsi- 
 bility ; and, as in the supply of food, so in other works 
 necessary to the wellbeing of man, man depends much 
 upon his own exertions. In nature we find no accumu- 
 lations of filth, no masses of corruption neglected; we 
 may spend hours nay, days in the woods and on the 
 heaths and find nothing to distress the eye ; while, even 
 in the overcrowded haunts of men, myriads of little living 
 creatures are at work, giving no inconsiderable help in 
 setting to rights what he has set to wrongs. 
 
 The colouring of the genus Necrophorus is likely to 
 attract attention. The elytra are marked with broad 
 alternate bands or patches of orange and black, but the 
 insect is heavily formed, and of unattractive appearance. 
 The Silphffi (another genus of the burying beetles) are 
 very flat insects, of an oval outline and dusky colouring, 
 
74 INSECTS. 
 
 black ash colour, brown, and grey, being the prevalent 
 hues. (See PL I. fig. 5.) 
 
 The burying beetle, like the vulture, appears to scent his 
 prey from a distance, and his first endeavour is entirely to 
 bury the carcase of any dead animal left upon the surface 
 of the ground. By scraping the earth from beneath the 
 carcase it succeeds in effecting this, and it is said that the 
 prey is sometimes buried at the depth of nearly twelve 
 inches. When this is done the female deposits her eggs 
 in the carrion, and these, when full-fed, undergo their 
 change into the pupa state whilst still under ground. 
 
 It is recorded that in fifty days four beetles buried 
 four frogs, three small birds, two fishes, one mole, two 
 grasshoppers, the entrails of a fish, and two pieces of ox 
 liver. 
 
 Some allied genera feed on decaying or dead vegetable 
 matter, and are found in fungi and under the bark of 
 trees, and in cellars on the wine corks ; some are even 
 injurious to living plants, and some attack living snails, 
 larvae, &c. 
 
 It is impossible to dismiss this group of insects with- 
 out notice of the genus Dermestes, small beetles of which 
 the bristly larvae prey upon fur, feathers, woollen cloths, 
 dried flesh, and other such substances the Bacon-beetle 
 is one of these. There is nothing very remarkable in 
 the appearance of the perfect insect, but the clothing of 
 the larva is one of those marvels of nature which so con- 
 stantly arrest our attention when least expecting to find 
 subjects of admiration. This little grub sometimes 
 considerably less than a quarter of an inch in length is 
 clothed with hairs, various in size and form. Of these 
 some are more or less strong, spinous, and irregularly 
 covered with minuter hairs. This is a very common 
 
ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 75 
 
 form of insect's hair, and may be seen in the fur of bees, 
 the spines of caterpillars, &c. But the grub in question is 
 also furnished with tufts of hairs of another form. These 
 are clothed with whorls of minuter hairs placed at regu- 
 lar intervals round the shaft Towards the tip this 
 suddenly enlarges into a somewhat heart-shaped body, 
 above which a number of slender appendages, each 
 attached by a point near their summit and spreading 
 
 Fig. 35. 
 
 Hair of Dermestes. 
 
 out at their base, form a most exquisite pinnacle to the 
 whole. To what purpose is this extraordinary structure? 
 
 The ferocious looking " Devil's coachhorse," (PI. I. fig. 
 6), is a familiar example of a tribe of beetles distinguished 
 by the shortness of their wing-cases, and which form the 
 third Subdivision, Brachelytra (Bpaxvc, short; "EXur/oov, 
 iving-sheath) . It is a long slender black creature, some- 
 thing like an enormous black earwig, but without the tail 
 forceps, with a curious habit of turning up its tail, and 
 opening its jaws when in expectation of an attack. 
 Nothing comes amiss to this harpy, which will attack 
 and devour almost any other insect, and has been seen 
 feeding on young toads and other such animals. 
 
 A larva, not more than half an inch long, of a species 
 allied to this, was once seen to kill and drag into its hole 
 an earthworm which was eighteen times heavier than itself! 
 
 When not predaceous, the beetles of this tribe feed 
 chiefly on dead animal matter, dung, &c. ; and some 
 species (as is the case with the preceding carrion beetles) 
 
76 INSECTS. 
 
 find the high flavour in which they delight in rotten 
 fungi and such substances. In short they are epicures 
 of the haut gout, and, were they men instead of beetles, 
 would probably be lovers of Gruyere cheese, high game, 
 and Verm out. 
 
 The antennae are longer than those of most of the 
 Bypophaga, and are either slightly thickened towards the 
 end, or are of much the same thickness throughout. 
 
 The larvse are not unlike the perfect insect ; and in- 
 deed the perfect insect itself, but for its dark colour, 
 the hardness of its skin, and, above all, the presence of 
 wing-cases, might be mistaken for the larvse of some 
 other species. 
 
 Among these beetles we find an example of insects 
 living in captivity amongst those of a kind altogether 
 different ; namely, the Ants, who take captive and hold in 
 captivity several small species of the Bracheiytra. It 
 appears that the little guests are treated with great care 
 and attention, and that the only incivility exercised 
 towards them consists, first, in taking forcible possession 
 of their persons, and, next, in frustrating the prisoners' 
 attempts to escape. Both these acts have been observed 
 by Mr. F. Smith (Zool. iii. p. 266), and others. 
 
 It is not yet known what is the true relation between 
 the ants and the beetles. It is supposed that the latter 
 exude a fluid useful or pleasant to the ants, and which 
 they suck from them. It is well known that this happens 
 in the case of the Aphides, which are commonly im- 
 prisoned by ants in a like manner. 
 
 The genus Claviger is especially noticeable as a dweller 
 in ants' nests, and, being totally blind, may possibly be 
 well content to live in the home in which it is so well 
 cared for. This genus belongs to a family in which the 
 
ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 77 
 
 tarsi are only three-jointed, and the elytra and abdomen 
 are much wider than in the pentamerous beetles with 
 short wing-cases. It has, however, been thought to find 
 its proper place among these. 
 
 Another cluster of beetles, with horns more decidedly 
 enlarged at the tip, or club-shaped, constitutes the third 
 Subsection, CORDYLOCERTA (jcopSwArj, cordule, a dub; 
 Kf/>ac, keras, a horn). 
 
 The first Subdivision of these is Clavicornes (clavis, a 
 club, cornu, a horn), in which the antennae terminate in 
 a solid or perfoliate knob. This contains the oval- 
 shaped and very convex Pill-beetles (PI. II. fig. 1, 
 Byrrhus pilula). These are easily known by their 
 rounded form, and by their habit, when alarmed, of 
 drawing their small legs so closely together upon the 
 abdomen as to render them almost invisible. There 
 is a provision for this purpose in the form of the 
 abdomen, which has flattened grooves for the reception 
 of the legs, and in the legs themselves, of which the 
 various joints are grooved to receive each other. 
 
 The genus Hister, containing some small, squarish, 
 hard, shiny black beetles, sometimes with red or buff 
 markings, sometimes with a metallic lustre, have the 
 same habit of feigning death. 
 
 These beetles, though club -horned and feeding on 
 dead animal and vegetable matter, differ greatly from the 
 sextons, not in their form only and the contractile 
 power of their legs, but also in the character of the 
 larva. 
 
 The next Subdivision, Lamellicornes, comprises the 
 Stagbeetles, the Dung-beetles, and the Chafers. 
 
 In the first of these, the Stag-beetle, the three or four 
 final joints of the antennae are much enlarged on one 
 
78 INSECTS. 
 
 side, forming a deeply-notched knob or club (fig, 31,6). 
 The antennae in these is also geniculated, or bent like a 
 knee. The fine stag-like " horns" of this beetle are in 
 reality the mandibles, which are enormously enlarged in 
 the males. 
 
 In the dung-beetles and chafers the antennas are 
 lamellate (fig. 31, 5, p. 65), the terminal joints are leaf- 
 like, and lie over one another like the sticks of a fan, 
 having the same power of being spread and contracted. 
 They are not geniculated, as are those of the stag-beetle. 
 
 There is a species of dung-beetle (Geotrupes ster- 
 corarius, PI. II., fig. 2), so common on heaths, on roads, 
 in fields, and wherever else its peculiar food is to be found, 
 that it can hardly be unknown to the reader. It is hump- 
 backed, slow, and of a bluish-black colour, and is 
 nearly as often to be found kicking on its back and dis- 
 playing a burnished blue underside profusely garnished 
 with pale-brown parasites, as pursuing its business or its 
 pleasure right side uppermost. In the latter case it may 
 be met crawling slowly along, and occasionally stopping 
 to give one or other leg a sort of weak flourish in the 
 air, like an old gentleman talking to himself, and suiting 
 the action to the word. 
 
 Like the sextons, this insect buries the offensive sub- 
 stance which it is its office to render harmless, and in so 
 doing performs the further office of rendering it useful. 
 It forms burrows beneath the masses of dung, carrying 
 into them small pellets in which its eggs are enclosed, 
 and thus separates and spreads the manure in the 
 ground. 
 
 The Geotrupes is related, and not very distantly, to 
 the sacred Scarabseus of the Egyptians, and their per- 
 sonification of the sun under the figure of a winged 
 
ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 79 
 
 Scarabaeus, bearing a globe upon the head,* is neither 
 more nor less than this animal with the ball of dung 
 -which it is its habit to form and roll before it. 
 
 The chafers, like the dung-beetles, have leaf-like 
 horns, but differ from them in their habits, the perfect 
 insects feeding on leaves and flowers, while the larvae 
 also are usually vegetarians ; some are, however, to be 
 found among the dung-eaters. The common Cock- 
 chafer, or May-bug (PL II., fig. 3), a large beetle, 
 with the forepart of the head curved downwards, with 
 brown wing- cases and sides marked with an angular 
 pattern of black and white, is known to every one ; and 
 the antennae of the male are a most beautiful example of 
 the lamellate form. The appearance of white dust 
 scattered over the wing-cases of this insect, and the 
 triangular white patches on the sides of the abdomen, 
 are produced by the growth of snowy white scale-like 
 hairs, thinly distributed over the wing-cases, but lying 
 closely together on the sides. 
 
 The cockchafer and dung-beetles are fond of flying 
 late in the evening, but seldom fly by daylight. 
 
 The June-bug (Phylloperiha horticola) is a pretty 
 little chafer, with green thorax and brown wing-cases. 
 Like the cockchafer, it is extremely abundant, and more 
 conspicuously so, as it flies by day, while the cockchafer 
 prefers the evening. The June-bug feeds upon flowers, 
 especially delighting in roses. The common white 
 Scotch rose, which flowers so abundantly, may some- 
 times be found with scarcely a blossom which does not 
 contain one, two, or three of these beetles. 
 
 The Rose- chafer (Cetonia aurea), a large and beauti- 
 
 * See the vignette at the head of this chapter. 
 
80 INSECTS. 
 
 ful shining green beetle, is also to be found in roses 
 (but far less frequently than the Phyllopertha), 
 especially in white and blush roses ; and the most 
 fastidious insect-hater could hardly deny that the pre- 
 sence of one of these green gems is a beauty added to 
 the flower. They do not, like the June-bug, devour the 
 petals or injure the appearance of the blossom. 
 
 PRIOCERATA, the fourth and last Subsection of penta- 
 merous beetles, has thread-shaped antennae, generally 
 either tapering or uniform in thickness, and not long. 
 In the males, or in both sexes, these antenna are com- 
 monly serrated, or more deeply toothed like a comb. 
 
 These beetles include (with others) the hard-bodied 
 Skipjacks, or Elater family, of which the too well- 
 known Wireworm is the larva ; and the soft-bodied 
 Glowworms, Soldiers, Sailors, and others. Most of the 
 beetles of this section are long and narrow in shape. 
 
 The common Skipjack (PL II. fig. 4) is a long, slender, 
 hard, uninteresting-looking brown beetle, about half an 
 inch long, with very small legs, and neither throat nor 
 waist, the head being indeed sunk up to the eyes in the 
 thorax. The antenn are short and slightly serrated. 
 
 On the approach of danger, this insect, contracting its 
 limbs and antennae, falls to the ground, where it lies 
 on its back, motionless and feigning death, sometimes 
 for a considerable time, and, indeed, until it believes 
 the danger to be passed ; when, with a sudden click, 
 it springs high into the air, probably alighting on 
 its legs; or, if it fail in this, repeating the spring until 
 it is successful. The point of the breast-plate, which is 
 capable of being slipped in and out of a groove behind it, 
 is the instrument used to effect this leap. 
 
 The same power of leaping when lying on the back is 
 
ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 81 
 
 possessed by the aquatic Acilius sulcatus, but this is 
 effected by the mere strength of the insect's spring, and 
 there is no especial provision for it. 
 
 The Wire-worm, or larva of the Skipjack, is a long, 
 thin, cylindrical, hard, and eyeless grub, which causes 
 great devastation amongst potatoes and roots of various 
 kinds. The larves of some species live under the bark 
 of trees, and in rotten wood. These insects belong to 
 the Subdivision Macrosterni (Mtuc/>oc, large ; 'S.rtpvov, 
 breast), which also contains some pretty black and red 
 species. 
 
 The second Subdivision Aprosterni (a, without, irpo, 
 pro, in front of; Srlpvov, breast), consists of soft-bodied 
 beetles with serrate horns. Of these the reddish -yellow 
 " Soldiers," and the red-legged black-elytroned " Sailors" 
 (PI. III. fig. 1), are, perhaps, the best known, being 
 abundant and conspicuous everywhere. In these insects 
 the head is not concealed within the thorax, the legs 
 and antenna? are longer than in the Skipjacks, and the 
 last joint but one of the tarsus is divided into two lobes. 
 They are nearly as actively predaceous as the pentamerous 
 beetles of the first Subsection, but the maxilla has only 
 one palpus. 
 
 Not altogether unlike the dark Telephorus is the 
 male of the Glowworm (PL II. fig. 5), a soft-bodied, dusky 
 insect, without however the red legs of the Telephorus, 
 with shorter antennee, with a head even more concealed 
 than that of the Skipjack beneath the thorax, and possess- 
 ing the remarkable property of emitting light. The light 
 emitted by the male Glowworm is considerably less than 
 that of the female ; but, though this is sometimes disputed, 
 the male certainly does emit light. The writer was once 
 reading by lamplight in a farmhouse in the New Forest 
 
 G 
 
82 INSECTS. 
 
 when a considerable number of dark, soft-bodied beetles, 
 attracted by the light, flew into the room ; some of 
 these were placed under a glass, and while being carried 
 through a dark passage, unexpectedly revealed them- 
 selves as Glowworms. The true Glow "worm," how- 
 ever, is the female of this beetle, (PI. II., fig. G), and is 
 quite unrecognisable as a beetle to an inexperienced eye. 
 It is a narrow, flat, soft, black insect, about an inch 
 long, and marked down the sides with pale spots ; the 
 legs and antennae are short, the thorax and abdomen not 
 very clearly distinguished from each other, and in the 
 common species there is no appearance whatever of 
 wings or elytra. In fact, the female so closely resembles 
 the larva as easily to be mistaken for it. The larva, 
 however, differs in the form of the legs and the length of 
 the antenna, arid also in being provided with an appen- 
 dage at the end of the body, which it uses as a foot 
 in walking, like the caterpillars of moths and butter- 
 flies. This appendage is peculiar, and is said to be used 
 to cleanse the insect after feeding. It may be observed, 
 even with the naked eye, to leave a minute spot of 
 moisture upon whatever it walks over, not at every step, 
 but at occasional momentary stoppages. The larva and 
 the perfect insect both feed upon snails. 
 
 Not only are the perfect male and female Glowworm, 
 luminous, but the larva?, and, it is said, even the eggs, are 
 so in a slight degree. Dr. Todd, in a paper read 
 before the Royal Society, April, 1824, states that the 
 luminous organ continues to give light for a short 
 period after amputation, and that it is to be re-excited 
 by heat, cold, friction and galvanism; by alcohol, 
 camphor and ammonia. He adds, that when the animal 
 is killed by certain poisons, after all light and life have 
 
ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 83 
 
 ceased, another fixed and steady light appears, lasting 
 from 12 hours to 4 days.* 
 
 The Devil's Coachhorse and other insects, have at 
 times caused some surprise by appearing luminous; 
 the light, however, in this case arising from their 
 having fed on, or crawled over some dead animal 
 matter in a phosphorescent state, particles of which had 
 remained attached to them. The Glowworm is the 
 only luminous insect known in England, and it is 
 worthy of note that it was capable of exciting Dr. 
 Johnson to write the only poem which is on record as 
 composed by him. 
 
 Among the soft-bodied beetles are two common and 
 beautiful' little species, which may be found on the 
 blossoms of grass and elsewhere Malacbius ffineus 
 and bipustulatus. Both these are remarkable for a 
 series of bright scarlet tubercles which, inconspicuous at 
 other times, swell out from the sides of the thorax and 
 abdomen when the insect is alarmed or irritated, and 
 which have been happily termed " irritation bubbles." 
 The asneus is a dark green oblong beetle, about Jin. 
 long, with a long triangular patch of dull red on the fore 
 part of the elytra. The antenna of the male are curiously 
 formed, the third joint having a hook-like process, which 
 
 Fig. 36. 
 
 Antenna of Malachius seneus $. 
 
 comes down over a projection of the second joint. Mala- 
 chius bipustulatus is a brighter and sometimes rather 
 brassy green, with a scarlet spot at the tip of each elytron. 
 
 * Journal of Science and the Arts, vol. xvii. 269. 
 G 2 
 
84- INSECTS. 
 
 The use of the dilatable bladder-like organs on the 
 sides is not ascertained, but it seems to be generally 
 considered as a means of defence. 
 
 These little creatures are eminently predaceous, and 
 of two confined together, only one is likely to be 
 found afterwards if they be left undisturbed for a little 
 while. 
 
 There are several small wood-boring beetles which 
 belong to this division. They are generally dull in 
 colour, hard, and somewhat cylindrical in form, and the 
 antennae vary, being of a thread-like and tapering form, 
 or more or less deeply toothed, or, as in the Anobium 
 (PL III., fig. 2) (the beetle of which the common " Death 
 Watch" is the larva), approaching to the pectinated club 
 of the Stag-beetle, but without the -knee-like joint. The 
 larvae feed upon every variety of dry vegetable matter, 
 and the round tunnels of the beetle book-worm are but 
 too familiar a sight to his human representative. In 
 the case of books, the devastations of these insects may 
 be prevented by the frequent opening and exposure of 
 the volumes; but it is extremely difficult to stop the 
 progress of the wood-boring species when they have once 
 established themselves within the woodwork of houses, 
 furniture, &c. ; and this, too, is not even hindered by 
 the interposition of substances which seem impossible 
 to digest ; for, even as the human book-worm finds his 
 way through the heaviest authors, so have these been 
 known to work their way through leaden bullets and 
 the leaden lining of cisterns. 
 
 So considerable is the mischief effected by these 
 beetles, that in the choice of woods for shipping, 
 the preference of kinds least subject to their attacks 
 becomes a matter of importance. 
 
ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 85 
 
 Some species attack dried insects, fur, spices, and 
 innumerable other substances. 
 
 The production of the ticking sound of the Death 
 Watch is accounted for in different ways. Mr. West- 
 wood considers it to be made both by the larvae and also 
 by the perfect insects, and, in the latter case, to be a 
 signal between the two sexes. Another author, men- 
 tioned by him, attributes it to the larvae alone, and 
 supposes its purpose to be, to discover how near to the 
 surface of the wood they have bored. That they have 
 some means of ascertaining this, appears from the 
 fact that the burrows usually terminate, and the 
 change of the insects takes place close to the surface 
 of the wood. 
 
 
86 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 COLEOPTEEA. (Continued.) 
 
 THE second large Section of beetles is HETEROMERA, 
 subdivided first into TRACHELIA (rpa\r\\o^, trachelos, a 
 neck), beetles with an apparent throat connecting the 
 head and thorax; secondly, ATRACHELIA (a, ivithout), 
 beetles with the head sunk up to the eyes in the 
 thorax. 
 
 Most of the TRACHELIA are showy in colouring and 
 active in their movements ; the wing-cases are usually 
 wider than the thorax, and flexible, in this resembling 
 some of the serrate-horned pentamerous beetles, as the 
 Soldiers and Sailors. The antenua3 vary, being usually 
 rather long and thread-like, sometimes serrate, or 
 branched, and sometimes inclining to clavate. The last 
 joint of the tarsus is widened and divided into two lobes 
 in many of the Trachelia, while it is always simple in 
 the Atrachelia. The perfect insects are vegetable feeders, 
 and are generally to be found in flowers. 
 
 The Cardinal, a handsome red beetle, nearly three- 
 quarters of an inch long, with serrate antennae, is a 
 common and conspicuous example of this subdivision. 
 It is frequently found on ferns and other plants in May 
 and June. There are two English species, Pyrochroa 
 rubens, which is entirely red above (PL III., fig. b), and 
 P. coccinea, which is red \vith a black head. 
 
 The " Spanish fly," or Cantharis of the Pharmaco- 
 
COLEOPTERA. 8? 
 
 poeia, is another handsome example of this family, but 
 though occasionally met with in England it is not con- 
 sidered indigenous. 
 
 Some families in this division contain insects of un- 
 usual form and still more remarkable habits. Ripiphorus 
 paradoxus is a humpbacked, long-legged animal, carrying 
 his shoulders very high and his head very low (not- 
 withstanding the feather-like antenna with which it is 
 graced), and dressed in a coat much too small for him, 
 the scanty elytra being narrow, pointed, and shorter 
 than the wings, which are left with but slight protection. 
 This beetle is, in its earlier state, a parasite upon 
 wasps, living in their nests, and preying on the young 
 wasp grubs. 
 
 Another beetle of unusual appearance is the Meloe, or 
 common " oil beetle" (PI. III., fig. 4). This, though 
 differing much in form from the " Spanish fly," is nearly 
 allied to it, and is said to possess similar medicinal pro- 
 perties. It is a large, heavy, awkward, bluish-black 
 beetle, very common on heaths, and on the flowers in 
 hedgerows. The abdomen has a bloated appearance, 
 and the elytra, which are not above half the length of the 
 abdomen, are convex, and overlapping; the wings are 
 wanting. The antenna of the males of some species 
 have a distorted appearance. Like the Ripiphorus, this 
 beetle is parasitic ; but the eggs are laid, not as is sup- 
 posed to be the case with that, in the nests of the 
 victim, but under the surface of the earth. When 
 hatched the young larvee take up their situation 
 on some plant, and availing themselves of the oppor- 
 tunity afforded by the visit of a honey-seeking bee, 
 attach themselves, to her body, and are by her transported 
 to her own home to destroy, first the progeny for which 
 
88 INSECTS. 
 
 she was in the act of collecting food, and then the food 
 itself. This at least is what is now believed to be the 
 case, but the observations made are not as yet perfected, 
 and the history presents some difficulties. 
 
 Another beetle of rather remarkable appearance in this 
 division is the (Edemera cserulea, a beautiful greenish 
 blue, or bluish-green beetle, far more elegant in form than 
 the Ripiphorus, but with narrow gaping wing-cases. The 
 thighs of this insect are so thick and swollen as to sug- 
 gest the idea of great leaping power, which, however, it 
 does not possess. The larva lives under the bark of 
 trees. 
 
 In the family SalpingidaB are to be found some beetles, 
 with long snouted heads, much resembling the long-nosed 
 tetramerous beetles ; but from these they are to be known 
 by the tarsi. 
 
 The ATRACHELIA, or neekless beetles, have the elytra 
 of a harder consistence than those last described ; they are 
 duller in colouring and less active, sometimes inhabiting 
 flowers, but more frequently dark and damp places, and 
 feeding upon decayed wood, fungi, &c. The antennaB 
 in this division vary, being serrate, clavate, or perfoliate. 
 The " Churchyard Beetle" and the beetle of the meal- 
 worm are two common species of this division. 
 
 The third Section of beetles is TETRAMERA (or Pseudo- 
 tetramera), in which the tarsi are apparently composed 
 of only four joints. 
 
 The beetles of this Section are nearly all diurnal in 
 their habits. 
 
 It is divided into 
 
 1 . EHYNCOPHORA, long-nosed beetles. 
 
 2. LONGICORNES, long-horned beetles* 
 
 3. PHYTOPHAGA, plant eaters. 
 
COLEOPTERA. 89 
 
 ID the EHYNCOPHORA (Pvy%og, rhynchos, beak or nose; 
 <popu),phoreo, to bear) the head is prolonged (see PI. III., 
 fig. 51, 5, a) in some species very considerably into a 
 sort of nose or snout, upon which are placed the antennas. 
 
 The LONGICORNES and PHTTOPHAGA are without this 
 nasal development. In the former the horns are of great 
 length ; and the insects themselves are generally long in 
 proportion to their breadth. The Phytophaga have shorter 
 horns, and are more thickset in figure, being oval, 
 roundish, or somewhat square. 
 
 The snouts of the Bhyncophora vary, some being short 
 and flat, while in others, as the common brown nut weevil, 
 the snout alone is nearly as long as all the rest of the 
 body. One of the best known among these is the beautiful 
 and brilliant Diamond beetle of India, and this, although 
 a foreign species, is here spoken of because it is commonly 
 known, and a low magnifying power suffices to show 
 the fine scales of which the prismatic lustre gives so 
 beautiful an appearance to the elytra and thorax. A 
 higher power displays similar scales covering our own 
 little green weevils, amongst the commonest of our 
 beetles, and perhaps the most exquisite insect gems to 
 be found in the country. 
 
 This is one of the most destructive groups of beetles. 
 Fruit-trees of all kinds, fir-trees, oaks, hazel, grain, peas 
 and beans, turnips, felled timber, alike are subject to the 
 visitations of various species, and, while the check which 
 they place upon the quantity of fruit-produce conduces, 
 under ordinary circumstances, to the improvement of its 
 quality, it is not rare for whole crops to be destroyed by 
 the labours of the perfect insect and its young. 
 
 No part of a plant is secure from the attacks of weevils. 
 One species devours the green and soft parts of the leaves 
 
90 INSECTS. 
 
 of fruit-trees, another the bark, another the roots. Some 
 destroy the young huds, whether of leaves or flowers, 
 while others gnaw their way into and deposit their eggs 
 within the setting fruit, which is to remain suspended till 
 the time of transformation, when "down will come cradle 
 and baby and all," and the grub, after remaining for a 
 time sheltered in the earth, will return to the daylight in a 
 perfect state. Acorns, nuts, young plums, are easy to 
 find with the little weevil grubs enclosed while the 
 sheller of peas will bear willing testimony to their atten- 
 tions to that part of creation. Some roll up leaves, which 
 they have previously nearly severed from the tree, and 
 deposit their eggs therein ; others lay them in the ground 
 " convanient" to the roots which are to form the food of 
 the young when hatched. The young of the grain-weevil 
 is found so entirely enclosed within the grain, which 
 bears no mark of its entrance, ns to make it seem probable 
 that the egg was laid in the flower and continued to live 
 inside the grain, without, for a time, checking its increase 
 in size. 
 
 The pointed snout of the weevil is a powerful instru- 
 ment, which the little owner well knows how to turn to 
 account. A wood-boring species has been observed in 
 the act of boring a hole in the wood by placing its snout 
 against the part to be bored, and then turning its body 
 round and round, in gimlet fashion, till the work was 
 achieved. 
 
 The common pea-weevil, Bruchus granarius, is a 
 small beetle, black above, grey beneath, and with grey 
 legs. The antennee are straight, and the palpi thread- 
 like. The wing-cases are a little shorter than the abdo- 
 men. In Calandra granaria the corn-weevil the 
 antenna? are elbowed and the palpi conical. The .insect 
 
COLEOPTERA. 91 
 
 is about an eighth of an inch long, and of a dark- 
 reddish colour. This beetle is terribly mischievous in 
 granaries. 
 
 Another, destructive on a grander scale, is Scolytus 
 destructor, a little cylindrical, brown, wood-boring beetle, 
 which attacks elm-trees. In the London parks, in the 
 Champs Elysees of Paris, and indeed wherever these beau- 
 tiful trees are to be found in their glory, there the ravages 
 of this minute enemy have been conspicuous. For many 
 years a controversy was carried on as to whether the 
 presence of these beetles was the cause or the effect of 
 disease in the trees, but the question seems to have been 
 set at rest in a most satisfactory manner by the investi- 
 gation and experiments of Captain Cox (see the " Zoolo- 
 gist" for 1858, p. 5995), who, by the simple expedient of 
 spoke-shaving the outer bark down to the mines of the 
 Scolytus, and destroying the larvae, entirely restored 
 seventeen out of eighteen trees in the Regent's Park 
 assigned to him for experiment by the " Woods and 
 Forests." Many trees in the park had died, and were 
 dying, prematurely, and of the eighteen chosen some 
 were slightly injured, some " very severely," and some 
 " most severely." The greater part of these were re- 
 covered by his treatment in the course of five years, in 
 six all were perfectly healthy, with the exception of one 
 which was too far gone for restoration. 
 
 There are several other species in this family which 
 attack the bark of various trees. The pine forests of 
 Germany afford an example of what it is in the power of 
 these small creatures to effect. It is recorded that in one 
 year (1783) more than a million and a half of trees were 
 destroyed in the Hartz Forest alone. 
 
 The mines of different species have a marked cha- 
 
92 INSECTS. 
 
 racter: those of the Scolytus destructor consist of 
 a tube bored upwards by the mother, of two or three 
 inches long, in which she deposits her eggs. The young 
 larvae when hatched commence forming horizontal bores 
 on each side of this tube, and at right angles with it. 
 These tubes, usually about sixty or seventy in number, 
 at first close together, spread apart as they proceed, and 
 in them the metamorphosis takes place, the beetles when 
 perfect, not gaining daylight by returning through the 
 tubes, but boring their way out of the tree by a short 
 cut to the surface. The female, having deposited her 
 eggs, is generally found closing the mouth of her 
 burrow with her own dead body. It is remarkable that 
 she never encroaches on the burrow of another indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 Another species is named Scolytus Typographia, or the 
 Printer, from the resemblance which its mines bear to 
 a printed page. 
 
 Several of the weevils have a power of producing a 
 low sound by rapidly vibrating the last segment of the 
 abdomen, and rubbing it against the elytra. Some other 
 beetles are capable of producing sound, as the sexton 
 and the asparagus beetle. 
 
 The LONGICORNES are generally of a larger size than 
 beetles of the preceding group, and are mostly wood eaters. 
 Among them are some dusky insects of nocturnal habits, 
 but there are several species certain to attract notice 
 by the beauty of their form and colouring. The musk 
 beetle (Cerambyx moschatus) is remarkable both for its 
 size and beauty and for the peculiar scent whence it de- 
 rives its name. It is of a metallic green, and covered with 
 fine indentations ; it is above an inch in length, and some- 
 what narrow in proportion. This insect is to be found 
 
COLEOPTERA. 93 
 
 upon willows, where, however, its colour greatly protects 
 it from observation. 
 
 Clytus arietis, one of the "wasp "beetles" (PL III., 
 fig. 6), another conspicuous though smaller insect, is 
 black, with clear bright yellow bands and spots. It is 
 about 4 inch in length, of a rather long oblong form, 
 with long and very active legs. 
 
 Strangalia elongata is remarkable for its elegant form. 
 The thorax is long and widest at the base. The elytra 
 are, near the base, much wider than the thorax, and 
 taper towards the end. The back is convex, the legs are 
 long and the colour is a pale yellow, marked with a 
 dusky blackish brown. It is a lively insect, and may 
 be found in flowers (especially those of the umbellifer) 
 or on the trunks of the trees whence it has emerged 
 on arriving at perfection. This beetle is nearly two 
 thirds of an inch long. Another species of this group, 
 Molorchus umbellatarum, is interesting as exceptional. 
 The wing-cases are as short as in the Brachelytra, but 
 do not cover the wings, which have not even the usual 
 shortening fold, but lie at full length exposed upon the 
 abdomen. 
 
 The PHTTOPHAGA (<J>VTOV, phuton, a plant ; Qayto, 
 phago, to eat) are less elegant in form than the 
 Longicornes. The abdomen is larger in proportion to 
 the thorax, and the outline of the figure varies from 
 oblong to oval, quadrate, and nearly round. The 
 antennae are short, and the head is partly buried in the 
 thorax. 
 
 Among them are some beautiful species, and one of 
 these is the little Asparagus-beetle (Crioceris asparagi), 
 a little oblong beetle, which, in the month of June, 
 when the young plants are beginning to run up into 
 
94 INSECTS. 
 
 seed, may be found in the asparagus beds by hundreds. 
 The head, horns, and legs of this little creature are 
 black; the thorax is red; a red line runs round the 
 outer edge of the wing-cases, which are black, with three 
 large cream-coloured spots on each, two of which are 
 confluent. When teased, it makes, like some other 
 beetles, a curious creaking sound. The eggs of this 
 species are fixed endways on the leaves, and sometimes 
 one is placed standing end to end on another. They 
 are plentiful enough to do great mischief in asparagus 
 beds. A red species of Crioceris frequents the white lily. 
 
 The Cassida viridis, or Tortoise-beetle, is a very pretty 
 little creature, completely concealed under a thin oval 
 shell, slightly concave and broad, which is larger on all 
 sides than the body which it covers. It is of a light but 
 vivid green colour. 
 
 The Bloody-nosed-beetle, a common, humpbacked, 
 bluish-black beetle, with broad tarsi, and known by its 
 habit of expelling a drop of red liquid from its mouth, 
 belongs to this division. 
 
 The last which shall be mentioned is the Turnip -fly 
 (Haltica), or, as it is sometimes called from its habit of 
 leaping, the Turnip -flea, a small active beetle, with large 
 muscular thighs formed for leaping. The larva of this 
 insect mines the leaves of the turnip, and the ravages 
 committed by it are such as very seriously injure the 
 turnip crops. Messrs. Kirby and Spence relate that 
 in 1786 the loss occasioned by them in Devonshire 
 amounted to 100,OOOL The destruction of a whole crop 
 is a common occurrence, even a second sowing often 
 failing to secure success. 
 
 This division contains some semi-aquatic genera, of 
 which the pupa? are aquatic, and the perfect insects live 
 
COLEOPTERA. 9J 
 
 chiefly upon the leaves of water plants, taking flight 
 freely in sunny and warm weather. They may be found 
 below the surface of the water, where they cling to the 
 plants, but they are not furnished with swimming 
 apparatus. 
 
 The last and smallest of the principal Sections is 
 TRIMERA (or Pseudotrimera), with tarsi composed appa- 
 rently of three joints only. This section has in the 
 Ladybird a representative as familiar as the common 
 house-fly. It may indeed claim a place among domestic 
 insects, often choosing for its winter quarters the grooves 
 and hollows in the plaister mouldings of our ceilings, 
 which are sometimes filled with clusters, several inches 
 long, of these little beetles. 
 
 The ladybird, though usually only common enough 
 to be for its beauty's sake a welcome little visitor, is 
 occasionally to be met with in almost incredible 
 swarms. In the August of 1847 they more or less 
 covered miles of ground in Romney Marsh, and a cloud 
 of them, miles in extent, resembling " a long column 
 of smoke from a steamer," was, from the heights of 
 Ramsgate and Margate, seen hanging over the sea. 
 Next morning the coast was covered with them ; five 
 bushels were swept from Margate Pier, and Ramsgate 
 Harbour was in nearly the same state. The next two 
 days found Brighton in the same state. (See the Times, 
 Aug. 16, 1847.) Five species were counted in Southend 
 on one of these days. 
 
 Similar visitations of ladybirds have occurred at 
 Brighton and in other places on the southern coast in 
 other years, the last being in 1869, when these insects 
 swarmed not only in and about Kent, but were seen in one 
 of the London squares like a cloud passing over the 
 
96 INSECTS. 
 
 houses. The following extract from the letter of a cor- 
 respondent of the Times, in August, 1869, may be inte- 
 resting to the reader: 
 
 "During the 14th, 15th, and 16th of this month 
 countless multitudes of the little red beetles appeared 
 upon the coasts of Kent and Sussex. The numbers 
 composing these swarms are utterly inconceivable to 
 those who did not see them. They were most numerous 
 close to the shore tens of thousands perished in the sea 
 near the land. The beaches, piers, and houses near the 
 shore were covered by the swarms, and in many places 
 the streets and roads looked as if strewn by dark red 
 gravel. This extended far inland, and on Sunday, the 
 15th, myriads were seen in London and its neighbour- 
 hood. But, as I have said, the largest assemblages by 
 far were on the east coast, especially at the points nearest 
 to the Continent. This, be it remembered, occurred at 
 a time when there was a continuous east wind. 
 
 " On the Sunday in question a scientific friend of mine, 
 a Fellow of the Koyal Society, well qualified to observe 
 and record facts of natural history, was fortunate to wit- 
 ness the actual arrival of one of these swarms. When 
 walking on Dover Pier, after morning service, he observed 
 an enormous multitude of these insects, like a cloud, 
 coming over the sea as if from Calais. They were flying 
 from east to west. Large numbers fell into the water, 
 others covered the pierhead as with a red carpet, but the 
 great mass flew on westward, and, as they passed over- 
 head, looked to those who gazed upwards like the inter- 
 minable flakes of a thick snowstorm as seen from below. 
 A member of my friend's family had seen a similar occur- 
 rence the same morning, when, as she expressed it, the 
 little beetles flew against the east-looking windows of 
 
COLEOPTERA. 97 
 
 the house like a storm of hail. It would be preposterous 
 to imagine that these swarms of ladybirds had been 
 produced in this country and had flown to sea in the 
 teeth of an east wind, simply to be blown back again ! 
 
 " When we remember the smallness and feebleness of 
 some of our migratory birds, such as the chiff-chaff and 
 willow-wren, that cross the seas to this country during 
 the stormy weather of early spring, the advent of these 
 swarms of ladybirds is robbed of much of its wonder. 
 But the interesting questions are Whence came they ? 
 Where did they collect in such prodigious numbers ? 
 What was the home that fed the larvae from which the 
 beetles sprang ? Or if, as seems probable, they had 
 many homes, what impulse brought together these mil- 
 lions for a common emigration ? If you kindly give 
 insertion to this letter, some intelligent observers of 
 nature on the other side of the Channel may perhaps 
 answer some, at least, of my queries." 
 
 The services of these little creatures are most consi- 
 derable. Their larvae, looking like little black speckled 
 crocodiles, are among the most voracious of insects, and 
 their food is the aphis, which although it has other 
 enemies, seems to be kept in check chiefly by the lady- 
 bird itself and by its larvae. They are peculiarly valuable 
 in hop gardens, hops being very liable to the attacks 
 of these flies. It was interesting to compare the nume- 
 rous newspaper reports of the " fly " damaging the hop- 
 crop in 1869, with those of the freedom of the crops 
 from fly in 1870, in connexion with the arrival of the 
 Ladybirds in 1869 too late to affect the crops of that 
 year. 
 
 It is impossible to find space within the narrow limits 
 H 
 
98 INSECTS. 
 
 of this volume for much that is interesting relating to the 
 larvae of beetles, but a few words concerning them are 
 necessary. 
 
 They vary in form according to the mode of life laid 
 down for them. Thus, such larvae as are predaceous, as 
 the terrestrial larvae of the Carabus (fig. 37), and the 
 aquatic larvae of the Dyticus (see fig. 26, 
 p. 57), are comparatively light and active in 
 ^ J$ * form, and have legs of considerable length 
 and power ; while, to go at once to the other 
 extreme, the larvae of some of the mining 
 and boring species, as the nut-weevil, are 
 footless grubs, merely furnished with tu- 
 kk bercles, or small fleshy prominences, which, 
 Larva somewhat like the false legs of the cater- 
 
 of Carabus. 
 
 pillar, aid the insect in such motion as 
 is necessary. 
 
 Others, again, as the underground, root-eating Cock- 
 chafer larvae (fig. 38), are strange, clumsy-looking 
 Fig. 38. animals, rendered totally incapable 
 
 of walking on the surface of the 
 earth by the large, curved, lumpy 
 termination to their bodies. 
 
 Some long terrestrial larvae, as of 
 the Glowworm, the brachelytrous 
 beetles, and such of the Skipjacks as 
 
 Larva of Melolontha , , -, 
 
 (Cockchafer). are no ^ subterranean, have their long 
 
 (Less than nat. size.) an j s i eD der abdomens supported, like 
 the caterpillar, by a terminal false leg, whilst the Wire- 
 worm, an underground larva in the latter family, is hard, 
 stiff, cylindrical, and pointed. 
 
 It is not, however, to be supposed that running after 
 food, or crawling after it, or quietly living in its midst, 
 
COLEOPTERA. 99 
 
 X' *'&/ 
 
 is all of which the beetle larvae are capable. The Cicindela 
 
 larva, a strange distorted animal, whose humped shoulders, 
 large head, and great curved jaws form his chief attrac- 
 tions in front, while his hinder parts display another 
 hump ornamented with two sharp hooks (fig. 39), seems 
 to be haunted by some not uncalled- pi g . 39. 
 
 for doubts as to the impression likely 
 to be produced by his appearance, 
 
 and accordingly conceals himself in a 
 
 . , ., , Larva of Cicindela 
 
 deep burrow, where ne awaits such (Tiger Beetle). 
 prey as may pass by that way. The ( From Westwood.) 
 burrow, which is frequently found in sunny banks, is 
 cylindrical, and a foot or a foot and a half in depth, and 
 by means partly of his hooks, partly of his legs, he fixes 
 himself at its opening, dragging his prey, when caught, 
 to the bottom. 
 
 The larva of the Devil's coachhorse digs a deep pitfall 
 in somewhat the same manner, but has not the peculi- 
 arities of form so remarkable in the Cicindela. It is a 
 long, flat, slender, many-jointed, six-legged animal, with 
 a large head ; altogether greatly resembling the perfect 
 insect, except in the absence of wings and wing-cases, 
 and of any evident separation between the thorax and 
 abdomen. 
 
 Whilst the Cicindela is provided with hooks acting like 
 anchors, the larva of the Cassida is furnished at the tail 
 with a long fork, which it is able, when at rest, to turn 
 over, and carry parallel with its back. The use of this ap- 
 pendage would be difficult to guess, had not the insect 
 been repeatedly found with this fork laden with excre- 
 ment, which, held over the body, forms a screen which 
 completely conceals it. 
 
 The species of Crioceris (Asparagus beetle), form this 
 H2 
 
100 INSECTS. 
 
 screen of the same material, and retain it in its place 
 without the help of the fork, and without encrusting their 
 bodies. 
 
 Concealment is attained in another way by larvae in a 
 family allied to the bloody-nosed beetles, which form for 
 themselves a portable tent o'r case composed of various 
 substances, in this resembling the Caddis-worms, and 
 Clothes moths. 
 
 If the habits of the Caddis-worms and Clothes-moths 
 are represented by the larva? of some beetles, others of 
 the weevil tribe remind us of the gall-making Cynips flies, 
 the knots and lumps so often to be observed in turnips 
 and other roots, and gall-like excrescences upon some 
 leaves being occasioned by them, and serving them as 
 dwelling-places. 
 
 The leaf-mining moths also have representatives 
 among beetles. The destruction caused by the Turnip 
 beetle larvae, arises from their mining the leaves in the 
 early stage, and continuing to do so till the crop is lost. 
 
 The great value to man of the labours of some carrion- 
 eating larvae has already been mentioned. The importance 
 of the aphis-eating Ladybird larva is too evident to be 
 missed ; but there are many larvae commonly considered 
 as mischievous, which, nevertheless, are working 
 assiduously in the interests of man. Thus, the fruit- 
 eating, the root-eating, the tree-killing beetles, are all 
 doing their part towards checking the overcrowding, the 
 overgrowth, and the consequent enfeeblement of the 
 whole vegetable world ; and if sometimes a flight of 
 Locusts abroad, or an unusual multitude of Cock- 
 chafers at home, effects a destruction which for the 
 time appears a simple evil, we should do well to re- 
 member the Fire of London, and other " unmitigated 
 
COLEOPTERA. 
 
 101 
 
 evils," which we have at length learned to view in their 
 true light. 
 
 Before leaving the order Coleoptera, an insect must he 
 mentioned which has much perplexed entomologists 
 namely, the Stylops. This insect, parasitic in its wingless 
 state in the hodies of bees and wasps, is in appearance, 
 habits, transformations, so peculiar or so little under- 
 
 Fig. 40. 
 
 Stylops Aterrima, Newport. 
 
 stood, that naturalists have had much difficulty in placing 
 it, and it has been moved from one order to another. 
 Mr. Westwood has formed it into an order by itself 
 STREPSIPTERA; but it has more recently been replaced in 
 Coleoptera. 
 
 The male Stylops is a singular looking insect, under a 
 quarter of an inch in length, and sometimes very minute ; 
 with a pair of enormous hind-vfiugs, and no fore-wings, 
 differing in this from the dipterous and all other insects 
 possessing only two wings (as e.g., the exceptional wing- 
 less beetles), these having the fore- wings developed while 
 the hind-wings are wanting. That they are the hind and 
 not the fore-wings which are developed, is shown by their 
 position on the thorax relatively to other parts, as the 
 
102 INSECTS. 
 
 converse appears in the Diptera. As also in the Diptera 
 the missing hind-wings are represented by a pair of 
 hammer-like balancers which grow in their place ; so in 
 Stylops, in front of the wings, and situated where the 
 fore- wings would have been, is a pair of curious appen- 
 dages, supposed to be aborted wing-cases or elytra. These 
 vary in form in different species, and, standing out from 
 the shoulders, add to the singular appearance of the 
 insect The thorax is disproportionately large, the abdo- 
 men small, slender and weak ; the antenna? are in various 
 species more or less complicated, being forked or branched; 
 the mouth is very imperfect, if even at all adapted to the 
 reception of food ; and the feet are without claws. 
 
 The females never acquire wings, and never leave the 
 body of the bee or wasp in which they and the larva?, 
 whether male or female, are parasitic, swarming sometimes 
 (according to Mr. F. Smith) to the number of 200 or 
 300. It appears, however, that their presence is not, as 
 in the case of other insect parasites, actually fatal, living 
 bees and wasps being frequently observed with the exu- 
 viae of the perfected Stylops remaining in their bodies, 
 but it is supposed that they destroy the internal organs 
 and render the insects abortive. 
 
 The parasite is buried up to its head in the body of 
 Fio . 41 the bee, which is usually much 
 
 swollen, and this head being 
 flattened in shape has some- 
 thing of the appearance of an 
 acarus attached to the bee 
 between the segments of the 
 
 abdomen. 
 Stylopized Andrena. -rr-n -j -, -t -i 
 
 the eggs are laid, is a mystery which remains to be solved. 
 
103 
 
 TABLE OF COLEOPTERA. 
 
 SECTION I. PENTAMERA. Tarsi, five-jointed. 
 
 Antennae long and slender.* 
 Maxillse with two palpi. 
 Habits predaceous. 
 
 SUBSECTION I. ADEPHAGA (Ravenous Beetles). 
 
 I. Geodephaga (Land Ravenous Beetles). 
 
 Legs formed for running. 
 
 1. Maxillse ending in a moveable claw. 
 Ex. Cidndela (Tiger Beetle}. 
 
 2. Maxillse not ending in a moveable claw. 
 Ex. Brachinus (Bombardier). 
 
 Carabus. 
 
 II. Hydradephaga (Water Ravenous Beetles). 
 
 Legs formed for swimming. 
 
 1. Front legs short, antennse long. Fore tarsi of 
 
 male sometimes forming a disc. 
 Ex. Dyticus. 
 Acilius. 
 
 2. Front legs long. Antennse short. Four hind 
 
 legs greatly dilated. 
 Ex. Gyrinus 
 
 * Except Gyrinus. 
 
104 INSECTS. 
 
 SUBSECTION II. RHYPOPHAGA (Filth-eaters). 
 
 Antennse more or less clavate. 
 
 Tarsi of male with basal joints usually dilated. 
 
 Habits chiefly scavenger-like. 
 
 I. Philhydrida (Water lovers). 
 
 Hind legs generally formed for paddling. 
 Antennae short and knobbed. 
 Maxillary palpi long. 
 
 II. Necrophaga. 
 
 Legs fitted for running. 
 
 Antennae clubbed or knobbed. 
 
 Ex. Necrophorus (Sexton or Burying Beetles}: 
 tiilpha (Sexton or Burying Beetles). 
 Dermestes (Bacon Beetle, fyc.). 
 
 III. Brachelytra. 
 
 Legs fitted for running. 
 
 Antenna? slightly, if at all, thickened. 
 
 Elytra very short. 
 
 Body long, narrow, and flexible. 
 
 Ex. Goerius (Devil's coachhorse) .j" 
 (PselapTius and Claviger, tarsi three-jointed). 
 
 SUBSECTION III. CORDV LOCERATA (Club 
 horns). 
 
 Antennas with large terminal joints. 
 
 Elytra rather short and square ; club of ant. large, round, perfoliate. 
 f Ant. obliquely truncated. 
 
TABLE OF COLEOPTERA. 105 
 
 I. Clavicornes. 
 
 Antennae ending in a solid or perfoliate knob. 
 Legs retractile into grooves in the abdomen. 
 Ex. Byrrhus (Pill Beetle)* 
 Hister.^ 
 
 II, Lamellicornes. 
 
 Antennae ending in a serrate club, or in leaflike 
 joints (Lamellate). 
 
 1. Antennae elbowed, club serrate. 
 Ex. Lucanus (Stag Beetle). 
 
 2. Antennas straight (Lamellate). 
 Ex. Geotrupes (Dung Beetle).\ 
 
 Melolontha (Cockchafer).^ 
 Cetonia (Rosechafer).\ 
 
 SUBSECTION IV. PRIOCERATA (Saw-horns). 
 
 Antennae not long, slender, of equal thickness 
 throughout or tapering. Often deeply toothed 
 or comblike. 
 
 I. Macrosterni. 
 
 Breast-plate long ; covering the throat in front ; 
 
 behind drawn out into a point between the 
 
 legs. 
 
 Antennae short. 
 Legs short and retractile. 
 Body hard, head buried to the eyes in thorax. 
 
 Ex. Elater (Skipjack). 
 
 * Ant. straight ; body oval. 
 Ant. elbowed ; body squarish or oblong. 
 
 Tib. broad and toothed. 
 Tib. slender ; claws toothed. 
 II Tib. slender ; claws simple. 
 
106 INSECTS. 
 
 II. Aprosterni. 
 
 Breast-plate not covering the throat, nor pointed 
 
 behind. 
 Antennae moderately long, threadlike, serrate, 
 
 or toothed. 
 
 Legs moderately long and slender. 
 Body usually soft. 
 
 Ex. Lampyris (Glowworm). 
 
 Telephorus (Soldiers and Sailors). 
 
 Malachius. 
 
 Anobium (Deathwatch). 
 
 SECTION II. HETEROMERA. Four front tarsi 
 jive-jointed ; hind tarsi four-jointed. 
 
 SUBSECTION I. TRACHELIA (with a neck). 
 
 Hind part of the head exposed. 
 Coxae of forelegs long. 
 Elytra flexible. 
 
 Ex. Pyrochroa (Cardinal).* 
 
 Eipiphorus. 
 
 Meloe (Oil Beetle). 
 
 SUBSECTION II. ATRACHELIA (without a neck). 
 
 Hind part of the head concealed. 
 Coxae of forelegs short. 
 Elytra firm. 
 
 Ex. Blaps (Churchyard Beetle). 
 
 * Abd. and Elytr. much broader than thorax. 
 
TABLE OF COLEOPTERA. 107 
 
 SECTION III. TETRAMERA. Tarsi four-join ted. 
 
 I. Rhyncophora. 
 
 Forepart of head prolonged into a snout. 
 Antennae short. 
 Tarsi cushioned. 
 
 Wing-cases sometimes soldered together. 
 Ex. Bruchus (weevil)* 
 
 Calandra (weevil). "\ 
 
 Scolytus (weevil).^. 
 
 II. Longicornes. 
 
 Antennas long, slender and tapering, simple. 
 Body long ; legs long ; jaws large. 
 
 Ex. Cerambyx, or Aromia (Musk Beetle).^ 
 
 Chjtus (Wasp Beetle). 
 
 Strangalia.\\ 
 
 III. Phytophaga. 
 
 Antennae short, thread-like or slightly clavate ; 
 
 joints short and distinct. 
 Head buried to the eyes in thorax. 
 
 Ex. Crioceris (Asparagus Beetle $'c.). 
 Cassida (Tortoise Beetles). 
 Haltica (Turnip-flea). 
 Timarchia (Bloodi/nosed Beetle). 
 
 * Snout short, broad, flat ; ant. straight, slender. 
 
 f Snout long ; ant. elbowed, clubbed. 
 
 J Snout short ; ant. elbowed, knobbed. 
 
 Eyes kidney-shaped ; figure oblong. 
 
 || Eyes round ; figure tapering. 
 
108 INSECTS. 
 
 SECTION IV. TRIMERA. Tarsi three-jointed. 
 
 Ex. Coccinella (Ladybird). 
 
 (Pselaphus and Claviger, with short wing-cases, placed in 
 Brachelytra). 
 
 N.B. In this table a few genera only are given to serve as 
 examples. 
 
109 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ORDER ii. EUPLEXOPTERA. 
 
 THE order Euplexoptera contains the Earwigs only ; 
 insects as much disliked -and disliked with as little 
 reason (except, indeed, by the horticulturist) as any of 
 the tribe. The common Earwig is one of the best 
 known of insects, the forceps in its tail affording a means 
 of recognising it at once, at least to those who have 
 nerve sufficient to enable them to look steadily upon it ; 
 the less courageous, who sometimes bring stories to the 
 entomologist of encounters with " a dreadful black Ear- 
 wig, at least two inches long" (if not three), having 
 probably made their observations whilst running away 
 from the Goerius, or Devil's coachhorse, already de- 
 scribed. 
 
 The Earwigs so nearly resemble the Beetles with short 
 wing-cases, that, except for the tail forceps, they might 
 easily be mistaken for them ; indeed, they were formerly 
 classed among Coleopterous insects, an alliance with 
 which seemed pointed out by the cased wings and the 
 character of the mouth. The wings, however, differ 
 greatly in character (see figs. 17 and 18, p. 43); and 
 there is a still more important difference between the 
 Beetles and the Earwigs in the nature of their meta- 
 morphoses. 
 
 In Coleoptera there is a marked difference between the 
 active larva, the passive pupa, and the winged insect; 
 
110 INSECTS. 
 
 whereas, in the present Order, the changes are gradual. 
 In all three stages the insect is active, and the larva, 
 pupa, and imago, have a strong resemblance to each 
 other. 
 
 The common Earwig (Forficula auricularia) , when 
 perfected, is a long, narrow, flat insect, of a brown or 
 puce colour. It has long, slender antennae of four- 
 teen joints, very short wing-cases, under which are large 
 and beautifully-folded wings (see Plate IV., fig. ]. F. 
 auricularia, with the wings expanded), and, at the tail, a 
 large pair of horny forceps in the male, strong, dilated 
 at the base, and toothed; in the female, more slender, 
 and quite simple. 
 
 The larva, when first hatched, is small, pale -coloured, 
 and active ; it increases in size every month, till it 
 reaches the pupa stage. The antennae are shorter than 
 in the imago, consisting of only eight or nine joints, and 
 the future forceps are nearly straight, long, slender, and 
 feeble. In the pupa the rudiments of wings and wing- 
 cases are apparent, the antennas are twelve-jointed, and 
 the forceps are strong and curved. 
 
 There are four genera of British Earwigs, of which For- 
 ficula contains four species, and the others only one each. 
 The genera are chiefly to be distinguished by the num- 
 ber of joints in the antennaB ; Forficula having fourteen, 
 Labia twelve,* and Forficesila about twenty-five. The 
 remaining genus, Apterygida, has antennae of twelve 
 joints, and, as its name denotes, is wingless. The wing- 
 cases, however, are present. 
 
 The curious forceps-like appendage of the abdomen 
 
 * This applies to the single English species, the foreign have from ten 
 to twelve. 
 
EUPLEXOPTERA. Ill 
 
 seems intended to be generally useful. One correspon- 
 dent of the " Zoologist" describes the Labia minor, when 
 about to take flight, as turning up its tail, and inserting 
 a point of the forceps under first one wing-case and then 
 the other ; by this means quickly unfolding the wings. 
 Another observer, writing to the same journal, re- 
 ports having seen the common Earwig (F. auricularia) 
 seize a small beetle round its middle with the forceps, 
 and carry it away in spite of its struggles. 
 
 The reader probably knows that the Earwig is credited 
 with being as careful a mother as the domestic hen ; 
 not only sitting on her eggs until they are hatched, but 
 actually covering her young brood like a mother bird. 
 He may not, however, be aware that these facts have 
 been observed and are related by the best authorities, 
 and are not mere popular reports. 
 
 Of the other habits of the Earwig it is not easy to 
 speak quite so favourably ; the young, for instance, can 
 hardly be said to render due respect in return for such 
 maternal tenderness, as, though professed vegetarians, 
 they have been known to devour the dead body of their 
 mother (Westwood, p. 403). The account of an Earwig 
 carrying off a beetle points also to a carnivorous taste, 
 as it is difficult to imagine any use but one to which his 
 captive could be put. 
 
 Flowers are the chief food of the Earwigs, but they by 
 no means confine themselves to this, but consume fruit, 
 and other vegetable productions ; indeed, there have 
 been cases when, otherwise, their food must have failed 
 them. There is an account in the " Gentleman's 
 Magazine" for August 1755, of an extraordinary swarm 
 of Earwigs at Stroud : " There were such quantities of 
 Earwigs in that vicinity, that they destroyed not only the 
 
112 INSECTS. 
 
 flowers and fruit, but the cabbages, were they ever so 
 large. The houses, especially the old wooden buildings, 
 were swarming with them; the cracks and crevices were 
 surprisingly full ; they dropped out in such multitudes 
 that the floors were covered ; the linen, of which they 
 are very fond" (!) "was likewise full, as was also the 
 furniture, and it was with caution that people eat their 
 provisions, for the cupboards and safes were plentifully 
 stocked with the disagreeable intruders." 
 
 Some doubt has been entertained as to whether the 
 common Earwig ever flies, but it has been found under 
 circumstances which render this probable. It may be 
 that it flies by night, as the lesser Earwig (Labia minor) 
 is known to do, these having been observed returning in 
 numbers to their home after the day's work. 
 
 The Forficula auricularia and Labia minor are the only 
 British species common. The latter appears to inhabit 
 dunghills and hotbeds. The Forficesila gigantea is a 
 large species which has been found on the sand at 
 Christchurch, but is considered a doubtful native. The 
 apterous earwig is also not common. 
 
113 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ORDER III. ORTHOPTERA. 
 
 ORTHOPTERA is the last Order of biting insects in which 
 the hind wings are protected by any kind of wing-case ; 
 and the parchment-like and closely-veined tegmina, as 
 these are called, seem to form a step between the horny 
 elytra of the Beetle and Earwigs, and the clear and much- 
 veined wings of insects in the succeeding Orders. They 
 differ also in position, the wing-cases in Orthoptera over- 
 lapping each other when at rest, while the elytra of Ear- 
 wigs and Beetles (with a few exceptions) meet in a 
 straight line down the back. 
 
 The curious Leaf insects, and Walking-sticks, and the 
 Praying Mantis, are members of the order which have 
 no representatives in this country ; and indeed the 
 orthopterous insects known in England are but few, con- 
 sisting only of the Cockroaches (the " Blackbeetles" of 
 the kitchen), Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Locusts. 
 
 In this order (as in the preceding) both larva and 
 
INSECTS. 
 
 pupa are active, and much resemble the perfect insect, 
 the larvae, however, being without wings, while the pupae 
 have their rudiments. After the last change of skin the 
 wings and wing-cases are fully developed, except in some 
 species, which in one or in both sexes remain wingless 
 even when arrived at maturity.* 
 
 The maxillae are peculiar in form, having two lobes, 
 of which the upper acts as a kind of sheath to the 
 lower. 
 
 The abdomen generally terminates in two bristle-like 
 appendages, short and jointed in the Cockroaches, very 
 long and bristle-like in some Crickets, shorter again in 
 the Locusts. 
 
 The English Orthoptera form two groups, the first 
 consisting of the Cockroaches, and distinguished by 
 their cursorial, or running legs, which are long, strong, 
 and spinous, and well adapted to this action. The 
 second group consists of the Crickets, Grasshoppers, and 
 Locusts, and is marked by the saltatorial, or leaping legs, 
 which are so conspicuous in these insects. 
 
 Among the Cockroaches, the common " Blackbeetle," 
 although only too abundant and familiar, is but a 
 naturalized foreigner, and is supposed to have been im- 
 ported in merchant vessels from the East. Indeed, 
 various other species of these insects are rinding their 
 way in the same manner from and into all parts of the 
 world, their omnivorous habits making it easy for them 
 to find subsistence under almost any circumstances. The 
 destruction which they occasion is very great, for even 
 that which escapes being devoured by them they spoil 
 
 * This occurs in the female of the common Cockroach, which has very 
 short wing-cases, and no wings whatever. 
 
ORTHOPTERA. 115 
 
 by means of a fluid ejected from the mouth, and which 
 corrodes, discolours, and imparts an offensive smell to 
 whatever has been subjected to its action. The writer 
 has seen the greater part of the contents of a book-case 
 injured in this way, books bound in red or violet-coloured 
 cloth appearing to be especially attractive to the Cock- 
 roaches. 
 
 The Cockroaches have a curious manner of laying 
 their eggs, not singly, but enclosed in a strong, some- 
 what bean-shaped capsule, on the outside of which may 
 be seen the impression of the eggs, which lie within in 
 a double row, and in the common Cockroach number 
 about sixteen. The female sometimes runs about for 
 days with this case protruding from her body, a raised 
 serrate ridge along the upper edge of the case helping to 
 retain it in this position. The mother has been observed 
 to assist the young larv in making their escape from 
 this capsule. 
 
 It would be unfair to suppress any fact which tells in 
 favour of this much abhorred insect, and as there is one 
 yet more abhorred, and unhappily equally domestic in 
 its habits, it may be well to say that a favourite dainty 
 of the Cockroach is the common Bed Bug, and one 
 whose attractions may probably account for its occasional 
 incursions into bedrooms. 
 
