576 Home Nature-Study Course. 



11. Are there any more of these spiracles on the body? If so where? 



12. Describe the caterpillar's head. Its antennae. 



13. Why does the woplly bear lift up its head and the front end of 

 its body when it is exploring? 



14. What does the caterpillar do when yon try to pick it up? 



15. How and why does this protect it? 



16. What does the woolly bear feed upon? 



17. Where should the woolly bear be kept in winter to make it 

 comfortable? 



Facts for teachers. — The woolly bear is variable in appearance; sometimes 

 there are five of tlie front segments black, four of the middle brown, and three of 

 the hind segments black. In others there are only four front segments black, six 

 brown ones and two that are black behind. There are still other variations, so 

 that each individual will tell its own story of color. There are really thirteen seg- 

 ments in this caterpillar, not counting the head, but the last two are so joined that 

 probably the children will only count twelve segments. There are a regular num- 

 ber of tubercles on each side of each segment, and from each of these comes a 

 little rosette of hairs, but they are packed so closely together that it would be 

 difficult for the children to see how many rosettes there are on each side. While 

 the body of the caterpillar looks evenly clipped there are usually a few longer hairs 

 on the rear segment. The true legs are on the three front segments, two pairs to 

 each segment; these three segments are called the thorax. There are four pairs 

 of pro-legs. All of the segments behind the front three or thorax, are called 

 abdominal segments and the pro-legs are on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth 

 abdominal segments. The prop-legs are at the rear end of the body. The cater- 

 pillar's true legs have little claws and are shiny as if encased in patent leather, 

 but the pro-legs and prop-legs are merely prolongations of the sides of the body 

 to assist the caterpillar in holding on to a leaf. The yellow spot on either side the 

 first segment is a spiracle; this is simply an opening so that the air may be taken 

 into the air tubes within the body around which the blood flows and is thus 

 purified. There are no spiracles on the second and third segments of the thorax, 

 liut each of the abdominal segments has a spiracle on either side. The woolly 

 bear's head is polished black, and its antennae are two, tiny, j^eljow projections, 

 which can be easily seen with the naked eye. The eyes are so small that they 

 cannot be seen without the aid of a compound miscroscope. Because of the small- 

 ness of the eyes the woolly bear cannot see very far and it, therefore, is obliged to 

 feel its way. It does this by stretching out the front end of the body and reaching 

 in every direction to discover if there is anything to cling to in its neighborhood. 

 When we try to seize the woolly bear it rolls up in a little ball, and the hairs are so 

 elastic that we pick it up with great difficulty. These hairs are a great protection 

 from the birds, which do not like bristles for food; and as the caterpillar is safely 

 rolled up the bird only see a little bundle of bristles and lets it alone. The woolly 

 bear feeds upon many plants; grass, clover, dandelion, narrow-leaf plantain and 

 others. It does not eat very much after we bring it in in the fall because its growth 

 is completed. The woolly bear should be kept in a box which should be placed out 

 of doors, so that although it is protected from the storm it can have the ordinary 

 winter temperature. Keeping it in a warm room during the winter often proves fatal. 



