LETTER XXXII. 



STATES OF INSECTS. 



IMAGO STATE. 



W HEN the insect has quitted the exuviae of the pupa, it 

 has attained the last stage of its existence. It is now 

 termed an Imago, or perfect insect; and is capable of 

 propagation. 



Just after its exclusion, it is weak, soft, and languid : 

 all its parts are covered with moisture ; and, if a winged 

 insect, its wings have so little the appearance, either in 

 shape, size, or colour, which they are about to assume, 

 that it might be taken for a mutilated abortion, rather 

 than an animal in the most vigorous stage of life. If it 

 be a beetle, its elytra, instead of covering the back of the 

 abdomen, are folded over the breast : their substance is 

 soft and leathery, and their white colour exhibits no 

 traces of the several tints which are to adorn them. If 

 the insect be a butterfly or a moth, the wings, instead 

 of being of their subsequent amplitude, and variegated 

 and painted with a variety of hues and markings, are in 

 large species scarcely bigger than the little finger nail, 

 falling over the sides of the trunk, and of a dull muddy 

 colour, in which no distinct characters can be traced. 



u 2 



