Great Hike Part 24

ICHNEUMON FLIES.

These flies attack caterpillars especially and lay their eggs in their bodies. The young, when hatched, feed upon the unfortunate victim.

THE HORN-TAILS.

The wood-eaters or horn-tails are wood-boring insects living in the trunks of trees and stems of plants. They are called "horn-tails"

because of the spine at the end of the body. They lay their eggs in these borings and the young, when hatched, continue to bore their way through the pith.

THE SAW-FLIES.

The saw-flies saw their way into plant tissue and lay their eggs in the openings thus made. Many of these flies are very injurious to vegetation because of this habit. The currant-worm, rose-slug and pear-slug are all members of this family, and farmers are not on friendly terms with these insects.

THE COLEOPTERA.

This is the order of insects which includes beetles, glowworms, lady-birds, weevils, c.o.c.k-chafers, etc. Their chief characteristic is the hard wing covers. The wings proper are below these. Most of this order have strong mandibles. The diet of beetles is much varied, but they are all voracious.

The little lady-birds, about whom the nursery rhyme sings, warning them to "fly away home," feed upon the scale insects.

The glow-worm derives the first part of its name from its luminosity, and the second from its worm-like appearance. To this same family belong a number of other luminous beetles, the name "firefly" being usually given.

The weevil is a general name for plant-eating beetles, and they not infrequently cause great destruction to vegetable matter. Certain weevils are interesting because of their habit of rolling up leaves in order to construct a shelter for their young. The nut-weevil lays her eggs in the young nut while it is still soft and its grub bores its way out in the fall. The cotton-boll weevil has caused great injury to the cotton crops in the Southern States. It pierces the leaves of the plant and lays its eggs. The young feed upon the plant. There are also corn weevils and rice weevils, and still others that attack peas and beans.

The c.o.c.k-chafers belong to a large group of dark-colored beetles known as June bugs. They frequently enter light rooms at night, making a loud buzzing noise. The insect comes out of the ground in the spring and is very destructive to the foliage of fruit and other trees. Its grubs live under ground and feed on roots. The chief enemies of the grub are moles and birds; of the beetles, bats and birds.

LEPIDOPTERA.

The order of Lepidoptera includes the b.u.t.terflies and moths. Their wings and body are covered with scales, frequently bright-colored. There are several stages in the life history of these insects just as there are in the life history of other insects, but these stages are so p.r.o.nounced and the changes so remarkable in this order that it is well here for us to consider the different steps which nature takes in transforming the repulsive caterpillar into the beautiful b.u.t.terfly or moth. The first stage is the egg, from which is hatched the caterpillar. The caterpillar, after living its life, spins its coc.o.o.n, is transformed into the chrysalis. The chrysalis in turn eventually becomes the b.u.t.terfly.

The milkweed b.u.t.terflies are large-sized b.u.t.terflies; the upper surface of the wings is bright and reddish bordered with black, and the whole wing is veined heavily with black. The wings are spotted with white; the caterpillar is bright yellow with black bands. This insect often appears in large numbers in New Jersey late in the autumn. This particular one of the milkweed b.u.t.terflies is called "The Monarch"; a smaller one of this genus is called "The Queen."

[Ill.u.s.tration: b.u.t.tERFLIES.]

The California long-winged b.u.t.terfly. The fore wings are brownish-black blotched with yellow; the hind wings are a dingy orange.

The Dircenna. The fore wings of this b.u.t.terfly are grayish-brown with transparent spots; the hind wings are more yellowish in color.

The Cliff Fritillary. The upper side of this b.u.t.terfly is bright tawny-brown spotted with black; the hind wings have a black border spotted with the same color as the wings. The under side of the fore wings is orange. The caterpillar feeds upon the pa.s.sion flower of the Southern states. It is found from southern Virginia westward to Arizona and California.

The Regal Fritillary. The upper side of the fore wings is a bright brown, spotted and blotched with cream color and black; the upper side of the hind wings is black with cream-colored spots. The caterpillar is large, nearly two inches long; black with stripes and bands of reddish-orange. There are six rows of spines. The caterpillar feeds on violets and does not appear in the daytime. This is a beautiful b.u.t.terfly and is found from Maine to Nebraska, frequenting the borders of woodlands.

