Spontaneous Generation: Galen and Alexander against the Platonists on why the world soul doesn’t make mosquitos

Stranger: Take animals and all mortal things, and even plants, those which grow from seeds on the earth or those which grow from roots, and those bodies without soul which form in the earth, both the ones that can be melted and the ones that can’t. Surely we are not going to say anything other than divine craftsmanship makes them come to be after previously not being? Or do we consult the saying and opinion of the masses that…

Theaetetus: That what?

Stranger: That nature produces them from some spontaneous cause and without an engendering thought, rather than with reason and divine knowledge that comes from a god?

Ξένος: ζῷα δὴ πάντα θνητά, καὶ δὴ καὶ φυτὰ ὅσα τ᾽ ἐπὶ γῆς ἐκ σπερμάτων καὶ ῥιζῶν φύεται, καὶ ὅσα ἄψυχα ἐν γῇ συνίσταται σώματα τηκτὰ καὶ ἄτηκτα, μῶν ἄλλου τινὸς ἢ θεοῦ δημιουργοῦντος φήσομεν ὕστερον γίγνεσθαι πρότερον οὐκ ὄντα; ἢ τῷ τῶν πολλῶν δόγματι καὶ ῥήματι χρώμενοι—

Θεαίτητος: ποίῳ τῳ;

Ξένος: τὴν φύσιν αὐτὰ γεννᾶν ἀπό τινος αἰτίας αὐτομάτης καὶ ἄνευ διανοίας φυούσης, ἢ μετὰ λόγου τε καὶ ἐπιστήμης θείας ἀπὸ θεοῦ γιγνομένης; [265δ]

Plato, Sophist 265 C-D

“When one of my Platonists teachers told me that the soul-that-is-extended-through-the-whole-cosmos formed the (human) embryo, I thought that the technical skill and power is worthy of it; but, I could not abide thinking that the world-soul formed scorpions, poisonous spiders, flies, conopses, vipers, grubs, worms and ascarides. I take it this kind of opinion comes near impiety. ”

εἰπόντος δέ τινος τῶν διδασκάλων μοι τῶν Πλατωνικῶν, τὴν δι' ὅλου κόσμου ψυχὴν ἐκτεταμένην διαπλάττειν τὰ κυούμενα, τὴν μὲν τέχνην καὶ δύναμιν ἀξίαν ἐκείνης ἐνόμισα, σκορπίους δὲ καὶ φαλάγγια, καὶ μυῖαν καὶ κώνωπας, ἐχίδνας τε καὶ σκώληκας, ἕλμινθάς τε καὶ ἀσκαρίδας ὑπ' ἐκείνης διαπλάττεσθαι νομίζειν οὐχ ὑπέμεινα, πλησίον ἀσεβείας ἥκειν ὑπολαβὼν τὴν τοιαύτην δόξαν.

Galen, On the Formation of the Foetus, 4.700—701 K

“Again, it is possible to discover the existence of a regular order even among evil things and things that come to be contrary to nature, like abscesses, wounds, inflammations, and periodic illnesses. But also the generation of some living things is in fact orderly, without being relative to an Idea, like the generation of grubs, gnats, and grubs.”

ἔτι τὸ εὔτακτον ἔστιν εὑρεῖν καὶ ἐν τοῖς κακοῖς καὶ παρὰ φύσιν γιγνομένοις, οἷον ἀποστήματα, τραύματα, φλεγμοναί, νόσων περίοδοι. ἀλλὰ καὶ ζῴων τινῶν γενέσεις τεταγμέναι μέν, ἀλλ' οὐ πρὸς ἰδέαν, οἷον σκωλήκων, ἐμπίδων, τερηδόνων.

Alexander of Aphrodisias, On Aristotle’s Metaphysics Α, 103,35-104-19 Hayduck

Spontaneous Generation: Aristotle on why life is not decay

“Of things that come to be, some come to be by nature, some by art, some spontaneously. But everything that comes to be (1) comes to be by something and (2) comes to be from something and (3) comes to be something.”

