18 INSECT PESTS 



wood and decayed vegetable and animal matter. Many 

 so-called field " fleas " are really beetles. 

 / Pests are of two distinct kinds, indigenous or native 

 and exotic or introduced from abroad. Of these th* 

 latter are often the worst, as when an immigrant finds 

 congenial surroundings it usually revels in its new home, 

 like the rabbit in Australia, and the brown ov grey rat 

 which invaded this country about a century ago and 

 practically exterminated the English black rat, leaving 

 us in a much more serious condition than before. An- 

 other case is the common dock, which was introduced 

 into New Zealand by a rascally merchant who sold it 

 as tobacco seed and the thing became almost ineradicable. 

 In America there is the Gipsy Moth, as they know to 

 their cost, and so on. Natme seems to object to her 

 plans being interfered with and to retaliate accord- 

 ingly. 



This brings us to consider our last point. Why do 



''pests come ? The answer is simplicity itself. Because 



we invite them. In other words, knowingly or not, we 



provide board and lodging on a grand scale which the 



new-comer is not slow to take full advantage of. 



We have therefore to fight for our crop and defend it 

 against its prey. It is an inexorable law which has 

 existed for countless ages. There is no species at present 

 on the earth which has not had to fight for its place in 

 life. The original dragon-fly, for instance", a fearfully 

 clumsy arrangement something like four tennis rackets 

 screwed to a ninepin, was persistently hunted down by 

 the flying dragons of the Liassic period. But it managed 

 to hold on, on the principle that " doggedness does it," 

 I suppose, and although they are now both extinct, the 

 children of the dragon-fly exceed in strength and variety 

 those of its former foe, which is now represented by 

 a bat. 



So it goes on. The best wins, and the question is, 

 are we going to let the insects win, or are we going to 



