Rural School Leaflet 



1189 



spots in addition, while those of the father insect bear but one black spot. 

 The undersides of the wings are sulfur or straw color. The body of the 

 butterfly is long and slender, and dark in color. Two long, slender 

 feelers, or antennae, project from the head. Each antenna ends in a 

 swollen knob. 



On the lower side of the head of the butterfly is a long, slender, thread- 

 like projection coiled up like a tiny watch-spring. This is the sucking 

 tube of the mouth. When uncoiled it is half an inch in length. 



The caterpillar is velvety green in color and about one and one fourth 

 inches in length when full grown. There is a faint yellow stripe down 

 the middle of the back and a row of yellow spots along each side of the 

 body. The caterpillar eats out holes in the leaves of the cabbages and, 

 if abundant, practically devours the leaves. 



Story of its life. — The butterflies appear early in the spring and the 

 mother insect begins 

 to fly about among 

 the cabbages. She 

 flits here and there, 

 resting for a moment 

 now and then on a 

 cabbage leaf. If we 

 examine the place 

 carefully where she 

 has rested, we shall 

 find a small, pale 

 yellow egg stuck to 

 the leaf. In about 

 one week the egg 

 hatches and the tiny green " worm " appears. The caterpillars eat 

 ravenously and grow very fast. They riddle the outer leaves of the plant 

 and many of them crawl down among the tender leaves of the head itself. 

 Here they feed and cause much injury by soiling the tender white leaves. 

 In about two weeks they become full-grown and then change to pupae. 

 The pupa forms a chrysalis, which may vary in color depending some- 

 what on the color of the object to which it is attached. The chrysalis 

 is attached by a small band of silk around the middle and by a small 

 mass of silk at the pointed, or posterior, end. The chrysalides may be 

 found attached to the undersides of cabbage leaves, boards or palings 

 of a fence near by, or other convenient objects. During the summer 

 the chrysalis stage lasts for one to two weeks. At the end of this time the 

 chrysalis breaks open en the back near the larger end and the butterfly 

 gradually works its way out. After the butterfly has drawn out all 

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Parts of cabbage leaf, with eggs at A , caterpillars at B, and 

 chrysalis at C 



