OCTOBER. 249 



On every sunny day the winter through, clouds of insects 

 usually called Gnats, appear sporting and dancing over the 

 tops of the evergreens in the shrubbery. Hence it appears 

 that these Diptera (which, by their sizes, seem to be of 

 different species) are not subject to a torpid state in the 

 winter, as many winged insects are: at night, in frosty 

 weather, and when it rains or blows, they seem to retire into 

 these trees." 



Many of the insects which survive the winter, hybernate, 

 that is, pass the cold season in a state of torpor, and are 

 then ready, with the first warm sunny days in spring, to 

 commence their active labours as founders of a new colony : 

 this is the case with individuals in the Bee, Wasp, and Ant 

 tribes. Even amongst Hive Bees it is supposed that six or 

 seven-eighths are destroyed by the cold of the winter months, 

 in spite of their sheltered habitation, and the greater pro- 

 portion of the insect world are certainly produced fresh every 

 year from eggs deposited by the parent immediately pre- 

 vious to her own death. With regard to the dwellings reared 

 by this portion of created beings, enough has been said to 

 prove that its members are no mean architects : the skill of 

 the Wild Bees and Wasps, the mathematical nicety of the 

 Hive Bee, and the galleried domes of the Ant, all entitle 



