SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 171 



Greenfly or Plant Lice, 



Wings delicate and transparent, with few veins, but 

 winged forms occur only periodically. 

 Needle-like piercing and sucking jaws. 

 Young similar to parents. 

 These insects are classed as Hemiptera (half winged). 



Simple exercises in identification of insect types might 

 be given as far as classifying those belonging to the 

 common Orders. This should be done in particular with 

 all insects seen visiting flowers. Drawings should be made 

 of all the types. It will be found that a very large propor- 

 tion belong to the Orders just enumerated. The teacher 

 who wishes to carry identification further should consult 

 works on Entomology. 



THE HIVE BEE. 



The general life of Hive Bees forms an appropriate sub- 

 ject of study. This can be done ideally in an observational 

 hive such as dealers supply. This, however, is available 

 only to the few, hence we suggest other methods. A suit- 

 able starting point is the Worker Bee, seen in the open 

 visiting flowers. With a little skill a Bee may be captured 

 by inverting over it a plain glass tumbler whilst it is busy 

 in a flower, at the same time closing the mouth of the 

 tumbler with a piece of cardboard. The risk of being 

 stung is slight, and the experiment, resulting in no harm 

 to the Bee, is worth the trouble. 



The Worker Bee. 



What can be learned from such a capture ? Slip beneath 

 the cardboard a small. piece of moistened sugar, and while 

 waiting for the Bee to discover it, examine the Bee itself. 

 Its general aspect does not call for much comment, but 

 one or two special features may be noted. There is the 

 " hairiness " of the back and legs. Look for adhering 

 pollen on these places. In particular examine the hindmost 



