In strong contrast to the poverty of Brazil in the larger mammals is the astonishing profusion of insect life in every part of the country. The Coleoptera and Lepidoptera are especially numerous, both in species and individuals. A striking illustration of this extraordinary profusion was given by the English naturalist H.W. Bates, who found 7000 species of insects in the vicinity of only one of his collecting places on the Amazon (Ega), of which 550 species were of butterflies. Within an hour's walk of Pará are to be found, he says, about 700 species of butterflies, "whilst the total number found in the British Islands does not exceed 66, and the whole of Europe supports only 321." (H.W. Bates, _The Naturalist on the River Amazons_.) One of the rare species of the Amazon _Morphos_ (_M. hecuba_) measures 8 to 9 in. across its expanded wings. Dipterous insects are also very numerous in species, especially in those of sanguinary habits, such as the mosquito, _pium_, _maroim_, _carapana_, _borochudo_, &c. In some places these insects constitute a veritable plague, and the infested regions are practically uninhabitable. The related species of the _Oestridae_ family, which include the widely disseminated _chigoe_ or _bicho do pé_ (_Pulex penetrans_), and the equally troublesome _berne_ (_Cutiterebra noxialis_), which is so injurious to animals, are equally numerous. The most numerous of all, however, and perhaps the most harmful to civilized man, are the termites and ants, which are found everywhere in the uninhabited campo and forest regions, as well as in the cultivated districts. Nature has provided several species of animals, birds and reptiles, to feed upon these insects, and various poisonous and suffocating compounds are used to destroy them, but with no great degree of success. It is not uncommon to find once cultivated fields abandoned because of their ravages and to see large _campos_ completely covered with enormous ant-hills. The termites, or "white ants," are exceptionally destructive because of their habit of tunnelling through the softer woods of habitations and furniture, while some species of ants, like the _saúba_, are equally destructive to plantations because of the rapidity with which they strip a tree of its foliage. Spiders are represented by a very large number of species, some of which are beautifully coloured. The largest of these is the _Mygale_ with a body 2 in. in length and outstretched legs covering 7 in., a monster strong enough to capture and kill small birds. A large _Mygale_ found on the island of Siriba, of the Abrolhos group, feeds upon lizards, and has been known to attack and kill young chickens. One of the most troublesome pests of the interior is a minute degenerate spider of the genus _Ixodes_, called _carrapato_, or bush-tick, which breeds on the ground and then creeps up the grass blades and bushes where it waits for some passing man or beast. Its habit is to bury its head in its victim's skin and remain there until gorged with blood, when it drops off. Scorpions are common, but are considered less poisonous than some European species.