This, I imagine, is the queen,* or female wasp, the mother of the future swarm. MARKWICK. ESTRUS 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. WHITE. 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. WHITE. Is not this insect the œstrus nasalis of Linnæus, so well described by Mr. Clark, in the third volume of the Linnæan Transactions, under the name of astrus veterinus? MARKWICK. 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 backwards, 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 soon as the eggs were hatched, the carcase would afford ready food for the maggots. * In Mr. White's MSS., he mentions that he used to give a reward to boys who brought him these female wasps in the spring, knowing that each of them would be the parent of a new colony.-ED. 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. WHITE. In my Naturalist's Calendar for 1795, July 21st, I 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 chrysales 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 to mankind in reducing the number of noxious insects, by depositing their eggs in the soft bodies of their larvæ; but none more remarkable than that of the ichneumon tipula, which pierces the tender body and deposits its eggs in the larva of the tipula tritici, an insect which, when it abounds greatly, is very prejudicial to the grains of wheat. This operation I have frequently seen it perform with wonder and delight. MARKWICK. BOMBYLIUS MEDIUS.-The bombylius medius is much about in March and the beginning of April, and soon seems to retire. It is a hairy insect, like a humble-bee, but with only two wings, and a long straight beak, with which it sucks the early flowers. The female seems to lay its eggs as it poises on its wings, by striking its tail on the ground, and against the grass that stands in its way, in a quick manner, for several times together. WHITE. I have often seen this insect fly with great velocity, stop on a sudden, hang in the air in a stationary position for some time, and then fly off again; but do not recollect having ever seen it strike its tail agaiust the ground, or any other substance. MARKWICK. MUSCA (FLIES.)*—In the decline of the year, when the * Three species of English house-flies have now been introduced into mornings and evenings become chilly, many species of flies (musca) retire into houses, and swarm in the windows. At first they are very brisk and alert; but, as they grow more torpid, one cannot help observing that they move with difficulty, and are scarce able to lift their legs, which seem as if glued to the glass; and, by degrees, many do actually stick on till they die in the place. It has been observed that divers flies, besides their sharp hooked nails, have also skinny palms or flaps to their feet whereby they are enabled to stick on glass and other smooth bodies, and to walk on ceilings with their backs downward, by means of the pressure of the atmosphere on those flaps ; the weight of which they easily overcome in warm weather, when they are brisk and alert. But, in the decline of the year, this resistance becomes too mighty for their diminished strength; and we see flies labouring along, and lugging their feet in windows, as if they stuck fast to the glass, and it is with the utmost difficulty they can draw one foot after another, and disengage their hollow caps from the slippery surface. Upon the same principle that flies stick and support themselves, do boys, by way of play, carry heavy weights by only a piece of wet leather, at the end of a string, clapped close on the surface of a stone. WHITE. TIPULÆ, OR EMPEDES.-May.-Millions of empedes, or tipula, come forth at the close of day, and swarm to such a degree as to fill the air. At this juncture they sport and copulate; as it grows more dark, they retire. All day they hide in the hedges. As they rise in a cloud, they appear like smoke. I do not ever remember to have seen such swarms, except in the fens of the Isle of Ely. They appear most over grass grounds. WHITE. APHIDES.-On the first of August, about half an hour after three in the afternoon, the people of Selborne were Australia, where they promise soon to be a complete pest. Nature does not appear to have made any provision to guard against this great increase of insects by means of insectivorous birds.-ED. surprised by a shower of aphides, which fell in these parts. They who were walking the streets at that time, found themselves covered with these insects, which settled also on the trees and gardens, and blackened all the vegetables where they alighted. These armies, no doubt, were then in a state of emigration, and shifting their quarters; and might, perhaps, come from the great hop plantations of Kent or Sussex, the wind being that day at north. They were observed at the same time at Farnham, and all along the Vale at Alton. WHITE. ANTS.* August 23.-Every ant-hill, about this time, is in a strange hurry and confusion; and all the winged ants, agitated by some violent impulse, are leaving their homes, and, bent on emigration, swarm by myriads in the air, to the great emolument of the hirudines, which fare luxuriously. Those that escape the swallows, return no more to their nests, but, looking out for fresh settlements, lay a foundation for future colonies. All the females at this time are pregnant; the males that escape being eaten, wander away and die. October 2.-Flying ants, male and female, usually swarm and migrate on hot sunny days in August and September; but this day a vast emigration took place in my garden, and myriads came forth, in appearance, from the drain which goes under the fruit wall; filling the air and the adjoining trees and shrubs with their numbers. The females were full of eggs. This late swarming is probably owing to the backward wet season. The day following, not one flying ant was to be seen. Horse ants travel home to their nests laden with flies, which they have caught, and the aurelia of smaller ants, which they seize by violence. WHITE. In my Naturalist's Calendar for the year 1777, on * Mr. White in his unpublished MSS., states that "a colony of black ants comes forth every Midsummer from under my staircase, which stands in the middle of my house; and as soon as the males and females (which fill all the windows and rooms) are flown away, the workers retire under the stairs, and are seen no more. It does not appear how this nest can have any communication with the garden and yard; and if not, how can these ants subsist in perpetual darkness and confinement ?"-ED. September 6th, I find the following note to the article, Flying Ants: I saw a prodigious swarm of these ants flying about the top of some tall elm trees close by my house: some were continually dropping to the ground as if from the trees, and others rising up from the ground: many of them were joined together in copulation: and I imagine their life is but short; for as soon as produced from the egg by the heat of the sun, they propagate their species, and soon after perish. They were black, somewhat like the small black ant, and had four wings. I saw, also, at another place, a large sort, which were yellowish. On the 8th of September, 1785, I again observed the same circumstance of a vast number of these insects flying near the tops of the elms, and dropping to the ground. On the 2nd of March, 1777, I saw great numbers of ants come out of the ground. MARKWICK. GLOW-WORMS. By observing two glow-worms, which were brought from the field to the bank in the garden, it appeared to us that these little creatures put out their lamps between eleven and twelve, and shine no more for the rest of the night. Male glow-worms, attracted by the light of the candles, come into the parlour. WHITE. EARTH-WORMS.-Earth-worms make their casts most in mild weather, about March and April; they do not lie torpid in winter, but come forth when there is no frost; they travel about in rainy nights, as appears from their sinuous tracks on the soft muddy soil, perhaps in search of food. When earth-worms lie out a-nights on the turf, though they extend their bodies a great way, they do not quite leave their holes, but keep the ends of their tails fixed therein, so that, on the least alarm, they can retire with precipitation under the earth.* Whatever food falls within their reach * I have observed the same fact with respect to eels in Windermere lake, Westmoreland. On a perfectly calm day, while in a boat, I have seen eels, with the ends of their tails remaining in their holes, slide back into them, like earth-worms, on being disturbed.--ED, |
