Bugbear

“ Beetles have hard wing covers—see these little shell-like casings?—to cover the more delicate wings underneath. The June-bug has wing covers, too, but it never keeps its best wings tucked in. They are always hanging out in a crumpled way. These bugs eat the leaves of the trees, and their children, little, fat, white grubs with horny heads, nibble, as they crawl around under the surface of the earth, the tender roots of the grass and the strawberry plants."
"Why, Ben, you've told me more already," said Tom, "than any dullard like me could ever learn from a book. ”

“ But when he saw the awful distance between himself and the ground, his courage failed him, and he clung to his perch more tightly than ever.
After a while the mother-bird came back, bringing a large bug which she used as a bribe for her timid birdling, holding it under his very bill, and then darting off in the hope that he would follow. The youngster chirped for the bug, but he would not fly for it; and, after many efforts, the old bird, unable to resist his pleading, perched on a twig just beneath him, and held up the bug, which you may be sure he was not slow to seize and eat. ”

“ The female deposits her eggs at the beginning of summer in crevices of wood and other retired situations, and in three weeks the young emerge as small, white, and almost transparent larvae. These change their skin very frequently during growth, and attain full development in about eleven weeks. Two centuries ago the bed bug was a rare insect in Britain, and probably owes its name, which is derived from a Celtic word signifying “ghost” or “goblin,” to the terror which its attacks at first inspired. ”

“ Buggs, tho’ nasty to us, are so cleanly to themselves, that they quit their places of Harbour to come out and dung, and their Excrements leave a Mark or Stain like that of a Fly, but somewhat blacker; and wherever you see such Marks, if on Wood, look for the nearest Crevise, Knot, or Streak; if on Walls, for the nearest Crack or Hole; if on Furniture, for the nearest Seam, Lace, Tape, or Fold, and there assuredly are the Vermin, and there apply the Remedy.
In Winter-time, few, if any, are to be found by day-light in the Furniture of a Bed; but in the Wood-work, Wainscot, or Walls only. ”

“ Up to that moment no rainbow had existed, only a little light sifting through from the vine-clad side. But now a ray of sun shattered itself on the pile of bubbles, and sprayed itself out into a curved glory.
Bubble Bugs blow their froth only when immature, and their bodies are a distillery or home-brew of sorts. No matter what the color, or viscosity or chemical properties of sap, regardless of whether it flows in liana, shrub, or vine, yet the Bug's artesian product is clear, tasteless and wholly without the possibility of being blown into bubbles. ”

“ And there's the fire-fly, which is a soft-bodied beetle.
"And there's the very useful little beetle we call the ladybug, which is not a bug, but a beetle. The ladybug is a great help to men who own fruit orchards in the West. All over the country are to be found little bugs called scale insects. These scales are very bad for trees, because with their long, slender beaks the scales pump out the sap. ”

“ The bumble-bees, which at this season are hungry vagrants with no fixed place of abode, would gorge themselves, then creep beneath the bits of empty comb or fragments of bark and pass the night, and renew the feast next day. The bumble-bee is an insect of which the bee-hunter sees much. There are all sorts and sizes of them. They are dull and clumsy compared with the honey-bee. Attracted in the fields by the bee-hunter's box, they will come up the wind on the scent and blunder into it in the most stupid, lubberly fashion. ”

“ He rarely gets beyond a few rather insipid notes, before he sees a grasshopper or some other defenseless creature which he needs in his collection, and which he proceeds to capture and impale on the thorn of a sprout in his favorite orange tree. The butcher bird does now and then capture a small bird and add it to this collection, but I am convinced that he is not so bad a sinner, after all. Most of his prey is insects. Looking at my own butterfly collection I have almost a fellow feeling for him. ”

“ If for Ornament you use Lace, let it be sewed, not pasted on, for Paste they love much.
Oak-Bedsteds, and plain Wainscot Head-Boards, and Tester-Rails of that Wood, allow them the least Harbour, and no Food; such therefore I recommend.
If you put out your Linnen to wash, let no Washer-woman’s Basket be brought into your Houses; for they often prove as dangerous to those that have no Buggs, as Cradles, and Bugg-Traps made of the same Wood, often do to those that have them: for the Wood they are made of, affords them much Convenience of Harbour, and great Nourishment. ”

