The Cantharides or Spanish Flies, is a species of insect every one has heard of. They are brought us from abroad, and used medicinally; but principally to raise blisters. For these we pay great sums of money to foreign countries: but a proper examination into the nature of insects might save us the necessity of doing so; for let me not be disbelieved, when I say this very species of the cantharides is found in England.^[11] Might not, therefore, a close inquiry into the subject, spare us the trouble and expense of applying to foreigners for this article? But are the medicinal virtues of the cantharides confined entirely to that species? Is there none other found in England, answering the same purpose, which we might have by seeking for? If I am not mis-informed, there is. The Musk Beetle, or Cerambix Moschata of Linnæus, is found on the bodies of willow-trees in the month of July, or sooner, if the weather is favourable. This insect, I have been confidently informed by an eminent surgeon (the late Mr. Guy) who tried it, has the same virtues, and produces the same effects as the cantharides; being capable, when properly prepared, of procuring a strong blister in as short a space of time as the other. Whether there is not other insects to be found in this kingdom, whose properties, when examined, might be found similar to the cantharides, is a matter that time only will clear up.

I cannot here pass unmentioned the effects of ants, whose volatile effluvia, arising from their colonies or nests is so great, that a hand rubbed thereon, and applied immediately to the nose of a fainting person, exhilarates and refreshes equal to the spirit of hartshorn, or what is called sal volatile.

Such are the known medicinal uses of insects; and under the article of clothing they serve us in a more conspicuous manner. 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; being without it unable to produce such proofs of his ingenuity; not to mention many other occasions wherein this insect is peculiarly serviceable. Nor is there any part of the world where they do not directly, or secondarily, serve mankind for food. In every kingdom of the earth, where they are to be found, shrimps, prawns and crabs are eaten by all ranks and degrees of people, if animal food is allowed them; and our cray-fish or lobsters must not be excluded from the same order. The Locust represented in Plate 50. Fig. 2. is eaten by many tribes, and, I may say, nations of people, in Asia and Africa. These animals are frequently driven from their native soils, by strong winds, into foreign countries, where, for several days together, by their inconceivable numbers, they obscure the light of the sun, and make the inhabitants tremble for their vegetables. It is at those times the Asiatics and Africans gather them, and eat them with much delight, dressing them, either by stewing, or frying them with oil; they also pickle and sell them publicly in some of the markets of the Levant, and many other parts.

The caterpillar belonging to Fig. 1. of Plate 38. which I have mentioned in my description of that insect to be eaten in the West Indies, and considered as a dainty, is sought for by those persons who are admirers of that food, in the most diligent manner; and I have been informed, by gentlemen of undoubted veracity, that so exceedingly delighted are they with it, as to employ negroes on no other business but to go into the woods on purpose to procure these caterpillars, by digging them out of the bodies of certain trees, the only places where they are to be found. Perhaps the cossi of the Romans, a kind of food we are told they were much delighted with, might be a species not much unlike this; however that be, these are considered as amply recompensing, by their delicious flavour, the pains taken to procure them.

Honey is a substance known to every one, and the agreeable liquor made from it, which in some countries serves the inhabitants for their constant drink, is not to be procured but by the industry of the agile bee.

In fine, the limits of this preface will not permit me to dwell minutely, and point out the benefits mankind does, and may receive, by the institution of this order of animals. I shall again refer my reader to the book I mentioned before, "Stillingfleet's Tracts;" where he will find these and many other advantages I have not mentioned, treated of in a most ingenious manner; being the observations of some of the greatest men of the university of Upsal in Sweden; for this reason, therefore, I shall consider this subject no farther, but proceed to describe the plan of the work; wherein, if the reader expects to find the insects classed in systematic order, as well as represented, he will be greatly disappointed. It is not my present design to enter into the scientific part of the study, by arranging the insects according to any system now established; nor will the reader find that I have given a single name to any one here figured. This, indeed, must be the consequence of not following the system of any author, unless I had formed one of my own; for it is impossible I should give names to them, particularly trivial ones, without doing one or the other. The calling an insect by the general appellation of moth, butterfly, &c. I cannot consider as derogatory to what I have said. Hence I flatter myself I shall avoid all occasion for reflection by the disciples of different authors, in not following the method established by others; and, therefore, my desire of giving no room for exceptions of this kind, has induced me to follow no one whatever. By this, also, I have left it in the power of every person to class them according to his own fancy; and, as every one has thus an opportunity of following his favourite author, none, I hope, will object to a method, that will put it in his power of indulging his own inclination.

