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Presents...
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3 Check It Out! 4 The Praying Mantis 6 Good Eats 7 This Web I Spin 8 Hear a Bug Stomping Around 9 Max & Gracie 10 Puzzles 12 Tagging Monarch Butterflies 14 The Little Girl Who Eats Bugs 18 The Worm’s Bag 19 Assassin Bug 20 Six-Legged Musicians 22 10 Little Facts 24 Water Bug Circus 25 Nature’s Papermakers 26 Cowboy Ants 27 Lots of Legs 28 Buggy Funnies 29 Kids Corner 30 Puzzle Solutions
If you could be a bug for a day, which would you choose? If you were a tiny bug, you wouldn’t want to turn your back on a praying mantis, or you might end up as lunch. There are over a trillion different bugs. Some are insects, which usually have six legs. Imagine being a beautiful black and orange monarch butterfly. You would be able to fly over 1000 miles. If you were a spider, you could spin awesome webs. A water bug is a good choice if you like to swim. Some water bugs can walk on the water. Others swim on their backs. Many insects have special talents. There are farmer ants and musical bugs. With so many bugs to choose from, you may have a hard time deciding. After you read this issue, let us know which bug you would be for a day. It might be one included here, or it might be another. You can write or email us your answer. You can even send us a picture you drew. We will include your answer in a future issue and send you a surprise for telling us! Take your magazine outside. Settle down in a cozy spot. While you are reading, a curious little bug may come by to visit. A butterfly might even land on your shoulder. How cool would that be? Send your answers or drawings to Kids Corner, PO Box 227, Bluffton, OH 45817-0227, or email us at kidscorner@funforkidz.com.
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by Susan Nagle-Schwartz
Someone may be hiding in your backyard. Large eyes on a triangular head peer out from behind a leaf. A slim light-green or tan body is perched on a twig. The body, blending in with its surroundings, makes him a master of disguise. Who is that lurking in the bushes? He is a praying mantis, hiding and waiting for his next meal. To him, summertime is one long picnic. Butterflies, spiders, bees, flies, and beetles all make their appearance during the warm summer months. What a feast! You might catch a glimpse of him patiently waiting for his meal to arrive. If you do, he will be standing on four slender hind legs, with two thicker front legs folded upward as if in prayer. This pose gives the “praying” mantis his name. While he stands quietly, large eyes beneath two threadlike antennae watch for movement – a signal that his meal is close by. Keen vision allows him to easily find his prey. After locating his target, he uses his two powerful front legs to pounce with lightning speed. Rows of spikes on the front legs grip the insect, while strong mouthparts chew away.
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As he finishes his meal, he sees movement behind him. A long neck gives him the ability to look over his shoulder. Could that beetle be dessert? He follows the beetle’s movement. The praying mantis stalks, then pounces . . . and the beetle is gone! It didn’t even see what was coming. You can’t turn your back on a praying mantis. All of this eating can only lead to one thing – growth. As we grow, we outgrow our clothes. When the praying mantis grows, he outgrows his body. The outer covering becomes so tight, he bursts through it, and it is shed, or molted. The inner layer of his body hardens and becomes the new outer covering. Eating his way through the summer, the praying mantis might shed his outer covering five to ten times. His former body is left behind, hidden among the leaves and twigs. The female praying mantis also spends her summer munching and molting. But when fall approaches, she leaves something behind that only she can. She lays a white foamy liquid along a branch or twig. Within the foam are up to 400 eggs. The white foam hardens into a tan-colored papier-mâché-like oval case. The eggs remain in this protective case through the winter. If you go for a walk, you might see what appears to be a small walnut attached to a twig. It might not be a walnut, but a praying mantis’s egg case. Who is hiding in your backyard? It is a praying mantis. Whether summer, fall, winter, or spring, it quietly leaves clues to its existence throughout the year.
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by Kathlyn Gay Charoenkrung.Studio99/Shutterstock.com
“Good eats,” you might say after bolting down a piece of your favorite pizza. But would you say the same about banana worm bread or chocolate-covered grasshoppers? How about grasshopper tortillas with stink bug salsa? Believe it or not, these and other insect foods are part of the diets of at least 2 billion – yes, that’s billion – people around the world. Hundreds of species of insects and bugs are considered “good eats.” They provide high levels of protein, minerals, and vitamins.
