POPULAR ENTOMOLOGY. 



is prepared, and a suitable provision made for the deposi- 

 tion of the eggs in a proper locality. 



The imago, or perfect insect, on first emerging from the 

 pupa-case, is frequently in an imperfect condition. In the 

 Order Lepidoptera, for instance, the antennse are bent 

 down, and the wings crumpled, small, and shapeless ; but 

 in a short time these are gradually unfolded, and assume 

 their proper form ; the elytra of the Coleoptera gain their 

 beautiful colours, and what before seemed a half-formed 

 mass is changed into an insect decked with the most bril- 

 liant hues, and rejoicing in its new and happy existence. 

 The operation of expanding the wings generally occupies 

 but a few minutes, though some Butterflies require nearly 

 an hour, and several species of Sphinx even a day. In the 

 Ephemera this process is almost instantaneous, some of them 

 however undergoing another slight metamorphosis after 

 they have quitted the pupariurn: fixing themselves upon some 

 object, they draw every part of their body, even the legs 

 and wings, from a thin pellicle or skin, which covered them 

 like a glove, and so exactly do these exuvias resemble the in- 

 sect, that they may at first sight be mistaken for it. Many 

 similar examples might be brought forward, as proofs of the 

 interesting facts discoverable in the study of these ' ' living 



