234 MLANs Of ni;i'i;NCE of insects. 



they sometimes, to show their courage, put themselves in 

 a posture of defence, and even have in view the annoy- 

 ance as well as the repelling of their foes. The great 

 rove-beetle {Gocrius olens) presents an object sufficiently 

 terrific, when with its large jaws expanded, and its abdo- 

 men turned over its head, like a scorpion, it menaces its 

 enemies, some of which this ferocious attitude may deter 

 from attacking it. Mr. Bingley informs us that the giant 

 earwig [Lahidura gigantea), a rare species that his re- 

 searches have added to the catalogue of British insects, 

 turns up over its head, in a similar manner, its abdomen, 

 which being armed at the end with a large forceps must 

 give it an appearance still more alarming '. 



The caterpillars of some hawk-moths {Sphinx), par- 

 ticularly that which feeds upon the privet, vi^hen they re- 

 pose, holding strongly with their prolegs the branch on 

 which they are standing, rear the anterior part of their 

 body so as to form nearly a right angle with the poste- 

 rior; and in this position it will remain perfectly tran- 

 quil, — thus eluding the notice of its enemies, or alarm- 

 ing them, — perhaps for hours. Reaumur relates that a 

 gardener in the employment of the celebrated Jussieu 

 used to be quite disconcerted by the self-sufficient air of 

 these animals, saying they must be very proud, for he 

 had never seen any other caterpillars hold their head so 

 high''. From this attitude, which precisely resembles 

 that which sculptors have assigned to the fabulous mon- 

 ster called by that name, the term Sphinx has been used 

 to designate this genus of insects. — The caterpillar of a 

 moth [Lophopteryx camclina) noticed by the author just 

 quoted, whenever it rests from feeding, turns its head 



' Flaie I. Fig. /■ Linn. Trans, x. A{)\ — '' Reaiiiii. ii. -o.^. 



