258 
HEMEROBIUS. 
which remains a considerable time on the fingers. 
The eggs laid by this insect are of a highly curi- 
ous appearance, and at first view resemble rather 
some production of the vegetable than the animal 
kingdom, being each supported on a delicate stem 
of more than half an inch in length, which is at- 
tached toyhe surface of some leaf or twig. Groupes 
of these eggs are frequently observed on the lime- 
tree in particular, and have occasionally been mis- 
taken by those who were ignorant of their real 
nature for some small species of parasite fungus. 
They have long ago been well figured in the 
works of Reaumur, &c. From these eggs are 
hatched small larvae of an oblong-oval shape with 
a pointed extremity. They grow to the length 
of about three quarters of an inch, and are of a 
flattish or slightly convex surface, and a reddish 
colour: the abdominal divisions project in a ser- 
rated manner on each side the body, and the head 
is armed in front with a pair of short, curved, 
tubular forceps, by which the animal seizes and 
'sucks the juices of its prey. These larvie live 
almost entirely on Aphides, which they devour 
with great avidity: their growth is pretty quick, 
and in the space of about a fortnight they are 
ready to undergo their change into the chrysalis 
state. In order to this, the animal draws a fine 
silk from the extremity of its body, and in a short 
space envelops itself in a round ball, of the size of 
a small pea, affixed to a leaf or twig of the tree it 
frequents, and, divesting itself of its skin, com- 
