ON ENTOMOLOGY. 9 



by the Printer ficelle (Tomicus Typographus so called from its track, 

 resembling letters,) amounted to above a million and a half, in the Ilartz 

 Forest. It appears there periodically, and confines its ravages to the fir. 

 THE CAPRICORN BEETLE (Cerambyx Lamia Amputator) is no less de- 

 structive to bark in its perfect state than the above are when grubs, as 

 from its habits of eating round a tree it cuts the source of the returning 

 sap and destroys it. 



1 shall now proceed to describe some of those insects belonging to 

 the second division, namely: HEMIPTERA, the various ins; 

 of voracity that I have before described sink into insignificance 

 when compared with the terrible devastation produced by the 

 Locust (Locusta migratoria). The intelligent, traveller, DR. SIIAVV, 

 was an eye-witness of cheir devastations in Barbary in 1724, where they 

 first appeared aboai the end of March ; their numbers increasing so much 

 in the beginning of April, as literally to darken the sun. By the mid - 

 die of May they began to disappear, retiring into the Mettizah and other 

 adjacent plains to deposit their eggs ; these were no sooner hatched in 

 June, he continues, than each of the broods collected itself into a squarn 

 compact body of a furlong or more in size and marching- afterwards directly 

 forwards to the sea, they let nothing escape them. They kept their ranks 

 like men of war, climbing over as they advanced every tree or wall that 

 was in their way; nay, they eniered into our very houses and bed-cham- 

 bers like so many thieves. The inhabitants to stop their progress, formed 

 trenches all over their fields and gardens whiclf they filled with water ; 

 some placed large quantities of heath, stubble, and other combustible 

 matters in rows, and se^ them on fire on the approach of the Locusts; but 

 this was all to no purpose Tor the trendies were quickly filled up and the 

 fires put out by the immense swarms that succeeded each other. Pallas 

 gives a more detailed account of the daily proceedings of the larvax of the 

 Italian Locust (Locusta Italica). In serene weather, he tells us, the Locusts 

 are in full motion in the morning immediately after the evaporation of the 

 dew, and if no dew has {'alien they appear as soon as the sun imparts his 

 genial warmth ; at first some are seen vimning about like messengers, 

 among the reposing swarms which are lying partly compressed upon the 

 ground at the side of small eminences, and partly attached to tall plants 

 and shrubs ; shortly after the whole body begins to move forward in one 

 direction and with little deviation. They resemble n. swarm of ants all 

 taking the same course at small distances but without touching each 

 other, they uniformly travel towards a certain region as fast as a fly can 

 run, and without leaping unless pursued, in which case indeed they dis- 

 perse, but soon collect again and follow their former route. In this man- 

 ner they advance from morning to evening without halting, frequently 

 at the rate of a hundred fathoms and upwards in the course of a day. 

 Although they prefer marching along high roads, footpaths, or open 

 tracts, yet when their progress is opposed by bushes, hedges and ditches 

 B 



