[Illustration: Plate I]
AN
INTRODUCTION
TO
ENTOMOLOGY:
OR
ELEMENTS
OF THE
_NATURAL HISTORY OF INSECTS_:
WITH PLATES.
By WILLIAM KIRBY, M.A. F.R. AND L.S.
RECTOR OF BARHAM,
AND
WILLIAM SPENCE, ESQ. F.L.S.
IN FOUR VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
_FIFTH EDITION._
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR
LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN,
PATERNOSTER ROW.
1828.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY RICHARD TAYLOR,
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
[Illustration]
TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
SIR JOSEPH BANKS, BARONET,
ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S MOST HONOURABLE PRIVY
COUNCIL,
KNIGHT GRAND CROSS OF THE ORDER OF THE BATH,
PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY, ETC.
WHOSE UNRIVALLED LIBRARY AND
PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS
HAVE FURNISHED MUCH OF THE MOST INTERESTING
MATTER THAT IT CONTAINS,
THE FOLLOWING WORK,
IN WHICH AN ATTEMPT IS MADE TO COPY
HIS ILLUSTRIOUS EXAMPLE,
BY POINTING OUT THE CONNEXION THAT EXISTS
BETWEEN NATURAL SCIENCE, AND AGRICULTURE,
AND THE ARTS,
IS, WITH HIS PERMISSION,
MOST GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED
BY HIS MOST OBLIGED
AND OBEDIENT SERVANTS,
THE AUTHORS.
ADVERTISEMENT
TO THIS EDITION.
Since the original Edition of the present work was published, a gradual
and great alteration has taken place in the nomenclature of the genera,
occasioned by the old ones being further subdivided according to their
natural groups, and each distinguished as a genus or subgenus by its
peculiar name. These names in the present Edition, in order to keep
pace with the progress of the science, have been generally adopted,
and some new ones introduced. The improved Index, which may be had
separately by the purchasers of the former Editions, will point out
from what old genera the new ones have been separated.
PREFACE.
One principal cause of the little attention paid to Entomology in
this country, has doubtless been the ridicule so often thrown upon
the science. The botanist, sheltered now by the sanction of fashion,
as formerly by the prescriptive union of his study with medicine, may
dedicate his hours to mosses and lichens without reproach; but in
the minds of most men, the learned as well as the vulgar, the idea
of the trifling nature of his pursuit is so strongly associated with
that of the diminutive size of its objects, that an _entomologist_ is
synonymous with every thing futile and childish. Now, when so many
other roads to fame and distinction are open, when a man has merely
to avow himself a botanist, a mineralogist, or a chemist--a student
of classical literature or of political economy--to ensure attention
and respect, there are evidently no great attractions to lead him
to a science which in nine companies out of ten with which he may
associate promises to signalize him only as an object of pity or
contempt. Even if he have no other aim than self-gratification, yet
"the sternest stoic of us all wishes at least for some one to enter
into his views and feelings, and confirm him in the opinion which he
entertains of himself:" but how can he look for sympathy in a pursuit
unknown to the world, except as indicative of littleness of mind[1]?
Yet such are the genuine charms of this branch of the study of
nature, that here as well as on the continent, where, from being
equally slighted, Entomology now divides the empire with her sister
Botany, this obstacle would not have been sufficient to deter numbers
from the study, had not another more powerful impediment existed--the
want of a popular and comprehensive Introduction to the science.
While elementary books on Botany have been multiplied amongst
us without end and in every shape, Curtis's translation of the
_Fundamenta Entomologiæ_, published in 1772; Yeats's _Institutions
of Entomology_, which appeared the year after; and Barbut's
_Genera Insectorum_, which came out in 1781--the two former in too
unattractive, and the latter in too expensive a form for general
readers--are the only works professedly devoted to this object, which
the English language can boast.
Convinced that this was the chief obstacle to the spread of
Entomology in Britain, the authors of the present work resolved to
do what was in their power to remove it, and to introduce their
countrymen to a mine of pleasure, new, boundless, and inexhaustible,
and which, to judge from their own experience--formed in no
contracted field of comparison--they can recommend as possessing
advantages and attractions equal to those held forth by most other
branches of human learning.
The next question was, in what way they should attempt to accomplish
this intention. If they had contented themselves with the first
suggestion that presented itself, and merely given a translation of
one of the many Introductions to Entomology extant in Latin, German
and French, adding only a few obvious improvements, their task would
have been very easy; but the slightest examination showed that,
in thus proceeding, they would have stopped far short of the goal
which they were desirous of reaching.--In the technical department
of the science they found much confusion, and numerous errors and
imperfections--the same name sometimes applied to parts anatomically
quite different, and different names to parts essentially the same,
while others of primary importance were without any name at all. And
with reference to the anatomy and physiology of insects, they could
no where meet with a full and accurate generalization of the various
facts connected with these subjects, scattered here and there in the
pages of the authors who have studied them.
