Wild hornets live in the holes of trees, and in winter, like other insects, keep themselves concealed; their life does not exceed two years in length. Not unfrequently, their sting is productive of an attack of fever, and there are authors who say that thrice nine stings will suffice to kill a man. In spring they build their nests, generally with four entrances, and here the working hornets are produced: after these have been hatched they form other nests of larger size. These races, too, have their drones. Neither hornets nor wasps have a king, nor do they ever congregate in swarms.
CHAPTER VII.
THE SILK-WORM.
Another class of insects spring from a grub of larger size, with two horns of very peculiar appearance. The larva becomes a caterpillar, after which it assumes the state in which it is known as bombylis, then that called necydalus, and in six months it becomes a silk-worm. These insects weave webs similar to those of the spider, the material of which is used for making the more costly and luxurious garments of ladies, known as “bombycina.” Pamphile, a woman of Cos, the daughter of Platea, was the first person who discovered the art of unravelling these webs and spinning a tissue therefrom.
The silk-worm is said to be a native of the isle of Cos, where the vapors of the earth give new life to the flowers of the cypress, the terebinth, the ash, and the oak which have been beaten down by the showers. At first they assume the appearance of small butterflies with naked bodies, but soon after, being unable to endure the cold, they throw out bristly hairs, and assume quite a thick coat against the winter, rubbing off the down that covers the leaves, by the aid of the roughness of their feet. This they compress into balls by carding it with their claws, and then draw it out and hang it between the branches of the trees, making it fine by combing it out: last of all, they take and roll it round their body, thus forming a nest in which they are enveloped. In this state they are taken; after which they are placed in earthen vessels in a warm place, and fed upon bran. A peculiar sort of down soon shoots forth upon the body, on being clothed with which they are set to work upon another task. The cocoons which they have begun to form are rendered soft and pliable by the aid of water, and are then drawn out into threads by means of a spindle made of a reed. Even men have not felt ashamed to make use of garments formed of this material, in consequence of their extreme lightness in summer: for, so greatly have manners degenerated in our day, that, so far from wearing a cuirass, a thin garment is found to be too heavy.
CHAPTER VIII.
SPIDERS.
It is by no means an absurdity to append to the silk-worm an account of the spider—a creature worthy of our special admiration. The phalangium is of small size, with body spotted and running to a point; their bite is venomous, and they leap as they move from place to place. Another kind is black, with fore legs remarkable for their length. They have all of them three joints in the legs. The smaller kind of wolf-spider does not make a web, but the larger ones make holes in the earth, and spread their nets at the narrow entrance. A third kind is remarkable for the skill which it displays in its operations. These spin a large web, the creature having in itself a certain faculty of secreting a peculiar sort of woolly substance. How steadily does it work with its claws, how beautifully rounded and how equal are the threads as it forms its web, while it employs the weight of its body as an equipoise! It begins at the middle to weave its web, and then extends it by adding the threads in rings around, like a warp upon the woof: forming the meshes at equal intervals, but continually enlarging them as the web increases in breadth, it finally unites them all by an indissoluble knot. With what wondrous art does it conceal the snares that lie in wait for its prey in its checkered nettings! How loose is the body of the web as it yields to the blasts, and how readily does it catch all objects which come in its way! You would fancy that it had left, quite exhausted, the thrums of the upper portion of its net unfinished where they are spread across; for with the greatest difficulty can they be perceived, and yet the moment that an object touches them, like the lines of the hunter’s net, they throw it into the body of the web. With what architectural skill, too, is its hole arched over, and how well defended by a nap of extra thickness against the cold! How carefully it retires into a corner, and appears intent upon something else, all the while keeping so carefully shut up from view, that it is impossible to perceive whether there is anything within or not! And then, how extraordinary the strength of the web! When is the wind ever known to break it, or what accumulation of dust is able to weigh it down?
The spider often spreads its web right across between two trees, the thread extending from the very top of the tree to the ground, while the insect springs up again in an instant from the earth, and travels aloft by the self-same thread, thus mounting at the same moment and spinning its threads. When its prey falls into its net, how on the alert it is, and with what readiness it runs to seize it! Even though it should be adhering to the very edge of its web, the insect always runs instantly to the middle, where it can most effectually shake the web, and so successfully entangle its prey. When the web is torn, the spider immediately sets about repairing it, and that so neatly, that nothing like patching can ever be seen. The spider lies in wait even for the young of the lizard, and after enveloping the head of the animal, bites its lips; a sight by no means unworthy of the amphitheatre itself, when it is one’s good fortune to witness it. Presages also are drawn from the spider; for when a river is about to swell, it will suspend its web higher than usual. As these insects spin not in calm weather, but when it is cloudy, a great number of cobwebs is a sure sign of showery weather. It is generally supposed that the female spider spins while the male lies in wait for prey, thus making an equal division of their duties.
CHAPTER IX.
LOCUSTS.
Locusts lay their eggs in large masses, in the autumn, in holes which they form in the ground. These eggs remain underground throughout the winter, and in the ensuing year, at the close of spring, small locusts issue from them, of a black color. A wet spring destroys their eggs, while, if it is dry, they multiply in great abundance.
Locusts are produced only in champaign places, that are full of chinks and crannies. In India, it is said that they attain the length of three[196] feet, and that the people dry the legs and thighs, and use them for saws. Sometimes the winds carry off these creatures in vast swarms, upon which they fall into the sea or standing waters, and perish. Some authors have stated, that they are unable to fly during the night, in consequence of the cold, being ignorant of the fact that they travel over lengthened tracts of sea for many days together, a thing the more to be wondered at, as they have to endure hunger all the time as well, for this it is which causes them to be thus seeking pastures in other lands. Such a visitation is looked upon as a plague inflicted by the anger of the gods; for as they fly they appear to be larger than they really are, while they make such a loud noise with their wings, that they might be readily supposed to be winged creatures of quite another species. Their numbers, too, are so vast, that they quite darken the sun; while the people below are anxiously following them with the eye, to see if they are about to make a descent, and so cover their lands. After all, they have the requisite energies for their flight; and, as though it had been but a trifling matter to pass over the seas, they cross immense tracts of country, and cover them in clouds which bode destruction to the harvests. Scorching numerous objects by their very contact, they eat away everything with their teeth, even the very doors of the houses.