OF LEPlDOrXEROUS IXStXTS. 109 



off its skin and passes into the chrysalis state. In that state intermedi- 

 ate between the caterpillar and the butterfly, its form is entirely chano-ed, 

 and does not in the least resemble that which it was jnst before. It is 

 a being that scarcely respires, deprived of every organ for taking nour- 

 ishment, and immovable as the seed of a plant. However, if we exam- 

 ine it at a particular period, we can see through its envelope some parts 

 of the butterfly, which fills it and seems to be wrapped up like an in- 

 fant. It is for this reason, that some naturalists have given the name of 

 pupa to the nymphs of lepidopters, in allusion to that enwrapment; but 

 that of chrysalis has prevailed, though not applicable in most cases. 



Some chrysalids are cylindrico-conical, others angular, but their gen- 

 eral form is at the same time more or less conical. 



In chrysalids we distinguish the envelope of the abdomen, compo- 

 sed of nine segments or rings corresponding to those in the body of the 

 perfect insect : the envelope of the head embracing the eyes, the anten- 

 na? and the tongue, each of which is enclosed in a separate case; the 

 envelope of the thorax ; the envelope of the breast and legs, and finally 

 that of the wings. The posterior extremity of chrysalids is generally 

 armed with a single or double point, sometimes bent back in a hook, or 

 furnished with threads or loops of silk. 



Chrysalids of Ileterocerata are generally brown or reddish with all 

 the intermediate tints, those of Rhopalocerata vary more in their hues, 

 and are often ornamented in the most brilliant manner. Some are of a 

 yellowish green, others white enamelled with black : some have spots 

 or bands of burnished gold, others are spotted with silver. These golden 

 colors, which were for a long time regarded as real gold, originated the 

 name chrysalid (A^^«'«"««=gold,) which has now been extended to the 

 nymphs of all Lepidopters. 



In most chrysalids the rings of the abdomen are movable upon one 

 another, and this is the only sign of life which some of them give when 

 they are touched. Others have the power of locomotion. Those that 

 live in trees and underground, warned by a wonderful instinct that the 

 delicate parts of the new insect, about to be developed from them, would 

 be injured in the place where they have been reposing, manage to crawl 

 from it and even ascend trees in order to reach a suitable place for the 

 transformation which they are about to undergo. Tiiose, that mount 

 trees, do it by means of the small hooks which are upon their abdom- 

 inal segments, those in the earth ascend by the movement of their ab- 

 dominal rings which are contracted and dilated until (he insect gradual- 

 ly breaks through the earth by which it is covered. 



The duration of the chrysalis state varies greatly according to the 



