The Toad may be rough and warty in appearance
but worth its weight in gold as a destroyer of insect
pests. Note the expression of satisfaction after a successful
night of foraging for cutworms and June-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
In the preparation of a book of this nature, to be
used in the grade schools, we realize that the one
fundamental thing to keep in mind is the economic
importance of the insect, be it good or bad. The
child wants to know what is good and what
is bad and how he can make use of the good and
how he can get rid of the bad. And yet there is
something more associated with the life, work and
development of each tiny insect. There is a story—a
story of growth, not unlike that of the developing
child, a story of courage, strife and ultimate success
or failure, which is as interesting and of greater
value to the child than many of the stories of adventure
and of historical facts. Snatches of these
stories will appear in the following chapters along
with the studies on insects and their economic importance.
In the development of our grade school system,
especially in the rural districts, there is a growing
demand for some practical work along with the
regular cultural studies. To the child in the rural
schools, practical knowledge naturally tends toward
agriculture. Many of these boys and girls do not
have a chance to pursue studies beyond the grades[x]
and it therefore becomes necessary to introduce some
elementary agriculture into the grades to supply the
natural craving of this vast assemblage of children
in the rural schools of our land.
In the search for a study which will give unlimited
scope for independent thought and observation and
which will lead the child to understand better the
forces of nature that affect agriculture, nothing is
so readily available and attractive to the child as
nature study, an elementary study of the natural
sciences. In fact agriculture is primarily a course
in nature study where we study how plants and animals
struggle for existence.
There is a period in the life of every child when
he is especially susceptible to the “call of the fields;”
when he roams through woods or by shady brooks
gathering flowers, fishing for mud-cats and cleaning
out bumble-bees’ nests. It is often compared with
the life of the savage and is merely the outward expression
of an inward craving for a closer relation
with nature and her creatures. If one can reach a
child while at that age he has a ready listener and
an apt pupil. That is the time to guide and instruct
the child along the line of nature study.
The most important questions confronting the
average teacher in the grade schools are: “What
material shall I use and how shall I proceed to
direct the child along this line?” First of all use
that material which is most readily available,
which is most familiar to the child and which[xi]
will attract and hold his attention. There is
nothing so readily available and so generally interesting
to both boys and girls as are the thousands
of fluttering, buzzing, hopping and creeping forms
of insects. They are present everywhere, in all seasons
and are known to every child of the city or
farm. They are easily observed in the field and can
be kept in confinement for study. Many of them
are of the greatest importance to man; a study
of them becomes of special value.
In pursuing a study of nature and her creatures
one should go into the woods and fields as much
as possible and study them where they are found.
In this way one can determine how they live together,
what they feed on and the various other
questions which the inquisitive mind of a healthy
child will ask. When field work is not possible,
gather the insects and keep them alive in jars where
they can be fed and observed. Some forms cannot
be kept in confinement and in such cases samples
should be killed and pinned, thereby forming a collection
for study.
Most of the forms which are included in the following
chapters can be kept in confinement in glass
jars or studies out doors. The studies have been
made so general that in case the particular form
mentioned is not available any closely related form
can be used. Each child should make a small collection
of living and pinned insects for study and
should be encouraged to observe insects and their[xii]
work in the field. The collections and many of the
observations could be made to good advantage during
the summer vacation when the insects are most
abundant and active.
Pupils should not be encouraged merely to make
observations, but they should be required to record
them as well. Brief descriptions of the appearance
and development of insects, the injury they do, and
remedies for the same, will help fix in mind facts
which otherwise might soon be forgotten. Drawings,
whenever possible, should also be required.
The pupil who can record observations accurately
with drawings will not soon forget them. The
teacher should therefore require each pupil to provide
himself with a note-book for keeping brief, but
accurate notes and careful drawings. The drawings
should be made with a hard lead pencil on un-ruled
paper, the size of the note-book, and the pupils
should be encouraged to be neat and accurate.
The author wishes to take this opportunity of
expressing his deep appreciation for the many
helpful suggestions and other assistance which Mr.
R. H. Emberson, superintendent of Boys and Girls
Club Work in Missouri, has given. It was his
life-long devotion to the boys and girls of the grade
schools and his keen appreciation of their needs
that lead him first to suggest to the author the
importance of preparing this little book for their
use.
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.“
Chapter I
INSECTS
“There is a difference between a grub
and a butterfly; yet your butterfly was
a grub.“
In undertaking a study of insects
it is well first of all to know something
about what they are, their general nature,
appearance, habits and development.
The insects comprise the largest
group of animals on the globe.
There are about four times as many
different kinds of insects as all other
kinds of animals combined. Insects
vary greatly in size. Some are as large
as small birds, while others are so
small that a thousand placed in one
pile would not equal the size of a pea.
Insects are commonly spoken of as
“bugs.” This term, however, is properly
used only when referring to the[2]
one order of insects which includes
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,
crawfishes and even earth-worms are
often spoken of as bugs.
What They Are
Side view of grasshopper with wings and legs
partly removed. Note the division of the body
into head, thorax, composed of prothorax, mesothorax
and metathorax, and abdomen consisting
of ring-like segments.
Insects are variously formed, but as
a rule the mature ones have three and
only three pairs of legs, one pair of
feelers, one pair of large eyes, and one
or two pairs of wings. The body is
divided into a head, thorax and abdomen.[3]
The head bears the eyes, feelers
and mouth, the thorax bears the legs
and wings, and the abdomen is made
up of a number of segments. The
presence of wings at once decides
whether or not it is an insect, for,
aside from bats and birds, insects alone
have true wings. These are the distinguishing
characters of the full
grown insect, but, like birds, they
hatch from eggs and while young do
not always look like their parents.
When young they may take on various
shapes as caterpillars, borers, maggots,
grubs, hoppers, and the like. Young
insects are often difficult to distinguish
from true worms, centipedes, snails,
and such forms, but after one has collected
and reared some of the young
and watched them pass through the
different stages and emerge with wings
they are much more easily recognized.
Their Principal Characteristics
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., labial palpus;
lab., labium or lower lip.
Mouth parts of grasshopper
shown in relative position;
lbr., labrum; md., mandibles;
hyp., hypopharynx;
max., maxillae; lab., labium.
Young insects as a rule are soft like
caterpillars and maggots, while the old[4]
ones usually have a hard body wall,
similar to the beetles and wasps. The
wings are usually thin and transparent
though in some cases they are leathery
or hard as in case of beetles or covered
with scales as in the butterflies. The
three pairs of legs are jointed and used
for running, climbing, jumping,
swimming, digging or grasping. The
feelers or antennae are usually threadlike,
clubbed, or resemble a feather[5]
and extend forward or sidewise from
the head. The large eyes are compound,
being made up of many great
small units which, when magnified,
resemble honey-comb. In some cases
two or three small bead-like eyes may
be present besides the two large eyes.
The mouth parts of insects may be
formed for chewing, as in the grasshopper,
or for sucking up liquids, as
in the mosquito. The mouth of an[6]
insect is built on an entirely different
plan from our own. Chewing insects
have an upper and lower lip and between
these there are two pairs of
grinding jaws. These jaws are hinged
at the side of the face and when chewing
they come together from either
side so as to meet in the middle of the
mouth. They therefore work sidewise
rather than up and down. The mouth
parts of the sucking insects are drawn
out to form a sucking tube or proboscis
as in case of the butterfly or mosquito.
Leg of grasshopper showing
segmentation. The basal
segment 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 jointed
tarsus 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, and intestines.
The nervous system is well developed
as shown by the extreme sensitiveness
of insects to touch. The brain is comparatively
small except in the bees and
ants. The circulatory system consists
simply of a long tube heart, the blood
vessels being absent. In this way the
internal organs of the insect are simply[8]
bathed in the blood. The system of
respiration is most complicated. The
air is taken in through pores usually
along the side of the body and is then
carried through fine tracheal tubes to
all parts of the body. You cannot
drown an insect by putting its head
under water, since it does not breathe
through its mouth. The muscular system
is similar to that of other animals
which have the skeleton on the outside.
The internal organs of the honey bee. Note the strong wing
muscles in the thorax. The tube-like heart begins in the head and
extends back through the thorax and follows the curve of the abdomen.
Below the heart is the digestive tube consisting of the slender
oesophagus which extends back to the expanded honey stomach, in
which the bee carries the nectar it collects from flowers, then the
curled true stomach, the small intestine and expanded large intestine.
Below this is the nervous system consisting of the brain and a chain
of connected enlargements or ganglia extending back into the abdomen
in the lower part of the body. The respiratory system in part
appears just above the honey stomach, and the black circular or oval
spots are cross sections of connecting air tubes, which run all through
the body. Also note the sting with the poison gland and sack which
are pulled out with the sting; also the sucking tube for getting honey
from flowers, and the structures on the legs for gathering and carrying
pollen; the pollen basket is on the back side of the hind leg.
