Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-04-02
EGGS OF INSECTS

EGGS OF INSECTS.
''"e Are Konnd, some Like a pxr.n,a
ana Others Like Flssa.
lisoc1s eggs are not all OF an oval
form. like those OF birds. but Soma
are IKE pear, some like an orange,
some like pyramid, and some like !
flask.
The egg Of the gnat, for instance
may Dc compared, In shape, to that a.
. powder-fask, and the mother ona,
lays about three hundred at a tima
now each egg, by itself, would sink 70
'ne bottom OF the water; yet the guat
puts the whole three hundred IA
gether In the form Of a little boat
and In such way that they win ali
swim On the surface Of the water. and
q very curious way she has Of manag-
ing this.
Like other insects, the gnat has six
legs. -Four OF these (the four fore
iegs) she fastens to floating leaf or
70 the side OF bucket II che Is on
tne water contained in bucket. Her
body is thus held level with the water
except the last ring Of her abdomen,
winch Is little raised. This being
done, she begins to make use OF her
other two legs Tor hind legs), and
crosses them In the shape OF the letter
A. The open part Of this X, next to
her tail, serves as a kind of scaffoId-
Ing. to support the eggs she lays, un-
I'll the boat Is formed. Each egg.
when laid, is covered with a kind Of
glue; and the gnat holds the first laid
egg In the angle of the X until the
second egg is laid by its side, and
glued to it; she then CLUES another
egg to It's other side. All these stick
together thus:
making kind of triangle, or figure Of
three, and this is the beginning OF the
boat. Thus she goes on, piling egg
upon egg. always keeping the boat In
proper shape by her useful hind legs.
As the boat grows in size she pushes
1T from her by degrees. still adding to
the unfinished end next to her body.
When the boat is half built her hind
legs are stretched out thus:
The K, or cross form, Is no longer
wanted, and she holds up the boat as
cleverly as If it were done with two
| outstretched arms.
The boat is at length completed,
and an excellent boat it is, quite
water-tight. For, though it is very
small and delicate. yet no tossing
the waves will sink it; and nothing can
| fill 1t with water, or turn it upside
down. In fact, the glue with which it
is covered prevents it from ever
being wet. Even if the boat be pushed
down to the bottom of the water, up
it comes again quite dry; SO that it is
better than the best life-boat that has
ever yet been invented.
| The eggs of insects are not, like
those of birds, always smooth, but
are sometimes ribbed, and sometimes
tiled. or otherwise sculptured or
carved on the outside.
The shell of an insects egg is rarely
or never brittle like that of a bird,
but composed of tough membrane,
which in some instances can be
stretched out, as appears from the
eggs of ants and some other insects,
growing considerably larger in the
process of Matching.
| The mother insects usually dying
before their eggs are Matched do not
sit upon them like birds except in
the singular instance of the earwig.
which appears to attend more to
shifting the eggs about to places where
they may receive moisture than to
Matching them by covering them. Ants
shift their eggs according to the
changes of the day and night, and also
of the weather, placing them near the,
surface of their nests when it is warm
and dry, and deep down when it is
cold or wet
In consequence of being exposed to
the same temperature, all the eggs of
any particular species, in any given
| district, are Matched exactly at the
same time, or at most within few
days; and when such eggs are numer-
GUS an immense number of caterpillars
make their appearance all at once on
plants and bushes, and give rise to the
notion that they are brought by winds
or generated by what is called blighting
weather, though this is as absurd as
it would be to say the wind could
bring a flock of cattle. or that the
blight could generate flight of spar
rows or rocks without eggs to hatch
them from.
By looking carefully on the bark OF
rose or currant bushes, or on the back
ribs of gooseberry leaves, the eggs
NAV be found sometimes in patches,
sometimes in rows, whence the cater
pillars are Matched that creep into the
buds, or stream over the leaves and
deyour them-N. Y. Ledger.
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