Moths and Biitterjiies. 83 



20. — Moths and Butterflies, their Colours and 



Variations. 



By Mr, A. D. Taylor. 



[^Read 16th Febriiary, 1881.] 



Mr. Taylor, in the course of his lecture on the colorization 

 of animals, last November, referred to a moth exhibited by Mr. 

 Lovett. It was a female which had the coloring and markings 

 of the male moth — a very remarkable instance, which rarely 

 happens, and the remark he made, as I understood, was that 

 possibly the alteration of color, &c., might be occasioned by 

 some change in the life of the moth, such as sometimes aftected 

 other animals. As such a change could not possibly happen to this 

 order of the insect world, I thought that a few remarks might 

 be made upon the life and history of Butterflies and Moths, 

 with special reference to the cause of their color and markings. 



Insect life differs entirely from all other orders in natural 

 history, having four distinct stages of life — the ova or e^g, 

 larva or caterpillar, pupa or chrysalis, imago or perfect insect. 



Firstly, the butterfly or moth deposits her eggs either singly 

 or in groups; these eggs are very beautiful as microscopic 

 objects, varying greatly in shape, size, and colour, some being 

 round, others oblong, oval, or hexagonal, having numerous 

 facets, with a series of depressions and marks of various 

 designs and characters. 



From the egg proceed the larvae, at first microscopically 

 small, but with all their natural colors displayed on their bodies 

 as when full grown, the caterpillars passing through a series 

 of periodical changes of skin, which seriously affect their 

 health, for many die during the process ; when the time arrives 

 for the change of skin, they leave off feeding and remain upon 

 the leaves or branches of their food-plant for some hours 

 motionless. After a time the old skin commences splitting 

 from the head, downwards, and finally the caterpillar in its 

 new clothes crawls away, leaving the remains of the old s'.cin 

 tipon the leaf. This may frequently be found in tolerabW per- 

 fect condition, with the colour as in life, but slightl}' faJed. 

 The number of times they go through this process of cliange 

 of skin varies from three to seven, or even eight, varying 

 according to species, but this I have never kept an account of. 



Swammerdam, the great naturalist, discovered by acc:!rate 

 dissection not only the skins of the larvae and of tlic papa 

 encased in each other, but within these the very butterfly itself, 

 with its organs in an almost fluid state, but still perfect in all 

 its parts. The larva having arrived at its last stage of growth, 

 and being more or less full fed, seeks a convenient place suit- 

 able to its species, if a butterfly above ground, on palings. 