Their Methods of Developing
In most cases the parent insect deposits
small eggs which hatch later
into the young insects. In some cases,
as with the blow-flies, the maggot may
hatch from the egg while yet in the
parent’s body, when the active larva is
born alive. Whether the egg hatches
before or after it is deposited, the
young insect continues to develop in
one of three ways. It may resemble
the parent and simply grow as does a
kitten, or it may look somewhat like
its parent though smaller and without[9]
wings, as the young grasshopper, or it
may bear no resemblance whatever to
the parent, as the caterpillar which
feeds and grows and finally spins a cocoon[10]
in which it passes to the resting
chrysalis stage and later emerges with
wings. The development of insects is
therefore extremely complicated.
The chinch bug showing development with incomplete
metamorphosis; a, egg; b, first nymph;
c, second nymph; d, third nymph; e, fourth
nymph; f, adult winged bug; g, chinch bugs extracting
sap from corn plant. To control this pest
burn over all winter harboring places and use
chemical or dust barriers following wheat harvest.
The Principal Orders
In order to study a group of animals
which includes so many thousand different
kinds it is necessary to divide
them into a number of sharply defined
divisions or orders. All animal life is
naturally grouped into such divisions
and subdivisions. Among the insects
we at once detect seven large, sharply
defined divisions or orders, and ten or
more smaller 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 variously formed 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[11]
we have the various smaller orders of
water-loving insects, fleas, etc. The[12]
seven groups mentioned above include
the majority of our common forms
and in the studies to follow we will
include only representatives from
these orders.
The Hessian fly showing development with complete
metamorphosis; a, egg; b, larva or maggot; c, flax-seed
stage; d, pupa; e, adult winged fly; f, wheat
stubble with flax-seed stages near base taken after
harvest. To control this pest, plow under stubble after
harvest; keep down all volunteer wheat and sow
wheat after fly-free date in the fall.
Their Habits
The habits of insects are as varied as
their forms and adaptations. Some
live in the water all their life, others
spend a part of their life under water,
others live the care-free life of the open
air, others enjoy feeding upon and living
in the foulest of filth, others associate
themselves with certain definite
crops or animals thereby doing
untold injury, while others produce
food and other materials which are to
be used by man for his comfort. Every
imaginable nook and crook, from the
depths of lakes to the tops of mountains,
from the warm, sunny south to
the cold frigid north, from the foul
damp swamps to the heart of our desert
lands, offers a home for some small insect.[13]
The most striking habits and developments
among insects is found in the
more highly advanced families of bees
and ants where definite insect societies
are formed, resembling in many respects
human societies and human activities.
Among these villages are established,
homes built, battles fought,
slaves made, herds kept by shepherds,
and even fields cultivated. In these
groups we have the nearest approach
to human intelligence.
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 or agriculture.
The various forms of pests such as the
chinch bug, potato beetles, and others
do an enormous amount of damage
each year. They destroy hundreds of
millions of dollars worth of crops annually
in the United States alone.
They devour enough to pay for the
entire cost of running the school system[14]
of our country and nearly enough
to meet all the expenses of our government.
In view of these facts it is the
duty of each and every farmer, young
or old, to acquaint himself with these
destructive pests and prepare himself
for combating them. With a knowledge
of the methods of controlling
these pests much of this enormous loss
can be prevented.
While some insects are extremely
injurious, others are very helpful. The
products of the honey bee in the United
States alone amount to several million
dollars a year, to say nothing of its
value to the farmer in pollinating
fruits. The annual output of silk, all
of which is spun by the silkworm, is
worth millions of dollars. Many other
forms are of value to man by producing
material of commercial value such
as lac, shellack, dyes, medicines, etc.
Of all the beneficial insects those
which are of greatest value to man
are the parasites and similar forms
which help to keep in check many of[15]
the severest pests of the farm. Insects
are not all bad fellows by any means.
One must acquaint himself with those
which are good and those which are
bad before he can hope to deal with
them intelligently.
We behold those tender wings expand,
Emblems of our own great resurrection,
Emblems of the bright and better land.“
Chapter II
COLLECTING INSECTS
To stick a pin into an insect?“
In the life of every normal human
there comes a time when he wishes to
make a collection of some kind. It
may be a collection of coins, postage
stamps, post-cards, shells, relics, birds’
eggs, pressed flowers or insects. If
the child grows up in the country, the
result of this craving is usually three
or four cigar boxes of insects or an
almanac or geography stuffed with
the most attractive wild flowers of the
field. A collection of this sort may
be small and poorly kept and yet it is
worth while. In later life one will[17]
search in his mother’s closet or attic
for the old cigar boxes which contain
the remains of youthful efforts, usually
a mass of gaudy wings, fragments of
insect legs and bodies and a few rusty
pins. This desire to make a collection
is natural and should be encouraged
in the child. It tends to make him observe
closely and creates an interest in
things about him, and if properly directed
it will add a store of information
which can be gotten in no other
way.
Directions for Collecting
A convenient home-made net for
catching insects; note the broom-stick
handle, heavy twisted wire and mosquito
net bag.
A cyanide jar for killing insects;
note the lumps of the
deadly poison potassium cyanide
in the bottom covered and sealed
by a layer of plaster of Paris.
Many boys and girls of the rural
schools will have little time or inclination
to provide themselves with apparatus
for collecting insects. An old
straw hat or a limb will serve their
purpose. From their point of view
what difference does it make if they
tear off most of the legs and break the
wings? They succeed in securing the
“bug” and when pinned in the box it
will mean just about as much to them[18]
as the most perfect specimen ever prepared.
This method of catching insects
will prove effective where nothing better
is available, but any child can easily
make a small insect net by attaching a
loop of fairly stiff wire to a broom handle
or other stick and sewing a bag of
mosquito netting or other thin cloth to
the wire. By means of such a net one
can catch insects more easily and at[19]
the same time there is less danger of
tearing such insects as butterflies.
Care must be taken in handling the
stinging insects.
The country boy and girl will have
little trouble getting hold of insects,
but they are often puzzled when it
comes to killing them. It seems cruel[20]
to pin up an insect alive and have it
squirm for a day or two and some
means of killing them should be devised.
Most of the soft insects, such
as flies, butterflies, etc., can be killed
by pressing their body, in the region
of the wings, between one’s thumb and
forefinger. Such forms as beetles and
wasps can be quickly killed by dropping
them into coal oil or a strong
soap suds. Any method which can be
devised for quickly killing the insect,
and which will not seriously mutilate
it, can be used.
A convenient killing bottle can be
made by sealing a few small lumps of
the deadly poison, potassium or sodium
cyanide, in the bottom of a
strong, wide-mouthed bottle, with
plaster of Paris; or a few drops of
chloroform or ether on a wad of cotton
in a similar bottle, will also serve
as a convenient killing jar.
Pinning and Preserving a Collection
Method of pinning different kinds of insects.
After the insects, have been caught
and killed, they should then be prepared[21]
for the permanent collection.
Most insects such as wasps, beetles,
flies and grasshoppers should simply
have a pin thrust through their bodies
until they are two-thirds the way up
on the pin and then put them away in
a box. Such forms as butterflies and
moths make a much better collection
if the wings are spread so as to bring
out their gaudy markings. In order
to spread butterflies’ wings, one needs
a spreading board, which can be made
in ten minutes by taking a pine board[22]
two feet long, and six inches wide and
on this nail two strips an inch thick,
so that there is a crack between them.
The crack should be half an inch wide
at one end and a quarter of an inch
wide at the other end, and in the bottom
of it press strips of cornstalk pith
so as to have something soft in which
to stick the pins. After a pin has been
stuck through the body of a dead butterfly[23]
between the wings, it is then pinned
in the crack 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
the body when they are pinned down
by means of strips of paper and left to
dry a few days until they become perfectly
rigid. In this way a most beautiful
collection can be made very easily,[24]
but where time and materials are
not available, simply pin them up like
other insects, leaving the wings to
hang as they will. After the specimens
are pinned they should be put away in
cigar boxes in the bottom of which is
pinned or pasted a layer of cork or
corrugated paper similar to that which
comes between glass fruit cans. These
make ideal cases for keeping small
collections as the odor of tobacco helps
keep pests from getting in to destroy
the collection.
Home-made spreading board for spreading butterflies
and moths.
Cigar box with strip of corrugated paper
in bottom used as case for keeping pinned insects.
Rearing and Observing Them While
Alive
While studying an insect it is advisable
wherever possible to first study
it where it is found in the field and
later bring it home and keep it alive
in a jar where it can be fed and observed
and its various habits studied.
Cages for breeding insects consist
simply of a few glass fruit cans and
jelly glasses with tin or cloth covers.
A child can borrow one or two of these[25]
from his mother’s fruit cellar. A layer
of moist sand or soil should be put in
the bottom of the jar to provide a retreat
for those forms which go into
the ground before changing to adults.
Before an insect is placed in one of
these breeding cages its food plant
should be determined by observations
in the field, and every day or two a
fresh supply should be gathered. Most
of the forms discussed in the following
chapters can be kept in jars and reared
to the adult stage. Rearing insects is
both interesting and instructive. Every
child should be given an opportunity
to rear a few forms either during the
school year or during the summer vacation.
