62 Bugs, Butterflies, and Beetles 



little cell or cave underground. After a while the 

 skin of the pupa or chrysalis cracks, and out crawls 

 a limp, damp, flabby looking creature. For a while 

 this limp object spends its time trembling and shak- 

 ing as if it had the ague, but it is really shaking 

 the wrinkles out of its crumpled wings and allow- 

 ing the blood and juices to circulate through the 

 veins and ribs of the wings until they are fully 

 expanded like the paper stretched upon the frame 

 of a kite, then the soft veins and ribs in the wings 

 harden and stiffen and the perfect butterfly or 

 moth is ready to fly. 



BUTTERFLIES 



The butterflies which you usually see have 

 slender bodies (Fig. 46%), and when they are at 

 rest they will fold or close their wings as one closes 

 a book, bringing them together and holding them 

 upright; also they will probably own clubbed 

 feelers or antennae (Figs. 46% and 51 ) , whereas the 

 ordinary big moths that you meet will probably 

 have fat bodies and feathered antennse (Fig. 47). 



It will surprise you to learn that our beautiful 

 moths and butterflies belong to a lower family than 

 the hymenoptera — this is another one of those big 



