OF GENERATION. 327 



day, but, in general, it commences in the evening. Some, as, for ex- 

 ample, the Carabodea. we seldom detect in this situation, whence I 

 conclude, that they copulate in the evening, and that it is speedily over : 

 some are certainly nocturnal animals, for example, Calosoma sycophanta 

 and the large Procerus scabrosus. 



The place they select for the purpose also greatly varies, but the 

 majority seem to prefer the air to their other usual places of resort. 

 Some copulate in flight, as the gnats, Ephemera, and ants ; others select 

 the moment that the female reposes : they then approach her. and fly 

 off in connexion with her, and generally borne by her. Thus is it with 

 Sarcophaga carnaria and the majority of the Diplera. Whereas, 

 some Hymenoptera, whose females are apterous, Methoca and Myrmosa, 

 for example, carry their females with them, and copulate in flight. 

 Others, as the butterflies, copulate sitting, but separate immediately 

 afterwards. The water-beetles unite themselves in the water, at least, 

 individuals are found there thus circumstanced ; and it appears to me 

 not improbable that the males are, on this account, furnished with a 

 perfect seizing apparatus, from a casual separation being so easy in that 

 medium. The queen bee, which constantly stops in her hive, quits it 

 at this period, that she may have connexion with the male outside, and, 

 probably, in flight ; the same is the case with the ants, who copulate 

 whilst the males and females rise and fall in large columns, intermixed 

 together, which, at a distance, appear like ascending smoke. We see 

 them quit their dwellings in large troops for this purpose ; they then 

 climb to the top of the nearest plants, thence to take their amorous 

 aerial expedition. The females of the Termites likewise quit their dwell- 

 ings, at the time of copulation, to be impregnated by the males, and 

 are then carried back by the workers, being left perfectly helpless by 

 the act. 



The situation of the sexes during copulation may also be referred to 

 three chief positions, viz. upon each other, contiguous to each other, or 

 opposite each other. 



The first is by far the most general position ; it varies only in that, 

 as the general rule is for the male to be placed above the female, in rare 

 instances it is reversed, as, for example, the flea, where the male carries 

 the female. The participation of both sexes in the common motion in 

 such positions, likewise varies. In some cases it is the female alone 

 which moves, and the male merely adheres firmly to the female, for 

 example, in the Capricorns. In other instances, this participation 



