Pl.t. X / ' , // /' ( ,r/f'f//f//s/} <>} ^//r Published November I, J8J8. byK Hunter. $!?<) } ",tn/. /.<>// 22. Fourth Order, Neuroptera. Libellula, or Dragon Fly. Ephemera 173 23. Phryganea, or Spring Fly. Myrmelcon Formicarius, or Formica Leo, or Lion Ant. . . . 184 24. Formica Leo continued 1 97 25. The Eyes of Insects. Reticulated Eyes. Stemmata 205 26. Fifth Order, Hymcnoptera. Means of de- fence. Stings . ,;*Mau i >iV-* 1 i>--' . . 213 27. Tenthredo, or Saw Fly. T. Capra. T.Vi- tellints. T. Rosa. False Caterpillars . 220 28. Ichneumon Fly 227 29. Sphex, or Ichneumon Wasp 235 30. Vespa, or Wasp. V. Crabro, or Hornet. V. Vulgaris, or common Wasp 242 3 1 . Apis, or Bee. A. Mellifica, or Honey Bee. . '.....,... 252 32. Wild Bees. Apis Muscorum, or Humble Bee. A. Muraria, or Mason Bee. A. Centuncularis, or Leaf -cutter Bee. A. Pa- paveris, or Tapestry Bee 268 33. Ants. Formica Nigra, or Black Ant. F. Brunnea, or Brown Ant. F. Rufesccns, or Rufescent Ant. Termites, or White Ants . 282 Xll CONTENTS. Dialogue Page 34. Sixth Order, Diptera. CEstrus, or Gad Fly. E. Bovis, or Ox Gad Fly. (E. Ovis, or Sheep Gad Fly. OS. Tarandi, or Rein-deer Gad Fly . 297 35. Musca, or Fly tribe. M. Chamctkon, or Chamelion Fly 308 36. Musca Tenax 315 37. Musca Vomitoria. M. Carnaria 322 38. Culex, or Gnat 333 39. Hippobosca 341 40. Seventh Order, Aptera. Pediculus, or Louse. Pulex, or Flea 348 41. Aranetr, or Spider 359 42. Aranea Avicularia. A. Fasciata. A. Dia- dema. A. Aquatica 367 43. Cancer, or Crab. C. Pagurus, or common Crab. C. jBernhardus, or Hermit Crab. C. Pinnotheres 375 44. Cancer Ruricola, or Land Crab. C. Gam- marus, or Lobster. C. Squilla, or Prawn. Praunus Flexuosus 383 45. Conclusion 391 DIALOGUES ON ENTOMOLOGY DIALOGUE I. MOTHS. LUCY. My dear mamma, are you very busy? If you can spare time, I wish you would come to the garden and explain something which appears very odd. Oh dear, I have run so fast ! Mother. I am rather busy ; but, as I have great pleasure in explaining what you wish to know, I will go with you. Lucy. Thank you, mamma ; I am sure you will not call this one of my foolish interruptions. Mother. I approve so much of your B MOTHS. disposition to inquire into every thing of which you are ignorant, that I never think such interruptions troublesome. Well, now, here we are in the garden. Lucy. See here, marnma, at the ivy wall, a strange thing like part of a rnoth, struggling among bits of leaves and sticks, look, look! it moves, it is growing larger there are its legs. I really be- lieve it is a moth : now it is entirely come out from among those scraps of dirt. Is it a moth, mamma ? Mother. Yes, it is a moth ; but softly ; watch how its wings unfold. You see they gradually spread open, with a little quivering motion. Could you have thought so large an animal had been con- tained in that small case, which you see in the midst of those broken leaves ? It is now a perfect moth, and this is the first time it has appeared in that form. Lucy. How much brighter the co- lours are than when I first saw its wings ! They now look bright and clean, at first they had a wet crumpled look. CATERPILLARS. Mother. Yes, they were damp; an exceedingly small quantity of moisture surrounds the fly in its case, which pre- serves the joints in a state of flexibility, that is, suppleness, and enables the wings to unfold to their full size ; when they have done so, the moisture is no longer useful, and the air quickly dries it up. Lucy. But, mamma, if this is the first time of its being a moth, how did it get into that case? how was it put there r My sister told me once, that caterpillars turned into moths and butterflies ; do they, mamma ? Mother. Yes ; every kind of cater- pillar changes into some species of winged insect. Lucy. Then, I suppose, all kinds of flies, gnats, and bees, have been cater- pillars. What tiny little things the ca- terpillars of flies must be. Mother. They are very small indeed ; so small that many of them are called maggots. Lucy. Maggots ! I always thought maggots were nasty and dirty. B 2 4 MAGGOTS. Mother. As several kinds of cater- pillars or maggots live in rotten wood, mud, carrion, dunghills, and other sub- stances of which we have the most dis- agreeable notions, we are too apt to ex- tend the disgusting or nasty idea of the place in which they live to the creature itself. Lucy. I understand that; but you say that some of these creatures live in mud ; now I thought, mamma, that mud was only earth and water. Mother. Mud is chiefly composed of earth and water; but it also contains many other things, as roots of vegeta- bles and plants, both dead and alive ; and also numberless small living creatures, so small, that they cannot be seen without a magnifying glass. Mud contains also a large portion of air. Lucy. Oh, mamma, you cannot be serious now ; air in dirty mud ! nice clean bright air in dirty mud! You told me that air is what we all breathe and feel, what is round us, and every thing. Mother. Certainly we do breathe and AIR, ANIMAL. 5 feel the air, and are surrounded by it ; but it is not more certain tbat air is round every thing, than that some portion of it is also contained in every thing ; and if the air were to be taken out of the mud all the little animals that are in it would die, for no animal can live without air. Lucy. Yes, for we all breathe the air; but you say animals. I thought animals were large creatures, rnen, horses, or dogs. Mother. Men, horses, and dogs, are all animals ; but it is not size, it is life, which makes them animals ; every living thing that moves on the face of the earth is an animal, however small its size may be. Lucy. Thank you, mamma. I un- derstand every thing you have told me very well. Will you now tell me the history of this pretty moth ; and all about the caterpillar; and what was its food ; and how it lived ; and Mother. Softly, softly, my little girl : CATERPILLARS. you ask as many questions in a breath as would require an hour to answer ; and I cannot spare an hour at present : come to me to-morrow after your lessons are finished, and I will answer all your questions about moths and caterpillars. DIALOGUE II. CATERPILLAR, PUPA, CHRYSALIS, AURELIA. LUCY. My lessons are over, and I hope, mamma, you will now tell me about all the caterpillars and moths. Mother. That would take a very long time indeed, and would besides require more attention and more memory than you are quite aware of. We shall there- fore begin with the earliest part of the history of a caterpillar. Do you re- member the hairy caterpillar you lately found creeping on the gravel walk ? Lucy. Oh yes ; we looked at it in Fanny's microscope ; and we saw its tufts of hair, which appeared so large; and its pretty brown and orange skin, that looked so bright between the tufts. 8 CATERPILLARS CHANGE THEIR SKINS. Mother. That caterpillar was once so little, that it was contained in a small round egg, scarcely as large as the head of a pin. From the time it first came out of the egg it increased gradually to its full size, having, in the mean time, changed its skin several times. I Lucy. How did it change its skin ? I Mother. As the little animal grows larger the skin becomes too tight to con- tain it, and at last hursts : the caterpillar then crawls out. In about a fortnight after it has changed its skin for the last time, the caterpillar becomes dull, and ceases to eat ; and having passed some days in this state, it then throws oft' its last skin, and takes a new shape. Lucy. What sort of shape ? what is it like? Mother. Look into this little box, and you will see that it is smooth and shining, as if varnished over. Lucy. It does not look in the least like a caterpillar: it is not so long; it is smooth and shining, and round. Of what a dark red brown it is ; and how PUPA, CHRYSALIS, AURELTA. 9 oddly marked ! it is like a very little head, with something wrapped round it. Mother. From this appearance it lias been called pupa*, which means baby, be- cause it was thought to resemble an in- fant in swaddling clothes. When it is in this state it neither eats nor moves ; though most properly called pupa, it is more commonly termed chrysalis, or aurelia. Lucy. Why have these names been given to it ? What do they mean ? *, Mother. Chrysalis is derived from the Greek word chrysos, signifying gold ; and aurelia comes from aurum, a Latin word which has the same meaning j these names were applied from its bright gilt ap- pearance in some of the species. Lucy. I shall not forget that. Mother. When the chrysalis, which you found yesterday, had remained in that immoveable state for some months, the moth, which was inclosed in it, by moving its head, burst open one end of * Pupa, Latin for puppet, or baby. B 5 10 METAMORPHOSIS OF CATERPILLARS. it, and made its way out, as you had the pleasure of seeing. Lucy. What delightful things, dear mamma, you tell me ; but I want to know a great deal more of the other caterpillars, that I see crawling about. Do they all become moths or flies ? Mother. They all become winged, but there are a great number of winged in- sects, that are neither flies, butterflies, nor moths. Lucy. But I want still to know how the moth is squeezed into the chrysalis, and who contrived it so. Mother. My dear child, no human creature can form even such a little insect as a caterpillar. Do you not remember, I am sure you have been told, who made yon, and not only you, but every person, and every thing that is in the world ? Lacy. Yes ; God made me and every thing. Mother. God has power to do what ever he wills ; he has made all the living creatures in the world, from the great MECHANICAL BEETLE. 11 elephant and whale, down to the smallest insect. And he does more ; he watches over all that he has made : he governs them, preserves them, and provides for all their wants. Lucy. But, mamma, how then could Mr. E. make the beetle, which Fanny told me she saw run round the table ? Mother. I will ask Mr. E. to lend me that beetle, that you may see the dis- tinction between a machine, to which certain movements only are given, ac- cording to the will of the artist, and a living animal, which can act and move according to its own will ; and that you may yourself observe, how great a dif- ference there is between the works of man and the works of God. DIALOGUE III. EGGS OF INSECTS. LUCY. Well! mamma, you said yon would tell me more about the moths ; and I am come to remind you of your pro- mise. Mother. A promise I shall fulfil with the greatest pleasure ; but you must first tell me how much you remember. Lucy. I have learned that caterpillars come from little eggs ; that they grow larger and larger ; that as they grow they several times change their skins ; that when full grown they change into chrysalises ; and that after some time they come out from that form either moths or flies. I believe that is all. Mother. Very well indeed ; we will therefore continue to inquire into the his- tory of the caterpillars ; concerning which EGGS OF INSECTS. 13 there are many entertaining facts to be told. The little egg, which I formerly mentioned, is laid hy the parent fly in such a situation, as that the little creature which comes out of it may immediately find the most suitable food ; whether that be leaves, or the bark of twigs and trees, or the roots of plants. Lucy. Then, mamma, they do not all eat leaves r Mother. No, they do not ; their food is of various kinds ; but whatever be the kind best suited to them, the fly deposits her eggs either on the plant by which it is furnished, or so near, that the new born animal may immediately reach it. Those^ which are to be quickly hatched, are generally placed on leaves. Lucy. Oh ! mamma, yesterday I saw on a large cabbage a great number of caterpillars of different sizes ; but most of them were very little things ; not so long as this mark on your ruler: I suppose the egg had been put on those cabbage leaves. 14 EGGS OF INSECTS. Mother. That mark is half an inch. Probably the caterpillars were then three or four days old. Lucy. And still so little ? But to be sure, when they first came out of such very small eggs, they must have been so little that one could hardly see them. Mother. They were about an eighth part of an inch long ; you see they found their proper food ready for them the moment they came out of the egg. Lucy. Why are those eggs, that are to come out soon, laid upon leaves ? Mother. They are placed on the leaf, because that is the food which they are destined to eat ; and, as they are to be im- mediately hatched, a more concealed place is unnecessary. Lucy. There are some kinds then that do not so soon come out of the egg ? Mother. Yes, several kinds ; and ac- cording to the length of time they are to remain in the egg the parent fly chooses a suitable place of security. EGGS OF INSECTS. 15 Lucy. What sort of place ; and how are they kept warm in winter ? Mother. The fly lays the eggs on that kind of tree on which they are to live, either in a cranny of the bark, or in the angle formed by the division of two branches. Lucy. How are they fastened there, for such light round things would easily roll off? Mother. They would do so, were it not that, when the fly deposits the eggs, it also drops a sort of glutinous liquid over them, which, being hardened by the air, thus gums them to the bark of the tree. Lucy. Then all those that are placed on the bark of trees are gummed to the bark? Mother. No, not all ; there are many other methods by which they are pre- served. Some species, or kinds, lay their eggs among the close moss, which often grows upon the stems of shrubs near the ground ; and under that cover they avoid being seen by their enemies: in other 16 EGGS OF INSECTS. species the parent makes a warm case for them, by gluing together the down, which she pulls from her breast. Lucy. Poor thing ! what pains it takes to put them in a safe place ! I suppose the downy case must keep them tjuite warm in winter. Are there any other ways in which they are placed ? Mother. Some kinds spin a sort of silk, which they commonly mat together; which silk being formed of a glutinous, or gummy substance, the threads quickly adhere, so as entirely to exclude, or keep out, the air. The moth, as soon as it has deposited its eggs, and provided for their security, dies. Lucy. What a pity such pretty crea- tures should die so soon ! Do all flies die when they have laid their eggs ? Mother. No ; there are insects which live much longer. Some of the butterfly tribe do not lay their eggs in autumn, but at the approach of cold weather creep into holes, in walls or old trees, and remain torpid till spring ; at that season EGGS OF INSECTS. 17 the returning warmth revives them, and then they lay their eggs and die. But all moths lay their eggs in autumn, and die immediately after. Lucy. Then, main ma, who takes care of the little caterpillars ? Mother. The moth, were it to live, could do but little for them ; all that was in its power it had done, by placing the eggs in safety, where the young cater- pillars, as soon as they quit the egg, can find the nourishment that is most proper for them. Lucy. Why could not the moth take some care of the caterpillars, as well as of the eggs t Mother. Because from its structure, that is, its form or make, it is unable to procure food for them ; as the moth lives on honey, which it sucks from flowers ; while the caterpillar feeds on leaves, or on the bark of trees. Besides, the moth is as much a prey to birds and other ene- mies as the caterpillars are. Lucy. I see that they could not be of IS EGGS OF INSECTS. much service to them. So now, mamma, will you tell me how they live till they grow quite large, and what they do r Mother. Not to-day, my dear ; to- morrow you shall have that part of the history of the caterpillar. DIALOGUE IV. CATERPILLARS PROVIDED WITH THEIR SEVERAL CHANGES OF SKINS ; CONTAIN LIKEWISE THE FUTURE FLY; LARVAE. MOTHER. Well, my little Lucy, what is to be the subject of our conversation this morning ? Lucy. Oh ! mamma, the caterpillar : because, you know, we finished all about the eggs and the different ways of placing them in safety. Mother. Very well, we will proceed to the caterpillar; which, at its first coming out of the egg, is Can you remember about what length ? Lucy. Yes ; it is about as long as this little division let me see; one, two, 20 CHANGE OF SKINS. three, four, and four more, that makes eight, in one inch, mamma. Mother. Therefore, as eight are con- tained in the inch, each division is one eighth part of an inch. The caterpillar is about one eighth of an inch long ; hut it rapidly increases ; and in a few days it throws off its first skin. Lucy. You told me before, that they change their skins several times ; and I have since been thinking how they manage when the old skin is gone and the new one not quite grown. Mother. They are never in such an uncomfortable state ; for at their very birth they are provided with all the skins in which they are afterwards to appear. When the outer skin is, from the growth of the animal, become too tight, the creature seems to lose its appetite, and to be sick ; after a day or two, this skin hursts along the back, and the caterpillar, first disengaging its head and legs, then creeps out of its old dress, and appears in its new one. EMBRYO FLY. 21 Lucy. Are the new skins always like the old one ? Mother. Generally they are; but in some species every skin varies from the former one ; and this circumstance has given rise to great mistakes, one sort having heen sometimes taken for several different kinds. Lucy. Well, mamma, this is most wonderful ; I cannot think how there can be room in such a tiny creature for six skins to lie one within another! How very odd that does seem ! Mother. Yes, my love ; such things are indeed wonderful : but all the works of our great Creator are wonderful : and in nothing is his power more displayed than in the structure and perfection of even the most diminutive insect. You feel surprised that all the skins are con- trived to fit one within the other; how will your surprise be increased when you hear, that within all these skins the future fly is contained. Lucy. The moth! Oh! mamma, how 22 EMBRYO FLY AND EGGS. could such a very, very little thing be seen through all the skins ? Mother. It was discovered by a per- son who made insects of all kinds the subject of his study. With the assist- ance of a powerful microscope, he saw. the little fly placed withinside the cater- pillar ; its wings twisted like a cord, in a wonderfully small space ; its horns coiled, and placed on the head, and the trunk rolled up, and also placed on the head : even the eggs, which, when a per- fect creature in its winged state, it is after- wards to lay, are seen already formed, but without colour, and like transparent globules. Lucy. Mamma, I know that trans- parent means clear, so that one can see through it : but I do not know what globules means. Mother. You are very right to ask the meaning of those words you do not under- stand, and I can hardly tell you how much pleasure I have in explaining them to you. Globule comes from the word EMBRYO FLY AND EGGS. 23 globe, which means a perfectly round body ; a currant is a small globe : a globe a great deal smaller is called a globule. Lucy. I think that these little eggs must be like excessively small drops of water. Mother. Yes, they have much that appearance. As the caterpillar increases in growth, the fly also increases, till it comes to its full size. Lucy. But are all caterpillars like each other ; and all of them provided with so many skins, and the fly in the middle ? Mother. In all, the fly is withinside ; and they have all of them several skins : though some species may have only three or four, while others have five or six. In shape they vary almost as much as in colour ; some being hairy and some smooth ; some have horns before and others have them placed behind ; some are of great size, while others remain extremely small. 24 GREAT VARIETY QF CATERPILLARS. Lucy. I have seen hairy caterpillars and smooth ones, but I never saw one with horns. Mother. I have drawn in this book the greater part of those kinds which I have met with. What is this one ? Lucy. That is quite smooth ; I think I have seen one like it on rose trees ; green, with this white line all along the back. And here is the brown hairy one we found on the walk, and brought in. What a number of dif- ferent sorts are drawn here, and all with their beautiful moths. Do all these, that look so unlike each other, live in the same way ? Mother. Do you not remember, that the parent fly places her eggs in those situations, where suitable food is most easily to be obtained ? Lucy. Yes, indeed, I do remember it. Will you tell me, then, some of their dif- ferent ways of living ? other. Those kinds of moths, which deposit their eggs in cracks and crevices LARVA. 25 of the bark of trees, do so because their larva feed on the inner bark, and live under the onter bark. Lucy. Larva, what is that r Mother. Larva is the name given to the cateipillar state of all insects, which afterwards undergo a metamorphosis, or change. Lucy. What does the word mean ? Mother. It is derived from a Latin word signifying mask ; the insect having its true appearance concealed, as it were, behind a mask. Lucy. The larva, then, does not, as I first thought, eat the bark of the tree. Mother. Trees have a thin green bark within the brown outside bark ; on this green bark the caterpillars live ; when they are hatched they creep from the crevice in which they were placed under the outer bark, and begin to eat ; and as they eat they make a room for them- selves to dwell in ; so that they live in a c 26 LARV.E THE PREY OF BIRDS, &C. kind of hollow passage, which they have gnawed between the wood and the bark of the tree. Lucy. They must be quite safe there, for no bird can find them out. Mother. Not so safe as you think : many smaller creatures take advantage of the labours of the caterpillar, and usurp its hollowed house ; and some of these not only feed on the tree, but devour the caterpillar. And even from birds it is not quite secure; both tbe wood- pecker and the creeper run up and down the stems and branch es, seeking for grubs ; and woe to the unlucky ca- terpillar that puts out its unwary head when one of these active enemies is near! Lucy. Do many sorts of caterpillars live in this way under the bark ? Mother. Several of our most beau- tiful and largest species. Now, rny love, I have promised your sister Fanny to answer her botanical ques- LARV.E THE PREY OF BIRDS, &C. 2/ tions ; so we must defer the rest of the caterpillar history till to-morrow. Lucy. Very well, mamma ; you have heen very good to stay so long with me. I will now go and weed my nice bed of mignionette. c 2 DIALOGUE V. LARV.93, THEIR GENERAL HABITS, AND MODES OF ESCAPE. CATERPILLAR OF THE OAK. LUCY. I hope, mamma, .you have leisure to tell me a great deal about caterpillars, to-day. I have been re- flecting on what you told me yesterday, and it is so entertaining that it makes me quite anxious to hear more. Mother. I am glad to be able to amuse and instruct you at the same time. We ended with the species that live under the bark of trees. Other kinds live in rotten wood. Lucy. What can they find there to nourish them ? Mother. It has not, I believe, been ABODE OF THE LARVAE. 29 ascertained whether they actually eat the rotten wood, or prey upon the lesser animals, which have made their nests in the same place of concealment : how- ever this may be, the larvae of some of our handsomest moths, and those of se- veral kinds of flies, live in rotten wood. Lucy. Then, mamma, larva does not mean the caterpillars of moths alone. Mother. The name of larva is giv&i to all insects during the first stage of their life, whatever may be their future shape: that of caterpillar has been applied chiefly to the larvae of the moth and butterfly tribes. Some caterpillars feed on the juicy ro6ts and stalks of dande- lion, and of other plants of that kind ; but these usually eat at. night, or late in the evening, and are therefore very difficult to find, as they conceal them selves during the day in shady places, or retire into the ground. Lucy. Into the ground ! How can such hairy creatures force themselves into the earth : 30 APPEARANCE OF THE L Mother. None of the hairy kinds go into the ground : those which burrow are smooth ; and as the ground is always rendered less hard or compact by the slender fibrous roots of plants, they can readily make their way into it. Several species of caterpillars have so much the appearance of the substances on which they feed, that it is difficult to distinguish them. Lucy. But how can they look like leaves ? Mother. It is not in shape but in colour that the resemblance to leaves consists, having sometimes their exact shade of green or of brown ; other kinds are so like the small branches upon which they are found, that you might easily mistake them for the short twigs, Some of them are quite smooth, like the twigs of the plane tree ; and some are marked lengthways with dark streaks, resembling the shoots of the elm. Thus, you see, many must avoid being disco- vered by their pursuers. But some spe- THEIR MODES OF ESCAPE. 31 cies have a still better mode of escape, for they spin a slender thread whenever they move, and when pursued they can throw themselves from the leaf, and hang by this thread. Lucy. Indeed, mamma, I have ob- served caterpillars hanging just so be- tween the bough of a tree and the ground, by a thread that I could hardly see. Mother. But perhaps you did not ob- serve, that, when the caterpillar climbs up again by the thread, as it cannot help spinning while it moves, the thread is doubled by the time it has reached the leaf or spray from which it threw itself; it then nips the thread asunder with its jaws, which are very sharp, that it may not have an additional weight of thread to drag. Lucy. I am determined to watch for these hanging caterpillars. Do not you think that under the large oak in the lawn, or perhaps at the lime tree with the seat under it, I might see them ? 32 CATERPILLAR OF THE OAK. Mother. Very probably you may find them on either of your favourite trees, as both oak a v nd lime are inhabited by seve- ral different species. There is one very remarkable kind on the oak, which is often met with in France, but has not yet been discovered in England. Lucy. Dear mamma, do pray describe it to me. Mother. It is hairy, of a middling size, and a dark red brown colour ; the generality of caterpillars live singly, but of this species, large numbers, perhaps three or four hundred, assemble to- gether. Lucy. Three or four hundred ! what an amazing number. How very curious a sight that must be ! Mother. They are very industrious and very friendly, giving their mutual labour for the benefit of the community; they spin in concert a sort of roof or covering of brown silk, the edge of which they fasten to the stern of the tree, leaving little openings, or doorways, for creeping CATERPILLAR OF THE OAK. 33 in and out. Under this silken roof they remain all day, coming out in the evening only to seek their food ; and as they live together so they move together. Lucy. What ! three hundred walk ahout together ! why they must cover a monstrous space. Mother. Not quite so monstrous as you think, for they do not wander about, but march close together in ranks, like soldiers, and in a sort of wedge -like order. One acts the part of chief, and, leading the way, is closely followed by two ; those two are followed by three, and so on, each of the rows increasing one in number : if the form of the ground, however, does not answer for their usual order of march they have been known to alter it. Lucy. How delightful it would be to meet these caterpillar soldiers marching away ! But such a number must soon eat up all the leaves on a tree. Mother. When that is the case they march ofl* by night to another tree, and, c 5 34 CATERPILLAR OF THE OAK. spinning a new tent, establish themselves upon its trunk. They at length change to chrysalids, and remain in security till they come forth as moths. Lucy. Are there any other kinds, that live so comfortably together ? Mother. Yes, there are ; we have one which is very common in England. It is small, of a dark colour, and produces a little grey moth ; it lives in great num- bers upon the euonymous tree, surrounded by a sort of web, spun with strong threads from branch to branch. At a little dis- tance the tree looks as if it were covered with cobwebs. DIALOGUE VI. SOCIETIES OF CATERPILLARS. CATERPIL- LAR OF CLOTH, OF PONDVVEED. ERUC^l. TRACHEA, STIGMATA. CLASSES. LUCY. Dear mamma, I was so sorry, that those troublesome visitors interrupted us yesterday, in the middle of that charm- ing history of the spinning caterpillars. Mother. Those visitors were very good and respectable people ; and, al- though they interrupted you, they do not deserve to be called troublesome. We must learn to bear with many inter- ruptions through life, and still more with such very trifling disappointments as that. We will now return to the caterpillars : I think we were speaking of those which live in societies on the euonymous. 36 SOCIETIES OF CATERPILLARS. Lucy. Yes, mamma ; and I want to know whether many other kinds live in companies like those. Mother. There are several species which do so ; some live separately till nearly half grown, and then unite in so- cieties ; others associate for a time, and when grown strong enough they sepa- rate, and seek their food alone. Lucy. I suppose that many sorts al- ways live by themselves : how do they manage ? Mother. They live most commonly on leaves, on the under side of which they feed, that birds may not see them. Some kinds even curl one edge of the leaf, and attach, it to the other part by threads of gluey silk : thus making a hollow case fitted to its own shape, and open at each end. On privet, and on young laurel leaves, you may frequently find these rolled up dwellings. Lucy. I will look this very day on the privet hedge, in hopes of seeing them. THE CLOTH CATERPILLAR. 37 Mother. These rolled leaves are often found on pear and apple trees, which, some years, are materially injured by the numbers of their little guests. There are two or three very small species, which eat cloth and fur; they spin round themselves a case a little wider than their bodies, so that they can just turn round ; in these cases they live, and, putting out their head and legs, carry their house about with them. Lucy. Just like snails, I suppose ; how very odd the little thing must look, dragging its long narrow house after it. I wonder what nourishment it can find in cloth. Mother. There is hardly any sub- stance which does not afford food for some description of animal. You may observe another curious circumstance of these cloth caterpillars ; the colour of what they spin, to enlarge their case, is determined always by that of the cloth on which they feed ; and by changing the 38 PONDWEED CATERPILLAR. cloth, you can make them stripe their houses with various colours. Lucy. I must look for some of these little animals, and, if you will give me some bits of blue and red cloth, they shall spin their cases of those colours. Mother. Most willingly you shall have some pieces of cloth, though I hope you will not be able to find any of these destructive creatures. Cloth eaten by them is vulgarly called moth-eaten, and their cases moth-bags ; but, in fact, the moth is hurtful only because it lays the eggs from which the caterpillars are pro- duced. One of the most curious species of caterpillars, in their habits of life, is to be found on ponds. Lucy. On ponds ! In water ! How is that possible ? How could they breathe ? Mother. I did not say in water, but on it; that is, on a plant called pond- weedy which grows in stagnant pools. When this diminutive animal quits the PONDWEED CATERPILLAR. 3!) egg, it cuts out a piece of leaf, and by means of its silken spinning fastens this bit round the edges to another part of the same leaf, leaving a few openings by which to creep out and feed. When it grows too large for this first habitation, it cuts out another circle of the leaf, and makes a second suitable to its size; as it in- creases, it thus constructs new dwellings, till it changes to a pupa, which, from its lightness, floats upon the surface of the water. Lucy. As long as it remains a little chrysalis it may swim ; but the poor fly, what saves it from the water ? Mother. When the fly bursts its nar- row cell, it creeps out, and, resting upon the empty chrysalis, as it were upon a boat, remains there till strong enough for flight, when it becomes an inhabitant of the air. Lucy. How beautiful to see it spring from its light boat and fly away !. What a number of different kinds you have al- ready described ; and 1 dare say there are 40 ERUCA. many others which you have not yet mentioned. Mother. A great many, indeed ; too many to give yon an account of them all. But that you may clearly distinguish those about which we have conversed from a sort of erucse called false cater- pillars, I will define the true caterpillar. Lucy. Erucae ; you never mentioned them hefore. Mother. Eructf* is a general name for all maggots, worms, and caterpillars, that are the larvae of more perfect winged insects. You remember Avhat larva means ? Lucy. Oh yes, the young of every kind of insect ; and it means mask, and it is a Latin word. Mother. Quite right : we will go on then. All caterpillars are much longer than they are broad : they have twelve rings in their bodies : the covering of the head is of a shelly hardness, but the rest of * Eruca, Latin for a canker worm. TRACHEA. 41 the body is soft ; some species have only six feet placed on the rings next the head, and two formed of a hollow membrane, which are placed on the last ring. Lucy. What is the meaning of mem- brane, mamma ? Mother. It is a sort of skinny sub- stance, which is so elastic as to have the power of contracting or closing up, and of expanding or stretching out. These two membranous feet slope backwards ; they are hollow, and the part on which they walk is formed of a shelly ring, and fringed with very short hair. Those caterpillars, for instance, which I told you resembled little twigs, have no more feet than these, that is, six horny feet for walking with, and two membranous feet on the last ring; but the greater number have eight more feet, all of the membranous kind, and placed four on each side. Through these ten mem- branous feet the caterpillar breathes ; and they are called trachea, a Greek word, which signifies a windpipe. 