24 



BENEFITS CONFERRED BY INSECTS. 



tain, will destroy three thousand three hundred and 

 sixty caterpillars in a week. 



To fishes they are of equal importance, as I had 

 myself on one occasion an opportunity of obsening, 

 at Lough Beg, a small lake through which the river 

 Bann flows in its course to the sea. As we were 

 crossing in a boat from the main land to Church Island, 

 the spot where the celebrated Jeremy Taylor penned 

 many of his most eloquent productions, a sudden 

 gust of wind arose, accompanied by heavy rain, and 

 precipitated into the water multitudes of the day- 

 fly {Ephemera vulgata), which had been sporting over 



Larva, Pupa, and Imago of Ephemera vulgata. 



the lake. So great was their number, that as we 

 rowed rapidly forward, we could not, for the space 

 of fifteen minutes, during which we were every 

 instant changing our position, discover two square 