I must here inform my readers, that this work can by no means be considered as a complete one. The most transitory view will confirm this. Nor can I take any merit to myself by its publication, unless the great care that has been taken to give just and accurate figures of the subjects, in which the different generical characters, according to the several authors I am acquainted with, are truly represented, will entitle me to any.

Indeed, the many opportunities I have had of observing the great tendency all kinds of insects have to perish and decay, particularly moths and butterflies, first gave me the hint of preserving them from oblivion, by thus delineating them on paper. For these last are of such tender and delicate natures, that however pleasing and agreeable they may be to our sight, they are not easily to be preserved with all their gay and striking plumage. 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.

Hence it is, I have been induced to give figures of foreign insects. In prosecuting which, the reader will find many that have never been described by any author; and if the rescuing them by this method from the ravages of time, if the delight and amusement arising from contemplating subjects of this kind, or if an attempt to promote and encourage this branch of natural history meets with the encouragement I hope for, I must assure the public, no labour on my side shall be wanting to render it complete, by adding future volumes, as the subjects I should receive from abroad, and my own leisure, will enable me to do; and this, I flatter myself, I shall be able to accomplish by the means of a few ingenious gentlemen situated in different parts of the world, whose correspondence I am honoured with, and by whose assistance I shall be able to give sometimes a tolerable history of an insect, or as much of it as has fallen within their observation; by which means, new subjects of speculation, some unnoticed circumstances in insect life, may arise, that cannot fail of being an acceptable embellishment. But I must observe, such pieces of information cannot be expected to be numerous; for the difficulty of procuring the natural history of foreign insects is so exceedingly great, that it is better conceived than described. Few persons, who visit foreign countries, have curiosity sufficient to prompt them to make such observations, or indeed any enquiry, into the works of nature. The desire of acquiring wealth, by the means of trade, is the grand motive that induces them to leave their native country; observations in natural history being generally quite foreign to their thoughts; the desire of extending their commerce, and making their fortunes, taking entire possession of their minds, and swallowing up every other consideration. Thus, we see, it is not from such persons we must expect any improvements tending to promote this study; it is only from men of a liberal and ingenious turn of mind, settled there, that we can hope to have any information of the state of nature in distant regions; and the scarcity of such men I have found to be exceeding great. For these reasons the reader must not expect to find the caterpillar and chrysalis of every insect represented. It is sufficient if I am able to give figures of many exotics that have hitherto been unknown. The natural history, the forms of the caterpillars, ways of life, haunts, &c. can, in such cases, be known only to persons living on the spot, and who have speculation enough to observe them. Whenever I receive such pieces of information, they shall, certainly, not be withheld from the public.

When I first engaged in the business of describing the different insects that compose the following work, I found myself surrounded with difficulties of so unexpected a nature, that I had more than once entertained thoughts of postponing, if not totally relinquishing so arduous a task. Nothing but the strong desire I had of promoting the study of natural history, could have led me to overcome a sense of my own incapacity of writing with that precision, which the public eye demands; and, therefore, I have reason to hope for the candid allowance of the ingenious, to faults, which might, perhaps, escape from the pen of a master, on a subject so new as the present. Among the rest, I laboured under no little trouble from a want of knowing what names to give to many colours found on the wings of some of the farinaceous tribe. The want of a series, or standard for names to colours, is a matter much to be lamented in this kingdom. I know no English author that has attempted it; perhaps the arduousness of the task may be the reason it has not been done; for if we form to ourselves an idea of the difficulty of bringing forth that innumerable train of colours that is to be done from only a yellow, a red and a blue, we may partly judge of the labour that man has to undergo who shall attempt it. In my case, the great variety of tints to be found on the insects, the harshness of some, the softness of others, together with the manner of their running into one another, increases the difficulty, and renders descriptions a matter of such labour, that nothing but the strongest resolution and perseverance could overcome. From hence, I hope, if the reader should chance to meet with any part among them, that does not entirely correspond with the colour given to the print, he will impute it to its proper cause, the painter. I know of no defects of this kind; but it is not impossible some may have escaped my observation, among such a multitude of figures which I had to correct. It is necessary I should inform the reader, that all my descriptions have been taken from the natural subjects themselves, and not from the coloured prints of them; and that my intention therein, is not to give a perfect idea of the insects, without the help of the figures, but only to assist the imagination in knowing what is described. And when we consider the advantages that good engravings have over verbal descriptions, the former representing to the mind, at first view, the object designed to be understood, without putting us to the trouble of calling all our ideas, all our powers of conception to our assistance, in order to discover what is intended to be described; while the latter, though given by the best writers, often puzzles and confounds the mind, if our ideas do not keep pace with the author's meaning, the present work, by having every coloured figure explained, must render it superior to any hitherto published in this kingdom. The last author that published any figures of exotic subjects in natural history, was Mr. Petiver, who, in his Gazophylacium, delineated a great variety of all the different orders; many of them exceeding curious and uncommon, being collected from various parts of the world. But they were sent forth uncoloured, and almost undescribed; circumstances that render them less estimable by the difficulty there is, in many instances, of knowing what the author meant; the shape of the animal, plant, &c. being the principal, and, sometimes, the only thing, we can understand. But although many of the figures consist of mere outlines, not exquisitely well engraved, it is not without merit. There are a great many very uncommon subjects exhibited, that were not known to exist in nature, till he held them forth to public view. It is, in short, a work, that, at the same time it manifested his desire for promoting his favourite study, was a proof of his assiduity, affording great room for speculation; and as the present is an improvement on his plan, I flatter myself it will not be unacceptable to the lovers of natural history. There is yet another advantage arising from the descriptions, that is not less than what I have already mentioned. If this work should fall into the hands of a bookseller, after my decease, the public would not probably be pestered with copies so execrably coloured, as is generally the case with books of this sort, after the author's death; the descriptions will be such a guide for colouring the prints, that capital errors will not be able to find admittance: the grossness of colouring a part yellow that should be red, or green, that ought to be blue, would immediately be detected; and the publisher, for his own sake, would undoubtedly be careful to have the prints justly and accurately done.

