THOSE HORRID EARWIGS 



137 



good mother sits on them till they are all hatched 

 out, and even then continues to watch them, as a 

 hen does her chicks, till they have arrived at years, 

 or rather weeks, of discretion. 



No. 1 8 is a portrait of the earwig and her 

 numerous family in their first condition. And 

 this picture leads 

 us up to one 

 most interesting 

 point in the ear- 

 wig's develop- 

 ment. You will 

 notice here that 

 the young in- 

 sects closely re- 

 semble their 

 mother in most 

 respects far 

 more closely 

 than a cater- 

 pillar resembles 

 its butterfly ; 

 they have the 

 same sort of 



head, the same sort of body, the same sort of tail, 

 and the same peculiar pincers ; but they are quite 

 wingless. Now, this brings out in a very clear way 

 their analogies to and their differences from most 

 higher insects ; it enables us to form a distinct 

 idea of the origin of that standing miracle, the 

 metamorphosis of the maggot into the fly and of 

 the caterpillar into the butterfly. 



12. THE TAIL COMES IN TO HELP 

 THEM. 