 Our native species of Cockroaches are much smaller, 
 more delicate, and even attractive-looking insects, in 
 which a careless observer would trace but little likeness 
 to the dark, long-legged, foul-smelling Cockroach of the 
 kitchen. They are found out of doors ; some species 
 inland upon herbage of various kinds, others near the 
 sea-shore sheltered under stones, while some are found 
 beneath the bark of trees. B. Lapponia, PI. IV., fig. 2 
 
 12 
 
116 INSECTS. 
 
 (a species to be freely found in the New Forest), is a 
 slender dark insect, with beautifully veined, nearly 
 transparent, pale-brown wing-cases. These are much 
 wider, especially a little below the shoulders, and longer 
 than the body, and give the little creature a very delicate 
 appearance. With the wings closed it is about half an 
 inch in length, but considerably shorter if measured 
 from head to tail with the wings expanded. 
 
 The second group of Orthoptera is divided into 
 three families, distinguished by the shape and position 
 of the wing-cases, which either lie flat and horizon- 
 tally on the back, or shelve downwards, roof-like, at 
 the sides ; and by the form and proportion of the 
 antennae. 
 
 A f i ( Crickets . . . wing-cases flat. 
 
 Grasshoppers 
 
 Ant. short Locusts 
 
 wing cases shelv- 
 ing. 
 
 The most remarkable peculiarity in the wing-cases of 
 this group has been already described (pp. 44, 45) 
 namely, the musical instrument by which the chirping 
 of these little creatures is produced. The drum-like 
 membrane, or sounding-board of the wing-cases, is how- 
 ever found only in the two first families Crickets and 
 Grasshoppers; the Locusts, wanting these, produce 
 sound by the friction of theit file-like legs against the 
 edge of the wing-cases. 
 
 The Crickets form two genera Acluta and Gryllo- 
 talpa. To Acheta belongs the common House Cricket, (PI. 
 IV., fig. 3), A. domestica; the larger black Field Cricket, 
 A. campestris; and a small species, A. sylvestris, which 
 is distinguished by the smallness of its wing-cases and 
 the apterous state of the female. In the other genus, 
 
ORTHOPTERA. 117 
 
 Gryllotalpa, is only one English species, the curious 
 Mole Cricket. 
 
 The House Cricket is an active, flattened, long-horned 
 insect, with rather sprawling legs, and the appearance of 
 several tails. These tails consist of, first, the abdominal 
 appendages usual in the order, and which in this are a 
 pair of long tapering bristles ; secondly, of the tips of 
 the wings, which being larger than the wing-cases, extend 
 beyond them, when folded, in two long slender points ; 
 and thirdly, in the female, of a long ovipositor. 
 
 The wing-cases are of a peculiar form in the crickets, 
 being flat along the back and suddenly depressed at the 
 sides for their whole length, thus covering the sides as 
 effectually as the shelving tegmina of the other 
 families. 
 
 The bodies of the Crickets are flatter or more depressed 
 than those of the Grasshoppers and Locusts ; the tarsi 
 are three-jointed, slender, and spined, so being fitted for 
 running on the ground. In the genus Acheta the 
 ovipositor of the female is long, slender, and projecting; 
 in the Mole Cricket it is withdrawn from sight. 
 
 The mole cricket (fig. 42, and fig. U, p. 37) differs 
 Fig. 42. 
 
 Outline of Mole Cricket. 
 
 from the other Crickets most conspicuously in the 
 curious hand-like front legs (described p. 37) ; which 
 
118 INSECTS. 
 
 are used by the insect in forming burrows within 
 the earth. Not only do the digging instruments of 
 the Cricket, and its mode of proceeding, resemble 
 those of "the little gentleman in black velvet," but 
 the burrows formed though not constructed on a 
 precisely similar "ground-plan" consist, like his, of 
 a neatly finished chamber, approached by winding 
 galleries, and, like the Mole, the Cricket while mining, 
 raises a ridge of earth by which it may sometimes be 
 tracked. Unlike the quadruped, however, the insect is 
 fitted for more than underground life, and though not 
 equal, either in saltatorial or in flying powers to others 
 of its tribe, is able both to leap and to fly, and is 
 possessed of perfect organs of vision. 
 
 The chosen home of these curious creatures is the 
 soil in damp fields and gardens (whence their French 
 name of Courtiliere), or in peat bogs ; and their food 
 appears to be various, as they not only feed largely upon 
 vegetables doing great mischief among the roots of 
 plants, barley, potatoes, &c. but, like the Grasshoppers, 
 have been known to attack and devour each other. The 
 remains of other insects have been found in their 
 stomachs, and in confinement they have been fed on 
 insects and on raw meat, of which they appear extremely 
 fond. 
 
 The female Mole Cricket lays, in summer, an immense 
 number of eggs (according to Eesel, 300 or more), 
 which are hatched in about a month. The young 
 remain together underground (during the winter in a 
 dormant state) until all the changes of skin are accom- 
 plished, and the wings have attained their full growth, 
 which takes place in the following summer. 
 
 The insect is not common in England. 
 
ORTHOPTERA. 119 
 
 The passages formed by the Mole Cricket are not suffi- 
 ciently wide to allow of the insect's turning within them. 
 This is compensated by the power of moving backwards 
 and forwards with equal ease, and still more remarkably 
 by the exceeding sensitiveness of the bristles at the end 
 of its body, which act like antennae, to inform the insect 
 of danger approaching from behind. 
 
 Crickets generally have more or less the habit of 
 burrowing, none, however, approaching the Mole 
 Cricket in power, or in architectural skill. The 
 Field Cricket, using its sharp, strong jaws as an 
 instrument, digs a refuge for itself in dry soil, some- 
 times to the depth of a foot ; while the House 
 Cricket excavates passages through the mortar of 
 stone or brick walls. 
 
 As might be expected of an insect so domesticated 
 as the Cricket, and so harmless, many superstitions have 
 clustered round it ; and if, among the sun-loving Greeks, 
 the Grasshopper was hailed as a friend by gods and 
 men, in our colder clime the Cricket is counted as a 
 fireside companion ; and dire are the consequences of 
 murdering one little songster, or of the desertion of our 
 hearth by their numbers. It seems, however, that their 
 music is not at all times, or in all places, equally 
 welcome, as the " Spectator" speaks of the voice of a 
 Cricket as striking more terror to the heart than the 
 roaring of a lion. Probably the roaring of the lion was 
 softened by distance. 
 
 The tone of the Field Cricket's song is observed to 
 vary according to the state of the atmosphere ; and 
 among the signs of the weather collected by Dr. Darwin, 
 is the sharpness of its sound before rain. This is pro- 
 to be accounted for by the action of the damp 
 
120 INSECTS. 
 
 air contracting, and so tightening, the membrane which 
 forms the drum, or sounding-board. 
 
 The two families which remain are the Grasshoppers 
 and the Locusts. 
 
 There have been so many changes and interchanges 
 of the names of all these insects (including the Crickets), 
 both in various places and at various times, that the 
 reader will find it necessary to be on his guard when he 
 meets with the various generic names " Gryllus, 
 Locusta, Acrida, Acheta," &c. Thus Gryllus, formerly 
 the generic name of the Crickets, now gives place to 
 Acheta as applied to them, and is adopted, under the 
 form Gryllida3, as the family name of the Grasshoppers, 
 while similar confusing changes have been made with 
 regard to the family Locustidse. To enter upon these 
 details would be alike tedious and useless while the 
 reader is as yet unacquainted with the animals them- 
 selves ; and here, as in all cases of the same kind, the 
 first step is to study the animals and familiarize the 
 mind with their distinctive characters. With this 
 knowledge the difliculties occasioned by variety of 
 system and diversity of nomenclature, will become a help 
 rather than a hindrance in the work of obtaining a clear 
 idea of the relations and grouping of animals. 
 
 According to Westwood, whose classification is 
 followed here, these insects are grouped (see p. 1 16) into 
 the families of Achetida, Crickets ; Gryllid<e, Grass- 
 hoppers ; and Locustida, Locusts ; the English names 
 assigned by him not necessarily according with the 
 popular use, according to which most of the Locustida3, 
 in common with the Grasshoppers, are usually called 
 Grasshoppers. 
 
 The Gryllidae (see PL IV., fig. 4,) resemble the 
 
ORTHOPTERA. 121 
 
 Crickets in having long antennae, a musical apparatus in 
 the wing-cases of the male, and a projecting ovipositor 
 in the female. The latter, however, differs in form 
 from that of the Crickets, being usually flattened and 
 curved or " sabre-shaped." The wing-case of the 
 female (fig. 43) is simple. The Gryllid are more 
 slender in form than p. 43 
 
 the Crickets, and their 
 longer and slighter 
 limbs give them an 
 appearance of greater 
 
 .. * . . Wing-case of Acrida viridissima. 
 
 lightness and activity. 
 
 They differ also in their shelving, roof-like wing-cases, 
 in the form of the tarsi, which are broad and fleshy 
 on the under side, and in the number of the tarsal 
 joints, which in this family alone is four. 
 
 The English species of Gryllid number about twelve, 
 and are found chiefly upon trees, &c. There are among 
 them several in which the wings are either absent or 
 imperfectly developed ; and in one wingless species, 
 Ephippigervirescens, the wing-cases are very short indeed, 
 and (a circumstance which renders this insect remark- 
 able) are capable of producing the stridulous sound in 
 both sexes. On the other hand, the pretty little slender 
 green Grasshopper of the oak, furnished with long wing- 
 cases and large wings, is the only species altogether 
 destitute of the musical apparatus in the wing-cases. 
 
 The large green Grasshopper is a conspicuous species, 
 measuring 3^ inches from tip to tip of the extended 
 wings. 
 
 The remaining family consists of the LocustidaB, or 
 short-horned Grasshoppers, and, in other countries, of the 
 Locusts commonly so called. 
 
122 INSECTS. 
 
 The Locustidse (see PL IV., fig. 5) differ from the 
 two preceding families in having short antennae, no drum 
 and file on the wing-cases of the male, no visible ovi- 
 positor in the female. The wing-cases shelve, as in the 
 Gryllidse ; the tarsal joints are three in number, as in the 
 Achetidee, and the chirping sound is produced by friction 
 of the legs and wing-cases. The English species are 
 found chiefly on the grass. 
 
 The Locusts, so well known in the history of other 
 countries, are by no means unknown in England, more 
 than one species having found their way here on many 
 occasions. They were seen in Yorkshire in the cold 
 and wet season of 1845. In the year 1846, which 
 was hot, and in 1847, accounts were sent to various 
 papers of their appearance in all parts of the country. 
 In the month of September, 1846, they were found in 
 numerous places in and near London, in nearly every 
 county from Yorkshire to Cornwall, and even in 
 Scotland. 
 
 In 1848, again, a flight arrived in the South of Eng- 
 land, especially in the neighbourhood of London, and a 
 few Locusts made their appearance in England in the 
 Autumn of 1869. 
 
 Happily, however, these visitors, which were of several 
 species, have never yet been known to breed in England, 
 and we may, therefore, refuse to consider them as 
 belonging to our own country. 
 
123 
 
 CHAPTER. IX. 
 
 ORDER IV. THYSANOPTERA. 
 
 IT would be difficult to examine a handful of flowers, 
 whether gathered in the field, the greenhouse, or the 
 garden, without finding a host of minute black insects 
 basking upon their petals, or, sometimes, concealing 
 themselves more coyly in the recesses of the flowers. In 
 either case, however, an examination is sure to end in 
 a tickling sensation first on one part of the face, then on 
 another, and we find that how we cannot tell several 
 of the little creatures have found their way from the 
 flowers to our persons. 
 
 If a few are shaken from a blossom (a Pink or Carna- 
 tion is almost certain to contain several), at least one 
 mode of locomotion will soon be observed. Let a single 
 insect be watched, and before long he will probably be 
 observed to form an inverted arch, depressing his body 
 in the middle and elevating his tail. In an instant he 
 is gone, apparently without the wings being called into 
 action ; and though he may be found again not very far 
 from the same spot, yet the eye has not followed his 
 movement. 
 
 Lest, however, he should be suspected of being desti- 
 tute of wings, his next proceeding is to stand quite still 
 and begin wriggling his tail in an extraordinary manner, 
 turning it up like a Staphylinus, and from side to side in 
 
124 INSECTS. 
 
 a manner which no sober minded Staphylinus would 
 think of. The object of this appears to be to assist four 
 slender, fringed and generally veinless wings to flourish 
 themselves in the air in an ostentatious manner, but with 
 apparently little result but that of display, as they seem 
 incapable of motion except with the assistance of the 
 tail ; and no tail, however active, could- be expected to 
 keep four wings at work in flight. 
 
 It is not denied that the insect may fly, but it seems 
 to be doubtful. Observed by the naked eye it might 
 easily be taken for one of the minute beetles with short 
 wing-cases, and the active tail greatly increases the 
 resemblance, these beetles, like the Earwig, using their 
 long and slender abdomens to assist them in the folding 
 and arrangement of their wings. 
 
 This little insect is the Thrips (PI. IV. fig. 6), 
 the gardener's pest, known in greenhouses as the Black- 
 fly, in contradistinction to the Aphis, or Green-fly. The 
 mischief which it effects is considerable both in flowers, 
 fruit, and grain. 
 
 Like the Aphis, it sucks the juices of plants, and its 
 attacks are shown in the colourless dead spots to be seen 
 in the petals of flowers, &c. 
 
 The place of the Thrips in classification is very difficult 
 to determine. Its transformations are like those of the 
 Orthoptera, the insect being active in all stages and 
 acquiring rudimental wings in the pupa state. The 
 wings differ however from these, and from all others, 
 being, as has been said, generally slender, fringed, and 
 veinless, though the forewings in some species have the 
 appearance of veins and approach Elytra in character. 
 The mouth is a true sucking mouth, somewhat resem- 
 bling that of the Bugs, Aphides, &c., yet retains enough 
 
THYSANOPTERA. 125 
 
 of the mandibulate character to induce its being placed 
 in the mandibulate section. 
 
 The females in some species have a visible curved 
 boring ovipositor; and in some species the male is 
 apterous. 
 
 These insects form the order Thysanoptera (Ovaavoi, 
 thy sanoi, fringe ; irrtpov, pteron, wing), a description 
 of which was omitted in the earlier part of the work (viz. 
 in chapter iii. and the tabular summary, p. 60), as 
 unnecessary and perplexing to a beginner, from its con- 
 taining only one small group of anomalous insects. 
 
126 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ORDER V. NEUROPTERA. 
 
 IN Neuroptera we come to an order of insects against 
 which no charge can be brought by farmer or gardener, 
 by the owner of orchards, or of timber trees, or of pasture- 
 lands not one of these can, in our own country, have 
 a word to say against any one of the beautiful tribes con- 
 tained in the present order. 
 
 Abroad so much cannot be said, for to Neuroptera 
 belongs the omnivorous White Ant, so great a scourge to 
 the districts in which it is found ; but even in hot 
 climates, this one family is the only considerable excep- 
 tion to the harmlessness, with regard to agriculture, of 
 the insects in this order. 
 
 It contains many insects which, some by their beauty, 
 some by their frequent occurrence, have become so gene- 
 rally known, as to have obtained common English names. 
 The Dragonflies, with their netted wings, and slender 
 or flattened, and pointed bodies ; the long-tailed May-flies 
 or Troutflies, which may be seen near water on a sum- 
 mer's evening in countless swarms ; the speckled Scorpion 
 fly, with its curious pincer-like tail, to be found on every 
 hedge; the delicate green Lacefly, with its tenderly- 
 coloured body, large glistening wings, and glowing eyes, 
 all these are noted by others than Entomologists. 
 
 Among the insects here named, some are to be found 
 
NEUROPTERA. 127 
 
 with a history like that of the Beetles, i.e., living an 
 active life in the first stage of their existence, and a 
 quiescent in the second ; whilst others, like the Earwigs 
 and Grasshoppers, are active in both these stages, under- 
 going a less marked metamorphosis. 
 
 As a general rule (but one not quite without exception), 
 the imperfect series of changes, i.e., that in which all 
 states are active, is found in such of the neuropterous in- 
 sects as have their wings either always expanded (as some 
 of the Dragonflies : raised above the body when at rest, 
 in other Dragonflies and Mayflies), or lying flat on the 
 back. This perfect series of changes, i.e., that in which 
 the pupa? are inactive, contains such insects as have the 
 wings, when at rest, deflexed lying over the body like a 
 shelving roof. The Lacefly is an instance of this.* 
 
 The Dragonflies are perhaps the most universally 
 known of all these insects, one or other species being 
 nearly always to be met with in the neighbourhood of 
 water, whilst the large size and powerful flight of some, 
 the exquisite form and colouring of others, cannot fail 
 to excite attention. They are even a common object 
 of alarm, and are not unfrequently called " horse- 
 stingers," and believed to be dangerous in their powers 
 of biting and stinging. The truth, however, is that 
 they are all of them (in common with the rest of their 
 order) totally destitute of any instrument with which a 
 sting could be inflicted, and as to biting, one of the 
 largest and most powerful Dragonflies, after long and 
 persevering efforts, and under the constraint and provo- 
 cation of being held to one spot by force, in order to 
 
 * Psocus, having an active pupa and roof-like wings ; and Panorpa, 
 having an inactive pupa and wings lying flat, are exceptions. 
 
128 INSECTS. 
 
 test his powers, succeeded at last in working his jaws 
 only so far into the skin of the finger which held him, 
 as to produce a slight tinge of blood under the surface. 
 
 Under ordinary circumstances it is certain he would 
 not have thought of attempting to bite. 
 
 Terrible enough the Dragonflies must be, however, 
 amongst the smaller and feebler tribes of insects. Their 
 larva? and pupae are aquatic and exceedingly voracious, 
 feeding on every inhabitant of the water small enough 
 to be attacked. On land, or rather in the air, where, 
 swallow-like, the Dragonfly hunts and seizes its prey upon 
 the wing, they verily are flying dragons; and to a 
 hapless Fly the swift approach of one of these glittering 
 " devil's needles," as they are sometimes called, must be 
 terrible indeed. Their flight is remarkable, the Dragon- 
 fly being endowed with the power of changing its 
 forward course, and moving backwards or laterally with- 
 out the necessity of turning. 
 
 There are about fifty species of Dragonflies in England, 
 which are divided into two families. 
 
 To the first belong the very large Dragonflies fre- 
 quently to be met with flying up and down in shady 
 lanes in pursuit of prey, and which measure as much as 
 four inches from tip to tip of their powerful wings, and 
 three or four from end to end of their slender bodies. 
 These are species of the genus jEshna, or of the more 
 rare Anax. The shorter, flat bodied, dull blue, and 
 golden-brown Libellula, with others of the same genus, 
 but of more slender form and brilliant colouring, are 
 also of this family, which is distinguished by the wings 
 being always extended, even when at rest ; by the large 
 almost semi-globular head, and the immense eyes which 
 in most cases nearly or quite meet. 
 
NEUROPTERA. 129 
 
 The second family may be known by the hammer-like, 
 transversely-placed head, the wide-apart eyes, and above 
 all by the position of the wings, which, when at rest, meet 
 back to back over the back of the insect. The wings differ 
 in form in the two families as well as in position. In the 
 first family (Libellula, &c., see fig. 47, ^Eshna cyanea) 
 the fore-wings are narrow at the base and wider towards 
 the tip ; the hind- wings are broadest at the base, some- 
 times, especially in the males, forming an angle thera In 
 the second family (Agrion, &c., the smaller species of 
 which have a comparatively feeble flight) the four wings are 
 alike and are very narrow at the base, increasing in 
 width towards the tip. Most Dragonflies have a dark 
 spot or stigma on the front margin near the tip of the 
 wing, but this is absent in Calepteryx. 
 
 To the second family belong the exquisite little, slender, 
 crimson and sky-blue Agrions, most fairy-like insects, 
 which are common everywhere ; and the splendid but 
 more rare Calepteryx, a more beautiful object than which 
 can hardly be met with in the insect world. The body is 
 about If in. long, slender, burnished, and of an intense 
 dark steel-blue or dark emerald green, it is almost impos- 
 sible to tell which, as the glancing light gives one colour 
 or the other to its lustrous surface. The wings are 
 large, clear, and gauzy, with a large dark-brown cloud 
 on each, nearly filling the hinder half, but leaving the 
 base and tip clear. These wings add greatly to the 
 brilliancy of the insect, their delicate and innumerable 
 veins being of the same burnished green or blue as the 
 rest of the body. Add to this the prismatic colours re- 
 flected from their membranous part, and the picture is 
 complete. This is the male. The female is similar in 
 form and of nearly equal size. The body is of a brilliant 
 
 K 
 
] 30 INSECTS. 
 
 grass-green, burnished like the male. The membrane of 
 her wings is unclouded, and is throughout of a rich 
 golden hue. The beauty of these insects passes de- 
 scription when (as they may be seen in the New Forest) 
 hundreds are on the wing together, darting from side to 
 side of a little rivulet, or reposing in the sunshine. 
 
 The difference of colour in the sexes is often very 
 great, as in the broad flat L. depressa, of which the 
 female is golden-brown, and the male dull pale blue.* 
 
 The powerful flight of the larger species has already 
 been several times mentioned. An instance has occurred 
 of the capture of a Dragonfly at sea, more than six hun- 
 dred miles from land, a fact which may give some idea 
 of the travelling powers of this insect, which, even with 
 a favourable wind, must have been severely tried. A 
 Butterfly has been observed following a ship equally 
 distant from the land, and similar facts are on record 
 with regard to other insects; but the case of the Dragon- 
 fly is peculiarly interesting, as the nature and habits of 
 its pupa forbid the conjecture that the insect may have 
 been taken on board in this state, and have come to 
 perfection there. It is remarked that the incapacity of 
 Dragonflies to subsist for any considerable time with- 
 out food, is a proof that the journey must have been 
 quickly accomplished. 
 
 They prey, both in their earlier and aquatic, and also 
 in the perfect states, upon other living insects, and are 
 exceedingly fierce and voracious. The unarmed Dragon- 
 fly will use small ceremony towards even a wasp, whilst, 
 
 * This is owing to a tine powder or bloom which covers the male, and 
 which may be rubbed off, leaving his colour the same as that of the 
 female. 
 
NEUKOPTERA. 131 
 
 however, it must be owned that on occasion the wasp 
 has been known to get the better of his big adversary. 
 
 In the larva and pupa there is a special and curious 
 contrivance to enable the insect to seize his prey. This 
 is the lower lip, which is composed of four pieces joined 
 together, and is of great size in proportion to the other 
 part of the mouth. When at rest it is folded up and 
 laid over the mouth, which it entirely covers. When 
 called into action it is unfolded and projected forward, 
 and looks like a large, two-jointed bony tongue, termi- 
 nated by a pair of very jaw-like plates or nippers toothed 
 at their extremity, and which are supposed to represent 
 the labial palpi. It is with this instrument that the 
 apparently sluggish Dragonfly pupa seizes its living 
 struggling prey, and although the parts common to the 
 mouths of other insects may be traced here, their adapta- 
 tion in this case is peculiar to the Dragonflies. 
 
 The transformation of the Dragonflies is gradual, like 
 that of the Grasshoppers, up to the point when the 
 pupa state is about to be exchanged for the winged, and 
 at this point as sudden a change of nature and appear- 
 ance is made as in the case of insects with quiescent 
 pupse, such as the Moths or Beetles. The sluggish mud- 
 coloured pupa ascends the stem of a grass, a rush, or 
 any other stalk or stick of convenient size which rises 
 above the surface of the water. Up this it crawls until 
 it is several inches from the water and conveniently 
 clear of neighbouring plants, or whatever else might 
 interfere with its operations. Here the pupa remains, 
 clinging with its legs to the support, the head upwards 
 and the body hanging down. After a time the 
 skin cracks behind, between or before the wing-cases, 
 and the head and thorax of the enclosed fly are drawn 
 
 K -2 
 
132 INSECTS. 
 
 out. Slowly follows the abdomen, bit by bit, and as it 
 emerges, the helpless soft young insect hangs head down- 
 wards from the opening (fig. 44), the exposed portion of 
 abdomen lengthening every minute, until it seems certain 
 that the still imperfect fly must drop into the water and 
 be drowned. This, however, is very far from the fact, 
 no sooner is the insect so far out of the pupa-case that 
 
 Fig. 44. Fig. 45. 
 
 its fall appears inevitable, than with a sudden effort it 
 curves its body forward and upward, firmly grasps the 
 back of the nearly empty pupa-case (fig. 45), draws the 
 end of its tail out, and stands there, clinging to the now 
 empty pupa-case, which still retains its hold upon the 
 reed (fig. 46.) 
 
 It has in this stage a singular appearance. Already 
 the contents of the somewhat broad and flat pupa-case 
 have stretched out into the long and slender abdomen of 
 the perfect Dragonfly. The Dragonfly's head and 
 thorax are there also, differing less in form than the 
 
NEUKOPTERA. 
 
 133 
 
 abdomen from those of the pupa -while the wings are 
 four small clouded appendages, little larger than the 
 wing cases of the pupa. 
 
 The young fly stands Fig. 46. 
 
 still in the position al- 
 ready described ; and as 
 we watch it the wings 
 appear a little and a 
 little larger, until there 
 can be no doubt of 
 their increase in size. 
 Suddenly the insect 
 moves, quitting the 
 pupa-case it walks ra- 
 pidly up the stalk 
 to which that clings. 
 Whilst this action con- 
 tinues, and for a little 
 while after it ceases, 
 the abdomen appears to 
 become inflated. The 
 fly then becomes quiet, 
 but we observe the in- 
 flation of the abdomen to be subsiding and the wings to be 
 so quickly increasing in size that the actual motion is ap- 
 parent, we see them growing. This continues until the 
 abdomen is restored to its former slender shape, when the 
 wings cease to expand ; the walk is then repeated, and 
 with the same result, until the four wings have arrived 
 at their full size (fig. 47). The explanation of this 
 proceeding probably is that by the exercise of walking 
 respiration is quickened, and the air vessels in the abdo- 
 men are filled with air, which is expelled thence possibly 
 by a voluntary muscular contraction into the wings, and 
 
134 INSECTS. 
 
 by filling the vessels which run through the wing-nerves 
 stretches the wing to its full size. 
 
 Fig. 47. 
 
 This explanation is partly guess-work, for nothing is 
 known of any internal arrangement by which the air may 
 be pumped into the wings instead of being forced out of 
 the body, but any one who has watched the simultaneous 
 reduction of the apparently inflated abdomen and the 
 apparent inflation, or at least expansion, of the wings, 
 could hardly fail to receive this impression. That blood 
 is forced into the wings during this period is proved by 
 the fact that insects of some kinds will bleed freely 
 through a prick inflicted on the wing whilst it is in the 
 
NEUROPTERA. 135 
 
 act of expanding, although later the wings may be 
 actually cut or pulled off without any apparent injury to 
 the insect beyond their loss. 
 
 While the wings are expanding the Dragonfly assumes 
 a peculiar attitude, so curving its body as to prevent the 
 possibility of any contact between it and the soft delicate 
 young wings. 
 
 The process of emerging from the pupa is exceedingly 
 interesting to observe, and it has a curious effect to see 
 the newly excluded insect clinging to what may almost 
 be called its own dead body. 
 
 The pupae of various Dragonflies vary much in form, 
 those of the more or less slender species varying accord- 
 ing to the proportions of the imago, though in all cases 
 the pupae are somewhat shorter and broader than the 
 perfect insect. 
 
 The Ephemeron, Mayfly* (PL V., fig. 1), or trout-fly is 
 an insect well known to at least all those who live near 
 streams or rivers. Resembling the Dragonfly in the 
 character of its larva and pupa state, it differs from them, 
 and indeed from most Neuropterous insects, in the great 
 inequality of size in the wings, the fore-wings being large 
 and the hind-wings sometimes about one-eighth of their 
 size, sometimes much smaller, or even altogether wanting. 
 When at rest the wings are raised and meet over the back. 
 The Mayflies have slender bodies, short antennae, and a 
 tail composed of two or three long fine many-jointed 
 bristles. 
 
 There is a curious circumstance attending the coming 
 to perfection of the Mayfly. When first emerged from 
 the pupa-case it is quiet and dull dull in motion and 
 
 By Kirby and Spence the Caddis-fly is called "Mayfly/ 
 
136 INSECTS. 
 
 dim in hue an almost mud-coloured insect, with large 
 lustreless wings and three shortish tails, may some- 
 times be seen standing on the wall of a chamber, or in 
 some other situation more or less remote from the water 
 whence it has emerged, and to which it must have flown. 
 In a little while a beautiful insect, with clear and deli- 
 cately veined wings, is seen standing by the side of 
 something which might be taken for its ghost, so dim 
 and unsubstantial a likeness is it, as with shrivelled and 
 shapeless wings, it stands there in precisely the same 
 attitude, its long tails extended and legs grasping the 
 wall. This ghost is a most delicate skin, which en- 
 veloped the whole insect, wings, limbs, and all, and en- 
 closed in which the fly had left the pupa-case. 
 
 In this way the Ephemeron appears to undergo an 
 extra metamorphosis, but the fact of a delicate membrane 
 covering the insect within the pupa-case is common in 
 other orders, and some insects emerge with more or less 
 of this attached to them. The long-horned bee is a 
 common example of this, as it is usual to find the 
 newly-emerged males with a delicate skin remaining on 
 their antennae, and which is afterwards stroked off by 
 their spurred legs. 
 
 When arrived at perfection the male Ephemera, whose 
 life, as their name denotes (f0r////>oe, ephemeras; 
 diurnal) does not, in some species, extend beyond 
 the day indeed, seldom beyond a few hours spends 
 nearly the whole of this brief space upon the wing.* 
 
 The mouth is so imperfectly developed that there is 
 
 * The brevity of the life of these insects was not unobserved by the 
 Ancients ; and if the antique gem of which an engraving is placed at the 
 head of the chapter on Lepidoptera (described p. 11), is truly figured, 
 it would seem that the Ephemera, not the Butterfly, is here represented ; 
 
NEUROPTfcRA. 137 
 
 reason to suppose them incapable of taking food when 
 in this state. Indeed, there seems little necessity for 
 their so doing, their sole work now being to enjoy the 
 new life on which they have entered ; to sport for a few 
 hours in a new element and with new faculties for en- 
 joyment; to perpetuate their species, and to die. 
 
 The enormous multitudes of these insects, which some- 
 times come to life all at the same time, could hardly be 
 believed but by those who have seen them on the wing, 
 literally in clouds, as they may be seen in England. 
 Abroad they are still more plentiful, and Dr. Hagen 
 mentions that on the Curische-Nehrung these delicate 
 little creatures are used to feed pigs ! Yet of these, says 
 Aristotle, " the least is more noble than the sun, because, 
 it hath a sensitive soul in it." 
 
 Our knowledge of the Mayfly is at present very im- 
 perfect. Not only are there double the usual number of 
 specimens to be studied in each species i.e., the male 
 and female sub-imago, as the first winged state is called, 
 as well as the male and female imago but all the in- 
 sects of the family change so greatly after death that 
 preserved specimens are of little value in the study. 
 
 The larvee and pupae of the Ephemera are of a form 
 somewhat resembling that of the imago (though, of 
 
 and that the gem signifies, not the escape of the soul from Death, but the 
 shortness of human life. 
 
 The engraving is a faithful copy of one given by Guigniaut with the 
 following "explication." 
 
 " Tte de mort surmontee d'un papillon, symbole de 1'ame, et ayant a 
 cote d'elle I'hydrie qui contient 1'eau rafraichissante, confcrmement aux 
 croyances egyptiennes transplantees en Grece et communiquees au Chris- 
 tianisme par 1'intermedaire des neo-Platoniciecs. CRKTJZER, Voy. torn. i. 
 liv. iii. p. 403, et passim ; et torn. iii. liv. ix. Pierre gravee, communiquee 
 a M. Creuzer, par M. Miinter, &c." 
 
1 38 INSECTS. 
 
 course, without wings), three beautifully-feathered tails, 
 much shorter than the tail-bristles of the perfect insect, 
 terminate the abdomen, and its sides are fringed with a 
 series of appendages which serve the double office of 
 gills and oars. The pupa3 may be known from the larvse 
 by the wing cases. 
 
 In these early stages the Ephemera are predaceous, 
 feeding also, probably, on the decaying animal or vege- 
 table matter which abounds in their haunts at the 
 bottom of ponds and running streams. Some species 
 make burrows in the mud, where they remain on the 
 watch for prey passing by ; others are swift swimmers 
 and hunt in the open waters, having in the water, the 
 same faculty as that possessed by the Dragonflies in the 
 air, of altering their course without turning. 
 
 The sub-imago has dull wings, fringed with fine hairs, 
 two or three tail-bristles, which are thinly covered with 
 hair, and which, with the legs, are shorter than those of 
 the perfect insect. 
 
 The wings of the perfect insect, or imago, are 
 generally spotted and marked with brown, and have 
 a bright surface. In the male the tail bristles and 
 the fore-legs are larger than in the female, the 
 colours are brighter, and the eyes, which are larger, 
 are sometimes so divided as to form two pairs, of 
 which one pair is sometimes considerably elevated above 
 the other. There are three ocelli. Belated to the May- 
 fly is a small family, to which the Genus Perla belongs. 
 Most of these flies resemble the Ephemera in having 
 two tail-like bristles, but they differ greatly from them 
 in the proportion of their wings, the hind-wing in Perla 
 being generally much larger than the fore-wing,and folded 
 when at rest. Besides this the body is less elegant, being 
 
NEUROPTERA. 1 39 
 
 rather wide and flat, and of equal width throughout. 
 The males are much smaller than the females, and their 
 wings are small. The larvaB and pupae of Perla, like those 
 of the Ephemera, are aquatic and active ; unlike those, 
 they are carnivorous. The perfect fly is found near 
 palings, and is an inactive, uninteresting looking insect. 
 The " Stone-fly," " Willow-fly," and " Yellow Sally " 
 of the angler are species of the family. 
 
 The Laceflies (formerly called Hemerobius, but now 
 divided into several genera), are as conspicuous for their 
 beauty as the Dragonflies. The beauty is however of a 
 very different character. The softness of the parts, the 
 large size and exceedingly delicate texture of the wings, 
 and even the tenderness of the colouring, giving an ap- 
 pearance of great feebleness and fragility to the insect. 
 The one " touch " which lights up the whole is in the 
 glowing eyes, of a golden, sometimes ruby-like lustre, 
 from which is derived the name of one of the genera, 
 Chrysopa, or golden eyes. 
 
 The Lacefly (PI. V., fig. 3) has a cylindrical body, with 
 a small head placed on a neck, long antenna?, slender weak 
 legs, and large broad, lacelike wings, much exceeding the 
 body in length, and, when at rest, lying over it in the form 
 of a sloping roof. The Laceflies are rarely found upon 
 the wing except in the evening, and then may easily 
 be recognised by the cross-like form which they assume 
 in flight, the wings being extended wide and vibrating 
 rapidly, while the progress of the insect is extremely 
 slow and apparently laborious. The species vary in 
 size, the larger measure rather more than i in. in the 
 length of the body and about 2 in. from tip to tip of the 
 expanded wings. 
 
 The eggs have a singular appearance, being connected 
 
140 INSECTS. 
 
 with the leaf on which they are laid by a slender hair- 
 like footstalk about \ in. long. Six or eight of these are 
 placed near together. The larvae when hatched feed on 
 Aphides, and it is worthy of note that the Laceflies, like 
 the Aphis-eating Ladybird, have when handled or crushed 
 a strong and disagreeable bug-like smell. The larva of 
 the Laceflies also resembles those of some species of 
 Beetles mentioned above, in the curious habit of clothing 
 itself, using for this the emptied skins of its prey. 
 
 As in most of the roof-winged Neuroptera, the pupa 
 state is inactive, and, when about to change, the larva 
 spins itself a silken cocoon from a spinning apparatus 
 which, unlike that of most larvae, is placed (as in spiders) 
 at the end of the body. The usual position for the 
 spinners of larvaB is at the mouth. 
 
 The Laceflies are divided into five genera, containing 
 about fifty species. 
 
 Next to the Laceflies comes the only Neuropterous 
 insect which has but little pretension to elegance namely 
 Sialis Lutaria (PL V., fig. 4). This insect, resembling the 
 Laceflies in general configuration, is totally without their 
 delicacy of form or colouring. It is of a brown colour, with 
 brownish wings strongly veined ; the head is rather large 
 and depressed, and the shoulders are high, giving a very 
 humpbacked aspect to the fly, which is increased by the 
 wings forming a flat surface at the shoulders, from which 
 they shelve into the usual roof-like position. The Sialis 
 is dull and sluggish in its motions as well as in appear- 
 ance. The Iarva3 are aquatic and the pupae inactive. 
 
 The beautiful and common Scorpion-fly, Panorpa 
 communis (PL V., fig. 2), is easily recognised, whether by 
 its long horse-like face, its brown and white speckled, 
 net-like wings, which when at rest lie horizontally over 
 
NEUROPTERA. 141 
 
 the back, or by the formidable looking scorpion-like 
 pincers which terminate the body of the males. Beautiful 
 to the naked eye, it is still more beautiful when the magni- 
 fying of its parts displays the slender legs ringed with even 
 rows of delicate spines, armed with fringed and toothed 
 spurs, and terminated by a pair of curved and comb- 
 like claws, somewhat resembling those of certain species 
 of spiders. The head and all the other parts are beauti- 
 ful, and their transparency, under a very slight degree of 
 preparation, renders them peculiarly accessible to the 
 young microscope student. 
 
 Like the greater number of insects remarkable for 
 their beauty, the Panorpa is predaceous. One species 
 at least of the family is said to feed upon leaf- rolling 
 Caterpillars, a kind of prey for the capture of which the 
 toothed claws, and the long pointed head, terminated by 
 a pair of powerful jaws, are well adapted. 
 
 The larva and its habits are as yet unknown. The 
 pupa is inactive. The fly itself is found very commonly 
 upon hedges. 
 
 There are five English species of Panorpa known. 
 An allied genus, Boreus, contains a curious little insect 
 about the size of a large Aphis, and which, but for the 
 form of its long head, might hardly be recognised as a 
 relation of the Scorpion-fly. It has long legs, and the 
 female is quite wingless, while in the male the wings are 
 reduced to very unwinglike, little curved, leathery, brown 
 appendages. It does not appear to be common. 
 
 The Snake-fly, Raphidia ophiopsis (PL V., fig. 5), re- 
 presents another family ; and though not so commonly 
 observed as most of the insects already named, is as easily 
 recognised when found. About the medium size of a Lace- 
 fly, and with wings somewhat similar but less delicate, it 
 
142 INSECTS. 
 
 differs from this, and indeed from all others, in the singular 
 length of its neck, which, slender itself, and terminated 
 by a gradually widening and flattened head capable 
 of great freedom of motion, gives a most curious snake- 
 like appearance to the insect. The abdomen is small 
 and short, and the thorax, placed between this and the 
 head and neck, is nearly in the centre of the insect. This 
 snaky look, added to the possession in the females of a 
 long ovipositor, has an uninviting effect; and not long 
 ago the writer received a specimen with an urgent request 
 for an opinion as to the probable extent of the injury 
 which it might have inflicted on a baby on whose face it 
 was found. 
 
 The Snake-fly and its larva are insect eaters, the latter 
 living under the bark of trees. The pupa is inactive in 
 its earlier stage, but is said to be capable of walking 
 immediately before arriving at perfection. There are five 
 English species of Eaphidia. 
 
 The insects hitherto described are probably familiar to 
 the reader in their winged state only ; there remains a 
 family of which the larva and pupa, and in some cases 
 a wingless imago, are but too well known. The com- 
 monest species of these is a little whitish, semi-trans- 
 parent creature which we find abounding in books 
 (especially such as are rarely used), old papers, collec- 
 tions of plants, of insects, &c. &c. This little insect is 
 the Psocus pulsatoria, the latter name from a sound, 
 similar to that produced by the death-watch, which is 
 heard to proceed from its haunts. There seems to be 
 some doubt, however, as to the fact of this sound being 
 caused by the Psocus. The Book-louse, as the Psocus 
 is commonly called, has always been considered very 
 destructive to the books and collections in which it is 
 
NEUROPTERA. 143 
 
 found, and although it has found a defender in Dr. 
 Hagen, who (Ent. An. 1861) pronounces the insect, 
 according to his experience, to be nearly harmless, it is 
 difficult to relinquish the suspicion that to its presence 
 may he attributed the destruction of the paste and the 
 brittle condition of the binding in books long unused. 
 
 These insects are active in all stages, and the larvae 
 and pupae resemble each other, except in the progres- 
 sively developed wings. Some species, however, never 
 fully develope their wings, the Book-louse being one of 
 these. Others, haunting the crevices of tree-trunks, of 
 palings, walls, books, &c., acquire four large and mem- 
 branous wings, the expansion of which is sometimes 
 more than half an inch. The females of at least one 
 species are famished with a spinning apparatus in the 
 mouth, and cover their eggs with a delicate silken 
 web. 
 
 These insects are all small, the head large in propor- 
 tion and triangular, antennae long, the eyes somewhat 
 large prominent, simple eyes three or none. The body is 
 soft, and generally short and squat; the wings, when 
 fully developed, are large, and have fewer veins than 
 those of most Neuropterous insects. 
 
144 
 
 TABLE OF NEUROPTERA.* 
 
 SECTION L BIOMORPHOTICA. 
 
 Pupa active. 
 
 Tarsi with three to five j oints, 
 
 A. Larva and pupa aquatic. 
 
 * Wings at rest erect. 
 
 a. f. w. large; h. w. small ; Tarsi five-jointed. 
 Ex. Ephemera (Mayflies), Sfc. 
 
 b. Wings equal, tapering to base; tarsi three- 
 jointed. 
 
 Ex. Agrion, Caleptcryx, fyc. (small Dragonflies) . 
 ** Wings at rest extended horizontally. 
 
 a. Wings nearly equal; h. w. broad at base; 
 
 tarsi three-jointed. 
 
 Ex. Libellula, ^Eshna, Anax, cj-c. (Dragon/lies). 
 *** Wings at rest, lying fiat on the back. 
 
 a. Tarsi, three-jointed. 
 Ex. -Perla (Stonefly), Yellow Sally, Willow fly, fyc. 
 
 B. Larva and pupa terrestrial. 
 
 * Wings at rest, roof-like. 
 
 a. f. w. larger than h. w. ; tarsi three-jointed. 
 Ex. Psocus (Booklouse, $fc.)\ 
 
 * This table is borrowed, with some alterations, from a paper by Mr. 
 Newman in the Zoologist. Mr. Newman includes in the present Order 
 Phryganea, which, however, in accordance with Westwood's Classification, 
 is here represented as forming the next Order, Trichoptera. 
 t See page 127, note. 
 
TABLE OF NEUROPTERA. 145 
 
 SECTION II SUBNECROMORPHOTICA. 
 
 Pupa inactive. 
 
 Tarsi with five joints. 
 
 A. Larva aquatic. 
 
 * Wings at rest, roof-like. 
 
 a. Wings nearly equal in size, strongly veined. 
 Ex. Sialis. 
 
 B. Larva terrestrial. 
 
 * Wings at rest, roof-like. 
 
 a. Wings equal, delicately veined. 
 Ex. Hemerobius (Lacefty). 
 
 b. Wings nearly equal, neck very long. 
 Ex. Raphidia (Snake-fly). 
 
 -*# Wi n g S at rest, lying flat on the back ; equal. 
 
 a. Mouth prolonged into a snout. 
 Ex. Panorpa (Scorpion-fly). ^ 
 
 t See p. 127. 
 
 $ '^N 
 vi 
 
 v<r 
 
146 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ORDER VI. TRICHOPTERA. 
 
 No one, whether angler, botanist, or conchologist, can 
 have dabbled much in freshwater rivulets, in pools, or 
 even in ditches when constantly filled with water, with- 
 out observing certain curious little bundles of dead leaves 
 and sticks, sometimes exceeding an inch in length, and 
 often so apparently shapeless that it is only by the find- 
 ing of several, all resembling each other, that the atten- 
 tion becomes attracted to them. After a time one of 
 these apparently inert masses begins to move, and a 
 little shiny head and six small legs are seen protruding 
 from one end of the bundle, which is now perceived to 
 be a cylindrical case, irregular indeed externally, but 
 well formed and even within, and terminating at each 
 end in a round opening. 
 
 The hermit which inhabits this singular dwelling is 
 the Caddis-worm, well known to anglers, a larva of the 
 family Phryganea, of the order TRICHOPTERA. 
 
 The insects in this order have a strong resemblance to 
 certain moths, they have large downy wings which lie 
 close to the body when at rest, greatly expanding when 
 exposed. The antennae are long, the legs slender, and 
 the colours dull (see PI. V. fig. 6). A still stronger 
 point of resemblance is in the habit just mentioned of 
 the larva living in a portable case constructed by itself, 
 and carried like the felt tube of the Clothes-moth, or the 
 
TRICHOPTERA. 147 
 
 leafy or lichenous tent of other species of moths. The 
 aquatic habit of the Phryganea larva is alone, however, 
 sufficient to distinguish the insect in this state, while the 
 perfect fly may be distinguished by the hairy covering of 
 the wings, the wings of moths being covered with dust 
 or minute scales. 
 
 The other characters easy to observe, and which dis- 
 tinguish these orders, are the ocelli or simple eyes, 
 which in Lepidoptera are two or none, in Trichoptera 
 three or none, and the organs of the mouth which, though 
 smaller in the case-bearing moths than in other species, 
 are yet fully developed (according to the Lepidoptera 
 form as described in Chapter ii.), while the mouth of 
 the Caddis-fly is almost undeveloped, and is of a totally 
 different type*. 
 
 These insects vary in size, some being small, others 
 about an inch in length. They run with some activity, 
 but the flight of at least the larger species is uncouth 
 and apparently unenjoying. They frequently enter our 
 rooms at night attracted by the light, and make their 
 presence known by the rustling paper-like sound with 
 which they strike against the ceiling. 
 
 Altogether the flies themselves are among the least 
 interesting of insects, unless indeed they acquire interest 
 from the great difficulties which attend their investiga- 
 tion ; but as in some other cases the larvaB quite make up 
 any deficiencies of this kind in the perfect insect, and 
 excepting those of Hymenoptera the dwellings of 
 the little Caddis-worms are excelled by none in 
 beauty. 
 
 They vary much both in material and in the mode of 
 construction. Phryganea Grandis, a large and common 
 species, forms an uncouth enough looking case of large, 
 
 L 2 
 
148 INSECTS. 
 
 squarish pieces of leaves, arranged however with some 
 regularity in a spiral direction. This case has little 
 "beauty when old and brown, and of this the small tailor 
 or tentmaker within seems to be aware. The writer 
 once turned a handful of these creatures, with soddened 
 dingy-brown coats, looking as if made of old tea-leaves, 
 into a glass full of fresh -growing water-plants. It was 
 a most amusing sight to see the eagerness with which 
 the whole party instantly set to work to cut themselves 
 out new coats, which they constructed patch by patch, 
 cutting away a fragment of brown leaf, and sewing on a 
 piece of green leaf alternately, till they all turned out as 
 smart as a party of Kobin Hood's merry men. Their 
 appearance during the process, however, was anything but 
 handsome. 
 
 Others make their cases of pieces of stick placed 
 either across, sticking out on all sides, or cut into equal 
 lengths, and lying parallel with each other and with the 
 body of the larva, arranged in an exquisite spiral form. 
 Some build up their cases of grains of sand, forming a 
 thin, smooth, shell-like tube, slightly curved and tapering. 
 Others, and these are amongst the most beautiful, cover 
 themselves with small fresh-water shells, and it is really 
 hard to believe that it is unwittingly that they choose 
 the most beautiful forms of these. These cases are all 
 held together, and generally lined with silken threads 
 spun by the Iarva3. Some are at liberty in the water, 
 others are attached to plants, &c., and do not move. 
 
 A iady has recently made some amusing experiments 
 with the Caddis larvae. Inducing them to leave their 
 cases by tickling the end of the body (where certain 
 hooks enable the insect to retain their hold of the case) ; 
 she provided them with fragments of glass, gold beads, 
 
TBICHOPTERA. 149 
 
 and other articles, in which the little creatures soon 
 appeared fully clothed, and doubtless rejoicing in their 
 jewelled bravery. 
 
 When about to change into the pupa, the larva sews up 
 the mouth of the case and undergoes the change within 
 it The pupa, when ready to emerge, acquires so much 
 activity as to gnaw its way out, and rising to the 
 surface it floats to some reed or blade of grass, which it 
 then ascends, and undergoes its final change. The larvae 
 feed on other living insects and on vegetable matter. 
 
 The female has been seen to go a considerable depth 
 under water to deposit her eggs. 
 
 There are about two hundred species known in 
 England. 
 
 The following table is taken from Westwood's 
 classification. 
 
150 
 
 TABLE OF TKICHOPTERA. 
 
 (Family Phryganeidse.) 
 
 A. Antenna? threadlike or pectinated 
 
 Hind wings not folded. 
 
 Sub-fam. : Hydroptilides* 
 
 B. Antennae bristle-like. 
 
 * Hind wings not folded, 
 
 Sub-fam. : Psychomides.] 
 
 ** Hind wings folded. 
 
 a. without transverse nerves. 
 
 1 . max. palpi dilated in $ . 
 Sub-fam. : Sericostomides.^ 
 
 2. max. palpi, alike in $ and 
 Sub-fam. : Ryacophilides^ (terminal joint ovoid). 
 
 Sub-fam. : Hydropsychides J (terminal joint fili- 
 form, very long). 
 
 b. with transverse veins : terminal joint of max. 
 
 palpi ovoid. 
 
 * Larvae enclosed in a flattened, membranous moveable case, with 
 slit-like opening. 
 
 f Larva enclosed in moveable cases with a circular opening. 
 J Larvae enclosed in cases fixed to stones. 
 
TABLE OF TRICHOPTERA. 151 
 
 1. max. palpi very long; very hairy; 
 five- jointed in $ and 
 
 Sub-fam. : Leptocerides* 
 
 2. max. palpi moderate; slightly hairy; 
 four-jointed in $ . 
 
 Sub-fam. : Phryganeides* 
 
 * Larvae enclosed in moveable cases with a circular opening. 
 
152 
 
 OUT OF THE STRONG CAME FORTH THE SWEET. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ORDER VII. HYMENOPTERA. 
 
 THE insects already described have exhibited great 
 variety in their structure, habits, and instincts ; yet, 
 perhaps, all the orders together do not afford more 
 matter for interesting examination than the single order 
 now to be entered upon. 
 
 Hymenoptera contains the greater part of those in- 
 sects which are distinguished by the beautiful modifi- 
 cations of structure which their bodies present ; by their 
 social and political institutions; by their domestic vir- 
 tues, and by their ingenuity as artisans. In other words, 
 of those insects which exhibit the highest development 
 of instinct and of the reasoning powers. 
 
HYMEXOPTERA. 153 
 
 The characters of Hymenoptera are as follows : 
 
 The wings are four in number, clear, membranous, 
 and furnished with a few branching veins, but which are 
 sometimes altogether wanting in the smaller species. 
 On the front margin of the fore-wing is a thickened 
 spot or stigma, on its inner margin is a fold for the 
 reception of a row of hooks with which the hind-wings 
 are furnished on their front margin, and which, during 
 flight, unite the fore and hind-wings (see fig. 23, p. 49 ; 
 fig. 24, p. 50). 
 
 The veining of the wings in this, as in other orders, 
 is valuable as a help to determining genera, and a figure 
 (taken from Mr. Smith's " Catalogue of British Hyme- 
 noptera in the British Museum "} will be given in the 
 table of Hymenoptera following Chapter xix. The 
 limits of this work, however, render it impossible even 
 to name more than a few genera, and the characters of 
 the wings can be but very scantily used. 
 
 The mouth has been described in the second chapter. 
 The abdomen of the females is furnished with a sawing 
 or boring, or piercing ovipositor, or with a venomous 
 sting. 
 
 This order contains the Bees, Wasps, Ants, Sawflies, 
 Gallflies, and other well-known insects. 
 
 In most cases (as in the Bees, Ants, &c.) the larvae of 
 the Hymenoptera are worm-like grubs, without feet, and 
 live, for the most part, in cells of some kind, formed 
 by the parent for their reception. 
 
 These little prisoners are necessarily dependent on 
 the adults for their food, and accordingly we find 
 this provided for them in one way or another. The 
 Solitary Wasps make provision beforehand, by storing 
 up coils of half-killed caterpillars in the clay-built tubes 
 
154 INSECTS. 
 
 which shelter their young. The Social Bees, Wasps, 
 and Ants, day by day, or rather hour by hour, supply 
 their young with food ; while, in the case of the Gall- 
 flies, it is produced by a mode of oviposition which 
 secures for the young both a home and a supply of food, 
 by an arrangement as cosy as that of a little mouse in 
 a big cheese. 
 
 The Iarva3 of one family, the Sawflies, differ greatly 
 from all others in the order. They have both the true 
 and the false legs which are found in the caterpillars of 
 Moths and Butterflies, and, provided with the means of 
 locomotion, seek from leaf to leaf and from branch to 
 branch that nourishment which is rendered scarce only 
 by their own devastations. 
 
 The pupa in this order is inactive, and resembles that 
 of the Beetles, the limbs being all sheathed separately 
 (see figs. 27, 28, p. 57), and not as in the chrysalis of the 
 Moth or Butterfly, inclosed in one general or undivided 
 envelope. 
 
 The Order is divided into two Sections, TEREBRANTIA, 
 and ACULEATA. 
 
 Section 1. TEREBRANTIA (from Terebra, an auger or 
 piercer), consists of insects the females of which are 
 furnished with an ovipositor in the form of a saw, an 
 auger, or other boring instrument. These are the Saw- 
 flies, Woodborers, Gallflies, and Ichneumons. 
 
 Section 2. ACULEATA (from aculeus, a sting or prickle), 
 consists of insects of which the females and the neuters 
 (i.e., the imperfect females) are furnished with a sting. 
 
 These are the Ants, Sandwasps, Wasps, and Bees. 
 
155 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 
 
 THE first section of Hymenoptera, TEREBRANTIA, is 
 divided into two subsections, named from the food of 
 the larvae, *PHTTOPHAGA (<vrov, phyton, a plant; tyayw, 
 phago, to eat), and ENTOMOPHAGA (SVTOJUOC, entomos, an 
 insect). PHTTOPHAGA consists of the Sawflies and the 
 Woodborers ; ENTOMOPHAGA contains the gall-making 
 insects, f the Ichneumons (parasites which lay their eggs 
 in the bodies of other living insects), and the Ruby-tails. 
 
 The insects belonging to these two subsections can at 
 once be distinguished from each other by their waists 
 being large or small. That is to say, while in the Saw- 
 flies and Woodborers (PHYTOPPAGA) the abdomen is 
 attached to the thorax by its whole width (see PL VI., 
 figs. 1, 2), in the Ichneumons, Gallflies, &c. (see PL I., 
 figs. 3 to 6), the thorax and the abdomen are connected 
 by a small point of attachment, or sometimes by a longer 
 or shorter stalk. 
 
 It may be also observed here that no large-waisted 
 
 * The perfect insects in Terebrantia feed chiefly or entirely on vegetable 
 matter, as honey, pollen, juice of fruit, &c. In some cases they take little 
 or no food. 
 
 t The actually gall-making insects are not entomophagous, the larvae 
 feeding on the vegetable matter of the gall, but the gall-making species 
 are so closely connected with parasitic species that it has been found in- 
 convenient or impossible to separate them. They are therefore included 
 under the head Entomophaga. 
 
J 56 INSECTS. 
 
 insects, resembling the Borers and Sawflies, are found in 
 ACULEATA, the second great section of Hymenoptera. 
 
 Subsection I. PHTTOPHAGA. The Phytophaga are 
 divided into the Sawflies, and the Borers, otherwise called 
 Leaf-eaters and Wood-eaters. These are distinguished 
 from each other by the ovipositor, which in the Sawflies 
 is in the form of a pair of fine saws, while in the Wood- 
 borers it is a sort of auger. They are also to be easily 
 Fig. 48. distinguished by the form of the 
 
 lip (labium), which is trifid in 
 the Sawflies, simple in the 
 Wood-borers. The tibia of the 
 fore-leg in the Sawflies has two 
 spurs, in the Wood-borers one. 
 These insects vary also in the 
 form and proportion of the 
 
 Labium of Sawfly Trichiosoma. ,, 
 
 thorax. 
 
 Division I. THE SAWFLIES. The Sawfly, or Ten- 
 thredo* (Pl.VL, fig. 1) is amongst the most easily recog- 
 nised of insects, its form and general appearance readily 
 distinguishing it from all other insects except its allies 
 the Woodborers. From these, as has been said above, it 
 may at once be known by the two spurs on the fore leg, 
 a character the more useful as it does not entail the 
 necessity of dissection, and is available in either sex. 
 
 The body of the Sawfly is of nearly equal width 
 throughout, the head usually, but not always, rather 
 narrower than the thorax. The thorax and abdomen 
 are nearly equal in width, and the sides of the abdomen 
 
 * The name Tenthredo is used because it is familiar as having formerly 
 been that of nearly the whole family. The name is now restricted to on 
 typical genus of the Tenthredinidse. 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 157 
 
 in many instances nearly parallel, except towards the 
 end, which is always pointed. 
 
 The antennas vary considerably, not only in the genera, 
 but even in the sexes. They are sometimes club-shaped 
 (Cimbex), sometimes long and thread-like (Tenthredo) 
 with many joints of nearly equal length ; whilst sometimes 
 (Hylotoma), they consist of but three joints, two very 
 short, and the third forming nearly the whole of the 
 antennae. The number of joints varies from 3 to 30. The 
 antennaB of the males are sometimes exceedingly beautiful 
 in form. In one species it is feathered and resembles that 
 of the Silkworm-moth. In another, the last joint (which 
 forms nearly the whole length of the antennae) is forked 
 from its base, giving the insect the appearance of a pair 
 of double straight horns. The wings are large, and when 
 in repose lie horizontally on the back, overlapping each 
 
 Fig. 49. 
 
 Leg of Sawfly (Trichiosoma). 
 
 other ; the legs are of moderate length, or rather long, 
 and have a series of curious sucker-like appendages 
 attached to the tarsus. In some, if not all the species, 
 the claws are cleft or forked. 
 
 In colour and markings the species vary much. 
 Tenthredo viridis, scalaris, and punctatus are of a beau- 
 
158 INSECTS. 
 
 tiful green, the two latter with delicate black markings ; 
 Athalia rosce has the head and thorax black, the abdomen 
 yellow, whilst Dosytheus eglantinus is alternately black 
 and orange. The ground colour most common is black, 
 with yellow wasp-like rings (as many of the Allantus, 
 and Tenthredo zonata fig. 1, plate VI.), or broader bands 
 of red, as T. Scutellatus, which has also pale yellow spots 
 on the thorax. The legs and antennae are sometimes 
 beautifully variegated with red or yellow and black. 
 The male and female sometimes vary in colour, as in T. 
 lividus, of which the female is black, with one pale spot 
 on each side of the base of the abdomen, and a white 
 band towards the end of the antennae ; the male black and 
 red, with red antennas. 
 
 The Sawflies are a large family, the larvae of which are 
 only too well known both by gardeners and by farmers. 
 The armies of " caterpillars " which in a few weeks or even 
 days, will strip every leaf from a plantation of gooseberry 
 bushes, or rather, which will strip the green soft part 
 from every leaf, leaving the leaf-ribs standing bare on 
 their stalks, are the larvae of a Sawfly, Nematus grossularice. 
 
 The " turnip-fly,"* Athalia spinarum, an insect with 
 black and yellow thorax, black tipped, yellow abdomen, 
 black head and antennae, and yellow legs, is another of 
 the Tenthredo family, and its devastations are sometimes 
 so great that, as is mentioned by Mr. Westwood, an 
 instance has been known in which many thousand acres 
 of land were obliged to be ploughed up. A very vivid 
 picture of the appearance of a swarm of this species in 
 the winged state is given in a note which Mr. F. Smith, 
 
 * The name " Turnip-fly" is perhaps more commonly applied to a little 
 hopping Beetle (Hallica nemorum), which is very destructive to the 
 turnips. 
 
HYMEXOPTERA. TEREBRANTTA. 159 
 
 of the British Museum, has kindly sent to the writer, 
 with permission to use it in these pages. 
 
 " Flights of Insects observed on the Sand-hills near 
 Deal. There is, perhaps, no locality with which I am 
 acquainted, more productive of Entomological pheno- 
 mena than the range of Sand-hills that lie between Deal 
 and Sandwich. It is also one of the richest in the 
 number of species of Ooleoptera as well as of Hymen- 
 optera. 
 
 " On these hills towards the end of Autumn, clouds of 
 winged ants may be seen, clouds such as I have never 
 witnessed elsewhere. Such, on one occasion, was the 
 case, about the middle of September last, when myriads 
 of Formicida and Myrmecida filled the air. People were 
 fairly driven off the hills by the multitudinous host. 
 The wind on this occasion was little more than an occa- 
 sional gentle breath from the south. 
 
