The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-09
THE rsrErrzorSr srnrrx.
He Ranrs Hish as (. Thinker Among u
 Insect Species.

He Ranrs High as "a Thinker Among the
 Insect Species.
 New York Tribune.
 Down in the South the orange growers are following in the steps of the California growers in riddins their trees of the scale They have invited the useful ladybird. or ladybug. to come over to help them. The iadybird exterminated the pest in califor- mia. This pretty little creature with the disagreeable smell Is one of the iSo.eoo dtf- ferent species of beetles. Like all of the other insects this one with the feminine name plays a part in maintaining what the student of all the elements which make up this complex earth would call the balance of life. It Is one of the bugs that eats a bug" etc., and itself is eaten, the whole being somewhat like 'the house that Jack built" The entomologist has a hard time enough of it, for 1t is estimated that there are more than 5,ooo,Oo different species of insects--more than to be found of all the other groups of land animals together. In the course of his study of these six legged creatures with their strange meta morphoses he meets with many strange looking creatures which do strange things
 There are said to be more beetles than any other order of insects. They range in size from the mighty Hercules beetle six inches long to little fellows so small that microscope Is needed to learn anything about them. Some of them are ,ferocious, indeed Such is the tiger beetle. Many of them are canibais Some were believed once to be posessors of everlasting life-- every season rising from the ground phoe- nixlike.
 Fsnciful stories have been told about the Hercules beetle with his three-inch horn. He lives in South America. According to one writer. he everinduiges now and then in an inebriating cup. These immense in- sects. he declares. sometimes gather on the limb of the mammee tree to suck its juices. They nimbiy rasp off the rind with their horns until they come to the juicy interior. The juice they drink until they become in- toxicated and fall senseless to the ground. Another observer tells tale which caps this. They saw off limbs. this one calmly asserts. The operation is accompanied by a noise exactly like that of a knife grind CT holding steel against the stone of his wheel.
 There Is more than one beetle armed with a dissgreeable odor. One Is the row bee tlee This beetle Is said to very numerous and very useful The largest and most fa- miliar member of the family is known as the "devirs coach horse." This cognomen aspect, gustins odor and generally ferocious nature. He is dull black, narrow and little over an inch long. One may often see him scut- tling along pathway ever ready to accept a challenge. walking stick set down near him Is sufficient to stir him up. Instantly he faces around to give battle, opening a formidable pair of sickle shaped jaws end bending the under part of. his body over his back, as if to suggest that like a SCOT pion. he carries sting in his tall There is no sting, however. but a weapon almost as effective. This is nothing more than a pair of soft yellow vescles, which can be pro. truded at will. From them floats a most abominable odor. He needs only a small amount of provocation to bring this bat tery into action.
 He is not the only beetle oddly armed. There is the bombarder. He Is small, but carries about with him a piece of artillery. It Is not exactly what might be termed a Long Tom but 1t might be described as 'stern chaser" He provides a liquid which is so volatile that when 1t comes in contact with the open air 1t explodes with a slight report leaving a cloud of thin smoke. This fluid is capable of staining the human skin black, and so deeply that it cannot be got rid of for several days. It will also burn. When a number of these beetles are found together and a,they are disturbed the scene suggests battlefield in miniature. A fusilade will be continued for some time. The enemy which the little fel. low most fears is one of his own kind, a larger carabus. The big fellow is heard ad- vancing from the rear. With jaws extend ed he runs rapidly toward his victim Be- fore him are extended his antennae feeling for his prey. The little fellow stands his ground until the carabus is almost upon him. Suddenly the head of the larger bee tie is hidden in a little cloud of vapor and tiny report is heard A second report quickly follows the first.
 The big beetle starts back in astonish- ment. His antennae are seen to wave above the cloud and swing to the rear Like the dog retreating with his tail between his legs, the beetle has assumed a different attitude towards his enemy, and this Is tho signal of the change. Before he recovers from his ludicrous predicament he has faIl- en toward the rear almost as rapidly as he had previously advanced, and his prey has escaped.
 One beetle is credited with having solved a certain geometrical problem long before man did it. Whatever his everyday name may be. his scientific is Rhynchites Betuloe L. Huygens. the great mathematical genius was the first one to exploit the problem in his ''Horologium Oscillatorium," in 1873
 
 eggs has learned how to adapt to her mat ics the involute and evolute The purpose the two curves of higher mathematics is that of constructing from a given involute the corresponding evolute. a problem which Involves most complicated combination of dtfferential calculus and geometry
 Some think that the beetle has the power to reason in a limited degree A German artist. who Is declared to have been a man or strict veracity." has told story to illus trate this. In journey through Italy he said he saw a species of the scarabaeus bua- lily engaged in making a pellet of soil for the reception of its egg This, when it was finished. the beetle rolled to the summit or small hillock number of times. each time permitting 1t to tumble down the side. Apparently this was done for the sake of consolidating 1t by the addition of earth. which each time adhered to it. In the course of this process the pellet fell into hole The beetle was unable to get 1t out try hard as 1t might. After several unsuc- eessful efforts she went away. Shortly she was observed returning. accompanying by three companions. The four put their shouI- ders to the pellet. and 1t was soon out of the depression. This accomplished the three assistants left the spot and returned to their previous occupation. Evidently the beetle has been able to discover what was neees- sary and had been able to communicate her needs to three others of her kind.