- Female Turkey Buzzard Dining
- Red-winged Blackbird’s Nest
- Mexican Wild Turkey
- Nest of American Osprey
- Home of Bob White
- Ruffed Grouse in Spring-time
- American Woodcock
- Female Piping Plover
- Common Box Tortoise
- Summer Ducks and Young
- Summer Green Snake
- Water Snake
- Mother Black Snake
- Northern Rattlesnake
- Common American Toad
Toad swallowing an insect - Common American eel
- Rana Clamata, or Green Frog
- Black-nosed Dace
- Nest of Common Sun-fish
- Leaf-Cutter Bee at Work
Two Tunnels Being Filled With Leaf-Cells. You should see the little creature in her never-tiring work of preparing material for her nest. In and out among the roses she goes, examining each leaf with the most critical care, and only desisting from her labor when a suitable one has been chosen. She scans it over and over, and at last from a position on its upper or nether surface proceeds to cut a piece just fitted for her work, which, heavy as it seems, is seized between the legs and jaws and carried on swiftly-agitated wings to her burrow. Ten pieces or more, each differing in shape, are cut and borne away, which the ingenious insect tailor twists and folds, the one within the other, until is formed a funnel-like cone, whose end is narrower than its mouth. So perfectly joined are the parts, that even when dry they have been found to retain their form and integrity. A cake of honey and pollen, for the use of some yet unborn Leaf-cutter, is deposited within, and on this, in due time, is laid a single small egg. Nought now remains but to wall up the cell. A circle of leaf, of the size of the opening, is cut, and this is closely adjusted within the wall of rolled-up leaves. Sometimes as many as four pieces are thus utilized. A second cell, similarly built, is fitted to the first, and this is succeeded by eight or ten others. When all is completed, the eggs being laid and the cells all victualled, the hole of the shaft is closed with the earth that was thrown out, and so carefully, too, that not a trace of her doings remains to tell us the story. - Mourning-Cloak Butterfly
Larva Feeding on Willow Leaf, and Chrysalis Suspended from Twig. - Neglecta Butterfly
Larva Feeding on Central Florets of Actinomeris, and Guarded by Ants. - Pseudargiolus Butterfly
Larva Feeding on Bud of Black Snakeroot, and Guarded by Ants. But now comes the most remarkable part of the larval history of Pseudargiolus. The whole upper part of the larva is covered with small, glassy, star-shaped processes, scarcely raised above the surrounding surface, from the centre of which spring short, filamentous bodies, bristling with feathery-looking tentacles, which the caterpillar has the power of protruding at will. It throws them out like the tentacles of Papilio or the horns of snails. More singular still is an opening upon the eleventh segment, placed transversely and surrounded by a raised cushion, about which the granulations that cover the body of the caterpillar are particularly dense. From the middle of this opening, which is shaped like a button-hole, issues, at the caterpillar’s will, a sort of transparent, hemispherical vesicle, from which is emitted a good-sized drop of fluid, which the animal is capable of reproducing when absorbed. - Violacea Butterfly
Larva, Protected by Ants, Feeding on Flower-buds of Dogwood. Why this species, and doubtless many others of its family, are thus favored, will soon be apparent. Ants may be seen wherever these larvæ may be found, ever ready to receive the honeyed secretion when it pleases the little creatures to eject it, but all the while exercising the closest vigilance lest some wary ichneumon may come along and deal a thrust of its ovipositor, which means misery and ultimate death to their helpless friends. So intent is the larva, with its head buried in the flower, upon its feeding, and so quietly and stealthily does the ichneumon approach its intended victim, that hardly a single individual would be left to tell the story of its existence were it not for the ants. The larvæ know their protectors, it would seem from their actions, and are able and willing to reward their services. The advantage is mutual, and the association friendly. No compelling by rough means on the one part is noticeable, and no reluctant yielding on the other. All demonstrations made by the ants are of the most gentle character. They caress, entreat, and as they drink in the sweet fluid, lifting their heads to prolong the swallowing, they manifest to the utmost their satisfaction and delight. It is amusing to see them lick away the last trace, caressing the back of the segment with their antennæ as they do so, as though they were coaxing for a little more. - American Luna Moth
Larva on Branch Below, and Cocoon on Twig Just Above. No insect affords a better proof of high art in nature, and of the transcendent beauty of the Creator’s thoughts, than the Luna moth, which is as preëminent above her fellows as her namesake, the fair empress of the sky, above the lesser lights that dominate the night. Her elegant robes of green, set off with trimmings of purple, and jewelled with diamonds, added to her queenly grace and personal charms, will always distinguish her from the profanum vulgus of the articulata. - House-builder Moth
