ORDER I. BEETLES. 19 



Weevils, having no legs, but all v^^ith a horny head and 

 jaws. These larvas in a shorter or longer time change into 

 cocoons (pup^e) covered with a thin, transparent skin, out 

 of which emerges the perfect Beetle. 



Larvae are like infant children, whose only occupation 

 consists in eating, that they may grow and fulfill their des- 

 tiny ; but as they approach the time when they must appear 

 in society as perfect creatures, they transform themselves 

 into a cocoon (piqm), and sleep until Nature has clad them 

 with a new and splendid dress, and furnished them with 

 glistening wings to appear as respectable objects in the 

 fashionable world of Insects. 



In the nourishment of Beetles something more than the 

 mere preservation of the individual seems to have been de- 

 signed, and in many instances it would appear as if some 

 were created for the express purpose of consuming un- 

 healthy organized matter. Thus we find also the carnivo- 

 rous Beetles beneficial to man by devouring other noxious 

 insects, and even carrion — thus destroying decayed animal 

 substances which would otherwise prove a fertile source of 

 unhealthy exhalations. Beetles which feed on leaves, wood, 

 fruits, and grain, are herbivorous, and are generally noxious 

 to man. But even here we find Nature's great doctrine of 

 compensation fully carried out. If we find many genera 

 of insects (which is the case principally among the noxious 

 Butterflies) so prolific that, if allowed to increase, they 

 would devour all the vegetables on earth, and thus destroy 

 all living beings by famine, we at the same time see how 

 the Great Ruler of Nature has prevented their increase by 

 making them the proper food of others. 



The number of insects which feed on others is immense. 

 But, in spite of the numberless enemies of their own class, 

 they have still others. There are a countless host of in- 

 sects that often destroy the trees, bushes, and vegetables of 

 our gardens, fields, and forests, by eating their leaves, and 