 " On the turning of the tide a line of Ants was left along 
 the shore at high water mark, which I traced to the 
 extent of two miles. I have no doubt it extended all the 
 way to Shellness, which lies full four miles from Deal. 
 On that morning millions of Ants must have perished on 
 the downs. Occasional assemblages of Cocciuellida in 
 multitudinous hosts are to be seen along the shore ; 
 similar numbers of Curculionedae also occur, the species 
 consisting principally of Silona lineata, S. tibialis, S. 
 hispidula, with a liberal sprinkling of Hypera variabilis, 
 &c. Remarkable as all the above mentioned assemblages 
 certainly are, all that I have previously witnessed was 
 eclipsed one morning towards the end of August last, by 
 the sudden appearance of clouds of the Common Turnip 
 fly, Athalia spinarum. I had walked down to the Sand- 
 hills, for the purpose of bathing, about 10 o'clock in the 
 
160 INSECTS. 
 
 morning. On approaching the hills, I was first struck 
 by observing the asphalt pathway that runs along the top 
 of the bank of shingle, being thickly strewn with speci- 
 mens of Athalia, and on nearing the hills I observed 
 that they were partially obscured by a dense cloud which, 
 shifting in the sunlight, occasionally assumed a bright 
 orange tint, then quickly became of a bright glittering 
 silvery hue, as the sun gleamed upon the shining wings 
 of the hosts of Athalia. I pursued my way penetrating 
 into the cloud of insects which, when observed from a 
 position in which I faced the sun, assumed a tint ap- 
 proaching vermilion red. The Insect-clouds were borne 
 seaward by a gentle south land breeze. I plunged into 
 the water, and hoped by swimming from the shore to 
 free myself from their annoyance, but finding that at a 
 distance of not less than three hundred yards the surface 
 of the sea was thickly covered with them, and as far as 
 I could see that they floated in equal numbers, I hastened 
 to shore and as quickly as I could made my way to the 
 west of the hills, where I found myself freed from their 
 annoyance. Every blade of grass, every rush and twig, 
 was thickly studded with the flies and was bending with 
 their accumulated numbers. The majority of the in- 
 sects I observed were females. I regret that 1 did not 
 at the time examine the insects more minutely in order 
 to ascertain whether the flies had deposited their eggs 
 previous to their being borne on the wind to perish in 
 the sea." 
 
 The ravages of these insects are not confined ,to the 
 plants already mentioned; others of the cabbage tribe, 
 with rose trees, willows, apple, pear, and cherry trees, 
 the white thorn, the alder, beech, birch, pine, elm, and 
 aspen, with others both in England and abroad, are in- 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 
 
 ]61 SIT7 
 
 fested by species of the Sawfly, and the larvae, though 
 most commonly feeding on the leaves or stems of plants, 
 as, for example, on the stalks of wheat, have been found 
 inside young fruits, as by Reaumur in pears and by Mr. 
 Westwood in apples. 
 
 And now, what do these little creatures contribute 
 towards the justification of the boast with which this 
 chapter commences ? They are distinguished by no 
 remarkable display of instinct, nor, at least in England,* 
 by much variety of habit, and the architecture of such 
 species as construct any kind of nest at all is of a very 
 simple character. It is then to their structure that we 
 turn in our search for some matter of especial interest. 
 
 Here we find, in the instrument from which the Saw- 
 fly derives its name, one of the most beautiful of all the 
 contrivances that have been observed for the placing of 
 the eggs of insects an 
 instrument from which (if 
 the chronology of Arts 
 and Sciences would allow 
 us to believe that optics 
 had ever been in advance 
 
 of mechanics.) we might 
 
 Single Blade of Saw of Cimbex. 
 suppose that man had 
 
 borrowed not the idea only, but the perfect pattern of 
 the Saw. 
 
 * There is in the " Zoologist" (609) a curious account, by John Curtis, 
 Esq., of the proceedings of the gregarious larvae of a Tenthredo iu Brazil, 
 and which scarcely yields in interest to the well-known histories of the 
 concerted architectural labours of Bees, Ants, &c. There is one remark- 
 able variation, however, in this case namely, that while the chambered 
 palaces of the Bees, Wasps, and Ants are nurseries built by the perfect 
 insect for the rearing of the young, the edifice of the Tenthredo is less a 
 palace than a tomb, being built by the lorvce for their reception duriug the 
 sleep which precedes the last metamorphosis. 
 
 M 
 
162 INSECTS. 
 
 If so charming a writer as Mr. Kirby (Spence ?) could 
 do no better than borrow a description of this wonderful 
 little tool, it is hoped that a humbler writer may well be 
 forgiven for following in his steps, and for presenting to 
 the reader the account of Professor Peek, quoted in the 
 "Introduction to Entomology :" "This instrument is 
 a very curious object ; in order to describe it, it will be 
 proper to compare it with the tenon saw used by cabinet 
 makers, which being made of a very thin plate of steel, 
 is fitted with a back to prevent its bending. The back 
 is a piece of iron, iu which a narrow and deep groove is 
 cut to receive the plate, which is fixed. The saw of the 
 Tenthredo is also furnished with a back, but the groove 
 is in the plate, and receives a prominent ridge of the 
 back which is not fixed, but permits the saw to slide for- 
 ward or backward as it is thrown out or retracted. The 
 saw of artificers is single, but that of the Tenthredo is 
 double, and consists of two distinct saws with their backs. 
 The insect, in using them, first throws out one, and 
 while it is returning pushes forward the other; and this 
 alternate motion is continued till the incision is effected, 
 when the two saws, receding from each other, conduct 
 the egg between them into its place. In the artificial 
 saw the teeth are alternately bent towards the sides, or 
 out of the right line, in order that the fissure or skerf 
 may be made sufficiently wide for the blade to move 
 easily. To answer this purpose in some measure, in that 
 of the Tenthredo the teeth are a little twisted, so as to 
 stand obliquely with respect to the right line, and their 
 point of course projects a little beyond the place of the 
 blade without being laterally bent, and all those in each 
 blade thus project a little outwards. But the skerf is 
 more effectually made and a free range procured for the 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 163 
 
 saws, by small teeth placed on the outer side of each, so 
 that while their vertical effect is that of a saw, their 
 lateral effect is that of a rasp. In the artificial saw the 
 teeth all point outward (towards the end) and are simple, 
 but in the saw of the Tenthredo they point inward or 
 towards the handle, and their outer edge is beset with 
 smaller teeth which point outward (towards the end) ." 
 
 When the little Sawfly has completed her incision 
 (which, according to the species, is made in various parts 
 of plants, in the stem, in the ribs of the underside of the 
 leaf, or in the edge of the leaf), the egg is passed down, 
 as has just been said, between the saws into the place 
 thus prepared for it. Now it is well known that all 
 wounds caused by a rough or blunt tool are more difficult 
 to heal than those which are " clean cut." This holds 
 good in the vegetable as in the animal subject, and it is 
 here probably that the final cause of the complicated 
 structure of this beautiful little instrument may be sought. 
 It is not desirable that the wound should heal. The 
 fissure in which the egg is inserted is not a mere resting 
 place, but is designed to afford nourishment to the eggs, 
 which, absorbing the juices of the plant, actually grow 
 between the time of their exclusion and their hatching.* 
 A supply of nourishment is thus produced and maintained 
 by the stoppage of circulation consequent on the opening 
 of this wound, which, in some cases, is further irritated 
 by the introduction, at the time of oviposition, of a drop 
 of poisonous fluid. In some cases this results in the 
 formation of an excrescence similar to that produced by 
 the Gallflies, within which the egg lives, grows, and is 
 
 * This phenomenon is not confined to the eggs of the Tenthredinid, it 
 has been observed in those of the Ant ; nor even to those of insects, as it is 
 the case with fishes. 
 
 M2 
 
16 4 INSECTS. 
 
 hatched. The red and green swellings so common on 
 the leaves of various willows, and woody excrescences 
 found upon the stems, are the production of species of 
 the Tenthredinidse. 
 
 It has been said above (p. 154} that while the larvae 
 of the rest of this order are footless grubs, incapable of 
 seeking their own food, or in any way providing for 
 their own wants, the larvae of the Tenthredo family are 
 active, and are left to " make their own living." In form 
 and general appearance they closely resemble the cater- 
 pillars of moths. Like them, they have the six true 
 legs (i.e., legs which answer to those in the perfect 
 insect), and, in most eases, the " false legs." These 
 false legs differ from those of the moths, in being with- 
 out the circle of hooks with which the false legs of the 
 Lepidoptera are furnished. The false legs of the 
 Tenthredo caterpillar differ in number also from those 
 of the Lepidoptera, which never have more than three 
 pairs of true legs on the thorax, four pairs on the- 
 abdomen, and one pair at the tail. The Tenthredo ha& 
 three pairs of true legs, five, six, or seven pairs of 
 abdominal legs, and one pair at the tail, except in two- 
 genera, where the false legs are altogether wanting. The 
 examination, therefore, of the legs will at once enable 
 the student to distinguish between the Hyinenopterous- 
 and the Lepidopterous caterpillar. 
 
 The hirvee are chiefly green, sometimes yellow, with 
 spots and tubercles, and have many of the habits of 
 true caterpillars, for instance, of coiling themselves up, 
 feigning death when alarmed, throwing out a silken 
 rope by which to descend from one branch to another, 
 &c. Some roll up the leaves of trees, and fastening 
 them in that position by means of silken threads, thus 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 165 
 
 construct a home closely resembling that of many cater- 
 pillars. 
 
 Others again, like the Clothes-moth and other case- 
 bearing caterpillars, form a little spiral case in which 
 they move and eat as safely as a snail in his shell. These 
 cases strongly resemble some made by the larvae of some 
 Caddis-worms. 
 
 These solitary cells are not the only dwellings formed 
 by Tenthredo larvae ; some of the social species con- 
 struct large silken tents, and it is not an uncommon 
 thing to see a whole bush, or even a large portion of a 
 hedge, almost covered with these silken webs, every twig 
 denuded of its leaves and bound to those around it by 
 innumerable little cables. 
 
 Some species have a curious property (which, however, 
 is not confined to these insects) of emitting a fluid 
 either from the mouth or from openings in the sides, 
 which in some cases has an extremely disagreeable 
 odour. 
 
 The larva of one species, Selandria cerasi, common 
 on our pear, plum, and cherry trees, appears to be always 
 enveloped in a dark slimy secretion, which so covers the 
 insect as entirely to conceal it ; in the words of Mr. 
 Westwood " The insect has not the least appearance 
 of animation, and looks more like a small portion of 
 slime." 
 
 The change of the Tenthredo usually takes place in a 
 silk-lined earthen cell or cocoon in the ground ; some, 
 however, burrow into the pith of the stem of plants, 
 while others construct a hard cocoon upon the twigs of 
 trees. A large oblong or long ovoid cocoon of this 
 kind is made by Trichiosoma lucorum, and is not un- 
 common on the thorn. When enclosed in the cocoon, 
 
1 66 INSECTS. 
 
 the larvae of some Sawflies remain for a considerable 
 time before changing into pupee. 
 
 The Sawfly is not without a place amongst the insects 
 remarkable for maternal affection. It is stated that a 
 Sawfly found in Van Diemen's Land sits on the leaf on 
 which her eggs are placed until they are hatched, after 
 which, like the Earwig, and the Plant-bug of the 
 birch-tree, described by Dr. Geer, she guards them as a 
 hen guards her young, covering them with her body and 
 protecting them from all assailants. This exhibition of 
 maternal feeling appears more remarkable in the Sawfly 
 than in the other insects mentioned, on account of the 
 far greater disparity of constitution, and almost, one 
 might say, of nature, between the mother and the young. 
 Both in the Plant-bug and the Earwig there is a great 
 resemblance in habit, mode of feeding, and external form 
 between the larva and the perfect insect, whereas in the 
 Sawfly it is difficult to imagine any sympathy existing 
 between the winged fly and the sluggish, crawling grub. 
 We should smile at the idea of a white butterfly 
 covering and tending a family of fat, green caterpillars ; 
 yet here is a phenomenon presented to us of a precisely 
 similar nature. 
 
 The British species of the Tenthredo family number 
 about three hundred. 
 
 Division IL THE BORERS. The Wood-borers (called 
 Sirex by Linnaeus, which name, like Tenthredo, is now 
 applied to only a single genus of the family), very nearly 
 resemble the Sawflies in general form and appearance ; a 
 variation in the form of the thorax, and the solitary 
 spur on the fore-leg being the most conspicuous external 
 difference. The tongue, as has been said (p. 156), differs 
 from that of the Sawflies in being simple or undivided, 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 167 
 
 while in the ovipositor we find the chief character which 
 divides the present from the former family. The antennae 
 are thread-like, or very slender and bristle-like. They 
 possess from ten to twenty-five joints, and the number of 
 joints sometimes varies in the sexes. 
 
 The difference between the ovipositor of the Sawfly 
 and that of the Woodborer presents an instance of the 
 modification of structure to serve an especial end. It 
 is impossible to examine this instrument in the two in- 
 sects without perceiving that correspondence between 
 them which would be looked for in animals so nearly 
 connected, but the appearance of the two instruments is 
 widely different, that of the Sawfly consisting chiefly of 
 two thin and gracefully curved serrated blades, while 
 that of the Borer is apparently a single strong boring 
 implement. This auger, however, is found upon micro- 
 scopic examination to be a kind of sheath, embracing, 
 though not entirely enclosing two stiff serrated bristles 
 which play, as it were, within the borer, and can be 
 partially protruded. These latter are in fact the parts 
 corresponding with the blades of the saws in the Sawfly, 
 while their cylindrical case represents the backs of the 
 saws in that insect. These backs, which in one case 
 strengthen and support two independent saws, in the 
 other, soldered together, form the principal part of the 
 boring instrument. 
 
 The purpose of the variation in the ovipositor requires 
 no explanation when the habit of the Woodborer is 
 known. Not as with the Sawfly, in tender leaves, frnit, 
 or the soft stems of plants, are the eggs of the Sirex to be 
 deposited, but in the substance of sound and solid wood. 
 Indeed, an account is given in the "Zoologist" (5829), 
 taken from some French papers, in which numbers of 
 
168 INSECTS. 
 
 bullets are said to have been found with circular holes 
 drilled by the Sirex juvencus. Whether, however, 
 these were bored by the ovipositor of the female, or were 
 eaten out by the small strong jaws of the larva, is not 
 stated ; nor is any suggestion offered as to the purpose 
 to be served in either case. 
 
 The Fir is especially subject to the attacks of the 
 Woodborer, but it is to be found upon several other trees, 
 as the Willow and the Hornbeam. 
 
 One large species, the Sirex Gigas (see PL VI. fig. 2) 
 is well known in England, rather owing to its conspi- 
 cuous size than to the frequency of its occurrence. It 
 can hardly be called a British species, being probably 
 imported in the larva or pupa state in foreign timber, 
 and, so far as is known, not multiplying here. 
 
 The larva is an eyeless grub, the legs are only six in 
 number, the insect being destitute of the " false " legs 
 found in Tenthredo, and the body ends in a horny 
 prickle. 
 
 The final transformation is said to take place within 
 the wood excavated by the larva, after the formation, 
 by the larva, of a " silken cocoon mixed with chips and 
 excrement" 
 
 Only about ten species of Woodborers are known in 
 England. 
 
169 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 
 
 Subsection II. ENTOMOPHAGA. We now come to 
 the second subsection of the Terebrant Hymenoptera 
 Entomophaga. This consists of the Gallflies, Ichneu- 
 mons, and Ruby-tails. All the insects of this subsection 
 (with the exception of some of the Gallfly family) are 
 parasitic. And here let it be observed that the Hymenop- 
 terous " Parasites " are by no means parasitic in the 
 same sense in all cases. Some deposit their eggs in 
 the bodies of other insects, most commonly when these 
 are in the larva state. Here the eggs are hatched, and 
 here the young prey upon the living substance of the 
 unfortunate victim which feeds but to nourish " the 
 wolf "inside, living only till its unwelcome guests are 
 ready for their change ; the caterpillar then either 
 shrivels and dies or changes into a chrysalis, whence 
 issues, not a moth or butterfly, but the host of little 
 creatures which have been nourished on its embryo. 
 
 Another kind of Parasite merely deposits its eggs in 
 the nests of other insects, where the larvae feed on the 
 provisions stored up for the young of the rightful 
 owners of the nest There are several genera of bees 
 which are parasitic in this sense. 
 
 The present subsection, Entomophaga, presents in- 
 stances of both these kinds of parasitism : it contains 
 two divisions 
 
170 INSECTS. 
 
 I. SPICULIFERA, or dart-bearers, consisting of the 
 Cynips family or Gallflies, and of the Evania, Ichneumon, 
 Chalcis, Proctotrupes families ; parasitic on living insects. 
 
 II. TUBULIFERA (tube-bearers), consisting of the 
 Ruby-tails, which are supposed to be parasitic in the 
 nests of other Hymenopterous insects. 
 
 The SPICULIFERA, which are sometimes called Piercers, 
 in contradistinction to the sawing and boring insects of 
 the former subsection, like them derive their name from 
 the nature of their ovipositor, a needle-like organ con- 
 sisting of a horny sheath, guarded by a pair of valves and 
 enclosing two slender and delicate serrated bristles. 
 
 The insects of this division differ widely in appear- 
 ance from those of the two former, and the difference is 
 that which we so frequently observe between carnivo- 
 rous and herbivorous quadrupeds. The greyhound and 
 the sheep the tiger and the cow, do not present a 
 greater contrast than we find between the substantial, 
 straight-sided, oblong bodied Sawfly, and the light, 
 almost fantastically formed little parasite Evania, or 
 Chalcis. 
 
 It may be objected that this comparison is fanciful, 
 and points to a relation which does not exist, because 
 the larvee, between which the diversity of food is found, 
 are in both 'cases comparatively inactive grubs, while 
 the perfect insects, which present the diversity of form, 
 are almost all vegetarians. The answer to this is, that 
 although one cause of the heavy form of the ox as com- 
 pared with the tiger is that a larger bulk of vegetable 
 than of animal food is necessary for nutrition, and there- 
 fore more room is required for its reception, this is 
 not all. Carnivorous animals are mostly predaceous, and 
 thus require an agility in motion and lightness of form 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. ] 71 
 
 unnecessary to the vegetarian. Now in the case before 
 us this applies only to the perfect insects, which, not- 
 withstanding that their victims are usually only larvae, 
 and sometimes stationary and even enclosed larvae (as 
 the larvae in galls), are yet often put to a shift either to 
 " catch their hare," or, having caught him, to seize the 
 lucky moment for the achievement of the one work of 
 their life. In fact, the very objection only serves to 
 point out the economy more remarkably; this, which we 
 may call the predaceous character of form, being given 
 not to the individual which is to enjoy the advantage, 
 but to that which is to secure it for him, the plan being 
 thus carried out into two generations. That this is not 
 an entirely fanciful idea may be presumed from the same 
 circumstance occurring in the next section also. A 
 very slight glance at the genera of bees (in the second 
 section) will show that the lightest forms are to be found 
 amongst those which are parasitic; whilst in the present 
 division some of the heaviest forms in the Cynips family 
 are to be found amongst the gall-makers insects with 
 vegetarian larvae. 
 
 In these insects the head is small or of moderate 
 size. The thorax is usually large in proportion to the 
 abdomen, which, however, is often of great length. The 
 abdomen varies greatly ; in all it is attached to the 
 thorax by a small point, which is sometimes drawn out 
 into a long stalk, though in a few species (of Chalcis) 
 some care is, in observing, required to avoid the mistake 
 of supposing the abdomen to be attached as in the Saw- 
 flies. In one species it is most disproportionally small, 
 whilst in others it is very long, compressed, and 
 largest at the end ; in some it is cylindrical, in others 
 ovate or conical. 
 
172 INSECTS. 
 
 The legs are long in most of the parasitic families, 
 less so in the Gallflies ; many are of remarkable forms. 
 
 The wings vary some species being altogether with- 
 out wing-nerves, while in others these are well developed. 
 
 The Spiculifera approach more nearly than the Saw- 
 flies and Borers, to the predatory tribes contained in the 
 next section, Aculeata ; but, as has already been said, 
 the legs afford a certain test as to which of these sections 
 a species belongs to, the trochanter (p. 35) in all the 
 Terebrantia consisting of two joints, while in the Acu- 
 leata it consists but of one. The antennae, the wings, 
 and the size of the insects also afford means of distin- 
 guishing them. 
 
 Thus in the Aculeata the antennae are almost con- 
 stantly twelve-jointed in the female, thirteen in the male ; 
 both fore and hind-wings are always veined. The insects 
 are mostly of moderate or large size, the smallest seldom 
 being less than J or J of an inch. 
 
 In the Spiculifera the number of joints in the antennae 
 is as follows. In the females of the Cynips and Evania 
 families from thirteen to fourteen or fifteen ; in the 
 Ichneumon family it is generally above sixteen. These 
 therefore may be distinguished by the antennae. In the 
 Chalcis family and the Proctotrupidee the antennas vary 
 from six to sixteen joints, but in these the wings afford 
 a sufficient distinction, the forewings being nearly or 
 quite veinless, and the hind-wings entirely without veins. 
 The extremely minute size of these little creatures is 
 also in most instances sufficient to separate them from 
 the Aculeata, only the giants attaining to the length of a 
 quarter of an inch. 
 
 The Gallflies are the first family in this division. 
 Known perhaps in their own little persons to naturalists 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 173 
 
 alone, their works are familiar to all. The large 
 oak-apple, so carefully sought for by children, to be 
 covered with leaf-gold in loyal preparation for " King 
 Charles's Day," is universally known. The little clear, 
 globular red and green gall, hanging on its long strings 
 from the catkins of the oak, and tempting to a parody 
 of the old North country ballad 
 
 " far hae I ridden, 
 
 And meikle bae I seen, 
 But currants upon oak trees 
 Afore I ne'er saw nane ;"* 
 
 the " Artichoke gall," on the same tree ; the round 
 smooth gall so common now, though unknown in 
 England forty years ago ; all these, and many more, are 
 among the common sights seen in every country walk by 
 the least observant. 
 
 Other gall, there are, some as conspicuous as these, 
 some even more so, which are less universally recognised 
 as animal productions. The beautiful mossy tuft of 
 crimson and green found on the stems of the wild rose, 
 the small flat scales which sometimes entirely cover the 
 under side of oak-leaves, some of the woody excrescences 
 upon the trunks of trees, are alike produced by the gall- 
 fly. But the young entomologist must not hastily con- 
 clude that all similar excrescences or morbid vegetable 
 growths are the work of the Gallfly ; many other insects, 
 as the Sawfly (above mentioned), the Aphis, certain two- 
 winged flies, and some beetles produce them ; while cer- 
 tain morbid growths are produced by other agents. Thus, 
 
 * A large oak-gall growing near the Dead Sea has been seriously 
 believed to be a species of fruit " which turns to ashes in the mouth ;" 
 still bearing testimony till the present time of the sentence pronounced 
 upon the accursed city. 
 
174 INSECTS. 
 
 for instance, the tops of nearly all the twigs in a quick- 
 set hedge may sometimes be observed to be thickened, 
 rough, and apparently pierced with small holes, present- 
 ing an appearance very like that of old and deserted 
 woody galls, but arising in reality from a fungous growth. 
 So also an accidental injury to part of a tree will often 
 produce a gall-like excrescence either on the wood or 
 in the leaf-buds. 
 
 These galls are amongst the most puzzling of natural 
 phenomena. All that is actually known is that the 
 parent insect punctures stem, leaf, bud, or stalk, and 
 there deposits an egg and (it is supposed) a drop o; 
 irritating fluid. It is not difficult to imagine that this 3 
 by arresting the circulation, might result in the forma- 
 tion of a shapeless or perhaps globular tumour ; 
 and in plants having a tendency to produce hairs, 
 prickles, &c., that the tumour might be hairy or prickly ; 
 nor even might we see much difficulty in a modification 
 of form or character depending upon the part of the tree 
 affected. But what are the facts ? On the leaf of the 
 oak we find a small globular, smooth, clear gall, closelj 
 resembling that which is found growing on the flower- 
 stalk of the same tree, and that which is found on 
 the rose-leaf; and on the very same leaf we find a 
 number of flat or slightly conical scale-like galls, 
 covered with tufts of hair, and attached to the leaf by a 
 short footstalk. It is clear that the oak-leaf has not 
 insisted upon one mode of developing its little tumour. 
 The rose-tree, upon the leaf or leaf- stalk of which we find 
 the little smooth gall like that of the oak, examined 
 farther, presents us with a ball of moss produced by the 
 puncture of another Gallfly, proving that no necessity- 
 exists in the rose forcing it to develope this mossy cover- 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 175 
 
 ing wherewith to clothe all the excrescences which may 
 be formed upon it ; while an egg laid in one leaf-bud 
 of an oak-tree results in a formation resembling an arti- 
 choke, and another egg laid in another bud produces a 
 perfectly smooth, hard, round ball. Is then the cause of 
 the difference in the fly and not in the tree ? So far as 
 has yet been observed each species of insect has its own 
 form of gall, but this in no degree lessens the diffi- 
 culty ; for even supposing a chemical difference in the 
 poisonous secretions of the various species, it is altogether 
 inconceivable how so minute a drop as that to be 
 deposited by an insect under the T V of an inch in 
 length, and in so minute a wound, should occasion any 
 serious disturbance at all of the circulation ; but it is 
 still more so that some difference in its composition 
 should so regulate the whole process of change in the 
 natural action of the tree, as to produce growths totally 
 differing in appearance and in character. Conjectures have 
 been formed to explain the whole of this process, but, 
 like conjectures upon some other subjects, they are quite 
 as puzzling as the original problem.. 
 
 It is not only in abstruse matters of physiology that 
 these little productions manage to baffle the naturalist. 
 It is often no easy matter to discover or determine the 
 owner of a gall from which a tenant has emerged. An 
 amusing instance of this occurred in the case of 
 Reaumur. Wishing to witness the growth of the mossy 
 rose-gall, he carefully tended a number of flies lately 
 hatched from one, supplying them with a branch from a 
 rose-tree, in order that they might lay their eggs therein 
 and prepare the way for future galls. After waiting for 
 some time, and finding that the flies showed no dis- 
 position to attack the rose-branch, he discovered his 
 
] 76 INSECTS. 
 
 little brood to be not Gallflies, but Ichneumons (insects 
 also belonging to this division, and to be described here- 
 after), which had been deposited as eggs ivithin the Gall- 
 fly young, and, having lived upon their substance, were 
 matured and came forth in their stead. Another instance 
 occurred to the present writer, who, in 1857, found upon 
 the leaves of a wild rose-tree at West Wickham a new 
 and very beautiful little gall, nearly globular, and 
 crowned with spines. This was sent to the British 
 Museum, and from it were hatched two species of 
 Spiculiferous insects. These were supposed to be the 
 Gallfly and its parasite ; and the question was, " which 
 was which ?" The answer was " neither," for the insects 
 both proved to be parasites one probably on the Gallfly 
 larva, the other on the Gallfly's parasite ; so true it is 
 that " big fleas have little fleas upon their backs to 
 bite 'em."* 
 
 Other tenants may be met with in galls ; Mr. Stainton 
 (in the " Zool." 51oO) mentions finding the caterpillars 
 of moths in the mossy rose-gall ;t and also its being a 
 known fact that another moth larva is bred from oak- 
 apples in Germany ; while Mr. Walker enumerates about 
 twenty-five species of insects of the orders Coleoptera, 
 Orthoptera, Neuroptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, and He- 
 miptera, besides five or six species of spiders or acari, 
 which emerged from oak-galls under his observation in 
 one year. These, however, are probably instances of 
 mere cuckoo- like parasitism, as it is not likely that these 
 caterpillars feed on the young gall insects. 
 
 * It may be worth recording, that this gall having been sought in vain 
 for ten years in other places, was looked for on the same rose-tree in 1867, 
 and again found there. 
 
 f From this gall, at least six species of Spiculifera (including the 
 owner) have been reared. 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 177 
 
 The largest Gallfly known in England is that which 
 produces the round hard gall now so common upon low, 
 or young oak-trees, and spoken of above as unknown 
 thirty or forty years ago. This insect (Cynips quercus 
 Lignicola, PL VI., fig. 3) was at one time believed to 
 be identical with that of the Aleppo Gall, the gall of 
 commerce, and to have been imported in the gall, after- 
 wards naturalizing itself in England. It is now, how- 
 ever, recognised as a distinct species, and the origin of 
 its introduction is as obscure as ever. For some time 
 attempts were made and renewed to utilize this Gall in 
 the manufacture of ink, but the tannin, or dyeing matter, 
 yielded by it is so inferior in quality to that of the 
 foreign species, that it seems unlikely that it should ever 
 supersede this. These Gallflies were, with those of an- 
 other species, made the subject of a curious experiment 
 by Mr. F. Smith ("ZooL" 7330). The male fly of the 
 Cynips being unknown, he collected about a bushel and 
 a half of the Galls, with the purpose of discovering it, 
 if possible. From all this number none but females 
 emerged. These he placed on oak-trees in various 
 places, and afterwards visiting them found new Galls 
 upon those trees, and on no others in the neighbourhood. 
 
 From another species of Galls he obtained about 
 1200 Flies, all female, whilst Hartig, as Mr. Smith men- 
 tions in his paper, amongst 10,000 of one species and 
 4000 of another, could not discover a single male. 
 
 The Gallflies are often rather heavier in figure than 
 most other of the Spiculiferous insects (see PL VI. fig. 3), 
 with which, however, they are very nearly allied, not only 
 in structure but even in habit, some species having been 
 discovered to share in the parasitic habits of those other 
 families laying their eggs in the bodies of other insects. 
 
178 INSECTS. 
 
 The head in the Cynipidse is small, the thorax thick 
 and oval. The abdomen, largest towards base and egg- 
 shaped, is sometimes (but not always) much compressed, 
 and is attached to the thorax by a stalk, which is in 
 most cases very short. The antennas are slender in the 
 male, less so in the female (let it be observed that the 
 absence of the male is remarked in the genus Cynips, 
 not in the whole family of the Cynipidse), and the legs 
 are of moderate length. The wings vary, and are very 
 long in some species; they have but few veins. The 
 female deposits her eggs either singly, or many together, 
 of which the two large oak-galls are examples ; the larger, 
 found on full-grown trees, containing many inhabitants, 
 while the round smooth hard Gall, lately described, con- 
 tains but one. 
 
 We now come to the true Spiculiferous parasites. 
 
 The first family, Evaniidse, contains one of the 
 most whimsically proportioned insects in the whole 
 order. Evania appendigaster, supposed to be para- 
 sitic upon the small Cockroach. This little insect 
 has an enormous thorax, a smallish head, long legs 
 (especially the hinder pair), and an abdomen so small 
 that it seems impossible that it should belong to the 
 insect. 
 
 This family contains but three British genera, and 
 only about half a dozen species. It may easily be dis- 
 tinguished from the following by the attachment of the 
 abdomen to the thorax, not at the apex of the latter, but 
 from its upper side, giving it the appearance of springing 
 out of the insect's back. 
 
 The next family, Ichneumonidse, is far more numerous, 
 containing about 120 genera, and more than 1100 species. 
 It includes all the Ichneumon flies of large size, with the 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 179 
 
 exception of one or two which belong to the Evaniidse, 
 and also some very minute species. 
 
 The Ichneumons are elegantly formed insects, com- 
 bining the appearance of lightness and of strength, and 
 with some of them, at least, the reader must be familiar. 
 The wings are large and firm, and beautifully veined, 
 forming, in the front pair, several perfect cells ; the head, 
 which is of moderate size, is set lightly on a compact 
 thorax, larger before than behind ; the abdomen, long 
 and slender, sometimes much compressed and abruptly 
 truncated, is set on by a small point, or sometimes by 
 a fine stalk at the extreme end of the thorax, between 
 the hind legs. The legs are of moderate length ; the 
 antennae are long, slender, and tapering; the ovipositor is 
 in some species short and concealed within the abdomen, 
 in others it is visible and occasionally of great length, 
 considerably exceeding that of the body. Here is a 
 structural variety which at once points to a variety of 
 habit, and accordingly we find that while some species 
 deposit their eggs within, or upon the bodies of exposed 
 and naked larvae, others, by the exercise of the powers of 
 smell, touch, or we know not what, discover the hiding- 
 place of the larvae most carefully concealed from sight 
 and guarded from danger, and with their long oviposi- 
 tors succeed in lodging their eggs within the bodies of 
 the victims. Thus do some species penetrate to the 
 little grub within the heart of the oak-gall ; others find 
 the wild Bee in its cell, the Beetle in its wooden 
 chamber hollowed out within the trunk of the forest 
 tree. 
 
 Others, again, display a still more remarkable instinct, 
 the perfect insect actually entering the water in order to 
 deposit her eggs within the bodies of aquatic larvae. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 INSECTS. 
 
 One of the best known of the Ichneumons is, per- 
 haps, the Yellow Ophion (PI. VI., fig. 4). Frequently 
 attracted hy the light through the open window in our 
 rooms on a summer evening, it seldom fails to attract 
 attention. Its active movements, its size (it is nearly 
 an inch in length), the beauty of its large, clear, bright 
 wings, and the noise which it makes in striking re- 
 peatedly against the ceiling, all render it difficult to 
 overlook the little visitor. Another genus of flies re- 
 sembling the Ophion is Paniscus, which may be dis- 
 tinguished from it by the presence of a very small 
 triangular cell (the " second S sub-marginal"), which is 
 wanting in the wing of the Ophion. The Ophion is 
 also to be distinguished by its beautiful comb-like foot- 
 claws. 
 
 The Ophion differs from most of the IchneumonidaB 
 in depositing her eggs,not within the body of her victim, 
 but upon its surface. According to Kirby and Spence, 
 the egg is curiously attached to the body of the Cater- 
 pillar by a short footstalk, which is fastened into the 
 skin by an enlargement of the lower end, like the root 
 of a hair. The Ophion larva, when hatched, does not 
 quit the egg, but, keeping its hinder end within the 
 broken shell, and laying hold of the Caterpillar with 
 its jaws, remains feeding in this position till the time 
 for its change. So firmly fixed is it that not even the 
 moulting of the Caterpillar dislodges it. 
 
 The greater part, however, of this family lay their 
 eggs within their victims, which are usually the larvse 
 of insects, sometimes the perfect insects and sometimes 
 the eggs. The benefit thus conferred by the Ichneu- 
 mons upon man is inestimable. They appear to be the 
 principal means employed to check the devastations of 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTTA. 181 
 
 the vegetable- eating tribes, which would otherwise lay 
 the country bare of food, and it has been remarked that 
 in those years in which any one species of Caterpillar 
 has been unusually abundant, the Ichneumons have 
 been proportionately so. Some years ago, the speckled 
 Caterpillars of the Currant Moth were so abundant at 
 Bognor, in Sussex, that it was almost impossible to walk 
 without crushing them by hundreds. The roads were 
 full of them ; the houses were full of them ; trees, 
 palings, walls, were covered by them : it was rare to see 
 a few square inches without one or more of these little 
 animals. A woful prospect for the following ' year, if 
 all of these if, indeed, an average proportion of these 
 should come to maturity, and each one should lay its 
 hundred or so of eggs, to be developed into as many 
 more hungry Caterpillars ! But what happened ? In a 
 few days, trees, walls, palings, were covered with clusters 
 of beautiful little yellow silken cocoons, each containing 
 the germ of a little Ichneumon one of a numerous 
 family which had been feasting within one of these 
 larvae ; and that year the Currant Moth was hardly more 
 abundant than usual. And what became of the little 
 Ichneumons ? Possibly, in their turn, they fell a prey 
 to others as in this family it is not unfrequently that 
 parasite preys on parasite ; perhaps some other animal 
 was made happy by an unusual supply of food. Any- 
 way, we may be sure that these myriads of little 
 creatures were not called into being without a pro- 
 portionate amount of enjoyment in the world; that 
 their lives were not wasted ; that their death was but a 
 means of supplying with life and enjoyment yet another 
 race of living beings. 
 
 Some of the Ichneumons deposit but one egg in one 
 
182 INSECTS. 
 
 victim, others deposit more than a hundred. Some 
 undergo their change within its pupa case, while others 
 desert the dying caterpillar, which in this case undergoes 
 no metamorphosis. 
 
 An idea may be formed of the minute size of some of 
 the species, if the student will examine the first twig 
 of a rose-tree that he can find. On this he will see what 
 at first appear to be dead Aphides, brown, hard and stiff, 
 but retaining their perfect form, and, in reality, consist- 
 ing but of empty skins. In each of these he will observe 
 a small round hole, and out of this hole he may know 
 that a little Ichneumon Fly has emerged having been 
 born and brought up within the body of the Aphis. It 
 is said that a Chalcis is parasitic upon this parasite. 
 Bonnet (quoted in " Insect Transformations") tells of a 
 " prodigious number " of some of these parasites being 
 hatched from 20 butterflies eggs. 
 
 It is a curious fact that many insects appear con- 
 scious that the Ichneumon Fly is their natural enemy, 
 show fear at her approach, and endeavour to elude her 
 attacks. 
 
 The fourth family consists of the Chalcis and its re- 
 lations (see PI. VI., fig. 5, C. flavipes). These are mostly 
 very minute parasites of beautiful metallic lustre and 
 colouring. Their wings have but few veins ; in the 
 minutest species none at all. They do not differ greatly 
 from the former family in their habits, but exhibit some, 
 peculiarities of structure. The most conspicuous of 
 these is that in many species the hind legs are of an 
 extraordinary form, the femur or thigh being enormously 
 thickened and sometimes toothed, while the unusual 
 appearance is increased in some species by a great length 
 in the coxa3 of the hind legs. 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 183 
 
 Here, again, is a structure which leads to inquiry, and 
 our experience of the large-thighed beetles naturally 
 leads us to expect great Fig 51 
 
 power in leaping in 
 these little flies. But 
 what is the fact ? That 
 many of them possess 
 no such power, and that 
 we find no reason what- 
 ever for this extra- 
 ordinary development. 
 
 The lesson, therefore, 
 
 ' Chalcis Clavipes. 
 
 which we have learned 
 
 from the little Chaicis, is not that we may safely presume 
 upon our experience to jump at conclusions, hut that when 
 we feel most certain beforehand of how our natural history 
 facts ought to turn out, we had need to be most careful 
 to ascertain whether they may not prove exactly contrary. 
 Some of these little creatures are parasitic upon other 
 parasites, whose presence they discover whether on the 
 exposed body of a naked insect or in the grub enclosed 
 within a gall ; many rejr upon the gall grub itself. One 
 of these, Callimome flavipes, found in the round hard 
 oak-gall, is described by its discoverer, Mr. Parfitt, in 
 terms which present an image to the mind only less 
 gorgeous than Blake's vision of the green-mailed ghost 
 of a flea, holding its golden cup of blood. " Wings 
 splendidly iridescent; head, thorax, and abdomen beneath 
 of the most magnificent shining green ; the basal and 
 two next segments of the abdomen very highly polished, 
 and reflecting a steel-blue in certain lights; eyes 
 brown, &c. The length of this glorious atom is about 
 a quarter of an inch." 
 
184 INSECTS. 
 
 The Chalcididae number upwards of 1190 species, and 
 are of great value in keeping under the numbers of 
 injurious insects. The " Death-watch," which feeds on 
 the woodwork of houses, is among their victims. 
 
 The fifth and last family of the Spiculifera is Procto- 
 trupidae, or the Proctotrupes family. These, like Chalci- 
 didse, are very small insects, with few or no veins in 
 their wings. They differ in form from Chalcis, which is 
 the most squat of the parasitic families, being of more 
 slender proportions. They may also be distinguished 
 from these by their antennae, which are less decidedly 
 angulated, and by the absence of a hollow in the fore- 
 head, which in Chalcis receives the antennae. In colour 
 they are less conspicuous, being chiefly black and 
 brown, and although in some species the thighs are 
 slightly thickened, they never present the remarkable 
 appearance of the legs in some of the Chalcididae. 
 
 If the small size of the Chalcididae was shown by their 
 being hatched within an aphis, or a butterfly's egg, it may 
 give some idea of the minuteness of the Proctotrupidae 
 to mention that the little caterpillar which mines the 
 roseleaf is said by Mr. Westwood (from Dr. Gees) to be 
 infested by one species. Many individuals have also 
 been reared from one butterfly's egg, and they have been 
 found in the larvae of a minute insect, which feeds within 
 the envelope of a grain of wheat. 
 
 There are about four hundred British species in this 
 family. 
 
 Division II. TUBULIFERA. Tube Bearers or Ruby 
 Tails (see PI. VI. 6). The Chrysis, or "ruby tail," is 
 a beautiful insect which can hardly have failed to attract 
 the attention of the reader. The fretted surface of the 
 head and thorax is a deep but brilliant green or blue, the 
 
HYMENOPTERA. TEREBRANTIA. 185 
 
 abdomen is crimson or a glowing coppery red, with some- 
 times a golden lustre; The wings and legs are rather 
 small, the proportion of the whole insect being somewhat 
 similar to that of many of the small wild bees, while the 
 resemblance is increased by the occasional aggressive use 
 of the ovipositor, which, however, having no poison-bag 
 attached, cannot be considered as a true sting. The 
 antenna? also resemble those of the bees in being de- 
 cidedly kneed. The Chrysis has a curious habit, by 
 which alone it might be recognised, of rolling itself up 
 when annoyed or alarmed into a little sting-proof ball, of 
 almost as perfect a shape as that assumed by the many- 
 jointed woodlouse, though in the Chrysis this form is 
 attained by merely turning down the abdomen (which is 
 very convex above and concave below), until it fits 
 closely upon the headside of the thorax, leaving the 
 wings sticking out, unprotected, in a straight line. In 
 this position it looks like a little jewel, half ruby, half 
 emerald. 
 
 The chief structural peculiarity of the Chrysis, and 
 that from which it derives its name, is in the abdomen. 
 This appears to be formed of no more than from three 
 to five (according to the genus and the sex) large 
 segments, the remaining segments being apparently but 
 part of the ovipositor. They form small tubes, which 
 can be drawn into one another like the joints of a tele- 
 scope, and are terminated by an ovipositor resembling 
 in its main characters those of the preceding division. 
 
 In habit the Chrysis is parasitic, not as the Ichneu- 
 mons, &c., but depositing its eggs in the cells formed 
 by the wild bees, sandwasps, and even into the long 
 deep tunnel of some solitary species of true wasp. 
 Here the larva feeds either on the stores there laid up, 
 
186 INSECTS. 
 
 or, as seems probable, on the young owners themselves 
 of the cells. 
 
 The female may frequently be seen running busily 
 about on posts and palings such as the Carpenter Bee 
 delights to choose for her nest, or on sandy banks ; in 
 short, wherever her victims may be found. Carefully 
 watching her opportunity, she seizes the right moment 
 for depositing her egg or eggs, notwithstanding a spirited 
 resistance which sometimes takes place on the part of 
 the rival mother. Mr. Westwood relates from M. le 
 Comte de Saint Fargeau an amusing instance of this. 
 One of the Mason Wasps, " returning to its nearly- 
 finished cell, laden with pollen-paste, found the Hedy- 
 chrum (one of the Chrysis family) in its nest, which it 
 attacked with its jaws. The parasite, however, imme- 
 diately coiled itself into a ball, so that the Bee was 
 unable to hurt it. The Bee, however, bit off the four 
 wings, which were exposed, rolled it to the ground, and 
 then deposited its own load in the cell and flew away. 
 Whereupon the Hedychrum, now wingless, had the 
 persevering instinct to crawl up- the wall to the nest, 
 and there quietly deposit its egg, which it placed between 
 the pollen-paste and the wall of the cell, which prevented 
 the Bee from seeing it." 
 
 There are five genera and twenty-four British species 
 in this family. 
 
187 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 
 
 THE second section of Hymenoptera, ACULEATA, derives 
 its name from the character of the ovipositor. This, 
 aculeate, or needle-like, as it appears, is but one more 
 modification of the same parts as are found throughout 
 the other section of the Hymenoptera, consisting prin- 
 cipally of two fine serrated bristles, enclosed in the 
 horny duct which gives the name of aculeus to the 
 instrument. In this tribe, however, the ovipositor is 
 connected with a bag of poison, and to this peculiarity 
 it owes the especial name of sting. 
 
 To HYMENOPTERA ACULEATA, then, belong all the 
 true stinging insects, Ants, Wasps, and Bees. 
 
 The Section ACULEATA is divided into two Sub- 
 sections, named from the habits of the insects (1) 
 PR^DONES, or the Rapacious, (2) ANTROPHILA, or the 
 Flower-loving Hymenoptera. 
 
 The PR^EDONES consists of the Ants, Sandwasps, 
 and true Wasps. 
 
 The ANTHOPHILA consists of Fig> 52 
 
 the Bees. 
 
 The insects belonging to 
 these two Subsections may be 
 distinguished by the legs. In 
 the Prffidones, the first or basal 
 joint of the hind tarsus (fig. 
 52, a) is cylindrical, while in the Was P' s Hinc 
 Anthophila, it is enlarged, and more or less flattened. 
 
188 INSECTS. 
 
 This peculiarity in the Bees will be further noticed in 
 its own place. 
 
 Subsection 1. PR&DONES. The Praedones (Prcedo, 
 a robber) form three Divisions 1. Heterogyna, con- 
 taining the Ants; 2. Fossores (Fossor, a digger), 
 containing the Sandwasps ; 3. Diploptera, containing 
 the true Wasps. The two first are easily distinguished 
 from the third, which has the fore-wings folded length- 
 
 Fig. 53. 
 
 Outline of Formica. 
 
 ways ivhen at rest (whence the name AtTrXow, diploo, to 
 double; wrepov, a wing). The other two divisions are 
 less easy to distinguish from each other, but the fol- 
 lowing rules may be sufficient. Heterogyna consists of 
 the Social Ants and of the Solitary Ants. The Social 
 Ants may be distinguished from the Sandwasps by the 
 form of the footstalk by which the abdomen is attached to 
 the thorax, and which forms, in some, one scale-like 
 projection (fig. 53), or a knot-like lump ; in others 
 (fig. 54), two such lumps or nodes. 
 
 The Solitary Ants may be distinguished from the 
 Sandwasps by the female of the former being always 
 wingless, while the male is generally toothed or spired at 
 the apex of the abdomen. 
 
 When, therefore, an insect has been shown by the legs 
 to belong to the subsection PR^DONES, and by its non- 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 189 
 
 folding wings to belong to one of the two first divisions 
 in that subsection, its place will be further ascertained 
 
 Fig. 54. 
 
 Profile of Myrmica. 
 
 thus. It belongs to the first division, Heterogyna, if, 
 whether wingless or winged, the abdomen be furnished 
 with the scales or nodes (social ants) ; also if it be wing- 
 less ( ? of social ants sometimes, of solitary always) ; also 
 if it be winged and spicate at the tip of the abdomen ( 
 of solitary ants only). Otherwise the insect belongs to 
 the Sandwasps or Fossores. 
 
 Division I. Heterogyna. The Ants. Very dif- 
 ferent opinions are entertained as to this division Hetero- 
 gyna. The word, signifying tTtpog, heteros, different ; 
 FUVTJ, gyne, a woman, is by some considered to exclude 
 the mutillidte or solitary ants, in which the sexes consist 
 only of the perfect male and female. The female here, 
 however, differs from most perfect insects in being 
 always wingless, in this approaching the neuters of the 
 social ants. In adopting the present arrangement, the 
 writer follows Mr. F. Smith, of the British Museum, 
 who has retained it from older writers, and this is done 
 partly in the hope that the young student of Hymenop- 
 tera may, as a first step, possess himself of the delightful 
 
190 INSECTS. 
 
 (so-called) " catalogues"* by this gentleman, published 
 by the British Museum, and proceed upon his studies 
 with these in hand. 
 
 Heterogyna, then, consists of the Social Ants, For- 
 micidce, now divided into Formicidce, Poneridce, and 
 Myrmecidce, and of the Solitary Ants, Miitillidce. 
 
 The social ants are distinguished from the solitary and 
 from all other hymenopterous insects by a peculiar deve- 
 lopment of the first, or first and second joints of the 
 abdomen. The first joint, which forms the stalk of the 
 abdomen, grows out behind into a scale or raised 
 " node," in the Formicida3 and the Poneridse (fig. 53, 
 p. 188); in the Myrmecidse (fig. 54, p. 189), the same 
 happens with both the first and second joints. 
 
 The social ants, like the social wasps and bees, con- 
 sist of males, females, and workers, or imperfect females, 
 the latter being always wingless among the ants, while 
 among the bees and wasps they, like the perfect insects, 
 possess permanent wings. The female of the social 
 ants, winged like other insects at her emergence from 
 the pupa state, and like them, rejoicing for a time in 
 the sunshine and fresh air, to exercise them, retains 
 her wings only until she is ready to enter upon the 
 business of her life, laying the eggs which are to fill 
 the nests preparing for them by the workers. She then 
 prepares herself for her underground labours by volun- 
 tarily depriving herself of these appendages. 
 
 It would require more than the bulk of this entire 
 volume to repeat the wonders recorded of the tribe of 
 social ants. The very bees yield to them in the variety 
 
 * British Bees, and British Fossorial Hymenoptera. 
 
HYMENOPTEEA. ACULEATA. 191 
 
 of their interests and achievements. Not only are they 
 the most skilful architects amongst insects, but as states- 
 men, as soldiers, as landed proprietors, as slave-owners, 
 herdsmen nay, if some writers may be believed, as 
 agriculturists*^, they stand at the head of insect- 
 thinkers and doers. Yet, above all, do they claim our 
 sympathy and respect in one point as yet unnamed, that 
 is, in their marvellous domestic conduct ; their unceas- 
 ing industry and tenderness in behalf of their young, 
 tenderness, not maternal, for it is shown by those who are 
 not and cannot be mothers ; while their private character 
 is still further displayed by the friendship, good under- 
 standing, and care for the safety one of another, which 
 subsists amongst the individuals of the community. 
 An amusing case of somewhat officious and peremptory 
 exercise of the privileges of friendship was observed by 
 Hagen : " The legs of a glass case, which contained the 
 nest of social ants, were plunged into pans of water, to 
 prevent the escape of the ants ; this proved a source of 
 great enjoyment to these little beings, for they are a thirsty 
 race, and lap like dogs. One day when he observed 
 many of them tippling away merrily, he was so cruel as 
 to disturb them, which sent most of the ants in a fright 
 to the nest ; but some, more thirsty than the rest, con- 
 tinued their potations. Upon this, one of those that had 
 
 * It is said that a species of Ant in Texas actually plants around its 
 dwelling a kind of grass, which it "nurses and cultivates with constant 
 care, cutting away all other grasses and weeds that may spring up." 
 Another species is said to plant "shade trees" as a protection against the 
 summer sun. (See " Zool.," 7576.) 
 
 It is possible to believe almost anything of the Ants, but even "seeing"' 
 ought not always to be " believing.'' 
 
192 INSECTS. 
 
 retreated returns to inform his thoughtless companions 
 of their danger: one he pushes with his jaws, another 
 he strikes first upon the belly and then upon the breast, 
 and so obliges three of them to leave off their carousing 
 and march homeward. But the fourth, more resolute to 
 drink it out, is not to be discomfited, and pays not the 
 least regard to the kind blows with which his compeer, 
 solicitous for his safety, repeatedly belabours him. At 
 length, determined to have his way, he seizes him by one 
 of his hind legs, and gives him a violent pull. Upon 
 this, leaving his liquor, the loiterer turns round, and 
 opening his threatening jaws, with every appearance of 
 anger, gcTes very coolly to drinking again. But his 
 monitor, without further ceremony, rushing before him, 
 seizes him by his jaws, and at last drags him off in 
 triumph to the nest." 
 
 After a battle, or any accident which has befallen a 
 colony, the survivors invariably carry away their dead ; 
 in the case of a battle the conquerors carry away the 
 bodies of their own soldiers, leaving the others to their 
 fate. 
 
 The community in which these insects live consists 
 primarily of the females and the workers, or " neuters," 
 or imperfect females. The males and females leave the 
 nest on arriving at perfection, and associate together for 
 a short time ; after which the males die, the females 
 alone returning to the nest, where they labour diligently 
 until sufficient workers are hatched to set them free from 
 " menial " offices. 
 
 Their principal business from this time is the laying 
 of eggs, which are received and tended with the greatest 
 care by the workers. These carry them from the place 
 where they are dropped and carefully deposit them in 
 
HYMEXOPTERA. ACULEATA. 193 
 
 suitable chambers, moistening them, it is said, from their 
 own mouths, and thus probably affording that nourish- 
 ment which must be essential to their growth ; the eggs 
 of Ants, like those of Sawflies, growing larger after they 
 are laid. According to the observations of M. Hubner, 
 the nurses then bestow the most assiduous attention 
 upon the eggs, daily removing them to those parts of the 
 nest of which the temperature is most suitable. In the 
 morning the eggs are carried to the upper chambers, to 
 be within the influence of the sun's rays, while in the 
 evening they are transferred to the lower apartments, 
 which are less susceptible to a sudden lowering of the 
 temperature. The eggs hatched, yet further labours 
 devolve upon the careful and busy nurses, who to the 
 daily removal of their little charges (creatures which 
 before long are equal to themselves in size) now add the 
 task of supplying them with food ; or, rather, of feeding 
 them. Nor does their care end here : when the time for 
 its perfection arrives, the larva, having spun its own co- 
 coon (the only act which it has ever been allowed to per- 
 form for itself), is not only extricated by the workers from 
 its silken shroud, but even receives their assistance iii 
 divesting itself of the delicate membrane which still has 
 to be stripped from its body.* 
 
 It has been said that the community consists primarily 
 of the females and the workers, but this is not all. The 
 
 * That all this care is not absolutely necessary has been proved by the 
 experiments of Mr. F. Smith, who found that the young ants, deprived of 
 the assistance of their nurses, were able, in some cases, to emerge without 
 help from their pupa-cases. Mr. Smith observes that the pupae are not 
 always enclosed in silken cocoons, the naked pupse always giving out neuter 
 insects. He accounts for this on the supposition that the under-fed 
 female larvse which were to be imperfectly developed into neuters, were not 
 sufficiently nourished to produce the silk. 
 
 O 
 
194 INSECTS. 
 
 nests of Ants present the remarkable phenomenon of 
 being inhabited by various other species of insects, con- 
 cerning many of which there seems to be now no doubt 
 that they are actually kept prisoners by the Ants to serve 
 in various ways to the maintenance of the state. 
 Amongst these are the Aphides, commonly called the 
 cows of the Ants (whence we have given to the latter the 
 name of cattle owners), species which feed on the roots 
 of grass, &c., being plentiful in the nests, whilst others, 
 Leaf-eaters, are sometimes enclosed by the Ants in a kind 
 of earthen gallery constructed on the twig which forms 
 their pasture. Numerous species of Beetles are also well 
 known as inhabitants of ants' nests, and though it seems 
 difficult to ascertain in all cases whether this is in the 
 interest of the Beetles or of the Ants, yet in some there 
 is no doubt that the Ants derive from the Beetles, as from 
 the Aphides, a fluid which serves them as food. Mr. E. 
 Holmes (Zool. 475) saw some large Ked and Black Ants 
 carrying as captives living specimens of Philonthus ; 
 while other observers have seen the ants forcibly pre- 
 venting the escape of certain Beetles from the nest. 
 Woodlice also are found in great numbers in the nests of 
 ants, and whether or not these are amongst the profit- 
 able servants of the commonwealth, there can be little 
 doubt that their residence would be but of short duration 
 if disapproved by their omnivorous little hosts. With 
 regard to the Aphides, and some of the Beetles, the 
 question is put beyond a doubt by the sedulous care taken 
 by the Ants of these herds the eggs of the Aphides 
 receiving attention equal to that paid to their own. 
 
 But yet another element exists in the community of 
 some species of Ants more or less warlike, as are all 
 the social tribes, contending to the death for their terri- 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 195 
 
 torial possessions ; there are some whose taste in this 
 direction is so prononce, that they make war for the 
 purpose of possessing themselves of slaves who shall 
 free them from the necessity of all home drudgery. 
 This, which might seem almost incredible, can scarcely 
 be refused credence on the authority of such writers as 
 those who have from their own observation described 
 the proceedings of these slave-making Ants. The slaves 
 once domiciled amongst their captors take willingly to 
 their work, and perform most efficiently all the duties 
 of builders, nurses, and housekeepers, even extending 
 their labours to the feeding of those heroes whose 
 inveterate laziness " off duty" is not without example 
 amongst the warlike portion of a larger if not nobler 
 race. 
 
 Mr. Newman, in his " Popular Introduction to the 
 Natural History of Insects," gives a description of the 
 proceedings of these Ants, which will serve to illustrate 
 many points in their military tactics. 
 
 " The most remarkable fact connected with the history 
 of Ants is the propensity possessed by certain species to 
 kidnap the workers of other species and compel them to 
 labour for the community, thus using them completely 
 as slaves, and, as far as we yet know, the kidnappers are 
 red or pale-coloured Ants, and the slaves, like the ill- 
 treated natives of Africa, are of a jet black. 
 
 " The time for capturing slaves extends over a period 
 of about ten weeks, and never commences until the males 
 and females are about emerging from the pupa state, 
 and thus the ruthless marauders never interfere with 
 the continuation of the species. This instinct seems 
 specially provided, for were the slave ants created for no 
 other end than to fill the station of slavery to which 
 
 o 2 
 
196 INSECTS. 
 
 they appear to be doomed, still even that service must 
 fail were the attacks to be made on their nests before 
 the winged myriads have departed, or are departing, 
 charged with the duty of continuing their kind. 
 
 " When the Eed Ants are about to sally forth on a 
 marauding expedition, they send scouts to ascertain the 
 exact position in which a colony of negroes may be 
 found. These scouts having discovered the objects of 
 their search, return to the nest and report their success. 
 Shortly afterwards the army of Red Ants marches forth, 
 headed by a vanguard, which is perpetually changing ; 
 the individuals which constitute it, when they have 
 advanced a little beyond the main body, halting, falling 
 into the rear, and being replaced by others. This van- 
 guard consists of eight or ten ants only. When they 
 have arrived near the negro colony they disperse, wander- 
 ing through the herbage and hunting about as if aware 
 of the propinquity of the object of their search, yet 
 ignorant of its exact position. At last they discover 
 the settlement, and the foremost of the invaders, rush- 
 ing impetuously to the attack, are met, grappled with, 
 and frequently killed by the negroes on guard. The 
 alarm is quickly communicated to the interior of the 
 nest ; the negroes sally forth by thousands, and the Eed 
 Ants rushing to the rescue, a desperate conflict ensues, 
 which, however, always terminates in the defeat of the 
 negroes, who retire to the inmost recesses of their 
 habitations. Now follows the scene of pillage. The 
 Red Ants with their powerful mandibles tear open the 
 sides of the negro ant-hill and rush into the heart of 
 the citadel. In a few minutes each of the invaders 
 emerges, carrying in its mouth the pupa of a working 
 negro, which it has obtained in spite of the vigilance 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 197 
 
 and valour of its natural guardians. The Eed Ants 
 return in perfect order to their nest, bearing with them 
 their living burdens. On reaching the nest the pupae 
 appear to be treated precisely as their own, and the 
 workers when they emerge perform the various duties 
 of the community with the greatest energy and apparent 
 goodwill ; they prepare the nest, excavate passages, 
 collect food, feed the Iarva3, take the pupae into the sun- 
 shine, and perform every office which the welfare of the 
 community seems to require. In fact, they conduct 
 themselves entirely as if fulfilling their original destina- 
 tion." Newman's Familiar Introd. to the Nat. Hist, of 
 Insects, p. 50. (From the " Zool.")* 
 
 Slight as has been the preceding sketch of the habits 
 and manners of the Ants, too many pages of this small 
 book have already been bestowed upon them, and there- 
 fore but a few lines more may be devoted to the mention 
 of their architectural labours. These are no less wonder- 
 ful than their other proceedings, and the reader is referred 
 to the pages of Messrs. Kirby and Spence for a most 
 delightful resume of, and observations upon, this and 
 other of their achievements. Suffice it to say here, that 
 without bricks and without mortar they build their many- 
 chambered dwellings build them of loose sand com- 
 pacted apparently by some especial mode of manipula- 
 tion. Story upon story of chambers are there connected 
 by galleries and supported by pillars and buttresses, the 
 nest being closed and guarded by doors, which are daily 
 removed and nightly replaced. The edifices of various 
 species vary in plan, and display the application of 
 
 * The above was transcribed some time ago, and the writer, not having the 
 " Zoologist" at hand, is uncertain as to whether it was transcribed verbatim. 
 
198 INSECTS. 
 
 various architectural contrivances ; such as the use in one 
 case of beams in the construction of a ceiling, while in 
 another a large chamber will be strongly roofed without 
 beams or central support, by the application of the arch. 
 
 The nests here spoken of are constructed in the earth, 
 those of some species are excavated in the trunks of old 
 trees. Their internal temperature is high, the Ants, like 
 the Bees, having the power of generating a considerable 
 degree of heat. They are strongly redolent of a secretion 
 peculiar to the Ants, formerly called " formic acid," and 
 which is nearly powerful enough to take away the breath 
 if the head be held over a large and disturbed nest. This 
 acid the Ants have the power of squirting to a consider- 
 able distance, and it forms a considerable weapon in their 
 warfare. The whole of the inside of nests hollowed out 
 in the trunks of trees is stained black by this acid, while 
 Ray records that blue flowers placed in an ant-hill turn 
 red, and that a similar effect is produced in a Bluebottle 
 by the sting of an Ant. 
 
 It is probably for the sake of this acid that the insect 
 is used by the New Zealanders in the composition of the 
 wourali poison. 
 
 In Switzerland Ants are used crushed into a plaster 
 or poultice to be applied to the head to cure the head- 
 ache, while their stimulating property is well known to 
 Swiss schoolgirls, who rub their foreheads with the 
 insects " pour se fortifier la memoire." Ants give out 
 the acid so freely that in the same country the children 
 lay a wet branch across the nest of the large Wood Ant, 
 and when it is well covered with the insects, brush them 
 off and suck from it the "hot vinegar." 
 
 The principal use, however, made of these insects, 
 both in Switzerland and Germany, is in the composition 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 199 
 
 of ant-baths, on the subject of which a friend of the 
 writer has kindly communicated the following : 
 
 "The first time I ever heard of the ant-baths was 
 when at Wildbad. A Russian lady in the same house 
 with us, after having taken a course of the baths there, 
 was ordered to visit a village (of which I forget the 
 name) in the heart of the Black Forest, to strengthen 
 herself by the use of ant-baths. Afterwards, when at 
 Wiesbaden, our landlady told us that these baths were 
 very commonly used. Her own daughter, when a child, 
 had derived great benefit from them. At five years old 
 she could not walk, and had dwindled away to a mere 
 skeleton, when the mother was advised to try ant-baths, 
 which completely restored the child's strength. 
 
