ON ANIMAt COTTON, OR THE INSECT FLY-CARRlEft. 267 



The egg is hatched about the latter end of July. Its deve- 

 lopement is quick, for in September the worm is changed into 

 a butterfly. 



This month of September is the feafon of his loves. The 

 conftant motion of his wings fhevvs the ardency of his paffion 

 which he indulges day and night and even while feeding. 

 The excefs of this indulgence foon dettroys him, he dies in the 

 fame month after violent convulfiong. 



I have faid that his life begins at the end of July. He i% 

 decked at his birth with a robe of the moft brilliant variegated 

 colours. This elegant livery, which nature feems to have de- 

 lighted in forming, renders him always agreeable to the eye, 

 which always dwells upon it with pleafure. 



Its Affinities. 



It has appeared to me to be a fmooth caterpillar whofe ex-< External Ap- 

 ternal fhape is exaaiylike that of the filk worm. ; pearanacs, Sec 



It differs however from it, by its iize, by its thicknefs, and 

 by the beauty of its colours. 



It again ditfers from the filk worm, becaufe it does not itfelf 

 work the cone which I am going to fpeak of. 



I leave it to the learned to delineate its external configura- 

 tion, and to determine upon the family of infects to which it 

 belongs. I fhall only fay that I do not believe it has, like the 

 filk-worm, an inteitine going in a direel; line from the mouth 

 to the anus, becaufe it appears to me that this caufe of elabo- 

 ration would not have the fame deftination. 



Its Food. 



It feeds on caflada leaves, of which it is extremely greedy. Food* 

 It feeds at all hours, day and night. It alio nibbles the leaves 

 of the potatoe, this is however but a tranfitory tafte, it foon 

 returns to the caiTada leaf. 



I have to obferve that after it has taken its food, when the 

 time of its metamorphofis arrives, it does not purge itfelf by 

 diet, like the filk worm, but continues to eat to the lafl mo? 

 ment. 



The Approach of its Metamorphofes* 



In the month of Auguft, and when on the point of under- Time and man- 

 going its metamorphofis, it ftrips off its fuperb robe, and puts nerof itschang* 



on 



