March 6, 187S. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



205 



while the ducts themselves as well as tho glands are absent, and 

 the other two systems are mnoh less developed than in the 

 workers. In the drones, or male bees, not even the orifices of 

 the lower cephalic system could be found. 



THE BEAUTIFUL AND USEFUL INSECTS OF 

 OUR GAKDENS.— No. I. 



True is it, as a certain poet not unknown to fame wrote 

 long ago, that you can by no means grasp burning coals, even 

 if you think of tho iciest mountain to bo found on our globe, 

 or on any other. Tho actual will unquestionably overpower 

 the imaginative, still it must be conceded that in some cases 

 the faculty of the imagination helps to dispel or lighten our 

 troubles. It would be as unreasonable, in the instance of 

 the horticulturist, to expect him to bear with patience or in- 

 difference the annoying or seriously injurious attacks of some 

 members of the realm of insects by portraying for his con- 

 sideration and admiration the beauties of form and colouring 

 which many others display, and, indeed, in some instances 

 the very species which give cause for complaint ; but one is 

 glad to find that with the growing intelligence that is spreading 

 amongst gardeners now-a-days, and, let us say it sotto voce, 

 among amateur gardeners also (for tho amount of scientific 

 knowledge a man possesses is in nowiso regulated by the 

 weight of his purse), has come a more tolerant feeling towards 

 the insect world generally ; and aU the orders, genera, and 

 species of this large division of animal life are no longer, 

 except by the very ignorant, comprehended under one common 

 anathema. Investigation has fuUy proved that the number 

 of insects hurtful to man's person, his produce, or his stores, 

 if large, is but an insignificant moiety of the whole. Even 

 for the injury we sustain from these, there are certain com- 

 pensations oftentimes which tend to soften down our indigna- 

 tion or vexation ; moreover, we are still finding out that we 

 have ourselves to blame in not a few instances, and the de- 

 structive ravages of some insect pest are found to have been 

 ushered in by neglect or inattention on the part of the horti- 

 culturist. Even as weeds seem to be sent to spur the gardener 

 to activity, so is it with many insects, they come as warnings 

 to us to take various precautions. 



Apart from the interest which may be awakened by insects 

 when we subject them to au individual examination, did it 

 ever occur to the reader how much, not only the rural scene, 

 but the garden, owes to insects from their imparting thereto 

 during the greater part of the year the element of life '? If we 

 conld sweep away the bees, the butterflies, and all the host of 

 insects which delight in the sunshine of a summer's day, what 

 a coldness and dulness would seem to prevaO ! Amongst 

 the purposes for which these were created (or evolved ?) must 

 surely be reckoned the benefit and gratification of man; and 

 surely he who is employed frequently or habitually in fruit 

 and vegetable culture ought not to lack sensibility to the in- 

 fluences of Nature. " But," says one, " most gardeners have 

 neither time nor inchnation to cultivate aesthetic tastes." 

 More 's the pity, were this true of the majority, but I scarcely 

 think that it is. From what I have noted of the manner in 

 which they regard their favourite flowers and fruits, I infer 

 that their admh'ation of Nature, iji a general sense, only needs 

 to be cultivated. I have been giving in these pages for some 

 mouths past a " black catalogue," discoursing in as agreeable 

 a way as I could upon some of the enemies of the horticul- 

 turist amongst the insect tribes, and it seems only fah' that 

 I should say somewhat about other species which are in no 

 way injurious to the garden. There is not much danger of 

 malcing gardeners foohshly sentimental, even though they 

 should be led to look upon insects generally with rather dif- 

 ferent eyes than they have hitherto. Opposed as I am to all 

 wanton destruction of insect life, whether these creatures are 

 endued with acute sensibilities or not, it must be unquestion- 

 ably lawful to kill and to take measures to check the increase 

 of those species that we find harmful. 



