got into this position for an instant, when, by swelling the part of its body above water, the skin cracks the head of the gnat makes its appearance through between the two breathing tubes, and immediately the rent. The shoulders instantly follow, enlarging the breach so as to render the extrication of the while the chick, when it breaks the shell of its prison, is in all respects a bird, and as such fitted to inhabit the same element as its parent, the young insect frequently passes the preliminary stages of its existence in a medium which would be fatal to its perfect progenitor. The common gnat, for ex-body comparatively easy. The most important, ample, deposits its eggs in water, attaching them side by side, by means of its long hind legs, in such a way as to form a perfect life-boat, which no rough treatment can upset or sink; it being doubtless essential for the welfare of the future progeny that the eggs should float on the surface of the water, and not sink in it. and, indeed, indispensable, part of the mechanism, is the maintaining of its upright position, so as not to get wetted, which would spoil its wings, and prevent it from flying. Its chief support is the rugosity of the envelop which it is throwing off, and which wings set at liberty, and trimmed for flight. The now serves it as a life-boat, till it gets its body of the insect serves this little boat for a mast, The two next stages of the gnat's existence are which is raised in a manner similar to movable passed in the water. Every one is well acquainted masts in lighters constructed for passing under a with the little active wriggling creatures, with large bridge, with this difference, that the gnat raises its heads, which during the summer months abound in body in an upright direction from the first. "When water, and especially rain-water, when freely exthe naturalist," says Réaumur, "observes how posed to the air. These are the larvæ and pupa* he becomes anxious for the fate of the little mariner, deep the prow of the tiny boat dips into the water, of gnats. The larvæ, as soon as they leave the particularly if a breeze ripples the surface, for the floating egg, descend into the water, there to await least agitation of the air will waft it rapidly along, the arrival of the period for assuming their winged since its body performs the duty of a sail as well as aerial condition. But although they thus exist in of a mast; but as it bears a much greater propora different element, yet the respiration of atmostion to the little bark than the largest sail does to a pheric air is absolutely necessary to their existence; once laid on its side, all is over. ship, it appears in great danger of being upset; and and the means of obtaining it are accordingly pro-seen the surface of the water covered with the bodies I have sometimes vided in the shape of a curious apparatus situated of gnats which had perished in this way; but for near the tail of the larva. The larva suspends it- the most part all terminates favorably, and the danself from the surface of the water by means of the ger is instantly over. When the gnat has extriextremity of this breathing tube, which is capable cated itself all but the tail, it first stretches out its of being opened out into a stellate form, and it thus, them down to feel for the water, upon which it is two fore legs, and then the middle pair, bending while used as an organ of respiration, also acts as able to walk as upon dry land, the only aquatic a buoy. When the little creature wishes to de- faculty which it retains after having winged its way scend, it closes the hairs at the end of the tube; above the element where it spent the first stages and on reäscending they are again opened. of its existence.-(Lib. Ent. Knowl. Ins. Trans., p. 317.) After two or three moultings, the larva of the gnat becomes a pupa; in this state food seems to be no longer necessary, but fresh air is indispensable to its existence, though still living in the water. Unlike that of the larva, the respiratory apparatus of the pupa consists of two tubes placed behind the head, instead of being situated in the tail, which in the pupa is fin-shaped, and appears! by its motion to assist the animal in maintaining its position at the surface of the water. It The next operation-that of assuming the perfect state-is a most interesting one, which we have witnessed with admiration many times. is well described in Rennie's "Insect Transformations ;" and this account being very accurate, we give it entire. About eight or ten days after the larva of a gnat is transformed into a pupa, it prepares, generally towards noon, for emerging into the air, raising itself up to the surface so as to elevate its shoulders just above the level of the water. It has scarcely *We have four stages in the life of an insect-four states which it is necessary thoroughly to understand; the egg, (ovum,) which is motionless and apparently lifeless; the grub, (larva,) which is active, but without wings, voracious, and grows rapidly; the chrysalis, (pupa,) which is quite motionless, and does not occur in all insects; the perfect insect, (imago,) which is active, has wings, does