[Illustration: The Toad may be rough and warty in appearance but worthits weight in gold as a destroyer of insect pests. Note the expressionof satisfaction after a successful night of foraging for cutworms andJune-beetles. ]

 AN ELEMENTARY STUDY OF INSECTS

 _By_

 LEONARD HASEMAN

 _Professor of Entomology in the University of Missouri_

 Columbia, Missouri MISSOURI BOOK COMPANY 1923

CONTENTS. 

 INTRODUCTION

 CHAPTER I INSECTS: (1) What they are. (2) Their principal characteristics. (3) Their methods of developing. (4) The principal orders. (5) Their habits. (6) Their role in agriculture. 

 CHAPTER II COLLECTING INSECTS: (1) Directions for collecting. (2) Pinning and preserving a collection. (3) Rearing and observing them while alive. 

 CHAPTER III THE GRASSHOPPER: (1) Brief discussion of the grasshopper. (2) Field studies. (3) Breeding cage observations. (4) Study of specimen. 

 CHAPTER IV THE HOUSE FLY OR TYPHOID FLY: (1) Discussion of the life cycle of the fly, its habits, danger from it and how it can be stamped out. (2) Study of the fly and its work. 

 CHAPTER V THE MOSQUITO: (1) Brief discussion of the life habits and stages of the mosquito. (2) Observations and study. 

 CHAPTER VI THE CABBAGE MILLER: (1) Brief discussion of the caterpillar, the chrysalis, the butterfly, and its work. (2) Observations and study. (3) Breeding work. 

 CHAPTER VII THE APPLE WORM: (1) Brief discussion of the different stages of the pest, its work and remedies for its control. (2) Observations and breeding work. 

 CHAPTER VIII THE TOMATO OR TOBACCO WORM: (1) Brief discussion of stages, work and habits. (2) Study and observation. 

 CHAPTER IX THE FIREFLY: (1) Brief discussion of the insect. (2) Observations and studies. 

 CHAPTER X THE WHITE GRUB OR JUNE-BUG: (1) Discussion of the insect as a pest and its habits and stages. (2) Observations and studies. 

 CHAPTER XI THE COLORADO POTATO BEETLE: (1) Brief discussion of the pest. (2) Observations and studies. 

 CHAPTER XII THE LADY-BEETLE: (1) Brief discussion of habits and appearance of the lady-beetles, and their value as friends. (2) Observations and studies. 

 CHAPTER XIII THE DRAGON-FLY: (1) Discussion of life and habits of insect. (2) Observations and field studies. 

 CHAPTER XIV THE SQUASH BUG: (1) Discussion of habits, injury and control of pest. (2) Observations and field studies. 

 CHAPTER XV THE PLANT-LOUSE: (1) Discussion of habits, injury and control of pest. (2) Observations and field studies. 

 CHAPTER XVI THE HONEY BEE: (1) Discussion of the honey bee as to habits in its home and outdoors, its value to man and the colony as a village. (2) Observations and studies. 

 CHAPTER XVII THE ANT: (1) Discussion of ant life and behavior, the colony as a unit, its work and remarkable instincts. (2) Studies and observations. 

INTRODUCTION

In the preparation of a book of this nature, to be used in the gradeschools, we realize that the one fundamental thing to keep in mind isthe economic importance of the insect, be it good or bad. The childwants to know what is good and what is bad and how he can make use ofthe good and how he can get rid of the bad. And yet there is somethingmore associated with the life, work and development of each tiny insect. There is a story--a story of growth, not unlike that of the developingchild, a story of courage, strife and ultimate success or failure, whichis as interesting and of greater value to the child than many of thestories of adventure and of historical facts. Snatches of these storieswill appear in the following chapters along with the studies on insectsand their economic importance. 

In the development of our grade school system, especially in the ruraldistricts, there is a growing demand for some practical work along withthe regular cultural studies. To the child in the rural schools, practical knowledge naturally tends toward agriculture. Many of theseboys and girls do not have a chance to pursue studies beyond the gradesand it therefore becomes necessary to introduce some elementaryagriculture into the grades to supply the natural craving of this vastassemblage of children in the rural schools of our land. 

In the search for a study which will give unlimited scope forindependent thought and observation and which will lead the child tounderstand better the forces of nature that affect agriculture, nothingis so readily available and attractive to the child as nature study, anelementary study of the natural sciences. In fact agriculture isprimarily a course in nature study where we study how plants and animalsstruggle for existence. 

There is a period in the life of every child when he is especiallysusceptible to the "call of the fields;" when he roams through woods orby shady brooks gathering flowers, fishing for mud-cats and cleaning outbumble-bees' nests. It is often compared with the life of the savage andis merely the outward expression of an inward craving for a closerrelation with nature and her creatures. If one can reach a child whileat that age he has a ready listener and an apt pupil. That is the timeto guide and instruct the child along the line of nature study. 

The most important questions confronting the average teacher in thegrade schools are: "What material shall I use and how shall I proceed todirect the child along this line?" First of all use that material whichis most readily available, which is most familiar to the child andwhich will attract and hold his attention. There is nothing so readilyavailable and so generally interesting to both boys and girls as are thethousands of fluttering, buzzing, hopping and creeping forms of insects. They are present everywhere, in all seasons and are known to every childof the city or farm. They are easily observed in the field and can bekept in confinement for study. Many of them are of the greatestimportance to man; a study of them becomes of special value. 

In pursuing a study of nature and her creatures one should go into thewoods and fields as much as possible and study them where they arefound. In this way one can determine how they live together, what theyfeed on and the various other questions which the inquisitive mind of ahealthy child will ask. When field work is not possible, gather theinsects and keep them alive in jars where they can be fed and observed. Some forms cannot be kept in confinement and in such cases samplesshould be killed and pinned, thereby forming a collection for study. 

Most of the forms which are included in the following chapters can bekept in confinement in glass jars or studies out doors. The studies havebeen made so general that in case the particular form mentioned is notavailable any closely related form can be used. Each child should make asmall collection of living and pinned insects for study and should beencouraged to observe insects and their work in the field. Thecollections and many of the observations could be made to good advantageduring the summer vacation when the insects are most abundant andactive. 

Pupils should not be encouraged merely to make observations, but theyshould be required to record them as well. Brief descriptions of theappearance and development of insects, the injury they do, and remediesfor the same, will help fix in mind facts which otherwise might soon beforgotten. Drawings, whenever possible, should also be required. Thepupil who can record observations accurately with drawings will not soonforget them. The teacher should therefore require each pupil to providehimself with a note-book for keeping brief, but accurate notes andcareful drawings. The drawings should be made with a hard lead pencil onun-ruled paper, the size of the note-book, and the pupils should beencouraged to be neat and accurate. 

The author wishes to take this opportunity of expressing his deepappreciation for the many helpful suggestions and other assistance whichMr. R. H. Emberson, superintendent of Boys and Girls Club Work inMissouri, has given. It was his life-long devotion to the boys and girlsof the grade schools and his keen appreciation of their needs that leadhim first to suggest to the author the importance of preparing thislittle book for their use. 

 LEONARD HASEMAN University of Missouri. 

 * * * * *

 "_The study of entomology is one of the most fascinating of pursuits. It takes its votaries into the treasure-houses of Nature, and explains some of the wonderful series of links which form the great chain of creation. It lays open before us another world, of which we have been hitherto unconscious, and shows us that the tiniest insect, so small perhaps that the unaided eye can scarcely see it, has its work to do in the world, and does it. _"

 --REV. J. G. WOOD. 

CHAPTER I

INSECTS

 "_There is a difference between a grub and a butterfly; yet your butterfly was a grub. _"

 --SHAKESPEARE. 

In undertaking a study of insects it is well first of all to knowsomething about what they are, their general nature, appearance, habitsand development. The insects comprise the largest group of animals onthe globe. There are about four times as many different kinds of insectsas all other kinds of animals combined. Insects vary greatly in size. Some are as large as small birds, while others are so small that athousand placed in one pile would not equal the size of a pea. 

Insects are commonly spoken of as "bugs. " This term, however, isproperly used only when referring to the one order of insects whichincludes the sap and blood-sucking insects such as the chinch bug, bed-bug, squash bug, and the like. Then too, there are many so-called"bugs" which are not insects at all. Spiders, thousand-legs, crawfishesand even earth-worms are often spoken of as bugs. 

_What They Are_

[Illustration: Side view of grasshopper with wings and legs partlyremoved. Note the division of the body into head, thorax, composed ofprothorax, mesothorax and metathorax, and abdomen consisting ofring-like segments. ]

Insects are variously formed, but as a rule the mature ones have threeand only three pairs of legs, one pair of feelers, one pair of largeeyes, and one or two pairs of wings. The body is divided into a head, thorax and abdomen. The head bears the eyes, feelers and mouth, thethorax bears the legs and wings, and the abdomen is made up of a numberof segments. The presence of wings at once decides whether or not it isan insect, for, aside from bats and birds, insects alone have truewings. These are the distinguishing characters of the full grown insect, but, like birds, they hatch from eggs and while young do not always looklike their parents. When young they may take on various shapes ascaterpillars, borers, maggots, grubs, hoppers, and the like. Younginsects are often difficult to distinguish from true worms, centipedes, snails, and such forms, but after one has collected and reared some ofthe young and watched them pass through the different stages and emergewith wings they are much more easily recognized. 

_Their Principal Characteristics_

[Illustration: Face of grasshopper enlarged showing parts; ant. , antenna; eye, compound eye; oc. , ocellus or simple eye; cl. , clypeus;lbr. , labrum or upper lip; mx. P. , maxillary palpus; lb. P. , labialpalpus; lab. , labium or lower lip. ]

Young insects as a rule are soft like caterpillars and maggots, whilethe old ones usually have a hard body wall, similar to the beetles andwasps. The wings are usually thin and transparent though in some casesthey are leathery or hard as in case of beetles or covered with scalesas in the butterflies. The three pairs of legs are jointed and used forrunning, climbing, jumping, swimming, digging or grasping. The feelersor antennae are usually threadlike, clubbed, or resemble a feather andextend forward or sidewise from the head. The large eyes are compound, being made up of many great small units which, when magnified, resemblehoney-comb. In some cases two or three small bead-like eyes may bepresent besides the two large eyes. The mouth parts of insects may beformed for chewing, as in the grasshopper, or for sucking up liquids, asin the mosquito. The mouth of an insect is built on an entirelydifferent plan from our own. Chewing insects have an upper and lower lipand between these there are two pairs of grinding jaws. These jaws arehinged at the side of the face and when chewing they come together fromeither side so as to meet in the middle of the mouth. They thereforework sidewise rather than up and down. The mouth parts of the suckinginsects are drawn out to form a sucking tube or proboscis as in case ofthe butterfly or mosquito. 

