The Insect World: Being a Popular Account of the Orders of Insects

Harpalus aeiieus. Larva of Galerita Lecontei. Galerita Lecontei.

a zig-zag manner, but their flight is not continued for long toget In dull weather they are to be seen running on the turf or hidi

Fig. 521.—Mormolyce phyllodes.

Fig. 522. Larva and pupa of Mormolyce phyllodes.

Fig. 523. Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris).

themselves in holes, and are met with on the sea-shore, where they are seen sometimes to pop up by hundreds. They hve on flies and little shrimps, which abound on the sea-shore.

The Cicmdela cavtpestris (Fig. 523), or Tiger Beetle, is of a beautiful green, spotted with white; the abdomen is of a bronze red. In Great Britain it is the commonest of the genus. The Cicindela hybrida, of a dull green, relieved by light bands, inhabits sandy woods. The Cicindela marititna differs from the preceding. The

1 f

524. — Cicindela Dumoulinii. Fig. 525. — Cicindela rugosa. Fig. 526. — Cicindeia scalaris.

Cicindela sylvatica, which flies very well, is not easy to catch, and is to be often met with in the warm glades of the forest of Fontainebleau and at Montmorency; it is not unfrequent here. Its colour is brown, spotted with white -, it diffuses a strong smell of the rose, to which succeeds, on being seized, the acrid odour of the secretion which it disgorges. We here represent the Cicindela jDufnoulifiii (Fig. 524), the Cicindela rugosa (Fig. 525), the Cicindela scalaris (Fig. 526), the Cicindela heros (Fig. 527), the Cicindela quadrilineata (Fig. 528), and the Cici?tdela capensis (Fig. 529).

The ferocity of these insects is remarkable. They quickly tear oft the wings and legs of their victim, and suck out the contents of its abdomen. Often, when they are disturbed in this agreeable occupation, not wishing to leave it, they fly away with their prey; their flight, however, is not sufficiently powerful to allow of their carrying to any great distance such a heavy burden. When a Cicindela is seized between the fingers, it moves about its mandibles and en

deavours to pinch, but its bite is inoffensive and not very painful. They are prodigiously active in running. Armed with jaws which are

Fig. 527. — Cicindela heros. Fig. 528.— Cicindela quadrilineata. Fig. 529.— Cicindela capensis.

powerful enough to overcome their victims and to seize them at once, they can dispense with stratagem.

Their larvae (Fig. 530) are soft, and have short legs. To satisfy

Fig. 530.— Larva of Cicindela Fig. 531. — Ambush of larva of campestris. Cicindela campestris.

their voracity they are obliged to lie in ambush in holes. They are -two-thirds of an inch long; their head is horny and in the form of a

THE INSnCT WORLD.

49^ trapezium. The first segment is also horny, and of a metallic green. The eighth has a pair of tubercles with hooks, of which the larva

Upper-side. Under-side. Figs. 532, 533. — Pupa of a Cicindela.

makes use in ascending and descending its vertical hole, like a sweep in a chimney. This hole (Fig. 531) is afoot or more deep. To dig it,

Fig- 534 — Tetracha Klugii. Fig. 535- — Tetracha oxychiloides.

the larva employs its mandibles and its legs in the following manner: it twists itself round, loads with earth the flat surface which covers its

head, climbs along the chimney by twisting itself into the form of the

letter Z, and thus transports its load, as a bricklayer's labourer carries a hod of mortar up a ladder. Arrived at the mouth of the hole, it throws to a distance the rubbish with which its head is loaded; or, if too heavy, it simply deposits it, pushing it away as far as possible. It is difficult to watch their proceedings, for they are very mistrustful, and retire immediately into their hole when alarmed. They remain in ambush at the entrances of these subterranean passages, which they hermetically seal with their head and thorax. It is a species ot pitfall which sets itself in motion the moment anything endeavours to pass it. The unfortunate who ventures is precipitated into the well, and the Cichidela forthwith devours it. These habits remind one of those of the ant-lion. When the time arrives for the metamorphosis, the larva of the Cicindda enlarges the bottom of its hole, and stops up the entrance with earth before changing. The pupa (Figs. 532,

Fig- 536.— Tetracha bifasciata

533. is of a pale glossy yellow, covered with small spines. The metamorphosis takes place between August and October; the perfect insect emerges in spring. Nearly akin to the Cicindelce. are the TetrachcB (Figs. 534, 535, 536), from Africa and tropical America; the Manticone (Fig. 537), which are distinguished by their robust and thick-set appearance; the Pogonostomata (Fig. 538), which live in Madagascar; the Ctenostomata, peculiar to America (Fig. 539), remarkable for the length of their pendent and bristly palpi; the Omus, of California; the Theraies (Fig. 540), insects of the East Indian Islands, &c.

