42 



INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS. 



butterfly {Vanessa uHIccb), which is also found on 

 those of most of the species, leads us to remark that 

 insect egi^s are frequently sculptured in a very beau- 

 tiful manner, far out-rivalling in elegance of design 

 and delicacy of workmanship the engravings which 

 we sometimes see on eggs brought from India and 

 China. Some of them, when seen through a mi- 

 croscope, remind us of the fine crustaceous shells 

 called sea-eggs, — a resemblance which is well exem- 

 ])lified in the eg^ of the angle-shades moth (PhlogO' 

 phora meticulosa, Stfphens), as compared with the 

 Clypeaster of Parkinson. 



a, raagnitied egsj of the iinijle-shades moth {^Fhloguphora meticu- 

 lusa); 6, sea-egg (^Clypeaster^, natural size. 



These channellings appear to correspond in most 

 cases with the rings of the caterpillar to be hatched 

 from the egg ; but the design of the other sculptures 

 on these eggs has not yet been discovered by the 

 investigations of naturalists, and may, probably, for 

 ever elude human penetration. But though we 

 cannot tell why an insect's egg is so tastefully carved, 

 we can admire the minute delicacy and extraordinary 

 regularity of the markings. The egg of the meadow 

 brown butterfly (Hipparchia Jurtina) is crowned at 

 the upper end with sculptured work in the form ot 

 tiles or slates, as if to defend it from injury, while 

 others are covered with a sort of net-work of ex- 

 tremely minute six-sided meshes. 



