23 

 THE WINGS OF INSECTS. 



The brilliant little creatures that flit around us in 

 our summer day walks scarcely excite more than mo- 

 mentary admiration in the general beholder, because 

 they are common and apparently trivial ; nevertheless 

 they perform a most important part in the system of 

 creation, and are capable of affording the highest inter- 

 est to those who study their structure and economy. 



In contemplating the exquisite beauty of their mi- 

 nute anatomical mechanism, it will be found that every 

 variety of insect is furnished with organs admirably 

 adapted to its mode of life, and perfected with as much 

 care as those of the higher orders of animals. 



It is the intention of the writer to detail in familiar 

 language a few of the most interesting particulars con- 

 nected with this order of animated nature ; the present 

 paper will be confined to the organs of flight. 



As preliminary observations it may be stated, that 

 insects, generally, have four stages of existence, 

 namely, as an egg — as a crawling caterpillar or grub, 

 furnished, frequently, with numerous feet, and feed- 

 ing voraciously — as a chrysalis or larva, generally 

 enveloped in a horny case, not often possessing loco- 

 motion, and seldom having any external organs 

 apparent except breathing holes — and lastly, as the 

 perfect insect. These several stages of insect life may 

 be observed in almost every garden ; the egg being 

 attached to the leaves of such plants as the caterpillar 

 is accustomed to feed upon ; the caterpillars themselves 

 may be found abundantly, particularly during dry 

 weather ; the chrysalis is often seen fastened to the 

 wall by a silken thread, and, in some species, is found 

 buried in the earth. 



Swammerdam, who published an account of his 

 elaborate investigations concerning the anatomy of 

 insects, in a large folio entitled ^^The Book of Nature," 

 showed that the organs of the perfect insect may be 

 found, by dissection, within the integuments of the ca- 