This boy is enjoying a bamboo worm and crispy insect chocolate wafer bar. For thousands of years, people have eaten locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers. Early in American history, some Native Americans ate fly pupae that washed up along a lakeshore. The worm-like creatures were gathered and dried in the sun. Then they were mixed with seeds or acorns to make a bread. Today bugs are traditional foods in many African, Asian, and Latin American countries. North Americans generally are not entomophagists (en ta MOFF a jists). That’s a tongue-twisting term for people who regularly eat insects or bugs. Many of us have been taught that insects and bugs are pests that destroy crops or cause diseases. Many bugs bite or sting. So just the idea of eating them can be stomach-churning. Even with the “yuck” factor, scientists say that in the future, insects will be a food source for people. Why? Because already nearly 1 billion people around the world have little or no food. That number will rise as the world’s population grows. It won’t be easy to feed so many people. Eating bugs and insects can help. New companies now sell foods such as cricket protein bars and macaroons made with roasted crickets. You can find insect products online or in local stores and restaurants in some states. So, are you ready for waxworm tacos or BBQ-dipped insects?
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Don’t be tempted to gather and prepare insects from your backyard! Some insects are poisonous. To try insect-based foods, buy them from bug-eating and insect-farming experts. They know which creatures are safe and healthy to eat.
by Ken Tapp A six-legged breakfast would taste mighty fine. So I’ll spin me a web – now, where shall I dine? By flowers with pollen the bugs will come crawlin’, Then into my web those bugs will be fallin’. When shall I spin my silk so fine As I design this web of mine? In the dark of the night with the stars as my light, It will hang like a curtain, all slinky and bright. What’s that sparkle I see when my spinning is done, As the night runs and hides at the sight of the sun? It’s my newfangled, dew-spangled web-site that shines. Do come in, little bugs. I am ready to dine. Who will visit this web I have spun To join me for breakfast or swing in the sun?
Maybe bugs that have wings and bugs that have stings And other bug things a summer breeze brings. What shape is my web when their visits are done, And my web doesn’t look like it did when first spun? It’s tattered . . . it’s scattered. It’s splattered with bugs. It’s saggy . . . it’s baggy from too many tugs. My web’s all a mess, now what shall I do As the night tip-toes back with the stars and the dew? I shall weave it again, spinning out, spinning in, And a tidy new web I shall mend and re-spin. But . . . Where shall I spin the web I spin As I begin to spin . . . Again?!
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Hear a Bug Stomping Around There are many sounds too tiny for us to hear. Usually this is good. Imagine how noisy the world would be if we heard snowflakes crashing on the ground, or everyone’s heart beating, or the sounds of all the insects clomping around on their six legs. Scientists have heard these sounds, but they had to use amplifiers to help their ears. You can make an amplifier very easily, and you can hear some tiny sounds too.
YOU WILL NEED:
• a clean, empty Styrofoam cup
• a piece of clear plastic wrap, large enough to cover the mouth of the cup • a rubber band • an insect
NOTE: You will have to catch the insect for this experiment. It can be a fly, grasshopper, a cricket, or any kind of insect you don’t mind catching. Of course, DO NOT catch a bee or a wasp or any kind of insect that can sting or bite you.
HOW TO HEAR YOUR INSECT STOMPING AROUND Go somewhere that is VERY, VERY quiet. Press the side of the cup against your ear and hold it very still. Listen carefully. Insects have six legs and six feet. You should be able to hear all of those feet stomping around. Of course, they are very tiny sounds, so you won’t hear STOMP, STOMP, STOMP, STOMP, STOMP, STOMP. If you listen very carefully, you will hear tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick . . . and it will be the insect walking. You have heard a sound very few people have heard.
HOW DOES IT WORK? An amplifier is something that makes sounds louder. If you tap a stick on the floor, it makes a small sound. If you tap the same stick on a drum, it makes a loud sound. A drum is a sound amplifier.
WHAT TO DO:
1. Put the insect in the cup.
2. Quickly cover the mouth of the cup with the plastic wrap.
3. Snap the rubber band around the plastic wrap and the cup to hold the plastic wrap in place.
4. After doing this experiment, release the insect back where you caught it. Don’t forget to thank it for helping you do this experiment.
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The Styrofoam cup acts like the drum. When the insect walks on it, the Styrofoam acts like the drumhead, and the insect’s feet act like the stick.
