Before we quite leave the ant-city, I should like to tell you that the eggs
of ants grow while hatching, to accommodate themselves to the increasing
size of the tiny creature within them. There are many interesting things
to be observed about the eggs of insects; as to their colour, they are
generally of that best adapted for concealment; as to the way in which
they are hatched, I have heard that the mother insect--the Earwig was the
one mentioned--sometimes sits upon her eggs, and that one of the spiders
has been seen sitting upon the silken bag which contained its eggs, and
carrying it away if disturbed.
I ought to have told you that there are two great divisions of the insect
family--those which suck liquid food through their proboscis or trunk,
such as flies and butterflies, and those--such as the beetles, bees, and
locusts--which bite and eat solid food with their jaws. Dearly as I should
like to tell you about bees, both "solitary" and "social," "masons" and
"carpenters," we must not make this chapter longer, so we will speak only
of the Locusts.
If I could let you have a peep into the box where I keep a specimen-locust,
which came to me by post from his native country, you would notice his
powerful jaws, which are so strong that they inflict a severe wound; but it
is not on account of their bite that locusts have been used by God as His
"exceeding great army" to punish those who hardened themselves against Him;
but because wherever they alight in their countless myriads, they devour
every green thing, turning a fruitful field into a barren desert in a few
hours.
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