d. Watch how the aphid excretes the honey-dew, and note if the ant

eats it.

e. If you disturb aphids which have ants tending them, note whether the ants attempt to defend or rescue their herds.

f. If there are aphis-lions or ladybird larvæ eating the aphids, note if the ants attack them.

12. If you find a colony of ants under stones where there are brown and black ants living together, the black members are the slaves of the brown. Observe as carefully as possible the actions of both the black and the brown inhabitants of the nest.

13. If you chance to see ants fighting, note how they make the attack. With what weapons do they fight? How do they try to get at the adversary?

14. Write an English theme covering the following points: How ants take their slaves; the attitude of masters and slaves toward each other; the work which the slaves do, and the story of the ant battle. How ants care for and use their herds.

_References_--American Insects, Kellogg, Manual for the Study of Insects, Comstock; Ants, McCook; True Tales, Jordan, page 6.

LESSON XCVI

HOW TO MAKE THE LUBBOCK ANT-NEST

_Material_--Two pieces of window glass, 10 inches square; a sheet of tin, 11 inches square; a piece of plank, 1¼ inch thick, 20 inches long and at least 16 inches wide; a sheet of tin or a thin, flat board, 10 inches square.

_To make the nest_--Take the plank and on the upper side, a short distance from the edge, cut a deep furrow. This furrow is to be filled with water, as a moat, to keep the ants imprisoned. It is necessary, therefore, that the plank should have no knot holes, and that it be painted thoroughly to keep it from checking. Take the sheet of tin 11 inches square, and make it into a tray by turning up the edges three-eighths of an inch. Place this tray in the middle of the plank. Place within the tray one pane of glass. Lay around the edges of this glass four strips of wood about half an inch wide and a little thicker than the height of the ants which are to live in the nest. Cover the glass with a thin layer of fine earth. Take the remaining pane of glass and cut a triangular piece off of one corner, then place the pane on top of the other, resting upon the pieces of wood around the sides. The cover of the nest may be a piece of tin, with a handle soldered to the center, or a board with a screw-eye in the center with which to lift it. There should be a piece of blotter or of very thin sponge, introduced into the nest between the two panes of glass, in a position where it may be reached with a pipette, without removing the upper glass, for it must be kept always damp.

To establish a colony in this nest proceed as follows: Take a two-quart glass fruit jar and a garden trowel. Armed with these, visit some pasture or meadow near by, and find under some stone, a small colony of ants which have plenty of eggs and larvæ. Scoop up carefully eggs, ants, dirt and all and place in the jar, being as careful as possible not to injure the specimens. While digging, search carefully for the queen, which is a larger ant and is sometimes thus found. But if you have plenty of eggs, larvæ and pupæ, the ants will become very contented in their new nest while taking care of them. After you have taken all the ants desirable, place the cover on the jar, carry them to the Lubbock nest and carefully empty the contents of the fruit jar on top of the board which covers the nest. Of course the furrow around the plank has been filled with water, so the stragglers cannot escape. The ants will soon find the way into the nest through the cut corner of the upper pane of glass, and will transfer their larvæ to it because it is dark. After they are in the nest, which should be within two or three hours, remove the dirt on the cover, and the nest is ready for observation. But, since light disturbs the little prisoners, the cover should be removed only for short periods.

The Fielde nest is better adapted for a serious study of ants, but it is not so well adapted for the schoolroom as is the Lubbock nest.

_Reference_--Ants, W. M. Wheeler.

THE ANT-NEST, AND WHAT MAY BE SEEN WITHIN IT

_Teacher’s Story_

Ant anatomy becomes a very interesting study when we note the vigorous way the ant uses it--even to the least part. The slender waist characterizes the ant as well as the wasp; the three regions of the body are easily seen, the head with its ever moving antennæ, the slender thorax with its three pairs of most efficient legs, and the long abdomen. The ant’s legs are fairly long as compared with the size of the body and the ant can run with a rapidity that, comparatively, would soon outdistance any Marathon runner, however famed. I timed an ant one day when she was taking a constitutional on my foot rule. She was in no hurry, and yet she made time that if translated into human terms would mean 16 yards per second. In addition to running, many ants when frightened will make leaps with incredible swiftness.

The ant does not show her cleverness in her physiognomy, probably because her eyes seem small and dull and she has a decidedly “retreating forehead;” but the brain behind this unpromising appearance is far more active and efficient than that behind the gorgeous great eyes of the dragon-fly or behind the “high brow” of the grasshopper. The ant’s jaws are very large compared with her head; they work sidewise like a pair of shears and are armed with triangular teeth along the biting edges; these are not teeth in a vertebrate sense, but are like the teeth of a saw. These jaws are the ant’s chief utensils and weapons; with them she seizes the burdens of food which she carries home; with them she gently lifts her infant charges; with them she crushes and breaks up hard food; with them she carries out soil from her tunnel, and with them she fights her enemies. She also has a pair of long palpi, or feelers.

Although her eyes are so small and furnished with coarse facets, as compared with other insects, this fact need not count against her, for she has little need of eyes. Her home life is passed in dark burrows where her antennæ give her information of her surroundings. Note how these antennæ are always moving, seeming to be atremble in eagerness to receive sensations. But aside from their powers of telling things by the touch, wherein they are more delicate than the fingers of the blind, they have other sense organs which are comparable to our sense of smell. Miss Fielde has shown that the five end segments of the antennæ have each its own powers in detecting odor. The end segment detects the odor of the ant’s own nest and enables her to distinguish this from other nests. The next, or eleventh segment, detects the odor of any descendant of the same queen; by this, she recognizes her sisters wherever she finds them. Through the next, or tenth segment, she recognizes the odor of her own feet on the trail, and thus can retrace her own steps. The eighth and ninth segments convey to her the intelligence and means of caring for the young. If an ant is deprived of these five end-joints of the antennæ, she loses all power as a social ant and becomes completely disenfranchised. Miss Fielde gives her most interesting experiments in detail in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, July and October, 1901.

It is natural enough that the ant, depending so much on her antennæ for impressions and stimuli, should be very particular to keep them clean and in good order. She is well equipped to do this, for she has a most efficient antennæ brush on her wrist; it is practically a circular comb, which just fits over the antenna; and to see the ants using these brushes is one of the most common sights in the ant-nest and one of the most amusing. The ant usually commences by lifting her leg over one antenna and deftly passing it through the brush, and then licks the brush clean by passing it through her mouth, as a cat washes her face; then she cleans the other in a similar manner and possibly finishes by doing both alternately, winding up with a flourish, like a European gentleman curling his mustaches. Her antennæ cleaned, she starts promptly to do something, for she is a little six-footed Martha, always weighed down or buoyed up by many duties and cares. Keeping her antennæ on the qui vive, she assures herself, by touch, of the nature of any obstacle in her path. If she meets another ant, their antennæ cross and pat each other, and thus they learn whether they are sisters or aliens; if they are sisters, they may stand for some time with their antennæ fluttering. One who has watched ants carefully, is compelled to believe that they thus convey intelligence of some sort, one to the other. The ant is a good sister “according to her lights;” if her sister is hungry, she will give to her, even from her own partially digested food; the two will often stand mouth to mouth for some minutes during this process; if she feels inclined, she will also help a sister at her toilet, and lick her with her tongue as one cow licks another. The tongue of the ant is very useful in several ways; with it she takes up liquids, and also uses it with much vigor as a washcloth. Sometimes an ant will spend a half hour or more at her own toilet, licking every part of her own body that her tongue can reach, meanwhile going through all sorts of contortions to accomplish it; she uses her feet to scrub portions of her body, not to be reached by her tongue.

But it is as infant nurse that the ant is a shining example. No mother instinct is hers, for she has yielded the power of motherhood to the exigencies of business life, since all workers are females but are undeveloped sexually. She shows far more sense in the care of her infant sisters, than the mother instinct often supplies to human mothers. The ant nurse takes the eggs as soon as laid, and whether or not her care retards or hastens hatching we know not; but we do know, that although the queen ant may not lay more than two eggs per day, a goodly number of these seem to hatch at the same time. The eggs are massed in bundles and are sticky on the outside so as to hold the bundle together. Miss Fielde says, as the eggs are hatching, one ant will hold up the bundle, while another feeds those which have broken the shell. The larvæ, when young, also hang together by means of tiny hooks on their bodies. This habit of the eggs and young larvæ is a convenient one, since an ant is thus able to carry many at a time.

The larvæ are odd looking little creatures, shaped like crookneck squashes, the small end being the head and neck and the latter being very extensible. The ant nurses, by feeding some more than others, are able to keep a brood at the same stage of development; and in a well ordered ant-nest, we find those of the same size in one nursery. I have often thought of a graded school as I have noted in ant-nests the youngsters assorted according to size.

The ants seem to realize the cost and care of rearing their young; and when a nest is attacked, the oldest, which are usually in the pupa stage, are saved first. When the larvæ are young, they are fed on regurgitated food; but as they grow older, the food is brought to them, or they to the food, and they do their own eating. In one of my nests, I placed part of the yolk of an egg hard boiled, and the ant nurses dumped the larvæ down around the edges of it; there they munched industriously, until through their transparent bodies I could see the yellow of the egg the whole length of the alimentary canal. The ant nurses are very particular about temperatures for their young, and Miss Fielde says they are even more careful about draughts. Thus they are obliged to move them about in the ground nests, carrying them down to the lower nurseries in the heat of the day, and bringing them up, nearer to the warm stones, during the evenings. This moving is always done carefully, and though the ant’s jaws are such formidable nippers, she carries her baby sisters with gentleness; and if they be pupæ, she holds them by the loose pupal skin, like carrying a baby by its clothes. The pupæ look like plump little grain bags, tied at one end with a black string. They are the size of small grains of wheat, and are often called ants’ eggs, which is absurd, since they are almost as large as the ant. Ants’ eggs are not larger than pin points.

The ant nurses keep the larvæ and pupæ very clean by licking them; and when a youngster issues from the pupa skin, it is a matter of much interest to the nurses. I have often seen two or three of them help straighten out the cramped legs and antennæ of the young one, and hasten to feed her with regurgitated food. When ants first issue from the pupa skin they are pale in color, their eyes being very black in contrast; they are usually helpless and stupid, although they often try to clean their antennæ and make a toilet; but they do not know enough to follow their elders from one room to another, and they are a source of much care to the nurses. In case of moving, a nurse will lock jaws with a “callow,” as a freshly hatched adult ant is called, and drag her along, the legs of the callow sprawling helplessly meanwhile. If in haste, the nurse takes hold anywhere, by the neck or the leg, and hustles her charge along; if she takes her by the waist the callow curls up like a kitten, and is thus more easily moved. After moving them from one chamber to the next, I have noticed that the callows are herded together, their attendants ranged in a circle about them. Often we see one ant carrying another which is not a callow, and this means that a certain number of the colony have made up their minds to move, while the others are not awake to this necessity. In such a case, one of these energetic sisters will seize another by the waist, and carry her off with an air that says plainly, “Come along, you stupid!”

Ants are very cleanly in their nests, and we find the refuse piled in a heap at one corner, or as far as possible from the brood.

If we are fortunate enough to find a queen for the nest, then we may observe the attention she gets; she is always kept in a special compartment, and is surrounded by ladies in waiting, who feed her and lick her clean and show solicitude for her welfare; although I have never observed in an ants’ nest, that devotion to royalty which we see in a beehive.

Not the least interesting scene in an ants’ nest is when all, or some, are asleep and are as motionless as if dead.

LESSON XCVII

OBSERVATIONS OF ANTS IN AN ARTIFICIAL NEST

_Leading thought_--The ants are very devoted to their young and perhaps the care of them is the most interesting feature in the study of the artificial nest.

_Method_--Have, in the schoolroom, a Lubbock’s nest with a colony of ants within it, with their larvæ in all stages, and if possible, their queen. For observing the form of the ant, pass one or two around in a vial.

_Observations_--1. What is there peculiar about the shape of the ant’s body? Can you see which section bears the legs? Are the ants’ legs long compared with her body? Can she run rapidly?

2. Look at the ant’s head through a lens, and describe the antennæ, the jaws and the eyes.

3. Note how the ant keeps her antennæ in motion. Note how she gropes with them as a blind person with his hands. Note how she uses them in conversing with her companions.

4. How does the ant clean her antennæ? Does she clean them more often than any other part of her body? How does she make her toilet?

5. See how an ant eats syrup. How do ants feed each other?

6. How does the ant carry an object? How does she carry a larva or a pupa? Have you ever seen one ant carry another? If so, describe it.

7. Note the way the ants feed their young. How do they keep them clean? Does an ant carry one egg or one small larva at a time or a bundle of them? How do you suppose the bundle is fastened together?

8. Describe an egg, a larva and a pupa of the ant and tell how they differ. Do you know which ant is the mother of the larvæ in the nest?

9. Do you find larvæ of different sizes all together in your nest? Do you find larvæ and pupæ in the same group? Do the ants move the young often from one nest to another? Why do you suppose they do this?

10. Note how the ant nurses take care of the callow ant when it is coming out from the pupa skin. How do they assist her and care for her? How do they lead her around? How do ants look when resting?

11. Note where the ants throw the refuse from the nest. Do they ever change the position of this dump heap?

THE MUD-DAUBER

_Teacher’s Story_

This little cement worker is a nervous and fidgety creature, jerking her wings constantly as she walks around in the sunshine; but perhaps this is not nervousness, but rather to show off the rainbow iridescence of her black wings; surely such a slim-waisted being as she, has a right to be vain. No tight lacing ever brought about such a long, slim waist as hers; it is a mere pedicel, and the abdomen is a mere knob at the end of it. The latter seen from the outside, would seem of little use as an abdomen; but if we watch the insect flying, we can see plainly that it is used to steer with.

In early summer, we find this black wasp at her trade as a mason. She seeks the edges of pools or puddles where she works industriously, leaving many little holes whence she takes mud to mix with the saliva, which she secretes from her mouth to make firm her cement. This cement she plasters on the under side of some roof or rafter or other protected place, going back and forth until she has built a suitable foundation. She works methodically, making a tube about an inch long, smooth inside but rough outside, the walls about one-eighth of an inch thick. She does all of the plastering with her jaws, which she uses as a trowel. When the tube is completed except that the end is left open, she starts off in quest of spiders, and very earnestly does she seek them. I have seen her hunt every nook and corner of a piazza for this prey. When she finds a spider, she pounces upon it and stings it until it is helpless, and carries it to her cement tube, which is indeed a spider sarcophagus, and thrusts it within. She brings more spiders until her tube is nearly full; she then lays an egg within it and then makes more cement and neatly closes the door of the tube. She then places another tube by the side of this, which she provisions and closes in the same way; and then she may make another and another tube, often a half dozen, under one adobe roof.

The wasp in some mysterious way knows how to thrust her sting into the spider’s nervous system in a peculiar way, which renders her victim unable to move although it yet lives. The wasp is no vegetarian like the bee, and she must supply her young with wasp-meat instead of bee-bread. Since it is during the summer and hot weather when the young wasps are hatched and begin their growth, their meat must be kept fresh for a period of two or three weeks. So these paralyzed spiders do not die, although they are helpless. It is certainly a practical joke with justice in it, that these ferocious creatures lie helpless while being eaten by a fat little grub which they would gladly devour, if they could move.

The wasp larva is a whitish, plump grub and it eats industriously until the spider meat is exhausted. It then weaves a cocoon of silk about itself which just covers the walls of its home tube, like a silken tapestry; within this cocoon the grub changes to a pupa. When it finally emerges, it is a full-grown wasp with jaws which are able to cut a door in the end of its tube, through which it comes out into the world, a free and accepted mason. The females or queens, which issue late in the season, hide in warm or protected places during the winter; they particularly like the folds of lace window curtains for hibernating quarters. There they remain until spring comes, when they go off to build their plaster houses.

