The Portland daily press., 1900-05-28


1t was surprise to the writer to find
in Cuba great scarcity of insect Life,
or at least great lack Of variety. As an
enthusiast in entomology, I had looked
forward with pleasure to finding plenti-
tude OF the brightly colored insects so
common to other tropical countries. My
disappointment was great, for, with the
exception Of scorpions, centipedes, taran-
tulas, mosquitoes and ants, a very few
butterflies, and an occasional FREELY,
there are no insects on the island Even
the housefiy is rare, nearly all Of the
scavenger work performed by them in
our own country being attended TO by
ants and buzzards. The later are innum-
cradle. Nothing is safe from the ants. It
is necessary to place the legs of tables on
which food is kept in vessels filed with
water, else the ants will in single night
deyour everything. OF the many kinds
of ants, the most interesting Is perhaps
the umbrella ant. have seen process
sion of these little fellows 200 yards long,
In which each ant carried over his head y
bit of leaf. They had the appearance of
carTy ing uInDTtiiaS W suitut bntltlStiNtc
from the sun, hence their name.
/ believe that the American soldiers
who first came to Cuba had much more
fear of the stings of the so-called deadly
insects than of the bullets of the Span
iartis. have laughed myself almost
into Mysteries over the tremendous ex-
element that has been created in a tent
full of soldier boys over the discovery OF
% single frightened little scorpion In a
blanket Nothing could lie more anus
armed with sticks, beating and pound
ing away ut n cot until 1t was smashed
into kindling. in an effort to kill n scor-
pion that Ind already sidled out under
the tent. The scorpion, which is called
'alakran" by the Cubans, is little feared
dexterously picking up the "alakran"
by his business end. To do this without
getting stung requires some skill and
great quickness. l was stung several
times before learned the trick. While
the sting is very painful, 1t Is in no sense
dangerous. Suction Of the wounded part
by the mouth removes the poison, and
the swelling is not 50 great as from the
sting of our own big bumble-bee. The
native boys amuse themselves with bat
ties between two OF these fellows. They
get the largest they can find and put
Jneln IN u kfdsS uisn OF IhT. pOStbucE
The fun is fast and furious while IL lasts.
The scorpion is probably the most COM
mon of the poisonous insects in Cuba.
The old stone walls, of which there are
many, are full of them, and on the rocky
hillsides every stone has one or more I'M
der it.
The Cubans show the same lack Of fear
Of the tarantula as they do of the scor-
pion. / have seen a Cuban boy pick up
an ''aranya pelour," as the tarantula Is
called, in his naked fingers, with perfect
nonchalance. 1t Is really n safer proceed
ing than would seem, as the tarantula
is a slow moving insect, and II he is
caught by his fat thorax he Is powerlesss,
for his fangs are beneath his body, and
cannot be readily used. i saw a party of
American ladies scared almost into n.y.
steria at the sight of a big tarantula with
a spread larger than u mans hand, walk
ing across the floor of a parlor Of a Cuban
house at which they were calling. Their
fright was not lessened greatly when they
saw the little son of the hostess take up
the big fellow in his fingers and bear him
forth to sacrifice. The tarantula is not
considered deadly by the Cubans, a little
suction and good deal OF cognac being
the only remedy used for the bite.
The one insect for which the Cubans
have n wholesome respect is the cent?
pede. He is called by them -.cien pies
hundred feet. The centipedes grow to
great size, the writer having captured
several specimens eight inches long.
While i do not think that the centipede Is
deadly, yet / have never been able TO get
over a creepy feeling in handling them,
and / never attempted to make IA capture
of one unless my hands were covered
with thick buckskin gloves. They are not
much to be feared, however, for they
scuttle away with the speed of a railroad
train at the approach Of a human being,
and specimens can only he gotten by
turning over the largest stones, and that
In hurry.
The FREELY is possibly the most curious
of the Cuban insects He belongs to the
family of swapping beetles" of which
there are so many varieties in the United
States. On this thorax there are two
spots about the size Of a large pinhead.
In the day time these appear only as yell
low spots. At night they emit a brilliant
greenish light, so bright that it Is posi-
bic to read a newspaper by its light Sew
eral of these confined in a bottle will
serve to light room. They are worn
as hair ornaments by the senoritas, with
peculiar and striking effect.
must not forget TO speak Of mosqui-
toes, which abound in Cuba at certain
seasons. During March, April, May and
June 1t is impossible to sleep without
mosquito bars over the beds. But about
the fst Of July the mosquitoes disappear,
no one knows where, and they do not re-
appear until the following March.