Packard] INSECTS OF THE POND AND STREAM. 129 



6, Insects af the Jfand and. Stream* 



A HISTORY of the insect inhabitants of a pond or 

 AA^ stream would deal largely in the tragic. The biog- 

 raphy of one aquatic insect from the time of its birth 

 till its death, provided it completed the usual round of exis- 

 tence allotted to its species, would be a long and perhaps 

 tedious record of escapes from its enemies, of its methods 

 of avoiding or repelling their attacks, while on the other 

 hand the pages of its biograph}' would be largely occupied 

 with a list of those it had killed and wounded, not from the 

 mere love of carnage, but from the simple necessity of main- 

 taining its own existence. If we reflect for a moment on the 

 fact that out of about one iiundred eggs laid by the dragon 

 fl}^ perhaps only one pair survive the following summer, and 

 that the remaining ninety-eight 3'oung have afforded food for 

 other dragon flics and insects of other species ; and then 

 consider the amount of insect-food required to maintain the 

 pair of dragon flies from tlie larval to the winged state, we 

 shall be impressed with the fact that the majority of insects 

 are born to serve as food for the few that survive. 



Life among tlie lower animals, as in human affairs, is an 

 intense struggle for existence, resulting in a triumph of the 

 favored few over the masses. These few perpetuate the 

 qualities which gave them success, and so we have a con- 

 stant progress upwards of life from lower to higher forms, a 

 survival of those best fitted by physical and intellectual 

 qualities to maintain themselves in the world. There is 

 genius, or preeminence in intellectual qualities, among in- 

 sects. Ants choose generals and master workmen, whose 

 lead the}' follow in their wars and public works. The queen 

 bee is mistress of the kingdom over whic she rules. 

 9 1 



