Page:Insects - Their Ways and Means of Living.djvu/292



species of insects, and with some they involve a consider- able degree of actual growth and change in the form of certain parts. The true transformation process, then, is really a period of rapid reconstructive growth preceding and following the molt, in which the shedding of the skin is a mere incident like the raising of the curtain for a new act in a play. During the intermission the actors have changed their costumes, the old scenery has been re- moved, and the new has been set in place. Thus it is

Th 1 LZ La

_Ab

AbL Sp A.bL

F,G. 136. External structure of a caterpillar abdomen; .4bL, abdominal legs; H, head; L,, L, La, the thoracic legs; Md, .jaws; Sp, breathing apertures; Th, thoracic segments

with the insect at the time of its transformation--the special accouterments of the young have been removed, and those of the adult have been put on. The lire of the insect, however, would not make a good theatrical production; it is too much of the nature of two plays given by the same set of actors. The young insect is dressed for a performance of its own in a stage setting appropriate toits act; the adult gives another play and is costumed accordingly. The actor is the same in each case only in the continuity of his individuality. His rehabi[itation between the two acts wi[l differ in degree according to the disparity between the parts he plays, that is, according to how far each impersonation is re- moved from his natural self. It is evident, therefore, that the trans.formation changes of an insect a'ill dif[er in degree, or quantity, according to

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