Alabama, 191 5. 37 



INSECTS ARE THE TRUE RULERS OF THE UNIVERSE 



MAN AND ALL HIS WORKS WOULD SOON BE AT 

 THEIR MERCY IF IT WERE NOT FOR BIRDS 



A 



MONG the zoological articles in the Smithsonian annual 

 report is one on the value of birds to man, in which the 

 author, James Buckland, of London, makes the astonishing 

 statement that although man imagines himself the dominant 

 power of the earth, he is nothing of the sort; the true lords of the 

 universe being the insects. For although man has attained predomi- 

 nance over the most fierce and powerful animals and most deadly 

 reptiles, he and his works would be of little avail before an attack 

 of insects, which include a greater number of species than all other 

 living creatures combined. Some 300,000 species have been de- 

 scribed, while possibly twice that number still remain unknown. 



The author says that these incomputable hordes feed on nearly 

 all living animals and practically all plants, and multiply into pro- 

 digious numbers in an incredibly short time. Computations show 

 that one species developing 13 generations a year would, if unchecked 

 to the twelfth generation, multiply to 10 sextillions of individuals ; 

 while a single pair of the well-known gypsy moths, if unchecked, 

 would produce in eight years enough progeny to destroy all the 

 foliage of the United States. One pair of potato bugs, he states, 

 would develop unchecked 60,000,000 in a single season, at which 

 rate of multiplication the potato plant would not long survive. 



According to Mr. Buckland's article, insects are quite as astound- 

 ing in their consuming qualities as in their rate of increase ; a cater- 

 pillar eats twice its weight in leaves a day, and, in proportion, a 

 horse would consume a ton of hay in 24 hours. Certain flesh-eating 

 larvae consume 200 times their original weight in 24 hours; in this 

 manner an infant would devour 1,500 pounds of meat during the 

 first day of its life. It is reported by a specialist that the food taken 

 by a silk worm in 56 days equals 86,000 times its original weight. 

 All of which facts show what tremendous destruction insects may 

 cause. 



