20 NATURE STUDY. 



horns, beetles worth going far to see ; while in the brook 

 itself are the Whirligigs, hard to catch, with their eyes 

 looking above and below, and seeming exactly like two 

 pairs of eyes. There are several other kinds of beetles 

 in the water, and many, many other kinds upon the land, 

 but w^e can tell them all by their wing-covers, that meet in 

 a straight line along the back. 



Sometime, when we have learned to tell the other in- 

 sects apart, w^e will come back and study the beetles some 

 more. 



In a collection made on any summer's da}-, there are 

 sure to be many insects that agree in having a sharp, 

 jointed, hollow beak. This can be pu.shed, by .some of 

 these insects, into the .stems and leaves of trees and plants, 

 from which the juices are sucked ; by others, this sharp 

 beak is thru.st into living creatures, which the insects 

 seize as their victims, or live upon as parasites. When 

 not in use, this sharp beak lies under the head and body, 

 reaching back between the front pair of legs. 



Some of these insects have the front wings hard and 

 leathery next the bod3% but thin and veined in the outer 

 half. They sometimes look a little like wing-covers, but 

 they lap across each other, instead of meeting in a straight 

 line, as in beetles. 



These are the true bugs, and the Squash-bug, the Stink- 

 bug found on berries, the Water-striders and the Water- 

 boatmen are good examples. There are other insects with 

 jointed beaks, like the noisy Cicada or Dog-day Harvest-fly, 

 whose wings rest at the side of the body and are not leath- 

 ery, but as they have beaks, and live by sucking up juices, 

 we must put them all in the same pile. 



Now we can always tell the beetles from the bugs, which 

 is more than most grown people can do. Next time, we 

 will learn to know some other kinds of insects and put 

 them in their proper piles. 