Charlotte, North Carolina 4:15 PM Warm, with a nice breeze Max and Gracie and their owners, Linda, Craig, and their seven-year-old son, Ed, are driving the back roads of America. Perhaps you have seen Max and Gracie with their heads out the window. If not, here is a letter describing their most recent adventure.
when a cloud of mosquitoes er fun time catching two balls, We’re at the park, having a sup attacks Ed, Gracie, and me. Gracie barks, “This way.” e it out to a clearing, where ll dirt path in the woods. We mak sma a n dow her w follo I and Ed . quito population seems normal the sun is shining, and the mos delicious. I wiggle in the dirt e rare blood type that makes us Gracie wonders if we have som elf of 1000 itches. on my backside, trying to rid mys way on the other side of the s we were playing with all the Ed realizes he’s left the two ball quitoes just to retrieve the him to go back and face the mos in it has he if w kno sn’t doe park. He steal our ball! other. No mosquito is going to balls. Gracie and I look at each oes that seem to have balls. Gracie air bites the mosquit the find kly quic and k bac run We a muffled bark, s in my mouth and give Gracie ball h bot up pick I . nds usa tho multiplied by the go. letting her know we’re good to y to go back to the hotel. By the time we return, Ed is read favorite sport is?” , do you know what a mosquito’s That night, Gracie asks, “Hey, Max Gracie.” “Mosquitoes don’t play sports, a diver?” it? Like a skydiver or a deep-se “They sure do – skin diving. Get “Oh, Gracie.”
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by David Lindo
Find the letters described by the fraction given in each statement. Print the letters you select, in the order provided, into the boxes to answer the riddle. What did you find? Were you surprised?
by Guy Belleranti
1. Why was the bug always late?
To find the answer, cross out all the BUGS in the puzzle below. Write the remaining letters, in order, in the boxes.
BUGSHBUGSISCLOBUGSBUGSCKR
The last 1/4 of DRAG The first 1/2 of RASCAL The last 1/2 of DISH The middle 1/2 of ROPE The middle 1/5 of HAPPY The first 1/3 of ERMINE
OBUGSABUGSCHWBUGSASOBUGSU BUGSTOBUGSBUGSFTICBUGSKS
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2. What bug always knows who’s winning a game?
What do you get if you feed a frog green four-leaf clovers?
Coded answer:
U I F
T D P S F-Q J P O
To decode the answer, write the letter that comes before the letters given in the boxes.
FINISH START
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1. What game do young bees like to play?
by Guy Belleranti
by Steve Gordon
S o l ve t h e Bee Riddles
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To find the answer, decode the following by writing the letters that come before the letters given:
IJWF BOE TFFL
ŠLiz Ball www.hiddenpicturepuzles.com
ŠLiz Ball
2. Who watches baby bees when the parents are away? To find the answer, unscramble the following three words:
EEB EBE TSETRIS
bell cup mug nail pants flag knife tiger donut boot envelope baton 2 birds arrow pizza slice dipper wooden shoe football bowling pin 2 tepees music note
by Evelyn B. Christensen
Fill in the squares so that each row, column, and 7-square section has the letters L-A-D-Y-B-U-G.
3. What do you call a male worker bee? To find the answer, decode the following Numbers by using the BEE CODEBOOK:
7 351129866479 BEE CODEBOOK 7 = A 2 = I 6 = S 3 = B 4 = M 5 = U 8 = E 9 = N 1 = Z
Catch the Answers on Page 30.
