Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1913-12-31
ooMBArs " INSECT woRLn.
Accomplished Warriors Have Both
Arms and Ammunition.

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Mos: animals fight when occasion de-
mands, and insects are by no means ex-
ccptions 20 this rule. Indeed, many in
sects must be regarded as accomplished
warriors, equipped with weapons of un-
common efficacy, and yersed in all the
strategic arts.
/ These who have paid attention to the
warfare OF insects are aware that their
contests may usually be classed under
one OF the three headings: They are either
purely defensive, An outcome OF the court
ship instinct, or definitely aggressive.
Certain insects, however, appesr to
labor under the influence OF ver.ta BILE
mania for battle, Among these are the
well-known rear-horses, or mantids,
whose fore legs sre so remarkably modi-
He'd as to act rs raptorial implements.
| With these terrible limbs, " hich are hinged
| and spiked in such a manner as to COM
bine the attributes OF the fail and the
sharks teeth sword of the Pacific island
ers, rear-horses capture and hold their
prey, but they are also used as weapons OF
offense and defense.
IL IL said that two rear horses scarcely
ever come face to fRce without fighting.
| Moreover, the contest is not merely dis
play OF skill, but duel to death. Sooner
of later one OF the eombatants gains a
nomentsry advantage and seizes its OPP
ponent. This puts an end to the battle;
for the victor never releases his grip, but
begins at once to make meal OF his OPP
| ponent.
Nor are these affairs confined to the
members OF one sex. The female rear
horse often, il not usually, tires OF her
accepted sutton; and when this happens
she rashes upon him with menace. The
male attempts to defend himself, but as
he Is smaller and less robust than his
spouse, he Is generally defeated. Suisse
quently, the female calmly devours her
qnondam mate. Beyond these conflicts
for prey, the msutids are harmless.
Among the purely defensive appliances
of insects, none is more interesting than
that possessed by the so-called bombardier
beetles of the genus branchinus. These
/ iusets are carnivorous, and destroy small
srthFopcds OF various kinds. But they are
themselves preyed upon by larger beetles
of their own family. When one of the
hereditary enemies gives chase, the bonn
hardier runs rapidly away.
II speed were / only chance OF escape,
however, II would stand but a poor
chance. But nature has endowed it with
a remarkable defensive equipment. II Is
able to eject an acid fluid from glands
situated at the tip OF its abdomen. This
| fluid vsporizes Immediately on contact
with the air, and looks like tiny puff OF
| smoke, while at the same time distinct
report Is heard, reminding one OF a minia-
/ ture cannon.
| The beetle is able to repeat this dis
charge several times in rapid succession
] exhausted. In this way the little artillery
man 10 able to discomfort its would be
captor, and very often oontrives to rush
into a Granny, or under a stone, where the
enemy cannot follow. The acid discharge
OF certain large South American bonn
bardiers IS extremely eaustic. II burns
and stains the human skin. leaving marks
which remain for a considerable time.
The most formidable weapon possessed
by insects Ia the poison sting. 1t is only
| found among the higher nymenoptera
tthat Is, insects of the bee and wasp
kind, and is confined to the female sex,
being, in fact, modification of the owl
positor, or ,egg-laying apparatus. The
sting IL not hollow perforated needle
like the fang of q snake, but a complex
organ made up of several parts working in
| conjunction. There Is grooved and
pointed shaft, along which slide two
darts, more or less barbed. The shaft
| is first used to open a wound. Then the
darts are plunged alternately into the
tissues, while an acid secretion flows down
from the poison-sac.
| Like bees and wasps, some species OF
ants are equipped with stings, but others
lack these weapons. The poison sac
serves merely as reservoir whence formic
acid Is squirted from an oritice at the tip
4 OF the abdomen. These stingless ants,
| therefore, first bite their enemy with their
laws, and then spray poison into the
wound--a somewhat cumbersome method,
involving two separate and distinct opera
tions. But ants are very agile, while the
extraordinary fiexibility OF their ''walst''
(that is, the region between the thorax
and the abdomenl enables them to direct
their poison without coming to close
quarters.
| When a nest Is attacked and partially
demolished, the sterile females or workers
hurry to points of advantage and eject
formic acid into the air. The pungent
fumes tend to disconcert and drive away
the enemy; and there can be no question
| 49,. n.. hattIaa ara nffau Won without the