Cornell THntv>er8tt\> LIBRARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY flew IPorft State College of Hgriculture SLINGERLAND COLLECTION '^..yd..,J.3A z.k>.\.tf.i.o.%.. ^ """"" 5937 The date shows when this volume was taken. iit'w this book copy the call No. and*give to HOME USE RULES. All Bosks subject to Recall. Books not used for instruction or research are returnable withiu 4 weeks. Volumes of periodi- cals and of pamphlets are held in the library as much as possible. For special purposes they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not use their library privileges for the bene- fit of other persons. % Books not needed during recess periods should be returned to the library, or arrange- ments made for their return during borrow- er's absence, if wanted. Books needed by more than one person are held on tlie reserve list. Books of special value and gift books, when the giver wishes it, are not allowed to circulate. Readers are asked to report all cases of books marked or muti- lated. Do not deface books by marks anil writing. RETX ENTOMOL Cornel Ith; DATE DUE DEMCO 38-297 QL 467.H92 " ~ The butterfly vivarium; or, Insect home: THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM; 01!, INSECT HOME. THE VIVARIUM ; OR, INSECT-HOME. FOB OBSBltVINO run TliAXsronwATlnxs (.1 DWTTEIIFHE8, MOTHS, AND OTIIEll INSECTS. THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM; Olt, Mutt Jtonte: BEING AN ACCOUNT OF A NEW METHOD OF OBSERVING THE CURIOUS METAMORTTIOSES OF SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF OUR NATIVE INSECTS. COMPRISING ALSO A POPULAR DESCRIPTION OF THE HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF MANY OF THE INSECTS OF THE VARIOUS CLASSES REFERRED TO ; WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR THE SUCCESSFUL STUDY OF ENTO- MOLOGY BY MEANS OF AN INSECT VIVARIUM. II. NOEL HUMPHREYS, AUTHOR OP "BRITISH MOTHS AND THEIR TRANM>OHMATIONS," " INSECT CHANGES, "OCEAN GARDENS," ETC. ILLUSTRATED WITH COLOURED ENGRAVINGS. LONDON: WILLIAM LAY, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND. MDCCCLYIII. f 7 n E^7t 75^ 1'IICI.MAS UlItltlLD, ^ViV^ 8AL1SUUKY SHU* FLBKT STKEET. PREFACE. For many years past, the occasional pursuit of studies connected with the habits and transforma- tions of insects, has helped to fill a considerable portion of my leisure very agreeably ; and in this unpretending volume I have endeavoured to ar- range some of the results of those pleasantly remembered labours in such a way as to tempt others to seek their holiday amusement in a similar course of research and observation, as it is a field which never fails to reward the labourer with in- struction as well as entertainment. This little book must not, therefore, be deemed a scientific essay on the subject of which it treats, nor even an elementary introduction to entomology, to neither of which it has any pretension. Never- theless, I have not been contented with stringing together a number of unconnected anecdotes ; but have sought, while describing many of the interest- ing aspects of insect life, to explain at the same Vi PREFACE. time something of the order and method of ar- rangement by means of which the thousands of creatures forming the insect world have been named, classed, and grouped into homogeneous families, so as to facilitate their study, and enable naturalists to methodize, in an orderly and easily accessible form, all the successive discoveries of those who have made this branch of natural history their particular study. Order and arrangement are always among the first wants experienced by young naturalists. Even children, in their first gatherings of wild flowers, seem to have an instinctive desire to sort out those of similar colours or appearance, and group each kind together. The lamented Hugh Miller, in his very last work, " The Testimony of the Rocks," has especially dwelt upon this natural tendency of the human mind to that kind of order and classifi- cation upon which the arrangement or summing up of all positive science is founded; and several other physiologists have also noticed this general and unmistakable tendency. A feeling of this kind was one of the first which I experienced myself, as a tyro in entomology ; for I soon became convinced that the learning the mere name of the insect whose habits I had been PREFACE. Vll observing, conveyed but little information to the mind ; and that it was the origin of the name it- self, and its reference to other names, and to other groups of names, and the reason for their being so grouped, which was the kind of knowledge most likely to enable me to organize the information I was acquiring, and to take that general view of the subject which alone gives to a student the power to appreciate duly each separate part. With this view I have endeavoured to show how the first glimpses of our knowledge of insects gradually grew up into an important branch of science, by successive improvements in the various methods of classification adopted at different periods. To some this may appear a " dry" portion of the subject ; but to me the history of Entomology, from its crude beginnings to the establishment of the present systematic arrangement, by means of which the great tribe of insects has been grouped into well-established " orders," with their subdi- visions of " families," " genera," and " species," has always appeared nearly as interesting as the immediate study of the structure, the habits, and even the metamorphoses of the insects themselves. Therefore, while describing the best manner of Vlll PREFACE. establishing a Vivarium for the convenient obser- vation of some of the wonders of the insect world, I could not resist the temptation to say something of Entomology as a science, instead of confining myself, as is most usual in popular works on the subject, to the mere narration of interesting or entertaining facts. I have also endeavoured to avoid another com- mon feature in works of this class. I allude to that continual straining after the discovery of specially providential arrangements in matters which do not seem to require that kind of interpretation, and in which the plainest evidences of design are fre- quently distorted by volunteered explanations, the shallow ingenuity of which, in the imperfect state of our knowledge of the subject, often amounts to something more than ridiculous. H. N. H. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. _ PAGE Introduction 1 CHAPTER II. Description of the Structure of the Insect Vivarium and of the Insects represented within it in the Frontispiece 8 CHAPTER III. Some Account of the Characteristics which distinguish the Class of Creatures termed Insects, and the Characters by which they are separated from other Allied Forms of Animal Life ... 29 CHAPTER IV. Of the Eggs of Insects, and their Nests 37 CHAPTER V. Of the Caterpillar, and other Kinds of Larvee — Of the Derivation of their Popular and Scientific Names — And of their Structure, Habits, Instincts, Devastations, etc. G2 CHAPTER VI. The Pupa, or Chrysalis — Preparation to enter into the Pupa State — its Character, etc 90 CHAPTER VII. Of Insects in their Perfect or " Imago" State, especially those of the Order Lepidoptera — Their Escape from the Chrysalis — The Sudden Growth of their Wings on their issuing from the Shell — The Du- ration of their Existenco in the Perfect State — Aud the Description of the Butterflies engraved in Plate II. 122 PAOB x CONTENTS. CHAPTEE VIII. Of the Great White Butterfly and other Butterflies represented in Plate III 145 CHAPTEE IX. Of the Second and Third Divisions of the Order Lepidoptera, according to Linnasus and others j and of the Modem Suppression of the Second Division— Of the Transformations of Sphinx Ugnstri, the Privet Hawk-moth, and others of the Family that may be roared in a Vivarium *™ CHAPTEE X. Description of the Moths and their Caterpillars in Plate V., and of other Moths and Caterpillars suitable for the Vivarium . . 184 CHAPTEE XI. Of Dragon-flies and other Insects belonging to the Order Newoptera . 201 CHAPTEE XII. The Beetles, and the great Order Coleoptera 226 CHAPTEE XIII. On the other Orders of Insects, with Brief Allusions to such among them as are Fit Subjects for the "Vivarium 252 CHAPTEE XIV. Of the Times, Places, and Seasons for Collecting Insects for the Vivarium CHAPTEE XV. Of the Bearing of Exotic Insects from Imported Eggs or Chrysalides . 272 LIST OF PLATES. PAGE PLATE I Frontispiece. THE VIVARIUM ; on, Insect-Home. For observing the Transforma- tions of Butterflies, Moths, and other Insects. PLATE II. Chapter VII 122 1. Vanessa Io — The Peacock Butterfly. 2. The Caterpillar of the Peacock Butterfly. 3. The Chrysalis of the Peacock Butterfly. 4. Polyommattts Alexis — The Common Blue Butterfly. 5. The Female of the Common Blue Butterfly, showing the under side of the wings. 6. A singular variety of the Common Blue Butterfly with the wings of both sexes. 7. The Caterpillar, and 8, the Chrysalis, of the Common Blue Butterfly. PLATE III. Chapter VIII 145 1. The Caterpillar of tho Great White Butterfly. 2. The Chrysalis of the Great White Butterfly. 3. Pieris Brassiere — Tho Great White Butterfly. 4. The Caterpillar of the Clifden Blue Butterfly. 5. The Chrysalis of the Clifden Blue Butterfly. 6. Poli/ommatus Adonis — The Clifden Blue Butterfly 7. The Female of the Clifden Blue Butterfly. 8. Polyommatus Corydon — The Chalk-hill Blue Butterfly. 9. The Chrysalides of the Ichneumon in the Caterpillar of Great White Butterfly. PLATE IV. Chapter IX 1(55 1. The Caterpillar of the Privet Hawk-moth. 2. The Shell of the Chrysalis of the Privet Hawk-mot h. 3. The Privet Hawk-moth, just emerged from the Chrysalis. 4. Sphinx IAgustris — The Privet Hawk-moth in its perfect state. xii LIST OF PLATES. id PLATE V. Cuapteb X 184 1. The Caterpillar of the Puss-moth. 2. Centra Vinula — The Puss-moth. 8. The Caterpillar of the Lobster-moth. 4. Statiropus Fagi — The Lobster-moth. 5. Lampyris Nocliluca-The Female Glow-worm. 6. The Male Glow-worm. PLATE VI. Chapter XI 204 1. The Larva of the Common Flat-bodied Dragon-fly. 2. Libellula Vepressa — The Common Flat-bodied Dragon-fly. 3. The Larva of the Purple- winged Dragon-fly. 4. Calopteryx Virgo— The Purple-winged Dragon-fly. 5. The Purple-winged Dragon-fly escaping from its Chrysalis. f>. A variety of the Purple-winged Dragon-fly. 7. 8, and 9. The Larva of the Common Lady-bird, or Lady-cow, de- vouring the aphides on a rose leaf. 10. Coccinclla Dis-pwr — The Female, commonly called the Six-spot Lady- bird. 11. Coccinella Dispar— The Male, commonly called the Two-spot Lady- bird. PLATE VII. Chapter XII 226 1. Phyllium Scythe— The Leaf-insect (female). 2. Melolontha Fullo — The Variegated May-bug. 3. The Larva of Melolontha Vulgaris — The Common May-bug. 4. Chrysomela Tremulce (strongly magnified). 5. The Larva of Chrysomela. 6. The Chrysalis of Chrysomela Tremulce. 7. Acanlhocinus JEdilis. 8. The Larva of Acanlhocinus JUdilis. 9. Callidium Violaceum. PLATE VIII. Chapter XV 272 1. Phalcena Eeqia, a North American Moth. 2. The Caterpillar of Phala-na Regia. THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. -.HE increased attractiveness of the kind of knowledge to be derived from a careful study of Nature, in some of the lower and least known forms of animal life, is to be very largely ]■/ "pupa" by Linnscus from the Latin m|\ jp«p«» an infant, because he considered it like a young infant "swathed" after the continental manner, and destined to L {J} cast off its swathing at a proper age. They "Qf were called "chrysalides," or golden-hued 4 things, from the peculiar metallic and golden gloss which some exhibit, as described in another place. When the Caterpillar, or any kind of larva, feels itself about to enter into the pupa state, the signs of the approaching change being always correctly interpreted by an unerring instinct, it generally seeks some situation in which it is likely to remain secure during the period of its dormant and defence- less state. Many of the larva of the Beetle tribe, and those of Hymenoptera, allied to the Bee family, THE HJPA OR CHRYSALIS. 91 however, sink gradually into a torpid state when they are full grown, without making any prepa- ration for the change, their secure situation render- ing it unnecessary. This security occurs, especially in the case of Bees, from each larva finding itself in a cell prepared for it, even "before its birth, in which to pass the first three stages of its life — that of the egg, the larva, and the pupa. Most of the root-feeders seek no further pro- tection than the hollow which they necessarily form in eating their way through the substance on which they feed. The larva of many Beetles thus undergo their change either in old and rotten or in growing wood, where they may be sought by the collector, as their place of retreat will always be indicated by the effect produced in their previous ravages. Others, in a less secure situation, appear to have the instinct to protect themselves from accident during their pupa state hy timely preparation ; hut many of these, after a period of restlessness and apparently a vague search, seem to content them- selves, in despair of doing better, with a heap of dead leaves or a slit in a tree, or beneath a flake of decaying bark, where I have sometimes found hud- dled together several chrysalides of the Bed-under- wing Moth. Others seem at last to determine upon 92 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. burying themselves at a considerable depth in the earth, as the most secure position in which to un- dergo their change, and often make themselves a kind of vault, by consolidating the surrounding soil with a mucous fluid. The larva of the Meat- fly quits the scene of its repast when full grown, and seeks at some considerable distance a fit place for its change ; but a heap of dust, or any kind of dry rubbish, generally suits its purpose, as it is not particularly fastidious in its choice. Many, having found what appears to them a suitable retreat, take no more precautions, like those whose position is naturally secure at the time, from the nature of their habits. Others, like the larvae of the Syrphm and Lady-bird tribes, merely secure themselves by a few threads, spun at the caudal extremity, by means of which they remain firmly attached to the leaf they have selected as the scene of their transformation, in the position in which the chrysalis of Chrysomela Tremulce is represented in Plate VII. No. 6. Some small insects, as Harpya Fagi, masticate portions of wood from the tree on which they feed, for the purpose of forming a pupa-house, mixing with it a fluid furnished by the mouth, which causes the composition to solidify very rapidly, and the THE rUPA OR CIIRYSALIS. 93 little cocoon becomes eventually so hard that a knife will scarcely make an incision in it. Aquatic larvae, such as that of the "Water Beetle, Dyticus Marginalis, burrow in the banks at or near the surface of the water, and there undergo their change in a well-made cocoon of earth, which they construct with much skill, and in which the larva, gradually shortening and changing in all its proportions, by degrees becomes a perfect Beetle (during what Linnseus has termed the nymph state, to distinguish it from that of the true chrysalis), but it is still white and soft in all its members, even more so than in the Caterpillar stage, till the hard- ening process begins. Some of the earth cocoons, or rather cases, of this kind are very compact and hard ; others comparatively brittle and easily in- jured. The aquatic larva of the Dragon-fly has the faculty, as stated in another place, of preparing for its future destiny by actually quitting its native element, and preparing to undergo its change to the pupa state, while clinging to a rush or reed just above the surface of the water, but without any protection whatever. The most interesting cocoons, and other pro- tective habitations for undergoing the transforma- tion to the pupa state, are those constructed by the 94 T1IE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. larvee of Butterflies and Moths, from that of the Silk-worm down to the most minute grub of the Tinece. Those of the wood-feeding class have, however, more affinity in their habits, at this pe- riod of their existence, to the larvae of Beetles. The Cossus, being a long-lived larva, makes itself each winter a sleeping-room, similar to that which it eventually forms for its abode during its change to the winged state, which it effects by webbing together, with the silky secretion it is furnished with for that purpose, the fragments of wood produced by its own depredations. Some of the small Moths, among the Tortrices and Tinece, also make themselves abodes for their period of change from the debris which they have created. Some of the same class of small Moths unite several leaves to form a protection, and others make one leaf serve their purpose, by skilfully forming it into a hollow roll, in the interior of which, within a slightly webbed cocoon, they pass through the pupa state in tolerable security. These are termed the Leaf-rollers. The process pursued by the Leaf-rollers is very curious, and Avas first observed in all its compli- cations by the indefatigable naturalist Bonnet. I have not space for his interesting description, but THE PUPA OR CHRYSALIS. 95 the summary of it is as follows : — The larva first attaches a series of threads, at regular distances, to the part of the leaf which is to be rolled over. Having completed this part of its work, it begins to pull them one by one, till by degrees, drawn by these gossamer cables, the leaf begins to turn over in the direction required. If the leaf be of too stiff a texture, refusing to yield to all the tension its means can exert, the little larva gnaws through portions of the veins, or eats away part of the sur- face of the leaf, till the causes of resistance are thus weakened, and the green bed-curtain which is to shelter its long slumber is drawn closely round in the direction required. Other larvae of the same class, instead of rolling, cut off portions of the leaf, to form the sides and top of the dwelling, the floor being supplied by the part of the same leaf not mutilated. Reaumur carefully watched the progress of another minute larva, the Tinece, in the act of splitting the upper from the lower surfaces of rose-leaves, and making its sleeping-room between; and if, in the course of the process, any portion became too far divided or rent, it was refastened with a web so neatly, that the repair was scarcely visible to the naked eye. Other kinds make leaf habitations by sewing 96 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. together pieces of peculiar shapes, as cunningly as a tailor fashions the back of a coat; and in this work the seams, too, are as neat and regular. Many other methods are followed by these small larvse in constructing leaf houses, in which as much ingenuity and geometrical precision is displayed as that which the Bee exhibits in the plan and exe- cution of the wonderful " honeycomb." The Tinea Sersatilla makes its house entirely of the silken web, which it spins in a similar manner to that of the Silk-worm ; in this case, however, it is not merely a cocoon in which the transformation is to take place, but at the same time a little tent, which serves it for a locomotive living house before it becomes a temporary tomb. This tent is care- fully pitched at a certain spot, where the pulpy surface of the leaf seems most inviting, and there secured by far-stretching threads, similar to those of an ordinary camp tent. When all the surface beneath this shelter has been consumed, the tent is removed ; till at last, when the larva has ceased to desire food, and is about to change, the little tent serves as the pro- tection for the pupa or chrysalis. The minute silky excrescences often seen on the backs of pear leaves are the tents of this little larva, and on THE PUPA Oil CHRYSALIS. 97 examination would be found to contain either a minute chrysalis or a little yellow grub with a black head, which is the larva of the Tinea in question. The larva of the Tinea Taliatella makes a si- milar kind of tent, with the exception that the webbing is so disposed as to look like a roof of small white tiles, or rather scales. In the Beetle tribe some of the larvae, when about to change, cement portions of the surround- ing earth together, so as to form a secure retreat, as in the case of Clythra Longimana. In some instances these cases are lined with a silky sub- stance, or, as it were, varnished with a slimy secretion. A larva that infests Beehives constructs for itself a kind of gallery or covered way as it goes for- ward, the interior of which is lined with a smooth web, so tough that Bees in vain attempt to expel the intruder by piercing it with their stings. It is proof against all their efforts, and they fre- quently desert their hive in despair at being unable to get rid of the invader. This constructor of sting- proof galleries has received from Eabricius the cha- racteristic generic name " Galleria," to which is added the specific denomination " Cereana," in al- ii 98 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. lusion to its destruction of the wax of the honey- comb. The Oalleria genus contains no other British species. Most of the habitations framed by larvae for protection during the pupa state are, more or less, nearly close fitting, and these may perhaps be con- sidered rather in the light of clothing, while others more roomy may rather be considered as residences. The woollen tubes formed by the larvae of various small Moths of the Tinean family are very curious, and an interesting effect may be produced by guiding their industry after a certain manner. For instance, by carefully placing the larvae succes- sively on cloths of different colours, their case will become variegated by the new material, each time they enlarge it to suit their increased growth. A very richly coloured tube is thus produced by the successive addition of blue, red, green, white, or any other coloured cloth that may have been selected. The garment of many colours so formed is a very pretty object when examined with the aid of a powerful microscope, and the experiment is well worth trying. Some of the small larvae which feed on the blos- soms of the kind of willows that generally grow on the banks of ponds or streams, make their houses THE PUPA OR CIIETSALIS. 99 of the down that covers the seed-vessels of this tribe of trees. The little Caterpillars know how to render their so-formed structure completely water- proof, by " felting" it with a fluid with which Nature has furnished them for that purpose. The house therefore serves them, in time of need, as a boat also, if unluckily blown by the March or April winds from the branches where they feed into the water below ; in which case they float se- curely to shore in their little life-boat. Branches of willow might be sought when in blossom in the early spring, on which some of these interesting little architects and ship-builders would be pretty sure to be found ; and by placing the said branches, with the stalks in water, in the Vivarium, their transformations might be watched. The branches might also be made to lean over the tank, and some of the larvae shaken into it for the purpose of ob- serving their escape in the little floating houses. Among the better known cocoons or chrysalis- houses of the larger Moths, the first place must always be given to that of the Silk -worm, the finely spun web of which has for several thousands of years furnished the silk of commerce to Oriental nations, though the knowledge of the Worm and the me- thod of procuring its silk has only been generally 100 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. known in Europe since the thirteenth century. In proof of the extremely early manufacture of silk in the East, it may he stated that at the time in which the earliest kind of Chinese writing was in use, which was a pictorial hieroglyphic character very similar to that of Egypt, silk was expressed by a sign in the shape of a twisted hank of that sub- stance, in the very form in which it is manu- factured in China at the present day. And as the earliest class of this writing did not remain in use later than about 3000 b. c, it proves that manu- factured silk was a well known product at that early epoch. The cocoon of the Silk-worm, how- ever, though of great interest, is too well known to require description here; it will suffice to re- mark that many cocoons of very similar character are produced by the larvae of other Moths, which have at different times been thought capable of yielding an equally valuable silk, although the expe- riments upon them for that purpose have hitherto always failed. The large silk-like cocoon of the handsome Moth Satumia Spini is of an entirely different nature, not being formed of spun silk, but of the silky hairs from the body of the larva, which are woven, or rather felted together, instead of forming a con- THE PUPA OR CHRYSALIS. 101 tinuous web like that of the Silk-worm. Saturnia Carpini, another of the family, however, makes a very pretty cocoon of true silk, as do the larvae of many British Moths ; while others mix with the silk other substances, which they weave along with it. Chelonia Villica weaves a cocoon of very loose, open thread; the Fox-moth, a close semi-trans- parent tube, closed at each end and bent in the form of a crescent, much larger than the chrysalis. This cocoon has somewhat the consistency of tissue- paper, and within it the chrysalis is said to move about, as described when speaking of the power of movement in chrysalides. The Burnet-moth Caterpillar also makes a cocoon of singularly compact paper-like tissue, as do some others ; while the handsome Caterpillar of the com- mon Moth, Clisiocampa Neustria, weaves a woolly- looking yellow cocoon, which appears covered with a substance like powdered sulphur. The small larvae of one of the Moths of the Tor- trix family, Tortrix Prasinana, forms a compact brown cocoon of a curious boat-like shape; and endless other varieties of form and general character occur. Although it has been shown what comfortable houses of silk, and other analogous substances, the larvae of Moths form for themselves as retreats in 102 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. which to undergo their pupa stage, those of Butter- flies scarcely ever provide any sort of protection for this state. When the larva; are full grown and cease to feed, they betray the same uneasiness which is common to other larvae, and frequently quit, as in disgust, the plant on the foliage of which they have been nourished, in search of some situation deemed more secure, as may be witnessed by placing the Caterpillars of two or three common species in the Vivarium, such as that of the " Cabbage White," and that of the small Tortoise-shell or Peacock Butterflies. Notwithstanding this apparent anxiety however, they are at last content merely to fasten themselves to some place which their instinct sug- gests to them as convenient, by means of a loop formed of a few threads of a web which they have the means of spinning. The process is effected in the following manner: — The Caterpillar of the common Cabbage White Butterfly, when for this purpose it has taken its post against a branch or wall, or piece of paling — for it seems to prefer a solid support — first spins from its mouth a small knot of silky thread, which it fastens on one side of its body near the front pair of ventral legs. Then, passing the head over to the other side, it carries a thread with it and attaches it THE PUTA OR CHRYSALIS. 103 to • the wall or branch in a corresponding position on the opposite side of its body. In this way a loop is formed which will effectually prevent the Caterpillar from falling as he sinks into a dormant state. But it is not yet strong enough, the thread being of excessive fineness, and therefore the process is repeated about fifty times, as observed by Reau- mur, when the number of threads is generally deemed sufficient. In order to secure a sufficient degree of slackness in the loop, to allow for the thickening of the body in the chrysalis state, Reaumur de- scribes, at considerable length, a process by means of which that necessity is ingeniously secured ; but I have, nevertheless, observed that the loop round the chrysalis often appears uncomfortably tight, nearly cutting a dent into the external skin, as re- presented in Plate III. A different method is pursued by the Caterpillar of the Great Swallow-tail Butterfly, the handsomest of our native species, in consequence of the com- parative want of flexibility in its more robust body. Not being able to turn the head freely backward to form a loop across the middle of its body, it makes the loop immediately in front of its head, into which, when complete, it gradually forces its body, seg- ment by segment, till it has attained the position in 104 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. reference to the loop which is best calculated 'to afford an even balance, and then, like the larva of the "White Butterfly, it holds itself still, and in a straight position, to await the impending trans- formation. Sometimes, in spite of the beautiful accuracy with which it performs its work, the head gets entangled in passing through the loop formed of forty or fifty threads, which causes great labour to the unfortunate larva. Generally, how- ever, after repeated efforts, it manages to extricate itself and complete its preparation ; but in the con- trary case, it always perishes without the transfor- mation being accomplished. A third method of forming this loop is practised by the short, "Wood Louse-formed Caterpillars of the pretty little Butterflies of the Thecla family. These Caterpillars, the shape of which may be judged of by that of one of the Argus family, in Plate II. No. 7, place the loop just over the head, instead of in the front of it like the larvse of the Swallow-tail, and afterwards force the body forward till the loop is nearly in the middle. The larvse of another class of our native Butter- flies, instead of securing themselves by means of a loop round the centre of the body, suspend them- selves by a kind of web, which attaches the tail to THE TUPA OR CHRYSALIS. 