OF

INSECTS.

THE GIGANTIC COCKROACH.

As insects possess the various powers of creeping, flying, and swimming, there is scarcely any place, however remote and secure, in which they are not to be found; and, therefore, upon casting a slight view over the whole insect tribe, just when they are supposed to rouse from their state of annual torpidity, when they begin to feel the genial influence of spring, and again exhibit new life in every part of nature, their numbers and their varieties seem to exceed all powers of calculation, and they are certainly too great for description; but from the simili. tudes of the forms, manners, and propagation, of several of them, the extensive description has been easily compressed, and a separate history for each species rendered totally unnecessary.

The above insect is the largest of its species, and near the size of a hen's egg. It is a native and plague of the warm parts of Asia, Africa, and South America. This, and indeed all the other species of cockroaches, are a race of pestiferous beings, equally noisome and mischievous,

to both natives and strangers. These nasty and voracious insects fly out in the evenings; they plunder and corrode all kinds of victuals, drest and undrest; and damage all sorts of clothing; every thing made of leather; books, paper, and various other articles: they fly into the flame of candles, and sometimes into the dishes; are very fond of ink and of oil, into which they are apt to fall and perish: in this case they soon turn it most offensively putrid, so that a man might as well sit over the putrid body of a large animal, as write with ink in which they have died. They often fly into person's 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, where 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. 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 wainscotting; in the West Indies it is therefore frequently known by the name of the drummer.

THIS genus is divided into different sections, the whole number of species being above one hundred.-The common bed-bug has no wings; but the field bugs have all wings, and inhabit plants as various as their shape and

colour. The Surinam bug, thus named from Madame Merian, who first discovered this frightful insect at Surinam, and figured it from the life in her inimitable collection, from which our figure is taken, is the largest species of the cimex or bug tribe, measuring three inches and a half from head to tail, and six inches from wing to wing. It is of a rich brown colour, armed with a single sharp spine on the head, and another at the anus; the eyes are black, and very prominent; it has two large dark. brown spots on the breast, about the size of peas; two others more oblong behind; and others of various forms and sizes on the fore-legs: the elytra are marked like network with white, and are very thick and strong; the interior wings are full of fibres, and of a delicate straw colour. -This is not only the largest, but the most destructive and voracious of the genus, attacking and devouring, in its creeping state, toads frogs, lizards, aquatic insects, and even fish; and in its winged state, preying upon reptiles, birds, and the larger animals, and even on the weaker individuals of its own family.

THIS little creature, which is a complete representative of the mole among the insect tribes, is, for an insect, very large, being two inches and a half in length, and three quarters of an inch in breadth. Its fore feet are broad, and strong, and, in their formation and position, bear a great resemblance to the fore-feet of that animal: they are used for precisely the same purpose as those of moles, to burrow under the surface of the ground, where the insect commonly resides; and so expertly does it use them, that it can penetrate the earth with even greater expedition than the mole.

The female forms a cell of clammy earth, about the size of a hen's egg, closed up on every side, and within as large as two hazel nuts. The eggs, amounting to nearly

a hundred and fifty, are white, and about the size of carraway comfits; they are carefully covered, as well to defend them from the injuries of the weather as from the attacks of one of the species of black-beetles, which often destroys them. The female places herself near the entrance of the nest, and whenever the beetle attempts to seize its prey, the guardian insect catches it behind, and bites it asunder.

These insects, at the approach of winter, remove their nest to so great a depth in the earth as to have it always lower than the frost can penetrate. When the mild season comes on, they raise it in proportion to the advances of that favourable time, and at last elevate it so near to the surface, as to render it susceptible both of air and sun-shine; and if the frost return, they again sink it to its proper depth. A method very similar to this is practised by the ants with their nests.

THE COMMON LOCUST.

THIS insect is about three inches long, and has two horns, or feelers, an inch in length: the head and horns are of a brownish colour: it is blue about the mouth, and also on the inside of the larger legs: the shield that covers the back is greenish; the upper side of the body brown, spotted with black, and the under side purple; the upper wings are brown, with small dusky spots, with one larger at the tips; the under wings are more transparent, and of a light brown tinctured with green, with a dark cloud of spots near the tips.

These noxious insects fly in such numbers, as to seem at a distance like a dark cloud, which, as it approaches, almost excludes the light of day. It often happens that the husbandman sees them pass over without doing him any injury; but in this case they only proceed to settle on some less fortunate country. Wherever they alight, they make dreadful havoc among the vegetation. In the tropical climates their presence is not attended with such destructive consequences as in the southern parts of Eu

rope; for in those, the vegetative power is so strong and active, that an interval of only a few days will sometimes repair all the damage: but in Europe their ravages cannot be obliterated till the succeeding year.

The crested locust differs from the preceding, and is an inhabitant of the East: it is a highly beautiful animal, being of a bright red, with the body annulated with black, and the legs varied with yellow; the upper wings are marked with variegations of dark and pale green; the lower with transverse wavy streaks. The length of this species, from head to tail, is about four inches: and the expanse of wings from tip to tip, when fully extended, hardly less than seven inches and a half.

THIS uncouth insect inhabits the deserts of Uria: it is of a pale yellowish colour, with tailed wings; its head is inflected, and armed with jaws and feelers; the hind legs are formed for leaping; and it has double claws on all the feet. They reside chiefly under ground, and are sixfooted, voracious, and active, and feed on plants and herbs. Of this tribe of locusts, there are upwards of two hundred species, and are used as an article of food by the natives of Africa and India.

THE HOUSE CRICKET.

THIS is an inhabitant of almost every house; its wings are tailed, and longer than the wing-cases: the body is of a light green colour, shaded with brown; and, like the preceding, is provided with six feet. It is said to delight in