398 ORDERS OF I'TILOTA. 



neret for the discharge of the silken threads. Caterpillars 

 are also furnished with six short-jointed scaly legs, attached 

 in pairs to the second, third, and fourth segments, and re- 

 presenting the legs of the future insect. They moreover 

 possess from four to ten fleshy legs, armed at the extremity 

 with a circular series of innumerable little bent hooks : the 

 hind pair of these false legs, as they have been termed, are 

 placed at the extremity of the body, near the anus; and it is 

 by the assistance of these fleshy legs that the insect in 

 general retains its hold upon the substance upon which it is 

 placed : thus we find the fore-legs of the sphinx caterpillars 

 seldom employed except in progression, the insect, when at 

 rest, raising the fore part of its body into a curved position, 



whence the fanciful name of sphinx was given to this group 

 of insects. In like manner, many of the looper caterpillars, 

 when at rest, erect themselves into an upright position, or 

 at different angles with the branches, on which they are ob- 

 served attaching themselves firmly by means of the hind 

 pair of false legs alone, closely resembling, in this situation, 



