INSECTS. 



rally known by the name of maggots, and are of a 

 thick and short form. - Those of Dragon-Flies, 

 Dytisci or Water-Beetles, and many other Insects, 

 are of highly singular forms, and differ perhaps 

 more from that of the complete insect than any 

 others except those of the Butterfly tribe. 



Some Insects undergo no change of shape, but 

 are hatched from the egg complete in all their 

 parts, and undergo no farther alteration than that 

 of casting their skin from time to time, till at 

 length they acquire the complete resemblance of 

 the parent animal. 



It is in the Larva or caterpillar state that most 

 insects are peculiarly voracious, as in many of the 

 common caterpillars of Moths and Butterflies. In 

 their complete state some insects, as Butterflies 

 for instance, are satisfied with the lightest and 

 most delicate nutriment, while others, as several 

 Beetles, Dragon-Flies, &c. &c. devour animal and 

 vegetable substances with a considerable degree 

 of avidity. 



When the time arrives in which the Larva or 

 caterpillar is to change into the next state, viz. 

 that of Chrysalis or Pupa, it ceases to feed, and 

 having placed itself in some quiet situation for 'the 

 purpose, lies still for several hours, and then by 

 a kind of laborious effort, frequently repeated, 

 divests itself of its external skin, or larva coat, and 

 immediately appears in the very different form of 

 a chrysalis or pupa. 



The Pupa, or Chrysalis, differs in the different 

 tribes of Insects almost as much as the Larva, In 



