its back. “Why!” you say “that is only a lady-bug, or lady-bird. We
say a little rhyme to it.”
The rhyme is--
“Lady-bird, lady-bird,
Fly away home!
Your house is on fire
And your children will roam.”
Yes, it is one of the beetles, and every beetle is a wonder. Come,
study this wonder.
The winged insects are divided into two great classes, Eaters
and Drinkers. That is what their Latin names mean. Butterflies,
house-flies, bees, and others, are drinkers. That is, they get their
food by sucking it through a pipe or tube.
This tube is on the fore part of the head; it is really the upper lip
grown long and round.
The other great class, the Eaters, eat their food with their mouths.
Some suck or lick it; some use their jaws to crush and break their food.
Beetles belong to the class Eaters.
The beetles are covered with a hard, horny shell, like a case. In this
they are like the old-time soldiers, who wore armor from head to foot.
Beetles belong to the great family of the ring-made creatures. Take a
large, round beetle, with big jaws, feelers, and legs. Does he not look
much like Mr. Crab, who is also ring-made?
In the pictures in this lesson you see Mr. Crab and Mr. Beetle. This is
a large beetle that likes to live among the grasses and weeds near the
seashore. When he and Mr. Crab meet on the sand they may think they are
cousins.
[Illustration: Mr. Beetle.]
Now let us get a beetle and look at him closely. You will often find
dead beetles on your path or in the grass. You can take them to pieces
and compare them with what you read about them.
The first thing that you will notice in the beetle is the hard case
over the wing. The wing-cases look like little shells, and have a nice
hinge to hold them in their place.
These two wing-covers fit close to each other over the beetle’s back.
When he flies he lifts them away from the wings. When you take off
these covers you will see lying under the cases a pair of neatly folded
wings. These wings are made much as Mrs. Wasp’s are.
[Illustration: Mr. Crab.]
The cases are used for armor, not for flying. They are really a pair
of wings. The fine silken under-wings are the pair with which beetles
fly.
There are some beetles that do not have this second pair, and so cannot
fly. There are some that have the upper pair so short that they do not
half cover the body. Beetles which do not have the lower wings creep
from place to place.
Watch a beetle as he crawls on the ground. Now see him! When his back
flies open two bright-hued shells rise up. This crawling thing sweeps
into the air on a pair of wide thin wings!
The part of the beetle’s body that is under the wings has rings like
those of the wasp. The body is made in the three parts insects have.
The wings and six legs are fastened on what you would call the chest or
middle part.
The wings fastened on the upper or back part of the beetle’s chest fold
down over the hind part of the body. On the end of the hind part is
what is called “the egg-placer.” With that Mrs. Beetle lays her eggs in
safe places.
The legs and feet of the beetle are made in joints. They have hairs on
them. The legs are so made and set that they cannot spread out as far
as those of spiders, wasps, flies.
Now here is Mr. Beetle’s head. It has two jaws and two feelers, the
mouth, and the eyes. There is a little horn shield over the mouth. In
fact, the whole beetle is in a snug horn coat. We may call this coat a
suit of armor.
The eyes of the beetle are like those of the fly. Very many eyes are
set in what seem to be two big eyes. The beetle does not have three
single eyes on the top of his head. Sometimes he has two small simple
eyes at the back of his head.
The splendid colors of Mr. Beetle are on his horn coat. I caught a
beetle last night which had the under part of his breast covered with
close hairs, so that it looked like velvet. He seemed to have on a rich
brown velvet vest.
LESSON XXIII.
WHEN MR. BEETLE WAS YOUNG.
In the lessons about the Ant, Fly, Wasp, Bee, and others, you have
heard that the young insect makes three changes.
First it is a small white or light-colored egg; then a fat, greedy
larva; then a pupa.
The insects you have thus far heard of, pass through all these changes
in a short time. So do some of the young beetles. But there are beetles
which spend one, two, three, even more, years, as eggs and grubs.
The long part of the lives of these other insects comes after they get
their wings. The short part of a beetle’s life generally comes after he
is winged.
You will not care to hear about the beetle while he is only an egg. As
an egg he lies quiet where the mother beetle hid him. These eggs are
placed in earth or in water. Sometimes they are put into the bodies
of dead animals, or into holes in trees, or into fruit. Some kinds of
beetles choose one place, some another, for their eggs.
[Illustration: Beetle Larva before it has Wings.]
