Eggs 85 



contains a still smaller body, the nucleolus or germinal 

 spot. 



The outer form of insect eggs is exceedingly 

 variable. Very many — as those of Beetles, Grass- 

 hoppers (fig. 60) and Flies (fig. 68 h) — are elongate 

 like the cockroach's. The eggs of some Moths are 

 globular, while those of Butterflies, and especially 

 those of Bugs, assume graceful flask-like shapes and 

 elegantly sculptured surfaces. Other insects — the 

 Golden-eye flies for example — produce stalked eggs, 

 which are raised well above the plant stem on which 

 they are laid and so protected from mites and other 

 enemies. Insect eggs contain a quantity of food-yolk, 

 and are therefore of comparatively large size. The 

 globular egg of a Hawk-moth, for instance, measures 

 ^ inch in diameter, while the similarly shaped egg of 

 a Cat measures only yItj inch. 



As mentioned above, the Cockroach's eggs are 

 protected by a purse-shaped capsule (fig. 53). Six- 

 teen eggs are contained in this case, eight on a side, 

 the convex face of each egg being next to the capsular 

 wall. The eggs are produced alternately from each 

 ovary, those from the right ovary passing to the 

 left of the capsule, those from the left ovary to 

 the right (58 a). Many insects protect their eggs by 

 a gummy secretion ; some female Moths shed hairs 

 from their bodies to afford the eggs a covering. 

 Those of water-insects are often contained in a long 

 gelatinous tube, and some water-beetles construct 

 around their eggs a silken cocoon. Locusts, Grass- 

 hoppers and many other insects bury their eggs in the 

 ground for safety, other insects — Chafers and Crane- 

 flies, for example — lay their eggs in the ground that 

 the young may be near the roots of plants on which they 

 will feed. Almost universally the food of the young 

 determines the place of egg-laying — the queen Bee 



