Chapter 24

THE GRASSHOPPER, (Locusta flavipes,)

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

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

THE LOCUST. (Locusta migratoria.)

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

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

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

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

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

THE MOLE CRICKET. (Gryllotalpa vulgaris.)

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

THE CRICKET. (Acheta domesticata.)

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

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

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

THE LANTERN FLY. (Fulgora laternaria.)

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

THE COCHINEAL INSECT. (Coccus cacti.)

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

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

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

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

THE PLANT LOUSE, OR GREEN FLY. (Aphis.)

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

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

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

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

THE ANT-LION. (Myrmeleon formicarium.)

Thisinsect is hatched from an egg laid in soft moving ground, or sand; the larva soon increases in size, and assumes the shape of a small spider—with this difference, that the legs are constructed in such a way that it can only proceed backwards or sideways. The abdomen is very large and fleshy; and the head, which is small, is armed with two long jaws like horns, somewhat resembling those of the stag-beetle. What must create our utmost admiration is, that this insect, which can only move in a retrograde direction, is doomed by nature to feed upon flies and ants, the quickness and agility of which would at all times deprive him of his prey were he not endowed with an uncommon instinct, which prompts him to the following stratagem:—He makes a kind of funnel-shaped hole in the loose earth or sand, and, placing himself at the bottom of it, waits there with the utmost patience, till an incautious ant orgiddy fly falls into the deathful pit. Then all his skill is put in requisition; he throws out, by the shaking of his large jaws, a great quantity of sand upon the insect, to prevent its climbing up the steep sides of the hole; and when the prey appears strong and nimble, he gives such a general commotion, that the whole construction crumbles down, and the unfortunate insect, overwhelmed with the ruins, falls into the jaws of the Ant-lion, which open like a pair of forceps. When the Ant-lion has sucked out the blood and inside of his prey, he takes it upon his head, and, by a sudden jerk, throws the carcase to a distance from his abode. When the larva has attained its full size, it spins for itself a cocoon of white shining silk, with an external covering of sand. In about three weeks there bursts from this pupa case a slender-waisted winged insect, which, after fluttering about for a few weeks, and depositing eggs in the sand, resigns its life. The winged insect resembles a beautiful dragon-fly; it has a head of a chestnut colour; the body is of a pearly grey, the legs short, and the wings, which resemble the finest lace, are beautifully marked with dark lines and spots. This fly is often seen fluttering about the sides of roads and dry banks exposed to the east, in the months of June and July; it continues for a little time, and then entirely disappears. The Ant-lion is not found in this country; but in the south of France and Italy there is not a bank on the sides of a public road, or a sandy ridge at the foot of an old wall, which does not harbour a great number of these insects.

THE GREAT DRAGON FLY. (Libellula grandis.)

Thisgenus of insects is well known to every one. The larva lives in the water, and wears a kind of mask, which it moves at will, and which serves to hold its prey while it devours it. The pupa closely resembles the larva in its form, except that at the sides of the body the wings are seen enclosed in thin cases. The period of transformation being come, the pupa goes to the water-side, and fixes on a plant, or sticks fast to a piece of dry wood, in which position it remains for some little time, when the skin of the nymph splitting at the upper part of the thorax, the winged insect issues forth gradually, throws off its slough, expands its wings, flutters, and then flies off with gracefulness and ease. The elegance of its slender shape, the richness of its colours, the delicacy and resplendent texture of its wings, render it a beautiful object. It is in length about four inches.

The female deposits her eggs in the water, from which spring the larvæ, which afterwards undergo the same transformations.

The Day Fly (Ephemera), so called on account of the shortness of its life, is a small insect originating from a larva residing in rivers. After remaining several months in the creeping state, a nymph is formed, from whichthe perfect insect changes, three or four hours after mid-day, into the fly form, and dies soon after. This fly has the singular characteristic of casting off its entire skin very soon after it has attained its perfect state; and the empty coat may often be seen lying about after its occupant has deserted it.

Inthis order the wings are neither so large nor so strongly veined as in the previous one. The mouth is furnished with mandibles, maxillæ, and an upper and lower lip; and the abdomen of the female is terminated either with an ovipositor or a sting. The metamorphosis of these insects is complete.