 " The ants are the large Wood Ants, and are collected, 
 earth, stones, leaves, &c., all together in bags, which are 
 placed in the bath, and have boiling water poured on 
 them. This is left to stand some time, and the water is 
 then used for the bath. They are sold in bags in the 
 market at Wiesbaden at the proper season, and are used 
 also for making ant spirit. For this purpose the ants are 
 put into a glass bottle filled with some cheap spirit, and 
 hung in the heat of the sun for some time. This spirit 
 is used to rub the limbs in the case of sprains or weak- 
 ness. 
 
 11 Ant vinegar is made in large quantities every year 
 by the Swiss ladies." 
 
 Possibly a liking for this acid is one of the attrac- 
 tions to some of those species of beetles which reside 
 voluntarily in ants' nests, as they have been found in- 
 habiting old nests, and deserting them when a heavy 
 shower had washed away the acid. 
 
 Much discussion has arisen upon the often-quoted 
 
200 INSECTS. 
 
 words of Solomon : Go to the ant, thou sluggard : 
 consider her ways, and be wise : which having no guide, 
 overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, 
 gathereth her food in the harvest. It has long been 
 popularly supposed that the ant does actually store up 
 grain as food for winter use, and the resemblance to 
 some small grain of the white pupse so carefully laid up, 
 so eagerly seized and carried away to some safe place on 
 the disturbance of a nest, has fostered, if not given rise 
 to this idea. The truth, however, is that, at least in 
 England, the Ants spend the winter in a torpid state, 
 neither requiring nor possessing magazines of food; 
 the food so industriously collected at other times being 
 for the immediate consumption of the inmates of the nest. 
 That seeds of various kinds are collected by Ants and 
 carried to the nest is beyond a doubt, but all observations 
 point to the fact that these are used not as food, but 
 as building material, in common with small stones and 
 other small objects which are collected at the same 
 time and in the same manner. Possibly in this fact 
 may be found an explanation of the supposed agricul- 
 tural performances mentioned in the note at p. 191. 
 
 How these facts are to be reconciled with the words 
 of the inspired writer remains to be shown. Possibly 
 a further knowledge of the habits of ants in warmer 
 climates may do this, or possibly, it may be a question 
 for the Philologist rather than for the Hymenopterist, as 
 it is by no means easy, nor always possible, to ascertain 
 without doubt the exact species of animal to which the 
 Hebrew names apply. In the volumes of Messrs. Kirby 
 and Spence, however, the following remarks occur, 
 and seem to remove the difficulty on a sound prin- 
 ciple : 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 201 
 
 " I think, if Solomon's words are properly considered, 
 it will be found that this interpretation has been fastened 
 upon them, rather than fairly deduced from them. He 
 does not affirm that the ant, which he proposes to his 
 sluggard as an example, laid up in her magazine stores 
 of grain The words may very well be inter- 
 preted simply to mean that the ant, with commendable 
 prudence and foresight " (and surely we may add with 
 industry), " makes use of the proper seasons to collect a 
 supply of provisions sufficient for her purposes. There 
 is not a word implying that she stores up grain or other 
 provision. She prepares her bread, and gathers her 
 food namely, such food as is suited to her in summer 
 and harvest that is, when it is most plentiful, and thus 
 shows her wisdom and prudence by using the advantages 
 offered to her. The words thus interpreted, which they 
 may bear without any violence, will apply to our Euro- 
 pean species as well as to those that are not indigenous."* 
 
 The Social Ants, formerly all included under Formicidse, 
 now form the three families, Formicidse, Ponerida?, and 
 Myrmecidse. These are distinguished by the " nodes " 
 on the abdomen. In the two former families there is 
 but one, in the latter two (see figs. 53, 54, pp. 188, 
 189 ; and PI. VII., fig. 1). The females of the Formi- 
 cidse present an exception in the Section to which they 
 belong, being without a sting. In Ponerida? (of which 
 there is but one, and that a rare English species), and 
 the Myrmecidffi, both females and neuters are provided 
 with this weapon. 
 
 The Solitary Ants, or Mutillidse, although a very 
 numerous family abroad, consist in England of but 
 
 * The word translated "provideth" does not necessarily imply foresiy lit. 
 In Gen. xliii. 16, the same verb is translated "make ready." 
 
202 INSECTS. 
 
 three genera, these containing only five species. They 
 appear to be very nearly related in both their form and 
 their habits to the Sand-wasps, among which indeed 
 they are placed by Mr. Westwood and other writers. 
 The females are wingless, of robust figure, have 
 spinous legs fitted for digging, and are without the 
 small simple eyes called ocelli. They are active insects 
 and are found running on the ground in sandy places. 
 The males are winged, and, as has been said above, are 
 spicate at the tip of the abdomen. They have three 
 ocelli, and their compound eyes are somewhat kidney- 
 shaped, and larger than those of the female, which are 
 round. In size the English species vary from l-8th to 
 2-8rds of an inch, and the relative size of insects of 
 the opposite sexes varies, the males being the larger in 
 some species, and the females in others. The wings will 
 be found in the table of wings of Hymenoptera. 
 
 The female of the largest European species, Mutilla 
 Europaea (PL VII. fig. 2), can hardly have escaped the 
 observation of the young entomologist, less because it is 
 not very rare, than on account of its unusual appearance, 
 which is that of a stout, hairy, wingless, red and black 
 ant, of two-thirds of an inch in length. The male is smaller 
 than the female, and somewhat varies in the distribution 
 of its colours, but both are clothed with bands of pale 
 glittering hairs, alternated with bands of scanty black 
 down. 
 
 The habits of these solitary ants are as yet but little 
 known, but it seems probable that they are parasitic in 
 the nests' of other insects, carnivorous, and predaceous. 
 The female possesses a powerful sting. 
 
203 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 H YMENOPTERA. A CULEATA. 
 
 THE second division of the predaceous stinging Hyme- 
 noptera, known as Fossores or diggers, consists of the 
 Sand-wasps and Wood-wasps. From the true Wasps 
 they are known by their fore-wings, which are not folded ; 
 from the Bees by their tarsi, of which the first joint is 
 not wider than the following. 
 
 In general appearance some of them at first sight 
 resemble the solitary species of true Wasps, others the 
 Ichneumons, others, again, the gay yellow-banded para- 
 sitic Bees; but sufficient rules have already been given 
 for distinguishing them from all of these insects. They 
 vary much in colour and somewhat in form, some being 
 black, others black and red, or black with creamy spots, 
 others banded with bright yellow, and these latter are, 
 like those of other banded and spotted insects, sub- 
 ject to much variation of marking. In form they are 
 usually slender and wasp-like, with the abdomen in some 
 attached by a decided stalk, while in others it approaches 
 to being sessile. The abdomen is never laterally com- 
 pressed as in some of the Ichneumonidse. 
 
 The habits of these insects are interesting. The 
 Iarva3 being insect-feeders, the parent forms a cell either 
 (according to the species) in the ground, in the stalks of 
 plants, willow, bramble, or rose, in old posts, &c., or 
 in some tubular cavity or burrow which it finds ready 
 
204 INSECTS. 
 
 made ; here it deposits its eggs, and with them a store 
 of insects to serve as food for the Iarva3. Most species 
 confine themselves to one kind of insect, hut there are 
 others that collect various kinds. Caterpillars, Spiders, 
 Gnats, and other flies, Aphides, Beetles, Ants, and Bees, 
 are all victims to one or another species. In some cases 
 the prey is half killed, or reduced to torpidity, by heing 
 stung ; in others it is stored quite alive, in others dead 
 insects are laid up. Some observers have stated that 
 there are species which are not content with laying up 
 beforehand a store of food for their young, but continue 
 to feed them at intervals. This Mr. Westwood doubts 
 in the case of any solitary insect, though so well-known 
 a habit with those which are social. 
 
 The land and wood wasps are divided into eight 
 families: 1. Scoliida3; 2. Sapygidse ; 3. Pompilid ; 
 4. Sphegida? ; 5. Larridae ; 6. Nyssonidse ; 7. Crabronidse ; 
 8. Philanthids. 
 
 The first family, Scoliidse, contains but two English 
 species, of one genus, Tiphia. This genus may be known 
 by the legs, which, in comparison with other Sand- 
 wasps, are short and very thick, with wide, flat femora, 
 and thickly-spined tibiae. The wings have two sub- 
 marginal cells. The antennas are thick, and shorter than 
 the thorax. Tiphia femorata is not rare. The female 
 is entirely black, excepting parts of the legs, which are 
 red. It is shiny, and scantily clothed with grey hairs; 
 its length about ^ inch, or under. The male is con- 
 siderably smaller, and bears a spine, curving upwards on 
 the tip of the abdomen. This insect is very common 
 on the cliffs at Lowestoft in Suffolk. 
 
 The second family, Sapygiclae, also contains but one 
 English genus and two species. This, Sapyga, may be 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 205 
 
 known by the kidney-shaped eyes and the presence of 
 four submarginal cells in the wings. The other English 
 genera of Fossores, with kidney-shaped eyes, differ in 
 the venation of the wings. The antennae are long, and 
 somewhat club-shaped. The legs are slender and spine- 
 less ; and thus the Sapyga is found making its cells 
 either in burrows ready formed in the ground by other 
 insects, or excavated by them in wood, or sometimes it 
 makes use of small snail shells. S. punctata, the most 
 common of the two species, is black, with small white 
 markings on the head and thorax, the abdomen black 
 and red, with white spots. 
 
 The third family, PompilidaB. contains three genera. 
 Pornpilus (twenty species) is the principal ; the others 
 (Ceropales, with four, andAporus, with two submarginal 
 cells) containing together but three species, none of 
 them common. 
 
 In Pompilus the wings have three submarginal cells, 
 and the head is transverse ; the antennae are inserted in 
 the middle of the face, and curled in the female. The 
 hind legs are long; the abdomen is egg-shaped in the 
 female, longer and more slender in the male, and attached 
 by a very short stalk. The legs vary so much in different 
 species, that the genus has been subdivided according to 
 the presence or absence of hair fringes and spines, and 
 this variety of structure affords an indication to variety 
 of habit. These differences consist in the presence or ab- 
 sence of cilise on the tarsi of the fore-legs, and of spines 
 (in double or single row, or irregularly placed), or of serra- 
 tions in the tibia? of the two other pairs. The hind legs 
 are long throughout the genus. The colours are chiefly 
 black ; or black and red, or reddish brown, sometimes 
 with white spots, wings usually somewhat dark. The 
 
206 INSECTS. 
 
 various species of Pompilus are strong, fierce, and 
 active insects, generally (though not without exception) 
 making choice of Spiders, which they kill before storing 
 them in their nests. They walk backwards with their 
 prey in this way, carrying or dragging large Spiders for a 
 very considerable distance. Some of the species burrow 
 in hard seaside sandbanks, others in light sand ; it has 
 been said that some use ready-made burrows in wood. 
 
 Pompilus exaltatus (PI. VII., fig. 3) is one of the 
 commonest species. It is a bright and pretty insect, 
 black and shining, with the exception of the abdomen, 
 nearly two-thirds of which are red. The wings are 
 darkish, with a pale spot near the tip, but this is some- 
 times absent in the females and usually so in the males. 
 In this family the abdomen has a very short peduncle. 
 
 The fourth family, Sphegidee, much resembles the 
 former, but may be distinguished from it by the abdomen 
 being set on a long stalk and the head on a small neck. 
 There are four genera, all with three submarginal cells. 
 This family contains but few species, of which Ammo- 
 phila Sabulosa (PL VII. fig. 4) is the most conspicuous. 
 This insect is sometimes nearly one inch long, and is 
 black, with the central part of the abdomen red. It pro- 
 vides Caterpillars for the food of its young, in the store- 
 room at the end of the burrow, placing a Caterpillar 
 first and laying one egg upon it, then adding three or 
 four Caterpillars and carefully closing this burrow, it 
 proceeds to form another. 
 
 The fifth family, Larridse, is at once distinguished by 
 the form of the mandible, which has a deep notch near 
 the base on the outer side, and by the legs, which have 
 one spine at the end of the tibiee in the two first pairs, 
 and two on the same place in the hind pair. The eyes 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 207 
 
 in this family, except in one genus, Miscophus, approach 
 closely in the female and become confluent in the male. 
 Most of the species are rare. Tachytes Pompiliformis 
 (PL VII. fig. 5) is a common insect hy the seaside and 
 in other sandy places. It may be known by the absence 
 of the hind stemmata, the place of which is in this genus 
 occupied by a tubercle. The insect is about J inch long, 
 black, excepting the fore half of the abdomen, which is of 
 a red brown ; the wings are darkish, and have one pointed 
 marginal, and three submarginal cells. The fore tarsi 
 are fringed with strong hairs, and the spines in the 
 middle and hind pair are strong. It preys upon various 
 insects, having been seen with Caterpillars, and by Mr. 
 Smith, with a small kind of Grasshopper, 
 
 The sixth family, Nyssonida3, brings us among the 
 more wasp-like insects,* many of the species in this, and 
 the two remaining families being banded or spotted on 
 the abdomen, or abdomen and thorax with bright yellow. 
 Many, however, exhibit the same colouring as the pre- 
 ceding families. In the Nyssonid the head is large, 
 the mandibles are but slightly curved, not notched near 
 the base, the antennae are straight and threadlike, com- 
 posed of short joints, the eyes ovate. The legs are some- 
 what spinous, the fore-legs have one comb-like spine 
 on the tibise, and a corresponding notch opposite to this 
 in the tarsus. The genera all have three submarginal 
 cells in the fore-wings. The family contains five genera. 
 The first, Nysson, may be known by the stemmata being 
 (as is most common) in a triangle, and by the singular 
 form of the abdomen, the second ventral segment 
 abruptly forming an angle with the others ; the colours 
 
 * In the preceding families but one yellow-banded species is found, 
 Sapyga clavicomis. 
 
208 INSECTS. 
 
 are black and yellow, legs partially tinged with reddish 
 Fig. 55. brown, wings more or less 
 
 darkened, N. dimidiatus is 
 black and red, with white mark- 
 ings. The second genus, Gorytes, 
 possesses in some species the 
 latter peculiarity, but has the 
 stemmata arranged in a curve. 
 These genera contain some 
 Profile Outline of Nysson common species, black and 
 Spinosus. yellow. The fifth gen us, Melli- 
 
 nus, has the stemmata in a curve, and the petiole of 
 the abdomen terminates in a knot. Mellinus arvensis 
 (PI. TIL, fig. 6) is one of the most common of the Sand- 
 wasps. It is usually banded and marked as in the plate, 
 but is subject to much variety in this particular. It is 
 about J inch in length. The wings have a long pointed 
 marginal cell, and four submarginal cells.* Of this 
 insect Mr. Smith writes as follows : " Having fre- 
 quently observed the habits of the Mellinus arvensis, 
 and reared it from the larva state, a few observa- 
 tions are here recorded. When the parent insect 
 has formed a burrow of the required length, and 
 enlarged the extremity into a chamber of proper dimen- 
 sions, she issues forth in search of the proper nutriment 
 for her young. This consists of various dipterous in- 
 sects ; species of various genera are equally adapted to 
 her purpose. Muscidce, Syrphidce, &c., are captured. 
 It is amusing to see four or five females lie in wait upon 
 a patch of cowdung until some luckless fly settles on it. 
 When this happens, a cunning and gradual approach 
 
 * The fourth, which reaches to the tip of the wing, is not shown in 
 the plate, the nerve which bounds it falling short. 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 209 
 
 is made a sudden attempt would not succeed : the fly 
 is the insect of quickest flight, therefore a degree of 
 artifice is necessary. This is managed by running past 
 the victim slowly, and apparently in an unconscious 
 manner, until the poor fly is caught unawares and carried 
 off by the MeUinus to her burrow. The first fly being" 
 deposited, an egg is laid. The necessary number of flies 
 are soon secured, and her task is completed ; but some- 
 times she is interrupted by rainy weather, and it is some 
 days before she can store up the quantity required. A 
 larva found feeding became full fed in ten days; six flies 
 were devoured, the heads, harder parts of the thorax, por- 
 tions of the abdomen, and the legs being left untouched. 
 The larva spins a tough, thin, brown silk cocoon, passes 
 the winter and spring in the larva state, changes to the 
 nymph on the approach of summer, and appears about 
 the beginning of autumn in the perfect state." 
 
 The seventh family, Crabronid, much resembles the 
 preceding in general character, but from it the three 
 principal genera, Trypoxylon, Crabro, Oxybelus, are 
 easily known from all other of the Fossores, by the 
 presence of only one submarginal cell. The first genus, 
 Trypoxylon, is distinguished by the eyes, which are deeply 
 cut, or kidney-shaped, and the wings with one tapering 
 marginal, and one submarginal cell. It contains three 
 species, all common. T. figulus is to be found every- 
 where. It burrows in sandy banks, sometimes forming 
 colonies, and provides its Iarva3 with spiders. It is a dusky 
 black insect, long, with a long somewhat slender club- 
 shaped abdomen, thickest at the end, contracted at the 
 close of each segment, and with a slight hump near the 
 base. The other two species are also black and similar 
 in form. T. claviceruyn and T. attenuatum, burrow in 
 
 
210 INSECTS. 
 
 decaying wood ; the latter also in rose and bramble 
 sticks. 
 
 The second genus, Crabro, has large somewhat tri- 
 angular eyes, rounded at the angles, and wings with one 
 submarginal cell, which is truncated and has a fragment 
 of nerve springing from the end. 
 
 The genus presents many varieties. In some species 
 the abdomen is attached by a longer or shorter stalk, 
 having a little hump at the termination, while in others 
 it is almost sessile. In some the ocelli are arranged in 
 a triangle, in others in a curved line. The legs are 
 short, thick, and very spinous in most species,* and the 
 males of some have the basal joint of the front tibise 
 much dilated. In one species, C. cribrarius, the basal 
 joint of the tarsus forms a broad thin plate, giving the 
 limb a deformed appearance. The antennas also are 
 various in form. The colours in this genus are black, 
 black and reddish brown, or black banded with bright 
 yellow. In all but three of the species (of which there 
 are thirty-six), the legs are partially of a bright yellow. 
 
 The different species form burrows in sandbanks, in 
 wood more or less decaying, in brambles and rose sticks- 
 One species, C- luteipalpis (one of those with no yellow 
 on the legs), which burrows in the mortar of old brick 
 walls, stores up the aphis as food ; another, C. brevis, 
 living in sandbanks, has been seen with a small species 
 of beetle, but nearly all of which the habits are known, 
 feed their young on various kinds of diptera. Crabro 
 vagus (PI. VIII., fig. ])is one of the commonest species. 
 
 Of the next genus, Oxybelus, but one species, O. 
 uniglumis, is very common. Mr. Smith describes it as 
 
 * This is generally the case with burrowing insects. 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 211 
 
 springing on its prey (two-winged flies) after the 
 manner of a cat. The eyes in Oxybelus are ovate, the 
 antennae short, the legs thick, ciliated and spined, and 
 the thorax has a sharp curved spine, near the base, which 
 Crabro has not. The wings have but one submarginal 
 cell, from which springs a short nerve as in Crabro. 
 0. uniglumis is black with some white spots about the 
 thorax, the abdomen banded and spotted with yellowish 
 white, the legs black, reddish brown, and yellowish white. 
 
 In the genus Diodontus, the head is wider than the 
 thorax, the abdomen attached by a very short stalk, 
 eyes ovate, wings with two submarginal cells. The in- 
 sects are small and black, with a little colouring about 
 the legs. They prey upon aphides, and burrow in rose and 
 bramble stems, or in sandbanks. One species, D. minutus, 
 has colouring on the thorax, and yellow mandibles. 
 
 Pemphredon contains only one species. P. lugubris 
 (PL VIII., fig. 2), an exceedingly common insect, is 
 black, from J to | inch long, with a large head and 
 a small glittering abdomen, which is attached to the 
 thorax by a long and curved peduncle. The wings 
 have two submarginal cells. It burrows in decaying 
 wood, and has been observed by Mr. Smith to " settle 
 on a rose tree, and scraping a number of aphides into a 
 ball, fly off with it, carrying it in front of its anterior 
 legs and under its head." 
 
 Mimesa equestris, a very pretty little insect, about 
 J inch long, is black, with the middle part of the small 
 petiolated shining abdomen red. It seems not to be 
 common except at Lowestoft. In the male the abdomen 
 terminates in a spine, curved upwards. In this genus 
 the submarginal cells are three. 
 
 The eighth and last family, Philanthidae, consists of 
 p 2 
 
2 1 2 INSECTS. 
 
 but two genera, Philanthus and Cerceris. In both, tbe 
 head is wider than the thorax, the tibia of the second 
 pair of legs has but one spine at the end, and the fore- 
 legs are strongly fringed with hairs on the tarsi. The 
 fore-wings have three submarginal cells. In Philanthus 
 the eyes are slightly cut, or inclined to kidney-shape, 
 the legs are strong and spiny, the tarsi strongly fringed, 
 the abdomen is ovate. P. triangulum, the only English 
 species, is a beautiful insect more than \ inch long. The 
 thorax is black, with creamy markings, and the face 
 creamy. The abdomen is yellow with a black border nar- 
 rowed in the middle to each segment, and a series of 
 triangular black spots down the middle, decreasing in size 
 towards the end. The legs are black and yellow. The 
 male has a yellow line behind the eyes, and the abdomen 
 is black with yellow bands, thinnest in their middle, and 
 yellow on the two last joints. It feeds its young upon 
 wild bees. 
 
 Cerceris may be distinguished by the decided constric- 
 tion of each segment of the abdomen. This character 
 occurs in Trypoxylon, and in a slighter degree in Phi- 
 lanthus. The antenna3 are inclined to be clubshaped ; 
 Fig 56 the legs strong, with strong 
 
 spines, and with fringes on the 
 fore-tarsi. The colours are black 
 and yellow. This genus pro- 
 vides its young with beetles, 
 amongst which are some of the 
 hardest species ; Mr. Smith, 
 however, suggests that these, 
 
 Profile of Cerceris Arenana. . . . 
 
 remaining m the damp ground 
 
 for some days before the larvae/ are ready for them, are 
 softened by the time they are required as food. 
 
SIT 7 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 
 
 THE true Wasps, solitary and social, form the third and 
 last division of the Predaceous Hymenoptera, Diploptera 
 (AfTrAow, diploo to double ; Trrtpbv, pteron wing) . As 
 this name indicates, the Wasps are distinguished by the 
 longitudinal folding, or doubling, of the fore-wing. The 
 eyes of Wasps are kidney- shaped, the tongue is cleft and 
 glandular at the tips ; the first and second pairs of legs 
 have one spine at the end of the tibiae ; the hind pair has 
 two spines. The claws are simple in the Social Wasps, 
 cleft in the Solitary, and the wings of all have three 
 submarginal cells. 
 
 The first family, the Solitary Wasps, or Eumenidse, 
 form two genera, Eumenes and Odynerus. To the first 
 belongs only one British species, E. coarctata (PI. VIII., 
 fig. 3), which constructs upon the twigs of heath or 
 other shrubs, a small round nest of mud in which it 
 places a single egg, and a store of small caterpillars. 
 This Wasp is about half an inch long, the male smaller. 
 It may be distinguished from the Odyneri by the long 
 pear-shaped stalk by which its abdomen is attached to 
 the thorax. It is black with yellow spots and bands 
 about the face, thorax, abdomen, and legs. 
 
 The second genus, Odynerus, contains twelve species 
 of various habits. Some burrow in sandbanks, others in 
 the pith of brambles, &c. : while others form their cells 
 
214 INSECTS. 
 
 in any convenient receptacle which offers itself; Mr. 
 Smith mentions a pistol-barrel, a piece of folded paper, 
 and the hollow reeds in thatch, as having been chosen 
 for this purpose by 0. quadratus, a species which on 
 other occasions burrows in old posts. 
 
 The young student will find no difficulty in distin- 
 guishing the Odyneri, the pear-shaped abdomen and stalk 
 of the Eumenes sufficing to mark that genus, while the 
 bifid claws of the Solitary Wasps divide them from the 
 Social. The species are all black marked with yellow. 
 
 The cells of Odijnerus Antilope (PI. VIII., fig. 4) 
 found by Mr. Smith in sandbanks, may very commonly be 
 observed built up of mud, in the crevices formed by the 
 perpendicular mouldings round doors, windows, &c., 
 long mud tubes filling these hollows. The writer has 
 seen the joints in a wooden summer-house filled by such 
 cells from three to six or eight inches in length, and 
 containing alternately a single Wasp-grub and six or 
 seven emaciated green caterpillars. The little mothers 
 appear to prefer a warm aspect for their young, fre- 
 quently choosing a south wall, exposed to the full heat 
 of the sun. 
 
 The second family, Vespid, contains the Social 
 Wasps, of which there are in England seven species. 
 They are divided into' the Ground-wasps and the Tree- 
 wasps, but their habits are not invariable, large nests of 
 the Ground-wasps being occasionally found suspended in 
 the roofs of houses and other such situations. 
 
 The Social Wasps, like the Social Ants and Bees, con- 
 sist of males, females, and workers or small imperfect 
 females, and their economy, though differing in some 
 important details, is to a great extent similar. One point 
 of difference is, that while the societies of Bees and Ants 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 215 
 
 continue from year to year, those of the Wasps are 
 strictly annual. 
 
 The foundation of a nest is laid in the spring by a 
 solitary female, which having crept into some sheltered 
 place at the approach of the winter, has survived its 
 rigours, and now issues forth prepared to found a new 
 city. Before the end of autumn this will have contained 
 a population of many thousands. If a Ground-wasp 
 (and we will take Vespa Vulgaris as the example), she 
 commences her operations in some convenient cavity in 
 the earth, it may be an old molehill, or a cavity under 
 the roots of a tree. Here, of paper moulded of the 
 gnawed fibres of wood, she constructs a small comb of a 
 very few shallow cells, and, roofing it over, deposits an 
 egg in each cell. She then proceeds to form more cells 
 and lay more eggs ; and, those first laid being speedily 
 hatched, her labours in behalf of the young become un- 
 remitting. Not only does she feed them with the greatest 
 care, but as they increase in size each little cell is again 
 and again increased in depth. This forming of imperfect 
 cells in the beginning points to a most curious economy 
 of time. From the first eggs are hatched the larvee of 
 workers only, and it is evident that the increase and 
 prosperity of the nest greatly depend on a speedy supply 
 of labourers at this time. This the queen provides for 
 by spending no more time in building than is absolutely 
 necessary before she lays the first eggs, which she does 
 as soon as the cells will contain them, trusting to her 
 own unceasing activity to make up all deficiencies as 
 occasion requires. These larva?, then, she feeds and 
 tends until the time of their first change. On emerging 
 from the pupa state the young workers, within a few 
 hours, set earnestly about assisting the foundress in her 
 
216 INSECTS. 
 
 labours. They form fresh combs, they increase the size 
 of the cavity in which the nest is placed, and, cutting 
 up the original saucer-like covering of the nest, they 
 use its material towards the construction of an elaborate 
 roof of layer after layer of grey paper, the size of which 
 increases with that of the nest itself. All this while, and 
 indeed throughout her life, the female assists in these 
 labours, not, as with the Ants, relinquishing such cares so 
 soon as she is surrounded by a hundred little hands and 
 feet willing and eager to undertake the whole labour of 
 the hive, nor, as with the Bees, consenting to be installed 
 in all the pomp and dignity of monarchy. The Wasp, on 
 the contrary, having reared her brood of workers, pro- 
 ceeds to fill the new and refill the old cells with eggs 
 which again are to produce workers only, and joins the 
 first brood in the task of tending and feeding the second. 
 This, however, is not all : the workers themselves begin 
 to increase the population of the hive (although no males 
 have as yet been hatched, these never appearing till 
 towards the end of the season) and lay eggs which pro- 
 duce workers only, or, later, workers and males. The 
 large, or perfect, females are always the progeny of the 
 first mother or foundress of the nest, as, in the time which 
 is approaching, these also will alone survive the winter, 
 to be themselves the founders of new colonies. 
 
 When the colony has arrived at what may be called its 
 perfect state, consisting of males, females, and neuters, 
 the work proceeds more actively than ever. Living 
 in perfect harmony, the many females now assist in 
 the populating of the nest, sharing meanwhile the 
 labours of the neuters ; and the males, though they 
 neither feed the young nor help in building, yet find 
 themselves occupation in the way of "odd jobs about the 
 
HTMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 217 
 
 house." Unlike the drones among the Bees, \vhich seem 
 to live only on sufferance, the male Wasps, acting as 
 scavengers, undertakers, &c., are a welcome and useful 
 portion of the community. 
 
 Throughout the summer, then, the varied labours of 
 these citizens continue, the chief work being the care 
 and feeding of the young. These, supplied at first with 
 juices of fruits and such like tender fare, are presently 
 promoted to an animal diet composed of insects or meat, 
 half digested for them by their careful nurses ; and this 
 as they approach their full growth, is exchanged for the 
 stronger nutriment afforded by these substances in almost 
 their natural state. 
 
 There is little left to add to this history except the 
 closing scene. It has been said that the societies of 
 Wasps are strictly annual. Like all other Hymenopte- 
 rous insects, Wasps are keenly sensitive to change of 
 temperature, and the first few frosts are fatal to them. 
 
 What, then, is the lingering death in store for the 
 young, hitherto so carefully fed and tended ? Warmly 
 sheltered in their little cells, it seems that they must 
 survive their tender nurses, to die of gradual starva- 
 tion, instead of by the quicker operation of the frost. 
 But this is not the way in which such things are 
 ordered. The nurses, for whom no labour has seemed 
 too great, whose care for their young has up to this time 
 been increasing, now suddenly seize upon them, and, 
 tearing them from their cells, kill, without exception, 
 every single grub, and scatter the bodies outside the 
 desolated nest. 
 
 By this expedient, an expedient second only to that 
 found in the marvellous system of prey, a quick and 
 easy death is substituted for one of slow privation and 
 
218 INSECTS. 
 
 suffering, and the parents and nurses die the most 
 enviable of deaths, leaving none to miss them, and no 
 work unfinished. 
 
 It is a well-known .fact that the female insects in many 
 orders are extremely tenacious of life until they have 
 fulfilled their appointed work of continuing the race. 
 Thus the life of a Moth or Butterfly, which under 
 ordinary circumstances would terminate in a few months, 
 may, if that be hindered, be prolonged to two or even 
 three years. To this law it is perhaps owing that a few 
 of the late hatched female Wasps survive the cold which 
 destroys the rest of the community, and are thus ready 
 at the return of spring to lay the foundation of a new 
 nest. Let then the whole race of Wasp-haters bear this 
 in mind. The single Wasp which trusts to the deceitful 
 courtesy of one mild day in December or January to 
 venture into our sight, will, before autumn, be the 
 mother of some thirty thousand. She crawls forth half 
 starved, half frozen, to claim from you perhaps the hun- 
 dredth of a grain of one of your lumps of sugar. If 
 you must murder Wasps, murder her, and fulfil the desire 
 of a Nero at one blow you have slain the thousands of a 
 city. But when summer comes refrain from the useless 
 cruelty of taking life after life from the joyous, busy 
 little creatures whom you may kill by thousands without 
 making the slightest perceptible difference in their 
 numbers, although with every little victim one happy life 
 has been quenched. If the preservation of fruit trees 
 is the object in this random, useless warfare, the object 
 will be better attained by placing more attractive food in 
 the neighbourhood of the fruit. If their "nasty sting'' 
 is the objection to them, make but two calculations. 
 First, inquire of half a dozen septuagenarian friends 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 219 
 
 how often they have been stung in the course of their 
 lives, and see if the average amount to more than one 
 Wasp sting in thirty years. Secondly, reckoning how 
 many millions of Wasps you may count upon as neigh- 
 hours during those thirty years, calculate how much 
 your chances of being stung are diminished by the 
 number of those that you kill. If after this you still 
 feel that your duty to yourself requires it, then by all 
 means kill the next little nurse or mother that comes to 
 see whether some of your breakfast would be nice for the 
 little ones at home. 
 
 If the common saying that a good plum season is a 
 season of many Wasps be true, we may find in it some 
 comfort under their depredations. 
 
 It is impossible to enter here into the details of the 
 architecture of the Wasp ; suffice it to say that the nest 
 spoken of above consists, when finished, of several large 
 combs, placed horizontally one above the other, with the 
 mouths of the cells downwards, and connected by strong 
 pillars, or rather ligaments of paper, and roofed with a 
 series of layers of grey paper. When, as sometimes 
 happens, the Wasp builds her nest not in the ground but 
 under the roof of an outhouse or loft, the roof is rather 
 differently constructed, and looks like a loose tiling of 
 small oyster-shells. The material with which the nests 
 of the Tree-wasps are made is much tougher than that 
 manufactured by the Ground- wasps, Mr. Smith observ- 
 ing that " the Tree-wasps may be considered as card- 
 board makers, and the Ground-wasps as paper makers." 
 The cells and roofs of the latter are sometimes exceed- 
 ingly fragile, the Wasp using, according to circumstances, 
 decayed or sound wood, but even in this case preferring 
 those parts which are worn by exposure. The oyster- 
 
220 INSECTS. 
 
 shells forming the roof of a Wasp's nest, lately found in 
 the roof of a dwelling-house, were beautified with zones 
 of green, the little architects having made use of decayed 
 wood coloured by the spores of P. seruginosa. 
 
 The species of Solitary Wasps are not always very 
 easily distinguished, and would require a more minute 
 description than space will allow to be given here. The 
 females and workers of the Ground and Tree-wasps 
 may, however, be distinguished by the colour of the 
 first joint of the antennae. In the former (Ground- 
 wasps, i.e., V. vulgaris, PL VIII., fig. 5, 5a, V. Ger- 
 manica, ru/a) this is black, and in the latter (Tree- 
 wasps, i.e,, V. arborea, sylvestris, Norvegica, PL VIII., 
 fig. 6, 6a, and V. Crabro) it is yellow in front, as in the 
 males of all the species. 
 
221 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 
 
 FROM the predaceous Hymenoptera we now turn to the 
 " Flower-lovers," or Bees. Familiar to all as are the 
 common Hive Bee, and the great velvety Humble Bee, 
 there are many species, little less common, which the 
 young observer can hardly persuade himself to accept 
 as Bees. Some are little black glossy creatures, hardly 
 larger than the common Ant; others, a little larger, are 
 glossy black and red ; others have a metallic lustre ; 
 and others again, as the parasitic Nomada, are banded 
 and spotted with black and yellow, yellow and red- 
 brown, yielding in showiness of colouring to none of 
 the Wasp or Sand-wasp tribes, and greatly resembling 
 some of these in form and general appearance.* 
 
 It becomes necessary, therefore, to look for some 
 character which shall distinguish the Bees from other 
 insects resembling them in form or colouring. This is 
 found in the peculiar form of the hind leg, already 
 mentioned, page 187 (see fig. 52, and compare fig. 57, 
 p. 222) ; the first joint of the tarsus in the Bees being a 
 flattish oblong or long triangular plate, whilst in the 
 Wasps, Sand-wasps, &c., this joint is cylindrical. 
 
 The purpose of this modification of form in the leg 
 of the Bee is discovered by observing the use made of 
 the limb by the larger number of species. The flattened 
 
 * See Plate IX. 
 
222 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 tarsal-joint (fig. 57, 1, 2, 3 e), and the tibia (d) to which 
 it is attached, are in many Bees densely clothed with 
 hairs for the conveyanceof pollen, whilst in the neuter 
 Social Bees (both Hive and Humble) these joints are 
 also naked on the outer side, flat or slightly concave, and 
 fringed with hairs, thus forming a kind of basket for the 
 reception of the pollen. The reader can hardly have 
 failed to observe the flight homewards of Bees thus 
 laden, their legs appearing enormously enlarged, and 
 coloured red, white, and yellow, according to the colour 
 of the pollen of such flowers as they have been visiting. 
 Thus the mignonette-bed sends out a host of red-legged 
 Bees, the same Bees issuing from the hollyhock are laden 
 with white pollen, and others carry home a store of gold. 
 This flattened form of the tarsus, existing more or 
 less in all Bees, does not however always indicate that 
 each Bee is a pollen bearer, nor does the absence of its 
 
 Fig. 57. 
 
 pollen-bearing accessories prove a 
 Bee to be one which lays up no 
 stores. Thus in the male or drone 
 of the Hive Bee, which takes no part 
 in the collection of provisions, the first 
 tarsal joint is remarkably large and flat 
 in proportion to the rest of the tarsus, 
 but it is not hollowed and fringed on 
 the outer side like that of the worker. 
 In the parasitic Bees the flattening of 
 the joint is observable though not 
 conspicuous, and there are, as might 
 
 1, Hindlegof^mia; be expected, no pollen-bearing ap- 
 
 2, Eucera; 3, Nomada pen dages ; while in others (some of 
 (Parasitic Bee). . . \ 
 
 the oolitary Bees) their place is 
 supplied by a series of brushes under the abdomen, or by 
 
HYMEXOPTERA. ACULEATA. 223 
 
 pollen-baskets in the thighs and at the base of the thorax. 
 Some Bees, known as builders and storers of provisions, 
 are apparently without any contrivance of the kind, pre- 
 senting one more of the countless paradoxes which arise 
 on all sides in tbe investigation of nature. 
 
 The front legs of the Bees are furnished with a beau- 
 tiful contrivance for the care and dressing of the antennae. 
 This is a comb-like moveable spur which grows at the 
 end of the tibia, and closes down over a notch in tbe 
 tarsus just deep enough to embrace the antenna. The 
 Bees may be seen drawing their antenna? through these 
 little notches again and again, cleansing them from dust 
 and dirt, and even, when first emerged from the pupa, 
 stripping off a membrane with which they are occa- 
 sionally invested. 
 
 Setting aside for the moment all arrangement founded 
 on structure, Bees may be distinguished as Solitary, 
 Social, and Parasitic. 
 
 The Solitary Bees vary in their modes of life. Some 
 make the tiny cells which are the cradles of their young 
 in the hollow tubular stalks of plants, in snail shells, or 
 in underground tunnels, and are in the strictest sense of 
 the word solitary ; while others, haunting in considerable 
 numbers the same spot, form colonies, in which however 
 each pair has its independent dwelling-place. 
 
 The Social Bees live either in republics or patri- 
 archal (or rather matriarchal) communities, each house- 
 hold consisting (as with the Social Ants and Wasps) of 
 one or more large perfect females, of smaller imperfect 
 females or neuters, and later of males and the large 
 females which are to produce their young in the following 
 year. 
 
 The Parasitic or " Cuckoo" Bees make their dwelling 
 
224 INSECTS. 
 
 in the territories of their neighbours, whether Solitary or 
 Social; each parasitic species being, however, limited in 
 its choice of the species with which to take up its abode. 
 
 From this slight sketch it will be seen that, making 
 allowance for the difference occasioned by variety of 
 food, great resemblance exists in the economy of all the 
 tribes of Aculeate Hymenoptera. Like the Solitary 
 Wasps and Sand-wasps, the Solitary Bees cradle their 
 young in nests or tunnels, placing with them a store of 
 proper food. Like the Social Wasps and Ants, the 
 Social Bees live in communities, and, by the help of 
 neuter or imperfect individuals, provide for their young 
 with a continuous and tender care. Like the Parasitic 
 Wasps and Ants, the Parasitic Bees find shelter for their 
 young in homes for which they have not worked ; and 
 though in the one case this is death to the rightful 
 inhabitant, who falls a prey to his rapacious guest, and 
 in the other guest and host often live together in perfect 
 harmony, yet there is enough resemblance to mark the 
 chain of relationship which binds these tribes together.* 
 
 The scientific division of Bees, based on their struc- 
 ture, depends chiefly on peculiarities in the tongue, legs, 
 and wings. 
 
 In the first family, Andrenidse, the tongue is short (as 
 compared with the mentum, or chin) and flat (fig. 58, 1). 
 It is broad, obtuse, and bi-lobed or notched (somewhat 
 like that of the Wasp, but without glands at the tip) in 
 the two first genera ; in the six remaining genera it is 
 pointed, and triangular or more or less lanceolate. 
 
 * In the following pages, the reader must be careful to distinguish be- 
 tween the social Bees, i.e. those living in communities formed of 9, $, 
 and <J, and the gregarious or colonizing solitary Bees, of which many pairs 
 burrow near each other. 
 
HYMEXOPTERA. ACULEATA. 
 
 225 
 
 In the second family, Apidae (fig. 59, 2), the tongue 
 is long and cylindrical, and makes a double fold under 
 the mouth when in repose. 
 
 The Andrenidae are all Solitary Bees, living either 
 singly or in colonies; and therefore, there being no 
 community, no public works are required, and no supply 
 of extra workers is necessary. Each pair constructs its 
 own nest, and only the two perfect sexes are known in 
 these tribes. 
 
 Fig. 58. Fig. 59. 
 
 1. Tongue, &c. of Collates. 
 (A ndrenidce.) 
 
 * 2. Tongue, &c. of Anthophora. 
 (Apidce.) 
 
 The two first genera of the Andrenid, Colletes and 
 Prosopis, are easily distinguished from others by their 
 obtuse bilobed tongues, and from each other by their ap- 
 pearance, the species of Prosopis being naked, while the 
 Colletes are more or less hairy, the thorax being downy, 
 
 * a, Tongue ; 6, Paraglossse ; c. Labial palpi ; /, Labium or mentum ; 
 d, Maxilla ; e, Maxillary palpus. {Note. a, b, c, f, are sometimes all in- 
 cluded in the name of " Labium.") 
 
 Q 
 
226 INSECTS. 
 
 and each ring of the abdomen fringed with grey or 
 whitish hairs. 
 
 The Colletes are gregarious, and form large colonies. 
 They burrow in the softer parts of walls or in sand- 
 banks. The burrows, or tubular cells, are from eight to 
 ten inches long, and the extremity is plastered inside 
 with a thin coating of some substance the nature of 
 which is not fully ascertained, though it is supposed to 
 be a secretion of the insect. In substance it resembles 
 fine goldbeater's skin, and it seems to be laid on in a 
 soft or fluid state by the little trowel-like tongue. 
 
 The burrow being completed, an egg and a store of 
 food composed of pollen and honey is deposited, and a 
 cell is formed by sealing up the portion of tube filled 
 with a flat wall of tbe same substance as that which lines 
 the sides. A second and concave wall is then built and a 
 second cell filled and furnished in the same way, till a series 
 of thimble-shaped cells are formed. It is believed that the 
 little mother is not always satisfied with a single burrow. 
 The wings of Colletes have three submarginal cells. The 
 species are from one-eighth to a quarter of an inch long. 
 
 The genus Prosopis differs from Colletes in its 
 solitary habits as well as in appearance. Nearly naked, 
 and without apparent means of collecting pollen, it 
 has been supposed to be parasitic upon some indus- 
 trious Bee ; but while Mr. Smith's researches go to esta- 
 blish as fact that no species of the Andrenid is parasitic, 
 it is now known that Prosopis forms cells (plastered, as 
 by Colletes) in the stems of the bramble, rose, or other 
 plants, which they render tubular by excavating the soft 
 pith, and in which they make cells resembling those of 
 the former genus. 
 
 The species of Prosopis are black, generally with 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 227 
 
 yellow or cream-coloured markings on the face (whence 
 perhaps its name), on the thorax, and on the legs. They 
 are from one-eighth to a quarter of an inch long; the 
 wings have two subraarginal cells. 
 
 The remaining six genera of short-tongued Bees have 
 these organs pointed and more or less tapering. 
 
 The first genus, Sphecodes, consists of small Bees 
 from one-eighth to half an inch in length, easily re- 
 cognised by the absence of pollen-bearing organs and 
 sphex-hke colouring of their shining red and black bodies, 
 the thorax being black and the abdomen brownish red 
 (see PL IX., fig. 1, S. ruf.), sometimes tipped with black. 
 
 The Sphecodes are gregarious and frequently choose 
 the same ground for their burrows as Hal-ictus, the 
 second genus of the sharp-tongued Andrenidae ; from 
 this circumstance, and from the absence of visible 
 means of carrying pollen they, like Prosopis, have 
 been supposed to be parasitic. This, however, has been 
 disproved by the observations of Mr. Smith, who not 
 only saw the female Sphecodes at work upon her burrow, 
 but found that the burrows entered by Sphecodes in a 
 mixed colony were too small to admit the female of the 
 Halictus. 
 
 The Sphecodes are black and red, and shining. The 
 species, of which there are five, vary in size from one- 
 twelfth (!) to half an inch. The submarginal cells are 
 three in number. 
 
 The Halictus, gregarious, as its name indicates, 
 forms burrows in the earth, in which several tubes open 
 into one common entrance. These contain the eggs, and 
 are stored with food as in other cases. This genus also 
 contains some of the smallest Bees known, the $ of H. 
 minutissimus is sometimes no more than one-eighth of an 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 INSECTS. 
 
 inch in length, H. morio (PI. IX., fig. 2), an exceedingly 
 abundant species, is one-sixth and over. This last is a 
 beautiful little glossy black creature with somewhat of a 
 metallic lustre ; other species are more or less clothed 
 or banded with white, grey, or golden hairs, while some 
 are entirely black. The males have long slender bodies 
 and long antennas. It is worth noticing that in this and 
 the preceding genus, the wing-hooks, instead of forming 
 a series, arranged at regular, or regularly decreasing in- 
 tervals, as in the generality of Bees (see fig. 24, p. 50), 
 are interrupted and placed thus 
 
 Fig. 60. 
 
 C = 
 
 a. Hooks of posterior wing of Sphecodes rufescens. 
 
 b. do. do. of S. subquadratus. 
 
 c. do. do. of Halictus morio. 
 
 The examination of a large number of species might 
 possibly prove this to afford a character useful in the 
 distinction of species. The fore-wings have three sub- 
 marginal cells. 
 
 The females of the genus Andrena may be recognised 
 without difficulty by a beautiful little tuft of curled hairs 
 on the underside of the trochanter of the hind-legs (see 
 fig. 57, 1, p. 222). Being an instrument for conveying 
 pollen, it is more conspicuous in the females than in the 
 males, but these also have a tuft of hairs in the same 
 position. 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 229 
 
 The determination of species is a much more difficult 
 matter, and requires close examination. On the one 
 hand, many species very closely resemble each other ; 
 while on the other, great variety in size, colouring, &c., 
 occurs in individuals of the same species. A young and 
 fresh coloured Bee can sometimes hardly be recognised 
 when old and hoary, or when its golden glories are ex- 
 changed for the baldness of age. Besides this, the 
 males are in some cases entirely unlike the females of 
 their own species. 
 
 There is great variety of appearance among the 
 Andrena3, many of them are not unlike the common 
 Hive Bee in size and colouring, &c., but they are gene- 
 rally rather more hairy, while others are sufficiently so to 
 be mistaken by the tyro for small Humble Bees. 
 Black, white, grey, and various shades of golden brown 
 (PL IX., fig. 3, A.fulva), are the usual colours of the 
 hairs, which are variously distributed, some species being 
 thickly clothed all over, while others have the thorax 
 furry, and the abdomen fringed with long hairs, or 
 nearly naked. In one division the species are coloured 
 like the Sphecodes, from which, however, the tufted 
 troehanter easily distinguishes them. All the females 
 are furnished with a thick pollen brush on the hind legs. 
 In size the Andrenae range from that of the Honey Bee 
 down to one-third of its length. The submarginal cells 
 are three in number. All the Andren burrow in the 
 ground, some burrowing alone, and others living in 
 colonies, which very commonly include large numbers 
 of the wasp-like parasitic Bee, Nomada, of which a 
 description will be found in its place. The tunnels of 
 the Andrenae branch out in various directions, and are 
 less elaborately finished than those of most other Bees. 
 
230 INSECTS. 
 
 The most noticeable insect remaining in the family of 
 the Andrenidse, is the Dasypoda hirtipes. It is slender 
 and rather smaller than a neuter Hive Bee, and the female 
 is rendered conspicuous by the enormous size of the 
 pollen brushes, which clothe her legs throughout their 
 length with a rich mass of golden fur. The body of the Bee 
 is black and shining, the face and head are clothed with 
 grey and black down, the thorax with black and golden. 
 The abdomen has a little white down on the fore part, 
 and its segments are fringed with white hairs. The 
 males differ in the colour of their fur and in other par- 
 ticulars, and are less easy to recognise. The wings have 
 only two submarginal cells. 
 
 The Dasypoda appears late, and forms burrows in sand- 
 banks and other situations, choosing, according to Mr. 
 Shuckard, a southern aspect, and situations where the 
 ground is overgrown with shrubs. It is somewhat local, 
 but very abundant where it occurs. 
 
231 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 
 
 THE Apidse form the second family of Bees containing 
 the long-tongued Bees. In the habits of genera in 
 this family we find more variety than in the Andrenida3. 
 Amongst them are found Bees which burrow in all 
 imaginable situations, in the earth, in brick walls, in 
 the stems of brambles and other such plants, in trees, in 
 posts ; some build thin cells, grain by grain, with sand- 
 stones, like the case of some Caddis Worms ; others 
 form them with a substance secreted in their own 
 bodies ; some line them with portions of leaf, others, like 
 the Pelican, with down plucked from their own bodies. 
 Some dwell in cities, each in his own home, others in 
 families, hundreds living under one roof, while of the 
 latter,some (theHiveBees) live under strictly monarchical 
 government, others (the Humble Bees) in a Republic. 
 
 And yet another mode of life remains. Some, brothers 
 and sisters to these most ingenious architects, most 
 tender nurses, most sober housekeepers some, eschew- 
 ing all the dull duties of life, light of form, bright in 
 colouring, spend their little lives without care and with- 
 out labour ; appropriating to themselves the fruit of the 
 toil of others, and, digging no tunnels, shaping no nests, 
 collecting no stores, quietly provide for their young by 
 depositing them in the well-stored nests of those who 
 
232 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 like such occupations, and thus " doing their duty by 
 themselves and their children," afford a happy illustration 
 of a favourite proverb " Charity begins at home." 
 
 A likeness between the habits of these insects and 
 those of the Cuckoo cannot fail to occur to every 
 observer, and indeed to this they owe the name of 
 Cuckoo Bees.* A closer examination by no means dimi- 
 nishes this resemblance ; both are distinguished in their 
 tribes by anatomical peculiarities in the mouth and feet. 
 The bill of such of the Cuckoo family as are known to 
 be parasitic is formed differently from that of species even 
 in the same family which are nest-builders ; and this, 
 accompanying a certain form of foot in the parasitic 
 birds, points to a relation between form and habit which 
 at least exonerates the bird from the charge of voluntary 
 idleness. In the same manner we find the jaw of the 
 little Nomada very different from that of the burrowing 
 
 Fig. 61. 
 
 a. Jaw of JBombus, Nest-digging Bee. 
 
 b. Do. Nomada, Parasitic Bee. 
 
 or cell-making Bees, see fig. b, jaw of Nomada ; and 
 fig. a, jaw, or rather spade of the the Humble Bee, not 
 
 * Or Cuculince, a name applied to the whole sub-family, which includes 
 five genera. 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA, 233 
 
 to mention the more elaborate instrument provided for 
 the chief of Bee architects, the working Hive Bee. 
 
 The legs (fig. 57, 3, p. 222), and indeed the whole 
 of the body of the Cuckoo Bees, are unprovided with the 
 means of carrying pollen. It is true, as has already been 
 noticed, that there are some other Bees, not parasitic, 
 which also appear to be without these organs, but this is 
 one of the difficulties which constantly encounter the 
 student, and for which as yet no solution has been found. 
 
 But there is another point in which the Bee and the 
 bird are alike in their care of their offspring. The 
 bird, much maligned in popular tradition, is yet an 
 attentive and affectionate mother. Not confining her 
 care for her young to finding for them the lodging which 
 nature has denied her the power to construct, nor limit- 
 ing her provision for them by the instinct which leads 
 her to place her eggs invariably in the nests of such 
 birds as feed their young with insects she herself looks 
 to their wants and brings them food. Lest this should 
 be difficult to believe against the common prejudice, 
 the testimony may be called of Dr. J. E. Gray, who for 
 a considerable time watched a Cuckoo daily engaged in 
 supplying her young with insects. 
 
 This the little Bee does not achieve, but there is 
 reason to believe that she does what is equivalent. Mr. 
 Smith relates that he has frequently captured species of 
 these Bees with masses of clay attached to their posterior 
 tibia?, and his observations point to the conclusion that 
 the cunning little creature seizes the moment when a stored 
 cell is open and ready to receive the egg, that she then 
 deposits her own. and seals up the cell, while the owner of 
 the cell returning and finding either a sealed cell or a cell 
 with an egg in it, deserts it, and commences a fresh re- 
 
234 INSECTS. 
 
 ceptacle for her own young. This, as Mr. Smith observes, 
 is far more in accordance with the common course of 
 nature than, as has been usually supposed, that the 
 young Cuckoo Bee should eat the food provided for 
 another and so starve that other ; for, as he says, " nature 
 I have never observed to be thus wasteful of animal 
 life, such a proceeding is unnecessary and therefore 
 unlikely." 
 
 This remark finds an illustration in the system of prey, 
 the whole principle of which is adverse to such waste of 
 life ; this system both guarding animals from a linger- 
 ing death of old age and starvation, and rendering their 
 death immediately conducive to the life and enjoyment 
 of others. 
 
 There are five genera of Cuckoo Bees. The first, 
 Nomada (PL IX., fig. 4), are elegantly formed Bees, 
 with nearly hairless bodies and wasp-like colouring, 
 being banded with black, red-brown, and yellow, whence 
 they are commonly called " Wasp Bees." They are 
 parasitic on species both of Andrenidse and Apidae. N. 
 sexfasciata, one of the largest of the species, may often 
 be seen in numbers flying noiselessly over a colony of the 
 long-horned Bee. It is half an inch in length. 
 
 Nomada contains twenty-four species, varying in size 
 from one-sixth to the half of an inch. 
 
 The remaining genera, Epeolus, Ccelioxys, Stelis, and 
 Melecta, contain some exceedingly pretty species, but 
 are less showy than the Nomada. They are generally of 
 a glossy black, with more or less white, creamy, or 
 yellow down about the head and thorax, and sometimes 
 with white stripes or bands of white down upon the 
 abdomen. Melecta luctuosa is especially beautiful, of 
 "shining jet spotted with snow white." Ccelioxys is 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 235 
 
 remarkable from the acutely conical form of the abdo- 
 men, which is truncated in front. 
 
 These little creatures, of course, follow the Bees upon 
 which they are parasitic, into whatever burrows they 
 may form, and thus the student must be on his guard 
 against taking for granted that the young Bee which he 
 has carefully hatched from a cell in a bramble-stick, or 
 has watched in its first emerging from one in an old post 
 or wall, is necessarily the maker or the rightful owner of 
 such cell. 
 
 This intrusive family of CuculinaB, now described, has, 
 according to its wont, pushed itself into a place where it 
 had no right to be ; and if a reader, more scientific than 
 those for whom these pages are intended, should ask 
 why the Cuckoo Bees, the second family of the Apidce, 
 have been allowed to come into the place of the Andre- 
 noides, the first family, the only available answer is 
 that the writer on Bees has had no better luck than the 
 Bees themselves, and could not keep the Cuculinas from 
 coming where they had no business to come. 
 
 The sub -family of Andrenoides consists of but one 
 genus, Panurgus, containing two species, and owes 
 its proper position as first of the Apidae to its re- 
 semblance to the Andrenoides, as indicated by its name 
 (i.e., Andrena-like). It does, in fact, appear to form a 
 connecting link between the AndrenidaB and the Apid. 
 In their manner of burrowing and storing their nests, in 
 the possession of a pollen brush on the several joints of 
 the legs, and other particulars, the Bees of this genus 
 show a close affinity to the former, while the character 
 of the folded tongue at once determines them to the 
 latter family. They have, besides the pollen brushes, a 
 shiny pollen basket on the outside of the thighs, and 
 
236 INSECTS. 
 
 similar plates at the base of the thorax. The wings 
 have two submarginal cells. 
 
 The third family, Dasygastrce (i.e., the hairy-bellied 
 Bees), is distinguished by a dense clothing of hairs 
 forming a pollen brush on the underside of the abdomen 
 of the female, and by the very large upper lip, which 
 last, with the spines which terminate the abdomen in 
 the males, suffices to mark these also.* 
 
 In all the genera except Ceratina, the submarginal 
 cells are two in number. 
 
 This family contains some of the most interesting 
 insects of the whole tribe ; and perhaps a greater variety 
 of architectural contrivances is found in it than in any 
 other family. 
 
 Some species of Osmia, the first genus, have obtained 
 the name of Mason Bees, from their use, in the for- 
 mation of their cells, of a cement composed of small 
 stones, grains of sand, &c., agglutinated together ; but 
 this habit is not confined to, nor indeed most remarkable 
 in, this genus. 
 
 The reader will require no apology for the quotation 
 of a passage in the interesting " Catalogue" of Mr. Smith 
 upon this genus. 
 
 " If I were asked what genus of Bees would afford 
 the most abundant materials for an essay on the diversity 
 of instinct, I should, without hesitation, point out 
 the genus Osmia. The most abundant species is O. 
 bicornis (PL IX., fig. 5). Its economy is varied by cir- 
 cumstances. In hilly countries, or at the seaside, it 
 chooses the sunny side of cliffs or sandy banks, in which 
 to form its burrows ; but in cultivated districts, particu- 
 
 * In Ceratina, tlie last genus, this pollen brush is wanting. 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 237 
 
 larly if the soil be clayey, it selects a decaying tree, pre- 
 ferring the stump of an old willow. It lays up a store 
 of pollen and honey for the larvae, which, when full 
 grown, spin a tough dark brown cocoon, in which they 
 remain, in the larva state, until the autumn, when the 
 majority change to pupae, and soon arrive at their perfect 
 condition. Many, however, pass the winter in the larva 
 state. In attempting to account for so remarkable a 
 circumstance all must be conjecture, but it is not of 
 unfrequent occurrence. This species also frequently 
 makes its burrows in the mortar of old walls. Osmia 
 leucomelana may be observed availing itself of a most 
 admirable, and almost ready, adaptation for a burrow ; it 
 selects the dead branches of the common bramble ; with 
 little labour the parent Bee removes the pith, usually to 
 the length of from five to six inches ; at the end she 
 deposits the requisite quantity of food, which she closes 
 in with a substance resembling masticated leaves 
 evidently vegetable matter; she usually forms five or six 
 cells in each bramble-stick. The Bee does not extract 
 the whole of the pith, but alternately widens and contracts 
 the diameter of the tube, each contraction marking the 
 end of a cell. The egg is deposited on the food imme- 
 diately before closing up the cell. It is white, oblong, 
 and about the size and shape of a caraway seed ; the 
 larva is hatched in about eight days, and feeds about 
 ten or twelve, when it is full grown ; it then spins a 
 thin silken covering, and remains in an inactive state 
 until the following spring, when it undergoes its 
 transformation, and appears usually in the month of 
 June. 
 
 " Osmia hirta burrows in wood, seldom in any other 
 material. The same habit will be observed in O. senea ; 
 
238 INSECTS. 
 
 but I have observed this Bee more than once construct- 
 ing its burrow in the mortar of walls, and sometimes in 
 hard sandbanks. 0. aurulenta and 0. bicolor are Bees 
 which commonly burrow in banks ; the latter being very 
 abundant in some situations, forming colonies. But 
 although it appears to be the usual habit of these species 
 to construct tunnels in hard banks with great labour and 
 untiring perseverance, still we find them at times exhibit- 
 ing an amount of sagacity and a degree of knowledge 
 that at once dispels the idea of their actions being the 
 result of a mere blind instinct, impelling them in one 
 undeviating course. A moment's consideration will 
 suffice to call to mind many tunnels and tubes ready 
 formed, which would appear to be admirably adapted to 
 the purposes of the Bee. For instance, the straws of a 
 thatch, and many reeds ; and what could be more 
 admirably adapted to their requirements than the tubes 
 of many shells? So thinks the Bee. Osmia aurulenta 
 and 0. bicolor both select the shells of Helix hortensis 
 and Helix nemoralis : the shells of these snails are, of 
 course, very abundant, and lie half hidden beneath grass, 
 mosses, and plants ; the Bees, finding them in such 
 situations, dispense with their accustomed labours, and 
 take possession of the deserted shells. The number of 
 cells varies according to the length of the whorl of the 
 shell selected,, the usual number being four, but in some 
 instances they construct five or six, commencing at the 
 end of the whorl ; a suitable supply of honey and pollen 
 is collected, an egg deposited, and a partition formed of 
 abraded vegetable matter : the process is repeated 
 until the requisite number is formed, when the whole is 
 most carefully protected by closing up the entrance 
 with small pellets of clay, sticks, and pebbles ; these 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 239 
 
 are firmly cemented together with some glutinous matter, 
 and the Bee has finished her task. 
 
 " We will now observe the intelligence of the Bee under 
 different circumstances. She has selected the adult 
 shell of Helix aspersa ; the whorl of this species is 
 much larger in diameter than that of H. nemoralis, or 
 H. hortensis, too wide, in fact, for a single cell. Our 
 little architect, never at a loss, readily adapts it to her 
 purpose by forming two cells side by side ; and as she 
 advances towards the entrance of the whorl it becomes 
 too wide even for this contrivance. Here let us admire 
 the ingenuity of the little creature ; she constructs a 
 couple of cells transversely. And this is the little animal 
 which has been so blindly slandered as being a mere 
 machine." 
 
 The antenna? of the males of Osmia are fringed with 
 hair down one side. 
 