not grow, and which, by laying eggs, perpetuates its kind. (-Newman, 2.) The dragon-flies, or horse-stingers," as they deposit their eggs in the water, where they are are erroneously called by the country people, also hatched; and the young, like those of the gnat, pass the two first stages of their life in that element. The larva is furnished with a very curious respi ratory apparatus, by which it is enabled to sustain an intermittent pumping up and discharge of water, locomotion and of respiration. But this is not the thus serving at the same time both as an organ of only curious circumstance connected with this larThe under lip of the mouth in the larva of most insects is very small; but in that of the dragon-fly it is very large and of a most extraordinary structure, thus well described by Kirby and Spence : va. It is by far the largest organ of the mouth, which, when closed, it entirely conceals, and it not only retains but actually seizes the animal's prey, by means of a very singular pair of jaws with which it is furnished. Conceive your under lip (to have recourse, like Réaumur on another occasion, to such a comparison) to be horny instead of fleshy, and to be elongated perpendicularly downwards, so as to wrap over your chin, and to extend to its bottomthat this elongation is there expanded into a triangular convex plate, attached to it by a joint, so as to bend upwards again and fold over the face as high as the nose, concealing not only the chin and the plant. Another period of rest now intervenes, the first-mentioned elongation, but the mouth and the head and upper portion of the body being bent part of the cheeks; conceive, moreover, that to the backwards, and gradually becoming dry and firm. end of this last-mentioned plate are fixed two other The fly then, firmly grasping the upper portion of convex ones, so broad as to cover the whole nose and temples-that these can open at pleasure transits cast skin with its feet, gradually draws out the versely, like a pair of jaws, so as to expose the remainder of its body, and again rests immovably. nose and mouth, and that their inner edges where During this state of inaction the wings expand, all they meet are cut into numerous sharp teeth, or the crumples, plaits, and folds incidental to the spines, or armed with one or more long sharp confined space previously occupied gradually disclaws;-you will then have as accurate an idea as appear, and the whole wing becomes a beautiful my powers of description can give of the strange conformation of the under lip in the larva of Libel- smooth gauzy membrane, traversed by nerves, and lulina, which conceals the mouth and face precisely nearly the length of the body, which has at the as I have supposed a similar construction of your same time been gradually enlarging and lengthenlip. would do yours. You will, probably, admiting, and the limbs acquiring their just size and that your own visage would present an appearance proportions. Moreover, while the wings are thus not very engaging while concealed by such a mask; drying and expanding, the insect is instinctively but it would strike still more awe into the specta- careful to prevent their coming in contact, while tors, were they to see you first open the two upper wet, with any part of the body, which would renjaw-plates, which would project from each temple like the blinders of a horse; and next, having by der them unfit for use, by arching the latter in means of the joint at the chin, let down the whole such a way that the convexity is downwards. apparatus, and uncovered your face, employ them The whole of this curious process we have watched in seizing any food that presented itself, and con- with admiration; and once had the pleasure of exveying it to your mouth. Yet this procedure is that plaining it to a little intelligent country boy, who adopted by the larva of the dragon-fly provided happened to pass the piece of water where it was with this strange organ. While it is at rest, it apgoing on, and put the question, plies close to and covers the face. When the insects would make use of it, they unfold it like an 'ere things a-doin ?". arm, catch the prey at which they aim by means of the mandibuli-form plates, and then partly refold it so as to hold the prey to the mouth in a convenient position for the operation of the two pair of jaws with which they are provided. Réaumur once found one of them thus holding and devouring a large tadpole; a sufficient proof that Swammerdam was greatly deceived in imagining earth to be the food of animals so tremendously armed and fitted for carnivorous purposes. In the larvae of Libellula, Fabr., it is so exactly resembling a mask, that if entomologists ever went to masquerades, they could not more effectually relieve the insipidity of such amusements, and attract the attention of the demoiselles, than by appearing at the supper table with a mask of this construction, and serving themselves by its assistance.