78 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



considered its range. Like the last, it ought to 

 be taken by every beginner. 



HiBERNlA leucophearia, the Spring Usher, 

 occasionally emerges at the end of the month. 

 It is most abundant during February and March. 

 Though said to be common everywhere, the 

 writer does not know of its occurrence in the more 

 northerly counties of England, with which he is 

 most familiar, Durham and Northumberland. He 

 has not met with it there during more than twenty 

 years collecting, nor does he knew of any one else 

 who has. Further south it is undoubtedly common 

 enough for all to take it in their first season. 



A long list of hybernated insects that have been 

 met with in January might be compiled, but these 

 will come under their proper heads later on. 



UNAPPRECIATED INSECTS. 



(Concluded from T'age 71.) 



The next insect to which I will refer is the ear- 

 wig, and people seem afraid of them because they 

 think they crawl into peoples' ears. They do no 

 such thing ; their name ought to be earicing, be- 

 cause their wing is shaped like an ear. Many 

 people seem horribly afraid of the forceps which 

 the earwig has at the end of its body, they seem 

 to thi ik that these forceps were given to it for the 

 express purpose of pinching human beings, but 

 there is another use for them, and that is for 

 folding the enormous wings which are concealed 

 under the little wing cases. I believe I was one 

 of the first to discover that use. Most insects die 

 as soon as they have deposited their eggs, and their j 

 progeny never see their parents, but with the ear- : 

 wig the case is different. She places her eggs be- 1 

 tween her legs under the thorax and sits upon 

 them until they are hatched, after which she takes 

 care of her young until they are sufficiently grown 

 to be able to take care of themselves. As to the 

 harm the earwig does, it certainly does a little to 

 the flowers of the florist, but if nothing else, I hope 

 by what I have said to have induced you at any 

 rate to admire the exquisite beauty of the creature's ' 

 wings. 



Another insect not sufficiently appreciated is the I 

 ladybird, there are many kinds of them, but most i 

 are red with black spots, and are of extreme value 



to us. You know that at certain times of the yea 

 the rose trees become lousy by what is common! 

 called "green blight." It would not matter s 

 I much for the rose trees, but the hops in the ho; 

 j gardens of Kent become infested sometimes to sugI 

 an extent that if it were not for those ladybird 

 j there would not be a hop on the ground. I hav! 

 ■ seen the coast about Margate literally covered wit 

 them. The larvae of these ladybirds, and the lady 

 birds themselves, devour these plant lice and ar! 

 of great service to mankind. The larva of th 

 lace- winged fly — called the aphis-lion — perform 

 a similar work, devouring an aphis about ever 

 two minutes. 



There is another insect which certainly is nc 

 i appreciated, and that is the gnat. But we are tot' 

 apt to consider ourselves only, and if an insect 9 

 of no direct benefit to us, we are accustomed t ; 

 think it of no use at all. The gnat passes a grea 

 portion of its life in water, it lays its egg on thesurj 

 face, if laid singly they would sink to to the bottoir 

 but the gnat glues them togetherandformsthemint 

 a boat, which floats upon the surface of the water 

 It cannot be sunk, as it is formed on the principl 

 of our life boats, or rather the life boat is form® 

 on the principle of the gnat's eggs. I never kneVj 

 a human invention that was not anticipated i 

 nature, the thing is there daily before our eyes: 

 only we are too stupid to see it. If you want tj 

 see the9e eggs, you can do so very easily. Ne> 

 summer go to any]stagnant pool — if there be one-; 

 and you will find them floating on the surface; 

 When the egg hatches it produces a very curiou; 



Fig. 34. — Larva of Gnat, 

 larva. It may be seen with its tail jus 

 at the surface of the water. It has two air tube 

 which run along the sides of the body, and whic 



