198 INDIRECT BENEFITS DERIVED FROM INSECTS. 



a few minutes, when the step on which 1 stood was quite concealed with a 

 layer of them from two to four inches in depth. Near the lowest step a 

 sul'face of water of five or six feet dimensions every way was entirely and 

 thickly covered by them ; and what the current carried off was continually 

 replaced. Many times I was obliged to abandon my station, not being 

 able to bear the shower of Ephemerae, which, falling with an obliquity less 

 constant than that of an ordinary shower, struck continually, and in a 

 manner extremely uncomfortable, every part of my face — eyes, mouth, and 

 nostrils were filled with them." To hold the flambeau on this occasion 

 was no pleasant office. The person who filled it had his clothes covered 

 in a few moments with these flies, which came from all parts to overwhelm 

 him. Before ten o'clock this interesting spectacle had vanished. It was 

 renewed for some nights afterwards, but the flies were never in such prodi- 

 gious numbers. The fishermen allow only three successive days for the 

 ffreat fall of the manna ; but a few flies appear both before and after, their 

 number increasing in one case, in the other diminishing. Whatever be 

 the temperature of the atmosphere, whether it be cold or hot, these flies 

 invariably appear at the same hour in the evening, that is, between a 

 quarter and half-past eight ; towards nine they begin to fill the air ; in the 

 following half hour they are in the greatest numbers ; and at ten there are 

 scarcely any to be seen. So that in less than two hours this infinite host 

 of flies emerge from their parent stream, fill the air, perform their appointed 

 work, and vanish. A very large proportion of them falls into the river, 

 when the fish have their grand festival and the fishermen a good harvest.^ 

 Under this head I may observe how much the patient angler is indebted 

 to insects for some of his choicest baits, for the best opportunities of show- 

 ing his skill, and for the most gratifying part of his diversion. The case- 

 worm and several other larvae are the best standing bait for many fish. 

 The larva of the Ephemera, there called bait and bank-bait", is much used 

 in some parts of Holland. The case-worms, and grubs (I suppose of 

 flies) from the tallow chandlers, and the larvae of wasps taken out of the 

 comb, are in request with us for roach and dace ; and I am told by an 

 acute observer of these things, the Rev. R. Sheppard, that the Geotrupes 

 and Melolonthcs are good baits for chub.^ But to be an adept in fly-fishing, 

 which requires the most skill and furnishes the best diversion, the angler 

 ought to be conversant in Entomology, at least sufficiently so to distinguish 

 the different species of Phryganea and other Trichoptera, and to know the 

 time of their appearance. The angler is not only indebted to insects for 

 some of his best baits, but also for the best material to fasten his hooks to, 

 and even for making his lines for smaller fish — the Indian grass or gut, as 

 it is called (termed in France Cheveux de Florence), which is said to be 

 prepared in China from the matter contained in the silk reservoirs of the 

 silk-worm, but according to Latreille is the silk vessel itself when dried.^ 



' Reaum. vi. 479—487. 2 Swamm. Bib. Nat. i. c. 4. 106. b. 



3 la Col. Venable's Experienced Angler, a vast number of insects are enumerated as good 

 baits for fish, under the names of Bub, Cadbait, Cankers, Caterpillars, Palmers, Gentles, Bark- 

 worms, Oak-roorms, Colewurt-morms, Flag-rourms, Green-flies, Ant-flies, Butterflies, Wasps, 

 Hornets, Bees, Humble-bees, Grasshoppers, Dors, Beetles, a great brown fly that lives upon the 

 oak like a Scarabee {Melolontha vulgaris, or Amphimalla solstitialis ?), and flies (i. e. May- 

 flies) of various sorts. — See also Mr. Ronald's Flij-flsher's Entomology. 



* Anderson's Recreations in Agricult. &c. iv. 478. ; Latr. Hist. Nat. x'lv. 154. 



