24 LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD. 



having thrown off its mask, it has become a per- 

 fect image of its species. 



Most insects, in their perfect state, eat but 

 little, and do not increase in size. Some live 

 but a few days after they have acquired wings ; 

 some a few weeks, some a year, and others 

 longer. 



Those which live through the year, generally 

 pass the winter in a state of torpor or apparent 

 sleep. Ants retire to the bottom of their nests, 

 and there remain, sluggish and sleepy enough, 

 until revived by the warm airs of spring. 



You know that insects lay their eggs in the 

 summer, and that they are not hatched until the 

 following spring ; and although the mother has 

 never felt the cold herself, and the eggs are ge- 

 nerally laid in the hottest part of the season, she 

 is always careful to protect them against the 

 storms and frosts of winter. They are generally 

 deposited upon the twigs and branches of trees, 

 and sometimes upon walls and fences, to which 

 they are firmly glued with a sort of cement 

 which insects have the power of producing, and 

 are frequently covered with a coating of the 

 same substance, which serves the purpose of 

 water-proof varnish. 