105 the under surface of some conveniently placed leaf, and they thus hang suspended, head doAvn- wards, to undergo their transformation, as shown in the suspended chrysalis in Plate II. No. 3. This mode of undergoing the change to the pupa state is common to most of the larvae of the handsome species of the genus Vanessa, among which are the Peacock, the Red Admiral, the Painted Lady, etc. The larva of the Purple Emperor also sus- pends itself, as do those of our pretty Prittillaries and Meadow Butterflies. When the case of the pupa is completely formed inside the last skin of the Caterpillar, which soon afterwards splits and falls off, another skin is cast, inside, hy the insect within the pupa-case ; and this skin remains in the shell, where it may he found after the perfect insect has escaped. Some larvae, after forming the cocoon, change almost immediately to the chrysalis state, while others remain within the cocoon for months still in the larva form. The Cossus, for instance, when it spins its cocoon for change in autumn, remains in the Caterpillar state within it till the following June, when it becomes rapidly a chrysalis, and the perfect insect comes forth in a few weeks. There are many different kinds of pupae, but 106 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. they may be divided into three tolerably distinct classes: — First, those which so closely resemble the larva stage, that the precise time of transition is scarcely perceptible. Secondly, those partially resembling the larva, but having rudimental wings appearing more con- spicuously than in the preceding state. Thirdly, those in which the form of the larva entirely disappears in the case or perfect chrysalis, or becomes a form of the nymph kind. Or they may be divided into two divisions only ; those which are active during the pupa or nymph stage, as Grasshoppers, etc., and continue to eat ; and those which sink into a partly dormant state, as those of Butterflies and Moths, certain Beetles, Dragon-flies, etc. Within the case, the pupa itself exhibits, at a comparatively early stage of its progress, nearly all the parts of the perfect insect very distinctly. In such pupa cases as those of the Dragon-fly, Avhich enclose each principal member separately, the eventual forms quickly assume, with the exception of the wings, nearly their full proportions and natural position, though in a soft state. In the complete chrysalis, where all the members are tightly THE PUPA OR CHRYSALIS. 107 enclosed within one entire shell, they are very curiously folded close to the trunk, either against the sides like the wings, underneath the hody, like the antennae of Butterflies, or over the back, like the slender oviduct of the Ichneumons. I may mention here, that the legs of Tipulce — the Harry-long-legs tribe — are triply folded in a very beautiful manner, and that the pupae of some Beetles exhibit curious excrescences, which entirely disappear when the change is complete. We must, however, devote the principal part of our attention to the true chrysalides, such as those of Butterflies and Moths, as more likely to be inte- resting to the general reader. Many a naturalist, indeed, has had his attention first called to the subject by the sight of a single chrysalis, that curious and evidently living thing, yet without ' any apparent power of taking nourishment, with- out sight, and without means of locomotion, and yet which contains, as he is told, a perfect Butter- fly — a creature that will in due season break forth from the shell, and expand its wide and beautiful wings, uninjured by their close folding within that narrow prison. De Bambur, in fact, states in one of his works, that the first sight of a chrysalis, when a boy, at once made him an entomological student for life. 108 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. A chrysalis must be carefully examined before all its interest can be fully appreciated. Each delicate line and wrinkle on the nearly even surface of that of a Moth, for instance — marks which appear to the unobservant only so many ac- cidental ridges or indentations — form, in fact, the outlines or immediate encasings of the enclosed members of the Moth itself ; and to each of these features, in the shell of the chrysalis, the late Mr. Kirby assigned a fitting name. The only part endowed with any power of motion is the segmental portion which encloses the abdo- men of the insect within. This jointed portion of the chrysalis Mr. Kirby termed the gastrotheca, from the Greek words, gaster, the abdomen or stomach, and theke, a case or receptacle. The other extremity, which, with a little ex- amination, will be seen to indicate the forms of the head, of which it is a kind of close horny helmet, was called the cephalotheca, or head-case ; and a portion of this, fitting the eyes, the form of which may be traced in the two raised gobules, was called ophthalmotheca, or eye-case. Passing from beneath the head are two delicately raised ridges, very gracefully curved, which contain the antennae, and have, therefore, received the name, respectively, of ceratheca ; while the main portion, in which THE PUPA OR CHRYSALIS. 109 the form of the trunk or fore part of the body of the Moth may be traced, is called glossotheca. At each side of the glossotheca, the student will per- ceive a series of radiated markings, forming, with the outline against which they abut, a shape not unlike that of a half-expanded fan, the narrow end or handle of which is underneath the trunk, leaving the radiations to spread upwards. These are the por- tions of the general sheath which enclose the embryo wings, the outline of which, as they exist in minia- ture within the shell, is plainly indicated. These, therefore, have been each termed a pterotheca, or wing-case. If the student will take the trouble to examine a chrysalis thus carefully, before placing it in his Vivarium to await its change to the perfect state, an intimacy with many delicately marked fea- tures, that might easily have been passed by unob- served, will have been so established as to give much additional zest to the eventual disclosure of those inner forms of which they indicate so beautifully the leading characteristics. The chrysalis selected for the foregoing de- scription of all its parts was that of an ordinary Moth, the chrysalides of that division of the pup«3 oiLepidoptera being comparatively smooth, as shown in the empty case, Plate IV. No. 2. Those of the 110 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. Butterfly division, on the other hand, offer much greater variety of form, nearly all having curious little points at intervals along their ridges, and being in general of an angular rather than a conical form, as shown in the suspended chrysalis, Plate II. No. 3. Of these angularities, the chrysalis en- graved in the work of Madame Merian, of the magni- ficent Butterfly Morpho Idomeneus, may he cited as an extreme example; as is also that of Ornithoptera Beliacon, figured by Horsefield in his fine work on the insects of Java, still incomplete. For the extreme angularity of the entire form, that of Calli- drias Eubalus, figured by Stoll, may be cited, the part containing the head dipping downwards in a nearly vertical direction, while the tail portion shoots off from the root of the wing-case in a nearly horizontal line. The chrysalis of our pretty native Butterfly the Orange Tip, Euchloe Cardammes, is of somewhat similar formation, and therefore assigned to a class popularly called " boat-shaped" chrysalides. The small and perfectly oval chrysalides so often found are those of the Syrphus tribe, and of com- mon House-flies, etc., of which there are many modifications of form. That of Syrphus Pmastri is shaped like a small flask, or, as Reaumur poetically THE PUPA OR CHRYSALIS. HI expresses it, like a " tear." In some instances, the extremity terminates in a slender tail-like append- age, either forked or simple. Some chrysalides have, like nymphs, or semi- pupsB, a means of locomotion, though very restricted in its character. This means is generally fur- nished hy such spines as those on the sides of that of the Cossus IAgniperda, which are said to enahlc it to force itself partly out of the hole in a tree in which it has lain, just in time and just sufficiently to allow the winged insect, when the shell opens, to escape without injury to its wings ; and that of the hop-feeding Hepialus, the Common Swift, is said to he furnished with similar appendages, by means of which it is enabled to move about in its spacious cocoon ; while the chrysalis of the handsome Moth Lasiocampa Quercvs is said to move up and down its long crescent-shaped cocoon (similar to that of the !Fox-moth) like a chimney-sweep, getting up with considerable labour, but coming down much more rapidly. Other chrysalides, though necessarily, as it would seem, so inert from the nature of their structure, have yet positively the power of leaping. This was observed by the indefatigable Reaumur in some small chrysalides, which, by holding them- 112 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. selves bent, and then suddenly curving in the op- posite direction, are enabled to leap a distance of two or three inches and even more. It unfor- tunately happened that they had all been victims to a small kind of Ichneumon, so that he never knew precisely to what class of insects to assign them. In Colour, chrysalides in general do not offer either such brilliancy or variety as caterpillars. The shell-less nymphs, or imperfect pupae, arc generally of different shades of dusky white; while the perfect chrysalides of the smooth coni- cal kind are most commonly dark brown or black. The angular chrysalides of Butterflies are, however, not only prettily spotted with minute specks, but sometimes often variegated with small metallic patches of light orange colour that have the lustre of gold. The boat-shaped chrysalis of Euchloe Carclamines is bright green, as is that of the Purple Emperor, while some of the angular chrysalides of the genus Vanessa are almost en- tirely of a bright metallic golden hue, from which the general terms Chrysalis and Aurelia are de- rived, from the Greek words krysos (icpvaos), gold, or krysallis («pn?aX\(?), golden coloured, and from the Latin aurum, gold, or aurea, golden. The early collectors, who then, as now, generally began their THE PUPA OR CHRYSALIS. 113 entomological collection with a single chrysalis, or aurelia, were, in fact, called " Aurelians." Reau- mur explains that this golden appearance is caused by the more solid texture of the chrysalis bein°- of a rich yellow colour, and clothed with an external and transparent membrane, beneath which is a layer of fluid, which gives the metallic effect. If, in fact, a newly formed cbrysalis of a Vanessa be turned about, the gold patches will be found to move with the fluid by which they are caused, and, when old and dry, the golden hues disappear alto- gether. The chrysalides of Moths are, as I have said, almost invariably of various shades of brown, from a light foxy tone to nearly black, but some few are of more striking colours. That of Geo- metra Alniaria, for example, is of a glaucous blue ; that of Catocala Sponsa of a light lilac; that of C. Facia of a delicate blue, arising from a kind of bloom with which it is covered. This bloom is easily brushed off, but reappears again in a short time. Some few have the wing-cases of a different colour to that of the shell; and the chrysalis of Ti/grsra Anastomosis has two red stripes on the back. The duration of the pupa stage is from a few I 114 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. days to two or three or more years, the smaller kinds, in general, undergoing their changes more rapidly than the large ones. The influence of tem- perature is much more apparent in the case of chry- salides than it is with eggs, as satisfactorily proved hy Reaumur. He placed a numher of chrysalides in a hot-house in January, which under natural cir- cumstances would not have given forth the perfect insect till May ; hut which, influenced hy the arti- ficial heat, opened within fourteen days. A contrary experiment was equally successful; a numher of chrysalides placed in an ice-house heing retarded during a whole year. It should he stated that those raised hy heat were all healthy, and bred and laid their eggs, which were successfully hatched. This sufficiently demonstrates the possibility of rearing splendid tropical species with the assistance of arti- ficial heat, as described in my Chapter upon that subject. To return to the consideration of the time passed in the pupa state under ordinary circum- stances, I may remark here that seemingly inexpli- cable variations in this respect occur in the same species. Out of a batch of chrysalides, of the same brood, the great majority will open at the usual time ; but some few will invariably remain in the THE PUPA OR CHRYSALIS. 115 chrysalis state during irregular periods afterwards, a few not expanding till the following season. La- cordaire mentions a particular case of this kind in Cayenne, where, out of a brood of the fine Moth Baturnia Paphia, which he had reared, the greater part only remained in the chrysalis state fourteen days, while a few continued for several months in that state, afterwards producing the matured insect in a perfectly healthy state. This would appear to be a providential arrangement to prevent a species from becoming extinct by any sweeping calamity, such as a storm, change of temperature, or insect epidemic, which might sweep off a whole species if all came out precisely at the same time. In such a case, the reserve, safely secured from the calamity in the pupa, would come forth at a more propitious season and restore an otherwise lost species. While speaking of the coming out of a particu- lar kind at an exact season, I ought to mention some of the Ephemera, one species of which, accord- ing to Eeaumur, invariably appears between the 10th and 18th of August, and at no other time. Fishermen are well acquainted with this fact, and are never disappointed in the appearance of these aquatic flies, which they sometimes use as attractive baits. Swammerdam had previously observed simi- 116 TIIE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. lar facts concerning the Ephemeral common in the Rhine. The broods described by Reaumur not only ap- peared at a precise season but at a particular hour, which was invariably between eight and ten o'clock in the evening, at which time they filled the air in vast multitudes, regardless of the state of the tem- perature, or of wind or rain-storm. Their ap- pearance and disappearance are both very sudden, not a single individual being visible an hour before or an hour afterwards. Other insects have also particular hours of pre- ference, as it would seem, for the entrance upon their most brilliant, but brief and final period of existence. The Bornbyx of the Mulberry never emerges from its chrysalis but at the hour of sun- rise; the Lime Hawk-moth, Smerlnthus Tilice, at midday ; the Death's-head Hawk-moth, Acherontia Atropos, according to Schroeter, always making its escape from the chrysalis betAveen four and seven in the afternoon. But with regard to other kinds, either they are altogether irregular in this respect, or the observations of our naturalists have not yet furnished us with a sufficient number of data on the subject to enable us to decide the question. The method by which different insects escape THE PUPA OR CHRYSALIS. 117 from the chrysalis are very various. In the case of Butterflies and Moths, which do not make a cocoon in which to pass the chrysalis state, the manner of coming forth is very simple. The skin of the chry- salis splits up the back so soon as the imago attains its full size, and the rent being increased by the effort of the imprisoned insect, the escape is easy. It is much the same with Dragon-flies, though the chrysalis is of a different kind. In several other classes of insects, however, the means by which the escape is effected are ex- ceedingly curious. Many kinds of flies burst open the top of their little egg-shaped prison by a very singular application of the principle of atmospheric pressure. They possess the means of inflating a membrane on the top of the head till it assumes the appearance of a bladder, much larger than the head itself. The pressure exerted by this means on the upper part of the shell forces it open, and then, the only purpose of the membrane in question having been carried into effect, it is immediately shed, like the dried skin of a cicatrized wound, and no vestige of such an appendage remains. Other flies, by somewhat analogous means, force out the opposite end of the pupa case. The pupa of the pretty Beetle Cetonia Aurata, 118 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. the larva of which forms a very compact earthy cocoon, waits till its wings are hecome hard before it can effect its escape, which it does by con- stantly rubbing them against his earthen sarco- phagus, and is sometimes fourteen or fifteen days in effecting his escape. The May-bug is said to be a whole month making his way out of his own house ; and, according to Roesel, the Stag Beetle is about three weeks. The larva of a small Tinea pierces a grain of wheat with a very minute puncture, and after making its way in by this modest little door, very soon becomes too fat on the rich farinaceous food to think of getting out the same way. Before entering into the pupa state, however, it takes the precaution to eat away a small circular portion so close to the last external cuticle, that when the perfect insect emerges from the chrysalis, it easily forces its way out. Bonnet, who was the first, I believe, to describe this process, mentions similar means adopted by other small Moths on escaping from their chrysalides, when similarly situated. The escape from the cocoon is also effected in other ways. In some instances the larva forms a lid to the cocoon, by means of which the perfect insect easily makes its way out, as is the case with THE PUPA OR CHRYSALIS. 119 the fine Moth Satumia Spini, and a small Tortrix ; while the Moth of the Silk-worm positively breaks its way out of its silky enclosure by means of its "eyes," these being at the time the only hardened part of its body ; and their raised facets, acting like little files, soon clear a passage for the more tender parts of the body and wings. It is on this account that it becomes necessary to destroy the Moth in its chrysalis, by scalding, when it is wished to pre- serve the silk, which would otherwise be rendered worthless. Among Ants, the "Workers" have the in- stinctive duty assigned to them of letting out their congeners from their chrysalides when the proper time arrives. This they do by biting through a ligament which makes the shell so solid, that the young Ant would never be able to make his way out unaided ; and the worker, whose duty it is to attend to this essential business, never mistakes the precisely proper time for this operation. The Caddis Worm, when about to pass to the pupa state, covers up each end of its house with a silken tissue. When the time of pupation is over, the insect appears to become furnished with false mandibles, with which it cuts through the silk in front of the head, which it then puts forth, 120 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. and by the action of the pectoral legs swims to the surface. The escaping insect, as he emerges, uses the pupa case as a kind of raft, on which it puts forth its wings without injury from wet ; and by the time it has completed its toilet, all traces of the mandibles, by means of which the silken door of the prison was cut open, have disappeared. This pretty Moth-like insect undergoes yet another change, or extraordi- nary kind of moult, before it is ready to pass in full costume the two or three hours of existence assigned to its winged state. This consists in divesting it- self of an extra skin which covers the wings and every other member, and which, when left on the branch where the operation was performed, seems so like the fly itself which has just quitted it, that a careless observer would certainly be deceived, for the deserted sheath is still an entire, unbroken piece. The Gnat is enabled to emerge from its chrysalis without wetting, in consequence of a portion of the corslet being covered with a greasy secretion, which keeps it dry, and prevents the whole from sinking while the Gnat escapes. It floats, though heavier than the water, upon the same principle that a dry needle does, for a short time. "When the shell first opens and shows an interior skin still, which enve- THE PUPA OR CHRYSALIS. 121 lops the whole insect, the ah* rushes in, and getting between the skin and body of the Gnat, shines like quicksilver, thus producing an effect precisely ana- logous to that which gives the shining, golden effect to the chrysalides of the Vanessa tribe. A description of the appearance of Butterflies and Moths as first issuing from the chrysalis must be deferred till the next ensuing Chapters, VII. and VIII. CHAPTER VII. OF INSECTS IN THEIR PERFECT OR " IMAGO " STATE, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF THE ORDER LEPIDOPTERA — THEIR ESCAPE FROM THE CHRYSALIS— THE SUDDEN GROWTH OF THEIR WINGS ON ISSUING FROM THE SHELL, THE DURATION OF THEIR EXISTENCE IN THE PERFECT STATE — AND THE DESCRIPTION OF THE BUTTERFLIES ENGRAVED IN PLATE II. speaking of the transition of insects from the chrysalis to the perfect state, I shall confine myself principally to that of Butterflies, Moths, and Beetles, as exhibiting a much more striking change than that of such insects as only undergo a semi-metamorphosis. It will be found, /?/ indeed, that these, with a few of the order 'I Neuroptera, will always form the chief attraction of an Insect Vivarium, and of these, Butterflies and Moths will be the favourites, from the great beauty of many of the larvae, as well as the often striking forms of the chrysalides ; while 1'i.ati; J J. i- r„„™„ ;„ XhaPeMook Buttorlly. s. TheChryealtaor'thePeoeotui Buttody, 2. Tin- Cntorpllte oftho Paooool Butterfly. 4. poltammalm Altrit The Common Dine Butterfly. ■'• Tii.-Ti tie of the Common Blue Butterfly, showing the undonlde ofthewtnge, 0. A singular variety oftlie Common Blue Butterfly, with the win** of both iexei. 7. The Caterpillar nnd Mho Chryenue, of the Common nine Butterfly. INSECTS IN THEIR PERFECT STATE. 123 the larvae of Beetles are scarcely, if ever, handsome, and the interesting chrysalis is only represented by a kind of earthy cocoon, though the nymph or pupa within is sometimes covered with a cuticle destined to he shed, like the horny husk of the chrysalis that encloses the Butterfly during its pupa stage. On first issuing from the chrysalis, insects are seldom, if ever, of the colour they are destined to assume afterwards. Bees and Elies, for instance, are at first nearly white, hut very soon, under the action of the atmospheric air, they assume the dif- ferent colours which respectively distinguish them. In Dragon-flies, the length of time required for the eventual colouring to develop itself is especially re- markable.* In Butterflies and Moths, however, the markings assume a certain degree of intensity almost immediately, — long before the wings have ex- panded to tbeir full extent, in their miraculously rapid growth. The Privet Hawk-moth, for instance, begins to exhibit all the intricate markings of its wings in their proper colours, though not of their full brightness, before they have yet attained a fourth of their full size ; and the appearance of the complete design of the full-grown wing, on this reduced scale, is extremely beautiful and inter * See Chapter XI., on the Neuropfera. 124 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. resting, as I have endeavoured to show in a Moth of this species just escaped from the chrysalis, in Plate IV. No. 2. A similar effect may he observed in the wings of the Peacock Butterfly — the fine ocellated marks of which have a very charming effect when in this state ; forming an exquisite miniature model of the grand and gorgeously tinted design they are so soon destined to exhibit. These are the phenomena that must he eagerly watched for in the Vivarium ; they are among the most interesting spectacles it can offer, and the student must therefore take care that, for want of proper attention, they do not pass over without notice ; for a few hours at certain seasons maymake agreat change in a collection of chrysalides. By careful observation, the colours, or rather markings of the wings may he distinguished through the shell of the chrysalis, which, as the time ap- proaches for the insect to escape from its prison, appear to become partially transparent — at all events in some kinds of Butterflies — though the more opaque pupa case of Moths do not so fre- quently exhibit this kind of change. In Butterflies, however, by this and other indications, the species may often be detected through the shell of the chry- salis. Moses Harris, one of our enthusiastic ento- INSECTS IN TIIEIR PERFECT STATE. 125 mologists of the last century, detected, in the form of a chrysalis which he had never seen before, certain characters which induced him. to believe that it must be that of the Purple Emperor Butterfly, though he had no idea either of the colour or form of the pupa of that insect. But he knew that in the perfect state its under wings extend in an un- usual manner beyond the upper ones, and in the pterotheca, or wing case portion of the chrysalis, he perceived a line, beyond the usual termination of this feature, which at once induced him to declare the chrysalis which he had reared to be that of the Purple Emperor, Apatura Iris ; and he soon afterwards began to perceive the well-known white bands of the wings showing through the semi-trans- parent shell. The old Lepidopterist expresses his enthusiasm so genuinely on the occasion, that the main features of the passage in which he relates how he became possessed of the Caterpillars, and how unceasingly he watched all their changes, are well worth transcribing. The larvas were given to him, it appears, by Mr. Drury, the well-known English naturalist ; that " ingenious Aurelian," as he is termed by his friend Harris, having, while searching for caterpillars on the 26th of May, in the year 1758, beaten them from off the Sallow, 126 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. near Brentwood, in Essex." Mr. Drury appears to have thus captured four caterpillars, which were entirely new to him, and to have presented thern to Moses Harris as the person most likely to rear them successfully. " They were," says our author, " different from any hitherto discovered, being furnished with two horns like the telescopes of the snail." He then describes very minutely the food he gave them, their growth, and their eventual change to the pupa state, stating that the chrysalides were of a "bright pea-green with a bloom of peach colour." After many other particulars concerning one of these cherished chrysalides, he says, " on the 22nd of June, 1758, at eight in the evening, to my unspeakable pleasure it produced the Purple Emperor;" and he proceeds at once to express his unbounded gratitude to Mr. Drury, giving to that " ingenious gentleman" the credit of having enabled him to discover " the caterpillar of one of the most beautiful flies in the universe, which had hitherto escaped the search of the most skilful and industrious Aurelians." The enlargement of the little wings with which a Butterfly first issues from its chrysalis, as the phenomenon must have been noticed by Moses Harris, is amazingly rapid, but it varies in different INSECTS IN THEIR PERFECT STATE. 127 kinds. In most Lepidoptera the whole growth generally takes place within an hour, often in half that time. In others of that class, a whole day is sometimes occupied in the completion of the wing- growth, as in the case of the Humming-hird Moth, Macroglossa Stellatorum, and some others. In the Ephemera, and also in Gnats, the expan- sion may almost be termed sudden — a beautiful provision, so ordered for the purpose of preserving them from the risk they would run during a slower process of wing-growth, as they first enter upon their perfect state upon the surface of the water, where they are not for a moment safe, after they have emerged from the chrysalis, until their wings are perfected. The Ephemera; exhibit a peculiarity, previ- ously alluded to, consisting in a kind of moult, almost as sudden as the growth of the wings. No sooner are these insects able to fly, than they nutter to some conveniently situated reed, and there shed a skin or film which encased even the wings, the parts covering which being .furnished with the same coating of minute scales as the surface of the wings themselves ; so that when the insect has, with extraordinary skill, issued from this close-fitting vestment, the skin left behind is 128 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. so exactly like the living insect which has just quitted it, that when seen at a little distance it is often mistaken for it by anglers seeking the fly for a bait, until they are close upon it, and just about to seize their fancied prize. Those who would wish to hear more concerning this rapid growth of the wings of insects on their escape from the chrysalis, may consult, on this interesting subject, the works of Carus, Herold, and Chabrier, where they will find many curious details very fully and graphically described. "With the exception of the wings, insects may be said not to grow at all after they have passed from the pupa state, and assumed their final form. The bodies of some of the Syrplms tribe, however, expand, as it were, in a very curious manner, after they come from the shell, becoming rapidly twice the size which they seemed at first. This ap- parently sudden growth was first noticed by Gcedart, and is explained by Reaumur in the fol- lowing manner : — The pupa case of this class of in- sects, and of common flies, is, as it is well known, remarkably small in proportion to the dimensions of the perfect insect. Within this very small apart- ment, the abdomen, by means of its annular struc- ture, is compressed to two-thirds of its size ; but INSECTS IN TUEIR PERFECT STATE. 