 The next genus, Megachile, is marked by the size of 
 its jaws and by its two-jointed maxillary palpi. It con- 
 tains the Leaf-cutters, Bees which, forming their 
 burrows in various situations, in the softer parts of old 
 walls, in the ground, or in wooden posts, &c., partition 
 them into a series of cells by means of circular pieces 
 of leaf, so accurately fitted together as safely to confine 
 the honey which is stored in them. Some species are 
 not uncommon, and the reader may perhaps recall to 
 his mind the frequent appearance of rose leaves (not 
 petals) with circular holes in them, always cut from the 
 edge of the leaf, and which have been operated upon by 
 some of these Bees. It is easy to distinguish such leaves 
 from those eaten by caterpillars, the clean-cut edge, the 
 nearly perfect circle, and the approach to uniformity of 
 size in these holes, marking the work of the Leaf-cutter 
 
240 INSECTS. 
 
 Bee. There are several bees parasitic on Megachile, 
 Coelioxys being tbe most frequently so. 
 
 The male in some species is easily recognised by the 
 conspicuously dilated, fringed fore-legs, which appear 
 like a mass of down ; in some the last joint of the an- 
 tennaB is flattened and widened ; others are without these 
 characteristics. The Leaf-cutting Bee described as lining 
 its cells with the petals of the scarlet poppy, is not an 
 English species. 
 
 Anthidium somewhat resembles Megachile in appear- 
 ance; it forms cells in holes or tubes (not, as Mr. Smith 
 believes, making these burrows, but using such as she 
 finds ready), which she lines with down collected from 
 the woolly leaves of certain plants. Mr. Kirby found 
 such a nest in the keyhole of a door. 
 
 In this genus there is only one English species, 
 A.manicatum, in which the male is larger than the female. 
 It is a handsome black Bee, with yellow markings on 
 the face, jaws, legs, &c., and a row of oval yellowish 
 spots down the sides of the abdomen. The female is 
 between one-third and half an inch, the male sometimes 
 as much as two-thirds, an unusual circumstance among 
 Bees, of which the female is nearly always the largest. 
 Chelostoma, the fourth genus of the Dasygastrse, 
 contains only two species, the 
 males of which are at once to 
 be recognised by the curved 
 abdomen, which is bent, or, 
 it might almost be said, which 
 is curled under them. Che- 
 Profile of Chelostoma florisomnis. lostomaflorisomnis, the largest 
 of the two species, being about 
 one-third of an inch in length, is very commonly 
 
HYMEXOPTERA. ACULEATA. 241 
 
 to be found asleep in flowers, to which it is attached 
 by the jaws (see fig. 62). In the female of this Bee the 
 antennae are very short. 
 
 Heriades closely resembles Chelostoma, and contains 
 only one, and that a very rare species. 
 
 Ceratina is without the pollen-brush on the abdomen, 
 but has long hairs growing sparsely on the legs ;* 
 it contains only one species certainly indigenous, and 
 that is not common. It may be recognised by its glossy 
 blue body, and the club-shaped form of its abdomen. 
 It has, owing to the absence of polleniferous organs, 
 been suspected of parasitism, but Mr. Smith has seen it 
 in the act of excavating a dead bramble-stick. The sub- 
 marginal ceils are three in number. 
 
 The fourth sub-family is the Scopulipedes (or brush- 
 legs). These Bees are furnished with a dense clothing 
 of hairs on the hind-legs of the females. 
 
 The first genus, Eucera, contains but one species, the 
 male of which is instantly to be recognised by the great 
 length of the antennae, which is equal to that of the 
 body. As the Eucera is a colonizing Bee, it is easy to 
 find males and females at the same time, at the end of 
 May and in June. The antennas of the females are not 
 remarkable. 
 
 This Bee burrows six or eight inches deep in the 
 earth, forming for its larvae a curious oblong-oval brown 
 cell of thin material, in which it places both larvae and 
 food. A colony of these Bees, settled on the green slope 
 of a garden-plat or lawn, is a most enlivening addition 
 to the pleasures of the garden. The males are busy, 
 
 * It is on the ground of general affinity that this Bee is placed among 
 the Dasygastrse notwithstanding the absence of the abdominal hairs. 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 musical, good-natured, very playful, and their flight, 
 when coursing one another over the ground occupied 
 by their colony, is rapid and graceful. Additional in- 
 terest is given by the intermingling of the bright little 
 yellow-banded parasite Nomada sexfasciata, which ap- 
 pear to have free entrance to the burrows of the Eucera. 
 Another parasite, a two-winged fly, looking so like a 
 Bee as easily to be mistaken for one, is also to be found 
 with these Bees. The submarginal cells in the wings of 
 Eucera are two in number. 
 
 Saropoda is distinguished by the labial palpi, which 
 though really composed of four joints, form a straight 
 bristle-like organ. In the other English Apidee (see 
 fig. 63, e\ the terminal joint or joints are placed at an 
 angle. It contains only one species, S. Bimaculata, a 
 wood-burrower. The wings have three submarginal cells. 
 Anthophora contains four spe- 
 cies. They burrow in hard banks, 
 old walls, &c., forming in them 
 white-lined, elliptical egg-cells, 
 which they provision and seal. 
 A. Acervorum, a very common Bee, 
 is nearly or quite two-thirds of an 
 inch in length, black and hairy, 
 with reddish-yellow hairs upon 
 the legs in the female ; in the 
 male, the fore part of the abdo- 
 men is clothed with yellow hair, 
 there is yellow about the face, 
 and the legs, of which the middle 
 Head of Anthophora retusa. - i i frinfrpq of 
 
 fUlil ell U lUlJc;* IlclVc .1 1 1 i-l ii: U o Ul 
 
 white and of black hairs. The submarginal cells are 
 three. 
 
 Fig. 63. 
 
HYMEXOPTERA. ACULEATA. 243 
 
 The last sub-family of Bees is the Sociales, contain- 
 ing the Humble Bees (Bombus), and the Hive Bees, 
 besides a genus of large Cuckoo Bees (Apathus) which 
 so nearly resemble the Humble Bees that, although 
 supposed not to be nest-builders, they are naturally 
 associated with them ; all these have three submarginal 
 cells. (PI. IX., fig. 6. Bombus terrestris ? .) 
 
 The Humble Bees are too well known to require de- 
 scription, and no others are likely to be mistaken for 
 them, except the parasitic Apathus. Their large, heavy, 
 handsomely-clothed bodies, their pleasant hum, and their 
 busy habits, render them noticeable to the least obser- 
 vant, and they are almost universal favourites. 
 
 In habits they are social, or partially so ; and, like 
 the other social Hymenoptera, they consist of males, 
 females, and neuters. In one respect their habits re- 
 semble those of the Ants rather than of the other Social 
 Bees (the Hive Bees), namely, the existence in their 
 community of several females at the same time. 
 
 The nest is founded in the spring by a single female, 
 who either builds it of moss, grass, &c., or, if a ground 
 Bee, chooses some ready-made hollow wherein to com- 
 mence her work. Here she differs from the ground 
 Wasp, who, under similar circumstances, never selects a 
 cavity larger than is required for her present use, this 
 being enlarged as it becomes necessary ; while the Bee 
 chooses one large enough to contain the nest when it 
 shall have attained its full size. From the first-laid eggs 
 (as in the case of the Wasps), only neuters are hatched. 
 The nests are lined snugly with moss, grass, horsehair, 
 or other suitable material, with the addition of a waxen 
 cement. The young enclose themselves for their change 
 in silk cocoons, whence, like such of the Ants as spin 
 
INSECTS. 
 
 cocoons, they are aided in emerging by their watchful 
 nurses. 
 
 There is a curious note in the " Zoologist" (3627), 
 by Mr. E. Newman, who observed that Humble Bees 
 usually so good-tempered become ill-tempered whilst 
 awaiting the hatching of the neuters. 
 
 The Humble Bees differ greatly in size, even in the 
 same species. The females are the largest, the males 
 next in size, and the workers least, these being some- 
 times less than half the length of the female. There is 
 sometimes great variety in the size of individuals even of 
 the same gender. The colouring also varies greatly, and 
 varies in the same individual at different periods, and the 
 species are sometimes difficult to determine. The legs 
 of the female Humble Bee have the usual pollen -basket, 
 and the hind tarsi have a deep notch at the base, forming 
 a tooth. This is wanting in the male. 
 
 The next genus, Apathus, consists of two sexes only, 
 and is believed to be parasitic on Bombus. Little is as 
 yet known, however, of the connexion subsisting be- 
 tween these insects. They closely resemble each other, 
 but the females are easily to be distinguished by the 
 legs, the tibia of which is concave on the outer side in 
 the Apathus, while in Bombus it is hollowed into a 
 pollen-basket, and the hind tarsus is without the deep- 
 cut and prominent tooth so conspicuous in the Bombus. 
 In Apathus, too, the abdomen is curved quite under at 
 the tip, and great part of the upper side of the abdomen 
 is almost bald and very glossy ; the tongue has no 
 
 It is remarkable that these parasites should so closely 
 resemble the Bees on which they are parasitical, while 
 others, as for instance the Nomada, are so strikingly 
 
HYMEXOPTERA. ACULEATA. 245 
 
 different from Eucera, &c., upon which they live. Mr. 
 Smith suggests as an explanation of this, that as the 
 Solitary Bee would repel any intruder even of her own 
 species, such resemblance would be useless, and therefore 
 does not exist, while in the case of the Social Bees it 
 might be of great service to the interloper. In the case 
 of Solitary Bees, too, only one watchful little mother has 
 to be supplanted, while the Humble Bee nest has many 
 pairs of interested little eyes looking on at all that 
 happens. 
 
 It seems, however, that the idea of any deception or 
 evasion being necessary, or intended, is proved untenable 
 by the harmony which exists between the solitary Bees 
 themselves and their parasites, which goes to show that 
 the Bee does not always repel intruders. 
 
 The last genus is Apis, which contains only one 
 English species, but that the crowning wonder of the 
 whole tribe the Hive Bee. 
 
 So much has been written and said of the habits of 
 this insect, that such space as Bees could claim in this 
 work has been devoted to the description of less-known 
 genera, and it is not proposed to enter into details of 
 the life of the Hive Bee, which the reader may find in 
 other volumes without number. 
 
 The Hive Bee is commonly quoted in connexion 
 with the Instinct versus Reason question, but whilst the 
 " instinct" of this little creature as displayed in its 
 admirable system of architecture, in its unvarying 
 adherence to the established form of government, in its 
 manner of collecting and of storing up food is a 
 favourite topic with those who allow only "instinct" and 
 deny "reason" to the lower orders of animals, it must 
 be admitted that, for beings without reason, the Bees 
 
24)6 INSECTS. 
 
 sometimes act in a remarkably reasonable manner. 
 Thus, some bees transported to Peru (" Zool." 7574), 
 and providing a plentiful supply of honey in the first 
 season, gradually slackened in their labour, diminishing 
 the quantity stored up, until they nearly ceased to collect 
 at all. Were the Bees indeed possessed of reason, this 
 might be explained by their finding that flowers were to 
 be had all the year round, and judging from thence 
 that the labour of collecting stores of honey was 
 superfluous. 
 
 In the same periodical from which this incident is 
 borrowed, there is an account of a huge colony of Hive 
 Bees which had taken up their abode in a blank attic- 
 window of an old house in Yorkshire. A swarm of 
 Bees had settled in the casement, and had been left 
 undisturbed for some years, during which time swarm 
 after swarm had yearly been thrown off and had settled 
 in the same old mullioned window, and, when taken, the 
 nest consisted of tier above tier of combs, several feet 
 in height, and weighing, with the honey, 160 pounds. 
 Here the common habit of the removal of the young 
 swarms was not followed, there being accommodation 
 for them near their old homes. 
 
 If the foregoing stories go to prove that the " in- 
 stinct" of the Bee includes the power of comparing facts 
 and drawing conclusions from them, the following anec- 
 dote (from Ireland) gives an example of this same " in- 
 stinct," exercised in the form of memory and resentment. 
 
 " Some Beehives were placed on a stand of two deal 
 planks, not fitting closely together. After a time, the 
 crevice between the planks increasing, the Bees began to 
 use it as a passage, and at last commenced building 
 combs beneath the stand. The gardener, disapproving 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 
 
 of this step, broke down some of the combs. The 
 Bees, who had before been most quiet and harmless, 
 became so angry at the destruction of their work, that 
 they began a systematic war against all human beings, 
 getting more and more wicked every day, till at last we 
 could get nobody to work in the garden, or even to go 
 into it, and we were obliged to pick all the vegetables 
 for dinner ourselves, early in the morning, before the 
 Bees were regularly astir. They must have had very 
 little sleep, for early and late they were ready to fight, 
 and we were stung before half-past six in the morning, 
 and at past ten o'clock at night. They had scouts 
 constantly on the watch, and when we went into the 
 garden we were met by one Bee, who did not attack us 
 at once, but went off for a reinforcement, and then came 
 back to the assault. One of us got ten stings in one of 
 these encounters. 
 
 " At last the Bees became so bold that they actually 
 came round to the hall door, and we began to think that 
 they must be exterminated, which, as they could not be 
 smothered in the usual way (the most mischievous being 
 those living under the stand), was at last effected by 
 three or four men with spades and hot water. 
 
 " Our usual theory about Bees is, that if you let them 
 alone, they will let you alone ; but in this case, except 
 for the original offence of breaking their combs, their 
 attacks were quite unprovoked."* 
 
 The Hive Bee, whether male, female, or neuter, is 
 distinguished not only from all other Bees, but from all 
 
 * It is said that there is iu Mexico a species of stingless Honey-Bee 
 which goes by the name of Angelito, or Little Angel. Somewhat of a 
 contrast to our little Irish friends. 
 
248 INSECTS. 
 
 other Hymenopterous insects, by the absence of spurs at 
 the end of the hind tibiae. In the neuters the pollen- 
 bearing hind tarsus has a peculiar and beautiful arrange- 
 ment of the hairs, which form a series of regular trans- 
 verse lines across the limb. The pollen-brush on the 
 legs is entirely wanting in the Queen Bee a circum- 
 stance which occurs in no other female of pollen- 
 collecting genera. 
 
 As there is but one queen in a hive, it would be a 
 mischievous act to capture her, even if by rare chance 
 we should meet with her. It may therefore be useful to 
 the young student to know that specimens of the female 
 Hive Bee are to be found in June and July lying dead 
 near the mouths of the hives, being the young queens 
 sacrificed to that rule in the Bee monarchy which 
 suffers no rival near the throne. 
 
 The substances or materials collected or produced by 
 Bees are four in number honey, bee-bread, wax, and 
 propolis. Of the first of these it is needless to say much : 
 the Bee collects it in a pure state from flowers, swallows 
 it, carries it home in the honey-bag a sort of first 
 stomach, somewhat resembling that of cud-chewing 
 quadrupeds and then disgorging the greater part, either 
 imparts it to other Bees in need of food, or stores it in 
 the cells for future use. 
 
 The Bee-bread, or pollen-paste, is used chiefly in feed- 
 ing the larvse, and is composed of the pollen or dust of 
 flowers, which has undergone the process of partial 
 digestion by the worker. As with the honey, all which is 
 not immediately wanted is laid up in store. 
 
 Wax, the third and most valuable material, is a secre- 
 tion of the Bee itself, in .whose body a little living 
 laboratory part of its constituents are extracted from 
 
HYMENOPTERA. ACULEATA. 249 
 
 the honey, and combined with fatty and other matter, 
 when it exudes in little scales from between the rings of 
 the abdomen in the state of pure wax. 
 
 The fourth substance is " Propolis," a dark- coloured 
 resin, which the Bee gathers from the buds and wounds 
 of various trees. This is used in the hive for various 
 purposes. It varnishes the combs and strengthens the 
 edges of the cells, and is used on various emergencies, 
 either to stop crevices, or occasionally to seal up and 
 cover obnoxious objects which may have intruded into 
 the hive. 
 
 In seasons when honey is scarce, Bees will eagerly 
 feed on other sweet substances honey-dew, the juice of 
 fruit, or over-ripe or bruised gooseberries, &e., but it 
 appears that from these things the wax cannot be 
 elaborated. 
 
 The enemies of Bees are very numerous. Besides 
 the Cuckoo-like parasites of their own tribe, the " Ruby- 
 tails," and the Mutill, which follow the burrowing wild 
 Bees into their homes, they are subject to the persecu- 
 tion of personal parasites, as the Stylops (see p. 101), 
 not uncommon on Hive and other Bees, and the acari 
 or mites, which abound to a conspicuous degree upon 
 the Humble Bees. Some fall a prey in their larvahood 
 to the Ichneumon tribes, and others are carried bodily 
 away by other predaceous Hymenoptera. Earwigs also 
 destroy enormous numbers of underground Bees. In 
 their very hives, too, they are beset with enemies. A toad 
 has been seen to sit at the mouth of a hive and devour 
 the Bees one by one as they appeared. The larva of the 
 Death's-Head Moth finds its way to the interior, where 
 it feeds upon the honey stored there ; the larva of 
 another genus of Moths still worse devours the waxen 
 
250 INSECTS. 
 
 caskets which contain those stores ; and Wasps have 
 been known boldly to attack and rifle the hives in open 
 war. 
 
 Besides all this, while Bees occasionally collect for 
 their own use honey which is poisonous to man, many 
 flowers are poisonous to themselves. The tulip is one 
 of those, from the cup of which it is said that a Bee 
 rarely escapes alive. 
 
251 
 
 TABLE OF HYMENOPTERA.' 
 
 SECTION I. TEREBRANTIA. 
 
 Abdomen of furnished with a sawing or boring 
 
 ovipositor. 
 
 Hind legs. The trochanter two-jointed. 
 Antenna various in form and number of joints. 
 
 SUBSECTION I. PHYTIPHAGA (Plant-eaters). 
 
 Abdomen attached to the thorax 'by its whole 
 width. 
 
 I. Serrifera (Sawbearers). 
 
 Ovipositor of in form of a double saw. 
 Tibia of fore-leg furnished with two spines. 
 Tongue trifid. 
 
 Family 1. Tenthredinidae (Sawflies). 
 H. Terebellifera (Borers, or Wood-eaters). 
 Ovipositor of in form of a strong borer. 
 Tibia of fore-leg furnished with one spine. 
 Tongue simple. 
 
 Family 2. Uroceridse (Wood-borers). 
 
 SUBSECTION II. ENTOMOPHAGA (Insect-eaters). 
 Abdomen attached to the thorax at one point, or 
 by a small stalk. 
 
 * Some of the characters in this Table, used to facilitate reference, are 
 merely empirical, and apply to British species only. 
 
252 INSECTS. 
 
 I. Spiculifera (Dart-bearers). 
 
 Ovipositor of dividing into separate bristles. 
 (Larvae parasitic in bodies of living insects.) 
 Family 1. Cynipidse. 
 
 2. Evaniidas. 
 
 3. Ichneumonidaa. 
 
 4. Chalcididaa. 
 
 5. Proctotrupidae. 
 
 II. Tubulifera (Tube-bearers). 
 
 Ovipositor sting-like, but without poison. 
 End of abdomen retractile, like a telescope. 
 (Larvae parasitic in nests of insects.) 
 
 Family 2. Chrysididae (Ruby-tails). 
 SECTION II. ACULEATA (Stinging Insects). 
 
 Abdomen of furnished with a venomous sting. 
 Hind-legs. The trochanter one-jointed. 
 Antenna twelve-jointed in > thirteen-jointed in $ 
 SUBSECTION I. -PRfEDONES (Predatory Insects). 
 
 Hind-leg. Basal joint of tarsus not dilated. 
 I. Heterogyna (Different females), Ants. 
 
 Fore-wings not folded. 
 * 9 with or without wings, and and $ with 
 
 one or two nodes on base of abdomen. 
 (Habits social.) 
 
 a. ] node. 
 Family 1. Formicidse. 
 
 2. Poneridae. 
 
 b. 2 nodes. 
 
 3. Myrmecidse. 
 
 * * $ without wings, and $ furnished with spikes 
 
 at end of abdomen. 
 (Habits solitary.) 
 
 4. Mutillidse. 
 
TABLE OF HYMENOPTERA. 253 
 
 Fossores (Diggers), Sand and Wood-wasps. 
 
 Fore-wings not folded. 
 9 and $ always winged. 
 $ no spikes at end of abdomen. 
 and $ no nodes on base of abdomen. 
 
 Family 5. Scoliidse. 
 
 6. Sapygidse. 
 
 7. Pompilidae. 
 
 8. Sphegidffi. 
 
 9. Larridte. 
 
 10. Nyssonidae. 
 
 11. Crabronidae. 
 
 12. Philanthidae. 
 
 Diploptera (Doubled-wings), True Wasps. 
 Fore-wings folded. 
 
 Family 13. Eumenidse (Solitary Wasps). 
 
 14. Vespidae (Social Wasps). 
 SUBSECTION II ANTHOPHILA (Flower Lovers), 
 
 Bees. 
 Hind leg. Basal joint of tarsus dilated. 
 
 I. Short-tongue d Bees. 
 
 Tongue shorter than the mentum. 
 Labial palpi of four nearly equal joints. 
 Fam. 1. Andrenidse. 
 
 * Tongue broad, more or less cleft. 
 
 Sub-jam. 1. Obtusilingues. 
 * * Tongue sharp-pointed. 
 Sub-fam. 2. Acutilingues. 
 
 II. Long-tongued Bees. 
 
 Tongue longer than the mentum. 
 Labial palpi of four joints, of which the basal or 
 the second exceeds the two terminal in length. 
 
254 INSECTS. 
 
 Family 2. Apidas. 
 
 * Hind legs hairy, from coxa to tarsus 
 
 Sub-fam. 1. Andrenoides. 
 ** Legs and abdomen not hairy. 
 
 Sub-fam. 2. Cuculinae* 
 *** Underside of abdomen very hairy. 
 
 Sub-fam. 3. Dasygastrae. 
 **** Tibia and tarsus of hind-leg very hairy. 
 
 Sub-fam. 4. Scopulipedes. 
 
 ***** Males, females, and neuters living in com- 
 munities. 
 Sub-fam. 5. Sociales. 
 
 N.B. Terebrantia is here arranged as by Mr. Westwood, 
 and Aculeata as by Mr. Smith, in the Brit. Mus. Catalogue, 
 slightly altered to make the terms of division agree with 
 
 those of Terebrantia. 
 
 Fig. 64. 
 
 a 1 
 
 1. Nervures : a, Costal; d, Post-costal; e, Externo-medial ; 
 /, Anal ; g, m, Transverse- medial ; A, Radial ; i, Cubital ; 
 fc, Discoidal : I, Sub-discoidal ; n, Recurrent ; 6, Apical ; c, 
 Posterior margin ; o, Stigma. 
 
 2. Cells : I., Costal; II., Externo-medial ; III., Interno-medial ; 
 IV., Anal; V., Marginal; VL, 1st; VII., 2nd; VIII., 3rd; 
 IX., 4th. Submarginal : X., 1st; XL, 2nd; XIL, 3rd. 
 Discoidal: XIII., 1st; XIV., 2nd Apical. 
 
 * The naked-legged genus Ceratina is in Scopulipedes. 
 
255 
 
 " There is a difference between a grub and a butterfly, 
 And yet your butterfly was once a grub." Coriolanus. 
 
 CHAPTEK XX. 
 
 ORDER IX. LEPIDOPTERA. 
 
 THE Order LEPIDOPTERA is easily distinguished. It 
 contains the Butterflies and Moths only, and excepting 
 some species with clear and nearly naked membranous 
 wings, and the wingless females of certain other species, 
 which might for a moment perplex a beginner, excepting 
 also a small number which, approaching the Trichoptera 
 in character are a difficulty to the more advanced, Moths 
 and Butterflies are recognised by even the most unob- 
 servant. More than this, not the appearance and names 
 only, but even something of the history of these 
 insects is very generally known, and observation of 
 their caterpillars and chrysalids, or the beautiful sight 
 of the young Moth emerging from the chrysalis, is often 
 the beginning of a taste for the study of insects. 
 
 Their metamorphoses have already been noticed in 
 
256 INSECTS. 
 
 Chap. IV. ; peculiarities in the larvse and pupse of some 
 of the group will be entered into when these groups 
 have been noticed. 
 
 The wings in Lepidoptera are four. They are large, 
 and entirely, or in some cases only partially, covered 
 by minutes scales arranged like the tiles of a house.* 
 In some species the wings are furnished with a sort of 
 spring, consisting of a strong curved bristle on the 
 base of the hind-wing, which plays, during flight, in a 
 socket or semi-loop, formed either of a ridge in the 
 membrane, or of a tuft of hairs on the fore-wing. A 
 curious epaulette-like appendage, called tegula, thickly 
 clothed with hairs, of triangular form and sometimes 
 of a large size, occurs at the insertion of the fore- 
 wing. 
 
 The organs of sight consist of a pair of compound 
 eyes, and frequently of additional simple eyes or ocelli. 
 
 The legs are hairy and spurred, and furnished with 
 two claws of various forms. In some Butterflies the 
 fore-legs are wanting. 
 
 Familiar as these insects are, and popular as they are 
 among young collectors and students, they are rendered 
 peculiarly difficult to treat in a very small space by the 
 immense number of their families, genera, and species ; 
 and the absence of those marked differences of economy 
 in the several families which, corresponding with marked 
 differences of form, give so great an interest to other 
 large orders of insects, as, for instance, to the order 
 Hymenoptera, 
 
 * These scales, which, with other skin-appendages, as the scales of fishee, 
 feathers of birds, &c., are somewhat of the nature of hairs, are, like them, 
 rooted in the skin, and in some species are fixed there with great firmness 
 by a club-like enlargement of their stalk at its insertion. 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. 257 
 
 The numerous variations which occur in the habits 
 of these insects, in the material of their food, and the 
 situation or construction of their dwellings, almost ex- 
 clusively concern the larvae, and little or no indication 
 of them is to be found in the imago. 
 
 Of the Butterflies only twenty-eight genera, contain- 
 ing sixty-six species, are known in England, and these 
 are arranged in five families. Of the Moths, the known 
 species of which are constantly increasing in number, there 
 are more than one hundred families, consisting of between 
 four and five hundred genera : these containing nearly 
 two thousand species. The one hundred families are 
 arranged in nine large groups.* 
 
 It will be easily seen that to describe the families (not 
 to mention the genera) of the Moths, would be to reduce 
 the following pages to little more than a mere table : 
 the utmost, therefore, that will be attempted as regards 
 arrangement, is to enable the reader to determine 
 first whether an insect be a Butterfly or a Moth. 
 If the former, to which of the five families, if the 
 latter, to which of the nine groups of families, it be- 
 longs.f 
 
 First, then, with regard to distinguishing Butterflies 
 from Moths. It is not at all uncommon to find an 
 
 * Minor subdivisions, as of sub-families, &c,, are also ia use, but it is 
 not necessary to speak more of these here. 
 
 f In Mr. Stainton's volume on "The British Butterflies and Moths " 
 (part of the present series), the reader will find an introduction to all the 
 families of Moths, and to a large number of tbe more conspicuous species 
 of both Moths and Butterflies. In his " Manual of British Butterflies and 
 Moths" (2 vols.) the species also are described. The student who intends 
 to make real progress in the knowledge of this tribe of insects is strongly 
 advised to possess himself of the latter work. It has been largely drawn 
 from in the following pages, 
 
 S 
 
258* INSECTS. 
 
 insect pronounced a Butterfly or a Moth because its 
 colouring is bright or dull. Thus the dull-coloured 
 brown Wood Butterflies are often supposed to be Moths, 
 while the showy Tiger-Moth, with its rich brown and 
 cream-coloured fore-wings, and hind-wings of bright 
 scarlet and blue-black, the beautiful green and red 
 Burnet Moth, and the Peacock-eyed Sphinxes, are called 
 Butterflies. Sometimes, too, size is supposed to settle 
 the question ; and, on this account, the smaller Butter- 
 flies are called Moths, and the large Moths, Butterflies. 
 This, like the appeal to colour, is quite erroneous. As 
 to colour, nocturnal insects of all kinds are usually more 
 soberly coloured than diurnal, and, the Butterflies being 
 diurnal, while the larger number of species of Moths are 
 night-fliers, the former are generally more conspicuously 
 marked and coloured than the latter ; but the white and 
 brown Butterflies, and the numerous gaily-coloured Moths, 
 make any rule, even in this matter, impossible. As to size, 
 the range is much greater in the Moths, our largest 
 Moth, the Death's-Head, sometimes measuring five inches 
 from tip to tip of the expanded wings, while some of 
 the minute leaf-mining Moths are smaller than the 
 common little green Rose-Aphis. The largest Butterfly, 
 on the other hand (the Swallowtail) seldom exceeds four 
 inches, and the smallest, a little blue Butterfly, measures 
 from about three-quarters to one inch. 
 
 Neither size, then, nor colour, will guide us in dis- 
 tinguishing between Moths and Butterflies. 
 
 Moths and Butterflies differ^-first, in the form of 
 their antennae ; secondly, in the position and folding 
 of the wings when at rest; thirdly, very generally in the 
 character of the caterpillar and chrysalis. 
 
 First, the antennae. The two sections of Lepidoptera 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. 259 
 
 are RHOPALOCERA ('PoTraAov, Rhopalon, club ; 
 keras, horn), containing the Butterflies; HETEROCERA 
 CErcpoc, heteros, different ; Kepag, keras, horn), contain- 
 ing the Moths. 
 
 The section RHOPALOCERA, the club-horns, contains 
 the Butterflies. The antennae of these are largest at the 
 tip. In most they are very fine and hair-like, with an 
 abrupt enlargement or knob at the tip. In others, as 
 the Blue Butterflies, the enlargement is rather more 
 gradual and club-like.* 
 
 In the HETEROCERA (the Moths), the horns are some- 
 times thickened about the middle or towards the tip, 
 sometimes are like slender hairs, sometimes are branched 
 and appear like exquisite feathers, but are always more 
 or less tapering, being smaller at the tip than imme- 
 diately below it. 
 
 Another difference between the Butterflies and Moths 
 is, that in Butterflies the wings are never folded nor laid 
 one over the other. In repose they are generally raised 
 above the body and placed against each other, displaying 
 only the under surfaces. 
 
 Of the Moths, on the contrary, while some repose 
 with the wings expanded, the greater part fold the hind- 
 wings and lay the fore-wings down over both them and 
 the body. The Butterfly-like Currant Moth, and some 
 of its relations, rest with the wings raised Butterfly- 
 fashion ; but these having tapering and sometimes 
 feathered antenna, may by this be known as Moths. 
 Some Butterflies of the family Hesperida3 (a family 
 which seems to be in many respects a link between the 
 
 * There are exceptions to this rule among foreign Butterflies, some 
 having tapering, hair-like, or somewhat flat-knobbed antennae. 
 
 S * 
 
260 INSECTS. 
 
 Butterflies and Moths), carry the fore-wings erect and 
 the hind-wings horizontally when in repose. 
 
 The spring and socket (mentioned p. 256) is generally 
 found in Moths and never in Butterflies. Again, the 
 hind-legs of Butterflies have two pairs of spurs on the 
 tibiae (excepting in the Hesperidse), while the Moths 
 have only one pair. 
 
 The Butterflies are divided into five families 
 
 1. Papilionidee. 
 
 2. Nymphalidse. 
 
 3. Erycinidse. 
 
 4. Lycaenidse. 
 
 5. Hesperidffi. 
 
 1. Papilionidae. This family includes (with one ex- 
 ception)* all the white, yellow, and greenish- white or 
 yellow Butterflies, with and without black markings. 
 The only approach to bright colouring in English 
 species of this family is found in Colias Edusa (the 
 clouded yellow), which is rich black and yellow, and in 
 Anthocharis Cardamine (orange tip), of which the male 
 has a patch of bright orange on the fore-wings, wanting 
 in the female, and beautiful green markings on the 
 under-side of the hind-wings. The large swallowtail 
 cream-coloured, with black markings has also a brick - 
 red spot on the hind-wings, almost the only instance of 
 anything but black, white, yellow, and greenish when 
 occurring in English species of this family. 
 
 The Brimstone or Sulphur Butterfly (PL X., fig. 1) is 
 one of the most beautiful of these. The form is singu- 
 larly elegant, from the varied curves in the outline of 
 the pointed wings. The colour is delicate and beautiful, 
 
 * This is the Marbled White the first species in the next family. 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. 261 
 
 being true sulphur in the male, while the female is 
 somewhat whiter. 
 
 Individuals are common of a tender greenish hue, 
 which, combined with the angular form of the wings, 
 gives a remarkably leaf-like appearance to the insect. 
 The time of its appearance adds another charm, the 
 Sulphur Butterfly being usually the first awakened from 
 its winter sleep, while it is also one oij the latest to 
 remain with us, as if unwilling to give up the hope that 
 " summer liveth still." 
 
 Those seen in the Autumn months are the lately- 
 hatched individuals, the earlier visitors being such as 
 have lain dormant through the winter. 
 
 The common large and small White Butterflies, the 
 delicate and somewhat transparent " Black-veined White," 
 the " Bath White," with its patches of black, and its 
 greenish under-side, are all included in this family, which 
 contains eleven species. 
 
 2. Nymphalidae. The most striking peculiarity in this 
 family is that all the species (in both sexes) have only 
 four legs ; the front pair being undeveloped. This dis- 
 tinguishes the Nymphalid from all other Butterflies 
 but one namely, the male of Nemeobius lucina, the only 
 British Butterfly in the 3rd family. 
 
 In the Nymphalidse the colours are generally dark, or 
 rich and sometimes beautifully variegated ; dark brown, 
 rich tawny-brown, orange, black, with brilliant markings 
 of scarlet, blue, and white, being all found here. One 
 exception to them is found in a black and cream- 
 coloured Butterfly, the " Marbled White," which in this 
 assimilates with the Papilionidae. The absence of the 
 front pair of legs, however, at once marks it as belong- 
 ing to the present family, and some ring-like spots, with 
 
262 INSECTS. 
 
 white centres, are found on the underside of the hind- 
 wings. This marking is very common in this family, 
 hut not in Papilionidse, although the Clouded Yellow, 
 Colias, in Papilionidse has a ringed spot of some- 
 what silvery surface on the underside of the hind- 
 wing. 
 
 The family Nymphalidas contains, hesides the Marbled 
 White already named, all the hrown wood and meadow 
 Butterflies ; sober-coloured insects whose chief charm 
 is their very commonness, which associates them in our 
 memories with the woodland scenes and sunny days in 
 which they are seldom wanting. 
 
 There are several genera of these, and on the wings 
 of all the species several small dark spots occur which 
 have minute white centres, and are placed sometimes in 
 a pale or tawny ring or patch. The common " Meadow 
 Brown " (PL X., fig. 2), and the common little tawny 
 "Small Heath," are examples of this. Amongst the 
 more richly-coloured of the Nymphalidse, we come to 
 the White Admiral, and the Purple Emperor, both of a 
 brownish black with broad white markings. The male 
 of the Purple Emperor has also a deep purple lustre, 
 and some ringed spots on each hind-wing. 
 
 In the Painted Lady, " painted " with a delicate mix- 
 ture of rich dark brown with pale orange, tawny, and white, 
 ring-like marks are conspicuous on the under side. 
 
 But it is in the genus Vanessa that the ringed or eye- 
 like spot attains its highest glory in the Peacock 
 Butterfly, which, with its gorgeous peacock -eyed wings, 
 is perhaps the most conspicuously beautiful among 
 British insects. In this the under side is of very dark 
 rich brown made the richer (as by " stippling ") from 
 being covered with a minute and obscure pattern of a 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. 263 
 
 darker colour. The upper side is too well known to 
 require any description. 
 
 All the Vanessas, which include the Peacock, Tortoise- 
 shells, Red Admiral, &c., and which, except the latter, are 
 somewhat sober in the colouring of their under side, are 
 remarkable for the ragged outline which they display 
 when closed, but which the patterns and colours of 
 their plumage render less conspicuous when expanded, 
 and still more ragged than any of these is one in the 
 next genus, Grapta, a rather scarce Butterfly, which a 
 young entomologist might almost pass by, when at 
 rest, as a torn and spoiled specimen. Above it is deep 
 yellow, brown, and black ; below, dark and dusky, and 
 marked in the middle of the hind-wing with a c-shaped 
 white spot, by which it may be recognised. 
 
 If among the Tortoiseshell and Peacock Butterflies a 
 beautifully marked and coloured upper surface is often 
 contrasted with a dark and dingy under side, in the 
 Fritillaries which succeed them we find several species 
 decorated underneath in an exquisite manner. In these 
 insects the jagged and irregular outline disappears 
 the upper side is a rich tawny colour, distinctly 
 lined and spotted with black : the under side of 
 the wings is studded with spots (in one species with 
 bands) of burnished silver. The silvery (not ivhite) 
 appearance of these spots is very remarkable, the 
 effect being exactly that of the polished metal. A 
 similar plumage is found in some minute moths, whilst 
 in others appears a surface of true golden or brassy 
 lustre. These silvered Butterflies are of the genus 
 Argynnis ; other Fritillaries, belonging to the genus 
 Melitcea, in the same family, resemble them in their 
 general colouring, but are without these spots. 
 
264 INSECTS. 
 
 We now come to the third family, Erycinidse. This 
 contains but one British species, Nemeobius Lucina, 
 the male of which resembles the Nymphalidse in the 
 non-development of the fore-legs, while the female is 
 six-legged like other butterflies. This, though distinct 
 from the Fritillaries in the last family, resembles them 
 in the colouring, and is commonly known by the same 
 English name, Fritillary. It has no silvery spots 
 beneath. 
 
 The fourth family, Lycrenidse, contains those beautiful 
 little blue butterflies (PL X., f. 3), which, haunting the 
 same chalky districts that are the natural home of the 
 blue harebell, are so often to be seen hovering over its 
 delicate blossoms so near, indeed, do these two little 
 creatures approach in hue, in size, in fragility, in grace 
 and beauty, that it needs little more than the languid 
 dreaminess of an idle hour in a warm spring morning 
 to see the flowers take wing, and to hear them whisper- 
 ing the secret of their delight to their less aspiring 
 sisters, yet clinging to the slender stems which hold 
 them to the earth. Besides these the family contains 
 the brilliant little Copper Butterflies of the same size, 
 and often to be found in their company, their dark, rich 
 sparkling colour forming a beautiful contrast with the 
 delicate hues of the little blues. The brown and orange, 
 or purple Hair Streaks (Thecla) are also of this family. 
 
 The species of Thecla, may, all but one, be recognised 
 by two small tails on each hind wing. The colours are 
 brown with orange spots, or, in the Purple Hair Streak, 
 brown, with a rich purple tinge. The one tailless species, 
 the Green Hair Streak, is brown, without the orange 
 spots, and may be recognised by its green underside. 
 
 The species of Blue Butterflies vary in hue, and the 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. 265 
 
 females of some are brown, with or without a purple 
 lustre. Some species of the genus are brown in both 
 sexes, some rich brown with orange spots. The under 
 side is pale blue, grey, pale greyish, or fawn-brown, 
 covered or margined with black spots, some of which 
 are enclosed in white, or whitish rings, sometimes with 
 red spots. It is from the occurrence of these conspi- 
 cuous spots that the genus Polyommatus (many-eyed) 
 receives its name. 
 
 The Copper Butterflies, Chrysophanus, never 'have 
 rings round the spots on their hind- wings. C. Phleas, 
 the small Copper, is common, and is very frequently 
 found in company with the Blue Butterflies, with the 
 delicate hues of which its rich and burnished wings are 
 in beautiful contrast, rendered more striking by the 
 similarity of size and general form. This little Butter- 
 fly, like the Thecla, seems to have earned for itself the 
 character of being quarrelsome. A curious variety has 
 been found in which the copper was on both wings ex- 
 changed for pure white. 
 
 The fifth and last family, Hesperid, appears in 
 several respects to be nearly related to the Moths, the 
 body being thicker in proportion than is usual in Butter- 
 flies, the legs having, like the Moths, only one pair of 
 spines, the fore-wings (in some species) being erect 
 during repose, while the hind-wings remain in a hori- 
 zontal position, and the antenna in two species being 
 slightly hooked at the tip, in a manner resembling that 
 of some Moths. Besides this, the larva spins for its 
 change a thin cocoon, a habit unusual among Moths, 
 as will hereafter be shown. In this family the colours 
 are chiefly rich brown and tawny, or yellowish. One 
 pretty little species, Thymele Alveolus, is nearly black, 
 
266 INSECTS. 
 
 with a greenish hue, and marked with numerous angular 
 cream-coloured spots. The Butterflies in this family 
 are remarkable for their short, abrupt flight, whence they 
 derive their common name of Skippers. 
 
 The flight of Butterflies varies greatly in different 
 families and genera. Those with the greatest power of 
 flight are found among the richly-coloured species in the 
 second family, Nymphalidee, the Tortoiseshells, Peacock, 
 Eed Admiral, &c., one, the Purple Emperor, exceeding 
 all others in this, soaring sometimes completely out of 
 sight. In the same family, among the Brown Butter- 
 flies, are found some also of the weakest fliers, with a 
 habit of keeping near the ground. 
 
 The Small White Butterfly, Pieris Rapee (in the first 
 family), though not reckoned among the strong fliers, 
 distinguished itself about five-and-twenty years ago by 
 flying from France to England in such countless swarms, 
 that accounts of the time speak of the sun being com- 
 pletely hidden from vessels in the Channel, during a pro- 
 gress of several hundred yards, by the clouds of insects. 
 It seems likely that they may have received the assistance 
 of an aerial current on their journey, a strong west 
 wind having arisen shortly after their arrival in England. 
 
 This swarming of certain species of insects in a par- 
 ticular year is a phenomenon which occurs in nearly all 
 the orders, and is one of the problems in natural history 
 as yet unsolved by observation. In some cases count- 
 less myriads make their appearance, as in the case 
 of the Turnipfly recorded by Mr. Smith (p. 159), or 
 the recurring instances of such swarms of Ladybirds. 
 In others, insects more or less rare in some years, are 
 comparatively abundant in others. This has been 
 especially noticed of the " Clouded Yellow" Butterfly 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. 267 
 
 (Colias Edusa), which, as Mr. Newman notes, is usually 
 visible, sometimes exceedingly plentiful, every four 
 years. The Camherwell Beauty, generally exceedingly 
 rare, has been seen to come afield in a " flock," as have 
 others of its more brilliant comrades, the Peacock, &c. 
 The Leopard Moth, an insect so rare as to be formerly 
 sold at a guinea a specimen, abounded about ten years 
 ago to such a degree, that nearly all the young trees 
 in Euston Square, and the copse plantations of ash in 
 many parts of the country were destroyed by its pith- 
 eating Iarva3. 
 
 This may be partly accounted for by the power pos- 
 sessed by some Lepidoptera, of remaining long in the 
 pupa state. Sphinx Ligustri has been known to remain 
 in the Chrysalis for three years, while Mr. John Sircow 
 records the coming out of a Moth after six years of 
 incarceration. It may be supposed that a particularly 
 favourable season brings to perfection the insects of many 
 preceding years. 
 
 Mr. Douglas notes that weather has an effect upon 
 the hatching of Lepidoptera, a warm rain after drought 
 being favourable to this process. In some cases a great 
 abundance of particular Butterflies has been accounted 
 for by their having lived through the winter, thus adding 
 the numbers of one year to those of another. 
 
268 
 
 CHAPTEK XXI. 
 
 LEPIDOPTERA (continued) . 
 
 THE families of Moths (Heterocera) number, as has 
 been already said, about 100. These are formed into 
 nine groups : 
 
 1. Sphingina. 
 
 2. Bombycina. 
 
 3. Noctuina. 
 
 4. Geometrina. 
 
 5. Pyralidina. 
 
 6. Tortrioina. 
 
 7. Tineina. 
 
 8. Pterophorina. 
 
 9. Alucitina. 
 
 The first group is readily distinguished by the spindle- 
 shaped antennae antennae, that is, which are thick in 
 the middle, and taper towards the point and the base. 
 They approach more nearly to the clavate antennae of 
 some Butterflies, than do those of any other group of 
 Moths. And, indeed, similar antenna? are found in 
 some foreign species in the last family of Butterflies 
 Hesperidaa. 
 
 The Sphingina have, by some authors, been considered 
 not as Moths, but as forming an independent tribe, 
 between, and equal to, the great tribes of Butterflies and 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. 269 
 
 Moths. They are now, however, ranked as one group 
 of the Moths. 
 
 This group contains, amongst others, the Sphinx 
 Family,* many of which, though not among our com- 
 monest Moths, are well known, on account of the atten- 
 tion they attract when they do appear. Their bodies are 
 large; most species have pointed and elegantly-formed 
 wings, and some are rendered further conspicuous by the 
 beauty of their colouring, and the eye-like spots on their 
 wings. The brown and rose-coloured Privet Hawk-Moth, 
 the Eyed Hawk-Moth, with rosy brown and bluish-eyed 
 wings, and the small Elephant Hawk-Moth (PL X., f. 4) 
 belong to the Sphinx family in this group. The Con- 
 volvulus, Privet, and Firtree Hawk-Moths are remark- 
 able for their long tongues, longer sometimes than the 
 whole body, and able to reach into the honeyed depths of 
 the longest flower-tubes. The singular and handsome 
 Death's-head belongs to this family, and is as remarkable 
 for shortness, as the true Sphinges for length of tongue 
 (Even the Sphinx loquacious as compared with Death !) 
 As might be expected, it does not therefore seek for 
 honey secreted in the depths of flowers. Loving this 
 food, however, as well as do its cousins, the Death's- 
 head is frequently to be found in hives feasting on the 
 sweet substance, as it lies stored therein. As, however, 
 only a few individuals can be supposed to derive nourish- 
 ment from this source, it remains to be discovered in 
 what other places, and on what other substances, the 
 insect feeds. Possibly, it may suck the juices of over- 
 ripe or bruised fruit, as Bees are well known to do in a 
 scarcity of honey. 
 
 * So called from the sphinx-like appearance of the Caterpillar when at 
 rest. 
 
270 INSECTS. 
 
 This group contains (in the Death's-head Moth), the 
 largest species of British Moths. 
 
 The comparatively common Humming-Bird Moth, 
 somewhat resembling the Sphinges in general appear- 
 ance, belongs also to this group, as do some remarkable 
 clear-winged Moths, in which the scales, thickly planted 
 along the margins of some of the nerves, are wanting on 
 the membrane, which accordingly gives to these insects 
 a curious bee -like or wasp-like appearance. 
 
 The same group contains the beautifully-coloured 
 Burnet Moths, in which deep glossy bluish green, or 
 greenish blue and deep bright crimson are the prevailing 
 colours. 
 
 Most of these insects, excepting the true Sphinges, fly 
 by day. The group contains about thirty-eight species. 
 
 The second group is Bombycina, and, with all the re- 
 maining groups, has the antennae tapering, fine and 
 thread-like, sometimes with a deep double feather-like 
 fringing, sometimes only slightly fringed, sometimes 
 simple. 
 
 Bombycina contains several stout-bodied Moths, and 
 it is among these that the larvae, whose silk has become an 
 article of commerce, are found. The common Silk-worm 
 Moths, with their beautiful feathered antennae the large 
 spotted Leopard-Moth, the pencilled grey Goat- Moth, 
 (named from the smell of the larvae,) the Buff-tip 
 (PL X. f. 5.) sometimes so undistinguishable from a 
 broken twig, as it lies among the fallen leaves on the 
 ground the downy, large-winged Drinker, the Tussocks, 
 the handsome little Vapourers, and their clumsy and wing- 
 less females, the Brown Tiger, with its orange and 
 black-spotted hind-wings, the Cream-spotted Tiger, 
 with its black and cream-spotted fore-wings, yellow 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. 271 
 
 and black spotted hind-wings, the delicate Ermine, and 
 the magnificent Peacock-eyed Emperor-Moths, are all 
 well-known examples of this group, which contains more 
 than 100 species. The greater number of these fly by 
 day. One family, which flies at twilight, has obtained 
 the name of the Sivifts, from the character of its motions. 
 
 In the Genus Psyche in this group, not only is the 
 female wingless, like that of the Vapourer, but she is 
 legless, antenna-less, and lives and dies within a portable 
 case formed and lived in by the larva. There must have 
 been some ingenuity in the naturalist who selected this 
 Moth, of all Moths, to bear the name of Psyche ! 
 
 The antenna? in this group vary : in the principal 
 genera the antennae are flattened in the male, if not in 
 both sexes. Those of the Swifts are thread-like. The 
 most common attitude of repose is with the fore-wings 
 laid over the hind, and deflexed, as in the Tiger-Moth, 
 the Goat, the Leopard, &c. ; but some, as the Emperor, 
 rest with the wings extended. Others, again, assume a 
 peculiar position, allowing the under-wings to show 
 beyond the sides of the fore-wings. 
 
 This group is rendered interesting by the habits of 
 some of the larvse, which will be noticed hereafter. 
 
 Most of the night-flying Moths belong to the third 
 group Noctuina (whence this derives its name). These 
 insects are of smaller size than many of the preceding, 
 but are generally heavy-looking when in repose, their 
 bodies being stoutish, and their fore-wings narrow con- 
 cealing the broader hind- wings, which are folded beneath 
 them. The antenna are generally slender and simple, 
 the thorax is sometimes crested, and at rest the fore- 
 wings usually cover the hind, and are deflexed. 
 
 Nearly all the Noctuina are marked on the fore- wing, 
 
272 INSECTS. 
 
 more or less distinctly, with a round or oval spot, a 
 kidney-shaped spot, and sometimes a wedge, or club- 
 shaped spot. Certain lines also run partly across the 
 wing.* These markings are sometimes very faint, some- 
 times wanting. Most of the brown, and more or less 
 dingy, heavy, middle-sized common Moths belong to 
 this group, while among them are some more conspicuous. 
 The Ked-underwing, a large grey Moth with red hind- 
 wings, decorated with broad black bands, is amongst 
 the latter ; and one genus, Plusia, glitters with gold 
 and silver. A very pretty Moth, Gonoptera Libatrix 
 (PL X. f. 6), belongs to this group. It is about an 
 inch long when the wings are closed : of a mixed grey 
 and brickdust colour, with minute white spots. The 
 wings are ragged-looking, and the thorax is crested. 
 This Moth is to be met with everywhere. 
 
 The group contains upwards of 300 species. 
 
 Geometrina is the fourth group. These Moths have 
 broad wings, and generally slender bodies. This is not 
 without exception ; but the group is well marked by 
 the peculiarity of the larvee, from which it derives its 
 name. These Geometrina or Earth-measuring Cater- 
 pillars, will be described hereafter. 
 
 The Geometrina are generally more delicate and 
 Butterfly-like than most of the preceding groups. 
 The large, delicate, and very beautiful sulphur -coloured 
 Swallowtail Moth, for instance, might certainly, but 
 for the slender and tapering antennse, be mistaken 
 for a Butterfly. The common little yellow Brimstone 
 Moth (Rumia Cratsegata), with its spotted wings, 
 
 * Similar marks are found in some families of the fifth group, Pyra- 
 lidina, but the smaller bodies of the latter serve to distinguish them. 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. 273 
 
 and the equally common spotted Currant Moth, are 
 instances of this Butterfly-like character. Many species 
 are delicately coloured and marked ; a tender green, 
 white, delicate and brighter yellows, are common among 
 them. Exceedingly delicate pencilling also prevails 
 among the group, and the outlines of many species 
 are most elegant; in the attitude of repose, many of 
 these keep the wings expanded; others, as the Currant 
 Moth, raise them over the back in true Butterfly-fashion. 
 The larger number, however, repose in this as in other 
 groups, with the hind-wings concealed under the fore. 
 The females in some families are wingless. 
 
 The number of species in Geometrina is nearly equal 
 to that in Noctuinae. 
 
 Pyralidina contains slender-bodied Moths, differing 
 from those of the two preceding groups in the shape of 
 the fore-wings, which are long and triangular. In some 
 which lay their fore-wings horizontally on their backs 
 in repose, this is very apparent, the outline of the insect 
 forming a well-defined triangle, rendered the more per- 
 fect by the long, sharp snout, which is characteristic 
 of many of the Pyralidina (PI. XT., fig. 2. Hypena 
 proboscidalis). 
 
 One family of these snouted Moths, known as Grass 
 Moths, is easily recognised. The wings are large and 
 limp when expanded, but when at rest are folded close 
 round the long, slender body. In this position they are 
 amongst the most uninteresting-looking of Moths ; but 
 it is curious to watch them on a clear sunny day, sport- 
 ing by myriads in a grass field so long as the sun shines, 
 and the moment that a cloud fleets across him, settling 
 head downwards on the grass stalks, and with wings 
 closely folded, so as to become in an instant almost 
 
 T 
 
274 INSECTS. 
 
 invisible. Their inconspicuous colouring whitish, yel- 
 lowish, brownish and the longitudinal markings in 
 the wings of some species, greatly increase their power 
 of concealing themselves, although under our very eye. 
 
 The writer has, on a day of swiftly alternating cloud 
 and sunshine, watched a grass field seeming literally 
 alive with these Moths, and with myriads of blue Butter- 
 flies, and in which, a few seconds after the obscuration 
 of the sun, a skilled eye was required to detect the pre- 
 sence of either, although in a hundred places seven or 
 eight of the lately blue now speckled drab Butterflies 
 were resting on one grass-stalk, and the same stalks 
 were thickened with the close-clinging Moths. 
 
 There are many very pretty and delicate species in 
 this group, snoutless, of somewhat Butterfly-like aspect, 
 and reposing with the wings spread. Some of these 
 are beautifully marbled. The " Small Magpie " (PL XL, 
 fig. 1), of which the Larva feeds on nettles, is one of the 
 commonest of these. In others, the wings are trans- 
 lucent, and have the lustre and colouring of mother-of- 
 pearl. The group contains only about one hundred and 
 seventy species. 
 
 In Tortricina, the sixth group, the more characteristic 
 genera are distinguished by the marking and form of the 
 fore-wings. These are broadish, and the front margin 
 bows out from the shoulder (see PL XI., fig. 3, Xantho- 
 setia Zygcena) ; some nearly triangular Moths are, how- 
 ever, found among them, and, as the unicolorous hind- 
 wings indicate, these are concealed in an attitude of 
 repose. The colouring is very sober, and the markings 
 are generally in patches. These insects are mostly of 
 rather small size ; the number of British species amounts 
 to about three hundred. 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. 275 
 
 Tineina is a very large group, chiefly composed of 
 very small Moths, and which has attracted much atten- 
 tion on account of the variety of habit among the 
 larvae. The Moths are slender-bodied and very fragile, 
 their most striking features being the extreme length of 
 the hair or scales which fringe the wings. The form of 
 the wings varies in different families. Some are wing- 
 less or nearly wingless in the female sex. The antennae 
 too, short in some families and genera, are to be found 
 in some cases of more than six times the length of the 
 body. 
 
 The group contains fifteen families, nearly a hundred 
 genera, and between six and seven hundred species. The 
 common Clothes Moths, and the exquisite little families of 
 Leaf-Miners (see PI. XI., fig. 4), sometimes spangled and 
 banded with gold and silver, belong to this, the most 
 numerous family of the tribe. Many wingless females are 
 found among species whose larvae live in portable cells. 
 
 The eighth family, Pterophorina, is easily recognised, 
 containing only the ten-plume Moths (see PL XI. fig. 5), 
 the white species of which, common in strawberry beds, 
 is perhaps one of the best known as well as most beau- 
 tiful of insects. Their bodies and legs are very long ; 
 their fore-wings split into two, and the hind-wings into 
 three plumes. They fly at twilight. 
 
 Alucitina contains the twenty- (more correctly twenty- 
 four) plume Moths. Only one species is known in 
 England (see PL XI., fig. 6) an inconspicuously coloured 
 insect, which, however, standing always expanded, so as 
 to form the most exquisite little feather-fan, has pro- 
 bably attracted the attention of most persons. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 LEPIDOPTERA. LA^RVM. 
 
 IF there is little variety to be observed in the habits 
 and manners of the perfect insects in Lepidoptera, there 
 is much that is curious and interesting in the history of 
 their larva?. 
 
 Their beauty alone would call attention to many 
 species, as in the case of the Privet-hawk Moth, with 
 its soft green hue and purple and white decorations, and 
 above all, its dignified and sphinx-like carriage. 
 
 The tufted Hop-dog, with a green coat " slashed " 
 with black velvet and a pick-tipped tail, the larva of the 
 Tussock, is so prized and admired in the hop counties 
 that it is common to find it in the cottage of the very 
 poorest and most ignorant hop-gatherers. The hump- 
 backed, two-tailed Kitten Caterpillar, pale green, pink, 
 and grey and white ; the dark- green Caterpillar of the 
 Emperor Moth, with its gold-spangled black bands 
 these and many others have but to be seen to call 
 forth the admiration of the most determined hater of 
 " creeping things." 
 
 But, as is often the case, it is among the less con- 
 spicuous insects that some of the most interesting habits 
 are to be found, and there is neither time nor place in 
 which we may not meet with one or other of the Moth 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. LARV.E. 2?7 
 
 larvae or pupae under circumstances which claim our 
 attention. 
 
 The true Naturalist (or, to use a pleasanter and larger 
 term, the lover of nature), while in the eyes of the world 
 a mere idler, has, of all men, the least chance or oppor- 
 tunity of being idle. 
 
 The Botanist and Entomologist, for instance, will 
 hardly pass without question a blotch in a leaf, a thread- 
 like track in a dusty road, a hole in a tree trunk, or a 
 patch of discoloration in a wall, unless he has traced 
 out its history, and found a reason for its being 
 there. 
 
 And thus it falls out that the driest hedge by a dusty 
 road-side, the oldest paling, the newest brick-wall, pre- 
 sents to his mind a series of what have been called " life 
 histories," not perhaps written out in full, but indicated ; 
 and the series of familiar signs which meets the eye of 
 the practised Naturalist give a pleasure not unlike that 
 which the bookworm derives from the perusal of a book- 
 catalogue or of the book-backs in a library. 
 
 Now the student of the tribe before us has especial 
 facilities for accounting for a spot on this leaf, a streak 
 on that, a fragment of silk clinging to a third, and a 
 jagged hole in a fourth. To him the spot may recall the 
 history of a little creature sheltered in a leafy tent, con- 
 structed by itself, and carried like the house of a snail ; 
 still farther sheltered by the instinct which confined its 
 labours below the leaf. Eating and eating, first it has 
 destroyed the under cuticle of the leaf, then the green and 
 tender part withjm, even till the upper cuticle was reached ; 
 never touching this, keeping its shelter unimpaired, 
 until, full-grown and ready for its change, it falls to the 
 ground, where it now lies swathed in a little shroud (its 
 
278 INSECTS. 
 
 former tent), and waiting the awakening. To him the 
 undulating streak upon the bramble leaf, no thicker 
 than a hair in its beginning, but widening, river-like, in 
 its onward course, tells of a visit from a glorious little 
 sylph in gold and purple robes. The sylph is gone, bat 
 she has left behind her an almost invisible living atom 
 an egg, which, hatched, gives birth to an equally invisible 
 little creature a " caterpillar." Fully furnished with ap- 
 paratus for eating and for digesting, this loses no time in 
 setting about his labour of love ; and beginning to eat the 
 green pulp between the cuticles, injuring neither cuticle, 
 he is safely housed as it might seem from every danger. 
 And now, in the widening sinuous track, our Entomo- 
 logist sees his invisible little glutton growing fatter and 
 fatter, and requiring more room. He can imagine the out- 
 grown skin burst and laid aside, and replaced by a newer 
 and larger garment from within, and this perhaps again 
 and again, till, like his little tent-making friend, this also 
 drops to the ground, spins a silken shroud, and takes his 
 long winter repose.* 
 
 What is the little shred of white silk ? It may be the 
 remains of the cunningly-devised cell of a Hunting-Spider, 
 or it may be a silken shroud spun by some Caterpillar in 
 which to sleep the sleep from which will come so glorious 
 an awakening perhaps it may be both the emptied 
 shroud of the Caterpillar (how emptied ?), now occupied 
 as a house, a den, a " parlour/' by the Spider and, 
 perhaps, in a fragment of pupa case, or cast Spider-skin ; 
 the whole history may be plainly read when both the 
 living occupants are gone. Once more. This jagged 
 
 * If the mine be white it is empty, if but little discoloured the miner is 
 probably within. 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. LARV.E. 279 
 
 hole in a leaf who made it? A jagged bole if so, it is 
 not the work of the Leaf-Cutter Bee. She would have left 
 her token behind in a nearly circular smooth -edged gap 
 at the edge, and infringing on the edge of the leaf, tell- 
 ing of a neat carpet laid down by the little housekeeper 
 in some well-stored home but this hole is jagged. 
 Is it the work of the Sawfly of the Slug of the 
 Caterpillar ? Our Entomologist will be able to tell 
 us. 
 
 It has been said above that there is neither time nor 
 place in which we may not find the traces of these 
 creatures, if not the creatures themselves. If at one 
 time of the year we tear a handful of moss from the 
 trunk of a tree, out drop some little brown Chrysalids ; 
 if at another we drag a tuft of grass up by the roots, there 
 we find silken tubes, the homes of some small Cater- 
 pillars. We find them in fungi, we find them in grain, 
 we find them in teazle-heads, in fir-cones, in rose-buds, and 
 in fruit ; and the Hymenopterist, carefully watching the 
 insect emerging from a Gall, discovers that he has reared 
 in it a Moth ! On the face of a lichen-covered rock we 
 see a moving fragment, and lo ! a little Caterpillar, neatly 
 encased like a Caddis-worm in a tent of lichen, is moving 
 and feeding, safe even from the bird's sharp eye. We 
 open our drawers, and there, oh, sight of horror ! what 
 is that streak of white silk upon the best garment the 
 garment laid by, too good for common wear ? We look 
 farther, what is that dusky little roll ? Is it a " great 
 coat" on a microscopic scale? It matches our best 
 garment ominously. It moves a head peeps out 
 some little legs, and away it walks ! Tell not 
 the housekeeper ! away it walks in safety from 
 the admiring Entomologist, if eye or lens has revealed 
 
280 INSECTS. 
 
 the laborious weaving of the little garment, "his, late 
 mine." 
 