-(Introd., iii. 126.) These voracious larvæ do not, however, trust solely to this curious apparatus when seeking for prey, for they stealthily close upon it as a cat will do upon a bird or upon a mouse, and then suddenly unmasking seize it by surprise; insects, tadpoles, and even small fishes are thus captured. Like the pupa of the gnat, that of the dragonfly is under the necessity of seeking the air in order to assume its perfect winged condition, but its avoidance of water is much more complete than in the case of the gnat; for, not content with merely ascending to the surface, there to get rid of its now useless integument, the dragon-fly leaves the water entirely, generally by crawling up the stems of aquatic plants, upon which it fixes itself by means of its claws, and thus remains motionless for a time, as if to gain strength for the coming struggle. After a while, the envelope may be seen to burst open between the shoulders; through the aperture protrudes the head of the perfect fly, and this is quickly followed by its legs, the cases of which remain attached as before to 66 What be them The In a former number of this "Review" we quoted from the "Zoologist" an exceedingly interesting account of the final transformation of a small species of ephemera, or day-fly, illustrative of what Mr. Newman well calls "the strange fact of an insect's flying before it reaches the imago; that is, flying in its penultimate state." eggs of these flies are laid in the water, like those of the dragon-flies, which belong to the same class (Neuroptera,) and the gnats. The larvæ live in the water two and even three years; when the imago is about to cast off its pupa-skin, it leaves the water, and proceeds in the manner described in the quotation above referred to. of the perfect insect's life is at most a few hours. The duration The phrygaueæ, or caddis-flies, also deposit their eggs in the water. The larvæ construct for themselves little habitations of small shells, (which sometimes contain their living tenants,) grains of sand, small stones, bits of stick, and other similar substances, made to adhere by the prototype of marine glue. These larvæ cannot swim, but, being furnished with six legs, they walk with facility at the bottom of the water; and being themselves heavier than water, it is necessary that their habitations should have a specific gravity so nearly corresponding with that of water, that the animals may move about without being floated to the surface on the one hand, or compelled to remain at the bottom on the other. The larvæ, therefore, evince their instinct-prompted knowledge of hydrostatics, by attaching to their cells a piece of straw, or some other light substance, if too heavy; or if too light, a shell or piece of gravel. They never quit their habitations until about to assume the perfect form; when about to become pupæ, the larvæ withdraw within their cases, after fixing them to some solid substance, and close each extremity with a grating which readily permits the passage of water through the case, this being necessary for respiration. The pupa makes its way out by means of a pair of hooked jaws, and swims about until it leaves the water for the purpose of undergoing its final ecdysis; some of them climb up aquatic plants, like the pupa of dragon-flies; others simply float up to the surface, as the pupa of the gnats do. so loosen the turf, that it will roll up as if cut with a turfing spade." Records have from time to time appeared of the extensive ravages of these grubs, which do not confine themselves to grass, but also eat the roots of corn. The rooks are their most determined enemies; for they not only follow the plough for the purpose of devouring the grubs of the cockchafer, which, among others, are sometimes turned up in the furrows in great numIt is very difficult, without actually witnessing bers, but they instinctively, as it were, pitch upon the successive stages of the lives of such insects, those meadows and portions of meadows where the to realize the curious fact, that the little merry grubs are pursuing their subterranean work of dedancing gnats, whose aërial gambols all have obstruction, root up the grasses with their strong served; and the quick-darting dragon-flies, with beaks, and feast luxuriously upon the rich repast their iridescent glistening wings; and the gay thus laid bare; as if to revenge themselves upon ephemera, whose aërial life is to terminate in a the cause of the charge undeservedly brought few hours from the period of their assuming it; against them, of doing an injury to the farmer by were once the inhabitants of an element which uprooting his grass, when, in reality, they are would be fatal to them in their now perfect form. conferring upon him one of the greatest benefits, Yet are there many insects whose lives are passed by destroying an insidious enemy. under similarly opposite conditions; and still more numerous are those whose progress from birth to maturity is characterized by changes of structure equally curious, which, however, are not so strik-ly injurious to agriculture, both in the larva and ingly marked, in consequence of their occurring in situations and under circumstances less opposed than those we have been considering. The very extensive class Coleoptera, or the beetle tribe, to which the cockchafer belongs, furnishes many other examples