226 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



becoming acquainted with the " Life of an Insect." 

 Such knowledge is far more entertaining than 

 book-knowledge, and is much more agreeable to 

 acquire, and more easy to retain. 



We must guard our definition of what a pupa 

 is, by reminding the reader that some insects with 

 which he is very familiar do not pass through this 

 change in the same manner that the majority of 

 insects do; that is, in a state of torpor or sleep. 

 If he were to rear up a spider from the egg, and 

 were to watch for the time when it would become 

 a still, lifeless-looking object, like that which we 

 have called a pupa, he would assuredly be disap- 

 pointed, and he might accuse this little work of 

 leading him into error, because it declares that all 

 insects must pass through the pupa state before 

 they become perfect in their form and number of 

 their parts. Yet that very spider has passed 

 through both the larva and the pupa state under 

 the observer's eye without his being able to recog- 

 nise the fact, simply because in both these states 

 it is very like the perfect insect, and can walk 

 about and eat just as usual. In fact, it is more 

 than probable that spiders of the same kind in 

 these different conditions could scarcely be recog- 