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,
[26]
Their days were successions of joys,
And the very last fad these butterflies had
Was making collections of boys.
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.
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.
[27]
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.
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!“
Chapter III
THE GRASSHOPPER
The grasshopper or locust is one of
the most ancient plagues of cultivated
crops. From the earliest time they have
destroyed crops. During Moses’ sojourn
in Egypt they were so destructive
as to cause severe famine and
various other references to their destructive
work are to be found in the
early writings. Since those early days,
just think of the crops that have disappeared
between the greedy jaws of
grasshoppers!
In our own country it has not been
many years since the sun was darkened
for days by clouds of grasshoppers as
they settled down from the Rocky
Mountains upon the growing crops in
the neighboring states. One day a field
might have a promising crop and by[29]
the next day it might be left as bare as
a dry stubble field in August. Those
days of great destruction in America
have largely passed but each year the
active jaws of “hoppers” devour a
handsome fortune.
Common differential locust or grasshopper;
a, egg nests underground; b, young
nymph; c, d, older nymphs; e, adult
grasshopper; f, nymph feeding on grass.
This shows development with incomplete
metamorphosis.
[30]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 the
ground and in other protected places.
In the spring these hatch into young
“hoppers” scarcely larger than a pin
head at first. Throughout the early
summer these small fellows feed and
increase in size. They burst their old
skins and crawl out of them a number
of times as they grow larger. Toward
fall they become full grown with four
strong wings and very powerful hind
legs for jumping. In this condition
most of the common grasshoppers will
be found in the fall when the rural
schools open.
Field Studies
The small so-called red-legged
grasshopper is always most abundant
in the fall and for this reason we have
selected it for our studies. It is about[31]
an inch long, olive-brown in color
with the ends of the hind legs bright
red. It is found everywhere in pastures,
meadows and along country
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 hide in the
grass when you try to catch it? Observe
one that has not been disturbed.
Where do you find it; on the ground
or on plants? How does it move
about when not scared? Watch carefully
and see what plants it feeds on.
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 a bee,
feeding on grasshoppers? These are
called “robber-flies” or “spider-hawks”
and they destroy thousands of
grasshoppers.[32]
Breeding Cage Observations
After you have learned all you can
about the habits of the grasshopper in
the field, catch a few of them and take
them home and put them in a glass
fruit jar. Collect green leaves for
them and watch them feed. Watch
their method of feeding closely and
see how it differs from that of a horse
or a cow. How do they move about
in the jar? Which legs are used in
walking? What do they do with the
jumping legs while walking? Do
they use their wings at all while in the
jar? Watch them wash their face and
feet after feeding. Give them leaves
of different plants, especially of field
and garden crops and determine which
they like best. Can you find any plant
which they will not eat? Find out how
fast they feed and considering the life
of any one individual to be 200 days,
calculate the number of grass blades
each individual may eat. Are the feelers
used while in the jar, and if so for
what purpose?[33]
Study of Specimen
Take a grasshopper from the jar
and examine it carefully. Count the
number of legs, wings and joints in
the body. How many joints in the
legs? Examine the tip of the foot for
a soft pad and on either side of it a
strong hook. What are these used for?
What are the sharp spines on the side
of the hind-legs for? Examine the
side of the body and see if you 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 with the body?
How are they folded? Are the two
pairs of wings alike? Which is used
most in flying? Is the head firmly attached
to the body? Examine the
large eyes; where are they found?
Will grasshoppers bite you while
handling them? What is the brown
juice which escapes from the mouth
when disturbed? How long are the
feelers as compared with the body?
Can you tell the males from the females?[34]
What is the distinction? Do
they ever make music? Examine for
all the foregoing points and write a
brief report covering these. Make a
careful drawing of a grasshopper from
one side; also make an enlarged drawing
of the face of a grasshopper and
name 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 not compare
with the campaigns of disease
and death waged by this most filthy
of all insects. In our recent strife with
Spain we lost a few lives in battle, but
we lost many more in hospitals due to
contagious diseases, in the transmission
of which this pest played a most
important part.
The fly is dangerous on account of
its filthy habits. It breeds in filth, feeds
on filth in open closets, slop-barrels,
on the streets and in back alleys and
then comes into the house and wipes
this germ-laden filth on our food or on
the hands or even in the mouths of
helpless babies. Who has not seen
flies feeding on running sores on animals,[36]
or on “spit” on sidewalks? These
same flies the next minute may be feeding
on fruits or other food materials.
We rebel when pests destroy our crops
or attack our stock, but here we have
a pest which endangers our very lives,
and the lives of those dear to us.
House fly; a, larva or maggot; b, pupa;
c, adult; e, egg. All enlarged. (Modified
from Howard Bur. of Entomology. U. S.
Dept. Agri.)
If the fly confined itself to filth we
could overlook it as it would help to
hasten the removal of filth. On the
other hand, if it avoided filth and remained
in our home we could not overlook
it, but we could feel safe that it
was not apt to do us a great deal of
harm. But, like the 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 carries disease germs upon its feet
and other parts of its body and by coming
in contact with food material some
of these germs are sure to be left on it
and cause trouble later. The fly’s
method of carrying disease is different
from that of the mosquito where the
germ is carried inside its body.[37]
Favorite breeding places of house fly. Such
places should be kept as clean and neat as
the front yard.
The presence of flies in the home is
usually a sign of untidiness; but it
means more, it means that disease and
often death is hovering over the home.
We are too apt to consider the fly simply
as a nuisance when we should take
it more seriously. The child should
be led to realize that the fly should not
be tolerated in the home, that it is dangerous
and that it can and must be destroyed.
An open closet to which the
house fly has free access. Such
a closet is the most dangerous
accessory of any home.
The house fly may pass the winter
either as the adult fly in cracks and
crannies about the home, or in out-buildings[38]
or it may remain as a hard,
brown, oval pupa in stables and manure
piles when, with the first warm
days of spring, it escape from this case
as the fly ready to lay eggs for the first
colony. The fly breeds largely in horse
manure either in stables, manure piles
or in street gutters where manure is
allowed to collect. Each female lays
a large number of eggs and since it
requires less than two weeks for the
pest to mature, we are soon overrun
with flies in the summer where steps
are not taken to control them. The
maggots are often so abundant in stables[39]
that they can be scooped out with
a shovel. This ceaseless breeding continues
from spring until the first frost
in the fall.
In the control of the fly and prevention
of trouble from it there are three
important steps to take. First of all,
go to the source of the trouble and do
away with or screen all breeding
places. Then, by keeping in mind the
fact that the fly is comparatively harmless
as long as it is kept from filth
laden with germs, do away with all
open closets, uncovered slop-barrels
and other filth. As a further precaution
keep it from the home by the use
of screens and when necessary “swatters.”
Do not make the mistake of trying
to control the pest with the “swatters”
alone. In the country too often
manure is permitted to accumulate
about the barn during the summer with
a view of using it on wheat ground in
the fall and this furnishes ideal conditions
for the fly to breed. Another
source of constant danger especially[40]
in the rural districts is the presence of
open closets or worse still the presence
of no closet at all. This is without
doubt the most dangerous accessory
of the farm. More screens should be
used in the home and greater care in
keeping them closed.
Study of the Fly and Its Work
Observe first of all the feeding habits
of the fly. What foods in the home is
it most fond of? Make a list of all[41]
the food materials it is found to feed
on. Where and on what is it found
feeding out doors? Do you find it
feeding on filth and if so, on what?
Do you find it about the barn? Where
is it usually found in the barn? How
can the fly carry filth to food materials?
In studying the breeding of the fly
determine where it lays its eggs and
where the maggots are found. Examine
fresh manure in the stable and
see if you can find small white maggots
about half an inch long and as
large around as the lead in a pencil.
If you do, place some of them with
some fresh manure in a glass jar and
see what becomes of them. In a few
days the maggots will disappear and
in their places small oval, brown bean-like
objects will appear. A few days
later these will crack open at one end
and the fly will crawl out. Keep records
of the length of time it requires
for the pest to pass from one stage to
the other. If maggots cannot be gotten[42]
put some fresh manure in the jar
and catch a number of live 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 little powdered borax and see
what happens to the maggots. Where
horse manure can not be properly disposed
of, cheap borax is used to throw
over piles of manure to destroy the
maggots and prevent the flies from
breeding in it. Write a brief description
of the different stages and make
careful drawings of these. Do not
mistake the house fly for other flies
often found on food in the home.
Collect a few flies and put them in a
bottle and drop in with them just a few
crumbs of sugar and watch them feed.
They cannot chew but a little saliva
from the mouth dissolves a little of the
sugar which is then lapped up as syrup.
Notice what a peculiar sucker
they have for drawing up liquids.
