248 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Nov. 1, 1870. 



when its home has been on the Scotch fir. Lastly, 

 with regard to Smerinthus tilice, of which there are 

 two marked varieties, with a green and a red tint 

 respectively, it appears that the first proceeds from 

 larva; fed on the leaves of the lime-tree, the second 

 from those which have chosen the elm for their 

 food plant. — Moller, Die Abhdngigkeit der Insecten 

 von Hirer TJmgebung. 



NEW INTRODUCTIONS. 



WHILE acclimatization societies are intro- 

 ducing useful animals into their respective 

 countries, why should not an effort be made to 

 furnish the British isles with some of the lowlier, 

 but not less interesting, forms which are scattered 

 over the continents of Europe and America, those 

 "things of beauty" with which Nature has gifted 

 our neighbours, and which she offers to any who 

 will reach out their hands to receive them ? Of 

 course I refer only to such animals and plants as we 

 may reasonably expect, from the circumstances of 

 their life-history and the nature of their habitats, 

 might be induced to make themselves at home in 

 our " tight little island ;" and, when once esta- 

 blished, to hold their own in the great struggle for 

 life. France, for example, might send us that very 

 handsome bee, Xylocopa violacea ; or America its 

 near relative, X. virginica, so like to, and yet so 

 different from, our humble bees. Larger than these 

 last-named insects, the bright purple wings and 

 body of violacea would make a pleasing variety in 

 our gardens, while its curious wood-boring habits 

 would give it an interest in the eyes of the entomo- 

 logist. It is by uo means uncommon in the north 

 of France. 



Again, while speaking of bees, is there any just 

 cause or impediment why we should not see the 

 stingless bee of Australia, or its equally innocuous 

 relative of South America, established in our hives ? 

 We have succeeded in fixing among us an Egyptian 

 apis {A.fasciata), may we not be as fortunate with 

 a Brazilian melipona (If. scutellaris) ? I am aware 

 that nests of this last-named insect and of Trigona 

 pallida have been introduced into Paris without 

 success. But this is no argument against the 

 possibility of establishing them in, at least, some 

 parts of England. On the contrary, their having 

 reached France alive is rather a source of encourage- 

 ment, as showing that these delicate little creatures 

 can be transferred with safety from a distant conti- 

 nent to the shores of Europe. The individuals in 

 question were landed in a notoriously exhausted 

 condition, and placed at once in the heart of a great 

 city, where the means of procuring food were 

 decidedly limited ; being confined, in one instance 

 at least, to a small garden in the Rue St. Lazare. 

 Even under these unfavourable circumstances, how- 



ever, the little half-starved colony survived from 

 May to near the end of September. 



Of less useful members of the same order — such 

 as Polistes gallica, j with its dainty paper-like nest 

 attached to a twig — more than one might, no 

 doubt, be persuaded to make its home with us. 



Both continents, European and American, could 

 supply us with many an interesting butterfly and 

 moth. It would be impossible to enumerate a 

 thousandth part of the treasures which might 

 reward our enterprise. The Northern States and 

 Canada could send us numerous large and hand- 

 some species to decorate our fields and gardens. 

 And why should we not obtain from spots nearer 

 home the lovely Apatura ilia? Were it once 

 established, it would prove of more interest even 

 than our native Emperor {A. iris) ; not that it 

 exceeds it in beauty, but because its habit is to fre- 

 quent low bushes, instead of tantalizing the collector 

 by skimming over the summits of lofty trees. The 

 less brilliant Vanessa prorsa is also worthy of a place 

 in our fauna ; as are also those grand moths, Aglia 

 tau and Saturnia pavonia major (or S. piri, as more 

 wisely named by Hiibner), the finest of all the 

 European moths, measuring not less than five inches 

 across the wings. 



But the insect of all others which we should seek 

 to acclimatize is the Fire-fly. I am not speaking of 

 the glorious light-producers of the tropics — Pyro- 

 phorus noctilucus, with its red and green lamps, 

 Photuris versicolor, or Pygolampis xanthophotis, in 

 which the phosphorescent colours are respectively 

 a rich yellow-green and as rich an orange. These, 

 and such as these, are for ever placed beyond our 

 reach. But I know of no reason why we should not 

 enjoy the milder effulgence of the Lampyrids in- 

 habiting Canada and the United States. These 

 species— and there are several of them— are closely 

 allied to our own glowworm ; but the female, being 

 provided with wings, is not.compelled to crawl slowly 

 over the damp soil, but flits with her lord among 

 the boughs of a tree, or dances over the surface of a 

 meadow. "In Canada,", say's Mr. Gosse (Romance 

 of Natural History), " I have seen the whole air, 

 for a few yards above the surface of a large field, 

 completely filled with fire-flies on the wing, thicker 

 than stars on a winter's night. The light is redder 

 and more candlelike than that of our glowworm ; 

 and being in each individual alternately emitted and 

 concealed, and each of the million tiny flames per- 

 forming its part in mazy aerial dance, the spectacle 

 was singularly beautiful." 



These remarks I can fully endorse from my own 

 experience. iY more lovely or more striking sight 

 it is impossible to imagine than a swarm of light- 

 ning bugs— as our unpoetical cousins across the 

 Atlantic are wont to designate them — sparkling 

 like fiery precious stones among the bushes, now 

 exhibiting, now hiding their fairy torches, as they 



