ZESCH 



5 T I'D YING B UTTER FLIES 



247 



The life of the little creature was marked by system; there was 

 little variation in its routine of feeding, resting, and moulting. 

 Even its feeding was done by system; every- leaf was eaten in the 

 same fashion, and never a bit was wasted. 



On the twenty-ninth day a change came over it; it was no 

 longer the easy-going caterpillar. It became restless, it refused to 

 eat. It emptied the alimentary canal, and in even.- way it looked 

 as if it were ill. It wandered here and there and was in a great 

 hurry to get nowhere. At last it stopped on the side of the stem, 

 and remained quiet for a short time. It then moved its head to one 

 side and attached a silken thread ; it next spun a long thread, and 



Caterpillar of Black Swallowtail in two stages of growth. 



attached it to the other side of the branch, thus forming a loop 

 which it swung over its body. Back and forth it swung the thread, 

 making the fastening more secure. Little did it seem to realize 

 that, if it did not secure it tightly, death must follow. How care- 

 fully and consciously would we have done an act from which life 

 or death might result! For twenty-four hours it hung there 

 motionless till the fifth and final moulting occurred; this seemed 

 to be the most difficult of all the moultings. After a while it suc- 

 ceeded in freeing itself from the skin ; and now appeared the light 

 green chrysalis dotted with gold. For nine days it hung there 

 motionless, showing signs of life only when touched. On the 

 tenth day the light green chrysalis darkened, and in the afternoon 

 a large black creature emerged. Its wings were moist and crumpled 

 and seemed too heavv for it to carrv. It constantlv moved them 