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by Mary Humecke You can do the important and exciting work of a scientist in your own backyard! During late summer through fall, monarch butterflies travel across large areas of North America. Scientists want to understand more about monarch migration. Citizen-scientists just like you have helped by tagging over 1 million monarch butterflies. In the last 30 years, the monarch population has gone down a lot. They are now an endangered species. Over 1 million monarchs were counted in the winter of 1998. Just 17 years later, in 2015, only 272,000 were counted. One reason for this is the destruction of the milkweed plant. Monarchs lay their eggs on this plant, and it is the only thing monarch caterpillars will eat. Also, acres of trees in the Mexican forest, where many monarchs go for the winter, have been cut down. Monarch butterflies are different from other butterflies. They migrate thousands of miles each year. To help protect monarchs during migration, the Monarch Joint Venture was created. The MJV includes over 50 groups from all over the US. They are on a mission to learn as much about monarchs as they can. Each group has people who track monarchs and organize tagging events during migration. It takes a lot of people to protect these butterflies. The best time to find monarch butterflies is on warm, sunny days in the morning or late afternoon. The bright orange and black colors of a monarch make them easy to spot. During a tagging event, you find out how to tell a monarch from other look-alike butterflies. You learn how to tell if a monarch is male or female and how to sneak up on one slowly from behind, so it doesn’t see you. You will be taught how to hold the butterfly and how to place the tag on its wing. Then you simply let the butterfly fly away. Congratulations! You just tagged your first monarch. photo by Jackson Parr
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Rose, 8, releases a tagged monarch butterfly at The Ridges Sanctuary.
A monarch caterpillar eating a milkweed plant
A tagged monarch
How far will your monarch travel? Do you think your butterfly will fly to Mexico or California? Monarch butterflies may look fragile, but they are very strong. They fly even in the wind and rain. When monarchs arrive at their winter location in California or Mexico, they bunch together in big clumps on tree limbs and branches. When a tagged monarch is found and reported in a distant location, it is called a recovery. The MJV has recorded over 16,000 monarch butterfly recoveries.
You Can Tag a Monarch! Would you like to help scientists protect an endangered species? With a parent, learn about Monarch Joint Venture online at: monarchjointventure.org/about-us/partners To discover monarch tagging events near you, go to: monarchjointventure.org/get-involved
A monarch butterfly’s location is written down when it is first tagged. Recovered butterflies tell us how far they traveled. The distances that monarchs fly during migration can be amazing. In February 2016, a female monarch was recovered near Macheros, Mexico, after flying 1158 miles from her Albuquerque, New Mexico, tagging location. That’s a long way to fly! Monarch tagging is a team activity. So find a friend and a butterfly net, and join in the fun at a tagging event near where you live.
Bunching together during winter helps the monarchs keep warm.
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by Chris Sabatino
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by Cathie R. Wallace In the air, about face level, hovered a bee. Looking closer, I saw it was smaller than a bee and covered with tiny leaves. It seemed to be caught in a spider’s web floating in the air. One end of the web was attached to my swing. But it wasn’t a bee or a spider. What was it? I sent in a picture of the creature to the agriculture extension office. They thought it was a bagworm. Bagworms can be real pests in areas of the United States. They eat the leaves from trees and, if there are too many bagworms, the trees will die. Hatchlings, or caterpillars, start out small enough to be carried away by the wind. Or they stick to other animals that take them to other plants. Birds and wasps are two natural enemies of the bagworm. To protect themselves, bagworms build a house around themselves. Bagworms produce silk and use it to create a bag-house. They attach small leaves, tiny pieces of bark, seeds, or whatever is close by to the silk bag. An adult bagworm’s home may end up being over 2-1/2 inches long. Mature males develop into moths and fly away to find females. The adult female is sightless, wingless, and lacks useful legs and mouth parts. She is worm-like and doesn’t leave the house that she constructed when she was a larva. In the fall, after depositing 500 to 1000 eggs in her bag, she crawls out of the bag, falls to the ground, and dies. The bagworm in my backyard was a hatchling. I’m sure it was just passing through, allowing the wind to carry it until it finds a suitable plant to settle on.
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This bagworm’s house is hanging by an invisible silk thread. Do you see the bagworm caterpillar peeking out?
In this close-up, you can see the assassin bug’s deadly beak.
The notched half-circle gives the wheel bug its name.
by Cindy Breedlove It was on the clothes basket, and I carried it inside unnoticed. When I did see it, it startled me – scared me, even. It was so weird looking! I took some pictures of it and let it go. When I showed my brother the pictures, he said, “Assassin bug!” Why would this bug be named an assassin? Assassins are killers. I did some research, and I found out. This bug eats other bugs. Here is what else I learned about the insect. There are many different kinds of assassin bugs. The one I found is called a giant wheel bug. (Look at the photo. Do you see why?) All assassin bugs have long narrow heads with their eyes set far back. Most have wings that will lay in a concave area of their back. The most unusual feature of an assassin bug is their “beak,” or mouth part. It curves down, and the tip fits into a groove, or furrow, between the forelegs. It’s like a gun that fits into a holster. Assassin bugs hide on plants that match their coloring. When an insect happens by, an assassin bug will lunge and capture it. Then it will stick its sharp beak in. A digestive fluid is injected, which helps liquefy the insides of the insect. After sucking its meal dry, the assassin bug drops the empty skin. His mission is accomplished! He’s not hungry now. But insects, beware! The assassin bug will need another meal soon.
