18 
THE GRASSHOPPER 
servation that more people should be aware of the common 
facts about insects. To do this it is necessary to get an idea 
of how they grow, how they get their food, what they eat, 
where their eggs are laid, how they reproduce, and how they 
may be controlled. 
If a person studies rather closely the life history, structure, 
and activities of one insect, he has a fairly good idea of the 
great class of insects, for they are all much alike in many 
ways. Insects in some ways are like the higher animals, 
such as the fish, bird, dog, and man. All must have food, 
all must get oxygen, all have some way of self-protection, 
all reproduce, and all sooner or later die of accident, disease, 
or old age. Certain insects live as adults but a few hours, 
while elephants may live a hundred years or more. But all 
die in time and the young must come to take the places of the 
old if their particular race is not to become extinct. 
All insects will be found doing something. Some are 
flying from flower to flower, and you can watch to see what 
they are doing; others are busy on the leaves or the stems, 
and a few minutes of observation will show you whether 
they are friends or foes of the plant upon which you find 
them. The most interesting way to study insects is to 
watch them in their home life, but when this cannot be done, 
they can be well studied in the laboratory. Even in the 
city a surprisingly large number of kinds of insects can be 
collected by a class and brought alive to the laboratory. 
2. The Grasshopper. — The study of animals begins in 
this book with the grasshopper. When during the late 
summer we walk into the fields or along paths lined with 
grass, we are often surprised at the number of grasshop¬ 
pers which jump away as we approach. They are of va¬ 
rious sizes and kinds. Some are small and without wings, 
while others have small but well-formed wings. The 
difference in the wings and in the shape of the body tells 
us that there are various kinds of grasshoppers, 
