Four sharpened spears his head with weapons arm,
And his pearled eyes with liveliest graces charm.
In down of ev’ry variegated dye
Shines, fluttering soft, the gaudy butterfly,
That powder which thy spoiling hand disdains,
The forms of quills and painted plumes contains;
Nor courts can more magnificence express,
In all their blaze of gems and pomp of dress.”
The expansion of their wings displays the finest texture imaginable, compared to which lawn is as course as sackcloth. The cases, which inclose their wings, glitter with the finest varnish, are scooped into ornamental flutings, studded with radiant spots, or pinked with elegant holes. Not one but is endued with weapons to seize his prey, and dexterity to escape his foe, to despatch the business of his station, and enjoy the pleasure of his condition. It is affirmed that the female of the common house-fly is capable of producing 20 millions 80 thousand 320; hence we cannot wonder at their swarming so much in autumn.
[Our author has devoted very few remarks indeed to insects; yet the history of this class of creatures is as interesting as any other, and is attracting considerable attention. Their history is very far from being complete: their number is not known. They inhabit the air, water, and earth. This family of creatures is called insects, because of the articulations of the body, so as to appear notched, or intersected. A brief notice of some of their principal parts follows, which is chiefly taken from No. VIII, of the Family Library, published by J. & J. Harper, New-York.
Mouth.—All insects either divide their food, or suck it. In those which divide their food, the parts of the mouth are, an upper lip, and an under lip fixed to a piece called the chin; between these two there are four lateral pieces, two on each side; the two upper are called mandibles, the two lower, jaws. The mandibles, or upper jaws cut the food: the lower jaws divide and masticate it.
The mouth of those insects which suck their food, is elongated into a tongue or proboscis. This is a tube attached to the head. In some it is composed of two pieces connected by a joint; for if it were constantly extended it would be too much exposed to accidental injuries: therefore, in its indolent state it is securely doubled up by means of this joint. In some species, as the butterfly, the proboscis, when not in use, is coiled up like a watch-spring. In some it is shut up in a sharp-pointed sheath, which is of firmer texture than the proboscis, and by which the insect pierces the food, and then opens it within the wound to allow the proboscis to perform its office by extracting the juice.
Antennæ.—These are very slender arms resembling hairs, which project from the heads of almost all insects. There are generally two to each insect, which diverge somewhat. The insects can move them in all directions, and when they are seen doing this it commonly suggests the idea that these antennæ are feelers. However, their functions are not certainly known: some suppose them to be organs of sense.
Eyes.—These are generally found in the head of insects. Their real number is, usually, two: the surfaces of which are cut into many small faces; more than seventeen thousand have been counted in the butterfly. Each face on the insect’s eye is considered as a crystalline lens, concave within, and convex without. They have no eye-lids.
Thorax, or throat.—This is the second division of the body, and is placed directly behind the head. To the thorax are attached the wings and legs: commonly three legs on each side. Two membranes compose the wing, placed one above the other. Cords, or small nerves, are found in the upper one. The expansion of the wing is owing, as is supposed, to the introduction of a fluid, at the will of the insect, into hollow vessels which are detected in the composition of the wing.
Abdomen.—This is the third division of the insect, and is immediately connected with the thorax by articulation: it is composed of rings from one to fifteen. Most of these rings have an open pore placed laterally, through which air has access to the fluids in the body. In some insects the last ring contains the anus; in others, the organs of generation; or the means of defence, as a sting.
Muscles.—These are said to be disposed in bundles, the fibres of which are not connected by a cellular membrane: they are fixed to the hard parts, which are to be moved by horny tendons.
The thorax contains the muscles which move the head up or down, and those also which move the wings and the feet. In some the muscles amount to four thousand. The muscular power of some of these insects is astonishing, as may be known by the distance they can leap: as the flea, and others, which leap two hundred times their own length. If man could do this he would leap at a single effort, more than one thousand feet.
All insects are supposed to have a knotted nervous system. The knot nearest the head is composed of two lobes, from which nerves pass to the eyes, antennæ, and mouth.
These are the principal common parts of insects. It would be a delightful task to enter into a minute description of their genera, species, habits, modes of life, subsistence, defence, attack, &c. Only two or three can be noticed, which must be taken as a specimen of the whole.
