i METAMORPHOSES OF INSECTS 5 



Usually the formation of the larva is complete soon 

 after the egg is laid, sometimes the process lingers 

 on throughout the winter, and should unfavourable 

 circumstances supervene, it is surmised that it may 

 be delayed for years. Experiments prove that eggs 

 may be exposed to intense cold, such indeed as to 

 solidify their contents, and yet remain capable of 

 hatching. The growth of the embryo * within the 

 egg may be watched. This is easily perceptible in 

 the case of a transparent egg, by holding it against 

 the light, or by examining it through a strong 

 magnifier. Day by day the germ steadily increases 

 from a tiny speck, until it is too large for the egg to 

 contain, and it breaks through the now tight skin 

 or shell, and emerges into the world a living and 

 active being the grub or larva. 



The word larva is from the Latin, and signifies a 

 mask or phantom. It was applied by the great 

 naturalist Linnaeus to the first active stage of 

 insects, with the idea that during its continuance 

 the glories of the future perfect creature were, 

 as it were, masked or shadowed out. Unhappily 

 there is no corresponding general term in English. 

 The larvae of moths and butterflies, which are 

 coloured and often hairy, are spoken of as cater- 

 pillars. White fleshy and more compact larvae, 

 legless, or possessed of legs, as those of many beetles 

 and flies, are commonly known as grubs and maggots. 

 Such as resemble the parent, as a rule are designated 

 by the parent's name. 



It is interesting to follow the life-history of an 

 insect that is subject to true metamorphoses. From 



