Hypermetamorphosis 



this juncture, it is thrust behind in the shape 

 of a little ball. There is therefore nothing 

 here that differs from what happens in the 

 other Beetles. 



Nor does the nymph which succeeds this 

 tertiary larva present any peculiarity: it is 

 the perfect insect in swaddling-bands, yellow- 

 ish white, with its various external members, 

 clear as crystal, displayed under the ab- 

 domen. A few weeks elapse, during which 

 the nymph partly dons the livery of the 

 adult state ; and, in about a month, the insect 

 moults for a last time, in the usual manner, 

 in order to attain its final form. The wing- 

 cases are now of a uniform yellowish white, 

 as are the wings, the abdomen and the greater 

 part of the legs; very nearly all the rest of 

 the body is of a glossy black. In the space 

 of twenty-four hours, the wing-cases assume 

 their half-black, half-russet colouring; the 

 wings grow darker; and the legs finish turn- 

 ing black. This done, the adult organism 

 is completed. However, the Sitaris remains 

 still a fortnight in the intact shell, ejecting 

 at intervals white droppings of uric acid, 

 which it pushes back together with the shreds 

 of its last two sloughs, those of the tertiary 

 larva and of the nymph. Lastly, about the 

 middle of August, it tears the double bag 

 127 



