The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-08-03
INSECTS THAT STING
And The Tarantula Is Entitled to First
Place.
The Devils Horse and the Cheerful
CentIpede An Entertaining
Article on Objectionable
Insects.

AhE ~tetnpeFate zone IL somewhat
IL poverty-stricken in the way of OBJ
objectionable insects. OF course
here in New York, for instance, every
body has, when they are in season, all the
hies that he @ for home use; at the
watering places In New Jersey the supply
of mosquitoes is always equal to the de-
mand, and there has beer no sad COM
plant from the farmer that the catch Of
potato bugs is falling of year by year;
but, nevertheless, II must be admitted
that compared with Central America or
even Texas, the northern states are not
in the swim when IL comes to insects, says
Alex. A.. Sweet IN an exchange.
In the most settled parts Of Texas ven-
omous insects are almost as obsolete as
they are in the middle states, but in the
valley OF the Rio Grande, the boundary
betwee Texas and Mexico, tarantulas,
c~entipedes, scorpions, ticks and ather ir-
ritators OF the human cuticle can he had
Tor the picking, and they are ripe from
one years end TO the other.
While the natives of this cactus-grow-
ing region are deprived of the pneumonia,
N other elements Of New
England weather, kind nature recon-
penses them with q wealth of yindictive
insects the sting of any one OF which is
calculated To make a craven image take
notice OF what is going on. There is also
a species OF gallinipper that is an expert
at boring into the human frame. IL a
man could bore as fast as a gallinipper, a
l,aO foo oil well could be drilled IN an
hour and 10 minutes.
Probably d tarantula is entitled to a
position at the head of the programme.
His personal appearance seems 10 have
been gotten up for the very purpose of i'm
spring a lack of confidence. He is an
enormous, dark, brunette spider, which,
like the average cowboy, runs largely to
hair and legs. His the tarantula'sl en-
tire body is covered with short, coarse
black hair or bristles. He is armed with
a pair of curved fangs with which he OBJ
tains his food or repels the familiarity of
man. When n tarantula's legs are spread
out he will cover the palm of a mans
hand. He ears the style of p~olonaise
peculiar to all spiders.
However, h %tarantula has his good
points. Unlike the mosquito, he does not
partake of man as an article of diet. The
t%arantula bites only in self-defense, and
he snbsists on grasshoppers and other fell
low insects. He is very quiet until he is
teased by prodding him Familiarity with a
cane, for instance in the small of his
back. Then his hair stands up on end
N INV Iuii oh tit DoTfuIntlcs Dt
CRASHES his fangs and swings his limbs
over his head, after the fashion of "a New
York official whose honestly has beer
questioned.
The bite of the tarantula is rarely fatal,
but while il lasts the pain is more severe
than parting with n new IS bill.
A comical looking insect, which i'm
pose resembles a girl graduate playing at
a piano, is called the DEVILS horse, but
unlike girl graduates thus employed the
devils horses are perfectly harmless. This
insect is the mantis religiosa, or the pray
ing mantis, socalled because of the mis-
aiken belief of the early explorers that he
was saying his prayers. All the praying
he does is spelt with an &C." He prcys on
hies and mosquitoes, which he eats very
much after the fashion of a boy pulling
himself over a banana.
The appearance of the DEVILS horse is
very much against him, inasmuch as he
resembles man more than any other in
sect that has ever been invented. His
small, round read and long neck are sug-
gestive of a dude. His head. by the way,
seems To revolvc on "A swivel. or pivot, like
that of an owl. Two long feelers sprout
from the bumps of mirthfulness.
His physical make up is a combination
style of architecture, in which the ant and
the grasshopper are equally blended. The
devils horse seems To have about forty
times the kicking power of the grass
III ''s 49, - ~ - bho
portion To his size, a hundred times
stronger han n man, the young DEVILS
horse, when he goes out counting and
I'M the old nan at home, must have
n very exciting time of il.
IL man were, In proportion To his size,
as strong as a DEVILS horse il is estimated
that he could throw a book agent a mile
and n half.
The DEVILS horse is disposed to be
sociable, not TO say obtrusiye. When the
lights are lit i'm the parlor he comes
through the shutters and proceeds to
crawl down the back of some woman. IL
he is foiled in this direction he may
ascend the limbs OF some youth under his
raiment. He respects no person or part OF
a person. He is gotten up In assorted
sizes to suit the different tastes OF difier-
ent people.
The centipedc. as will he seen at q
glance, belongs to the scolopendra familA
and IL, of course related To the myriopoda
branch of IL. The centipede is not only
unpleasant and rcpulsive to the sight, but
is not a desirable object To handle.
This cheerful insect is armed with a
pair of fangs of such strength that IL can
readily bite oil the orner of a kiln dried
railroad lunch ounter pie. Its terminal
facilities consists of a pair OF hooks.
A full grown .centipede is occasionally
as long and as broad as the blade OF a
table knife. In some parts OF Mexico the
centipedc is even larger, and almost as
dangerous as a rattlesnake. Each side oi
the insect is armed with about 40 legs, and
each leg is armed with stings like that of
"a wasp.
When n centipede anchors his head in
the fieshy anatomy of a human being
throws out his two graphing irons from
his rear aud then draws his 40 odd, very
odd clawsto together. IL will bring tears &c
h eyes Of "a tax collector To see how the
little pet holds on.
When the centipede takes up his resi-,
house,in the chimney or among the found
alton stones. His diet Is believed to be in
scots that are not SO heavily armed and
iron clad as he Is. Why centipedes were
created in the first place Is "A mystery thai