104 



Queries and Answei'S. 



the heat seemed to distress it exceedingly ; it curled itself up into a dozen 

 knots, and was dead in less than a minute. As my best book is Pen- 

 nant, I shall be obliged to you for any information respecting this very cu- 

 rious insect. — W. W. Wandsiuorlh, Nov. 2. 1828. 



A Nidus on a Rush.— The enclosed drawing (Jig. 23.), represents a nidus 

 in my possession attached to a rush ; the nidus in 

 the drawing and in the figure being exactly of its na- 

 tural size. I discovered it whilst botanising in the 

 early part of the summer, and so closely does it re- 

 semble a flower, that I mistook it for one, even after 

 it was in my hand. It is perfectly white, and of ma- 

 nufacture the most finished. The lower end i:> quite 

 flat, with edges as sharp in proportion as those of 

 the crown of a hat, which I consider a great pecu- 

 liarity, as I cannot recollect any insect manufacture 

 of a web-like material, whether nidus of spider, or 

 cocoon of caterpillar, except such as are round or/ A. 

 oval, and certainly none with sharp edges such as I 

 describe. As I found two of them, I cut one open, 

 and found about a dozen eggs sticking to the base at 

 A, but not occupying one-tenth of the interior. 



This large unoccupied space suggests the idea, that 

 it is intended for a sort of nursery for the young when 

 first hatched, and the wonderful instinctive economy 

 of the insect may, I think, easily be imagined. As 

 the rush on which it was fixed was growing in water, 

 the parent insect must have been an inhabitant of the 

 water or its surface. Feeling the period of incuba- 

 tion drawing near," instinct, wonderful instinct, in- 

 forms it, that the element in which it lives and moves 

 and has its being is not the* proper situation for its 

 eggs to be deposited. It ascends to the top of some 

 aquatic plant, forms its very elegant nidus in which 

 it deposits its eggs, and, having hermetically secured 

 every partof it, leaves the rest to the influence of the 

 sun, which, in a few weeks, animates the dormant prin- 

 ciple of life, and a living creature bursts from each 

 egg. The young are probably not strong enough, at l\li\ 111 



first, to endure the water, and unable to bear any in- 

 clemency of weather; but their first infancy is passed 

 in a dry and comfortable chamber, inclosed in which they may alike defy 

 the wind and rain, and when they have acquired sufficient strength, they 

 have only to eat their way through the walls of their nursery, and, crawling 

 down the rush, commit themselves to the water. 



This I conceive to be the economy of the insect, of whatever genus it 

 may be, but any information respecting it will be very acceptable. It is still 

 in my possession, as perfect as when first gathered. Every one who sees it 

 admires it ; but I have not yet met with any one who ever saw such a thing 

 before, and as I have only seen two in my life (both of which were close 

 together), I take them to be rather uncommon. (Id.) 



Aphis on Endive and Lettuce. — Perhaps some of your correspondents 

 would give me some information on the following subject : — Having 

 planted out some endive in the garden, which at first appeared to thrive 

 well, I was surprised to find, after a short period, that the plants drooped 

 and died. On removing them, I found the root surrounded by a host of 

 aphides, attended by a quantity of red ants. These aphides were of various 

 sizes, from the size of a small pin's head to that of the sixteenth part of an 

 inch. 1 should be glad to know whether this species of aphides is peculiar 



