Evening star., 1926-04-03
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL J.. COLLINS.

All facts Of nature are importa Mt
to the scientist. The Smithsonian In
stitution Is dispatChing an expedition
to Africa TO bring home. alive, lions,
rhinoceroses and Ciraffes and all sorts
Of smaller animals and birds. to grace
the National Geological Park, there
to he gaZed at by the daily visitors
numbering from 40 900 TO 10000
To Guatemala another expedition
is departing for flies and other in
sects. to be pinned up in the National
Museum. there to be examined, classi-
fed and discussed in meetings OF
scientists. DIR. l.. o. Howard. chief
entomologist OF the Department of
Agriculture, gives emphatic assurance
that one dead fly in that collection
will be worth more than all the live
lions and other beasts of prey. for
flies and other insects are far more
formidable enemies of mankind than
long .necked siraffes or roaring Kings
of Beasts.
II takes a few score men to feed
the animals in the Zoo, but it takes
a million Americans. working hard
all the year. to feed insect pests, for
they eat from a tenth TO fifth of
all that our farms produce.
X
The expedition to catch the wild
animals is being financed by Mr.. Wal
ter Chrysler. and is headed by Dr.
William NJ. Mann. director of the Ma
tional Geological Park. 1t will Oper.
ate in British East Africa. setting
traps and snares for the prey wanted
The chronological party will be under
Dr.. ]. NJ. Aldrich associate curator
of insects of the National Museum.
AVga
at direct economical values. though
the latter may lead to discoveries OF
insects which will serve as enemies
of other insects which are taking
such heavy toll from humanity. One
little insect stinginG the Smyrna figs
of California solved the mystery as 10
why Smyrna trees. growing there. had
failed to rIpen their figs. Now we
raise -as fine figs in California as are
grown in Turkey but they must be
stung before they will mature.
After the Spanish war. the Gov
ernment gsoweG red Glover. in the
Philippines and 1t f1ourished only one
season. then failed to reproduce. be
cause the islands had no humble bees.
After humble bees had been taken
there. red clover grew luXuriantly.
DR.. Howard says that II we knew
dS IuuCH dDouI anu
for our beneficial insects as we do
about growing pigs and cows, We
could add billions of dollars year
to our crops IL we fail to discover
how to control the growth of enemy
insects. some day a pair may break
from their restraining limits and in
a year or two. so multiply that there
will not be room on earth for man
kind Some one has computed the
very few years required for one pair
of insects to create a mass of progeny
larger than the whole glObular sun.
x y
DIR. Howard is authority for the
statement that there is parasite
feeding on fleas, with its own para site
laying it's eggs within the first para
site, and a smaller one within the sec
ond parasite and a fourth one inside
the third, but the story about lad
infinitum," like the premature story
of a certain humorist's death. he de-
clares is greatly exaggerated" The
fate of humanity may depend upon
the birth control" not. of man, but
Of insects and their para sites.
The havoc wrought in the cotton
of our Southern States. due to the
cavages of the boil weevil, is one ex-
smple of our costly ignorance of en-
tomology. That weevil was harm
less i'm it's Guatemalan habitat but
when we admitted it into the United
States and turned 1t loose amid its
Olentv of cotton. il beca me monarch,