How can they crawl along in the bottle
with their backs toward the floor?[43]
Examine the tip of their feet for a
small glue pad which sticks to the
glass. These glue pads and the sucker
are well fitted for carrying filth. Examine
the fly carefully and write a
brief description of it. What color is
it? How many legs? How many
wings? Are these transparent? Behind
the wings there is a pair of small
stubs which is all that is left of the hind
pair of wings. Are the eyes large?
Can you find a pair of small feelers?
Why can you not pick up a fly like you
would a grasshopper? Is their eye
sight good? Why are they always
most abundant on a kitchen screen
door? Can they smell?
What are the fly’s worst enemies?
Will the toad eat them? Do chickens
eat them? Have you ever seen chickens
scratching in manure and feeding
on the fly maggots? Put a few drops
of formaldehyde, which you can get
from a druggist, in a few spoonfuls
of sweet milk or sugar syrup and let
the flies eat it and see what happens to[44]
them. This is one of our best poison
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 of reach of children.
Just about frost, in the fall,
watch for the appearance of inactive
flies on walls, windows and other parts
of the house. These have been attacked
by a parasitic disease. These are
often found 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.“
Chapter V
THE MOSQUITO
Here we have another small insect
which, like the house fly, is extremely
dangerous, due to its ability to carry
the germs of disease. There are hundreds
of species of mosquitoes, some
small, some large. The majority of
these are unable to carry disease so far
as we know at present, but they should
be avoided as dangerous. The Missouri
forms which carry disease are
the so-called malarial fever mosquitoes,
and they are entirely responsible
for the transmission of this sapping
and often fatal disease. In the warm
countries these are more abundant and
the fever is more fatal. In the south
there is still another disease-carrying
mosquito, the yellow fever mosquito.
This form is most dangerous of all.[46]
The mosquito first bites a patient
suffering with malaria and in this way
it takes in germs along with the blood
which it sucks from the patient. After
these germs pass through stages of development
in the body of the mosquito
they are ready to be injected back into
a healthy person where, in due time,
they cause the disease. The germs
feed inside the red blood corpuscles
and at regular intervals they destroy a
large number of these causing a chill
which is followed by fever and a new
supply of corpuscles is produced.
This alternation of chill and fever may
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 in the blood when
the germs come out of the torn down
corpuscles during a chill.
In order to prevent malarial fever,
get rid of the mosquitoes by draining
and oiling the breeding places, escape
their bites by screening houses, smudging
and destroying the adults, and keep[47]
the mosquitoes from patients who have
the fever. This is almost as important
as the destruction of the mosquitoes.
The malarial fever mosquitoes are as
harmless as our common forms so long
as they do not become infected with
germs by sucking blood from a fever
patient.
Mosquitoes in position for biting; a, common
Culex mosquito; 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 as
non-dangerous, it is of interest to know
just how to distinguish the harmless
ones from the dangerous. The adults
of the two forms can be easily distinguished
when they are seen at rest. The
common forms always rest with the
body parallel to the surface on which
they rest, while the malarial form always[48]
elevates the end of the body so
that the head is pointed toward the
surface on which it rests. In like manner
the wigglers can be distinguished
from each other. Our common wigglers
always hang head downward in
the water while those of the malarial
mosquitoes rest near the surface of the
water with their bodies parallel to it.
The majority of the wigglers found in
rain barrels are of our common forms.
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 surface of the water through their
breathing tubes.
The life of the mosquito is quite interesting
and is an excellent example
of an insect which lives in the water
part of its life and in the air the rest.[49]
The mature female mosquito, which
does all the biting, searches for water
in rain barrels, cans, ditches, ponds,
and stagnant swamps where she lays
her eggs either in raft-shaped packets
or singly. When the wigglers hatch
they swim about in the water and feed
upon decaying material and microscopic
water plants. When the wiggler
is full grown it changes to an active
pupa which has a large head and a
slender tail and is more or less coiled.
A little later the winged mosquito escapes.
In the rural districts most of
the mosquitoes breed in stagnant
ponds, swamps and rain barrels and
from these they fly to the home where
they cause trouble. Such places should
be drained or protected with oil or
other means to prevent the mosquito
from using them for breeding purposes.
Ponds can be freed of the wigglers
by introducing 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[50]
water when fresh air is needed and if
there is a thin film of oil on the water
this is prevented. Rain barrels can be
freed of the pest in this way also, or
perhaps better by covering them with
a cloth. The mosquitoes are most troublesome
about the home at night.
When one sits out doors he should
keep a smudge going to drive them
away while screens will keep them out
of the house at night.
Observations and Study
Collect all the different kinds of
mosquitoes you can find and note difference
in size and markings. Do you
find the malarial fever mosquito in
your region? Is malarial fever common
during the summer and fall? Are
there any old stagnant ponds or
swamps near your home? If so, examine
these for wigglers. Examine
rain barrels for small raft-shaped packets
of eggs. These resemble small
flakes of soot and are difficult to pick
up between your fingers. Take a stick[51]
and lift them from the water and examine
them. One packet may contain
a hundred or more eggs. Put a few
of 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 to the
surface to breathe. The tip of the tail
is projected above the water and air is
taken in at two small breathing pores
or spiracles. Examine rain barrels for
the larger wigglers. What do they live
on in the rain barrel? What do they
do when you jar the barrel? Do you
find any of the rounded 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 cloth or a lid and watch for the
mosquitoes to appear. After collecting
several mosquitoes examine them
for number of wings, legs and markings
and see if all have the slender
sucking tube. The males have large
feathery feelers, but no sucking tube.
Write a brief description of the wiggler[52]
and the mosquito, their breeding
places and means of destroying them.
Make drawings of the different stages,
wiggler, pupa and mosquito.
Chapter VI
THE CABBAGE MILLER
Was doubting in the air.“
Egg of cabbage miller much enlarged.
With the first approach of spring
comes swarms of large green flies
which bask in the March sun on the
south sides of buildings. They are
not with us long, however, until we
notice flashes of white quickly moving
about from one early weed to another.
These are the advance guards of the
cabbage millers or butterflies. All
through the cold winter they remained
in the chrysalis stage stuck to the sides
of houses, fence posts and in other
protected places, awaiting the first
breath of spring. The first adults to
emerge find no cabbage on which to[54]
lay their eggs so they are compelled to
use other plants such as pepper grass.
The eggs are very small and are
usually placed on the lower edge of
the leaf. These hatch and the small
green worms appear. Throughout the
summer there are a number of broods
produced and an enormous amount of
damage is done. Just before frost the
last caterpillars search for protected
places where they pass to the pupal or
resting stage for the winter. No cocoon
is spun by this caterpillar.
Where measures are not taken to
control the cabbage worms they destroy[55]
much of the cabbage crop each season.
The white butterflies can be seen any
day during the summer visiting cabbage,
mustard, radishes and other similar
plants. By destroying all of the
worms and millers in the early spring
one has less trouble later. This can
be done by hand picking, or where the
patch is large by spraying with a poison
solution to which soap 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 first worms in the spring are destroyed,
later spraying is unnecessary
though an occasional handpicking
will help.
Observations and Study
Cabbage worm feeding, slightly enlarged.
Pupa or chrysalis of cabbage miller.
Go into the garden and examine the
cabbage for small green worms which
vary from one fourth to a little over
an inch in length. What is the nature
of their work on the leaf? Where do
they feed most, on the outer or inner
leaves? Do they eat the entire leaf?[56]
How does the work of the young
worms differ from that of the larger
ones? Do they spin silk? Are they
on the top or under side of the leaf?
Examine under the dead and dried
leaves at the ground and see if you can
find small, hard, gray objects which
have sharp angles and which are tied
to the leaf with a cord of silk. What
are these objects? Watch the miller
as she visits the cabbage and see if you[57]
can find the small eggs which she lays
on the under side of the leaves. When
she visits a cabbage plant she bends
her body up under the outer leaves
and stops but a moment, fluttering all
the while as she sticks the small egg
to the leaf. It is about the size of a
small crumb of bread. What does the
miller feed on? Does she visit flowers?
If so, what flowers?
Breeding Work
Collect a few of the worms and put
them in a glass jar with a piece of cabbage
leaf. Examine them carefully
and watch them crawl. How many
legs do they have? Where are they
placed on the body? How can they
use so many legs while crawling?
How many joints are there to the
body? Note the short fine hair all[58]
over the body which gives it the appearance
of green velvet. What color
is the head? How does the caterpillar
feed? Write a brief description
of the worm. Do not mistake it for
the cabbage span-worm which is also
green, but which walks by humping
up its back.
Cabbage miller on red clover blossom.
Keep the cabbage worms in the jar
for a few days and watch them disappear.
After they have disappeared,
what is left in the jar? These are the
chrysalids or pupae of the insect and
later from them will come the millers.[59]
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 in the late fall it will
simply pass the winter in the pupa
stage. Watch the miller escape from
the pupal case and describe it. Examine
the miller carefully and describe
briefly the number of legs,
wings, segments of body, sucking tube
and color markings. Make careful
drawings of the caterpillar, chrysalis
and butterfly. What gives the color
to the wings? Rub the wings between
your fingers and see if the color comes
off. The wings are covered with very
small scales of different colors which
combine to give the beautiful markings.
