Insects. 3773 



though, as before observed, very susceptible of cold, they appear also 

 to be affected by heat ; for in the summer months they were seen to 

 bring forth their pupae, when the oven was heated, from the various 

 apertures in the wall, and place them in a box by the side, in which 

 a supply of provision was always provided for them, and to return 

 with them when the oven was cooled. Myriads of them might in this 

 way be seen heaped together, but a tap on the side of the box caused 

 a general rush towards the objects of their solicitude, which were car- 

 ried off with inconceivable rapidity. The pupae are white, and the 

 whole duty of transporting them devolves upon the males or workers^ 

 of whom each female always has several attendant upon her. Young 

 females are first observed towards the end of January, when the ab- 

 domen begins to be enlarged and of a whitish colour ; they continue 

 to increase in size until June, at which time the females appear to be 

 most numerous. They progress more slowly than the workers, and 

 deposit their eggs as they move along, which are instantly carried off 

 by the attendants. The greatest number of pupae are seen between 

 June and September ; but the eggs (which are white and have the 

 appearance of grains of sand) are carried to and fro during the whole 

 of the summer. Mr. Daniell noticed that skeletons cleaned by the 

 ants were rapidly dissolved in a solution of chloride of lime ; while 

 others prepared by maceration remained for some time in a similar 

 solution without injury, and were much improved in whiteness. 



What has been done for Entomology in Scotland P — A Plan suggested to promote 

 it, and another to assist the Student. — When we loot at the labours of our entomologi- 

 cal brethren in England, and compare the number of votaries of Entomology in that 

 country with those of Scotland, we cannot but feel sorry to see such a great balance 

 against us. But few, and only very few, have lent themselves to the task of investi- 

 gating the wondrous race of insects; yet these few have been very diligent. The gay 

 colours of the butterflies as they have flitted past ; the metallic hues of the beetles as 

 they have crawled across the pathways, or basked themselves in the shade of some 

 overhanging stone ; the humble-bees, which ever as they sip the sweets from the flow- 

 ers, keep up an incessant tune, as if in thanksgiving to the Great Maker of all, who 

 has so abundantly provided for them ; the laborious ants, which have raised a dome 

 so curiously chambered beneath ; the spiders, with their strongly woven webs hung in 

 a thousand alluring ways to entrap poor flies ; the cunning ichneumon, the fop of in- 

 sects, with his keen eye and jaunty manner, as he rambles with wonderful celerity all 

 over the branch on which he has alighted, now giving another and another deadly 

 thrust through the back of some unfortunate caterpillar which he has chanced upon ; 

 — all and any of these may, for the moment, have attracted the attention of the passer 

 by, but this was all : no thought was spent on, inquiry made, or wonder raised, as to 



