50 STRUCTURE OF THE LEPIDOPTEEA 



compound eyes are assuming their final colours, which now begin 

 to show themselves through the more or less transparent skin, 

 and the long legs, the perfectly formed antennae, and the slender 

 proboscis, all of which are folded closely under the creature's thorax, 

 now begin to move within their loosened sheaths. 



Now let us watch it closely, for one of the most wonderful sights 

 ever witnessed by a naturalist is about to be presented to our view. 

 We think we can observe slight movements ; and, it may be, we can 

 actually see the struggling insect endeavouring to set itself free. The 

 legs and proboscis are moving within the loosened skin ; and lo ! as 

 we watch these motions, the prison wall bursts with a slight snap- 

 ping noise (at least, such is the case with some of the larger species), 

 and in a moment out pop a few long legs which immediately 

 struggle for a foothold. The proboscis also appears, alternately 

 lengthening itself out and coiling into a spiral, as if impatient to 

 reach the sweet nectar from the bottom of 

 some fragrant flower cup. 



All this takes place in less time than one 

 requires to describe it; and, before many 

 seconds have passed, the struggling insect 

 has quite complete'd its last moult, and is 



36 A B UTTER . bidding good-bye to the rent garment that 



FLY, JUST AFTER nas done it good service for so long a time. 

 EMERGING. But how dreadfully disappointing ! Did 



we not say only a few minutes since, that a 



beautiful butterfly or moth was about to emerge ? How, then, is 

 this ? Here is an odd-looking creature, such as we have never seen 

 before ! True, it has the right kind of body, though even that is so 

 soft and heavy that it is fairly dragged along as the insect walks. 

 Its antennae, too, seem to be just the right thing that is, just 

 what we were expecting to see. But oh ! the wings ! Are we 

 looking at a deformity ? a failure on the part of Nature to produce 

 what she ought ? 



We will not judge hastily, but continue to watch it a little 

 longer. It seems very restless at first, and, with the fluttering 

 apologies for wings, drags its heavy body along till it reaches some 

 surface up which it can climb. If nothing of the kind is close at 

 hand you may place a rough upright stick in its path, and it 

 will immediately begin to ascend. Its motto is now ' Excelsior ! ' 

 and its ambition to rise may be so great that, on reaching the very 

 top of the stick provided for it, it struggles for a still higher position 



