Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-31

Il NOW AT the ldSl minute lflt'
star was showing tempera-
ment. Let's chloroform the pest,
some one suggested 1t was done.
The picture was Il success
thlorofOrminE its movie stars is
now common practice at the De
partment of Agriculture movie studio.
These stars, usually, are the insects
which destroy crops and live stock
to the value of millions of dollars
annually. They are starred in mo
ton pictures. which are distributed
nationally by the department to teach
effective peSt-control methods.
Recently the department prepared
an elaborate scenario depicting the
depredatiGns of the common clothes
moth. Everything was in readiness
t. shoot" the scenes. when it was
discovered that the action of the
camera was too SLOW to record the
activities of the pest. The camera
men then hit upon the idea of Chloro-
forming the moth to slow down its
movements, and only under these con
ditions was it possible to make the
picture.
The boil weevil. on the other hand.
has been found an ideal star. This
rest enjoys being mined for the
movies Indeed. its vanity in this
respect sometimes causes annoyance.
for the pest. desiring closeup flashes,
flies into the camera. This happened
IN connection with pictures of the
cracrGcnca and habits of boil Weevlls
itr the cotton fields. and il was neces-
ss:ry occasionally to stop crankinG
the camera to clean the beetles out
Of the machine.
The department motion-piCture di
I, cturs explain these eccentricities by
pointing out that some insects are at
tracted by light and other insects Shun
H-ht High power kleig lights are
used in making studio scenes. Bed
hugs. rats, and the white-painted hlck-
ury hOrer are among the pests which
refuse to act under the glare of the
spotlight. and it Is necessary to trick
these recalcitrant performers into &C
tom
Redbugs are averse even to ordi-
nary daylight. To bring them out from
cover so as to be shot the movie
men dressed guinea pig in night
gown and placed it in a miniature bed
infested with bugs. The animal was
cnlnroformed to make ii remain mo-
tionleSs. and the bugs seeming
choice morsel threw discretion to the
winds They rushed to the feast de-
spite the glare of bright lights, and
did their stuff nobly for the camera
men.
THE department wanted to make
some pictures of the habits of
ordinary house rats. Attempts were
made TO take pictures of the pests In
old cellars and dumps. but the rats
were too ia st for the camera shutter.
The department then procured some
trained white rats, and dyed their
coats brown. The pink noses were
dabbed with Othello theatrical powder.
The rats relshed the taste of tire
powder and licked it off as fast as it
was applied The picture was COM
pleted only by repeatedly powdering
the rats noses.
The white painted hickory borer re-
fused 10 perform unless it was given
a drink of alcohol. Slightly 'squiffed,'
the pests went about their accustomed
lob of boring into hickory. unmindful
of the camera The reason why alco-
hol was used was because the white
painted hickory borer Is closely re-
lated to the short circuit beetle, which
now feeds on lead cable. but which
formerly found sustenance in the
slaves Of wine casks.
The honey bee is another member
of the insect family which resents the
intrusion of the camera man. Inc
filming of bees near Washington was
progressing smoothly one day last
Summer, when A swarm of bees unex-
pectedly attacked the camera man and
drove him into "A cellar. After hasty
consultation among the bee experts
it was decided to erect a canvas shell
ter over the camera so as to make
shade This saved the camera man
from further attack, inasmuch as bees
will not fly into shady places.
More than score of motion pic
lures featuring insects have been
made by the department. They in
Clude pictures of pests such as the
cotton boil weevil the pink boil worm,
coCkroachcS. rats. poultry lice, grass
hoppers stable flies. corn borers, bean
beetles bedbuGs and others. me
scenes of the depredatiOns of the In
seCts are usually woven into human
drama so as to make the pictures IN
terestinC as well as instructive.
The Federal quarantine regulations
are such that some of these pests are
not permitted to be transported into
the District of Columbia for fear That
they may escape and spread thelr
Suhere of destructiVeneSS OUTSIDE the
uuarantined areas. This makes II nee
esSarV for the camera men 10 Journey
10 the places where the pests occur
in natural environment. rather IMAM
to photograph them in the studlo.
The department rarely uses 1akeu
insects III it's films. except IN colllec-
ton with animated cartoons. IL Is
considered that the expense Oh Idh-
ing pictures of the actual pests IN
their natural habitats Is fully Justl-
fed for the sake of scientific accu-
racv. Several animated movies nave
heen made however. in when the
mechanical insects have been mace
90 lifelike as to deceive even the de-
partment's scientists.
One of these was in connection
with an outline map on which a. me-
chanical bean beetle was made TO
crawl around TO indicate"hoW beetles
have spread since their Introduction
into this country. The habits of the
beetle were studied carefully by the
camera men, and an imitation was
made that bore lifelike resem-
bIance to the original. The entomolo-
eists who viewed a private exhibition
of the film wanted TO know how the
photogra piers had been able to train
the insect.
CRASSHOPPER plaques have long
~ engaged the attention of the best
scientific minds The habits of the
pests have been carefully studied for
the purpose of perfecting methods of
exterI1fnation. Motion pictures of
grasshoppers have been of consid
cradle value in this work, both to
the scientists and to farmers In de
veloping methods of protecting crops.
The department camera men recent
Nv made a special trip to Grasshopper
Glacier in Montana. to photograph
some of the frozen prehistoric grass
hoppers there. There are literally tons
of these prehistoric insects piled up
at the mouth of the glacier. The eX-
PLANTATION for their presence is that
through the ages the pests were swept