The tribe of Tenebrionidce, called formerly Melasomata, because they are nearly all black, resembles in some points the Carabidce. They seek after dark places, and avoid the light, and are found on the ground under stones; their movements are slow, and they walk with difficulty. The best-known insect of this group is the Blaps^ of repulsive smell, inhabiting dark damp places, such as cellars, and only coming out of its retreat during the night. The elytra are joined

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498

together, and they have no wings. The vulgar regard them as an omen of ill-luck. Fig. 541 represents the Blaps obtusa. According to the report of a traveller, the women in Egypt eat the Blaps sulcata cooked with butter, to make them fat. They are employed also for ear-ache, the bite of scorpions, &c.

Another genus of the same familly is the Tenebrio (Fig. 542), of a blackish-brown, with the elytra striated, and of half an inch in length.

Fig 537 — Manticora tuberculata. Fig. 538. — Pogonostoma gracilis.

The larvae, the well-known meal-worms, live in flour; they are cylindrical, and of a light tawny colour (Fig. 542). The insect which is considered as a type of the tribe of the Pitnelides is the Fimelia bipu7ictata, which is common in the south of France.

We come now to the tribe of blistering beetles, of which the best known is the Cantharides {Cantharis or Lytta). These insects are generally of soft consistency, and their elytra very flexible. A few

499 COLEOPTERA.

remain constantly on trees. x\ll are very brisk and active. When swallowed they are a dangerous poison, but are used in medicine tor making blisters. The Cantharides of commerce {Cantharis [Lytta\ Desicatoria) are

Fig 539. — Ctenostoma rugosa Fig. 540. — Therates labiata.r

of a beautiful green, attain to a size of four-fifths of an inch, and are found on ash-trees, lilacs, and other shrubs. Commerce for a long

Fig. 541. — Blaps obtusa. Fig. 542. — Tenebrio molitor (larva and imago).

time brought them from Spain, and some still come from that country; hence the common name of Spanish fly. As they live in great numbers together, collecting them is easier and less expensive

than is the gathering of other species gf the same family which are not gregarious, but have the same medicinal properties. The I presence of the Cantharides is manifested by the strong penetrating odour which they diffuse to some distance. When, by aid of this smell, they are discovered, generally settled on an ash, they are collected in the following manner:— Very early in the morning a cloth of light tissue is stretched out at the foot of the tree, and the branches are shaken, which causes the insects to fall (Plate XIL). These, numbed by the cold of the night, do not try to escape. When there is a sufficient quantity, the four corners are drawn up and the whole plunged into a tub of vinegar diluted with water. This immersion causes their death. The collectors then carry them to a loft, or under a very airy shed. To dry them they spread them out on hurdles covered with linen or paper, and from time to time, to facilitate the operation, they are moved about, either with a stick or with the hand, which is more convenient; but it is then necessary to take the precaution of putting on gloves, for, if touched with the naked hand, they would cause more or less serious blisters. The same precaution must be observed in gathering them.

When the Cantharides are quite dry, they put them into wooden boxes or vessels of glass or earthenware hermetically sealed, and preserve them in a place protected from damp. With these precautions, they may be kept for a long while without losing any of their caustic properties. Dumeril made blisters of Cantharides which had been twenty-four years in store, and which had lost none of their energy. When dry, they are so light that a kilogramme contains nearly 13,000 insects. Aretius, a physician who flourished at Rome in the first century of our era, seems to have been the first to employ Cantharides, reduced to powder, as a means of vesication. Hippocrates administered them internally in cases of dropsy, apoplexy, and jaundice. But it is pretty nearly established that the Cantharides of the ancients were not the same species used at the present day; they were, probably, a kindred species, the Mylabris chicorii.

A blistering principle has been extracted from these insects, called 'Canfharidine. This organic product presents itself under the form of; little shining flakes, without colour, soluble in ether or oil. One atom; of this matter applied to the skin, and particularly to the lower lip, ] makes the epidermis rise instantaneously, and produces a small 1 blister filled with a watery liquid. In spite of the corrosive principle which the Cantharis contains, it is attacked, like other dried insects, hy \\Q Dermestes dXidi the Anthrenus, which feast on them without suffering the smallest inconvenience.