TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 
1 14 
and the front pair have two transverse brown streaks upon them. 
It appears in July, and is very fond of orchards. The female lays 
her eggs in a very regular manner ; the eggs are very sticky, and 
are deposited around small branches and twigs in little rings or 
a series of bracelets one behind the other, so that when the leaves 
have fallen, these symmetrical rows of egg-rings become very 
visible, and then is the time to destroy them. As soon as they 
escape from the eggs the little caterpillars unite in numerous sets 
and envelope themselves in a silken web, which covers the leaves 
and the small branches in their neighbourhood ; they remain 
together until they have attained a considerable amount of 
growth, and then they separate. They do a great deal of damage 
to apple-trees. When fully grown the lackeys spin a nearly 
transparent cocoon, and powder it well with a yellow sulphury 
looking powder. 
It is evident, after reading the history of these species, which 
are allied to each other, and which are all in the family of the 
Bombycidce , that there is something more than is usually admitted 
in the philosophy of the first metamorphosis. Why should the 
first kind have caterpillars which, on escaping from the egg, go 
into a state of lethargy during nine months, and then transform 
themselves into a lethargic chrysalis ? Why should the larvae 
of the next kind eat and grow big, and then hide up all the 
winter long, before becoming chrysalides ? and why should those 
of the last mentioned species pass in one season from the gor- 
mandising caterpillar to the chrysalis state ? 
The ordinary idea is that the chrysalis condition is a safe 
refuge during the winter, when food cannot be obtained; but 
why should not the first two kinds undergo this metamorphosis 
at once, and without running all sorts of risks ? The history of 
the development of the insects which undergo these perfect 
metamorphoses certainly receives a light from these considera- 
tions, and it is evident that the popular idea is by no means 
the correct one. 
A bombyx, which collects in great assemblages and has 
peculiar habits, and often a miserable fate, is called the Proces- 
sional caterpillar. The moth is rather small, and its grey wings, 
which are very pale coloured in the female and crossed with 
