LETTER XXVI. 



ON THE HYBERNATION AND TORPI- 

 DITY OF INSECTS. 



If insect? can boast of enjoying- a greater variety of 

 food than many other tribes of animals, this advantage 

 seems at first sight more than counterbalanced in our 

 climates, by the temporary nature of their supply. The 

 graminivorous quadrupeds, with few exceptions, how- 

 ever scanty their bill of fare, and their carnivorous 

 brethren, as well as the whole race of birds and fishes, 

 can at all seasons satisfy, in greater or less abundance, 

 their demand for food. But to the great majority of 

 insects, the earth for nearly one half of the year is a 

 barren desert, affording no appropriate nutriment. As 

 soon as winter has stripped the vegetable world of its 

 foliage, the vast hosts of insects that feed on the leaves 

 of plants must necessarily fast until the return of 

 spring : and even the carnivorous tribes, such as the 

 Carabidce, Ichneunionidcc, Sphcgiada', &c. would at 

 that period of the year in vain look for their accus- 

 tomed prey. 



How is this difhculty provided for ? In what mode 

 has the Universal Parent secured an uninterrupted 

 succession of generations in a class of animals for the 

 most part doomed to a six months' deprivation of the 

 food which tliey ordinarily devour with such voracity ? 

 By a beautiful series of provisions founded on the fa- 