42 STIGMATA. Lucy. Then they both breathe and walk on these feet. Why are they called windpipes ? Mother. Because they answer the purpose of respiration, or breathing, as your windpipe does, and they are formed in the same manner. Lucy. Then, mamma, I suppose these breathing feet would be spoiled by dirt, only for the little hairs that grow round the edges. Mother. I give you credit, my love, for exerting your reason ; you are proba- bly quite right in this case. There are also other passages through which they breathe, and which are connected with the trachea ; these openings are called stigmatce *, and are generally marked by a bright spot, which sometimes looks like gold. Lucy. I see them quite golden and bright in this dark, hairy caterpillar, which I have in my box. Let me see ; yes, there are nine on each side. * From stigma, a mark or band. CLASSES OF CATERPILLARS. 43 Mother. There is usually that num- ber, but I believe it varies in some species. When you find any caterpillars which have more than sixteen feet, you may be certain that they are the erucae of flies. Lucy. That is, you mean both the hard feet for crawling, and the soft feet reckoned together. Mother. Exactly. Caterpillars have been divided into classes by some natu- ralists, according to their habits of life, or to their appearance. Here is a list I have written for yon, that you may look over and remember them. The gregarious, or those that live in societies. The solitary, that live singly. The smooth. Those which are hairy all over. Those with the hair divided into little brushes. Hairy, but with longer brushes at the head and tail. The brushes forming a 'tufty or aigrette, on the head. 44 CLASSES OF CATERPILLARS. Those with spines. Those like shagreen, But as the divisions must depend more upon the perfect fly than on the imperfect larva, this classification cannot be of very great use. Now, my dear, go out and divert your- self; and to-morrow, if nothing inter- rupts us, we shall see how the caterpillar changes to the pupa* DIALOGUE VII. TRANSFORMATION OF THE CATERPILLAR TO THE PUPA. NYMPHS. DURATION OF THE PUPA. PLACE OF CONCEALMENT. LUCY. How fortunate I am, mamma, that nothing has happened to prevent your going on with the account of the pupa, as you promised. Mother. As I shall not be able to stay long with you to-day, we will be- gin at once. When the caterpillar has lived its destined length of time, it ceases to eat; and, creeping to a place of shelter and security, it becomes dull, seems to dislike moving, and after passing some days in this sluggish state, it works out of the old skin, which opens along the back. 46 TRANSFORMATION OF THE CATERPILLAR. Lucy. I suppose, just as when they changed their skins, and crept out in their new clothing. Mother. The skin bursts open just in the same way ; but the animal's appear- ance is very different : its shining case now fits it quite closely; it has neither eyes nor legs ; but on examination you may see indistinct marks, as if the parts underneath had pressed out the case while it was soft. Lucy. Here is the chrysalis, which you shewed me the other day : it has indeed marks at each side, as if the wings were just underneath ; and here, at this round end, and quite close to those marks, seems to be the head ; the body 1 suppose fits into this narrower part, which is marked with rings. Mother. When the pupa first comes out of the caterpillar skin, it is moist, and quite soft : in this state it is very easily killed, and seems to suffer from the slightest touch. Some kinds remain in this soft state for three days ; others NYMPHS. 47 harden in a few hours ; but during what- ever time they continue soft, they are called nymphs. Lucy. Why nymphs ? Mother. That name is given to dis- tinguish a recent pupa, which has not completed its change, from a perfect pupa. In ancient times, all nymphs, or young women, wore veils, through which they were indistinctly seen ; from whence this name of nymph came to be applied to the pupa while in this state. Lucy. Pray, mamma, why cannot you see the fly inside of this case ? Mother. Because it . is a perfect pupa, and the covering has become thick ; but in the nymph state, the outer skin or case is so transparent, that, with the assistance of a microscope, the fly can be very plainly distinguished. Lucy. And have they still their horns and their trunks, rolled up and placed on their heads ? Mother. No ; the antennae or horns are now stretched along the sides; the 4 THE FLY WITHIN THE PUPA. trunk is rolled up into a little case, which is in the front of the face ; and the wings, instead of being twisted, are curiously folded up ; so that, although of their full size, they occupy an astonishingly small space. The diminutive eggs, which, you may remember, I described as clear and colourless, are now become of their full size, and of the colour which they are to have when laid. Lucy. Then all eggs are not white ? Mother. Some are yellowish, some of a pale greenish hue, and others pale blue. Lucy. And, mamma, how long have the moths been of the full size. Mother. It is difficult to be certain on this point; but from some experi- ments it has been inferred, that by the time the caterpillar has completed its growth, the fly has also reached its full size. Lucy. Then why need it remain so long in the pupa ? It might as well come out of the caterpillar, and fly at once. Mother. Certainly, if Providence had DURATION OF THE PUPA. 4i> So formed it ; but, though in size and shape it is perfect, it probably requires time for its limbs to become sufficiently lirm and strong to enable it to run or fly ; for, the nymph, you know, is soft, and so is the fly withinside of it. Lucy. About ho\v long is it necessary for them to remain in the pupa state? Mother. Different species require dif- ferent lengths of time, but the greater number of moths continue in the torpid state about eight months ; they usually undergo their last change in Autumn, and come out in the perfect state about May or June. Some few species remain in the chrysalis for a whole year. Lucy. Is it not very wonderful how they continue to live without food for such a length of time ? Mother^ if they moved about it would be very wonderful \ but as they never stir they are never exhausted, and therefore do not want food to restore their strength. Though moths remain so long a time D 50 MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. inclosed, butterflies generally appear in eight days after they have changed. Lucy. But, mamma, I thought moths and butterflies were the same thing ; that is, the same kind of insect. Mother. In several respects they re- semble each other; but in others they are very different. Butterflies delight in sunshine, and fly only during the day, fluttering over the flowers from which they sip the honey. Moths, on the con- trary, take wing after sunset, and fly till sunrise, when, like the owl, they re- tire into the shade, and rest during the day. Lucy. Are the pupas of all butterflies and moths like this brown one in the box } Mother. No, they are of many dif- ferent shapes, and of various colours. Those of butterflies are all more or less angular, like this, which you see, drawn here. (Plate I ) Lucy. Oh ! that is the dear little house butterfly : what a pretty chrysalis CONCEALMENT OF THE PUPA. 51 it has ! and I do see a little gold upon it! Mother. Several of the butterfly pu- pae have some gold ; but I have never seen any moth pupse that had. There is some variety in the points and protube- rances of the different butterfly pupae, but they have all a general resemblance in shape, though not in colour, to this one. Lucy. Where are these chrysalids to be found ? I think they must run great hazard of being destroyed. Mother. When the caterpillar is about to change, it creeps up a wall or a tree; and, having spun a small mat, on which it fixes its hind feet, it then begins to spin a band across its body. This it effects by twisting its head back- wards and forwards, fastening threads to the wall, first at one side, and then at the other, which are all carried across its body, till the band is strong enough to support its weight. After having rested for a day or two it then changes, and the skin falls to the ground ; but at the tail D 2 52 CONCEALMENT OF THE PUPA. end of the pupa are two small hooks, which lay hold of the little mat, as soon as the old skin drops. Lucy. And it htings there a chrysalis ! How nice ! But was this brown one hung in that manner? Mother. No, it was not : there are many that do not suspend themselves in that way, but we must defer their de- scription till to-morrow. DIALOGUE VIII. VARIOUS MODES OF FORMING, SECURING, AND QUITTING THE PUPA CASE. EM- PEROR MOTH. LUCY. We stopped yesterday at the account of the caterpillar, that suspends its pupa by the tail. Mother. There is another species, which spins only the hand across the body, without the little mat for the tail to hook. Not having the power of turning its head as far as the caterpillar does that I mentioned yesterday, it cannot pass the thread over its back; it therefore fastens the end on one side, then carries the thread across the fore feet y which it holds up for that purpose, and tirmly attaches it to the other side; re- jieating the operation till the band is sufficiently strong. The threads how- PUPA CASES, ever are not glued together, but resemble a little hank of silk ; and when com- pleted the caterpillar can just slide its head and body underneath as far as the fifth ring. This species feeds on fennel. Lucy. But if the band should be too tight, . poor thing, what happens then, after all its labour ? Mother. If too tight, the cater- pillar cannot get underneath, and if too wide, it falls through ; in either case, it never completes its change, but dies in the caterpillar state, not being provided with silk enough to make a second band. Some kinds make only a little mat, in which they fasten their tails ; suspend- ing it from the small twigs on the stems of trees. Lucy. But this brown one in the box does not seem to have been hung from any thing ? Mother. There are many species, which do not spin at all ; of these, some retire into crevices in walls or trees, but the greater number creep un- PUPA CASKS. derground, and work out a sort of cell, where their metaphorphosis is effected. Again, those kinds which spin, have different ways of doing it. Lucy. Do yon mean like the wonder- iul oak caterpillars, that spin their brown tents to live in hy hundreds ? Mother. They, you know, spin those tents to live in while they remain cater- pillars ; but I allude to certain species that spin round themselves the case in which they are to make their change. Lucy. That is like the silk worms, of which I have heard Fanny speak. Mother. Yes, and no other kind has yet been found worth the trouble of cul- tivating, for the sake of the materials of which those cases are composed, though a very large proportion of the caterpillars of both moths and sphinges have the same habits. Their cases vary in form and colour, and indeed in the disposition and texture of the silk ; some are oval, rough, and of a pale brown or yellow colour; while others are egg shaped, full at one 5(> EMPEROR MOTH. end, and narrow at the other. The ca- terpillar of the emperor moth makes its case samewhat in the last shape, as you may perceive from this empty one, which I have preserved since last year:, and here are drawings* of the moth it pro- duced, and of the caterpillar and pupa. Lucy. Oh, what a pretty caterpillar! How very beautiful the moth is ; and this, I see, is the outer case ! What a curious shape. It looks as if it had been gummed oyer ! But how could the caterpillar gum the outside of the case, after it had spun itself up withinside ? Mother^ The outside was first formed with thinly woven silk, glued together by a shining substance ; and within, there is a thick web of silk, crossed in every direction ; now, observe the narrow end> do you see that it is jagged ? Lucy. Yes, and below this jagged edge is another row of jags, and under* ueath that another and another. * Plates II aud III. ff'//ff Sff ( 'M//tf/'f>/- /'//A/AV///V/ Xc\> t -inJnrt.l6H$. .S'Piiuls Churrh EMPEROR MOTH. 57 Mother. Very well: now examine and tell me if these jags simply project from the sides, or if they are disposed in any particular manner. Lucy. They do not stand straight out from the sides ; I see that they slope up- wards, so as nearly to meet in the middle; indeed the two upper rows do meet. Mother* Can you find any good rea- son for their being so arranged ? Think a little, and then tell me. Lucy. I do think, mamma, that I have found it out. They are placed* so to prevent other creatures from getting irt ? to disturb the pupa, for these stiff jags would run into and hurt them. Mother. Very right - 9 and you may observe, from the direction in which they are sloped, that the moth can easily press them back, when it creeps out. Lucy. That is, indeed, a wonderful contrivance ; but how da those, that have not this sort of door, get out of their thick cases ? Mother. There is a nice contrivance for D 5 58 MODES OF QUITTING THE PUPA. their assistance also : the end of the cocoon (the common name for these silken cases), which is next the head, is the last part that is spun, and very thin ; resembling in some measure a cap or lid. Immediately nnder the moth's head there is placed a very small bag, filled with a liquid of such a powerful acid, as instantly to dissolve the gam by which the silky fibres are cemented ; and when this is softened the fly can easily make its way out, Lucy. But it must first have got out of the chrysalis shell, before it can get through this outside case ; how does it manage that ? Mother. Over that part of the moth's back, which is next to the head, you may observe, in the chrysalis, a straight line ; it is more strongly marked in some than in others, but it is always along this line that the shell opens ; the opening is made by the moth's moving its head up and down, which enlarges the slit sufficiently to let the fly out. Very large cases however are made fubbxhai ^cvemoerl. ,'8.by ELEPHANT HAWK MOTH. 77 some of these carious caterpillars. To what a nice smooth sort of pupa they ap- pear to change ! Mother. Yes; the pupa is smooth, with a white web spun round it; in this state it remains all the winter, and the fly comes forth about Ju/ie. DIALOGUE XL NATURAL HISTORY DIVIDED INTO KING- DOMS. EACH KINGDOM DIVIDED INTO CLASSES, AND SUBDIVIDED INTO OR- DERS, GENERA, AND SPECIES. Lucy. Mamma, you said yesterday, that all animals are arranged in classes ; will you explain this to me ? Mother. With pleasure, my love. All nature has been divided, by scientific men, into what they call kingdoms; thus the animal kingdom; the vegeta- ble kingdom ; and the mineral or fossil kingdom. Each of these kingdoms is arranged in distinct classes, which pre- vents much confusion, and affords great assistance to the learner. The vegetable and mineral kingdoms, with their classes and subdivisions, you will have great pleasure in learning hereafter, when you ANIMAL KINGDOM. ^ are tolerably well acquainted with the animal world. Lucy. It is then the animal kingdom that I am now learning. Mother. One class of that kingdom is the subject of our present conversa- tions ; and hereafter I hope we shall acquire some knowledge of the other classes. Lucy. How many classes are there in the animal kingdom ? Mother. The first includes all ani- mals that suckle their young; a charac- teristic which extends from mankind down to the little bat, that you so often watch flitting about in the evening : this class is called mammalia) from the latin word mamma, a teat. Lucy. I think I shall remember that ; it is so odd, that men and bats, elephants and mice, should he all in the same class. Mother. You see they are all pos- sessed of one property, which distin- SO CLASSES. gnishes them from the rest of the ani- mal world. The second class consists of aves, or birds ; and includes every feathered crea- ture, from the tall ostrich to the tiny humming bird. Lucy. The pretty little humming bird, that hovers over flowers, and sucks the honey. And the third class, mamma? Mother. Is the amphibia, or those creatures which possess the power of living, with eqhal facility, on the land or in the water, although they chiefly in- habit the former. For instance, serpents, lizards, and frogs, are amphibious; this term being compounded of two Greek words*, which signify the capability of existing in either element, air or water. Lucy. I have often heard of am- phibious animals, but I did not before know what that expression meant. Mother. The fourth class is puces } or * Amphi, both; Bio&, life, ORDERS. 8 I fishes. The fifth, insecta, or insects. The sixth and last class, vermes, con- tains a great variety of animals, which, in comparison with those of the other classes, seem to be the least perfect of the animal creation ; they have no distinct head, few have any feet, and they appear to want the organs of hearing and sight ; earth-worms, oysters, &c., belong to thi* class. Each of these classes is again divided' into orders ; but at present, I think, we had better attend to the orders of that class only which we are learning j to what class do I allude } Lucy. The insecta, or insect^; the fifth class of the animal kingdom. Mother. Very well, Lucy. Lucy. But what does insect mean ? Mother. It comes from inseco, a Latin word, signifying to cut into, because the bodies of insects are almost sepa- rated into two or more parts or rings, though connected together by a slender membrane. In the same way the term E 5 S2 ORDERS. entomology, or the science which treats of this class of animals, is derived from the Greek word entoma, which has the same meaning as inseco. The class of insects is divided into seven orders, each of these orders is subdivided into genera, and the genera are still farther divided into species. Lucy. I am afraid I shall not re- member all this. Mother. At first jt may seem difficult ; but attention, and the habit of using these terms, will not only enable you to remember them, but will also show you their utility. We have already gone through one order, can you recollect what it is called ? Lucy. Lepidoptera; and I believe you said it was the third order. Mother. Yes ; this order contains only three genera ; the butterfly, the sphinx, and the moth ; tell me their scientific, or technical, names. Lucy. The butterfly is papilio, which ORDERS. 83 flies only in the day ; for the sphinx you told me no English name, but I remem- ber it flies at sunset ; and phalaena is the moth, and that flies at night. Mother. One species of the papilio is the pretty little house butterfly, wtih which you are well acquainted. Lucy. And the emperor moth is a species of the phalaena. Mother. Jt is. To-morrow we shall proceed to another order. DIALOGUE XII. DEFINITION OF THE TERM GENUS. DIS- TINGUISHING MARKS OF THE FIRST OR- DER, COLEOPTERA. ELYTRA. THORAX. ANTENNAE. LUCY. Mamma, I believe that I remember all you told me yesterday of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and of their being divided into classes, and the classes into orders, the orders into- genera, and the genera into species. Mother, Yon have recollected very distinctly what J told you of these di- visions ; but do you understand the meaning of genera ? Lucy. I do not think you explained the exact meaning of that word ; but I believe it is something like kind, as the GRNERA. 85 genera of moths are all creatures of one kind. Mother. Genera is the plural of the term genus, a Latin word, which, strictly speaking, means a race, or family, or breed; hot, like the terms class and order, it has been adopted in the various subdivisions of natural history, and de- notes any collection of the different spe- cies, which agree in one or more essential characters. For example, in the genus of moths every species flies by night, and has taper antennae ; while the lesser pe- culiarities, such as the shape of the wings, the spots and colours, the length of the antennae, or their being more or less feathered, mark the particular spe- cies. Genera, you perceive, is used to express more than one genus. Lucy. Thank you, mamma ; I now clearly understand, that the whole order, called lepidoptera, consists of three ge- nera ; first, the genus of butterflies ; se- condly, the genus of sphinges ; and thirdly, the genus of moths. Sfi ORDER OF COLEOPTERA. Mother. And what is the distinguish- ing character common to all the three genera, which shows a fly to belong to this order. Lucy. The having four scaly wings. Mother. Perfectly right : I am satis- fied that you do understand me clearly, and we will therefore advance a step farther. The class of insects is divided into seven orders, of which the first is called coleoptera. Lucy. Why did you begin with the third order instead of the first ? Mother. Because, my dear, your at- tention was first engaged by a moth, which you know belongs to the third order. Lucy. What does coleoptera mean; is it also Greek ? Mother. The names of all the orders are borrowed from that language ; and most of the terms in this and in every science are derived from either Latin or Greek. This materially promotes the ELYTRA. 87 diffusion of knowledge, as those languages are familiar to all people of education. Coleoptera is formed of two Greek words, one of which* means a sheath, the other-}- a wing. The distinguishing mark of this order, which is common to all the genera, is the having two sheaths, or wing cases ; and, folded under these cases, two membranaceous wings ; the sheaths are called elytra, or a single sheath elytron. Lucy. Of what use are the wings, when squeezed up under these elytra ? Mother. The insect can, at pleasure, spread forward the elytra, and unfold its wings. Lucy. So that it uses the elytra to fly with, as well as its wings ? Mother. It does ; and in fact it has four wings, but only the membranaceous pair are termed wings ; the others are called either elytra or sheaths, or some- times (from the hardness of their struc- ture) shells. * Coleos. | Pteron. 88 THORAX. Lucy. I understand the marks of the order; now, how are the genera known ? Mother. The division of the genera, in this order, is not so simple as it is in Jepidoptera. The distinguishing marks for each genus are more numerous, and are taken, not only from the antennae, but from the form of the elytra the number of joints in each foot the shape of the thorax and the number of palpi. Lucy. This order must be much more difficult than that of the lepidoptera : bnt what is the thorax ? Mother. The thorax* is the part next to the head, and may be called the back of the breast ; it is very variously marked, and is therefore a good guide in the division of the genera. Lucy. I wish I could find one of fhese creatures, that I might see the shape of the thorax, and that I might look at the foot, for I cannot imagine? * A breastplate^ ANTENNAE. 89 how such a little thing can be divided into joints. Mother. In the larger species, the unassisted eye can see the joints plainly; but in those that are very minute, a microscope, you know, can render the smallest part visible. Lucy. But why are not the antennae a sufficient mark for these divisions ? Mother. Because sometimes the same form is common to the antennae of two or three genera, which, in other pecu- liarities, are quite different from each other. Lucy. And also, I suppose, because there are only three kinds of antennae, and that there is a much greater number of ge- nera. Mother. That would be a good rea- son, if there were only three kinds of antennae ; but there are many others be- sides the three with which you are ac- quainted. Lucy. Mamma, I think, if you would be so good as to draw for me those 90 ANTENNAE. I do not know, I could learn them by heart. Mother. Very well, my dear, I will do so with pleasure. This is called Jiliform; it is of the same thickness throughout, and the name is taken from the Latin word Jilum, a thread. Moniliform, bead shaped, from monile, a necklace, or string of beads. Capitate, headed, ^<2> r from caput, the head. Fissile, divided, or split, fromjissus, a Latin word of that mean- ing. Perfoliate, in layers, or laminae. ANTENNA. 91 Folium is the Latin for a leaf; and per- foliate signifies leaved, or laminated. Aristate, or hair shaped, from arista, a stiff hair, or the beard on an ear of corn. Besides these, there are several less conspicuous distinctions ; and sometimes two of these shapes are united. A Ger- man naturalist has enumerated even one hundred and sixty varieties : hut those, which I have shown you, are the ten principal kinds ; and you must re- memher them, Lucy, so as to use them as readily as you do the letters ot the alphabet. Can you tell me those which you learned the other day ? Lucy. Yes, I can. The setaceous, or bristle-shaped ; pectinated, or feathered ; fusiform, or spindle shaped ; and the cla- vated, or club-shaped. But, mamma, it seems to me, that there is very little difference between the bristle-shaped, and the hair-shaped antennae. 92 ANTENNJE. Mother. The setaceous antennae are distinguished by minute marks, which appear as if they were formed of rings jointed closely together ; but in the aris- tatae there are no such marks, and they more nearly resemble an eyelash than any thing else. Now, my love, we must go to our other occupations. DIALOGUE XIII. PALPI. GENERA OF THE ORDER COLE- OPTERA. BEETLES, SCARAB^EUS CAR- MFEX. MOTHER. Well, Lucy, I suppose you are by this time perfectly acquainted with the varieties of the antennae, we may therefore go on with the other marks or characters, by which the genera are distinguished ? Lucy. Yes, mamma, if you please; I remember yon said that these marks were taken from the joints of the foot, the shape of the thorax, and the number of palpi : but you did not explain what the palpi are. Mother. Palpi * are short feelers ; * From Ptlpo-. to feel or touch gently. 94 PALPI. GENERA OF COLEOPTERA. they are filiform, that is thread shaped, and of equal thickness, they are also jointed so as to be very moveable. They are always placed at the mouth, and are usually four in number, though some species have only two, while others have so many as six. Lucy. Of what use are these little feelers ? Mother. It is thought by naturalists, that it is with the palpi that insects smell ; and they certainly seem to use them as guides, in regard to their food, as they never eat without having first patted and examined the substance all over with their palpi. Lucy. That is very curious. Are there many genera, mamma, in this order of coleoptera ? Mother. Yes^ my dear, a great number, more than thirty ; and each genus has several species. Lucy. Oh, mamma, I never shall be able to remember such a number. Mother. Nor do I mean to tax your BEETLE, OR SCARAB^US. 95 memory so severely ; there is no necessity to remember the names of all the genera. It is sufficient to be well acquainted with the marks which distinguish the order, and then, upon examination of any indi- vidual, you may, by reference to a proper book, readily discover its genus and par- ticular species. If the parts of insects, and their various characters, are well fixed in your head, you will be surprised to find with how little trouble, and how much amusement, you will acquire the knowledge of a great number of the genera, by examining the insects which you chance to find. Lucy. That indeed will be delightful ; but you must describe some of the genera to me, that I may know how to set about examining them. Mother. Willingly ; we shall begin with the beetle, or scarabceus, which is the first genus, and of which there are several species. This genus is thus character- ized : antennse clavated, the extremities fissile, and five joints in the foot. 96 COUEOPTERA. Lucy. How can the antennae, be both clavated and fissile ? Mother. They are club shaped, but the dub is divided lengthwise, like the stick of a fan, and these the creature can either keep folded together, or spread out. Lucy. I perceive. Mother. There are more than eighty species of scarabaeoides, or beetles ; but from this great number I will select a few to describe. The scarabceus carnifex*, though not larger than a common sized beetle, is so strong as to move an astonishing weight. If you place one of them under the hol- low foot of a tall candlestick, this little animal will move it from side to side, as if pushed by an invisible hand. Lucy. Are these beetles pretty : Mother. No, they are of a dull black colour, and more curious than beautiful ; but their great strength is given for use- * Executioner. SCAUABJEUS CARNIFEX. !)/ fl purposes. In September they lay their eggs, and place each of them in a ball of fresh dung : they form these balls with surprising assiduity, and then dig holes three feet deep in the ground to deposit them a laborious operation, in which they work in concert : they after- wards assist each other in "a singular man- ner to roll them along, moving back- wards, and mutually shoving the balls with their hind feet. Lucy. How wonderful ! What pains the poor thing takes for the safety of its eggs ; as much as the rnoth that plucks off its own down to cover them. Mother. In spring a large worm comes from each egg, and makes its way to the surface of the ground ; when this worm has lived its proper length of time it changes to a pupa, and from that to a perfect beetle. Lucy. Then other insects, besides the moth and butterfly, pass through those changes ? Mother. There are very few insects F 98 COLEOPTERA. that do not undergo some transforma- tion ; and though all do not hecome pupae, they pass some time in an intermediate state, between their being larvae, and as- suming their last and perfect form. Another beetle, with which you are better acquainted, is the cockchaffer, or scarabccus melolontha. Lucy. Is the cockchaffer a beetle ? I never should have guessed that such large, buzzing, flying things were beetles. Mother. Why are you so much sur- prised by a beetle's flying, when you have just heard that they are possessed of wings ? Have you already forgotten the pretty lines you so lately learned ? Lucy. No indeed, mamma, I remem- ber them very well : " Or where the beetle winds His small but sullen horn, As oft he rises 'midst the twilight path, Against the pilgrim borne in heedless hum." But I did not think just then either of the lines or the wings. Mother. That is what I suspected ; COCKCHAFFER, OR MELOLONTHA. 99 yet, to think is what above all other things I wish my Lucy to endeavour to do. Knowledge is of no use without re- flection, and the attainment of the great- est collection of facts is merely time thrown away, unless we can readily apply them. The cockchaifer must wait till to- morrow. F 2 DIALOGUE XIV. COCKCHAFFER, OR SCARAB^US MELOLON- THA. ELEPHANT BEETLE, OR S. HER- CULES. LUCY. Now, mamma, for the cock- chaffer, or (for I remember its grand name) the scctrabceus melolontha. Mother. Very well recollected. This cockch after, which is more commonly called the May-bug, lays about sixty eggs. They are of an oblong shape, and a bright yellow colour ; and at the proper period it bores a deep hole in the earth, and places them at the bottom with the greatest regularity. In three months the larvae are hatched. Lucy. Three months! What along time; and, when they do come out, what can they find to eat underground ? Mother. The roots and fibres of COCKCHAFFER, OR MELOLONTHA. 101 plants, of which they destroy vast quan- tities, particularly of young corn ; but even in this state they have their ene- mies, though from their situation you might think they were secure. Can you guess who are those enemies ? Lucy. Perhaps other worms, that are stronger : indeed I should say birds, if they were not concealed in the ground. Mother. Your second guess, however, is right. Crows are particularly fond of these larvae, and discover them by ob- serving where the plants look sickly ; then, with their strong bills, they dig into the earth near the roots of such plants, and seldom fail to find a rich repast. One year it was thought that the crows were doing infinite mischief to the greater part of the potatoe crops, and every means were taken by the short- sighted farmers to destroy these busy animals ; at length some more accurate observers perceived, that they were em- ployed as much in the service of the 102 COLEOPTERA. farmer as in their own ; and that it was not the potatoe, of which they were in search, but of these destructive worms, which swarmed during that summer to an unusual degree. Lucy. I have often wondered to see rooks and gulls in such numbers stalk- ing up and down the fields ; but now I perceive they were seeking grubs and worms. Mother. And you may observe, in fields that have been newly turned up, and even following close after the plough, a surprising number of crows, swallows, and wagtails, all engaged in the same employment. This grub lives in its larva state dur- ing four years ; when full grown it is an inch and a half long, very thick, and of a yellowish white, with a red head ; the body consists of twelve rings or joints ; it has six red feet ; and it breathes through its stigmatse, the number of which is eighteen, nine being placed ft. 5. ff <>////< /ff/f'ft'/f//fff . or Published Xovvnberf. J8l8,by RJfunter.S'Fau/* Mum* Ya/rt. London. COCKCHAFFER, OR MELOLONTHA. 