24 THE WAY LIFE BEGINS 



Care should always be taken to provide the caterpillars with 

 the same food upon which they are found. Many caterpillars 

 are extremely particular about their food and will starve to 

 death rather than eat another kind of plant. The brilliantly 

 banded caterpillars of the monarch butterfly are an instance 

 of this peculiarity, as they will feed only upon the milkweed. 

 The dainty white cabbage butterfly, on the other hand, lays 

 its yellow eggs upon a great variety of food plants, such as 

 turnip, cabbage, or the garden nasturtium, all of which with 

 many other food plants are readily eaten by the green cater- 

 pillars of this butterfly. 



Provided with plenty of the right food, with ample room 

 to crawl about, and pure air to breathe, with provision made 

 for the proper shelter of the chrysalis, it is an easy matter 

 to rear any of the more familiar caterpillars. 



