IX Coleoptera
In collections of insects the Coleoptera almost always occupy the principal place. They are sought after by collectors on account of the brightness of their colours, of the solidity of their integuments, and the facility with which they can be preserved. This circumstance has contributed much to give to the Coleopterous Order marked preponderance in the immense series of insects. Many more have been collected than any one has as yet been enabled to describe; and the collections are encumbered with species of which no naturalist has yet given an account.
Admitting that the first-rate collections contain each about 25,000 perfectly distinct species, and that a certain fraction of these treasures is peculiar to each collection, M. Blanchard came to the conclusion that we must estimate the number at more than 100,000 of the species of Coleoptera which would be obtained if the different entomological collections of France, England, and Germany were put together. But every day we see arriving from different regions of the globe new riches, hardly dreamt of up to that time; and it is not only the small species, but the larger and more beautiful also, which furnish their contingent. It may, then, be believed that, if the entire surface of the earth were carefully explored, we should obtain an incalculable number of Coleoptera, having sufficient characteristics to constitute distinct species or kinds.
The Coleoptera (from [Greek: koleos], a sheath, and [Greek: pteron], a wing) are insects with four wings. The anterior wings, or elytra, are not used in flying; they are sheaths, more or less hard, sometimes varied with bright colours, and never crossing over each other. The posterior wings are membranous, presenting a ramification of veins, and usually folding up under the elytra, which protect them when at rest. The mouth of Coleoptera is provided with mandibles, with jaws, and two quite distinct lips, and is suited for mastication. They undergo complete metamorphosis. After an existence of greater or less extent in the larva state (in the case of the cockchafer three years), the insect changes into a pupa, which remains in a state of complete immobility. After a certain time, the pupa bursts its envelope and assumes the form of a perfect insect. The Coleoptera presents the utmost variety of habits as regards their habitations and food. One does not find in this Order those admirable instincts, those manifestations of intelligence, which bring certain Hymenoptera near to those beings which are highest in the animal scale; but they offer peculiarities very well deserving serious and profound study. Some are carnivorous, and thus they are useful to man in destroying other noxious insects, which they seek on the ground, on low plants, on trees, and even in the depths of the waters. Many of these Coleoptera feed on animal matter in a state of putrefaction. We may look on them as useful auxiliaries: they are Nature’s undertakers.
A great number live in the excrements of animals. The dung of oxen, buffaloes, and camels afford shelter to Coleoptera of different families, which thus live on vegetable matter more or less animalised. Others attack skins and dried animals in general; and some are the pest of entomological collections. Lastly, immense legions of Coleoptera are phytophagous; that is to say, they attack roots, bark, wood, leaves, and fruits, and cause much annoyance to the agriculturist. Above all, the larvæ are to be dreaded. Those which live in wood may in a few years occasion the loss of trees, vigorous and full of life; or completely destroy the beams of a building. Certain larvæ, such as those of the cockchafer, eat away the roots of vegetables, and so destroy the harvests. Others, lastly, devour the leaves and the stalks of plants, attack the flowers in the gardens, or the corn in the barns; and so man makes desperate war against them.
In the immense variety of known Coleoptera we must be contented to choose those types which are most prominent and most characteristic. We will begin with the Scarabæides, with their heavy compact body, and short antennæ, terminated by a foliaceous club. It is to this tribe that belongs the beautiful Rose Beetle (Cetonia aurata), which lives on roses; the Cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris); the Scarabæus of the Egyptians; &c.
This is the most interesting tribe of the whole Order Coleoptera. It corresponds with the great division of the Lamellicornes of Latreille. This name of Lamellicornes was intended to remind us of the arrangement into laminæ, more or less close together, of the club of the antennæ of these insects. Many Scarabæi have their mandibles membranous, or at least partially so, and always small. This peculiarity corresponds to their habits. Never, indeed, have they to triturate hard bodies; they all feed either on flowers, on leaves, or on stercoraceous matter. Their larvæ resemble each other much, even those of families very widely differing from each other in the perfect state. They are large, whitish worms, with diaphanous skins, scaly heads, furnished with toothed mandibles, living in the ground or in rotten wood. The pupæ are fat and stumpy, and they already show the features of the perfect insect. They make a chamber in which to undergo their changes. They remain generally three years in the larva state. The duration of the pupa is very short, as also is that of the perfect insect. The differences of the sexes are often very marked on the exterior, by protuberances, horns, &c., which constitute the distinctive ornament of the males.
In the group of Scarabæides we shall have to speak, above all, of the Cetoniadæ, the Chafers, and the Scarabæi properly so called. The family Cetoniadæ is one of the most remarkable, on account of the beauty of the insects which compose it and of the richness of their metallic lustre, some being of great splendour, and others having velvety tints. The larvæ live in wood in a state of decomposition; the perfect insects frequent flowers, and like the sun.
This family contains a great number of species, the type of which is the Rose Beetle (Cetonia aurata), of a beautiful green colour shot with gold, with transverse whitish lines. The rose beetle frequents roses especially, of which it eats the petals and the stamens. It is the Golden Melolontha of Aristotle, who tells us that this unfortunate insect shared with the cockchafer the privilege of amusing children. The Cetonia flies by day and by night, making use of its inferior wings without opening the elytra (Fig. 423). When seized, it pours out from the extremity of its abdomen a fœtid liquid, the only means of defence the poor insect possesses. The larva (Fig. 424) much resembles the larva of the cockchafers, but the legs are shorter. It is found in rotten wood, and often in ants’ nests. When it has acquired its full development it makes a cocoon of an oval form (Fig. 424), in which it transforms itself into a pupa; the cocoon is composed of bits of wood agglomerated with a silky matter which the larva secretes.
The larva of the Cetonia splendidula—which is the most magnificent found in France—is met with sometimes in the nests of wild bees. In Russia the rose beetle is considered a very efficacious remedy for hydrophobia. In the governorship of Saratow, which is traversed by the Volga, hydrophobia is very frequent, on account of the heats which reign during the whole summer in its arid steppes. The inhabitants, incessantly exposed to be bitten by mad dogs, have tried in succession a great many preparations to remedy the results of these terrible accidents. It appears that the Cetonia, dried and reduced to powder, has produced on many occasions good effects. This is the recipe which an inhabitant of Saratow published in a Russian journal—adding, that he had employed it for thirty years, that not one of the patients treated by him had died, and that his remedy could be employed with success in all the phases of the disease:—In spring they search at the bottom of the nests of the wood ant for certain white larvæ, which they carefully preserve in a pot, together with the earth in which they were found, till the moment of their metamorphosis, which takes place in the month of May. The insect, which is the common rose beetle, is killed, dried, and kept in pots hermetically sealed, so that it may preserve the strong odour which it exhales in spring, which seems to be a necessary condition of the remedy proving efficient. When a case of hydrophobia presents itself, they reduce to powder some of these, and spread this powder on a piece of bread-and-butter, and make the patient eat it. Every part of the insect must enter into the composition of this powder, which, for this reason, cannot be very fine. During the whole time a patient is under treatment he must avoid drinking as much as possible, or, if his thirst is very great, he must only drink a little pure water; but he may eat. Generally, this remedy produces sleep, which may last for thirty-six hours, and which must not be disturbed. When the patient wakes, he is, they say, cured. The bite must be treated locally with the usual surgical appliances.
As to the dose of the remedy, that depends on the age of the patient and the development of the disease. They give, to an adult, immediately after the bite, from two to three beetles; to a child, from one to two; to a person in whom the disease has already declared itself, from four to five. Given to a person in good health, the remedy, however, would not be the least dangerous. In cases in which the symptoms of hydrophobia show themselves some days after the employment of the remedy, they recommence the treatment. They have also tried to prepare this remedy with insects collected not in their larvæ but in the imago state, by catching them on flowers, and it seems that these attempts have succeeded. According to M. Bogdanoff, in many governorships of the south of Russia the lovers of sporting are in the habit of making their dogs from time to time swallow (as a preservative) half of a Cetonia with bread or a little wine. Every one in those countries is persuaded of the efficacy of this means for stopping the development of the disease. One ought not, perhaps, to reject a belief so widespread and deeply rooted without some experiments to guarantee us in doing so, for medicine does not yet possess any remedy against hydrophobia: it might not then be useless to try this.
Two smaller species than the rose beetle, the Cetonia stictica and the Cetonia hirtella, which has yellowish hairs, live on the flowers of thistles. Western Africa, the Cape, Madagascar, &c., are very rich in species of Cetoniæ. Among the Cetoniadæ is the genus Goliathus, gigantic insects which inhabit Africa. Their total length sometimes attains from three to five inches. Their colours are generally a dull white or yellow, which has nothing metallic about it, with spots of a velvety black—these are due to a sort of down of an extreme thin ness, and which very easily comes off. The head of these enormous Coleoptera is generally cut or scooped out, and is adorned sometimes with one or two horns. Their legs, strong and robust, are armed with spurs, and sometimes present on their exterior sharp indentations, which give to these insects a crabbed physiognomy, which their inoffensive habits are far from justifying. All these horns, and all these teeth, which look so terrible, are nothing, in fact, with a great number of these insects, but simple ornaments. They compose the picturesque uniform of the males. They are equivalent to the bear-skin caps, the flaming helmets, and the bullion-fringed epaulettes of our soldiers. The dress of the female Goliathus is much more modest, as is becoming to the sex. We here represent the Goliathus Derbyana (Fig. 426) and Polyphemus (Fig. 427).
The Goliaths were formerly excessively rare in collections, and of a price inaccessible to ordinary amateurs—one single specimen costing as much as twenty pounds. But for some time the Goliaths of the coast of Guinea and of Cape Palmas have been sold to European amateurs at a modest price, thanks to those travellers who, after the example of Dr. Savage, have collected them by hundreds in the countries which produce them. These enormous Coleoptera are seen on the coast of Guinea fluttering about at the top of trees, the flowers of which they are seeking after. To catch them the trees are felled or else they are shot at with a gun loaded with sand, as is also done for the humming-birds. The species which Dr. Savage made common is the Goliathus cacicus, of which we represent the male and female (Figs. 428, 429). It is met with on the coast of Guinea. The Goliathus Druryi (Fig. 430) inhabits Sierra Leone, on the west coast of Guinea. The numerous expeditions which are at the present moment being made into the interior of Africa will not fail to increase the number of species of these splendid insects, which are the ornament of all collections.
The group of the Trichiadæ, which has in this country and in France a few representatives, is very nearly the same as that of the Cetoniadæ. The Trichiadæ have the elytra shorter, the abdomen bigger, and the legs more slender. The Trichius fasciatus, which is black, and covered with an ashy down, with the elytra yellow, and with three black bands, is to be met with in quantities on the garden rose -tree, in the months of June and July. The larvæ live in the interior of old beams of wood, respecting their surfaces. In a garden, at a few leagues from Paris, a little wooden bridge had been built. It seemed on the outside to be in a perfect state of preservation. Nothing on the exterior would have led one to think it was possible for the oak timbers which composed it to break down. A good many of them, however, broke suddenly. It was then seen that the wood had been scooped out right up to the surface, which was nothing better than a thin sheet, of an imperceptible thinness. All the interior was full of Trichii, in the states of larva, pupa, and perfect insect.
The Trichius fasciatus, sometimes called the Bee Beetle, is very common in the environs of Paris. Geoffroy has described it under the rather quaint name of the “Livrée d’Ancre,” because the Marquis of Ancre made his servants wear yellow coats, bordered by braid alternately crossed with green and yellow.
The Osmoderma eremita is a large insect, of purple colour, formerly common in the environs of Paris, and which, now-a-days, cannot be found nearer than Fontainebleau. One must look for them in earth which fills up the cavity of old willows or of pear trees. The smell of Russia leather, or of plum, which it exhales, has caused it to be called, in some places, the Plum-tree Beetle.
The Gnorimus nobilis much resembles the rose beetle, and is found on elder flowers, the whiteness of which this golden insect relieves. One species, much smaller, only one or two lines long, is the Valgus hemipterus, which is often met with in spring, in the dust of the roads. The female has a long auger, which enables it to deposit its eggs in rotten wood. Dumeril has described at length the singular movements of this little insect:—The jerking and, as it were convulsive, movements by which it transports itself from one place to another; its tottering attitude, resulting from the excessive length of its hind legs; the vertical carriage of these, which, by their singular direction, interfere much with the walking, which is directed by the other legs. One should, above all, notice the artifice which the Valgus employs, as indeed do many Coleoptera, to escape from his persecutors, by counterfeiting death. As soon as it is seized by any enemy, its members stiffen and become motionless. The body, abandoned to itself, lies unevenly on whatever side it falls, for its legs no longer bend; if you bend them over, they remain in the inclination given to them. Nothing then betrays life in this little dry and slender being, frozen with fear, and imitating death, without, perhaps, being aware itself of what it is doing.
We must still further mention here the Incas—beautiful insects of the same group, which are met with in South America, and whose males have an extraordinary head. They fly during the day round the great trees on which they live. Fig. 431 represents the Inca clathrata.
The most commonly-known insect of the family with which we are now occupied is the cockchafer. The French word for cockchafer, hanneton, according to M. Mulsant, comes from the Latin, alitonus (which has sonorous wings), which first became halleton. Linnæus gave them first the name of Melolontha, which they probably had among the Greeks, and which seems to be the case from this passage in Aristophanes, in his comedy of “The Clouds:”—“Let your spirit soar,” says the Greek author, “let it fly whither it lists, like the Melolontha tied with a thread by the leg.” We see that the habit of martyrising cockchafers is of very early date. The Common Cockchafer (Fig. 432) is one of the greatest pests to agriculture. In its perfect state it devours the leaves of many trees, principally those of the elm; and so children call the fruit of the elm-tree by the name of “Pains d’Hanneton.” But the destruction which they occasion in their perfect state is little when compared with that which is caused by their larvæ—those white grubs so dreaded by agriculturists.
Cockchafers make their appearance from the month of April, if the season is warm. But it is in the month of May that they show themselves in great quantities; and so they are called in Germany Maikäfer (Maychafer). They are met with also in June. The duration of their life as a perfect insect is six weeks. They fear the heat of the day and the bright sunshine, so, during the day, they remain hooked on to the under surface of leaves. It is only early in the morning, and at sunset, that one sees the cockchafers fluttering round the trees which they frequent. They fly with rapidity, pro ducing a monotonous sound by the friction of their wings. But the cockchafer steers badly when it flies; it knocks itself at each instant against obstacles it meets with. It then falls heavily to the ground, and becomes the plaything of children, who are constantly on the look-out for them. There is a saying, “Étourdi comme un hanneton.” What contributes still more to render the flight of these insects heavy and sustained only for a short time together is that they are obliged to inflate themselves like balloons in order to rise into the air: it is a peculiarity which they share with the migratory locust. Before taking its flight, the cockchafer agitates its wings for some minutes, and inflates its abdomen with air. The French children, who perceive this manœuvre, say that the cockchafer “compte ses écus” (is counting its money), and they sing to it this refrain, which has been handed down for many generations:—
“Hanneton, vole, vole,
Va-t’en à l’école.”
A variation which we hear in the western provinces of France is the following:—
“Barbot, vole, vole, vole,
Ton père est à l’école,
Qui m’a dit, si tu ne voles,
Il te coupera la gorge
Avec un grand couteau de Saint-George.”
During the day the cockchafers remain under the leaves in a state of perfect immobility; for the heat which gives activity to other insects, seems, on the contrary, to stupefy them, and it is during the night only that they devour the leaves of elms, poplars, oaks, beech, birch-trees, &c. In years when their number is not very great, one hardly perceives the damage done by them; but at certain periods they appear in innumerable legions, and then whole parts of gardens or woods are stripped of their verdure, and present, in the middle of the summer, the appearance of a winter landscape. The trees thus stripped do not in general die; but they recover their former vigour with difficulty, and, in the case of orchard trees, remain one or two years without bearing fruit. It is principally the trees skirting woods, and situated along cultivated fields, which are exposed to the ravages of the cockchafer, because the larvæ of these insects are developed in the fields. In the interior of forests they are never met with in great numbers.
In certain years cockchafers multiply in such a frightful manner that they devastate the whole vegetation of a country. In the environs of Blois 14,000 cockchafers were picked up by children in a few days. At Fontainebleau they could have gathered as many in a certain year in as many hours. Sometimes they congregate in swarms, like locusts, and migrate from one locality to another, when they lay waste everything. To present an idea of the prodigious extent to which cockchafers increase under certain circumstances, we will give a few statistics:—In 1574, these insects were so abundant in England that they stopped many mills on the Severn. In 1688, in the county of Galway, in Ireland, they formed such a black cloud that the sky was darkened for the distance of a league, and the country people had great difficulty in making their hay in the places where they alighted. They destroyed the whole of the vegetation in such a way that the landscape assumed the desolate appearance of winter. Their voracious jaws made a noise which may be compared to that produced by the sawing of a large piece of wood, and in the evening the buzzing of their wings resembled the distant rolling of drums. The unfortunate Irish were reduced to the necessity of cooking their invaders, and, for the want of any other food, of eating them. In 1804, immense swarms of cockchafers, precipitated by a violent wind into the Lake of Zurich, formed on the shore a thick bank of bodies heaped up one on the other, the putrid exhalations from which poisoned the atmosphere. On May 18, 1832, at nine o’clock in the evening, a legion of cockchafers assailed a diligence on the road from Gournay to Gisors, just as it was leaving the village of Talmontiers; the horses, blinded and terrified, refused to advance, and the driver was obliged to return as far as the village, to wait till this new sort of hail-storm was over. M. Mulsant, in his “Monographie des Lamellicornes de la France,” relates that in May, 1841, clouds of cockchafers traversed the Saône, from the south-east in the direction of the north-west, and settled in the vineyards of the Mâconnais. The streets of the town of Mâcon were so full of them, that they were shovelled up with spades. At certain hours, one could not pass over the bridge without whirling a stick rapidly round and round, to protect oneself against their touch.
The coupling takes place towards the end of May, after which the males die; the females only surviving them from the time necessary to ensure the propagation of the species. The number of eggs which a female lays is from twenty to thirty. With her front leg she hollows out a hole in the ground from two to four inches in depth, and deposits her eggs, of a yellowish white and of the size of hemp-seed, therein. Her instinct leads her to choose soft, light, and well-manured soils, which are, at the same time, the best ventilated and the most fertile. We may conclude from this that cultivation and labour have made the cockchafer more common than it was formerly. It is the child of civilisation, the parasite of agriculture. In from four to six weeks after being laid, the little larvæ are hatched (Fig. 433), and immediately attack the roots of vegetables. They have a hard and horny head, and slender black legs, longer than in any other species of Scarabæides. Their body is composed of a whitish pulp under a transparent skin; the head and the mouth have a reddish tinge. The length of their existence in this state is three, sometimes four years. From the egg laid in the month of June is hatched a larva, in the month of July. It increases in size during the last six months of the year, and continues to do so during the two following years, changing its skin many times during the period. Towards the end of the third year it changes into a pupa, after having surrounded itself with a cocoon consolidated with a glutinous froth and some threads of silk. The pupa (Fig. 434) is of a pale russety yellow, with two little points at the extremity of its body; the elytra and the wings, lying down, cover the legs and the antennæ.
