GENEBAL CHARACTERS 13 



the few days more allowed her are spent in frolicking' among tlie 

 flowers, and sncking the sweet juices they provide. But males 

 and females alike— bedecked with the most gorgeous colours and 

 overflowing with sportive mirth when first they take to the wing- 

 soon show the symptoms of a fast approaching end. Their colours 

 begin to fade, and the beauty-making scales of the wings gradually 

 disappear through friction against the petals of hundreds of flowers 

 visited and the merry dances with scores and scores of playful 

 companions. At last, one bright afternoon, while the sun is still 

 high in the heavens, a butterfly, more weary than usual, with heavy 

 and laborious flight, seeks a place of rest for the approaching 

 night. Here, on a waving stalk, it is soon lulled to sleep by a gentle 

 breeze. 



Next morning, a few hours before noon, the blazing sun calls 

 it out for its usual frolics. But its body now seems too heavy to 

 be supported by the feeble and ragged wings, and, after one or two 

 weak attempts at pla^', incited by the approach of a younger and 

 merrier companion, it settles down in its final resting place. On 

 the following morning a dead butterfly is seen, still clinging liy its 

 claws to a swinging stem, from wliich it is eventually thrown during 

 a storm. 



The tale of the perfect moth is very similar to the above, except 

 that it is generally summoned to activity hy the approach of 

 darkness. 



We see, then, that butterflies and moths exhibit none of that 

 quality which we term parental affection. Their duty ends with 

 the deposition of the eggs, and the parents are dead before the 

 young larvae have penetrated the sheil that siu'rounds them. 



Yet it is wonderful to see how unmistakably the females 

 generally lay their eggs on the very plants that provide the 

 necessary food foi their progeny, as if they were not only conscious 

 of and careful concerning the exact requirements of their offspring, 

 but also possessed such a knowledge of botanical science as 

 enabled them to discriminate between the plant required and all 

 others. 



Has the perfect insect any selfish motive in this apparently 

 careful selection of a plant on which to lay its eggs ? Does the 

 female herself derive any benefit from the particular plant chosen 

 for this purpose ? In most cases, certainly not. For it often 

 happens that the blo^om of this plant is not by any means one of 

 those that siijiplj' the sweets which insects love, and still more 



