ENTOMOLOGY. 79 



acted upon by other authors. But in the present 

 state of our knowledge, a classification of this nature 

 appears premature, there not being a sufficiency of 

 facts and observations on which it can be satisfac- 

 torily founded. 



The orders in which the larvae have a strong re- 

 semblance to the perfect insect, are Hemiptera, 

 (Mhoptera, and certain genera of Neuroptera ; in 

 all the others, with a few exceptions, there is no 

 resemblance between the two states. 



In every instance insects may be considered as 

 composed of thirteen segments, including the head, 

 but in matured examples these are often merged in 

 each other, owing to the disproportionate develop- 

 ment of certain parts. In larvae the mode of life, 

 movements, &c. being more uniform, an enlargement 

 of one segment is seldom made at the expense of 

 another, and we accordingly find the normal number 

 distinctly marked. They are most regular and uni- 

 form, however, in such as bear least resemblance to 

 the winged insects they produce, although they can be 

 traced without difficulty in nearly all other instances. 

 The three segments immediately behind the head 

 correspond respectively to the prothorax, mesothorax 

 and metathorax of the perfect insect, and bear the 

 three pair of legs (when these happen to exist,) 

 which have been called the true legs, because they 

 are persistent, to distinguish them from the abdo- 

 minal or prolegs which are caducous and peculiar to 

 the larvae. The curious structure of the latter has 