This order contains the Bees, of which there are hundreds of different species. The most interesting of these is the common Hive Bee, from whose industry we obtain wax, and by whose provident habits we are supplied with honey. The inhabitants of a hive are of three kinds: one Queen, a few hundred drones or males, and several thousand workers. The Queen, or Parent Bee, is the soul of the community; to her all the rest are so attached, that they will follow her wherever she goes. She has the power of quelling any disturbance which may arise among her subjects by making a peculiar humming noise. She is so prolific as to lay fifteen or eighteen thousand eggs, which produce about eight hundred males or drones, four or five Queen Bees, and the rest Working Bees or Neuters. The combs of a hive consist of a number of cells, formed of wax, a substance which is secreted by the Working Bees after gorging themselves with honey. These cells are for the habitation and breeding of the young Bees, and are also used as stores for honey, and bee-bread, or the pollen of flowers. The royal cells, in which are laid the eggs of future Queens, are the largest, and shaped like the cup of an acorn. All the other cells are of a beautiful hexagonal form, and of two kinds, one larger than the other: the larger for the young drones, the smaller forthe workers. In two or three days the eggs are hatched, when the Neuters nurse the young grubs, whom they feed most tenderly with bee-bread and honey. After twenty-one days, the young Bees are able to form cells with such indefatigable activity that they will then do more in one week than during all the rest of the year. No more than one Queen is ever permitted to inhabit a hive. When a young Queen is about to be hatched, the old one leads away a swarm from the old colony to form a new one. If the Queen die or is lost to the hive by accident, and there be no young Queens in the royal cells, the Bees can repair their loss. They choose a grub of the Neuter species, enlarge its cell by adding to it three or four adjacent ones, feed the young grub on royal food, and it is then developed into a Queen. Sometimes there are Bees who, less laborious than the others, support themselves by pillaging the hives of the rest; upon which a battle ensues between the industrious and the despoiling insects. Their foes are the wasp, the hornet, and various kinds of birds.

The Bee collects the honey by means of its proboscis, or trunk, which is a most astonishing piece of mechanism, consisting of more than twenty parts. Entering the hive, the insect disgorges the honey into cells, for winter subsistence; or else presents it to the labouring Bees.

The combs of cells formed by these industrious insects are constructed with an instinctive ingenuity which must always be regarded as one of the most marvellous things in nature. Each comb consists of two sets of hexagonal cells placed back to back, and not only do the insects adopt this form which enables them to construct the greatest number of cells of the requisite size within the smallest possible space, and with the least possible amount of material, but each cell on one side of the comb is placed opposite to the junction of three cells on the opposite side, so that its centre may be deepened without interfering with the latter, the three diamond-shaped pieces forming the bottom of each cell belonging to three distinct cells of the opposite side of the comb. By all these contrivances the Bees manage to get the greatest possible amount of accommodation inthe smallest possible space; and it has been found, by mathematical calculation, that if it were desired to construct a series of cavities of a given size within the smallest possible space and with the smallest possible amount of materials, we should have to adopt precisely the same plan, even to the forms of the sides of the cells and the angles at which they are attached to each other, that has been instinctively adopted by the little Bee. At the entrance of every cell the Bee architect places a flange of wax, which fortifies the aperture, and prevents the injuries it might receive from the frequent ingress and egress of the Bees.

Bees produce honey, which they lay up for winter consumption; wax, of which they form their cells; and a substance called bee-bread, which they extract chiefly from the pollen of flowers, and which they use for feeding their young.

Above are given representations of, first, theQueen Bee, placed on the left-hand side; second, theDrone; and, third, theWorking Bee.

THE WASP, (Vespa vulgaris,)

Isa very fierce, dangerous, and rapacious insect; it is much larger than the bee, and furnished with a powerful sting. The abdomen is striped with yellow and black.All kinds of Wasps make curious nests; some attach them to the beams of a barn or other building, or place them in the hollow of a large tree, but the common Wasp digs a hole in the ground. Wasps do not construct their combs with quite the same care and accuracy as the bee; nevertheless, their nests are often very ingeniously made, and the material employed by most of them is curious, being a sort of paper or card made from fibres of wood masticated between the jaws of the insects. As they do not lay up a store of honey for their support during winter, they mostly die at that season; and the few that live remain in a torpid state till spring. Their sting is very large; and the poisonous liquor of it, when introduced into the human body, excites inflammation and creates very considerable pain.

