Insects and Plants 0381999661, 9780381999667

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DAY

reason OHN

Series

Department

of Libraries

Midstate Regional Library

RFD #4 Montpelier, Vt

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The

‘‘Reason Why'’ Series

INSECTS AND

PLANTS Irving

and Ruth Adler

The John Day Company

New An

York Publisher

THE “REASON WHY” BOOKS AIR

ATOMIC ENERGY ATOMS AND MOLECULES THE CALENDAR COAL COMMUNICATION DIRECTIONS AND ANGLES ENERGY THE EARTH’S CRUST EVOLUTION FIBERS

HEAT AND ITS USES HOUSES: FROM CAVES TO SKYSCRAPERS INSECTS AND PLANTS INTEGERS: POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IRRIGATION: CHANGING DESERTS TO GARDENS LANGUAGE AND MAN LEARNING ABOUT STEEL: THROUGH THE STORY OF A NAIL MACHINES MAGNETS NUMBERS OLD AND NEW NUMERALS: NEW DRESSES FOR OLD NUMBERS OCEANS RIVERS SETS

SHADOWS STORMS

TOUCH AND SMELL THINGS THAT SPIN: FROM TOPS TO ATOMS

TASTE,

TREE PRODUCTS WHY? A BOOK OF REASONS

WHY AND HOW?

A SECOND BOOK OF REASONS

YOUR EARS YOUR EYES

Fourth Impression, 1973

© 1962 by Irving and Ruth Adler All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof,

duced

must not be repro-

any form without permission. Published by The John Day Company, 257 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y., and in

simultaneously in

Canada by Longman Canada Limited, Toronto.

Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 62-19714

ISBN: 0-381-99966-1

MANUFACTURED

IN’

GB

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Contents Insects

and Plants

4

Trillions of Insects

6

An

6

Body Getting Too Big for Insect’s

How

to Raise

Your

Its

8

Skin

Own

8

Butterflies

That Eat Plants

12

Plants That Eat Insects

14

Insects

Insects

That Keep “Cows”

How a Elower Makes Its

16

Seed

\

A

\

Another Team: The Fig and the Fig

Flower-Insect Team:

An

The Yucca and

the Pronuba

Wasp

That

Changed

26

30

Harm Us

Beetle That

24

29

Plants Protect Insects

Insects

Moth

28

That Pay Rent

Air-Conditioned House

How A

20

That Pollinate Elowers

Insects

Insects

18

32 Its

Diet

34

The Root Louse Crosses the Ocean Some Imported Insect Pests An Australian Friend in a Time of Need

34

An All-American

39

Pest

36 38

Getting Rid of Insect Pests

40

Plagues

42

Live

W eed

Killers

42

Honey, Wax, and Ink Insects for Varnish and Dye

44

A Cradle of Silk Word List

47

46 48

Insects

This

is

It tells

sects

do

a

and Plants

book about

insects

plants.

about some of the things that

to plants. It also tells

of the things that insects also tells

plants

and

do

in-

about some

do for

plants. It

about some of the things that to insects

and

for insects.

It

shows how insects and plants are related to

each other.

You

will find out

rent to plants rent-free.

You

about insects that pay

and about

insects that

go

about

in-

will also find out

sects that live in air-conditioned houses.

You

will find out

nice smells

about insects that

and bright

4

colors.

You

like

will

sweets and

them

tliat

keep “cows” that give

find

out about insects and

“milk.”

You

will

plants that cannot live without each other.

You

will learn

on a hunger

You

about an insect that goes

strike.

will find out

about insects that peo-

ple raise because they eat plants. will find out

And you

about insects that people

kill

because they eat plants. You will also learn about plants that eat insects.

You

will find out

about insects that sew

and spin and weave and bore.

And you that people

plants that

will learn

about useful things

make from some work

together.

5

insects

and

Trillions of Insects

There are about a million different kinds of animals. There are elephants and mice, cats and dogs, crabs and earthworms, snakes and

monkeys and people. Most mals are

you

insects. If

Insects live

warm

live.

of the different kinds of ani-

every hundred animals, 75 of

insects!

all

over the world. Most insects live in the

places on the earth

mals also

where most

people to find out

all

how to use learn how to keep

learn

insect has a

insects,

it is

important for

Then they can help them. They can also

they can about them.

insects to insects

An

from harming them.

Insect’s

Body

body with a hard outside

cover protects the soft parts inside.

main

of the other ani-

Most insects get their food by eating plants.

Because there are so many

An

and ladybugs, and

one animal of each kind marched past

in a parade, out of

them would be

flies

fish,

cover.

The body has

The

three

parts.

The

front part of the

body

is

the head.

On

the head

are a pair of eyes, a pair of hairy feelers called antennae

(an-TEN-ee), and mouth parts.

Some

parts that can chew. Other insects

can suck. 6

insects

have mouth

have mouth parts that

The next part of tlie body is called

the thorax (TI IORE-

ax).

Three pairs of

legs are attached to the thorax.

legs

have

they bend

wings.

joints, so

The wings

The back

easily.

Many

insects

part of an insect’s

body

is

the al)domen

Insects that sting have their stinging parts

abdomen. The egg-laying domen,

have

are attached to the thorax, too.

(ab-DOE-inen). The abdomen looks something

worm.

The

parts of insects are

like a

on the

on the ab-

too.

Wings

Thorax

Abdomen Head

\

Antenna Legs

An

insect’s

7

body

Getting Too Big for

Skin

Its

All insects hatch out of eggs.

