THE LIFE HISTORY OF A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY
ITS STORY IS VERY SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE SILKWORM
In these photographs the transformations of a butterfly are shown: the butterfly’s eggs (highly magnified) laid upon a leaf; the newly hatched caterpillar; and a caterpillar which has finished its growth and has spun a silken pad, to which as a chrysalis it may cling. The chrysalis is also shown, and the newly emerged butterfly waiting for its wings to expand fully and harden. All the figures are enlarged.
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS (Lepidoptera)
These are among the highest orders of insects. For beauty and variety of coloration they are quite unrivaled, and their attractive appearance is primarily due to the fact that the four wings are covered with overlapping scales of different kinds. The mouth parts are specialized to constitute a suctorial organ, which is made up of the second jaws, while the first and third jaws are greatly reduced. Each second jaw has become a half-tube, and the two are hooked together to make up a proboscis, sometimes of great length, which can be separated into its halves.
HOW BUTTERFLIES
DEVELOP
The life-history exhibits a very typical and familiar metamorphosis. From the egg, which is often very beautifully sculptured, a larva known as a caterpillar hatches out, possessing not only the three pairs of jointed legs characteristic of the class, but also a varying number of unjointed pro-legs terminating in suckers. After feeding voraciously for some time by means of its powerful biting first jaws, and undergoing a number of moults, the caterpillar passes into the motionless pupa stage, here called a chrysalis, which may or may not be invested in a protective cocoon. The skin of the chrysalis ultimately splits, and the perfect insect makes it way out.
HOW TO DISTINGUISH BUTTERFLIES
FROM MOTHS
Butterflies are typically distinguished from moths by the club-shaped thickenings at the ends of their antennæ, and by the fact that when settling, the wings are folded together over the back. In moths the antennæ may be of various form, but very rarely club-shaped, and the rest-position of the wings is horizontal or sloping downward, while in some instances they may be more or less wrapped round the body.