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grasshopper
bee
by Susan Richardson Do you like music? Go outside! Summer concert season has arrived, and the six-legged musicians are performing near you. The exact time and location is never announced. But if you explore and listen, you can follow the sound to find these grand performances. The opening act is underway by late morning on a warm, sunny day. The pollinators have arrived in gardens, flower beds, clover patches, wild meadows, and weedy areas. They are searching for nectar and food. Bees, wasps, flies, and other pollinators perform a beautiful ballet to the sounds of humming and buzzing as they dip and dart, zip and zoom, hover and flutter from flower to flower. A big bee bumbles noisily onto the scene. She stops to nibble a petal and gobble down pollen. The butterflies dance quietly, floating on gorgeous wings and landing daintily on tiny feet. Suddenly, the hummingbird moth makes a special appearance, with loud whirring wings and a long spiraling proboscis! Each pollinator plays an important part, getting pollen on its body and then spreading that pollen within and among the flowers. The pollinators are not trying to make music. It just happens. When they fly, their wings move up and down so fast, it creates buzzing, humming, and whirring sounds. The pollinator ballet is important to the survival of plants. The afternoon show kicks off with a soft, raspy scratch. A short-horned grasshopper has scraped the tiny pegs on his hind leg across the stiff edge of his front wing. He sits quietly for a moment in the hot summer sun. Then he scrapes again. Che-che-che-che-che! He repeats his performance near the weedy edge of a quiet backyard. With each scrape of his leg across the wing edge, the raspy, scratchy sound becomes faster and louder. He hopes a female grasshopper will hear him and be impressed.
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Another grasshopper suddenly leaps from the weeds and soars through the air, snapping and clicking his hind wings like a flying tap dancer!
Katydids have knee-ears! They are oval shaped.
cicada A shaky, rattling buzz begins on a tall thick stem among the wildflowers. A cicada is preparing to sing. It stops for a moment. Then the buzzing begins again, louder and stronger. Finally raising its voice into a piercing, high-pitched whine, the strange insect performs its dramatic solo. A cicada on a nearby tree trunk decides to sing too. They are vibrating their tymbals, special sound-making membranes on their abdomens, and they are making a very loud noise! As dusk turns to darkness, the cicadas become quiet. Somewhere in the grass, a cricket rubs the edges of his front wings together. His performance is a delightful song of cheery chirps. A shuffling sound erupts from a bush by the porch. Sh-sh-sh! Sh-sh-sh-sh! A katydid is rubbing his front wings together, too, and it sounds like a giant salt shaker! On the branches and leaves of bushes and trees, more and more katydids take the starlit stage. Soon the night is filled with a magnificent chorus of rhythmic scraping, scratching, zipping, and rattling that can only leave us thinking, These bugs got rhythm! At last, the most elegant performers enter the stage in large numbers! From weeds and brambles to the high treetops, little tree crickets raise their wings and begin to play splendid songs composed of long, continuous, trilling notes.
tree cricket
Like grasshoppers, cicadas, katydids, and other kinds of crickets, the tree crickets make music to attract mates. Their charming songs make an extraordinary sound! The late-night symphony continues for hours after dark. It is a thrilling finale to a wonderful day of music performed by the six-legged musicians.
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Male giant water bug carrying eggs on his back
backswimmer
whirligig beetles
water boatman
Water Bug Circus
water strider
by D.L. Khvoroff The water strider is the show’s star. It can walk on water and skips and hops on the surface with the greatest of ease. The strider’s feet make little dents in the water’s surface, but never break through. The water boatman can fly, but most of the time, it rows through the water using long oar-like back legs. These bugs use a silvery envelope of air when they dive. To stay down, they must hold on to something, or they pop back up to the surface! Like its name says, the backswimmer swims on its back. Paddle-like legs let it swim just beneath the water. A bubble beneath its wings holds an air supply. When the air runs out, this bug sticks the tip of its abdomen above the water to get more. At two inches or more, the giant water bug must seem like an elephant to the other circus bugs. These bugs are fierce hunters and even kill small fish. They can bite fingers, as well. Sometimes they’re called “electric light bugs” because they swim toward a flashlight or fly around porch lights after dark. These last performers can make you dizzy! Large groups of whirligig beetles spin very fast in different directions on the water’s surface. They never collide, though, thanks to very sensitive antennae. Their remarkable eyes are divided into two parts. They can see on top of the water and below at the same time. Look closely the next time you are near a creek or pond. You just might catch the next act of the water bugs’ circus!
