[See also entries for specific insect species.]
Singapore 1822
Finlayson, George, The Mission to Siam, and Hué the Capital of Cochin China, in the Years 1821-2, John Murray, London, 1826, pp. 50-51
The earth, the air, and the ocean, teem with life. Myriads of insects succeed to each other, in their labours at every varying period of the day and night. Some are busied in removing dead animal matter; others prey upon the living; while, to the great majority, the vegetable world affords an inexhaustible source of nourishment.