ON LARViE. 71 



Moth of the genus Psyche, the female still retains, 

 after the last change, nearly the same appearance 

 as it did in the larva state. The Staphylides, a 

 class of Beetles, have also the peculiarity, very rare 

 in their order, of presenting nearly the same ap- 

 pearance in the larva as in the perfect state. 



Coleopterous larvae have been popularly termed 

 Grubs, as I have said, and those of Lepidoptera, 

 Caterpillars; while a class very closely allied to 

 these last have been termed " False Caterpillars." 

 These are the larvae of some divisions of the order 

 Hymenoptera (or Clear Wings) — of the Saw-flies, 

 for instance. 



Larvae, with the exception of the head and pec- 

 toral feet, which are generally of a horny nature, 

 are almost invariably of a softer character than 

 perfect insects. In the Staphylides, however, the 

 first three segments, which represent the trunk of 

 the perfect insect, are horny. The larvae of the 

 Water Beetles have horny plates protecting the 

 first nine segments ; and in some few instances even 

 the skin of the true Caterpillar, generally so velvety 

 in its texture, is entirely of a crisp, horny nature, 

 as in the larva of Vanessa Polychlorus, the beautiful 

 Elm Tortoise-shell Butterfly. A few of the larvae 

 of Beetles are also entirely horny in this manner, 



