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the tree, which is rolled round it, and secured at the ends by a web, to prevent the maggot from falling out.*

EPHEMERA CAUDA BISETA, (MAY FLY.)-June 10, 1771.Myriads of May flies appeared, for the first time, on the Alresford stream. The air was crowded with them, and the surface of the water covered. Large trouts sucked them in as they lay struggling on the surface of the stream, unable to rise till their wings were dried.

This appearance reconciled me, in some measure, to the wonderful account that Scopoli gives of the quantities emerging from the rivers of Carniola. Their motions are very peculiar, up and down for many yards almost in a perpendicular line. †

* I suspect that the insect here meant, is not the phalana quercus, but the phalana viridata, concerning which, I find the following note in my Naturalist's Calendar for the year 1785:

About this time, and for a few days last past, I observed the leaves of almost all the oak trees in Denn copse, to be eaten and destroyed, and, on examining more narrowly, saw an infinite number of small beautiful pale green moths flying about the trees; the leaves of which, that were not quite destroyed, were curled up, and withinside were the exuvia, or remains, of the chrysalis, from whence I suppose the moths had issued, and whose caterpillar had eaten the leaves.-MARKWICK.

I once saw a swarm of these insects playing up and down over the surface of a pond in Denn Park, exactly in the manner described by this accurate naturalist. It was late in the evening of a warm summer day when I observed them.-MARKWICK.

bloom of the honeysuckle; it scarcely settles upon the plants, but feeds on the wing, in the manner of humming birds.*

WILD BEE.-There is a sort of wild bee frequenting the garden-campion for the sake of its tomentum, which probably it turns to some purpose in the business of nidification. It is very pleasant to see with what address it strips off the pubes, running from the top to the bottom of a branch, and shaving it bare with all the dexterity of a hoop shaver. When it has got a vast bundle, almost as large as itself, it flies away, holding it secure between its chin and its fore legs.

There is a remarkable hill on the downs near Lewes, in Sussex, known by the name of Mount Carburn, which overlooks that town, and affords a most engaging prospect of all the country round, besides several views of the sea. On the very summit of this exalted promontory, and amidst the trenches of its Danish camp, there haunts a species of wild bee, making its nest in the chalky soil. When people approach the place, these insects begin to be alarmed, and, with a sharp and hostile sound, dash and strike round the heads and faces of intruders. I have often been interrupted myself while contemplating the grandeur of the scenery around me, and have thought myself in danger of being stung.

WASPS.-Wasps abound in woody wild districts, far from neighbourhoods: they feed on flowers, and catch flies and caterpillars to carry to their young. Wasps make their nests with the raspings of sound timber; hornets, with what they

* I have frequently seen the large bee moth, (sphinx stellatarum,) inserting its long tongue, or proboscis, into the centre of flowers, and feeding on their nectar, without settling on them, but keeping constantly on the wing.-MARKWICK.

gnaw from decayed: these particles of wood are kneaded up with a mixture of saliva from their bodies, and moulded into combs.

When there is no fruit in the gardens, wasps eat flies, and suck the honey from flowers, from ivy blossoms, and umbellated plants: they carry off also flesh from butchers' shambles.*

CESTRUS CURVICAUDA.. - This insect lays its nits, or eggs, on horses' legs, flanks, &c. each on a single hair. The maggots, when hatched, do not enter the horses' skins, but fall to the ground. It seems to abound most in moist, moorish places, though sometimes seen in the uplands. †

NOSE FLY.-About the beginning of July, a species of fly (musca) obtains, which proves very tormenting to horses, trying still to enter their nostrils and ears, and actually laying their eggs in the latter of those organs, or perhaps in both. When these abound, horses in woodland districts become very impatient at their work, continually tossing their heads, and rubbing their noses on each other, regardless of the driver; so that accidents often ensue. In the heat of the day, men are often obliged to desist from ploughing. Saddle-horses are also very troublesome at such seasons. Country people call this insect the nose fly.‡

ICHNEUMON FLY.-I saw lately a small ichneumon fly attack a spider much larger than itself, on a grass walk. When the spider made any resistance, the ichneumon applied her tail to him, and stung him with great vehemence, so that he soon became dead and motionless. The ichneumon then

running backward, drew her prey very nimbly over the walk into the standing grass. This spider would be deposited in some hole, where the ichneumon would lay some eggs; and as

In the year 1775, wasps abounded so prodigiously in this neighbourhood, that, in the month of August, no less than seven or eight of their nests were ploughed up in one field; of which there were several instances, as I was informed.

In the spring, about the beginning of April, a single wasp is sometimes seen, which is of a larger size than usual: this, I imagine, is the queen, or female wasp, the mother of the future swarm.-MARKWICK.

The Estrus hominis, or human gadfly, is a native of the West India Islands, and deposits its eggs in the human skin, where they change to the maggot state, and occasion great pain; so many as two hundred and thirty-five have been known to be propagated in the flesh of an individual. Professor Jameson's Journal for April, 1830, records some curious cases of this kind.-ED.

Is not this insect the astrus nasalis of Linnæus, so well described by Mr Clark, in the third volume of the Linnaan Transactions, under the name of œstrus veterinus ?-MARKWICK.

soon as the eggs were hatched, the carcass would afford ready food for the maggots. *

*The eggs of insects are liable to great variety of forms, and external markings: they are seldom oval, like those of birds.

Some are

figured on one side, and plain on the other. The following are examples of a few of these forms:

3

No. 1. is an egg of the speckled wood butterfly, (hipparchia ægeria.) 2. the small tortoise-shell butterfly.-3. the large tortoise-shell butterfly.

4. Angle shades moth.-5. Lackey moth.-6. Cabbage butterfly. Nature is no less fanciful in the strange freaks which she exhibits, in many of the caterpillars of insects; among these may be noticed the following figure, the lobster caterpillar, (stauropus fagi, of Germar.)

Perhaps some eggs might be injected into the body of the spider, in the act of stinging. Some ichneumons deposit their eggs in the aurelia of moths and butterflies.*

This singular animal is of a rich orange colour; and has frequently caused great alarm amongst the ignorant and superstitious, from the preying attitude which it assumes. The habitations of some moths display great ingenuity: and in the preparation of these, the animals manifest much intuitive foresight. The goat moth (cossus ligniperda) excavates for itself a hollow in a tree, fit for its reception. The following is a figure of a winter nest of one of these, formed of a fabric, consisting of the raspings of a tree, united with strong silk:

Many of the insect tribe are subject to great diversity of shape in the male and female; and in some instances are so unlike, that they might well pass for distinct species. We offer the following as not much diversified examples of this :

1. Female vapourer moth.

2. The male ditto.- ED. * In my Naturalist's Calendar for 1795, July 21st, 1 find the following note:

It is not uncommon for some of the species of ichneumon flies to deposit their eggs in the chrysalis of a butterfly. Some time ago, I put two of the chrysalis of a butterfly into a box, and covered it with gauze, to discover what species of butterfly they would produce; but instead of a butterfly, one of them produced a number of small ichneumon flies.

There are many instances of the great service these little insects are of to mankind in reducing the number of noxious insects, by depositing their eggs in the soft bodies of their larva; but none more remarkable than that of the ichneumon tipula, which pierces the tender body, and deposits