They therefore resolved to begin, in some measure, _de novo_--to
institute a rigorous revision of the terms employed, making such
additions and improvements as might seem to be called for; and
to attempt a more complete and connected account of the existing
discoveries respecting the anatomical and physiological departments
of the science than has yet been given to the world:--and to these
two points their plan at the outset was limited.
It soon, however, occurred to them, that it would be of little use to
write a book which no one would peruse; and that in the present age
of love for light reading, there could not be much hope of leading
students to the dry abstractions of the science, unless they were
conducted through the attractive portal of the economy and natural
history of its objects. To this department, therefore, they resolved
to devote the first and most considerable portion of their intended
work, bringing into one point of view, under distinct heads, the most
interesting discoveries of Reaumur, De Geer, Bonnet, Lyonet, the
Hubers, &c., as well as their own individual observations, relative to
the noxious and beneficial properties of insects; their affection for
their young; their food, and modes of obtaining it; their habitations;
societies; &c. &c.: and they were the more induced to adopt this plan,
from the consideration, that, though many of the most striking of
these facts have before been presented to the English reader, a great
proportion are unknown to him; and that no similar generalization (if a
slight attempt towards it in Smellie's _Philosophy of Natural History_,
and a confessedly imperfect one in Latreille's _Histoire Naturelle des
Crustacés et des Insectes_ be excepted) has ever been attempted in any
language.--Thus the entire work would be strictly on the plan of the
_Philosophia Entomologica_ of Fabricius, only giving a much greater
extent to the _Œconomia_ and _Usus_, and adverting to these in the
first place instead of in the last.
The epistolary form was adopted, not certainly from any idea of their
style being particularly suited to a mode of writing so difficult
to keep from running into incongruities: but simply because this
form admitted of digressions and allusions called for in a popular
work, but which might have seemed misplaced in a stricter kind of
composition;--because it is better suited to convey those practical
directions, which in some branches of the pursuit the student
requires;--and lastly, because by this form, the objection against
speaking of the manners and economy of insects before entering upon
the definition of them, and explaining the terms of the science--a
retrograde course, which they have chosen from their desire to
present the most alluring side of the science first--is in great
measure, if not wholly, obviated.
Such is the plan which the authors chalked out for themselves--a
plan which in the execution they have found so much more extensive
than they calculated upon, that, could they have foreseen the piles
of volumes through which it has entailed upon them the labour of
wading, often to glean scarcely more than a single fact--the numerous
anatomical and technological investigations which it has called
for--and the long correspondence, almost as bulky as the entire
work, unavoidably rendered necessary by the distant residence of the
parties--they would have shrunk from an undertaking, of which the
profit, if by great chance there should be any, could not be expected
to repay even the cost of books required in it, and from which any
fame must necessarily be confined to a very limited circle. But
having entered upon it, they have persevered; and if they succeed in
their grand aim, that of making converts amongst their countrymen
to a study equally calculated for promoting the glory of God and
the delight and profit of man, they will not deem the labour of the
leisure hours of six years ill bestowed.
And here it may be proper to observe, that one of their first and
favourite objects has been to direct the attention of their readers
"from nature up to nature's God." For, when they reflected upon the
fatal use which has too often been made of Natural History, and
that from the very works and wonders of God, some philosophists, by
an unaccountable perversion of intellect, have attempted to derive
arguments either against his being and providence, or against the
Religion revealed in the Holy Scriptures, they conceived they might
render some service to the most important interests of mankind,
by showing how every department of the science they recommend
illustrates the great truths of Religion, and proves that the
doctrines of the Word of God, instead of being contradicted, are
triumphantly confirmed by his Works.
"To see all things in God" has been accounted one of the peculiar
privileges of a future state; and in this present life, "to see God
in all things," in the mirror of the creation to behold and adore the
reflected glory of the Creator, is no mean attainment; and it possesses
this advantage, that thus we sanctify our pursuits, and, instead of
loving the creatures for themselves, are led by the survey of them and
their instincts to the love of Him who made and endowed them.
Of their performance of the first part of their plan, in which
there is the least room for originality, it is only necessary for
the authors to say that they have done their best to make it as
comprehensive, as interesting, and as useful as possible: but it is
requisite to enter somewhat more fully into what has been attempted
in the anatomical, physiological, and technical parts of the work.