A

newly hatched baby grasshopper looks a

grown-up grasshopper. But As

it

grows,

it is

gets too big for

it

its

skins in hayfields.

and

a

small and has no wings. skin.

and the baby grasshopper walks out skin behind in the grass.

lot like

Then the of

it

skin splits

and leaves the

You can find empty grasshopper

The grasshopper keeps on growing

splitting its skin. Its

wings develop. Finally

it is

full-

grown.

Other insects change a few times before they become full-grown or adult (a-DULT). This flies,

for example.

So you can watch

own Monarch

all

true of butter-

butterflies are easy to raise.

these changes

when you

raise

your

butterflies.

How You begin

Monarch

is

to Raise

to see the

Your

Own

Monarch

Butterflies

butterfly in fields

and

gardens in the northern part of the United States in

May

and June. The butterfly has brown wings with black on them, and rows of white dots near the edges.

lines

8

The female Monarcli butterfly always lays its eggs on the milkweed plant. The milkweed is the only food the newly hatched babies will eat. You can find Monarch eggs on the underneath side of young leaves. They are white and about the size of a pinhead. The picture shows you what they look

like.

Pick the milkweed leaves with the eggs on them, and

put them into a big glass

jar.

Make

the cover

air holes in

of the jar.

After a few days the eggs will hatch.

Monarch baby does not look is

The newly hatched

at all like

an adult

insect. It

a tiny caterpillar with yellow, black and white stripes.

It is

called the larva of the insect.

to eat the leaves of the

time.

way

It

grows very

milkweed.

want

to

It

fast. It splits its

the baby grasshopper does.

two inches

The

It

long. This takes about

is

keeps eating

skin a

grows

all

the

few times, the

until

it is

about

two weeks. You

keep fresh milkweed leaves

caterpillar

caterpillar begins

in the jar

will

while the

growing. You will also want to clean out

caterpillar droppings.

Egg (drawn many times larger) 9

Then

the caterpillar stops eating.

of the jar,

where

it

weaves a

little

It

mat

crawls to the top

part of the caterpillar hooks into the silk pillar

hangs with

its

its

and becomes short and

isn't

pupa

wiggles and twists so hard its

head.

stripes of the caterpillar

pupa (PEW-pa)

caterpillar

It

pulls together

thick. It hasn't the yellow,

a caterpillar any more.

into a

It

skin splits, starting at

and white

silk.

head down. Then the

begins to wiggle and twist. that

The back mat. The cater-

of

The

black

any more. In fact

caterpillar has

it

changed

or chrysalis (KRISS-a-lis).

The

looks like a pea-green jewel with golden nails.

The pupa hangs from its silk mat without moving for about 10 days. You must be careful not to shove or bang the jar at this time. If you look at the pupa every day, you will notice that it is changing. First the pupa begins to

Then it becomes so clear that you can You can see a Monarch butterfly folded up

turn gray.

see in-

side

inside.

it.

The caterpillar changes

10

into a

pupa

The

butterfly

Now you fly

the adult insect.

the butterfly

will

is

out.

with

its

If

you are lucky,

splits

and the butter-

ready to hatch.

be watching when the pupa

comes

legs,

is

The newly hatched butterfly hangs by head down. Its abdomen is very fat.

wings are very small. You can see something

its

Its

like a heart-

beat mo\ ing in the abdomen. With each beat, the abdo-

men

gets smaller

beat, blood

When to

is

and the wings get bigger. With each

pumped from

the

abdomen

into the wings.

the wings are full of blood, the butterfly begins

walk around. You can hold

time and

it

will not fly

in

It

your hand for a long

cannot

wet. After a few hours,

wings are

still

are dry,

will fly

it

away.

it

fly,

because

when

its

its

wings

away.

After the male and female butterflies mate, the female is

ready to lay eggs. She looks for a milkweed plant. Then

you can

start raising butterflies again.

The newly hatched 11

butterfly

Cabbage worm

Cabbage

butterfly

Insects That Eat Plants

The cabbage plants in the

lays

biitterflij

cabbage family.

its

It

eggs on the leaves of

lays

its

eggs on nastur-

tiums, too. These plants are the only food that

the cabbage

worm,

will eat. If

If

die.

go on a hunger

But they can be fooled into eating other

the sap of cabbages or nasturtiums

leaves of other plants, the

larva,

cabbage worms are moved

to other kinds of plants, they will

and

its

is

strike

plants.

rubbed on the

cabbage worms

will

begin to

eat these plants, too.

Many

plant-eating insects, like cabbage worms, are

free feeders. Free feeders

can move around easily over

the plant on which they are feeding.

Some

plant-eating insects are trapped on the plants

on which they feed. Scale insects and trapped in

this

Male adult

gall insects are

way.

scale insects

The female

cannot

eat.

mouth

parts to the plants

have no mouth

parts.

adults attach themselves

So they

by

their

on which they feed. Their bod12

make a scaly stuff. Tlie scale of some insects is waxy. The scale of other insects is cottony. The scale covers the ies

feeding insects and hides them.

It

looks like part of the

plant on which the insects are feeding.

The female

gall insect lays

in a leaf or twig.

leaf or

way.

the egg hatches into a larva, the

twig around the larva begins to grow in a strange

It

round

When

her egg in a hole she makes

grows into a

nut.

gall,

which looks something

As the larva grows, the

gall

grows

too.

like a

So the

larva always has plenty of food.

Most plants have many About 1,000 different kinds

Some by a

of

gall.

them are

insects that feed

of insects feed

gall insects.

