June 27, 1872 ] 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



52:3 



effectual in wiuuiiig attention, nor any two which so woU 

 ilhistratc each other, nor any one that so thoroughly annihi- 

 lates the prejudices against entomology. Botany is more 

 popular, and wo love that science, but we love entomology too, 

 and we will jot down a few of the answers to the " whys and 

 wlierefores " that may be suggested ; but we cannot spare 

 space to answer these in detail, and therefore will group our 

 reasons for delighting in the science under three heads, the 

 first of which shall be the beauty of its objects. Every member 

 of an insect — its eyes, wings, antenna, and even the mere 

 down upon its limbs — when viewed through the microscope 

 is marvellously beautiful. The eyes of a butterfly, says 

 M. Figuier — 



" Are more or less spherical, surrounded by hairs, and com- 

 posed of innumerable facettes. Colours are seen on these as 

 various as thoLse of the rainbow. Bat the colour which serves 

 as a base to all is black in some, grey in others ; then again there 

 are different gold or bronze colours of the greatest splendour, 

 iucliniug sometimes to red, sometimes to yellow, sometimes to 

 gieen. On the compoimd eyo of a butterfly as many as 17,325 

 facettes have been counted." 



Then the entire form of a butterfly is of surpassing beauty, 

 and its floating motions graceful. We again borrow from M- 

 i'iguier — 



CambcrweU Beauty {Vanessa jVutiopa). 



" The Vanessa Antiopa, one of the greatest of entomological 

 rarities in England, is not very common in the woods about 

 Paris, hut it is fi-equently found in the environs of Bordeaux, 

 and, above all, at the Grande Chartreuse (in the department of 

 Isere). The Parisian collectors go as far as Fontaineblcau in 

 pursuit of this beautiful species, with angular wings, of a dark 

 jiurple black, with a yellowish or whitish band on the hind 

 border and a succession of blue spots above it." 



Nor is the beauty confined to the anatomy and form, but is 

 displayed in other of theu- gifts— the soft hght of our own 

 glow-worms, the brighter brilliancy of the tropical fireflies, 

 the social economy of the bee and the ant, the webs of the 

 spiders, the ingenuity of the clothier, carpenter, mason, and 

 upholsterer bees, are all instances of the beautiful. Their 

 motions are pecuUar, and many of them very graceful. One 

 minute fly moves its legs so rapidly that it makes 540 steps in 

 half a second ; the common flea and some frog-hoppers jump 

 distances equal to 25(1 times their own length, and if a man 

 could do the same he would pass over a quarter of a mile at 

 one leap ; and the common fly walks along the ceiling of a 

 room by means of the vacuum-forming soles of its feet, an 

 arrangement as beautiful as wonderful. We were about to 

 dwell upon the instincts and reasoning powers of insects, but 

 \vc must pass on to their usefulness. 



They are the most effective scavengers of the world, and we 

 could fill pages with the list of flies and beetles which clear 

 away decaying vegetable and animal matters, which would 

 otherwise be olfensive and deleterious. The visits of insects to 

 many flowers are absolutely necessary for their fertilisation, for 

 otherwise the pollen of the stamens would not come in contact 

 with the pistils, and the insects are lured to this, on their part, 

 unintended usefulness by the honey which the flowers produce. 

 Insects not only are eaten by man and quadrupeds, but are the 

 sole food of many birds. Though of limited use to man as his 

 food, thev are of vast importance to him in supplying his other 

 needs and luxuries. The Spanish fly is one of his powerful 

 medicines, to the gall Cynips he is indebted for his ink, from 

 the cochineal insect he obtains his most brilUant dye, from the 

 silkworm his most luxurious dresses, and from the bee his 

 honey and wax. On this last-named insect M. Figuier's volume 



is rich in details and illustrations, and we will give one brief 

 extract relative to the swarming as a specimen. 



" When a branch of a tree has bcea selected by a cerjtaiu 

 number they fix themselves on it. Many others follow them. 

 When a great many have collected, the queen joins the thi-ong, 

 and brings in her train the rest uf the troop. The group already 

 formed becomes larger and larger every instant. Those which 

 are still scattered about in the air hasteu to join the majoi'ity, 

 and very soon all together compose one solid mass or cliimp of 

 bees cUngiug to each other by tlieir legs. This cluster is some- 

 times spherical, sometimes pyramidal, and occasionally attains 

 a weight of 9 lbs., and may contain as many as 40,000 bees." 



Cluster of bees ban; 



But insects are as powerful to injure as they ai-o to benefit 

 mankind. Locusts, aphides, black fleas, caterpillars, grubs, 

 sawflies, ruin the crops of the farmer and gardener, and lessen 

 their profits thousands of pounds annually. Let one of the 

 smallest of these depredators serve as an example. It is the 

 Pea weevil, and thus noted by M. Figuier : — 



" The Pea weevil (Bruchus pisi), is brown with white spots ; 

 it comes out of the Pea at the end of the summer. The female 

 lays her eggs on Peas whicli are ripe and still 

 standing, in which the larva scooiJS out a habi- 

 tation, and then makes its exit by a circular 

 hole. It remains at rest all the winter, andis 

 not hatched till towards the following spring. 

 The Beau weevil (Bruchus rufimauus) marks 

 each Bean with many black spots. The 

 Vetch has also its special Bruchus. The 

 Wheat weevil (Calaudra grauaria), of a dark- 

 isli brown, lays its eggs on the grains, of 

 Pea Weevil (Bmohus -^yhich the larvic then cat the interior." 



pisi), magm e . ^^^ reference to the ravages of insects 



leads us to point out one special use of entomological know- 

 ledge—the power to distinguish our insect friends from our 

 insect enemies. Had this knowledge been possessed by the 

 Hop-growers of Kent and the Bean-cultivators of MulcUesex 

 they would not have deprecated the an-ival of myriads of lady- 

 birds. In their ignorance they attributed the plague of aphides 

 to the coming of the ladybirds, which in truth the latter came 

 to devour. Nor would the orchardists of Evesham have cut 

 down their Poplar trees because, as they erroneously thought, 

 the cottony insects upon them imparted them to their Apple 

 trees. The cottony insect of the Apple tree, AphiS lauigera, 

 is totally different from that of the Poplai'. 



We hope we have said sufficient to induce many of our 

 readers to peruse M. Figuier's interesting volume. 



Steawbeery SurronTS and Eivees'b E.vnLV CuUEUV.— ^ye 

 find the simplest and most lasting supports are a stout wire 

 bent iu this form n. Kivers's Early Cherry is, with us {Tice- 



