CHAPTER X 



ADAPTATIONS TO HAUNTS AND SEASONS 



Repeatedly in the previous chapters of this book, attention 

 has been directed to the adaptation of various kinds of 

 insects in the successive stages of their growth to the 

 surroundings and conditions of their lives. Singly and as 

 a whole, they are admirably fitted to their environment in 

 the wide meaning of that term. We have seen, for example, 

 that the form of their bodies, their legs and wings and the 

 muscles that move these, are adapted to bring about their 

 characteristic movements whether walking, running, leaping, 

 swimming, or flying. Their jaws and digestive canals are 

 suited to the nature of their food whether solid or liquid. 

 They are provided with beautifully constructed sense- 

 organs, and their nerve-centres are so arranged that the 

 impressions received through these organs lead directly 

 to reflex actions appropriate to the conditions under which 

 the creatures find themselves at the time. In our discussion 

 of the growth and transformation of insects after hatching 

 we saw that the differences so frequent and remarkable 

 between adult insects and their larvae may be to some extent 

 explained as modifications which fit the immature creature 

 for life- conditions markedly different from those of its 

 parent. We noticed also that the form and behaviour of an 

 insect in one stage of its development may often suggest a 

 prevision of the conditions of the succeeding stage. The 

 creature is adapted not only for its immediate present 

 needs ; it often prepares in advance for the future events of 

 its Ufe. 



The subject of adaptation is of such importance and 



262 



