322 
LANTERN FLY. 
the following account of her surprise when first she 
saw their flashing light : 
“ The Indians once brought me, before I knew 
that they shone by night, a number of these lan- 
tern flies, which I shut up in a large wooden box. 
In the night they made such a noise that I awoke 
in a fright, and ordered a light to be brought ; not 
knowing from whence the noise proceeded. As 
soon as we found that it came from the box, we 
opened it ; but were still much more alarmed, and 
let it fall to the ground in a fright, at seeing a 
flame of fire come out of it ; and £s many animals 
as came out, so many flames of fire appeared. When 
we found this to be the case, we recovered from our 
fright, and again collected the insects, highly ad- 
miring their splendid appearance.” 
This beautiful insect inhabits Surinam and many 
other parts of South America, where its vivid light is 
serviceable to travellers ; three or four of them, tied 
to the end of a stick, being frequently used by 
night instead of a torch. It is from the large hood 
or lantern, which projects from the body of this 
fly, that the radiant light is emitted, and we may 
judge of its splendour when we are assured by Ma- 
dam Merian that one of them is sufficient to read a 
common newspaper by. 
The lantern fly is of large size, sometimes mea- 
suring nearly four inches in length and five inches 
across the wings, when they are expanded. The 
most remarkable part about it is the head, which 
