peoecannemeentn! INSECT WONDERLAND BY THE SAME AUTHOR SCIENCE THROUGH STORIES LYRICS INSECT WONDERLAND BY CONSTANCE M. FOOT 1) WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY V. Q. ALLAN NEW YORK JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMX PREFACE HE kind reception accorded to my little book Science through Stories encouraged me to feel that there might be an opening for another book upon similar lines. I have, therefore, chosen for the subject of this volume some simple facts concerning the Insect World, and have selected one or more specimens from each of the seven great natural orders of insects according to the Linnean system of division. | I have endeavoured to treat the subject with the same simplicity as in my previous book, and trust that it may prove equally acceptable as an educa- tional reader for the Kindergarten, or as a book to be read by mothers merely for the amusement of their little folks. Canine November, 1909 CONTENTS SPIDER WEB CORNER BUTTERFLY GREEN . FLY WALK ROSE-BEETLE BOWER WASP CASTLE . DRAGON-FLY POOL . ANT HILL MOUNT . GRASSHOPPER LANE BEEHIVE PALACE MotTrH LAND 139 179 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ‘77 NOt aM ansece ly? i. : : ‘ : . Frontispiece . PAGE “‘Kight legs! How wonderful! And I’ve only two!”. : 5 ‘And when I had fixed it there I was able to begin myweb” 10 15 The heartsease noticed that all the bright colours were hidden 25 ‘‘ At night they come out and spin a little web in the grass’ The lily-bells rang loudly j : : ; : : ~ 2s Chrysalises and Caterpillars . ‘ : : : : Pi ‘©Oh! what ave you making all that buzzing about?” cried the parrot : 5 ° : : : : ; «ae ‘Oh! take care you don’t fall,” cried Goldie ; : i 58 Tailpiece : . : . ‘ : : ; : «956 “‘She does not understand that it spoils my dress”’ 3 9 ee ‘‘My flying wings come out from underneath, like this——” 68 The little Sextons . : ‘ : 5 é : ; 5 ee ‘Come again soon, little Ladybird” . : ; : a's ““Come, come! leave some fruit for the rest of us!” . Py, tel) The Ground-Wasp’s nest 4 ; : : . ‘ ateace7/ The Wood-Wasp’s nest . : . : : . : | IZ Tailpiece : 5 : 5 : : : . ‘ 1S) ‘‘T cannot think what it canbe” . 5 ; ; : i 00) “‘And see! something is coming out!” . : : : = en ‘ I—am—a—DRaAGON-FLy!” 4 : A : 5 » “10g ‘*Now I am really off——” . : : ; . : ae Tailpiece ‘ ; : : : : : ; : 3) pate eisr OF ILLUSTRATIONS ‘* What can be the matter at Ant Hill Mount?” ” “Then she takes off her wings The Parasol-Ants ** Now listen!” said the grasshopper ““If a lot of my locust cousins were to come here to-night . they would eat and eat until not a blade of grass was left” . ** My coat being the colour of grass, enemies cannot see me” The grasshopper . . . flew away home **Our home is an old-fashioned one”’ ‘* Hast thou a drop of honey sweet in thy cup—to spare for me?” : : : . - “If she finds a nest left by a small bird, she uses that,” said Bumble Honey “Mr. Toad and his family are sitting waiting for—for—” . Nearer came the sound . ‘‘He was always a fine fellow even when a caterpillar, for then he wore a nice fur coat” . Mulberry Silkworms and Cocoon Soak WEB CORNER SUMMARY A rose-bush and an early thrush talk together about the beauty of the spider’s web near by. In the course of the conversation, the thrush refers to the spider as an “insect.” The latter overhears the remark and becomes very indignant, saying, to their surprise, that he is zo¢ an insect. They ask him to explain in what way he differs from one. The thrush flies away, and the discussion is taken up by a neighbouring lavender- bush and a tall Japanese anemone, to whom the spider tells a great deal about himself and his many relations, particularly the Trap-door spiders. SeewOeR WEB. CORNER T was peep of day, and the birds were chattering to each other about all they had to do. Mr. Sparrow and his family were always up first; Mrs. Thrush, too, was an early riser, for she had a large family to see after and there was their break- fast to get. This morning she had been lucky and found just what she wanted, so she thought that she would fly back home by her favourite rose- bush. Miss Rosie was up, looking very pretty and sweet in her dainty pink frock. “How are you, Mrs. Thrush?” she called out, as she saw her friend come flying along. “Very well, thank you,” replied the thrush. “What a lovely morning it is!” “ Lovely!” said the rose-bush. “I have been watch- ing Mr, Spider finish his web. See, there it is on the next bush to me—Miss Lavender, you know. Is it not a pretty pattern? All shining, too, in the sun with drops of dew.” 4 INSECT WONDERLAND “Very pretty,” answered the thrush, but not very heartily, for she did not much care about spiders, except to eat; and she thought that she had heard there were some kinds which eat little dead birds, so she said : “But I must own that I think it very mean of Mr. Spider to catch the poor flies and bees and ants and wasps in that way.” “ But he must get something to eat,” said the rose- bush, “and for the little ones too. It is no worse than your getting worms for your family, if you will excuse my saying so, Mrs. Thrush.” “No more it is,” she replied. “When you come to think of it, we must all have food.” “T think that Mr. Spider and his whole family are wonderfully clever,’ continued the rose-bush, “just as ants are—I often watch them at work.” “Yes,” said the thrush, “I suppose all those in- sects : “Insects!” called out the spider, who had really been listening to the conversation whilst finishing off his web, though he had not appeared to be doing so. “Tnsect indeed!” he continued in an angry tone of voice. “/’m not an insect!” Mrs. Thrush fluttered about feeling too nervous to answer the spider, for he seemed very cross and spoke so sharply. He looked so fierce, too, that she thought again of what she had heard about the little dead birds. SPIDER WEB CORNER 5 But Miss Rosie, who was always a peacemaker, cried out: Sivrs. Lhrush meant no harm, I am sure, Mr. Spider. She is such a good mother and she sings so nicely too; and, do you know, I—I—hardly like feeeay it, as you seem so offended, but I quite thought that you were an—an—insect !” f Sea aS ZANTE CEZAR “Nothing of the kind,” said the spider, who had not quite recovered his temper; “I should really have thought you would have known better, Miss Rosie.” “T should like to understand about it,” she replied, “and hear what you really are, so as not to make a mistake another time, as it is very unkind to hurt people’s feelings.” 6 INSECT WONDERLAND “Well,” said the spider, “to begin with, I have eight legs.” “Dear me!” exclaimed Mrs. Thrush, hopping on to a twig a little nearer to the spider. “Eight legs! How wonderful! And I’ve only two!” The spider took no notice of the thrush’s remark, but continued : “An insect has only six legs; that’s two less than I have, you see.” “Is Mr. Bee an insect?” asked the rose-bpusa timidly. “1 thinkthe thas’ sixaless “Yes, yes,” said the spider, “thatis) mohiw ies Rosie. He is an insect, sure enough; so are gine Wasp and Master Fly and Mrs, Ant. I can’t think of any others at this minute.” “Is having two legs more the ovly thing that makes you different from an insect ?” suddenly asked the thrush. “Oh dear, no!” replied the spider. “ I’m differen: in a lot of other ways—for one thing I’m not divided into three——” “Not divided into three!” repeated Miss Rosie and: Mrs. Thrush together, looking quite shocked. The spider shook with laughter, and said : “Yes, I mean it ; the insects are divided into three parts and Iam not. What do you think of that ?” “It is very strange,” said Miss Rosie, “for Mr. Bee looks all in one to me.” “Well, he isn’t,” said the spider; “he may 1oek SPIDER WEB CORNER 7 all in one, but he is really divided into three parts— his head, his front body, and his hind body.” “But excuse me,” said the rose-bush, “1 can’t see so much difference between you and Mr. Bee and Mrs. Wasp, for you’ve got a head too!” “Yes, of course I’ve got a head,” replied the spider, “but it is not divided from my body in the same way that Mr. Bee’s is.” Poly see now, said Miss Rosie; “you can't move your head about as he does.” Instead of replying to this the spider whispered : “Excuse me a moment; I think I .seea fly!” He hurried away and disappeared under a leaf of the rose-bush. Pies very strange, she murmured, “how . Mr. Spider saw that fly, for he never turned his head; he was looking at us all the time. I must ask him about it when he comes back.” “It certainly was strange,’ agreed Mrs, Thrush, and then she added, “I think I’ll be going, for I see that Mr. Spider does not much care about my being here—perhaps he is afraid I may be wanting to catch him for breakfast!” Then with a good-bye chirp to her friend off she flew. The rose-bush was still thinking over all the spider had said when she heard a little voice saying: “He certainly didn’t look round and yet he saw Master Fly. I can’t understand it, can you?” 8 INSECT WONDERIEANID “No, Lavvie dear,” replied the soft voice of Miss Anemone from Japan; “ but Rosie is going to ask him when he comes back.” “Ah!” exclaimed the rose-bush, “did yougand Lavvie hear all the interesting things Mr. Spider has been telling us?” “Yes,” replied the lavender-bush; “I hope atydid not matter—our listening.” “Not a bit,’ answered the rose-bush ; “it was no secret ; but weren’t you surprised ?” “Indeed we were, cried the anemone, “for torte the truth,’ and she whispered as the wind gently swayed her tall head closer to the rose-bush, “we always thought Mr. Spider was an insect.” “So did I,” answered Miss Rosie; “ but he is quite different—-— Ah! here he comes!” The spider ran back into the centre of the web and swung himself gently to and fro fora moment. Then he said: “False alarm, Miss Rosie. No fly there; he evi- dently only peeped in,” “A good thing for poor Master Fly,” she laughed. “By the by,’ she continued; “how came you torsec him, although you never looked round ?” “Ah!” said the spider, “you must remember that my eyes are set so that I can see all ways at once.” “Oh! then, you don’t have to turn them round to see,’ chimed in Miss Lavender. “No, replied the spider; “in fact; they canon SPIDER WEB CORNER 9 move. In our family we usually have six pairs of eyes.” “No wonder he can always see Master Fly and Mr. Bee so quickly,” whispered the anemone to the lavender-bush. Then she said aloud: “There is one thing in which I can see that you are different from an insect—you have no wings, Wit. Spider.” “No,” he said, “I have no wings, but I have eight legs, don’t forget that!” It made him feel rather cross again when an insect was mentioned. Then he continued, “ And I have two legs in front ; see here!” and he waved them. “These I use to feel with, and to take my food with; and I have jaws, too, with poison in them, that I can bite with if anyone hurts The two bushes and the anemone glanced at each other as they saw the spider was looking very cross and fierce; so Miss Rosie quickly turned the con- versation by saying: “We all admire your beautiful web, and wish we could spin as you do and be as wise and clever.” These kind words seemed to make the spider forget his ill-humour, and he said : “T am glad you like my web, Miss Rosie. The silk I use is very fine but very strong.” “Where do you keep it?” asked the anemone. “T have some little pockets in the back of my body,” he answered, “with tiny holes in them; these are my \/) GARD LESISYZ“ ‘ “. a) we > eh be 2 Oo ct (OY A) a = 2 ~ oa eae (Sf (gas Y = See ete Mae ee Sob eB paw 5 © set Sr Oe eae eee DEO Ou te Guess Bag ele. ie ote Wie ee Gea Ree Be Se tp a ey oe Te D 1 ° Te | *~ sy vot Che Se Be oo Oe eee Te ak oe En SS oe ee a SoBe Op ye. Se ee a BO EG en o ee eee a eee ee he 8k = ) SG Oe es SY egg 3S Oo G4 a= & D gee ent Gea GBH SB ice Oo eee Se Gy et ee ht. Be st Sioa apy Stee oO. no ee a oes oy & ee ge ete eee s (ON wr SO ae a Sh ee eet Oe Sth ee ae ee ee 8S a Boe se a bee 2.8 a OO ON) sao: © A eae a es ee ae ot cet es eg ae 16 INSECT WONDEREAND “ Thank you,” said the anemone. “Now do tell us about Mrs. Garden-Spider’s nest.” “Well, to begin with, she makes it of lovely fine silk, very soft. Then she weaves a cocoon——” “ Stop, please, Mr. Spider. What is a cocoon?” The spider thought a moment, then he replied: “Do you know what a ball is like? Its shape, Meanie: — Oh, yes,” they exclaimed . “itis sounds “A cocoon is something like that,” he went on: “ Mother Spider makes it of silk and lays her eggs in it, then one fine day out come the baby spiders.” “And what does their mother give them to eat?” asked Miss Rosie. “ Oh, insects,” he said. “She has a line neammer nest and she sits at the door and holds this in her claw.” “What does she do that for?” asked the anem- one. “Ah!” said the spider, “7Za7s the secret siaeen you into it, you must not tell the insects, mind.” “We never repeat what we are told,’ said Miss Rosie a little haughtily. “l_am sure you don’t,’ cried the spider; “omly said ¥t in fun. Let me see, I was telling you that Mother Spider holds the line in her claw, and when she feels it move she knows that there is something in the web, so down she runs, and if there is a bee or fly, she takes it for her babies.” SPIDER WEB CORNER 17 “But how can she get it there?” enquired the lavender-bush. “She kills it first, then she makes it into a tidy little bundle, winds some of her silk round it, and carries it off to her nest.” “And the babies—what are they like?” asked Miss Rosie. “I suppose they are little grubs or something before they are spiders?” “Not at all,” he replied ; “that is where they are different again from insects, for they come out of the egg perfect little baby spiders.” | “Then do they always remain babies?” asked the anemone. “No, certainly not,” he answered ; “they grow very fast, and when they are old enough, they go off out of the nest and spin webs for themselves and catch their own food. They often change their skins when they are little, so that of course they have not such beautiful coats as grown-up spiders have.” “You wear velvet coats, do you not?” asked Miss Rosie. ‘Yes, and some of us have stripes and others spots. Then, too, our coats are of different colours: some of us wear black, others brown, and others again red or gold.” e “Very handsome coats,” murmured the lavender- bush. '¥es,-our nice coat is our only beauty,” he said sadly. 