108 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



became inflamed and covered with a kind of 

 eruption, and that his eyes were affected for several 

 days. Bonnet too felt an extraordinary numbness 

 in his fingers shortly after removing some of the 

 larvae from the water in which they had been 

 drowned. The numbness was followed by an itching 

 and burning sensation. 



As there is never an evil without its antidote, so 

 in this instance there is a rival insect which helps 

 largely to diminish the numbers of the Processionary 

 caterpillars. This is the Calosoma sycophanta, Web., 

 the larva of which is about an inch and a half long, 

 rather fiat above, and with the upper surface of the 

 body of so lustrous a black colour that the skin 

 appears to be of a horny nature, though really quite 

 soft to the touch. It has six feet, and a pair of 

 mandibles of formidable dimensions, which cross 

 each other completely when at rest (fig. C4). To 



Fig:. 64. Calosoma sycophanta and its larva. 



quote the words of a French writer, " The larva of 

 Calosoma appears to have been created for the sole 

 purpose of keeping in check the caterpillars of the 

 Processionary Moth " (Chenu, CoUopteres, 55). 

 Utterly regardless of the poisonous hairs with 

 which it must be iu constant contact, it forces its 

 way into the nest, and commences a general slaughter 

 of the helpless inhabitants. It is an exceedingly 

 greedy animal, so that a single grub in the midst 

 of a family of caterpillars is as voracious and de- 

 structive as a wolf in a sheepfold. It goes on killing 

 and eating, until [it literally almost bursts— even 

 that contingency, I believe, is on record iu the annals 

 of Entomology; the result being that it at last loses 

 all power of moving, and lies in' a state of utter help- 

 lessness, gorged and swollen, at the mercy of the 

 first enemy that scents its retreat. And sometimes 

 retribution comes from a quarter whence, perhaps, 

 it was least expected. If, at this critical period, 

 another larva of the same species chances to come 

 near the spot in search of food, it turns aside from 

 its natural prey, and without the slightest com- 

 punction fixes itself on its aldermanic brother, nor 



leaves him until the half-digested juices of the ill- 

 fated ;Processionaries are transferred to its own 

 capacious interior ! 

 Potter ne, Wilts. W. W. Spicer. 



THE GNAT. 



{Culex pipiens.) 



rPIIE proboscis of the Gnat has been described 

 - 1 - as one of the most beautiful of microscopic 

 objects, yet it is doubtful whether it has been under- 

 stood or truly seen, by many, in its complete con- 

 dition. In purchased slides one sees what appears 

 a wonderful variety of long, slender spears and 

 lancets scattered over the field of the microscope 

 (though there are really only two piercing instru- 

 ments) ; but how these are arranged for use has been 

 hitherto, so far as we can find, unexplaiued. It is 

 not attempted by Professor Rymer Jones, nor iu 

 the Micrographic Dictionary. The shop specimens 

 are commonly mounted iu balsam, the heat of 

 which makes the parts warp and fly asunder. The 

 illustration to this paper is drawn from one in 

 chloride of calcium, which answers well, if care be 

 taken in mounting to use no pressure. By the help 

 of this and a beautiful semi-transparent preparation 

 of the entire insect in balsam, and a store of gnats 

 preserved in spirits of wine, we propose attempting 

 to throw some further light upon the several parts 

 of this interesting object, and especially on its con- 

 formation. 



Gnats in this country are a restricted genus, 

 numbering about twenty species only, and of these 

 only two or three are venomous ; the chief offender 

 being the subject of this paper. In other countries 

 they are very numerous, as in the South of Europe 

 and in Australia. India, according to Sir Emerson 

 Tennent, has four mosquitoes. In South America 

 each great river, as Humboldt tells us, has its own 

 peculiar species ; and who shall say how many 

 infest the West Indies and central America, where 

 the Spaniards found them, and named them mos- 

 quitoes, or the flies, for so the word signifies ; the 

 root being the Latin musca. We too, have " a 

 fly," a musquito, the Culex pipiens, or common 

 Gnat, which, although it has been scientifically dis- 

 tinguished from the true mosquitoes of India and 

 America, is very similar to them in general ap- 

 pearance and habits. In hot seasons lately the 

 Gnats have been so active and venomous that it has 

 been thought they were imported from abroad ; but 

 that must always be very unlikely, and the bite of 

 our own gnats, when the blood is at fever-heat, is 

 bad enough, at such times, to account for all 

 annoyances. 



The Gnat by night is bold, and makes its attacks 

 rather with perseverance than strategy ; but by day 

 its cunning is remarkable. Sir E. Tennent, in his 



