354 



HYBERNATION OF INSECTS. 



canus Cervus); and suggests that it is only those insects 

 which exist but a short period as larvae, as most of the tribe 

 of weevils, lady-birds, &c, that survive the winter in the 

 perfect state ; while those which live more than one year in 

 the larva state, as the species just mentioned, are deprived of 

 this privilege. 



Towards the close of autumn the whole insect world, par- 

 ticularly the tribe of beetles, is in motion. A general mi- 

 gration takes place: the various species quit their usual 

 haunts, and betake themselves in search of secure hyber- 

 nacula. Different species, however, do not select precisely 

 the same time for making this change of abode. Thus many 

 lady-birds, field-bugs, and flies are found out of their winter 

 quarters even after the commencement of frost ; while others, 

 as Schmid has remarked, make good their retreat long before 

 any severe cold has been felt ; in fact, I am led to believe, 

 from my own observations, that this is the case with the 

 majority of coleopterous insects ; and that the days which 

 they select for retiring to their hybernacula are some of the 

 warmest days of autumn, when they may be seen in great 

 numbers alighting on walls, rails, pathways, &c, and 

 running into crevices and cracks, evidently in search of some 

 object very different from those which ordinarily guide their 

 movements. I have noticed this assemblage in different 

 years, but more particularly in the autumn of 1816. Walking 

 on the banks of the Humber on the 14th of October about 

 noon, — the day bright, calm, and deliciously mild, Fahren- 

 heit's thermometer 58° in the shade, — my attention was first 

 attracted by the pathways swarming with numerous species 

 of rove-beetles (^Staphylinus, Oxytelus, Aleochara, &c), which 

 kept incessantly alighting, and hurrying about in every di- 

 rection. On further examination I found a similar assem- 

 blage, with the addition of multitudes of other beetles, 

 Halticce, Nitidulce, Rhyncophora, Cryptophagi, &c, on every 

 post and rail in my walk, as well as on a wall in the neigh- 

 bourhood ; and on removing the decaying mortar and bark, 

 I found that some had already taken up their abode in holes, 

 from their situation, with their antennas folded, evidently 

 meant for winter quarters. I am not aware that any author 