Towards the end of October the perfect insect is already marked out, but it is still soft and weak. It passes the winter in its hiding-place, hardens and becomes coloured at the end of the winter, and shows itself by degrees on the surface of the ground. In the month of April, three years after its birth, the cockchafer emerges from the earth, and commences its attack on the leaves of trees. This long duration of the development of the insect explains why we do not see them every year in the same number. When they have once appeared in great quantities, it is not for three years afterwards that we need expect to see their progeny again in proportionate numbers. It is, then, every three years that we have a cockchafer year like 1865, but in the intermediate years they are never very abundant. For the first year the little larvæ do not eat much. They feed then principally on fragments of dung, and on vegetable detritus, and keep together in families. In winter they bury themselves deeply, so as to be secure against frost and floods. Next spring the want of a greater abundance of food forces them to disperse. They then make subterranean galleries in all directions, without, however, going far from the place where they were hatched. They begin attacking the roots which they find within their reach; the damage they do increasing with their size and the strength of their mandibles. Among roots, they seem to prefer those of the strawberry and of rose-trees; but they do not despise other vegetables, and attack legumes and cereals as well as bushes and plants. The ravages which they occasion are sometimes incalculable; market gardens are sometimes entirely devastated. Fields of lucerne have been seen partially destroyed by them; meadows of great extent lose their pasturage; oat fields die off before they have come to maturity; and many of the ears of corn fall before they are cut.
In proportion as they increase in age and in strength—especially in their last year—do they attack also ligneous vegetation. When they have gnawed away the lateral roots of a young tree, the new shoots corresponding to them dry up. The larvæ then attack the principal root, and thus bring about the death of the tree. There will be found round the roots of trees thus attacked immense numbers of these worms. M. Deschiens relates that he had seen six hectares of acorns, sown three times in the space of five years with a perfect result, entirely destroyed as many times by the larvæ of the cockchafer. A nurseryman of Bourg-la-Reine suffered, in 1854, from the ravages of these terrible larvæ, losses which he estimated at 30,000 francs. Others only preserved about a hundredth part of their plants. In Prussia they destroyed, in 1835, a considerable nursery of trees in the Institut Forestier. In the forests of Kolbetz more than a thousand measures of wild pines were destroyed in the same way.
We shall not, then, be surprised to learn that the thunders of excommunication were formerly launched at the cockchafers, as they were also at the caterpillars and the locusts. We do not know whether this had much impression upon them. In 1479, the cockchafers having occasioned a famine in the country, were cited before the ecclesiastical tribunal of Lausanne. The advocate (Fribourg) who defended them, did not find, doubtlessly, in the resources of his eloquence arguments powerful enough in their favour; for the tribunal, after mature deliberation, condemned the accused troop, and sentenced them to be banished from the territory. But it is not enough to pass a sentence—there must also be the means of putting it in execution; and these were wanting to the tribunal of Lausanne. And so the condemned cockchafers continued to live on Swiss land, without appearing mindful of the condemnation which had been fulminated against them.
The larvæ of the cockchafer are not easily destroyed. They successfully resist those scourges which one fancies must harm them. Thus, the inundation which devastated the banks of the Saône, fifteen years ago, had no effect on them. The land and meadows, which had remained for from four to five weeks under water, were none the more rid of them. The only circumstance which is really hurtful to them, and to the adult cockchafer, is late frost in the months of April and May. When these frosts come after mild weather, they surprise the larvæ at the surface of the soil, and kill them. Unfortunately, the same causes do harm to the plants which have already begun to spring up. Nature has not, then, sufficiently provided the means of destroying these mischievous beings. One would say that she had not foreseen their extraordinary multiplication, which has been, we must confess, encouraged by agriculture and by the cultivation of the land.
Animals do not contribute much towards limiting the number of cockchafers, although the latter are not wanting in natural enemies. Among insects, it is the large species of Carabus which search after the larvæ as well as the adult cockchafers. The Carabus auratus attacks them with great coolness. M. Blanchard saw a carabus seize a cockchafer in the middle of the road, open its belly with its mandibles, and devour its intestines. The cockchafer tossed about from one side to the other, and even walked, while it was undergoing its cruel punishment; and the Carabus followed it without interrupting its work. Some reptiles, many carnivorous animals, such as the shrew-mouse, pole-cats, weasels, rats, and certain birds, especially the night-birds, prey upon the cockchafer and its larvæ. Ravens and magpies, which are seen going from clod to clod, make savage but insufficient war against them. In fact, all these animals together do not destroy the hundredth part of the cockchafers which are born every year.
As an example which will show the extent of the evil, a field of 29 acres was ploughed up into 72 furrows. At the first ploughing were gathered 300 larvæ per furrow; at the second, 250; at the third, 30 more; which amounted to 600 per furrow, and to 43,200 in all. Man, who is the victim of these ravages, has been necessarily obliged to think of a means of destroying this enemy. Many infallible means have been proposed, which have, however, given no result. Prizes have been offered, but the evil has not diminished. Here are a few of the processes recommended.
Immediately after the ploughing, you must turn into the field infested by the larvæ a flock of turkeys, to whom it will be a great treat to devour them, or else you must sow in the field rape-seed, very thickly, which you must then bury by a very deep ploughing, when it is as high as your hand. Colewort, it is said, kills the larvæ, while it at the same time manures the soil. Or again, you must plough up the land on the approach of hard frosts, to expose the worms to the cold. Lastly, you can water the field with oil of coal, or sprinkle it with ashes of boxwood. All these are expensive. The simplest means are here the best. It is better to depend upon labour than destructive substances, whose employment always presents inconveniences. Considering the difficulties which oppose themselves to us in our search after larvæ, we had better collect them in their adult state by violently shaking the branches of the trees on which they doze during the day, and then kill them in some way or other, thus destroying from twenty to forty eggs with each female. A general cockchafer hunt, rendered obligatory by a law, and encouraged by prizes, would be the only efficacious means of opposing a pest which costs agriculture many millions. This means would also be less costly than the turning up of the land concealing the larvæ, when it is remembered that they prefer land in full bearing.
In 1835 the General Council of La Sarthe voted a sum of 20,000 francs for a cockchafer hunt. Nearly 600,000 litres were delivered in, thanks to a prize of three centimes per litre. As a litre contains about 500 cockchafers, there were thus destroyed about 300,000,000 of them. It is true that M. Romieu, then Prefect of La Sarthe, who was the principal promoter of this excellent measure, became food for the wit of the newspapers, and was represented dressed like a cockchafer in the Charivari. Derision and ridicule are too often the reward of useful ideas. In Switzerland were taken, in 1807, more than 150,000,000 of these insects. But these isolated measures were useless in producing a durable result.
It has been tried to make use of cockchafers in industrial arts. According to M. Farkas, they have succeeded, in Hungary, by boiling them in water, in extracting from them an oil, which is used to grease the wheels of carriages; and, according to M. Mulsant, the blackish liquid which is contained in the œsophagus may be used for painting. But the produce arising from these industrial occupations is not considerable enough to ensure them a certain extension, which is to be regretted, for agriculture would thus be rid of one of its most formidable scourges. Poultry are sometimes fed on these insects; pigs are also very fond of them.
The Melolontha Hippocastani differs from the common species in having black legs. The Melolontha fullo, twice as large as the common species, is variegated with tawny and white. It is met with on the sea-coasts, and on the downs of the north and south of France, as its larvæ feed on the roots of maritime plants.
Among the genera very near to the cockchafer we will mention the little Rhizotrogus, light-coloured and hairy, which flies in the evening in the meadows, and the Euchloras, or Anomalas, of splendid metallic colours. The Anomala vitis is an insect of about half an inch long, of a beautiful green, bordered by yellow, with the elytra deeply furrowed. It sometimes causes extensive ravages in the vineyards.
After the Cetoniadæ and the Cockchafers, we come to the Scarabæidæ, properly so called. The Oryctes nasicornis (Fig. 435) is very common all over Europe. It is about an inch long, of a chestnut-brown, and perfectly smooth. The male has on the head a horn, which is wanting in the female (Figs. 436, 437). Its larva, which is a great whitish worm, larger than that of the cockchafer, lives in rotten wood and in the tan which is employed in hot-houses and in garden-frames. They were to be found by hundreds in the old hot-houses of the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. The market-gardeners, who employ the tannin of the oak bark, have rendered this Coleopteron very common in the environs of that capital. Fig. 438 represents an exotic species, the Xylotrupes dichotomus.
Among the true Scarabæi we meet with many species of gigantic size, especially in America. Dynastes Hercules, a great insect of a fine ebony black, with its elytra of an olive grey, is not rare in the Antilles. Its thorax is prolonged into a horn as long as its body, and bent round at the extremity; its head has also a long horn standing erect. The females want these appendages. Fig. 439 represents the Golofa claviger of Guyana.
The Geotrupes are insects almost as common as the chafers. As their name reminds us, they make holes in the ground, which they scoop out, particularly in meadows, under cow-dung which has grown dry on the surface. It is under the excrements of ruminating animals and horses that they must be looked for. They fly especially at night, and may be seen buzzing about on fine summer evenings in the vicinity of dung heaps.
The Geotrupes stercorarius, the Shard-born Beetle, Clock, or Dumbledor, is of a brilliant bluish black, and attains to a length of about two-thirds of an inch. We may consider this Coleopteron as a useful auxiliary of man in ridding the soil of excrementitious matter. The genus Trox, which belongs to the same group, generally inhabits sandy countries, and has its body nearly always covered with earth or dust; it lives on vegetable substances, or on animal matter in a state of decomposition. The habits of the genus Copris resemble those of Geotrupes; they live in excrement. The form of their clypeus, broad, rounded, without teeth, and advancing over the mouth, suffices to distinguish the kindred species. In the environs of Paris and in England the Copris lunaris is found. The larvæ of these insects form a cocoon composed of earth and dung, before transforming themselves into pupæ; this cocoon is more or less round, and acquires a great hardness.
The species of the genus Ateuchus collect portions of excrement, which they make up into balls, and roll till they are as perfectly rounded as pills, and in which they lay their eggs. This habit has gained for these insects the name of pill-makers. Their hind legs seem to be particularly adapted for this operation, for they are very long and somewhat distant from the other legs, which gives to the Ateuchi a strange appearance, and makes it hard work for them to walk. They walk backwards and often fall head over heels. They are generally seen on declivities exposed to the greatest heat of the sun, assembled together to the number of four or five, occupied in rolling the same ball; so that it is impossible to know which is the real proprietor of this rolling object. They seem not to know themselves; for they roll indifferently the first ball which they meet with, or near which they are placed.
The Ateuchi are large flat insects, with a broad-toothed clypeus; they all belong to the Ancient Continent. The type of the genus is the Ateuchus sacer (Fig. 442), the Sacred Scarabæus of the Egyptians. This insect is black, and attains to a length of a little less than an inch. It is to be found commonly enough in the south of France, in the whole of southern Europe, Barbary, and Egypt. The paintings and amulets of the ancient Egyptians very often represent it, and sometimes give it a gigantic size. It is, doubtless, then, this species which was an object of veneration with the Egyptians.
There exists another species, which is always represented as of a magnificent golden green, and to which Herodotus also attributes this colour. As it was not to be found in Egypt, it was thought for a long while that the Egyptians had painted the black species of a more splendid colour in order to pay it homage. But in 1819 M. Caillaud actually found at Meroe, on the banks of the White Nile, the Ateuchus Ægyptiorum, which resembles the Ateuchus sacer much in colour, but has a golden tint. Since then it has also been brought from Sennaar. The two species were both probably sacred. Hor-Apollon, the learned commentator on Egyptian hieroglyphics, thinks that this people, in adopting the scarabæus as a religious symbol, wished to represent at once, a unique birth—a father—the world—a man. The unique birth means that the scarabæus has no mother. A male wishing to procreate, said the Egyptians, takes the dung of an ox, works it up into a ball, and gives it the shape of the world, rolls it with its hind legs from east to west, and places it in the ground, where it remains twenty-eight days; the twenty-ninth day it throws its ball, now open, into the water, and there comes forth a male scarabæus. This explanation shows also why the scarabæus was employed to represent at the same time a father, a man, and the world. There were, however, according to the same author, three sorts of Scarabæi: one was in the shape of a cat, and threw out brightly shining rays (probably the Golden Scarabæus, Ateuchus Ægyptiorum); the two others had horns; their description seems to refer to a Copris and a Geotrupes.
As other remarkable species of Scarabæi we represent the Scarabæus enema (Fig. 441), with strong horns, the Megacerus chorinæus (Fig. 443), the Megalosoma anubis (Figs. 444 and 445), and the Dynastes Hercules (Fig. 446).
The last family of the Scarabæidæ contains the Lucanidæ, or Stag Beetles. These Coleoptera are of great size, and their head is armed with enormous robust mandibles, which give them a ferocious air, which their inoffensive habits do not in any way justify. They live in half-rotten trees, the destruction of which they accelerate. Their mandibles, of such prodigious size only in the male, are of more inconvenience to them than they are of use, as they impede their flight. Their strength enables them to raise considerable weights, but they make no other use of them than to show their strength, which is enormous. They do not attack other insects, and live only on vegetable juices.
The common Stag Beetle (Figs. 447 121 and 448) attains to a length of two inches, or more, including its mandibles, and is of a dark brown chestnut colour. They are met with during the months of May, June, and July, in large forests, climbing along trees and hooking themselves on to the trunks by their mandibles. Charles De Geer says that the Stag Beetle imbibes the honeyed liquid which is found on oak trees, a tree it particularly seeks after, which has caused it to be called in Swedish Ek-Oxe (Oak ox). It is supposed that it eats the leaves also. It sometimes attacks insects. Westwood says that it has been seen to descend from a tree carrying a caterpillar in its mandibles. Swammerdam had one which followed him like a dog when he offered it honey. They only fly in the evening, holding themselves nearly straight, so as not to see-saw. Their larvæ—which are whitish, with russety heads, live in the interior of trees, their existence in that state lasting nearly four years. Many naturalists think that the larva of the Lucanus was the Cossus of the Romans, which figured on the tables of the rich patricians, and particularly of Lucullus.
Fig. 448 represents the Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus); Fig. 449, an exotic species, the Lucanus (Homoderus) Mellyi, from the Gabon; Fig. 450 the Lucanus bellicosus; and Fig. 451 another exotic species from Celebes, Dorcus Titan.
The Syndesus cornutus (Fig. 452) of Tasmania, and the Chiasognathus Grantii, from the coast of Chili (Fig. 453), of a beautiful golden green, shot with copper, belong to genera akin to Lucanus.
We arrive now at the tribe of Silphales, which are still more useful to man than the Dung Beetles (Scarabæidæ), since many of them disencumber the soil of the carcases of animals in a state of putrefaction. The most remarkable insects of this tribe are the Histers, the Silphas, properly so called, and the Necrophora.
The Histers are small insects, to be recognised by their body being almost round, smooth, and shining, with the elytra marked with striæ, and their mandibles pretty well developed. They attain to a length of about a fifth of an inch. The Silphæ, thus named on account of their broad and rounded form, are of a large size (about half to three-quarters of an inch), of a dark colour, and exhale a sickly odour. When seized, they disgorge a blackish liquid. They introduce themselves under the skin of the carcases of animals, and devour their flesh to the very bone. The larvæ, flat and serrated, live like the adults, in carrion. The commonest species is the Silpha obscura, of an intense black, delicately dotted. Two species found in England and in the environs of Paris, Silpha quadripunctata and the Silpha thoracica, climb trees and attack caterpillars. It appears to be certain that the larva of the Silpha obscura does a great deal of damage to beet-root, whose leaves it devours. The Necrodes come very near to the Silphæ. They are distinguished from them by having the hind legs larger. Only one, Necrodes littoralis, occurs in England. Fig. 459 represents the Necrodes lacrymosa, from Australia. The Necrophori, or Grave-diggers, are honest undertakers, who carefully bury carcases left on the soil. As soon as they smell a field-mouse, a mole, or a fish in a state of decomposition, they come by troops to bury it, getting under the carcase, hollowing out the ground with their legs, and projecting the rubbish they dig out in all directions. Little by little the carcase sinks; at the end of twenty-four hours it has generally disappeared into a hole five inches in depth, but the Necrophori sink it still lower—as far as from seven to ten inches below the surface. They then mount it, cast the earth down into the grave so as to fill it, and the females lay their eggs in the tomb, where the larvæ will find an abundance of food. When the ground is too hard to be dug, the Necrophori push the carcase further, till they find permeable soil. A mole has been run through with a stick, or else tied by a string, to see how the Necrophori would get over the difficulty. They scooped out the soil underneath the stick, and cut through the string, and the mole was buried in spite of the obstacles. Fig. 460 represents a troop of Necrophori burying a small rat.
The Necrophorus vespillo (Fig. 461) is variegated with yellow and black; the Necrophorus Germanicus (Fig. 462) is larger, quite black, and rarer. All these insects exhale a disagreeable musky smell. Their bodies are often covered with parasites, which are carried along by them by hooking on to their hairs, and which make use of the Necrophorus as a vehicle in which they get their food.
The Staphylinidæ live in the carcases of animals, on manure, in detritus, and attack living insects. They are, for the most part, of small size, and are distinguished by their elytra, which are short, and resemble a waistcoat or a jacket; but their wings are fully developed. The large species have strong mandibles. When irritated, the Staphylini disgorge an acrid black liquid; and by the abdomen they emit a volatile fluid having a musky odour.
We see frequently on roads the Staphylinus olens (Figs. 463 and 464), which, when it finds itself attacked, raises its abdomen, and thrusts out two little whitish bladders, which pour out a volatile liquid. Its larva lives under stones, and its habits are the same as those of the adult insect. It is very carnivorous, and very active, and often attacks those of its own kind. The Staphylinus hirtus (Fig. 466) resembles at a distance a humble-bee, on account of its long yellow hairs. The Staphylinus maxillosus (Fig. 465) has black and white hairs. The genera Pselaphus and Claviger, akin to the above, contain little insects which live as parasites in the nests of ants. The Pselaphus Heisii (Fig. 467), less than a line long, lives on the débris of reeds, on the borders of marshes.
The Claviger foveolatus (Fig. 468) is met with in the nest of a little yellow ant, which takes as much care of it as of its own progeny, because the Claviger secretes a liquid very much appreciated by ants, who are continually occupied in licking its back.
