Sure enough, in the month of June, on the upturned leaf of the greater nettle, are seen very tiny egglets of a saffron color, adhering firmly. As may be seen in our illustration, letter g, from these, a little later, are spontaneously hatched blackish oblong little worms, below the size of a flea, but equipped with six feet on the anterior part of the little body, see letter h. These little insects are sluggish for some time after their birth, and scarcely move from their place; until, after the lapse of several days, they acquire the necessary strength, and running hither and thither, gather food, so far as we can see, from dew. [They feed on aphides, but Friedel neither observed this, nor considered the fact that mere dew was rather unsustaining!] After about three or four weeks have elapsed, they reach a size such as is indicated under letter i. At this time, they are elegantly ornamented on the sides with several yellowish spots, and their color, dark before, is changed to an ashen hue, especially along the middle of the back. Now this fleet-footed worm prepares itself for a metamorphosis, wandering more tardily at first, soon hardly at all; and then, affixing itself by its tail to a leaf, is wrinkled up as shown under letter k. By degrees the covering drops off to the rear, and it passes into the pupula or nymph, of which the anterior and posterior aspects are shown under letters l and m. The insect, even in this state, still lives, as may be learned from its movement when touched. It remains thus until the tenth and not rarely the twelfth day, when the covering is broken, and there comes forth, the skin being left motionless, a beetle, which at first is rather weak, and whitish, but changing in a few hours to yellow or red, the black spots coming into view on the elytra.