OBSERVATIONS ON INSECTS AND 

 VERMES 



INSECTS IN GENERAL 



THE day and night insects occupy the annuals alternately : 

 the papilios, muscae, and apes, are succeeded at the close of 

 day by phalaenae, earwigs, woodlice, etc. In the dusk of 

 the evening, when beetles begin to buz, partridges begin 

 to call ; these two circumstances are exactly coincident. 



Ivy is the last flower that supports the hymenopterous 

 and dipterous insects. On sunny days quite on to Novem- 

 ber they swarm on trees covered with this plant ; and 

 when they disappear, probably retire under the shelter of 

 its leaves, concealing themselves between its fibres and the 

 trees which it entwines. Spiders, woodlice, lepismae in 

 cupboards and among sugar, some empedes, gnats, flies of 

 several species, some phalaenae in hedges, earth-worms, etc. 

 are stirring at all times when winters are mild ; and are of 

 great service to those soft-billed birds that never leave us. 



On every sunny day the winter through, clouds of 

 insects usually called gnats (I suppose tipulae and empedes) 

 appear sporting and dancing over the tops of the ever-green 

 trees in the shrubbery, and frisking about as if the business 

 of generation was still going on. Hence it appears that 

 these diptera (which by their sizes appear to be of different 

 species) are not subject to a torpid state in the winter, as 

 most winged insects are. At night, and in frosty weather, 

 and when it rains and blows, they seem to retire into those 

 trees. They often are out in a fog. 

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