THE ICHNEUMON FLY. (Pimpla persuasoria.)

Themouth of this insect has jaws, but no sucking tongue. The antennæ contain more than thirty joints; and the abdomen is joined to the body by a slender pedicle. The ovipositor is enclosed in a cylindrical sheath, composed of two valves.

One distinguishing and striking characteristic of all the species of this kind of fly is the almost continual agitation of their antennæ. The name of Ichneumon has been applied to them from the service they do us by destroying caterpillars, plant-lice, and other insects; asthe Ichneumon or Mangouste destroys the crocodile in the East. The tip of the abdomen of the females is armed with an ovipositor, visible in some species, though not in others; and this instrument, though so fine, is able to penetrate through mortar and plaster. The female fly uses it to deposit her eggs in the body of other insects when in the egg, caterpillar, or pupa state; so that the young as soon as they are hatched may feed upon the caterpillar, penetrating to its very entrails. These larvæ, however, contrive to suck out the nutritious juices of their prey without attacking its vitals; for the caterpillar continues to live for a long time, so as to afford them food till they have attained their full size. It is not uncommon to see caterpillars fixed upon trees, as if they were sitting upon their eggs; when it is afterwards discovered that the larvæ, which were within their bodies, have spun their threads, with which, as with cords, the caterpillars are fastened down, and so perish miserably.

“A friend of mine,” says Dr. Derham, “put about forty large caterpillars, collected from cabbages, on some bran and a few leaves in a box, and covered it with gauze to prevent their escape. After a few days we saw, from the backs of more than three-fourths of them, about eight or ten little caterpillars of one of the Ichneumon flies come out and spin each a small cocoon of silk; and in a few days the large caterpillars died.”

The Ichneumons performed great service in the years 1731 and 1732, by multiplying in the same proportion as the caterpillars, and their larvæ destroyed more of these destructive creatures than could any efforts of human industry.

They are found of all sizes, suitable to the various insects they are parasitic upon, and in their ceaseless rummaging about in every hole and corner, millions of destructive larvæ are discovered and destroyed by them, which would otherwise have reached maturity, and left a progeny to renew their ravages in the ensuing summer. Even those larvæ which feed in concealment are readily discovered by the Ichneumons destined to live upon them, and the farmer is often made aware of the presence of his enemies by observing the activity of his friends.

THE LABOURING AND SOLDIER ANT.(Formica rufa.)

Thecolour of the Ant is in general a dark red or brown, with a fine gloss on the abdomen. They are like the bees, divided into three kinds—males, females, and neuters. The females and neuters are furnished with stings for their defence; the males are wholly destitute of them. The males and females are in proper season furnished with wings, but the neuters have none, and they are doomed always to labour and drudgery on the hill. This hill is constructed with considerable art and labour; it is composed of leaves, bits of wood, sand, earth, and gum from the trees, which are all united into a mass, perforated with galleries to give access to the numerous cells which it contains. From this hill there are several paths, worn by the constant passing and repassing of these creatures; and it is worthy the admiration of the naturalist to consider how busy the whole legion appears in bringing bits of straw, dead bodies of other insects, or in carrying away their eggs, if any danger threatens their republic. Their sense of smell is very keen, and they discover at a great distance any food they may be in search of.

Theinsects included in this order are all remarkable for their beauty. Their wings are membranous and veined, like those of the dragon flies and their allies, but insteadof being naked they are covered by close-set scales of the most delicate texture and most brilliant colours. The mouth is furnished with a spiral trunk or tongue, by which nectar is sucked from the flowers; but in other respects it only differs from the mouths of the masticating mandibulated orders in the smallness of its parts. The antennæ vary in the different kinds: but those of all the diurnal lepidoptera, or butterflies, are terminated by a small inflation or knob; while those of the nocturnal species, or moths, taper to a point, and are often feathery, or comb-shaped. The transformations of the species belonging to this order are all complete.

