230 INSECTS 
dition are they? Have they lined their nests in any way as a protection 
against cold? Have they made any provision for food over the winter? 
Do they show signs of life? If some of them are motionless and seem 
to. be dead, keep them for a short time in a warm room and note the 
results. Make a list of what you find, in each case noting whether it is 
the larva, pupa, or adult. 
4. Insects and flowers. — We have learned in another chapter that 
insects play an important part in carrying pollen from the stamens of 
flowers to the pistils of the same or other flowers and that without this 
assistance the seeds or fruits of such, plants would often fail to grow. 
Of course the insects render this service merely by chance, as they are 
visiting the flowers to get the sweets they contain. Various insects, 
but especially bees, are fond of the sweets. If there are honeybees 
in the neighborhood, they will find your blossoms; but at any rate there 
will be bumblebees and many other sorts of wild bees. These should 
be regarded as beneficial insects. 
Watch your flowers and observe the visits of these insects. Note 
the different kinds; you may not know their names, but you can de- 
scribe their appearance. See what they are doing and how they go from 
one flower to another. Watch especially such blossoms as those of the 
cucumbers, melons, squash, and pumpkins. They are said to be com- 
pletely dependent on insects for pollination. At the end of your 
observations give a full account of them. 
5. The use of sprays and poisons. — Watch a good gardener while 
he applies to his plants an insect poison or spray. Find out what the 
pest is, what remedy he is using, and how he applies it. Is it necessary 
for the spray to touch the insects, or how does it kill them? Give in 
your class a good account of the procedure. 
6. Plant lice. — Find a variety of these on weeds (the marsh elder 
often has them), willows, rose bushes, sweet peas, plum trees, elms, etc. 
Some plant lice are green, some red, some almost black. Bring to the 
class some of them with the leaves that they are on and examine them. 
Do all the lice on one plant look alike or are there some very tiny ones 
without wings, others a little larger with the beginnings of wings, and 
some with quite large wings folded above the body, looking like small 
flies? How many wings have they? Hold the leaf on a level with the 
eye and look closely at the head of the animal. You may see the slender 
sucking tube inserted in the leaf. : 
