218 INSECT MISCELLANIES. 



a, Ctenophoraflaveolata. fe, Ctenophora oruata. 



posit their eggs, they very soon die, seldom living 

 a few days, sometimes only a few hours, afterwards ; 

 but should pairing be prevented, their lives, and par- 

 ticularly that of the female, may be protracted to an 

 indefinite period. Collectors, indeed, find that it is 

 with the utmost difficulty a female can be deprived of 

 her life before laying ; and we have no doubt that the 

 marvellous stories reported of the revival of flies and 

 other insects, after long immersion in spirits, or after 

 being crushed by shutting a book, originated in this 

 circumstance, as well as the prolonged life of some 

 insects, which is given on good authority. Rusel, 

 for example, informs us that he kept a rose-chafer 

 (Cetojiia aurata) upwards of three years, feeding it 

 with fruit and moist bread * ; and Audebert is said to 

 * Jnseckten Belustig. iii. 379. 



