222 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



those of an ant. The hinder portion of the body is inflated, and ends in two thread- 

 hke tails. The little creature moves about in an apparently nervous, fussy manner, 

 but this is probably part of the scheme to get itself accepted as an ant, which it 

 resembles so much in its movements. This hinder part of the body is usually kept 

 elevated or turned over its back, and when the caterpillar is not actually feeding 

 the big head also is raised. The long legs are held forward. When one is quite 

 aware of the identity of the 3'oung caterpillars — as when the eggs have hatched in 

 captivity, for example — the ant-likeness may not be obvious. To see 



it one should come upon the caterpillar unex- 

 pectedly, and then the head appears to be the 

 hind-body of an ant whose jaws have seized upon 

 some other Insect (represented by the caterpillar's 

 inflated hind-body) which it is attempting to drag 

 off. Ants are not much interfered with, their iaws 

 and formic acid being respected by most creatures 

 that might be inimical to them. As the cater- 

 pillar gets older and larger, this aspect changes, 

 and viewed from the front it looks like a spider 

 read}' to spring. From the side, the hind-body 

 with its filament looks like the head of a lizard 

 with forked tongue extended. But whatever the 

 direction from which it may be viewed, it presents 

 an appearance altogether different from that of 

 a caterpillar. To some it has presented a likeness 

 to one of the larger rove-beetles ; and when nearly 

 full grown and viewed from the side it looks like 

 a curled-up and withered leaf. At this stage the 

 peculiar humps upon the back present a close 

 resemblance to the toothed margin of a leaf. In 

 some respects the lobster-caterpillar resembles 

 that of the dragon-moth previously described (see 

 page 66), and the two Insects, indeed, are not 

 very distantly related. 



Before changing to the dark brown chrysalis 

 the caterpillar weaves together two or three decay- 

 ing leaves, and spins a cocoon between them. 

 When the leaves fall the cocoon and its covering 

 go with them, and the winter is spent by the chrysalis among the dead leaves on the 

 ground. Not until the spring is merging into summer will the chrysalis skin be 

 burst, and the fluffy moth crawl out and ascend the nearest tree. 



The late Mr. Tugwell has left us an interesting account of the newly hatched 

 caterpillars, which, he says, will not touch vegetable food until they have shed their 

 first skin. Until then the empty egg-shell from which it emerged is its sole food, and 

 it will not eat the egg-shell of one of its brethren. It remains close to its own shell, 

 walking around it, and nibbling at it from time to time ; but if removed from it, it dies. 



Photo by 1 [!■'■ ^-/''P, I'-L.S. 



The Lobster-Moth. 



Occasionally the rambler through the woods may 

 SCO the lohster-moth settled in this fashion on a 

 small tree-trunk, with the upper wings closed 

 over the body and the inider wings protruding at 

 the sides, thus breaking up the outline usual in 

 resting moths. Shghtly enlarged. 



