86 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



why is not one term enough to express them ? 

 Let us then renounce those of uncertain meaning, 

 and when we wish to give a name to the insect 

 just emerged from its eggshell, let us call it by 

 its proper name, the Larva.* 



The larva, then, is the first form assumed by 

 the insect on quitting its shell. No more a little 

 inactive object lies before us, as in the egg and its 

 slumbering tenant, but a sharp fellow, full of life, 

 and soon walking off the field of the microscope, 

 should we happen to be looking at it in that way, 

 or from our book or table, should it be there placed 

 by us for observation. By what hidden and mys- 

 terious power this has been effected who can tell ? 

 It was not heat alone that could animate the con- 

 tents of the shell, nor could all a mother's care do 

 more than preserve it from injury. It is very 

 possible that chemistry had some share in it, and 

 when the tiny being first awoke in the shell the 



* The definition of the words Caterpillar, Grub, Maggot, as 

 popularly understood, is as follows : 



A Caterpillar is the larva of a butterfly, moth, or saw-fly, 

 often hairy, and always provided with a larger or smaller number 

 of legs. 



A Grub is the larva of a beetle, having six feet and a smooth 

 body. 



A Maggot is the larva of a bee, wasp, or fly, and has no legs. 



