014 



A HISTORY OF 



body they have been deposited, and upon 

 whose vitals they have preyed, till they came 

 to maturity. There is no insect whatever, 

 which they will not attack, in order to leave 

 their fatal present in its body ; the caterpillar, 

 the gnat, and even the spider himself, so for- 

 midable to others, is often made the unwilling 

 fosterer of this destructive progeny. 



About the middle of the summer, when 

 other insects arc found in great abundance, 

 the ichneumon is seen flying busily about, and 

 seeking proper objects upo.n whom to deposite 

 its progeny. As there arc various kinds of 

 this fly, so they seem to have various appe- 

 tites. Some are found to place their eggs 

 within the aurelia of some nascent insect, 

 others place them within the nest, which the 

 wasp had curiously contrived for its own 

 young : and as both are produced at the same 

 time, the young of the ichneumon not only 

 devours the young wasp, but the whole supply 

 of worms, which the parent had carefully pro- 

 vided for its provision. But the greatest num- 

 ber of the ichneumon tribe are seen settling 

 upon the back of the caterpillar, and darting, 

 at different intervals, their stings into its body. 

 At every dart they deposite an egg, while the 

 wounded animal seems scarcely sensible of the 

 injury it sustains. In this manner they leave 

 from six to a do/en of their eggs within the 

 fatty substance of the reptile's body, and then 



fly off to commit further depredations. la 

 the mean time, the caterpillar, thus irreparably 

 injured, seems to feed as voraciously as before; 

 does not abate of its usual activity ; and, to 

 all appearance, seems no way affected by the 

 internal enemies that are preparing its destruc- 

 tion in their darksome abode. But they soon 

 burst from their egg state, and begin to prey 

 upon the substance of their prison. As thry 

 grow larger, they require a greater supply ; 

 till at last the animal, by whose vitals they are 

 supported, is no longer able to sustain them, 

 but dies; its whole inside being almost eaten 

 away. It often happens, ho\< ever, that it sur- 

 vives their worm-state, and then they change 

 into a chrysalis, enclosed in the caterpillar's 

 body till the time of their delivery approaches, 

 when they burst their prisons, and fly away. 

 The caterpillar, however, is irreparably de- 

 stroyed, it never changes into a chrysalis, but 

 dies shortly after from the injuries it had sus- 

 tained. 



Such is the history of this fly, which, though 

 very terrible to the insect tribe, fails not to be 

 of infinite service to mankind. The millions 

 which it kills in a single summer, are incon- 

 ceivable ; and without such a destroyer, the 

 fruits of the earth would only rise to furnish a 

 banquet for the insect race, to the exclu- 

 sion of all the nobler ranks of animated na- 

 ture, 



CHAPTER CXCIII, 



OF THE ANT. 



THOUGH the number of two-winged flies 

 be very great, and the naturalists have taken 

 much pains to describe their characters and 

 varieties ; yet there is such a similitude in their 

 forms and manners, that, in a work like this, 

 one description must serve for all. We now, 

 therefore, come to. a species of four-winged 

 insects, that are famous from all antiquity for 

 their social and industrious habits, that are 

 marked for their spirit of subordination, that 

 are offered as a pattern of parsimony to the 

 profuse, and of unremitting diligence to the 

 sluggard. 



In. the experiments, however, which hare 

 been more recently made, and the observa- 

 tions which have been taken, much of their 

 boasted frugality and precaution seems denied 

 them: the treasures they lay up are no lon- 

 ger supposed intended for future provision j 

 and the choice they make in their stores, 

 seems no way dictated by wisdom. It is, in- 

 deed, somewhat surprising, that almost every 

 writer of antiquity should describe this insect, 

 as labouring in the summer, and feasting upon 

 the produce during the winter. Perhaps, in 

 ome of the warmer climates, where the 



