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.

PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
1865.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865,
by J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

TO
MISS CATHARINE STOY
THE FOLLOWING PAGES
ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
BY HER FRIEND,
THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

In the early part of the winter of 1863–4, having the free use of the Congressional Library at Washington, I began the compilation of the present work. It was my prime intent, and one which I have endeavored to follow most carefully, to attach some fact, whatever might be its nature, to as many Insects as possible, to increase the interest, in a commonplace way, of the science of Entomology. I noticed the pleasurable satisfaction I invariably felt when I came accidentally upon any extra-scientific fact, and how the association fixed the particular Insect, to which it related, ineffaceably upon my memory. To collect and group, then, all these facts together, to remember many Insects as easily as one,—was a natural thought; and as this had never been done, but to a very limited extent, I undertook it myself.

The facts contained in this volume are supposed to be purely historical, or rather not to belong to the natural history of Insects, namely, their anatomy, habits, classification, etc. They have been collected mostly from Chronicles, Histories, Books of Travels, and such like works, which, at first view, seem to be totally foreign to Insects: and were only discovered by examination of the indexes and tables of contents.

But are my facts facts?—it may be asked. They are; but I do not vouch for each one’s containing more than one truth. It is a fact, or truth if you will, that Pliny, Nat. Hist. xi. 34, says, “Folke use to hang Beetles about the neck of young babes, as present remedies against many maladies;” but that this statement is entitled to credit, and that these Insects, hung about the necks of young babes, are a present remedy against many maladies, are two things which may be very true or far otherwise. I confine myself to the fact that Pliny says so, and only wish to be understood in that sense, unless when otherwise stated.

The classification of Mr. Westwood, in the arrangement of the orders and families, I have followed as closely as was possible, except in one or two instances: and where Insects have common and familiar names, they have been given together with their scientific ones.

To Dr. J. M. Toner, of Washington, for his suggestions and assistance in collecting material, I tender my thanks; the same also to N. Bushnell, Esq., and Hon. O. H. Browning, of Quincy, Ill., for the use of their several libraries.

I am much indebted, too, to Mrs. A. L. Ruter Dufour, of Washington, for many superstitions and two pieces of poetry contained in this volume. I beg her to accept my thanks.

Greensburg, Penna.,
July 10th, 1865.

CONTENTS.

[Authors Quoted]9
[COLEOPTERA—BEETLES.]
[Coccinellidæ—Lady-birds]17
[Chrysomelidæ—Gold-beetles]23
[Carabidæ]23
[Pausidæ]23
[Dermestidæ—Leather-beetles]24
[Lucanidæ—Stag-beetles]24
[Scarabæidæ—Dung-beetles]27
[Dynastidæ—Hercules-beetles, etc.]45
[Melolonthidæ—Cock-chafers]47
[Cetoniidæ—Rose-chafers]49
[Buprestidæ—Burn-cows]50
[Elateridæ—Fire-flies, Spring-beetles, etc.]51
[Lampyridæ—Glow-worms]55
[Ptinidæ—Death-watch, etc.]58
[Bostrichidæ—Typographer-beetle, etc.]61
[Cantharidæ—Blister-flies]62
[Tenebrionidæ—Meal-worms]65
[Blapsidæ—Church-yard-beetle, etc.]65
[Curculionidæ—Weevils]68
[Cerambycidæ—Musk-beetles]72
[Galerucidæ—Turnip-fly, etc.]74
[EUPLEXOPTERA.]
[Forficulidæ—Ear-wigs]76
[ORTHOPTERA.]
[Blattidæ—Cockroaches]78
[Mantidæ—Soothsayers, etc.]82
[Achetidæ—Crickets]92
[Gryllidæ—Grasshoppers]98
[Locustidæ—Locusts]101
[NEUROPTERA.]
[Termitidæ—White-ants]132
[Ephemeridæ—Day-flies]138
[Libellulidæ—Dragon-flies]138
[Myrmeleonidæ—Ant-lions]141
[HYMENOPTERA.]
[Uroceridæ—Sirex]142
[Cynipidæ—Gall-flies]143
[Formicidæ—Ants]146
[Vespidæ—Wasps, Hornets]170
[Apidæ—Bees]174
[LEPIDOPTERA.]
[Papilionidæ—Butterflies]216
[Sphingidæ—Hawk-moths]232
[Bombicidæ—Silkworm-moths]234
[Arctiidæ—Woolly-bear-moths]242
[Psychidæ—Wood-carrying-moth, etc.]245
[Noctuidæ—Antler-moth, Cut-worm, etc.]246
[Geometridæ—Span-worms]248
[Tineidæ—Clothes’-moths, Bee-moths, etc.]248
[HOMOPTERA.]
[Cicadidæ—Harvest-flies]250
[Fulgoridæ—Lantern-flies]255
[Aphidæ—Plant-lice]257
[Coccidæ—Shield-lice]259
[HETEROPTERA.]
[Cimicidæ—Bed-bugs]265
[Notonectidæ—Water-boatmen]275
[DIPTERA.]
[Culicidæ—Gnats]278
[Tipulidæ—Crane-flies]286
[Muscidæ—Flies]287
[Œstridæ—Bot-flies]302
[APHANIPTERA.]
[Pulicidæ—Fleas]305
[ANOPLEURA.]
[Pediculidæ—Lice]316
[ARACHNIDÆ.]
[Acaridæ—Mites]321
[Phalangidæ—Daddy-Long-legs]321
[Pedipalpi—Scorpions]321
[Araneidæ—True-spiders]332
[Miscellaneous]363
[Index]373

AUTHORS QUOTED.

CURIOUS HISTORY OF INSECTS.

ORDER I.
COLEOPTERA—BEETLES.

Coccinellidæ—Lady-birds.

The Lady-bird, Coccinella septempunctata, in Scandinavia was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and is there to this day called Nyckelpiga—Our Lady’s Key-maid,[1] and (in Sweden, more particularly) Jung-fru Marias Gullhona—the Virgin Mary’s Golden-hen.[2] A like reverence was paid to this beautiful insect in other countries: in Germany they have been called Frauen or Marien-käfer—Lady-beetles of the Virgin Mary; and in France are now known by the names of Vaches de Dieu—Cows of the Lord, and Bêtes de la Vierge—Animals of the Virgin.[3] The names we know them by, Lady-bird, Lady-bug, Lady-fly, Lady-cow,[4] Lady-clock, Lady-couch (a Scottish name),[5] etc., have reference also to this same dedication, or, at least, respect.

The Lady-bird in Europe, and particularly in Germany, where it probably is the greatest favorite, and whence most of the superstitions connected with it are supposed to have originated, is always connected with fine weather. At Vienna, the children throw it into the air, crying,—

Käferl’, käferl’, käferl’,

Flieg nach Mariabrunn,

Und bring uns ä schone sun.

Or,—

Little birdie, birdie,

Fly to Marybrunn,

And bring us a fine sun.

Marybrun being a place about twelve English miles from the Austrian capital, with a miracle-working image of the Virgin (still connected with the Virgin), who often sends good weather to the merry Viennese.[6]

And, from the marsh of the Elbe, to this little insect the following words are addressed:

Maikatt,

Flug weg,

Stuff weg,

Bring me morgen goet wedder med.

Or,—

May-cat,

Fly away,

Hasten away,

Bring me good weather with you to-morrow.[7]

In England, the children are wont to be afraid of injuring the Lady-bird lest it should rain.

