45 



which tliGsc wonderful creatures pass 

 during their hfe-time. 



As somewhat of this knowledge is ne- 

 cessary before we can at all speculate in 

 destroying the noxious kinds of insects, or 

 afford protection to others that are useful, 

 I shall devote a page or two for the pur- 

 pose of describing the history of the 

 propagation of some of our most common 

 kinds. 



In the butterfly kind, the different 

 sexes are as distinct as in the ordinary 

 course of animal nature, but these in- 

 sects differ from most other parts of the 

 creation, by the metamorphoses they un- 

 dergo, and which consist in a change of 

 structure which is observed during their 

 progress to maturity. 



The egg contains the rudiments of the 

 insect, and from it is produced the larva, 

 or caterpillar, which, in many instances 

 casts its coat as it increases in size; 

 at each of which changes it assumes a 

 different colour and form. In this state 

 it is like to w hat the poet says of the 

 boasting lord of the creation ; " its first 



