PLANTS AND ANIMALS IN WINTER. 321 



the pupa of a large sphinx moth, Protoparce celeas- 



Hub., the larva 



of which is the 



great green 



worm, with a 



" horn on its 



tail" SO COin- Fig. 90 Chrysalis of Tomato Worm. 



mon on tomato plants in "the late summer. 



Each of the winter forms of insects above mentioned 

 can withstand long and severe cold weather in fact, 

 may be frozen solid for weeks and retain life and 

 vigor, both of which are shown when warm weather 

 and food appear again. Indeed, it is not an unusually 

 cold winter, but one of successive thawings and freez- 

 ings, which is most destructive to insect life. A mild 

 winter encourages the growth of mold which attacks 

 the hibernating larvte and pupse as soon as, from 

 excess of rain or humidity, they become sickly; and 

 it also permits the continued activity of insectivorous 

 mammals and birds. Thus, moles, shrews, and field 

 mice, instead of burying themselves deeply in the 

 ground, run about freely during an open winter and 

 destroy enormous numbers of pupre ; while such birds 

 as the woodpeckers, titmice, and chickadees are con- 

 stantly on the alert, and searching in every crevice 

 and cranny of fence and bark of tree for the hiber- 

 nating larvae. 



Of the creeping, wingless creatures, which can ever 

 be found beneath rocks, rails, chunks, and especially 

 beneath those old decaying logs which are half buried 

 in the rich vegetable mold, the myriapods, or "thou- 

 sand-legs," deserve more than a passing notice. They 

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