30 Descriptive Zoology. 



The larvae eat voraciously and grow rapidly, molting sev- 

 eral times before reaching full size. When ready to trans- 

 form, the butterfly larva assumes a harder coat, commonly 

 ornamented with silvery or gold markings (hence such a 

 pupa is called a " chrysalid "), while the larva of the moth 

 may spin a cocoon of silk, adding to it the hairs from its 

 body, though some moths have a simple, dull-colored pupa 

 which is buried in the ground. The larva has a silk gland 

 which opens on the under lip, though many larvae spin 

 little or none, some making one or two loops to support 

 themselves when changed to chrysalids, alongside or under 

 some protecting cover, such as a limb, fence-board, etc. It 

 should be noted that the larvae have strong, laterally mov- 

 ing jaws, and eat greedily, subsisting on solid food, whereas 

 the adult is a dainty eater, and lives on liquid food, which 

 it takes through the sucking tube. It is common to speak 

 of the Lepidoptera as undergoing a " complete " meta- 

 morphosis, while the grasshopper is said to have an " in- 

 complete " metamorphosis. But as the development of the 

 locust is just as complete as that of the butterfly, we should 

 call the development of the grasshopper " direct," and that 

 of the butterfly "indirect." 



Kinds of Lepidoptera. The butterflies are generally most conspicu- 

 ous, as they fly in the daytime, but many of the moths are very beauti- 

 ful. One group of butterflies are called from the form of their wings 

 the swallow-tails. Though we associate the word " butterfly " with warm 

 weather and sunny days, one species, the White Mountain butterfly, is 

 found only high in the mountains, and the writer has been delightfully 

 surprised to find these beautiful creatures above "timber line," near 

 snowbanks, on the chilly mountain tops. 



Perhaps most noted among the moths is the silkworm, a native of 

 China. But we have a number of native American silkworm moths ; 

 of these the Cecropia and Polyphemus are perhaps best known. The 

 larva of the codling moth is often found in apples. There is a large 



