Insects on the Farm 155 



us that it is a mosquito in another form. The little 

 "worm" (larva), found in the plum, is quite different 

 from the shy curculio beetle that laid the egg. (Fig. 95.) 



227. How Insects Differ from Other Animals. Insects, 

 like the frogs and snakes, are cold-blooded animals. 

 The temperature of their bodies changes with that of 

 the air or water, in whichever they happen to be. When 

 cold weather comes, they find shelter under fallen leaves, 

 sticks, stones, or may burrow into the ground and there 

 remain quiet until warm weather returns. This way of 

 passing the winter is called hibernation. While hibernat- 

 ing, they may be frozen stiff, or the eggs and larva may 

 be frozen, but when the weather becomes favorable, 

 many kinds will move about just as lively as ever. 

 Severe freezing may kill some, but many will survive. 

 Most animals have the bony skeleton inside of the body, 

 but insects have the hard bony part on the outside. The 

 muscles of insects are attached to the outer body wall and 

 not to internal bones, as in other animals. Insects do 

 not breathe through a mouth, but have little breathing 

 pores along the sides of the body. The nerves of the 

 insect that detect odors and guide it to its kind and food 

 are usually in the little "feelers, "or antennae, or sometimes 

 in the segments of the legs. 



Some species of insects die soon after laying eggs, 

 often before the eggs hatch; others may live on through 

 the summer and produce several broods, as in the case 

 of the cotton boll-weevil. 



228. The Food of Insects. Insects are very peculiar 

 about the food they eat. Just like the many species of 

 parasitic fungi, each species feeds, usually, on just one 

 kind of plant, or on closely related plants. In such cases 

 we speak of the plant as the "host" for a particular 