[Illustration: Mouth parts of grasshopper shown in relative position;lbr. , labrum; md. , mandibles; hyp. , hypopharynx; max. , maxillae; lab. , labium. ]

[Illustration: Leg of grasshopper showing segmentation. The basalsegment c, is the coxa, the next t, the trochanter, the large segment f, the femur, the long slender one ti, the tibia, and the three jointedtarsus ta, with claws at the tip. ]

The internal organs of insects are similar to those of other animals. The digestive tube consists of oesophagus, gizzard, or stomach, andintestines. The nervous system is well developed as shown by the extremesensitiveness of insects to touch. The brain is comparatively smallexcept in the bees and ants. The circulatory system consists simply of along tube heart, the blood vessels being absent. In this way theinternal organs of the insect are simply bathed in the blood. Thesystem of respiration is most complicated. The air is taken in throughpores usually along the side of the body and is then carried throughfine tracheal tubes to all parts of the body. You cannot drown an insectby putting its head under water, since it does not breathe through itsmouth. The muscular system is similar to that of other animals whichhave the skeleton on the outside. 

[Illustration: The internal organs of the honey bee. Note the strongwing muscles in the thorax. The tube-like heart begins in the head andextends back through the thorax and follows the curve of the abdomen. Below the heart is the digestive tube consisting of the slenderoesophagus which extends back to the expanded honey stomach, in whichthe bee carries the nectar it collects from flowers, then the curledtrue stomach, the small intestine and expanded large intestine. Belowthis is the nervous system consisting of the brain and a chain ofconnected enlargements or ganglia extending back into the abdomen in thelower part of the body. The respiratory system in part appears justabove the honey stomach, and the black circular or oval spots are crosssections of connecting air tubes, which run all through the body. Alsonote the sting with the poison gland and sack which are pulled out withthe sting; also the sucking tube for getting honey from flowers, and thestructures on the legs for gathering and carrying pollen; the pollenbasket is on the back side of the hind leg. ]

_Their Methods of Developing_

In most cases the parent insect deposits small eggs which hatch laterinto the young insects. In some cases, as with the blow-flies, themaggot may hatch from the egg while yet in the parent's body, when theactive larva is born alive. Whether the egg hatches before or after itis deposited, the young insect continues to develop in one of threeways. It may resemble the parent and simply grow as does a kitten, or itmay look somewhat like its parent though smaller and without wings, asthe young grasshopper, or it may bear no resemblance whatever to theparent, as the caterpillar which feeds and grows and finally spins acocoon in which it passes to the resting chrysalis stage and lateremerges with wings. The development of insects is therefore extremelycomplicated. 

[Illustration: The chinch bug showing development with incompletemetamorphosis; a, egg; b, first nymph; c, second nymph; d, third nymph;e, fourth nymph; f, adult winged bug; g, chinch bugs extracting sap fromcorn plant. To control this pest burn over all winter harboring placesand use chemical or dust barriers following wheat harvest. ]

_The Principal Orders_

In order to study a group of animals which includes so many thousanddifferent kinds it is necessary to divide them into a number of sharplydefined divisions or orders. All animal life is naturally grouped intosuch divisions and subdivisions. Among the insects we at once detectseven large, sharply defined divisions or orders, and ten or moresmaller ones. Of these we have first, the two-winged true flies; second, the four-winged butterflies and moths; third, the hard-backed beetles;fourth, the stinging four-winged wasps and bees; fifth, the variouslyformed sucking insects or true bugs, as chinch bugs and bed-bugs; sixth, the rapid-flying four-winged snake doctors or dragon-flies and, seventh, the hopping forms, the grasshoppers. Besides these we have the varioussmaller orders of water-loving insects, fleas, etc. The seven groupsmentioned above include the majority of our common forms and in thestudies to follow we will include only representatives from theseorders. 

[Illustration: The Hessian fly showing development with completemetamorphosis; a, egg; b, larva or maggot; c, flax-seed stage; d, pupa;e, adult winged fly; f, wheat stubble with flax-seed stages near basetaken after harvest. To control this pest, plow under stubble afterharvest; keep down all volunteer wheat and sow wheat after fly-free datein the fall. ]

_Their Habits_

The habits of insects are as varied as their forms and adaptations. Somelive in the water all their life, others spend a part of their lifeunder water, others live the care-free life of the open air, othersenjoy feeding upon and living in the foulest of filth, others associatethemselves with certain definite crops or animals thereby doing untoldinjury, while others produce food and other materials which are to beused by man for his comfort. Every imaginable nook and crook, from thedepths of lakes to the tops of mountains, from the warm, sunny south tothe cold frigid north, from the foul damp swamps to the heart of ourdesert lands, offers a home for some small insect. 

The most striking habits and developments among insects is found in themore highly advanced families of bees and ants where definite insectsocieties are formed, resembling in many respects human societies andhuman activities. Among these villages are established, homes built, battles fought, slaves made, herds kept by shepherds, and even fieldscultivated. In these groups we have the nearest approach to humanintelligence. 

_Their Role in Agriculture_

Some insects may be very destructive to crops, others are beneficial, while the majority of insects are of no importance to man oragriculture. The various forms of pests such as the chinch bug, potatobeetles, and others do an enormous amount of damage each year. Theydestroy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crops annually in theUnited States alone. They devour enough to pay for the entire cost ofrunning the school system of our country and nearly enough to meet allthe expenses of our government. In view of these facts it is the duty ofeach and every farmer, young or old, to acquaint himself with thesedestructive pests and prepare himself for combating them. With aknowledge of the methods of controlling these pests much of thisenormous loss can be prevented. 

While some insects are extremely injurious, others are very helpful. Theproducts of the honey bee in the United States alone amount to severalmillion dollars a year, to say nothing of its value to the farmer inpollinating fruits. The annual output of silk, all of which is spun bythe silkworm, is worth millions of dollars. Many other forms are ofvalue to man by producing material of commercial value such as lac, shellack, dyes, medicines, etc. Of all the beneficial insects thosewhich are of greatest value to man are the parasites and similar formswhich help to keep in check many of the severest pests of the farm. Insects are not all bad fellows by any means. One must acquaint himselfwith those which are good and those which are bad before he can hope todeal with them intelligently. 

 * * * * *

 "_And with childlike credulous affection We behold those tender wings expand, Emblems of our own great resurrection, Emblems of the bright and better land. _"

 --LONGFELLOW. 

CHAPTER II

COLLECTING INSECTS

 "_Does he who searches Nature's secrets scruple To stick a pin into an insect?_"

 --A. G. OEHLENSCHLAEGER. 

In the life of every normal human there comes a time when he wishes tomake a collection of some kind. It may be a collection of coins, postagestamps, post-cards, shells, relics, birds' eggs, pressed flowers orinsects. If the child grows up in the country, the result of thiscraving is usually three or four cigar boxes of insects or an almanac orgeography stuffed with the most attractive wild flowers of the field. Acollection of this sort may be small and poorly kept and yet it is worthwhile. In later life one will search in his mother's closet or atticfor the old cigar boxes which contain the remains of youthful efforts, usually a mass of gaudy wings, fragments of insect legs and bodies and afew rusty pins. This desire to make a collection is natural and shouldbe encouraged in the child. It tends to make him observe closely andcreates an interest in things about him, and if properly directed itwill add a store of information which can be gotten in no other way. 

_Directions for Collecting_

Many boys and girls of the rural schools will have little time orinclination to provide themselves with apparatus for collecting insects. An old straw hat or a limb will serve their purpose. From their point ofview what difference does it make if they tear off most of the legs andbreak the wings? They succeed in securing the "bug" and when pinned inthe box it will mean just about as much to them as the most perfectspecimen ever prepared. 

[Illustration: A convenient home-made net for catching insects; note thebroom-stick handle, heavy twisted wire and mosquito net bag. ]

This method of catching insects will prove effective where nothingbetter is available, but any child can easily make a small insect net byattaching a loop of fairly stiff wire to a broom handle or other stickand sewing a bag of mosquito netting or other thin cloth to the wire. Bymeans of such a net one can catch insects more easily and at the sametime there is less danger of tearing such insects as butterflies. Caremust be taken in handling the stinging insects. 

[Illustration: A cyanide jar for killing insects; note the lumps of thedeadly poison potassium cyanide in the bottom covered and sealed by alayer of plaster of Paris. ]

The country boy and girl will have little trouble getting hold ofinsects, but they are often puzzled when it comes to killing them. Itseems cruel to pin up an insect alive and have it squirm for a day ortwo and some means of killing them should be devised. Most of the softinsects, such as flies, butterflies, etc. , can be killed by pressingtheir body, in the region of the wings, between one's thumb andforefinger. Such forms as beetles and wasps can be quickly killed bydropping them into coal oil or a strong soap suds. Any method which canbe devised for quickly killing the insect, and which will not seriouslymutilate it, can be used. 

A convenient killing bottle can be made by sealing a few small lumps ofthe deadly poison, potassium or sodium cyanide, in the bottom of astrong, wide-mouthed bottle, with plaster of Paris; or a few drops ofchloroform or ether on a wad of cotton in a similar bottle, will alsoserve as a convenient killing jar. 

_Pinning and Preserving a Collection_

[Illustration: Method of pinning different kinds of insects. ]

After the insects, have been caught and killed, they should then beprepared for the permanent collection. Most insects such as wasps, beetles, flies and grasshoppers should simply have a pin thrust throughtheir bodies until they are two-thirds the way up on the pin and thenput them away in a box. Such forms as butterflies and moths make a muchbetter collection if the wings are spread so as to bring out their gaudymarkings. In order to spread butterflies' wings, one needs a spreadingboard, which can be made in ten minutes by taking a pine board two feetlong, and six inches wide and on this nail two strips an inch thick, sothat there is a crack between them. The crack should be half an inchwide at one end and a quarter of an inch wide at the other end, and inthe bottom of it press strips of cornstalk pith so as to have somethingsoft in which to stick the pins. After a pin has been stuck through thebody of a dead butterfly between the wings, it is then pinned in thecrack so that the back of the butterfly is on a level with the strips. Then the wings are drawn forward until they stand straight out from thebody when they are pinned down by means of strips of paper and left todry a few days until they become perfectly rigid. In this way a mostbeautiful collection can be made very easily, but where time andmaterials are not available, simply pin them up like other insects, leaving the wings to hang as they will. After the specimens are pinnedthey should be put away in cigar boxes in the bottom of which is pinnedor pasted a layer of cork or corrugated paper similar to that whichcomes between glass fruit cans. These make ideal cases for keeping smallcollections as the odor of tobacco helps keep pests from getting in todestroy the collection. 

[Illustration: Home-made spreading board for spreading butterflies andmoths. ]

[Illustration: Cigar box with strip of corrugated paper in bottom usedas case for keeping pinned insects. ]

_Rearing and Observing Them While Alive_

While studying an insect it is advisable wherever possible to firststudy it where it is found in the field and later bring it home and keepit alive in a jar where it can be fed and observed and its varioushabits studied. Cages for breeding insects consist simply of a few glassfruit cans and jelly glasses with tin or cloth covers. A child canborrow one or two of these from his mother's fruit cellar. A layer ofmoist sand or soil should be put in the bottom of the jar to provide aretreat for those forms which go into the ground before changing toadults. Before an insect is placed in one of these breeding cages itsfood plant should be determined by observations in the field, and everyday or two a fresh supply should be gathered. Most of the formsdiscussed in the following chapters can be kept in jars and reared tothe adult stage. Rearing insects is both interesting and instructive. Every child should be given an opportunity to rear a few forms eitherduring the school year or during the summer vacation. 

 * * * * *

 "_I happened one night in my travels To stray into Butterfly Vale, Where my wondering eyes beheld butterflies WITH WINGS THAT WERE WIDE AS A SAIL. They lived in such houses of grandeur, Their days were successions of joys, And the very last fad these butterflies had WAS MAKING COLLECTIONS OF BOYS. _

 "_There were boys of all sizes and ages PINNED UP ON THEIR WALLS. When I said 'Twas a terrible sight to see boys in that plight, I was answered: 'OH, WELL THEY ARE DEAD. WE CATCH THEM ALIVE, BUT WE KILL THEM, WITH ETHER--A VERY NICE WAY: Just look at this fellow--his hair is so yellow, And his eyes such a beautiful gray. _

 "_'Then there is a droll little darky, As black as the clay at our feet; He sets off that blond that is pinned just beyond In a way most artistic and neat. And now let me show you the latest, -- A specimen really select, A boy with a head that is carroty-red And a face that is funnily specked. _

 "_'We cannot decide where to place him; Those spots bar him out of each class; We think him a treasure to study at leisure And analyze under a glass. ' I seemed to grow cold as I listened To the words that these butterflies spoke; With fear overcome, I was speechless and dumb, And then with a start, --I awoke!_"

 --ELLA WHEELER WILCOX. 

CHAPTER III

THE GRASSHOPPER

The grasshopper or locust is one of the most ancient plagues ofcultivated crops. From the earliest time they have destroyed crops. During Moses' sojourn in Egypt they were so destructive as to causesevere famine and various other references to their destructive work areto be found in the early writings. Since those early days, just think ofthe crops that have disappeared between the greedy jaws of grasshoppers!

In our own country it has not been many years since the sun was darkenedfor days by clouds of grasshoppers as they settled down from the RockyMountains upon the growing crops in the neighboring states. One day afield might have a promising crop and by the next day it might be leftas bare as a dry stubble field in August. Those days of greatdestruction in America have largely passed but each year the active jawsof "hoppers" devour a handsome fortune. 

[Illustration: Common differential locust or grasshopper; a, egg nestsunderground; b, young nymph; c, d, older nymphs; e, adult grasshopper;f, nymph feeding on grass. This shows development with incompletemetamorphosis. ]

In the same order with the grasshoppers come the crickets, katydids, rear-horses, devil's darning-needles or walking-sticks, and cockroaches. The grasshoppers are most troublesome, however. They deposit eggs in theground and in other protected places. In the spring these hatch intoyoung "hoppers" scarcely larger than a pin head at first. Throughout theearly summer these small fellows feed and increase in size. They bursttheir old skins and crawl out of them a number of times as they growlarger. Toward fall they become full grown with four strong wings andvery powerful hind legs for jumping. In this condition most of thecommon grasshoppers will be found in the fall when the rural schoolsopen. 

FIELD STUDIES

The small so-called red-legged grasshopper is always most abundant inthe fall and for this reason we have selected it for our studies. It isabout an inch long, olive-brown in color with the ends of the hind legsbright red. It is found everywhere in pastures, meadows and alongcountry roads. Approach one of them in the field and see what happens. How does it get away? When disturbed, how far does it go? Does it hidein the grass when you try to catch it? Observe one that has not beendisturbed. Where do you find it; on the ground or on plants? How does itmove about when not scared? Watch carefully and see what plants it feedson. How does it go about it? What do you find feeding on grasshoppers?How does a turkey catch them? Have you ever seen a dull colored fly, which inhabits dry paths and which flies with a humming sound like abee, feeding on grasshoppers? These are called "robber-flies" or"spider-hawks" and they destroy thousands of grasshoppers. 

BREEDING CAGE OBSERVATIONS

After you have learned all you can about the habits of the grasshopperin the field, catch a few of them and take them home and put them in aglass fruit jar. Collect green leaves for them and watch them feed. Watch their method of feeding closely and see how it differs from thatof a horse or a cow. How do they move about in the jar? Which legs areused in walking? What do they do with the jumping legs while walking? Dothey use their wings at all while in the jar? Watch them wash their faceand feet after feeding. Give them leaves of different plants, especiallyof field and garden crops and determine which they like best. Can youfind any plant which they will not eat? Find out how fast they feed andconsidering the life of any one individual to be 200 days, calculate thenumber of grass blades each individual may eat. Are the feelers usedwhile in the jar, and if so for what purpose?

STUDY OF SPECIMEN

Take a grasshopper from the jar and examine it carefully. Count thenumber of legs, wings and joints in the body. How many joints in thelegs? Examine the tip of the foot for a soft pad and on either side ofit a strong hook. What are these used for? What are the sharp spines onthe side of the hind-legs for? Examine the side of the body and see ifyou can find the small breathing pores. How do the legs join the body?Where are the wings attached? How broad are the wings as compared withthe body? How are they folded? Are the two pairs of wings alike? Whichis used most in flying? Is the head firmly attached to the body? Examinethe large eyes; where are they found? Will grasshoppers bite you whilehandling them? What is the brown juice which escapes from the mouth whendisturbed? How long are the feelers as compared with the body? Can youtell the males from the females? What is the distinction? Do they evermake music? Examine for all the foregoing points and write a briefreport covering these. Make a careful drawing of a grasshopper from oneside; also make an enlarged drawing of the face of a grasshopper andname the parts. 

CHAPTER IV

THE HOUSE FLY OR TYPHOID FLY

In the house fly we find one of man's most deadly foes. War can notcompare with the campaigns of disease and death waged by this mostfilthy of all insects. In our recent strife with Spain we lost a fewlives in battle, but we lost many more in hospitals due to contagiousdiseases, in the transmission of which this pest played a most importantpart. 

The fly is dangerous on account of its filthy habits. It breeds infilth, feeds on filth in open closets, slop-barrels, on the streets andin back alleys and then comes into the house and wipes this germ-ladenfilth on our food or on the hands or even in the mouths of helplessbabies. Who has not seen flies feeding on running sores on animals, oron "spit" on sidewalks? These same flies the next minute may be feedingon fruits or other food materials. We rebel when pests destroy our cropsor attack our stock, but here we have a pest which endangers our verylives, and the lives of those dear to us. 

If the fly confined itself to filth we could overlook it as it wouldhelp to hasten the removal of filth. On the other hand, if it avoidedfilth and remained in our home we could not overlook it, but we couldfeel safe that it was not apt to do us a great deal of harm. But, likethe English sparrow, one minute it is here and the next somewhere else;from filth to foods and then back again to filth. In this way it carriesdisease germs upon its feet and other parts of its body and by coming incontact with food material some of these germs are sure to be left on itand cause trouble later. The fly's method of carrying disease isdifferent from that of the mosquito where the germ is carried inside itsbody. 

[Illustration: House fly; a, larva or maggot; b, pupa; c, adult; e, egg. All enlarged. (Modified from Howard Bur. Of Entomology. U. S. Dept. Agri. )]

The presence of flies in the home is usually a sign of untidiness; butit means more, it means that disease and often death is hovering overthe home. We are too apt to consider the fly simply as a nuisance whenwe should take it more seriously. The child should be led to realizethat the fly should not be tolerated in the home, that it is dangerousand that it can and must be destroyed. 

The house fly may pass the winter either as the adult fly in cracks andcrannies about the home, or in out-buildings or it may remain as ahard, brown, oval pupa in stables and manure piles when, with the firstwarm days of spring, it escape from this case as the fly ready to layeggs for the first colony. The fly breeds largely in horse manure eitherin stables, manure piles or in street gutters where manure is allowed tocollect. Each female lays a large number of eggs and since it requiresless than two weeks for the pest to mature, we are soon overrun withflies in the summer where steps are not taken to control them. Themaggots are often so abundant in stables that they can be scooped outwith a shovel. This ceaseless breeding continues from spring until thefirst frost in the fall. 

[Illustration: Favorite breeding places of house fly. Such places shouldbe kept as clean and neat as the front yard. ]

In the control of the fly and prevention of trouble from it there arethree important steps to take. First of all, go to the source of thetrouble and do away with or screen all breeding places. Then, by keepingin mind the fact that the fly is comparatively harmless as long as it iskept from filth laden with germs, do away with all open closets, uncovered slop-barrels and other filth. As a further precaution keep itfrom the home by the use of screens and when necessary "swatters. " Donot make the mistake of trying to control the pest with the "swatters"alone. In the country too often manure is permitted to accumulate aboutthe barn during the summer with a view of using it on wheat ground inthe fall and this furnishes ideal conditions for the fly to breed. Another source of constant danger especially in the rural districts isthe presence of open closets or worse still the presence of no closet atall. This is without doubt the most dangerous accessory of the farm. More screens should be used in the home and greater care in keeping themclosed. 

[Illustration: An open closet to which the house fly has free access. Such a closet is the most dangerous accessory of any home. ]

STUDY OF THE FLY AND ITS WORK

Observe first of all the feeding habits of the fly. What foods in thehome is it most fond of? Make a list of all the food materials it isfound to feed on. Where and on what is it found feeding out doors? Doyou find it feeding on filth and if so, on what? Do you find it aboutthe barn? Where is it usually found in the barn? How can the fly carryfilth to food materials?