With the Northmen the Lady-bird—Our Lady’s Key-maid—is believed to foretell to the husbandman whether the year shall be a plentiful one or the contrary: if its spots exceed seven, bread-corn will be dear; if they are fewer than seven, there will be an abundant harvest, and low prices.[8] And, in the following rhyme from Ploen, this insect is invoked to bring food:

Marspäert (Markpäert) fleeg in Himmel!

Bring my’n Sack voll Kringeln, my een, dy een,

Alle lütten Engeln een.

Or,—

Marspäert, fly to heaven!

Bring me a sack full of biscuits, one for me, one for thee,

For all the little angels one.[9]

In the north of Europe it is thought lucky when a young girl in the country sees the Lady-bird in the spring; she

then lets it creep about her hand, and says: “She measures me for wedding gloves.” And when it spreads its little wings and flies away, she is particular to notice the direction it takes, for thence her sweetheart shall one day come.[10] The latter part of this notion obtains in England; and it has been embodied by Gay in one of his Pastorals, as follows:

This Lady-fly I take from off the grass,

Whose spotted back might scarlet red surpass.

Fly, Lady-bird, north, south, or east or west,

Fly where the man is found that I love best.

He leaves my hand, see to the west he’s flown,

To call my true-love from the faithless town.[11]

In Norfolk, too, where this insect is called the Bishop Barnabee, the young girls have the following rhyme, which they continue to recite to it placed upon the palm of the hand, till it takes wing and flies away:[12]

Bishop, Bishop Barnabee,

Tell me when my wedding be:

If it be to-morrow day,

Take your wings and fly away!

Fly to the east, fly to the west,

Fly to him that I love best.[13]

Why the Lady-bird is called Bishop Barnabee, or Burnabee, there is great difference of opinion. Some take it to be from St. Barnabas, whose festival falls in the month of June, when this insect first appears; and others deem it but a corruption of the Bishop-that-burneth, in allusion to its fiery color.[14]

The following metrical jargon is repeated by the children in Scotland to this insect under the name of Lady Lanners, or Landers:[15]

Lady, Lady Lanners,

Lady, Lady Lanners,

Tak’ up your clowk about your head,

An’ flee awa’ to Flanners (Flanders).

Flee ower firth, and flee ower fell,

Flee ower pule and rinnan’ well,

Flee ower muir, and flee ower mead,

Flee ower livan, flee ower dead,

Flee ower corn, and flee ower lea,

Flee ower river, flee ower sea,

Flee ye east, or flee ye west,

Flee till him that lo’es me best.

So it seems that also in Scotland, the Lady-bird, which is still a great favorite with the Scottish peasantry, has been used for divining one’s future helpmate. This likewise appears from a rhyme from the north of Scotland, which dignifies the insect with the title of Dr. Ellison:

Dr. Dr. Ellison, where will I be married?

East, or west, or south, or north?

Take ye flight and fly away.

It is sometimes also termed Lady Ellison, or knighted Sir Ellison; while other Scottish names of it are Mearns, Aberd, The King, and King Galowa, or Calowa. Under this last title of dignity there is another Scottish rhyme, which evinces also the general use of this insect for the purpose of divination:

King, King Calowa,

Up your wings and flee awa’

Over land, and over sea;

Tell me where my love can be.[16]

There is a Netherlandish tradition that to see Lady-birds forebodes good luck;[17] and in England it is held extremely unlucky to destroy these insects. Persons killing them, it is thought, will infallibly, within the course of the year, break a bone, or meet with some other dreadful misfortune.[18]

In England, the children are accustomed to throw the Lady-bird into the air, singing at the same time,—

Lady-bird, lady-bird, fly away home;

Your house is on fire, your children’s at home,

All but one that ligs under the stone,—

Ply thee home, lady-bird, ere it be gone.[19]

Or, as in Yorkshire and Lancashire,—

Lady-bird, lady-bird, eigh thy way home;

Thy house is on fire, thy children all roam,

Except little Nan, who sits in her pan,

Weaving gold laces as fast as she can.[20]

Or, as most commonly with us in America,—

Lady-bird, lady-bird, fly away home,

Your house is on fire, and your children all burn.

The meaning of this familiar, though very curious couplet, seems to be this: the larvæ, or young, of the Lady-bird feed principally upon the aphides, or plant-lice, of the vines of the hop; and fire is the usual means employed in destroying the aphides; so that in killing the latter, the former, which had come for the same purpose, are likewise destroyed.

Immense swarms of Lady-birds are sometimes observed in England, especially on the southeastern coast. They have been described as extending in dense masses for miles, and consisting of several species intermixed.[21] In 1807, these flights in Kent and Sussex caused no small alarm to the superstitious, who thought them the forerunners of some direful evil. They were, however, but emigrants from the neighboring hop-grounds, where, in their larva state, they had been feasting upon the aphides.[22]

The Lady-bird was formerly considered an efficacious remedy for the colic and measles;[23] and it has been recommended often as a cure for the toothache: being said, when one or two are mashed and put into the hollow tooth, to immediately relieve the pain. Jaeger says he has tried this application in two instances with success.[24]

In the northern part of South America—the Spanish Main—a species of Lady-bug, Captain Stuart tells me, is extensively worn as jewels and ornaments. He may, however, refer to some species of the Gold-beetles—Chrysomelidæ, next mentioned.

Hurdis, who has frequently, in his Poems, availed himself of the modern discoveries in Natural History, has

drawn the following accurate and beautiful picture of the Lady-bird in his tragedy of Sir Thomas More:

Sir John.

What d’ye look at?

Cecilia.

A little animal, that round my glove,

And up and down to every finger’s tip,

Has traveled merrily, and travels still,

Tho’ it has wings to fly: what its name is

With learned men I know not; simple folk

Call it the Lady-bird.

Sir John.

Poor harmless thing!

Save it.

Cecilia.

I would not hurt it for the world;

Its prettiness says, Spare me; and it bears

Armor so beautiful upon its back,

I could not injure it to be a queen:

Look, sir, its coat is scarlet dropp’d with jet,

Its eyes pure ivory.

Sir John.

Child, I’m not blind

To objects so minute: I know it well;

’Tis the companion of the waning year,

And lives among the blossoms of the hop;

It has fine silken wings enfolded close

Under that coat of mail.

Cecilia.

I see them, sir,

For it unfurls them now—’tis up and gone.[25]

Southey, also, in his lines addressed to this insect under the name of the Burnie-Bee, has thus elegantly described it:

Back o’er thy shoulders throw thy ruby shards,

With many a tiny coal-black freckle deck’d;

My watchful eye thy loitering saunter guards,

My ready hand thy footsteps shall protect.

So shall the fairy train, by glow-worm light,

With rainbow tints thy folding pennons fret,

Thy scaly breast in deeper azure dight,

Thy burnish’d armor deck’d with glossier jet.[26]

Chrysomelidæ—Gold-beetles.

In Chili and Brazil, the ladies form necklaces of the golden Chrysomelidæ and brilliant Diamond-beetles, with which their countries abound, which are said to be very beautiful.[27] The wing-cases of our common Gilded-Dandy, Eumolpus auratus, the metallic colors of which are pre-eminently brilliant and showy, have been recommended as ornaments for fancy boxes, and such like articles.[28] A closely allied species, I have seen upon the finest Parisian artificial flowers.

Carabidæ.

In some parts of Africa, a rather curious benefit is derived from a large beetle belonging to this family, the Chlænius saponarius, for it is manufactured by the natives into a soap.[29]

Pausidæ.

