

THE WAY LIFE BEGINS 21 



discourage an enemy eager to tear the cocoon open for the 

 tender bit of food within. The chrysalis itself rests with the 

 head directly beneath the long funnel-like airshaft through 

 which it will emerge when the time arrives. The outlines of 

 the head, antennae, legs, and wings (Plate III) may be seen 

 beneath the thick, brown, chrysalis coat. In this state the 

 chrysalis remains, until the warm days of spring. The coming 

 forth of the winged adult completes the story of the moth. 



The Great Family of Insects 



The insects form the largest group of animals in the world. 

 All of the butterflies, ants, bees, wasps, beetles, etc., go 

 through a transformation from egg to adult resembling in 

 some measure that of the moth. In most of these forms 

 the mature insect mother deposits her fertile eggs which 

 hatch in time into caterpillars, or larvae. This first or 

 egg stage varies from a few days in some insects, to several 

 weeks or months in others. In the second stage, the larvae 

 may be legless grubs as in the case of flies, bees, wasps, ants; 

 or they may have but six legs like many young beetles. In 

 all the insects named, however, the immature creatures bear 

 not the slightest resemblance to their parents, nor will they 

 until they have passed through a third stage, the chrysalis 

 or pupa. This third phase may be longer or shorter in dura- 

 tion, according to the nature of the insect. It may be passed 

 within the protecting silken cocoon, like most of the moths, 

 merely hung from a twig as a naked chrysalis, like the butter- 

 fly, or lie buried in decayed wood or under the ground. Fol- 

 lowing this quiet pupa period, the mature form emerges and 

 thus all four of the links in the insect's life are completed. 



In these forms four stages are always in some measure 

 present. First the eggs; second, the larva commonly called 

 the caterpillar, grub, or maggot; third, the pupa or chrysalis 

 (often in a cocoon) ; and fourth, the adult. 



Keeping Caterpillars for Study and Observation 



Almost any of the more common forms of caterpillars may 

 be kept in a simple cage, made of a box with a net covering. 



