Now, if you leave these pupw long enough they will burst open their 

 cocoons in much the same way that the mosquito does and thus many 

 of the threads of silk will be broken, so at this time men take these 

 cocoons and put them in an oven and bake them so as to kill the pupw. 

 Then the cocoons are placed in hot water and the silk is wound off 

 and used for making thread, cloth, etc. If you will watch the large 

 caterpillars, which feed upon the apple and cherry leaves next fall as 

 they are getting ready for winter you may see Just how the silk threads 

 are made. 



Can you think of anything else that we get from insects? Well, 

 there are a nimiber of insects which furnish us with dye stuffs. One 

 of these belongs to the order Hemiptera, or true bugs. It feeds upon 

 the cactus plant and is known as the cochineal bug. It secretes a col- 

 oring material from its body which is used in coloring candies and 

 other things. They are very useful, but as they do not live in this 

 climate, we will pass on to another one with which you are all 

 acquainted. This is commonly called the blister-beetle. Members of 

 this family are long, black and striped fellows, which we often find 

 doing so much injury to the potatoes, beets, etc. You did not sup- 

 pose that these insects were of any use, did you? Most people do not 

 consider them so. Why do you suppose they are called blister-beetles? 

 It is because they are used for making bUster plasters. The beetles 

 are kiUed, dried and then pulverized and the powder is made into 

 paste and used by the doctors to produce blisters. In this way they 

 become very useful in curing certain diseases. 



Now, we come to the second class, which, I think, is the most 

 friendly of all, because without its aid our crops would frequently be 

 entirely ruined by the injurious insects. These are flesh-eaters and 

 so are called carniverous, because they feed upon other insects. Some 

 of these kill only as many as they want for their immediate use, 

 while others place their eggs either upon or within the bodies of the 

 larvce of other insects and, as they hatch, the young feed upon them 

 and so destroy them. 



In this olass we may place many of the beetles— those with the 

 hard wing covers. Among these are the Tiger beetles. Of course, 

 you all know what Tiger beetles are. Those long-legged, bright-col- 

 ored beetles which run very swiftly, and nearly always go hunting in 

 the hot portion of the day. There are a number of other kinds of 

 ground beetles among our friends, hut they hunt for their prey after 

 night and hide during the day under stones and logs. Now, do any 

 of you know where the young Tiger beetles Uve? They cannot run as 

 fast as the full-grown beetle, so they have to adopt some other plan 



