A WINTER IN THE WILDERNESS 127 



usually flitting about on fine days, and after the middle 

 of January were often seen about our hut, and in other 

 sheltered situations. They were in sparse numbers, and 

 did not bite at this season ; but it is an interesting 

 question whether these insects, and other flies, die off in 

 any number at the fall of the year, or whether they 

 simply hide away. It seems certain that great numbers 

 of mosquitoes survive the winter ; how otherwise could 

 they reappear on fine days ? 



I have several times referred to the heap of dust or 

 refuse at the side of our hut. This was an attraction 

 to many insects as well as to the animals of higher 

 organisation already referred to. The mosquitoes were 

 fond of hovering over it, which seems to confirm the 

 opinion I have formed that these insects prey on the 

 juices of decaying animal matter, as well as on the blood 

 of living mammals. 



Of other insects I have little or nothing to record. 

 During the severe cold none were seen ; but as the 

 spring approached several species of coleoptera harboured 

 about the hut. None of them seemed to differ noticeably 

 from similar species at home, and all were of small size. 

 There was the usual tiny black beetle with ribbed elytra, 

 another of shiny bronze and green ; just such as may be 

 seen in any garden in England. Ladybirds were also 

 seen in the spring and summer, the commonest kinds 

 being a red with small black dots, and a black with fine 

 yellow dots on each elytra. 



Of spiders, a class of creatures in which I take some 

 interest though they inspire me with loathing, and moths 

 and butterflies, the variety was so small and poor in 

 specimens as to be scarcely worth noticing. A large 

 kind of house-spider soon established itself in our hut, 

 and often took to wandering about at night, sometimes 

 falling on our food. It may be an error on my part to 

 call it a house-spider ; but its numbers, and the acumen 

 with which it occupied corners and angles of the hut 



