114 BUTTERFLIES 



ing found this — perhaps beneath a stump or along the 

 under side of a fence — each caterpillar spins a web of silk 

 along the surface. It then entangles the hooked claws of 

 its hind legs in the silken web, and lets its body hang ver- 

 tically with the head end curved upward. It remains in 

 this position some hours before the skin along the back 

 just behind the head splits apart and is gradually wriggled 

 upward, until finally it is all removed and there hangs in 

 place of the caterpillar a peculiar object having no definite 

 form. But it rapidly assumes a definite form — that of the 

 chrysalis — which is grayish brown, different specimens 

 varying somewhat in shade. 



In this quiet chrysalis, the insect is apparently almost as 

 inert as a mummy. If you touch it it will wriggle a little, 

 but otherwise it hangs there mute and helpless. On the in- 

 side, however, the tissues are being made over in such a 

 wonderful way that, in about two weeks, from the mummy 

 case into which the caterpillar entered there comes a 

 beautiful butterfly. 



When tliis butterfly first breaks through the mummy 

 shell, its wings are very small, although its body, antennae, 

 and legs are well developed. By means of the latter, it 

 clings to the empty chrysalis, while its wings expand. At 

 first these wings are short, but as soon as the insect takes 

 a position in which the wings hang downward, they begin 

 to expand, and soon reach full length, but are more or less 

 crumpled longitudinally, and the front wings are not so 

 wide as the hind ones, hanging limply inside the latter. 



After the butterfly has thus reached its full form and 

 size, it crawls from the chrysalis to some neighboring 

 support, where it rests quietly for half an hour or more. 

 During the latter part of this time it exercises its un- 



