JANUARY. 3 



black, and blue are to be found ; others are banded, as, for 

 example, those of the Pine Moth, which are blue, with three 

 brown zones. The number of eggs deposited by insects is 

 very considerable : the Queen Bee produces from 40,000 

 to 50,000 in the course of the year; one species of Moth, 

 according to Lyonnet, produces 1,000,000 young in the 

 third generation, and the Aphis observed by Eeaumur pro- 

 duced at the fourth generation 5,904,900,000 individuals. 

 The period which ensues before the egg is hatched, depends 

 on the temperature of the atmosphere, as well as the kind 

 of insect, varying from a few hours, as in the Meat-Fly, to 

 some months, and as a general rule those eggs which are 

 laid in the autumn are not hatched before the next spring. 

 In the larva, the next state of existence, the principal occu- 

 pation of insects is to eat and grow : in this condition they 

 are called caterpillars, grubs, or maggots, but the proper 

 and more scientific name is larva. Of these there are two 

 kinds those which in their general form have some resem- 

 blance to the perfect insect, such as the Orders OrtJioptera, 

 Hemiptera, Homoptera, and part of the order Neuroptera ; 

 and those which are quite unlike, comprising, with few excep- 

 tions, the Orders Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Dip- 

 tera, and part of Neuroptera. These last-mentioned larvae are 