As far as respects the general physiology and _internal_ anatomy of
insects, they have done little more than bring together and combine the
observations of the naturalists who have attended to these branches
of the science: but the _external_ anatomy they have examined for
themselves through the whole class, and, they trust, not without some
new light being thrown upon the subject; particularly by pointing out
and giving names to many parts never before noticed.
In the _Terminology_, or what, to avoid the barbarism of a
word compounded of Latin and Greek, they would beg to call the
_Orismology_ of the science, they have endeavoured to introduce
throughout a greater degree of precision and concinnity--dividing
it into _general_ and _partial_ Orismology;--under the former
head defining such terms as relate to _Substance_, _Resistance_,
_Density_, _Proportion_, _Figure_, _Form_, _Superficies_, (under
which are introduced _Sculpture_, _Clothing_, _Colour_, &c.)
_Margin_, _Termination_, _Incision_, _Ramification_, _Division_,
_Direction_, _Situation_, _Connection_, _Arms_, &c.; and under the
latter those that relate to the body and its parts and members,
considered in its great subdivisions of _Head_, _Trunk_, and
_Abdomen_. In short, they may rest their claim of at least aiming
at considerable improvement in this department upon the great
number of new terms, and alterations of old ones, which they have
introduced--in external Anatomy alone falling little short of 150.
If it should be thought by any one that they have made too many
changes, they would remind him of the advice of Bergman to Morveau,
when reforming the nomenclature of Chemistry, the soundness of
which Dugald Stewart has recognised--"_Ne faites grace à aucune
dénomination impropre. Ceux qui savent déjà, entendront toujours;
ceux qui ne savent pas encore, entendront plutôt._"
Throughout the whole publication, wherever any fact of importance not
depending on their own authority is mentioned, a reference to the
source whence it has been derived is generally given; so that, if the
work should have no other value, it will possess that of saving much
trouble to future inquirers, by serving as an index to direct them in
their researches.
The authors are perfectly sensible that, notwithstanding all their
care and pains, many imperfections will unavoidably remain in their
work. There is no science to which the adage, _Dies diem docet_, is
more strikingly applicable than to Natural History. New discoveries
are daily made, and will be made it is probable to the end of time;
so that whoever flatters himself that he can produce a perfect work
in this department will be miserably disappointed. The utmost that
can reasonably be expected from naturalists is to keep pace with the
progress of knowledge, and this the authors have used their best
diligence to accomplish. Every new year since they took the subject in
hand up to the very time when the first sheets were sent to the press,
numerous corrections and alterations have suggested themselves; and
thus they are persuaded it would be were they to double the period of
delay prescribed by Horace. But Poetry and Natural History are on a
different footing; and though an author can plead little excuse for
giving his verses to the world while he sees it possible to polish
them to higher excellence, the naturalist, if he wishes to promote the
extension of his science, must be content to submit his performances to
the public disfigured by numerous imperfections.
In the introductory letter several of the advantages to be derived
from the study of Entomology are pointed out; but there is one,
which, though it could not well have been insisted upon in that
place, is too important to be passed over without notice--its value
in the education of youth.
All modern writers on this momentous subject unite in recommending
in this view, Natural History: and if "the quality of accurate
discrimination--the ready perception of resemblances amongst
diversities, and still more the quick and accurate perception of
diversity in the midst of resemblances--constitutes one of the most
important operations of the understanding; if it be indeed the
foundation of clear ideas, and the acquisition of whatever can be
truly called knowledge depends most materially on the possession of
it:"--if "the best logic be that which teaches us to suspend our
judgements;" and "the art of seeing, so useful, so universal, and yet
so uncommon, be one of the most valuable a man can possess,"--there
can be no doubt of the judiciousness of their advice. Now of all the
branches of Natural History, Entomology is unquestionably the best
fitted for thus disciplining the mind of youth; and simply from these
circumstances, that its objects have life, are gifted with surprising
instincts admirably calculated to attract youthful attention, and are
to be met with every where. It is not meant to undervalue the good
effects of the study of Botany or Mineralogy: but it is self-evident
that nothing inanimate can excite such interest in the mind of a
young person as beings endowed with vitality, exercising their powers
and faculties in so singular a way; which, as Reaumur observes, are
not only alive themselves, but confer animation upon the leaves,
fruits, and flowers that they inhabit; which every walk offers to
view; and on which new observations may be made without end.
Besides these advantages, no study affords a fairer opportunity of
leading the young mind by a natural and pleasing path to the great
truths of Religion, and of impressing it with the most lively ideas
of the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator.