The etymology of the word Pausus, Dr. Afzelius imagines to be from the Greek παυσις, signifying a pause, cessation, or rest; for Linnæus, now (in 1796) old and infirm, and sinking under the weight of age and labor, saw

no probability of continuing any longer his career of glory. He might therefore be supposed to say hic meta laborum, as it in reality proved, at least with regard to insects, for Pausus was the last he ever described.[30]

Dermestidæ—Leather-beetles.

In one of the stone coffins exhumed from the tumuli in the links of Skail, were found several small bags, which seemed to have been made of rushes. They all contained bones, with the exception of one, which is said to have been full of beetles belonging to the genus Dermestes. Both the bag and beetles were black and rotten.[31]

Four species of Dermestes were found in the head of one of the mummies brought by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson from Thebes—the D. vulpinus of Fabricius, and the pollinctus, roei, and elongatus of Hope.[32]

It is a remarkable coincidence that two peoples should bury beetles of the same genus with their dead, and much the more so, when they differ so widely, as did the ancient Britons and Egyptians. Was it for the same reason—the result of any communication?

At one time the ravages of the Dermestes vulpinus were so great in the skin-warehouses of London, that a reward of £20,000 was offered for an available remedy.[33]

Lucanidæ—Stag-beetles.

The etymology of the word Lucanus, as well as its application to a species of insect, it is interesting to notice. The ancients gave the name of Lucas, Lucana, to the ox and elephant. It is said that Pyrrhus had thus named the

elephant the first time that he saw it, because this word signified ox in his own language, and that he thus gave it the name of the largest animal which he had ever before seen. According to Pliny, who employed the word Lucani, in speaking of the Horn-beetles, Nigridius was the first who gave the name to these insects; and this he did, most probably, from their large size, and the resemblance of their mandibles to horns. Dalechamp, however, thinks that the name Lucanus was given to the Horn-beetle only because this insect was very common among the Lucanians, a people of Italy. But it is probable, after what has been above said, that the Lucanians themselves were thus named, in consequence of the great numbers of oxen which they reared. The common name, Flying-bull, given to this insect in different languages, corresponds very well with that given by Nigridius.[34]

A popular belief in Germany is, that the Stag-beetle, Lucanus cervus, carries burning coals into houses by means of its jaws, and that it has thus occasioned many fearful fires.[35]

In the New Forest of England, the Stag-beetle by the rustics is called the Devil’s Imp, and is believed to be sent to do some evil to the corn; and woe be to this unfortunate insect when met by these superstitious foresters, for it is immediately stoned to death. A writer, in the Notes and Queries,[36] states that he saw one of these insects actually thus destroyed.

Professor Bradley, of Cambridge, mentions the following remarkable instance of insect strength in a Stag-beetle. He asserts that he saw the beetle carry a wand a foot and a half long, and half an inch thick, and even fly with it to the distance of several yards.[37] Linnæus observes, that if the elephant was as strong in proportion as the Stag-beetle, it would be able to tear up rocks and level mountains.[38]

Bingley has the following marvelous story of the supposed rapacity of the Stag-beetle, which, it has been remarked, if not gravely stated by the reverend editor of the

Animal Biography, as related to him by one of his own intimate and intelligent friends, might have been supposed by the general reader to have been borrowed from the Travels of the veracious Munchausen. “An intimate and intelligent friend of the editor informed him that he had often found several heads of these insects together, all perfectly alive, while the abdomens were gone, and the trunks and heads were left together. How this circumstance took place he never could discover with any certainty. He supposes, however, that it must have been in consequence of the severe battles that sometimes take place among the fiercest of the insect tribes; but their mouths not seeming formed for animal food, he is at a loss to guess what becomes of their abdomens. They do not fly till most of the birds have retired to rest, and indeed if we were to suppose that any of them devoured them, it would be difficult to say why the heads or trunks should be rejected.”[39]

Moufet says: “When the head (of the Stag-beetle) is cut off, the other parts of the body live long, but the head (contrary to the usual custom of insects) lives longer. This is said to be dedicated to the moon, and the head and horns of it wax with the moon, and do wane with the moon, but it is the opinion of vain astrologers.”[40]

The mandibles of the Stag-beetle were formerly employed in medicine, under the name of Horns of Scarabæi. This remedy was administered as an absorbent, in case of pains or convulsions supposed to be produced by acidity in the primæ viæ.[41] This is the insect most probably alluded to by Pliny, when he says, “Folke use to hang Beetles about the neck of young babes, as present remedies against many maladies.”[42] The Scarabæus cornutus of Schröder (v. 345) is also, perhaps, the Lucanus cervus. We learn from this gentleman that it has been recommended to be worn as an amulet for an ague, or pains and contractions of the tendons, if applied to the part affected. He tells us also, that if tied about the necks of children, it enables them to retain their urine. An oil, prepared by infusion of these insects,

is recommended by the same author, in pains of the ears, if dropped into them.[43]

The Cossus of the Greeks and Romans, which, at the time of the greatest luxury among the latter, was introduced at the tables of the rich, was the larva, or grub, of a large beetle that lives in the stems of trees, particularly the oak; and was, most probably, the larva of the Stag-beetle, Lucanus cervus. On this subject, however, entomologists differ very widely, for it has been supposed the larva of the Calandra palmarum by Geoffroy and Keferotein; of the Prionus damicornis by Drury; but of the Lucanus cervus by Roesel, Scopoli, and most others. The first two, being neither natives of Italy nor inhabiting the oak, are out of the question. But the larva of the Lucanus cervus, and perhaps also the Prionus coriarius, which are found in the oak as well as in other trees, may each have been eaten under this name, as their difference could not be discernible either to collectors or cooks. Linnæus, following the opinion of Ray, supposed the caterpillar of the great Goat-moth to be the cossus.[44]

Pliny tells us that the epicures, who looked upon these cossi as delicacies, even fed them with meal, in order to fatten them.[45]

Our children, who call the Stag-beetles and the Passalus cornutus, oxen, are wont to hitch them with threads to chips and small sticks, and, for their amusement, make them drag the wood along as if they were oxen.

Scarabæidæ—Dung-beetles.

The Coprion, Cantharus, and Heliocantharus of the ancients were evidently the Scarabæus (Ateuchus) pilurarius, or, as it is commonly called, the Tumble-dung, or one nearly related to it, for it is described as rolling backward large

masses of dung; and in doing this it attracted such general attention as to give rise to the proverb Cantharus pipulam. From the name, derived from a word signifying an ass, it should seem the Grecian beetle made, or was supposed to make, its pills of asses’ dung; and this is confirmed by a passage in one of the plays of Aristophanes, the Irene, where a beetle of this kind is introduced, on which one of the characters rides to heaven to petition Jupiter for peace. The play begins with one domestic desiring another to feed the Cantharus with some bread, and afterward orders his companion to give him another kind of bread made of asses’ dung.[46]

Illustrative of the great strength of the Tumble-bug, the following anecdote may be related: Dr. Brichell was supping one evening in a planter’s house of North Carolina, when two of these beetles were placed, without his knowledge, under the candlestick. A few blows were struck on the table, when, to his great surprise, the candlestick began to move about, apparently without any agency, except that of a spiritual nature; and his surprise was not lessened when, on taking one of them up, he discovered that it was only a chafer that moved.[47]

In Denmark, the common Dung-beetle, Geotrupes stercorarius, is called Skarnbosse or Tor(Thor)bist, and an augury as to the harvest is drawn by the peasants from the mites which infest it. The notion is, that if there are many of these mites between the fore feet, there will be an early harvest, but a late one if they abound between the hind feet.[48]

