MEANS OF DEFENCE. 179 



clutches of the cawing rooks which follow the tail 

 of the plough. The winged insects are tolerably 

 secure, although many even of their ranks fall 

 victims to the swift- winged swallow and sand-mar- 

 tin, and to the rapid leap of the artful trout. But 

 the poor crawling larvae are neither strong enough 

 to fight, nor swift enough to flee, and fall by thou- 

 sands into the unsparing hands of their various 

 enemies. 



Yet, the Creator, who has wisely appointed a 

 large portion of their numbers for food to many 

 creatures, has also taken many precautions to pre- 

 vent their being entirely annihilated, as might 

 otherwise have been the case. These are well de- 

 serving a brief notice, previous to our passing on 

 to the last stage in the history of the larva. From 

 what has been already said about the coats of va- 

 rious larvae, it may be imagined that that must be 

 a stout-hearted enemy which could venture to 

 attack some of them. The spines and hard ex- 

 crescences with which they are furnished must, 

 undoubtedly, prove far from agreeable to the touch 

 of a foe ; and there can be no question that this 

 sort of armour is, of itself, a good defence to many 

 larvae. Others form artificial coverings, which are 



