INDIRECT BENEFITS DERIVED FROM INSECTS. 283 



a quarter and half-past eight : towards nine they begin 

 to fill the air ; in the following hall-hour they are in the 

 greatest numbers ; and at ten there are scarcely any to 

 be seen. So that in less than two hours this infinite host 

 of flies emerge from their parent stream, fill the air, per- 

 form their appointed work, and vanish. A very large 

 proportion of them falls into the river, when the fish have 

 their grand festival and the fishermen a good harvest a . 



Under this head I may observe how much the patient 

 angler is indebted to insects for some of his choicest 

 baits, for the best opportunities of showing his skill, and 

 for the most gratifying part of his diversion. The case- 

 worm and several other larvae are the best standing bait 

 for many fish. The larva of the Ephemera, there called 

 bait and bank-bait b , is much used in some parts of Hol- 

 land. The case-worms, and grubs (I suppose of flies) 

 from the tallow-chandlers are in request with us for 

 roach and dace ; and I am told by an acute observer of 

 these things, the Rev. R. Sheppard, that the larger Sca- 

 rabsei and Melolonthae are good baits for chub c . But 

 to be an adept in fly-fishing, which requires the most 

 skill and furnishes the best diversion, the angler ought 

 to be conversant in Entomology, at least sufficiently so 

 to distinguish the different species of Phryganea, and to 

 know the time of their appearance. — The angler is not 



a Reaum. vi. 4/9-487. 



b Swamm. Bib. Nat. i. c. 4. 106. b. 



c In Col. Venable's Experienced Angler, a vast number of insects 

 are enumerated as good baits for fish, under the names of Bob, Cad- 

 bait, Cankers, Caterpillars, Palmers, Gentles, Bark-worms, Oak-worms, 

 Colewort-worms, Flag-worms, Green-flics, Ant-flies, Butterflies, Wasps, 

 Hornets, Bees, Humble-bees, Grasshoppers, Dors, Beetles, a great 

 brownfiy that lives upon the oak like a Scarabce—(Mclolontha vul- 

 garis or solstitiajis ?) and flies (i. e. may-flies) of various sorts. 