 While, however, we look admiringly on the ingenuity 
 of this thievish little tailor, we can but gravely con- 
 template his morals ; for the great law, " honour among 
 thieves," is totally disregarded by him. Two individuals 
 which, revelling on a many-coloured woollen rug, had 
 woven themselves most exquisitely- coloured and patterned 
 coats, were shut up together by the writer till it should 
 be convenient to make " specimens" of them. On open- 
 ing the box it was discovered that one had eaten half of 
 his neighbour's coat, and used up the remaining half in 
 patching his own, with much the same effect as would 
 be produced by the mending a kilt of one tartan with 
 pieces of another. 
 
 Yet again. In the hollowed stems of ash, lime, &c., 
 we find the large pith-eating larvse of the Leopard and 
 other Moths, in numerous small plants numerous other 
 species ; while the Goat-Moth Caterpillar does not 
 flinch from attacking the solid trunks of timber trees, in 
 which it forms large cavities. 
 
 Some live in the leaves of plants, carefully curled, 
 lined with silk, and sewed up with silken thread. Others 
 bind together the young leaves at the extremity of the 
 shoots of plants, and feed luxuriously on their tender 
 substances. 
 
 Of the Leaf-Mining species alone the variety is con- 
 siderable, and the individuals are abundant. If anyone 
 doubts this, let him walk three yards along the first hedge 
 of varied foliage which he finds. First, how many white- 
 tracked bramble leaves will he see ? how many white 
 tracks in one leaf (never crossing or interfering with 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. LARV^. 281 
 
 one another) ? Again, what is this large pale blotch on 
 the leaf of a wild plum or sloe ? Both surfaces seem 
 sound ; but he holds it to the light, and finds all the 
 green substance gone from within. An elm-tree over- 
 hangs : what is this dark zigzag track ? what this pretty 
 little pink stain on the sorrel at our feet ? What these 
 puckered lines on a hundred blades of grass ? Why is 
 half this hawthorn leaf brown, and dry, and thin ? Does 
 not the irregular line of black granules between the 
 cuticles tell of the passage of a creature feeding, digest- 
 ing, rejecting ? Enter the garden and look up ; the 
 drooping branches of laburnum show a hundred pale 
 patches marked like an oyster-shell in concentric lines, 
 and fortunate is the looker-on if the author of this 
 disfigurement is present, or rather, not the author, a 
 Caterpillar, but the beautiful creature developed from 
 that little grub (PI. XL, fig. 4). 
 
 Not all mined-leaves, however, have been the homes 
 of tiny Moth-larvae. On the leaves of buttercups, 
 primroses, holly, honeysuckle, and many others, are 
 found mines made by various species of two-winged 
 Flies ; and here, again, minute observation is necessary. 
 One means of distinguishing the Lepidopterous from 
 the Dipterous mines is afforded by the manner in which 
 the usually black, granular, excrementitious matter is 
 deposited, forming " a continuous track" in the mines 
 of the Lepidoptera, while in the mines of the Diptera it 
 is scattered irregularly. "In the blotch mine of the 
 sloe, the work of a Lepidopterous larva,* this matter is 
 
 * The writer finds the rules concerning the Lepidoptera mines in a MS. 
 note taken from the "Zoologist," aud with no authority affixed. 
 
282 INSECTS. 
 
 usually in a heap in the lower end of the mine ; in 
 Khamnus Cathartica and Clematis vitalba it appears to 
 be fluid, not granular." 
 
 In more unexpected places we <3ome upon the larvae of 
 Moths. Those of the family Galleridce, in the group 
 Pyralidinae, inhabit in large numbers the hives of Bees, 
 where they, protecting themselves from attack by the 
 construction of silken galleries (hardened, it is said, with 
 wax), feed upon the waxen combs, occasioning such 
 mischief as sometimes to destroy the hive. 
 
 Another family, in the same group, are aquatic, some 
 living under water in cases filled with air, while others, 
 furnished with fish-like breathing apparatus, breathe in 
 the water itself. 
 
 The variety of food thus shown to be used by the 
 larvae of Moths may probably be new to the reader, who 
 it is likely has thought of Caterpillars as exclusively 
 vegetarian in their habits, excepting the little Clothes- 
 Moth grubs, with their taste for hair of all sorts, whether 
 in the form of woollen stuffs, fur, or horsehair stuffings. 
 But there are not only species which feed on dead animal 
 matter of very various kinds, as the hair aforesaid, 
 leather, grease, and butter ; but there are some which, 
 whatever their natural and usual food may be, will feed 
 also on other living insects. This is the case with the 
 large evil-smelling Caterpillar of the Goat Moth, and the 
 " Satellite," and it is on this account carefully watched 
 by the collector, as it will eat even its own species. The 
 larvae of the Puss Moth eat their >east skins, whilst some 
 larvae eat their own egg-shells on emerging from them. 
 These may be dainty, but can hardly be very nourishing 
 food. 
 
 With regard to variation in food, it may be mentioned 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. LARVJ5. 283 
 
 here, that though some vegetarian Caterpillars will eat 
 almost any plants, yet in most cases individual species 
 of larva? are confined to -single species of plants, while 
 it is noticed that nearly-related genera of insects will 
 be apportioned to nearly-related genera of plants. 
 Nevertheless, there are instances of larv, deprived of 
 their natural food, taking with perfect content to 
 another kind. Thus the Silkworm, properly feeding on 
 mulberry leaves, may be kept on lettuce; and another 
 larva, supposed to be in its natural state an eater of 
 fungi, has so prospered and multiplied in London wine- 
 cellars, while feeding on the corks, as to be the cause of 
 serious injury to the stock. In this case the change of 
 food is argued from the impossibility that eggs or larvae, 
 if imported in the corks, could survive the various ope- 
 rations which these undergo. 
 
 And now, after this most unmethodical beginning, it 
 is necessary to turn to details which may give the reader 
 a clue to determining the tribe, group, or family to 
 which belong some of the larvae and pupae with which he 
 may meet. 
 
 The first thing to be done is to divide the larvae and 
 pupae of Butterflies from those of Moths. 
 
 Mr. Stainton, in his " Manual of Butterflies and 
 Moths," says : " The Caterpillars of Butterflies may in 
 most instances be distinguished (i.e., from those of 
 Moths) at first sight ; for, excepting the Caterpillars of 
 the first family, all the others are of peculiar forms, 
 either spiny or with two projecting horns at the head, 
 one on each side, or with two short tails, or fat and 
 short, like a Wood-Louse, or with the head much larger 
 than the segments behind." 
 
284 INSECTS. 
 
 The Caterpillars of Butterflies have alivays sixteen 
 legs ; those of Moths vary in number. 
 
 The pupa3 of Butterflies may be known from those of 
 Moths by their more or less angular form, Moth pupse 
 by their rounded outline (see figs. 65, 66, p. 285 ; and 
 fig. 29, p. 57). 
 
 Besides this, the pupae of Butterflies (except those of 
 the last family, Hesperidse), are always naked, and 
 fastened by silk lines to some supporting object; those 
 of Moths are sometimes naked, sometimes enclosed in 
 cocoons, but not suspended, naked, in the same manner 
 as the Butterfly pupas.* They are also frequently sub- 
 terraneous. 
 
 The long, fat, soft, green Caterpillar of the Cabbage 
 Butterfly is (boiled) but too familiar an object, and will 
 serve as an example of the Iarva3 of the first family, 
 Papilionida3. 
 
 In the second family, Nymphalidse, the Marbled- 
 white and the Brown Butterflies have slender Cater- 
 pillars, distinguished by a short forked tail ; that of the 
 Purple Emperor has horns rising from the heart-shaped 
 head, and the rest are spinous. 
 
 In the third and fourth families, Erycinidse and 
 Lycsenidse, the Caterpillars are short, and formed some- 
 what like the Wood-Louse. 
 
 In the fifth family, Hesperidae, the Caterpillars are 
 distinguished by the great size of the head and the small 
 size of the segments immediately succeeding it. 
 
 The Chrysalids of Butterflies are supported in two 
 ways, they are either suspended by the tail (fig. 6A), 
 hanging perpendicularly, or are attached by the tail to 
 
 * For an exception to this rule, see below, among the Geometrinse. 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. LARV^I. 285 
 
 some object, and then supported in an upright, inclined, 
 or horizontal position, by a silken band or girth passed 
 round the body (fig. 66). The Chrysalids of the 
 
 Fig. 65. Fig. 66. 
 
 Pupa of Vanessa urticce. 
 
 Pupa of Papilio machaon. 
 
 Nymphalidee are suspended in the former manner, those 
 of the other families in the latter, excepting the last 
 family, Hesperidse, which in this, as in many other par- 
 ticulars approximating to the Moths, lives during the 
 pupee stage in a slight cocoon, or net, as it might rather 
 be called. 
 
 It is not possible in this small space to give rules for 
 distinguishing the Iarva3 and pupse of the different 
 groups of Moths, as in most cases each group contains 
 many families widely differing from each other in this 
 particular. In a few instances, however, the reader may 
 be enabled to decide the group or part of a group to 
 which certain Iarva3 or pupse belong. 
 
 In the first group, Sphingina, all the Caterpillars have 
 the full number of legs (sixteen), and the greater part have 
 one stiff and horny tail. While from the appearance of 
 the larva of the Sphinx Moths is derived the name which 
 
286 INSECTS. 
 
 attaches to the whole group, this is not the only re- 
 markable-looking Caterpillar which it contains, and that 
 of the Elephant Moths is even more peculiar. The 
 front segments of this insect can be retracted or pushed 
 forward into a tapering form like the trunk of an Ele- 
 phant, and the segments immediately behind being 
 smaller, and having large spots like eyes, gives a singular 
 resemblance to the head of an Elephant. Some of the 
 larvae in this family feed on wood or pith, living within 
 the stems of plants. The Chrysalids are naked and 
 subterraneous. 
 
 The larvae of the next group, Bombycinse, present 
 several varieties ; some have sixteen legs, some fourteen, 
 some have no visible legs at all. Some have a horny 
 plate on their backs neiar the head, and some have 
 two long tails. The Emperor Moth is garnished with 
 bristles arranged in stars, while others are tufted with 
 hairs, and others again, as the pretty and common 
 Caterpillar of the Tiger Moth, are clothed with long soft 
 fur. This last, the "Woolly Bear" of children, with 
 whom it is almost always a favourite, has a habit of 
 rolling itself into a ball when alarmed, and awful is the 
 memory of nurse's legend, delivered with many warnings, 
 of a lady round whose finger one of these rolled itself 
 so tightly that it (What ? Finger or Caterpillar ?), that 
 IT had to be cut off ! ! In this group are some larvae 
 which construct cases not for their own habitation only, 
 but for that also of the wingless female when come to 
 maturity (see Psyche above, p. 271). This group con- 
 tains the Silkworms ; all those species whose silk is 
 commonly used in manufacture being found here. The 
 cocoon species of the Emperor Moth is remarkable for 
 its elegant flask-like form. 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. LARV.E. 287 
 
 In the third group, Noctuina, some have sixteen, four- 
 teen, or twelve legs, the latter walking with a somewhat 
 looping action, like those of the next family, Geometrina. 
 In this family some of the larvse are humped, some hairy, 
 some have retractile heads, others are furnished with 
 horny plates, others garnished with short and stiff" hair. 
 
 Geometrina, the fourth group, is named from the 
 peculiarity of the Iarva3. These are the well-known 
 " Loopers " : Caterpillars which, having legs (true and 
 false) only at the two extremities of their bodies, ad- 
 vance by nearly their whole length at each step, whence 
 their name, "Geometrina," or earth-measurers. The 
 Caterpillar, fixing its hind-legs to the substance on 
 
 Fig. 67. 
 
 Larva of a Geometer or Looper Moth (Ennomos), extended 
 and looped. 
 
 which it is walking, stretches the body to its full length, 
 takes hold with the fore-legs, and instantly draws the 
 hind-legs close to them : again stretching out the fore- 
 
288 INSECTS. 
 
 part, the looping process is repeated, and the rapidity 
 with which the insect progresses is very great. The 
 application of the name is very evident, the act of 
 measuring being irresistibly brought to mind by their 
 movements. 
 
 One family of the Geometrinse (Ephyridse) is remark- 
 able for suspending the Chrysalis by silken threads at 
 the tail and round the body, like the Butterflies. 
 
 In Pyralidin the number of legs varies, sixteen or 
 fourteen being the usual numbers. The larvas are de- 
 scribed by Mr. Stainton as having a " glassy look," 
 and an " unusually bristly look" in the few hairs. Some 
 of the larvae are case-bearers, and semi-aquatic, others 
 live on shrubs, and roll leaves wherein to change. Some 
 live in houses, upon greasy substances, flour, &c., and 
 others (the Galleridee, mentioned above, p. 282) in the 
 hives of Bees. 
 
 In Tortricin the legs are always sixteen, and the 
 larvae feed (as do many others) in leaves rolled (whence 
 the name Tortrix), and fastened by silken threads in 
 that position, or in stems, roots, &c. 
 
 In Tineina, the ninth and last group, we find much 
 variety in the mode of life of the larvae, and, as this 
 would lead us to expect, some variety of form also. The 
 number of legs varies from eighteen to sixteen, fourteen, 
 and more. 
 
 The Clothes Moths, remarkable (though not standing 
 quite alone) among Lepidopterous larva? for their pre- 
 ference of animal food; the Leaf- Miners, spoken of above 
 (pp. 277, 280), and most of the curious case-bearing larvae, 
 belong to this group, while in it are found some which 
 are miners in their early state and afterwards become 
 case-bearers, and one little species (Tinea ochraceella,) 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. LARV.E. 289 
 
 emulating the gallery-makers of the Pyralidinae, which 
 live in hives, constructs similar silken passages in the 
 nests of Ants. 
 
 Many genera feed like those of other groups, naked, 
 and on the exposed surface of leaves, or snugly sheltered 
 within leaves which are rolled up. 
 
 The two last families, containing the Plume Moths, 
 differ from each other in both larvae and pupae. The 
 ten-plume Moths, Pterophorina, have hairy larvae and 
 naked pupae, which, fastened by the tail, are, at least in 
 one species, remarkable for activity and irritability, 
 suddenly reversing their position if disturbed, and as 
 suddenly returning to their former position, head up- 
 wards, after a few moments. 
 
 The larvae of the twenty-plumes, Alucitina, are 
 hairless, and the pupa3 enclosed in cocoons. 
 
290 
 
 TABLE OF LEPIDOPTERA. 
 
 SECTION I. RHOPALOCERA (Butterflies). 
 Antennae thickened or knobbed at the tip. 
 Wings in repose erect.* 
 Pupae angular ;* naked.* 
 
 Family 1. Papilionidse. 
 
 Colours chiefly white and yellow. 
 Size from about 1 \ inches to 4. 
 Larvae long, naked or downy. 
 Pupae secured at tail, and with a belt. 
 Ex. Cabbage and Brimstone Butterflies. 
 
 Family 2. Nymphalidas. 
 
 Colours generally rich and bright, or dark, 
 
 , or tawny. 
 
 'Size about ly 1 ^ inches to 3-^. 
 Legs four. 
 Larvae spiny, or with two horns on head, 
 
 and two short tails. 
 Pupa secured at tail. 
 
 Ex. Brown, Tortoiseshell, Admiral, Peacock, and 
 Fritillary Butterflies. 
 
 Family 3. Erycinidas. 
 
 Colour brown, with tawny spots. 
 
 * Except in Hesperidse. 
 
TABLE OF LEPIDOPTERA. 291 
 
 Size about 1 T ^ inches. 
 Legs 4 in $ , 6 in $ . 
 
 Larvae broad and short ; woodlouse-like. 
 Pupae secured at tail, and with a belt. 
 Only one British species, Nemeobius lucina. 
 
 Family 4, Lycsenidae. 
 
 Colour blue, brown, bright copper. 
 Size under j inch to about 1^. 
 Larvae broad and short, woodlouse-like. 
 Pupae secured at tail, and with a belt. 
 Ex. Blue and Copper Butterflies. 
 
 Family 5. Hesperidae. 
 
 Head large ; antenna; wide apart 
 Colour tawny or brown, generally spotted. 
 Size 1 inch to 1 J. 
 Wings in repose erect, or fore-wing erect 
 
 and hind-wing horizontal. 
 Larvae large heads and small necks. 
 Pupae secured at tail, belted, and in a 
 
 slight cocoon. 
 
 Ex. The Skippers. 
 
 SECTION II. HETEROCERA (Moths). 
 
 Antenna? various; thread-like, feathered, or 
 
 spindle-shaped. 
 
 Wings in repose horizontal or deflexed; hind- 
 wing generally covering fore-wing. 
 Pupae rounded, conical ; generally enclosed in a 
 cocoon, sometimes subterranean. 
 * Antennae thickest in the middle. 
 
292 INSECTS. 
 
 I. Sphingina. 
 
 Larvae 16 legs. 
 
 Family 1. Zygoenidae. 
 
 Colours green and brown, or green and 
 
 red. 
 
 Larvae fat, tailless. 
 Ex. Forester Barnet Moth. 
 
 Family 2. Sphingidae. 
 
 Moth large. If in. to 5 in. 
 Larvae generally with horny tail. 
 Ex. Eyed Hawk Moth ; Death's-head. 
 
 Family 8. Sesiidae. 
 
 Wings short and broad (in Sesia clear) ; 
 
 body thick. 
 Larvae tailed. 
 
 Ex. Humming Bird Hawk Moth. 
 Bee Hawk Moth. 
 
 Family 4. Egeriidae. 
 
 Wings long and narrow, clear ; body long. 
 Larvae not tailed. 
 Ex. Gnat-like Trochilium. 
 ** Antennae tapering from base to tip. 
 a. Body stout. 
 
 II. Bombycina. 
 
 Fore- wings broad ; body blunt at tip. 
 
 Family 1. Hepialidae. 
 
 Ex. The Swifts; Ghost Moth, tyc. 
 Family 2. Zeuzeridaa. 
 
 Ex. Wood- Leopard ; Goat- Moth. 
 
TABLE OF LEPIDOPTERA. 293 
 
 Family 3. Notodontidge. 
 
 Ex. Puss-Moth ; Prominents ; Figure of 8 ; 
 Buj-tip. 
 
 Family 4. Liparidae. 
 
 Ex. Tussock (Hop-dog Moth). 
 Vapourer. 
 
 Family 5. Lithosidas. 
 Ex. The Footman. 
 
 Family 6. Chelonidae. 
 
 Ex. Tiger and Ermine Moths. 
 
 Family 7. Bombycidae. 
 
 . Ex. Oak Eggar Lackey ; Drinker. 
 
 Family 8. Endromidae. 
 
 Ex. Kentish Glory. 
 Family 9. Saturnidse. 
 
 Ex. Saturnia Pavonia-Minor (Emperor). 
 
 Family 10. Platypterigidae. 
 
 The Moths are small and slender; wings 
 generally hooked. 
 
 Family 11, Psychidae. Female wingless. 
 Larvae carrying a case. 
 
 Family 12. Cochliopodidae. 
 
 Larvae Woodlouse-like ; legless. 
 
 IH. Noctuina. 
 
 Fore-wings rather narrow ; body pointed. 
 (Fore-wings generally bearing two more or less 
 distinct spots near middle of costa one, nearest 
 
291 INSECTS. 
 
 base of wings, round or oval ; the other 'kidney- 
 shaped, and four transverse lines. 
 
 Ex. Dagger ; Common Wainscot ; Satellite ; 
 
 Gonoptera Libatrix (PI. X. 6). 
 b. Body slender. 
 
 IV. Geometrina. 
 
 Fore -wings broad. 
 
 Larvae with ten legs, walking in loops. 
 (Fore-wings generally bearing a dark central spot 
 between two dark lines.) 
 
 Ex. Oak Beauty; Large Magpie (or Currant 
 Moth) ; Carpets ; Pugs. 
 
 V. Pyralidina. 
 
 Fore-wings long and triangular ; much longer 
 
 than hind-wings. 
 {Fore-wings in some cases bearing the same marks 
 
 as in Noctuina.) 
 
 Ex. Snouts (PI. XI. 2) ; China Mark; 
 Pearls; Small Magpie (PI. XI. 1). 
 The Galleridce. 
 
 VI. Tortricina. 
 
 Fore-wings rather broad; costa much curved 
 
 at base. 
 
 Colour often in patches. 
 Larvae mostly leaf-rollers. 
 
 Ex. Green Tortrix; Zanthosetia (PI. XI. 3). 
 
 VII. Tineina. 
 
 Fore- wings long, with very long fringes. 
 Larvae leaf-miners, case-bearers, &c. 
 
 Ex. The Clothes-moths ; Leaf-miners (PI. XI. 
 4), *c. 
 
TABLE OF LEPIDOPTERA. 295 
 
 VIII. Pterophorina. 
 
 Fore-wing slit into two long feathers. 
 Hind-wing into three. 
 
 Ex. Strawberry Plume Moth. 
 
 IX. Alucitina. 
 
 Fore- wing and hind-wing each slit into six 
 feathers. 
 
 Ex. Twenty-plume Moth. 
 
296 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 HOMOPTERA. 
 
 THE order HOMOPTERA will best be brought before the 
 reader by the mention of two familiar insects which it 
 contains. These are the " Cuckoo-spit" insect, or 
 " Frog -hopper," and the common green Eose Aphis. A 
 very slight examination of these will show the characters 
 of the order, and the points of difference between it and 
 others. 
 
 First, then, to take the Cuckoo-spit (Aphrophora 
 spumaria, PL XII., fig. 2), we see a little hopping 
 creature, with fore-wings of a thickened texture, and 
 placed when at rest in a shelving or roof-like position. 
 So far it agrees with the Grasshoppers and Locusts in 
 Orthoptera. 
 
 Next take the winged Rose Aphis. Four delicate 
 membranous wings, united in flight by hooks, at once 
 suggest the order Hymenoptera ; but (setting aside all 
 other characters to be presently described) look to the 
 mouth in either of these insects, and it at once appears 
 that, there being no biting jaws, but a sucking apparatus 
 in the shape of a tubular rostrum or proboscis, it must 
 belong to the second division of the order, consisting of 
 Sucking insects. 
 
 Now, the only other order with which there is any 
 excuse for confounding Homoptera, is that which fol- 
 
HOMOPTERA, 297 
 
 lows it Heteroptera ; also an order containing insects 
 with thickened wings, and, like Homoptera belonging 
 to the Sucking section, like it possessing an evident 
 beak or rostrum. And here the wings themselves, 
 apart from all considerations of veining (which is 
 very various in both these orders), afford sufficient 
 distinction. 
 
 HOMOPTERA (from ojuotoe, homoios = alike, and TTTC/OOV, 
 a wing] contains Sucking insects in which the fore-wings, 
 whether thickened or membranous, are of a uniform 
 texture throughout .(see PI. XII., figs. 1 to 6). Thus 
 they may be thickened, as in the Frog-hopper (and so 
 differ from the hind- wings, which are clear), or, with 
 the hind-wings clear, and consisting throughout of thin 
 membrane, as in the Aphis. In HETEROPTERA (from 
 2r/30, different, and irrtpov, a wing) a reference to 
 PI. XIII. will at once show that the fore-wing displays 
 two distinct textures. 
 
 This, however, is not the only nor the chief difference 
 between Homoptera and Heteroptera (although the 
 distinctive names are derived from it), and indeed, 
 while this was considered as the chief distinction, the 
 two were combined in one order under the name of 
 Hemiptera.* 
 
 The remaining characters of Homoptera are as fol- 
 lows ; those of Heteroptera will be found in their place 
 farther on : 
 
 The insects are stout-bodied, sometimes with very 
 long, but generally with short, awl-like antennae, from 
 
 * The reader will do well to remember this, as the name Hemiptera 
 frequently occurs in books both old and comparatively new, and might 
 cause some confusion in his mind. 
 
298 INSECTS. 
 
 the last joint of which springs a bristle. The mouth 
 is peculiarly placed, being very far back in the head, so 
 that the proboscis springs from that part which, in a 
 man's head, would be represented by the under-side of 
 the chin, near the breast. The proboscis consists of the 
 labium, which forms a jointed sheath for the slender 
 bristle-like mandibles and maxill, and also a canal for 
 the passage of the juices upon which the insect lives. 
 
 The wings usually rest in a shelving position, not 
 overlapping one another, but to this there are ex- 
 ceptions. 
 
 Most species leap, but their legs are small, and do not 
 resemble those of the Leaping Orthoptera (Grasshoppers, 
 &c.), nor the thickened legs of the Leaping Beetles and 
 other insects. 
 
 The pupa is active, and larvae, pup, and imago much 
 resemble each other, especially in the case of such as 
 have wingless females. 
 
 The females have a point of resemblance with the 
 Hymenoptera in the possession of an ovipositor, which 
 in some species is a beautiful combination of a sawing 
 and boring tool, holding a place not inferior to that of 
 the Sawfly saw in the mechanism of insect anatomy. 
 
 All the insects in this order are terrestrial, and live 
 upon the juices of plants, to which they are extremely 
 injurious. 
 
 Many cover themselves with substances exuded from 
 the body, and which in some cases entirely conceal the 
 insect. Thus the Cuckoo-spit derives its name from the 
 mass of froth so commonly found on plants in the 
 spring, and in which the larva is enclosed. The French 
 attribute the production of this froth to frogs (crachat 
 de grenouille), and the name Frog-hopper is supposed 
 
HOMOPTERA. 299 
 
 by Mr. Westwood to have the same origin, though it 
 may be a question whether it does not arise from the 
 hopping, frog-like motions of the insect, which, when 
 come to perfection, no longer inhabits the frothy 
 nest. 
 
 Among the Aphides and their congeners, some species 
 conceal themselves with tufts of a woolly or cottony 
 substance, exuded, like the Cuckoo-spit froth, from their 
 bodies ; others slightly powder themselves over, or en- 
 tirely bury themselves in a fine meal produced in the 
 same manner ; while others, again, as the Scale insects 
 relations of the foreign Cochineals exude a secretion 
 which will be spoken of later. Some Aphides have 
 another mode of concealment, forming gall-like ex- 
 crescences upon trees, within which they live. 
 
 Homoptera is subdivided into three sections : 
 
 1. TRIMERA, in which the tarsi have three joints; 
 the antenna are very small and awl-like ; two or three 
 ocelli are generally present, and the fore-wings are some- 
 times thickened, sometimes clear. 
 
 This contains the Cicada, an insect related to the 
 foreign Fire-flies and the Frog-hoppers. 
 
 2. DIMERA, in which the tarsi have two joints, and 
 the antenna? are considerably longer than in the former 
 sections. 
 
 This contains the Aphis family, and insects not unlike 
 them, the Psyllid and Aleyrodes, tiny little white 
 Moth-like creatures. 
 
 3. MONOMERA, in which the tarsi have only one joint, 
 and which contains the curious Scale insects. 
 
 Cicada, in the first family in TRIMERA, consist of 
 singular-looking insects, with wide head and thorax 
 and a triangular abdomen. The wings are beautifully 
 
300 INSECTS. 
 
 clear and distinctly veined, the antennae are placed be- 
 tween the eyes, and are of six or seven joints, and there 
 are three ocelli. 
 
 Cicada Anglica (PL XII., fig. 1), the only English 
 species, is a rare insect, but there are smaller species as 
 beautiful and more common ; but while in England the 
 Cicadse do not form a conspicuous family, they are in 
 some foreign countries rendered prominent both by their 
 numbers and by the deafening noise which, when con- 
 gregated together, their combined efforts are capable of 
 producing. 
 
 The Cicada is, as has been mentioned above (Introd. 
 p. 9), an eminently musical insect. In the Brazils it is 
 said to " sing till it bursts," an idea arising from the 
 number of split pupa-skins found under the trees 
 frequented by these insects, 
 
 In America (where it is commonly called the Locust) 
 it is less esteemed for its powers, if we may judge by the 
 following extract: "One of your Spa-fields meetings 
 can give you a faint idea of their incessant and unmusical 
 cheering and noise. If Hogarth had known these 
 Locusts, he would have placed them about the ears of 
 his enraged musician. Knife-grinders and ballad-singers 
 would have been lost in their din."* 
 
 The musical instrument is neither in the wing-cases, 
 as in the Cricket, nor in the legs, as in the Locusts ; but 
 is placed within the abdomen. 
 
 The ovipositor of the Cicada is to the full as remark- 
 able an instrument as that of the Sawfly. It is a horny 
 borer (/, a) composed of two thick blades, which may be 
 called either saws or files (6, c, d) and which, running in 
 
 ; Journal of Science and the Arts," vol. vi. 1819. 
 
HOMOPTERA. 301 
 
 the grooves of a supporting plate at the back (x), play 
 alternately upon the wood to be bored for the reception 
 of the Cicada's eggs. Some of this family leap. 
 
 Ovipositor of Cicada. (Taken from Weatwood.) 
 a. The borer. 
 6. Do. more highly magnified, seen from beneath. 
 
 c. Do. do. from above, one blade slightly protruded. 
 
 d. Do. do. blade fully protruded. 
 x The supporting plate at back. 
 
 In the remaining Trimerous insects the antennae are 
 of three joints only, and the ocelli are two in number. 
 
 The Fulgoridse, Fire-flies or Lanthorn-flies of hot 
 countries, find some small representatives in England 
 (about forty or fifty species), but none of them are 
 luminous. They may be recognised by the position of 
 the antenna, which are inserted below the eyes. Most 
 of them have legs fitted for leaping. The young micro- 
 scopist will find some species (as Cixius cunicularis) 
 well worth seeking for the sake of their delicate beaded- 
 veined fore-wings. One genus in this family (Delphax, 
 containing nineteen species) might occasion some diffi- 
 culty to the young student, as most of the species are 
 usually found with only the basal half of the fore-wings 
 developed, and wanting the hind-wings altogether. Mr. 
 Westwood states, however, that the wings are sometimes 
 found fully developed in hot seasons. 
 
 Next in this section come the Cercopidse, containing 
 
302 INSECTS. 
 
 the Frog-hopping insects and others(see PL XII., figs. 2, 
 8, 4). Among these are some of very singular form, the 
 front joint (prothorax) of the thorax being extraordinarily 
 large, and forming sometimes a huge helmet, sometimes 
 a large strangely-shaped shield covering the whole body. 
 The strangest of these forms are chiefly foreign, but one 
 species common in the New Forest is sufficiently re- 
 markable. In this, Membracis cornuta (see PL XII., 
 figs. 4 and 4 a), the prothorax forms a long, pointed, 
 curved, and keeled process over the back, "while on the 
 shoulder it shoots out into two sharp triangular and 
 prominent horns. 
 
 A small insect in this family sucks the juices of ferns, 
 causing large patches of discoloration. 
 
 In the second section, DIMERA, the wings are always 
 clear,* the antennae sometimes of considerable length. 
 The first family is Psyllidae, which consists of insects 
 very like the Aphida3 in appearance and habit, but 
 differing from them in certain respects. 
 
 Both Psyllidae and Aphidse have three ocelli placed 
 in a triangle, and long, or moderately long, slender 
 antenna3. The wings in both are carried in a shelving 
 roof-like position, and the range of size in the species is 
 about the same. In both families there are species which 
 cover themselves with a woolly secretion. 
 
 The Psyllidae may be distinguished from the Aphidae 
 by their power of leaping, their very large thorax, their 
 short rostrum, and antennae of ten joints. The female 
 has a visible ovipositor ; the male, several small upright 
 
 * The wings of Aleyrodes lose the clearness of their appearance through 
 being covered with a white mealy substance, but the membrane itseli is 
 transparent and not thickened. 
 
HOMOPTERA. 303 
 
 appendages which garnish the upper side of the abdomen; 
 while the Aphides are furnished in both sexes with two 
 lateral tubercles. 
 
 The habits of the two families seem to be very similar, 
 and indeed many of the insects commonly called Aphis 
 are really species of Psylla. They are common on apple, 
 pear sometimes, and birch-trees, and Psylla Buxi sets ifs 
 mark on nearly every box-tree we examine, by shrink- 
 ing the terminal leaves into a concave form, so giving a 
 budlike appearance to their clusters. 
 
 Of all English Homoptera, the Aphides, or Plant-lice, 
 are the most destructive and the most universally preva- 
 lent. Their attacks sometimes convert a turnip field 
 into an offensive mass of decay, injuring, and at 
 times destroying, whole crops of all kinds, whilst not 
 sparing even the single little potted geranium in a 
 garret-window. In the hop countries they form a con- 
 siderable feature in the statistics of produce, and the 
 hops would be fairly exterminated by the Aphides if it 
 were not for several enemies already spoken of elsewhere. 
 The Hymenopterous Ichneumons, tiny enough to be 
 hatched, reared, and brought to perfection within the 
 small body of an Aphis, leave the proof of their numbers 
 in the brown swollen Aphis- skins which we may find 
 abounding in any plant frequented by the Aphides. 
 These displaying one small circular hole in the abdomen, 
 tell us of the exit of the little creature which was reared 
 and fattened in the wonderful laboratory in which vege- 
 table juices were transformed into animal food for his 
 sole use and benefit. 
 
 The larva of the Lacefly is another enemy, not however 
 plentiful enough to make much havoc among the legions 
 of the Aphis. The Syrphus larva does the gardener 
 
304 INSECTS. 
 
 good service upon rose-trees, &c., being exceedingly 
 voracious. But the great adversary of the Aphis, and 
 one which, like itself, occasionally makes its appearance 
 in countless swarms, is the Ladybird. This, with its 
 larva, is so considerable a check upon the Aphis, that it 
 is wonderful that the hop planters have not learned to add 
 notices of the appearance of these insects to their reports 
 on the fly, as an indication of the help to be looked for 
 from them, either according to the time of year in the 
 present or the future season. 
 
 The hop-growers, acting upon a principle all the 
 bearings of which they probably do not fully perceive, 
 check the production of the Aphides by a change of crop. 
 The success of this plan is owing to the fact of certain 
 species of Aphides feeding only on certain species of 
 plants, so that the children of the Aphis which flourishes 
 on the hop must starve upon the different plants which 
 take its place. Yet, even while acting upon the expe- 
 rience of this fact, it is difficult to convince the rustic 
 mind that it is a fact. The writer once came upon a 
 gardener intent on cutting down a fine sycamore because 
 it covered a neighbouring morella cherry-tree with 
 blight. In vain was the plea brought forward, "the 
 sycamore ' blight ' can't live on the cherry." " But there 
 is the cherry all covered with sycamore blight." It 
 might have been asked, " How do you known that the 
 sycamore is not covered with cherry blight ?" That 
 might very probably have been triumphantly answered 
 by, " Because the cherry-fly is black, and the sycamore- 
 fly green." But let philosophers say what they will, 
 it is not always as long from the lion's tail to his head 
 as it is from his head to his tail ; and, pleaded on the 
 other side, the argument had no weight 
 
HOMOPTERA. 305 
 
 Whilst, however, the attacks of each species of Aphis 
 are confined to one species of plant (or, when more 
 than one, to allied species), there are sometimes two 
 or more species of Aphis found on one kind of 
 plant. No part of a plant is secure from their attacks. 
 They live not only on the exposed parts, but under the 
 bark of trees, and upon roots buried under ground ; they 
 have even been found within the heart of apparently 
 sound fruit. 
 
 The gait of the Aphis, except when upon the wing, is 
 a slow creep, but some species have (in common with 
 the Psyllidse) another mode of locomotion which makes 
 up to them for the want of wings. This is similar to that 
 practised by the "Aeronautic," or Gossamer Spiders, 
 which throw forth long silken threads, and by this 
 means are enabled to float in the air currents to great 
 heights and distances.* The Aphides mentioned above 
 as extruding tufts of cottony substances, have been 
 observed floating in the same manner, and this is pro- 
 bably one of the causes of the sudden appearance in 
 fresh places of swarms of these insects. The apple-tree 
 blight, known to us as the " American blight," and which 
 sometimes nearly ruins the orchard, is one of these. The 
 name has been given under the belief that it has been 
 imported from America, but the Americans retort the 
 accusation upon Europe, and Mr. Harris, an American 
 writer on "Insects Injurious to Vegetation," states that 
 it is rare in his own country, and is supposed to have 
 
 * The Gossamer Spiders and Aeronauts are not of any particular genus 
 or species, the young of many kinds floating in the air by means of these 
 threads, and any Spider which throws out long floating threads of " gossa- 
 mer" being a '* Gossamer" Spider. 
 
 X 
 
306 INSECTS. 
 
 been introduced with fruit trees from Europe. It is of 
 recent introduction in England.* 
 
 Yet one more mode of transport has been discussed. 
 Sir James Ross, in his appendix to " Parry's Narrative,"t 
 says that living Aphides were found in floating ice in the 
 Polar Sea 100 miles distant from land, and so far North 
 as 82|. Eesembling a species to be found on the fir, 
 it was conjectured that " the floating trees of fir that are 
 to be found so abundantly on the shores and to the 
 northward of Spitzbergen, might possibly be the means 
 by which this insect has been transported to the 
 Northern regions." It was never seen on the wing. 
 
 When large swarms of winged Aphides have suddenly 
 made their appearance in the air, it seems probable that 
 (as is frequently the case in the migrations of other 
 insects) the wind may have been mainly instrumental in 
 conveying them. 
 
 It certainly has the credit of so doing, and the farmers 
 commonly believe their appearance to be consequent on 
 a north-east or east wind. So Thomson 
 
 ** For oft engendered by the hazy north, 
 Myriads on myriads, insect armies warp 
 Keen in the poisoned breeze ; and wasteful eat 
 Through buds and bark, into the blackened core 
 Their eager way." 
 
 Another substance which oozes from the tubercles at 
 the end of the body of the Aphis is the well-known 
 honey-dew, a favourite food of Bees, Ants, and other 
 insects, and of which Pliny says that it is " engendered 
 
 * The best mode of cure is said to be covering every patch of white 
 cotton with warm size. "Whitewash is very commonly used in our 
 orchards, and with some effect. 
 
 t See ''Spitzbergen and Greenland" (Hakluyt Society), p. 165, note. 
 
HOMOPTERA. 307 
 
 naturally in the air," while another philosopher gives it 
 credit for breeding the very insects which produce it. 
 
 The presence of Aphides raay be detected in cases 
 where the insects themselves are concealed, by various 
 effects produced upon the plants infested by them. Some 
 species cluster on the under-side of leaves, either form- 
 ing numerous little concave nests in the under-side, while 
 the upper rises into corresponding convex excrescences, 
 or curving the whole leaf into one mighty dome in which 
 many hundreds live. Others, sucking the juices from 
 the stems of plants, cause contractions and distortions of 
 various kinds. Others, again, form large gall-like 
 excrescences upon various parts of plants. Of these the 
 pear-shaped sacs on the leaf-stalks of the Lombardy 
 poplar are a common example. 
 
 A very curious little insect, supposed to be the young 
 of some species of Aphis,* may be found on the under- 
 side of maple and sycamore leaves, generally (except 
 when numerous and scattered all over the leaf) sheltering 
 itself in the angle formed by two veins. To the naked 
 eye it is a minute green, or brownish-green scale ; under 
 the microscope it is one of the most singular-looking 
 creatures possible. This atom rejoicing in the names of 
 Chelymorpha phyllophorus, or " the leaf-bearing tortoise- 
 shaped," and Phyllophorus testudinatus, or " the tortoise- 
 like leaf-bearer" (and if a third variety could be formed by 
 twisting the name any other way, the insect is quite worthy 
 of the honour) is a flat, tortoise-shaped green insect, 
 bearing on its head a crown or tiara composed apparently 
 of four beautiful leaves, as clear as glass, and delicately 
 
 * It much more nearly resembles the young of some other insects in 
 the Order. 
 
 - x 2 
 
308 INSECTS. 
 
 veined ; two smaller leaves coquettishly decorate a pro- 
 minence on the base of each antenna, slender leaflets 
 fringe the first and second pairs of legs, and the abdo- 
 men is bordered by a series of broad leaves like those 
 forming the tiara. 
 
 The history of Aphides is very remarkable. In the 
 spring, numbers of fertile females, and females only, are 
 hatched from eggs laid the autumn before. These, 
 rapidly attaining to their full growth, but never to the 
 possession of wings, give birth not to eggs, but to young 
 fertile females like themselves. These repeat the same 
 process, which occurs again and again, until at last nine 
 generations have been produced, when, autumn having 
 arrived, males as well as females are produced, which 
 sometimes, but not always, develope wings ; the usual 
 pairing takes place, the female lays her eggs and dies, 
 and from these eggs the next year's series of generations 
 is produced. 
 
 The true pupa may be known from the permanently 
 wingless female by its possessing the rudiments of wings. 
 The underground species of Aphis never develope wings. 
 
 The third family of Dimera contains only the genus 
 Aleyrodes ; pretty little insects already spoken of as so 
 covered by a fine white dust as to have the appearance 
 of tiny Moths (PI. XII., fig. 6, 6 a). The wings are 
 carried nearly horizontally when at rest. The abdomen 
 has none of the tubercles or other appendages common 
 in this order. The head is remarkable as having four 
 eyes, or, to use more scientific language, as having the 
 eyes "parted in the middle," as are those of Gyrinus 
 (see p. 70, fig. 32), and some few other insects. There 
 are only two British species of Aleyrodes. They are 
 about | inch in length. 
 
HOMOPTERA. 309 
 
 The larva is a flat, scale-like insect, and the pupa, 
 which is quiescent, remains covered by the larva skin. 
 
 It is calculated that the descendants of one pair of 
 Aleyrodes may amount to 200,000 in a single year, the 
 little patriarchs possibly living to see them all ! 
 
 The third and last section of Homoptera, MONOMERA, 
 contains only the curious family known as Scale insects, 
 Bark-Lice, or Mealy-Bugs. 
 
 The reader may often have remarked, fixed, limpet- 
 like, on the stems and branches of vines and other trees, 
 a convex brown scale of the size and shape of a small 
 Ladybird, and from under the edge of which a whitish sub- 
 stance appears, but with no sign of head, legs, horns, or 
 even of rings or joints. This is the dead body of a mother 
 Coccus, or Scale insect, and on its removal from the tree 
 the whole convex space below it will be found occupied 
 by the white mealy exudation resembling that produced 
 by some of the Homopterous insects, embedded in which 
 are numerous active young Cocci with two long tails. 
 
 " By the end of July the young quit the body of their 
 parent, and ascend to the extremity of the young 
 branches ; there they affix themselves by their rostrum, 
 gradually increase in size, and lose their anal setse, as 
 well as their former activity. In this state they remain 
 through the winter, without any diversity of appearance 
 indicative of the sexes ; and it is not till the following 
 April that this is first perceived, by the further increased 
 growth of the females, and by the males assuming the 
 pupa state, which is quiescent, with the limbs arranged 
 upon the breast, the fore-legs being directed forwards a 
 peculiarity not occurring in other insects."* The males 
 
 Coccus Aceris. From. Westwood's Introduction. 
 
310 INSECTS. 
 
 undergo their final transformation, and become winged 
 about May ; and by the end of June the females, which 
 never obtain wings, but, on the contrary, become less 
 and less perfect and insect-like as they approach 
 maturity, are found in the shapeless state already 
 described. 
 
 The males are comparatively perfect insects. Only 
 one pair of nearly nerveless wings, however, is developed, 
 which they carry overlapping each other, and the mouth, 
 in the young and the females so powerful an instru- 
 ment for mischief, is in them in a rudimentary state. 
 The male has two long bristle-like tails resembling those 
 of the Ephemera. They are necessarily less frequently 
 observed than the larger and stationary females, but at 
 the end of May or beginning of June specimens may 
 easily be found which have not yet taken wing. These 
 are to be found sheltered under a tiny white scale-like 
 cocoon, from which the insect's two slender white tails 
 project, and on raising which the insect is exposed. One 
 of the most common English species is the Coccus of the 
 sycamore, on the branches of which these cocoons are 
 plentiful. 
 
 Many of the Cocci, probably imported with the plants 
 on which they live, infest the foreign trees in our hot- 
 houses and conservatories, as the pine-apples, orange- 
 trees, oleanders, &c. Others, natives of England, are 
 extremely injurious to apple and other trees, upon which 
 they multiply to such a degree as to kill them outright. 
 Hence, in England, the Cocci, whether native or im- 
 ported, are known only by the injuries which they inflict. 
 
 Abroad the ease is .far different, and the Coccus or 
 Cochineal insect is a most valuable article of mer- 
 chandize. So precious is it indeed, in proportion to its 
 
HOMOPTEEA. 311 
 
 bulk, that it is not nnfrequently used in commerce in 
 the place of money, changing hands several times, and 
 making many journeys before arriving at its final desti- 
 nation. 
 
 Within a few years of the present time the brightest 
 and only fast red dye was obtained from this insect, 
 which was famous even in the times of the Greeks and 
 Eomans. Many species, from many countries, and dif- 
 fering greatly in value, have been used in dyeing, the 
 most valuable of all being a Mexican species living on 
 one of the Cacti, and which may be met with in English 
 hothouses.* 
 
 The Lac (called shell-lac, stick-lac, &c., according to 
 the manner of its preparation), which is used in the 
 making of sealing-wax, different varnishes, as Japan, 
 the lacquer used on metal, and of the pigments known 
 by the name of "Lake," is produced by an Indian 
 species of the Cochineal family, and is another valuable 
 article of commerce. 
 
 The Cochineal insect is used also in medicine, both as 
 a remedy and for the purpose of colouring other pre- 
 parations. 
 
 The little seed-like, narrow brown scales, so common 
 on the rind of oranges, are the remains of a species of 
 Coccus. 
 
 * The insects are exported in various states, the best and commonest 
 being that called "in grain" i.e., the insects whole, and with somewhat 
 of the appearance of small grains. Thus, "scarlet grain of Poland;" in 
 Spain "grana," or when broken "granilla." From this, the "scarlet in 
 grain," (formerly, as has been said, the only fast bright-red dye) probably 
 arose by degrees the application of the title " ingrain" or "ingrained" to 
 other bright colours as the means of making them fast were discovered. 
 A few years ago the only colours called " ingrain" were this fast red and a 
 then new fast bright blue. 
 
312 
 
 TABLE OF HOMOPTEEA. 
 
 SECTION I TRIMERA. 
 
 Tarsi three-jointed. 
 
 Antennas very small, three or six joints ; the last bristle- 
 like. 
 
 Ocelli generally present, two or three. 
 
 Wings : fore-wing sometimes uniformly thickened, hind- 
 wing clear. 
 
 * Antennae six (seven ?) joints* 
 Ocelli, three. 
 
 a. Antennae between the eyes. 
 Ocelli on back of head. 
 Insect not saltatorial. 
 Family 1. Cicadidae. 
 Ex. Cicada. 
 
 * Antennae, three joints. 
 Ocelli, two. 
 
 a. Antennae beneath the eyes. 
 
 Ocelli beneath the eyes. 
 
 Insect generally saltatorial. 
 Family 2. Fulgoridae. 
 
 Ex. CixiuSj Delphax. 
 
 b. Antennas between the eyes. 
 Ocelli on forehead or face. 
 Insect saltatorial. 
 
 Family 3. Cercopidas. 
 Ex. Cuckoo spit. 
 
TABLE OF HOMOPTERA. 313 
 
 SECTION II. DIMERA. 
 
 Tarsi, two joints. 
 
 Antennae longer than head ; six to ten long slender 
 
 joints. 
 
 Ocelli generally present, three. 
 Wings, hind and fore all clear.* 
 
 * Antennae six to ten joints long, or moderate. 
 Abdomen with appendages. 
 Wings at rest shelving. 
 
 a. Antennae ten joints; in front of the eyes. 
 Thorax very large. 
 
 Abdomen with visible ovipositor. 
 
 with several erect appendages. 
 Wings at rest shelving. 
 Face notched. 
 Insect saltatorial. 
 Family 1. Psyllidse. 
 
 Ex." Apple Aphis " (falsely so called). 
 
 b. Antennas (six or) seven joints, third longest. 
 Abdomen with two slender tubercles. 
 Wings at rest nearly perpendicular ; fore-wing 
 
 much the largest. 
 Insect crawling. 
 Family 2. Aphidae. 
 Ex. Rose Aphis. 
 
 ** Antennae short, six joints. 
 Eyes divided into two pairs. 
 Abdomen without external appendages. 
 a. Wings at rest nearly horizontal. Powdered. 
 Family 3. Aleyrodidae. 
 Ex. Aleyrodes. 
 
 * Covered with powder in Aleyrodes. 
 
314 . INSECTS. 
 
 SECTION III. MONOMERA. 
 
 Tarsi, one joint. 
 Ocelli, none. 
 Wings clear. 
 
 * Antennae of $ moderately long. 
 Abdomen of $ with two long tails. 
 Wings none, $ two, horizontal and over- 
 lapping. 
 
 Eyes composite or in a group. 
 $ scale-like. 
 
 Family 1. Coccidae. 
 Ex. Scale insects. 
 
 N.B. The above characters are chiefly derived from 
 Westwood's Classification. 
 
315 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 HETEROPTERA. 
 
 THE order Heteroptera has already been partially de- 
 scribed with the Homoptera, to which it is very nearly 
 allied. 
 
 It contains some well-known insects, both aquatic, as 
 the Water Boatmen (PI. XIII., fig. 1) and Water Scor- 
 pions (PI. XIIL, fig. 2), and terrestrial, as the beautifully 
 coloured Plant Bugs (PI. XIII., fig. 6), and the less 
 attractive Bed Bug ; besides some, as the slender, active, 
 long-legged black Gerris (PI. XIII., fig. 3), which, 
 running and dancing on the surface of the water, can 
 hardly be called " terestrial," though certainly not belong- 
 ing to the aquatic section. 
 
 The characters of Heteroptera, and those in which it 
 differs from Homoptera, are as follows : 
 
 The wings are always dissimilar, the fore-wings being 
 thick and horny at their fore-part, and membranous at 
 the hinder part ; the hind-wings clear and membranous 
 throughout, and often of exceeding delicacy. 
 
 The proboscis springs from the fore-part of the head, 
 instead of, as in Homoptera, from that part nearest the 
 throat. When at rest it lies flat in both orders, pointing 
 towards the abdomen. It is sometimes very long, but in 
 predaceous species is generally short and strong. 
 
 The antennae consist of from four to five joints, and 
 
316 INSECTS. 
 
 are long in the land species ; in the aquatic they are 
 shorter, of three or four joints, and are hidden from 
 sight in furrows beneath the head. 
 
 Ocelli are sometimes present, and are two in number. 
 
 As in Homoptera the fore-part of the thorax is some- 
 times of unusually large proportions, so in Heteroptera 
 is the scutellum, or little shield, a triangular plate ex- 
 tending over part of the abdomen (PI. XIII., fig. 6, &c.), 
 and which, in the Plant Bugs is sometimes so large as 
 nearly to cover the wings. 
 
 The tarsi have never more than three joints ; most 
 of the land species give out a disagreeable scent. 
 
 The Iarva3 and pupse are active, and resemble the 
 perfect insect. 
 
 Heteroptera is divided into two sections. 
 
 1. HYDROCORISA, which contains the aquatic species. 
 
 2. AUROCORISA, containing the terrestrial. 
 Hydrocorisa contains two families, Notonectida3 and 
 
 Nepidee. 
 
 To the first belong the well-known Water Boatmen. 
 Their shape is somewhat boat-like, and the resemblance is 
 increased by the two long hind-legs, which, extended on 
 either side, as the animal lies back downwards in the 
 water, exactly represent a pair of oars, both in appearance 
 and action. 
 
 The Notonecta Glauca (PL XIII., fig. 1) is a common 
 insect, and certain to attract attention from its size, from 
 its singular position as it floats with the under-side upper- 
 most,* head depressed, tail (for the purpose of respira- 
 tion) just touching the surface, and extended oars, and 
 from the swiftness with which one stroke of these fringed 
 
 * Whence its name. 
 
HETEROPTERA. 317 
 
 oars enables it to dart at the approach of danger, or in 
 the hope of prey, from the spot where it has long lain 
 motionless. 
 
 This creature has a strong, thick, curved, sharp-pointed 
 and jointed beak, enclosing lancets, and will occasionally 
 wound the hand which captures it. What chance the 
 soft-bodied, plump little Tadpoles and sluggish thin- 
 skinned larvae of the water have against it may easily be 
 imagined, and a single Notonecta introduced into an 
 " aquarium " soon reduces almost any number of fat, 
 black Tadpoles to the same number of colourless, empty, 
 film-like skins. 
 
 Under the delicately-tinted wing-cases of the Boatmen 
 are a pair of large, thin, milky-looking membranous 
 wings, which the insect uses freely on occasion. 
 
 The larvae and pupae resemble the perfect insect, except 
 in the possession of wings, which, however, are indicated 
 in the pupae. 
 
 The genus Noctonecta may be recognised by its three- 
 jointed tarsi and overlapping fore-wings. 
 
 There are three species. 
 
 A little creature one-sixth of an inch long, and much 
 resembling the Noctonecta, except in its greater width 
 in proportion to its length, and comparative shortness 
 of its hind-legs, is the little boat Ploa minutissima. 
 This is remarkable in the order as being an exception to 
 the rule of the fore-wings overlapping. They are united 
 down the back in a straight line. Like Notonecta Ploa, 
 the fore-tarsi are three-jointed. In Sigara and Corixa 
 they have but one joint. Corixa (in which genus are 
 ten species) may be recognised by the little shield or 
 scutellum being covered by the prothorax, and by an 
 approach in the nipper-like fore-legs to the character 
 
318 INSECTS. 
 
 to be noticed in the next family. In Sigara (containing 
 one species only) the scutellum is visible. 
 
 All the Notonectidse swim well and quickly. 
 
 The second family, Nepidse, contains the Water Scor- 
 pions, very different in appearance from the large-headed 
 boat-shaped Notonectidee, and are to be known by their 
 large prehensile fore-legs. 
 
 There are three genera, each containing only one 
 species, and the reader will readily distinguish these. 
 
 Nepa cinerea, the common Water Scorpion (PL XIII., 
 fig. 2), is a large, very flat, dingy, small-headed insect, 
 with a tail composed of two long bristles, and a scorpion- 
 like pair of fore-legs. It measures nearly an inch in 
 length, or, with the tail, one inch and a-half. It is a 
 slow and sluggish animal, living in the mud, and on the 
 water-plants in ponds, and, notwithstanding its sluggish- 
 ness, is a ravenous destroyer of other insects, especially 
 larvae. Probably its form and colours, resembling those 
 of a decayed leaf, conceal it from the notice of its prey, 
 and render swiftness in pursuit unnecessary. 
 
 The eggs of the Water Scorpion are shaped like little 
 shuttlecocks, with feathers short and recurved. 
 
 Naucoris cimicoides is nearly oval in outline, with a 
 much wider head than that of Nepa. The body is also 
 rather more convex, and indeed the insect may easily be 
 mistaken by a careless observer for a Water Beetle. It is 
 brown and shining, and swims with some activity. The 
 fore-legs (fig. 1 5, p. 38), are thicker, and even more cruel- 
 looking (when in sight) than the nippers of the Nepa ; 
 but they are not usually held extended. The Naucoris 
 has no tails.* 
 
 * For an aquatic insect somewhat resembling this, but with simple 
 fore- legs, see Aphelocheirus in the next section. 
 
HETEROPTERA. 319 
 
 Ranatralinearis resembles the Nepa in having a small 
 head, two long tails, and extended prehensile fore-legs, 
 but here all family likeness ends, for this most curious- 
 looking creature is but a series of thickish lines (as its 
 name imports). A long linear body with two long, thin 
 tails, and four long, thin legs, are all we see except a 
 pair of forceps, which would be long and thin too if 
 they were not so crooked. The creature looks cruel and 
 hungry, but where it stows all the prey for which it is so 
 greedy is a problem to be solved. A less aldermanic 
 figure can scarcely be conceived, unless in a family to be 
 described a few pages later. 
 
 The second section, AUROCOKISA, contains nine 
 families of insects, most of which are altogether terres- 
 trial ; some skim the surface of the water, but do not 
 swim in it ; one species alone is aquatic. 
 
 The first family, Acanthiid, contains only two genera 
 the aquatic insect just mentioned, Aphelocheirus 
 aestivalis, being the only species in one of these. It 
 will be recognised by its aquatic habits and oval shape, 
 which somewhat resembles that of Naucons ; while the 
 fore-legs are quite simple instead of being pincer-like. 
 It measures about three-eighths of an inch. 
 
 The genus Acanthia consists of insects which are 
 terrestrial, but inhabit watery places, the seaside, river- 
 sides, &c. They are small, active, hopping creatures, of 
 a flattish oval figure. One species is Acanthia saltatoria, a 
 dusky insect with minute cream- coloured spots, the clear 
 part of the fore- wings being creamy with dusky spots. 
 
 The second family, Hydrometridee, or the ivater- 
 meamrers, may be known at once by their very slender 
 figure, and their habit of skimming upon the surface of 
 the water. 
 
 They are dark and lanky, with slender, angular legs. 
 
320 INSECTS. 
 
 One, Hydrometra stagnorum, an insect very common 
 on all stagnant water, is remarkable for extreme slender- 
 ness, being scarcely thicker than a fine thread, and about 
 three-eighths of an inch in length. The head is very long, 
 the eyes are excessively prominent, and the wing-cases 
 do not overlap. Gerris lacustris, and Gerris paludum 
 (PL XIII., fig. 3), two other common species, are larger 
 and somewhat bulkier, and are very conspicuous as they 
 skate on the water with the utmost swiftness and ease of 
 motion. Velia rivulorum is a rather less common insect, 
 shorter and not so slender as the last, and of livelier 
 colouring, black, red, and white 
 
 There are five genera in this family. 
 
 The third family, Reduviidse, contains genera and 
 species varying much in figure and general appearance, 
 but to be recognised by the short, thick, curved beak, 
 the neck-like form of the back of the head, and the 
 long antennae with the last joint very slender. The 
 larvae of one species in this family, Reduvius personatus, 
 has the curious habit of thickly covering itself with 
 dust, so as almost to lose the appearance of an insect. 
 A similar habit has been already described in the larvse 
 of the Tortoise Beetle. Eeduvius personatus is found 
 indoors, and is said to prey on the Bed Bug. Some 
 of the family do not, except under peculiar circum- 
 stances, fully develope their wings and wing-cases. 
 There are six genera in this family. 
 Cimicidse, the fourth family, enjoys the distinction of 
 containing the Bed Bug. There is one genus, in which 
 are four species. These are all very flat, roundish in 
 outline, and even in the perfect state have but the indi- 
 cation of one pair of undeveloped wings, consisting of 
 two little scale -like appendages. 
 
HETEROPTERA. 321 
 
 The Bed Bug is generally supposed to have been im- 
 ported from abroad some persons think in pine-wood 
 from America. Southall (in Westwood) says that its 
 first appearance was after the fire of London in 1666 ; 
 but it is mentioned as having been seen in 1503. It is 
 believed to feed upon the sap of the pine, and certainly 
 " harbours" not only in new but also in old wood a fact 
 which has helped to make common the substitution of 
 iron for wooden bedsteads. The countless hosts in 
 which these insects occasionally appear, not by degrees 
 but suddenly, are very remarkable, and the superstition 
 attaches to them that this sudden appearance is por- 
 tentous of a death in the house. It is very certain that 
 they often live upon food other than the juices of animals, 
 from an account published some years ago of a long 
 closed and neglected building, which on being opened, 
 was found to contain these insects in millions ; they were 
 taken out in shovelfuls, and it required the labour of 
 days to effect anything like a clearance from them. 
 Pigeon-houses are liable to be infected by them. 
 
 TingidaB, the fifth family, contains nine genera of 
 broad, flat insects, varying in many respects, but to be 
 recognised by the antennae, of which the last joint is as 
 thick as, or thicker than, the preceding, and by the short 
 three-jointed beak, which lies in a groove under the head. 
 The species are all small. 
 
 In some genera, the shell of the thorax and the 
 elytra are much wider than the body to be covered, and 
 the pro-thorax goes down into a point like the con- 
 spicuous scutellum of some other heteropterous insects. 
 Most of the family display a beautiful network on 
 the surface of the thorax and elytra. 
 
 In one genus, Aradus, on the contrary, there is a 
 
 Y 
 
322 INSECTS. 
 
 scutellum, and the thorax and wing-cases (which are 
 strongly veined), are reduced to the usual size the latter, 
 indeed, being rather below this, as they do not entirely 
 conceal the abdomen. 
 
 In the genus Aneurus (containing one species, Icevis) 
 the wing-cases are entirely without nerves. They are 
 sluggish insects, and live on the juices of plants. 
 
 In the genus Acalypta (containing only one species, 
 carinatus) , the rule of Heteroptera is broken by the 
 wing-cases meeting in a straight line like those of a 
 Beetle ; while in the genus Agramma (containing only 
 one species, Iceta), another exception to the rule is found 
 in the wing-cases being of uniform texture throughout. 
 
 Capsidse contains both more genera and more species 
 than any other family, the species numbering more than 
 eighty. They are small, soft, delicate-looking insects, 
 with long antennae, which generally, but not always, are 
 slender towards the tip, and much thicker below. This 
 peculiarity is conspicuous in Capsus spissicornis 
 (PI. XIII., fig. 4), a common little dark insect, which, 
 small as it is (about three-eighths of an inch in length), 
 is likely to attract observation from this circumstance 
 the antennas are about three-fourths the length of the 
 body, and thick enough greatly to increase the apparent 
 size and importance of their small owner. 
 
 Another common species is Capsus flavomaculatus 
 (Fabr.), which measures rather more than a quarter of 
 an inch, and may be known by its black thorax and hem- 
 elytra, the latter banded with yellow ; the legs are yellow, 
 and the membranous part of the fore-wings is beautifully 
 iridescent. The family generally is marked by the fore- 
 wings and hemelytra, the horny part of which is " ter- 
 minated by a large triangular piece, like a stigma, the 
 
HETEROPTERA. 323 
 
 apical membrane having only one or two strong veins, 
 curved and parallel with tho tip of the wing, forming 
 a basal semicircular cell." 
 
 Pretty as they are, the little Capsidse, like others of 
 their order, are first cousins to the abhorred Bug, and 
 the family likeness makes its appearance in the dis- 
 agreeable scent belonging to them, and which they leave 
 behind on fruit, upon the juice of which they have been 
 feeding. 
 