103 along each side. The head of this creature is remarkably large and strong, in proportion to its size, and is furnished with pincers and a sharp semicircular lip, with which it cuts and devours the roots of plants. As it lives under ground it seems to have no use for eyes, and accordingly we do not find that it is provided with any*. Luci/. How then can the poor thing know where it is going ? Mother. By means of two feelers, with which it gropes its way. Possibly they contain also the organs of smell ; so that these feelers may not only guide its subterraneous course, but serve likewise to discover the food best suited to its habits. In the autumn of the fourth year, the grub, burying itself still deeper in the ground, sometimes even to six feet be- neath the surface, excavates a sort of * Plate V. 104 COLEOPTERA. chamber, which it smooths and plasters very neatly. In this retreat it prepares for its approaching transformation, grows thicker hut shorter, and at length, hurst- ing the last skin, becomes a chrysalis. Lucy. Well, mamma, 1 wonder how it ever rises again into the air ; the grub can make its way through the ground with its strong head, but the beetle would be hurt in working up- wards. Mother* The beetle, you know, is covered with hard shells, which preserve its wings ; and being very strong, it can without much difficulty travel through the toughest clay. Its chrysalis state lasts for about three months : at first it is yellowish, but gradually deepens in colour to a dusky red ; and in this state the fore part of the insect may be distinctly seen through the case, while the remainder looks as if wrapped in swaddling clothes. In Janu- ary, the cockchaffer quits the chrysalis. COCKCHAFFER, OR MELOLONTHA. 105 Lucy. So early ! I thought no flies or beetles made their appearance before the mild weather of spring. Mother. Nor does this beetle make its appearance in January; it only emerges from the chrysalis ; and in this respect differs from most other insects ; for it does not immediately attain its full strength, nor do the shells acquire their due hardness for three or four months, but remain soft, and have a brighter colour than in their perfect state : it also seems to lose for that period its vora- cious appetite, and appears sickly and in- active. Lucy. And when they come out of their holes, what places do they fre- quent ? Mother. In the first warm evenings of May they issue from the ground ; whence husbandmen call them May-bugs. Avoiding the heat of the sun, they repose during the day undei: the shade of those trees, the leaves of which they eat ; but towards dusk they take wing, and fly iu F5 106 COLEOPTERA. mazy circles. The willow and oak are their favourite food, and in some years they completely strip those trees of their foliage. Lucy. As they remain so long im- prisoned in the ground, I suppose, mam- ma, they live many years in their perfect state ? JMother. Only one season ; the cold at the beginning of winter kills them. Lucy, They are safe, at least from birds, for their hard shells protect them. Mother. Oh no, owls, bats, house sparrows, and turkeys, and their con- stant enemies the rooks, all devour them greedily. Lucy. Thank you, mamma, for this entertaining account of the cockchaffer ; its changes are indeed very curious. Mother. The largest species of this genus, which has yet been found, is a native of South America, and is called the elephant beetle, or scar abacus Hercules; it is near four inches long, and the an- tennae, which are hard and shelly, and ELEPHANT BEETLE. 107 not moveable, are near an inch in length ; but to compensate for its horny and un- wieldy antennae, it has a long and flexible proboscis. Lucy. I should be delighted to see this wonderful monster, or at least a drawing of it. Mother. Here is a drawing, that I made from one which was given, with some other curiosities, to your aunt Har- riet. Lucy. What a frightful animal ! It really looks very fierce. Mother. It certainly looks somewhat formidable. To-morrow we shall pro- ceed to some of the other genera of cole- optera. DIALOGUE XV. STAG BEETLE, OR LUCANUS CERVUS. GAR- DEN TORTOISE BEETLE, OR CASSIDA VIRIDIS. LADYBIRD, OR COCCINELLA PUNCTATA. GLOW WORM, FIRE FLY, OR LAMPYRIS. LUCY. Well, mamma, to-day we are to have some of the other genera in cole- optera. Mother. The second genus consists of the lucanidce*; and that species of it called lucanus cervus *, or stag beetle, is the largest insect belonging to this order, that is found in Great Britain : it is thus described ; the antennae clavated, pec- tinated, and fissile ; the maxilltf, or man- dibles, extended like horns ; and five joints in each footf. * Cervus, a stag. f Plate VI. Pf.6. f V /, r "ft / Y/,J //,- : '/v/y _ , $tr//< : '//>, r /. /.Y/J. />v Ji . ///////// X/ y'J///. LUCANUS CERVUS, OR STAG BEETLE. 109 Lucy. I know that clavated means club shaped, that fissile is divided, and that pectinated is feathered ; but I wish you would explain how antennae can be all three. Mother. It is thus : the antennae are club shaped ; the clubs are divided, or split ; and they are all slightly feathered along the edges. Lucy. Thank you, mamma ; now will you tell me what are the maxillae? Mother. They are jaws : in beetles they are placed outside of the face ; and those of the stag beetle are very long, branched, or divided, so as to resemble in some degree the antlers of a stag, and serrated, or toothed like a saw, through- out their whole length. These jaws are sometimes as red as coral, which adds greatly to the beauty of this species of lucanus. Lucy. What a terrible pinch they must give ! Mother. Yes, they are somewhat like 110 COLEOPTERA. the claws of a lobster, and pinch most severely ; and for that reason this beetle tnust be examined with great caution. Lucy. I wish, however, that I could catch one: where are they likely to be found ? Mother. On oak trees, the sap of which these animals suck. Lucy. But how do they get at the sap? Mother. They strip off a small piece of the bark, and then fix their sharp jaws in the wood ; through the wound, which is thus made, the juice flows, and they suck it in with their tongues. Lucy. Do the larvee of these stag beetles live on oak leaves t Mother. No, they live under the bark, which also serves them for nourishment ; and in this concealment they perform their chrysalis transformation. We will now proceed to other genera. Lucy. Stop one moment, mamma j in this box I have two pretty little crea- TORTOISE BEETLE, OR CASSIDA VIRIDIS. Ill tures, that I found in the garden this morn- ing; pray tell me the name of this one. Mother. It is the cassida viridis*, or, as it is commonly called, the garden tor- toise beetle } not only from its shape, but from the power of drawing in its head, and concealing it under the shell like the tortoise. It was a very opportune discovery of yours, for it belongs to the order of which we are speaking. Lucy. I found it creeping on a thistle stalk ; I suppose it eats the leaves. Mother. Probably ; for it is generally found on that plant. The most curious circumstance respecting this species is the contrivance by which the larvae shelter themselves from rain, or from a very hot sun; they actually make a little umbrella of dirt, which they support by means of their forked tail. Now examine this cassida, and endea^ vour to describe it technically. * Viridis, green. . 112 COLEOPTERA. Lucy. I believe the antennae are mont- liform, and also clavated ; and that is all I can distinguish. Mother. That is pretty well for a first attempt ; hut you may observe, that the elytra are margined or bordered, and so is the thorax ; the power of concealing the head is also to be noticed. Lucy. I understand ; and I hope I shall do better the next time. The other little animal I know is called a ladybird, or ladycovv ; and from its hard shells it also must be in the order coleoptera. It was flying, and alighted on a bush near me. Mother. It is called coccinella punc- tata*, and, as you know, is very com- mon ; some have red shells with black, or with white spots ; others are black with red spots ; and the smallest kinds are of a dull yellow speckled with black. Lucy. Oh yes, I have often seen the * From Punctum, a point, or speck. LADYBIRD, OR COCCINELLA. 113 little black and yellow sort : but where should I look for their larvye ? Mother. Some species are found on flowers, and some on trees ; but the larvae of the most common kind, which has five black spots, is constantly seen on the common broad leaved dock ; it is narrow, in proportion to its length, of a dark slate colour, with three red spots on each side, and with six legs ; they seem to eat only the pulpy part of the leaf, as the veins remain like network where they have .been feeding. Lucy. I am sure these larvae are what I call my fairy armadillos : you know the little armadillos in Bewick's Beasts : Mother. They have a faint likeness to the armadillo ; but now let me hear you describe the coccinella. Lucy. Its antennae are a little cla- vated, and they are not so long as the palpi. The shells and thorax, I see, are both margined. 1H COLEOPTERA. Mother. Very right ; now examine whether this book gives any farther cha- racters. Lucy. Yes, it says, body hemispheric ; abdomen flat ; three joints in each foot. What is hemispheric r Mother. You know what a globe is ; a sphere means the same thing. Now suppose a globe to be divided into two equal halves ; each half would be called a hemisphere, or half sphere; thus you see this ladybird, being perfectly flat un- derneath, and its upper side having the form, as it were, of a half globe, is said to be hemispheric. Lucy. That is very clear ; now, what is abdomen ? Mother. Abdomen is the technical term applied by anatomists to that part of the body which contains the stomach and bowels. You now understand your little friend the ladybird sufficiently ; we will there- fore proceed to that singular genus, lam- GLOW WORM, OR LAMPYRIS. 115 pyris, or Jire fly ; of which I think you have seen one species. Lucy. I, mamma ! I do not recollect ever seeing a fire fly. Mother. Do not you remember all the glow worms, that last year looked so beautiful in the evenings ? Lucy. Oh ! I do indeed, in the shady elm avenue : and are they flies, or rather beetles r Mother. They cannot properly fce called either beetles or flies, but they have been in common conversation called fire flies, and are now well known by that name. The glow worm is the female of a species of lampyris, called noctiluca* ; the abdomen consists of ten rings, from the three last of which the insect can, at pleasure, emit or withdraw its light. Though it possesses neither wings nor elytra, and differs but little in appearance from a caterpillar, it is, notwithstanding, * From Nox, night, and Lucus, light. 116 COLEOFTERA. an insect in the last, or perfect state : the head and corselet are formed exactly like those of the male, who is furnished with the proper wings and elytra, that charac- terize the order*. Lucy. Corselet ; that is a new term, mamma. Mother. It is sometimes used for tho- rax. The male lampyris has four lumi- nous spots in the same situation as the female ; in this country they afford a very feeble light, but in Italy their appear- ance, as they flit through the air on a dark night, is extremely beautiful. And in the West Indies these flies are so bril- liant, that Mrs. Merian, when at Marti- nique, has frequently put two or three of them under a glass bell, and found that she could read a small print with ease, as long as they permitted their little lamps to give light. Lucy. But what enables this singular creature to give light ? * Plate VII. - '//ft /* ///ff/f ' ///' ' ffff/f //Sf ''S/t . ' /<> r/f>// ^'.fiiids Cfiurch YardJ.cndon. GLOW WORM, OR LAMPYRIS. 117 Mother. Under the last ring of the abdomen there are two very small reser- voirs of a thick, oily fluid, which, if the animal is crushed, leaves a luminous trace, that continues to give light till it dries. Lucy. So, mamma, the glow worm supplies her pretty little lamp with oil, as we do our lamps ? Mother. I did not mean that the luminous matter is literally oil, nor that the light is produced by combustion, or burning, like the flame of a lamp ; in- deed it does not appear to possess any sensible heat. Some philosophers have supposed that it contains a small portion of phosphorus, others are of a different opinion, and hereafter you will read with pleasure their experiments and their the- ories. Neither have naturalists ascer- tained by what means the insects, that emit light, have the faculty of concealing or extinguishing it. I will repeat to you some pretty 118 COLEOPTERA. lines on the subject of this splendid in- sect. " Beneath the friendly covert of the sky, Wing'd his illumin'd way the fire fly ; Swift as his rays advance, or swift retire, The living meteor tracks the night with fire; Now, with instinctive art, conceals, now shows Th' uncertain light which from his body glows." DIALOGUE XVI. PLUNGER BEETLE, OR DYTISCUS MARGI- NALIS. BOMBARDIER BEETLE, OR CA- RABUS CREPITANS. BLISTER FLY, OR MELOE VESICATORIUS. MOTHER. Our last conversation ended with the little winged lamps, that adorn the night : we will now speak of a very different genus, which dwells chiefly in water. Lucy. In water ! I thought that when once insects had reached the flying state they quitted the water for ever. Mother. All those, which have naked wings, must do so, as the water would render them unfit for flying ; but several kinds have shelly cases for the protection of their wings, and continue to live in the water after they have acquired the 1 20 COLEOPTERA. power of flying. Though it is generally late in the evening when they take wing, I had the pleasure of seeing the beetle, from which I made this drawing*, fly away in the bright sunshine. Lucy. Oh ! pray describe how it flew; were the wings large when opened out ? what colour were they ? Mother. Having finished my sketch, I placed the little creature upon the win- dow stool ; in a few minutes it slowly stretched asunder the elytra, under which you know the wings are nicely folded ; it then suddenly expanded its wings, and rising with a loud humming noise, it de- scribed large circles in the air, and was soon out of sight. The wings were large and inembranaceous, and so beautifully varnished, that, as the sun shone upon them, they glistened like gold. Lucy. How beautiful ! does the larva live in the water as well as the perfect insect ? * Plate VIII. Pl.6. U ' , ^' //v v . irovember}, ?8l8.byRIfunttr.S?J 3 aul j &iunfr Yard.Zondon. PLUNGER BEETLE, OR DYTISCUS. Ij21 Mother. Yes ; and I was so fortunate as to catch one of them, which I have also drawn ? Lucy. The horrid looking fellow! What a voracious look it has ! Mother. It is indeed a voracious crea- ture, for it preys even upon its own spe- cies ; and, from its murderous disposi- tion, the French call it the assassin worm. When the insect lays her eggs, which are of a large size, she spins round them a case, of a coarse, dusky coloured kind of silk, which preserves them from the attacks of the larvae, and of other hos- tile animals. Lucy. What is the name of this little tiger ? Mother. Dytiscus is the name of the genus ; it is sometimes called the plunger, or diver, from the rapidity, with which it darts downwards in the water. The dy- tiscus marginalis* is the particular spe- cies represented in the drawing. When it * So called from its border, or margin. G 1 22 COEEOPTERA. first arrives at its perfect state, the ely- tra are almost transparent, and beauti- fully varied with bright, changeable shades of dun colour and green ; they afterwards become thicker, and turn to a dull olive. Lucy. It looks so terrific, that I should be almost afraid to catch one of them. Mother. They pinch violently with their jaws ; and they have, besides, a strong spine placed under the thorax, and pointing backwards, with which they contrive to wound severely. Lucy. Is the perfect dytiscus as ra- venous as the larva ? Mother. Quite as much so ; it de- vours every sort of water insect, not ex- cepting its own larva. I will now proceed to the genus cara- bus^ which contains a great many species ; but I shall only mention one, the crepi- tans* y or, more commonly, the bombar- dier. * Crackling. BOMBARDIER, OR CAUABUS CRKPITANS. 123 Lucy. What a very droll name, mamma ; what does it mean ? Mother. Bombs are hollow iron balls, filled with gunpowder : they burst at a distance from the place whence they are thrown, with a very loud report, and do great execution : they are generally used in the attack on fortified towns, and the men, whose business it is to fire them from mortars, or short, wide cannon, are called bombardiers. Our beetle bombardier has been thus named from a singular noise which it .is enabled to make, as a means of defence. Jt is seldom known to use its wings, but jnoves by a sort of jump ; and when pur- sued, or touched, its assailant is surprized by a sudden noise, like the discharge of a diminutive mortar or bomb. Lucy. A most excellent name for it, indeed. Mother. A gentleman, who took some pains to observe this animal, says, that by scratching it with a pin, it can be G 2 124 COLEOPTERA. made to give twenty successive dis- charges. The constant enemy of this carabus is another, but much larger species of the same genus ; when in great danger it lies down till its pursuer has, with open mouth, approached quite close, when it discharges its little gun, accompanied by a puff of blue smoke ; the large carabus, alarmed, draws back, and the bombardier instantly endeavours to conceal itself; but if it fails in finding some friendly crevice, its former stratagem has no longer any effect, and the 'enemy rushes forward, seizes its head, and tears it off. Lucy. Oh, poor bombardier! What a sad death ! It would be cruel sport, rnam- nia, I confess, but I should like to see the battle. Mother. These beetles are generally found under stones, and are thus de- scribed. Antennae setaceous ; thorax heart shaped and marginated ; elytra BLISTER FLY, OR MELOE. 125 marginated ; head, thorax , and legs iron colour; and the elytra black. The meloe is the next genus for our observation : it is divided into two fami- lies ; one of which has very short elytra, and no wings ; in the other, the elytra are shorter than the body, but form the covering of the wings. Of both families there are several species : the meloe vesicatorius, or blister fly is one of the most beautiful ; its colour is changeable, green, azure, and gold, predominating by turns ; it is nearly an inch in length ; flies in large swarms ; and emits so strong a smell as to be easily traced by those who want to catch it*. Lucy. But why should any one want to catch these pretty little creatures, ex- cept to examine them ? Mother. They are employed in medi- cine. An extract is made by infusing them in spirits of wine, which is some- times taken internally ; but they are * Plate IX. COLEOPTERA. chiefly used as; an external application. You have heard of a blistering plaster? Lucy* Oh yes, I have seen one, and it was full of little bright green specks, that were very shining. Mother. Those shining specks were small particles of these beetles, which were bruised and mixed with the proper ointment. They are often called Spanish flies, as if this species was peculiar to Spain ; but they are found in many other countries, sometimes in England, about the ash trees, and the best are brought from Italy. Now, my love, we must quit this amusing subject, till to-morrow. I must attend to your sister Fanny, and you may put on your bonnet, and tie up my car- nations. DIALOGUE XVII. EARWIG, OR FORFICULA AURICULAR1A. FORFICULA MINOR. MOTHER. Thank yon, my dear, for your good day's work of yesterday, for which I will reward you by a history of some insects, that are great assistants to you in gardening. Lucy. I am sure I do not know of any insect that is useful in the garden ; indeed, mamma, I think they all do harm. Mother. Not all; there are some which do good, by destroying other more hurtful insects, in the same way that birds are useful by eating the grubs ; but in this case what would you think of your pretty little friend the earwig ? COLFX)PTERA. Lucy. Oh ! mamma, my friend the earwig! the hateful creature; it is my enemy, and the enemy of my dear pinks ; indeed I could have almost cried to see the flower-leaves scattered over the bed, and my hest carnations spoiled. But, mam- ma, the earwig cannot belong to the order coleoptera, for where are the elytra ? Mother. It is provided with hard shells, or elytra, to preserve its wings. But if it had none, eould you recollect any other insects that belong to this or- der, which have short elytra, or which are even unprovided with any ? Lucy. How foolish I am ! the glow- worm, that is, the female of the fire-fly > has neither wings nor elytra; and the meloe, which you told me of yesterday^ has very short elytra. Mother. You perceive, Lucy, that if you allowed yourself time to think, you would uot make such blunders. Now look on the chimney piece, and you will / & ' ' / / / (st f silMStrj tiv/rta tz^iti ('/t X f:^'. /'/////.- ('/iun-h Y>tr,/.I.n<{<>u . EARWIG, OR FORFICULA. 129 see a card with a watch crystal upon it bring it carefully here. Lucy. What a monstrous earwig there is under the crystal ! I see, indeed, that it has short elytra. Mother. Try to describe it. Lucy. Antennae, taper ; elytra, short. Will you lend me your magnifying glass, that I may look at the feet ? Oh ! I dis- tinctly see three little joints in each foot. In the antennae, I think I can reckon fourteen joints : how very delicate they are. In the last place, the tail is forked*. Mother. Very well ; but if you read this description, you will find one parti- cular that you have omitted. Lucy. " Shells tipt with white." I did not observe those little tips before; but the cases are so very short, that I cannot imagine how wings can be con- tained under them. Mother. The wings are most curiously * Plate IX. G5 130 COLEOPTERA. folded ; first, in plaits, like a fan ; and then, in two places, they are folded across, so as to divide the length of the wing into three parts ; when expanded, they extend the whole length of the body ; but when closed up in these little packets they just fit under the elytra, which are only one third of their length. Lucy. That is, indeed, very curious ; I did not expect to be so amused in ex- amining an odious earwig. Mother. Every day's experience will furnish you with fresh proofs of the won- derful ingenuity and perfection of all the works of nature ; a perfection displayed in the formation, even of the wing of the most insignificant and despised insect. There is another circumstance, which may serve to lessen your contempt for the odious earwig the uncommon care it takes of its young. A naturalist, who was remarkable for accurate and patient observation, on disturbing an earwig, in the beginning of April, perceived, that she had been sitting on a heap of little white, EARWIG, OR FORFTCULA. 131 oval eggs ; and taking her and the eggs, he put them, with some fresh earth, into a box. The eggs she speedily col- lected, and replaced them -in a heap, on which she unremittingly sat till the middle of May, when her little progeny came out. Lucy. Then the earwig hatches her eggs as a hen does. But what did she eat all the time that she was shut up in the box ? . Mother. She was fed with apple pip- pins. When the larvae came out, they resembled, in shape, the perfect insect, except that no wings nor elytra were to be seen ; they were also thicker in the mid- dle than at the head or tail, and nearly white, all but the eyes and teeth, which were red. They were so large, that it seemed hardly credible that they could have been contained in- the eggs; and their skin was so transparent, that the- beating -of the artery, which' runs along the back, was quite visible. They changed 132 C'OLEOPTERA. their skins several times, as they grew larger ; and each time they became of a darker brown. Lucy. Mamma, I will certainly search for an earwig and its eggs. I will try to conquer my dislike, that I may see the little ones hatched. Mother. Next spring, if you search under the stones in the garden, you will have a great chance of finding plenty of earwigs; but for this year you are too late, they have reared all their families, and are preparing to retire to their winter quarters. Lucy. After the young ones came out of the eggs, did the mother continue to nurse them, as a hen would her chickens ? Mother. Yes ; they nestled close un- der her, sometimes for hours together; and if alarmed, when running about, they immediately crept under her for protec- tion. Some ot the little ones died, and were EARWIG, OR FORPICULA. 13S speedily eaten up by those that re- mained : at last the mother died, and they devoured her also. Lucy. Well, I think I may now call them odious earwigs. Mother. But they have some excuse, for they had not been supplied with food : and hunger reconciles the strong- est antipathies, even in mankind. In July, the only remaining one went into its pupa state, and after a few days appeared a perfect earwig. Lucy. What is the scientific name of the earwig ? Mother. Forficula auricularia ; for- ficula, from its forked tail ; and auricu- laria, from its supposed propensity ta creep into the ear. Lucy. Has it really that propensity ? Mother. Its common name bears that meaning in three different languages, and therefore seems to lend some probability to the idea ; yet the instances of its having been found in the human ear are so very rare, that I imagine they arose from 134 COLEOPTERA. chance rather than from habit: its gene ral disposition to conceal itself in dark nooks and crevices may have led it there, without supposing any natural predilec- tion for that place. Lucy. Indeed, mamma, that seems very likely, as they hide in the lobsters claws and bean stalks, which the gar- dener puts as traps for them. Are there many species in this genus ? Mother. There is one other English spe- cies, theforftcula minor, but it is not above a third part of the size of the common earwig ; it is usually found near hot beds, and may be often seen about sunset, fly- ing home, or creeping into the fine earth, which is spread upon melon beds. It is shaped exactly like the former kind, but of a pale chesnut colour. This is the last genus of coleoptera, that I shall mention. The second orde^ is called hemiptera: but this conversa- tion has been rather long, and you seem tired. Lucy. Indeed, mamma, I do not FORFICULA MINOR. 135 feel in the least tired ; I have been very much amused ; and every day I find more and more pleasure in what you are teach- ing me. But I understood from you, that coleoptera was a very numerous order. Mother. It is, my dear; and I there- fore selected a few only of the most striking genera. After you have acquired a general idea of this delightful and in- structive branch of natural history, you may prosecute the study of all the orders in greater detail. DIALOGUE XVIIL SECOND ORDER, HEMIPTERA. GRYLLUS. GRASSHOPPER, OR G. CAMPESTRIS. HOUSE CRICKET, OR G. DOMESTICUS. MOLE CRICKET, OR G. GRYLLOTALPA. LOCUST, OR G. MIGRATOR1US. LUCY. To-day, mamma, we are to proceed to a new order to bemiptera j and I hope it may contain as many cu- rious particulars as we found in the first and third orders. Mother. Although it does not com- prise so many genera as there are in coleoptera, yet I think you will find in it a sufficient fund of gratification. Hemiptera means half-winged, being derived from two Greek words, which signify half and wing. HEM1PTERA,. 137 Lucy. What ! are the wings only half the right length for a wing ? Mather. Wings, my dear, are of no particular length ; there are as many va- rieties of wings as of species ; but the term half is used because the upper wings are half crustaceous, or shelly, and half membranaceous. Do you recollect the nature of the elytra in the order of coleoptera ? Lucy. Yes, they are hard, like shells, and they meet or join in a straight line down the back. Mother. The elytra, in this order, are in their texture something like vellum, and there is only a slight appearance of the ribs, which in membranaceous wings are so distinctly seen : the elytra do not meet in a straight line, but lap over each other in a sloping direction ; and in all the genera, the mouth, and the proboscis, or trunk, are bent inwards towards the breast. The first genus we shall notice is the; 138 HEMIPTERA. gryllus ; it is divided into several fa- milies, and each family contains several species ; among which some musical ac- quaintances of yours are to be found. Lucy. , Musical acquaintances! You cannot mean the humming cockchaffers, for they are in col copter a ; perhaps you mean the large huzzing flies. Mother. No, flies are not in this order: I allude to the grasshopper, which sings all day and all night ; and to the crickets, which chirp so merrily near the fire. This .genus is thus, de- scribed : Head bent inwards armed with jaws, and furnished with palpi an- tennae, either filiform or setaceous wings folded hind legs formed for leaping. Lucy. I have seen grasshoppers make monstrous jumps, when I have tried to catch them in the field. Mother. The grasshopper, or gryllus campestris*, makes its habitation under * From Campus, a field. GRASSHOPPER, OR GRYLLUS CAMPESTRIS. 139 the roots of grass ; the excavation is most curiously rounded and smoothed, and is made by means of its strong jaws, which are serrated, or toothed, like a lobster's claws. Lucy. Do they pinch with these jaws ? Mother. They seem perfectly harm- less when held in the Jiand ; but they defend their dwellings from other grass- hoppers with great spirit. Their singing noise is not made by the mouth, but by chafing the elytra together. Two grass- hoppers have been known to vie with each other in the duration and shrillness of their song ; and when unable to decide the contest, to have flown to arms, and fought till one of the combatants was killed. Lucy. Well, I never should have thought of grasshoppers fighting duels. Mother. In spring they begin to creep from their underground cells, and are then usually in their pupa state, with the wings folded under a transparent 140 HEMIPTERA. membrane, which they throw off at their last change. Lucy. Then the young grasshoppers do not pass through the grub or worm state? Mother. No, they resemble the perfect insect, in shape ; but are not possessed either of wings or elytra. About August they retire under ground, and are no Jonger seen or heard. In all the stages of their life they are harmless creatures, living chiefly upon grass and herbs, which they eat while wet with dew : but the gryllus domesticusy or house cricket, is not so easily satisfied. Lucy. I have heard that house crickets eat bread. Mother. Yes : they eat and drink almost every thing that is commonly left about a kitchen ; of greasy water they are particularly fond; of leather also ; and if any wet woollen cloths be left within their reach, they will make great havoc in them before morning. Lucy. Young crickets, I suppose, like MOLE CRICKET, OR GRYLLUS GRYLLOTALPA. H 1 the young grasshoppers, differ but little from the old ones. Mother. In shape, they are very like ; but at first they are white, and gradually become browner, as they advance in age. When they have increased in number, so as to find a want of room or food, they fly away in large companies in the even- ing, and form new colonies in other houses ; generally choosing those which have been newly built, as they love damp walls, and can easily burrow in the soft mortar. The mole cricket, gryllus gryllotalpa *, is another species, well worth your atten- tion, both for its curious form, and re- markable habits. Lucy. I suppose, from its name, that it is shaped like a mole, with a long snout aaid claws, for boring through the ground. Mother. Its claws have some resem- blance to those of a mole ; but we must first attend to its general characters. * Tulpa, a mole. 142 HEMIPTERA. The colour is a dark brown the head long and small four thick, short palpi- antennae filiform thorax cylindrical, with a soft, velvety appearance elytra short, strongly marked with black veins wings very long and pointed three joints in each foot and the fore feet large and flat, ending in four large serrated claws, with which it burrows in swarnpy ground, and along the sides of canals and ponds*. Lucy. You see, mamma, in that re- spect it is like a mole. Mother. In May it makes its nest under the sward. This nest, in shape and size, is something like a small round snuffbox, neatly smoothed and plastered : it has a long circuitous entrance, composed of winding passages and small caverns; and in the chamber the female deposits about a hundred eggs, which are of a dull yellow colour, and shaped like car- raway comfits. These eggs are placed so near the surface of the ground, that they * See Phite X. fl.ro. /r Published Novernbtn.litlS.byRJfunlrrS? faults Church, Yard j:cndf LOCUST, OR GRYLLUS MIGRATORIUS. 143 are hatched by the influence of the sun, while the mother posts herself at the en- trance, to defend them from their greatest enemy, the black beetle. The young crickets do much damage to kitchen gardens, destroying whole beds of cabbages and other vegetables. Lucy. Does this species fly, like the other crickets r Mother. Yes, in the evening they sometimes take long flights ; but in the day time they are sluggish, and seem un- willing to use their wings. Do you remember to have heard of locusts ? Lucy. Oh yes, several times. In the Bible you know it is said, that John the Baptist eat locusts and wild honey. Mother. The locust is a large species of gryllus, which, happily for us, is not a native of England. It is called the gryl- lus migratorius ; because it migrates or removes from country to country in vast bodies. They fly with the wind, and in such multitudes as to obscure the rays of the sun ; and when they alight, the 144 HKMIPTEftA. ground is so completely covered, that even your little foot could not take a single step without crushing a considerable nuinher. Lucy. Are they like our grasshop- pers ? Mother. In form they are, but much larger ; there is a great variety also in their colours ; some are of a dull yellow, spotted with black ; some are green ; and others are rose coloured, with black specks. When they settle on the ground they rapidly devour every particle of herbage, corn, shrubs, trees, and even poisonous plants : the devastation is complete, and the effects are most calamitous, for a famine is the inevitable consequence. In Turkey, they are frequently the forerun- ners of the plague. Yet in Arabia, and in many parts of Africa, the poorer classes of inhabitants hail the time of their coming as a sea- son of abundance, and esteem them as delicious food. Thus you see, my dear Lucy, how the ravages of these destruc- LOCUST, OR GRYLLUS MIGRATOKIUS. 