The Dermestidæ attack by preference the tendons and the skins of carcases. A few of the insects of this family are the plague of our collections and the furriers. They devour a quantity of dry substances—skins, feathers, catgut, hair, objects made of tortoise-shell, the dried bodies of insects, &c. Some other Dermestidæ feed on animal matter still fresh: such is the Bacon Beetle, Dermestes lardarius (Fig. 469), which is to be met with in some dirty pork-shops. It is black, with the base of its elytra tawny and marked with three black spots. The larvæ are covered with a russety hair; they eat bacon, skins, and also attack each other. The perfect insect does no damage. Like all the Dermestidæ, it counterfeits death when handled. The Dermestes vulpinus, of a tawny grey, injures furs; and the Hudson’s Bay Company, whose storehouses in London were infested by this insect, offered a reward of £20,000 for a means of destroying this insect. The furriers have also cause to dread the Attagenus pellio (Fig. 470), whose larva, covered with yellowish hairs, has at its extremity a sort of broom, which assists it in moving.
The Anthrenus museorum, the fifteenth of an inch in length, black, with three grey bands, drives collectors to despair, for its larva destroys their collections. It is covered with grey and brownish hairs, which it bristles up the moment it is touched. The perfect insect feeds on flowers, and counterfeits death when seized. All possible means have been tried for getting rid of the Anthrenus by placing in the collection camphor, benzine, tobacco, sulphur, &c., but benzine very soon destroys them.
The Hydrophili, very different to the group which we shall presently consider, are herbivorous, and are to be found on the leaves of aquatic plants. The Hydrophilus piceus (Fig. 471), which attains to an inch in length, is common in our fresh waters. It must not be seized without taking precautions, as its breast is provided with a strong point, which pierces the skin. It draws in air by thrusting its antennæ out of the water, and placing them against its body, the bubbles of the air, which get involved in a sort of furrow, slip under the body, and fix themselves to the hair, in such a manner that the animal seems to be clothed in pearls. It is thus the air reaches the spiracles. The female of the Hydrophilus is sometimes seen clinging to aquatic plants, head downwards, forming her cocoon, terminated by a long pedicle, in which she places her eggs, by means of the two bristles situated at the extremity of the abdomen (Fig. 472). After having drawn this after her for some time, she leaves it to itself in calm water. At the end of a fortnight there come out from it little brown larvæ, very active, which ascend the water plants. These larvæ are at the same time herbivorous and carnivorous. They live on plants and small molluscs, which they seize from underneath, and whose shell they break by pressing them against their back, to extract from it the animal. If attacked, they emit a black liquid, which discolours the water, and enables them to escape. At the end of two months the larva comes out of the water, and burrows into the ground to undergo its metamorphosis into a pupa (Fig. 473), which becomes a perfect insect a month afterwards. The latter gets its colour little by little, and comes out of the ground at the end of twelve days. According to M. Dumeril, the intestine of the larva grows gradually longer and longer, and its diet becomes that of herbs, the adult preferring vegetable food to animal matter. It is at the end of summer that the Hydrophilus piceus becomes perfect, and it passes the winter in a state of torpor at the bottom of the water. The females lay in the month of April. A small species, Hydrous caraboides, is commoner than the large one; its body is more rounded behind.
We are now going to consider a series of aquatic and carnivorous insects; the Dytisci, Water Beetles, the Cybisters, and the Gyrinidæ, or Whirligig Beetles. These are perfect corsairs, whose rapacity even exceeds that of many of the land Coleoptera. Not contented with devouring one another, when pressed by hunger, with attacking especially the larvæ of all aquatic insects, such as the Libellulæ and Ephemeræ, they feed also on molluscs, on tadpoles, and on small fish. It is easy to rear them in captivity. If confined in a small aquarium, their habits would be much more amusing than a few golden fish, which one meets with everywhere, and which are only good enough to amuse European Schaabahams. Care must be taken to cover the aquarium at the top with gauze, to prevent the perfect insects from escaping. This tribe is not very numerous nor varied in its forms. An oval body, legs curved and widened into oars, provided with hairs, distinguish the insects which compose it. They imbibe air at the surface of the water.
The most carnivorous of this group are the Dytisci and the Cybisters. They may be called the sharks of the insect world. Nothing which lives in the water is safe against the voracity of the Dytiscus. They attack small molluscs, young fish, tadpoles, larvæ of insects, and suck greedily the bits of raw meat which are thrown to them. They may be kept in an aquarium for many years by feeding them on animal matter. Their oval-shaped body, with its sharp sides, permits them to cut through the water with great ease—the hind legs serving as oars. They are to be found in stagnant waters during the greatest part of the year, but principally in autumn. During the winter they bury themselves in the mud and under moss. The females lay their eggs in the water. The larvæ are long, swelling out at the middle, furnished with hairs, and grow rapidly. To undergo their metamorphosis into pupæ they bury themselves in the earth.
The perfect insects are amphibious, and fly from one pond to another to satisfy their voracious appetites. The most common species of this genus is the Dytiscus marginalis (Fig. 474), of a dark greenish brown, yellowish on the sides. The elytra of the male are smooth; those of the female are fluted. The front leg of the male is provided with suckers. The larva is brown; the pupa of a dirty white.
The Dytiscus marginalis sometimes attacks Hydrophilus piceus. It pierces it between the head and the thorax, that is, in the weak point of the cuirass, and devours it, in spite of its being the stronger. The largest of the Dytisci, the Dytiscus latissimus (Fig. 476), is almost confined to the north of Europe. The Cybisters abound especially in warm countries. The Cybister Rœselii (Fig. 477), a European species, has the reputation of having been taken in England. This group contains also a great number of insects more or less resembling the preceding in their conformation and habits. We will confine ourselves to representing a few by figures.
The Gyrinidæ, which come very near to the Dytiscidæ, like water which is clear and a little agitated. They are small black insects, living in troops, and which swim with rapidity, describing incessantly capricious circles, which has gained for them the name of “Whirligigs.” They are remarkable for the disposition of their eyes, which are double; so that the Gyrinidæ seem to have four eyes. The lower ones look into the water and watch for the prey or the fish that advances as an enemy; whilst the upper eyes look upwards towards the air, and warn the insect of the approach of enemies from above. To escape from fish, the Gyrinus jumps out of the water, and also makes use of its wings; to escape from birds it dives rapidly. This activity, and this double sight, make the capture of the Gyrini a task of great difficulty. They must be caught with a net. At the moment of being seized they emit a milky and fœtid liquid.
The females lay their eggs end to end, on the leaves of aquatic plants. The larvæ are long and narrow, and of a dirty white. They come out of the water at the end of the summer, and form for themselves a cocoon on the plants bordering the banks. After a month, the perfect insect is hatched, and plunges into the water. The Gyrinus striatus (Fig. 496) is found in the waters of southern Europe.
All these species are of small size, and do not exceed a fifth of an inch in length; but in the tropics we find Gyrini two-thirds of an inch long. One of these species, distinctus, exists in the little lake of Solazies, in Réunion Island, noted for its mineral waters. The visitors amuse themselves by fishing for this insect with a line baited with a bit of red cloth, which it attacks. It is found also in a mineral spring in Algeria. The Epinecti (Fig. 498) are large Gyrinidæ from Brazil, with very long front legs.
The carnivorous land insects par excellence—those which are most formidable, on account of their ravages and voracity—are the Carabidæ. This family, one of the most numerous of the Order Coleoptera, consists of insects with long legs, and armed with powerful mandibles, suited for tearing their victims to pieces. They are the lions and the tigers of the Coleoptera, whilst the Necrophori and the Silphæ play the part of hyænas and jackals. The eyes of the Carabidæ are very prominent, which allows them to see their prey at a great distance. They take refuge under stones and under the bark of trees; but in fine weather they are also to be seen running along roads. Ardent and audacious, it is by no means rare to see them attacking species much bigger than themselves. The activity which distinguishes these insects is found also in their larvæ, which pursue living prey, instead of remaining shrouded in the midst of their food, like the larvæ of the Scarabæidæ.
These carnivorous insects are very numerous—a fortunate circumstance, considering the immense quantity of small noxious creatures, caterpillars, weevils, and an infinity of other parasites, the pests of agriculture, which they destroy. The popular prejudice, then, is to be regretted, which leads ignorant farmers to exterminate them. They ought, on the contrary, to be introduced into market gardens, as toads are, and as cats are into granaries. “The Carabidæ,” says M. Michelet, “immense tribes of warriors, armed to the teeth, which, under their heavy cuirasses, have a wonderful activity, are perfect rural constabulary, day and night, without holidays or repose, protecting our fields. They never touch the smallest thing. They are occupied entirely in arresting thieves, and they desire no salary but the body of the thief himself.” But ignorance destroys these useful hunters. Children, seduced by the richness of the elytra of the Carabi, amuse themselves in catching these vigilant protectors of our farms, without knowing the bad effect of what they are doing. Fortunately, education is spreading little by little in the country; the farmers begin to be awakened to their true interests, and to know how to distinguish the useful animals which it behoves them to preserve in their fields for the safeguard of their crops. In some places in France they have already made attempts to introduce the Carabidæ and the Cicindelidæ into gardens, and they have found them succeed very well.
The true Carabi are to be known by their oval convex body, their long antennæ, and elegantly-carved thorax. They are, in general, of more massive forms than the Cicindelidæ, which compose a kindred family. The latter form, in some sort, the vanguard and the light troops; the others, the heavy battalions. The Carabi coming out in general at night, or at least at twilight, and keeping themselves hidden under stones during the day, it is not easy to observe their manœuvres.
The Carabus auratus (Fig. 499), which abounds in fields and gardens on the Continent, may be considered as the type of this genus. It has elytra of a beautiful green, with three ribs, and the legs yellowish. When it is touched it disgorges a black and acrid saliva, and ejects from the abdomen a corrosive liquid of a disagreeable odour. It lives on the larvæ of other insects. It has been seen to attack even large insects, such as the cockchafer.
In England and the environs of Paris, Carabus violaceus (Fig. 500), whose dress, of a sombre colour, is surrounded by shades of red and violet, is met with. In the Pyrenees many Carabi with metallic reflections are found, whose beautiful colours are the delight of collectors; the Carabus splendens, the Carabus rutilans, &c. But the most beautiful insects of this tribe come from Siberia and the north of China. Let us mention, for example, the Carabus smaragdinus, of a beautiful grass-green; the Carabus Vietinghovii, of a beautiful blue black, bordered with azure, with a golden band, &c.
The Carabus Adonis (Fig. 502) is not rare in Alsace, and is found on the banks of streams.
The long flat larvæ of the Carabi live in the trunks of trees, among leaves, under moss, &c. They are active, and live on other insects. Fig. 504 represents the larva of the Carabus auronitens.
Another genus of the same family is Calosoma. They have wings under their elytra—the true Carabi have not—which they use in passing from one tree to another.
In the month of June is to be found on oak trees the beautiful Calosoma sycophanta (Fig. 508), the occasional occurrence of which in England is unquestionable; it is, however, presumed that the specimens have reached our shores from the Continent by flight, favoured by strong easterly winds. This insect is of a beautiful violet blue, having the antennæ and the legs black, and the elytra of a splendid golden green, with longitudinal streaks. According to Réaumur, the larva of the Calosoma often chooses a home in the nest of the Procession-Moth Caterpillar (Bombyx processionea), on oak trees, and it very soon rids the tree which is infested by them.
The Calosoma auropunctata is found in the south of France. Its larva (Fig. 507) devours snails, and establishes itself in their shells. These larvæ have been known to fill themselves so full of food as to become double their natural size, in which state they are sometimes devoured by those of their own species. A smaller kind, the Calosoma inquisitor, is very frequently to be met with in woods. Fig. 508 presents Calosoma sycophanta pursuing a Bombardier (Brachinus explodens), which squirts out a vapour of pungent odour.
In the countries of the south-east of Europe, and in Asia Minor, one finds enormous Carabidæ, the Procrustes and the Proceri, which attain nearly two inches in length, and whose integuments resemble very rough shagreen. One species alone is met with in France, the Procrustes coriaceus (Fig. 509). In Austria is found the Procerus gigas (Fig. 510).
The genus Omophron (Fig. 511) contains small, almost globular Carabidæ of a pale yellow, with green lines, and which live in the sand bordering rivers. The Nebrias in general prefer mountainous countries. The largest species, the Nebria arenaria (Fig. 512), is found all along the coast of the Mediterranean, and even on the western shores of France. But its colours grow paler as it advances northward on the African coast. It is of a bright yellow with black lines. The Nebrias hide themselves either under masses of seaweed cast up by the waves, or under the stumps of trees cast ashore by the sea. When they are deprived of their place of shelter, they run away with such rapidity that it is very difficult to catch them. In Senegal is found the genus Tefflus (Fig. 513), great black Carabidæ with fluted elytra.
Other kindred genera are—Damaster (Fig. 514), remarkable for elongated pointed elytra; Anthia (Fig. 515), which is met with in sand in Africa and in India, and whose head is armed in a formidable manner; and Campylocnemis, of which Schrœteri (Fig. 516), an Australian insect, of a bright black, attains to more than an inch and three quarters in length, and whose short serrated legs enable it to hollow out the ground. There is found on the coasts of the south of France a representative of this group in the Scarites lævigatus (Fig. 517), which conceals itself in a hollow, like the cricket, and devours everything which comes within its reach.
The innumerable tribe of Harpalidæ contains carnivorous beetles of very small size, sometimes of a bronze-green, sometimes black, either dull or shining, and which render great service to our gardens. Hidden under stones, in dry leaves, at the foot of trees, they attack a number of small insects, caterpillars, millepedes, &c., and thus exterminate a quantity of vermin. The Harpalus æneus (Fig. 518), which is seen shining in the midst of the paving stones like a little bronze plate, is found everywhere. The Galeritas (Figs. 519 and 520) are distinguished by their antennæ, which are thick at the base; they exhale a very strong odour: nearly all are peculiar to America. One of the most curious insects of this tribe is the Mormolyce phyllodes of Java (Fig. 521) whose elytra project in such a manner as to give it the appearance of a leaf. It lives under bark. The larva and the pupa (Fig. 522) resemble those of other genera of which we have been speaking.
The next great family of the tribe of carnivorous beetles is composed of the Cicindelidæ—slender insects, with large prominent heads, very long legs, and which are very active in their movements. The Cicindelidæ like sandy plains. When the sun shines they fly in a zig-zag manner, but their flight is not continued for long together. In dull weather they are to be seen running on the turf or hiding themselves in holes, and are met with on the sea-shore, where they are seen sometimes to pop up by hundreds. They live on flies and little shrimps, which abound on the sea-shore.
The Cicindela campestris (Fig. 523), or Tiger Beetle, is of a beautiful green, spotted with white; the abdomen is of a bronze red. In this country it is the commonest of the genus. The Cicindela hybrida, of a dull green, relieved by light bands, inhabits sandy woods. The Cicindela maritima differs from the preceding. The Cicindela sylvatica, which flies very well, is not easy to catch, and is to be often met with in the warm glades of the forest of Fontainebleau and at Montmorency; it is not unfrequent here. Its colour is brown, spotted with white; it diffuses a strong smell of the rose, to which succeeds, on being seized, the acrid odour of the secretion which it disgorges. We here represent the Cicindela Dumoulinii (Fig. 524), the Cicindela rugosa (Fig. 525), the Cicindela scalaris (Fig. 526), the Cicindela heros (Fig. 527), the Cicindela quadrilineata (Fig. 528), and the Cicindela capensis (Fig. 529).
The ferocity of these insects is remarkable. They quickly tear off the wings and legs of their victim, and suck out the contents of its abdomen. Often, when they are disturbed in this agreeable occupation, not wishing to leave it, they fly away with their prey; their flight, however, is not sufficiently powerful to allow of their carrying to any great distance such a heavy burden. When a Cicindela is seized between the fingers, it moves about its mandibles and en deavours to pinch, but its bite is inoffensive and not very painful. They are prodigiously active in running. Armed with jaws which are powerful enough to overcome their victims and to seize them at once, they can dispense with stratagem.
Their larvæ (Fig. 530) are soft, and have short legs. To satisfy their voracity they are obliged to lie in ambush in holes. They are two-thirds of an inch long; their head is horny and in the form of a trapezium. The first segment is also horny, and of a metallic green. The eighth has a pair of tubercles with hooks, of which the larva makes use in ascending and descending its vertical hole, like a sweep in a chimney. This hole (Fig. 531) is a foot or more deep. To dig it, the larva employs its mandibles and its legs in the following manner: it twists itself round, loads with earth the flat surface which covers its head, climbs along the chimney by twisting itself into the form of the letter Z, and thus transports its load, as a bricklayer’s labourer carries a hod of mortar up a ladder. Arrived at the mouth of the hole, it throws to a distance the rubbish with which its head is loaded; or, if too heavy, it simply deposits it, pushing it away as far as possible. It is difficult to watch their proceedings, for they are very mistrustful, and retire immediately into their hole when alarmed. They remain in ambush at the entrances of these subterranean passages, which they hermetically seal with their head and thorax. It is a species of pitfall which sets itself in motion the moment anything endeavours to pass it. The unfortunate who ventures is precipitated into the well, and the Cicindela forthwith devours it. These habits remind one of those of the ant-lion. When the time arrives for the metamorphosis, the larva of the Cicindela enlarges the bottom of its hole, and stops up the entrance with earth before changing. The pupa (Figs. 532, 533) is of a pale glossy yellow, covered with small spines. The metamorphosis takes place between August and October; the perfect insect emerges in spring.
Nearly akin to the Cicindelas are the Tetrachas (Figs. 534, 535, 536), from Africa and tropical America; the Manticoras (Fig. 537), which are distinguished by their robust and thick-set appearance; the Pogonostomas (Fig. 538), which live in Madagascar; the Ctenostomas, peculiar to America (Fig. 539), remarkable for the length of their pendent and bristly palpi; the Omus, of California; the Therates (Fig. 540), insects of the East Indian Islands, &c.
The tribe of Tenebrionidæ, called formerly Melasomas, because they are nearly all black, resembles in some points the Carabici. They seek after dark places, and avoid the light, and are found on the ground under stones; their movements are slow, and they walk with difficulty. The best-known insect of this group is the Blaps, of repulsive smell, inhabiting dark damp places, such as cellars, and only coming out of its retreat during the night. The elytra are joined together, and they have no wings. The vulgar regard them as an omen of ill-luck. Fig. 541 represents the Blaps obtusa. According to the report of a traveller, the women in Egypt eat the Blaps sulcata cooked with butter, to make them fat. They are employed also against the ear-ache, the bite of scorpions, &c.
Another genus of the same family is the Tenebrio (Fig. 542), of a blackish-brown, with the elytra striated, and of half an inch in length. The larvæ, the well-known meal-worms, live in flour; they are cylindrical, and of a light tawny colour (Fig. 542). The insect which is considered as a type of the tribe of the Pimelides is the Pimelia bipunctata, which is common in the south of France.
