96 CATERPILLARS AND THEIR MOTHS 



the Other of Us, with a twinkle, for the doctor prided 

 himself on his garden. 



"John was just weeding it out when we found the 

 bug. Why?" said the doctor. 



" Because this kind of caterpillar feeds on ' pusley ' 

 in preference to other things, though it will eat tur- 

 nip, buckwheat, watermelon, dock, chickweed, apple, 

 plum, currant, grape, woodbine, gooseberry, and even- 

 ing primrose," said One of Us ; and after expostulating 

 with the doctor for calling a fine caterpillar a " bug," 

 we went to find "pusley," or purslane, for it and to 

 put it away. 



The next June we were fortunate enough to get a 

 fine batch of eggs of this Deile'phila Unea'ta, or "white- 

 lined morning sphinx," so called from the light lines 

 on the wings of the moth. The eggs were small in 

 proportion to the size of the moth, ovoid, and yellow- 

 green, growing bluer. Like all sphingid eggs, they 

 became depressed on one side after a day or two. 

 They hatched in six days. 



The little caterpillars were not quite a quarter of an 

 inch long, pale green, with short, smooth caudal horns 

 which turned gray at the tip. The head was round 

 and held almost horizontal instead of nearly vertical, 

 and was covered with gray setae. The set^ on the 

 body were dark enough to be noticed without a lens. 

 When disturbed the little crawlers dropped by a silken 

 thread as spiders do. They did not eat their shells at 

 all, and were very active, crawling about the purslane 

 stems much of the time. Part of them were given 

 woodbine, since it was easier to get. On the second 

 day some of them showed a distinct brownish-red 



