10 HALF HOUES WITH INSECTS. [Packard. 



mentation, and the seeming fastidiousness and queer fancies 

 and strange conceits of these young and giddy insects, which 

 seem hidden and mysterious to human observation ? 



We can only answer that tlie changes in form are neces- 

 sary stages in the growth of the animal, and correlated with 

 certain habits enabling it to hold its own in the struggle for 

 existence. 



We should appl}^ our knowledge of the larval forms of 

 insects to the details of their classification into families and 

 genera, constantly collating our knowledge of the immature 

 forms with the structural variations that accompany them in 

 the perfect state. The simple form of the caterpillar seems 

 to be a concentration of the characters of the perfect insect, 

 and presents easj' characters by which to distinguish the 

 minor groups ; and the relative rank of the higher divisions 

 would seem to be definitely settled only when the form and 

 method of transformations are thoroughly known. 



The pupa state is the threshold upon which the young 

 insect pauses before it enters upon the iinal stage of its ex- 

 istence. Though called chrysalides because the pupae of cer- 

 tain butterflies are gaily ornamented with golden and sil- 

 very spots, the most of them are dull and ugly. Whether it 

 is owing to their uninteresting appearance, or the difficulty 

 of finding them, entomologists have very generally over- 

 looked the consideration of their forms and have underesti- 

 mated the value of the differences that the pui)De of different 

 insects present. There is in them, more than in the cater- 

 pillar, or perfected state, a constant form by which we can 

 readily recognize the family to which they belong ; and even 

 in the slight modifications of that persistent facies together 

 with the slight attempts at ornamentation, which Nature 

 seems always to be striving for in the rudest of her works, 

 the student whose mind is upon the watch for the meanings 

 of these slight variations Avill be richly rewarded. Just as 

 insects have been classified by their larval characters, which 



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