beetle, usually devours the whole group 

 when he finds them locked in this help- 

 less condition. The wolf beetle is the 

 king of the species and is naturally a ter- 

 ror to all others. About his burrow you 

 can observe the remains of his cannibal 

 feasts in pieces of wings, legs and other 

 parts he has rejected. They have such 

 strength in their jaws that they retain 

 the power of biting after the head has 

 been severed from the body. 



Though possibly not to be classed 

 among insects, the alacran is one of the 

 queer organisms of the tropics. This 

 venomous creature, as Scorpio, has been 

 immortalized in astronomy as the eighth 

 sign of the Zodiac to represent one of the 

 constellations. It has a long body, termi- 

 nating in a slender tail, with an acute 

 sting which secretes a venomous liquid. 

 The sting of this repulsive creature is 

 very painful and will sometimes cause the 

 loss of speech, if not a torpor of the 

 tongue for fifteen or twenty hours. When 

 it makes an attack it curls the tail over 

 the head and back, biting and stinging 

 at the same time. One curious effect of 

 the sting of the alacran is observed when 

 it attacks the leg of a man, causing the 

 victim to stammer and gurgle for speech, 

 as if he had been suddenly stricken with 

 apoplexy. 



There are several species of these pois- 

 onous creatures, but the largest and most 

 vicious stinger is one about four inches 

 long and having a dark-green body, with 

 a well-marked stripe leading from head 

 to tail. It is a significant and curious 

 fact that this is one of the few creatures 

 that will not brook captivity. After find- 

 ing all means of escape impossible, they 

 have been known to deliberately suicide 

 by repeatedly probing themselves with 

 their own venom. 



The chigoe or "jigger" is a quaint in- 

 finitesimal insect, of a very troublesome 

 character, which is found all the way 

 from Mexico to Paraguay. It has no 

 identity with the red bug, but is a tiny 

 penetrating flea, which is so small as to 

 be almost imperceptible. It usually at- 

 tacks the feet of man and burrows under 

 the great toe, where it deposits a min- 

 ute sack of eggs. This causes no other 



sensation than a slight itching at first, 

 but in time it becomes dangerous, as, 

 when the nits are hatched, they produce 

 ulcers and running sores. Many evil 

 results — even to the necessary amputa- 

 tion of the limb— have occurred to tropi- 

 cal natives, who neglect the precaution 

 of extracting the egg sack as soon as 

 there is a suspicion of its existence under 

 the naiL 



It has been clearly ascertained that 

 many insects secrete equally as powerful 

 poison as the deadliest viper, but their 

 size and minute structure of organs pre- 

 vents the bite or sting from being at- 

 tended with the same dangerous or fatal 

 results. There is a certain little arach- 

 nidian, however, called the casambulga, 

 which would seem to be an exception. 

 This is a small spider, with a globular 

 black body, about three-fourths of an 

 inch in circumference, beautifully marked 

 with blood red spots. The poison it in- 

 jects, with its bite, is possibly the most 

 powerful of all the spiders, not excepting 

 the tarantula. When first bitten the vic- 

 tim experiences no pain, but within two 

 or three minutes there ensues excruciat- 

 ing agony, which extends throughout the 

 body. Unless antidotes are immediately 

 available the limbs will become numb, 

 circulation paralyzed and the patient will 

 fall into violent spasms. 



There are many curious traits con- 

 nected with the life and habits of the 

 tarantula, centipede, zancudos, cucuyos, 

 blister beetles, gnats and numerous para- 

 sites. The varied species of ants also 

 furnish an inexhaustible mine of interest. 

 The termites, or white ants, are actually 

 a hindrance to civilization, as they ruth- 

 lessly devour the most precious papers 

 and documents, often destroying whole 

 libraries. Much of the important data 

 and early history of Spanish America 

 has been thus forever destroyed. The 

 warrior ants (Formica sanguinea) are 

 regular slave drivers and exercise great 

 tvranny over many of the weaker species. 

 The vachaco is a large ant, which is often 

 eaten by the natives, who seem to relish 

 the white part of the abdomen. They 

 pinch off this part, mix it with cassava, 

 and preserve it by drying in the sun. 

 Andrew James Miller. 



215 



