80 
THE BROOD. 
plied to the mummy-like state to which the larva is 
subjected, previous to its becoming a perfect insect, 
or imago, as it is termed. 
During this state of concealment, various changes 
happen to the enclosed insect.* The first change in 
its situation is its ceasing to continue in that coiled 
position in which it originally lay at the bottom of 
the cell, and extending itself along its whole length 
with its head in the direction of the mouth of the 
cell. The head begins to appear from the inert- 
looking mass, having a small protuberance, probably 
the rudiment of the proboscis ; the first lineaments 
of the feet also appear, though of diminutive size. 
After the head is formed, and the proboscis prolonged, 
all the other parts display themselves successively, 
and the worm is changed into the perfect insect, ex- 
cept that its outer covering is yet white and soft, and 
has not that dark scaly texture which, as a proper 
coat of defence, it afterwards acquires. By this trans- 
formation the larva becomes divested of its cocoon, 
which is attached so closely to the internal surface 
of the cell, that it appears to form part of its substance, 
and adds considerably to its thickness. These linings 
are sometimes found to the number of seven or eight, 
adhering to the sides of the cell, and have an injurious 
effect often, diminishing, as they do, the cell’s capa- 
city, and exciting, by their strong smell, the attacks 
of moths and other enemies. The number of linings 
found adhering to a cell, and which may be disjoined 
by soaking the comb in water, indicates the number 
* Wildman. 
