"As soon as the ants had intimation of the appearance of the sun, they occupied themselves with the larvæ and pupæ; they carried them with all expedition above the ant-hill, where they left them exposed to the influence of the heat. Their ardour suffered no relaxation; the female larvæ (which are heavier, and much larger than those of the other cast) were carried passages, leading from the interior to the exterior of the ant-hill, and placed in the sun, by the side of those of the workers and males. After remaining there a quarter of an hour, the ants again took them up, and sheltered them from the direct rays of the sun, by placing them in chambers, situated under a layer of straw, which did not entirely intercept the heat.
The workers, after having fulfilled the duties imposed upon them in regard to the larvæ, did not forget themselves; they sought, in their turn, to stretch themselves in the sun, lay upon each other in heaps, and seemed to enjoy some repose, but it was of no long duration. I observed a great number constantly employed on the surface of the ant-hill, and others engaged in carrying back the larvæ, in proportion as the sun declined. The moment of nourishing them being at length arrived, each ant approached a larva, and offered it food. "The larvæ of ants," observes M. Latreille, "resemble, when they quit the egg, little white worms destitute of feet, thick short, and in form almost conical; their body is composed of twelve rings: the anterior part is slender and curved. We remark at the head two little horny pieces or hooks, too distant from each other to be regarded as true teeth; under these hooks we observe four little points or cils, two on each side, and a mamelon, or tubercular process, almost cylindrical, soft, and retractile, by which the larva receives its food."
FATA MORGANA.
This singular and curious phenomenon, which is occasionally seen near the Bay of Naples, and which is nearly allied to the mirage, so well known in the east, was observed in Huntingdonshire, during the late hot weather. The sun was shining in a cloudless sky, and the light vapours arising from the river Ouze, were hovering over a little hill, near St. Noet's when suddenly the village of Great Paxton, its farm-houses, barns, dispersed cottages, and indeed the whole of its beautiful and picturesque scenery were distinctly visible in these vapours, forming a splendid aerial picture, which extended from east to west for several hundred yards. This natural panorama lasted for about ten minutes, and was visible from a neighbouring declivity, about half a mile from Great Paxton.
WONDERS OF NATURE.—ENTOMOLOGY.
ORDER IV.—NEUROPTERA.
Thick in yon stream of light, a thousand ways,
Upward, and downward, thwarting, and convolved,
The quivering nations sport; till tempest winged,
Fierce Winter sweeps them from the face of day.
E'en so luxurious men unheeding pass
An idle summer life in fortune's shine,
A season's glitter! Thus they flutter on
From toy to toy, from vanity to vice;
Till blown away by death, oblivion comes
Behind, and strikes them from the book of life.
The neuroptera, or nerve-winged insects, have four wings, which are membranaceous, naked, and so interspersed with delicate veins, that they have the appearance of beautiful network. Their tail has no sting; but that of the male is frequently furnished with a kind of forceps or pincers. The genera are:—1. Libellula, dragon-fly.—2. Ephemera, May-fly, or trout-fly, &c.