145 tive insects are, in some measure, coun- terbalanced by that transient benefit. Lucy. Are they found only in those countries ? Mother. They are natives of all warm climates ; and sometimes, being blown across the Mediterranean by a strong wind, they infest the southern part of Europe. Lucy. I suppose they have never flown so far as England r Mother. In the year 1748 we were visited by an alarming flight of locusts, but fortunately our climate was so cold, that few of them survived the autumn ; all their larvae perished in the winter; and since that period England has not been molested. n DIALOGUE XIX. MANTIS. M. RELIGIOSA, OR SOOTHSAYER. M. STRUMARIA, OR WALKING LEAF. MOTHER. How do you like this drawing, Lucy ? Lucy. What a very odd looking thing ! It resembles a tuft of leaves ; yet it seems to have eyes, and legs. I think I see long antennae ; and this looks like the body. What is this strange creature called ? Mother. Mantis* is the generic name, but in England it is commonly called the soothsayer. Lucy. It is found then in England ? * A diviner, or prophet. MANTIS IlELIGIOSA. 147 Mother. One species is reported to have been seen here, but so very rarely that the fact seems doubtful. Of the whole genus it is said, that there are sixty-four species ; many of them are natives of France and Italy, but the largest and most curious belong to the East Indies. The mantis religiosa is common in Languedoc, and is much revered there by the simple peasantry, from whom it has obtained the name of the pray-er s for, frequently resting on the hinder legs, it raises the fore ones, and seems to fold them together, as if engaged in acts of devotion. Lucy. You said, that it was also called soothsayer : what does that mean ? Mother. Sooth, in old English, is another word for truth, and fortunetellers were thence called soothsayers. Formerly superstitious people imagined, that this poor insect, by stretching out its legs, gave answers to their questions ; and, by waving them to the right or to the left, H 2 148 HEMIPTERA. that it pointed out the road to travellers, particularly to children, who had lost their way. Lucy. Is the larva as curious as the perfect insect ? Mother. It resembles the fly very much, except that it has no wings ; which, during the pupa state, come to perfec- tion, ready to unfold at its last change. Lucy. Like the grasshoppers and crickets, I suppose ? Mother. Just so ; the larva, the pupa, and the imago, or perfect fly, have so close a resemblance to each other, that an inattentive observer would scarcely per- ceive a difference. This species of mantis piles up its little oblong eggs in regular rows, and roofs them with a substance like thin parch- ment, to protect them from the weather. Its colour is green when yoong, but it gradually changes to a brown. There is another species, whose eggs are green, and about the size of coriander seed ; they are deposited in a nest, which /v Published November r. 1#)8, by JUfunter.S* fouls Ci tlt rc/> Yant. Lt>n MANTIS STRUMARIA. H9 is suspended to a small branch of a tree, and the larvae and nymphs continue to inhabit this nest till they assume their last state. Lucy. Do they feed on the leaves of trees, as they resemble them so strongly ? Mother. No ; they prey on smaller insects, which that resemblance enables them to entrap with the greater facility. They are also very quarrelsome towards each other, and generally fight till one of the combatants is killed. Lucy. What country produces the species in this drawing, mamma* r Mother. South America. It is called mantis strumaria, and sometimes the broad-breasted mantis, or walking leaf. You may perceive how closely the elytra resemble the wings, in shape and size; and even in texture they are almost as membranaceous. The wings are very transparent, and their colour is chiefly * Plate XI, lf>0 HEMIPTERA. brown, but varied with a slight cast of green at the edges and tips. Lucy. It looks surprisingly like a bundle of leaves fastened together by the stalks. It is a very curious animal in- deed. Are the other kinds as large as this ? Mother. The mantis gigas, or great mantis, is still larger. It is a native of Amboyna, but very little is known of its history ; so little, that we are not certain whether it is the larva or the perfect in- sect which has been sent to Europe, and which we find in collections of insects. The mantis siccifolia, or dry leaf man- tis, is also an inhabitant of the East Indies, and it is so like a leaf as to be very readily mistaken for one. Its wings are imperfect, but whether this arises from the specimens brought to Europe being larvae, or whether, like several insects in the order coleoptera, and some species of bugs in hemiptera, they are only provided with elytra, has not been ascertained. MANTIS. 151 Now I will give you the description of the genus. Lucy. I suppose, mamma, you mean, by description of the genus, the particu- larities which belong in common to all the species ? Mother. Yes, my dear ; and when you have obtained a general knowledge of insects, you will derive great satisfac- tion from forming a more minute ac- quaintance with the peculiarities, which mark the different species. Now for our description of mantis. The head has an unsteady, nodding motion mouth armed with jaws, and furnished with filiform palpi antennas setaceous wings mem- branous, wrapped round the body, and the under pair folded the legs serrated, or toothed like a saw ; the first pair end in a single tooth ; and the four others are of that kind called gressorii. Lucy. That is another new term ; pray explain it to me. Mother. It is borrowed from a Latin 152 H5MIPTERA. word*, which means a step, and is ap- plied to those kinds of legs, which are adapted to slow motion only, such as walking step hy step. Thus the legs of the mantis, which creeps along, are called gressorii, while those of the grasshopper, which leaps or jumps with great velocity, are termed saltatoriiy from a Latin verb-}-, that signifies to leap. Lucy. Thank you, mamma ; I find it much easier to remember these terms when I know their exact meaning. Mother. Before we part for to-day I will tell you one more circumstance of the mantis ; I have already mentioned, that some of the species are very spirited and quarrelsome little creatures ; and it is said, that in China, they are kept in cages, and fed, for the diversion of set- ting them to fight, in the same way that cockfighting is practised in this country by thoughtless clowns. * Gressus. t Salto. MANTIS. 153 Lucy. What cruel diversions people find out ! Mother. Those barbarous sports pro- ceed from ignorance and idleness ; or from a still more pernicious disposition, the spirit of gambling. Lucy. I thought gambling was play- ing with cards. Mother. Gambling is not confined to cards or dice : he, who lays a wager on the swiftness of a racehorse, gambles ; so does the Chinese gamester who bets on the success of an insect, and who some- times stakes all he is worth, even the clothes upon his back. It is the same sordid propensity, my dear Lucy, which leads the higher ranks to the race course, or the lower classes to the cockpit, which induced the ancient Athenians to train their locusts for battle, and which tempts the modern China-man to hazard his all on the courage of a mantis. H 5 DIALOGUE XX. FULGORA, OR LANTERN FLY. F. LATER- NARIA. F. CANDELARIA. NOTONECTA, OR BOAT FLY. NEPA, OR WATER SCOR - PION. N. CINEREA. MOTHER. You were amused, Lucy, with the account of the lampyris, or fire fly ; I think you will find that the Jill- gora*, or lantern jfty, which belongs to this order, is equally entertaining. Lucy. Lantern fly ! that is a curious name ; but I suppose it carries a light, like the glow worm ? Mother. It does. One of the species, the Julgora laternaria-f of Surinam, in South America, is a very large insect, almost three inches in length ; the horny * Fulgo, to glitter. f Laterna f a lantern. Ft/LGORA LA.TERNAR1A. 155 front of the head projects into a sort of beak, resembling the bill of a duck, which is hollow, and extremely transparent ; and from this little lantern the light is dif- fused. Lucy. The light of the fulgora, then, I see, is very differently placed from that of the lampyris. Mother. And it is far more vivid, for by the light of a single fly a small print may be distinctly read. The elytra also are transparent, and variegated with green and brown ; and its membranaceous wings are decorated with coloured spots, like the eyes in a peacock's tail. Lucy. What a beautiful creature, mamma, even in the day time ! Mother. But at night, when myriads of those fulgoroe flit among the woods, you can scarcely conceive the brilliancy of the effect ; at a little distance they ap- pear like incessant flashes of faint light- ning; and on a nearer approach their 156 HEMIPTERA. transparent elytra and gauzy wings seem to enlarge each light, while they soften its splendour. Another remarkable species of these luminous insects is the fulgora candela- ria* ; its light also proceeds from the head, the elytra are richly variegated with purple, black, arid yellow, and the wings are of a dazzling orange. It is found in China, where the natives regard it with great veneration ; and the poor Indians of Surinam show the same kind of superstitious reverence for the fulgora laternaria. Lucy. I hope you have more circum- stances to tell me about these wonderful creatures, they are so very curious ! Mother. If I were to dwell too long on each curious or vvonderful species, our conversations would never finish ; you know my intention is only to give you such a general knowledge of each order * From Candela, a caudle. NOTONECTA. 157 as may enable you hereafter to follow up this instructive and highly entertaining study with greater ease and advantage. We will therefore proceed to the noto- necta, or loat fly. Lucy. Is that the little hright hlack animal, like a beetle, that I have seen moving in circles on the pond ? Mother. No, that is the gyrinus na- tator, commonly called the water -flea, and belonging to the order coleoptera ; but the notonecta, also, is found in ponds. It has the singular characteristic of swim- ming on its back, and from that circum- stance it takes its name, which is derived from the Greek. The English name has been given from the resemblance of this insect to a little boat, the six legs ap- pearing like so many oars, with which it rows along with amazing swiftness ; and the hinder pair are fringed with stiff hairs, which seem to answer the same purpose that fins do to fish. It must be handled with great caution, for it is not only provided with a sting, but its beak, 158 HEM1PTKRA. or rostrum, is very sharp, and might give a very disagreeable wound. Lucy. How then are these dangerous little creatures caught ? Mother. By means of a net with very small meshes, fastened to a hoop, and fixed to the end of a long handle. Many of the water insects are very ferocious, and the boat fly is peculiarly so ; it pur- sues the smaller species with wonderful rapidity, and seizing them with its fore legs, darts in its rostrum, and then devours them. Lucy. What sort of worms are their larvae ? Mother. They very much resemble the perfect fly, but want its wings ; and they undergo their changes in the soft banks of ponds. Lucy. And when they have obtained their wings do they ever make use of them ? Mother. In sunshine they stretch themselves on the ground, and expand their wings in the sun, till they are dry ; NOTONECTA GLAUCA. 159 they then fly merrily ; but if fatigued, or pursued by birds, they drop at once, and dive into the water. Here is a drawing of a boat fly, the notonecta glauca*, which I caught in our pond-j-. Lucy. It really is very like a tiny boat : perhaps the first thought of a boat was taken from this little animal. Mother. It has been fancifully con- jectured, that the first idea of navigation was borrowed from the nautilus, a little animal, whose beautiful white shell has in some degree the form of a ship, and which is also possessed of a thin mem- brane, that it can erect and spread out in the manner of a sail to catch the wind. Lucy. Dear, mamma, where can I see one ? I long to know something more of such a singular creature. Mother. Your friend Sophy has a nautilus shell in her little collection of * Glaucus, sea-green. f Plate XII. 1 60 HEMIPTERA. natural curiosities ; hereafter we will ex- amine it ; and when you are pretty well acquainted with insects, we may proceed to learn something of other animals ; but, my dear Lucy, it will be much wiser to acquire a competent knowledge of one subject, than a smattering of many. Lucy. Indeed, mamma, that is very true ; but I hope that we may afterwards go through all the classes of the animal kingdom. Mother. That will entirely depend upon your own industry. What say you now ? Shall we con- clude to-day with the water scorpion, or shall we stop ? Lucy. Oh ! the water scorpion, if you can spare time. Mother. The" nepa, or water scorpion, like the boat fly, lives in ponds and pools, where, in all the stages of its life, it preys upon weaker insects. It is thus de- scribed : the fore legs are claw shaped, like those of a crab the wings and elytra NEPA CINEREA. 161 are crossed over the body the elytra near the thorax are of a leathery consist- ence the hinder pair of legs are hairy and it has only one joint in each foot. Lucy. You have not mentioned the antennae. Mother. It has no distinct antennae ; but it seems doubtful whether the fore legs are truly legs, or whether they are not rather antennae, as the creature always walks upon the other four legs*. The nepa cinerea^, the most common species, drops its eggs into the hollow stalks of bull-rushes, where they lie con- cealed ; these eggs are of an oval shape, and have at one end two or three hairs, or bristles. Both the larva and the per- fect nepa are fierce and voracious ; the latter swims very swiftly, seizes its prey with the fore legs, and holding it fast with its pincer-shaped claws, tears it and sucks its blood with the sharp rostrum, or * Plate XII. f Cincreus, ash coloured. 162 HEMIPTERA. beak. It has even been observed to destroy small water insects, without at- tempting to eat them. Lucy. These are as savage creatures as the dytiscus ; I should not like to take one up, or indeed to meet them flying, if they ever do fly. Mother. Yes, they frequently fly on fine evenings ; and sometimes rising in large companies, they quit their native pond, and remove to another. Lucy. As soon, I suppose, as they have devoured all the creatures that are not too strong for them to catch. Mother. That may very possibly be the reason ; or they may have increased to such a number as to make it advise- able for a colony of adventurers to emi- grate. Now, my love, you have heard all that is necessary of the history of the water scorpion ; to-morrow we shall make the bug our subject. Lucy. Bugs are odious creatures ; I am sure very little that is entertaining //-tsur.i \ (>/f>///<-/sr r/ff . ' \,-/, , ,-,<, &ticn\ e-*ea. ^Ae /fti Set tj/ct*,. ~~r Published November!. ISIS, t>y ft.Hn/ifer S ' fttitls substances which do not in some way contribute to the support, or serve for the food of animal life. The ship-worm, for instance, lives on hard timber, which has been so many years cut down and seasoned, that all nourishment might naturally be supposed to have been dried up; yet many a ship has been lost by the ravages of these diminutive enemies. There are even creatures, which feed upon the stone in which they excavate their dwelling places. Lucy. Oh ! mamma, you are deter- mined to surprise me to day ; mud, and old timber were, I thought, very singular kinds of food ; but to eat stone is still more amazing. Mother. Each fact is in itself suffici- ently surprising ; but when we collect into one view the numberless contrivances employed throughout the animal world, our minds are then indeed lost in as- tonishment and veneration. But to return to the ephemera ; after ISO NEUROPTERA. eatfng into the bank to a certain distance, it works its way back again to the water in the same manner; and sometimes the whole bank of a river may be found bored with these little holes, each shaped like a U. Lucy. But, mamma, how was it dis- covered, that these little creatures, who are always under the water, swallowed the mud, instead of throwing it away ? Mother. Their skin is so very trans- parent, that, with the assistance of a mag- nifying glass, the intestines may be plainly seen to be filled with the clay into which they had penetrated. Their bodies* are long in proportion to their breadth, and are divided into nine rings : the head is furnished with two antennae, placed before the eyes ; and with two strong, horny, bent claws, with which they dig out the clay. They have three pair of legs, and run very briskly : * Plate XV. EPHEMERA. 131 on each side of the body are ranged a number of little membranes, through which it is supposed the animal breathes, as they have always a tremulous motion, and slightly resemble the gills of a fish. Lucy. I suppose they breathe through their sides, as caterpillars do through the stigmatae ? Mother. Yes, my love, that is just the case. At the tail there are twa or three long filaments, which appear like feathered antennae ; and it has been ascer- tained, that every one of these little fea- thers contains two tubes, which it is imagined are also used in breathing. Lucy. But, mamma, if they breathe through these little tubes, why does not the water go into them along with the air? Mother. The tubes are so exceedingly minute, that probably water cannot be divided into particles sufficiently small, to be capable of entering ; but as air can be contained in the smallest imaginable 182 NEUROPTERA. space, these tiny tubes may serve to sepa- rate the air from the water. Some of the species remain only two years as larvae, while others continue so for five years. Lucy. And are they all alike in figure r Mother. No, they differ as to size, and in some particulars as to shape ; but they have all a general resemblance, par- ticularly in the breathing fins, with which every species is furnished. Lucy. Do they remain long in the pupa state ? Mother. It is necessary to observe, that in those insects, where the appearance of the pupa scarcely varies from that of the larva . and the imago, this interme- diate stage of life is most usually called the nymph state. Most species of ephemera continue for three months in that state, the chief dif- ference of which from the larva is the acquisition of wings, nicely folded up under small cases next the thorax. PL/3. \ / ^T^ <-./&& L / ///, S ' --j,-,. Published November}, J81& by JLffunter.S* Paul's Church Yard. London. EPHEMERA. 183 At length the destined time comes, the perfect fly rises to the surface of the water, disengages itself from the nymph skin, and instantly darts away. Lucy. I should like greatly to see them at that moment. Mother. This process generally takes place in the evening, or during the night ; each species having its fixed hour for changing. Those belonging to the river Seine, in France, change in the be- ginning of August, between nine and eleven at night ; while those of the Rhine, in Germany, take wing about two hours before sunset. In some parts of Germany their numbers are so prodigious, that they are used by the gardeners as manure. Lucy. But how can they catch such swift little creatures ? Mother. Several kinds of them live but three hours ; some but a single day ; and even the most long-lived spe- cies only for three days. As they have no time for eating, so they are unpro- vided with a mouth, or any mode of ob- 184 NEUROPTERA. taining food. Their transient existence is spent in the air, and all that are not devoured by beetles and birds, fall to the ground, and die. Lucy. I suppose that the people wait till they fall, and then sweep them up in heaps, in order to remove them to their gardens. Are they ever seen in such abundance in this country ? Mother. No, I believe not : in the evenings, however, near river banks, con- siderable numbers may be observed. Now, my dear, we must part : we have had so long a conversation, that I fear you will hardly remember all I have told you. Lucy. Indeed, mamma, I can hardly forget what has entertained me so very much. DIALOGUE XXIII. OR SPRING FLY. MYRME- LEON FORMICARIUS, OR FORMICA LEO, OR LION ANT. MOTHER. The genus I shall first mention to-day is called phryganea, or, vulgarly, spring fly. During its larva state it lives in the water ; its shape is that of a long worm with six legs ; and it spins about itself a silken tube, wide enough to turn round in, so that it can put out its head at the aperture in either end. Lucy. The silken case must be so light, that perhaps the worm can swim about with its house on its back ? Mother. It is indeed so light, that the little creature cannot without some 186 NEUROPTERA. contrivance sink itself to the bottom of the water, in search of its prey. For this purpose it glues to the outside of the case, grains of sand, gravel, or small shells, which increases its specific gravity, or weight, and enables it to dive ; if it hap- pens to have glued on so many as to make its house too heavy to float, then it sticks on, in addition, bits of straw, or rotten wood, or grass ; thus endeavouring to keep itself exactly suspended in the water ; by which means it can both run, and swim, and sink with equal ease. When preparing to change to a chry- salis, it weaves a slight net across each end of the tube, sufficiently open to ad- mit the water, but strong enough to ex- clude other voracious insects*. Lucy. As it preys on smaller insects, it js very fair that it should be devoured in turn by the larvae of others. Mother. But they are sought after by men, as well as by insects. * Plate XVI. tr /s this has been a charming history indeed. But * Plate XVII. 204 NEUROPTERA. I have a question to ask you about eyes. Mother, To-morrow I will answer your question with pleasure, hut we must conclude for this day. DIALOGUE XXV. THE EYES OF INSECTS. RETICULATED EYES. STEMMATA. MO THER. Well, Lucy, what is the question you wished to ask yesterday, about eyes ? Lucy. I want you to explain how in- sects see ; for when I considered what you said of the little projections, in the transparent covering of their eyes, I found that I did not clearly understand it. Mother. It is a difficult subject to explain to a little girl, who does not yet know any thing of the construction of a common eye. Very few insects have the power of moving their eyes, and none of them in the same degree or manner that we do ; for instance, we can turn our eyes from one object to another, with the EYES OF INSECTS. quickness of thought, and either side- ways, or up and down ; and thus we are saved the continual trouble of turning the head. We are also furnished with eyelids, by closing which, we protect those tender organs from dust, from in- juries, and from too strong a glare of light; and these eyelids are fringed with short hairs, which, in some measure, answer the same purposes, while the lids remain open ; but no insects have eye- lids. Lucy. Then, I should think, that their eyes must often be hurt by the clay and stones, which they unavoidably meet with under ground. Mother. For that reason the outer coat or covering of their eyes is very hard, resembling horn in strength, but as transparent as glass. Lucy. You said, that the little pro- jections enabled the animal to see in every direction, as well as if it could move its eyes ? Mother. Feel this magnifying glass. EYES OF INSECTS. 507 Lucy. It is thicker in the middle, than near the edge. Mother. Any surface, that gradually rises from the edge towards the centre, is termed convex : a glass of this form is called a convex lens, and it magnifies more or less, in proportion to its con- vexity. Lucy. That is, its greater or less thickness in the middle, is it not ? Mother. Precisely. By means of mi- croscopes, or lenses, which magnify con- siderably, it has heen discovered, that the eye of a dragon fly, and of most other insects, is composed of a num- ber of very small convex lenses, which are so combined as to form, in appearance, one single projecting hemis- phere. Do you remember the meaning of that word ? Lucy. Oh yes, I do ; a sphere is a globe, and hemisphere is a half globe. Mother. Now each of these very small lenses separately transmits what- ever object is directly opposite to it, and 208 EYES OF INSECTS. therefore, whether that object be above, or below, or at one side, provided it be within the limits of the whole hemisphe- rical projection, some one lens will be found in the proper situation to convey its image to the interior of the eye. The eyes, which are composed of a number of these lenses, are termed reti- culated, because they bear a resemblance to the meshes of a very fine net. Lucy. Just as if little round lenses were stuck into every mesh of the net. Mother. Not exactly : two circles, you know, can only touch each other in a single point ; and if the lenses were round, there would consequently be a considerable space lost between each of them. The most common shape is hexa- gonal, or six-sided ; figures of this form fit close together, as you may observe in the cells of a honeycomb. I have made a drawing of a part of the eye of a dragon fly * ; but it is greatly * Plate XVIII. Published November 1. 18 fS.ty R. Hunter St Paul's Church. Ya/Td.Zt>nd7< jfff^cr w __ v/ /// ^member 1. 16 '/ '8.by RJfunter.S! Pauls Church. Ya net London TENTHREDO VITELLIJOE, 221 lows, rose trees, and gooseberry bushes, and on several others, as you may well imagine when I tell you, that one hun- dred and fifty species belong to this genus. Lucy. Is it a small insect? Mother. Some are very small, but the most common species, with which I am acquainted, the tenthredo caprece, is about the size of a small house fly, and may be often found in windows. The largest kind that I have seen is the ten- thredo vitellmce* ; it is as large as a middling sized humble bee. Lucy. And, mamma, have they all little saws ? Mother. Before I answer your question I will give you the general description of the whole genus : wings tumid, or of a bulky consistence jaws, but no probos- cis antennae different in the various spe- cies abdomen of equal thickness, and closely united to the thorax stings ser- rated, and placed between two valves* * Plate XIX. HYMENOPTERA. Lucy. A toothed sting would give a terrible hurt. Mother. They very seldom attempt to use their saws for stinging ; each of them have in fact two saws, placed so close together as to appear only one, un- less examined through a microscope, and observed at the time the fly is at work. Lucy. How does it use them ? Mother. While one saw is thrust for- ward the other is drawn back, and by this alternate movement double work is performed. Lucy. Like the two dashes in the double pump churn, one up, and the other down. Mother. That is, they move alter- nately, or one after the other in constant succession. One species of these flies does a vast deal of mischief in spring, when the fruit is setting ; it pierces a little hole with its saw, and drops its diminutive egg into the new formed fruit, which a tiny caterpillar, quickly issuing from the egg, begins to TENTHREDO ROSJK. 223 devour. By the time that the caterpillar is ready to change to a chrysalis, the sickly fruit falls from the stalk ; the lit- tle animal then creeps into the ground, and after spinning for itself a case of coarse net- work, which it lines with a close, soft web, becomes a chrysalis, from which afterwards proceeds a saw fly. Lucy. What a quantity of mischief these little creatures must do ! You said, they were found upon rose trees ; do many of them eat our dear roses ? Mother. Several kinds, I believe. There is one, which makes seven or eight small wounds in a young shoot, and hi each wound places a single egg ; as the larvae increase in size the shoot becomes unhealthy, and the flower, deprived of its due nourishment, withers in the bud. Lucy. I frequently observe little rose buds, that look as if they had been dried up ; I suppose this is the work of those vile saw flies ? Mother. There is another species, the tenthredo rosce, whose ravages are ( 22\ HYMENOPTERA. still more provoking ; the fly deposits an egg in the flower bud, which, for a while, continues to flourish ; but when the caterpillar has eaten down to where the bud joins the stalk, it begins to fade ; if the flower blows, it has a sickly hue ; the supply of nourishment is interrupted, and as the mischief increases it droops to one side, and dies. Lucy. Indeed, mamma, upon my own moss rose tree there are some flowers in the way you describe; but the gar dener told me it was a blast. Mother. Yes ; a blast is the common cause to which every misfortune of this kind is ascribed ; but the blast is often wrongfully accused of injuries, that are commited by various tribes of insects. The larvae of this genus have in gene- ral a greater number of legs than those of moths and butterflies, and have thence been called false caterpillars, a name, by which you will often find them men- tioned in books. Lucy. Are they not real caterpillars ? FALSE CATERPILLARS. 225 Mother. Yes ; but those termed true caterpillars, you know, have seldom more than six legs ; whereas, these possess from six to twelve others. The addi- tional legs, which are attached to the hinder segments of the body, are called spurious ; or by some authors, from their peculiar structure, membranaceous legs. They seem to be of little use to the ani- mal in walking, but it steadies itself by them in feeeding ; and, as they are fur- nished with a beautiful apparatus of mi- nute claws, or hooks, they are of material service to it in clinging, or climbing. The tentkredo vitellince, which I have painted in my book of insects, I found, in the caterpillar state, in the rotten wood of a hollow hawthorn tree ; it was rough like shagreen, of a dusky blueish colour, and its head was large, and of a dull red. I kept it in a box for some days, during which it did not eat the rotten wood, vith which I supplied it. It then spun a thick case, to which it glued a quantity of little scraps of wood, and L 5 226 HYMENOPTERA. in about three weeks the fly emerged from its case. Lucy. Where is your book of draw- ings, mamma ? Mother. In my table drawer ; and very much at your service, as I know you will be very careful of it. Lucy. Thank you, mamma ; now good bye for a long time, as I am going to search the bushes and leaves for more insects. DIALOGUE XXVIII. ICHNEUMON FLY. MOTHER. Had you much success in your search for insects yesterday, Lucy ? Lucy. Not as much, mamma, as I expected ; bat I did find some caterpil- lars ; I have them in boxes, and I intend to feed them carefully with the kind of leaves, on which I found them. Mother. You should write on a nar- row slip of paper a memorandum of the day when you found them, and the tree on which they fed ; with a short de- scription of each, and paste this paper on the outside of the box. By these means you will acquire an accurate knowledge of the caterpillar, of the trees to which they are injurious, of the time they re- 228 HYMENOPTERA. main in the pupa state, and of the imago, or perfect fly, which is produced from each caterpillar. Lucy. Thank you, mamma, I will carefully do so ; for, if the flies should not come out till next spring, I might forget which was which, or what plants they had lived on. Mother. Now then we may turn our attention to the history of the ichneumon Lucy. What does that odd name mean ? Mother. Ichneumon is the name of a little fourfooted animal, which is found in many of the warm climates, but chiefly in Egypt. Can you tell me where Egypt is? Lucy. Yes, mamma ; Egypt is in Africa, on the coast of the Mediterranean sea, and the Nile runs through it. Mothe)\ Very well. The river Nile is much infested with crocodiles, large amphibious creatures, which devour every sort of animal, that comes in their way* ICHNEUMON FLY. 229 The crocodile lays its eggs in the sand ; these eggs are the favourite food of the ichneumon, who roots them up, and sucks out the inside through a hole, which it breaks in the end of the egg by rolling it against a stone. The ichneumon de- stroys numbers of young crocodiles also^ after they have left the egg, and before they reach the water. It preys besides upon serpents, rats, mice, and poultry. Lucy. It seems to eat every thing it can catch ; but I thought the ichneumon was a fly r Mother. The ichneumon fly is named after that animal. Lucy. Are the flies as great devourers, since they have the same name ? Mother. Just so ; it was given to them because they perform a similar ser- vice in destroying caterpillars, and a num- ber of other insects. The ichneumon fly is of a very peculiar shape : the abdomen is joined to the body by a slender stalk , and this is a distinguishing mark of the 230 HYMKNOPTERA. whole genus of ichneumons, whether large or small. Lucy. Are there a great many spe- eies ? Mother. A vast number; more than five hundred have been enumerated and described. Some of these are an inch and a half long, while other species do not measure quite one eighth of an inch in length. Lucy. Can such little creatures de- vour others? Mother. The larvae are the chief de- vourers. The flies are furnished with a sting, which is most curiously con- trived : it is composed of three pieces ; two of these form a kind of sheath, which contains the sting itself. The sting is toothed along the edges, but in the middle there is a small channel, or hol- low groove, in which the eggs roll, and are thus guided to the spot where the fly wishes to place them. Several sorts of the ichneumon lay their eggs in the ICHNEUMON FLY. 231 bodies of caterpillars by means of this sharp instrument, which they support with their two hind feet lest it should break. They bore a hole through the skin of the caterpillar and drop into it an egg; for every egg making a fresh in- cision. The large flies put only two or three eggs into the unfortunate caterpillar, but the small ichneumons insert from ten to twenty. Lucy. What pain the poor caterpillar must suffer ; but I suppose it soon dies ? Mother. While the ichneumon is in the act of inflicting these wounds, and depositing its eggs, the caterpillar writhes about, and seems to be in great agony ; but it soon recovers, and generally lives the usual length of time, without apparent suffering; sometimes it even increases in size, and regularly changes its skin. But when the time comes for changing to the chrysalis state, the ichneumon larvae eat their way through the caterpillar's skin, and spinning little silken cocoons become 232 HYMENOPTERA. chrysalids, leaving the caterpillar an empty skin. Lucy. Poor miserable caterpillars ! so these little ichneumons eat out the inside of the poor creature in which they live ? Mother. They do not destroy the vital parts, but are contented with suck- ing out the nutritious juices, which the caterpillar derives from its food : some- times the caterpillar has sufficient strength to change into a chrysalis, but the fly never perfects its shape, nor attains its proper size, having been deprived of its nourishment by these internal enemies. Some ichneumons lay their eggs in spiders' bags ; others pierce through the hard substance, like mortar, of which the outside of a wasp's nest is formed, and place their eggs near the cell, where the egg or the larva of the wasp is lodged ; to this the young ichneumon soon pe- netrates. Some of the small ichneu- mons insert their eggs into the eggs of moths and butterflies ; and when the ICHNEUMON FLY. 23S little caterpillars might be expected to appear, tiny maggots come forth and im- mediately spin their cases. One species place their eggs in the bodies of the aphis, or plant louse. Lucy. The plant louse ! Are not those the little grubs of different colours, which collect in such crowds on the shoots of honeysuckles and roses ? Mother. Yes ; the aphides are most mischievous grubs, which multiply to an astonishing degree. The ichneumons do us great service by destroying them, as they injure plants very much. Lucy. They seem to destroy all in- sects whatever, that are weaker than themselves. Mother. They may be compared to the carnivorous tribes of animals, among beasts and birds. Lucy. What does carnivorous mean, mamma? Mother. Carnivorous animals are those that eat flesh ; the large ichneu- 234 HYMENOPTERA. mon flies feed very much upon spiders, on which they pounce as the hawk does on its prey. Lucy. Old and young, flying and creeping, I see they are always carni- vorous. Mother, As far as their habits of life have been investigated, I believe they are. We will now see how the genus is characterised. Antennae of more than thirty joints, long, filiform, and always vibrating sting within a bivalve sheath mouth armed with jaws, no tongue abdomen joined to the body by a pedicle, or stalk. Lucy. \ wish, mamma, I could find a caterpillar with some of these little larvse feeding in it. Mother. Jf you collect a number of the common cabbage caterpillars you will be very likely to find one or more among them loaded with these inward de\tourers. DIALOGUE XXIX. SPHEX, OR ICHNEUMON WASP. MOTHER. The insect, which I have chosen for the subject of to-day's conversation, is called sphex ; it is also called the ichneumon wasp, because it bears a strong resemblance to both those insects. Lucy. Is it as fierce as the cruel ichneumon ? Mother. It is so fierce as to have obtained the name of savage. Both the larva and the fly feed upon other insects ; the larva upon dead caterpillars ; the fly upon large spiders, fifty of which scarcely suffice it for one meal, as it eats only the contents of the head, and a very small part of the body. The remains of these 236 HYMENOPTERA. mangled creatures, strewed round the outside of its den, betray the abode of this little savage. Lucy. And are there many species of these horrible creatures ? Mother. Upwards of a hundred are to be found in various parts of the world, but only a few of them are natives of these islands. Lucy. I am sure I rejoice at that, however useful they may be. Mother. The sphex spirifex digs a hole in the ground for her eggs, and constructs there a set of cells, in a very curious manner. As she digs out the sand she kneads it into a paste, with a glutinous liquid proceeding from her mouth ; of this paste she makes little round balls, by means of her teeth and fore feet, and places them in circular rows one over the other. Between the balls many openings are left, so that the struc- ture forms a sort of coarse filigree, or open work tower round the mouth of her burrow. SPHEX. 