HYPERCHIRIA 10 



GENUS, HYPERCHiR'iA (" she who protects" ; a surname of the goddess Hera : 



no nieaning here). 

 SPECIES, I'o (a priestess of Hera beloved of Zeus). 



Going up the Lane one day, we found on a bayberry- 

 bush a group of thirty eggs, or rather three groups 

 close together. The eggs were top-shaped and stood 

 on the pointed end. They were opaque white in color, 

 with a yellow band, and a black dot on the top of each. 

 Afterward we found that the new-laid eggs were white, 

 with a dim yellowish spot on top. In ten days the 

 yellow band had become brown, and the dark dots 

 showed themselves to be heads, the shells being now 

 transparent. 



On August 4 the eggs hatched, giving tiny cat- 

 erpillars with almost black heads and tan-colored 

 bodies, having six tubercles on each segment. These 

 tubercles were set with radiating spines, which stung 

 like nettles through all the larval stages. The little 

 crawlers left the empty shells, formed in a single line, 

 and marched in procession along the stem to the top- 

 most leaf, there settling in rows to feed. Wherever 

 they went, one led and the rest followed. The leader 

 spun a thread which seemed to serve as a guide to the 

 second crawler, who also spun a thread. Sometimes 



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