that people could not know one another at the distance of twenty paces; but, whereas they were to fly over a river that runs in the valleys of the Red Tower, and could find neither resting-place nor food; being at length tired with their flight, one part of them lighted on the unripe corn on this side of the Red Tower, such as millet, Turkish wheat, &c.; another pitched on a low wood, where, having miserably wasted the produce of the land, they continued their journey, as if a signal had actually been given for a march. The guards of the Red Tower attempted to stop their irruption into Transylvania by firing at them; and, indeed, where the balls and shot swept through the swarm, they gave way and divided; but, having filled up their ranks in a moment, they proceeded on their journey. In the month of September, some troops of them were thrown to the ground by great rains and other inclemency of the weather; and thoroughly soaked with wet, they crept along in quest of holes in the earth, dung, and straw; where, being sheltered from the rains, they laid a vast number of eggs, which stuck together by a viscid juice, and were longer and smaller than what is commonly called an ant's egg, very like grains of oats. The females having laid their eggs, die, like the silk-worm; and we Transylvanians found by experience, that the swarm which entered our fields by the Red Tower, did not seem to intend remaining there, but were thrown to the ground by the force of the wind, and there laid their eggs: a vast number of which being turned up and crushed by the plough, in the beginning of the ensuing spring, yielded a yellowish juice. In the spring of 1748, certain little blackish worms were seen lying in the fields and among the bushes, sticking together, and collected in heaps. These were neglected entirely, and unnoticed throughout the winter; but the subsequent June discovered what these worms were; for then, as the corn sown in spring was pretty high, these creatures began to spread over the fields, and became destructive to the vegetables by their numbers. Then at length, the country people, who had slighted the warning given them, began to repent of their negligence; for, as these insects were now dispersed all over the fields, they could not be extirpated without injuring the corn. At that time they differed little or nothing from our cominon grass-hopper, having their head, sides, and back, of a dark color, with a yellow belly, and the rest of a reddish hue. About the middle of June, according as they hatched, sooner or later, they were generally a finger's length, or somewhat longer, but their shape and color still continued. Towards the end of June, they cast off their outward covering, and then it plainly appeared that they had wings, very like the wings of bees, but as yet unripe, and unexpanded; and then their body was very tender, and of a yellowish green; then, in order to render themselves fit for flying, they gradually unfolded their wings with their hinder feet, as flies do; and, as soon as any of them found themselves able to use their wings, they soared up, and by flying round the others' enticed them to join them and thus their num bers increased daily; they took circular flights' of twenty or thirty yards square, until they were joined by the rest; and, after miserably laying waste their native fields, they proceeded elsewhere in large troops. Wheresoever these troops happened to pitch, they spared no sort of vegetable: they eat up the young corn and the very grass, but nothing was more dismal than to behold the lands in which they were hatched; for they so greedily devoured every green thing thereon before they could fly, that they left the grouna quite bare.' Genus 3. Cicada.-Antenna setaceous; wings four, and formed of membrane; beak bent inward; feet saltatores. The cicada live on various kinds of plants; the larvæ are entirely destitute of wings, which in the pupa begin to appear; in other respects they resemble the perfect insect. The larvæ discharge a kind of froth from the body, under which they conceal themselves; they are furnished with six feet, and are very active. The males, in general, chirp like the cricket; and some of the larger kinds of the tettigonia possess two peculiar drum-like organs, which emit a loud and incessant noise at the pleasure of the insect, as is particularly exemplified in some of the Chinese and North American cicada. The most magnificent species is the C. Indica, the color of which is black, with a yellow stripe, and towards the extremity of the abdomen an orange stripe: elytra brown olive, with red veins. A single species only has been discovered, which was taken in Bengal about ten years ago, and is now deposited in the imperial cabinet of Vienna. Genus 4. Notonecta-Antennæ short; wings four, folded across, and coriaceous at the top; beak bent inwards; hinder feet natatores. The insects of this genus live in stagnant waters, and prey on aquatic animalcula: the larvæ and pupæ are six-footed and active, the former have the rudiments of wings, the others none. There are seventeen species. The insects of this genus obtained the name of notonectæ, from the singular manner in which they swim on the back. This situation seems admirably adapted to its feeding, which is on the under sides of plants that grow on the surface of the water; its motions are very nimible, diving down at the instant of alarm, and rising again to the surface when the danger is past; the two hind legs serving for paddles. Genus 5. Nepa.-Antenna short; wings four, folded across, and coriaceous inside; beak bent inwards; two fore feet cheliform; rest cursorii. When these insects arrive at their full size, they are sometimes nearly an inch in length, and nearly half as broad. The antennæ appear in the place of the fore legs, and are armed with forceps. The nepas are, of all animals, the most tyrannical; like wolves, among a flock of harmless sheep, they destroy a vast number more than their wants require. If a nepa be placed in a basin of water with thirty or forty libellula worms, each as large as itself, it will destroy them all in a very short space of time, getting on their backs, and piercing them through the body with the rostrum. Genus 6. Aphis.