El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-02-27
By
Rene Bach

, called the elephant beetle" and
weighs third Of a pound. If such a
| bug were to strike a man in the face,
I in full flight, it would knock him down.
This beetle (like others of it's order) is
clad in a complete suit of armOrproof
/ the material of which, 'chitine," is far
| more tndestrucuble than steel. Chitine
cannot be destroyed except by certain
mineral acids; in other words, only the
articles of chemistry avail against it,.
Bug Lives in Pond.
The socalled electric light bug has
. become familiar in our cities only with
/ in the last few years. 1t is a. huge fluy,
three inches of more in length, which,
as a larva, crawls about on the bottom
Of a muddy pond Assuming wings and
taking to the air, it becomes an insect
of prey, feeding upon young fishes. 1t
dives into the water and attacks them,
stabbing with its long beak while
grasping the fish with its forelegs and
sucking the victims blood. In short, it
is an insect vampire, against which
owners of fish ponds should be warned
Sometimes these bugs" arrive in
swarms at night, killing great numbers
of little fishes in a few hours.
In Japan crickets and various other
species of insects are priced for their
song" and, confined in dainty little
cages of reed or bamboo, are hung in
the verandas Of houses. The trilling
and chipping sounds they make have
been ikened to 'etherialiZed bird
notes" An insect fancier's shop is
said to be most picturesquely interest
ing, his stock in trade including grass
hoppers, certain tree insects. and other
species not readily identified unless by
an expert entOmOlogist. The tiny cap
tives- are fed on such prOvender as
slices of cucumber, and cents for one
of them, together with its cage, is an
ordinary price, though 20 times that
much may be charged for an exceptional
vocalist.
Initiates Musical Instruments.
As matter of fact the voices" Of
these insects are not, in a proper sense,
voices at all The grasshOpper fiddles,
using the thigh of each hindleg alter
nately as a bow and the ridged surface
of his wing covers for a violin. The
cicada, or tree locust" has a pair of
drums on the first joint of its abdomen,
pieces of parchment, which are played
on, not by sticks, but by muscular
cords which contract and relax rapidly,
causing a rafting sound. Cricl1ets
rub their wingcOvers together. The
tree cricket, though so tiny, makes
noise OF piercing shrillness by elevatlng
its wings and vibrating them. One in
sect of this species on window cur
tain will suffice to keep a person awake
on a summer night and it is almost i'm
possible to find him.
In its way. the most remarkable in
sect in the world is a beetle that turns
into a plant. As a larva, it is a white
grub which burrows into the ground
in autumn. When it reappears, in the
following spring, it is a mushroom.
The secret of the matter is that the
spores of a certain fungus, coming into
contact with the grub, utilize the latter
as material to develop in. In fact, this
particular fungus has not other method
of reproduction. As a result the body
of the insect becomes filled with my
celium. and, its flesh being metamOr-
phOsed into vegetable tissue, the mush-
room growing from it sprouts and
fructifies above the ground. A suffi-
cient number Of beetle grubs, however,
escape this fate to perpetuate their
species.