XX 
INTRODUCTION. 
ground light yellow, ftriped oblique-tranfverfely, 
with ftripes of pale celeflial blue, the ends of them 
adorned with little eyes encircled with the fined 
blue and crirnfon, which reprefented a very brilliant 
rofary. But thofe which were the mod numerous 
were as white as [how, their wings large, their ends 
lightly crenated and ciliated, forming a fringed bor- 
der. faintly marked with little black crefcents, their 
points downward, with a cinder of little brilliant 
orbs of blue and crirnfon, on the nether wings near 
the body : the numbers were incredible, and there 
feemed to be Scarcely a dower for each fly, multi- 
tudinous as they were, befides clouds of them hover- 
ing over the mellifluous groves. Befides thefe pa- 
piles, a variety of other infedts come in for a fhare, 
particularly feveral fpecies of bees. 
As I was gathering fpecimens of flowers from the 
Shrubs, I was greatly furprifed at the fudden ap- 
pearance of a remarkably large fpider on a leaf, 
of the genus Araneus faliens : at fight of me he 
boldly faced about, and railed himfelt up, as if ready 
to fpring upon me; his body was about the fize of 
a pigeon’s egg, of a buff colour, which, with his 
legs, were covered with fhort filky hair ; on the top 
of the abdomen was a round red fpot or ocelle en- 
circled with black. After I had recovered from the 
furprife, obferving that the wary hunter had retired 
under cover, I drew near again, and prefently dis- 
covered that I had furprifed him on predatory at- 
tempts againfl the infedt tribes. I was therefore 
determined to watch his proceedings. 1 foon no- 
ticed that the objedl of his wiflies was a large fat 
bomble bee (apis bombylicus), that was vifiting the 
flowers, and piercing their nectariferous tubes : this 
cunning intrepid hunter conducted his fubtil ap- 
proaches with the circumfpedtion and perfeverance 
