Dru Drury

“ Who, that is a stranger to natural history, would believe that there are insects destined to live in the waters many months, where their principal employment is the destruction of animals less than themselves, on whom they feed and thrive, till they become inhabitants of the air, when their lives are terminated in a few weeks, perishing by the depredations of old age, if they are lucky enough to escape the power of other animals stronger than themselves? ”

“ It glances from the prominent branches of one tree to those of another, as swift as a swallow, and turns its head about instantly to the glade, or path, and will not suffer any person to approach within a striking distance of it, but darts away on the least motion of the body. ”

“ Incredible numbers of small moths, bees, flies with four and two wings, are the daily sacrifices offered to the insatiable appetites of these hungry gluttons; and where they devoured one insect in the water they now destroy a hundred, if the mildness of the season will permit them to range about in quest of them. In rainy weather they seldom or ever move, nor when the wind is very strong and boisterous. ”

“ If the egg is laid on the body of the caterpillar, and not within it, a few days, by the warmth of the sun, ripens it to maturity; and then the young destroyer, directed by nature, eats its passage through the under-side of the egg, and passes into the body of the caterpillar, but if the egg is discharged into its body, it there ripens, unseen, to maturity. In either case, it lives on the substance or juices of its intestines; thriving and increasing in bulk, in a proportion equal to the creature it is doomed to kill. ”

“ Insects may, with great truth, be considered as a rank of beings so wonderful and extraordinary, as to strike with astonishment every observer, if we regard either their structure, powers, or use; and creatures, who, at the same time that they challenge our regard, loudly proclaim the wisdom, goodness, and omnipotence of their great Creator. If their shape and beauty are capable of attracting our notice, their ways of living are no less adapted for exciting our admiration ”

“ Every adept is fully acquainted that a female moth, known by the name of the Egger (Phalæna Quercus of Linnæus) , taken into the fields the first day it is hatched, will most certainly (though shut up in a box) allure all the males round the country that are within the sphere of its attraction, and even from a great distance; who will at first fly round the box with wonderful swiftness and eagerness, and afterwards settling thereon will hunt and run about it with the greatest impatience, endeavouring to get at the inclosed female; and all this from the strongest desire of copulation ”

“ The whole country of Africa, within the tropics, is one immense forest, except where the sandy plains are too unsettled to afford a proper footing for vegetation. Wherever any inhabitants settle, they make plantations by cutting down the woods and burning them to fertilize the ground, and never sow two years together on the same spot, but let the trees grow up again for two or three years, by way of fallow, before they attempt to get another crop from it. It is these spots, which Smeathman calls recent plantations, which afford the greatest variety of insects and the easiest obtained. ”

“ His pleasures are not chequered by remorse, or damped by despair; his pursuits leave no horrors on the mind, or clash with the duty he owes his Maker, his neighbour, or his prince; his conscience suffers not for the indulgence of his mind, nor has repentance need to stalk behind him with an uplifted arm, for injustice committed on his fellow-creatures; on the contrary, it is for them ultimately his labours are pursued, for them he inquires into the various arcana of nature; every part of the earth is searched for their benefit, and its bowels are torn out and examined for their advantage. ”

“ I have followed the French authors in assigning Drury's insect to the Pyranthe of Linnæus, although that author describes his insect as having a discoidal red spot on each of the wings beneath. The species of this group are variable in the intensity of their markings, and the males are less strongly marked than the females; and as Drury's figure represents a male (distinguished by the bundle of hairs on the interior margin of the anterior wings) it may possibly be an extreme variety of the male of Pyranthe. ”

“ Order, Class, Genus, and Species.
Order, is a general term, applicable to a whole race of animals, whereby they are distinguished from each other, as beasts, birds, fishes, &c. [13]
Class, a term by which insects, as well as other animals, are divided into their respective genera or tribes, as the farinaceous, crustaceous, transparent, &c. [14]
Genus, a term dividing each class, as butterfly, moth, hawk-moth, constitute the farinaceous (Lepidoptera) ; dung-beetle, lady-bird, goat-chaffer, and many others, make up the crustaceous (Coleoptera) ”