After a while the larva comes out. Sometime you may find a long, soft,
stupid white worm, with its body made in rings. It has two big eyes,
two jaws, no feet, or, perhaps, very small ones, never any wings. Would
you guess it was Mrs. Beetle’s child? By and by it will have strong
wings, long, strong legs, a horny body, and very often colors like a
rainbow.
But this which you call a “white worm” is the beetle larva after it is
born from the egg. Sometimes it has no eyes. It is always very greedy.
Beetle larvæ will eat almost anything but metals. They harm wood,
trees, fruit, flowers, meal, furs, clothes, by gnawing and eating these
things.
The larva of beetles looks like the larva of butterflies. It has no
wings. No larva ever has wings.
The change of getting wings must come when the larva has gone into the
pupa cradle. Often in this state it lies as if asleep or dead.
When it is a pupa it rests in a case or cradle shaped much like a hen’s
egg. There the pupa lies, its legs folded over the front of its body,
its wings packed by its side, its jaws and feelers laid on its breast.
It looks very much like a baby laid asleep in a bed. It is not pretty
like a dear baby. In fact, it is ugly to look at.
The larva could eat, walk, roll, or swim. The pupa in this little case
can do nothing but wait. The full-grown beetle can fly, swim, eat,
walk, and is often a thing of great beauty.
If you dig about the roots of plants or under stones, you will, no
doubt, find larva and pupa to look at. It is well to seek out these
things for yourselves. Handle them gently; these are living things.
In some books you may read of a state of the insect called the image
state. This name is given to the full-grown, perfect insect. It means
that it has reached the same form that its mother had, which laid the
egg. Larva means mask, and pupa means baby.
LESSON XXIV.
HOW TO LEARN ABOUT BEETLES.
No class of insects has been more studied and written about than
beetles. Why is this? They are not as wise as the ants. They do not
build homes and cities, as bees and wasps do. They make no honey and no
wax. They have not the many trades of that busy Mrs. Wasp.
There are a few beetles which make little mud cells, or balls of dirt
for their eggs, or weave little nests for the pupa. But their work is
poor and rude and not as fine as Mrs. Wasp can do.
No doubt the reason why beetles have had so much notice is, that there
are very many of them, of very many kinds. They live where we can often
see them. We can easily take them to pieces, to study their parts, for
their bodies are firm and strong.
The parts of their bodies are very curious. Beetles can be kept a long
time after they are dead. They will not spoil as soon as soft-bodied
insects.
After all, the chief reason of the notice taken of beetles is their
great beauty. It is a beauty of color and shape. Often the cases are
lined and dotted as if carved with great care.
Would you like to have some beetles to keep, to look at and show to
your friends? Let me tell you how to get them.
Have a sheet of thick pasteboard, to fasten them on. When you walk out,
carry with you a bottle with a wide mouth and a good cork. If this
bottle has broken laurel leaves in it, the beetles will die as soon as
you put them in.
Or, you can kill the beetles with a little ether. Or, you can take up
the beetle with a little forked stick, and plunge it into very hot or
boiling water.
“Oh,” you say, “that would be so cruel!” But the truth is, the beetle
dies the instant he is plunged into hot water. He has no time to feel
pain.
Why do these things kill beetles so quickly? Here, now, is a great
fact that you must know. The insects do not breathe through the mouth
or nose, as you do. They have no lungs. They breathe through pipes or
tubes, wound over all the body. These tubes are very fine, and too
small to be seen with the naked eye. They are held open by a little
stiff, spiral thread, like this:
[Illustration]
These tubes spread even to the legs and feet of the insect. They reach
the open air by many openings, or breath holes. Now, when you plunge
the beetle into hot water, ether, or laurel odor, all its tubes are
filled, and it dies at once. When your beetle is dead, set it on the
sheet of stiff paper.
Draw the legs, feelers, and jaws into place with a pin or toothpick.
Then fasten the beetle to the paper with a tiny drop of thick glue put
under the body. Or, you can put a fine needle or pin through the body.
Be very sure that your beetle is quite dead before you put the pin into
him.
If you take this way of saving beetles, you will soon have very many,
of all colors, sizes, and shapes. They will be brown, black, red,
green, golden. I can hardly tell you how pretty the beetles are!
Put some on the paper, with the wing-cases raised, and the flying-wings
drawn out from beneath. The under wings are larger than the upper. You
will wonder that the beetle can pack them in the cases.
