Evening star., 1925-11-30
BUGS ARE GIFT
TOzO0BY WOMAN
Rare Specimens From Many
Lands Brought to London
by Fair Explorer.
Correspondence cc The star aLi New Yors
World

Correspondence &C The star aLi New Yors
World
LONDON, November 20.-London
has 900 new kinds of bugs and they
wore imported from far-aWay lands
by a woman. Fortunately for the
peace of mind Of the residents of
The British capital they have not
been turned loose. but have been
banded over to the Zoo and the
Natural History Museum at South
kepsinEton, where they may be IN
Spected by enthusiasts like the inn
porter, Miss l.. r. Cheeseman, who
is sufficiently enthusiastic about bugs
o hold the post of curator of insects
al the Zoo.
Miss Cheeseman recently returned !
from the South Sea Islands; where, as J
entomologist of the research ship 81. !
George, she made the collection. She
IS quite enthusiastic about some of :
The nastiest looking specimens, Tor
quite proportion of the 1900 are !
entirely new discoveries in entom- |
ologv. The remainder are all classed |
as ''rarities" in this country
Not Miss Muffet.'
No need 10 try and scare Miss |
Cheeseman by dropping big spider |
down her neck, for there IS nothing
Of the Miss Muffet about her and |
she knows all about insect life and !
regards all 'crawly things as really |
interesting. She knows most craWlerS !
by sight and gives them pet names. !
Discussing her years exploration OF !
The little known parts oI the Islands !
Of Tahiti, Raiatea and Bora Bora I
Miss Cheeseman agreed that they /,
sure were places for funny insects !
She chopped her way into hitherto /
unpenetrated jungles. lived i'll native !
huts and all the time had TO walk |
warily to avoid poisonous centipedes |
and scorpions without admitting that |
T. was an unusual hobby for L
woman.
'The astonishing thing we have tol
explain" she said, ''iS how some of
the species established themselves on
these islands. They are quite deli
cate creatures. and yet they contrived
10 cross thousands of miles Of sea
i'll some cases. no doubt. in plants,
and so forth. Some ! found there are
of the same species as we have
hitherto imagined were confined TO
regions in entirely different parts OF
he world
Her chief pets among the speci-
mems brought home are the tiny En-
bida which live in little silken tun-
nels in the bark of trees and the
brilliantly colored plant bugs, some
only eighth of an inch long. Most
OF neE species Ire sinai anu require
a. good deal of searching for, a hard
mornings work only producing one
or two specimens, not always new, or
worth the trouble.
Securely Housed.
OF the better known varieties of
insect life, Miss Cheeseman speaks
with enthusiasm about the size cen
tipedes attain in Trinidad. In Trini-
dad she met a man who sold giant
centipedes by length. When they
exceeded a foot in length he charged
proportionately for the extra inches.
Miss Cheeseman brought back a nice
1S-inch specimen which the British
public is relieved 10 learn has been
consigned TO the dead section OF the
natural history bureau. Nervous resi-
dents in the st. Johns Wood district
Of London have been assured that
only few choice specimens Of Miss
Cheeseman's new bugs have been placed
in the Zoo, and that they are securely
housed in glass cases.
But British womenfolk are not al
together pleased about Miss Cheese
mans zeal for entomology and they
think that the 1900 new specimens
might have been left in the South Sea
Islands.