The Diana. Both wings are a dark brown with wide border of dark orange spotted with brown spots. It is found in the Virginias, Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky.

The Silver-bordered Fritillary. This is a small b.u.t.terfly ranging over most of the northern part of the United States. The fore wings on the under side are spotted at the margin with silver spots.

The Baltimore. Upper side black bordered with a row of red spots followed by three rows of yellow spots on the fore wings and two rows on the hind wings. It is found in colonies in swamps, in the northern parts of the United States and Canada.

The Question Sign. This b.u.t.terfly is easily determined by its large size; the wings are peculiarly shaped; it is bright brown on the upper side, spotted but edged with darker brown and pale blue. This is a common b.u.t.terfly of the Middle States and is often found in the early spring.

The Red Admiral. This is a common b.u.t.terfly found throughout North America. It derives its name from the red on its fore wings and the red border on its hind wings.

The Thistle b.u.t.terfly. Wherever thistles grow may be found "The Painted Lady," and Dr. V. J. Holland in his b.u.t.terfly Books says, "This is undoubtedly the most widely distributed of well-known b.u.t.terflies. It is found in almost all regions of the earth and in many tropical lands in both hemispheres." The food plants of the caterpillar are thistles.

The Buckeye. On both the upper and lower sides of the fore and hind wings are eye-like spots. It is a common b.u.t.terfly in the South, but is occasionally found as far North as New England. These b.u.t.terflies will fight other pa.s.sing b.u.t.terflies.

The Painted Purple b.u.t.terfly is easily distinguished because of its broad white bands across both wings.

The Blue b.u.t.terflies, the Copper b.u.t.terflies and the Hair-streaked b.u.t.terflies are small insects, many of which are characterized by the bright blue of the upper side of the wings; in other forms the copper color prevails. Hair-streaked b.u.t.terflies often have small tails on their horned wings.

The Sulphur b.u.t.terflies and Whites are medium-sized or small b.u.t.terflies, white or yellow in color, having dark edgings. The common white b.u.t.terfly is easily cla.s.sified by its pure-white color of the under-side white wings.

The Cabbage b.u.t.terfly is a common insect familiar to all. Much good sauerkraut material is spoiled by its ravages.

Orange Tipped b.u.t.terflies. This is a large species of pretty b.u.t.terflies.

The Swallow-tail b.u.t.terflies are generally large b.u.t.terflies with the hind wings tailed.

The Ajax is one of the most beautiful of the b.u.t.terflies. Its wings are streaked with brown and white, with red and blue spots near the tail on the hind wings.

The Tiger Swallow Tail seems to be fond of the woodlands of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. The common Eastern swallow-tail is bright yellow and black, and found all over the Atlantic States.

The Wood Nymphs are b.u.t.terflies of moderate size with eye-like spots on their wings, the wings being tawny brown or gray.

We have endeavored to give our boy readers a brief description of some of the most beautiful and some of the most common b.u.t.terflies of the United States. There are thousands more.

MOTHS.

The moths are popularly distinguished from b.u.t.terflies by the belief that they fly at night; there are, however, numerous exceptions to this distinction. The antennae of b.u.t.terflies are blunt; in moths they vary in form, being rarely shaped like those of the b.u.t.terfly. Moths are more numerous than b.u.t.terflies, and vary as to size and color. Some moths have been known to reach a size of six or seven inches in width and attain the most brilliant coloring of all insects.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOTHS.]

Hawk Moth. This is a large, dull-colored, powerful moth. The caterpillars are smooth and striped, horned at the rear end. The Death's Head Moth belongs to the same family, as do also the Oleander Hawk Moth and the Humming-bird Hawk Moth. The last mentioned is often mistaken for a humming bird. Caterpillars of this family are destructive to potato, tomato and tobacco plants. The moths of this family are known as the Sphinx Moths. The markings on the body of the Death's Head Moth resemble a skull and crossbone--hence its name. The body is covered with hair. The fore wings are brown, the hind wings yellow, banded with black. It makes a squeaking noise and is often found in beehives where it is attracted by the honey.

The Egger Moths get their name from the peculiar egg-sh.e.l.l-like surface of their coc.o.o.ns.

The Lima Moths are among the largest and most beautiful of our moths.

The hind wings have a tail-like appendage. It is pale green in color with a purple band along the front of the fore wings.