32 



TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 



but incomprehensible law that directs the growth, the develop- 

 ment, and the variations of shape of all living things in definite 

 directions according to special requirements. It happens, then, 

 that a great enlargement of the nerves supplying the feeble 



THE NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE LARVA OF THE BEE, (Magnified.) 



sensitive organs of the larva takes place as they become more 

 elaborate and requisite. Moreover, certain nerves which supply 

 many structures with vital force in the larva, become atrophied 

 and withered, as it were, in the imago (or perfect insect) when 

 those particular structures are no longer required, or when they 



