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extent of country, and the wolf, the boar, and the wild bull were objects of the chase, wild bees abounded, and as a Roman poet expresses it, the oaks dripped honey.

THE HUMBLE BEE.*

THIS well-known creature belongs to a large genus. M. le Comte Saint-Fargeau states that the female, having collected a quantity of pollen and honey, forms these substances into a ball, in which the eggs are deposited so that, when the eggs are hatched, the larvæ are surrounded by the substance which serves them both for food and protection. When full-grown, each larva incloses itself in a silken cocoon, of an oval form, and placed always in a perpendicular position. The workers, on undergoing their final transformation, enlarge the nest, and attach to it an inner coating of wax. Wax is also used in the construction of little cells for the reception of honey. Huber says that each species makes these cells in a different manner.

SCALE-WINGED INSECTS. †

THIS Order is composed of those insects which are commonly known by the name of Butterflies and Moths, possessing four wings, usually of large size, and covered with a multitude of minute scales, which, to the naked eye, appear like powder, are placed in the most perfect order, and have a great diversity of beautiful colours. They have been well compared to mosaic work, produced by small pieces of variously coloured glass, stuck in a kind of paste, yet so minute as hardly to be perceived; looking rather like a picture whose parts are harmoniously combined. But here art is infinitely surpassed. A piece of the wing of a peacock butterfly, a quarter of an inch square, was placed under a microscope, when 70 rows, each containing 90 scales, were counted; there were, therefore, 6,300 scales, on one side of this small portion of wing, and a square inch must have the amazing number of 100,736 scales. The number of glass pins in a square inch of fine mosaic is only 870, so that it is 115 times coarser than the wing of this butterfly, which is of middle size, and the scales of which are proportional. What, then, must be the comparison with some of the smaller tribes, whose whole dimensions are a quarter of an inch!

The wing of a peacock butterfly, prematurely taken out of a chrysalis, proved to be nine and a quarter times finer than that of the perfect insect; so that it was 10,063 times finer than the most boasted mosaic.

These scales are of very different forms, and variously arranged, but mostly in an imbricated style, with more or less regularity. They are inserted into the membrane by a short footstalk or root, but that slightly, as they are brushed off with a touch. Not only are they often richly coloured, but they are marked with striæ, and often crossed by finer lines, and these striæ by the reflection of the light at different angles, produce varying tints of brilliant or metallic effulgence.

SCALES OF BUTTERFLY'S WING.

Some idea of the almost endless variety of form and markings which the scales of butterflies and moths assume, may be conceived from the fact that Lyonnet nearly fills six quarto plates with crowded delineations of one species of moth-the Bombyx Cossus. Leuwenhoek counted upwards of 400,000 on the wings of a silk-moth, and it is calculated that in one square inch of surface of a butterfly's wing, the number of scales will amount to about 100,740. When these scales are rubbed off, the wings are found to consist of an elastic, transparent, and very thin membrane, and when examined by means of a microscope, it will be found marked with indented lines, exhibiting the arrangement of the scaly covering.

At the top of the next engraving, on the left hand, is the small Tortoiseshell Butterfly,‡ abundant not only in England, but the neighbouring continent, and is conspicuous for its beauty and the lightness with which it flits from flower to flower. It closely resembles, except in size, the Great Tortoiseshell Vanessa urticæ.

* Bombus terrestris.

+ Lepidoptera.

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Butterfly, which usually appears about the middle of July. It is rapid on the wing, often settling on the trunks of trees and dry pathways, delighting itself in the fervid rays of the sun. The colour of the wings above is dark orange-red, with a narrow vandyked edging of blue, and another of black, while its whole surface is variously and beautifully adorned.

Just beneath is the Fritillary, very elegant in its form. The fritillaries, for there are more than this one, are not only among the most common, but the most beautiful of the race, and are met with in woods and meadows, and on heaths and downs, in most parts of England, during June and July. In allusion to the wings of butterflies, it has been said, Nature has painted her canvas on both sides; the upper one being more delicately pencilled than the lower. But not so is it with the fritillaries, whose upper surface is reddish-brown and black, disposed in angular streaks or chequers; while abundantly and richly adorned is the reverse of their richly-scalloped wings. Often may one of these beautiful insects be observed in a garden,

"Where he arriving, round about doth flie
From bed to bed, from one to t'other border,
And takes survey with curious, busy eye,
Of every flower and herbe there set in order;
Now this, now that, he tasteth tenderley,
Ne with his feete their silken leaves deface,
But pastures on the pleasures of each place."

A little below the fritillary, and towards the centre of the page, is the Cabbage Butterfly,* which appears in April and May; the wings are white above, with a large patch of black on the tip of the anterior pair. The under surface of the wings inclines to yellow, the lower being finely powdered with black; the upper wings have two conspicuous black spots.