The experienced naturalist will perceive, that, throughout the quotations, I have not availed myself of any of the ancient authors. I have scarcely mentioned Mouffet, Aldrovandus, and others. It is certain, the figures to be seen in the works of most of the ancients are so bad, I dared not give any quotation from them. The incorrectness of the outlines, the irregularity and impropriety of the spots and marks, together with the looseness of the engravings, renders them too imperfect for any one to venture mentioning them. Indeed they are, in general, so little expressive of the insect intended to be represented, that no dependance can be had on their figures, especially the farinaceous winged tribe. Clerck, Merian, Roesel, Petiver, &c. are the authors I have principally mentioned, among the iconographers; and if the insect has been figured by a great many authors, as particularly Plate 34. Fig. 7, 8. I have only mentioned a few: the rest may be known by looking into the Systema of Linnæus^[12], under the title mentioned in the quotation. This author is the principal one I have quoted among the descriptive writers: his great judgment in this study, the plain method he has laid down for the classing of insects, together with the excellency of his generical characters, are what must endear him to every professor of this study. I speak only of that part relating to the insect kingdom; the merits of the other parts are best known to those conversant in the respective branches. I must not here pass over a circumstance, which it is proper to apprize my readers of, by way of apology for giving a few figures (but a few) that have been published already in this kingdom. When I first laid down the plan of this work, I had no intention of confining myself to those subjects that were non-descripts; but proposed to give figures of any exotic insects that might fall into my possession, or what I could procure drawings of, by the assistance of those gentlemen who were friends to an attempt of this sort. I was willing to promote this branch of natural history, by any method that lay within the compass of my little sphere. This I was the rather prompted to, by the consideration of its being an attempt entirely novel in this nation, and conducted in a way different from any yet pursued. But a little recollection convinced me I was wrong. I was soon sensible, that the giving figures, already known and published here, could do no service to the study, or benefit the reader; it is possible I might give a better figure than that before published; the engraving might be softer, more delicate, and better becoming the subject; or the colouring more exact and just: but this would not be improving the reader's judgment, or increasing his knowledge. In short, from that moment I altered my plan; and it is to this mistake a few figures are inserted in different places, which have before made their appearance in England, either separately, or mixed with other subjects of natural history. From that time I took care to delineate none that I was conscious had engaged the pencil of any preceding author; but confined myself to such, whose novelty and striking appearances could not fail to recommend them. To such non-descripts I have paid the greatest deference; for in some of the plates, among the butterflies and moths, I have given complete figures of both the upper and under sides; a practice that, as deviating from my general rule, I should not have done, if the richness and softness of the colouring had not been so extremely pleasing, as to render it scarcely possible to dispense with it. It is only to a few I have paid this particular respect. In general, I have given to the butterflies, only figures of one half their under sides, but whole upper ones; and of those moths that have no representations of their under sides, the reader may conclude there is no material difference between their upper and under ones, or else the latter is too poor and mean to justify the giving a figure of it. I must just mention, that although I used this forbearance to those figures that had been heretofore published, I by no means meant to debar myself from representing such as had been only verbally described; as is the case with a great many to be met with in the Systema of Linnæus, and in other authors. The refraining, therefore, from such subjects, would have been rather condemnable than fit to be approved, for the reasons I mentioned before, of the great difficulty there is in understanding, sometimes, the best verbal descriptions that ever were given; therefore figures of this kind may not improperly be considered as explanatory, or as illustrations to such verbal descriptions, affording the student a two-fold pleasure, by comparing them together.