Young in House, Winged Male, Young Suspended and Bag-like Female in Longitudinally-Split Cocoon. During the winter the curious weather-beaten bags of these worms may be observed hanging from the tree-branches, apparently without a trace of the odd-looking creatures that hung them there the autumn before. If a number of these bags are gathered and cut open at this time, many of them will be discovered to be empty, but the greater portion will be found partly full of yellow eggs. Those which do not contain eggs are male bags, and the empty chrysalis of the male will be found protruding from the lower extremity. Upon close examination these eggs will be observed to be obovate in form, soft and opaque, about one-twentieth of an inch in length, and surrounded by more or less fawn-colored silky down. If left to themselves, they hatch sometime in May, or early in June. - Brachinus Pursued by an Enemy
His Curious and Unique Method of Defence. But it is not so much his odd shape as a most extraordinary property he possesses, which is singularly unique in the animal kingdom, that makes him an object of interest and curiosity. Deep down in his most marvellous body a fluid, highly volatile in its nature, is elaborated, which the little creature can retain or expel at his pleasure. It is only, however, when alarmed that he utilizes this fluid in small quantities in defense, but its effect is wonderful, for in coming into contact with the atmosphere it immediately volatilizes and explodes, looking very much like a discharge of powder from a miniature artillery. In consequence of this phenomenon the insect which produces it is popularly called the Bombardier Beetle. - Common Tiger Beetle
Larvæ in Burrows. Two Other Species in Background. They are true children of the earth. The eggs are laid in the earth, and in the earth the grubs are hatched, and in the earth they spend their days, and in the earth they prepare their shrouds, and, wrapped therein, sleep their pupa-sleep through the long, dreary winter, and with the returning warmth of spring crawl out of their earthy chambers to run and sport on earth, seldom using their new-formed wings to fly away from their beloved mother. - Nest of Lasius
Neuters About Their Work. It was on an occasion while exploring a neighboring thicket for the objects of his search, that he discovered, underneath a large flat stone which he had raised, a nest of a small red ant, which he took to be the Lasius flavus of the books. The ground was covered all over with pits, and divers communicating roads, and round about were hundreds of ants, larvæ in various stages of development, pupæ and eggs, and innumerous flocks of a white aphis, all of which were being tenderly cared for by a large army of thoughtful nurses. - Blossom of Cucurbita
Mother-Aphis and Her Army of Children on Tube Whilst engaged some few years ago in the study of the species that affects the blossoms of one of our gourds—the Cucurbita ovifera of botanists—certain phenomena were observed, which promised an easy and speedy solution of the problem. Gathered in compact masses, like companies of soldiery preparing for a foray, hundreds of aphides were seen, busily feeding, all over the flowers. There were old and young, not an indiscriminate mingling of ages and sizes, but an orderly arrangement of families, each family preceded by its own appropriate head. First came the very young of each family, only to be followed by those that were older, leaving the oldest of all to lead up the rear. - Dome-like House of Cicada
Longitudinal Section Showing Pupa in Two Positions. In localities where the soil is low and swampy, a remarkable chamber is built up by the larva, where the pupa may be found awaiting the time of its change to the winged state. These chambers were first noticed by S. S. Rathvon, at Lancaster, Pa., and are from four to six inches above the ground, and have a diameter of one inch and a quarter. When ready to emerge the insect backs down to an opening which is left in the side of the structure on a level with the surface of the ground, issues forth and undergoes its transformation in the usual manner. This peculiar habit of nest-building, which is so unlike what is customary with the Cicadidæ, or with Hemiptera in general, points to a high degree of intelligence among these insects, showing a remarkable ability to adapt themselves to environing circumstances. - Lepismas at Work
Living in chinks and crannies of ranges in our homes, and occasionally in bookcases and closets where glutinous and sugary matters abound, but which has probably not been met with elsewhere, is a strange but beautiful little creature which, as far as can be determined, goes through the brief round of its existence without a name to distinguish it from its fellows. Few entomologists have given any special attention to its family relationships. The possession of certain bristle-like appendages which terminate the abdomen, and which are no doubt comparable with the abdominal legs of the Myriopods, or Thousand Legs, classes it with the Bristle-tails, or Lepismas. In general form, a likeness to the larva of Perla, a net-veined neuropterous insect, is manifest, or to the narrow-bodied species of Blattariæ, or Cockroaches, when divested of wings. - Seventeen-year Cicada
