THE BUTTERFLY HUNTERS. 



49 



CHAPTER IX 



CATERPILLARS AND CHRYSALIDS. 



HEN Mr. Benedict met the class asfain 

 he commenced as follows : — 



"No insect is so injurious to vege- 

 tation as the caterpillar, the young of 

 the butterfly and moth. There have 

 been many hundred varieties of these caterpillars discov- 

 ered, but at present it is necessary for you to know about 

 a very few of them only. If any of you, by this small 

 beginning, acquire a love of the study, you will find books 

 and teachers to instruct you, as you grow older, in all the 

 details of the science. To-day I am only going to tell you 

 a few of the most common things about caterpillars and 

 chrysalids. 



The butterfly or moth, in its winged state, deposits its 

 eggs on different kinds of trees and plants. Instinct teaches 

 it just what leaves its young will require for food ; for when 

 the caterpillar first leaves the egg it is so small and weak, 

 that it is necessary that food should be supplied at once. 

 As soon as it is born the caterpillar commences eating 

 eagerly, and increases in size very rapidly. It almost 

 always remains through its short life on the tree or 



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