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by Ellen Pridmore Did you know insects were the first creatures to make paper? Many papermaking hornets live in tropical lands, but the bald-faced hornet lives in the US and southern Canada. In spring, the queen collects wood fiber to make her nest. When finished, it will be the size of a football and made of paper so fine, you can write on it! The nest will usually be found high in a tree. A bald-faced hornet builds her nest with layers of paper cells that look like a honeybee’s comb. She covers it with a paper-like envelope.
“Baldie” is a member of the wasp family. To tell it apart from other wasps, look for the white markings on its black body.
To make paper, the queen gets wood fiber from old fence posts, barns, dead trees, or cardboard. She scrapes off tiny splinters of wood with her mouth and softens them with water stored in her body. With her strong jaws, she chews the wood until it’s soft and pasty. Then she spreads dabs of pulp with her mouth to form a stem strong enough to support the nest. The paper dries right away. The worker bald-faced hornets help too. They spread thin layers of paper with their antennae. Workers walk backwards while spreading the moist pulp, being careful not to step on it. Using their feelers, they test the paper’s thickness. The paper must protect the nest from wind and rain. Workers build the nest upside down, flying in and out through a hole at the bottom. If you see bald-faced hornets building a nest, use binoculars for a magnified view of nature’s amazing papermakers at work.
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by Frances E. Gravert
GIT ALONG, LITTLE DOGIES! Ants herding cows? It’s true! People keep herds of cows or sheep for the milk they give. But did you know some ants keep herds of little insects for the sweet drink they produce? Aphids and other bugs, called ant-cows, suck sugary juice from the leaves, stems, and roots of plants. Some of this juice goes right through their bodies and drips out. Cowherder ants love this sweet juice and lick it up. This juice is called honeydew. It’s the main food of the cowherder ants. The ants “milk” the ant-cow by stroking the bug’s back with forelegs and feelers. The ant-cow lets a delicious drop of honeydew milk ooze out of its body for the ant to drink. These ants take good care of their herds and will fight fiercely to protect them. They are sometimes called dairying ants because of the way they manage their herds. When autumn comes, and the ant-cattle lay eggs, the ants gather the eggs and the mothers and take them into an underground nest. They are kept safe and warm. In the spring, when the weather is still chilly, the ants will tunnel to the roots of plants. They hollow out rooms to use as cow barns. This is where the ant-cow herd is kept. Later, the ants carry the ant-cows outside to feed on plants. When a young queen ant leaves to begin a new colony, she will take with her a mother ant-cow that’s ready to lay eggs. This way, her ants will have their own herd of ant-cows. These fascinating ants produce their “dairy” food in a very clever way. And you thought ants stole their food only from picnics!
Ants stroking their ant-cows 26
Lots of Legs and Fun Facts
Caterpillars
Butterflies
• have 6 legs and feet • have taste sensors in their feet, so they stand on food to taste it • Their front pair of legs is usually tucked up under the body.
• have 16 legs: 5 pairs of prolegs and 3 pairs of true legs • The prolegs help them hold on to a plant and climb it. • The 3 pairs of true legs are closest to the head. • The 5 pairs of prolegs are closest to the abdomen. They have microscopic hooks that allow them to stick to things.
Millipedes
• have 80 to 400 legs • A millipede can have 20 to 100 segments. • The first few segments of the body each have 1 pair of legs. Later segments each have 2 pairs of legs. • At birth, they have 6 body segments and 3 pairs of legs. • By maturity, they have dozens of segments and hundreds of legs.
Spiders photos by Ken Tapp and Joni Denker
• have 8 legs • have muscles to flex joints, but the legs can’t be extended • have a built-in hydraulic mechanism • They stretch their legs by pumping fluid into them.