of insects exceeding perfect states. Such are the different kinds of weevil which attack grain, both while growing and when stored away in the granary; the turnipEvery resident in the country is well acquainted fly; the wire-worm, which is the grub of one of with the common cockchafer, or May-bug, but the little slender beetles allied to the exotic firefew, perhaps, are aware that the form in which flies; and many others, an attentive study of they are most familiar with it-that of a large whose habits in their various stages would probabeetle is the ultimate one of four several stages bly suggest remedies for the injuries inflicted by of insect life. Four years before the May-bug them. On the other hand, the same class furmakes its presence unpleasantly known to us by nishes examples of insects conferring benefits, upon dashing in our faces during our rural walks on the man, either by preying upon other insects whose delicious evenings we sometimes have in May, it ravages interfere with his comforts or with the was carefully deposited in some field or meadow, supplying of his necessities, or by removing dein the form of an egg, in company with perhaps caying substances which would otherwise become hundreds of similar eggs, by a May-bug like itself. offensive to the senses. Of the former descripThe parent, having performed this duty, would tion are the larvae of the lady-birds, which do soon cease to exist; and towards autumn the eggs good service by destroying the Aphides infesting would give birth to numerous minute whitish the hop; of the latter, in a small way, is the grubs. Between this period of hatching and the sexton, or burying-beetle, which actually consigns third autumn, the grubs increase greatly in size, to the bosom of mother earth the body of any and cast their skins three or four times, each time small animal it may meet with; not, however, burrowing deeper than their usual feeding level, with a view of conferring a benefit upon the as they likewise do in winter, when they become "lord of creation," but in order that its own torpid. In the third autumn after they are hatched progeny may be provided with a fitting nidus, and the grubs prepare for assuming the pupa state, by that they may find a sufficient store of provision burrowing to the depth of about a yard; and in a on emerging from the egg. An exceedingly little chamber at the bottom of the burrows they pleasing description of the proceedings of this remain inactive until the following January or beetle and his mate, from the pen of an observer February, when the perfect beetles emerge from who, we regret, now writes no more, appeared the last covering they are to cast off; but for ten some years ago in the " · Entomological Magaor twelve days they remain quite as soft as when zine," with the signature of "Rusticus, of Goin their first stage of existence, and do not venture dalming," and is quoted by Mr. Newman in his to quit their subterranean asylum until May, when" Introduction to the History of Insects," from they may be seen crawling out of the ground in great numbers, and soon taking flight. In the perfect state these insects live upon the leaves of trees; but the voracious grubs devour the roots of grasses, sometimes destroying whole acres of the finest pasture, and, as Kirby and Spence well observe, they "undermine the richest meadows, and which we here extract it. The sexton-beetle is about an inch in length; it is of a black color, and so fœtid, that the hands smell for hours after handling it; and if it crawl on woollen clothes which are not washed, the smell continues for several days. The sextonbeetle lays its eggs in the bodies of putrefying state appears uncertain; but when arrived at the perfect state, they make round holes in the ground, from which they come forth.-(Newman, p. 53.) dead animals, which, when practicable, it buries in | he rouses himself, treads the bird firmly into its the ground. In Russia, where the poor people are grave, pulls it by the feathers this way and that buried but a few inches below the surface of the way, and having settled it to his mind, begins to ground, the sexton-beetles avail themselves of the shovel in the earth; this is done in a very short bodies for this purpose, and the graves are pierced time, by means of his broad head. He goes bewith their holes in every direction; at evening,hind the rampart of earth, and pushes it into the hundreds of these beetles may be seen in the grave with amazing strength and dexterity: the church-yards, either buzzing over recent graves, or head being bent directly downwards at first, and emerging from them. The sexton-beetle, in this then the nose elevated with a kind of jerk, which country, seldom finds so convenient a provision for sends the earth forwards. After the grave is thus him, and he is under the necessity of taking much filled up, the earth is trodden in, and undergoes more trouble; he sometimes avails himself of dead another keen scrutiny all round, the bird being dogs and horses, but these are too great rarities to completely hidden; the beetle then makes a hole be his constant resort; the usual objects of his in the still