434 INSECTA. 



Of their Food when hatched. — The [larvae of the eggs] that were laid 

 upon particular substances generally feed thereon, the parent taking 

 no further concern about them ; such are the silk- worm, most moths, 

 butterflies, flesh-flies, &e. Some feed upon the substance which the 

 parent provided as both nidus and food ; such are many of the ichneu- 

 mons, the humble-bee, an insect iu rotten wood \_Xylocopa, Latr.]. 

 Some of those which provide places for the reception of the egg, 

 generally provide food for the young, as the hive-bee, hornet, wasps, &c. 

 (although this is not always done by the parent, but by others, which 

 therefore may be called nurses) ; while there are some which do not 

 provide any nidus, but lay their eggs in the common earth, yet never- 

 theless take care of their young ; as the ant, which not only feeds the 

 young, but moves them from place to place according to circumstances 

 or dangers, even when in the chrysalis state ; which last is, I believe, 

 peculiar to them. The food, therefore, of all those that feed on the 

 substances in which the eggs are laid is either vegetable or animal ; 

 and those also which are fed by the parent may have either vegetable 

 or animal food, and some have both, as the wasp, hornet, &c. The 

 substance which the humble-bee, or Apis terrestris, provides for its 

 young, is a kind of wax ; and the substance which the Scarabceus \_Geo- 

 trupes stercorarius] provides for the nidus, is cow-dung, which is a 

 compost of animal and vegetable matters. The maggot of the bee is 

 fed most probably with vegetable substance, viz. bee-bread, or properly 

 honey ; while the wasp feeds its young with fruit, meat, or almost 

 anything it can get. Those, as the silk- worm, which only live a short 

 time, have their eggs neatly formed at once ; but those, as the common 

 fly, which live a considerable time, have a series of formations, a grada- 

 tion from the full-formed to the smallest being observed in their ovaria 

 at the same time. 



The mode of hatching is extremely various. 



All of the first class, or caterpillars, change their coat several times. 

 Those of the Phalcena first weave a kind of network upon the large 

 branches of the tree on which they feed, which serves them as a bed, 

 to which place they retire in the evening, laying upon it alongside of 

 one another, or pretty parallel with each other ; and on this bed they 

 change their skins, which frequently remain entangled in it. I believe 

 that of those of the second class, which I have called maggot, some do 

 not change their skin [several times] ; but that the skin grows in pro- 

 portion to the growth of the animal. 



Both classes are preparing themselves for a second state of fetation, 

 called ' Chrysalis ;' though not all, for the gnat appears to move directly 

 from the maggot to the fly-state. Some, during their caterpillar state, 