“ Before becoming the pretty red ladybird with black spots, this pretty insect, which, in spite of its innocent air, crunches the plant-lice, is a very ugly worm, a slate-colored larva, covered with little points, and itself very fond of plant-lice. The June bug, the silly June bug, which, if its leg is held by a thread, awkwardly puffs out its wings, makes all preparations, and starts out to the tune of ‘Fly, fly, fly!’ is at first a white worm, a plump larva, fat as bacon, which lives under-ground, attacks the roots of plants, and destroys our crops. ”

“ Wild Buggs are watchful and cunning, and tho’ timorous of us, yet in fight one with another, are very fierce; I having often seen some (that I brought up from a day old, always inur’d to Light and Company) fight as eagerly as Dogs or Cocks, and sometimes one or both have died on the Spot. From those so brought up tame, I made the greatest Discoveries.
They are hot in Nature, generate often, and shoot their Spawn all at once, and then leave it, as Fish do. ”

“ Poised in the air, the buccaneer fly selects its victim from the bees issuing from a hive, pounces on it like a winged fury, and kills its hapless prey. The insect depicted beneath is protected from its enemies by its strange resemblance to a dead leaf. ”

“ She has strong little wings, and really seems like a tiny bird." "Well," continued Papa, "when I was very small, I often caught the dear little things, and firmly believed they understood when I said: 'Lady bug fly away home.' When one flew from my hand, I followed, watched her going home and found where she laid her eggs. She always selects a rosebush or honeysuckle or a hop vine, because they are more likely than others to have plant lice upon them. Lady bug's eggs are a bright yellow, small, flat and oval; when they are hatched out, the babies find their food all ready for them. ”

“ When one ascends to the nest, which, by the way, is not always an easy matter, as our Beech-trees are not only very smooth, but frequently without any boughs to a considerable distance from the ground, as well as of rather large size, the female bird, if she happens to be sitting, flies off silently and alights on a neighbouring tree, to wait the result. But, should the male, who supplies her with food, and assists in incubation, be there, or make his appearance, he immediately sets up a hue and cry, and plunges towards the assailant with such violence as to astonish him. ”

“ It is a common tradition among country boys, that white-faced bumble-bees never sting, and that you can take them in your hands with perfect safety. This [113] tradition may have truth at the bottom of it, or it may not. I cannot tell, and I shall not stop to debate the question now. It is certain that there is an insect, very much resembling the bumble-bee, and of about the same size, who, nevertheless, is a very different fellow. ”

“ And I have seen, and do assert, they do bite in the cold as well as hot Seasons: but as our Blood is not so apt to inflame in Winter as in Summer, their Bites make but little Impression, and are consequently the less regarded.
The second and most prevailing Error is, That Buggs bite some Persons, and not others: When in Reality they bite every Human Body that comes in their way; and this I will undertake plainly to demonstrate by Reason. ”

“ The dull, black bug sees all these bright, agile insects; and, for the first time in his life, he feels discontented with his own low place in the mud. A longing creeps through him that is quite different from the customary longing for mosquitoes and flies. "I will creep up the stem of this rush," he thinks; "and perhaps, when I reach the surface of the water, I can dart like the little flat boatmen, or, better than all, shoot through the air like the blue-winged dragon-fly." ”

“ The beak of the bird that lives on seeds or grain—that is, the granivorous bird—is thick, conical, wide at the base, and strong in proportion to the hardness of the seeds it has to crack open; but the beak of the bird that lives on insects—that is, the insectivorous bird—is thin, slender, delicate, and weak in proportion to the softness of the insects it catches. In our everyday speech we note this difference by applying to the small granivorous birds the general designation grosbeak, while the insect-eaters are often called slender-beaked birds. ”

