On the Origin and Metamorphoses of InsectsLubbock, John, Sir
Science
On the Origin and Metamorphoses of Insects
Lubbock, John, Sir
Insects; Insects -- Development
M. Brauer[70] also considers that the vermiform larva is a more recent
type than the Hexapod form, and is to be regarded not as a developmental
form, but as an adaptational modification of the earlier active hexapod
type. In proof of this he quotes the case of _Sitaris_.
Considering, however, the peculiar habits of this genus, to which I have
already referred, and also that the vermiform type is altogether lower
in organization and less differentiated than the _Campodea_ form, I cannot
but regard this case as exceptional; one in which the development has
been, as it were, to use an expression of Fritz Müller’s, “falsified” by
the struggle for existence, and which therefore does not truly indicate
the successive stages of evolution. On the whole, the facts seem to me
to point to the conclusion that, though the grub-like larvæ of Coleoptera
and some other insects, owe their present form mainly to the influence
of external circumstances, and partially also to atavism, still the
_Campodea_ type is itself derived from earlier vermiform ancestors.
Nicolas Wagner has shown in the case of a small gnat, allied to
_Cecidomyia_, that even now, in some instances, the vermiform larvæ
possess the power of reproduction. Such a larva (as, for instance, Fig.
57) very closely resembles some of the Rotatoria, such for instance as
_Albertia_ or _Notommata_, which however possess vibratile cilia. There is,
indeed, one genus—_Lindia_ (Fig. 58)—in which these ciliæ are altogether
absent, and which, though resembling _Macrobiotus_ in many respects,
differs from that genus in being entirely destitute of legs. I have
never met with it myself, but it is described by Dujardin, who found it
in a ditch near Paris, as being oblong, vermiform, divided into rings,
and terminating posteriorly in two short conical appendages. The jaws
are not unlike those of the larvæ of Flies, and indeed many naturalists
meeting with such a creature would, I am sure, regard it as a small
Dipterous larva; yet Dujardin figures a specimen containing an egg, and
seems to have no doubt that it is a mature form.[71]
For the next descending stage we must, I think, look among the
Infusoria, through such genera as _Chætonotus_ or _Ichthydium_. Other
forms of the Rotatoria, such for instance as _Rattulus_, and still more
the very remarkable species discovered in 1871 by Mr. Hudson,[72] and
described under the name of _Pedalion mira_, seem to lead to the
Crustacea through the Nauplius form. Dr. Cobbold tells me that he
regards the _Gordii_ as the lowest of the Scolecida; Mr. E. Ray
Lankester considers some of the Turbellaria, such genera as
_Mesostomum_, _Vortex_, &c., to be the lowest of existing worms;
excluding the parasitic groups. Haeckel[73] also regards the Turbellaria
as forming the nearest approach to the Infusoria. The true worms seem,
however, to constitute a separate branch of the animal kingdom.
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