LESSON XXIX.
MR. BEETLE SEEKS FOR A HOME.
I shall now tell you of a very odd beetle. If ever you find one of this family, you will say, “This poor beetle has outgrown his coat!” You will say that when you see how very short his wing-cases are.
But no! the beetle has not outgrown his coat. Insects do not grow after they leave the pupa-case. Mr. Beetle and his coat are both of the same size that they always were.
In fact, this beetle’s coat was cut short for himat the first. It is the fashion in his family to wear short clothes! The flying-wings of this beetle are large, but the wing-covers are very short. They do not cover half the length of the body. Yet this beetle can fold up and tuck his flying-wings under the short wing-cases.
He seeks a Home.
He seeks a Home.
Most of the short-coated beetles are small. Some of them are an inch long. They are very lively insects. They are very greedy little creatures, too.
Some of these beetles eat only animal food. They are always busy hunting for it. Others of them are fond of mushrooms. Some of them have a bad smell. People do not care to touch them.
Since their hard shell coat is so short, it would be easy to hurt them. No doubt they have this bad smell to keep away creatures that would eat them. The smell keeps them from harm.
The “short-coats” do not all have a bad smell. Some beetles with long coats have this foul odor. There are also beetles that smell like roses, and like musk.
Some of the short-coated beetles curl the hind part of their body over. The end is held up above their backs. If they had a long, hard coat, they could not do that.
You have read about the termites, or white ants.[16]In Brazil people may find one kind of the short-coat beetle living in the nests of the termites.
These beetles that live with the termites are very strange animals. The back part of their body is too large for the front part. It looks like a great ball, and is turned up over the upper part of the back.
These are the only beetles that do not lay eggs and go off and leave them. They keep their eggs in this large, round part of the body until they hatch. Then the little larvæ come out alive.
Why do the ants allow these beetles to live with them? Perhaps it is because they make no trouble and so the termites do not care one way or the other. Perhaps, like the little Aphis,[17]this beetle has a way of making honey; if so, it pays for its house-rent with honey!
There are other short-coat beetles which do not have these big, round bodies. They lay their eggs like other beetles, yet they live in ant-hills. Perhaps these beetles and their larvæ like to feed on the husks and rubbish they may find in the ant-hill. The ants do not drive them out.
The short-coat beetles are not the only ones that take lodgings. Perhaps you may hear your mother say that “the moths have got into her furs.” If she looks at the furs, she may find, not only moths, but small beetles. They are having a fine time eating up the fur!
Such beetles destroy furs, skins, skin rugs, and stuffed animals. Their greedy larvæ can make much havoc. These larvæ are like tiny black worms. They are fond of ham, bacon, and lard.
One very large short-coat beetle is called the “coach-horse.” The larva of this coach-horse beetle looks like the full-grown insect. It carries its tail aloft, in the same way. It can run fast, and seeks its food all day long.
These larvæ often hide under stones. In the winter they go deeper under ground. They are fierce, and they eat animal food.
The baby lives only about three weeks in the pupa-case. This case is of an odd shape, like a wedge, with a rounded top. It is of a shining gold color, and has a plume or crown of hairs in front.
FOOTNOTES:[16]See LessonIX.[17]See LessonIX.
[16]See LessonIX.
[16]See LessonIX.
[17]See LessonIX.
[17]See LessonIX.