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ora Tucker
coloring by Gaurakis
by Joe Bore
by Bill & Bob Thomas
SLIM GOODBODY
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by Aaron Warner & Thom Zahler
by David Sung
ATTENTION READERS!
Dear Rea ders, and other Sen d us your artwork, poetry, us a letter, creations for publication! Write Fun For Kidz. and tell what you think abo ut We love hearing from you!
Our last issue was about families. Send us a drawing of your family, or write a poem or limerick about them. You may see it in a future issue. And don’t forget: We’ll send you a surprise just for sharing!
om, Email to: kidscorner@funforki dz.c , 227 Box PO ner, Cor or mail to: Kids . 227 17-0 458 OH , Bluffton
Dear Editor, The parts of the magazine I like best are Max & Gracie and the 10 Things cartoons. But I really like every part. I am 10 and in the 5th grade. I play baseball and soccer. I like social studies best in school. My pet’s name is Franklin. He’s a border collie. Your friend, Ty Mayer Downingtown, PA
Ella, age 9, and Baxter, her boxer. They live in North Dakota.
Pet Story Contest Winner! From November 2017 Pets issue
Congratulations!
Our first-place winner had an insect for a pet – for a little while. Read all about it! Dear Editor, I would like it if you did a magazine on horses. We live in the country and have four horses. We also have chickens. My brothers and I gather the eggs, and we get to keep the money from selling the eggs! I am 9. My brothers are Rob, 10, and Noah, 6. Your friend, Aimee Kolar Fredericksburg, TX
A Praying Mantis for a Pet Have you ever had a praying mantis for a pet? I have had a praying mantis for a pet. This is how. My brother and I were looking around for bugs. When we came in, we found a praying mantis. We caught it, put it in the jar, and put it on the table. Then we told Mommy what we found. Then we played with it by letting it crawl on us. Then we put it in the jar, closed the lid, carried it outside, and let it go. I was sad to let it go, but I was glad it was in its home. The End by Donovan Olsen, age 7 Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
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Ladybug Sudoku on page 11
Fraction-nition on page 10
Mystery Picture Puzzle on page 11
What do you get if you feed a frog green four-leaf clovers?
GRASSHOPPER
Bug Puzzlers on page 10
1. HIS CLOCK ROACH WAS OUT OF TICKS. 2. THE SCORE-PION Insect Maze on page 10
Solve the Bee Riddles on page 10-11
1. HIVE AND SEEK 2. BEE BEE SITTERS 3. A BUZZINESSMAN
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Photo Credits: Releasing a Tagged Monarch Butterfly courtesy of Door County Living 12 (bottom-left); Bee, grasshopper, cicada, and katydid by Susan Richardson 20-21; Wikimedia Commons: by Mike Lewinski from Tres Piedras, NM, United States (Praying mantis) [CC BY 2.0] 4 (bottom-left); by Yogendra Joshi (Praying Mantis) [CC BY 2.0] 4 (bottom-right); by Marshal Hedin from San Diego [CC BY 2.0] 12 (bottom-right); by AlphaGeek [CC BY 2.0] 13 (bottomright); by Katja Schulz from Washington, D. C., USA (Bagworm) [CC BY 2.0] 18; by Leonard Grant Williams (Own work) [CC BY 4.0] 19 (left); by jeffreyw [CC BY 2.0] 19 (right); by Pavel Kirillov [CC BY-SA 2.0] 21 (bottom); by Judy Gallagher [CC BY 2.0] 25 (left), 26; by Greg Hume (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0] 24 (top-left).
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V i s i t U s O n l i n e ! F a c e b o o k . c o m / F u n F o r K i d z • w w w. F u n F o r K i d z . c o m Vol. 17 No. 3 • MAY/JUNE 2018 Publisher: Thomas M. Edwards Editor: Marilyn Edwards Associate Editor: Diane Winebar Graphic Design: Gaurakisora Tucker Marketing Director: Jonathan Edwards
FUN FOR KIDZ (ISSN 1536-898X) is published bi-monthly by the Bluffton News Publishing and Printing Company, P.O. Box 227, 101 N. Main St., Bluffton, OH 45817-0227. Telephone: 419-358-4610. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fun For Kidz, P.O. Box 227, Bluffton, OH 45817-0227. Periodical postage is paid at Bluffton, OH and Preston, ID.
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