CHAPTER TWELVE 



COLEOPTERA. NAMES OF PARTS OF A EEETLE. GRUB- 

 WORMS AND V.'HERE AND HOVv' TO COLLECT BEETLES. 

 LIVING SUBMARINES AND HYDROPLANES. A DOODLE 

 TRAP. PET BEETLES. WHIRLIGIGS. LIONS AND TIGERS 

 OF THE PONDS. HOW DIVERS CARRY AIR UNDER WATER. 



We now come to that numerous tribe called the 

 " beetles." To the writer's mind they are more in- 

 teresting to the boys than any other race of in- 

 sects. They possess certain characteristics which 

 appeal to boys, by which I mean they have certain 

 things about them which make them good play- 

 mates for boys. In the first place, none of them 

 are poisonous ; in the next place, none of them will 

 hurt a boy who knows how to handle them, and in 

 the third place they are as a rule so stoutly built 

 and so thoroughly armored that, with ordinary 

 care in handling, there is little danger of injuring 

 the insect itself by playing with it. Added to this 

 they are often very comical. 



Bugs are unpleasant to handle; wasps, bees and 

 hornets are, to say the least, very inconvenient 

 things to handle. They are hot-tempered and have 

 a hot needle with which they puncture the skins of 



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