1. Observe the covering of the pupa closely. Is it made of other material beside silk? When the woolly-bear, that many of you have cared for all winter, spins his cocoon, he will use some of his own hair as well as silk.
Fig. 351. Luna moth and swallow-tail butterfly.
2. Open the cocoon. Is the pupa free from it? Are the threads of silk woven in the same direction in all parts of the covering?
3. Out of which end do you think the moth will come?
4. Describe the inside of the cocoon. Do you find anything in it beside the pupa?
5. The cocoons of the Chinese silkworm are soaked in hot water or softened by steam before the thread can be unwound. Put one of the cocoons that you find in hot water and see whether you can unwind the silk. I wish you could secure some cocoons of the real silkworm.
Boys and girls often ask us what they shall feed moths and butterflies. Many of the adult insects do not eat at all. Some, however, sip the nectar of flowers or sap of trees. Oftentimes they will drink sweetened water or the juice of fruit. If you have an opportunity, watch one while it eats. Notice the long "tongue" through which it takes its food. This is made of two pieces grooved on the inner side, and when held together they form a tube. When the insect is not eating these mouth-parts are coiled.
Fig. 352. The life-story of an insect, the forest tent caterpillar. m, male moth; f, female; p, pupa; e, egg-ring recently laid; g, hatched egg-ring; c, caterpillar. Moths and caterpillars are natural size, and eggs and pupa are slightly enlarged.