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See ee eee ee ee ” fete TEC Sete 13 eked SLL PL Pe ope ee egy te opelecetels 6° oe oe . > etisiit temguie ‘ . eR ARAM RA CERN GN eA asics pps crea ERAN IRN ETRE AIR BRENT SORDLEN ODOT RIT ANNO HITE ‘ii i sisnidusosi til setitodtanhearamunstanasbiadiiaptatiai nies itis ptatinabatslaganinidaatitht spisatinstaininidinia " ini sepebenitd cation id ie 0 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: Copyright N Friends and Foes in Field and Forest PIPPI NO ney Ny WORMS AND WINGS Hp little maiden of four pears old— RNo moth, but a genuine child ts she, CHith her bronse-brown eves and her curls of gold— Came quite in disqust one dap to me. Rubbing her shoulder with rosy palm, As the loathsome touch seemed pet to thrill her, She cried, “@ mother, J found on mp arm Q horrible, crawling caterpillar!” And pet, with mischievous smile she could hardly smother, Pet a glance in its daring, half awed, half shy, She added, “Tbile they were about it, mother, ¥X wish they’d just finished the butterfly.” They were words to the thought of the soul that turns From the coarser form of a partial growth, Reproaching the infinite patience that pearns TAith an unknown glory to crown them both. Ab, look thou largely, with lenient epes, @n twhatso beside thee map creep and cling, For the possible glorp that underlies The passing phase of the meanest thing! What if God's qreat angels, whose waiting love Beholdeth our pitiful life below, From the holy height of their heaven above, = Couldn’t bear with the worm till the wings should grow? BS—— "la MY, SA SS re —_F — Adeline D. T. Whitney. ] Wy is. i= 7, . a - N\A WES — Ez SF : : jy -* rc YEA; -2 \ = ee a WK = \S h\ ; pie \\ Hy y \\ RAG FRIENDS AND FOES In Fteld and Forest A Book for Home Reading, Intended to Assist Mothers and Teachers in Interesting Their Children in Nature Study, and to Lead Their Minds Upward to Nature’s God Vesta J. Farnsworth “The smallest insect holds a rank Important in the eye of Him Who framed the scale of being.”’ REVIEW & HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION WASHINGTON, D. C. SouTH BEND, IND. New YorK Clty. \ ve lo j J * él ee <& 4 7 c| ‘ . \ \ Copyright, 1913, by REvIEW & HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION Washington, D. C. ©ClA358335 Contents HEMIPTERA - - - - - ~ : = A Bonny Boatman — A Noisy Insect DIPTERA - - - ~ - - - - The Common Fly — Bottle of Blue—A Bold Burglar HYMENOPTERA~ - - - - - - - Bees — The First Paper-Makers— Bonny Bombus — Little, but ‘‘ Exceeding Wise’’— The Farmer-Ants — Baby in the Tree Top ORTHOPTERA - - : . : i a The Grasshopper — Crickets — A Little Hypocrite NEUROPTERA = 2 - “ = = fa The Dragon-Fly — Day-Flies and Other Flies — The Ant-Lion — The White Ants— The Spider COLEOPTERA - * “ ~ - “ - Bug or Beetle, Which? — The Potato-Beetle — The Ladybird — Night-Lights in the Meadow — Giant Beetles — The Weevil Family — The Merry Dancers — Some Odd Beetles LEPIDOPTERA - - - - - “ - Butterfly or Moth—Wings and Scales — Moths — Appearances Are Deceitful — Caterpillars and Silk PAGE Lis 22 25735 3€-89 QO-II2 Fig 157 158-193 194-245 The Boy That Never Sees God help the boy that never sees The butterflies, the birds, the bees, Nor hears the music of the breeze When zephyrs soft are blowing; Who can not 1n sweet comfort lie Where clover blooms are thick and high, And hear the gentle murmur nigh Of brooklets softly flowing. God help the boy who does not know Where all the woodland berries grow; Who never sees the forest’s glow When leaves are red and yellow; Whose childish feet can never stray Where nature doth her charms display— For such a helpless boy, I say, God help the little fellow. — Selected. ! OMIT MM eM LS SS. Sai a a el ac pen aba a TPOr the ferst eisht or ten years oj; a child’s life the field or garden is the best schoolroom, the mother the best teacher, nature the best lesson book.” “With leaf and flower and tree, and with every living creature, from the leviathan of the waters to the mote in the sunbeam, the dwellers in Eden held converse, gathering from each the secrets of 1ts life.”’ **Teach the children to see Christ in - nature. Take them out into. the open air, under the noble trees, into the garden; and in all the wonderful works of creation teach them to see an expression of his love.”— “* Education.” “Tf you speak of a fly, a gnat, or a bee,”’ says Basil, “‘your conversation will be a sort of demonstration of His power whose hand formed them; for the wisdom of the workman 1s commonly perceived in that which ts of little size. He who has stretched out the heavens, and dug up the bottom of the sea, is also he who has pierced a passage through the sting of the bee for the eae of its poison.’ Noe ee ease TT Te SMS MMe MUM eels Mee nis miners Minn = Tn TTT eT eT Te Ting CST oe ee ee SM HEMIPTERA A Bonny Boatman Boatman: Do you see my oars sticking straight out from the back part of my body? Glenn: I should call them legs instead of oars. Boatman: They serve me as both. Iam called the Water Boatman, though my proper name is No-to-nec’ta glau’ca. My first name means one who swims on his back. [I live in the © water. Glenn: I see your body is shaped almost like a boat. Please tell us more about yourself. Boatman: I was born in water— hatched from an egg my mother placed | : on the stalk of a water - plant. ihtaversixe lees. as all other in- sects have, but the two long ones be- © hind are very much like a pair of oars. They have small hairy fingers at the end. These W fingers enable me to push myself through the water at very great speed. Harold: Do you row about under the water? Boatman: To be sure. I can fly and also swim. Glenn: Do you have wings as well as oars? Boatman: Yes, four of them, and cases to put them in. When tired of rowing, I open my wing-cases half-way, push out my wings, and sit on top of the water by the hour. Harold: But you can not fly in the water. How do you get out of it when lying there on your back? Boatman: I go down deep, make several quick strokes with my oars, which bring me up into the air, then I spread my wings and fly away. II 12 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest Glenn: How can you breathe under water? Boatman: I have little openings called spiracles in the sides of my body. When I come to the top of the water, air gets in beneath my wing-cases, and enters the air-tubes. I am obliged to come often for air. If some wise man could invent a boat that would be able to propel itself under water, and then come out and be a flying-machine, he would be called a great man. I[ am like both of these, and am not great at all. Harold: But you did not make yourself, and your Creator is greater and wiser than all men. Boatman: ‘True, and he has made a variety of insects. Glenn: What is an insect? | Boatman: Your mother can tell you. I havea sharp beak, which hurts like the sting of a wasp. With it I suck the juice from a water-mite, and then throw its skin away. ‘There is one coming now. I shall have it for my dinner. FOUR LIVES IN ONE Harold: Did you see the Water Boatman, mother, and hear his story? He said you could tell us something about insects. Will you please do so now? Mother: The word insect means cut into. All true insects have three parts to their bodies,—the head, the thorax or chest, and the abdomen or body. An insect, too, has , three pairs of legs, six in all; and nearly all insects @G& have two orfour wings. Most insects passthrough =ces four changes during their lives: First, they are hatched from eggs; second, they become larve. Harold: What are larve? Mother: Larva means masked, or concealed,—that is, you would not know by looking at the larva whether it was going to be a beetle or a butterfly. After the larve change their skins several times, they are called pupz. Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 13 Harold: What does that mean? Mother: It means a baby or doll. A man named Linnzus gave them this name, because he thought that in- sects while in this state looked like a baby wrapped in tight bands. Glenn: Then that was what I saw the other day,— a little gray case like a coffin, and I could see the head, feet, wings, and all wrapped up in it, ikea mummy. Its outside case was so pretty. It was marked with black rings, and had little golden dots in different places. But I thought the little creature inside was dead. Mother: It was only sleeping, and probably if you had kept it a few days, a gay butterfly would have come out. While in the pupa state some in- sects take no food, others have a supply in their pupa-case. Many donot move at all, and seem to be dead, while others eat, grow, and move about LARVA inside their narrow home. At last the pupa be- comes an imago, or perfect insect. The word | imago means that the insect is the image of c its parent. Now do you remember the four “ changes an insect passes through during life? Harold: First, it is hatched from an egg; second, it becomes larva; third, pupa; fourth, it is known as an imago. Mother: Besides these four changes, an in- sect is really changing all the time. When a caterpillar is hatched, it begins to eat, and perhaps makes its first dinner of the egg-shell from which it came. Glenn: Is a caterpillar larva, mother? Mother: Yes. An insect while in the larva] T= m1aco, or Perrect 2 INSECT ¢ 14 Friends and Foes 1n Field and Forest condition eats a great amount of food. It grows so fast it out- grows its skin as you outgrow your clothes. Finally the skin bursts open, and it crawls out ina bright new suit. Strangest of all, and yet true, it not only changes its outside skin, but the skin of its mouth, stomach, and all its inside organs comes off with the outside skin. ‘This is called molting. Harold: We say chickens molt when their feathers come off, but insects do not have feathers. Mother: Many of them do. When seen through a micro- scope they have bright colors, and are decked in gay plumage. Glenn: What do insects eat? Mother: Everything you can think of, whether animal or vegetable. Many prey on other insects, and some suck blood from animals. Every plant furnishes them food. The com- mon nettle feeds thirty different kinds of insects, and two hun- dred feed on cabbage, and other insects that have already eaten it. ‘They eat wood, leaves, roots, flowers, fruit, honey, cheese, clothes, furs, animals,— in fact, almost any substance that can be named. A LARGE FAMILY Glenn: How many kinds of insects are there? Mother: Thousands; I don’t know how many; I don’t think any one ever counted them. Harold: Do they all belong to one family? Mother: They are divided into several general classes, , or families. Each one of the family % = names ends with the Greek word tera, 3° which means wings. The first part of the family name tells something about 3 the wings of the insect that bears the BUTTERFLY name. The first great family is called Dip’te-ra, which means two wings. Flies, mosquitoes, and gnats belong to this family. The second family is called Friends and Foes in Field and Forest IS which means half wings. In this / family vileas;* lice, and gogo ' bugs are found. Glenn: That is like hem tsyo ne re. ywiatel 2 means half a sphere. Mother: The Wr third family is called Lep-i-dop’te-ra, which means W scaly wings. ‘The insects in this family are moths and °®6°% butterflies. ‘They are called Lep-i-dop’- te-rabecause