PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 24, NO. 7-8, OCT.-NOV., 1922 165 



Next to the Bible, probably no poetic writings have been more 

 thoroughly studied and scrutinized by students of various cults 

 than those of Shakespeare. It is not surprising, therefore, to 

 find that no less than three papers have been published in recent 

 years on the entomology of Shakespeare. 1 It will therefore 

 be unnecessary to discuss extensively the entomology of his 

 works. The total number of references to insects in Shakes- 

 peare is given by Fyles as 168, but as he found none in "Much 

 Ado about Nothing," in which there are two (in Act III), the 

 correct number is doubtless about 170. Not a single play but 

 contains at least one direct mention of insect life. Thus the 

 comedy and tragedy of the drama alike, in the opinion of the 

 master poet, (a very wizard in the use of words), require the aid 

 of entomological allusion for completeness of expression. 



Shakespeare and Spenser were contemporaries, although the 

 former continued to write for nearly twenty years after Spenser's 

 death. It therefore is not remarkable that the character of the 

 insect life mentioned in their works is similar. The insects 

 mentioned by these poets are the most familiar forms, and al- 

 though Shakespeare contains numerous references to flies, he 

 seems not to have been so afflicted by them as Spenser. Doubt- 

 less this was due to a difference in temperament, as the latter, 

 who died at the age of 46, is shown by his portrait to have pos- 

 sessed a good head of hair, while on the other hand, the "Bard 

 of Avon," although not so bald as the proverbial cue-ball, had 

 shed the greater part of the thatching from his roof! 



It should be remembered that zoology in Britain during the 

 latter half of the 16th century was still in an extremely nebulous 

 condition. To be sure, Dr. Thomas Mouffet had compiled his 

 pioneer work on natural history, including insects, 2 during 

 Shakespeare's time. But he wrote entirely in Latin, a language 

 which, according to the biographers of the 17th century, was 

 practically unknown to Shakespeare. Furthermore, Dr. Mouf- 

 fet's work was not published until 1634, or 18 years after the 

 death of the great poet. An English translation of it appeared 



'Natural history of the Insects mentioned in Shakespeare's Plays. Robert 

 Patterson, London, 1838. 



The Entomology of Shakespeare, Rev. Thos. W. Fyles, 21st Annual Report, 

 Ent. Soc. Ont., 1890, pp. 78-87. Insects discussed ordinally and by plays. 

 Summary of species by plays and orders, total number of references to insects 

 given as 168. 



Shakespeare and Insects, by Henry J. Turner, Proc. So. London Ent. Soc., 

 Jan. 25, 1917. The insects are discussed according to the plays in which they 

 occur and by ordinal arrangement. Pp. 24-42. 



2 Insectorum sive minimorum Animalium Theatrum, by Dr. Thos. MourTet, 

 London, 1634, printed by Thos. Cotes. 



