Dru Drury

“ In this habitation the little architect passes the winter secure from birds and other enemies. As soon as the cocoon has been completed, the caterpillar sheds its skin, and is transformed into a chrysalis. At first the leaf enveloping the cocoon remains green, but soon changes to a red or brown, when it becomes brittle, and is gradually carried away by the winds and storms of winter, until, finally, nothing remains except the cocoon itself, which is firmly suspended by the silk which once covered the footstalk of the leaf. ”

“ There can be no doubt that every species of insect has its use in the creation, and probably there are few from which mankind might not derive some advantage, if their nature and properties were ascertained. ”

“ Natural history has, certainly, less reason to court the favour of mankind than many other branches of knowlege; as the pursuit of it, either as a science or amusement, is so replete with pleasure, that it is hardly possible to refuse it our approbation and encouragement, so soon as we give ourselves the least time to enquire into its merits ”

“ Anterior wings very dark chocolate, hooked at the tips; having a margin of light hair colour running along the external edges from the tips to the lower corners, through the middle of which runs a narrow black serpentine line like a hair, dividing the margin into two shades, the external one being darkest; near the tips is a black spot like an eye, partly surrounded by a blue iris; a narrow waved line of a light hair colour begins at the anterior edge, about one-third from the tips, and, crossing both the anterior and posterior wings, ends about half an inch below the body. ”

“ I find it is so; and whether it proceeds from an ill-judged pride, in thinking such minute animals below their notice, or whether it arises from that languor of mind, as well as of body, that generally prevails in warm climates, is a matter of no consequence to mankind: the world is not benefited by their situations, and we must be content to remain in our present ignorance, till Providence shall think proper to give us a second Swammerdam, or Reaumur, &c. and place him in a distant part of the globe, for the advantage of the human race. ”

“ They often fly into persons' faces or bosoms, and their legs being armed with sharp spines, the pricking excites a sudden horror not easily described. In old houses they swarm by myriads, making every part filthy beyond description wherever they harbour, which in the day time is in dark corners, behind all sorts of clothes, in trunks, boxes, and, in short, every place where they can lie concealed. ”

“ Like the angel of heaven, they walk steadily forward in the line ordained them, and spare neither magnitude nor beauty, neither the living nor the dead, but sweep away all kinds of animal substances with undeviating rigour and rapacious perseverance. ”

“ Smeathman we learn that the children in Africa are, at the proper season, very busily employed digging out of the ground the females, when full of eggs, of a species exactly the size and form of this, on which they make an agreeable repast, roasting generally the whole animal, but eating only the eggs, which are contained in a bag, and resemble part of the roe of a large fish, deeming it very delicate food. ”

“ When I recommend observations to be made on the most trivial circumstances, it will readily be conceived I do not wish to derogate from experiment, from which alone solid hopes are to be formed, and those which have been hitherto made give great encouragement. ”

“ Nothing is strained or carried beyond the bounds nature has set; and whoever will compare the engravings with the originals, I flatter myself will allow, that nothing is borrowed from fancy, or any colour given to an insect that does not really exist in the subject intended to be represented. ”

“ Thorax dark green; being striped obliquely on the sides with two yellow streaks, and another on the top. Abdomen yellowish green, with two dark stripes running longitudinally on the sides. Legs dark green. Wings transparent, with a slender white streak near the tips of each, and a small black spot joining thereto, which are placed on the anterior edges; from the small edges, near the middle of each wing, a small dark cloud arises that crosses the wings, those of the superior running lowest. Near the body another small cloud is placed, being largest and strongest in the superior wings ”

“ Say, who may justly be regarded as the Linnæus of America, says of this truly singular insect, that its flight is slow and awkward, and when taken it endeavours to force the point of the abdomen through the skin of the hand, but its strength is not adequate to the task. ”

“ The transformations to which Lepidopterous insects are subject are amongst the most remarkable phenomena of insect life. In the different states to which each is liable, a series of changes is exhibited which has been compared, by an admired writer, to what might be supposed to be undergone by an animal which for the first five years of its life, exhibited the form of a serpent, which then penetrated into the earth, spun for itself a silken coffin, contracting itself into a limbless form resembling, more than any thing else, an Egyptian mummy ”

“ It fills a large room so completely with its note, which is something like the sound caused by rubbing a tobacco-pipe round the edge of a wine-glass, that those unaccustomed to it cannot tell how to direct their search after it. When they are looking for it, the noise will sometimes cease for half a minute, and begin again, when the searchers will be as much at a loss as ever. ”

