DARWINIADASYURUS. 



trees, in a manner resembling those of the cormorants 

 but as the places in which they build (often in the 

 mangroves) are not very accessible on account of 

 their swampiness, and as they are besides not a little 

 pestilent, the family habits of the birds are not very 

 well known. They are birds, however, which form a 

 feature of the peculiar localities which they inhabit. 

 They are not much disturbed, as their flesh is rank 

 and bad. 



DARWINIA (Rudge). A genus of two orna- 

 mental shrubs from New Holland. Linnae;m class 

 and order Decandria Monogynia, and natural order 

 Rhamnece. Generic character : calyx like a tubular 

 coralla, limb five cleft ; corolla none ; stamens very 

 short, in a double series on the throat of the calyx ; 

 anthers oblong ; style long and protruding. Easily 

 propagated by cuttings. 



DASYCHIRA (Hiibner). A genus of lepidopter- 

 ous insects, belonging to the family of Moths, Arctiidce, 

 having the wings rather long, and the palpi very short 

 and hairy. The spiral tongue is obliterated, and the 

 fore legs very hairy ; the caterpillars are very hairy, 

 being furnished with pale tufts of hairs, which render 

 them very conspicuous, and from which they have 

 obtained the name of tussocks ; the cocoon is of a 

 close texture, having the hairs of which these tufts 

 are composed worked into its meshes. There are two 

 British species, the dark tussock (Borqbyx fascelina, 

 Linngeus), about two inches in expanse ; and the 

 pale tussock (B. pudibundn, Linnceus), a common 

 species in the neighbourhood of London, rather 

 larger than the preceding, having the wings of a 

 whitish ash colour, the anterior pair having a central 

 lunate spot, and three waved streaks of a brown 

 colour. In Kent, the caterpillars are found in the 

 hop gardens, and are called hop dogs. 



DASYPODA (Latreille). A genus of hymen- 

 opterous insects, belonging to the section Mettifera, 

 and family Andrenida;, or short -tongued bees. The 

 species are of moderate size ; the hind legs, especially 

 in the females, are, as the generic name implies, very 

 hairy, the basal joint of the tarsi being very long, and 

 furnished with a complete brush of hairs ; the wings 

 have two complete sub-marginal cells ; and the 

 tongue is lance-shaped, and folded back upon the 

 upper surface of the horny mentum. There is only 

 one British species of this genus, and which was 

 dedicated to Swammerdam by Mr. Kirby, in his 

 History of the English Bees, in which work we find 

 the following account of the habits of this pretty and 

 interesting species : " No person, at first sight, 

 would take the male and the female of M. Swammer- 

 dnmdla for the same species, so widely do they differ 

 in most particulars ; nor should I have suspected 

 that there was any connection between them, had I 

 not discovered their retreat. In the month of 

 August, 1797, I saw a female take her flight from a 

 grassy declivity of a southern aspect, which was 

 much entangled with roots and shrubs. Upon ex- 

 amining this spot more narrowly, I discovered a 

 number of small burrows, each of which had a little 

 heap of sand, which had been excavated from it, lying 

 before it. In some of these burrows I saw our 

 melitta (Swammcrdamellci) sitting, with her head at 

 the mouth, enjoying the sunshine. At the same time 

 I observed many other insects flying about the spot. 

 Upon my attempting to take them, they disappeared, 

 but they soon returned to their amusement. With 

 some difficulty I at length succeeded in taking one, 



and it proved to be the male." Vol. i. p. 176. The 

 body is of a black colour, clothed with pale fulvous or 

 ochreous hairs, the abdomen of the female with three 

 whitish belts, and the hind legs with orange hairs. It 

 is rather a rare species, although occasionally met 

 with in certain localities in some quantities. The 

 food of the larvae consists of pollen paste, stored up 

 in cells by the female, which prefers the pollen ot 

 such flowers, as Crepu, Hceracium and Leontodon. 



DASYPOGON (Meigen). A genus of dipterous 

 insects, belonging to the section Tanystoma and family 

 AsilidcE. The body is long and thickened, often 

 woolly ; the antennae are shorter than the head, with 

 the terminal style distinct and conical, not terminated 

 by a bristle, and the proboscis is straight. 



This is an extensive exotic and European genus, 

 forty-four European species having been described by 

 Meigen ; two only have, however, been found in this 

 country'; namely, D. punctatm (Fabricius), which is 

 exceedingly rare ; and D. brcvirostris, forming the 

 type of Mr. Stephens' genus Lcptarthrus, established 

 upon the very slender form of the posterior tarsi in 

 the males. This species is of a black colour, with 

 the four posterior tibiae red at the base. We have 

 met with it in the beginning of July, in some abun- 

 dance, amongst grass, in the Devil's Ditch, on New- 

 market Heath. 



DASYTES (Paykull). A genus of coleopterous 

 insects belonging to the section Pcntamera, subsection 

 Seiricornes, and family Mdyridce, having the antennae' 

 as long as the head and thorax, the body narrow and 

 sometimes linear, the claws of the tarsi generally fur- 

 nished with a membranous appendage, palpi filiform, 

 and body destitute of the vesicular lobes visible in the 

 Malachii. The name of the genus is of Greek extrac- 

 tion, and is given to these insects in consequence of 

 the numerous hairs with which they are clothed. But 

 little is known of the early history of these insects, 

 which, in the perfect state, are generally found upon 

 grass and umbelliferous flowers, in hedges, trees, &c; 

 The species are numerous, and often prettily varie- 

 gated in their colours ; the indigenous species are of 

 small size. Dejean, in his new Catalogue, gives 

 seventy-four species, the majority of which are Euro- 

 pean and Brazilian. Stephens gives eight British 

 species, of which the D. cceruJeus of Fabricius is one 

 of the prettiest, being of a bright blue colour. It is 

 about a quarter of an inch long, and is found on the 

 southern coast. Some of the other species present 

 various curious peculiarities of structure, such as the 

 legs spined and twisted, the body quite linear, &c. 



DASYURUS (rough and hairy tail) a genus of 

 marsupial mammalia, peculiar to Australia, and in 

 some of the species peculiar to the larger island, 

 New Holland, and in others to Van Diemen's Land. 

 It is worthy of inquiry what geological epoch of a 

 country requires the presence of the marsupial or 

 pouched mammalia in it ; but the reasonable conjec- 

 ture, from the fact of at least one marsupial animal 

 being found in a fossil state in Europe, while within 

 the period of history there has not been a living one 

 found native nearer than America, would lead to the 

 supposition that they are adapted for rather an early, 

 age, as respects the formation of the peculiar locality, 

 if, according to what appears to be the most rational 

 theory on the subject, we are to suppose that coun- 

 tries like their productions have a beginning, a dura- 

 tion, and an end ; and that as they in all probability 

 outlive races of animals, just as races outlive genera- 



