32 PARTIAL ORISMOLOGY, 



others with short ribs extending from one pole to the other (ova costctta, 

 pi. i. f. 5)j others with delicate filaments, which show the segments of the 

 embryo * (Attacus paphia). Other eggs display upon their surface 

 cross lines and sculpture, which gives them a reticulated appearance 

 (ova reliculata), Hipparchia Hyperanfhus (pi. i. f. 13) ; in others 

 these lines take a curve, so that the egg appears as if covered with 

 tiles (Hipp. Jurtina) ; others, lastly, have decided knobs, making the 

 surface rough and uneven (Pont. Brassicte). We also occasionally 

 observe in eggs irregular wrinkles and impressions, but which do 

 not proceed from the sculpture of the superficies, and are accidental, 

 arising from their drying after being laid. 



The colour of the eggs of insects is, notwithstanding their great 

 variety, not so variable as in the class of birds. White, yellow, and 

 green, are the chief colours, indeed almost the only ones ; for the few 

 others, as brown in Harp.vinula, or green (Cimex baccarum), or banded 

 (Gastr. querci folia, p. 1. f. 1), import but little, considering the greater 

 universality of the before -mentioned colours. We occasionally observe 

 very dark ones, even a black brown (Culex pipiens) . 



50. 



It is also interesting to observe the way in which the eggs are 

 deposited. 



Some lie solitary, and dispersed upon the plants and shrubs which 

 nourish the young (ova solitaria.') Others, which are deposited within 

 the substances, which serve the young as food, are called (ova imposita) ; 

 for ex. the eggs of the Ichneumons in the bodies of caterpillars. The eggs 

 of Gastr. neustria are placed in a spiral line around the young shoots of 

 the plant that feeds the caterpillar (ova spiraliter deposita, p. 1. f. 15) ; 

 others form irregular heaps, which the mother secures from cold, and 

 other prejudicial influences, by means of the hair of her body (ova pilosa, 

 p. 1. f. 4), for ex. Liparis chrysorrliea,fascelina, dispar ; others again 

 are concealed in lumps of dung (ova glebata, for ex. Gymnopl. pilnla- 

 ritts) ; others are formed in the galls of plants (gallce), occasioned by 

 the punctures of the mother (ova gallata, for ex. Cynips, Diplolepis, 

 Trypeta) ; many, lastly, are placed in close cells formed by the parents 

 for this purpose (ovafavosa, for ex. Apis, Vespa, Pelopceus). All these 

 eggs adhere by a peculiar gummy secretion, and are thence called ova 



* Lin. Tr. vii. 3-1. 