237 Lucy. How high is this filigree tower ? Mother. Sometimes three inches : but the height depends on the dimensions of the hole. The sphex works with such industry, that in a very few hours she makes an excavation of nearly three inches in depth, and raises a tower of equal height. Lucy. And does she live inside of this tower ? Mother. As soon as the hole is made the sphex lays an egg at the bottom. She then 'seizes on a caterpillar, which, -though much larger than herself, she drags to the nest, and places it over the egg : on the caterpillar she rolls down one of the uppermost balls, and, scraping some sand upon it with her feet, she fills up all the chinks. She often goes down into the hole, and seems as if she was beating the bottom smooth with her feet. A second egg is afterwards placed, and provided with food in the same manner as the first. Thus she deposits 238 HYMKNOFTERA. all her eggs, to the number of ten or twelve; and when every thing is com- pleted she smooths and dresses the ground, so that no trace of her ingenious nursery can be discovered. Lucy. This is a most curious account indeed : but when the larvae, that come from the eggs, have eaten up their food, what becomes of them, how do they get out? Mother. They are then of the proper age for their transformation to take place, and, after a few days of abstinence, each of them spins a cocoon, in vhich they become nymphs. In this state they re- main but a short time, and come forth from their earthy nest perfect spheges. Lucy. Poor wretched caterpillars, to be shut up in such a prison, and gra- dually eaten away ! Mother. One of the most singular circumstances in this process is, that the sphex always chooses full grown cater- pillars ; just at that period when they would naturally leave off eating, prepa- SPHEX. 239 ratory to their change into chrysa- lids. The caterpillars, therefore, require no farther food, and live long enough for the consumption of the young larvae of the sphex when hatched. Should the provident sphcx not find caterpillars large enough to answer singly for the provi- sion of each cell, she takes two of a smaller size, or even three. Lucy. What a variety of enemies the poor caterpillars have. Mother. They have indeed a vast number. There is said to be a species of sphex in the Isle of France, that makes a nest as large as that of the swallow, and fixed much in the same manner to a wall ; each nest contains several cells, and each cell one egg, with a store of three or four spiders. The Isle of France produces another beautiful sphex, which is much regarded by the inhabitants for the havoc it makes among the cock-roaches, that infest that country. Lucy. They must be of very great 240 HYMENOPTERA. size to catch such a large^ strong creature as a cock- roach. Mother. They are large, and so cou- rageous, that they will attack insects three times their own size. This kind of sphex changes its hue from blue to green, ac- cording to the light in which it is seen. When it spies an unfortunate cock-roach, it halts in front of the enemy : the two insects seem to pause a few moments, as if examining each other ; the sphex then darts upon his victim, skilfully seizes it by the head, and, bending his tail under its body, stings it in the abdomen. The sphex then quits his hold, and walks about for a time, certain that his prey cannot escape ; when it returns to the motionless cock-roach, he takes it by the head, and, dragging it backward to his den, eats it at leisure. Lucy. I wonder the inhabitants are not afraid of flies, that have such terrible stings. Mother. Very probably they may be somewhat afraid of them, but 5 aware of their utility, they are too wise to molest them. The genus sphex is thus described : antennae of ten to sixteen joints, always vibrating upper lip horny no tongue palpi four jaws strong, crooked, and dentated, or toothed wings expanded horizontally over the abdomen sting sharp, and concealed in the abdomen. There are several other species of this genus, which are equally curious in their modes of life ; however, they all agree in the characteristics of ferocity, and of astonishing strength, in proportion to their size. Lucy. And, mamma, will you not give me some farther account of those other species ? Mother. Not at present, my dear ; hereafter you may read more detailed ac- counts than can be given in conversation. To-morrow, I mean to present you with a little of the surprising mass of informa- tion, which naturalists have collected con- cerning wasps and bees. M DIALOGUE XXX. VESPA, OR WASP. V. CRAERO, OR HOR- NET. V. VULGARIS, OR COMMON WASP. LUCY. This morning, mamma, we are to have bees and wasps. Mother. The wasp, or vespa genus, comes first in order ; there are above two hundred and twenty species in it, but very few of them are to be found in England. The largest, with which we are ac- quainted, the vespa crabro, or hornet, is armed with a strong sting, with which it can inflict a very painful wound, that in- flames, and continues to be troublesome for some days. The hornet is voracious : it kills and preys upon many sorts of in- sects ; and even destroys large bees, in order to rob them of their honey-bags. It generally builds its nests in hoilow VESPA CRABRO, OR HORNET. 243 trees, where it is secure from rain ; and sometimes chooses for that purpose the timbers of old lofts, or out houses. The shape of its nest, and the colour of the outer covering, have very much the appearance of a large brown cake. The nest is composed of the dust rasped off decayed timber with its jaws, and made into a strong paste, with a liquid, like glue, which the hornet emits from its mouth. Of this paste, which when dry resembles brown parchment, it forms a coarse comb, something similar to the honeycomb, but divided into very large cells, suitable to the size of the hornet, which is full an inch in length. Lucy. It is very fortunate, that the hornet is not as common as the wasp, for they would destroy all our bees. Mother. The hornet, as it flies, makes a very loud humming noise, which warns insects of the enemy's approach, and, as its flight is slow and heavy, gives them time to make their escape. Lucy, The common wasp, I suppose, M2 244 HYMENOPfERA. eats only fruit, as we see such crowds of them round every fruit tree ? Mother. The vespa vulgaris, or com- mon wasp, is not only fond of fruit, and of every thing sweet, but of meat, and of insects too. Most of the wasps perish in the cold during winter, only a few queens, or females, escaping to produce a nation of wasps the following summer. The queen, or female wasp, if she cannot find a convenient hole in the ground, makes one, providing it with a winding pas- sage, by which to go in and out; and in this hole she constructs about twenty cells, and lays as many eggs. Lucy. Only twenty ! a great many queens then must outlive the cold, to produce such quantities of wasps as are to be seen every summer. Mother. She lays many more than twenty eggs ; but she begins by pro- ducing only that number ; and within three weeks, they pass through the stages of larva and nymph, and come forth perfect wasps. By a wise provision of WASP, OR VESPA VULGARIS. 245 nature, these are all working wasps, nei- ther male nor female ; as soon as they fly, they fall to work in the service of the queen mother, whom they assist by en- larging the cavern, and building nu- merous cells. They procure the materials by biting and tearing small particles of wood from posts, window frames, and door cases ; glueing them together on the spot, and then carrying them home. The la- bourers, that remained at the nest, relieve them of their burdens, and they all join in working up the wood with the liquid which they disgorge, till it forms a white paste. Of this substance they form the cells, and erect over them three or four roofs, or coverings, at a small distance above each other, by which means all damp is completely excluded. Lucy. It would be delightful to watch the wasps, while at work ; but that would be rather dangerous. Mother. If under a glass hive, it might be done with safety. There are several tiers or stories of cells, with pas- sages between them ; and each tier is 246 HYMENOPTERA. supported by numerous pillars. When the cells are completed, the queen lays an egg in each, to the number of fifteen, or even twenty thousand ; and all these pro- duce neuters, or labourers. While larvae they are fed by the elder wasps, first with the juices of fruit, which they distribute from their own mouths into those of the young worms, and as the larvae gain strength, with the dead bodies of insects. As soon as this generation become wasps, they likewise labour at the nest, and are employed in feeding the larvae .of the next brood. Having provided a sufficient number of labourers, the queen begins about the end of July to lay eggs, which produce male and female wasps ; the males have their appointed work, which is to clean out the nest, and to clear away the fragments of their meals, which con- sist of the honey-bags of bees, dead in- sects, and scraps of meat, particularly of veal, and all of which had been brought home to the cells by the workers, and impartially divided amongst the whole community. WASP, OR VESPA VtJLGARIS. 247 Lucy. What robbers and murderers they are ! Mother. Yes, they plunder the poor butchers ; but, however, they are of great use to them. Lucy. Of use ! how can that be ? Mother. The wasp is a mortal enemy to the blue fly, which never ventures into a butcher's stall, when frequented by wasps. In France it is a common cus- tom among butchers to hang at the door of the shop a veal's liver, which being much sought after by the wasps, attracts them, in such numbers as to deter the blue flies from approaching. Lucy. Well, that is a comical plan, to drive away one set of tormentors by encouraging another. Though wasps are so ferocious abroad mamma, they seem to live very happily at home. Mother. They continue to live in har- mony till the end of September, when the cold begins to affect them, and most kinds of provisions grow scarce. The nest then 248 HYMENOFTERA. becomes a scene of confusion, the neuters, or labouring wasps, join with the males to drag all the eggs, worms, and nymphs, out of the cells, and to destroy them ; after this they fight together ; many are killed ; the remainder are destroyed by the cold weather, and a few females only escape, by creeping into sheltered nooks, where they continue in a state of tor- pidity, or sleep, till revived by the warmth of spring. Lucy. If it were not for this war, by which such thousands are killed, we should be overrun with wasps. I sup- pose, mamma, that the labourers murder the young ones, to save themselves the trouble of providing food for them, which it would be so difficult to find ? Mother. There is a small species of wasp in South America, which builds its nest of a substance resembling the finest paper. The nest is something like a box, and is suspended to the branch of a tree. Lucy. How pretty the little white WASP, OR VESPA VULGARIS. 24!) nests must look. Could no use be made of the paper ? Mother. I have never heard of any experiments having been made for that purpose : but it has been observed, that, possibly, the example of the wasp might be advantageously followed, and that \ve might manufacture paper from wood. In proof of which the Chinese paper is made of the bark of the bamboo. Lucy. I wonder, mamma, that no one has tried whether it could be done. Mother. I have seen very tolerable paper made of straw ; but straw is so much used as litter and provender for cattle, and in some parts of the country for thatching houses, that probably this paper would not be cheaper, than that which is made of rags. Lucy. I should like very much to know how paper is made from rags. Mother. Ask papa this evening , and I am sure he will with pleasure explain to you the whole process. Lucy. I will certainly ask him. Now, M 5 250 HYMENOPTEKA. mamma, you said the bees were to follow the wasps. Mother. But have we not had as much of the wasps as you can well re- member ? I think we had better defer the bees till to-rnorrow ? and finish this day's conversation by the general description of the vespa ; it is thus : mouth armed with jaws no tongue body smooth sting concealed antennae long wings folded lengthwise. Lucy. Thank you, mamma, good bye. Mother. Before we part, I must men- tion two particularities which distinguish this whole genus : one is, that the upper wings are folded in two, the whole of their length, whenever the animal is not flying ; the other is, that where the wings are jointed to the body, there is a sort of scaly projection placed over them ; this projection acts as a sort of stay, and pre- vents the wings from being stretched too far, or from being flapped too violently ; this is a most useful provision for such in- WASP, OR VESPA VULGARIS. 251 sects as are often obliged to pursue their prey on the full stretch of their wings. Lucy. The other carnivorous flies, whose history youThave told me> seem to take their prey by cunning and con- trivance ; hut wasps are hunters, and catch it by the chase, as dogs do hares and foxes. Mother. Thus you see how well the structure of these little creatures is adapted to provide for their wants ; and how admirably they are enabled to fulfil the several parts assigned them in the creation. DIALOGUE XXXI, APIS, OR BEE. A. MELLIFICA, OR HONEY BEE. LUCY. This morning, mamma, you appointed for the history of the bee, which I am sure I shall find even more amusing than that of the wasp. Mother. The accounts of all the spe- cies of bee are most curious ; and it is surprising that naturalists have been able to discover so much of their manners and way of life, when we consider the difficulty of closely observing an insect, which is so irritable when disturbed, and so very apt to use its sharp sting. Whole volumes have been written on thfr honey bee alone ; but I will try to give you a short and clear account of it. HONEY BEE. 253 Lucy. Thank you, mamma ; you are very good to me. Mother. The genus of apis, or bee, comprises a great number of species, and of almost every species there is something curious to be observed ; but the honey bee, or apis mellifica*, is not only the most useful to man, but the most re- markable in its economy. Of this fa- mily several varieties have been found in different parts of the world : they all produce both honey and wax, though none seem to make them of as good a quality as the domestic honey bee, which is so common in this country. Lucy. Our bees all live in hives ; how do they live when they are wild ? Mother. They construct their combs in hollow trees, in chimnies that are not used, or the chinks in old walls ; in short, in any secure hollow place. Vast quantities of bees live in the forests of Poland, where they build in the large * Mcl f honey j mcllifica, honey-maker. 254 HYMENOPTBRA. trees. Though wild, they are yet pro- tected by the laws of the country ; and people, who rob the nests, or disturb the bees, except at the proper and established time of year, are severely punished. With regard to the economy of the domestic bee : when a swarm quits the old hive, it is composed of one queen bee, of some hundreds of male or drone bees, which have no stings, and of se- veral thousands of working bees. If the queen be taken from among them, the swarm falls into confusion, and seems not to know how to proceed when de- prived of its leader. But if another queen be given to them they regain their composure, and tranquilly follow her wherever she flies. Lucy. But how can people take the queens ? Are not they stung by them ? Mother. The queens have stings, but they very seldom make use of them, and may be handled, if it be gently done, with great safety. As soon as the bees are lodged in a HONEY BEE. 255 new hive they divide themselves into four parties, one of which rove the fields in search of materials ; another company, after running up and down the hive, and stopping every little crevice through which air could penetrate, begin to lay the foundation of the cells ; a third set of workers polish up and finish all that the others have begun ; and the fourth party bring home food to those that have been labouring in the hive. Lucy. But how can they carry food ? Do not bees live on honey ? Mother. Bees are provided with two stomachs ; in one they carry the purest honey, which they suck from flowers with their trunks, and which is to be stored up in the cells ; and into the other stomach they put the farina of flowers, and the honey necessary for their food. Lucy. What is farina ? Mother. In the inside of flowers you may recollect to have seen some yellow or orange- coloured powder ; this dust is called farina. 256 HYMENOPTERA. Lucy. But do the bees carry the fa- rina home in their stomachs ? Mother. No ; when a bee alights in a flower, it rolls and rubs itself about, till, by means of the hairs with which it is thickly covered, it has collected all the farina ; then, by passing its legs over its body, it brushes off this dust, and form- ing it into pellets, sticks them into a cavity, or hollow, in each hind thigh. When a bee, thus loaded, returns home, it is immediately surrounded by some of the stay-at-home workers, and into each of their expecting mouths it pours through its trunk a little honey. The newly ar- rived bee is also unburdened of its farina, which is either eaten by the other bees, if hungry, or placed in proper cells, where it is known by the name of bee-bread. Lucy. What a very disagreeable taste it has. Mother. In three days these industri- ous little creatures have been known to make comb enough to contain three thousand eggs. HONEY BEE. 257 Lucy. I suppose, like the wasps, they put only one egg in each cell. Do they feed the maggots in the same way ? Mother. Just so : the working hees take the greatest care of the worms, con- stantly supplying them with food till the time for changing to a chrysalis arrives. Then they close over the top of the cell with a thin coat of wax; and the little worm proceeds to spin a delicate weh, in which it becomes a nymph. In this state it continues for a few days, when it quits its case ; and, eating its way through the thin roof of its chamber, makes its appear- ance as a winged bee. Lucy. How long is it becoming a perfect bee ? Mother. About twenty days from the time the egg was laid. When a young bee comes forth, some of the elders sur- round it and give it honey from their trunks ; its strength thus confirmed, away it flies, and collects honey with as much skill as the oldest in the hive. The la- bourers then throw from the hive the 258 HYMENOPTBRA. nymph skin and case, and clean out the inside of the cell,, in which the queen immediately places another egg. In this manner one cell answers for four or five successive worms. Lucy. What immense quantities of bees there must be in a hive ! Mother. Sometimes forty thousand: but when they become too numerous for the hive to contain them comfortably, a separation takes place, and a large pro- portion flies off to form a new establish- ment elsewhere. The new colony, or swarm, immediately begins to work, and spends the whole summer, and all the fine part of the autumn, in building the combs, rearing the young, and laying up the winter's provision. When the weather begins to grow cold, the working bees, as if anxious to diminish the num- ber to be fed during the winter, destroy all the drones, either by stinging and worry- ing them to death, or by driving them out into the cold, which speedily puts an end to them. HONEY BEE. 259 Lucy. Does not cold weather some- times kill whole hives of bees, mamma ? Mother. Very severe cold does ; for which reason some people keep their hives in cellars, or in bee houses ; however, in general, they live through the winter very well, especially if the hive be plas- tered round the bottom, as a defence against both cold and vermin ; but a little door must be left, just large enough to let a bee walk out, which they often do on fine days. It is useful to put a cap of straw over each hive, to throw off the rain and snow; and the bees ought also to be fed now and then, in order to pre- vent them from consuming all their own stores, as in that case they would de- prive themselves of food in the begin- ning of summer, before they were able to collect a fresh supply. Lucy. How can they be fed ? Can you give them honey ? Mother. Honey is not thought to be the best food ; some people give them soft 260 HYMENOPTERA. sugar ; but what succeeds best is wheat, boiled in sugar and water ; this is very nourishing, and does not injure the bees by sticking to their hairy bodies. Lucy. You said, mamma, that the queens have stings, but that they seldom use them : have all the other bees stings ? Mother. The drone, or male bees, have no stings, and are therefore quite harmless ; and though the working bees are armed with stings, they do not often exert them without provocation. Most people give way to very unfounded fears both of wasps and bees, but particularly of the latter, which, except at swarming time, never sting, unless greatly irri- tated. Lucy. Is it true that the bee always leaves its sting in the wound ? Mother. The sting of the bee is most beautifully contrived. Within a strong sheath are placed two small stings, which resemble an arrow, divided along the middle ; that is, the two sides which HONEY BEE. 26 1 touch each other are smooth, while the outer edge of each is barbed, like a dart or arrow. Lucy. Yes, mamma, I know the shape of an arrow. I understand the bee can easily push the sting in, but cannot pull it back. Mother. These two stings move al- ternately ; the first that is forced in, catches the flesh by its barbed point ; the second sting is then pressed forwards be- yond the first, and, hooking the flesh, keeps a firm hold, till the first sting has again passed it, and, entering still farther, has caught a deeper hold: in this alter- nate manner they move, till the whole sting is buried in the flesh, to its full length. The bee then discharges into the wound a drop of liquid from a little bag, placed at the root of the sting ; and it is this venomous liquid that occasions the in- flammation and swelling, which always attend on the sting of a bee. Lucy. The little stings, I think, move just like the saws of the tenthredo. 262 HYMBNOPTERA. Mother. Yes, much in the same way. If the person, who is stung, has patience and resolution to wait quietly till the hee disengages its sting, the wound is not nearly so painful, as when it is left sticking in the flesh. Lucy. But how can the bee pull it out ? for you know the barbs fasten it in the flesh. Mother. The bee has the power of closing the barbs flat to the side of the stings, by which means it can gently draw them out, and replace them within the sheath ; but if it is suddenly driven away, before it has time to do this, the sting remains, and with it the bag of venom, as well as part of the intestines, n consequence of which the bee dies. Lucy. If bees but seldom use their stings, for what purpose are they pro- vided with them ? Mother. They serve for defence : bees have many enemies, to which they would fall an easy prey, if unprovided with any weapon of defence. HONEY BEE. 263 Lucy. You said that hornets killed them, to suck their honey bags; what other enemies have they? Mother. Among birds, the swallow and tomtit devour a vast number ; and the sparrow not only eats them whole, but has been seen carrying to its nest a bee in each claw, and another in its beak. Both wasps and hornets tear them in pieces for the sake of their honey bags. Frogs and toads also eat them, when they can catch them; but they can do but little harm, from their want of agility. The field mouse, and a little caterpillar, make the greatest havoc among the poor bees. Lucy. But why do they not sting the mouse to death ; a number of bees could do it in a minute ? Mother. The mouse is too wise to attack the bees in the day time ; but when the nights are grown cold, and the bees are become torpid, it creeps into the hive, and destroys them by thousands, just eating off the head and corslet. Their most dangerous enemy is the ca- 264 HYMENOPTBRA. terpillar of a little grey moth, called the wax moth, which contrives to lay its eggs in the very comb, probably at night, when the bees are asleep. The cater- pillar, which in a few days quits the egg, is white, with a brown scaly head, and so small that it is hardly visible ; but it is no sooner hatched than it spins a little hollow cylinder, in which it fixes its abode. Lucy. What is a hollow cylinder r Mother. A hollow cylinder is a circu- lar tube, of equal breadth in every part ; the tube of a telescope, for instance, is cylindrical ; or a sheet of paper, if evenly rolled up, so that you can see through it, forms a cylinder. The little tube in which the caterpillar lives protects it from the vengeance of the bees ; and as it must put the head and the first ring of its body out of this case when feeding, these parts are made so hard and shelly as to resist their stings. Lucy. But surely such a little worm could not kill a bee ? HONEY BEE. 2G5 Mother. It does not attack the bees j the mischief it does is by devouring their waxen cells. The cylinder that it first spins is just its own length, and is fixed to the side of a cell ; when all the wax within its reach is consumed it must advance in quest of more food ; it there- fore makes such an addition to the tube as may be necessary, and enlarges it in pro- portion to its own increasing size. Thus eating tbe wax, and lengthening its dwell- ing, it gradually winds round the combs, and effectually destroys the labours of the bees ; and sometimes there are such num- bers of these caterpillars in a hive, as to eat and break down the greater part of the combs. I have seen several in hives that have been opened, though in this country they are not so common as abroad. Lucy. You said, some time ago, tha% if the queen were killed, or lost, the swarm might be supplied with another queen ; where is she to be found ? Mother. Every old hive, besides the N 266 HYMENOPTERA. great number of drones and labourers, rears six or eight young queens. In four or five days after a queen is hatched, she quits the parent hive, and is followed by all the bees, that exceed the number sufficient for the hive. Sometimes two queens fly off at the same time : on such occasions fierce battles take place be- tween the two parties, and the con- test lasts till one queen is killed, when the bees immediately follow the sur- vivor. At other times the two queens fight a single combat, and the swarrn obeys the conqueror : but should both queens be killed, a skilful manager of these insects procures another young queen from the parent hive ; round her the bees quickly collect, and again return to their peaceable habits. Lucy. I think, mamma, that who- ever searches among them for a queen must have great courage. Mother. Or rather gentleness and calmness. The person must be careful not to breathe upon the bees. They HONEY BEE. 2(i7 appear to have a very acute smell, and are known to have a dislike to most strong scents, particularly to that of horses and stable litter. Now, my dear, I have related a few of the principal facts, which distinguish the honey bee ; to-morrow I intend to give you a short account of some other spe- cies of bees. N 2 DIALOGUE XXXII. WILD BEES. APIS MUSCORUM, OR HUM- BLE BEE. A. MURARIA, OR MASON BEE. A. CENTUNCULARIS, OR LEAF- CUTTER BEE. A. PAPAVERIS, OR TA- PESTRY BEE. MOTHER. Are you prepared, Lucy, to hear the wonders of the wild bees' nests r Lucy. Yes, mamma, quite ready ; but by wild bees, do you mean the large humble bee that hums about in the mea- dows ? Mother. That is one species, and we will begin with it ; but there are a great many others. The apis muscorum*, or * From Muscus, moss. HUMBLE BEE. 269 humble bee, is sometimes called the hum- ming bee, and sometimes the carding bee. Lucy. Carding bee ! why carding ? Mother. Because it is said to card the moss of which it builds its nest : to card wool is to divide, or comb it with a tool somewhat like a brush, formed by a number of wire teeth closely set in rows,, and fixed in a flat wooden frame, with a handle on one side ; but our little carder has no tools, except its jaws, and feet. Lucy. How such tiny things as a bee's feet can card the coarse moss I can- not imagine. Mother. This bee is among the in- sects that are the earliest awakened from the winter's sleep, by the warmth of spring. It immediately begins to con- struct a nest, for which a mossy spot of ground is selected ; and having prepared some moss, and spread it bit by bit, so as to form a thick, smooth carpet, it next proceeds to ransack the early flowers for wax and honey. Of these a kind of 270 HYMENOPTERA. paste is made, in which the bee lays three or four eggs, and covers them over with an arched roof of moss and wax, to preserve them from the rain. She then proceeds to collect more materials, and to deposit more eggs. Her first laid eggs are quickly hatched, and in a few days having eaten up all the paste in which they were placed, they change to nymphs, and from nymphs to bees ; and they are no sooner bees, than they begin to work, under the directions of their mother. The first job is to enlarge the nest. Lucy. I suppose she employs them to card the moss, and to bring it home ? Mother. Yes, they assist her ; but this work is performed in a very curious manner : the queen mother takes her lit- tle party to the nearest tuft of nice moss, and dragging out