IMORE ABOUT INSECTS 



In the preceding pages we have sketched the broad re- 

 lationships of insects to the plants and to each other, and to 

 the different types of animal life. Now let us delve still fur- 

 ther into insect habits and, by the selection of a few examples, 

 emphasize the point that wherever there exists a reservoir of 

 food of any sort, permanent or temporary, some insect type is 

 sure to find it and make use of it; and further that to insure 

 perpetuation of their kind the insects have made use of all 

 conceivable expedients. 



As an exclusive diet red pepper would seem to most of us to 

 be quite unattractive; but there is one beetle which will live 

 happily all its Hfe in red pepper with never a thought that it is 

 doing anything out of the ordinary. This, the saw-toothed 

 grain beetle, is perhaps the commonest insect that habitually 

 lives in groceries and, except for the small cockroach known 

 as the "water-bug," the commonest in our pantries. Wherever 

 anything edible is stored this insect will be found. It is chiefly 

 vegetarian, but almost omnivorous, and is especially fond of 

 cereals and breadstuffs, preserved fruits, nuts and seeds of 

 various kinds; it also consumes yeast cakes, mace, snuff, and 

 all sorts of medicinal roots, barks, herbs, and powders. The 

 adults will feed upon sugar and have been reported in starch, 

 tobacco, and dried meats, though it is doubtful if the insect 

 breeds in such substances. 



Another small beetle wdth almost as great a dietary range is 

 that one that bores those neat Uttle holes in cigars, and lives 

 also in all other forms of dried tobacco. We sometimes find 

 old books perforated with holes made by the grub of a small 

 beetle, and in more southern latitudes books may be almost 

 completely demolished by the energetic activities of the white 

 ants or termites. 



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