The wings of all butterflies and
moths are covered with scales and
hairs in this way. In this insect we
find both chewing and sucking mouth
parts. The caterpillar chews while
the parent butterfly has a long tube for
sucking up nectar from flowers and
water from puddles in the road.
While veered the wind and flapped the sail;
We saw a snow-white butterfly
Dancing before the fitful gale
Far out at sea.
His way, of danger nothing knew;
Settled a while upon the mast;
Then fluttered o’er the waters blue
Far out at sea.
Beneath, the boundless ocean sheen;
Between them danced the butterfly,
The spirit-life of this vast scene,
Far out at sea.
Seeking the clouds on fragile wings,
[61]
Lured by the brighter, purer ray
Which hope’s ecstatic morning brings—
Far out at sea.
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.
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.“
Chapter VII
THE APPLE WORM
Apple worms in core of apple. Usually
only one worm appears 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 of bushels of
wormy apples which are practically
worthless. This means an actual loss
of thousands of dollars a year to the[63]
apple growers of this country. For
this reason alone each child should
come to know the life history, habits
and injury of this pest. It is most destructive
to the apple though the pear
comes in for its share.
The codling moth slightly enlarged.
(From Slingerland).
Every country child and many of
those of the cities, are familiar with
this worm for they often bite into it
while eating apples. The small worms
crawl down in the blossom end of the
young developing apple and from
there bore into the pulp and eventually
reach the core of the fruit. They stay
in the apple about six weeks when they
eat a hole out to the surface and crawl
down to the trunk where loose bark
offers a hiding place. Here they spin
their cocoons and change to a small,[64]
brown, plump pupa and after a few
days the winged moth emerges. The
moth is very small and is not often
found by one not acquainted with it.
They come out during late June and
early July when they lay eggs for a
second colony of worms which again
enter the fruit and destroy more of it.
These worms of the second brood are
usually mature and leave the fruit
about the time apples are picked in the
fall in central Missouri. They escape
and soon spin cocoons in which they
pass the winter. Early in the spring
these change to pupae and later the
moths come out. They appear about
the time apples bloom in the spring
and lay the eggs for the first worms
which enter in great numbers at the
blossom end.
Apple blossoms at about the right stage for receiving
the first and most important arsenical spray
for the control of the apple worm.
This in short, is the life story of the
pest through the year. Little can be
done to destroy the pest after it gets
into the fruit, therefore remedies must
be applied to destroy the worm before
it gets into the fruit. All orchards[65]
should be sprayed with a poison in
the spring before the worms appear.
Since most of them enter by way of the
blossom end, it is necessary that the
poison be put into the blossom end.
To do this spray at once after the blossoms
fall, repeat after two weeks and
spray again in July to kill the second
brood of worms. The protection of
woodpeckers and sapsuckers will also[66]
help as they feed on the worms under
the bark.
Observations and Breeding Work
Go into the orchard and examine
for apples with masses of sawdust-like
material projecting from the sides or
blossom end. By removing this brown
deposit which is the excrement of the
worm, you will find a hole leading into
the apple. Cut open one of these and
determine the course of the tunnel.
Where do you find the worm? Do all
such apples contain worms? Where
have they gone? How does the feeding
of the worms injure the fruit? Do
any of the wormy apples show rot?
Are any of the windfalls in the orchard
wormy and if so what proportion?
Remove a worm from one of the
apples and examine it. How many
legs has it? What color is it and does
it have hair upon its body? Can it
crawl fast? Does it spin silk? Put a
number of the large worms in a jar
and examine from day to day and keep
records of what happens. Collect a[67]
number in the fall and keep them in
a box outdoors during the winter. In
the spring watch them change to the
pupa in the cocoon and a little later
the mature insect or codling moth, as it
is commonly called, will emerge. 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 when do the
moths emerge? If you keep the moths
in a bottle they will lay their small circular
flat eggs where they can be seen
by looking closely. During the winter
examine under the bark of apple
trees and in cracks and crevices about
apple pens for the small silk cocoons
containing the worms. Examine in
the same places in the spring about apple
blooming time and then in place
of the small pink worms you will find
the small brown pupae. Keep these
a few days and the moths will appear.
What proportion of apples in your
region are wormy? What are they
used for? Are the trees sprayed just[68]
after the blossoms fall to control the
pest? 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
moth and its injury to fruit.
Will be the final goal of ill,
To pangs of nature, sins of will,
Defects of doubt and taints of blood;
That not one life shall be destroyed,
Or cast as rubbish to the void,
When God hath made the pile complete;
That not a moth with vain desire,
Is shrivelled in a fruitless fire,
Or but subserves another’s gain.“
Chapter VIII
THE TOMATO OR TOBACCO
WORM
This insect is often very destructive
to tomatoes and tobacco. Most country
boys and girls know it and fear its
ugly looking horn. When full grown
it is four inches long, usually dark
green with a number of slanting white
lines along either side. It is so near[70]
the color of the plants that it is difficult
to see it.
Egg of Tomato worm moth enlarged.
During the summer months the
worms are common, being most
abundant in August. In the fall the
mature worms go into the ground and
change from the worm to a large, oval,
brown pupa with a jug-handle-like
appendage on the under side. These
are often turned up when the garden
is plowed in the spring. After tomato
plants are well started the large
greyish humming-bird-like moths
comes from the ground and begin
laying eggs. The moth expands from
four to six inches and is often seen at
dusk visiting the blossoms of “jimson
weed” and other large tube flowers.
They are also found around lights at
night.
Young tomato worm.
[71]Where they are troublesome the
plants should either be sprayed with a
poison when the injury is first noticed
or else the worms should be picked off
and destroyed. There is a small parasitic
wasp which is very helpful in destroying
this caterpillar. They live
inside the worm and when mature bore
out through the skin on the sides and
back where they spin small white egg-like
cocoons from which later the
small wasps emerge. 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
and hear 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 see what
happens in half an hour. Collect a
number of the worms in a glass fruit
can and give them tomato leaves to eat
and watch them grow. How many[72]
segments are there to the body? How
many of the segments have small black
spots on either side? These are holes
through which the worm breathes. Is
the horn at the end of the body stiff
enough to stick into your hand? This
is thought to be a sting but it is only an
ornament and is entirely harmless.
When full grown they will burrow into[73]
the sand in the jar and change to the
pupa.
Full-fed tomato worm slightly reduced.
Chrysalis or pupa of tomato worm.
Note the jug-handle-like sheaths enclosing
the proboscis.
Examine the brown pupa carefully
and see if it can move. What is the
peculiar structure on the under side of
the body? The moth which comes
from this in the spring is very large.
It is covered with white and black
scales and hairs which give it a mottled
appearance. Examine on the under
side of the head for a peculiar structure
like a watch spring. This is the sucking
tube used in drawing up nectar[74]
from deep tubular blossoms. When the
moths are sipping nectar from “jimson
weed” blossoms they can be killed by
pouring a little poison down into the
blossoms.
Tomato worm moth natural size.
Chapter IX
THE FIREFLY
This insect is of little economic importance
to us at present but its peculiar
habit of producing light makes
it a very striking form and one which
deserves study. The firefly is a beetle,
and begins to make its appearance the
latter part of June when the darkest
nights may be one solid glow of fire.
They live largely in damp places and
bottoms at night are specked with their
tiny flashes of light. The larval or
grub stage is passed on the ground beneath
grass, weeds and rubbish where
they often prey upon other insects. In
some cases the grubs may be able to
produce light though as a rule the luminous
grub-like creature or glow-worm
is a wingless adult firefly.[76]
Observations and Studies
Firefly beetles on sour-dock leaf.
Lower surface of firefly beetle enlarged
to show the light producing segments
of the abdomen.
Watch for the first appearance of
the fireflies in the evening and see
where 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
the light while on the ground? When
they fly do they stay near the ground
or high in the air? Do they light in
trees?
Catch one of the fireflies in your hat
and examine it carefully. How large[77]
is it? Describe briefly its size, shape
and color. Are its wing covers hard
like other beetles? Where is the light
produced? What color is the light?
Is it bright? Hold the firefly on the
opposite side of a sheet of paper and
see if the light will show through. Try
the same with your hat, coat sleeve and
other objects. This light is extremely
penetrating and unlike the light of a
lamp is produced with the generation
of very little heat. Will it continue
to flash while you hold it? Are
the segments from which the light
comes the same color as the other segments
of the body? Crush the tip of[78]
the body between your thumb and finger
and see if the light continues to
appear. How long does it last? Collect
a number of the fireflies and put
them in a bottle and see if the light is
strong enough to enable you to read.
The firefly has proven to us that our
methods of producing light are extremely
wasteful since much of the
energy is lost in heat and it is possible
that through the lesson of the firefly
we may some day be able to produce
better light at less expense.
Chapter X
THE WHITE GRUB OR
JUNE-BUG
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 them up.
