ANIMAL KINGDOM. 105 



young and soft plants, and apparently lays its eggs at the basis 

 of the tender leaves : the caterpillar, which is of good size, eats 

 up the substance of the young sprout, which withers and dies. I 

 have seen whole fields of young canes destroyed by this vermin : 

 it is by far the most destructive of all cane-borers. 



Without dwelling on the many kinds of cockroaches, blattse, 

 or butterflies, which are all numerous and common, it may be 

 stated here that the Fulgora laternaria has been found in the 

 island. There are also two kinds of grasshopper or cicada : one 

 smaller, with a gay, thrilling chirp ; the other larger, with a 

 tremulous, graduated, and prolonged whistle : the former gaily 

 celebrates the arrival of the dry season, the other is the as melan- 

 choly foreteller of heat and rain. Locusts visit the shores at 

 long intervals, and make ravages similar to those of other 

 countries ; caterpillars also swarm over some parts of the island 

 at periodical intervals of eight or nine years, laying waste por- 

 tions of pastures and corn-fields. With regard to these visita- 

 tions, it has been remarked that both locusts and caterpillars 

 make their appearance after long periods of drought. In the 

 year 1846, caterpillars visited Mayaro and Couva; and in the 

 year 1855 they were depredating Couva and Savanetta. How- 

 ever, the cane-fields thus traversed by these insects have not 

 apparently suffered from such molestations. Butterflies are 

 numerous, and amongst them a few beautiful kinds. It may as 

 well be mentioned here, that there exist in the island two species 

 of caterpillars, the larvae probably of moths, which, whenever 

 placed in contact with the skin, instantly raise a blister, causing 

 a horrible burning sensation, like that of a hot iron : they are 

 one inch long, and covered with long hairs of a fawn colour. 



Mosquitoes (Cidex) and sand-flies abound in the low marshy 

 parts of the country, particularly near the sea. In some parts of 

 the interior, at Arouca, Arima, and Guanape, they are only seen 

 occasionally, and mosquito nettings to the beds may be dispensed 

 with. There are two distinct species of sand-flies; one very 

 small, of a grey colour ; the other nearly double in size, and 

 entirely black : the former is an inhabitant of the sea-shore par- 

 ticularly, the other of the interior. The black sand-fly becomes 

 common at certain periods only : it generally attacks the legs, 

 seldom the face or hands, and its bite occasions an itching sensa- 

 tion, but no bulla, the place being marked by a very small black 



