14 



the full-grown grasshopper, with the exception of possessing no wings whatso- 

 ever. It has the legs, antennse, and jaws, very similar to the old grasshop- 

 rpe, and hops about destroying vegetable substances in the same manner. la 

 the pupa state the rudimentary or imperfect wings make their appearance 

 sheathed in short cases on the back or sides. The insect in this stage also is 

 active and eats voraciously, but it is only in the perfect state that the insect 

 possesses true wings, and is able to fly about to propagate its kind. The farmer 

 little thinks that the green and black striped caterpillar which is found so plenti- 

 fully in his vegetable garden upon parsnips, celery, and parsley, during the 

 summer and autumn, is produced by th • beautiful black and yellow banded, 

 swallow-tailed butterfly which may be seen early in spring and summer hover- 

 ing over his flower beds, or that by destroying the impregnated females of these 

 buttei flip's early in the season, before they have deposited their eggs, he might 

 probably save his celery and parsnips without having the trouble of picking 

 each caterpillar singly from his plants. As an experiment, let the farmer merely 

 put some of these caterpillars, when nearly fully grown, into a box or glass, con- 

 taining some of the leaves of the plant upon Avhich the caterpillars were found, 

 taking care to supply fresh food daily, and he will have the pleasure of wit- 

 nessing all the transformations already spoken of. Every farmer keeps a cat 

 to destroy the mice in his storehouses, and a dog to kill the vermin on his farm, 

 yet he allows the small insect-eating birds to be shot and destroyed indiscrimi- 

 nately, although they are of the greatest utility in destroying thousands of 

 noxious insects early in the spring (before the fruit is ripe) when they make 

 their first appearance, and Avhen each insect, if left undisturbed, would deposit 

 the eggs Avhich produce the myi'iads of grubs and caterpillars in the summer and 

 autumn that destroy his fruit and vegetables. A pair of wrens or mocking 

 birds in a garden destroy thousands of noxious insects, and, moreover, cost nothing 

 for their food. It is true that several birds eat our fruits, yet they more than 

 repay us for the few cheri-ies or currants they may have taken, by exterminating 

 the insects themselves which, if not thus killed, would have laid eggs more than 

 sufiicieut to produce a swarm of grubs that would have destroyed even the 

 trees. Toads feed almost entirely upon insects, and are constantly busy 

 during the evening and morning, or in damp weather, hunting for their insect 

 prey ; so that, iusead of being abused and condemned to death as disagreeable 

 pests and nuisances, they ought to be protected as benefactors and considered 

 in the true light as one of the instruments or means used by Divine Providence 

 to check the too rapid increase of the insect tribes ; which, if undisturbed, would 

 soon multiply to such a degree as to destroy all vegetation. Let the farmer 

 merely once observe a toad closely when it is hopping or crawling about in the 

 evening twilight, and he will soon be convinced by seeing it dart out its viscid 

 tongue at every passing insect; or, if not yet satisfied about its utility, let him 

 kill a toad early in the morning, after a good night's feed, and if cut open, the 

 stomach will be found completely tilled with insects, some partly digested, whilst 

 others more recently caught are in a perfectly uninjured state ; nay, some of 

 them so fresh as to be tit to be placed in a cabinet as specimens. All insects, 

 however, are not noxious ; some are even beneficial and useful to the farmer by 

 destroying the insects which injure his crops. Hence it would be well for the 

 agriculturist to be naturalist sufficient to be able to discriminate between friends 

 and foes, or the insects that benefit him by destroying injurious insects, and the 

 injurious insects themselves ; and in these papers we shall endeavor, when de- 

 scribing the habits of each noxious insect, to point out the parasite or other in- 

 sect which destroys it. We will merely take as an example the small round red 

 beetle, spotted more or less with black, commonly known to farmers as the lady- 

 bug. This is useful in the highest degree in both the larva and perfect state, as 

 its food consists entirely of other insects exceedingly injurious to vegetation ; one 

 yellow species, spotted with black, alone being injurious to scjuaslies, pumpkins, 

 &c., on Avhicii plants it is to be found abundantly. But more of this hereafter. 



