702 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



The Tiny Insect's Wonderland 



DR. E. BADE 



T 



HE sun laughs 

 fro ni a clear 

 blue s k y, trees 

 and iHishes thro \v 

 their sharp shadows 

 upon the fresh, green 

 meadows ; no \v i n d 

 plays in the leafy tree 

 tops : the flowers ap- 

 pear to sleep ; the in- 

 tense heat has silenced 

 the happy song of 

 is cpiickened into life 

 as the sun becomes 

 warmer. The ants run quickly and 

 icn^iui, c.,.^... their accustomed streets. They seem 

 to be "in a great hurry today and whenever two meet a 

 short conversation is held, the feelers vibrate against each 

 other and thus important news is exchanged. In all prob- 



Nut weevil (Balanitis nucinn) 



the l)irds, but 

 and animated 

 warmer and 

 rapidly about 



the insect 

 with new 



world 

 visor 



Summer, their colonies are in their greatest development 

 and are most numerous, the workers diligently collecting 

 nectar. With loud buzzing noise the large, heavy bumble- 

 bees come flying, creep deep into the flower, gather, with 

 their long sucking tubes, the honey from the depth of the 

 calix where the bees cannot penetrate. But those bumljle- 

 bees which have short probosces and cannot reach the 

 deeper l3'ing honey in a direct way, simply gnaw the floral 

 envelope open and so gain access to the sweet food. The 

 flowers are treated even more shabbily by some of the 

 wasps, which are only too often destroyed by them. Their 

 entire bodily build is not adapted for floral visitations, but, 

 in their adult stage, they often feed upon the products of 

 the flowers. Their larv;e are fed only a short time with 

 these and are raised tipon other insects, especially flies. In 

 its way Sphcciiis spcciosns, a wasp, is an especially great 

 robber. It builds roomy homes from clay and brings, as 

 food for the larvas, the common cicada Tibican priininosa. 

 This cicada appears in July, when it sings its loud and 



Potato beetle 

 ( Chrysoiiiela deeeiitlincata ) 



Ant 

 (Soletiofsis xyloiii) 



Green-pea plant louse 

 (N^eetarophora pisum) 



ability this conmumicalion relates to some rich spoil, for 

 the ant turns off short and takes the way the other has 

 just come, while the first resumes its way towards its 

 home in order to call more help. In these small colony 

 forming animals, competition, which is so prevalent 

 throughout all Nature, has long since died and communuy 

 life has taken its place. No one is the possessor of all. 

 that which is present belongs to the individual as well as 

 to the conununitv. All help build their home : all go on 



shrill si.mg from tlie trees. This lures the wasp. Rest- 

 lessly she flies about the tree and as soon as she sees her 

 victim she hurls herself upon it. The cicada knows her 

 enemy and in her despair she gives a squeaking cry. The 

 wasp quickly bores her sting into the body of the cicada, 

 this paralyses the annual without killing it, then she car- 

 ries it to her home. In order to bring this heavy cicada, 

 the wasp carries it to a certain height up the tree and then 

 ijlides downward with it to its nest. 



4Slfl^ 



4, -> 



Dendryphantes ivhilntanni 



Honex bee 



the hunt : all protect their home against the common 

 enemy ; the young are taken care of by all ; one animal 

 helps the other, none is jealous of the other. 



Ant and i^ee colonies are lasting, even passing the 

 Winter in its entirety. Wasps and bumble-bees on the 

 other hand dissolve their colonies in the Fall, the excep- 

 tion being the fertilized queen which seeks shelter for the 

 Winter, in early Spring forming new colony. In mid- 



Diggcr till.?/' earryini^ a cicada to 

 her burrow ( Spheciiis spcciosns) 



In the grass and on the flower beds the wolf spiders 

 hang around. They do not build webs like other spiders, 

 but catch their foe with a sudden jump. Day and night 

 they are ready to catch their prey. This animal has eight 

 eyes, the two larger ones in front are used in the day-time, 

 the others are night eyes having a reflector which concen- 

 trates the Hght of twilight. The habits of Misttmcna 

 which one finds in the garden sitting on the leaves of the 



