^S8 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



be used once onh' and then aban- 

 doned. A little before the lace- 

 winp; fly is ready for emergence 

 from the chrysalis wraps, these 

 jaws become operative, and the 

 chrysalis cuts with them cleanly, 

 nearly all around one end of its 

 cocoon, leaving a small uncut 

 bit to serve as a hinge to this lid. 

 Then it pushes up the lid, and 

 still a chrysalis, crawls out into 

 space, where it can straighten 

 its doubled-up body. It uses its 

 legs, and with them clings to some 

 vertical surface where its body 

 and wing-buds can hang down. 

 This is an essential item in its 

 proper development, to allow the 

 fluids of the body to flow down 

 into and expand the wings ; but 

 first the chrysalis-skin has to be 

 split, and the mature Insect walks 

 out. It retains the vertical posi- 

 tion until all its parts have at- 

 tained to full expansion, and are 

 sufflciently hardened to permit 

 of flight. 



Horned Beetles. 



Some of the most striking 



Having escaped from the chrysalis-skin, the lace-wing flv seeks som? place , i l^'j J' 



wliere it can hang vertically until its win^s have fully expanded and hardened, among tnC mUltlCUamOUS SpCCieS 



before attempting flight. One and a half times actual size. r -u j.i j.t^ • 



of beetles owe then" conspicuous- 

 ness to a sort of copymg of the antlers of deer, antelope, and rhinoceri. Of 

 course, regarded from a structural point of view, these growths are in no 

 sense homologous with those of the four-footed beasts that they call to mind. In 

 some cases the antler-like growth is an excessive development of the jaws, as in 

 our largest native species — the stag-beetle. ^ In other species, which are suggestive 

 of the rhinoceros, the jaws have nothing to do with this counterfeit resemblance, 

 one horn being sometimes an outgrowth from the front part of the head, and another, 

 or perhaps others, from the fore-body, which is sometimes so greatly developed 

 forward as to make the head appear very small by comparison, or scarcely to 

 appear at all. 



It is noteworthy that ihese enormous growths are, as a rule, restricted to the 

 male sex ; and this led years ago to the confident generalization that they were 

 sexual in purpose — that by means of them the male beetle was in the habit of 



1 Lucamis cerviis. 



Phuto f- 1 J 



[H. Main. F.E.S. 



Lace-wing Fly. 