129 no sooner is it relieved from this pressure, than the elastic air it contains expands it to its full dimensions, and hence the appearance of what has been supposed a sudden growth. On first taking flight, many insects, especially Butterflies and Moths, exude one or more drops of pinkish or sometimes deep crimson fluid, the na- ture of which has not been explained. In certain seasons, insects are known to come forth in vast swarms; and when, in their first flight, flights of this kind drop these crimson globules, an effect similar to that which fancy might picture as a " shower of blood" takes place; a phenomenon which produced in former times the greatest alarm, being deemed an evil omen of the very worst cha- racter, and the circumstance invariably led to prog- nostications of the most alarming description. The ridiculous superstitions attached to this pheno- menon received their coup de grace, however, as long ago as 1608, when Pereist announced his dis- covery that the supposed shower of blood was pro- duced, in a very natural way, by an unusually large flight of Butterflies. The effects attending the emis- sion of this crimson fluid by newly developed Lepi- dopterous insects have also been described by Jurine. K 130 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. After having watched the long progress and va- rious metamorphoses of an insect, from the egg to its complete or final state, an interesting question arises as to how long the perfected creatures are destined to enjoy the existence for which such elaborate preparations have been made. The answer, from our imperfect knowledge and appre- ciation of the wonderful code of the divinely created laws of Nature, appears at a glance sin- gularly unsatisfactory ; and when we are told that the Ephemera, after passing several years in their preparatory larva state, are destined, in their per- fect form, only to exist afew hours ! we are but too apt to express an ignorant surprise. Such sur- prise, however, will not serve to explain the mystery. The common House-fly exhibits an apparent discrepancy almost as great in the opposite direc- tion. After passing most rapidly through the egg, larva, and pupa states to the imago, in three or four days, it lives several weeks in its perfect state ; and those which come forth late in autumn even live through the winter, though in a semi-dormant state, to come from their retreats with the early spring weather, and live a second period of their perfected existence in another season. INSECTS IN THEIR PERFECT STATE. 131 The common Cabbage Butterfly, Pieris Bras- sicce, and the large Goat Moth, Cossus Ligniperda, both live about three weeks in their perfect state, though their length of life in the larva stage is so different ; that of the Moth being two, and some- times three years, while the larva of the Butterfly lives about as many weeks. The female Moth, or Butterfly, generally expires the moment she has laid her eggs, but it is said that by keeping the sexes apart their existence may be considerably prolonged. Several kinds, however, such as the " Peacock," the." Small Tortoise-shell," the "Bed Admiral," and some otbers, naturally live through the winter when they are of late au- tumnal broods. The change of the Beetle from the larva to the per- fect state is much less striking than that of the But- terfly, though the metamorphosis may be considered very complete. After it has made its cocoon, or sought the proper place to undergo the change, however, the alteration of form is so gradual that it can scarcely be considered to assume a special pupa form like the Lepidoptera, in their chrysalis. The larva of the Beetle, when the change com- mences, becomes gradually shorter, the wing-cases and wings begin to appear, and the legs, antennae, 132 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. and abdomen to assume by slow progressive growth their eventual forms. In this state the insect is generally quite white, even when destined to become the blackest of Beetles — and appears of the consist- ence and colour of a skinned almond. It is not till the full size of the wing-cases has been attained, and till after their partial hardening to the proper horny texture, that the insect is enabled to make its escape from its cocoon, when it still remains, for some time after its exposure to the air, nearly white; the proper colour being, however, soon assumed. In the insects which have no decided metamorphosis, the three stages of larva, of active pupa or nymph state, and the acquiring of the final form, are so blended one into the other, that it is difficult to assign a special period at which the one terminates and the other begins. Having now traced the course of several classes of insects from the egg, to the perfect or imago state, I shall proceed at once to speak of Butterflies in that phase of their beautiful existence. The term imago was adopted by Linnaius in extreme contra- distinction to that of larva. The last-named term expressing the idea that the caterpillar was a masked* stage of existence, while in the winged * See ante, page 64. INSECTS IN THEIR PERFECT STATE. 133 state, the mask was finally removed, and the imago, or true " image " exposed. The term Lepidoptera, adopted by the same classifier for that large section of the insect family comprising Butterflies and Moths, is, as before ex- plained, from the Greek words, lepis, a scale, making lepidos, scales, in the plural, and pteron, a wing, or rather ptera, wings ; from which we may easily (dropping the s for euphony) construct the word Lepidoptera, that is, those creatures having the wings covered with scales. Clairville proposed to make the term Lepidioptera, but the author of the article " Lepidoptera" in Cuvier's " Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles," expresses his astonishment that M. Clairville should have proposed such defective orthography. Aldrovandus, one of the old Italian naturalists, a contemporary of Shakespeare, adopted a similar idea to that of Linnaeus, as the best mode of distinguish- ing Moths and Butterflies as a homogeneous order. He classed them as those having aim farinosa;, that is, farinaceous or floury wings ; which is, however, less correctly descriptive than the Linnaean term " scaly-winged." But Aldrovandus wrote before the invention of the microscope, which has enabled later naturalists to make such extraordinary progress in 134 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. describing the more minute portions of insect structure. The appearance of that instrument, in fact, led almost immediately to the production of such works as those of our own Dr. Hook, and several similar publications by continental authors. It will be observed that the system adopted by Linnaeus, of classifying insects according to the structure of their wings, was in some sort a return to the methods of the earlier naturalists, to the ex- clusion of that of his more immediate predecessors, which was founded on the different kinds of meta- morphosis ; a system which was, in fact, still pur- sued by some long after his time. Another recent naturalist, Eabricius, rejecting, like Linnaeus, the kinds of metamorphosis as a basis of classification, and deriving his distinction from the structure of the perfect insect, has yet not taken the wings as the foundation of his method, but having discovered that another peculiarity existed, as distinct as that of scaled wings, which served to keep the same class of insects equally separate from others, took that feature as his distinctive character. That feature is their peculiar proboscis or trunk ; and using the Greek name of that member, he proposed to substitute for the LinnaGan term Lepidoptera, that of Glossata ; thus proposing to call Butterflies the INSECTS IN THEIR PERFECT STATE. 135 tongued tribe, instead of the scaly-winged tribe. The Linnsean term and the Linnaean system have, however, prevailed, as the names of all the insect orders at once show by the universal termination ptera (wings) — as Neuroptera, those with reticu- lated wings ; Hymenoptera, those with transparent wings ; Diptera, those with only two wings ; and so on, through all the orders, even to those without wings, which are of course termed apt era, that is, wingless insects. Having examined the modern scientific terms by which the order Lepidoptera has been distinguished, we have next to consider the manner in which it is subdivided. Linnaeus made three grand divi- sions — Papilio, which included the Butterflies, or day-flyers; Sphinx, which included the Hawk-moths, or twilight-flyers ; and Fhalcena, which included all the regular Moths, or night-flyers. These terms have since been superseded as those of divisions, though still preserved as the titles of simple genera ; and in the grand divisions of the order, the form of the antennoe has been definitively adopted as the best mode of forming the leading sections, now re- duced to only two. Thus Bhopolocera includes all the Butterflies, that is, tbose with clubbed antenna?, like those of Butterflies; and lleterocera, those 136 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. with various kinds of antennae, such as are found among Moths — divisional terms which will be more fully explained in the opening of the Chapter on Moths, previous to describing Plate IV. In the mean time, as the term Papilio was preserved by Eabri- cius in his " Sy sterna Glossatorum," and is still used to designate a "family" by the title Papilionidce, the first genus of which is still Papilio — and as it is, in the form of Papillon, the popular French name of all Lepidopterous insects, it will not be uninteresting to trace, if possible, its origin in its Latin form, as well as that of other ancient names given to the Butterfly family. With the Greeks we find that the term Psyche prevailed as the common name of the Butterfly, being the same word as that signifying either " the soul" or "the breath of life." It is thus evident that the poetic Greeks must have closely watched the career of the Caterpillar, toiling, like man, on the surface of the earth for a time, and feeding on its productions — and eventually burying itself in the earth, or enclosing itself in a sculpture-like sarco- phagus in apparent death, from which .. it arose, in due time, a glorious winged creature, to enjoy what seemed a higher kind of existence. Having . observed these singular changes, and the seeming INSECTS IN THEIR TERFECT STATE. 137 resurrection after death, they called the Butterfly by the same name as the soul, and no doubt looked upon the issue of the beautiful insect from the sar- cophagus of the dead caterpillar as one among many other extraordinary evidences of a future state after death. In their personification of the soul, or human spirit — among a series of divinities founded on a system of embodying in divine forms the human passions and aspirations, and even the general powers of nature — they gave to the divinity repre- senting the soul, the wings of a Butterfly ; thus carrying out the popular feeling ; and the deified personage also bore the same name of the "soul." In the exquisite story of Psyche we may trace, also, the poetic theory of a spirit gradually purified by passions and misfortunes for the eventual enjoyment of true and pure happiness. Sir Humphry Davy, in his " Salmonia," a little volume full of beautiful reflections, has a remark- able passage on this subject, in which he refers to the poetical view of the Greeks, and afterwards goes on to dilate, in his own vein, on the transformations of insects as remarkable evidences of the truth of our belief in a future state for Man. " If," he reasons, " an insect, recently a sordid worm, and buried with no sign of life in the earth, should in 138 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. an. instant be made entirely to change its form, and rise into the blue heavens to enjoy the glorious sun- beams, how much more easy does it seem that a being whose most earnest pursuits here have been after an undying name, and after the acquisition of intellectual power and knowledge, should be raised hereafter to a state of being where immortality is no longer a name, and ascend to the source of un- bounded power and infinite wisdom." I recollect being once very much struck with an old print in which a Butterfly was represented as fluttering out of the mouth of a dead body, that of a Man, which appeared to have just yielded up its last breath. I could not understand the meaning at the time, but have long since known, that the old en- graver, following out the Greek feeling, had intended in that way to illustrate the separation of the soul, or spirit from the material form. There must also have been some other Greek name for the Butterfly tribe, from which the com- mon Latin name Papilio is derived. It has been suggested that this Avord was the same as Pa/pilion, (-rrairCKiwv), which was a kind of tent* used by several Numidian tribes. It was also that of the cloth * The French term Pavilion, a tent, is thus derived, as our own name for a small tent-like summer-house. INSECTS IN THEIR TERFECT STATE. 139 of which the tents were made ; and this cloth may have been made from the Papyrus plant and the name have been originally Papayrion. At all events, it seems probable that the appearance of a cloth-like texture exhibited by the wings of a White Butterfly may have led to the adoption of a name from this or a similar origin, which may have been the root of the Latin word Papilio, as used by Pliny to designate the Butterfly. It has also been suggested that the Greek term Papilion meant likewise a sail (perhaps of a cloth like that of the tent), to which the wings of the White Butterfly may justly be compared. Indeed, at a later period of the Roman Empire, when the term Papilio had long been established as the popular name of the Butterfly, Vegetius, in his work on the "Art of War," dedicated to the Emperor Valcntinian, speaks of a kind of sails which were doubtless, as explained in the glossary, those which by their position resembled the wings of a Butterfly, just as do the modern lateen sails still used in the Mediterranean, which certainly recall the form of those of the common White Butterfly when about half expanded. Thus it is pretty plain that we have received from the Greeks both a poetic and prosaic term for the Butterfly ; the first founded on the mystery of 140 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. its metamorphosis, the second on the cloth-like or sail-like texture and form of the wings. Our own term Butterfly — a term which exists in the Saxon and Flemish in nearly the same form, and with precisely the same meaning — has no doubt arisen from a buttery kind of softness in the wings of this class of insects, the surface of Avhich, from the nature of the minute scales, gives way under the touch exactly as the surface of hutter does, though from another cause. That a certain kind of softness was often compared to butter we have an instance in the well-known passage in the Psalms, "his words are softer than hutter;" — and many similar examples might be cited. The French term, Papillon, is directly derived from the Latin Papilio, and applied both to Butter- flies and Moths, the latter being merely dis- tinguished as Papillons de nuit, or night Butterflies, the French language possessing no term precisely equivalent to our " Moth." Among the group of Butterflies represented as established in our Insect Vivarium, in Plate II., the first is the well-known Peacock Butterfly, Vanessa Io, whose brilliant colouring makes him a general favourite. It was this Butterfly, more espe- cially, whose wings were assigned to Psyche by the INSECTS IN THEIR PERFECT STATE. 141 Greeks, as we know by the indication, on many- existing statues, of the beautiful occllce or eye-like spots, which distinguish both the upper and under wings. The best way of procuring fine specimens of this beautiful native insect is to look among beds of nettles, about the beginning of July, for the Cater- pillars; which, clothed in their suit of rich sable velvet delicately spotted with specks of white, as with minute pearls, and ornamented with their curious branching spines, are very conspicuous objects, that may be distinguished even from a distance in such situations, feeding in large com- panies on their favourite vegetable; their colour and number making them at once remarkable. (See Plate II. No. 2.) Some of the nettles, not the young shoots, but those parts with matured foliage, should be placed in the Vivarium with them, and they will always prefer nettles from their native bed, some larvae refusing any foliage, even of the same land, except of the identical plant on which they were hatched. Those of Va- nessa Io, however, are not so particular ; they will in general feed greedily if the food be fresh ; and, after a certain number of times casting the skin, will suspend themselves by the tail in their own 142 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. ingenious fashion to undergo the change to the chry- salis, which will remain suspended after the Cater- pillar skin drops off, as represented at No. 3, in the same Plate. The small Blue Butterfly (No. 4) in the same Plate, is one of our numerous JPolyommati* , a pretty genus, so named from the Argus-like number of eyes, or rather eye-like marks, on the under side of their wings. It is the species named Polyommatus Alexis, the common blue Butterfly. The Cater- pillar of this pretty insect feeds upon different plants of the trefoil family, the one engraved being the cultivated Lucerne, Medicago Sativo, remark- able, like all its genus, for the curious twisting of the seed-vessels. No. 5, in the same Plate, is the female of P. Alexis, which wears a robe of matronly brown, in- stead of the bright azure of its mate. Its wings are represented as raised, in order to exhibit the disposition of the eye-like markings which have given the name to this genus. At No. 6 is represented an example of a cu- rious aberration which this family is subject to. It is an individual of the species Polyommatus Alexis, having on one side of the body the azure * From polus (ttoXws) many, and omnia (o/u/xa) an eye. INSECTS IN THEIR PERFECT STATE. 143 wings of the male, and on the other the dusky brown ones of the female. This curious mon- strosity is not very infrequent. I once had a specimen myself, and have seen several in the col- lection in the British Museum, and elsewhere. The appearance, however, is so singular, that I had great trouble in getting the drawing cut by the wood-engraver as I had drawn it, the block having been sent back to me when half engraved, with a note stating that I had forgotten to finish one pair of wings of the small Butterfly No. 6. A similar misapprehension occurred in an Article on this family of Butterflies which I contributed to the " National Magazine," illustrated with a draw- ing of this curious lusus naturce. The engraver was, in that instance, so convinced of a mistake, that without troubling me on the subject, he ac- tually set one of his draughtsmen to make both the wings match, and it was so printed, before I discovered the extraordinary correction to which my work had been subjected. The Caterpillar of this species, which is one of the onisciform or Wood Louse-shaped kind, is re- presented at No. 7, and the little chrysalis at No. 8 in the same Plate. It may be observed here that the male Poly- 144 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. ommatus Alexis is a most pugnacious little fellow, often engaging successfully in combat with the large Red Admiral, or rather "Admirable," for so the popular name of this large and handsome in- sect is spelt by Moses Harris, who was no doubt thoroughly "up" in the popular nomenclature of our native insects at a period when many of the names were first conferred. In the next Chapter, I shall give an account of other kinds of British Butterflies that may be reared in the Insect Vivarium, but more especially of those represented in Plate III. Plate III. !. The Caterpillar of the Grant WMte ISutiorily. j, Tin Chryealle "ftlio Great White Butterfly. :i. Vitrtt Brattle* The Great White lint Lilly. 4, laeCatorpllIaroftheClIfaen Bum urn i.i-ii.v. 0. The ChryjaUOoi of the Idrnmna is. TheChryaaUaofthoffllfderi Bine Butterfly. o. Poli/ommafiuAJoriM-ThoOlirdon Blue Butterfly. 7 i ho Pc to of the Clifden Blue Butterfly. s. VoluommatM Corydon The Chalk-hill Bluo Butterfly, , the Caterpillar of Groat wiiiic Butterfly. CHAPTER VIII. OP THE GREAT WHITE BUTTERFLY AND OTHER BUTTERFLIES REPRESENTED IN PLATE III. r ORDSWORTH, among his inti- r mate sympathies with the wild $ ' beauties of simple Nature, has not forgotten tlie Butterfly. He has ^- called it the historian of infancy, pfcC because the sight of one of those elegant m\ creatures, with wings pale white as a ] j J summer snow-flake, or gorgeously illuini- I nated like the glowing page of a painted missal, never failed to recall to him the joyous time of childhood, when the first sight of a Butterfly makes an impression on the imagination which is never forgotten. The Butterfly is, par excellence, the insect of flowers. It feeds on the sweet juices of their nec- taries ; revels in their delicate perfumes ; and seems, as it flutters towards them, almost like another flower, so petal-like are its delicately thin and flaky L 146 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. Avings. It might seem to a fanciful reasoner, that feeding exclusively on the "delicate juices of flowers," the Butterfly hecomes like them in form and aspect, as though a general tendency existed in all things to produce their similitude. Gerard, the quaint old herbalist, had evidently some such notion, when rhapsodizing, after his peculiar manner, on the influence of flowers, he is led to make his re- flections on these beautiful insects; and he does not stand alone in his notion, for in a foot-note to one of the "Letters of Gilbert White," by Mr. Mitford, we find the annotator asking the question whether the circumstance mentioned by Mr. Pegge be true, " that Butterflies partake of the colour of the flowers they feed on." Without overstraining the fancy to create re- lations and sympathies which do not exist, there is sufficient analogy between floral and insect deve- lopment to allow of many poetic associations, such as need not trench upon the positive domain of fact. The egg of the parent insect is, both in aspect and size, much like the seed of a plant ; and in its principle of life the seed exhibits a still stronger resemblance, inasmuch as it contains within it the already trace- able forms of the future tree or flower. Then, the cotyledons, or " seed leaves," as they have been THE GREAT WHITE BUTTERFLY. 147 termed, are as different from those of the future tree as is the form of the Caterpillar, as it first issues from the egg, to that of the perfect insect. In the plant, the leaves precede the flower, which is a higher form of development, just as the Cater- pillar form precedes the more perfect or blossom- form of the insect. Then, it is that final, complete, or blossom-form which, both in the plant and the insect, is alone destined to reproduce the germ or egg from which another plant or insect will in its turn he developed ; and it may he asserted that similar, if not such clearly defined, analogies are traceable in every kind of organized existence. There is not a more genial and pleasing sign of opening summer than the first appearance of the Great White Butterfly. The delicate flakes of creamy white that form the wings of this beautiful insect are evidently unfit to contend with the rude Avinds and storms of winter ; they are those of a creature of early summer, and we hail their appear- ance as an assurance that its bright and balmy days have at last commenced. The new visitant is even more attractive than the early flowers, and the urchin cowslip-gatherer lays down his half-completed nosegay to pursue and capture the newer attraction. In its seem- 148 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. ingly objectless and careless flittings, how skilfully it eludes the grasp of its pursuer, without effort or any apparent contrivance, always escaping just by a hand's-breadth, and gaily fluttering on till we are glad to see the little hunter fairly beaten, and watch with secret satisfaction his return to his deserted handful of flowers. But though so many take a general kind of in- terest in tbe common White Butterfly, JPieris Bras- siote, and hail his advent with pleasure, as a harbinger of the coming time of our brief but beautiful sum- mer, there are few who have taken the trouble to examine his aspect in detail, and acquire more definite ideas respecting his beautiful structure. 1 would call upon such to notice, on the earliest opportunity, first, his slender antennae, tipped with those peculiar little knobs which distinguish the antennae of Butterflies from those of the Moth tribe. Then the delicate tube which serves to ex- tract the juices from the deep nectaries of flowers, and which is held so gracefully coiled beneath the palpi till its use is required. I woidd next call at- tention to the creamy white surface of the wings, and the microscopic beauty of the feather-like scales by means of which that surface is formed; and next, to the dark tone of the tip of each of the THE GREAT WHITE BUTTERFLY. 149 anterior wings, which gives such striking relief to the softness of the almost snowy cream-colour, into which it is softened by several shades of ashy gray that might seem the work of a skilful artist, if pencil could be found sufficiently delicate for the work. A similar shade of gray, but paler, occurs at the base of the wings near the body, and then there is a delicate streak of orange down the front edge of the wing, and a careful observer may note that in some specimens, such as in that represented in our Plate, for instance, the middle of the upper wings, which are often perfectly immaculate, are marked with two conspicuous black spots, .shaded off with gray like the patches at the tips. The student need not be ashamed of coming to the decision that those marked in that manner are probably a distinct species, nor of being told that they are not so, and that they are simply the females who have been favoured with this extra decoration — a fact which stands in rather curious contradistinction to the more general prevalence of superior beauty in the markings of the males. The tyro need not be ashamed, as I have said, of imagining the different markings of male and female Butterflies to be the signs of distinct species, for the great Linnaeus, before him, fell into a similar error on more than a 150 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. single occasion ; one of his mistakes of this kind, in reference to a species of the present genus Papilio, having been only recently corrected by the aid of recent discoveries of fresh specimens of both sexes. The underside of the wings of the common White Butterfly are as well worthy of remark as the upper, and they are in many respects different in the markings. The black tip of the anterior wings on the upper surface, for instance, is replaced underneath by a similarly shaped mark of delicate yellowish butf; and the underside of the posterior wings is en- tirely of this warm yellowish buif colour, so minutely powdered with black specks that it requires some care and an eye accustomed to close observation to detect this extra and seemingly superfluous decoration. These are but a few of the delicate beauties that might be pointed out in the common White Butterfly, whose dress to common eyes is simply white, and nothing more. The specimen figured in Plate III. may be sup- posed to be a female, captured in the first days of May, and placed in the Vivarium just as she was ready to deposit her eggs. This she will in most cases do, undisturbed by her new position. The common White Butterfly was the one se- lected by Swammerdam as well fitted to illustr THE GREAT WHITE BUTTERFLY. 151 his history of " an animal within an animal, or the Butterfly hidden in the Caterpillar." The minute dissections and observations of this inde- fatigable naturalist, had for their main object the definite and positive proof of the natural production of insects from eggs laid by parents of the same species, and of the perfectly natural progression in the so-called " metamorphoses" of insects ; and it is not possible to conceive a more complete refutation of the old theories of spontaneous generation, and absolute " metamorphosis," than the richly illus- trated essays which he published as the result of his labours. The eggs of the captive Butterfly, when observed under the microscope, will be found to accord pre- cisely with the description given of them by Swam- merdam. A tolerably strong glass will exhibit the oval form with fifteen small longitudinal ridges converging to the centre of the smaller extremity, the spaces between them being also divided cross- wise by regular grooves or channels. We may sup- pose the eggs to have been deposited by the parent upon the small leaves of a branch of cabbage just going into flower, which should be furnished for the purpose, and kept fresh by placing the stalk in one of the little water bottles. 152 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. In a few days the eggs will be hatched, the minute Caterpillars coming forth, already variegated with green, yellow, and black, as in their full-grown state, though the markings are so minute as to be rather indistinct to the naked eye. In about three weeks or rather more, and after casting their skin several times, these Caterpillars Avill have attained their full size, and in that state they are remarkably handsome, as shown at No. 1, in Plate III. When thus full grown they will cease feeding, and secure themselves with a loop of silken web round the middle, for changing to the Chrysalis state, as already described. The Chrysalides so secured in some convenient situation, will form pretty objects in the Vivarium for a period of from seven or eight to sixteen days, according to the heat of the weather. (See Plate III. No. 2.) After that time the back of the Chrysalis will split by the ex- pansion of the insect within, as described in Chapter VII., and the student will enjoy the interesting spectacle of the escape of the perfect insect from its prison, with all its attendant phenomena. The females of the brood produced at this time (that is, in July) lay eggs in their turn, the Caterpillars of which do not attain their full growth and enter upon the chrysalis stage till late in the autumn ; THE GREAT -WHITE BUTTERFLY. 