242 ] The Wonderful Ways of Insects and Spiders 



Monarchs are noted for their migrations. They often gather 

 in large flocks in late summer and then move southward. You may 

 some day discover one of these beautiful butterflies with an 

 identification tag and number in its wing. Many persons in the 

 United States and Canada have for several years been marking 

 and releasing monarchs in an effort to increase the store of 

 scientific knowledge about them. The tag tells where to send the 

 information on your find, and you may thus help scientists learn 

 the full story of this remarkable traveler. 



The Hibernating Mourning Cloak: The habits of the mourning 

 cloak a brownish and yellow butterfly, ornamented with blue 

 spots are in marked contrast to those of the monarch. The mourn- 

 ing cloak sleeps in hollow trees or crannies during cold weather 

 and is one of the few insects that hibernate in the adult stage. 



Flying Fighters: For all their ethereal appearance, you may dis- 

 cover by watching butterflies that they are not at all averse to 

 some very down-to-earth fighting. The males of many species will 

 try to drive away any others that encroach on territory they con- 

 sider their own. As a result, duels take place, with the contenders 

 darting and dashing at each other, sometimes buffeting their 

 wings to shreds. The red admiral and the buckeye are particularly 

 noted as scrappers. 



MOTHS How THEY DIFFER FROM BUTTERFLIES 



Children are much more likely to become acquainted with 

 the caterpillars of moths than with the moths themselves, as these 

 winged insects (with few exceptions) sleep by day and fly only at 

 dusk or after dark. This nighttime schedule of activity helps us 

 to distinguish moths from butterflies, as butterflies are abroad 

 during the day. 



There are several other features which, as a rule, guide us in 

 telling a moth from a butterfly. When at rest, butterflies hold 

 their wings vertically above their bodies while moths extend 

 theirs horizontally, or tentlike over their bodies. A moth's body 

 is thicker and more wedge-shaped, and its antennae are feathery 

 or finely tapered. A butterfly's antennae, though smooth, end in 

 knobs or thickenings. 



