Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

  The spider often spreads its web right across between two trees, when plying its art and learning how to spin; and then, as to its length, the thread extends from the very top of the tree to the ground, while the insect springs up again in an instant from the earth, and travels aloft by the very self-same thread, thus mounting at the same moment and spinning its threads. When its prey falls into its net, how on the alert it is, and with what readiness it runs to seize it! Even though it should be adhering to the very edge of its web, the insect always runs instantly to the middle, as it is by these means that it can most effectually shake the web, and so successfully entangle its prey. When the web is torn, the spider immediately sets about repairing it, and that so neatly, that nothing like patching can ever be seen. The spider lies in wait even for the young of the lizard, and after enveloping the head of the animal, bites its lips; a sight by no means unworthy of the amphitheatre itself, when it is one’s good fortune to witness it. Presages also are drawn from the spider; for when a river is about to swell, it will suspend its web higher than usual. In calm weather these insects do not spin, but when it is cloudy they do, and hence it is, that a great number of cobwebs is a sure sign of showery weather. It is generally supposed that it is the female spider that spins, and the male that lies in wait for prey, thus making an equal division of their duties.

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  CHAP. 29.

  THE GENERATION OF SPIDERS.

  Spiders couple backwards, and produce maggots like eggs; for I ought not to defer making some mention of this subject, seeing, in fact, that of most insects there is hardly anything else to be said. All these eggs they lay in their webs, but scattered about, as they leap from place to place while laying them. The phalangium is the only spider that lays a considerable number of them, in a hole; and as soon as ever the progeny is hatched it devours its mother, and very often the male parent as well, for that, too, aids in the process of incubation. These last produce as many as three hundred eggs, the others a smaller number. Spiders take three days to hatch their eggs. They come to their full growth in twenty-eight days.

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  CHAP. 30. (25.)

  SCORPIONS.

  In a similar manner to the spider, the land scorpion also produces maggots similar to eggs, and dies in a similar manner. This animal is a dangerous scourge, and has a venom like that of the serpent; with the exception that its effects are far more painful, as the person who is stung will linger for three days before death ensues. The sting is invariably fatal to virgins, and nearly always so to matrons. It is so to men also, in the morning, when the animal has issued from its hole in a fasting state, and has not yet happened to discharge its poison by any accidental stroke. The tail is always ready to strike, and ceases not for an instant to menace, so that no opportunity may possibly be missed. The animal strikes too with a sidelong blow, or else by turning the tail upwards. Apollodorus informs us, that the poison which they secrete is of a white colour, and he has divided them into nine classes, distinguished mostly by their colours — to very little purpose, however, for it is impossible to understand which among these it is that he has pronounced to be the least dangerous. He says, also, that some of them have a double sting, and that the males — for he asserts that they are engendered by the union of the sexes — are the most dangerous. These may easily be known, he says, by their slender form and greater length. He states, also, that they all of them have venom in the middle of the day, when they have been warmed by the heat of the sun, as, also, when they are thirsty — their thirst, indeed, can never be quenched. It is an ascertained fact, that those which have seven joints in the tail are the most deadly; the greater part, however, have but six.

  For this pest of Africa, the southern winds have provided means of flight as well, for as the breeze bears them along, they extend their arms and ply them like so many oars in their flight; the same Apollodorus, however, asserts that there are some which really have wings. The Psylli, who for their own profit have been in the habit of importing the poisons of other lands among us, and have thus filled Italy with the pests which belong to other regions, have made attempts to import the flying scorpion as well, but it has been found that it cannot live further north than the latitude of Sicily. However, they are sometimes to be seen in Italy, but are quite harmless there; they are found, also, in many other places, the vicinity of Pharos, in Egypt, for instance. In Scythia, the scorpion is able to kill the swine even with its sting, an animal which, in general, is proof against poisons of this kind in a remarkable degree. When stung, those swine which are black die more speedily than others, and more particularly if they happen to throw themselves into the water. When a person has been stung, it is generally supposed that he may be cured by drinking the ashes of the scorpion mixed with wine. It is the belief also that there is nothing more baneful to the scorpion and the stellio, than to dip them in oil. This last animal is also dangerous to all other creatures, except those which, like itself, are destitute of blood: in figure it strongly resembles the common lizard. For the most part, also, the scorpion does no injury to any animal which is bloodless. Some writers, too, are of opinion that the scorpion devours its offspring, and that the one among the young which is the most adroit avails itself of its sole mode of escape, by placing itself on the back of the mother, and thus finding a place where it is in safety from the tail and the sting. The one that thus escapes, they say, becomes the avenger of the rest, and at last, taking advantage of its elevated position, puts its parents to death. The scorpion produces eleven at a birth.

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  CHAP. 31. (26.)

  THE STELLIO.

  The stellio has in some measure the same nature as the chameleon, as it lives upon nothing but dew, and such spiders as it may happen to find.

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  CHAP. 32.

  THE GRASSHOPPER: THAT IT HAS NEITHER MOUTH NOR OUTLET FOR FOOD.

  The cicada also lives in a similar manner, and is divided into two kinds. The smaller kind are born the first and die the last, and are without a voice. The others are of the flying kind, and have a note; there are two sorts, those known as achetæ, and the smaller ones called tettiqonia: these last have the loudest voice. In both of these last-mentioned kinds, it is the male that sings, while the female is silent. There are nations in the east that feed upon these insects, the Parthians even, wealthy and affluent as they are. They prefer the male before it has had sexual intercourse, and the female after; and they take their eggs, which are white. They engender with the belly upwards. Upon the back they have a sharp-edged instrument, by means of which they excavate a hole to breed in, in the ground. The young is, at first, a small maggot in appearance, after which the larva assumes the form in which it is known as the tettigometra. It bursts its shell about the time of the summer solstice, and then takes to flight, which always happens in the night. The insect, at first, is black and hard.

  This is the only living creature that has no mouth; though it has something instead which bears a strong resemblance to the tongues of those insects which carry a sting in the mouth: this organ is situate in the breast of the animal, and is employed by it in sucking up the dew. The corselet itself forms a kind of pipe; and it is by means of this that the achetæ utter their note, as already mentioned. Beyond this, they have no viscera in the abdomen. When surprised, they spring upwards, and eject a kind of liquid, which, indeed, is our only proof that they live upon dew. This, also, is the only animal that has no outlet for the evacuations of the body. Their powers of sight are so bad, that if a person contracts his finger, and then suddenly extends it close to them, they will come upon it just as though it were a leaf. Some authors divide these animals into two kinds, the “surcularia,” which is the largest, and the “ frumentaria,” by many known as the “ avenaria;” this last makes its appearance just as the corn is turning dry in the ear.

  (27.) The grasshopper is not a native of countries that
are bare of trees-hence it is that there are none in the vicinity of the city of Cyrene-nor, in fact, is it produced in champaign coun- tries, or in cool and shady thickets. They will take to some places much more readily than others. In the district of Miletus they are only to be found in some few spots; and in Cephallenia, there is a river which runs through the country, on one side of which they are not to be found, while on the other they exist in vast numbers. In the territory of Rhegium, again, none of the grasshoppers have any note, while beyond the river, in the territory of Locri, they sing aloud. Their wings are formed similarly to those of bees, but are larger, in proportion to the body.

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  CHAP. 33. (28.)

  THE WINGS OF INSECTS.

  There are some insects which have two wings, flies, for instance; others, again, have four, like the bee. The wings of the grasshopper are membranous. Those insects which are armed with a sting in the abdomen, have four wings. None of those which have a sting in the mouth, have more than two wings. The former have received the sting for the purpose of defending themselves, the latter for the supplying of their wants. If pulled from off the body, the wings of an insect will not grow again; no insect which has a sting inserted in its body, has two wings only.

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  CHAP. 34.

  THE BEETLE. THE GLOW-WORM. OTHER KINDS OF BEETLES.

  Some insects, for the preservation of their wings, are covered with a erust the beetle, for instance, the wing of which is peculiarly fine and frail. To these insects a sting has been denied by Nature; but in one large kind we find horns of a remarkable length, two-pronged at the extremities, and forming pincers, which the animal closes when it is its intention to bite. These beetles are suspended from the neck of infants by way of remedy against certain maladies: Nigidius calls them “lucani.” There is another kind of beetle, again, which, as it goes backwards with its feet, rolls the dung into large pellets, and then deposits in them the maggots which form its young, as in a sort of nest, to protect them against the rigours of winter. Some, again, fly with a loud buzzing or a drony noise, while others burrow numerous holes in the hearths and out in the fields, and their shrill chirrup is to be heard at night.

  The glow-worm, by the aid of the colour of its sides and haunches, sends forth at night a light which resembles that of fire; being resplendent, at one moment, as it expands its wings, and then thrown into the shade the instant it has shut them. These insects are never to be seen before the grass of the pastures has come to maturity, nor yet after the hay has been cut. On the other hand, it is the nature of the black beetle to seek dark corners, and to avoid the light: it is mostly found in baths, being produced from the humid vapours which arise therefrom. There are some beetles also, belonging to the same species, of a golden colour and very large size, which burrow in dry ground, and construct small combs of a porous nature, and very like sponge; these they fill with a poisonous kind of honey. In Thrace, near Olynthus, there is a small locality, the only one in which this animal cannot exist; from which circumstance it has received the name of “ Cantharolethus.”

  The wings of all insects are formed without any division in them, and they none of them have a tail, with the exception of the scorpion; this, too, is the only one among them that has arms, together with a sting in the tail. As to the rest of the insects, some of them have the sting in the mouth, the gad-fly for instance, or the “tabanus,” as some persons choose to call it: the same is the case, too, with the gnat and some kinds of flies. All these insects have their stings situate in the mouth instead of a tongue; but in some the sting is not pointed, being formed not for pricking, but for the purpose of suction: this is the case more especially with flies, in which it is clear that the tongue is nothing more than a tube. These insects, too, have no teeth. Others, again, have little horns protruding in front of the eyes, but without any power in them; the butterfly, for instance. Some insects are destitute of wings, such as the scolopendra, for instance.

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  CHAP. 35.

  LOCUSTS.

  Those insects which have feet, move sideways. Some of them have the hind feet longer than the fore ones, and curving outwards, the locust, for example.

  (29.) These creatures lay their eggs in large masses, in the autumn, thrusting the end of the tail into holes which they form in the ground. These eggs remain underground throughout the winter, and in the ensuing year, at the close of spring, small locusts issue from them, of a black colour, and crawling along without legs and wings. Hence it is that a wet spring destroys their eggs, while, if it is dry, they multiply in great abundance. Some persons maintain that they breed twice a year, and die the same number of times; that they bring forth at the rising of the Vergiliæ, and die at the rising of the Dog-star, after which others spring up in their places: according to some, it is at the setting of Arcturus that the second litter is produced. That the mothers die the moment they have brought forth, is a well-known fact, for a little worm immediately grows about the throat, which chokes them: at the same time, too, the males perish as well. This insect, which thus dies through a cause apparently so trifling, is able to kill a serpent by itself, when it pleases, by seizing its jaws with its teeth. Locusts are only produced in champaign places, that are full of chinks and crannies. In India, it is said that they attain the length of three feet, and that the people dry the legs and thighs, and use them for saws. There is another mode, also, in which these creatures perish; the winds carry them off in vast swarms, upon which they fall into the sea or standing waters, and not, as the ancients supposed, because their wings have been drenched by the dampness of the night. The same authors have also stated, that they are unable to fly during the night, in consequence of the cold, being ignorant of the fact, that they travel over lengthened tracts of sea for many days together, a thing the more to be wondered at, as they have to endure hunger all the time as well, for this it is which causes them to be thus seeking pastures in other lands. This is looked upon as a plague inflicted by the anger of the gods; for as they fly they appear to be larger than they really are, while they make such a loud noise with their wings, that they might be readily supposed to be winged creatures of quite another species. Their numbers, too, are so vast, that they quite darken the sun; while the people below are anxiously following them with the eye, to see if they are about to make a descent, and so cover their lands. After all, they have the requisite energies for their flight; and, as though it had been but a trifling matter to pass over the seas, they cross immense tracts of country, and cover them in clouds which bode destruction to the harvests. Scorching numerous objects by their very contact, they eat away everything with their teeth, the very doors of the houses even.

  Those from Africa are the ones which chiefly devastate Italy; and more than once the Roman people have been obliged to have recourse to the Sibylline Books, to learn what remedies to employ under their existing apprehensions of impending famine. In the territory of Cyrenaica there is a law, which even compels the people to make war, three times a year, against the locusts, first, by crushing their eggs, next by killing the young, and last of all by killing those of full growth; and he who fails to do so, incurs the penalty of being treated as a deserter. In the island of Lemnos also, there is a certain measure fixed by law, which each individual is bound to fill with locusts which he has killed, and then bring it to the magistrates. It is for this reason, too, that they pay such respect to the jack-daw, which flies to meet the locusts, and kills them in great numbers. In Syria, also, the people are placed under martial law, and compelled to kill them: in so many countries does this dreadful pest prevail. The Parthians look upon them as a choice food, and the grasshopper as well. The voice of the locust appears to proceed from the back part of the head. It is generally believed that in this place, where the shoulders join on to the body, they have, as it were, a kind of teeth, and that it is by grinding these against each other that they produce the harsh noise whi
ch they make. It is more especially about the two equinoxes that they are to be heard, in the same way that we hear the chirrup of the grasshopper about the summer solstice. The coupling of locusts is similar to that of all other insects that couple, the female supporting the male, and turning back the extremity of the tail towards him; it is only after a considerable time that they separate. In all these kinds of insects the male is of smaller size than the female.

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  CHAP. 36. (30.)

  ANTS.

  The greater part of the insects produce a maggot. Ants also produce one in spring, which is similar to an egg, and they work in common, like bees; but whereas the last make their food, the former only store it away. If a person only compares the burdens which the ants carry with the size of their bodies, he must confess that there is no animal which, in proportion, is possessed of a greater degree of strength. These burdens they carry with the mouth, but when it is too large to admit of that, they turn their backs to it, and push it onwards with their feet, while they use their utmost energies with their shoulders. These insects, also, have a political community among themselves, and are possessed of both memory and foresight. They gnaw each grain before they lay it by, for fear lest it should shoot while under ground; those grains, again, which are too large for admission, they divide at the entrance of their holes; and those which have become soaked by the rain, they bring out and dry. They work, too, by night, during the full moon; but when there is no moon, they cease working. And then, too, in their labours, what ardour they display, what wondrous carefulness! Because they collect their stores from different quarters, in ignorance of the proceedings of one another, they have certain days set apart for holding a kind of market, on which they meet together and take stock. What vast throngs are then to be seen hurrying together, what anxious enquiries appear to be made, and what earnest parleys are going on among them as they meet! We see even the very stones worn away by their footsteps, and roads beaten down by being the scene of their labours. Let no one be in doubt, then, how much assiduity and application, even in the very humblest of objects, can upon every occasion effect! Ants are the only living beings, besides man, that bestow burial on the dead. In Sicily there are no winged ants to be found.