There are about seventy species of mud wasps in our country. Some provision their nests with caterpillars instead of spiders. This is true of the jug-builder, which makes her nest jug-shaped and places two or three of them side by side upon a twig. She uses hair in her mortar, which makes it stronger. This is necessary, since the jug is saddled upon twigs and is more exposed to the rain than is the nest of the most common mud-dauber. The jug-builder is brown in color and has yellow markings on the abdomen; but she does not resemble the yellow-jackets, because she has a threadlike waist. There are other species of mud wasps which use any small cavity they can find for the nest, plastering up the opening after the nest has been provisioned and the egg laid. We often find keyholes, knot-holes and even the cavity in the telephone receiver, plastered up by these small opportunists.

The mud-dauber which is the most common, and most likely to be selected for this lesson, is a slender creature and looks as if she were made of black tinsel; her body gives off glints of steel and blue; her abdomen constantly vibrates with the movement of breathing. Her eyes are large and like black beads; her black antennæ curve gracefully outward, and her wings, corrugated with veins, shimmer with a smoky blue, green and purple. She stands on her black tip-toes when she walks, and she has a way of turning around constantly as if she expected an attack from the rear. Her wings, like those of other mud-wasps are not folded fan-wise like those of the yellow-jacket, but are folded by each other over her back.

LESSON XCVIII

THE MUD-DAUBER

_Leading thought_--There are certain wasps which gather mud and mix it into mortar with which to build nests for their young. Within these nests, the mother wasp places spiders or insects which are disabled by her sting, for the food of the young wasps.

_Method_--Have the pupils bring the homes of the mud wasps to school for observation. The wasps themselves are very common in June and also in September, and they also may be studied at school and may be passed around in vials for closer observation; they do not sting severely when handled, the sting being a mere prick. The purpose of the lesson should be to stimulate the pupils to watch the mud-daubers while building their nests and capturing their prey.

_Observations_--1. Where did you find the mud-dauber’s nest? How was it protected from the rain? Was it easily removed? Could you remove it all, or did some of it remain stuck fast?

2. What is the shape of the nest? How does it look inside? Of how many tubes does it consist? How long is each tube? Were the tubes laid side by side?

3. Of what material was the nest made? Is it not much harder than mud? How did the wasp change the mud to cement? Where did she get the mud? How did she carry it? With what tools did she plaster it?

4. For what purpose was the nest made? Is the inside of the tubes smooth as compared with the outside of the nest?

5. Write a little story about all that happens in one of these tubes, including the following points: What did the mother wasp place in the tube? How and why did she close it? What hatched from the egg she placed within it? How does the young wasp look? On what does it feed? What sort of a cocoon does it spin? How does it get out of the nest when full-grown?

6. Describe the mud-dauber wasp. How large is she? What is the color of her body? Of her wings? How many wings has she? How are her wings folded differently from those of the yellow-jacket? Describe her eyes; her antennæ; her legs; her waist; her abdomen.

7. Where did you find the wasp? How did she act? Do you think that she can sting? How does she pass the winter?

8. Do you know the mud wasps which build the little, jug-shaped nests for their young? Do you know the mud wasps which utilize crevices and keyholes for their nests and plaster up the opening?

9. Do you know about the digger wasps which pack away grasshoppers or caterpillars in a hole in the ground, in which they lay their egg and then cover it?

_Supplementary reading_--Insect Stories, Kellogg; Wasps, Social and Solitary, Peckham; Wasps and their Ways, Morley; The Ways of the Six-footed, Comstock; Home Studies in Nature, Treat.

THE YELLOW-JACKET

_Teacher’s Story_

Many wasps are not so waspish after all when we understand one important fact about them; i. e., although they are very nervous themselves, they detest that quality in others. For years the yellow-jackets have shared with us our meals at our summer camp on the lake shore. They make inquisitive tours of inspection over the viands on the table, often seeming to include ourselves, and coming so near that they fan our faces with their wings. They usually end by selecting the sweetened fruits, but they also carry off bits of roast beef, pouncing down upon the meat platter and seizing a tidbit as a hawk does a chicken. We always remain calm during these visitations, for we know that unless we inadvertently pinch one, we shall not be harmed; and it is great fun to watch one of these graceful creatures poising daintily on the side of the dish lapping up the fruit juice as a cat does milk, the slender, yellow-banded abdomen palpitating as she breathes. Occasionally, two desire the same place, and a wrestling match ensues which is fierce while it lasts, but the participants always come back to the dish unharmed. They are extra polite in their manners, for after one has delved eagerly into the fruit syrup, she proceeds to clean her front feet by passing them through her jaws, which is a wasp way of using a finger bowl.

Both yellow-jackets and the white-faced black-hornets build in trees and similarly, although the paper made by the yellow-jackets is finer in texture. However, some species of yellow-jackets build their nests in the ground, but of similar form. The nest is of paper made of bits of wood which the wasps pull off with their jaws from weather-worn fences or boards. This wood is reduced to a pulp by saliva which is secreted from the wasp’s mouth, and is laid on in little layers which can be easily seen by examining the outside of the nest. These layers may be of different colors. A wasp will come with her load of paper pulp, and using her jaws and front feet for tools she will join a strip to the edge of the paper and pat it into shape. The paper tears more readily along the lines of the joining, than across. The cover of the nest is made of many layers of shell-like pieces fastened together and the outer layers are waterproof; the opening of a nest is at the bottom. Mr. Lubbock has shown that certain wasps are stationed at the door, as sentinels, to give warning on the approach of the enemy. The number of stories of combs in a nest depends upon the age and size of the colony. They are fastened together firmly near the center, by a central core or axis of very strong, firm paper, which at the top is attached to a branch or whatever supports the nest. The cells all open downward, in this respect differing from those of the honey-bee, which are usually placed horizontal. The wasp-comb differs from the honey-comb in that it is made of paper instead of wax, and that the rows of cells are single instead of double. The cells in the wasp-comb are not for storing honey, but are simply the cradles for the young wasps. (See Fig. p. 457.)

Sometimes a wasp family disaster makes it possible for us to examine one of these nests with its inmates. Here we find in some of the cells, the long white eggs fastened to the very bottom of the cell, in an inner angle, as if a larva when hatched needed to have a cozy corner. These wasp larvæ are the chubbiest little grubs imaginable and are very soft bodied. It was once a mystery to me how they were able to hang in the cells, head down, without getting “black in the face” or falling out; but this was made plain by studying the little disk at the rear end of the larva’s body, which is decidedly sticky; after a larva is dead, its heavy body can be lifted by pressing a match against this disk; thus it evidently suffices to keep the baby wasp stuck fast to its cradle. The larva’s body is mostly covered with a white, papery, soft skeleton skin; the head is yellowish and highly polished, looking like a drop of honey. At one side may be seen a pair of toothed jaws, showing that it is able to take and chew any food brought by the nurses. They seem to be well trained youngsters for they all face toward the center of the nest, so that a nurse, when feeding them, can move from one to another without having to pass to the other side of the cell. It is a funny sight to behold a combful of well grown larvæ, each fitting in its cell like meal in a bag and with head and several segments projecting out as if the bag were overflowing. It behooves the wasp larva to get its head as far out of the cell as possible, so that it will not be overlooked by the nurses; the little ones do this by holding themselves at the angle of the cell; this they accomplish by wedging the back into the corner. These young larvæ do not face inwards like the older ones, but they rest in an inner angle of the cell.

After a larva has reached the limit of its cell room, it spins a veil around itself and fastens it at the sides, so that it forms a lining to the upper part of the cell and makes a bag over the “head and shoulders” of the insect. This cocoon is very tough, and beneath its loose dome the larva skin is shed; the pupa takes on a decidedly waspish form, except that the color is all black; the legs and the wings are folded piously down the breast and the antennæ lie meekly each side of the face, with the “hands” folded outside of them; the strong toothed jaws are ready, so that when the pupa skin is molted, the insect can cut its silken curtain, and come out into its little nest world, as a full-fledged yellow-jacket.

What a harlequin the wasp is, in her costume of yellow and black! Often in the invertebrate world these colors mean “sit up and take notice,” and the wasp’s costume is no exception. Whoever has had any experience in meddling with yellow-jackets, avoids acquaintance with all yellow and black insects. Yet we must confess that the lady wasp has good taste in dress. The yellow cross bands on her black skirt are scalloped, and, in fact, all her yellow is put on in a most _chic_ manner; she, being slender, can well afford to dress in roundwise stripes, and she folds her wings prettily like a fan, and not over her back like the mud wasp, which would cover her decorations. There is a sensation coming to the one who, armed with a lens, looks a wasp in the face; she always does her hair pompadour, and the yellow is here put on with a most bizarre effect, in points and arabesques. Even her jaws are yellow with black borders and black notches. Her antennæ are velvety black, her legs are yellow, and her antennæ comb, on her wrist, is a real comb and quite ornate.

In the nest which we studied in late August, the queen cells were just being developed. They were placed in a story all by themselves, and they were a third larger than the cells of the workers. The queen of this nest was a most majestic wasp, fully twice as large as any of her subjects; her face was entirely black, and the yellow bands on her long abdomen were of quite a different pattern than those on the workers; her sting was not so long in proportion, but I must confess it looked efficient. In fact, a yellow-jacket’s sting is a formidable looking spear when seen through a microscope, since it has on one side some backward projecting barbs, meant to hold it firm when driving home the thrust.

While wasps are fond of honey and other sweets, they are also fond of animal food and eat a great many insects, benefiting us greatly by destroying mosquitoes and flies. As no food is stored for their winter use, all wasps excepting the queens die of the cold. The queens crawl away to protected places and seem to be able to withstand the rigors of winter; each queen, in the spring, makes a little comb of a few cells, covering it with a thin layer of paper. She then lays eggs in these cells and gathers food for the young; but when these first members of the family, which are always workers, come to maturity, they take upon themselves the work of enlarging the nest and caring for the young. After that, the queen devotes her energies to laying eggs.

Wasps enlarge their houses by cutting away the paper from the inside of the covering, to give more room for building the combs wider; to compensate for this, they build additional layers on the outside of the nest. Thus it is, that every wasp’s nest, however large, began as a little comb of a few cells and was enlarged to meet the needs of the rapidly growing family. Ordinarily the nest made one year is not used again.

LESSON XCIX

THE YELLOW-JACKET

_Leading thought_--The wasps were the original paper makers, using wood pulp for the purpose. Some species construct their houses of paper in the trees or bushes while others build in the ground.

_Method_--Take a deserted wasp-nest, the larger the better, with sharp scissors remove one side of the covering of the nest, leaving the combs exposed and follow with the questions and suggestions indicated. From this study of the nest encourage the children to observe more closely the wasps and their habits, which they can do in safety if they learn to move quietly while observing (See Fig. p. 457.)

_Observations_--1. Which kind of wasp do you think made this nest? Of what is the nest made? Where did the wasp get the material? How do the wasps make wood into paper?

2. What is the general shape of the nest? Is the nest well covered to protect it from rain? Where is the door where the wasps went in and out? Is the covering of the nest all of the same color? Do these differences in color give you any idea of how the wasps build the paper into the nest? Does the paper tear more easily one way than another? Is the covering of the nest solid or in layers?

3. How many combs or stories are there in the wasp house? How are they fastened together and how suspended?

4. Compare the combs of the wasp-nest with those of the honey-bee. How do they resemble each other and how differ? Do the cells open upward or downward? For what purpose are the combs in the wasp-nest used? Are all the cells of the same size? Do you know the reason for this difference in size?

5. How do the young wasp grubs manage to cling to the cells head downward? Are the cells lined with a different color and does this lining extend out over the opening in some cases? Is this lining of the cells made of paper also? Do you know how a young wasp looks and how the white lining of the cells is made?

6. Do you believe that some wasps of the colony are always posted as sentinels at the door to give warning if the colony is attacked?

7. Do wasps store food to sustain them during the winter? What happens to them during winter? Is the same nest used year after year?

8. Can you describe the beginning of this wasp-nest? When was it made? Tell the story of the wasp that made it. How large was the nest at first? How was the nest enlarged?

9. What is the food of wasps? How do these insects benefit us?

10. Write a story giving the life history of a wasp.

11. In the summer watch a yellow-jacket eat from a dish of sweetened fruit which you may place out of doors to coax her to come where you can carefully observe her. What are the colors of the yellow-jacket? Where is the yellow? How are the yellow bands made ornamental? How does she fold her wings? How many wings has she? What is the color of her legs? Describe her antennæ and eyes. How does she eat the fruit juice? Can you see the motion of her body when she breathes?

THE LEAF-CUTTER BEE

_Teacher’s Story_

One beautiful day in late June when I was picking some roses, I saw a bee, almost as large as a honey-bee but different in shape and darker in color, alight on a leaf and moving with nervous rapidity, cut a circle out of a leaf with her jaws “quicker’n a wink;” then taking the piece between her fore-feet and perhaps holding it also with her jaws, she flew away, the green disk looking as large in proportion to her size as a big base drum hung to the neck of a small drummer. I waited long for her to come back, but she came not; meanwhile I examined the leaves of the rose bush and found many circlets, and also many oblong holes with the ends deeply rounded, cut from the leaflets.

I knew the story of the little bee and was glad I had seen her cut a leaflet with her jaw shears, which work sidewise like real shears. I knew that somewhere she had found a cavity big enough for her needs; perhaps she had tunneled it herself in the dead wood of some post or stump, using her jaws to cut away the chips; maybe she had found a crevice beneath the shingles of a roof or beneath a stone in the field, or she may have rolled a leaf; anyway, her little cave was several inches long, circular in outline and large enough to admit her body. She first cut a long piece from the rose leaf and folded it at the end of the tunnel; and then she brought another and another long piece and bent and shaped them into a little thimble-like cup, fastening them together with some saliva glue, from her mouth. After the cup was made to her liking, she went in search of food, which was found in the pollen of some flowers. This pollen was carried not as the honey-bees do, because she has no pollen baskets on her legs; but it was dusted into the fur on the lower side of her body; as she scraped the pollen off, she mixed it with some nectar which she had also found in the flowers, and made it into a pasty mass and heaped it at the bottom of the cup; she probably made many visits to flowers before she had a sufficient amount of this bee pastry, and then she laid an egg upon it; after this, she immediately flew back to the rose bush to cut a lid for her cup. She is a nice mathematician and she cuts the lid just a little larger than the rim of the cup, so that it may be pushed down in, making it fit very closely around the edges; she then cuts another and perhaps another of the same size and puts them over and fastened to the first cover. When finished, it is surely the prettiest baby basket ever made by a mother, all safely enclosed to keep out enemies. But her work is then only begun. She has other baby baskets to make and she perhaps makes ten or more, placing one cup just ahead of another in the little tunnel.

But what is happening meanwhile to the bee babies in the baskets? The egg hatches into a little white bee grub which falls to and eats the pollen and nectar paste with great eagerness. As it eats, it grows and sheds its skeleton skin as often as it becomes too tight, and then eats and grows some more. How many mothers would know just how much food it would require to develop a child from infancy until it grows up! This bee mother knows well this amount and when the food is all gone, the little bee grub is old enough to change to a pupa; it looks very different now, and although mummy-shaped we can see its folded wings and antennæ. After remaining a motionless pupa for a few days, it sheds its pupa skin and now it is a bee just like its mother; but as the oldest bee is at the bottom of the tunnel, even after it gets its wings and gnaws its way out of its basket, it very likely cannot escape and find its way out into the sunshiny world, until its younger brothers and sisters have gone out before it.

There are many species of these leaf-cutter bees and each species makes its own kind of a nest, always cutting the same size of circlets and usually choosing its own special kind of leaf to make this cradle. Some are daintier in their tastes and use rolled petals instead of leaves; and we have found some tiny cups made of gorgeous peony petals, and some of pansy petals, a most exquisite material.

