CONTENTS.

37. JACK O' LANTERN IN ARMOUR.

A Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa vulgaris) is the illustration of this Episode,

which consists of a tale founded on the supposed luminosity of that

insect

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The mailed and handed and luminous insect, in the knightly semblance it

assumed to the eye of "Tombstone Tim "

38. INSTINCTS OF MATERNITY.

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In the foreground is an Earwig (Forficula vulgaris), surrounded by her brood

as a hen by her chickens. Above, on the leaf of a rose-bush, is an out-

door Spider (a beautiful species, white with crimson markings), keeping

guard over her numerous eggs, enveloped in a covering of bluish silk.

The leaf behind her has been converted by her industry into a nest, from

which, with her eggs, she is supposed to have been dislodged. On the

wooden pale opposite is the excavated nest, with enclosed cocoons of a

mother "Carpentress," amongst the solitary wasps (Eumenes), who is

flying up towards it. On one of the leaflets of the rose above it, is a

Leaf-cutter Bee (Megachile centuncularis), employed in excision of one

of the circular pieces used in the lining of her nest; and above, flies

another of the same Upholsterer" craft

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"Admire the dexterity of the Leaf-cutter Bee."

A Maternal "Upholstress" shaping the material of her leaf-lined nest,

which, in form of a cradle, is represented near her

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39. FATHER LONGLEGS AND HIS FAMILY.

On the grass, to the left, is one of the common brown Crane-flies (Tipula

oleracea), distinguished as a female by her pointed ovipositor. In flight,

above, is a male of the same species, and below, in the earth, another, in

its state of grubhood, employed in devouring the grass roots, on which,

in its earliest stage, it is accustomed to feed. On the right, above, is a

handsome Crane-fly (Ctenophora), with black and yellow markings

and plumed antennæ

"How vast (to an emmet) its stupendous elevation!"

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A spacious platform and commanding observatory for creeping millions

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CONTENTS.

October.

40. THE SCARABEUS AND ITS MODERN WORSHIPPERS.

Ascending the tombstone to the right, is the Churchyard Beetle (Blaps

mortisaga), distinguished by its intense blackness. Next, on the ground

below, is a small, black, shining Dung Beetle (one of the Histerida) ;

and adjacent, a pair of black and orange Necrophori, notable for their

industry in interment of animal remains. Climbing the grass above, is

the Silpha quadripunctata, a black and yellow feeder upon carrion;

and in descending flight, lessened by distance, is that most common of

beetle scavengers, the Dor, or Clock (Geotrupes stercorarius)

"The Scarabæus, an amasser of filth, fit emblem of mammon-

worship."

The Dung Beetle, set up on high for the adoration of the sordid

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125

41. INSECT DIRGE-PLAYERS.

Entering at the open casement, appear the head and shoulders of a Death's-

head Moth (Acherontia Atropos). The table below is occupied by two

Deathwatch Beetles (Anobium tessellatum and A. pertinax), while

another (Anobium striatum) is creeping up the wall above. All three

are drawn much larger than life

A dance of death got up, at Superstition's bidding, to the beat of the dreaded

Deathwatch

42. SHORT LIVES AND LONG.

The insects chosen for this Vignette are such as afford examples either of
longevity, of brevity of existence, or of great disproportions in the
length of its several stages. The Brown Weevil (Curculio), a feeder on
decayed wood, at the right hand corner, gives an instance of longevity,
contrasted by the brief duration of the Ephemeral Day-fly (Baetes),
which rises upwards on the left. In this Ephemera there are two instead
of (as in E. vulgata) three filaments, proceeding from the extremity of
the body. On the right, is a common Cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris);
another of the same species, just arrived at maturity, is pushing ap-
wards from the grass; while a third, yet in its stage of larva, is

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143

exhibited in the ground beneath. In this, its form of imperfection, it

exists within the earth for several years, living in the air as a perfect

insect for perhaps a fortnight. On the oak-leaf to the left are two leaf-

galls, one exhibiting its enclosed grub—a long liver, as compared with

the little Gall-fly (Cynips Quercus folii), which is seen in upward flight

above

"The threads of insect life are variously apportioned."

The Parca meting the lengths of insect existence, allowing them the shortest

measure in their perfect and brightest stages

43. STARS OF THE EARTH.

On the right, creeping down the bank, is a common Glowworm, the wingless

female of a beetle (Lampyris noctiluca) which is seen descending from

the corner opposite. Beneath, crawls a luminous or electric Centipede

(Scolopendra electrica); and near, in the centre of the foreground, is one

of our native Click Beetles (Elaterida), not (as represented by mistake)

a luminous insect, but closely allied to, and much resembling, the Fire-

fly (Elater noctilucus) of the West Indies and South America

Inquire we the uses of the Glowworm's lamp ?"

