THE INTELLECTUAL OBSERVER. 



DECK M BE R, 18 6 7. 



INSECTS' EGGS: THEIR STRUCTURE, VARIETY, 



AND BEAUTY. 



BY JABEZ HOGG, F.L.S., HON. SEC. K.M.S., ETC. 

 (With a Coloured Plate.) 



In our country rambles, some among us may have been 

 tempted to examine what appeared to be curled-up leaves, or 

 patches of whitish dots adhering to branch or stem, many so 

 like the bark of the tree itself, that at a first glimpse, even the 

 practised eye might have failed to detect that they were orga- 

 nised bodies. Upon more closely and attentively scrutinizing 

 these little adhesions, they are seen to be collections of insects' 

 eggs, thus skilfully deposited and concealed with maternal 

 care. To such apparently unimportant objects I would direct 

 the reader's attention, and more particularly to their structure, 

 variety, and beauty, as disclosed by the aid of the microscope. 

 My observations will be mainly confined to the eggs of the 

 Lepidopterous insects, which at this period of the year may be 

 secured in large numbers, for the purpose of making a careful 

 comparison of their formation, watching the development of 

 the germinal vesicle into that of the fully-formed embryo, and 

 noting the transformation of the creeping caterpillar to a thing 

 of wondrous life and beauty, taking its flight among the love- 

 liest of nature's handiworks, and sipping honey frcm every 

 flower " from morn to dewy eve." 



Nearly all insects are oviparous ; the few instances in which 

 this is believed not to be the case, are not positive deviations 

 from the general law. The eggs of insects, however, do not 

 often fall under notice, for in consequence of their smallness, 

 they escape observation ; and from the scrupulous care taken 

 by the parent to conceal them from the depredations of their 

 numerous enemies, they are not easily discoverable. The situ- 

 ation mostly selected by the female moth, is the leaf or bark 

 of such trees and plants as will serve their young for food. 

 Sometimes, with an instrument provided by Nature for the 

 VOL. XII. — no. v. y 



