Marvels of Insect Life. 



Photo bv] 



Apollo Butterfly. 



[E. Step, F.L.S. 



the head there is a sHt, 

 from which, when the 

 caterpillar is disturbed, 

 there issues suddenly a 

 forked orange process, 

 something like the tongue 

 of a snake. The only other 

 butterflies whose cater- 

 pillars possess such an 

 organ are those of the bird- 

 wings and the swallow- 

 tails. It is probable that 

 it has a defensive value, for 

 when extended it gives off 

 a strong and unpleasant 

 odour. It is analogous to 

 the longer red whips that 

 issue from the forked tail of the puss-moth caterpillar under similar conditions. 

 It feeds upon sedums and saxifrages, chiefly upon the large orpine among 

 the former plants. Another noteworthy fact about the Apollo caterpillar 

 is that, like the caterpillar of the grayling butterfly, when about to become 

 a chrysalis, it spins a slight cocoon, only in this case instead of being buried in the 

 ground, it is spun up between a couple of orpine leaves. The chrysalis, as one may 

 be prepared to expect from this behaviour, does not conform to the angulated 

 type so common among butterflies, but is smooth and rounded like that of a moth, 

 and lies loosely in the cocoon instead of being suspended by the tail. It is coated 

 with a purplish " bloom " of wax, which prevents any moisture reaching the skin 

 of the chrysalis. This, and the outer defence of a cocoon, appears to be necessary 

 in the reeking moisture of its customary habitat. 



A common butterfly in Alpine Europe, which was formerly tliought to be a rare British 

 Insect. Its wings are semitransparent, and when the butterfly is at rest upon a 

 flower, only the black-ringed, red spots are noticeable, and these appear to be parts of 

 the flowers around it. 



Ant-Lions and ^Ant-Lion Flies. 



It is rather singular that the name ant-lion, which has been in use for over two 

 hundred years, belongs to the larval stage of the Insect,^ whilst the ultimate winged 

 stage has, properly speaking, no name at all. We propose to call it the ant-lion 

 fly. This four-winged Insect might easily be taken for a dragon-fly by those who do 

 not notice details. The body is long and slender, and the rather narrow wings are 

 longer than the body. These wings are netted much after the manner of those 

 of the dragon-flies, but they cannot be operated with the same muscular power. 

 During the day these ant-lion flies rest on the foliage, and only use their wings 

 at night, when they are said to chase and eat other Insects. They may be distin- 

 guished at a glance from dragon-flies by the possession of two stout, club-tipped 

 antennae, whilst those of the dragon-flies are poor little threads, scarcely 

 noticeable. But the chief interest in this family centres not in the four-winged 

 flies, but in the larvse — the ant-lion proper. It is to Reaumur we owe the best 

 account of the proceedings of this astonishing little excavator, and his account, 



' M\rmclcon formicarius. 



