6 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 antennas are bent 

 down, and the w^ngs 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 puparium : fixing themselves upon 

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

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

 like a glove, and so exactly do these exuviae resemble the 

 insect, 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 