In studying the breeding of the fly determine where it lays its eggs andwhere the maggots are found. Examine fresh manure in the stable and seeif you can find small white maggots about half an inch long and as largearound as the lead in a pencil. If you do, place some of them with somefresh manure in a glass jar and see what becomes of them. In a few daysthe maggots will disappear and in their places small oval, brownbean-like objects will appear. A few days later these will crack open atone end and the fly will crawl out. Keep records of the length of timeit requires for the pest to pass from one stage to the other. If maggotscannot be gotten put some fresh manure in the jar and catch a number oflive house flies and put them in with the manure and watch for results. Collect a jar of fresh manure with maggots and sift over it a littlepowdered borax and see what happens to the maggots. Where horse manurecan not be properly disposed of, cheap borax is used to throw over pilesof manure to destroy the maggots and prevent the flies from breeding init. Write a brief description of the different stages and make carefuldrawings of these. Do not mistake the house fly for other flies oftenfound on food in the home. 

Collect a few flies and put them in a bottle and drop in with them justa few crumbs of sugar and watch them feed. They cannot chew but a littlesaliva from the mouth dissolves a little of the sugar which is thenlapped up as syrup. Notice what a peculiar sucker they have for drawingup liquids. How can they crawl along in the bottle with their backstoward the floor? Examine the tip of their feet for a small glue padwhich sticks to the glass. These glue pads and the sucker are wellfitted for carrying filth. Examine the fly carefully and write a briefdescription of it. What color is it? How many legs? How many wings? Arethese transparent? Behind the wings there is a pair of small stubs whichis all that is left of the hind pair of wings. Are the eyes large? Canyou find a pair of small feelers? Why can you not pick up a fly like youwould a grasshopper? Is their eye sight good? Why are they always mostabundant on a kitchen screen door? Can they smell?

What are the fly's worst enemies? Will the toad eat them? Do chickenseat them? Have you ever seen chickens scratching in manure and feedingon the fly maggots? Put a few drops of formaldehyde, which you can getfrom a druggist, in a few spoonfuls of sweet milk or sugar syrup and letthe flies eat it and see what happens to them. This is one of our bestpoison baits for flies which get in the home or collect about the dairy. Formaldehyde is a poison and when used in bait it must be kept out ofreach of children. Just about frost, in the fall, watch for theappearance of inactive flies on walls, windows and other parts of thehouse. These have been attacked by a parasitic disease. These are oftenfound sticking to walls and other objects about the room in the winter, and are commonly thought to be passing the winter. 

 * * * * *

 "_The insect we now call the 'house fly' should in the future be termed the 'typhoid fly, ' in order to call direct attention to the danger of allowing it to continue to breed unchecked. _"

 --L. O. HOWARD. 

CHAPTER V

THE MOSQUITO

Here we have another small insect which, like the house fly, isextremely dangerous, due to its ability to carry the germs of disease. There are hundreds of species of mosquitoes, some small, some large. Themajority of these are unable to carry disease so far as we know atpresent, but they should be avoided as dangerous. The Missouri formswhich carry disease are the so-called malarial fever mosquitoes, andthey are entirely responsible for the transmission of this sapping andoften fatal disease. In the warm countries these are more abundant andthe fever is more fatal. In the south there is still anotherdisease-carrying mosquito, the yellow fever mosquito. This form is mostdangerous of all. 

The mosquito first bites a patient suffering with malaria and in thisway it takes in germs along with the blood which it sucks from thepatient. After these germs pass through stages of development in thebody of the mosquito they are ready to be injected back into a healthyperson where, in due time, they cause the disease. The germs feed insidethe red blood corpuscles and at regular intervals they destroy a largenumber of these causing a chill which is followed by fever and a newsupply of corpuscles is produced. This alternation of chill and fevermay continue all summer, if medicine is not taken to destroy the germs. Quinine will kill the germs if it is taken so that plenty of it is inthe blood when the germs come out of the torn down corpuscles during achill. 

In order to prevent malarial fever, get rid of the mosquitoes bydraining and oiling the breeding places, escape their bites by screeninghouses, smudging and destroying the adults, and keep the mosquitoesfrom patients who have the fever. This is almost as important as thedestruction of the mosquitoes. The malarial fever mosquitoes are asharmless as our common forms so long as they do not become infected withgerms by sucking blood from a fever patient. 

[Illustration: Mosquitoes in position for biting; a, common Culexmosquito; b, malarial fever mosquito. Note that the one stands parallel, while the other stands at an angle to the surface on which it rests. ]

In view of the fact that most of our common mosquitoes are classed asnon-dangerous, it is of interest to know just how to distinguish theharmless ones from the dangerous. The adults of the two forms can beeasily distinguished when they are seen at rest. The common forms alwaysrest with the body parallel to the surface on which they rest, while themalarial form always elevates the end of the body so that the head ispointed toward the surface on which it rests. In like manner thewigglers can be distinguished from each other. Our common wigglersalways hang head downward in the water while those of the malarialmosquitoes rest near the surface of the water with their bodies parallelto it. The majority of the wigglers found in rain barrels are of ourcommon forms. 

[Illustration: Common Culex mosquito showing stages of development; a, raft of eggs; b, larvæ or wigglers of different sizes; c, pupa; d, mosquito. The large wiggler and the pupa are taking air from the surfaceof the water through their breathing tubes. ]

The life of the mosquito is quite interesting and is an excellentexample of an insect which lives in the water part of its life and inthe air the rest. The mature female mosquito, which does all thebiting, searches for water in rain barrels, cans, ditches, ponds, andstagnant swamps where she lays her eggs either in raft-shaped packets orsingly. When the wigglers hatch they swim about in the water and feedupon decaying material and microscopic water plants. When the wiggler isfull grown it changes to an active pupa which has a large head and aslender tail and is more or less coiled. A little later the wingedmosquito escapes. In the rural districts most of the mosquitoes breed instagnant ponds, swamps and rain barrels and from these they fly to thehome where they cause trouble. Such places should be drained orprotected with oil or other means to prevent the mosquito from usingthem for breeding purposes. Ponds can be freed of the wigglers byintroducing fish or by using a small amount of coal oil on the surface. The wigglers have a breathing tube which is thrust out above the waterwhen fresh air is needed and if there is a thin film of oil on the waterthis is prevented. Rain barrels can be freed of the pest in this wayalso, or perhaps better by covering them with a cloth. The mosquitoesare most troublesome about the home at night. When one sits out doors heshould keep a smudge going to drive them away while screens will keepthem out of the house at night. 

OBSERVATIONS AND STUDY

Collect all the different kinds of mosquitoes you can find and notedifference in size and markings. Do you find the malarial fever mosquitoin your region? Is malarial fever common during the summer and fall? Arethere any old stagnant ponds or swamps near your home? If so, examinethese for wigglers. Examine rain barrels for small raft-shaped packetsof eggs. These resemble small flakes of soot and are difficult to pickup between your fingers. Take a stick and lift them from the water andexamine them. One packet may contain a hundred or more eggs. Put a fewof these packets in a tumbler of rain water and watch for the wigglers. At first they will be very small but they grow fast. Watch them come tothe surface to breathe. The tip of the tail is projected above the waterand air is taken in at two small breathing pores or spiracles. Examinerain barrels for the larger wigglers. What do they live on in the rainbarrel? What do they do when you jar the barrel? Do you find any of therounded pupae in the barrel? They are active the same as the wigglers. If you find pupae, put some in a tumbler of water, cover it with clothor a lid and watch for the mosquitoes to appear. After collectingseveral mosquitoes examine them for number of wings, legs and markingsand see if all have the slender sucking tube. The males have largefeathery feelers, but no sucking tube. 

Write a brief description of the wiggler and the mosquito, theirbreeding places and means of destroying them. Make drawings of thedifferent stages, wiggler, pupa and mosquito. 

CHAPTER VI

THE CABBAGE MILLER

 "_And here and yonder a flaky butterfly Was doubting in the air. _"

 --MCDONALD. 

With the first approach of spring comes swarms of large green flieswhich bask in the March sun on the south sides of buildings. They arenot with us long, however, until we notice flashes of white quicklymoving about from one early weed to another. These are the advanceguards of the cabbage millers or butterflies. All through the coldwinter they remained in the chrysalis stage stuck to the sides ofhouses, fence posts and in other protected places, awaiting the firstbreath of spring. The first adults to emerge find no cabbage on whichto lay their eggs so they are compelled to use other plants such aspepper grass. 

[Illustration: Egg of cabbage miller much enlarged. ]

The eggs are very small and are usually placed on the lower edge of theleaf. These hatch and the small green worms appear. Throughout thesummer there are a number of broods produced and an enormous amount ofdamage is done. Just before frost the last caterpillars search forprotected places where they pass to the pupal or resting stage for thewinter. No cocoon is spun by this caterpillar. 

Where measures are not taken to control the cabbage worms they destroymuch of the cabbage crop each season. The white butterflies can be seenany day during the summer visiting cabbage, mustard, radishes and othersimilar plants. By destroying all of the worms and millers in the earlyspring one has less trouble later. This can be done by hand picking, orwhere the patch is large by spraying with a poison solution to whichsoap is added to keep the solution from rolling off in large drops. Poison can be used until the heads are well formed, but if the firstworms in the spring are destroyed, later spraying is unnecessary thoughan occasional handpicking will help. 

OBSERVATIONS AND STUDY

[Illustration: Cabbage worm feeding, slightly enlarged. ]

Go into the garden and examine the cabbage for small green worms whichvary from one fourth to a little over an inch in length. What is thenature of their work on the leaf? Where do they feed most, on the outeror inner leaves? Do they eat the entire leaf? How does the work of theyoung worms differ from that of the larger ones? Do they spin silk? Arethey on the top or under side of the leaf? Examine under the dead anddried leaves at the ground and see if you can find small, hard, grayobjects which have sharp angles and which are tied to the leaf with acord of silk. What are these objects? Watch the miller as she visits thecabbage and see if you can find the small eggs which she lays on theunder side of the leaves. When she visits a cabbage plant she bends herbody up under the outer leaves and stops but a moment, fluttering allthe while as she sticks the small egg to the leaf. It is about the sizeof a small crumb of bread. What does the miller feed on? Does she visitflowers? If so, what flowers?

