25S 



THE AMERICAN 



the day, hovering, humming-bir'd-fasliion, over 

 verbenas and otlier flowers. The larva feeds 

 upon purslane, turnip, buckwheat, watermelon, 

 and even apple leaves, upon any of which it may 

 be found in the month of July. It descends into 

 the ground and, within a smooth cavity, clianges 

 to a liglit brown chrysalis, from wliicli the moth 

 emerges during the montli (irSciilciiilirr. 



The most common furm nl' llii- l;ir\a is that 

 given at Figure 1G3; its culdi- i> \ cllnwisli-grecn, 

 with a iirciiiiiicnl subdorsal row of elliptical 

 spots, each ~\«>i lon-i-ting of two curved black 

 lines, onrliisiiiL: >ii]H'i-i(irly a bright crimson space, 

 and interiorly a pale yellow line — the whole row 

 of spots connected by a pale yellow stripe, edged 

 above with black. In some specimens these 

 eye-like spots are disconnected, and the space 

 between the black crescents is of a uniform 

 cream-yellow. The breathing-holes arc either 

 surrounded with black, or with black edged with 

 yellow. The other form is black, and character- 



[Fig. IBt ] 



Tliis is a noble burst of entomological enthu- 

 siasm ; but let us pause here for a moment and 

 make a few calculations as to the probability of 

 a consummation so devoutly (o be wished ever 

 being achieved. It is usually estimated that in 

 the whole extent of this terrestrial globe, there, 

 exist about half a million distinct species of 

 insects. We strongly incline to believe that, 

 even if we double this number, we shall still be 

 rather under than above the correct estimate. 

 Nevertheless, to be on the sale side— lor wc 

 iilways dislike to overstate a case — wcaxIII inn- 

 sider the customary estimate as a toI(>nilily near 

 approximation to the truth. Let us suppose 

 now that Mr. Lintner's idea is about to be car- 

 ried into practical eflect, and let us ask ourselves 

 the following three questions : 



1st. How much space upon our booksliclvcs 

 will a work occupy, which describes and tigurcs 



every insect 

 stages? 



in till 



pach of its lour 



ized chiefly by a yellow line along the back, and 

 a series of pale yrllow s|ioN and darker yellow 

 dots, as represented ill our illustration (Fig. 1G4). 

 Even this dark form is subject to great variation, 

 some specimens entirely lacking the line along 

 the back, and having the spots of different shape. 

 Tliis insect has a wide range, as it occurs in 

 the West Indies, Mexico and Canada, as well as 

 throughout the United States. Feeding as it 

 does principally on plants of but little value, and 

 being very commonly attacked by the larva of a 

 Tachina-fly, this insect has never become suffi- 

 ciently common to be classed as injurious. 



DESCRIPTIVE ENTOMOLOGY. 



In a paper on the larval history of certain 

 moths, from the pen of that earnest entomolo- 

 gist, J. A. Lintner, of Albany, N. Y., the fol- 

 lowing passage occurs: 



Every iaillil'iil stiidnit will wclri.iiii' cai-li ron- 

 tributioii. liowivci- trivial, whirh shall lia-lcn 

 the dav whrii ol' ca.-li inso-l lh.> rui;. the larva, 

 the pupa, and I lie iiiia,-,.. or i„.||r,-i form, shall 

 all be known. dcs.rilKMl and liiiurcd, and the 



callv miuulc it may be, shall be a triumph.* 



' Proc. Eut Sue. 1*1 



2nd. How much time will 

 it take to write such a work, 

 and how much to execute 

 the icquisite drawings? 



.id What will be the cost, 

 111 dollaisaud cents, of print- 

 ing, saj 10,000 copies of such 

 a work, and of executing 

 the requisite colored draw- 

 ings and colored engravings to illustrate half a 

 million insects in their four di-iinri .|;io,.sy 



Suppose we consider these three iiueslious in 

 the order in which they stand, numbering the 

 answer to each, so as to correspond with the 

 question itself. 



1st. It will be allowed by every one, who has 

 had much experience in such matters, that the 

 four stages of an average insect cannot be accu- 

 rately and salisfaelorily described in less than 

 one octavo pa.^c of ordinary brevier or bourgeois 

 type. We should be incUned to double this 

 estimate, but we are determined not to overstate 

 the case. The illustrations of an insect in its 

 four stages — considering that there are many 

 insects so large in the perfect or winged state 

 as to cover the whole surface of an octavo page, 

 and considering further, that even such as are 

 exceedingly small must be considerably magni- 

 fied by the artist, in order that the drawing may 

 be worth anytliing at all— will certainly occupy 

 one-fourth of an octavo page. Thus, as an aver- 

 age insect will occupy I i octavo pages, it results 

 that, to describe and illustrate 500 insects will 

 require G2.5 octavo pages, which i_s about tlie 

 number of pages contained in one stout octavo 

 volume. Moreover, it further follows, that to 



