The Life of the Caterpillar 



byx, with superb antennary plumes and a cot- 

 ton-wool tippet on her thorax, lays her eggs 

 on a leaf of the arbutus and, in so doing, 

 starts the evil. 



You see a little cushion with pointed ends, 

 rather less than an inch in length; a white 

 eiderdown, tinged with russet, thick, very soft 

 and formed of hairs fixed with a little gum by 

 the end that points towards the upper ex- 

 tremity of the leaf. The eggs are sunk in 

 the thickness of this soft shelter. They pos- 

 sess a metallic sheen and look like so many 

 nickel granules. 



Hatching takes place in September. The 

 first meals are made at the expense of the 

 native leaf; the later ones at the expense of 

 the leaves all around. One surface only is 

 nibbled, usually the upper; the other remains 

 intact, trellised by the network of veins, 

 which are too horny for the new-born grubs. 



The consumption of leaves is effected with 

 scrupulous economy. Instead of grazing at 

 hazard and using up the pasturage at the dic- 

 tates of individual caprice, the flock progresses 

 gradually from the base to the tip of the leaf, 

 with all heads ranged in a frontal attack, 

 almost in a straight line. Not a bite is taken 



152 



