Evening star., 1932-06-23
SUMMERTIME
. HE street lamps. OF q fine Sum-
mer night, are the places to
study the night-roving insects
i that elude cne in the day. l
still see Washington Children
BY D. c. PEATTIE.

mer night, are the places 10
study the nigllt-roving insects
that elude cne in the day.
still see Washington children
excitedly capturing winged prey arcund
the lamps that glow megically through
the fresh, strong young foliage OF our
common street trees, maple and linden
and elm. 1t recalls M own earliest IN
entomology, which began, I'm afraid.
in the cruel sport of 'beetle-flghting.
Junebugs as we called them, have
punctual habit Of appearing in their
proper month, especially at twilight,
while children haunt the sidewalks IN
their street games and sports. Actuslly,
these are what scientists call stag
beetles, whose males have very long
pincers the function Of which seems to
be much the same as that Of the antlers
on the bucks of deer. For the most
part these creatures avoid each other.
being each, I suppose, intent on his own
courtships. But If you push them at
each other they wage a savage war,
driven on by all the ferocity Of the sex
instinct as 1t exists in insects. Being
among our largest bodied insects II
am not counting the spread of the
wingsd sorts), the stag beetles are really
impressive warriors, whose ponderous
jousts, conducted in the heavy armor
of a beetles uniform, are thrilling to
youngsters.
From the combats on the cement We
turned our attention. as children still
do, to the street lamps overhead. I
sometimes see some energetic lad with
net on a slender pole. bringing down
what cannot otherwise be reached.
What will he find when he reaches cau-
tiously into the net?
Two orders of insects predominant at
thic Of nj in, ctinI, r,1o
the lace wings or ncuroptera and the
mayf1ies or ephemoptera. The lace
wings are far the more beautiful, some
brown. some OF an unearthly green.
Both sorts. beside their beauty. are i'm
mensely useful insects who devour at
all stages of their life history great
quantities of the very sorts of insects
who do us and our crops and garden
plants most harm.
One of the neuroptera We all remem
Der from legends of childhood is the
''doodlebug" When you see circular
pit in sandy ground, such as might be
made by inserting a match into the
soil ard then twirling 1t around and
outward, YOU may know that a neurCp-
teran called the ant-lion lives there
He is dear to the youngsters under the
name of doodlebug. You must lean
down till your lips touch the sand and
shout, Doodlebug. coodlebug, come out
Of your hole! And out he comes Yes,
but he does. really Perhaps he's en-
ragged. perhaps. like famed Alexander
/ Beetle" he's glad to see you
| But other insects are not glad to meet
doodlebug. The larvs of the snt-lion
fay makes his trap by backing into the
ground. working around till he has
constructed a slippery depression. Here
he buries his head in sand. only the
tips of his jaws projecting. Small
and fall into the awful trap. When
the ant-lion has sucked his victim dry
he gives the empty carcass q toss from
his mobile head; it lands outside the
pit. where it ought (but never does)
serve as a warning to unwary victims
But what will you? Doodlebug must
! lixyaI