|90pular JBtctumarg at gmmatrtr 



209 



square, short, leathery pieces, which cover 

 but a very small portion of the body : the 

 insect is incapable of bending or folding 

 them in any direction, or of using them as 

 organs of flight. The hind wings are quite 

 different from the fore wings; they are folded 

 into a very small compass, and covered by 

 the fore wings, except a small portion which 

 protrudes from beneath them ; and, when 

 examined in this position, appear totally 

 useless as organs of flight. When unfolded, 

 the hind wings are remarkably beautiful ; 

 they are of ample size, perfectly transparent, 

 displaying prismatic colours when moved in 

 the light ; and are intersected by veins, 

 which radiate from near the centre to the 

 margin. The shape of these wings, when 

 fully opened, is nearly that of the human 

 ear ; and from this circumstance it seems 

 highly probable that the original name of 

 this insect was Enrwing. [It derives its pre- 

 sent name from its supposed habit of insinu- 

 ating itself into the ears of persons who 

 incautiously lie down and sleep on the grass, 

 &c. : a supposition, if not entirely ground- 

 less, unsupported by any well authenticated 

 instances.] 



" Earwigs subsist principally on the leaves 

 and flowers of plants, and on fruit ; and they 

 are entirely nocturnal insects, retiring by 

 day into dark crevices and corners, where 

 they are screened from observation. The ra- 

 pidity with which they devour the petals of 

 a flower is remarkable ; they clasp the edge 

 of a petal in their fore legs, and then, stretch- 

 ing out their head as far as possible, bite out 

 a mouthful ; then another mouthful nearer, 

 and so on till the head is brought to the 

 fore-legs. This mode of eating is exactly 

 that which is practised by the caterpillars of 

 butterflies and moths : the part of a leaf or 

 petal is eaten out in a semicircular form, 

 and the head is thrust out to the extreme 

 part, after a series of mouthfuls. Pinks, 

 carnations, and dahlias, very frequently lose 

 all their beauty from the voracity of these 

 insects. When the time of breeding has ar- 

 rived, which is generally in the autumn, the 

 female retires for protection to the cracks in 

 the bark of old trees, or the interstices of 

 weather-boarding, or under heavy stones on 

 the ground : here she commences laying her 

 eggs. The eggs are usually from twenty to 

 fifty in number : when the female has 

 finished laying them, she does not forsake 

 them, as is the habit of other insects, but sits 

 on them in the manner of a hen, until they 

 are hatched. When the little ones leave the 

 shell, they are very perceptibly larger than 

 the eggs which contained them. They pre- 

 cisely resemble the parent in structure and 

 habit, except that they are without wings ; 

 they also differ in colour, being perfectly 

 white. The care of the mother does not 

 cease with the hatching of the eggs : the 

 young ones run after her wherever she 

 moves, and she continues to sit on them and 

 brood over them with the greatest affection 

 for many days. If the young ones are dis- 

 turbed or scattered, or if the parent is taken 

 away from them, she will, on the first op- 

 portunity, collect them again, and brood 

 over them as carefully as before, allowing 



them to push her about, and cautiously 

 moving one foot after another, for fear of 

 hurting them. How the young ones are fed 

 until the mother's care for them has ceased, 

 does not appear to have been ascertained; 

 for it is not until they are nearly half grown 

 that they are seen feeding on vegetables with 

 the rest. ' 



A remarkable fact, in relation to the Ear- 

 wig, is its great abundance at particular 

 times, and its subsequent rarity. From the 

 observations of entomologists, it has been 

 proved that these insects migrate in consi- 

 derable flocks, selecting the evening for their 

 excursions. It is common with gardeners to 

 hang up, among the flowers and fruit-trees 

 subject to their attacks, and also to place on 

 the ground, pieces of hollow reeds, lobster- 

 claws, and the like, which offer enticing 

 places of retreat for these insects on the ap- 

 proach of daylight, and by means thereof 

 great numbers of them are obtained in the 

 morning. Poultry are very fond of Earwigs. 

 There are many exotic species of this-genus, 

 some of them with remarkably elongated 

 forceps. 



EBTJRNA. A genus of marine Mollusca 

 found in the Indian and Chinese seas, in- 

 habiting an oval, thick, smooth, umbilicated 

 shell. The Eburnas in some respects re- 

 semble the Buccina ; from which, how- 

 ever, they are essentially different. The 

 head of the animal is furnished with a 



proboscis, and two tentacula having eyes in 

 the middle ; foot short ; spire angulated 

 and acute ; aperture oval, terminating an- 

 teriorly in a canal, posteriorly in a groove ; 

 outer lip slightly thickened with an anterior 

 notch, which terminates a spiral fold sur- 

 rounding the body whorl ; umbilicus gene- 

 rally covered by the thickened columellar 

 lip. 



ECHIDNA, or PORCUPINE ANT- 

 EATER. (.Echidna hystrix.) This curious 

 animal is a native of Australia, and is a 

 striking instance of that beautiful gradation, 

 so frequently observed in the animal king- 

 dom, by which creatures of one tribe or genus 

 approach to those of a very different one. 

 It has the external coating and general ap- 

 pearance of the Porcupine, with the mouth 

 and peculiar generic characters of the ant- 

 eaters. It is about a foot in length : the 

 upper parts of the body and tail are thickly 

 coated with strong and very sharp spines, of 

 a yellowish white with black tips, and thicker 

 in proportion to their length than those of a 

 porcupine. The head, legs, and under parts 

 of the body are of a deep brown, and thickly 

 set with bristly hair ; the tail is very short, 

 and covered with spines pointing perpen- 