The feelers of beetles take many forms. Some are like plumes, some are
like scales or leaves, some like clubs. Some are nearly round like
balls, some are cone-shaped, some plain and straight; some are bent
like a new moon.
A farmer or gardener will like your beetles better dead than alive. As
he will tell you, the beetles and their larvæ are very greedy things.
They often eat leaves and spoil crops and trees.
LESSON XXV.
THE ROSE BEETLE.
The chief family of the beetles is a large one. It is found in all
parts of the world. The beetles that belong to it are large, and often
of fine color and shape.
In old times the people of Egypt called one of this family the sacred
beetle. They kept it as an object of worship. They often wore a stone
or metal image of it, to keep themselves from harm.
Let us now study one of this family. It is called the Rose Beetle.
That is a very pretty name. The beetle itself is pretty. It chooses a
pretty home and dainty food.
Some call this the Golden Beetle, because of its color. It is a fine
large beetle, with a thick body, round at the tail part. The feelers
are short and club shaped. The body, head, legs, and wing-cases are a
rich golden green, with silver spots and lines.
This beetle does not hold the wing-cases apart when it flies. It tips
them only a little. The wide, thin wings come out from beneath them.
[Illustration: The Rose Beetle.]
The rose beetle is seen most in May and June. You will find it in the
garden, about the flowers. Its chief food is honey and flower petals.
Its mouth is not horny, but soft and skin-like.
The feelers have ten joints, and wave lightly as the beetle flies. It
likes the sunshine. When it flashes about in the light, it looks like a
piece of melted gold with green tints on it.
The rose beetle chooses for its home and food the brightest and largest
flowers. It digs deep into the hearts of the roses. It sucks the honey
and chews the petals.
When the mother rose beetle wishes to lay her eggs, she finds a place
at the foot of a tree. She goes down among the roots, where the wood is
old and soft. Then she puts her eggs between the bark and the wood.
[Illustration]
Sometimes she changes her whole plan, and puts her eggs into an ant’s
nest! The ants do not seem vexed at this.
The larva of the rose beetle is a fat, round, white thing, like a thick
worm. The head is round, and of a pale brown color. The thin skin has
hairs on it.
These larvæ move very slowly, and always rest upon one side. They have
strong jaws, and their feelers have five joints. A number of them live
together. They are dull and lazy, and always eating. They eat leaves
and soft wood.
While the weather is warm, the larvæ keep near the top of the soil.
When it is cold, they dig down, even one or two feet, and lie asleep
until spring comes again.
They live in this way for three years. Then they make a round or
egg-shaped ball. They make the ball of grains of earth, bits of dead
leaves, and grass. Or, they use the wood or sawdust they have cut up
with their jaws. They fasten all this stuff together with glue from
their mouths.
When the larvæ are shut up in this ball, they change very quickly. At
first the ball, or case, seems full of a milky fluid. Then the legs
and wings grow. After a few weeks the white worm has changed to a fine
beetle that looks like a jewel.
Some of these beetles are so fine that they are put into hoops of gold
for ear-rings and brooches. In the island of Manila ladies keep rose
beetles in tiny cages for pets!
There is a beetle much like the rose beetle. It is called the May or
June bug. These June bugs come in great numbers. They eat the leaves of
trees, and even kill trees in this way. They fly by night; and they
like to get into a room where a lamp is burning. They are a golden
brown color.
They blunder about, making a great buzz with their horny wings. They
hit their heads on walls and panes of glass. Some people are afraid of
them. That is foolish, for they can do no harm to them.
These June bugs hide all day in the shade. They do not like the sun. It
is no wonder there are so many of them, as each mother lays forty eggs.
The larvæ do much damage by eating plant roots.
Watch June beetles to see how they lift their wing-covers when about to
fly. Look well at the folding of the inner wings.
If you open a door or window on a warm night and set a light in the
room, you may soon catch very many pretty beetles which fly about to
feast on the sweet white flowers that open after dark.
LESSON XXVI.
PRINCES AND GIANTS.
Beetles vary much in size. Some are so small that you can hardly see
them as they creep among the grasses.
Others are so large that a child might fear them. He might think that
with their thick legs and claw-like feet and strong jaws they must
surely be able to hurt him. But beetles are quiet, mild things, and
seldom pinch or bite anybody.
[Illustration]
Why do these beetles have these strong coats like mail? To keep them
from harm. They live under stones, and among roots, and dig about in
the earth. Their horny bodies protect them.