2 18 INSECT WONDERLAND “TIT don’t seem to know any of your family who wear the brown coats,” said the anemone. “Ah, the House-Spidets, you mean. No, 1 de met expect you know them, for you all live out of doors as I do, but they live in houses and spin plain brown webs in the corners of rooms.” “What other relations have you, Mr. Spidere asked the rose-bush. “Oh, numbers of others if. had only time ito) tell you about them, but I cannot stay any more as I must really get my breakfast, but perhaps some other day I can tell you about the spiders that live under water——” “Live under water!” they exclaimed, “butinom can they breathe without air?” “They bottle some and take it down with them,” he explained, “and come up again when they want some more—those are my cousins the Water-Spiders, I could tell you lots about them. They have lovely nests that shine like silver and their eggs are a golden colour.” “Oh, how I should love to hear about them,” cried the rose-bush ; “ and what others will you tell us about some day?” “More about the Water- Spider family, for there are several different kinds. There is one than walks on the water, and another that builds a little raft to sail in—he goes out and catches insects as they skim over the water. In fact, I could tell you SPIDER WEB CORNER 19 lots more, for we are a big, big family, but I must stop now.” “Well, we ave enjoyed ourselves,” said Miss Rosie, “and we shall try and remember all that you have kindly told us.” “Very pleased, I am sure,” said the spider, “ but whatever you do, be sure and remember that I am not an zzsect/” and with a laugh he ran off. BOTTERFLY GREEN SUMMARY The west wind talks with a heartsease and she tells him how much she wishes that she had wings so as to fly, like the butterfly, enquiring if it is the gentle breath of the wind which lifts up the wings of the latter. The wind says that it is not, and advises her to ask a butterfly about it. She does so the next time one passes, and the butterfly brings some of her playfellows and they tell how once upon a time they were not pretty and had no wings, but were each a little cater- pillar and then a chrysalis, before they became bright, beautiful butterflies. Be rreRPLY GREEN ‘3 HAT are you dreaming about, little Miss Heartsease?” asked the west wind as he gently kissed the edge of her purple gown and softly rustled in the leaves of the lime-tree above her head. “ Ah, dear Wind,” replied the heartsease with a tiny sigh, “I was wishing—that’s all!” “Wishing for what?” he asked. “ You are gener- ally so contented.” “ Wishing that I had wings like a butterfly.” “You are very sweet as you are,” he said. But the heartsease was still thinking of her wish and continued : “Could not you make me fly, dear Wind? for surely it must be you that gently raises the pretty wings of the butterfly ! ” “Indeed you are mistaken, Miss Heartsease,’ he replied. [Well cried the heartsease, “I wonder if she could help me to fly. It must be lovely to go up towards the blue sky as she does,” “Why not ask her?” suggested the wind. 23 re em i enn ee 24 INSECT WONDEREAND “She would not hear me, for I am so little,” sighed the heartsease. “ Still, you could but try to make her hear the next time she passes your way,” persisted the wind. “Yes, I might certainly try,’ answered the hearts- ease. She was silent for a moment, then she added: “ And perhaps, dear Wind, you will bear my voice up to her. “That I will,” he promised. “ Now you must watch for your butterfly.” Then, whilst the heartsease watched, the wind passed up and down the garden, and the other flowers bowed their heads as he came, to hear the pretty message he had for each of them. After patiently waiting for a little time, the hearts- ease saw her favourite butterfly come fluttering into the garden. She had a broad orange patch on the tip of her front wings. She stopped for a moment to rest on one of the sweet honey flowers, then started off again, and after taking one sip of the nectar from the ivy-bloom, came quite near to where the heartsease lived. So Miss Heartsease determined to speak to her, and the wind, true to his promise, bore her little voice up to the gay butterfly. “‘ Sweet Butterfly, Come whisper to me Of all the fair things that, in flying, you see. Would I had wings! Then like you I’d fly Above the green earth, beneath the blue sky.” BUFTERFPLY GREEN 25 The butterfly hovered a moment, then fluttered gently down close to the heartsease, saying : “Well, little Miss Heartsease, that was very pretty. I wish I could say verses like that!” “Fancy your wishing!” she exclaimed, ‘Do you know I have been wishing something too.” The heartsease noticed that all the bright colours were hidden. “Have you?” answered the bitterfly. “Do tell me what it was.” She perched herself as she spoke upon the trunk of the lime-tree, folding her wings upwards, and the heartsease noticed as she did so that all the bright colours were hidden. “TI hardly like to tell you,” said the heartsease shyly. 26 INSECT WONDERLAND “Qh, please do,” cried the butterfly ;\“ 1 do so want to know what you wished.” “T wished that—that I had beautiful wings like you, sweet Butterfly,” she answered. “Do you mind telling me how you got them ?” } “Well, I did not always have them,” replied the butterfly. ‘“QOnce upon a time I was an ugly little caterpillar.” “How very strange!” exclaimed the heartsease in surprise. “Then weren’t you always a butterfly?” “Qh, no, I was two other things before that. First a caterpillar, then a chrys——” “Stop one moment, please,” said the heartsease. “T am getting quite confused, and cannot think how you can be a caterpillar and a chrys—chrys some- thing——” “Chrysalis,” said the butterfly politely. “Chrys—chrys—I cannot quite say it—and yet be a butterfly.” “T will try and tell you if you would really like to hear. “Oh, indeed I should,” said the heartsease, “and you must be sure and tell me how you got your wings. But may I just ask the other flowers to listen?” she added; “for I know they would like to hear too.” “Pray do, little Miss Heartsease, for 1 lovemiine flowers and often listen to you all talking. Whilst you tell the others I will just fly off and sip a drop BULPTERELY GREEN 2a of honey, and will try and find some of my play- fellows to bring back with me.” As she spoke she fluttered away to the other end of.the garden, and the heartsease watched her alight upon the honeysuckle, which was filling the garden with its sweet scent. Then she called to the other flowers and told them what a surprise she had had about the butterfly, and asked them if they would like to listen to what she was going to tell them when she came back. They were all delighted and promised to ring the bells when they saw the butterfly coming. They had not long to wait, for very soon the butterfly returned, and with her came a pretty little blue one, and another with a body of dark blue and with red and blue wings, on each of which was a large bright eye-spot; whilst just behind followed two more, one having pale yellow wings with four red spots on them, and the second with red markings and white spots omits black wings. The lily-bells rang loudly, and the flowers waved and bowed their heads to welcome their lovely visitors, whilst the wind hummed a gentle tune to the accompaniment of the rustling leaves, Miss Heartsease’s special friend led the way and settled back again near her on the trunk of the lime- tree, the others hovering in the air darting in and out among the flowers. “T have brought my playfellows with me, you 28 INSECT WONDERLAND The lily-bells rang loudly. see,’ began the butter- fly, “to help sme tell you all that happens to us before weraet our wings and gay dresses. Now, what would you like to hear about first ?” “Oh,° tell us pies from the beginning, please,” ‘criedweume heartsease ;- “wer sate so anxious to know if you were joking when you said that you were once a little cater- pillar!” “No, indeed I was replied the ) not joking, butterfly; “it 1s {age so very long ago that I came out of the egg “Oh, you come ous of an egg, then; dike Mrs. Thrush’s little ones!” chimed in the sweet-pea. “Yes, outof an eger Peri kh RPLY GREEN 29 answered the butterfly, “but a much smaller one than Mrs. Thrush’s.” jeende da you live in a nest?” enquired the anemone. “ No,” answered the butterfly ; “some lay their eggs under the leaves of the stinging nettles, and others under flowers and twigs.” “Nettles seem a strange place for eggs,” said the heartsease thoughtfully. “ Not at all,” replied the butterfly ; “there is a very good reason for laying them there—it is to keep them safe, for few creatures want to eat stinging nettles !” “Well, certainly it is a good way of keeping them safe,” agreed the flowers. “You do not all lay them on nettles, though,” said the mignonette. © ive, not all,” replied the butterfly ; “but I think you do, ‘Red Admiral, do you not?” “Yes,” answered the one with the red markings and white on its black wings, poising himself lightly as he spoke a little higher up the lime-tree, “we lay our eggs under the nettles, and so does ‘ Peacock.” “They’ve got names,’ whispered the lily to the mignonette in great excitement. “Yes,” said the butterfly, who overheard the remark, “we have all got our names. I really must apologise for not saying this before and introducing my playfellows properly.” 30 INSECT WONDERLAND “We should like to hear all your names,” said the lily timidly. “You know ‘Red Admiral’ now,” said the butter- fly, “so I needn’t introduce him.—Make your bow to our friends,” she added, and the butterfly fluttered gently up and down. “And this little one like a flower is called ‘Blue-wing,” she went on. “Over there on the rose-bush is ‘ Peacock’ with the lovely red and blue wings—we are very proud of her, but she is not at all conceited, although she is so hand- some; and then I must not forget my dear little playmate ‘Brimstone’ with her pale yellow wings. Now you know us all.” “No, no,” cried the flowers, “ you have not told us your name yet!” “Oh, I am ‘Orange-tip,” said the buttesiy modestly. ‘‘ Let me see, where had we got to?” “You were telling us about the eggs being laid on the nettles,” said the heartsease. ‘Do you lay yours there too, Orange-tip ?” “No,” she replied, “ we lay ours under the leaves of a plant which grows by the roadside. Perhaps you do not know it in this garden. It has pink and white flowers and its petals form a cross. Then there’s Brimstone, who lays hers in quite a different place. You tell them,” she said, looking towards her. “We lay ours among the twigs of the alder trees by the river-side,” she replied, fluttering forward with outspread wings, and resting lightly upon the edge BUTTERFLY. GREEN 31 of the anemone. “You flowers will all know us Brimstones, I think, for we are the first butterflies to come out in the Spring.” “Ves, yes,” came in a chorus from the flowers, “ we know you, but we did not know your name before.” “But I am wondering, if you have no nest or any- thing, how the eggs get hatched,” suddenly enquired one of the Miss Sweet-peas. “ Oh, the warmth of the sun hatches them,” replied Orange-tip, “and then out come the caterpillars and——” ) “There! I told you,” exclaimed the heartsease in excitement. “Orange-tip was a caterpillar before she was a butterfly, and you would hardly believe me!” “But you were surprised yourself, Pansy dear, were you not?” said the gentle voice of the mignon- ette. “Yes, so I was, Mignonette. It is only that I forgot—I was so excited—and it was rude of me, too, to interrupt Orange-tip. I am sorry. Please go on about the caterpillars.” “TI was going to ask Peacock to tell you about them,” she replied, “whilst I take a little rest. Now, do tell them,” she urged, for the beautiful butterfly was very shy, and was trying to hide away under the lavender-bush. ) “ Please, please do,” cried the flowers ; “we want so much to know what you do when you are a cater- pillar.” 22 INSEC® WONDERLAND “ Well, we eat and eat and eat until we can eat no more,’ said Peacock, flying out from her hiding-place and perching upon the trunk of the lime-tree close beside Red Admiral, who chimed in: “Yes, eat until our skin gets so full that we can eat no more.” “What happens then?” asked the heartsease. “We have to keep quiet for a time, and we swell out the rings on our body,” replied Peacock. “Then suddenly one day the skin splits and we creep out of it) “Creep out of your skin!” exclaimed the flowers, looking quite frightened. “Oh! how do you get on without a skin?” “We have a nice new soft one, all ready under- neath, which stretches out as the old one did explained Peacock, “so we begin eating again as happily as possible until ¢a¢ skin gets too tight and splits like the other. This goes on several times whilst we are caterpillars.” “And then?” asked the flowers anxiously. “When we have grown big enough we stop eating and do not move for a great many days, but keep very quiet; our colour fades, our skin splits once more and we wriggle it off. Little bits of our butter- fly dress can be seen underneath, but it is not finished, and our body is very soft and tender.” The flowers were breathless with excitement. Then the mignonette asked softly : BUTTERFLY GREEN 33 “What keeps your tender body from get- ting hurt?” “A kind of gum oozes out all over it,” explained Peacock; “this gets hard and keeps our body safe whilst it is growing into a butterfly.” “And then you are another sort of cater- pillar, I suppose,” said the lily shyly. “No, Miss Lily-bell, I am no longer a cater- pillar, but a chrysalis.” “That's the word you couldn’t tell us,» Pansy,” exclaimed the flowers in the greatest excitement. “ Chrysa- lis, chrysalis, chrysa- lis they cried all together. (Wes, a chrySalis. Now, Red Admiral, will you tell them about this?” 3 ”) ! ses ; a 6/1) Se Chrysalises and Caterpillars. 