The Bee.—This insect has attracted the attention of the observing in all ages. On a pleasant summer’s day the hive presents the appearance of a busy, and populous city—the gates appear to be crowded with many workmen—some going to search for food, and others returning with it—some building—some tending the young—some cleansing the dwelling, and others carrying out the dead, and, apparently, performing some honorable sepulchral rites, &c.
The hive.—The interior of a bee-hive is itself a world of wonders. It is not, as is commonly supposed, the same in the form of its construction in all hives, it varies according to circumstances. Yet there are some general principles which seem to be common to all honeycombs: they do not touch each other, but always are sufficiently far apart to allow room to work on the opposite faces of each comb. The combs are placed vertically in the hive, and each complete comb is composed of two layers of six-sided cells, united by a common base. These two layers of six-sided cells are not united by a common base with a flat bottom to each cell: but the hexagonal tube terminates at the bottom in a three-sided pyramidal cavity. The angle, formed at the apex of this pyramidal cavity, is 70° 32ʹ—and the angle formed at the base of the hexagonal tube, or cell, is 109° 28ʹ. By this construction Reaumur has demonstrated, that the bee has formed his comb on the only plan which could produce cells of a determinate size, equal and similar, in the strongest manner, occupying the least space, and requiring the least quantity of matter.
The wax, out of which the cells are formed, is not the same simple substance as honey, extracted from the flowers: it seems to be elaborated by the bees in their bodies, and deposited under their bellies in the form of scales. It is produced from a nectar obtained from flowers, which is swallowed by the bee in the greatest possible quantity, after which the bee hangs motionless in the hive for twenty-four hours, during which time the wax is elaborated and deposited under the belly in thin scales resembling talc.
Some of the cells are filled with honey, and some are found to contain the young bee in the condition of larva.
The bees which inhabit a hive may be regarded as a community, which is found to be divided into three classes: the queen—the males—and the workers, which are of no sex.
The Queen.—She is the common mother of the hive, and deposits all the eggs from which the young ones come: she appears to be in size between the males and workers, but longer than either.
The attention or reverence, with which the queen-bee is regarded, is very remarkable. Upon withdrawing the queen from a hive the workers are thrown into the greatest consternation; they desist from work, run wildly through the hive, and refuse all nourishment. This they do for twenty-four hours, after which time a new queen will be received kindly, if offered them; but previously, they pay no attention to a strange queen, though introduced among them.
If no queen can be found, Schirach discovered, and Huber has confirmed it, that the bees have power to create a queen, in the following manner. They build some royal cells (for there are different kinds) into which they put the common worker-worm, i.e. the grub which produces the work-bee, and feed the insect with royal food, which is more pungent than the common bee-food; and in a few days they have a queen-bee produced, instead of a work-bee; then all is well.
The queen is always attended with a train, which wait upon her, do her homage, caress and feed her, by presenting her with honey. If they lose their own queen, and a stranger queen is introduced, after twenty-four hours, they commence their reverence for the new sovereign by surrounding her, caressing her, feeding her, and opening a way for her when she moves.
Their devotions to their queen do not cease if she become sterile, or die. Their veneration and tender attentions appear to increase towards the dead body of their queen. It is a well known fact, that the community perishes if they cannot procure a queen by any means.
The combats of the queens.—The bees seem to be purely monarchial in their constitution of government. This will appear from the following extraordinary facts:
If a strange queen be introduced into the hive where there is a queen, the working-bees immediately seize upon her, and detain her a prisoner: as soon as this is done, another party hastens away to the reigning queen and surround her. They then force the queens towards each other, in order to make them decide the sovereignty of the hive in mortal combat. The conquerer is cheerfully taken for the reigning sovereign.
Nor is it difficult to bring the rival queens to an engagement: so soon as they recognize each other they rush furiously to the combat, and the one or the other quickly inflicts a mortal wound by piercing the belly of the antagonist between the rings, by means of the sting.
So exclusive is the passion of the queen for sovereignty, that she puts to death the young queens, so soon as she ascertains them to be such. This she does even in the cells, before they have come forth.
The male bees.—These seem not to have attracted much interest. They are not very numerous in the hive; generally not exceeding an hundred or two. They are the largest in size, and live perfectly idle.
The working bees.—These, as their name imports, perform the labors of the hive. The details of their labors cannot be admitted here.
