TYPICAL INSECTS 



205 



brought over by our first colonists. It is a great nuisance 

 about the house. It gets into our food, specks up everything, 

 wakes up the baby, etc. But worse than this, it often is the 

 carrier of disease germs. First it walks in infected filth and 

 then over our food, infecting that, and this in turn transmits 

 the germs to us. Clean premises, screens, mosquito bars, and 

 fly-paper are efficient reme- 

 dies against the house-fly. 



Flies live for several 

 months and then most of 

 them die from the cold of 

 autumn, or from a disease 

 caused by the fly-fungus. 

 Flies attacked by this fungus 

 may often be seen on the 

 window-panes, covered and 

 surrounded with a cloudy 

 substance. A few flies man- 

 age to live or hibernate 

 through the winter, to come 

 out in the spring and renew 



the race ^ IG ' ^' ^ ea( ^ f Honey-bee. 



Bees, Wasps, and Ants constitute another great and very 

 important order, the Hymenoptera (Membrane -winged.) 

 The bee and the polistes-wasp make good types for study. If 

 the bee is chosen, a study of its anatomy will reveal the follow- 

 ing facts: The body is hairy, often colored black and brown 

 or yellow in bands. The abdomen is joined to the chest by a 

 very narrow, " wasp-like" waist. The six legs are strong, 

 and well adapted for climbing and clinging on flowers. 

 The first joint of the hind foot is flattened and beset with hairs, 



