CATCH-WORK. 



CATERPILLAR. 



21). PI. 10, h. A weed growing in hedges and 

 by roadsides. See HAHIFF. 



CATCH-WORK. A term employed in irri- 

 gation for the works for throwing the water 

 over such lands as lie on the declivities of hills. 



CATCH-WORK MEADOW. That sort of 

 meadow which is formed by turning the water 

 of a spring or small rivulet along the side of a 

 hill or declivity, so as to water the lands be- 

 tween the cut or main carriage and the original 

 water-course, which in this case becomes the 

 main drain. See IRRIGATION. > 



CATERPILLAR. The name given to the 

 larva state of butterflies and moths. 



The natural history of insects so universally 

 destructive as caterpillars, which in voracity 

 are only inferior to locusts, cannot fail to inte- 

 rest all, whether residents of town or country; 

 and it is evident that persons acquainted with 

 the precise nature and habits of destructive 

 insects, their times and seasons of multiplica- 

 tion and transformation, must be enabled to 

 devise the" most effectual means of protecticm 

 against their ravages. Thanks to the intelli- 

 gent policy and liberal patronage of the Legis- 

 lature of Massachusetts, the most exact and 

 valuable information upon this branch of the 

 history of destructive insects has been placed 

 before the public, through the labours of the 

 distinguished American entomologist, Doctor 

 Harris. 



Caterpillars are the larvse or young of moths 

 and butterflies, of which, Dr. Harris says, 500 

 species are already known to him as natives of 

 Massachusetts ; and he thinks there may be as 

 many more yet undiscovered in the limits of 

 that state. As each female usually lays from 200 

 to 500 eggs, 1000 different kinds of butterflies 

 and moths will produce, on an average, 300,000 

 caterpillars. If one-half of this number, when 

 arrived at maturity, are females, they will give 

 45,000,000 of caterpillars in the second, and 

 6,750,000,000 in the third generation. These 

 data, whilst they suffice to show that the actual 

 number of these insects existing at any one 

 time is far beyond the limits of numerical cal- 

 culation, explain their formidable capacity to 

 destroy vegetation. Whilst most caterpillars 

 feed upon the leaves of plants, some devour 

 the solid wood of trees, some live only in the 

 pith of plants, and some confine themselves to 

 grains and seeds. Certain species attack wool- 

 lens, furs, and other animal substances ; for 

 even leather, meat, wax, flour, and lard afford 

 nourishment to particular kinds of caterpillars. 

 "Some species herd together in great numbers, 

 and pass the early period of their existence in 

 society; and of these there are kinds which 

 unite in their labours, and construct tents serv- 

 ing as a common habitation, in which they live, 

 or to which they retire occasionally for shelter. 

 Others pass their lives in solitude, either ex- 

 posed to the light and air, or sheltered in leaves 

 folded over their bodies, or form for themselves 

 silken sheaths, which are either fixed or porta- 

 ble. Some make their abodes in the stems of 

 plants, or mine in the pulpy substances of 

 Meaves ; and others conceal themselves in the 

 ground, from which they issue only when in 

 search of food. 



"Caterpillars usually change their skins 

 272 



about four times before they come to their 

 growth. At length they leave off eating entirely, 

 and prepare for their first transformation. Most 

 of them, at this period, spin around their bodies 

 | a sort of shroud or cocoon, into which some 

 j interweave the hairs of their own bodies, and 

 some employ, in the same way, leaves, bits of 

 wood, or even grains of earth. Other caterpil- 

 lars suspend themselves, in various ways, by 

 silken threads, without enclosing their bodies 

 in cocoons; and, again, there are others which 

 merely enter the earth to undergo their trans- 

 formations. 



"When the caterpillar has thus prepared it- 

 self for the approaching change, by repeated 

 exertions and struggles it bursts open the skin 

 on the top of its back, withdraws the forepart 

 of its body, and works the skin backwards till 

 the hinder extremity is extricated. It then no 

 longer appears in the caterpillar form, but has 

 become a pupa or chrysalis, shorter than the 

 caterpillar, and, at first sight, apparently with- 

 out a head or limbs. On close examination, 

 however, there may be found traces of a head, 

 tongue, an tennae,wings, and legs, closely pressed 

 to the body, to which these parts are cemented 

 by a kind of varnisn. Some chrysalids are 

 angular, or furnished with little protuberances ; 

 but most of them are smooth, rounded at one 

 end, and tapering at the other extremity. While 

 in the pupa state, these insects take no food, 

 and remain perfectly at rest, or only move the 

 hinder extremity of the body when touched. 

 After a while, however, the chrysalis begins to 

 swell and contract, till the skin is rent over the 

 back, and from the fissure there issues the 

 head, antennae, and body of a butterfly or moth. 

 When it first emerges from its pupa skin, the 

 insect is soft, moist, and weak, and its wings are 

 small and shrivelled ; soon, however, the wings 

 stretch out to their full dimensions, the super- 

 fluous moisture of the body passes off, and the 

 limbs acquire their proper firmness and elas- 

 ticity. 



"The conversion of a caterpillar to a moth or 

 butterfly is a transformation of the most com- 

 plete kind. The form of the body is altered, 

 some of the legs disappear, the others and the 

 antennas become much longer than before, and 

 four wings are acquired. Moreover, the mouth 

 and digestive organs undergo a total change ; 

 for the insect, after its final transformation, is 

 no longer fitted to subsist upon the same gross 

 aliment as it did in the caterpillar state : its 

 powerful jaws have disappeared, and instead 

 thereof we find a slender tongue, by means of 

 which liquid nourishment is conveyed to the 

 mouth .of the insect, and its stomach becomes 

 capable of digesting only water and the honeyed 

 juice of flowers. 



"Ceasing to increase in size, and destined to 

 live but a short time after their final transfor- 

 mation, butterflies and moths spend this brief 

 period of their existence in flitting from flower 

 to flower and regaling themselves with their 

 sweets, or in slaking their thirst with dew or 

 with the water left standing in puddles after 

 | showers, in pairing with their mates, and in 

 j laying their eggs; after which they die a natu- 

 ral death, or fall a prey to their numerous 

 enemies. 



