. Anecdotes of remarkable insects : selected from natural history, and interspersed with poetry. nsectin gardens and fields, and is observed ingreat quantities under the barks of decayedtrees, and beneath stones in damp situations ^&c. When suddenly disturbed or handled,it rolls itself up into a completely globularform, in the manner of the curious quad-rupeds called Armadillos, frequently remain-ing in this state for a very considerablelength of time, or so long as it is any waysdisturbed. Swaramerdam relates a ludicrousmistake of a servant maid, who, finding in& 182 WOOD LOUSE. the garden a
. Anecdotes of remarkable insects : selected from natural history, and interspersed with poetry. nsectin gardens and fields, and is observed ingreat quantities under the barks of decayedtrees, and beneath stones in damp situations ^&c. When suddenly disturbed or handled,it rolls itself up into a completely globularform, in the manner of the curious quad-rupeds called Armadillos, frequently remain-ing in this state for a very considerablelength of time, or so long as it is any waysdisturbed. Swaramerdam relates a ludicrousmistake of a servant maid, who, finding in& 182 WOOD LOUSE. the garden a great many in this globularstate, imagined she had discovered somehandsome materials for a necklace, and be-took herself to stringing them with greatcare . but on suddenly perceiving them un-fold, was seized with a panic, and ran shriek-ing into the house. Though considered at present as but ofslight importance in the practice of physic,these animals once maintained a very respecta-ble station in the Materia MedkUy under thetitle of Millepedes. BUTTEEFLIES. 183 P^ppiLio.— This curious and beautiful insect is dis-tinguished by its antennas growing thickertowards the tip, and generally ending in aknob; wings, when sitting, erect, the edgesmeeting together over the abdomen, it fliesin the day time. There are very nearlytwelve hundred species scattered over theglobe, of which nearly seventy are natives ofour own country. Butterflies of every description ?xe **v- 184 BUTTERFLIES. tremely prolific; a single female, at one birth,produces several hundred eggs : and one ofthe most wonderful particulars in the historyof these insects, is the precaution with whichthey provide for the security of their young :some species tear off even the down from theirown bodies to supply them with a covering. The variety and richness of the coloursthat adorn the greater part of this tribe, havemade it an object of especial research bypainters as well as by naturalists. Ingeneral the tropic
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectinsects, booksubjectnaturalhistory