Τῶν δὲ γιγνομένων τὰ μὲν φύσει γίγνεται τὰ δὲ τέχνῃ τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου, πάντα δὲ τὰ γιγνόμενα ὑπό τέ τινος γίγνεται καὶ ἔκ τινος καὶ τί.

Aristotle, Metaphysics Ζ 7, 1032a12-4

“When I was young, Cebes, I was wonderfully keen on that wisdom which they call natural history, for I thought it was splendid to know the causes of each thing, why each comes to be and why it perishes and why it is. And often, I would turn myself up and down, looking first into questions like these: do living creatures arise when heat and cold take on a kind of decay, as some people used to say?”

ἐγὼ γάρ, ἔφη, ὦ Κέβης, νέος ὢν θαυμαστῶς ὡς ἐπεθύμησα ταύτης τῆς σοφίας ἣν δὴ καλοῦσι περὶ φύσεως ἱστορίαν: ὑπερήφανος γάρ μοι ἐδόκει εἶναι, εἰδέναι τὰς αἰτίας ἑκάστου, διὰ τί γίγνεται ἕκαστον καὶ διὰ τί ἀπόλλυται καὶ διὰ τί ἔστι. καὶ πολλάκις [96β] ἐμαυτὸν ἄνω κάτω μετέβαλλον σκοπῶν πρῶτον τὰ τοιάδε: ἆρ᾽ ἐπειδὰν τὸ θερμὸν καὶ τὸ ψυχρὸν σηπεδόνα τινὰ λάβῃ, ὥς τινες ἔλεγον, τότε δὴ τὰ ζῷα συντρέφεται;

Plato, Phaedo 96a6-b3

“Nothing that is decaying comes to be; rather, what is being concocted does; the process of decay and the thing decaying are residues from what has been concocted. Actually, there isn’t anything that comes to be from the whole (of the material it is made out of), any more than in the case of what has been fashioned by art. For if that were the case, there wouldn’t be any need to produce things. What actually happens is that the useless stuff is removed, in the one case by art, in the other case by nature.

“Animals and plants come to be in earth and in water because in earth there is water, and in water there is pneuma, and in all pneuma, there is psychic heat, and so, in a certain way, all things are full of soul. That’s why they are formed quickly once it has been enveloped.

“When it is enveloped, and when the bodily moisture is heated, it becomes like a frothy bubble. Whether what takes shape is a more or less honourable kind of thing, the difference depends on what envelops the psychic principle. Of this (i.e,. what envelops the psychic principle), the causes are the places and the body which is being enclosed.”

γίγνεται δ' οὐθὲν σηπόμενον ἀλλὰ πεττόμενον· ἡ δὲ σῆψις καὶ τὸ σαπρὸν περίττωμα τοῦ πεφθέντος ἐστίν· οὐθὲν γὰρ ἐκ παντὸς γίγνεται καθάπερ οὐδ' ἐν τοῖς ὑπὸ τῆς τέχνης δημιουργουμένοις – οὐθὲν γὰρ ἂν ἔδει ποιεῖν – νῦν δὲ τὸ μὲν ἡ τέχνη τῶν ἀχρήστων ἀφαιρεῖ, τὸ δ' ἡ φύσις.

Γίγνονται δ' ἐν γῇ καὶ ἐν ὑγρῷ τὰ ζῷα καὶ τὰ φυτὰ διὰ τὸ ἐν γῇ μὲν ὕδωρ ὑπάρχειν ἐν δ' ὕδατι πνεῦμα, ἐν δὲ τούτῳ παντὶ θερμότητα ψυχικήν, ὥστε τρόπον τινὰ πάντα ψυχῆς εἶναι πλήρη· διὸ συνίσταται ταχέως ὁπόταν ἐμπεριληφθῇ.

ἐμπεριλαμβάνεται δὲ καὶ γίγνεται θερμαινομένων τῶν σωματικῶν ὑγρῶν οἷον ἀφρώδης πομφόλυξ. αἱ μὲν οὖν διαφοραὶ τοῦ τιμιώτερον εἶναι τὸ γένος καὶ ἀτιμότερον τὸ συνιστάμενον ἐν τῇ περιλήψει τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς ψυχικῆς ἐστιν. τούτου δὲ καὶ οἱ τόποι αἴτιοι καὶ τὸ σῶμα τὸ περιλαμβανόμενον.

