This third period is termed the pupa, nymph or chrysalis state. Its duration varies from a few weeks to several months, according to the time of year at which it enters this stage. The common Cabbage Butterfly, which rears two broods during the season, is quickest to make the change, only a few weeks of the pupa form being necessary. Some remain in the chrysalis a month or more, appearing in the butterfly form at the close of the summer. Those becoming encased in autumn are like the hibernating animals in many respects, lying dormant the winter through. The only sign of life ever discovered in the pupa is a convulsive twitching when irritated, and for this reason those who know nothing of the hidden beauties of butterfly life miss a great deal of pleasure in not being able to study the seemingly lifeless chrysalis.
When mature the pupa case cracks toward the anterior end, and the butterfly or moth crawls forth with wings which, though at first small and crumpled up, in a few hours attain their full size. As soon as they are strong enough the new creature mounts upon them and, if it be a butterfly, flies out into the sunlight; while the moth hies away to some dark corner until nightfall, then for the first time in its existence it rises upon wings to enjoy the summer zephyrs.
I remember having watched one butterfly leave the chrysalis and, though but a child at the time, I shall never outlive the impressions which that rare pleasure left with me. It was one of the large-winged, black-white-and-yellow fellows which every one admires so much, and which species is regarded as a treasure here in these Central States. Little by little the ugly casing opened, and when I first saw the baby butterfly he was like a tiny mass of mingled colors, with neither life nor shape to give me an idea of the sort of creature into which he would develop. Soon he began to move uneasily, like a child awaking out of a long sleep; then he stretched his wings leisurely as though proud to have found them at last. Next he drew himself up and finished bursting his paper-like shell, gained a foothold on the plank on which we had placed him and looked about with a, seemingly, very much surprised though gratified air. Meanwhile he kept working his wings and stretching them anon, very impatient because of their, to him, slow growth. At last he gained the confidence to try them, and within an hour from the time we first saw him he had arisen and flown away into the sunshine to seek his place in the world.
Butterflies and moths are widely distributed all over the globe, occurring, however, in greatest variety and abundance in tropical lands. They are found as far north as Spitzbergen, on the Alps to the height of 9,000 feet, and to double that height on the Andes. In Great Britain there are sixty-six species, while in all Europe only three hundred and ninety have been enumerated. In Brazil there are about seven hundred, and the total number of species of moths is about two thousand. Among the butterflies are to be found some exceedingly beautiful insects, some of them very large, especially in the tropical belt.
The butterflies are to insects what the humming-birds are to the feathered tribes, the analogy holding good not only in the brilliant colors and manner of flight, but also in the nature of their nutriment—the honeyed juices of flowers. Both seem destined to brighten and beautify the way for man, while the lesson of immortality gathered from the life of the ethereal butterfly, like that conveyed by the beautiful and ever-wandering Psyche of Greek mythology, is so easy of comprehension that we can but stop and wonder at the exquisite simplicity with which the all-wise Creator has clothed so important a truth.
Claudia May Ferrin.
Oh! the bonny, bonny dell, whaur the primroses won,
Luikin’ oot o’ their leaves like wee sons o’ the sun;
Whaur the wild roses hing like flickers o’ flame,