282 Bugs, Butterflies, and Beetles 



you know, are those creatures the boys call grass- 

 hoppers and they are not even distantl}^ related 

 to the Cicada, which is a bug pure and simple. 

 Look at him and you will see the long beak under- 

 neath his body which marks his race. But, how- 

 ever troublesome the locust may be, there is noth- 

 ing uncanny nor disgusting about him. 



The locust is one of the most interesting of 

 bugs, a good play-fellow and it cannot hurt you; 

 you may play with it all you choose without offend- 

 ing it, for it will often sing for you while you have it 

 between your fingers. 



I said that it carmot hurt you and I have good 

 reasons for supposing that you cannot hurt it, be- 

 cause seventeen-year locusts have been discovered 

 blithely singing away entirely unconscious of the 

 fact that some other insects had eaten up most of 

 the singer's body. 



It is probable that pain, as we understand it, 

 is entirely wanting in at least many of the insects, 

 the sense of feeling being developed only suffi- 

 ciently to cause them to avoid danger, for I have 

 seen a cruel-minded boy pin a dragon fly to a board 

 and then feed it with numerous house flies, which 

 the dragon fly greedily devoured. 