they have scales on their wings. Harold: Not scales like a fish? Mother: ‘They overlap just the same, but you will learn more about that another time. The fourth class of insects is called Or-thop’te-ra, meaning straight wings. In this family we find cock- roaches, crickets, grasshoppers, and others. The fifth family has a rather long name, Hy-men-op’te-ra. It means membrane wings. To this family belong bees, wasps, and ants. Harold: Ants do not have wings. Mother: Later on we shall learn whether they do or not. The sixth family is called Neu-rop’te-ra, that is nerve wings. Dragon-flies, May-flies, and others belong to the Neu-rop’te-ra family. The seventh is called Col-e-op’te-ra, mnteaning sheath wings. To that family belong the beetles. You know that there are five races of men, which are known as white, yellow, brown, red, and black. ‘These are divided into a great number of smaller families, as are also insects. Harold: To what family do spi- - ders, Worms, and other creep- Imes Ge Palw linn ¢ things belong? GRASSHOPPER 16 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest Mother: They can not properly be called insects; for we have learned that insects have three parts to their bodies, three pairs of legs, and that they nearly always have wings. When you look at a worm or spider, see if it has all these. Glenn: What are the clues that stick out from the heads of insects? Mother: They are their horns, or antenne. They are not just like horns, for they have’ joints so they can be moved in any direction. It is supposed that with them an insect feels, hears, and smells, though their use is not fully known. Harold: Can insects see? Mother: Try to put your hand on a ‘oe and you will find out. Many insects have what are called compound eyes, that is, many eyes in one; and some- times one compound eye has many thousands of single eyes, or facets, as they are called. Here is a picture ofsime Glenn: It looks like the seeds of a ripe sun- flower. How evenly they are set together! | Mother: Yes, it is truly wonderful. I once looked at the eye of a fly through the microscope, and when I saw God’s work in making the eyes of such a com- mon insect, I felt like falling on my knees in prayer. 2) The more closely we examine even the smallest thing vor she has made, the more we shall see that will inspire AN Insect love for him. Did you know that God has given to the insects tools with which they get their living, build their houses, and do many wonderful things? _ Glenn: What kind of tools? | Mother: They have saws, augers, spades, pumps, scissors, COMPOUND EYE Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 17 knives, swords, and spinning-machines. Men are proud of the high buildings they erect; but they would build houses nearly a mile high if made as lofty as the ants’ in proportion to their height. A flea, an eighth of an inch long, can jump a yard. A man ought to jump about half a mile at a single bound to equal a flea. Glenn: If we could jump like fleas, we should go through the air faster than an express-train. Mother: Yes, and compared with men, if size is taken into account, insects excel them in other things. This morning I saw an ant carry a dead fly two or three times larger than it- self up a straight wall. What should you think of a man who could walk upright like that carrying a heavy weight? But the ant did it without difficulty. 7 A Noisy Insect Harold: What little wonders insects are! To what family does the Boatman who told us his story be- long? Aan’ | Mother: ‘To the Hem-ip’te-ra family. WG : Glenn: What other insects belong to his ri & m™ ilv? ALM family: : soe i SEX e., -Mother: 'The cicada (si-ka’da) is one. It (== lives in southern Europe, Africa, in parts of iN ii wip i) | America, and in the islands of the sea. It loves cy 4 i) ie | : ; ! Mm il th —= cs wh to stay on the branches of trees when the sun shines hot. Sometimes large grasshoppers are mistaken forit. I seeoneon the branch of that tree. Keep quiet, and we shall let it talk to you. MALE CICADA Glenn: How do you do, Mr. Cicada? Some people think that you look like a grasshopper, but I do not think that you are like them. 2 18 Friends and Foes 1n Field and Forest Cicada: Look at my picture, and you will say I am not at all like a grasshopper. You will notice that I have no long hind legs. My body is thick and heavy, my head is broad, and four gauzy wings cover my back. [I have three very large eyes set like this .*°. in my forehead, and short antenne, or horns. Harold: Do you have thousands of eyes in each one of the three? ; Cicada: No, they are not compound, but simple eyes like your own. Mrs. Cicada is one of the insects that carries an auger, and with it she makes holes in the bark of trees, where she lays her eggs. Glenn: Is the auger in her head? Cicada: It is in the back part of her body. When notin use it lies in a little groove made to receive it. ‘The auger has three parts; one is so strong and sharp that when she sticks it into a tree it keeps her from falling while at work; the other two have teeth like a saw, which move up and down. She can bore deep holes in the wood. I sing all the time she is at work. I haveavery strong voice. Some people seem to think it not very musical, but it sounds good to me. ‘The Greeks loved our song so well they shut us up in wickerwork cages that they might hear our joyous Cree, cree, cree, rapidly repeated. When you sing you use your throat, but my song is produced by organs on the under side of my body. I have two horny plates which cover two deep cells, and in the bottom of each cell is found what looks like a tiny mirror. It is really mem- brane, but shines like brightest glass, and in it can be seen all the colors of the rainbow. ‘These cells are like two little win- dows through which you can look into my body. Glenn: What makes the noise? Cicada: In the cells I have told you about are two little drums. In my back there are two strong muscles which move Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 19 these drums quickly backward and forward, and that makes the sound. You would not expect a boy with two drums to be very quiet, and no more can I be. Glenn: What do you eat? Cicada: We suck the sap of trees. Glenn: Do your children change to larve and pupze when they hatch from the eggs in their tree nest? Cicada: Certainly. The larve are small and white at first. They leave their nest, crawl down the tree trunk, eat its roots, and keep growing. ‘They remain in the pupa state all winter, and in the spring crawl out of the ground, hook themselves on to the tree, and then craw] out of their pupa-case, or skin. They leave their skins where they came out of them. The larve are very weak at first, but the warm sun strengthens them, and they soon join the Cree, cree, cree chorus. You would not find it easy to catch one of us, for we are easily frightened, and fly away at the slightest sound. FROGGIE FROTH Iva: Where did the froth on these leaves come from? It looks as if made of tiny bubbles. Froggie Froth: Allow me to introduce myself. My proper name is Aph-roph’o-ra, which means, the foam = > imeam.- | am also called Froghopper and Frog-spit; when I am full grown, I jump like afrog. You may call me Froggie Frothif you — Froccm rrora like. Here is a picture of one of my brothers, but it is about ten times as big as he was. Iva: Are you a perfect insect now? Froggie Froth: No; I am in my larval state. Soon I shall change to pupa, and after that shall look like the picture. Glenn: Where does all this froth come from? ; Froggie Froth: I made it; it is the house in which [ live, 20 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest and is made of little bubbles. I have a very delicate green skin, which must be kept moist, so I climb on the stalk of some plant and suck its juice. ‘Then I place myself on a leaf, and keep moving my body. Soon a little bubble comes out, then another, and another till I am all covered up in my bubble house. ; Glenn: Do the bubbles last? Froggie Froth: For a while, and I keep making more to take the place of those that melt away; otherwise my body would soon dry up and I should die, just as a fish does when taken out of water. My bubble house protects me from the air and heat as I am now, but when I am ready to change from larva to pupa I can make part of the bubbles dry up so there will be a little dry room inside in which the change is made. This takes place in September. My skin splits open along my head and chest. [| leave my bubble mansion, and have a pair of wings. My sisters move slowly about, but my brothers are champion jumpers. Though so small, they can leap more than six feet. For this reason they are sometimes called flea grasshoppers. A GREAT ATHLETE Glenn: There you go, hop, hop, hop! What is your name, : please? Flea: My proper name is Pu’lex ir’ri-tans, but Iam known as the flea. ‘This is my photograph, but the picture made me many times larger than I really am. How fa. \ can you jump? Glenn: O, a long way; six or HUMAN FLEA (MAG- seven feet, I think! NIEFED) | Flea: As little as-1 am, 1 can “Uf 4 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 21 Sanmp fal: that distance myseli. [i I were as big as you, | believe I could jump a mile. ‘That is the way I keep alive, for you folks seem to take special delight in killing me. Hazel: But you bite us, Mrs. Pulex. See that big blotch on my wrist where you bit me a minute ago! Flea: If you had two long, sharp knives with saw-like edges, and should stick them into things, I am sure it would show more than that. Iva: Do you have two knives? Flea: Yes; and they are kept in a little covered case, or tube, so they will not get broken. I can eat a lot of blood for one of my size, and I need sharp tools to get it with. Baron Walckenaer, in the “Natural History of Insects,” says that in Paris he saw what were called the learned fleas. ‘Thirty of them went through exercises like soldiers, standing on their hind legs, and carrying small splints of wood. ‘Two fleas were harnessed to a golden carriage having four wheels. A third flea was seated in the carriage and acted as coachman, holding a splinter of wood for a whip. ‘Two other fleas drew a tiny can- non on its carriage. ‘These and other wonders were performed on polished glass. ‘The fleas that acted the part of horses wore : a gold chain fastened to their hind legs, which was never taken off. When seen by Baron Walckenaer, they had lived thus for two and a half years, and not one had died. Iva: Fleas are so small I don’t see how people could see them performing as you say. Flea: ‘Those who came to see the fleas looked through mag- nifying-glasses, so you will know that the golden carriage and other things drawn by them were smaller than anything you can think of. Harold: What did they have to eat? Flea: They were placed on a man’s arm and sucked his blood. When they became lazy and did not wish to work, the 22 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest man took a burning coal and moved it about near them; that woke them up in a short time, and they began to perform. Glenn: Where do you live? Flea: We are found in nearly all countries, and thrive best among dirty people. Our eggs are laid in the cracks of floors and in old rubbish. Hazel: Are there any other kinds of fleas? Flea: Yes; there are cat fleas, dog fleas, and those that live on pigeons and poultry. SWEET SUMMER-TIME THE wonder season of the year, The dewy mornings gaily call Sweet summer, comes again, In bird-notes sweet and strong, When everywhere, afar and near, Come forth to labor, one and all; In every field and glen, The noontide comes erelong, The happy insects, birds, and bees, When shepherds seek the meadow-land, The waving grass and nodding trees, -And in the stream the cattle stand, The rolling fields and wayside nook, When through the drowsy afternoon The hazy hills and babbling brook, All nature calls with soothing croon, Are filled with life and song. “O, rest with me and grow!”’ — Max Hill. C SMM MM MM Me MM MMe cL a MM MM eo ee Ms ec eLUT Tg oly Do you s pose little flies, with their thousands of eves, When their mama 1s busy with tea, Ever climb on the chairs and get in her way, dnd cry, ‘“‘Lemme see! Lemme see!” Do you spose litile fish, when their mamas wish To take a short nap,— just a wink,— Ever pound on the door with their soft little fins, And whimper, “ Please gi’me a d’ink’’? Do you s’pose litile bees, as they hum 1n the trees, And find where the honey-sweets lurk, Ever ask of their papa, who’s busy near by, ““T know — but what for must I work ?’’ Do you s’ pose, do you. s’ pose that any one knows Of a small boy who might think awhile Of all this and more? You do? So TI thought, And now let us see tf hell smile. SM eM Me ndiione Nee: MMOS MeSH Te ST oT eT eT eT ST Tee TT SUT e TTT e TTT eT TTT TTT ETT TTT Tg Pe ee UNO eM Mee helen ee Enel e Linie eel enciie ele: iin elie Ue HLS LE tofe DO YOU S’POSE ? — Babyland. CSI I= Mu WM Le MoS Ue ace ee De Le ee Ue MU une ML I Ie oh eee Se MSU OL eU ee eL Le Moores SM SST CT TTC TTS eT eT STITT SUT TTS Tete TTT SUTTON SLU eMC SLUMS CMU ULM LULU be ALL = MM eM ee ee Pee eee eNO eLUMLeM OL MU MeL ele e C MMM Me ML MM Le SLU = MSM MSU ee aT) DIPTERA The Common Fly Harold: Here you are, Mr. Fly. Now please talk to us, as Water Boatman and Froggie Froth did. Fly: What do you want me to tell? Glenn: How you can walk up and down that window-pane without falling. Fly: I have little suckers on my feet, which hold me, so I can run about with my head down as well as any other way. Glenn: How old are you? Fly: One month to-day. Harold: Only a month? Why, you are as big as you will ever be. Did you look at first as you do now? Fly: QO, no! Iwas hatched from a tiny egg laid by my fly mother. At first I was a little grub, or worm, about one third of an inch long. I had rings around my body, and on the rings were hooks. [| kept eating all I could, andso grew. My skin got hard in about a week, and it made a very nice little pupa-case like a barrel-shaped coffin. Had you seen me then, you might have thought I had no life. While in my little coffin my legs grew first, then my wings, after that my head, eyes, mouth, and my trunk, or tube. After two weeks I began to knock with my head. ‘The end of my coffin flew open, and I turned from a worm into a wonder. I stood awhile in the bright sunshine; for I felt cold and weak. I kept shaking my wings till they were dry. All the wrinkles came out, and I began to fly about just as I do now, looking for something EO eat. Glenn: But I don’t understand yet how you can walk on the ceiling without falling. 25 | 26 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest fly: ‘There are two claws on each of my feet, and under each is a tiny cushion. Some very wise men say there are twelve hun- dred hairs on each cushion, though how they found out I am sure I do not know. - Each hair has a little knob on the end, and from these comes a sticky gum which holds me to the surface on which I am walking. UA i Harold: A little while ago I saw you FooT oF FLY (MacNirieD) rubbing your legs over your body, and then twisting and rubbing them together. Why did you do that? Fly: Iwas combing my hair. My body is cov- ered with short hairs, and those on my legs are stiff, so I can use them as a comb and brush. In this way I keep myself clean and neat. er Glenn: I think your wings are beautiful, but why HAIR don’t you fold them up close to your body when not using them?! Fly: Because they were made to stand out straight. I have but two wings, while many insects have four. Harold: How can you tell when we try to catch you? Fly: I can see you with my eyes. Iva: You must have eyes in the back of your head then. Fly: Each of my eyes is made of thousands of little eyes, or facets, which enable me to see in all directions at once. When a sly boy or girl tries to creep up and catch me, I fly away. My eyes enable me to protect myself. Once a woman caught one of my brothers and looked at one of his eyes through a microscope. She said it was truly wonderful, and that it looked like a great half-ball set with the tiniest bright stones, all in the form of perfect little squares. I am told there are four thousand of these little facets, though I never counted them. When you think how small my eye really is, and yet tae ee ee ea Friends and Foes in Field and Forest Da how perfectly it is made, it should cause you to love the One who made you and me. [I have heard that some insects have as many as twenty-five thousand eyes. You see it is the same as though we were in a room covered with mirrors; we can see all around us. Hazel: What is that little tube with which you go about touching everything? Fly: That serves me as a mouth, and for hands, and with it I can tell what is good to eat. Harold: Will you tell us how you breathe? Fly: There are several small openings in my body through which the air enters at each side. Iva: Do you have bones? Fly: No; my hard and horny skin serves me ineread of bones. I believe that is the way all insects are made. Glenn: What is your family name? Fly: I belong to the Dip’te-ra family. Harold: I don’t see what good you do in the world. Fly: All over the world animals are dying, and the bad odors from their bodies would cause much sickness among the people. We lay thousands of eggs in these dead bodies, which soon hatch, and the larve, or worms, eat the flesh from the bones, and they soon dry up. A man named Linneus says that only three flies and their children could eat up a dead horse as quickly as could a lion. Hazel: But you carry germs of sickness, and we shall put up wire screens to keep you out of the house. We shall also keep the premises clean so there will be but few flies. Fly: Since you dislike me so much I am sure you would not care to have some of my relatives near you; such as, the bot-fly, which hurts cattle; the gad-fly, which troubles sheep; and the tsetse fly, which is so dangerous to domestic animals in Africa. 28 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest LO ENG NO NNN 2 o ° o °o a o + DNA Safe SNE. °o ° o o LTE NT NOIR < a v . A fly To my eye Is a wonderful thing. He buzzes about all the day on his wing — A gossamer, flibberty, gibberty thing. You wouldn’t surmise A thing of his size Had strength for all the tasks that he tries. For instance, to-day I was reading away - Of fairies and gnomes and the pranks that When a fly Came by, And then he began On a horrible plan Of worrying, AN Ip f 4 \ | With wrath and chagrin ae. Mg s | Now I’m a big thing — The fly he was small, He’d hop and he'd fling, He’d buzz and he'd sing, While I would do nothing at all ~)_, But whack at that fly Aes Each time he came by; “Deep wrath in my eye. I never could hit him however I'd try; I whacked for two hours With all of my powers; Sy And when it was done | I sat weary And teary — While he was as Be as when he had begun. =) 7 as J — St. Nicholas. Hop Fricads and Foes 1n Field and Forest 29 Bottle of Blue Fly: Here comes my cousin Bluebottle. She will talk to you while I go to dinner. Bluebottle: | am trying to find a pantry where there is some meat. J am known as the meat-fly, and blow-fly, as well as Bluebottle, because I always lay my eggs in meat, either cooked cr raw, if I can find it. A slice of cooked beef or mutton is exactly to my taste, and I place my eggs on it in neat little packets, which are very much like the little asparagus bundles your mother buys, only the eggs are so very, very small. Iva: What a strange place to lay your eggs! Bluebotile: ‘The meat furnishes both cradle and food for my children. In twenty-four Sears aitcr | leave the eggs, they hatch; then they are larve for a month, though I suppose you would call them worms. They are very hungry, and at once bury themselves in the meat and begin to eat. They grow very fast, and change their skin often, but do not cast off their last suit; it turns hard and yellow, then red, then black, and this forms their pupa-case, in which they take their long sleep before they become Bluebottles like myself. Before entering the pupa state they leave the meat, and go into the ground. Harold: How do they get out of that little bottle, or pupa- case? Bluebotile: ‘The pupa is covered with a thin skin, or sheath. Each leg, each wing, the body, and the head are wrapped sepa- rately, as your glove has a place for each finger of your hand. There it lies like a mummy in its wrappings all winter. When it wakes up, it makes an opening in its pupa-case. 30 Friends and Foes 1n Field and Forest Iva: How does it do that? Bluebottle: It comes out at the end where the head is. It is like two half-cups fitted together. Its head swells out and then gets small, swells out again, and keeps this up till smash goes one of the half-cups, then the other, and out comes the Bluebottle. Harold: I have been looking at that strange trunk, or tube, you carry. Bluebotile: I use it to suck liquids, and with it also eat solid things, like sugar. My trunk does not move, but my lips go up and down, round and round in every direction. I mois- ten sugar with water, which comes from my trunk when I wish it. Ifthe sugar does not melt quickly enough, I work or knead it with my lips, and it soon becomes soft, so I can suck it through my tube. Harold: When we have hard things to eat, we cut them with a knife. Bluebotile: I am sure you do not carry a knife in your mouth all the time. Thatis whatI do. A man named Réau- mur took much time to study my trunk and mouth. He knew that many juices of which flies are fond, are covered up, as in fruit, and those flies that suck blood must pierce the skin. He thought in order to do these things we must have a sharp knife or lance; so he kept hunting for it, and at last found it in the upper part of the trunk, hid in a little groove, and covered in a small case. Hazel: Are there any other kinds of flies that belong to the Dip’te-ra family? Bluebotitle: Hundreds of them. Here comes my friend Pegomyice, whom we call Peggy for short. She can tell you some very interesting things concerning herself and our other relatives, and I am sure she will be glad to do so if you will ask her. Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 31 OTHER FLIES Harold: Tell us, Peggy, how your larve become flies? Peggy: Perhaps I ought to say, first, that my children are all miners. We are much smaller than Bluebottle, so | am sure you could never guess where we make our mines, and what for. Iva: Do tell us, then. Peggy: We dig them in leaves. We like sorrel or thistle leaves best. When my eggs hatch, the larve dig tunnels in the soft, pulpy part of the leaf. ‘They are so small that you can not see them unless you hold the leaf between yourself and the light. Hazel: What do they dig with? Peggy: With a tiny hook fastened to the head. When their galleries are fin- ished, the green part of the leaf is gone. They eat it for food. Think of making a home inside a leaf! Cousin Or’ta-lis eats cherries for breakfast, dinner, and wl supper. She is only one twelfth of an THISTLE inch long, but you may find her babies eating the cherries you wanted yourself. Cousin Da’cus is about half as large as the house-fly. She has very pretty wings, — gold, pink, and blue, —and she jumps about as though she could 7 not, keep still va minutes She places her eggs under the skin of young olives when they are growing, putting only one egg in each olive. As she lays three or four hundred eggs in a season, she causes great loss to olive growers. The baby Dacus bores holes in the OLIVES fruit; then you would not care to eat it, 32 Friends and Foes 1n Field and Forest Glenn: Have you any more cousins or second cousins? Peggy: Yes, many, many more. One of my cousins is noted for her large family. A Frenchman took special pains to study her habits, and he says she has twenty thousand chil- dren at one time. Each one wears a thin white dress. If meat is placed near them, they eat greedily. Have you ever seen in a field of wheat or rye some stalks bent downward as though beaten down by hail or trampled by cattle? Harold: Yes, I saw some that way last year. Peggy: If you had looked carefully above the lowest knot on the stem, or stalk, you would have found the larve of the Hessian fly hard at work. This fly was noticed first in North America during the war for independence, and many supposed that it was brought across the sea in the baggage of the Hessian troops. = That gave it its name. This is its picture: Tt On land it flies six feet at a time. In dae HESSIAN Fly; pur, LEED eats it ‘traveled two fnindted)guemes LaRva, WHEAT staLK from the sea. After this the people in Eng- SHOWING LARVA land were badly frightened, for they thought the Hessian fly had been brought in grain from America to England. They appointed a great council to see what should be done. Was it not strange that so small an insect should raise such a commotion? But little things do cause a deal of trouble sometimes. Harold: Are there no insects except flies in the Dip’te-ra family? Peggy: Yes, many of them, but I think the flies number more than the others, for in one family of flies alone there are more than a thousand different kinds, so you see they can hardly be numbered. But here comes one of the Dip’te-ra family, singing as it flies, and it is nota fly either. But lI shall let it tell you about itself. Farewell. Friends and Foes in Field and Forest vane A Bold Burglar Harold: Do you belong to the Dip’te-ra family, Mr.- Mos- quito? Mosquito: So I am told; but I have been ill-treated all my life. Glenn: But you stick your sharp lance into our skin, and steal our blood. Mosquito: If Never. Perhaps it is not polite to say it, but that is what my sisters do. I live only a little while, stay in the woods nearly all the time, and never touch a drop of blood. Iva: Where did you come from? Mosquito: My mother laid her eggs in a stagnant pool. ‘They were glued fast together, and floated about like a little boat. When the eggs hatched, and we became larve, we dropped into the water, and there I had many a frolic with my brothers and sisters and neigh- bors. One day some children came to our pool and dipped up some of the water in their hands, and some of my brothers and sisters were caught. As the children looked at them they said, “See the wigglers.’”? I suppose they gave us that name because, when we are in the water, our heads hang down, and we breathe through our long tails, which stick straight up. When we are frightened, we hurry, or wiggle, to the bottom of the water to get out of sight; but we soon have to come up again to get breath. 3 WIGGLERS 34 Friends and Foes 1n Field and Forest Iva: Please tell us, Mr. Mosquito, how you got your wings. I am sure you did not have any when you were in the water. Mosquito: At last we got so sleepy after wiggling about a good while, that we all went fast asleep right on top of the water. One pleasant day I woke up and found that I was no longer a wiggler. I raised up my head, and found I had six long slim legs; but, best of all, I had a pair of wings, though I did not know how to use them. [ felt weak and trembling, and sat very still in my little boat of dried-up skin till my wings were dry, and then I flew to a bush and began hunting for something to eat. Glenn: Do you live in all parts of the mone Mosquito: Nearly all, I believe. In India, Australia, the Pacific islands, and other warm countries, my sisters are such a pest that the people who live there are compelled to cover their beds with netting, or they could not sleep atall. Another thing that causes people to dislike our family is that we are said to carry diseases from one person to another, such as ma- laria and yellow fever. In some places we are killed while we are yet larve by pouring kerosene into the pools where we live. Harold: Are there any mosquitoes larger than yourself? Mosquito: O, yes! I am quite small compared with some of our family. There are the Striped Stockings, so called be- cause they have black and white markings on theirlegs. They will outbuzz and outsting almost any number of mosquitoes the size of my sisters. A dozen of them in a room will cause the people to retreat in haste. Hazel: I once read that mosquitoes light on the heads a tadpoles and young trout when they come to the surface of the water, and that their bite causes the fish to die and float down- stream, and the tadpoles’ tails become swollen and bleed. Mosquito: I have never seen anything of that kind, though it is possible others have. Friends and Foes in F iid and Forest 35 Harold: I read a strange story by C. C. Abbott, who has spent much time studying many kinds of insects. He says: — “TI once witnessed a remarkable flight of mosquitoes. .. . The sky was clear, and while I was rowing slowly down the creek, suddenly, almost between winks, I saw a long, narrow line of dark gray cloud rising rapidly and extending over half the western horizon. “In a few minutes I heard a faint, humming sound which grew louder and louder, and | thought of atornado. Iwas too frightened to plan for my safety, and indeed there was no time in which to act. Heading for the shore, I reached an overhanging elm, and clinging to a projecting root, I waited the oncoming of the supposed tornado. m'ecame, but not as wind. The tempest proved to be a cloud of mosquitoes. It rose higher and higher as it ap- proached, and when directly overhead it quite cleared the tree tops. Nevertheless, it was an unpleasant though a novel experience to be beneath such a cloud. “Had a sudden change in the wind checked their course and ~ caused them to settle, I do not suppose I could have escaped being fatally stung by them. A rough estimate made on the spot led to the conclusion that this cloud of mosquitoes was half a mile wide, and one hundred yards from front to rear. The depth of the mass I could not see, but it excluded the sunlight. The sound, as they passed, is best described by likening it to a long train of cars passing over a bridge. ““My duties as a naturalist called me to ascertain if the meadows were unusually free from these pests after the exodus of so many millions, but I could not see that this was the case. _ “By careless exposure of my hands and face on the follow- ing evening, I found that there were enough left to make a night in the marsh exceedingly painful, if not dangerous, through their attacks.” HYMENOPTERA Bees Iva: Won’t you tell us something about yourself, Miss Bee? You always seem so very busy, but we should like to hear your story. Bee: Yes, 1am busy. I have no time to spend in idle talk, but it is too cold for me to do much this morning. I suppose you have read about bees in your Bible. | Glenn: A swarm went into the body of a lion Samson had killed, and stored their honey there. At another time some honey that bees had made, dropped on the ground, and a prince who was leading an army came where it was, and was refreshed by eating just a little. Bee: At that time bees were called Deborah, though who gave us that name I do not know. Our habits have been studied by wise men for thousands of years. ‘The Greeks and Romans believed many fables concerning us. Some thought we were born in dead oxen, others that we came from lions; and if we were small and weak, then they thought we sprang from a calf. The Greeks gave us a pretty name, Melissa. One man spent sixty-eight years observing our ways, and an- other devoted his whole lifetime to studying our habits. The ancient Egyptians carved pictures of us on their monuments in their strange writing. Glenn: Yes, I have seen it. It looked like this. I have ’ read that in Egypt the bee was the em- q MA tas S ae of the people who obeyed the Bee: I have ae 7 Napoleon had figures of bees made on his royal mantle, so you see great men have thought it worth 36 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 277 their while to notice us. Still very little was known of our ways till glass hives were invented. Look at my body and see how well it is adapted to the purpose for which it was created. Hazel: Do you belong to the Dip’te-ra family? Bee: O, no! My family name is Hy-men-op’te-ra. Ptera means wings, and the other part means membrane. My name comes from the fact that I have four transparent wings. Glenn: I thought bees had only two wings. Bee: No, four. There are three kinds of bees,—queens, drones, and workers. Iva: Which kind are you? Bee: lamaworker. This is a picture of my mouth, made @emyemuch larger than it really is, so you can see its different parts. My trunk, or tongue, is the longest. Heyveu should see it through a eay ere microscope, you could see the tiny hairs with which it is covered. ‘These collect the juice of flowers, as I twist and bend my trunk about in them. This juice is taken into my mouth and then into my first stomach, or honey pouch. Hazel: My auntie saw your trunk through a microscope, and pevent it beautiful. The hairs were golden brown, and some of them glistened like silver, Berhaps be- cause of the honey on them. Bee: While gathering honey my body gets covered with a yellow dust called pollen. I think you have seen it on flowers. Harold: How do you get it off? Bee: My legs are furnished with fine little brushes, with which I brush myself all over. The pollen is formed into tiny balls, which I carry home in little baskets on my hind legs. In this enlarged picture you can see the little LEG OF BEE 2G, 4 Friends and Foes 1n Field and Forest shelf or basket in which I carry pollen. I have three pairs of legs, and these, with my trunk, are my tools. Iva: What do you do with the pollen? Bee: We feed it to the young bees, and it is part of our own food. We also carry pollen to the blossoms of fruit-trees, so there is a harvest of apples, peaches, pears, and cherries. Hazel: Do you have eyes like the fly, Miss Bee? Bee: Yes, compound eyes, or many eyes in one. My four wings carry me swiftly through the air, and I sometimes fly long distances to find honey and pollen. If J am working among flowers on trees, I fly up high, and then go to them straight and swift as an arrow. . Glenn: I see