§3.9Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων τῆς γενέσεως εἴρηται, καὶ πεζῶν καὶ πτηνῶν καὶ πλωτῶν.
Now, the generation of the other animals, namely the terrestrial, the winged, and the aquatic, has been discussed.
περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐντόμων καὶ τῶν ὀστρακοδέρμων λεκτέον κατὰ τὴν ὑφηγημένην μέθοδον.
But we must speak of the insects and the testaceans according to the method laid down.
εἴπωμεν δὲ πρῶτον περὶ τῶν ἐντόμων.
Let us speak first of the insects.
ὅτι μὲν οὖν τὰ μὲν ἐξ ὀχείας γίνεται τῶν τοιούτων τὰ δ᾽ αὐτόματα, πρότερον ἐλέχθη, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ὅτι σκωληκοτοκεῖ καὶ διὰ τίν᾽ αἰτίαν σκωληκοτοκεῖ.
Now, that some of such animals are generated from copulation and others spontaneously was said before; and in addition to this, that they produce larvae, and for what cause they produce larvae.
σχεδὸν γὰρ ἔοικε πάντα τρόπον τινὰ σκωληκοτοκεῖν πρῶτον· τὸ γὰρ ἀτελέστατον κύημα τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν.
For almost all animals seem in a way to produce a larva first; for the most imperfect embryo is of this nature.
ἐν πᾶσι δὲ καὶ τοῖς ζῳοτοκοῦσι καὶ τοῖς ᾠοτοκοῦσι τέλειον ᾠὸν τὸ κύημα τὸ πρῶτον ἀδιόριστον ὂν λαμβάνει τὴν αὔξησιν· τοιαύτη δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ σκώληκος φύσις.
And in all animals, both those that are viviparous and those that lay a perfect egg, the embryo, being at first unarticulated, takes on growth; and such is the nature of the larva.
μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο τὰ μὲν ᾠοτοκεῖ τὸ κύημα τέλειον, τὰ δ᾽ ἀτελές, ἔξ δὲ γίγνεται τέλειον, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἰχθύων εἴρηται πολάκις.
After this, some bring forth the embryo perfect, but others imperfect, and it becomes perfect outside, as has been said many times in the case of fish.
τὰ δ᾽ ἐν αὑτοῖς ζῳοτοκοῦντα τρόπον τινὰ μετὰ τὸ σύστημα τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ᾠοειδὲς γίνεται· περιέχεται γὰρ τὸ ὑγρὸν ὑμένι λεπτῷ, καθάπερ ἂν εἴ τις ἀφέλοι τὸ τῶν ᾠῶν ὄστρακον· διὸ καὶ καλοῦσι τὰς τότε γιγνομένας τῶν κυημάτων φθορὰς ἐκρύσεις.
But those that are viviparous within themselves become in a way egg-like after the initial formation; for the fluid is contained in a thin membrane, just as if one were to remove the shell of eggs; wherefore also they call the abortions of embryos occurring at that time "outflows".
τὰ δ᾽ ἔντομα καὶ γεννᾷ τὰ γεννῶντα σκώληκας, καὶ τὰ γιγνόμενα μὴ δι᾽ ὀχείας ἀλλ᾽ αὐτόματα ἐκ τοιαύτης γίγνεται πρῶτον συστάσεως.
But of the insects, those that generate produce larvae, and those that are generated not through copulation but spontaneously arise at first from such a formation.
δεῖ γὰρ καὶ τὰς κάμπας εἶδος τιθέναι σκώληκος, καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀραχνίων.
For we must class both caterpillars and the embryos of spiders as a kind of larva.
καίτοι δόξειεν ἂν ᾠοῖς ἐοικέναι διὰ τὴν τοῦ σχήματος περιφέρειαν καὶ τούτων ἔνια καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ἄλλων· ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τῷ σχήματι λεκτέον οὐδὲ τῇ μαλακότητι καὶ σκληρότητι καὶ γὰρ σκληρὰ τὰ κυήματα γίγνεται ἐνίων) ἀλλὰ τῷ ὅλον μεταβάλλειν καὶ μὴ ἐκ μορίου τινὸς γίνεσθαι τὸ ζῷον.
And yet some of these and many of the others might seem to resemble eggs on account of the roundness of their shape; but we must not define them by their shape, nor by their softness and hardness (for the embryos of some become hard), but by the fact that the whole of it changes and the animal does not develop from a part of it.
προελθόντα δὲ πάντα τὰ σκωληκώδη καὶ τοῦ μεγέθους λαβόντα τέλος οἷον ᾠὸν γίγνεται· σκληρύνεταί τε γὰρ περὶ αὐτὰ τὸ κέλυφος, καὶ ἀκινητίζουσι κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν καιρόν.
And all the larval forms, when they have advanced and reached the limit of their size, become like an egg; for the shell hardens around them, and they become motionless during this time.
δῆλον δὲ τοῦτο ἐν τοῖς σκώληξι τοῖς τῶν μελίττῶν καὶ σφηκῶν καὶ ταῖς κάμπαις.
This is clear in the larvae of bees and wasps, and in caterpillars.
τούτου δ᾽ αἴτιον ὅτι ἡ φύσις ὡσπερανεὶ πρὸ ὥρας ᾠοτοκεῖ διὰ τὴν ἀτέλειαν τὴν αὑτῆς, ὡς ὄντος τοῦ σκώληκος ἔτι ἐν αὐξήσει ᾠοῦ μαλακοῦ.
And the cause of this is that Nature, on account of her own imperfection, lays eggs as it were before the proper time, as if the larva were still a soft egg in a state of growth.
τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων συμβαίνει πάντων τῶν μὴ ἐξ ὀχείας γιγνομένων ἐν ἐρίοις ἤ τισιν ἄλλοις τοιούτοις, καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν.
In the same manner also it happens in all the others that are not generated from copulation, in wool or some other such substances, and in those in water.
πάντα γὰρ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ σκώληκος φύσιν ἀκινητίσαντα, καὶ τοῦ κελύφους περιξηρανθέντος, μετὰ ταῦτα τούτου ῥαγέντος ἐξέρχεται καθάπερ ἐξ ᾠοῦ ζῷον ἐπιτελεσθὲν ἐπὶ τῆς τρίτης γενέσεως, ὧν τὰ πλεῖστα πτερωτὰ τῶν πεζῶν ἐστίν.
For all of them, after the stage of the larva, having become motionless, and the shell having dried up, after this, when the shell breaks, emerge as a completed animal in the third generation, of which the majority become winged from being terrestrial.
κατὰ λόγον δὲ συμβαίνει καὶ τὸ θαυμασθὲν ἂν δικαίως ὑπὸ πολλῶν.
And that which would justly be wondered at by many happens in accordance with reason.
αἵ τε γὰρ κάμπαι λαμβάνουσαι τὸ πρῶτον τροφὴν μετὰ ταῦτα οὐκέτι λαμβάνουσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀκινητίζουσιν αἱ καλούμεναι ὑπό τινων χρυσαλλίδες, καὶ τῶν σφηκῶν οἱ σκώληκες καὶ τῶν μελιττῶν.
For caterpillars, having at first taken food, afterwards no longer do so, but those called by some chrysalises become motionless, and so do the larvae of wasps and bees.
μετὰ ταῦτα αἱ καλούμεναι νύμφαι γίνονται, καὶ τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν ἔχουσιν·
After this they become what are called nymphs, and they have nothing of the sort.
καὶ γὰρ ἡ τῶν ᾠῶν φύσις ὅταν λάβῃ τέλος, ἀναυξής ἐστι, τὸ δὲ πρῶτον αὐξάνεται καὶ λαμβάνει τροφήν, ἕως ἂν διορισθῇ καὶ γένηται τέλειον ᾠόν.
For the nature of eggs also, when it has reached its end, is incapable of growth, but at first it grows and takes food until it is articulated and becomes a perfect egg.
τῶν δὲ σκωλήκων οἱ μὲν ἔχουσιν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὸ τοιοῦτον ὅθεν τρεφομένοις ἐπιγίγνεται τοιοῦτον περίττωμα, οἷ τε τῶν μελιττῶν καὶ σφηκῶν· οἱ δὲ λαμβάνουσι θύραθεν, ὥσπερ αἵ τε κάμπαι καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τινὲς σκωλήκων.
And of the larvae, some have within themselves that from which they are nourished and from which such residue arises, as those of bees and wasps; but others receive it from without, as caterpillars and some of the other larvae.
διότι μὲν οὖν τριγενῆ τε γίγνεται τὰ τοιαῦτα, καὶ δι᾽ ἣν αἰτίαν ἐκ κινουμένων ἀκινητίζει πάλιν, εἴρηται γίγνεται δὲ τὰ μὲν ἐξ ὀχείας αὐτῶν, καθάπερ οἵ τε ὄρνιθες καὶ τὰ ζῳοτόκα καὶ τῶν ἰχθύων οἱ πλεῖστοι, τὰ δ᾽ αὐτόματα, καθάπερ ἔνια τῶν φυομένων.
Why, then, such things undergo a threefold generation, and for what cause they become motionless again after having been in motion, has been explained. And some of them are generated from copulation, just like birds, viviparous animals, and most fish, while others spontaneously, just like some of the growing things.