INSECTS AND THE SMALLER ANIMALS 245 



178. INSECTS AND THE SMALLER ANIMALS 



Insects are air-breathing animals with six legs, and with 

 their bodies divided into three separate parts. Most of the 

 insects are harmful to man, since they either live upon the 

 bodies of animals, or vegetable life, which are valuable to 

 man. Some insects consume decaying animal and vegetable 

 matter, and enrich the soil by increasing the humus. 



Most insects pass through several stages: the egg, worm, 

 cocoon, or a dormant state, and finally the mature insect. 

 The worm stage is the one in which the most damage is accom- 

 plished. . The destruction of the insect in the dormant state 

 prevents a large increase of its kind, because it is the adult 

 which lays the eggs in very large numbers. 



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