The ant-lion is the larva of a Neuropterous insect Myrmeleon formicarius, which in its perfect state greatly resembles a dragon-fly. The ant-lion is curious on account of its ingenious method of catching the insects - chiefly ants - on which it feeds. It digs a funnel-shaped hole in the driest and finest sand it can find, and when the pit is deep enough, and the sides are quite smooth and sloping, it buries itself at the bottom with only its formidable mandibles projecting, and waits until some luckless insect stumbles over the edge, when it is immediately seized, its juices sucked, and the dead body jerked out. Ant-lions inhabit Southern Europe. Research Ant-Lion
The Army Worm is the very destructive larva of the moth Heliophila or Leucania unipuncta, so called from its habit of marching in compact bodies of enormous number, devouring almost every green thing it meets. It is about 30 mm long, greenish in colour, with black stripes, and is found in various parts of the world, but is particularly destructive in North America. The larva of Sciara militaris, a European two-winged fly, is also called army worm. Research Army Worm
The babiroussa or babyroussa (in Indonesian meaning hog-stag) is a ferocious wild pig found in Sulawesi. The babiroussa's behaviour differs from typical pigs in various ways. It does not dig holes in the ground in search of roots or worms, but rather feeds on fruit fallen from the trees or larva nesting in fallen tree-trunks. Unlike typical pigs the female gives birth to only one or two offspring, and these grow slowly. From the outside of the upper jaw spring two teeth 30 cm long, curving upwards and backwards like horns, and almost touching the forehead. The tusks of the lower jaw also appear externally, though they are not so long as those of the upper jaw. Along the back are some weak bristles, and on the rest of the body only a sort of wool. These animals live in herds, are sometimes tamed, and their flesh is well flavoured. Research Babiroussa
The bee is a four winged stinging insect of the order Hymenoptera. Bees form the super-family Apoidea of the sub-order Apocrita.
The most important member of the family is the common hive or honey bee (Apis mellifica). It belongs to the warmer parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, but is now naturalized in the Western. A hive commonly consists of one mother or queen, from 600 to 800 males or drones, and from 15,000 to 20,000 working bees, formerly termed neuters, but now known to be imperfectly-developed females. The last-mentioned, the smallest, have twelve joints to their antennae, and six abdominal rings, and are provided with a sting; there is, on the outside of the hind-legs, a smooth hollow, edged with hairs, called the basket, in which the kneaded pollen or bee-bread, the food of the larvae, is stored for transit.
The queen has the same characteristics, but is of larger size, especially in the abdomen; she has also a sting. The males, or drones, differ from both the preceding by having thirteen joints to the antennae; a rounded head, with larger eyes, elongated and united at the summit; and no stings. According to Huber the working-bees are themselves divisible into two classes: one, the cirieres, devoted to the collection of provisions, etc; the other, smaller and more delicate, employed exclusively within the hive in rearing the young.
The mouth of the bee is adapted for both masticatory and suctorial purposes, the honey being conveyed thence to the anterior stomach or crop, communicating with a second stomach in which alone a digestive process can be traced. The queen, whose sole office is to propagate the species, has two large ovaries, consisting of a great number of small cavities, each containing sixteen or seventeen eggs. The inferior half-circles, except the first and last, on the abdomen of working-bees, have each on their inner surface two cavities, where the wax, secreted by the bee from its saccharine food, is formed in layers, and comes out from between the abdominal rings.
Respiration takes place by means of air-tubes which branch out to all parts of the body, the bee being exceedingly sensitive to an impure atmosphere. Of the organs of sense the most important are the antennae, deprivation of these resulting in a species of derangement. The majority of entomologists regard their function as in the first place auditory, but they are exceedingly ssensitive to tactual impressions, and are apparently the principal means of mutual communication.
Bees undergo perfect metamorphosis, the young appearing first as larvae, then changing to pupae, from which the imagosor perfect insects spring. Whether the offspring are to be female or male is said to be dependent upon the contact or absence of contact of the egg with the impregnating fluid received from the male and stored in a special sac communicating with the oviduct, unfertilized eggs producing males. The further question whether the offspring shall be queens or workers is resolved by the influence of environment upon function. The enlargement of a cell to the size of a royal chamber and the nourishment of its inmate with a special kind of food appear to be sufficient to transform an ordinary working-bee larva into a fully-developed female or queen-bee.