some of it, she first combs it, and then neatly mats it up into a little ball, with her jaws and fore legs ; with the other two pair of legs she pushes this ball under her to the next bee whicli stands close behind her ; and this bee HUMBFE BEE. 271 pushes it on in the same manner to the third, and so on till it is conveyed to the nest. If -the line of bees should not reach from the bank of moss to the nest, they again place themselves in the same order, and beginning where the first line ended, they repeat the same manoeuvre till a sufficient quantity of moss has been provided. Lucy. How delighted the person must have been who first observed this manner of building the nest! Do the carders lay by any honey, as the hive bees do ? Mother. In each nest, there is gene- rally four or five cells of very good honey ; the cells are considerably larger than what we find in hives, and are made of a much coarser kind of wax. When mowers find them in a meadow, they suck the honey, and find it very palat- able. Lucy. If the humble bees have any enemies, they must be an easy prey, building as they do on the ground. Mother. They, like all other creatures, 272 HYMENOPTERA. have their enemies ; field mice often de- stroy their nests, and polecats sometimes make sad havock among them : hut they suffer most from some kinds of cater- pillars, which eat up the larvre at all ages, and now and then even the old bees. Lucy. When a nest is of its full size are there many bees in it ? Mother. Sixty or seventy is the usual number; but they have been known to amount to two or three hundred. There are some species of wild bees, which are termed solitary ; instead of their habitations being the joint effort of the whole society, each female constructs a nest for her progeny, and then returns to it no more. Lucy. That is like the sphex, who builds its nest with so much labour, and then leaves it. Mother. Just so. The first I shall mention is the mason bee, apis muraria*, * From Murus, a wall. MASON BEE. 273 whose nest has the appearance of stone, and costs her incredible pains ; she first chooses the kind of sand that answers her purpose, and then glues grain by grain together with a liquid, which she throws out from her mouth ; when a round ball has thus been formed, as large as she can carry, she flies with it to the spot, on which she has previously determined, in some warm, sheltered wall, and there fixes it as the foundation stone. With a num- ber of similar balls, about the size of small shot, and firmly attached to each other, she constructs a cell about an inch high, and a little more than half an inch in di- ameter ; and then, with a still finer sort of sand she gives it a smooth, polished lining. She next goes to the fields, and brings home a quantity of honey, and of the farina of flowers, which she works into a paste, and with it fills about two thirds of the cavity ; on the paste she de- posits an egg, and then, with the same kind of sandy mortar, she covers over and completes this first cell. Another is N 5 274 HYMENdPTERA. constructed in the same manner, in con- tact with the first ; six or eight cells, which this industrious little mason builds in as many days, compose a nest ; and outside of the whole she adds a rough coat of coarser sand, so that the entire fabric appears like a stone projecting from the wall. Lucy. It is most surprising how so many curious circumstances were ever found out. Mother. We are indebted for these details to the patient and indefatigable attention of various naturalists ; but chiefly to Reaumur, a French philosopher, who flourished in the beginning of the last century. Lucy. As you say, mamma, that every insect has its enemies, I suppose even the stone house of the mason bee does not entirely protect it ? Mother. You are very right, Lucy ; there is a species of ichneumon, which is provided with a boring machine, that can pierce through the artificial stone into the MASON BEE. 2/5 nest ; there it lays its eggs ; and the larvae have such strong jaws, that they cut their way from cell to cell, and prey upon both the hee bread and the young bee. It has another deadly enemy in the attelabus apiari-us ; a little beetle, which is very beautifully marked : the head and corselet are of a fine blue, the elytra are red with three violet coloured bands, and the under part of the body is covered with long, white hair. It watches for the absence of the bee, and slily intro- duces an egg into her nest ; from thence a rose-coloured worm proceeds, with a black head, and six scaly feet, who soon devours the young bees, and then weaves for itself a strong case, like parchment, lined with silk, in which it goes through its transformations, and remains in the chrysalis nearly three years. Lucy. Pray, mamma, have these wild bees stings ? Mother. Yes, all the females have stings ; but they are not easily provoked 2J(> HYMENOPTERA. to use them. Very different from that of the mason bee is the mode of construct- ing its nest adopted by the leaf-cutter bee, apis centuncularis*, but executed with fall as much address. She excavates a hole in the ground, about the size of a large quill, and there forms six or seven cells, of pieces of green leaves, which she rolls up, and fits so accurately as to re- tain the store of honey for her progeny ; these cells are somewhat wider at the mouth than at the inner end, and being inserted into each other they resemble a succession of small thimbles. As each cell is finished, the due allowance of food is put in, the egg is deposited, and the orifice is closed with three cir- cular pieces of leaf. Lucy. What ingenuity this little ani - mal must have ! Mother. Yes, Lucy, and I will give you another proof of it : as the innermost * Plate XX. Pl.20, fitblish&JL November 1.1818. by K Hunter. S t feud's Church, Yard^.l ondon,. LEAF-CUTTER BEE. 277 cell is first made, the egg placed there must consequently produce the first born bee of the family; now, you perceive, that, if this bee were to force its way out- wards, it would derange the cells, and kill the other young bees in its progress. Lucy. So then, that poor thing must remain imprisoned till all the rest are hatched. Mother. No, Lucy : when the bee worms are going to become nymphs, they spin cases, lined with shining white silk ; and in these the nymphs instinc- tively place themselves with the head in- wards ; inwards, therefore, on becoming bees, they are forced to work their way, and there they find a passage carefully provided for them. For the mother bee, as soon as she had completed the nest, had dug from the surface of the earth to the innermost cell a subterranean path, through which the young bee makes its exit, and all the rest of the family follow by the same road. 278 HYMENOPTERA. Lucy. Any sort of leaf, I suppose, serves for these nests ? Mother. There are three or four va- rieties of leaf-cutter bees, and each of them has its favourite tree ; the apis cen- tuncularis usually employs the rose leaf. Have you never observed rose leaves, with round pieces cut out of them ? Lucy. Indeed I have ; but I never should have guessed that any thing so exactly round could have been cut by a bee ; how does it cut the leaf so nicely : Mother. With her mandibles, or jaws, which are both strong, and sharp ; alighting on the edge of the leaf, she holds it between her fore feet, and rapidly moving forward she separates a piece, of the precise shape and dimensions that she wants, though unprovided with either scale, or compasses. At the last nip she gives, she spreads her wings, and in- stantly flies away with her prize. Lucy. That is very pretty ; I will TAPESTRY BEE. 279 certainly watch the rose trees very closely, in hopes of seeing this clever little crea- ture at work. Do all the leaf-cutter hees make their nests in the same way ? Mother. They select different places for their nests, some choosing the trunks of old trees, and others the posts used in paling, which they completely perfo- rate. Another species of this industrious tribe, the apis papaveris*, a native of France, has been called the tapestry bee, hecause the floor and walls of its nests are lined with scarlet hangings. Lucy. It probahly spins a kind of scarlet silk. Mother. No, they are made with the petals of the scarlet field poppy flower, which she cuts into oval pieces, and carries one by one in her claws ; if they are crumpled, in the subterraneous passage to her dwelling, she stretches and smooths them neatly with her little * From Papaver, a poppy- _! 280 HYMENOPTERA. feet, and then glues three or four layers of them round the cavity in the ground, which is ahout three inches deep. Hav- ing lodged the proper quantity of bee bread, and placed her egg, she covers them over with the same leaves, at the height of an inch from the bottom of the hole ; and lastly, she fills the remaining two inches of the passage with earth. For each egg she makes a separate nest. By the time the worm has consumed the stock of food, it changes to a nymph; and the next summer, when the poppies are in flower, the bee comes out, and follows the industrious example of its parent. Lucy. How nicely it is contrived, that the bee should just come to perfec- tion at the season when the scarlet tapestry and carpets are quite ready for its use ! Mother. Yes, my dear Lucy, the same power, that impresses these insects with certain habits, assigns the means of TAPESTRY BEE. 281 supplying their wants, and calls them into winged life at the proper moment. There are many other species of bees, which would afford you equal enter- tainment ; but we must reserve them for our future studies. DIALOGUE XXXI11. ANTS. FORMICA NIGRA, OR BLACK ANT. F. BRUNNEA, Oil BROWN ANT. F. RU- FESCENS, OR RUFESCENT ANT. TERMI- TES, OR WHITE ANTS. LUCY. Mamma, here is a little fly, which I have brought in to show you ; I found it in the sunny lane, leading to the west wood, where we were taking our morning's walk. You never saw such numbers as there were flying through the air, and lighting in crowds on our white frocks. Mother. Put it under this glass ; we may examine it there without hurting it. What order does it belong to r Lucy. To hymenoptera, I believe, be- cause it has four membranaceous wings, BLACK ANT. 283 Mother. You are right : now observe the other peculiarities, and let me see if you can find out its name. Lucy. The body is so deeply divided from the thorax, that the fty seems to be almost cnt through ; and there is a sort of scale between the thorax and abdo- men, which I do not think you have yet described to me. Mother. Now look over these differ- ent genera in hymenoptera ; perhaps you may find one of them with some charac- teristic answering to that scale. Lucy. Sphex, ichneumon, vespa, apis. Oh yes, here is the formica, or ant, which has a scale. Mother. Very well : read the de- cription. Lucy. " Formica, an erect squamula (or scale) between the thorax and the abdomen antennae filiform head large females and neutrals have a sting con- cealed females and males have wings ; neutrals, or labourers, none." Then, 284 HYMENOFTERA. mamma, ants are like bees, in having males, females, and workers ? Mother. Yes ; and they also resemble bees in living together in large societies, where all the works are carried on in common for the public good, and con- ducted with the greatest order and dis- patch. Lucy. I suppose there are ants' nests near the wood lane ? Mother. They are fond of making their nests in banks and uneven ground, where there are rough hillocks ; and sometimes near the roots of trees. They hollow out a sort of vaulted cavern, to which they make several subterraneous passages ; and for all this work, so pro- digious when compared with the bulk and strength of the animal, they have no other tools than their jaws ; but what they want in strength and tools they make up in numbers and diligence, multitudes of labourers working at once in carry- ing out the earth. BLACK ANT. 285 Lucy. But they must be in each other's way ? Mother. The regularity of their pro- ceedings prevents all confusion. They never enter the nest hy the same passage which they use for going out ; therefore, when laden with the earthy which they carry away in their jaws grain by grain, they always find a free road, as those that have discharged their burdens are then returning by a different avenue. The inside of the cavern is divided into numerous cells ; in some the eggs are placed ; in others the nymphs, wrapped up in pale yellow cocoons; and the care and attention bestowed on both is ad- mirable. The eggs are extremely small ; they are laid in spring, and the little worms, which are hatched in a few days, are constantly attended and fed by the workers, till they have reached their full size; this is usually in June, and the larvae then spin their webs. Lucy. And then, I suppose, the poor labourers may rest awhile ? 236 HYMENOPTERA. Mother. No ; they transfer their care to the pupae, which are carried out into the air on mild, soft days, or placed higher or lower in the nests, according as the heat or cold of the weather vary. Lucy. What constant trouble! And how long do they remain in the pupa state ? Mother. Something more than a month. In August the nest is full of young ants of all the three ranks. The females are more than twice as large as the males, and hoth are furnished with wings ; but the neuters, or labourers, have none, and are of a size between the others. Lucy. The labourers, I suppose, bring homo food to the larvae, as bees do ? What do they chiefly eat ? Mother. They eat fruit, dead insects, and flesh of all sorts : with surprising dexterity each individual cuts off a little piece to carry home ; or many ants, unit- ing their strength, drag the whole mass to the nest. I have often seen a great BROWN ANT. 287 fly, or a dead beetle, a hundred times as large as themselves, conveyed, by their joint efforts, from a considerable distance. Scouts are often sent out to discover food ; and, if they bring home any promising intelligence, thousands immediately re^ pair to the spot, following the little spy in a single line, one after the other. Lucy. What kind of food, mamma, do they lay up in store for the winter ? Mother. They are in a torpid state during most part of the winter, and there- fore do not require any provisions. The ant, which we have here, is the formica nigra*, a very common species ; but I will now give you some interesting particulars of a large brown ant-}-, which might be called the mason ant. Lucy. I suppose, then, it builds a solid house, like that of the industrious mason bee ? Mother. Its dwelling is very ingeni- ously built ; but it works in society, as do * From Niger, black. Formica Brunnea of Latreille. 288 HYMENOPTERA. all the species of ants; the nest is of great size, and divided into stories, placed one over the other, like those of a house, and each containing a suite of large apart- ments, besides smaller rooms, or cells : some nests have been known to contain twenty stories above-ground, and twenty more under-ground. These ants cannot bear much heat ; in dry weather, when the sun shines brightly, they remain at home, shutting their doors to keep out the heat, and placing sentinels to prevent the intrusion of other insects : but on the first shower of rain they re- sume their work. Some are skilful ma- sons, and build with the earth, which is brought to them by others, who are employed in mining and digging; and when the structure is of the requisite height they strengthen it by adding but- tresses at certain distances all round the walls. The ceilings of the large apart- ments, which are often two inches across, are supported by pillars of clay; the smaller chambers are vaulted, and nothing BROWN ANT. 289 can be more admirable than the dexterity with which the arches are formed, each particle of earth being made to project a little beyond that to which it is cemented, till the two side walls, gradually rising, meet in the middle and sustain each other. Some of these rooms have doors in the side, or end, walls ; others have apertures in the floor, or ceiling, to com- municate with the adjacent stories ; but all are connected throughout the whole fabric by passages, which generally ter- minate in the large central apartments, like the streets of a well laid out city, that meet in a square, or market place. Lucy. It is, indeed, like a city ; a most surprising city ! Mother. All goes on well as long as the weather is damp ; and so assiduously do they work, that an entire story Is completed in a day, or rather in a night, which is the time they usually prefer for their labours : but should a drying wind come before the building is roofed in, they can no longer temper the earth, for o HYMENOPTERA. want of rain ; and, as the unfinished parts would crumble away, they throw down all the uncovered cells, and, scattering the materials in readiness to receive the next moisture, they retire into the lower part of the nest. Lucy. But how do they manage ahout shaping their building ? Does one master ant, like an architect, lay out the plan for the rest to follow ? Mother. That has not been ascer- tained ; and though they certainly work together most harmoniously, it does not appear that there is any superintending eye ; on the contrary, they make fre- coient mistakes ; the following singular instance of which will amuse you. Sepa- rate divisions of an edifice having been rapidly carried up by separate parties, it was found, on their approaching each other, that, instead of accurately meeting, there was a considerable difference in the height of the corresponding ceilings : the error was at length perceived ; a consul- tation ensued ; the low part was imine- BROWN ANT. 21)1 diately demolished, and new walls and ceilings were rebuilt at the necessary elevation. Lucy. Do these hrown ants eat in- sects and meat, as the black ants do ? Mother. They eat fruit, and a great variety of articles ; but their favourite food is a sweet fluid, like honey, which is obtained by a small insect, the aphis, from the sap of vegetables. Lucy. Then they kill the aphis, I dare say, and suck its honey, as the wasp serves the bee ? Mother. No ; they seem to have a mutual friendship for each other, and their interchange of good offices is quite voluntary. The ants defend the aphides from their enemies, assist in hatching their eggs, protect them when young, and frequently pat them on the back with their antennae, in the same way as they caress their own young. A single aphis can give out enough of this sweet fluid to feed several ants ; and is even thought to retain it for a, considerable o 2 2D2 HYMENOPTERA. time, till an opportunity offers of sharing it with the ants, who regularly go to so- licit their food at the tree, or shrub, in* habited by the friendly aphis. If no aphides happen to have established them- selves near the nest, the ants have been known to select some particular species, that feed on grass and roots, and to carry great numbers of them into their imme- diate neighbourhood, or even to lodge them in the nest, where they assign them particular apartments, and supply thetn with food, in order to enjoy that favourite beverage without stirring from home. Lucy. In winter you said the black ants become torpid ; do the brown ants also? Mother. Yes, they do ; but not be- fore the cold is very severe; when the thermometer falls to five or six degrees below the freezing point, they become lethargic ; and it is remarkable, that the aphis also becomes torpid at the same degree. Lucy. This is, indeed, mamma, a BROWN ANT. 293 most singular history. So then these ants keep their herds of rnilch cattle much in the same way that we keep our herds of cows or goats. It is the first instance that you have mentioned of two different kinds of insects living together on terms of friendship ; all the rest seem to avoid or to prey upon each other. Mother. It is a curious circumstance ; nor do I recollect any thing similar to it among all the other tribes of insects. But, my dear Lucy, I have selected only a very few particulars in the economy of these sagacious animals ; there are many, which would appear almost in- credible if they were not well authenti- cated. For example, nests of ants have regular pitched battles with each other^ in which they practise all the stratagems of the most skilful warfare ; they fight with the most inveterate obstinacy, and leave the field of battle covered with slain. Lucy. One can readily imagine, that two ants might quUrrel for a dead fly, or 294 HYMKNOPTERA. some nice bit of food ; but what possible motive can whole nations of them have to quit their employments, and make war on each other ? Mother. Indeed, Lucy, the same ques- tion would equally apply to half the wars which have deluged the world with human blood. Ants are very irritable, and a single combat often brings on a national conflict ; sometimes they dispute the possession of a bit of ground adjoining their cities ; and their valuable herds of aphides are constant sources of conten- tion. But you will be yet more astonished when you learn, that some of the wars of these little wretches are actually for the purpose of making slaves ! If the assailants are victorious, the nest of the conquered party is immediately invaded, and all the pupae are carried off in tri- umph: these are carefully nursed till they have arrived at maturity, and are then employed in all the domestic drudgery ; they repair the dwelling, at- tend to the aphides, and feed, or even RUFESCENT ANT. TETIMITES. 295 carry, their masters, who pass the rest of their lives in luxurious indolence. These piratical ants, the formica ru/escens, are of a reddish colour, while the species, from which they make their captives, are black, and are thence aptly cfilled the Negro ants. Lucy. How delighted I should be, mamma, if you would show me some of these wonderful cities of the brown ants, and the still more wonderful battles of those slave-making ants. Mother. None of those species inha- bit this country ; but when you can read French more fluently, you shall see some very extraordinary details of the sagacity and singular habits of these creatures, in a book written by the celebrated P.Huber, of Geneva. In the mean time, I will show you a part of Mr. Smeathman's en- tertaining account of the white ants, or termites, of the coast of Guinea. Strictly speaking, however, they are not ants, as they belong to the order neuroptera; but their habits are s in many respects, similar j 296 HYMENOPTERA, living, like them, in a state of society, di- viding their labours, and displaying the same ingenuity in the construction of their nests. Some of these are great hills, often or twelve feet in height; and others, circular towers, of equal diameter at the hase and summit, where they are covered by a pointed roof, with a projecting eave, as you shall see in his plates. DIALOGUE XXXIV. ORDER DIPTERA. CESTRUS, OR GAD FLY. CE. HOVIS, OR OX GAD FLY. (E. OVIS, OR SHEEP GAD FLY. (E. TARANDI, OR REIN-DEER GAD FLY. MOTHER. We are now, Lucy, I think, sufficiently acquainted with the order hymenoptera, and may proceed to the sixth order, which is called diptera. Lucy. Ptera, I know, means wings ; what does the other part of the word mean ? Mother. It is derived from a Greek word, signifying two ; diptera, therefore, means the two-winged order, and all its genera consist of insects having only two membranaceous wings. O 5 DIPTERA. Lucy. Then all the common black flies are in this order ? Mother. Yes, all ; and a vast va- riety of others. Dipterous flies have two halteres*, orpoisers; and these ap- pendages are peculiar to them. Lucy. What are halteres, mamma ? Mother. They are little knobs, at the end of short pedicles, and are something like the stamens of a flower. The knobs are supposed to be hollow, as it were little bladders filled with air. There are two of them, one placed under each wing. Lucy. What can be the use of these little things ? Mother. Naturalists do not seem to have decided this point : some think, that they assist the fly to balance itself, and for that reason they have been called poisers ; and others imagine that the buzzing sound, made by flies when on the wing, is produced by these organs. * Weights held by ropedancers, as counterpoises. ^ZalwtZs' /ie ( r, >/)//,) ^ OX GAD FLY. 299 It has also been supposed, that by the buoyancy of these little bladders, which the fly can dilate or contract at pleasure, it is enabled to rise, sink, and move freely through the air ; somewhat in the same way as the air vessels of birds and fishes facilitate their movements. Lucy. Here is a Harry-Longlegs in the window; I seethe halteres plainly; they are quite close to the head of the wings. Mother Yes, they are very distinct in that kind of fly ; but in some species they are but just perceptible. The first genus in diptera is the oestrus*, or gadfly. Lucy. Is not that the fly which some- times sets horses mad ? Mother. It is, however, often falsely ac^ cused, for there are many other flies, which torment them terribly. One spe- cies, the cestrus bovis*, attacks our cows. This fly is as large as a drone bee, and' * Bos, Bovis, an ox. Plate XXI. SCO DIPTHRA. resembles it so much in its general ap- pearance., that it might be taken for one, unless the observer were near enough to distinguish that it has but two wings. Lucy. Does it sting very severely, like the bee ? Mother. It cannot be said to sting, as its attacks are not made with that de- sign ; its sole purpose is to lay its eggs. Lucy. That is like the ichneumon, which gives the wretched caterpillar so much pain. Mother. The instrument, with which the gad fly makes an incision in the skin of the animal, in order to deposit its eggs, is still more curiously formed than that of the ichneumon : it is composed of four tubes, one within the other, so that they push out like those of a pocket telescope. The outer tube is hard and shelly, and the inner one is terminated by five sharp points, of which three are hooked : with these it rapidly bores a hole through the roughest hide, and, guided by the tube, OX GAD FLY. 301 the eggs slide down into the wound. There the warmth of the beast soon hatches them, and the larvae, or worms, feed on the matter produced by the sore. Lucy What odious little creatures ! But do not they hart the cows most dreadfully ? Mother. At the moment of boring the hole, and inserting the eggs, the cat- tle seem to suffer very much ; but after- wards the tumours they create do not, as far as we can judge, occasion any se- rious pain : I have even heard, that in Norfolk, and Suffolk, they are reckoned useful ; and that, as the oestrus selects the healthiest cattle, the farmers prefer those cows, which have on their back three or four of the lumps, or bots, produced by this insect. The cattle are, however, thrown into the greatest agitation and distress at the sound of its well-known buz; they run about the field, lashing their tails, and bellowing with apprehen- 302 DIPTERA. sion, or plunge at once into the water, where the oestrus seldom follows them. Lucy. How long do the larvae live on the poor cows Mother. The fly seldom appears tHI June, and the larvae generally quit their abode in Autumn, and immediately bur- row in the ground ; their skin then- gradual ly thickens, and becomes so hard, as to answer the same purpose as the outer case of other chrysalids. Within this hardened skin the worm in time be- comes a nymph; and remains in this state till the following summer. Lucy. I think, mamma, that the maggot's own skin becoming hard, and forming the pupa case, is a different mode from any you have yet mentioned ; but how does the fly get out of it ? Mother. I am much pleased, my dear Lucy, by the attention you pay : you are very right, this manner of changing to the chrysalis I now mention for the first time ; but it is common in this order. SHEEP GAD FLY. 303 That part of the hard skin, or shell, which is nearest to the head, is attached by a slender filament, or thread, as the lid of a box is by the hinge ; this filament yields to a very slight pressure from within, the door opens, and the fly es- capes. Lucy. Are horned cattle the only creatures which the gad fly attacks ? Mother. There are three species, which deposit their eggs on the coat of the horse ; two of these, by a wonderful in- stinct, place them on his lips, or within reach of his tongue ; when licked in, and unconsciously swallowed, they are hatched by the heat of his stomach. The oestrus ovis *, or sheep gad fly 5 is a dread- ful pest to sheep ; it lays its eggs in their nostrils, from whence the maggots creep into the interior of the head, and afflict those poor animals with such pain, that they seem to fall into a sort of frenzy; * From Ovis f a sheep. 304 DIPTEKA. regardless of their usual tranquil ha- bits, they leap, and bound, or dash their heads against the trees ; and this state of extreme anguish and irritability returns every time the larvae change their places. Lucy. The poor sheep, then, must constantly suffer, for I suppose their per- secutors often move ? Mother. The larvae have two barbed claws, by which they probably stick fast in one spot till all the food within reach is consumed. When ready to become nymphs, they let themselves drop from the sheep's nose to the ground, and go through their changes in the same man- ner as the first species which I described. There are twelve species of this fly, but the last which I shall mention is the oestrus tarandi*, the implacable enemy of the rein-deer, into whose flesh, like the cestrus bovis, it introduces its eggs. The * From Cervus Tarandus, the rein deer. REIN-DEER GAD FLY. 305 distracted deer, with headlong speed, fly from the plains to the cold tops of the mountains, whither the fly never pursues them ; but those, which have not been able to escape, become thin, weak, and unhealthy. It is calculated, that, from this cause alone, a fourth part of the rein-deer of Lapland die, before they reach the age of two years ; an irrepara- ble loss to the poor Laplander, whose chief comforts are derived from that useful animal. Lucy. The rein-deer are driven in sledges, as I remember to have heard papa tell my brother William ; but for what else are they useful ? Mother. The Laplander is clothed principally with their skins ; their flesh forms a great part of his food ; and the rich milk, which they yield, affords the most wholesome and nutritious diet, both in summer and winter. They not only draw his sledge, but are trained to carry the tent and household goods when a family is changing its abode, a measure 306 D1PTERA. often necessary in the sterile soil and capricious climate of Lapland. Lucy. But, mamma, how can they have milk in winter in such a country, when it is scarce even in England r Mother. In the beginning of winter the milk is exposed, in large shallow pans, to the influence of the frost ; and when thoroughly frozen into cakes, it keeps perfectly well during the cold months : when used, a piece is broken off and melted, and being exceedingly rich,, it bears to be mixed with a large proportion of water. In Von Buck's Travels, you will find a very entertain- ing account of the whole process.; at present, as I cannot afford you more time, we will finish our conversation with the description of the genus osstrus. Antennae taper, each proceeding from a small protuberance the mouth only a simple orifice palpi two and stem- mata three. The species oestrus bovis is thus described : thorax yellow, with four short lines abdomen tawny, with REIN-DEER GAD FLY. 307 a black band last segment dark and orange coloured hairs wings and poi- sers white legs black, with pale feet. The larvae are short, thick, and soft without feet and brown, with trans- verse lines and black dots. DIALOGUE XXXV. MUSCA, OR FLY TRIBE. M. CHAMJELEON, OR CHAMELION FLY. MOTHER. In the genus of insects, which I shall describe to-day, many spe- cies are familar to you : I have often heard you complain of their annoying buzz, and of the freedom with which they light upon your face. Lucy. I think, mamma, it must be of the common flies you mean to speak ? Mother. It is. In the genus musca, or fly, there are above five hundred spe- cies ; but out of this great number I shall only select a few. The genus is distinguished by a soft, flexible proboscis, or trunk, with lateral lips at the ed ; some have two short, simple antennae, CHAMELION FLY. 309 and others have, in addition, two late- ral hairs, one fastened to each of the antennae. Lucy. What does lateral mean ? Mother. Growing out of the side is to grow laterally; in the common house fly you may distinctly see those lips at either side of its trunk, when eating. The musca chameleon* is the first spe- cies which I shall mention. It lays its eggs in the hollow stalks of rushes, and other aquatic plants. The shape of the larvae, which come from these eggs, is very remarkable : from the mouth the body gradually increases in thickness for about one third of its whole length, and then tapers towards the tail, where it again expands, something like that of a fish. Round the tail are placed thirty feathered filaments, or hairs, which never become wet, though under water ; and in the centre, from whence they diverge, there are two spiraculce. The body is * Plate XXII. 310 D1PTERA. covered with a rough granulated skin of various colours ; and is divided into twelve rings, of which nine are perfo- rated by spiracultf, having one on each side ; do you remember what they are ? Lucy. Yes, I do. They are little breathing holes, and are generally marked by a coloured ring close round them. Mother. Very well. This larva is very slow in its motions, and never moves horizontally through the water as fishes do. When at rest it expands its circular tail of filaments upon the surface of the water, like a fan, from which the body, that always hangs downwards, seems to be suspended. Lucy. Do these curious creatures in- habit our ponds ? Mother. I believe they may be very commonly found there; but we seldom think of seeking for those wonders, which are a little out of our beaten path. I had once the pleasure of finding one of these larvae in my water glass, after dinner, where I could readily observe its motions ; CHAMKLION FLY. Sll on each little filament there was a bright globule of air; and when the animal wished to change its place, by twisting, or bending its body from side to side, it was able to effect a slow progress through the water. Lucy. How beautiful the little dia- mond globules must have appeared round its fanned tail ! Mother. Yes, it was a very pretty sight. When it chose to descend, it contracted, or drew in, the points of the filaments towards each other, resembling, in shape, a hollow pear, and inclosing between them a large globule, or bubble, of air ; thus transforming its fringed tail into a little air balloon, which always kept that end uppermost. Lucy. But how did it procure the air, and force it into the balloon ? Mother. It seems to have the power of forcing the air from its own body into the little balloon. As it sinks in ths water the bubble is often allowed to escape, though instantly replaced by an- 312 BIPTERA. other ; but, in ascending through the water, the globule is constantly retained between the filaments, till they may be expanded on the surface. Lucy. What a quantity of air this little creature must have in its body! Mother. Naturalists have not yet as- certained how it is able to produce all this air, by the management of which it can sink or swim at pleasure. Lucy. What does the larva eat ? Mother. It appears to live entirely by suction, as it has neither jaws nor tongue ; but in the middle of its mouth there is a single horny beak, like the upper part of a bird's bill, to each side of which is at- tached a short, fleshy organ ; and these it has the power of protruding, or of re- tracting, when not wanted. They seem to answer the joint purpose of hands and feet ; for, in the water, they serve to stir up the mud, so as to allow the beak to work in it more easily ; and they are em- ployed as feet, when the animal quits the water. CHAMBLION FLY. 313 Lucy. It is then an amphibious in- sect r Mother. No ; it never quits the water till near the time of changing to a nymph ; it then drags itself along the bank to a proper spot, where it can lie with a part of its body under water, and there it re- mains. Lucy. Does it remain long in that situation ? Mother. Soon after it has become stationary the body begins to shrink, or shorten ; and in about twelve hours the four rings next the tail, and one or two next to the head, are found empty, which may be seen by holding it up to the light, as the skin is in some measure transparent. The nymph is closely folded up in a thin case, and, if this is cautiously removed, the future fly may be distinctly perceived. In this state it remains several days, when, in consequence of the efforts of the little prisoner, the outer skin splits along the third, fourth, and fifth rings, and the fly escapes, p 314 DIPTERA. Lucy. When the fly is come out, on what does it prey ? Mother. The habits of the perfect insect are less known than those of the larva : by some it is supposed to be car- nivorous ; others think that it subsists on the honey of flowers ; and one naturalist asserts, that it can live without any food for nine months. Lucy. You said., mamma, that the skin of the larva was granulated ; what is that ? Mother. Granulated, strictly speak- ing, is to consist of grains ; but, applied to the texture of a skin, it means a rough appearance, like that of shagreen. The little protuberances of the larva, when highly magnified, resemble limpet shells, as you may see in this drawing*. * Plate XXII. ri.22 Published Novemberl. 