OF THE SKELETON. 137 



stages of an insect's life, and we see it much more dis- 

 tinctly in a larva than in a perfect insect ; and here it will 

 be proper to observe, that the skin or covering _/?\ 

 which has subsequently to become so corneous c r~^\ 

 and solid that the term skin seems almost theo- E r^7~i 

 retical, is generally in larvae, thin, soft and flex- : 

 ible, in an equal degree with that of animals ^ ^ 

 possessing the more obvious support of an inter- * 

 nal skeleton. The figure in the margin is hi- M \ 

 tended to show the segments in the larva of a 

 large beetle, each separated from its neighbours 

 in order that the division may be more clearly Q-~ IT) 



exemplified. In the caterpillar of the emperor r -j 



moth, at page 130, the same segmental division 

 is equally manifest, with the exception that the u l W 

 segments are there represented united, as in a w-CZ3 

 state of nature. The caterpillar of the spurge Y _ ^p 

 hawk-moth, at page 90, is another exemplifi- 

 cation of the same structure, the divisions being 

 less manifest, but still to be traced ; the thirteenth segment, 

 or that posterior to the horn, being the only one not distinct- 

 ly defined. See also the larva of the cricket, at page 73 ; of 

 the sexton beetle, at page 53 ; of the bee, at page 40, &c. 

 In examining larvae, the young entomologist should pay 

 particular attention to certain prehensile appendages erro- 

 neously called legs, and more correctly false legs: the 

 absence, presence, number and situation of these, has 

 been so correctly observed by entomological writers, that 

 the genus of a moth or saw-fly may frequently be correctly 

 given by a careful inspection of its larva. In the figure 

 of the privet hawk-moth, at page 82, these false legs alone 

 are used to hold it to the twig on which it is standing, the 

 six real legs being unemployed: this is the usual and 

 natural position of the insect when at rest : when eating 



