NATURE STUDY LESSONS. 95 



It is a dark-blue beetle, with green reflections, and with 

 the base of the wing-covers orange-yellow, giving it the 

 appearance of wearing a cloak over its shoulders. Other 

 beautiful beetles of this family, whose members are known 

 as the Cerambycidae, are the Maple-borer, the IvOcust-bor- 

 er and the Painted Hickory-borer. They are beautifully 

 marked with black and yellow, and add greatly to the ap- 

 pearance of any collection. 



There are more than seventy families of beetles in North 

 America, and the recital of their names alone would be 

 wearisome to the children. It would also be wholly profit- 

 less. It is much better worth while to learn to observe the 

 peculiarities of a few insects than to try to remember the 

 names of a great many. Children should be helped to 

 compare the beetles in their collections, observing that 

 some have smooth wing. covers, while in others the wing- 

 covers are roughened, pitted, furrowed, spotted, banded, 

 curved or fiat ; that in some beetles they are shorter than 

 the body, while in others they cover it for the entire length. 

 They should examine the antennae, the feet and the mouth- 

 parts, trying to find in what respects the members of a fam- 

 ily agree among themselves, and in what they differ from 

 other families. Any manual of entomology will explain 

 the terms used to describe the parts and characters of in- 

 sects, and it is surprising how readilj^ children catch them 

 up and apply them — at least when they are not set to do 

 the work as a task. One who has never tried it can have 

 no idea of the zest and enjoyment with which even the 

 very young, when enthusiastically guided, will hunt for 

 the " scrobe " at the base of the mandibles, the " setigeous 

 puncture " above the eye, and a " tuberosity " on a wing- 

 cover. It is the best of training for the children, and it 

 does good like a medicine — far beyond the skill of the 

 physician — to the grown-ups. It will help to keep away 

 the wrinkles and loosen somewhat the fibers which all too 