At Chautauqua we found a species which rolled maple leaves into a tube which held three or four cups, and we also found there a bee stowing her cups in the open end of a tubular rod, used to hold up an awning. There are other species which make short tunnels in the ground for their nests, but perhaps the most common of all wedge their cups between or beneath the shingles on the roofs of summer cottages. But, however or wherever the leaf-cutter works, she is a master mechanic and does her work with niceness and daintiness.

LESSON C

THE LEAF-CUTTER BEE

_Leading thought_--When we see the edges of rose leaves with holes of regular pattern in them, some of the holes being oblong and some circular, we know the leaf-cutter bee has cut them to make her cradle cups.

_Method_--It is very easy to find in June or autumn the leaves from which the leaf-cutter bee has cut the bedding for her young. Encourage the pupils to look for the nest during the summer and to bring some of the cups to school when they return, where they may be studied in detail; meanwhile the teacher may tell the story of the nest. This is rather difficult for the pupils to work out.

_Observations_--1. Do you find rose leaves with round holes cut in their edges? Do you find on the same bush some leaflets with oblong holes in them? Sketch or describe the rose leaf thus cut, noting exactly the shape of the holes. Are the circular holes of the same size? Are the long holes about equal in size and shape? Do you find any other plants with holes like these cut in them? Do you find any petals of flowers thus cut?

2. What do you think made these holes? If an insect was taking a leaf for food would the holes be as regular? Watch the rose bush carefully and see if you can discover the insect which cuts the leaf.

3. Have you ever seen the little black bee carrying pieces of rose leaves between her front feet? With what instrument do you suppose she cut the leaves? Where do you think she was going?

4. Have you ever found the nest of the leaf-cutter bee? Was it in a tunnel made in dead wood or in some crack or cranny? How many of the little rose leaf cups are there in it? How are the cups placed? Are the little bees still in the cups or can you see the holes through which they crawled out?

5. Take one cup and study it carefully. How are the pieces of leaves folded to make the cups? How is the lid put on? Soak the cup in water until it comes apart easily. Describe how many of the long pieces were used and how they were bent to make a cup. Of how many thicknesses is the cover made? Are the covers just the same size or a little larger than the top of the cup? How does the cover fit so tightly?

6. If you find the nest in July or early August, examine one of the cups carefully and see what there is in it. Take off the cover without injuring it. What is at the bottom of the nest? Is there an insect within it? How does it look? What is it doing? Of what do you think its food was made? How and by whom was the food placed in the cup? Place the nest in a box or jar with mosquito netting over the top, and put it out of doors in a safe and shaded place. Look at it often and see what this insect changes into.

7. If the mother bee made each little nest cup and put in the bee-bread, and honey for her young, which cup contains the oldest of the family? Which the youngest? How do you think the full-grown bees get out of the cup?

8. Do you think that the same species of bee always cuts the same sized holes in a leaf? Is it the same species which cuts the rose leaves and the pansy petals?

THE LITTLE CARPENTER-BEE

_Teacher’s Story_

Take a dozen dead twigs from almost any sumac or elder, split them lengthwise, and you will find in at least one or two of them, a little tunnel down the center where the pith once was. In the month of June or July, this narrow tunnel is made into an insect apartment house, one little creature in each apartment, partitioned off from the one above and the one below. The nature of this partition reveals to us whether the occupants are bees or wasps; if it is made of tiny chips, like fine sawdust glued together, a bee made it and there are little bees in the cells; if it is made of bits of sand or mud glued together, a wasp was the architect and young wasps are the inhabitants. Also, if the food in the cells is pollen paste, it was placed there by a bee; if of paralyzed insects or spiders, a wasp made the nest.

The little carpenter-bee (_Ceratina dupla_) is a beautiful creature, scarcely one quarter of an inch in length, with metallic blue body and rainbow tinted wings. In May, she selects some broken twig of sumac, elder or raspberry, which gives her access to the pith; this she at once begins to dig out, mouthful by mouthful, until she has made a smooth tunnel several inches long; she then gathers pollen and packs bee-bread in the bottom of the cell to the depth of a quarter-inch, and then lays upon it, a tiny white egg. She then brings back some of her chips of pith and glues them together, making a partition about one-tenth of an inch thick, which she fastens firmly to the sides of the tunnel; this is the roof for the first cell and the floor of the next one; she then gathers more pollen, lays another egg, and builds another partition.

Thus she fills the tunnel, almost to the opening, with cells, sometimes as many as fourteen; but she always leaves a space for a vestibule near the door, and in this she makes her home while her family below her are growing up.

The egg in the lowest cell of course hatches first; a little bee grub issues from it and eats the bee-bread industriously and grows by shedding his skin when it becomes too tight; then he changes to a pupa and later to a bee resembling his mother. But, though fully grown, he cannot get out into the sunshine, for all his younger brothers and sisters are blocking the tunnel ahead of him; so he simply tears down the partition above him and kicks the little pieces of it behind him, and bides his time until the next youngest brother tears down the partition above his head and pushes its fragments behind him into the very face of the elder which, in turn, performs a similar act; and thus, while he is waiting, he is kept more or less busy pushing behind him the broken bits of all the partitions above him. Finally, the youngest gets his growth, and there they all are in the tunnel, the broken partitions behind the hindmost at the bottom of the nest, and the young bees packed closely together in a row with heads toward the door. When we find the nest at this period, we know the mother because her head is toward her young ones and her back to the door. A little later, on some bright morning, they all come out into the sunshine and flit about on gauzy, rainbow wings, a very happy family, out of prison.

But if the brood is a late one, the home must be cleaned out and used as a winter nest, and still the loyal little mother bee stays true to her post; she is the last one to enter the nest; and not until they are all housed within, does she enter. It is easy to distinguish her for her poor wings are torn and frayed with her long labor of building the nest, until they scarcely serve to carry her afield; but despite this she remains on guard over her brood, for which she has worn out her own life.

The story of the little carpenter-wasps is similar to that of the bee, except that we have reason to believe they often use her abandoned tunnels instead of making new ones. They make their little partitions out of mud; their pupæ are always in long, slender, silken cocoons, and we have no evidence that the mother remains in attendance.

LESSON CI

THE LITTLE CARPENTER-BEE

_Leading thought_--Not all bees live in colonies like the honey-bees and bumblebees. One tiny bee rears her brood within a tunnel which she makes in the pith of sumac, elder or raspberry.

_Method_--This lesson may be given in June or in October. In June, the whole family of bees in their apartments may be observed; in autumn, the empty tenement with the fragments of the partitions still clinging may be readily found and examined; and sometimes a whole family maybe found, stowed away in the home tunnel, for the winter.

_Observations_--1. Collect dead twigs of sumac or elder and cut them in half, lengthwise. Do you find any with the pith tunneled out?

2. How long is the tunnel? Are its sides smooth? Can you see the partitions which divide the long narrow tunnel into cells? Look at the partitions with a lens, if necessary, to determine whether they are made of tiny bits of wood or of mud. If made of mud, what insect made them? If of little chips how and by what were they constructed?

3. Are there any insects in the cells? If so, describe them. Is there bee-bread in the cells?

4. For what was the tunnel made? With what tools was it made? How are the partitions fastened together? How does a young bee look?

5. Write the story of the oldest of the bee family which lived in this tunnel. Why did it hatch first? On what did it feed? When it became a full fledged bee, what did it do? How did it finally get out?

6. Take a glass tube, the hollow at the center being about one-eighth of an inch across, a tube which you can get in any drug-store. Break this tube into sections, six or seven inches long, wrap around each a black paper or cloth, made fast with rubber bands and suspend them in a hedge or among thick bushes in May. Examine these tubes each week to see if the wasps or bees are using them.

_Supplementary reading_--“The Story We Love Best,” in Ways of the Six-footed, Comstock.

THE BUMBLEBEE

_Teacher’s Story_

_Thou, in sunny solitudes, Rover of the underwoods, The green silence dost replace With thy mellow, breezy bass._ --EMERSON.

There seems to have been an hereditary war between the farm boy and the bumblebee, the hostilities usually initiated by the boy. Like many wars, it is very foolish and wicked, and has resulted in great harm to both parties. Luckily, the boys of to-day are more enlightened; and it is to be hoped that they will learn to endure a bee sting or two for the sake of protecting these diminishing hosts, upon which so many flowers depend for carrying their pollen; for of all the insects of the field, the bumblebees are the best and most needed friends of the flowers.

The bumblebees are not so thrifty and forehanded as are the honeybees, and do not provide enough honey to sustain the whole colony during the winter. Only the mother bees, or queens as they are called, survive the cold season. Just how they do it, we do not know, but probably they are better nourished and therefore have more endurance than the workers. In early May, one of the most delightful of spring visitants is one of these great buzzing queens, flying low over the freshening meadows, trying to find a suitable place for her nest; and the farmer or fruit grower who knows his business, is as anxious as she that she find suitable quarters, knowing well that she and her children will render him most efficient aid in growing his fruit and seed. She finally selects some cosy place, very likely a deserted nest of the field mouse, and there begins to build her home. She toils early and late, gathering pollen and nectar from the blossoms of the orchard and other flowers which she makes into a special kind of bee-bread, by mixing it with nectar. This is packed in an irregular mass and on it she lays a few eggs; each little bee grub, as soon as it hatches, burrows into the bee-bread, making a little cave for itself while satisfying its appetite. After it is fully grown, it spins about itself a cocoon and changes to a pupa, and later emerges a full-fledged worker bumblebee, being scarcely more than half as large as her queen mother. These workers or daughters of the family find full satisfaction in life in attending to the wants of the growing family. They gather more pollen and mix it with honey, making larger masses for the young to burrow in; meanwhile, the queen remains at home and devotes her energies to laying eggs for the enlargement of the colony. The workers not only care for the young, but later they strengthen the silken pupa cradles with wax, and thus make them into cells for storing honey. When we understand that the cells in the bumblebee’s nest are simply made by the young bees burrowing in any direction, we can understand why the bumblebee comb is so disorderly in the arrangement of its cells. Perhaps the boy of the farm would find the rank bumblebee honey less like the ambrosia of the gods, if he knew that it was stored in the deserted cradles and swaddling clothes of the bumblebee grubs.

All of the eggs in the bumblebee nest in the spring and early summer develop into workers which do incidentally the vast labor of carrying pollen for thousands of flowers; to these only is granted the privilege of carrying the pollen for the red clover, since the tongues of the other bees are not sufficiently long to reach the nectar. The red clover does not produce seed in sufficient quantity to be a profitable crop, unless there are bumblebees to pollinate its blossoms. Late in the summer, queens and drones are developed in the bumblebee nest, the drones, as with the honey-bees, being mates for the queens. But of all the numerous population of the bumblebee nest, only the queens survive the rigors of winter, and on them and their success depends the future of the bumblebee species.

There are many species of bumblebees, some much smaller than others, but they all have the thorax covered with plush above and the abdomen hairy, and their fur is usually marked in various patterns of pale yellow and black. The bumblebee of whatever species, has short but very active antennæ and a mouth fitted for biting as well as for sucking. Between the large compound eyes are three simple eyes. The wings are four in number and strong; the front legs are very short; all the legs have hairs over them and end in a three-jointed foot, tipped by a claw. On the hind leg, the tibia and the first tarsal joint are enlarged, making the pollen baskets on which the pollen is heaped in golden masses. One of the most interesting observations possible to make, is to note how the bumblebee brushes the pollen from her fur and packs it into her pollen baskets.

LESSON CII

THE BUMBLEBEE

_Leading thought_--The bumblebees are the chief pollen carriers for most of our wild flowers as well as for the clovers and other farm plants. They should, therefore, be kindly treated everywhere; and we should be careful not to hurt the big queen bumblebee which we see often in May.

_Method_--Ask the questions and encourage the pupils to answer them as they have opportunity to observe the bumblebees working in the flowers. A bumblebee may be imprisoned in a tumbler for a short period for observation, and then allowed to go unharmed. It is not advisable to study the nest, which is not only a dangerous proceeding for the pupil, but it also means the destruction of a colony of these very useful insects. However, if the location of a nest is discovered, it may be dug up and studied after the first heavy frost. Special stress should be laid upon the observations of the actions of the bees when visiting flowers.

_Observations_--1. In how many flowers do you find the bumblebee? Watch her closely and see how she gets the nectar. Notice how she “bumbles around” in a flower and becomes dusted with pollen. Watch her and note how she gets the pollen off her fur and packs it in her pollen baskets. On which legs are her pollen baskets? How does the pollen look when packed in them? What does she do with pollen and nectar?

2. Catch a bumblebee in a jelly glass and look at her closely. Can you see three little eyes between the big compound eyes? Describe her antennæ. Are they active? How many pairs of wings has she? Do you think they are strong? Which pair of legs is the shortest? How many segments are there in the leg? Do you see the claws on the foot?

3. What is the bumblebee’s covering? What is the color of her plush? Is she furry above and below?

4. Can you see that she can bite as well as suck with her mouth-parts? Will a bumblebee sting a person unless she is first attacked?

5. Have you seen the very large queen bumblebee in the spring, flying near the ground hunting for a place to build a nest? Why must you be very careful not to hurt her? How does she pass the winter? What does she do first, in starting the nest?

6. In how many ways does the bumblebee benefit us?

THE HONEY-BEE

_Teacher’s Story_

During many years naturalists have been studying the habits and adaptations of the honey-bees, and, as yet, the story of their wonderful ways is not half told. Although we know fairly well what the bees do, yet we have no inkling of the processes which lead to a perfect government and management of the bee community; and even the beginner may discover things never known before about these fascinating little workers. In beginning this work it might be well to ask the pupils if they have ever heard of a republic that has many kings and only one queen; and where the citizens do all the governing without voting, and where the kings are powerless and the queen works as hard and longer than any of her subjects; and then tell them that the pages of history contain no account of a republic so wonderful as this; yet the nearest beehive is the home of just this sort of government.

In addition to the interest of the bee colony from a nature-study standpoint, it is well to get the children interested in bee-keeping as a commercial enterprise. A small apiary well managed may bring in an acceptable income; and it should be the source of a regular revenue to the boys and girls of the farm, for one hive should net the young bee-keeper from three to five dollars per year and prove a business education to him in the meantime.

Bees are perfect socialists. They have non-competitive labor, united capital, communal habitations and unity of interests. The bee commune is composed of castes as immutable as those of the Brahmins, but these castes exist for the benefit of the whole society instead of for the individuals belonging to them. These castes we have named queens, drones and workers, and perhaps, first of all, we should study the physical adaptations of the members of these castes for their special work in the community.

_The Worker_ (p. 446, Fig. 3.)

There are three divisions to the body of the bee, as in all insects--head, thorax and abdomen. The head bears the eyes, antennæ and mouth-parts, (p. 448, W.) There are two large compound eyes on either side of the head and three simple eyes between them. The antennæ arise from the face, each consisting of two parts, one straight segment at the base, and the end portion which is curved and made up of many segments. There is also a short, bead-like segment where the antenna joins the face. A lens is needed to see the jaws of the bee, folded across, much like a pair of hooks, and below them the tongue, which is a sucking tube; the length of the tongue is very important, for upon this depends the ability of the bee to get nectar from the flowers.

The thorax bears three pairs of legs below and two pairs of wings above. Each leg consists of six segments, and the foot or tarsus has four segments and a pair of claws. The front leg has an antennæ comb between the tibia and tarsus, (p. 447, F, a,) the hind leg has a pollen basket, which is a long cavity bordered by hairs wherein the pollen is packed and carried (p. 447, A, pb.) On the other side of the large joint beyond the pollen basket are rows of spines which are used to remove the pollen from the baskets (p. 447, B, pc), and between these two large segments are the pincers for removing the wax (p. 447, B, wp.)

The front pair of wings is larger than the hind pair. The wings of the old bees that have done much work are always frayed at the edges.