It here supplies to a studious fairy the purpose of the midnight oil

November.

44. INSECT MOVEMENTS.

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The examples of slow and swift-footed beetles here given, are the Oil Beetle
(Proscarabæus vulgaris), laboriously creeping up, and the Tiger Beetle
(Cicindela campestris), rapidly descending the sandy bank. Below, is a
fast walker, almost runner, among hairy caterpillars, and above, on a
lime-tree twig, sits the stately larva of the Lime Hawk Moth (Smerinthus
Tilia), like the rest of its Sphinx-like brethren, slow-footed and averse to
motion. The two flies are of a flower-resorting species, called vibrating
(Scioptera vibrans), which are distinguished by red heads, scarlet eyes,
black-tipped wings, and that quivering or vibrating motion to which
they owe their name

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'In the swift Tiger and slow Oil Beetles, see the fabled hare

and tortoise."

The rapid Cicindela, diverted from its course by the sight of insect prey, ex-

emplifies anew the old adage, that "the race is not always to the swift" 201

45. FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT OVER-NICE

All the insects of this group, excepting one, consist of Plant Bugs (Pentato-

mida, Capsida, &c.) of varied form and colour. The dark, long-bodied

insect creeping up the palings, is the Reduvius personatus, a bug itself,

but an enemy, especially in its stage of larva, to our domestic horror

Cimex lectularius. The Plant Bug, on a branch of Southernwood below,

is remarkable for a pair of singularly-shaped antennæ, and its wings

(not shown in the figure) are of a beautiful violet blue: the general

colour of the insect is a dark olive

"Steeds of mettle and muscle, for a steeple-chase in earnest.”

If chases such as these were never calendared in graver fashion-if, as here,

the vaulters were but Fleas-the chase but "coming off" on paper, the

horse might leap for joy, the man rise higher, that is, to his proper

place, as an animal of reason and humanity

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219

46. STORY OF AN OGRE.

The insect Ogre here represented is the fierce and wily grub of the Ant-lion

(Formica Leo). On the fragment in the foreground it is shown in de-

formity unveiled, and more backward is seen one of the cleverly-con-

structed pitfalls in which it is accustomed to lie buried, all but its

extended jaws, for the entrapment of its prey. The globular object to-

wards the left is the puparium, or pupa-case, of this remarkable creature,

itself remarkable for the smallness of its size, as compared with that of

the imago (winged insect), which is shown in process of emergement

from it. It its perfect expansion, it soars above-the Ant-lion Fly com-

plete
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'Together with the ball they lift her on their shoulders."

The Formic heroine (a captive Ant) escapes from the clutches of the Ant-lion

Ogre, by concealment in the hollow ball (puparium) of the monster's

own weaving.

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CONTENTS.

47. PAINTING, CARVING, AND GILDING.

The insects assembled in this Vignette afford only average specimens of

Nature's decorative skill, but serve to illustrate the three modes above

mentioned of insect adornment. In the Moth Caterpillar, with its

goldfinch colours (scarlet, yellow, black, white, and brown), resting on a

branch of elm, we have an example of gay painting wanting perma-

nence. This latter quality is supplied in the Ruby-tailed Wasp (Chrysis

ignita) on the paling. Above, are two larvæ (pseudo-caterpillars) of the

Currant Saw-fly (Nematus Ribes), their skins of greenish-yellow,

studded with raised dots of shining black. On the nettle-stalk adjacent

hangs the gilded chrysalis of a Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Vanessa Urtica) ;

and above, flying upwards, its superior wings laden with seeming gold,

is one of the little Moths (Tineida) come of caterpillars which feed on

the bark of Birch-trees. Also inscribed in mimic gold is the Greek 7,

which gives name to the larger Moth (Plusia gamma), seen on wing

beneath the flower-head of Knapweed (Phrygia nigra), seated on which,

her closed piuions “freaked” on their reverse, not with gold, but silver,

is a brown Fritillary (Argynnis Adippe). The only specimen of insect

Carving for which room has been here found, is one of the sculptured

eggs of the y Moth on a leaf of Knapweed

Acheta throws down his pencil in despair at the inimitable perfection of his

living patterns

December.

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275

48. SPIDERS IN THEIR

ANALOGIES WITH OTHER

ORDERS OF CREATION.

The two Spiders on the top of the wall are of the tribe called "Hunters,” as

opposed to "Sedentaries,” or such as construct snares and sit within or

beside them. That on the right, with zebra-like stripes, is the Salticus

scenicus; opposite, is a nearly resembling species; and climbing the

Wall-flower, is a beautifully-coloured geometric Web-Weaver . . 276

"Where are snare-setters existent but amongst human animals

and Spiders?"

The Man Bird-catcher emulated in his trade by the Spider Fly-catcher 295