INTRODUCTOKY LETTER. 



9 



given fins like those of fish, or a beak resembling that of 

 birds ^ ; to others horns, nearly the counterparts of those of 

 various quadrupeds. The bulP, the stag^, the rhinoceros^, 

 and even the hitherto vainly sought for unicorn^, have in this 

 respect many representatives amongst insects. One is armed 

 with tusks not unlike those of the elephant^; another is 

 bristled with spines, as the porcupine and hedge-hog with 

 quills ^ ; a third is an armadillo in miniature ; the dispropor- 

 tioned hind legs of the kangaroo give a most grotesque ap- 

 pearance to a fourth ^ ; and the threatening head of the snake 

 is found in a fifth. ^ It would, however, be endless to produce 

 all the instances which occur of such imitations ; and I shall 

 only remark that, generally speaking, these arms and in- 

 struments in structure and finishing far exceed those which 

 they resemble. 



But further, insects not only mimic, in a manner infinitely 

 various, every thing in nature, they may also with very little 

 violence be regarded as symbolical of beings out of and above 

 nature. The butterfly, adorned with every beauty and every 

 grace, borne by radiant wings through the fields of ether, and 

 extracting nectar from every flower, gives us some idea of the 

 blessed inhabitants of happier worlds, of angels, and of the 

 spirits of the just arrived at their state of perfection. Again, 

 other insects seem emblematical of a different class of un- 

 earthly beings : when we behold some tremendous for the 

 numerous horns and spines projecting in horrid array from 

 their head or shoulders ; — others for their threatening jaws 

 of fearful length, and armed with cruel fangs : when we sur- 

 vey the dismal hue and demoniac air that distinguish others, 

 the dens of darkness in which they live, the impurity of their 

 food, their predatory habits and cruelty, the nets which they 



1 Empis, Asilus. 



2 OntJiophagus Taurus, Curtis, Brit. Ent. t. 52. 



3 Lucanus Cervus. Oryctes. 



5 Dynastes Hercidea. 



6 Andrena spiniyera. Melitta. ** c. K, and especially Dicronocephalus Hard- 

 wickii and Cypho?iocephalus smaragdulus, Westw. Arc. Ent. PI. 33. fig. 2. 



7 Hispa. 



8 ScarabcBus macropus, Francillon. Now ascertained, by the discovery of nu- 

 merous specimens by the French collectors, to be the male of a species of the genus 

 Chrysina K. Mr. W. S. MacLeay informs us that he gave the manuscript 

 name of Eusceles to the group to which it belongs. 



9 Raphidia ophiopsis. 



