542 



R E D U V I I D JE. 



where they gnaw the bark of the trees, which is 

 equally fatal to them, as the communication between 

 the root and the branches is completely broken. 

 The natural enemies of the vales are all on the <// 

 vive upon these occasions, just as the natural enemies 

 of the lemmings attend their marches when they de- 

 scend from the Scandinavian mountains, and pour 

 their destructive numbers over the plains and valleys 

 of Norway and Sweden. The assistance of these, 

 the exertions of the people themselves, the failure of 

 subsistence, and finally the destruction of part of the 

 remainder of those creatures by the cats, ultimately 

 reduce their numbers, and it does not appear that 

 many of them return. In all cases where animals 

 pour in their vast numbers into places where they 

 are not generally so numerous, we may regard their 

 doing so as in some way connected with a wholesome 

 and necessary thinning of their numbers in other 

 places ; but the cause of their moving in these mul- 

 titudes in one season rather than another has not 

 been ascertained. 



One year does not appear to be, in all cases, suffi- 

 cient for effecting the reduction of numbers, which 

 we may suppose is the chief cause of these move- 

 ments; for in two consecutive years, 1813 and 1814, 

 the New Forest and the Forest of Dean were attacked 

 to a very alarming extent. New plantations had 

 been made in these forests some time before, with a 

 view of replacing the timber that had been cut down, 

 and thus continuing the value of the forest. Such a 

 quantity of plants with succulent bark near the sur- 

 face of the ground was a rich provision for the mice, 

 which no doubt found the bark of the old oaks and 

 chestnuts rather a dry mess. The mice accordingly 

 mustered to the feast, and began it in their usual style 

 of attacking live plants, that is, by burrowing under 

 the surface and attacking the roots, which in the young 

 trees was of course confined to the bark, though a 

 little further down, where the woody part of the root 

 was softer and sweeter from not being exposed to the 

 air, they ate through that also, though it is fully as 

 probable that the wood was cut through merely from 

 being in the way. They also attacked the bark 

 above the ground, and even scrambled up the trees 

 for it. 



The number of trees which they thus destro3 r ed 

 was very great, and the conservators of the forests 

 were thrown into a state of the greatest alarm. Had 

 it been earlier in the history of the country, it is pro- 

 bable that " bell, book, and candle," would have been 

 in requisition, as they were in Canada against the 

 pigeons ; but the authorities took human means, that 

 is, they dug numerous pits with overhanging sides, so 

 that once in the vales could not get out, but remained 

 there for the crows to peck at or the keepers to kill. 

 The predatory animals, whether mammalia or birds, 

 which content themselves with " such small deer," as 

 animals weighing about an ounce and a half each, 

 were busy on the ground or in the air ; and plying 

 teeth, and bills, and beaks, and claws, with no small 

 zeal and satisfaction. All these means, vigorously as 

 they were applied, were some time in clearing the 

 ground of the little destroyers, and it was much longer 

 of course before the forests recovered from the effects 

 of them. 



In many parts of the world there are species bear- 

 ing some resemblance to the last-mentioned one ; 

 and no part of the world appears to abound more in 

 them than the east of Siberia. Of the species there, 



there is one called the " economic campagnel" which, 

 according to the accounts, is a very interesting crea- 

 ture. They excavate burrows, shaped something like 

 an oven, and about a foot in diameter, to which there 

 are numerous entrances, but they are all too narrow 

 for admitting any predatory animal. Near the chief 

 apartment there are magazine's of provision. This 

 is collected in the summer, and consists of various 

 plants and roots, which are dried in the open air. 

 The females, which remain in the burrows attending 

 their broods, are said to perform the chief part of 

 their domestic labours. In some years they collect 

 in the spring for the purpose of migrating in a body, 

 which they do to long distances, considering their 

 diminutive size. In their progress they do not hesi- 

 tate in crossing streams or even lakes, and many of 

 them perish in the water, or are captured by preda- 

 tory animals. They generally return from these ex- 

 cursions about the middle of autumn ; and the natives 

 are said to mourn their departure, and rejoice at their 

 return, in the superstitious belief that they escape 

 from bad weather and come to good. 



REDUVIID^E. A family, or more properly a 

 sub-family, of hemipterous insects belonging to the 

 section Hetcroptera gcocoriaa, and distinguished from 

 the other groups separated from the great Linnsean 

 genus Cimex, by the very short, curved, and strong 

 proboscis, with the head narrowed behind the eyes 

 into a distinct neck ; the antennae are also very slen- 

 der at the tips. This sub-family is extremely nume- 

 rous, and some of the species are amongst the largest 

 and most singular of hemipterous insects. The ma- 

 jority, however, are chiefly exotic. The body is gener- 

 ally long and the legs slender ; in many, however, tho 

 fore legs are thickened, and the thighs of these legs 

 armed with spines indicating the carnivorous habits 

 of the insects. In many species the thorax is also 

 furnished with great spines, giving the insects a very 

 formidable appearance. They are considerably varie- 

 gated in their colours, but many exhibit only uniform 

 obscure tints, with occasional metallic reflexions. 



The Reduviides do not emit that disgusting scent 

 which renders the Cimicides in general so obnoxious ; 

 but, as if to make amends for this want, they are 

 enabled to inflict very severe wounds with their 

 short and strong proboscis. They are found upon 

 flowers, trees,-and occasionally in houses ; their prey 

 consists of other insects which they can overcome. 

 One of the species has received the name of the 

 masked Reduvim (R. personattis) from the singular 

 economy of its larva, which has the instinct to envelop 

 itself in a covering of dirt and floating dust, in order 

 to conceal itself the more completely from the insects 

 which it feeds upon, and which are chiefly the com- 

 mon bed-bug. It might perhaps be supposed that 

 this coating of dirt was accidental, and had become 

 attached to the insect in its passage through the ob- 

 scure places of its abode ; but such is not the case, 

 for one of these larva? being enclosed by itself in a 

 paper box and left for the space of a month, was dis- 

 covered at the end of this period, not only to have 

 shed its skin, but to have coated itself with its old 

 mantle of dirt which it had carefully picked off its old 

 skin. Stationed, therefore, in some obscure corner, the 

 crafty insect waits patiently for the arrival of a victim, 

 upon which it pounces immediately that it comes 

 within its reach, seizing it with its tfro fore-legs. 



The sub-family, from its great extent, has \>effn 

 divided into numerous genera and sub-genera by 