In Gothland, where Thor was worshiped above and more than the other gods, the Scarabæus (Geotrupes) stercorarius was considered sacred to him, and bore the name of Thorbagge—Thor’s-bug. “Relative to this beetle,” says Thorpe, “a superstition still exists, which has been transmitted from father to son, that if any one finds in his path a Thorbagge lying helpless upon its back, and turns it on its feet, he expiates seven sins; because Thor in the time of heathenism was regarded as a mediator with a higher

power, or All-father. On the introduction of Christianity, the priests strove to terrify the people from the worship of their old divinities, pronouncing both them and their adherents to be evil spirits, and belonging to hell. On the poor Thorbagge the name was now bestowed of Thordjefvul or Thordyfvel—Thor-devil, by which it is still known in Sweden Proper. No one now thinks of Thor, when he finds the helpless creature lying on its back, but the good-natured countryman seldom passes it without setting it on its feet, and thinking of his sin’s atonement.”[49]

A common symbol of the Creator among the Hindoos (from whom it passed into Egypt, and thence into Scandinavia, says Bjornstjerna) was the Scarabæus (Ateuchus) sacer, commonly called the Sacred-beetle of the Egyptians.[50] Of this insect we next treat at length.

Of the many animals worshiped by the ancient Egyptians, one of the most celebrated, perhaps, is the insect commonly known as the Sacred-scarab—Scarabæus sacer. This name was given it by Linnæus, but later writers know it as the Ateuchus sacer.[51] The insect is found throughout all Egypt, in the southern part of Europe,[52] in China, the East Indies, in Barbary, and at the Cape of Good Hope.[53]

The Ateuchus sacer, however, is not the only insect that was regarded as an object of veneration by the Egyptians; but another species of the same genus, lately discovered in the Sennâri by M. Caillaud de Nantes, appears to have first fixed the attention of this people, in consequence of its more brilliant colors, and of the country in which it was found, which, it is supposed, was their first sojourn.[54] This species, which Cuvier has named Ateuchus Ægyptorum, is green, with a golden tint, while the first is black.[55] The Buprestis and Cantharus, or Copris, were also held in high repute by the Egyptians, and used as synonymous emblems of the same deities as the Scarabæus. This is further confirmed by the fact of S. Passalacqua having found a species of

Buprestis embalmed in a tomb at Thebes.[56] But the Scarabæus, or Ateuchus sacer, is the beetle most commonly represented, and the type of the whole class; and the one referred to in this article under the general name of Scarabæus, unless when otherwise particularly mentioned.

The Scarabæus, according to the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, was sacred to the Sun and to Pthah, the personification of the creative power of the Deity; and it was adopted as an emblem or symbol of—

  1. The World.—According to P. Valerianus, the Scarab was symbolical of the world, on account of the globular form of its pellets of dung, and from an odd notion that they were rolled from sunrise to sunset.[57]
  2. The Sun.—P. Valerianus supposes this insect to have been a symbol of the sun, because of the angular projection from its head resembling rays, and from the thirty joints of the six tarsi of its feet answering to the days of an (ordinary) solar month.[58] According to Plutarch, it was because these insects cast the seed of generation into round balls of dung, as a genial nidus, and roll them backward with their feet, while they themselves look directly forward. And as the sun appears to proceed in the heavens in a course contrary to the signs, thus the Scarabæi turn their balls toward the west, while they themselves continue creeping toward the east; by the first of these motions exhibiting the diurnal, and by the second the annual, motion of the earth and the planets.[59] Porphyry gives the same reason as Plutarch why the beetle was considered, as he calls it, “a living image of the sun.”[60] Horapollo assigns two reasons for the
  3. Scarab being taken as an emblem of the sun. He tells us there are three species of beetles: one of which has the form of a cat, and is radiated;[61] and this one from a supposed analogy the Egyptians have dedicated to the Sun, because, first, the statue of the Deity of Heliopolis (City of the Sun) has the form of a cat![62] In this, however, Wilkinson asserts, that Horapollo is wrong; for the Deity of Heliopolis, under the form of a cat, was the emblem of Bubastis, and not of Rê, a type of the sun; and the presence of her statue is explained by the custom of each city assigning to the Divinities of neighboring places a conspicuous post in its own temples; and Bubastis was one of the principal contemplar Deities of Heliopolis.[63] The second reason of Horapollo is, that this insect has thirty fingers, which correspond to the thirty days of a solar month.[64]
  4. The Moon.—The second of the three species of beetles, described by Horapollo, has, according to this writer, two horns, and the character of a bull; and it was consecrated to the moon; whence the Egyptians say, that the bull in the heavens is the elevation of this Goddess. This statement of beetle “with two horns” (the Copris Isidis) consecrated to the moon, Wilkinson says is not confirmed by the sculptures where it is never introduced.[65]
  5. It is said the Egyptians believed that the pellet of the Scarabæus remained in the ground for a period of twenty-eight days. May not this have some connection with their choosing the insect as a symbol of the moon which divides the year into months of twenty-eight days each; or, of the month itself (of which we shall notice it was also a symbol) for the same reason? I have seen, too, a Scarabæus engraved upon a seal, the joints of whose tarsi numbered but twenty-eight.
  6. Conformable to this supposition, the following quotation may be given from that chapter of the Treasvrie of Auncient and Modern Times devoted to the “Many meruailous (marvelous) properties in sundrie things; and to what
  7. Stars and Planets they are subjected naturally,” where we find mention of the Scarab as being subject to the moon: “The Scarabe, which is otherwise commonly called the Beetle-flye, a little old Creature, is maruelously subject to the Moon, and thereof is found both written, and by experience: That she gathereth or little pellets, or little round bals, and therein encloseth her young Egges, keeping the Pellets hid in the ground eight and twenty daies; during which time the Moone maketh her course, and the nine and twentieth day shee taketh them forth, and then hideth them againe vnder the Earth. Then, at such time as the Moone is conioyned with the Sunne, which wee vsually tearme the New Moone: they all issue forth aliue, and flye about.”[66]
  8. Mercury.—The third of the three species of beetles, described by Horapollo, has one horn, and a peculiar form; and it is supposed, like the Ibis, to refer to Mercury.[67]
  9. A Courageous Warrior.—As such they forced all the soldiers to wear rings, upon each of which a beetle was engraved, i.e. an animal perpetually in armor, who went his rounds in the night.[68] Plutarch thus alludes to this custom: “In the signet or seal-ring of their martial and military men, there was engraven the portraeture of the great Fly called the Beettil;” and assigns this curious and ridiculous reason, “because in that kinde there is no female, but they be all males.”[69] The custom is also mentioned by Ælian;[70] and some Scarabs have been found perfect, set in gold, with the ring attached.[71] The Romans adopted this emblem and made it a part of some legionary standards.
  10. Pthah, the Creative Power.—Plutarch says, that in consequence of there being no females of this species, but all males, they were considered fit types of the creative power, self-acting and self-sufficient.[72] Some, too, have supposed that its position upon the female figure of the heavens, which encircles the zodiacs, refers to the same singular idea of its generative influence.[73]
  12. Pthah Tore, another character of the creative power.[74]
  13. Pthah-Sokari-Osiris.—Of this pigmy Deity of Memphis, it was adopted as a distinctive mark, being placed on his head.[75]
  14. Regeneration, or reproduction, from the fact of its being the first living animal observed upon the subsidence of the waters of the Nile.[76]
  15. Spring.[77]
  16. The Egyptian month anterior to the rising of the Nile, as it appears first in that month.[78] It also may have been a symbol of a lunar month from an above-mentioned belief, namely, that its pellets remain twenty-eight days in the ground. It is sometimes found with the joints of its tarsi numbering but twenty-eight instead of thirty, hence the supposition is that it was held as a symbol of a lunar, as well as a solar, month.
  17. Fecundity.—Dr. Clarke informs us that these beetles are even yet eaten by the women to render them prolific.[79]
  18. With the eyes pierced by a needle, of a man who died from fever.[80]
  19. Surrounded by roses, of a voluptuary, because they thought that the smell of that flower enervated, made lethargic, and killed the beetle.[81]
  20. An only son; because, says Fosbroke, they believed that every beetle was “both male and female.”[82] Was it not because they imagined these insects were all males, as above stated upon the authority of Plutarch, and hence the analogy in a family of an only son since it could be but of the masculine gender?

