INTRODUCTION. 
7 
Passing to the insect world, we may well be astonished 
at the number of species to which Shakespeare has alluded. 
Although the same attention has not been given to the 
insects as to the birds, the following have, nevertheless, 
been noted. Many others, doubtless, have been overlooked. 
The Beetle ( Macbeth , Act iii. Sc. 2 ; King Lear , Act iv. 
Sc. 6; Measure for Measure , Act iii. Sc. i). The Grass¬ 
hopper (Romeo and Juliet , Act i. Sc. 4). The Cricket, 
( Pericles , Act iii. Introduction; Winter's Tale , Act ii. 
Sc. 1 ; Romeo and Jidiet , Act i. Sc. 4 ; Cymbeline , Act ii. 
Sc. 2). The Glowworm ( Hamlet , Act i. Sc. 5) ; and the 
Caterpillar (Richard II. Act ii. Sc. 4 ; Henry VI. 
Part II. Act iii. Sc. 1 ; Twelfth Night , Act ii. Sc. 1 ; 
Romeo and Juliet, Act. i. Sc. 1). The Butterfly (Troilus 
and Cressida , Act iii. Sc. 3 ; Midsummer Night's Dream , 
Act iii. Sc. 1) ; and Moth (Merchant of Venice , Act ii. 
Sc. 9 ; King John , Act iv. Sc. 1), The House-fly (Titus 
Andronicus , Act iii. Sc. 2). The small Gilded-fly {King 
Lear , Act iv. Sc. 6). The Blow-fly {Love's Labour's Lost , 
Act v. Sc. 2 ; Tempest , Act iii. Sc. 1) ; and the Gad-fly, 
or Brize {Troilus and Cressida , Act i. Sc. 3). The Grey- 
coated Gnat {Romeo and Jidiet , Act i. Sc. 4; Comedy of 
Errors , Act ii. Sc. 2 ; the Wasp {Taming of the Shrew , 
Act ii. Sc. 1 ; Two Gentlemen of Verona , Act i. Sc. 2 ; 
Henry VIII. Act iii. Sc. 2) ; the Drone {Henry V. Act i. 
Sc. 2); and the Honey-bee (numerous passages). 
To three only of these shall we direct further attention : 
D 
