Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

Perhaps we may have noticed an oddly s haped ins ect of ferocious mien on a bus h in the garden
and been dimly aware that the praying mantis lives at the expens e of other ins ects. But we s ee
with understanding eye only if we have walked in the garden at night and he re and there with a
flas hlight have glimps ed the mantis s tealthily creeping upon he r pre y. Then we sense
s omething of the drama of the hunte r and the hunte d. Then we begin to feel s omething of that
relentlessly pres s ing force by which nature controls her own. The pre dators—ins ects that kill
and cons ume other ins ects—are of many kinds. Some are quick and with the s peed of s wallows
snatch their prey from the air. Others plod methodically along a stem, plucking off and
devouring s edentary insects like the aphids. The yellowjackets capture soft-bodied ins ects and
feed the juices to thei r young. Mudda ube r was ps build columned nes ts of mud unde r the caves
of hous es and s tock them with ins ects on which their young will feed. The hors eguard was p
hove rs above he rds of grazing cattle, des troying the blood-s ucking flies that torment the m. The
loudly buzzing s yrphid fly, often mistaken for a bee, lays its eggs on leaves of aphis-infested
plants ; the hatching larvae then cons ume imme ns e numbers of aphids. Ladybugs or lady
beetles are among the most effective destroyers of aphids , s cale ins ects , and other plant-eating
ins ects. Literally hundre ds of aphids are cons ume d by a s ingle ladybug to s toke the little fires of
energy which s he requi res to produce even a s ingle batch of eggs.
Even more extraordinary in their habits are the paras itic ins ects. Thes e do not kill their hos ts
outright. Ins tead, by a variety of adaptations they utilize their victims for the nurture of their
own young. They may depos it their eggs within the larvae or eggs of their prey, so that their
own de veloping young may find food by cons uming the hos t. Some attach their eggs to a
caterpillar by means of a sticky solution; on hatching, the larval parasite bores through the skin
of the hos t. Others, led by an instinct that simulates foresight, merely lay their eggs on a leaf so
that a browsing caterpillar will ea t them inadve rtently.
Everywhere, in field and hedgerow and garden and fores t, the insect predators and paras ites
are at work. Here, above a pond, the dragonflies dart and the s un s trikes fire from thei r wings.
So their ances tors s ped through s wamps where huge reptiles lived. Now, as in those ancient
times , the s harp-eyed capture mos quitoes in the air, s cooping the m in with bas ket-s haped legs.
In the wate rs below, their y oung, the dragonfly ny mphs , or naiads , prey on the aquatic s tages
of mos quitoes and other ins ects. Or there, almost invisible against a leaf, is the lacewing, with
green gauze wings and golden eyes , s hy and s ecretive, des cendant of an ancient race that lived
in Permian times. The adult lacewing feeds mos tly on plant nectars and the honey dew of
aphids , and in time s he lays her eggs , each on the end of a long s talk which s he fas tens to a leaf.
From thes e emerge her children—strange, bristled larvae called aphis lions, which live by
preying on aphids, scales, or mites, which they capture and suck dry of fluid. Each may cons ume
s everal hundre d aphids before the ceas eless turning of the cycle of its life brings the time when
it will s pin a white s ilken cocoon in which to pas s the pupa s tage.
And the re are many was ps , and flies as well, whos e very exis tence depends on the des truction
of the eggs or larvae of other insects through parasitism. Some of the egg parasites are
exceedingly minute was ps , yet by their numbe rs and their great activity they hol d down the
abundance of many crop-des troying s peci es. All these small creatures are working—working in
s un and rain, during the hours of darknes s , even when wi nter’s grip has dampe d down the fires
of life to mere embers. Then this vital force is merely smoldering, awaiting the time to flare
again into activity when s pring awakens the ins ect world. Meanwhile, under the white blanket