INSECTS. 



127 



which growth in size takes place. The nymph 

 molts, or sheds its skin, several times to allow its 

 body to grow. When the adult stage is reached 

 wings appear, and growth in size stops. The adult 

 eats in order to develop eggs for a new generation. 

 The common squash-bug is so called because it 

 is the best known of all insects that infest pump- 



SQUASH VINE BORER. 



a, male moth ; b, female ; c, eggs on a bit of squash stem ; d, full- 

 grown larva in situ in vine; e, pupa ;f, pupal cell. 



kins and squashes. It is a true bug, having highly 

 developed piercing and sucking mouth-parts, and 

 undergoing incomplete metamorphosis. Its near 

 relatives are bed-bugs, plant-lice, animal-lice, scale- 

 insects, cicada, and a host of other pernicious 

 insects. It can truthfully be said that they are the 

 most despised of all the class. 