A host of insects, as we all know, are to be seen in motion 

 in gardens (liowever they may be laid-out, for flower, vegetable, 

 or fruit-culture) during six or seven months of the year. Some 

 of these have undergone their transformations within tho 

 limits or in close proximity to the cultivated ground, and even 

 of these only a moiety are prejudicial. Numerous species 

 which resort to gardens by day or night are not bred there, 

 but visit these places in search of the honey of flowers, are 

 attracted thither by fragrant odours, or come to prey upon 

 other species. It must be admitted that when we speak of 



"beautiful insects" we must, were it done comprehensively, 

 include in the list some that are harmful in our gardens ; but 

 one could hardly expect to win over the horticulturist to give 

 these hearty praise. An abundance, however, remains, with- 

 out alluding to these, upon which one may comment, and con- 

 vince any who are as yet sceptics, that in itself the name " insect " 

 is not expressive of what is ugly or disgusting, though largely 

 deemed so in popular parlance. Of course, subjected to micro- 

 scopical examination, it is true that there is no insect which 

 does not display beauty in some part of its structure ; for our 

 consideration, however, we must select such as exhibit it more 

 obviously to the unassisted eye, or with the help of a hand 

 magnifier, an article, by the way, which every gardener should 

 have in his pocket, as it would enable him to destroy many a 

 batch of insect eggs — au act which the most sensitive of aU 

 philosophers could not deem a cruel one, though be might 

 grieve over the extinction of tho germs of life. 



The order Lepidoptera, comprehending the butterflies and 

 moths, though it contains a preponderance of beautiful forms, 

 owing to the wings being adorned with scales, is not the only 

 order of insects which furnishes our gardens with objects worthy 

 of admiration. It is, nevertheless, the order that is likely 

 ever to bo the most attractive to collectors of insects, partly, 

 no doubt, because the transformations of the different species 

 furnish much amusement. The splendour of many of those 

 brought from exotic lands, surpasses all that the artist can 

 depict, and even in the muster-roU of our "true-born Britons" 

 are included some that the eye is never tired of gazing upon. 

 Amongst the smaller species, known to entomologists col- 

 lectively as the Tineina, we have examples of colouring which 

 prove that beauty and magnitude do not necessarily go to- 

 gether ; and in some instances the wings are bespangled with 

 brilliant markings resembling gold or silver. 



Hosts of insects of the Dipterous order are seen on the wing 

 in gardens, mostly during the day, and we find these almost 

 universally remarkable for the gracefulness of their structure. 

 In many species the bodies are banded with bright colours, 

 and sometimes the wings are more or less variegated. In the 

 order Hymenoptera are comprehended not only the bees, wasps, 

 and ants, but other species which are commonly known as 

 "flies," as for instance the Gall-flies (in part), and many 

 parasitic species called "ichneumons," the larva; of which 

 feed on other living insects. The latter are often of great 

 utility, and the images developed from them are wonderfully 

 active, and very elegantly formed. In the same order the 

 various Saw-flies are placed, and though we find some singular 

 shapes amongst these, as a large proportion of them are inimi- 

 cal to the gardener, we can scarcely expect him to view them 

 with favour. 



Beetles are to be observed in flight both during day and at 

 eventide, and we are constantly seeing species of the Coleop- 

 terous order running or walking upon leaves and twigs, and 

 others as busily engaged upon the surface of the ground, while 

 the spade, rake, or hoe brings to hght some subterranean indi- 

 viduals. Bright colours are only found here and there amongst 

 beetles, but many of them excite our interest on other grounds. 

 Then again, amongst the Neuroptera, we find the Dragon-flies 

 resorting to gardens, especially those near streams or ponds, 

 and the number of insects they destroy is unquestionably 

 large, including some that are noxious to the gardener. Most 

 of these are very beautiful in their perfect state, though after 

 death much of their beauty disappears. The Caddice-flies, also to 

 be observed in gardens occasionally, have very delicately-formed 

 wings, and in some the antenna) are curiously ringed ; these 

 are frequently mistaken for moths. Even in the less-favoured 

 orders, Orthoptera and Hemiptera, we might enumerate many 

 beautiful insects. All bugs are not disgusting, for amongst 

 the vegetarians are some as handsome as they are harmless, 

 especially in the genus Pentatoma. Still it must be admitted 

 that the odour of some is not recherche, though in the case of 

 one or two it has been said to be agreeable. A few of the 

 Hemipterous insects destroy other insects. In this tribe, how- 

 ever, is the aphis, and several others, well-known as foes to 

 various plants in and out-of-doors ; and, as observed, in the 

 Orthopterous order (leaf-insects, grasshoppers, crickets, lo- 

 custs), where we have some of the strangest shapes there is 

 beauty also to be seen, as for instance in that splendid fellow 

 the great green grasshopper, which we have known to skip 

 from the fields to the adjacent garden, and lead a youngster a 

 long and fruitless chase among shrubs and banks of flowers. 



I shall venture here to remind the reader of the fact, 

 iUustratjopB of which wUl crop up from time to time as we 