you have light- and dark-brown rings on your body. Bee: Yes, I am an Italian bee. Some of my relatives are darker in color, and not so amiable in temper. Hazel: In the British Museum auntie saw a picture that compares the sting of nae wasp with the finest, sharpest needle. When placed under a microscope, the needle looks as though it were covered with little knobs and rough places, and ends in a very blunt point; while \ the sting tapers grace- c fully, has a smooth sur- Drawings showing how much sharper the sting of a face like glass, and ends wasp is than the point of a pin or needle. Of course the - f ° drawings are greatly magnified. a, Point of a pin; 8, Im a per ect point. point of a needle; c, sting of wasp. B ee: This comp ari- son shows the work of God is more perfect than that of men. Glenn: Does the sting hurt because it is so sharp? Bee: ‘The sharper it is the less it hurts, but the lance pierces Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 39 the skin, and poison flows from a little bag into the wound, causing pain and swelling. Harold: When Mr. Roosevelt was in Africa, he found if the bees were disturbed in their nests they tried to sting everybody . in sight. Sometimes the crews of boats were driven into the water, and men and animals that could not reach a place of safety were stung to death. Iva: Are there any bees that do not sting? Bee: ‘There are some in South America smaller than we are, and having very hairy bodies, that do not sting. ‘They can not live where it is cold. Our drones and queens do not sting people. Hazel: What are drones? fee Our brothers. ‘hey are larger than I am, and more: hairy. They make a loud buzzing sound as though they were hard at work, but are so lazy that even though they might be in a hive filled with honey they would starve to death unless we fed them. We let them stay in the hive till the honey season is nearly over, then hustle them out. Three or four workers chase them about, pull their legs and their wings, and sting them to death. Or else we do not feed them, and let them starve. We also destroy the larve and pup which produce them. A DRONE THE QUEEN BEE Iva: Did you say you have a queen, Miss Bee? Bee: Perhaps you would call her the mother bee, for she is treated as children should treat their mothers. If our queen is well and happy, all is order and contentment in our home. Harold: Does she look like a working bee? Bee: Her body is larger and longer. From these pictures 40 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest of a queen, a drone, and myself, you will see how we differ in size and appearance. ‘The queen lays all the eggs that pro- duce bees. She sometimes lays 200 eggs a day, or over a million during her lifetime. Glenn: I wish we had a few hens that would lay eggs like that. Ie 2 ace OMS ip queen lays one egg in each cell of the honeycomb. ‘The eggs are little white mites about a sixteenth of an inch in length. For all they are so small, if all the eggs one queen lays were placed end to end, they would reach over a mile. Hazel: Do all bees come from the same kind of eggs? Bee: Yes; whether an egg produces a drone, worker, or queen depends on the kind of food with which the larva is fed, and also on the kind of cell in which it is reared. Iva: Do you feed the baby bees? | Bee: Yes. ‘The egg hatches in three days, and is then larva-~ flarold: Are all bees larvee and pupe before they grow up? Bee: Every true insect passes through those stages the first part of its life. ‘These little white babies are very small, and we think they are pretty. We feed them carefully for five days, then cover them up tightly in their cradle cells. The baby bee first eats all the food we give it, then spins a little silk blanket in which it wraps itself. It goes to sleep, and in three weeks it wakes up a full-grown bee. Glenn: How does it get out of its cell? Bee: When it is ready, we assist and support it till it be- comes quite strong. If it is a worker, it begins to work like the rest of us as soon as it comes from its cell. Friends and Foes in Field and Forest AI Hazel: Please tell us how an egg becomes a queen bee. Bee: This picture shows the size of the cradle cells of drones, working bees, and queens. ‘The queen cell is made much larger than that of the working bee or drone. It is rough and uneven on the outside, like a peanut. ‘The larva in such a cell is fed different food from what the common bees eat. If the egg which would produce a working bee were placed in a royal cell before it is three days old, it would become a queen. You see the cradle and food have much to do with it. It takes thirteen days for theegg 77; which produces a queen to hatch. Be- (ileg 86 8 fore the queen is ready for her duties, she rests twenty-four hours. During that time we hover round her, brush her, and | meerher honey. After that she goes out- ... 0.5 cis ao none e@@eiche live and flies around for. a-tlittle _,A, Calo! queues, B, cans time, then returns to the hive, and never goes outside again unless it is when the whole hive swarms. Glenn: Does every swarm have a queen? Bee: It sometimes happens that one has none, but when this is so the bees are in the greatest disorder; they stop work, ‘begin to steal from other colonies, and starve to death. Iva: If one queen dies, can the swarm get another? Bee: It can if there are any eggs in the hive less than three days old. If one is found, it is tended with the greatest care. When it becomes larva, it is turned over many times in its cell, and a bee is appointed to give it royal food and watch over it for twelve days. When the proper time comes, the cell is closed, and all wait for the new queen toappear. Eggs which produce drones are put in larger cells than those of the work- ing bees, and it takes them four days longer to develop. ‘The 42 Friends and Foes 1n Field and Forest larve of drones have their heads downward in the cells, while the queen bees have theirs upward. Hazel: Do queen bees gather honey? Bee: No; their mouths are not fitted for that work, and they have all they can do to keep the hive supplied with eggs. They never sting except to sting another queen bee. When young queens are coming out of their cells, the old queen would sting them to death if the workers did not protect them. Sometimes two queens are found in the same hive, and then a royal battle is fought, which ends in one of them being stung to death. Francois Huber tells of a battle he saw between two queens which came out of their cells at about the same time. Iva: Please tell us about it. Bee: As soon as they saw each other, they were in a rage and rushed together in fury. When their bodies touched, and each could have stung the other, they let go their hold and ran away. They soon met again in the same manner, and again separated and ran away. The working bees were much disturbed. Zeaue@, lwice they held the queen bees as @oowee prisoners for over a minute. The @ ae #8 third time they came together, the eer stronger queen rushed on her rival / ney when she did not see her coming, seized her by the wing, and stung her. The wounded queen walked slowly and painfully away, and soon died. After killing all other queens in the hive, the one that is left hunts for royal cells from which others might come, tears them open, stings the larve, and keeps up her efforts until there is no queen in that hive except herself. Glenn: What if a strange queen came to the hive? BEE LARVAE Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 43 Bee: There are guards at the door that would not let her enter. They would surround her and keep her a prisoner until she was starved or suffocated. ‘They do not sting unless some one tries to rescue her. Sometimes men take our queen away and put another in her place. This does not please us. .We stop all work, run hither and thither, and keep up a loup buzzing all the time. If our queen comes back, we becorhe quiet and work as we did before. If a new queen is brought instead of the old one, we try to smother her if it is not more than half a day since the old one left. If she is not brought to the hive for twenty-four hours, we receive her gladly. A guard is appointed to escort her about the hive. The bees pat her, offer her honey, and there is a joyful buzz and flutter to show that we are pleased and happy because we have not been left without a mother. Harold: ‘Tell us how you live and work in your hive. Bee: The working bees do not have to learn their trade. As soon as they come out of their cells they are busy, and need no one to tell them what flowers contain honey, how to gather it, how to find pollen, or how to feed their young. Hazel: How many workers are there in a hive? Bee: Some have more than others, but I should say there are from fifteen thousand to forty thousand. Iva: I should think that would be 1 more than could live in one hive. : Bee: When this happens, some of us leave & make a new home. ‘This leave-taking is called ““swarming.”’ Hazel: Do many leave the hive at once? Bee: Yes, thousands. When about to swarm, we seem to lose our senses, and act asif mad. Our queen rushes about trying to destroy the young queens soon to leave their cells; but the workers will not permit her to do this. ‘Then she runs all over the hive, followed by some of the workers. 44 Friends and Foes 1n Field and Forest The excitement becomes very on 3 resael yes me ee ZU great, and finally, with the @¢ wary ( wa queen leading, we rush to the door, and soon the air is filled with bees flying back and forth. Harold: 1 thought queen bees could not fly far. Bee: That is true of. her: at first, for she soon gets tired 4 and lights on the branch of a. tree or some other object. ‘We Be all gather together‘and form: a ‘duster according to vhs size of the swarm. Sometimes: we: ‘setid: out, scouts to find a home before swarming. me they.’ are: ssuecesstul, ‘we rise ‘in the air, and fly swiftly to’ our. new: “habitation ®: But: generally those who keep bees have an’. ‘empty: hive? Se we are shaken into it, and are soon hard. at Hott Blin with comb and honey. Be south ‘during the busy sea- “son, for we work so hard. The “length of our lives depends on ~the time of the season when *.we are hatched, for some of us ea live through a long winter. : Harold: What do you do first when you are placed in an empty hive? Bee: We stop up all -the openings but one door. Some of us go to hunt for propolis. Oe Se. a Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 45 Iva: What is propolis? Bee: A kind of glue which will not dissolve in water. Some think we get it from the buds of plants, but I shall not tell where we find it, and men may keep on guessing about it. We - cover the walls of our home with propolis, and if there are glass windows, we cover them with a curtain of the same. Glenn: How do you use the propolis? Bee: Some of our workers bring it in tiny balls to the hive; others seize it, and go to work filling all the cracks just as a mason would use mortar. The work is divided among us; each bee knows what it has to do, and there is no grumbling. In this respect I think we may be said to be patterns of good behavior to children. Iva: And you have all the little baby bees to care for and feed? Bee: Hundreds of them, and each little one is as tenderly watched as though there were but one in the hive. I have never yet heard a nurse bee find fault