“ From the eggs hatch active little larval "scale bugs," with eyes and feelers, and six legs. They crawl from under the wax scale and roam about over the orange tree. Finally, they settle down, thrusting their sucking beak into the plant tissue, and cast their skin. The females lose at this molt their legs and eyes and feelers. Each becomes a mere motionless sack capable only of sucking up sap and laying eggs. The young males, however, lose their sucking beak and can no longer take food, but they gain a pair of wings and an additional pair of eyes. ”

“ Slowly and almost imperceptibly he moves his head towards the luckless bug, and when his beak is within a couple of inches of it he makes a quick grab that is invariably fatal. In this connection I sometimes wonder [Pg 230] if my attitude as a nature lover is entirely correct. The bug probably enjoys life just as much as the turkey, and I wonder if the bug should not have my sympathy rather than the birds. ”

“ Moreover, it has at its tip a horny covering beset with tiny barbs, and every time it goes back to the mouth these are bathed in gluey slime to catch the next insect it may meet. Nor is the woodpecker obliged always to drill for his food. The tiny ants, as they wander up and down the trees, the beetles and bees settling on the branches—all may fear this gluey weapon, for all alike disappear within the long thin beak. ”

“ But the insect-eaters have no water-animal to match the beaver among rodents in sagacity or engineering. With his chisel-like front teeth he gnaws a deep notch in the trunk of a larch or pine or willow, and then, going round to the other side, begins work there till the trunk is severed and falls heavily on the side of the deep notch, and therefore away from himself. He always makes the deep notch in the trunk on the side near the water, so that the tree in falling comes as near as possible to the stream. ”

“ Buckton, “is to grow as fast as possible,” and with a view to this end the rostrum or beak, with its enclosed sucking or pumping apparatus, is fully developed from the very commencement, “often, indeed, to such an abnormal extent that it forms an awkward appendage, trailing behind the body whilst walking.” [43] The insect does not, however, walk much, but, settling itself down on the twig or stem where, perhaps, it first saw the light, pierces the bark with the instrument thus provided for it, and commences to suck up the sap into its mouth. ”

“ Not all of the live things that you find about your plants and flowers are injurious, however, and you must learn to recognize those which are beneficial. The ladybug, although a beetle, lives on aphides, and so is your helper in destroying them. Several beetles, like the fiery ground beetle, subsist on cutworms, and the soldier bug dines on the destructive offspring of beetles and moths. The daddy-long-legs and the spider are also friends to your garden, together with many wasps. ”

“ They are called grubs, and they live in the ground until it is time for them to turn into grown-up beetles. While they are babies they eat as much and as fast as they can, as no baby but a beetle should. The more they eat the sooner they come out into the bright world as a June-bug or some other kind of beetle. They eat all the tender little roots they can find. ”

“ GREAT GREY SHRIKE, OR BUTCHER BIRD, WITH ITS VICTIMS—SHREWS AND BLUE TITMOUSE.
Let us go on the moors again, and watch the coots and water-hens in the reedy pools near the aqueduct. Do you see that great tit on a branch of this poplar? He is actually at work doing a bit of butchery on a small warbler. See how he is beating the poor little fellow on the head; he wants to get at his brains. "Are there not birds called butcher-birds?" asked Willy, "that fix their victims on thorns, and then peck off their flesh? ”

“ They assemble in small flocks, climbing rapidly along the rough bark of the pitch-pine, rapping here and there, with their wedgelike beaks, to scare some drowsy insect; inducing it to rush out, to be nipped, or speared, with the barbed tongue, ere half-awake; others, sitting on the topmost branches of the oaks and pines, continually darted off after some fugitive moth or other winged insect, capturing it much in the fashion of the flycatchers. The harsh and discordant voice is made up for in beauty of plumage. ”

“ It is a busy, restless bird, always active among the trees and bushes in search of insects. From its early cry in our neighbourhood, we long suspected it would be found that this hardy little bird did not wholly quit us, and in this opinion we were confirmed by seeing one in the garden about Christmas, 1806. In the following January, we observed two of these little creatures busied in catching the small insects which a bright day had roused in great abundance about some fir trees, by springing upon them from the ends of the branches, one of which we succeeded in shooting. ”