[Illustration: Pupa or chrysalis of cabbage miller. ]

BREEDING WORK

Collect a few of the worms and put them in a glass jar with a piece ofcabbage leaf. Examine them carefully and watch them crawl. How many legsdo they have? Where are they placed on the body? How can they use somany legs while crawling? How many joints are there to the body? Notethe short fine hair all over the body which gives it the appearance ofgreen velvet. What color is the head? How does the caterpillar feed?Write a brief description of the worm. Do not mistake it for the cabbagespan-worm which is also green, but which walks by humping up its back. 

[Illustration: Cabbage miller on red clover blossom. ]

Keep the cabbage worms in the jar for a few days and watch themdisappear. After they have disappeared, what is left in the jar? Theseare the chrysalids or pupae of the insect and later from them will comethe millers. Take one of the pupae in your hand and see if it can move. If it is in the summer the miller will appear in a week, but if it is inthe late fall it will simply pass the winter in the pupa stage. Watchthe miller escape from the pupal case and describe it. Examine themiller carefully and describe briefly the number of legs, wings, segments of body, sucking tube and color markings. Make careful drawingsof the caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly. What gives the color to thewings? Rub the wings between your fingers and see if the color comesoff. The wings are covered with very small scales of different colorswhich combine to give the beautiful markings. The wings of allbutterflies and moths are covered with scales and hairs in this way. Inthis insect we find both chewing and sucking mouth parts. Thecaterpillar chews while the parent butterfly has a long tube for suckingup nectar from flowers and water from puddles in the road. 

 * * * * *

 "_Far out at sea--the sun was high, While veered the wind and flapped the sail; We saw a snow-white butterfly Dancing before the fitful gale Far out at sea. _

 "_The little wanderer, who had lost His way, of danger nothing knew; Settled a while upon the mast; Then fluttered o'er the waters blue Far out at sea. _

 "_Above, there gleamed the boundless sky; Beneath, the boundless ocean sheen; Between them danced the butterfly, The spirit-life of this vast scene, Far out at sea. _

 "_The tiny soul that soared away, Seeking the clouds on fragile wings, Lured by the brighter, purer ray Which hope's ecstatic morning brings-- Far out at sea. _

 "_Away he sped, with shimmering glee, Scarce seen, now lost, yet onward borne! Night comes with wind and rain, and he No more will dance before the morn, Far out at sea. _

 "_He dies, unlike his mates, I ween Perhaps not sooner or worse crossed; And he hath felt and known and seen A larger life and hope, though lost Far out at sea. _"

 --R. H. HORNE. 

CHAPTER VII

THE APPLE WORM

[Illustration: Apple worms in core of apple. Usually only one wormappears in an apple. Note the decaying of the apple. ]

This is perhaps the most destructive insect pest attacking the apple. Every year, that we have a good apple crop, there are thousands ofbushels of wormy apples which are practically worthless. This means anactual loss of thousands of dollars a year to the apple growers of thiscountry. For this reason alone each child should come to know the lifehistory, habits and injury of this pest. It is most destructive to theapple though the pear comes in for its share. 

[Illustration: The codling moth slightly enlarged. (From Slingerland). ]

Every country child and many of those of the cities, are familiar withthis worm for they often bite into it while eating apples. The smallworms crawl down in the blossom end of the young developing apple andfrom there bore into the pulp and eventually reach the core of thefruit. They stay in the apple about six weeks when they eat a hole outto the surface and crawl down to the trunk where loose bark offers ahiding place. Here they spin their cocoons and change to a small, brown, plump pupa and after a few days the winged moth emerges. The mothis very small and is not often found by one not acquainted with it. Theycome out during late June and early July when they lay eggs for a secondcolony of worms which again enter the fruit and destroy more of it. These worms of the second brood are usually mature and leave the fruitabout the time apples are picked in the fall in central Missouri. Theyescape and soon spin cocoons in which they pass the winter. Early in thespring these change to pupae and later the moths come out. They appearabout the time apples bloom in the spring and lay the eggs for the firstworms which enter in great numbers at the blossom end. 

This in short, is the life story of the pest through the year. Littlecan be done to destroy the pest after it gets into the fruit, thereforeremedies must be applied to destroy the worm before it gets into thefruit. All orchards should be sprayed with a poison in the springbefore the worms appear. Since most of them enter by way of the blossomend, it is necessary that the poison be put into the blossom end. To dothis spray at once after the blossoms fall, repeat after two weeks andspray again in July to kill the second brood of worms. The protection ofwoodpeckers and sapsuckers will also help as they feed on the wormsunder the bark. 

[Illustration: Apple blossoms at about the right stage for receiving thefirst and most important arsenical spray for the control of the appleworm. ]

OBSERVATIONS AND BREEDING WORK

Go into the orchard and examine for apples with masses of sawdust-likematerial projecting from the sides or blossom end. By removing thisbrown deposit which is the excrement of the worm, you will find a holeleading into the apple. Cut open one of these and determine the courseof the tunnel. Where do you find the worm? Do all such apples containworms? Where have they gone? How does the feeding of the worms injurethe fruit? Do any of the wormy apples show rot? Are any of the windfallsin the orchard wormy and if so what proportion?

Remove a worm from one of the apples and examine it. How many legs hasit? What color is it and does it have hair upon its body? Can it crawlfast? Does it spin silk? Put a number of the large worms in a jar andexamine from day to day and keep records of what happens. Collect anumber in the fall and keep them in a box outdoors during the winter. Inthe spring watch them change to the pupa in the cocoon and a littlelater the mature insect or codling moth, as it is commonly called, willemerge. Describe the moth and pin a number of them for your collection. What time in the spring do the caterpillars change to the pupa and whendo the moths emerge? If you keep the moths in a bottle they will laytheir small circular flat eggs where they can be seen by lookingclosely. During the winter examine under the bark of apple trees and incracks and crevices about apple pens for the small silk cocoonscontaining the worms. Examine in the same places in the spring aboutapple blooming time and then in place of the small pink worms you willfind the small brown pupae. Keep these a few days and the moths willappear. 

What proportion of apples in your region are wormy? What are they usedfor? Are the trees sprayed just after the blossoms fall to control thepest? Where spraying is carefully done, are there as many wormy apples?Why not spray all the orchards properly and have no worms?

Draw and describe the different stages of the apple worm or codling mothand its injury to fruit. 

 * * * * *

 "_O, yet we trust that somehow good Will be the final goal of ill, To pangs of nature, sins of will, Defects of doubt and taints of blood;_

 "_That nothing walks with aimless feet; That not one life shall be destroyed, Or cast as rubbish to the void, When God hath made the pile complete;_

 "_That not a worm is cloven in vain, That not a moth with vain desire, Is shrivelled in a fruitless fire, Or but subserves another's gain. _"

 --TENNYSON. 

CHAPTER VIII

THE TOMATO OR TOBACCO WORM

[Illustration: Egg of Tomato worm moth enlarged. ]

This insect is often very destructive to tomatoes and tobacco. Mostcountry boys and girls know it and fear its ugly looking horn. When fullgrown it is four inches long, usually dark green with a number ofslanting white lines along either side. It is so near the color of theplants that it is difficult to see it. 

[Illustration: Young tomato worm. ]

During the summer months the worms are common, being most abundant inAugust. In the fall the mature worms go into the ground and change fromthe worm to a large, oval, brown pupa with a jug-handle-like appendageon the under side. These are often turned up when the garden is plowedin the spring. After tomato plants are well started the large greyishhumming-bird-like moths comes from the ground and begin laying eggs. Themoth expands from four to six inches and is often seen at dusk visitingthe blossoms of "jimson weed" and other large tube flowers. They arealso found around lights at night. 

Where they are troublesome the plants should either be sprayed with apoison when the injury is first noticed or else the worms should bepicked off and destroyed. There is a small parasitic wasp which is veryhelpful in destroying this caterpillar. They live inside the worm andwhen mature bore out through the skin on the sides and back where theyspin small white egg-like cocoons from which later the small waspsemerge. Often a hundred or more may come out of one worm. 

STUDY AND OBSERVATION

Observe the worms where they are at work on tomatoes. Disturb them andhear them grind their jaws together. Do they eat the foliage rapidly?Dust a little Paris green on the foliage where a worm is eating and seewhat happens in half an hour. Collect a number of the worms in a glassfruit can and give them tomato leaves to eat and watch them grow. Howmany segments are there to the body? How many of the segments havesmall black spots on either side? These are holes through which the wormbreathes. Is the horn at the end of the body stiff enough to stick intoyour hand? This is thought to be a sting but it is only an ornament andis entirely harmless. When full grown they will burrow into the sand inthe jar and change to the pupa. 

[Illustration: Full-fed tomato worm slightly reduced. ]

[Illustration: Chrysalis or pupa of tomato worm. Note thejug-handle-like sheaths enclosing the proboscis. ]

Examine the brown pupa carefully and see if it can move. What is thepeculiar structure on the under side of the body? The moth which comesfrom this in the spring is very large. It is covered with white andblack scales and hairs which give it a mottled appearance. Examine onthe under side of the head for a peculiar structure like a watch spring. This is the sucking tube used in drawing up nectar from deep tubularblossoms. When the moths are sipping nectar from "jimson weed" blossomsthey can be killed by pouring a little poison down into the blossoms. 

[Illustration: Tomato worm moth natural size. ]

CHAPTER IX

THE FIREFLY

This insect is of little economic importance to us at present but itspeculiar habit of producing light makes it a very striking form and onewhich deserves study. The firefly is a beetle, and begins to make itsappearance the latter part of June when the darkest nights may be onesolid glow of fire. They live largely in damp places and bottoms atnight are specked with their tiny flashes of light. The larval or grubstage is passed on the ground beneath grass, weeds and rubbish wherethey often prey upon other insects. In some cases the grubs may be ableto produce light though as a rule the luminous grub-like creature orglow-worm is a wingless adult firefly. 

OBSERVATIONS AND STUDIES

Watch for the first appearance of the fireflies in the evening and seewhere they come from. Do they all appear at once or only a few at first?Do they fly fast? How often is the light produced? Will they produce thelight while on the ground? When they fly do they stay near the ground orhigh in the air? Do they light in trees?