153 so that the insect within, unstimulated by the summer warmth, remains in the dormant or pupa state all through the winter, to come forth in the first genial days of May. It is said that very late broods of Caterpillars, not full grown before the cold weather, are able to hybernate in a similar manner ; and it is asserted by several naturalists tbat those Caterpillars of the common White Butter- fly which are destined to outlive the winter are sometimes so completely frozen as to break, when bent, like a strip of glass, and yet recover their usual state with milder weather, without apparently having received any material injury. There are, indeed, many species of the Caterpillars of Moths, the late broods of which live through the winter in a similar manner, and which will be described (if space should permit) in the Chapter devoted to that section of the order Lepidopteru. Many young entomologists, in the first season of their experience, have been very much surprised by an apparent metamorphosis in the Caterpillar of the Cabbage White Butterfly, of an entirely different character to that which they naturally expected to take place. This singular phenomenon could hardly take place with Caterpillars hatched within the Vi- varium ; but Ave will imagine that a few have been 154 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. taken from the garden as particularly fine speci- mens, and added to those artificially reared. It is very probable that one out of four or five so added would exhibit the curious transformation about to be described. The Caterpillar in question, not pre- senting any appearance of an unusual character to the inexperienced eye, will suspend itself for changing in the usual manner ; but when the student is ex- pecting the skin of the larva to be thrust off by the expansion of the Chrysalis within, it is simply rent or spread open, and a number of small cocoons of yellow silk are seen attached to its inner surface. Each of these cocoons contains a small oval Chry- salis, from each of which in a few days (if the Caterpillar was of the early brood) a small Fly will issue, whose scientific name is Microgaster Olom- meratns. Thus from the body of a single Caterpillar issues a whole flight of little Flies, creatures belong- ing to quite a distinct class of insects. This must indeed have been an inexplicable surprise to a young entomologist in his first season of experiments, and one which would almost induce him to throw over the discoveries of Swammerdam and Reaumur, and return to the theories of spontaneous generation — thus proved, as it seemed, under his own observations. THE GREAT WHITE BUTTERFLY. 155 The unremitting and watchful researches of na- turalists have, however, fully explained the seeming mystery, and in its explanation brought to light another wonderful provision in the beautiful economy of Nature, by means of which the balance of num- bers in many classes of animal life is preserved or restored. Mr. Haworth observes that in dry seasons the larvae of the White Butterfly multiply in such a manner as to commit great havoc, but that the same causes produce also an unusual number of the small Ichneumon fly, Microgaster Glommeratus, whose instinct it is to pierce the skin of these Cater- pillars in several places, depositing an egg in each incision. These eggs, rapidly hatched by the in- ternal heat of the body of the victim, produce small footless grubs which live upon the fatty portions only of the Caterpillar's body, who continues to feed more voraciously than ever for their supply, as though unconscious of the presence of the destructive intruders. When, however, the time for change arrives, and the Caterpillar slings itself up to pass to the next stage of its existence, the larvae of the Ichneumon rapidly consume all the remaining in- terior, leaving nothing but the external skin, which, when they have perfected their cocoons for under- going their own change, is burst by their increased 156 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. bulk, exposing the little oval masses of yelloAV silk, as shown in Plate III. No. 9. Thus the more than usual number of this Cater- pillar are kept down in certain seasons, and many other kinds of Caterpillars, equally likely to be produced occasionally in great numbers, have each their peculiar Ichneumon, some of which actually attack the Caterpillar in the egg state, as described in a previous Chapter. Having learnt something of the short biography of the White Butterfly, and the vicissitudes to which its existence is subject, the young entomologist must not fancy that he now knows all about White Butterflies. I must suggest to him that there are many other kinds, quite distinct from that just described, which are equally worthy of his careful attention. First, there is a species closely resem- bling Pieris Brassicce, but invariably smaller, and which generally appears full a fortnight earlier than the larger species. This kind, though by some con- sidered only a permanent variety, is by most ento- mologists accepted as a distinct species, to which has been assigned the name of Pieris Chaniclea. In this species the fringe at the edges of the wings is yellow, the dark patch at the tips of the anterior wings grayer, and the buff-colour of the under sur- THE GREAT WI1ITE BUTTERFLY. 157 face of the posterior wings deeper and more con- spicuously freckled with minute black specks. The black markings of the Caterpillar are somewhat less distinct than in the large kind. Other kinds of White Butterflies are, however, of a much more distinct character, though formerly considered the same. There can, however, be no doubt of their forming entirely distinct species, and the student would find it interesting to obtain a thorough knoAvledgc of all the species of the whole genus Pier is in his first season, as an exercise of his powers of accurate discrimination. First, there is Pieris Rapce, once thought by ignorant collectors to be the young of the Great White Butterfly, while it is now well known that insects having once attained their perfect state never grow. It is, however, certainly very like the " Large White," but still, having very obvious marks of distinction, quite unmistakable when once de- tected ; the male, for instance, instead of having the centre of the anterior wings quite immaculate, has one bright black spot on the upper surface, and two, less conspicuous, on the under surface; the female having two small spots like the female of the larger kind. The Caterpillar is still more distinct than the perfect insect. It is dusky yellow under- 158 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. neath, and of a soft velvety green above, with a narrow yellow stripe down the centre of the back, and no black markings whatever. It is more injurious to cabbages than even the Caterpillar of F. Brassicce, as it feeds upon the young internal leaves of the heart, and has been thence termed by the French the Ver du coeur. There is a variety of this species, by some called Fieris Metra, which is smaller still, and having the white of the upper side more dusky, and the buff on the underside of the hind-wings very much deeper in colour ; indeed, almost brown. In other respects, with exception of a supposed greater degree of slen- derness in the form of the wings, it does not differ in appearance from Fieris Rapce. The Caterpillar has not yet been observed. Another species, Fieris Napi, is still more dis- tinct than F. Fapce, its popular name, the " Green- veined White," indicating one of its main distinc- tions from either of the preceding species ; with this very remarkable difference, it very closely re- sembles F. Fapce, but the beautiful bright green mottlings, on either side of each of the veins on the under surface of the hind-wings, forms an all-suffi- cient distinction. The Caterpillar may be distin- guished from that of F. Fapce, which it closely TIIE GREAT WHITE BUTTERFLY. 159 resembles, by being without the narrow dorsal line of yellow. There is a smaller and darker variety of this kind, the Caterpillar of which is at present unde- scribed, in which the green mottlings of the under sides of the hind-wings are of a much deeper green, nearly approaching a tone of olive-brown. But the rarest and most beautiful of the genus Pieris is that rarely-captured prize of the col- lector, Tier is Daplidicce, popularly known as the Bath White, and which is only taken in the vicinity of the sea. The tips of the front or upper-wings are marked with a small patch of bright black, che- quered with squarish blotches of Avhite, and in the centre of the same wings is a largish black mark, divided by a white vein, these marks being green on the under surface. The hind-wings are semi-trans- parent, showing the shadowy form of the bright green markings which decorate their under surface. The Caterpillar is green, with fine stripes of yellow, between which the green is spotted with black. In other genera there are also species of " White Butterflies," which the careless observer might confound with the Common Whites of the genus JPieris. For instance, Euchloe Cardimines, the pretty " Orange-tip" — the female of Avhich, being without 1G0 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. the broad orange mark at the points of the fore- wings, might be mistaken for the male of Pieris Napi. But then the form of the wings is much rounder, and the green mottling of the under sur- face of the hind-wings is much more scattered over the whole wing, and not confined to the edges of the veins, as in P. Napi ; while in the male the beautiful orange mark is an all-sufficient distinction. Then there is the pretty little "Wood White," Leptoria Candida ; much smaller than any other of our White Butterflies, and with much narrower though more rounded wings. It is of a soft creamy white both on the upper and under surface, except at the tips of the anterior wings, which are ornamented with a soft roundish blotch of deep blackish-brown, quite different in form to the similarly-situated markings in the genus Pieris, the blotch being rounded con- vexly towards the body, while those of all the species of Pieris are concave in their internal out- line. There is yet another kind of White Butterfly, which, like the last two, is also of a distinct genus, though so similar in general aspect, till closely examined. It is a rare insect in this country, known as the Black-veined White (Aporia Cratcegi). It may be easily distinguished by the semi-transparent THE GREAT WHITE BUTTERFLY. 1G1 appearance of the wings, and their bright black veins, which are qnite free from the downy coating of scales which usually conceals them in other spe- cies; the veins of the female are brown. These veins arc especially remarkable Avhere they form the external boundary of the wing, which is entirely without the silky fringe almost invariably found in all the families of Butterflies. From the foregoing series of brief descriptions* it will be seen that a great variety of beautiful in- sects would, by the careless observer, be considered as no more than ordinary White Butterflies, although such an observer might incidentally notice that at some times or seasons the insect appeared a little smaller or a little larger, a little darker or a little lighter, than usual. Perseverance for a short time, however, in habits of accurate observa- tion would soon render the most careless in such matters no longer contented with vague conclusions, and tend generally to give to the mind a more defi- nite tone of thought, not only in matters connected with natural history, but also on all other subjects. The pretty Blue Butterfly in the upper part of Plate III. , Poly ommatus Adonis, is the most delicately toned of all the Argus, or Poly ommatus tribe. It is of the purest possible azure, without the slightest M 162 TIIE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. tinge of violet ; of a most lovely, shining, silvery azure; the white fringe and Mack line within it giving an exquisite finish to the delicate effect of the light blue. The female is deep brown, with only a slight flash of blue ; but, in exchange for the bright azure of the male, she has a pretty orange border, with black spots at the edge of the hind-wings. The underside, nearly alike in both sexes, is similar, though handsomer, to that of the more common JP. Alexis, figured in Plate II., Nos. 4, 5, and 6. This has always been one of the most coveted prizes of our entomological weavers — intelligent working-men who enjoyed the study of insects long before the beautiful works of Kirby and Spence, and others, made it popular among the superior classes. At the close of a week's ceaseless toil, the Spital- fields weaver would, after work hours, take his net and collecting-case, and trudge off his score of miles in tbe long summer evenings to Darenth or Birch Wood, arriving time enough to capture a rich harvest of twilight-flying Moths, Avithout fear of interruption from lords of the manor or their gamekeepers; for, as Crabbe says, in one of his inimitable poems — " He fears no bailiffs wrath, no baron's blame ; His is untaxed and undisputed game." THE GREAT WHITE BUTTERFLY. 163 Daniel Bydder was once one of the most indus- trious of these collectors, as Mr. Westwood informs us, and was employed by Dr. Leach, at that time one of the principal curators in the British Museum, to collect for him in the New Forest, where he was so fortunate as to discover and capture for the first time in England the rare insects Platypus Cylindrus and Cicada Anglica. He was also the first among the weavers to attempt a scientific arrangement of his collection, but many afterwards followed his example ; and they have now a scientific society of their own as " Practical Entomologists," with a well-arranged collection, and general meetings on fixed evenings, like those of the more ambitious associations of the richer classes. The Caterpillar of the JPolyommatus Adonis, or Clifden Blue, as it is popularly called, is not well known, but is certainly of the kind termed onisci- form, or Wood Louse-shaped, like those of the whole Argus family. It has been described by Eabricius as being green, with rows of fulvous spots along the back. The Caterpillar of an allied species, JPolyommatus Cory don, engraved in this Plate (PI. III. No. 4), will give a good idea of its general appearance. JPoly- ommatus Corydon, figured just below in the same 164 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. Plate (No. 8), is one of the largest of our Blue Butterflies, and one of the most distinct in colour — the hlue being almost entirely subdued about the middle of the wings by a metallic gloss of silvery white, verging on pale straw-colour ; while at the borders all four wings become nearly black, with a border of still deeper-coloured dusky spots. The female is deep brown, having an orange border with black spots at the edge of the hind-wings, and in the centre of all four wings a speck of white. The small chrysalis of this species is shown lying on the ground (No. 5), immediately beneath the White Butterfly ; but it is said to be generally found attached to the wild tbyme. Plate IV. 1. The Unterpillnr of the Privet Hawk-moth. 2. The Shell of the Chrysalis ofthe Privet Ilinvk-motli. 3. The Privet Hawk-moth just emerged I'min the OhryialfRi i Sphinx Ltffutti it The Prlvel Hawk-motl] In Its pwftol jtut" CHAPTER IX. OF THE SECOND AND THIRD DIVISIONS OP THE ORDER LEPIDOPTERA, ACCORDING TO LINNiEUS AND OTHERS ; AND OF THE MODERN SUPPRESSION OF THE SECOND DIVISION. — OF THE TRANS- FORMATIONS OF SPHINX LIGUSTRI, THE PRIVET HAWK-MOTH, AND OTHERS OF THE FAMILY THAT MAY BE REARED IN A VIVARIUM. '^fun "k^ ^ a ^ * s necessai T *° De sa ^ m a popular ^ work on the term Lepidoptera, ~^y$? and also of its value as defining &2q> very aecurately the beautiful order of insects on which it has been con- ferred, is contained in the Chapter describ- 4 [, ing Plate II. Having now to describe W3/ the second section of that " order," this appears the proper place for stating, in a few words, the nature of the scientific distinctions which serve to separate that class of Lepidoptera generally known as Butterflies from those popularly termed Moths. 166 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. Linnceus made, as it has been stated, three grand divisions of the order Lepidoptera, the first of which he named Papilio, containing all the Butterflies, or day -flyers ; the second Sphinx, con- taining all those which were generally supposed to fly by twilight ; the third Phalcena, or the night- flyers ; our true Moths. In the formation of the last two of these terms, as in many others of his " Systema Naturae," he is extremely imaginative and fanciful. The first he simply adopted as the ancient Latin term by which Lcpidopterous insects in general, but more espe- cially Butterflies, Avere denominated; the second, however, he founded upon a fancy of his own, that the Caterpillars of the Hawk-moths, which com- pose that division, had — in a position which is pe- culiar to them, when the body is stretched along a branch, and the head and three first segments raised — somewhat the appearance of the fabulous sphinx, as we find its form interpreted in Greek sculpture. The third name, Phalcena, in which he included all the rest of the Moth family, he appears to have derived from the Greek word $>a\aiva, which means either a Glow-worm or any insect giving out light, and thus rendered conspicuous by night ; or, an insect which flies towards a candle at LEPIDOPTERA. 167 night. He appears to have accepted the term in its last meaning, or at all events as having refer- ence to creatures more remarkable by night than day, which might very fairly be applied to that section of the Moth family generally considered to fly during the night, and to remain dormant or concealed during the day. Latreille accepted the principle of division by the time of flight which had been thus put forward by Linnaeus, but abandoned the fanciful terms of the great Swedish naturalist, and adopted more descriptive ones ; calling the first division Diurna, or day-flyers, from the Latin diurmis, meaning that which is done in the daytime, or belonging to the day; the second, the Crepuscularia, ovtwihght-Qjers, from the Latin crepusculum, the twilight ; and the third, the Nocturna, or night-flyers, from the Latin nocturmis, appertaining to the night. It has since been found, however, that the time of flight is not an infallible method of distinction, except in the first class, several species, both of the second and third classes, having been found to fly by day as well as night. The principle recently proposed by Dr. Boisduval to separate the order Lepidoptera only into two great classes, founded on distinctions of the antenna?, has therefore been 168 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. very generally adopted. The first division hie makes Bhopolocera, or those with cluhhed an- tenna), from the Greek ropolon (poirokov), a club or knob, which includes the whole of the Butterflies ; all the genera and species of the family being dis- tinguished by a small but well-defined knob at the end of each antenna. The second division he calls Jletcrocera, consisting of all such as have various kinds of antenna?, from the Greek cteros (erepo?), dif- ferent or dissimilar. This definition includes, very naturally, the whole Moth family, the various genera of which have many different kinds of an- tenna), but in no instance knobbed or clubbed ones, like those of Butterflies. We possess, as I have stated before, in our popular nomenclature, two terms Avhich serve as very excellent general dis- tinctions for these two grand divisions, Butterflies and Moths ; while the Trench language has no popular term corresponding to our Moth, the place being supplied by the compound word Papillon cle unit, or Night-Butterfly. The popular English term "Moth" did not ori- ginally refer to the perfect insect, but rather to the larva, more especially that of the common House- moth. It is derived from the Saxon tnou, which belongs to the same root as the Scandinavian LEPIDOPTERA. 169 vnatha, a worm or grub ; and the term " Moth- eaten" is sufficient to prove that the term " Moth" originally applied to the larva and not to the per- fect insect, as in the winged state Moths are not furnished with mandibles which would enable them to devour cloth, or any substance of that kind. In describing the Hawk-moths and other Moths in Plates IV. and V., I shall have occasion to point out the peculiarities of the antennae, by means of which the whole Moth class is so distinctly divided from the Butterfly section of the order. Moths have the antennae or feelers generally tapering from the base to the point, Avhich in some in- stances is as slender as a hair. The class of SpHngidcc, however, to which the Privet Hawk- moth engraved in Plate IV. belongs, have the an- tennae slightly thickened towards the end, though decidedly not clubbed, as in Butterflies ; as may be seen by referring to those of any of the Butterflies in Plates II. and III. This thickening of the ex- tremities of the antennae in the Sphingidce, or Sphinx family, has naturally caused them to be placed next the Butterflies, as a kind of link be- tween the two divisions; and it may be noticed, en passant, that in some of the group, especially in the genus DeilepHla, the thickening towards the 170 TIIE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. end of the antennae is much more remarkable than in the case of the Privet Hawk-moth. There is an exotic group, in which the approach to the Butterfly character is still more decisive, hut, as containing none hut foreign insects, it need not be more particularly referred to here. Though the names of the great Linnaeus, Sphinx and Phalcena are no longer used as the titles of great divisions, they have been respectfully preserved in other positions. Papilio is still the name of the first genus of Butterflies though not of the whole diurnal division, and forms also the family title of a number of genera closely allied to Papilio, as Papilionidce ; while Sphinx, though no longer dis- tinguishing all the supposed twilight-flyers, is still the title of a genus the Caterpillars of which first suggested the term ; and also of a family group of the most nearly allied genera, as Sphingidce. Even the still more fanciful term Phalcena has been partially retained in a similar manner. I must now proceed to describe the transforma- tions of the Privet Hawk-moth, as shown in Plate IV. I have supposed the magnificent Cater- pillar to have been captured on some privet hedge in the garden of the student towards the close of summer. The conspicuous appearance of this larva, LEPIDOPTERA. 171 with its dorsal horn or tail, peculiar to the larvae of all the SphingidcB, and its diagonal stripes of violet and white on a ground of bright apple green, could not fail to attract the notice of any one in search of insects. I have therefore imagined the prize captured and placed in the Vivarium, and there provided with a fresh sprig of privet, placed in one of the water- bottles every day to furnish fitting food. Such a Caterpillar attains its full growth towards the end of August or beginning of September, when it Avill be found to leave off feeding. After a little uneasy rambling, and having become of a dirty red colour, it will then proceed to burrow into the earth to undergo its change. It should be left undisturbed in its subterranean retreat till the following June or July, when the large brown chrysalis may be taken out and placed in a moist and shady part of the Vivarium, where the first symptoms of the cracking of the pupa and the appearance of the Moth may be conveniently observed. It is true that this dis- turbance of the nest and of the natural position of the pupa may in some degree interfere with its perfectly healthy development, but yet the spec- tacle of the exit of the Moth from its prison must not be lost ; and we will suppose that a few other chrysalides of the same kind are still left in the 172 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. earth to undergo their final change in a perfectly natural manner, for where there is one Caterpillar, others are sure to be found if properly sought for. To return to the coming forth of the Moth. The first symptom will be the appearance of a crack, and then a wider opening down the back of the chry- salis ; as this Avidens, the head and thorax of the Moth will be seen struggling to extricate them- selves, the antennas still closely packed under- neath. By the assistance of the legs, when once freed, the whole of the body is soon drawn out, and the insect generally remains for a short time on the external wall of his prison to rest after his exertions. The wings are at that time still smaller than those represented at No. 3 in Plate IV.; but as the newly-formed Moth gathers strength and creeps away from the empty shell, as shown at No. 2, it begins to lift its wings gently, and their growth becomes very rapid, show- ing every marking in a minute form, as in an accurate miniature model. Every movement of the newly-born " imago " is now highly interesting, till at last the full propor- tion of the fine wings is attained, and the truly splendid insect attempts to take its first flight, as shown at No. 4 in the same Plate. LEPIDOPTERA. 173 There are many other Moths of the Sphinx tribe equally remarkable, both in size and general aspect, the transformations of which might with equal success be made the subject of observation in the Vivarium. The Sphinx Convolvulus, for instance, in certain seasons when it is abundant, as in 1856, when, after having been for a long time one of the collector's greatest rarities, it was observed in con- siderable numbers. The Caterpillars of the Poplar Hawk-moth, Smerinthus Populi, which are some- what less in size and devoid of the violet tone in their lateral stripes, may be found each season if well looked for, as well as those of the Lime Hawk- moth, Smerinthus Tilice, and also those of the handsome Sphinx Ocellakis, all of which must be searched for towards the close of summer or beginning of autumn. Then there is the giant of the Sphingiclcc, the well-known Death's-head Moth, the splendid larva of which should always be procured if possible. This fine insect, the only English species of the genus Atropos, deserves describing at some length. My attention was especially recalled to this magnificent insect by the discovery in my garden, about the middle of September last, of a remarkably fine larva, of unusual size even for this large species. 174 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. It was turned up while digging potatoes, on the foliage of which (its favourite food) it had evidently- feasted till fall grown, and then buried itself in the earth to undergo its change to the chrysalis and eventual winged state. I immediately made a careful drawing of the Caterpillar, to add to my collection of drawings of that kind. When fully extended, it was more than five inches in length, the colouring being a bright apple-green, shading to yellow as it approached the dark diagonal stripes. The three sections next the head, and the one next the tail, were of a bluer green than the rest of the body, and devoid of the small black tubercles that are thickly sprinkled with symmetrical precision over the other divisions. The dark diagonal stripes of rich violet have a streak of white behind them, and shade off in front to a pale bluish tone. The spiracles, or breathing pores, situated above each foot, arc black, surrounded by a ring of white, while the singular caudal appendage, or tail, is of a dull orange. When in motion, this beautiful Caterpillar exhibits its markings to great advantage; the alternate extension and compression of the ridges of each segment giving a beautiful play to the maculations, almost such as one observes in the skin of the Tiger when he paces his den with that sin- LEPIDOPTERA. 175 gular undulating motion peculiar to the feline race, and noticeable even in the domestic Cat. I find myself making this comparison without any reference to one of the popular names of this insect — the Great Tiger Hawk-moth — a name given in consequence of the black stripes which mark the tawny body of the perfect insect. After making my drawing, I took the mea- sures which I thought most likely to insure the successful metamorphosis of this remarkable crea- ture to its pupa and winged states. I had heard that many attempts to rear a perfect Moth from the Caterpillar of this species had failed, the insect almost invariably perishing in the pupa or chrysalis stage. Thinking that this might be caused by the over dryness of the earth in which it was placed, or, at all events, from its not retaining o the same constantly equal state of moisture that would exist at the depth to which the Caterpillar generally burrows, I took the following precautions : A large flower-pot being selected, I stopped up tbe hole with a cork, taking care to pass a quill, open at both ends, through the cork, to serve as an escape-pipe for superfluous wet, and yet not being large enough to allow of the escape of the Caterpillar. 17G THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. Having put in a layer of pieces of broken pots, to secure sufficient general drainage, the pot was nearly filled with light garden mould, and the insect having been placed at about the mid-depth, a piece of strong canvas was then tied tightly over the pot, when the pot was plunged up to its rim in a shel- tered part of the garden. About a fortnight afterwards I carefully re- moved a portion of the mould in the pot, and had the satisfaction of discovering near the bottom a well-formed chrysalis, nearly three inches in length, which moved briskly on being touched. I covered it up quickly, hoping very shortly to be gratified by the sight of the .perfect insect issuing from the earth; for this singular species is said to emerge from the pupa almost immediately, that is to say, within a few weeks, instead of remaining during the winter in its chrysalis state, like others of the Sphinx family, and, indeed, nearly all our large native Moths. Week after week went by, however, without any sign; at length, after three months and more had passed, I again uncovered the chry- salis, fully expecting to find it rigid and dead ; but, to my surprise, it was still alive, which leads me to suppose that the early broods of this insect may undergo their metamorphoses the same season, LKIIDOPTERA. 