because it is hard to watch over and feed so many. | A BEE WITH SCISSORS Harold: 1 wonder what cut the holes in these rose leaves. Ah, here is a little wonder-worker at it now. Please tell us your name? ; Bee: My name is Mrs. Rose Meg-a-chi/le. Sometimes I am called the leaf-cutting bee, because I cut out pieces of leaf, which I use instead of wax in making cells. Hazel: Do you have scissors, Mrs. Meg? Bee: Not scissors made of steel, such as you use, but my little jaws are so shaped and are so sharp that they serve me better. I grasp the leaf and let it pass between my legs so I can hold it firmly. ‘Then I turn round and round and cut the leaf with my mouth. Before giving the last clip, I balance 46 Friends and Foes 1n Field and Forest my wings to fly, and as the cut part falls from the leaf, I bear it away. Hazel: Where do you build your comb? Bee: It is the honey-bee that makes comb of wax, and lives in large colonies. I live by myself, and make my cells in soft wood orin the ground. I am very careful in selecting my home, and my first work is to make a smooth, round hole several inches deep, which leads to a good-sized chamber. In this I make a row of cells one on top of the other, beginning at the bottom. Harold: Do you line the cell with rose leaves? Bee: Yes; this round piece is for the bottom. Should you visit the South Kensington Museum in London, you could see cells such as I make. Hazel: How many pieces of leaf does it take for one cell? Bee: ‘Twelve or sixteen. This is the shape of the cell, and here is a picture of one after it is finished. Glenn: How can you make them so perfect with only your jaws and your little feet to work with? Bee: The One who made me taught me how. The very first one I ever made was as MRS. ROSE MEGACHILE AND HER NEST perfect as the last. Iva: How many cells do you make? | Bee: Eight or ten. I twist and fold the pieces of leaf to- gether, and place them so that two pieces do not join in the same place. The middle of one piece lies directly over where two edges come together, thus making each cell tight and strong. One cell fits into the next above it just as a thimble would fit into another a little larger. Friends and Foes in Field and Forest .- 47 Hazel: Do you put honey into the cells? Bee: Yes, I make a ball of honey and pollen for each cell. When one is ready to close up, I cut three pieces of leaf to put over the top, and they make the bottom of the next cell. Harold: Are they all as round as these? Bee: Yes, just as round. Glenn: A carpenter would need compasses to mark out circles like that, and if I should try to draw one it would look like this. Bee: God gave me wisdom in the beginning to do perfect work, and my cells are so tight that, though made of leaves, even the thinnest drop of honey can not leak out of them. Iva: Where do you live? Bee: | am found in countries where it is hot or cold, and even as far north as Hudson Bay. _ Hazel: I should like to see one of your cells after it is fin- ished. Bee: We take good care to hide them from curious eyes, so they are not easy to find. After our work is done, we fill the top of the hole with earth or with the wood dug out in making it, and this is so cleverly done that no trace is left. Glenn: Are there other bees that make cells of leaves as you do, Mrs. Meg? Bee: Yes; there is my cousin called the upholsterer-bee. She likes bright colors, and so uses red poppies to line her cells. She wears a black velvet dress trimmed with white down, and makes a burrow in sandy soil. She is very particular to smooth out every wrinkle in the poppy leaves, and folds them over to make the top of each cell. In India some of my relatives make THE BEE’S CIRCLE GLENN’S CIRCLE 48 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest clay tubes in the hollow branches of trees, in which their eggs are laid. Glenn: I have heard there are bees that are called car- penters. Are you acquainted with them? Bee: Yes; one family is called Xy-loc’o-pa, which means wood-cutter. They live in very warm countries. They build their homes in a hole if they can find one in wood. ‘They are lovely crea- tures, larger than bumblebees; they wear black velvet dresses, and their wings are dark blue. After selecting some post or branch of a tree, the bee begins to bore a tunnel with her strong jaws. She first digs ina slant- erin toc ing direction for about an inch, and aN iS \ ee then suddenly turns and goes straight 7) ‘ et down twelve or fifteen inches, making =e ee Mes a tunnel half an inch wide. a Iva: It must take a. long time; ieee otra Bee: .Yes, several weeks, or nearly as long as it would take a man to build a house. Some- times she makes three or four tunnels side by side. In the bottom of each she places pollen and honey, lays an egg, and then makes a roof of sawdust mixed with her saliva about an inch up the tube, and this forms the bottom of another cell, and so on to the top of the tunnel. Hazel: Where does she get sawdust? Bee: While she is boring her tunnel, she takes the fine sha- vings and puts them in a neat pile where the wind can not blow them away, so she has them at hand when needed for use. She makes a ring which soon hardens, then another, and still an- other, and finally fills it to the center. It appears some like the rings in an onion when a slice is cut through the middle. <2 es = Friends and Foes in Field and Forest AQ Glenn: The bee in the bottom cell must come to life first. How does it get out? Bee: That is all provided for by this careful carpenter. She makes a back door into her house, as well asoneinfront. ‘This she fills with soft sawdust paste, which will not hurt her baby’s mouth when it is ready to leave its cell, Another curious thing is that the larve, when ready to turn to pupe, turn their heads downward, so it is easy for them to get out. Hazel: I have read of a carpenter-bee about as big as a grain of rice. Bee: You mean another cousin of mine, I think—Ce-rat’i-na du’pla. She is noted for her industrious habits. She builds her cells in a broken twig of elder or sumac, and begins work by removing the pith in the center. ‘This is as muchofa task for little Ceratina as it would be for a man to dig a well two hun- dred feet deep, with his hands, for she has nothing but her mouth to work with. She makes a tunnel eight or ten inches long, and the walls are perfectly smooth. Glenn: What does she do when the tunnel is finished? Bee: She goes to hunt for pollen and honey, which she places at the bottom of the tunnel; then she lays a very tiny egg on the food she has provided. She makes a partition above this, provides more food, makes another partition, and so on until the last one comes within an inch of the top. Hazel: ‘That is like an apartment-house, each baby 228 having a whole flat to itself. Bee: After Ceratina’s work is done, she uses the empty room at the top as her sitting-room, where she patiently watches and waits. One of her near relatives spins a film over the top of the cell she makes, something like the web a spider spins, and then brings five or six tiny pebbles, which she glues in the middle just over the hole. I suppose this is meant to be a notice to other bees, “‘ Please do not come here.”’ 4 50 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest Glenn: Does the bee hatched from the first egg go out by a back door before the rest are ready? Bee: No; this little carpenter makes no back door, so the oldest bee must wait till all its brothers and sisters have left their rooms. It is said thatthe young bees stand close to- gether with heads toward the door, and when the little mother finds they are all ready, she leads the way to the outside world. Hazel: Do they ever go back home again? Bee: Yes, they return and have a thorough house-cleaning. They take out the old partitions, help their mother, and stay with her till they go to make homes of their own. Harold: Do they live there all winter? Bee: I am told that they do. When it gets cold, they go into the clean tunnel head downward, tuck themselves in, and sleep all winter until the warm sunshine wakens them. ‘The last one to go in, the one that takes the coldest place, is the little mother. This is known by her wings being worn with making so many trips for pollen and honey, that her babies may have plenty of food. At last she lies down to rest, but takes the coldest place, still guarding her children; and there, it may be, her little life goes out before the spring- time comes. tlareid] V. wonder “it tierce: sare mason-bees as well as carpenters. “ Bee: Certainly. The mason-bees mix a kind of mortar made of clay and saliva, and build their homes against walls or timber, and when dry they are very hard. Oblong cells may be found inside. ‘The mother bee likes to make her home pretty and neat, and so she ° e THE MASON-BEE AND covers the mud walls with nice, soft HER HOME Friends and Foes 1n Field and Forest SI leaves. In each cell she deposits an egg and a cake of pollen and honey, and when all are finished she closes up the door with soft mortar that will not hurt the tender jaws of the baby masons. Iva: Do they build a new house each year? Bee: Sometimes they repair the houses made the year be- fore, and sometimes, I am sorry to say, they go into a house that a sister mason is building, and drive her away. Hazel: Can you tell us about any other kinds of bees? Bee: My cousin An-dre’na is sometimes called the miner- bee, because she digs into walls or hard earth such as can not be cut with a sharp knife. She bores a hole straight down several inches, makes a little round room, lays one egg, and leaves pollen and honey for the baby to eat when it is hatched. After her work is done, she comes out and shuts the door by filling it with earth taken out when digging. Hazel: Are the wasps related to you? Bee: They belong to the Hy-men-op’te-ra family, like my- self, but I am not acquainted with them. Good-by. The First Paper-Makers Wasp: May I tell you a story? Iva: Please do, Mrs. Wasp. Wasp: While a man sat reading his newspaper, a wasp came buzzing about his head, and he struck it with the paper so that it lay on the win- dow seeming tobedead. Ina few minutes another wasp came flying about, and seeing its relative lying there, came close and examiliedur- 500m it besan, to. rub the senseless one, and kept on rubbing it all over. After a time the wounded wasp moved, and then the other dragged it gently along to the edge of the open window. COMMON WASP 52 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest After resting a little, it picked up its wounded companion and flew away with it. Harold: Vinatewas kind, Wanasmne: Wasp: My real name is Ves’pa. Don’t you think that isa pretty name? Hazel: It is\ nice enough for a -egirl, You secuteemac quite good-looking, too. Wasp: | suppose some young women would admire my figure because my waist is so small. I have heard that some of them wear their clothes very tight so that they may look like me. flazel: How many wings have you? Wasp: Four. ‘Thatis why I belong to the Hy-men-op’te-ra family. My front wings have rows of little curved hairs next to the back wings, and they turn backward at the edge, so the hairs catch in the groove and hold both wings close together. Harold: Perhaps that is why you make such a loud buzz- ing when flying, for four wings would surely make more noise than two. What kind of house do