INSECTS 



flagrant neglect on the part of nature for her creatures, 

 where it would seem a remedy for their ills would be easy 

 to supply. 



In human society of modern times the criminal element 

 has come to look no different from the law-abiding class of 

 citizens. Formerly, it we may judge from pictures and 

 stage representations, thieves and thugs were tough-look- 

 ing individuals that could not be mistaken on sight, but 



Fk.. ii. Two blister beetles whose larvae feed on grasshopper 



eggs. (Twice natural size) 



A, Epicauta marginata. B, Epicauta vittata 



today our bandits are spruce young fellows that pass with- 

 out suspicion in the crowd. And thus it is with the in- 

 sects, all unsuspectingly one may be rubbing elbows with 

 another that overnight will despoil his home, or that has 

 already committed some act of violence against his neigh- 

 bor. Here, for example, in the same field with the grass- 

 hoppers, is an innocent-looking beetle, about three- 

 quarters of an inch in length, black and striped with yellow 

 (Fig. ii B). His entomological name is Epicauta vittata, 

 which, of course, means nothing to a locust. He is now 

 a vegetarian, but in his younger days he ravished the nest 

 of a grasshopper and devoured the eggs, and his progeny 

 will do the same again. Epicauta and others of his family 



