1891.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 157 



ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY. 



The third stage of existence in lepidopterous insects is called 

 the chrysalis or pupa stage. The term chrysalis is derived from 

 a word meaning golden, because many of them are decorated 

 with golden spots. Pupa comes from a word meaning boy or 

 child, because a pupa was thought to resemble an Egyptian child 

 swathed in bandages, or a mummy. In the Rhopalocera or 

 diurnals, the. chrysalis or pupa, is naked, and not covered with a 

 cocoon, nor do the larvae enter the ground to undergo their 

 changes. The majority also differ in being variously ornamented 

 and shaped, although the general pattern is that of an inverted 

 cone. The chrysalids of the Hesperids or skipper butterflies 

 which approach the moths or Heterocera in character are pro- 

 tected by a few leaves or blades of grass which the caterpillar 

 draws around itself before changing. The character of the outer 

 hard covering in these is different from the diurnals in general, 

 being hard, dark and shining, like those of the moths, although 

 quite a number are covered with a light bloom like that on a 

 plum. It is thus quite easy to distinguish the chrysalis of a but- 

 terfly from that of a moth. The chrysalids of the diurnals are 

 suspended to a stick or leaf by the extremity, or in addition to 

 this in some cases are fastened by a sling of silk which goes 

 around the body of the chrysalis, and is fastened on each side of 

 the supporting leaf or twig. In the former case the head of the 

 caterpillar, hangs downward, and in the latter it points upwards 

 and outwards at an angle. Some of the larvae of the moths find a 

 convenient place under a piece of bark and change to a chrysalis; 

 some spin a shroud or cocoon, which in some cases is composed 

 of silk, and in others of the caterpillar's own hairs interwoven. 

 Some employ bits of wood, leaves, sticks and pieces of earth in 

 the same way. Many enter the ground and transform as already 

 mentioned. The changes that go on in a chrysalis are wonderful. 

 The chrysalis is apparently dead, showing no signs of life, but in 

 the inanimate looking object is being developed a beautiful insect, 

 perhaps a gorgeous Morpho* or a beautiful Ornithoptera,* yet 

 to all appearance it is an insignificant looking object, giving no 

 indication whatever of Nature's legerdemain or fairy-like per- 

 formances. ED. 



* Grand butterflies from Brazil and the East Indies, respectively. 



