XXX LLOYD S NATURAL HISTORY. 



bably point them out to insectivorous animals as inedible.* The 

 caterpillar just mentioned feeds openly on the spurge in the 

 most exposed situations. Other caterpillars are provided with 

 retractile tentacles on the neck or at the extremity of the body, 

 which appear to be useful for driving away Ichneumon flies or 

 other small enemies. 



As a general rule the lives of caterpillars only last a few 

 months, and in some species only a few weeks or days before they 

 arrive at their full growth ; but many caterpillars pass the winter 

 in that state. Sometimes they emerge from the egg in the 

 autumn, go into winter quarters immediately, and eat nothing 

 till spring ; but in other cases they hibernate when partly grown. 

 In the case of double-brooded insects, the broods necessarily 

 occupy much less time to pass through all their stages in sum- 

 mer than in winter, when the rapidity of their development is 

 checked by the cold. And in warm countries many species 

 are double-brooded which are only single-brooded in colder 

 regions. It is believed that the caterpillars of Arctic Lepidop- 

 tera may require several seasons to attain their full growth. 

 These may be frozen hard enough to chink when thrown 

 into a glass, and yet recover when gradually thawed. But 

 nearer home the longest-lived caterpillar known is that of the 

 Goat Moth, which feeds inside the trunks of trees, and takes 

 three years to arrive at maturity. 



When a caterpillar has reached its full size, and is ready to 

 moult for the last time, it prepares to become a 



Pupa or Chrysalis. 



The term a pupa," which means a doll (puppet) in Latin, is 

 enerally applied by entomologists to the intermediate stage 



5 



* This, of course, is no protection against the attacks of parasites, but 

 rather the reverse. I once bred some Tachiuida (parasitic Diptera) from 

 the above-mentioned larvie. 