Aristotle, Generation of Animals, 3.11, 762a13—27

“The cause is similar to that in the case of yeast. For yeast goes from being something small to being big, when the more solid part becomes fluid, and the fluid becomes pneumatized. The psychic heat fashions this in the case of animals, but in the case of the yeast, it is the heat of the humour that was blended with it.”

τὸ δ' αἴτιον παραπλήσιον ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῆς ζύμης· καὶ γὰρ ἡ ζύμη ἐκ μικρᾶς μεγάλη γίγνεται τοῦ μὲν στερεωτέρου ὑγραινομένου τοῦ δ' ὑγροῦ πνευματουμένου. δημιουργεῖ δὲ τοῦτο ἡ τοῦ ψυχικοῦ θερμοῦ φύσις ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις, ἐν δὲ ταῖς ζύμαις ἡ τοῦ χυμοῦ τοῦ συγκραθέντος θερμότης.

Aristotle, Generation of Animals 3.4, 755a14-25

Spontaneous Generation: fire animals, animals that look like twigs, and mosquitos

“There is a fact common to animals and plants. Some plants come to be from seed, while others come to be spontaneously, when some seed-like principle is formed; and of these, some grow in (lit. ‘get their nourishment from’) the ground, while others emerge inside other plants, as we said in our exposition on plants. In the same way, some animals come to be from animals in accordance with a shared kind of form, while others come to be spontaneously and not from something of the same kind; of these, some come from decaying earth and plants, as happens with many of the insects, while others come to be inside of animals from the residues in their internal organs.”

Κοινὸν μὲν οὖν συμβέβηκε καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ζῴων, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν φυτῶν· τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ σπέρματος ἑτέρων φυτῶν, τὰ δ' αὐτόματα γίνεται, συστάσης τινὸς τοιαύτης ἀρχῆς, καὶ τούτων τὰ μὲν ἐκ τῆς γῆς λαμβάνει τὴν τροφήν, τὰ δ' ἐν ἑτέροις ἐγγίνεται φυτοῖς, ὥσπερ εἴρηται ἐν τῇ θεωρίᾳ τῇ περὶ φυτῶν. Οὕτω καὶ τῶν ζῴων τὰ μὲν ἀπὸ ζῴων γίνεται κατὰ συγγένειαν τῆς μορφῆς, τὰ δ' αὐτόματα καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ συγγενῶν, καὶ τούτων τὰ μὲν ἐκ γῆς σηπομένης καὶ φυτῶν, ὥσπερ πολλὰ συμβαίνει τῶν ἐντόμων, τὰ δ' ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις αὐτοῖς ἐκ τῶν τοῖς μορίοις περιττωμάτων.

Aristotle, History of Animals 5.1, 539a15-539a25

“At first, the decaying slime itself takes on a white color, then black, and finally blood-red. When this happens, things grow from it that are like very tiny, red wisps of seaweed. At this point in time, they wiggle as they cling to things, then, the ’ascarides’ (as they are called) break loose and swim around in the water. After a few days, they stand straight in the water, motionless and rigid, and then, when the shell breaks off, the mosquito sits on it, until the sun or pneuma causes it to move. Then they fly away. For all the rest of the grubs, too, and all the animals that emerge from grubs, the principle of generation comes to be from the sun or the pneuma.”

Τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον αὐτὴ ἡ ἰλὺς σηπομένη χρῶμα λαμβάνει λευκόν, εἶτα μέλαν, τελευτῶσα δ' αἱματῶδες· ὅταν δὲ τοιαύτη γένηται, φύεται ἐξ αὐτῆς ὥσπερ τὰ φυκία μικρὰ σφόδρα καὶ ἐρυθρά· ταῦτα δὲ χρόνον μέν τινα κινεῖται προσπεφυκότα, ἔπειτ' ἀπορραγέντα φέρεται κατὰ τὸ ὕδωρ, αἱ καλούμεναι ἀσκαρίδες. Μεθ' ἡμέρας δ' ὀλίγας ἵστανται ὀρθαὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος ἀκινητίζουσαι καὶ σκληραί, κἄπειτα περιρραγέντος τοῦ κελύφους ἡ ἐμπὶς ἄνω ἐπικάθηται, ἕως ἂν ἥλιος ἢ πνεῦμα κινήσῃ· τότε δ' ἤδη πέτεται. Πᾶσι δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις σκώληξι καὶ τοῖς ζῴοις τοῖς ἐκ τῶν σκωλήκων περιρρηγνυμένοις ἡ ἀρχὴ γίνεται τῆς γενέσεως ὑφ' ἡλίου ἢ ὑπὸ πνεύματος.

Aristotle, History of Animals 5.32, 551b29-552a11

“In Cyprus, in places where copper-ore is smelted, with heaps of the ore piled on day after day, an animal is engendered in the fire, somewhat larger than a large fly, furnished with wings, which can hop or crawl through the fire.”

Ἐν δὲ Κύπρῳ, οὗ ἡ χαλκῖτις λίθος καίεται, ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ἐμβαλλόντων, ἐνταῦθα γίνεται θηρία ἐν τῷ πυρί, τῶν μεγάλων μυιῶν μικρόν τι μείζονα, ὑπόπτερα, ἃ διὰ τοῦ πυρὸς πηδᾷ καὶ βαδίζει.

Aristotle, History of Animals 5.19, 552b10-13

“There is a kind of grub, which is called ‘twig-bearer,’ stranger than any animal. Its head projects outside its shell, mottled in colour, and its feet are near the end, as is the case with other grubs, but the rest of its body is encased in a tunic of something like a spider’s web. Around it are tiny dry twigs that seem to have stuck to it as it walked about, but they are fused together with the tunic. Like the shell is to the snail, so is the whole formation to this grub. And it does not fall off, but can be torn off, like natural appendages. And if someone removes the tunic, it dies and becomes as helpless as a snail whose shell was removed. In time, this grub becomes a chrysalis, just like a caterpillar, and then it lives without moving. The winged animal which comes to be from it has not yet been observed.”

Ἔστι δέ τι σκωλήκιον ὃ καλεῖται ξυλοφθόρον, οὐδενὸς ἧττον ἄτοπον τῶν ζῴων. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ κεφαλὴ ἔξω τοῦ κελύφους προέρχεται ποικίλη, καὶ οἱ πόδες ἐπ' ἄκρου, ὥσπερ τοῖς ἄλλοις σκώληξιν, ἐν χιτῶνι δὲ τὸ ἄλλο σῶμα ἀραχνιώδει, καὶ περὶ αὐτὸ κάρφη, ὥστε δοκεῖν προσέχεσθαι βαδίζοντι· ταῦτα δὲ σύμφυτα τῷ χιτῶνί ἐστιν· ὥσπερ κοχλίᾳ τὸ ὄστρακον, οὕτω τὸ ἅπαν τῷ σκώληκι, καὶ οὐκ ἀποπίπτει ἀλλ' ἀποσπᾶται ὥσπερ προσπεφυκότα· καὶ ἐάν τις τὸν χιτῶνα περιέλῃ, ἀποθνήσκει καὶ γίνεται ὁμοίως ἀχρεῖος ὥσπερ ὁ κοχλίας περιαιρεθέντος τοῦ ὀστράκου. Χρόνου δὲ προϊόντος γίνεται καὶ οὗτος ὁ σκώληξ χρυσαλλὶς ὥσπερ αἱ κάμπαι, καὶ ζῇ ἀκινητίζων· ὅ τι δ' ἐξ αὐτοῦ γίνεται τῶν πτερωτῶν ζῴων, οὔπω συνῶπται.

Aristotle, History of Animals 5.32, 557b12-25

The Spontaneously Generated Animals of Aristotle’s Historia Animalium

This list contains all the animals in Aristotle’s History of Animals which he says are generated spontaneously.

Each entry contains: (1) the name of the animal (or whatever it is called in the text); (2) the kind of animal it is; (3) an English translation of the name; (4) the matter and its differentia, i.e., that out of which the animal comes to be and (usually) where it comes to be; (5) the reference in Hist. an.

Spontaneously generated animals exist at the boundary between living and non-living world. They are alive, but not quite living: living, according to Aristotle, means sharing in divine activity, and this requires the eternal reproduction of the species. Spontaneously generated animals do not reproduce. They’re essentially ephemeral.

Aristotle thinks all spontaneously generated animals have the same mother and father. Their father—their efficient cause—is the heat from the celestial realm. This is primarily the heat from the sun, but it also includes the heat and motion distributed to the winds, and perhaps with some influence from the moon and other planets as well. The mother—their material cause—is the earth, but not just any material on the earth. It is usually some kind of slime or otherwise decaying stuff, and it’s here where the variety comes in. Aristotle thinks the kind of material from which an animal is spontaneously generated, along with the place in which that materials is found, are the two most important differentiae for explaining why different kinds of things are spontaneously generated: sometimes we get flies (like from dead animals), somtimes moths (from wool clothes), sometimes eels (from muddy slime), and sometimes worms (from improperly digested food in your intestines). This is similar to earlier Greek theories of reproduction where what determined whether a child was male or female was where the father’s semen landed in the womb (right for boys, left for girls, obvs.).

Malcolm Wilson’s book on the Meteorology makes a really cool point about this. Aristotle explains spontaneously generated animals the same way he explains meteorological phenomena (meteorology, in the broad Aristotelian sense of sublunary physics of non-living things). In meteorology, the sun produces different effects because its orientation to a given point on the earth changes throughout the year, and because the material it acts on differs in kind and in (especially) in place. When the sun’s heat acts on water on the surface of the earth, we get evaporation, clouds and rain. When it acts on water within the earth, we can get various metals. It is the same pattern of explanation.

NB: Of fishes, only the eels from book VI are included. There are some issues with the text. Also, in Gen. an. he says other fish generate spontaneously.

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 ἀκαρί, τό | ζῳδάρια ἄλλα   mite

                material   old cheese and wood (ἐπὶ κηρίῳ παλαιουμένῳ καὶ ἐν ξύλῳ) | Hist. an. 5.32, 557b6-10

ἀσκαρίς, ἡ (1) | ἔντομα   ascaris

material   residues still in animals (ἐν τοῖς περιττώμασι ἔτι ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551a8-13

ἀσκαρίς, ἡ (2) | ἔντομα   ascaris

material   mud of wells and where there is a confluence of water with an earthy deposit (ἔν τε τῇ ἰλύϊ τῶν φρεάτων καὶ ὅπου ἂν σύρρευσις γένηται ὕδατος γεώδη ἔχουσα ὑπόστασιν) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b27-552a11

material   deposit of a mixed and heterogeneous kind, as in kitchens and fields, for these kinds of places putrefy quickly (ἐν τοῖς ἔχουσι παντοδαπὴν ὑπόστασιν, οἷον ἐν μαγειρείοις τε γίνεται καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις· σήπεται γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτα θᾶττον) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a11-552a15

βάλανος, ἡ | ὀστρακοδέρμα   barnacle

material   mud around the crags in rocks (περὶ τὰς σήραγγας τῶν πετριδίων (sc. ἰλύϊ)) | Hist. an. 5.15, 547b18-23

βόστρυχος, ὁ | ἔντομα   lit. ‘curly’ (?), male fly of the glow worm (?)

material   glow-worm (ἐκ τῶν πυγολαμπίδων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b23-26

ἔγχελυς, ἡ | ἰχθῦς   eel

material   earth's guts, so-called, produced spontaneously in sediment and in humid earth (ἐκ τῶν καλουμένων γῆς ἐντέρων, ἃ αὐτόματα συνίσταται ἐν τῷ πηλῷ καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ τῇ ἐνίκμῳ) | Hist. an. 6.16, 570a13

ἕλμινς, ἡ καλουμένη | ἔντομα   worm

material   residues still in animals (ἐν τοῖς περιττώμασι ἔτι ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551a7-13

ἕλμινς ἡ ὀνομαζομένη πλατεῖα | ἔντομα   flatworm

material   residues still in animals (ἐν τοῖς περιττώμασι ἔτι ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551a8-13

ἕλμινς, ἡ στρογγυλή | ἔντομα   roundworm

material   residues still in animals (ἐν τοῖς περιττώμασι ἔτι ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551a8-13

ἐμπίς, ἡ | ἔντομα   gnat

material   ascarides (ἐκ τῶν ἀσκαρίδων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b27

ἔντομόν τι (1) |   a kind of insect

material   dew falling on leaves (ἐκ τῆς δρόσου τῆς ἐπὶ τοῖς φύλλοις πιπτούσης) | Hist. an. 5.19, 550b32-551a8

ἔντομόν τι (2)|   a kind of insect

material   decaying slime and dung (ἐν βορβόρῳ καὶ κόπρῳ σηπομένοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 550b32-551a8

ἔντομόν τι (3) |   a kind of insect

material   wood, either growing or dry (ἐν ξύλοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 550b32-551a8

ἔντομόν τι (4) |   a kind of insect

material   animal hair (ἐν θριξὶ ζῴων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 550b32-551a8

ἔντομόν τι (5) |   a kind of insect

material   animal flesh (ἐν σαρκὶ τῶν ζῴων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 550b32-551a8

ἔντομόν τι (6) |   a kind of insect

material   excreted residues (ἐν τοῖς περιττώμασι ἐκκεχωρισμένοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 550b32-551a8

ἐφήμερον, τό | ἔντομα   mayfly

material   sack-like things larger than grapes, which flow down the river Hypanis in the Cimmerian Bosophorus to the sea near the summer solstice (οἷον θύλακοι μείζους ῥαγῶν, ἐξ ὧν ῥηγνυμένων ἐξέρχεται ζῷον πτερωτὸν τετράπουν, περὶ δὲ τὸν Ὕπανιν ποταμὸν τὸν περὶ Βόσπορον τὸν Κιμμέριον ὑπὸ τροπὰς θερινὰς καταφέρονται ὑπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552b17-23

ζωσδάριόν τι (1) | ζῳδάρια ἄλλα   a little animal

material   books (ἐν τοῖς βιβλίοις) | Hist. an. 5.32, 557b6-10

ζωσδάριόν τι (2) | ζῳδάρια ἄλλα   a little animal

material   dry things moistening, moist things drying, which are life-promoting (?) (ἔν τε τοῖς ξηροῖς ὑγραινομένοις καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὑγροῖς ξηραινομένοις, ὅσα ἔχει αὐτῶν ζωήν) | Hist. an. 5.32, 557b10-12

θηρίον τι | ἔντομα   a kind of beast

material   fire in Cyprus where copper-ore is smelted, thrown on heaps each day (ἐν τῷ πυρί ἐν Κύπρῳ, οὗ ἡ χαλκῖτις λίθος καίεται, ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ἐμβαλλόντων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552b10-13

κανθαρίς, ἡ | ἔντομα   cantharis

material   caterpillars found on fig trees, pear trees, fir trees, and dog rose (ἐκ τῶν πρὸς ταῖς συκαῖς καμπῶν καὶ ταῖς ἀπίοις καὶ ταῖς πεύκαις καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐν τῇ κυνακάνθῃ) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a31-b4

κάνθαρος, ὁ | ἔντομα   dung-beetle

material   grubs from dung rolled into a ball (ἣν κυλίουσι κόπρον, ἐν ταύτῃ φωλοῦσί τε τὸν χειμῶνα καὶ ἐντίκτουσι σκωλήκια, ἐξ ὧν γίνονται κάνθαροι) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a17-19

καράβιος, ὁ | ἔντομα   stag-beetle

material   grubs that live in dry wood (ἐκ δὲ τῶν σκωλήκων τῶν ἐν τοῖς ξύλοις τοῖς αὔοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b16-18

καρκίνιον, τὸ | ὀστρακοδέρμα   hermit crab

material   earth and mud (ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἰλύος) | Hist. an. 5.15, 548a14-15

κνίδν, ἡ | τὰ μὴ ἔχοντα ὄστρακον   sea anemone

material   earth and mud in the hollows of rocks (ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἰλύος ἐν ταῖς σήραγξι τῶν πετρῶν) | Hist. an. 5.15, 548a22-27

κόγχη, ἡ | ὀστρακοδέρμα   cockle

material   sandy mud (ἐν τῇ ἀμμώδει (sc. ἰλύϊ)) | Hist. an. 5.15, 547b18-23

κόρις, ὁ | ἔντομα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   bug

material   moisture as it thickens outside the bodies of animals (ἐκ τῆς ἰκμάδος τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν ζῴων συνισταμένης ἐκτός) | Hist. an. 5.31, 556b24-28

κροτών, ὁ | ἔντομα   tick

material   dog's tooth grass (ἐκ τῆς ἀγρώστεως) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a15

κυνοραιστής, ὁ | ἔντομα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   dog tick

material   dogs (ἐν δὲ τοῖς κυσὶν) | Hist. an. 5.31, 557a17-18

κώνωψ, ὁ | ἔντομα   conops (bee and wasp endoparasite)

material   grubs which comes to be in the mud of vinegar (ἐκ σκωλήκων οἳ γίνονται ἐκ τῆς περὶ τὸ ὄξος ἰλύος) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552b4-5

λεπάς, ἡ | ὀστρακοδέρμα   limpet

material   mud around the crags in rocks (περὶ τὰς σήραγγας τῶν πετριδίων (sc. ἰλύϊ)) | Hist. an. 5.15, 547b18-23

μηλολόνθη, ἡ | ἔντομα   cockchafer, may-bug

material   grubs in cow or donkey dung (ἐκ τῶν σκωλήκων τῶν ἐν τοῖς βολίτοις καὶ τῶν ὀνίδων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a15-17

μυῖα, ἡ | ἔντομα   fly

material   grubs in dung separated into piles (ἐκ τῶν σκωλήκων τῶν ἐν τῇ κόπρῳ τῇ χωριζομένῃ κατὰ μέρος) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a20-29

μύωψ, ὁ | ἔντομα   horse-fly

material   wood (ἐκ τῶν ξύλων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a29

νεκύδαλος, ὁ | ἔντομα   silk-moth

material   large grub that has horns and differs from other grubs (ἐκ δέ τινος σκώληκος μεγάλου, ὃς ἔχει οἷον κέρατα καὶ διαφέρει τῶν ἄλλων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b9-12

νηρείτης, ὁ | ὀστρακοδέρμα   sea snail

material   mud around the crags in rocks (περὶ τὰς σήραγγας τῶν πετριδίων (sc. ἰλύϊ)) | Hist. an. 5.15, 547b18-23

ξυλοφόρος, ὁ | ζῳδάρια ἄλλα   twig-bearer (bagworm moth?)

material   ? | Hist. an. 5.32, 557b12-25

οἶστρος, ὁ | ἔντομα   gadfly

material   flat litte animals that skim across rivers (ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ποταμοῖς πλατέων ζωδαρίων τῶν ἐπιθεόντων) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b21-23

οἶστρος, ὁ τῶν θύννων | ἔντομα ὅσα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   gadfly of the tunny

material   mud, not from fish (ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσι οὐκ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ἰχθύων ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς ἰλύος) | Hist. an. 5.31, 557a27-29

ὀρσοδάκνη, ἡ | ἔντομα   leaf beetle (?)

material   grub underdoing change that came to be in kale-stalks (ἐκ τῶν σκωληκίων μεταβαλλόντων· τὰ δὲ σκωλήκια ταῦτα γίνεται ἐν τοῖς καυλοῖς τῆς κράμβης. ) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a29-31

ὄστρεον, τό | ὀστρακοδέρμα   oyster

material   slimy mud (ἐν τῇ βορβορώδει (sc. ἰλύϊ)) | Hist. an. 5.15, 547b18-23

πρασοκουρίς, ἡ | ἔντομα   leek-bane

material   (grubs growing on) kale (ἐκ τῶν κραμβῶν (sc. τῶν σκωλήκων)) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b19-21

πτερωτὸν ζῷον τι | ἔντομα   a kind of winged-animal

material   grubs in pulses (ἐκ τῶν σκωλήκων τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὀσπρίοις) | Hist. an. 5.19, 552a19-20

πυγολαμπίς, ἡ | ἔντομα   glow-worm

material   black, hairy, small caterpillar (ἐκ δὲ μελαινῶν τινων καὶ δασειῶν οὐ μεγάλων καμπῶν) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551b23-26

σῆς, ὁ | ζῳδάρια ἄλλα clothes moth

material   wool and woolen clothes (ἐν ἐρίοις καὶ ἐξ ἐρίων) | Hist. an. 5.32, 557b1-6

σκώληξ τις | ἔντομα   a kind of grub

material   unputrefiable stuff, like old snow (ἐν τοῖς δοκοῦσιν ἀσηπτοτάτοις εἶναι, οἷον ἐν χιόνι τῇ παλαιᾷ) | Hist. an. 5.19, 554b6-10

material   snow in Media (ἐκ τῆς ἐν Μηδίᾳ χιόνος) | Hist. an. 5.19, 554b6-10

σπόγγος, ὁ | τὰ μὴ ἔχοντα ὄστρακον   sponge

material   feed on mud and earth and grow either near rocks or shore (φύονται δ' ἢ πρὸς πέτρᾳ πάντες ἢ ἐν ταῖς θισί, τρέφονται δ' ἐν τῇ ἰλύϊ) | Hist. an. 5.15, 548a29-b10

τήθυον, τό | ὀστρακοδέρμα   sea squirt, ascidian

material   mud around the crags in rocks (περὶ τὰς σήραγγας τῶν πετριδίων (sc. ἰλύϊ)) | Hist. an. 5.15, 547b18-23

φθείρ, ὁ | ἔντομα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   louse

material   flesh (ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν) | Hist. an. 5.31, 556b24-28

material   (flesh of) animals other than humans (ἐγγίνονται δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ἐν πολλοῖς) | Hist. an. 5.31, 557a10-17

material   the animal itself (i.e., not cross-species) (ἐν τοῖς ἔχουσιν ἐξ αὐτῶν γίνονται τῶν ζῴων) | Hist. an. 5.31, 557a18-21

φθείρ θαλάσσιος, ὁ | ἔντομα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   sea louse

material   mud, not fish (unlike other lice) (ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσι οὐκ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ἰχθύων ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς ἰλύος) | Hist. an. 5.31, 557a21-27

φθείρ, ὁ καλεῖται ἄγριος | ἔντομα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   wild louse

                material   ? | Hist. an. 5.31, 557a4-10

ψήν, ὁ | ζῳδάρια ἄλλα   fig wasp

material   grub from fruit of wild fig (τὰ δ' ἐρινεὰ τὰ ἐν τοῖς ἐρινεοῖς ἔχουσι) | Hist. an. 5.32, 557b25-31

ψύλλα, ἡ | ἔντομα ζῇ χυμοῖς σαρκὸς ζώσης   flea

material   putrefaction, a small amount (ἐξ ἐλαχίστης σηπεδόνος) | Hist. an. 5.31, 556b24-28

ψυχή, ἡ καλουμένη | ἔντομα   butterfly

material   caterpillars that grow on green leaves, especially cabbage, which some people call kale (ἐκ τῶν καμπῶν αἳ γίνονται ἐπὶ τῶν φύλλων τῶν χλωρῶν, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπὶ τῆς ῥαφάνου, ἣν καλοῦσί τινες κράμβην) | Hist. an. 5.19, 551a13-16