The season of fecundation occurs about the beginning of summer, and the laying begins immediately afterwards, and continues until autumn; in the spring as many as 12,000 eggs may be laid in twenty-four days. Those laid at the commencement of fine weather all belong to the working sort, and hatch at the end of four days. The larvae acquire their perfect state in about twelve days, and the cells are then immediately fitted up for the reception of new eggs. The eggs for producing males are laid two months later, and those for the females immediately afterwards. This succession of generations forms so many distinct communities, which, when increased beyond a certain degree, leave the parent hive to found a new colony elsewhere. Thus three or four swarms sometimes leave a hive in a season. A good swarm is said to weigh at least three kilograms. Besides the common bee (Apis mellifica) there are the Apis fasciata, domesticated in Egypt, the Apis Ugustica, or Ligurian bee of Italy and Greece, introduced into England, etc.
The humble-bees, or bumble-bees, of which about forty species are found in Britain and over sixty in North America, belong to the genus Bombus, which is almost worldwide in its distribution. Of these species solitary females which have survived the winter commence constructing small nests when the weather begins to be warm enough; some of them going deep into the earth in dry banks, others preferring heaps of stone or gravel, and others choosing always some bed of dry moss. In the nest the bee collects a mass of pollen and in this lays some eggs. The cells in these nests are not the work of the old bee, but are formed by the young insects similarly to the cocoons of silk-worms; and when the perfect insect is released from them by the old bee, which gnaws off their tops, they are employed as honey-cups.
The humble-bees, however, do not store honey for the winter, those which survive until the cold weather leaving the nest and penetrating the earth, or taking up some other sheltered position, and remaining there until the spring. The first brood consists of workers, and successive broods are produced during the summer. The experiment of domesticating different kinds of wild bees has been tried with no satisfactory results. Some bees, from their manner of nesting, are known as 'mason bees,' 'carpenter bees,' and 'upholsterer bees.' Some of these bees (genus Osmia) cement particles of sand or gravel together with a viscid substance in forming their nests; others make burrows in wood. The leaf-cutter or upholsterer bee (genus Megachile) lines its burrow with bits of leaf cut out in regular shapes. Research Bee
Beetle is a general term for insects of the order Coleoptera. There are known to be over 370,000 species of beetle, outnumbering all the known species of vascular plants, and six species of beetle for every one vertebrate, with an estimated five million more species yet to be discovered.
Beetles undergo a complete metamorphosis, with a distinct pupal stage intervening between life as a larva and a sexually mature adult. As with other insects of this type, the larvae stage represents the principal feeding stage. Most adult beetles have a robust, hard external skeleton (carapace) which acts like body-armour and a pair of horny wing-cases (elytra), which usually completely cover the hind part of the body including the abdomen.
The caddis-fly (may-fly) is an insect of the genus Phryganea, of the order Neuroptera. The larva forms for itself a small case of stones, grass-roots, shells etc and lives under water until it is ready to emerge from the pupa state. The larva devours large quantities of fish-spawn, and, ironically, are a favourite bait of anglers. Research Caddis-Fly
Calosoma is a genus of ground beetles (Carabidae) usually found climbing trees where they prey on other insects, such as caterpillars. The larva stage lasts a few weeks, the adult stage between two and four years.
Calosoma sycophanta has a green elytra and was imported into North America from Europe to combat caterpillars. Other species have different coloured elytra, which may be brassy-green, blue or black. Calosoma auropunctatum, found in the Mediterranean region, is unusual in having gold-green dimples in its elytra. Research Calosoma
A chrysalis is a form which butterflies, moths, and most other insects assume when they change from the state of larva or caterpillar and before they arrive at their winged or perfect state. In the chrysalis form the animal is in a state of rest or insensibility, and exists without nutriment, the length of time varying with the species and season. During this period an elaboration is going on in the interior of the chrysalis, giving to the organs of the future animal their proper development. Research Chrysalis
Cirripedia is the Cirrepedes subclass of crustacea. These are the barnacles and acorn shells. They are sedentary animals with a reduced head and abdomen. The most striking appendages are usually the six pairs of biramous thoracic feet, which are used in catching food, being swept through the water after the fashion of a fishing net. They are crustaceans which have undergone retrograde metamorphosis, being free-swimming in the larva form, but becoming after a time attached by the head. When adult they are affixed to some substance, either set directly upon it, as in the genusBalanus; or placed on a foot-stalk, as the barnacle; or sunk into the supporting substance, as the whale-barnacle. Research Cirripedia
Abbreviations
Research Ant-Lion