We come now to the tribe of blistering beetles, of which the best known is the Cantharides (Cantharis or Lytta). These insects are generally of soft consistency, and their elytra very flexible. A few remain constantly on trees. All are very brisk and active. When swallowed they are a dangerous poison, but are used in medicine for making blisters.
The Cantharides of commerce (Cantharis [Lytta] vesicatoria) are of a beautiful green, attain to a size of four-fifths of an inch, and are found on ash-trees, lilacs, and other shrubs. Commerce for a long time brought them from Spain, and some still come from that country; hence the common name of Spanish fly. As they live in great numbers together, collecting them is easier and less expensive than would be that of other species of the same family which are not gregarious, but which have the same medicinal properties. The presence of the Cantharides is manifested by the strong penetrating odour which they diffuse to some distance. When, by aid of this smell, they are discovered, generally settled on an ash, they are collected in the following manner:—Very early in the morning a cloth of light tissue is stretched out at the foot of the tree, and the branches are shaken, which causes the insects to fall (Plate XII.). These, numbed by the cold of the night, do not try to escape. When there is a sufficient quantity, the four corners are drawn up and the whole plunged into a tub of vinegar diluted with water. This immersion causes the death of the insects. They then carry them to a loft, or under a very airy shed. To dry them they spread them out on hurdles covered with linen or paper, and from time to time, to facilitate the operation, they are moved about, either with a stick or with the hand, which is more convenient; but it is then necessary to take the precaution of putting on gloves, for, if touched with the naked hand, they would cause more or less serious blisters. The same precaution must be observed in gathering them.
When the Cantharides are quite dry, they put them into wooden boxes or vessels of glass or earthenware hermetically sealed, and preserve them in a place protected from damp. With these precautions, they may be kept for a long while without losing any of their caustic properties. Dumeril made blisters of Cantharides which had been twenty-four years in store, and which had lost none of their energy. When dry, they are so light that a kilogramme contains nearly 13,000 insects. Aretius, a physician who flourished at Rome in the first century of our era, seems to have been the first to employ Cantharides, reduced to powder, as a means of vesication. Hippocrates administered them internally in cases of dropsy, apoplexy, and jaundice. But it is pretty nearly established that the Cantharides of the ancients were not the same species used at the present day; they were, probably, a kindred species, the Mylabris chicorii. A blistering principle has been extracted from these insects, called Cantharadine. This organic product presents itself under the form of little shining flakes, without colour, soluble in ether or oil. One atom of this matter applied to the skin, and particularly to the lower lip, makes the epidermis rise instantaneously, and produces a small blister filled with a watery liquid. In spite of the corrosive principle which the Cantharis contains, it is attacked, like other dried insects, by the Dermestes and the Anthrenus, which feast on them without suffering the smallest inconvenience.
The Stylopidæ, for which Kirby, 122 in 1811, instituted a distinct Order, which he called Strepsiptera, in allusion to the contortion of the elytra, and to which Latreille 123 subsequently applied the name of Rhipiptera, are, perhaps, the most anomalous of all insects. Great diversity of opinion has existed respecting their affinities; but modern systematists, with but few exceptions, concur in referring them to the Order Coleoptera, and locating them in proximity to Meloë. In the larva state, all the known species of the family inhabit the bodies of hymenopterous insects of the genera Andrena, Polistes, &c., in this particular resembling the dipterous genus Conops, which inhabits the body of humble bees, 124 and apparently in no way inconveniencing their victims; a fact which has been accounted for on the supposition that their existence in the larva state is but short, and that their attacks being directed against the abdomen, and not the thorax, the seat of life in insects, their presence does not affect the activity of the victim. The larva has a soft fusiform body, surmounted by a somewhat globose head. While feeding, the head is towards the base of the abdomen; but on changing to a pupa, this position is reversed, and the head—at first of light brown, but which after a short time becomes black—thrust out between the plates of the abdomen.
The imagos, which are of small size, namely, about the eighth of an inch long, are found during May and June. They have four wings, but the anterior pair, of hard texture, somewhat resembling elytra, but hardly answering to them in structure, are very poorly developed, and curled round the front pair of legs, hence the name bestowed, by Kirby, from [Greek: strepssis], a twisting, and [Greek: pteron], a wing; the posterior wings are fully developed, and fold up like a fan, whence the Order received the name of Rhipiptera from Latreille. The eyes, the facettes of which are few in number, are placed on a footstalk, whence the name of the genus Stylops. The parts of the mouth connect the Strepsiptera with the mandibulated insects, although by some supposed to bear analogy by their functions to those parts in the Diptera. The male only is winged; the female is very like an apodal larva, the larva being an active hexapod.
The family Stylopidæ is divided into four genera, of which two only, Xenos and Stylops, were described by Kirby in the essay referred to above. First, Xenos, from [Greek: xenos], a guest, the most prolific in species, of which Xenos Rossii, sometimes called vesparum, may be taken as the type. Secondly, Elenchus, of which Elenchus Walkeri is the type. Thirdly, Stylops (Fig. 543), parasitical on various species of Andrenæ, of which Stylops Melittæ, having a fleshy abdomen and the wings longer than the body, may be considered typical: and lastly, Halictophagus, of which only one species, infesting Halictus æratus125 named Halictophagus Curtisii, is known to exist, and which makes its appearance in the month of August.
These singular insects are found in various parts of the world—Europe, Australia, and America. They were discovered by Professor Peck almost simultaneously with Mr. Kirby’s discovery in this country, and to whom he sent specimens of a species which has received the name of Xenos Peckii lately, in New Zealand and elsewhere.
Siebold, in 1843, having obtained some eggs, was able to observe the larvæ, and he soon discovered that the females of Stylops, one of the Strepsiptera, were blind, had no legs, and always retained the appearance of larvæ, and that they never quitted the bodies of those insects, in which they pass a parasitic existence. George Newport paid great attention to the history of these curious insects, and when he wrote his article, “Insecta,” in the “Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology,” four distinct genera of these minute parasites had already been discovered. One of the largest species (Stylops Spencii) is scarcely more than two lines in length, while the smallest species yet known is not more than two-thirds of a line, or scarcely a line in breadth with its wings expanded. They undergo metamorphosis; and the males, when they have become perfect insects, fly and roam about, but the females are condemned to a perfectly quiet life. The head and the thoracic segments of the bodies of these last are united completely, but the abdomen, which is very large, always remains soft, so that the whole of the body only appears to be formed of two portions. They are ovo-viviparous insects, and the young larvæ escape as such from the body of the mother. They are active creatures, and, being furnished with long legs, crawl over the hairs and skin of the hymenopterous insect they are parasitic upon. They behave like the larvæ of Meloë and Sitaris, whose peculiar methods of life have been noticed in our description of the Coleoptera. Clinging on to a wasp or a bee, they are carried off, and finally arrive in the nest or hive, as the case may be, and there they attack the larvæ. When once fixed upon the hymenopterous larvæ, they undergo a change of skin, and their shape then becomes totally different, and their legs are atrophied. But these parasites being exceedingly small, do not kill the larvæ; they suck their juices, after the manner of the Ichneumons, and do not interfere with the metamorphoses of the insects upon which they are parasitic. On the right hand, in the accompanying engraving (Fig. 544), there is a larva much magnified, lately born, and climbing upon the hair of one of the Hymenoptera, and on the left hand there is a perfect female insect, very much magnified, with ovo-viviparous larvæ within its abdomen, and between the two figures there is a representation of a larva of the natural size. It is evident, however, that ova may be expelled from the mother before they are hatched.
Packard describes the curious history of the female Stylops, which he found parasitic on one of the bees. He caught the bee, and on examining it he noticed a pale reddish-brown triangular mark on the abdomen, and this was the flattened head and thorax of a female Stylops. The creature is included in the body of the bee, and is nourished by its juices. The head and thorax of the parasite were noticed to be soldered into a single flattened mass, the baggy hind body being greatly enlarged, like that of the female white ant. On carefully drawing out the whole body from the bee the mass was found to be very extensible, soft, and baggy, and on examining it under a high power of the microscope, multitudes of very minute larvæ were observed, and they began to issue out from the body of the parent all alive, and not as eggs. The male of this Stylops childreni is totally unlike its partner, having large hind wings, and being able to fly, as has already been noticed. It appears, then, that the larvæ are hatched or crawl out of the body of the mother on to the body of the bee, and are then transported to its nest; then they enter the body of the bee larva, and live upon its fatty matter. The male Stylops is turned into a pupa within the bee, and so is the female; but after the second metamorphosis the male flies off, leaving his wingless partner imprisoned for life, and she usually dies immediately after giving birth to her myriad offspring (Packard). The female respires by peculiarly arranged tracheæ, and absorbs nourishment through her skin as well as by means of an alimentary canal, which ends in a blind sac. All the beauties of the female, so far as they are visible to the male, consist in the tiny patch which appears just without the body of the unfortunate bee, and the ova collect in a space which opens between the united head and body and the abdomen.
The genus Mylabris corresponds most in structure, in appearance, and in properties, to Cantharis, whose place they take in the East, in China, and in the south of Europe. They are found in clusters on the flowers of chicory, thistles, &c. The Mylabris chicorii, common enough in France, especially in the south, is of small size, whilst the other species are rather large. It is black, hairy, with a large yellowish spot at the base of each elytron, and two transverse bands of the same colour.
Another genus of this family is Meloë, with very short elytra, and without wings. They walk slowly and with difficulty on low plants, the female dragging along an enormous abdomen filled with eggs. They are generally observed in spring. In Germany they give them the name of Maiwurm (Mayworm). Their succulence would expose them, without doubt, to the voracity of birds and of insect-eating Mammifers if they had not the power of exuding at will, in the moment of danger, from all their articulations, an unctuous humour of a reddish-yellow colour, the odour and probably also the caustic properties of which repel the aggressor. The females lay their eggs underground, and out of these come forth larvæ of a strange shape. Swallowed by cattle, they cause them to swell and die. It is for this reason that Latreille has given it as his opinion that these insects are the Buprestis of the ancients, of which the law of Cornelius speaks, “Lex Cornelia de sicariis et veneficis.” But the name of Buprestis was applied by Linnæus to a genus of which we shall treat farther on, and it has been generally adopted by naturalists.
The commonest among the Meloës is the Meloë proscarabæus, which is to be found in abundance, in the month of April, in the meadows near the bridge of Ivry in the environs of Paris. The metamorphoses of the insects of this family had remained for a long time surrounded with an impenetrable veil of mystery, but the researches of Newport in England, and of M. Fabre (of Avignon) in France, has made known in our days, phases, extremely curious, under which are accomplished the metamorphoses of the Meloë cicatricosus, and of the Sitaris humeralis, a species which belongs to the same family.126 These observations, of which we are about to give a rapid summary, will probably help towards unravelling the first states of Cantharis.
The Sitaris humeralis (Fig. 545) takes no nourishment when arrived at the perfect state. When the female has been impregnated, she lays at the entrance of the nest of a solitary bee from 2,000 to 3,000 small whitish eggs, stuck together in shapeless masses. A month afterwards there come out of these eggs very small larvæ, of a shiny dark green, hard-skinned, armed with strong jaws, and long legs and antennæ (Fig. 546). These are the first larvæ. They remain motionless, and without taking food, till the following spring. At this period are hatched the male bees, which precede the appearance of the females by a month. As the bees come out of their nests, these larvæ hook themselves on to their hairs, and pass them to the females, at the coupling period. When the male bees have built the cells, and furnished them with honey, the female, as we know, deposits in each an egg. Immediately the larvæ of the Sitaris let themselves fall on these eggs, open them, and suck their contents. Then they change their skin, and the second larva appears. This one gets into the honey, on which it feeds for six weeks. It is blind, whereas the first larva was provided with four eyes, no doubt to enable it to see the bees which were to serve as its conductors, in like manner as the companions of Ulysses watched the sheep of Polyphemus, so as to escape out of the cave in which they were retained as prisoners. A few days later, and this second larva contracts, and detaches from its body a transparent skin, which discloses a mass, at first soft, which very soon hardens, and becomes of a bright tawny colour; it is called the pseudo-nymph (Fig. 547). It goes through the winter in this state. In the spring comes forth a third larva (Fig. 548), resembling the second. This one does not eat, and moults after a time. It very soon changes into an ordinary pupa (Fig. 549), of a yellowish-white, from which comes forth the adult Sitaris, which lives only a few days, to ensure the propagation of its species, as is observed in the case of the Ephemeræ. The larvæ of the Sitaris had for a long time been remarked clinging on to the hairs of the Anthophoras, but they were always taken for Acari, and they had been described as such.
The Lampyridæ have the elytra weak and soft, like the insects of the preceding tribe. In their perfect state they frequent flowers. The larvæ are carnivorous, attacking other insects or worms. It is to this group that the Lampyris noctiluca, or glow-worm, which one sees shining during summer nights on grass and bushes, belongs. It has the power of making this natural torch shine or disappear at will.
The luminous properties with which these insects are endowed have for their object to reveal their presence to the opposite sex, for the females alone possess these properties. In the same way as sounds or odours exhaling from some insects attract the one towards the other sex, so with the Lampyris a phosphorescent light shows the females to the males. The seat of the phosphorescent substance varies according to the species. It exists generally under the three last rings of the abdomen, and the light is produced by the slow combustion of a peculiar secretion. It has been stated that it is evolved quickly when the animal contracts its muscles, either spontaneously or under the influence of artificial excitement. Some chemical experiments have been made to ascertain the nature or the composition of the humour which produces this strange effect; but up to this moment, they have only enabled us to discover that the luminous action is more powerful in oxygen, and ceases in gases incapable of supporting combustion. In the most common species, the Lampyris noctiluca, or glow-worm, the phosphorescence is of a greenish tint: it assumes at certain moments the brightness of white-hot coal.
The females have no wings, while the males have them, and possess very well-developed elytra. The females resemble the larvæ much, only they have the head more conspicuous, and the thorax buckler-shaped, like the male. The larvæ feed on small molluscs, hiding in the snails’ shells, after having devoured the inhabitant. They also possess the phosphorescent property in a less degree than the adult females. The female pupa resembles the larva; the pupa of the male, on the contrary, has the wings folded back under a thin skin. The perfect insect appears towards the autumn.
The Glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca, Fig. 550) is of a brownish yellow. It is common in England. In a kindred species, the Luciola Italica, the two sexes are winged, of a tawny-brown, and equally phosphorescent. They are met with in great numbers in Italy, and the lawns are covered with them. Other insects of this family are without the faculty of emitting light; as, for example, the genus Lycus, of brilliant colours, which are met with in Africa and India. One of the finest is the Lycus latissimus.
Drilus is another genus, comprising insects of very singular habits. The type is the Drilus flavescens. The male—a quarter of an inch long, black and hairy, with elytra of a testaceous yellow, and with pectinated antennæ—for a long time was alone known. The female—from ten to fifteen times as large, without wings and elytra, of a yellowish brown—was not discovered till much later, having apparently nothing in common with the male in shape or colour. The metamorphoses of these curious insects are now perfectly understood. Mielzinsky, a Polish naturalist established at Geneva, found the Drilus in the larva state in the shell of the Helix nemoralis. These larvæ devour the snail whose dwelling they occupy, as do the larvæ of the Lampyris. Mielzinsky saw them emerge, but obtained only females, which differed scarcely at all from the larvæ from which they proceeded. He made a separate genus of them, under the denomination of Cochleoctonus, and called the species Vorax. Later, Desmarest resumed these observations. He provided himself, at the Veterinary College of Alfort, with a number of shells of the Helix filled with the same larvæ. He saw come out of them, not only Cochleoctoni, but also Drili, and he watched their coupling. It was then proved, by this unanswerable argument, that these two insects, so unlike each other, belong to the same species.
The larva of the Drilus flavescens fixes itself upon the shell of the snail by a sort of sucker, like a leech. Little by little it slips in between the mollusc and its house, and devours it entirely. To change into a pupa, it shuts up the entrance to the shell with its old skin; and when arrived at the perfect state, quits the shell which served it as a temporary dwelling. The females of the Drilus flavescens take refuge under stones and dry leaves, or crawl slowly along the ground; whilst the males, which fly with great ease, are on the plants and brushwood. These insects are not rare in the environs of Paris. M. H. Lucas has observed, in Algeria, near to Oran, another curious species, the Drilus Mauritanicus. The larva of this insect lives at the expense of the animal of the Cyclostoma Volzianum, which closes the entrance to its shell with a covering of some calcareous substance. It fixes itself on the edge of the shell, with the aid of its sucker, and directs its strong mandibles to the side on which the snail is obliged to raise the covering, either to breathe the air or to walk. In this position it has the patience to wait for many days at the door. The snail puts off for as long a time as he is able the fatal moment. But when, overcome by hunger or nearly stifled in his prison, he decides at last to open the door, the Drilus profits immediately by this opportunity, and cuts the muscle which keeps back the foot of the snail. The breach being made, nothing more opposes itself to the entrance of the enemy. He slips in, and sets to work to eat at his leisure the unfortunate inoffensive mollusc, which affords him board and lodging. The Ptilodadylides, the Eucinetides, and the Cebrionides belong to the same family. The first is exotic.
The Elateridæ are rather large insects, often of hard texture, having the prosternum prolonged into a point (Figs. 551 and 552), and the antennæ indented saw-wise. They have the power of jumping when placed on their backs, and of alighting again on their legs. Hence their name of Elater (derived from the same root as the word elastic). They produce, in leaping, one sharp rap, and often knock many raps when they are prevented from projecting themselves. This is the mechanism which permits the skip-jack to execute these movements. It bends itself upwards by resting on the ground by its head and the extremity of the abdomen, and then it unbends itself suddenly, like a spring. The point at the end of the thorax penetrates into a hollow of the next ring; the back then strikes with force against the plane on which it rests, and the animal is projected into the air. It repeats this manœuvre till it finds itself on its belly, for its legs are too short to allow of its turning over. Its structure supplies it with the means and the strength of rebounding as many times as it falls on its back, and it can thus raise itself more than twelve times the length of its body.
The larvæ of the genus Elateridæ (Fig. 553) are cylindrical, with a scaly skin and very short legs. They live in rotten wood or in the roots of plants. According to M. Goureau, they pass five years in this state.
The larvæ of the genus Agriotes occasion considerable damage to wheat-fields. They have much resemblance to the meal-worm, or larva of the Tenebrio. The Tetralobides are the largest of the Elateridæ, attaining to a length of two inches; and are inhabitants of Africa and Australia.