Not that it is recommended to make children collectors of insects,
nor that young people, to the neglect of more important duties and
pursuits, should generally become professed Entomologists; but, if
the former be familiarized with their names, manners, and economy,
and the latter initiated into their classification, it will be an
excellent method of strengthening their habits of observation,
attention, and memory, equal perhaps, in this respect, to any
other mental exercise: and then, like Major Gyllenhal, who studied
Entomology under Thunberg about 1770, and after an interval of twenty
years devoted to the service of his country, resumed his favourite
pursuit with all the ardour of youth, and is at this time giving to
the world a description of the insects of Sweden invaluable for its
accuracy and completeness--they would be provided in their old age
with an object capable not merely of keeping off that _tædium vitæ_
so often inseparable from the relinquishment of active life, but of
supplying an unfailing fund of innocent amusement, an incentive to
exercise, and consequently no mean degree of health and enjoyment.
Some, who, with an ingenious author[2], regard as superfluous all
pains to show the utility of Natural History in reference to the
common purposes of life, asking "if it be not enough to open a source
of copious and cheap amusement, which tends to harmonize the mind,
and elevate it to worthy conceptions of nature and its Author? if a
greater blessing to a man can be offered than happiness at an easy
rate unalloyed by any debasing mixture?"--may think the earnestness
displayed on this head, and the length which has been gone in refuting
objections, needless. But Entomology is so peculiarly circumstanced,
that without removing these obstacles, there could be no hope of
winning votaries to the pursuit. Pliny felt the necessity of following
this course in the outset of his book which treats on insects, and a
similar one has been originally called for in introducing the study
even to those countries where the science is now most honoured. In
France, Reaumur, in each of the successive volumes of his immortal
work, found it essential to seize every opportunity of showing that
the study of insects is not a frivolous amusement, nor devoid of
utility, as his countrymen conceived it; and in Germany Sulzer had to
traverse the same road, telling us, in proof of the necessity of this
procedure, that on showing his works on insects with their plates to
two very sensible men, one commended him for employing his leisure
hours in preparing prints that would amuse children and keep them out
of mischief, and the other admitted that they might furnish very pretty
patterns for ladies' aprons! And though in this country things are not
now quite so bad as they were when Lady Glanville's will was attempted
to be set aside on the ground of lunacy, evinced by no other act than
her fondness for collecting insects, and Ray had to appear at Exeter
on the trial as a witness of her sanity[3], yet nothing less than line
upon line can be expected to eradicate the deep-rooted prejudices
which prevail on this subject. "Old impressions," as Reaumur has well
observed, "are with difficulty effaced. They are weakened, they appear
unjust even to those who feel them, at the moment they are attacked by
arguments which are unanswerable; but the next instant the proofs are
forgotten, and the perverse association resumes its empire."
The authors do not know that any curiosity will be excited to ascertain
what share has been contributed to the work by each of them; but if
there should, it is a curiosity they must be excused from gratifying.
United in the bonds of a friendship, which, though they have to thank
Entomology for giving birth to it, is founded upon a more solid
basis than mere community of scientific pursuits, they wish that,
whether blame or praise is the fate of their labours, it may be
jointly awarded. All that they think necessary to state is, that the
composition of each of the different departments of the work has been,
as nearly as possible, divided between them;--that though the letter,
or series of letters, on any particular subject, has been usually
undertaken by one, some of the facts and illustrations have generally
been supplied by the other, and there are a few to which they have
jointly contributed;--and that, throughout, the facts for which no
other authority is quoted, are to be considered as resting upon that
of one or other of the authors, but not always of him, who, from local
allusions, may be conceived the writer of the letter in which they are
introduced, as the matter furnished by each to the letters of the other
must necessarily be given in the person of the supposed writer.
* * * * *
In acknowledging their obligations to their friends, the first place
is due to SIMON WILKIN, Esq. of Costessey near Norwich, to whose
liberality they are indebted for almost all the plates which illustrate
and adorn the work; most of which have been drawn and engraved by his
artist Mr. JOHN CURTIS, whose intimate acquaintance with the subject
has enabled him to give to the figures an accuracy which they could
not have received from one less conversant with the science. Nor is
the reader less under obligation to Mr. Wilkin's liberality than the
authors, who, if the drawings, &c. had been to be paid for, must
necessarily have contented themselves with giving a much smaller number.
