26 Insect Life : Its Why and Wherefore 
and behold, they were there thicker than 
ever. They are as the sand which is upon 
the sea shore in multitude, and when one 
comes to consider their rate of increase 
one marvels that all things living are not 
completely enveloped. Most insects go 
through the progressive stages of larvae 
and pupae. That is to say, they lay eggs 
which hatch into some kind of worm or 
maggot ; these in their turn are formed 
into some kind of chrysalis, out of which 
the fully developed insect emerges, but 
aphides do not waste all this time, and, 
worse luck, can produce young either from 
the egg, or alive and ready for business at 
once. They are produced by either 
oviparous or viviparous generation. 
Though it has yet to be proved that the 
same species of insect produces young in 
both forms, in any case without dealing 
in a simple article like this with so difficult 
and scientific a subject as what is called 
“ parthogenesis,” it is enough for us who 
are fond of flowers to know that one single 
blight fly may produce numbers of broods 
in one single summer, and that one 
individual aphis on a leaf or bud will cover 