you make? Wasp: We build one of paper. Hazel: Where do you get the paper? Wasp: We make it. Long before men knew that paper could be made at all, every wasp had a paper-mill of his own. My mouth is my mill. Some wasps in tropical America: are so skilled in paper-making that they ~ build’ emer | homes of white, gray, and 7 butt . cardboard... Réaue mur, a man who speme much time in studying in- NEST OF PAPER-MAKING WASP sects, once took some of Friends and Foes in Field and Forest Ba MaEwGardioare to a man to /examime. Aiter giving it the ~ closest examination, he declared it was made by some man, and mentioned the name of one who he thought was the maker. Harold: What do you use in making paper? Wasp: Wood; we gnaw off a piece, chew it into pulp, and then work it with our jaws and feet till it is ready touse. It vas from us that men first learned to make paper from wood. A great man, James G. Blaine, was talking with Dr. Hill, of Maine. He said there were not enough rags and cotton in the world to make the paper needed for all the papers and books, and unless paper could be made some other way, they would have to stop printing. Paper was then thirty cents a pound. Dr. Hill kept thinking where all the paper was to come from, and one day while he was watching some wasps build their rest, he gotanidea. He captured thé nest, took it to a paper- mill, and asked the manager why he could not make paper like that. The two men examined it closely. They knew it was made of wood, and that wasps chewed the wood. ‘This was the starting-point of making paper by machinery from wood. It was not long till paper was reduced in price from thirty cents a pound to one and one-half cents. Iva: Where do you build your houses? Wasp: Sometimes in the ground, and sometimes we hang them up in a tree or some sheltered place. The hanging nests are shaped quite like a balloon. When I woke from my long sleep last spring, I looked everywhere for a suitable place to build my house and rear my children. In England wasps usually build their nests in the ground; but in my search | came to an empty shed, and decided that mine should be hung from a beam near the roof. I first flew to a wooden post near by, and gnawed off some of its fibers till I had quite a bundle. After chewing them fine and working them into a paste, I flew 54 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest to the shed and fastened this to the ceiling. Back and forth I went, again and again, till I had made a small pillar about an inchlong. You see I lay the foundation of my house at the top instead of the bottom. ‘Then I made three cells opening down- ward, and deposited an egg in each. Harold: I should think they would fall out. Wasp: 'They could not, for I fastened them to the side, and after that I shut them in. To protect them I made a paper umbrella overhead. Then I made more cells. It was not long till the first eggs hatched, and the larve must be fed. They grew very fast, and finally wrapped themselves up in soft silk blankets, which they spun themselves. Soon they came out full-grown wasps. Still the work went merrily on, for now | had others to help me. My older children cared for their younger brothers and sisters, and built new bedrooms, or cells, for our home. Terrace after terrace was added; and the walls brought down over them lower and lower. Iva: Where do you make the door? Wasp: At the bottom, and just large enough to let one wasp in at a time. Harold: How many are there in a nest? Wasp: From seven thousand to ten thousand. Iva: What do you eat? Wasp: We like sweet fruits and honey best, but we also eat insects. Glenn: Do you live in your nest during winter? Wasp: No, only in summer. When cold weather comes, _we huddle together in the nest, and destroy the helpless larve. Most wasps die in autumn, but a few crawl into cracks and crevices, where they live through the winter, and it is they who start new colonies the next spring. 3 Hazel: Are hornets the same as wasps? Wasp: No, they are larger and stronger, and their sting is Friends and Foes in Field and Forest ee meiweeusewencun hey. do everything on a bigger scalethan wedo. They ‘build their nests in the trunks of old trees, and work at night as well as in the daytime. Harold: Are there many kinds of wasps? Wasps Yes, a large number. Some live by themselves instead of in E@lomiess | Some imalke bie mests, jour, or tive feet long and one or two feet wide. In the South Kensington Museum, London, may be seen many kinds which show great skill on the part of the builders. ‘There one can see a tiny nest made in the hole of a spool of thread, and another in the hole of a tassel. One little wasp makes its cells under long leaves, which serve as a roof. Iva: Do you make honey? Wasp: Some wasps do, but I am not that kind. HORNET AND ITS NEST Bonny Bombus Bombus: My name is Bom’bus, but I am sometimes called humblebee and bumblebee. Hazel: I think your dress of velvet and gold very pretty, Mrs. Bombus, but your voice is so coarse and loud I am afraid of you. Doyou havea sting like the honey-bee? -Bombus: I can show you very soon if you like. My home is out in the meadow, but I shall not tell you just where. We Sometimes make it in the nest of a mouse, for that saves dig- 50 Friends and Foes 1n Field and TIorest ging a hole in- the ground. Our home has a womuger ful roof of moss. I worked very hard to make that roof, as all the moss had to be carded by drawing it through my jaws and fore legs. It makes my dwelling look so much like the ground surrounding it that it protects me from thieves, who would break it down and steal my honey. I usually line it with wax to keep out the rain. I have a hall, or passageway, about a foot long and half an inch wide, by which I enter. Iva: Do you have comb inside like the honey-bee? Bombus: No; we have wax cells, but they are the crad!es of my children. We do not believe in working for men who steal honey; so we simply get what is needed for our use day by days ethouelh =: we keep a little on hand sometimes. Harold: Do you have a large family? Bombus: Not large NW SQ a bees of ee CO oney-bee. e has from twenty thousand to forty thousand in her family, while we have from twenty to two hundred. Hazel: Do you have a queen? Bombus: No; we all live together — fathers, mothers, and children. Iva: Your voice is so gruff, Mrs. Bombus, you must be a great scold. Bombus: That noise which you call my voice is made by my wings, and as I am large and clumsy, people often think I am ugly; but I am not so apt to sting as the honey-bee. SSA Sg <4 x SVE N Sa AA RAs 7 SN MS Q~~s ee BONNY BOMBUS’S HOME AND HONEY JARS Friends and Foes tn Field and Forest 7 Glenn: Do you live in your snug, warm home all winter? Bombus: When cold weather comes, many in our family die; those that remain leave home and crawl into rotten wood, under a tuft of moss, or anywhere they can keep warm, and there sleep all winter. Last spring the warm sunshine woke me, and I began at once to build my house. I madesome cells, and laid six or seven eggs in each, so there were several babies in each cradle. Thus my children learn to live and eat to- gether. As they grew larger, the cells burst open, and I was kept busy repairing them and feeding the children. Like all larve they turned to pupez, and when they were full grown, I helped them off with their covering. My children were kind to me, and we worked hard to make our home larger. They helped build other cells and brought food for the younger children. But they will eat the eggs after they are placed in the cells, so | am obliged to guard them very care- fully. Did you ever hear of bees sitting on eggs to hasten their hatching? Hazel: Do bumblebees do that? Bombus: By breathing quickly we make our bodies warm, and then we sit on our eggs, just as a fowl does. One sits on them awhile, then another, and by this means they hatch more rapidly. | Harold: Is there more than one kind of bumblebee? Bombus: ‘There are about twenty different families. ‘There is an insect that looks much as we do, which enters our homes, lays its eggs in our cells, and asks us to feed and bring up its children. We do the work patiently enough, but think them lazy and dishonest. Hazel: Do you have any other name than Bombus? Bombus: People call me Hummel, Bumble, Dumble, and Dumbledore, and some even call me Foggie. I do not know why they gave me so many names. 58 Friends and Foes in ‘Field and Forest Little, but “Exceeding Wise” Iva: See this ant-hill, Glenn. Glenn: Where are all the ants? Harold: We will knock at the front door, and see if any- body is athome. Here they come ina hurry. When a caller knocks at" -Mirs? Ants door, half the family go with her to see who is there. Glenn: Will you tell |} us something about the ant family, “Wires. Ant: Ant: We belong to the same family as the ff bees — Hy-men-op’te-ra. i Hazel: But bees have “4 LULL ae wings ““SEE THIS ANT-HILL!”’ - Ant: We have wings, too. I unhooked them and took them off when I went to work so they wouldn’t be in my way. Huber, the naturalist, once saw an ant in a box extend her wings, bring them before her head, cross them in all directions, throw them from side to side, and then all four wings fell off at the same time. Iva: Can you put them on again? Ant: No; when we decided to set up housekeeping by our- selves, we spread our wings and flew and flew. That. was Soma wedding journey, and we were all kings and queens. ‘There were so many of us that people complained because we flew into their faces. Many died, but some came to the at OR ed Ue “She Wedding Grip Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 59 ground safely. That is the only long journey I ever took. I found there was plenty to do to build a house, get it in order, and care for my children, so I unhooked my wings, and began to make a home for myself and my family. Sometimes the worker ants unhook our wings for us, and are as kind as possible. Iva: Did any of your brothers and sisters stay with you? Ant: A few of them. Queen ants are not jealous of their sister queens, like the bees. We live peaceably to- gether. Like the queen bees, we lay eggs which pro- duce other ants. Harold: Ant: We msseen as we j; in the dirt to make dig with my forefeet q a rabbit. When the hole “Ss comer my body, I use my 6 the earth into little balls. You lying all about the top of my nest ge here. I carry them outside. But if the soil is = sonay, Gas carried out of the hole one grain asta de tlie: Hazel: What a lot of work! Ani: We are not afraid of hard work. The Bible says, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat | in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.” Hazel: Have you no ruler? Ant: We have kings and queens, yet only in the sense that they are the fathers and mothers. Every ant is a worker, and we think that is the way it ought to be in every home, whether of ants or people. Harold: Have you many relatives, Mrs. Ant? Do you work? think it is queenly to work. take off our wings, we dig our house: At trst | just as a dog digs for is big enough to - mouth to form See at lives 60 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest Ant: Hundreds. There are one hundred twenty-four species, ard these, divided into families, are more than one can get acquainted with in a lifetime. There are big antsjame little ants; red, black, white, brown, and yellow ants; there