To ALEXANDER MACLEAY, Esq. they are under particular obligations, for
the warm interest he has all along taken in the work, the judicious
advice he has on many occasions given, the free access in which he
has indulged the authors to his unrivalled cabinet and well-stored
library, and the numerous other attentions and accommodations by
which he has materially assisted them in its progress.
To the other friends who have kindly aided them in this undertaking
in any way, they beg here to offer their best thanks.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] It is with no slight degree of satisfaction that the authors of
the present work observe the progress the science it recommends has
made in the public estimation since the first publication of this
volume: so that the complaint made in the above paragraph must now be
regarded as applicable only to a former state of the science.
[2] Dr. Aikin.
[3] See Harris's _Aurelian_ under _Papilio Cinxia_.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
Letter Page
I. Introductory, 1-20
II. Objections answered, 21-58
III. Metamorphoses of Insects, 59-79
IV. Direct Injuries caused by Insects, 80-144
V. Indirect Injuries caused by Insects.
1. Injuries to our living animal Property, 145-166
VI. Indirect Injuries continued.
2. Injuries to our living vegetable Property, 167-214
VII. The same subject continued.--The Ravages of Locusts, 215-226
VIII. Indirect Injuries concluded.
3. Injuries to our dead Property, whether
animal or vegetable, 227-249
IX. Indirect Benefits derived from Insects, 250-299
X. Direct Benefits derived from Insects, 300-338
XI. Affection of Insects for their Young, 339-381
XII. Food of Insects, 382-401
XIII. The same subject continued, 402-431
XIV. Habitations of Insects.
1. Of Solitary Insects, 432-472
XV. Habitations of Insects continued.
2. Of Insects in Society, 473-513
AN
INTRODUCTION
TO
ENTOMOLOGY.
LETTER I.
DEAR SIR,
I cannot wonder that an active mind like yours should experience
no small degree of tedium in a situation so far removed, as you
represent your new residence to be, from "the busy hum of men."
Nothing certainly can compensate for the want of agreeable society;
but since your case in this respect admits of no remedy but patience,
I am glad you are desirous of turning your attention to some pursuit
which may amuse you in the intervals of severer study, and in part
supply the void of which you complain. I am not a little flattered
that you wish to be informed which class in the three kingdoms of
nature is, in my opinion, most likely to answer your purpose; at the
same time intimating that you feel inclined to give the preference to
Entomology, provided some objections can be satisfactorily obviated,
which you have been accustomed to regard as urged with a considerable
semblance of reason against the cultivation of that science.
Mankind in general, not excepting even philosophers, are prone to
magnify, often beyond its just merit, the science or pursuit to which
they have addicted themselves, and to depreciate any that seems
to stand in competition with their favourite: like the redoubted
champions of romance, each thinks himself bound to take the field
against every one that will not subscribe to the peerless beauty
and accomplishments of his own Dulcinea. In such conflict for
pre-eminence I know no science that, in this country, has come off
worse than Entomology: her champions hitherto have been so few, and
their efforts so unavailing, that all her rival sisters have been
exalted above her: and I believe there is scarcely any branch of
Natural History that has had fewer British admirers. While Botany
boasts of myriads, she, though not her inferior either in beauty,
symmetry, or grace, has received the homage of a very slender train
indeed. Since therefore the merits of Entomology have been so little
acknowledged, you will not deem it invidious if I advocate the cause
of this distressed damsel, and endeavour to effect her restoration to
her just rights, privileges, and rank.
Things that are universally obvious and easy of examination, as they
are the first that fall under our notice, so are they also most
commonly those which we first feel an inclination to study; while, on
the contrary, things that must be sought for in order to be seen, and
which when sought for avoid the approach and inquiring eye of man,
are often the last to which he directs his attention. The vegetable
kingdom stands in the former predicament. Flora with a liberal hand
has scattered around us her charming productions; they every where
meet and allure us, enchanting us by their beauty, regaling us by
their fragrance, and interesting us as much by their subservience to
our luxuries and comfort, as to the necessary support and well-being
of our life. Beasts, birds, and fishes also, in some one or other
of these respects, attract our notice; but insects, unfortunate
insects, are so far from attracting us, that we are accustomed to
abhor them from our childhood. The first knowledge that we get of
them is as tormentors; they are usually pointed out to us by those
about us as ugly, filthy, and noxious creatures; and the whole insect
world, butterflies perhaps and some few others excepted, are devoted
by one universal ban to proscription and execration, as fit only to
be trodden under our feet and crushed: so that often, before we can
persuade ourselves to study them, we have to remove from our minds
prejudices deeply rooted and of long standing.
