10 HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [Packard. 
mentation, and the seeming fastidiousness and queer fancies 
and strange conceits of these young and giddy insects, which 
seem hidden and mysterious to human observation? 
We can only answer that the changes in form are neces¬ 
sary stages in the growth of the animal, and correlated with 
certain habits enabling it to hold its own in the struggle for 
existence. 
We should apply our knowledge of the larval forms of 
insects to the details of their classification into families and 
genera, constantly collating our knowledge of the immature 
forms with the structural variations that accompany them in 
the perfect state. The simple form of the caterpillar seems 
to be a concentration of the characters of the perfect insect, 
and presents easy characters by which to distinguish the 
minor groups ; and the relative rank of the higher divisions 
would seem to be definitely settled only when the form and 
method of transformations are thoroughly known. 
The pupa state is the threshold upon which the young 
insect pauses before it enters upon the final stage of its ex¬ 
istence. Though called chrysalides because the pupae of cer¬ 
tain butterflies are gaily ornamented with golden and sil¬ 
very spots, the most of them are dull and ugly. Whether it 
is owing to their uninteresting appearance, or the difficulty 
of finding them, entomologists have very generally over¬ 
looked the consideration of their forms and have underesti¬ 
mated the value of the differences that the pupae of different 
insects present. There is in them, more than in the cater¬ 
pillar, or perfected state, a constant form by which we can 
readily recognize the family to which they belong ; and even 
in the slight modifications of that persistent facies together 
with the slight attempts at ornamentation, which Nature 
seems always to be striving for in the rudest of her works, 
the student whese mind is upon the watch for the meanings 
of these slight variations will be richly rewarded. Just as 
insects have been classified by their larval characters, which 
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