79 



Chapter IV. 



Hy'ieriiatiouof Inse(;t Eggs. — Ingenuity of Moths. — Singularities of Co- 

 chenille Insects and of Spiders. — Kxperiments of Spallanzani and John 

 Hunter. 



The assertion of Paley that " the human animal is the 

 only one which can clothe itself*," though it accords 

 with what is known of quadrupeds, birds, and fishes, 

 by no means holds good in the insect world, in 

 which it may be disproved by the most superficial 

 observer t. Men, indeed, proceed by means of rea- 

 soning and experiment to the discovery of such ma- 

 terials as are best fitted for protecting their bodies 

 against the vicissitudes of temperature, and other 

 changes of weather; while insects are taught by the 

 Governor of the Universe to select instinctively the 

 best materials for their clothing. This is exemplified 

 in a very remarkable manner in the coverings made 

 by different families for protecting their eggs> as we 

 shall now describe. 



The maternal affection of the eider duck (^Aria's 

 mollissima, Linn.) has frequently been celebrated by 

 naturalists, from her stripping the down from her own 

 breast to form her nest, a circumstance which is also 

 exemplified in the. common rabbit; but both of these 

 animals are outrivalled by more than one moth : — 

 for the latter, not contented with a nest made of their 

 own down, take pains to cover with it each individual 

 ^gg. The provision which nature has" made for this 

 purpose is worthy of attention. The female, for ex- 

 ample, of the gypsey-moth (Hypogymna dispar) has 

 the hinder parts of Iter body thickly clothed witli a 



* Natural Theology, p. 230, 11th edit. 

 f See ' Insect Architecture,' chaps, x., xii., &c. 