Over the larvæ of this order the ichneumons reign with undisputed sway; attacking all indiscriminately, from the minute insect that forms its labyrinth within the thickness of a leaf, to the giant caterpillar of the hawk moth. The most useful of all, however, the silkworm, appears, at least with us, to be exempted from this scourge. De Geer, out of fifteen larvæ that were mining between the two cuticles of a rose-leaf, found that fourteen were destroyed by one of these insects.

THE EMPEROR MOTH WITH ITS CHRYSALIS AND CATERPILLAR.

Thelarva of all the lepidoptera is a Caterpillar composed of twelve ring-like segments, exclusive of the head, which is harder than the other parts, and always of a deepercolour than the body. Each Caterpillar has nine breathing-holes on each side; and each of the three segments nearest the head is furnished with a pair of short legs, ending in a kind of claw, which are the true legs of the insect. The Caterpillar has, however, eight or ten other legs on the hinder segments of its body. The head has twelve eyes, and two very short conical antennæ; and the mouth is furnished with two strong mandibles, two maxillæ, a labrum, and four palpi.

The habits of Caterpillars differ: some, which are called Geometers, or Loopers, advance by a succession of steps, first extending the body to its full length and adhering by the fore legs, then drawing up the hinder part of the body close to the forepart so as to form a loop, and then again repeating this process; these Caterpillars, when at rest, often adhere by their hinder feet, and extend the body stiffly, like a little dry twig; others, which are furnished with more prolegs, adhere by these to the branch or leaf, and raise the forepart of the body a little, an attitude which induced Linnæus to give the name ofSphinxto the moths in whose Caterpillars this habit prevails; some small species live between the upper and lower surfaces of leaves, in which they excavate mines; others dwell in small cases, which they manufacture of various materials; whilst others, dwelling in large societies, spin for themselves a sort of silken tent, in which they take their repose, and from which they issue daily in search of food in a regularly marshalled procession. Many make themselves cocoons; but others have no other covering in the pupa state than a smooth shining skin, or a dark mummy-like cerement. The chrysalis of a butterfly is generally angular, and that of a moth cylindrical.

TORTOISE-SHELL BUTTERFLY.(Vanessa urticæ.)

TheCaterpillar, which feeds on the nettle, is about an inch in length, covered with bristles, and of a reddish brown colour. After having changed its skin three times when in the shape of a Caterpillar, it crawls up to a branching part of the stalk; and, hanging itself by the hinder part or tail, swells and bursts in such a curious way, that the Caterpillar’s skin drops to the ground, and the chrysalis, or aurelia, remains suspended; till after a fortnight of torpor it bursts its skin again, and escapes into the air, under the beautiful form of a variegated Butterfly. The golden line which shines through the pupa case of this Butterfly is supposed to have suggested the words chrysalis and aurelia, both of which signify golden. The wings of the perfect insect are about two inches in extent, of a deep orange colour above, and their base and hinder margin black, with a series of blue crescents. These Butterflies, which are very common in England, appear in spring, and at the end of June and beginning of September.

THE CABBAGE BUTTERFLY.(Pontia, orPieris Brassicæ.)

Whenthe colewort and cauliflower are nearly mature, the perfect insect of this Caterpillar is found depositing her eggs upon the leaves. The heat of the sun soon vivifies them and brings forth the Caterpillars, which immediately proceed to consume the vegetables on which they received being. They bear the heat of the sun without inconvenience, but cannot endure long rains, and in wet weather they soon disappear. There are several species of this Butterfly, but the common white, with a black spot on each of the under wings, is the earliest seen in our gardens. It lays its eggs in May; and its Caterpillars, which are soon hatched, feed together till the end of June, when they go into the pupa state, from which the perfect Butterfly appears in July. The eggs laid by the second brood of Butterflies produce Caterpillars which feed during the remainder of the summer, and remain in the pupa state all the winter, to be hatched the following spring.