“ To many thousands of persons they afford the means of living with comfort and happiness. Even kings are indebted to them for their grandest garments. Immense fortunes have been procured, by their means, to persons in trade, and the great number of people who daily subsist by manufacturing silk, either by spinning, weaving, or dyeing it, have the greatest reason to thank Providence for the institution of this insect. To the last, the Cochineal (Coccinella Cacti of Linnæus) affords him the power of giving our silks and cloths the most beautiful and lasting colours ”

“ Burmeister lays it down as a rule, that with regard to the differences of the sexes, their whole character may be thus distinguished; viz. that the male displays a preponderance of evolution, and the female a preponderance of involution; and observes, "that some beetles have processes upon the head and thorax, which, like the mandibles, can meet, like tongs, and thus serve as a weapon. This is asserted of Hercules and its large comrades." This opinion as to the uses of these horns can, however, scarcely be maintained, since the number of species in which the horns really meet is very few. ”

“ It is indeed true, that the number of its votaries, in England, are but few, in proportion to other states, where professorships and societies are established under the patronage and protection of the chief personages: yet if we consider it as affording an inconceivable fund of entertainment to its followers, it is rather to be wondered it is not more encouraged and propagated among us, than that we should find a few who have resolution enough to judge for themselves, and follow a study that is always new and always pleasing. ”

“ The body and wings are of a dark brown. The latter are scolloped, the anterior having, near their anterior margin, towards the middle, a black eye on each, shaped like a human ear, whose iris is of a dark orange colour; and, near the anal angle, towards the external edge, is a black scolloped line, running half way up the wing, joining to which (under it) is a bar of a very soft and delicate brown colour, differing from the general tint of the wings. The posterior wings have, on each, near the external edge, a mark somewhat like a large eye ”

“ There is a species of ants in Africa, exceedingly numerous, and continually ranging from place to place; not dwelling in colonies or hills, as we see them in England; being armed with strong jaws or forceps, and whatever animal they assail in the course of their travels, they generally by means of their numbers overcome; there being no method of securing themselves, or preserving their lives, but by running into the water. ”

“ The sides of a wall underneath the eaves of a house, is the place often pitched on for this purpose. Thus prompted by nature, and instinctively knowing the necessity of performing this work, they carry a quantity of dirt, and place it against the wall, which they temper and soften with a liquor issuing from their bodies, that renders it sufficiently strong and tenacious, and when dry, is proof against any rains that may happen to get at it. The nest is composed generally of about a dozen cells, that are round, and sufficiently capacious to hold the caterpillar when grown to its full size ”

“ In the year 1770 we arrive at the time of publication of a beautiful work on Entomology, that of my late and regretted friend D. Drury, F.L.S. in one vol. 4to. printed at London, and containing comprehensive descriptions in English and French, with an Index of Linnæan names at the end, and a great many coloured copper-plates of such interesting exotic Insects, as had not been before or insufficiently figured. The icons were executed by Moses Harris, in his best style; and are far superior to any of their predecessors in Britain. ”

“ And further, if the contemplation of the works of the Sovereign Architect, tends to promote that serious and attentive state of mind which disposes men to the pursuit of virtue, in order to be happy; and if the knowledge and practice of virtue are the means of supporting the mind through all the difficult passages and rugged paths of life; the naturalist bids as fair to be happy as any of the human race. ”

“ To some the task appears too arduous, to others too intricate, and to the generality too trifling; who are apt to look with contempt on every pursuit that does not coincide with their own opinions; nor must we, from vulgar minds, expect any conclusions in its favour: with these, a horse, a dog, or a cock, seem to bound the utmost limits of their gratifications. ”

“ The knowledge of the insect kingdom illustrates this observation beyond all possibility of doubt; and the number that may be bred from a single pair, in many species, would exceed all credibility, if it was not to be proved by any person who {94}would take the trouble. The wonderful increase that only two summers would be capable of producing among many of them, if each egg was to yield its respective insect, is amazing. The world itself, in a few years, would be incapable of affording plants sufficient for the nourishment of one single species. ”

“ Birds, fishes, and the smaller kinds of beasts, are at eternal war with them; but as all these would be insufficient of themselves to restrain and prevent them from multiplying too fast, other kinds of beings are instituted for this end, whose existence depends on their destruction. Of these, the species of insect I am describing, is the most singular, of which (genus) there are several sorts, differing greatly in size and shape. ”

“ In this manner all the flat-bodied Libellas copulate and lay their eggs; the others, which are formed with slender bodies, behave very differently in every circumstance; for in each of those species, when the male has singled out its mate, he flies to her, and by means of two little bony substances placed at the end of his tail, issuing on each side, and composing a kind of forceps, he fixes himself to the forepart of her neck, close behind the head, the female discovering no sign of fear while he is performing this action ”

“ Our utmost care can only secure them to us a few years; and if they are exposed to air or sunshine, we are quickly robbed of them; the latter being capable, in a few months, of entirely destroying their colours, and the first in as short a space, will totally consume every part of them, leaving nothing behind but a little dust. ”

“ All corners of the world are visited by our ships; the remotest shores of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, are not unknown to our countrymen; but feel the effects of that insatiable thirst for traffic and gain, that animates the present generation. ”

“ We are too prone to think every thing noxious and unnecessary, if we are not fully acquainted with its use. "The poor Beetle that we tread on," serves to fill up an order of beings, as useful and proper in the economy of nature, as that of a partridge or a hare, whose preservation and increase we are so solicitous for. ”

“ Elytra rather rough and furrowed, but shining and black. Tibiæ armed with spines, especially at the extremity, which facilitate the animal in its passage. Abdomen black; anus with a row of light brown hairs.
Female. Differs from the male chiefly in the thorax, which is entirely unarmed. Black and shining, but rather less so than the males; and in the front, just above the head, is a small impression. All the under parts of the insect which in the males are black, in this sex are of a dark reddish brown. In other circumstances it resembles the male. ”

“ All the flat-bodied ones have those parts placed in common with most other insects, at the extremity of the tail. In all the slender-bodied ones, the organ of the male is placed next the breast, close to the part where the thorax and abdomen unite; while the same organ in the female lies in the very extremity of the tail, and the singular manner of these creatures coupling is a circumstance worthy of observation.
"As soon as they have arrived to their perfect state, the males seek out their mates, in order to propagate their species ”

“ But men of refined tastes will judge otherways. They know that the inexhaustible store of entertainment nature affords in the contemplation of her works, is unbounded. It is not to be enjoyed all at once; the more we pursue, the more we shall possess, in proportion as we manifest a greater or less ardour. ”

“ By the time one cell is replenished with provision, the pregnant female, finding the eggs within her ripening to maturity, and under the necessity of discharging them, lays a single one in the cell, and then covers up the hole with dirt, which was left open for a passage, in so neat and curious a manner, that the nicest eye could not discover the place where they used to enter. ”

“ Permit me therefore, Sir, to beg your concurrence herein, and if the highest ideas of gratitude can prompt a man to make an adequate return for any favour of this kind, be assured I shall take the earliest opportunity of manifesting mine for any thing you shall think proper to oblige me with. ”

“ Within a few hours after, the female, thus impregnated, begins to lay her eggs in the following manner. She singles out a leaf, grass, or some such matter, that is floating just below the surface of the water, in some pond, and, hovering in the air about a foot above this spot, on a sudden she descends, and dips the extremity of her tail in the water, at which instant she discharges an egg, that at the moment of its emission is inveloped in a glutinous liquid, sufficiently tenacious to enable it to adhere firmly on the floating substance above-mentioned without sinking. ”