386 



INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS. 



dart off into holes and corners so suddenly, as often 

 to escape the quickest movements of an insect 

 hunter. It is remarkable, however, that those swift- 

 footed insects seldom run far without making a full 

 pause to reconnoitre their position, as a deer may be ' 

 seen to arch his neck from behind a tree to examine 

 a stranger, and, after tripping off to some distance, 

 turn round again to take another peep at the intruder. 

 The same hahit is observable among spiders, par- 

 ticularly the hunters, and those which run about 

 meadows and the margins of water. (^Lycosa saccata, 

 &c.) Some of the mites are still more rapid in their 

 movements, and we have often admired a very com- 

 mon one {Gammasus Baccarum^ Fabr.), which fre- 

 quents strawberry-beds in gardens, and, as Kirby 

 and Spence justly say, appears rather to glide or fly \ 

 than to use its legs.* Its minuteness adds to the \ 



a, Julus terrestris. b, the same coiled up. c, oil-beetle (Pro- 

 scarabeeus vulgaris), d, Nycieribia Hermanni. 



'■' Intr. vol. ii. p. 311. 



