OBSERVATIONS ON INSECTS. 



in all its severity. Such a day is generally marked 

 too by the appearance on wing of the hive and hum- 

 ble bee, and a few individuals of the yellow * and 

 tortoise-shell butterflies.f These are, as it were, so 

 many (want-couriers to announce the approach of 

 that season, which is no less welcomed by man than 

 by the various tribes of animated beings which it 

 recalls to life and activity. 



Wet is probably more prejudicial to insects than 

 cold; and for this reason mild winters, which are 

 generally attended with much wet, are, I apprehend, 

 more destructive to them than severe ones. Cold 

 renders them torpid ; but when once they are brought 

 into this state, it matters little whether the tempera- 

 ture sink a few degrees lower or not, or how long 

 they remain thus inactive. Whereas constant rains 

 percolate into their most retired hybernacula, and 

 drown them in large numbers, whilst they are yet 

 too inert to make their escape. It would be worth 

 inquiring, though I am not aware of anything on 

 record to shew, whether collectors of insects find 

 their harvest in summer depending at all upon the 

 character of the preceding winter, or at least upon 

 its having been wet or dry. 



White has noticed a. " humming in the air," like 

 that of bees, which might be heard upon the highest 



* Gonepteryx rhamni, Steph. t Vanessa urtica. 