loose earth, and having buried the bird search are dead mice, rats, birds, frogs, and moles; and his own bride, next buries himself. of these, a bird is most commonly obtained. In The female having laid her eggs in the carcass the neighborhood of towns, every kind of garbage of the bird, in number proportioned to its size, and that is thrown out attracts these beetles as soon as the pair having eaten as much of the savory viand it begins to smell; and it is not unusual to see as they please, they make their way out, and fly them settling in our streets, enticed by the grateful away. The eggs are hatched in two days, and odor of such substances. The sexton-beetles hunt produce fat scaly grubs, which run about with in couples, male and female; and where six or great activity; these grubs grow excessively fast, eight are found in a large animal, they are almost and very soon consume all that their parents had sure to be males and females in equal numbers; left. As soon as they are full grown they cease they hunt by scent only, the chase being mostly eating, and burrowing further in the earth become performed when no other sense would be very pupa. The length of time they remain in this available, viz., in the night. When they have found a bird, great comfort is expressed by the male, who wheels round and round above it, like a vulture over the putrefying carcass of some giant of the forest. The female settles on it at once, Of the unwearying industry shown by these without this testimonial of satisfaction. The male beetles, some idea may be formed by the result of at last settles also, and a savory and ample meal is experiments conducted by M. Gleditsch, as quoted made before the great work is begun. After the by Kirby and Spence, from an interesting article beetles have appeased the calls of hunger, the bird in the "Acts of the Berlin Society" for 1752. M. is abandoned for a while; they both leave it to ex- Gleditsch found that "in fifty days four beetles plore the earth in the neighborhood, and ascertain whether there is a place suitable for interment; if had interred in the very small space of earth alon a ploughed field there is no difficulty; but if on lotted to them, twelve carcasses; viz., four frogs, grass, or among stones, much labor is required to three small birds, two fishes, one mole, and two draw it to a more suitable place. The operation grasshoppers, besides the entrails of a fish, and of burying is performed almost entirely by the male two morsels of the lungs of an ox. In another beetle, the female mostly hiding herself in the body experiment a single beetle buried a mole forty of the bird about to be buried, or sitting quietly times its own bulk and weight in two days." To upon it, and allowing herself to be buried with it: the male begins by digging a furrow all round the this account the authors add the following pertibird, at the distance of about half an inch, turning nent remarks: the earth outside; his head is the only tool used in this operation; it is held sloping outwards, and is It is plain that all this labor is incurred for the exceedingly powerful. After the first furrow is sake of placing in security the future young of completed another is made within it, and the earth these industrious insects along with a necessary is thrown into the first furrow; then a third furrow provision of food. One mole would have sufficed is made, and this is completely under the bird, so a long time for the repast of the beetles themselves, that the beetle, whilst working at it, is out of sight: and they could have more conveniently fed upon it now, the operation can only be traced by the heav- above ground than below. But if they had left ing of the earth, which soon forms a little rampart thus exposed the carcass in which their eggs were round the bird; as the earth is moved from beneath, deposited, both would have been exposed to the and the surrounding rampart increases in height, imminent risk of being destroyed at a mouthful by the bird sinks. After incessant labor for about the first fox or kite that chanced to espy them.three hours, the beetle emerges, crawls upon the (Introd., i. 354.) bird, and takes a survey of his work. If the female is on the bird, she is driven away by the male, who does not choose to be intruded upon during the important business. The male beetle then remains for about an hour perfectly still, and does not stir hand nor foot; he then dismounts, dives again into the grave, and pulls the bird down by the feathers for half an hour; its own weight appears to sink it but very little. At last, after two or three hours' more labor, the beetle comes or vegetable, as soon as the vital principle has up, again gets on the bird, and again takes a sur- ceased to actuate them. That all such substances vey, and then drops down as though dead, or fall- shall return to the dust whence they sprang is a en suddenly fast asleep When sufficiently rested decree from which there is no appeal; and the in Much as we may deplore the devastations of the timber-boring insects, among which the beetle tribe figures most conspicuously, it must be remembered that in pursuing their