In America are found phosphorescent Elateridæ. These are the Pyrophori, which the Spaniards of South America call by the name of Cucuyos. They have, at the base of their thorax, two small, smooth, and brilliant spots, which sparkle during the night; the rings of the abdomen also emit a light. They give light sufficient to enable one to read at a little distance from them. The Pyrophorus noctilucus (Fig. 554) is very common in Havannah, in Brazil, in Guyana, in Mexico, &c., and may be seen at night in great numbers, amongst the foliage of trees. At the time of the Spanish conquest, a battalion, just disembarked, did not dare to engage with the natives, because it took the Cucuyos which were shining on the neighbouring trees for the matches of the arquebuses ready to fire. “In these countries,” says M. Michelet, “one travels much by night, to escape the heat. But one would not dare to plunge into the peopled shades of the deep forests if these insects did not reassure the traveller. He sees them shining afar off, dancing, twisting about; he sees them near at hand on the bushes by his side; he takes them with him; he fixes them on his boots, so that they may show him his road and put to flight the serpents; but when the sun rises, gratefully and carefully he places them on a shrub, and restores them to their amorous occupations. It is a beautiful Indian proverb that says, ‘Carry away the fire-fly, but restore it from whence thou tookest it’” 127 The Creole women make use of the Cucuyos to increase the splendour of their toilettes. Strange jewels! which must be fed, which must be bathed twice a day, and must be incessantly taken care of, to prevent them from dying. The Indians catch these insects by balancing hot coals in the air, at the end of a stick, to attract them, which proves that the light which these insects diffuse is to attract. Once in the hands of the women, the Cucuyos are shut up in little cages of very fine wire, and fed on fragments of sugar-cane. When the Mexican ladies wish to adorn themselves with these living diamonds, they place them in little bags of light tulle, which they arrange with taste on their skirts. There is another way of mounting the Cucuyos. They pass a pin, without hurting them, under the thorax, and stick this pin in their hair. The refinement of elegance consists in combining with the Cucuyos, humming-birds and real diamonds, which produce a dazzling head-dress. Sometimes, imprisoning these animated flames in gauze, the graceful Mexican women twist them into ardent necklaces, or else roll them round their waists, like a fiery girdle. They go to the ball under a diadem of living topazes, of animated emeralds, and this diadem blazes or pales according as the insect is fresh or fatigued. When they return home, after the soirée, they make them take a bath, which refreshes them, and put them back again into the cage, which sheds during the whole night a soft light in the chamber. In 1766, a Cucuyo, brought alive from America to Paris, probably in some old piece of wood which happened to be on the vessel, caused great terror to the inhabitants of the Faubourg St. Antoine, when they saw it flying in the evening, glittering in the air. In 1864 a number of Cucuyos were brought from Mexico to Paris by M. Laurent, captain of the frigate La Floride. An experiment, made in the laboratory of the École Normal, showed that the spectrum of their light is continuous, without any black rays; it differs, besides, from the spectrum of the solar light by a greater intensity of the yellow colour. The light is produced probably as it is in the case of the Lampyris, by the slow combustion of a substance secreted by the animal. The Cucuyo can, nevertheless, at will, increase or diminish the splendour of this light by means of membranes which it superposes, like screens, in front of the phosphorescent bumps which it has on its thorax.
In the Indies, and in China, the women use for dressing their hair with, or as ear-rings, another Coleopteron of the same tribe, which begins even to be employed for this purpose by the women of the south of France. It is a Buprestis, of splendid colours, and of metallic brightness. Linnæus, as we said above, gave to it, wrongly, the name of Buprestis, which among the ancients served to designate a very different insect, the Meloë, of the family of the Cantharidæ; but modern naturalists have allowed this illegitimate title.
The Buprestidæ walk heavily, but fly with the greatest ease during the heat of the sun, and settle on the trunks of trees exposed to its rays. In Europe, and especially in the North, they are very rare, and of very small size. They must be looked for on birch-trees, whose white colour seems to attract them. In the hottest parts of the world they are very abundant, of large dimensions, and adorned with sparkling colours. They do not jump, and are not endowed with the phosphorescent property. Their larvæ have no legs, are elongate, whitish, of a fleshy consistency, with the first ring of their bodies very much broadened. They live in the trunks of trees, between the bark and the wood, hollowing out for themselves irregular galleries, and remaining sometimes in this state for ten years before metamorphosing. Laporte de Castelnau and Gory have described and made drawings of about 1,300 species of Buprestidæ. Fig. 555 represents the Buprestis imperialis. The Buprestis albosparsa, the genera Julodis, the Chrysochroas, and the Trachys belong also to the great family of Buprestidæ. The Cleridæ are connected with the preceding. They have the thorax narrower than the elytra, and rather long; their integuments are less solid than those of the Elateridæ and the Buprestidæ. The latter are phytophagous, the former carnivorous. The principal type of this family is the Clerus formicarius, russety, with the head and legs black, whose larva lives at the expense of the larvæ of the weevil. Another genus, the Necrobia, which lives on dried animal matter, has become celebrated, as it was the cause of the salvation of the greatest entomologist of France. The name of Necrobia (from [Greek: nekros] and [Greek: biôs]) does not mean “which lives on dead bodies,” but it means “life in death.” Here is the story of which this name is destined to preserve the remembrance, and which Latreille himself has related in his “Histoire des Insectes.” Before 1792, Latreille was known only from some memoirs which he had published on insects. He was then priest at Brives-la-Gaillarde, and was arrested with the curés of Limousin, who had not taken the oath. These unfortunates were then taken to Bordeaux in carts, to be transported to Guyana. Arrived at Bordeaux in the month of June, they were incarcerated in the prison of the Grand Séminaire till a ship should be ready to take them on board. In the meanwhile, the 9th Thermidor arrived, and caused the execution of the sentence which condemned the priests who had not taken the oath to transportation to be for a while suspended. However, the prisons emptied themselves but slowly, and those who had been condemned had none the less to go into exile, only their transportation had been put off till the spring.
“Latreille remained detained at the prison of the Grand Séminaire. In the same chamber which he occupied there was at the time an old sick bishop, whose wounds a surgeon came each morning to dress. One day as the surgeon was dressing the bishop’s wounds, an insect came out of a crack in the boards. Latreille seized it immediately, examined it, stuck it on a cork with a pin, and seemed enchanted at what he had found.
“Is it a rare insect, then?” said the surgeon.
“Yes,” replied the ecclesiastic.
“In that case you should give it to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I have a friend who has a fine collection of insects, who would be pleased with it.”
“Very well, take him this insect; tell him how you came by it, and beg him to tell me its name.”
The surgeon went quickly to his friend’s house. This friend was Bory de Saint Vincent, a naturalist who became celebrated afterwards, but who was very young at that time. He already occupied himself much with the natural sciences, and in particular with the classing of insects. The surgeon delivered to him the one found by the priest, but in spite of all his researches, he was unable to class it.
Next day the surgeon having seen Latreille again in his prison, was obliged to confess to him that in his friend’s opinion this Coleopteron had never been described. Latreille knew by this answer that Bory de Saint Vincent was an adept. As they gave the prisoner neither pen nor paper, he said to his messenger, “I see plainly that M. Bory de Saint Vincent must know my name. You tell him that I am the Abbé Latreille, and that I am going to die at Guyana, before having published my ‘Examen des Genres de Fabricius.’”
Bory, on receiving this piece of news, took active steps, and obtained leave for Latreille to come out of his prison, as a convalescent, his uncle Dayclas and his father being bail for him, and pledging themselves formally to deliver up the prisoner the moment they were summoned to do so by the authorities. The vessel which was to have conducted Latreille to exile, or rather to death, was getting ready whilst these steps were being taken, and while Bory and Dayclas were obtaining leave for him to come out of prison. This was quite providential, for it foundered in sight of Cordova, and the sailors alone were able to save themselves. A little time afterwards his friends managed to have his name scratched out from the list of exiles. It is thus that the Necrobia ruficollis was the saving of Latreille.
The tribe of weevils is even much more numerous than that of the Elateridæ and the Buprestidæ. One may know them by their head prolonged into a snout or trunk, by their rudimentary mouth, and by their elbowed antennæ. About twenty thousand species are said to exist. They feed on vegetables. Their larvæ are soft, whitish worms, without legs, with very small heads, and live in the interior of the stalks or seeds of plants, often occasioning enormous damage. They are one of the plagues of agriculture. Each of our dry vegetables, each variety of our cereals, has in this immense family its particular enemy.
First are the Bruchi. The Pea Weevil (Bruchus pisi, Fig. 556), which is brown with white spots, comes out of the pea at the end of the summer. The female lays her eggs on peas which are ripe, and still standing, in which the larva scoops out a habitation, and then makes its exit by a circular hole (Fig. 557). It remains at rest all the winter, and is not hatched till towards the following spring. The Bean Weevil (Bruchus rufimanus) marks each bean with many black spots. The vetch has also its special Bruchus. The Wheat Weevil (Calandra granaria), of a darkish brown, lays its eggs on the grains, of which the larvæ then eat the interior. A host of ways of getting rid of the weevil have been proposed. The best means is to store corn properly, and to keep the heap well aired. Let us mention further, the Clover Weevil, belonging to the genus Apion, the Weevil of the Rape (Ceutorhynchus brassicæ), the Turnip Weevil, &c., &c.
All vegetables, the vine, fruit trees, the ash, pines, &c., are eaten by some weevil or other. As an example we give a figure of the spotted Pissodes pini, which, as the figure shows, takes the precaution of cutting half through the young stems and the stalks of the buds of the pine, “so as,” says M. Maurice Girard, 128 “that the sap flows only with difficulty into the withered organ, and cannot suffocate the young larvæ.”
Scolytus, Hylesinus, and Bostrichus, which are connected with the weevils, hollow out galleries between the wood and the bark of different trees, when in the larva state, and devour the leaves in the adult state. Fig. 559 represents the Hylesinus piniperda. The Scolyti are sometimes so numerous in the forests, that the trees are tattooed all over by the larvæ. In 1837, they were obliged to cut down, in the Bois de Vincennes, 20,000 feet of oak trees, aged from thirty to forty years, completely ruined by the ravages of the Scolytus, whose larva is here represented (Fig. 560). The genus Tomicus, hairy, and of a tawny colour, are a terrible plague to pine forests. In 1783, in the Forest of Hartz, 1,500,000 of trees were destroyed by these insects. Often have the priests implored, in the churches, the Divine clemency, to put an end to the devastations made by them.
We arrive at the tribe of the Longicornes, which contains beautiful insects, of elegant shape and varied colours, sometimes also of rather large dimensions.
The genus Cerambyx has the antennæ very long; they exceed in some of the species two or three times the length of the body. The larvæ are large whitish worms, which live in the wood of trees, the adult insects frequenting flowers, rotten trees, &c. In the month of June, on the Continent, one meets on the oaks with the Great Capricorne (Cerambyx heros, Fig. 561), of a dark brown, whose larva (Fig. 562) scoops out its galleries in the interior of the tree, and often occasions much damage.
The Chrysomelidæ are other phytophagous insects, dressed in the brightest colours, having short and thick-set bodies. The larvæ, soft and ovoid, devour the leaves of trees. One of the best known species is Lina populi, of a bronzed colour, with red elytra, whose larva (Fig. 563), of a greenish grey, devours the leaves of the poplar-tree. The Galerucæ and the Alticæ belong to the same family, as also do the Cassidæ, the Crioceres, and the Donaciæ. The Cassida viridis frequents nettles and artichokes; the elytra are of rounded form. Fig. 564 represents the Crioceris merdigera, a great rarity in this country. The Crioceris asparagi, or Asparagus Beetle, tawny, and barred with black, resembles it in habit.
The last tribe of Coleoptera comprises the Coccinellidæ, or Lady-birds (Fig. 565). These little globular, smooth insects, red or yellow, with black spots, are very useful to us, for they clear the trees of the aphides and other mischievous insects. Their larvæ (Fig. 566) make use of their front legs to carry their prey to their mouths. When danger threatens a Coccinella, it hides its feet under its body, and remains sticking to the stem of the bush. If you touch it, it allows itself to fall to the ground, but sometimes opens its elytra, and flies off rapidly. It also exudes from the articulations of its abdomen a yellow mucilaginous liquid, of a pungent and disagreeable odour. This is the only means of defence possessed by this little inoffensive being, which deserves in all respects the name of “Bête à bon Dieu,” which the French children give it.
**
* ITALICS ARE WOODCUT ILLUSTRATIONS.
Abdomen, The, 1, 167.
Abdominal Cavity, contraction and dilation of, 16.
Abraxas grossulariata, 268.
Acalyptera, 70, 85.
Acanthia ciliata, 94.
" lectularia, 92.
Acanthops, 291.
Acherontia Atropos, 203, 204.
Acilius fasciatus, 480.
" Male and Female, 480.
" sulcatus, 480.
" " Male and Female, 480.
Acridium, 300.
" migratorium, 301.
Acrocinus longimanus, Thorax of, 6.
Acronycta aceris, Larva of, 151.
" " Larvæ of, 152, 153 (three figs.).
Ædia pusiella, 269.
" pusiella, 269.
Ædipoda migratorium, 301.
Agrion, 423.
Agriotes, Larvæ of the Genus, 512.
Ailanthus Silkworm, 245.
Alimentary Canal of Insects, 8, et seq.
Alticæ, 520.
Alucita granella, The, 279.
Amphidasis betularia, 268.
Andrenæ, Gallery of an, 367.
" The, 367.
Anomala, 456.
" Vitis, 456.
Anostostomæ, The, 300.
Ant, 313, 377.
" Ashy, 382.
" " Male, Female, and Worker, 382.
" Ashy-black, 382.
" " Male, Female, and Worker, 382.
" Black, 382.
" Blood-red, 382, 393.
" Blood-red, 390.
" Brazilian Umbrella, 379.
" Brown, 382.
" Ant, Hill, section of, 381.
" Jet, 382.
" Mason, 382.
" Mining, 382, 392.
" " Male, Female, and Worker, 392.
" Nest, sections of, 379.
" Red, 380, 382, 383, 390.
" " Larva of, 383.
" " Male, magnified, 378.
" " Pupa of, 383.
" " Pupa of, 383.
" Russety, 382, 390.
" Russet, 390.
" Turf, 382.
" Yellow, 382.
" White, see Termes.
" " Nests of, 403, 410.
Antennæ, 5; Function of, 5.
Antennæ, 169.
Anthia, 489.
" thoracica, 491.
Anthocharis cardamines, 177, 178.
" cardamines, 177.
Anthocopas, The, 367.
" papaveris, 367.
Anthomyia, 84.
" pluvialis, 84.
" pluvialis, 84.
Anthomyzides, 70, 84.
Anthophora parietina, 364.
" parietina, 363.
Anthophoras, The, 364.
Anthrax, 51.
" sinuata, 52.
Anthrenus museorum, 475.
Antithesia salicana, 269, 271.
" salicana, 271.
Ant-lion, 402, 425.
" Ant-lion, 424.
" Funnel of, 425.
" Larva, Cocoon, and Pupa of, 425.
Apatura Ilia, 190.
" Ilia, 190.
" Iris, 190.
Aphidæ, The, 101.
Aphides and Ants, 128, 389.
" and Ant, 128.
" Ant Milking, 389.
" Winged, 117.
" Wingless, 117.
Aphis, Charles Bonnet on the, 120; of the Apple, 118; of the Oak, 121; of the Plantain, 120.
Aphrophora, The, 112.
" Larva of the, 113.
" spumaria, 114.
Apiariæ, The, 314.
Apis fasciata, 356.
" mellifica, 356.
" Peronii, 356.
Aptera, Probable Dismemberment of the Order, 27.
Argyrolepia æneana, 269, 271.
" æneana, 271.
Articulate Animals, egg state common to, 20.
Ascalaphus, 427; Larva of, 427.
" Larva of, 427.
" meridionalis, 427.
" meridionalis, 427.
Asida, Antennæ of a Species of, 5.
Asilidæ, 49.
Asilus crabroniformis, 50.
" crabroniformis, 50.
Ateuchus, 458.
" Egyptiorum, 460.
" sacer, 460.
Attacus, the genus, 210, 241; of the Ailanthus, 245; of the Castor-oil, 247.
" Atlas, 249, 250.
" Atlas, 250.
" Cynthia, 245.
" Cynthia, Eggs, Larvæ, and Cocoons of, 246.
" Mylitta, 241, 243.
" Mylitta, 244.
" " Cocoon of, 245.
" Pernyi, 241, 243.
" Pernyi, 244.
" " Cocoon of, 243.
" ricini, 247.
" yama-maï, 241.
" yama-maï, 242.
" " Cocoon of, 242.
" " Larva of, 241.
Attagenus pellio, 475.
" pellio, 475.
Bee, 313; Cells constructed by, 324; Bellows used to Stupefy, 355; Bellows used to Stupefy, 355.
" Cells constructed by, 325.
" Banded, 356.
" Carding, 358.
" Carpenter, 364.
" Cluster of, hanging to a branch, 323, 337.
" Larva of, 331.
" Leg of a, 318.
" seen through a Magnifying Glass, 322.
" taking a Swarm of, 350.
" Trunk of, 318.
" Common, 317, 356.
" Humble, 313, 357; Male, 358.
" Larva of, 331.
" Leaf-cutting, 367.
" Ligurian, 356.
" Male, 319.
" Mason, 366.
" Mining, 367.
" Moss, 360.
" Queen, 319.
" Solitary, 362.
" Upholsterer, 367.
" Wood-piercer, 364.
" Worker, 317.
Beetle, Asparagus, 521.
" Bacon, 475.
" Bacon, 475.
" Bee, 441.
" Burying, interring the body of a rat, 471.
" Clock, Dumbledor, Shard-born, 458.
" Rose, 436.
" Stag, 461.
" Tiger, 494.
" Water, 477.
" Whirligig, 478.
Bittacus tipularis, 428.
" tipularis, 429.
Blaps, 497.
" obtusa, 498.
" obtusa, 499.
" sulcata, 498.
Blatta, 285.
" Germanica, 286.
" Laponica, 286.
" Orientalis, 287.
Blepharis, 291.
" mendica, 291.
" mendica, and its Larva, 290.
Blue-bottle Fly, magnified, 79.
" " Retractile Proboscis of, 80.
Boatman, The, 97.
Bocydium globulare, 115.
Bombus muscorum, 358.
Bombycidæ, 249.
Bombycina, 209.
Bombylidæ, 49.
Bombylius major, 51.
" major, 50.
Bombyx, 210; Caterpillar of, 220; of the Ailanthus, 245; of the Castor-oil, 247.
" Atlas, 249.
" Cynthia, 245.
" mori, 210, 220; Apparatus for Stifling the Chrysalides of, 236; Cocoon of, 237, 238;
Larva, Pupa, and Moth of, 236.
" mori, Cocoon of, 235.
" " Larva, Pupa, Cocoon, and Moth of, 236.
" " Spherical Cocoon of, 235.
" neustria, 249.
" Pernyi, 241.
" processionea, 249.
" ricini, 247.
" yama-maï, 241.
Boreus hyemalis, 429, 430.
" hyemalis, 429.
Bostrichus, 518.
" capucinus, 397.
Bot-fly, The, 54, 60.
" Bot-fly, 60.
" Bumps produced on Cattle by Larvæ of, 64.
