Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1862-08-22
From the Maine Farmer.
Changes in Insect Life.
nY CEoEGE Z. nRACkEII.

S
ny CEoEGE Z BRACxITT.
one Of the most interesting a. well as III
most wonderful fact. in the history Of Inscc
life, is the remarkable changes those minu,'
beings pas. through before attaining ihei'
perfect form. These changes from one STATE
or form TO another in the insec, life. general
ly occur a, regular intervals. aud are term
ed mstsmorpho.e.. and range from the EN-
bryunic state upward, through the various
grada,,ons to perfection, when the little an
imaI havin: performed It's allotted task, dies
Misunderstanding the chronological fac, that
such peculiar changes DO occur TO almost
every insect, still there are thousands, even
among farmers. who should be bes, &C
quain,cd with their habits, who are vet
hardly willing TO admit the fact. They an
hardly able % realize tba, the spiny, crawl
log. destructive caterpillar Of TO day IS
Identical with the beautiful, gorscou.ly
eloud,d butterfly Of tomorrow that the
diriv, disgusting w0rm which erawls upon
The ground can change 20 the pretty moth
whose home is on the wing, and Whose
nourishmsnt j. honey Of the Aowers, or tha,
the b1rer iron the trunk Of the tree shall a,
the appointed time. iArow OF its outer COW
erins and appear. as ii seems. an entirely
diF,ren, insect. with leg, wings and anten-
ne. But little observation is necessary
for any one to uudgrstAnd this change and
soe the manner N which 10 Is performed.
There are several common insects which We
nav ea,,ly watch through ihess changes,
which are an illustration Of those which Oc-
eur to nearly all Others. Take FOR example
our common apple tree caterpillar. 10 early
sprin. before the trees are IN leaf, We notice
on the ,wis. OF apple trees a rumber Of lii'
lie white round esss, which are in eollee'
ton. and usually eneircle the twis, and are
covered with a glossy, sticky substance.
which !. tor their protection suppose We
observe these esg- every other day or 50.
By the time the leaves Of the tree are out,
they hatch, and out comes a minute crawl
ins mite which you would not think capa.
be Of doing any injury, "a, they have their
ofiee 20 fulfill. which is 10 eat, and at Il
they 20. leasing On the tender leaves. bat
hardly causing any pereeiVabls sseei, but
a. they eat they grow, and thenee forward
for some time they cat and grow and grow
and eat. and being such y9racious SluItons
their kin grows - ,ish, they cannot con-
iaia them. bot that is of no consequence or
h.ndranee to them, Cd goes the skin, and
tie neI, day you look a; them You will se'
tie Cd intesument thrown OF in a roll al
their feet. and they with q new coat looking
not q tit the worse for the change, only a
little larger and htile more hungry. Thus
they will continue growing and eating until
they have changed their skins about four OF
Eve iine-. when they have usually attained
their growih. During all this season they
have LIVED IN a tent made ot silk made Of
.Lrsds from their bodies, upon which they
torn their abode. wherein they stay nights,
raiuy weather. aud when ihe sun is hot, and
which they make larger and larger as their
iuereasin. s,to demands. Now ,hey haV,
attained their growth. which is usually
somewhere by tie la.; Of June, and ,hsy
c,as. 90 feed and act dumpish and stupid
Gni soou most Of them may be seen iorsak'
ias their homc aud leaving the tree. Waiel
ooe oi these. or what i, better, place it IN
to1 and look a: il alter two days and te
hold what a change has tha, time wrought,
there j. no caterpillar TO Be eseen, bu, Instead
thereof an oval shaped silky formed objce;
about two ihiri. as lon: a. the caterpillar
which O. fastened by the silky hairs Of which
i, 10. composed, 10 the sides " corners oi it'
to1. Ii u. open this white cocoon and -
it We can ind our yesterday sprisoner. Ne.
he i. surely here, but we would hardly re
cosniIe him It we were not SURE that be ha'
no chance 10 escape. lie Is now a chrysllr
or pupl, about halt the length Of the orig
nal INSECT, aud Is enclosed in hard SHELLY
covering. giving the outline. Of the ioru
and position, OF the eyes, wings and feeler
Although without motion. he is quite liyel.
when touched. Let Us leave him to h,s med
iiations. and in liiile ever forinieh, i, vii
tsrs, through this covering or ehrysili' ,kir
and come out perfect insee, or moth. an
II female. after pairing, will deposit it
eggs in belt similar 10 those 6rsi named
there 10 remain through the winter an
hatch next sPr'ns, thus pcrPeiua,ins u
kind. When this duty i, performed and
succession provided Ter, i, has fulfilled it
uace aud dies.
Thi. specimen Is on illustration Of ,h
manner m which most insects pass through
their tran.formations. There are OF eours
difference. peculiar to each species. Bu
few are covered by cocoon. bot chang
directly irom the Larvae to the ehrysalIs Q
puIa, aud IN some kinds. (as the grasshoI
PER- this part Of the transformation Is ODl
partial.
We have made a very important, and ehea