. British insects : a familiar description of the form, structure, habits, and transformations of insects. such as the Moths or Beetles. The sluggish mud-coloured pupa ascends the stem of a grass, a rush, orany other stalk or stick of convenient size which risesabove the surface of the water. Up this it crawls untilit is several inches from the water and convenientlyclear of neighbouring plants, or whatever else mightinterfere with its operations. Here the pupa remains,clinging with its legs to the support, the head upwardsand the body hanging down. After a time theskin cracks behind, between
. British insects : a familiar description of the form, structure, habits, and transformations of insects. such as the Moths or Beetles. The sluggish mud-coloured pupa ascends the stem of a grass, a rush, orany other stalk or stick of convenient size which risesabove the surface of the water. Up this it crawls untilit is several inches from the water and convenientlyclear of neighbouring plants, or whatever else mightinterfere with its operations. Here the pupa remains,clinging with its legs to the support, the head upwardsand the body hanging down. After a time theskin cracks behind, between or before the wing-cases,and the head and thorax of the enclosed fly are drawn K 2 132 INSECTS. out. Slowly follows the abdomen, bit by bit, and as itemerges, the helpless soft young insect hangs head down-wards from the opening (fig. 44), the exposed portion ofabdomen lengthening every minute, until it seems certainthat the still imperfect fly must drop into the water andbe drowned. This, however, is very far from the fact,—no sooner is the insect so far out of the pupa-case that Fig. 44. Fig. its fall appears inevitable, than with a sudden effort itcurves its body forward and upward, firmly grasps theback of the nearly empty pupa-case (fig. 45), draws theend of its tail out, and stands there, clinging to the nowempty pupa-case, which still retains its hold upon thereed (fig. 46.) It has in this stage a singular appearance. Alreadythe contents of the somewhat broad and flat pupa-casehave stretched out into the long and slender abdomen ofthe perfect Dragonfly. The Dragonflys head andthorax are there also, differing less in form than the NEUROPTERA. 133 abdomen from those of the pupa—while the wings arefour small clouded appendages, little larger than thewing cases of the pupa. The young fly stands Fig. 46. still in the position al-ready described; and aswe watch it the wingsappear a little and alittle larger, until therecan be no doubt oftheir increase in
Size: 1835px × 1362px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorme, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectinsects
