140 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



And a strict love of fellowship combined. 

 What other spirit can it be that prompts 

 The gilded summer flies to mix and weave 

 Their sports together in the solar beam, 

 Or in the gloom and twilight hum their joy ? 



These insects are not numerous in Britain, the 

 registered species not exceeding eight, and it is 

 probable that at least two of these are merely va- 

 rieties. The most common in this country, as well 

 as throughout the middle and northern parts of 

 Europe, is 



GYRINUS NATATOR. 



PLATE IV. Fig. 2. 



Linn.—Fabricius — De Geer, Insect, iv. xiii. 4, 19. 



This species, of which we have given a greatly 

 enlarged representation to show the form of the 

 legs, is nearly three lines long, of an ovate form, 

 blue black, with a metallic lustre, and highly re- 

 splendent. The thorax is marked with three trans- 

 verse lines on each side, of which the anterior one 

 is punctured and runs parallel with the margin, the 

 second is continued across the disk, and the poste- 

 rior one abbreviated and bent forward. The scu- 

 tellum is triangular, narrow, and elongate. The 

 elytra are rather convex, the margin turned in at 

 the sides and of a yellowish colour beneath, and the 