From the astonishing fecundity of these insects, it may be wondered that they do not, in the course of time, completely overspread the face of the earth, and totally consume every green plant. This would certainly be the caseif Providence had not provided a check to their progress. One of the kinds of the ichneumon fly deposits her eggs within the caterpillar of this Butterfly, and they are there hatched. In their larva state they continue preying on the vitals of the animal; they then pass to the pupa condition, and eventually emerge as perfect insects. So greatly are we indebted to this apparently contemptible little parasite, for keeping down the increase of an insect which would otherwise become a serious and alarming evil.

THE MAGPIE, OR CURRANT MOTH.(Geometra, orAbraxas grossulariata.)

TheCaterpillar of this Moth is one of the kind called loopers, and is very destructive. The chrysalis is naked and shining; and its colour is a bright yellow with black bands. The Moth is white, spotted with black, and hence its name of Magpie.

The black and white caterpillar of this Moth is very destructive to currant and gooseberry bushes, and in some seasons particularly so. Mr. Kirby especially cites the devastations at Hull in the spring of 1814. He also confirms Boerhaave’s assertion, that the severity of winter has no effect in destroying the larvæ of those insects, as these abounded even more after a winter when Fahrenheit’s thermometer stood at zero, than after a winter which was remarkably mild.

THE WINTER MOTH.(Geometra, orCheimatobia brumata.)

TheCaterpillar delights in newly-opened leaves; it is not so ravenous as many others, making long intervals between its meals, but it seldom quits a leaf until it has entirely consumed it. The colour is very elegant. The upper part of the body is of a fine yellowish green; but it is by no means so beautiful after as before feeding, its skin being so thin as to transmit the hue of whatever food it eats. They are also called looper Caterpillars, because when they crawl they draw their hind and fore feet together, so as to form their bodies into a loop. They go into the pupa state towards the end of June, burying themselves for that purpose in the earth; and in November or December the perfect insect is brought forth.

It is evident that they possess great muscular power, and hence their positions during repose are very striking. Fixing themselves by their hinder feet alone, they extend their bodies in a straight line, holding it in that position for a long time. This, together with their obscure colours, and the warts on their bodies, render it often difficult to distinguish them from the twigs of the trees on which they feed. When alarmed, these Caterpillars have the instinct to drop from the leaves, and suspend themselves by a thread, which enables them to remount when the danger is over.

THE SILKWORM. (Bombyx mori.)

Withoutentering into a very minute description of this Caterpillar, we shall confine ourselves to what we think will be at once more interesting and more useful. As the Silkworm is an insect of universal service, and not of singular beauty, we are induced to prefer giving an account of its utility, rather than any elaborate description of its figure or colour.

This larva feeds on the leaves of the mulberry tree, and when first produced is extremely small, and entirely black. In a few days it appears in a new habit, which is white, tinged with the colour of its food; and before it goes into its chrysalis state it changes its skin several times. When full grown it spins its cone of silk, which is its cocoon, in the same manner as other insects. The Moth possesses no beauty. The Silkworm is a native of China, whence the greater part of our silk is still imported; but the insect was introduced into the south of Europe during the reign of the Emperor Justinian, and is now reared in large quantities both in France and Italy.

The art of manufacturing silk was known to the ancients. We are informed that, in the third century, the wife of the Roman emperor Aurelian entreated him to give her a robe of purple silk, which he refused on account of its enormous price.

It is not certain at what precise period the manufacture of silk was first introduced into England; but inthe year 1242, we are told that part of the streets of London were covered or shaded with silk, for the reception of Richard, the brother of Henry III., on his return from the Holy Land. In 1454 the silk manufactures of England are said to have been confined merely to ribbons, laces, and other trifling articles. Queen Elizabeth, in the third year of her reign, was furnished by her silk-woman with a pair of black knit silk stockings, which she is stated to have admired as “marvellous delicate wear;” and after the using of which she no longer had cloth ones as before. James I., whilst king of Scotland, requested of the Earl of Mar the loan of a pair of silk stockings to appear in before the English ambassador, enforcing his request with the cogent appeal, “For ye would not, sure, that your king should appear as a scrub before strangers.”

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