Insects on the Farm 



157 



The ticks, which are closely related to true insects, on 

 cattle, are carriers of disease. Cattle do not have the 

 splenic fever (sometimes called Texas fever) except 

 when the germs are carried by ticks that bite them. 

 The common bee lives on the nectar and pollen of 

 flowers. It is not the only insect that lives on nectar. 

 Most species of butterflies, moths, bumblebees, etc., are 

 nectar-loving insects. We have already learned that 

 these insects are very use- 

 ful in bringing about the 

 pollination of flowers. 



229. The Feeding Habits 

 of Different Stages. Many 

 kinds of insects feed on 

 plants cultivated by man. 

 They attack the plants in 

 various stages and ways. 

 Most frequently it is the 

 larval stage (caterpillar, 

 grub, maggot) that destroys 

 the plants by eating the 

 leaves. The Colorado potato- 

 bug lays its eggs on the 

 leaves. The young larvae 

 are, therefore, hatched out- 

 right at the breakfast table. In some species of insects, 

 the caterpillar stage occurs in great numbers, and they 

 are, hence, often spoken of as "army worms," of which 

 the "cotton army worm" is a common example in the 

 South. Some caterpillars, known as cutworms, work only 

 at night. When daylight comes, they are concealed 

 under clods, and any trash that may be present. They 

 are called "cutworms" because they have a habit of cut- 



Fig. 97. Corn ear -worm or cotton 

 boll -worm. After Quaintance, 

 Bureau of Entomology, United 

 States Department of Agricul- 

 ture. 



