n6 



INSECT TRANSFORMATION 



afford an example of such hypermetamorphosis which has been 

 often quoted. 1 The newly-hatched young (Fig. 66 A) of such 

 a beetle is a minute larva of the typical campodeiform aspect, 

 with well-armoured body, somewhat densely clothed with 

 hairs, its relatively large head bearing long bristle-like feelers 

 and sharp, prominent mandibles, and its ninth abdominal 

 segment with a pair of elongate slender cerci, while the thoracic 

 legs are remarkably well developed, each foot bearing two 

 claw-like bristles in addition to the true claw, so that the tiny 



FIG. 66. LARVAL STAGES OF OIL BEETLE (EpiCduta). 



A, first stage (triungulin). xso. B, second stage (caraboid) after moult, xao. C, 

 second stage after feeding, ready for next moult. x 10. After Riley, Trans. 

 St. Louis Acad. III. 



creature is known as a triungulin. It is well adapted for 

 biting its way into the egg-cluster of a locust or for clinging 

 to the body of a bee which may carry it to her nest. Arrived 

 there the triungulin bites into a chamber containing a store 

 of honey. On this the larva floats and feeds, having under- 

 gone a moult and assumed a form in which the body is stout 

 with thin cuticle and the legs relatively short. This form 

 (Fig. 66 B) is retained through several successive moults, 

 until, having grown rapidly thanks to its rich food supply, the 

 larva attains a length ten times that of the little triungulin, 



1 J. H. Fabre : " Sur 1' Hyper metamorphose et les Moeurs des Meloides ". 

 Ann. Sci. Nat. (4), VII, IX. 1857-8. H. Beauregard : " Les Insectes, 

 Vesicants". Paris, 1890. 



