ELEMENTARY STUDIES IN 

 INSECT LIFE 



CHAPTER I 

 THE CYCLE OF LIFE 



HE passage of nearly every insect 

 from the egg- stage to maturity is 

 marked by a series of changes, 

 gradual in some, abrupt in others. 

 The insects which change gradually 

 maintain the same general appear- 

 ance and structure throughout life. 

 The insects with abrupt changes pass through stages in 

 which forms are assumed very unlike and not easily 

 associated. These striking and radical changes which 

 take place in growth and development are termed 

 metamorphoses. 



Incomplete Metamorphosis.- -The young grasshopper 

 escaping from the egg has much the same form as its 

 parent, and the casual observer easily recognizes it as 

 a grasshopper, the only marked difference being that 

 it is smaller and wingless. In time, however, the full 

 size is attained, and with it proportionate wings. The 

 growth (increase in size) and development (change in 

 form) of this insect go on without any abrupt changes. 

 Insects which mature in this way are said to have an 



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