Another principal reason which has contributed to keep Entomology
in the back ground arises from the diminutive size of the objects
of which it treats. Being amongst the most minute of nature's
productions, they do not so readily catch the eye of the observer;
and when they do, mankind in general are so apt to estimate the worth
and importance of things by their bulk, that because we usually
measure them by the duodecimals of an inch instead of by the foot
or by the yard, insects are deemed too insignificant parts of the
creation, and of too little consequence to its general welfare, to
render them worthy of any serious attention or study. What small
foundation there is for such prejudices and misconception, I shall
endeavour to show in the course of our future correspondence; my
object now, as the champion and advocate of Entomology, is to point
out to you her comparative advantages, and to remove the veil which
has hitherto concealed those attractions, and that grace and beauty,
which entitle her to equal admiration at least with her sister
branches of Natural History.
In estimating the comparative value of the study of any department in
this branch of science, we ought to contrast it with others, as to
the rank its objects hold in the scale of being; the amusement and
instruction which the student may derive from it; and its utility to
society at large. With respect to public utility, the study of each
of the three kingdoms may perhaps be allowed to stand upon nearly an
equal footing; I shall not, therefore, enter upon that subject till
I come to consider the question _Cui bono?_ and to point out the
uses of Entomology, but confine myself now to the two first of these
circumstances.
As to rank, I must claim for the entomologist some degree of
precedence before the mineralogist and the botanist. The mineral
kingdom, whose objects are neither organized nor sentient, stands
certainly at the foot of the scale. Next above this is the
vegetable, whose lovely tribes, though not endued with sensation,
are organized. In the last and highest place ranks the animal world,
consisting of beings that are both organized and sentient. To this
scale of precedence the great modern luminary of Natural History,
notwithstanding that Botany was always his favourite pursuit, has
given his sanction, acknowledging in the preface to his _Fauna
Suecica_, that although the vegetable kingdom is nobler than the
mineral, yet the animal is more excellent than the vegetable. Now it
is an indisputable axiom, I should think, that the more exalted the
object the more excellent the study. By this observation, however,
I would by no means be thought to depreciate or discountenance the
study either of plants or minerals. All the works of our Creator are
great, and worthy of our attention and investigation, the lowest in
the scale as well as the highest, the most minute and feeble, as well
as those that exceed in magnitude and might. Nor ought those whose
inclination or genius leads them to one department, to say to those
who prefer another--"we have no need of you"--for each in his place,
by diffusing the knowledge of his works and adding to the stock of
previous discoveries, contributes to promote the glory of the Great
Architect of the universe and the good of his creatures.
It is not my wish to claim for my favourite science more than of
right belongs to her; therefore, when the question is concerning
rank, I must concede to the higher orders of animals, I mean Fishes,
Amphibia, Birds, and Quadrupeds, their due priority and precedence.
I shall only observe here, that there may exist circumstances which
countervail rank, and tend to render the study of a lower order of
beings more desirable than that of a higher: when, for instance,
the objects of the higher study are not to be come at or preserved
without great difficulty and expense; when they are few in number;
or, when they are already well ascertained and known: circumstances
which attach to the study of those animals that precede insects,
while they do not attach to the study of insects themselves.
With regard to the amusement and instruction of the student, much
doubtless may be derived from any one of the sciences alluded to:
but Entomology certainly is not behind any of her sisters in these
respects; and if you are fond of novelty, and anxious to make new
discoveries, she will open to you a more ample field for these than
either Botany or the higher branches of Zoology.
A new vertebrate animal or plant is seldom to be met with even by
those who have leisure and opportunity for extensive researches; but
if you collect insects, you will find, however limited the manor
upon which you can pursue your game, that your efforts are often
rewarded by the capture of some non-descript or rarity at present not
possessed by other entomologists, for I have seldom seen a cabinet
so meagre as not to possess some unique specimen. Nay, though you
may have searched every spot in your neighbourhood this year, turned
over every stone, shaken every bush or tree, and fished every pool,
you will not have exhausted its insect productions. Do the same
another and another, and new treasures will still continue to enrich
your cabinet. If you leave your own vicinity for an entomological
excursion, your prospects of success are still further increased;
and even if confined in bad weather to your inn, the windows of your
apartment, as I have often experienced, will add to your stock. If a
sudden shower obliges you at any time to seek shelter under a tree,
your attention will be attracted, and the tedium of your station
relieved, where the botanist could not hope to find even a new
lichen or moss, by the appearance of several insects, driven there
perhaps by the same cause as yourself, that you have not observed
before. Should you, as I trust you will, feel a desire to attend to
the manners and economy of insects, and become ambitious of making
discoveries in this part of entomological science, I can assure you,
from long experience, that you will here find an inexhaustible
fund of novelty. For more than twenty years my attention has been
directed to them, and during most of my summer walks my eyes have
been employed in observing their ways; yet I can say with truth, that
so far from having exhausted the subject, within the last six months
I have witnessed more interesting facts respecting their history than
in many preceding years. To follow only the insects that frequent
your own garden, from their first to their last state, and to trace
all their proceedings, would supply an interesting amusement for the
remainder of your life, and at its close you would leave much to be
done by your successor; for where we know thoroughly the history of
one insect, there are hundreds concerning which we have ascertained
little besides the bare fact of their existence.
