'48 



CATESB.EA. 



statement, that " the propodeon * and following seg- 

 ments never bear limbs of any kind, whether wings 

 or legs." Newman's Grammar of Entomology, 1835, 

 p. 100. 



Caterpillars are, for the most part, vegetable 

 feeders, some feeding upon leaves, often causing 

 great destruction, as we have lately had occasion to 

 mention under the article BOPALUS ; the cabbage 

 caterpillars, and those" of the brown-tail moths, may 

 also be mentioned ; others devour flowers, roots, 

 buds, and seeds ; whilst a few feed upon the ligneous 

 particles of trees, boring, as in the case of the goat- 

 moth, &c., through the stems, and sometimes even 

 completely destroying them when in a young state ; 

 others, again, feed upon cloth, furs, &c., of which the 

 caterpillar of the clothes-moth, one of our most 

 destructive domestic enemies, is an example ; whilst 

 a few devour lard, wax, and other fatty matters, as in 

 in the galleriae ; some species are confined to a 

 single plant, whilst others, as the garden-tiger 

 moth, will thrive upon many different sorts ; some 

 species, again, are found in a state of society, as is 

 especially the case with the small ermine moths and 

 the processionary caterpillars ; these spin a common 

 web, which serves to protect them during inclement 

 weather. Others, again, take a similar precaution, 

 although solitary in their habits, as is the case with 

 many small Tinece, Psyche, Fumea, and in the large 

 exotic Oiketlciis, all of which form portable mantles, 

 or cases, in which the caterpillars reside, and in which 

 they. become pupae. Many species of the minute and 

 gilt Tinea; reside within the body of different leaves, 

 feeding upon the parenchyma, and forming slender 

 tortuous passages. Many caterpillars feed by night ; 

 the majority, however, are day insects. 



These caterpillars, for the most part, shed their 

 skins four different times previous to becoming 

 chrysalides ; they then generally spin a silken 

 cocoon, in which they inclose themselves, and in 

 which they undergo their transformations. Others, 

 however, simply fasten together the neighbouring 

 leaves, particles of earth, or of the substances upon 

 which they have been feeding, so as to form a 

 rougher kind of cocoon. The caterpillars of butter- 

 flies, however, as we have stated under the article 

 BUTTERFLY, very rarely indeed take any of these 

 precautions. 



The following extract from Mr. Peale's beautiful 

 " Lepidoptera Americana" (of which the publication 

 has recently been commenced in Philadelphia), will, 

 we are sure, be read with interest, presenting as it 

 does one of the most interesting manoeuvres hitherto 

 recorded relative to the insect race. It relates to 

 the Bombyx Promethea (Linnaeus), a very handsome 

 large moth, very abundant in 1883 in the vicinity of 

 Philadelphia, at least judging from the number of 

 cocoons seen hanging from the branches of the 

 sassafras (Laurus sassafras) and spice-wood (L. 

 benzoin), and which, by an ordinary observer, would 

 readily be mistaken for withered leaves which had 

 withstood the blasts of winter, for such they were 



* Under this name and those of podeon, metapodeon, octoon 

 ennaton, &c., this author has most absurdly, as far as simplify- 

 ing the science is concerned, designated the abdominal seg- 

 ments of insects. The uselessness of such a nomenclature is 

 equalled only by its bungling nature as contrasted with the 

 Latin names of caput (head) and prothorax, which he has 

 adopted, or the hybrid and incorrect names of metalte, metapedes, 

 &c., which he has proposed. . 



evidently intended by the little architect to represent 

 whilst preparing its narrow cell. After the caterpillar 

 lias attained its full size, and lost " the voracious 

 appetite which had hitherto been its predominant 

 character, it begins its preparations for the great 

 transformation it is to undergo, by selecting a perfect 

 leaf, the upper surface of which it covers with a tine 

 light yellowish brown silk, extending this coating 

 with great skill and foresight over the footstalk of 

 the leaf, and attaching it firmly to the branch, so as 

 to secure the leaf from being separated by any 

 accident. This preliminary operation having been 

 accomplished, the caterpillar next draws the edges of 

 the leaf together, thus forming a perfect external 

 covering or mantle, in which it spins a fine strong 

 and durable cocoon of fine silk. In this habitation 

 our little architect passes the winter secure from 

 birds and other enemies. As soon as the cocoon has 

 been completed, the caterpillar again sheds its skin, 

 and is transformed into a pupa or nymph. At first, 

 the leaf enveloping the cocoon remains green, but 

 soon changes to a red or brown, when it becomes 

 brittle, and is gradually carried away by the winds 

 and storms of winter, until, finally, nothing remains 

 except the cocoon itself, which is firmly suspended 

 by the silk which once covered the footstalk of the 

 leaf." The instinct of the caterpillar in thus pro- 

 viding for the permanent attachment of its future 



Caterpillar, leaf-cocoon, and chysali of the Prometheus moth. 



habitation appears far to exceed that shown by 

 any other caterpillars, if we except those of the 

 pomegranate butterfly of the East Indies, of which 

 an account was read at a meeting of the Entomo- 

 logical Society of London. The silk spun by the 

 Prometheus moth, according to Mr. Peale, is as fine, 

 and is produced in as great abundance, as that 

 furnished by the Bombyx mori, or common silk-worm, 

 but it is of a darker colour, and will, it is feared, always 

 present difficulties in reeling, from the manner in 

 which part of it is attached to the branch. We 

 cannot conclude these observations without con- 

 gratulating our readers upon that widely-extending 

 spirit of observation into the wonders of the creation, 

 of which Mr. 'Peale's work exhibits an example, 

 trusting, at the same time, that this beautiful book 

 will meet with that success which it so richly de- 

 serves. See also the articles BUTTERFLY and LEPI- 

 DOPTERA. 



CATESBjEA (Gronovius). A genus of beauti- 

 ful flowering shrubs, natives of the West Indies, and 



