THE METAMORPHOSIS OF INSECTS. 



241 



frost. Some line this cell with silk, making thus a soft 

 covering for the body, and shutting out more effectually 

 the cold. Some of the caterpillars accomplish the same 

 object by constructing above ground a cocoon specially 

 adapted to guard against the cold. This is exemplified 

 in the case of one of the largest and most splendid of 



our American Moths 

 the Cecropia Moth, 

 Fig. 186 (p. 240). It 

 is found, as Professor 

 Jaeger states, all the 

 way from the Canadas 

 to the Mexican Gulf, 

 and also in all the West- 

 ern States. It has large 

 wings, measuring five 

 to six inches from tip 

 to tip. The scales on 

 them, 397, are dusky 

 brown. The borders 

 of the wings are richly 

 variegated, the anterior 

 ones having near their 

 tops a dark spot re- 

 sembling an eye, and 

 both pairs having kid- 

 ney-shaped red spots. 

 , 414. In this case the 

 caterpillar, or larva, 

 Fig. 187, is nearly as 

 beautiful in colors as 

 the perfect insect or 

 imago. It is of a light 

 green color, and has 

 coral-red warts, with 

 short black bristles, 



Fig. 187 The Caterpillar, or Larva. Over its body. It feeds 



L 