[Illustration: Firefly beetles on sour-dock leaf. ]

Catch one of the fireflies in your hat and examine it carefully. Howlarge is it? Describe briefly its size, shape and color. Are its wingcovers hard like other beetles? Where is the light produced? What coloris the light? Is it bright? Hold the firefly on the opposite side of asheet of paper and see if the light will show through. Try the same withyour hat, coat sleeve and other objects. This light is extremelypenetrating and unlike the light of a lamp is produced with thegeneration of very little heat. Will it continue to flash while you holdit? Are the segments from which the light comes the same color as theother segments of the body? Crush the tip of the body between yourthumb and finger and see if the light continues to appear. How long doesit last? Collect a number of the fireflies and put them in a bottle andsee if the light is strong enough to enable you to read. 

The firefly has proven to us that our methods of producing light areextremely wasteful since much of the energy is lost in heat and it ispossible that through the lesson of the firefly we may some day be ableto produce better light at less expense. 

[Illustration: Lower surface of firefly beetle enlarged to show thelight producing segments of the abdomen. ]

CHAPTER X

THE WHITE GRUB OR JUNE-BUG

[Illustration: White grub feeding on roots of corn plant, enlarged. ]

This insect is more familiar to country children in the grub stage. Every one who has followed a plow in rich sod land has seen these fat, white coiled grubs roll down into the furrow when the plow turns themup. They are in the ground feeding on the roots of plants. Often all theroots of grass in lawns and meadows are eaten off and the sod dies andcan be rolled up like strips of carpet. This insect breeds largely insod and when this is plowed under and other crops are planted the grubsmay injure them severely. Corn, wheat, oats and truck crops areseverely injured. In some cases the grubs may feed for three yearsbefore they change to the pupa and later to the adult beetle. To controlthis pest, plow in the fall and rotate crops, so that sod will notremain on the same land too long. 

[Illustration: June beetle showing stages of development. The larva orgrub worm is feeding on roots under ground; the pupa and adult are shownabove ground. ]

The beetles come from the ground or may be plowed out in May and Juneand are commonly spoken of as May-beetles or June-bugs. They are usuallyof a yellowish-brown color and are often troublesome coming into thehouse at night where they buzz about the light, bumping into everythinguntil they finally drop heavily to the floor. All country boys and girlsknow these beetles. 

OBSERVATIONS AND STUDIES

Collect a number of the grubs from the ground and examine them for legs, eyes and mouth. How many legs have they? Can you find eyes? What usewould they have for eyes while in the ground? Do they bite? Place themon the table and see how they move. What color are they? Do you findspines or hair on their bodies? Pull up a little grass by the roots andput it in a jelly tumbler with soil and put some of the grubs in withit. Water it so as to keep it growing and follow the development of thegrubs. 

Collect some of the beetles and put them in a bottle and watch themcrawl about. Where are their wings? How can they get them out when theywant to fly? How many legs have they? Examine the tip of the feet forhooks. What are these used for? Can they chew leaves? Where are theireyes? Do you find feelers and if so where?

Write a short description of the grub and the beetle and make carefuldrawings of them. 

CHAPTER XI

THE COLORADO POTATO BEETLE

This is one of the worst pests of the potato. As the name would imply itcame originally from Colorado but is common now all over the country. The full grown insect is short and thick with a hard shell, striped withyellow and black. The grubs, on the other hand, are soft and red ororange with black spots. Both the grubs and the beetles feed on potatoesand often completely strip them of their leaves. Since they feed onfoliage they can be very quickly destroyed by dusting or spraying theplants with a poison such as Paris green or arsenate of lead. Thepatches of yellow or reddish eggs are found mostly on the under side ofthe potato leaves. When the fat grubs are full-fed they go into theground and change to pupae and later to the striped beetles. This pestshould not be mistaken for the so-called old-fashioned potato beetleswhich are long and slender and either bluish grey in color or stripedwith yellow and black. These are blister beetles and are entirelydifferent. 

OBSERVATIONS AND STUDIES

Watch for the first appearance of the adult beetles in the spring whenthe potatoes are just beginning to come up. They pass the winter underground and in the spring come out ready to lay eggs on the youngpotatoes. Collect and examine the adults. How many stripes have they?Collect packets of eggs and count them. How many eggs in most packets?How are they attached to the leaf? How large are the grubs when theyhatch from the egg? Examine the grubs where they are feeding onpotatoes. Do they eat holes through the leaf, or do they eat away theentire leaf? How fast do they grow? Collect a few in a glass tumbler. Feed them and watch them grow. What do they do when you touch them? Whatdoes the hard backed beetle do when it is touched? Collect some of thelarge grubs with tightly stuffed bodies and put them in a jar with dirtor sand and see where they go. After a week dig them out and see whatthey look like. 

[Illustration: The Colorado potato beetle showing stages of developmentand work on a potato plant. Note the small patch of eggs and differentsized grub on the plant and the grub, pupa and adult at side. ]

Write a short description of the eggs, grubs and beetle, its work andmeans of killing it when it is feeding on potatoes. Make carefuldrawings of a cluster of eggs, the grub and the beetle. 

CHAPTER XII

THE LADY-BEETLE

 "_Hurt no living thing: Ladybird, nor butterfly, Nor moth with dusty wing, Nor cricket chirping cheerily, Nor grasshopper so light of leap, Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat, Nor harmless worms that creep. _"

 --CHRISTINA ROSSETTI. 

The lady-beetles comprise one family of small beetles, which is famousfor the number of beneficial forms it includes. With but two exceptionsthe American forms feed upon other insects, in most cases pests such asplant-lice and scale insects. From the time they hatch from the egguntil they pupate and again after the beetle stage is reached they areregular tigers after plant-lice. They catch and hold their prey betweenthe front feet while they devour it bodily. The larva of the lady-beetlehas an astonishing capacity for in one day it will eat several times itsown weight of plant-lice. Farmers and fruit growers could hardly getalong without the help of these small beetles and yet unfortunatelythousands are often destroyed by those who do not know of theirbeneficial work. 

[Illustration: The spotted lady-beetle; a, larva; b, pupa; c, adult;enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agri. )]

The lady-beetles, or lady-birds as they are often called, are fairlyuniform in shape and color. They are oval or round in outline with theback rounded or elevated and the underside flat. In color they areusually either orange or yellow, checkered or blotched with black orblack with yellow or bright orange markings. They closely resemble smalltortoises. Unfortunately several plant feeding beetles are similar inshape and color which casts reflections on the lady-beetles. 

[Illustration: The convergent lady-beetle; a, adult; b, pupa; c, larva;all enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agri. )]

The grub of the lady-beetle is usually black or dull colored with red oryellow markings which make it very conspicuous. It runs about overfoliage and is broad in front and tapers to a point behind. When thegrub is full fed it attaches the top of its body to a leaf, twig orother object and pupates. In the pupal stage it is often protected withspines and is able to lift the front end of the body up and down whendisturbed, producing a light tapping sound. 

The lady-beetle usually hides in rubbish about the base of trees or insome cases even enter homes for the winter months, coming out with thespring to deposit small masses of oval yellow or orange eggs on plantsinfested with lice. They breed rapidly and with the help of parasitesand other beneficial insects usually control the plant-lice pests. 

OBSERVATIONS AND STUDIES

Examine about fruit trees, shade trees, truck crops and in wheat fieldsfor the brightly marked beetles. Watch them move about the plant insearch of food. Can they fly? Do you find them eating the leaves? Do youfind any green lice near them? See if they feed on these lice. Examinealso for the soft bodied, tiger-like grubs. Do they eat the lice? Dothey travel fast? Have they wings? See if you can find any of the pupaeattached to limbs or twigs and if so, tickle them with a straw or apencil and see them "bow. " Keep a record of the different trees andplants on which you find lady-beetles. 

Collect several of the beetles and the grubs and keep them in a bottleor jelly glass. Leave them without food for a day and then give themsome green plant-lice and watch them devour the lice. How many lice canone eat in a day? How do they go about devouring a louse? Do they simplysuck out the blood, or is the louse completely devoured? Supposing thatfor each apple tree in Missouri there are one hundred lady-beetles andthat each beetle devours fifteen lice in a day, does it not seem worthwhile protecting them and encouraging such work? A little time spent inacquainting one's self with the good work of such forms as these willhelp greatly in the fight on our insect foes. Make drawings of anddescribe briefly the different stages of the lady-beetles. 

CHAPTER XIII

THE DRAGON-FLY

What child is there that is not familiar with the insect commonly knownas the dragon-fly, snake doctor or snake feeder? Every lover of thestream or pond has seen these miniature aeroplanes darting now here, nowthere but ever retracing their airy flight along the water's edge ordipping in a sudden nose dive to skim its very surface. At times it isseen to rest lazily, wings out-stretched, perched on some projectingreed or other object. But when approached how suddenly it "takes off"and is out of reach. The dragon-fly is an almost perfect model of themodern monoplane. Its two long wings on either side are the planes, itshead the nose, its thorax the fuselage and its long projecting abdomenthe tail or rudder. On wing the dragon-fly is one of the swiftest andmost powerful insects. The dragon-flies are found all over the worldbeing most abundant in the warmer regions where rainfall and bodies ofwater are abundant. For breeding they require water, their immaturestages living under water feeding on aquatic animal life. Our presentorder of dragon-flies is the remains of an ancient race of insects ofimmense size. From fossil remains we learn that ancient dragon-flieshad a wing expanse of three feet. 

[Illustration: Cast off skin of dragon-fly nymph, showing shape andposition taken on a twig when the adult winged form emerged from thelast nymph stage. ]

The dragon-fly is a beneficial insect thruout life. The young feed onmosquito wigglers and similar life in ponds and streams while the adultsdart here and there over ponds, fields or lawn catching mosquitoes andother winged insects. Many look upon the dragon-fly as a dangerousstinging insect but it is entirely harmless and can be handled withoutthe least danger. They vary greatly in size and appearance. Theso-called damsel-flies form a group of dragon-flies or Odonata whichrest with the wings in a vertical position and the young aquatic stagesare more slender. In color markings dragon-flies include all hues of therainbow tho as a rule they do not have such extravagant colors as thebutterflies. 

[Illustration: One of our common dragon-flies found about ponds andstreams. ]

OBSERVATIONS AND FIELD STUDIES

Go into the fields and study and collect the different kinds ofdragon-flies and their young stages from the bottoms of ponds. Howswiftly can they fly? Do they fly high in the air as well as near thewater or surface of the earth? Can you see them catch other insects? Dobirds catch them and eat them? Take a position along the edge of a pondand as they come flying by swing swiftly with your net and catch one. Examine it carefully. Note the strength of the long, slender wings withtheir lace-like network of veins. Measure the distance across the backfrom tip to tip of wings. Compare this with the length from tip of headto the tip of the abdomen. Examine the head with its large compound eyesand the chewing mouth parts. Note the strong thorax which is filled withmuscles to operate the wings in flight. How many segments are there tothe abdomen?