 The Lygseidae are generally small and somewhat slender 
 insects, often prettily banded and spotted with black, red, 
 and white. Lygseus equestris (PL XIII., fig. 5), is one of 
 the larger and more conspicuous species ; the thorax and 
 horny part of the wings are red banded with black, and 
 the black membrane of the wings is beautifully spotted 
 with white. Some are remarkable for the form of the thighs 
 of the fore-legs, which are much thickened and curiously 
 toothed. Gastrodes abietis, an insect about one-third of 
 an inch long, is an example of this. The head and fore- 
 part of the thorax, the scutellum, and half the antennae 
 are black ; the basal joints of the antenna?, edge and 
 base of the thorax, and legs are yellow ; the wings are 
 yellowish, spotted with red. In this family is one genus, 
 Astemma (three species), in which the elytra neither 
 overlap, nor are half horny, half membranous, but are 
 thickened throughout. 
 
 Lygffiid and the following family, Coreidae, may be 
 distinguished by the longitudinal veins in the membranous 
 part of the fore-wiogs. In Lygaeid these are seldom 
 more than five in number, while they are numerous in 
 Coreid. In Coreidae too, the last joint of the antennas 
 is thickened, but not in Lygasidaa. 
 
 The Coreidffi, like the Lygaeidae, contain many 
 Y 2 
 
324 INSECTS. 
 
 prettily-coloured species, and are often remarkable for 
 peculiarities both of form and texture. 
 
 In some genera, the thorax is dilated at the sides, the 
 wing-cases rarely entirely cover the abdomen, and the legs 
 are long. 
 
 One genus, Rhopalus, is remarkable for the texture of 
 the wings, the fore-part of which is nearly clear, and is 
 outlined and crossed by exceedingly strong, thick nerves, 
 forming cells. The lower part is numerously horned. 
 This genus contains only one species, R. capitatus, a 
 yellow insect about three-eighths of an inch in length, 
 with thick, hairy antennae. 
 
 Another species, Oymus resedse, about one-fifth of 
 an inch in length, with red head and scutellum, and the 
 rest of the body yellow, is found on Mignonette. 
 
 These insects are all active, both in running and 
 flying, and are supposed to live on the juices of plants. 
 
 The family ScutelleridaB derives its name from the 
 great size of the scutellum or triangular shield, which 
 overlies the abdomen. The proboscis and antenna are 
 long, the latter frequently consisting of five joints. 
 
 There are twelve genera, and about forty species, of 
 which fifteen are in the Genus Pentatoma. Pentatoma 
 rufipes (PI. XIII., fig. 6) is a common and handsome 
 species, but does not display the family character of an 
 enlarged scutellum in anything like the degree in which 
 it may be seen in other genera. Thus, in Podops in- 
 unctus, a broad, brown, beetle-like insect, about a 
 quarter of an inch in length, and with two curious horns 
 or epaulettes projecting from the shoulders, the large 
 rounded scutellum nearly covers the wings. 
 
 In Eurydema oleracea, a beautiful oval insect of about 
 the same length, the scutellum is nearly as long, but 
 
HETEROPTERA. 325 
 
 narrower and more pointed. This insect is of a deep blue 
 colour, the head, thorax, and wing-cases are outlined 
 with red, a band of red runs down the middle of the 
 thorax, the scutellum has two lateral red spots and is 
 tipped with red, and a large red spot occurs at the end 
 of the horny part of each wing-case. 
 
 Cydnus bicolor is another pretty species, roundish 
 and flat, about a quarter of an inch in length, and pie- 
 bald black and white ; the wings leave the end of the 
 abdomen exposed, showing a pattern of black and 
 yellow. 
 
 The insects in this family are very various in colour- 
 ing, many being exceedingly beautiful, and they are 
 chiefly of large or middle size. They live principally 
 on the juice of plants, but will also prey on other living 
 insects. 
 
 Mr. Westwood quotes a statement that six or eight 
 specimens of Pentatoma bidens (a quietly-coloured, 
 yellowish-brown species, with a sharp tooth projecting 
 on each side of its thorax), shut up in a room swarming 
 with the Bed Bug for several weeks, completely extir- 
 pated them. 
 
 De Geer observed some females in this family accom- 
 panying and guarding their young brood as a hen her 
 chickens, or an earwig her little earwigs. 
 
326 INSECTS. 
 
 TABLE OF HETEROPTERA. 
 
 SECTION I. HYDROCORISA. 
 
 Antennae short and concealed.* 
 Legs fitted for swimming.* 
 Ocelli wanting. 
 
 A. Form boat-like. 
 Hind-legs long and oar-like. 
 Head about as wide as thorax. 
 
 Family 1. Notonectidce. 
 Ex. Water Boatmen. 
 
 B. Form flat and broad ; or linear. 
 Fore-leg prehensile. 
 
 Head much narrower than thorax. 
 
 Family 2. Nepidae. 
 Ex. Water Scorpion. 
 
 SECTION II. AUROCORISA. 
 
 Antennae long. 
 Legs fit for running. 
 Ocelli often present. 
 
 * Aphelocheirus, an aquatic genus in the family Acanthidae, has these 
 characters of Hjdroeori e a. 
 
TABLE OF HETEROPTERA. 327 
 
 A. Terminal joint or joints, or joints of Antennae not 
 
 more slender than those preceding. 
 Tarsi usually three-jointed. 
 
 * Rostrum long, second joint elongated and straight. 
 Figure oval, flat. 
 
 Family 1. Acanthidse. 
 
 ** Rostrum moderately long, four-jointed; third 
 
 joint much longer than the rest. 
 Figure long, very slender. , 
 
 Tarsi two- or three-jointed. 
 
 Family 2. Hydrometridae. 
 
 *** Rostrum short, three-jointed, buried in a groove 
 
 under the head. 
 Tarsi two- or three-jointed. 
 Figure flat, broad. 
 
 Family 3. Tingidse. 
 
 **** Rostrum moderately long, joints nearly equal. 
 Figure generally narrow. 
 Ocelli sometimes wanting. 
 
 Family 4. Lygaeidae. 
 
 ***** Rostrum long, four-jointed. 
 
 Antennae long, often five-jointed. 
 Scutellum large. 
 
 Family 5. Scutelleridaa. 
 
 ****** Rostrum moderately long ; third joint shorter 
 
 than fourth. 
 
 Antennae terminal joint large. 
 Tarsi three-jointed. 
 
 Family 6. Coreidae. 
 
328 INSECTS. 
 
 B. Terminal joints of antennas slender. 
 * Rostrum short, thick, naked, curved. 
 Head narrowed into a neck. 
 Tarsi three-jointed. 
 
 Family 7. Reduviidae. 
 
 ** Rostrum moderately long, three-jointed. 
 Abdomen flat, nearly round. 
 Wings wanting. 
 
 Family 8. Cimicidaa. (Bed Bug, &c.) 
 
 *** Rostrum long, four- jointed. 
 Body convex, soft. 
 Ocelli wanting. 
 
 Family 9. Capsidae. 
 
329 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ORDER XII. APHANIPTERA. 
 
 THE order APHANIPTERA contains the family of Fleas 
 only insects which, as that name imports, are entirely 
 destitute of wings. 
 
 There may seem little that is remarkable in this cir- 
 cumstance ; apterous species, and apterous individuals 
 of winged species, being found in all or nearly all other 
 orders. But of the Fleas, which are considered to form 
 an order by themselves, not a single species. British or 
 foreign, is known to develope wings. It is true that four 
 little scales supposed to represent these are found upon the 
 thoracic segments, and Naturalists have observed " some- 
 thing like elytra," and "vestiges of wings," but any- 
 thing which could be called wings has never been found. 
 
 Indeed, it seems that the process of development in 
 the Flea is arrested before it comes to the wings, for it is 
 unlike nearly all other insects (except such as the im- 
 perfectly developed female of the Glowworm) in having 
 no distinct thorax. The body, from the head to the 
 tail, is composed of a series of rings or plates, not 
 soldered together in separate masses as those which form 
 the thorax and abdomen in other cases, and the insect 
 thus assumes rather the appearance of such a larva as 
 occurs in the families with imperfect transformations, than 
 that of a perfect insect. 
 
330 INSECTS. 
 
 The transformations, however, of the Flea, are not of 
 the kind called " imperfect ;" the larva is a long, footless, 
 worm-like little grub, and the pupa is quiescent, re- 
 sembling that in Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. 
 
 The mouth is formed for sucking, and is composed of 
 the usual parts mandibles, maxill, labial and maxillary 
 palpi, and tongue, but is deficient in the upper lip. 
 The mandibles are transformed into serrated lancets, to 
 which the labial palpi form a sheath, the maxillse are 
 small, and the jointed maxillary palpi standing out in 
 front of the head might easily be mistaken for antennae. 
 The real antennas are small, curiously formed, and gene- 
 rally concealed. The body is compressed, the legs long 
 and very powerful, especially in the action of leaping. 
 
 About twenty British species are known, but it is 
 probable that many remain to be discovered, parasitic on 
 quadrupeds and birds. Man himself, cats, dogs, bats, 
 moles, pigeons, &c., are infested by them generally, 
 each by a species peculiar to itself. Each species pre- 
 fers the animal to which it belongs, and it is therefore 
 seldom or. never that a Flea found upon our persons 
 albeit it was hatched in the hen-house, or in the rug on 
 which our dog was lying is either a dog's Flea or a 
 chicken's Flea. Yet it must be confessed that there is 
 a natural reluctance on our part to lay claim to any 
 especial property in this insect. We can enter into the 
 feelings of a certain Princess, when an " Industrious 
 Flea," having escaped while being exhibited, and, as it 
 was supposed, " taken refuge with her Royal Highness," 
 the culprit was sought for, captured, presented to the 
 exhibitor, and declared to be not an educated, but a 
 " wild " Flea not his, but hers. 
 
 Fleas thrive especially in dirty and untidy houses, and 
 
APHANIPTERA. 331 
 
 other places where dust, flue, particles of animal matter, 
 &c., afford a harbour to the eggs and both food and 
 lodgings to the larvae. They have been found swarming 
 at the mouths of the deserted holes of Sand Martins ; and 
 a traveller (Sir Howard Douglas ?) speaks of them as so 
 numerous in one place that if they had but been unani- 
 mous they might have pushed him out of bed. 
 
 The Chigoe or Jigger of the West Indies and South 
 America is a species of Flea, and is far more objection- 
 able than any of our European species, from its habit of 
 burying itself in the skin, causing inflammation and 
 sores which are sometimes even fatal. 
 
 A curious legend, preserved among a sect of Kurds 
 who dwelt at the foot of Mount Sindshar, is quoted by 
 the author of "Episodes of Insect Life," whence we will 
 borrow it verbatim : 
 
 " When Noah's ark sprang a leak by striking against 
 a rock in the vicinity of Mount Sindshar, and Noah des- 
 paired altogether oi safety, the Serpent promised to help 
 him out of his mishap, if he would engage to feed him 
 upon human flesh after the deluge had subsided. Noah 
 pledged himself to do so, and the Serpent, coiling him- 
 self up, drove his body into the fracture and stopped 
 the leak. When the pluvious element was appeased, 
 and all were making their way out of the ark, the Serpent 
 insisted upon the fulfilment of the pledge he had 
 received; but Noah, by Gabriel's advice, committed 
 the Serpent to the flames, and, scattering its ashes in 
 the air, there arose out of them Flies, Fleas, Lice, Bugs, 
 and all such sorts of vermin as prey upon human blood, 
 and in this manner was Noah's pledge redeemed." 
 
332 
 
 Deus Myiagrus. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 ORDER XIII. DIPTERA. 
 
 now come to the order of Flies, a tribe regarded 
 with much disfavour by those who, not looking beyond 
 the apparent evils which they occasion, are ignorant of 
 their great importance in the economy of nature. 
 
 Not only in the ancient times already spoken of 
 times when a god* was summoned to disperse, as a 
 cause of evil, creatures which were in truth its antidote ; 
 not then only, but even to the present day these most 
 useful little creatures are thought of, spoken of, and 
 treated as an unmixed nuisance. In Greece and Rome 
 two thousand years ago they were looked upon as 
 bringing pestilence ; in England to-day, we hear of the 
 " Cholera Fly," not as a Fly coming with, but as one 
 
 * See Introduction, p. 2, and the figure at the head of this chapter. 
 
DIPTERA. 333 
 
 " bringing " disease. In some years the large swarms 
 of so-called " Cholera Flies " have been flights of 
 Aphides. In this case it is less easy to trace either the 
 final cause of the presence of these insects or their 
 connexion with the appearance of cholera (if such con- 
 nexion exists), than in that of the true Flies, numbers 
 of which, bred in and feeding on the substances which 
 induce disease, are both dependent on the presence of 
 those substances, and corrective of their noxious in- 
 fluences. We may, however, believe that certain con- 
 ditions of the air favourable to the development of 
 disease, may be equally favourable to the development 
 of vegetable life, and consequently to that of vegetable- 
 feeding insects. 
 
 Enough has already been said of the usefulness of 
 Scavenger insects, and of their almost universal presence 
 where their labours are required, to suggest the thought 
 that where pestilence is rife, whether from careless un- 
 cleanliuess or from such noxious atmospheric influences 
 as produce the same effects, there will be found the 
 myriads of Flies, whose office it is, in their earlier stages, 
 to consume the deadly substances which fill the air with 
 poison. It is easy to conceive that the heathen feasts 
 and sacrifices, unguarded by the regulations which sur- 
 rounded those of the Jews, might well call for the 
 presence of these little guests; while in their bestowing 
 the names of Mwcu, muscte, on the uninvited and un- 
 welcome human parasites, who thrust themselves upon 
 their feasts, we may read the feelings which they, ignorant 
 and ungrateful, entertained towards their little bene- 
 factors. 
 
 But it may be said of the carrion -eating, dung-eating, 
 Scavenger Flies, that their purpose is apparent, and for 
 
334 INSECTS. 
 
 the sake of their general utility, we are willing to con- 
 done the offences of even those who, under a mistaken 
 view of duty, visit our larders to assist us in the removal 
 of heef and mutton. What, however, is to be said in 
 defence of those hordes whose aggressions touch our 
 persons of the blood-sucking little demons which, a 
 small misery in an English summer, make whole 
 tracts of country uninhabitable in tropical regions ? 
 What of the swarms of Gnats, of Midges, of Mosqui- 
 toes, of Sandflies, which might almost have prompted the 
 thought of our forefathers that the fallen spirits,shut out 
 from the upper heaven because of its delights, from the 
 lower earth because they could not there torment the race 
 of men, are confined midway in the darkened air, where, as 
 Flies, they surround us numberless, filling the air so 
 that it is full of devils and evil spirits, " as the sonne 
 .bemes ben full of small motes, which is small dust or 
 poudre." Is there any defence for these creatures ? 
 
 Of the bloodsuckers in the race of Gnats, Midges, 
 Mosquitoes, &c., nearly all the larvee are aquatic, and 
 consumers of decaying matter Scavengers. If this be 
 so, is not the purpose of the production of the 
 myriads of such creatures in the unhealthy swamps 
 of unreclaimed tropical lands sufficiently evident ; and 
 would it be straining one's view of final causes to trace 
 the continuance of their beneficial influence on man, 
 when, changed from a Scavenger Maggot to a blood- 
 thirsty little Midge, our tormentor drives us from the 
 regions as yet unsuited for our habitation ? 
 
 That Flies are officious, busy, curious, there is no 
 denying. A well-known Artist of the present day tells 
 an amusing story of the interference of a little House- 
 fly, in which we might almost imagine the spirit of fun 
 
DIPTERA. 3o 
 
 and mischief at work. The painter having left the room 
 in which he was giving a lesson in miniature painting, 
 returned to find the carefully finished eyes as carefully 
 unfinished again, denuded of all colour in the iris. 
 He cast an unfriendly eye on the pupil's little brother 
 (who had been left alone with the picture), and restored 
 the eyes. Called away again, the unpainting process 
 was partially repeated, and this time the little brother was 
 openly accused, denied the charge indignantly, was be- 
 lieved by his mother, and disbelieved by the angry master. 
 No sooner was the discussion dropped, than casting his 
 eyes upon the miniature, the Artist observed a Housefly 
 busily at work, delicately sucking up with his tiny pro- 
 boscis all that remained of the colour employed in 
 painting the irides. 
 
 And now, having talked for three pages about Flies, it 
 seems time to inquire what is meant by a " Fly" This 
 depends very much upon who is speaking. Being a 
 " popular name " the *' people " have a right to mean 
 what they choose by it, and they avail themselves of 
 this right some meaning by it one thing, some another, 
 some every flying insect for which they know no other 
 name. Thus, " the Fly " of the farmer is usually the 
 little hopping Turnip Beetle ; the " Fly " of the hop- 
 grower is an Aphis ; the " Fly" of the herdsman, a 
 Gad ; while to the citizen, almost anything to be seen 
 with wings (except pigeons and sparrows), is a Fly. 
 
 There are some again to whom Flies are Flies one Fly 
 the Fly the common well-known little black House- 
 fly. Here at last is something definite. No, not even 
 now; for these will at least claim their young Housefly, 
 and their full-grown Housefly, and expect you to be- 
 lieve that late in the year their Housefly takes to biting 
 
336 INSECTS, 
 
 you : little dreaming that the little Fly, and the big Fly, 
 and the Fly which bites you, not only are different species, 
 but even belong to different genera : that the little Fly 
 never grows big, that the big Fly never was little, and 
 that their Housefly could not bite you if he would. 
 
 What, then, are we to understand by the name Fly ? 
 It is clear that the popular sense has no sense at all 
 or too many senses and yet the word cannot be spared 
 from our vocabulary. In any Latin dictionary we shall 
 find Musca (Fly), and the Entomologist pounces upon it, 
 and says, it shall mean the tribe of two-winged insects. 
 
 LinnaBus so used it, and his genus Musca, now broken 
 up into many new genera, represented the greater number 
 of those insects which the Entomologist now claims as 
 Flies. 
 
 The order DIPTERA, then, is marked by the absence 
 of hind-wings, the place of which is occupied by two 
 small, short, hair-like appendages, ending in a knob, 
 and termed halters or poisers. The wings are mem- 
 branous, not closely veined, and are never folded. At 
 their base, a little wing-like membrane, called alulet, 
 or winglet, is most frequently found. 
 
 The mouth is fitted for sucking only, and its principal 
 parts are a sucker, or fleshy tongue, familiar to us as 
 the " proboscis," or " trunk" of the Housefly, and 
 several fine lancet-like organs. It is these latter which, 
 in the blood-sucking Flies, or Gnats, Horseflies, &c., are 
 used to pierce the skin, while the fleshy tongue or sucker 
 makes a vacuum, and draws away the blood. In fact, 
 when a Gnat " bites" us, the truth is, that the little crea- 
 ture puts us through the exact process of cupping. The 
 fleshy sucker is the labium, lip, or tongue, as it is 
 variously called in this and other insects. The lancets 
 
DIPTERA. 337 
 
 are the upper lip, mandible, maxillae, and palpi or some 
 of these completely changed from their form as that 
 is seen in Biting insects. These lancets, always delicate, 
 are nevertheless comparatively strong in the Blood- 
 Suckers ; while in those Flies which live on fluids not 
 enclosed in thick-skinned vessels, they are feeble and 
 flaccid. 
 
 The antennae vary greatly. Under one form there are 
 two or three short joints, of which the terminal is large 
 and sometimes nearly globose, with a bristle springing 
 from its upper side or from its apex. Under another, 
 the several joints form a more or less spindle-shaped 
 antenna, with or without a terminal bristle, while in the 
 Gnats, Daddy Longlegs, &c., the antennae are long, 
 slender, many-jointed, and beautifully decorated with 
 whorls of hair. There are also many intermediate 
 forms. 
 
 The tarsi are five-jointed. The commonest form of 
 foot consists of a pair of curved claws above a pair of 
 flat, sucker-like, hairy pads. The claws vary in form, 
 and the pads both in form and number there being two, 
 three, or, rarely, none. 
 
 The larvae of Flies are generally legless maggots of 
 simple form the " Gentle" used by anglers being a well- 
 known example ; but some of the aquatic species are 
 more complicated externally, and are furnished with 
 ornamental appendages belonging to the breathing ap- 
 paratus. 
 
 The pupae are inactive, a curious exception being 
 found in the Gnat family, of which the pupa (aquatic) 
 is very active, although unable to feed. The pupae are 
 sometimes naked, and sometimes remain enclosed in the 
 larva skin, which either retains much of its original form 
 
 z 
 
338 INSECTS. 
 
 or contracts into a smooth, egg-like case or cocoon. The 
 pupa itself, whether naked or enclosed in the larva skin, 
 resembles that of the Beetles in having the limbs sepa- 
 rately cased. 
 
 The manner in which Flies are produced varies. Most 
 are, like other insects, produced in the egg state ; others, 
 among the Carrion Flies, are born, not in the egg, but 
 already grown to larvae ; while, in the case of certain 
 Parasitic Flies, they even attain the pupa stage before 
 exclusion. 
 
 As in all the four-winged orders of insects, some 
 species or sexes are found wanting one or both pairs of 
 wings,* so in the order Diptera, characterized by the 
 invariable absence of hind-wings, the fore as well as the 
 hind pair are sometimes wanting, and also the halteres 
 or representatives of the hind-wings. 
 
 If it be asked how, when, as in Diptera, or excep- 
 tionally in any of the orders above named, there is but 
 one pair of wings, they can be pronounced to be hind- 
 wings or fore-wings ? the answer is, much in the same 
 way as if a monstrous horse were born with only two 
 legs, it would be decided whether these were the hind or 
 the fore legs ; their relation to other parts would settle 
 the question. 
 
 The order Diptera is divided by marked characters 
 into two sections, PROBOSCIDEA and EPROBOSCIDEA, but 
 of these the first contains the bulk of the order, while 
 the second contains only a few known species, which 
 are all parasitic, living in the perfect state on the 
 surface of the bodies of quadrupeds and birds. 
 
 The characters of PROBOSCIDEA are proboscis fleshy 
 
 * When only one is absent, it is nearly always the hind pair. 
 
DIPTERA. 339 
 
 and bilobed at the tip ; legs of the opposite sides in- 
 serted down the middle of the thorax ; head and thorax 
 distinct, being connected by a neck; antenna placed 
 between the eyes. 
 
 In EPROBOSCIDEA, the proboscis is tubular, the legs 
 are set wide apart, those of opposite sides being separated 
 by a wide breastplate. The head is either sunk in the 
 thorax, or thrown so completely backward as to be 
 actually reversed, and the antennae are partially buried 
 in the head. 
 
 The first section, PROBOSCIDEA, is divided into two 
 large groups, named, from the characters of the antennae, 
 
 1. NEMOCERA. 
 
 2. BRACHTCERA. 
 
 To this is added a third, HYPOCERA, which consists 
 but of one genus, containing only a few small species. 
 
 To NEMOCERA belong the Gnats, Daddy Longlegs, and 
 others, having long and slender thread-like antenna of 
 several joints, numbering from six to sixteen, and fre- 
 
 Fig. 69. 
 
 Antenna of fiptik. 
 
 quently very beautifully decorated with whorls of long or 
 short slender hairs (see fig. 59, and PI. XI V_, fig. 1). 
 The Flies of this division are nearly all to he recognised 
 
 Z 2 
 
340 INSECTS. 
 
 with ease by their slender form, small head, high thorax, 
 and long and delicate legs, which are extended down- 
 wards and backwards during flight. 
 
 Fig. 70. 
 
 Female Gnat (Culex Pipiens) at rest. 
 
 In BRACHTCERA the antennae are comparatively short, 
 very often consisting of only three joints of unequal 
 size, from the last of which a bristle or delicate feather 
 usually springs (see PI. XIV., 6, a; XV., 4, a; XVI., 
 3, a, 5, a). The antenna sometimes are longer and 
 have more joints (see PI. XIV., 2, a, 4, a) sometimes 
 as many as ten but these, after the third, are usually 
 more or less consolidated into one, and have a character 
 different from that of the distinctly articulated antennae 
 in Nemocera (see fig. above). By far the greater 
 number of Flies belong to Brachycera. 
 
 In the small section HYPOCERA, the antennae much 
 resemble those of the Brachycera, but are differently 
 placed, being low down and close to the mouth. The 
 character of the mouth, in which the lancets are not 
 developed,with some other characters to be named in their 
 place, also help to distinguish it from Brachycera. 
 
 The wings in Brachycera are usually characterized by 
 the posterior nerves forming several perfect cells.* In 
 most families the membrane of the wing forms a larger 
 or smaller lobe in the axil, which lobe is very small 
 
 * See figures in table of Diptera. 
 
DIPTERA. 341 
 
 or wanting in Nemocera ; and the winglets, undeveloped 
 in Nemocera, are often conspicuous in Brachycera. 
 
 The habits of Flies both in the larval and perfect states 
 vary much. Of the larvse, many are purely aquatic, as the 
 well-known active little Gnat larva common in all pools, 
 ponds, and tanks ; or live in wet mud and filth, as the 
 useful " rat- tailed " larva of the Dronefly. Others live in 
 the earth, feeding on decayed matter, or on the roots of 
 plants ; while some, as the " Gentle " of the angler, are 
 deposited, already hatched from the egg, in the carrion 
 which it is their office to consume.* They are found 
 feeding in almost every part of almost every kind of 
 plant, and a large number live in unhealthy growths 
 upon plants similar to the galls of the Hymenoptera 
 occasioned by their own presence. Some few feed upon 
 other living insects. Some, again, are parasitic, in- 
 habiting the nests and feeding on the food of other 
 insects ; while others, as the Gadflies, are parasitic within 
 the bodies of quadrupeds. 
 
 The variety of food chosen by various Flies when 
 arrived at perfection is nearly as great as that of the 
 larvae. While perhaps the greater number of species 
 feed on the honey in flowers, and on the various juices 
 of plants, others, as the Gnats, Horseflies, c., suck the 
 blood of men and animals whenever an opportunity 
 offers. There are also true parasites among the FHes 
 species which, winged or wingless, live constantly, in 
 the complete state, upon the bodies of birds and quad- 
 rupeds. Besides these, many Flies are predaceous, 
 attacking other insects and draining them of their 
 blood, and some few live upon the fetid juices of carrion. 
 
 * The value of this provision in the saving of time, when the object is 
 to check the evil effects of putrefaction, needs no remark. 
 
34)2 INSECTS. 
 
 As, however, is commonly the case in insects, preda- 
 ceous or vegetarian habits in the one state do not imply 
 a continuation of the same habit in another, and we not 
 seldom find the predaceous larva followed by a vegeta- 
 rian Fly, and the reverse. There are, however, a few rules 
 which appear to prevail, and which are worthy of note. 
 
 In the first division of Proboscidea, Nemocera, it may 
 generally be observed that the Blood-sucking Flies (i.e., 
 Gnats, Midges, &c.) are those which proceed from aquatic 
 larvae, the terrestrial larvae which live chiefly on fungi and 
 other plants, living or decayed, producing flower-loving 
 Flies. 
 
 In the second division, Brachycera, on the contrary, 
 the Flies proceeding from aquatic larvae feed on the honey 
 in flowers, &c., while the blood-sucking Horsefly, the 
 predaceous Empis, and carrion-eating Flies are terrestrial 
 in the larva state. It is in this division that the para- 
 sitic larvae are found, of both kinds of parasitism, in the 
 nests and bodies of other insects, and in the bodies of 
 animals, and these larvae produce Flower-loving Flies. 
 
 The rules just given are not to be considered as 
 without exception, even among insects whose habits are 
 known ; and it must be remembered that there is so large 
 a number of insects of whose habits in one or both states 
 we are as yet entirely ignorant, that it is impossible to lay 
 down general rules in those matters which may not here- 
 after prove to be valueless. 
 
 The Parasitic Flies Flies, that is, which are parasitic 
 in their perfect state upon quadrupeds or birds are found 
 only in the second section, Eproboscidea, and, with the 
 peculiarities of their transformations, have been already 
 described. 
 
 The number of the Diptera is so large, that to describe 
 
DIPTERA. NEMOCERA. 343 
 
 the families only in a manner which may enable the 
 young student to refer species to them, is all that can be 
 attempted here ; and the readeF will find it necessary for 
 this to make himself acquainted with the figure of a 
 wing and its principal veins and cells given at the end of 
 the table of Diptera. 
 
 The NEMOCERA have been divided into two families, 
 Culicidce, in which the proboscis is very long, and 
 Tipulida, in which it is short the Gnat (Culex) 
 being the type of the former, the Daddy Longlegs 
 (Tipula) of the latter. This marks off the Culex family 
 with distinctness, but the shortness or length of the pro- 
 boscis and membership of this family, are no certain 
 indications as to the blood-sucking habits of the species. 
 The group is now divided by Mr. Walker into ten 
 families* (Culicidae and Tipulidae being two of them) ; but 
 even so the Blood-suckers are not entirely separated from 
 the Vegetarians, one genus in Culicidse itself not being 
 blood-sucking, while Blood-suckers and Vegetarians are 
 mixed in other families. 
 
 Indeed, this habit is not so important a difference as 
 we (from an interested point of view) might be inclined 
 to consider it ; for it is evident that of the myriads of 
 Gnats and Midges which are produced in uninhabited 
 swamps and forests, the greater part must die without 
 having ever tasted blood, but having fed, if indeed food 
 is necessary during their short lives, on the juices of 
 plants, which their piercing and sucking probosces are 
 as well suited to obtain as the fluids contained in the 
 veins of animals. The pupa3 in Nemocera are naked. 
 
 * Mr. Walker, indeed, reckons eleven families in Diptera, the Flea* 
 forming one of these ; but in the present work these form an order by 
 themselves. 
 
844 INSECTS. 
 
 Mr. Walker divides NEMOCERA into the following 
 families : 
 
 1. Mycetophilidae, 
 
 2. Cecidomyzidae (Gall-gnats). 
 
 3. Bibionidae. 
 
 4. SimulidaB (Sandflies). 
 
 5. Chironomidae (Midges). 
 
 6. Culicidae (Gnats). 
 
 7. Phlebotomidae. 
 
 8. Heteroclitae. 
 
 9. TipulidaB (Daddy Longlegs, Craneflies). 
 10. Khyphidaa. 
 
 In the three first of these familiies the larvae are 
 terrestrial, living on fungi, roots ot grain, &c., and dead 
 organic matter. The perfect Flies are not blood-suckers. 
 
 1. Mycetophilida3. These, as their name denotes, 
 live chiefly upon fungi, partly also (as is common with 
 fungus-eating insects) on decaying vegetable matter of 
 other kinds. They are little, active, hopping creatures, 
 in general appearance like minute and beautiful Gnats, 
 Iroui which, however, the shortness of the proboscis and 
 the comparative shortness of the legs serve to distinguish 
 them. They are further to be distinguished as usually 
 possessing ocelli, two or three in number Bibionidae, 
 and, rarely, Cecidomyzidae being the only other families 
 of Nemocera with ocelli. 
 
 The wings are without the discal areolet. 
 
 2. Cecidomyzida. These are also very small and 
 exquisitely beautiful Gnat-like little insects, with glitter- 
 ing rainbow-coloured wings, and often with long, slender, 
 and decorated antennas. They seldom have ocelli. The 
 Gall-making larvae are found in this family, while others 
 feed in the seed-vessels, flowers, leaves, &c., of living 
 
DIPTERA. NEMOCERA. 345 
 
 plants, and some on decaying wood and even in the 
 woody galls formed by other insects. 
 
 As was observed above concerning the Lepidoptera, 
 so here it may be repeated of Diptera that a study of 
 the order, and especially of this family, will inform the 
 young naturalist of the history of many of the excres- 
 cences, monstrosities, and, in some cases, decorations, 
 which he cannot fail to observe in any country walk. 
 The larvae of some of the Cecidomyzidae live in the leaf- 
 buds at the tip of the branches of the dwarf willows 
 which fringe the pools and river-sides in every part of 
 the country, and there form rosette-like galls. 
 
 The wart-like galls common on the meadow-sweet 
 (Spiraea) ; the uneven swellings on the stalks and leaves 
 of the stinging-nettle ; the little furry, purses on the 
 ground ivy ; the woody, shapeless excrescences on the 
 raspberry plants ; the slender upright growth on beech 
 leaves ; the blisters on bedstraw, yellow nettle, and 
 others ; the knots within the very blossoms of many 
 flowers ; all these, and a great many more, are the work 
 of little creatures in this numerous family. 
 
 A few of them have been found in woody galls of 
 Hymenopterous insects ; some others are Aphis-eaters. 
 
 Besides these, some of the larvae live within the stalks 
 of groundsel and other allied plants ; others live in 
 rolled leaves, and one, the Cecidomyia tritici, is a scourge 
 to the farmers, inhabiting the ears of corn. It will give 
 some idea of the destruction of which these insects are 
 capable, to relate that forty-one of their maggots have 
 been counted in the husk of a single grain of wheat ! 
 The Hessian Fly of America belongs to this family. 
 
 Some of the larvae in Oecidomyzidae spin silken cocoons. 
 
 3. Bibionidce. This is a small familv of rather stouter 
 
346 INSECTS. 
 
 and less Gnat-like insects than the preceding. Their 
 larvae feed, some on the roots of grass, others on dung 
 and dead animal or vegetable matter of various kinds. 
 The Flies have generally three ocelli. 
 
 In the next three families the larvae are chiefly aquatic, 
 and the perfect insects blood-suckers. 
 
 4. Simulidae. This family contains only one genus, 
 and that but few British species perhaps we should be 
 as well satisfied if we might also say but few individuals, 
 for they are a race of tormentors. They are the Sand- 
 flies of Northern latitudes, and the Mosquitoes of some 
 countries, while in others the name Mosquito is given 
 to various species of Culex. In the preparatory states 
 they are aquatic, the larva spinning a cocoon for the 
 purpose, which, however, is but partially enclosed, the 
 fore-part of the pupa being subject to the action of the 
 water. This family is distinguished by the tibia and 
 the first joint of the tarsus being somewhat broad and 
 flattened, 
 
 5. Chironomidte are the Midges an immense family 
 of beautiful but bloodthirsty little creatures. A little, 
 thin, wriggling, red, eel-like Maggot, common in stagnant 
 water, and known as the Bloodworm, is the larva of a 
 common species, Chironomus plumosus, with feathery 
 antennae.* Like the pupa) of the Culicidse, or true 
 Gnats, the aquatic pupae in this family are capable of 
 motion, though less active than the Culicidae. They live 
 at the bottom of the water, rising to the surface when 
 about to change. Some of the larvae form tubes of 
 
 * It is remarked that the feathered antennae, so beautiful (especially 
 in the male) in many of the Nemocera, belong only (or generally) to 
 species with aquatic larvae. 
 
DIPTERA. NEMOCERA. 347 
 
 decayed leaves spun together by silken threads, in which 
 they live. 
 
 The family contains one, probably more, species living 
 in dung in the earlier stages. 
 
 The legs of these insects are slender and not flattened. 
 
 6. Culicidce, the true Gnats, are, some of them, so 
 well known as to be recognisable at once. Their size is 
 generally greater than that of insects in the preceding 
 families, and they are distinguished by the position of 
 the long proboscis, which is held projecting straight for- 
 ward (fig. 70, p. 340). This organ, comparatively incon- 
 spicuous in the female, is often exceedingly ornamental 
 in the. male ; its feathered palpi, combined with the 
 feathered antenna, forming a most beautiful cluster of 
 plumes upon the bead (PL XIV., fig. 1). But, while the 
 apparently simple, needle-like proboscis of the female 
 (see fig. 70, p. 340, and PL XIV., fig. 1, b) is less likely 
 to attract the eye than are the showy plumes of her more 
 warlike-looking mate, hers is the weapon with which 
 we are but too well acquainted in action- This little 
 needle, finer than any hair, consists of a long tubular 
 sheath, which, enclosing and guarding five minute 
 lancets, serves also as a sucker to draw up blood from 
 the vessels pierced by these instruments. These delicate 
 but efficient little serrated lancets are either wanting in 
 the male, or are much less fully developed, and the 
 female alone is bloodthirsty. So also is she alone 
 musical, and musical only at her most bloodthirsty 
 times ; and the trumpet which we hear in the dead of 
 night sounding the attack is the instrument of this 
 amazon, and seldom gives a false alarm. 
 
 The swelling and irritation which follow the bite of 
 a Gnat are accounted for by supposing that she injects 
 
348 INSECTS. 
 
 a venomous fluid into the wound, which creates inflam- 
 mation, while the swelling is caused by a pouring of 
 fluid from the vessels into the tissues around, an effort, 
 probably, to free the blood from the poison, but also 
 having the effect of rendering the little blood-sucker's 
 draught easy and more copious. It has long been 
 a fact familiar to many people that the bite of a 
 Gnat which is allowed to suck its fill, is much less 
 troublesome afterwards than that of an insect disturbed 
 while sucking. Humboldt has stated this of a South 
 American Gnat, and is quoted by a writer in the 
 " Zoologist," who had found the same thing true in 
 England. In a paragraph recently extracted by the 
 Times from an American paper, a gentleman who has 
 lived for years in a Mosquito country, states the same 
 fact, and accounts for it by saying that the Gnat 
 having leave to drink his fill, sucks back, the poison 
 together with the blood. 
 
 The lively Gnat larva^ are well known, as, with the 
 big-headed, tadpolish, jerky pupas, they are to be found in 
 .abundance in all standing water, not only in ponds and 
 ditches, but in cisterns and tanks, and occasionally in 
 our very water-jugs. 
 
 Yet tenfold the number of larv which our eyes have 
 ever looked upon would not seem enough to account for 
 the cloud-like myriads of Gnats which are often seen 
 filling the air. In the " Insect Miscellanies" a swarm 
 is recorded so dense as to have appeared like smoke 
 issuing from the spire of Salisbury Cathedral, giving 
 rise to an alarm of fire. It is not possible to conceive 
 the immense number of such minute creatures which 
 must be congregated together to become visible at so 
 great a height. 
 
DIPTERA, NEMOCERA. 349 
 
 The flight of these insects is worth noticing, when we 
 consider the astonishing muscular power which must be 
 exerted by animals of weight so inconsiderable, in main- 
 taining their position against the wind. They generally 
 fly, or hover,* with their heads towards the wind, and a 
 cluster may be seen for hours dancing in the air without 
 yielding one inch of we cannot say ground ! The 
 loud humming, or trumpet-like sound too of the female, 
 if, as seems most probable, produced by the rapid 
 vibrations of the wings, must require a marvellous array 
 of powerful muscles. 
 
 That this is indeed the case is easily to be seen in a 
 Gnat rendered transparent by soaking in turpentine and 
 then viewed by polarized light. The whole of the 
 bulky (!) thorax (the only part of a Gnat which seems 
 to have any solidity at all) appears crossed and re-crossed 
 at right angles by broad, band-like muscles, which (if 
 the selenite crystal be used in the examination), 
 actually gives the little creature the appearance of being 
 dressed in a large check tartan jacket ! A beautiful 
 economy of power is also to be noticed in the centraliza- 
 tion of the weight of the insect in this one part, by 
 which the poising of the body is effected without special 
 muscular effort. 
 
 Eapidity of motion in these insects is in evident re- 
 spouse to quickness of vision. Though doubts are 
 entertained as to the distinctness of sight in insects 
 generally, there can be none concerning the swiftness 
 
 * The verb to hover is used here and elsewhere to express the action of 
 flying, fluttering, or remaining as it were suspended over one spot, whether 
 this be as, when by the rapid action of the wings the insect is maintained 
 apparently motionless in the air (as in some Syrphidse, &c.), or as in the 
 limited dance of the Gnats. 
 
350 INSECTS. 
 
 with which they perceive and avoid danger. Who has 
 not watched a company of these creatures maintaining 
 their raerry dance during a shower of rain, without a 
 single individual being caught and dashed to the earth ? 
 It is clear that, as has been said of certain Tipulae also, 
 they dodge the drops of rain ; and we may conceive this 
 necessity as adding greatly to the glee and excitement of 
 their gambols. How clumsy and tame a performance is 
 the boasted " sword dance" in comparison with this ! 
 
 7. PHLEBOTOMID.E, notwithstanding the threatening 
 name, and (8) HETEROCLIT/E, appear to partake of some 
 characters both of the Gnat and the Daddy Longlegs. 
 Some are blood-suckers and others not, and the food and 
 habits of the larvae are various. The genus generally 
 best known is Psychoda (in family 7), which contains 
 only two species. One of these, Psychoda phalenoides 
 (or " Moth-like" Psychoda), a little harmless grey woolly- 
 winged insect, sometimes libellously called a Midge, is 
 commonly to be found on the window-panes and else- 
 where in-doors, especially in winter. It is less than one- 
 twelfth of an inch long, with broad wings, sloping, roof- 
 like, from the back and antenna, which are banded with 
 black and decorated with whorls of hair, and exceedingly 
 beautiful, though not more so tfian hundreds of other 
 species in Nemocera. The Fly runs actively, but is more 
 noticeable for its habit of making sudden hops (produced, 
 however, by wings, not legs) in all unexpected directions. 
 
 The larva is terrestrial, and lives in dung. 
 
 9. Tipulidce. This family contains the "Daddy Long- 
 legs," " Harry Longlegs," or " Craneflies," the largest 
 insects not only in Nemocera, but if length length of 
 body and length of limb is considered, the largest of 
 English Diptera. The Tipulidse are easily to be distin- 
 
DIPTERA. NEMOCERA. 351 
 
 guished from the other families in the group by a 
 transverse seam in the thorax, which is not found in 
 these. 
 
 The body of the female terminates in a sharp-pointed 
 oviduct ; that of the male is abruptly truncated. These, 
 insects, while out of their proper place they are among the 
 most awkward of animals, are interesting as examples of 
 structure peculiarly fitted for an especial purpose. Every- 
 where but at home the Daddy Longlegs is so encumbered 
 
 Fig. 71. 
 
 Daddy Longlegs (Tipula oleracea). 
 
 by his long and unmanageable limbs, that his life seems 
 to be spent in clumsy but successful efforts to leave 
 them behind him on every possible occasion and in every 
 possible place. But the Daddy Longlegs at home is 
 another creature, and is conspicuous as an example of a 
 very singular mode of locomotion. The larvse are sub- 
 terranean, feeding on the roots of grass ; the female, 
 therefore, seeks grassy meadows where to lay her eggs. 
 Her progress among the long blades is quick and easy, 
 the slender-jointed legs curling round and embracing 
 these leaves, so that, except for the body being main- 
 tained in a standing rather than a hanging position, the 
 
352 INSECTS. 
 
 action might be compared to that of the Sloths, or Tree 
 Monkeys, with their prehensile limbs and tail. 
 
 The destruction occasioned by the larvae is sometimes 
 very great, though at others the quality of the grass is 
 even improved by the eating away of superabundant 
 roots. About ten or twelve years ago the insect swarmed 
 in and near London; in Kensington Gardens, and 
 other places, large patches of ground were entirely de- 
 nuded. 
 
 The long-nosed brown pupa-case of the Daddy Long- 
 legs may easily be found, empty, and projecting from the 
 turf, looking like a legless, wingless skin of the perfect 
 Ely. 
 
 The head of this insect may be recommended to young 
 microscopists as very easy of preparation ; and, from the 
 beauty of the whorled antennae, the large size of the com- 
 pound eyes, and the easily displayed structure of the 
 mouth, is a very interesting object. 
 
 In the Tipulidee family the larvae are chiefly subter- 
 ranean, feeding on fungi, roots, &c. ; but among them 
 are some which are aquatic in the larva state, and blood- 
 sucking in the perfect. 
 
 10. Khyphidce. There are two species of this family, 
 both common, and though smaller and shorter-bodied 
 in proportion than those of the last family, they resemble 
 them more nearly than the preceding. They are, however, 
 at once distinguished by the absence of the transverse 
 suture down the back. The larvae are dung-eaters. 
 
 Many of the flies in Nemocera, as the Gnats, Crane- 
 flies, &c., fly both by day and night. The Flies of the 
 following division, Brachycera, are all diurnal. 
 
353 
 
 CHAPTEK XXVII. 
 D i p T E R A. (continued). 
 
 BRACHYCERA, the second large section of the Pro- 
 boscidae, contains seventeen families : 
 
 1. Stratiomidae (Soldier-flies) . 
 
 2. Xylophagidae. 
 
 3. Tabanidae (Horse~flies). 
 
 4. Acroceridae. 
 
 5. Asilida3. 
 
 6. Leptidae. 
 
 7. Bombylidae (Bee-flies). 
 
 8. Scenopiuidae. 
 
 9. Empidae (Snipe-flies). 
 
 10. Dolichopidae. 
 
 11. Lonchopteridae. 
 
 12. Platypezida?. 
 
 13. Pipunculidae. 
 
 14. Syrphidas (Dragon-flies, dc.). 
 
 15. Conopidae. 
 
 16. Muscidae (Houseflies, &c.). 
 
 17. (Estridas (Gadflies). 
 
 These families- form three groups, distinguished chiefly 
 by the character of the metamorphoses. 
 
 In the two first the pupa remains within the skin of 
 the larva, which retains something of its original 
 form. 
 
 A A 
 
354 INSECTS. 
 
 In the eleven following families the pupa sheds tne 
 larva skin. 
 
 In the four last families the pupa remains within the 
 larva skin, which shrinks and hardens into an even, 
 somewhat eggshell-like or cocoon-like covering for the 
 pupa. 
 
 The antennae in the first two groups are generally long 
 in proportion to their bulk (PI. XIV., figs. 2 a, 4 a) \ or,- if 
 short and thick, have a terminal bristle (figs. 3 a, 6 a). In 
 the third group they are generally short, and have the last 
 joint much the most bulky, and garnished with a bristle 
 springing from its upper side (PL XV., fig. 4 a ; XVI., 
 figs. 3 a, 5 a). 
 
 The family Stratiomidae contains the Soldier-flies 
 (PL XIV., fig. 2, Stratiomys chameleon), large or middle- 
 sized and somewhat broad-bodied insects, very prettily 
 marked in spots, streaks, and triangles, and of bright 
 colours black variegated with red, yellow, orange, or 
 white. The hinder part of the thorax is generally 
 armed with spines ; in the genus Stratiomys there are 
 two ; in other genera the number varies one, Beris, 
 having in some species as many as eight. The feet have 
 three pads. 
 
 The larvae in this family are chiefly aquatic some, 
 however, being terrestrial and feeding on decomposing 
 matter. The perfect insects haunt flowers, of which 
 they suck the juices. In some genera, as Sargus, the 
 Flies are more slender in form, and of beautiful metallic 
 colouring. Sargus cuprarius (PL XIV., fig. 3) is a 
 common and beautiful insect, with golden-green head 
 and thorax, and an abdomen lustrous with the purple 
 and gold of the Copper ore called " Peacock." The 
 larvae of these live in the earth. 
 
DIPTERA. BRACHYCEBA. 355 
 
 XylopJiagiiSy in the next family, Xylophagidae, con- 
 tains but few and rare species, which in the earlier stages 
 live in decayed wood. 
 
 The antennae in these two families are composed of 
 from five to ten joints, and are generally somewhat 
 elongated, but less distinctly articulated than in the 
 Nemocera section. In Sargus .and some others of the 
 StratiomidaB, the third and following joints are con- 
 solidated into a sub-globular, oval, or spindle-shaped 
 mass, in which the articulations are to be distinguished, 
 and which is terminated by a bristle. The antennae in 
 Stratiomys are long and elbowed (PI. XIV., fig. 2 a). 
 
 Tabanus is the principal genus in the third family, 
 Tabanidee (PL XIV., fig. 4). The "Horse-stinger," a 
 speckled grey Fly, about half an inch long and very 
 common in woods, is an insect well known, especially by 
 those who have once felt its peculiarly acute bite. There 
 are several species, of which one, the Oxfly (T. borinus), 
 is nearly an inch in length, broad in proportion, and 
 covered with a handsome chequered pattern in grey and 
 white. These insects are called Horseflies and Oxflies, 
 Clegs, and Gadflies (a name more usually applied, how- 
 ever, to the (Estrus or Botfly), and, from the sound pro- 
 duced by their wings, Breezeflies. In some countries 
 they are a scourge to the cattle, and even in England the 
 approach of a single individual will sometimes occasion 
 no small panic in a herd. With these insects, however, as 
 with the Gnats, blood-sucking appears to be the habit of 
 the female alone, the males being true flower-lovers. 
 
 The antenna consists of three distinct portions viz., 
 a basal joint, a second, and a tapering mass composed of 
 several joints. 
 
 The eyes are often exceedingly beautiful, lustrous and 
 AA2 
 
.356 INSECTS. 
 
 varied in colouring. Some are golden green, with lines 
 and spots of purple, others are bronzed, others purplish 
 green, others green-striped or banded with crimson. 
 
 The feet have three pads. 
 
 The larvae are terrestrial. 
 
 Acroceridse, the fourth family, contains a few species 
 of small but remarkably swollen-looking Flies, with 
 nearly globular abdomen, broad, very high, and convex 
 thorax, and exceedingly small head, which seems only 
 just large enough to contain the eyes. The antennae are 
 small, and placed close together ; the feet, like those of 
 the Tabani, have three pads. 
 
 These insects are sluggish, and haunt flowers. 
 
 Asilus, the principal genus in the family Asilidae, con- 
 tains some long, strong, hairy, hungry-looking Flies of 
 predaceous habits. They feed principally on other 
 insects, and an Asilus may often be seen on the wing 
 bearing the whole weight of an unlucky Bee probably 
 on his way to a picnic, as there seems no other way of 
 accounting for his not eating his dinner where he found 
 it. It is supposed that some species suck the blood of 
 quadrupeds. Asilus crabroniformis (PI. XIV., fig. 5) 
 is a very handsome and conspicuous Fly, clothed all over 
 with deep golden hairs, except on the fore-half of the 
 abdomen, which is velvety black. The wings are some- 
 what golden or tawny, with dusky patches on the hind 
 margin. 
 
 The larvae of the Asilidae live in the earth or in decayed 
 wood. 
 
 In the Leptidae the antennas are nearly all very short, 
 being composed of three short joints (of which the last 
 is generally the greatest in circumference), and a long 
 terminal bristle usually reckoned as a fourth joint. The 
 
DIPTERA. BRACHYCERA. 357 
 
 feet in Leptis have three pads, as in some other pre- 
 daceous Flies already described. Leptis scolopacea 
 (PI. XIV., fig. 6) is a Fly often found in woods, lanes, 
 and gardens. It is of a somewhat slender and tapering 
 figure, and of much feebler aspect than the Asilidae. 
 The thorax is of a pale striped grey in the male, 
 yellowish in the female, the abdomen tawny-coloured, 
 with a row of black spots running down it, and the grey- 
 tipped wings are spotted and partly bordered with brown. 
 The larvae live in the earth or in decayed wood, and 
 that of one foreign species is said to catch the small 
 insects upon which it preys in pitfalls formed in the sand, 
 somewhat after the manner of the Cicindela larva. 
 Common as are instances of such instinct among the 
 larvae of other orders, it is rare to find them in the 
 Diptera, cocoon-spinning being almost the only con- 
 structive work performed by them, and that being con- 
 fined to a few families. One common species in this 
 family, Atherix ibis, a little ash-coloured (?) or tawny 
 ( $ ) Fly, spotted and banded with black, and about a 
 quarter of an inch in length, with an aquatic larva, has 
 the curious instinct to lay its eggs on branches over- 
 hanging the water, into which the larvae falls on emerg- 
 ing from the egg. 
 
 In Bombylidae, the most conspicuous is the Bee-fly, 
 Bombylim major (PI. XV., fig. 1). This is a furry- 
 looking Fly, with a small head, wide thorax, and 
 abdomen wider still and somewhat flattened. It is 
 black, covered with bristly golden hairs above, and with 
 black and white hairs below. The wings, even when in 
 repose, are kept at full stretch, and are longitudinally 
 divided in colour, the costal half being dark brown, 
 the other clear 'and colourless. The most remarkable 
 
358 INSECTS. 
 
 feature, however, is the long, slender, projecting pro- 
 boscis, little inferior in length to the body of the insect. 
 The antennae are long, pointed, and slender. 
 
 Like the Humming-bird Moth, the Bee-fly may fre- 
 quently be observed eagerly hovering over a flower, and, 
 without settling, extracting honey by means of its long 
 proboscis. It resembles the Moth too in the suddenness 
 with which it darts away if approached while thus sus- 
 pended, apparently without motion, in the air. 
 
 The history of its larvae is not yet fully known, and it 
 is a question whether they are parasitic in their habits, 
 or vegetarian. There are some insects in the family 
 which are known to be parasitic, but most of these are 
 rare. Thereva, one of the genera, contains predaceous 
 Flies. 
 
 The eighth family, Scenopinidae, contains a few com- 
 mon but inconspicuous little black insects with rust- 
 coloured legs, found in houses and stables. 
 
 Empidae is a numerous family of voracious insect- 
 eating Flies somewhat resembling Asilus in figure, but 
 generally of small or middle size. Their heads are small 
 and round, the antennae three-jointed, tapering, and ter- 
 minating in a point or bristle of one or two joints ; the 
 tongue is generally long, and when at work very con- 
 spicuous, whence these insects are sometimes called 
 Snipe-flies. The wings are without the rounded lobe in 
 the axil, which appears in nearly all the other Brachy- 
 cerous flies excepting those of the families Dolichopidae 
 and Lonchopteridae. 
 
 Empis tessellata (PI. XV., fig. 2) is a dull, ash-coloured 
 Fly, with three longitudinal black streaks on the thorax, 
 legs long, strong, and spined, wings dusky and tinged 
 on the fore-part with reddish brown. It is very common 
 
DIPTERA. BRACHYCERA. 359 
 
 in the spring, and may be met with on any plant fre- 
 quented by other insects. 
 
 Another insect, not common, but never to be forgotten 
 when once seen, even though but slightly magnified, is 
 the Hhamphomyia pennata, a little black Fly, the male 
 of which is rendered noticeable even to the naked eye by 
 the apparent thickness of the legs. These on being 
 magnified are seen to be most beautifully feathered, or 
 fringed throughout their whole length, by broad, flat, 
 striated scales or hairs. The decoration of the female is 
 much more insignificant. 
 
 Another, and much more common Fly in this family is 
 the little Hilara, the males of which may often be re- 
 cognised by the inflated appearance of the first joint of 
 the tarsus (metatarsus), which is nearly globular. This 
 insect abounds in gardens. 
 
 Some of the Empidse are found hovering in swarms, 
 like Gnats, over water. The family contains many 
 genera and many species. 
 
 Dolichopida3 also, the tenth family of Brachycera, 
 contains a large number of genera and species. The 
 Dolichopida3 are small bright Flies, generally with a 
 metallic lustre and colouring, very brisk and joyous in 
 their movements, especially in running, and, like most 
 very active insects, predaceous in their habits. Many 
 species in this family are found near water, and even on 
 its surface, upon which they run actively in search of 
 prey. The larvas are, however, supposed to be terrestrial, 
 and it is probably the insects abundant in such situations 
 which make them attractive to the Flies. 
 
 The remaining three families of Flies with naked pupae 
 contain few species, and their habits are not very re- 
 markable. 
 
360 INSECTS. 
 
 Of the four families in which the pupse remain within 
 the altered and cocoon-like larva skin, the first is Syr- 
 phidse. 
 
 This is a very large family, consisting of no less than 
 thirty-one genera, and containing many large Flies, 
 rendered conspicuous by their bright and well-marked 
 colouring, their vigorous flight, and their constant pre- 
 sence during spring, summer, and autumn. Not only in 
 fields, lanes, and woods, but in our gardens too, the 
 motion of their bright and glancing wings, their musical 
 hum, and their evident enjoyment of the sunshine and the 
 flowers, are no small ingredients in the general brightness. 
 
 They are, almost without exception, pure flower-lovers 
 in their perfect state. In their earlier stages some of 
 them are useful servants to the gardeners, for while a few, 
 feeding on bulbous roots, &c., are known as injurious to 
 cultivated plants, the larvae of the genus Syrphus and 
 others are highly beneficial to them, living entirely upon 
 Aphides. Some, less praiseworthy, are parasitic in the 
 nests of Humble Bees and of Wasps. Others live in 
 rotten wood, cow-dung, and fungi ; while the larvae in the 
 genera Eristalis and Helophilus are aquatic. 
 
 The "Drone-fly," of which the aquatic larva is described 
 p. 47, is Eristalis tena#(Pl.XV., fig. 3). This, and some 
 other large stout-bodied Flies in this genus and Helophi- 
 lus,* must be familiar to every lover of the garden from their 
 habit of holding revels in the blossoms of the Michaelmas 
 daisy. They make a peculiarly loud and musical hum on 
 
 * These two genera much resemble each other, and may be known by 
 the form of the subapical cell, into the middle of which (see fig. 22, p. 49) 
 the cubital nerve makes a sudden dip. In Eristalis the subcostal and 
 radial nerves meet before reaching the margin ; in Helophilus ending 
 separately in the margin. 
 
DIPTERA. BRACHYCERA. 361 
 
 rising from the flowers if disturbed. The pupa of Eristalis 
 tenax, in and out of the puparium or larva skin, is figured 
 p. 5, and the reader will observe that the long tail, used 
 by the larva as a breathing tube, still remains attached 
 after its change. 
 
 Another Fly, not occurring so abundantly, yet common 
 enough and remarkable enough to attract attention, is 
 Volucella pellucens. This insect is noteworthy both as 
 one of the Parasitic Flies and also on account of its very 
 singular appearance, which arises from the perfect trans- 
 lucency (and semi-transparency) of the basal half of the 
 large oval abdomen. 
 
 The thorax and the hinder-half of the head are black, 
 and the effect of the clear, colourless, and apparently 
 empty fore-half of the abdomen, is heightened by the 
 colouring of the wings, which, clear at the base, have a 
 brown mark across them exactly corresponding with the 
 darkened half of the abdomen. The antennae are beau- 
 tifully feathered. Another species, V. Bombylans, is 
 hairy, and has a remarkable resemblance to the Humble 
 Bees, whose nests it enters for the. purpose of depositing 
 its eggs. 
 
 The genus Syrphus contains some Flies similar in form 
 to the preceding, and others of smaller size with narrow 
 linear abdomens, and always marked with black and 
 yellow, or whitish bands or spots. They have a peculiar 
 mode of hovering, apparently motionless, over flowers, 
 making sudden darts forwards and from side to side. If, 
 however, the apparently motionless Fly be observed with 
 attention, it will be seen that the rapidity of motion in 
 the wings is so great as to render them almost invisible. 
 Syrphus pyrastri, a common species, is figured PI. XV., 
 fig. 4. The long pear-shaped or flask-shaped brown 
 
362 INSECTS. 
 
 pupa case of this insect may be frequently found attached 
 to the leaves which the larva (whose skin now forms this 
 pupa case) has but lately cleared of the infesting Aphides. 
 The larva is a slimy, whitish, slug-like, or rather leech- 
 like grub, with a curious habit of seizing its victim and 
 holding it raised in the air until all its juices are ex- 
 tracted. 
 
 The many genera which this family contains present 
 numberless varieties in form, colours, and marking. 
 Thus, as described above, some are Bee-like in form, 
 others compact, with oval or nearly globular abdomen, 
 others are long and narrow, and others again have a 
 somewhat club-shaped abdomen (see PI. XV., fig. 5, 
 Melithneptus menastri). In some of the more slender 
 species, the thighs are swollen, giving the Fly the appear- 
 ance of a leaping insect ; others have peculiar tarsi. 
 The colours also vary : they are black and yellow, black 
 and dull red, black and white, black and grey. Some 
 species are black only, others lustrous and metallic, while 
 others have black and green, yellow, or metallic and 
 glittering heads with black and yellow banded bodies. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these variations in form and 
 colour, there are characters which make it easy to dis- 
 tinguish the Syrphidae. The head is convex in front 
 and flat behind, so as to be nearly all face a large round 
 face almost covered by the eyes, which are especially 
 large in the males. The tongue, which is large and well 
 developed,* is bent about the middle when at rest, and 
 the front of the head sometimes forms a sort of pro- 
 jecting beak or snout (very conspicuous in a large, dull, 
 red Fly, the Rhingia rostrata. The antennae are, almost 
 
 * The tongue of the larger Syrphidae is one of the most beautiful and 
 most easily prepared for the microscope, of the tongues of the Diptera. 
 
DIPTERA. BRACHYCERA.\\ 363 
 
 without exception, of three joints, of which the last is 
 large, nearly globular, oblong-oval, or somewhat kidney- 
 shaped (PI. XV., 4 a, Ant. of Syrphus pyrastri), and 
 bears a curved bristle, which is often beautifully feathered.. 
 The wings afford the best character, the subapical cells 
 being perfect i.e., bounded short of -the margin by a 
 transverse vein. There are also two false veins, one of 
 which is conspicuous and runs from the prebrachial into 
 the subapical cell (see fig. 22, p. 49). 
 
 The Conopidae are a small family of prettily-coloured, 
 but rather awkwardly-formed Flies, of which the larvae 
 are parasitic in the bodies of Bees. They are rather 
 slender, generally about half an inch in length, with the 
 abdomen thickest toward the end, and curved downward. 
 The tongue is long, stiff, and projecting ; the antennae 
 are long and of singular form; three principal joints, of 
 which the second is the longest and the third the thickest, 
 are terminated by three small joints, the last and the 
 last but one forming a double joint to the antenna?. 
 The wings have the perfect subapical cell of the 
 Syrphidse, but not the false veins. There are two 
 species common Gonops quadrifasciatus, a black and 
 yellow Fly, with the abdomen not remarkably small 
 at the base, and C. nifipes (PI. XV., fig. 6), in which 
 the abdomen is, as it were, set on a stalk composed of 
 the attenuated basal joints. 
 
 We have now arrived at the Musciclae, by far the 
 largest family, and one which, as the Lmnaean genus 
 Musca, included many of those now distributed among 
 other families. 
 
 The reader will at once recognise some familiar insects 
 in this family, as the Housefly, the Bluebottle, the 
 chequered Blowfly, and the common yellow Dungfly. 
 