1878. by RJfunter. Stfauts Church Yard Z ondon . DIALOGUE XXXVI. MUSCLE, OR FLY TRIBE. MUSCA TENAX. LUCY. The fan tailed creature, mam- ma, which you last described to me, in our nice insect conversations, is a most curious little animal, with its bubbles of air, and its tiny air balloon at its tail. Do the larvae of any other flies, muscse I mean, live in the water ? Mother. I am glad to find, my dear, that, after so long an interval as ten days, you accurately remember what we last discussed, and that you seem to return to the subject with pleasure. Lucy. Indeed, mamma, there are few things which I learn with so much plea- sure as these curious histories of insects ; p 2 316 XMPTKRA. and when I walk out, I find great sport in watching the bees and flies upon the flowers and bushes. Mother. The animals, which I shall describe to day, do not live among flowers or bushes, nor in water, but in ditches and other filthy places. There are several kinds of muscae which deposit their eggs in those situations ; one species lays them in clusters of forty or fifty, and in such a manner, that the moment the worm comes from the egg, it can creep into the moist dirt, which is suited to its habits. Lucy. Are these larvae shaped like those of the chamelion fly ? Mother. No, they are very dissimilar in shape, but they breathe in the same man- ner through the tail. The body is rather more than half an inch long, and some- what resembles a tadpole. Have you ever seen a tadpole ? Lucy. Oh yes, last spring Fanny showed me numbers of them from the old steps at the brook, and she told me they were young frogs. MUSCA TENAX. 317 Mother. Very well ; these little crea- tures have much the appearance of those tadpoles, but the body is longer in pro- portion to its thickness ; and it is pos- sessed of seven pair of feet, which are very small. Lucy. Do they ever walk out of the water ? Mother. Yes ; they are sometimes found crawling slowly on the damp ground; but this seldom takes place till they are in search of a secure corner, in which to go through their changes. Lucy. Perhaps they use their little legs to creep upon the mud at the bottom of ditches. Mother. Possibly that may sometimes be the case ; but, as they are incapable of living without a constant supply of air, they can walk only in the shallowest water. Their food they seem to find in the dirt, which they root up with their heads ; for which reason they have sometimes been called hog worms. DIPTKRA. Lucy. What colour are these little dirty creatures ? Mother. They always appear of the same hue as the mud in which they are found ; for it strongly adheres to their clammy skin ; but if washed they are found to be white, and so transparent, that their air vessels can be distinctly traced. Of these air vessels there are two, which, in the middle of the body, are of considerable size, but lessen in thick- ness towards the extremities, and they run along its whole length, like two pa- rallel stripes. When the tail is stretched out, these air vessels become so slender as to be nearly imperceptible; but when it is contracted, they enlarge, and as the tail shortens, they bend up in folds. The intestine, which contains the aliment, or food, is easily distinguished from the air vessels, by the dark colour of its con- tents. Lucy. But, mamma, how do they lengthen or shorten their tails ? MUSCA TENAX. 319 Mother. The tail is formed of two tubes ; that next the body being the largest, and into this the animal can draw the smaller tube, which forms the farther half of the tail. Lucy. Then I suppose they keep the tip of the tail above water, like the larva of the chamelion fly, and that it is for that purpose they are enabled to alter its length ? Mother. Yes ; they lengthen or short- en their tail according to the depth of water ; and not only by pushing out the smaller tube to its full length, but also by extending, or stretching, both the tubes, which are as elastic as a thin piece of Indian rubber. Lucy. These little creatures do not seem to have any filaments at the end of the tail, like those of the fan-tailed larva. Mother. Yes, they have; the tail ends in a fine point, from which proceed five hairs, that spread out upon the sur- DIPTERA. face of the water ; but they are too mi- nute to be observed, without the assist- ance of a good microscope. When the time for transformation is come, these larvse creep out of the water, and having found a suitable place, they remain at rest for a short time : the body be- comes thicker, the tail shrinks, and the whole skin assumes a shell-like hardness. Lucy. The old skin, I suppose, an- swers for the ca&e, within which they make their change ? Mother. Yes, it does ; and some sin- gular alterations then take place. The head loses its former shape, and the rudi- ments, or beginnings, of two pair of horns, are seen to burst through the old skin ; the lower pair, with a slight bend, project nearly forward ; while the upper pair first rise upward, and then gradually curve downward. Lucy. What use can a chrysalis make of horns, for as it cannot move it cannot defend itself? MUSCA TENAX. 321 Mother. There are a few instances of chrysalids being endowed with the power of moving to a certain degree ; and you know there are several genera of in- sects, particularly in one order, where the nymph is as active as the larva, and seems to differ but little from the imago. Lucy. Oh yes, I recollect ; the cricket and the grasshopper. But those in- sects, which change within a pupa case, and lie concealed for a long time, could make, I think, but little use of horns. Mother. There are some pupse, which can advance, though unable to move backwards. I think I have already men- tioned the chrysalis of the goat moth, which has horns along its back; these horns, by acting against the bark, under which it lives, assist it to move forward, but prevent its retreating. Lucy. I had quite forgotten this ; but I believe you only mentioned it p 6 322 DIPTERA. slightly, 'and said, that I should hereafter read a full account of it. Mother. Yes, my dear Lucy ; and when I think you can understand the minute description that has heen given of the wonderful structure of that cater- pillar, you shall read it, and have the plates to examine. The horns of these rat-tailed larvae Lucy. Why rat-tailed, mamma ? Mother. Because their shape has some resernhlance to * a rat's tail, which you know is very long and slender. These horns quickly grow to a considerable length, and answer the same purpose as the tail did before transformation, and as the stigmatae do when the insect has as- sumed its perfect state. Lucy. The animal then breathes through these horns ? Mother. It does ; they are spiracnla, or breathing passages; and, in about twenty-four hours after they have at- tained their proper length, the fly is Published Xovember /, 1818 by JL Hunter, S? Pant's Outrch Yani,Lcrutcn. MUSCA TENAX. 323 found to be completely developed, or formed. It remains, however, a chrysalis for about ten days longer, when it emerges from its cell, a yellow and black fly, called the musca tenax; it is com- monly seen hovering over flowers, and is often mistaken for a bee *. * Plate XXIII. DIALOGUE XXXVII. MUSCLE, OR FLY TRIBE. M. VOMITORIA. M. CARNARIA. LUCY. I am very happy, mamma, that you can go on with the history of the flies to-day. Mother. The musca vomitoria is the large blue fly, which is familiarly known to you by the name of the blue-bottle fly, and whose loud humming noise, on warm days, is so disagreeable. But it has other habits, which are still more disagreeable, particularly to butchers and cooks, for it places its eggs on any sort of dead animal flesh, and these eggs are hatched in the short space of a few hours. As soon as the maggots corne out they begin to eat ; in eight or nine days they attain their MUSCA CARfcARIA. 325 full growth, and then change to the chrysalis state, in which they remain for ten days, hefore the imago makes its ap- pearance. Lucy. This is the fly, I believe, mamma, that seems to be so much afraid of wasps. Mother. Very right; this fly is the most common of those species that spoil our meat: but the muse a carnaria* is a still greater nuisance, as it also frequents the larder and other places where meat is exposed, and at once produces worms instead of eggs. Lucy. Worms! It differs, then, in that respect, from all other insects. Mother. Several of the muscae pro- duce worms ready hatched; they are therefore called viviparous. Lucy. What does viviparous mean ? Mother. It is derived from two Latin words, which signify to be born in a living state, and is used in contrast to oviparous, * From Carnarium, a butcher's shambles. 326 D1PTERA. the term applied to those animals that produce their young in the inanimate form of eggs. The musca carnaria is supposed to produce a greater number of young than any other sort of fly ; one of them, on being carefully dissected, was found to contain twenty thousand worms. Lucy. How wonderfully small the worms must be ! Indeed it seems hardly possible, that so small an animal can con- tain such a number. Mother. They are not only very mi- nute, but they are so arranged as to oc- cupy an extremely small space. In the fly a white mass was observed, in the form of a flat band, like a ribbon, and rolled up very closely. This band was carefully unwound from its coil. At first sight it appeared as if delicately carved ; but when a higher magnifying power was applied to the microscope, this ap- pearance was found to have been caused by the young maggots, which were placed beside each other in parallel rows along MUSCA CARNARIA. 327 the band ; the thickness of the hand he- ing just equal to the thickness of the body of one maggot. Lucy. Just, mamma, as if a bit of penny ribbon was entirely formed of these little creatures, closely stuck together. Mother. Very well imagined : the band was quite white in the middle of the coil, but at the outer extremity the young fry were of a pale brownish hue, and were already alive and active. As the maggots come to maturity, the band unrols ; the most perfect of them are pushed off; and the fly deposits them on the flesh, where they are to live. Lucy. But is it not astonishing how any one could dissect a fly, without de- stroying all this little delicate coil ? Mother. It is astonishing, Lucy; but if we admire the dexterity of those na- turalists, who could unrol this wonder- ful web, and lay it open to our view, what ought we to feel towards that power and wisdom, by which it was constructed, which formed it of regularly organised 328 DIPTERA. creatures, and which endowed those creatures with the faculties requisite to perform a useful part in the beneficent economy of the universe ! Lucy. Dear mamma, can those ani- mals, which destroy and spoil our meat, be of any use ? Mother. There is no race of animated nature which is not in some way conducive to the general benefit. These flesh maggots are of essential service, by speedily de- stroying the putrid carcases of dead ani- mals, which would otherwise be an in- tolerable nuisance. These worms con- tinue their depredations for seven or eight days, and then bury themselves in some loose earth. Lucy. Where, I suppose, they change to chrysalids ? Mother. They do so ; in the progress of their change the body contracts in length, and enlarges in thickness, till it acquires the form, and indeed the appear- ance, of an egg ; and the skin, which is at first white and soft, gradually alters to MUSCA CARNARIA. 329 the colour and firmness of leather. If opened while in its white, soft state, it seems to contain only a half- fluid mat- ter, in which no trace of the future ani- mal can be perceived ; but in a few days the form of the fly may be distinguished, and in three weeks it becomes quite per- fect. Lucy. Yet these changes could not have been observed through the brown leathery skin, as in the case of some other insects ? Mother. No; the skin is too thick for that ; but the person, who dissected the fly with so much nicety, was patient enough to open one of these egg-shaped chrysalids every day, by which means he was enabled to trace the whole progress and development of the fly. Lucy. Mamma, another curious cir- cumstance in the changes of this fly is the half-fluid matter found in the egg; for in all the other insects, which you have described, their shape was distin- 330 DIPTERA. guishable, even at the beginning of their change. Mother. The generality are certainly found to possess their proper form, in the very first stage of their transformation ; there are, however, several insects, whose imago form can scarcely be discerned at the beginning of their change. Lucy. I think you said there were other flies that were viviparous ; are their little worms also twisted up in bands r Mother. No ; that circumstance is peculiar to a very few species. Let us now turn to the characteristic description of our two flies, that you may the more readily distinguish them. Musca vomitoria, blue flesh fly eyes brown plumes of the antennae branched thorax black abdomen dark glossy blue legs black length about half an inch. Musca carnaria, flesh fly eyes red- dish thorax black, with four grey lines abdomen of five segments, che- MUSCA CARNARIA. 331 quered grey and black legs black length about four lines. This fly is not so broad in proportion as the blue fly, and the body has a greater curve down- wards. Lucy. I think I should easily know these flies from one another. Mother. I hope so. Out of the pro- digious number of species which belong to this tribe,, there are many others worthy of your acquaintance ; but we must reserve them for some future occa- sion, and proceed to-morrow to another genus. Before we part, however, I will amuse you with a curious circumstance of these flesh-eating larvae : a celebrated foreign anatomist actually contrived to enlist them into his service. Lucy. Oh ! mamma, how is that possible ? Mother. In making certain kinds of anatomical preparations the object is to show the tendons and sinews, independent of the fleshy parts. These maggots only 332 DIPTERA. eat the soft flesh, and leave untouched all the firmer substance, of which the tendinous parts are formed; even the finest memhranes they strip of every particle of flesh and fat, and shew them in the high- est preservation. This gentleman em- ployed the larger species for the coarser parts, and the worms of some very small flies for eating between the delicate and close-laid fibres. DIALOGUE* XXXVIII. CULEX, OR GNAT. MOTHER. The genus of insects, which I have selected for our conversa- tion this morning, is the culex, or gnat, an insect of which I believe you have already heard. Lucy. That I have, indeed, and have felt them too ; they are very troublesome in the evenings. Mother. On some persons' skins they produce much pain and inflammation : and at night they are very disagreeable guests in one's bed room, from their in- cessant noise. The gnat always lays its eggs in pools of standing water, on the sur- face of which it is curious to see, them 334 DIPTERA. floating, their long hind legs crossed un- der them, while the body is kept up- right by the assistance of their fluttering wings. Lucy. Do the eggs float, or do they sink to the bottom ? Mother. They float for some days ; the gnat fastens two or three hundred of them together by a glutinous liquid, and gives the whole mass the shape of a little boat, which is driven about by the wind. In a very few days the larvae are hatched ; they are very small, but well worth ob- serving as to their form. Lucy. Can I see them in all pools ? Mother. They are common from May till the beginning of winter in ponds and stagnant ditches, where they may be seen suspended with the tail uppermost. The head is large and scaly, with two antennae, and several hairs, which are jointed, and always in motion ; it is also furnished with two hooks, by which it seems to catch, and hold fast, its food. Lucy. What, mamma ! do such little GNAT. 335 creatures find still smaller creatures on which they can prey ? Mother. Yes, my dear; water is thickly inhabited by animalcula, which are so small as to be invisible to the eye without the help of a very good micro- scope. Lucy. What does animalcula mean ? Mother. An animalcule means an ex- tremely small animal ; the term is applied to those little creatures which can only be seen through magnifying glasses. Lucy. I am very sorry to find that water is not as pure as it seems to be. We must swallow these little animals at every sup. Mother. Certainly ; and every vegeta- ble you eat, and even the air you breathe, swarms with animalcula, but we need not let the mind dwell on such things. The water, which appeared clear and pure when you were ignorant that it con- tained any animalcula, is, in fact, not less so now, nor less fit for all the uses 336 DlPTEftA. to which it is commonly applied. When the larvae are first hatched they are ribt more than a tenth part of an inch long, but they quickly grow to about the length of half an inch ; within the thorax the future gnat has been traced, with its legs nicely folded up. Lucy. Like the tiny moth, which is found inside the three upper rings of the caterpillar. Mother. Yes ; but the body of this worm is very different from that of the caterpillar ; the abdomen is divided into eight rings, and from the sides of each ring three or four bristles proceed. It has also four processes, like fins, which assist it in swimming ; and the tail is divided into two parts, by one of which it steers, while the other contains two breathing tubes, or stigmatae. Lucy. Then, I suppose, it is in order to keep these little stigmatae above water that it hangs with its head down ? Mother. Just so ; and it is enabled to GNATS 33? suspend itself in this position by means of an oily fluid, of which it has a small reservoir in the tail. Lucy. How does the oil enable it to suspend itself? Mother. Oil, you know, is much lighter than water, and swims on its surface, in a thin pellicle, or film ; to this pellicle the little creature attaches itself. Lucy. Do they never sink ? Mother. When the wind is high, and the water rough, the oil is disturbed, and they descend to the bottom ; but as they seem incapable of living without a con- s^anc supply of air, they frequently return to the surface. They continue in this larva state for about three weeks, when they become pupae. Lucy. And then, I suppose, they immediately leave the water? Mother. No ; they remain some time longer in the water to perfect their changes; the stigmatae, which were at the tail, are now placed at the head, and 338 DIPTERA. the form of the gnat can be perceived through the shroud, or case, in which it is enveloped, and which is again wrapped in an outer case of fine net work. The pupse float upon the water, rolled up in little spiral halls ; but they have the power of unrolling, aod of diving to the hottom, if alarmed. In three or four days they burst their case, and, resting on it, as on a boat, till they can expand their wings, they become at once inhabit- ants of the air : but this is a critical mo- ment of their existence : should the wind be high, and the water agitated, the boat fills, and the gnat perishes. Lucy. Well, indeed, I should not grieve much if they were all to be drowned, though they are such curious little creatures. I think the plague of gnats would be as vexatious as the plague of locusts. Mother. But not quite so destructive. The proboscis, or trunk, is the most wonderful part of the gnat ; it is com- posed of an outer tube, which is so flexi- GNAT. 339 ble that it can be bent in any direction : within this there is another tube, very sharply pointed, and containing five or six minute points, which are shaped like lancets. The gnat deliberately inserts this pointed inner tube in the skin, and then darts the lancets into a small vein, at the same moment ejecting through the tube in- to the wound a drop of a clear liquid, which, mixing with the blood, renders it more fluid, and more easy to suck up. It is supposed that the itching and irritation, which attend gnat bites, is produced by the acrid, or poisonous, qualities of this liquid. Lucy. Are there many kinds of gnats ? Mother. I think there are fourteen or fifteen species. One of the most trouble- some is the little midge, which bites so sharply in damp evenings. The mos- quito, which is so great a torment to the inhabitants of the West Indies, and of all hot climates, is a species of gnat ; and the wound which they inflict is much a 2 340 DIPTERA. more severe, and the inflammation more lasting than that of our gnats ; but even the coldest climates are not exempt from them. The Laplanders are so much in- fested by these winged tormentors, that the poor natives are often obliged to sleep surrounded by smoke, in order to keep them off. The Cfulex is thus described. Antennae of the male feathered mouth armed \vith piercers, contained in a flexible sheath feelers two. Culex pipiem, or common gnat> grey abdomen of eight segments. DIALOGUE XXXIX. IJIPPOBOSCA. MOTHER. The different stages, Lucy, by which insects usually arrive at their perfect state, are no doubt familiar to you by this time t Lucy. The egg, mamma, is the first stage; from it the larva proceeds ; then comes the pupa ; and then the fly : but among the muscae you said there were some kinds, which produced their larvae at once. Mother. I shall now describe a family, in whjch the animal brings forth its young in the imago, or perfect state, and of full size. Lucy. Like calves and lambs, which are born perfect creatures ? 312 DIPTSRA. * Mother. Yes ; but calves and lambs are weak and small ; they are not a tenth part of the size to which they after- wards attain. Their bodies have not the same shape, or proportions, which they bear when fall grown, and in some parts they are quite imperfect ; as, for instance, their teeth and horns. But the animal, to which I allude, is complete, and issues fall sized from the egg. Lucy. Then the mother does lay an egg? Mother. She does ; this egg is about the size of a common pea, white at one end, and black at the other, and full as large as the parent fly. Lucy. Then it never goes through the stages of larva and nymph ? Mother. It has been suggested, that these changes have already taken place before the egg is laid, and that the fly is then in the nymph state. Lucy. What is the name of this curious fly ? Mother. Hipj)obosca equina. It is HIPPOBOSCA F.QUINA. sometimes called spider fly, from a fan- cied resemblance to a spider; others call it the horse leech, or horse fly ; but all these names are improper, because they make a confusion of terms* Lucy. How, mamma ? for I have often seen brown flies, with beautiful green eyes, that sadly worried horses. 'Mother. Yes, Lucy ; and that affords an instance of the confusion, which call- ing the hippoboscae, horse flies, would occasion, since horse fly is the name commonly given to the tabanus, which in summer and autumn torment our cattle. Lucy. You did not give me any ac- count of the tabanus. Mother. No, I did not, because, though the fly is very common, the larva is un- known : the fly has a large proboscis, armed with a sharp lancet ; it sucks large quantities of blood, and gives great paia to the creature it attacks. Lucy. And why is it wrong to call the hippobosca a horse leech : 311 IHPTltRA. Mother. The leech, or hirudo, is an animal belonging to the class vermes, in which worms of all sorts are placed. It has neither eyes, legs, nor fins, and in- habits ponds and ditches ; one species is called the horse leech, from its frequently attacking the legs of horses, while stand- ing in the water : it makes a large trian- gular wound, and soon fills itself with blood. But to return to the hippoboscae, which are among the most indefatigable enemies of horses. Lucy. Poor horses , to what a nuftp ber of enemies they are exposed ! Mother. In summer and autumn the hippoboscae fix themselves on the thin and tender parts of the horses' skin, by means of their sharp claws, of which they ha've several on each foot; and they ad- here so closely, that the poor animal bites and tears its flesh in fruitless en- deavours to rub them off. Within a sheath they have a proboscis, which they can lengthen or shorten at pleasure, and which, though as fine as a hair, is strong HIPPOBOSGA OVJNA. enough to penetrate through a horse's hide. Another species fastens on dogs, for which reason in France it is called mouche de chien, or the dog fly. Lucy. Is this a very numerous fa- mily ? Mother. No ; only four species have been found in England ; one of these is called H. ovina, or the sheep tick ; it is re markably tenacious of life, and is often found alive in wool, long after it has been shorn and packed up. Another species, H. hirundinis, is chiefly found on swallows ; it is smaller than the H. equi- na, but produced in the same remarkable manner. The eggs are black and highly polished, so that they look like little balls of jet. Lucy. I should like greatly to see some of this singular tribe ; will you de- scribe them exactly to me, mamma ^ Mother. Antennae filiform mouth furnished with a bivalve, cylindric, and obtuse beak ~ feet terminated with nume- a 5 3i6 DIPTERA. rous claws. These are the general cha- racters of the genus ; now I will give you those which distinguish the species. Lucy. But first, mamma, what does bivalve mean ? Mother. Bivalve is composed of two valves, or shutters, which close together: thus an oyster, a cockle, and a muscle, are said to have hivalve shells, that is, the two parts, of which the shell consists, are jointed to one another, and shut close together. Lucy. Thank you, mamma, I under- stand ih at very well; now will you ex- plain obtuse ? Mother. Obtuse means blunt, in op- position to an acute or sharp angle. The first species, the H. equina*, broad, flat, and scaly head yellow eyes brown thorax and abdomen yellowish, with brown waves wings obtuse, cross each other, a brown spot near the margin, and * From Eqitus, a horse. HIPPOBOSCA OVINA.. much larger than the body legs yellow and brown, armed with four claws length two lines and a half. The second, H. hirundinis*, head yel- low thorax darker abdomen dusky^ with a blueish cast, broad and flat wings tapering, narrow, and short legs long, each foot furnished with six claws. You see the differences are well marked, and yet each species has some characters which are common to all. Now, Lucy, our Entomology must be laid aside for to-day. * From Hirundo, a swallow^ DIALOGUE XL. ORDER APTERA. PEDICULUS, OR LOUSE. PULEX, OR FLEA. MOTHER. To day we shall pro- ceed to the seventh and last order of insects ; it comprehends all those that have no wings at any period of their lives ; and as this is the distinguishing characteristic of the order, it is therefore called aptera, that is, without wings. Lucy. But, mamma, in some of the other orders there are female insects -which have no wings, the glow-worm, for instance. Mother. True, Lucy ; hut no apte- rous insects, whether male or female, have wings : nor, with the exception of the flea, do they go through the transfer- LOUSE. 349 mations, which those in the other orders invariably observe. They are born in their complete shape, and only change their skins as they increase in size. There are several genera in this order, of which very little is known : I shall begin with a family, which, though always mentioned with well founded disgust, is, notwith- standing, deserving of some attention. Lucy. I cannot imagine what creature you mean. Mother. Indeed it is most probable that my well combed and cleanly little girl never saw, much less felt, one of these odious little animals I mean the pediculuSy or louse, the scourge of filth and indolence. Lucy. I have heard people mention a louse, but I never saw one. Mother. The pediculus kumanus, er common louse, multiplies at a prodigious rate. To ascertain this rate, a certain naturalist put a female into a worsted stocking, which he wore for six days and nights; at the end of that time her pro- 350 APTERA. geny amounted to fifty, and they grew so rapidly, and so soon produced another generation, that he calculated, that one female might, in the space of eight weeks, have five thousand descendants. Lucy. What an amazing increase ! I wonder how any body can he free from them. Mother. Constant cleanliness is the grand preservative. These insects breed chiefly in the head, because the moisture and warmth, which is usually found under the hair, is particularly suitable to their habits. When they first issue from the egg they are nearly white ; but as they grow, and change their skins, they be- come of a dark grey tint. The head ter- minates in a sort of hollow snout, or sheath, containing a trunk, or sucker, which is said to be seven hundred times less than a common hair, and through which all their food is imbibed. Lucy. It feeds only upon blood, I suppose ? Mother* Blood is its chief food, and LOUSE. 