LIFE HISTOKY AND HABITS. 



eggs, usually upwards of one hundred, in clusters or masses. Butterflies lay 

 them singly and in great number. The queen-bee produces a vast number 

 of eggs, laying them singly in the special cells. The locusts and larger 

 grasshoppers lay about one hundred eggs ; the smaller grasshoppers 

 some fifty or so. The Neuroptera lay many eggs, as do the Orthoptera. 1 



It is probably correct to say that insects which are exposed to 

 enemies lay many eggs to allow for the inevitable destruction of the 

 majority of the young, whilst " safe forms/'' which live in hiding or are 

 exceptionally well protected from dangers and from enemies, lay a few. 

 The form of the eggs varies very much in different families. Cock- 

 roaches lay eggs (fig. 31) in a single case of peculiar form, as do the 

 mantis or praying insects (fig. 32). Stick insects drop, one at a time, 

 peculiar seed-like eggs with lids. Locusts and grasshoppers lay a mass 

 of long oval eggs in the ground and green grasshoppers lay them in the 

 tissues of plants. The eggs of the 

 Lace wing (fig. 332, page 274) resemble 

 grains of rice and are set each on a 

 stalk ; many other Neuroptera lay masses 

 of eggs in fresh water. The eggs of 

 Hymenoptera are small, soft, white 

 bodies, sometimes stalked. Butterflies 

 lay round seed-like eggs, beautifully 

 ribbed ; moths lay similar round or flat 

 eggs usually ornamented or marked. 

 The eggs of the common flies are cigar- 

 shaped, deposited singly or in masses. 

 Bugs often lay neat cylindrical eggs with 

 lids, depositing them in batches ; the 

 eggs of the Red Cotton Bug are round 

 and yellow, laid in the soil, whilst those 

 of the Dusky Bug are cigar-shaped and 

 laid in the lint of the cotton. With such 

 infinite variety, general statements can be accepted only with great caution. 



The period during which the egg remains before hatching varies 

 immensely according to species, climatic conditions and other factors. 

 The eggs of butterflies hatch in a few days, as do those of mosquitoes ; 

 the eggs of moths hatch very quickly in warm damp weather, but dry 

 cold will delay them. Many insects' eggs remain from October or 



1 It is necessary to use scientific words to designate groups for which there are no 

 English equivalents. The reader will find the explanation of these words on pages 52 

 54. [H. M.-L.] 



FIG. 33. 

 The eggs of a Plant Bug on a leaf. 



