284 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



structs a retreat for itself, hollows out a little cell, 

 and spins a cocoon where in perfect quiet the deli- 

 cate task of transformation will be undertaken. It 

 strips off its skin and becomes an inert, formative 

 body known as a nymph. 



"Finally, the nymph, having arrived at the right 

 degree of maturity, casts off its wrappings and re- 

 veals itself as transformed into a perfect insect. It 

 lays its eggs, and the same succession of changes 

 is again repeated. The egg, the larva, the nymph, 

 the perfect insect — there you have the four stages 

 of the insect's life. These changes of form are 

 called metamorphoses." 



