The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1892-12-24
Ol.aa INSECT FRIENDS,
WHAT WE OWE ToThE HOST OF
CRAWLING TERRCRs.
U Il ani ksp1'stve to tho Odd nary Oh.
sc-Scr. Yes Eiess NJ. In Disguise
--yac Ba'y Ant and tho
lowsrfai Beetle.

land. aud he made out a very good
case. Bundle bees alone are capable
OF ferti,izinT tlis highly important fod-
Ger pla 1T ted nice des rDyed b lmbls
bees NESTS. cats destroyed field mice,
old MAIDS fostered cats-theretore.
withou. the very use ul, but much
abused, mein bers OF the family. there
would be Little or no clover on the
Island. Ii we take u comprehensive
survey OF the insect tribes he may
even declare mankind could not have
reached its present state of civilization
II there were no insects; probably it
would not have got start OF the earth
at all. Let US figure i, out. The hu-
man race had, no doubt. its origin in
the tropics. Now every part of the
earth has beer once. if not oftener, in
the tropic belt; the zone is even now
moving slowly northwards. though it
is not advisable to boom Greenland Us
a summer resort yet awhile.
Before mankind existed vegetation
ran r OF for ages, says the Detroit Free
Press. The principal factors loading
TO the decay OF all vegetable matter
are the in 'ects. No sooner does tree
fall than beetles bore through it let
ting in air and damp. They lay thou
sands of eggs in the cavities and these
&c sdi. y hatch and let loose armies OF
strong lawcd grubs that gnaw more
holes in he wood. Hosts of termites
swarm hlong and eat out the heart.
and in wonderful short space OF time
the great sold oh struction to future
growth falls to p eces leaving n soft
mass OF fertile ng matter. in which
fresh Growths can sp ing up. Unless
hasteEed by in ects the decay would
b, so SOW that every forest would
sooner or later be barren waste and
no 70 ests would exist. How quickly
in ec.s work: espec ally termites-
commonly but enormously called white
ants-may beillust ated by stating that
they have BEEN known to run tunnel
up one leg OF Il table. through the top
and down another leg in one night.
Away wording uud sr cover. they in
VA an | TN iermine house before
the inma o. hare Il suso con OF their
fr2sclci. 1h1ls & looked upon as
ycritat ie ter ors teca Sc OF the de-
80 faNLA'S 20" -lF't h-iSN 1Et L-it "pilli'
OF tho 4. upics. In building their twelve
ct high nests they plough up the
ground. air il and further those chem
ic;tl act on nee assarJ ~ > future pro-
dUc.iveness. Darw has proved o.
WAIT use nth 40 n are u us VeGc-
ia lie mo d lyiug in he, below the r
face il con iIua ly be NJ brought IN
by ~ sing through their bodies an
thor by made available FOR the needs
OF our cereals. SO m ch zeal these
torn.tes bring 10 thor appointed work
that they would pos css the earth if
ever o,hcr Nv ng creature did no
wrgo an inces ant war upon them.
The queen lermite lays IN pre- .gs in n
day than ueen bee in year. She
swolls up until she is six inches long
aad we CHS 20 0OJ times rs mucl as n
worker uni then the year round sho
lays an egg every se'ond.
The bestles that live in the tropics
aro no,el for their size and sp,en-
dor. Some travellers have asserted
that it sci es IL tree limb in its formid-
able jaws, and, by swinging rapidly
round and round. IL saws it OF in
lie.
II is not to be expected that every
one will agrei with the above assertion
OF power craditai to our friends. tle
insects; far from It know that
most people will maintain that we
could get along better without them.
As for the insects. they do not recog-
nj c our existence except rs affording
them an EXTRA unwontcd supply of
food mater'al whenever they happen
aero IS II poor two-lcgged mortal. Ev-
identity they regard us rs obnoxious
creatures, whose bodies and handi-
work should be destroyed as speedily
us possible. OF course we retaliate,
and, cu,sing and raging. we wipe
whole armies of them OF tho face of
the earth; but 10 little purpose, 70.
their astound ng fecundity is some
thing appalling. / have known good
pious men who thought tia: tho whole
mission in life OF the plaguey tribes
was to teach u, sublime submission
to the evils of this wicked world.
Take mosquitoes, for example. They
are seemingly always on the warpath
and more persistent tormentors hardly
exist. But they really have no need
OF us; thousands OF generations live
and die without ever seeing q human
being. But without mosquitoes
neither We nor any animals could live
near the borders OF lakes or any other
still body OF fresh water. Billions upon
billions of 'pollywogs, as their larve
are vulgagiv called. live along tho
edges OF the water. feasting on tiny
morsels OF decaying matter. and thus
destroying the cause OF those niasmas
50 fatll to animal life and thereby
purifying the air and water. Living
stone reports mosquitoes to be in such
swarms around Lake Nyassa that the
natives caught sacks of them and
pressed them into "kungo' cakes. and
he states that they tasted very much
like caviare.
A more carnivorous insect than
the Praying ualtis does not ex-
ist: two nave. m ,e: but n battle en-
sues. the victor devouring the van
cuished. The Chinese keep these
creatures for fighting purposes and
they sized up tleir character sooner
than we Wosterners Their hahitual
n tudo. VIII oh we mistooh so long for
IL praying posture, is really one OF
menace. and yet for hundreds OF year
old authors told marvellous yarns about
bcj,. ri VIM Dappera n, ~ in srnpIi.