CHAPTER II 



THE YOUNG INSECT 



Among aphides or plant-lice, the females of the summer 

 generation are viviparous : i.e. they give birth to living 

 young. Certain two-winged flies — for example, the blood- 

 sucking forest flies and the dreaded tse-tse flies of the 

 African continent — multiply by producing, one at a time, 

 full-grown grubs which change immediately to pupae. 

 But such exceptions serve to point the rule that insects, 

 as a class, lay eggs. The eggs of some large beetles 

 differ little in appearance from those of the smaller species 

 of humming-birds ; but whereas the eggs of birds are 

 remarkable for the wide range of colour and markings 

 which they display, those of insects vary chiefly in form. 

 Some insects' eggs are quite fantastic. The eggs of lace- 

 wing flies, for example, are supported upon long stalks* 

 the bases of which are glued by the female to a twig or a 

 grass blade. Again, the eggs of the extraordinary walk- 

 ing-stick insects and their kindred are almost always 

 remarkable. Some are like little flasks, while many bear 

 a very close resemblance to the seeds of plants. Each egg 

 is provided with a little cap, or lid, which is pushed up by 

 the young insect when it emerges. Among the more 

 minute eggs of insects, those of butterflies and moths are 

 noteworthy on account of the exquisite sculpturing of 

 their shells. This ornamentation takes the form of a 

 particular pattern in the case of each species ; but whether 

 a useful purpose is subserved thereby is open to question. 

 Still more beautiful in their adornment are the eggs of 