The Scarabæus was also connected with astronomical subjects, occurring in some zodiacs in the place of Cancer; and with funereal rites.[83]

To no place in particular, as the dog at Cynopolis, the

ichneumon at Heracleopolis, was the worship of the beetle confined; but traces of it are found throughout the whole of Egypt. It is probable, however, it received the greatest honors at Memphis and Heliopolis, of which cities Pthah and the Sun were the chief Deities.[84] The worship is also of great antiquity, for in many of the above-mentioned characters, the beetle occurs upon the royal sepulchers of Biban-el-Moluc, which are said to be more ancient than the Pyramids.[85] Scarabæi are, in fact, to be retraced in all their monuments and sculptures, and under divers positions, and often depicted of gigantic dimensions. Mr. Hamilton tells us that in the most conspicuous part of the magnificent temple which marks the site of the ancient Ombite nome, priests are represented paying divine honors to this beetle, placed upon an altar; and, that it might have a character of more mysterious sanctity, it was generally figured with two mitered heads—that of the common hawk, and that of the ram with the horn of Ammon.[86] It may be remarked here, that the Scarabæus, when represented with the head of a hawk, or of a ram, is meant to be an emblem of the sun; and as such emblem it is most commonly found. It often occurs in a boat with extended wings, holding the globe of the sun in its claws, or elevated in the firmament as a type of that luminary in the meridian. Figures too of other Deities are often seen praying to it when in this character.[87]

In the cabinet of Montfaucon, there is a Scarabæus in the middle of a large stone, with outspread feet; and two men, or women, who are perhaps priests, or priestesses, stand before it with clasped hands as if in adoration.[88] This gentleman also has remarked that on the Isiac table, there is the figure of a man in a sitting posture, who holds his hands toward a beetle which has the head of a man with a crescent upon it.[89] On this table there is another Scarab with the head of Isis.[90] Besides these Scarabæi with the heads of hawks, rams, men, and the goddess Isis, Mr.

Hertz has in his possession a small Scarabæus in stone with the head of a cow.[91]

The mode of representing the Scarabæi on the monuments was frequently very arbitrary. Some are figured with, and some without the scutellum; and others are sometimes introduced with two scutella, one on either clypeus. An instance of this mode of representation, of which no example is to be found in nature, occurs in a large Scarabæus in the British museum.[92]

Among the ideographics of the hieroglyphic writing, the Scarabæus is found under several forms: seated with closed and spread wings upon the head of a god, it signifies the name of a god—a Creator;[93] and with the head and legs of a man, it is emblematic of the same creative power, or of Pthah. Another emblem of Pthah is supported by the arms of a man kneeling on the heavens, and surmounted by a winged Scarab supporting a globe or sun.[94]

The Scarabæus likewise belongs to the hieroglyphic signs as a syllabic phonetic; and with complement a mouth, signifies type, form, and transformation: flying, to mount—a phonetic of the later alphabet, with sound of H in the name of Pthah. Another phonetic of the later alphabet, belonging to the XXVI. dynasty, of the time of Domitianus and Trajanus, was a Scarabæus in repose.[95]

The Scarabæus entered also into the royal scutcheons. It first appeared in the XI. dynasty, and is found afterward in the XII., XIII., XIV., XVIII., XIX., XX., XXI., XXII., XXIII., and XXX.[96]

The most important monuments of the great edifice of Amenophis—the so-called Palace of Luxon,—in an historical sense, are said to be four great Scarabæi. They contain statements as to the frontier of the Egyptian empire under Amenophis at the time of his marriage with Taja. Rosellini has given copies and explanations of two of them. A third, now in the Louvre, states that the King, conqueror of the Lybian Shepherds, husband of Taja, made the foreign

country of the Karai his southern frontier, the foreign land of Nharina (Mesopotamia) his northern. The inscription of the other Scarabæus, now in the Vatican, states that in the eleventh year and third month of his reign, King Amenhept made a great tank or lake to celebrate the festival of the waters; on which occasion he entered it in a barge of “the most gracious Disc of the Sun.” This substitution, by the King, of the barge of the Disc of the Sun for the usual barge of Amun-Ra, is the first indication of an heretical sun-worship.[97]

Such historical Scarabæi, Champollion and Rosellini have happily compared to commemorative coins; and, in fact, those which record the names of the kings might perhaps be considered as small Egyptian coins.[98]

Besides being ensculped upon monuments and tablets, Scarabæi, as images in baked earth, are found in great numbers with the mummies of Egypt. These little figures also present an intermingling of several animal forms; for some are found with the heads of men, others with those of dogs, lions, and cats, and others are figures entirely fantastical. Father Kirker says, they were interred with the dead to drive away evil spirits; and there is much probability, he continues, that these were put here for no other purpose than to protect their relatives.[99] The largest of these rude images of Scarabæi, thus used for funereal purposes, frequently had a prayer, or legend connected with the dead, engraved upon them; and a winged Scarabæus was generally placed on those bodies which were embalmed according to the most extensive process.[100] These latter are found in various positions, but generally upon the eye and breast of the body.[101] Placed over the stomach, it was deemed a never-failing talisman to shield the “soul” of its wearer against the terrific genii of Amenthi.[102]

A small, closely cut, glazed limestone Scarabæus has been found tied like a ring by a twist of plain cord on the fourth finger of the left hand. This has occurred twice. Another has been found fastened around the left wrist.[103]

It has been remarked before that the Scarabæus was connected with astronomical subjects. Donovan tells us that “when sculptured on astronomical tables, or on columns, it expressed the divine wisdom which regulated the universe and enlightened man.”[104]

From another point of view we will look now upon the worship of the Scarabæus. When the hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians, by reason of their antiquity, became unintelligible, and, in consequence, to the superstitious people, sacred, they were formed into circles and borders, after the manner of cordons, and engraved upon precious stones and gems, by way of amulets and trinkets. It is thought this fashion was coeval with the introduction of the worship of Serapis by the Ptolemies.[105] In the second century, that sect of the Egyptians called the Basilidians, intermingling the new-born Christianity with their heathenism, introduced that particular kind of mysterious hieroglyphics and figures called Abraxas, which were supposed to have the singular property of curing diseases.[106] These abraxas are generally oval, and made of black Egyptian basalt. They are sometimes covered with letters and characters, fac-similes of the ancient hieroglyphics, but more commonly with the inscriptions in the more modern letters. Besides these inscriptions, figures of animals and scenes were also frequently represented; and among the animals, one of frequent occurrence was the Scarabæus. For this insect the Basilidians had the same great veneration as their forefathers; and they paid to it almost the same divine honors. This appears in many abraxas, and particularly in one in the cabinet of Montfaucon, where two women are seen standing before a beetle, with uplifted hands, as if supplicating it to grant them some favor. Above is a large star, or, more probably, the sun, of which the beetle was the well-known symbol.[107] On another abraxas, figured by Montfaucon, there are two birds with human heads, which stand before a Scarab. These figures are surrounded by a snake the ends of which meet. Upon the other side is written in Greek characters the word φρὴ (Phre or Phri), which in the Coptic or Egyptian language signifies the sun.[108] Chifflet has figured an abraxas

which contains a Scarabæus having the sun for its head, and the arms of a man for legs.[109] Another, in the cabinet of M. Capello, is remarkable for having a woman on its reverse, who holds two infants in her arms.[110] Montfaucon has also figured two others, given by Fabreti; and Count Caylus has engraved one, which represents a woman’s head upon the body of a Scarab. The head is that of Isis.[111] As these beetles differ much in form, it may be there are several species. To the abraxas succeeded the talismans, which were of the highest estimation in the East.