They are in the ground feeding on the
roots of plants. Often all the roots of[80]
grass in lawns and meadows are eaten
off and the sod dies and can be rolled
up like strips of carpet. This insect
breeds largely in sod and when this is
plowed under and other crops are
planted the grubs may injure them severely.[81]
Corn, wheat, oats and truck
crops are severely injured. In some
cases the grubs may feed for three
years before they change to the pupa
and later to the adult beetle. To control
this pest, plow in the fall and rotate
crops, so that sod will not remain
on the same land too long.
June beetle showing stages of development.
The larva or grub worm is feeding
on roots under ground; the pupa
and adult are shown above ground.
The beetles come from the ground
or may be plowed out in May and June
and are commonly spoken of as May-beetles
or June-bugs. They are usually
of a yellowish-brown color and are
often troublesome coming into the
house at night where they buzz about
the light, bumping into everything
until they finally drop heavily to the
floor. All country boys and girls know
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 use
would they have for eyes while in the[82]
ground? Do they bite? Place them
on the table and see how they move.
What color are they? Do you find
spines or hair on their bodies? Pull
up a little grass by the roots and put it
in a jelly tumbler with soil and put
some of the grubs in with it. Water it
so as to keep it growing and follow
the development of the grubs.
Collect some of the beetles and put
them in a bottle and watch them crawl
about. Where are their wings? How
can they get them out when they want
to fly? How many legs have they?
Examine the tip of the feet for hooks.
What are these used for? Can they
chew leaves? Where are their eyes?
Do you find feelers and if so where?
Write a short description of the
grub and the beetle and make careful
drawings of them.
Chapter XI
THE COLORADO POTATO
BEETLE
The Colorado potato beetle
showing stages of development
and work on a potato plant.
Note the small patch of eggs
and different sized grub on the
plant and the grub, pupa and
adult at side.
This is one of the worst pests of the
potato. As the name would imply it
came originally from Colorado but is
common now all over the country. The
full grown insect is short and thick
with a hard shell, striped with yellow
and black. The grubs, on the other
hand, are soft and red or orange with
black spots. Both the grubs and the
beetles feed on potatoes and often completely
strip them of their leaves.
Since they feed on foliage they can be
very quickly destroyed by dusting or
spraying the plants with a poison such
as Paris green or arsenate of lead. The
patches of yellow or reddish eggs are
found mostly on the under side of the
potato leaves. When the fat grubs are[84]
full-fed they go into the ground and
change to pupae and later to the striped
beetles. This pest should not be mistaken
for the so-called old-fashioned
potato beetles which are long and slender
and either bluish grey in color or
striped with yellow and black. These
are blister beetles and are entirely different.
Observations and Studies
Watch for the first appearance of
the adult beetles in the spring when
the potatoes are just beginning to come
up. They pass the winter under ground
and in the spring come out ready to lay
eggs on the young potatoes. 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 they hatch from the egg?
Examine the grubs where they are
feeding on potatoes. Do they eat holes
through the leaf, or do they eat away[85]
the entire 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? What does the hard backed
beetle do when it is touched? Collect
some of the large grubs with tightly
stuffed bodies and put them in a jar
with dirt or sand and see where they[86]
go. After a week dig them out and
see what they look like.
Write a short description of the
eggs, grubs and beetle, its work and
means of killing it when it is feeding
on potatoes. Make careful drawings
of a cluster of eggs, the grub and the
beetle.
Chapter XII
THE LADY-BEETLE
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.“
The lady-beetles comprise one family
of small beetles, which is famous
for the number of beneficial forms it
includes. With but two exceptions
the American forms feed upon other
insects, in most cases pests such as
plant-lice and scale insects. From
the time they hatch from the egg until
they pupate and again after the beetle
stage is reached they are regular tigers[88]
after plant-lice. They catch and hold
their prey between the front feet while
they devour it bodily. The larva of
the lady-beetle has an astonishing capacity
for in one day it will eat several
times its own weight of plant-lice.
Farmers and fruit growers could hardly
get along without the help of these
small beetles and yet unfortunately
thousands are often destroyed by those
who do not know of their beneficial
work.
The spotted lady-beetle; a, larva;
b, pupa; c, adult; enlarged.
(After Chittenden, U. S. Dept.
Agri.)
The convergent lady-beetle; a, adult;
b, pupa; c, larva; all enlarged. (After
Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agri.)
The lady-beetles, or lady-birds as
they are often called, are fairly uniform
in shape and color. They are[89]
oval or round in outline with the back
rounded or elevated and the underside
flat. In color they are usually either
orange or yellow, checkered or blotched
with black or black with yellow or
bright orange markings. They closely
resemble small tortoises. Unfortunately
several plant feeding beetles
are similar in shape and color which
casts reflections on the lady-beetles.
The grub of the lady-beetle is usually
black or dull colored with red or
yellow markings which make it very
conspicuous. It runs about over foliage
and is broad in front and tapers
to a point behind. When the grub is
full fed it attaches the top of its body[90]
to a leaf, twig or other object and pupates.
In the pupal stage it is often
protected with spines and is able to lift
the front end of the body up and down
when disturbed, producing a light tapping
sound.
The lady-beetle usually hides in rubbish
about the base of trees or in some
cases even enter homes for the winter
months, coming out with the spring
to deposit small masses of oval yellow
or orange eggs on plants infested with
lice. They breed rapidly and with the
help of parasites and other beneficial
insects usually control the plant-lice
pests.
Observations and Studies
Examine about fruit trees, shade
trees, truck crops and in wheat fields
for the brightly marked beetles.
Watch them move about the plant in
search of food. Can they fly? Do
you find them eating the leaves? Do
you find any green lice near them?
See if they feed on these lice. Examine[91]
also for the soft bodied, tiger-like
grubs. Do they eat the lice? Do they
travel fast? Have they wings? See
if you can find any of the pupae attached
to limbs or twigs and if so, tickle
them with a straw or a pencil and
see them “bow.” Keep a record of
the different trees and plants on which
you find lady-beetles.
Collect several of the beetles and the
grubs and keep them in a bottle or jelly
glass. Leave them without food for
a day and then give them some green
plant-lice and watch them devour the
lice. How many lice can one eat in a
day? How do they go about devouring
a louse? Do they simply suck out
the blood, or is the louse completely devoured?
Supposing that for each apple
tree in Missouri there are one hundred
lady-beetles and that each beetle
devours fifteen lice in a day, does it not
seem worth while protecting them and
encouraging such work? A little time
spent in acquainting one’s self with the
good work of such forms as these will[92]
help greatly in the fight on our insect
foes. Make drawings of and describe
briefly the different stages of the lady-beetles.
Chapter XIII
THE DRAGON-FLY
Cast off skin of dragon-fly
nymph, showing shape and position
taken on a twig when the
adult winged form emerged from
the last nymph stage.
What child is there that is not familiar
with the insect commonly
known as the dragon-fly, snake doctor
or snake feeder? Every lover of the
stream or pond has seen these miniature
aeroplanes darting now here, now
there but ever retracing their airy
flight along the water’s edge or dipping
in a sudden nose dive to skim its
very surface. At times it is seen to rest
lazily, wings out-stretched, perched on
some projecting reed 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 the modern monoplane. Its two
long wings on either side are the
planes, its head the nose, its thorax the
fuselage and its long projecting abdomen[94]
the tail or rudder. On wing the
dragon-fly is one of the swiftest and
most powerful insects. The dragon-flies
are found all over the world being
most abundant in the warmer regions
where rainfall and bodies of water are
abundant. For breeding they require
water, their immature stages living under
water feeding on aquatic animal
life. Our present order of dragon-flies
is the remains of an ancient race of insects
of immense size. From fossil remains
we learn that ancient dragon-flies[95]
had a wing expanse of three feet.
The dragon-fly is a beneficial insect
thruout life. The young feed on mosquito
wigglers and similar life in
ponds and streams while the adults
dart here and there over ponds, fields
or lawn catching mosquitoes and other
winged insects. Many look upon the
dragon-fly as a dangerous stinging insect
but it is entirely harmless and can
be handled without the least danger.
They vary greatly in size and appearance.
The so-called damsel-flies form[96]
a group of dragon-flies or Odonata
which rest with the wings in a vertical
position and the young aquatic stages
are more slender. In color markings
dragon-flies include all hues of the
rainbow tho as a rule they do not have
such extravagant colors as the butterflies.
One of our common dragon-flies found about ponds and
streams.
Observations and Field Studies
Go into the fields and study and collect
the different kinds of dragon-flies
and their young stages from the bottoms
of ponds. How swiftly can they
fly? Do they fly high in the air as
well as near the water or surface of the
earth? Can you see them catch other
insects? Do birds catch them and eat
them? Take a position along the edge
of a pond and as they come flying by
swing swiftly with your net and catch
one. Examine it carefully. Note the
strength of the long, slender wings
with their lace-like network of veins.
