234 BUTTERFLIES 



away. It is not so anxious to do this, however, as most 

 butterflies. If one is kept beneath a good-sized bell-glass^ 

 or in a glass-covered box, or even in a closed room, and fed 

 with sweetened water it will soon become so tame that it 

 will perch on one's finger and suck nectar from a flower 

 held in one's hand. On this account it is a particularly 

 desirable butterfly for the amateur photographer to culti- 

 vate, because he can easily get many interesting and beau- 

 tiful pictures by posing the butterfly on different flowers. 



The Change from Caterpillar to Butterfly 



The change from the caterpillar to the butterfly is 

 easier to watch in this species than in most others. The 

 full-grown caterpillar spins — sometimes on the under sur- 

 face of the milkweed leaf, sometimes elsewhere — a little 

 mat of silk in which it entangles the hooked claws of its 

 hind feet. Then it lets go with its fore feet, and hangs 

 downward with the front end of its body curled upward. 

 In this position it remains for some hours — perhaps a day 

 — the body juices gravitating downward and causing a 

 swollen appearance on the lower segments. Then the 

 skin splits apart and is wriggled off by the contortions of 

 the body. When it finally drops away, there is left a 

 strange-looking creature, broader below than above. This 

 is a transition stage that lasts but a very short time: soon 

 the form is entirely changed so that the broadest part is 

 above instead of below. The definite outline of the chrys- 

 alis is soon taken on, the outer tissues hardening into a 

 distinct covering. The insect is now a beautiful green 

 with wonderful golden spots upon its surface and a few 

 black spots just below the black "cremaster" by which the 

 chrysalis is connected with the web of silk upon the leaf. 



