44 



Poisonous Arthropods 



inject their poison into man. There remain to be considered those 

 insects which possess poisonous hairs or body fluids which, under 

 favorable circumstances, may act as poisons. To the first of these 

 belong primarily the larvae of certain Lepidoptera. 



LEPIDOPTERA 



When we consider the reputedly poisonous larvae of moths and 

 butterflies, one of the first things to impress us is that we cannot 



30. 



Another innocent but much maligned caterpillar, the larva of the Regal moth. 

 Photograph by M. V. S. 



judge by mere appearance. Various species of Sphingid, or hawk- 

 moth larvae, bear at the end of the body a chitinous horn, which is 

 often referred to as a " sting" and regarded as capable of inflicting 

 dangerous wounds. It would seem unnecessary to refer to this 

 absurd belief if it were not that each summer the newspapers con- 

 tain supposed accounts of injury from the "tomato worm" (fig. 29) 

 and others of this group. The grotesque, spiny larva (fig. 30) of 

 one of our largest moths, Cither onia regalis is much feared though 

 perfectly harmless, and similar instances could be multiplied. 



But if the larvae are often misjudged on account of their ferocious 

 appearance, the reverse may be true. A group of most innocent 

 looking and attractive caterpillars is that of the flannel-moth larvae, 