177 while a later brood may remain in the pupa state through the winter. I have not yet, therefore (even in April), given up the hope of obtaining a mag- nificent specimen of the giant Acherontia Atropos. I have more than once used the term giant in reference to this insect, for the Death's-head Moth is indeed of noble proportions, and by far the largest of our native Lepidoptera. It owes both its popular and scientific names to the singular resemblance of the markings on the anterior part of the body to a human skull — a peculiarity which also gave rise to the superstitions connected with its appearance, for this harmless insect has always been considered a creature of ill omen. Linnaeus, who classed it with the Sphinx family, following out his fanciful scheme of specific deno- mination, named it Sphinx Atropos— Atropos being, according to Hesiod, the Eate whose special business it was to cut the thread of life, spun and directed by her sisters, Clotho and Lachesis. Modern naturalists, finding it necessary to separate the species Atropos from the genus Sphinx, though still retaining it in the Hawk-moth family, have preserved the specific name con- ferred by Linnaeus, and added a generic one of corresponding character. This name, Acherontia, N 178 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. that is to say, pertaining to the river Acheron, one of the streams which, according to the Greek my- thology, had to he passed on entering the infernal regions, was intended to emhody, after a classical fashion, the popular superstition that death — or, in other words, the speedy passage of the fatal stream in question — was foretold to the unlucky individual favoured with a visit from one of these insects hearing the mark of the ominous skull hetween its shoulders. Thus its modern name, Acherontia Atropos, may he interpreted as the Achcrontian messenger of Atropos. The singular manner in which the Moth emerges from the earth, on its escape from the pupa, has no doubt strengthened the superstitious notions con- nected with it ; and it may be easily imagined that in a more ignorant age, when a creature so pecu- liarly marked was dug up at a considerable depth, or seen emerging mysteriously from the earth, that singular forebodings might arise. Latreille states that it appeared in great numbers one season in some parts of Brittany, during the time that an epidemic happened to be raging, and that the fatal character assumed by the disease was popularly believed to be entirely owing to the appearance of these dreaded insects. LKPIDOI'TEUA. 179 A low wailing sound emitted by this Moth may also have added to these superstitious terrors. The mode of producing this sound has given rise to many hitherto futile discussions among naturalists ; and it has been supposed to inspire terror in insects as well as men, for it is known tbat Avhile pro- ducing this low wailing cry, it will fearlessly enter a beehive, and rifle the cells of their honey, in de T fiance of the seemingly paralysed Bees. Sometimes, however, the robber is boldly attacked and stung to death, in which case a singular display of instinct not unfrequently takes place. The Moth having died with extended wings, it is found impossible to eject him by the opening of the hive, which he had entered with his wings partially closed ; and the Bees, apparently aware that the decay of so large a body within their dwelling would render it unhealthy, proceed at once to coat it with wax, and thus, as it were, embalmed, the Moth remains in its waxen sere-cloth, perfectly innoxious for any space of time. The exotic species of Acherontia, distributed over nearly all parts of the globe, are inferior both in size and beauty to our native insect ; and in no in- stance are the curious skull-like markings on the thorax so well defined as in the European Death's- head Moth. 180 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. I would recommend the young curator of an Insect Vivarium to try his luck each season in the rearing of this splendid Moth from the Caterpillar state, as it is the only way of procuring really fine specimens of the perfect insect, which, if of unusual size, Avould cost something like a guinea each, hut which may thus be added to a collection at the cost of a little care, and the gain of much instruction and amusement. The Caterpillars of the genus Deilephila, also of the Sphingidce, or Hawk-moth family, must be dili- gently sought for, especially those of the beautiful in- sect Deilephila Euphorbia (the Spotted Hawk-moth), which in certain seasons have been found so plenti- fully on some' parts of the coast of Devonshire as to attract birds from a distance to feed upon them. They are very conspicuous, both for their size and colour, and feed upon the Euphorbia Paralias, or Sea-spurge, which grows in great abundance in the neighbourhood of Barnstaple. Mr. Raddon, the well-known eminent engraver, who was also an enthusiastic entomologist, published at that time an interesting account of this larva in all its stages, accompanied by a fine illustrative plate. Mr. lladdon states that in 1814 these Caterpillars were so plentiful in the neighbourhood just referred to, LEPIDOI'TERA. 181 that he found no less than one hundred minute larvae upon a single armful of Spurge which had been cut at dusk on the preceding evening. It is said that there is considerable difficulty in rearing these larva; successfully, so as to obtain perfect specimens of the Moth ; and Mr. Westwood informs us that the late Mr. Euseli, the Royal Academician, who, like Northcote, was a zealous entomologist, was only able to obtain a single perfect Moth from twenty Caterpillars, all of which appeared to have entered the pupa stage in a healthy condition. Though extremely rare, or at all events capricious in their appearance in England, the chry- salides, or eggs, or young Caterpillars might be obtained any season from the Continent ; and with the convenient appliances of the Insect Vivarium, I feel convinced that any one would, with due care, obtain a much more successful result with a batch of Caterpillars than that arrived at by Euseli, in whose time the conditions necessary to ensure com- plete success were much less perfectly understood. Eggs or pupae of the Oleander Hawk-moth ( Chcerocampa Nerii) should also be procured from the Continent ; the exquisite tinting and intricate maculations of pink, green, and olive on the wings of the perfect insect rendering it one of the most 182 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. beautiful of the Sphinx family. It is occasionally found in England, but some have thought that the specimens of this fine Moth taken at Dover in 1833, and at Brighton more recently, may have been blown over from the Erench coast. Its claim to be accepted as a native species is, however, better founded in the capture of one of the Caterpillars, which was discovered in a garden at Tcignmouth. If eggs or Caterpillars of the Oleander Hawk-moth are obtained from the Continent, they should be fed on some plant of the Vinca family nearly allied to the Oleander, and more particularly on the lesser Peri- winkle, which, was plentiful in the garden at Tcign- mouth, where the solitary English Caterpillar was found. There is much to tell of the form of the Cater- pillars of this genus, and the derivation of their name, with many other interesting particulars. But I am compelled to pass rapidly to the considera- tion of a few of the most remarkable of the larger Moths of the other groups, just suggesting, before quitting the Moths of this and the more nearly allied kinds, that the collector should look after the wood-boring larvae of the Clear-wings, such as the Hornet Hawk-moths, Sphecia Apiformis and S. ~Dembeciformis. Also those of the other Clear-wings, LEHDOl'TEK.V. 183 especially tlic-se of the Bee Hawk-moths, Sesia Bom- byliformis and S. Fuciformis, which arc much more like the ordinary Caterpillars of the Sphingidcc than those of the Hornet Hawk-moths, and feed upon different kinds of Galium. These Moths will at first appear to a casual observer much more like Bees or Hornets than Moths, from their wings being without the usual scales, and consequently trans- parent, except at the borders. The detection of the indubitable characteristics which mark them as true Moths will serve as useful lessons to the student in acquiring habits of accurate observation. CHAPTER X. DESCRIPTION OF THE MOTHS AND THEIR CATER- PILLARS IN PLATE V., AND OF OTHER MOTHS AND CATERPILLARS SUITABLE FOR THE VIVARIUM. ' conspicuous, by far, among the British Moth tribes are the Hawk-moths. I devoted an entire Chapter to their consideration, yet without being able in that space to do more than give a toler- ably full account of two species only, with a few brief remarks on the rest of the family. In the present Chapter, therefore, which is all the space I can allot myself in this volume to speak of the other families, genera, and species of British Moths, it is evident that it will only .be practi- cable, in addition to those represented in Plate V., to select for description some half-dozen species belonging to widely different families, leaving the reader who desires a more intimate knowledge of Plate V. I. The Caterpillar of t\tc Pun-moth. ■_'. Ceiwa Finitta Tha Pass-moth. 9, The Caterpillar of the Lolister-mol ■i. Stoumpw I'ti-ii- I'lio l.uh^ttT-muili. R. The Female Glow-worm. 0. The Male Glow-worm, MOTHS AND THEIR CATERPILLARS. 185 our native Moths to seek it in works more especially devoted to the subject.* The Caterpillar, Plate V. No. 1, is that of Centra Vinula, the Puss-moth. It is a very re- markable larva, both in form and colour, and at- tracted the attention of many of our early natu- ralists long before entomology existed as a science. Old Isaac Walton, the accomplished angler, whose biographies of George Herbert the well-known poet, and others of his cotemporaries, are sufficient proof that his taste and skill were not confined to a successful exercise of the gentle craft of the rod and line, has given in one of those charming little outbursts of his love of Nature that occur con- tinually in his book on angling, an elaborate de- scription, exquisite in its nice perception of form and colour, of this Caterpillar, the name of which he did not know, but which is so faithfully described that it is impossible to mistake it. Though so singular in form — the anal pro- legs being absent and replaced by two curious tail- like appendages — and also so remarkable by its size and tinting, it is by no means rare ; indeed it * In my " Genera of British Motlis," now publishing in monthly parts, by Mr. Jerrard, 171. Fleet Street, (lie young student will probably find aJl the information he requires. 186 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. may be said to be absolutely abundant, though tbose wbo have not schooled themselves to watch for the occurrence of such objects during their country walks may never have seen it. The two horn-like appendages at the tail have been taken as the cha- racter of the genus, the name of which, Gerura, is founded on the Greek word *«/>«?, a horn or antenna. I once reared a large brood of the larva? of Centra Vinula, from eggs laid by a female which I had captured in the perfect state; and the appearance of the little Caterpillars when first hatched, as well as in their different stages, was very interesting. The markings and general appearance as to colour changed several times, and even in their full-grown state differed very considerably ; some having the saddle-shaped mark on the back beautifully tinted with white and pink, while in others the same portion, as shown in Plate V., was entirely of a dark olive, variegated with delicate veinings of black. The Caterpillar is found about August, feeding on Willow or Poplar, and when full-grown burrows in dry ground or loose rubbish to undergo its change to the pupa state, orming a cocoon of small chips or other matters glued together so compactly that it is difficult to make any impression upon it with a sharp knife ; MOTHS AND TIIEIIt CATEItHLLARS. 187 the perfect insect appearing in the beginning of the following summer. The Moth, represented in the same Plate (No. 2), is very prettily waved and brindled with shades of gray, not unlike the markings, when well defined, of a gray tabby cat. This, with the furry character of the body, which is of the same colours, and marked in a similar manner, has ob- tained for it the popular denomination of the Puss- moth, under which name it has long been a favourite with young collectors. There is a variety, by some thought a distinct species, in which the body is whiter, and marked on the thorax with little black points like those of ermine, from which it has received the specific name of "Erminia" The antennae in this genus are in both sexes bipectinated, that is, formed like a double comb, gradually attenuating to the point. This is one of the various forms of antennae never occurring among Butterflies, which has caused the whole of the Moth tribe to be classed in one division as hetero- cera, from having variously formed antennae, while those of Butterflies are of one constant form, as we have seen, with a small club at the extremity. * It would form an interesting task to a young * See page 168. 188 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. collector to endeavour, in his collection of larvae and perfect insects, to complete the genus Cerura, of which there are four or five distinct species, some say seven, all about half the size of the great Puss-moth or the Ermined variety. These smaller species are popularly called "kittens;" Cerura Bicuspis, the first of the small species, is a very pretty Moth, the ground of the wings white, with a broad band of deep gray-brown bordered with black across the centre of the anterior wings, and a narrower band, broadest at the front and narrowing to the back, nearer to the edge. The last-named band is slightly scallopped, and there is a row of dots at the edge of both front and hind-wings ; the hind-wings being in other respects white, with only a slight shadowy band of gray towards the edge. Then there are C. Integra, C. Furcula, C. Arcuata, C. Lalifascia, C. Bifida, and C. Fvscinula, each distinguished by some tolerably well-defined charac- ter. They have all been considered distinct species by continental entomologists, and some of them have been found in England, while the reported cap- ture of others is disputed. The Caterpillars have all the curiously forked tail-like appendages at the end segment instead of the usual last pair of legs ; and one or two of the kinds are far from uncom- MOTHS AND THEIR CATERPILLARS. 189 mon. As some of the species are disputed as Bri- tish, it would he interesting to settle the matter hy their capture, or rearing them from the Caterpillar state. The Caterpillar in Plate V. No. 3 is that of the rare Moth Stauropus Fagi. It is popularly called the "Lobster," and is more unusual in form and general appearance than even the one last described. The pectoral legs, instead of being of the usual short proportion, terminating, after two very short joints, in a horny point, as in those of the Puss-moth Caterpillar just referred to, are lengthened in a most extraordinary manner, so as to exceed in length even those of the perfect insect — a peculiarity that does not exist in any other British Caterpillar. The form of these curiously angulated legs, which in some positions suggest the idea of a crossed palisade or chevaux-de-frise, has no doubt given rise to the generic name of Stauropus, from the Greek words stauros (crravpos), a palisaded fence, and pous (7rou?), a foot. The popular name of "Lobster" is, however, more graphically descriptive, as the skin, or rather shell, of the Caterpillar has a shining surface, and varies from a kind of fawn colour to a tone ap- proaching the rich scarlet of a boiled lobster. The 190 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. overlapping of the skin in the last segments of the body, which are generally bent over the back, serves to complete the resemblance, being very similar to the scale-like jointing of the lobster's tail. Like the Caterpillar of the Puss-moth, the anal pro-legs are absent, their position being occupied by two horn-like appendages, the use of which is not known. The long pectoral legs, however, are said to be necessary to the larva in the formation of its some- what peculiar cocoon, the texture of which is not unlike that of tissue paper. It will be observed that the first pair of these singular legs, next to the head, are very slender, and to a certain extent rudimental, the full development being confined to the second and third pair. This formation,' how- ever, disappears in the perfect Moth, in which the six legs are equal. There is a curious analogy with this arrangement in the legs of certain Butter- flies, as in those of the genus Vanessa, described in Cbapter VII. ; but in that instance it is the front pah- of legs of the perfect insect that are rudi- mental, while' in the Caterpillar state there is no indication of such a peculiarity. The "Lobster" Caterpillar feeds on Fagus Syl- vatica, the Common Beech, and also on other forest trees, as Alder, Hazel, Sloe, etc. It is found in MOTHS AND THEIR CATERPILLARS. 191 autumn, and the Moth appears in the following- June, having passed the winter and spring in the chrysalis state within its comfortable papyrian cocoon. The perfect Moth, Plate V. No. 4, pre- sents nothing so particular in its aspect as one might expect from the extraordinary formation of the Caterpillar, but the antenna) are one of the many examples of the variety of forms to which this feature is subject in the Moth tribe. They are only pectinated, that is, toothed like a comb for about three-fourths of their length, the extremity being smooth, and terminating in a fine point — a feature which is not very well expressed in my illustration. In the female, the antennae are en- tirely devoid of pectinations — a characteristic which we shall find very general in many families of Moths. This Moth is very rare, the localities of its occurrence being nearly all in the south of England. I recollect an enthusiastic entomologist telling me once how he captured a specimen fluttering round one of the lamps on Clapham Common, and the dangers he incurred in the adventure. First, in order to have any chance of securing the prize, it became absolutely necessary to climb the lamp- post. When this had been effected, not without 192 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. some damage to liis knees, and a good deal of exertion, he held on hy the ladder-rest with his left hand, while with his right he made the best use of his hat, in which, after many unsuccessful sweeps, he had at last the satisfaction of making good his capture, and he slid down the iron post in triumph. He had scarcely reached the ground, however, when he found himself in the arms of a stalwart police- man ; but he was at first too much absorbed to pay much attention to this interruption, and shaking himself free, all but his collar, which the policeman kept a firm hold upon, he proceeded to secure the treasure, and place it in his small collecting-case, which he always carried Avith him, regardless of the persistent questions of the policeman as to "what he meant by damaging the lamps ?" " what he was after?" and many other forms of interrogation in which the official continued to indulge. At last, just as he was depositing the tin-case in his breast- pocket, the policeman put his question either in a form more intelligible to the excited entomologist, or in a way that appealed more forcibly to the set of feelings just then in most powerful action, " What have you got there?" he said. This was a plain question, and to the point ; for the entomologist well knew " what he had got there," and, with a smile MOTHS AND THEIR CATERPILLARS. 193 of triumphant satisfaction, replied at once— "A lobster !" This was deemed by the official a piece of impertinence not to he submitted to — perhaps some new bit of slang that he was not "up to " — and so he determined to take the lamp-breaker and his "lobster" to the station-house; and it was not till after considerable explanation, backed, I be- lieve, by a metallic form of argument more current, and generally more potent than words, that " 58 G" allowed my entomological friend to depart in peace with his prize. It occurs to me here to suggest that the esta- blishment of an Insect Vivarium would offer an . excellent opportunity for rearing some specimens of the beautiful Enclromis Versicolor from the egg. This Moth, popularly known among collectors as the "Glory of Kent," from its being rarely found except in one or two localities of that county, and even there very sparingly, has recently been taken in great abundance in the north of Scotland, among the Birch forests of a remote part of Perthshire. It is more especially in the woods of Rannoch that this great entomological "find" has taken place; and I saw in the cases of Mr. Turner, the professional collector, after his return from his successful tour, several dozens of splendid specimens, male and female, of 194 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. this fine insect, which had been hitherto deemed one of our greatest entomological rarities. Eggs were brought from Rannoch last season by another professional collector, Mr. Harding, of York Street, Shoreditch, who announces, in the " Entomo- logists' Weekly Intelligencer," * that he has been successful in rearing a number of larvae from the eggs of last season. The Vivarium would afford Unusual advantages for rearing these beautiful Caterpillars, which somewhat resemble those of the Sphingidce, but that the oblique lines at the sides lean in the opposite direction. Eggs might, no doubt, be procured either from Mr. Turner or Mr. Harding; and the pleasure of seeing this fine native insect, hitherto so rare, in all its stages, would amply repay any time or care bestowed upon the necessary arrangements. In speaking of recent additions to the list of our native Moths, though I have only room to name a few of the most conspicuous, I must not omit the handsome new Burnet Moth, Anthrocera Minos, taken in the west of Ireland, which has the crimson markings of its wings much larger than in the common kinds, and of a wedge-like form, instead of being oval spots. * For April 8, 1858. MOTHS AND THEIR CATERriLLARS. 195 Such discoveries as these seem strange after our entomologists have been so long hard at work. It might, indeed, be thought that their persevering investigations during the last ten or twelve years would hardly have resulted in the detection of any conspicuous native insect left unregistered and de- scribed by their industrious predecessors ; and yet new species are turning up every season. At one time it is Mr. Doubleday, at another, Mr. Stephens, at another, Mr. Douglas, who in turn bring to light some fine insect to be added to the British catalogue. The most recent discovery is that of the fine Moth JPelasia Nubeculosa, never before found in England, and very rarely on the Conti- nent, which has recently been captured in Scotland by Mr. Cooper, of Liverpool, and since by Mr. Fox of London. So great was the excitement on the occasion of this entomological surprise among the enthusiastic cultivators of the science, that one of the first specimens was positively sold for the sum of £7 ! It appears that Mr. Cooper had gone to Scotland to collect, imusually early in the season, so early, indeed, that few specimens of the insect he was in search of had appeared ; but he was re- Avarded for his disappointment by finding himself just in time, it being the middle of March, for the 196 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. appearance of a species the very existence of which, in the British Isles, he did not even suspect. The capture of the first specimen of Petasia Nubeculosa ■was, indeed, quite a triumph. The only other British species of this genus is Petasia Cassinia, a much smaller kind, popularly known as " The Sprawlcr;" a name which has heen given also to the new species, which is already spoken of as the " Bannoch Sprawler," from the fact of its having heen first captured at that place. The Caterpillar is found in April, and feeds on the Birch; it is therefore inferred that the noble Birch woods of Balmoral, a closely neighbouring region, may be found abounding with this hand- some native insect, which has hitherto been sup- posed to be confined to the Continent. Esper has figured it in his valuable work as a native of Prance and Germany. It was during the same season that Midromis Versicolor was found in such abundance in that part of Scotland, while in the localities hitherto recorded as places of its capture— the woods of Kent and some of the southern counties — it has almost disappeared. It is presumed that both these entomological prizes are to be found in the extensive Birch woods of Bal- moral ; and if so, there is but little doubt that the MOTHS AND THEIR CATERPILLARS. 197 Prince Consort and the Prince of Wales, who are both collectors, have already been out in search of them, and most likely Avith complete success. But although there is all the pleasant excite- ment of novelty about these discoveries, we must not in an Insect Vivarium forget the old-esta- blished favourites. There is, for example, the handsome Caterpillar of the Lackey-Moth, so called from the stripings of red and Avhite, on a gray ground, that have the effect of the lacings on the rich livery of a lackey. This larva may always be found in great abundance, indeed it is a real garden pest in June. It is a sad destroyer of the foliage of fruit trees, but Avill form a very pretty addition to the Vivarium; and the Moth, Clisio- campa Neustria, can scarcely be procured in any other way, for it is exclusively a night-flyer, and its flight is extremely rapid. Then there are the fine fur-clothed Caterpillars of the genus Lasiocampa, a name formed from the Greek words lasios (Xaa-coi), hairy, and campe («a/i7re) 5 a caterpillar. Nearly all these are very handsome, and should be carefully looked for. Among them is that of Lasiocampa Quercus, the Oak Egger Moth. The name of " Egger" having been popularly conferred in consequence of the Cater- 198 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. pillar forming with great regularity a cocoon of egg- like form. This fine large Moth differs considerably in the colouring of the males and the females, the males having the base of the wings, next the body, of a rich dark brown, in which is a white spot ; beyond which is a broad border, reaching to the edge, of bright yellowish ochre ; the female is still larger, but of paler colouring, exhibiting only two shades of fawn, and the antenna} are simple, in- stead of being pectinated like those of the male. If the collector should be fortunate in securing a female of this species, he may capture as many males as he wishes; for on going out with the captive female into any locality in which these Moths are found, the males will immediately appear, some- times in considerable numbers, and are occa- sionally so bold that they will follow the box containing the female even into the pocket of the collector, or into any trap he may contrive for their capture. Then there is Lasiocampa Rubi, the Pox Moth, of similar but more ruddy tone and colouring, the Caterpillar of which forms the long semi-trans- parent cocoon previously described. This Caterpillar is clothed with rich foxy fur, the joints of the segments, when stretched out, looking like inter- stices of black velvet. MOTHS AND TIIEIR CATERPILLARS. 199 Early in the spring the common Caterpillar of the Tiger-moth will he found abundantly. It is well known to village children as the " Woolly Bear," and is remarkably handsome. These Cater- pillars will form their cocoons in June, and the Moths will appear in July. This Moth (Arctia Caja) is one of the handsomest of our native insects. The upper-wings are of a soft pale cream colour, beautifully varied with large solid patches of warm brown. The form of these patches varies consider- ably, sometimes being so large and close as to make nearly the whole wing brown, and arc at other times so scanty as to leave the cream-coloured ground almost pure. These extreme varieties are, however, very rare, and it is well worth rearing a number of the Caterpillars in order, if possible, to obtain them. The under-wings and body are of the most vivid scarlet, with fine markings of purple black. These brilliant colours, combined with the size of the Moth, sometimes three inches across the expanded wings, render it, though one of the commonest, at the same time one of the most re- markable of our native Moths; and it is particularly adapted for the Vivarium, as it appears to have but little desire to fly, beyond seeking its mate, and in the day it remains perfectly quiescent, with the 200 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. wings half closed, in which state it forms a most beautiful object. As early as the first signs of herbage begin to clothe the banks in spring, the Caterpillar of another of the genus may be found, that of Arctia Villica, the " Cream-spot Tiger," a Moth which, though less in size, is perhaps still more attractive in colour. The Caterpillar, however, is far less beautiful, being of a dull black, and only partially clothed with the fine fur that distinguishes its relative. The Tussocks, or Tasselled Caterpillars, must not be neglected, as they form very beautiful objects for the Vivarium, especially those of the Vapourer- moth, of the Dagger-moths, and of Dasychira JPu- dibunda, the Pale Tussock, the last being a most beautiful straw-coloured Caterpillar, with tussocks of pale orange, and showing at the opened segments interstices of the intensest black. The most interesting among the transformations of the " Tussocks " are perhaps those of the " Va- pourer-moths," Orgy a Antiqua and Orgy a Gonos- tigma. In both these species the female is wingless, and so unlike a Moth in general appearance that a tyro in entomology would not dream of placing it in the order Lepidoptera, as it has neither scales, nor wings to bear them. The males of these Moths are MOTHS AND THEIR CATERPILLARS. 201 distinguished by beautifully pectinated antenna?, while those of the females are only in the form of two minute hairs. The Shark-moths, so named from their grayish tone, and the shape of their wings like the sharp fin of a shark, have very handsome Caterpillars, which should be looked for on the Verbascum, where their delicate blue-green colour, varied with yellow and black spots renders them conspicuous, and enables the collector to recognize them at once from other kinds. The Caterpillars of the JPlusia family must not be omitted — not for their own beauty, for few of them are remarkable, but for that of the Moths, which, when they first come forth from the chrysalis with their fine markings and patches of gold, bright as real metal, are most strikingly beau- tiful objects, as some of their popular names imply. There is, for instance, " The Beautiful Golden Y," the form of that letter appearing in gold on the an- terior wings, "The Burnished Brass," "The Scarce Burnished Brass," "The Gold Spangle," and others. Then, making another great skip, we come to some other large and beautiful species, the Morino Maura, for instance, or Old Lady, and the magnifi- cent genus Catocala, or B.ed Underwings. 