There are six segments or rings to the abdomen, plainly visible from above. If the five segments next the thorax are marked above with yellow bands on their front edges, the bee is an Italian. On the lower side of the abdomen, each segment is made up of a central plate with an overlapping plate on each side; just at the front edge on each side of the central plate is a wax pocket which cannot be seen unless the bee is dissected under a microscope. From these pockets are secreted little flecks of wax (p. 448, X.)

_The Queen_

The queen bee is a truly royal insect. She is much larger than the worker, her body being long, pointed, and extending far beyond the tips of her closed wings, giving her a graceful form. She has no pollen baskets or pollen comb upon her legs, because it is not a part of her work to gather pollen or honey. The queen bee starts life as an ordinary worker egg, which is selected for special development. The workers tear down the partitions of the cells around the chosen egg and build a projection over the top, making an apartment, (p. 446, Fig. 4.) The little white bee grub, as soon as it hatches, is fed for five days on the same food as is given to the worker grubs for three days; it is a special substance, secreted by the worker bees, called royal jelly. This food is very nourishing, and after being reared upon it, the princess larva weaves around herself a silken cocoon and changes to a pupa. Meanwhile the workers have sealed her cell with wax.

When the princess-pupa changes to the full-grown queen she cuts a circular door in the cover of the cell and pushes through it into the world. Her first real work is to hunt for other queen cells and if she finds one, she will, if not hindered, make a hole in its side and sting to death the poor princess within. If she finds another full-grown queen, the two fight until one succumbs. The queen never uses her sting upon anything or anyone except a rival queen.

After a few days she takes her marriage flight in the air, where she mates with some drone, and then returns to her hive and begins her great work as mother of the colony. She runs about on the comb, pokes her head into a cell to see if it is ready, then turning about thrusts her abdomen in and neatly glues an egg fast to the bottom.

When the honey season is at its height she works with great rapidity, sometimes laying at the rate of six eggs per minute, often producing 3,000 eggs during a day, which would equal twice her own weight. If the workers do not allow her to destroy the other queens, she then takes a portion of her colony with her and swarms out, seeking a home elsewhere.

_The Drone_

The drone differs much in shape from the queen and the worker. He is broad and blunt, being very different in shape from the queen, and larger than the worker, (p. 446, Fig. 2.) He has no pollen baskets on his legs and has no sting. His eyes are very much larger than those of the queen or the worker and unite at the top of the head (p. 448, D.) His wings are larger and stronger than those of the worker or queen. It is not his business to go out and gather honey or to help in the work of the hive. His tongue is not long enough to get honey from the flowers; he has no pollen basket in which to carry pollen; he has no sting to fight enemies and no pockets for secreting wax; he is fed by his sister workers until the latter part of the season when the honey supply runs low, and then he is stung or bitten to death by these same sisters who have always given him such good care. The drone should be called a prince or king, since his particular office in the hive is to mate with the queen.

_References_--How to Keep Bees, Comstock; The Bee People, Morley.

LESSON CIII

THE HONEY-BEE

_Leading thought_--In a colony of honey-bees there are three different forms of bees, the queens, the drones, and the workers. All of these have their own special work to do for the community.

_Method_--In almost every country or village community there is an apiary, or at least someone who keeps a few colonies of bees; to such the teacher must turn for material for this lesson. If this is not practical the teacher may purchase specimens from any bee dealer; she may, for instance, get an untested queen with attendant workers in a queen cage sent by mail for a small sum. These could be kept alive for some time by feeding them with honey, during which time the pupils can study the forms of the two castes. Any apiary during September will give enough dead drones for a class to observe. Although ordinarily we do not advocate the study of dead specimens, yet common sense surely has its place in nature-study; and in the case of the honey-bee, a closer study of the form of the insect is desirable than the living bee might see fit to permit. There are no more wonderful instances of adaptation of form to life than is found in the anatomy of the workers, queens and drones; moreover, it is highly desirable if the pupils are ever to become bee-keepers, that they shall know these adaptations.

A lens is almost necessary for these lessons and a compound microscope used with a low power would be a very desirable adjunct. This lesson should not be given below the fifth grade; and it is better adapted to eighth grade work.

_The Worker_

_Observations_--1. How many divisions of the body are there?

2. What organs are borne on the head?

3. Are there small, simple eyes between the large compound ones?

4. What is the difference between the large eyes and the small?

5. Describe the antennæ.

6. What can you see of the mouth? Describe it.

7. Look at the tongue under the microscope and see how it is fitted for getting nectar from flowers.

8. What organs are borne on the thorax?

9. Study the front or middle leg. How many joints has it?

10. With a lens find the antennæ cleaner on the front leg. Describe it.

11. Describe the feet and claws.

12. Compare the third segment of the hind leg with that of the front leg.

13. Note that this segment of the hind leg is much wider. Note its form and describe how it forms the pollen basket.

14. Study the next segment of the hind leg, and note the wax pincers and the pollen combs.

15. Compare the front and hind wing as to shape and size.

16. How many rings are there on the abdomen and how are the rings colored above.

17. Study the lower side of the body; do you know where the wax comes from?

18. Write an English theme on the development of the larva of the worker bee; the duties of a worker bee from the time it issues from its cocoon until it dies working for the colony.

_The Queen Bee_

1. How does the queen differ in size and shape from the worker?

2. Has she pollen baskets or pollen combs on her hind legs?

3. How does the shape of the abdomen differ from that of the worker?

4. Write an English theme on the life of a queen bee. This should cover the following points: The kind of cell in which the queen is developed; the kind of food on which she is reared; the fact that she never stings people but reserves her sting for other queens; why she does not go out to gather honey; how and by whom and on what she is fed; she would not use pollen baskets if she had them; the work she does for the colony; the length of her life compared with that of a worker; the time of year when new queens are developed, and what becomes of the old queen when a new one takes her place; why she is called a queen.

_The Drone_

1. How does the drone differ in size and form of body from the worker?

2. How does he differ in these respects from the queen?

3. Has he pollen baskets on his legs?

4. Has he a sting?

5. Compare his eyes with those of the queen and worker.

6. Compare the size of his wings with those of the queen and worker.

7. Write an English theme on the drone. This should cover the following points: In what sort of cell is the drone developed; does he go out to gather honey or help in the work of the hive; how he is fed; how he is unfitted for work for the colony in the following particulars: Tongue, lack of pollen baskets, lack of sting, and of wax pockets; why the drone should be called a prince or king; the death of the drones; when and by what means it occurs.

HONEY-COMB

_Teacher’s Story_

The structure of honey-comb has been for ages admired by mathematicians, who have measured the angles of the cells and demonstrated the accurate manner in which the rhomb-shaped cell changes at its base to a three faced pyramid; and proven that, considering the material of construction, honey-comb exemplifies the strongest and most economic structure possible for the storing of liquid contents. While recent instruments of greater precision in measuring angles, show less perfection in honey-comb than the ancients believed, yet the fact still stands that the general plan of it is mathematically excellent.

Some have tried to detract from bee skill, by stating that the six-sided cell is simply the result of crowding cells together. Perhaps this was the remote origin of the hexagonal cell; but if we watch a bee build her comb, we find that she begins with a base laid out in triangular pyramids, on either side of which she builds out six-sided cells. A cell just begun, is as distinctly six-sided as when completed.

The shape of the cell of a honey-comb is six-sided in cross section. The bottom is a three-sided pyramid and its sides help form pyramids at the bottom of the cells opposite, thus economizing every particle of space. In the hive, the cells lie horizontal usually, although sometimes the combs are twisted. The honey is retained in the cell by a cap of wax which is made in a very cunning fashion; it consists of a circular disc at the middle supported from the six angles of the cell by six tiny girders. The comb is made fast to the section of the hive by being plastered upon it. The foundation comb sold to apiarists is quite thick, so that the edges of the cell may be drawn out and almost complete the sides of the cell. However, the foundation comb is expensive and is ordinarily used by the bee-keeper simply as a starter, which means a little strip a few inches or so in width fastened to the top of a section just to give the bees a hint that this is the direction in which the comb should be built, a hint which the bees invariably take. The cells of honey-comb are used also for the storing of bee-bread and also as cradles for the young bees.

_References_--The Bee People, Morley; How to Keep Bees, Comstock.

LESSON CIV

THE HONEY-COMB

_Leading thought_--The cells of honey-comb are six-sided and in double rows and are very perfectly arranged for the storing of honey, so as to save room.

_Materials_--A section filled with honey and also a bit of empty comb and a bit of commercial foundation comb which may be obtained in any apiary.

_Observations_--1. Look at a bit of empty honey-comb; what is the shape of the cell as you look down into it?

2. What is the shape of the bottom of the cell?

3. How does the bottom of the cell join the bottom of the cell opposite? Explain how honey-comb economizes space as storage for honey, and why an economy of space is of use to bees in the wild state.

4. In the hive is the honey-comb placed so that the length of the cells are horizontal or up and down?

5. Observe honey-comb containing honey; how is the honey retained in the cells?

6. Carefully take off a cap from the honey cell and see if you can find the six girders that extend inward from the angles of the cell to support the circular portion in the center.

7. By what means is the honey-comb made fast to the sides of the section or the hive?

8. Study a bit of foundation comb and note where the bees will pull out the wax to form the cell.

9. Why and how is foundation comb used by the bee-keeper?

10. For what purpose besides storing honey are the cells of honey-comb used by the bees?

INDUSTRIES OF THE HIVE AND THE OBSERVATION HIVE

_Teacher’s Story_

Bee-hives are the houses which man furnishes for the bee colonies, the wild bees ordinarily living in hollow trees or in caves. The usual hive consists of a box which is the lower story and of one or more upper stories, called “supers.” In the lower story are placed frames for the brood and for storing the honey for the winter use of the bees. In the supers are placed the sections, each of which is planned to hold a pound of honey. It is the habit of the bees to place their brood in the lower part of their nests and store honey in the upper portions. The bee-keepers have taken advantage of this habit of the bees and remove the supers with their filled sections and replace them with others to be filled, and thus get a large crop of honey. The number of bees in a colony varies; there should be at least 40,000 in a healthy colony. Of these a large proportion are workers; there may be a few hundred drones the latter part of the season but only one queen.

Honey-comb is built of wax and is hung from the frame so that the cells are horizontal; its purpose is to cradle the young and for the storage of pollen and honey. The wax used for building the comb is a secretion of the bees; when comb is needed, a number of self-elected bee citizens gorge themselves with honey and hang themselves up in a curtain, each bee reaching up with her fore feet and taking hold of the hind feet of the one above her. After remaining thus for some time the wax appears in little plates, one on each side of the second, third, fourth and fifth segments of the abdomen. This wax is chewed by the bees and made into comb.

Honey is made from the nectar of flowers which the bee takes into her honey stomach. This, by the way, is not the true stomach of the bee and has nothing to do with digestion. It is simply a receptacle for storing the nectar, which is mixed with some secretion from the glands of the bee which brings about chemical changes, the chief of which is changing the cane sugar of the nectar into the more easily digested grape sugar of the honey. After the honey is emptied from the honey stomach into the cell, it remains exposed to the air for some time before the cell is capped, and thus ripens. It is an interesting fact that up to the seventeenth century honey was the only means people had for sweetening their food, as sugar was unknown.

Bee-bread is made from the pollen of flowers which is perhaps mixed with saliva so as to hold together; it is carried from the field on the pollen baskets of the hind legs of the workers; it is packed into the cell by the bees and is used for food. Propolis is bee glue; it is used as a cement and varnish; it is gathered by the bees from the leaf-buds of certain trees and plants, although when they can get it, the bees will take fresh varnish. It is used as a filler to make smooth the rough places of the hive; it often helps hold the combs in place; it calks every crack; it is applied as a varnish to the cells of the honey-comb if they remain unused for a time, and if the door of the observation hive be left open the bees will cover the inside of the glass with this glue, and thus make the interior of the hive dark.

The young bees are footless, white grubs. Each one lives in its own little cell and is fed by the nurse bees, which give it partly digested food from their own stomachs.

The removal of honey from the supers does not do any harm to the bee colony if there is enough honey left in the brood chambers to support the bees during the winter. There should be twenty-five or thirty pounds of honey left in the brood chamber for winter use. In winter, the hives should be protected from the cold by being placed in special houses or by being encased in larger boxes, leaving an opening so that the bees may come out in good weather. The chaff hive is best for both winter and summer, as it surrounds the hive with a space, which is filled with chaff, and keeps the hive warm in winter and cool in summer. Many bee-keepers put their bees in cellars during the winter, but this method is not as safe as the chaff hive. Care should be taken in summer to place the hives so that they are shaded at least part of the day. The grass should be mown around the hives so that the bees will not become entangled in it as they return from the fields laden with honey.

_What may be seen in the observation hive_--First of all, it is very interesting to watch the bees build their comb. When more comb is needed certain members of the colony gorge themselves with honey and remain suspended while it oozes out of the wax pockets on the lower side of the abdomen. This wax is collected and chewed to make it less brittle and then is carried to the place where the comb is being built and is molded into shape by the jaws of the workers. However, the bee that puts the wax in place is not always the one that molds it into comb.

A bee comes into the hive with her honey stomach filled with nectar and disgorges this into a cell. When a bee comes in loaded with pollen, she first brushes it from the pollen baskets on her hind legs into the cell; later another worker comes along and packs the pollen grains into the cell with her head, which is a comical sight.

The bee nurses run about on the comb feeding the young bee grubs partially digested honey and pollen regurgitated from their own stomachs. Whenever the queen moves about the comb she is followed by a retinue of devoted attendants which feed her on the rich and perfectly digested royal jelly and also take care of her royal person and give her every attention possible. The queen, when laying, thrusts her abdomen into the cell and glues a little white egg to the bottom. The specially interesting thing about this is that the queen always lays an egg which will produce a female, or worker in the smaller cells and will always lay an egg to produce a drone or male in the larger cells.

If there is any foreign substance in the observation hive it is interesting to see the bees go to work at once to remove it. They dump all of the debris out in front of the hive. They close all crevices in the hive; and they will always curtain the glass, if the door is kept open too much, with propolis or bee glue, which is a very sticky substance which they get from leaf buds and other vegetable sources. When bees fan to set up a current of air in the hive, they glide back and forth, moving the wings so rapidly that we can only see a blur about their bodies.

If drones are developed in the hive, it is interesting to see how tenderly they are fed by their sister workers, although they do not hesitate to help themselves to the honey stored in the cells; and if the observation hive is working during September, undoubtedly the pupils may be able to see the murder of the drones by their sisters. But the children should understand that this killing of the drones is necessary for the preservation of the colony, as the workers cannot store enough honey to keep the colony alive during the winter if the drones were allowed to go on feeding.

If you see the worker bees fighting, it means that robbers are attempting to get at the stores of the observation hive. The entrance to the hive should at once be contracted by placing a block of wood in front, so that there is room for only one bee at a time to pass in and out.

LESSON CV

THE INDUSTRIES OF THE HIVE

_Leading thought_--In the hive are carried on the industries of wax-making, building of honey-comb, storing of honey and bee-bread, caring for the young, keeping the hive clean and ventilated and calking all crevices with bee glue.

_Method_--This lesson should be in the nature of a demonstration. If there is an apiary in the neighborhood, it is quite possible that the teacher may show the pupils a hive ready for occupancy by the bees; in any case she will have no difficulty in borrowing a frame of brood comb, and this with a section of honey which can be bought at the grocery store, is sufficient if there is no observation hive. This lesson should be an informal talk between teacher and pupils.

An observation hive in the schoolroom is an object of greatest interest to the pupils, as through its glass sides they may be able to verify for themselves the wonderful tales concerning the lives and doings of the bees which have been told us by naturalists. Moreover, the study thus made of the habits of the bees is an excellent preparation for the practical apiarist, and we sincerely believe that bee-keeping is one of the ways by which the boys and girls of the farm may obtain money for their own use.

