IN THE PUESEnVATIOX OV INSECTS. 79 



.same Summer in which tliey are hiid, which is the case with most diur- 

 nal l)uttcrflie.s. 



Some insects hiy their eggs singly on the feeding place, and not all 

 in a lump, as most do : hence these are not liable to a general destruc- 

 tion. Others are so cautious as to lay theirs in the middle of a young 

 and tender chesnut burr, others under bark, others in the pea-pod, oth- 

 ers in a rolled ball of dung, in whicli they are, of course, secure i'rom 

 the attacks of enemies ; but is it supposed that they know why they 

 deposit them in such secure places .- They know nothing about it. It 

 is with them a purely mechanical act directed by Providence. 



But this same divine superintending care is extended to the larva or 

 caterpillar after it is excluded from the egg. As soon as it is hatched, 

 it finds its appropriate food furnished for it, for the egg was laid on it. 

 Tiiere is no necessity to go foraging. Their lives are so tenaciou.'^, that 

 few perish from the frosts of the Spring. Most of them hide themselves 

 during the frosts, and others, which cannot escape, are capable of endu- 

 ring a very low temperature. The Aphides., or plant lice, arc usually 

 the first that are seen. 1 have seen them out in some warm days in 

 January, but they were overtaken in a snow storm and probably per- 

 ished. 



Many caterpillars are hairy ; many naked. Some of the former, 

 when they have attained a moderate size, would be rather a rough mor- 

 morsel for a bird, and hence they are let alone. jMany of the naked 

 species are so similar in color to the leaves on which they feed that 

 they easily escape notice, and many, besides, when danger approaches, 

 have the faculty of suddenly letting themselves fall to the ground by a 

 thread. Thus also many beetles escape from their natural enemies as 

 well as from the human collector, when he advances too near. They 

 double np their legs and fall to the ground among leaves and plants, 

 where further search is fruitless. 



Some larvae have a paper or leather-like sheath or covering, from 

 which the head alone is visible, and into which it is quickly drawn and 

 the orifice closed, when the enemy draws near. These coverings they 

 carry with them, just like snails their shells. Others cover their bodies 

 with small pieces of plants or sand, so that they are encased, as it were, 

 in a coat of mail. Others weave around them a large web and continue 

 in it until all the leaves enclosed are consumed, and then the community 

 moves to another leafy bough, and perform the same mutual protective 

 functions, until they are full grow^n, and ready for their transformation. 



The larva of a grasshopper species surrounds itself with a froth-like 

 substance, which no bird or ravenous insect will touch, and thus it is 



