IN8ECTA. 341 



very different, as well in its consistence as in its figure, having mere 

 rudiments of antennae, or perhaps none at all ; there are never any 

 compound eyes. 



There is also a great disparity in the organs of manducation, as 

 may be easily seen by comparing the mouth of a caterpillar with that 

 of the Butterfly, or the mouth of the larva of a Fly with that of the 

 perfect Insect. 



Several of these larvae are destitute of feet ; others, such as the 

 caterpillars, have many, all the six first excepted, membranous, and 

 without terminal hooks. Some Insects, such as the Ephemerae, 

 exhibit a singular anomaly in their metamorphosis the animal 

 arrived at its perfect state undergoes another change of tegument (a). 



The Insects which constitute our three first orders preserve for 

 life their natal form. The Myriapoda, however, exhibit a kind of 

 metamorphosis. At first they have but six legs, or, according to 

 Savi, are altogether destitute of them; the others, as well as the seg- 

 ments on which they depend, are developed by age. 



But few vegetable substances are protected from the voracity of 

 Insects ; and as those which are necessary or useful to Man are not 

 spared by them more than others, they become very injurious, parti- 

 cularly during seasons which favour their multiplication. Their 

 destruction greatly depends upon our vigilance and knowledge of 

 their habits. Some of them are omnivorous such are the Termites, 

 Ants, &c., whose ravages are but too well known. Several of those 

 which are carnivorous, and all the species which feed on dead animal 

 and excrementitious matters, are a benefit conferred on us by the 

 Author of Nature, and somewhat compensate for the inconvenience 

 and injury we experience from the others. Some are employed in 

 medicine, the arts, and our domestic economy. 



They have numerous enemies : Fishes destroy many of the aquatic 

 species; Birds, Bats, Lizards, &c., deliver us from a part of those 

 which inhabit the air or earth. Most of them endeavour to escape 

 by flight or running from the dangers that surround them, but some 

 have recourse to stratagem or arms. 



Having undergone their ultimate transformation, and being pos- 

 sessed of all their faculties, they hasten to propagate their species : 

 this aim once accomplished, they soon cease to exist. Thus, each of 



" Sc dupouillrut encore dc leurs ailcs," is the unguarded expression of our 

 author. It is not the wings alone, but the entire animal, after attaining its perfect 

 condition, that is thus divested of its external pellicle, even to the slender, setaceous 

 appendages which terminate the posterior extremity of the bvdy. It is the common 

 May. fly of America. ENG. ED. 



