Book IV. 



OF VERMIN. 



429 



appear and fly abroad in the succeeding spring ; spiders are also thought to live a consi- 

 derable time. 



2231. The arrangement of insects, according to the Linnaean system, is divided into seven 

 orders. The natural orders and families into which they have been divided by subsequent 

 naturalists are very numerous ; and therefore, we shall notice only the artificial orders of 

 Linnaeus, viz. 1. Coleoptera; 2. Hemiptera ; 3. Lepidoptera ; 4. Neuroptera; 5. Hyme- 

 noptera ; 6. Diptera ; and 7. Aptera. The leading characters of these orders, and the 

 names of the genera belonging to them which are most noxious to plants in a state of 

 culture, will be of some use in enabling the gardener to use a correct nomenclature, as 

 well as to enlighten him generally on the intricate and little understood subject of insects. 



2232. The coleoptera have a hollow horny case, under which the wings are folded when 

 not in use. The principal genera are — 1. Scarabaeus (beetles) ; 2. Lucanus (stag-beetle) ; 

 3. Dermestes; 4. Coccinella (lady-bird); 5. Curculio (weevil); 6. Lampyris (glow-worm); 

 7. Meloe (Spanish fly) ; 8. Staphylinus ; 9. Forficula (earwig). Like other winged insects, 

 all the beetles live for some time in the form of caterpillars, or grubs. The caterpillars 

 of the garden-beetle, cockchafer, &c. lead a solitary life under ground, and consume the 

 roots of plants ; those of others feed upon putrid carcasses, every kind of flesh, dried skins, 

 rotten wood, dung, and the small insects called pucerons, or 307 

 vine-fretters . But after their transformation into flies, many of 

 the same animals, which formerly fed upon dung and putrid 

 carcasses, are nourished by the purest nectareous juices extracted 

 from fruits and flowers. The creatures themselves, with regard 

 to what may be termed individual animation, have suffered no 

 alteration. But the fabric of their bodies, their instruments of 

 motion, and the organs by which they take their food, are ma- 

 terially changed. This change of structure, though the animals retain their identity, 

 produces the greatest diversity in their manners, their economy, and the powers of 

 their bodies. The beetles (jig. 397.) produced in the palm 398 



called the mountain cabbage-tree (Areca) has a grub or caterpillar 

 (^g. 398.) the size of a man's thumb, extremely fat ; "fried 

 with butter or salt, or spitted on a wooden skewer, they are 

 esteemed excellent. In taste they partake of all the spices of 

 India, as mace, cinnamon, cloves, nutmegs, &c. Several species 

 are produced in all the palm-trees when beginning to rot, some 

 larger than others, all of a pale yellow color with black heads." (Stedmans Surinam.) 



399 



2233. Of beetles the scarabaaus melolontha {fig. 399. a) is the 

 most common. The eggs are deposited in the ground by the 

 parent insect, whose fore legs are very short, and well calcu- 

 lated for burrowing. From each of these eggs proceeds, after 

 a short time, a whitish worm with six legs, a red head, and 

 strong claws, which is destined to live in the earth under that 

 form for four years, and there undergoes various changes of 

 its skin, until it assumes its chrysalid form. These creatures, 

 sometimes in immense numbers, work between the turf and 

 the soil in the richest meadows, devouring the roots of the grass 

 to such a degree that the turf rises, and will roll up with 

 almost as much ease as if it had been cut with a turfing-knife : 

 and underneath, the soil appears turned into a soft mould for 

 above an inch in depth, like the bed of a garden. In this the 

 grubs lie, in a curved position, on their backs, the head and 

 tail uppermost, and the rest of the body buried in the mould. 

 Such are the devastations committed by the grubs of the cock- 

 chafer, that a whole field of fine flourishing grass, in the sum- 

 mer time, became in a few weeks withered, dry, and as brittle 

 as hay, by these grubs devouring the roots, and gnawing away all those fibres that fastened it to the 

 ground, and through which alone it could receive nourishment. The larvae having continued four years 

 in the ground, are now about to undergo their next change : to effect this, they dig deep into the earth 

 sometimes five or six feet, and there spin a smooth case, in which they change into a pupa or chrysalis' 

 They remain under this form all the winter, until the month of February, when they become perfect 

 beetles ; but with their bodies quite soft and white. In May the parts are hardened, and then they come 

 forth out of the earth. This accounts for our often finding the perfect insects in the ground. The most 

 efficacious mode of preventing their increase is to employ proper persons to take the flies in May and June 

 before they have laid their eggs; which, though it appears an endless task, may be done with very con! 

 siderable effect, by shaking and beating the trees and hedges in the middle of the day. Children will be 

 able to do this, and, as has been proved by experiment, will, for a trifling reward (suppose a penny a hun- 

 dred), bring some thousands per day gathered in a single village. Domestic fowls of all kinds are particu- 

 larly fond of these beetles, so that the expense of collecting them would be fully compensated by the 

 quantity of food they would afford in this way. When land is ploughed up in the spring, if the weather 

 be warm, hundreds of the chafer grubs are exposed, in which case, rooks, gulls, and jays will be sure to 

 detect and devour them. These birds, therefore, should not be driven away, as the occasional damage 

 they commit is amply repaid by their unceasing exertions to destroy various insects. The almost sole 

 employment of rooks, for three months in the spring, is to search for this sort of food, and the havock that 

 a numerous flock makes amongst them must be very great. 



2234. The lady-bird {Coccinella) feeds chiefly on aphides, and therefore is not considered as injurious to 

 gardens. 



2235. The weevil{Curculio) is a very numerous and splendid genus ; the larva? of some infest granaries, others 

 may be found inside of artichoke and thistle-flowers. All the species feed on the seeds or leaves of vegetables. 

 One of the most common is the nut-weevil (C. nucu?n) {fig. 399. b), of which the larvae (c) and pupa {d) 



