. The animal creation: a popular introduction to zoology. Zoology. 132 COLEOPTEKA. leaf by means of six short legs attached to its anterior segments. (Fig. 88.) Its colour is usually a dark bluish- gray, having black spots interspersed with a few orange spots of larger size. It ricts among the Aphides like a lion among a flock of sheej), devouring them one after another with in- satiable appetite, until its full growth is accom- Ijlished ; it then glues the hinder part of its body to a leaf, and awaits its change into a pupa. In a day or two, the skin cleaves down the back, and the pupa shows
. The animal creation: a popular introduction to zoology. Zoology. 132 COLEOPTEKA. leaf by means of six short legs attached to its anterior segments. (Fig. 88.) Its colour is usually a dark bluish- gray, having black spots interspersed with a few orange spots of larger size. It ricts among the Aphides like a lion among a flock of sheej), devouring them one after another with in- satiable appetite, until its full growth is accom- Ijlished ; it then glues the hinder part of its body to a leaf, and awaits its change into a pupa. In a day or two, the skin cleaves down the back, and the pupa shows itself: it is of a white colour at first, but soon becomes black, spotted with red and yellov/. It does not at once quit the spot to which it had ad- hered as a larva, but re- mains there with its old skin gathered in folds around its hinder parts. For a week it continues in this state, motion- less and apparently dead, but really carrying on within an important process, namely, developing and hardening the various organs that belong to the perfect insect. At the end of that time the pupa-case bui'sts, and the Lady- bird crawls out with its wing-cases small and crumpled; but they soon enlarge and become smooth and shapely, though they remain for a time of a pale yellow coloui', without any trace of the spots that afterwards become so beautiful. In the course of a few houi^s, however, the rich colour's begin to appear, and the various distinctive marks give the creature its character and elegant appear- ance. At the same time its skin has acquii'cd firmness and its muscles vigour, so that leaving its cast-off gar- ments behind, it departs on its fresh travels, again to make war on the x\ph:des, and to choose a Fig. .—LADY-BIRD IN ITS Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Jones, Tho
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectzoology
