HOW TO KNOW THE INSECTS 



By JOHN J. WARD 



Author of "Some Nature Biographies," "Peeps into Nature's Ways," etc. 

 Illustrated from Original Photographs by the Author 



THE AWAKENING OF SPRING 



HOW to discover and distinguish the 

 insects is always a puzzhng matter 

 to the amateur naturahst. Insect 

 species are very numerous ; indeed, so 

 numerous that they are said to outnumber 

 those of all other land animals put together. 

 The would-be student of insect life has, 

 therefore, an immense field in which to 

 work ; and yet there are people who, 

 while most desirous to understand the 

 wonders and workings of the insect 

 world, complain that when out on their 

 country rambles they rarely are able to 

 find anything of interest. To such the 

 practical entomologist appears to be 

 endowed with some supernatural gift ; 

 and when he suddenly removes a dead 

 bird lying in the path and collects some 

 pretty black and orange-striped beetles 

 from beneath it, he becomes a complete 

 mystery-man, for, " How did he know that 

 those beetles were under that bird ? " The 

 explanation is very simple. The ento- 

 mologist differs from others only in that 

 he has learned to use his eyes a little 

 more ; or, in other words, he has culti- 

 vated his observing faculties a stage 

 farther than have his neighbours. 



The would-be entomologist has, perhaps, 

 been reading some detailed life-story of 

 an insect ; his interest has been aroused, 

 and out he goes into the country full of 

 enthusiasm and determination to investi- 

 gate things on his own account. His 

 enthusiasm, however, presently begins to 

 wane, and it is very likely he returns 

 home a disappointed and exhausted 

 investigator. During his ramble, for some 

 reason, insects seem to have been par- 

 ticularly scarce. His failure cannot be 

 attributed to want of energy, for he 

 started out expressly for the purpose of 



finding insects, but, although he has 

 searched high and low, his journey has 

 been almost fruitless ; in fact, it might 

 have been entirely so had he not almost 

 stepped upon a pretty caterpillar, which 

 he may be said, therefore, to have dis- 

 covered quite accidentally. 



The intentions of the amateur ento- 

 mologist are most commendable, but 

 his methods are wrong ; indeed, his 

 troubles arise largely from the fact that 

 he has no methods. He expects too 

 much, and wants to accomplish in an 

 hour or two all that the practical ento- 

 mologist has, by careful and incessant 

 observation, laboured for years to learn. 

 To know the insects, knowledge is required, 

 and, like other knowledge, there is no 

 royal road to it. But let not this dis- 

 hearten those who would study insect 

 life ; the warning is given here only to 

 prevent discouragement as the result of 

 a first disappointment. When the 

 amateur learns that he must proceed 

 slowly by short steps at a time, it is sur- 

 prising how soon his experience grows, 

 for the minor observations of to-day lead 

 to greater and more interesting dis- 

 coveries on the morrow. 



I propose, therefore, to take some 

 imaginary rambles with my readers, 

 and to endeavour to help them to 

 see insect life in its various phases, 

 dealing more particularly with those 

 common insects which are most likely 

 to be met with by the amateur 

 naturalist during a country ramble. I 

 may, however, occasionally introduce ah 

 insect of rare or special interest. 



We start on a delightful morning in 

 early May. A lovely blue sky bends 

 overhead, and the cold winds that have 



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