The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-12-06

they now live, because they do not feed
on vegetation. They are carnivorous,
though they come from the eggs of
beetles that feed on potatoes, beets and
other field crops. or on the heads of the
various asters and other similar flow
ers. Without its proper food, the triun-
gulin simply fasts and bides its time.
1t seems to know exactly what 10 do in
this situation. and does not leave the
flower head in search of nutriment.
The see-PoIlen Feeders.
The beetles that lay the eggs from
which the little triungulins emerge are
of two general types-the bee-pollen
feeders and the grasshopper-egg feed
ers. The life histories of these beetles
are among the strangest that occur in
all the insect world. The vagaries of
fiction, the legends of mythology and
the odd fancies in fairy tales and folk
lore are all outranked in romance, mys-
terry and wonder by the simple facts in
The life histories of the blister beetles.
The little demon or fairy called the tri-
ungulin (for it is merely a matter of
mental or emotional attitude as to
which term you apply to the tiny roCue)
runs about among the aster fiorets
without feeding. He takes no food at
this time, but waits for the appearance
of the winged angel that is to transport
him to a land flowing with milk and
honey" For he is mere stranger and
sojourner amid fiorets of the golden-rod
or aster, despite the fact that the par
ent beetle, living in a sphere far re-
moved from his experience, has placed
him there. A tiny moth visits the
flower in search of nectar; the triun-
gulin pays no attention to it. An ant
crawls across the flower head. picking
out seed for its granary; still the lar
va needs not-he is waiting for the
proper bee to come along and then he
viii act with unerring promptness and
certainty. Presently one of the ground
bees comes busily buzzing to the aster
in search of honey for itself and of pol
( len for its future progeny: as il does
so. the triungulin, knowing by some in
comprehensive instinct that his deliv-
erer has at length arrived, gets busy.
too. As the bee creeps over the flower
head. Sweeping up the golden pollen
dust with her hairy body parts, the
larva seiZes one of the legs, usually the
hairy hind leg, and secures a firm hold
upon this fuzzy member of the strong
winged flier. Laden with honey and
pollen, and also with the triungulin.
which Is clinging securely to her foot.
away flies the worker on a bee line to
tant perhaps from the scene of her la
bors among the blossoms which she has
rified for nectar and bee bread. For
this bee digs hole in the ground. pro-
visions II with bee bread, and laws her
eggs therein. First she puts a layer of
the pollen, or larval food, at the bot
tom; then on this prepared pollen she
lays an egg.
She may spread over the first egg an
other layer Of pollen, then lay another
egg. and so on. AS soon as the triun-
Suiin larva is carried to the bottom of
the cell, it lets go of the bees leg and
at once eats up the egg of the bee that
has been deposited on the pollen stored
there. Then the larva, thus nourished,
soon changes into a stage without feet
strange TO say. it is now a vegetable
feeder. and proceeds at once to feed
] upon the stored bee bread that was in
, tended for the young bee. But the egg
! having been devoured by the larva of
the blister beetle, the latter now de-
YOURS its intended food. II is now a
/ herbivorous creature. Previously il was
4 carnivorous. Now IL resembles the lar
va of the June beetle, the white grub:
also vegetable feeder; and now. like
the latter. ii wriggles along on its back.
since IL cannot walk. In the cozy house
built for the young bee il passes the
winter The next spring it emerges as
an adult beetle
+ The GrasshoPper-Egq Feeders.
In the second kind, called the grass
+. hopper-egg feeders, the eggs of the
F. beetle are laid mostly on the ground.
/, When Matched, these larvae run about
: searching for indications of grasshop-
7; per egg pouches. And though the fe-
male grasshopper, after having laid