If the reader has made no progress in the study of natural history, he will probably find it difficult to understand the several names, or terms, the different parts of insects are called by; and which occur in every description. For this reason I think it incumbent on me to give the most plain and familiar explanation of them I possibly can. This I have done two ways; by methodical definitions, and figures; and in both of them shall make no scruple to follow the method laid down by that great master of natural history, the judicious Linnæus, whose excellent plan, for the knowledge and classing of insects, demands the utmost thanks and regard from every lover of this branch of science. From his plan I have taken the hint of giving some figures of different genera, with the proper names of the respective parts in a plate by themselves. By these the reader will not only be greatly assisted in understanding the descriptions; but it will enable him to class them with more facility, if he is inclined to do so. I therefore go on to explain, first the terms used throughout the whole; and afterwards the distinct and different parts of insects. In doing this, I divide them into

Order, Class, Genus, and Species.

To these I must add the word

I shall next proceed to explain and describe the different parts composing insects, by dividing them into the Head, Thorax, Abdomen, and Limbs.^[17]

The Head (Fig. 1, 2, 3, a.) includes the ANTENNÆ, MOUTH, PALPI, EYES, TONGUE, JAWS, and HORNS.

The Thorax is principally composed of the BACK, BREAST, and in some the SCUTELLUM, in others the MESOSTERNUM and DILATED POSTERIOR COXÆ.

The Limbs comprehend the TAIL, LEGS, and WINGS, with their cases.

It is necessary to observe, that I have not been so prolix and explanatory in the foregoing definitions as I should be, if I intended to arrange the figures under their respective classes, or establish any system for doing so; I have explained no more terms or parts than what are sufficient to enable the reader (if he is not an adept) easily and clearly to understand the descriptions. It is likewise necessary to mention, that I have given English names to most of the parts, where I could do it with the necessary propriety for serving this particular purpose; and where I could not substitute an English word, that was apposite and significant, I have preserved the Latin one, as used by Linnæus and others. Thus, for instance, the term palpi I would have altered, if I could have found an English word that conveyed the same idea; but not easily finding one, I have kept to the original. I have not forgot the terms mustachios, whiskers, &c. which I might have used in its stead; but as these parts in many insects bore no analogy or resemblance thereto, it being in a great many of them like a short jointed filament or thread, I rather chose to preserve the Latin one. The same practice I have observed with the term antennæ. For though feelers is the general explanation given to this word, I could not prevail with myself to use it. The reason is, because these animals seem to have a power of applying these parts to purposes different from that of feeling. By the antennæ they are capable of distinguishing and perceiving, as well as feeling; and I am strongly inclined to believe, it is by them the males are capable of discovering the females at a great distance. It is certain their powers of perception are very obvious and remarkable, which, by close observations, we may soon discover; and unless we allow them capable of smelling without nostrils, I do not know what parts they exercise, or by what means they so readily discover, not only their females but their respective kinds of food, the places proper for depositing their eggs, &c. The male moths appear to have this faculty of discovering their females in a greater degree than most other insects; for there are but a very few, if any, belonging to this genus, whose females pass the first night after they quit the chrysalis without coupling with the males; owing to unconquerable desire in the latter, and the strong effluvia or scent emitted by the former for attracting their mates. 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; for the minute that action is performed by a male, the attractive property of the other ceases. The powers of perception and distinction, therefore, are very great; and what parts of the insects, unless it be the antennæ, are employed in this search I am at a loss to discover. However, at present, I presume it will not be necessary to offer any further reasons for using this term, as the name substituted is sufficient for it to be known by, it will fully answer the intended purpose.

The names of the other parts are too intelligible to require any explanation.

The plate annexed (being the last thing I shall speak of) requires but little to be said in its favour. The use and advantage of it is too obvious to dwell on. I have already mentioned, that engravings and delineations claim the preference in the highest degree of verbal descriptions; and as such, I presume, the reader will find this plate of the greatest service in assisting him to understand the descriptive parts with clearness and ease. I must only recommend it to him, if he is desirous of avoiding difficulty and trouble, to make himself fully acquainted with the terms and names of all the parts of insects, before he begins to read the descriptions.

The terms upper side and under side, mentioned in all the descriptions of the farinaceous tribe, require no explanation.

Fig. IV. is inserted only to shew the three little eyes, which are placed in a triangular manner, and mentioned in some of the descriptions, viz. Plate 43. Fig. 4, 5, 6, &c.

ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

EXOTIC ENTOMOLOGY.