CHRYSALIS. 207 



happens that in a few individuals the wings are fully de- 

 veloped : here the specific .identity is not questioned ; why 

 then should it be in the former, the principle in either case 

 being identical ? 



3. In those species which undergo the perfect metamor- 

 phosis of Latreille, the pupa is incapable of eating and 

 walking, and may be considered as a most characteristic 

 state of the insect's existence. Here belong the tribes of 

 Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Trichoptera, and many Neuroptera 

 and Diptera, having an incomplete pupa; the Lepidoptera 

 having an obtected pupa, and the remainder of the Diptera 

 and Strepsiptera having a coarctate pupa. I have already 

 noticed the distinction of these kinds of pupae ; but as they 

 all (including the coarctate pupae, when examined without 

 reference to the external covering formed of the indurated 

 skin of the larva) resolve themselves into one general mode 

 of construction, that of being inactive, and having the limbs 

 folded more or less closely upon the breast, it will be conve- 

 nient to examine them in one general view. Here, then, 

 we find the form of the future insect much more visibly im- 

 pressed upon the insect than during its previous state ; the 

 head, thorax, abdominal segments, and the various limbs, 

 are more or less discernible. The external covering in this 

 state is variable in its consistence, according to the situation 

 in which the pupa state is undergone : thus in those species 

 especially belonging to the coleopterous, hymenopterous, 

 and dipterous orders, which are safely protected from ex- 

 ternal injuries, the pupae are soft, and the envelope mem- 

 branous ; but in the Lepidoptera, and more especially those 

 which are naked, the pupa (chrysalis) is of a hard texture. 



The pupa state of lepidopterous insects is ordinarily 

 termed a chrysalis or aurelia, and differs from those of 

 every other order of insects a circumstance of some inte- 

 rest as well as peculiarity, since in other instances we find 