Returning to the outer line, the Peacock's Eye is beheld, of a deep brownish red colour, inclining to purple, with a large eye-like spot on each wing above; beneath, the wings are dark shining brown, traversed by fine undulating lines of black. In the southern and midland counties of England this beautiful species is very common; but it is more rare in the north, and is seldom seen in Scotland. It usually appears in July, flitting about the hedge-rows, along shaded lanes, and about the borders of copses, alighting every now and then to sun its wings, and then again to start off on an ærial flight.

A little to the right of the cabbage butterfly is the Swallow-Tailed, the largest of our indigenous butterflies. It is not, however, abundant; it has never been observed in Scotland, and seldom in the northern counties of England. In Cambridgeshire, it is said to be tolerably common in the fenny districts, and it has been observed in Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Middlesex, and Kent. It does not appear on the wing in our island till the beginning of June. The female, as usual, exceeds the male in size. The general colour of the wings is black, powdered with yellow, and relieved by bold yellow markings, which colour, indeed, is spread over the basal half of the hinder wings. From the posterior margin of these projects an acute slip, which may be compared to the outer tail-feathers of the swallow, and at each inner corner is an ocellated spot of red, with an anterior crescent of light blue; the whole nearly surrounded by a ring of black. The body is black, covered with yellow hairs, which form a conspicuous line on each side of the thorax.

Above this is the Purple Emperor, only to be found, and then not in abundance, in the oak-woods of the more southern counties of our island; and if beauty, strength of wing, fearlessness, and a lofty, bold, and vigorous flight entitle it to pre-eminence, it certainly stands at the head of our native butterflies. It seldom makes its appearance before the month of July, and may then be seen during the middle of the day, while the sun glows with meridian effulgence, soaring on rapid wings high over the summits of the tallest oaks, on the topmost twigs of which it settles for repose towards the approach of evening. The wings of this species are firm of texture; their general colour above is dark brown, changing in certain lights into rich purplish blue of metallic lustre, and relieved by marks of white. On the hinder wings, near the inner angle, is a small black spot surrounded by red; the under surface of the wings is rust brown, varied with white and black; an ocellated spot on both.

At the top of the engraving is the Orange-Tip Butterfly,§ which is tolerably common in our

* Pontia brassica.

Papilio machaon.

+ Apatura iris.

§ Pontia cardamines.

BUTTERFLIES.

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island, frequenting the borders of woods and lanes winding through a woodland but cultivated district. It usually appears about the end of May. The large or primary wings are white, dusky at the base, with a small, black crescent-mark in the

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centre, and a black tip. In the male the outer half of the wing is tinged with orange; in both, the hinder wings are marbled beneath with pale green; above they present faint tracings of the same. The larger figure is that of the red under wing.

The most superb of all the butterflies is the Imperial Trojan. It is a native of Amboyna, of an exceedingly rich green colour, having a fine golden tinge diffused through it; and " it may be doubted," says Linnæus, "whether Nature has produced any object more beautiful amongst insects." It measures upwards of seven inches and a half from the tip of one wing to that of the other.

THE MARBLED WHITE BUTTERFLY (Papilio galathea).

MOTHS.

THE muscular power of these insects is often very remarkable. The figure on the right of the page just alluded to is that of the Sphinx, or Hawk-Moth, associated with insects who, in the beauty, delicacy, and fulness of their plumage, and the marbled

NIGHT-MOTHS.

arrangement and blending of varied tints of brown, gray, black, and different tones of yellow, are not inferior in attractiveness to the more gaily painted butterflies that court the bright beams of summer.

Like the owl, which so much resembles many of them in style of plumage, the moths generally remain concealed in their retreats during the day, quietly reposing till the growing darkness calls them forth to visit the dewy flowers, and revel in the enjoyment of existence, till the dawning day drives them to their wonted lurking-places.

This law of nocturnal life has, however, its exceptions, for we find one family to consist of species which are active only on the approach of evening or early in the morning, a few being as diurnal as the butterfly, and flitting in broad day from flower to flower in quest of honeyed food. This is the family of the Sphinxes, or Hawk-Moths.*

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These insects are remarkable for their size, and the extent of their wings, which are extremely vigorous, and well adapted for rapid flight. Their name of hawk-moth was derived from the resemblance of their progression through the air to that of a hawk; but it is probably greater to that of some of the humming-birds. The remarkable attitude often assumed by the caterpillars, resembling that of the fabulous sphinx of the ancients, suggested to Linnæus the scientific term by which they are still denominated.

The Death's Head Hawk-Moth + appears to be distributed over our island, and Europe gene+ Acheronta atropos. Sphinx atropos: Linnæus.

*Sphingidæ.

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