94 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



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I 



THE LEAF OF THE SUNDEW 



the tentacles that are not touched know 

 that the object on another part of the 

 leaf is good for food, and exactly which 

 way to bend so as to reach it? It is 

 difficult to deceive the tentacles. They 

 will bend toward nutritious sub- 

 stances, but not much, if any, toward 

 useless material such as a shower of 

 rain or of sand. Even if they do at 

 first bend inward or start to do so. 



they quickly discover the mistake, rise 

 again and in no case secrete the diges- 

 tive fluid until they have positive 

 knowledge that the thing is good for 

 food. 



Darwin experimented extensively 

 with these plants and had some inter- 

 esting experiences in giving them in- 

 digestion by overfeeding. 



ONE OF THE TENTACLES MAGNIFIED 



Peculiar Metamorphosis of the To- 

 bacco Beetle. 



13Y R. MENGER, M. D., SAX AXTOXIO. 

 TEXAS. 



Air. P. G. Lucas, the proprietor of 

 a fine drug store in San Antonio, in 

 assorting tobacco handed me two sam- 

 ples which had been perforated and 

 otherwise multilated by very minute 

 insects, one cigar in particular being 

 of much interest as it contained larval 

 vestiges. The latter I gave close at- 

 tention since I was aware that it was 

 the larval state of the tobacco beetle. 

 The second cigar contained three such 

 larvae lying snugly in furrows they 

 had prepared by their active jaws I 

 subjected part of this cigar with the 

 larvae to a close focus photographic 

 reproduction with extra near focusing 

 lens. The result is seen in the illus- 

 tration herewith submitted to The; 

 Guide to Nature (Fig. i ) showing the 

 cigar and the imbedded larvae mag- 

 nified about three times with outlines 

 of the feet and head (in the upper spec- 

 imen) about to transform into the 

 puna state of development. 



When under the powerful rays of a 

 bull's-eye reflector in this attempt to 

 photographically reproduce these lar- 

 vae in situ, they became quite lively 

 and, fearing the result would be spoil- 

 ed, I dropped some chloroform near 

 the furrows, when they ceased mov- 

 ing at once. The photograph shows 

 the larvae in their natural position as 

 they had not been touched. 



Near these larval tobacco beetles 

 are seen some holes and furrows which 

 the mature beetles and afterward these 

 developing larvae had prenared. It 

 seems that during the fall and winter 

 the mature insects perforate the to- 

 bacco and also other material such as 

 food stufTs and drugs, producing a 