But numerous other sources of pleasure and information will open
themselves to you, not inferior to what any other science can
furnish, when you enter more deeply into the study. Insects, indeed,
appear to have been nature's favourite productions, in which, to
manifest her power and skill, she has combined and concentrated
almost all that is either beautiful and graceful, interesting and
alluring, or curious and singular, in every other class and order
of her children. To these, her valued miniatures, she has given the
most delicate touch and highest finish of her pencil. Numbers she
has armed with glittering mail, which reflects a lustre like that of
burnished metals[4]; in others she lights up the dazzling radiance of
polished gems[5]. Some she has decked with what looks like liquid
drops, or plates of gold and silver[6]; or with scales or pile, which
mimic the colour and emit the ray of the same precious metals[7].
Some exhibit a rude exterior, like stones in their native state[8],
while others represent their smooth and shining face after they have
been submitted to the tool of the polisher: others, again, like so
many pygmy Atlases bearing on their backs a microcosm, by the rugged
and various elevations and depressions of their tuberculated crust,
present to the eye of the beholder no unapt imitation of the unequal
surface of the earth, now horrid with mis-shapen rocks, ridges, and
precipices--now swelling into hills and mountains, and now sinking
into valleys, glens, and caves[9]; while not a few are covered with
branching spines, which fancy may form into a forest of trees[10].
What numbers vie with the charming offspring of Flora in various
beauties! some in the delicacy and variety of their colours, colours
not like those of flowers evanescent and fugitive, but fixed and
durable, surviving their subject, and adorning it as much after
death as they did when it was alive; others, again, in the veining
and texture of their wings; and others in the rich cottony down that
clothes them. To such perfection, indeed, has nature in them carried
her mimetic art, that you would declare, upon beholding some insects,
that they had robbed the trees of their leaves to form for themselves
artificial wings, so exactly do they resemble them in their form,
substance, and vascular structure; some representing green leaves, and
others those that are dry and withered[11]. Nay, sometimes this mimicry
is so exquisite, that you would mistake the whole insect for a portion
of the branching spray of a tree[12]. No mean beauty in some plants
arises from the fluting and punctuation of their stems and leaves, and
a similar ornament conspicuously distinguishes numerous insects, which
also imitate with multiform variety, as may particularly be seen in the
caterpillars of many species of the butterfly tribe (_Papilionidæ_),
the spines and prickles which are given as a _Noli me tangere_ armour
to several vegetable productions.
In fishes the lucid scales of varied hue that cover and defend them
are universally admired, and esteemed their peculiar ornament; but
place a butterfly's wing under a microscope, that avenue to unseen
glories in new worlds, and you will discover that nature has endowed
the most numerous of the insect tribes with the same privilege,
multiplying in them the forms[13], and diversifying the colouring of
this kind of clothing beyond all parallel. The rich and velvet tints
of the plumage of birds are not superior to what the curious observer
may discover in a variety of _Lepidoptera_; and those many-coloured
eyes which deck so gloriously the peacock's tail are imitated with
success by one of our most common butterflies[14]. Feathers are
thought to be peculiar to birds; but insects often imitate them in
their antennæ[15], wings[16], and even sometimes in the covering of
their bodies[17].--We admire with reason the coats of quadrupeds,
whether their skins be covered with pile, or wool, or fur; yet are
not perhaps aware that a vast variety of insects are clothed with all
these kinds of hair, but infinitely finer and more silky in texture,
more brilliant and delicate in colour, and more variously shaded than
what any other animals can pretend to.
In variegation insects certainly exceed every other class of
animated beings. Nature, in her sportive mood, when painting
them, sometimes imitates the clouds of heaven; at others, the
meandering course of the rivers of the earth, or the undulations
of their waters: many are veined like beautiful marbles; others
have the semblance of a robe of the finest net-work thrown over
them; some she blazons with heraldic insignia, giving them
to bear in fields sable--azure--vert--gules--argent and or,
fesses--bars--bends--crosses--crescents--stars, and even animals[18].
