INSECTS AND PLANTS 63 



itself into space without the least knowledge of the distance 

 to the ground or the result of its venture has been often 

 commented upon, but it is not more remarkable than other 

 features in the life-history of this species." At this stage 

 the insect is yellowish white in colour, except the eyes and 

 claws of the anterior legs, which are reddish ; its total length 

 is about one-sixteenth of an inch, and it is chiefly remark- 

 able for the structure of its lobster-like front legs. On 

 reaching the ground, the larva at once enters some crack or 

 fissure, passes from sight, and begins its long subterranean 

 existence. Concerning this underground life, we can only 

 give the veriest outline. There are four larval stages, and 

 by the time the fourth stage is reached the insect has 

 completed its eighth year; from three to four years are 

 passed in this stage, which is succeeded by two pupal stages. 

 All the time the insect is below ground it dwells in a little 

 earthen cell, which encloses some portion of a root, from 

 which nourishment is derived ; in the early stages these 

 cells are very small, but the larvae enlarge them as they 

 grow. When the time has almost come for the emergence 

 of the adult insects, the pupae usually burrow upwards till 

 they are just below the surface of the ground, though some- 

 times they come out of the ground and hide under stones, 

 etc. Sometimes, too, when they reach the surface of the 

 ground before they are prepared to leave it, they build 

 huts or cones (fig. 11), little chimneys of earth above the 

 surface of the soil which form continuations of their 

 burrows, though with what object is doubtful: from the 

 top of these cones they emerge in due course. 



When the time for transformation arrives, one of the 

 most remarkable events of the whole life-cycle occurs 

 after seventeen years of waiting these pupae emerge from 

 the ground with remarkable unanimity, and make a bee- 

 line to the trunk of the nearest tree, covering the ground 

 so thickly that it is impossible to walk without treading 

 on them. Once on the tree, they crawl out on to all the 



