The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-07-09
WONDERFUL PLANT
nc INSECTS AND WAS SENT
PtAn S SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE.

s.,a He Found 1t Growing In
p'' IL. Is Apparently Genuine
,.,ou. Though an Entomoiogist
''.~p,. to DisprO'e This
,,lv the Smithsonian institution
e.! ece in;vgtou received the most re.
a sio soecimen of plant life, or OF
haU nS insect life. in existence. This
u"1 Is. to all appearances. an in
l susring plant. 1t comes from Ven
and the natives there say that
3D. az uncommon. Unfortunately.
nU and insect are dead, but they
III preserved, having been care
N' nacFed for transportation. The
,io" was brought to New York by
. I'm Chambers of the Red d line
a'bin Philadelphia, and was sent
uS Washington the following day.
Mcmillan. superintendent of
Venezuelan Great Western railroad,
man who sends this gift to the
,Lsopian When Captain Chambers
him ON this trip to Venezuela, he
| to the captain
I've cot something that want you
ale 70 the Smithsonian institution
me. +"
What is it," asked the captain, who
had other experiences of this sort,
I,bree tailed monkey or conversa-
Al parrot? Will you warrant it not
lite" 49,,
will " Mr.. Mcmillan said. "It's
4 It'sa bug growing upon a plant.
fbereupon Captain Chambers broke
| derisive mirth and asked his friend
,e the captain, looked particularly
pie.
IAN right, retorted the superin-
lept. await till you see it. I've
hearing about this thing from the
Ives for some years, and have al
: regarded it as a fairy tale, but
linz found and picked the plant my
| I've had to change my mind. l
Won this is the most wonderful
be- in the plant line that ever grew"
he produced the plant, which was
h and dried, for Captain Chambers
Imination. The captain said that he
bid be very glad to bring it here and
hard it to Washington. Thus it
bme part of his personal cargo. This
ktain Chambers told reporter in
cabin soon after his arrival.
You will think it's a fake, too" he
$50 l will show you the thing
: let you judge for yourself. "
tndoing q small cardboard box packed
b bran, he carefully took out the ex-
ft 1t appeared to be just what he
said. There was a dead stem about
] inches long, with little branch
q small bunch Of roots. On the end
the main stem was perfect insect
|nch long, body, legs, head and eyes
bplete. Plant and insect were joined
|he middle of the insects head. The
tile shell of the head had not been
reed by the stem, and the insect
hed to have been growing there as
brally as flower.
There you have it," said Captain
lmbers It's q plain combination
plant life and insect life. All that l
Nv about the thing is what Mr.. Nc
Ian told me. He found it in the
Pds at New Site, Tucacas, Venezue-
about 40 miles from Porto Cabello.
plant, he says, is wildwood flow
growing to height of foot. 1t
Is from two to four flowers, of a
color, and in shape much like the
I OF clay pipe, but a little largers
fhe flower expands the insect, which
pc fruit of the plant, begins to form,
with the falling of the petals is
grown.
number of gentlemen saw the spec
p, one of whom is something of an
biologist. He was particularly in
|sted in it and examined it with
u care.
/ 1t is most curious phenomenon"
|sald, land extremely interesting
P scientific point of view, but
|say with assurance that the appar-
combination of vegetable and ami
life is nothing more than the result
Phance or accident-an accident, l
Pld guess, in which the unfortunate
|ct lost its life. 1t is so we'll pre-.
lea that there will be little difficulty
good magnifying glass in deter
ing Its exact species, and even with.
|'nat aid l feel pretty confident in
|ng that this is the pupa of a species
[icada allied to our dog day harvest
10 SO called IL year locust. The
Pa comes up out of the ground in
form III which you see this speci-
wlngless grub covered with a
~ Shell. 1t is extremely destructive
VIII eat nearly anything in the
vi vegetation that it can reach.
|eh'iy the she'll splits up the back,
'ne full f1edged cicada energies,
fas his gaudy wings and seeks the
u y tree' where, clinging to some
|.n' ne beats his long, whirring heat
Fly guess as to this particular speci-
- mat 1t preserves an insect trag-
our locust energies from the ground
n ivot OF tree upon the roots of
" she, as a grub, has been feeding.
sne' because the male locust in
aai forms is unprovided with an
L.'e, opshe comes from the ground.
fsseu OF powerful hunger. Near