There are

insects that

13

The oak

on them.

on oak

''apple”

is

trees.

made

even feed on poison

ivy.

Plants That Eat Insects Plants get water

and chemicals from the

soil

through

The water and chemicals help make the grow. Some plants do not have big roots. They

their roots.

plants

grow

in soil that

does not have

all

the chemicals they

need. These plants get the chemicals from insects that

they catch and

The

eat.

pitcher plant grows in

leaves are reddish-green.

Its ers.

wet places

They

Insects that crawl into the

woods.

in the

are shaped like pitch-

open pitcher cannot get

out again. There are rows of hairs on the inside, near the

open end

work side.

of the pitcher.

like a

The

The

hairs all face

down. They

barbed-wire fence, and keep the insects

insects fall to the

bottom

of the pitcher

and

in-

die.

Chemicals in the pitcher plant change the insects into

make the plant grow. The sundew is another plant

food to

sects. Its leaves

that catches

and

eats in-

look like fuzzy caterpillars at the end of

Pitcher plant

long thin

on the

steins.

A sticky

sap comes out of the fuzzy hairs

caught

leaves. Insects get

an insect

is

it

cannot get away. Chemicals in the

change the

The Venus's

insects into food for the

sundew.

flytrap catches insects with the

speed of

a mousetrap. At the end of each wide leaf looks like a round box, with a hinge

The edges

When

caught, the hairs bend over and hold the in-

sect tightly, so that

sticky sap

in the sticky sap.

of the trap

end

in a

row

of

is

down stiff,

There are tiny hairs on the inside of the

a trap that

the middle.

pointed hairs.

trap, too. Insects

go inside the trap because of a sweet sap they find there.

When

an insect steps on the tiny

the trap close very quickly.

together the

hands.

The

icals inside icals that

way your

insect

is

The

fingers

hairs, the

stiff,

two parts

pointed hairs

of

come

do when you clasp your

trapped and cannot get out. Chem-

the trap change the insect into other chem-

the plant can use as food.

A Venus's

flytrap catches

an insect

An ant and

Insects That

People it

who park

its

“cow”

Keep ^'Cows^

their cars

on tree-lined

hard to keep their cars clean and shiny. The cars are

soon covered with tiny drops of a sticky is

streets find

honey dew.

It is

made by

(AFF-id). The aphid

is

stuff.

This

a small insect called an aphid

a sucking insect.

It

has

mouth

parts that look like a drinking straw. It sucks the sap

the leaves of the trees. aphid’s

body

into sweet

stuff

The sap

from

changed inside the

is

honeydew. There are two

little

openings at the back end of the aphid from which the

honeydew

flows.

there aren’t

Ants come to drink the honeydew.

enough ants

to gather all the

If

honeydew, the

sticky drops fall to the ground.

There are tree ants the

way

a farmer cares for his cows.

the leaves of trees to aphids. thread.

in India that take care of aphids

The

make

a shed in

They sew together

which they keep the

ants use a live needle that

The needle

is

one of their 16

own

makes

larvae.

its

own

The thread

spun by

The

is silk

that

some

of the ants pull the edges of

is

tlie

larvae.

Other ants hold the larvae larvae back and forth

As they do

this,

picture shows

two leaves together.

in their jaws.

the larvae spin a sticky

make

They push the

between the edges

thread sticks to the edges of the leaves. together to

of the leaves.

thread.

silk

It

many

places,

aphids to stay

who

a dry shed for the ant '‘cows.”

Then

it

alive.

deeper

plants.

gets too cold in the wintertime for the

These aphids are cared

gather their honeydew.

to places

The

sews the leaves

There are aphids that feed on the roots of corn In

how

in the

The

for

by ants

ants carry the aphids

ground where

it

is

not as cold.

the aphids do not die. In the springtime, the ants

carry the aphids back to the corn plant.

Ants “sewing” a

17

leaf

shed

How Many

a Flower

Makes

male parts and female

make a fine yellow powder called

Seed

make

plants have flowers that

flowers have

Its

The

their seeds.

The male To make a

parts.

pollen.

parts seed,

pollen must be brought from a male part to a female part.

This

is

called pollination

plants the

work

(

poll-in-

of pollination

The male part of a flower is men). The anther (AN-ther) of the stamen. Pollen

The female till).

is

made

done by

is

called the is

a

little

)

.

For some

insects.

stamen (STAY-

knob

at the

end

in the anther.

part of a flower

The bottom

A Y-shun

is

part of the pistil

called the pistil (PISis

shaped

like a large,

Stigma Anther

Petal

Pistil

Style

-Stamen Ovary

Egg

The parts

of a flower

18

cell

round bead. This part There are eggs called the

is

called the ovary (O-va-ree).

The end stigma (STIG-inaj. The stigma cells in

the ovary.

of the pistil is

is

attached to

the ovary by a thin tube called the style. Insects that pollinate flowers carry the pollen from the

anther of one flower to the stigma of another flower.

stigma

is

usually sticky, so the pollen

is

held there.

the pollen grain grows a long thin tube.

down into the ovary. Some of goes down the tube into the with an egg

cell in

(FUR-till-ized).

the ovary.

The

The Then

The tube goes

the stuff inside the pollen ovary.

It

comes together

The egg has been

fertilized

fertilized

egg becomes a flower

seed.

The

pistil is in

are around the

the stamens.

the center of the flower.

pistil.

The

The

petals are

petals often

The stamens

around the

have bright

colors.

bright colors help bring insects to the flowers.