are mining-ants, farmer-ants, hunting-ants, soldier-ants, building- ants, and ants with dairy-farms. Glenn: You havea big head for such a small body. Ant: It takes a large head to hold all the wisdom the Crea- tor gave me. My body is slender; my legs are long, so I can run swiftly; my eyes are not very large, but those of my broth- ers are larger; I have two strong jaws, with tiny, sharp teeth. These are useful as scissors, pinchers, shovel, fork, and sword. Hazel: Your antenne, or horns, seem to be crooked. Ant: ‘They bend like an elbow, and are useful in examining things, and to talk with. One of my friends found a fat fly she wanted to carry home for dinner. she tugged and pulled and worked for twenty minutes, but could not carry it any more than a litelesbeys could: caiman big man weighing two hundred pounds, so she left the fly, went home, and soon came back with twelve ants to help her. | Harold: A woman once watched some ants moving their babies into a new home. She hid three of the little white bundles behind a stone. Soon three or four ants rushed out of the nest and ran wildly about in circles as though they were hunting for something. At last one found the babies, took one and ranaway. ‘This ant told the news, and two ants went to the stone, and carried the other babies back to the nest. Glenn: Can ants count and talk? Ant: Surely we can. We just touch one another with our horns, and we have no difficulty in understanding what is ANTS TALKING Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 6I meant. And some ants have stings; and some have an acid which is poured into wounds made by their jaws which causes them to sting and burn. Harold: I read of a man who, to keep the ants out of his sugar basin, placed it in a pan of water, but the ants liked the sugar too well to give up trying to get it, so they climbed the wall to the ceiling over the sugar, and dropped into it. Ant: Some of them must have fallen into the water. Harold: ‘They did, for the ceiling was high; but ants on the edge of the pan tried to fish their companions out by stretching out their bodies as far as possible; they were afraid to plunge into so large a lake after them. ‘Then a few ran to the ant-hill, and brought eight soldier-ants, which threw themselves into the water, swam around, seized the drowning ants, and brought them to shore. Though they were half dead, their friends rolled them in the dust, brushed them, rubbed them, and stretched themselves on them to warm them. ‘Then they rolled and rubbed them again. . Hazel: Did they live? flarold: Of the eleven that fell into the water, four were restored. ‘The fifth, when able to move its legs and horns a little, was carried home. Six died, and were taken to the ant-hill. Hazel: A woman in Sydney, Australia, killed a number of soldier-ants, and in half an hour went back where she had left their dead bodies. A large number of living ants were about the dead ones. Four or five went to a little mound in which was an ants’ nest, and in about five minutes they came out, followed by others. All fell into rank, going slowly two by two to the dead ants. ‘Two took up one dead body, then two another, and soon. ‘There were two ants bearing a body, then two without one, then two others BEING CARRIED HOME 62 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest with a dead ant, and so on until about forty pairs were in line. The procession moved slowly, followed by about two hundred ants. When the ants bearing a body would stop and lay down their burden, it was taken up by the two behind them. Thus | they journeyed until they arrived at a sandy spot near the sea. Here they dug holes with their jaws, and into each hole a dead ant was laid. Then the graves were filled up. But six or seven of the ants had tried to run off without digging. ‘These were brought back, and at once killed. A single grave was dug, and all dropped into it. Ant: An insect called the velvet ant, though she is not really an ant, is related tous. She wears a beautiful red dress, but one forgets how pretty she looks when he sees what a temper she has; she seems to be angry all the time, and tries to sting every living thing that crosses her path. Her mate has wings, and flies whenever there is a fresh outburst of wrath. She will even try to fight a man if he is within reach, and she has i a an powerful sting. She ( 3 keeps. up her -imzes : buz-z-z whether at home or abroad, and her loud voice can be heard above all the cheeping and chirping of more peace- able insects twenty feet from her. ; Hazel: | should not care to be like her. Ant: Now let me tell you about my ant friend Ads Comet ery THE STUDENT AND HIS EXPERIMENT Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 63 that was carried to a great university in Pennsylvania, by a young man who wished to learn whether ants can remember. He made a little railway with two tracks separated by a high partition. He painted one track red and the other blue, and at the end placed a piece of rich cake. ‘Then he placed my friend at the beginning of the railway. She ran to get a piece of the cake, taking the red track, and the young man put a blazing lamp under the roadway and heated it so hot that she burned her feet; but still she kept on till she got the cake. Several hours later he thought he would see whether the ant remem- bered her uncomfortable journey, and so placed her where he did before, with the cake in plain sight. She waited a moment, then took the blue path. Then he blocked up the blue path, and the ant went without the cake rather than travel over the red path to get it. Hazel: Peter Huber divided an ants’ nest, putting part under a glass bell where he could watch the ants. ‘The others made a nest at the foot of a chestnut-tree. They were sep- arated four months, and then those under the glass were taken to the rest of the family. ‘They were very joyful when they met. ‘They touched one another with their antenne, and _ all went together into the nest under the chestnut-tree. Ant: We have been known to recognize one another after being separated two years, and if eggs are taken from one ant- hill and reared in another, the ants will be recognized when they return to their own family. We never have family quar- rels. If we find anything good to eat we do not hide away and eat it alone, but invite our brothers and sisters to havea share. We help one another all we can. If one ant gets very tired, another carries it on its back. If one has a heavy load, others are ready to help carry it. Sometimes we work so hard that we forget to eat, and then other ants bringusfood. It we get hurt, we are carried home and cared for. A man once saw an ant Gap an” Friends and Foes in Field and Forest which had one of its horns torn off, and another ant came and poured something on the wound; so you see we have doctors and nurses. Hazel: How long do you live? Ant: The worker ants live many years, which shows that work is good for those who would live a long time. Iva: Do you work at night? Ant: In hot countries we do, and rest during the day. We stop work and take a nap when we get tired; we lie on our sides, rest on our hind legs, or lie down togetherina heap. When we waken, we stretch and yawn. When crowded, we are not rude, but keep good-natured. Hazel: Do all ants do the same kind of work? Ant: No, some act as nurses; some gather our food; others build our homes; some herd the cows; others tend the crops and harvest them; some are soldiers, and others sentinels. Iva: What do the sentinels do? Ant: It is their duty to keep enemies out of the ant home. They watch at some distance from the ant-hill, and give an alarm if a foe appears. ‘They first run home and stand at the door of the passageways, and tap every one they meet with their antenne. It does not take long for the alarm to spread throughout the whole household, and the ants rush out by hundreds to fight for life and liberty. Harold: Do the sentinels close the doors at night? Ant: Yes; they work from both the outside and the inside. — Sometimes small stones are used for closing the passages. One family of ants has sentinels that use their heads as gates. It would not be easy for anything to get inside without wa- king the guard, where this is the case. Some of the ants do sentinel duty while they are watching the nest from some point near by, and they are ready to fight if any enemy appears. | 2 | | Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 65 o é < ee eey jy A LIVING BRIDGE | «&3¢ sae arate © Ais es ANS \ mite a ene = Waroid A nave a. Rr Seo oN heard that .some.s ae ants - use their Ef bodies to make senone bridges. _) a Ant: The dri- Ant: All sorts of things—meat, fresh or dried, grains, fruit, and especially sweet things, such as sugar, sirup, and honey. We do not chew our food, but lick it with our rough tongues. Some ants sit up like squirrels when eating. If the food is hard, we moisten it. The teeth of old working ants are sometimes worn off. Iva: I shouldn’t think you would like to work all the time. Ant: We work awhile and then we rest, and we have our playtimes, too, when we jump and wrestle, play games, carry © one another in our mouths, and have a good time. But we never mix work and play. Hazel: Please tell us about the parasol-ants. Ant: They are large, and are called parasol-ants because when carrying to their nests pieces they cut from leaves, they Sen A Benet. ee. a a ae ae Se ee Friends and Foes in Field and Forest 67 ny hold them over their eh y heads like a parasol. GO (hea ac cat tN x7, Fach piece of leaf is 7 he ee sll >. an about as big as a dime, iy ae ainel we TS Caine lone &) little stem. Glenn: What do they do. wath pthe leaves? Ant: "They tear them into small pieces, store them in their nests until decayed, and use as food a fungus which grows on the rotten leaves. You see they are mushroom growers and eaters. When gathering the leaves, they march along one after another, and look like a procession of living leaves. ‘The leaf-cutting, or parasol-ants, are found in Central America, and there do great harm to orange, lemon, and mango leaves. All ants are careful to keep themselves and their homes clean. Ants clean themselves in much the way that acat does. They draw the brushes on their legs through their mouths and rub themselves all over. That is their way of taking a bath. Sometimes one ant assists another in making his toilet by brushing him. Iva: Mrs. Susan Lee saw, near the Guadalupe River, a beautiful vine with leaves smaller than those of the smilax, of a pale,tendergreen. Its root was about five feet from a cotton- wood-tree, and four or five inches wide, becoming narrower as it approached the tree. No stems nor tendrils could be seen, so thick was the growth. The vine branched just above the ground and climbed the trunk and branches, growing more and more slender, until, far up, it was only a threadlike line of green. Soon it was prevaded by a tremulous motion, and the leaves were not stationary. She picked up a twig, and found a brown ant under it, about as long as her little finger nail. PARASOL-ANTS 68 Friends and Foes in Field and Forest Each leaf was held in the mandibles of an ant so as to conceal its body, and the ants were coming down the tree. It was a nest of umbrella-ants. Such ants are found in the tropics, where they carry bits of” leaves: sever their heads as i