A Guide for the Study of Animals. Worrallo Whitney
or grasping, and which backward for jumping or climbing? What structures have the legs to enable them to do their work properly?
4 Notice how well developed the cricket's wings are, and state how much they are used or how they influence the habits of the animal.
5 How many projecting spines are there on the hinder end of the body? Are they ornamental or useful? how? The female crickets have a special spear-shaped spine for depositing eggs.
6 In a column make a list of the senses (sight, feeling, etc.), and opposite each state what kind of an organ is used and where it is located. The ears are oblong white spots on the second long piece of the front legs.
7 Find out whether the cricket chews solid food or sucks liquid food, and whether it has biting jaws or protrusible lips. See whether it will attack a toothpick or your finger, and if the crickets have been confined long, whether there has been any attempt at cannabalism. Is its natural food animal or vegetable matter?
8 How do crickets chirp?
9 What work do they do in nature?
10 How does a baby cricket develop?
THE LIVING GRASSHOPPER OR LOCUST
Materials.
Individual specimens in wide-mouth bottles or jars, and other specimens in cages, with turf or foliage for food and concealment. Simple lenses.
Observations.
Notice the form and size of your specimen, its color, the number of its legs and of its feelers. Find the eyes; the two large eyes, a tiny one between the two feelers, and near the inner edge of each large eye, another tiny one. With a lens notice the markings on the large eyes. Find the mouth, and note its lips and finger-like feelers. Draw out an outer wing, and then carefully draw out the delicate under wing, allowing them both to fold into place again. Under the wings find the circular or crescent-shaped membranes, the eardrums. Watch the grasshopper's body expand and contract in breathing, and find the small breathing holes along each side the body. Compare its rate of breathing with your own.
Questions.
1 In what surroundings and how does the grasshopper's color protect it? What color markings has it which might serve for other grasshoppers to see as signals? Explain how this signaling is done.
2 Explain how the legs are placed so as to act as springs in jumping and alighting.
3 What advantages in having the wings attached on the upper side and the legs on the under side of the body?
4 Explain how the small wings are protective, and how the large ones are protected.
5 Why is it better for the grasshopper to have its mouth on the under side of its head instead of in front?
6 The large eyes are supposed to be far-sighted, the small ones near-sighted. State how the large eyes have the more advantageous position, and around how much of a circle they can see.
7 Describe how the grasshopper breathes.
THE LIVING BUTTERFLY OR MOTH
Materials.
Individual specimens in large jars or cages, and other specimens in cages with foliage; simple lenses and a needle or pin.
Observations.
Butterflies may generally be distinguished from moths by their habit of holding their wings together above them when at rest, by the feelers which are knobbed at the end, and by the rather slender abdomen. Moths generally either fold their wings or hold them outstretched, their feelers are not knobbed, and their bodies are rather bulky.
Observe these points in your specimen and the colors of the upper and under sides of the wings. Find the large eyes and examine them with a lens. With the needle or pin carefully uncoil the sucking tube which you may find under the head between two shields. Note the fuzziness of the body and the "dust" which covers the wings. Examine some of this dust under a lens.
Questions.
1 Is your specimen a butterfly or a moth? Prove your statement. If possible, give the name of your specimen.
2 Write a description of your specimen—its size, general color, and special color pattern.
3 Describe the sucking tube, or "proboscis," and name some flowers from which it might obtain nectar. Try to find out how the tube is operated.
4 Why is it that moths and butterflies never bite? Do they sting? How do you think they protect themselves from enemies?
5 State how the fuzz and dust on your specimen might influence a bird's liking for it.
6 Contrast the size and usefulness of the wings of the butterfly with those of some other insect you know about; contrast their legs; state how development of one set of structures may cause another set to be simple or feeble.
7 Most moths are active by night. What explanation can you give for their large eyes and expanded feelers? Feelers of insects may be for any or all of the following: touch, taste, smell, and hearing.
Suggested drawings.
1 The butterfly or moth.
2 An antenna (feeler).
THE LIVING CATERPILLAR
Materials.
Living caterpillars in cages or covered jars for individual study, and other specimens in cages with foliage for food or concealment.
Observations.
The pupil should observe the general form and external construction of the caterpillar, watching it feeding, in action, and at rest.
Notice how the creature moves. Find its head, its segments (similar divisions of the body), and its breathing holes along the sides of the body. Try to find its eyes, any feelers, wings or paddles. Try to loosen it from its support; find the tiny hooks on the feet for clinging fast.
Questions.
1 Give the general color of your specimen and explain how this color may make it conspicuous or may aid its concealment.
2 Describe the outer surface or covering of the caterpillar. What structures, if any, are there, which might make the animal distasteful or inedible?
3 How many pairs of legs are there? How are they distributed along the body? Counting the segments, state which ones bear no legs.
4 To what extent do the legs act in locomotion? Are they mere organs for attachment while the body swings forward and backward, or do the legs do this, as in a horse? Make a complete statement.
5 Notice the openings of the internal breathing tubes. How are they protected against dust and other foreign matter?
6 Does the caterpillar seem to be a warm-blooded animal? State how the free access of air along the body would influence internal temperature.
7 What do you know about a caterpillar's appetite? How might caterpillars be beneficial or harmful? What means has nature of holding their numbers in check?
8 Recalling that caterpillars finally "sleep" for several days or weeks and awaken as winged creatures, how can you account for their appetites?
THE TUSSOCK MOTH
Materials.
Directions for the study of the caterpillar stage will