820 



A HISTORY OF 



body. Its abode being thus formed, it begins, 

 soon after, to shorten itself, to swell, and to 

 burst its last skin, in order to assume the form 

 of a chrysalis. This, in the beginning, ap- 

 pears of a yellowish colour, which heightens 

 by degrees, till at last it is seen nearly red. 

 Its exterior form plainly discovers all the 

 vestiges of the future winged insect, all the 

 fore-parts being distinctly seen ; while, behind, 

 the animal seems as if wrapped in swaddling 

 clothes. 



The young May-bug continues in this state 

 for about three months lunger ; and it is not 

 till the beginning of January that the aurelia 

 divests itself of all its impediments, and be- 

 comes a winged insect, completely formed. 

 Yet still the animal is far from attaining its 

 natural strength, health, and appetite. It un- 

 dergoes a kind of infant imbecility ; and, un- 

 like most other insects, that the instant they 

 beconv; flies are arrived at their state of full 

 perfection, the May-bug continues feeble and 

 sickly. Its colour is much brighter than in 

 the perfect animal, all its parts are soft, and its 

 voracious nature seems, for a while, to have 

 entirely forsaken it. As the animal is very 

 often found in this state, it is supposed, bv 

 those unacquainted with its real history, that 

 the old ones, of the former season, have buried 

 themselves for the winter, in order to revisit 

 the sun the ensuing summer. But the fact is, 

 the old one never survives the season, but 

 dies, like all the other winged tribe of insects, 

 fro >n the severity of cold in winter. 



About the latter end of May, these insects, 

 after having lived for four years under ground, 

 burst from the earth, when the first mild even- 

 ing invites them abroad. They are at that 

 time seen rising from their long imprisonment, 

 fro n living only upon roots, and imbibing 

 only the moisture of the earth, to visit the 

 mildness of the summer air, to choose the 

 sweetest vegetables for their banquet, and to 

 drink the dew of the evening. Wherever an 

 attentive observer then walks abroad, he will 

 see them bursting up before him in his pathway, 

 like ghosts on a theatre. He will see every 

 part of the earth, that had its surface beat into 

 hardness, perforated by their egression. When 

 the season is favourable for them, they are 

 seen by myriads buzzing along, hitting against 

 every object that intercepts their flight. The 

 mid-day sun, however, seems too powerful for 



their constitutions ; they then lurk under the 

 leaves and branches of some shady tree : but 

 the willow seems particularly their most 

 favourite food ; there they lurk in clustrrs, 

 and seldom quit the tree till they have devour- 

 ed all its verdure. In those seasons which 

 are favourable to their propagation, they are 

 seen in an evening as thick as flakes of snow, 

 and hitting against every object with a sort 

 of capricious blindness. Their duration, how- 

 ever, is but short, as they mver survive the 

 season. They begin to join shortly after they 

 have been let loose from their prison, and 

 when the female is impregnated, she cautious- 

 ly bores a hole in the ground, with an instru- 

 ment fitted for that purpose, which she is fur- 

 nished with at the tail, and there deposiu-s her 

 eggs, generally tt> the number of threescore. 

 If the season and the soi! be adapted to their 

 propagation, these soon multiply, as already 

 described, and go through the noxious stages 

 of their contemptible existence. This insect, 

 however, in its worm state, though prejudicial 

 to man, makes one of the chief repasts of the 

 feathered tribe, and is generally the first nou- 

 rishment with which they supply their young. 

 Rooks and hogs are particularly fond of these 

 worms, and devour them in great numbers. 

 The inhabitants of the county of Norfolk, some 

 time since, went into the practice of destroy- 

 ing their rookeries ; but in proportion as they 

 destroyed one plague, they were pestered with 

 a greater ; and these insects multiplied in such 

 an amazing abundance, as to destroy not only 

 the verdure of the fields, but even the roots of 

 vegetables not yet shot forth. One farm in 

 particular was so injured by them in the year 

 1751, that the occupier was not able to pay 

 his rent, and the landlord was content not 

 only to lose his income f >r that year, but also 

 gave money for the support of the farmer and 

 his family. In Ireland they suffered so much 

 by these insects, that they came to a resolu- 

 tion of setting fire to a wood, of some miles in 

 extent, to prevent their mischievous propaga- 

 tion. 



Of all the beetle kind, this is the most nu- 

 merous, and therefore deserves the chief atten- 

 tion of history. The numerous varieties of 

 other kinds might repay the curiosity of the 

 diligent observer, but we must be content iu 

 general o observe, that in the great outlines 

 of their history, they resemble those of which 