202 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. These last I must pause to consider for a mo- ment, but in this place space will not allow of many details, though they are among the gems of a collection of British Lepidoptera. First comes the " Clifton Nonpareil," or Lilac Underwing, Cato- calus Fraxini, four inches across the wings; the capture of which, by Mr. S. Stephens, in his garden at Hammersmith, I well recollect his describing to me. It was taken sitting at rest on the bark of an apple-tree which had been sugared by way of bait, a means by which many rare Moths may be taken. Then there is the Common Red Underwing, also a fine large insect, three inches and a half across the extended anterior wings, the under-wings being of a rich warm crimson, barred with black; and Catocala Sponsa, with the under-wings rather deeper and less bright in colour. The two somewhat smaller spe- cies, C. Fromissa and C. Conjuncta, are perhaps still richer in colour, and more strikingly marked on the ashy fore-wings than the larger kinds. They are, at all events, notwithstanding their inferior size, well worth rearing in the Vivarium. The Ca- terpillars of the commoner kinds, which are much flattened on the under side, and have the edge fringed with a fine line of hairs, or cilise, are easily procured; but that of Fraxini, unless imported, MOTHS AND THEIR CATERPILLARS. 203 will prove a prize beyond the reach of most collectors. Then there are the curious Caterpillars of the Geo- metrce, well worthy a place in the collection for their singular method of locomotion, and the curiously stiff positions in which some of them remain, having all the appearance, from their singular colour and surface, of pieces of dried stick. Some very handsome Moths — as the Currant-moth, the Peppers, and others — exhibit this formation in their larvae, and many species of them have wingless females, some of which are such very singular creatures that none but entomologists would ever guess them to be Moths. Then there are the Caterpillars of the " Proces- sionary Moth," so called from the curious habit which the Caterpillars exhibit infollowing each other, step by step, in whatever direction the caprice of the leader chooses to conduct them. In the entomo- logical department of the British Museum there was recently to be seen a living brood of these cu- rious larvae, which exhibited their processional in- stincts quite undisturbed by the artificial position in which they found themselves. But as I shall have occasion to speak of these larvae again when describing the best methods of rearing foreign species, I must not say more of them here. CHAPTER XL Or DRAGON-FLIES AND OTHER, INSECTS BELONGING TO THE ORDER NETJROPTERA. fgjEUROPTERA is the general term n applied to the interesting tribe of ti « Dragon-flies," and other families of insects, in consequence of the beautiful ■" system of delicate nervures by Avhich their large transparent wings are strengthened and supported. These neurations, as exhibited in the wings of the Dragon-fly class, form a most intricate net- work, or rather lace-work, which at once appears a sufficiently remarkable distinction to form the basis of a natural order which might receive the name " Neuroptera" a term formed of the Greek words, neuron (vevpov), a nerve, and p t era (-rrTepa), wings. There are, however, a few insects in- cluded in the order in which this peculiarity is so concealed by a clothing of small coloured scales, like those of the wings of Moths, that some have Plate VI. SUj S mJ* s- s __ ^ft Jh^, w£^^~- ' *n$ ftot^wF^m Wmt^ 1 v s iSs^**^' h'C "xfc riBi^jlK^^^^^^^ 1 mT wLh-mM gf* ^■T ••• > ''''^ _ II Ib^' B* ~f* l !P | WlMMgfP F^i *^o is -3 ,-., If'pCT ~ Q3 «B _^^M The Larva of the Common Plat-bodied Dragon-fly. 8. The Larva of the Purple-winged Dragon-fly. uwiiuUt dqpresta— The Common Flut-bodied Dragon-fly. 4. AlQpfwya Fifctfo— The Purple-winged DniRon-fly. r». The Purple-winged Dragon-fly eecap!ng from its ChryiaUs. o. A variety of the Purple-winged Dragon-fly. 7, 8, and 0. The Lawn of the Common Lady-bird, or Lady-cow, devouring the aphides on a rose leaf. io, (Wciiwiht rjv -.,.,.■■ Tin female, only called th< Bix-apo1 I ody-blrd. ii. Oaccinelh (inrar—T\\ti Male, commonlj celled thi Xwo-spol Lady-bird. DRAGON-FLIES, ETC. 205 thought of removing this section of Neuroptera to the order Lepidoptera ; however, other cha- racters seem to dispose the majority of entomolo- gists to retain them in their present situation in the order Neuroptera. Prom this it will he seen that a general system of classification is not very easily carried out in all matters of detail without encountering many discrepancies, for the endless varieties of nature have evidently not heen cre- ated Avith a view to the convenience of ticketing and labelling in cabinets. We must therefore be content with the best systems of classification we can get, and be contented with the immense assist- ance they afford us in our studies, without longing for " perfect " ones, Avhich are impossible. The Dragon-fly family, as containing the most conspicuous class of Neuropterous insects, and more especially, such as are likely to add variety and interest to Vivaria by the singularity of their transformations, must receive our almost ex- clusive attention in this Chapter, though one or two other genera may come in for a small share of notice. The Dragon-fly family have been divided into two divisions, Libellulidce and Agrionidcc, the title of the first division beins; derived from the name of the 206 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. first, and best defined genera, Libellula. The term IMellula, one of the fanciful denominations invented by Linnaeus, is said to be derived from the name of a kind of water engine, consisting of a long lever, work- ing by means of a balanced weight at one end ; and as a Dragon-fly sits at rest on some aquatic plant its long slender tail extending over the water, it has certainly some resemblance, in miniature, to such an engine. The detection of the facts which have allied the existence of the graceful and glittering Dragon-fly with that of a creeping aquatic creature of sombre hue and generally repulsive appearance, is of com- paratively recent occurrence. The impulse to observe the transformations of insects having been once given, the changes of the ugly aquatic larva referred to, first into pupa stage, and then to the development of the perfect insect, were no doubt watched and dis- covered independently by several naturalists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, each fancying himself the first discoverer. Gcedart was, no doubt, among the first of these, and the detailed account which he published of the extraordinary metamor- phoses he detected, as he witnessed them for the first time, are very striking, though detailed with the utmost simplicity of style. He called his work DRAGON-FLIES, ETC. 207 "Metamorphoses et Historia Naturalis Insectorum," and the account of the preparations pursued for watching the progress of each expected metamor- phosis he termed " experiments," and so indeed they were to him, as he had no previous grounds for knowing the results which might he disclosed to his persevering observations, His preparations for watching the progress of the larva of the Dragon- fly rank as his "Experimentum decimum-septimum" (his seventeenth experiment), and it was doubtless one of those which proved to him the most interest- ing and astonishing. We may imagine the en- thusiastic naturalist, on the day when he first captured the Dragon-fly larva, as he went forth into the fields, seeking the borders of clear brooks and ponds, and admiring with curious and eager eye the singular forms which he saw dimly flitting beneath the veil of water ; and his triumph at successfully dredging up some of the curious creatures so eagerly sought, such as Nos. 1 and 3 in Plate VI., just in the way that a modern student, wishing to fill his modern Vivarium, must go about collecting a similar harvest. We may imagine the new trea- sures of old Gcedart carried home in triumph and placed carefully in some glass vessel, the better to observe the habits and expected changes of 208 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. his freshly-captured pets, for doubtless his sixteen previous experiments had taught him to look for something most highly curious and wonderful in their eventual transformations. The reader may imagine the old naturalist in daily and almost hourly watch upon one or more such creatures as that represented at JSTos. 1 and 3, Plate VI. ; at first much smaller, but, even in their minutest stage, exhibiting extraordinary voracity, and devouring all insects of smaller dimensions than themselves as fast as they could be furnished to the crystal reservoir, until they attained their full size, which is represented in the illustration. To ob- serve minutely their progress during that period re- quired several months of careful watching ; at the end of which time the naturalist, noticing that they began to feed less voraciously, and then ceased to take food altogether, no doubt came to the conclu- sion, from previous " experiments," that a change was about to take place. How curiously and anxiously he would watch them climb, by any sup- port within reach, clean out of the water, and cling to the twig or other substance by means of which they had quitted their native element, becoming gradually motionless, and eventually hard and stiff, appearing perfectly dead ! Indeed, had not the DRAGON-FLIES, ETC. 209 sixteen other experiments preceded t\\Qexperimentum decimum-septimum, one can imagine the disappointed naturalist throwing away the bodies of his prisoners, under the supposition that loss of liberty had im- pelled them to a determined suicide, by quitting the legitimate region of their existence, and thus eluding his intention of detecting the nature of their eventual destiny. Forewarned, however, by experience, he no doubt patiently watched the dry remains of the aquatic creatures, until, after many clays of unwearied at- tention, he perceived at last that the black horny skin of one of them began to split along the back, and that this split widened, and at last two shining emeralds seemed to emerge from the opening, which were soon perceived to be the eyes of a living creature, rapidly followed by the body, as shown in the en- graving, No. 5, Plate VI. As the short semi-trans- parent blades of dusky brown at the shoulders of the insect (at first no longer than those represented) began rapidly to expand, and actually grew visibly under his observation, he soon saw them develop themselves into exquisitely neuratcd wings of a rich semi-transparent brown, destined to assume even- tually the richest purple, and found that he had traced for the first time the history of the singular p 210 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. metamorphoses of the purple-winged Dragon-fly, Calopteryx Virgo, the elegant and richly-tinted crea- ture which is represented with tolerable accuracy in Plate VI. No. 4. We have not the chance of experiencing the enthu- siasm of the old Dutch naturalist, as the interest of the metamorphosis is no longer new; and yet a series of similar observations, in which many discoveries are yet to be made, would teach so much more, even to a modern student, than books can teach, that we cannot help recommending such of our readers as determine to set up an Insect Vivarium to make a series of such " experiments" for themselves, care- fully and minutely noting down in detail the result of all their observations. It was thus that the first studies of the young Cuvier were made; and the manuscript memoranda thus prepared merely for his own use, were, greatly to their author's surprise, pronoun. ". Acaiitftwimis JSdilis, X. The Larva of Arnnthocinus JEtiilis. Cnltulium Viataeetim, • The [iftCTO No. Sleodsin wood. COLEOFTEIiA — BEETLES. 227 is still one of the most extensive, containing nearly 40,000 distinct species. There are some discrepancies in the charac- ter of a few of the insects still necessarily included in this order, even in its eliminated state. For instance, some few species are apterous, or without wings, in one sex, as the Glow-worm and Dribus ; and some few of the genera of Carabidce and Cur- culionidcB have elytra, or wing-cases, hut no win^s ; and in some the elytra are joined, and cannot he lifted or opened. Still one grand feature, that of a nearly complete metamorphosis, exists in all the in- sects at present retained in the order ; that is to say, the larva state is entirely distinct in form from that of the perfect insect ; while in the genera that have been separated from it the larvae present nearly all the features that appear in the perfected form, except the wings, which are gradually developed without any striking metamorphosis, like that which takes place in true Coleoptera. Several modern naturalists have sought to alter the venerable term of Aristotle, and introduce one more suitable, perhaps, in some respects, but by which we should lose that fine aroma of antiquity that clings about the well-worn term of the learned Stagyrite. Pabricius, for instance, adopted the term 228 TIIE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. Meutherata, and Clairville that of Mytroptera, either of which might serve their intended purpose with great propriety; hut the good old name, Coleo- ptera, still stands good, and is now too well esta- blished to fear erasure from a modern pen, however daring or innovative. Speaking of Aristotle reminds me of an amusing and somewhat ridiculous misprint in the " Revue Zoologique," in which the credit intended to be given to the great Macedonian naturalist is rather curiously transferred to a celebrated Italian poet. It is in the preface to the " first part " of this work that M. Guerin de Manneville has allowed the error in question to escape his correction. It occurs when speaking of the vast range of the works of Cuvier, he calls him " cet Arioste des temps moderne," meaning, of course, "cet Aristote." Certainly Cuvier never expected, even accidentally, to be com- pared to the author of the " Orlando Furioso." Among the Coleoptera, of Avhich I was just now speaking, the "Water Beetles, though not quite the first in the order of arrangement, perhaps deserve the first notice in a work where fitness for a Viva- rium is the principal object sought for. Most of the Water Beetles will form interesting objects in a Vivarium in which a small tank forms a leading COLEOI'TERA — BEETLES. 229 feature ; but among the Dytiscidce, the typical genus Dytiscus must be avoided, or kept apart, on ac- count of their voracious habits, as they will not only destroy other aquatic insects, but even small fish, where any are kept. The late Curator of the old " Physic Garden " at Chelsea is known to have com- plained that these predatory Water Beetles greatly annoyed him in the ponds of the garden by eating off the fins of gold and silver fish, even of large size. But notwithstanding these objections, Dytiscus Marginalis is worthy of a place in the Vivarium if he can be kept separate, for his activity in swim- ming is very attractive, and he is in some cases very long-lived. Esper cites a case in which a specimen was kept for three years and a half, being occasionally fed upon small pieces of meat. But Kirby and Spence attribute this degree of longevity to his having been kept solitary, and so not allowed to pair. Some of this tribe, Acilius Sulcatus and others, have the power of making a humming noise, which is not produced, as formerly supposed, by rubbing the elytra, or hard wing-cases, against the abdomen, but rather, as Mr. Westwood supposes, by the action of the air upon the alulcts. Water Beetles may be observed to remain deeper in the water as the weather becomes colder, and to 230 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. rise towards the surface in proportion to the in- creasing warmth, so that they may he made, hy a course of accurate ohservations, a kind of living ther- mometer. On warm summer evenings they creep to the edge of the water, and emerging from what seems (judging hy the nature of their fin-like and ciliated swimming-legs) their native element, they spread their wings and ascend almost perpen- dicularly into the air to such a height as to he no longer distinguishable. After a time they descend as vertically, dropping with considerable force into the water, towards which it would seem that they are guided by the light reflected from its surface ; for it not unfrequently happens that they drop in a similar manner upon cucumber or melon frames, the light reflected from the bright surface of which they have evidently mistaken for that of water. Some of them are known to be attracted by the light of a candle at night ; and when an intruder of this kind appears he may be easily captured and consigned to the tank of the Vivarium. Among the prettiest of the Water Beetles may rank the Gyrmidee, popularly called Whirligigs, and in French Tourniquets, from their curious spinning motion, in which action their bright wing- cases glitter like burnished metal. When they dive COLEOPTEIU — BEETLES. 231 they cany with them a small globule of air, some- thing like that of the Water Spider, which, as they descend, glitters like a granule of quicksilver. Rosel succeeded in rearing a brood of larvae of the Whirligigs, from eggs found upon the leaves of aquatic plants ; an experiment that might be tried, with still better chance of success, in our Insect Home; and much information upon the subject might be gathered by such as wish to try the ex- periment, from the minutely detailed account given by Modeer of all their successive transformations. The Hydrophilidce have been separated from the Dytiscidce on account of certain characteristics which I have not space to describe here. I can only call to the collector's recollection that Hydro- philns JPiceus is the largest and handsomest of the Water Beetles, and, as he is comparatively harmless, he may be kept in a tank without fear of his injuring the other inmates. The eggs of Jlydro- philus Piceus are gummed together by a substance spun hy the female, by which means fifty or sixty are attached together, forming a mass something like a small turnip, which is always secured to some aquatic plant. When the eggs are hatched the shells still remain gummed together, and the mass having hecome detached from its anchorage, 232 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. and of course rendered much lighter, may often be seen floating on the surface of brooks and streams, puzzling the curious who have not made themselves acquainted with this part of the do- mestic economy of the female Hydropldlus. The larva of Hydropldlus Piceus feeds upon small molluscs, and manages to break their shells by a very singular contrivance. He, in fact, makes a table of his back, towards which he is able to bend over his head, in which position it is very interest- ing to watch him make the necessary preparations for his meal. But I must leave my readers to learn more about Water Beetles from their own experience, or from works specially devoted to the subject, for I have not yet attended to the very first genus of Coleoptera, that of the pretty green and red spot- ted Cicindela, commonly called the Tiger Beetle, from the ferocity with Avhich, both in the larva and perfect state, it pursues its miniature prey. The names of this pretty Beetle and of the Glow-worm were confounded by the naturalists of the last century, which led to many misconceptions, some- what similar to those caused by the numerous Homo- phones which are now puzzling the decipherers of the cuneatic inscriptions of the Assyrians. It is curious COLEOPTEKA — BEETLES. 233 also, that in consequence of a knowledge of natural science not having heen very generally diffused, the names of the Fire-fly and Glow-worm have, in translations from the classics, heen confused in a somewhat similar manner. M. Desmarest was the first to observe the method pursued by the larvao of our pretty Tiger Beetles for capturing their prey. The larva, as described by that expert entomologist, makes a deep hole in the sandy soil, and by means of certain hook-like appendages with which it is furnished, is enabled to hold itself at the top of the hole, making its own broad flat head form a kind of trap-door to the treacherous oubliette. No sooner does some unwary insect attempt to pass over this seeming level surface, than it sinks beneath him, and he falls Avith his captor to the bottom of the horrible pit, where he is remorselessly devoured. If any very sensitive young lady should establish an Insect Home, she will perhaps do well not to attempt to rear a brood of larva3 of Ctcinclelidce, as she might be shocked at this treacherous and some- what savage proceeding. But, for the comfort of those who would, but for a painful sympathy in the fate of the unwary traveller thus entrapped on liis way, wish to keep the pretty Cicindelidce, I may 234 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. here recall Livingstone's account of his being seized and torn by a lion, from the attack of which he had a miraculous escape. In describing this affair, he tells us that either the roar of the lion, or some pe- culiar shock communicated by the claws, produced an effect which appeared to prevent his feeling any pain, or even any sense of dread ; and we may thence infer that the ordinary prey of the lion is paralysed by the attack in a similar manner, and that the fascinating glare of the bird-snake equally destroys all sense of pain or terror in the victim ; and also that the larva of the Tiger Beetle is enabled to enjoy his legitimate meal without causing pain to the paralysed victim of his ingenious con- trivance for replenishing his larder. The larvaa of another Beetle, Staphylinus Oleics, provides himself with his necessary food in a some- what similar, though more bold and less ingenious manner. He makes a hole some six or eight inches deep, at the entrance of which he takes his post, watching for the approach of his destined dinner. "When the, perhaps long expected, traveller arrives, he darts boldly out, seizes his prey, and drags it to the bottom of the pit, from which there is no escape, even large snails becoming not unfrequcntly his victims. COLEOPTERA — BEETLES. 235 The Burying Beetles, sometimes called the " Sextons," exhibit a very interesting kind of in- stinct in providing for their larvae. These Necro- phori, as they are sometimes called, are some of them very handsome, being most frequently red or orange-coloured, and finely spotted or barred with black. Gledetsch, in his " Becreations of Natural History," published in 1765, has given a very in- teresting account of their habits. He tells us that if a dead reptile or piece of flesh is placed as a bait for them at the proper season, they appear in an incredibly short time, guided no doubt by an ex- tremely keen sense of smell, which enables them to scent it from a considerable distance. When they arrive, they appear to survey the object with a certain kind of deliberation, as though taking the measure of its dimensions ; after which they at once com- mence digging underneath, and sometimes bury it above a foot deep, the whole operation occupying but a few hours. When the work is complete, the female deposits her eggs upon the object, and it is then covered up so as to leave but little trace of the performance. An instance is recorded of the singular manner in Avhich their instinct enables them to overcome unexpected difficulties when they occur. A Mole, 236 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. as it is said, was suspended to the upper end of a stick fixed firmly in the ground, and the scent of the carcase soon attracted the " Sextons," who ap- peared at first much disconcerted hy the situation of the coveted supply of provender for their future progeny. After a kind of consultation, however, which appears to have been very much to the point, they proceeded to undermine the stick, which, yielding to a few hours' unceasing labour, at last fell, and the prize was secured and duly in- terred after the usual fashion. But I believe I must now confine myself, or pretty nearly so, to a brief description of the Coleopterous insects represented in Plate VII., and the Lady- birds, and Glow-worm in Plates V. and VI., the last two being among the most attractive of the whole Beetle tribe, and well suited to a Vivarium. No. 2 in Plate VII. is a handsome species of the May-bug tribe, Melolontha Fullo, which, though rarely found in England, is common on the Prench coast, whence it might be procured and placed as a prin- cipal ornament in the Vivarium, where it might easily be kept in health, as it is in its perfect state a leaf-feeder. The larva of this handsome insect is very similar to that of the common May-bug, Melolontha Vulgaris, which is represented at No. 3 COLEOPTERA — BEETLES. 237 as burrowing under the turf. No. 4 is a highly magnified specimen of Chrysomela Tremulcs, nearly- allied to the Lady-bird family, and No. 6 is an equally magnified representation of its Chrysalis. The larvae are not, like those of many other fami- lies of Beetles, a kind of grub feeding under ground or in the trunks of trees, but are leaf-feeders, and very closely resemble the larvae of Lady-birds . They are represented of the natural size on the leaf from which the pupa is suspended. This class of Beetles, in their larva and pupa stages, form a kind of link between the ordinary larvae of Beetles and those of Lepidoptera, the pupa being a very near approach to the chrysalides of several kinds of Moths and Butterflies. No. 7 is Acanthocinus JEclilis, the variegated pinkish-brown wing-cases of which, with the sin- gularly graceful antennae, form a very pleasing object. No. 8 is the larva of this pretty Beetle, which feeds on the wood of young trees, and is very destructive, being only placed, as shown in the Plate, for convenience. Ratzeburgh, in his " History of Forest Insects," especially all such as are injurious to timber, particularly mentions the ravages com- mitted by the larva of Acanthocinus JEdilis. No. 9 is Callidlum Violaccum, a pretty insect, 238 THE BUTTERFLY VIYABIUM, whose wing-cases are of a bright shining violet- purple, which would create a very pleasing variety of colour in our little colony, especially when run- ning over the plants of the Vivarium in the sun- light. Then there is the brilliant Cantharis Vesica- toria, the " Blister Beetle" of our Materia Medica, which, with its rich green and golden metallic gloss, could not fail to be attractive. Pew are aware that the Cantharis is a native, as the numbers imported by druggists are commonly called " Spanish-flies." These beautiful but destructive insects, however, appear occasionally in England in great numbers ; and at Southend, a few seasons ago, so completely cleared the Lime-trees of their foliage that many of them did not recover their devastions. No. 5 in Plate V. is the wingless female of the Glow-worm, Zampyris Noctiluca ; and No. 6 the winged male, flying towards its mate. The common and generally received fable, which describes the wingless female of L. Noctiluca as being furnished with a light, for the purpose of attracting her mate, regarding the male as being entirely without this singular light, has been long ago disproved by naturalists, though still clung to by poets as an elegant fancy, and far too valuable in poetic COLEOPTERA — BEETLES. 239 machinery to be allowed to fall into disuse. The fact is, that the light emitted by the male is at a certain period nearly as bright as that of the female, but is only visible when the wings and wing-cases are expanded in flight ; and the light is also present when the insect is in the larva state, in which stage of its existence it is of no sex. It is, however, pretty certain that the light is most brightly shown at the pairing time, when both sexes have arrived at maturity, and thus the old fable, after all, is partly true; which is further proved by the singular formation of the head of the male, which is margined with a horny band, that prevents either upward or lateral vision, confining his sight entirely to objects below him in his flight, such, for instance, as the wingless female with her " lover's lamp," who, deprived of the means of flight, is never able to rise from the bank which has been her abode ever since she escaped from the shell of the minute egg deposited there by the parent. Glow-worms arc about twenty-one months in their progressive larva stages; that is to say, the larvae hatched about August or September have not attained their full growth till the end of the follow- ing season, when they pass into the pupa state ; and the second year, early in June, the perfect insects, 240 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. having completed their development, emerge from the pupa or nymphine state. At that season the females may be seen displaying their glowing spark of seeming fire in the mossy banks, wbile the males, in dim twilight, carry their little lanterns of paler light through the warm evening air, often flying together in considerable numbers. At Eastcote, in the summer of 1856, while sitting in the drawing-room of a friend's house, about ten o'clock in the evening, we observed a great number of seeming sparks, of a pale bluish colour, that seemed to be driven towards the open window by the warm night wind. They came posi- tively into the room, and appeared for a moment to fill the whole space, and were then suddenly extin- guished ; and the next instant the white table-cloth of the supper-table, my friend's shirt-front and my own, and every other light object were covered with swarms of a small narrow Beetle, which I at once recognized as the male Glow-worm. During our Avalks that season, the female Glow- worms were very plentiful along the banks, espe- cially in a lane leading from Eastbury to Watford, and we collected a great number, which were placed upon a range of artificial rock in my garden, when COLEOPTERA — BEETLES. 