Measure the distance across the back
from tip to tip of wings. Compare[97]
this with the length from tip of head to
the tip of the abdomen. Examine the
head with its large compound eyes and
the chewing mouth parts. Note the
strong thorax which is filled with muscles
to operate the wings in flight.
How many segments are there to the
abdomen?
With the hands or with a bucket dip
up a quantity of mud and trash from
the bottom of a pond and pile it on
the bank. As the water soaks away
watch 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 six rather 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 a straw probe
in the mouth and you will find that
the lower lip is a long elbowed structure
which can be suddenly thrown
out in front of it and with a pair of
pincher-like prongs at the tip it can
catch and hold its prey. Some forms[98]
keep their bodies covered with mud
so that they can slowly creep up close
to their prey.
Collect several nymphs and keep
them in a jar of water and study their
movements and feeding habits. Disturb
one with a pencil or straw and see
how it darts forward. It has a water
chamber in the large intestines, including
also the respiratory tracheal gills,
from which the water can be suddenly
squirted which throws the insect forward.
The escaping stream of water
forces the insect forward on the same
principle as the rotating lawn sprinkler.
If you collect some almost mature
nymphs and keep them for a time
in a vessel of water you may see them
crawl out of the water, shed their skin
and change to winged adults. Collect
a few adults 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 squash
stink-bug. It has a very disagreeable
odor which gives it this name. When
disturbed it throws off from scent
glands a small quantity of an oily substance
which produces this odor. This
is a protection to it for few birds or
animals care to feed on it. Most species
of sap or blood sucking true bugs
have a similar protecting odor.
Pumpkin in field covered with adults and nymphs of squash
stink-bug.
The squash bug feeds largely on
squash and pumpkins. It has a slender
beak with needle-like mouth parts
which are stuck into the plant for extracting
the sap. It feeds only on plant
sap. When it can not get squash or
pumpkins it will feed on watermelons,
muskmelons and related crops. It is[100]
very destructive to these crops. It not
only extracts sap thus weakening the
plant but it also seems to poison the[101]
plant while feeding. In this way its
bite injures the plant something like
the effects of the bed-bug’s bite on our
flesh. It feeds first on the leaves and
vines often killing them in a few days.
Later it may cluster and feed on the
unripe squashes or pumpkins in such
numbers as to completely cover them.
Every country boy or girl has seen
these stinking bugs on pumpkins in
the corn field, at corn cutting time in
the fall.
Cluster of golden-brown eggs
of squash stink-bug showing two
recently hatched nymphs.
The squash bug lives thru the winter
as the matured winged insect. It
flies from its food plant to winter quarters
late in the fall. For winter protection
it may enter buildings, hide under
shingles on roofs, crawl into piles of
lumber, under bark of dead trees or
stumps or hide under any similar protection.
When its chosen food crops
begin to come up 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[102]
first deposited the eggs have a pale
color but in a short time the golden
color appears. In some cases only
three or four eggs may be found in
one patch while again there may be
twenty or thirty of them. They are so
brightly colored that they can easily
be seen and most boys and girls have
seen them on the leaves of squashes
or pumpkins.
In a few days after they are laid they
hatch and out of each crawls a small,
long-legged blackish or greenish[103]
young bug called the nymph. These
little fellows usually stay in a crowd
hiding on the under side of a leaf.
After feeding for a time their leaf begins
to turn yellow and soon dies.
Then they move to a new leaf. As
they feed they grow rapidly and after
shedding their skins they change to
the second nymph stage. This shedding
of their skins or molting occurs
five times before they mature. Of
course each time before the old skin
or suit of clothes is discarded a new
one is developed beneath. The females
may continue to deposit eggs for
later clusters of young. They become
most abundant on the crop late in the
fall. Just before cold weather sets in
the adults again seek winter shelter.
This is a very difficult insect to control.
Since it feeds on liquid sap only
it is impossible to kill it by spraying
the crop with a poison such as arsenate
of lead. It can not chew and swallow
such poison. The young can be
killed fairly well with a spray or dust[104]
containing nicotine but such treatments
are not effective against the
adults or nearly mature nymphs. A
better method is to destroy all the bugs
possible in the fall before they go to
the winter protection and then watch
for and destroy the adults and the eggs
masses in the spring when they appear
on the young crop. If the first adults
and the eggs and newly hatched
nymphs are destroyed the crop can be
protected against the destructive work
later.
Observations and Field Studies
Squash stink-bug adult and nymph
extracting sap from squash.
Plant a few squash hills in the garden
in the spring and also plant a few
seeds in rich dirt in discarded tin cans
or flower pots. As the spring advances
and the squashes start to vine watch
for squash bugs on them. Examine in
piles of lumber, stove wood and under
bark for some of the bugs before they
come to the squash hills. If any are
found put them on the squash plants
in flower pots and cover them with a[105]
pint mason fruit jar. Watch for eggs
to appear on the plants and also examine
for eggs on the squashes in the
garden. When eggs appear examine
them carefully, measure them and
write a brief description of them. Try
to mash them between your fingers.
When they hatch carefully study the
young nymph and describe it. Can
you see the slender beak which incloses
the mouth parts? How many joints
are there to the antennae? As the
nymph grows watch it shed its skin.
How does it do it? Where does its
skin first crack? Save the cast skin[106]
and try to follow the nymph thru all
the nymph stages to the adult. Collect
a bottle of the nymphs of varying sizes
from the garden. Examine them and
describe the different stages. Can you
see the wings forming on the backs of
the older nymphs? How many small
wing pads are there? Examine the
adult closely and write a careful description
of it. Can you find where
the secretion that causes the odor is
produced? How long will the odor
stay on your hands? Can you wash it
off? Spread the wings of the adult
and make a careful drawing of one
front and one hind wing showing accurately
the wing veins. In the garden
try to protect all the hills of squash
from the bugs except one or two used
for your studies. Write a brief description
of your methods of control.
Chapter XV
THE PLANT-LOUSE
For this chapter any common species
of plant-louse may be used. If the
study is made in the spring the louse
on rose, apple, clover, wheat or any
other crop may be used. If the study
is made in the fall the species on turnips,
corn or other plant or crop may
be selected. The different species vary
greatly but for these studies any available
species will be satisfactory.
Black winter eggs of Aphis
showing how they are deposited
in masses on twigs
of apple. (After U. S. Dept.
Agri.)
The plant-louse or aphis is a sap-sucking
insect which feeds and multiplies
rapidly often seriously injuring
crops. The loss of sap together with
the poisoning effect of the bite causes
the weakening of the plant or leaf with
its ultimate death if feeding continues.
The greatest damage is usually done
during cold springs or during a cool[108]
rainy period. This prevents the enemies
of the louse from increasing and
attacking it while the weather may not
be too severe to prevent the louse from
working. Under favorable climatic
conditions the natural enemies of the
louse as a rule are able to hold it in
check. The principal enemies of the
louse are certain small insect feeding
birds, lady-beetles, syrphid-flies, lace-wings
and tiny wasp parasites. The
beneficial work of the lady-beetles is
discussed in an earlier chapter. The
birds and lady-beetles devour them
bodily, the larvæ of the lace-wings and
syrphid-flies extract their blood while
the wasps live as internal parasites.
In the latitude of Missouri the plant-lice
as a rule live thru the winter in the
form of a fertile egg attached to the
twigs of trees and shrubs. The winter
egg is produced by a true female plant-louse.
As a rule there is only one generation
of true males and females produced
each year. This brood develops
late in the fall to produce the fertilized[109]
winter eggs. In the spring these eggs
hatch and the tiny nymphs begin to
extract sap. On maturing they begin
to give birth to young 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 of eggs and during the summer[110]
no male lice are produced at all.
This is nature’s way of increasing the
race of plant-lice rapidly. Late in
the fall again a brood of true males and
females is produced. During the
summer the plant-lice increase more
rapidly than any other type of insect.
Plant-lice vary in size, color and
general appearance. Many are green
while 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 use in
this study. When lice appear on
crops in the garden or field, collect a
leaf with a few on it and carefully
transfer them to the leaves on your
potted plants. Watch the lice feed and
increase from day to day. A reading
lens or a magnifying glass will be
helpful as plant-lice are very small.
How do they move about? Can you
count their legs? How many have
they? Can you see their eyes and feelers?[111]
When feeding observe how the
beak is pressed against the leaf. Disturb
one while it is feeding and see it
attempt to loosen its mouth parts.
Common apple aphis showing a winged
and wingless agamic summer forms at a
and c, one with wing pads formed at b, and
a recently born young at d. (After U. S.
Dept. Agri.)
In the garden examine and see if
you can find lady-beetles or other parasites
attacking the lice. Collect some
of the enemies of the lice for your collection.
Make a gallon of tobacco tea
by soaking one pound of tobacco
stems or waste tobacco in one gallon
of water for a day or use one ounce[112]
of forty per cent nicotine sulphate in
three gallons of soap 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 any of the
lice develop wings? If so, how many?
Wings develop on some of the lice 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 old plants are completely
destroyed and the colony of lice
starved.
