INSECTA. 



relative to the metamor- 

 phoses to which they are 

 subject for subsequent 

 consideration. 



(770.) Insects, exa- 

 mined generally, differ 

 from all other articu- 

 lated beings in one re- 

 markable circumstance : 

 they are capable of 

 flight, and can maintain 

 themselves in the air by 

 means of wings. It is 

 true, indeed, that some 

 species are met with, in 

 all the orders described 

 above, which are apte- 

 rous, being destitute of 

 such organs ; but these 

 form exceptions, to be 

 noticed hereafter. Such 



Fig. 148. 



Metamorphoses of Lepidoptera. 



a mode of progression, through so rare a medium as that of the atmo- 

 sphere, necessarily demands an exercise of muscular power of the most 



Fig. 149. 





Metamorphoses of Melolontha. 



