CHAPTER IV. 



OP THE EGGS OP INSECTS, AND THEIR NESTS. 



|AVING, in the last Chapter, endeavoured 

 to give a general idea of the leading cha- 

 i& racteristics of the class of creatures 

 I ^termed "insects," and of the general 

 ^C ' nature of the singular transformations 

 ^j* which they exhihit in the course of their 

 development from the egg to the complete 

 K, state, it now hecomes necessary, in order to 

 convey to the reader a clear understanding 

 of this part of the suhject, to give a more definite 

 account of the four distinct stages of insect life, 

 namely, that of the egg, that of the larva or cater- 

 pillar, that of the chrysalis or pupa, and, lastly, 

 that of the perfect insect. 



In this Chapter I shall only attempt to describe 

 the egg stage, which is in itself so curious that a much 

 larger space than I can here afford might be given 

 to the subject, without fear of fatiguing the reader, 