Wooly apple aphis, showing how they cluster in masses
on limbs and secrete the white, wooly protection over their
bodies.
[113]Make a careful enlarged drawing
of a winged plant-louse and a wingless
one showing legs, feelers, beak, honey
dew tubes on back and body segmentation.
If ants are seen to attend the
lice observe them carefully and describe
their work. The ants feed on a
sweet honey dew excretion discharged
by the lice.
Chapter XVI
THE HONEY BEE
“Simple and sweet is their food; they
eat no flesh of the living.“
One can hardly believe that this
small, ever busy creature each year
gathers many million dollars worth of
products for man in this country alone
to say nothing of its inestimable value
on the farm and especially in the orchard,
where it assists in carrying pollen
from blossom to blossom. It is of
far greater value to man as a carrier of
pollen than it is as a honey gatherer
and yet under especially favorable conditions
in one year a strong colony
may produce between twenty-five and
thirty dollars worth of honey.[115]
Worker, queen and drone honey bees; all about natural
size. (After Phillips, U. S. Dept. of Agri.)
Stages of development of honey
bee; a, egg; b, young grub;
c, full-fed grub; d, pupa; all
enlarged. (After Phillips, U. S.
Dept. Agri.)
The general habits of the bee are
fairly well known by all. They live in
colonies consisting largely of workers,
one female or queen and males or
drones. Whenever the number of
workers becomes sufficiently large to
warrant a division of the colony, a
young queen is reared by the workers
and just before she matures, the old
queen leaves with about half of the
workers to establish a new colony.
This division of the colony is called
swarming. If a hive, box or other acceptable
home is not provided soon
after the swarm comes out and clusters,[116]
it may fly to the woods and establishes
itself in a hollow tree where the
regular work of honey gathering is
continued. This accounts for so many
bee-trees in the woods. The bee has
been handled by man for ages, but it
readily becomes wild when allowed to
escape to the woods.
The bee colony offers one of the
best examples to show what can be
accomplished by united effort where
harmony prevails. Certain of the
workers gather honey, others are
nurses for the queen and young brood
in the hive, others guard the hive and
repel intruders, and others care for the
hive by mending breaks and providing[117]
new comb as it is needed. Each knows
its work and goes about it without interfering
with the work of others. It
is one huge assemblage of individuals
under one roof where harmony and
industry prevail.
Throughout the long, hot summer
days the workers are busy from daylight
until dark gathering nectar,
while at night they force currents of
air thru the hive to evaporate the excess
water from the nectar. When
flowers are not available near the hive
they simply fly until they find them, be
it one, two or more miles. As long
as they are able to gather honey they
continue to do so and when they give
out they drop in the field and are forgotten,
others rushing to take their
place. Often when winter is approaching
and the store of honey is low the
less vigorous ones are cast out from
the hive and left to die. If man could
learn a few of the lessons which the
bee teaches, he would be a better, a
more useful and a wiser addition to society.[118]
Observations and Studies
Two colonies of bees poorly
cared for. Note box hives, crowding,
lack of shade, and high
weeds. It is a crime to treat
bees this way.
Go into the fields and study the work
of the bee. Follow it from flower to
flower. See if it visits different kinds
of flowers or if it gathers its whole
load of honey from one kind. Make
a list of all the blossoms you 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 stay on one blossom?
Does it visit red clover? Pull a red
clover blossom apart and compare the
depth of the blossom with the length
of the honey bee’s tongue, and determine
the reason why it does not visit[119]
red clover. The bumble-bee has a
much longer tongue so it can get the
nectar from red clover blossoms.
Without the bumble-bee clover seed
could not be successfully grown. Can
you see small balls of yellow pollen
on the hind legs of the bee? The pollen
is collected from blossoms and is[120]
pasted on to the outside of the hind
legs in the pollen basket. When the
bee returns to the hive, it stores the
small balls of pollen in the cells of the
comb for use later in the preparation
of bee-bread. When the 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 of the bee poisonous? Examine
the wings of bees in the field and note
how they are torn from continued
work of gathering honey. The older
ones often lose so much of their wings,
that they can no longer carry loads of
honey. Where is the honey carried
and how is it placed in the honey cells
in the hive?
A strong colony of bees properly housed and shaded.
This colony in a very unfavorable season stored about 50
pounds of surplus honey.
Go now to a hive and study the bees
as they go and come. Do those returning
fly as fast as those which
leave? Why not? When they return
do they come direct to the mouth of
the hive? Do those which leave fly
direct from the hive or circle about
first? Can you detect guards which[121]
move about at the entrance of the hive?
What happens when a fly or other insect
alights near the opening? Will
the bees sting when you disturb them
about the hive? If possible study the
colony inside the hive. To do this you
will need smoke to subdue the guards
and a veil to protect the face. Can you
find the queen? Is she larger than the
workers? Examine for honey-comb,
bee-bread, worker brood, queen cells
and drone cells. If possible study the
actions of a colony while swarming.
Write a brief report of what you can
learn of the life, work and habits of
the honey bee.
In happiness compared to thee?
Fed with nourishment divine,
The dewy morning’s gentle wine!
And thy verdant cup does fill;
‘Tis filled wherever thou doest tread
Nature’s self thy Ganymede.
[122]
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.“
Chapter XVII
THE ANT
The ants are closely related to the
bees and are similar to them in many
respects. They live in colonies consisting
of workers, drones, and a
queen. The males or drones appear at
swarming time and the workers are
divided into various castes—warriors,
guards, nurses, etc. Those families of
ants, however, which seem to have
what approaches real intelligence, far
outstrip the bees in many respects. In
some cases ants seem to be able to plan
and carry out lines of work very much
the same as man does. The various
stages of human intelligence or races
of men from the savage to the intelligent
man are in a way similar to the
various races of ants. There are ants
which live as hunters, others which[124]
live as shepherds and still others more
highly developed which grow crops
either in or near the nest as is the case
with the fungus growing ants. This
striking similarity between the development
of ants and man offers ground
for much speculation.
Ant hill showing activity and stages of development;
a, egg; b, young grub; c, pupa; d, worker; e, queen
with wings; f, worker carrying young grub; all enlarged.
The ant hill and workers at work much reduced.
Some ants may be of considerable
value to man while others are the[125]
source of great annoyance and injury.
The tidy housewife usually places the
ant in the same category with cockroaches
and bed-bugs and the corn
growers attribute much of the injury
to young corn to the work of the small
cornfield ant which acts as a shepherd
of the corn root-louse. Ants are usually
more destructive by protecting and
caring for other pests than by attacking
the crop direct.
Every country child is familiar with
ants. They are met every day during
the summer, scampering across paths,
tugging at some unfortunate insect, or
sticking to one’s tongue when he eats
berries. Ants are as numerous as the
stars in the skies and vary in size.
They are found from the tropics to the
frozen north, in deserts, swamps and
in fact, almost any place where plants
or animals live. They do not waste
time building or manufacturing a
complicated nest like wasps and bees,
so when food is scare, or for other reasons
they need to move they simply[126]
“pack up” and migrate. This, together
with the fact that they feed on almost
every imaginable kind of plant
and animal material, accounts in part
for the fact 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 difficult to follow
their activities in the nest. Go into the
field or out on the school grounds and
watch along paths or bare spots for
ants. Soon red or black fellows will
be seen hurrying along after food; ants
are always in a hurry when they are
after food. Follow them and watch
them catch and carry home small insects.
If they do not find worms or
other small insects, drop a small caterpillar
near one of them and see what
happens. Can they drag away a caterpillar
as large as themselves? Some
of them may be after honey dew, fruit
juice or other material of this nature
and they should be observed collecting[127]
it. Ants collect about plants or shrubs
which are overrun with green lice, and
feed on a sweet liquid which 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 of the louse?
Locate an ant nest or hill. Observe
the workers carrying out small pellets
of earth or gravels. Is the earth they
bring out the same color as the surface
soil? How deep may they go to get
it? Do they move about as if they were
in a hurry? Who sends them out with
the earth? Why do they bring it out?
Is it dropped as soon as the ant comes
out of the hole or is it carried some
distance? The small ant found along
paths usually makes a small ridge all
the way around the entrance. While
some of the ants are making the nest,
others are collecting food. Watch for
some of these and see what they bring.
Do they stop to eat before going down
into the nest? Dig into a large ant hill
and see what can be found. Describe[128]
briefly what is found. Do you find
any small soft grubs and oval cocoons?
These are the young ants and
they are perfectly helpless and must
be fed, bathed and cared for by the
workers or nurses. The workers pick
these up between their pinchers and
carry them away when the nest is disturbed.
Do the workers fight to protect
the nest? Collect some of the
workers which are carrying away the
young and keep them in a jar with bits
of bark and see what they do with the
young.
Describe briefly what you are able
to find out about ant life and behavior;
also make drawings of an ant, the
young and a nest.
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;
[129]
‘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.
And never answered her a mum:
[130]
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!’“
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.