351 the skin is so transparent, that the blood may be seen to rush in a bright red stream through the trunk, into a small cavity in the fore part of the head ; from thence it is conveyed into another circular cavity at the back of the head, and then through the breast into the intestine. At the end of the abdomen the intestine returns towards the breast for a short space, and in this bent part the blood is digested, that is, converted into nutri- ment. Lucy. Odious as this little animal is, it would be very amusing to examine it in a microscope. Mother. The thinness of its skin allows the inward structure and progress of the food to be observed better than in almost any other animal ; even the mo- tion of the muscles, when the antennas, or the legs, are moved, is visible in the microscope, This species has six legs, and each foot is armed with two claws, one of which is long and curved, like the talon of a bird, the other short and S52 APTERA. straight, so that it can grasp with them, aa it were, with a finger and thumb. Lucy. Does it prey on any other animals than men ? Mother. Yes ; very generally on birds, of which almost every kind seems to have a species peculiar to itself. Cattle, even horses, are sometimes, in consequence of bad food and insufficient care, seized with the lousy disease. But let us quit this disgusting subject, and proceed to another genus, with which, I fear, you are a little better acquainted the pulex, or flea. Lucy. Yes, indeed, I have seen fleas, ad felt them too. Mother. Fleas are the only family of the order aptera, whose young, after quitting the egg, pass through the larva state. Lucy. What little eggs a flea must lay. Mother. They are very small and white, and so perfectly round and po~ lished, that they would roll to the ground FLEA. 353 were it not for the care the flea takes to place them at the roots of the hair on various animals, snch as dogs and cats_, or between the feathers upon birds. Lucy. What ! are the pretty little birds tormented by fleas also ? Mother. Pigeons, and most large birds, have vast quantities of fleas ; and I believe few species are exempt from them. The eggs are hatched in about six days; the worms are white and shin ing, like mother of pearl ; they have no feet, but the tail is armed with two small hooks, by which they probably se- cure themselves to the skin of the animal upon which they live. They have two short antennae, and on their bodies grow a few hairs, thinly set. - Lucy. Do they remain long in this larva state before they become fleas ? Mother. About a fortnight ; at the end of that time they arrive at their full size, and are very active, lively little maggots. They can creep very swiftly, with a motion like that of the silk worm, 35 1 APTERA. and on the least touch, or alarm, they roll themselves up into little balls. When the larva period of their life has elapsed they spin themselves a little cocoon. Lucy. Oh ! what a diverting cocoon it must he ! One must use a microscope to see it. Mother. It spins the cocoon with its mouth, drawing the minute silken threads from a reservoir of gummy matter, with which it is provided ; the outside of the cocoon is generally dirty, but the inside is as white and as soft as cotton. It re- mains a fortnight in the chrysalis, during which time it is white and polished, so that it looks like an ivory flea ; but two days before it emerges from its case, the skin becomes gradually darker and harder. Lucy. Mamma, I remember to have heard it said, that fleas jumped farther in proportion to their size than any other creature. Mother. Yes ; it is asserted, that a flea can jump two hundred times the .lieight of its own body. FLEA. 355 Lucy. How is it able to do so ? Its legs must be fitted for that purpose, I suppose, like those of the grasshopper. Mother. The grasshopper is assisted in leaping by its wings ; but the exploits of the flea are entirely the result of mus- cular action. It has six legs, two of them are jointed to the head, and be- tween these are placed two antennae, or feelers, of four joints each, as well as the proboscis, or sucker, with which it pierces the skin ; the other four are attached to the breast, and all the legs are divided into three principal joints. When the animal jumps it shuts up these joints close together, so that the thighs are brought down close to the shanks ; and the legs are so folded, one within the other, that the effort is made by all ex- actly at the same moment. The lower joint of the legs is composed of four or five smaller divisions, and terminates in two sharp hooked claws, which enable it to cling securely on whatever substance it may chance to alight. Their eyes are 356 APTERA. formed something like a cat's, and re- markably brilliant; the feelers are sup- posed to be, likewise, organs of smell ; and two small cavities, covered with a thin film, are probably the ears. Lucy. Mamma, I have heard that a flea has some resemblance to a lobster; but the lobster has a great broad tail. Mother. The likeness, in shape at least, is not very perceptible; the idea has probably arisen from their scaly co- verings. To the naked eye, the flea ap- pears to be covered with one single shell; but, when examined through the micro- scope, the shell is found to consist of a number of highly polished plates, or scales, of a substance resembling tortoise- shell, and which are beautifully jointed and fitted to each other, like a coat of mail. The edge of each plate is fringed with a regular row of bristles, like little spears ; and all these plates yield so readily to the quick motions of the flea as not in the least to impede its agility, Lucy. How little does one imagine> FLEA. 357 in looking at a flea, what wonders axe contained in its tiny body ! : Mother. Ignorance does indeed shut our eyes to the many beauties and many curiosities which are constantly before them. 1 have now only to add, that the proboscis is formed of a sharply pointed sheath, in each side of which there is a small slit. When our skin has been pierced by the sheath, little lancets are thrust out of the slits, and the blood, which then flows plentifully from the wound, is sucked up by the tongue, which it moves up and down inside the sheath. The flea is thus described. Pulex antennae moniliform eyes two trunk taper legs six, and formed for leaping abdomen compressed. Lucy. Are there many species in this genus ? Mother. Only one known in this country, the pulex irritans. For though the fleas on dogs, cats, birds, and men, vary a little, yet there is no essential difference sufficient to mark a distinction 35S APTERA. of species. In the West Indies there is another species, the P. penetrans, or the chigoe ; it has a much longer proboscis, with which it penetrates the skin, and lodges its eggs in the flesh, where they sometimes produce fatal effects. DIALOGUE XLI. ARANEA, OR SPIDER. MOTHER. A very large genus of apterous insects, the aranea, or spider, shall furnish us with the subject of this morning's conversation : many species are found in England, and a still greater variety in the warm parts of the globe, where they grow to a great size, and some few are venomous. Lucy. Do not our common spiders sting, or bite? most people seem to be afraid of them. Mother. The only noxious spider with which I am acquainted is the aranea subterranea, or cellar spider; it is fre- quently found in dark and damp places, has a livid colour, and is armed with SCO APTERA. strong pincers. Some years since one of that species pinched my arm ; the pain was transient, but a red bump was raised, which remained for four or five hours. Such wounds, however, are not very alarming; nor can you rationally dread an animal, which inflicts them only in self defence. None of the common house or garden spiders have either the inclination or the power to hurt. Lucy. I arn very glad to know this, because it is so pleasant to get rid of one's foolish fears ; and I like watching the pretty green and yellow spiders, which I find among my flowers. Mother. This genus is so numerous, that it has been divided into fifteen fami- lies, which are distinguished by the va- rieties in the position of the eyes. One of these divisions contains those which have only six eyes, but all the others have eight, though differently placed. Lucy. Eight eyes! five is the greatest number you have yet described in any insect; that is, the two large reticulated ARANEA, OK SPIDER. 361 eyes in the face, and the three sternmata, or little single eyes, on the top of the head. Mother. You are right; but the spider is not able to turn its head and being obliged to exert great vigilance to entrap its prey, as well as to guard against the attacks of numerous enemies, such as birds, ichneumons, and other large insects, it has been furnished with these additional means of perception. The eyes are immoveable, and, like the stemmata, each is formed of a -single lens. Though placed in different relative situations on the top, in the front, and on each side of the head, yet the two eyes, nearest to the mouth, always pro- ject and incline forward ; while another pair project and incline backwards. Lucy. So that the creature can see in every direction : no wonder that it can so quickly pounce on the poor flies. Mother. It has also eight legs, of different lengths, in each of which there arc three joints ; and the feet terminate in R 562 APTERA. Brooked claws, which enable it to climb with so much agility. It is furnished with a pair of sharp strong pincers, in order to seize its prey ; and when these are not in use, they lie folded up in two hollow cases, as a knife shuts into the handle. There is no division between the head and the thorax, which is attached by a slender tube to the abdomen. The ab- domen is very large in proportion, and contains a plentiful store of glutinous matter for the construction of the web. This substance the spider ejects from five little tubercles, or prominences, which are perforated with innumerable and very minute apertures, and on being exposed to the air it quickly dries, and forms the threads of which the cobwebs are woven, Lucy. How do spiders make their webs, and fasten them to walls, or other things ? Mother. When a spider has fixed on a suitable situation, such as the corner of a room, for instance, it presses the little tubercles against the wall, and thereby ARANEA, OR SPIDER. 363 glues to it the ends of the threads ; it then runs along the other wall, drawing out the threads as it moves ; and at a con- venient distance they are pulled tight, and fastened by glueing : thus it pro- ceeds, alternately, backward and forward, from wall to wall, till the web is of suffi- cient size and strength. The first two or three journeys are made on the walls, but afterwards the spider walks on the threads, though newly spun, by which means it can attach the cross threads, and thus the web is completed. Luc$. If I were to press the tubercles with my finger, could I draw out a thread ? Mother. Yes ; out of each tubercle you would draw a thread, apparently single to the naked eye ; but when seen through the microscope, it is found to be composed of a vast number of smaller threads, which unite at a short distance from the apertures. Lucy. Something like the silken R 2 SGI AFTER A. threads, which are wound from several cocoons, to form one of sufficient size for our use ? Mother. Much in the same way. When the web is large you will some- times perceive, that the outer edge of it is supported by long threads, fastened to the ceiling, or carried several feet up the wall. Spiders change their skins more than once ; for this operation they retire into some snug nook, where they suspend themselves : in a short time the skin splits along the back; the spider first draws out its body at the opening, and then its legs, one by one, leaving behind the old transparent skin, which is fre- quently found entangled in the web. Lucy. Do spiders come from the egg completely formed ? Mother. Yes, they do ; the only al- teration that takes place is in colour, which generally varies with each change of skin. Lucy. Mamma, I have seen brown ARANEA, OR SPIDER. 365 spiders with round blueish bags fastened to them, and these I have been told were bags of eggs. Mother. Several species of spiders weave a bag to contain their eggs, and carry it till they are hatched. No ani- mals show greater attachment to their o progeny; they would rather lose their lives than these precious bags, and often fall a sacrifice to the obstinacy with which they defend them from more powerful insects, and even from birds. Lucy. How very strong the threads of those webs must be which catch large flies ! Could not something be made of them r Mother. The experiment has been tried in France, and a pair of stockings was actually made of the egg bags ; the colour was a glossy grey, and in strength they were but little inferior to common silk. Lucy. What prevented their making more than one pair ? I am sure there APTERA. are plenty of spiders in this country, at least, to make stockings very cheaply. Mother. When a great number were collected in order to spin, it was found difficult to preserve them ; the strong devoured tlie weak, so that out of fifty, which were put into one place, there re- mained, in a few days, only the two largest, though they had been plentifully supplied with flies and with the pith of quills, of which they are extremely fond. The consumption of web also was enor- mous : to make one pound of silk it re- quired the work of fifty-five thousand fe^ male spiders, of the largest species. Lucy. I see it was a hopeless busi- ness, indeed. Mother. Now, my little girl, -1 am going out ; to-morrow we shall finish the history of the spider. DIALOGUE XL1U ARANEA, OR SPIDER, CONTINUED. A. AVICULARIA. A. FASCIATA. A. D1A- DEMA. A. AQ.UATICA. LUCY. See, mamma* what a huge spider I have under this wine glass. Mother. Yes, it is rather a large spe- cimen of the common house spider, or aranea domestica, whose manner of con- structing its delicate web I described to you yesterday ; but it is very inferior in, size to some foreign species. For in- stance, Sir George Staunton mentions a native of the island of Java, in the East Indies, the texture of whose web was so strong as not to be divided easily without a knife, or some sharp instrument. Lucy. What is the size of the largest APTERA. spider that has been found in any coun- try? Mother. The body of the aranea avi- cularia is said to be larger than a goose's egg ; it is covered with long black hair, and its bite is very venomous. It is a native of the forests of Brazil, where it spreads its nets from tree to tree, to catch not only insects, but even small birds ; and from this circumstance the specific name has been derived*. Lucy. How fortunate we are, mam- ma, in not having any of that terrible spider in this country ! Mother. Another large species, the aranea fasciato *, chiefly found in Bar- bary, is almost the size of a man's thumb ; the meshes of its net, which it spreads over a bush, allow small insects to pass through, but they are strong enough to entangle the larger flies, wasps, and even locusts, which it speedily kills* Having * From Avis, a bird. } From Fascia, a bandj its abdomen being marker] by a yellow stripe. SPIDERS, PL 24. Published November r. t#t8. *> R.Hunttr. Stfaute Church Jard London. ARANEA D1ADEMA, SG9 eaten as much as satisfies its hunger, it carefully deposits the remainder of its prey in a little storehouse of dry leaves, over which it spins a strong black web. Lucy. So this species actually keeps a larder full of provisions ? Mother. The warm parts of Europe produce a spider called aranea taran- tula* ; its dwelling is formed in the ground, about four inches deep ; and this apartment is half an inch in breadth, lined with silk, and closed at the mouth with a net. It is said to lay about seven hundred eggs. Its bite occasions severe inflammation ; and wonderful, but now exploded stories have been told of the power of music in allaying the madness, which it was supposed to produce. Lucy. Which is the largest spider found in England ? Mother* The aranea dtadema^^ so called from the spots on its back bearing a slight resemblance to a crown, qr.dia- * From Taranto, a city of Italy. Plate XXIV. f Plate XXIV. R 5 370 APTERA. dem. This species spins a curious net, which may be often observed extended on shrubs and palings ; it is composed of very strong threads, disposed in concen- tric circles, one within the other, and crossed, at regular intervals, by other threads, as radii. You understand the meaning of radii ? Lucy. Oh yes ; papa showed me a circle, and drawing a straight line from the centre to the outer edge, or circum- ference, he told me that it was called a radius, and that more than one were called radii. Mother. Very well. These radii, and the several circles, are glued to each other at the points where they intersect, or cross, and thus form a firm and tena- cious web : but there is a curious circum- stance in this creature's habits : the inner circles are broken off every morning, and replaced by fresh threads. Lucy. Why does it take such un- necessary trouble, mamma ? Mother. The glutinous substance, of ARANEA AQtJATICA. which its web is composed, dries very gradually; and as this clammy quality assists in catching those flies, which other- wise might force themselves through, the sagacious animal daily renews such of the circular threads as are best adapted to that purpose. Lucy. And I suppose the radii are not renewed, because their chief use is ta keep the web steady ? Mother. Just so ; the aranea aqua- tica *, or water spider, is another remark- able species, and is found in most parts of Europe. It lives at the bottom of fresh waters, where it has the brilliant appear- ance of silver ; but this effect is produced by a bubble of air, in which it is en- closed. Lucy. I suppose, mamma, that, like the fan-tailed larvae, it cannot live under water without a provision of air; but how does it manage to confine the air there ^ * Plate XXIV. 372 APTERA. Mother. The spider weaves a loose elastic bag, which is secured to the ground, at the bottom of the water ; and by a coat of transparent varnish, it renders this bag air-tight. Then, rising to the surface of the water, and sucking in a portion of air from the atmosphere, it returns to the bottom, introduces the air into the bag, and again ascends for a fresh supply ; repeating this process till the bag, or air-chamber, is sufficiently distended. There the spider lives ; it can go out at pleasure to seek its prey, but returns home to devour it at leisure. Lucy. I suppose these spiders feed only on the little creatures, which are found in the water? Mother. They hunt on dry ground \ith equal ease, but they always dive, with whatever food they procure, to their aerial abode in the water. Lucy. Is not that beautiful shining silk, with which the fields are sometimes covered, made by a spider ? Mother. Yes ; the gossamer, which ARANEA AQUATICA. 373 floats in the air, and which forms such a brilliant net work on the grass, when loaded with dew, is the work of a little field spider. Lucy. I suppose, mamma, that the threads we see on the grass serve for bridges for these little creatures, and must save them a great deal of trouble in climbing; but what can be the use of the immense quantity which blows about in the air ? Mother. This spider has the power of throwing out its threads to a con- siderable distance. Some of these attach themselves to the blades of grass, either by their own glutinous nature, or by the rough edges of the leaves ; and, being immediately pulled tight by the animal, form what you call its bridges. But it can also shoot its long threads upwards into the air, and then, suddenly springing in the same direction, ^it is borne away by the wind. Lucy. The history of the spider fa- 374 APTHRA. inily contains a number of wonderful cir- cumstances, indeed. Mother. There are upwards of one hundred and thirty species in this fa- mily, and the contrivances of each of them, in arranging and repairing their nets, and their ingenious stratagems in ensnaring their prey, will be an inex- haustible fund of amusement to you hereafter. DIALOGUE XLIII. CANCER, OR CRAB. C. PAGURUS, OR COMMON CRAB. C. BERNHARDUS, OR HERMIT CRAB. C. PINNOTHERES. MOTHER. This morning I shall entertain you with the genus of cancer, or crab. Lucy. The crab! I always thought crabs were fish, and not insects. Mother. No, Lucy, they are not fish ; nor indeed are they insects, according to the arrangements of modern naturalists, who have removed from that class many of the animals which it formerly con- tained. For instance, the last great family we described, the spider, has 37<3 AFTER A. been placed in a new class, mdes ; and crabs, lobsters, cray fish, prawns, centipedes, in short, the whole genus of cancer are now transferred to a class, called wmtacea. As these ani- mals, however, have antennae, palpi, and jointed bodies, they were considered by Linnaeus as apterous insects ; and as we have hitherto followed his classification, we may as well include them in our little course. Lucy. Pray do, mamma ; it will be very pleasant to know something of creatures which I see so often. But how can such large creatures as crabs and lobsters be called insects ? Mother. The species with which you are acquainted are large, but there are others that require a miscroscope to discover their structure. The cancri have four antennae placed below the eyes six pal- pi of unequal lengths, the four longest of which cover the mouth two moveable eyes, projecting from the head, and ge- CANCER PAGURUS. 377 nerally placed at the end of pedicles legs six, eight, or ten, besides two arms, terminating in chela?, or claws. Lacy. These arms are, I snppose, what we call the large pinching claws : Mother. Yes ; in the cancer pagurus, or common crab, they are very powerful ; and it exerts them with such force and obstinacy, as to allow the arm to be some- times torn off rather than loose its hold. Crabs live many years, and annually change their shells ; previously to that operation they retire into the sand, and remain there till the new shell is hard enough to afford protection. In that soft state, however, they fall a prey to many other creatures, and numbers are destroyed by fishermen, who use them as bait. Lucy. But how can fishermen find them, when hidden in the sand ? Mother. A considerable number usu- ally retire together; and as they are weak and defenceless while soft, they place a hard-shelled crab as a sentinel. Though AFTER A. the crab commonly appears to be a timid animal, yet on these occasions it acts a very courageous part, and generously de- fends its friends from fish and insects ; but the fishermen, by observing where these guards are stationed, are able to discover the soft crabs. In winter the crab is seldom found, but in summer it inhabits all our rocky shores, generally preferring those rocks which are about twenty fa- thoms under water. Lucy. How much is a fathom, mam- ma? Mother. A fathom is two yards, or six feet ; therefore twenty fathoms is a hundred and twenty feet. Lucy. I cannot imagine how crabs are caught at such an amazing depth, 'Mother. They are taken in traps made of wicker work, and baited with refuse meat, of which they are very fond. These traps are sunk to the bottom of the sea by large stones, and a rope is fastened to each of them, with a buoy to mark its place. Published November?. r&> 8, by RJfunter.SffauZ'tt Church Y, 390 APTERA. her young till they are able to take care of themselves. Lucy. Oh, mamma, it should be called the water opossum. Do not you remember among the prints in Bewick's Quadrupeds, the little creatures hiding in their mother's pouch ? Mother. Yes, I do ; and I am very glad to find that you can so quickly re- collect, and apply, the knowledge you have obtained. This animal has been lately discovered by Dr. Leach ; it is placed among the Crustacea, and named by him praunus jlexuosus. You have now had enough of crabs and lobsters, so go and take your walk. DIALOGUE XLV. CONCLUSION. Jk MOTHER. I am delighted, my dear Lucy, to find that our Conversations on In- sects have afforded you so much pleasure. They must now conclude. Lucy. Oh, mamma, that is a sad disappointment indeed. I imagined that I had a great deal more to learn. Mother. So you have, Lucy ; for from each order 1 have made but a very few- selections, and in those few I have en- tered hnt slightly into the details. Lucy. When shall I learn the history of those species, which we have passed over ? Mother. When you are older : we CONCLUSION. will then go through a more extensive course, and study each part of it with more accuracy than would have now suited your young head* In the mean time you must endeavour to keep up the informa- tion you have already obtained: nature is before you, and I shall be ready to as- sist you in observing the habits, and ex- amining the structure, of onr common insects. I will also point out to you, from time to time, instructive passages in various books, on this subject : but there are other subjects to which I should wish at present to turn your attention: botany, for instance. Lucy. Well, mamma, I am sure you can make any subject agreeable ; and, in- deed, I am very fond of my little flower garden ; but as to botany, I fear it will be very dull work. I have seen both Fanny, and my cousin Sophy, sit poring over flowers and tearing them to pieces, and every piece they called by some hard name ; and then they look in their books ; coNCEUsroN. 31)3 and after all I hear them say, they are not sure they have found out the right name of the plant. Mother. Have not you learned several hard names during our conversations ^ Lucy. Oh yes ; but you told me those Latin and Greek names were very useful, as they enabled people of every country to understand each others descriptions. Mother. The use of scientific terms is not confined to Entomology ; it ex- tends to all sciences, and they are not more difficult, or more dull, in on> science than in another. Lucy. No, mamma, I suppose not; but then the tearing the flowers to bits Mother. Is for the purpose of ex- amining their form ; for by the arrange* ment of their several parts, the class and family of the plant is known ; just as the structure of the wings, or of the elytra, guides us in placing insects in their proper orders. Lucy. Yes, and the antennae, and feet, and thorax, in the proper genera. But s 5 394 CONCLUSION. of each insect, you know, you gave me a a most entertaining account not the name alone. Mother. Nor in teaching you botany should I give you merely names ; I should begin as I did with Fanny, and she was very much interested. I explained to her the growth of plants from the seed ; their general structure; and the probable use of each part. Lucy. Oh, mamma, I should cer- tainly like to know all that: indeed you are very good to bear with all my non- sense. When shall we begin ? I dare say I shall find more amusement in botany than I imagined. Mother. Amusement, of which you so often speak, is not the only object I have in view. Lucy. You wish, at the same time, to instruct me in what you called the different kingdoms of natural history? Mother. I do ; but there is a still higher object, one of far more consequence than the clearest and most extensive CONCLUSION. knowledge of the whole circle of natural history ? Lucy. What is that ? Mother. It is to lead your mind, from the works of God, to God himself. Thus, in examining the smallest plant, or the most diminutive insect, I wish you to reflect on the power which created it; which adapted each part to its precise purpose; and which suited the form and faculties of every creature to the way of life it was destined to pursue. Lucy. Yes, mamma, even those tiny animals, which can only be distinguished in the microscope, seem to be as perfectly made as the largest creatures. Mother. The same perfection is found in every part of the creation ; and the more profoundly they are scrutinized, the more conspicuous will be that perfection. Among the insect tribes, which we have been studying, observe how admirably their wants are provided for, and their means of safety secured. The spider, for example, is enabled to construct a GONCI.USfON. web to entangle its prey, because its mo- tions are not sufficiently quick to catch the winged creatures on whicb it cbiefly feeds ; and it is furnished with numerous eyes, that it may not only detect the movements of its enemies on every side, but that it may watch the success of its own snares. Lucy. Oh yes, mamma ; and pray recollect the flat head, and shovel feet, with which the formica leo makes its trap for the poor unsuspecting ants, while it lies snug and safe at the bottom of its funnel. I can remember a great many other curious contrivances, which you have described. Mother. To all animals you will find, that sufficient faculties have been allotted for obtaining their prey, and for escaping from those that prey on them. Lucy. But there are some insects that do not prey on others ; the harmless caterpillar, for instance. Mother. True; yet they cannot be called harmless, when we consider the CONCLUSION. 35)7 havoc they commit on vegetables. To prevent their numbers increasing be- yond a due proportion, they are made the favourite food of birds, as well as of in- sects ; while on the other hand, lest they should all be destroyed, they also have means of eluding their pursuers. Lucy. Yes, I recollect ; many cater- pillars are the same colour as the leaves, or twigs, on which they live ; some can suddenly drop, by a thread, into the air ; and others conceal themselves under the bark, and feed only at night. Mother. You see how carefully Pro- vidence has attended to the preservation of all his creatures, even the most in- significant insect. Can we, then, who are the first of created beings, can we, even for a moment, lose our confidence in the protecting goodness of God ? Lucy. No, indeed, mamma ; the study of all those surprising little creatures, to which you have introduced me, would be, J think, a complete cure for any 398 CONCLUSION. want of confidence in God. But why do you call us the first of created beings ? Mother. Because mankind, alone, has heen gifted with reason. Lucy. Yet I have heard many stories of dogs, and also of elephants, which show that they are very sensible. Mother. There is an essential differ- ence between the reason of man, and the utmost sagacity of other animals, namely, the capability of self-improvement : our knowledge is always progressive, where- as their instinct never passes the bounds prescribed to it by Nature. Lucy. And are not we, also, the only animals that can speak ? Mother. Some can be taught to pro- nounce a few words ; but no other ani- mal can freely communicate its ideas. The strongest proof, however, of the supe- riority of man, is, that he alone, in con- templating the power, and in feeling the goodness, of God, is privileged to look forward to another world, and is en- CONCLUSION. 399 couraged to fit himself, by his conduct here, for more elevated enjoyment here- after. Lucy. Indeed, mamma, these reflec- tions must add great interest to the study of natural history. Mother. Yes, my dear child : and I would therefore earnestly exhort you, in all your studies, to keep these consider- ations uppermost in your mind. With- out them the most extensive knowledge is unprofitable ; combined with them, it becomes true wisdom. " Oh Lord, how wonderful are thy works ; in wisdom hast thou made them all!" INDEX. Page ABDOMEN ...,.,...;, 114 Animalcula 335 Ants 282 Antennae 64, 90 Aphis 233, 291 Apis centuncularis , 276 mellifica .......... 253 muraria 272 . muscorum , 268 papaveris 279 Aptera .,.., 348 Arachnitles , ............ 376 Aranea aquatiqa .., .. 371 aviqularia 368 diadema 369 fasciata ..,..*......;.. .....".. 368' subterranea 359 tarantula 369 Aristate 91 Attelabus apiarius ..,.. 275 Aurelia , 9 BEES ,, ,..., .. 252 tNDEX. 401 Page Beetles < 95 Bivalve 346 Blister fly , 125 Boat fly .. 157 Bombardier beetle 122 Butterflies 50, 64 CANCER astacus 389 crangon 389 diogenes or bernhardus 379 gammarus 386 pagurus 377 pinnotheres. 381 ruricola 385 squilla 389 Carabus crepitans 122 Carding bee 269 Cassida viridis Ill Caterpillars ., 7, 19,29, 40 classes of 43 false 224- of cloth 37 of the oak 32 of pondweed , 38 Cfcamelion fly 309 Chigoe 358 Chrysalis 9 Cimex lacustris ... 171 lectularius 164 paradoxus ,MM* it *t >MM f* *.<< tt 167 402 INDEX. Page Cimex stagnorum 169 Classes of the animal kingdom 79 Clavated 64- Coccinella punctata 112 Cockchaffer 98 Cocoon 58 Coleoptera 86 Coriaceous , 166 Corselet... 116 Crabs 375 Cray fish 389 Crickets 140 Crustacea 376 Culex 333 DAY FLY 177 Diogenes crab .^ 379 Diptera 297 Dragon flies 175 Dytiscus marginalia 119 EARWIGS , 127 Eggs of insects 12 Elephant beetle 106 moth 76 Elytra 8? Embryo fly 21 Emperor moth 56 Entomology defined 82 Ephemera... , 177 INDEX. 403 Page Erucae . 40 Eyes of insects.. 205 FILIFORM 90 Fire fly ,. 115 Fissile 90 Flea 352 Flies 308 Forficula auricularia 127 minor 131- Formica brunnea 287 nigra 282 rufescens 295 Formica leo 188 Fulgora candelaria 156 laternaria 154 Fusiform 65 GAD FLIES.... 299 .Genera 82, 85 Glowworm 115 Gnat 333 Grasshopper 138 Gressorii 151 Gryllus campestris 138 domesticus 140 gryllotalpa 141 migratorius 143 HALTERES ,. , 298 INDEX. Page Hemiptera. ,..*..,,.. ,.,.,..........*. 136 Hercules beetle 106 Hermit crab 379 Hippobosca equina 34-1 hirundinis ..,, 345 ovina 34-5 Hirudo ^... 344- Flog worms , 317 Honey bee , : 253 Hornet < ..,, 24-2 Horsefly *.,. .... 343 Humble bee .... 268 Hymenoptera 213 Ichneumon fly-..v......... 226 wasp 235 Imago 76 Insects ,....*.. , ,.. 1 Kingdoms of nature 78 LADYBIRD ^ 112 Lampyris noctiluca ..*... 115 Land crab ...^ 383 Lantern fly 154 Larvae 25, 28 Leaf-cutter bee.......... 276 Leech 34* Lepidoptera 63 Libellula., .* 175 INDEX. 405 Page Lion ant ,. 188 Lobster 386 Locust ..... 143 Louse J48 Lucanus cervus 108 Mandibles 108 Mentis religiosa 14-6 siccifolia 150 strumaria 149 Mason bee 272 Maxillae 109 May bug 105 Meloe vesicatorius 125 Melolontha 100 Membranaceous legs 225 Membrane , 41 Mole cricket 141 Moniliform 90 Moths , J, .50, 67 Musca carnaria 326 chamaelion ,,,,. 309 tenax 345 vomitoria 324 Myrmeleon formicarius 188 NATURAL HISTORY, DIVISIONS OP 78 Nepa cinerea 160 Neuroptera , 173 Neuter*.. ,.217 406 INDEX. Pag. Notonccta glauca *.. , 157 Nymph 47 OAK CATERPILLAR 32 CEstrus bovis 299 ovis 303 tarandi 30,4- Orders of insects 70, 81 Oviparous .. 325 PALPI.. ..............n.. 03 Paper nests 248 Papilio 67 urticoe , 75 Pediculus 348 Perfoliate 90 Phalaense 67 Phryganea 185 Plunger beetle 119 Praunus flesuosus 390 Prawn 389 Pulex 352 Pupa 9 case 52 REIN DEER GAD FLY 304 SALTATORH 152 Saw flies 220 Scarabseus carnifex ,.,..,,,,,....,,.,, 96 INDEX. Page Scarabaeus hercules 106 melolontha 93 Scorpion, water 160 Serrated , 109 Setaceous 65 Sheep tick., 345 Shrimp 389 Silkworms 71 Silk of spiders 365 Societies of caterpillars 35 Soothsayer 146 Species 82 Sphex 235 Sphinx 62, 65 elpenor 76 Spiders 358 Spring fly 185 Spurious legs 225 Stag beetle 108 Stemmata 211 Stigmatae 42 Stings , 218, 261 TABANUS 343 Tapestry bee 279 Tenthredo rosae 223 vitellinae 221 Termites 295 Thorax 88 Tortoise beetle Ill 408 INDEX. Page Tortoiseshell butterfly 75 Trachea 41 Transformations ....8, 45 VESPA CRABRO 242 vulgaris 244 Viviparous 325 WALKING LEAF 149 Wasp 244 Water bug 170 scorpion 160 Wax moth 264 Wild bees.,, ,. 268 THE END. CHARLES WOOD, Printer, Poppin'i Court, Fleet Street, London. RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 202 Main Library LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 3 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS Renewals and Recharges may be made 4 days prior to the due date. Books may be Renewed by calling 642-3405. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW INTERLlBRAi IY LOAN SEP 2 2 WV JjNIV nc r V.! 5 PPPK SEMTONILL AUG 1 8 19S9 J. C. BERKELEY FORM NO. DD6, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELE BERKELEY, CA 94720