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Show j Insects First to Use Liquid Fire , j And Deadly Fumes in Warfare Observers of th ceaseless strife that preTalla In tha Inaect world hara found that thaaa liny craaturea faiada aaa through, untold aires of weapon which man hna only aucceeded In dereloplng; during; tha preaent war. - Ants apray. thalr anemlae with a burning poison. It la said,- In tha sun. way aa liquid fire la now aprayed upon tha enemy. And a little beetle, called the brachlna crepitans, defends Itself with a smoke bomb. When attacked It emlta a liquid which burata Into flame on coming into contact with the air, causing a pols-onoua pols-onoua and Irritating vapor. Over any pond In summer aeroplane battlea may be eeen, while all Insects are masters of camouflage. Moat of theae weapons are employed m alaylng for food, but later observers have found that the ant la quite aa remarkable for Ita military qualities aa for the Industry noted by Solomon. Solo-mon. Whole colonies of theae little creatures march .to war against a neighboring neat, and on a battlefield that a handkerchief would cover terrific ter-rific struggles teke place. No quarter Is asked or given; defeat means slsverv r Tn, t tn model worker, but ha lives under Iron military discipline. Raids are planned when the aupply of workers runs short. Scouts are rrri on Jn annc to Py out th ti' Vdh'n ,h mrny ordered forward. No time Is wasted In prep aration, for each fighter haa his weapons always at hand. Tha attaok does not begin until the entire force la In position and tha enemy stronghold strong-hold la surrounded. Out swarm the besieged, many with their young la tMelr mouths, In an effort to break through the advancing line. Often this falls and then the struggle begins. The burning poison Is brought Into play, but the chief weapon of the ant la his mandibles. With thaaa a fatal wound may be delivered or a ellghter one Inflicted, Into which polaon la Injected. Some amear their enemies with a thick. 111 smelling liquid. When tha battle la over the victors depart, each bearing a wounded enemy or 4Ki.k cocoon. Many of the cocoons arew eaten, but from tha others tha young are hatched and forced Into alavery. One ancient writer even aaeerta that the victora bury their own dead, but leave tha enemy slain lying on tha field. This predatory Instinct haa been' taken advantage of by melon growers of California in fighting a destructive scale which threatened their crops. Every Insect hss its speclsl enemy. sad a wnln ml amis la tha daealu foe of this scale. Huge numbers, of these little Insects are gathered in the Slerraa during the winter, their hibernating hiber-nating aeaaon. and carefully stored until spring, when they are distributed throughout the melon flelda to protect them against the enemy. |