Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-02-12

How many more inches she grows,
Twas ever that way
With Rosalie May,
When new, that dress reached her
toes.
"You may not believe, but It's true,
Each washing would prove it to you
If Resale May
Keeps growing each day.
Not one of her dresses will do"
Washington Star.
WHAT BETH LEARNED.
1t had been sort of field day for
Beth and her friends-this trip into
the woods with the entomologist.
"And there's never leaf nor blade
to mean
To be some happy creatures palace!"
one of the girls quoted in soft little
chant, after they had been initiated in
to the mysteries of the gals on the
oak leaves. II never before thought
how much Lowell meant. We've been
interested in birds for years, but it's
queer how we have neglected the in
sects."
There's one thing should like to
know" Beth began. Il notice you
make a difference between the words
'bug" and insect" You told Esther
that the potato bug wasn't bug at
all, but a beetle, and then just min
ute after you spoke Of it as an insect.
Why won't you call a beetle a bug.
when you do call him an insect?"
Il suppose" said the entomologist
with a little smile, "for very much the
same reason that you would refrain
from calling COW horse. You
might call 1t a quadruped, If you wish
ed, just as called the beetle an in
sect. Insect Is much larger and
more comprehensive term than bug.
All bugs are insects, but not all insects
are bugs!'
"Oh!" said Beth. Then, with an an
swering smile, you'd better explain
a little more; I'm all at sea-" And
the other girls echoed the request.
We'll, to begin with, all the true
insects have six feet. That fact is ex-
pressed in their classification as 'Hexa-
peda.' There are many other gem
eral characteristics of this great group
possessed by all the different orders
by the beetles and bugs and flies
and bees, and all the rest of the insect
army. For instance, the body of every
true insect is divided into three seq
ments- the head, thorax and abdo-
men. 1t has only one pair of anten-
nae Cor feelers, as you perhaps call
them), and most insects have either
one or two pairs of wings when they
reach the adult age.
Now for the difference between
a beetle and bug. Specifically there
is close resemblance between some
members of these two orders. The
bugs all belong to the order Of hemi:
ptera-a word meaning literally, half
wing. This word was suggested by
the form of the outer wings of the true
bugs, half Of these outer wings being
thickened SO as to resemble the bee
ties outer pair, the other half being
wing like. Another and most import.
ant characteristic of the true bug is
that its mouthparts are formed for
sucking. The beetle, on the other
hand, belongs to the order Of Coleop-
terra, meaning sheath-winged. It's out
er wings taking Invariably the form
of pair of horny covers for the
membraneous wings below. The
mouth-parts of the beetle are formed
for biting, not sucking. The o-called
June bug is beetle; the lightning
bug, the lady bug. and many others
popularity misnamed are true beetles.
Nine persons out of ten speak of mem
beers of the various other insect orders
as bugs. But the fly, the ant and the
butterfly and moth are no more bugs
than a sparrow is a thrush, They are
all, of course, true insects.
What is the difference between a
moth and a butterfy?" asked Beth.
"They are very closely related, both
belonging to the order Lepidoptera,
from two Greek words, meaning a
scale and wing. The wings of this
order are covered with scales, usually
laid on with all the regularity of shin
giles on a roof. Speaking in general
way, can say that the butterflies
fly by day-the moths by night. The
wings of the butterfly, when at rest,
assume a vertical position, while the
moths either spread horizontally or
fold somewhat like roof over the
body. The antennae of butterflies and
moths differ widely, those of the but.
terf1y usually being club-shaped, while
the moths are nearly always feathery
or thread-like. The moths are gen
orally stout of figure, while the butter.
fy's body has a slim grace of its own"
Where do the spiders come in, in
the insect world ?"asked another girl.
"They don't come in at ALL" smiled
the Entomologist. Strictly speaking,
the spiders are entirely outside of the
insect group, though closely related.
They have eight legs instead of six,
the head and thorax are united In
stead Of being separate segments.
Most spiders have four pairs of eyes,
while the insects have only two eyes.
The Insects eye, however, Is compos.
ed of from fifty to many thousand
hexagonal facets. each of them per.
feet optical organ. The insect is said
to have compound eye, while each
of the SPIDERS four eyes are simple. y
WELL" said Beth, with long.
drawn sigh. I've learned a good many
things didn't know before. Who
would ever have supposed that we
make so many mistakes every day
when we talk about the insects? And
the right way is SO simple, too-when
it is explained to you."-Bertha
Gemeaux Woods in the Florida Agri.
culturist.
RICHARDS PARADE.
Little Richards. mother always sang
him a song before he wont 10 Gloom