THE COMMON EARWIG.

937

in a little while to deprive them entirely of their verdure. They always prefer the young trees to old ones. When collected in great numbers their odor becomes very disagreeable, and is perceptible even to a considerable distance.

In order to collect these insects, a cloth is extended round the foot of the tree, and they are shaken upon it. They are then taken up, tied in a bag, and killed with the vapors of hot vinegar. After this they are dried in the sun, and placed in boxes for use. The fresher the insects are, the more stimulating is the action of their blistering properties. It is consequently necessary to collect them as shortly as possible after they have attained their perfect state.

OF THE FORFICULA, OR EARWIG TRIBE.

In this tribe the antennæ are bristle-shaped; and the feelers unequal and thread shaped. The wing-cases are half the length of the abdomen, and have the wings folded up under them, somewhat in the manner of a fan. The tail is armed with a forceps.

The Earwigs undergo only a semi-metamorphosis, differing in external appearance very little in the three states

THE COMMON EARWIG.

It may not perhaps be generally known that the Earwig possesses wings which are both large and elegant, and that one of these, when extended, will cover nearly the whole insect. The elytra or wing-cases, are short, and extend not along the whole body, but only over the breast. The wings are concealed beneath these, and are somewhat of an oval shape. There is great elegance in the manner in which the insect folds them beneath its elytra. They are first closed up lengthways from a centre close to the body, like a fan; and afterwards refolded across in two different places, one about the middle of the membrane, and the other at the centre, from which the first folds proceeded. By this means the wing is reduced into a small compass, and proportioned to the size of the case under which it is to lie.

THE EARWIG.

It is a circumstance extremely singular, that, unlike those of most others of the insect tribe, the eggs are hatched and the young Earwigs are fostered by the parent. At the beginning of the month of June, M. de Geer found under a stone a female Earwig, accompanied by many little insects, which evidently appeared to be her own young. They continued close to her, and often placed themselves under her belly, as chickens do under a hen. He put the whole into

a box of fresa earth: they did not enter the earth, but it was pleasing to observe how they thrust themselves under the belly, and between the legs of the mother, who remained very quiet, and suffered them to continue there sometimes for an hour or two together. To feed them this gentleman gave them a piece of a very ripe apple: in an instant the old one ran upon it, and ate with a good appetite; the young-ones also seemed to eat a little, but apparently with much le s relish.

The Earwig, though in its nature extremely harmless, except to fruits and vegetables in our gardens, has become a victim to human cruelty and caprice, originating in a notion that it introduces itself into the ears, and thence penetrates to the brain, and occasions death. It is to be wished that females, who but too commonly lay aside all ideas of tenderness at the very sight of it, would be convinced that the wax and membranes of the ears, are a sufficient defence against all the pretended attacks of the Earwig upon this organ.

Our gardeners have, it is true, some room for complaint. It lives among flowers and frequently destroys them; and, when fruit has been wounded by flies, the Earwigs also generally come in for a share. In the night they may occasionally be seen in amazing numbers upon lettuces and other esculent vegetables, committing those depredations that are often ascribed to snails or slugs. The best mode, therefore, of destroying them, seems to be, to attend the garden now and then in the night, and to seize them while they are feeding.

The bowl of a tobacco-pipe, and the claws of lobsters stuck upon sticks that support flowers, are the usual methods by which they are caught, as, in the day-time, they creep into holes and dark places. Placing hollow reeds behind the twigs of wall-trces, is also a good mode, if they be examined and cleared every morning. But at a midnight visit more may be done in an hour, than by any of the other means in a week.

HEMIPTEROUS INSECTS.

OF THE BLATTA, OR COCK-ROACH TRIBE.

SOME of the species of Blatta, are destitute both of wings and wing-cases. Their larvæ differ but little in their general appearance from the perfect insects. In a pupa state they have, between the thorax and the abdomen, two broad and flat rings, which cover much of the breast, and from which place the wings afterwards appear.

A few of these insects live in houses, and others conceal themselves in holes in the ground.

THE COMMON, AND THE AMERICAN COCK-ROACH.

The

Both these insects live in houses, where they are sometimes very troublesome, from their knawing and devouring eatables, leather, cloths, woolen, and other things to which they have access. common species are extremely agile, and run very swiftly. During the day-time they conceal themselves in holes of walls and clefts of the floors, and issue forth only in the dark, for the purposes of plunder and devastation. The moment they perceive a light, they endeavor to escape into the places of their retreat. The smell of these insects is so powerful and unpleasant, that if they only run over provisions, they frequently render them very nauseous. They are furnished with wings, but their agility in other respects is so great, that they seldom use them.