An egg

cell is fertilized

pistil

and

The

A bee gathering

pollen and n

ar

Insects That Pollinate Flowers

Flowers of different plants have different shapes,

and

ors

odors.

Some

flowers have sweet smells.

flowers smell like animal dung. (

NECK-tar

)

.

Nectar

is

and smells

Some

Some flowers make nectar

a sweet liquid that insects gather

The

as food. Insects also gather pollen as food.

colors

col-

shapes,

of flowers bring insects to them.

When an insect visits sticks to the insect’s

a flower to get food,

body. Then,

to another flower of the

same

when

kind,

it

some pollen

the insect

flies

carries pollen to

Bees, butterflies, wasps, moths, beetles

and

flies all

on it.

carry

pollen from one flower to another.

Flowers that are pollinated by bees are usually yellow

and

blue. This

is

because bees cannot see

see mostly yellow smells.

and

Bees will not

blue.

visit

They

Bee flowers have sweet

flowers with

20

all colors.

bad

smells.

Bees

fly

only during the daytime. So

open during

tlie

many bee

daytime and closed

at night.

flowers are

The

petals

some bee flowers come togetlier to make a thin tube. The nectar is at the bottom of the tube. The long thin of

tongue of the bee can gather the nectar of these flowers.

Some

orchids are bee flowers. Peas, violets and clover are

bee flowers,

too.

The nectar tom of a long

of butterfly

and moth flowers

tube, too. Almost

have very long tongues. There 10 inches long. Moths usually night. So

moth

moth

is

at the bot-

all butterflies

and moths

is

a

moth with

fly in

a tongue

the evening and at

flowers do not have bright colors.

flowers are closed during the daytime

in the evening. Morning-glory, tobacco,

Many

and open up

yucca and eve-

ning primroses are moth flowers. Butterflies feed during the daytime.

Red and orange

21

are colors that

some

butter-

flies

can

see.

For

many butterfly flowers are and many lilies are butterfly

this reason,

red and orange. Carnations flowers.

Some

fly

flowers have very

bad

smells. Flies

with short

tongues get most of their food from dung or rotting plants

and animals. So these food they are used

flies visit

plants that smell like the

to.

Beetles visit flowers because of their smell. Beetle flowers usually have big blossoms that roses, tles

pond

are not

They

ing.

and magnolias are beetle

happy

just to

alone.

Wild

flowers. Bee-

gather nectar from flowers.

also eat the petals.

Some visit.

lilies

grow

insects are

trapped for days by the flowers they

Hairs inside the flower keep the insect from escap-

While the

insect

is

ripens on the stamens.

The pond

inside the flower, the pollen

The trapped

lily is

insect gets covered

a beetle flower

22

A

caught

fly

in

a milkweed flower

with pollen. After a few days, the hairs drop insect

is

able to leave the flower.

one

just like the

in

which

it

It flies

off

and the

to another flower

was trapped. Here

it

is

trapped again for a few days. So the pollen the insect carries has plenty of time to rub off.

rubs

off

Some

on the stigma and pollination takes place.

The milkweed

plant

is

it.

There are deep cracks

is

formed. Insects

gather nectar.

slip

They

unkind

to

some

in the anthers

when

slip into

insects that visit

where the pollen

they step on the flower to

the deep cracks, where their

legs get caught. Pollen sticks to their legs.

hard to get

free.

Others lose a leg then

fly

of the pollen

on

Some

insects try

insects never free themselves.

in the struggle.

to another

The

The

insects that get free

milkweed blossom, where the same

thing happens. While they are fighting to free themselves again, they leave

some pollen on the flower 23

s

stigma.

A

Flower-Insect Team: The Yucca and the

Pronuba Moth

The yucca flower and the Pronuba (pron-YOU-ba) moth cannot live without each other. They work together as a team.

The

flowers of yucca plants

moth becomes an adult

open up and the Pronuba

at exactly the

are ready for mating at exactly the

needs the other to help

it

same

same

time.

time.

They

Each one

mate.

The Pronuba moths come to the yucca flower because of its sweet smell. Male and female moths fly around inand mate

side the blossom

moth has

special

mouth

there.

The female Pronuba

parts with

which she can scrape.

After mating, the female

moth scrapes

sticky pollen

from

the anthers of the yucca. She presses the pollen together,

and

rolls it into

way

a child carries a balloon tucked

a ball. She carries the ball of pollen the

carries the ball of pollen to another

makes a hole

in the

Tbe egg

under

his chin.

She

yucca flower. She

ovary of the second flower, and lays

of the

moth

is

now

in the

ovary of the

flower.

After the

moth has

laid her egg, she climbs

up onto the

stigma. She takes part of the ball of pollen that she carries

and pushes

it

into the

opening of the stigma. Then

she lays another egg in the ovary. After laying the second

24

some more pollen

egg, she puslies

lays about five eggs. after each

egg

laid her eggs

is

into the stigma.

She

She pushes pollen into the stigma In this

laid.

way

the female

and pollinated the yucca flower

moth has

at the

same

time.

When formed

the eggs hatch into larvae, seeds have already

in the

ovary of the yucca. The larvae eat some of

the seeds. This help. After a

is

how

month

the yucca pays the

to

to the ground.

be adult moths. They become adults

same time

for

its

of eating seeds, the larvae eat their

way out of the ovary. They fall up

moth

that the yucca flowers

bloom

They grow

at exactly the

again.

Pronuba moth

A moth on flower

25

the stigma of a yucca

Another Team: The Fig and the Fig

Wasp

grow on the Smyrna fig trees of Turkey, Italy, and Spain. It is warm and sunny in all these countries. It is also warm and sunny in southern California. So fruitgrowers decided to raise Smyrna figs in southern Sweet

figs

California.

At that sour.

first

the

fig

growers were disappointed. The

grew on California Smyrna

fig trees

figs

were small and

Fig growers wanted to find out the reason for

this.

Their search for the answer was like a detective story.

The clue to the answer was a tiny little wasp. The Smyrna fig is a thick, soft shell shaped

The

flow-

fertilized, a

seed

There are hundreds of flowers inside the ers are all female.

forms.

When

a flower

Each flower makes only one

is

like a pear.

shell.

seed.

A

fig will

Flowers

A

fig with part of

26

it

cut away

be

very sweet

sweet is

if it

many

if

So a

lot of

of

flowers have been pollinated.

its

seeds in

it.

fig will

where the mystery begins. The Smyrna

pollen.

How

There figs

is

do not

do

its

a wild

fig

Here

makes no

flowers get pollinated?

fig

called the caprifig (CAP-ri-fig). Its

taste good.

with plenty of pollen. It

be very

has a

But

A

little

develops inside a wild

flowers are male flowers,

its

fig

wasp has no wings and never

wasp

lives in the caprifig.

and feeds on

it.

The male

leaves the caprifig.

with the female wasp while she

is still

inside the

It

mates

fig.

After

mating, the female crawls out of the caprifig. As she does so,

she gets covered with pollen.

The female wasp has wings. She

flies

to another fig to

lay her eggs. If she lands on a caprifig, she lays her eggs

and new wasps develop.

If

walks around inside the

fig

eggs.

she lands on a

fig,

she

looking for a place to lay her

She does not lay her eggs there, because the eggs develop inside a Smyrna

will not

fig.

But something

happens. Pollen from the caprifig rubs the female flowers of the flowers are fertilized

Smyrna Smyrna

Smyrna

off

figs.

else

her body onto

In this

way

the

and seeds develop, making sweet

figs.

When fig

Smyrna

the figs

wasps

fig

growers of California found out

were pollinated, they brought

to the

sweet Smyrna

United

States.

figs.

27

Now

caprifigs

how and

California grows

Pay Rent

Insects That

There are plants that give insects a place insects, in turn,

pay rent

to live.

The

to the plants for their safe

homes. They pay the plants by keeping away other sects that in this

might harm the plant.

Many

in-

ants help trees

way.

There are long hollow thorns on the hull-horn acacia tree that

grows

in Brazil

live in these thorns.

and Central America. Tiny ants

They

get inside

the pointed end of the thorn. a fine

home

their food

in

which the ants

from the

away from

The hollow

raise their

inside

in

makes

young. They get

They suck a sweet sap from leaves. The ants keep leaf-eating

tree, too.

the stems of the acacia insects

by making a hole

the tree. So the ants always have

plenty of leaf sap for food. At the same time, the ants protect the acacia tree.

An You can weeds

lumps

see

in tlie

Air-Conditioned House of

‘‘spit’’

on

tlie

stems of grass and

springtime and summertime.

If

you take

away tlie spit carefully, you will find out what has made it. You will find a small insect that looks like a tiny frog. It is a young froghopper. The froghopper uses sap that it sucks from the plants for making the spit. Its abdomen is built so that it works like a bicycle pump. The froghopper pumps air into the sap. Air bubbles are trapped in the sap. This makes the sap look like spit. The insect stays inside the lump of spit. It is cool and wet inside. The young froghopper is safe from the hot sun in his air-conditioned house.

29

How

Plants Protect Insects

color or shape of an insect

The

The

or death.

them from

The

color

their

and shape

is

of

often a matter of

many

some

insects

is

shape of the plant on which the insect insect

on the plant, the insect

is

bird enemies do not attack It isn't

like a twig. It

like the

is

cannot be seen

lives.

hard to

When

see.

the

Then,

its

hop around.

name because it looks easily among dead twigs. its

a caterpillar that looks like a twig, too.

twig of the birch

home on

like the color or

easy to see a grasshopper in the green grass

walking-stick insect gets

There

is

birds.

it.

until the grasshopper begins to

The

insects protect

most dangerous enemies,

color or shape of

life

tree.

the birch tree where

A

It

looks

This caterpillar makes it is

hard to

walking-stick insect

see.

its

The thorax

of the thorn treehopper

like a big thorn.

when

it

rests

AngJewing ragged.

on thorn

side of the anglewing

the anglewing

There are some

make them

bar) caterpillar

looks

have wings that look torn and

is

at rest in the

ragged brownish-gray wings look

that

It

trees.

butterflies

When

pointed.

So the thorn treehopper cannot be seen

The underneath

ish-gray.

is

just like

is

brown-

woods,

dead

insects that are protected

by

its

leaves.

colors

The cinnahar-moth (SIN-aan example. The caterpillar has bright

easy to see. is

yellow and black

stripes.

Many

of these caterpillars feed

together on ragwort, a plant with small leaves. So the caterpillar It it

is

not hidden by the plant on which

it

feeds.

can be seen very easily from quite far away. Because can be seen

mies. to eat

The it.

easily, its color protects

caterpillar has a

So,

when

bad

it

taste.

from

its

bird ene-

Birds do not like

birds see the caterpillars feeding to-

gether, they stay away.

The thornhopper looks 31

like a

thorn

Insects That

Some

insects are

Harm Us

harmful because they damage or

even wipe out plants that people use. Then there food for animals that people food for people.

And

raise.

Then

of the

is

less

also less

there are less cotton, wood, tobacco

and other things that people get from

Only a few

there

is

many

plants.

kinds of insects are harmful.

These insects weren’t always harmful. One way insects

become harmful

is

by being moved from a place where

they have always lived to a place where they have never lived.

Insects that

have been

in a place for a long, long

have made enemies. Their enemies kill

may be

time

diseases that

may be birds or other insects Their enemies kill many of them. So, when

them. Their enemies

that eat them. insects

have been

are usually not so

in a place for a long, long time, there

many

them

of

that they can

do much

harm.

When

insects are

moved

never lived before, they the

number

The

insects

to a place

may

find

where they have

no enemies

there.

So

of insects of that kind gets bigger very fast.

may

still

cause there are so

eat the

many

same kind

insects,

of plant.

But be-

they can eat up

all

the

plants.

When

insects are

moved

to another place they

32

may

begin to eat plants

new cases

never ate before. Then the

some

plants are in danger of being eaten up. In

become harmful when new plants are the place where the insects live. The insects liking to the new plant. Then the insects will

insects

brought to

may

tliat tliey

take a

begin to go to

new

places looking for the

new

plant.

Since the insects have no natural enemies in the places, they

become an

insect pest there.

House

Clothes moth

Cockroach

Some

fly

insect pests

33

new

A potato

A

Beetle That

The Colorado potato beetle.

States

At

first it

Changed

Its

beetle

Diet

beetle wasn’t always a potato

lived only in the southwest of the United

on a diet of weeds.

When

the early American set-

moved west to California they carried potato plants with them. The Colorado beetle liked the taste of potatlers

toes very

much. Wherever potatoes were planted, the

beetles found their

way

to them. In this

spread across the United States. eat their

way from

California to

It

way

the beetles

took them 15 years to

New

York.

The Root Louse Crosses the Ocean For a long time American grape growers tried to grow grapes from vines brought from France. The vines al-

ways louse,

died.

They had been

which spent part of

killed

its life

by an aphid, the root eating the roots of the

grapevine. Grapevines that had always

United States were not damaged by of

American vines were very tough. 34

grown

this insect.

in the

The

roots

About 100 years ago, some American grapevines were brought into France. The root louse came into France on the roots of the vines. In just a few years, all

it

killed almost

the vines in France and in other parts of Europe, too.

The French grape growers found out how they could grow healthy plants. They attached French vines to the tough roots of the American plant. They did this by grafting.

Some good came

out of this terrible experience.

The new vines grew grapes with the fine flavor of French grapes. They were not attacked by the root louse because they had the strong roots of American plants. These new vines were brought back to the United

where they could grow, too. Now American grape growers can grow French grapes in the United States.

States

A slit is made in the stem of an American

Twigs cut from a French

vine

vine...

Roots

the

The

graft

is

covered with wax to protect

it

...are put

in

slit.

Grafting of grape vines

Some Imported Most

of the insects that

Insect Pests

have become pests

in the

United States have been brought in from other countries

where they were not harmful. They became pests

in the

United States because they found no natural enemies to

keep them from spreading.

The gypsy moth was brought

into Massachusetts about

100 years ago by a French scientist

who was

trying to

make silk. Some caterpillars escaped from his laboratory. The caterpillars discovered quickly that they liked eating the leaves of American shade trees.

other states and even to Canada.

People have learned spreading.

how

They spray

to

trees

They spread

to

Many trees were killed.

keep the gypsy moth from with poisons. They also

in-

spect plants that are shipped from one state to another to

make

sure there are no gypsy moths on them.

36

Tlie Japanese beetle

was

States in 1916. It

was

living

first

on some faney Japanese trees

New Jersey.

in a tree nursery in

noticed in the United

People didn’t

harmful the beetle could be, so they beetle spread quickly because

it

found

dreds of other trees and bushes, too. eontrol. It has

even been found

The corn borer

is

left it

It

it

know how alone. The

liked to eat hun-

has been hard to

in airplanes.

the larva of a moth.

It

has always

lived in

Europe and Asia where there was no

found

liked corn

it

from Ameriea. In else.

From

when

faet,

the time

its

a nice, comfortable their

way

have

lots of

in

dead

it

corn was brought to Europe

likes

corn better than anything

eggs hatch in July, the larvae have

home

all

eornstalks.

They bore the plant. They

in the eorn plant.

into tight, dark places inside

food

eorn. It

the time.

One way

They have

a winter

to eontrol corn borers

planting corn at just the right time.

Corn borer larva

...inside an ear of

corn

home is

by

An

Australian Friend in a

The cottony-cushion eats the sap, leaves It

was

fruit

first

found

scale

is

and twigs

Time

of

Need

a small scale insect that of citrus (SIT-rus) trees.

in California orange,

lemon and grape-

orchards about 100 years ago. Within 15 years

citrus trees

their

had been

whole crop of

killed

by the

scale

many

and farmers

lost

citrus fruits.

Some people thought

that the scale

was brought

into

came from Australia. They thought this because they knew that the cottony-cushion scale had lived in Australia for a long time. They also

California on fruit trees that

knew went

that

it

was not an

insect pest in Australia. So they

to Australia to find out

They found

their

answer

why.

in a little

reddish-brown lady

beetle, the vedalia beetle. This beetle

and

its

larvae ate

the larvae and eggs of the cottony-cushion scale

nothing

and

else.

About 500 vedalia beetles were brought fornia from Australia.

into Cali-

There was plenty of food

A

38

vedalia beetle

for

them.

so tliere

were nianv

of

two years there were

them so

in a short time. In less

many

than

vedalia beetles in Cali-

fornia that the cottony-cushion scale stopped being a pest.

An All-American

Pest

The boll weevil is a little black bug with a long snout. It came from Mexico. It likes to eat only the cotton plant. The adult eats the leaves of the cotton plant. With its snout, the female bores holes in the plant.

buds of the cotton

She lays her eggs inside the buds. Larvae hatch

from the eggs. The larvae eat the inside of the bud. Then the

bud never grows

into a cotton boll.

in the cotton bolls, too.

the boll, so that

The Texas

it

The

larvae spoil the cotton inside

cannot be used.

boll weevil

came

in 1892. It

can be found

growing

She lays her eggs

into the

states in the South.

United States through

now

in all the cotton-

Cotton farmers can keep

it

under control by using good seed and taking good care of their land.

A

39

boll weevil

Getting Rid of Insect Pests Insect pests trees.

do a

lot of

harm. They eat crops and hurt

They damage houses and

get rid of

all

insect pests.

clothing.

But we can learn

We

can never

how to control

them.

One way

to control insect pests

by finding

is

their

natural enemies. Chinese citrus-fruit growers controlled insect pests this

way

for a long time.

China are bothered by a small black the natural enemies of the citrus

put these ants into their citrus ‘'ant

bridges” out of

bamboo

The

Certain ants are

fly.

fly.

trees.

poles, to

citrus trees of

The fruitgrowers They even make make it easier for

the ants to go from one tree to another. There are people

who make Germs

a living raising ants for the fruitgrowers.

are sometimes natural enemies of insects.

germs that hurt

insects but

do not hurt animals or people

are sometimes sprayed on plants

Another way

the

same kind

which

to control insect pests

plants that insects like

insects eat.

is

to stop

growing

and grow instead another plant

that insects

So

do not

like.

The Hessian

of fly

used to be a pest on American wheat. So scientists looked

wheat that the Hessian

They found such a wheat plant in southern Europe. They brought this plant to the United States. The European for a

wheat grew well

in the

sian fly did not like

United

it.

40

fly

would not

States,

eat.

because the Hes-

Another way

to control insect pests

on the plants on which gerous.

It

is

insects live. This

to spray poison

way can be dan-

can be dangerous, when poisons are used on

food plants. The poisons can hurt people. gerous, too, because the poisons can

mies of the insect pests insect pests It

come back

at the

kill

same

It

can be dan-

the natural ene-

time. Then,

if

the

again, they spread very quickly.

can be dangerous because the poisons can go into the

soil

and poison the streams. This happened

when pest.

a poison

was used

Not only were the

fish in

in Florida

to control the sand-fly, sand-flies killed,

but

an insect all

of the

the area were killed, too.

Another way

to control insects

is

to

keep them from

spreading from one country to another. This can be done

by making sure

that

all

plants that

come

into a country

have no insects on them.

USDA photograph

Plagues It is

as the

a bright sunny day. There are fields of grain as far

eye can

The wind makes

see.

the grain ripple, so

that the fields look like a great golden sea.

Suddenly

it

becomes very dark. The sun

hind a black cloud. But

this

is

is

hidden be-

not a storm cloud.

The

cloud moves very quickly, and makes a loud buzzing noise. It

made up

a cloud

is

looking for a

new place

of millions of grasshoppers

to live.

After the grasshoppers have passed, the fields are bare.

The

trees are bare.

The grasshoppers have eaten

every-

thing.

When

this

happened a long time ago,

it

was very

ter-

rible.

People had no food because the grasshoppers had

eaten

it all.

Thousands

(PLAYG)

grasshopper

Grasshoppers ally don’t die all

of people died. This

still

when

do a

did.

lot of

damage. But people usu-

grasshoppers eat their crops. People

over the world try to help each other.

part of the world do not have

If

people in one

enough food, people

other parts of the world often help

them

was what a

in

them by sending

food.

Live

Weeds

are plants

wanted. They grow in

Weed

Killers

grow where they are not gardens and fields crowding out

that

42

plants that are raised for food.

We It is

usually don't think of the cactus plant as a weed.

a pretty desert plant in the United States.

keep

it

The

as a

even

house plant.

became a weed in Australia. It was Australia by accident in 1787. But the cac-

cactus plant

brought into tus

We

had no natural enemies

quickly.

By 1925

in Australia.

So

it

millions of acres of land

spread very

were

filled

with the weed. Nothing else could grow in them.

came to America to see if they could find the natural enemy of the cactus plant. They brought many different insects back with them. The inAustralian scientists

sects kept the cacti

them

from spreading, but did not wipe

out. Finally, after ten years of searching, the right

insect-enemy was found. Argentina. Billions of

seven years

all

its

It

was

a

moth

that lived in

eggs were sent to Australia. In

of the cactus plants

were wiped

out.

Then

the land could be used again for crops and pasture. Cactus plants before ...

... and after the moths came.

Cells in a

honey comb

A honey bee

A bee

hive

Honey, Wax, and Ink

Some

when we take things from them. when we make things from them.

insects help us

Other insects help us

44

We take honey

and wax from

and wax from the nectar they

The wax forms making gether

gather.

in small scales

abdomen. The wax

of the bee's

little

make

six-sided

make honey

bees. Bees

on the underneath side is

used by the bees for

rooms called

Many

cells.

a comb. Eggs are laid in the

cells to-

cells.

Some

of the

nectar the bee swallows goes into the honey sac.

Chem-

The bee makes honey icals

change the nectar

honey up.

It spits

The honey

is

in its

honey

into honey.

sac.

Then

the bee spits the

the honey into the cells of the comb.

food for the larvae that hatch from the eggs.

Beekeepers fool the bees into making extra

cells

and

them with honey, even though no eggs have been in these cells. Special machines remove the honey

filling

laid

from these

cells.

This

is

the honey that the beekeepers

sell.

They

get beeswax

Beeswax makes a

We

make

by melting down old honeycombs.

fine polish.

a very

small wasp. These

good writing ink with the help of a little

wasps feed on oak

trees in the

western part of Asia, near the city of Aleppo. These

wasps are

gall insects.

They make Aleppo

galls.

A very fine black ink is made from Aleppo galls. Under the laws of Massachusetts, this ink must be used for writing

all

public records.

45

A

Insects for Varnish

Varnish

is

often used on

varnish has lac in lives in the

Many

it.

Lac

is

cochineal insect

and Dye

wood instead of paint. Good made from a scale insect that

Far East.

lac insects live together

on the twigs of

trees.

The female has a pointed beak. She sucks sap through her beak. Most of the sap passes out of her body. It forms a scale of lac on her back. Because the insects are

crowded together on the to

make

a sheet.

The

twig, the scales

insects

come together

keep feeding under

this

sheet of lac.

Lac-covered twigs are then cut from the scale

and

insects are separated

the twigs in hot water.

Lac

The

from the wood by putting

for varnish

scale. Artists' colors called '‘lakes

dead

trees.

'

is

are

made from made from

the the

insects.

Beautiful red dye

(KOTCH-i-neel) on cactus

is

made from

insect, a scale insect

the cochineal

found

in

Mexico.

abdomen is dark red. Most cochineal insects are female. Dye is made from female insects that are filled with eggs. The female is very large then. It takes 70,000 insects to make a pound of dye. It lives

plants. Its

46

A silkworm ...

• •

A There are

caterpillars that

times to

pillar spins

its

cocoon

Silk

make

silk.

The

caterpillar

wraps the thread around itself make a cocoon (kuh-KOON). The cater-

spins a silk thread.

many

Cradle of

3nd

It

about a half mile of thread to make

This caterpillar

is

called the silhivovin.

a large white moth.

It eats

It is

its

cocoon.

the larva of

the leaves of mulberry trees.

kill Silkgrowers gather the cocoons and heat them to silk of the the caterpillars inside. Then they unwind the

on

Several stiands of

cocoons and wind

it

twisted together to

make thread

It

reels.

for

is

not

are

weaving and sewing.

make I pound of silk. used very much today. Man-made fibers like

takes about 3,000 cocoons to

Silk

silk

rayon and nylon have taken its place. Most silk comes from China and Japan. 47

WORD — The

Adult (a-DULT)

full-grown insect.

- An

Antennae (an-TEN-ee)

They

like stiff hairs.

insect’s feelers.

They

look

are attached to the insect’s head.

— The

Anther (AN-ther)

LIST

male part of a

flower. It

makes

pollen.

Chrysalis (KRISS-a-liss) into.

— What

a caterpillar changes

Later the chrysalis changes into an adult insect.

Cocoon (kuh-KOON) — The blanket of silk thread in which some caterpillars wrap themselves. It is the

pupa

of

some

insects.

Fertilize (FUR-till-ize)

len

and an egg

Larva (LAR-va) caterpillar

is

cell to

—

make

a seed.

hatches from an insect’s egg.

A

— A sweet syrup made by some flow-

gathered by insects as food.

Ovary (O-va-ree) egg

It

In a flower, the joining of pol-

a larva.

Nectar (NECK-tar) ers. It is

—

- The

bottom part of the

made in the ovary. Pistil (PIS-till) The female part of a flower. Pollen POLL-en — A yellow dust made by

pistil.

The

cells are

(

)

of a flower. It

flower to

make

the anther

comes together with the egg

cell of a

a seed.

— Same as chrysalis. (STIG-ma) — The top part of

Pupa (PEW-pa) Stigma

ceives the pollen.

48

the

pistil.

It re-

'

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insectsplantsOOadle insectsplantsOOadle

WHY

REASON

Th©

S6ri6S

by

Irving

and Ruth Adler

“They are excellent”-New York Herald Tribune

The best of the matter is that, with authors like .the Adlers, their name One can be certain that not only is the exposition clear and logical, but

is

a guarantee.

that the scientific

matters presented are correct and up-to-date.”

-The Horn Book Magazine

THINGS THAT SPIN ‘A helpful and stimulating book.

—The Horn Book Magazine

the story _ lesenting a truly excellent account Clear, well-labelled drawings;

A

recommended.”

—Library Journal

SHADOWS

An ,

of a nail

of the historical development of the steel industry.

easily

understood explanation of the causes and uses of shadows.”

-ALA Booklist

NUMBERS OLD AND NEW

fascinating book for the student interested in mathematics.” ,1

,

,

—American Library Association

,

how we came

iixceptional book about

to

count as

we do.” —Child Study Association of America

WHY? A

„

Book of Reasons

I

suggest that it be given to a child with an inquiring collecting unrelated facts.

mind and

acijuisitive instinct for t/—V irginia Kirkus ;

RIVERS “Contains a wealth of information, and the illustrations add clarification tor tlmd-giaders and informative enougli for fifth-graders.

.

,

.

simple enough ^

Recommended.”

OCEANS

—Library Journal

AIR public libraries will find

“lies are well written and scientifically accurate. Schools and .

.

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these useful.”

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