354 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



-CHESTNUT- WORMS." 



It is an interesting' fact that about one 

 worm in every ten that live to become 

 beetles remains unchanged throughout 

 the following summer and does not de- 

 velop into an adult until the second year 

 after it leaves the nut. When July of 

 the second year comes these hold-over 

 worms change to pupse and in due time 

 issue from the ground along with the 

 other beetles which have developed from 

 the worms of the previous season's 

 brood. This curious phenomenon is evi- 

 dently a provision of nature to prevent 

 the species from dying out if for a single 

 year there should happen to be an entire 

 failure of the chestnut crop. 



PUP^E OF "CHESTNUT-WORMS." 

 The worms pass through this stage in chang- 

 ing to beetles. 



The career of the chestnut weevil is 

 not one of undisturbed tranquility for 

 the different stages of its life are beset 

 with dangers. Among its enemies there 

 are three belonging to the animal king- 

 dom which I wish to mention : a two- 

 legged enemy which is jealous of the 

 food it eats, a four-legged enemy which 

 eats it, and a six-legged enemy which 

 uses it as food for its young. 



The biped is man himself, and as he,, 

 from the weevil's standpoint, is the least 

 of the three, I will dismiss him with the 

 statement that with all his improved 

 methods of combating insect pests he 



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i*_JtS*-''~'fc> 



CELLS IN THE EARTH IX WHICH THE WORMS SPEND ABOUT NINE MONTHS 



OF THE YEAR. 

 The figure on the left shows a cell occupied by the cocoon of a parasite that has 



killed the worm. 



