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distinctive of ihe larvae of some Coleopterous and Hymenoptevous insects: on the con- 

 trary, the surface of these little ^ruhs might be described in the words of pleasant old 

 Gerarde, as clean and ' dry in ihe first degree: ' after feeding for a very few days the 

 colour of the grub becomes opaline and slightly opaque, the opaline tint being caused 

 by the quantity of food in the intestines; this food becomes more and more apparent, 

 as long as the grub continues to feed. The cavities in the caudex of the fern now 

 rapidly become larger, and the eflFect is very visible above ground. When the grub is 

 feeding most eagerly it is spring ; and, one after another, the Ionic volutes of the nas- 

 cent circinate fronds droop, wither and fall, plainly proclaiming the presence of the 

 sapper and miner at work below, the canker-worm at the seat of life. When its appe- 

 tite is at length satiated, the grub becomes quite opaque, and of a uniform cream- 

 colour ; the food disappears from the intestinal canal, and the creature withdraws 

 about three-quarters of an inch from the scone of his labours. We use a light sandy 

 soil for the ferns, and the grub seems to find no difficulty in making his way through 

 this, and adapting it to his purposes ; for he now forms a circular cell, quite large 

 enough for himself and two friends, althouuh he never invites them ; and he polishes 

 up the walls of this cell in the nicest and neatest manner; and, without using silk of 

 his own spinning, or any other material except the often-watered earth, he makes every 

 thing snug and comfortable, and settles himself in for a fortnight's rest, during which 

 he practises total abstinence, as if to alone for his former voracity. I will describe the 

 grub in this state of abstinence and rest. Length, •4125 inch ; greatest breadth, i.e. 

 at one-third of the length between the head and the anal extremity, -151 inch : head tes- 

 taceous, horny, very shining, gibbous in front, rounded at top, truncate below at its 

 greatest diameter, having therefore the figure of a beehive: beneath the truncature 

 protrudes thelabrum, which exhibits the anomalous or previously unobserved character 

 of a curious pectinated process at each angle, — two strong, incurved, testaceous man- 

 dibles, having a blunt tooth near their black tip, or, perhaps, more correctly cha- 

 racterised as being obtusely bifid at the apex, — two maxillae, much smaller and less 

 conspicuous than the mandibles, but horny and glabrous; internally and apically the 

 maxillae bear an obtuse lacinia, having a serrated, subspinous, internal margin ; exter- 

 nally they bear a biarticulate palpus, the basal joint of which is stout and nearly glo- 

 bose, the apical joint rather longer, cylindrical, audsomewhat obtuse, — finally, a labiuno, 

 long and narrow, bearing at each external angle a biarticulate palpus, much resem- 

 bling those of the maxillae. The body is composed of twelve segments, of which the 

 first seems to have only its sternal surface developed, and the twelfth is little more 

 than a tubercle ; on the second on each side near the head is a circular spiracle, the 

 only one that I can find : there are no legs, but each segment has a series of papillae 

 and a number of strong testaceous bristles ; aided by which, the grub has very con- 

 siderable powers of locomotion when placed on a somewhat uneven surface. At the 

 expiration of a fortnight the larval state has ceased and that of pupa has been assumed ; 

 this undergoes changes of colour very much like those of the larva ; at first it is hya- 

 line, then slightly opaline, and finally cream-coloured, with very conspicuous black 

 eyes: the peculiarities of a necromorphous pupa are now so familiar to entomologists 

 that I need not dwell on them ; every limb is free, and every joint of the antennee and 

 tarsi is discernible through the slender pellicle with which it is invested ; the elytra, 

 attached to the dorsal surface at the anterior margin of the mcsonotum, at first 

 bend forwards, and passing between the middle and hind legs, repose on the latter, 

 which, in their turn, arc neatly arranged in front, reposing on the sternum. An 



