The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1883-11-15
Insect Life.

"Tbe last summer has been especially Ia
yorab!e to insect life. Plant parasites have
thriyen In the most unexpected places.
Trees were infested with an extraordinary
| number of caterpillafs. Wherever there
was q mustard plant lttla green lice could
be found in numbers that could not be
reckoned. Even in Central Park, where
care is taken of the trees, an unusual
collection of parasites was found only a
short time ago. While these forms oil lie
are disagreeable to the majority of persons
| there are some little creatures 70 be found
in the PARK on bright days even at this late
time of the year, which are capable printer.
esting anyone who has the use OF his eyes,"
The speaker, standing at the edge OF
walk in the park, was gazing intensely,
while he talked at Il brown spot OF earth
where the grass had failed to take root.
The person spoke to, not having the use OF
his eyes in the sense meant by the natura-
| list, saw nothing except an unsightly bare
place which should have been green.
you don't see what it is that attracted
my attention, suspect, added the natura'
| list.
mo" answered the other. II haven't
put my mind to it yet but ii you are STUDY,
| ing the methods of top-dressiug pursued
| in the park think tlere are places more
favorable than this"
Nothing of the kind, was merely
watching that ant running about with
burden as large as itself"
Ii took some little time to bring the I'M
trained pair of eyes to bear on the little
walker. When found. he was seen 70
have firmly grasped in his nippers the
body of small green fly, numbers OF
whose relatives were jumping and lying
in the neighboling grass.
1.-THE ants must consider these flies
delcacy. ] should not like to give an es'
| innate OF the number of ants l have seen
here ct different times, each carrying lily
which it had captured and killed. They
are cunning hunters, and will lie in wait
there in the grass for a long time in order
to secure their game. Sooner or later a
hv is seen to alight where he can be pouced
upon and then short work is made OF him.
But have caused trouble for this ant my
sell. | suspected that its nest was some
where under the leaves at the edge OF the
walk, and l took them all away, one by
one. He was then going over the ground
tainty as to his destination.
But since the leaves were removed
he has been wandering aimlessly about as
if he had quite lost his way. That is an
important matter with THIS llttle CHAP, pc
cause he belongs to a tribe that move In
bodies and PROFESSIONS. They are not in
the habit of wandering far from the main
trail"
You don't r.ean to say that ants actu-
ally make path?"
''Of course they do. 1t was long time,
however, before the time came when l
could see The path itself. l only inferred
that there was path from the bewilder-
ment shown by individuals when they get
a few inches away from the line. They
wandered back and forth exactly as a
woodsman would do who had lost the path
through the forest. They would not go far
either forward or backward until they
| found the accustomed whlk
One afternoon when the walks
were damp from a rain in the morn
Ing, was sauntering in the park and found
one of the ant professions. The line had
been formed along the edge of smooth
hard-bedded walk, and the ants were easily
observed coming and going. The object OF
all the movement was some candy that had
been thrown down just beside the walk.
The ants had probably been at work for
hours When l stopped down and looked
closely conld see faint mark, perhaps
half an inch wide. My inference is that the
path, which could see only by reason q
the rain, was obvious to the ants at all
times.
"These ants are as interesting in their way
as those OF warmer climates, about which
so much has been written. There are more
curiosities In Central park that are not
mentioned in the list of things to be SEEM"
New York Tribune.