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By Ellen Robertson-Miller.
. J1HERE are some ivotiJerful little
I people "dwelling in our very midst,
T" ' whose methods, and maneuvers to ,
get on in the world are usually unknown or
ignored by uS as we bustle through life in
tent on our own a fairs. .
When we do stop for a space and look
"about, however, we are certain to find these
wee creatures , quite as busy with their small
undertakings ai'aJefe with, our larger.
ones. Vv::?:. -: ''
Have you ever seen a little insect me
chanic using tools as it went earnestlyaboul
some construction work at hand? Da you
know that there are other insects that keep
trained servants to labor for themt They
are never bothered by the servant-gtrl or
hired-man problem, however, as thetr sery
vitors are slaves and could not run away if
they would. . . .. t
Then there are other insect capttaltsti
that own herds of "cows" and milk them
regularly; certain species' prepare the sol
and grow crops of which they are fona
gathering them with seeming human i
lelligence at harvest time.
F
IOR example, there ia tie Pronnba moth
but a half-men in lengxn, wiuca.ru ,
Besses a faculty for doing remarkabl
It is at niglvt that she performs her strangv
misson, and -we must wutch the white yuoc
lily if we would see her at work.
r " Bhe scrapes the pollen from this with her
'front feet and maxillary palpi, then holds it un
der her head with her tentacles while she visits
tho ther stamens. ' , '
"When she has secured a pellet the size of a
pin's head she pierces the ovary of the flower
with her long ovipositor, and lays her eggs in
the midst of the embryo seeds. -
But what does sho want of the pollen dustl
' lAi, that is her secret, which we are about to
-.ow that ner eggs are laid. Madam Pro
nubs, alights so that she can insert, her uncoil
ed tongue and tentacles into the stigmatio open
ing of the pistil which leads to the ovary. As
she does this she jams the pilfered pollen upon
the style and so fertilizes the plant.
''.. This insect is not the only winged Twitor
' jthat helps to fertilize certain blossoms. There
are- other moths and butterflies, and bees as
- well, that do the same thing, but they are usual
ly inveigled into the service fey the promise of
nectar, and. probably are quite unconscious of
. the fact that their tippling obliges them to fh
- tribute the ripo pollen of their flower , hosts.
t , i The yucca offers no treat to the Pronuba
; moth; still she comes unbidden, and intentional
1 ly, not accidentally, gathers the life-giving dust
. of the plant, places it upon the opening of the
pistil, and so insures the ripening of the seeds.
' Does she realize that without her aid these 1
eould not develop, and that her children in the
' ovary of the flower would then perish! For, .
trange as it may seem, a portion of the yucca
'. feeds-serve as food for the Pronuba larvae,
" while the remainder reproduce the plant.
- 1 . How many of us ever consider the wasps as
other than buzzing terrors to be. avoided at all
hazards t-! Still,5 whten studied, we find that the
work which they do is remarkable ; much of it
L is' performed instinctively, but these small in
jects at times show an intelligence almost be
yond belief., ' ' ,
For instance, Prof essor and Mrs. Pecknam
once saw a solitary wasp, Ammophila urnaria,
' grasp tiny stone in her mandibles apd use it
as hammer to beat the earth into a smooth,
hard surface above her completed nest Here is
an example of an insect using a ooL f '
,Wa frequently -fnd this wasp .during' the'
TOE OREGON SUNDAY '
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earlier part of the summer sipping nectar xrom...
the flowers. . Later she becomes imbued with the
building instinct,- and: begins to dig cells in the
ground : f or ner . eggs, ana men to prwy
them with caterpillars. - V x . J -
jtier metnoa 01 mouuKixig a w "V 0 -
it to death,-or,-at least, jo paraiyze iv'"."""
it causes neither her nor the maggot that is to
Amtwi if ? onv -: inconvenience. : it was onuo
thought that waspsintentionally refrained from
v ; killings their prey, m oraer ww ,meir
V might enjoy fresh food ' for a longer period. .
Recent research indicates, however, that this is
a mistake, and that Madam Wasp merely stings
to quiet the creature which she is appropriat-
i v.- It' is ? odd, but this AnOflophila : urnaria,
" which goes marketing for caterpillars, will take
nothing else, while the mud-daubing u'elopeus
" chooses only spiders for her children to live
In fact, we find that the nests of different
varieties oi wasps are,tuwaj uou r
one kind of food, whicH indicates c that these 4
- winged insects have the power of choosing what
they consider best. ... '
- u They also, Jhave inherjted notions of how
and when to build for the generation which w '
to follow : them. . One , prefers .; decaying wood,
'one the afema of plants, others, like Ammophila
Lrato 'tunneli in the eartli leading
dt cell chamben. , ,
build in our atuca, unaer
eav, MiagiPB. ina.vuuu Tv; "
. . . 1 1 1 mum 1 n 11 11
glccU Mid up, rmg Won rmg. 07 u
son. Aim u uacn yoce 7 ZIZ
txsfi laid in thafr Bia.W-
t 1 eute t aeaiM. ana, or ueg,
hr di
... niahAd thv ara Tro
rare aflaea. ween i
rare aoaea. nucu, nu. " JV"" ft,.-
teol by a rough ovenng of mud befow they
f The Eumene f raterns also woij
1- - JiTonnt mtrnM. In ftCt. Sn
t be calledlur VJ
before tnenrsi crua pwiwj 7" ry Zl
of sV was busy modeling ana nangior
" ar- r ? . . 1
t A.;rir. intj il 11111 mora
so. Of course,!11 know that A ant colony,
ontain oueens. males, workersand soldiers.
JTfn, in some nests, tXre are ve.
W alTrv exists in iflBvanv w "i"-
cording to xir i oun A'"r"v" ? ,TJi 4
a 1 in a tint t na tmukdi imavuM
iam wa 1 an 1
different times an overs uvfv
mnA nunaa in the nests, whidr
. i 4 . fn ftiaA. and thsPthese
tranwr ants iwere suffered to remain and woric
for their captors. f ' , , . ' '
We have a reddish ant which haa oeoome so
dependent upon its slaves that it can no longer
feed itseU, make its own toilet, care for it
young, orr in fact, perform any pf th duties of
tho nest aside from fighting and laying eggs.
I once saw such a colony en route to its
1: ..J v kia.v aluTflN carried not only
'.. i the eggs,(larvae and, pupae of their, mistresses,
When we discover a colony in which there
are two varieties of ants, it does not necessarily
11 iv.. tm ..mnt fit tnn other, as there
JCUIOW VUBV WW V bj.- ' - , . ,
Is very small ant wita a very 4mg n
persists in making it home in, the walls of a
arger ant, and greatly xo 11s nosis wuojrou.
Our .common garaen an ; m uwi''j
ind upon-the stems and leaves 01 piams,
hotbobbing with those wee pests, tne pianwice
or ifehids. We soon learn there ia a reason lor
thiitrange companionship.
bese plant-uce nave iwo nowj iu
their Btocks, from which a sweet liquid is ex
uded. She ants beg for tins in quite a numaa
way, anpay for the treat oy guarmng no
only the Ibhids, but, in many cases, their eggs
.aTwelL e-aphids are called the "cows" of
the ants: aM are often maintained in aroves
by tho la-
ITS AS FARMERS
In the
ICS
there is a species of ant
which cuts hits
green leaves, carries them
s them in a mass. When
ants use it as a bed in
to the nests, and
the mass decays
which to grow a
! I U'tlma
of mushroom, -greatly
A friend who oe watched an army ol
these leaf -cutters told e that guards were sta
tioned the length of t tree trunk, and that
whenever an ant appear! , with a dry or dead
kaf, she was halted and tuVned back, apparently
to do her work over, and iat if he objected
and refused to obey, she ws ruthlessly killed
and torn to pieces by the sentinels.
Another interesting species is the agricul
tural 'ant, found sin Texas, Florida and other
southern states. Dr. McCooky a noted Mwor
ity on the subject, thinks it doubtful if these
ants sow seed, but he is certain that they cul
- tivate rice-grass and harvest the graini whicn
they store in , underground granaries. v v.
. , . The Vanessa antiopa, the cosmopoUtan
member, of the butterfly family, is also a clever
insect, which at times performs in quite as re
markable a way as does the yucca moth, the Am
mophila urnana and the harvesting ants. But
her efforts always seem to tend toward self
preservation rather than toward the preserva
tion of her eggs or her friends.' - ,
The uppor surf aces of this butterfly's wings
are dark, velvety brown, ornamenxea wui Tiiv
8pots, and an edge of dull yellow; but under?
neath they are very different, as we learn when
Bueniy lose sight of a gay little rover
hich but a 8econ(i . before was nitting ana
. froHcking about us in the spring sunshine.
TLim tv..4.tofltr- vaniaheil nn if bv maffick and
then reappears as mysteriously and we wonder
how it was done, until we discover that it is a
trick of the wings, csucn a simpie
The antiopajust closes them, and, presto!
It , is a 4 case .01 protective ooiur a uyu.
tho under surfaces of the wings are mottled and
blotched in grays and browns until they ( blend
quite perfectly with the bark or earth where the
insect usually alights. ;; ;
. The male Vanessa antiopa is said to have
a trick all his own. During his courting days ha
manipulates his wings in such a manner that
they produce "musical" tones. It is pretty,
fancy, this Of a butterfly's serenading his lady ;
love But' I am still waiting to hear the melody.'
- To return 'to ;facts, however, there is in
the ' East Indies a gorgeous 4 butterfly, banded
with orange and purple,; which can when oc
casion demands, alight among brown leaves and
become ' s like them in appearance that the
eye is rarely able to distinguish one "oni the
'other. i U 'i?ytih'0y"
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