Adult, Chrysalis-Case, Pupa, Entrances to Burrows and Egg-Nests. In the winged state Cicada septendecim is of a black color, with transparent wings and wing-covers, the thick anterior edge and veins of which being orange-red. Near the tips of the latter there is a dusky zig-zag line which resembles in shape the letter W. The eyes, when living, are also red, while the legs are a dull orange, which color is conspicuous along the edges of the rings of the body. The wings expand from two and a half to three and a quarter inches. - Agalena and Her Funnel-Web
Agalenidæ, as our funnel-web weavers are called, are long-legged, brown spiders, in which the head part of the cephalo-thorax is higher than the thoracic part, and distinctly separated from it by grooves or marks at the sides. The eyes are usually in two rows, but in Agalena the middle eyes of both rows are much higher than the others. The feet have three claws, and the posterior pairs of spinnerets are two-jointed and usually longer than the others. Agalena nævia, the technical name of our Common Grass Spider, abounds in all parts of the United States, but its very commonness is the principal reason why it is so little known except by the trained naturalist, its very familiarity leading the average man and woman to look upon it with contempt. - Fiddler-Crabs
Among our first acquaintances of the sea-shore are sure to be a number of merry little sprites which do not seem to have yet mastered the lesson of walking straight ahead. Their movements will be seen to be in a direction at right angles to that towards which the head points. It is a very interesting sight to watch these apparently one-sided creatures hurrying off in their lateral progression towards their burrows in the sand or mud, or in quest of food. Pass them, and you will be surprised to see how quickly some of them will reverse their motion, seemingly without so much as pausing to glance at their pursuer, their machinery appearing to have given out at one end, thus compelling them to reverse and travel back over their old courses. - Warty Hermit-Crabs
Differing widely in structure and habits from the Calling-crabs, and affecting watery situations near the shore, are to be found the Hermit-crabs. These sprightly little animals, which are usually of small size, and have truly habits of their own, that stamp them at once as being original and distinctive, are a source of never-failing delight to the student of nature. They derive their name, as is well known, from the seclusion into which they cast themselves as the inhabitants of the shells of other animals, but it is probably not generally known, however, that the rights of tenantry are oftentimes exercised in the most arbitrary manner. Not always satisfied with a dead shell, the Hermit-crab has been seen to raid upon a living possessor and attempt to drag him from his home, in which operation the assailant is often assisted by a number of his fellows, each bearing with him his castle as defensive armor. True, the attack is probably made in many instances for the purpose of getting possession of the enemy as well as his belongings, and, however this may be, forcible possession is by them considered no misdemeanor. - Common Earth-worms
Earth-worms are found throughout the world. Though few in genera, and not many in species, yet they make up in individual numbers, for it has been estimated that they average about one hundred thousand to the acre. Our American species have never been monographed, which renders it impossible to judge of their probable number. Their castings may be seen on commons, so as to cover almost entirely their surface, where the soil is poor and the grass short and thin, and they are almost as numerous in some of our parks where the grass grows well and the soil appears rich. - Star-fish Opening an Oyster
When first seen stranded on the shore the Star-fish, by the uninitiated, is thought to be a creature incapable of movement of any kind. But this is far from being the case, for in its native element it moves along the bottom of the sea with the greatest ease, being provided with an apparatus specially adapted for the purpose. Ordinarily its arms are kept upon the same level, but in passing over obstacles that lay in its path, the animal has the power of raising any one of its several arms. Elevations are ascended with the same[42] ease and facility as progression on plane surfaces is effected. - Fresh-Water Hydra
In fresh-water ponds, attached by its base to the under surfaces of aquatic plants, may be found a very small animal, just large enough to be seen without the aid of a lens, usually pale green, but sometimes of a brown color. This is our common hydra, technically called Hydra fusca. It is nothing more than a tube or sac, with a sucker at one end to hold on with, and a mouth at the other, surrounded with[37] from five to eight hollow tentacles or feelers, which opens into a central cavity or stomach. Firm and muscular are the walls of the sac, so that the little creature, which is not fixed permanently to whatever it is found clinging to, may stretch itself out or draw back as its own volition dictates, or move slowly along by means of its sucker, or float easily or contentedly upon the water. But the most remarkable, as well as the most interesting thing about this odd creature is the power which it possesses of overcoming animals more powerful and active than itself. - Protomyxa Feeding
