EGGS. 



23 



and these eggs often hatch before they are laid, the Hy then depositin"- 

 living- maggots. These phenomena oeeur rarely in other insects, being 

 exceptions to the almost universal rule that insects hatch from eggs. 



Eggs are usually laid where the young will find abundant food and 

 are then abandoned hy the parent. Exceptionally the parent cares for 

 and watches over the eggs ; this is the case also in social insects, but the 

 eggs are then more usually looked after by special individuals and not by 

 the parent. In most cases the parent dies soon after the completion of 

 egg-laying and the young that hatch live an independent life from the 

 moment they emerge. The beautiful instincts of the digger wasps are 

 perhaps the best instances of maternal care for the young (see page 271). 



The number of eggs produced by the individuals of any one species 

 is usually fairly uniform, but varies very much in different species. The 

 large Six-spotted Ground Beetle (fig. 344) produces one large egg at a time 

 and produces only a few in its life ; other beetles produce them singly and 

 generally lay only a comparatively small number, but the tortoise beetles. 



Fig. 32. 

 "Eg;] case and youvg of Mantis, llie latter marjuljied. 



for instance, produce many and may lay them in beautiful egg cases. 

 Generally beetles' eggs are laid singly and are hard to find. Moths lay many 