With the hands or with a bucket dip up a quantity of mud and trash fromthe bottom of a pond and pile it on the bank. As the water soaks awaywatch for signs of life in the mass. If you find a few small creatures, say half an inch long with large head and eyes, broad body and with sixrather long legs they are probably the nymph stages of dragon-flies. Wash the mud off of them so that you can examine them carefully. With astraw probe in the mouth and you will find that the lower lip is a longelbowed structure which can be suddenly thrown out in front of it andwith a pair of pincher-like prongs at the tip it can catch and hold itsprey. Some forms keep their bodies covered with mud so that they canslowly creep up close to their prey. 

Collect several nymphs and keep them in a jar of water and study theirmovements and feeding habits. Disturb one with a pencil or straw and seehow it darts forward. It has a water chamber in the large intestines, including also the respiratory tracheal gills, from which the water canbe suddenly squirted which throws the insect forward. The escapingstream of water forces the insect forward on the same principle as therotating lawn sprinkler. If you collect some almost mature nymphs andkeep them for a time in a vessel of water you may see them crawl out ofthe water, shed their skin and change to winged adults. Collect a fewadults of different species for pinning in your permanent collection. 

CHAPTER XIV

THE SQUASH BUG

This common blackish or earth-colored bug is usually called the squashstink-bug. It has a very disagreeable odor which gives it this name. When disturbed it throws off from scent glands a small quantity of anoily substance which produces this odor. This is a protection to it forfew birds or animals care to feed on it. Most species of sap or bloodsucking true bugs have a similar protecting odor. 

The squash bug feeds largely on squash and pumpkins. It has a slenderbeak with needle-like mouth parts which are stuck into the plant forextracting the sap. It feeds only on plant sap. When it can not getsquash or pumpkins it will feed on watermelons, muskmelons and relatedcrops. It is very destructive to these crops. It not only extracts sapthus weakening the plant but it also seems to poison the plant whilefeeding. In this way its bite injures the plant something like theeffects of the bed-bug's bite on our flesh. It feeds first on the leavesand vines often killing them in a few days. Later it may cluster andfeed on the unripe squashes or pumpkins in such numbers as to completelycover them. Every country boy or girl has seen these stinking bugs onpumpkins in the corn field, at corn cutting time in the fall. 

[Illustration: Pumpkin in field covered with adults and nymphs of squashstink-bug. ]

The squash bug lives thru the winter as the matured winged insect. Itflies from its food plant to winter quarters late in the fall. Forwinter protection it may enter buildings, hide under shingles on roofs, crawl into piles of lumber, under bark of dead trees or stumps or hideunder any similar protection. When its chosen food crops begin to comeup in the spring it leaves its winter home and flies in search of food. After feeding for a time the female lays patches of oval, flattened, gold-colored eggs set on edge. When first deposited the eggs have apale color but in a short time the golden color appears. In some casesonly three or four eggs may be found in one patch while again there maybe twenty or thirty of them. They are so brightly colored that they caneasily be seen and most boys and girls have seen them on the leaves ofsquashes or pumpkins. 

[Illustration: Cluster of golden-brown eggs of squash stink-bug showingtwo recently hatched nymphs. ]

In a few days after they are laid they hatch and out of each crawls asmall, long-legged blackish or greenish young bug called the nymph. These little fellows usually stay in a crowd hiding on the under side ofa leaf. After feeding for a time their leaf begins to turn yellow andsoon dies. Then they move to a new leaf. As they feed they grow rapidlyand after shedding their skins they change to the second nymph stage. This shedding of their skins or molting occurs five times before theymature. Of course each time before the old skin or suit of clothes isdiscarded a new one is developed beneath. The females may continue todeposit eggs for later clusters of young. They become most abundant onthe crop late in the fall. Just before cold weather sets in the adultsagain seek winter shelter. 

This is a very difficult insect to control. Since it feeds on liquid saponly it is impossible to kill it by spraying the crop with a poison suchas arsenate of lead. It can not chew and swallow such poison. The youngcan be killed fairly well with a spray or dust containing nicotine butsuch treatments are not effective against the adults or nearly maturenymphs. A better method is to destroy all the bugs possible in the fallbefore they go to the winter protection and then watch for and destroythe adults and the eggs masses in the spring when they appear on theyoung crop. If the first adults and the eggs and newly hatched nymphsare destroyed the crop can be protected against the destructive worklater. 

OBSERVATIONS AND FIELD STUDIES

Plant a few squash hills in the garden in the spring and also plant afew seeds in rich dirt in discarded tin cans or flower pots. As thespring advances and the squashes start to vine watch for squash bugs onthem. Examine in piles of lumber, stove wood and under bark for some ofthe bugs before they come to the squash hills. If any are found put themon the squash plants in flower pots and cover them with a pint masonfruit jar. Watch for eggs to appear on the plants and also examine foreggs on the squashes in the garden. When eggs appear examine themcarefully, measure them and write a brief description of them. Try tomash them between your fingers. When they hatch carefully study theyoung nymph and describe it. Can you see the slender beak which inclosesthe mouth parts? How many joints are there to the antennae? As the nymphgrows watch it shed its skin. How does it do it? Where does its skinfirst crack? Save the cast skin and try to follow the nymph thru allthe nymph stages to the adult. Collect a bottle of the nymphs of varyingsizes from the garden. Examine them and describe the different stages. Can you see the wings forming on the backs of the older nymphs? How manysmall wing pads are there? Examine the adult closely and write a carefuldescription of it. Can you find where the secretion that causes the odoris produced? How long will the odor stay on your hands? Can you wash itoff? Spread the wings of the adult and make a careful drawing of onefront and one hind wing showing accurately the wing veins. In the gardentry to protect all the hills of squash from the bugs except one or twoused for your studies. Write a brief description of your methods ofcontrol. 

[Illustration: Squash stink-bug adult and nymph extracting sap fromsquash. ]

CHAPTER XV

THE PLANT-LOUSE

For this chapter any common species of plant-louse may be used. If thestudy is made in the spring the louse on rose, apple, clover, wheat orany other crop may be used. If the study is made in the fall the specieson turnips, corn or other plant or crop may be selected. The differentspecies vary greatly but for these studies any available species will besatisfactory. 

The plant-louse or aphis is a sap-sucking insect which feeds andmultiplies rapidly often seriously injuring crops. The loss of saptogether with the poisoning effect of the bite causes the weakening ofthe plant or leaf with its ultimate death if feeding continues. Thegreatest damage is usually done during cold springs or during a coolrainy period. This prevents the enemies of the louse from increasing andattacking it while the weather may not be too severe to prevent thelouse from working. Under favorable climatic conditions the naturalenemies of the louse as a rule are able to hold it in check. Theprincipal enemies of the louse are certain small insect feeding birds, lady-beetles, syrphid-flies, lace-wings and tiny wasp parasites. Thebeneficial work of the lady-beetles is discussed in an earlier chapter. The birds and lady-beetles devour them bodily, the larvæ of thelace-wings and syrphid-flies extract their blood while the wasps live asinternal parasites. 

In the latitude of Missouri the plant-lice as a rule live thru thewinter in the form of a fertile egg attached to the twigs of trees andshrubs. The winter egg is produced by a true female plant-louse. As arule there is only one generation of true males and females producedeach year. This brood develops late in the fall to produce thefertilized winter eggs. In the spring these eggs hatch and the tinynymphs begin to extract sap. On maturing they begin to give birth toyoung lice. Throughout the summer this method of reproduction continues. These summer forms are known as the stem mothers or agamic females. These are not true females for they produce living young in place ofeggs and during the summer no male lice are produced at all. This isnature's way of increasing the race of plant-lice rapidly. Late in thefall again a brood of true males and females is produced. During thesummer the plant-lice increase more rapidly than any other type ofinsect. 

[Illustration: Black winter eggs of Aphis showing how they are depositedin masses on twigs of apple. (After U. S. Dept. Agri. )]

Plant-lice vary in size, color and general appearance. Many are greenwhile some are red or black or covered with a cottony secretion. 

OBSERVATIONS AND FIELD STUDIES

Plant some melon, radish or other seeds in fertile soil in pots for usein this study. When lice appear on crops in the garden or field, collecta leaf with a few on it and carefully transfer them to the leaves onyour potted plants. Watch the lice feed and increase from day to day. Areading lens or a magnifying glass will be helpful as plant-lice arevery small. How do they move about? Can you count their legs? How manyhave they? Can you see their eyes and feelers? When feeding observe howthe beak is pressed against the leaf. Disturb one while it is feedingand see it attempt to loosen its mouth parts. 

[Illustration: Common apple aphis showing a winged and wingless agamicsummer forms at a and c, one with wing pads formed at b, and a recentlyborn young at d. (After U. S. Dept. Agri. )]

In the garden examine and see if you can find lady-beetles or otherparasites attacking the lice. Collect some of the enemies of the licefor your collection. Make a gallon of tobacco tea by soaking one poundof tobacco stems or waste tobacco in one gallon of water for a day oruse one ounce of forty per cent nicotine sulphate in three gallons ofsoap suds and spray or sprinkle infested bushes or vegetables with it. In an hour examine and see what effect it has had on the plant-lice. Nicotine is the most effective chemical for killing plant-lice. Do anyof the lice develop wings? If so, how many? Wings develop on some of thelice at times when a plant or crop becomes too heavily infested by them. This enables some of the lice to spread to new food plants before oldplants are completely destroyed and the colony of lice starved. 

[Illustration: Wooly apple aphis, showing how they cluster in masses onlimbs and secrete the white, wooly protection over their bodies. ]

Make a careful enlarged drawing of a winged plant-louse and a winglessone showing legs, feelers, beak, honey dew tubes on back and bodysegmentation. If ants are seen to attend the lice observe them carefullyand describe their work. The ants feed on a sweet honey dew excretiondischarged by the lice. 

CHAPTER XVI

THE HONEY BEE

 "_Simple and sweet is their food; they eat no flesh of the living. _"

 --VON KUEBEL. 

