376 INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS. 



the water, though not in consequence of having been 

 burned.'* 



It is conjectured by Kirby and Spence, that 

 Reaumur, though he was unquestionably a most 

 accurate observer, may have mistaken the rapid 

 movements of single flies, and the deception of vision 

 thence arising, for a numerous troop, following one 

 another in zoned circular lines, — a mistake which 

 they were once upon the point of committing when 

 observing the dances of certain small flies which 

 moved in spirals; closer observation, however, proved 

 that what appeared to be a continuous line of flies, 

 was produced by the rapid motion of an individual. 

 Be this as it may, it will not alter the singularity of 

 the spectacle. Some of our British ephemerae begin 

 their dances with the dawn, instead of waiting till 

 sun-set, — rising and falling continually over the 

 meadows in May, sometimes beating the air rapidly 

 with their wings, and sometimes skimming about hke 

 hawks, t Those again which we observed in August, 

 rising from the Rhine, did not dance at all, but flew 

 in a heavy, unsteady, and lumbering manner above 

 the current of the river. J 



In speaking of what appear to be the sports of 

 insects, we cannot omit taking notice of the very 

 singular proceedings of some species of ants, which, 

 at the intervals of busy industry, amuse themselves 

 with something apparently analogous to our wrest- 

 ling and racing matches. Bonnet says, he observed 

 a small species of ants, which employed themselves 

 in carrying each other on their backs, the rider hold- 

 ing with his mandibles the neck of his bearer, and 

 embracing it closely with his legs,^ the position 



* Reaumur, Mem. vol. vi, p. 485. 



t Kirby and Spence, vol. ii. p. 373. i J. R. 



§ Bonnet, CEuvres, vol. ii, p. 407. 



