12 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 



The bee, when in its pupa state, has been de- 

 nominated, but improperly, chrysalis and aurelia ; 

 for these, as the words import, are of a golden 

 yellow colour and they are crustaceous ; whilst 

 the bee-nymphs appear of a pale, dull colour, and 

 readily yield to the touch. The golden splendour, 

 to which the above names owe their origin, is 

 peculiar to a certain species only of the papilio or 

 butterfly tribe. The higher class of entomolo- 

 gists, following the example of Linnaeus, apply 

 the term pupa to this state of the embryo bee, a 

 term which signifies that the insect is enveloped 

 in swaddling clothes like an infant, a very apt 

 comparison. Kirby and Spence have remarked 

 that it exhibits no unapt representation of an 

 Egyptian mummy. Huber's translator says that 

 naturalists of the present day incline to use the 

 name of larva, in all cases where the worm is not 

 seen under its final aspect. 



The working bee-nymph spins its cocoon in 

 thirty-six hours . After passing a certain period in 

 this state of preparation for a new existence, it gra- 

 dually undergoes so great a change, as not to wear 

 a vestige of its previous form, but becomes armed 

 with a firmer mail, and with scales of a dark brown 

 hue, fringed with light hairs. On its belly six 

 rings become distinguishable, which by slipping 

 one over another, enable the bee to shorten its 

 body whenever it has occasion to do so ; its breast 