Carved Scarabæi of all sizes and qualities are quite common in the cabinets of Europe. They were principally used for sets in rings, necklaces, and other ornamental trinkets, and are now called Scarabæi gems,[112] though some suppose them to have been money. All of these gems, Winkleman says, which have a beetle on the convex side, and an Egyptian

deity on the concave, are of a date posterior to the Ptolemies; and, moreover, all the ordinary gems, which represent the figures or heads of Serapis, or Anubis, are of the Roman era.[113] According to C. Caylus, the Egyptians used these gems for amulets, and made them of all substances except metal. They preferred, however, those of pottery, covered with green and black enamel. Cylinders, squares, and pyramids were first used; then came the Scarabæi, which were the last forms. They now began to have the appearance of seals or stamps, and many believe them to have been such. The body of the beetle being a convenient hold for the hand, and the base a place of safety and facility to engrave whatsoever was wished to be stamped or printed. Many of these characters are as yet unintelligible. These seals are made of the most durable stones, and their convex part commonly worked without much art.

The Egyptian form of the Scarabæus, which somewhat resembled a half-walnut, the Etruscans adopted in the manufacture of their gems. These scarcely exceed the natural size of the Scarabæus which they have on the convex side. They have also a hole drilled through them lengthwise, for suspension from the neck, or annexation to some other part of the person. They are generally cornelians. Some are of a style very ancient, and of extremely precious work, although in the Etruscan manner, which is correctness of design in the figures, and hardness in the turn of the muscles.

The Greeks also made use of the Scarabæus in their gems; but in the end they suppressed the insect, and preserved alone the oval form which the base presented, for the body of the sculpture. They also mounted them in their rings.[114]

Several Egyptian Scarabæi were among the relics discovered by Layard at Arban on the banks of the Khabour; and similar objects have been brought from Nimroud, and various other ruins in Assyria.[115]

Layard has figured a bronze cup, and two bronze cubes, found among the ruins of Nimroud, on which occur as

ornaments the figures of Scarabs. Those on the cubes are with outstretched wings, inlaid with gold. The cubes have much the appearance of weights.[116]

The Scarabæus was not only venerated when alive, but embalmed after death. In that state they are found at Thebes. It, however, was not the only insect thus honored, for in one of the heads brought by Mr. Wilkinson from Thebes, several others were discovered. These were submitted to Mr. Hope for examination; and the species ascertained by this gentleman, Mr. Pettigrew has enumerated as follows:

  1. Corynetes violaceous, Fab.
  2. Necrobia mumiarum, Hope.
  3. Dermestes vulpinus, Fab.
  4. —— pollinctus, Hope.
  5. —— roei, Hope.
  6. —— elongatus, Hope.
  7. Pimelia spinulosa, Klug?
  8. Copris sabæus? “found by Passalacqua; so named on the testimony of Latrielle.”
  9. Midas, Fab.
  10. Pithecius, Fab.
  11. A species of Cantharis in Passalacqua’s Collection, No. 442.[117] The House-fly has also been found embalmed at Thebes.[118]

Concerning the worship in general of the Scarabæus, many curious observations have been made besides the ones above recorded.

Pliny, in the words of his ancient translator, Philemon Holland, tells us “The greater part of Ægypt honour all beetles, and adore them as gods, or at leastwise having

some divine power in them: which ceremoniall devotion of theirs, Appion giveth a subtile and curious reason of; for he doth collect, that there is some resemblance between the operations and works of the Sun, and this flie; and this he setteth abroad, for to colour and excuse his countrymen.”[119]

Dr. Molyneux, in the conclusion of his article on the swarms of beetles that appeared in Ireland in 1688, makes the following allusion to the worship of the Scarabæus by the Egyptians: “It is also more than probable that this same destructive Beetle (Hedge-chafer—Melontha vulgaris) we are speaking of, was that very kind of Scarabæus the idolatrous Ægyptians of old had in such high veneration, as to pay divine worship to it. For nothing can be supposed more natural, than to imagine a Nation addicted to Polytheism, as the Ægyptians were, in a Country frequently suffering great Mischief and Scarcity from Swarms of devouring Insects, should from a strong Sense and Fear of Evil to come (the common Principle of Superstition and Idolatry) give sacred worship to the visible Authors of these their Sufferings, in hopes to render them more propitious for the future. Thus ’tis allowed on all hands, that the same People adored as a God the ravenous Crocodile of the River Nile; and thus the Romans, though more polite and civilized in their Idolatry, Febrem ad minas nocendam venerabantur, eamque variis Templis extructis colebant, says Valerius Maximus, L. 2, c. 5.”[120]

It is curious to observe how the reason is affected by circumstances. The mind of Dr. Molyneux being long engaged upon the destruction caused by insects, worked itself insensibly into certain grooves, out of which it was afterward impossible to act. The same may be remarked of Mr. Henry Baker, as appears from his article, “On a Beetle that lived three years without Food.” In conclusion, this gentleman says, “As the Egyptians were a wise and learned people, we cannot imagine they would show so much regard to a creature of such a mean appearance (as the Beetle) without some extraordinary reason for so doing. And is it not possible they might have discovered its being able to subsist

a very long time without any visible sustenance, and therefore made it a symbol of the Deity?”[121]

In parts of Europe the ladies string together for necklaces the burnished violet-colored thighs of the Geotrupes stercorarius and such like brilliant species of insects.[122]

Under Copris molossus, in Donovan’s Insects of China, it is mentioned that the larvæ of the larger kinds of coleopterous insects, abounding in unctuous moisture, are much esteemed as food by the Chinese. “Under the roots of the canes is found a large, white grub, which, being fried in oil, is eaten as a dainty by the Chinese.” Donovan suggests that perhaps this is the larvæ of the Scarabæus (copris) molossus, the general description and abundance of which insect in China favors such an opinion.[123]

Insects belonging to the family Scarabæidæ have been used also in medicine. Pliny says the green Scarabæus has the property of rendering the sight more piercing of those who gaze upon it, and that hence, engravers of precious stones use these insects to steady their sight.[124]

Again, he says: “And many there be, who, by the directions of magicians, carrie about them in like manner,” i.e. tied up in a linen cloth with a red string, and attached to the body, “for the quartan ague, one of these flies or beetles that use to roll up little balls of earth.”[125] We learn from Schroder (v. 345) that the powder of the Scarabæus pilurarius “sprinkled upon a protuberating eye or prolapsed anus, is said to afford singular relief;” and that “an oil prepared of these insects by boiling in oil till they are consumed, and applied to the blind hæmorrhoids, by means of a piece of cotton, is said to mitigate the pains thereof.”[126] Fabricius states that the Scarabæus (copris) molossus is medicinally employed in China.[127]

We quote the following from Moufet: “The Beetle engraven on an emerald yeelds a present remedy against all witchcrafts, and no less effectual than that moly which Mercury once gave Ulysses. Nor is it good only against these, but it is also very useful, if any one be about to go before the king upon any occasion, so that such a ring ought especially to be worn by them that intend to beg of

noblemen some jolly preferment or some rich province. It keeps away likewise the head-ach, which, truly, is no small mischief, especially to great drinkers.…

“The magicians will scarce finde credit, when foolishly rather than truly, they report and imagine that the precious stone Chelonitis, that is adorned with golden spots, put into hot water with a Beetle, raiseth tempests.” Pliny, l. 37, c. 10.