" Herd of Cattle Attacked by, 61.
" Imago of, emerging, 65.
" Ovipositor of the, 65.
Brachycera, meaning of the word, 47.
Brachycola robusta, 288.
Breeze-fly of the Sheep, 66.
Bruchus, 517.
" pisi, 517.
" rufimanus, 517.
Bug, 91; Egg of, 93; Means of Destroying, 94; Moquin-Tandon on, 93.
" Bed, 92.
" Bed, 93.
" Egg of, 93.
" Fly, 94.
" Needle, 97.
" Red Cabbage, 91.
" Red Garden, 92.
" Water, 90, 97.
" Wood, 91.
Buprestidæ, 514.
Buprestis, 514.
" albosparsa, 515.
" imperialis, 515.
" imperialis, 514.
Burnet Moth, 193.
" Six-spot, 193.
Butalis, 279.
Butterflies, Copper, 179.
" Different Forms of the Scales of, 165.
" Hair-streak, 178.
Butterfly, Definition of, 165; Eyes of, 168; Flight of, 167; Scales of, 165.
" Black Hair-streak, 178.
" Black-veined White, 175.
" Blue Argus, 181.
" Brimstone, 178.
" Brown Argus, 182.
" Brown Hair-streak, 178.
" Cabbage, 149, 176.
" Clouded Yellow, 178.
" Comma, 187.
" Green Hair-streak, 179.
" Green-veined White, 177.
" Large Tortoise-shell, 182, 183.
" Leg of, armed with hooks, 167.
" Leg not suitable for Walking,
167.
" Meadow Brown, 192.
" Orange-tip, 177.
" Painted Lady, 187.
" Peacock, 182.
" Purple Emperor, 190.
" Purple Hair-streak, 179.
" Red Admiral, 186.
" Scarce Swallow-tailed, 174.
" Small Tortoise-shell, 182.
" Small White, 177.
" Swallow-tailed, 172.
" White Admiral, 189.
" Trunk, Section of, 170.
Cabbage Butterfly, Caterpillars of the, 150.
Caddis Flies, 402, 430, 431.
Calandra granaria, 517.
Calepteryx, 423.
Callidium, 397.
" sanguineum, 397.
Calliphora, 77.
" vomitoria, 77; Réaumur on, 77.
Calosoma, 487.
" auropunctata, 486.
" auropunctata, 486.
" " Pupa and Larva of, 486.
" inquisitor, 489.
" sycophanta, 487.
" sycophanta pursuing a Bombardier Beetle, 487.
Camberwell Beauty, 185.
Campylocnemis, 489.
" Schrœteri, 489.
" Schrœteri, 491.
Canary-shouldered Thorn, Caterpillar of, 142.
Canary-shouldered Thorn, Caterpillar of, 142.
Cantharadine, 500.
Cantharides, 498.
" Gathering, 501.
Cantharis, 498.
" vesicatoria, 499.
Capricorne, Great, 519.
Carabus Adonis, 485.
" Adonis, 485.
" auratus, 484; Nervous System of, 18.
" auratus, 485.
" " Digestive Apparatus of, 9.
" " Nervous System of, 19.
" " Secretory Apparatus of, 11.
" auronitens, Larva of, 486.
" auronitens, Larva of, 486.
" canaliculatus, 485.
" nodulosus, 486.
" rutilans, 487.
" smaragdinus, 487.
" splendens, 487.
" Vietinghovii, 487.
" violaceus, 485.
" violaceus, 485.
Carpenter Bee, Pupæ, Eggs, Galleries, and Nests, 363.
Cassida, 520.
" viridis, 520.
Castor-oil Plant, Silkworm of the, 247.
Caterpillar, food of, 143; Description of, ib.; Scaly Legs of the Gipsy Moth, 139; Looper, 141, 265.
" Membranous Legs of a Large, 140.
Catocala, 151.
" Americana, The, 260, 262.
" Americana, 262.
" fraxini, 260, 262; Larvæ of, 152.
" fraxini, 262.
" " Larvæ of, 152.
" nupta, 261, 263.
" nupta, 263.
" paranympha, 260.
" paranympha, 263.
Cebrionides, 512.
Cecidomyia, 43, note.
Centrotus cornutus, 116.
" cornutus, 115.
Cephalemyia ovis, 66.
" ovis, 66.
" " Sheep attacked by, 67.
Cerambyx, 519.
" heros, 519.
" " Imago and Pupa of, 519.
" " Larva of, 520.
Cetonia argentea, 440.
" argentea, 440.
" aurata, 437.
" hirtella, 439.
" splendidula, 438.
" stictica, 439.
Cetoniadæ, 437.
Ceutorhynchus brassicæ, 517.
Chærocampa Elpenor, 196, 200.
" nerii, 196.
Chafers, 436.
Chalcididæ, The, 288; Larvæ of, 314.
Chalicodoma, 366; Nests of, 367.
Charaxes Jasius, 190, 191.
" Jasius, 191.
" " Larva of, 191.
Chartergus lecheguana, 376.
" nidulans, 376.
Chelonia caja, 153; Larva of, 153.
Chelonia caja, Larva of, 153.
" forming its Cocoon, 154.
Chermes variegatus, 129.
Chiasognathus Grantii, 466.
" Grantii, 469.
Chigo, The, 30; Eggs not Hatched in the Wound made by, 30.
Chimatobia brumata, 267, 268.
" " Male and Female, 268.
Chionobas aello, 191, 192.
" allo, 192.
Chlorion compressum, 288.
Choreutes dolosana, 269, 271.
" dolosana, 271.
Chrysalis, 19, 146; meaning of the word, 160, note.
Chrysides, The, 314.
Chrysochroa, the genus, 515.
Chrysomelidæ, 520.
Chrysops cæcutiens, 48.
" cæcutiens, 49.
Chylific Ventricle, 9; its Appendages, 9.
Chylific Ventricle, Posterior Extremity of, 10.
Cicada, 101.
" (male), 103.
" Ash, 108.
" Larva of, 107.
" (female) laying her eggs, 106.
" (male) Musical Apparatus of, 105.
" orni, 109.
" plebeia, 108.
" Pupa of, 107.
Cicadæ, 101.
Cicindela campestris, 494.
" Larva of, 495.
" Ambush of Larva of, 495.
" capensis, 494.
" capensis, 495.
" Dumoulinii, 494.
" Dumoulinii, 494.
" heros, 494.
" heros, 495.
" hybrida, 494.
" maritima, 494.
" Pupa of, 496.
" quadrilineata, 494.
" quadrilineata, 495.
" rugosa, 494.
" rugosa, 494.
" scalaris, 494.
" scalaris, 494.
" sylvatica, 494.
Cicindelidæ, 484, 491.
Cimex lectularius, 92.
Circulation in Insects, 12, et seq.; Incomplete, 25.
Claviger, 473.
" foveolatus, 473.
" foveolatus, 474.
Cleptes, 314.
Cleridæ, 515.
Clerus formicarius, 515.
Cloëon, 419.
" diptera, 419.
" diptera, 420.
Coccinella septempunctata, 520.
Coccinellidæ, 521.
Coccus, 129.
" cacti, 129.
" ilicis, 136.
" lacca, 136.
" manniparus, 137.
" polonicus, 136.
" sinensis, 139.
Cochineal, 129.
" Insects (male and female), 130.
" Branch of Cactus with, 134.
" Gathering in Algeria, 132.
" oak-tree, 129.
Cochleoctonus, 510.
" vorax, 510.
Cochylis francilana, 269, 271.
" francilana, 271.
Cockchafer, 445, 446; Larva of, 452; Pupa of, 452.
Cockchafer, 447.
" Diligence surrounded by, 450.
" Larva of, 452.
" Pupa of, 452.
Cockroach, 284, 285, 286.
" The, 287.
Cocoon, after Réaumur, 152.
Cocoons, Sheets of Paper prepared for Moths with rows of, 238 (two figs.).
" Apparatus for Stifling the Chrysalides in, 237.
Colias edusa, 176, 178.
Colymbetes cinereus, 481.
" cinereus, 481.
" notatus, 481.
" notatus, 481.
" striatus, 481.
" striatus, 481.
Comma Butterfly, 187.
Conops, 54, 59.
Conops, 69.
" rufipes, The, 69.
Convolvulus Sphinx, The, 204.
Copiphora, 300.
Copris, 458.
" lunaris, 458.
Corixa, 98.
" femorata, 99.
" mercenaria, 99.
" striata, 98.
" striata, 98.
Cornea, a compound, 2.
Corydia, the species of, 288.
Cossus, the genus, 257.
" ligniperda, 257.
Crachat de Coucou, 112.
Creophili, The, 70.
Cricket, The, 284, 293.
" Field, 293.
" House, 294.
" Mole, 296.
Crioceris, 520.
" asparagi, 521.
" merdigera, 520.
" merdigera, Larva and Imago of, 520.
Crop, The, 8.
Ctenostoma, 497.
" rugosa, 499.
Cuckoo’s Spittle, 112.
Cucullia verbasci, 155; Cocoon of, 165; Larva of, 165.
Cucullia verbasci, Cocoon of, 155.
" Larva of, 155.
Cucuyo, 512.
" The, 514.
Culex, The, 35.
Culicidæ, The, 35.
Cursoria, 293.
Cybister, 477, 480.
" Ræselii, 479.
" Ræselii, 479.
Cynips, The, 394.
" insana, 395.
" quercusfolii, 395.
Cynthia cardui, 187.
Cyphocrana gigas, 291.
Cyphonia furcata, 115.
Cyria imperialis, 514.
Dacus, 85.
" oleæ, 86; M. Guérin-Méneville on, 86.
" oleæ, 86.
" Gallery formed by, 88.
" Larvæ of,
88.
" Olives attacked by, 87.
Daddy Longlegs, 45.
Damaster, 489.
" blaptoides, 490.
Death’s-Head Hawk-Moth, 205.
" Chrysalis of, 207.
" Larvæ of, 206.
Decticus verrucivorus, 299.
" verrucivorus, 299.
Deilephila, the genus, 196.
" Elpenor, 196, 200.
" Elpenor, 200.
" " Larva of, 201.
" " Pupa of, 201.
" Euphorbiæ, 196.
" Euphorbiæ, 197.
" " Larva of, 197.
" nerii, 196, 198.
" nerii, 198.
" " Larva of, 199.
" " Pupa of, 199.
Dermaptera, the Order, 284, note.
Dermestes lardarius, 475.
" vulpinus, 475.
Dermestidæ, 474.
Dichæta, The, 54.
Dicranura verbasci, 259.
" verbasci, 259.
" vinula, Larva of, 158, 259.
" vinula, 258.
" " Larva of, 258.
Diptera, Fecundity of the, 34; Divisions of the Order, 34; Meaning of the Name, 33; Organs of the, ib.;
Immense Numbers of Species of, 34; the Office of the, ib.; Strength in the, 24.
Dom Allou, Réaumur’s mention of, 39.
Donacia nymphea, 23.
Donaciæ, 520.
Dorcus Titan, 466.
" Titan, 468.
Dragon-fly, 402, 419; Common, 422.
Drilus, the genus, 510.
" flavescens, 510.
" Mauritanicus, 511.
Drone, or Male Bee, 319.
Dynastes Hercules, 457, 461.
" Hercules, 464.
Dytiscus, 477.
" latissimus, 480.
" latissimus, 479.
" marginalis, 480.
" " Male and Female, 478.
" " Pupa and Larva of, 479.
Earwig, Common, 284, 285.
" " Larva, Pupa, and Imago, 285.
Echinomyia, the genus, 70.
" grossa, 70.
Écume printanière, 112.
Elater, Jumping Organ of, 511 (two figs.)
" Larva of the, 511.
Elateridæ, 511.
" phosphorescent, 512.
Elenchus, 504.
" Walkeri, 504.
Emperor Moth, 249.
Empidæ, M. Macquart on the, 50, 51.
Empusa, 291.
" gongylodes, 291.
Enema infundibulum, 460.
Ephemera, 402, 418; Larva of an, 419; Pupa of an, ib.
" Common, 418.
" Larva of an, 419.
" Pupa of an, 419.
" Respiratory Apparatus of, 17.
" vulgata, 418.
" " imago, 418.
Ephemeræ, 51.
Ephemeridæ, 417.
Ephippiger, 300.
" vitium, 300.
Epinectus, 483.
" sulcatus, 483.
" sulcatus, 483.
Erebia Euryale, 191.
" Euryale, 191.
Erebus strix, 261, 264.
" strix, 264.
Eremiaphila, 291.
Eremobia, The, 311.
Euchlora, 456.
Eugonia alniaria, Larva of, 142.
Eyed Hawk-Moth, 208.
Eyes, 2; Compound, ib.; Number of Facettes in Various Insects, ib.; in the Genus Scarabæus, ib.;
Crystalline of, 3; Pigment of, ib.; Simple, 4.
Femur, 6.
Field Cricket, 294.
Flea, 27; Jump of a, 22; Strength of, 28; Eggs of, 29; the Learned, ib.; Metamorphosis of, 29; Larva of, ib.
" Flea, 27.
" Grasshopper, 114.
Flies, a beggar eaten by, 73.
Fly, Extremity on the Proboscis of, 80.
" Lancet of a, 82.
" Executioner. 83.
" House, 83.
" Lantern 109.
" Lips of the Proboscis of, 81.
" Ox, 83.
" Spanish, 499.
Forester, The, 194.
Forficula, 285.
" auricularia, 285.
Formica cunicularia, 392.
Formicæ, 378.
Formica flava, 382.
" fuliginosa, 382.
" fusca, 390.
" sanguinea, 390, 393.
Formicariæ, 314.
Fossores, 393.
Fossorial Hymenoptera, 393.
Froghopper, 114.
" The, 114.
Fulgora lanternaria, 109.
Gad-flies, Herd of Horses attacked by, 56.
Gad-fly, 54; M. Joly on, ib.
" Eggs of, 57.
Galerita, 490.
" Lecontei, 492.
" Lecontei, 492.
" Larva of, 492.
Galerucæ, 520.
Gall Insect, 395.
Galleria, Bee-hive, or Wax, 278, 348.
" cerella, 278.
Gallicolæ, 314.
Gallinsecta, 129.
Gall-insects, The, 314, 395.
Gall, Interior of a, 395.
Galls, Oak, 395.
" produced by Insect, 395.
Ganglions, Cephalic, 18.
" Lacordaire, M., on, 18.
Geocorisæ, The, 90.
Geometers, 142, 264.
Geometrinæ, the Family of the, 264.
" Caterpillars of the, 264.
Geotrupes, 457.
" stercorarius, 24, 458.
Ghost Moth, The, 257.
Gipsey-Moth, Scaly Legs of the Caterpillar of, 139.
Gizzard, The, 9.
Glossina morsitans, 74.
Glow-worm, 509
Gnat, The, 35; Water good for the Cure of Bites, 38.
Gnat, The, 35.
" Antennæ of, 36.
" Eggs of, magnified, 42.
" Head of, 36.
" Lancets of, 37.
" Larva of, 38.
" Pupa of, 39.
" Trunk of, magnified, 37.
Gnats emerging, 41.
Gnorimus nobilis, 445.
Goat Moth, 255.
" The, 256.
Goliathus, 439.
" cacicus, 440.
" " Male and Female, 442, 443.
" Derbyana, 440.
" Derbyana, 441.
" Druryi, 440.
" Druryi, 444.
" Polyphemus, 440.
" Polyphemus, 441.
Golofa claviger, 458.
" claviger, 458.
" Porteri, 459.
Gonepteryx rhamni, 178.
Grapta, C. album, The, 187.
Grasshopper, 284, 293.
" Great Green, 299.
Grave-diggers, 470.
Gryllacris, the genus, 300.
Gryllo-talpa vulgaris, The, 295; Nest of the, 297.
Gryllus campestris, The, 293.
" domesticus, The, 294.
" sylvestris, The, 295.
Guérin-Méneville, M., on the Sciara, 46.
Gullet, 8.
Gyrinidæ, 477.
Gyrinus, 482.
" distinctus, 483.
" distinctus, 483.
" natator, 482.
" natator, 482.
" Larva of, 482.
" striatus, 483.
" striatus, 483.
Hair-Moth, 282.
Halictophagus, 504.
" Curtisii, 504.
Haliplus fulvus, 481.
Harpalidæ, 490.
Harpalus æneus, 490.
" æneus, 492.
Hautle, M. Virlet d’Aoust’s description of, 98.
Hawk-Moth, Elephant, 196, 200.
" Eyed, 208.
" Lime-tree, 209.
" Oleander, 196, 197.
" Poplar, 209.
Head, The, 1.
Heart, 13.
Helomyza, 85.
" a Species of, 85.
Helophilus, 52.
" Larvæ of a, 53.
" Species of, 53.
Hemerobidæ, 428.
Hemerobius, 427.
Hepialus, the Genus, 257.
" humuli, 257.
Herisson, 153.
Heterocera. See Moth.
Heterocerus, Hind Legs of a, 7.
Hipparcia Janira, 192.
Hister, 467.
" rugosus, 470.
Hive, Bell-shaped, 351.
" Bell-shaped, 351.
" Cells of, 326.
" English, 351.
" English, 351.
" Garden, 354.
" Garden, 354.
" in Leaves, 322.
" Interior of a, 327.
" Interior of a, 327.
" Polish, 353.
" Polish, 353.
" Swiss, 352.
" Swiss, 352.
" under Shade of Trees, 355.
Homoderus Mellyi, 466.
Honeycomb, Portion of, with Eggs in Cells, 330.
Hop-dog, The, 253.
Hornet, The, 370, 375.
" The, 370.
Hornet’s Nest, Hanging, 375.
Horse-fly, Male and Female, 57.
" Larvæ of, in Stomach of Horse, 58.
House-fly, 83.
Humble Bee, 313; Nest of,
358.
" Male, 358.
" Nest of the Moss, 360.
Humble Bee’s Nest, Cells from, 359.
Humming-Bird Hawk-Moth, 195.
" Caterpillar of, 196.
Hybernia defoliaria, 267.
" leucophearia, 267.
" leucophearia, Male, 267.
Hydaticus grammicus, 482.
" grammicus, 482.
Hydrocorisæ, The, 90, 97.
Hydrometræ, The, 91, 96.
Hydrometra stagnorum, 97.
" stagnorum, 97.
Hydrophili, 476.
Hydrophilus, Four Stages of the, 20.
" piceus, 476.
" in its Four Stages, 21.
" Abdomen of, 477.
" piceus, 476.
" Pupa of the, 477.
Hydroporus confluens, 481.
" confluens, 481.
" griseo-striatus, 481.
" griseo-striatus, 481.
Hydropsyche, 432.
" atomaria, 433.
" atomaria, Larva, Pupa, &c., 433.
Hydrous caraboides, 477.
Hylesinus, 518.
" piniperda, 518.
" piniperda, 518.