The observation hive is very simply constructed and can be made by anyone who knows how to use ordinary carpenter tools. It is simply a small, ordinary hive with a pane of glass on each side which is covered by a hinged door. A hive thus made is placed so that the front end rests upon a window sill; the sash is lifted an inch or so, a strip of wood, or a piece of wire netting being inserted underneath the sash except in front of the entrance of the hive, to hinder the bees from coming back into the room. A covered passageway should extend from the entrance of the hive to the outside of the window sill. This window should be one which opens away from the playground so that the bees coming and going, will not come into collision with the pupils. The observation window should be kept carefully shut, except when the pupils are using it, since the bees object to light in their homes.

The A. I. Root Co., of Medina, Ohio, sell a pretty observation hive which we have used successfully by stocking it afresh each season, it being too small for a self-sustaining colony. But it has the advantage of smallness which enables us to see all that is going on within it, which would be impossible in a larger hive. This hive comes in several sizes, and will be shipped from the makers stocked with bees at prices ranging from $1.25 to $4.00.

_Observations--Industries and care of the hive_--1. What is the hive, and what do wild bees use instead of the hive? Describe as follows:

2. Describe a brood chamber and a super and the uses of each.

3. How many and what bees live in a hive.

4. How the honey-comb is made and placed and the purpose of it.

5. How the wax is produced and built into the comb.

6. How honey is made.

7. What bee-bread is and its uses.

8. What propolis is and what it is used for.

9. How young bees look and how they are cradled and fed.

10. Does the removal of the honey from the supers in the fall do any harm to the bee colony?

11. How much honey should a good-sized colony have in the fall to winter well?

12. How should the hives be protected in the winter and summer?

_What may be seen in the observation hive_--13. Describe how a bee works when building honey-comb.

14. How does the bee act when storing honey in a cell?

15. How does a bee place pollen in a cell and pack it into bee-bread?

16. Describe how the nurse bees feed the young, and how the young look when eating.

17. Describe how the “ladies in waiting” feed and care for the queen.

18. Try to observe the queen when she is laying eggs and describe her actions.

19. How do the bee workers keep their house clean?

20. How do they stop all crevices in the hive? If you keep the hive uncovered too long, how will they curtain the window?

21. Describe the actions of the bees when they are ventilating the hive.

22. If there are any drones in the hive, describe how they are fed.

23. How can you tell queens, drones and workers apart?

VII. OTHER INVERTEBRATE-ANIMAL STUDY

THE GARDEN SNAIL

_Teacher’s Story_

Perchance if those who speak so glibly of a “snail’s pace” should study it, they would not sneer at it, for carefully observed, it seems the most wonderful method of locomotion ever devised by animal. Naturally enough, the snail cannot gallop since it has but one foot; but it is safe to assert that this foot, which is the entire lower side of the body, is a remarkable organ of locomotion. Let a snail crawl up the side of a tumbler and note how this foot stretches out and holds on. It has flanges along the sides, which secrete an adhesive substance that enables the snail to cling, and yet it also has the power of letting go at will. The slow, even, pushing forward, of the whole body, weighted by the unbalanced shell, is as mysterious and seemingly as inevitable, as the march of fate, so little is the motion connected with any apparent muscular effort. But when his snailship wishes to let go and retire from the world, this foot performs a feat which is certainly worthy of a juggler; it folds itself lengthwise, and the end on which the head is retires first into the shell, the tail end of the foot being the last to disappear. And now find your snail!

Never was an animal so capable of stretching out and then folding up all its organs, as is this little tramp who carries his house with him. Turn one on his back when he has withdrawn into his little hermitage, and watch what happens. Soon he concludes he will find out where he is, and why he is bottomside up; as the first evidence of this, the hind end of the foot, which was folded together, pushes forth; then the head and horns come bubbling out. The horns are not horns at all, but each is a stalk bearing an eye on the tip. This is arranged conveniently, like a marble fastened to the tip of a glove finger. When a snail wishes to see, it stretches forth the stalk as if it were made of rubber; but if danger is perceived, the eye is pulled back exactly as if the marble were pulled back through the middle of the glove finger; or as a boy would say, “it goes into the hole and pulls the hole in after it.” Just below the stalked eyes, is another pair of shorter horns, which are feelers, and which may be drawn back in the same manner; they are used constantly for testing the nature of the surface on which the snail is crawling. It is an interesting experiment to see how near to the eyes and the feelers we can place an object, before driving them back in. With these two pairs of sense organs pushed out in front of him, the snail is well equipped to observe the topography of his immediate vicinity; if he wishes to explore above, he can stand on the tip of his tail and reach far up; and if there is anything to take hold of, he can glue his toe fast to it and pull himself up. Moreover, I am convinced that snails have decided views about where they wish to go, for I have tried by the hour to keep them marching lengthwise on the piazza railing, so as to study them; and every snail was determined to go crosswise and crawl under the edge, where it was nice and dark.

It is interesting to observe through a lens, the way a snail takes his dinner; place before him a piece of sweet apple or other soft fruit, and he will lift himself on his front toe and begin to work his way into the fruit. He has an efficient set of upper teeth, which look like a saw and are colored as if he chewed tobacco; with these teeth and with his round tongue, which we can see popping out, he soon makes an appreciable hole in the pulp; but his table manners are not nice, since he is a hopeless slobberer.

There are right and left spiraled snails. All those observed for this lesson show the spiral wound about the center from left over to right, or in the direction of the movement of the hands of a clock, and this is usually the case. With the spiral like this, the breathing pore is on the right side of the snail and may be seen as an opening where the snail joins the shell. This pore may be seen to open and contract slowly; by this motion, the air is sucked into the shell where it bathes the snail’s lung, and is then forced out--a process very similar to our own breathing.

The snail has good judgment when attacked; at the first scare, he simply draws in his eyes and feelers and withdraws his head, so that nothing can be seen of him from above, except a hard shell which would not attract the passing bird. But if the attack continues, he lets go all hold on the world, and nothing can be seen of him but a little mass which blocks the door to his house; and if he is obliged to experience a drought, he makes a pane of glass out of mucus across his door, and thus stops evaporation. This is a very wise precaution, because the snail is made up largely of moisture and much water is needed to keep his mucilage factory running.

The way the snail uses his eyes is comical; he goes to the edge of a leaf and pokes one eye over to see what the new territory is like; but if his eye strikes an object, he pulls that one back, and prospects for a time with the other. He can lengthen the eye-stalk amazingly if he has need. How convenient for us if we could thus see around a corner. If a small boy were as well off as a snail, he could see the entire ball game through a knot-hole in the fence. In fact, the more we study the snail, the more we admire, first his powers of ascertaining what there is in the world, and then his power of getting around in the world by climbing recklessly and relentlessly over obstacles, not caring whether he is right side up on the floor or hanging wrong side up from the ceiling; and, finally, we admire his utter reticence when things do not go to suit him. I think the reason I always call a snail “he” is because he seems such a philosopher--a Diogenes in his tub. However, since the snail combines both sexes in one individual the pronoun is surely applicable.

When observed through a lens, the snail’s skin looks like that of the alligator, rough and divided into plates, with a surface like pebbled leather; and no insect intruder can crawl up his foot and get into the shell “unbeknownst,” for the shell is grown fast to the flange, that grows out of the middle of the snail’s back. The smoother the surface the snail is crawling upon, the harder to make him let go. The reason for this lies in the mucus, which he secretes as he goes, and which enables him to fasten himself anywhere; he can crawl up walls or beneath any horizontal surface, shell downward, and he leaves a shining trail behind him wherever he goes.

Snail eggs are as large as small peas, almost transparent, covered with very soft shells, and fastened together by mucus. They are laid under stones and decaying leaves. As soon as the baby snail hatches, it has a shell with only one spiral turn in it; as it grows, it adds layer after layer to the shell on the rim about the opening--which is called the lip; these layers we can see as ridges on the shell. If we open an empty shell, we can see the progress of growth in the size of the spirals. Snails eat succulent leaves and other soft vegetable matter. During the winter, they bury themselves beneath objects or retire into soft humus. In preparing for the winter, the snail makes a door of mucus and lime, or sometimes three doors, one behind another, across the entrance to his shell, leaving a tiny hole to admit the air. There are varieties of snails which are eaten as dainties in Europe, and are grown on snail farms for the markets. The species most commonly used is the same as that which was regarded as a table luxury by the ancient Romans.

_References_--Wild Life, Ingersoll; The Natural History of Some Common Animals, Latter.

LESSON CVI

THE GARDEN SNAIL

_Leading thought_--The snail carries his dwelling with him, and retires within it in time of danger. He can climb on any smooth surface.

_Method_--The pupils should make a snailery, which may consist of any glass jar, with a little soil and some moss or leaves at the bottom, and a shallow dish of water at one side. The moss and soil should be kept moist. Place the snails in this and give them fresh leaves or pulpy fruit, and they will live comfortably in confinement. A bit of cheese-cloth fastened with a rubber band should be placed over the top of the jar. A tumbler inverted over a dish, on which is a leaf or two, makes a good observation cage to pass around the room for closer examination. An empty shell should be at hand, which may be opened and examined.

_Observations_--1. Where do you find snails? Why do they like to live in such places?

2. How does a snail walk? Describe its “foot.” How can it move with only one foot? Describe how it climbs the side of the glass jar. How does it cling?

3. What sort of a track does a snail leave behind it? What is the use of this mucus?

4. Where are the snail’s eyes? Why is this arrangement convenient? If we touch one of the eyes what happens? What advantage is this to the snail? Can it pull in one eye and leave the other out?

5. Look below the eyes for a pair of feelers. What happens to these if you touch them?

6. What is the use of its shell to a snail? What does the snail do if startled? If attacked? When a snail is withdrawn into its shell can you see any part of the body? Is the shell attached to the middle of the foot? How did the shell grow on the snail’s back? How many spiral turns are there in the full-grown shell? Are there as many in the shell of a young snail? Can you see the little ridges on the shell? Do you think that these show the way the shell grew?

7. Can you find the opening through which the snail draws its breath? Where is this opening? Describe its action.

8. Put the snail in a dry place for two or three days, and see what happens. Do you think this is for the purpose of keeping in moisture? What does the snail do during the winter?

9. Place a snail on its back and see how it rights itself. Describe the way it eats. Can you see the horny upper jaw? Can you see the rasping tongue? What do snails live on?

10. Do you know how the snail eggs look and where they are laid? How large is the shell of the smallest garden snail you ever saw? How many spiral turns were there in it? Open an empty snail shell and see how the spirals widened as the snail grew. Do you think the shell grew by layers added to the lip?

11. Do all snails have shells? Describe all the kinds of snails you know. What people consider snails a table delicacy?

_TO A SNAIL_

_Little Diogenes bearing your tub, whither away so gay, With your eyes on stalks, and a foot that walks, tell me this I pray! Is it an honest snail you seek that makes you go so slow, And over the edges of all things peek? Have you found him, I want to know; Or do you go slow because you knew, your house is near and tight? And there is no hurry and surely no worry lest you stay out late at night._

THE EARTHWORM

_Teacher’s Story_

Although not generally considered attractive, for two reasons the earthworm has an important place in nature-study: it furnishes an interesting example of lowly organized creatures, and it is of great economic importance to the agriculturist. The lesson should have special reference to the _work_ done by earthworms and to the simplicity of the tools with which the work is done.

The earthworm is, among lower animals, essentially the farmer. Long before man conceived the idea of tilling the soil, this seemingly insignificant creature was busily at work plowing, harrowing, and fertilizing the land. Nor did it overlook the importance of drainage and the addition of amendments--factors of comparatively recent development in the management of the soil by man.

Down into the depths, sometimes as far as seven or eight feet, but usually from twelve to eighteen inches, goes the little plowman, bringing to the surface the subsoil, which is exactly what we do when we plow deeply. To break up the soil as our harrows do, the earthworm grinds it in a gizzard stocked with grains of sand or fine gravel, which act as millstones. Thus it turns out soil of much finer texture than we, by harrowing or raking, can produce. In its stomach it adds the lime amendment, so much used by the modern farmer. The earthworm is apparently an adept in the use of fertilizers; it even shows discrimination in keeping the organic matter near the surface, where it may be incorporated into the soil of the root zone. It drags into its burrows dead leaves, flowers and grasses, with which to line the upper part. Bones of dead animals, shells, and twigs are buried by it, and, being more or less decayed, furnish food for plants. These minute agriculturists have never studied any system of drainage, but they bore holes to some depth which carry off the surplus water. They plant seeds by covering those that lie on the ground with soil from below the surface--good, enriched, well granulated soil it is, too. They further care for the growing plants by cultivating, that is keeping fine and granular, the soil about the roots.

It was estimated by Darwin that, in garden soil in England, there are more than 50,000 earthworms in an acre, and that the whole superficial layer of vegetable mold passes through their bodies in the course of every few years, at the rate of eighteen tons per acre yearly.

This agricultural work of the earthworm has been going on for ages. Wild land owes much of its beauty to this diminutive creature which keeps the soil in good condition. The earthworm has undermined and buried rocks, changing greatly the aspect of the landscape. It has preserved ruins and ancient works of art. Several Roman villas in England owe their preservation to the earthworm. All this work is accomplished with the most primitive tools, a tiny proboscis, a distensible pharynx, a rather indeterminate tail, a gizzard and the calcareous glands peculiar to this lowly creature.

An earthworm has a peculiar, crawling movement. Unlike the snake, which also moves without legs, it has no scales to function in part as legs; but it has a very special provision for locomotion. On the under side of a worm are found numerous _setæ_--tiny, bristlelike projections. These will be seen to be in double rows on each segment, excepting the first three and the last. The setæ turn so that they point in the opposite direction from which the worm is moving. It is this use of these clinging bristles, together with strong muscles, which enables a worm to hold tightly to its burrow when bird or man attempts its removal. A piece of round elastic furnishes an excellent example of contraction and extension, such as the earthworm exhibits. Under the skin of the worm are two sets of muscles; the outer passing in circular direction around the body, the inner running lengthwise. The movement of these may be easily seen in a good-sized, living specimen. The body is lengthened by the contraction of circular and the extension of longitudinal muscles, and shortened by the opposite movement.

The number of segments may vary with the age of the worm. In the immature, the _clitellum_, a thick, whitish ring near the end, is absent. The laying of the earthworm’s egg is an interesting performance. A sac-like ring is formed about the body in the region of the clitellum. This girdle is gradually worked forward and, as it is cast over the head, the sac-ends snap together enclosing the eggs. These capsules, yellowish-brown, football-shaped, about the size of a grain of wheat, may be found in May or June about manure piles or under stones.

Earthworms are completely deaf, although sensitive to vibration. They have no eyes, but can distinguish between light and darkness. The power of smell is feeble. The sense of taste is well developed; the sense of touch is very acute; and we are not so sure as is Dr. Jordan, that the angleworm is at ease on the hook.

Any garden furnishes good examples of the home of the earthworm. The burrows are made straight down at first, then wind about irregularly. Usually they are about one or two feet deep, but may reach even eight feet. The burrow terminates generally in an enlargement where one or several worms pass the winter. Toward the surface, the burrow is lined with a thin layer of fine, dark colored earth, voided by the worm. This creature is an excavator and builder of no mean ability. The towerlike “castings” so characteristic of the earthworm, are formed with excreted earth. Using the tail as a trowel, it places earth, now on one side and now on the other. In this work, of course, the tail protrudes; in the search for food, the head is out. A worm, then, must make its home, narrow as it is, with a view to being able to turn in it.

An earthworm will bury itself in loose earth in two or three minutes, and in compact soil, in fifteen minutes. Pupils should be able to make these observations easily either in the terrarium or in the garden.

In plugging the mouths of their burrows, earthworms show something that seems like intelligence. Triangular leaves are invariably drawn in by the apex, pine-needles by the common base, the manner varying with the shape of the leaf. They do not drag in a leaf by the footstalk, unless its basal part is as narrow as the apex. The mouth of the burrow may be lined with leaves for several inches.

