Evening star., 1937-07-04
Studying Bugs in a
Roof Greenhouse
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

Nv 'hoAiiAS w Ioil. IilcIe HAS JuSL OcC0 COM
pleted a specially constructed green
house. While plants will be raised there.
the primary purpose of the glass struc-
ture is to study bugs. The study Of
bugs, plants and soils constitutes one
OF the broadest and most valuable ac-
tlvlties of the department. and never
before have the scientists engaged ,non
such work been accorded such excellent
facilities.
1t probably is safe to say that no bug
has ever had a more de luxe residence
From the crystal penthouse the bugs
can see, near at hand, the great shaft
OF the Washington Monument and other
public structures of the National CapitaI
Then they have magnificent view down
the broad Potomac River. On clear DAYS
the keener-eyed can almost glimpse
Mount Vernon
The penthouse will have several COM
partments. There is one especially dedi-
Gated to the study of stranger insects.
unidentified creatures. The department
has many field agents not only In this
country, but in various parts of the
world. They are skilled in their work.
and when they come upon a creature
they have never seen before. it is quite
ithSk' VIC iioCIO ID d tIdHgpI. lnPSc
field agents will send in specimens and
the department would have no objection
to receiving specimens from amateur
naturalists.
The compartment devoted to insect
Identification is carefully constructed to
prevent escape of specimens 1t has
double doors and double screening and
extra strong glass. Bolts and locks are
on the doors. Every precaution is taken
TO keep the specimens in and keep DOS
sible human or other intruders out.
1t is planned to study insects from i'm
mature stages to maturity to determine
their habits, their foods and all possible
other information about them during
their entire life cycle. A creature which
may appear harmless in an immature
stage may grow up to be a plant or
human enemy. An important result of
the work is expected to be aid to plant
quarantine authorities
The laboratory is departmentalized
There is compartment devoted to in
Sects which attack man and animals.
such as mosquitoes, lice and the various
ticks. Here there will be such expert
menta! animals as mice, guinea pigs and
rabbits. Here again the insects will be
studied in all stages. Just at present
there are two particular studies for
ward. One relates to wood ticks and
the Importance Of the study lies in re-
latlon to the spread of Rocky Mountain
spotted fever serious disease which
has Killed many man. The other has
10 do with certain types of mosquitoes
which are suspected of carrying the germs
OF disease known as ncephalomyelitis.
This is a disease which attacks horses,
with dire effects.
Still another compartment contains
many rows OF hothouse pots. each de-
signed to hold a quantity of soil to be
studied. To the soil in one group of the
pots will be added such chemicals as
phosphates, arsenates or selenium COM
pounds. Seeds of various plants will be
planted in the pots. Then another group
of pots will be filled with clean soil free
OF toxic chemicals, Growth of the two
groups will be compared 1t is hoped
that the experiment will show that 1t
is possible to impregnate soil in such
a manner that plant growing in IT will
be immune to attack from insect pests.
vi, az iCdSI SOliic pcSIS. II lIle pldTL, hN
1t grows, could absorb substance which
would repel insects, spraying could be
dispensed with.
Profound problems develop in this
type OF work The great desideratum is
to discover poisons which. on the one
hand. will destroy insect or other pest
life such as fungus. and, on the other
hand, VIII not be injurious to the host.
is hn tok,
normally preys, be it human, animal or
plant Nearly every one has heard of
the poisoning of persons by the eating
of apples or other fruit which have been
sprayed with arsenic. 1t might we'll
occur that if plants are developed which
contain arsenates in their fibers that
poison. although harmless to the plant
itself and fatal to the attacking insect
pest, would prove deleterious to beast
or an animal feeding on the plant A
sensitive balance between safe and un-
safe treatment must be ascertained.
Constant study has shown that many
pests show a tendency to develop a
definite resistance to poisons which.
logically, ought to be fatal At first the
poisons may be fatal to some, while an
other generation or so will have devel-
oped special resistance and actually
feed with relish on what poisoned the
ancestors. The medical profession is we'll
informed Of the manner in which human
beings develop resistance to certain
diseases. People who have lived for
generations in q malarial country be-
come immune to that malady, while
newcomers quickly fall victims 1t be-
comes obvious that the research neces-
sary is a continuing task.
The layman would probably be sur
prised to know how widespread this
work has become. not only in the United
States but in other countries. The State
in cooperation with the United States
Department of Agriculture, are cease
lessly employed at the task. Recently
the experiment station of the University
of Delaware has been at work on organic
insecticides. and no less than 300 were
produced and their effect noted on the
insects used for experimentation. These
300 had never been used before-they
we're absolutely new products.
These products were used chiefly for
experiments in control of the Mexican
bean beetle, Colorado potato beetle.
codling moth, Oriental fruit beetle and
Japanese beetle. Some of the preparations
were found to be fatal to the insects,
while others were not fatal. but did serve
to protect plants. The insects turned
from the treated plants and sought their
food elsewhere. This is regarded as