NUMBER OF SEGMENTS. 



could possibly mistake one for the other. In the 

 moth pupa all the limbs are hidden under a hard 

 covering, but in the Beetle pupa all the members of 

 the insect are visible, though they are covered with a 

 skin which binds them down, and prevents them from 

 being used until the insect attains its perfect form, 

 and bursts through the investing skin. 



If the reader will carefully examine the various 

 stages of insect life, he will see that, whether the 

 creature be in the larval, pupal, or perfect state, the 

 number of rings of which it is composed are the same. 

 Take, for example, a Beetle larva, and it will be 

 found to consist of thirteen rings, or segments. The 

 first of these forms the head the next three carry the 

 legs, and the remaining rings constitute the body. 

 Should the same larva be successfully reared, and 

 examined after it has reached the perfect state, it will 

 be found to have precisely the same number of rings, 

 though some are fused together, and others are greatly 

 modified. 



IN the accompanying illustration we have an 

 example of the Beetle, taken to pieces so as to show 

 the various parts. The Stag Beetle has been chosen 

 for the purpose. 



We begin with the head and its appendages. 

 Fig. I shows the mandibles, or upper jaws, which in 

 the male Stag Beetle are of very great size. Fig. 4 

 shows the maxillae, or lower jaws, with the maxillary 

 palpi, or jaw-feelers, Fig. 4^. Fig. 3 shows the 

 labium, or lower lip, with the labial palpi, or lip-feelers, 

 3#. Next come the antennae, or feelers, Fig. 2. 



