THE BUTTERFLY OF THE OAK 



9^5 



THE BUTTERFLY FRESH FROM THE PUPA. 



THE WINGS HAVE DROPPED DOWN 



the weather ; but, 

 as is the case with 

 many other insects' 

 eggs, they seem to 

 be quite unharmed 

 by cold or damp. 

 In the spring-time, 

 as the oak begins 

 to put forth its 

 leaves, the eggs 

 hatch and the tiny 

 caterpillars com- 

 mence to feed. 

 They are full grown 

 in June — earlier or 

 later in the month 

 according to the 

 state of the tem- 

 perature in the 

 spring, which may 

 have hastened or 

 retarded somewhat 

 their hatching. 



The full-grown 

 Purple Hairstreak 

 caterpillar is a 

 quaint little object, 

 and will repay 



FEMALE TIIECLA QUKRCUS READY TO 

 FLY AWAY. 



examination b}- 

 means of a magni- 

 f \-ing lens . I n com - 

 mon with the larvae 

 of LyccenidcB in 

 general, it is short 

 and hairy, some- 

 what hke a wood- 

 louse in shape, or 

 perhaps ex'en more 

 like the famihar 

 shell known as the 

 Chiton. Its head is 

 small and re- 

 tractile, being 

 drawn back into 

 the first body seg- 

 ment when the 

 creature is at rest. 

 A caterpillar is 

 shown, consider- 

 ably magnified, 

 in the photograph 

 on page 914; 

 and its resem- 

 b lance to the 

 Chiton shell upon 

 a rock will be at 