34. INSECT WONDERKEAND Red Admiral flew forward at once, for he was rather tired of keeping still, and was pleased when Peacock called him out. Orange-tip returned at this moment and asked if the flowers had enjoyed hearing about the caterpillars. “Very, very much,’ they cried. ~“ And noweived Admiral is going to tell us about a chrysalis.” “Our chrysalises,” said Red Admiral, “are fastened under the leaves of the stinging nettles by silken threads and hang head downwards looking as if they were dead. But they only stay like this for a little time, and then one sunny day they break out of the chrysalis very much as they did when they were caterpillars out of the egg, but instead of being creeping, crawling, greedy caterpillars any more, they are butterflies and have——” “Wings!” whispered the flowers in awed tones ; and at the same moment the lilies rang their bells, the wind stirred and rustled the leaves of the lime-tree, and the flowers sang all together in a soft chorus: “Would we had wings! Then like you we'd fly Above the green earth, beneath the blue sky.” And while they sang the butterflies danced in the sun. “Ts there anything more we can tell you, dear flowers?” asked Orange-tip. There was a moment’s silence, then the soft voice of the mignonette was heard saying timidly : BUITERFLY GREEN 35 “T would like to ask one thing, please.” “ And what is that?” enquired Orange-tip kindly. “Well, you look so gay when you are flying, but when you were all resting I noticed that we could no longer see your bright colours, for your wings hid them. Why is this?” “For safety,” answered the butterfly. “ But why would you not be as safe,” enquired the sweet-pea, “if your bright colours showed ?” “Other creatures might kill us,’ replied Orange- tip, “so you see we have to protect ourselves like that, otherwise we should have been killed long ago, and there would have been no more butterflies. That, too, is the reason why the underside of my wings is green and white, for then when I sip the honey from the parsley flowers I can scarcely be seen, for I am so like them.” “Other insects protect themselves by their colour, just as we do,” put in Brimstone; “ Mr. Spider is the colour of a dead leaf so that the birds may not see him, and Mr. Bee in his coat of brown and gold looks like the centre of the flowers out of which he sips the honey.” “May Iask something too, Orange-tip?” enquired the heartsease. “By all means,” replied the butterfly. “What is i?” “Well, my friend Prim—the Evening Primrose, you know—told me that there were some butterflies 36 INSECT WONDERLAND which fly chiefly at night. Are these any relations of yours?” Orange-tip thought for a moment, then said: “Oh, I know what Miss Prim means—those are moths, not butterflies. I cannot tell you much about them, except that their feelers are thick in the centre, and pointed at the end, and have little feathers on them ; whilst ours are round and thick and have no feathers. Then, too, whilst we fold our wings up- wards over our backs when we rest, they lay theirs down on their back, like a—a——_” “ Bird,” suggested Peacock. “Yes,” said Orange-tip, “that is right.” “But are they caterpillars and chrysalises before they are moths?” asked the mignonette. “Oh, yes, just the same “as we are; only dae caterpillars do much more harm in the garden than ours do; but they have the same family name that we have.” “Have you got a family name too?” asked the rose-bush, who had been listening attentively all the time but had not spoken before. “Yes,” said Orange-tip, “the family name of moths and butterflies is ‘ Lepidoptera, which means ‘ scale- winged.” “That is even a harder name than Mr. Spider’s, said the rose-bush thoughtfully. “ T do wish you could tell us some more about the moths,” sighed the heartsease. J BUTTERFLY GREEN 37 “T wish we could,” answered Orange-tip ; “‘ but we know them so little, as it is only a few of them that ever fly by day.” “T shall certainly ask Prim to speak to Humming- bird Moth, and I shall tell her, too, that they are not butterflies which she sees at night.” “No,” said Orange-tip, “they are not butterflies, for we are creatures of the sun. We only live a little time, but although it is a short life it isa gay and merry one.” The flowers felt very sad when they heard that their pretty visitors would only be with them for a short time. Then the sweet-pea said softly : “Never mind, we are such good friends whilst you stay with us, sweet butterflies, and it makes us glad and gay also to see you dance in the sunshine.” “And we, too,” said Orange-tip, “should not be half so happy if it were not for the flowers, for we come to you for rest when we are tired, and for nectar to refresh us when we are weary with our sun- dances ; so what should we do if you had wings and flew away?” “If that is so, sweet butterflies,’ exclaimed the heartsease, “never again will we wish for wings, but only be glad and contented that we are flowers!” Then with a flash of bright colour and a flutter of wings Orange-tip and her playmates fluttered away over the sunlit garden. ne 5 x S > 4 (2 SUMMARY Two flies are buzzing about in a room to the great annoyance of a parrot, who enquires if they cannot do anything more useful. The elder fly enters into con- versation with the parrot, as to the reason of the buzz- ing sound they make, and the latter is surprised to learn that it is caused by the rapid movement of their wings. A canary joins in and he and the parrot ask the fly a great many questions about himself and in what way he is different from the spider. They are surprised to find how beautifully the fly is made and also that he is of some use in the world. Bay NV ALK si H! what ave you making all that buzzing about ?” cried the parrot; “you really quite make my head ache. Don’t you ever do anything useful ?” The fly stopped a moment and stood still upon the window-pane, looking at the parrot. Then he answered pertly : “T am quite as useful as you are, and perhaps more so!” “Hush, hush!” cried a larger fly, who was resting quietly on the brass ring at the top of the cage. “That's not the way you should speak to your elders. It would have been more polite had you said that you were sorry that your buzzing noise annoyed Mr.——Mr.——.” “«Prempeh’ is my name,” said the parrot, “just ‘Prempeh, not ‘ Mister’ anything ; and yours is-——” “* Fly’ for short, but ‘ House-Fly’ is my full name.” po ly’ does nicely. for me,’ answered the parrot. “But what relation are you to that rude youngster ?” fuses an elder brother,’ replied the larger fly. Al 42 INSECT. WONDEREAND “He is quite young and rather giddy, so you must please forgive him.” “Well, it seems to me,” said the parrot, “that he wants teaching manners. I know I had to be cor- rected when I was little, and even now if I make too much noise I have a great cover put over me.” ee, \ es Le = — et oe ‘Oh! what ave you making all that buzzing about ?” cried the parrot. “It is certainly better to be corrected when one is young, for it is not nice to grow up rude,’ agreed the fly. “T am very sorry,” said the little fly humbly, “but as my brother said, I am young and giddy.” “Don’t think anything more about it, Buzzy,” said the parrot kindly, “but be advised by your big brother, for he has lived longer in the world than you have.” PLY WALK 43 “Yes,” answered Buzzy, “I nearly got into trouble the other day through not taking his advice.” “ How was that?” asked Prempeh. “Brother told me on no account to go near Mr. Spider’s web in the corner of the garden over by the rose-bush,” said Buzzy ; “ but I thought I would peep in and as neafly as possible got caught, just as my poor little brother was,” “Well, it would really have been your own fault if you had been,” said the parrot. “But what did the spider want with you?” , Both flies laughed, and the elder one said: “T expect he thought the little one would make him a nice dainty breakfast !” “You don’t mean that he wanted to eat him!” exclaimed the parrot, looking quite frightened. “aeameaicaia he did,’ said the fly. “We have lots of enemies, you know; Mr. Spider is not the only one.” “Do you really mean by enemies other creatures that eat you?” enquired the parrot. “Yes,” answered both flies together. “Dear me! I am glad that dzrds are not like that!” he said with a self-satisfied air. “But excuse me,” said the fly, “there are many birds which are, and fish too!” “Well, J feel quite sorry about it,’ said Prempeh, and he was thoughtful for some moments. Then Buzzy said timidly : 44 INSECT WONDERLAND “Would you mind if 1 flew about a little: Although,” he added, “I am afraid if I do that I shall not be able to help making the sound which vexes you.” “Oh, fly about by all means,” said the parrot, “but I cannot understand why you must make that sound,” “Please ask brother,” said Buzzy, “he can tell you best.” “Our wings make the buzzing sound,” explained the fly. “Your wings!” exclaimed the’ parrot.) (atom strange! I thought you must be making that sound with your mouth. I really feel puzzled, for when I flap my wings they don’t buzz a bit!” “No,” answered the fly; “ you see, your wings are rather different, they are covered with feathers ; ours have a very thin gauzy covering and are held out on a little frame, and when we move them very fast they make the buzzing sound.” “That’s really quite interesting,’ said the parrot, putting his head on one side and looking at the fly. “Now when I come to think of it,’ he continued, “there was a little flying creature, something like you, in the land I came from. I didn’t always live in a cage, you know.” “Didn’t you!” exclaimed the fly in astonishment. “Oh dear, no,” he replied. “I was born in a great big forest, and came all the way over the sea in a FLY WALK 4s little cage, and when | got here I was given this nice big one to live in.” “And how do you like it?” enquired the fly. “Very much indeed; I feel it is quite my home now, and | have numbers of friends and lots of good things to eat, so Iam ever so happy. But I was telling you about that little creature, wasn’t I? It used to make a humming sound; when you buzz you always remind me of it, though I don’t quite know what it was called.” The fly thought a little; then he said: “Tt must be a mosquito you mean.” “How do you know?” asked the parrot. “Do they live here too, as well as in my country ?” “Hardly ever, I think,” said the fly; “but they are the same tribe as we are, and something like a cousin of ours, who flies about in the garden here, and whose name is ‘ Gnat’.” “And does your cousin hum like a mosquito?” enquired the parrot. “Yes,” answered the fly; “and he bites like him too, only not quite so hard as he does.” “You seem a large family,’ said the parrot re- flectively. Sve vate, very large,” he replied; “J mean the fly family itself, to say nothing of our cousins, Gnat, Mosquito, Midge, and Daddy-long-legs.,” “I suppose you are really a kind of little bird,” said the parrot, “as you have wings.” 40 INSECT WONDERLAND “Oh, no!” cried both the flies together. “Then what are you?” enquired Prempenem surprise, “We are insects,” they said. A little chirrup was heard at this moment, and the parrot and flies looked quickly round towards a small gilt cage which hung in the other window. “Ah!” cried Prempeh; “it is you, Goldie aig you speak ?” The canary—for it was he who had made the chirrup—answered : “Well, I didn’t exactly speak, but I called out, for I was wondering how Mr. Fly knew he was an insect and not a bird.” “That is just what I was wondering myself,” said the parrot. “Of course we know that we are z7sects,” answered the fly. “ But,” persisted the parrot, “the thing is/do ou know wy you are insects?” “Yes,” said the fly firmly, “I do know, although I will not pretend that I could have explained it so well to you if I had not heard something that Mr. Garden-Spider was saying the other day.” “That was when I nearly got caught in the web,” chimed in Buzzy. “Yes,” answered his brother, “I saw you were going too near, and, remembering how your little brother was caught, I flew out of the window to FLY WALK 47 warn you. Then I heard the spider talking to the flowers and telling them that 4e was not an insect, so I hid myself underneath a bush, for I wanted to know what he was,” “And what did he say?” enquired the parrot, coming to the edge of the cage as he spoke, “ He began boasting first of all that he had eight legs and that insects had only six.” “ And did you count your legs?” asked Goldie. “Yes, I did,” replied the fly ; “just to make sure, and I found | had only six right enough.” “ And when he had boasted of his eight legs, what more did he tell the flowers?” enquired the parrot. “He said that insects were cut into three parts, but that Azs head was not clearly divided from his body, and that this was another reason why he was not properly an insect.” “ But what about your body ?” continued the parrot. “Ts it divided into two more parts?” “Yes,” answered the fly; “see for yourself,’ and he came off the brass ring as he spoke and flew closer to Prempeh. “] see your head,’ said the parrot, “ but what are those three rings next to it?” “That is my chest,” he replied, “and if you look you will see some more rings—that is my hind body.” The parrot looked carefully, then he said : “Yes, I see the three parts, just as you say,” and | ¥, 48 INSECT WONDERLAND he nodded his head as he repeated, “head, chest, and hind body.” “ Now look and see that he has got the six legs!” cried Goldie inexcitement: “Ah, yes!” said Prempeh. “Do you mind turn- ing round the other way, Fly, so that I can count your legs and see that they are really all there?” The fly obediently turned round. “It's all right, Goldie!” he called out.” “Dotyon remember that I said there were three rings next to his head ?” YWes wes!” cried Goldie, “l rememibetn “Well,” said the parrot; “he’s got two legs on the first ring—one on each side—and two more on the next ring—how many is that, Goldie?” “ Four,’ answered the canary promptly. “That’s right,” said the parrot ; “ be sure you keep count whilst I call out. Now let me see—yes, there are two more legs on the last ring. How many had we got?” “Four,” repeated the canary, “so the two on the last ring make six.” “ Quite correct,” replied the parrot, “four and two certainly make six. But wait a moment—what is LOIS Fe “What is what?” asked the fly, who had been patiently standing still whilst his legs were counted. “What are those funny little stumps with hairs on them near your last legs?” enquired the parrot. FLY WALK 49 “ Ah!” said the fly, “we could not get on without those; they help us to balance ourselves when we fly, because we have only two wings, not four as some insects have. This, too,is why our grand tribe name = iptera.’” “Say that last word again, if you don’t mind,” interrupted the parrot, “and you might tell us what it means.” “T will spell it,’ said the fly. “ D-I-P-T-E-R-A. The last bit of it “-ptera’ means wings, and ‘di’ stands for two. It is quite easy really—‘ Two-winged ’— you see, don’t you?” fees, | 777k 1 see it,” said Prempeh doubtfully, “but I was going to say I should have thought two wings were quite enough for a little crea—insect like you; Goldie and [| have to manage with two.” “ Oh, yes,” answered the fly, “ we are quite satisfied with them. Now shall I turn round for you to see my wings?” “Keep still for a minute,” cried the parrot, “I am looking at your feet. You seem to have little claws and pads covered with hairs—what is the use of those?” “To keep us from falling for one thing,” he ex- plained, “and as well as that it makes us able to walk ‘ upside down.’” “Shall I show them?” called out Buzzy. “Yes, do,” said his brother. “ Just show them how you can run up and down the window-pane.” 4 50 INSECT WONDER EANID AY ee A } AAI a(t Y ANE WY i er f| i ) “4 i WA Nz: 4 rrr Pt aloes ey Pa | wre aN Sig / NN : “Oh! take care you don’t fall,” cried Goldie, Th itt C i pues os — PaCS hs NS See ree oe Oy Wiis . Off went Buzzy and did as he was told. “There; “youtssees eried -the “ty geeme doesnt fall, ‘beeaise the little pad and hairs suck the air from under his feet and hold him up.” “ W onderfult = exe claimed both seine birds. “ Really won- derful!” “Now, Buzzy,” said his brother, “show them how you can walk upside down.” Buzzy flew up to the ceiling and began walking about. “Oh! take care you don’t fall,’ cried Goldie, fluttering about with anxiety. “ He’s all right,” said the fly, “donengame frightened. The dlitéle hairs on his feet catch on to anything that FLY WALK 51 is rough or sticking out, and keep him from fall- ing.” “Well, I am really glad to know that it is quite safe,” said Goldie, “ for I watched you the other day walking on the ceiling and I felt very nervous, for I expected every moment you would fall.” The flies laughed. “ Now,” said the parrot, “if you wouldn’t mind turning round I should just like to see how your wings are fastened on.” The fly good-naturedly turned round at once and the parrot carefully examined his wings. “They are joined on to the second ring, Goldie!” he called out. “ Are they really ?” replied Goldie. “I wondered how they were fastened on.” feedank you, Fly;’ said the parrot. “You have been most good-natured in answering all my ques- tions.” “T have enjoyed it,’ replied the fly, “ for I find that we are thought to be common little things not worth looking at.” “Well, I must say,’ said the parrot, “you have never struck me as being much to look at, but of course I think differently now that I have examined you closely and seen how beautifully you are made. Please don’t fly away yet, for I am only just going to get a particular seed that I have had my eye on ever since I began talking to you.” 52 INSECT: WONDERLAND He reached down from his perch and picked up the coveted seed, but in getting up again he dropped itt “ Dear me, how provoking!” he exclaimed, scram- bling down to the bottom of his cage. “I do believe I have lost that nice seed after all. “It is’ most@wex ing,’ he continued, as he looked about everywhere. “ There it is!” cried the fly, “down there—just underneath your drinking fountain !” “So it is!” exclaimed the parrot, seizing upon the seed. “But how azd you manage to see it ?” “We have such big bright eyes,” replied the fly. “Come back close to me again,’ said the parrot, “and let me have a look atthem,’ The fly returned to his former place, and the par- rot, after looking at him attentively for a moment, said : “T see that your two eyes ave very large for your little head. No wonder you can see so quickly.” “T expect really it is having such a numbergon eyes that makes us able to see so well,” said the fly. “ Number of eyes!” exclaimed the parrot. “ What do you mean? Surely you don’t call two eyes a number! You are getting a bit boastful, like Garden- Spider about his legs,” he added scornfully. “ But—but,” stammered the fly, “indeed I am not boastful, Prempeh. I only meant to explain that our two big eyes are made up of hundreds and hundreds of little tiny eyes.” FLY WALK 53 “Dear me!” cried the parrot. “What an extra- ordinary thing.” “ And,” continued the fly, “as well as this we have three little eyes in between the big ones.” evel that zs a number,’ said the parrot. “I must apologise for snapping you up as I did just now.” “Oh, I do not wonder you were surprised,” he answered. ‘For such little insects we have very large eyes.” “Take a seed, Fly, won’t you?” said the parrot. “ No, thanks,” replied the fly, “ but I should be glad of a sip of water.” feeey help yourself, my boy, “and whilst you are doing so I will have a nut.” After a few moments Goldie asked suddenly : “Do you and Buzzy live with your mother ?” “Oh, no,” said the fly; “our mothers never have time to look after us; we have to manage for our- selves as soon as we come out of the egg.” “Are you little, like Buzzy, when you first come out?” enquired the parrot, who had finished his nut and began clambering back again on to his perch. jee are teally not, a bit like flies at first,’ he replied. “We are just little white worms with rings ) cried \Prempelh, and a pair of jaws like hooks.” “And no legs or wings?” enquired Goldie anxiously. “No,” said the fly, “they come afterwards.” 54 INSECT WONDERLAND “You could not have been pretty when you were a little worm with no legs or wings!” exclaimed both birds together. “T am afraid I wasn't,” laughed the fly good- humouredly. “But if your mother had no time to look after you, what did you get to eat?” asked Goldie anxiously. “Mother Fly is always careful to put her eggs where her little ones are sure to find food they can eat, so as to be able to grow,” explained the fly. “But tell us how you get your legs and wings with no mother to look after you,” persisted Goldie. “We do not get them for a time,” said) theynye “First we only eat and keep growing, then we leave ) off eating, and rest in our grub-skins “You said just now you were a worm,” interrupted _the parrot, “so how can you be a grub?” “It is only another name for the same thing,” he replied. “T see,” Said the parrot. “Well, go on; (please: ”) You rest in your grub-skin and then “Tt grows hard,” explained the fly, “and brown, and the worm gets shut up inside it.” “T can’t think how you are ever going to be a fly shut up inside there,” sighed Goldie. “ Our legs, wings, and head all grow whilst we are in there,” continued the fly, “and when we are ready we push and push against our hard case until at last we break it open and come out a—fly !” FEY OWALE 55 “T still cannot see how you can possibly grow your wings shut up in that little case,’ said the parrot thoughtfully ; “there is no room.” “Oh, I quite forgot to say,” added the fly, “that our legs and wings are all crumpled up when we are inside that little case, but directly we get out into the air we give ourselves a good shake, and if only we are able to get into the sun its heat dries our wings and we are scon able to spread them out and fly off and begin to enjoy our life.” “Well, you are really marvellous little insects,” said the parrot, “if anyone will take the trouble to look closely at you. It is only a pity that you are not of some use, instead of being merely little pests.” “But you are mistaken,” said the fly; “maybe we are little pests, but we are of some use too, for we help, in a small way, to keep the earth clean!” “Keep the earth clean!” repeated the birds in astonishment ; “why, how do you do that?” “By eating up lots of things which would make you all ill if they were left about. So you see we are of some use, although I know those who think we are only a nuisance and can do nothing but buzz all day,” said the fly, with a sly laugh. ee now, Fly, you are making fun of me!” exclaimed the parrot, “but I have changed my Opinion since we began to talk.” He was silent for a moment and then he added: “ And I have learnt INSECT WONDERLAND 56 a lot from you, although you are only a little insect, bP) and I am a big bird and came over the sea. “Three cheers “ And so have I!” cried Goldie. for Fly!” BeSE-BEERTLE BOWER SUMMARY The tall white liles and some sweet-peas ask a rose why her lovely petals are torn. She says that the rose-beetle has eaten them, but that she is not angry with her as she is so beautiful and is named after her, and often talks with her as she sucks the honey deep down from her heart. She says that she understands she has many other relations, not so pretty as herself. She has also a dear little cousin, whom they all know— the ladybird. She is expecting them both as it is a sunny morning, and suggests that they shall each be asked to tell the lilies and sweet-peas about themselves. Pooe-DEBRTLE BOWER HE tall white lilies swayed gently to and fro in the breeze, whilst their nearest neighbours, the sweet-peas, nodded their pretty heads and whispered to each other. “It seems such a pity,” said one. | “T can’t understand it!” exclaimed another. “They were quite perfect yesterday morning,” chimed in a third. “Shall we ask her?” suggested the one who had first spoken. “Fethaps she might not like it,’ replied the others. Then they all began gently nodding their heads again, and there was silence, except for the hum of the bees as they went about their work, and the chatter of the birds in the trees above them. At last one of them said: | “ Suppose we ask the lilies what they think about it, for they live closer to her than we do.” “Yes, yes, that is a good idea!” came in a chorus from the flowers. ‘“ You ask them.” So the sweet-pea raised her head as high as she could, and her soft voice was heard calling: 59 60 INSECT WONDERLAND “ Lily-white!” But there was no answer. “ Lily- white!” she called again, “turn this way, there’s a : dear; we want to talk to you.” The nearest lily turned her graceful head and smiled at the sweet-peas as she asked: “Have you something nice to tell me, my little friends?” “No,” they replied, “we want to ask you some- thing.” ‘Ask me something !” repeated the lily in surprise. “Yes, you, Lily-white dear!” cried the sweet-peas, “for we are so worried.” “Are you?” exclaimed the lily, looking quite concerned. “What can you be worried about?” “It is about the Rose-Queen,” they said, “for see, her lovely petals are all torn! We want to know 4 what you and your sisters think can have caused q it.” The lily looked round at the rose; then she said : | “Yes, I see they are indeed torn.” : “ And only yesterday morning they were so lovely,” said the sweet-peas; “what can have happened to them?” “T cannot think,” answered Lily-white. “Cannot think what?” enquired her twin-sister, who grew on the same stem as herself, only just a little higher up. “What has hurt our Rose-Queen’s beautiful pink ROSE-BEETLE BOWER OI petals,’ she answered; “do you not see how they ) ’ iy y are torn?” ) “So they are,” replied Lily-twin—as she was called by her sisters. “ Who can have done it?” “That is what we are wondering,” cried the sweet- peas, “and we thought that perhaps one of you would ask the Queen.” “T will,’ said Lily-white, “the next time she looks my way. Ido hope it will be soon.” “So do we!” exclaimed the other flowers, “for we are so anxious to know.” They waited a little, and then Lily-twin suddenly whispered to her sister : “ Now, Lily-white—quick !” The rose at this moment was being swayed by the wind quite close to her, so Lily-white seized the opportunity and said in a respectful voice: “ Madame, may we ask you a question ?” Mie Queen of the garden turned her lovely face towards the flowers, and said in her pretty, gracious Way: “Of course you may—what is it, dear flowers, you would say to me?” Then Lily-white told her how concerned they were to see her petals torn. The Rose-Queen smiled and said : “ Ah, I am afraid that is done by a little friend of mine, who is named after me.” “ Who is she, Madame?” asked the flowers. ee eS en Se 62 INSECT WONDERLAND “She is called Rose-Beetle,” replied their Queen. “But are you not vexed with her, Madame,’ en- quired Lily-white shyly, “for destroying your lovely dress ?” “Oh, no,” said the Rose-Queen. “To begin with, she is so lovely herself with her gold and green wings, and she does not understand that it spoils my dress ; and as well as this, she creeps right down into my a ie ss “Mey SEA (as WK 2 Sesae LF wav Y gy FS CY bY nse 7: 5 Fe ee es UZ | . reg ite: GE sa fi Ye es GA BOD EIR wien eta ae ae z ‘¢ She does not understand that it spoils my dress.” heart and sometimes stays there for hours; so how can I be vexed with her?” “But your lovely petals!” cried the flowers, “why should she destroy them ?” “They are her food,” answered the Rose-Queen ; “she has a very delicate appetite and only cares for dainty food.” eel ala ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 63 “It is a pity,a great pity!” murmured the flowers to themselves. “T believe she belongs to a rather large family,” continued their Queen. “ And do they all eat rose-leaves ?” enquired the sweet-peas anxiously. “1 do not think so,” she answered, “but I really only know my little friend, Rose-Beetle, and a dear little cousin of hers called ‘ Ladybird.’ ” “We know Ladybird,” cried the flowers. “| should not wonder, as it is so warm and sunny this morning, if they were to pay me a visit,” said the Rose-Queen. “If they should come, I will ask them to tell you a little about themselves.” “Thank you, Madame,” said Lily-white. “ Per- haps, too, if Rose-Beetle is occupied, she will leave the rest of your lovely petals unharmed.” Stes yes, agreed the flowers, “we hope she will.” They had scarcely finished speaking, when the Rose-Queen’s little namesake came flying along, her brilliant green and gold wing-cases shining brightly in the sun. (a Mere you are, little friend,’ said the Rose- Queen. “ Now instead of creeping away and hiding as you usually do, the other flowers want a chat with you.” “A chat with me!” exclaimed the rose-beetle shyly. 