SPINNERS AND WEAVERS 17 



and pass the autumn and winter in an inactive 

 condition ; but as soon as vegetation becomes 

 active in spring these caterpillars throve off their 

 sluggishness and leave their v^inter shelter. Each 

 now goes his own way and lives independently of 

 his fellows. The caterpillars of the Glanville 

 Fritillary {Melite^a cinxia) adopt a modification of 

 this plan. They live in company, and when about 

 a month old spin a common tent in which they 

 pass the winter, leaving it in spring, when they 

 separate somewhat. 



The eggs of the Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly 

 (Vanessa urticcs) are laid in a batch of sixty or 

 more on a terminal leaf of stinging nettle, and as 

 soon as they are hatched the tiny caterpillars set 

 to work spinning a tent which includes a number 

 of leaves, and as these are eaten by them they 

 extend the bounds of their tent to include more 

 food. Here they remain in company until more 

 than half-grown, when they separate. The Peacock 

 Butterfly {Vanessa to) and the Camberwell Beauty 

 (Vanessa antiopa) follow a similar method in the 

 larval stage ; but the caterpillars of the Red Admiral 

 (Pyrameis atalanta) and the Painted Lady (Pyrameis 

 cardut), whose eggs are laid singly, naturally follow 

 a different course, though they are both spinners. 

 Each young caterpillar constructs a habitation for 

 itself, by connecting the edges of the leaf upon 

 which it was born with another leaf on the stem of 

 the plant — the Red Admiral on the nettle, the 

 Painted Lady on the thistle. 

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