364 INSECTS. 
 
 The thick, short tongue of the Housefly (Musca 
 domestica, PL XVI., fig. 3), with its large two-lobed 
 extremity, and capability, of being drawn entirely into 
 the mouth when not in use is well known. The an- 
 tennae somewhat resemble those of the Syrphidae, and 
 the wings are sparsely veined, and sometimes nearly or 
 quite without the little alulae or winglets. 
 
 This last peculiarity is used to subdivide the family 
 into the Calypterce, in which the alulae are large, and the 
 Acalypterae, in which they are wanting, or very minute. 
 
 In the habits of both larva and fly in the several 
 groups of genera in this one family, there is nearly as 
 much variety as in all the other families of Brachycera 
 together. Thus, while among the Flies are found flower- 
 lovers feeding on honey, blood-suckers, Flies preying on 
 others, Flies oviparous, and Flies ovoviviparous ; among 
 the larvae are found some terrestrial and some aquatic, 
 carrion -feeders, vegetarians, and wine-bibbers ; parasites 
 in the nests, and parasites in the bodies of other 
 insects; gall-makers, and leaf-miners. Of the Flies with 
 parasitic larvae there is a very large group, of which one 
 genus alone, Tachines, contains more than one hundred 
 and sixty species, varying in length from one-eighth 
 to two-thirds of an inch. They are powerful Flies, and 
 some are of brilliant and metallic colours, while others 
 are dull-coloured, hairy, and unattractive. Nearly all 
 the species are rare. The commonest Fly in the group 
 is Ententes geniculatus (PL XVI., fig. 1), a blood- 
 sucking, dowdy-looking Fly, frequently found in the 
 house, and which is remarkable as having the proboscis 
 doubled under, about the middle, as in the Syrphidae. 
 
 Another insect with the same propensity to " bite " 
 men and beasts, is Stomoxys calcitrans (PL XVI., fig. 2), 
 
DIPTERA. BRACHYCERA. 365 
 
 the Stable Fly. Bred in dung, and very common in 
 stables, it is unfortunately not rare in houses, where its 
 bloodthirsty habits bring discredit on the harmless little 
 Housefly (PL XVI., fig. 3), which it closely resembles, but 
 from which it may readily be distinguished by its slender 
 proboscis, which projects in front of the head. The 
 proboscis is geniculated near the base. It is, indeed, a 
 near relation, being in the same group as the genus 
 Musca, to which the Housefly belongs ; but whereas, in 
 the genus Storaoxys, a projecting slender, polished, and 
 needle-like proboscis forms an admirable instrument of 
 torture ; in Muse a the soft, short, fleshy tongue, with 
 the sight of which we are all so familiar, is totally 
 incapable of wounding the skin. The tongue of the 
 Housefly is iudeed adapted only for licking up such 
 fluid substances as are entirely unprotected and left 
 exposed to its action. The little creature has, however, 
 a ready mode of rendering soluble substances fluid, by 
 emitting a drop of clear water from the mouth from time 
 to time. Hard white sugar and similar substances by 
 this means become fit food for the tender little mouth. 
 
 The larvae of the Housefly, like those of Stomoxys, 
 are found in dung. 
 
 The " Bluebottle" Flies, so well known and so little 
 loved, are also species of the genus Musca. Of the 
 habitat of their larvae the reader needs not to be 
 informed. The " Greenbottle," a smaller, brighter, and 
 prettier Fly, is of the same genus. These Meat-Flies, as 
 they are called, are resembled in their habits by the 
 Flies of another group, also flesh-eaters, and thence 
 called Sarcophaga. The large, handsome chequered 
 Blowfly is one of these, and is worthy of remark as 
 being viviparous (or, more correctly, ovoviviparous), a 
 
366 INSECTS. 
 
 peculiar provision, of which the evident purpose is the* 
 saving of time in the removal of dead matter. 
 Reaumur calculated the number of young produced by 
 one Fly of this species to be about 20,000. 
 
 From these we turn to the so-called Flower-flies, or 
 Anthomyia, the larvae of which live chiefly on decaying 
 animal or vegetable matter, in roots, as onions, radishes, 
 &c. The perfect insects are found on flowers. 
 
 They are generally dull-coloured, hairy Flies, of 
 various shapes, some being short and thickset, and 
 others of a more slender form. Some have the abdomen 
 spotted or chequered, others are black with grey or 
 greyish-white hairs, tawny, or pale dull red, and some- 
 times aeneus. This genus contains a large number of 
 species, of which one, Anthomyia betes, mines the 
 leaves of mangold wurtzel, occasioning great loss to the 
 farmers. 
 
 All the Muscidae hitherto mentioned belong to the 
 first division of the family, and have large alulae. 
 
 The second division, Acalypterte, contains Flies in 
 which the alulae are wanting, and which are generally 
 smaller and of lighter make than the large Muscae, &c., 
 lately described. 
 
 The clean, bright, active Scatophaga, or yellow Dung- 
 fly, is one of these. This pretty little Fly is familiar to 
 every stroller in the country, and is no less frequently 
 met with basking singly in the sunshine in the flower- 
 cups than clustering with many others on the unclean 
 mass whence the approaching footstep drives it with a 
 mighty buzz and bustle. 
 
 The egg of the Scatophaga is a beautiful and curious 
 object. It is a long curved egg (about half an inch in 
 length), convex in front and nearly straight behind, 
 
DIPTERA. BRACHYCERA. 367 
 
 \vith the top cut off obliquely from front to back down- 
 wards, and covered by a hinged-on lid, which com- 
 pletely closes the opening. But the appendage which 
 most of all strikes us as evidently adapted to a certain 
 end, is a pair of long arm-like probosces which arise 
 from the upper end of the shell, and spreading out (as 
 a man sinking in mud would spread out his arms), pre- 
 vent the half-buried egg from sinking entirely in the 
 soft mass of dung. Hundreds of these little white 
 specks may be seen in a mass of cow-dung on a 
 summer's day, and are well worth examination. The 
 surface appears covered with a network. 
 
 The perfect insect is predaceous, and frequents flowers 
 probably for the same reason as do other predaceous 
 Flies, partly perhaps for the sake of their honey, but 
 chiefly on account of their being the resort of other 
 insects. The foot of this Fly is a very beautiful and 
 very easily prepared microscopic object ; the pads are 
 long and somewhat pointed, and covered with unusually 
 long hairs or suckers. 
 
 The larva? of others of the Muscid are Leaf-Miners, 
 like certain Lepidoptera the Honeysuckle, Holly, and 
 Columbine being conspicuously attacked by them ; 
 others again, as has been said, form galls in various parts 
 of plants, especially of the Syngenesis, as the Thistle 
 and others. 
 
 The genus Tephritis, or Trypeta, is conspicuous 
 among these. Most of the species are very small, but 
 some are more than a quarter of an inch long. They 
 may generally be recognised by the brilliancy and beau- 
 tiful colouring of their eyes, and by their delicately- 
 painted wings, which are brown, grey, or black spotted, 
 and banded in various patterns. 
 
368 INSECTS. 
 
 The genus Chlorops is especially mischievous in its 
 larva state to grain of various kinds. One species, the 
 little Chlorops lineata (or Striped Green-eyes) is one of 
 the commonest, and is frequently to be met with in 
 houses, sometimes in large numbers. It is yellow, with 
 five black stripes on the. thorax, and a black spot on the 
 abdomen. The ravages committed by this insect and 
 its relations, both in England and in other countries, are 
 in some years of great importance, whole crops becoming 
 " gouty " under their attacks. 
 
 In the genus Drosophila is found one insect of decided 
 anti-teetotal habits a sad set-off to the good little 
 stories of good little dogs who sit outside public-houses 
 while their masters are sitting inside. This melancholy 
 example of a beast which is no better than a man, lives 
 in its larval state in the casks containing fermented 
 liquors, feeding on the rich substances deposited there. 
 Faute de mieux, it will feed on fungi or oakapples. Others 
 of the genus are leaf-miners in chickweed, catchfly, 
 corncockle, peas and other Papilionaceas, and on some 
 of the Cruciferee. 
 
 Nearly related to these is the little black Fly proceed- 
 ing from the hopping maggots common in cheese, with 
 another found in bacon, probably the most active of any 
 terrestrial Dipterous larva. The maggot effects its spring 
 by first standing on its tail, then, curving itself into a 
 circle and grasping its tail with its jaws, " it next con- 
 tracts its body into an oblong, so that the two halves are 
 parallel to each other ; it then lets go its hold with so 
 violent a jerk that the sound produced by its mandibles 
 may be readily heard, and the leap takes place." 
 
 The last of the Muscidse which shall be mentioned here 
 is a little dark, shining, metallic-coloured Fly, less than 
 
DIPTERA. BRACHYCERA. 369 
 
 one-sixth of an inch in length, with clear wings, marked 
 near the tip with onehlack spot. This Fly, Sepsis cynipsea 
 (PL XVI., fig. 4), can hardly fail to be observed, owing 
 both to its great frequency and also to the peculiarity of 
 its manner and motions as it runs actively over the sur- 
 face of laurel and other leaves, with its glittering little 
 wings raised almost perpendicularly from its body, as if 
 in act to fly. The larva is a Scavenger. 
 
 (Estridae, the last family of the Brachycera, is that 
 which contains the insects well known in their larval 
 stage under the name of Bots, Wurmals, &c. The .perfect 
 insects, or Bot-flies, are also called Gadflies, in common 
 with the Tabani, from which nevertheless they differ in im- 
 portant particulars. If, however, either of the etymologies 
 be just, whether that which assumes the Gadfly to be the 
 Goadfly, goading the cattle to almost a state of madness, 
 or that which considers it as the Fly which " makes the 
 cattle gadde up and downe with stinging them," both 
 Tabanus and (Estrus are fully entitled to the name. On 
 the approach of either, the herd of cattle, oxen, or deer, or 
 the flock of sheep, is thrown into the utmost terror and 
 dismay, oxen " gadding up and downe," while sheep herd 
 together in their sheepish belief that in numbers there 
 is safety. While, however, the attacks of the blood- 
 thirsty Tabanus arise from purely selfish motives, the 
 (Estrus approaches the terrified victim with another 
 end in view. Another end it is in more senses than one, 
 for no blood-sucking proboscis is hers while Tabanus 
 is fully armed with lancets and sucker, her mouth is 
 in a merely rudimentary state, and altogether incapable 
 of aggressive operations. Not so her long and sharp and 
 jointed, possibly also poison- dropping ovipositor. This 
 is her goad, this her weapon of attack and not care for 
 
 B B 
 
370 INSECTS. 
 
 herself, but care for her progeny, the motive of her 
 approach. 
 
 The Botflies all deposit their eggs on or in the bodies 
 of various quadrupeds, some species choosing one part 
 and some another, but each species of Fly being constant 
 both to the one species of quadruped and to one part of 
 its body. 
 
 The Botflies are large and hairy-bodied, and carry their 
 wings extended. (Estrus Bovis, the Ox Botfly, is about 
 half an inch in length ; the legs are long and strong, and 
 the alulse very large. It is of a blackish brown colour, 
 banded with black and coloured hairs. On the face the 
 hairs are reddish, and pale yellowish on the head. The 
 thorax is streaked with reddish hairs, and the base of the 
 abdomen is clothed with the same colour, the tip being 
 orange red. 
 
 The habit of this insect is to deposit its eggs, singly, 
 in holes which it perforates, with an auger-like ovipositor, 
 in the backs of oxen and other horned cattle. The egg 
 thus placed causes a large open tumour, in which the 
 larva resides until ready for the pupa change, when it 
 emerges, falls to the ground, and there undergoes its 
 metamorphosis. 
 
 The Botfly of the sheep, Cephalemyia ovis (PI. XVI., 
 fig. 5, 5 a), lays its eggs in the nostrils of its victim, 
 whence the larvae creep farther into the head, sometimes 
 with fatal effect upon the animal. It is to avoid the 
 attacks of this Fly that sheep may be seen holding their 
 noses in the dust, in ruts, or dusty places, or stamping 
 and shaking their heads, or running violently about the 
 field. This Fly is about the same length as the former, 
 but the legs are much smaller and less powerful. It is 
 of a dark colour, chequered with hoary hairs. 
 
DIPTERA. BRACHYCEEA. 371 
 
 The horse is subject to the attacks of four species of 
 Botfly, of which, however, only one is common. This 
 insect, Gasterophilus equi, deposits its eggs, not in their 
 final place of rest, which, being the stomach of the horse, 
 is inaccessible to the Fly, but on the surface of its body, 
 within reach of the tongue. The animal, by licking itself 
 and swallowing them, transfers the unwelcome little 
 stranger into its own inside, where it grows and prospers, 
 till, as in the former cases, it detaches itself, and dis- 
 charged by the horse, falls to the ground, and undergoes 
 the final changes. This Fly is sometimes as much as two- 
 thirds of an inch in length. It differs from both the 
 preceding in the very small size of the winglets. The 
 legs are of moderate size and strength. It is somewhat 
 rust-coloured, black at the tip of the abdomen. There 
 are varieties, differing in colour. 
 
 Another species of Gasterophilus lays its eggs on the 
 lip of the horse. 
 
 Besides the above-mentioned Flies, there are some 
 rarer species infesting deer; and in other countries, 
 several more are known, one even selecting the rhino- 
 ceros as its host, while others have been known to 
 attack men. 
 
 The third sub-section of the Proboscidea is HTPOCERA. 
 The antennse themselves differ little in this from some 
 of the Brachycera, but are differently placed, being very 
 near the mouth, instead of as in the Brachycera, between 
 the eyes. 
 
 This division consists of but one genus, Phora, con- 
 taining only a few species of minute Flies, ranging in 
 size from one twenty -fourth of an inch to one-sixth of 
 an inch. Some of these are exceedingly common, and 
 haunt the window-panes throughout the year. They 
 B B 2 
 
372 INSECTS. 
 
 are rather hump-backed little creatures, with deflexed, 
 fringed wings, entirely destitute of transverse veins, and 
 move with much activity. In the larval stage, some 
 species feed on decayed vegetable matter, while others 
 are supposed to be parasitic on other insects. 
 
 The characters of the second section of Diptera, 
 EPROBOSCIDEA, have been given at page 339. 
 
 The Eproboscidea are, as has been already said, all 
 parasitic, in the perfect state, in various birds and quad- 
 rupeds. The Forest-fly, or Hippobosca, is a well-known 
 example, as also the stout- bodied, wingless Melophagus 
 ovinus (PL XVI., fig. 6), or " Sheep-tick," as it is im- 
 properly called, remarkable as having the appearance of 
 two groups of simple, rather than a pair of compound 
 eyes. This is owing to the external faces being distinct 
 from each other, and round instead of hexagonal. These 
 insects are parasitic on horses, oxen, and sheep. Others 
 of the same family are parasitic upon birds, and the 
 swallow is especially subject to their attacks. 
 
 An unusual circumstance occurs in this family, the 
 female giving birth to but one individual, and that not 
 until it has either already attained the last stage of larva- 
 hood or has become a pupa. 
 
 The second family in this section contains only two 
 known species, parasitic upon bats, and very rare. They 
 are wingless, and of most singular appearance, the head 
 being thrown completely backwards, and carried in an 
 inverted position. They form the genus Nycteribia. 
 
 With the Diptera, the most modern arrangements of 
 insects come to a close. There remain, however, a few 
 genera whose claim to rank as insects has so often been 
 urged, and whose appearance is so insect -like, that some 
 
DIPTERA BRACHYCERA. 373 
 
 mention of them seems desirable. These are the six- 
 legged, non-changing Lepismas, the Spring-tails, the 
 Lice, and the Bird-lice. These have been variously 
 arranged ; at one time with the eight-legged Acari, &c., 
 among the Arachnida at another, with the Fleas in the 
 order " Aptera," and so on. 
 
 Whilst, however, the Flea, although apterous, is clearly 
 shown by the nature of its transformations to belong 
 to the true insects, the Spring-tails, Lice, &c., are 
 excluded from this class by the total absence of trans- 
 formations, and have been formed into a class by 
 themselves under the name Ametabola. 
 
 This, again, is divided into Thysanura and Anoplura. 
 
 To the first belongs the little silvery fish-like Lepisma, 
 whose delicate scales are well known to microscopists as 
 a low test object The abdomen is furnished with several 
 bristle-like tails, of which three are the most conspicuous; 
 the mouth is mandibulate, the antennae are long and 
 bristle-like, and without the tail it measures about one- 
 third of an inch. 
 
 The Podura, or Spring-tail, in the same section, is 
 a very curious little creature, effecting its spring by 
 means of a forked tail turned under the abdomen, and 
 acting precisely like the wood-and-catgut spring of the 
 wooden frog made for children. It is smaller than the 
 Lepisma, dark and velvety, with the thorax and abdo- 
 men tolerably distinct, and has large, thick antennae 
 and mandibles. 
 
 These insects are found among wood, in the sawdust 
 in cellars, under stones, &c. 
 
 Anoplura contains the Sucking Lice, Pediculi, and the 
 Nirmi, or Biting Lice, which, except one species which 
 infests dogs, seem to be confined to birds. The Pediculi 
 
374 INSECTS. 
 
 are flat, translucent, and short-legged. They seem to 
 belong to almost every known animal, and, in some 
 cases, more than one species are found on the same 
 animal. With the Nirmi, whatever may be the natural 
 prejudice entertained against them, under the microscope 
 a world of beauty and variety is revealed in their forms 
 and structure. 
 
375 
 
 TABLE OF FAMILIES OF DIPTERA. 
 
 SECTION I. PROBOSCIDEA. 
 
 Mouth having a more or less fleshy trunk or proboscis, 
 
 bilobed at the tip. 
 Legs set close together on the under side of the thorax. 
 
 SUBSECTION I. NEMO CERA. 
 
 Antennae long, of six to ten distinct joints ; hairy. 
 Wings ; anal areolet open at the hind margin. 
 Figure usually slender, hump-backed, long-legged. 
 
 Families : 
 
 a. Ocelli two or three. 
 
 1. Discal areolet complete. 
 
 Rhyphidge. 
 
 2. Discal areolet wanting. 
 Mycetophilidas (1st segment of thorax 
 
 inconspicuous). 
 
 Bibionidae (1st segment of thorax con- 
 spicuous). 
 
 #. Ocelli none. 
 
 1. Costal vein ending near tip of wing. 
 
 Simulidse Sand/lies. (Tibias and 1st joint 
 
 of tarsus broad and compressed.) 
 Chironomidge Midges. (Tibiae and 1st joint 
 of tarsus slender, sub -cylindrical.) 
 
376 INSECTS. 
 
 2. Costal vein attenuated round tip of wing. 
 * Veins in last subdivisions not more than 
 
 six. 
 
 Cecidomyzidae. 
 
 ** Veins in last subdivision more than six. 
 Culicidae Gnats, Mosquitoes (Hind-margin 
 
 fringed with scales.) 
 Heteroclitse. (Hind-margin fringed with 
 
 hairs.) 
 
 Phlebotomidae. (Wings ovate, or lanceo- 
 late ; deflexed or divaricated.) 
 c. Middle segment of thorax with an angular, 
 transverse seam. 
 
 Tipulidae Daddy Longlegs, &c. 
 
 SUBSECTION II. BR ACHY CERA. 
 
 Antennae of three distinct joints, from the third of which 
 springs a bristle ; or from three to ten joints, which, 
 after the third, are fused together, or suddenly 
 become abruptly slender. 
 
 Wings ; anal areolet closed. 
 
 Figure usually stouter than in Nemocera. 
 
 Families : 
 
 a. Cubital vein forked ;f anal areolet tapering nearly 
 or quite to hind-margin. 
 
 1. Costal vein ending with tip of wing. 
 
 Stratiomidae. (Soldier-Jlies.) Antennae five 
 to ten joints, conical at tip, or terminating 
 in long style or short bristle. 
 Scenopinidae. Antennae three-jointed, spin- 
 dle-shaped ; third joint large and long. 
 
 t la Empis the cubital vein is sometimes forked, sometimes simple ; 
 the anal aveolet not reaching near hind margin. 
 
TABLE OF FAMILIES OF DIPTERA. 377 
 
 2. Costal vein attenuated to hind margin. 
 * Alulae very large. 
 
 Tabanidse. (Horseflies.) Antennae six, 
 
 eight, or ten joints ; joints unequal. 
 ** Alulae very small. 
 
 Xylophagidaa. Proboscis withdrawn ; an- 
 tennae ten joints ; joints equal after 
 second, and cylindrical, or tapering. 
 Asilidse. Foot-pads very large,f forehead 
 hollowed. Antennae three or five 
 joints, unequal. 
 
 Leptid. Empodium dilated like foot- 
 pads ; forehead convex ; antennae gene- 
 rally three joints, third largest, trans- 
 verse or conical, or bearing a bristle. 
 Bombylidas. (Beeflies.) Empodium slen- 
 der, pointed; forehead convex; antenna 
 three or four joints, unequal 
 b. Cubital vein simple. 
 
 1. Axillary lobe of wing obsolete. 
 * Tip of wing rounded. 
 
 Empidae. Brachial and anal areolets, some 
 of them reaching to one-third of wing ; 
 abdomen seven or eight segments. 
 
 Dolichopidae. Brachial and anal areolets 
 minute or indistinct ; abdomen five 
 segments, or in $ 6, rarely seven. 
 ** Tip of wing pointed. 
 
 Lonchopteridae. 
 
 2. Brachial veins each accompanied by spu- 
 
 rious veins. 
 Syrphidae (Droneflies, &c.) 
 
 t Except in one genus, Leptogaster, to be recognised by the absence of 
 foot-pads. 
 
378 INSECTS. 
 
 3. Brachial veins without spurious veins. 
 Platypezidag. Antennae, third joint globose, 
 
 tjonical or tapering, tipped by a bristle. 
 'Conopidas. Antennae long, no bristle ; three 
 
 first joints large, remainder small, 
 
 pointed. 
 Pipunculidae. Antennae bearing a bristle 
 
 on the upper edge of third joint; eyes 
 
 reaching to the mouth. 
 Muscidae. (Housefly, <-c.) Antennas bearing 
 
 a bristle on the upper end of third joint ; 
 
 eyes bounded by the cheeks. 
 -c. Halter es covered by alulae, and head very -minute. 
 
 Acroeeridae. 
 d. Proboscis obsolete. 
 
 (Estridge. (Gadflies.) 
 
 SUBSECTION III. HYPO CERA. 
 
 Antennae very short, close io mouth, ihree jointed 
 
 globose, bearing a bristle. 
 Veins of wings few, not branching. 
 Family : 
 Phora. 
 
 SECTION III. EPROBOSCIDEA. 
 
 Mouth having a tubular proboscis. 
 Legs set on either side of a broad breastplate. 
 Antennce buried in furrows near the mouth. 
 Families : 
 
 1. Head large, sunk in the thorax. 
 Hippoboscidias Forest-fly, Sheep-tick, fyc. 
 
 2. Head small, thrown backwards, and held 
 
 upside-down. 
 Nycteribiidaa. 
 
 The above characters are taken from Mr. Walker's work 
 on Diptera. 
 
TABLE OF FAMILIES OF DIPTERA. 379 
 
 Fig. 72. 
 
 Wing of Tipula. 
 
 Fig. 73. 
 
 "Wing of Hippoboaca. 
 
 Nemo- 
 
 "]$TW>r%. _. 
 
 ichy- 
 
 cera. 
 
 
 ' 
 
 a 
 
 Costal 
 
 a 
 
 b 
 
 Mediastinal 
 
 b 
 
 c 
 
 Sub-costal 
 
 c 
 
 d 
 
 Axillary 
 
 
 e 
 
 Anal 
 
 h 
 
 f _ 
 
 Post-brachial 
 
 
 9 
 
 Pree-bracbial 
 
 
 h 
 
 Post-brach. veinlet 
 
 
 ii 
 
 Externo-medial 
 
 ft 
 
 k 
 
 Sub-apical 
 
 
 1 
 
 Cubital 
 
 e 
 
 m 
 
 Eadial 
 
 d 
 
 n 
 
 Cross veinlet of 
 
 
 
 antejugal axis 
 
 
 Cells or Areo^. 
 
 Mediastinal 
 
 n Sub-costal 
 
 o Prae-brachial 
 
 p Post-brachial 
 
 <? Anal 
 
 r Axillary 
 
 s Sub-axillary 
 
 t Discoidal 
 
 u Eadial 
 
 v Cubital 
 
 w Sub -apical 
 
 xyzz Externo-medial 
 
 Srachy- 
 cera. 
 
GLOSSARY. 
 
 A bdomen, the last section of the body. 
 
 Aculeate, needle- like ; or, furnished with a needle-like ovipositor. 
 
 Alula, or "little wings," a small membranous appendage at the base of 
 
 each wing in Diptera. 
 
 Areolet, a cell, or enclosed space formed by the nervures of a wing. 
 Base, the part nearest the trunk of body. 
 Brachelytrous, having short elytra, or wing-cases. 
 Capitate, headed, or knobbed, fig. 2, p. 65. 
 Clavate, club-shaped. 
 Costal, belonging to the costa, or front edge of the wing, see figs., 
 
 pp. 254, 379. 
 
 Coxa, the basal joint of the leg, fig. 9, a, p. 35. 
 Deflexed, bent down, or shelving, as the wings of a Lacefly. 
 Elytra, the horny wing-cases of Beetles, &c. 
 Entomophagous, insect- eating. 
 
 femur, the first long joint of the leg, the thigh^ p. 85, fig. 9, c. 
 Filiform, thread-like. 
 
 Fissate (antenna), cleft, see p. 65, fig. 31, (L 
 Fossorial, digging. 
 Geniculated, bent like a knee. 
 Halteres, poisers, an appendage of flies, p. 5 
 Hemelytra, the partially thickened fore- wings in Heteroptera. 
 Hind-maryin of wing, the edge furthest from the body. 
 Imago, the insect in its final, or perfected state. 
 Inner margin of wing, that opposite the costa. 
 Labial palpi, feelers of the labium, p. 30, fig. 5 (Beetle); p. 225, figs. 53, 
 
 59, c (Bee). 
 Labium, the under lip, or tongue, p. 30 ; diagram, p. 29 ; p. 30, fig. 5 
 
 (Beetle) ; p. 32, fig. 6 (Bee). 
 Labrum, the upper lip, p. 30 ; diagram, p. 29. 
 Lamellate (antenna), leaf-like, p. 65, fig. 31, 5. 
 Larva, the insect in the first stage (e.g., in Butterflies the Caterpillar), 
 
 see Ch. IV. 
 
 Ligula, sometimes called tongue, p. 32, fig. 6, g ; p. 225, fig. 59, a. 
 Malleoli, the halteres. 
 
 Mandibles, the upper pair of jaws, p. 29 ; p. 30, fig. 3. 
 Mandibulate, having jaws. 
 Maxillce, the under pair of jaws, p. 29 ; p. 30, fig. 4 (Beetle) ; p. 225, 
 
 fig. 58, d (Bee). 
 Maxillary palpi, feelers of maxilke, p. 30, fig. 4 (Beetle) ; p. 225, 
 
 figs. 58, 59, e (Bee). 
 
GLOSSARY. 381 
 
 Mentum, chin, or base of tongue, p. 32 ; p. 225, fig. 58, fig. 59. 
 
 Metatarsus, the basal joint of the tarsus ; that next the tibia. 
 
 Metathorax, the third segment of the thorax, bearing the third pair of 
 legs, and second pair of wings. 
 
 Mesothorax, the middle segment of the thorax, bearing the second pair 
 of legs and first pair of wings. 
 
 Moniliform, like a string of beads. 
 
 Ocelli, simple eyes, p. 27. 
 
 Onychia, foot- pads. 
 
 Ovoid, egg- like. 
 
 Palpi, feelers. 
 
 Paraglossce, filaments growing on the tongue in Hymenoptera, p. 225, 
 fig. 58, b : 59, b. 
 
 Pectinate, toothed, like a comb. 
 
 Perfoliate (antennae), like leaves run through with a thread, p. 65, 
 fig. 3. 
 
 Phytophagous, plant-eating. 
 
 Prosternum, front of the sternum. 
 
 Prothorax, first segment of the thorax bearing the first pair of legs. 
 
 Pseudo, false. 
 
 Pulvilli, foot-pads. 
 
 Pupa, the insect in its second stage ; in Butterflies the Chrysalis, see 
 Ch. IV. 
 
 Rypophagous, filth-eating. 
 
 Scutellum, little shield, a triangular part of the raesothorax seen at the 
 base of the elytra. Conspicuous in some Heteroptera. 
 
 Serrate, toothed like a saw. 
 
 Setaceous, bristle-like. 
 
 Shank, see Tibia. 
 
 Stemmata, simple eyes, p. 27. 
 
 Sternum, the breast-plate. 
 
 Stigma, a spot on the costa of the whig ; conspicuous in Neuroptera 
 and Hymenoptera. 
 
 Sub-imago, see p. 135 7. 
 
 Tarsus, the foot, or last series of joints in the leg, generally ending in a 
 pair of claws, p. 35, fig. 9, e, &c. 
 
 Tegmina, the roof-shaped thickened fore-wings in Orthoptera and 
 Homoptera. 
 
 Tegula, a pair of large triangular scales fixed to the base of the fore- 
 wings in Lepidoptera. 
 
 Thigh, see Femur. 
 
 Thorax, that section of the body which bears the legs and wings. 
 
 Tibia, the second long joint of the leg, or shank, p. 35, fig. 9, d. 
 
 Trifid, cleft in three. 
 
 Trochanter, the second joint of the leg, p. 35, fig. 9, 6 (sometimes con- 
 sisting of two pieces), see p. 35. 
 
 Trophi, organs of the mouth. 
 
 Ungues, foot-claws. 
 
 <J, male. 
 
 9, female. 
 
 , neuter. 
 
INDEX TO FAMILIES, GENERA, &c. 
 
 ACALYPTA, 322 
 
 Acalypterae, 366 
 
 A.canthia, 319 
 
 Acanthiidae, 319 
 
 Acherontia (Death's-head Moth), 
 
 269 
 
 Acheta, 116 
 Achetidae, 116 
 Acilius, 69 
 Aculeata, 187 
 Adephaga, 66 
 ^shna, 128 
 Agramma, 322 
 Agrion, 129 
 Aleyrodes, 308 
 Allantus, 168 
 Alucitina, 275 
 Ammophila, 206 
 Anax, 128 
 Andrena, 228 
 Andrenidae, 225 
 Andrenoides, 235 
 Aneurus, 322 
 Anobium, 84 
 Anthidiura, 240 
 Anthocharis, 260 
 Anthomyia, 366 
 Anthophila, 187, 221 
 Anthophora, 242 
 Anthrocera (Burnet Moth), 270 
 Apathus, 244 
 
 Apatura (Purple Emperor), 262 
 Aphaniptera, 61, 329 
 Aphelocheirus, 319 
 Aphidse, 302 
 Aphis, 303 
 Aphrophora, 296 
 Apidae, 231 
 Apis, 245 
 Aporus, 205 
 
 Aprosterni, 81 
 
 Apterygidse, 110 
 
 Aradus, 321 
 
 Arctia (Tiger Moths), 270 
 
 Arge (Marbled- white Butterfly), 
 
 261 
 
 Argynnis, 263 
 Asilus, 356 
 Astemraa, 323 
 Athalia, 158 
 Atherix, 357 
 Atrachelia, 88 
 Aurocorisa, 319 
 
 BERIS, 364 
 
 Bibionidae, 345 
 
 Blaps, 88 
 
 Blatta, 114 
 
 Bombus, 243 
 
 Bombycidae, 293 
 
 Bombycina, 270 
 
 Bombylidae, 357 
 
 Bombylius, 357 
 
 Boreus, 141 
 
 Botys (Small Magpie), 274 
 
 Brachelytra, 75 
 
 Brachinus (Bombardier), 68 
 
 Brachycera, 340, 353 
 
 Bruchus, 90 
 
 Bucentes, 364 
 
 Byrrhus, 77 
 
 C.ELIOXYS, 234 
 Calandra, 90 
 Calepteryx, 129 
 Callimome, 183 
 Calypterae, 354 
 Cantharis, 86 
 Capsidae, 322 
 Caps us, 322 
 
INDEX TO FAMILIES, GENERA, ETC. 
 
 383 
 
 Carabus, 67 
 
 Cassida, 94 
 
 Catocala (Red underwing), 272 
 
 Cecidomyia, 346 
 
 Cecidomyzidee, 344 
 
 Cephalemyia, 370 
 
 Cerarnbyx, 92 
 
 Ceratina, 241 
 
 Cerceris, 212 
 
 Cercopidae, 301 
 
 Ceropales, 205 
 
 Cerura (Puss Moth), 293 
 
 Cetonia, 79 
 
 Chserocampa (Elephant Hawks), 
 269 
 
 Chalcis, 182 
 
 Chelonidse, 293 
 
 Chelostoma, 240 
 
 Chelymorpha, 307 
 
 Chlorops, 368 
 
 Chironomidse, 3-46 
 
 Chironomus, 346 
 
 Chrysis, 184 
 
 Chrysopa, 139 
 
 Chrysophanus, 265 
 
 Cicada, 299 
 
 Cicindela, 66 
 
 Cimbex, 157 
 
 Cimicidse, 320 
 
 Cixius, 301 
 
 Clavicornea, 77 
 
 Claviger, 76 
 
 Clytus, 93 
 
 Cocciuella (Ladybird), 95 
 
 Coccus, 309 
 
 Cochlipodidse, 293 
 
 Ccenonyiripha (small Heath But- 
 terfly), 262 
 
 Coleoptera, 6C, 63 
 
 Colias, 260 
 
 Colletes, 225 
 
 Conopida?, 363 
 
 Conops, 363 
 
 Cordylocerata, 77 
 
 Coreidse, 323 
 
 Corixa, 317 
 
 Cossus (Goat Moth), 270 
 
 Crabro, 209 
 
 Crabronidze, 209 
 
 Crioceris, 93 
 
 Cuculinse, 235 
 
 Culicidse, 347 
 
 Culex (Gnat), 347 
 
 Cydnus, 325 
 
 Cymus, 324 
 
 Cynips, 172, 177 
 
 Cynthia (Painted Lady), 262 
 
 DASTCHIBA (TussocK), 270 
 Dasygaatree, 236 
 Dasypoda, 230 
 Dermestes, 74 
 Delphax, 301 
 Dimera, 302 
 Diodontus, 211 
 Diploptera, 213 
 Diptera, 61, 322 
 Dolichopidse, 359 
 Dosytheus, 158 
 Drosophila, 368 
 Dyticus, 69 
 
 EOERIIDJE, 292 
 Elater, 80 
 Empidse, 358 
 Empis, 358 
 Endromidse, 293 
 Entomophaga, 169 
 Epeolus, 234 
 Ephemeron, 185 
 Ephippiger, 121 
 Ephyridee, 288 
 Eproboscidea, 372 
 Eristalis, 264 
 Erycinidae, 264 
 Eucera, 241 
 Eumenes, 213 
 Eumenidse, 212 
 Euplexoptera, 60, 109 
 Eurydema, 324 
 Evania, 178 
 Evaniidse, 178 
 
 FORFICESILA, 110 
 Forficula, 110 
 Formicidse, 190 
 Fossores, 203 
 Fulgoridse, 301 
 
 GALLERIDJE, 289 
 Gasterophilus, 371 
 Gastrodes, 323 
 Geodephaga, 66 
 Geometrina, 272 
 
384 
 
 INDEX TO FAMILIES, GENERA, ETC. 
 
 Geotrupes, 78 
 Gerris, 320 
 Goerius, 75 
 Gonepteryx, 260 
 Gonoptera, 272 
 Gorytes, 208 
 Grapta, 263 
 Gryllidse, 120 
 Gryllotalpa, 116 
 Gyrinus, 70 
 
 HALICTUS, 227 
 Haltica, 94 
 Hedychrum, 186 
 Helophilus, 360 
 Hemerobius, 139 
 Hemiptera, 297 
 Hepialus (Swifts), 271 
 Heriades, 241 
 Hesperidse, 265 
 Heterocera, 268 
 Heteroclitae, 350 
 Heterogyna, 189 
 Heteromera, 86 
 Heteroptera, 61, 315 
 Hilara, 359 
 
 Hipparchia (Meadow Brown But- 
 terfly), 262 
 Hippobosca, 372 
 Hister, 77 
 Homoptera, 60, 296 
 Hydradephaga, 68 
 Hydrocorisa, 316 
 Hydrometra, 320 
 Hydrometridae, 319 
 Hydrophilus, 71 
 Hydropsy chides, 150 
 Hydroptilides, 150 
 Hydrous, 71 
 Hylotoma, 157 
 Hymenoptera, 61, 152 
 Hypena, 273 
 Hypera, 159 
 Hypocera, 348, 371 
 
 ICHNEUMON, 179 
 Ichneumonidae, 178 
 
 LABI A, 110 
 Lamellicornes, 77 
 Lampyris (Glow-worm), 81 
 Larridae, 206 
 
 Lepidoptera, 255 
 
 Leptidse, 356 
 
 Leptis, 357 
 
 Leptocerides, 151 
 
 Libellula, 128 
 
 Limenitis (White Admiral), 262 
 
 Liparidse, 293 
 
 Lithosidae, 293 
 
 Locustidae, 121 
 
 Longicornes, 92 
 
 Lucanus (Stag Beetle), 77 
 
 Lycaenidae, 264 
 
 Lygaeidae, 323 
 
 Lyg83us, 323 
 
 MACROSTERNI, 81 
 Malachius, 83 
 Megachile, 239 
 Melecta, 234 
 Melitsea, 263 
 Melithneptus, 362 
 Mellinus, 208 
 Meloe, 87 
 
 Melolontha (Cockchafer), 79 
 Melophagus, 372 
 Membracis, 302 
 Mimesa, 211 
 Miscophus, 207 
 Molorchus, 93 
 Monomera, 309 
 Musca, 363 
 Muscidae, 363 
 Mutilla, 202 
 Mutillidae, 190, 201 
 Mycetophilidae, 344 
 Myrmecidse, 190, 201 
 
 NAUCORIS, 318 
 Necrophaga, 72 
 Necrophorus, 73 
 Nematus, 158 
 Nemeobius, 264 
 Nemocera, 339, 343 
 Nepa, 318 
 Nepidaa, 318 
 Neuroptera, 60, 126 
 Nirmi, 373 
 Noctuina, 271 
 Nomada, 234 
 Notodontidae, 293 
 Notonecta, 316 
 Notrmectidae, 316 
 
INDEX TO FAMILIES, GENERA, ETC. 
 
 385 
 
 Nycteribia, 372 
 Nymphalidse, 261 
 Xysson, 207 
 Nyssonidfe, 207 
 
 ODYNERUS, 313 
 
 (Edemera, 88 
 (Estridae, 369 
 CEstrus, 369 
 Ophion, 180 
 Orgyia (Vapourer), 270 
 Ortalis, 367 
 Orthoptera, 60, 113 
 Osmia, 236 
 Oxybelus, 209 
 
 PANOKPA, 140 
 
 Panurgus, 235 
 
 Papilionidse, 260 
 
 Pediculi, 373 
 
 Pemphredon, 211 
 
 Pentamera, 66 
 
 Pentatoma, 324 
 
 Perla, 138 
 
 Philanthidffl, 211 
 
 Philanthus, 212 
 
 Philhydrida, 71 
 
 Phillophorus, 307 
 
 Phlebotomidae, 350 
 
 Phora, 371 
 
 Phryganea, 146 
 
 Phryganeides, 151 
 
 Phyllopertha, 79 
 
 Phytophaga, 93, 156 
 
 Pieris," (White Butterflies), 261 
 
 Platypterigidae, 293 
 
 Ploa", 317 
 
 Plusia, 272 
 
 Podops, 324 
 
 Polyommatus (BlueButterflies),264 
 
 Pompilidae, 205 
 
 Pompilus, 205 
 
 Poneridae, 190, 201 
 
 Praedones, 188 
 
 Priocerata, 86 
 
 Proboscidea, 330 
 
 Proctotrupes, 184 
 
 Prosopis, 225 
 
 Pselaphus, 104 
 
 Pseudo-tetrainera, 88 
 
 Pseudo-trimera, 95 
 
 Psocus, 142 
 
 Psyche, 271 
 Psychidse, 293 
 Psychoda, 350 
 Psychomides, 150 
 Psylla, 303 
 Psyllidse, 302 
 Pterophorina, 275 
 Pulex (Flea), 329 
 Pyralidina, 273 
 Pyrochroa, 86 
 
 RAPHIIJIA, 141 
 Ranatra, 319 
 Reduviidae, 320 
 Reduvius, 320 
 Rhamphomyia, 359 
 Rhingia, 362 
 Rhopalocera, 359 
 Rhopalus, 324 
 Rbyncophora, 89 
 Rhyphidae, 352 
 Ripiphorus, 87 
 Rumia, 272 
 Ryacophilides, 150 
 Rypophaga, 71 
 
 SALPINGIDJS, 88 
 
 Sapyga, 204 
 
 Sapygidae, 204 
 
 Sarcopbaga, 365 
 
 Sargus, 354 
 
 Saropoda, 242 
 
 Saturnia (Emperor Moth), 271 
 
 Saturnidae, 293 
 
 Scatopbaga, 366 
 
 Scenopinidae, 358 
 
 Scoliidae, 204 
 
 Scolytus, 91 
 
 Scopelosoma (Satellite), 282 
 
 Scopulipedes, 241 
 
 Scutelleridas, 324 
 
 Selandria, 165 
 
 Sepsis, 369 
 
 Sericostomides, 150 
 
 Serrifera (Saw-bearers), 156 
 
 Sesia (Clear-winged Moths) 270 
 
 Sialis, 140 
 
 Sigara, 317 
 
 Silona, 159 
 
 Silpha, 73 
 
 Simulidce, 346 
 
 Sirex, 166 
 
 CC 
 
386 
 
 INDEX TO FAMILIES, GENERA, ETC. 
 
 Sociales, 243 
 
 Sphesia, (Clear- winged Moths) 270 
 
 Sphecodes, 227 
 
 Sphegidae, 206 
 
 Sphingina, 268 
 
 Sphinx, 269 
 
 Spiculifera, 170 
 
 Spilosoma (Ermine Moth), 271 
 
 Stelis, 234 
 
 Stomoxys, 364 
 
 Strangalia, 93 
 
 Stratiomidae, 354 
 
 Stratiomys, 354 
 
 Strepsiptera, 101 
 
 Sty lops, 101 
 
 Syrphidae, 360 
 
 Syrphus, 361 
 
 TABANID.E, 355 
 
 Tabanus, 355 
 
 Tachines, 364 
 
 Tachytes, 207 
 
 Telephorus (Soldiers and Sailors), 
 
 81 
 
 Tenthredinidae, 156 
 Tenthredo, 156 
 Tephrites, 367 
 Terebellifera (Borers), 166 
 Terebrantia, 155 
 Tetramera, 88 
 Thecla, 264 
 Thrips, 123 
 Thymele, 265 
 Thysanoptera, 60, 123 
 
 Tiinarchia (Bloody-nosed Beetles), 
 
 94 
 
 Tineina, 275 
 Tingidae, 321 
 Tiphia, 204 
 Tipula, 350 
 Tipulidse, 350 
 Tortricina, 274 
 Tortrix, 294 
 Trachelia, 86 
 Trichiosoma, 157 
 Trichoptera, 60, 146 
 Trimera, 95, 299 
 Trochilium, 292 
 Trypeta, 367 
 Trypoxylon, 209 
 Tubulifera, 184 
 
 UKOCEKIDJS (Wood-borers), 166 
 
 VANESSA, 262 
 Velia, 320 
 Vespa, 215 
 Vespidse, 214 
 Volucella, 361 
 
 XYLOPHAGID.E, 355 
 Xylophagus, 355 
 
 ZANTHOSETIA, 274 
 Zeuzera, 270 
 Zeuzeridae, 292 
 Zygaenidae, 292 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 ADMIRAL butterflies, 262 
 Aleppo galls, 177 
 American blight, 305 
 Ants, 188 
 
 as architects, 197 
 
 as cattle-owners, 194 
 
 as friends, 191 
 
 as nurses and parents, 192 
 
 as slave-owners, 195 
 
 as soldiers, 195 
 
 care for their dead, 192 
 
 do not store grain, 200 
 
 used in divination, 8 
 
 in Eastern mythology, 8 
 
 (tradition concerning) in Ceylon, 8 
 
 (social), 190 
 
 (solitary). 201 
 
 (larvae of), 56 
 Ant baths, 198 
 Ants' nests, acid in, 198 
 
 ,, beetles in, 76 199 
 Ant vinegar, 199 
 Antenna of insects, 28 
 Aphis, 303 
 
 wings of, 52 
 
 in Polar seas, 306 
 Asparagus beetle, 93 
 
 larva of. 99 
 
 BACON beetle, hair of, 74 
 Bark-lice, 309 
 Bark-mining beetle, 90 
 Bath-white butterfly, 261 
 Bees (and see Hive Bees), 
 
 table of, 253 
 
 cuckoo, 222, 231, 244 
 
 hairy-bellied, 236 
 
 hairy-legged, 241 
 
 hive, 245 
 
 humble, 243 
 
 temper of, 244 
 
 leaf-cutter, 239 
 
 Bees, long-tongued, 231 
 
 mason, 236 
 
 parasitic, 222, 231, 244 
 
 short-tongued, 224 
 
 eyes, 26, 357 
 
 legs, 222, 248 
 
 mouth, 32 
 
 wings, 49 
 
 hooks on, 50, 208 
 
 larvae, 56 
 
 pupae, 57 
 
 nests, 236 
 
 food of, 249 
 
 products of, 248 
 
 enemies of, 249 
 
 stingless, in Mexico, 247, n. 
 
 how to find specimens of queen, 
 248 
 
 in Egyptian hieroglyphs, 4 
 
 in the East a symbol of fecun- 
 dity, 5 
 
 on Grecian and Ephesian coins, 6 
 
 omens of future eloquence, 7 
 
 used as a badge by ancient kings 
 of France, 4 
 
 superstitions concerning, 7 
 
 in heraldry, 8 
 Beebread, 248 
 Beefly, 357 
 Beetles (and see Water Beetles) 
 
 table of, 103 
 
 bacon, 74 
 
 bloody- nosed, 94 
 
 bombardier, o"S 
 
 burying, 72 
 
 death-feigning, 77 
 
 dung, 78 
 
 musk, 92 
 
 oil, 87 
 
 pill, 77 
 
 scavenger, 72 
 
S88 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Beetles, sexton, 72 
 
 water, 68, 71 
 
 wood boring, 84, 90 
 
 legs, 35, 36 
 
 mouth, 29 
 
 wings, 41 
 
 larvae, 56 
 
 pupae, 57 
 
 in ants' nests, 76 
 Birdlice, 373 
 Blackbeetles, 114 
 Black-veined white butterfly, 261 
 Bloody-nosed beetle, 94 
 Blowfly, 365 
 Bluebottle, 365 
 Blue butterflies, 264 
 Bombardier beetle, 68 
 Book-louse, 142 
 Book-worm, 84 
 Botfly, 369 
 
 Breathing apparatus of insects, 21 
 Breezefly, 369 
 Brimstone butterfly, 260 
 
 moth, 272 
 
 Brown wood butterflies, 262 
 BroA-n (meadow) butterflies, 262 
 Buff-tip moth, 270 
 Bug (bed), 230 
 
 eaten by cockroaches, 115 
 
 (plant), 315 
 
 ro 
 
 Burying beetles, 72 
 Butterflies, 
 
 (table of), 290 
 
 Bath white, 261 
 
 black-veined white, 261 
 
 blue, 264 
 
 brimstone,. 260 
 
 brown wood, 262 
 
 clouded yellow, 260" 
 
 copper, 265 
 
 fritillary, 263 
 
 marbled white, 261 
 
 meadow brown, 262 
 
 orange tip, 2 60 
 
 painted lady, 262 
 
 peacock, 262 
 
 purple emperor, 262 
 
 red admiral, 263 
 
 small heath, 262 
 
 sulphur, 260 
 
 swallow-tail, 260 
 
 Butterflies, tortoiseshell, 263 
 
 white, 260 
 
 white admiral, 262 
 Butterflies' antennae, 259 
 
 eyes, 26 
 
 mouth, 33 
 
 scales, 51 
 
 wings, 50, 259 
 
 changes, 55 
 
 larvae, 284 
 
 pupae, 284 
 ) swarms of, 266 
 
 Butterflies and moths, to distinguish, 
 r 257259 
 Butterfly, emblem of the soul, 10 
 CABBAGE butterfly (white), 260 
 Caddis-fly, 146 
 
 wings, 46 
 
 worms, 146 
 
 Camberwell beauty, 267 
 Cardinal beetles, 86 
 " Carpets" 294 
 
 Case-bearing larvae of beetle, 100 
 caddis, 147 
 moths, 279 
 ,, sawflies, 165 
 Chafers, 77 
 
 Changes of insects, 22, 55 
 Characters of insects, 14 
 Cheese-hopper, 368 
 Chigoe, 331 
 China-mark moth, 294 
 Cholera-fly, 332 
 Churchyard beetle, 88 
 Chrysalis the husk of a butterfly, 23 
 Cicada, 299 
 
 saws of, 301 
 
 sings till it bursts, 300 
 
 victor in musical contest, 9 
 Circulating system of insects, 21 
 Clear-winged moths, 270 
 Clegs, 355 
 Clothes-moths, 275 
 
 larvae of, 279 
 
 ,, morals of, 280 
 Clouded yellow butterfly, 260, 266 
 Cochineal insect, 310 
 Cockchafer, 79 
 
 larvae of, 98 
 
 wings of, 41 
 
 Swedish superstitions concern- 
 ing, 13 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 389 
 
 Cockroach, 114 
 
 egg-case of, 115 
 
 larvae of, 56 
 Coleoptera (see Beetles), 63 
 
 table of, 103 
 
 antennae, 65 
 
 legs, 35 
 
 wings, 41 
 
 larva, 56, 98 
 
 pupae, 57 
 
 Concealment, self, of larvae of aspa- 
 ragus beetle, 99 
 bloody-nosed beetle, 100 
 caddis, 146, 147 
 clothes-moths, 279 
 ,, tortoise beetles, 10 
 Convolvulus hawk-moth, 269 
 Copper butterfly, 2o5 
 Corn weevil, 90 
 
 Courtiliere, 118 
 
 Cranefly, 350 
 Creaking beetle, 94 
 Cricket, 114, 116 
 
 musical instrument of, 43 
 
 song sharp before rain, 119 
 Cuckoo bees, 224, 244 
 Cuckoo spit, 296 
 Currant moth, 273 
 DADDT-LONGLEGS, 350 
 /Dagger moth, 294 
 JJDeath's-head moth, 269 
 
 feeds on bees, 249 
 Destruction of trees by wood-boring 
 beetles, 91 
 
 of crops by turnip-fly,. 
 Devil's coach-horse, 75 
 
 larvae, 99 
 
 Diamond beetle, 89 
 Dragon -flies, 127 
 
 eyes, 27 
 
 flight, 128, 130 
 
 metamorphosis, 131 
 
 wings, 45 
 
 larva, mouth of, 131 
 
 nker moth, 270 
 Dronefly, 360 
 
 early life of, 46 
 Dung-beetle, 77 
 Dungfly, 366 
 
 EARTH-MEASURING caterpillar, 272 
 Earwigs, 109 
 
 eyes, 27 
 
 Earwigs, larvae, 56 
 
 pupae, 58 
 
 wings, 43 
 
 destroy bees, 249 
 
 good mothers, 111 
 Eggs of lacefly, 139 
 
 of whirligig beetle, 71 
 insects grow, 163 
 
 ,wk-moth, 269 
 moth, 271 
 a, 276 
 Enemies of aphides, 303 
 
 of bees, 249 
 EriuliM ffiotb, 271 
 Eyes of insects, 25 
 
 bipartite, 70, 308 
 
 of larvae, 27 
 
 of whirligig beetle, 70- 
 Feet of insects, 38 
 Jigure ef 6 moth, 293 
 
 Fireflies, 301 
 
 superstition concerning, 12 
 Fleas, 53, 329 
 
 legend concerning, 331 
 Flies, 332 
 
 mouth of, 34, 336 
 
 wings of, 46, 54 
 
 larvae, 337 
 
 pupae, 57, 353 
 
 worship of, 1 
 
 Flight of insects in connexion with 
 their vision, 26 
 
 butterflies, 266 
 
 dragon-flies, 128 
 
 gnats, 349 
 
 syrphidse, 361 
 Flower-flies, 366 
 " Footman," 293 
 Forest-fly, 372 
 Formic acid, 198 
 Fritillary, 263 
 Froghopper, 296 
 GADFLY, 355, 369 
 Gallflies, 172 
 
 gnats, 344 
 Galls, 173 
 
 Galls of Hymenoptera harbouring 
 other insects, 1 76 
 
 formed by Dipterous flies, 341 
 
 344 
 
 Gall-like excrescences formed by 
 saw flies, 163 
 
390 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Glowworm, 81 
 
 luminous after death, 82 
 
 larva luminous, 82 
 Gnats, 347 
 Goat-moth, 270 
 
 larva, 280, 282 
 Grasshoppers, 114, 120 
 
 legs, 37 
 
 wings, 43 
 
 vision, 27 
 
 larvae, 56 
 
 pupae, 58 
 
 among the Greeks, 9 
 Grass-moths, 273 
 Green hair-streak, 264 
 Greeubottle-fly, 365 
 Ground- wasps, 219 
 HAIR of bacon beetle, 74 
 Hair-streak butterfly, 264 
 Hawk- moths, 269 
 Hessian-fly, 345 
 Hive-bee, 245 
 
 legs of, 221, 248 
 
 products of, 248 
 
 enemies of, 249 
 
 revengeful, 247 
 
 in Peru ceased to lay up stores, 
 246 
 
 queen, how to find specimens, 248 
 Honey, 248 
 Honey-dew, 306 
 
 Hop-aphis destroyed by ladybird, 97 
 Hop-dog, 276 
 Horsefly, 355 
 Housefly, 364 
 Humble-bees, 248 
 
 jaws of, 232 
 
 nests of, 243 
 
 temper of, 244 
 Humming-bird moth, 270 
 ICHNEUMONS, 178 
 JAPAN Varnish, 311 
 Jigger, 331 
 June- bug, 79 
 KENTISH Glory, 293 
 Kurdish legend, 331 
 LAC, 311 
 Lacefly, 139 
 eggs, 139 
 
 larva, 303 
 
 Lacquer varnish, 311 
 Ladybird, 95 
 
 Ladybird (larvae of), useful, 97, 304 
 
 visitations of, 95 
 Lake, 311 
 Larvae of beetles, 98 
 
 (case-bearing), 100, 147, 165,279 
 
 (eyes of), 27 
 
 of Hymenoptera, 153 
 
 of laceflies, 140 
 
 leaf-mining, 100 
 
 of Lepidoptera, 265, 276 
 
 W moths and butterflies, 283 
 
 i*- moths in beehives, 250, 282 
 
 of sawflies, 158, 164 
 
 (wood-boring), 280 
 Leaf-cutter bees, 239 
 Leaf insects, 113 
 Leaf-mining larvae, various, 281 
 
 beetles, 100 
 
 flies, 281 
 
 moths, 277 280 
 Lead bored by beetles, 84 
 
 by sirex, 168 
 Legs of Aculeate Hymenoptera, 187 
 
 of bees, 222 
 
 of butterflies and moths, 260 
 
 of insects, 34 
 
 of insects compared with those 
 of vertebrate animals, 19 
 
 of sawfly, 157 
 
 of wasp, 187 
 Leopard moth. 270 
 
 abounding, 267 
 
 larvae of, 280 
 Lice, 373 
 Locusts, 114, 122 
 
 (foreign) in England, 122 
 Long- horned bee, 241 
 
 beetles, 92 
 
 Long-tongued bees, 231 
 Loopers, 286 
 MAGPIE (or currant) moth, 273 
 
 (small), 274 
 Mason bee, 236 
 
 and ruby-tail, the biter bit, 186 
 May-bug, 79 
 May -fly, 135 
 
 Meadow-brown butterfly, 262 
 Mealworm, 88 
 Mealy bug, 309 
 
 Metamorphoses of insects, 22, 55 
 Midges, 346 
 Mole cricket, 117 
 
GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 S91 
 
 Mole cricket, leg of, 37 
 Moths, 268, 357 
 
 antennae, 259, 269, &c. 
 legs, 260 
 \ mouth, 34 
 wings, 50, 256 
 position of, 259 
 larva? of, 276 
 
 larvae of in beehives, 250, 282 
 pupae of, 57 
 in chrysalis three and six years, 
 
 267 
 
 Mosquitoes, 346 
 Mouths of insects, 29 
 Musk beetle, 92 
 NERVOUS System of Insects, 21 
 OAK Beauty, 294 
 
 eggar, 293 
 Oil beetle, 87 
 Orange-tip Butterfly (Anthocharis), 
 
 260 
 
 Orders, table of, 60 
 Oxfly, 355, 370 
 PAINTED Lady, 262 
 Parasitic bees, 223, 244 
 beetles, 87 
 flies, 341 
 
 Hymenoptera, 169 
 Sty lops, 102 
 Parasitism, 169 
 Peacock butterfly, 262 
 Pearls (moths), "294 
 Pea weevil, 90 
 Pill beetles, 77 
 Pitfalls dug by larvae of devil's 
 
 coach-horse, 99 
 of tiger beetle, 99 
 of fly, 357 
 Plume-moths, 275 
 Praying mantis, 113 
 Printer beetle, 92 
 Privet hawk-moth, 269 
 Prominent moths, 293 
 Propolis, 249 
 Pugs, 294 
 
 Pupae of butterflies and motha, 282 
 Purple emperor, 264 
 hair streak, 262 
 Puss-moth, 293 
 RAT-TAILED larva, 47, 57, 341 
 Red admiral, 263 
 underwing, 272 
 
 Rose-aphis, 296 
 
 Chafer, 79 
 Ruby tail, 184 
 SAILORS, 81 
 Sand-flies, 346 
 Sand- wasps, 303 
 Satellite, 294 
 
 larva of, 282 
 Saw of cicada, 300 
 
 ofsawfly, 161 
 Sawfly, 156 
 
 (eggs of) grow, 163 
 (swarm of), 159 
 mother guards her young, 166 
 Scale insects, 309 
 Scarabaeus, sacred beetle of the 
 
 Egyptians, 13, 78 
 Scarlet-in-grain, 311 
 Scavenger beetles, 72 
 
 flies, 333 
 Scorpion-fly, 140 
 Sexton beetles, 72 
 Sheeptick, 372 
 Short-tongued bees, 224 
 Silkworm moths, 270 
 Skeleton of insects, 19 
 Skipjack, 80 
 Skippers, 266 
 Small heath butterfly, 262 
 
 magpie moth, 274 
 Snakefly, 141 
 Snout moths, 273 
 Soldier-flies, 354 
 Soldiers and sailors, 81 
 Spanish-fly, 86 
 Sphinx moths, 269 
 larvae, 269, 285 
 in chrysalis three years, 267 
 Spiracles of insects, 22 
 of water beetle, 39 
 Springtail, 372 
 Stable- fly, 364 
 Stag beetle, 77 
 Strawberry plume moth, 275 
 Stonefly, 139 
 
 Structure (external) of insects, 24 
 Sulphur butterfly, 260 
 Swallowtail butterfly, 258 
 
 moths, 272 
 Swarms of ants, 159 
 aphides, 306 
 beetles (Curculionidae), 158 
 
392 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Swarms of butterflies, 266 
 
 earwigs, 109 
 
 gnats, 348 
 
 insects near Deal, 159 
 
 ladybirds, 95 
 
 locusts, 122 
 
 mayfly, 137 
 
 turnip-fly, 158 
 Swifts, 271 
 Syrphus larva, 304 
 TABLE of Coleoptera, 103 
 
 Diptera, 375 
 
 Hymenoptera, 251 
 
 Neuroptera, 144 
 
 orders, 60 
 
 Trichoptera, 150 
 Thrips, 123 
 Tiger beetle, 66 
 
 ferocity of, 67 
 
 mouth of, 30 
 
 traps dug by larvae of, 99 
 
 moths, 270 
 
 ,, larvae, 286 
 Tithonus and grasshopper, 9 
 
 (figure of), 113 
 Tortoise beetle, 94 
 
 larva, 99 
 
 Tortoise-like leaf-bearer, 307 
 Tortoiseshell butterfly, 263 
 Tree wasps, 219 
 Troutfly, 135 
 Tongues of bees, 233, &c. 
 Turnip-fly, 94, 158 
 Tussoch moths, 270 
 
 larvse, 276 
 
 Twenty-plume moth, 275 
 VAPOUBER moth, 270 
 Violet beetle, 67 
 WAINSCOT moths, 294 
 
 Walking-stick insects, 113 
 "Wasp-bees," 234 
 " Wasp-beetle," 93 
 Wasps, 213 
 
 solitary, 213 
 
 social, 214 
 
 nest of, 215, 219 
 
 love for young, 215 
 
 stinging of, 218 
 Water beetle, 68 
 
 legs, 35 
 
 larvae, 56 
 
 nest, 72 
 
 spiracles, 39 
 
 ferocity of, 69 
 Water boatmen, 316 
 
 leg, 36 
 
 Water measurers, 319 
 Water scorpion, 318 
 
 pincers, 38 
 Wax, 248 
 Weevils, 89 
 Whirligig beetle, 70 
 
 oar, 36 
 White admiral, 262 
 
 ant, 126 
 
 butterflies, 260 
 Willow-fly, 139 
 Wings of insects, 40 
 
 compared with birds' wings, 20 
 Wire worm, 80 
 Wood-borers (Hymenopterous), 166 
 
 (Coleopterous), 84, 90 
 Wood wasps, 203 
 Woolly bear, 286 
 Worship of the fly (ancient), 1 
 
 (Hottentot), 2 
 YELLOW Ophion, 180 
 Yellow Sally, 139 
 
 THE END. 
 

 

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