241 we were gratified by their miniature illumination every fine evening for several weeks. * I am inclined to think that this pretty and curious insect might he naturalized in a Vivarium, to which it would impart a great additional interest. With this in- tention, several females about to deposit their eggs should be placed in the case; and if any were hatched, it is most probable that they would be reared successfully, affording a convenient oppor- tunity of observing at what period of their develop- ment the light was most brilliantly exhibited. Even in the egg state, however, it is known that the Glow-worm is already luminous, each egg appearing like a little ball of phosphorus. The larva? even in the young stages are also luminous, as I have stated before; but De Geer asserts that the light of the larvae is much paler. Even in the dormant epoch of the pupa stage the phosphorescent effect is visible at night; and thus the fable, which would have elevated our little Glow-Avorm into an insect Hero expecting her Leander, guided safely to her tower by her never-failing beacon, entirely falls to the ground. Her light, at all events, during her long, deep nymphine sleep, can only be considered as a kind of "night-light," while that of the equally drowsy rt 242 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. bachelor must sink into the mere rushlight of the invalid;* and thus, with the advance of science, many a pretty fable loses both its poetry and point, and becomes neglected and forgotten. In the time of Gilbert White, however, entomo- logical science had not yet stripped the Glow-worm of her raiment of poetry, and the concluding lines of a little poem that he addressed to a brother naturalist — the celebrated Pennant — are so neatly turned that I cannot resist the temptation of quot- ing them here : — "The dulling night-dews fall: away, retire, For see, the Glow-worm lights her amorous fire ! Thus, ere night's veil had half obscured the sky, Th' impatient damsel hung her lamp on high ; True to the signal, by love's meteor led, Leander hasteu'd to his Hero's bed." It will not be uninteresting to follow the sug- gestion thus accidentally struck out by the poet of Selborne, which infers, though vaguely, the ex- istence of some analogy between the Greek story of Hero and Leander » and the fable of the Glow-worm. I believe that we have actually, in the story of the lovers of Sestos and Abydos, a somewhat * It has been observed that the female Glow-worm in the height of the summer season extinguishes her light at about half-past eleven o'clock. COLEOPTEIU — BEETLES. 243 late version of a national myth as old as that of Cupid and Psyche, which, as I have stated in another place, was founded upon the transformations of the Butterfly ;* while that of Hero and Leander in its original form, was very probably founded, in a precisely similar manner, upon the peculiarities exhibited by the singular organization of the Glow- worm as viewed by the same imaginative Hellenic race, who, no doubt, at a very early period became acquainted with the unusual phenomena presented by this curious insect. The fable concerning the nocturnal light of the female, as being a beacon intended to guide the course of her mate in his aerial flight, might soon arise among any rustic population, who are invariably close observers of Nature, and who as invariably transform the phenomena they thus become ac- quainted with into signs and tokens which are soon interwoven with national superstitions and fables. The next phase of all popular fables is their embellishment, by the language and fancies of the poet, and in this form Ave shall find so striking an analogy between the poem of Hero and Leander, and the rustic fable of the Glow-worm's light, that * See page 13C. 244 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. one feels compelled to admit that they are simply- different versions of the same idea. In the first place Hero is made a priestess of Aphrodite — that is, of Love — and it is therefore as an emhlem of that passion that she is represented as awaiting Leander, and guiding his course hy her nocturnal beacon. Musseus, in his comparatively recent work, in order to suit the greater amount of realistic taste that always develops itself in the maturer stages of civilization, loses sight of the origin of the story, and the lamp is introduced in the trite form of that of the Light-house of Sestos ; but in the original it was doubtless a light that gleamed from the temple of Aphrodite, that is to say, the altar of Love. Then, the lover does not approach the light in any ordinary manner, neither on foot nor on the swifter- footed steed, as in common romance ; but, in order to preserve the analogy complete in all its bearings, he is made to clear his way through the medium of another element; and as the insect approaches its mate through the air, in which her more humble nature denied her the power to soar, so Leander reaches the lamp of Hero in a poetically analogous manner, through the waters of the Hellespont. To make a flying youth would have been incon- sistent with the artistic principles of the Greeks, it C0LE0PTERA — BEETLES. 245 would have been too glaring a deviation from Nature in a story, intended to enlist purely human sym- pathies ; Avhile the ingenious device of substituting the act of swimming for that of flying, at once preserves the analogy, and by its probability secures the sympathies of the reader. As the ground-work for the conclusion of the story, we may conceive that on the approach of a sudden storm, a female Glow-worm, as instinct teaches her, withdraws her light; and on the fol- lowing morning it is easy to imagine that some shepherd, leading his flock back to their pastures after the tempestuous night, and finding a male Glow-worm lying with out-spread wings, drenched and drowned by the way-side, would be led to con- clude that the poor insect had fallen a victim to his daring and his constancy, and while disregarding the dangers of the tempest had fallen a victim to his ill-timed devotion. Here Ave seem to have the prototype of the catastrophe which occurred to Leander ; the lamp trimmed by his love ex- tinguished in the storm, and he, no longer guided by the beacon-light, perishing miserably among the breakers of the rugged shore of the Hellespont. We have thus completed the companion picture to that of the story of Psyche, though occupying a 246 THE BUTTERFLY VIVAUIUM. secondary position; but we may suppose that the poetic romance of* Musseus was taken from some earlier work, containing much more of that true mythic character, which would impart to it a higher kind of interest. Among our native Beetles, the Lady-bird has been almost as great a popular favourite as the Glow-worm ; and as it is a great benefactor to our rose-trees, as well as being the means of ornament- ing some of their leaves with its bright little masses of scarlet, more brilliant than their own buds, I shall devote my remaining space to some details connected with its general history and associations, in pre- ference to speaking of other members of the Beetle tribe. Its generic name is Coccinella, from the Greek word, kokkivc;, scarlet, in allusion to the pre- vailing colour of most of the family. The popular English names are similar to those by which it is known on the Continent, our "Lady-cow" and "Lady-bird" being represented in French by " Vache-a-Dieu," "Bete de la Vierge," etc. ; our term " Lady " clearly alluding to the Virgin Mary. In France the Lady-bird is also termed " Vole-midi," from its favourite time of flight being at mid-day ; and sometimes as " Petite tortue," in allusion to its form, which might pass for a miniature COLEOFTERA — BEETLES. 247 model of that of the small Land Tortoise. The terms "Lady-cow" and " Vache-a-Dieu " have arisen from the curious faculty possessed by this little insect of exuding a yellowish milky fluid, which was once deemed an almost miraculous cure for tooth- ache and cholic, for which purposes it formerly held a place in the " Materia Medica." This fluid has a rather disagreeable odour, and is doubtless a means of defence, analogous to that possessed by many other insects, and some of the higher animals. The common Two-spotted and Six-spotted kinds are shown in Plate VI., both in the larva state and in the perfect form. These two apparently different insects are simply the two sexes of one land, which were, however, described as distinct species by all the entomologists of the last generation, to whom Coccinella Variabilis, another species, is indebted for above twenty names from different authors. This extreme disposition to vary in colour and markings is now well known, and careful investigations have considerably reduced the supposed number of dis- tinct species. The eggs of the best known species are bright yellow, small, flattish, and of oval form ; they are deposited close together, in patches of twenty or thirty, and are to be found during the summer months glued to the leaves of various 248 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. plants, a leaf being always selected which is sure to become peopled with their future prey — the juicy and delicious Aphides. The larvse are nearly black, with a few obscure red marks. After the formation of the chrysalis, whdoh is somewhat in the form of that of Chrysomela Tremulce, No. 6, Plate VII., the perfect insect comes forth in a few days. The insect in its perfect state still feeds voraciously on the Aphides, and generally retires to the under side of the leaf when its meal is completed. When the natural food fails, as the autumn advances, these insects retire in colonies beneath the bark of trees, or other places of shelter, for the winter. In the spring they soon pair, and deposit their eggs upon another year's crop of rose-leaves, and so another generation of Lady-birds is provided for. These pretty little Beetles have given their names as a typical distinction to a large family of insects termed Coccinellidce, which, calculating all the exotic kinds, contains twenty-two genera and above one hundred species, distributed in the five quarters, or rather divisions of the earth. Most of the foreign species are of rather dull colours, none surpassing the brilliancy of our little native scarlet kinds. In some seasons, when " the Ply," a species of Aphis, is most numerous in hop-grounds, the Lady-birds COLEOPTERA — BEETLES. 249 are generally equally abundant, though not always ; and it would not be logical to infer that such arrangements are direct providential interferences to prevent the undue preponderance of a particular class of creatures, seeing that we are not in posses- sion of a sufficient number of facts to grasp all the bearings of questions of that class, the most favourite of our hypotheses being sadly interfered with by such facts as the vegetation of half a continent being devastated by innumerable swarms of locusts whilst no counteracting influence can be detected. The Lady-bird is very tenacious of life, and will live a considerable time when plunged in ardent spirits. It is said that the entomological studies of the Rev. William Kirby commenced with the interest excited by a Lady -bird which he had placed in spirits of wine, and which after twenty-four hours' immersion flew away upon being taken out of the spirit. Among the prettiest kinds may be noted the Twenty -two-spotted ( Vigintiduo-jmnctata) and the Eleven-spotted, having eleven spots, on a ground of yellow, on each wing. This last is a very elegant species. Before quitting the subject of Beetles suited to the Vivarium, I must not omit to recommend 250 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. especially the Gold-chafer, or Rose-beetle, decidedly one of the most splendid of his tribe, and which has the additional advantage over most insects in its unusual longevity. A Rose-beetle was once known to go on living in apparent healtb, and re- joicing in the brilliancy of his bronze and golden ar- mour even for eight years, as an insect pet, fed upon soaked crusts, etc.; and there are several recorded instances of one being kept for terms of three and four years. Some naturalists have accounted for this unusual length of existence on the ground of the insect having been solitary, and not allowed to pair. It is, in fact, well known that insects possess an extraordinary tenacity of life till the great end of their existence, the continuation of their species, has been effected. A female Moth about to deposit her eggs, for instance, cannot be destroyed by any amount of torture till she has laid the very last egg. She will continue her work of maternity undisturbed by half-a-dozen pins driven through her body, and any number of drops of prussic acid poured upon or around her. Then there is the great Stag-beetle, the giant of our native Coleoptera, which might be tried in the Vivarium ; and if it were not found to do mischief, it would form a conspicuous and striking figure in COLEOPTERA — BEETLES. 251 the little landscape, stalking about a very Rhinoceros among the smaller game. A few of the pretty little Sun-beetles, with their dazzling coats of bronze, might be tried ; and the glitter of their movements during a gleam of sunshine could not fail to be highly pleasing. But then I must caution the curator of the Vivarium against over- crowding, and particularly against exposing the case to the heat of the midday sun, which would infallibly destroy many of the tender-skinned Caterpillars. CHAPTER XIII. ON THE OTHER ORDERS OF INSECTS, WITH BRIEF ALLUSIONS TO SUCH AMONG THEM AS ARE FIT SUBJECTS FOR THE VIVARIUM. v-y -Jp&X OLEOPTERA, Lepidoptera, and G^&F^jiifn Neuroptera, having been discussed at some length, considering the re- stricted form of this volume, as the three orders containing the classes of insects best fitted for the Viva- rium, I can only briefly allude to those remaining orders which pre- sent fewer objects of popular inte- rest. Nevertheless, in order to give a general view, however brief, of the manner in which the whole of the insect tribes, as far as knoAvn, are reduced to scientific order and arrangement, I must in this short Chapter just refer to the position of each order, and to the general characteristics of the insects which have been assigned to it. I shall adopt, in this brief statement, the ge- THE INSECT 'ORDERS.' 253 neral division and order of arrangement adopted by Mr. Westwood, in his modern " Classification of Insects," which though necessarily a voluminous work, exhibits the whole subject in a more com- pact, easily understood, and truly regular form than any work I am acquainted with. 1. The Coleoptera, or Beetles, occupy the place of honour, and stand at the head of the great pha- lanx of insect life. 2. Then comes a small order recently separated, and called JEuplexoptera. It contains only the Forficulida, or Earwig tribe, which, from the pecu- liar formation of the broad, cheese-knife-shaped wing, has been considered very distinct to all other classes of the order Orthoptera, to which it was attached when first separated from Coleoptera. 3. Then follows the extensive order Orthoptera, termed Dcraloptera by Clair ville, and Ulonata by Fabricius. This order contains that class of insects which may be represented, in their general cha- racter, by the Cockroaches, Soothsayers, Walking- stick insects, Leaf-insects, Crickets, Locusts, etc. In their internal anatomy, many of the insects of this great and distinct order exhibit such a supe- rior degree of development, as to have led the eminent Trench naturalist, M. Marcel de Serres, to 254 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. regard them as entitled to hold the foremost rank among insects, and occnpy the first position in every method of classification. One of the most easily understood features in this order is the short- ness of their horny wing-shields, which instead of extending from the point Avhere they join the main part of the body, to the end of the abdomen, gene- rally extend but a short distance along the back, and the wings fold beneath them in a very intricate and beautiful manner. But this leading feature varies, as indicated in the characters of the insects named as generally illustrating the order. Many of the species of Orthoptera are distinguished for their musical qualities, as Crickets and Grasshoppers, while others are remarkable as being among the largest of known insects. These last, hoAvever, principally belong to the tropics, and among them is the truly splendid Metallyticus Splendens from Malabar. The largest of our native Orthoptera is the Mole Cricket, a curious creature, which should be tried in the Vivarium, though he would be seldom visible ; and the next, the Great Green Grasshopper. 4. The order Thysanoptera comprises only one family of minute insects, the characteristics of which I must not stay to describe. THE INSECT 'ORDERS.' 255 5. The interesting order Neuroptera is the next in succession, but it has been already sufficiently described iu Chapter XI., when describing our native and some of the exotic Dragon-flies. 6. The order Trichoptera comprises those sin- gular insects, the wings of some of which are scaled like those of Lepidoptera, a few of the larvse of which, with their curious cases of sand, shells, or chips, should find a place in the Vivarium. The whole number of the species of Caddis fly known to Olivier was only seventy-seven, while, by more persevering researches, M. Pictet of Geneva has discovered a hundred and twenty distinct kinds in Switzerland alone. 7. The order Hymenoptera — that is, the trans- parent-winged class— comprises a great number of insects, and in that respect rivals Coleoptera, but most of them are of rather small size. In many, as the Bees and Wasps, all of which may serve as types of this class, the larvae are maggot- formed— that is to say, legless— but the larvae of the Sand- flies very closely resemble the caterpillars of Lepi- doptera, except in having a greater number of ventral legs. The legless larvae of this order are provided Avith food by the parents, as before de- scribed, those of the Ichneumons being placed so 256 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. as to feed upon the bodies of other insects while in the larva or imperfect state. Among insects living in societies, these helpless larvse are sometimes tended by the neuters, as among Ants and some kinds of Bees. This order formerly made part of Neuroptera, but Linnaeus separated it, under the title of " Gymnoptera," or " naked-wings," a term which he subsequently abandoned in favour of the present name. 8. The order Strepsiptera consists, as the name implies, of insects having obsolete anterior wings, and large rounded posterior ones. They are a small and inconspicuous class. 9. The order Lepidoptera follows, which has been sufficiently described in Chapters VII. and VIII. 10. The order Homoptera contains a class of insects with clear wings, the anterior pair of which is larger than the posterior. Among this group of insects many singular forms occur. In European species, the musical Cicadcc, those curious and some- times frightful-looking Lobster-headed Plies, whose pleasing song or chirp has been so often described by the Latin poets. The song of these creatures is. said to be produced by a distended internal mem- brane, acted upon by powerful muscles, the sound issuing through two small apertures situated near THE INSECT 'ORDERS.' 257 the last pair of legs. It has been noticed that the males only have the poAver of producing this sound, and hence the couplet — " Happy the Cicada lives, Since they all have voiceless wives." The female Cicada: are furnished with a singularly powerful instrument, by means of which they bore holes in trees, in which they deposit their eggs. The curious Cuckoo-spit, the Aphides, and the Coccidce also belong to this class, as well as those most singular of insects, the Lantern-flies of the tropics. 11. The order Heteroptcra contains the Boat- flies and a few other aquatic insects, such as the Water Scorpion and the Water Runner, along with many tropical insects of singular forms. 12. The order Aphaniptera contains the family of Pulicidce, or Fleas, which, as the name of the order implies, have no wings, or only rudimental ones. Many curious things are known concerning Fleas, and many singular enough anecdotes might be told about them ; but, in deference to the delicacy of my female readers, I will abstain from any details concerning this family. It will, however, be inte- resting to state that this is one of the insects which Aristotle positively asserted to be produced from s 258 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. the earth hy spontaneous generation. Their Latin name, Pulex, too, is said to he derived from pulvis, dust, which shows that a similar popular idea was prevalent in Italy as well as Greece. Even in modern times, the learned Scaligcr thought they were produced spontaneously from the humous matter ahout the roots of the hair of dogs. The female lays ahout twelve eggs, Avhich become, when hatched, small, slender, worm-like larvae. These enter into the usual pupa state, and at last the perfect Flea appears. 13. The order Diptera contains, as the name implies, those insects which have only two wings instead of four. As well-known examples, the tribe of Common House-flies may be cited. Among the Forest-flies, known as the Ilvppoboscklee, the egg passes to the larva and pupa state before it is laid, and is eventually deposited by the parent in the form of a small oval chrysalis, from which curious aberration it might have been inferred that this insect did not, like all others, pass through the usual stages of development, but was hatched from the egg in its perfect form, like a chicken. The term JDiptera is one of those highly characteristic dis- tinctive names invented by Aristotle, which is likely, as in the case of his picturesque term Coleoptera, THE INSECT 'ORDERS.' 259 to continue in permanent use, notwithstanding the changes of nomenclature which modern ento- mologists are continually introducing. This last- named order was not a favourite one with mediaeval entomologists, Moses Harris having been the first among English naturalists to pay much attention to it. Recent continental authors have, however, devoted much study to its illustration; as Mac- quart's fine monograph on the Diptera of the north of Prance, and Meigen's six portly volumes on the Diptera of Europe, are sufficient proof. The Gnat* families, the Oulicidce, are of this order, and also the genus Chironomus Flumosus, the singular thread- like larva? of which are popularly known as Blood- Avorms, and found in stagnant waters. The well- known Daddy-long-legs and all his family, the Tipulidce, are true Diptera, as are the Strationidce, those metallic-bodied Flies of rich colours, which have received their name from the Greek word meaning a soldier, in allusion to the bright uniform which they wear. The larvse of some, but not all, of these are aquatic. The voracious JEmpidcc belong to this order, and also the Gad-flies. 14. The order Syrphidce contains about thirty * It is only the female Gnat that is a blood-sucker, the males feeding on the nectar of flowers. 260 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. genera, consisting principally of a pretty class of Plies, which in their colour and markings closely resemble Bees and Wasps, from which they may be at once distinguished by their single pair of wings. They arc also distinguished from Diptera by several tolerably well-marked characters, among which that of the sometimes brightly coloured larvae, which, like those of the Lady-bird, feed upon Aphides, may be noted as the principal ; but the short and robust form of the body and other peculiarities are amply sufficient to distinguish them. This brief sketch of the entomological orders will enable the student to form a pretty accurate idea of the great outline of the method of classifi- cation that has been generally adopted ; but should he wish to go more thoroughly into the subject, let him get some complete technical work on the sub- ject — Mr. Westwood's two excellent volumes, for instance, on the " Modern Classification of In- sects," which, as the first serious step, is the best I know of. CHAPTER XIV. OP TI1E TIMES, PLACES, AND SEASONS FOB, COL- LECTING INSECTS POB THE VIVARIUM. l/_£n (^ITII a little watchfulness — not very \j-1>^ difficult to acquire — the collector for .the Vivarium will soon discover that in- teresting insects are to be found at all times and all seasons, and almost in all places. In the house, and on a dark even- ing in November would seem neither the time, the place, nor the season likely to be very pro- pitious for the capture of beautiful specimens of Le- pidoptera; and yet at that season, with the window just a little open and a light upon the table, Pceci- locampa JPopuli, the December Moth, a remarkably pretty insect, will be almost sure to make its ap- pearance some time between seven and ten, if exist- ing anywhere in the neighbourhood, not only in November, but even during part of December. JPetasia Cassinea will perhaps follow, another pretty Moth, of which only one species was known till very recently ; but it will possibly delay its visit 262 TIIE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. till one or two in the morning. Several other kinds may he taken at the same season. But earlier in the autumn, and especially during the period of high summer, a good collection of Moths may he made any evening hy sitting quietly in a well-lighted drawing-room; the only imple- ment necessary heing a light gauze net fixed at the end of a long slender handle. The scaly-winged visitors will not cease dropping in in rapid succes- sion from early dusk till dawn, each species having its unvarying period of flight, so that, with a little practice, the watcher might tell the time of night pretty accurately hy the arrival of the different species. Much amusement is afforded to the really interested student, hy ohserving the peculiarly characteristic flight of each insect; some dart to- wards the ground, as JPheosia Dictcea, known as the " SAvallow Prominent," in consequence of its resembling them in the swiftness of its flight and also in the tones of its colouring. It belongs to a class of Moths Avhich have a slight prominence on the hinder margin of the anterior wings, and the Caterpillars having also curious humps on some of the segments ; the class has been popularly distin- guished by collectors as the "Prominents." One of these, in fact, bears the specific name of Drome- TIMES, TLACES, AND SEASONS FOR COLLECTING. 263 clarius, or the Dromedary, in allusion to the hump on the hack of the Caterpillar. There are others which invariably fly towards the ceiling, as Agrotis Corticea, a plain brown Moth. Others fly with a more even course, while the rare and pretty Cosinia J?yralina and Clisiocampa Nens- tria are very wild and violent, and dash recklessly from the light to the ceiling or the floor. Mmomas Illustraria may be taken near a lamp placed in the open air, as it always rushes towards it and then falls down helpless, paralyzed by the glare. The great Death's-head Moth, the giant of our native Lepidoptera, was taken a few years ago by the cook in the kitchen of the Pavilion Hotel, at Folkestone ; and another specimen by a baker at Canterbury, who hadjustbeen reading an accountof it in some periodi- cal. But the best sport in the way of Mothing may be secured by brushing on the trunks of garden trees or those of the wood or orchard, a strong solution of sugar, honey, and water, which attracts many kinds in great numbers, and they are generally so intent upon the banquet of sweets provided for them that they are easily captured. At early dawn is the best time for taking speci- mens of the Hawk-moth family. I have heard Mr. II. Doableday describe the capture of the beau- 264 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. tiful specimen of the Galium Hawk-moth just hefore sunrise, in his own garden, as it was flying swiftly- over a group of rose-trees. It has heen observed lately that this beautiful insect, since the introduc- tion of the Petunia, is more often seen hovering about the flowers of that plant than any other. While the Elephant Hawk-moth, as Mr. Douglas states, appears to prefer the Rhododendron blossom. The Valerian is very attractive to many night-flying Moths, and the Jasmine is a favourite Avith many of the larger kinds ; and often, as Shelley has it, its luscious perfume " Makes faint, with too much sweet, those heavy-winged thieves." But it is for Caterpillars and groups of eggs that the collector for the Vivarium will be most anxious, in order to witness the progress of the metamorphoses. The larva of the Galium Hawk- moth seems to have taken to the Puchsia, and must be looked for at the beginning of June. It is gene- rally full fed at the end of the month, and the Moth appears in August. The larvae of the large Brown Moth, Mamestra Brassiccc, will be found about the same time, on Cabbages. The larvae of the Yellow Underwing Moths will generally be found at the roots of spring flowers, such as those of the Primrose tribe ; but almost all kinds of trees and plants will TIMES, PLACES, AND SEASONS FOR COLLECTING. 265 yield a rich harvest, if properly examined, in May, June, July, and August, hefore and after which pe- riods the game is more scarce. The Oak generally yields a rich spoil of this kind. Two or three large sheets may be spread underneath while the branches are beaten with long rods, and the result will be an abundant harvest of several kinds of Lepidopterous larvae, and probably some pretty Coleoptera. Many rare kinds of larvae may be found on plants growing- near the sea-shore, not to mention the splendid Cater- pillars of the Spotted Hawk-niotk found on the sea spurge on the coast of Devonshire. Mr. Douglas in- forms us that in November, 1849, he found on the Carline Thistle, near Folkestone, a number of larvae then unknown to him, which in the following July pro- duced the Moth since named Parasia Carlinella, a species before entirely new to English collectors. Many other species, doubtless, remain to be dis- covered in a similar manner ; or, at all events, if the perfect insect should be known, the collector may be the means of settling the identity of the larvae, which in many cases remain undescribed, even those of comparatively common species. The Cater- pillar of J?ieris Dapliclicce, the scarce Bath- white Butterfly, must be sought near the shore, as the perfect insect has never been taken far from the sea. 266 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. In the winter season Caterpillars may be found hybernating under bark, among dead leaves, and in other warm retreats, but they are not abundant. Chrysalides may be sought for at all seasons, especially by careful digging at the roots of trees. The bases of the Elm, Oak, Ash, Beech, and Willow appear to be the most favoured retreats, as there is seldom much found by digging about the Birch, Maple, or Chestnut. Pieces of loose bark on old stumps may be lifted up, and a perfect mine of entomological wealth may sometimes come to hand in that way. I recollect finding above sixty chry- salides of the fine Red Underwing beneath a piece of half-decayed Avillow bark, along with three or four of the hairy Caterpillars of the Tiger-moth, curled up in a dormant state for the winter months. Beetles may be sought at all times. Beneath a piece of loose Avail-grown moss, under a great stone that has lain long undisturbed, beneath a piece of timber lying by the wayside, which, when rolled over, will often disclose the retreats of many of our hand- somest Beetles ; but if late in the season, the captor must be very active, or the most coveted prizes will escape. In the winter they are much more easily secured. Some of the sea-shore Beetles are very pretty, TIMES, PLACES, AND SEASONS FOR COLLECTING. 