376 INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS. 



the water, though not in consequence of having been 

 burned."* 



It is conjectured by Kirby and Spence, that 

 Rt^aumur, though he was unquestionably a most 

 accurate observer, may have mistaken the rapid 

 movements of single flies, and the deception of 

 vision thence arising, for a numerous troop, following 

 one another in zoned circular lines, — a mistake which 

 they were once upon the point of committing, when 

 observing the dances of certain small flies which 

 moved in spirals ; closer observation, however, proved 

 that what appeared to be a continuous line of Hies 

 was produced by the rapid motion of an individual. 

 Be this as it may, it will not alter the singularity of 

 the spectacle. Some of our British ephemerae begin 

 their dances with the dawn, instead of waiting till 

 sunset, — rising and falling continually over the 

 meadows in May, sometimes beating the air rapidly 

 with their whigs, and sometimes skimming about like 

 hawks.t Those again which we observed in August, 

 rising from the Rhine, did not dance at all, but flew 

 in a heavy, unsteady, and lumbering manner above 

 the current of the river.^ 



In speaking of what appear to be the sports of 

 insects, we cannot omit taking notice of the very sin- 

 gular proceedings of some species of ants, which, at 

 the intervals of busy industry, amuse themselves with 

 something apparently analogous to our wrestling and 

 racing matches. Bonnet says he observed a small 

 species of ants, which employed themselves in car- 

 rying each other on their backs, the rider holding 

 with his mandibles the neck of his bearer, and em- 

 bracing it closely with his legs,§ the position which 



* Reaumur, Mem. vol. vi. p. 485. 



t Kirby and Spence, vol. ii. p. 373. I J. R. 



^ Bonnet, CEuvres, vol. ii. p. 407. 



