the general name of bugs are quite
destructive in our orchards and gardens, but, for all that, they are
only eating their natural food, and although we may be very glad to
get rid of our garden bugs as a body, we can have nothing to say
against any particular bug. None of them are more to blame than the
robins and other birds, which eat our cherries and whatever else we
have that they like, and we never call a robin "horrid" because he
destroys our fruit. True, the insects exist in such great numbers that
it is absolutely necessary for us to kill as many of them as possible,
and it is very fortunate that the robins and black-birds are of so
much benefit to us that we are glad to let them live.

But all this should not make us despise the bugs any more than they
deserve, particularly as they are just as beautiful as the birds, if
we only look at them in the right way. A microscope will reveal
beauties in some of the commonest insects, which will positively
astonish those who have never before studied bugs as they ought to be
studied. The most brilliant colors, the most delicate tracery and
lace-work over the wings and bodies; often the most graceful forms and
beautifully-contrived limbs and bodies and wing-cases and antennae, are
to be seen in many bugs when they are placed beneath the glasses of
the microscope.

[Illustration: TRANSFORMATIONS OF BEETLES.]

But there are insects which do not need the aid of magnifying glasses
to show us their beauties.

Some of the Beetles, especially the large ones, are so gorgeously
colored and so richly polished that they are imitated, as closely as
Art can imitate Nature, in precious stones and worn as ornaments.

There are few living things more beautiful than a great Beetle,
glittering in resplendent green and gold, and the girl (or woman
either) who will hold one of these in her hand or let it crawl upon
her arm while she examines its varied colors, shows a capacity for
perceiving and enjoying the beauties of nature that should be envied
by those who would dash the pretty creature upon the floor,
exclaiming, "That horrid bug!"

There are many insects with which we need not desire to be too
familiar, such as Mosquitoes, Fleas, Wasps, and Bees; but when a "bug"
is harmless as well as beautiful, there is no reason why we should not
treat it as a friend. Who is afraid of a Butterfly?

And yet a Butterfly is really just as much a bug as a Beetle is. The
fact is that the term