267 such as Aepus Marinus, the Itobinii, and the beau- tiful Cicinclelidce. Mr. Wollaston, in his notes on the " Coleoptera of South Devon," mentions the pleasing effect produced by the glittering Cillenum Laterale coming up minute holes in the sand, and running about in the sunshine with glittering brightness. In woods, many beaiitiful Beetles may be found, though our native tribes of Forest Beetles are far less extensive than those of the Continent. To con- ceive the number, variety, and splendour of some of the forest Coleoptera of Continental Europe, the student should look over Ratzeburgh's magnificent work on the insects injurious to forest trees. We have, however, a sufficient variety of native Beetles to render their pursuit highly interesting. In the woods about April, the collector should not fail to look under the bark about the roots of Birch stumps for the singular larva) of JPi/rochia Coccinea. If they are placed in the Vivarium with a little of the bark and decayed wood, they will soon become pupae, and the perfect Beetle will appear in the following June. Many Beetles may be taken by the " sweeping- net " at night. This is a broad-mouthed net, strained over a flat bow at the lower side, and held by a stout handle. It is swept at each step with some- 2G8 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. thing like the action of mowing; and on being examined occasionally, many captures will he found to have taken place ; the greatest portion of them worthless, hut some prizes Avill constantly occur. This operation may he carried on from dusk till as late in the night as the collector chooses. It also answers in broad sunlight for another class of insects. Parks and old meadows are the best places for sweeping; where the turf, having been long un- disturbed, has become the permanent home of many kinds of insects. A white sheet spread at night in a wood or park, with a light upon it, will lead to plentiful entomological sport; but I must dismiss this part of the subject, for it would be impossible to refer to half the devices invented for the capture of insects, or to one-hundredth part of the insects that may be so taken. Only let us consider the probable num- ber of distinct species of insects already known to naturalists, and it Avill be seen how hopeless it would be in the confined space of this volume to attempt their descriptions, except in a few cases, in any other way than by sweeping generalizations. Decandolle pursued the following method of arriving at an approximation to the total number TIMES, PLACES, AND SEASONS FOR COLLECTING. 2G9 of distinct species of insects. He first took the number of the indigenous plants of France, few of which can now remain unknown, and they amounted to 7,194" ; while the insects of the same country amounted to the number of 15,000 known species. Then, estimating the total number of species of plants in the world, from our present knowledge, at 100,000 to 120,000, he found that, following the same relative proportion, the calculation would establish the total number of insects at aboiit 300,000. We may, therefore, as well be contented at once with a small number of experiments in our little Vivarium, see- ing that the inmates selected will be all the better off for not being over-crowded. Many opinions exist as to the relative advan- tages or disadvantages of this vast world of insect life. Guilio Cordera, in a work on the subject, gravely informs us that they were created for our annoyance and punishment, after our expulsion from Paradise ; and that they did not exist in the garden of Eden. Others, however, look upon them from an entirely opposite view, assuring us that they are intended for the exclusive benefit and enjoyment of man, so soon as he shall be wise enough to understand their uses ; and the account to which we have turned the cocoon of the Silk-worm and the dye of the Cochi- 270 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. neal-insect are cited as but beginnings. The follow- ing are a few of the instances cited by different authors of the uses to which insects have been put in various countries. The larva of the Cossus was fed on flour by the Romans, and fatted to an enormous size, as a delicacy for the tables of the wealthy senators of the eternal city. Livingstone describes many kinds of larvce which are eaten with extraordinary relish by the native negro races; and our own English colonists of Demerara, as I am informed by a friend who has partaken of the luxury, have learnt to consider the larva of large tropical Beetles a most delicious dish. These facts may shock the delicate sensibilities of many unaccustomed to such fare, and yet one would think that Shrimp-eaters, and, still more, Oyster-eaters, need not feel asto- nished even at the Chinese eaters of stewed Silk- worm chrysalides, or at Arabian Locust-eaters. Insects once formed a class of medicines which were considered highly effective in certain cases; and there Avas a time Avhen three Gnats were taken as a dose, just as three grains of calomel might be taken now ; while three drops of Lady-bird milk were formerly prescribed as seriously as a small dose of some fashionable medicine of the present day. TIMES, PLACES, AND SEASONS FOR COLLECTING. 271 But to return to our Collecting: it will be found, I think, advantageous in the first season to confine our care to a very small circle of subjects, and in general it will he more convenient, and perhaps even more interesting, at all events on the score of beauty, to confine the inmates of the Vivarium to the larvae and chrysalides of Butterflies and Moths, with the addition of a few larvae of Dragon-flies in the water, and not, of course, for- getting our friends the Lady-birds. CHAPTER XV. OF THE REARING OF EXOTIC INSECTS FROM IMPORTED EGGS OR CHRYSALIDES. T the time that I first published my work *^L\ entitled " British Butterflies and *\Z jP*T their Transformations," now many '-C^ years ago, I suggested the pos- sibility of rearing some of the most magni- ficent of exotic insects in our hot-houses and conservatories, and even, in some in- stances, in the open air, with a view to their permanent establishment in the country. On turning to my former volume, I find the following passage in the Preface : — " Though we cannot transplant the flowers of the tropics to our bleaker soil, it appears by no means so impossible to naturalize some of their most splendid insects. Their system of hybernation in the pupa-case, in which state insects have been found to resist almost any degree of cold without injury, forming a na- tural means of shielding them from the effects of Plate VIII. I. Phalacna Regia, n North American Moth. ■' Ihe Caterpillar of PAolnenn lityia. REARING EXOTIC INSECTS. 273 our long winters; and from this state their de- velopment would not take place till the warmth of summer was sufficient. Taking advantage of this knowledge, we may, hy means of imported eggs or pupae, he gratified by the sight of tro- pical Butterflies flitting from flower to flower, a splendid novelty to our gardens, exhibiting colour- ing far more gorgeous than anything in the vege- table empire, and endowed moreover with the ad- ditional charm of motion." At that time I received letters from many persons, iu answer to my suggestion ; among others, from one of our most enthusiastic natu- ralists, the Rev. W. T. Bree, of Allesley ; and from the spirit in which the idea seemed to be taken up, especially with reference to rearing some of the more splendid tropical species in hot-houses, I expected, ere this, to have seen some of our most celebrated receptacles of exotic plants glitter- ing with the far more brilliant colours of Brazilian or Australasian Butterflies. I calculated upon wit- nessing, within a few succeeding seasons, the noble Papilio Triamus, with its wings of golden metallic green, relieved with velvet black, flitting leisurely from flower to flower, or jostling in its flight with the gayer movements of some Brazilian T 274 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. beauty of the Morpho family, which in its turn would dazzle the eyes with the resplendent silvery azure of its wings of shining satin. I have, however, been destined to disappointment. With one brilliant exception, to be described in some detail in this Chapter, little has been yet done. I must, however, note a few exceptions to this sweeping assertion. Mr. H. Doubleday succeeded in rearing to maturity the eggs of the giant Moth, Saturnia Pavonia Major, sent over by his bro- ther, who was at that time in America ; and, turn- ing them loose in Epping Forest, he hoped in that way to naturalize that magnificent species. He was, however, frustrated in his experiment, more than one of these large and conspicuous insects being caught and brought back to him, within a day or two, ready pinned through the body, and " set out " for preserving, the captor deeming that he had secured a most unusually valuable prize, for which he expected a proportionate reward. Some others of the brood were found dead and mutilated ; probably by birds that feed principally upon Avinged insects. In short, the glorious Saturnia Tavonia Major has not become naturalized in Epping Forest — no single specimen having ever been seen since that season. REARING EXOTIC INSECTS. 275 I was present at a little entomological dinner some few years ago, to witness the expansion of some two or three dozen chrysalides of the handsome continental Butterfly, Papilio Podalirius, from which the perfect insects were thought to he just upon the point of emerging. They had been brought from the Rhine country, where they are very plen- tiful, by our host, who was an enthusiastic collector. During the dessert, the progress of the chrysalides became very rapid, necessarily attracting all atten- tion from the biscuits and decanters. AVe were in fact just in time to witness the escape of several of them from their pupa-cases. After trying their limp wings for a time, as if for the very purpose of exhibiting to us their lovely primrose colour varie- gated with black zebra-like stripes, they took flight through the open window, and we watched them out of sight, flitting over the flowers of the neighbouring gardens. Nevertheless, no specimen of Papilio Poclali- rius, popularly known as the Scarce Swallow-tail, have ever since been found in that neighbourhood. These examples appear, at a glance, to show the hopelessness of any attempt to introduce foreign Lepicloptera ; but I am still convinced — at all events in the case of P. Poclalirius and many species 276 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. common in the north of France and Germany — that their introduction is still practicable ; but then the experiment must be tried on a large scale, and the Chrysalides must be allowed to expand naturally in the open air ; or, what is better, the insect should be introduced in the egg state; the eggs being allowed to hatch naturally in the open air, and the Caterpillar left at perfect liberty. I recollect, when in Paris, seeing at the house of Dr. Boisduval, the well-known entomologist, the Caterpillar of an exotic Butterfly, the magnificent Jason, feeding on the leaves of an orange-tree in his salon. And I believe they were successfully reared ; but whether any attempt was made to naturalize the species in the neighbourhood of Paris by that means I am not aware. However, of this I am certain, from the result of a practical experiment about to be described, that if eggs of almost any kind of exotic Butter- fly or Moth were imported and placed in a per- manently suitable temperature, either in the ample area of a large conservatory, or the more limited space of such a Vivarium as the one described in this little volume, that a highly satisfactory result would, with due care, be almost inevitable. We find, in fact, that without care, and simply from increased REARING EXOTIC INSECTS. 277 intercourse with other countries, that many new in- sects are establishing themselves as natives ; as an instance of which I may mention the beautiful purple Beetle Callidium Violaceum, represented in Plate VII., which was once extremely rare; but since the vast importation of timber for railway purposes, in which the insect has come over in its larva state, it has become quite common. I also suspect that many professional dealers have been exceedingly successful (under the rose) in introducing rare insects only vaguely reported as British, by means of imported eggs or larvae, which they have placed in suitable situations, and then captured the perfect insect in actual flight — selling it at a high price as an extraordinary British rarity. If such should have been the case with the fine Moth, the " Kentish Glory," hitherto so rare in England, the experiment must have been indeed triumphant, as the beech woods of Bannoch now absolutely swarm with them. This I believe, however, to have been a genuine "find" of the habitat of an extremely local insect. And yet it appears strange that a Moth so conspicuous, both for size and colouring, should have continued entirely unnoticed by Scotch entomologists, if it had always existed there in such abundance. 278 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. But I must at once proceed to describe the highly successful experiment upon which I chiefly ground my hopes of future success. I refer to the recent rearing of the beautiful and interesting Leaf-insect, Phylliimi Scythe, which was success- fully reared from the egg in one of the plant-houses of the Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh. Mrs. Black- wood, the Avife of Major Blackwood, H.E.I.C.S., Avhen residing with her husband in India, in the Assam dis- trict, where he had been stationed, found this insect plentiful in all its stages in the valleys below Cherra- Poonjie, in the Kasiah Hills which form part of the southern boundary of the low grounds of Assam. She collected specimens, and placed them on a Guava tree in front of her own residence, Avhich they did not attempt to leave till they attained their perfect state. On returning to Europe, Mrs. Blacliwood endea- voured to bring some living specimens with, her ; but, after keeping them in health during greater part of the journey, they sickened and died while crossing the Mediterranean. But this enterprising lady-naturalist Avas not to be beaten by one defeat, and she immediately made an attempt to introduce the insect by means of imported eggs. These were duly procured, but the first batch Avas unsuccessful ; and it was not till 1854 that some eggs, which had REARING EXOTIC INSECTS. 279 arrived by post, were hatched, on the 9th and 10th of May, others continuing to come out till June. Two of the specimens thus hatched were entrusted to the care of Mr. M'Nab, the intelligent curator of the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens. They refused the leaves of the Guava, upon which they were first placed, and also of several other plants of the Myrtle family. They were then tried upon a Euchsia with equally unfavourable results, but at last the com- mon European Myrtle was tried, and this time the insects seemed to recognize suitable food, and soon became healthy and vigorous feeders, and never sought to leave the plant. The appearance of the larva in its first stage is not altogether unlike that of the Lady-bird, having only six feet, disposed in a similar manner. It is, however, much larger, and tbe leafy character already shows itself in the upper joints of the legs, and slightly in the edge of the abdomen. It is at first of a brownish yellow colour, but when it has once settled to feed, it soon assumes a bright green colour. It bears its tail slightly curled up, just about as much as the curve of the Myrtle leaf; but the curve would be the wrong way, were it not that it walks back downwards, being found on the under side of the leaf, in Avhich position it is so like the 280 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. leaves themselves that it is difficult to distinguish it. It has no wings in the first stage, while the antennae are invariably in the female form, and the legs like those of a male. The Leaf-insect undergoes three moults. Those reared by Mr. M'Nab were hatched in June, 1854, and did not moult for the first time till ten months afterwards, in April, 1855. It was at first nearly one inch long, and not much larger when it underwent its first moult. It then, however, grew rapidly, and the antennae increased their number of joints just as the joints of the 3£y- riapods increase after each casting of the skin. It was noticed that the insect ate up its cast-off skin — a fact never before noticed in the natural history of insects, though Mr. T. Bell mentions, in his work on British Beptiles, a similar instance in the Toad. The second ecdysis or moult took place on the 11th of the following July, after which the wings made their appearance, though very small. The third moult took place on the 17th of September, when full-grown wings and complete antennae were produced. The insects were observed to be very lively the day before the moult, casting their bodies about in a singular manner, as though to loosen the skin. After the last moult they increased very rapidly REARING EXOTIC INSECTS. 281 in size; those portions of the body which first escaped from the skin expanded suddenly to one-fourth greater size than the parts remaining imprisoned in the old envelope, and in this state the insect ap- peared curiously one-sided. The increase in the size of the locust, after the last casting of the skin, is said to be equally remarkable. In the Leaf-insect under description, the wings, on escaping from their cases, were not more than one quarter of an inch long, but at once shot out to their full length in a very sur- prising manner. The entire creature, though so suddenly increased in general dimensions, was at first very soft and tender, and only very slowly acquired its proper consistency. After the first two moults it had become each time more freshly and beautifully green ; but after the last, the green was bordered with yellow, which gradually turned to brown, like the leaves of trees in the autumn; and by degrees the whole insect became brown, like a leaf about to fall. This is the sign of its decay, which seems, like its form, to have some extraordinary analogy with that of real leaves. During the rearing of the Leaf-insect, the plant- house in which it was placed was kept at 55 degrees as constantly and evenly as possible, that being about the temperature of its native climate. 282 THE BUTTERFLY VIVAUIUM. Throughout the summer of 1855 the Botanic Garden was constantly crowded with visitors to see the "Leaf-insect," and at last Mr.M'Nab,the curator, was compelled to give notice that it would only be shown during four days of the week, as it was found that the continual disturbance was unfavourable to the health of the insect. During the principal part of its life, after the first moult, it so closely resembled the leaves of the plant, that many visitors declared they could see nothing, and the Phyllium had to be stirred and made to move, when they were con- vinced, by seeing it crawl from the plant on to the finger of the attendant. Mr. Murray, who described the insect in the " Edinburgh Philosophical Journal," considers that the rearing of Leaving-insects will become a common amusement to those who have a love of natural history, and that these curious creatures Avill be- come as much the usual pets of our conservatories as Canary-birds are of our drawing-rooms ; and it is evident that other kinds of beautiful insects might be reared as successfully, if the same care were bestowed. The Leaf-insect appears to be peculiar to the Eastern World. Three of the thirteen known species have come from the Philippine Islands, three from REARING EXOTIC INSECTS. 283 the East Indies and Ceylon, one from Java, one from the Mauritius, one from the Sechelle Islands, and four from unknown places in the East. Our species, P. Scythe, Avas first described by Mr. George Gray, from the fine specimen in the British Museum, which was received from Silhet, a district adjoining Assam. There is much to be learned respecting the rear- ing of exotic insects from the work of Dr. Horsfield, who was led to the study of insects, in Java, while pursuing his botanical studies in that island. When at Surakarta, the seat of the chief of the Javanese princes, he instructed native artists to make draw- ings of the curious larvae which were brought to him, in all their successive stages. Each Cater- pillar, he tells us, was placed in a separate rearing- cage, which was numbered, and certain natives had the exclusive charge of keeping them clean and furnishing them daily with fresh provisions. As drawings of each Caterpillar were taken in all its stages, according to its number, so, when the perfect insect appeared, a drawing was made of it under the same number ; and so the whole of the metamorphoses of a large number of splendid exotic insects, especially Butterflies, were ascertained be- yond the possibility of error ; many of which were 284 THE BUTTERFLY VIVAK1UM. published in the first two numbers of Dr. Horsfield's beautiful work, which was unfortunately not com- pleted. The extraordinary cession of the Island of Java to the Dutch, after the Avar, put a stop to Dr. Horsfield's researches in that quarter ; as also to the still more important investigations of Sir Stamford Raffles, the discoverer of the now well- known giant " flower " named after him, Mafflesia, and which measured several feet across the disc. Abbot, in the southern districts of the United States, especially in Georgia, was equally successful in rearing a great number of Butterflies and Moths from the egg and caterpillar stages ; and in his magnificent work, "The Insects of Georgia," has given a series of remarkably beautiful plates, show- ing the insects in their various stages. It is quite evident, from the manner in which he describes his management of the rearing process, that it might be performed with equal success in England ; and I recommend all who set up a Vivarium, or who have a conservatory that can be kept at a certain temperature, to write to their friends in the Brazils, in India, in China, at the Cape of Good Hope, or in Australia, or Demerara, or any other British settlement, to send them by post eggs of Lepiclop- tera, which can be easily procured from the natives; REARING EXOTIC INSECTS. 285 and also to collect and forward chrysalides whenever an opportunity of safe and speedy transit occurs. One of the most striking plates in Abbot's " Insects of Georgia" is that representing the trans- formation of a large and handsome Moth, to which he gives the old Linntean name, Phalcena Regia, re- presented in my Plate VIII. Nos. 1 and 2. The sin- gular Caterpillar of this Moth has been selected by Dr. Boisduval as one of the types which he has engraved in his well-known work on JLepidojrtera. Abbot describes this Caterpillar as feeding on the Hiccory, and as being much dreaded by the slaves of the Southern States, who called it " the horned devil," in consequence of its ferocious appearance. Nevertheless, it is perfectly harmless, though all the arguments in the world would not persuade the Ne- groes to that effect, even though Dr. Abbot handled it fearlessly in their presence. It is of a fine light green, the head and singular spines being finely varie- gated with orange. I recommend young entomolo- gists to write at once to some friend in America to obtain eggs of this species ; for a brood of these very magnificent larva?, with their noble crest of spines, would form a group of such striking interest in a Vivarium as not to require the addition of any other attraction. 286 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. In proposing to attempt the rearing of exotic insects, one ought not to forget the Beetle tribe ; and when something more is known of the larva) of exotic Beetles, it may certainly be attempted with the same success as that which has attended the Ortbopterous insect Phyllium Scythe. When this shall be attempted, Avhat glorious things we shall be enabled to see expand before our eyes ! Only let us imagine some of the Curcullonidce, just issuing fresh from the pupa state; Prcepodes Regalis, for instance, a Curculio from St. Domingo, a specimen of which is preserved by the Linna?an Society, mounted as a gem, in a gold ring ; or the Diamond Beetle, in all the fresh glory of his first escape from the nymphinc prison. But I must say no more on exotic Beetles at present, or there Avould never be an end of talking — even of the superb Curculionidce alone, of Avhich the reader may be easily convinced when we refer him for further information to the work of Schcenhcrr on the genera and species of Curcv.lionidce, which extends to fourteen ponderous volumes. In conclusion, I recommend inexperienced en- tomologists establishing a Vivarium for the first time, to attempt one without water, as more easy to manage ; and to confine themselves for the first REARING EXOTIC INSECTS. 287 season entirely to the rearing of the larva of Moths and Butterflies. To be entirely successful in this department, it only requires a common degree of care in keeping the sun from the case when too powerful; in ensuring sufficient ventilation; pro- viding fresh food continually, for which purpose it is better to gather the sprays with matured leaves, instead of young shoots ; and, above all, to keep the case as clean as possible. Some have raised objections to the introduction of water at all into a Butterfly Vivarium, as cal- culated to render the case too damp for any terres- trial larvae; but, with a certain amount of open- work for ventilation, this would be impossible, as the evaporations would escape, and not be con- densed and deposited again, as in close Eern-cases. The fact is, that the rearing of Caterpillars is more generally unsuccessful from too much dryness than from over moisture. Por instance, the larvie of the Death's-head Moth, when artificially reared, often die during their pupation from over- dry n ess ; while, if the receptacle in which they are confined be buried in the ground, to ensure a constant degree of moisture, but of course not toet, their rearing is almost uniformly successful. I antici- pate, therefore, that the addition of the tank, when 288 TIIE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. the management of an Inseet-case or Vivarium is thoroughly understood, will be found not only un- objectionable, but, on the contrary, of great advan- tage to the whole economy of the little establish- ment, by keeping up a steady and yet but slight degree of moisture among the plants, and in the earth in which the larvse burrow to undergo their change. THE END. London : Printed by Thomas Harrild, 11, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street. "UNIFORM WITH THE PRESENT VOLUME. Complete in One Volume, Illustrated with Twenty Richly Coloured Engravings, cloth extra, gill edges, 10s. Gd., or in separate Volumes, Gs. each, OCEAN AND RIVER GARDENS; OR, GLIMPSES BENEATH THE WATERS. By H. NOEL HUMPHREYS. Small as this book is, it tells in nearly every page of some wonder of the Creator. — Athemrum. MESSRS. J. & W. SANDERS, Who designed the Exhibition in the Zoological Gardens, and who were the first to introduce the Aquarium to the Public, are now constructing BUTTERFLY VIYAKIA, In accordance with the plan described in this Volume, at the following Prices : 3 ft. in. long, 2 ft. 6 in. high, and 1 ft, 6 in. wide ... £400 2 „ 6 „ 2 „ „ 1 „ 4 „ ... 3 10 2 „ 2 „ 2 „ „ 1 „ 4 „ ... 300 Specimens may be seen at Messrs. Sanders's Manufactory, No. U, Guilford Street, Gray's Inn Boad. Mb. GARDENER, Or No. 52, HIGH HOLBORN, Has undertaken to procure the eggs, larvue, or chrysalides of any of the well-known British Moths or Butterflies; and also expects to receive this season the eggs or chrysalides of several exotic kinds — especially those of Saiurnia Favonia Major, and other continental species. MISS PAUDOE'S NEW WORK. Now ready, fcap. 8vo, with Portrait, 5s. cloth gilt, PILGRIMAGES IN PARIS By MISS PARDOE, Author of " The City of the Sultan," etc. Opinions ov the Press. Press. " It is one of the plcasantest of books." Literary Gazette. " Told with the artistic skill and glowing language of the Author of ' The City of the Sultan.'" Leader. "The book is ono of really pleasant pages. The sketches are animated, raried, and informing." Illustrated London. News. " Very pleasant sketches of picturesque Paris, written in the right story- li lling vein, full of lively and sparkling incident and French character." John Hull. " The illustrative stories and anecdotes render this one of the most charm- ing works from the genius of its popular Authoress." Economist. " Lively and graceful sketches, in her own peculiar style — pleasant, and eminently readable." Critic. " Very graphic pictures of the French capital, and of Parisian life, with which Miss Pardee is evidently well acquainted." Ladies' Companion. " Written in the Author's happiest style. Graphically descriptive, viva- cious, and astute — qualities which distinguished ' The City of the Sultan,' and which are not the less apparent in these outlines of certain notable localities of Imperial Paris." Caledonian Mercury. " Written in the sketchy, vigorous, captivating style, so characteristic o( the accomplished Author. Ayr Observer. " Many of the localities and distinguishing features of Paris are sketched inimitably in this little volume, which we commend heartily for its gentle, beautiful, and, in a word, its feminine tone and execution. LONDON : WILLIAM LAY, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND.