LESSON XXVI.
PRINCES AND GIANTS.
Beetles vary much in size. Some are so small that you can hardly see them as they creep among the grasses.
Others are so large that a child might fear them. He might think that with their thick legs and claw-likefeet and strong jaws they must surely be able to hurt him. But beetles are quiet, mild things, and seldom pinch or bite anybody.
Why do these beetles have these strong coats like mail? To keep them from harm. They live under stones, and among roots, and dig about in the earth. Their horny bodies protect them.
Many more animals, than now do so, might eat the beetles if they had not the horny coats to shield them.
Fish, birds, and other animals eat them and their grubs. Enough are killed and eaten to prevent the world being too full of beetles.
Beetles have few weapons. I will tell you of one or two of them. Stag beetles have very large, strong jaws, and can give a good pinch with them.
One family of beetles is called the “Oil family.” They have an oil in them. They drop this from their legs when they are touched. This oil has a bad smell. It can make a blisteron the skin. Because of this oil people let them alone, and perhaps small animals do the same.
There is a beetle that carries a gun! This is like a gun with several barrels, for it can be fired three or four times without being reloaded! Oh, how can that be?
Near the tail of the gun beetle is a little sack or bag full of fluid. When an enemy comes near him, Mr. Beetle, as he runs, throws off a drop of this fluid. The fluid flies out of the bag with a little bang. It sounds like the report of a tiny gun, and makes a kind of mist or blue smoke.
Three or four of these shots follow each other. This beetle is a small fellow. Big beetles like to chase him. When the wee gun goes off in the big beetle’s face, the big beetle backs away. Then he folds down his feelers and stands still. He acts very much as a dog does when he drops his tail between his legs and runs off!
These little gun-owning beetles live in damp places. Often a group of them will hide under a stone. If you lift up the stone, the poor beetles are in a great fright. They begin to fire off their guns like a squad of soldiers.
Now after talking about these little beetles, let us talk of great ones. I told you some beetles are very small, and some are very large. One beetleis so big that it is called the Giant. Another is called Goliath, from the huge giant whom King David slew. Others are called Atlas and Hercules, from tales told, in old times, of giants.
The very large beetles live in hot lands and are scarce. Some have the jaws large and curved like a crab’s claw. At first sight you might think them crabs. Some of these odd ones are shown in the picture.
The colors of these great beetles are often very splendid. Some of them have long horns on the front of their heads. Some of them have the hind legs so large, and of such a queer shape, that they do not look like beetles.
Some of these giant beetles have large teeth or knobs upon their jaws; they need them to crush and break their food. These teeth are like the knobs on Mr. Crab’s claw, which he uses for playing a tune. The beetle can use his knobs to make music. Beetles are fond of their own tunes. Often they make, for hours, a shrill hum, or buzz. They make this by rubbing their wing-cases.
There is a great beetle in Brazil called the Prince of Beetles. He gets this name from his size and beauty. Some of the princes have been sold for two hundred dollars each.
When you walk in the field, you might carry abottle with a wide mouth. In this you can collect beetles to study. It may be very pleasant to study them when you go home. But have something in the bottle to kill them, for, shut up in a small space, and frightened, they are likely to pull each other to pieces.