HISTORY or 



The garden, the forest, the hedges, and the rivu- 

 lets, are animated by their sports ; and there are 

 few who have been brought up in the country, 

 who have not employed a part of their childhood 

 in the pursuit. 



But while these beautiful flies appear to us so 

 idly and innocently employed, they are, in fact, 

 the greatest tyrants of the insect tribe, and, like 

 the hawk among birds, are only hovering up and 

 down to seize their prey. They are the strongest 

 and the most courageous of all winged insects ; 

 nor is there one, how large soever, that they will 

 not attack and devour. The blue fly, the bee, 

 the wasp, and the hornet, make their constant 

 preyj and even the butterfly, that spreads so 

 large a wing, is often caught, and treated with- 

 out mercy. Their appetite seems to know no 

 bounds ; they spend the whole day in the pursuit, 

 and have been seen to devour three times their 

 own size in the capture of a single hour. They 

 seize their prey flying with their six claws, and 

 tear it easily to pieces with their teeth, which are 

 capable of inflicting troublesome wounds. 



But the males are upon the wing for another 

 purpose beside that of food, as they are very sala- 

 cious, and seek the females with great ardour. 

 The sun no sooner begins to warm the fields, than 

 the males are found assiduously employed each in 

 seeking its mate ; and no sooner does a female 

 appear, but two or three males are seen pursuing 

 and endeavouring to seize her with all their arts 

 and agility. The instrument of generation in the 

 male is placed very different from that of any other 