--Antenna setaceous, long wings four, or sometimes none; feet cursorii; rostrum bent inward; abdomen armed with two small horns. We have already treated of this destructive and numerous genus in our article APHIS, to that therefore we must refer the reader. Genus 7 Cimea.-Antennæ longer than the thorax, which is margined; wings folded crosswise, the upper ones coriaceous in part; back flat; feet cursorii. The insects of this genus mostly feed on the juices of plants, and have all a most disagreeable smell. Both larvæ and pupæ have six feet; the former has no wings, the latter has rudiments of them. The species best known (at least in the metropolis) in England is the C. lectuarius, or bed-bug, which we have already noticed under CIMEX and BUG, which see. Genus 8. Chermes.-Rostrum seated on the pectus; antennæ longer than the thorax; the four wings are deflected; thorar gibbous; feet saltatores. There are twenty-four species, the chief of which are described in our article CHERMES. Genus 9. Coccus.-Antennæ filiform; the rostrum proceeding from the breast; the belly, or abdomen, bristly behind; the two wings of the male are erect; the female has none. See Coccus in the body of the work. Genus 10. Thrips.-Rostrum very small; antenna about the length of the thorax; abdomen curved upwards; the four wings straight, narrow, and slightly crossed. The insects of this genus are small, and found mostly on plants and various flowers.-The thrips is highly injurious and destructive to fruit-trees, but particularly the grape or vine. The most effectual method of destroying them is probably that of frequent washing with water, by the engine or otherwise, every evening; as, when performed in the heat of the sun, the vines are materially injured by it. But when the berries begin to color, it is to be wholly discontinued, as after that it destroys the fruit. Where there is a neglect of washing the trees, the thrips generally makes its appearance. In such cases, these insects may, without much difficulty, be destroyed by the fumigation of tobacco and damp hay; the plants or trees being well washed after it. ORDER III.-LEPIDOPTERA. The insects of this order are the butterflies and moths, and have all four wings, covered with a kind of scales resembling feathers, and reflecting the most brilliant colors. Genus 1. Papilio.-Antenna club-shaped, gradually; wings erect, and meeting upwards; flying only in the day. This numerous and elegant tribe has been tastefully divided into families by Linné in the following manner : The first division is formed of equites, distinguished by the shape of their upper wings; which are longer if measured from their posterior angle to their anterior extremity, than from the same point to the base. The equites are divided into Troes or Trojans (distinguished by having red or blood-colored spots or patches on each side their breasts) and Achivi, Greeks, without red marks on the breast, and of gayer colors in general than the former. The second division is formed of heliconii, which are distinguished by wings that are narrow and entire, frequently naked or semi-transparent; the upper ones oblong, the lower ones very short. The third division is formed of the Danai, so called from the sons and daughters of Danaus. They are divided into Danai candidi, which have whitish wings; and Danai festivi, in which the ground-color is never white, and the wings are variegated. The fourth division is formed of the nymphales, distinguished by the edges of the wings being scolloped or indented. It is subdivided into the nymphales gemmati, in which the wings are marked with eye-shaped spots; and nymphales phalerati, without those spots. The fifth division is formed of the plebei. These are commonly smaller than the preceding kinds of butterflies, and are subdivided into rurales and urbicolæ : the wings of the former are marked with obscure spots; those of the latter have for the most part transparent spots. We shall now give a brief description of a few of the most beautiful species of this elegant tribe. (1.) P.brassica, common butterfly. The wings rounded and white; tip of the upper pair brown. It proceeds from a yellowish caterpillar freckled with bluish and black spots, and which changes during autumn into a yellowish-gray chrysalis, affixed in a perpendicular direction to some wall, tree, or other object. (2.) P. io, peacock-butterfly; so called from the peacock's eyes which it bears above, four in number, one upon each wing. Its wings, very angulous, are dark underneath; above they are of a reddish dun color. The upper ones have on their superior edge two black oblong spots, with a yellow one between the two. At their extremity is found the eye, large, reddish in the middle, surrounded with a yellow circle, accompanied by a small portion of blue towards the exterior side. On that same side, following the direction of the margin, there are arranged five or six white spots. The inferior wings are browner, and have each a large eye of very dark blue in the middle, surrounded by an ash-color circle. The caterpillar of this butterfly is of a deep black, dotted with a little white. (3.) P. iris, purple emperor. Wings indented, and brown, with a blue gloss, having a whitish interrupted band on each side; with each a single eye; the eyes on the upper pair blind above. Found in our own gardens, and in Europe generally. The male is spotted with white on the upper wings, and is without the eye. The larva is green with two horns, and oblique pale lines. (4.) P. machaon, is an insect of the greatest beauty, and is commonly known by the name of the swallow-tailed butterfly. Color a beautiful yellow, with black spots along the edges of the superior wings: all the wings are bordered with a deep edging of black, decorated by a double row of crescent-shaped spots, of which the upper row is blue, and the lower yellow. The under wings are tailed, and are marked at the inner angle or tip with a round red spot, bordered with blue and black. The larvae are of a green color, encircled with numerous black bands |