The Massachusetts spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1831-1858, 1832-07-11
HABITS OF INSECTS.
Extract from the July Number Of The North
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were much more so in former times, whe
their habits and persons were less familiar
ly known. Men had not begun to ask fror
whence they came, nor whittier they wer
going: hut they found them when they leas
desired their company, and there was sol
OF mystery in their movements, which, NOR
than any thing else, tends to inspire tn
feeling of dread. 1t was on this accoun
that they were first distinguished hy tn
name Of bug, which, however it may hav
degenerated into II watchword of contemp
at the present day, was formerly synony
nous with ghost or spectre, and equall
alarming. The passage of scripture fIon
the Psalms, "Thou shalt not nede to b,
afrade of any bug by night" rs it stood il
Matthew's old English Bible, is probably
known to our readers. Later translator
have judiriously substituted more genera
word in its stead. But even now, consider
ing their power to destroy our peace, Their
is some reason TO fear them, and were Their
nothing else formidable about them, tbei
numbers are sufficiently alarming.
The insect called the death-watch wa
formerly thought TO sound the alarm o
death to some inmate of the mansion where
it was heard, though it would have required
a perpetual cholera TO have fulfilled half the
number of his predictions Now, it il
known to proceed from little wood-boring
insect, whose skull is somewhat hard, and
who uses it Cor the purpose of sigma
to others. Standing on its hind legs, il
beats regularly on the hoard a number Of
7imes.-a process, which, comparing its
force with the size of the insect. one would
ahink more likely to be fatal to itself than
TO those who hear it. The history of the
Hessian fly, which made its appearance at
the close of the American war, aad which
certain aged people, believing it to be a
consequence of our separation from the
British Government, named the Revolution
fly, shows how much alarm and Trouble ig-
norance OF the character of little insect
may occasion. They first appeared in Stat
en- Island, and spread rapidly, destroying
the wheat on their way. They passed the
Delaware in Clouds and swarmed like the
flies of Egypt, in every place where their
presence was unwelcOme. The British,
naturally disliking every thing that savored
of revolution, were in great fear lest they
shoulu reach their island, and resolved to
prevent it, Il necessary, with all the power
of their fleet. The prlvy council sat day
after dny; dispatches were sent to all the
foreign ministers; expresses were sent to
the custom-houses to close the ports Sir
Joseph Banks, who held such matters in
special charge,-as Swift said Mr.. Flam-
stead was once appointed Ivy Government
to look after the stars,-was called upon 10
exert himself, with such Importantly, thai
if such thing were possible, he grew al
most profane on the occasion. He shout.
ed across the ocean to DR.. Mitchell, while
the Doctor stood wringing his hands upon
the western shore. When he had collect.
ell all the information which could he fur.
nished by scientific and practical men con
corning the bug in question, amounting to
more than two hundred octave pages, he en-
lightensd the Government with the informa
ton, that he did not know what the crea
ture was; report satisfactory us far as j
went, no doubt, but hich might, for augh
that appears, have been reduced to some
what smaller dimensions.
But for DR.. franklin, it would have beer
more common than it is now, and the prac
tice is by no means obsolete. for every fam
lily TO supply itself with mosrhettoes by keep
ing large open vessels of water near theil
houses, as if for the specia! benefit of thi;
insect, whose bark and bite are equally un
desirable. The moschet;o lays his eggs
upon the water, where they are Matched in.
TO grubs, which float with their heads down
ward when the time for their change il
come, they break through their outer cover
ing and draw themselves out standing up
right, so that they appear like a vessel, the
corslet being the boat, and the body official
ing as mast and sail Their former sea
change is now reversed for, should thei
naval establishment overset, they are inev
ltably lost moschettoes. As soon as theil
wings are dried, they fly away TO their WORT
of blood. As six or seven generations arr
born in summer, and each mother can fur
nist two hundred and fifty eggs, i, is ev
dent that vessel of water, properly neg
lected, will people the air of whole neigh
horhood. But there is no end 10 the list O
evils, arising fIom ignorance on this subject
One Of the choicest specimens of it We
have ever heard, is that of gardeners in Ger
many, who collect and bury gfubs in orde
TO destroy them, a mode of destruction quite
as fatal, as that Of throwing fish into the
water to drown them.
1t would be easy to give some striking il
Illustrations of the advantage of knowledg,
on this subject. The manner in which peacl
trees are secured from the depredatons o
the insect which every year destroys many
is familarly known. The insect deposits
its eggs in the bark of the tree, as nearly a.
possible to the surface Of the ground. Wher
it is obliged 10 resort to the branches, be
sides that it is more easily discovered BY
the gum which flows from the wound, The
grub would generally be arrested by the
cold before it could make its way 10 the
root, where it retreats in winter. By as
pertaining the time when these eggs are
LAID, and tying straw or mating round the
trunk of the tree, its injuries are easily pre-
vented. When the timber was found 10 be
perishing in the dork yards of Sweden the
King applied to Linneus to discover a rem
edy, thus acknowledging the dependence
OF commerce, national defence, and roya
power. upon humble scientific researches
He ascertained the time when the insec
deposited its eggs, and by sinking the tim
9el IN the water at that period, the evil wa!
eftectually prevented.
But we have little TO complain Of com
pared with the inhabitants of warmer eli
mates. DIR. Clark tells MS, that in the Cri
mea he found the moschettoes so venomous
TINT IN spite Of gloves, and every other de
fence, he was one entire wound. In sui
try night, he sought shelter in his carriage
they followed him there, and when he ut
tempted TO light candle, they extinguish
ed 1t by their numbers. In South America
there are countless varieties; some pursu
their labors by day and others by night
they form different strata in the air, an,
new detachments relieve quad as fast a
the former are exhausted. Humboldt tell
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