XVI. 



THE CHRYSALIS YEAR. 



IN warm spots under hedges, I see, the first 

 spring insects now begin to appear, timidly 

 and tentatively, from the shelter of their 

 cocoons. Some few of them, indeed, like 

 the lady-birds, the wasps, and the bumble- 

 bees, have struggled through the winter in 

 the winged or perfect form, having hibernated 

 among warm moss or under the bark of 

 trees in favoured situations. These adven- 

 turous kinds passed through their larval 

 and pupal stages last year, and a tithe of 

 them live on with difficulty through the 

 winter frosts, to become the mothers and 

 founders of fresh insect communities as 

 April comes round again. But by far the 

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