240 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



than its body. What can it do with these cumber- 

 some ornaments ? Does it wear them on its forehead 

 to intimidate the foe? I would not venture to dis- 

 pute the matter, but what I do know very well is that 

 with its extravagantly long horns it frightens the 

 inexperienced young pupil so that he dares not touch 

 it, and he calls it the devil. All the same, the cap- 

 ricorn-beetle does not deserve the evil reputation it 

 has got from the timid. It is perfectly harmless. 



"Insects' horns are called antennae. All have 

 them, some longer and some shorter, now of one 

 shape, now of another. In some instances they are 

 flexible filaments, jointed chaplets; in others, short 

 stems ending in either a cluster of little buds or a 

 bunch of leaves pressed one against the other. See 

 for example the burly and magnificent insect that 

 browses the foliage of our pine-trees on warm sum- 

 mer days. It is called the pine-beetle. On a chest- 

 nut background it wears a sprinkling of white spots. 

 The antenna? carry at the end a set of little plates 

 or scales which open and shut like the leaves of a 

 book. 



"It is in place here to mention the common June- 

 bug, furnished like the pine-beetle with antennae 

 bearing leaf -clusters at the end. I propose to tell 

 you its story in detail; for, if this little creature is 

 the joy of young people of your age, it is also the 

 terror of the farmer. 



"But first one word more to conclude our short 

 story of sheath-winged insects. Their number is im- 

 mense. Nearly all have membranous wings under 



