MO NATURAL HISTORY OF 
And a strict love of fellowship combined. 
What other spirit can it be that prompts 
The gilded summer flies to mix and weave 
Their sports together in the solar beam, 
Or in the gloom and twilight hum their joy ? 
These insects are not numerous in Britain, the 
registered species not exceeding eight, and it is 
probable that at least two of these are merely va- 
rieties. The most common in this country, as well 
as throughout the middle and northern parts of 
Europe, is 
GYRINUS NATATOR. 
PLATE IY. Fig. 2. 
Linn. — Fabricius — De Geer , Insect, iv. xiii. 4, 19. 
This species, of which we have given a greatly 
enlarged representation to show the form of the 
legs, is nearly three lines long, of an ovate form, 
blue black, with a metallic lustre, and highly re- 
splendent. The thorax is marked with three trans- 
verse lines on each side, of which the anterior one 
is punctured and runs parallel with the margin, the 
second is continued across the disk, and the poste- 
rior one abbreviated and bent forward. The scu- 
tellum is triangular, narrow, and elongate. The 
elytra are rather convex, the margin turned in at 
the sides and of a yellowish colour beneath, and the 
