FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



some kind of wadding is required. The fond mother 

 makes use of the only ornament which, in her extreme 

 poverty, she possesses. She wedges the door with the 

 coro'net of velvet which she carries at the tip of her body. 



Finally she does even more than this. She makes a 

 rampart of her body itself. With a convulsive move- 

 ment she dies on the threshold of her recent home, her 

 cast chrysalid skin, and there her remains dry up. Even 

 after death she stays at her post. 



If the outer case be now opened it will be found to 

 contain the chrysalid wrapper, uninjured except for the 

 opening in front, by which the Psyche came out. The 

 male Moth, when obliged to make his way through the 

 narrow pass, would find his wings and his plumes very 

 cumbersome articles. For this reason he makes a start 

 for the door while he is still in the chrysalis state, and 

 comes half-way out. Then, as he bursts his amber- 

 coloured tunic, he finds, right in front of him, an open 

 space where flight is possible. 



But the mother Moth, being unprovided with wings 

 and plumes, is not compelled to take any such precau- 

 tions. Her cylinder-like form is bare, and differs very 

 little from that of the Caterpillar. It allows her to 

 crawl, to slip into the narrow passage, and to come forth 

 without difficulty. So she leaves her cast skin behind 



[96] 



