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she was able to deposit her egg in the body of some creature within 

 the stem. The eggs, and the numljer laid by an insect, varied fi-om a 

 few score to some hnndieds, were curiously deposited in the majority 

 of cases on food diifering essentially from that of the mother; she 

 might be honey loving, while the grub was carnivorous ; she 

 might eat nothing during her brief existence, while the 

 caterpillar would only eat certain plants. She must also guard 

 against accidents, such as the fall of the leaf and glue, in the 

 autumn, the eggs from whieh the larva would escape in the spring, 

 to the stem of their food plant. All this she did, and much more 

 besides, with what we, for want of a better name, called unerring 

 instinct. ' Some insects, like the flesh-tly retained the eggs, which 

 batched within themselves, and laid the maggot ready to commence 

 its work as a scavenger ; others, like the blackbeetle, carried them 

 in hoi'ny cases till the young fry were ready to escape. 



The eggs themselves, often very minute, were objects of great 

 beauty and variety, and though so small, far exceeded in marking 

 and ornamentation any eggs belonging to any other order of 

 animals. The shell consisted of three layers, an outer one, tough 

 and raised, a middle one of non-nucleated cells, and an inner irri- 

 discent one. Internally, they consisted of a yolk membrane, the 

 yolk substance, and the germinal vesicle. There was one part of 

 the egg called the micropyle, or little gate, and some affirmed the 

 larva eat its way out at this point, but his experience showed that 

 at that part of the egg to which its head was nearest, the caterpillar 

 escaped and made its first meal, in many cases off its egg shell. 

 The eggs of many bird parasites were furnished with a lid which 

 lifted, and in the case of some, especially the Mallee bird and 

 black Indian peacock, when moisture fell upon the egg, certain 

 leaf -like appendages folded back and protected the cover. 



The next stage was the larva, very voracious, very destruc- 

 tive, and constantly changing his skin; this stage presented 

 great variety of markings and colours, sometimes so closely like 

 the food that inexpei'ienced eyes could not detect them. Some 

 larvae were covered with haii's and spines, and some of these haii-s 

 possessed the property of inflicting great pain, for their sharp 

 points penetrated the skin and set up a most irritating annoyance. 

 Some larva: like those of the gnat, mosquito, or whirligig beetle, 



