The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-06-25


Washington. June 25.-The Rip VanC
Wrinkles, the Jaekels n Hydes, the
aristocrats. the philosophers and the
"hoboes' of the insect world are de-
scribed in a communication to the
National Geographic society by David
Fairchild, the plant explorer who mas
| secured the world for plants of eco
nomic value and introduced them into
the United States.
In describing the peculiar habits and
remarkable achievements of insects, he
says, the champion aeronaut Is the
king g~rasshopper, which has the
ability to jump 100 times its length.
1t can also sail for 1000 miles before
the wind. These grasshoppers some
times go in such numbers that they
make a cloud 1000 square miles IN
extent. Its great front lip hides a
pair of jaws as effective as a nay
| chopper, and it has an appetite as Vo-
writes Mr.. Fairchild. "a young chick
| finds itself shut inside the egg-sheL
and must work it's way out alone, but
the young grasshoppers find them
selves-the whole nestful-shut in a
hardened case in the ground made by
their mother, and it takes a half dozen
of them working together to dislodge
the lid which shuts them in.
Song of the Cricket.
"The carrying power of the song OF
| the cricket is extraordinary; there
| are species whose strident notes can
be heard for a mile, although their
little bodies are scarcely more than an
inch in length. The males alone are
musical, and it is reasonable to- sup
pose, since the females have ears IN
their forelegs, that they are singing
to their mates and not to mankind.
Az one listens to their friendly song
it is hard to appreciate what fighters
they are among themselves. the larger
ones even turning canibals when food
Is scarce. -
"Of ali creatures Of our houses, the
cockroach is the most detested.
Housewives may be surprised to learn
that a. cockroach can live five years,
and that 1t takes a yea to develop TO
maturity. The female lays her eggs
in a. horny capsule like a spectacle
case, which she carries about with
her until she Is ready to deposit it IN
some suitable place. Later she returns
to help her baby cockroaches out of
their shells.
"The song of the cicada is the nolsi-
est in the insect world. The 17-year
cicada has been called the Rip Van
Wrinkle of the insect world. From
its tiny eggs there issues a creature
with soft white body and mole-lke
front legs. 1t hurries to the ground
and disappears beneath it's surface
sometimes to a depth of twenty feet
For seventeen years it digs its way
around in absolute darkness, and then
comes to the surface to join in a mar
lriage revelry of a few brief weeks. 1t
is a full -fledged creature of che air
though encased still in grave-clothes
of parchment; but it soon splits these
up the back, pulls itself out, dries Its
powerful wings, and flies away witt
the whir Of an aerodome to live bull
q few brief weeks.
Ants Female Organization.
'"The social organization Of the ants
has been the admiration of human be-
ings from the earliest times, because
the interest Of the individual Is merged
SO completely INTO that of the colony
There's an organization of females, tn
soldiers are females, the nurses art
females, and there Is one queen mothel
for them all, who lays all the Eggs O
the colony. The males of any colon!
are but mates for the young queens
Together with them they leave thu
nest on their marriage day and to
gether make their marriage fight, blu
as o o as this is over they die AM
the colony get on easily withou
them!
"The DR.. jacket and Mr.. Hyde Is s.
complete between the butterfly an,
the velvety green worm that 1t is n
wonder that for centuries no connec
ton between the two careers of thes
creatures was suspected, In general
is true that no moth or butterfly is in
furious to plants except in its larvs
stage, and herein has laid the cleve
deception which has doubtless protect
ed these a. mating creatures of tn
air from the systematic attacks of ma
until quite recent times.
"The spider world has q vagabon
which builds no nest or web, bein
content to use her marvellous silk /
the construction only of a sack In wnic
to lay her eggs. 1t does not grow I
be more than half an inch in lengt
but it Is among the most active
all spiders. and in the United Stat,
alone there are nearly a score of spt
cies of these little soldiers OF fortur
living nowhere and roaming the dan
fields In search OF pSAysa
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