Popular Official Guide to the New York Zoological Park (September 1915) / Thirteenth Edition

by William T. Hornaday

SECTION IV.— THE INSECTS.

THE INSECT COLLECTION.[1]

A collection of insects was formed and placed on exhibition during the early summer of 1910. While this first exhibit was not elaborate, it excited such interest that it was decided to enlarge it, by taking advantage of the season which then was at its best for insect collecting.

A series of long shelves has been built in the Pavilion between the Small-Mammal House and the Ostrich House, and thirty-five glass-fronted cages, together with a row of aquaria for aquatic specimens, were installed. A number of collecting trips were made into the country within a radius of twenty-five miles of the city, with such marked success, that by the middle of July the collection was pronounced by a number of visitors to equal in interest any exhibition of the kind heretofore attempted in this country, or in Europe. In view of the marked interest created by this display, the insect collection will hereafter be a permanent feature of the Park.

GIANT CENTIPEDE.

There are so many possibilities in exhibiting living insects that it is difficult to select groups to feature for the summer. Our efforts were first directed toward exhibiting a series of the different insects that sing, and also a series of species injurious to the interests of the agriculturists, together with a number of the insects that prey upon the noxious species. The collection of singing insects was a marked success and will hereafter be continued each summer.

We are gathering from both the Old World and the New, a fine collection of the larger silk moths. The cocoons will be shown on panels, and inasmuch as a number of the moths will be emerging daily, this exhibit should be instructive. During the winter the insect collection is made up largely of tropical species; and in this series we include the large bird-killing spiders, scorpions and centipedes, even though these creatures are not to be classified as true insects.

The collection of singing insects of the past summer was composed of the meadow locust, greater and lesser cone-headed locust, the Katy-did, broad-winged locust, field cricket, lesser field cricket, smooth-winged cricket and two species of the tree crickets. There were about five hundred specimens in the collection, and at times the noise made by them was so great that visitors had to shout to one another to make their own voices audible. The sounds coming from this collection varied according to the time of day. It was late in the afternoon, when the larger locusts commenced their singing (which continued throughout the night), and inasmuch as the strictly diurnal species were yet active, the insect chorus was quite vociferous.

It is only with considerable difficulty that singing insects are collected. The best time to capture them is at night, when the collector stalks the loudest singers, and by approaching within definite investigating distance, can accurately locate the insects by bringing into use an electric flash-lamp. The glare of the light usually causes the insect to stop its calls, but it remains motionless upon a branch or leaf and may be grasped with a delicate pair of forceps, provided the movements of the collector’s arm are performed outside the rays of light. If the locust has become silent and cannot be detected when the light is thrown upon it, the collector simply switches off the light and remains quiet. In a few minutes the creature continues its song, when its exact location is again determined. In this way the night songsters of a big meadow are collected, one by one, and the collector leaves behind him a silent field that a few hours before resounded with the stridulations of the insect chorus.

TARANTULA.

RED-WINGED LOCUST.

HERCULES BEETLE.

Among the more interesting insects exhibited, in our series are to be found the walking-stick, the praying mantis, the huge red-winged locust of the South, the Egyptian scarab, the luminous beetle of Central and South America, and broods of silk worm. The life history of the mosquito will be permanently illustrated in a series of tanks, and adjoining these an exhibit of natural enemies of these pests.

The insect collection is supplied with interesting descriptive labels. During the latter part of spring it is removed from the Reptile House, where, during the winter the number of its cages are much reduced, and replaced in the quarters occupied during the summer.