124 THE RING OF NATURE 



eggs on sundry poplar trees about the place as I 

 walk by, and after a few mornings the egg is 

 broken and a small black grub takes its place 

 boldly on the upper surface of the leaf. It seems 

 to be secure from molestation of bird or ichneumon 

 fly, and to have no need of hiding itself as other 

 caterpillars do. 



A closer examination reveals a wonderful 

 elaboration of parts in this bit of black thread. 

 At one end there are two little tufts like the ears 

 of a cat, giving it already some right to be called 

 puss-moth, at the other end are two longer pro- 

 jections like tails. As soon as the little animal has 

 reason to be worried by our too close inspection 

 there is an impatient wriggle of the tailed end, 

 and from the tails shoot out tiny little red whips 

 which make a kind of lashing motion over the 

 middle segments of the creature. If I had been 

 about the size of a sparrow and had been looking 

 at this tiny worm with the idea of eating it, I think 

 that this wonderful whip -behind movement would 

 make me look for my meal elsewhere. Some 

 writers imagine that the whips have a physical 

 energy sufficient to whip off the ichneumon fly 

 when she settles or attempts to settle on the 

 caterpillar with the intention of laying eggs within 

 its body. They imagine that a creature of so 

 primitive an intelligence as an insect could not be 

 scared by threats but must be driven off by actual 

 force. 



With every change of skin the puss-moth cater- 



