INSECTA. 813 
of birds, and is only surpassed by the almost unbounded reproductive powers 
of fishes. Lewenhoeck found that a single fly could produce in three months 
seven hundred and forty-six thousand four hundred and ninety-six flies, simi- 
lar to itself; the silk-worm moth deposits about five hundred ova; the tiger- 
moth sixteen hundred. And in insects living in societies like the wasp and 
bee, whose manners have been more the subject of observation, the repro- 
ductive powers are still greater. The female wasp deposits at least thirty 
thousand, and the queen bee from forty to fifty thousand. But all these are 
left far behind by a species of the white ant (Termes fatale), the female of 
which deposits not less than sixty ova in a minute, three thousand six hun- 
dred in an hour, or eight hundred and sixty-four thousand in a day! 
The most remarkable feature in the history of insects, is the transformations 
the same individuals undergo during the different stages of their existence. 
These transformations, more wonderful than the fabled metamorphoses of the 
pagan mythology, have been adduced in proof of the argument for the existence 
of design in the conduct of the universe. But to the student of nature, even 
this instance, however striking, is not wanted to establish proofs of design 
the most admirable, and beneficence the most unbounded, in the structure 
and preservation of the almost infinitely numerous tribes of organized be- 
ings ; since every portion of nature exhibits facts of the same kind, impos- 
sible to be explained without reference to Infinite Wisdom and Almighty 
Power. 
The transformations or metamorphoses of insects embrace three states 
m which the animals appear, and which form as many great periods of their 
fife. In the first, they have no wings, and some even possess no organ of 
movement; in the second, the animal falls into a state of torpor or apparent 
lethargy, for a longer or shorter period, during which its future organs are 
completed; and the third displays the perfect insect in the full possession of 
of all its members and animal faculties. 
In the first state, the animal, under the form of a small worm, is 
termed the larva, or caterpillar. These larve appear in two states; 1. 
Those which, in general form, more or less resemble the perfect insect; 2. 
Those which are wholly unlike the perfect insect. The first cf these ins 
cludes, with the exception of the crustacea, nearly the whole of the Lins 
nan orders, Aptera and Henuptera; the second comprises, with few ex- 
ceptions, the whole of the Linnean orders, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenop= 
tera, Diptera, and the greater portion of the Neuroptera. Previous to their 
change, the larve exhibit appearances of the greatest anxiety and restlessness. 
They cease to eat, wander about with instinctive care, seeking for holes in 
the earth, chinks in trees, crevices in walls, and other places for their tempo- 
rary repose. Many penetrate the ground to the depth of several inches; 
the grubs of the gad-fly creep out of the backs of the cattle, and drop upon 
the ground, or are carried by the animal, licking itself, into its mouth and 
through its intestines; and the various aquatic larve leave the water for an 
