TOMATO WORM
THE ADULT
The adult moth may be captured on spring evenings when the lilacs are in bloom, as it buzzes about among the lilac blossoms sucking their honey. It is frequently mistaken for the humming-bird when thus engaged. It may also be observed during the summer evenings laying its eggs on the leaves of tomato vines.
Observe the worms that hatch from these eggs and note their rapid growth. Keep the larvæ in a box in the school-room and feed them on tomato leaves. Note their size and colour, the oblique stripes on the sides, the horn which is used for terrifying assailants, the habit of remaining rigid for hours—hence the name sphinx moth.
The larvæ burrow into the ground in September to form the chrysalides, hence there should be soil in the vivarium in which they are kept.
THE CHRYSALIS
Observations.—The shape, colour, nature of the covering, the long handle, the wing impressions, the segmental part, the emergence of the adult in May or early June.
What organ of the insect was contained in the "handle" of the chrysalis?
The adult is one of the handsomest of moths, because of its graceful, clear-cut shape and the variegated grays and yellows of its dress. Look on poplar, cotton-wood, plum, and pine trees, and on tobacco plants for relatives of the tomato worm, the large green larvæ whose chrysalis and adult forms resemble those of the tomato worm.