432 



SCIENCE OF GARDENING. 



PART II. 



Such as are to lie dormant all winter, seek the warmth of our houses, or dig their way into the ground, 

 below the influence of the expected frosts. Such as are to leave their prisons in a few 'weeks, and before 

 the end of summer, roll themselves up in the leaves of those plants on which they fed. No caterpillar 

 that is to remain in the state of a chrysalis till the following summer, attaches itself to an annual plant ; 

 and none that is to enter on its winged state in winter (which some few do) is ever found but upon ever- 

 greens. In the preparation which is made for their metamorphosis, caterpillars differ as much as in their 

 selection of a proper place. Some attach themselves by a thread from their tails, and are suspended per- 

 pendicularly ; while others, among which is the white cabbage butterfly, by another thread across the 

 body, are suspended horizontally. The silk-worm and several others spin a complete covering or case 

 for their bodies, some of finer materials and less agglutinated together than others. Some caterpillars form 

 a ball or nest of the mould in which they are buried, glued together by their saliva, and smoothed within ; 

 and others fasten two leaves together, or, curling its edges, unite two parts of the same leaf by threads 

 and bands, and thus form a covering and safe retreat for themselves. 



2250. Perfect insect. After the animal has lain dormant its due time in the chrysalis state, the skin or 

 shell bursts, and the perfect insect, in its winged state, creeps out, gradually expands its wings, and, when 

 th?y are dried, becomes a gay inhabitant of the air. It now no longer seeks to satisfy its hunger on the 

 gnss food that it devoured when a caterpillar, but sips the nectar from the blossoms of the flowers. 

 Raring fulfilled the intentions of nature, they deposit their eggs with care, and, having thus provided for 

 a future generation, the insect terminates its short but brilliant career. In the deposition of their eggs, 

 the parent butterflies and moths display wonderful instinct in selecting precisely such places as are best 

 adapted to their future young ; such plants, for instance, as will furnish food for the new-born cater- 

 pillars, and such parts of plants as are not likely to be removed by decay, or such as will be exactly in 

 the required stage of maturity at the time when the caterpillars are to be born. Thus, a little insect ( Tinea 

 poyiona) lays its eggs in the blossom, that its caterpillar may feed on the fruit of the apple ; and several 

 others act in the same provident way. 



225 1 . The most remarkable British butter- 

 flies axe the purple emperor (Pctjrilio iris), 

 which appears in July, and is considered 

 the most beautiful : the peacock butterfly 

 (P. /a), whose wings are of a brownish-red 

 color with black spots, is sufficiently 

 common in the south of England, but 

 extremely rare in the north : the tor- 

 toiseshell butterfly (P. urticce] (Jig. 403.), 

 which appears in its winged state about 

 the month of April, is one of the most 

 common, and at the same time the most 

 beautiful of the British lepidoptera ; the 

 upper wings are red, and marked with 

 alternate bands of black and pale orange ; 

 the eggs (a), caterpillar (6), and chrysalis 

 (c) are each elegant in their kind. The 

 mazarine blue butterfly (P. cymon) is also an admired species. 



2252. The hawk-moth> sphynge, or sphinx, is chiefly seen in the evening. The name sphynx is applied to 

 the genus on account of the posture assumed by the larvae of several of the larger species, which are often 

 seen in an attitude much resembling that of the Egyptian sphynx, with the fore parts elevated, and the 

 rest 3f the body applied flat to the surface. One of the most elegant insects of this genus is the privet 

 hawiJ-moth (Sphinx ligustri) (fie. 404.), measuring 

 nearly four inches and a half from wing's end to 

 wing'send. The caterpillar (fig.394. a}, which is very 

 large, is smooth, and of a fine green, with seven ob- 

 lique purple and white stripes along each side: at the 

 extremity of the body, or top of the last joint, is a 

 hon or process pointing backwards. Ihis beau- 

 tiful caterpillar is often found in the months of July 

 and August, feeding on the privet, the lilac, the 

 poplar, and some other trees, and generally changes 

 to a chrysalis (fig. 404. a) in August or September, 

 retiring for that purpose to a considerable depth 

 beneath the surface of the ground ; and after cast- 

 ing its skin, continuing during the whole winter in 

 a dormant state, the sphinx emerging from it in 

 the succeeding June. The egg of the sphinx (6) is 

 very different from that of the papilio. Another 

 perhaps still more beautiful insect is the sphinx 

 ocellata, or eyed hawk-moth, which is principally 

 found on the willow-tree, in its j>erfect state, in the 

 month of June. The largest and most remarkable 

 of the British hawk-moths, is the sphinx atropoa, 

 or death's head hawk-moth. The upper wings are 

 of a fine dark-grey color, with a few slight va- 

 riegations of dull orange and white : the under 

 wings are of a bright orange color, marked by a pair of transverse black bands : the body is also orange- 

 colored, with the sides marked by black bars : on the top of the thorax is a very large patch of a most 

 singular appearance, exactly resembling the usual figure of a skull, or death's head, and is of a pale grey, 

 varied with dull ochre color and black. When in the least disturbed or irritated, this insect emits a stri- 

 dulous sound, sometimes like the squeaking of a bat or mouse ; and from this circumstance, as well as from 

 the mark above mentioned, is held in much dread by the vulgar in several parts of Europe, its appear- 

 ance being regarded as a kind of ill omen, or harbinger of approaching fate. The caterpillar from which 

 this curious sphinx proceeds, which is principally found on the potatoe and the jessamine, is in the highest 

 degree beautiful, measuring sometimes five inches in length : its color is a bright yellow, and its sides are 

 marked by stripes of a mixed violet and sky-blue color. It usually changes into a chrysalis in the month 

 of September, and emerges the complete insect in June or July following : some individuals, however, 

 change in July or August, and produce the moth in November. 



404 