destructive operations they are but performing their share of the general economy of nature, which provides for the removal of all organic substances, whether animal The omen is broken, the danger is over, After enumerating many important services rendered to man by insects in the removing of decaying organic matters, Kirby and Spence conclude their long list of insect injuries and benefits with the following paragraph: sect tribes do but hasten its fulfilment, while engaged in destroying our books, our furniture, the wooden frame-work of our houses, or the lofty tenants of our forests. The ease with which wood, when much" worm-eaten," is crumbled, even between the fingers, is well known: but it may not be so generally understood that the "worms" which produce this effect upon articles Benefits equally great are rendered by the woodof furniture formed of wood, are no other than destroying insects. We, indeed, in this country, the soft-bodied grubs of various coleopterous in- who find use for ten times more timber than we prosects, which are thus carrying out on a small duce, could dispense with their services; but to scale the more extensive operations that quickly estimate them at their proper value, as affecting the reduce to a similar condition the giants of tropical great system of nature, we should transport ourselves to tropical climes, or to those under the temOur domestic pests of this description perate zones, where millions of acres are covered by are chiefly small beetles, which pass the early one interminable forest. How is it that these unpart of their lives in the wood, and by means of trodden regions, where thousands of their giant intheir powerful jaws mine through it in all direc- habitants fall victims to the slow ravages of time, tions, only emerging when they assume the per- or the more sudden operations of lightning and hurfect state. One of these is the "death-watch," ricanes, should yet exhibit none of those scenes of which even yet is an object of superstitious dread ruin and desolation that might have been expected, to the inhabitants of many an old house, of the of youth and beauty? It is to the insect world that but are always found with the verdant characters wood-work of which it has taken possession. The this great charge of keeping the habitations of the ticking noise, so alarming to weak minds, and Dryads in perpetual freshness has been committed. which is often considered an infallible presage of A century almost would elapse before the removal impending death to some member of the family, is from the face of nature of the mighty ruins of one merely the call-note of the perfect beetle of sev- of the hard-wooded tropical trees, by the mere ineral species chiefly belonging to the genus Anobi-fluence of the elements. But how speedy its deum, and, as we have often observed, principally insects! composition, when their operations are assisted by As soon as a tree is fallen, one tribe by the largest species, A. tesselatum. The man-attack its bark, which is often the most indestructiner of producing this noise, which greatly resemble part of it; and thousands of orifices into tho bles the ticking of a watch, is thus very accurately described by Kirby and Spence. Raising itself upon its hind legs, with the body somewhat inclined, it beats its head with great force and agility upon the plane of position; and its strokes are so powerful, as to make a considerable impression if they fall upon any substance softer than wood. The general number of distinct strokes in succession is from seven to nine or elev en. solid trunk are bored by others. The rain thus in- They follow each other quickly, and are repeated at uncertain intervals. In old houses, where That the office of clearing the ground encumbered these insects abound, they may be heard in warm by the fallen monarchs of the forest is effectually weather during the day. The noise exactly resembles that produced by tapping moderately with the aided by insects, is well attested by travellers in nail upon the table; and when familiarized, the in- those regions where vegetation assumes its most sects will answer very readily the tap of the nail.-luxuriant character; and in this work the larva of (Introd., ii. 383.) the beetle tribe do good service, in which they are assisted by those of insects belonging to the tribe next to be considered. The Lepidoptera, or the butterfly and moth tribe, offers, perhaps, some of the most attractive insects, whether to the scientific or the non-scientific entomologist. The butterfly, with its gorgeous hues, its devious flight, and the comparative obscurity of its previous life, has furnished to poets of all ages some of their most glowing similes, and to philosophers, from a very early date, a number of striking and beautiful analogies with the repose of the tomb and the probability of a more glorious hereafter. These insects are also associated with the most agreeable images of the happiest period of our early days, when, like the youthful Marcius, as portrayed by Shakspeare, we pursued the "rainbow butterflies," regardless of wet, dirt, and tumbles, and equally careless as to whether the object |