Curious Facts in the History of Insects; Including Spiders and Scorpions. / A Complete Collection of the Legends, Superstitions, Beliefs, and Ominous Signs Connected with Insects; Together with Their Uses in Medicine, Art, and as Food; and a Summary of Their Remarkable Injuries and Appearances.

by Frank Cowan

• Ulcers, Blatta of Pliny for, [66];
  • Cockroaches, [78];
  • Honey-dew, [258].
• Unchastity, insect to discover, [367];
  • punished by Bees, [181].
• Unclean thoughts, Flies emblem of, [292].
• United States, Ant-lions in, [141];
  • Cicadas, [254];
  • Spiders, [340];
  • see [Indians, American]; [New England];[ New York]; [Maryland]; [Ohio]; [Mississippi]; [Pennsylvania]; [North Carolina]; [Virginia].
• Urine, Fleas generated from, [305];
  • forced with Cantharides, [63];
  • Lice to suppress, [319];
  • Stag-beetle, [26].
• Uroceridæ, [142].

• Vanessa cardui, [226], [230].
  • polychloros, [220].
  • urticæ, [220], [230].
• Vegetable-flies, [90–92].
• Venery, Ants to provoke to, [161].
• Veneration for Acanthocinus ædilis, [73];
  • chrysalids of Butterflies, [308];
  • Mantis, [83–88];
  • Scarab, [28–44].
• Vermin, origin of, [305].
• Vertigo, silk-worms for, [240].
• Vesicatory, Cantharides as, [63];
  • Cerambyx moschatus, [73].
• Vespa crabro, [171].
• Vespidæ, [170–174].
  • saved from being wrecked by song of a Spanish Gryllo, [130].
• Vessel attacked by Termites, [133];
• Vienna, Lady-bird at, [17].
• Vines, to prevent “Cantharides” from injuring, [64].
• Vipers, generation of, [322].
  • Caterpillars, [242];
  • Crickets, [95].
• [Virginia], Ants in, [152];
• Virgin Mary, Lady-bird dedicated to, [17], [18].
• Virgins, hatred of Scorpions for, [324].
• Virtues of Honey, [208].
• Vives, Ludovicus, eloquence of, foretold by Bees, [178].
• Voluptuary, Scarab emblematical of a, [33].
• Vomiting, Bugs for, [267].
• Vulture, gall of, in medicine, [219].

• Wall-lice, [265].
• War, omens of, from Agaric-Gnat, [286];
  • Gall-fly, [143];
  • Gnats, [280];
  • Locusts, [119];
  • Spiders, [338];
  • waged against Locusts, [114];
  • Bees idle during, [184].
• Warbles, [303].
• Wars of Ants, [151].
• Warrior, Scarab emblematical of, [32].
• Warts, Cobwebs to remove, [359];
  • Grasshoppers, [100].
• Washington City, Mantis in, [88].
• Washington, General, Mosquitoes pierce boots of, [281].
• Wasps, [170–174], [194], [202].
• Water as a charm to destroy Locusts, [116];
  • found from swarms of Gnats, [280].
• Water-boatmen, [275–277].
• Wax, Bees-, [206–208].
  • Pela, [254].
• Way, lost, discovered by Mantis, [83].
• Weasel, young of, for bite of Spider, [356].
• [Weather], prognostications as to, from Ants, [153];
  • Bees, [182], [194];
  • Butterflies, [229];
  • Fleas, [310];
  • Flies, [290];
  • Hornets, [172];
  • Spiders, [336];
  • Lady-bird connected with fine, [17], [18].
• Weevils, [68–72].
• West Indies, Ants in, [162], [167];
  • Cucujus, [51];
  • Grasshoppers, [98];
  • Grou-grou worm, [68–70];
  • Musk-beetle, [73];
  • Spiders, [354];
  • saved from invasion by Cucuji, [53].
• Whales, generation of, [322].
• Wheat, prices of, connected with the ocean tides, [188, n.]
• Whistles to call cattle, made of beetle-shards, [369].
• White ants, [132–137].
• White-clover, Indian name for, [197].
• Wildman, anecdotes of, [201].
• Wind, Aphides produced by a, [258].
• Winter, prognostication from May-bug as to, [47].
• Wisdom of the Ant exaggerated, [148–151].
• Witchcraft, beetle against, [44];
  • Bot-fly in, [303];
  • Humble-bees, [213];
  • use of wax in, [206].
• Witches in the forms of Flies, [294].
• Wolf, tail of, to drive away Flies, [288];
  • Wasps generated from carcass of, [171].
• Women, hatred of Scorpions for, [324].
• Wood-louse, Death-watch supposed to be, [61].
• Woodpecker to keep Bees from stinging, [193].
• Wood-carrying Moth, [245].
• Wood-tic, [321].
• Wool, rain of, [348];
  • to drive away Ants, [170].
• Woolly-bear Moths, [242–245].
• World, Scarab symbolical of, [30].
• Worm in the heart of a horse, [365];
  • from stomach of a woman, [364].
• Wormals, [303].
• Worms extracted from children’s ears, [371];
  • intestinal, Bedeguar for, [144];
  • charm, [365];
  • Cockroaches, [78];
  • oil of Scorpions, [330];
  • powder of a tombstone, [363].
• Worm-wood to destroy Fleas, [308].
• Worship of the Mantis, [83–88];
  • pupæ of Butterflies, [230];
  • Scarab, [28–44];
  • Egyptian, of animals, [43, n.]
• Wounds, Blatta of Pliny for, [66];
  • Crickets, [97];
  • Oil-beetles, [63];
  • Spiders, [359].

• Zephyr, Butterfly symbol of, [229].
• Zisca, what he meant by “cobwebs,” [356].

FOOTNOTES.

[1.] Thorpe’s Northern Mythol., ii. 104.

[2.] Jamieson’s Scot. Dict. Another designation, in Sweden, is not so honorable, for it is that of Laettfaerdig kona, the Wanton Quean.—Ibid. The term Lady-bird, in England, has been also applied to a prostitute.—Wright’s Provinc. Dict.

[3.] Jaeger, Life of Amer. Ins., p. 22.

[4.] It is curious to notice the association of this insect with the cow in the English and French names.

[5.] Jamieson’s Scot. Dict.