Hymenoptera, Fossorial, 393.
" Power of Flight in the, 24.
Hypsauchenia balista, 115.
Iassus devastans, 114.
Ichneumons, The, 394; Larvæ of, 314.
Imago, 19.
Inca, 445.
" clathrata, 445.
" clathrata, 446.
Insect, Names of the Principal Parts of an, 1; Various Stages of, 20; Strength of, 21; Power of Traction in, 23;
Classes of, 26.
" Leaf, 285.
" The Adult, 400.
" Head of, 1.
" Mouth of a Masticating, 6.
" Organs of Circulation, 8.
" " Breathing in an, 14.
Intestine, Large and Small, 8.
Julodis, The Genus, 515.
Jumping Insect, Posterior Leg of a, 7.
Kakerlac Americana, 287.
" insignis, 288.
Kermes, 136.
" Polish, 136.
Laccophilus minutus, 482.
" minutus, 482.
" variegatus, 481.
" variegatus, 481.
Lackey Moth, The, 249.
" The, 250.
Lady-bird, 520.
" Larva of the, 520.
Lady-birds, 521.
Lamellicornes, The, 436.
Lampyridæ, 509.
Lampyris noctiluca, 509.
" " Male and Female, 509.
Lantern Fly, The, 110.
Larva, 19; Meaning of the Word, 20.
" The, 400.
" Aquatic, Branchiæ of, 17.
Leaf-rollers, 272.
Lecheguana, The, 376.
Legs of Insects, 6, et seq.
Leopard, Wood, 257.
Le petit Diable, 116.
Lepidoptera, Meaning of the Word, 138; Antennæ of, 169.
Leptidæ, 49.
Libellula, 402, 419.
" depressa, 422.
" depressa, 422.
" Larva of perfect Insect emerging, 421.
Lime Hawk-Moth, 207.
" Larva of, 208.
Limenitis Camilla, 189.
" Camilla, 189.
" Sibilla, 189.
Lina populi, 520.
" Larva of, 520.
Lions des Pucerons, 427.
Liparis, The Genus, 210.
" chrysorrhœa, 253.
" chrysorrhœa, 254.
Lobster Moth, 259.
" Larva of, 259.
Locust, 284, 293, 301.
Locust, 301.
" A Cloud of in Algeria, 303.
Locusta viridissima, 299.
Longicornes, 519.
Looper Caterpillar, 141, 144 (four figs.).
" Hanging by its Thread, 265 (five figs.).
Lophyrus pini, 399.
" pini, 399.
Louse, 31; Means Employed to Kill, 31; of the Bee, 348.
" magnified, 31.
" Plant, 101, 116.
Lucanus, 465.
" bellicosus, 466.
" bellicosus, 467.
" cervus, 466.
" Mellyi, 466.
" Mellyi, 466.
Lucilia Cæsar, The, 72.
" hominivorax, The, 72.
" hominivorax, 72.
Luciola Italica, 510.
Lycæna, Genus, 180.
" Ægon, 182.
" Ægon, 182.
" Battus, 181.
" Battus, 182.
" Corydon, 181.
" Corydon, 182.
" See Polyommatus.
Lycænidæ, Family of the, 178.
Lycus, The Genus, 510.
" latissimus, 510.
Lygæus, Genus, 91, 92.
Lytta, 498.
" vesicatoria, 499.
Macroglossa, The Genus, 194.
" stellatarum, 194.
" " Pupa of, 196.
Malpighian Vessels, 11.
Mandibles, Nerves of the, 18.
Manticora, 497.
" tuberculata, 498.
" tuberculata, 498.
Mantidæ, The, 288.
Mantis, The Genus, 284, 285.
" oratoria, 289.
" religiosa, 289, 290.
" religiosa, and its Larva, 290.
Mantispa, 423.
" pagana, 423.
" pagana, 423.
Marte, Le, 153.
Mason Bee, Nest of, 364.
" and Nest, 364.
" Interior of the Nest of the, 365.
May-fly, 418; Respiratory Apparatus of, 418.
Meadow Brown, 192.
Meal-worm, 498.
Meat-fly, Eggs of, 77.
" Lancet of, 83.
" Trunk of, 79 (two figs.).
Megacerus chorinæus, 463.
Megachile, 367.
" centuncularis, 366.
" Rose, 366.
Megalosoma anubis, 461, 463.
" Male and Female, 463, 464.
Melasoma, 497.
Melipona, 356, 357.
" a Species of, 357.
" scutellaris, Nest of, 357.
Meloë, 507.
" proscarabæus, 507.
Melolontha, 445.
" fullo, 456.
" Hippocastani, 456.
" vulgaris, 447; Larva of, 452; Pupa of, ib.
Membracis foliata, 115.
Mérian, Mdlle. Sybille de, 111.
Metamorphoses, 21.
Migratory Locust, 301.
Mole Cricket, 295.
" Nest of the, 297.
" Nest of the, 297.
Mormolyce phyllodes, 491.
" phyllodes, 493.
" " Larva and Pupa of, 493.
Moth, Definition of, 193.
" Bee-hive, 270.
" Brown-tailed, 253.
" Burdock, 282.
" Carpet, 282.
" Cherry-tree, 282.
" Clothes, 270.
" Currant, 268.
" Emperor, 249.
" Fur, or Skin, 279, 282.
" Hair, 279, 282.
" Hawthorn, 282.
" Peppered, 268.
" Procession, 249.
" Rustic, 282.
" Winter, 267.
" Woollen, 279.
" attached to piece of cloth, 282.
" just emerged, 163.
" whose wings are developing, 164.
" whose wings are developed, 164.
" whose wings are folded up, 163.
" portion of wing of, magnified, 166.
Mouches Papilionacées, 431.
Mouth of Insects, 1, 5.
Mulberry Leaves, the Empress Si-ling-chi Gathering, 213.
Musca bovina, 83.
" carnifex, 83.
" domestica, 83.
Muscides, The, 70; M. Macquart on the, 70.
Mutilla Europæa, 393.
" Male and Female, 393.
Mylabris chicorii, 500.
Myrmeleo, 424.
" formicarius, 425.
" libelluloides, 426; Larva of, 427.
" libelluloides, 426.
" " Larva of, 427.
Myrmeleonidæ, 424.
Myrmeleonides, 402.
Myrmicæ, The, 378.
Myrmica rubra, The, 378, 382; Larva of, 383; Pupa of, 383.
Myzoxylus mali, 118.
Nebria, 489.
" arenaria, 489.
" arenaria, 488.
" brevicollis, 23.
Necrobia, Genus, 515; Meaning of the Name, ib.
" ruficollis, 516.
Necrodes, 469.
" lacrymosa, 470.
" lacrymosa, 470.
" littoralis, 470.
" " Male and Female, 470.
Necrophorus, 467, 470.
" Germanicus, 472.
" Germanicus, 472.
" vespillo, 23, 471.
" vespillo, 472.
Nemobius sylvestris, 295.
Nemoptera, 427.
" Coa, 428.
" Coa, 428.
Nemoura, 416.
" Larva of a, 416.
" variegata, 417.
" variegata, 417.
" " Larva of, 417.
Nepa, 97.
" cinerea, 97.
" cinerea, 97.
Nervous System in Insects, 18.
Neuroptera, Strength of, 24.
Noctua brunnea, The, 260.
" brunnea, 261.
" musiva, 260.
" musiva, 261.
" nebulosa, 260.
" nebulosa, 260.
" tegamon, 260.
" tegamon, 260.
Noctuina, The Group, 259; Caterpillars of the, 261.
Noterus crassicornis, 480.
" crassicornis, 480.
Notonecta, 97, 99.
" glauca, M. Léon Dufour on the, 99, 100.
" glauca, 100.
Nymph, 19.
Nymphalidæ, The Family, 189.
Nyssia zonaria, The, 268.
" " Male and Female, 268.
Oak leaf rolled perpendicularly, 272.
" rolled sideways, 272.
Ocelli, 2, 4.
Ocypus olens, 473.
Odynerus, 376.
" Larvæ of, 377.
" Nest of, 377.
" Pupa of, 377.
" Species of, 377.
Œcanthus, 296.
Œcophora, 270; Caterpillars of the Genus, 282.
Œsophagus, 8.
Œstrus, 54; Parasitical on Man, ib.; M. Joly on, 54, 59.
" bovis, 60.
" equi, 54.
" ovis, 66.
Ommexeca, 312.
Omophron, 489.
" libatum, 488.
Omus, 497.
Onthophagus nuchicornis, 24.
Ophion, 394.
" a Species of, 395.
Orange-tipped Butterfly, 177.
Orgyia, 210, 252.
" pudibunda, 253.
" pudibunda, 253.
Ortalidæ, 85.
Ortalis, the Cherry-tree, 86.
Oryctes nasicornis, 23, 456.
" Male, 457.
" " Head of, 457.
" Female, Head of, 457.
Osmia, 366.
" bicornis, 366, note.
Osmoderma eremita, 443.
Osmylus maculatus, 428.
" maculatus, 428.
Ovipositor, 20.
Painted Lady Butterfly, 186.
Palpi, 6.
Panorpas, 428.
Panorpa, Male and Female, 428.
" (Female) Laying, 429.
" (Male), Pincer of, 429.
Panorpatæ, 402, 428.
Papilio, 172.
" Alexanor, 173, 174.
" Alexanor, 173.
" Hospiton, 174.
" Machaon, 172; Larva of, 172.
" " Larva and Chrysalis of, 172.
" Podalirius, 172, 174.
Papilionidæ, Family of the, 171.
Parnassius, The Genus, 171.
" Apollo, 171, 175.
" Apollo, 175.
" Mnemosyne, 171, 175.
Pea Pierced by the Larva, 517.
Pea Weevil, magnified, 517.
Peacock Butterfly, 184.
Pediculus capitis, 31.
Pegomyas, The, 84.
Pelobius Hermanni, 482.
" Hermannii, 482.
Pentatoma, 91.
" Blue, 92.
" Grey, 91.
" Grey, 91.
" ornata, 91.
Penthina pruniana, 269.
" pruniana, 269.
Perla, 416.
" bicaudata, 416.
" bicaudata, 417.
" " Larva of, 416.
" marginata, 416.
" marginata, 416.
Phalanges of the foot, 6.
Phaneroptera, 300.
Phasma, 285, 291.
" gigas, 291.
" Rossia, 291.
" " Male, Female, and Larva, 292.
Philanthus, 393.
" triangulum, 393.
" triangulum, 393.
Philobacera fagana, 269.
" fagana, 270.
Phryganea, 51, 425.
" atomaria, 433.
" flavicornis, 431.
" pilosa, 432.
" rhombica, 430, 431.
" Regular Cases of, 431.
" pilosa, 432.
" " Pupa of, magnified, 432.
" rhombica, 430.
" Larva of, 430.
Phryganea in repose, 430.
Phryganidæ, 402, 424, 430.
Phthiriasis, the Disease called, 32.
Phyllium, The Genus, 291.
Pieridæ, The Family of the, 175.
Pieris brassicæ, 149, 176; Pupæ of the, 151.
" brassicæ, 176.
" " Caterpillar and Chrysalis of, 151, 177.
" " Pupæ of, 151.
" Callidice, 175, 176, 177.
" cratægi, 175.
" napi, 175, 177.
" napi, 177.
" rapæ, 177.
Pimelia bipunctata, 498.
Pimelides, 498.
Pimpernel, small Caterpillar of, 154.
" Cocoon of the, 154.
Pimpla, a Species of, 394.
Pissodes pini, 517.
" pini, 518.
Platydactylus, 296.
Pneumoræ, 312.
Pœdisca autumnana, The, 269.
" autumnana, 270.
" occultana, The, 269, 271.
" occultana, 271.
Pogonostoma, 497.
" gracilis, 498.
Polistes, 375.
" gallica, 370; Nest of, 376.
" gallica, 370.
" " Nest of, 376.
Polyergus, 379.
" rufescens, 382, 390.
Polyommatus, 181.
" Gordius, The, 180.
" Gordius, 181.
" phlæas, 179.
" Small Copper, 180.
" virgaureæ, 181.
" virgaureæ, 181.
" See Lycæna.
Pompilus, 393.
Ponera, 378.
Poplar Hawk-Moth, 209.
" Larva of, 210.
Privet Hawk-Moth, 202.
" Larva of, 203.
Procerus, 489.
" gigas, 489.
" gigas, 488.
Procession Moth, Larvæ of the, 252.
" Larvæ of, 252.
Procris, 194.
" statices, 194.
Procrustes, 489.
" coriaceus, 489.
" coriaceus, 488.
Pselaphus, 473.
" Heisii, 473.
" Heisii, 474.
Psithyrus, 362.
Psyche, 254.
" graminella, 254.
" graminella, 254.
" " Case of, 254.
" " Larva of, 254.
" muscella, 254.
" muscella, 254.
" " Case of, 254.
" rubicolella, 254.
" rubicolella, Case of, 254.
Ptilodactylides, 512.
Pulex irritans, 27.
" penetrans, 30.
Pupa, 19.
" a Conical, 159.
" having Angular Projections, 159.
" of a Butterfly, Angular, 159.
Puss Moth, Larva of the, 158.
Pyralina, the Section, 268.
Pyralis of the Vines, 270, 275, 276; Caterpillar of, 276; Chrysalis of the, 276.
" corticalis, Cocoon of, 157.
" corticalis, Cocoon of, 157.
Pyrophorus, 512.
" noctilucus, 513.
Queen (or Female) Bee, 319.
Ram Sphinx of Geoffroy, 193.
Ranatra, 98.
Raphidia, 423.
" Larva of a, 423.
" Male, 423.
" Pupa of a, 423.
Raphigaster griseus, 91.
Rat-tailed Maggot, 53.
Red Admiral Butterfly, 186.
Red Underwing Moth, 261.
Reduvius, 91.
" personatus, 94; De Geer on, 95.
" personatus, Pupa of, 96 (two figs.)
Régnier’s Dynamometer, 22.
Respiratory System, 13; Lyonet’s Discovery of, in the Caterpillar of the Goat-Moth, 15;
M. Milne-Edwards on, 16; of Aquatic Insects, 16.
Rhipiptera, 503.
Rhizotrogus, 456.
Rhodocera rhamni, 176, 178.
Rhopalocera, 171.
Rhyacophilus, 432.
" vulgatus, 433.
" Larva, Pupa, Cocoon, and Imago, 433.
Robin’s Cushion, 395.
Rose Beetle, 437.
" Larva and Cocoon of, 438.
Rose Megachile, 366.
Saga, 300.
Saltatoria, The, 293.
Sarcophaga, 71; the Females Viviparous, ib.
Sarrothripa revayana, 269, 271.
" revayana, 271.
Saturnia carpini, 249.
" Pavonia-major, 248; Magnified Wing of, 166.
" Pavonia-major, 248.
Satyridi, The Family of the, 191.
Satyrus janira, 192.
Sauterelles-Puces, 114.
Saw-flies, 314; Larvæ of, 398.
Saw-fly, Larva of, 399.
Scarabæides, 436,
456.
Scarabæus, 436; Number of Eyes in the Genus, 2.
" of the Egyptians, Sacred, 462.
" enema, 461.
" enema, 460.
" Sacred, 460.
" Porteri, 459.
Scarites lævigatus, 489.
" lævigatus, 492.
Scatophagus, 85.
Sciara, The, 46; Superstitions Connected with, 47.
Scolytus, 518.
" Larva of, 518.
Secretion of various fluids used as defences, &c., Apparatus for, 11.
Semblis, 424.
" lutarius, 424.
" lutarius, Imago, Pupa, and Larva, 424.
" Mud, 424.
Sentinel Bees guarding Hive, 347.
Sericaria, The Genus, 210.
Sericoris Zinkenana, 269, 271.
" Zinkenana, 271.
Sesia, 193.
" apiformis, 193.
" apiformis, 193.
Sesiidæ, The, 193.
Silk, kinds of, 235; Winding Establishment, 240.
Silk-secreting Apparatus, 221.
Silk-winding Establishment, 239.
Silkworm, 220.
" during Moulting, Head of, 222.
" Position of, 222.
" Eggs and Five Ages of, 223, 224 (five figs.).
" Membranous Legs of, 140.
" Moth, Male and Female, 226.
" Rearing Establishment, 228.
Silkworms, Lozenge-shaped Net for, 232.
" Square Net for, 232.
" Sprigs of Heather for, 234.
Silpha, 467.
" obscura, 468.
" quadripunctata, 468.
" quadripunctata, 470.
" thoracica, 469.
" thoracica, 470.
Silphales, 466.
Sirex, 396.
" Giant, 396.
" gigas, 396, 398.
" gigas, 396.
" juvencus, 398.
Sitaris humeralis, 507.
" humeralis, 507.
" Larvæ of, 507, 508.
" Pseudo-nymph of, 508.
" Pupa of, 508.
Six-spot Burnet Moth, 193.
Skeleton, Exterior of Insects, 8, 25.
Smerinthus, 208.
" ocellatus, The, 209.
" populi, 209, 210.
" tiliæ, 209.
Sorrel, Leaf of, cut and rolled by Caterpillars, 273.
Sphæria, The, 296.
Sphex, The, 393.
Sphingidæ, The Family, 194.
Sphinx convolvuli, 203.
" Convolvulus, The, 204.
" Humming-bird, 194.
" ligustri, The, 201.
" ligustri, Pupa of, 203.
" Privet, 201.
Spider, Water, 97.
Spiracles, 14, 16, 25.
Spring Froth, 112.
Stag Beetle, 466.
" " Common, 466.
Staphylinidæ, 472.
Staphylinus hirtus, 473.
" hirtus, 474.
" maxillosus, 473.
" maxillosus, 474.
" olens, 473.
" (Ocypus) olens, 473.
" Imago, Pupa and Larva, 472.
Stauropus fagi, 259.
Stemmata, 4.
Stomoxys, 72.
" calcitrans, 72.
Strength of Insects, M. Felix Plateau on, 21, 24.
Stylopidæ, 503.
Stylops, 503.
Stylops, 504, 505.
" Melittæ, 504.
Sugar Acarus, 348.
Suphis cimicoides, 481.
" cimicoides, 481.
Swallow-tailed Butterfly, 172.
" Scarce, 174.
Swarm of Bees, 349.
Syndesus cornutus, 466.
" cornutus, 469.
Syromastes, 92.
Syrphidæ, 52.
Tabanidæ, The, 48.
Tabanus, 48, 58.
" autumnalis, 48.
" autumnalis, 49.
" bovinus, 48.
Tanystomæ, 49.
Tarsus, 6, 31; of Lepidoptera, 167.
Tefflus, Genus, 489.
" Megerlei, 490.
" Megerlei, 490.
Tenebrio, 498; Larva of, 498.
" molitor, 499.
" molitor, 499.
Tenthredinetæ, 314, 395, 398.
Tenthredo, 399.
