The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



the nymphosis, and a rumpled membrane, in 

 which I recognize the cast skin of the nymph. 

 There should still be the tertiary larva, of 

 which I see not a trace. But, on taking a 

 needle and gradually breaking the envelope 

 of the pseudochrysalis, after soaking it 

 awhile in water, I see it dividing into two 

 layers, one an outer layer, brittle, horny in 

 appearance and currant-red; the other an 

 inner layer, consisting of a transparent, flex- 

 ible pellicle. There can be no doubt that this 

 inner layer represents the tertiary larva, 

 whose skin is left adhering to the envelope 

 of the pseudochrysalis. It is fairly thick 

 and tough, but I cannot detach it except in 

 shreds, so closely does it adhere to the horny, 

 crumbly sheath. 



Since I possessed a fair number of pseudo- 

 chrysalids, I sacrificed a few in order to ascer- 

 tain their contents on the approach of the 

 final transformations. Well, I never found 

 anything that I could detach; I never suc- 

 ceeded in extracting a larva in its tertiary 

 form, though this larva is so easily obtained 

 from the amber pouches of the Sitares and, 

 in the Oil-beetles and Cerocomae, emerges 

 of its own accord from the split wrapper of 

 the pseudochrysalis. When, for the first 

 time, the stiff shell encloses a body which 

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