WINTER MEETING. 201 



Butteiflies and moths have a great variety of winter quarters. The swallow- 

 tailed butterflies and their allies, the clover and cabbage-feeding species, are at 

 this season paclied away in their casket-like chrysalids, and so carefully are the 

 latter hidden, and eo imitative are their colors, that we search for them almost in 

 vain. If we place during autumn pieces of bark or decayed wood or boards, 

 slightly elevated from the ground, between our cabbage or celery rows, we shall 

 probably secure some chrysalids of the butterfly larvae that infest these plants. 

 Most of the so-called four-footed butterflies hibernate in the perfect state, shelter- 

 ing under the eaves of buildings or in hollow trees, where, with their velvety 

 wings folded and bodies stiftened, they pass into a four or five-months' trance, dur- 

 ing which respiration, circulation and all vital functions are suspended. None of 

 the butterfliee, so far as I have studied their habits, hibernate in the egg state. 

 Many moths, on the contrary, do; among which we may enumerate the silk-worm 

 of commerce, the Apple and Forest-tree Tent caterpillar, whose bands of eggs are 

 often quite conspicuous upon the leafless twigs ; the destructive Bag- worm and the 

 Tussock moth But with this division of the Lepidoptera, the favorite winter form 

 is that of the pupa — if above ground, enclosed in a thick cocoon ; if subterranean, 

 In an earthen, cell, formed from particles of the earth, moistened with glutinous 

 saliva from the mouth of the larva, or simply compacted by the contortions and 

 twistings of the latter before its transformation. The cocoons of moths are, by a 

 mysterious instinct, protected from birds and other enemies in various ingenious 

 ways— devices which the birds have, in some cases, however, learned to fathom or 

 overcome. 



The large bag-like cocoon of Cecropia is often seen fastened longitudinally to 

 some terminal, upright twig— the insect apparently relying on the difliculty of 

 access to and the density of the many silken layers of its cocoon for the preserva- 

 tion of its pupa from attack — a reliance that is often misplaced. The more slender 

 and smooth cocoons of Prome^/ua «wrf i/Mwa depend from the tips of slender twigs 

 by bands of silk several inches in length, while Polyphemus deftly hides its cocoon 

 in the midst of a bunch of webbed leaves. Many small larva? adopt the latter 

 method of concealment, and are only detected by practiced eyes. That arch enemy 

 of the pip fruits, the Codling moth, you will find at this season of the year enclosed 

 in flat, papery cocoons, under loose scales of bark, among the fallen leaves in the forks 

 of the trees, in the crevices of apple barrels and other nooks in the cellar, and even 

 between the leaves of some of your books if it is your habit to bring dishes of fruit 

 into your library or sitting-room. Upon tearing open one of the cocoons the only 

 too familiar '-worm" will be revealed, as yet unchanged, and not so torpid but that 

 it evinces much discomfort at your intrusive curiosity, and is quite capable of 

 repairing the rent in its covering if given the opportunity to do so. 



The majority of the predatory and ground beetles, as well as many leaf-feed- 

 ing species, pass the winter in the perfect state among fallen leaves, bits of bark on 

 the ground, in crevices of walls or buildings, under loose bark of trees, and in 

 dozens of other situations in which they are comparatively safe. All the boring 

 beetles, whether partly or fully grown, winter over in the larva state in the tree 

 they infest, usually in especially prepared cells cut deeply into the wood. 



In the group of the true bugs, the advent of cold weather finds most of them 

 in their winged form, and they also, before yielding to the drowsy influence of cold , 

 hide among fallen leaves, in corn stalks, grain stubble and garden rubbish, where 

 they are not incommoded by vegetable decay or any moisture short of entire and 

 3)rolonged submergence. It is in such situations that the destructive chinch-bug. 



