14 



Gleamngs in Natural li'tjlofi* 



[Aug. l; 



the (eren'eerffi cenfnry, there were Inch 

 fwarms of tbefe intVils, thar, in New 



-England, for the fpace of two hundred 

 iniWs, they paifoned and dellroyed all the 

 trees of that colony. Innumerable holes 

 were feen in the qroiind out of which they 

 had broke fonh in the form o( larva, or 



jnaggots. " Thefe (he fays) being turned 

 into wingfd infei^s, had a kind at tail or 

 fting, whicli they (tuck into the tree, and 

 thereby enven imed and killed i'." 



In this laft particular the writer is not 

 altogether correal. The female iifeftf do 

 pierce the tender branches of trees with 

 the dart at the pofterior extreinity of 

 their bodies, liepofiting their eggs in the 

 holes they thus firm. Eut it is by the 

 great V3raci:y of thefe infeils in aftually 

 devouring the folinae that the moft ferious 

 injuries are committed. 



THE FLESHFLV. 



Mufca Foi.tiiorla. of Linnaeus. 

 Lewciihoek has remarked, that the 



"maggot, or lai-'va, of 'he flefh-fly ar- 

 rives at its full giowth, and is ready for 

 changing into a chryfalid, in five days 

 after it is hatched. This is one ir.ftance 

 how extremely well all animals are adapt- 

 ed to their fitiiatioii and peculi ir mode of 



• life. Were io'ger time ntcelTiry before 

 the change t<.kes p'ace, itioII of the ani- 

 mals mult n.-ce(laiily die ; for, being 

 hatched in the fummer, their food (which 

 is fic(h) would become exhaulled, and 

 they would have nothing left on which 

 ihey could fur fiit. Mo!t cthtr maggots, 

 whole food does not wafte (o fcon, con- 

 tinue for much longer periods before they 

 viodergo their change. — Rafs Wifdotn of 

 CeJ in the Works of the Crealion, p. 144. 



BUGS. 



Chnex LeHiilarius of L'tnr.aus. 

 If i» not certain whether thefe infers 

 were firrt brought over into Europe from 

 Ameiica, or into America from Europe. 

 Many of the inhabitants of the New Con- 

 tinent lock upon them as indigenou.s 

 there ', and in proof of their being io, fay 

 that they have often betn found undertime 

 wings of d.fferent 'pecies of bats, wl.ere 

 they had enten through the fkin very defp 

 into the fltOi. It was believed that the 

 bats pot ihcin in hollow trees, and had 

 from thence brouji.ht them into the houfes, 

 fince in theft; they con'iiuf*nly fix theni- 

 felves dole 10 the wnlls, and creep into any 

 Jittie chinks which they can find. It 

 feem«, however, very probable, that, on the 

 contrary, bats itiay have taken them origi- 

 ' nally fV( m the chink^ in the houfes where 



they have lodged, and not from the trees. 

 Thus there leems about as much to he 

 faid on one fide as the other, and the mat« 

 ter l^till temains in doubt. 



THE BRIMSTONE YELLOW BUTTER. 

 FLY. 



Papilio Rhamni of Linnaus. 



This elegant infeft, if the weather 

 happens to be mild, appears on wing to- 

 wards the latter end ot March. The fe- 

 male depolits her eggs in April, moftiv on 

 the buck-thorn (Rhamnus Ctitharticus'), 

 or wild role-bulh. The young caterpil- 

 lars come into life a few days after ; and 

 as they increafe in fize they change their 

 fkin?, generally at the end of about every 

 fourteen days. They arrive at their full 

 growtli in the middle of June, and in a 

 tew days afterwards change into chryfa^ 

 lids. The butterflies that proceed from 

 thefe are mollly on wing aboitt the bit 

 week in Augutt. The cUerpilhirs from 

 the eggs of this breed are foil fed before 

 the end of September, when they go 

 through their ubial metamoipholes, and 

 the chryfalids are perfected. In this ftate 

 they remain till the month of March fol- 

 lowing, when the warm days of that fea- 

 f'on brings them on the wing. 



This butterfly is fufhciently common in 

 a winged (tatc, but its caterpillars are 

 very raiely to be met with. — LeivirTsln- 

 feils of Great Britain, fol. vi. p. 31. 



CANCER MACROURUS. 



In Mr. Bartram's Travels in North 

 America, we have the following curious 

 account of the contentions of this animal 

 with feme gold-filh : 



" On my return towards the camp, I 

 met my philofbphic corr.p.mion Mr. Mac- 

 intofli, who was feated on the bank of a 

 rivulet, highly entertained by a very fin- 

 gular exhibition, in which I participated 

 with high rellfh. The waters at this 

 place were IHII and flioal, and flowed over 

 a bed of gravel, jult beneath arocky rapid. 

 In this eddy fhoal were a number of little 

 gravelly pyramidal hills (whofe fun.mits 

 roCe almclt to the furface of the water), 

 very artfully ccnflrufted by this fpecies of 

 crawfilli, which inhabited them. Here 

 feemed to be the citadel or place of re- 

 treat for the young ones againft the ra- 

 vages of their enemy the gold-tifli.— 

 Thefe in numerous bands continually in- 

 fefted tlicm, except at fhort intervals, when 

 iinall detachments of veteran craw-fifh ial. 

 lied out upon them from their cells within 

 the gravelly pyramids, at which time 

 there was a brilliant fight prefcnted. — 

 The little gold-fifii iiiAantly fled on every 



fide. 



