152 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



as the larvae of these insects. Here will be found 

 hues so rich and deep as to 



" Make the rose's blush of beauty pale, 

 And dim the rich geranium's scarlet blaze." 



Here is a larva of a moth before us whose head 

 is a delicate orange colour, whose belly and feet a 

 pale pure green, whose sides are of primrose tint, 

 variegated with slashes of green, and along the 

 back there runs a beautiful band of white, the inten- 

 sity of which is most agreeably relieved by a vein 

 of lovely pink, which divides it in the middle. 

 There is another clothed in purple, green, and 

 white ; another, the larva of the butterfly called 

 the " Camberwell Beauty," is of a brilliant black, 

 dotted with spots glowing like carbuncles along 

 its back ; another has a coat which seems as if set 

 with precious stones, blazing with an intensity of 

 colour which cannot be conveyed by description. 

 In a word, larvae, on the whole> can boast as varied 

 a display of beautiful hues as can almost the whole 

 array of flowers in our gardens. In consequence 

 of the, unfortunately, too general feeling of 

 loathing, to which allusion has already been made, 

 but few persons are in reality acquainted with 



