Insect Guests In Our Gardens

Near the top of the carrot plant
are two caterpillars, below them
is a - "chrysalis," and at the
bottom the adult. These are
the various stages in the life of
a black swallowtail butterfly.

       Our gardens teem with insect life. Although we gardeners do have some insect allies, it sometimes seems as though we're raising plants not for ourselves but for our uninvited insect guests. They like the roots, stems, leaves, and fruits as much as we do!

       The most common, and in many ways the most interesting, of our garden insects, is the ant. Baby ants and bees, too, are especially cared for by ant or bee nursemaids who feed and protect them until they are able to shift for themselves. They receive this special care because ants and bees are social insects among which division of labor has been developed. The "queen" attends only to the production of eggs. The rest of the colony is composed of "soldiers" and "workers." Among the workers are the nursemaids, whose sole job is to care for the young.

       Most gardeners recognize the large, ugly caterpillar called the tomato worm. When fully grown, the worm is about the size and thickness of your middle finger. It has a strange horn-like growth on its rear end and is called by some people a horn worm. This larva or caterpillar eventually turns into a moth.

       Everyone who has had a garden has watched the pretty white cabbage butterflies that flutter in and out among the plants. In a field of cabbages they may be so numerous as to make one think of a snow storm. These butterflies lay eggs that hatch into tiny green caterpillars with such ferocious appetites that they often make lace-work of the cabbage leaves and leave nothing edible for us. This thief in our gardens was introduced from Europe, and in a short time it had invaded gardens from coast to coast. Our own native cabbage worms turn into yellow butterflies.

       Have you ever looked at the grasshoppers and crickets in your garden? They come in all sizes and many colors. The young, called nymphs, are wingless. Some adults are so small they look like young insects, but the adults always have wings. It would seem that the wingless nymphs might be easy prey for their bird enemies, who like to eat them. This is not true, however, for the nymphs can protect themselves by hopping. If we could jump as well as they can, we could sail more than 600 feet at a leap.

       If you have ever combined fishing with gardening, you are no doubt well acquainted with the white grubs that are also guests in your garden. These grubs are the larvae of June beetles, and sometimes they injure the roots of our garden plants. Some of these beetle babies remain in the larval stage for two or three years. Then they grow into the big June bugs that bang against the street lights and screens in early summer.

       Perhaps some day you will find on your carrot leaves some tiny black caterpillars or some larger green ones with black markings. Here will be your chance to learn about butterflies first hand, for these are the caterpillars of the black swallowtail butterfly. If you remove several of the larvae, keep them in a screened box and give them carrot leaves to eat, they should develop into pupae. The pupa of a butterfly is called a chrysalis. It is while the insect is a chrysalis that the magical change from ugly caterpillar to beautiful butterfly takes place.

       Gardeners cannot afford to ignore the insect guests in their gardens. Watching these guests (whether they are helpful or destructive) is an interesting and profitable game for all gardeners. Whipple

The amazing transformation of a butterfly!

Craft Projects That Enhance The Learning:

• Craft a Pom-pom Caterpillar SWAPS
• Craft a Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Free Insect Coloring Pages
• Make a doll sized bee hive and bee keepers hat
• S.T.E.A.M. Basic Insect Hotels