On many, taking her rule and compasses, she draws with precision
mathematical figures; points, lines, angles, triangles[19], squares,
and circles. On others she portrays, with mystic hand, what seem
like hieroglyphic symbols, or inscribes them with the characters and
letters of various languages, often very correctly formed[20]; and,
what is more extraordinary, she has registered in others figures
which correspond with several dates of the Christian era[21].
Nor has nature been lavish only in the apparel and ornament of
these privileged tribes; in other respects she has been equally
unsparing of her favours. To some she has given fins like those
of fish, or a beak resembling that of birds[22]; to others horns,
nearly the counterparts of those of various quadrupeds. The bull[23],
the stag[24], the rhinoceros[25], and even the hitherto vainly
sought for unicorn[26], have in this respect many representatives
amongst insects. One is armed with tusks not unlike those of the
elephant[27]; another is bristled with spines, as the porcupine and
hedge-hog with quills[28]; a third is an armadillo in miniature;
the disproportioned hind legs of the kangaroo give a most grotesque
appearance to a fourth[29]; and the threatening head of the snake is
found in a fifth[30]. It would, however, be endless to produce all
the instances which occur of such imitations: and I shall only remark
that, generally speaking, these arms and instruments in structure and
finishing far exceed those which they resemble.
But further, insects not only mimic, in a manner infinitely various,
every thing in nature, they may also with very little violence
be regarded as symbolical of beings out of and above nature. The
butterfly, adorned with every beauty and every grace, borne by
radiant wings through the fields of ether, and extracting nectar
from every flower, gives us some idea of the blessed inhabitants of
happier worlds, of angels, and of the spirits of the just arrived at
their state of perfection. Again, other insects seem emblematical of
a different class of unearthly beings: when we behold some tremendous
for the numerous horns and spines projecting in horrid array from
their head or shoulders;--others for their threatening jaws of
fearful length, and armed with cruel fangs: when we survey the dismal
hue and demoniac air that distinguish others, the dens of darkness in
which they live, the impurity of their food, their predatory habits
and cruelty, the nets which they spread, and the pits which they sink
to entrap the unwary, we can scarcely help regarding them as aptly
symbolizing evil demons, the enemies of man, or of impure spirits for
their vices and crimes driven from the regions of light into darkness
and punishment[31].
The sight indeed of a well-stored cabinet of insects will bring before
every beholder not conversant with them, forms in endless variety,
which before he would not have thought it possible could exist in
nature, resembling nothing that the other departments of the animal
kingdom exhibit, and exceeding even the wildest fictions of the most
fertile imagination. Besides prototypes of beauty and symmetry, there
in miniature he will be amused to survey (for the most horrible
creatures when deprived of the power of injury become sources of
interest and objects of curiosity), to use the words of our great poet,
... all prodigious things
Abominable, unutterable, and worse
Than fables yet have feign'd, or fear conceiv'd,
Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimæras dire.
But the pleasures of a student of the science to which I am desirous
of introducing you, are far from being confined to such as result from
an examination of the exterior form and decorations of insects: for
could these, endless as they seem, be exhausted, or, wonderful as they
are, lose their interest, yet new sources, exuberant in amusement and
instruction, may be opened, which will furnish an almost infinite fund
for his curiosity to draw upon. The striking peculiarity and variety of
structure which they exhibit in their instruments of nutrition, motion,
and oviposition; in their organs of sensation, generation, and the
great fountains of vitality,--indeed their whole system, anatomically
considered, will open a world of wonders to you with which you will
not soon be satiated, and during your survey of which you will at
every step feel disposed to exclaim with the Roman naturalist--"In
these beings so minute, and as it were such non-entities, what wisdom
is displayed, what power, what unfathomable perfection[32]!" But even
this will not bring you to the end of your pleasures: you must leave
the dead to visit the living; you must behold insects when full of life
and activity, engaged in their several employments, practising their
various arts, pursuing their amours, and preparing habitations for
their progeny: you must notice the laying and kind of their eggs; their
wonderful metamorphoses; their instincts, whether they be solitary
or gregarious; and the other miracles of their history--all of which
will open to you a richer mine of amusement and instruction, I speak
it without hesitation, than any other department of Natural History
can furnish. A minute enumeration of these particulars would be here
misplaced, and only forestall what will be detailed more at large
hereafter; but a rapid glance at a very few of the most remarkable of
them, may serve as a stimulus to excite your curiosity, and induce you
to enter with greater eagerness into the wide field to which I shall
conduct you.