536 INSECTS ABROAD. 



and the maxillce lengthened into the organ which is scientifically 

 known as the proboscis, and popularly as the trunk. The females 

 are generally larger than the males, but are duller in hue, and in 

 many cases the two sexes are so different in appearance that they 

 have been described as distinct species. Even Linnaeus fell into- 

 the error of confounding the sexes, and actually placed the male 

 in one section and the female in another. 



Their transformations from the egg to the perfect insect are 

 known better than those of any other of the insect race, and 

 many practical entomologists are in the habit of rearing their 

 best specimens from the egg. As to the eggs themselves, there 

 is more diversity in them than in those of the birds. The latter 

 eggs, however they may differ in colour, are tolerably alike in 

 shape, whereas the variety of form among Lepidopterous eggs is 

 quite wonderful, and is so marked that a good entomologist on 

 seeing an egg can be tolerably sure of naming the insect which 

 laid it. Unfortunately their shape cannot well be preserved, as 

 they are nearly sure to collapse after a time, even if they be not 

 hatched,, and broken by the young larva. 



Many of these eggs, even of our own British species, are so 

 exceedingly beautiful in their outlines, that they would serve as 

 exquisitely beautiful models for jugs and vases. Indeed, some 

 years ago I happened to deliver a lecture on the transformation 

 of insects, and a porcelain manufacturer who was present was so 

 struck with the drawing of an egg that he asked for a copy of it, 

 and made a number of jars in exact imitation of it. 



The larvae of the Lepidoptera are as different as the perfect 

 insects, both in appearance and habits. Most of them live 

 on trees and plants, but there are many which pass almost, 

 if not all, their larval existence beneath the surface of the 

 earth. At present, no Lepidopterous larva is known to inhabit 

 the water. 



Without going more into scientific details, we will proceed to 

 the examination of the foreign Butterflies. 



The reader will remember that some English groups of insects 

 are quite as numerous, as large, and as handsome as their foreign 

 relatives. This is not the case with the Butterflies, which are 

 comparatively few and insignificant in England. For example, 

 of the first group, the Papilionida?, we have but one representa- 



