Show I 1 ilAl D WA 0 EC T WO L ae HAROLD BANIN 4 61 X at i OST people believe that all insects FM 1 are very small and in a certain sense this Is true for or the largest known insect appears diminutive when contrasted with the vast bulk ot of such a creature as a whale or an elephant but this is hardly a fair comparison because insects j are in every way dissimilar to vertebrate animals having developed along entirely different lines in place of physical hugeness we find amazing delicacy of structure and adjustment and it if we liken the vertebrate to a locomotive engine the insect must be represented by a ladys watch to complete the metaphor in fine in has been the watchword of 0 insect evolution nevertheless thel th eless esq when judged in their own sphere insects display a remarkable iange range ot of size take for example the beetles the largest living representatives of the clan are the Gol latho ot of africa and the Mega somas of 0 tropical south america A fair sized male specimen of the latter measures tour four and a halt half inches from rom the tip ot of the horn to the extremity of the abdomen the male ot of the hercules beetle also ot of south america may be two inches or more longer siut but well nigh halt half its length Is made up by the great hornlike process which springs from its th thorax oraie A good idea of 0 these beetles huge proportions may be gained by placing one ot of them side by side with a common two spot ladybird yet the ladybird Is by no means a small beetle as beetles go comparisons no less striking may be made among the moths the largest british moth is the deaths head a truly noble insect with a wing expanse ot of four our and a halt half inches but its proportions are sadly dwarfed when we contrast them with the huge owl moth the of 0 science which Is not uncommon in many parts ot of south america it may measure ten inches or more across then there Is the giant atlas moth from rom india which may measure as much as a toot foot from rom tip to tip of 0 the fore ore for the sake of 0 fa a mil larity we may place the little clothes moth of 0 our wardrobes at the other end of the scale though it Is not by any means the smallest ot of its kind the atlas and the owl moths mentioned above have larger wings than any other living insects so tar far as Is known but they are not the largest flying insects on record for some of the extinct dragon flies of the carboniferous boni ferous period measured two feet across the wings the largest british dragon fly with a wing expanse of 0 four our inches Is a py pygmy amy contrasted size tor for size with one of 0 its gigantic gantic gt prehistoric ancestors among the largest existing insects must be reckoned the giant water bugs some borne of which attain a length of nearly five inches in the united stats states these insects are known popularly as electric light bugs because they have the habit at night of gf leaving the pools and lakes where they get their living and flying around arc lamps especially when these are high buildings the mounted upon british water scorpion Is a well known denizen ot of ponds and sluggish streams it belongs to the same faan aro bugs besides which lly y as the giant it may fairly be termed terme d a dwarf the longest ol of living insects are found among the ids or walking sticks some attain nine cine inches from head bead to tall while if the out tr etched legs are included the measurement Is m much uch greater two of these strange insects are in marked contrast with a stag beetle the largest british beetle by the way clearly these lda ids are long drawn out in a very literal sense of the phrase but a few of the species are much heavier in build this la Is the case with the very remarkable creature known as Eury cantha dorrida from australia it Is not only long but bulky and what with its hard armor plate integument and formold 0 swit vast ivr jo 70 caws able array of prickles brickles pr ickles it looks a decidedly dangerous customer ono one la is relieved to learn that its tastes are exclusively vegetarian the vast majority ot of the hymenoptera the ants bees wasps and their relatives are comparatively small insects but among the solitary spider killing wasps we find some notable exceptions some of these giants measure two inches or more from head to tall and withal ara are exceptionally strong and vigorous insects the largest species are found in south america where they deal death and destruction to the spider population even the formidable bird eating spider a grim and hairy monster with fearsome fangs Is attacked and destroyed it should be noted that these wasps do not themselves eat the spiders that they kill but store them away in cunningly contrived nests for the benefit of their young our little vl aticus unfortunately it has no popular name behaves in precisely the same way but naturally chooses s spiders proportionate to its own size even in this instance however the spider Is usually several times heavier than assy so the wasp itself for these dwarfs of the insect world are by no meant meana weaklings wea klings but on the contrary possess posses marvelous muscular force and what certainly Is a well nigh inexhaustible fund of energy probably most insects are stronger and more enduring in proportion tc their size than any of the higher ant mals they are always active and apparently quite beyond the reach ol OJ fatigue while life lasts but ceaseless rapid movement imposes a serious tax upon the he machinery consequently we w find that the insect Is almost alwart alfaye short lived it Is said that the worker hive bee literally wears herself out and dies after a few weeks of toll for of the commonwealth in which she plays this brief part |