20 
B Y THE WA YSIDE 
BY TH E WA VS IDE 
Published on the tenth of each month except July 
and August 
The official organs of the Wisconsin and Illinois 
Audubon Societies. 
Twervty-fiv2 cents per year. Single copies 3 cts 
All communications should be sent to Miss Ruth 
Marshall. Appleton, VYis. _ 
NATURE STUDY IN THE SCHOOLS. 
III. Insect Study. 
There are about 200.000 species of insects in 
the world; what ones shall the teacher se¬ 
lect for study ? It would be impossible for 
one human being to know even the names of 
all of them, even if it were desirable to so 
cumber the mind. Many of them have no in¬ 
terest to any one but a scientist. Before de¬ 
termining what kinds it would be profitable 
the children to know about, let one consider 
the ulterior question, what place do insects oc¬ 
cupy in this world which we think of as pe¬ 
culiarly ours? In the first place, insects far 
outnumber all of the other groups of animals; 
indeed are greater both in number of species 
and in individuals than all of the vertebrates, 
worms, mollusks, etc., put together. An in¬ 
sect endowed with reasoning might argue from 
this that the world was made for them,—and 
have the best of the argument. Then, next 
we must notice that, from their standpoint, 
they have been very successful in the struggle 
for existence. To be sure, they have not at¬ 
tained great size, but they have reached a high 
development. Our hypothetical insect philoso¬ 
pher could make a second strong argument for 
the superiority of his race by introducing the 
subject of instincts. 
Small bulk with high degree of development 
has been the secret of the insects’ success in 
the world. They have thus been able to fit 
into many places unoccupied by larger com¬ 
petitors. and to get along with less food. 
They have been able, not only to resist their 
attacks, but to take the offensive and wage a 
winning war against them. Insects are found 
in all climates, in the air. the water and the 
soil. Not only this, but a single individual in 
its lifetime, because of its wonderful metamor¬ 
phosis. often occupies at successive stages, 
different media needed. 
Scientists say that insects are a com¬ 
paratively young group of animals, their 
rise in the world dating from the time when 
seed plants (the highest and youngest plant 
forms), became a dominant group. Or, more, 
accurately, it was the partnership early form¬ 
ed between insects and flowering plants which 
resulted so successfullv for both. It is most 
* 
important that this relationship between in¬ 
sects and flowering plants should be explain¬ 
ed to children, and it is already receiving at¬ 
tention. Color, odors, nectar, odd shapes, are 
usually known to be adaptations to secure in¬ 
sects visits. It is then clear that they should 
be studied as a group. 
But not all the insects are friends to the hu¬ 
man race; by far the greater number are 
troublesome to us or our domesticated plants 
and animals, or even a serious menace to com¬ 
fort and life. Mosquitoes, flies, cut worms and 
a host of others belong in this group. Against 
these man has had to wage relentless warfare. 
Even his superior size and intelligence has 
availed him little so far; and our insect phil¬ 
osopher might argue from this the claim of 
his race to superiority over all others. 
It is clear, then, that the commoner insect 
foes should be added to our study list. Space, 
will not permit an enumeration here. Take 
the commonest first. The grasshopper is an 
excellent subject for fall work, as is also the 
cabbage butterfly. Let the children have a 
chance to learn the life histories of each by 
actual observation, then lead them to a con¬ 
sideration of the economic side of the animal. 
Of course the teacher must have some tech¬ 
nical knowledge of insects as a class. This is 
within the reach of evervone. Insects are dis- 
tinguished from other groups of animals by 
certain structural differences: the body is di¬ 
vided into three parts, head, thorax and abdo¬ 
men. the last clearly showing a jointed ar¬ 
rangement; on the thorax are borne three pairs 
of legs and two pairs of wings, typically; the 
breathing apparatus is a complicated system 
of aii' tubes or trachae running throughout the 
body; and there are shown, more or less clear¬ 
ly. three distinct stages in the existance. 
These stages are the larva, or eating stage; 
the pupa, or resting stage; and the imago, or 
adult stage when the eggs are laid. Then it 
i- important that the chief classes of insects 
be known, at least by their common repre¬ 
sentative-. These are the grasshoppers, but¬ 
terflies and moths, dragonflies, “bugs,” beetles, 
bees and wasps, mosquitoes and flies. Some of 
this technical knowledge the children will need, 
enough to understand the life history and the 
economic value of the objects studied. R. M. 
