22 



INTRODUCTION. 



Aita cephalotes, the visiting ant of the 

 West Indies. 



mates, almost as destructive; 

 and, even in qui- own coun- 

 try, one of the smallest spe- 

 cies of ants {Myrmica unifa- 

 sciata) has increased to such 

 an extent in certain parts of 

 London, and some other 

 tovvTis, devouring all kinds of 

 articles, that the inhabitants 

 have been compelled to quit 

 their abodes. 



Our provisions are also not less liable to the attacks 

 of insects ; bread and flour are devoured by the blattse and 

 meal-worms, and we have seen ship-biscuit swarming to 

 such a degree with the grubs of a species of Anobium as to 

 be worse than useless. The Dermestes feed upon our dried 

 meats. Cheese is attacked by mites, and the cheese-fly, 

 the grubs of which are termed cheese- hoppers, from their 

 singular motions. Our granaries are ravaged by the corn 

 weevil and by the larvae of a species of tinea ; but if we turn 

 our attention to the species of insects which attack such living 

 vegetable productions as are most gratifying to the taste of 

 mankind, we find the catalogue wofully augmented. 



Cheese-fly {Piophila cnsei) . 



I need scarcely mention the locust as being the most 

 redoubtable of our insect enemies in this respect, although. 



