22 LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD. 



Yet these changes are constantly going on in 

 the insect world. From the egg deposited by 

 the butterfly, moth, or other insect, a worm is 

 hatched, entirely different in appearance and 

 habits from its parent, or the animal it is itself 

 afterwards to become. 



These worms are called larvae, which is the 

 Latin name for mask, because they contain in 

 them all the organs of the perfect insect, under 

 the appearance, or mask, of a worm. I want 

 you to try to remember these terms ; because, 

 if you should hereafter read books upon insects, 

 as I hope you will, you will constantly meet 

 with them, and if you do not understand them, 

 you can scarcely tell what you are reading 

 about. 



The larvas spend most of their lives in eating, 

 and subsist chiefly upon the leaves of plants. 

 Their bodies are covered with several layers of 

 skin, and, as they increase in size, the outer one 

 becomes too small, and the worm bursts it open 

 and crawls out of it, leaving it behind as a worn 

 out garment. After a while, the second skin 

 also becomes too small, and is cast off in the 

 same manner j and in this way the different 



