THE LAETA. 25 



of the hive and humble bee, wasp, ant, &c., are fed by 

 the older members of the community, and for some the 

 parent insect makes special provision by storing up a 

 supply of food. 



According to their times of feeding larvae may be 

 grouped into the Day-feeders, the Night-feeders, and 

 those that feed at irregular intervals. The quantity of 

 food consumed by the insect, while in the larval state, is 

 immense, e. g., a caterpillar will devour daily, twice its 

 own weight of leaves. This voracity is probably due to 

 the circumstance that their stomachs are incapable of dis- 

 solving the food, but merely extract from it a juice. Car- 

 nivorous larv£e increase the most rapidly in proportion to 

 the food consumed. Some of them have been known to 

 increase their weight as much as two hundred fold in the 

 course of twenty-four hours. 



The methods of procuring the food among larv£© are 

 various and interesting. Some browse upon the plants on 

 which they were placed as eggs, while others have to 

 seize their prey either by force or stratagem, as the larvse 

 of the ant-lion (Myrmeleon). 



Larvae shed their skins, or moult, several times, accord- 

 ing to the species. For a day or more prior to each 

 change the larva seems languid, refuses food, loses its 

 beautiful colors, and seeks a retired place where it can 

 undergo this important change in security. Here fasten- 

 ing itself by its legs or prolegs to the surface on which it 

 stands, it twists and contorts the body until the skin splits 

 along the back, and by continued contortions and motions 

 it withdraws its whole body through this rent. The skin 

 when cast, is often so entire, that it might be mistaken for 

 the larva itself. 



