Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-08-08
INSECT DEVELOPMENT.
Strange and Interesting Transformatiol
 Recorded by Naturalists.


 The best way to learn about the develop ment of insects is to observe the process Tor oneself, says writer in tho Country Gentle man. This can easily be Cene in the case or one of our common butterflies, and 1t would be difficult to name any simple study in nat ural history of so much interest and lnstruc- tion.
 It is best to begin with the egg stage, and, therefore, the first thing to be done is to find tho eggs of butterflies. They can usually easily be found, by careful looking, attached to the under sides of tho leaves of plants upon which larval butterflies feed These larval butterflies are commonly called ''worms;" every one has noticed such so- called worms upon the leaves of cabbage, tomato and milk-weed plants. If then, for example, the leaves o$ cabbage plants be carefully examined in carly summer there will be found upon them clusters of eggs destined to hatch and develop into the con- mon cabbage butterfly. The eggs arc oval in shape, of yellow color, and have ridges running lengthwise, their appearance, as whole, being somewhat like ears of yellow corn.
 A leaf with eggs attached should be pulled off and placed in n box with q glass cover, such cover both admitting light and en- abling tho observer to watch the process of development. 4 wooden box, like q school chalk-boX, the sliding cover of which has been replaced by piece of glass of like size, is convenient form of box to use, but any tin or wooden box with 8 piece of window glass for cover will answer.
 The leaves of the cabbage-plant being thick and hardy, they will probably not withcr, if kept in a shady place, until tho eggs havo matched Each egg produces a small green and white worm. Tho worm should at once be supplied with fresh cabbage leaves; it will be found to havc no lack of appetite. It grows with surprising rapidity, attaining within week or ten days it's full slzC, in length an inch or inch and a half. It at taches itself along the edge of leaf, and, with its sharp-bitlng mouth-partS, dcVourS it bit by bit until it is entirely eaten. when it greedily attacks another. Its body seems swollen by its constant gorging. Tho truth is that it is to pass into & resting condition, when it takes no food, and it must now i'm prove it's tino so as to gather strength to last it in its period of abstinence.
 At the end of ten or twelve days the worm is ready to pass into this resting stage what is called tho pupa stage. At this time it will be seen to abandon it's leaf and crawl about the box, somewhat eagerly, as if searching for something. This uneasy ac tivlty may continue for some time, but final ly, as if having found a suitable place, it proceeds to spin q net or web, i'll which it may suspend itself during the approaching period of inactivity This net is not CO., Coon such as the larva of somC insects spin, but slight web serving merely to suspend the pupa. Tho extreme appearance now changes. The bright green color becomes dull, and several rings into which the skin of the worm is thrown become less distinct, and finally it assumes the characteristic pupa form-an oblong, angular body, moro pointed at ono end than the other. What has taken place is tho molting of tho skln, that is, the skin is separated from the body and becomes simply a firm, hard case in which the living insect is contained.
 In this pupa stage-now often called q chrysalis-it remains for ten or twelve days Of course all the while important changes are gong on within; the. energy stored up during its period of hungry activity now serves to carry on those vital processes that made the dull and seemingly lfclcss pupa succeeded by the sprightly, handsome but terfy. These changes affect the entire structure of the anmal, internal scarcely lesssthan external; tho butterfly has a diff ferent nervous, digestive, circulatory, etc, system than the larva.
 Atlast the butterfly emorges from tho pupa, the wall of the latter breaking away at one end probably by tho growth and movements of the insects within. It is one of our plain yellow butterflies; yet ono can imagine that 1t has quite triumphant bearing as 1t emerges from its confinement. It soon cX- tends its wings, and after a few nutters, if allowed to escape, SORTS away.
 Such is an outline of the development of insects, in which tho mctamorphosis is com pleted-that is, insects which, besides the egg stage, pass through three states, named succcssively, the lerva, pupa and lmago, or oN-FA xl,r. transformation is incomplete-that is to say, tho metamorphosis is not so marked tho several states are not so distinct Take, for instance, tho grasshopper. In this insect both tho larva and pupa resem- ble the perfect insect in form, walking and feeding in the same manner, and differing chiefly in the absence of wings, though even tho wings arc present. in rudimentary form, in the pupa. And there arc groups of in sects in which there is no metamorphosis at all. These are of the lower orders, and in clude the insects unfavorably known as lice. In these orders tho insect when it emerges from tho egg, is quite like tho full grown specimen, except in size.
 After all the development of the butterfly and the other insects of complete meta morphosis is no more wonderful than that of other animals. The transformations through which the insects pass are in no essential respects different from those through which other animals pass ill their development. The chief difference is that in tho insects these transformations take place after the egg-stage, while in many other animals-as the birds and most repules-they take place within the egg. In the insects tho egg is very small, and there is not enough food matter contained Ill it for the growing en- bryo. It therefore breaks through the egg, and is able to seek food for itself But in the birds the egg is large, and has a supply or food sufficient for the nourishmcnt of the embryo until it has attained full structural development. Hence it goes through it's l transformations within the.egg. In the in | sect the development is for q time arrested, so that the larva can gather n supply of food, both for it's immediate wants and for gaining store of energy for the next stage in it's hfe-history In the birds and most other animals the development proceeds without interruption until the young is brought forth.
 An Imperial Abbess.
 Archduchess Marguerite Sophie, daughter of Archduke Charles Louis, of Austria, has been installed at Prague as the abbess of & community of noble ladies of the Hradschin.