“The eagle, the Beetle’s proud and cruel enemy, does no less make havock of and devour this creature of so mean a rank, yet as soon as it gets an opportunity, it returneth like for like, and sufficiently punisheth that spoiler. For it flyeth up nimbly into her nest with its fellow-soldiers, the Scara-beetles, and in the absence of the old she eagle bringeth out of the nest the eagle’s eggs one after another, till there be none left; which falling, and being broken, the young ones, while they are yet unshapen, being dashed miserably against the stones, are deprived of life, before they can have any sense of it. Neither do I see indeed how she should more torment the eagle than in her young ones. For some who slight the greatest torments of their own body, cannot endure the least torments of their sons.”[128]

Pliny says that in Thrace, near Olynthus, there is a small locality, the only one in which the beetle[129] cannot exist; from which circumstance it has received the name of “Cantharolethus—Fatal-to-the-Beetle.”[130]

Dynastidæ—Hercules-beetle, etc.

The Hercules-beetle, Dynastes Hercules, is four, five, or even sometimes six inches long, and a native of South America. It is said great numbers of these immense insects are sometimes seen on the Mammæa-tree, rasping off the rind of the slender branches by working nimbly round them with their horns, till they cause the juice to flow, which they drink to intoxication, and thus fall senseless to

the ground! These stories, however, as the learned Fabricius has well observed, seem not very probable; since the thoracic horn, being bearded on its lower surface, would undoubtedly be made bare by this operation.[131]

Col. St. Clair, though he confesses he never could take one of these insects in the act of sawing off the limbs of trees, or ascertain what they worked for, gravely repeats the above old story, and says that during the operation they make a noise exactly like that of a knife-grinder holding steel against the stone of his wheel; but a thousand knife-grinders at work at the same moment, he continues, could not equal their noise! He calls this beetle hence the knife-grinder.[132]

The Goliath-beetle, Dynastes Goliathus, is said to be roasted and eaten by the natives of South America and Africa.[133]

The enormous prices of £30, £40, and even £50 used to be asked for these latter beetles a piece; fine specimens for cabinets even now bring from five to six pounds.[134]

The large pulpy larva of a species of Dynastidæ—the Oryctes rhinoceros, called by the Singhalese Gascooroominiya—is, notwithstanding its repulsive aspect, esteemed a luxury by the Malabar coolies.[135]

Immediately after mentioning the above fact, Tennent records the following interesting superstition respecting a beetle when found in a house after sunset:

“Among the superstitions of the Singhalese arising out of their belief in demonology, one remarkable one is connected with the appearance of a beetle when observed on the floor of a dwelling-house after nightfall. The popular belief is that in obedience to a certain form of incantation (called cooroominiya-pilli) a demon in shape of a beetle is sent to the house of some person or family whose destruction it is intended to compass, and who presently falls sick and dies. The only means of averting this catastrophy is, that some one, himself an adept in necromancy, should perform a counter-charm, the effect of which is to send back the disguised beetle to destroy his original employer; for in such a conjuncture the death of one or the other

is essential to appease the demon whose intervention has been invoked. Hence the discomfort of a Singhalese on finding a beetle in his house after sunset, and his anxiety to expel but not kill it.”[136]

The Dynastes Goliathus, Moufet says, “like to beetles (Ateuchus sacer), hath no female, but it shapes its own form itself. It produceth its young one from the ground by itself, which Joach. Camerarius did elegantly express, when he sent to Pennius the shape of this insect out of the storehouse of natural things of the Duke of Saxony; with these verses:

A bee begat me not, nor yet did I proceed

From any female, but myself I breed.

For it dies once in a year,” continues Moufet, “and from its own corruption, like a Phœnix, it lives again (as Moninus witnesseth) by heat of the sun.

A thousand summers’ heat and winters’ cold

When she hath felt, and that she doth grow old,

Her life that seems a burden, in a tomb

O’ spices laid, comes younger in her room.”[137]

Melolonthidæ—Cock-chafers.

The family of insects, commonly called Cock-chafers, Hedge-chafers, May-bugs, and Dorrs (from the Irish dord, humming, buzzing, or from the Anglo-Saxon dora, a locust or drone) have been included by Fabricius in the genus Melolontha,—a word which retains an odd notion of the Greeks respecting them, viz., that they were produced from or with the flowers of apple-trees. It is a name also by which the Greeks themselves used to distinguish the same kind of insects.

In Sweden the peasants look upon the grub of the Cock-chafer, Melolontha vulgaris, as furnishing an unfailing prognostic whether the ensuing winter will be mild or severe; if the animal have a bluish hue (a circumstance

which arises from its being replete with food), they affirm it will be mild, but on the contrary if it be white, the weather will be severe: and they carry this so far as to foretell, that if the anterior be white and the posterior blue, the cold will be most severe at the beginning of the winter. Hence they call this grub Bemärkelse-mask—prognostic worm.[138]

An absurd notion obtains in England that the larvæ of the May-bugs are changed into briers.[139]

The following quotation is from the Chronicle of Hollingshed: “The 24 day of Februarie (1575), being the feast of Saint Matthie, on which dai the faire was kept at Tewkesburie, a strange thing happened there. For after a floud which was not great, but such as therby the medows neere adioning were covered with water, and in the after noone there came downe the river of Seuerne great numbers of flies and beetles (Melolontha vulgaris?), such as in summer evenings use to strike men in the face, in great heapes, a foot thicke above the water, so that to credible mens judgement there were seene within a paire of buts length of those flies above a hundred quarters. The mils there abouts were dammed up with them for the space of foure daies after, and then were clensed by digging them out with shovels: from whence they came is yet unknowne but the daie was cold and a hard frost.”[140]

Such another remarkable phenomenon is recorded to have occurred in Ireland, in the summer of 1688. The Cock-chafers, in this instance, were in such immense numbers, “that when,” as the chronicler, Dr. Molyneux, relates, “towards evening or sunset, they would arise, disperse, and fly about, with a strange humming noise, much like the beating of drums at some distance; and in such vast incredible numbers, that they darkened the air for the space of two or three miles square. The grinding of leaves,” he continues, “in the mouths of this vast multitude altogether, made a sound very much resembling the sawing of timber.”[141]

In a short time after the appearance of these beetles in

these immense numbers, they had so entirely eaten up and destroyed the leaves of the trees, that the whole country, for miles around, though in the middle of summer, was left as bare as in the depth of winter.

During the unfavorable seasons of the weather, which followed this plague, the swine and poultry would watch under the trees for the falling of the beetles, and feed and fatten upon them; and even the poorer sort of the country people, the country then laboring under a scarcity of provision, had a way of dressing them, and lived upon them as food. In 1695, Ireland was again visited with a plague of this same kind.[142]

In Normandy, according to Mouffet, the Cock-chafers make their appearance every third year.[143] In 1785, many provinces of France were so ravaged by them, that a premium was offered by the government for the best mode of destroying them.[144] During this year, a farmer, near Blois, employed a number of children and the poorer people to destroy the Cock-chafers at the rate of two liards a hundred, and in a few days they collected fourteen thousand.[145]

The county of Norfolk in England seems occasionally to have suffered much from the ravages of these insects; and Bingley tells us that “about sixty years ago, a farm near Norwich was so infested with them, that the farmer and his servants affirmed they had gathered eighty bushels of them; and the grubs had done so much injury, that the court of the city, in compassion to the poor fellow’s misfortune, allowed him twenty-five pounds.”[146]

The seeming blunders and stupidity of these insects have long been proverbial, as in the expressions, “blind as a beetle,” and “beetle-headed.”

Cetoniidæ—Rose-chafers.

A very pretty species of the Cetoniidæ, the Agestrata luconica, is of a fine brilliant metallic green, and found in

the Philippine Islands. These the ladies of Manilla keep as pets in small bamboo cages, and carry them about with them wheresoever they may go.[147]

Buprestidæ—Burn-cows.

Many species of the Buprestidæ are decorated with highly brilliant metallic tints, like polished gold upon an emerald ground, or azure upon a ground of gold; and their elytra, or wing-coverings, are employed by the ladies of China, and also of England, for the purpose of embroidering their dresses.[148] The Chinese have also attempted imitations of these insects in bronze, in which they succeed so well that the copy may be sometimes mistaken for the reality.[149] In Ceylon[150] and throughout India,[151] the golden wing-cases of two of this tribe, the Sternocera chrysis and S. sternicornis, are used to enrich the embroidery of the Indian zenana, while the lustrous joints of the legs are strung on silken threads, and form necklaces and bracelets of singular brilliancy. The Buprestis attenuata, ocellata and vittata are also wrought into various devices and trinkets by the Indians. The B. vittata is much admired among them. This insect is found in great abundance in China, and thence exported into India, where it is distributed at a low price.[152]

Mr. Osbeck saw in China a Buprestis maxima, which had been dried, and to which were fastened leaden wings so painted as to make them look like the wings of butterflies. This artificial monster, he adds, was to be sold in the vaults among other trifles.[153] The B. maxima is set up along with Butterflies in small boxes, and vended in the streets of Chinese cities.[154]

So many species of the Buprestidæ are clothed with such brilliant colors, that Geoffroy has thought proper

to designate them all under the generic appellation of Richard. The origin of this name is as singular as its application is fantastical. It was originally given to the Jay, in consequence of the facility with which that bird was taught to pronounce the word.[155]

Modern writers have been much divided in their opinion as to what genus the celebrated Buprestis of the ancients belongs. All indeed have regarded it as of the order Coleoptera, but here their agreement ceases. Linnæus seems to have looked upon it as a species of the genus to which he has given its name. Geoffroy thinks it to be a Carabus or Cicindela; M. Latrielle, to the genus Melöe; and Kirby and Spence to Mylabris.[156]

Of this Buprestis, Pliny says: “Incorporat with goat sewer, it taketh away the tettars called lichenes that be in the face.”[157] And Dr. James says that insects of this family “are all in common, inseptic, exulcerating, and (possess) a heating quality; for which reason, they are mixed up with medicines adapted to the cure of a Carcinoma, Lepra, and the malignant Lichen. Mixed in emollient pessaries, they provoke the Catamenial discharges.”[158]

The Greeks, it is said, commended the Buprestis in food.[159]

Elateridæ—Fire-flies, Spring-beetles, etc.

In an historical sense, the most interesting species of the family Elateridæ is the Elater noctilucus, a native of the West Indies, and called by the inhabitants, Cucujus. From an ancient translation of Peter Martyr’s History of the West Indies, we make the following quotation, which contains many curious facts relative to this insect:

“Whoso wanteth Cucuji, goeth out of the house in the first twilight of the night, carrying a burning fier-brande in his hande, and ascendeth the next hillocke, that the Cucuji may see it, and swingeth the fier-brande about calling

Cucuji aloud, and beating the ayre with often calling and crying out Cucuji, Cucuji.… Beholde the desired number of Cucuji, at what time, the hunter casteth the fier-brande out of his hande. Some Cucuji sometimes followeth the fier-brande, and lighteth on the grounde, then is he easily taken.… The hunter havinge the hunting Cucuius, returneth home, and shutting the doore of the house, letteth the praye goe. The Cucuius loosed, swiftly flyeth about the whole house seeking gnatts, under their hanging bedds, and about the faces of them that sleepe, whiche the gnattes used to assayle, they seem to execute the office of watchmen, that such as are shut in, may quietly rest. Another pleasant and profitable commodity proceedeth from the Cucuji. As many eyes as every Cucuius openeth, the host enjoyeth the light of so many candles: so that the Inhabitants spinne, sewe, weave, and daunce by the light of the flying Cucuji. The Inhabitants think that the Cucuius is delighted with the harmony and melodie of their singing, and that he also exerciseth his motion in the ayre according to the action of their dancing.… Our men also read and write by that light, which always continueth untill hee have gotten enough gnatts whereby he may be well fedd.… There is also another wonderfull commodity proceeding from the Cucuius: the Islanders, appoynted by our menn, goe with their good will by night with 2 Cucuji tyed to the great tooes of their feete: (for the travailer[160] goeth better by direction of the lights of the Cucuji, then if hee brought so many candels with him, as the Cucuji open eyes) he also carryeth another Cucuius in his hande to seeke the Utiae by night (Utiae are a certayne kind of Cony, a little exceeding a mouse in bignesse.)… They also go a fishing by the lights of the Cucuji.… In sport, and merriment, or to the intent to terrifie such as are affrayed of every shaddow, they say that many wanton wild fellowes sometimes rubbed their faces by night with the fleshe of a Cucuius being killed, with purpose to meete their neighbors with a flaming countenance … for the face being annointed with the lumpe or fleshy parte of the Cucuius, shineth like a flame of fire.”[161]

At Cumana, the use of the Cucujus is forbidden, as the young Spanish ladies used to carry on a correspondence at night with their lovers by means of the light derived from them.[162]

Captain Stedman tells us, that one of his sentinels, one night, called out that he saw a negro, with a lighted tobacco-pipe, cross a creek near by in a canoe. At which alarm they lost no time in leaping out of their hammocks, and were not a little mortified when they found the pipe was nothing more than a Fire-fly on the wing.[163]

An individual of this species, brought to Paris in some wood, in the larva or nymph state, there underwent its metamorphosis, and by the light which it emitted, excited the greatest surprise among many of the inhabitants of the Faubourg St. Antoine, to whom such a phenomenon had hitherto been unknown.[164]

When Cortes and Narvaez were at war with one another in Mexico, Bernal Diaz relates “that one night in the midst of darkness numbers of shining Beetles (Elater noctilucus) kept continually flying about, which Narvaez’s men mistook for the lighted matches of our fire-arms, and this gave them a vast idea of the number of our matchlocks.”[165] Thomas Campanius tells us that one night the Cucuji frightened all the soldiers at Fort Christina, in New Sweden (Pennsylvania?): they thought they were enemies advancing toward them with lighted torches.[166] Another such like story, which is not incredible by any means, is told us by Mouffet. He says that when Sir Thomas Cavendish and Sir Robert Dudley first landed in the West Indies, and saw an infinite number of moving lights in the woods, which were merely these Elaters, they supposed that the Spaniards were advancing upon them with lighted matches, and immediately betook themselves to their ships.[167]