Quite as interesting among the Moners, to which the Finger Slime belongs, is the Protomyxa aurantiaca, a shapeless bit of transparent matter, containing merely circulating granules. Locomotion is effected by extending the body into pseudopodia, or false feet, and contracting them. Its movement is slow and gliding. When at rest it appears as a mere lump of jelly, but its whole demeanor changes when in the presence of a living animal suited for food. Fine threads immediately begin to shoot out from all sides, which fuse about the unsuspecting prey, while all the little grains in the slime[34] course to and fro. For five or six hours the little fellow hugs closely round the prey until it has become thoroughly absorbed, at least the nutritious parts, into its body-mass, when it draws itself away, or back into its original place, leaving by its side the skeleton of its late victim. Without eyes or ears or parts of any kind it knows how to find its food; without muscles or limbs it is able to seize it; without a mouth it can suck out its living body, and without a stomach it can digest the food in the midst of its own slime, and cast out the parts for which it has no use. - Round-Leaved Sundew
Growing in poor peaty soil, and sometimes along the borders of ponds where nothing else can grow, certain low herbaceous plants, called Droseras, abound. So small and apparently insignificant are they, that to the ordinary observer they are almost unnoticed. But they have peculiarities of structure and nature that readily distinguish them. Scattered thickly over their leaves are reddish bristles or tentacles, each surmounted by a gland, from which an extremely viscid fluid, sparkling in the sunlight like dew, exudes in transparent drops. Hence the common name of Sundew by which the half-dozen species found in the United States east of the Mississippi River are known. A one-sided raceme, whose flowers open only when the sun shines, crowns a smooth scape, which is devoid of tentacles. Drosera rotundifolia, our commonest species, has a wide range, being indigenous to both Europe and America. In the United States it extends from New England to Florida and westward, and is occasionally associated with Drosera longifolia, a form with long strap-shaped leaves, but whose distribution is mostly restricted to maritime regions, from Massachusetts to Florida. - Venus’s Fly-trap
No better example of carnivorous plants could be taken than Dionæa muscipula, or to use the common name, Venus’s Fly-trap. It is a species that is indigenous to North Carolina and the adjacent parts of South Carolina, affecting sandy bogs in the pine forests from April to June, and a representative of the Droscraceæ, or Sundew Family. One cannot fail after once seeing it of becoming impressed with its peculiar characteristics. It is a smooth perennial herb with tufted radical leaves on broadly-winged, spatulate stems, the limb orbicular, notched at both ends, and fringed on the margins with strong bristles. From the centre of the rosette of leaves proceeds at the proper time a scape or leafless stalk which terminates in an umbel-like cyme of from eight to ten white bracted flowers, each flower being one inch in diameter. The roots are small and consist of two branches each an inch in length springing from a bulbous enlargement. Like an epiphytic orchid, these plants can be grown in well-drained damp moss without any soil, thus showing that the roots probably serve for the absorption of water solely. Three minute pointed processes or filaments, placed triangularly, project from the upper surface of each lobe of the bi-lobed leaf, although cases are observed where four and even ten filaments are found. These filaments are remarkable for their extreme sensitiveness to touch, as shown not only by their own movement, but by that of the lobes also. Sharp, rigid projections, diminutive spikes as it were, stand out from the leaf-margins, each of which being entered by a bundle of spiral vessels. They are so arranged that when the lobes close they interlock like the teeth of an old-fashioned rat-trap. That considerable strength may be had, the mid-rib of the leaf, on the lower side, is quite largely developed. - Era of Mind and Heart
- Palæolithic Men Attacking Cave Bear
- Carboniferous Times
- Mesozoic Flora and Fauna
- Evidence of Conjugal Affection
- Life in the Primordial Sea
- Exhibition of Grandeur
- Four Orphaned Robins
- Mated for Life
- Papier-Maché Palace of the Hornet
- Unsolicited and Unlooked-for Kindness
- Seedling of Winter Grape
- Tip of Radicle of Seedling Maple
- Wonderful Equine Intelligence
- Australian at Home
- Jack at Dinner
- Representative Life of Western Asia
- My Dog Frisky