INSECTS. 



INSECTS. 



finch tears open (says Reaumur) the strong 

 nest of the yellow-tailed moth, and eats the 

 infant caterpillars. The woodpeckers and tree- 

 creepers commit great ravages amongst the 

 beetles and caterpillars. Crows, which in some 

 sections destroy the corn, commit great ravages 

 upon cutworms and destructive insects. In 

 one of the English counties where the rook (a 

 bird allied to the crow) had increased so as to 

 do some damage to the crops, a destructive 

 war was waged against them, so that they 

 were nearly exterminated. But under these 

 circumstances various species of the insect 

 tribe increased so rapidly, that it became ne- 

 cessary to import the rooks again from the 

 adjoining counties. In fact, it remains to be 

 proved whether any omnivorous bird is more 

 prejudicial than useful. Insects in their va 

 rious states exist throughout the warm season, 

 whilst the crops are exposed to the birds for a 

 comparatively short period. Every protection 

 should be given to birds, and boxes should be 

 fitted up for martins, wrens, and bluebirds. To 

 these may be added the frog, the toad, &c. 

 Many insects, such as the ground beetles, de- 

 vour the pupae of others. Then, again, there 

 is the numerous order of the Ichneumonidce, 

 which lay their eggs in the bodies of other in- 

 sects and destroy them. The eggs are hatched 

 within the body of the living insect, and the 

 young parasites, in the most literal sense, fat- 

 ten on the entrails of their prey. At last the 

 wounded caterpillar sinks, the enemies escape 

 through the skin and become pupae; or the 

 caterpillar, notwithstanding its internal para- 

 sites, enters the pupa state ; but, instead of a 

 butterfly, one or more Ichneumonidce appear. 

 The beautiful little red insect familiarly known 

 as the lady-bird or lad} r -bug, is of vast service 

 by the havoc which it makes among the plant 

 and bark-lice. Many a friendly ichneumon fly 

 or lady-bird has been killed by those whose 

 want of knowledge led them to consider these 

 insects destructive to vegetation. To these 

 wonderful animals we often owe the preserva- 

 tion of our orchards, woods, and grains. Many 

 other modes, besides those I have enumerated, 

 have been suggested, by which the number of 

 the cultivator's predatory insects may be re- 

 duced, most of which I shall notice under their 

 respective heads. I am quite of the opinion, 

 however, of the authors of the Vork I have so 

 extensively quoted, "that the most essential and 

 necessary means to be opposed to the serious 

 injuries caused by insects, consists in the uni- 

 versal dissemination of the knowledge of the 

 natural history of hurtful insects amongst far- 

 mers, gardeners, foresters, and all those, in 

 fact, who are in any manner connected with 

 agriculture." 



V. Of the Insects which live and propagate on 

 domestic animals. The chief are lice, which 

 commonly originate from want of cleanliness, 

 poor, unwholesome food, or from the weaken- 

 ing effects of other diseases. Old horses are 

 more subject to them than young ones ; they 

 are common in sheep, and in swine; for which 

 the best remedies will be found under their re- 

 spective heads. (For the bots in horses, see 

 Box; for those in sheep, see SHEEP Box; for 

 the ox-warble, see WAHBLE.) The forest fly, 



or horse fly, lives chiefly on horses. It flies in 

 short flights quickly, and moves about with 

 considerable agility. The female lays but one 

 egg at a time, from which the fly is hatched. 

 They abound in the New Forest. See HOUSE 

 FLY. 



The well-known sheep tick has no wings ; 

 the fore part of its body is very small, but the 

 abdomen is large. Its colour reddish, with 

 white lines on the side of the abdomen. The 

 farmer will find the following an excellent 

 receipt for a sheep-dipping wash, by which 

 they are readily destroyed: a Ib. of powder- 

 ed white arsenic, 4 Ibs. of soft soap. Boil 

 these for a quarter of an hour, or until the ar- 

 senic is dissolved, in five gallons of water. 

 Add this to the water sufficient to dip fifty 

 sheep. The quantity of arsenic usually re- 

 commended is too large. See TICKS. 



VI. Insects which injure Bees. There are seve- 

 ral insects which injure bees, such as a para- 

 site bee-louse, which is about the size of a flea, 

 has no eyes, but the rudiments of four feelers. 

 They tenant chiefly populous hives : sometimes 

 two or three are found on a bee. These para- 

 sites disturb and annoy even the queen bee. 

 " A bee," says M. Kollar, " infested with a bee- 

 louse, endeavours, but to no purpose, to get rid 

 of such an unwished-for guest, till 'at last she 

 creeps under a number of other bees, and rubs 

 off the louse from her back, when it imme- 

 diately betakes itself to the back of another bee. 

 That the presence of this parasite causes pain 

 to the bee, is apparent from the restlessness 

 with which she runs out at the hole and back 

 again. The queen is also disturbed in her em- 

 ployment of egg-laying, when she is infested by 

 them, so that the hive suffers in another way 

 by impoverishment. It may even happen that 

 when many of these parasites infest a queen, 

 she must eventually perish. In winter the in- 

 fected bees usually fall to the floor, and perish 

 with cold and hunger." Spiders also destroy 

 bees, but only in their nets. Then there is the 

 caterpillar of the honeycomb-moth, whose ra- 

 vages are very considerable, when once they 

 find their way into a hive. They devour only 

 the wax. Three hundred have been found in 

 a hive, and there are two generations of these 

 caterpillars in a year. Ants also are very fond 

 of honey, and find their way into hives. Wasps 

 very frequently do the same. Bees even rob 

 each other's hives. 



VII. The Insects which injure Grain. These 

 are numerous: the chief of them are the larvae 

 which feed on the green leaves and roots of 

 grain. On these the blackbirds, crows, and 

 other useful birds feed very copiously. The 

 barley-midge (Tipula cerealis) attacks the bar- 

 ley and spelt plants. 



VIII. Insects which injure Meadows. This is 

 also a very numerous class. "Most of the in- 

 sects that choose the various sorts of corn for 

 their food," says M. Kollar, "do not reject the 

 other sorts of grasses, in the meadows. The 

 herbage of the meadows has also often pecu- 

 liar enemies, which are very difficult to find 

 out and destroy. In most cases the meadows 

 suffer from the roots of the grass plants being 

 injured, which is chiefly occasioned by the 

 larvae of various species of cockchafers, living 



