43 



to the top of it, covers its broad flat head with sand, and waits. By-and-bye some poor 

 innocent, taking the air, steps upon the living door of the deadly oubliette. Down goes 

 the larva instanter, and down goes its prey ; and what transpires when they reach the 

 bottom must be left to the imagination. 



The perfect insect is as voracious as the larva, but it hunts down its victims in the 

 face of day and often has to do battle for the prize. I have in my cabinet a specimen of 

 ■C. vulgaris which has a peculiar lump upon one of its front legs. That lump is an 

 honourable distinction. It is the head of a large ant {F. Pennsylvanica) slain in single 

 combat — the whole head. How much more complete a decoration than the necklace of 

 the teeth of his slaughtered foes, which the South Sea Islander used to wear, is this ! 

 On that fatal day — the day of the combat — the beetle and the ant set out from their 

 respective abodes, each with courage high and appetite keen. Both were distinguished 

 warriors, and 



" When Greek meets Greek, the tug of war begins." 



They met, and, as the Yankees say, " went for one another." The ant seized the beetle 

 by the leg, but that was enclosed in armour of proof. The beetle seized the ant by the 

 neck — a smaller neck than poor Ann Boleyn's ; no wonder the head came off ! But those 

 determined jaws held nn grimly in death. No effort of the conqueror could relax them 

 and by no effort could he reach the head to bite it away ; and so he carried it about with 

 him as a trophy of victory. 



THE HESSIAN FLY. 



BY JAMES FLETCHER, OTTAWA. 



The above is the title of an admirable pamphlet just issued by Miss Ormerod, Con- 

 sulting Entomologist to the Boyal Agricultural Society of England, and adds one more 

 to the many boons for which the agricultural classes in England are indebted to this 

 talented lady. Although all the information published is contained in twenty-one of the 

 small pages of a crown octavo pamphlet, so methodical is the arrangement and so concise 

 are the statements, that it may be said to contain all that it is important for the farmer to 

 know of what has been positively ascertained concerning the habits of this destructive 

 insect, and the most approved remedies for keeping it in check. With Miss Ormerod's 

 pamphlet he can, in a few minutes, learn from her excellent illustrations whether an attack 

 upon his crop should be ascribed to the Hessian fly or not, and if so he will also find 

 himself provided with advice as to the best steps to take to limit the injury to the smallest 

 possible amount. 



Immediately upon the first appeai'ance of the Hessian fly in England, Miss Ormerod, 

 with characteristic promptness, visited the fields attacked and at once identified the 

 marauder. That there should be no mistake in the matter, she referred specimens to the 

 highest authorities, and amongst others to our ex-President Prof. Saunders. All of these 

 agreed with her that it was the true Hessian Ely. She then lost no time in writing to 

 the newspapers, and in describing how the attack might be recognised. In a few weeks 

 she had examined all the literature on the subject, and had accumulated a vast amount of 

 information as to the extent of the injury committed ; so that before the winter set in she 

 was able to give the farmers good practical advice as to the best means of stamping out 

 the new enemy. This she has now consolidated into the useful report under consideration. 

 We have first a short historical sketch of the fly as an injurious insect ; then ash estimate 

 of the injury caused during the past season in England and Scotland, which was consider- 

 able. In one English and three Scotch localities, the loss was calculated to be several 

 bushels to the acre. The appearance of the attacked crops is described in a plain, intelli- 

 gible manner, together with the insect in its different stages, from the egg to the perfect 

 insect, and an abstract is given of its life-history. The important question, " Where does 

 the Hessian fly come from 1 ?" is then discussed. This treats of the different means by 