One can hardly believe that this small, ever busy creature each yeargathers many million dollars worth of products for man in this countryalone to say nothing of its inestimable value on the farm and especiallyin the orchard, where it assists in carrying pollen from blossom toblossom. It is of far greater value to man as a carrier of pollen thanit is as a honey gatherer and yet under especially favorable conditionsin one year a strong colony may produce between twenty-five and thirtydollars worth of honey. 

[Illustration: Worker, queen and drone honey bees; all about naturalsize. (After Phillips, U. S. Dept. Of Agri. )]

The general habits of the bee are fairly well known by all. They live incolonies consisting largely of workers, one female or queen and males ordrones. Whenever the number of workers becomes sufficiently large towarrant a division of the colony, a young queen is reared by the workersand just before she matures, the old queen leaves with about half of theworkers to establish a new colony. This division of the colony is calledswarming. If a hive, box or other acceptable home is not provided soonafter the swarm comes out and clusters, it may fly to the woods andestablishes itself in a hollow tree where the regular work of honeygathering is continued. This accounts for so many bee-trees in thewoods. The bee has been handled by man for ages, but it readily becomeswild when allowed to escape to the woods. 

[Illustration: Stages of development of honey bee; a, egg; b, younggrub; c, full-fed grub; d, pupa; all enlarged. (After Phillips, U. S. Dept. Agri. )]

The bee colony offers one of the best examples to show what can beaccomplished by united effort where harmony prevails. Certain of theworkers gather honey, others are nurses for the queen and young brood inthe hive, others guard the hive and repel intruders, and others care forthe hive by mending breaks and providing new comb as it is needed. Eachknows its work and goes about it without interfering with the work ofothers. It is one huge assemblage of individuals under one roof whereharmony and industry prevail. 

Throughout the long, hot summer days the workers are busy from daylightuntil dark gathering nectar, while at night they force currents of airthru the hive to evaporate the excess water from the nectar. Whenflowers are not available near the hive they simply fly until they findthem, be it one, two or more miles. As long as they are able to gatherhoney they continue to do so and when they give out they drop in thefield and are forgotten, others rushing to take their place. Often whenwinter is approaching and the store of honey is low the less vigorousones are cast out from the hive and left to die. If man could learn afew of the lessons which the bee teaches, he would be a better, a moreuseful and a wiser addition to society. 

OBSERVATIONS AND STUDIES

[Illustration: Two colonies of bees poorly cared for. Note box hives, crowding, lack of shade, and high weeds. It is a crime to treat beesthis way. ]

Go into the fields and study the work of the bee. Follow it from flowerto flower. See if it visits different kinds of flowers or if it gathersits whole load of honey from one kind. Make a list of all the blossomsyou find bees visiting. Does the bee move slowly from flower to flower?Can you see it thrust its tongue into the flower? How long does it stayon one blossom? Does it visit red clover? Pull a red clover blossomapart and compare the depth of the blossom with the length of the honeybee's tongue, and determine the reason why it does not visit redclover. The bumble-bee has a much longer tongue so it can get the nectarfrom red clover blossoms. Without the bumble-bee clover seed could notbe successfully grown. Can you see small balls of yellow pollen on thehind legs of the bee? The pollen is collected from blossoms and ispasted on to the outside of the hind legs in the pollen basket. When thebee returns to the hive, it stores the small balls of pollen in thecells of the comb for use later in the preparation of bee-bread. Whenthe bee is disturbed in the field does it fly away or will it sting?When it stings does it always lose its sting? What makes the sting ofthe bee poisonous? Examine the wings of bees in the field and note howthey are torn from continued work of gathering honey. The older onesoften lose so much of their wings, that they can no longer carry loadsof honey. Where is the honey carried and how is it placed in the honeycells in the hive?

[Illustration: A strong colony of bees properly housed and shaded. Thiscolony in a very unfavorable season stored about 50 pounds of surplushoney. ]

Go now to a hive and study the bees as they go and come. Do thosereturning fly as fast as those which leave? Why not? When they return dothey come direct to the mouth of the hive? Do those which leave flydirect from the hive or circle about first? Can you detect guards whichmove about at the entrance of the hive? What happens when a fly or otherinsect alights near the opening? Will the bees sting when you disturbthem about the hive? If possible study the colony inside the hive. To dothis you will need smoke to subdue the guards and a veil to protect theface. Can you find the queen? Is she larger than the workers? Examinefor honey-comb, bee-bread, worker brood, queen cells and drone cells. Ifpossible study the actions of a colony while swarming. 

Write a brief report of what you can learn of the life, work and habitsof the honey bee. 

 * * * * *

 "_Happy insect, what can be In happiness compared to thee? Fed with nourishment divine, The dewy morning's gentle wine!_

 "_Nature waits upon thee still, And thy verdant cup does fill; 'Tis filled wherever thou doest tread Nature's self thy Ganymede. _

 "_Thou doest drink and dance and sing, Happier than the happiest king! All the fields which thou doest see, All the plants belong to thee, All the summer hours produce, Fertile made with early juice, Man for thee does sow and plough, Farmer he, and landlord thou. _"

 --From THE GREEK OF ANACREON. 

CHAPTER XVII

THE ANT

The ants are closely related to the bees and are similar to them in manyrespects. They live in colonies consisting of workers, drones, and aqueen. The males or drones appear at swarming time and the workers aredivided into various castes--warriors, guards, nurses, etc. Thosefamilies of ants, however, which seem to have what approaches realintelligence, far outstrip the bees in many respects. In some cases antsseem to be able to plan and carry out lines of work very much the sameas man does. The various stages of human intelligence or races of menfrom the savage to the intelligent man are in a way similar to thevarious races of ants. There are ants which live as hunters, otherswhich live as shepherds and still others more highly developed whichgrow crops either in or near the nest as is the case with the fungusgrowing ants. This striking similarity between the development of antsand man offers ground for much speculation. 

[Illustration: Ant hill showing activity and stages of development; a, egg; b, young grub; c, pupa; d, worker; e, queen with wings; f, workercarrying young grub; all enlarged. The ant hill and workers at work muchreduced. ]

Some ants may be of considerable value to man while others are thesource of great annoyance and injury. The tidy housewife usually placesthe ant in the same category with cockroaches and bed-bugs and the corngrowers attribute much of the injury to young corn to the work of thesmall cornfield ant which acts as a shepherd of the corn root-louse. Ants are usually more destructive by protecting and caring for otherpests than by attacking the crop direct. 

Every country child is familiar with ants. They are met every day duringthe summer, scampering across paths, tugging at some unfortunate insect, or sticking to one's tongue when he eats berries. Ants are as numerousas the stars in the skies and vary in size. They are found from thetropics to the frozen north, in deserts, swamps and in fact, almost anyplace where plants or animals live. They do not waste time building ormanufacturing a complicated nest like wasps and bees, so when food isscare, or for other reasons they need to move they simply "pack up" andmigrate. This, together with the fact that they feed on almost everyimaginable kind of plant and animal material, accounts in part for thefact that they are the rulers of the insect world. 

STUDIES AND OBSERVATIONS

It is easy to study the out-door life of ants, but it is most difficultto follow their activities in the nest. Go into the field or out on theschool grounds and watch along paths or bare spots for ants. Soon red orblack fellows will be seen hurrying along after food; ants are always ina hurry when they are after food. Follow them and watch them catch andcarry home small insects. If they do not find worms or other smallinsects, drop a small caterpillar near one of them and see what happens. Can they drag away a caterpillar as large as themselves? Some of themmay be after honey dew, fruit juice or other material of this nature andthey should be observed collecting it. Ants collect about plants orshrubs which are overrun with green lice, and feed on a sweet liquidwhich the lice produce. Watch them collect the honey dew from the lice. Do they injure the lice? Can you see the two short tubes on the back ofthe louse?

Locate an ant nest or hill. Observe the workers carrying out smallpellets of earth or gravels. Is the earth they bring out the same coloras the surface soil? How deep may they go to get it? Do they move aboutas if they were in a hurry? Who sends them out with the earth? Why dothey bring it out? Is it dropped as soon as the ant comes out of thehole or is it carried some distance? The small ant found along pathsusually makes a small ridge all the way around the entrance. While someof the ants are making the nest, others are collecting food. Watch forsome of these and see what they bring. Do they stop to eat before goingdown into the nest? Dig into a large ant hill and see what can be found. Describe briefly what is found. Do you find any small soft grubs andoval cocoons? These are the young ants and they are perfectly helplessand must be fed, bathed and cared for by the workers or nurses. Theworkers pick these up between their pinchers and carry them away whenthe nest is disturbed. Do the workers fight to protect the nest? Collectsome of the workers which are carrying away the young and keep them in ajar with bits of bark and see what they do with the young. 

Describe briefly what you are able to find out about ant life andbehavior; also make drawings of an ant, the young and a nest. 

 * * * * *

 "_A pensy ant, right trig and clean, Came ae day whidding o'er the green, Where, to advance her pride, she saw A Caterpillar, moving slaw. 'Good ev'n t' ye, Mistress Ant, ' said he; 'How's a' at home? I'm blyth to s' ye!' The saucy ant view'd him wi' scorn, Nor wad civilities return; But gecking up her head, quoth she, 'Poor animal! I pity thee; Wha scarce can claim to be a creature, But some experiment O' Nature, Whase silly shape displeased her eye, And thus unfinished was flung bye. For me, I'm made wi' better grace, Wi' active limbs and lively face; And cleverely can move wi' ease Frae place to place where'er I please; Can foot a minuet or jig, And snoov't like ony whirly-gig; Which gars my jo aft grip my hand, Till his heart pitty-pattys, and-- But laigh my qualities I bring, To stand up clashing wi' a thing, A creeping thing the like o' thee, Not worthy o' a farewell to' ye!' The airy Ant syne turned awa, And left him wi' a proud gaffa. _

 "_The Caterpillar was struck dumb, And never answered her a mum: The humble reptile fand some pain, Thus to be bantered wi' disdain. But tent neist time the Ant came by, The worm was grown a Butterfly; Transparent were his wings and fair, Which bare him flight'ring through the air. Upon a flower he stapt his flight, And thinking on his former slight, Thus to the Ant himself addrest: 'Pray, Madam, will ye please to rest? And notice what I now advise: Inferiors ne'er too much despise, For fortune may gie sic a turn, To raise aboon ye what ye scorn: For instance, now I spread my wing In air, while you're a creeping thing!'_"

 --ALLAN RAMSAY. 

Transcriber's Note:

 Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Punctuation has been normalised. Dialect, informal and variant spellings remain as printed. Hyphenation discrepancies in the illustration captions have been amended to match the main text.