164 THE WOODLANDS. 



which the order contains. Beetles have two mem- 

 branous wings, which are folded up and concealed 

 during repose beneath a pair of hard, horny, or leathery 

 wing-cases. Butterflies and moths have four wings, 

 covered with minute scales. Bees, wasps, &c., have 

 four clear, transparent wings, and flies (as they are 

 usually termed), or Diptera, have two transparent 

 wings. Thus through all the orders a general feature 

 prevails, by means of which the insects of one order 

 may be distinguished from those of another. Beetles 

 are the first insects to which our attention must be 

 directed, and they may best be illustrated by one of 

 the most common and best known of our indigenous 

 species. 



The habits and transformations of the common 

 Cockchafer have been carefully observed, and will 

 serve to exemplify those of the other insects of this 

 family, which, as far as they are known, seem to be 

 nearly the same. This insect devours the leaves of 

 trees and shrubs. Its duration in the perfect state is 

 very short, each individual living only about a week, 

 and the species entirely disappearing in the course of 

 a month. After the sexes have paired, the males 

 perish, and the females enter the earth to the depth 

 of six inches or more, making their way by means of 

 the strong teeth which arm the forelegs ; here they 

 deposit their eggs, amounting, according to some 

 writeis, to nearly one hundred, or, as others assert, to 

 two hundred, from each female, which are abandoned 

 by the parent, who generally ascends again to the 

 surface, and perishes in a short time. 



From the eggs are hatched, in the space of fourteen 