Termes, 22, 402.
" of La Rochelle, M. de. Quatrefages on, 415.
" atrox, 411.
" bellicosus, 406.
" flavicollis, 413.
" lucifugus, 406, 413.
" lucifugus, 407.
" mordax, 411.
Tetracha bifasciata, 497.
Tetracha Klugii, 496.
" Klugii, 496.
" oxychiloides, 496.
Tetralobides, 512.
Tetrix, 312.
Tettigonia fraxini, 108.
Thecla, 178.
" betulæ, 178.
" betulæ, 178.
" pruni, 179.
" pruni, 179.
" quercus, 179.
" quercus, 179.
" rubi, 179, 180.
" rubi, 180.
Therates, 497.
" labiata, 499.
Thorax, the, 1, 6, 25.
Thrips, 400.
Thyreophoræ, 85.
Thysanura, 32.
Tibia, 6.
Tiger Beetle, 493.
Tiger Moth, The, 153.
Tinea cerasiella, 282.
" cratægella, 282.
" granella, 279.
" lapella, 282.
" rusticella, 282.
" tapezella, 280.
" walking, Larva of, 281.
Tineina, 279.
Tipula culiciformis, The, 44.
" oleracea, 45.
Tipulidæ, 35, 43.
Tomicus, Genus, 519.
Tortoise-shell Butterfly, Large, 113.
" " Chrysalis of, 161, 162.
" " Larva of, 183.
" " Small, 184.
" " Caterpillars of, 147.
" " Chrysalides of, 147, 148 (three figs.).
Tortrix, Green, 270.
" roborana, 269, 270.
" roborana, 270.
" sorbiana, 269.
" sorbiana, 270.
" viridana, 270.
Tracheæ, 14, 15, 25.
Trachys, The Genus, 515.
Trichidæ, 440.
Trichius fasciatus, 23, 441.
Trichoptera, Order, 402.
Tridactylus, The Genus, 298.
Trochanter, 6; of Lepidoptera, 167.
Trox, 458.
Truxales, 312.
Tsetse Fly, The, 74; Livingstone on the, 75.
" The, 74.
Umbonia Spinosa, 115.
Urocerata, The, 395.
Valgus hemipterus, 445.
Vanessa antiopa, 185.
" Atalanta, 186.
" C. album, 187.
" cardui, 187.
" Io, 185.
" polychloros, 182, 183; Chrysalis of, 162.
" urticæ, 147, 184, 185.
Vapourer Moth, 252.
Vermileo, 52.
" de Geeri, 52.
" de Geeri, 52.
Vespa crabo, 370.
" Norvegica, 370.
" vulgaris, The, 369.
Vespiariæ, 314.
Vine Pyralis, 276.
" Caterpillar of, 276.
" Chrysalis of, 276.
" Three States of, 277.
Visceral cavity, 15.
Volucella, The, 52, 53.
" a Species of, 52.
Wasp, 313, 367; Pupa of Common, 371; Nest of, Exterior, 372; Interior of, 373.
" Bush, 370.
" Bush, 369.
" Card-making, 376.
" Card-making, 376.
" Common, 370.
" Common, 369.
" Pupa of, 371.
Wasp’s Nest, 368.
" Exterior of, 372.
" Interior of, 373.
Water Scorpions, 97.
Weevil, 517.
" Bean, 517.
" Clover, 517.
" Pea, 517.
" Rape, 517.
" Turnip, 517.
" Vetch, 517.
" Wheat, 517.
Whirligig Beetle, 478.
White Admiral, 189.
White Ant. See Termes.
Willow Leaves rolled by Caterpillar, 274.
Wings of Insects, 8.
Winter Moth, Male and Female, 267.
Woolly Bear Caterpillar, 153.
Woollen Moth, 280.
" Larvæ of, 280.
Working Bee, 317.
Xenos Peckii, 504.
" Rossii, 503.
" vesparum, 503.
Xylocopa, 364.
Xylopoda fabriciana, 269.
" fabriciana, 269.
Xylotrupes dichotomus, 456.
" dichotomus, 457.
Zeuzera æsculi, 257.
" æsculi, 257.
Footnotes
1 Ganglion—a mass, literally a knot, of nervous matter.
2 The horny upper wings with which some insects are provided are called elytra.—Ed.
3 May-fly family.—Ed.
4 “Introduction à l’Entomologie,” tome ii. p. 192. 8vo. Paris. 1838.
5 A kind of water-beetle.—Ed.
6 A neuropterous insect, not a true ant.—Ed.
7 A beetle.—Ed.
8 The meat-fly.—Ed.
9 It is probable that one day the order Aptera will be superseded. The absence of wings is not really a character of great value. De Blainville, Mollard, Pouchet, Van Beneden, and Gervais, have made several attempts in that direction. The fleas have been placed among the Diptera, and the lice among Hemiptera in the “Traité de Zoologie Médicale” of these two last authors.
10 Sometimes called halteres.—Ed.
11 “Suites à Buffon.” 2 vols. 8vo.
12 The genus Cecidomyia, which belongs to this family, presents the most extraordinary instance of agamo-genesis—or reproduction without fertilisation by another individual—at present known among insects. Until lately it was almost an axiom with naturalists that no insect was capable of reproduction until it had attained its adult or perfect state. Several Continental observers, some of them without any knowledge of the others’ discoveries, have found that the larvæ of some of the species of this genus reproduce larvæ resembling themselves in every respect; and what is still more strange, these larvæ live in a free state within the parent larvæ, feeding upon its tissues, and causing its ultimate destruction.
A very interesting article on this subject will be found in the Popular Science Review for the 1st April, 1868. The larvæ of a species (Cecidomyia tritici) frequently causes much injury to the wheat.— Ed.
13 The insects produced from the caddis or case-worm.—Ed.
14 May-fly family.—Ed.
15 Mr. Bates, in his interesting “Naturalist on the Amazons,” mentions an Œstrus as occurring in those regions, which deposits its eggs in the human flesh, the larva causing a swelling which resembles a boil.—Ed.
16 “Recherches sur les Œstrides en général, et particulièrement sur les Œstres qui attaquent l’homme, le cheval, le bœuf, et le mouton.” Par N. Joly, Professeur à la Faculté des Sciences de Toulouse. P. 63. Lyons, 1846.
17 “The majority of convicts attacked by the Lucilia hominivorax,” says M. F. Bouyer, captain of the frigate, in “Un Voyage à la Guyane Française,” “have succumbed, despite the assistance of science. Cures have been the exception: in a dozen cases three or four are reported.”—Tour du Monde, 1866, 1er Semestre, p. 318.
18 “Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa,” by David Livingstone, LL.D., D.C.L. P. 81, et seq. London, John Murray, 1857. (The extract in the original of this work is from a French translation: “Explorations dans l’Intérieur de l’Afrique australe, et voyages à travers le continent Sainte-Paul de Loanda à l’Embouchure du Zambèze, de 1840 à 1846, traduit de l’Anglais.” Pages 93-95. 8vo. Paris, 1859.—Ed.)
19 From [Greek: gê], the earth, and [Greek: koris], a bug.
20 From [Greek: hydôr], water, and [Greek: koris], a bug.
21 This species is Lygænus militaris.—Ed.
22 A genus of beetles.
23 “Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire des Insectes.” Tome iii., p. 283. 4to. Stockholm, 1773.
24 “Mémoires,” tome v. 4to.
25 “Théologie des Insectes, ou Démonstration des Perfections de Dieu dans tout ce qui concerne les Insectes, par Lesser, traduit en Français.” La Haye, 1742.
26 “Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire des Insectes,” tome iii.
27 “Histoire abrégée des Insectes, dans laquelle ces animaux sont rangés dans un ordre méthodique.” In 4to. Tome i., p. 416. An VII. de la République.
28 “Histoire abrégée des Insectes, dans laquelle ces animaux sont rangés dans un ordre méthodique.” In 4to. Tome i., p. 423. An VII. de la République.
29 “The Ocean World.”
30 “Traité d’Insectologie, ou Observations sur les Pucerons,” pp. 28-38. 1re partie, 18mo. Paris, 1745.
31 “Traité d’Insectologie,” &c., pp. 67-69.
32 “Recherches sur les Mœurs des Fourmis Indigènes,” pp. 181-186. 8vo. Paris, 1810.
33 “Recherches,” &c., pp. 192-194.
34 “Traité d’Insectologie,” &c., pp. 198-201.
35 “Recherches,” &c., pp. 205, 206.
36 Tome i., p. 164; Plate III., Figs. 1, 2.
37 Tome i., p. 49, Plate I., Fig. 6.
38 It has been remarked that only those whose continuance in the pupal state is short, undergo their metamorphosis in this apparently inconvenient position.—Ed.
39 Mem. 12, vol. i., p. 487.
40 The word is derived from [Greek: chrysos], golden; for that reason pupa is a better word than chrysalis, as this only strictly applies to a very small number; for the same reason aurelia is a bad word.—Ed.
41 Tome i., p. 382, planche 26, Fig. 6.
42 Tome i., p. 382, planche 26, Fig. 7.
43 They hardly seem from later experiments to be so fully explained. It is a well-known fact that many insects remain in this state a variable time—the Small Eggar (Bombyx lanestris) sometimes as many as seven years.—Ed.
44 Tome i., p. 654, planche 46, Fig. 1.
45 Tome i., planche 7, Figs. 1 à 23.
46 “Sur les parties extérieures des papillons,” tome i., p. 197.
47 Planche 9, Fig. 10, 5e Mémoire, “Sur les parties extérieures des papillons.”
48 There are exceptions to this.—Ed.
49 It may not be out of place to remark that although both these generic names are applied, sometimes to the one, sometimes to the other of these genera, the genus named in the text Polyommatus and that called Lycæna are never considered identical. When either name is applied to the one, it is not at the same time applied to the other.—Ed.
50 “Description de la Chine,” tome ii., p. 205.
51 “Résumé des principaux Traités Chinois sur la Culture des Mûriers et l’Education des Vers à Soie, traduit par Stanislas Julien.” Paris, imprimerie royale, 1837.
52 “Annales de la Dynastie des Liang.”
53 “Annales de la Dynastie des Wei.”
54 “Annales de la Dynastie des Thang.”
55 “Histoire de la Dynastie des Song.”
56 According to M. de Gasparin, author of an excellent “Essai sur l’Histoire de l’Introduction des Vers à Soie en Europe” (Paris, in 8vo, 1841), it was not into China, but only into Tartary, to Serinda, that the two monks went in search of the silkworms’ eggs (pp. 37-39). It must be supposed that the eggs did not hatch for two years, being in such interesting company.
57 Others derive the name from more, the Slavonic word for the sea. See “On the Study of Words,” by Abp. Trench.—Ed.
58 De Gasparin, “Essai sur l’Introduction des Vers à Soie en Europe,” p. 70.
59 “Théâtre d’Agriculture d’Olivier de Serres,” tome ii., p. 158. In 8vo.
60 “L’Art d’élever les Vers à Soie,” par le Comte Dandolo. In 8vo. 2e édition. Lyon, 1825.
61 One gramme = 15·4325 gr. troy.
62 “Manuel de l’Educateur du Ver à Soie,” p. 37.
63 “L’Art d’élever des Vers à Soie, par le Comte de Dandolo, traduit par Philibert Fontaneilles.” In 8vo. Lyons, 1825. Robinet, “Manuel de l’Education des Vers à Soie.” In 8vo. Paris. Guérin-Méneville et Eugène Robert, “Manuel de l’Education des Vers à Soie.” In 18mo. Paris. Louis Leclerc, “Petite Magnanerie.” In 18mo. Paris.
64 See the “Année scientifique,” 7e année, p. 432.
65 Sur le Ver à Soie du Chêne, et son Introduction en Europe. Extrait du Magasin de Zoologie, 1855, No. VI.
[For an account of experiments conducted in England by Dr. Wallace, whichunfortunately were complete failures as far as rearing the moth went, see an essay by that gentleman in The Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 3rd series, vol. v., pt. 5; Longmans and Co. The results of an experiment which give the greatest hopes of success, will be found in “The Entomologist” for October, 1867.—Ed.]
66 Le Ver à Soie du Chêne (Bombyx Yama Maï), son histoire, sa description, ses mœurs. 8vo., avec planches coloriées. A Laval, à l’école de sériculture.
67 In 8vo, avec plans et planches coloriées. Paris, 1866.
68 A work by M. Guérin-Méneville on the same subject, entitled, “Education des Vers à Soie de l’Ailante et du Ricin,” in 12mo., Paris, 1860, may also be consulted.
[For a full account of successful experiments carried on in England, see Dr. Wallace’s essay in The Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 3rd series, vol. v., pt. 2; Longmans and Co.—Ed.]
69 In England it numbers about three hundred species. The larvæ are of diverse habits, but the majority feed on low plants; the moths are provided with a trunk, and are very partial to sweets.—Ed.
70 A few species fly in bright sunshine.—Ed.
71 Dragon-flies.—Ed.
72 With us this insect has a very limited range, being only found at New Brighton, near Birkenhead, where it is most abundant.—Ed.
73 The exception is with those in which the wings are not developed in both cases, and in England this peculiarity is confined to species appearing during the winter and early spring.—Ed.
74 Many of these are placed by some authors among the Pyralina, and by others among the Tortricina.—Ed.
75 Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire des Insectes, tome ii., page 210 (5e Mémoire).
76 From [Greek: orthos], straight, and [Greek: pteron], wing, on account of the manner in which the under-wings are folded under the upper.—Ed.
77 Made a separate Order, Dermaptera, by Kirby.—Ed.
78 The species of genus Saga sometimes reach extraordinary dimensions. Thus, in 1863, there was found in Syria, after a shower of ordinary locusts, a specimen of the Saga which was three inches and a quarter long. It was presented to the Museum of Natural History of Paris, by M. L. Delair.
79 “And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.”—Exod. x. 13-15.
80 “Le Grand Désert,” par le Général E. Daumas et E. de Chaucel. In 18mo. Paris, 1860.
81 “Nouvelles Observations sur les Abeilles,” par François Huber. Paris et Genève, in 8vo. 2e edition. 1814.
82 “L’Intelligence des Bêtes.” In 18mo. Paris, 1864.
83 “Sur les Abeilles et l’Apiculture.” In 18mo. 2e edition. Paris.
84 “Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire des Insectes,” tome v., p. 379.
85 “Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire des Insectes,” tome v., p. 449.
86 Not invariably, the period is often longer.—Ed.
87 “Cours d’Apiculture.” In 8vo. Paris, 1864.
88 “Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire des Insectes,” tome v., p. 611.
89 Ibid, tome v., pp. 616, 617.
90 In general, bees very much dislike bad weather; when they are foraging in the country, the appearance of a single cloud before the sun causes them to return home precipitately. However, if the sky is uniformly dark and cloudy, and if there are not any sudden alternations of darkness and light, they are not easily alarmed, and the first drops of a gentle rain hardly drive them away from their hunting-ground.
91 “Observations sur les Abeilles,” tome i., p. 265.
92 “Observations sur les Abeilles,” tome i., pp. 174-178.
93 “Many ruling together is not good: let there be one ruler, one king.”—Homer’s “Iliad,” ii. 110.
94 The bee’s sting may lead to very serious consequences. It often happens that large animals, such as horses or oxen, tied up in the neighbourhood of a beehive, and which have disturbed the bees, die in consequence of stings received from them.
95 Tome v., planche 36.
96 “Cours d’Apiculture,” pp. 73, 74.
97 “Physiologie de l’Abeille, suivie de l’art de soigner et d’exploiter les Abeilles d’après une methode simple et facile,” p. 94. Paris, 1866.
98 At a meeting of the Entomological Society of London, Feb. 18th, 1867, Mr. Newman exhibited the lock of a door, one of several which in 1866 were found at the Kent Waterworks, Deptford, to be completely filled and choked up with nests of Osmia Bicornis: a portion of the nest had been forced out by the insertion of the key. The locks were in pretty constant use, so that the nests must have been built in the course of a few days.—Journal of Proceedings of the Entomological Society of London, 1867, lxxvi.—Ed.
99 “Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire des Insectes,” tome ii., p. 765. In 4to. Stockholm, 1771.
100 “L’Intelligence des Bêtes.” In 18mo. Paris, 1864.
101 “Mémoires,” tome vi., planche 14, p. 167.
102 Ibid, tome vi., p. 177.
103 Hence the scientific name, Chartergus lecheguana.—Ed.
104 See the Order Hemiptera, supra.—Ed.
105 “Recherches sur les Mœurs des Fourmis indigènes,” p. 210. Paris, 1810.
106 Made by Cynips insana.—Ed.
107 A coleopterous insect.—Ed.
108 Also a beetle.—Ed.
109 These were separated from the Neuroptera and made a separate order, under the name of Trichoptera, by Kirby.—Ed.
110 De Quatrefages, “Souvenirs d’un Naturaliste,” tome ii., p. 377. In 18mo. Paris, 1854.
111 “Some Account of the Termites,” &c., in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. lxxi. 1781.
112 J. Michelet, “L’Insecte,” p. 328.
113 “History of Gambia.”
114 “Note sur les Termites de la Rochelle.” Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 3e série, tome xx., p. 18. 1853.
115 “Mémoire sur les Termites observés à Rochefort.” Saintes, 1843.
116 “Mémoires sur la destruction des Termites.” Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 3e série, tome xx., p. 15.
117 From [Greek: nêma], a thread; and [Greek: oura], a tail.—Ed.
118 Charles de Geer, “Mémoires pour servir à l’Histoire des Insectes,” tome ii., 2e partie, p. 674.
119 From [Greek: nêma], a thread, and [Greek: pteron], a wing.
120 From [Greek: phryganion], a stick.
121 The figure may possibly mislead, as it shows the larva and pupa in the ground, for although recent observations show that this species does occasionally undergo its metamorphoses therein, it is not probable that the larva lives anywhere but in wood.—Ed.
122 “On a new Order of Insects,” Linn. Trans., vol. xi.
123 In Cuvier, “Le Règne Animal,” ed. i., tome iii., p. 584.
124 See p. 69.
125 Halictus and Andrena are two genera of Bees.
126 “Annales des Sciences Naturelles,” 1857, 4e série, tome vii., p. 300.
127 “L’Insecte.”
128 “Metamorphoses des Insectes,” p. 116.
69 bristling with small black turbercles[tubercles]
121 its own species was forbiden[forbidden] to the
179 Illustration: Fig. 149.—Thecla qercus[quercus]
183 bordered by a black brand[band], with a stripe
229 with large sheets of paper. (Plate IV[VI].)
282 and sometimes in hair matresses[mattresses]
339 but the guard[guards] repel her with vigour
388 by the ants from an eighbouring[a neighbouring] nest
408 you see them instanly[instantly] set to work
416 we my[may] mention, first
438 of an oval form (Fig. 423[424])
498 genus of the same familly[family] is the
510 influence of artifical[artificial] excitement