LEPIDOPTERA. 



are cemented by a kind of varnish. Some chrysalids are 

 angular, or furnished with little protuberances ; but most 

 of them are smooth, rounded at one end, and tapering at 

 the other extremity. While in the pupa state these insects 

 take no food, and remain perfectly at rest, or only move 

 the hinder extremity of the body when touched. After a 

 while, however, the chrysalis begins to swell and contract, 

 till the skin is rent over the back, and from the fissure 

 there issues the head, antennas, and body of a butterfly or 

 moth. When it first emerges from its pupa-skin the in- 

 sect is soft, moist, and weak, and its wings are small and 

 shrivelled ; soon, however, the wings stretch out to their 

 full dimensions, the superfluous moisture of the body passes 

 off, and the limbs acquire their proper firmness and elas- 

 ticity. 



The conversion of a caterpillar to a moth or butterfly 

 is a transformation of the most complete kind. The form 

 of the body is altered, some of the legs disappear, the others 

 and the antenna? become much longer than before, and four 

 wings are acquired. Moreover, the mouth and digestive 

 organs undergo a total change ; for the insect, after its final 

 transformation, is no longer fitted to subsist upon the same 

 gross aliment as it did in the caterpillar state ; its pow- 

 erful jaws have disappeared, and instead thereof we find a 

 slender tongue, by means of which liquid nourishment is 

 conveyed to the mouth of the insect, and its stomach be- 

 comes capable of digesting only water and the honeyed juice 

 of flowers. 



Ceasing to increase in size, and destined to live but a 

 short time after their final transformation, butterflies and 

 moths spend this brief period of their existence in flitting 

 from flower to flower and regaling themselves with their 

 sweets, or in slaking their thirst with dew or witli the 

 water left standing in puddles after showers, in pairing with 

 their mates, and in laying their eggs ; after which they die 

 a natural death, or fall a prey to their numerous enemies. 