There is one question, in regard to bees, which is difficult and curious: their senses. From the best observations, and experiments, it would seem as if the antennæ, or feelers, were the principal organs of sense. Upon taking away the queen, in about an hour some one bee discovers it, and becomes instantly agitated, and runs furiously about the hive: the first companion he meets they cross their feelers mutually, the discoverer giving his neighbor a gentle tap with the feeler, and he in turn commences running furiously about the hive, communicating the intelligence in a similar manner; until the whole hive is in an uproar.
Huber introduced a queen to a hive, after twenty-four hours absence of their own queen. The working bees which were nearest immediately approached and touched her with their feelers, and passing their trunks over every part of her body, gave her honey. Then these gave place to others which treated her in a similar manner; and all, with a vibration of their wings, arranged themselves around their new sovereign.
From some experiments of Huber, it seems that the antennæ, or feelers of bees are the organs of communication. He thinks they have no organ for hearing. Their power of vision is very clear and strong. Anciently, in New-England, the honey-hunters are said to have found the nest of wild bees in the following manner: they placed a plate of honey in the woods, and when the bees came to get it, they caught two or three of them, the bee-hunter would let one go, and observe his course, by a pocket compass, as he flew to the nest: he would then walk off at a right angle a few hundred yards, and let another bee go, and observe the course: the angle, or point at which these two lines, described by the flights of the bees, met, the hunter knew to be the place where the bee-nest was.
The manner in which bees take their rest is a matter of curiosity. Some attach themselves to a part of the hive, by their fore-feet, and extend their hind-feet down: the next bee by his fore-feet takes hold of the hind-feet of the first bee, and thus suspends himself; others attach themselves in like manner, until they form clusters, or festoons. In this condition they take their rest.
It will be interesting to learn something of the sting of the bee. It is situated in the lower end of the ringed-body: it is composed of three parts: the sheath, and two darts which are enclosed in it, very small and penetrating. The darts are barbed. When the bee strikes with its sting, the sharp and hard point of the hollow sheath strikes and penetrates first, and the two darts are immediately thrust into the incision made by the sheath; and at the same time the bee injects a poisonous liquor into the wound, which causes the pain and inflammation. In some instances the sting is struck in so deeply the bee cannot extricate it: in that case the wound is more painful, but the loss proves fatal to the bee.
Destructive combats frequently take place between different hives; and many perish on both sides. Occasionally single combats, or duels, take place, which always prove fatal to one or the other. Instances are known, in which the bees of one hive plunder the bees of another. In this case a battle generally ensues. And what is more astonishing still, sometimes the hive-bees will, five or six of them, surround an humble-bee, and rob him of his honey, as he is returning home of an evening. Indeed a whole volume might be written, and the natural history of the bee not be exhausted.
Ants.—This insect has justly rivalled the bee in the admiration of the philosopher, and, on some accounts, is considered a more interesting creature. The instinct of this creature does not appear so strikingly as that of the bee: but it exhibits other and higher qualities, approaching to the cardinal virtues of man: such as love, courage, patience, perseverance, &c. The proof of all these will be found in the few brief remarks which follow.
There are various kinds of ants: the fallow ant; the sanguine ant; the legionary ant; the white ant, &c. There are some traits common to all: They live in communities; build cities, or ant-hills; and are divided into general classes, with their appropriate grades and employments, somewhat similar to bees; there are males, females, and neuters, or workers.
They also resemble the bees in their respect for their matrons or queens; though they differ in this respect; they admit of the presence of an indefinite number of queens, which produces no ill consequences whatever. They all are equally caressed, and attended.
There is a very marked difference between the ant and bee. The queens, or matrons of the bees remain in their respective hives, and their presence is necessary to the industry and contentment of the communities. But the matrons or queens of the ants act differently. The male and female ants have wings; the neuters or workers have not. These generally swarm together between July and September. They rise from the ant-hill together, in immense numbers; sometimes the ants of a whole district collect together and rise in the air, and seem only to be sporting; but at this time the females become fecundated. The quantity of ants with wings is so great sometimes, as, says Dr. Bromley, to form a column on the water five or six miles long, eight or ten feet broad, and six inches deep, when they happened to fall into the river.
In this general destruction of the winged ants, some females escape, which quickly divest themselves of their wings, form an ant-hill, and found a new colony by depositing their eggs in it.
It is also well ascertained that the working ants do not permit all the females or queens to escape, but detain some as prisoners, by cropping their wings. They pay every attention to these royal prisoners guarding them diligently, and feeding them liberally. When these females drop their eggs, the workers take them up carefully, and deposit them in their proper places.