Many more animals, than now do so, might eat the beetles if they had
not the horny coats to shield them.
Fish, birds, and other animals eat them and their grubs. Enough are
killed and eaten to prevent the world being too full of beetles.
Beetles have few weapons. I will tell you of one or two of them. Stag
beetles have very large, strong jaws, and can give a good pinch with
them.
[Illustration]
One family of beetles is called the “Oil family.” They have an oil in
them. They drop this from their legs when they are touched. This oil
has a bad smell. It can make a blister on the skin. Because of this
oil people let them alone, and perhaps small animals do the same.
There is a beetle that carries a gun! This is like a gun with several
barrels, for it can be fired three or four times without being
reloaded! Oh, how can that be?
Near the tail of the gun beetle is a little sack or bag full of fluid.
When an enemy comes near him, Mr. Beetle, as he runs, throws off a drop
of this fluid. The fluid flies out of the bag with a little bang. It
sounds like the report of a tiny gun, and makes a kind of mist or blue
smoke.
Three or four of these shots follow each other. This beetle is a small
fellow. Big beetles like to chase him. When the wee gun goes off in the
big beetle’s face, the big beetle backs away. Then he folds down his
feelers and stands still. He acts very much as a dog does when he drops
his tail between his legs and runs off!
These little gun-owning beetles live in damp places. Often a group
of them will hide under a stone. If you lift up the stone, the poor
beetles are in a great fright. They begin to fire off their guns like a
squad of soldiers.
Now after talking about these little beetles, let us talk of great
ones. I told you some beetles are very small, and some are very large.
One beetle is so big that it is called the Giant. Another is called
Goliath, from the huge giant whom King David slew. Others are called
Atlas and Hercules, from tales told, in old times, of giants.
The very large beetles live in hot lands and are scarce. Some have the
jaws large and curved like a crab’s claw. At first sight you might
think them crabs. Some of these odd ones are shown in the picture.
The colors of these great beetles are often very splendid. Some of them
have long horns on the front of their heads. Some of them have the hind
legs so large, and of such a queer shape, that they do not look like
beetles.
Some of these giant beetles have large teeth or knobs upon their jaws;
they need them to crush and break their food. These teeth are like the
knobs on Mr. Crab’s claw, which he uses for playing a tune. The beetle
can use his knobs to make music. Beetles are fond of their own tunes.
Often they make, for hours, a shrill hum, or buzz. They make this by
rubbing their wing-cases.
There is a great beetle in Brazil called the Prince of Beetles. He gets
this name from his size and beauty. Some of the princes have been sold
for two hundred dollars each.
When you walk in the field, you might carry a bottle with a wide
mouth. In this you can collect beetles to study. It may be very
pleasant to study them when you go home. But have something in the
bottle to kill them, for, shut up in a small space, and frightened,
they are likely to pull each other to pieces.
LESSON XXVII.
THE LITTLE SEXTON.
Once, when I was a little girl, I saw a dark beetle standing on its
hind pair of legs. It was holding its fore legs clasped over its head,
as you can hold up your hands.
An old man who was near said, “That is a holy bug, and shows what man
ought to do. It is saying its prayers. People call it the ‘praying
beetle.’”
I think the old man meant what he said, but of course the beetle was
neither holy nor praying. The queer way of standing was only one of the
odd ways of beetles. Now I will tell you of another.
Very often on the road you will see a beetle, or a pair of beetles,
rolling about a small ball like a marble. The ball is of dirt, or some
soft stuff, and is often larger than the beetle. But she rolls it with
ease, for she is very strong.
The beetle is not playing marbles nor base-ball. She is only doing her
work. She has been flying about, looking for a good place in which to
lay her eggs, and now she has gone to work with all her might.
She lays her egg in a morsel of the stuff of which she will make her
ball. When the larva comes from the egg, this ball will be its food
until it is strong enough to crawl about and seek food for itself. The
beetle moulds the soft stuff over the egg, like a pill. Then, as she
rolls it about, it grows larger, as your snowball grows when you roll
it about in the snow.
When the ball is large enough, Mrs. Beetle does not leave it in the
road for wheels to run over or feet to tread upon. She seeks a place
where the larva may be safe and feed well when it comes from the egg.
She shows much sense in the choice of a place. She drags the ball along
between her hind feet, or she pushes it with her fore feet or her hind
feet, or rolls it along toward the safe place which she has chosen. If
the ground is so rough that she cannot drag her ball, she carries it on
her head.
