72 METAMOEPHOSES OF MAN 



We shall now consider the Coleoptera, selecting the 

 common cockchafer as an example. About the end of 

 April, and some time after sunset, the female of this 

 insect may be seen preparing for the hatching of her 

 eggs. Having selected a light, well-cultivated, and 

 manured soil, such as that of a kitchen garden, she 

 digs a hole of about fifteen to eighteen centimetres 

 deep, and deposits in it her eggs, which are thirty in 

 number. This act accomplished, she ceases to exist. 

 In a month after, a little whitish larva springs from 

 each egg; it is half-twisted upon itself; its head is of 

 a reddish hue and of a horny structure, and is provided 

 with powerful chewing organs, and its body, which is 

 soft, is composed of twelve rings, possessing six scaly 

 feet and eighteen very well-marked stigmata. 



The young larvse lead a gregarious life at first. At 

 this period the whole family is dependent for sub- 

 sistence on the rootlets of the neighbouring plants, 

 and the refuse vegetable matter scattered through 

 the soil. Even on the approach of cold weather they 

 still remain together; but they burrow deeper, and 

 construct a large chamber completely removed from 

 the influence of cold, where they pass the winter 

 in common. When spring appears, these larvae have 

 become larger and more ravenous, and they can no 

 longer enjoy each other's society, from the simple fact 

 that no one locality could furnish them with enough 

 of food ; they now part company, each working its 

 way up to the region of rootlets, through a little gal- 

 lery or tunnel of its own. It is now that, under their 



as possible, or which present facts whose application will be after- 

 wards explained. The transformations about to be described are 

 not quite typical. 



