274 LIVING THINGS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT 



Spiracle 



Antenna 



Animals Which Harm Our Gardens. There are many 

 kinds of insects, mostly in the young stages, which destroy 



our plants. Adult in- 

 sects can easily be 

 distinguished because 

 they have three divi- 

 sions of the body and 

 three pairs of legs, but 

 the young stages, or 

 larvae, harmful grubs, 

 or caterpillars, are not 

 so easy to recognize as 

 4 insects because they 



Study this diagram carefully and then compare it 



with some animal you think is an insect. Tell how have f alse legs. 



you would identify an insect. The i nse cts most 



likely to be found in the home yard are crickets and grass- 

 hoppers, insects with chewing mouth parts and strong hind 

 legs used for jumping ; winged butterflies and moths, the 

 latter usually flying at night, both distinguished by the fact 

 that the wings are covered with dust-like scales ; hungry 

 caterpillars which are the young stages of moths and 

 butterflies ; beetles, heavy set insects with hard wing 

 covers, bees, wasps, and ants ; and the destructive bugs, 

 the latter distinguished by their snout-like beaks, through 

 which they suck the 

 juices of plants. ^HIHH&r-.^ell 



Another group of 

 animals that do harm 

 are snails and slugs. 

 These animals belong 



to the Same group as Snails are very destructive in gardens. The 

 Clams, Oysters, and mouth on the underside, is not shown. 



mussels. They are called mollusks (Latin mollis soft) 

 because they have soft bodies. Most mollusks have shells, 

 but others, like the slug, do not have one. Some snails 



