148 The Rook of Bugs. 



sure, she has only two segments to her body while the 

 ant has three, but the first segment is narrowed in so as 

 to look as if it were properly divided. It has never been 

 seen to eat ants or prey upon them, but it may be de- 

 pended upon that the fraud pays, or it would not be kept 

 up. Without knowing too much about it, the entomolo- 

 gists suppose that Synagcles' life is safe because an ant 

 is a pretty uncomfortable customer to tackle. It is hard 

 and horny in its shell ; it bites and its comrades bite, and 

 worst of all, it is sourer than all get out. Next time you 

 pick up a nice sweet harvest apple off the ground, don't 

 brush off that little ant before you bite, but chew up ant 

 and all. It won't hurt you, but dear, dear! rhubarb and 

 green gooseberries are not to be mentioned thereafter. 

 It is the formic acid in the ant that makes your mouth 

 pucker. A long time ago they used to make chloroform 

 out of formic acid expressed from ants. 



Some spiders are very beautiful indeed, and this is one 

 of the reasons why it is known that spiders have a color 

 sense. It is pretty certain that they cannot hear, or if 

 they do, they sense it as a vibration, not as a sound. But 

 when a spider is as white as milk, with a crimson stripe 

 on each side of her abdomen, it is tolerably certain that 

 this coloration helps her to get a beau. Of course, it 

 also indicates to other creatures that she is a particularly 

 bitter pill. Animals that are gaudily colored and swag- 

 ger about are regarded as wisely left alone. I am look- 

 ing straight at you, young man, as I say this, and you 

 may take it from me that it is good, sound sense. There 

 is more in these few words than meets the eye, and you 

 had better chew on it a little. 



As a general thing in the world below us, it is the male 

 that has all the fine clothes, but, with some exceptions, 

 it is the female spider that bosses the ranch. This beau- 



