LEAF-BUTTERFLY.
These butterflies are so remarkably like certain leaves that it is almost impossible to distinguish the difference even at close quarters.
Butterflies and moths pass through four stages. The egg is laid by the female on some plant which will provide suitable nourishment for the caterpillar. A caterpillar, which is the next stage, is a jointed, worm-like creature with sixteen legs; those corresponding with the legs of the perfect insect are horny, and a pair is placed on each of the first three joints behind the head. The next four pairs, called "prolegs," are thick and fleshy, and a pair is placed under each of joints seven to ten (reckoning the head as joint one), the last joint of all being provided with a pair slightly differing from the others, and called "claspers." In many young caterpillars, however, and also in the full-grown caterpillars of a considerable number of moths (especially among those with slender bodies), one or more of the first three pairs of pro-legs may be rudimentary or absent, and the caterpillar walks by arching its back at every step, in a way that must be seen to be appreciated, though such caterpillars (popularly called Loopers, on account of the way they loop up their bodies in walking) are often very active, and cover the ground much more rapidly than one might imagine. Sometimes the claspers, or last pair of legs, are modified into tentacles, which, in the caterpillars of the Puss-moth and its allies, contain retractile whips, used as weapons of defence.
Photo by L. H. Joutel] [New York.
SOUTH AMERICAN LONG-WINGED BUTTERFLIES.
Showing external resemblance between two butterflies of different families.
Photo by L. H. Joutel] [New York.
DIANA FRITILLARY.