“ Reaumur has found that the moth, which feeds on clothes, refines the colour with which they are dyed in a wonderful manner; for the excrement of the animal is the colour of the cloth on which it is fed; and therefore, for miniature paintings, infinitely surpasses all others. ”

“ Some stragglers frequently disturb you by creeping over your skin, and interrupt your sleep or your meditations by biting, which, however, give pain but for a moment; while others, though of the smallest size, with a sort of malignant vengeance, creep under your clothes, and, by means of stings invisible to the unassisted eye, inject a most acrid venom, which causes a pain as sharp as a small spark of fire, lasting for some hours, and even a day or two after being stung, the pain of which is much increased by irritating the part. ”

“ The upper part shines like silver. Mouth of a greyish colour, and furnished with four palpi, whereof two are long and the other two short and thick. Eyes not to be discerned. Antennæ about half the length of the insect; small, and filiform, but full of joints. Thorax and abdomen dark lead-coloured, shining like polished metal; being furnished along their sides with short hairs. The former has a cream-coloured stripe crossing it from side to side; it is also margined. In some specimens, the middle part of the abdomen, from the thorax to the tail, is of a silvery white ”

“ The black people, however, who have perhaps the most accurate ears in the world, readily find them, and generally without mercy put an end to their lives and their notes together. Different species sing their wild notes among the distant banks, and are heard in the rivers through the mangroves, though those trees often form a thick wood between the navigable {92}parts of the river and the dry land of a quarter or half a mile deep. ”

“ Fothergill, whose readiness to encourage and promote every part of natural history, must endear him to every man who wishes well to so useful and beneficial a branch of knowledge; and it is to the kindness of that gentleman the reader will perceive I am indebted for a great number of figures that form a considerable part of this work; many of which are so very rare, as not to be met with in any other cabinet. ”

“ In old timber and deal houses, when the family is retired at night to sleep, this insect, among other disagreeable properties, has the power of making a noise which very much resembles a pretty smart knocking with the knuckle upon the wainscotting. The Blatta Gigantea of Linnæus in the West Indies are therefore frequently known by the name of Drummers. Three or four of these noisy creatures will sometimes be impelled to answer one another, and cause {71}such a drumming noise, that none but those who are very good sleepers can rest for them. ”

“ It is therefore less to be wondered at that publications on these subjects are more numerous than formerly; as the desire of communicating knowledge and happiness is irresistible, and men, for their own sakes, will be induced to follow the tracks, where the enjoyment of unallayed pleasure lies within their grasp. ”

“ It is a pleasing reflection to consider the great strides natural history is making in this kingdom, as well as in other parts of the world; and the many publications on the various subjects of nature, that have made their appearance within these last three or four years, is a circumstance that must give every man of a liberal mind the greatest satisfaction. We {iv}see persons, skilled in natural history, receiving encouragements and reward from men of rank and property, according to their respective abilities. ”

“ We are not therefore, however, to suppose them mere expletives in the great system of beings; neither are we rashly to attribute an importance to them which they do not deserve, or ridiculously affect to admire circumstances in them of little moment, and praise the Creator for dispositions of a secondary nature. ”

“ Mouth appearing not to be furnished with strong teeth or jaws, but seeming rather formed for macerating tender plants. Neck and thorax having a great many short thick spines on them; particularly the latter, which has a ridge on each side, full of spines like the teeth of a saw, extending to the abdomen. "It is evident this species is furnished with wings when arrived to its complete state, by the rudiments observable in this; which, though they are exceeding small, are a sufficient proof it is not wingless." Abdomen composed of seven articulations ”

“ The caterpillars represented by Abbot are considerably different in colour; one being dark-coloured, but covered over with minute yellow spots; and the other yellow, with a slender, dorsal, and two broader lateral black lines. The head is red, and each segment is furnished with a transverse series of tubercles, {46}emitting spinose setæ. It is, I presume, by the assistance of these setæ that "the caterpillar stings very sharply," as stated by Abbot. When small the whole brood lives together, but they disperse as they grow larger. ”

“ The particular qualities, dispositions, and uses of by far the greater part of insects, as well as of plants, are at present totally unknown to us, nor are the methods by which we are to acquire that knowledge at present ascertained. ”

“ They never are, however, without an astonishing number of these insects, which no art, labour, or expense, can totally exclude from the dwellings of the inhabitants. The number of different species is not yet known, and is so great, added to the minuteness of most of them, that it probably never will be discovered with any degree of certainty. ”