THE HABITATS OF INSECTS. ^1 



pass the winter in a species of torpidity. The rest creep into slits, holes, 

 or between fallen leaves, where they also fall into a lethargic state. But 

 this kind of hybernation is the least usual, as the majority of larvae 

 live but one year, and most of them, even during the summer, pass into 

 the perfect state. Those larvae which hybernate can, in their lethargic 

 sleeping state, bear a high degree of cold. Lister says that he has seen 

 frozen caterpillars, which, upon falling upon hard substances, rebounded 

 like stones, and yet, after thawing, return again to life. Although 

 Reaumur was unsuccessful in this experiment, Kirby and Spence 

 assure us that the larvae of Tipula oleracea have come to life again 

 after thawing. Bonnet also has observed the same in the caterpillars 

 of the common white butterfly. 



Those insects which hybernate in the pupa state are chiefly the 

 Lepidoptera, nine-tenths of which, according to Kirby and Spence, do 

 so. As their entire pupa state is a species of lethargy, it must be 

 very easy for them to hybernate in it, and consequently endure severe 

 cold, yet the majority of pupae are nevertheless protected by particular 

 coverings and places of repose from this influence of the cold. Many 

 lie tolerably deeply in the ground, in cavities which have been pre- 

 viously excavated by the caterpillar. Others which hybernate merely 

 between fallen leaves, as the pupae of Deilcphila GalU, D. Euphorbia, 

 D. Elpenor, &c., weave these by means of their web into a covering ; 

 others, as the caterpillars of the Noctuce and Bombyces, weave a perfect 

 cocoon, which inside is covered with a glue-like substance. The lethargy 

 of these pupee continues also frequently towards the commencement of 

 the summer, for the imago only appears when the plants are in blossom. 

 The larvae also, which live several years, pass their last winter generally 

 in the pupa state ; we therefore find the perfect insect, as, for example, 

 the cockchafer, early in the spring. 



Perfect insects, which hybernate as such, prepare themselves early 

 in the autumn for this purpose, especially in the warm days of October. 

 They consist chiefly of beetles, but also of individuals of all the 

 other orders, which, like these beetles, have not yet paired. They then 

 run in troops in every direction, seeking places where they can pass 

 the winter. These are the apertures and holes of trees, especially those 

 between the bark and stem of old ones still existing only as stumps. 

 Here they may be found during winter in multitudes. We especially 

 find all such insects there, which, as larvae or as perfect insects, inhabit 

 wood, as the genera Lyclus, Colydium, Rhyzophagus, with their allies. 