This Mrs. Beetle’s head is flat, and has some wee knobs upon it. These
knobs hold her load firmly in place as she carries it along. Did you
ever see a boy carry a box, pail, or bundle on his head?
Perhaps Mrs. Beetle finds that she cannot, without help, take her ball
to a good place. Then she flies off, and soon comes back with other
beetles of her own kind. They all help her until her ball is where she
wishes it to be. How does she tell them what she needs? Who knows that?
No one. I have seen four or five beetles at work on one ball.
When the ball is in the right spot, Mrs. Beetle digs a hole with her
jaws and horny fore legs. Then she rolls the ball in. She fills up the
hole with earth and presses it down flat.
This is not the only beetle that buries its eggs. There is another one,
called the Sexton Beetle. When it finds a dead bird, or mouse, or frog,
or other small animal, it sets to work to bury it. It digs a little
grave for it. This is why it is called a sexton.
This beetle begins to dig under the dead body. As it takes out the
earth, the dead thing sinks more and more. At last it is deep enough to
be covered, as a coffin is covered in a grave.
In this way this beetle helps to keep the earth and air clean. Is that
why it buries things? Oh, no! The reason the beetle does this is, it
wants to get a good place for its eggs.
These sexton beetles are black, with yellow bands. They are rather
large, and go in pairs. You might think these beetles and the one who
makes the ball would be dirty from their work, but they are not.
[Illustration: The Sexton Beetle.]
These beetles have a kind of oil over their bodies. This keeps any dirt
from sticking to them. So, though they work in dirty places, they are
always clean and bright.
These burying beetles have a keen scent. They can smell a dead body
even if it is a long way off. Let us watch Mr. and Mrs. Sexton Beetle
at work. Here is a dead mouse. Through the air come flying these two
beetles. Their wings hum as they come.
When they alight, Mr. Beetle goes briskly to his work, and Mrs. Beetle
stands looking on. Her work in this world is not to dig, but to lay
eggs. Before the work begins, they both make a good meal off the dead
mouse. All sexton beetles eat flesh.
Mr. Beetle works a while. Then he drops down as if very tired, and
sleeps. Then up he gets and ploughs furrow after furrow about the
mouse. Mr. Beetle uses his head for a plough. Now the dead body has
sunk out of sight. Mr. Beetle has put over it the earth he took out
from the grave which he made. He makes all the little grave smooth and
trim.
But what is this queer little fellow doing now? He has made a little
side door into the grave. He and Mrs. Beetle walk in. They have gone to
take another meal from the mouse.
When their dinner is over, Mrs. Beetle lays some eggs in the dead body.
She knows that when the larvæ come from the eggs, they will like to eat
the food which they will find all around them. After the eggs are laid,
Mr. and Mrs. Beetle come out into the air.
Mr. Beetle fills up the doorway. Then off the two fly to find other
things to bury.
The larva of the sexton beetle looks much like a beach flea or
sand-hopper.
Does the strength of beetles surprise you? They have strong, sharp
jaws. Once I found a fine grass-green beetle, with silver spots.
I wanted him for my card of beetles. I tied him in the hem of my
handkerchief to carry him home. The hem was double, but he ate a hole
through it; then away he went.
Once I shut up ten beetles in a box. I forgot them for two days. When I
opened the box, they were all dead. They had killed each other. The box
had in it only heads and legs and wings. The last beetle that had been
left had lost his legs and wings. He had won the battle, but died on
the field. Some other great captains have done the same.
LESSON XXVIII.
THE STORY OF THE STAG BEETLE.
Among the largest beetles that we have in this country are the Stag
Beetles. They get this name from the size of their jaws.
If you look at the picture, you will see that the great jaws look like
horns. If you should ever see the head of a stag or deer, you may
notice that this beetle’s jaws are very like the stag’s horns in shape.
[Illustration: The Stag Beetles.]
These jaws can give a very hard pinch in time of need. Still you need
not be afraid of the stag beetle; he will not hurt you.
The use of these great jaws is not yet fully known. You will see that
they have knobs on the inner edge.
Only Mr. Stag Beetle has these horns. Mrs. Stag Beetle has small jaws,
and her head is not so wide as her shoulders. Mr. Stag Beetle has a
very wide head. He needs a wide, strong head to hold up his big jaws.