These are some of the principal traits common to the ant tribe. A few brief remarks may be made on the principal species.
The fallow ant.—The wars of this insect is the principal thing which can be noticed here. We have a minute detail, of one long and disastrous battle, by Huber. This battle took place between the inhabitants of two neighboring ant-hills: they met half way: the battle was commenced by single combatants; then they fought in pairs on elevated ground; and finally the battle became general. The attack is generally made by seizing each other by the mandibles, and rearing up on their hind feet so as to bring their abdomens forward, from which they eject a pungent poison upon their adversaries, in order to destroy them. This circumstance gives rise to a pungent smell on the spot. During the combat they are frequently grappled so closely together as to fall on their sides; and others coming to their assistance the group is locked fast in the struggle.
During the action some are found leading away prisoners; others going as couriers to bring fresh troops to the fight, and some in the immediate vicinity of the hills keeping guard, and transacting the common business of the community.
The battle occupied a space of about three feet square, and lasted until the approach of night: then each party retired; but was on the spot next morning at dawn of day, and re-commenced the battle with greater fury, and carnage. It finally terminated without subverting either republic.
It was very remarkable, says Huber, that these ants, in promiscuous combat, should know their own party. In a few cases, for a moment, friends assailed, but rectified the error, instantly, by caressing.
The legionary ant. Though the natural history of this insect, throughout, is very interesting, there is place for but one principal fact: i.e. their practice of making the formica fusca, or negro ant, a slave. This curious fact was first discovered by Huber, and has since been confirmed by Latreille, and is now admitted readily by naturalists.
A campaign, for the purpose of procuring slaves, was observed closely by Huber on the 17th of June, 1804. The column was first seen crossing the road, being about ten inches long and four broad. He followed them until they approached the nest of the negro ant. The centinels on duty gave the alarm, and the ants rushed out, and made a spirited resistance to the invaders, but were finally driven into their house. The legionary ants then rushed forward, attacked the hill, and took the little city by assault. They remained in it but a few minutes, and returned, each one carrying in his mouth a larva, or young negro ant, and scampered home in confusion.
They never take the old ants captive, but the young, in a state of infancy, and thus raise them in a state of slavery. The consequence is that they are submissive and affectionate, and perform with cheerfulness and fidelity all the domestic duties of a legionary city. They provide house and food for their masters, attend them, and serve them in every possible way.
The sanguine ant is also a slave dealer, and in the same manner as the legionary. Nor is the negro ant the only victim: the mining ant is also reduced to a state of slavery by the legionary, and sanguine ants.
There remains to be stated another circumstance connected with the natural history of ants, which would scarcely be credited, were it not tested by such names as Linnæus, Huber, and Latreille: that is, they keep milch-cows. There are certain insects, from which they extract a sweet saccharine fluid for food, as we do milk from cows. The principal insects which are thus used, are the plant-louse, and the gall-insect. Linnæus, and after him other naturalists, call these insects the milch-cows of the ants.
The fluid issues from the body of the insect through little tubes placed above the abdomen on either side. When no ants are present the plant-lice emit this liquor from their bodies by a jerking motion: when they are in attendance they suck the juice with great avidity. But what is still more astonishing, the ants compel their milch-cattle to yield their milk, by gently patting them on each side with their antennæ, or feelers. This is properly milking them.
In addition to this the ants take care to appropriate these milch-cattle to themselves, by collecting them in herds, guarding and feeding them. They sometimes make an enclosure around them, or around the tree or plant on which they find them, and thus secure them. Some herds are owned in common by the ant-hill; and others appear to belong to individuals.
The yellow ant is known to remove these plant-lice from the plants, and domesticate them in their hillocks for service in winter.
In conclusion, in regard to ants we may mention their ravages committed on property. In the East and West Indies they are very destructive. They undermine houses in such a manner as to cause them to fall. Some species will devour the wood of a building of small size, in a single night. And it is remarkable that they make their ravages internally. One would not observe that they had assailed a beam of timber, unless he should take means to examine its interior. They will devour even the exterior of the timber when they have first coated it over with mud or clay in order to conceal their work. They devour furniture of all kinds, and completely consume the trees which fall in some countries. The extent of the damage which they can do, is incalculable.
These remarks will show what interest the natural history of insects can inspire. It is not permitted to extend the subject further in a note.]