The Saint Paul globe., 1899-12-10
INSECTS in WINTER
COMING OF COLD SOUNDS THE
KNELL FOR A WHOLESALE
TRAGEDY
CUNNING DEVICES OF NATURE

%Ss "hAch VIII ReSuIt In Sup
plying the Various Species With
the Coming Season Nearly All
Summer Insects Victims of Frost.
1t was but recently that all out of doors
was teeming with life Now, with the
frost In the air, the evenings are silent.
1t looks as If the first chill breath of win
ter had wrought a who esale tragedy at
one fell swoop. But where are the dead
and the dying?
The house fly and blue bottle fly, the
bane of the hos keeper, are shor vel
at best. Many flies live but a day. The
excitement of Gaping extermina -:on d
rearing their young rounds out an exist
ence or twenty-four hours. Nature, ia
appreciation of their short career. has
provided them with compound eye.
which see about cn all Sides a marvel
ously acute scent, and a facility of flight
which is the aggravation of him who
dozes at MONDAY and who tries to catch
that one fly. When autumn comes the
death knell of millions Of flies has sound
ed They make no preparation for WIN
ter. The majority die. and their insign:fi-
breeze. A few hardy survivors linger in
gals in the wills creep under the door
frdn,s or in creVices III the woodwork
it is probable that eggs are laid larvae
hatched and other flies creep from the
metamorphosed maggots during the " n
ter. But some naturdlists assert that the
few lingering flies are the parents Of the
multitude that appear in the warm days
Of June. The eggs they lay are number
less.
VICTIMS OF FROST.
Katydids, grasshoppers, lo-usts, WA X
Ing sticks crickets and beetles are kill
ed by the frost. The eggs hidden in ,-:e
ground or concealed in the bark Of trees
furnish the supply for the next year.
The cold retards the development of the
egg, which matches in The warm days OF
spring. Sometimes an unusually cold win
ter plays havoc with the dormant Insect
life, but the cunning of nature stre.;g h
ems the frail eggshell against the power
of heat and cold alike, until the secret
alchemy of the sun stirs the budd ng lie
and bids it come forth.
Beetles exhibit a wonderful instinct In
caring for their helpless young. Among
certain species the eggs are rolled In
DdllS OIL IudlGIldI suitable 1OI AOOO' AhO
balls are packed away In a nest to await
the voracious appetites of the infant
beetle that must eat It's way out. The
burying or sexton beetles deposit their
eggs in the bodies of dead birds or field
mice. They then set to work and perform
the proper rites of burial heaping the
earth over the body of the dead. The
young beetle Matched from the egg finds
store of food awaiting him on his arrival
in the world.
Butterflies and moths are victims of
cold weather, though in some instances
i, has been proved that they have great
powers of endurance. Both butterflies and
moths live in the region of glaciers in
the high Alps, and q certain species Is
found fluttering about on the summit or
Mount Washington amid eternal snow.
These butterflies and moths are intima e.
ly associated with the gentians and other
flowers belonging to these lofty attitudes,
and act as aids in cross fertilization.
BUTTERFLIES IN WINTER.
Our temperate zone. boasts of one or two
winter butterflies warmly clothed In mf-
croscopic feathers And on cheerless Feb
rpary and March days these blithesome
heralds of spring sport about like animat-
ed sunbeams and living prophecies of
springtide But what has become of the
butterflies and moths Of the vanished
summertide? They are gay yet thrifty
folk in looking out for the future Of their
race. Search the garden and cocoons
and chrysalids are found in all sorts OF
shapes and conditions. Angular and ovold,
short and thick, long and thin, suspend
ed by the head, or by the tail, head down
ward; hung horizontally in curled leaf,
like the darling baby in the treetop; tuck
ed away under a soft web coverlet on
the sheltered side of the gate post, or
under the edge of the sidewalk; within
the warm corner of a knothole, or a
crack In the boards, under the bark OF
the trees, in a cozy crotch of the tWlgs
and even buried in the ground. The deli
cate yet firm silken threads bind them
to the topmost branches. where. exposed
to sleet snow and rain, whirled about
by every bowling blast, they defy the
winter.
The butterfly and moth lay eggs In a
suitable feeding ground during the early
summer The Matched larva or caterpillar
eats voraciously, gorging itself until 1t
can eat no more. Or, II too fat for fur
ther exertion, 1t spins cocoon and makes
ready for winter During the winer 1t ap-
parently slumbers in Its snug quarters
nourished by the plentiful supply of fat
1t accumulated during the caterpillar
stage, and at the proper time emerges a
full-grown moth or butterfly, gorgeously
attired and bent on holiday making.
BEES AND ANTS.
The spiders store away no food supply
In winter quarters. Quantities of eggs are
laid and carefully sheltered In velvety
cobweb sacks impervious to the weather
These sacks may be found hidden away
In crevices and corners OF board fences
and stone walls. The little spiders creep
from the luxurious sleeping bags provid-
90 6iy xYiuG
mother. and If they escape the canni-
balistic propensities of their brothers and
sisters, enter at once on career of trap
ping and hunting.
The old saying Go to the ant, thou
sluggard," and the quaint fable of the
foolish, shivering grasshopper and the
wise and thrifty ant would lead us to be-
lieve that wisdom .dwelt in the halls OF
the anthill along with the forethought sc
common to the beehive. The bees and
wasps do lay up stores for winter. The
wasps do not provision quite so wisely as
the bee, but In the center of the cone
shaped nest of the paper-making wasps
may be found goodly store of honey
All bees do not store as literally as does
the hive bee, and the mortality among
bees is widespread. While thousands die
few survive. and of these few it is gen
orally the females that show the great
est tenacity to life and serve as mothers
of the race for the next summer. Hive
bees receive such fostering care from
man that they can hardly be counted
among our wild friends who must shift
for themselves.
The thrifty ant deserves much sym
pathy in that 1t is the favorite prey OF
spiders, crickets, beetles and other insect
hunters. In spite of vicissitudes 1t is de-
voted to its community life. The care OF
It's young, the management of Its slaves