The burrows are not found in dry ground nor in loose sand. The earthworm lives in the finer, moderately wet soils. It must have moisture since it breathes through the skin, and it has sufficient knowledge of soil texture and plasticity to recognize the futility of attempts at burrow building with unmanageable, large grains of sand.

These creatures are nocturnal, rarely appearing by day unless “drowned out” of the burrows. During the day they lie near the surface extended at full length, the head uppermost. Here they are discovered by keen-eyed birds and sacrificed by thousands, notwithstanding the strong muscular protest of which they are capable.

Seemingly conscious of its inability to find the way back to its home, an earthworm anchors tight by its tail while stretching its elastic length in a foraging expedition. It is an omnivorous creature, including in its diet earth, leaves, flowers, raw meat, fat, and even showing cannibalistic designs on fellow earthworms. In the schoolroom, earthworms may be fed on pieces of lettuce or cabbage leaves. A feeding worm will show the proboscis, an extension of the upper lip used to push food into the mouth. The earthworm has no hard jaws or teeth, yet it eats through the hardest soil. Inside the mouth opening is a very muscular pharynx, which can be extended or withdrawn. Applied to the surface of any small object it acts as a suction pump, drawing food into the food tube. The earth taken in furnishes some organic matter for food; calcareous matter is added to the remainder before being voided. This process is unique among animals. The calcareous matter is supposed to be derived from leaves which the worms eat. Generally the earth is swallowed at some distance below the surface, and finally ejected in characteristic “castings.” Thus, the soil is slowly worked over and kept in good condition by earthworms, of which Darwin says: “It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world as have these lowly organized creatures.”

_References_--The Earthworm, Darwin; The Natural History of Some Common Animals, Latter.

* * * * *

“_Fly fishing is an art, a fine art beyond a doubt, but it is an art and, like all art, it is artificial. Fishing with an angleworm is natural. It fits into the need of the occasion. It fits in with the spirit of the boy. It is not by chance that the angleworm, earthworm, fishworm, is found in every damp bank, in every handy bit of sod, the green earth over, where there are races whose boys are real boys with energy enough to catch a fish. It is not by chance that the angleworm makes a perfect fit on a hook, with no anatomy with which to feel pains, and no arms or legs to be broken off or to be waved helplessly in the air. Its skin is tough enough so as not to tear, not so tough as to receive unseemly bruises, when the boy is placing it on the hook. The angleworm is perfectly at home on the hook. It is not quite comfortable anywhere else. It crawls about on sidewalks after rain, bleached and emaciated. It is never quite at ease even in the ground, but on the hook it rests peacefully, with the apparent feeling that its natural mission is performed._” --“BOYS’ FISH AND BOYS’ FISHING,” BY DAVID STARR JORDAN.

LESSON CVII

THE EARTHWORM

_Leading thought_--The earthworm is a creature of the soil and is of much economic importance.

_Method_--Any garden furnishes abundant material for the study of earthworms. They are nocturnal workers and may be observed by lantern light. To form some estimate of the work done in a single night, remove the “casts” from a square yard of earth one day, and examine that piece of earth the next. It is well to have a terrarium in the schoolroom for frequent observation. Scatter grass or dead leaves on top of the soil, and note what happens. For the study of the individual worm and its movements, each pupil should have a worm with some earth upon his desk.

_Observations_--1. How does the earthworm crawl? How does it turn over? Has it legs? Compare its movement with that of a snake, another legless animal. What special provision for locomotion has the earthworm?

2. Compare the lengths of the contracted and extended body. How accounted for?

3. Describe the body--its shape and color, above and below. Examine the segments. Do all the worms have the same number? Compare the head end with the tail end of the body. Has every worm a “saddle,” or clitellum?

4. Does the earthworm hear easily? Has it eyes? Is it sensible to smell or to touch? What sense is most strongly developed?

5. Describe the home of the earthworm. Is it occupied by more than one worm? How long does it take a worm to make a burrow? How does it protect its home? How does it make a burrow? In what kind of soil do you find earthworms at work?

6. Is the earthworm seen most often at night or by day? Where is it the rest of the time? How does it hold to its burrow? When is the tail end at the top? When the head end?

7. What is the food of the earthworm? How does it get its food?

8. Look for the eggs of the earthworm about manure piles or under stones.

9. What are the enemies of the earthworm? Is it a friend or an enemy to us? Why?

10. The earthworm is a good agriculturist. Why?

THE CRAYFISH

_Teacher’s Story_

When I look at a crayfish I envy it, so rich is it in organs with which to do all that it has to do. From the head to the tail, it is crowded with a large assortment of executive appendages. In this day of multiplicity of duties, if we poor human creatures only had the crayfish’s capabilities, then might we hope to achieve what lies before us.

The most striking thing in the appearance of the crayfish is the great pair of nippers on each of the front legs. Wonderfully are its “thumb and finger” put together; the “thumb” is jointed so that it can move back and forth freely; and both are armed, along the inside edge, with saw teeth and with a sharp claw at the tip so that they can get a firm grip upon an object. Five segments in these great legs can be easily seen; that joining the body is small, but each successive one is wider and larger, to the great forceps at the end. The two stout segments behind the nippers give strength, and also a suppleness that enables the claws to be bent in any direction.

The legs of the pair behind the big nippers have five segments readily visible; but these legs are slender and the nippers at the end are small; the third pair of legs is armed like the second pair; but the fourth and fifth pairs lack the pincers, and end in a single claw.

But the tale of the crayfish’s legs is by no means told; for between and above the great pincers is a pair of short, small legs tipped with single claws, and fringed on their inner edges. These are the maxillapeds, or jaw-feet; and behind them, but too close to be seen easily, are two more pairs of jaw-feet. As all of these jaw-feet assist at meals, the crayfish apparently always has a “three fork” dinner; and as if to provide accommodations for so many eating utensils, it has three pairs of jaws all working sidewise, one behind the other. Two of these pairs are maxillæ and one, mandibles. The mandibles are the only ones we see as we look in between the jaw-feet; they are notched along the biting edge. Connected with the maxillæ, on each side, are two pairs of threadlike flappers, that wave back and forth vigorously and have to do with setting up currents of water over the gills.

Thus we see that, in all, the crayfish has three pairs of jaw-feet, one pair of great nippers and four pairs of walking feet, two of which also have nippers and are used for digging and carrying.

When we look upon the crayfish from above, we see that the head and thorax are fastened solidly together, making what is called a cephalothorax. The cephalothorax is covered with a shell called the carapace, which is the name given also to the upper part of the turtle’s shell. The suture where the head joins the thorax is quite evident. In looking at the head, the eyes first attract our attention; each is black and oval and placed on the tip of a stalk, so it can be extended or retracted or pushed in any direction, to look for danger. These eyes are like the compound eyes of insects, in that they are made up of many small eyes, set together in a honeycomb pattern.

The long antennæ are as flexible as braided whiplashes, large at the base and ending in a threadlike tip. They are composed of many segments, the basal ones being quite large. Above the antennæ on each side, is a pair of shorter ones called antennules, which come from the same basal segment; the lower one is the more slender and is usually directed forward; the upper one is stouter, curves upward, and is kept always moving, as if it were constantly on the alert for impressions. The antennæ are used for exploring far ahead or behind the creature, and are often thrust down into the mud and gravel at the bottom of the aquarium, as if probing for treasure. The antennules seem to give warning of things closer at hand. Between the antennæ and antennules is a pair of finger-like organs, that are hinged at the outer ends and can be lifted back, if we do it carefully.

In looking down upon a crayfish, we can see six abdominal segments and the flaring tail at the end, which is really another segment greatly modified. The first segment, or that next to the cephalothorax, is narrow; the others are about equal in size, each graceful in shape, with a widened part at each side which extends down along the sides of the creature. These segments are well hinged together so that the abdomen may be completely curled beneath the cephalothorax. The plates along the sides are edged with fringe. The tail consists of five parts, one semicircular in the center, and two fan-shaped pieces at each side, and all are margined with fringe. This tail is a remarkable organ. It can be closed or extended sidewise like a fan; it can be lifted up or curled beneath.

Looking at the crayfish from below, we see on the abdomen some very beautiful featherlike organs called swimmerets. Each swimmeret consists of a basal segment with twin paddles joined to its tip, each paddle being narrow and long and fringed with hairs. The mother crayfish has four pairs of these, one pair on each of the second, third, fourth and fifth segments; her mate has an additional larger pair on the first segment. These swimmerets, when at rest, lie close to the abdomen and are directed forward and slightly inward. When in motion, they paddle with a backward, rhythmic motion, the first pair setting the stroke and the other pairs following in succession. This motion sends the body forward, and the swimmerets are chiefly used to aid the legs in forward locomotion. A crayfish, on the bottom of a pond, seems to glide about with great ease; but place it on land, and it is an awkward walker. The reason for this difference lies, I believe, in the aid given by the swimmerets when the creature is in water. Latter says: “In walking, the first three pairs of legs pull and the fourth pair pushes. Their order of movement is as follows: The first on the right and the third on the left side move together, next the third right and the first left, then the second right and fourth left, and lastly the fourth right and second left.”

When the crayfish really wishes to swim, the tail is suddenly brought into use; it is thrust out backward, lays hold of the water by spreading out widely, and then doubles under with a spasmodic jerk which pulls the creature swiftly backward.

The crayfish’s appearance is magically transformed when it begins to swim; it is no longer a creature of sprawling awkward legs and great clumsy nippers; now, its many legs lie side by side supinely and the great claws are limp and flow along in graceful lines after the body, all obedient to the force which sends the creature flying through the water. I cannot discover that the swimmerets help in this movement.

The mother crayfish has another use for her swimmerets; in the spring, when she is ready to lay eggs, she cleans off her paddles with her hind legs, covers them with waterproof glue, and then plasters her eggs on them in grapelike clusters of little dark globules. What a nice way to look after her family! The little ones hatch, but remain clinging to the maternal swimmerets, until they are large enough to scuttle around on the brook bottom and look out for themselves.

The breathing apparatus of the crayfish cannot be seen without dissection. All the walking legs, except the last pair, have gills attached to that portion of them which joins the body, and which lies hidden underneath the sides of the carapace or shell. The blood is forced into these gills, sends off its impurities through their thin walls and takes in the oxygen from the water, currents of which are kept steadily flowing forward.

Crayfishes haunt still pools along brooksides and river margins and the shallow ponds of our fresh waters. There they hide beneath sticks and stones, or in caves of their own making, the doors of which they guard with the big and threatening nippers, which stand ready to grapple with anybody that comes to inquire if the folks are at home. The upper surface of the crayfish’s body is always so nearly the color of the brook bottom, that the eye seldom detects the creature until it moves; and if some enemy surprises one, it swims off with terrific jerks which roil all the water around and thus covers its retreat. In the winter, our brook forms hibernate in the muddy bottoms of their summer haunts. There are many species; some in our Southern States, when the dry season comes on, live in little wells which they dig deep enough to reach water. They heap up the soil which they excavate around the mouth of the well, making well-curbs of mud; these are ordinarily called “crawfish chimneys.” The crayfishes find their food in the flotsam and jetsam of the pool. They seem fond of the flesh of dead fishes and are often trapped by its use as bait.

The growth of the crayfish is like that of insects; as its outer covering is a hard skeleton that will not stretch, it is shed as often as necessary; it breaks open down the middle of the back of the carapace, and the soft bodied creature pulls itself out, even to the last one of its claws. While its new skin is yet elastic, it stretches to its utmost; but this skin also hardens after a time and is, in its turn, shed. Woe to the crayfish caught in this helpless, soft condition after molting! For it then has no way to protect itself. We sometimes find the old skin floating, perfect in every detail, and so transparent that it seems the ghost of a crayfish.

Not only is the crayfish armed in the beginning with a great number of legs, antennæ, etc., but if it happens to lose any of these organs, they will grow again. It is said that, when attacked, it can voluntarily throw off one or more of its legs. We have often found one of these creatures with one of the front claws much larger than the other; it had probably lost its big claw in a fight, and the new growth was not yet completed.

I have been greatly entertained by watching a female crayfish make her nest in my aquarium which has, for her comfort, a bottom of three inches of clean gravel. She always commences at one side by thrusting down her antennæ and nippers between the glass and stones; she seizes a pebble in each claw and pulls it up and in this way starts her excavation; but when she gets ready to carry off her load, she comes to the task with her tail tucked under her body, as a lady tucks up her skirts when she has something to do that requires freedom of movement. Then with her great nippers and the two pairs of walking feet, also armed with nippers, she loads up as much as she can carry between her great claws and her breast. She keeps her load from overflowing by holding it down with her first pair of jaw-feet, just as I have seen a schoolboy use his chin, when carrying a too large load of books; and she keeps the load from falling out by supporting it from beneath with her first pair of walking legs. Thus, she starts off with her “apron” full, walking on three pairs of feet, until she gets to the dumping place; then she suddenly lets go and at the same time her tail straightens out with a gesture which says plainly, “There!” Sometimes when she gets a very large load, she uses her second pair of walking legs to hold up the burden, and crawls off successfully, if not with ease, on two pairs of legs,--a most unnatural quadruped.

I had two crayfishes in a cage in an aquarium, and each made a nest in the gravel at opposite ends of the cage, heaping up the debris into a partition between them. I gave one an earthworm, which she promptly seized with her nippers; she then took up a good sized pebble in the nippers of her front pair of walking legs, glided over to the other nest, spitefully threw down both worm and pebble on top of her fellow prisoner, and then sped homeward. Her victim responded to the act by rising up and expressing perfectly, in his attitude and the gestures of his great claws, the most eloquent of crayfish profanity. In watching crayfishes carry pebbles, I have been astonished to see how constantly the larger pair of jaw-feet are used to help pick up and carry the loads.

LESSON CVIII

THE CRAYFISH

_Leading thought_--The crayfish, or crawfish, as it is sometimes called, has one pair of legs developed into great pincers for seizing and tearing its food and for defending itself from enemies. It can live in mud or water. It belongs to the same animal group as do the insects, and it is a near cousin of the lobster.

_Method_--Place a crayfish in an aquarium (a battery jar or a two-quart Mason jar) in the schoolroom, keeping it in clear water until the pupils have studied its form. It will rise to explore the sides of the aquarium at first, and thus show its mouth parts, legs and swimmerets. Afterwards, place gravel and stone in the bottom of the aquarium, so that it can hide itself in a little cavity which it will make by carrying pebbles from one side. Wash the gravel well before it is put in, so that the water will be unclouded and the children can watch the process of excavation.

_Observations_--1. What is there peculiar about the crayfish which makes it difficult to pick it up? Examine one of these great front legs carefully and see how wonderfully it is made. How many parts are there to it? Note how each succeeding part is larger from the body to the claws. Note the tips which form the nippers or chelæ, as they are called. How are they armed? How are the gripping edges formed to take hold of an object? How wide can the nippers be opened, and how is this done? Note the two segments behind the great claw and describe how they help the work of the nippers.

2. Study the pair of legs behind the great claws or chelæ, and compare the two pairs, segment by segment. How do they differ except as to size? How do the nippers at the end compare with the big ones? Look at the next pair of legs behind these; are they similar? How do the two pairs of hind legs differ in shape from the two pairs in front of them?

3. Look between the great front claws and see if you can find another pair of small legs. Can you see anything more behind or above these little legs?

4. When the crayfish lifts itself up against the side of the jar, study its mouth. Can you see a pair of notched jaws that work sidewise? Can you see two or three pairs of threadlike organs that wave back and forth in and out the mouth?

5. How many legs, in all, has the crayfish? What are the short legs near the mouth used for? What are the great nippers used for? How many legs does the crayfish use when walking? In what order are they moved? Is the hind pair used for pushing? What use does it make of the pincers on the first and second pairs of walking legs?

6. Look at the crayfish from above; the head and the covering of the thorax are soldered together into one piece. When this occurs, the whole is called a cephalothorax; and the cover is called by the same name as the upper shell of the turtle, the carapace. Can you see where the head is joined to the thorax?

7. Look carefully at the eyes. Describe how they are set. Can they be pushed out or pulled in? Can they be moved in all directions? Of what advantage is this to the crayfish?

8. How many antennæ has the crayfish? Describe the long ones and tell how they are used. Do the two short ones on each side come from the same basal segment? These little ones are called the antennules. Describe the antennules of each side and tell how they differ. Can you see the little fingerlike organs which clasp above the antennæ and below the antennules on each side of the head? Can these be moved?

9. Look at the crayfish from above. How many segments are there in the abdomen? Note how graceful the shape of each segment. Note that each has a fan-shaped piece down the side. Describe how the edges of the segments along the sides are margined.

10. Of how many pieces is the tail made? Make a sketch of it. How are the pieces bordered? Can the pieces shut and spread out sidewise? Is the tail hinged so it can be lifted up against the back or curled under the body?

11. Look underneath the abdomen and describe the little fringed organs called the swimmerets. How many are there?

12. How does the crayfish swim? With what does it make the stroke? Describe carefully this action of the tail. When it is swimming, does it use its swimmerets? Why do not the many legs and big nippers obstruct the progress of the crayfish, when it is swimming?

13. When does the crayfish use its swimmerets? Do they work so as to push the body backward or forward? Do you know to what use the mother crayfish puts her swimmerets?

14. Do you know how crayfishes breathe? Do you know what they eat and where they find it?

15. Where do you find crayfishes? Where do they like to hide? Do they go headfirst into their hiding place, or do they back in? Do they stand ready to defend their retreat? When you look down into the brook, are the crayfishes usually seen until they move? Why is this? Where do the crayfishes pass the winter? Did you ever see the crayfish burrows or mud chimnies?

16. If the crayfish loses one of its legs or antennæ, does it grow out again? How does the crayfish grow?

17. Put a crayfish in an aquarium which has three inches of coarse gravel on the bottom, and watch it make its den. How does it loosen up a stone? With how many legs does it carry its burden of pebbles when digging its cave? How does it use its jaw-feet, its nippers, and its first and second pairs of walking legs in this work?

* * * * *

“_A rock-lined, wood-embosomed nook, Dim cloister of the chanting brook! A chamber within the channelled hills, Where the cold crystal brims and spills, By dark-browed caverns blackly flows, Falls from the cleft like crumbling snows, And purls and splashes, breathing round A soft, suffusing mist of sound._” --J. T. TROWBRIDGE.

DADDY-LONGLEGS, OR GRANDFATHER GREYBEARD

_Teacher’s Story_

I wonder if there ever was a country child who has not grasped firmly the leg of one of these little sprawling creatures and demanded: “Grandfather Greybeard, tell me where the cows are or I’ll kill you,” and Grandfather Greybeard, striving to get away, puts out one of his long legs this way, and another that way, and points in so many directions that he usually saves his life, since the cows must be somewhere. It would be more interesting to the children and less embarrassing to the “daddy” if they were taught to look more closely at those slender, hairlike legs.

“Daddy’s” long legs are seven jointed. The first segment is seemingly soldered fast to the lower side of his body, and is called the coxa. The next segment is a mere knob, usually black and ornamental, and is called the trochanter. Then comes the femur, a rather long segment directed upward; next is a short swollen segment--the “knee joint” or patella; next the tibia, which is also rather long. Then comes the metatarsus and tarsus, which seemingly make one long downward-directed segment, outcurving at the tips, on which the “daddy” tip-toes along.

I have seen a “daddy” walk into a drop of water and his foot was never wetted, so light was his touch on the water surface film. The second pair of legs is the longest; the fourth pair next, and the first pair usually the shortest. The legs of the second pair are ordinarily used in exploring the surroundings. Notice that, when the “daddy” is running, these two legs are spread wide apart and keep in rapid motion; their tips, far more sensitive than any nerves of our own, tell him the nature of his surroundings, by a touch so light that we cannot feel it on the hand. We have more respect for one of these hairlike legs, when we know it is capable of transmitting intelligence from its tip.

The “daddy” is a good traveler and moves with remarkable rapidity. And why not? If our legs were as long in comparison as his, they would be about forty feet in length. When the “daddy” is running, the body is always held a little distance above the ground; but when the second pair of legs suggests to him that there may be something good to eat in the neighborhood, he commences a peculiar teetering motion of the body, apparently touching it to the ground at every step; as the body is carried tilted with the head down, this movement enables the creature to explore the surface below him with his palpi, which he ordinarily carries bent beneath his face, with the ends curled up under his “chin.” The palpi have four segments that are easily seen, and although they are ordinarily carried bent up beneath the head, they can be extended out quite a distance if “daddy” wishes to test a substance. The end segment of the palpus is tipped with a single claw.

Beneath the palpi is a pair of jaws; these, in some species, extend beyond the palpi. I have seen a daddy-longlegs hold food to his jaws with his palpi and he seemed also to use them for stuffing it into his mouth.

The body of the daddy-longlegs is a little oblong object, looking more like a big grain of wheat than anything else, because in these creatures the head, thorax and abdomen are all grown together compactly. On top of the body, between the feeler-legs, is a little black dot, and to the naked eye it would seem that if this were an organ of sight the creature must be a Cyclops with only one eye. But under the lens this is seen to be a raised knob and there is on each side of it, a little shining black eye. We hardly see the use of two eyes set so closely together, but probably the “daddy” does.

The most entertaining thing which a “daddy” in captivity is likely to do, is to clean his legs; he is very particular about his legs, and he will grasp one close to the basal joint in his jaws and slowly pull it through, meanwhile holding the leg up to the jaws with the palpi, while he industriously nibbles it clean for the whole length to the very toe. Owing to the likelihood of his losing one of his legs, he has the power of growing a new one; so we often see a “daddy” with one or more legs only half grown.

There are many species of daddy-longlegs in the United States, and some of them do not have the characteristic long legs. In the North, all except one species die at the approach of winter; but not until after the female, which, by the way, ought to be called “granny-longlegs,” has laid her eggs in the ground, or under some protecting stone, or in some safe crevice of wood or bark. In the spring the eggs hatch into tiny little creatures which look just like the old daddy-longlegs, except for their size. They get their growth like insects, by shedding their skins as fast as they outgrow them. It is interesting to study one of these cast skins with a lens. There it stands with a slit down its back, and with the skin of each leg absolutely perfect to the tiny claw! Again we marvel at these legs that seem so threadlike, and which have an outer covering that can be shed. Some say that the daddy-longlegs live on small insects which they straddle over and pounce down upon, and some say they feed upon decaying matter and vegetable juices. This would be an interesting line of investigation for pupils, since they might be able to give many new facts about the food of these creatures. The “daddies” are night prowlers, and like to hide in crevices by day, waiting for the dark to hunt for their food. They have several common names. Besides the two given they are called “harvestmen” and the French call them “haymakers.” Both of these names were very probably given, because the creatures appear in greater numbers at the time of haying and harvesting.

LESSON CIX

THE DADDY-LONGLEGS

_Leading thought_--These long-legged creatures have one pair of legs too many to allow them to be classed with the insects. They are more nearly related to the spiders, who also have eight legs. They are pretty creatures when examined closely, and they do many interesting things.

_Method_--Put a grandfather greybeard in a breeding cage or under a large tumbler, and let the pupils observe him at leisure. If you place a few drops of sweetened water at one side of the cage, the children will surely have an opportunity to see this amusing creature clean his legs.

_Observations_--1. Where did you find the harvestman? What did it do as soon as it was disturbed? How many names do you know for this little creature?

2. A “daddy” with such long legs certainly ought to have them studied. How many segments in each leg? How do the segments look? How do the legs look where they are fastened to the body? Which is the longest pair of legs? The next? The next? The shortest?

3. If you had such long stilts as he has, they would be about forty feet long. Would you lift yourself that high in the air? Does the “daddy” lift his body high or swing it near the ground? What shape is the body? Can you see if there is a distinct head? Can you see a black dot on top of the front end of the body? If you should see this dot through a microscope it would prove to be two bright black eyes. Why should the daddy’s eyes be on top?

4. Do you see a pair of organs that look like feelers at the front end of the body? These are called palpi. How does he use his palpi? Give him a little bruised or decaying fruit, and see him eat. Where do you think his mouth is? Where does he keep his palpi when he is not using them for eating?

5. Note what care he takes of his legs. How does he clean them? Which does he clean the oftenest? Do you think the very long second pair of legs is used as much for feeling as for walking? Put some object in front of the “daddy” and see him explore it with his legs. How much of the leg is used as a foot when the “daddy” stands or runs?

6. When running fast, how does the “daddy” carry his body? When exploring how does he carry it? Do you ever find the “daddy” with his body resting on the surface on which he is standing? When resting, are all eight of his legs on the ground? Which are in the air? Is the head end usually tilted up or down?

7. Do you see the daddy-longlegs early in the spring? When do you find him most often? How do you suppose he passes the winter in our climate? Have you ever seen a “daddy” with one leg much shorter than the other? How could you explain this?

8. Try and discover what the daddy-longlegs eats, and where he finds his food.

SPIDERS

_Teacher’s Story_

The spiders are the civil engineers among the small inhabitants of our fields and woods. They build strong suspension bridges, from which they hang nets made with exquisite precision; and they build aeroplanes and balloons, which are more efficient than any that we have yet constructed; for although they are not exactly dirigible, yet they carry the little balloonists where they wish to go, and there are few fatal accidents. Moreover, the spiders are of much economic importance, since they destroy countless millions of insects every year, most of which are noxious--like flies, mosquitoes, bugs and grasshoppers.

There is an impression abroad that all spiders are dangerous to handle. This is a mistake; the bite of any of our common spiders is not nearly so dangerous as the bite of a malaria-laden mosquito. Although there is a little venom injected into the wound by the bite of any spider, yet there is no species found in the Northern States whose bite is sufficiently venomous to be feared.

There is no need for studying the anatomy of the spider closely in nature-study. Our interest lies much more in the wonderful structures made by the spiders, than in a detailed study of the little creatures themselves.

COBWEBS

“_Here shy Arachne winds her endless thread, And weaves her silken tapestry unseen, Veiling the rough-hewn timbers overhead, And looping gossamer festoons between._” --ELIZABETH AKERS.

Our house spiders are indefatigable curtain-weavers. We never suspect their presence, until suddenly their curtains appear before our eyes, in the angles of the ceilings--invisible until laden with dust. The cobwebs are made of crisscrossed lines, which are so placed as to entangle any fly that comes near. The lines are stayed to the sides of the wall and to each other quite firmly, and thus they are able to hold a fly that touches them. The spider is likely to be in its little den at the side of the web; this den may be in a crevice in the corner or in a tunnel made of the silk. As soon as a fly becomes entangled in the web the spider runs to it, seizes it in its jaws, sucks its blood, and then throws away the shell, the wings and legs. If a spider is frightened, it at first tries to hide and then may drop by a thread to the floor. If we catch the little acrobat it will usually “play possum” and we may examine it more closely through a lens. We shall find it is quite different in form from an insect. First to be noted, it has eight legs; but most important of all, it has only two parts to the body. The head and thorax are consolidated into one piece, which is called the cephalothorax. The abdomen has no segments like that of the insects, and is joined to the cephalothorax by a short, narrow stalk. At the front of the head is the mouth, guarded by two mandibles, each ending in a sharp claw, at the tip of which the poison gland opens. It is by thrusting these mandibles into its prey that it kills its victims. On each side of the mandible is a palpus, which in the males is of very strange shape. The eyes are situated on the top of the head. There are usually four pairs of these eyes, and each looks as beady and alert as if it were the only one.

The spinning organs of the spider are situated near the tip of the abdomen, while the spinning organ of the caterpillar is situated near its lower lip. The spider’s silk comes from two or three pairs of spinnerets which are fingerlike in form, and upon the end of each are many small tubes from which the silk is spun. The silk is in a fluid state as it issues from the spinnerets, but it hardens immediately on contact with the air. In making their webs, spiders produce two kinds of silk, one is dry and inelastic, making the framework of the web; the other is sticky and elastic, clinging to anything that it touches. The body and the legs of spiders are usually hairy.

LESSON CX

COBWEBS

_Leading thought_--The cobwebs which are found in the corners of ceilings and in other dark places in our houses, are made by the house spider which spins its web in these situations for the purpose of catching insects.

_Method_--The pupils should have under observation a cobweb in a corner of a room, preferably with a spider in it.

_Observations_--1. Is the web in a sheet or is it a mass of crisscrossed, tangled threads? How are the threads held in place?

2. What is the purpose of this web? Where does the spider hide? Describe its den.

3. If a fly becomes tangled in a web, describe the action of the spider. Does the spider eat all of the fly? What does it do with the remains?

4. If the spider is frightened, what does it do? Where does the silken thread come from, and how does its source differ from the source of the silken thread spun by caterpillars?

5. Imprison a spider under a tumbler or in a vial, and look at it very carefully. How many legs has it? How does the spider differ from insects in this respect? How many sections are there to the body? How does the spider differ from insects in this respect?

6. Look closely at the head. Can you see the hooked jaws, or fangs? Can you see the palpi on each side of the jaws? Where are the spider’s eyes? How many pairs has it?

* * * * *

_When the tangled cobweb pulls The cornflower’s cap awry, And the lilies tall lean over the wall To bow to the butterfly It is July._ --SUSAN HARTLEY SWETT.

THE FUNNEL WEB

_Teacher’s Story_

“_And dew-bright webs festoon the grass In roadside fields at morning._” --ELIZABETH AKERS.

Sometimes on a dewy morning, a field will seem carpeted with these webs, each with its opening stretched wide, and each with its narrow hallway of retreat. The general shape of the web is like that of a broad funnel with a tube leading down at one side. This tube is used as a hiding place for the spider, which thus escapes the eyes of its enemies, and also keeps out of sight of any insects that might be frightened at seeing it, and so avoid the web. But the tube is no cul-de-sac; quite to the contrary, it has a rear exit, through which the spider, if frightened, escapes from attack.

The web is formed of many lines of silk crossing each other irregularly, forming a firm sheet. This sheet is held in place by many guy-lines, which fasten it to surrounding objects. If the web is touched lightly, the spider rushes forth from its lair to seize its prey; but if the web be jarred roughly, the spider speeds out through its back door and can be found only with difficulty. The smaller insects of the field, such as flies and bugs, are the chief food of this spider; it rarely attempts to seize a grown grasshopper.

The funnel-shaped webs in dark corners of cellars are made by a species which is closely related to the grass spider and has the same general habits, but which builds in these locations instead of in the grass.

LESSON CXI

THE FUNNEL WEB

_Leading thought_--The grass spider spins funnel-shaped webs in the grass to entrap the insects of the field. This web has a back door.

_Method_--Ask the pupils to observe a web on the grass with a spider within it.

_Observations_--1. What is the general shape of the web? Is there a tunnel leading down from it? Why is it called a funnel web?

2. Of what use is the funnel tube, and what is its shape? Where does it lead, and of what use is it to the spider? Can you corner a spider in its funnel tube? Why not?

3. How is the web made? Is there any regularity in the position of the threads that make it? How is it stayed in place?

4. Touch the web lightly, and note how the spider acts? Jar the web roughly, and what does the spider do?

5. What insects become entangled in this web?

6. Compare this web with similar funnel webs found in corners of cellars, sheds or piazzas, and see if you think the same kind of spider made both.

THE ORB-WEB

_Teacher’s Story_

Of all the structures made by the lower creatures, the orb-web of the spider is, beyond question, the most intricate and beautiful in design, and the most exquisite in workmanship. The watching of the construction of one of these webs is an experience that brings us close to those mysteries which seem to be as fundamental as they are inexplicable in the plan of the universe. It is akin to watching the growth of a crystal, or the stars wheeling across the heavens in their appointed courses.

The orb-web of the large, black and yellow garden spider is, perhaps, the best subject for this study, although many of the smaller orbs are far more delicate in structure. These orb-webs are most often placed vertically, since they are thus more likely to be in the path of flying insects. The number of radii, or spokes, differs with the different species of spiders, and they are usually fastened to a silken framework, which in turn is fastened by guy-lines to surrounding objects. These radii or spokes are connected by a continuous spiral line, spaced regularly except at the center or hub; this hub or center is of more solid silk, and is usually surrounded by an open space; and it may be merely an irregular network, or it may have wide bands of silk laid across it.

The radii or spokes, the guy-lines, the framework and the center of the web are all made of inelastic silk, which does not adhere to an object that touches it. The spiral line, on the contrary, is very elastic, and adheres to any object brought in contact with it. An insect which touches one of these spirals and tries to escape, becomes entangled in the neighboring lines and is thus held fast until the spider can reach it. If one of these elastic lines be examined with a microscope, it is a most beautiful object. There are strung upon it, like pearls, little drops of sticky fluid, which render it not only elastic but adhesive.

Some species of orb-weavers remain at the center of the web, while others hide in some little retreat near at hand. If in the middle, the spider always keeps watchful claws upon the radii of the web so that if there is any jarring of the structure by an entrapped insect, it is at once apprised of the fact; if the spider is in a den at one side, it keeps a claw upon a trap line which is stretched tightly from the hub of the web to the den, and thus communicates any vibration of the web to the hidden sentinel. When the insect becomes entangled, the spider rushes out and envelops it in a band of silk, which feat it accomplishes, by turning the insect over and over rapidly, meanwhile spinning a broad, silken band which swathes it. It may bite the insect before it begins to swathe it in silk, or afterwards. It usually hangs the swathed insect to the web near where it was caught, until ready to eat it; it then takes the prey to the center of the web, if there is where the spider usually sits, or to its den at one side, if it is a den-making species, and there sucks the insect’s blood, carefully throwing away the hard parts.

The spider does not become entangled in the web, because, when it runs it steps upon the dry radii and not upon the sticky spiral lines. During the busy season, the spider is likely to make a new web every twenty-four hours, but this depends largely upon whether the web has meanwhile been destroyed by large insects.

The spider’s method of making its first bridge is to place itself upon some high point and, lifting its abdomen in the air, to spin out on the breeze a thread of silk. When this touches any object, it adheres, and the spider draws in the slack until the line is “taut;” it then travels across this bridge, which is to support its web, and makes it stronger by doubling the line. From this line, it stretches other lines by fastening a thread to one point, and then walking along to some other point, spinning the thread as it goes and holding the line clear of the object on which it is walking by means of one of its hind legs. When the right point is reached, it pulls the line tight; fastens it, and then, in a similar fashion, proceeds to make another. It may make its first radius by dropping from its bridge to some point below; then climbing back to the center, it fastens the line for another radius, and spinning as it goes, walks down and out to some other point, holding the thread clear and then pulling it tight before fastening it. Having thus selected the center of the web, it goes back and forth to and from it, spinning lines until all of the radii are completed and fastened at one center. It then starts at the center and spins a spiral, laying it onto the radii to hold them firm. However, the lines of this spiral are farther apart and much more irregular than the final spiral. Thus far, all of the threads the spider has spun are inelastic and not sticky; and this first, or temporary spiral is used by the spider to walk upon when spinning the final spiral. It begins the latter at the outer edge instead of at the center, and works toward the middle. As the second spiral progresses, the spider with its jaws cuts away the spiral which it first made, and which it has used as a scaffolding. A careful observer may often see remnants of this first spiral on the radii between the lines of the permanent spiral. The spider works very rapidly and will complete a web in a very short time. The final spiral is made of the elastic and adhesive silk.

_References_--Comstock’s Manual; Common Spiders, Emerton; The Spider Book, Comstock; Nature’s Craftsmen, McCook.

LESSON CXII

THE ORB-WEB

_Leading thought_--No structure made by a creature lower than man is so exquisitely perfect as the orb-web of the spider.

_Method_--There should be an orb-web where the pupils can observe it, preferably with the spider in attendance.

_Observations_--1. Is the orb-web usually hung horizontally or vertically?

2. Observe the radii, or “spokes,” of the web. How many are there? How are they fastened to surrounding objects? Is each spoke fastened to some object or to a framework of silken lines?

3. Observe the silken thread laid around the spokes. Is it a spiral line or is each circle complete? Are the lines the same distance apart on the outer part of the web as at the center? How many of the circling lines are there?

4. Is the center of the web merely an irregular net, or are there bands of silk put on in zigzag shape?

5. Touch any of the “spokes” lightly with the point of a pencil. Does it adhere to the pencil and stretch out as you pull the pencil away? Touch one of the circling lines with a pencil point, and see if it adheres to the point and is elastic. What is the reason for this difference in the stickiness and elasticity of the different kinds of silk in the orb-web?

6. If an insect touches the web, how does it become more entangled by seeking to get away?

7. Where does the spider stay, at the center of the web or in a little retreat at one side?

8. If an insect becomes entangled in the web, how does the spider discover the fact and act?

9. If the spider sits at the middle of the orb, it has a different method for discovering when an insect strikes the web than does the spider that hides in a den at one side. Describe the methods of each.

10. How does the spider make fast an insect? Does it bite the insect before it envelops it in silk? Where does it carry the insect to feed upon it?

11. How does the spider manage to run about its web without becoming entangled in the sticky thread? How often does the orb-weaver make a new web?

_How an Orb-web is Made_

Spiders may be seen making their webs in the early morning or in the evening. Find an orb-web with a spider in attendance; break the web without frightening the spider and see it replace it in the early evening, or in the morning about daybreak. An orb-weaver may be brought into the house on its web, when the web is on a branch, and placed where it will not be disturbed, and thus be watched at leisure.

_Observations_--1. How does the spider manage to place the supporting line between two points?

2. How does it make the framework for holding the web in place?

3. How does it make the first radius?

4. How does it make the other radii and select the point which is to be the center of the web?

5. How does it keep the line which it is spinning clear of the line it walks upon?

6. After the radii are all made, are they fastened at the center?

7. How and where does the spider first begin to spin a spiral? Are the lines of this spiral close together or far apart? For what is the first spiral used?

8. Where does it begin to spin the permanent spiral? Where does it walk when spinning it? By the way it walks on the first spiral, do you think it is sticky and elastic? What does it do with the first spiral while the second one is being finished?

9. If the center of the web has a zigzag ribbon of silk, when was it put on?

10. How many minutes did it take the spider to complete the web?

_Supplementary reading_--“Argiope of The Silver Shield,” Insect Stories, Kellogg.

THE FILMY DOME

_Teacher’s Story_

Like bubbles cut in half, these delicate domes catch the light rays and separate them like a prism into waves of rainbow colors. One of these domes is usually about the size of an ordinary bowl, and is suspended with the opening on the lower side. It is held in place by many guy-lines which attach it to surrounding objects. Above a filmy dome are always stretched many crisscrossed threads for some distance up. These are for the purpose of hindering the flight of insects, so that they will fall into the web. The little spider, which always hangs, back downward, just below the center of the dome, rushes to its prey from the lower side, pulls it through the meshes of the web, and feeds upon it. But any remains of the insect or pieces of sticks or leaves which may drop upon the web, it carefully cuts out and drops to the ground, mending the hole very neatly.

LESSON CXIII

THE FILMY DOME

_Leading thought_--One little spider spins a filmy dome, beneath the apex of which it hangs, back downward, awaiting its prey.

_Method_--On a sunny day in late summer or early autumn, while walking along woodland paths, the careful observer is sure to see suspended among the bushes or in the tops of weeds, or among dead branches of young hemlocks, the filmy dome webs. They are about as large as a small bowl, and usually so delicate that they cannot be seen unless the sun shines upon them; they are likely to be exquisitely iridescent under the sun’s rays. Such a dome may be studied by a class or by the pupils individually.

_Observations_--1. Where did you discover the filmy dome? What is the size of the dome? Does it open above or below? How is it held in place?

2. Are there many crisscrossed threads extending above the dome? If so, what do you think they are for?

3. Where does the spider stay? Is the spider large and heavy, or small and delicate?

4. What does the spider do if an insect becomes entangled in its web?

5. Throw a bit of stick or leaf upon a filmy dome web, and note what becomes of it.

* * * * *

“_With spiders I had friendship made, And watch’d them in their sullen trade._” --PRISONER OF CHILLON.

BALLOONING SPIDERS

_Teacher’s Story_

If we look across the grass some warm sunny morning or evening of early fall, we see threads of spider silk clinging everywhere; these are not regular webs for trapping insects, but are single threads spun from grass stalk to grass stalk until the fields are carpeted with glistening silk. We have a photograph of a plowed field, taken in autumn, which looks likes the waves of a lake; so completely is the ground covered with spider threads that it shows the “path of the sun” like water.

When we see so many of these random threads, it is a sign that the young spiders have started on their travels, and it is not difficult then to find one in the act. The spiderling climbs up some tall object, like a twig or a blade of grass, and sends out its thread of silk upon the air. If the thread becomes entangled, the spiderling sometimes walks off on it, using it as a bridge, or sometimes it begins again. If the thread does not become entangled with any object, there is soon enough given off, so that the friction of the air current upon it supports the weight of the body of the little creature, which promptly lets go its hold of earth as soon as it feels safely buoyed up, and off it floats to lands unknown. Spiders thus sailing through the air have been discovered in mid-ocean.

Thus we see that the spiders have the same way of distributing their species over the globe, as have the thistles and dandelions. It has been asked what the spiders live upon while they are making these long journeys, especially those that have drifted out to sea. The spider has very convenient habits of eating. When it finds plenty of food it eats a great deal; but in time of famine it lives on, apparently comfortably, without eating. One of our captive spiders was mislaid for six months and when we found her she was as full of “grit” as ever, and she did not seem to be abnormally hungry when food was offered her.

* * * * *

“_A noiseless, patient spider, I mark’d where, on a little promontory, it stood isolated: Mark’d how to explore the vacant, vast surrounding, It launch’d forth filament out of itself: Ever unreeling them--ever tirelessly speeding them._

“_And you, O my soul, where you stand, Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space, Ceaselessly, musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them; Till the bridge you will need be form’d--till the ductile anchor hold; Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul._” --WALT WHITMAN.

LESSON CXIV

BALLOONING SPIDERS

_Leading thought_--The young of many species of spiders scatter themselves like thistle seeds in balloons which they make of silk.

_Method_--These observations should be made out of doors during some warm sunny day in October. Read Nature’s Craftsmen, McCook, p. 182.

_Observations_--1. Look across the grass some warm sunny morning or evening of early fall, and note the threads of spider silk gleaming everywhere, not regular webs, but single threads spun from grass stalk to grass stalk, or from one object to another, until the ground seems glistening with silk threads.

2. Find a small spider on a bush, fence post, or at the top of some tall grass stalk; watch it until it begins to spin out its thread.

3. What happens to the thread as it is spun out?

4. If the thread does not become entangled in any surrounding object what happens? If the thread does become entangled, what happens?

5. How far do you suppose a spider can travel on this silken aeroplane? Why should the young spider wish to travel?

THE WHITE CRAB-SPIDER

_Teacher’s Story_

There are certain spiders which are crablike in form, and their legs are so arranged that they can walk more easily sidewise or backward than forward. These spiders spin no webs, but lie in wait for their prey. Many of them live upon plants and fences and, in winter, hide in protected places.

The white crab-spider is a little rascal that has discovered the advantage of protective coloring as a means of hiding itself from the view of its victims, until too late to save themselves; the small assassin always takes on the color of the flower in which it lies concealed. In the white trillium, it is greenish white; while in the golden-rod its decorations are yellow. It waits in the heart of the flower, or in the flower clusters, until the visiting insect alights and seeks to probe for the nectar; it then leaps forward and fastens its fangs into its struggling victim. I have seen a crab-spider in a milkweed attack a bee three times its size. This spider was white with lilac or purple markings. If disturbed, the crab-spider can walk off awkwardly or it may drop by a silken thread. It is especially interesting, since it illustrates another use for protective coloring; and also because this species seems to be able to change its colors to suit its surroundings.

LESSON CXV

THE WHITE CRAB-SPIDER

_Leading thought_--1. The white crab spider has markings upon its body of the same color as the flower in which it rests and is thus enabled to hide in ambush out of the sight of its victims--the insects which come to the flower for nectar.

_Method_--Ask the children to bring one of these spiders to school in the flower in which it was found; note how inconspicuous it is, and arouse an interest in the different colors which these spiders assume in different flowers.

_Observations_--1. What is the shape of the body of the crab-spider? Which of the legs are the longest? Are these legs directed forward or backward?

2. How is the body marked? What colors do you find upon it? Are the colors the same in the spiders found in the trilliums, as those in other flowers? Why is this? Do you think that the color of the spider keeps it from being seen?

3. Place the white spider which you may find in a trillium in a daffodil, and note if the color changes.

4. Do the crab-spiders make webs? How do they trap their prey?

HOW THE SPIDER MOTHERS TAKE CARE OF THEIR EGGS

_Teacher’s Story_

Protecting her eggs from the vicissitudes of the weather seems to be the spider mother’s chief care; though at the same time and by the same means, she protects them from the attacks of predacious insects. Many of the species make silken egg-sacs, which are often elaborate in construction, and are carefully placed in protected situations.

Often a little silvery disk may be seen attached to a stone in a field. It resembles a circular lichen on the stone, but if it is examined it is found to consist of an upper, very smooth, waterproof coat, while below is a soft, downy nest, completely enfolding the spider’s eggs.

The egg-sacs of the cobweb weavers are often found suspended in their webs. One of the large orbweavers makes a very remarkable nest, which it attaches to the branches of weeds or shrubs. This sac is about as large as a hickory nut, and opens like a vase at the top. It is very securely suspended by many strong threads of silk, so that the blasts of winter cannot tear it loose. The outside is shining and waterproof, while inside it has a fit lining for a spiderling cradle.

Dr. Burt G. Wilder studied the development of the inmates of one of these nests by cutting open different nests at different periods of the winter. In the autumn, the nest contained five hundred or more eggs. These eggs hatched in early winter but it seemed foreordained that some of the little spiders were born for food for their stronger brethren. They seemed resigned to their fate, for when one of these victims was seized by its cannibalistic brother, it curled up its legs and submitted meekly. The result of this process was that, out of the five hundred little spiders hatched from the eggs, only a few healthy and apparently happy young spiders emerged from the nest in the spring, sustained by the nourishment afforded them by their own family, and fitted for their life in the outside world.

Some spiders make a nest for their eggs within folded leaves, and some build them in crevices of rocks and boards.

The running spiders, which are the large ones found under stones, make globular egg-sacs; the mother spider drags after her this egg-sac attached to her spinnerets; the young, when they hatch, climb upon their mother’s back, and there remain for a time.

LESSON CXVI

THE NESTS OF SPIDERS

_Leading thought_--The spider mothers have many interesting ways of protecting their eggs, which they envelop in silken sacs and place in safety.

_Method_--Ask the pupils to bring in all the spider egg-sacs that they can find. Keep some of them unopened, and open others of the same kind, and thus discover how many eggs are in the sac, and how many spiderlings come out. This is a good lesson for September and October.

_Observations_--1. In what situation did you find the nest? How was it protected from rain and snow? To what was it attached?

2. Of what texture is the outside of the sac? Is the outside made of waterproof silk? What is the texture of the lining?

3. How many eggs in this sac? What is the color of the eggs? When do the spiderlings hatch? Do as many spiders come out of the sac as there were eggs? Why is this?