In

The Kakkerlac, or American Cock-roach, is very common. some parts of South America, particularly in Surinam, it causes great devastation in the houses, by gnawing the stuffs, cloths, and wool, and devouring and injuring the provisions.

It is asserted by Reaumur, that the American Cock-roaches have for an enemy a large species of Sphex. He says, that when one of these Spheges encounters a Cock-roach, it seizes it by the head, pierces it with its sting, and then carries it to its hole, the nidus, where, no doubt, it has deposited its egg, and where the Cock-roach serves as nourishment for the future young-one.

OF THE MANTIS TRIBE.

MANY of the insects of the present tribe have, at a little distance, so much the appearance of leaves of trees, that, in countries where they

are common, travellers have been struck with the singular phenomenol of what seemed to them animated vegetable substances. Their most prevailing color is a fine green, but many of them become brown after they are dead: some, however, are decorated with a variety of lively hues. The thorax in most of them is very long and narrow, and has the appearance of a footstalk to the large and rounded abdomen. Their manners also, in addition to their structure, are very likely to impose on the senses of the uninformed: they often remain on the trees for hours without motion: then suddenly rising, they spring into the air, and when they settle, they again appear lifeless. These seem to be stratagems, in order to deceive the cautious insects on which they feed.

THE ORATOR MANTIS.

This is a very widely-dispersed species, being found both in Europe,

THE ORATOR MANTIS.

Asia, and Africa. From its perpetually resting on its hind legs, and erecting the fore paws close together, with a quick motion, as if in the action of praying, the country people, in various parts of the continent, consider it almost as sacred, and would not on any account injure it. "It is so divine a creature, (says the translator of Mouffet,) that if

a child has lost its way, and inquires of the Mantis, it will point out the right path with its paw." Dr. Smith, however, informs us, in his tour on the continent, that, he received an account of this Mantis that seemed to savor little of divinity. A gentleman caught a male and female, and put them together in a glass vessel. The female, which in this, as in most other insects, is the largest, after a while devoured first the head and upper parts of her companion, and afterwards all the remainder of the body.

OF THE GRYLLUS, OR LOCUST TRIBE.

ALL these insects feed chiefly on vegetable substances. The larva and crysalids nearly resemble the perfect insects: they have six legs, are voracious and active, and reside principally in the ground.

Their heads are inflected, and armed with jaws that are furnished with foliform palpi, or feelers. The antennæ in some species are taper, in others thread-shaped. The wings are four, deflected and convolute: the lower ones plaited. The hind legs are formed for leaping; and on each side of the feet are two claws.

THE MOLE CRICKET-THE HOUSE CRICKET.

THE MOLE CRICKET.

This little creature, among the insect tribes, is a complete representative of the Mole. Its fore-feet are broad and strong, and in their formation and position bear a great resemblance to the fore-feet of that animal. They are used for precisely the same purpose of burrowing under the surface of the ground, where the insect commonly resides; and so expertly does it use them, that it can penetrate the earth with even greater expedition than the Mole.

The female of this species forms a cell of clammy earth, about the size of a hen's egg, closed up on every side, and as large in the interior as two hazel nuts. The eggs, amounting to nearly a hundred and fifty, are white, and about the size of caraway comfits; they are carefully covered, as well to defend them from the injuries of weather as from the attacks of a species of black Beetles, which often destroy them. The female places herself near the entrance of the nest, and whenever the Beetle attempts to seize its prey, the guardian insect catches it behind, and bites it asunder. Nothing can exceed the care of these animals in the preservation of their offspring. Wherever a nest is situated, fortifications, avenues, and entrenchments surround it: there are also numerous meanders which lead to it, and a ditch encompasses the whole, which few other insects are capable of passing. Mole Crickets are troublesome insects in hot-beds, where they make great havoc, by hacking and gnawing the roots of plants with their fore-feet, the ends of which are armed with teeth like a saw.

THE HOUSE CRICKET.

These busy little insects reside altogether in our dwellings, and intrude themselves on our notice, whether We wish it or not. They are partial to houses newly built; for the softness of the mortar enables them without difficulty to form their retreats between the joints of the masonry, and immediately to open communications with the different rooms. They are particularly attached to kitchens and bakehouses, as affording them a constant warmth.

THE HOUSE CRICKET.

"Tender insects, that live abroad, (says Mr. White,) either enjoy only the short period of one summer, or else doze away the cold, uncomfortable months in profound slumbers; but these, residing as it were in a torrid zone, are always alert and merry: a good Christmas fire is to them, what the heats of the dog-days are to others.

"Though they are frequently heard by day, yet their natural time of motion is only in the night. As soon as it becomes dusk the chirping increases, and they come running forth, and are often to be seen in great numbers, from the size of a flea to that of their full

stature.