64 INSECT WONDERLAND “Yes,” said Madame, “they are just a little vexed with you for spoiling my dress yesterday.” “ Are they?” said the rose-beetle, looking timidly round at the lilies and sweet-peas. “ Are you vexed with me too, dear Queen?” “No,’ said Madame gently, “I do not anid because you are my little friend.” The rose-beetle gave a sigh of relief, and turning again to the flowers, said : “Please forgive me, I did not intend to téansthe Queen’s beautiful dress, but you see I am an eating insect.” “What do you mean?” enquired Lily-twin. “Surely all insects eat, or they would die?” “ Not so at all,’ answered the rose-beetle, “many insects dvznvk their food. Your friends the bees and butterflies get their food by sucking it.” “They never, never destroy our,Queen’s ditess;, chimed in the flowers reprovingly. “ They only sip the mectar. “ T also suck the honey,” said the beetle ; then she added, looking rather ashamed, “but I have such a delicate appetite that I—I—chew the petals too, and I am afraid that this is how I did the mis- chief’ “IT am afraid it is,’ said Lily-white, drawing herself up and looking very dignified; “but if you cannot eat anything else I suppose it cannot be helped.” Br os 2 ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 65 The sweet-peas saw that the poor little beetle was very sad and ashamed, so they said kindly: “Our Queen says that you belong to a large family, and she promised if you came this morning that she would ask you to tell us something about yourself and your relatives.” fees said the Rose- Queen, “you might tell them first what you whispered to me one day all about where Mrs. Rose-Beetle lays her eggs, and how long you take growing into such beautiful insects.” “There is nothing very beautiful about us at first, I can assure you,” laughed the beetle; “we are just nasty, fat, round white worms; our heads are a pale brown colour, and we have a thin skin, with some hairs on it.” “But you have not told us yet where Mrs. Rose- Beetle lays her eggs,” interrupted the sweet-peas. “I was forgetting that,’ she replied. “She finds a nice place at the foot of a tree, then she goes down into the ground all amongst the roots of the tree, where the wood is nice and soft, and she puts her eggs there, between the wood and the bark.” “But how can the little beetles ever get up here?” enquired the flowers anxiously. “The little grubs—that is what we are called first of all—never do come up here,” said the rose-beetle. “But there is nothing for them to eat down there,” exclaimed the lilies. E kK | 66 INSECT WONDERLAND “Oh, yes, there is,” replied the beetle—all that they want—for I expect you will be surprised to hear what they live on. Try and guess,” “On ants,’ hazarded one of the sweet-peas timidly. “Not abit of it,’ replied the “bectlessi eae. live on leaves and soft wood—what do you think of that?” “It seems strange sort of food,’ exclaimed ihe flowers. “Talking of ants, though, reminds me,” continued the beetle, “that sometimes our mothers put their eges in an ants’ nest ; however, they are very kind, and do not seem to mind this. But I expect you want to hear what the grubs do under the ground ?” “Yes, please,” cried the flowers. “Well, I am afraid they are very lazy,” said the beetle, “they do nothing but eat. When it is cold and frosty, they dig down deeper into the earth to keep warm, and go to sleep until the spring comes,” “And then have they turned into beetles?” en- quired the flowers. “Oh, no; they go on living like this for two or three years. Then at last one day they make a ball of dead leaves and grass, or bits of wood they have cut up——” “But how ‘can they. cut it ~wup?Y enquiredeeme flowers, who were by now deeply interested in what the beautiful little beetle was telling them. ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 67 “With their jaws, which are very strong,’ was the answer. “And when they have cut it up, what then?” asked Lily-white. “They fasten it all together with glue from their mouth, then they get inside and shut themselves up in the little ball or case.” Eitew 1 expect they are going to be beetles,” whispered one sweet-pea to the other in excite- ment. “Not quite yet, Miss Sweet-pea,” said the beetle, who had heard what was said, “ their legs and wings have to grow first, you know.” “Oh, yes,” replied the sweet-peas, ‘we were for- getting that. Do they grow while they are in their inetle.case ?” “Ves,” answered the beetle, “and one fine warm day they come out, looking—well, better than when they were grubs,” he added modestly. | woeokine lovely!” cried the flowers, “in their beautiful suit of green and gold.” “TIT am glad you like our suits,” said the beetle shyly. “We do, we do!” cried the flowers ; and the sweet- peas began nodding their pretty heads again with pleasure. “There is one thing I want to ask you,” said Lily-twin, “and that is—why you have two pairs of wings,” 68 INSECT WONDERLAND ‘The top ones jane only wing-covers,’ an- swered the beetle, “we fly with the underneath pair.” “The wide, nia gauzy-looking ones, you mean,’ said Lily-twin. ‘“Ves,” she answered ; “you see I only tip my wing-cases, so——” and she proceeded to show them what she meant. Then she continued: “My flying wings come out from underneath them, like this——” “Oh! oh! oh! please, please do not fly away!” exclaimed the flowers in agitation, for ftme pretty little beetle had got her flying wings outspread, as though ready for flicht, “We have lots more to ask you, they cried: “T was not going, I ‘My flying wings come out from ”» underneath, like this-— was only showing you,” ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 69 replied the beetle, well pleased that the flowers seemed getting so friendly. “And Madame tells us that dear little Ladybird is a cousin of yours,” said Lily-white. '¥es. said the beetle, “she is one of the COLEO- PTERA family.” “J know what ‘-ptera’ means!” exclaimed the eldest Miss Sweet-pea in excitement. Swear you: said the beetle. “J do really,’ sheanswered. “It means ‘ wings’— but I do not know the other word,” she added in a disappointed voice. “That’s to do with the wing-cases,” explained the beetle, “and means ‘sheath’—‘ sheath-winged.’ Ah, here comes Ladybird!” she exclaimed. ‘“ Now you watch her, and you will see that she has wing- cases too, but she flies with her lower pair of wings.” As she spoke, Ladybird alighted gently upon the Rose-Queen, who greeted her affectionately. “What were you saying about my wings?” she asked the beetle, when she had returned the Rose- Queen’s salutation. “T was only telling the flowers that you belong to the same family as I do,” replied the beetle. “ Ah! but I have not such a grand suit as you have, cousin,’ answered the Ladybird. “Never mind,” said the flowers, “you look very smart with your nice red wing-covers spotted with Ve INSECT WONDER REAND black, and you are a dear little thing, and very useful into the bargain.” “Very useful!” exclaimed the rose-beetle in sur- prise; “how is Ladybird useful ?” “Why, she is always eating up the little creatures which destroy plants.” “And so do our grubs,” chimed in Ladybird. “The mothers of our family always put their eggs near where these little creatures are, and the grubs climb up the stalks and eat them.” “Then you do not live under the ground when you are a grub, as Rose-Beetle does?” enquired the sweet-peas. “Oh, no,” replied the ladybird, “we live omgthe plants, and after a while we glue ourselves to a leaf by our tails, and hang head downwards, until one day we become a ladybird, and off we fly.” “And it is then you begin to be useful, I suppose?” enquired Miss Sweet-pea. “Yes,” answered the ladybird. “Do you see the old apple-tree over there?” The flowers nodded their heads. “Well,” she continued, “just under a loose bit of bark, at the foot of that tree, some of (tagse mischievous little green-fly laid their eggs, and out they came in the spring, but we ladybirds were ready for them. A number of us were watch- ing, and directly they appeared we ate up the erubs.” ROSE-BEETLE BOWER. 71 “You certainly are useful little insects,” said the rose-beetle, “Insects!” exclaimed the sweet-peas. “ Ladybird is an insect too,” they said, looking at each other. “Do you remember we heard Mr. Spider explain- ing that day why he was zo¢ an insect ?” “Yes,” answered another sweet-pea, “he was tell- ing how proper insects are divided into three parts. Are you divided properly, Ladybird ?” Pees, she replied, “and so is Rose-Beetle, and we have six legs, and our wings, which are fastened on to the upper part of our chest, fold down over the back part of our body.” ; “And what about your eyes?” enquired the flowers, “for you must want sharp ones to see those mischievous green-flies.” “Our eyes are something like House-Fly’s; we have two big ones, just as he has, made up of numbers and numbers of little ones.” “ No wonder you can see so well,” said the flowers. “Do all your family have eyes like that?” “Yes,” said the ladybird ; “and some of our rela- tions have two small eyes at the back of their head as well.” “J think, Ladybird,” suddenly said the rose-beetle, “before we go, we ought to tell the flowers that all our relations are not so small as we are; some of them are very big, and some carry weapons.” “Yes,” replied Ladybird, “our Cousin Stag-Beetle sie seeeimnr ee ipo rus ee erat A a A iy 37 go = NY SE ) "y) A) Nis Wee ; =) ' i} ny ON i ».)) 2) yod. Ps ey uv pares pry ke du ty gal) ht 1) DA A Woes b Pas)" =a The little Sextons. tity! if yan "Gime. Ni Le Pune waeé pa INSECT WONDERLAND is very big. Elemmas strong jaws for cutting up leaves and wood, and he can pinch hard with them when he wishes. But there is one thing I do not ‘tke “about him,” she continued, “he is so fond of fighting with his jaws, which are like two horns,” “And he beats his cousins without horns,” laughed the rose-beetle. “Then there is Cousin Sexton-Beetle—he’s rather large.” “What a ‘stragee !” exclaimed the flowers. “Why is he calledisor “ Because if he finds a dead bird, or mouse, or any little animal, he buries it,” replied adye bird. “What a clever bee- tle!” cried the flowers. “ How does he do it?” name ROSE-BEETLE BOWER 73 “He digs with his head all around in the earth, and the little dead body sinks in, then he puts the earth all over it, until it is quite covered up,” ex- claimed the rose-beetle. “Now tell us about the cousins who carry weapons,’ begged the flowers. “There is one family that carries a gun,” said Ladybird. “Near their tail is a little bag full of fluid. They can throw out a drop of this fluid as they run. It sounds like a tiny gun going off bang! As it flies out of the bag it makes a little smoke.” “But what do they want guns for?” enquired the flowers. “Well, this beetle is only a little fellow,’ explained Ladybird, “and big beetles like to chase him, but when he pops his gun off in the big beetle’s face the latter runs away.” The flowers rustled with amusement at this little story, and cried: “Tell us more, please, more! It is so amusing.” “Tell them about our water relations, Ladybird dear,” said the rose-beetle. ‘“They have a lovely home in the water and float on lily leaves.” “Ah, Cousin Water-Beetle has a glorious life—but his body is made a little differently to ours,” ex- plained Ladybird, “the parts fit more closely, so as to make them watertight. His wing-covers, too, are airtight, because he lives in a water home.” 74 INSECT WONDERLAND “But how can‘ he breathe in the water?” asked Lily-white anxiously. “He comes up to the top, opens the breathing tubes under his wing-covers, and draws in some fresh air, then he shuts his wing-covers up tight and goes down again with plenty of fresh air to breathe.” “ But doesn’t he ever use his wings to fly with?” enquired the flowers. “Oh, yes,” said the rose-beetle ; “on fine nights he flies up into the air, then when he has had enough, he turns, closes his wings, and drops into the water with a splash.” “There is Glow-Worm too,” said Ladybird. “Oh, we know Mr. and Mrs. Glow-Worm!” cried the flowers. “Are they really relations of yours also?” “Yes,” said the rose-beetle ; “we are very proud of them, because of the bright light they can give— they are the only ones which can do so.” “We could tell you lots more about our relations,” said Ladybird, “if only we had time, for there are hundreds and hundreds of them.” “Hundreds and hundreds?” repeated the flowers rather doubtfully. “It is quite true,’ exclaimed the ladybird and rose-beetle together ; “we are not exaggerating.” “Now,” said Ladybird, “I really must go, but there s just one thing that I would like to say; it is this— ROSE-BEETLE BOWER TE if Rose-Beetle does sometimes spoil your Queen’s dress, because she has such a dainty appetite, we, her cousins, at any rate make up for it, by destroying the little creatures which would eat up all your leaves, so that you would not have any left if it were not for us—the Ladybirds: so you must please for- give her.” “We will, we will!” cried the flowers, and as their tiny friend and ally flew off they added: ‘Come again soon, little Ladybird.” **Come again soon, little Ladybird.” ea = s ep = Se a op a = SUMMARY A robin begs a wasp not to be so greedy, but to leave him some of the raspberries and pears. He then goes on to ask him if he has a Queen, like the bee; the wasp Says that he has not, and tells something of his life and habits. WeASsr CASTLE PAIR of bright eyes peeped out from amongst the branches of the big old apple-tree, and watched the wasp who was helping himself to the pears on the next tree. Then the owner of the eyes hopped up one branch higher. At last he could stand it no longer, and cried out: “Come, come! leave some fruit for the rest of us!” The wasp looked round. “Well, Master Impudence,” he said, “and pray does this garden belong to you?” sO,ie does not,” replied the robin, “nor to you either ; but there is one thing—I have more right here than you have, for the gardener is a friend of mire.” “Ts he?” said the wasp, returning to the pear he was busy on. “Yes, a great friend,” continued the robin, “and a very kind man he is too; he turns up the worms for me.” Then he added with glee, “But he does not like you, because you spoil the fruit.” “Not like me indeed!” exclaimed the wasp. - “I expect he’s afraid of me because I carry a sword.” 79 80 INSECT WONDERLAND ‘A sword!” cried the robin. “1 cannotseentan “No; but although you do not see it, Master Im- pudence, you had better take care that you do not feel ite “What is it for?” asked the little bird cheer fully. KG // Ie ee My RAT We 5 ““Come, come! leave some fruit for the rest of us!”’ “To fight with, of course,” said the wasp sharply. “ Dear me!” he answered thoughtfully ; “I suppose you have a lot of fighting to do, then? We robins fight sometimes; in fact, my friend, Mr. Gardener, says it is the only thing he does not like about us; but we have no swords, we use our beaks. Haven't you got a beak ?”’ ink ged WASP VCAS TRE SI “No,” said the wasp, “and that is another reason why we carry a sword; we use it to kill things to eat.” “T see,” said the robin. “ Are you using it now to kill the pear with?” “How silly you are!” retorted the wasp crossly. “Of course I am not. We use it when we want to kill insects to eat.” “Tnsects!” exclaimed the robin-in surprise; “but I thought you were an insect yourself!” foaobeam, he teplicd, “but we eat other insects. “You seem so inquisitive, I should have thought you would have known that.” “ Now, dear boy, do not be so cross,” said the robin pleasantly ; “it is not that I am inquisitive, but I want to know about everything. How do you think I know that you are an insect?” “Tam sure I don’t know,” replied the wasp. “Well, I heard the spider boasting about his eight legs, and saying that he was not an insect, but that you were.” “Did you?” said the wasp, showing some interest for the first time. “I suppose he did not say that he was afraid of my sword.” “No,” replied the robin. “I did not hear him say that.” “Well, then, I cantell youheis. Ifany of our family get into his net he runs out to have a look directly he feels the web shake, but when he sees our striped 6 82 INSECT WONDERLAND coat, away he runs again as fast as poceiols unless he is very, very hungry.” “No, he certainly did not say anything about running away, said the robin. “I heard him, though, telling what a long name he had got. I cannot quite remember it, but it was a something—— “Oh, yes,” interrupted the wasp, “I knovweesoue that is nothing. Our family name is much longer,” “Oh; do tell *mel* ented therobim “You would never remember it if I did,” was the reply. “Yes, yes, I should, if you said it very slowly,” 39 replied the robin excitedly. “ Well, it is ‘ Hymenoptera, ” he said very fast. “Oh, do say it slowly, there’s a dear!” pleaded the robin, “and tell me what it means.” ‘‘ T{-Y-M-E-N-O-P-T-E-R-A,” he said, spelling it very slowly, “and it means we have wings that you can see through.” Then he added sharply, “ What more do you want to know?” “Oh, lots of things,’ he replied, “but whentyeu seem so disagreeable I can’t remember them. You really look so nice in your striped coat) thatuie seems quite a pity you are so cross, for it is no use being handsome if you have not polite manners as well.” “Indeed, indeed!” cried the wasp; “ you seem to think a lot of yourself, Master _Impudence.” “Oh, no, I don’t,’ answered the little birdy as, 9 9) WASP CASTLE 83 the by, my name is not ‘Impudence,’ I am ‘ Robin’ — Robin Redbreast, you know.” “Oh, yes, I know you,” answered the wasp sourly ; “you are always hopping about; you seem to have nothing to do.” “TI can assure you I have,” he replied quickly ; “and Mrs. Robin Redbreast is very busy, when there are little ones to look after. Is Mrs. Wasp a good mother ?” “She is indeed, there could not be a better,’ he replied. “The queen-wasp——” “Oh! you have a queen then, as the bee has?” interrupted the robin excitedly. |esyall the mothers of our family are queens,’ he answered. “Just the same as Bee’s,” cried the robin, and he began to hop about. “Steady now!” said the wasp. “Not ‘just the same ’—because they are different!” “But how caz a queen be different?” he enquired. “Well, if you are patient I will tell you,” said the wasp. “Our queen has to do all the work by herself at first. She has to find a nice place, then build a home and look after her family. The queen-bee does no work—she only goes out once—and has slaves to wait on her.” “Do tell me how your queen builds her house all alone, and what she gives her little ones to eat, ? ana——— 84 INSECT WONDERLAND “Not so many questions at once, please,” said the wasp severely. “Ah! there is my Cousin Hornet! I will ask him to come and help me, for I am really quite tired, you want to know so many things.” The hornet—after stopping a moment to refresh himself at the raspberry-bush close by—joined the wasp on the pear-tree. “Good-day, Cousin,” he said, “those raspberries are so refreshing.” “Yes,” answered the wasp, “although I like these pears best myself. Not that I have had a chance of getting much of anything, for _ Impu—I mean Robin Redbreast—wants to know so many things about our family.” “Does he?” said the hornet. “ Well) youmare wonderfully industrious, Cousin; he might do worse than want to know about you.” The robin was delighted, and sang a little song to himself whilst the cousins talked. ‘A glad and happy bird am I, ’Neath summer sun or winter sky: ’Tis said—I’m brave and merry too, That you love me and I love you. ‘“‘Ere yet doth break the rosy dawn, My song is heard to greet the morn— And ’tis not till the setting sun That Robin Redbreast’s song is done. ** Perchance—if your cold wind doth blow— I from you for a space must go, WASP CASTLE gs Yet scarce a month e’er passes by, But backward home again I fly. “Pray tell me—are you glad when he— Your Robin Red—comes back to thee?” “Thank you,” said the hornet, “you sing very prettily— Does he not, Cousin ?” “Not amiss!” replied the wasp. “T was only singing to myself,” said the little bird modestly. “I felt so pleased when Hornet said there was no harm in my wanting. to know about your family.” “ And what is it that you want to know?” enquired the hornet. “About the queen building her home and——’” “Now, Cousin,” said the hornet, “you tell him about your part of the family, and then I will tell him about mine, whilst you go and have some rasp- berries,” and he gave a sly look towards the apple- tree as he spoke. The robin was so pleased and excited that he nearly fell off the bough on which he was perched. The wasp took one more bite of the pear, and then said : “The queen-mother hides away all the winter, but one warm spring morning out she comes and looks for a nice hole to build her new house in.” “She does not build it in a tree, then?” exclaimed the robin in, surprise. 86 INSECT WONDERLAND as No,” he replied, “not owzv mothers, because we are ground-wasps—there are some relatives of ours who are tree-wasps. I will tell you about them later on.” “ Oh, thank you,” cried the robin ; “I did not know; I thought that all wasps were the same.” “There are six different branches in your family, are there not, Cousin?” put in the hornet, “and I am a seventh kind—a great big fellow, much larger than the rest of you.” “ Quite right,” agreed the wasp. “And when the queen-mother has found a hole, what does she do next ?” enquired the robin. “ She creeps into it, and makes it larger by biting the earth and pushing it away with her feet. Then she goes out and collects either little bits of wood off trees and posts, or else grass, leaves, or rushes.” “ But how can she get the wood off ?” enquired the robin. “ She scrapes it with her jaws,” he explained, “ then she rolls it up into a neat little bundle, which she tucks under her jaws, and flies back to begin building her home.’ “TI expect she is tired by then,” said the robin. “She is,’ agreed the wasp, “so she rests a little, then she sets to work, and with a kind of glue out of her mouth, she makes what she has brought, into paper.” 3 “ Paper !” cried the robin ; “I can hardly believe it.” en WASP “We all make paper,” said the hornet, with a little pride in his voice, “but of different kinds.” “How wonderful!” exclaimed the robin. eur tell me, Wasp, what does she do next?” “She fixes what she has made firmly into the top of the hole, and fastens it, with more glue out of her mouth, to the root of a plant or stone; then she walks slowly backwards, un- rolling the little ball of paper as she goes and spreading it out. When she comes to the end of the roll, she runs for- ward and does the same thing all over again several times, until she has made her roof quite flat and smooth.” = What zs clever,” said the robin in wonder. “Oh, do go on,’ please.” CAS ELE 88 INSECT WONDEREAND “Then she goes out again and collects another little bundle to bring home, with which to build some cells under her paper roof.” “And what are the cells for?” asked thesrobm breathlessly. “ She lays an egg in each one, and glues it in; she also puts in a little food.” “Then I suppose she rests ?” said the robin. “Not a bit of it,’ cried the hornet and wasp to- gether ; “she is busier than ever, for soon her first eggs hatch and she must feed her little ones as well as go on with her house-building.” “What does she give them to eat?” enquired the robin anxiously. “Oh, spiders—nice fat ones—and caterpillars, and those little green flies which spoil the plants——” “T know, I know!” interrupted the robin excitedly. “JT heard Ladybird talking about them—she told the flowers how she and her relations watched for those little insects at the foot of this very tree I am perched on. What else does she give them ?” “ Honey,” said the wasp. “Honey!” repeated the robin; “I had no idea you made honey too!” “No——” said the wasp, rather hesitatingly, “ we——we——” “ Better tell the truth, Cousin,’ put in the homer “Whey steal tel “ That seems a pity,” said the robin. WASP CASTLE 89 “Not at all,” answered the wasp sharply. “The grubs must be fed,” and he looked fiercely at the robin, who saw he must be careful, so he said: fees. Of course,’ and hopped a little further away. The hornet, seeing that the wasp was getting cross again, said quickly: “ But tell Robin that our family do not steal the wax they use for putting lids on the cells.” “Oh, no, we make that ourselves,” replied his cousin, “as well as varnish to keep the cells dry.” The robin thought he might now venture to speak again, so he enquired rather timidly : “Did I hear you say just now that you were grubs before you were wasps ?” “Yes,” he answered, “ but we have no legs or wings. Our mother feeds us with honey and insects; then we spin little silk cases which protect us whilst we are growing our legs and wings, and at last we come out of our cells—full-grown wasps.” “Then do you help your mother?” enquired the robin anxiously. “Yes,” said the wasp; “we fly about for food, and collect materials for our paper. As well as this we go on building the house, making it larger and larger, and we feed the grubs—indeed, we work very hard.” “ And what does the Queen-mother do?” was the robin’s next question. 90 INSECT WONDERLAND “She only lays the eggs,” was the reply, “whilst we young wasps go on building the house bigger and stronger and making larger cells for the queen- mother to put her eggs in.” “But how do you make the house bigger ?” asked the robin. ) “ Well, when we have finished one paper roof full of cells, we make another underneath it.” “Underneath it!” exclaimed the robin in as- tonishment. “I cannot understand how you do that!” “JT don’t suppose you can,” replied the wasp sharply, “and you never will, if you keep on inter- rupting.” “T am so sorry; I will shut my beak up tight and only keep my ears open,” he replied. The wasp took no notice of this remark, but con- tinued : “We make little gluey pillars under the first roof to hold it up, and to fasten the next roof to. Do you understand ?” The robin nodded his head. “And so we go on,” explained the wasp, “ until we have made as many as we want—sometimes seventeen or eighteen.” The beak was wide open now, and exclaiming: “Dear, dear me! It is wonderful! I shall tell Mrs. Robin about it. Oh, I must speak now,” he went on, for he saw the hornet and wasp look at each WASP CASTLE OI other. “I am tired of keeping my beak shut, and besides, too, I so want to know what you do when the house is all finished, for it must take a long time to make it so large.” “By then it is drawing near winter, and when fecets cold’ and wet we die. Only the queen- mothers go and hide away and sleep until the next spring.” “Oh, what a pity!” cried the robin ; “ your beautiful home is of no use then ?” “None at all,” said the wasp, “for the little crea- tures who made it are nearly all dead.” “T do feel sorry,” said the robin regretfully. “Now you go and have your raspberries, Cousin,” called out the hornet, “whilst Robin and I have a little talk.” ees. put in the littl bird, “but be sure and come back again, because I do so want to ask you more about your sword.” The wasp felt better-tempered now, so he answered more pleasantly, that he would soon be back, and then off he flew to the raspberry-canes. When he had quite disappeared the robin hop- Meena little closer to the -hornet and said in a whisper : “Wasp is rather sharp-tempered, is he not?” “Well, I am afraid he is,’ agreed his cousin, “ but he is all right if you leave him alone. Now what shall we talk about?” INSECT WONDERWAND The Wood-Wasp’s nest. “ Please tell me where you live, and if you make paper—and—— Oh, I forgot, I must not ask so many questions at once. I think I should like to know——” “About the >papemgs suggested the homer “We make that too, but it is much thicker and not the same colour as Wasp’s, and we glue ours together before we roll it out.” “And where do you live and build your nests?” enquired the robin, who was now thoroughly en- joying himself. “Very ‘often inthe hollow of an old tree,” he answered. “By the by, I expect you know a little relation of ours, called Wood-Wasp, for she builds her nest under the bough of a tree.” “Yes, yes, | know dere WASP (CASTER 93 said the robin, “and there is another wasp who steals a lot of caterpillars—I have seen her take them— who is she?” “Ah, that is Wall-Wasp,” answered the hornet. “She is a clever little insect and is one of the solitary wasps,” 7 “T don’t know what that is,’ said the robin. save, explained the hornet, “the members of our family who live alone are called ‘Solitary ’—that means lonely—and those who live with their families are called “ Social.’” ; “But why does Wall-Wasp take so many cater- pillars?” persisted the robin, for this interested him much more than about “lonely” wasps. “ Because she is such a careful mother,’ replied the hornet. “ When she has laid her egg, she puts cater- pillars, flies, and spiders, all ready in the nest for her little ones to eat. Then she fastens the door with a lump of mud and goes away.” “Does she never come back again?” asked the robin in surprise. “No, never,’ said the hornet ; “ but when the little wasp grows big he bites his way out through the door. There is lots more I could tell you, but I see Wasp coming back.” “ How funny he looks,” whispered the robin, “ just as if the back of him would fall off.” “Do not let him hear you say that,” continued the hornet, “for he is very proud of his nice figure and 94 INSECT WONDEREAINWD small waist, and it shows too that he is a proper insect—the body in three parts, you know. We are also very proud of belonging to the Hook-wing Order. At this moment the wasp joined them and asked : “What was that about the Hook-wing order?” “T was just saying,” responded the hornet, “that we are very proud of belonging to that order.” “JT should just think we are,” said the wasp, “for we Hook-wings are the chief of all the in- SECtSi “Who are ‘ we’?” asked the robin. “Bee, Ant, Saw-Fly, and ourselves; wasp. “You will always know us, because our front wings are larger than the back ones; they lie over them when we are still, but when we fly the under ) replied!* the ones hook to the upper.” “Oh, now I see why you are called Hook-wing insects. Do you hook anywhere else?” “No, but we are made so that we can bend our bodies, or, in fact, nearly double them up, if we want to, in our work,” said the wasp rather importantly, “and as well as that we can sting.” “Sting!” cried the robin; “that is your sword, then! Just tell me what it is like and I will not bother you with any more questions.” “There are two sharp points, like tiny saws,” explained the wasp, “ which we prick with,and a drop WASP CASTER 95 of poison runs into these points from a bag at the back. There is also a little case in which they are kept when we are not using them.” The robin was much interested. “T suppose, then,” he said, “ that is how Wall-Wasp kills the caterpillars?” “She does not kill them,’ said the hornet, “she only stings them, so that they cannot get away.” “Well, I only hope that I shall remember all that you and Hornet have told me, for I am sure that Mrs. Robin would like to know about you clever little paper-makers.” “Ves, we make the best paper of all the insects,” cried the wasp and hornet together, “never forget that!” “Indeed I shall not,” replied the robin. “Now I mseeco, for | see Mr. Gardener over there, and perhaps he has got a nice worm ready.” “You might tell your friend from me,” said the wasp, “that he need not grudge usa little of the fruit which we help to secure for him.” The robin, who was just starting to fly away, paused for a moment. “How is that?” he enquired, with a puzzled look. “When our queens come out in the spring they demolish numbers of those little green flies which would otherwise spoil the fruit trees—so we have a right to some.” 96 INSECT WONDERICAND “T will be sure and tell him,” said the robin; then he added with a roguish look: “But when you take your share of the fruit do not forget to leave some for Robin Redbreast!” and away he flew. PeAyGON-PLY “POOL SUMMARY The water-lhhes and forget-me-nots enter into con- versation with a flowering rush and ask what is the curious insect they see creeping upitsstem. The rush says it does not know. So they watch until the insect, to their surprise, turns intoa dragon-fly. They tell the latter how astonished they were when they saw this happen and ask him where he came from. He relates how he has lived for two years, whilst he was growing, at the bottom of their river. 3 PICAGON-FLY POOL HE water-lilies smiled to themselves as they floated on the pool and watched the sun coax- ing their buds to open out. The forget-me-nots, too, were glad to be alive, and lifted their little star-like faces to be also kissed by the sun ; whilst close by, a tall flowering rush bowed her head this way and that, as the wind passed over it. Presently one of the little blue flowerets whispered to her nearest companion : “Look at that curious thing on the stem of the rush ! what is it?” “T do not see anything,’ replied the floweret addressed. Pl ere, there!” cried the first speaker; “high up the stem, a good way above the water. It looks like a bit of wood.” “Oh, yes, I do see it now,” answered her sister in an excited voice; “but I cannot think what it can be,” “Nor I, nor 1!” came in a chorus from the other flowers, for it appeared that several of them had been watching this curious-looking object crawling out of the water, up the stem of the rush, ; 99 100 INSECT WONDERLAND “The only thing is to ask someone bigger and wiser than ourselves,” suggested the forget-me-not who had first spoken. “Yes, yes,” cried the flowerets, “suppose we ask the water-lilies.” So they gave their message to a little ripple in the water, who danced across with it to the water-lilies ; *€T cannot think what it can be.’’ but they went on smiling and rocking themselves gently, and the wind brought back word that they did not know, but suggested that the forget-me-nots should ask the rush. This they did, but the rush replied that she did not know either. She had been wondering herself, she said, what was creeping slowly up her stem. Then they talked it over together. and decided DRAGON-FPLY POOL 101 they would all watch carefully, and whoever saw anything first was to call out to the others. | They had not long to waireane if was the | water-lilies who, after all, gave the signal. The largest one suddenly stopped rocking and cried out : “Took,look, flowerets! A Nee HEN) NW HES DERSY 1» Se ° Ys HL peAN le RY It is breaking open moeieis!” they ex- claimed together. “ And see! something is com- ing out!” They watched breath- lessly, and saw the strange -looking thing twisting itself this way |} and that, and one of the |} little blue blossoms fh whispered to her friend |My in in an awestruck voice: plitss alive !” : Then another cried: \ ‘* And see! something is . ” . wings | coming out!” “Now it has got 102 INSECT WONDERLAND “Look!” exclaimed a third, “it has a long body and legs—what can it be?” But at this moment it stopped wriggling and twist- ing, and the flowerets whispered : “Whatever it is, it is dead now, for see, it is quite still,’ and they felt very disappointed. Suddenly, to their astonishment, it began to move again, and a few moments later only the case was left hanging upon the rush, whilst a little lower down the stem a great insect was seen to be cling- ing. The flowers scarcely breathed, but murmured to each other : “Ts it asleep, or is it really dead now?” As they spoke there was a little quiver of the wings—then these spread out in the sun, and as the flowers watched them they seemed to grow beautiful and gleam with lovely colours in the light. “See his big eyes!” they whispered,” “(stile does not look as if he were awake!” But before long the big eyes began to grow bright, and then it was that one blue blossom—braver than the rest—called up to him : “Tf you are awake now, do you mind telling us who you are?” The great eyes looked at her, and frightened at her own boldness, the blossom drooped her head. Then the insect said slowly : “T—am—a—DRAGON-FLY !” DRAGON-FLY “POOL fe) © Oh !” cried. the rush, “JT know you now—you are one of those beauti- ful insects which look like a flower with wings.” “T expect I shall look beautiful presently,” he replied, “when the sun Mas, Giied me and brought out my fine colours; but I shall have to stay here for an hour or two until my wings are strong enough to fly with.” “We shall like watch- ing you get your col- ours,’ came in a chorus from the flowers. Just then another dra- gon-fly flew past, with all his brilliant colours flashing in the sun. He hovered for a moment upon one of the rushes and said : “Well, and how do you like being up here instead of down below?” VA - lama _ DRAG ON-E LY !” 104 INSECT WONDERLAND “T think I shall like it very much when my wings are ready to use,” was the reply. “That you will!” cried his friend, as he went on his way. “Where did he come from?” whispered the flowerets in excitement to each other. “You ask him,” they said to the rush. But the dragon-fly—who was getting stronger every moment—had heard, and answered : “Why, from the bottom of your pool to be sure— that is where I came from.” “The bottom of our pool!” they exclaimed: “ Have you been there long?” “Yes, tort wo years, ne repiied: “What were you doing down there all the time?” asked the rush. “ Growing,’ answered the dragon-fly. “But what did you grow out of?” enquired the flowers eagerly. “@ut of an‘ese,” saidvhe The flowers looked puzzled, then one of them remarked : “Tt is very strange—I never knew that eggs could be at the bottom of a pool. Mrs. Larkic@itttle ones come out of an egg, but then she has a nice Nesp “ Ah,” said the dragon-fly, “our mothers do not have nests; they drop their eggs into the water and they sink right down to the bottom.” DRAGON-FLY POOL 108 “But I wonder they do not get lost,’ put in the rush. “No, they are quite safe,” answered the dragon-fly, “unless of course a beetle or some other enemy eats them up; this does happen sometimes, but not as a rule.” “And then?” the rush enquired. “Why, then the little nymph——” “Nymph!” interrupted the flowers; “but we do not know what that is. Please tell us.” “Qh, it is only the name we are called by, from the time we come out of the egg until we get our wings.” “Ts it anything like a grub?” suddenly asked one of the water-lilies ; “ because we know what that Is.” The dragon-fly looked round, and when he saw the beautiful floating flower smiling up at him, he answered with great respect : “Tt is only another name for a grub, and as you know what that is, we will call it so.” “Thank you,” said the water-lilies, and they settled themselves quietly down to hear what the dragon-fly had to tell. “I was going to say,’ he continued, “that the grubs soon come out.” “What are they like?” enquired the forget-me- nots. “They are a grey colour and have six legs and are always very hungry,” was the answer. 106 INSECT WONDERLAND “JT suppose they soon use their legs to run about with and look for food,” said the rush. “Not at all,” replied the dragon-fly. “‘Nheydimde under a leaf or stone in the water and keep quite still until they see an insect or other little creature come along ; these they catch as they pass.” “But how can they catch them without moving?” was the anxious enquiry. “They have a’ thing )called a ‘mask, wihteigms fastened by a little hinge to their lower jaw; this they can shoot out suddenly, and with the sharp teeth on its edge, can seize the creatures as they swim along.” “Unless the creatures get out of -their wae fine terrupted the flowers. “Ha, ha!” laughed the dragon-fly, “but they can reach much farther off than you think. Then the sharp teeth shut up, the mask folds back, and down the throat of the hungry grub goes the poor little victim they have caught.” “And is that what you have been doing all this time?” asked the little blue blossoms in frightened tones. “Yes,” replied their visitor ; “eating and moulting —we change our skins a great many times, you know—and as we moult, we get more and more hungry.” “And do you get to look any different?” enquired the rush. DRAGON-FLY POOL 107 “No, we do not change in our appearance so much as many insects do; but would you like me to tell you what we are like just before we come up here?” asked the dragon-fly. fPicase, please!” cried his listeners, “Well, we have the case you saw me come out of and six legs, and on each foot there is a strong hook —now guess what these hooks are for.” There was a silence for a moment, and the flowers shook their heads in bewilderment. Then the rush said quietly: “TJ think 1 know—you use them when you want to climb up a stein.” “Quite right,” said the dragon-fly. ‘They are so sharp that they will even pierce wood, and as well as this we can hold on firmly whilst we twist and turn to get out of our case.” “But how do you know you want to come up here instead of staying on, down in the pool?” enquired the water-lilies who had been listening attentively. “We begin to feel tired,” replied the dragon-fly, “and are not as hungry as we used to be. Then, too, we cannot breathe so well in the water as we did before, and feel we want the air.” “Ah!” said the rush, “talking of breathing—I do so want to know how you can breathe at all under treater.” “We have a long tube through our body, which 108 INSECT. WONDERLAW®D comes out in a point at our tail—this can be opened or closed at will,’ explained the dragon-fly. “When it is open we draw in water to breathe with, and when it is closed up in a point we can shoot the water out again, and at the same time it pushes us across the pool.” “Well, that is really wonderful!” said the rush thoughtfully. “But,” she added politely, “I inter- rupted you, just when you were telling us about wanting to come up to the air.” “Yes, I was saying we feel tired and long to fly instead of only being able to run about; so we find something growing down in the water, something ) tall—like the graceful reed I am on——” Here the dragon-fly gently fluttered his gauzy wings by way of salute and the rush bowed her head in acknow- ledgment. Then he continued : “We climb slowly up the stem until we are as high above the water as we want to be, and then—as you have seen—we come out of our case and begin our new life.” “You are getting so beautiful!” cried the flowers ; “your wings look so much larger and their lovely colours are shining in the sun; and now your body is long and bright too!” “Will your wings be strong enough to fly with?” enquired the water-lilies anxiously. “Qh, yes,” replied the dragon-fly, “for although DRAGON-FLY POOL 109 they look so thin, they are on a frame covered on each side, so you see they are really double ; whilst inside there are some little things called nerves which look like tiny tubes.” “What are those for?” enquired the flowers. “JT will try and tell you,” he answered. “ Directly we come up here and get out of our case these tubes fill with air—otherwise we could not fly. A white fluid also goes through them, and as this fluid and the air fill the tubes, our wings stretch out and the little frame spreads with them. That is why we belong to the ‘ Neuroptera’ Order of insects,” he added. The flowers looked at each other; then one of the forget-me-nots said timidly : “We do not quite know what that word means; please tell us.” “Tt is to do with those little tubes I told you about, which are really nerves,” said the dragon-fly, “and means that all our family are ‘nerve-winged.’ Others of us who are called ‘ Little Ladies, as well as our relations the ‘ Lace-wings’ and the ‘ May-flies,’ have the same kind of wings.” ““Tace-wings!’ that is a pretty name,” cried the flowers. “How could we know them if we saw them ?” “ By their eyes,” replied the dragon-fly, “for they have the most beautiful eyes of all.” “But you have lovely eyes too,’ exclaimed the 1») rush, “and so big! IIO INSECT WONDERLAND “Perhaps you notice them more because there are so many of them,” rejoined the dragon-fly. “Many of them!” cried the flowers ; “‘ we can only see two.” “Ah, but each one is made up of hundreds and thousands of little ones, and as well as’ that we have three little eyes—see, they are across the front.” The forget-me-nots raised their pretty blue heads as high as possible. “So they are!” they exclaimed in surprise. “What can you want so many eyes for?” “That we may see all ways at the same time,” he answered. “It is convenient—especially when we are hunery!” he continued with a little laugh. “ But are you just as hungry when you are grown up?” enquired the rush. “Oh, yes, more hungry, and we kill and eat every “insect that comes in our way, catching them as they fly. along. Sometimes, too, we chase them and tear them to pieces—just for Pleasure you know,” he added with glee. The flowers shivered when they heard this, and there was silence for a moment. Then one of the water-lilies said : “But what about your mask? You do not seem to have that now.” “Oh, no,” he answered, “we do not need it when we come up here, we can fly so swiftly, whichever DRAGON-FLY POOL III way we like—either backwards or forwards. Oh, I am so looking forward to starting—my wings are nearly strong enough—I shall soon be off!” and he quivered his wings as if he were going to start. “Do not go yet!” cried the flowerets ; “we shall be so sorry to lose you.” “But even when I go, I shall often come back and see you,” he answered, “ for we dragon-flies love best to flit about in the sun, above the water beneath which we began our life.” “We are glad!” came in a chorus from the flowers, “for we shall like to see your bright colours flashing in the sunlight over our pool.” “And I suppose we shall see your cousin Lace- wing, too?” said the rush. You migcht, but it is not so likely,” replied the dragon-fly, “for my cousin does not care about the sunlight as I do, but likes the moonlight best. Neither is he fond of water.” “But does he not grow up under the water too?” interrupted the rush. ”) “No,” he answered. “The mother Lace-wing puts her eggs into leaves, not in the water, and when the young ones come out they very soon spin a little silk ball in which they go to sleep for a time. They change their skins just as we do, only much more quickly, and then they come out in their lovely green suits and their great golden eyes. Now I am really off——” ‘*Now I am really off——” DRAGON-FLY POOL 113 And before the flowers had even time to say “ good- bye,” he had spread his new wings and risen into the air, his beautiful body gleaming in the sun, as with a whiz and a whir he disappeared across the pool. “ How beautiful he is!” sighed the forget-me-nots. “Yes,” replied the water-lilies, “beautiful—but eruel !” MOUNT ANE HILE SUMMARY A snail, crawling slowly along, passes an ant hill where a great commotion seems going on. The snail stops and enquires the cause of the bustle, and the ants tell him that their home has been broken into and that they are hastening to put everything in order. again. He asks what the hurry is, and the ants explain that it is interrupting their regular work. A slug comes up whilst they are talking and agrees with the snail that he does not believe in hurrying; but both he and the snail feel rather ashamed when they learn what industrious little creatures the ants are. font HILL MOUNT = OOD gracious!” cried the snail, who was taking a leisurely morning walk; “what can be the matter at Ant Hill Mount? I really must go and see!” and he crossed over to where a number of 9° ee x 5 ™ Mi a aT 1 | We Hite rae ie ' BG ial } ‘ : i i Mey Heyy Dan ' | th Wy UH i | WH F. { 1 i | H ‘What can be the matter at Ant Hill Mount?” tiny creatures were hurrying hither and thither in great excitement. Each one carried a small white bundle in its jaws. The snail tried to speak to some of these, but they 117 118 INSECT WONDEREAND paid no attention—only went hastily on. At last one passed without any bundle, so he determined to make him hear and called out : “ Do please tell me what is the matter here?” “ Our house has been broken into!” was the hurried reply. “But why do you——” began the snail slowly. “I am busy now,” interrupted the ant, “but if you wait where you are, I will come back again as soon as I can and tell you about it.” Then off he went. The snail was quite content to stay where he was. He made it a rule never to hurry, and it seemed to him very silly that the ants were in such a bustle. “For,” said he to himself, “they cannot have any- thing important to do, but are just making a fuss about nothing. Still, I may as well find out what all this commotion is about, as I have nothing particular to do this morning.” So he waited patiently until he saw that the ants, who were carrying the bundles, had nearly all dis- appeared. A number of others were still left, and these seemed to be running in and out of the broken hill, although he could not quite make out what they were doing. At last he espied his special friend, who cried out as he came hurrying back: “JT am sorry I could not come sooner, Mr. Snail, but there was so much to be done.” MN. TLE MOUNT 119 “« What was it you were doing?” enquired the snail. “ Finding a safe place ; for, as I told you, our home was broken into and has to be mended.” “Ah!” said the snail importantly, “you should be like me and carry your house upon your back, then there would be no need for this rushing and tearing about ; but you would be able to move in a slow and dignified manner, as I do,” “Excuse me,” replied the ant, with some temper, “but I must remind you that we are considered the most industrious of all insects——” “Oh! an insect are you?” interrupted the snail. “Yes—a proper insect too,” replied the ant, “divided into three parts and with six legs ; and what is more,” he added with pride, “ we are members of the Hook- wing Order. Those who belong to that Order are the chief of all the insects.” “Indeed!” answered the snail indifferently ; “ none of that interests me in the least. Ido not even know what Order I belong to, but I am quite happy as Dam,” “Tt is a good thing to be contented,” said the ant ; “and you can be busy too and yet happy.” “Well, I should not be happy if I had to be in such a hurry,” persisted the snail. “ But we are not always in a hurry like that. We were frightened and had to get the baby ants into a safe place.” 120 INSECT WONDERLAND “ Baby ants!” repeated the snail; “but I did not see any baby ants, only grown-up ones like yourself.” “Did you not notice the little white bundles, then, that so many of them were carrying?” enquired the ant in surprise. “Of course I saw those,’ he said, “but nothing that looked like baby ants. Perhaps I am getting blind, like Mr. Worm.” “ Those little bundles ave baby ants, ) was the reply, “only they are wrapped up in a fine net case, in which they stay until they have grown their legs and wings.” “ Now that does interest me,’ responded the snail, “and I should like to hear more about it. Tell me now, why were some of the bundles large and others small ?” “Because the large ones hold queens and drones, the smaller ones workers, and the tiniest, small workers.” “And pray what are you?” enquired the snail ; “a2 queen or a droner” “Neither!” said the ant in a shocked! yoicesgyam am a big worker.” “How was I to know that?” asked the snail in an offended tone. “Instead of looking so shocked you had better say what is the difference, for I always thought myself that an ant was just an ant, and nothing more.” “Well, of course an ant zs an ant, but some of us ANP OIE MOUNT [at are much more important than others. First there are the queens—they have wings and stings—then there are the drones—who have wings, but no stings, and then——” “ Stop, stop!” interrupted the snail. “I can under- stand a queen-ant, but what zs the one you call a drone ?” “Oh, he is a big fellow,” replied the ant, “ but he ts lazy and does not work.” “Ah!” laughed the snail, “he would just suit me; mever ina hurry, | expect!” The ant took no notice of this remark, but con- tinued: “ Then there are the workers.” “ And you are a worker, I suppose,” said the snail. Pes, ceplied the ant, “but only one of them,’ he added modestly. “I am really a soldier, and have to be outside on duty; that is why I am able to talk to you.” ) fies, me! responded the snail; “you. do not mean to say that there is more than one kind of worker ?” “Oh, indeed, there are several kinds!” was the reply. “There are nurses and slaves as well as soldiers ; and all have their own work.” “But what can so many of you find to do?” asked the snail in surprise. “TI will try and tell you,” said the ant. Then he added suddenly: “ Please wait a moment, for I think I am wanted.” Off he ran, and the snail saw him 122 INSECT WONDERLAND standing between another ant like himself—only smaller—and two little insects who were going towards the hill. These latter he apparently chased for some distance. Then he came back to the snail. “What were you doing?” enquired the latter. “ My duty,” he replied. “Those were enemies who would have tried to get in at our gate——’” “Your gate!” exclaimed the snail. “] domomsee Ones) “Oh, the door of our house is called the sate, sie explained. “It is very often left open, but we can shut it up, if we wish, with a stone. Sometimes we have more than one gate to our homes.” “I see,’ said the snail ; “the enemies were some tn so you chased them away.” “Just so,’ said he. “But that is: only osevonous duties. The soldiers of some hills have to go and fight to get slaves. One family of the Wood-Ants does this; the ones who live over there, at the foot of Old Oak Tree,’ and he waved his feelers as he spoke, in the direction of the tree. “Ah, yes,” said the snail; “slaves—I should like to know how you get these and what they are wanted fore “ The slaves are a smaller and weaker kind. The soldiers of one hill march to another and fight with the ants there. Then they seize the cases con- taining the babies and carry these back to their own hill. When the baby ants come out, they are ANT HILL MOUNT 123 brought up with our own young ones, and when they are big enough they have to work for their masters.” “ What kind of work?” enquired the snail. “ Oh, some have to nurse and feed the babies, and others have to build and repair the nest. A number have to wait on their owners—clean them, and even carry them if they want to travel about.” “That sounds lazy,” put in the snail. “It is that they get so used to being waited on,” replied the ant, “ that they really cannot do anything for themselves.” “You can call it what you like,” replied the snail, “JT call it nothing but laziness. Well, I have heard enough of the slaves and soldiers ; now tell me about your queen.” “ Queens, Mr. Snail, you mean,” rejoined the ant politely. ‘“ We have many queens; they are the mothers, too, and lay the eggs, and sometimes they work. Quite different from Beehive Palace—there is only one queen there, and she does not work.” “JT want to hear about your queens, not the one at Beehive Palace,” replied the snail severely. The ant—big soldier though he was—felt rather small. But just at this moment a slug came crawling past, and the snail, seeing him, forgot his anger and called out: “Ah! here is a relation of mine who will agree with me, I know, as to what a mistake it is to hurry.” 124 INSECT WONDERLAND “His house is not on his back,” whispered the ant ; “has he lest atin “No,” was the reply ;~“ Slue does not) casa aime house on his back—it is the only silly thing about him ; except for this, he is dignified and moves slowly, as edo: By this time the slug. had joined them, and the snail began telling him all about the ants and the commotion they had been in. The relatives agreed as to the folly of being in such a bustle. At last the ant managed to get in a word, and said : “But, Sirs, you make a mistake if you think we are always in such a hurry as you found us just now. It is not so at all; I assure you when we move house we do it most quietly and in order, but we dislike having our regular work upset. Then, too, when we eo to war we march all in line ; and some of our rela- tions have big armies, I can tell you.” “Move house! Go to war! What is he talking about ?” asked the slug in bewilderment. “He is a soldier ant, so of course he goes to war,” answered the snail inasuperior way. “I dare say he will not mind telling you what his duties are.” “Not at all,” was the reply. “We have, for one thing, to watch and see that no danger comes near our hill. Then, too, if any of the workers) aces trouble they come to us soldiers”—he looked very important as he said this. “ You saw I was needed ANT HILL MOUNT 125 just now, did you not?” he enquired, turning towards the snail. Pires, yes, answered he, in an irritable voice; “but it is fighting we want to hear more about.” “Well, then,” he replied, “I might tell you of some relations of ours called ‘Army-Ants.’ They do not live here, but far away over the sea. They have very large armies, and when they march they drive every creature before them; but it ts only because they go in line and obey their commanders that they can do this.” Piear me, Snail,” said the slug, “this is very interesting; [ am really glad I happened to come this way to-day. But did I not hear you saying something about ‘queens’ as I came up?” fetes, steplicd the ant; “Mr. Snail was asking about our gweex, and I was just explaining that we had ‘ “Never mind what you were explaining,” inter- rupted the snail sharply, “but just tell us about your queens—that is if there is anything worth hearing.” The slug noticed that the ant looked rather angry and fierce at being spoken to in such a rude manner, so coming up closer, he said : “If Soldier can spare time from his duties to talk to us a little longer we should like to hear about that, and anything else he can tell us.” The ant felt pleased at this nice speech, and the 126 INSECT WONDERLAND “¢ Then she takes off her wings 3) slug was relieved to see that he looked less fierce, as he answered politely : | “With pleasure, Mr, Slug.